Welcome to Tuesday morning! Would you like access to Netflix on your next flight? You might get your wish. We also take a look at the biggest problem with Star Trek: Discovery — CBS All Access.
Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch arrives October 1st for $ 300
Fitbit is only just now ready to deliver its first smartwatch, as the Ionic finally has a release date and price. We spent 24 hours with the device and found that its pre-release software could use some work. That said, it also has five-day battery life and it’s possible many of the wrinkles will be ironed out by the time it ships next week along with Fitbit’s $ 130 Flyer headphones.
MacOS High Sierra is well worth the upgrade
MacOS High Sierra was never meant to be truly transformative. As we covered in our preview of Apple’s new desktop OS, it’s mostly focused on refining its predecessor, last year’s Sierra. At the same time, it also lays the groundwork for bigger changes down the line. Oh, and you can download it yourself now.
Kodi box piracy case comes to anti-climactic end
A UK man arrested for selling “fully-loaded” Kodi boxes has suddenly backed down from fighting his case. Brian ‘Tomo’ Thompson pleaded guilty to two charges under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. Going to trial could have cleared up legal murkiness over who is responsible for piracy that occurs via the platform, but we won’t get that resolution from this case.
Intel’s eighth-gen desktop CPUs boost gaming and streaming speeds
Intel’s eighth-generation mainstream desktop chips are the heavy-lifters you’d hoped for. It’s calling the flagship $ 359 Core i7-8700K its “best gaming desktop processor ever.” The biggest gains are with multitasking, and Intel says gaming, streaming and recording with Player Unknown: Battlegrounds will be 45 percent faster than before. It can also be overclocked to 4.7 GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0, and 5GHz and higher speeds are easily achieved with air or basic liquid cooling.
In-flight Netflix will be available on more airlines in 2018
Netflix’s in-flight streaming is available through a few carriers around the world, but it’s still a surprise more than a fixture. More often than not, technological limitations will force you to download that new show before you leave home. Now, Netflix is launching an initiative that will use the encoding technology it developed for mobile devices to make the streaming service accessible on aircraft that don’t have the luxury of fast satellite internet access.
The new ‘Star Trek’ series is good, but there’s just one problem
Star Trek: Discovery seems just as good as anything CBS has on the air. So the question is: Why the requirement of a CBS All Access subscription just for US viewers? After all, it’s airing on Netflix in the rest of the world, except Canada, where it can be seen on the Space channel.
Twitter tries to explain why Trump’s posts aren’t like others
Two factors: Newsworthiness and “public interest.”
But wait, there’s more…
- Tesla Model 3’s touchscreen control panel detailed in new video
- Microsoft and Facebook’s massive undersea data cable is complete
- Google Home adds reminders to its voice-control repertoire
- Verizon gives up on its Android Wear watch after four months
