Take a look at these new photos from ‘Stranger Things 2’

Courtesy of Netflix

As the release approaches (well, if you count Halloween weekend as a close enough release date), Netflix is slowly releasing bits and pieces about the new season of Stranger Things. These aren’t spoilers though, as we know they’re being extra protective about leaks this time. But we do see most of our favorite characters (no sign of Eleven yet, though).

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Uber now has mapping cars in five continents following launch in Singapore

Uber is taking one more step forward with its mapping initiative by bringing map cars to Southeast Asia through its launch in Singapore. By having these cartographic cars, which basically have drivers ride around the city state with mapping tech on top of the cars, they are trying to collect data about Singapore based on real trips. They’ve done this here in the country, in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa.

Uber’s been working on trying to get its own data on its trips instead of having to rely on Google. At the same time, it’ll help in giving exact details about a drop-off point in certain buildings and areas. However, Uber promises riders who catch these vehicles in the country will not have their pick-up and drop-off points retained and these imagery will not be made public. Plus, Uber isn’t shy to admit this could also help in pushing its self-driving initiative further.

Source:  Engadget

Apple shows off Portrait Mode of the iPhone 7 Plus with two new ads

Apple boasts the iPhone 7 Plus's new Portrait Mode, which lets users focus in on the subject while blurring out the background, in two new short ads. One of them is entitled Soul Mate and plays on the importance of our dog's in our lives (as you can see above) and another shows the image of a child in a creek. This feature mimics the "bokeh" effect you can get from DSLR cameras. It makes use of the 56mm telephoto lens found in the iPhone 7 Plus as well as the image signal processor of the smartphone and machine learning techniques to help distinguish the subject in the foreground and those in the background. A depth map of the image from the two cameras is used to help keep the subjects in the photo in focus while blurring out the background. It's not a feature most smartphones can do.

Apple joins Wireless Charging Consortium, fuels speculation on new iPhones

Every move Apple makes is a seismic one in the industry and usually a hint of things to come or a glimpse on what the company is working on next. Apple has reportedly joined the Wireless Charging Consortium, lending credence to the possibility that upcoming iPhones and possibly iPads will be able to use wireless charging technology.

While wireless charging has been available for smartphones for a long time now, Apple has resisted in putting the technology in its iOS devices. Although the Apple Watch has always been charged using an inductive charger, iPhones and iPads have solely relied on Lightning connectors.

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