Light Start – Google Maps gets limits, jet suit assault course, Unsolved Mysteries, and Windows 10 Mobile is toast
Brett Venter
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Google Maps is adding speed limit data to its Android and iOS apps
It’s about time we got a feature like this. Okay, we don’t technically have it yet but, like Winter, it’s coming. Google has added speed limit data to its Android and iOS for some locations in the States, though just how extensive the rollout is remains to be seen. If it goes global, and we’re dearly hoping it will, it’ll give drivers who routinely use the app for navigation a chance to see just how fast they should be going in the absence of road markers. Which, in South Africa, are sometimes missing, misplaced, plonked behind trees or moved for roadworks and never put back. Having that data available in-app could lead to safer driving, especially if users are given an audio notification when they’re speeding. Or at least it’ll lead to knowing exactly how far over the speed limit you’re travelling if you’re stopped by the cops.
Flying soldiers — We’re getting close to that future we were promised
We were supposed to have all sorts of things by now. Hoverboards (not wheeled contraptions that keep exploding). Meals in pill or dehydrated form. Self-lacing shoes. Flying cars. Some of that stuff exists, though it doesn’t exist in large enough numbers for us to wear ripped jeans, leather and spikes to head out to spray graffiti on everything, in between gang fights where everyone’s hair is floofy and nobody gets too seriously hurt. But we’re getting closer to jet-pack soldiers, which is cool enough. Gravity Industries CEO Richard Browning recently demoed its jet-suit at the Commando Training Center in Lympstone, Devon. It’s not a very lengthy video but it does give you some idea of what a soldier on the battlefield would be with one of these: an easy target, for one, because he can’t hold a gun at the moment, but also utterly terrifying and immune to obstacles, should they happen to arm him properly. Watch the short clip at the link below.
Netflix is rebooting Unsolved Mysteries, because the past is preferable to the present
Perhaps you’re old enough to recognise the chap in the image above. If you are, you probably remember sitting and watching Unsolved Mysteries on a Friday afternoon (we think it was Friday, it’s been many years since we’ve seen it) in the… 90s? We want to say 90s. Just because we stopped watching then doesn’t mean they stopped making episodes, though. The final one was broadcast in 2010, though the original series began in the 80s. Yeah. If you’re not old enough to remember being creeped out by this crime/paranormal show, you’re in luck. Netflix has reportedly picked up the series and is bringing it back. And nostalgia-fuelled horror-fest Stranger Things‘ Shaun Levy will be keeping an eye on it. That information seems important. Expect 12 episodes, to start with at least, each of which involves a single incident. Whether that’s crime, some kind of unexplained phenomenon, or something else a little creepy, we’re looking forward to all of it.
“Wait a second”, we hear you cry. “People are still using Windows 10 Mobile?” Actually, your guess is as good as ours concerning actual user numbers but Microsoft did sell a whole mess of devices using the mobile operating system. We’re fairly certain that those devices didn’t ship with a remote self-destruct option so there are folks out there (probably) still using the operating system. But not for long. Like Windows 7, Windows 10 Mobile’s time is limited — specifically to 10 December 2019, after which Microsoft will stop supporting the OS. Unlike Windows 7, you won’t be able to pay for extended support, though some features will work for a time after the shutdown. What can you do if you’re using Windows 10 Mobile? Microsoft suggests “…that customers move to a supported Android or iOS device.” Awkward…
