#nest camera offline issue

[nestcameralogin]

How to Troubleshoot Google Nest Camera Offline Issues

Get your "Nest camera offline" issue resolved by checking your Wi-Fi connection, ensuring the camera is within range, and updating the Nest app. For further assistance, contact our technical support team.

[bbmyungho]

01

group: wei

tags/warnings: junseo x reader, supernaturalhunter!au, horror!au, fluff, violence, SU*CIDE MENTION, mental health issues/stigma

“Hey, I think I got something." Daehyeon said, commanding the room's attention to him. I leaned my head on Junseo's shoulder while we awaited the words of the leader. "Finch asylum closed in 1957 after a string of suicides, started with a nurse, ended 10 patients later. Patients reported seeing the nurse and the residents after their deaths, nobody ever listened to them, so— they rioted. Several employees and residents died in the attacks, so they covered it up, closed down; 20 missing persons have been tied to the place since, no one ever found." Dae shrugged, peering up at the crew over his computer screen.

"Yeah, sounds pretty textbook to me. How'd you even find the place?" Donghan asked, throwing a plush basketball at Seokhwa and laughing at the glaring boy.

"A week ago, two teenage girls went in on a dare, never came out. The only way anybody even knows they were there is because of a smashed camera found onsite that apparently belonged to one of them." Daehyeon looked at me and Junseo, who was already searching for more information on the place as we spoke.

"Damn, I'm surprised it took a riot for this place to close down." Yongha muttered, looking over mine and Junseo's shoulders at the pictures he was scrolling through. I sighed, scanning the screen myself dejectedly: even when it was open, the place was completely dilapidated.

"Well, if we are going to hit it up, what are we looking for?" Seokhwa asked.

"Well, we could start with Nurse Shin." I said, pointing at a point in the article for Junseo to stop scrolling. "She was having an affair with one of the doctors, he didn't leave his wife for her, so she took her own life in the ward that she worked. Patients from the same ward started dying the same way within a matter of days; just me, or does it seem like this whole thing kinda starts with her?"

"Alright, Junseo, y/n, you two are on her. Yohan, Seokhwa, and I will try to dig up anything else about the riots and the people that died there." Daehyeon nodded. "Yongha, Donghan, I want you two to go talk to the girls' parents, friends, anybody that might know anything about their plans that night." Donghan clapped his hands and Yongha gave a quiet salute, heading off to go change into their suits and collect their "badges" to go play feds.

-

"Yongha and Donghan are home!!" Yohan called through the house, me and Junseo wiping our tired eyes and finally shutting our laptops to go meet the pair in the kitchen. Donghan was handing Yohan a large drink, Seokhwa routing through a bag on the counter when we entered.

"Aw, come on, they gave me the wrong burger." Seokhwa whined, pulling his food out of the bag and taking a bite anyways. "Come on, Yongha, I can forgive you for the vamp nest thing, but this? That's too far." He smirked, nudging the older man's shoulder playfully and dodging the light smack that Yongha turned to deal to him.

"Come on, can you stop with the vamp nest jabs?! I tried, and we all lived!" Yongha pouted.

"Yeah, thanks to Donghan." Seokhwa snorted.

"Leave him alone, Hwa." Yohan said authoritatively before he put the other boy in a headlock, jumping around the kitchen with him until Daehyeon grabbed his waist and lifted him into the hallway.

"Come on, people are trying to get their food here; I'm starving!" He exclaimed, accepting the burger I'd slid down the counter to him gratefully.

"So, anything out of the parents?" I asked, turning my attention to Donghan and a now pouty Yongha slumped over the kitchen table.

"Not really, just telling us exact times they left and stuff; apparently, one of the girls had a location sharing app on her phone that went offline about the time they should've been arriving in the gates at the asylum." Donghan shrugged.

"Interference." Junseo said, taking a bite of his burger.

"What about IDs on the spirits, any updates?" Yongha asked.

"Well, we know now that nurse Shin was cremated, so that leaves something for us to find probably in the asylum." I said, wrapping my arms around Junseo's waist from behind and resting my head in between his shoulder blades.

"And, we found out that the doctor she was seeing was killed in the riot," Daehyeon added. "Two-for-one special." He chuckled.

"Reckon." Donghan grunted. "Any idea about where he's buried?"

"That's... more complicated." Daehyeon said; Donghan motioned for him to continue. "Well, he was never found; not a lot of bodies were, at least not all in one piece, if you catch my drift." Daehyeon motioned awkwardly with his hands, earning a chuckle from Yongha.

"Most of the bodies from the riot, or at least what could be found of them, were cremated on-site in the asylum." Seokhwa added on his way to throw his trash away. "Alright guys, I'm going to bed early, my eyes are burning from staring at that computer for so long. I'll see ya' in the morning." He waved to everybody before making his way upstairs to his room, flicking the back of Junseo's head lightly on his way up just for good measure.

"Night!" Daehyeon called up after him. "Well, I guess I'll try to dig up some more on this place, just go back and double down on everything. If you guys are going to bed, make sure you pack your bags before you settle down so you're ready to leave in the morning; I want to leave early so we don't get caught busting in like that one time." He rubbed his face before heading back to his station on the couch.

"In that case, I'll probably turn in, too; I've read enough for a lifetime." He sighed. "I'll see you guys in the morning." He was met with a chorus of hums in response.

"Well, what are you gonna do, babe?" Junseo asked, turning in my arms and shooting the wrapper from his burger over my head and into the trash can.

"I think I'll stay up with Dae a little while longer, I feel bad leaving him in here researching by himself." I said. Junseo smiled and placed a soft kiss to my forehead, then to my lips.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning, then." He said. I hummed in response, rubbing his shoulders lightly before we parted ways. "'Night."

[nestsetup]

Are you troubleshooting with nest outdoor camera not connecting issue? Here are some steps that you can follow if my nest camera won’t connect, is offline, or has poor video quality. You can also learn about How to connect nest cam to wifi in this guide. For more info with a nest camera , you can visit our site https://nestcamconnect.com/.

[average-guy-reviews]

Hatching (2022) via Scream Unseen at Odeon

"Hatching is a 2022 Finnish body horror film directed by Hanna Bergholm, written by Ilja Rautsi and starring Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä, Jani Volanen, Reino Nordin and Saija Lentonen."

This is the story of a young girl, Tinja, living under the yoke of a controlling mother. Her mother is living vicariously through her, pushing into competition to make up for a skating career that she clearly lost when she was younger. The mother is also obsessed with a vlog she runs that purports to show the perfect life of the average Finnish family. A life that we as the viewer can blatantly see is pure fiction.

And this is one thing that i really liked about the film. It gives a damning condemnation of people who present the 'perfect life' on social media to their followers, while everything is falling apart when the camera isn't on.

It's clear right at the beginning of the film that the mother has serious issues. As they are filming for her her vlog a bird flies into the window and, sadly for the bird, is let into the room when Tinja opens the door to check on it. After it is captured, and despite being healthy and not damaged, the mother breaks its neck and gets Tinja to throw it away, very clearly stating it goes into Organic waste. It's a really dark moment from the mother that shows, in swift sequence, her two sideals.....the happy, perfect, online mother and the dark, controlling, offline individual.

It's not long after this that Tinja finds an egg in a nest belonging to the bird. I won't tell you exactly how, spoilers and the like, but it's here when things start to go wrong.

The film is really atmospheric and there are clear lines between scenes where it's happy happy, and when there is darkness afoot. For me one of the best visuals is when Tinja is running through a forest. It's a really well done shot and looks fantastic, but it's one of only a few shots that really caught me. Google says it's only 1h27m long and, being brutally honest, it felt much, much longer. I felt like I had been in that seat for about three hours.

And that's the big problem i have with this film. It didn't draw me in enough. I rarely mention the run time of a movie because most of the time it's not an issue for me. This film has a few jump scares (which did get me) and there are some really intense scenes, but overall it dragged....a lot. And that is never a good thing. I've been in 3 hour movies and come out feeling like I've only been in half an hour feeling throughly fulfilled. That for me is what cinema should do. It shouldn't make you feel like you've been in there twice as long as the movie.

Scoring this has been really difficult. I enjoyed bits of it and walked out thinking "I didn't NOT enjoy it", and it almost had me changing my score for Thor: Love and Thunder. I'm not going to do that. Instead I am going to give this a 4.5/10, and that is a damn shame because after the previews I was really looking forward to it....Cinema should thrill you, and draw you in. It shouldnt have you checking the time on multiple occasions and wondering why it was going so slowly.

[your-dietician]

What Happened When the PetNet Smart Pet Feeder Went Out of Business

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/business/what-happened-when-the-petnet-smart-pet-feeder-went-out-of-business/

What Happened When the PetNet Smart Pet Feeder Went Out of Business

The Amazon and PetCo-backed startup PetNet sold a WiFi-connected pet feeder controlled using an app.

When a failed acquisition forced the company out of business in 2020, customers were left with useless hardware.

An analysis by Insider founder that of 33 wearable or connected home startups leading the industry in 2015, only 12 sold products that are actively supported today.

See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Allen Sampsell knew something was up when his cats started to act out. Freya, a “chonker” born without a tail, and May, a younger tortoiseshell with all of her appendages, were hungry. Sampsell had no idea how many days or hours the duo had gone without eating.

“My cats very obviously kept acting like they weren’t getting fed,” said Sampsell, who works on an Air Force base near Omaha and travels frequently for his job. 

Normally, such daily business as feeding the cats went off without a hitch. For the last few years, Sampsell had used the PetNet SmartFeeder, an $150 Internet of Things device which dropped a set amount of kibble into a feeding bowl based on a schedule set using a smartphone app. 

But in spring 2020, the feeder started to go offline. Then PetNet asked for more money. In a letter to customers last May, the company said that anyone who didn’t pay a $30 annual subscription fee would no longer have a working cat feeder.

“I am not even sure if people actually fell for that,” said Sampsell, who opted against the subscription. “And then they folded up shop completely.”

From doorbell cameras and smart locks to fitness trackers and smart glasses, Americans are increasingly dependent on internet-connected devices that rely on software and servers to perform basic functions. But as early venture capital funding runs out, and business plans fall through, many of these startups are forced to sell their assets or shut down entirely, leaving consumers with closets and junk drawers filled with beautifully designed but useless hardware. Worse, because many of these connected devices are designed to handle essential aspects of household life, their sudden demise can create all sorts of problems and headaches.

Even the most well funded of IoT startups have failed, including the $3 billion fitness tracker company Jawbone, which shut down in 2017 after struggling to pay its vendors. Others shut down after getting acquired, like the startup North, which stopped supporting Focals, its $600 augmented reality glasses, when Google bought the company in June 2020. Of 33 wearable or connected home startups leading the industry in 2015, just 12 sold products that are actively supported today, an Insider analysis found.

In some cases, unsupported IoT devices, including the PetNet feeder, Jawbone fitness bands and the smart food scale Orange Chef, are still being sold through online retailers like Amazon and Walmart, which give no indication that the hardware won’t be able to connect to the app required to use the product. Amazon and Walmart did not respond to requests for comment about why they are continue to sell internet connected devices that will no longer work as they’re supposed to.

Though PetNet was just one small company among many, I had personal reasons for uncovering why it failed. Like Sampsell, my PetNet cat feeder had stopped working. My cat Dewey was waking me up at the crack of dawn for a meal that she would normally get automatically. She was hungry. I was tired. That’s when I called PetNet CEO Carlos Herrera.

“The hardware was the Trojan horse”

By the time PetNet sent the email asking for subscription revenue, the company was already in a tailspin.

The startup released the second generation of its cat feeder in January 2018 but the feeder had trouble connecting to the internet. The issue, Herrera said, was with one of its vendors which stopped supporting a key piece of software right when the pet feeder shipped out to customers.

Reports about PetNet’s connectivity issues circulated, which hurt its sales. On top of it all, PetNet had taken on substantial debt from that same vendor to cover its supply chain costs.

“One hand is washing the other with poisoned water,” Herrera told me over the phone one day this June, a year after the company ceased operations.

Herrera had dealt with hardware problems before, but hardware was never supposed to be the heart of PetNet’s business model.

He started the company in Los Angeles in 2012 with two friends, one who he met while playing soccer as a kid growing up in Columbia, and the second who he knew from their job building sensors in the defense sector post 9/11.

Their idea was to sell pet food to cat and dog owners using information entered into the PetNet app. The automatic pet feeder was a way to get people to share that data.

“The hardware was the Trojan horse to get the online food business going,” said Bob Kron, a sales and marketing consultant for startups, who ran sales for PetNet in its early days.

PetNet raised a couple million dollars in seed funding through an accelerator and early investors like Grishin Robotics, but Herrera struggled to get the support of large venture capital funds. 

He had better luck with strategic investors and in 2015, PetNet raised $4 million, including money from Amazon’s Alexa Fund, followed by a $16 million Series A in 2016 led by PetCo.

Crystal Cox/Insider

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Crystal Cox/Insider

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Crystal Cox/Insider

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The strategic investments brought creditiblity to PetNet but the deals had strings attached. Most of the money from Amazon went toward integrating the device with Amazon Alexa, Herrera said, which meant hiring someone to do that work. (A spokesperson for Amazon said that integration with Alexa is not a requirement for Alexa Fund investments.)

The investment from PetCo came with a partnership deal that required PetNet to use PetCo to deliver the food that it sold through its app.

By 2015, PetNet had grown to around 50 employees with big plans to expand the application, but hardware problems derailed those plans.

Despite its sleek exterior, the first version of the feeder had major design flaws. Customers used a wide array of kibbles, and some brands of food contained oils that eroded the rubber router that moves food through the machine. Sometimes the kibble pieces were so big that they got stuck altogether. 

The money Herrera had earmarked for new projects was reallocated toward remanufacturing the hardware. PetNet addressed the kibble problem by offering its customers a free ramp, which went under the feeder and tilted it at an angle so the food would fall out more easily.

While a software company can fix a bug and redeploy its product overnight, even small issues with hardware products can take half a year to fix, Herrera said. “It means you have to repay for everything.”

For every unit sold, PetNet lost around $10, Herrera said. For every ramp it gave away, it lost another $15. Herrera said he only took a salary one of eight years the company was in business. 

“The problem with early stage startups is that you’re always going to be tight with cash,” Herrera said.

By 2018, PetNet was ready to raise more money, and Herrera had his hopes set on a $100 million Series B. But his investors were wary and wanted PetNet to find an acquirer instead.

The startup got close to sellings its business in August 2019 after 18 months of negotiations, but the deal fell through, Herrera said. Soon after, the startup ran out of cash.

“Ultimately, the product/market fit was not there,” PetNet investor Alexey Alexanov, a partner at Cabra VC, said in an email. “Not enough pet owners purchased the SmartFeeder for the company to gain from the potential economies of scale in the supply chain.”

The PetNet feeder is still for sale on Amazon, even though the company is winding down and the product doesn’t work.

Becky Peterson/Amazon

Most consumer IoT companies disappear 

Julie Ask is a vice president and principal analyst for Forrester where she researches mobile technologies. But it’s her husband who bought the wifi connected teapot and door handles, and notably, a wifi-connected air filter. 

“These are expensive one-off products that entertain my husband,” Ask said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do if it goes out of business. I don’t know where we’re going to get the filters.”

Ask said she’s seen a shift in business models over the last decade as hardware companies adapt to the realities of the market. Like PetNet, most device startups offer their services for free in an attempt to win over customers, with plans to charge for premium services once the customer is hooked, and then eventually to monetize data garnered from the device.

A Ring doorbell in 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Internet of Things. Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Two models of Google smart speakers, including the smaller Nest, on display. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

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“Few companies go into this thinking they’re going to make money on hardware,” Ask said. “All of this data is generated to develop some kind of context that feeds insights that lets these companies know more about their ultimate customer or, in this case, a pet.”

Venture funding into connected devices has increased over the last few years, though there are fewer companies in the space raising money.

In 2017, IoT companies, which include consumer goods as well as products in healthcare, infrastructure and connected cars, raised $6 billion in equity funding across 788 deals, according to CB Insights. In 2020, IoT companies raised $10.2 billion across just 465 deals.

“Devices are a really, really hard business. And so a lot of them go under, even if the product is amazing,” Ask said.

PetNet’s product and brand went to creditors

Sampsell has become somewhat of a celebrity among PetNet customers thanks to his YouTube channel AllensCloud, where he posts instructional videos with simple tech projects, including two videos on “hacking” the PetNet feeders.

In the videos, Sampsell gives instructions on replacing the PetNet electronics with a wifi connected board that lets people control the feeder directly with another app. Collectively, the videos have 5,400 views.

The jury-rigged feeder works well, and it still sits in Sampsell’s kitchen in Nebraska. “I’ve been using it ever since I first put it in there,” he said. “I have no plans of buying a different one.”

Winding down the company has been rough for Herrera. He knows customers are angry, and many have told him as much directly. PetNet can’t file for bankruptcy because that would cost money, and there is none, but he plans to personally pay back each person who paid for a $30 subscription once he has the means, he said. 

Dewey reposes in the time between her nap and her meal.

Crystal Cox/Insider

The defunct PetNet feeder is still for sale on Amazon and Walmart.com, though Herrera said he gave up control over the product and brand to creditors. The app is down and the PetNet website now redirects to a pet blog called Pet Keen, which posts tips for pet owners. It’s not clear who runs it. 

For Herrera, there’s no question that consumer hardware startups are a dead end. He doesn’t think venture capitalists want to invest in the space and he no longer thinks they should. 

But the experience hasn’t turned him off to startups. He’s working on some new projects, none of which involve manufacturing.

“Most startups fail, so that’s just the world we choose to be in,” Herrera said.

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[alexharry0003]

How Do I Get My Nest Camera Back Online? | Smart Home Devices

Before you start the troubleshooting process and find out how to get your nest camera back online, one must have physical access to the camera. There are multiple ways to troubleshoot the Nest Camera offline issue.

[markvillacampa]

Week 44, 2020

Surveillance and law enforcement

Surveillance Startup Used Own Cameras to Harass Coworkers

VICE - October 26, 2020 - 9 min

"Employees at Verkada, a facial recognition and security camera startup, abused their company's own surveillance cameras to monitor and harass women colleagues, making a Slack channel with their faces and sexual comments"

Baseline to succeed at work:

Do not abuse the privileged tools you have access too.

Be nice to coworkers.

A higher level takeaway:

"The big picture for me having worked at the company is that it has opened my eyes to how surveillance can be abused by the people in power."

Grayshift, The Startup That Breaks Into iPhones For The Feds, Raises $47 Million

Forbes - October 26, 2020 - 2 min

This company finds vulnerabilities (or buys them from security researchers) in the iPhone, then productises and sells them to law enforcement. It's believed the iPhone 12 and iOS 14 have been heavily reinforced, so the company will need the funds to find (or buy) its way into newer phones.

Crime and courts

Music industry forces widely used journalist tool offline

Freedom of the Press - October 26, 2020 - 6 min

"The popular free software project “youtube-dl” was removed from Github on Friday following a legal notice from the Recording Industry Association of America claiming it violates U.S. copyright law."

Despite what the name of the tool might lead you to believe, it can download audio and video from numerous sources, including some that might contain copyrighted material. Reminds me of the legal battles against CD/DVD ripping software, and P2P software.

Remote working

Reddit will allow employees to work from anywhere, going forward

TechCrunch - October 27, 2020 - 1 min

One more big tech company announcing a permanent remote working policy and a revamp of their offices into something that resembles a coworking space. Notably, it's one of the few companies that will not tie the employee salary to their geographical location.

TikTok

TikTok partners with Shopify on social commerce

TechCrunch - October 27, 2020 - 6 min

Following in Facebook's footsteps, TikTok is adding e-commerce features to its platform to let users purchase goods without leaving the app. Shopify notably also lets customers sell goods in Facebook and Instagram, positioning themselves as more than a simple storefront: a CMS for companies that want to sell products in social media platforms.

ByteDance announces its first gadget in a big education push

TechCrunch - October 29, 2020 - 2 min

It's a lamp. A lamp with a camera. It's marketed as an education product for kids and will be initially available only in China.

Still interesting to see one more big tech company venturing into hardware.

Funding rounds, acquisitions and IPOs

Ant Group to raise $34.5 billion, valuing it at over $313 billion, in biggest IPO of all time

CNBC - October 26, 2020 - 2 min

Ant Group, formerly known as AliPay, is the fintech spinoff of AliBaba. The company was spun off in 2010 due to regulatory issues in China, and is now worth roughly half of its former parent company.

One-click housing startup Atmos raises another $4M from Khosla, real estate strategics, and TikTok star Josh Richards

TechCrunch - October 29, 2020 - 1 min

Home prices around the world keep raising and the process to purchase a home is cumbersome. It might soon be cheaper and easier to purchase land and build your own home, and this company wants to capitalise on that.

Insider Inc. buys majority stake in Morning Brew in all-cash deal

Axios - October 29, 2020 - 4 min

The media is not having the best of times lately, revenue-wise, so a podcast and newsletter company being purchased for $75M by an Axel Springer subsidiary is big news.

This year, Morning Brew expects to bring in over $20 million in revenue, and $6 million in profit.

Apple Buys Self-Learning AI Video Company to Improve Apps

Bloomberg - October 27, 2020 - 3 min

Vilynx, with offices in Barcelona, is the first Spanish company acquired by Apple.

AMD Acquiring Xilinx In Bold, $35B Semiconductor Mega-Deal

Forbes - October 27, 2020 - 7 min

One more acquisition to the list, in the big consolidation of the semiconductor industry that's been going on for a few years. Xilinx may not be a widely known name to consumers, but they invented FPGAs, which have many applications in accelerating machine learning. NVIDIA, AMD's rival in the graphics card market, acquired ARM a few weeks ago.

Self-driving cars

Battery Day

Ramblings from Jessie - September 29, 2020 - 24 min

A month ago, Tesla held an event named "Battery Day" to present their latest advances in battery technology. The article gives an overview of the event, the current estate of the art in battery technology, and what might come in the future, from a very technical perspective. Worth a read.

Waymo pulls back the curtain on 6.1 million miles of self-driving car data in Phoenix

The Verge - October 30, 2020 - 10 min

"Over 21 months in Arizona, Waymo’s vehicles were involved in 18 crashes and 29 near-miss collisions, none of which resulted in injuries"

Waymo has released interesting data on their testing operations in Phoenix.

Other

The Hummer is making a comeback -- and this time, it's all-electric

CNN - October 21, 2020 - 3 min

How Discord (somewhat accidentally) invented the future of the internet

Protocol - October 29, 2020 - 18 min

Another worthwhile profile of Discord. I already included a Discord profile in last week's issue, so allow me to quote myself:

"Discord has been able to modernise the IRC experience, keeping the product free, and monetising by selling “status” upgrades to its users, while funding the communities it hosts. It’s really a genius product, last valued at $3.5 billion."

Auction: An original first iteration "blue box" populated circuit board made by Steve Wozniak and marketed by Steve Jobs and Wozniak in 1972

bonhams.com

This could be considered the first Apple product, before Apple even existed. Wikipedia has more info on these amazing devices called "blue boxes"

Superwhite paint can cool buildings even in hot sunlight

New Scientist - October 21, 2020 - 2 min

"Compared with existing, commercial heat-reflective paints that reflect about 80-90 per cent of solar energy, the new one managed 95.5 per cent."

Crews vacuum 'murder hornets' out of Washington nest

Associated Press - October 24, 2020 - 2 min

Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Dies at 78; Built an Electronics Titan

The New York Times - October 25, 2020 - 6 min

South Korea has a 50% inheritance tax, which means his estate will be on the hook for around $10B of Lee Kun-hee's $20B fortune. This could mean big troubles for Samsung as the heirs might need to sell part of their ownership to pay for the taxes.

Epic says its PC game store now has more than 100 million users

The Verge - January 14, 2020 - 2 min

Competition seems to be healthy in the PC game store, as Valve's Steam had 90 million users as of January of last year.

[shirlleycoyle]

Inside the Podcast that Hacks Ring Camera Owners Live on Air

A blaring siren suddenly rips through the Ring camera, startling the Florida family inside their own home.

"It's your boy Chance on Nulled," a voice says from the Ring camera, which a hacker has taken over. "How you doing? How you doing?"

"Welcome to the NulledCast," the voice says.

The NulledCast is a podcast livestreamed to Discord. It's a show in which hackers take over people's Ring and Nest smarthome cameras and use their speakers to talk to and harass their unsuspecting owners. In the example above, Chance blared noises and shouted racist comments at the Florida family.

"Sit back and relax to over 45 minutes of entertainment," an advertisement for the podcast posted to a hacking forum called Nulled reads. "Join us as we go on completely random tangents such as; Ring & Nest Trolling, telling shelter owners we killed a kitten, Nulled drama, and more ridiculous topics. Be sure to join our Discord to watch the shows live."

Software to hack Ring cameras has recently become popular on the forum. The software churns through previously compromised email addresses and passwords to break into Ring cameras at scale. This has led to a recent spate of hacks that have occurred both during the podcast and at other times, several of which have been covered by local media outlets. In Brookhaven a hacker shouted at a sleeping woman through her hacked Ring camera to wake-up. In Texas, a hacker demanded a couple pay a bitcoin ransom. Hackers targeted a family in DeSoto County, Mississippi, and spoke through the device to one of the young children.

A screenshot of an announcement in the NulledCast Discord server. Image: Motherboard

Ring cameras are the wildly popular home surveillance devices owned and heavily marketed by Amazon. The company has signed partnership agreements with hundreds of police departments around the country; many of these police departments have marketed and sold Ring devices on the company's behalf. These internet-connected cameras have invaded much of America's suburbs, as Gizmodo showed using data that Ring left exposed. These hacks, and this podcast, have turned devices nominally designed to protect people's homes into surveillance devices that have been turned back on their owners.

After the recent media attention about Ring hacks, Nulled members are scrambling to remove evidence of the Ring hacks and distance themselves from the practice.

"Hey NulledCast fans, we need to calm down on the ring trolling, we have 3 investigations and two of us are already probably fucked," one of the self-described podcast staff wrote on a NulledCast Discord server that Motherboard gained access to. "Drop suggestions on what else we should do. It will still happen just on a much smaller scale," they added.

On the Nulled forum, which has thousands of members, administrators tried to delete all evidence of Ring hacking by rolling back the entire forum's database by four days.

Do you know anything else about breaking into Ring cameras? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on jfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.

While Motherboard was originally reporting on the existence of dedicated tools for breaking into Ring cameras, the Nulled website went offline for "unscheduled maintenance," a placeholder on the site read Wednesday. When the site returned, threads about Ring had been deleted.

A Nulled admin then added a message to the site.

"Following the recent news regarding Ring and various members, we feel it is necessary to address and [sic] concerns or malformed notions. Nulled does not and will not tolerate the harassments [sic] of individuals over Ring cameras or similar," the message read. It then added that discussing Ring accounts and similar topics was banned from the site, as well as selling any Ring or Nest accounts.

"No discussing in Shoutbox regarding this," the message read, referring to an instant chat service on Nulled.

The Discord members are split into various groups, such as podcast staff, podcast members, and podcast advocates. In all, around 200 people are members of the Discord server where hackers livestream the hacking of Ring cameras.

In a now deleted thread, a Nulled user wrote, "Hello everyone. As you probably have heard, I was featured on the news for a stunt I pulled." Motherboard was only able to view a partial archive of the message.

On Thursday, some members of the Discord appeared to be panicking, changing their usernames and some saying they are quitting because mainstream media outlets are now covering the Ring hacking.

A screenshot of a bot deleting posts in the NulledCast Discord server. Image: Motherboard

A Ring spokesperson previously said in a statement, "Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. While we are still investigating this issue and are taking appropriate steps to protect our devices based on our investigation, we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring’s security.

"As a precaution, we highly and openly encourage all Ring users to enable two-factor authentication on their Ring account, add Shared Users (instead of sharing login credentials), use strong passwords, and regularly change their passwords," it added.

"It's fucked dude. It's everywhere," one user wrote on the Discord server.

"I'm quitting. It's on mainstream news now," another responded.

"Lmfao doesn't matter nothing's gonna happen," another said.

"Only chance and faez will get arrested don't worry," a fourth responded, referring to the hacker named during the Florida Ring hijacking.

It doesn't seem the livestreaming of Ring hacking is going to end just yet, however.

"Podcast dead?" one user on the Nulled Discord asked Wednesday night.

Another user replied, "Nope. Tune in Friday. Like and subscribe."

Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast, CYBER.

Inside the Podcast that Hacks Ring Camera Owners Live on Air syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[tplinkproblems-blog]

Nest camera offline so what to do

Nest camera devices will secure your home but for that you have to check your camera’s configurations. This is fact that most of Nest camera users do not configure their camera devices according to user manual that they receive. Using Nest Cam sign in you can configure your device but what if your device is offline? Yes, most of Nest users get this kind of problems that their device becomes offline in certain conditions. There can be many reasons that your camera is offline

Check the Version of your Nest Application

If you are using Nest application for your device then you must the status of your Nest device. When your Nest application is not up to date, you will need to update application and manage your device accurately.

Wait for Few Minutes and Check Once Again

When you find that Nest camera device is offline then simply wait for few minutes and then check the status of your device. Sometimes your Nest camera device get offline automatically and get activated once again after few minutes.

Check Power Supply of your Nest Camera Device

Power adapter of your device must be accurate because if power adapter is not connected accurately for Nest Cam sign in device, you will need to reconnect your power supply. nest thermostat login problems.

Make Sure that WiFi is Connected and Working for your Home

When your Nest camera is offline and it is not working accurately then you can check wifi network. If wifi connections are not working at your location then you must troubleshoot your wifi network first and then check your camera status.

These are some common troubleshooting tips for Nest camera offline issues.  

[nestcameralogin]

Why does my nest camera keep going offline and how to fix?

If your Nest camera offline, it might be due to connectivity issues, power problems, or device settings. Check your Wi-Fi connection, ensure the camera has power, and verify its settings in the Nest app. Restarting your router or the camera can often resolve the issue.

[entergamingxp]

seamless scaling from gas giants to detail-rich alien worlds • Eurogamer.net

Cloud Imperium Games’ Star Citizen is a unique proposition: a game designed from the ground up to support the seemingly limitless scalability and scope of the PC platform – something of a rarity in the multi-platform age. Unfettered by the limitations of the current-gen consoles, CIG’s efforts stand apart simply by virtue of the fact that it is not beholden to locked, ageing hardware designs – it’s forward-looking in every regard and the way the technology scales and renders everything from a far-flung star system to the smallest piece of debris on a barren moon is an extraordinary technological achievement.

Of course, Star Citizen is a game that has attracted plenty of controversy in the way it is funded and related to that, how CIG has interacted with customers unhappy with its extended development. In 2012, the game raised $2.13m from its initial Kickstarter from 34,000 backers with a mooted 2014 release date. Recently, the studio revealed that investment stands at around the $250m mark with over 2.5m backers. The scope of the project has evolved alongside the size of its backing. An actual release date for what could be considered an actual game remains unknown but this clearly isn’t vapourware – there is a real achievement here and on a recent visit to CIG in Wilmslow in the UK, I got to see something rather fundamental: how Star Citizen seamlessly scales from solar-level rendering to offering up the most minute detail on its richly rendered worlds.

One of the greatest challenges in getting Star Citizen working in the first place as a massively multiplayer game is due to the nature of its scale. In a typical game, you have dedicated levels or dedicated open worlds of limited size. Star Citizen operates on an entirely different level of magnitude – and to enable this, the developers converted the engine to use 64-bit coordinates to enable solar system-sized game spaces – 536,870,912 times larger than a space based on 32-bit float coordinates.

However, the size of the play area is only one aspect – speed of traversal through this space is another key issue, and in the current generation, it’s typically achieved by streaming world data or having dedicated loading. Taking Marvel’s Spider-Man as an example, the design and presentation of the streaming world is built around the fundamental limitation of how quickly the player can travel through it (a point Sony itself has demonstrated via its PS5 SSD demos). Star Citizen has a vastly more complex challenge: the player can move at great speeds, requiring a new way to access a lot of high-detail world data. Imagine jumping to a planet or entering a space station and suddenly having a loading screen pop up, or even worse, a massive stutter – traditional systems might have that, but that would not live up to the game’s design ambitions for being seamless.

Our first look behind the scenes of Star Citizen development – yes, we’ve got capture from the latest 3.8 alpha, but it’s the development tools and demos that really show the scale and scope the team is aiming for.

Even if the user had hundreds of gigs of system memory, this still wouldn’t be enough to get the job done. Star Citizen’s solution is the use of what CIG calls object containers. Put simply, this is any world object large enough to have a number of nested objects within its bounds or an object with an extensive amount of sub-detail. It could be an entire planet, a space station, a city or a ship.

In a traditional game structure, these object containers themselves would be levels or multiple game levels in their own right, which would require dedicated loading sequences. In Star Citizen, as you move through the 3D game space, this hierarchy of object containers is loading in and out in the background in an efficient multithreaded manner to keep slow-down to a minimum. In Star Citizen, the planet itself is an object container, the space station in orbit above is another and then various points of interest dotted around the surface of the planet are other object containers, streamed accordingly.

In combination with the 64-bit coordinate structure, object container streaming allows the player to travel at incredible speeds while also maintaining detail at both the macro and micro level. In the embedded video above, you’ll get to see a key example of macro scale rendering. Star Citizen sets about rendering properly three-dimensional volumetric clouds of dust or gas at a solar scale. The galaxy is handcrafted to a certain extent, with artists and designers creating large swirling nebulae or planetary rings, using similar ‘froxel’ techniques seen in other engines. In Star Citizen, the gas medium itself is lit and shadowed in real-time from the sun or any other light sources placed into it, representing pockets of especially active gas, chemical reactions or other phenomena.

Since this is all carried out in real-time, this means you can fly into it with your ship and watch as the larger structures from the distance become more diffuse as you progress until you are completely enveloped by the gas cloud. For those areas where designers want even more detail, smaller formations of voxel gas clouds can be placed into the overarching gas cloud to represent hero details such as smaller clouds forming around a jump gate, for example. Or they can add in scattered objects into the clouds, like asteroid fields where even the comparatively miniscule asteroids can cast real-time shadows on the extremely diffuse medium of gas surrounding them.

We put together this overview of Star Citizen last year, based on its 3.7 alpha. Clearly, a lot has changed, but as an overview of the project, it’s still well worth a look.

The sheer scale is difficult to process at the cockpit level but perhaps more comprehensible are the game’s planets – where the technology behind their creation is now onto its fourth iteration, changing greatly in the latest 3.8 alpha. Planetary development involves the work of graphics programming, physics programming, environmental artists, hard surface artists, video effects artists and many more. A variety of different skills and disciplines re required as the planets themselves are so much more diverse.

You have colder worlds, warmer worlds, barren worlds, and so on. An individual planet may be diverse in its own right with various distinct biomes – with each having their own weather effects. It’s a fascinating development challenge as CIG wants a certain level of handcrafting in its game world, so a more straightforward level of procedural generation as seen in a game like No Man’s Sky isn’t a good fit. That entails the development of a system that allows for minute detail and diversity on a world level that doesn’t require an eternity to produce – and that’s what this fourth iteration of CIG’s world-building tech is all about.

The basic idea behind planet generation in Star Citizen is all about unifying much of the creation of the planet into interacting systems – and this all starts with two basic variables in describing a planet: how warm it is and how wet it is – temperature and humidity, basically. These aspects work in tandem with a height map defining mountains, plains and valleys. With this the developers essentially map out an entire texture set describing how humidity, temperature, and elevation are scattered across an entire planet surface.

Combinations of these variable define a biome – so, for example, you could have a biome type that is semi-humid and of a moderate temperature while at a specific elevation range, as well as another biome at the same elevation but with different ranges of humidity and temperature. Imagine the difference between coastal cooler grasslands of Scotland and the stretching deserts of the Sahara as it meets the sea. They could be at similar elevations but the temperature and humidity ranges found in each are very different.

A mixture of procedural generation and artist effort across a range of disciplines is used to deliver Star Citizen’s geography, biomes – and scalability.

The 3D terrain underlying the biomes is based on the texture height maps created offline and then generated in real-time with CPU-based in-engine tessellation. To keep performance high and with as few visible edges as possible, the GPU further tessellates the geometry as the camera gets closer to the ground, to the point where geometry size is just a little larger than a centimetre.

With the terrain in place and humidity and temperature decided, artists cooperatively build assets like ground textures, rocks, bushes, boulders and the like based on different biome types. These assets are then placed on the planet as the artists sees fit. As the assets are placed, they are tied into a specific biome range. For example, a formation of rocks an artist places in one location will also be found in any place of similar biome type – so it’s at this point where procedural generation kicks in, shaping the world according to the basic rules and precedents laid down by the developers.

To keep it all coherent and believable and not looking oddly stratified or just crudely placed, a number of other features come together – like the ability for objects and particles to partially inherit the colour from the terrain they are located in so they fit together, or for temporal dithering to occur between biome zones to smoothen their fall off as the view slowly moves away from the terrain. At the planetary scale you can still see how the planet’s textures manage to show the colour of tree canopies, even though the camera is much too far away for the tree models themselves to be rendered.

On an almost galactic scale, Star Citizen uses volumetric rendering to deliver some beautiful gas nebulae effects.

Ultimately, the new system allows the developers to create planets with as many scattered biome types as the designer wants, based upon how they want to divide up the various ranges of height, humidity and elevation. While this may sound like it only would work on Earth-like planets, a simple changing of the paradigm allows this system to describe a whole host of other world types. Instead of describing humidity and temperature on a moon that is extremely cold and has no water, the two texture types could describe the level of acidity or the presence of some other element.

From there, the artists can vary the terrain and asset scattering for more hostile environments with unique biomes, while the game’s remarkable weather systems are also derived from those three key world data parameters. At the macro level, the height map is used to generate real-time soft-shadows from the sun, with proper penumbra and umbra that stretches as far into the distance as the eye can see with no level of detail switching. This also means so you can see massive shadows from the terrain on the planet from space.

Procedural generation is also used to aid in the creation of Star Citizen’s space stations. Given how these structures outnumber planets in the game, they also needed to be able to be varied, efficiently built but also highly detailed. To achieve this, artists design rooms or tiny cubbies and other modular areas of details and pieces within the rooms with a variety of props and useable game items. Using these bespoke modular bits (which can be further customised) a procedural tool takes all of these elements and systematically generates commonsense layouts based upon a generation graph. In the end, an entire space station can be generated with lodging, a food court, landing spaces and the like.

A look at how CIG shapes worlds with its bespoke editor.

The power of that same idea in the layout tool is harnessed to generate other areas of the game as well, such as the cave systems found on a number of planets where you can go spelunking for mining purposes or set off in search of loot. The same system can also populate planets and moons with a number of tiny research outputs or mining stations. Viewed from the top down, the mixture of artist-driven work backed up by procedural generation looks set to radically improve efficiency in creating Star Citizen’s worlds. To give some idea of this increase in efficiency, all of the game’s pre-existing moons and planets required almost two years of work to create manually but took just a few months to remake using the new system.

There’s a lot more I discovered on my visit to the CIG studio and while the focus of this piece has been on the innovations found in the recent 3.8 alpha, there’s a lot more to come. For example, at the moment, the pop-in you see no longer comes from the planet generation textures or geometry, but rather the level of detail ranges for cascaded shadow maps or the LOD ranges for scattered objects like smaller rocks, trees, or boulders on mountains. These are all tuned for the current performance level of CPUs and GPUs – but some fundamental shifts in the game’s rendering setup look set to shake this up significantly, with some profound implications across the game.

Other work in progress includes a much more realistic atmospheric simulation. Currently, this is handled by local froxel fog volumes going out in front of the camera with very distant atmosphere rendering that looks rather uniform. The next iteration utilises the planet’s height map data to draw fog into valleys far into the distance, beyond the local froxel grid. And similar to the terrain shadows, ray marched volumetric shadows will pierce through this extremely distance fog. This would mean you could see massive columns of fog being lit from the sun and shadowed by terrain all the way out into space.

We’ll be looking at micro-level detail next in Star Citizen. Here’s a teaser image of battle damage on a starship.

All of which suggests a game that is still deep in development, where progress is defined as much by work in overhauling existing systems as creating new ones. So if you do back Star Citizen today and load up the latest alpha, what should you actually expect? Well, the goal is to be a massively multiplayer first-person space simulation – but clearly, it is not there yet. As I see it, there are three main elements required to transition Star Citizen from large scale demo to an actual game. First of all, the current servers do not hold thousands of players – perhaps up to around 60. To get so many more people in one playable instance, this requires so-called server meshing technology to be added into the game. This is where multiple different servers work in a lattice and hand off information, simulation and tasks to each other cooperatively. It’s a key piece of technology and right now, it’s still in development.

The next key technological milestone is NPC behaviour. While NPCs are in the game right now, their behaviour is odd at times or rather limited – and they certainly aren’t the player facsimiles they are destined to become. To make them better in general and to have more simulation of the game world, the game still needs to fully integrate server object container streaming. At the moment, the game servers are pretty overloaded with tasks and can slow down as more AI and simulation occurs over time after players spawn and interact, limiting NPC counts and behaviour. Server object container streaming intelligently culls and time slices aspects of the simulation so that much more of it can happen simultaneously – paving the way for more detailed AI simulation. With server object container streaming in, game development can move on, delivering crucial additions to make NPC behaviour more believable.

The last element we need to see (from my point of view, at least) is persistence tracking. Right now, your characters, ship items and status won’t persist from patch to patch – every time a new update arrives, progress is reset. This is possibly the most crucial test of Star Citizen’s transition into an actual game. Full persistence tracking for item placement and the status of all NPCs and characters requires some extremely beefy servers – not to mention some level of finality in core game technology – but it is scheduled to arrive concurrently with server object container streaming, the first iteration of which we’re seeing in the latest 3.8 alpha.

In the here and now, Star Citizen is still very much work-in-progress and whether you decide to join the 2.5m backers needs some consideration because clearly, this isn’t a game as such. Not yet. However, that’s not to say that there isn’t a huge amount of work-in-progress development to check out. Whether it’s playing and exploring with friends, or simply enjoying some exceptional technology, I’ve personally enjoyed my time with each new version – and those updates do keep coming, allowing you to appreciate the progress the developers are making. But on the other hand, let’s be clear, it’s not an actual game as such in the here and now – and there are still big challenges to overcome. My visit to CIG gave some idea of the progress being made and the amount of resources being poured into the development and having had a preview of the new technology to come, I’m really looking forward to seeing more.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/seamless-scaling-from-gas-giants-to-detail-rich-alien-worlds-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seamless-scaling-from-gas-giants-to-detail-rich-alien-worlds-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[dsrajawat]

If you’re looking for a laptop under 50K, should you go for a Chromebook? Answering this question, I began my review of the HP Chromebook x360.

Currently, a bigger slice of the PC market is shared between Windows and Mac. In contrast, Chromebooks seem like an underdog with relatively lesser reach in India. There’s even a good chance that some of you might not know much about them. These ultrabooks come powered by Chrome OS, an operating system from Google, and represent a fresh take on legacy laptops as we know them.

The x360 has been my daily driver for a while now. I’ve used it keeping aside the complexity bias towards the Windows and Macs of the world. So, if you’re in a pickle, reading this review won’t hurt. You will get to know how it holds up against the alternatives. After all, they vaunt a unique value proposition, especially for the Gen Z.

Let’s see whether it’s true.

HP Chromebook x360 – 14-da0003tu Specs and Price

Model HP Chromebook x360 – 14-da0003tu Display 35.56 cm (14) diagonal FHD IPS BrightView WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080) Processor Intel Core i3-8130U (2.2 GHz base frequency(2b), up to 4 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology(2g), 4 MB cache, 2 cores) Graphics Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 Storage 64 GB eMMC with 256GB expandable storage, 100 GB Cloud storage, Unlimited Google photos/videos storage Memory 8 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM (onboard) Ports

2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C

1 USB 3.1 Gen 1

1 headphone/microphone combo

1 microSD media card reader

Kensington Nano Security Slot

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2×2) Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 4.2 combo

Software Chrome OS Battery 3-cell, 60 Wh Li-ion polymer; 45 W AC power adapter Dimensions 32.54 x 22.68 x 1.6 cm Audio

ASUS SonicMaster stereo audio system, certified by Harman Kardon

Array microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support

Keyboard and Trackpad

Backlit Chiclet single-color keypad

Precision (PTP) Technology Supports up to Four-finger Smart Gestures

Weight 1.68 Kg Biometric unlock HP Wide Vision HD Camera with integrated dual array digital microphone Colors

White Ceramic

India Price Rs. 44,990

HP Chromebook x360 Review: Design and Build

Let me put it out there that this one’s a charmer. The Chromebook X360 comes with a 360-degree rotating hinge, which means you can use it as Flip in Laptop, Stand, Tent, or Tablet mode. This opens up multiple use cases. Go figure! Whilst using in the flip-in form, the screen wobbles a bit. But it is not a biggie and the hinge is pretty solid with no creak.

Even if you keep the convertibility factor aside, the laptop still slays on the design front. The hood is made of aluminum anodized body cloaking a ceramic white finish, which looks slick. There is a chrome logo, the staple Chromebook identifier on the left side. The company claims the matte surface is scratch-resistant, although we never went out of our way to test it.

The Chromebook is slim at 16.05mm and trim at 1.6kgs. So, it was lite to carry around in hand, in my daypack or seating it on my lap. Like lap-ability, the one-handed opening test also was easy peasy. Once you open the lid, you’ll see a 720p webcam nesting right above the display. But there is no face unlock or any other biometric unlocking option, which is a real kicker.

ALSO READ: Asus ZenBook 14 (UX434FL) review: That Dual Display though!

HP Chromebook x360 Review: Display, Keyboard and Audio

This one has an IPS WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080) display that stretches 14-inches diagonally. It is affable in terms of colors, brightness, viewing angles, yada yada yada. The only glaring issue I have with this panel is that its glossy and reflective, which spoils the experience while using under harsh lighting.

The touchscreen is also responsive and plays well with the Chrome OS interface, especially in flip-in and tablet mode. Don’t wanna touch? Then use it as any other regular clamshell model. The chicklet keys offer a comfortable typing journey across the board. As for the trackpad, it’s one of the spacious ones I’ve come across so far with a precise response to my fingers.

Now since its a Chromebook, it carries few bells and whistles of its own, which you must know. You might be caught off guard by the layout and kind of keys on the pad. There are dedicated keys for various Chrome OS functions. Well, if you find it tough to adapt, then simply remap the buttons from the settings. Likewise, there is a slew of shortcuts and gestures, which you can learn to enhance your experience.

The X360 sports dual speakers tuned by B&O (Bang & Olufsen), one at the base of the laptop and the other above the keypad. The combined output is decently loud and clear. You even get a volume rocker flanked on the chassis, just as on your mobile handset.

HP Chromebook x360 Review: Performance and Experience

The internals includes an 8th gen Intel Core i3 CPU with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620. On the memory front, you get 8 GB DDR4 SDRAM and 64GB eMMC storage. Although you won’t notice an apparent difference in speed, the volume transferred is crippled by a single lane system unlike SSD, which is a multi-lane highway.

All of these are soldered directly onto the device’s motherboard and are sealed off from the user’s access. Anyway, if you’re short on storage, you could expand it further up to 256GB using a microSD card or avail the 100GB of google cloud storage.

The software is, however, the key differentiating factor here. Now, there are several misconceptions surrounding the Chrome OS, which needs to be debunked.

If you conceive it as just a browser, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Though the platform is built on and around Chrome,  it’s much more than that.

You can use it w/o the internet. An umpteen number of apps work offline including Google ones like Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets. If you’re connected, well then you can enjoy your google data on the go, since its all synced real-time to the cloud. It has a wide library of apps on the Play Store and Linux Virtual Machine.

Off the cuff, you would notice it boots like a flash in a matter of seconds. Once you log in via a password or pin, the home screen appears. There is a taskbar at the bottom, which is called Shelf and is similar to the dock on Mac. You get to pin your favorite apps on to it. Since you’re not allowed to place icons on the screen, the desktop is clutter-free and minimal with just the dock and the wallpaper.

You can invoke Google Assistant with your voice or the dedicated button on the keypad. This button can be used to access the app tray. Speaking of apps, you can use a plethora of them from the Google Play Store. As an Android user, this meant I can use the same apps that I use on my phone.

But can’t say it’s device agnostic. When the apps ape the UI meant for the mobile phones onto a bigger canvas, the overall experience takes a backseat. Plus, the Play Store alternatives of legacy apps like Microsoft Office and Adobe Suite are barebones. 

Another quick tip would be to use CrossOver for running legacy Windows applications or try out the Linux based alternatives. But either of them isn’t a simple solution.

On that note, what about Linux on Chromebook? If you’re unfamiliar, Linux on Chromebook is based on Debian distribution and runs within a Virtual Machine. I tried flashing Gimp. While the installation went smooth, the app, as well as the Linux terminal, crashed. All this may be cuz it’s still in beta state. So it’s not a viable option still. My case in point.

Coming to the main course – the performance!

If you’ve felt the Chrome browser to be a ginormous RAM sucker in other laptops, here inside Chromebook, it feels at home. I’m the kind of guy who’d have a fleet of tabs opened on Chrome at all times. Yet, I felt no hiccup, lag or crashes during my review frame. But, let me be clear, there was no jot of difference in the browsing Speedtests (Chromebook | Windows Pavilion Laptop). A quick tip: you may use extensions such as The Great Suspender or OneTab to better manage the tabs.

Just like the cold boot times, other processes like app-loading and pdf document opening, etc also were fast.

The system updates and backup resembles the Android implementation. They take place smoothly in the background without interrupting your activities. No sweat!

Next up, let me put light upon some security features I loved –

Chromebook sandboxes every activity instance of yours, isolating any threat you’ve downloaded from the web. The boot also verifies the system and will reset everything to its original state, if some malfunction found. Like the Former FBI most wanted hacker, Kevin Mitnick claims, there is a limited attack vector and there’s just nothing to exploit on Chromebooks. So good riddance from viruses and antiviruses.

Lastly, there is Powerwash, which is the reset option that’s fairly quick and effective. Since the data is mostly stored online, you get a fresh copy without losing much data. In fact, the system snapped while I was poking around Chrome Flags and Powerwash came in handy.

Speaking of chrome flags, you can tweak some experimental features and even basics like – Show previews of running apps when hovering over the shelf.

All that said and done, there is one area where Chromebook bites the dust and that is – any graphic intensive process. So, this one gets a big no-no for playing heavy games. In my trials, Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty performance was passable with noticeable frame drops and ghosting issues. However, you can have a good time playing casual titles like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, etc.

Now since the Chromebook caters to low graphic processes, it depends on passive cooling and so you need not worry about any whirring noise over-course.

Nonetheless, here are a few of our benchmark test results –

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CrXPRT Performance benchmark

Speedometer

Geekbench 5

3DMark

Androbench Scores for RnW speed

DRM Info

ALSO READ: Asus VivoBook S14 S431F Review

HP Chromebook x360 Review: Battery and Connectivity

This HP Chromebook claims to run for 11 hours on a 3-cell, 60 Wh Li-ion polymer battery. I must say the Chrome OS is very power-efficient and I’m impressed by X360’s battery endurance. In my Crosh (accessed by the command – Ctrl+Alt+T) test, the laptop discharged 77.86% in 8 hours. The battery discharged within 9 hours 25 minutes according to chrome://power data.

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When it begs for a charger, you can use the bundled 45W AC power adapter via either of the 2 USB-C ports. It took around 15 minutes to refill 25% of the battery. Other ports are 1 USB A, 1 headphone jack, and an SD card expansion slot. If you’re scratching your head about the tiny square slot beside the USB-A port, its for security lock cable to moor the Chromebook to a table. I just wished there was an HDMI socket instead so that I could connect my secondary monitor. 

So should you buy it? Is it worth your money?

HP Chromebook x360 Review: Verdict

Lately, Apple is seen repositioning iPads as a Chromebook alternative and Microsoft is banking on the Surface Go. So, when both these biggies act wary of Chromebook, it got to mean something, right?

Yes, that’s somewhat true. But essentially, HP Chromebook X360 feels like a double-edged sword.

On one hand, HP has engineered a good-looking laptop with ergonomic keypad, touchpad, respectable audio output, and pleasing display. It can transform into multiple formats, to each their own.

It suits well for those who want something to carry on-the-fly and can live without games, Photoshop, Premiere Pro and the likes. It is a capable work machine for internet browsing, media consumption, and anything but graphics-demanding tasks. The GPU acceleration or the lack of one – is its Achilles heel.

Thus, on the other hand, HP Chromebook x360 might not be the renaissance in the world of Chromebooks. It is marred by the same pros & cons that come with Chrome OS.

Summing up, if it fits your bill, go for it. Else, you still have your options. Either way, you better mull over your preferences and needs once. Maybe this will help you –

Reasons to buy

Attractive and Solid Convertible

Good keypad, touchpad, and touchscreen

Fast and Secure OS with Real-time data sync

Long-Lasting battery life backed by a USB-C charger

App uniformity for Android users

Reasons to not buy

Reflective display

Missing HDMI port

Lack of powerful graphics card

Small Storage capacity

Play Store apps can’t match the legacy apps

Photos by Manmeet Singh | Smartprix

HP Chromebook x360 Review (14-da0003tu) If you're looking for a laptop under 50K, should you go for a Chromebook? Answering this question, I began my review of the HP Chromebook x360.

[fazeupmag-blog]

New Post has been published on Fazeup

New Post has been published on https://www.fazeup.tk/2019/05/lenovo-good-tab-p10-overview-simply-purchase-an-echo-present/

Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview: Simply purchase an Echo Present

CES is a yearly commerce present the place firms close to and much come collectively and introduce new merchandise. Lenovo confirmed as much as this 12 months’s occasion with a contemporary two-in-one Android pill that doubles as an Amazon Echo Present. Referred to as the Good Tab P10, the distinctive gadget lets you carry round a fully-functional Android pill and in addition dock it so it could possibly act as a wise show whereas it fees. 

Now that the gadget is on the market to buy, is it price $350? That is Android Authority’s Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview.

About this Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview: I used two Good Tab P10 items provided by Lenovo for a month. The primary unit was faulty. The second pill we acquired was operating Android 8.1 Oreo model TB-X705F_S000041_20190322_ROW with the February 5, 2019, Android safety patch.

Present Extra

Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview: The massive image

Lenovo partnered with Amazon to construct an Android pill that’s nonetheless helpful through the numerous hours that it isn’t getting used. As a substitute of leaving the gadget to gather mud all through the day, why not put it on show? 

That’s precisely what the 2 firms have been in a position to accomplish. Whereas docked, the Good Tab P10 provides Amazon’s visible Alexa good show expertise discovered on the Echo Present. Because of this the show is all the time scrolling by way of information alerts, the climate, and is able to answering primary queries and controlling different good house tech. 

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Though the idea is the primary of its variety and ought to be an on the spot success, Lenovo stored the gadget’s value down by together with mid-tier specs. This resolution alone could possibly be the Good Tab P10’s downfall, because it usually results in poor efficiency.

What’s within the field

Lenovo Good Dock

Energy adaptor for dock

3-ft USB-C cable

MicroSD card ejection software

The unboxing expertise doesn’t maintain any surprises. Open the field and you may be greeted with the Good Tab P10. The Lenovo Good Dock and energy adapter could be discovered under a chunk of cardboard alongside the short begin information.

Lenovo additionally threw in a microSD card ejection software and a USB-C cable. The software could be inserted into the appropriate aspect of the pill to pop the reminiscence card tray out of the gadget. The USB cable can be utilized to cost the Good Tab P10 instantly should you don’t wish to place the pill on the dock. Sadly, Lenovo doesn’t embody a wall adapter, so that you’ll have to supply your personal. 

Design

242 x 167 x 7mm

440g

Glass construct

Cloth-covered plastic dock

Single rear and entrance digital camera

Entrance-facing fingerprint sensor

4 audio system tuned with Dolby Atmos

3.5mm headphone jack

At $350, the Lenovo Good Tab P10 feels premium. As with high-end flagship smartphones, this pill is 2 slabs of glass sandwiching a steel body. The mix makes it really feel like a much-more-expensive product. 

The pill is gentle sufficient that holding it for an prolonged interval shouldn’t be an issue. The Good Tab P10 is available in at roughly two occasions the load of the common smartphone, however its measurement spreads that out evenly.

There may be sufficient flexibility within the gadget that I apprehensive about by accident snapping the pill

The skinny nature of the pill is regarding. Out of the field, the overview unit already had a slight bend within the body. I discovered that I might simply flex the complete slab with out exerting an excessive amount of strain. I fear that the Good Tab P10 might simply be damaged with tough use in a household setting.

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You can see the pill’s two ports on the high of the Good Tab P10’s proper edge when holding the gadget in panorama. The situation is handy if you wish to hearken to audio through the headphone jack, however the USB-C port feels misplaced. 

The facility button and quantity rocker are stacked on high of each other on the left fringe of the pill. The Lenovo Good Tab P10’s fingerprint sensor is situated below the show on the face of the gadget. I discovered the buttons to be clicky and the sensor to be dependable 98 % of the time. The fingerprint sensor can be utilized as a again button whereas utilizing apps on the pill.

Because the pill is supposed to be docked when not in use, the Good Tab P10 options two pogo pin pads and twin slots on the underside edge that match the receiver on Lenovo’s Good Dock. The gadget instantly begins the pairing course of with the dock over Bluetooth the second the pill is dropped into place. 

The Good Dock itself is made out of a plastic that doesn’t fairly match the premium look of the pill. Luckily, the skin edge is wrapped in cloth which makes the dock look extra at house wherever you determine to put it. 

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Identical to different good shows, the dock options three buttons: Bluetooth, quantity rocker, and mute. It additionally features a kickstand that rotates out of the bottom of the dock for stability. The added assist is important should you plan to work together with the Lenovo Good Tab P10 whereas it’s on the accent.

Show

10.1-inch LCD IPS show

1920 x 1200 Full HD decision

We’ve been spoiled over the past couple of years. Mid-tier and even some price range smartphones now characteristic high-quality LCD or OLED shows with pleasing resolutions. It’s fairly clear that Lenovo selected to save lots of a few bucks by skimping on the Good Tab P10’s LCD panel.

Watching content material on the pill is bearable, however the colours are usually washed out. The viewing expertise isn’t disrupted, however there’s a clear distinction between this pill and nearly every other gadget with a big show. 

You may need observed that the Good Tab P10 additionally has vital bezels surrounding the show. As somebody who isn’t a fan of the ever-growing development of bezel-less gadgets, I discovered the scale of those bezels to be almost good. Rating one for Lenovo.

The additional area might most likely be toned down a hair, however the wider bezels allowed me to simply maintain onto the pill whereas watching movies in panorama or studying an e book in portrait. 

Efficiency

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450

Octa-core, 1.8GHz

4GB RAM, 64GB storage

MicroSD card as much as 256GB

The Lenovo Good Tab P10’s Android expertise begins to crumble in terms of efficiency. Whereas it’s good to have 4GB of RAM, the price range Snapdragon 450 processor is simply lower than snuff. 

The processor dealt with single duties simply nice, with solely a small quantity of stuttering and barely prolonged load occasions. Throw extra complicated duties like graphic-intensive video games similar to Asphalt Xtreme on the pill, and issues begin failing.

Deal with the Good Tab P10 as a extraordinarily primary pill and also you shouldn’t run into too many issues. If a household have been to depart the gadget sitting of their front room, everybody ought to have the ability to decide it up every now and then and revel in streaming Netflix, enjoying primary studying video games, or performing some on-line procuring.

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Antutu

3DMark

I examined the highest Good Tab P10 mannequin, which incorporates 64GB of storage. Because the pill is supposed to be the middle piece of a house and utilized by a complete household, it might have been good to see extra built-in storage for video games and different offline content material. 

Luckily, Lenovo did embody a microSD card slot so you would add as much as 256GB of further storage. 

Battery

7,000mAh

All-day battery life

Costs by way of dock

Regardless of its slim profile, the Good Tab P10 has a moderately massive 7,000mAh battery. Bigger cells don’t all the time equal longer battery lives, however Lenovo did a very good job optimizing the pill’s software program. 

I used to be getting roughly 10 to 12 hours of screen-on time throughout my testing, and my use included scrolling by way of social media, watching random YouTube movies, and sometimes refreshing my Feedly record. 

Most will put the pill again on the charger properly earlier than the battery is depleted

Apart from after I was explicitly attempting to run down the battery, I by no means left the Good Tab P10 off of the dock for greater than two to 3 hours. I anticipate most prospects will most likely observe in my footsteps and solely decide up the gadget for brief durations. 

Digital camera

Rear: 8MP with autofocus

Entrance: 5MP with fastened focus

Pill cameras have by no means been good. Individuals sometimes attempt to use tablets to take pictures, however the pictures don’t prove properly. The particular person holding up the big show additionally sometimes finally ends up trying humorous to onlookers.

As you may see from the pattern pictures under, the rear and selfie sensors ought to by no means be used to seize photos.

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The one good use that I discovered for the Lenovo Good Tab P10’s cameras was for video conferencing and Amazon’s Drop In characteristic. The pattern pictures present how poor the 2 sensors are, however they work simply nice for fast “face-to-face” chats. 

No matter you do, please don’t be that particular person at an occasion holding up their pill to snap a photograph. It doesn’t matter what telephone you have got, it should possible seize a greater picture.

Software program

Android 8.1 Oreo

Evenly skinned software program expertise

Present mode 

Productiveness mode

Android tablets are recognized for underperforming and being uncared for by each the producer and Google. Lenovo launched the Good Tab P10 with Android 8.1 Oreo — a model of the cell working system that’s nearly two years previous — and I don’t have excessive hopes that this gadget will ever run trendy software program (Android P or Q). 

The pill acquired one bug-fixing software program replace whereas I used to be reviewing it. The Good Tab P10 remains to be on the February 2019 safety patch. You shouldn’t anticipate to see well timed system updates from Lenovo.

However the cause why we’re speaking in regards to the Lenovo Good Tab P10 is due to a characteristic referred to as Present mode. The characteristic successfully turns the pill into one in all Amazon’s Echo Present gadgets. It may be mechanically enabled by putting the Good Tab P10 into the Good Dock or by manually turning it on from the notification shade.

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When Present mode is enabled, Amazon’s software program runs on high of Android. This lets you proceed receiving push notifications and rapidly soar again into the pill expertise by swiping up or down on the pill whereas it’s docked. 

Whereas operating, your pill responds to instructions given to Alexa. These embody primary queries, requests to manage different good gadget similar to a Ring video doorbell, and extra. As its replicating an Echo Present expertise, information tales, the climate, and different playing cards will rotate across the show all through the day.

Because the customized mode is operating on high of Android, Amazon needed to transfer Present mode’s settings to inside the pill. On conventional Echo Present hardware, customers might handle the good show by swiping up or down from numerous areas of the house display. On the Good Tab P10, these settings could be discovered inside the pill’s settings menu.

As somebody who has spent a while with an Echo Present, I discovered it moderately troublesome to seek out these choices. Due to that, I imagine Present mode might use some refining with a view to be extra consumer pleasant. However in addition to that, all the pieces else can simply be managed by the Alexa app.

If there may be one characteristic that Lenovo included that I like, it’s Productiveness mode. As seen above, the operate turns the pill into one thing that resembles a Chromebook or Home windows machine.

First, the software program navigation buttons are shifted over to the left aspect of the show. Subsequent, Lenovo brings up the icons of recently-used apps. The corporate markets this mode for individuals who wish to swap between duties rapidly.

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Because the Good Tab P10 lacks processing energy, the expertise of leaping between a number of operating apps was lower than optimum. Productiveness mode could be an awesome factor to see Lenovo convey to a higher-end pill. 

Audio

3.5mm headphone jack

4 front-facing audio system with Dolby Atmos

Three far-field mics and two 3W audio system within the dock

The audio system on the Lenovo Good Tab P10 let me down. After studying that the 4 front-facing audio system embody Dolby Atmos, I anticipated loud, clear audio whereas watching a present or listening to music. As a substitute, the pill delivers an unimpressive audio expertise that you simply would possibly anticipate from a price range smartphone. 

Lenovo preinstalls a Dolby Atmos app on the Good Tab P10, however there’s solely a lot adjusting you are able to do to repair the flat sound that comes from the pill’s audio system. 

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Your finest wager is to pair the pill to Lenovo’s Good Dock over Bluetooth, which could be executed whereas it’s faraway from the accent. The unit contains two a lot bigger drivers and produces loud and extra pleasing audio. It lacks within the bass division, however it might have been exhausting to suit a small subwoofer into the plastic dock.

Lenovo Good Tab P10 specs

  Lenovo Good Tab P10 Show 10.1” FHD (1920 x 1200) LCD IPS show Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Octa-core. 1.8GHz RAM 4GB LPDDR3 Storage 64GB MicroSD Sure – As much as 256GB Battery 7,000mAh Cameras Rear: 8MP with autofocus

Entrance: 5MP with fastened focus

Audio system 4 front-facing with Dolby Atmos IP score No Headphone jack Sure Connectivity 802.11ac dual-band Bluetooth 4.2 Safety Entrance-facing fingerprint sensor under the show Software program Android 8.1 Oreo Dimensions and weight 242 x 167 x 7mm 440g Colours Aurora Black

Worth for the cash

Lenovo Good Tab M10 with 2GB/16GB — $199.99

Lenovo Good Tab M10 with 3GB/32GB — $249.99

Lenovo Good Tab P10 with 3GB/32GB — $299.99

Lenovo Good Tab P10 with 4GB/64GB — $349.99

Though we reviewed the highest Good Tab P10 mannequin with a glass again, Lenovo additionally sells the Good Tab M10 which encompasses a plastic construct (maybe higher for households with young children.) The 4 variants out there are largely the identical below the hood, with solely slight variations to achieve totally different value factors.

After experiencing the efficiency points on the most-capable (4GB/64GB) variant of the Lenovo Good Tab P10, I wouldn’t advocate any of the three slower fashions. That is much more true should you plan to make use of the Android facet of the gadget. 

Don’t purchase the cheaper variants if you wish to benefit from the Android expertise

As for worth, you get two totally different gadgets with the Good Tab P10: an Echo Present and an Android pill. Amazon’s latest-gen Echo Present retails for $230. In comparison with the Tab P10’s $349 value, and also you begin to marvel if the Android expertise is price the additional $120. 

If you need a pure Android pill, I’d advocate you take a look at one thing just like the Samsung Galaxy S5e. It’s barely costlier, however it comes with a greater show, extra highly effective processor, and smoother consumer expertise. If you need simply the Echo Present expertise, take a look at the most cost effective Good Tab M10 mannequin. It’s extra inexpensive than an precise Echo Present.

Lenovo runs gross sales on its Good Tab lineup the entire time, so chances are high you may decide up the pill for a barely decreased value. Saving a few bucks helps with the worth proposition. 

Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview: The decision

Lenovo launched a novel gadget with the Good Tab P10 that makes an attempt to mix the Amazon and Google pill experiences. Having the two-in-one performance was handy, however the poor efficiency made me by no means wish to take away the pill from its dock.

Once I did use the P10 as a pill, I used to be reminded why Android has largely failed on the bigger kind issue. Apps are sluggish and barely optimized for the larger display. It’s simply not enjoyable to make use of. 

If you need an Echo Present, I’d advocate saving a couple of dollars and shopping for a devoted unit instantly from Amazon. The characteristic set is equivalent to what’s provided in Present mode, plus it is possible for you to to go on to Amazon for assist in case your gadget begins performing up.

Right here’s hoping that Lenovo builds Present mode right into a future pill with premium specs and a extra present model of Android.

Click on on the button under should you’re considering buying the Lenovo Good Tab P10 or one in all its siblings. Thanks for studying Android Authority‘s Lenovo Good Tab P10 overview!

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