2017年4月18日星期二

Yahoo! News: Terrorism

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Terrorism


White House says Trump won’t release his 2016 taxes, either

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:20 PM PDT

White House says Trump won't release his 2016 taxes, eitherWhite House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday afternoon that President Trump does not plan to release his 2016 tax returns.


Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper warily learns to live with pot

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 04:23 AM PDT

Colorado's Governor John Hickenlooper warily learns to live with potWhen the people of Colorado voted in 2012 to legalize recreational marijuana, they instantly transformed their governor, John Hickenlooper, into America's most reluctant pot pioneer. "If it was up to me, I wouldn't have done it," Hickenlooper admitted. "We were worried about everything," Hickenlooper tells Yahoo News.


North Korea Test Missiles, Challenges US With Nuclear War Threats

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:00 PM PDT

North Korea Test Missiles, Challenges US With Nuclear War Threats"Nightline" goes inside a top secret facility in South Korea, where soldiers are on high alert for North Korean missile launches.


Trump Faces New Resistance and Low Poll Numbers

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 12:02 PM PDT

Trump Faces New Resistance and Low Poll NumbersPresident Trump is breaking more promises and still refusing to release his tax returns, which is galvanizing his Democratic opposition. Thousands marched against him and are challenging his GOP supporters in Congress.


When it comes to weed, Americans are still more open with friends than family

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 03:15 AM PDT

When it comes to weed, Americans are still more open with friends than familyWhile more Americans than ever say attitudes toward weed have relaxed within families, most still expect greater acceptance for pot use (especially recreational) from close friends than relatives.


The Latest: Facebook: Killing uploaded, not broadcast live

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:37 PM PDT

The Latest: Facebook: Killing uploaded, not broadcast liveCLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on a suspect who shot and killed a man while livestreaming on Facebook (all times local):


United Airlines Allegedly Removes Couple Flying To Costa Rica

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 11:12 PM PDT

United Airlines Allegedly Removes Couple Flying To Costa RicaUnited Airlines, which is already under scanner for forcefully dragging a man out from an overbooked flight, has again run into trouble.


Russia metro bombing suspect says he was unwitting accomplice

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 09:16 AM PDT

Russia metro bombing suspect says he was unwitting accompliceBy Polina Nikolskaya and Hulkar Isamova MOSCOW/JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - The man Russian investigators say orchestrated a suicide bombing on the St Petersburg metro told a court on Tuesday he was an unwitting accomplice in the attack, in which 14 people were killed and scores injured. Russian investigators said that before the April 3 attack, the suspected suicide bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, had spoken by telephone with Abror Azimov, who the investigators said was helping mastermind the attack from a Moscow suburb. At a preliminary court hearing in Moscow, the suspect, Azimov, said he had participated in the preparation of the attack but only indirectly.


Trump Team's Mixed Messages On North Korea

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 12:32 PM PDT

Trump Team's Mixed Messages On North KoreaMike Pence sends a new message to North Korea not to "test President Trump's resolve" and "all options are on the table," but NSC advisor H.R. McMaster seems to have a different idea about defusing tensions with Pyongyang.


Trump targets Democrat Ossoff ahead of key Georgia election

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:22 AM PDT

Trump targets Democrat Ossoff ahead of key Georgia electionThe president is weighing in on the special House elections, accusing the media of downplaying last week's Republican victory in Kansas while disparaging the Democrat leading the polls in Georgia.


Prince Harry Close to ‘Complete Breakdown’ After Mother’s Death

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 08:52 AM PDT

Prince Harry Close to 'Complete Breakdown' After Mother's Death20 years after Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris, her youngest son recalled the toll it took on him, and how his brother pushed him to get help.


Family see shark kill teenage daughter off Australia

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:53 PM PDT

Family see shark kill teenage daughter off AustraliaA 17-year-old girl has died after being mauled by a shark in full view of her parents on Australia's southwest coast, authorities said Tuesday. Laeticia Brouwer was on holiday and went surfing with her father near Wylie Bay late Monday afternoon, police said. "Father and daughter were surfing out where the waves were breaking and that's where the attack occurred," Acting Senior Sergeant Ben Jeffes told reporters.


People Are Blaming the Parents After a Child Was Crushed to Death at a Rotating Restaurant

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 09:26 AM PDT

People Are Blaming the Parents After a Child Was Crushed to Death at a Rotating RestaurantAnd I totally understand why.


Democrat Jon Ossoff leads in Georgia House race — a ripple, or the start of a wave?

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 02:00 AM PDT

Democrat Jon Ossoff leads in Georgia House race — a ripple, or the start of a wave?Polls suggest that Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is within range of getting 50 percent of the vote against a large field of Republicans, winning the seat outright and avoiding a runoff.


'River piracy' is the latest weird thing to come out of climate change

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 03:01 PM PDT

'River piracy' is the latest weird thing to come out of climate changeA pirate is lurking in northern Canada, and global warming is only making it stronger. The Alsek River recently stole water flowing into the Slims River and took it for itself, a phenomenon known as "river piracy" — which scientists blame on a massive retreating glacier distributing water in new ways.  The development is the first known case of river piracy in the modern era, and it's the first to be pinned in part on climate change, researchers wrote in a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.  It also points to an unexpected consequence of human-caused global warming. SEE ALSO: NASA photos capture a strange new crack in a massive Greenland glacier and we might be doomed "So far, a lot of the scientific work surrounding glaciers and climate change has been focused on sea-level rise," Dan Shugar, the study's lead author and a geoscientist at the University of Washington, Tacoma, said in a news release. "Our study shows there may be other under-appreciated, unanticipated effects of glacial retreat." A Sept. 2, 2016, photo shows the meltwater stream along the toe of Kaskawulsh Glacier, on the left, that is diverting fresh water from one river to the other.Image: Dan Shugar/University of Washington TacomaThe river piracy began last year at the edge of the massive Kaskawulsh Glacier, which spans some 15,000 square miles across Canada's Yukon territory. For hundreds of years, the glacier poured meltwater into river basins of the Slims, which ends in the Bering Sea, and the Kaskawulsh, which empties into the Gulf of Alaska.   Researchers found that a new, 100-foot canyon in the glacier's toe had abruptly rerouted meltwater away from a glacial lake that feeds the Slims River and instead delivered that water to the Kaskawulsh River, which feeds the Alsek River. As a result, the Alsek River — a popular whitewater rafting destination — ran higher than normal last summer, bloated with stolen water. The Slims River, meanwhile, was rapidly reduced to a trickle. Kluane Lake, which is fed by the river, was so low that residents struggled to launch their boats. Dust swirled in the parched valley, making it hard to fly on certain days, Yukon News reported last June. Satellite images in 2015 and 2016 show a dramatic drop in the Slims River's flow. The receding toe of Kaskawulsh Glacier is seen at the bottom. Kluane Lake isseen at the top of the 2016 image.Image: European space agencyShugar and his co-authors, including Jim Best at the University of Illinois and John Clague at Canada's Simon Fraser University, had originally planned to study the Slims River in August 2016. Instead, they found "a long, skinny lake," Shugar said. Gauges showed that the river, once 10 feet deep, had dropped suddenly from May 26 to 29, not long after the canyon was formed in the glacier. "Day by day we could see the water level dropping," he said. Scientists said there are two main reasons why the Kaskawulsh Glacier has retreated by about mile over the last century. After expanding during a cold period centuries ago, known as the Little Ice Age, the glacier is naturally readjusting its size in these warmer times. But it's also melting in part because of greenhouse gases. The team found only a tiny probability — 0.5 percent — that the glacier's retreat could have happened in a "constant climate," meaning there's a 99.5 percent probability that the glacier is responding to modern climate change. The ice fields of Ellesmere Island, Canada, are retreating due to warming temperatures.Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images"I always point out to climate-change skeptics that Earth's glaciers are becoming markedly smaller, and that can only happen in a warming climate," Clague, one of the co-authors, said in the news release. Canadian scientists who observed this river piracy last year were more ambivalent about the role of human-driven global warming in the glacier's retreat. "Would this particular event have happened without anthropogenic climate change? Probably," Kristen Kennedy, a geologist with the Yukon Geological Survey, told the Yukon News last summer.  "It's neat to see. It's really just an interesting natural phenomenon that's happening right before our eyes, and not very many people get to see something like this," she said. But outside scientists praised Monday's study and said it was significant. Richard Alley, a glacier expert at Pennsylvania State University who wasn't part of the study, told the Associated Press that the findings reconfirm "that climate change has large, widespread and sometimes surprising impacts." WATCH: NASA timelapse shows just how quickly our Arctic sea ice is disappearing


Japan Planning To Deploy Troops Amid North Korea Threats

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:07 PM PDT

Japan Planning To Deploy Troops Amid North Korea ThreatsThe Japanese government wants to recognize Pyongyang's missile fall in Japan's territorial waters as an obvious threat of military aggression.


Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Meet the envy of every iPhone user

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 08:00 AM PDT

Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Meet the envy of every iPhone user

I have to be perfectly honest with you... I never thought this day would come.

When Samsung released its first Galaxy phone back in 2009, it was clear that the company would become a contender in the revitalized smartphone market. When it released the first Galaxy Note smartphone two years later in 2011, it was clear that Samsung wasn't afraid to take chances. And when Samsung released the Galaxy S4 in 2013, it was clear that the company's displays would be the best in the industry for years to come.

But something else was clear during all that time. Despite Samsung's willingness to take countless pages out of Apple's playbook, the company's hardware designs were still sorely lacking. The look of Samsung's phones was boring. The thin plastic backs felt cheap and flimsy. Long story short, Samsung smartphones looked and felt like cheap iPhone knockoffs.

Now, in 2017, the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ mark a changing of the guard. The torch has been passed. The student has become the teacher. Call it whatever you want, but the bottom line is this: Samsung has out-designed Apple with its new flagship smartphones. They look and feel like the future, and Apple's three-year-old iPhone design is stuck in the past.

Samsung's transition began in 2015 when the company released the Galaxy S6. It was the first flagship phone from the South Korean electronics giant that looked and felt like a flagship phone. The smooth glass front and back were joined by a sturdy aluminum mid-frame, and there were only a few small pieces of plastic on the phone's exterior — the small strips that separated each section of the aluminum frame, and the home button.

It was official: Samsung was a premium smartphone maker.

The company's flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note handsets have always featured cutting-edge specs. They have always offered terrific performance that was on par with the best Android phones in the business. And they have always had stunning displays with vivid colors and great contrast. Now, starting with the Galaxy S6, they also featured designs to match. But still, few people would argue that the company's phones looked as sleek or felt as premium as Apple's iPhones.

Until now, that is.

In terms of hardware design, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are the complete package. They're industry leaders in terms of specs, as Samsung's flagship phones always have been. They also feature Super AMOLED screens that are unrivaled. Again, this has been the norm for Samsung for years. But the biggest story in terms of Samsung's growth as a smartphone maker is the design.

Samsung has always been a follower, ever since it released its first smartphone nearly a decade ago. But now, Samsung is a leader.

In fact, diehard Apple fans have been unable to find anything to complain about, so some of them have resorted to insignificant nonsense like the alignment of the USB-C port and speaker openings on the bottom of the phone. While it's true that Apple's alignment on the bottom of the iPhone 6/6s/7 is perfect, I'm not sure there's a sane end user on the planet who would actually care about something like this.

But it's indicative of the difference between Samsung and Apple when it comes to attention to detail! Perhaps. Or perhaps Samsung decided it was more important to squeeze in the phone's internal components as tightly as possible so that it could create a design with a remarkable screen-to-body ratio of 83%. Trust me, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users are going to appreciate the narrow bezels around the Infinity Display far more than any iPhone user appreciates his or her perfectly aligned ports. Also of note, Samsung managed to make its new flagship phones IP68 water-resistant without removing the 3.5mm headphone jack, misaligned though it may be.

Speaking of screen-to-body ratios, welcome to the next smartphone battleground.

First, it was specs. Then, after Apple introduced the Retina Display, it was pixels. Now, beginning in 2017, it's bezels. Every top smartphone vendor in the world is hard at work shrinking the bezels on their flagship phones so that the screen takes up as much of the phone's face as possible. Is doing away with bezels on smartphones really that important? In a word, yes.

Apart from being crucial to upcoming advances in augmented reality, barely-there bezels like the ones surrounding the Galaxy S8 display allow for a much more immersive user experience. Distractions fade away and content becomes the sole focus. Why do you think Apple has never included a logo or anything else that might be distracting on the faces of its iPhones? It's because when someone is using his or her phone, the content on the screen is all matters.

The 83% screen-to-body ratio on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ is the best in the business among top-tier global smartphone makers right now. By comparison, the three-year-old iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus design has a screen-to-body ratio of 66%. As I wrote in an earlier opinion piece, using the iPhone after having used the Galaxy S8 feels like going back to a tube TV after having upgraded to a flat-screen.

On the flip side, Samsung had to remove its physical home button from the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in order to achieve such an impressive screen-to-body ratio, and the company tried its best to copy Apple with its new virtual home button. It failed.

The virtual home button on Samsung's new phones is pressure sensitive, similar to Apple's 3D Touch home button on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple's solution utilizes advanced pressure sensors coupled with a Taptic Engine to make pressing the virtual home button on an iPhone feel and sound like pressing a real button. On the Galaxy S8, pressing the home button feels like pressing a plain old touchscreen, and presses are accompanied by the same weak vibration feedback you'd find on any other phone.

It might seem like an insignificant detail, but it's not. As we move further toward phones that don't have any buttons at all, advanced haptic feedback systems can make flat glass feel like a button. Apple has a huge head start in this area, and it will be quite some time before other companies catch up.

Like the LG G6, Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ both feature screens with a tall 18:9 aspect ratio. As a result, it's difficult to compare their sizes to other smartphones. For example, the 5.8-inch display on the smaller Galaxy S8 is technically bigger than the screen on Apple's iPhone 7 Plus phablet, but Apple's screen is wider than the one on the S8. Long story short, diagonal measurements no longer tell the whole story.

What matters is that both new Galaxy S8 models have nice big displays that are simply unrivaled right now. They both feature Quad HD+ (2960 x 1440) resolution, so the 5.8-inch screen on the Galaxy S8 has a pixel density of 570 ppi while the Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2-inch screen with 529 ppi. On paper, it's a fairly big discrepancy. In reality, it's difficult to notice a difference in most scenarios. What matters is regardless of which model you end up with, you'll hold in your hand the finest smartphone display that has ever existed.

As was the case with the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, the sides of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are curved on both the front and the back. The phones are each about the same width as comparable smartphone models from other vendors, but the curved sides help them sit more comfortably in the hand because they feel narrower. They also feel much thinner than they are thanks to the curves, though widths of 8mm for the Galaxy S8 and 8.1mm for the Galaxy S8+ aren't very thick even without the curves on either side.

Inside, the US versions of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are both powered by Qualcomm's new 10nm octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipset, which marries a 2.3GHz quad for heavy lifting with a 1.7GHz quad for everything else. When they are released on Friday, April 21st, they'll be the first widely available smartphones in the world to feature 10nm chips, which should offer advantages both in terms of power and efficiency. You'll also find 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM in Samsung's new flagships, along with 64GB of UFS 2.1 flash storage and microSDXC support.

I can vouch for the Snapdragon 835's performance. Everyone has seen the benchmarks by now, but that's only part of the story. Everything on the Galaxy S8 feels faster than on rival Android phones, from opening apps, to switching apps, to using apps. It really does feel turbocharged. In my testing over the past few days, I have yet to find anything that can trip up the phone's performance in any meaningful way.

Unfortunately, I cannot vouch for any gains in power efficiency that might be afforded by the Snapdragon 835 or any other optimizations Samsung has made in the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Samsung delivered my review unit just this past Friday, and my usage while testing the phone is obviously nothing like average usage on a day-to-day basis. Normally when I review phones, I like to beat them up with heavy testing for a couple of days and then use them normally so I can communicate real-world battery performance.

What I can say about the batteries in Samsung's new phones is that they refuel quickly. I tested Samsung's standard fast charging via USB-C as well as its wireless fast charging, and both methods were fast to fill up the phone. As long as they don't explode, Samsung appears to have done a fine job with the batteries in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. I believe either phone will carry a person through a full day of average usage, and they charge up very quickly to minimize the hassle on days with heavy usage.

When Samsung confirmed that the rear camera on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ would be the same 12-megapixel Dual Pixel camera found on the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, and Galaxy Note 7, I saw a number of bloggers and smartphone enthusiasts complain online. On one hand, I can certainly see where they're coming from — no mobile camera is perfect, so we're used to seeing camera tech improve with each new generation of smartphone. But on the other hand, Samsung's Dual Pixel camera is easily one of the best in the business. In some lighting it is the best, hands down. It's difficult to complain about such a solid smartphone camera.

Samsung says that it has made some changes to the rear camera on the software side, though I really haven't noticed much of a difference in my testing. The Galaxy S7 captured great photos, the Galaxy S7 edge captured great photos, the Galaxy Note 7 captured great photos, and now the Galaxy S8 and S8+ capture great photos. What's not so great, however, is the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner next to the camera on the back of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

The back of a phone is an awful, awful place for a fingerprint scanner. Even after you've spent months with a phone and you know it like the back of your hand, unlocking a smartphone with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner means blindly sliding your finger around the back before finding the scanner. It's bad enough on phones with scanners that are placed on the center of the back, and it's even worse with the Galaxy S8's fingerprint reader, which is high up the back and off-center next to the camera lens. Side note: Thanks to Samsung's scanner placement, your rear camera lens will always be covered with plenty of oil from your finger.

Speaking of oil, the rear glass panel on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is not treated with an oleophobic coating like the front, so prepare for a permanent layer of grease and grime unless you plan to use a case. Of course, this issue will be familiar to anyone who has owned a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S6.

The positioning of the fingerprint scanner is, without question, a poor design choice. Complaining about misaligned charging ports is stupid, but the scanner placement is a very valid complaint, and I would wager that Samsung's own design team would agree. Rumor has it the company wanted to embed the fingerprint reader in the display itself, like Apple is rumored to be doing, but Samsung and its parts suppliers couldn't find a way to make it work in time for mass production.

If fumbling around for a fingerprint scanner doesn't sound appealing, there are plenty of other ways to unlock your Galaxy S8. Beyond PINs, patterns, and passcodes, the S8 and S8+ also support iris scanning and facial recognition. The latter isn't terribly secure since it has already been discovered that it can be fooled with a photo.

The iris scanner is a bit more secure, but it can also be inconvenient since you have to swipe over from the lock screen by default before the phone will scan your eyes. This was done to avoid accidental unlocks when the user is trying to read notifications or check other lock screen content, which certainly makes sense. If you don't can about seeing lock screen content, you can configure the phone so that you don't need to swipe to scan your irises. But you obviously still have to hold the phone out in front of you and position it so that your eyes are in the alignment circles that appear at the top of the screen. It'll never be as quick as a fingerprint scan.

Moving inside the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, you'll find a newly refined software experience. As is the case with the Galaxy S8 hardware, the company's "Samsung Experience" software in 2017 is its best yet.

Each year, Samsung continues to strip away more and more clutter, moving ever closer to a stock Android experience. Closer, yes, but make no mistake — there's nothing stock about the Android build on Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+.

The first thing you'll notice about Samsung's software on the Galaxy S8 is that it's fast. Very, very fast. Hardcore Android fans were upset when they found out that a special upgraded Galaxy S8 with 6GB of RAM would be made available in some Eastern markets and not in the US, but I can assure you that the Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM provide more than enough oomph and memory to keep things humming along.

From news readers, Twitter and email apps to media streaming apps, 3D games and more, the Galaxy S8+ powered through all my tests without a hiccup. Long story short, it can handle anything a user might throw its way. I had videos streaming in half of Samsung's multi-window layout while I was loading large web pages in the other half, and again, not a single stutter or stammer to speak of. Apart from a few Android oddities here and there — seriously, is Google EVER going to get scroll physics right?! — the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ offer the smoothest experience you'll find on a Google-powered smartphone.

While some other manufacturers have moved away from developing their own apps when Google already offers, Samsung still insists on holding onto a few dupes. For example, you'll find Samsung's Gallery app in addition to the preinstalled Google Photos app, which is clearly superior. Samsung also includes its own web browser in addition to Chrome. While moves like these made precious little sense on older phones, there's a method to the madness on the Galaxy S8.

Using a device that Samsung calls DeX, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ can connect to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to power a desktop computing experience. Samsung's apps are optimized for this experience, while third-party apps might not always perform as well in desktop mode. The DeX solution looked impressive when Samsung demoed it briefly for me last month before the Galaxy S8 was announced, but the company didn't supply a DeX dock with my review phone so I haven't yet been able to test it myself.

Beyond Samsung's apps, the TouchWiz experience — sorry, Samsung Experience — has been tweaked in a number of areas on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Some changes are minor, such as the option to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the app drawer. Other changes are more significant, like Samsung's move to on-screen home, back, and app switcher buttons, an obvious necessity since the physical home button was scrapped.

Samsung staples like the Always On Display feature and Samsung's customization options are all still present on the S8. There's also an "Advanced features" section in the settings app that provides access to several Samsung-only features. Here are some examples:

  • Smart stay: Eye detection keeps the screen on as long as you're looking at it
  • Game Launcher: A special launcher that can hold all your games instead of mixing them with apps in the drawer
  • One-handed mode: Swipe up from a corner to shrink the size of the screen so everything can be reached with one hand
  • Finger sensor gestures: Open and close the notification panel by swiping up or down on the fingerprint sensor
  • Quick launch camera: Double-tap the power button to launch the camera
  • Multi window: Open two apps on the screen at the same time
  • Smart alert: This feature makes your phone vibrate when you pick it up and have missed notifications
  • Video enhancer: This setting automatically upscales videos to enhance picture quality

There are a bunch of other ones in there, and they vary in their usefulness.

Another new addition to the Samsung Experience on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is Bixby. As many people might have already read, however, Bixby is a huge letdown for the time being in the US market. In a nutshell, Samsung's voice-controlled virtual assistant can't yet be controlled using one's voice.

The weirdest part about is that there's a dedicated Bixby button that is supposed to offer two functions. Pressing and holding the Bixby button is supposed to launch the Bixby voice assistant, which is like Siri or Amazon Alexa. At launch, this core Bixby feature won't actually exist; Samsung has delayed the voice portion of Bixby in the United States.

Tapping the button launches the Bixby Home page, which is a collection of cards similar to Google Now. At least, it's supposed to — the alternate method of accessing Bixby Home (swiping right on the first home screen) is the only method of accessing Bixby Home that actually works on my review unit. So, right now on my review unit, the Bixby button does nothing at all.

As it stands now, Bixby Home is Samsung's answer to Google Now. The interface is the same cascade of cards, and the content therein is similar as well, offering time, location, and context-aware content. One nifty feature that Google doesn't yet have, however, is Bixby Vision. This is similar to the Firefly feature Amazon introduced on the ill-fated Fire phone. Point the camera at an object and Bixby will offer information and context, if it recognizes the object. Bixby Vision can also offer information about points of interest using the camera and your location, and it can translate printed text in real-time in more than 50 different languages.

Bixby could grow into a very useful feature on Samsung phones, but right now it's painfully incomplete. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ run Android 7.0 Nougat, however, so they also include the much more complete Google Assistant solution. I certainly plan to revisit Bixby once it's a more complete product, but Google Assistant is clearly the way to go for the time being. Remember, Siri was a mess as well when it first launched, and now it has evolved into a fantastic tool that millions of iPhone owners use all the time. Give Samsung a while to work through Bixby's initial growing pains before you dismiss Bixby completely.

Nearly everything about Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ leaked long before the company actually unveiled its new flagship phones last month. We thought there was no way there would be any surprises left. While all the phones' new features were indeed covered by the leaks and rumors that led up to the unveiling, we were still entirely unprepared for the devices Samsung showed off that day.

The fact that Samsung has managed to out-design Apple is nothing short of shocking. The South Korean company has been chasing Apple ever since it first entered the smartphone market, but matching the iPhone in terms of design and build is something I never thought I would see Samsung manage. The company hasn't just matched Apple's iPhone design with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, it has surpassed Apple's iPhone design.

Like anyone else who has been keeping an eye on iPhone 8 rumors, I fully expect Apple to make a strong showing later this year when it unveils its redesigned tenth-anniversary iPhone. There's a lot of time between now and September, however, and I have a feeling many Apple fans will have some soul-searching to do when they finally get the chance to check out Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ following their release this Friday, April 21st.

For Android fans, meanwhile, the Galaxy S8 is a no-brainer unless you absolutely must have stock Android. There are a number of good reasons to stick with stock Android, and the timeliness of operating system updates is at the top of the list. It's a big tradeoff though, when you consider the power, performance, and beautiful design of the Galaxy S8.


Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Facebook F8 developer conference and more: April 18 in photos

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 01:30 PM PDT

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Facebook F8 developer conference and more: April 18 in photosFacebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the annual Facebook F8 developer conference in San Jose, Calif.; President Trump speaks during a visit to the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-On in Kenosha, Wis.; Pennsylvania state police investigate the scene where Steve Stephens, the suspect in the random killing of a Cleveland retiree posted on Facebook, died in Erie, Pa. These are some of the photos of the day. (AP/EPA/Getty/Reuters)


Democrat Has Trump Worried in Georgia Special Election

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 12:50 PM PDT

Democrat Has Trump Worried in Georgia Special ElectionHours before voters go to the polls in Georgia's 6th district, Trump attacked Jon Ossoff, who could possibly flip the long-time red seat blue. The Daily Kos' David Nir, who helped Ossoff raise $1 million of the $8.3M fueling his campaign.


Cleveland police widen manhunt for Facebook murder suspect

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 02:07 AM PDT

Cleveland police widen manhunt for Facebook murder suspectThe manhunt widened on Monday for a murder suspect who police said posted a video of himself on Facebook shooting an elderly man in Cleveland, where authorities appealed to the public for help in the case after urging the killer to turn himself in. Police said they have received "dozens and dozens" of tips for possible sightings of the suspect, Steve Stephens, and tried to persuade him to surrender when they spoke with him via his cellphone on Sunday after the shooting. "Our reach now is basically all over this country," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told a news conference in Ohio's second-largest city.


25 killed as Philippine bus plunges into ravine

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 01:52 AM PDT

25 killed as Philippine bus plunges into ravineAt least 25 people were killed and 22 injured when a passenger bus crashed into a deep ravine in the mountainous northern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said. The bus plunged about 24 metres (80 feet) in the upland province of Nueva Ecija before noon after its brakes failed while travelling on a windy road, police and local officials said. "The vehicle is totally wrecked," said senior inspector Robert De Guzman, police chief of the town of Carranglan where the accident occurred.


Now I Get It: Justice Neil Gorsuch's impact on upcoming Supreme Court decisions

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 06:44 AM PDT

Now I Get It: Justice Neil Gorsuch's impact on upcoming Supreme Court decisionsOn Monday, April 17, Justice Neil Gorsuch takes the ninth seat of the Supreme Court for the first time. It's the first time hearings are heard in front of a nine-strong bench since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, in February 2016. Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga looks at the upcoming Supreme Court cases and how Justice Gorsuch may have an impact on the decisions.


Former Afghan President: Massive US bomb was an 'atrocity'

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 05:59 AM PDT

Former Afghan President: Massive US bomb was an 'atrocity'KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that the U.S. is using Afghanistan as a weapons testing ground, calling the recent use of the largest-ever non-nuclear bomb "an immense atrocity against the Afghan people."


AI Could Help Predict Heart Attacks

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:39 AM PDT

AI Could Help Predict Heart AttacksThe machine learning algorithm beats the American Heart Association guidelines practiced by doctors by 7.6 percent.


Dude's hack for walking on hot sand is clever, if odd

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:45 AM PDT

Dude's hack for walking on hot sand is clever, if oddWalking on a searing hot beach is the worst. Especially if you hate sand. You have to choices: Either tip-toe and face the consequences, or experience the dread of getting sand in your precious shoes. But never fear: There's another way. SEE ALSO: People are kissing a car on Facebook Live for a chance to win it, and yes, it's dark A now-viral video posted on Brown Cardigan shows an enterprising young man using a plastic bag to navigate the hot, hot sands of Bondi Beach, Australia.  A post shared by browncardigan.com (@browncardigan) on Apr 15, 2017 at 10:14pm PDT Of course the method doesn't lend well for mobility, but for fellow sand-hating people everywhere, it's better than touching the stuff. For added mobility, put a "have a nice day" plastic shopping bag on each foot.  Because sand sucks. *shudders*  WATCH: This mini scuba gear lets everyone dive like a pro


Trump congratulates Erdogan on disputed Turkey poll

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:05 PM PDT

Trump congratulates Erdogan on disputed Turkey pollDonald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on winning a referendum granting him sweeping new powers that exposed bitter divisions in the country. The White House said they also discussed a US missile strike in Syria and the fight against the Islamic State group. Trump's congratulations on Monday were in contrast with EU leaders who have been reserved in their reaction to the narrow victory and even his own State Department, which earlier noted concerns expressed by international observers over the "uneven playing field".


iPhone 8 to Fight Galaxy S8 With This

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 07:22 AM PDT

iPhone 8 to Fight Galaxy S8 With ThisA new report from Japan's Mac Otakara adds some weight to the more prevalent iPhone 8 rumors out there, including rumblings of a stainless steel design and a flat OLED display. The report, as translated by Apple Insider, claims that the iPhone 8 will have a "glass sandwich" design reminiscent of that of the iPhone 4, with a sturdy steel center and slabs of glass on the front and back. Mac Otakara also notes that the display will be a flat OLED panel (contradicting some previous flexible display rumors), and could sport a vertically oriented iSight camera that would allow the next iPhone to work more seamlessly with mobile VR headsets.


Calexit backers drop 1 California secession bid, try again

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 05:59 PM PDT

Calexit backers drop 1 California secession bid, try againSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Supporters of one long-shot bid to make California an independent nation ended their effort on Monday, while another group said it will launch a new campaign for a statewide vote next year.


California drops rape charge against former NFL player Ray McDonald

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:43 PM PDT

California drops rape charge against former NFL player Ray McDonald(Reuters) - A felony rape charge against former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald was dismissed on Monday because his accuser did not want to testify, prosecutors said. McDonald was arrested in 2015 on the rape charge after a woman said he sexually assaulted her at a party at his home. "Despite my best efforts to convince the victim to testify, she refused," Deputy Santa Clara County District Attorney Chris Lamiero said in a statement.


Small plane crashes next to Lisbon-area supermarket; 5 dead

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:58 AM PDT

Small plane crashes next to Lisbon-area supermarket; 5 deadLISBON, Portugal (AP) — A small plane crashed Monday beside a supermarket near Lisbon, killing four people on board the aircraft and one on the ground. Four people were slightly injured, emergency services said.


Some Tesla Models Go On Sale While Others Get Price Hike

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 11:56 AM PDT

Some Tesla Models Go On Sale While Others Get Price HikeThe Model S is now the least expensive Tesla you can buy.


White House meeting on Paris climate deal postponed: official

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 03:45 PM PDT

White House meeting on Paris climate deal postponed: officialA White House meeting that was to help determine whether the United States should withdraw from the Paris climate accord has been postponed, an administration official said on Tuesday. Some of President Donald Trump's top advisers, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, were scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss how Trump should handle the 2015 climate deal. The meeting was canceled because "some of the principals are traveling today," the White House official said.


Here’s what the driverless semi trucks of the future will look like

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:44 PM PDT

Here's what the driverless semi trucks of the future will look like

While Google, Ford, Apple, and others slug it out to see who the future king of driverless transportation will be, shipping companies are patiently waiting for their own revolution. Einride is one of the companies that thinks it might have an answer, at least when it comes to replacing modern semi trucks with a greener, and potentially even safer solution that a traditional driver.

Einride's concept is to swap out an on-board human truck driver with a control system that allows the vehicle to both pilot itself as well as be controlled remotely by a trained operator. The idea is that when a truck is making a long haul and cruising along the highway it will, for the most part, navigate itself to its destination, with a remote "driver" keeping an eye on many of the trucks at the same time, only stepping in an issue arises.

Once the truck approach their final stop, a driver keeps a much closer eye on the action and helps the vehicle find its way through city streets and more challenging roadways.

Einride's vehicles, which it calls "T-pods," are fully battery powered, with the ability to cruise for 124 miles on a single charge. Early concepts of the trucks look like a cross between a traditional semi and an alien space ship. Each T-pod can haul 20 tons of cargo on its 23-foot-long frame, and Einride wants to have at least 200 of the vehicles on the road in Sweden by 2020, with an early test fleet hitting the pavement next year.


Nerves in Macron camp as French election looms

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 06:16 AM PDT

Nerves in Macron camp as French election loomsParis (AFP) - "We're going to win! We're going to win!" thundered thousands of supporters of French centrist Emmanuel Macron at his mega-rally in Paris six days before voting. Victory for the 39-year-old looked the most likely outcome of France's presidential election a month ago, but the race has tightened as the first round of voting looms on Sunday. Polls now show a close four-way race developing between Macron, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, scandal-hit conservative Francois Fillon and the surprise challenger, far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon.


The 10 Weirdest Starbucks Frappuccinos That Have Ever Existed

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 09:54 AM PDT

The 10 Weirdest Starbucks Frappuccinos That Have Ever Existed


US-led coalition Syria strikes kill 20 civilians: monitor

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 05:08 PM PDT

US-led coalition Syria strikes kill 20 civilians: monitorAir strikes by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group killed 20 civilians in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in two separate incidents on Monday. It also reported 10 civilians, among them nine children, were killed in a suspected Russian air strike on Tuesday on a town in the rebel-controlled province of Idlib.


USS Arizona survivor rejoins shipmates, interred aboard ship

Posted: 18 Apr 2017 12:10 PM PDT

USS Arizona survivor rejoins shipmates, interred aboard shipPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and died last year at age 94 has been reunited with his fallen shipmates on the sunken USS Arizona.


Google Maps For iOS Has A New Widget

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 04:34 PM PDT

Google Maps For iOS Has A New WidgetGoogle just updated its Google Maps app for iOS devices, and it has included a new widget that many users will find useful even when their handsets are locked.


Top Trump Aides Who Have Alleged Links With Russia

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:03 AM PDT

Top Trump Aides Who Have Alleged Links With RussiaAs reports of President Donald Trump taking money from Russia surfaces, we take a look at some of the top aides of the president who have alleged ties with Moscow.


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