This new, magical video mapping technology is perfect for clothing

If you’ve ever seen an example of projection mapping or video mapping before, prepare to have your mind blown by the latest advancement in this technology.For those out of the loop, it refers to projecting an image onto a surface – be it a sheet of fabric or the side of a building – while having it conform to the shape of your target. It’s a way harder to achieve when the object isn’t stationary and can be moved in different ways.

If you’ve ever seen an example of projection mapping or video mapping before, prepare to have your mind blown by the latest advancement in this technology.

Google is changing search in a big way

Google is now starting to experiment with one of its biggest changes to search. The company is beginning to test a new "mobile first" version of its search index, meaning the company will prioritize mobile content in its search results.First, a refresher on how Google Search works: Google's bots crawl the web tracking more than 60 trillion web pages and the links within them. Google then categorizes them into a massive index based on hundreds of different factors. This index, along with a series of algorithms, is what enables Google to return relevant search results — that list of blue links — when you enter a query into the search box.

With the new update, Google will determine the rankings of pages based on their mobile content. (While it was previously reported that Google was creating an entirely separate mobile index, the company says it will be using the same index as before but that it will use mobile sites for its page ranking.)"Although our search index will continue to be a single index of websites and apps, our algorithms will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages from that site, to understand structured data, and to show snippets from those pages in our results," writes Google product manager Doantam Phan. There are a lot of implications to this change, but the most obvious one is that sites that don't have functional mobile versions will likely lose out, and turn up farther down in search results. With this move, Google's message is very clear: The time to adapt to mobile is now. 

This is a big change and one that "will take some time" to be implemented fully, according to Phan, but for users this means mobile search results will get a lot better. That's good news for users since the majority of Google searches now come from mobile devices — the impetus behind Google's desire to optimize its core product for that audience.Though Google is still only testing the change, the company offers a few suggestions to those who want to make sure their sites are ready for the change. You can take a look at them over at Google's Webmaster blog

Facebook Messenger is testing “Instant Games” like this one from King

Facebook Messenger is preparing to launch a new “Instant Games” platform that will let people play lightweight games against friends. Candy Crush maker King.com is already testing one of these Instant Games called “Shuffle Cats Mini” in New Zealand, TechCrunch has discovered. And other studios including Big Viking also appear to be prepping for the Instant Games launch.Facebook has been largely shut out of the native mobile gaming world by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. But by building games into Messenger by using it as a portal to mobile web apps, Facebook could create a new platform that drives Messenger engagement. Users could come to Messenger to play Instant Games, challenge friends via Facebook Messages, and potentially earn Facebook a cut of in-game purchases. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Earlier today, The Informationreported that Facebook is building the Instant Games platform for asynchronous games that you can take turns playing with friends, not necessarily at the same time. Instant Games expands on the success of the chess,basketball, and soccer mini-games Facebook itself built for Messenger earlier this year by allowing third-party developers to build them too. Facebook plans to release a development kit or tool later this month, though developers haven’t been told if they’ll be able to charge for in-game purchases.

India to have 1 billion unique mobile subscribers by 2020

Nearly every Indian will be a mobile subscriber by 2020.

India is already one of the largest markets for mobile phones, internet users, and mobile subscribers, and experts believe it’s just the beginning of even bigger things to come.The country will have one billion unique mobile subscribers by 2020, up from 616 million unique users as of June 2016, according to projections by mobile trade association GSMA.Once considered a luxury, Indian telecom operators now offer new subscription at no charge (or at nominal cost). The network coverage has also improved significantly over the past two decades with many of the remote places offering LTE connectivity now. 

These factors, coupled with the prices of devices getting cheaper, will play an instrumental role in nearly 330 million people getting a mobile subscription in next four years, GSMA added.

Many of these new mobile subscribers will have access to 4G LTE network capability. GSMA says that it projects the number of 4G connections in India to grow from 3 million as of the end of 2015 to 280 million in next four years. The report adds that India will have 670 million registered connection base with access to 3G or 4G connectivity.

India crossed one billion mobile subscriber base last year, according to TRAI. The regulator of the telecom sector in India had noted at the time of the one billion million subscriptions, 902 million were active in October last year. But not all were unique mobile subscribers, TRAI had noted. GSMA forecasts that India will have 1.4 billion registered mobile subscriber by 2020.

Apple slashes prices on USB-C accessories in response to criticism

Apple heard you, MacBook Pro customers.

Less than a week after unveiling a series of legacy-port-free MacBook Pro laptops, Apple announced that it is temporarily lowering the price of USB-C (AKA Thunderbolt 3) gear, including third-party peripherals and all adapters and cables."We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today, and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple's USB-C adapters and cables,” an Apple spokesperson said in a written statement.

For Apple, the move is a rapid and almost unprecedented response to criticism.

Even though USB-C is clearly the future industry standard, some worried Apple went too far, too fast.In the wake of the MacBook Pro redesign, some consumers and tech media pundits expressed outrage that the company was forcing new MacBook Pro owners to either update all their peripherals to USB-C or buy an ever-expanding collection of dongles to connect legacy equipment. The new MacBook Pros do not ship with adapters.On both the 13- and 15-inch models of the new, smaller and lighter MacBooks, Apple removed everything from the MagSafe power connector and HDMI ports to the full-size USB ports and SD card slot. It replaced them all with a collection of USB-C ports — two on the entry-level 13-inch model and four on the 13- and 15-inch models with Touch Bar technology. In all cases, the ports can be used for data and charging, and they promise data-transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps."We are extremely excited about the new MacBook Pro, which is the best pro notebook we’ve ever made. It has the fastest CPU, graphics, memory, storage and I/O, best display, the innovative Touch Bar and more. MacBook Pro uses the most advanced industry-standard connector, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, to provide maximum performance, expandability and compatibility," the Apple spokesperson said.Even though USB-C is clearly the future industry standard and this is not even Apple's first USB-C only system, some worried Apple went too far, too fast. Certainly pro users with significant numbers of legacy equipment were not ready to switch over en masse to USB-C. At least now, MacBook Pro consumers will be able to fill their holiday stockings with cheaper USB-C gadgets, dongles and cabling.

Among the USB-C deals Apple is offering now through Dec. 31 are:

Apple-branded USB-C to USB Adapter will drop from $19 to $9

Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter drops from $49 to $29

A 1-meter USB-C to Lightning Cable drops from $25 to $19. (2-meter down to$29.)

$20 off a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter

$20 off a USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter

In addition to 25% off all third-party USB-C peripherals sold through Apple, the company is lopping $20 off the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Card USB-C Reader.Apple will limit sales on these devices. Consumers can buy a max of five Apple-branded items and a max of two third-party devices.The deals will also not apply to Apple USB-C power adapters or the 2-meter USB-C Charge Cable.

Huawei has a Porsche-branded, crazy-powerful phone

MUNICH — With Samsung’s Note7 now being permanently discontinued for battery fire issues, many users are looking into alternatives with similar specs, and Huawei has just delivered in style — but deep pockets are a requirement.The company’s new flagship, launched alongside the standard Huawei Mate 9, has been designed in collaboration with Porsche Design. Its full name is the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9, but it’s not just a slightly redesigned Mate 9; it is in fact quite a different device. It has a slightly smaller, 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with curved edges and some seriously beefed-up specs, including 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage memory. Although it’s smaller than the Mate 9’s 5.9-inch screen, it has a higher resolution: 2,560x1,440 pixels.

Design-wise, the phone is a matte, graphite black with a Porsche Design logo accompanying the standard Huawei signature on the back. Judging by Huawei’s promo video at the event, the phone’s curvy edges should somehow mimic the design of Porsche cars, but you’ll have to use some imagination to see that. Unlike on most Huawei phones, the PD Mate 9 has a fingerprint sensor on the front, built into the home button which also takes over the function of all three standard Android buttons, depending on how you interact with it.About those curved edges: Don’t expect any additional functionality, as seen on Samsung Note7 or S7 Edge phones; the curvature is subtle and purely aesthetic.

Boosted Board sales suspended after reports of batteries overheating

Boosted Boards, makers of the most popular electric skateboards, has urged all owners of second-generation Boosted Boards to stop riding and charging them over potential overheating issues related to their lithium-ion batteries."Please store them away from anything flammable until we complete our investigation," Dastoor wrote. "If you don’t have a convenient place to store your board, you may optionally remove the battery. These are precautions we recommend to ensure rider and home safety. We will also stop shipping boards to new riders."Dastoor also asked owners to "move the board to a safe location outside and contact the company at 650-933-5151" if they notice any signs of overheating. "We also ask that you do not dispose of the battery so our engineering team can inspect it."Unlike the original Boosted Board, the second-generation model has a removable battery for quick swapping. The company also introduced an extended battery pack that gives riders double the range.

It's been quite a year for battery-related issues. Earlier this year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission declared hoverboards unsafe after they started catching on fire left and right. It was later determined faulty batteries with poor insulation were to blame.Then, at the end of August, Samsung Galaxy Note7 phones started inexplicably exploding, prompting a double recall and the eventual discontinuation of the device. It's widely believed the Note7 suffered from faulty batteries that may have been too large and too energy dense to fit into its svelte dimensions.Let us remind everyone again: Anything with a volatile lithium-ion battery can explode. Stay safe out there!