The Morning After: Wednesday. October 11th 2017
Hump day dance.
Hey, good morning!
NVIDIA, a company best-known for its graphics cards, is making computers for self-driving cars, the company behind Overwatch has something new in the works and the Tamagotchi is back -- for some reason.
Google Home Mini bug could make it record audio 24/7
Voice-controlled appliances need to listen in so they can pick up their hotword, but Android Police received a test Google Home Mini that went a little too far. Apparently, it was recording and uploading nearly every sound it picked up, due to an issue that Google says could've affected some other devices, too. As a result, the company pushed a software update to temporarily disable activating the mic via its touch panel, eliminating the issue. Units won't ship to customers until the 19th; we'll see if there's a full workaround in place by then.
NVIDIA introduces a computer for level five autonomous cars
At the center of many of the semi-autonomous cars is NVIDIA processing power. Once automakers realized that GPUs could power their latest features, the chipmaker, best known for PC graphics cards, became the darling of the car world. NVIDIA's first AI computer, the NVIDIA Drive PX Pegasus, is apparently capable of level five autonomy -- far beyond the level two and three vehicles we're only just starting to see. That means no pedals, no steering wheel, no need for anyone to ever take control.
You can use the dials and sliders with a lot of different apps.
Palette's Lego-like controls can make you a faster video editor
Until robots take over video editing, you'll still have to fiddle with cuts, colors and sound levels. A keyboard is not always the best tool for that, and many control surfaces are strictly targeted at Lightroom users. So what's a video editor to do? One of the more interesting controllers on the market is Palette Gear -- it's expandable, flexible, programmable and looks cool. As Associate Editor Steve Dent discovered, if you're willing to spend some time learning and programming, it can make you a faster and better editor, too.
The 20th-anniversary Tamagotchi is smaller but still easy to kill
It's been 20 years since the iconic virtual pet Tamagotchi hit US shores. Many of the first pet ownersthose youngsters now have offspring of their own, and Bandai is hoping to entice both generations by reintroducing the classic 1997 model with a special anniversary edition. But most adults and many children now carry a phone capable of doing so much more than the little plastic egg could. Why would they, or anyone, invest in a Tamagotchi?
After 10 years, I've finally accepted that 'Half-Life' is dead
How Deputy Managing Editor Nathan Ingraham learned to stop complaining and get over Gordon Freeman.
Dow Jones reported a fake story about Google buying Apple
Fake news.
Thinking about picking up one of Amazon's smart speakers? While the new Echos have yet to arrive, its first screen-equipped device just got a price cut. The Echo Show doesn't have access to YouTube anymore, but it does cost $200 -- $30 off the original ask. Amazon says it's a "temporary" price drop, but with new hardware and more competition on the way, we could see this sticking around.
