Why the WhatsApp acquisition ended with everyone mad at each other

On September 17th of last year, WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton quit the company to start a nonprofit foundation. Six months later, after several former Facebook executives had come forward to criticize the company, Acton tweeted “It is time. #deletefacebook.” Ever since, we’ve wondered what exactly led him to tweet.
Now we know. In his first interview since leaving Facebook, Acton told Forbes’ Parmy Olson that he felt betrayed by the company in two ways. One, Acton believes Facebook misled European Union regulators about its plans to commingle WhatsApp and Facebook data so as to improve its ad targeting capabilities. Two, Facebook began to “explore” advertising-based revenue models for WhatsApp without the founders’ consent. In both cases, Acton felt that Facebook had made him look like a liar. And so he quit, leaving behind $850 million in unvested stock.
”At the end of the day, I sold my company,” Acton told Forbes. “I am a sellout. I acknowledge that.”
On Twitter, pundits mostly rolled their eyes at Acton’s change of heart. Kara Swisher, quoting an unnamed source, offered the funniest parody of Acton’s mea culpa: “I live with this guilt every day on this beachfront property here in Fiji. I can barely see my brand new 200 ft yacht out there in the harbor through the tears I’m shedding for my users’ privacy.”

Amazon’s new Echo Dot, up close and hands-on

If the Echo Show was the Amazon device most desperately in need of a makeover (please and thank you), the Dot was certainly a close second. After all, while the cheapest (and best selling) Echo device has already been through a couple of iterations, the hardware wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you’d proudly display on the coffee table.
The thing that strikes you immediately upon seeing the redesigned version of what Amazon calls “the best selling speaker,” is how much the new generation of the product is influenced by Google’s Home Mini. In fact, Google’s influence was evident all over the place here.
That said, I actually prefer the design on this one. The new Dot has a similar form factor to its predecessor, keeping the rough dimensions and button layouts intact. The biggest difference from the design perspective, is the cloth speaker that surrounds the perimeter of the device. The product takes the whole “speaker” part of “Smart Speaker” a bit more seriously.
The new version tops out at about 70 percent louder than the original Dot. The company played a pair of the products in tandem for me (the Ed Sheeran, for the record, was not my choice), with each one splitting the left and right stereo channels. The effect was solid, though I’m not rushing out to replace the Google Home Max in my apartment at the moment.

Amazon introduces APL, a new design language for building Alexa skills for devices with screens

Along with the launch of the all-new Echo Show, the Alexa-powered device with a screen, Amazon also introduced a new design language for developers who want to build voice skills that include multimedia experiences.
Called Alexa Presentation Language, or APL, developers will be able to build voice-based apps that also include things like images, graphics, slideshows and video, and easily customize them for different device types – including not only the Echo Show, but other Alexa-enabled devices like Fire TV, Fire Tablet, and the small screen of the Alexa alarm clock, the Echo Spot.
In addition, third-party devices with screens will be able to take advantage of APL through the Alexa Smart Screen and TV Device SDK, arriving in the months ahead. Sony and Lenovo will be putting this to use first.
Voice-based skill experiences can sometimes feel limited because of their lack of a visual component. For example, a cooking skill would work better if it just showed the steps as Alexa guided users through them. Other skills could simply benefit from visual cues or other complementary information, like lists of items.
Amazon says it found that Alexa skills that use visual elements are used twice as much as voice-only skills, which is why it wanted to improve the development of these visual experiences.
The new language was built from the ground up specifically for adapting Alexa skills for different screen-based, voice-first experiences.
At launch, APL supports experiences that include text, graphics, and slideshows, with video support coming soon. Developers could do things like sync the on-screen text and images with Alexa’s spoken voice. Plus, the new skills built with this language could allow for both voice commands, as well as input through touch or remote controls, if available.

Facebook could face EU sanctions if it doesn’t change its terms of service

Facebook could face sanctions for not complying with the European Union’s consumer rules, according to a report from Reuters today. Back in February, the company was told to change its users terms and conditions to recently updated EU standards, but it has yet to do so, the report says.
In February, Facebook changed its terms of service, but to EU officials, it wasn’t enough. “While Google’s latest proposals appear to be in line with the requests made by consumer authorities, Facebook and, more significantly, Twitter, have only partially addressed important issues about their liability and about how users are informed of possible content removal or contract termination,” the European Commission stated in a press release at the time.
As detailed back in February, authorities want Facebook to better protect consumers’ rights, including the ability to withdraw from an online purchase, sue in Europe and not in California where Facebook is based. The EU also wants more consumer-friendly rules around the social media platform’s legal liability when its service performs poorly.

Password Autofill in iOS 12 now works with 1Password, Dashlane, and LastPass

Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 12, was released to the public earlier today, and that means it’s a great time to get well acquainted with some of its more useful new features. One of those is Password Autofill, a password manager tool that lets you store login credentials for the dozens of apps and services you likely access more on mobile today than ever before.
Even better: Apple will let you import password data from third-party providers so you don’t have to solely use its existing iCloud Keychain feature or give up using a trusted extension. Starting today with iOS 12’s release, multiple services have released mobile updates that allow you to set them as Password Autofill’s designated provider. Among the more popular services to support the feature are 1Password, Dashlane, and LastPass, all of which now support the autofill feature by authenticating your identity using Face ID, Touch ID, or a separate pin code.

Google adds fingerprint support to Chrome on Android and Mac in latest beta

Google Chrome’s latest beta is adding a useful update to the popular browser: support for fingerprint sensors on Android and Mac devices, which will allow developers to use biometrics as an extra layer of security, via 9to5Google.
The update will let Chrome utilize the existing Android fingerprint sensors and MacBook Pro Touch ID sensors for its scans. There’s no word yet on whether other forms of biometric security, like Windows Hello fingerprint scanners or Touch ID on older iOS devices, will eventually see the update as well.
The Chrome 70 beta has a few other interesting features: Web Bluetooth support is coming to Windows 10, giving Chrome the option to communicate with other nearby Bluetooth devices. (Other versions of Chrome already had the feature.)
Google is also introducing a new experimental Shape Detection API that will let users identify faces, barcodes, and text in images, including scanning QR codes.
Chrome will now automatically exit full-screen mode when dialog boxes for things like authentication prompts, payments, or file pickers pop up, so users will have better context for decisions when filling those prompts out.

Sonos speakers now work with IFTTT so you can automate your music

Sonos is opening up its speaker platform to more and more third parties, and IFTTT is one of the first to make use of the company’s new software APIs. IFTTT will allow Sonos owners to stop music playing when they leave home, pause audio when a phone call is answered, and integrate with other smart home devices to automate things even further.
Sonos on IFTTT is a beta for now, but the integration includes features like starting a favorite radio station when a smart home door unlocks, or play a specific song when a Domino’s pizza is out for delivery. There’s plenty of crazy recipes on IFTTT that can now include the automation of music playback with Sonos. The speaker maker is allowing IFTTT to control basic playback, volume, and the ability to play a pre-defined song, album, or playlist.
Sonos is promising more functionality over time as the beta progresses, and Sonos is only currently available as an action for IFTTT and not a trigger to start other activities. You can find the Sonos IFTTT integration here, along with a number of default recipes.

US, UK, and other governments asks tech companies to build backdoors into encrypted devices

The US, UK, and three other governments have called on tech companies to build backdoors into their encrypted products, so that law enforcement will always be able to obtain access. If companies don’t, the governments say they “may pursue technological, enforcement, legislative, or other measures” in order to get into locked devices and services.
Their statement came out of a meeting last week between nations in the Five Eyes pact, an intelligence sharing agreement between the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The nations issued a statement covering a range of technology-related issues they face, but it was their remarks on encryption that stood out the most.
In their memo, the governments stress that these backdoors would only be for “lawful” access to a device, such as in a criminal investigation. And they plan to start by encouraging tech companies to voluntarily add them. But the backdoors would only be voluntary to a point, because the governments say that they might mandate a way in if they “continue to encounter impediments” to accessing encrypted data.
At this point, their request for a backdoor is more of a wish than a command or a threat. But the statement speaks to the growing movement against encryption by governments and lawmakers, who see it as an impediment to law enforcement. As encryption grows more and more accessible in the coming years, these requests are only likely to grow — and could eventually lead to action.
Tech companies have also been wary to comply. Adding a backdoor into their products would inherently mean that their promise of data privacy is broken. It would also open them up to similar requests from other countries, which could use the backdoor access for spying in inappropriate circumstances.

California passes strongest net neutrality law in the country

California’s legislature has approved a bill being called the strongest net neutrality law in the US. The bill would ban internet providers from blocking and throttling legal content and prioritizing some sites and services over others. It would apply these restrictions to both home and mobile connections.
That would essentially restore the net neutrality rules enacted federally under former President Barack Obama, which were later repealed by the Federal Communications Commission under the watch and guidance of current chairman Ajit Pai. But this bill actually goes further than those rules with an outright ban on zero-rating — the practice of offering free data, potentially to the advantage of some companies over others — of specific apps. Zero-rating would, however, still be allowed as long as the free data applies to an entire category of apps. So an ISP could offer free data for all video streaming apps, but not just for Netflix.
The bill was cleared with a final vote in the state Senate today, being approved 23-11. It passed in the State Assembly yesterday, after initially being approved in the Senate back in May. But the bill had changed in the ensuing months, so it needed to return to its chamber of origin today for final approval. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the final legislation “a gold standard net neutrality bill.”