Gadgets & Tech – Spoken Edition

Boots with a thick tread are a must-have accessory for safely traversing ice and snow in the winter, but slipping hazards can exist anywhere, especially for people with mobility challenges. Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have developed a new material that could radically improve the grip on the bottom of a shoe—without making it bulky or heavy like a snow boot.

Finding ways to stay safe and stable on slippery surfaces has long been a pursuit of companies known for making outdoor gear. Four years ago, Vibram demonstrated its Arctic Grip material that improved the traction of rubber-soled boots on smooth surfaces made slick with ice, but to date the innovation has only been available on boots and shoes designed for outdoor use, and it doesn’t provide any help on smooth tile floors or other indoor surfaces that also pose a slipping risk to some.

With this in mind, a group of researchers from MIT and Harvard University set out to find an alternate way to improve the grip of shoes, taking a mechanical approach instead of just tweaking a recipe for the rubber used in the soles. They were inspired by the Japanese art of intricate paper cutting known as kirigami, which involves making a pattern of small cuts in a rigid sheet to give it flexibility and malleability so that it can be shaped into three-dimensional structures. Most often the art, which is related to origami, is practiced with paper, but the researchers needed something more durable, so they turned to thin sheets of metal and plastic.

Their approach involved testing different designs with repeating patterns of spikes, curves, and even assorted shapes cut into the thin sheets that were then affixed to the bottom of shoes. The various sample materials remain flat while the wearer is standing, but when they start walking, the foot and shoe naturally bend, and the material morphs into a 3D structure with protruding spikes that provide extra grip. It’s not unlike stretching those rubber traction boosters covered in small metal spikes that can be attached to a pair of boots, but here the spikes only extend when they’re needed.

The researchers found that all of the kirigami designs increased traction by anywhere from 20 to 35 percent on various types of shoes used on surfaces including wood, vinyl flooring, and even artificial turf—not just ice. But the standout was a pattern consisting of concave curves. What’s still to be determined is how to implement or incorporate the kirigami surfaces into footwear. It could be part of the shoe’s sole permanently, or something applied only when needed. There’s also the concern of how certain materials will affect floors; if kirigami materials are permanently integrated into the sole of a shoe, there’s a risk of shredding carpeting or leaving marks on wood floors. But the potential here for people who need extra stability on slippery surfaces is certainly exciting.

Parts of the U.S. are starting to open up again, but with covid-19 continuing to plague communities throughout the country, it’s still important to maintain proper social distancing where needed when out in public.

Earlier this year, clues indicated that Google was working on a new streaming video dongle that would both replace the Chromecast Ultra and run Android TV. But now, thanks a new round of leaks, we suddenly have a much better look of what that device could actually be.

Based on product renders obtained by XDA Developers (thanks to user deadman96385), Google’s dongle, internally codenamed Sabrina, sports a more oval-shaped body than the Chromecast Ultra and notably also comes with an included remote. This is a big change from Google’s previous streaming video efforts, because devices like the Chromecast Ultra require users to pull up content on their phones before casting it to their TV.

The remote itself features a handful of buttons, including a dedicated Google Assistant button, along with buttons for Home, Back, Favorites, Play/Pause, and Mute. The device is also likely to come with an IR blaster so users can configure it to work natively with their existing TVs. Unfortunately, because the renders don’t show the entire remote, it’s unclear if the remote will also feature dedicated buttons for third-party streaming services like Netflix or Hulu (though that’s unlikely).

Furthermore, it seems Sabrina will also run full Android TV, instead of being limited strictly to casting duties, with the screenshots in the renders suggesting that Google has some relatively major UI overhauls planned for its TV platform sometime in the future.

Like a lot of other recent Google products, its TV hardware will be available in flat black and white, along with a pastel pink color reminiscent of the “Not Pink” hue Google introduced with the Pixel 3. And as you’d expect from a Google device, Sabrina is expected to support a wide range of Android TV apps, along with native YouTube TV integration and support for voice commands with a built-in remote microphone.

Sadly, while previous reports claimed that this new Android TV dongle could cost as little as $80, there hasn’t been any additional details about when Sabrina will officially get announced or go on sale (though I’d bet sometime in the early fall).

Still, considering that the Chromecast Ultra originally came out way back in 2016, a new streaming video dongle from Google has been long overdue, so it’s nice to see that Chromecast and Android TV fans could have something new to look watch out for later this year. And for people looking for expanded support for Stadia, Google’s new device could double as both a great video player and relay for their cloud gaming needs.

Finally acknowledging that the original Game Gear was a hefty beast as far as handhelds go, Sega has just released details on its latest throwback console: a miniature version of the Game Gear that’s reminiscent of Nintendo’s Game Boy Micro. It’s tiny, but even Sega wonders if it’s too tiny, given the company will also be selling a screen magnifier accessory for its 1.15-inch screen.

There’s no shortage of miniaturized throwback consoles out there to help scratch your retro gaming itches, but the Sega clones have typically been disappointing at best, and frustrating at worst. That changed last summer when Sega itself released a mini Sega Genesis that delivered an experience on par with Nintendo’s excellent NES and SNES Classic Edition consoles. So there’s good reason to be excited for the new Game Gear Micro, which dramatically reduces the footprint of one of the original color screen portables to a handheld that’s just a few inches in size.

With a price tag of around $45 each (official pricing is listed at 4,980 yen given the Game Gear Micro will only be available in Japan at launch) when it arrives on October 6, it’s priced cheap enough to fly off shelves, unless you want more than four games. At launch the Game Gear Micro will be available in four colors: classic black, blue, yellow, and red, but each one will include four different games from the original Game Gear catalog like Sonic, Gunstar Heroes, and Out Run.

If you’re itching to play all 16 games, in glorious 240x180 pixels, you’ll need to buy all four colors. But Sega is making that easier with a $200 (21,912 yen) multi-pack that includes a clunky snap-on screen magnifier reminiscent of the hundreds of awful accessories designed to improve the original Nintendo Game Boy experience. As much as this feels like a console designed to appeal to Game Gear fans, Sega’s approach feels a little cash-grabby as all 16 games could have easily been included on a single console.

There’s also no word on if or when the Game Gear Micro will be made available outside of Japan, or if North American gamers will have to pay a premium to import the hardware overseas. Paying more than $45 for a collection of just four games that, and let’s be honest here, weren’t the most compelling titles even 30 years ago, is a harder sell. But at least Sega delivered something to fans for the Game Gear’s 30th anniversary—we’re still waiting for the Game Boy Classic Edition which never arrived for its 30th birthday.

The Trump regime plans to ban all passenger flights from China as early as June 16, according to a new report from Reuters that cites airline officials. The plan is reportedly retaliation for the Chinese government’s refusal to allow most American flights to land in China while Chinese carriers continue to fly into the United States.

Less than three years after its debut, Amazon has banished its style-centric Echo Look device to the Goodwill pile. The company stopped selling actual units back in December 2019, but the company said this week it would be officially dropping support for the device in July. According to CNET (and first spotted by Voicebot.ai), emails started going out to Echo Look customers yesterday letting them know of the change, and that its capabilities would migrate to other apps and services.

The $200 Echo Look was an unusual Echo device. It used built-in camera to take photos of you in different outfits and then store those images in a personal ‘look’ database. Amazon would use an artificially intelligent algorithm to offer clothing suggestions that matched your personal style—recommendations that you would then buy on Amazon, of course. The Echo Look also judged your outfits like Joan Rivers the morning after the Academy Awards. Out of the images taken by the Echo Look, you could pick two different outfit options for the AI (and Amazon’s in-house fashion ‘experts’) to compare side by side, and the device would tell you which one looked better on you.

Both would take into account color, fit, trends, and style of the time. I never got to try the Echo Look myself, and was not even aware of its existence until today, but good riddance. There are so many different kinds of fashion, and it’s all subjective. The Echo Look was just a kitschy way to get people to spend $200 on a product so Amazon could sell them more products. But after July, those people are going to have an expensive paperweight. Amazon did say it wanted people to stop buying so much stuff off its website, after all.

The idea itself is neat, and I could see it working if it was implemented more like the wardrobe software from Clueless. But I do the bulk of my shopping on online alternative clothing boutiques, Etsy, or sometimes a personalized styling service like Stitch Fix, if I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to hunt for a pair of pants that won’t be too long on me. Amazon would probably have gotten tired of recommending me all-black clothing, anyway.

If you have an Echo Look and want to recycle it, Amazon is telling its customers to do so through its own device recycling program. You also have until July 2020 to save any of your photos, if you wish. Amazon says it will provide a free Photos account to users who want to save their photos through July 24, 2021. (There’s an Amazon Photos?! What doesn’t Amazon have?!)

For Nestlé, its meatless beef with Impossible Foods Inc has ended less than incredibly. Last week, a European court ruled that the multi-national food and drink giant must change the name of its “Incredible” plant-based burger for violation of trademarks.

The legal tiff began when Nestlé decided it would launch its soy and wheat protein burger in Europe in April 2019. Impossible isn’t in Europe just yet but last October it filed an application to the European Food Safety Authority to sell soy leghemoglobin—also known as heme, the protein that makes Impossible Burgers look bloody and taste like meat. At the time, the application seemed like a big signal that Impossible Foods was looking to make inroads in the European market.

In its ruling, the Dutch court highlighted the fact that Nestlé had reached out to Impossible for a potential licensing deal in summer 2018—only to later announce it would strike out on its own. According to the Financial Times, that led the court to believe Nestlé was trying to trip up a rival by offering a similar product under a similar name. To be fair, if you google ‘Incredible burger’, the first result is the Impossible Foods website.

“We are disappointed by this provisional ruling as it is our belief that anyone should be able to use descriptive terms such as ‘incredible’ that explain the qualities of a product,” Nestle said in a statement to the Financial Times. “We will of course abide by this decision, but in parallel, we will file an appeal.”

The plant-based meat industry is hot right now, and the alternative meat market is expected to grow by roughly 28 percent a year and could be worth $85 billion in 2030. The Wall Street Journal reports that in the U.S., retail stores earned over $1 billion in plant-based meat sales in 2019. Meanwhile, another Financial Times report notes that the novel coronavirus has led to plant-based meat sales skyrocketing 200 percent due to supply chain issues and staffing shortages as meatpacking plants shut down.

So, what is Nestlé going to rebrand its burger as? Apparently, the burgers will now be known as ‘Sensational’ in Europe. In America, Nestlé already sells its plant burgers under the ‘Awesome’ moniker. Seriously? While most fake meat burgers are sold under superlative names—Beyond Meat, is another example—it could be that a salty Nestlé is just reaching for an old thesaurus. If you look up ‘incredible’ at Thesaurus.com, ‘impossible’ is actually one of the alternate options.

I don’t know about you, but a Sensational Burger sounds ridiculous. Awesome Burgers also sound like that overeager friend hawking you a dressed-up turd. What’s next? A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Burger? The Improbable Burger? A Wallace Shawn-themed Inconceivable! Burger?

Look Nestlé, there’s nothing wrong with a more straightforward burger name. Trader Joe’s named its meatless burgers “Protein Patties” and based on Gizmodo’s taste test—they’re not bad! People will eat your meatless burgers if they’re not horrible or super expensive. In the meantime, put the thesaurus down.

While most people know that using “private” or “incognito” mode stops your browser from saving things like your history or cookies, those modes don’t fully prevent you from being tracked online. And in a new proposed class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday, plaintiffs are seeking upwards of $5 billion in damages from Google for persistently tracking users and misrepresenting Chrome’s privacy options.

As the future of theaters remains uncertain post-pandemic, cinema chain AMC said in a regulatory filing this week that “substantial doubt exists” about its “ability to continue as a going concern” and its chances of springing back even after its theaters are, eventually, permitted to reopen. The largest theater chain in the U.S.

If you’re going to put a smart speaker in your home that disregards your privacy and functions only to rake in profits from you in any way possible, it might as well be a disembodied interactive version of Futurama’s Bender instead of Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. “Bite my shiny metal ask me anything.