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NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are keeping track of how COVID-19 has changed the economy and environment. The three space agencies brought together satellite observations to create a new dashboard that was unveiled today.

The COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard lets users explore how the ongoing pandemic has affected airport and shipping traffic, city night lights, and agricultural production in locations across the world. It also includes data on greenhouse gases, air quality, and water quality.

“The pandemic was not only leaving a staggering toll of human suffering. It was having a global impact that we could document from space,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of...

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The first developer preview for Android 11 on smartphones dropped way back in February. Now it’s in its early beta period which means we are on track to see it in stable form this summer. However, the version of Android 11 due on Android TV devices is starting its life cycle today.

Google revealed at the Android Developers Blog that the first developer preview for Android 11 will be available for ATV developers starting now. Obviously, this means that the stable rollout of Android 11 will come to TVs and streaming boxes much later than it will for smartphones (although this is unsurprising).

Related: Best Android TV devices: What are your options?

To be clear, this is for developers only and will only work on developer-focused hardware, specifically ADT-3 streamers supplied by Google. Don’t try to install this on your Nvidia Shield TV or Sony television, as that will cause a lot of problems.

Google says that the Android TV version of Android 11 will come with “many privacy, performance, accessibility, and connectivity features.” We’ll need to wait until devs can break it down to know what exactly those claims might mean, though.

What we are most interested to see is whether or not Google’s mysterious streaming stick will be mentioned in the Android 11 code. Stay tuned for that.

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When you think of YouTube, interactive games probably aren’t the first thing that come to mind. However, clever creators once came up with many games you can play on YouTube. Similar to classic “choose your own adventure” books and interactive fiction games, interactive YouTube games let you make choices to move the story forward.

Unfortunately, YouTube made a change that renders almost all of these videos unplayable. Let’s examine why, then look at the interactive YouTube games you CAN still play today.

Interactive YouTube Games Died Without Annotations

Unfortunately, most interactive YouTube games no longer function correctly. This is due to YouTube retiring the annotations feature.

If you’re not familiar, annotations were text boxes that creators could add to their videos. They were often used to link to a related video, note a correction, or make a joke. However, annotations didn’t show on YouTube’s mobile apps.

This, combined with declining use, led the company to discontinue them in 2017. And then later, in January 2019, YouTube completely removed annotations from all videos.

While YouTube now offers features like cards and end screens to replace some of this functionality, the fact that annotations no longer appear means that many interactive videos simply don’t work. They relied on annotations to provide links that you clicked to progress the narrative.

A few creators have replaced annotations with the newer cards or end screens, but this isn’t the case for most of them. As many of the popular games were years old, the creators might not actively manage their channels any more. You can see an example of this below; the interactive card trick video simply doesn’t work as intended without annotations.

Chad, Matt & Rob’s Interactive Movies

As it turns out, there is one notable YouTube channel that still features working interactive games: chadmattandrob. While this channel isn’t active these days, it features some of the best-known interactive movies on the site. The first one was uploaded all the way back in 2008.

While these videos initially relied on annotations, the endings have been reworked to use modern ending screens. Thus, this channel is your best bet for interactive YouTube experiences.

Let’s quickly look at the premise for each of these experiences so you know what to expect. We’ve linked the starting videos for each one, so begin with those and your choices will take you through the narrative.

1. The Time Machine

Chad, Matt & Rob’s first adventure was also one of the first of its kind on YouTube. In this experience, your goal is to get the guys to a meeting safely. Along the way, they discover a time machine and travel to different time periods while trying to stay ahead of the authorities.

2. The Murder

During this adventure, Chad, Matt, and Rob are witness to a murder while filming. Compared to The Time Machine, this one features extra branching paths and more possible scenes to see.

3. The Birthday Party

Join our heroes for their third adventure, where they must get to their boss’s birthday party unscathed. During the journey, they encounter a lot of wild scenarios you might not expect.

4. The Teleporter

The channel marks The Teleporter as a “mini-adventure.” It’s notable for being a branded video; the story features AXE products. Aside from that, it centers on the guys running away from a UFO.

5. The Treasure Hunt

The final interactive adventure tasks the group with facing off against a veteran treasure hunter as they look for an ancient treasure. It was uploaded in 2011.

Interactive YouTube Games Are a Thing of the Past

As we’ve seen, games that you can play on YouTube almost completely died out when YouTube killed annotations. Thankfully, you can still enjoy the Chad, Matt & Rob videos, so at least they aren’t all gone.

There’s more good news too: interactive movies are alive and well outside of YouTube. As you can see with our list of interactive movies you can control online.

Read the full article: 5 Interactive YouTube Games That Still Work

Samsung has released its Q1 2020 financial results, and while it’s affected by the pandemic, its mobile unit still managed to report relatively healthy profits. Furthermore, the company also used the financial report to reveal a rough launch window for its next foldable and Note devices.

The firm’s IT and mobile division saw a 4% year-on-year drop in sales, from 27.2 trillion won (~$22.3 billion) in Q1 2019 to 26 trillion won (~$21.3 billion) in Q1 2020. Samsung also blamed COVID-19 near the end of Q1 for mobile shipments dropping quarter-on-quarter.

However, the unit’s profits saw slight year-on-year growth, going from 2.27 trillion won (~$1.8 billion) in Q1 2019 to 2.65 trillion won (~$2.1 billion) in Q1 2020. Samsung says an “improved product mix” was the reason for the steady profits, pointing to flagship launches such as the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S20 series. But the current global situation does make you wonder what could’ve been, especially with arch-rival Huawei under a US trade ban.

What to expect later in 2020?

Samsung is expecting an “inevitable” drop in Q2 2020 though, owing to a shrinking smartphone market and store closures due to the coronavirus. But the firm says it’s also focused on more flexible and diverse manufacturing capabilities and improving online channels in a bid to soften the blow.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus: Why you should get the original Galaxy Buds instead

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus bring a lot to the table. In fact, they outperform the original Galaxy Buds in nearly every way, as they should: the Buds Plus are the newer, more expensive model. …

Looking to the second half of the year, Samsung revealed that it’ll offer new premium devices, specifically pointing to “new foldable and Note model launches.” This isn’t a surprise given that the Galaxy Fold and Note 10 series launched in the second half of 2019, but we now have official confirmation of a launch window for their successors.

The Korean manufacturer says it’ll also bring 5G to “mass market” devices. So you might want to wait until the second half of 2020 if you’re thinking about hopping aboard the 5G train — or if you want a new premium Samsung device.

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在近日由国际著名研究机构Gartner所发布的2019年资讯科技服务行业报告中显示，阿里巴巴集团旗下的数据智能骨干业务阿里云laaS的市场占有率连续三年排名在亚太区首位，痛是在全球排名方面依旧保持在前三的排名。

根据日前Gartner发布“2019年全球资讯科技服务行业市场占有率 Market Share：IT Service, Worldwide 2019”的报告显示，阿里云laaS在亚太区的市场占有率，从2018年的26.1%，直到2019年的28.2%一共提升了2.2%。其中在全球市场占有率方面，阿里云laaS从2018年的7.7%上升至2019年的9.1%，稳坐全球排名第三的位置。

对此阿里云laaS总裁张建锋表示，阿里云laaS的强劲增长和保持市场领先地位，印证了云服务获得了全球客户以及合作伙伴的支持。此外在4月20日的时候，阿里云将在未来3年内投入2,000亿人民币（约1,227亿令吉）用作于发展云操作系统、伺服器、芯片以及互联网等核心技术的研究工作以及数据中心建设，以便在未来为客户提供更优质的服务。

The post Gartner释出2019年全球资讯科技服务行业市场占有率：阿里云IaaS服务全球第三、连续3年位居亞太区首位！ appeared first on Zing Gadget.

Samsung recently invited us to a virtual seminar to talk about the next generation of 8K TVs for 2020, along with their “Lifestyle TVs”. These include the flagship Q950TS QLED 8K TV, along with The Sero, The Frame, and The Serif. Among other things, the company talked about the importance of machine learning and AI-based tech for their 8K TVs.

Samsung unveiled the new 2020 QLED 8K Q950TS at CES 2020, and it looks like we’ll be seeing their flagship as part of the QLED 8K TV lineup in Malaysia sometime soon. Something that the company is clearly proud of is this “ultra-thin” form factor, and of course, 8K picture quality.

While there may not be as much available 8K resolution content as, say, 4K or Full HD content, Samsung says that it anticipates an increase in 2020. Part of that may be due to the capability of their latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S20 to shoot videos in 8K resolution.

Additionally, AI and deep-learning capabilities play an important role in Samsung’s 8K TVs. The Q950TS features Samsung’s AI Quantum Processor 8K, which means that lower resolution videos will be upscaled to 8K. AI is also used for a feature called Adaptive Picture, which helps to optimise the screen for ambient conditions.

We’re also seeing HDR10+ supported on the 8K TV, as well as the AV1 codec—this should mean better compression rates and optimisation, among other things.

The company also talked about their “Lifestyle TVs”, including the interesting-looking Sero. The Sero is a TV that can be rotated between horizontal and vertical orientations, with connectivity with smartphones supported. This, of course, means that users will be able to watch vertical-style content (such as social media videos) in a fully-sized vertical screen.

Another Lifestyle TV from Samsung is The Serif TV, which is supposed to be the “aesthetic-focused” model in the range. The Serif uses QLED technology as well, and the design is certainly one of the more unique looks in the TV market today. Plus, you get a few features that are in line with the “lifestyle” branding of the TV: the ability to display imagery, and even recreate display the pattern of the wall behind the TV.

Lastly, we have The Frame. As per its name, The Frame TV looks a lot like… a large photo frame. There’s even an Art Mode where you can display digital copies of world-famous art pieces, with the Frame’s Adaptive Picture also helping to adjust the brightness and contrast settings of the TV to match the environment.

We’re also seeing support for three virtual assistants on Samsung’s new TVs: Samsung’s Bixby, Google Assistant, and Alexa from Amazon. You can also use tap view on the Q950TS 8K TV, which will allow for you to mirror your smartphone display by simply touching your mobile device to the TV.

Samsung says that the 2020 QLED 8K TV, The Sero, The Serif, and The Frame will be in the Malaysian market “soon”. To find out more, click here.

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The post Samsung’s latest 8K QLED TVs and Lifestyle TVs are coming to Malaysia soon appeared first on SoyaCincau.com.

Bethesda has announced that Rage 2 comes with a special cheat code when you pre-order the game. You can watch the effects of the code, called He's On Fire, in the trailer above.

First things first, this doesn't seem to be an April Fool's Day joke. For the He's On Fire trailer's YouTube video, Bethesda comments, "And yes… it's real." According to Polygon, a Bethesda representative assured "this is 100% real, it is not a prank." If you're looking for April Fool's Day jokes, though, we've collected a bunch of this year's pranks.

Inputting the code for He's On Fire allows you to play through the entirety of Rage 2 with Tim Kitzrow--who's probably best known in the gaming community for voicing the announcer in the NBA Jam franchise--providing play-by-play commentary on your actions. The trailer for He's On Fire suggests the commentary is pretty responsive for whatever you're doing in the game. You'll be able to expect classic lines from NBA Jam, such as "from downtown" and "boomshakalaka," but there are new Rage 2-themed ones as well, like "you just sliced her head right off" and "tang, tang boomerang."

The trailer does not provide any indication for how many lines have been recorded, nor if Kitzrow provides commentary for actions done outside of battle. So what could be a pretty funny, clever idea might actually end up being pretty annoying. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rage 2 is the surprise sequel that no one expected to ever be announced. The game is being made by Just Cause 3's Avalanche Studios with joint-development support from id Software. Like its predecessor, Rage 2 gives you a large assortment of firearms and weapons to use in your fight across the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Earth. Rage 2 also sees the return of the first game's fascination with murderous cars and trucks, but puts a greater emphasis on vehicular warfare.

We got to play two hours of Rage 2 at a press preview event, and enjoyed how the game makes you feel like an unstoppable superhero. Rage 2 is releasing on May 14, and is scheduled for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

At the Disney Investor's Meeting today, Variety reports, Disney chairman Bob Iger casually mentioned that director Brad Bird is in the process of writing a sequel for 2004's The Incredibles. While details are currently scarce, the move makes sense — The Incredibles was a critical darling after its release, and went on to win Bird his first Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Iger also mentioned that Disney is planning a third outing for its Cars franchise. While Cars and Cars 2 both failed to garner the praise that other movies in Pixar's stable have earned, the series has become a lucrative franchise thanks to merchandising and theme parks. Even the terrible Planes spin-off earned $220 million at the box office last year. Audiences...

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Where do babies come from? No one really knows! I’ve heard a couple theories, but they are all really gross and sound very, very made up. Despite round-the-clock efforts by top scientists, the following is all we know about babies:

1. A baby may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A baby must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A baby must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Anything else is just speculation. Some people even think that in the not-too-distant future, babies are going to rise up and replace all the humans on the planet! Pretty wild stuff.

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Do you love your Galaxy S4, but are envious of the HTC One's aluminum body? Well you're in luck, because Korean outlet, ETNews reported that Samsung plans to make a high end metal smartphone: the Galaxy F. The phone will be decked out with a metal exterior, and should be launched around the same time as the highly awaited Galaxy S5. This is supported by earlier reports that a production line...