How Google’s Earthquake Alerts Protected Millions — And How to Turn It On in Quake-Prone Countries When two massive earthquakes (7.2 and 7.5) struck Venezuela recently, the country had no national early warning system. But millions of Android phones lit up with loud alerts seconds to minutes before the shaking hit — giving people precious time to drop, cover, and hold on. Google’s clever system turns the accelerometers in over 2 billion Android phones into a giant crowdsourced seismic network. It detects the first waves, confirms the quake, and blasts notifications to users in the affected area. In Venezuela, it reached 11.4 million people — proving technology can save lives even where governments can’t. How to activate it (works in nearly 100 countries): Open Settings on your Android phone. Tap Safety & Emergency (or search for “Earthquake alerts”). Select Earthquake Alerts and toggle it ON. Keep Location services ena...
After Walmart’s embarrassing error and resulting cancellations, Nintendo has put an official timeframe on when consumers can expect to preorder the SNES Classic: it’s happening later this month. “We appreciate the incredible anticipation that exists for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition system, and can confirm that it will be made available for pre-order by various retailers late this month,” the company posted on Facebook today. The console goes on sale September 29th. Preorders have already opened up (and sold out) internationally
Nintendo is also pledging that “a significant amount of additional systems will be shipped to stores for launch day, and throughout the balance of the calendar year.” How many does “significant” actually mean? Who knows. Nintendo has suggested that the nostalgic mini-console will be easier to purchase than the NES Classic, but there are really no guarantees.
Comments
Post a Comment