The vision starts with helping humans stay safe at sea, but could put fully robo-boats into action as ferries in just a few years.
When, Exactly, Did Politics Become a Tech Story?
Early WIRED could ignore politics because its writers were focused on imagining the future. Today, the digital revolution is upon us, so WIRED writers have a larger task: helping readers understand what is happening in the present.
You’re Expecting Too Much Out of Boston Dynamics’ Robots
Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert doesn’t know exactly how people will use robots like the SpotMini. But at least it can do the running man.
Google says Pixel camera app will soon support external mics
Google will update the camera app on its Pixel smartphones to work with external microphones when shooting video, an employee from the app’s engineering team has confirmed. Android Police reported on the upcoming feature on Friday.
The Pixel is known for producing terrific still photos, and Google developed impressive stabilization for the video end of things. But the Pixel’s microphones only capture so-so audio. External mics that plug into the USB-C port (or headphone jack in the case of the original Pixel) can solve for this.
Some third-party Android camera apps like Open Camera already allow for external mics to record audio while the Pixel handles video. But having the option in the stock app will be nice for vloggers and other…
Pixel 3 XL vs. iPhone XS Max vs. Note 9 vs. LG V40: Specs showdown – CNET
Which big phone will rule them all?
Pixel 3 vs. iPhone XS vs. Galaxy S9 – CNET
The smaller of Google’s new Pixel 3 phones throws down against the competition.
Pixel 3 vs. Pixel 2 vs. Pixel: Every spec, compared – CNET
Google’s latest phone comes with top-tier features, but here’s how it stacks up to previous versions.
Jeff Weiner on How Technology Accentuates Tribalism
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner Talks with WIRED Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Thompson about the future of work, and finding jobs.
Red Bull set up the world’s largest step sequencer outside a Berlin nightclub
As part of Red Bull Music Academy’s 20th edition, the company has built the world’s largest step sequencer, and placed it outside of iconic Berlin club Tresor for anyone to try out.
Called the RBMA-20, the sequencer was designed and built by the Berlin-based creative studio Neulant van Exel, and took 30 technicians five weeks to assemble. Red Bull says it is the largest drum machine ever built and is fully functional. It’s physically massive, at about 33 feet long, 7.2 feet high, and weighs over 1,300 pounds.
Across the interface are 427 knobs and faders, four analog drum machines, a modular synthesizer, and a sampling unit. Red Bull hasn’t said much more abut what powers the RBMA-20, but musician Connor Crowe got a peek at what’s under…
Listen to an excerpt from John Scalzi’s next book, The Consuming Fire
In John Scalzi’s space opera novel The Collapsing Empire, he introduced a world where a vast, planetary empire grew throughout the galaxy by way of the Flow, a faster-than-light network that allows for interstellar trade. At the end of that book, the network was beginning to collapse, setting up a perilous situation for the next book in the series, The Consuming Fire, which is out next week.
The book will be out in hardcover and audio, and as is the case with most of Scalzi’s audiobooks, it’ll be narrated by Wil Wheaton. Audible provided us with an excerpt of the audiobook, in which two of the novel’s characters come face to face with a ghostly presence on a starship, one that highlights just how much a language can change over several…