[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
HTC and Google announce a $1.1 billion agreement for the future of Pixel
HTC and Google have officially announced that the companies have reached a deal. Google will pay HTC $1.1 billion in cash in exchange for some of its employees and Google will have access to HTC’s intellectual property. So what does this mean for the future HTC and the Pixel lineup?
Certain HTC employees, many of which are currently working with Google to develop the Pixel phones, will join Google. In addition, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. This means that Google will have access to HTC’s manufacturing patents and designs for its future Pixel…
[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
HTC and Google announce a $1.1 billion agreement for the future of Pixel
HTC and Google have officially announced that the companies have reached a deal. Google will pay HTC $1.1 billion in cash in exchange for some of its employees and Google will have access to HTC’s intellectual property. So what does this mean for the future HTC and the Pixel lineup?
Certain HTC employees, many of which are currently working with Google to develop the Pixel phones, will join Google. In addition, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. This means that Google will have access to HTC’s manufacturing patents and designs for its future Pixel…
[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
PSA: Turning off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth from Control Center in iOS 11 doesn’t actually turn them off
The shiny new iOS 11 went out to supported iDevices yesterday. So you’re probably already enjoying its many benefits, but here’s something you may not know: the behavior of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in Control Center is confusing.
You swipe up from the bottom, Control Center appears, you tap the Wi-Fi icon, it dims / turns grey, and voila – you’ve turned off Wi-Fi, right? Wrong. And the same goes for Bluetooth.
It turns out that using Control Center to turn off Wi-Fi only results in your phone immediately disconnecting from any network you are connected to (and auto-join for…
[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
PSA: Turning off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth from Control Center in iOS 11 doesn’t actually turn them off
The shiny new iOS 11 went out to supported iDevices yesterday. So you’re probably already enjoying its many benefits, but here’s something you may not know: the behavior of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in Control Center is confusing.
You swipe up from the bottom, Control Center appears, you tap the Wi-Fi icon, it dims / turns grey, and voila – you’ve turned off Wi-Fi, right? Wrong. And the same goes for Bluetooth.
It turns out that using Control Center to turn off Wi-Fi only results in your phone immediately disconnecting from any network you are connected to (and auto-join for…
[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
Meizu M20 10,000mAh power bank fast charges both ways
The M6 isn’t the only product Meizu unveiled today. Alongside the new smartphone, the Chinese company unleashed the M20 power bank, featuring 10,000mAh capacity and two-way fast charging.
What that means is that the M20 will fast charge your phone, but it also fast charges itself. Its 18W input support means it can be fully charged in 3.5 hours when using a fast charger. It works well with MediaTek’s dual fast charging.
When it comes to topping up your mobile device, the M20 power bank maxes out at 24W, up from 18W in its predecessor introduced back in 2015. There’s a button on top,…
[ mukeshbalani.com ] “You heard it here first…if you haven’t already heard it elsewhere”…
China Claims They Have Actually Created an EM Drive
Guess Who’s Back
After a relatively long news hiatus, the impossible EM (Electromagnetic) Drive is making a comeback. Researchers from China’s space agency have released a video through state media earlier this month showing a supposedly-functional EM Drive. Have the Chinese finally made the impossible happen? Let’s not be quick to jump to conclusions here, though — at least not as fast as China did.
First, let’s review where we are with the EM Drive. Prior to this month’s update, there were two supposed breakthroughs regarding the EM Drive. One was a NASA peer-reviewed paper that claimed the EM Drive can work, at least theoretically. The results, however, have been largely contested by experts and is considered controversial at best. We’ll get to why in a bit. Then, there was news that China claims to have proven that an EM Drive works and it began testing one. The latest video, presumably, shows that the tests have been successful.
An EM Drive. Image credit: nasaspaceflight.com
So what is an EM Drive? Also known as a radio frequency resonant cavity thruster, an EM Drive supposedly generates thrust without the need for a propellant. It’s an electromagnetic thrust produced by bouncing microwaves inside a cavity — like a person sitting inside a box and pushing from the inside to make it move. Plus, the total momentum generated by the EM Drive supposedly increases as it moves.
Breaking News, Breaking Physics
The appeal of such a technology is understandable. Not only would it mean cheaper spaceflight costs, it also translates to faster space travel. Here’s the catch, though. The physics of the EM Drive goes against Newton’s third law of motion — for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, which is impossible to generate in space without a propellant.
“Action and reaction is a direct result of the conservation of momentum,” Brice Cassenti, advanced propulsions system expert from the University of Connecticut, explained previously. “The violation of such a basic law as the conservation of momentum would invalidate much of the basis for all of physics as we know it.”
So, as much as we’d love to have a device that could revolutionize space travel and make getting to Mars and beyond faster, it remains very unlikely that it’ll be this EM Drive. Nor would it be a warp drive — which, incidentally, Yahoo News says is how some describe the EM Drive. No, the EM Drive is not a warp drive, the two are very different things.
A warp drive, which remains only possible in the realm of science fiction, refers to a faster-than-light (FTL) form of travel that breaks the speed of light by warping the fabric of space-time. “The bulk of scientific knowledge concludes that it’s impossible, especially when considering Einstein’s Theory of Relativity,” according to NASA.
With no EM Drive and definitely no warp drive in the near (and maybe even distant) future, we’re left with current rocket propulsion technology to travel to Mars and beyond. Fret not, however, as NASA and companies like SpaceX are working on bigger rockets capable of closing the distance between Earth and Mars. Depending on how Mars and Earth align, one trip aboard SpaceX’s Interplanetary Transport System could take just 80 days. CEO and founder Elon Musk thinks rocket technology can improve to cut that down to just 30 days. While that may not be faster than light, nor supposedly as fast as an EM Drive, it’s a more realistic travel time that keeps the laws of physics intact.
![em drive faster than light propulsion](<p><img alt="Microsoft1" src="http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE0LzA5LzI5LzI2L21pY3Jvc29mdDEuYmMwYjYuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJNTc1eDMyMyMKZQlqcGc/49738252/252/microsoft1.jpg" /></p>
<div style="float:right;width:50px;"><a href="http://twitter.com/share?via=Mashable&text=Microsoft+to+Open+Flagship+Store+Just+Blocks+From+Apple+in+New+York+City&src=http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2F2014%2F09%2F29%2Fmicrosoft-flagship-store-manhattan%2F%3Futm_campaign%3DMash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial%26utm_cid%3DMash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3Drss" style="margin:10px;"><img alt="Feed-tw" border="0" src="http://ift.tt/X1tlfS" /></a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2F2014%2F09%2F29%2Fmicrosoft-flagship-store-manhattan%2F%3Futm_campaign%3DMash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial%26utm_cid%3DMash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3Drss&src=sp" style="margin:10px;"><img alt="Feed-fb" border="0" src="http://ift.tt/XP8Wb8" /></a></div>
<p>Soon, <a href="http://mashable.com/category/apple/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">Apple</a> won’t be the only big tech company with a flagship store on Manhattan’s ritzy Fifth Avenue</p>
<p><a href="http://ift.tt/12swK9m">Microsoft</a> is planning to open up its first flagship store at 677 Fifth Ave., about five blocks away from Apple’s iconic cube store, the company <a href="http://ift.tt/1CzGLzz">confirmed</a> to <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> late Sunday</p>
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<p>See also: <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/05/16/apple-online-store-history/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">The Slow Evolution of Apple’s Online Store</a></p>
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<p>“As our first flagship store, it will serve as the centerpiece of our Microsoft Stores experience,” David Porter, VP of worldwide retail stores for Microsoft, wrote in a <a href="http://ift.tt/1nyfzOA">blog post</a> on Monday. “This is a goal we’ve had since day one — we were only waiting for the right location. And now we have it.” <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/09/29/microsoft-flagship-store-manhattan/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">Read more…</a></p>
<p>More about <a href="http://ift.tt/12swK9m">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/category/apple/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">Apple</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/category/apple-store/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">Apple Store</a>, <a href="http://mashable.com/category/microsoft-store/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss">Microsoft Store</a>, and <a href="http://ift.tt/13ICcDg">Business</a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Mashable/~4/Flda6JQJgd0" height="1" width="1" /></p>
<p><a href="http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/Flda6JQJgd0/">Mashable…Continue Reading…</a></p>
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