Latest news with #Core
Daily Record
a day ago
- General
- Daily Record
Phone charger 'blew up and set bed on fire' seconds after Scot plugged it in
Steven Craig had only just plugged his phone in after buying the new lead from a local shop and seconds later his bed was ablaze. A Scots man's mattress was engulfed in flames after a new mobile phone cable 'blew up' in his bed. Steven Craig, from Carntyne in Glasgow, had only just purchased the new £9.99 charging lead from a local shop. Seconds after plugging it in, the cable exploded and he was left fighting a blaze, reports Glasgow Live. The 37-year-old said: 'I put my phone on charge, went for a shower. About ten seconds into the shower, the smoke alarms started going off. 'I'm used to that happening, a little puff of smoke can set them off, so I've ran out the shower, grabbed a mop, and I'm standing in the hall with a mop, hitting the button on the ceiling. Then I looked, and my bedroom was full of smoke.' 'If it wasn't for the smoke alarms I'd have had no chance,' said Steven, who added the flames were 'high and orange' by the time he got to them, just seconds after the fire broke out. He continued: 'My mattress was on fire. I started hitting the bed with the mop, and the mop caught fire. The plastic in the mattress started melting.' Steven ran to the kitchen and filled a bucket of water before throwing it over the burning mattress. He did this three times before the fire was fully extinguished. He said the charging wire was 'all melted and cremated. All the metal inside it was pure red-hot. It was definitely a faulty wire.' Council worker Steven added: 'The scary thing is, if I had been out, Glasgow Live would have been reporting outside from behind a police cordon. The bed would have fully caught fire and it would have gone up to the loft and burned through the whole block.' It took Steven around 50 seconds to quench the fire. His block has twelve residents. He added: 'If I had been out, it would have been absolutely catastrophic; it would have been headline news.' Steven is now sleeping on the couch. He contacted Core, the manufacturer of the wire, over the weekend. "They should be compensating me for a new bed," said Steven. "Lives could have been lost." A spokesperson for Core said: 'This is an incident that we have only just been made aware of. We treat any incidents of this type (which happily, are very rare, despite the very large number of cables that we supply) very seriously. 'It is incredibly hard for us to comment on the root cause of any incident without access to the original product and full details of how it was being used – we are currently trying to establish this.' The spokesperson added any one of the cable, the charger or mobile device, or a combination of these elements, could have been responsible for the fire. The spokesperson continued: 'We are a reputable manufacturer. We ensure all our products are compliant with the relevant UK electrical standards, we undertake testing both at the pre-production stage and we undertake sample batch testing. 'We have a very robust compliance process that ensures all customers can have faith in the safety of Core products. As noted below, we sell a substantial number of cables (and other mobile accessories) every year with very few reported incidents, all of which are thoroughly investigated.'
Business Upturn
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
GFiber Demonstrates Network Slicing to Enhance Home Internet Performance
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GFiber continues to advance its innovation efforts with a focus on enhancing the customer experience. This year, the company introduced new lifestyle-based internet products across the majority of its service areas. Most recently, GFiber successfully demonstrated a new capability in partnership with Nokia : network slicing. What is Network Slicing? Network slicing enables the segmentation of a customer's home network into different 'lanes,' each optimized for a specific use. In the GFiber Labs demonstration, gaming was used as the test scenario. Two gaming consoles were operated side by side while congestion was introduced into the network using a traffic generator. As expected, the network experienced lag, stuttering, and pixelation.* A dedicated lane—or 'slice'—was then created to reserve bandwidth specifically for gaming traffic. The result: the driving game demo transitioned from jittery and glitchy to smooth and responsive. This was a foundational test—and it worked. In the long term, network slicing has the potential to significantly change how home internet functions, particularly when driven by user needs. Traditional one-size-fits-all connections treat all traffic equally. However, internet usage varies: gamers prioritize latency, remote workers require video stability, home businesses depend on uptime and security, and emerging applications such as AI and VR may demand next-level performance. Network slicing could provide a way to elevate network performance by enabling real-time customization. Network slicing opens the door to something new: the ability for customers to tailor their internet connection to the categories of use that matter most in their homes. Rather than prioritizing traffic behind the scenes, this approach offers more control, more flexibility, and more ways to achieve optimal performance when needed. GFiber emphasizes that this innovation aligns with its commitment to an open, unrestricted internet. There is also potential for 'transactional slices'—temporary, automated slices that activate for a few seconds to secure sensitive activities such as financial logins. These slices could connect users directly to services like banks without routing traffic across the broader internet, enhancing security without disrupting the user experience. Network slicing represents the next logical step in GFiber's service evolution, particularly in relation to its lifestyle products— Core, Home, and Edge —which are designed to align with the diverse ways people live and work. This new capability adds real-time customization and control at the network level. Before network slicing can be deployed more broadly, further development is required, with automation being a key component. GFiber plans to continue its collaboration with Nokia later this year to explore implementation strategies. This initiative reflects the mission of GFiber Labs: to drive innovation that enhances the internet experience. * For more on how GFiber supports seamless gaming, visit the gaming FAQ . Media inquiries: [email protected] Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
How ‘Public' Will Our Public Research Organisations Be?
Tomorrow is "Day One" for new institutes representing Bioeconomy Science and Earth Science, combining six of the seven current Crown Research Institutes (CRIs). New Zealand Association of Scientists co-Presidents Troy Baisden and Lucy Stewart ask - these are framed as the biggest science system reforms in over 30 years, but how much is actually changing? 'When announced, the public good aspect of the merged organisations was played up, calling them PROs - Public Research Organisations,' says co-President Professor Troy Baisden. 'Yet the freshly minted Statements of Core Purpose make it clear the three new organisations are still very much commercially-oriented CRIs, just bigger, with no clear policy to encourage the spinoffs and spillovers that bring big benefits to NZ Inc 's bottom line over the internal accounts of the organisations. This leaves us asking if the two bigger new entities will end up feeling more like the supermarket duopoly than the solution to our nation's research needs.' The Bioeconomy Science Institute will combine Plant & Food, AgResearch, Scion (Forest Research Institute), and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. The Earth Science Institute will combine NIWA and GNS Science, and also include Metservice as well as the Measurement Standards Laboratory (formerly part of Callaghan Innovation). ESR is being rebranded as the Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science, but not merging with any other organisation. 'MBIE have acknowledged that the structure of the CRIs over the past thirty years has not delivered for our economy as intended, but that this doesn't represent the quality of our researchers,' adds co-President Dr Lucy Stewart. 'We agree this far - but we are deeply concerned that these new organisations, faced with ever-tightening funding constraints, will not deliver systemic change. The country's main funding mechanism for getting research to deliver for the economy and other national outcomes, the Endeavour Fund, is suspending operations for a year. And the 2025 Budget has cut research funding in order to support reform.' 'Improved focus on intellectual property settings associated with investment is one bright spot,' says Prof Baisden, 'But IP is a small part of a much bigger problem leading to suspicions this change is driven by what appears to be a false hope. Our system has mostly failed miserably at commercialisation, with only spotty successes. Instead, up to 50% of revenue to Crown Research Institutes is derived from commercial consultancy. Thinking that commercialisation will somehow save the day has been a dangerous distraction that everyone inside CRIs has seen many times over the last 30 years, and was explicitly called out in the Science System Advisory Group report delivered in August last year. We have not seen any evidence that the new PROs will turn away from this failed path – nor any evidence they will be funded to do so.' The NZAS has consistently noted that the reform agenda implemented to date based on the SSAG report has pulled very selectively from the report rather than addressing its recommendations holistically. Dr Stewart says 'The approach we're seeing from the Government towards science is similar to focusing on success at marathons by training sprinters to run the last hundred metres as fast as possible. Commercialisation is only successful globally where a solid foundation of public research exists. No path towards such a foundation has been put forward in these reforms.' Prof Baisden expresses hope, 'The best case would be where the two new PROs set to work to make cases for Government to better support them collectively, and collaborations with universities, with stable funding that forms a foundation of at least a quarter of the now abandoned target for R&D to reach 2% of GDP. Without that foundation, we can't compete with other nations to attract investment and won't generate spinoff and spillover benefits.' He concludes 'In a worst case, this reform could cause further loss of confidence in the value of investing in science, and then further cuts to funding. For every dollar cut or held back, the EU's funding agency suggests up to $11 will be lost from the future economy. 'Most likely, "Day One" will mean the institutes continue to get on with business as usual, with some incremental gains from efficiency of scale. Real reform is not on the horizon. Perhaps the biggest mystery is whether our universities, who are still awaiting the publication of two big advisory reports delivered to the government, will also see significant reform in exchange for increased or changed funding, or simply be required to continue on without absorbing the costs of significant change.' 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Time loop not enough of a catalyst
TRON: CATALYST For: PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC TRON: Catalyst is a top down action adventure game where you play as Exo, a program in the TRON setting's computer world, whose last delivery for the night explodes. She's taken prisoner by Core, a sort of authoritarian government of the Grid, as the obvious suspect in a potential bombing. To Exo, the explosive is the least of her concerns as the incident has given her time-looping powers, allowing her to jump backwards by choice ... or on death. Meanwhile, Conn, a Core operative looking to climb the ranks, follows in hot pursuit. The time loop is a really cool idea. Unfortunately, it is underutilised in the gameplay. The loop mechanic is only used to get the player to continue the story. That's it. You go down one linear path, are told you can't continue, then you reset the loop and follow another linear path. Rinse and repeat. It's a completely linear use of a non-linear ability. I never used it outside of those sections. This disconnect between the story and the gameplay drags the whole experience down. Just before the first chapter ends, for example, Exo says she's been "here for far too long", and the excellent voice acting brings out her desperation and despair — when in fact you've been in that particular loop for an hour, maybe less. You also unlock a lot of shortcuts somewhat pointlessly, as a lot of them will never be used again, due to how linear everything is. There are times when you as a player know there is a way to the location you have to go to, but the game forces you off on a different path. As a consequence of the time-looping not being deep, I struggled to connect emotionally to the overall story and was confused by certain sections. Both Exo's and Conn's development needed more time, as they both feel flat as characters. This especially hurts for Exo as the playable character. We learn nothing about her before the whole bombing incident and her arc feels rushed. The voice acting is really nice. A bit inconsistent, but really good when it counts. By far the standout is Conn, voiced by David Menkin — whom I wish was given more lines and time — but each of the important characters do have their moments to shine. Another aspect done well is the world building. The concepts behind each of the factions and characters are interesting, though there are a lot of concepts thrown about and if you have no idea who Flynn is or what a user might be, your head will be spinning in the first few hours. Thankfully, there is a glossary where you can read about all the little details of the franchise. The visual style of harsh darkness and vibrant neon in various colours has always been a TRON staple and has been lovingly recreated here. Combat is pretty easy to pick up and was initially really fun. You have a quick attack combo and a special attack, as well as being able to throw your identity disc at enemies or bounce it off walls to hit them in the back. You can also parry basically every attack and can get upgrades to kick your own thrown disc back at enemies. Later in the game you get the ability to instantly kill dazed enemies and steal their code, giving you a new combat move-set for a short period of time. Unfortunately, combat is extremely unbalanced, even on the hardest difficulty, leading to probably the worst aspect of the entire game. This stems from the parry and its upgrades. One increases the damage and another makes the timing easier. Combine these two and you have a one-shot ability that kills most enemies in the game in one hit, or does tremendous damage, even against the final boss. I like parrying as much as the next guy, but it just made the combat boring. Why bother with throwing the disc or stealing code when you can just instakill whoever fronts up? The enemy variety could have saved things here but alas that's not the case. Be it the sword guys, throwing disc guys, hammer guys or others, they are all killed the same way. Parry, one-shot, move on. The most unique are the superiors, who actively parry your attacks, but that's a simple matter of attacking and then parrying the counterattack, and they go down like the rest. The most unique enemies are those that can summon others — they're basically the only enemy in the game you can't directly kill via parry — and they're just annoying time-sinks rather than an actual engaging fight. On a lighter note, the game ran well, was crash free and almost bug-free. I somehow got stuck in a wall; thankfully movement abilities got me out of that one. There was one rather annoying time when I was unable to interact with an elevator in damage-over-time zone, leading to my unfair death. I was still technically in combat and you can't interact during combat. That's fine, though the enemy I was supposed to kill was over 25,000m away and counting. I suspect they fell through the world. TRON: Catalys t isn't a bad game by any means, but it's not great either. It performs well and without issue. It controls fine. It's short and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a game that exists ... and in a crowded market, that's about all it is. The voice acting can't save the so-so story and the cool design of the environments can't escape the linear gameplay and boring combat. Unless you're a die hard TRON fan, this is one you can skip. By Michael Robertson
Phone Arena
6 days ago
- Phone Arena
New Galaxy Buds looks ready to last longer than any before
Samsung is getting ready to drop a bunch of new devices, but before the big Unpacked event, it looks like we are getting a new set of Galaxy Buds. The new Galaxy Buds Core are now officially confirmed and according to a new listing , the model will have the longest battery life Samsung has ever put in a pair of earbuds. Without Active Noise Cancellation turned on, Samsung claims up to 35 hours of playtime. That could actually beat the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in real-world use – especially if you are someone who doesn't care much for ANC and just wants something that lasts. Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review: a massive rework And even with ANC enabled, they are promised to last 21 hours, which is still pretty solid. There is a 65mAh battery in each bud and the case battery capacity is 500mAh. For reference, that is more than what most budget earbuds offer. For example, the CMF Buds 2 Plus costs $79 and features a 53mAh battery in each earbud, plus a 460mAh battery in the charging case. Samsung promises up to 35 hours of playtime without ANC. | Image credit – Samsung And yeah, for people who spend a lot of time commuting, traveling or just vibing to podcasts or music all day, long battery life is one of the few things that actually matters more than fancy features. If Samsung nails the price, these could be a sleeper hit for everyday users. Core = budget? Probably The Galaxy Buds Core will be available in White and Black. | Image credit – Samsung Just from the name alone – Core – you can tell these are meant to be simple, no-nonsense buds that stick to the essentials. Think Galaxy Buds FE vibes. Those launched last year at $99 and rumors suggest the Buds Core will be positioned even cheaper than that. And honestly, they kind of have to be. Because let's face it: the regular Galaxy Buds 3 are already priced at $99 in the US and those should offer better sound and ANC. So, if the Core model wants to make a splash, it needs to land well below that. Still, the lower price doesn't mean you will be missing out on features – these will come with Galaxy AI tools like Real-time Interpreter and Live Translate. Interpreter lets you keep your earbuds in and stay fully engaged in the conversation while Galaxy AI handles real-time translations. Having Galaxy AI Interpreter and Live Translate is a game changer as you can hear translations on the spot – without needing to look at the screen of your smartphone. | Image credit – PhoneArena From what we have heard, this model might not launch in the US at all, which would be a shame. But hey, so far, Samsung hasn't confirmed anything about US availability and we might hear more at the next Unpacked event on July 9 in New York. There is even a chance we will get our first official look at Samsung's long-rumored tri-foldable phone and maybe – just maybe – the next-gen Galaxy Ring. Bottom line: this event is going to be loaded with hardware reveals and the Buds Core might be the quiet little standout – especially if all you care about is reliable, long-lasting audio without breaking the bank. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
