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Weekly Tech Recap - № 196 - Puma RS-Computer, worst passwords, GoPro, Epic services, AWS Outposts, delivery robot

December 14, 2018.

Puma RS-Computer

Puma RS-Computer.

RS-Computer. © Puma.

Puma is reissuing a limited edition of its RS-Computer running shoe, originally released in 1986. These shoes, which wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Stranger Things, had a strange protrusion on the heel of the right shoe that housed an electronic pedometer recording the number of steps and time spent exercising. Two buttons made it possible to test the operation and to dump the memory (black “On-Test” and red “Reset”). Between the buttons, a cover concealed a 4-pin connector. A 4/16 pin cable connected the shoe to the best microcomputers at the time (Apple IIe, Commodore 64/128, IBM PC). Software on the computer then calculated the distance and calories from the recorded data. Of course, the reissue of RS-Computer is getting a technological update (we’re pretty sure that your computer doesn’t have the appropriate 16-pin I/O port). The new version includes an accelerometer, LED indicators, a USB port for charging and Bluetooth to connect the wireless shoe to your phone. The application will have a retro look to evoke the original monochrome software. The price has not been announced.

Circuit Breaker, “Puma is rereleasing its classic 1986 RS-Computer running shoe.”

 

Password=“donald”

Bad password.

Not recommended. © iStock.

SplashData analyzed more than 5 million passwords that were leaked on the Internet, and just like the seven previous years the company has reviewed the data, people continue to set predictable, easy-to-guess passwords that rely on strings of letters and numbers that are close to each other on computer keyboards, according to a news release. In addition to perennial favourites, such as “1234567” and “12345678,” the list of ill-advised passwords for 2018 included newcomers “!@#$%^&*” (the special characters that correspond to 12345678, ranked 20th) and “donald,” ranked 23rd.

The Washington Post, “ In annual ranking of worst passwords, ‘donald’ makes its debut.”

 

GoPro (kind of) exits China

Hero7.

Hero7. © GoPro.

Many key players in consumer electronics are trying to anticipate the effects of the trade war between the United States and China. In order to avoid taxation on its Chinese-made cameras upon entry into the United States, GoPro announced that it would move camera production for its main market, the United States, out of China. Cameras for other markets, however, will continue to be produced in China. Brian McGee, Vice-President of GoPro, said the move shouldn’t be too expensive because the company owns the production tools. According to a survey conducted in Shanghai by the US Chamber of Commerce in China, one-third of the 430 companies polled are considering outsourcing components or assembling outside the country due to pressure from US tariffs.

The Verge, “GoPro will move some manufacturing out of China because of Trump’s trade war.”

 

Epic online services

Fortnite.

Fortnite. © Epic Games.

To run an online game, you need a suite of services that goes beyond the functionality of a game engine like Unreal. Epic Games has developed and intensively field-tested such a suite of services with Fortnite, its worldwide hit that brings together more than 200 million players on 7 platforms. The company has announced that in 2019, it will make the various development tools of this suite available free of charge. This will start with a C SDK encapsulating online services, together with Unreal Engine and Unity integrations. This SDK will work with all gaming engines (not just Unreal Engine) and will support multiple login methods (Facebook, Google, Xbox Live, PSN, Nintendo and Epic accounts). It will offer basic multiplatform features (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch) to persistently recognize players across multiple sessions and devices, identify friends, and manage free and paid item entitlements. Subsequently, multiplatform voice communication functions, matchmaking and cross-platform games, cloud storage of game data, etc., will be available. It’s not clear why Epic has embarked on this adventure, but developers will quickly appreciate the value of these services.

Epic Games, “Epic 2019 Cross-Platform Online Services Roadmap.”

Ars Technica, “Epic opens Fortnite’s cross-platform services for free to other devs.”

 

AWS Outposts

AWS.

At its re:Invent 2018 event, Amazon Web Services introduced several new features, including its hybrid cloud offering, Outposts, which allows businesses to have a piece of AWS’s cloud in-house, in a shared space, or in a data center of their choice. Like the Snowball and Snowmobile, this is a “physical” service: Amazon sends you racks of servers that you rent. This solution makes it possible to use the same tools, hardware and functionalities as on Amazon’s cloud. It streamlines the management of a hybrid cloud for companies that want to keep storage and computing power on site. AWS Outposts come in two flavors to suit the control tools and APIs needed: VMware Cloud and native AWS.

Ars Technica, “Amazon Web Services aims to colonize your network with Outpost.”

 

Serve Robot

Robot Postmates Serve.

Serve. © Postmates.

Serve is an experimental robot by Postmates, an American courier delivery company. The future of this kind of delivery robot outside of highly protected environments is doubtful, but with its design that is indubitably reminiscent of Wall-E, its big round eyes and its yellow body, it’s fetching. The robot can carry up to 22 kg of goods and can travel up to 50 km on a single charge. When Serve arrives at your home or office, you use your phone or a code to unlock the compartment and collect your packages.

TechCrunch, “Postmates unveils Serve, a friendlier autonomous delivery robot.”