Month: February 2021

Categories
Technology

The US Postal Service has a navy tank producer manufacture “ugly” new supply electrical autos

The US Postal Service has a military tank manufacturer manufacture "ugly" new delivery electric vehicles

Yes, you read that heading correctly. While it doesn’t seem to make absolutely any sense, it’s 2021 and the world is on fire. Lets see what happens.

The United States Postal Service announced yesterday that it has signed, sealed, and shipped to Oshkosh Defense a 10-year multi-billion dollar contract to electrify its vehicle fleet. Autoblog reports that it is expected to be worth around $ 6 billion over its lifetime.

For the uninitiated, Oshkosh Defense is a military vehicle maker that usually makes armored vehicles for war zones. It’s clearly the perfect solution for delivering packages to homes on the suburban streets of America.

I suppose it’s not that crazy. Oshkosh knows how to build unique vehicles for a specific purpose. There are even plans to work with American automaker Ford on its plans for an all-electric transit van.

[Read: How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners]

That sounds good, but unfortunately the USPS is not just focusing on electrifying its fleet. The contract with Oshkosh provides for the delivery of 50,000 to 165,000 vehicles over a period of 10 years, which will be a mix of internal combustion engine and battery electric vehicles.

Given that the average USPS vehicle is nearly 30 years old, literally anything would be better than what the delivery service is currently using. Even a damn armored personnel carrier.

The possible design for the new USPS delivery vehicles is already divided as Politico’s Sam Mintz conducts a quick Twitter poll – the majority say the van is an “ugly duckling”.

Let’s get some highly polarized answers to these questions. This design is:

– Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) February 23, 2021

The USPS says its new vehicles could be retrofitted with electric vehicle technologies in due course. It’s not exactly clear what that means, but presumably it suggests that the internal combustion engine might be swapped out for a battery and motors in the future.

In addition to many mechanical improvements, the new USPS vehicles will include air conditioning, heating and improved vehicle safety features such as airbags and surround view cameras.

Expect to see them on U.S. roads in 2023. And don’t worry, you don’t have to take cover if you see one of these on the horizon.

SHIFT is brought to you by Polestar. It’s time to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility. That’s why Polestar combines electric driving with state-of-the-art design and exciting performance. Find out how.

Published on February 24, 2021 – 09:21 UTC

Categories
Technology

LG CES Highlights: All introduced for 2021

LG CES Highlights: All announced for 2021

LG helped kick off the first day of CES 2021 with a list of exciting product announcements showcasing televisions, phones, and various smart home technologies. The latest OLED TV models will usher in a new era of home entertainment optimization and smart home devices – and we’re still trying to take a quick look at the rollable smartphone / tablet.

Below is everything LG has announced so far at CES 2021.

More from CES 2021

The rollable phone from LG is here

The star of the show for LG was a sneak peek of the new LG Rollable. Basically, the device expands and shrinks, changing from the size of a phone to the size of a tablet within seconds. We got a glimpse of what the rolling sequence might look like at the end of LG’s presentation, and rumors have been circulating for years that LG is working on a product like this. We always imagined it was a way out, but the company has claimed that the LG Rollable will hit the market later this year.

LG has said in the past that despite the introduction of foldable phones by competition, the technology is not yet ready for the mainstream market. That has led to alternatives like the pivoting LG Wing with two screens and now the LG Rollable. OLED technology has opened up the industry to such products because the panels are thin and flexible, can be rolled tightly around an edge of the phone, and when placed on some sort of slide rail, the phone can expand and extrude the display slowly over the extended frame.

We will wait patiently for more information and teasers – and keep our fingers crossed that the CES will be introduced a little differently next year.

See more

LG is pushing OLED televisions to their limits

LG OLED Lineup CES 2021

Over the past few years, LG’s newly announced OLED TVs have looked pretty similar to last year’s models. This year, LG’s latest line of products – OLED EVO – features several improvements and some of the biggest TV trends of the year.

First of all, LG is bringing more sizes to market. Variations on existing sizes will be 42- and 83-inch OLED panels, but there will also be smaller ones that go “down to the 20-30” range, according to a press release from LG. These smaller models are geared towards gaming, mobility, and personal viewing options.

All but the A series will receive the new a9 Gen 4 AI processor from LG, the most powerful chip to date. A9 Gen 4 uses deep learning to improve image scaling and make content near perfect for those specific ads. The processor is also equipped with AI Picture Pro, a feature that detects objects on the screen and is able to differentiate between the foreground and the background. This artificially alters the original image by using digital noise reduction to remove grain and noise.

LG also announced a new line of QNED mini LED TVs ahead of CES 2021, which will feature LG’s absolute best LCD-based displays alongside the award-winning OLED TV line-up. It’s called QNED Mini-LED and covers 10 models in 4K and 8K resolution, with screen sizes going up to 86 inches. However, we are still a little concerned about the term “QNED” which is used to describe its quantum dot televisions.

LG Transparent Rollable Smart Bed TV

If these introductions don’t sound futuristic enough to you, LG is also experimenting with the transparency of the television screen by introducing a transparent television that can be rolled up from the foot of a bed. The appropriately titled Smart Bed TV is a 55-inch OLED screen with 40% transparency, designed to be the ultimate home theater tool and bedtime smart home device.

For more of the best TVs at CES, check out our larger selection of screens.

LG’s Magic Remote and WebOS software is getting a makeover

LG Magic Remote 2021LG

LG’s WebOS software is undergoing a major overhaul and is set to enter the modern era of content-oriented home screens. Instead of the operating system showing a simple ribbon of apps at the bottom of the screen, users can now view highlighted content in apps, such as: B. curated playlists or quick weather forecasts. The software also creates a user profile based on your observation habits and continuously optimizes the recommendations.

LG has also updated its Magic Remote with a new, more ergonomic design that now includes dedicated buttons for LG’s ThinQ voice service, as well as for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Another nifty new feature on select Magic Remotes is an NFC-enabled tap-to-share system called Magic Tap, which allows you to quickly transfer content from your NFC-equipped phone to the TV, or vice versa, what LG calls reverse mirroring .

Cloud games are coming to LG TVs

In a major move for cloud gaming, LG announced that Google Stadia and GeForce Now are both coming to TV later this year. Both services will have a dedicated app for LG TVs. GeForce Now launches in the fourth quarter and Google Stadia at an undisclosed time in late 2021, making it easier for interested gamers to access cloud games.

The company will also unveil a 48-inch, gaming-centric OLED TV with bendable cinematic sound, the curvature of which is designed to enhance immersion in the gaming experience.

More on cloud games

Computing

New LG Gram laptops have 16:10 screens

LG has finally unveiled its 2021 range of Gram PCs. The new laptops and 2-in-1s have a narrow 16:10 aspect ratio and an ultra-portable, lightweight design.

The 2021 LG Gram PCs are available in five different versions this year: Gram 17, Gram 16 and Gram 14 as well as a 14- and 16-inch 2-in-1 model. All devices are also Intel Evo certified, which means they have Intel’s 11th General Core processor, either 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, and the new Xe graphics from Intel.

LG did not disclose the pricing or availability of these new models – last year’s LG Gram 17 was $ 1,850, the LG Gram 14 was $ 1,600, and the LG Gram 15 was $ 2,000. You can expect similar prices on this year’s models.

Learn more about billing messages from CES 2021

The InstaView refrigerator continues to improve

LG InstaView refrigerator

LG continues to add features to its stylish InstaView door-in-door refrigerator, which landed a few years ago.

One of the coolest improvements to this side-by-side refrigerator is the introduction of a voice activated door. Have you ever tried moving too much food at once to find that you don’t have a free hand to open the refrigerator door? With the InstaView that’s no problem – just say “Open the refrigerator door”. Users can also use this voice technology to check the status of the ice and water dispensers.

LG has also improved other smart features for 2021. The InstaView window is 23% larger than previous models, creating a more immersive, tinted glass panel. With just two quick taps on the transparent glass, you can even see virtually the entire contents of your refrigerator.

This refrigerator model now also supports LG’s UVnano technology, which uses the power of light to ensure a hygienic and sterile faucet.

LG’s latest wireless vacuum empties itself

LG has unveiled an upgraded model of its A9 Compressor Stick Vacuum, called the LG CordZeroThinQ A9 Compressor +. This new model has a charging stand that not only stimulates the vacuum, but also empties the dust container. When the CordZeroThinQ A9 Compressor + is docked, the dust container is automatically emptied into an attached bag. After emptying, the vacuum continues to charge.

The CordZeroThinQ A9 Compressor + contains six different accessories and accessories, all of which can be easily stored in the docking station. It can also wipe so no additional tool is required. All you have to do is exchange the attachments.

Washtower

With the LG WashTower, LG makes washing laundry easier and smoother than ever before. The one-unit laundry station takes up less space than other stacked laundry pairs. The control panel is right in the middle of the unit so both the washer and dryer controls are easily accessible.

According to LG, every second consumer uses the normal cycle for their washing machines and dryers as standard because they do not know which settings are optimal for their clothing. LG strives to do the job for you with built-in information and sensors that can detect fabric structure and select the correct washing movements and temperatures to provide the best care for clothes.

While the device looks small and sleek, both the washer and dryer are designed to hold your largest loads of laundry and power them up in less than 30 minutes.

Editor’s recommendations



Categories
Health

FDA-approved J&J single-shot Covid vaccine

FDA-approved J&J single-shot Covid vaccine

Food and Drug Administration officials endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s emergency Covid-19 vaccine, a crucial step in getting a third shot onto the U.S. market.

The employee report released on Wednesday is designed to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Panel, which will meet on Friday to review J & J’s application for emergency approval.

At a similar request from Pfizer and Moderna, the agency approved these companies’ vaccinations the day after the committee of external medical advisors endorsed approval for emergency use. The committee is expected to recommend J & J’s vaccine. The FDA does not need to follow the committee’s recommendation, but it often does.

FDA staff noted that the clinical trial results and safety data “are in accordance with the recommendations in the FDA guidelines on emergency approval of vaccines to prevent COVID-19.”

J&J submitted its Covid vaccine data to the FDA on February 4th. The vaccine’s level of protection varies from region to region, J&J said, with the shot showing an effectiveness of 66% overall, 72% in the US, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa, where variant B.1.351 is spreading rapidly. However, the FDA staff records show that the vaccine was 64% effective in South Africa after about a month. The company said the vaccine prevented 100% of hospital stays and deaths.

As of February 5, there were seven Covid-19-related deaths in the placebo group and no Covid-19-related deaths in the vaccine group, according to the FDA.

According to the agency, no specific safety concerns were identified when analyzed by age, race and comorbidities. According to the report, there have been no reports of anaphylaxis, a serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. The FDA said the most common side effects were headache and fatigue, followed by muscle pain, nausea, and fever.

The vaccine’s effectiveness was similar for age, race, and people with comorbidities, according to FDA staff. However, the effectiveness appeared to be less in people aged 60 and over who also had comorbidities such as diabetes or heart disease. The effectiveness rate was 42.3% about a month after the shot.

As of January 22, eight pregnancies had been reported, four of them in the vaccine group, to FDA staff. Among the participants in the vaccine group, two pregnancies are ongoing with currently unknown results, according to the report.

The news comes as the Biden government works to increase the supply of cans after states complained that demand for the shots was rapidly exceeding supply. Around 44.1 million out of around 331 million Americans have received at least their first two-dose dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 19 million have already received their second shot.

If approved, J & J’s application would be the third Covid-19 vaccine to be approved in the U.S. after the emergency vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Pfizer’s vaccine was approved on December 11th, and Moderna received approval a week later. J & J’s vaccine only requires one dose, which would make logistics easier for healthcare providers.

Such authorization is not the same as full approval, which can typically take months longer. J&J, like Pfizer and Moderna, has only submitted safety data for two months, but the agency typically takes six months for full approval. J&J is applying for permission to use it on anyone aged 18 and over.

J&J has signed a contract with the federal government to supply 100 million doses of its vaccine by the end of June. Jeff Zients, President Joe Biden’s Covid Tsar, told reporters last week that the company is unlikely to hold a “large inventory” of cans prior to launch in the US, as only a few million cans are manufactured.

The company has announced that it will ship the vaccine, which contains five doses per vial, at 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. In comparison, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored in ultra-cold freezers that are between minus 112 and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Moderna vaccine must be shipped at 13 to 5 degrees above zero Fahrenheit.

The Pfizer vaccine was found to be 95% effective against Covid-19, while the Moderna vaccine was around 94% effective. Infectious disease experts pointed out that J & J’s numbers cannot be used as a head-to-head comparison with the other two vaccines because it is a single dose and the company’s study was conducted when more infections, as well as new, more contagious variants occurred.

Categories
Sport

Dak Prescott’s contract said: Cowboys weigh on doubling the franchise day versus doing a long run deal

Dak Prescott's contract stated: Cowboys weigh on doubling the franchise day versus doing a long term deal

The clock is ticking again so the Cowboys can sign quarterback Dak Prescott. The two-week time window for applying for Franchise Day for the upcoming NFL free agent opened in 2021, with March 9 being the deadline for Dallas if so desired.

Prescott played under the exclusive title last season, earning a guaranteed $ 31.4 million. If the Cowboys tag him again this year, that number would rise 20 percent to $ 37.7 million.

However, the Cowboys and Prescott would prefer to strike a long-term deal to keep him under contract through another season and secure more overall guaranteed money in relation to the top of the QB market.

Here’s a look at how Dallas is positioned to go both ways with Prescott’s contract:

MORE: Top 50 NFL Free Agents for 2021, Best Players by Position

What is the cowboys’ salary cap for signing Dak Prescott?

The NFL-wide salary cap will have a lower limit of $ 180 million for teams, with an upper limit that is not much higher. Right now, the Cowboys are in pretty good shape, ranking 12th in the league with around $ 19 million.

Even so, they can’t afford to mark Prescott at $ 37.7 million without restructuring the contracts and exempting players from their deals.

Your most logical source of savings would be to designate linebacker Jaylon Smith as a June 1st cut after a shaky season. That would mean additional relief of $ 7.2 million. The Cowboys can do this to two players, which should also make them think about the aging of the left left tackle against Tyron Smith. You could get another $ 10.5 million back there.

That would bring Dallas to about $ 36.7 million in two moves, which means the tag works out on Prescott by cutting off another player. If they want to keep Tyron Smith and still have enough room for the cap, they can cut cornerback Anthony Brown, punter Chris Jones, defensive end Randy Gregory, tight end Blake Jarwin and some players with Jaylon Smith.

The Cowboys would be forced to make some tough decisions with fellow veterans in the process of tagging Prescott, and would also be left with no space to do anything else on the free hand, either with their own or outside players.

What a second franchise day for Dak Prescott

A second straight day isn’t bad from Prescott’s point of view. That would mean he’s made $ 69.1 million in guaranteed money in two years, and the Cowboys would still have shown confidence in him as an elite, enduring QB despite an ankle injury that limited his 2020 season to five games.

This would be the Kirk Cousins ​​scenario from Washington, which is back at work. Cousins ​​have been listed as a non-exclusive franchise player in consecutive offseasons, guaranteeing $ 20 million in 2016 and increasing 20 percent to $ 24 million in 2017. A third day out of Washington would have increased its value 44 percent to $ 34.6 million in 2018, ensuring it would hit the free hand.

Cousins ​​were signed by the Vikings for $ 84 million for three years, all guaranteed. From ’16 until its extension in ’20, Cousins ​​were awarded a five-year contract worth $ 128 million, all guaranteed.

Cousins ​​”bet on themselves” and hit the jackpot. Prescott may have been careful trying to do the same after his ankle surgery, but before injuring himself against the Giants, he started and finished every game healthy for four and a half seasons since entering the league as the fourth round draft pick of the year 2016.

If Prescott is re-tagged in 2021, its tag value would rise to $ 54.4 million in 2022, well above the top of the QB market. That would force either the Cowboys or some other team to give him a high-end long-term deal, assuming he has a sustained and productive comeback season.

MORE: The NFL’s Highest Paid Players for 2020

What would Dak Prescott’s contract with the Cowboys look like?

Prescott reportedly wants a shorter deal. So think more of Deshaun Watson’s four-year span ($ 156 million) than Patrick Mahomes’ ten-year span ($ 450 million). Both QBs of the first round of 2017 signed their mega-deals at the end of last summer just before the 2020 season.

Mahomes averaged $ 45 million per season and received a $ 63 million guarantee on signing, with a total of more than $ 141.5 million guaranteed. Watson averaged $ 39 million per season, with $ 73 million guaranteed at signing and a total of $ 110.7 million guaranteed.

Prescott already has a $ 31.4 million one-year guarantee, so essentially a four-year contract would serve as an extension. Since this is significantly lower as the average annual salary compared to the best on the market, don’t be surprised if Prescott grows to an average of $ 40 million per season, or a total of $ 160 million per season, over a four year period .

That would be reflected in five years’ time, $ 191.4 million including 2020, which is the true average of $ 38.3 million, which seems correct as it’s a little more than what Prescott is on in 2021 would bring the market.

Watson’s contract gives the Cowboys a great way to structure Prescotts. About $ 75 million guaranteed at signing and a total of $ 115 million guaranteed would make very good sense considering the total value of $ 160 million.

With Watson’s extension, the Texans reduced his initial cap hit to $ 9.8 million in 2020 and $ 15.9 million in 2021 if he stayed on the team. The contract won’t jump to over $ 40 million from the cap until 2022 and 2023. The cowboys can create a similar short-term flexibility with their upper limit and stay out of any kind of bond.

Bottom line, re-tagging Prescott wouldn’t be the worst for the Cowboys, but having done it once as the easiest fix in 2020, it would be much better if they finalized the long-term contract before March 9th. Otherwise, they could be dangerously close to getting Prescott on the open market in the NFL Free Agency.

Categories
Technology

Hier ist alles, was TCL bisher auf der CES 2021 angekündigt hat

Hier ist alles, was TCL bisher auf der CES 2021 angekündigt hat

TCL hat sich in den letzten Jahren zu einem wichtigen Akteur in der globalen Elektronikszene entwickelt, insbesondere bei hochwertigen Fernsehgeräten, die mit Samsung und LG von Kopf bis Fuß mithalten können. Und es sieht so aus, als würde TCL 2021 nicht nachlassen.

Auf der CES 2021 kündigte das chinesische Elektronikunternehmen eine Vielzahl verschiedener Produkte an, darunter eine neue Roku-TV-Produktreihe, eine Handvoll neuer Soundbars, einen Luftreiniger, ein Paar Smartphones und ein rollbares Tablet. Wenn keines der oben genannten Produkte Ihre Aufmerksamkeit erregt hat oder Sie nach allen Details suchen, finden Sie hier alles, was TCL bisher auf der Messe angekündigt hat.

Mehr sehen

TCLs 2021 TV-Programm

TCL

In erster Linie gehört zu den TV-Ankündigungen von TCL, dass die anerkannte Mini-LED-Hintergrundbeleuchtungstechnologie des Unternehmens ein Upgrade für die dritte Generation erhalten hat und nun über etwas verfügt, das das Unternehmen OD Zero Mini-LED nennt. Im Wesentlichen stellt die Nullzahl den Null-Millimeter-Abstand zwischen der Mini-LED-Schicht und der Hintergrundbeleuchtungsschicht dar, wodurch die Paneele ultradünn werden und insgesamt ein schlankeres Design ermöglicht wird. Zehntausende von Mini-LEDs und Tausende von „Kontrastkontrollzonen“ versprechen laut einer TCL-Pressemitteilung „auffällige Helligkeit, präzisen Kontrast und gleichmäßige Gleichmäßigkeit“. Dies ist einer der am weitesten verbreiteten TV-Trends im Jahr 2021.

Die TCL 6-Serie springt auf 8K

Angesichts der Tatsache, dass jeder große TV-Hersteller weiter in das 8K-Gebiet vordringt, ist es keine Überraschung, dass TCL angekündigt hat, dass alle 2021 TCL Roku-Fernseher der 6er-Serie mit 8K-Auflösung auf den Markt kommen. Wie bei seinen 4K-Brüdern wird die 8K-Reihe mit Mini-LED-Technologie ausgestattet sein und von Roku TV sowie Dolby Vision HDR und seiner AiPQ-Engine gesteuert werden, die 4K-Inhalte intelligent hochskalieren soll.

Keine Sorge, TCL ist mit 4K noch nicht fertig. Alle vorhandenen 4K TCL Roku-Modelle der 6er-Serie werden auch im Laufe des Jahres 2021 verfügbar sein. Die neuen 8K-Modelle werden später im Jahr erhältlich sein.

TCL macht mit seiner XL-Kollektion große Fortschritte

Ein aufkommender Trend auf der CES in diesem Jahr ist, dass Fernseher groß werden – wirklich groß. Als Teil der XL-Kollektion kündigte TCL drei 85-Zoll-Fernseher an, die mehrere Preisklassen umfassen werden. An erster Stelle steht der 85-Zoll-Serie 4 TCL Roku TV, ein budgetfreundlicher 4er, der später im ersten Quartal 2021 für 1.599 US-Dollar auf den Markt kommt. Die nächste Stufe ist ein 85er 4K QLED Roku-Fernseher der 5er-Serie, von dem das Unternehmen angekündigt hat, dass er in den kommenden Monaten auf den Markt kommen wird. Es wurde keine Preisgestaltung angekündigt. Schließlich ist ein 85-Zoll-8K-Set, das die neue Mini-LED-Technologie übernehmen wird. Auch hier wurden Preise und Verfügbarkeit nicht bekannt gegeben.

TCL bringt die Soundbars

TCL Alto R1 drahtlose Roku TV Ready SoundbarTCL USA

Die große Neuigkeit in der Soundbar-Reihe von TCL ist der neue Alto R1, die erste drahtlose Soundbar von TCL und die erste, die mit Rokus Wi-Fi-Audio-Streaming-Technologie ausgestattet ist. Der Techniker wird angeblich für einen einfachen Einrichtungsprozess sorgen – schließen Sie einfach die Soundbar an und Ihr TCL Roku TV beginnt automatisch mit der Einrichtung auf dem Bildschirm.

TCL kündigte auch mehrere nicht drahtlose Soundbar-Optionen an. Der erste und einzige in der Aufstellung mit Verfügbarkeitszeitpunkt (im Herbst) ist der Alto 82i. Der 82i ist die erste Dolby Atmos-fähige Soundbar von TCL und unterstützt Alexa und Google Assistant, Airplay sowie zwei Subwoofer.

Später im Jahr wird TCL zwei weitere kabelgebundene Soundbars auf den Markt bringen. An erster Stelle steht der Alto 8e, ein 3.2.1-Setup mit allen Funktionen des R1, jedoch mit Spotify-Kompatibilität, einem drahtlosen Subwoofer und hochgeladenen Lautsprechern, die den Schall von der Decke abprallen lassen. Der Alto 8e wird im zweiten Quartal 2021 veröffentlicht. Eine dritte unbenannte Atmos-Soundbar wurde ebenfalls angekündigt, mit wenigen weiteren Details, außer dass es sich um ein „Premium“ -Modell handelt.

TCL erweitert sein Appliance-Spiel

TCL Breeva Luftreiniger auf der CES 2021

Während die Fernseher und Smartphones von TCL weltweit und in den USA weiterhin Wellen schlagen, sind viele Verbraucher möglicherweise auch mit den Klimaanlagen und Luftentfeuchtern des Unternehmens vertraut. TCL hat seine Produkte für den Heimkomfort erweitert und angekündigt, in Zukunft mehrere neue, vernetzte Heimprodukte auf den Markt zu bringen. Das erste ist der Breeva-Luftreiniger.

Das Unternehmen behauptet, mit einem modernen Design und einem dreistufigen Reinigungssystem bis zu 99,97% der in der Luft befindlichen Mikroben entfernen zu können. Dieses Gerät sowie die kommenden angeschlossenen Geräte werden mit der neuen TCL Home-App von TCL gesteuert. Die Integration von TCL Roku TV in die Home-App erfolgt ebenfalls im Jahr 2021.

Die Smartphones der 20er-Serie kommen nach Europa

Smartphones der TCL 20-Serie auf der CES 2021

Obwohl dies Nordamerika nicht sofort betrifft, kündigte TCL eine neue Reihe von Smartphones an, die an die 10er-Serie des letzten Jahres anknüpfen sollen. Im Laufe des Jahres werden insgesamt fünf Produkte auf den Markt gebracht. Für die unmittelbare Zukunft wurden jedoch angekündigt, dass das TCL 20 5G und das günstigere TCL 20 SE, ein 4G LTE-Gerät, in Europa erhältlich sein werden. Diese Geräte geben uns möglicherweise eine Vorstellung davon, was wir in Zukunft von TCL in den USA erwarten können.

TCL 20 5G

An erster Stelle steht das 6,67-Zoll-TCL 20 5G, ein Smartphone mit Full HD Plus-Display und NXTVision 2.0, die visuelle Anzeigetechnologie von TCL, die sich durch verbesserte Farbgenauigkeit, HDR-Konvertierung für die Anzeige von Inhalten und eine AI-gesteuerte visuelle Verbesserungstechnologie auszeichnet. Laut TCL erkennt letzteres die Beleuchtung um Sie herum und passt Helligkeit, Farbe und Kontrast auf intelligente Weise an.

Unter der Haube befindet sich ein Snapdragon 690 und 6 GB RAM, die von einem 4.500-mAh-Akku betrieben werden. Auf der Kameraseite verfügt die TCL 20 5G über drei AI-gesteuerte Kameras auf der Rückseite, die den Autofokus, die Bildstabilisierung und die Auflösung bei schlechten Lichtverhältnissen verbessern sollen. Zu den integrierten Kameras gehören eine 48-Megapixel-Hauptkamera, ein 118-Grad-Superweitwinkelobjektiv mit 8 Megapixeln und eine Makrokamera mit 2 Megapixeln. Die Selfie-Kamera im Inneren hat 8 Megapixel.

TCL 20 SE

Am erschwinglicheren ist der etwas größere TCL 20 SE mit 6,82 Zoll, ebenfalls mit NEXTVision. Obwohl es sich nur um ein 4G-Gerät handelt, könnte der niedrigere Preis es für Benutzer attraktiver machen, die noch nicht ganz davon überzeugt sind, dass sie 5G benötigen. Alles an der SE ist mehr oder weniger ein Schritt nach unten gegenüber dem 20 5G, einschließlich des langsameren Snapdragon 460 und 4 GB RAM, aber das ist ein großer Grund für den niedrigeren Preis.

Das heißt, es rockt ein Audiosystem mit zwei Lautsprechern und einen 5.000-mAh-Akku, was sieben Stunden Nonstop-Video ermöglicht. Es hat auch ein beeindruckendes Quad-Kamera-Setup, das einen 48-Megapixel-Haupt-Shooter, ein 5-Megapixel-Weitwinkelobjektiv, ein 2-Megapixel-Makro und ein 2-Megapixel-Tiefenobjektiv umfasst.

TCL Tab 10S Tablet und ein neuer NXTPAPER E-Ink Rivale

Der NEXTPaper-Tabler von TCL

Wie bereits erwähnt, wird die Produktpalette von TCL von Jahr zu Jahr beeindruckender. Zusätzlich zu den Smartphone-Ankündigungen kündigte das Unternehmen zwei neue Android-Tablets an: das TCL Tab 10S und das TCL NXTPAPER.

Das Tab 10S ist ein schick aussehendes 10,1-Zoll-Android 10-Tablet mit einem Full HD + -Display, das mit einem Stift namens T-Pen geliefert wird. Sie können auch eine Tastatur mit dem POGO-Pin-Anschluss anschließen, was cool ist. Im Inneren befindet sich ein MediaTek Helio-Prozessor mit acht Kernen, 3 GB RAM und 32 GB Speicher mit einer microSD-Erweiterung auf bis zu 256 GB, die alle von einer 8.000-mAh-Stromquelle entsaftet werden. Der Start in Europa ist für März geplant, ohne Details zu einem US-Start.

Wenn Sie ein Fan von E-Ink-Geräten sind, könnte das neu angekündigte TCL NXTPAPER-Tablet Ihr Interesse wecken. Angesichts der Zeit, die wir heutzutage damit verbringen, auf Bildschirme zu starren, ist etwas, das die Augen ein wenig schont, eine willkommene Abwechslung. Der NXTPAPER richtet sich an Profis und Studenten gleichermaßen und verfügt über keine Hintergrundbeleuchtung. Stattdessen wird ein reflektierender Bildschirm verwendet, um ein farbenfrohes papierähnliches Erlebnis zu bieten, das laut TCL energieeffizienter und für Bildungsaktivitäten optimiert ist.

Das 8,88-Zoll-Android-10-Tablet verfügt außerdem über einen MediaTek-Prozessor, 4 GB RAM und 64 GB erweiterbaren Speicher unter der Haube, die alle von einem 5.400-mAh-Akku mit einer Lebensdauer von einem Tag angetrieben werden. Das NXTPAPERtablet ist auch 4G LTE- und Wi-Fi-fähig. Es wurden keine Details zu Preisen oder Verfügbarkeit in den USA mitgeteilt

Rollbare und scrollbare Anzeigen für Tage

TCL Rollable DisplaysTCL / Youtube

Zwei der schönsten Dinge, die TCL angekündigt hat, sind das vertikal rollende Smartphone-ähnliche Display und das 17-Zoll-Tablet-Display mit Bildlauf.

Wir waren alle von LGs rollbarem Smartphone zu Beginn der Woche begeistert, aber TCL kündigte auch eines seiner eigenen an. Das 6,7-Zoll-Konzept ist ein rollendes Smartphone, aber es unterscheidet sich darin, dass es vertikal ist, als quadratisches Gerät beginnt und nach oben in eine Smartphone-Form rollt (LGs beginnen in einer Smartphone-Form und erweitern sich zu einem Tablet-Gerät ). Über das Konzept ist nur wenig anderes bekannt, als dass sein 6,7-Zoll-AMOLED auf 7,8-Zoll erweitert wird. Es überrascht nicht, dass keine Release- oder Preisdetails bekannt gegeben wurden.

Noch auffälliger ist jedoch das 17-Zoll-Scrolling-OLED-Panel von TCL, das in einem computergenerierten Promo-Video gezeigt wurde. Das Video zeigt ein 0,18 mm dünnes Display, das aus einem scrollartigen Zylinder gezogen wird und schließlich einen großen, futuristischen Bildschirm zeigt. Derzeit handelt es sich um ein Konzept, das von einem separaten Unternehmen stammt, das teilweise im Besitz von TCL ist und Displays herstellt. In jedem Fall ist es eine coole Technologie, die wir genau beobachten werden.

TCL Wearable Display Brille

TCL-BrilleTCL

Auf der CES im letzten Jahr zeigte TCL seine Project Archery-Displaybrillen und es sieht so aus, als ob es dieses Jahr sein Ziel ist, sie in die Wildnis freizulassen. Das tragbare TCL-Display ist stilvoll in eine Sonnenbrille eingepreßt und verfügt über zwei 1080p-Micro-OLED-Displays mit 3D-Funktion und ein filmisches Sichtfeld, das laut TCL dem Betrachten eines 140-Zoll-Bildschirms gleicht. Der Inhalt wird von Ihrem Telefon, Tablet oder Computer über USB-C übertragen, sodass Sie unabhängig von Ihrem Aufenthaltsort ein cooles Filmerlebnis genießen können. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie gut es funktioniert, aber es könnte eine gute Alternative sein, bis wir wieder ins Theater zurückkehren können, besonders wenn man bedenkt, dass sie dieses Jahr auf den Markt kommen.

TCL MoveTrack Pet Tracker

Um der erstaunlichen Statistik zu begegnen, dass in den USA jedes Jahr mehr als 10 Millionen Hunde und Katzen verloren gehen, hat TCL den MoveTrack Pet Tracker eingeführt. Das GPS-, Wi-Fi- und Bluetooth-fähige Gerät wird am Halsband Ihres Haustieres befestigt, sodass Sie einen Abdeckungsbereich von bis zu 10 Metern einrichten können. Mit dem MoveTrack können Sie feststellen, ob Ihr Haustier darüber hinaus verirrt ist. Mit einer zugehörigen App können Sie jederzeit sehen und verfolgen, wo sich Ihr Haustier befindet. Ein hilfreiches Blinklicht hilft Ihnen dabei, Ihr verlorenes Haustier im Dunkeln zu finden. Es hat die Schutzart IP67 für den Umgang mit Schmutz und Wasser, in das Ihr Haustier gelangen kann, und der Tracker verfügt über einen scannbaren QR-Code, mit dem Personen Sie finden können, wenn sie Ihr Haustier gefunden haben.

TCL MoveAudio S600 drahtlose Ohrhörer

TCL rundete seine Ankündigungen auf der CES mit einem neuen Satz echter drahtloser Ohrhörer ab. Die MoveAudio S600-Ohrhörer verfügen über das, was TCL als „Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling“ bezeichnet. Jede Knospe enthält drei Mikrofone, die eine starke Geräuschreduzierung bewirken sollen. Wie ähnliche Ohrhörer verfügt auch der S600 über einen Transparenzmodus, der Außengeräusche zulässt, sowie über Bluetooth 5.0 und Google Fast Pair, eine Technologie, mit der Sie die Ohrhörer schnell mit anderen Geräten koppeln können. Touch-basierte Bedienelemente an jedem Ohrhörer sind ebenso Standard wie bis zu acht Stunden Musikwiedergabe mit einer einzigen Ladung.

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Technology

Tesla homeowners nonetheless love their vehicles regardless of remembers and high quality points

Tesla owners still love their cars despite recalls and quality issues

This article was originally published by Michael Coates on Clean the fleet report, a publication that provides readers with the information they need to switch to the best fuel economy cars and trucks, including electric cars, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, hybrids, and advanced diesel and gasoline engines.

A just released Consumer reports The survey places all four Tesla models in the top 10 most satisfactory vehicles. The ranking included value, comfort, driving, in-cab storage, in-car electronics, and styling. Alongside Tesla, Honda Insight Hybrid is the only electrified vehicle that appears in the top 5 of one of these categories (styling). On the flip side, the Chevrolet Bolt (for comfort and styling) and Honda Clarity (driving and car electronics) have the least satisfactory list in the five worst categories. The good news, if you want to put it that way, is that the negatives of these two vehicles didn’t get into one of the top 10 least satisfactory vehicles (that was an all-ICE list with Nissan-Infiniti coverage, with most mentions)

Make owners happy

The bottom line is, surveys like this one measure an owner’s emotional attachment to their vehicle, a difficult thing that can change over time. Perceptions count as much as quantified repair problems. “They want to know how car owners love to live,” said Jack Fisher, senior director, auto testing, Consumer Reports.

CR asked owners about the relationship between owner and car for one to three years. This reflects a time that goes beyond the original period of ownership and enables life with a vehicle. On the other hand, it is still early enough in the life of a modern car that only problems that arise are usually unexpected. This can be a reflection of how the manufacturer / retailer treats a problem in the same way as they treat the problem itself. Aside from these elements, the survey also seems to capture nagging details that owners wear on a daily basis, such as B. the seating comfort and navigation in the several levels of a touch screen.

A non-owner complaint

Tesla receives awards from its happy customers and has some negative feedback from two governments. The company agreed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall 135,000 of its S and X models to fix touchscreen failures. The repair includes installing a larger memory chip or an updated touchscreen, according to NHSTA.

Tesla Model S interiorNHTSA focused on the Model S display

Tesla disagreed with NHTSA’s analysis of the problem, but voluntarily volunteered for a recall when it became clear the company was not going to assert itself against the regulator, which was viewed as a safety issue as it affected the display of the rear view camera when reversing.

The company had a different reaction and tone to similar criticism in China. Tesla of China posted a comment stating that it “sincerely accepted orders from government departments” and “thought deeply about shortcomings” while planning to work on issues and investigate consumer complaints.

In China, where Tesla sells about a fifth of its total vehicles, the state market regulator and four other regulators had ordered Tesla to “comply with Chinese laws and regulations and strengthen internal management to ensure the quality and safety of vehicles in its products” According to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Another poll

JD Power, a company that built its brand on its automotive quality surveys, has produced results that back up the quality results from the U.S. and Chinese governments but are confused by the real love that Tesla owners have for their vehicles. In JD Power’s last initial quality survey, Tesla had died last in initial quality.

ON In a recent reliability study that measures issues in the third year of ownership, Tesla ranked 31st out of 34 vehicle brands. Tesla owners reported almost twice as many problems as the brands with the fewest problems, and well over 50% more than the industry average. Quality issues at Tesla are not new or surprising as media and owner reports of issues are known. This was the first time Tesla has been included in JD Power polls as its sales have finally reached a level that warrants inclusion. As found in the CR survey, these issues do not seem to adversely affect owners’ attitudes towards their cars.

Tesla Model 3 performanceThere are some problems, but …

A footnote on the JD Power survey. This happened without the usual cooperation of the manufacturer. Tesla refused to work with Power to send the surveys to customers in multiple states, but JD Power was able to gather enough data in other states to showcase its survey results. Overall, it turned out that “the reliability of the vehicle is at an all-time high”.

Tesla continues to get mixed marks with owners plagued by quality issues but still in love with their advanced electric cars. It’s a puzzle for the ages, but a Tesla has to deal with the entry of seasoned competitors into the market.

You can follow Clean Fleet Report on Twitter and Facebook.


SHIFT is brought to you by Polestar. It’s time to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility. That’s why Polestar combines electric driving with state-of-the-art design and exciting performance. Find out how.

Published on February 24, 2021 – 11:10 UTC

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Science

A retired neutron star might have been discovered within the well-known supernova – what is the level?

A retired neutron star may have been found in the famous supernova - what's the point?

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Ever since astronomers captured the bright explosion of a star on February 24, 1987, researchers have been searching for the crushed star core that should be left behind. A group of astronomers using data from NASA space missions and ground-based telescopes may have finally found it.

As the first supernova to be visible to the naked eye for about 400 years, Supernova 1987A (or SN 1987A for short) caused great excitement among scientists and soon became one of the best-studied objects in the sky. The supernova is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small companion galaxy to our own Milky Way, only about 170,000 light years from Earth.

As astronomers watched debris explode outward from the location of the detonation, they also looked for what should be left of the star’s core: a neutron star.

Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and previously unpublished data from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) combined with data from last year’s ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) now provide a fascinating collection of evidence for the presence of the neutron star in the center of SN 1987A.

“For 34 years, astronomers have been searching the star debris from SN 1987A to find the neutron star we expect to be there,” said study lead Emanuele Greco of the University of Palermo in Italy. “There has been a lot of evidence that turned out to be dead ends, but we believe our latest results may be different.”

When a star explodes, it collapses on itself before the outer layers are blown into space. The compression of the core makes it an extraordinarily dense object, forcing the mass of the sun into an object only about 10 miles in diameter. These objects were called neutron stars because they consist almost entirely of closely packed neutrons. They are laboratories of extreme physics that cannot be duplicated here on Earth.

Rapidly rotating and strongly magnetized neutron stars, so-called pulsars, generate a lighthouse-like beam that astronomers capture as pulses when their rotation sweeps the beam across the sky. There is a subset of pulsars that create winds from their surfaces – sometimes near the speed of light – that create intricate charged particle structures and magnetic fields known as “pulsar wind nebulae”.

Using Chandra and NuSTAR, the team found relatively low-energy X-rays from the debris from SN 1987A, hitting the surrounding material. The team also found evidence of high-energy particles that harness NuSTAR’s ability to detect higher-energy X-rays.

There are two possible explanations for this energetic X-ray emission: either a pulsar wind nebula or particles that are accelerated to high energies by the pressure wave of the explosion. The latter effect does not require a pulsar and occurs over much greater distances from the center of the explosion.

The latest X-ray study supports the case of the pulsar wind nebula – which means the neutron star must be there – by arguing against the pressure wave acceleration scenario on several fronts. First, the brightness of the higher energy X-rays remained roughly the same between 2012 and 2014, while the radio emission detected with the Australia Telescope Compact Array increased. This contradicts the expectations for the pressure wave scenario. Next, the authors estimate that it would take nearly 400 years to accelerate the electrons to the highest energies seen in the NuSTAR data, which is more than ten times older than the age of the rest.

“Astronomers have wondered if it wasn’t enough time for a pulsar to form or if SN 1987A created a black hole,” said co-author Marco Miceli, also from the University of Palermo. “This has been a mystery for several decades and we are delighted to be bringing new information to the table with this result.”

The Chandra and NuSTAR data also support a 2020 ALMA finding that provided possible evidence for the structure of a pulsar wind nebula in the millimeter-wavelength band. While this “blob” has other possible explanations, its identification as a pulsar wind nebula could be substantiated with the new X-ray data. This is further evidence of the idea that a neutron star is left behind.

If this is indeed a pulsar in the center of SN 1987A, it would be the youngest ever found.

“It would be unprecedented to be able to observe a pulsar essentially since birth,” said co-author Salvatore Orlando of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory, a research facility of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in Italy. “It could be a golden opportunity to study the evolution of a baby pulsar.”

The center of SN 1987A is surrounded by gas and dust. The authors used state-of-the-art simulations to understand how this material would absorb X-rays at different energies in order to allow a more accurate interpretation of the X-ray spectrum, that is, the amount of X-rays at different energies. This enables them to estimate the range of the central regions of SN 1987A without the opaque material.

As is so often the case, more data is needed to strengthen the fall for the pulsar wind nebula. An increase in radio waves, accompanied by an increase in X-rays of relatively high energy in future observations, would speak against this idea. On the other hand, when astronomers observe a decrease in high-energy X-rays, the presence of a pulsar wind nebula is confirmed.

The star debris surrounding the pulsar plays an important role in that it strongly absorbs its lower energy X-ray emission and makes it currently undetectable. The model predicts that this material will disperse over the next few years, reducing its absorption power. Hence, the pulsar emission is expected to occur in about 10 years and reveal the existence of the neutron star.

An article describing these results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal this week and a preprint is available online. The other authors of the paper are Barbara Olmi and Fabrizio Bocchino, also from INAF-Palermo; Shigehiro Nagataki and Masaomi Ono from the Astrophysical Big Bang Laboratory, RIKEN in Japan; Akira Dohi from Kyushu University in Japan and Giovanni Peres from the University of Palermo.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center administers the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

NuSTAR is a Small Explorer mission led by Caltech and administered by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. NuSTAR was developed in collaboration with the Danish Technical University and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The spacecraft was built by the Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Virginia (now part of Northrop Grumman). NuSTAR’s Mission Operations Center is located at UC Berkeley, and the official data archive is located in the research center of NASA’s High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive. ASI provides the mission’s ground station and a mirror archive. JPL is a division of Caltech.

Photo credit: Chandra (X-ray): NASA / CXC / Univ. from Palermo / E. Greek; Illustration: INAF-Palermo Astronomical Observatory / Salvatore Orlando

Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

For more Chandra images, multimedia content, and related materials, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Last updated: February 23, 2021

Editor: Lee Please

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Technology

Digital developments winner of the CES 2021 Tech For Change Award

Digital trends winner of the CES 2021 Tech For Change Award

CES is more than just a collection of new devices and flashy concepts for consumers. It is more and more a place where companies showcase innovations that could really make the world a better place. At CES 2021, this type of technology – what we call Tech for Change – was in full force. We’ve seen everything from solar-powered remote controls that don’t require disposable batteries to machines that pull drinking water out of the air. Of all the world changing technologies on show this year, these four innovations impressed us the most:

Blood pressure is an extremely useful health metric. With this single measurement, doctors can assess your risk of heart disease: the world’s leading cause of death. The only problem, of course, is that most of us only have our blood pressure checked when we see a doctor, so high blood pressure can go undetected for years before it is corrected.

But what if that wasn’t the case? What if everyone could continuously monitor blood pressure throughout the day and identify related health issues before they become problematic?

That’s the promise of Valencell’s newest sensor. By shedding light on your wrist, measuring how much bounce back, and using machine learning algorithms to draw conclusions on that data, the company’s sensors can estimate the pressure in your veins almost as accurately as a cuff.

Better still, the sensors will be introduced in wearable devices later this year. If everything goes according to plan, we could soon have a powerful weapon in the fight against heart disease.

Do you know how automakers are making their cars safer by adding features like lane assist, blind spot sensors and automatic braking? Luci is practically the same idea but designed specifically for power wheelchairs. It is an aftermarket accessory that, once installed, provides the user with advanced safety features such as curb / fall detection, automatic braking and obstacle avoidance. In other words, it makes it easier for wheelchair-bound people to move through a world that, for the most part, was not designed for them.

The best? Luci is not a large, expensive, full-featured wheelchair that few can afford. It is a kit that can be attached to a wide variety of different wheelchair models, so users can attach it to an existing one rather than buying a completely new machine. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?

Telehealth is a great idea in theory, but in practice, it basically means talking to a doctor on a tablet. We don’t really have the technology right now to remotely conduct comprehensive health checks. But EyeQue’s mission is to change that.

The company’s newest product, VisionCheck 2, is an exceptionally clever smartphone accessory that allows you to check your vision whenever you want using MIT-patented technology and an associated application – no optician required. By simply looking into the device and playing a quick game, you can test for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. You can even update your prescription and order new lenses with just a few taps.

It is such things that inspire us for the future. What other tests and health checks will we be doing remotely in a few years?

Once upon a time, hearing aids were basically just volume controls that let you turn up the gain and make everything louder – including things you didn’t necessarily want to hear, like background noise and voices from strangers all over the room. But recently, hearing technology has revolutionized. Many hearing aids these days come with advanced signal processing software that gives more precise control over what you hear.

Widex Moment takes this idea a few steps further. The device uses the built-in AI to adapt to the respective listening environment in real time with almost zero latency. It doesn’t matter whether you are in a crowded pub, a quiet coffee shop or a cinema with large volume fluctuations. The AI ​​detects what’s going on and only amplifies the important noises. Better still, you can also customize the output to suit your preferences and, over time, learn how to enjoy hearing the world no matter where you are.

Also check out the winners of our Top Tech and Audience Choice Awards.

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Entertainment

Barack Obama says he as soon as broke a classmate’s nostril for calling him a racial fraud

Barack Obama says he once broke a classmate's nose for calling him a racial fraud

We all know that our eternal President Barack Obama showed a lot of grace and poise during his tenure, but recently he admitted that he used to have his paws on a classmate for calling him by his name.

During a recent episode of Bruce Springsteen’s “Renegades” podcast, Obama revealed that he once broke a classmate’s class after his then-boyfriend referred to him as “c ** n” during a locker room fight, The Hill reports.

“Look, when I was in school I had a boyfriend. We played basketball together, ”Obama told Springsteen during a major conversation about the race. “And once we argued and he called me ac ** n.”

Obama continued, “First of all, there are no problems in Hawaii, are there? It’s one of those things that he might not even know what it was. He knew, “I can hurt you if I say this.”

Obama said he remembered “slamming” his friend in the face and breaking his nose.

“Well done,” Springsteen replied to Obama’s story.

Apparently this blow also brought a lesson.

“I explained to him – I said, ‘Never call me that,” Obama said.

It is believed that this was the first time Obama told this story publicly.

He recalls telling his classmate, “I may be poor. I can be ignorant. I can be mean I can be ugly. I may not like myself. I can be unhappy. But do you know what I am not? I’m not you.”

He went on to say that this type of rhetoric is then institutionalized and used to justify dehumanizing someone or worse, killing them.

We imagine Obama heard far worse things from racists when he was the leader of the free world, but he definitely got his flowers to keep himself professional.

That doesn’t mean he won’t stop advocating social justice. He has spoken repeatedly about the continuing effects of racism on American society, even while in office.

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Technology

This robotic chef is your private kitchen assistant

This robotic chef is your personal kitchen assistant

“Steaming, which is a very simple operation, differs whether you do it with, for example, a piece of fish, a large piece of potato, a small piece of potato, and rice,” said Mark Oleynik. “All of this is very different, believe me. You need different timing, different tools to get it right. You need a robot that can reliably cook these various recipes – and more. “

When you hear about the challenges of vaping fish, your first thought may not be “a robot can do this”. On the other hand, you are not the founder and CEO of Moley Robotics, a company that has built such a culinary robot in the past few years. At this year’s virtual CES, the company performed live demos of the Moley Kitchen robot while putting together a variety of recipes for the streaming audience.

At over $ 335,000, Moley isn’t cheap. A robot cook, which costs the same as a single family home in many places, can be seen as a little excessive. But Oleynik, a Russian mathematician and computer scientist, has figured out the numbers and believes that one day the robot could be made for significantly less. And what’s better for wealthy shoppers than having Johnny 5 (or some other fictional robo-reference) as their personal chef?

“[Our robots] Recreate the whole process of cooking a meal the way a chef would prepare a meal, ”Oleynik told Digital Trends. “The same ingredients, the same equipment, the same cookware, the same timing, the same temperatures, the same parameters. This has to be done in a very, very reliable way because if you have a sequence of 25 operations and only one of them fails, the entire court will also fail. “

This is what Oleynik said is what sets Moley apart from the myriad of robotic demonstrations where robotic arms prepare food. Robotic arms are usually great for any task that you need to repeat over and over again. This could be anything from helping with assembly on a factory line, to putting a piece in a pan, waiting a minute, and turning it over or removing it.

However, the versatility it takes for a robotic arm to carry out every step of a recipe is something entirely different. It is taken over by a mono operating machine, which is designed to perform predefined tasks for a cook.

Choose your recipe, sit back and wait

The Moley Kitchen robot isn’t just called Moley Kitchen to make it clear which part of your house it goes into. The idea is that it be a standalone fully equipped kitchen – or at least a futuristic representation of a kitchen that might once have existed in an episode of The Jetsons. The main bits are the two robot hands and arms, each of which can “replicate the movements of a human hand” with impressive dexterity.

But it also consists of built-in cabinets, a cooling unit, a motion detection system, a full set of optimized kitchen gadgets and a connected graphical user interface that doesn’t make choosing your meal too complex than pulling up an Amazon item to buy on your iPad.

The user first selects the meal that he would like to eat from a growing database of currently around 100 dishes. This can be searched and filtered in all the ways you would expect, be it by ingredients, country of origin (“I want an Italian recipe, I want a French recipe, a Vietnamese recipe, a Japanese recipe,” said Oleynik), calories, Allergens or a different number of options. The display then shows the information about the ingredients you need, which can be sent directly to your phone or ordered online.

Once you have the ingredients set the right amounts, followed by video demonstrations like a food and drink peloton session. You then decide when to eat the dish, click on “Schedule” and leave Moley to continue with his work.

“You don’t do anything after that because the robot does it [do it all,]Said Oleynik. “The cookware is removed from the fully automated cookware storage. He’ll put it on the induction stove and turn it on. He will automatically add the water to the cookware. He’s going to take ingredients out of the fridge. He’ll add the ingredients. It will save, it will mix, it will mix, it will puree. When it is needed, he puts the cookware in the oven and operates it. By the end of the recipe you have to go zero. “

According to Oleynik, a Moley kitchen robot that has now been ordered will be delivered and installed in mid-2021.

Enter the iWondercook

As it turns out, Moley Robotics isn’t the only foodie robot company to showcase its products at CES. Another startup, iWondercook, used this year’s CES to showcase its robotic cooking product.

“We’re doing a virtual show, but unfortunately it’s very difficult to do a virtual tasting,” Michael Lemberg, inventor of iWondercook, told Digital Trends. “Technological advances will be required before we can get food from my computer to your computer.”

Lvemberg’s vision for iWondercook is, in some ways, more humble than Moley’s. In the broadest sense, iWondercook promises to do the same as Moley. But breakfast at a Michelin-starred restaurant and breakfast at your local restaurant do the same thing, at least in some ways. This isn’t a robot chef straight out of a science fiction movie. It’s more of a device – think Instant Pot with added robo technology. While Moley comes with a six-digit price tag, iWondercook is more like buying a new refrigerator. (Think anywhere between $ 500 and $ 1,000.)

To do this, you get a tabletop machine that checks the ingredients’ expiration date, adds the ingredients one by one, adjusts cooking temperatures and times accordingly, adds sauces and condiments, performs various actions like stirring and then notifies you when the meal is ready for you You to plug in. Again, no user involvement is required, Lviv said.

Healthier than take away

What separates the two from each other and explains the difference in price is the way in which they carry out this respective food preparation. With iWondercook, the user buys special recipe boxes, similar to those from Hello Fresh or Blue Apron, which have been made machine-readable and preparable.

From both a robotics and AI point of view, this limits the problem significantly: it requires no comparable image processing, mastery of dozens of techniques, and the ability to cook anything the user desires. Instead, nutritious meals (Lemberg calls them “food cartridges”) should be provided that can function within the limits of the robot’s capabilities. It’s Food Prep Reverse Engineered.

“Everything [is] delivered to the consumer in a single package, ”said Lviv. “[The user] Just slide it in, push a button and the machine will take care of the rest. We came up with that. We have specially developed digital recipes that our robot cook can carry out step by step. “

So what is the difference between buying a ready-made meal and putting it in the oven for most of an hour? This also brings the user a plate of hot dishes with minimal effort. The answer, Lviv said, depends on diet.

“[All the ready-made meals] You buy pre-cooked in the supermarket, ”he said. “If you put it in an oven for 45 minutes, you don’t boil it. They are heating something that has previously been boiled and then most likely frozen. Every time you do this, freeze something and then reheat it, you lose a fifth of the nutritional value. With meals sold in supermarkets, you are likely getting 25 percent of the nutritional value compared to a meal you would cook from scratch yourself. “

With iWondercook, he said, meals are different. “In our case, the food is only cooked once – right before you eat it. It’s freshly made from fresh ingredients. Because of this, you retain all of the nutritional value of the raw materials. “

Lviv said iWondercook will hopefully be launched by the end of 2021. Compatible meals will retail for $ 8 to $ 12, making it compatible with other recipe box delivery services.

A market ripe for disruption

The culinary world is changing a lot thanks to technology. There are vertical farms that can produce leafy vegetables all year round with the help of robot farmers and LEDs. There are companies that make laboratory-grown meat and dairy products that provide the exact same food, but without actually growing and slaughtering cattle. Then there are delivery robot companies like Starship Technologies, which courtesy of Miso Robotics, automated burger preparation and apps that let you order just about any meal you can imagine from your smartphone.

But so far not too much has changed in the physical preparation of a meal in your own home. Moley Robotics and iWondercook are two startups in this space that are hoping to capture even a small portion of a market that is ripe for disruption. Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for areas where things are consuming valuable time or contain an element that can be considered drudgery for most of us. After all, this is a big part of the reason why many of us eat out at restaurants or order takeaway.

“[I agree that] People occasionally like to cook for themselves, but not everyone wants to cook for themselves and their families three times a day, seven days a week, ”said Lviv. “We’re not saying to stop cooking. That’s not our goal. If someone likes to cook, great. But if that person likes to cook once a week but still has to eat [an evening meal] Seven times a week we still have six days to order our meals. “

Soon in a kitchen near you

This is a prime property for the right company. Chances are, of course, that the company isn’t Moley or iWondercook. CES acts as runway mode for new technologies. Some of these are just plain weird and will never go further than the equivalent of eyebrow-raising fashion blogs. But sometimes there is an early glimpse into the revolutionary technology that will ultimately make up the inconspicuous fabric of our daily lives.

With cutting edge technology, we can now work from home without going to an office (the future of work is strange and fascinating!). Self-driving cars mean that during the time we need to travel somewhere we can soon focus on other things. With any number of apps and tech companies, we can perform tasks – from searching the world’s information banks to ordering our purchases – with minimal effort.

Soon a company will face the challenge of preparing fresh, nutritious meals for us at home without having to worry about a stove. Both Oleynik and Lviv agree that it won’t be long before a version of this technology is found in large numbers of households around the world. If the small selection of startups in this article and at this year’s CES has something to offer, it will be a hotly contested area.

And we, as people who are given fresh, high quality meals, should enjoy all of the delicious benefits.

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