Category: Technology

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If you’ve been looking to change the atmosphere of certain rooms in your home, then allow us to introduce you to the humble galaxy projector. These devices are surprisingly affordable and a unique way to add some ambience to your home. With the flick of a switch, you can totally change the mood of a room without needing to splash out on an expensive renovation (which is always a bonus if you’re renting).

A galaxy projector is also a great piece of free tech. Why not pair one with a mini projector and create a home cinema on a rainy day? It’ll feel just like a movie under the stars. Or plug it into a smart plug, so you can set routines that you can control with your voice?

If you want to know more about filling your home with some nifty pockets of intergalactic goodness, check out some of the best deals we’ve found below.

What’s a galaxy projector?

It’s a projector that projects galaxies, as the name suggests.

To be just a touch more precise, it’s a catch-all term for projectors that typically project some kind of starfield, usually designed to be pointed at the ceiling of a room. Some models will offer differing star fields, or planets and galaxies, while others may include embedded music or other added features. The essential features are basically just a light source and a star pattern of some sort, but there’s quite a bit of scope for a galaxy projector to do more than that.

Why would I want one?

There are a few different use cases for galaxy projectors, but just to name a few:

To help you sleep at night

Have you ever slept under the stars? It can be an amazing experience, but the outside world also has its fair share of cold weather, bugs and other discomforts. Having the stars above you while you sleep can make that tricky task of relaxing into a deep sleep much easier.

To create a romantic atmosphere

Need to pop a “special” question? Get the stars on your side – as long as you’re sure your prospective partner will view it as cute rather than cheesy.

To enhance entertainment

Line up a long session of Elite Dangerousset Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey to play – whatever takes your fancy. You can make things feel even more immersive when you’re in a room that is quite literally full of stars, whether that’s a family movie night, a wedding or your next party.

What are my Galaxy projector options?

There’s a wide range of projectors that will fling star fields indoors at different price points.

LED Galaxy Starry Night Light Projector – $27.99

A galaxy light that can switch between stars, moons or projected waves.

Starry Sky Projector + LED Ocean Wave Projector – $25.66

If you’re after stars in a range of colors, this projector can switch between 10 different color sets with 360-degrees of rotation.

LED Star Projector – now $19.99 (was $44.99)

Simple to use and perfect for children, this will serve as a wondrous night light.

BlissLite Sky Lights 2.0 – now $59.99 (was $89.99)

Precision glass optics give this skylight a hyper-real element.

Tomnew Remote Control Ocean Wave Projector – now $33.99 (was $39.99)

While the focus is more on projected water patterns, this projector comes with included speakers if you want music with your light shows.

Café 63 Star Night Light For Kids – now $26.99 (was $39.99)

A projector with modes covering a starry sky and a universe pattern, as well as a happy birthday message and a cover so it can do double duty as a night light.

Sky LED Projector Night Light – $49.99

This super easy-to-use projector offers three light options: star, nebula cloud and the moon. You can also control the brightness, angle and combination of light options.

Editor’s note: Descriptions and features are taken from manufacturer/seller claims and user reviews.

• The Western Institute for Space Exploration has conducted the first international holoport
• Megaport chairman says cloud adoption critical to grow and scale businesses
• Accounting software player Reckon plans to invest in and launch new cloud products

Like something straight out of Space Trek, researchers at the University of Western Ontario recently completed the world’s first-ever international holographic teleportation.

A combination of hologram and teleport, the technology is called holoport and allows you to instantly beam the hologram of a person to a far-off location.

Microsoft has been working on its HoloLens for a while now to bring in mixed reality for business and gaming applications and Aexa Aerospace provides the software that enables a special camera to create holographic images of the subject and their environment, which can be seen using the HoloLens .

last year, NASA holoported flight surgeon Dr Josef Schmid using Aexa Aerospace technology and now researchers at the Western Institute for Space Exploration have successfully conducted the first international holographic teleportation from Alabama to London, Ontario.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you’re on a three-month deployment to the Space Station, and you could come down and sit in the room (at home) for a family dinner,” Western Space faculty member Dr Adam Sirek said .

The team is now working on the medical applications of the technology to facilitate medical examinations in remote areas and believes this could be a game-changer for rural healthcare.

Who’s got tech news out today?

MEGAPORT (ASX:MP1)

The Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) player says its monthly recurring revenue is up 43% of the year – at $10.7m at 30 June 2022 compared to $7.5m at 30 June 2021.

Ace Stockhead’s eddy sunarto explained recently, some experts say MRR is the most important measure of a company’s success as it reflects money already in the bag.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is also a vital metric to keep an eye on and Megaport has plenty of that too, with ARR also up 43% at $128.3m as of 30 June 2022.

Chairman and executive director Bevan Slattery says it all comes down to cloud adoption as a critical means of growing and scaling businesses.

“With the continued migration of enterprise workloads from siloed, on-premise infrastructure to hybrid and multicloud architectures, cloud is now an undeniable force in almost everything we do,” he said.

“The question of whether a business will adopt cloud is no longer up for debate; it’s now a question of how many clouds they will adopt.

“This massive growth in cloud adoption is fueling an ever-increasing dependence on critical communications infrastructure as data traverses between end users and public and private cloud locations.

“Megaport was built to solve this problem and founded at the junction where network infrastructure and operations meets next generation software and automation.

“Our industry leading Network as a Service platform was built for scalability – with global multi-terabit capacity that reaches 25 countries.”

RECKON (ASX:RKN)

Accounting software company Reckon has reported bottom line normalized Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of $6m, up 5% on the previous corresponding period (pcp).

Annual recurring revenues (ARR) of $36m, marked a 5% increase on the pcp and the fully franked interim dividend was 3c per share.

“Operational highlights for the first half 2022 were led by the $100m all-cash sale of the Accountants Group division, along with consistently strong results from the group’s continuous operations,” CEO Sam Allert said.

“With an established market footprint for our Small Business payroll solutions and Practice Management platform for legal services, Reckon has built a platform for sustainable growth underpinned by a strong balance street and subscription-based revenue model.”

The plan is to invest in and launch new cloud products and other cross-selling opportunities.

DXN (ASX:DXN)

The infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) player has launched its $2.125 million placement to fund its working capital position until it wraps up the Flow2Edge Australia transition.

The company is selling all its business assets and subsidiaries to Flow2Edge Australia – a digital infrastructure provider – for A$26m.

The transaction is subject to approval by both the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and shareholders.

MP1, RKN and DXN share prices today:

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Note: This is a guest post written by Amber Wilkinson

The Nothing phone (1) has been in the news recently for its unusual design. And it is already inspiring other brands, or… Doogee plans to launch the versatile S89 series, a pair of rugged phones with an RGB light effect on the back. But that’s not the only thing that makes the S89 series unique. This series comes with an enormous 12000 mAh battery.

The Nothing Phone (1) advertises its light effects as “Glyph”. But Doogee markets theirs as “Breathing Light.” The Doogee’s breathing light has more of an RGB light effect as compared to the Nothing phone. Users can customize what colors they prefer and assign them to different functions. Doogee also claims users will be able to control other aspects such as light pattern and light speed and select a series of colors to glow in the desired sequence.

If you have a sense of déjà vu, it’s because the S89 series is based on the legacy of an earlier Doogee series—the Doogee S88 series. The S88 series, with a massive 10,000 mAh battery and RGB light, remains one of the best-selling series to come out of the company, and they are trying to recapture that fire again.

Doogee is claiming it has found a way to engineer a 12000mAh battery into the S89 series’ 19.4mm thick case. This is impressive considering the size of the battery and the company’s ability to manage to keep the weight of the phone at 400g.

When you hear a large battery, it sounds good until you realize you have to charge it. Doogee’s fast charging technology is up to par with its large battery ambitions. The S89 Pro will ship with a 65W fast charger (the first rugged phone to ship with a 65W charger), which is capable of recharging the battery from 0 to 100% in about two hours. The S89, on the other hand, only comes with a 33W charger.

For cameras, the S89 series features a tri-camera setup, with the S89 Pro going for a 64MP + 20MP + 8MP set up on the back. The S89, on the other hand, comes with a 48MP + 20MP + 8MP setup. Both devices’ main cameras are tuned to get the best out of every shot that is taken. Both the 20MP sensors are for night vision, and finally, the 8MP sensors are meant to be used for ultra-wide shots. Sony built all the sensors used on the rear of this series.

Under the hood, the S89 series trusts the MediaTek Helio P90 to handle its performance. The S89 Pro will then pair the chipset with a base memory configuration of 8GB + 256GB. The S89, on the other hand, features an 8GB + 128GB base memory setup.

It goes without saying that the S89 series is waterproof and dustproof with its IP68 and IP69K ratings. It is also MIL-STD-810H certified, making it drop-proof. Furthermore, it also comes with NFC, runs Android 12 OS out of the box, reverses charging, custom button, and many more.

Pricing, Availability, and Giveaways

The S89 series’ launch date is earmarked for August 22nd on both AliExpress and Doogeemall.

Between August 22 and August 26, the S89 series will see heavy discounts on AliExpress, with the S89 Pro’s original price of $459.98 USD slashed to $229.99 USD. The S89, on the other hand, will see a 50% discount, bringing its original price of $399.98 USD down to $199.99 USD.

Doogee has also provided a $10 limited-time coupon for further discounts. This coupon is only available for very early buyers, so the earlier you place an order, the cheaper the price you get.

There is also a way to win one of these rugged phones for free. Doogee has two ongoing giveaways in which winners will be selected and sent a free S89 series. To learn more about the giveaway rules and prizes, click here to visit the S89 webpage series.

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Final Fantasy XIVOnline has developed a loyal player base over the last decade with new content packs, updates, and story expansions helping to keep the action fresh. But with so much to do – so many people to meet, battles to fight, items to collect, and quests to fulfill – getting started in the world of Eorzea can be incredibly tough. That’s why Square Enix has taken the liberty of releasing a brand new ‘Starter Guide’ series on YouTube to help introduce new players to the game.

The series contains seven unique episodes, all of which focus on one aspect of final fantasy XIV. The first serves as an introduction to the lore and characters of the game, as well as the sweeping, self-contained story players will take part in. It also makes clear players can tackle the game solo, or with as many friends as they like via online co-op.

Read: Final Fantasy XIV’s great story is made better by being told in an MMORPG

Episode one then dives into the basics of gameplay: how to create your character, how to traverse land using the game’s map, and how to start the main scenario quests.

You can check this episode out below:

Here’s what the rest of the Final Fantasy XIV: Starter Guide Series will introduce you to:

• Episode Four: Do Your Duty is all about forming a group to go off on quests, tackling your first dungeon, and obtaining special loot.

• Episode Five: Trial By Fire details how to take on bosses in trials, how to join a Grand Company, and how to unlock mounts for your travels.

Each episode is about two or three minutes long, but contains extremely handy tips for learning more about Final Fantasy XIVOnline, and discovering whether the game is for you. Jumping into the video series is a great way to demystify the adventure, and to ease the pressure of having to be the ‘best’ in a world populated by tenured heroes.

What these episodes make clearest is that while Final Fantasy XIVOnline has enjoyed thriving success over the last decade, and may be populated by passionate, long-term fans who’ll wildly eclipse you in levels, there’s still plenty of room for new players.

Final Fantasy XIVOnline offers a free trial for new players that is restriction-free until level 60. You can spend as much time as you like wandering the game, using these tips – or attempting to find your own way in the world. If you’ve been on the fence about joining the action, this video series, and the all-access trial, it’s an excellent starting point.

If you’ve been holding your breath for Samsung to bring its new Quantum Dot-sporting OLED TVs to Australia, well, you’re probably not with us anymore.

That said, we’d like to inform your surviving family members that Samsung’s long-awaited OLED TV range has finally launched in Australia, and is available for pre-order from today.

LG has announced the latest Tone Free true wireless earphones, including a flagship pair that combine active noise cancellation with head-tracking spatial audio for an immersive mobile listening experience.

LG is promising an overall sound boost over previous Tone Free releases, thanks to a new internal bud structure and larger 11-mm (0.43-in)-diameter graphene-packing dynamic drivers, but thanks to Meridian Audio’s Headphone Spatial Processing technology listeners can also look forward to a wider, more natural soundstage, while Perfect Balance offers consistent tone at all volumes.

But for the T90 flagship earphones, users also benefit from Dolby Atmos and Dolby head-tracking support, the latter adjusting audio delivery as users move their heads for more lifelike immersion when rocking tunes, watching movies or playing games.

Snapdragon Sound has been cooked in too, for 24-bit/96-kHz high-resolution playback and the promise of robust connectivity with low latency.

LG

A triple-microphone setup plus Voice Pickup Unit technology zone out ambient noises when the user is speaking, and the T90 buds feature improved active noise cancellation (ANC) that makes use of a new high-sample-rate filter for more effective isolation from the sounds of the outside world, while also eliminating unpleasant and distracting feedback. A real-time optimizer, meanwhile, automatically tweaks performance based on the actual position of the buds in the user’s ear.

The earbuds, but not the charging case, are IPX4-rated for safe use at the gym or if caught in a downpour, and come with medical-grade silicone ear gels for reduced irritation while plugged in.

The company’s UVnano charging case blasts docked buds with UV light to kill microbes trying to make a home on the eartips, and can also serve as a Bluetooth transmitter that can cut the cable between legacy audio systems and the earbuds courtesy of an included USB-C -to-aux cable. Each earbud is reckoned good for up to 9 hours of mobile music with the ANC disabled, plus another 20 hours are available from the charging case.

The T90 TWS earphones are due for worldwide release at the end of this month, but no pricing info has been revealed at this time. A version without Dolby head-tracking and the ANC optimizer called the T60 has also been announced, along with a couple of new IP67-rated models aimed at active users.

Source: LG

Overwatch is six years old, and Blizzard has been celebrating the occasion with a series of events. The last part of the sixth-anniversary celebration is about to start, featuring festive skins and event specials.

The first and second volumes of the event came bundled with Remixed skins, which are the recolors of old legendary cosmetics. Players either need to spend 3,000 coins to acquire them or hit a lucky roll in an Anniversary loot box, which are available inside the in-game shop.

In addition to collecting skins, players also get to complete various challenges that also unlock cosmetics. Considering this is a limited-time event, players won’t be able to obtain the event-exclusive cosmetics after it wraps up. Players can only purchase old event-exclusive skins if their respective events roll out in Overwatch eleven again. Alternatively, Blizzard can also decide to re-introduce past cosmetics in a different seasonal event, giving players a second chance at obtaining skins they missed out on.

when will Overwatch Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 end?

the Overwatch Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 will end on Aug. 30. The third chapter of the Anniversary event will be replacing the Summer Games and players will also be able to obtain the previous Anniversary cosmetics that were added to the game in past iterations.

With all player accomplishments and cosmetics transferring to Overwatch 2participating in events is still an excellent idea for players who are looking to expand their cosmetics collection. Overwatch 2 is expected to become available in early access on Oct. 4, while also introducing new characters, Sojourn and Junker Queen.

This week on The Wrap, we’ll hint at what’s coming in phones from August to October, plus reveal what’s happened in OLED TVs, earphones, and check out a brand new mid-range mobile from Moto, too. All that and more in five.

Subscribe to The Wrap at Apple Podcasts…

Transcript

For the beginning of August 2022, you’re listening to The Wrap, Australia’s fastest technology roundup, and as we’re now officially into the back half of the year, we can start thinking about phones and TVs and all the stuff that normally comes with it.

August is basically the time where you’ll want to really consider whether that iPhone or Samsung or Pixel purchase is worth making, because between August and October, any number of gadgets named like that could pop up.

To put it into perspective in less than the time it takes to order and drink your cup coffee – which is what this show is all about – if you’re considering buying a new Pixel, maybe wait until after October, which is when the new model is expected. And if you’re thinking of buying a new iPhone or Apple Watch, new models are expected some time between September and October, so buying now mightn’t be a great idea.

And if you thought a Samsung Galaxy phone or watch was on the cards right now, just wait a bit, because come next week, there will likely be new models to look out for.

Before then, there’s plenty of stuff to get into, which we’re getting stuck in right now.

Starting with Samsung’s other news for the week, and it has to do with a technology it has been out of for a while: OLED TVs. Samsung is back with them, after nearly a decade.

If you’ve been looking for a TV, you might have seen Samsung’s QLED range, which are LED-backlit TVs with quantum dots to enhance the color. They’re bright, shiny, and really suited for well-lit rooms, but they lack the natural vibrance of an OLED TV, with organic light emitting diodes the territory for LG.

But not anymore, as Samsung returns to OLED TVs with the S95, a model that will see a 55 and 65 inch option, and basically give LG a bit of a fight it has largely been left to play in by itself. Sony and Hisense also have OLED TVs, but they’re actually just LG panels, whereas what Samsung is making, its Quantum Dot “QD-OLED”, will be made by Samsung. They won’t be cheap, but they will be popping up shortly.

Also set to pop up shortly is a new breed of Laser TV, as Hisense teams up with legendary camera maker Leica for something very soon. We’re not expecting the Leica Cine 1 to be cheap, but given it comes with the Leica name, you probably already expected that.

While we’re waiting for those new phones from Google and Apple and Samsung, Asus and Motorola have been busy making mobiles for now.

Asus has launched something compact and hand-sized in the Zenfone 9, a 5.9 inch phone which might not sound small, but is, especially when you compare it to what’s out there.

The regular-sized iPhone 13 is 6.1 inches while the iPhone 13 Mini is 5.4 inches. Close to the middle of each of these, the Asus ZenFone 9 is a fairly small Android phone, which these days is becoming rarer. We’d say the Samsung Flip is probably the smallest, which in last year’s Flip 3 was a 6.7 inch phone that folded smaller.

The Zenfone 9 is almost a full inch smaller in size and arrives with two cameras, as opposed to the usual minimum of three you might expect. However, it also comes spec’d for performance, with the latest Snapdragon chip, 5G, WiFi, and a 120Hz screen.

No price on it just yet, though it does look like Australians will see it as a new flagship option.

A little below that, there’s what’s happening in the mid-range, and we’re checking out a recent Motorola for that.

There are a few recent Motorola models, the Moto G82 5G is the model we’re looking at, a $499 phone that also offers 5G, a 120Hz screen, and a few cameras, which already seems like it nails a value.

On paper, it sure does, and in practice, it’s not bad, either. While the cameras could be a lot better, the battery can hit one full day at a minimum or push out to two if you need to. We actually hit forty eight hours.

We do wish the cameras were improved, but if you don’t need the best cameras in the world, the Moto G82 5G is a value pitch worth considering.

And while we’re talking pitch, let’s talk about a pair of earphones quickly, the Technics AZ60. They’re from the Panasonic-owned Technics brand, and basically an almost four hundred dollar approach to wireless sound which is quite good.

The sound is well rounded, leaning more to balanced than warm, and the comfort is strong, too, from a pair of truly wireless earphones that looks nothing like the AirPods.

The noise cancellation isn’t bad, either, though it doesn’t rank among the best we’ve heard. In in-ears, you’ll want to look at the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Sennheiser Momentum True 3 for that.

They also miss out on wireless charging, something you can find for much lower, and the Technics app needs work, but if you find the AZ60 for below $300, they could just make a great play for someone interested in a portable audio upgrade with some classic brand name connection.

Technics still makes record players, and it appears they also do a decent pair of truly wireless noise canceling earphones, too.

For now, you’ve been listening to The Wrap, Australia’s fastest technology roundup. A new episode can be found each week at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get podcasts from. For now, have a great week, and we’ll see you next time on The Wrap. Stay safe, stay healthy, and take care.