Archives for March 26, 2019

Sony’s premium RX0 II action cam has a flip-up screen and eye AF

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The action camera will ship in April for $700.

Sony has announced a follow-up to its tiny rugged camera from 2017, the RX0, and it’s just as tough and handy. The RX0 II has a 15.3-megapixel sensor and a Zeiss Tessar T 24mm F4 fixed wide-angle lens with a 20-cm minimum focus distance for scenic shots. It’s very similar in size to its predecessor, with a 2.3in x 1.59in x 1.38in body that weighs just 132 grams. However, it’s a lot more selfie-friendly, thanks to an adjustable LCD screen that can flip 180 degrees upward and 90 degrees down.

You can even use the screen underwater: the device is waterproof up to 33 feet, is tough enough to survive being crushed with 400 pounds of force and can withstand the impact of a drop up to 6.5 feet. That selfie-friendly screen is bolstered by Sony’s Eye AF that locks onto the eyes of the subject, as well as Soft Skin Effect that can cover minor blemishes.

Want to capture high-definition videos? The RX0 II supports internal 4K 30p recording and can stabilize your footage even when in handheld mode. In case you want to stabilize the video even further — and those susceptible to motion sickness will likely thank you for this — you can run it through its accompanying Movie Edit add-on app on a phone or a tablet. It also features a Super Slow Motion mode that shoots videos at 1,000 fps and has a continuous shooting mode for time-lapse-videos.

Since the device is tiny and could make handheld shooting a bit tough, Sony has introduced an optional shooting grip with integrated controls. The device comes with a mic jack, as well, so you can plug in an external microphone if needed for vlogs and recordings that need crisp and clear audio. And if you’re working on a project that requires multiple cameras, Sony’s Imaging Edge Mobile application will give you the power to control up to five RX0 II cameras at once. The new action cam will start shipping in April 2019 and will be available at various North American retailers for US$700 and CA$900.

HTC Streamlink turns VR headsets into big screens for console gaming

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But you’ll need your own USB video capture card.

One surprise announcement coming out of today’s Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen is HTC’s Streamlink, an in-house VR app that lets your PC-powered or standalone Vive headset — like the new Vive Focus Plus — receive HDMI signal from any USB video capture card — some of which can be bought for as low as $65 per piece in China, according to an HTC rep. There are many potential use cases here, of course, but HTC is specifically pitching this as a new way of playing games on your consoles — namely PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One S — as well as watching videos from your set-top box.

Just to be clear, HTC isn’t here to replace your PS VR nor Labo VR Kit. Instead, it’s all about playing your usual console games on a much larger virtual screen — and ideally on the sharp 2,880 x 1,600 AMOLED display on the Vive Pro and Vive Focus series. I was able to briefly try this feature with a Vive Focus connected to an Xbox One S, and the viewing experience was no different than the usual virtual theater apps on my own Focus — I could even resize the virtual screen if needed.

HTC Vive Focus with Streamlink

However, there seemed to be a slight delay between my controller input and the picture, and unless HTC can fix this (which is probably unlikely given the nature of capture cards), it’s probably best to avoid the more demanding titles in this mode. Another issue I noticed was the USB-C cable dangling from the top of the headset, so be sure to warn others about it in case they trip over. It’s also worth noting that HTC doesn’t offer its own capture card to go with your headset, so you may hit some bumps when trying it with different devices.

Streamlink is part of HTC’s new initiative to push multi-mode capability across its VR devices, making them more practical and versatile. Other features on the list include the new 360 camera streaming mode supported by the Insta360 Evo, along with the earlier phone streaming mode, PC big screen mode and PC VR streaming mode. Existing Vive users can already download the Streamlink app from Viveport today.

An ill-fitting spacesuit cancels NASA’s first all-female spacewalk

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NASA astronauts Nick Hague (suit with no stripes) and Anne McClain (suit with red stripes) on a spacewalk last Friday. NASA

Instead of reconfiguring a new torso, the team decided to swap astronauts.

A historic spacewalk was scheduled to occur this week, with only women operating outside the ISS for the first time ever. News of the event was revealed earlier this month when a flight controller tweeted about the schedule, but as NASA noted at the time “assignments and schedules could always change.” Now that has happened, as the second of three planned spacewalks will instead be performed by a man and a woman, Nick Hague and Christina Koch.

According to NASA, last week when Hague performed the first operation with astronaut Anne McClain, there was an issue with the fit of McClain’s spacesuit. In what is essentially the “t-shirt” area of the Enhanced EMU suit astronauts wear on spacewalks, the Hard Upper Torso (H.U.T.) comes in three sizes: Medium, Large and XL. McClain had trained in both the medium and large sized units, but discovered that the medium size worked better for her. According to a spokesperson, there are two medium-sized units onboard, however only one can be ready in time, so Koch will go with Hague instead and history will have to be made another day.

While there’s some confusion over how this could happen, it seems like there are a few issues going on. Of course astronauts are measured extensively before their trip, but there is no way to simulate the extended effects of zero gravity on their body and earlier this month McClain tweeted that she’s grown by two inches since launch.

As a NASA spacesuit engineer explained on Quora, the suits are modular and able to adjust between many different fits for whoever will be wearing them, and in a best case scenario, are set up for an “optimal size” for the astronaut. However that’s not always possible, so someone may have to wear a suit set up for someone else, or a part may not be available on the space station.

In this case, they do have the equipment, and the suits can be reconfigured. However as described in the NASA spokesperson’s tweet the team decided to swap spacewalkers instead of adjusting the various parts on the suit around a new torso.

Samsung’s Galaxy A70 has a huge display and 32-megapixel selfie camera

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With a matching 32-megapixel triple-camera setup on the rear.

Samsung has launched its biggest A-series phone ever, and it has a pretty impressive camera setup, too. The Galaxy A70 packs a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED 20:9 1,080 x 2,400 display with an “Infinity-U” notch. That houses the 32-megapixel, f/2.0 selfie camera that beats the main camera on many other phones. On the back is a 32-megapixel F1.7 main camera (trumping the 24-megapixel main camera on the last model), an ultra-wide-angle camera and a depth sensor.

With a large 4,500 mAh battery, the Galaxy A70 supports 25W fast charging, making it the first Galaxy phone to do that (the Galaxy S10 5G will also support 25W charging when it arrives in April). As for other specs, it packs an 8-core processor, 6GB or 8GB of RAM (depending on the options and region), and 128GB of internal storage on top of a microSD slot that bumps it by 512GB. You’ll also get both facial recognition and an in-screen fingerprint reader.

The only thing missing is maybe a zoom lens like the kind you can find on Huawei’s $400 P20 phone. Still, these are very interesting specs for a mid-range device, and Samsung is likely hoping to drum up some business in that market, given how much the demand for high-end phones has dropped. Samsung has yet to reveal the A70’s price and availability, but will reveal more on April 10th.

2 Stocks to Watch Today: The Michaels Companies, Inc. (MIK), Whiting Petroleum Corporation (WLL)

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The Michaels Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIK) experienced a high price of $11.98 with a low value of $11.21 at the end of the last trading session, which followed after a loss of -5.54% and settled at $11.26 during the course of the last 24 hours for the day. Respectfully, the company now has 167.02M shares after the latest changes, so the present market capitalization sits at $1.88B. The trading volume of The Michaels Companies, Inc. shares went over 3,921,043 in a single day during the last trading session in comparison to the average volume of MIK, usually circulating around 2.37M.

During the course of the last year, the stock has touched a high of $22.15 and a low of $11.44, which as a result has the increased attention of top market experts who are tracking the progress of the asset as it is getting closer to a notable historic high price or low value.

Looking at the latest analyst forecasts, the current earnings-per-share (EPS) consensus estimate is sitting at $2.58 per share. In the preceding year, the company reportedly generated EPS of $1.98 per share of its common stock. The profitability indicators are showing that this organization has an operating margin of 10.50%, a profit margin of 5.90%, and a gross margin of 38.80%.

If we were to do a comparison between the current price and its previous movement in the market, we can easily conclude that the price went to a negative change, going down by -0.42 in the past five trading days, which resulted in a percentage change of -3.60% and a moving average of 11.95. In the past 20 days, its price changed by -2.32, which means that the stock’s moving average was 12.84. Looking back at a cycle of the last 50 days, shares of MIK changed by -$4.82 (which is -29.98%) and demonstrated a moving average of 13.75. Meanwhile, this stock’s MACD Oscillator was -0.38 over the past 9 days, and -0.70 over the past two weeks, also marking -1.12 in the period of the last 20 days.

Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:WLL)’s shares demonstrated a change of -6.54% during the most recent trading session, ending the trading day at the price of $25.60 with a 24-hour trading volume that reached 5,523,419 – compared to its average trading volume of as 4.94M, as recorded over the past three months. With that closing price, the market capitalization of this company is now sitting at $2.52B. The moving average for last 20 days of Whiting Petroleum Corporation is at 0.64%, while the average went down by -5.89% during the last 50 days with -33.74% recorded during the last 200 days. Additionally, this stock’s distance from its 52-week high price is currently down by -54.67%, while it’s sitting 39.36% away from its 52-week low price.

When you are considering investing in stocks, it is wise to consider counting in Wall Street analysts’ target prices, which should help you place a more profitable investment. The price targets can provide you with an idea of the predicted movement of stocks you are interested in. At the moment, the price target set for Whiting Petroleum Corporation is $37.94. It’s also helpful to look at the average analyst recommendation score – which is provided on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is “strong buy”, 2 is “buy”, 3 is “hold”, 4 is “sell” and 5 is a “strong sell”. Right now, the average analyst recommendation for WLL stands at 2.20, which indicates that analysts recommend investors to Buy their shares of WLL until the stock approaches its target price.

Traders use the ATR to analyze potential exit and entry points, as it represents a useful tool in almost any trading strategy. ATR for this stock is sitting at 1.33. Beta tells us about a stock’s volatility, also known as its systematic risk, compared to the market overall. The current beta value for WLL is 2.99, while for the past seven days, this stock’s volatility was 5.89%, also recording 4.64% for the past 30-day period.

Professionals on Wall Street also frequently check the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of a potential investment, which tells us the speed and change of a stock’s price movement in the market. RSI is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. If the indicators are set higher above 70, then the RSI factors are indicating that the stocks are overbought. The factors will indicate that a stock is oversold if the result is set below 30. Right now, Whiting Petroleum Corporation (WLL) has an RSI of 49.11 – indicating that the asset is being neither overbought nor oversold.

2 Stocks to Watch Today: Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN), Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID)

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Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) experienced a high price of $112.41 with a low value of $109.53 at the end of the last trading session, which followed after a loss of -2.26% and settled at $109.68 during the course of the last 24 hours for the day. Respectfully, the company now has 960.35M shares after the latest changes, so the present market capitalization sits at $105.33B. The trading volume of Texas Instruments Incorporated shares went over 3,696,402 in a single day during the last trading session in comparison to the average volume of TXN, usually circulating around 5.95M.

During the course of the last year, the stock has touched a high of $118.48 and a low of $87.70, which as a result has the increased attention of top market experts who are tracking the progress of the asset as it is getting closer to a notable historic high price or low value.

Looking at the latest analyst forecasts, the current earnings-per-share (EPS) consensus estimate is sitting at $5.78 per share. In the preceding year, the company reportedly generated EPS of $5.55 per share of its common stock. The profitability indicators are showing that this organization has an operating margin of 42.50%, a profit margin of 35.10%, and a gross margin of 65.10%.

If we were to do a comparison between the current price and its previous movement in the market, we can easily conclude that the price went to a negative change, going down by -1.06 in the past five trading days, which resulted in a percentage change of -0.96% and a moving average of 110.27. In the past 20 days, its price changed by +2.37, which means that the stock’s moving average was 107.63. Looking back at a cycle of the last 50 days, shares of TXN changed by $+13.44 (which is +13.97%) and demonstrated a moving average of 104.51. Meanwhile, this stock’s MACD Oscillator was 1.25 over the past 9 days, and 2.54 over the past two weeks, also marking 2.88 in the period of the last 20 days.

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE:SID)’s shares demonstrated a change of -6.54% during the most recent trading session, ending the trading day at the price of $3.86 with a 24-hour trading volume that reached 4,954,623 – compared to its average trading volume of as 4.10M, as recorded over the past three months. With that closing price, the market capitalization of this company is now sitting at $5.70B. The moving average for last 20 days of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional is at 1.33%, while the average went up by 23.78% during the last 50 days with 55.04% recorded during the last 200 days. Additionally, this stock’s distance from its 52-week high price is currently down by -16.09%, while it’s sitting 102.09% away from its 52-week low price.

When you are considering investing in stocks, it is wise to consider counting in Wall Street analysts’ target prices, which should help you place a more profitable investment. The price targets can provide you with an idea of the predicted movement of stocks you are interested in. At the moment, the price target set for Companhia Siderurgica Nacional is $3.21. It’s also helpful to look at the average analyst recommendation score – which is provided on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is “strong buy”, 2 is “buy”, 3 is “hold”, 4 is “sell” and 5 is a “strong sell”. Right now, the average analyst recommendation for SID stands at 3.00.

Traders use the ATR to analyze potential exit and entry points, as it represents a useful tool in almost any trading strategy. ATR for this stock is sitting at 0.23. Beta tells us about a stock’s volatility, also known as its systematic risk, compared to the market overall. The current beta value for SID is 2.29, while for the past seven days, this stock’s volatility was 7.91%, also recording 5.41% for the past 30-day period.

Professionals on Wall Street also frequently check the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of a potential investment, which tells us the speed and change of a stock’s price movement in the market. RSI is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. If the indicators are set higher above 70, then the RSI factors are indicating that the stocks are overbought. The factors will indicate that a stock is oversold if the result is set below 30. Right now, Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID) has an RSI of 55.77 – indicating that the asset is being neither overbought nor oversold.