We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If you like the idea of running errands or going for a jog without lugging your phone around, the Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS + Cellular) is down to $249.99 on Woot. Thats a $500 discount on its original $749 price tag, but the deal is only live for two days or until it sells out. If youre an Amazon Prime member, you get free standard shipping, while others will have to pay $6 (keep in mind that Woot wont ship to Alaska, Hawaii, PO boxes, or APO addresses). Now, if youre wondering why you should care about the cellular version over the regular GPS model, it's because it doesnt need to be tethered to your iPhone to have a connection. You can take calls, reply to messages, stream Apple Music, and use Apple Pay without having your phone nearby. Thats especially useful if you like to run without your phone or leave it behind while at the gym.PCMag called the Series 7 the Best Smartwatch of the Year 2021 and gave it an Editor's Choice award when it launched, thanks to its larger display (meaning bigger buttons, a full QWERTY keyboard for texting, and an easier-to-read interface) and fast charging capabilities, going from 0 to 80% in about 45 minutes (helpful if you use sleep tracking and dont want to take it off for long). Of course, it's a couple of years old at this point (the Series 10 is the most recent generation), but the Series 7 is still a solid option if you don't care about having the absolutely newest tech available.The Series 7 also comes with an IP6X and WR50 rating, offering strong dust resistance for outdoor workouts and water resistance up to 50 meters (so you can wear it in the shower or take it poolside without worry). Additionally, this model comes with Apples limited one-year hardware warranty, which is a nice safety net.Like other Apple Watches, the Series 7 has a full set of health features including heart rate monitoring, ECG, blood oxygen tracking, always-on altimeter, and sleep tracking, among others. It also keeps an eye on your well-being, notifying you if it detects potentially harmful noise levels or irregular heart rhythms, plus fall detectionautomatically dialing for help if you take a hard fall and dont respond. That said, its battery life is around 18 hours, so youll need to charge it regularly, which isnt great, but thats the Apple Watch standard. If you want something that lasts multiple days, the Ultra models are better, but they cost a lot more.

Last week, Apples Tim Cook teed up a new product for launch on February 19 thats tomorrow. Cooks tweet also included an animated image of a shimmering Apple logo, which made a lot of us assume the reveal could be for a second-generation AirTag. Its been rumored for a while that Apple would introduce a second-gen tracker sometime this year, and the original AirTag landed almost four years ago. So there are plenty of tech upgrades the tracker could benefit from.Rumors suggest the next AirTag may feature a more tamper-proof speaker to reduce stalking and an improved Ultra-Wideband chip with up to 3x longer tracking range. However, would the CEO of Apple tweet (and hype up) a mere accessory? Probably not. Following a barrage of leaks and rumors, a next-gen iPhone SE seems more likely.This upgraded entry-level basic iPhone may appear with a design closer to the iPhone 14. That means appearing with a notch, so no Dynamic Island, no home button. Itll likely make the shift to USB-C and probably have enough power to run all those Apple Intelligence features too. (In the past, while SE iPhones have had humble screens and hardware, Apple typically packs them with chips on par with the latest iPhones.)It could also be a wildcard: Apples rumored smart display is meant to arrive sometime this year too. Having said all that, there isnt really an Apple device as shiny as an AirTag. Well find out tomorrow. Hopefully alongside some more tech news because its been a quiet few days. Mat SmithGet this delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest tech stories you missedSonic the Hedgehog 3 zooms onto Paramount+ on February 18Viktor Antonov, art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has diedAnyone in the US can now buy Nintendos Alarmo clock from the online storeThe best laptop power banks for 2025Arm is reportedly developing its own in-house chipThe new CPU could be a piece in the $500 billion Stargate AI project.Arm is reportedly planning to reveal its own processor this year, with Meta as the main customer. The chip would be a CPU designed for data center servers and customizable for clients.Last month, Arms parent company, Softbank, announced the Stargate project, a partnership with OpenAI to build up to $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure. Arm, along with Microsoft and NVIDIA, is a key technology partner for the project. Arms chip could now play a role in all of that.Continue reading.Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 reviewIncrementally better again.EngadgetIts become a depressing trend from recent Samsung hardware: solid, capable devices that lack a strong enough reason to upgrade or get excited, even. The Galaxy Watch 7 is a capable companion for Samsung phones, with great hooks into Samsungs Health app, reliable activity tracking and zippy performance. The always-on display hits battery life hard, however, so we were tasked with recharging (or even topping up) the device more often than wed like.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121854699.html?src=rss

ACCAN is calling on the NBN to scrap NBN 25 as its entry-level offering and replace it with cheaply accessible NBN 50.

Major military defense contractors affected, alongside the US Army and Navy.

Go behind the scenes of the on-set performance capture for the film.Today on the befores & afters podcast, weve got a fun conversation with Wt FX visual effects supervisor Luke Millar and actor Jonno Davies about the film Better Man. Jonno, of course, played Robbie Williams in the film, and for the most part he wore different kinds of motion capture gear on set, with his performance then translated into a Robbie ape by Wt FX.Theres already a fun Q&A with Jonno and Luke at befores & afters, but we go much further in this chat, including breaking down the Rock DJ Regent Street scene, the final My Way sequence and also a more frenetic and intimate moment when Robbie is in his living room with the family. I really enjoyed getting the actor perspective on mocap here, and hearing how Luke and Jonno interacted in terms of VFX.The post How the motion capture worked on Better Man appeared first on befores & afters.

How the emotional Raka scene from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was made. An excerpt from befores & afters magazine.Raka, Noa and Mae are confronted by Proximus muscle at a river crossing in Wes Balls Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The FX simulations in that sequence would require 1.2 petabytes (1.2 billion megabytes) of disk space. To build up that scene, animation started with the original performance capture, some of which was carried out in partial sets with flowing water.Our work was a lot of back and forth with what shots retained plate elements for the water and what would ultimately be CG, relates animation supervisor Paul Story. We would be trying to keep as much of what the plate performance was there.A great example of that is a close-up shot where Raka pushes Mae up out of the water, advises VFX supervisor Erik Winquist. Thats the performance take. Special effects provided us with a small river tank that had this current flowing that they could control. Freya and Peter are there in that river flow. We were able to use Freya, paint out Peter, and replace him with CG, of course, but the water that was actually pushing up against Peters chest in his wetsuit that he was wearing is in the movie. It was great to actually take advantage of the plate water.Although Wt FX had gone through a major R&D phase for Avatar: The Way of Water to develop its Loki state machine for coupled fluid simulations, the river sequence in Kingdom presented some different challenges, in particular, that the water was of a nasty sediment-filled and dirt and debris type, with much surface foam. For the purposes of efficiency and flexibility, we were leaning less on the state machine approach and bringing back in some of the older ways of working on water sims, notes Winquist. One thing wed do is run a primary sim at low-res first that would give Paul and his team a really low-res mesh that they could at least animate to. So for example, theyd translate Peter as Raka, who was sitting in an office chair getting pulled around on a mocap stage, and work that into a very low-res sim. In the meantime, the FX team would direct the flow and get a rough version of that in front of Wes. This essentially involved art directing the current and camera, specifies Winquist. Does the camera dip under for a moment and come back over? What does that mean for having to play water sheeting down the lens? Once we had that art directed river in low-res, animation could go off and start animating apes against that current. Then also our FX team could go in and start looking at up-resing that into a much higher resolution sim.The next steps were a back and forth of animation animated to a low-res mesh. The benefit is that the animation done using the low-res mesh matches well to and integrates with the subsequent high-res fluid simulations, although tweaking is always required. Once these steps occur, the creatures team would take the flow fields of the simulation to affect the hair of the apes.For that were using Loki for the hair of the creatures and water to all interact, says Winquist. Then we take the creature bakes, bring them back into the sim, and then FX has to go in and do a super high-resolution, thin-film simulation against the hairs, because now we need to make sure that were taking into account volume preservation of the water. If they jump out of the water, we also need to show that the water is now starting to drain out of their hair.To help with simulating Rakas complex fur in its wet state, visual effects supervisor Stephen Unterfranz pitched the idea of placing the digital character in the water, running a simulation and seeing what would happen to the fur and then sculpting a bespoke groom just for use when he is in the water. It helped with establishing a characteristic parted hair look on the fur of Rakas arm and body, owing to the pressure of the rushing water.issue #27 Kingdom of the Planet of the ApesInterestingly, Rakas fall into the raging rapids of the river was something Wt FX had to revisit a couple of times, owing to a change in the line the character delivers. It was originally filmed in the Sydney backlot set with the scripted line of The work continues, said to Noa. Wes came to the realization that that was the wrong thing for that character to say as his last words, relates Winquist. The switch to Together. Strong. essentially echoes the Apes. Together. Strong. line from from Caesar, it lands so much harder as the last thing were going to hear from this mentor character.With only around a month before delivery, Macon re-delivered the line by simply recording himself on video on his iPhone. The audio from that is actually whats in the movie, reveals Winquist. It really came down to an animator having to look at what we were seeing from that iPhone footage and put that in there. It was a, My God, this is kind of devastating, this moment.The post The river and 1.2 petabytes of disk space appeared first on befores & afters.

Themeasles outbreakin rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles.Public health officials in New Mexico have said they suspect some of the states cases are linked to the Texas outbreak, but havent confirmed it.Measles is a highly contagious disease. Heres what you should know about how to protect yourself against measles, as well as whats happening in Texas and New Mexico.Where are measles spreading currently?The West Texas cases are concentrated in Gaines County, which has 45 infections. Terry County to the north has nine confirmed cases, while Lubbock and Lynn counties have a case each and Yoakum County has two.The Texas Department of State Health Services said Monday that 13 people are hospitalized with measles.State health officials say this outbreak is Texaslargest in nearly 30 years.Health department spokeswoman Lara Anton said last week that cases have been concentrated in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled.At least three of the New Mexico cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas. The state health department has said people may have been exposed at a grocery store, an elementary school, a church, Nor-Lea Hospital and a Walgreens in Hobbs, New Mexico.What is measles?Measles a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed,according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.Is the vaccine safe?Yes, themeasles, mumps and rubella(MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles infection and severe cases of the disease.The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide.Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, its usually fewer than 200 in a normal year.There is no link between the vaccine and autism, despite a now-discredited study andhealth disinformation.Why do vaccination rates matter?In communities with high vaccination rates above 95% diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called herd immunity.But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.The U.S. sawa rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago thatsickened more than 60.Five years earlier, measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019.Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% of K-12 children in the 2023-24 school year. Health officials say that number is likely higher because it doesnt include many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.What are public health officials doing to stop the spread?Health workers are hosting regular vaccination clinic and screening efforts in Texas. They are also working with schools to educate people about the importance of vaccination and offering shots.Devi Shastri, Associated Press health writerThe Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A new artificial intelligence company from one of the cofounders of OpenAI is quickly becoming one of the most highly valued AI firms in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Ilya Sutskevers Safe Superintelligence (SSI) is in the process of raising in excess of $1 billion with a valuation topping $30 billion. Bloomberg reports San Francisco-based Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the deal and plans to invest $500 million itself. Greenoaks did not reply to a request for comment about the investment.$30 billion might be well short of the $340 billion valuation OpenAI boasts, but its still well above many others in the space, including Perplexity, which has a $9 billion valuation. The new figure is significantly higher than SSIs $5 billion valuation in its last round, held this past September, when it raised $1 billion from investors including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.SSI was founded by Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Gross, and Daniel Levy last June, just one month after Sutskever departed OpenAI. Very little is known about the company so far, aside from its stated goal of building . . . well, a safe superintelligent AI system. The company does not yet have a product on the market.We approach safety and capabilities in tandem as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs, the companys website reads. We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead. . . . We have started the worlds first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence.Ilya Sutskever, born in Russia but raised in Jerusalem, studied with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, who has warned about the dangers of AI. A short stint at Google led to his meeting and ultimately working with cofounders Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Elon Musk, on the organization that would become OpenAI. (Musk would later call Sutskever the linchpin to OpenAIs success.)Sutskever was one of the board members who led the push to remove Altman from the CEO role at OpenAI for a short period at the end of 2023. Sutskever and Altman reportedly clashed over the pace at which generative AI is being commercialized.Days after helping orchestrate the coup, Sutskever reversed course, signing onto an employee letter demanding Altmans return and expressing regret for his participation in the boards actions. He was removed from the board after Altman returned. (Sutskever isnt the only OpenAI alum working on his own AI project. On Tuesday, former chief technology officer Mira Murati officially announced Thinking Machines Lab, her AI startup.)When Sutskever left OpenAI, he posted on X that he was working on a new project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time.Even with the subsequent announcement about SSIs creation last June, those details remain scant. SSI and Sutskever have dropped a few hints, however, saying that they plan on creating a single product with one focus and one goal. And SSI has made it clear that it plans to ignore pressure from markets or investors to release its product.Our singular focus means no distraction by management overhead or product cycles, and our business model means safety, security, and progress are all insulated from short-term commercial pressures, the website reads.Sutskever is widely respected as one of the worlds top AI researchers, which makes this possible funding round less surprising (even if the companys valuation is higher than expected). Despite that, he has eschewed the spotlight for much of his career, not doing many interviews, but speaking about AIs potential for both good and bad when he does.AI is a great thing. It will solve all the problems that we have today. It will solve unemployment . . . disease . . . poverty, he said in a documentary titled, iHuman, from filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei, which came out in 2020. But it will also create new problems, Sutskever continued. The problem of fake news is going to be a million times worse. Cyberattacks will become much more extreme. We will have totally automated AI weapons. I think AI has the potential to create infinitely stable dictatorships.

I love a good modular tool. A tool thats designed to be pulled apart, put back together, augmented, repaired even but what the KAMETA does feels different in a way that makes me fall in love with EDC all the more. Here you have a foldable knife thats entirely modular so much so that it comes with swappable scales that let you change the color/pattern on the grip. Remember the old Nokia phone days where you could pull apart the fascia and replace it with another one of a different color the KAMETA brings that back with a knife thats quite literally a color-changing chameleon.Designing modular knives with replaceable parts is something PICHI DESIGN (the makers behind KAMETA) have experimented with before. Although their past knife was made to house a replaceable blade this one lets you replace practically everything else. The reason is simple your EDC is a very personal choice, it only makes sense to be able to personalize it. Like choosing a paint-job or wrap for your car, the KAMETA lets you choose the scales (and even the blade) for your knife.Designer: PICHI DESIGNClick Here to Buy Now: $160 $220 ($60 off) Dont Miss Out! Only 8 Left Selling Fast!For the uninitiated, the KAMETA is a high-performance folding knife, built around a titanium frame that keeps things both strong and lightweight. Weighing in at just 63g without scales, its one of the lightest knives in its class while maintaining the toughness needed for daily use. The blade itself comes in two options: stonewashed VG10 stainless steel for a durable, razor-sharp edge or a Damascus-clad VG10 variant that adds a layer of craftsmanship to the mix. Both are designed for longevity, resisting corrosion, and holding their edge even through repeated use. As gorgeous as both blades look with their American Tanto profiles, theyre just the beginning of what the KAMETAs all about.What really sets this knife apart is its modular handle system. Using PICHI DESIGNs Quick Versatility System (QVS), you can swap out scales in seconds with just two screws, avoiding the usual hassle of knife customization. The scales themselves come in a variety of materials, each bringing a distinct character to the knife. FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) keeps things lightweight and grippy, ideal for everyday carry. G10 adds a bit more texture and a premium feel. Carbon fiber scales offer a mix of high-end aesthetics and featherweight strength, while titanium scales deliver an ultra-durable, metallic elegance.Each handle is made broadly of 6 parts two uppers, two lowers, and two cores. This effectively gives you the ability to customize your knife with over half a million unique combinations of parts. More than a million if you include the two different blade variants.If youre wondering why a knife needs replaceable scales, the most obvious analogy is to look at fashion. Sometimes we wear clothes based on style, other times we wear them based on utility. The beauty of KAMETAs interchangeable scales is that its not just about looksits about adaptability. The same knife can transition from a sleek, understated office carry to a robust outdoor companion with a simple scale swap. If you prefer a bright pop of color, FRN (fiber-reinforced nylon) options let you add personality without adding weight. If you want a more tactical feel, a darker G10 or titanium setup gives it that no-nonsense edge.The ability to mix and match means you can experiment until you land on the perfect combination. And heres the kicker, you can even add different parts from different collections, mixing FRN, titanium, and G10 based on your own tastes. Theres really no right or wrong combination, theres only your combination. And in creating your own, you set your KAMETA knife apart from other knives out there.Of course, customization doesnt mean much if the knife itself doesnt perform. KAMETAs blade shape balances slicing efficiency with piercing strength, making it a reliable tool for everything from opening packages to more demanding outdoor tasks. The VG10 is an unusual metal choice for EDC, but its technically cutlery-grade steel, which means its perfect for handling heat and the chemical compounds associated with cooking without spoilage or corrosion. The Damascus-clad blade is made from VG10 too, extending the same features to its gorgeous marbled design.That American Tanto shape looks mean and adds an edgy flavor to the knifes silhouette. The overall angular design translates to the handle too, giving the KAMETA a distinct low-poly angular appeal that is to knives what Lamborghinis are to supercars. Plus, with the ability to fix orange or bright yellow scales to your knife, you could literally follow the Lamborghini visual playbook.While modularity and replaceability feel more like a fashion/style choice for PICHI DESIGN, it has sustainability implications too. The modular nature of the knife means that instead of replacing an entire tool, you can simply swap out a part when you want a fresh look. Its a small but meaningful nod to sustainability in a consumer-culture that often leans toward disposability. Besides, the FRN scales are made from recycled materials too, keeping waste down while offering a sustainable grip option. Meanwhile, titanium and carbon fiber are literally two of the most durable materials on the planet, giving the KAMETAs parts an incredibly long shelf life.All that customization and I forgot to talk about the knife itself! Underneath its ever-changing skin, the KAMETA has a grade-5 titanium frame, allowing the knife to weigh a mere 63 grams (2.2 ounces) without the scales. The blade deploys with a quick trigger of the flipper on top, while a liner lock at the bottom secures the blade, keeping it open while in use. Engaging the lock allows you to shut the KAMETA for another day. Meanwhile, an optional pocket clip attachment allows you to affix the blade to your body for quick-access but if the pocket clip ruins the aesthetic youre looking for, a lanyard hole lets you string the KAMETA to your bag or around your neck.With a knife this gorgeous, stylish, modular, repairable, capable, durable, and compact, it really is difficult trying to pinpoint a specific target audience for the KAMETA. You could be a collector, an outdoorsman, a first-responder, someone who prioritizes self-defense, or just another regular person who rocks a folding knife as a part of their broader EDC. The unique swappable scale design is a highlight that you wont find in 99% of most knives out there, plus with 9 scale variants across 4 materials and different colors and textures, you get to build the aesthetic you want, whether its classic, camo, premium, colorful, cyberpunk, subtle, or just something that matches the clothes youre wearing.The KAMETA starts at $160 for the entry-level tier which includes a stonewashed VG10 blade and FRN scales. The other scale variants can be added to your bundle as you go, or even bought later on when you feel like you want to expand your knifes wardrobe! The KAMETA ships globally, starting April 2025.Click Here to Buy Now: $160 $220 ($60 off) Dont Miss Out! Only 8 Left Selling Fast!The post This $160 Modular Knife Lets You Customize Over a Million Unique Handle Designs first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Enhanced Visual Search in the iOS Photos app sends encrypted, anonymized data from photos to Apple. Here's what that means and how to turn it off.Apple's Enhanced Visual Search scans photos for landmarks.Apple's Enhanced Visual Search (EVS) is a new ML-based technology in iOS 18, iPadOS, and macOS Sequoia. Using EVS you can search for geographical landmarks in photos, even if the images don't contain any geolocation info such as GPS or EXIF metadata.Using EVS in the Photos app, you can type a landmark name in and the app will scan your photos for matching landmarks. You can also swipe up on any building in an image and tap Look Up Landmark. If Photos recognizes the landmark it will tell you what it is. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums