Month: October 2017

To address the new normal of cord cutting, Nielsen is going to start tracking subscription-based streaming numbers in a big way. The idea is to measure streaming services in the same way that the outfit has tracked broadcast TV for decades: with demographic info and the number of people streaming a program. As TechCrunch notes, Nielsen is only tracking Netflix for now, but expects to start getting data from Amazon and Hulu streaming services by next year.

A&E, Disney-ABC, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros, specifically, will be watching those numbers from Netflix. What’s odd is that this won’t be a comprehensive reporting, as mobile devices won’t be counted. Given the number of people who stream on their commutes or on a tablet that might double as their bedroom TV, that could adversely affect the ratings’ accuracy.

Netflix is not an active participant in Nielsen’s tracking and thinks that it’s getting the numbers completely wrong. "The data that Nielsen is reporting is not accurate, not even close, and does not reflect the viewing of these shows on Netflix," the company said in a statement to Variety. Netflix famously doesn’t release its own ratings or viewing trends, even on successful shows, which would of course clear that whole thing up in a hurry.

Nielsen began tracking TV ratings for Hulu’s live TV service and YouTube TV in July, and a month later announced it would begin tracking videos on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube viewing habits back in August. As more and more people shift away from traditional TV broadcasts, advertisers and media executives still need a way to measure a show’s popularity. This new Subscription Video On Demand Content Ratings program should help with exactly that.

Update: The post previously said that "only Netflix has signed on for the tracking service," but in fact, Netflix has not signed up with Nielsen and is hostile to the idea, so Nielsen is tracking them independently. The post has been updated to reflect that information.

Steve Dent contributed to this report.

Source: Nielsen

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Toyota’s next concept car, which it’s debuting at the Tokyo Motor Show next week, isn’t yet another electric vehicle. The ‘Fine-Comfort Ride’ runs on hydrogen fuel cells (remember those?) with an intended range of 1,000 km (620 miles) per charge, and can be refuelled in about three minutes. While it looks like a futuristic minivan, the vehicle is geared for internal comfort and entertainment while emitting no carbon dioxide or similar pollutants.

What’s gleaming from "beyond the motor?" Learn more here. https://t.co/F1MTJfu5NY #FineComfortRide #TMStoyota #TMS2017 http://pic.twitter.com/WQFd7uI1vW

— Toyota Motor Corp. (@ToyotaMotorCorp) October 18, 2017

In a press release, Toyota described the Fine-Comfort Ride as a ‘premium saloon,’ which really fits the lounge-look of its interior. The seating is adjustable, enabling owners to shift it around and make it a group space for meetings. A virtual "Agent" turns the driver’s and passenger’s windows into screens.

Hyundai might have pivoted to abandon fuel cells for the more in-vogue EV, but several other automakers are still developing the former. Mercedes-Benz has a hybrid of both technologies aimed for consumer release in 2019, while Chevy is developing a fuel cell vehicle for the US Army’s transport fleet. Toyota’s own fuel cell big rigs have exited the testing phase and are set to cruise up and down Los Angeles’ port highways next week. EVs might have a lead on saturating the mainstream, but fuel cell vehicles are still in the race.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Toyota

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What do you do when your highly-successful reality show goes out with a bang? If you’re Discovery-owned Science Channel, you quickly reboot it and find new hosts to replace the iconic ones. If you’re a fan of the original and willing to give the new guys a chance to prove themselves to be as awesome as Adam and Jamie are, then your’e in luck. The new version of Mythbusters, a much-loved show that reveled in DIY gadgetry and science, is set to air its first of 14 episodes on November 15th.

Jon Lung and Brian Louden will anchor the new series, which aims to continue the original’s mission to debunk fantastic claims and myths using actual science. The first episode will have the leads testing to see if an airbag can be lethal to front-seat passengers who put their feet on the dashboard. Of course, they’ll use a cadaver to do so. In addition, the team will test out whether a bad guy or zombie will hold still for a dramatic pause if you decapitate them with enough force like they do in the movies. A rocket-powered sword will be their instrument of truth.

Louden and Lung won a national talent search in Mythbusters: the Search, beating out 9 other teams who wanted to host the reboot. Louden has a biology degree and has trained in emergency medicine while Lung is an engineer and product designer.

Source: Mythbusters/YouTube

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Samsung’s DeX is a clever way to turn your phone into a desktop computer. However, there’s one overriding problem: you probably don’t have a good reason to use it instead of a PC. And Samsung is trying to fix that. It’s unveiling Linux on Galaxy, an app-based offering that (surprise) lets you run Linux distributions on your phone. Ostensibly, it’s aimed at developers who want to bring their work environment with them wherever they go. You could dock at a remote office knowing that your setup will be the same as usual.

It’s not quite the same as your typical Ubuntu or Debian install. Linux on Galaxy launches through an app, and it’s using the same kernel as Android itself in order to maintain performance. And it almost goes without saying that you’ll really want a DeX setup, since most Linux apps are expecting a large screen, mouse and keyboard.

As it stands, you’ll have to be patient. Linux on Galaxy isn’t available right now — you can sign up for alerts, but it’s not ready for public consumption. Even so, this is good evidence that Samsung thinks of DeX as considerably more than a novelty feature. It may be a long, long while (if ever) before many people are using their phones as desktops, but Samsung is willing to gradually build up its ecosystem and eventually give you an incentive to take a second look.

Source: Samsung, Linux on Galaxy

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Scientific units are set to receive their biggest shake-up since the inception of the modern metric system in 1960. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) — one of three committees that oversees this type of stuff — is presently looking into revising the ampere, the kilogram, the kelvin, and the mole. The higher-ups at the General Conference on Weights and Measures will then conduct a final vote on the recommendations next year, before ordering them into effect in May 2019. Although it may not impact everyday measurements, the redefinition is crucial for scientists, who require the utmost accuracy for their work.

Ever pondered the precision of the international system of units (SI)? (Why should you? You’re not going to be called on to measure the temperature in the Large Hadron Collider any time soon). You may be in need of a refresher, then. The kilogram is defined as the lump of platinum-iridium locked in a vault in Paris. The artefact is known to fluctuate in weight (due to surface contamination), making it tricky to define its exact mass.

But, it made the cut for its inclusion in the broader redefinition of units with the acceptance of the so-called watt balance method in 2015. This approach essentially compares mechanical power with electromagnetic power using two methods — which measure speed as well as experimental values relating the voltage and current in Planck’s constant.

An ampere (the base unit of electric current, often shortened to "amp") is presently defined by an imaginary experiment involving the force between two infinite wires. In the near future, the unit could be measured using an electron pump. Meanwhile, the mole is the unit for the amount of substance in a system with as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilograms of carbon-12. In just a couple of years, it could be defined using the silicon sphere (the device that gives scientists Avogadro’s constant).

Finally, the Kelvin — the base unit for temperature — relates to little more than water: The triple point of water to be exact. The redefinition would rely on the Boltzmann constant, which scientists measured using a dielectric-constant gas thermometer. By grounding the SI on an invariable foundation of constants, scientists should be able to pin down their definitions for good. Roll on, 2019.

Source: BIPM

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Octopuses are awe-inspiring creatures. They’re smart, and they can camouflage themselves by changing colors and changing the texture of their skin to mimic the environment’s. A group of scientists from Cornell University in New York and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts wanted to give soft robots the same ability, so they created a synthetic elastic skin that can morph into different shapes and change textures.

The team designed a material based on the muscle underneath octopus skin that controls the animal’s dermal papillae. Those are the protrusions in the cephalopod’s skin that pop up when it wants to blend into its surroundings. That material is composed of several layers, including a fiber mesh and the rubber skin itself. When you pump air into the structure, some parts of the skin expand, while others get held back by the mesh to form various shapes, like rocks and plants.

The team still has a lot of work to do to perfect their creation, including giving it the ability to form multiple shapes at once. But in the future, the material could be used not to only to create soft robots with the ability to camouflage themselves, but also to immersive VR experiences. Imagine coming across a strange alien from another planet and being able to touch its skin with the help of a prop. Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

Source: IEEE Spectrum

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