One of the biggest social-media trends right now is apps that allow you to live stream whatever you want, whenever you want, right from your smartphone. Today we gave Nomadcast a try, after using Periscope the last several weeks, and of course, we had to stop and debate the merits.
The Oculus Connect 2 event included a number of announcements intended to take VR into the mainstream. The Gear VR 2 will be coming out for $99, and Hulu and Netflix have also announced their plans to jump into VR content production as well. But do filmmakers actually know what to do with 360-degree video and VR yet?
Volkswagen is in a world of trouble in the U.S., after news broke it had intentionally installed software to fool EPA emissions tests. Almost 500,000 cars will need to be recalled. How did this all happen, and who knew about it?
Please subscribe and share Trends with Benefits. Today’s episode features Caleb Denison, Nick Mokey, Rick Stella and host Greg Nibler. We also broadcast the show on Nomadcast this week. Follow @DigitalTrends to be alerted when we go live or send in questions ahead of time to [email protected].
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.