Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Meet Styx and Kerberos, Pluto's newly named moons

SETI's best known for its search for sentient life in the cosmos, but when the Hubble space telescope found a pair of new moons orbiting Pluto (at SETI's behest), it decided to do some planetoid naming, too. Today, SETI announced those names: Styx and Kerberos. The institute didn't grant titles to the moons itself, however. Instead, it put the onus on the public to come up with the proper names -- with instructions from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that the nomenclature have something to do with the mythological underworld known as Hades. Voting lasted for two weeks, and SETI received over 450,000 regular votes and around 30,000 write-ins. Though many wished for the moons to be named for Stephen Colbert or the Romulan home world, the IAU found those choices to be unfit for the new moons. Instead, we have Styx (the river that separates earth from the underworld) and Kerberos (the three-headed dog that serves as the guardian to the underworld) -- who said studying Classics was a waste of time?

HTC confirms One S will no longer receive Android updates


HTC confirms One S will no longer receive Android updates
It's not a Nexus, so suspend your disbelief: HTC's One S will not be getting any further Android updates. That's right, One S owners, your device is now officially a relic. In a statement released to the press, HTC today confirmed that the mid-ranger, which bowed last year in tandem with the One X, will remain frozen on 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. That means current owners will have to look elsewhere (read: developer forums) for unofficial access to Sense 5 ROMs and the latest tweaks Google's packed into Android 4.2 updates. We can't really lament the loss of BlinkFeed, but it sure would've been nice to see HTC port Zoe over to the device. At the very least, this makes a strong case for that Google Play edition One and its promise of consistent updates.
"We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences."

Microsoft and Nokia launch Music Mix Party, let friends share a streaming Xbox playlist (video)


Nokia Music Mix Party lets friends share an Xbox music stream
We've seen a few attempts at shared audio streaming, but many of these depend on specialized apps or hardware. Microsoft and Nokia could clear that hurdle with their newly launched Nokia Music Mix Party, which leans on what many of us have at home. Xbox 360 owners with an Xbox Live Gold subscription just have to visit a website that starts an artist-based streaming playlist with a custom QR code; after that, anyone in the room with a mobile device can scan the code and vote on which songs should play next. The service is free to use during July, although we don't yet know if and how pricing will change afterward. Is Mix Party simple? You bet -- but it could keep guests happy at future shindigs, even if they don't care for our tastes in music.

Pebble seals exclusive retail deal, lands at Best Buy July 7th for $150 (video

Pebble seals exclusive retail deal, lands at Best Buy July 7th for $150 videoYes, last night's rumors were true. Pebble just announced that it's sealed an exclusive retail deal to sell its iconic smartwatch at Best Buy locations nationwide. The wearable device is available online right now (source link below) and will land in stores starting July 7th for $150. Color choices include Jet Black today followed by Cherry Red in August. Pebble will continue taking pre-orders for the other colors (orange, grey and white) directly on its own website. The partnership with Best Buy also brings new retail packaging (above) to store shelves. We've sure come a long way since Pebble launched its Kickstarter campaign -- one of the most successful ever -- back in April 2012. Check out the promo video and full PR after the break.