Facebook working on an Android-based video chat device

Last year, Facebook poached Regina Dugan, the head of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects, to lead a new hardware group. Building 8’s first products are now coming into light as a new report notes the development of a HomePod smart speaker competitor and a video chat device. For those that remember Mark Zuckerburg’s security advice from last year, the rumors of these new products come with some irony.

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Hands-on: The entry-level Mid-2017 5K iMac is a great deal with room for future growth [Video]

For $1799, the entry-level 5K iMac is a very good deal for anyone looking for a powerful machine that can be upgraded to some extent. Of course, when it comes to an all-in-one machine like the iMac, the term “upgrade” is used loosely, but it’s still fairly remarkable how much headroom you can garner from Apple’s entry-level 27-inch 5K machine.

In this hands-on post and video walkthrough, we’ll consider several reasons why the base-model 5K iMac is such a compelling proposition for those in need of a new Mac. In fact, it’s arguably the best deal in Macs that Apple currently offers. more…

Apple requests tax-breaks for suppliers as it seeks to establish ‘mini-Shenzhen’ in India

Apple has asked the Indian government to extend the tax breaks it has been granted for its own operations to its suppliers. This would enable the company to move from mere iPhone assembly in India – with the actual parts still made in China – to more of a true manufacturing operation.

We described recently how Apple relies on an entire network of suppliers centred around the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Tim Cook’s discussions with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi have extended to establishing a kind of Little Shenzhen within India …

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Demo created with ARKit and Unity3D shows the potential of AR for film-making [Video]

We’ve already seen how ARKit is helping developers create some impressive augmented reality apps, from virtual tape measures and navigation to fun things like games. But it’s looking increasingly like we might see film-makers employing the technology to blend virtual characters with real ones.

We got a taste of this recently with a demo app replicating an 80s music video, and now indie game developer Duncan Walker has put somewhat frighteningly realistic robot soldiers onto the streets of London …

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