YouTube brings its trending charts to the YouTube Music app

YouTube has announced that its YouTube Music Charts will now be integrated within the YouTube Music app on users’ home screens, and they will be available through search. Previously, these charts were only parked and viewable at a separate domain.
Charts should be available in the YouTube Music app starting today. All 29 markets YouTube Music is available in will get five charts playlists: three specific to their country and two global lists. Users can then add charts they like to their library so they can stay up to date on trending material.
The charts, updated weekly, have been around for some time and were last revamped in May of this year. They show what’s trending both locally (by country) and overall across the platform in categories like Top Songs and Top Music Videos. The charts not only show the current position of an artist, song, or video, but whether it’s moved up or down in position since the previous chart. Each chart is also packaged into playlists.
The Trending chart is particularly interesting; back in May, YouTube said it was the company’s “first dedicated external signal of the most viewed new music on the platform.” Stephen Bryan, YouTube’s head of label relations claimed in an interview with Rolling Stone that YouTube charts are “more accurate” than Billboard’s charts, with greater representation from Latin and hip-hop acts.

FCC approves new text message rules, giving carriers more power

On a party-line vote, the FCC today approved a controversial measure that gives mobile phone carriers more power over text messages.
The agency’s Republican leadership has pushed for the measure, which would classify text messaging as an information service. The move will give carriers leeway to stop spam texts without fear of breaking the law, Chairman Ajit Pai and his Republican colleagues have argued, and will keep robotexts from taking over phones the way robocalls have.
The classification, Republican commissioners at the agency have argued, will only preserve the status quo. Chairman Pai said ahead of the vote that “the FCC should not make it easier for spammers and scammers to bombard consumers with unwanted texts” and cited support for the move from a group of attorneys general.
But the move has received criticism from consumer advocates, as well as the agency’s lone Democratic commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel. While the agency’s rules previously left text messaging in a gray area, they’ve argued it should be more stringently regulated as a telecommunications service. By using the information service classification, the agency is giving carriers enormous power to block messages they find controversial.
“This decision does nothing to curb spam, and is not needed to curb spam,” says Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, which has pushed the agency to classify texts as a telecommunications service. “It is simply the latest example of Chairman Pai’s radical agenda that puts companies ahead of consumers.” Public Knowledge has pointed to controversial decisions, like Verizon’s move to block texts from an abortion rights group in 2007, as a reason for the stricter rules.

How to save your Google Allo chats before the app is shut down

Last week, after pausing work on the app several months ago, Google announced its plans to shut down Allo at the end of March. The company says that it’s shifting all of its focus for a consumer messaging app toward Messages, which is used by over 175 million people monthly. Allo, on the other hand, never managed to gain any sort of real traction with consumers — but some people do actually use it. To help prevent those users from losing any conversations, Google is making it easy to export Allo data. An update with the new option is rolling out on Android now. You’ll know it’s the latest update if the app version is 27, as noted by Android Police. Allo for iOS has also been updated with the export tool.
Go to Settings —> Chat. Right at the top, you’ll see two options for exporting Allo data.
Choose “export messages” to preserve your conversations. This will create a CSV file with a log of all your current chats in the Allo app.
Choose “export media” to preserve the photos, videos, and other files contained in your Allo chats. Allo will combine everything into a single ZIP file.
Picking either option will bring up the Android system share sheet, which will let you conveniently transfer either the chat log or media package to any app you have installed that will accept them. Obvious candidates for backup purposes would be Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. But you should also be able to attach them to an email or drop them into any number of services. You can’t just transfer your Allo chats into Google’s Messages app, however.

Google will shut down Google+ four months early after second data leak

Google+ has suffered another data leak, and Google has decided to shut down the consumer version of the social network four months earlier than it originally planned. Google+ will now close to consumers in April, rather than August. Additionally, API access to the network will shut down within the next 90 days.
According to Google, the new vulnerability impacted 52.5 million users, who could have had profile information like their name, email address, occupation, and age exposed to developers, even if their account was set to private. Apps could also access profile data that had been shared with a specific user, but was not shared publicly.
In October, a similar Google+ vulnerability was revealed to have exposed private user data to developers for as long as three years. The bug was first discovered in March, but not publicly disclosed until October, resulting in significant transparency concerns. In response, Google announced plans to shut down the consumer version of Google+, which had long struggled to attract users. This time around, Google says it discovered the leak on its own and it was live for just six days — between November 7th and November 13th.
“With the discovery of this new bug, we have decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs; this will occur within the next 90 days,” reads the blog post, penned by David Thacker, Google’s vice president of project management. “In addition, we have also decided to accelerate the sunsetting of consumer Google+ from August 2019 to April 2019. While we recognize there are implications for developers, we want to ensure the protection of our users.”

Google is ending Play Service support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Pour one out for Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich: Google announced today that it’s dropping support for Ice Cream Sandwich for future Play Service API releases, meaning updates for apps on the older version of Android will likely be few and far between, via 9to5Google.
Google is instead having developers target API level 16 (for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean) as the minimum level of support. And while, in theory, developers can continue to maintain and update a version of their apps specifically for Ice Cream Sandwich users that support API level 14 or 15, it’s unlikely that many will do so.
It’s not the most surprising news: according to Google’s developer dashboard, as of October 26th, only 0.03 percent of Android users were still running Ice Cream Sandwich. Still, 0.03 percent of the nearly 2 billion Android phones in the world works out to a hefty 6 million or so phones and tablets that might be affected — even if its likely that many of them aren’t still in active use.

Microsoft is rebuilding its Edge browser on Chrome and bringing it to the Mac

Microsoft is announcing some significant changes to its Edge browser today. The software giant is beginning to rebuild Microsoft Edge to run on Chromium, the same open-source web rendering engine that powers Google’s Chrome browser. This means Edge will soon be powered by Blink and the V8 JavaScript engines. It’s a big move that means Microsoft is joining the open-source community in a much bigger way for the web.
“Ultimately, we want to make the web-experience better for many different audiences,” explains Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Windows. “People using Microsoft Edge (and potentially other browsers) will experience improved compatibility with all web sites, while getting the best-possible battery life and hardware integration on all kinds of Windows devices.”
Microsoft Edge isn’t going away, nor is the brand name. If you already use Edge on Windows, then that won’t change. All you’ll ultimately notice is that websites will render more consistently once Microsoft makes this under-the-hood change.
So why is Microsoft changing its rendering engine? Why now? Edge has fallen massively behind Chrome in terms of market share, and it’s getting to the point where Chrome is the new IE6. Developers are optimizing for Chrome, and Google has also been creating Chrome-only web services because it’s often the first to adopt emerging web technologies. Microsoft has struggled to keep its Edge rendering engine in stride with Chromium.
The Verge understands Microsoft has been considering this move for at least a year, and a lot of the push has been from consumers and businesses who wanted the company to improve web compatibility. Edge has been improving on this front, but even small compatibility issues have caused headaches for users along the way. A move to Chromium will immediately solve these web compatibility issues, and it aligns Edge with Chrome and other browsers that also use Blink.

Google releases Chrome 71 with features to block abusive ads

Google has announced that Chrome 71 has left beta and is publicly rolling out for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as spotted by 9to5Google. The latest version of Google’s browser was in the works over the past few months, touting features to help fight against abusive ad experiences by blocking manipulative ad designs and showing billing warning screens.
With Chrome 71, Chrome will filter experiences on websites that fall under Google’s definition of abusive. These include web experiences that aren’t just limited to ads, such as auto-redirects that happen without any action from a user or trick-to-click experiences like a warning notification that actually leads to an ad or another website’s landing page. Sites that are reported to have abusive experiences will be given a 30-day grace period to clean up their behavior before every ad on the site is blocked.
Google has been expanding the way it tackles bad ad practices for some time. Back in 2017, it announced that Chrome 64 would prevent websites from opening pop-up ads, tabs, and automatic redirects to new pages. Separately, in 2017, Google said it planned to support the guidelines set by Better Ads Standards for what constituted a bad ad, which includes flashing, animated ads and full-screen rollover ads.
Users will have the option to turn Chrome 71’s filtering for abusive experiences on or off, but the likelihood is that most will not opt out. Google hopes that the more users upgrade and use Chrome 71, sites will be subject to better ad practices or risk losing a significant portion of revenue. Additionally, this means that Google, the company with the largest online ad network, is now the same entity making decisions about what ads to block on the most-used browser. Though Google says it anticipates this new policy will only affect a “small number of sites with persistent abusive experiences,” Google Ads is Google’s main source of revenue, which presents a potential conflict.

YouTube’s mobile apps will now autoplay videos on the Home tab by default

YouTube has announced it’s trickling down a feature from its YouTube Premium apps, though it’s not the background playback that everyone really wants. Rolling out now, Autoplay on Home is a new default for YouTube’s Android and iOS apps that will automatically start playing videos you see on your Home tab. Google will allow the option to disable it, or only keep it on when connected to Wi-Fi, but the company appears convinced that Autoplay on Home is a better way to experience and browse YouTube on the move.
Autoplay on Home will certainly help in one respect: inflating view counts. Google’s main goal with this feature is to make videos more digestible in a mobile context, so the company is serving them up as frictionlessly as possible and in a format that doesn’t require sound (muted, with captions on). For creators, this means a greater chance to monetize their stuff — should Google’s algorithms determine it’s attractive enough to propagate to people’s YouTube Home feeds — and for YouTube it means ever higher engagement metrics.
In a video explaining the change, YouTube product manager David Sharon dives a little deeper into the Autoplay on Home implications. Google has worked to reduce the mobile data consumption of autoplayed videos, and it’s also offering three different types of captions: automatic, creator-uploaded, and crowdsourced. Additionally, with the company conscious of how much time creators spend on crafting the perfect thumbnail for every video, the autoplay previews will only start playing after pausing briefly to show off the thumbnail.

Tumblr will ban all adult content on December 17th

Tumblr will permanently ban adult content from its platform on December 17th in a move that will eradicate porn-related communities on the platform and fundamentally alter how the service is used. The ban includes explicit sexual content and nudity with a few exceptions, the company tells The Verge. The new policy’s announcement comes just days after Tumblr was removed from Apple’s iOS App Store over a child pornography incident, but it extends far beyond that matter alone. “Adult content will no longer be allowed here,” the company flatly stated in a blog post published on Monday.
Banned content includes photos, videos, and GIFs of human genitalia, female-presenting nipples, and any media involving sex acts, including illustrations. The exceptions include nude classical statues and political protests that feature nudity. The new guidelines exclude text, so erotica remains permitted. Illustrations and art that feature nudity are still okay — so long as sex acts aren’t depicted — and so are breastfeeding and after-birth photos.
After December 17th, any explicit posts will be flagged and deleted by algorithms. For now, Tumblr is emailing users who have posted adult content flagged by algorithms and notifying them that their content will soon be hidden from view. Posts with porn content will be set to private, which will prevent them from being reblogged or shared elsewhere in the Tumblr community.
Users have a chance to appeal Tumblr’s decision in situations where they think there’s been a mistake, and the platform admits there’s a chance that the automated tools it’s using could make errors. It’s a process that could take a while, as a bulk of Tumblr posts feature explicit content. Users who run adult blogs can also export their content before the change takes place in order to save what they have.

Uber said to be negotiating a multibillion-dollar takeover of scooter-sharing startup

Uber, the premier name in ride-hailing apps, wants to be known as the go-to destination for all on-demand transportation needs, and so its latest efforts have naturally gravitated toward growing its share of the booming electric scooter rental business. The company seems to have decided that its best path for acquiring a leadership position in this market is to literally acquire the leaders. The Information reports that Uber has held talks with Bird on a possible “multibillion-dollar” acquisition and, as a fallback, Uber has also been talking to smaller competitor Lime as well.
Uber already owns a minority stake in Lime. The partnership agreed between the two companies this summer brought electric scooters to Uber’s app for the first time.
There’s strong impetus for getting a deal done from both sides, as Uber seeks to lock up the market before it’s fully formed and the budding unicorn startups work to secure the funding to match their hyper-accelerated growth. The Information suggests that Uber is looking to secure a deal with either Bird or Lime before the end of the year, which suggests negotiations are already at an advanced stage.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter limit data access for AI-powered babysitter background checks

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have limited the amount of data that’s accessible to Predictim, a California-based startup that uses machine learning to vet potential babysitters. The social networks took action against the company after a report by The Washington Post last week detailed its methods, attracting widespread criticism.
Predictim claims to use “advanced artificial intelligence” to judge a babysitter’s suitability. This includes combing through an individual’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter histories before offering an automated assessment of their character. The company claims it can predict whether the individual is a drug user, if they might bully or harass others, and even if they have a “bad attitude.”
Experts have criticized Predictim’s service as unscientific, noting that machine learning is notoriously unreliable when it comes to parsing complex data like human speech. AI might be good at recognizing objects in photos or digitizing handwriting, but it can’t reliably interpret nuances in tone and speech like sarcasm or jokes. Experts in data policy also noted that Predictim’s software doesn’t explain how it comes to its decisions, which means that a potential babysitter could lose a job without ever knowing why or offering an explanation.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have all taken action against Predictim over the last few weeks, report The Washington Post and BBC News. Facebook says it dramatically limited the company’s access to user data on Facebook and Instagram after it violated a ban against developers using this information to vet job candidates. Twitter revoked Predictim’s access to its API (which is used to access data on a scale, rather than reading individual profiles) earlier this week. A spokesperson told the Post, “We strictly prohibit the use of Twitter data and APIs for surveillance purposes, including performing background checks.”

Two Iranian men charged with the ransomware attack that took down Atlanta

The US Treasury Department has placed bitcoin addresses on its sanctions list for the first time after two Iranian hackers were charged with extorting millions of dollars through them. The two addresses belonged to Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, who allegedly created the SamSam ransomware software. The Justice Department unsealed an indictment against both men today, alleging that they collected $6 million by targeting more than 200 victims — including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey.
SamSam began infecting computers in 2015, and it’s been linked to expensive and temporarily devastating attacks on hospitals and infrastructure. Like other ransomware, SamSam encrypted users’ machines and ordered them to funnel money — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars — to a bitcoin account. The Treasury Department says the two accounts above processed over 7,000 transactions, although not all were necessarily related to SamSam.
In a press conference, US Attorney Craig Carpenito told reporters that Savandi and Mansouri “worked hard to identify the most vulnerable targets that they could,” and not just because they would be more likely to pay up. “Money is not their sole objective,” he claimed. “They’re seeking to harm our institutions and critical infrastructure. They’re trying to impact our way of life.”
One of Savandi and Mansouri’s most high-profile alleged crimes was an attack on Atlanta in March 2018. Major basic municipal functions were affected, including the ability to pay water bills or parking tickets, although Atlanta’s emergency services remained functional. Altogether, the Justice Department lists attacks in 43 US states.

Google removes gendered pronouns from Gmail’s Smart Compose to avoid AI bias

Gmail’s Smart Compose is one of Google’s most interesting AI features in years, predicting what users will write in emails and offering to finish their sentences for them. But like many AI products, it’s only as smart as the data it’s trained on, and prone to making mistakes. That’s why Google has blocked Smart Compose from suggesting gender-based pronouns like “him” and “her” in emails — Google is worried it’ll guess the wrong gender.
Reuters reports that this limitation was introduced after a research scientist at the company discovered the problem in January this year. The researcher was typing “I am meeting an investor next week” in a message when Gmail suggested a follow-up question, “Do you want to meet him,” misgendering the investor.
Gmail product manager Paul Lambert told Reuters that his team tried to fix this problem in a number of ways but none were reliable enough. In the end, says Lambert, the easiest solution was simply to remove these types of replies all together, a change that Google says affects fewer than one percent of Smart Compose predictions. Lambert told Reuters that it pays to be cautious in cases like these as gender is a “big, big thing” to get wrong.
This little bug is a good example of how software built using machine learning can reflect and reinforce societal biases. Like many AI systems, Smart Compose learns by studying past data, combing through old emails to find what words and phrases it should suggest. (Its sister-feature, Smart Reply, does the same thing to suggest bite-size replies to emails.)
In Lambert’s example, it seems Smart Compose had learned from past data that investors were more likely to be male than female, so wrongly predicted that this one was too.

Amazon quietly ends its restaurant delivery service in the UK

After two years of operation, Amazon has quietly closed the London arm of its takeout and delivery service, reports the Evening Standard. The news was announced in an email to the service’s customers, which said deliveries will cease in the capital (and, by extension, the rest of the UK) after December 3rd.
Like many of Amazon’s services, Amazon Restaurants was available exclusively to Prime subscribers who could pay £1.99 to have food delivered within an hour from over 200 London restaurants. It first launched as a service in Seattle back in 2015 before expanding to London in September 2016.
However, it appears that even Amazon’s stores of shopping data weren’t enough to let it convincingly compete against London’s incumbent Deliveroo and Uber Eats services, despite the latter having only launched only three months previously in the city. In the US, the service also doesn’t seem to be faring well against popular competitors like Eat24, Postmates, and Grubhub. In New York City, for example, Amazon Restaurants options are limited to a handful of vendors with few user reviews.

LinkedIn used 18 million non-user e-mails to target Facebook ads

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued a report last week (via TechCrunch) that covered its activities during the first six months of 2018, in which it highlighted a complaint against LinkedIn. It found that the company used millions of e-mail addresses of non-LinkedIn users to target ads on Facebook.
Following a complaint against the company, the DPC conducted an audit and found that it violated data protection regulations. In a bid to grow its user base, LinkedIn “processed hashed email addresses of approximately 18 million non-LinkedIn members,” and then used them to target those individuals with ads on Facebook. As TechCrunch points out, numerous companies moved their data processing operations to Ireland prior to the implementation of new European data regulations. The DPC says that the “complaint was ultimately amicably resolved,” and that LinkedIn has ceased those practices.
However, the body was “concerned with the wider systemic issues identified” in its report, and undertook a second audit to see if LinkedIn had adequate “ technical security and organisational measures.” It found that the site was “undertaking the pre-computation of a suggested professional network for non-LinkedIn members,” and ordered them to stop and delete associated data that existed prior to May 2018.

A WeChat-powered hotel in China lets you check in, enter your room, and get breakfast through your phone

China’s biggest app, WeChat, partnered with InterContinental to open a smart hotel in Shanghai that lets users book rooms, remotely check in, and use their phones as key cards — all without requiring human assistance. Once they’ve completed their reservation, travelers verify their identity at the hotel through facial recognition and collect their digital key card. Although the hotel is 88 feet underground, it’s connected enough to provide quick internet services, according to a press release it shared with The Verge.
WeChat and its parent company Tencent have been working on developing smart hotel experiences since 2014, but now it’s added facial recognition into the mix for faster identity checks. Traditionally, hotels in China require you to take a photo of your face and present government ID to be scanned and copied before you can enter your room. However, internet access offered by most hotels in China also remains restricted by the firewall enforced by regulators, and many Western hotel chains have stopped offering VPNs for free.
Through WeChat, travelers can also order room service, make payments, set air conditioning in the room, and adjust curtains and lighting. Breakfast vouchers are included in the customer data within the app, so you can just scan your face at the dining area to grab a meal. If you’ve booked an executive suite, there’s a 24-hour butler service that you can summon through WeChat. Similarly, check-outs are also done through the app.

The AmazonBasics Microwave is for those who are spoiled by voice commands

How much do you need your microwave experience to be streamlined? Is it annoying to have to press a few buttons? Are a microwave’s presets too complex to use?
Amazon seems to have different answers to these questions than the ones I’ve heard from fellow Verge co-workers and friends. It says it sees an opportunity in making a smart microwave, letting people use those advanced presets they normally don’t touch. Instead of having to press multiple buttons, you can just ask Alexa to heat an item, and it will determine heating times for items as varied as sweet potatoes and popcorn.
To accomplish this, Amazon made a microwave that communicates with an Echo to let you use voice commands for control. The $59.99 AmazonBasics Microwave has features that are typical for an affordable device in its category — including 700 watts of power, auto defrost features, and a popcorn button — but it also works with Alexa.
Setting up the AmazonBasics Microwave is fairly fast and simple: you’ll just need an Echo device (the microwave doesn’t actually have a microphone or speaker built in), an Alexa app, and a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connection. The microwave is powered by Alexa Connect Kit, which runs on Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi to let Echo devices communicate. It also acts as a reference of Alexa Connect Kit for other device makers to learn from. The app prompts you to add your microwave as an appliance. Alternatively, you can just ask Alexa on your Echo to pair with your microwave. The overall process takes about 10 minutes, especially if the connection is slow. In that time, you could’ve finished setting up a regular microwave by plugging it in and setting the time.
The microwave does simplify things enough so you can say, “Alexa, microwave one potato” or walk over to the microwave, tap the button, and say, “one potato.” Alexa will say, “Okay,” and the microwave will automatically be set for six minutes and 30 seconds.
But the two potatoes (one sweet, one savory) I tried to heat up with the AmazonBasics Microwave were undercooked and almost raw. I had better results with popcorn, which came out just right with Alexa’s help, unlike a bag of popcorn I guesstimated and ended up burning. The difference is that a normal microwave will ask how heavy your potato is, but Alexa strangely doesn’t ask. And while you normally might not know exactly how long to heat your popcorn (the box gave me vague advice “not more than 4 minutes and sometimes less than 1.5 minutes”), Alexa does ask how many ounces the bag of popcorn is and times it accordingly.

YouTube now runs pop-ups on videos that warn users of EU copyright proposal

If you watch YouTube videos without a YouTube Premium subscription, you’re familiar with the tiny pop-ups that appear in the bottom left-hand corner of the stream that prompt users to sign up for YouTube’s ad-free service.
It seems that YouTube has replaced that pop-up with a new message that warns users about the European Union’s proposed copyright directive. It also offers an explainer on one particular act known as Article 13. The pop-up brings YouTube viewers to the company’s standalone website detailing the possible effect of Article 13, which puts the onus on YouTube to prevent copyrighted material from appearing on the platform. YouTube executives like CEO Susan Wojcicki and head of business Robert Kyncl have penned exhaustive blog posts and guest columns in publications that warn that the company cannot financially take on the burden, and extreme measures will have to be taken like preventing users from uploading videos at all.
YouTube’s communications team has spent weeks aggressively tweeting from its main channel and its subsequent YouTube Creators account in an attempt to raise awareness about the copyright directive. A Q&A last week with creators and users on Twitter led the company to admit that if the copyright directive passes, some European channels will be blocked from playing in the United States. Certain users could also be prevented from uploading videos at all.

Xiaomi takes over Meitu hardware business to sell more selfie-focused smartphones

Chinese selfie app and smartphone maker Meitu has announced that Xiaomi is effectively taking over its hardware business. Future phones will carry the Meitu brand, but Xiaomi will be responsible for design, R&D, and sales, while Meitu will still be involved in camera software. Basically, it’s a safe bet that Xiaomi’s Mi Home stores across the world will start carrying a bunch of wild selfie-focused cameraphones in the near future.
As for why this deal is taking place, Meitu says its “mission is ‘to inspire more people to express their beauty,’ and the board believes that entering into this Strategic Cooperation Agreement will accelerate our pace in carrying out this mission.” Meitu isn’t a major smartphone player by any means — it’s only sold 3.5 million handsets in the five years its hardware business has been around — and has identified Xiaomi as the “perfect partner” to help increase its growth.
Xiaomi will initially pay a percentage of phone profits to Meitu, moving to flat per-phone licensing fees after five years or when a certain number of units have been sold overall. Meitu also says that the deal will allow it to focus on expanding its social network user base through pre-installations, though it’s unclear whether that would apply to Xiaomi-branded phones as well.

YouTube is now streaming free, ad-supported feature films

YouTube recently began to roll out a series of feature films that viewers can watch for free, supported by ads. While the selection isn’t large, there are some notable ones to catch, like The Terminator, Legally Blonde, and Rocky.
According to AdAge, the video platform began releasing the movies in October with a “Free to watch” category in its movie section, where users have traditionally purchased or rented movies. The films come with commercial interruptions, with pop-up ads that appear at regular intervals.
Rohit Dhawan, YouTube’s director of product management, told AdAge that the company saw an opportunity for consumers and advertisers, and notes that there might be a way for advertisers to “sponsor” films or hold exclusive screenings. At the moment, the selection is limited to 100 films, a selection that Dhawan says will eventually expand.
The feature comes not long after Roku announced that its free, ad-supported movie selection, The Roku Channel, would be available on the web (it was previously only available to those with a Roku TV or box), which also includes a number of older films, like The Matrix and 50 First Dates. TechCrunch points out that Walmart has its own selection of free streaming films on Vudu, while service Tubi has its own large selection of free films.

Google Home Hub, Pixel 3, and Pixelbook are all getting discounts on Black Friday

The Pixel 3 was just released last month, but if you waited until November to buy one, you’ll be rewarded with up to a $200 price cut. Additionally, for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, Google’s sales will also center on accessories for the home, including the new Google Home Hub, Nest devices, and Chromecast dongles. While the newly announced Pixel Slate will not receive a discount, there are some deals on laptops like the Pixelbook and Chromebooks.
Here’s a look at what you can expect to save on at the Google Store and beyond.
The best Google product to buy on Black Friday
Google Home Hub, the company’s inevitable Google Assistant on a screen, is one of the better deals from Google this season. At $99, that $50 savings makes it officially cheaper than the retail price of display-less Google Home speaker.
That doesn’t mean the Pixel 3 isn’t going on sale at all... just don’t expect the usual BOGO deals like you would get with Samsung phones. Instead, ahead of Black Friday, Google will offer a buy one, get the second phone for half off for Pixel 3 devices. Then, on November 22nd, Google’s discounting the Pixel 3 and 3 XL down to $649 and $699, respectively — which is a savings of $150 for the smaller device and $200 for the larger one. On Cyber Monday, the phones will go back to their original retail prices, but you’ll get a free Google Home Hub and a $50 credit to spend on the Google Store. That’s not the best deal, but it could be ideal if you’re already interested in the smart display and you were planning to buy a phone case for your Pixel anyway.
Lastly, it looks like Google’s clearing up some inventory from last year’s hardware event, too. The Google Clips camera (remember that?) is getting a price cut from $250 down to $125, and the Pixel Buds are now $109, down from $159. With plenty of Google products under $50, now’s a good time to snag presents ahead of the holidays.

Apple updates MacBook Pro with AMD Vega GPU options

As promised, Apple has updated its MacBook Pro configurations with new options for AMD Radeon Pro Vega graphics cards, specifically the all-new Pro Vega 16 and Pro Vega 20 options. Apple first announced these new component choices as part of its fall Mac hardware event, where it announced a new MacBook Air and Mac mini.
The options are now available on Apple’s online store for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. It’s only available on the laptop’s highest-end configuration. You’ll be paying an extra $250 for the Pro Vega 16, and an extra $350 for the Pro Vega 20. That’s on top of the laptop’s $2,799 base cost. The laptop’s base GPU remains the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, while the 2.2Ghz i7 15-inch model comes standard with the 555X and the option to upgrade to the 560X for an additional $100. (The 2.2GHz model has no available option to upgrade to the Vega cards.)
Apple said last month that the new cards would provide up to a 60 percent faster graphics performance for GPU-heavy tasks like video editing and 3D rendering. Additionally, AMD claims its second-generation high bandwidth memory technology for the cards is superior to standard GDDR5, with the added bonus of more power efficiency.
Right now, you can already buy the new iMac Pro with an AMD Vega card, albeit with the Vega Pro 56 or the $600 more expensive Vega Pro 64, both of which sport much more power than what it seems like we’re getting with the Vega 16 and 20. Still, AMD has custom produced these card configurations specifically for the MacBook Pro, so it’s likely they’ll offer a considerable performance boost.

Intel’s new 5G modem might power Apple’s first 5G iPhones

2019 is shaping up to be a big year for 5G, and Intel — one of tech’s biggest mobile players — has finally announced its plans for the next-generation network in the form of its new XMM 8160 5G modem. The XMM 8160 modem is set to be released to manufacturers sometime in the second half of 2019, with the first devices using the chip coming in early 2020.
Intel has big ambitions for the XMM 8160 5G. It envisions using it across phones, PCs, and broadband hubs, with peak speeds of up to 6 gigabits per second. The modem will support both the standalone and non-standalone specs for the 5G NR (New Radio) standard, as well as legacy support for 4G, 3G, and 2G networks all in one chipset. Additionally, Intel says that the modem will support both millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum as well as lower-band parts of the spectrum.
Intel may have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to getting companies to actually use its 5G modem, though. Currently, at least 18 major companies — including Samsung, Nokia / HMD, Sony, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, HTC, LG, Asus, ZTE, Sharp, Fujitsu, and OnePlus — are working with Qualcomm and its Snapdragon X50 5G NR modems. Huawei and Samsung are both also working on their own in-house 5G modems, too.

The best deals from Alibaba’s Singles Day

Alibaba’s Singles Day is a huge international shopping event that originated in China and has now spread across the globe. Deals kicked off on November 6th, and shoppers everywhere from the US and UK to China and Indonesia are able to nab some good deals.
Many analysts, including App Annie and Adobe, predict that Singles Day will sell more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, based off of last year’s numbers. App Annie put the figure at over $32 billion, while Adobe is estimating $23.4 billion in sales.
Still, the holiday isn’t widely known here in the US. And for newcomers, it might not be clear how to get started grabbing deals. Here’s a quick tutorial on what you’ll need to know.
The holiday, which is believed to have been started in the 1990s as a way for men in colleges to celebrate being single, was turned into a shopping event in 2009 by Alibaba’s Jack Ma and has since become an annual tradition. Other retailers, including JD.com, Suning, and smaller brands, have started to participate in the holiday by offering sales and promotions, too.
Alibaba has multiple platforms that it offers sales on: Taobao, Tmall, and AliExpress. The latter is aimed more at international customers and is the only one of the three available in English. Tmall and Taobao are quite similar, except Tmall’s deals are offered by companies to customers, while Taobao contains deals sold by individuals, which is more like eBay.
Some of the highlights we anticipate on AliExpress and Tmall include deals on Huawei and Xiaomi devices. There are also plenty of third-party fandom apparel, accessories, and household items on sale. We’re updating this article constantly with the latest Singles Day deals.

Internet freedom continues to decline around the world, a new report says

Digital authoritarianism is on the rise, according to a new report from a group that monitors internet freedoms. Freedom House, a pro-democracy think tank, said today that governments are seeking more control over users’ data while also using laws nominally intended to address “fake news” to suppress dissent. It marked the eighth consecutive year that Freedom House found a decline in online freedoms around the world.
“The clear emergent theme in this report is the growing recognition that the internet, once seen as a liberating technology, is increasingly being used to disrupt democracies as opposed to destabilizing dictatorships,” said Mike Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, in a call with reporters. “Propaganda and disinformation are increasingly poisoning the digital sphere, and authoritarians and populists are using the fight against fake news as a pretext to jail prominent journalists and social media critics, often through laws that criminalize the spread of false information.”
In the United States, internet freedom declined in 2018 due to the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules. Other countries fared much worse — 17 out of 65 surveyed had adopted laws restricting online media. Of those, 13 prosecuted citizens for allegedly spreading false information. And more countries are accepting training and technology from China, which Freedom House describes as an effort to export a system of censorship and surveillance around the world.
Of course, there are tradeoffs between freedom and security. The report is critical of Sri Lanka and India, which have periodically shut down or limited access to the internet in response to the outbreak of ethnic and religious conflict. In both cases, citizens were being murdered by mobs that had encountered misinformation spread through social media.

Google wants to improve your smart home with iRobot’s room maps

Google and iRobot have announced they’re working together to improve smart home technology using mapping data collected by iRobot’s robot vacuums. The two companies say the aim is to make smart homes “more thoughtful” by leveraging the unique dataset collected by iRobot: maps of customers’ homes.
iRobot’s latest Roomba, the i7+, creates maps using a combination of odometry data (measuring how far the robovac’s wheels move) and low-res camera imagery. The resulting maps can be used to create custom cleaning schedules or to let users ask their Roomba to vacuum specific rooms. An integration with Google Assistant lets customers give verbal commands like, “OK Google, tell Roomba to clean the kitchen.”
Google and iRobot say this data will be useful for other smart home devices. The maps could be used to locate products like Wi-Fi-connected lighting, for example, automatically assigning names and locations to lights in customers’ bedroom, kitchen, and so on.
iRobot CEO Colin Angle told The Verge that the collaboration lays the foundations for future smart homes. “This idea is that when you say, ‘OK Google, turn the lights on in the kitchen,’ you need to know what lights are in the kitchen. And if I say, ‘OK future iRobot robot with an arm, go get me a beer,’ it needs to know where the kitchen and the refrigerator are.”
Google’s Michelle Turner, director of the company’s smart home ecosystem, says the dream is not just to create a smart home, but a “thoughtful home” that requires less input from users and adapts to their wants and needs. “We think a thoughtful home has context,” says Turner, “and that is something that iRobot has done an exceptional job on.”

Google is hosting a global contest to develop AI that’s beneficial for humanity

Some of the biggest hurdles in the field of artificial intelligence are preventing such software from developing the same intrinsic faults and biases as its human creators, and using AI to solve social issues instead of simply automating tasks. Now, Google, one of the world’s leading organizations developing AI software today, is launching a global competition to help spur the development of applications and research that have positive impacts on the field and society at large.
The competition, called the AI Impact Challenge, was announced today at an event called AI for Social Good held at the company’s Sunnyvale, California office, and it’s being overseen and managed by the company’s Google.org charitable arm. Google is positioning it as a way to integrate nonprofits, universities, and other organizations not within the corporate and profit-driven world of Silicon Valley into the future-looking development of AI research and applications. The company says it will award up to $25 million to a number of grantees to “help transform the best ideas into action.” As part of the contest, Google will offer cloud resources for the projects, and it is opening applications starting today. Accepted grantees will be announced at next year’s Google I/O developer conference.
Top of mind for Google with this initiative is using AI to solve problems in areas like environmental science, health care, and wildlife conservation. Google says AI is already used to help pin down the location of whales by tracking and identifying whale sounds, which can then be used to help protect from environmental and wildlife threats. The company says AI can also be used to predict floods and also to identify areas of forest that are especially susceptible to wildfires.
Another big area for Google is eliminating biases in AI software that could replicate the blind spots and prejudices of human beings. One notable and recent example was Google admitting in January that it couldn't find a solution to fix its photo-tagging algorithm from identifying black people in photos as gorillas, initially a product of a largely white and Asian workforce not able to foresee how its image recognition software could make such fundamental mistakes. (Google’s workforce is only 2.5 percent black.) Instead of figure out a solution, Google simply removed the ability to search for certain primates on Google Photos. It’s those kinds of problems — the ones Google says it has trouble foreseeing and needs help solving — that the company hopes its contest can try and address.

Facebook removes Iran-linked accounts followed by more than 1 million people

Facebook has identified more suspicious behavior on its platform linked to an ongoing Iranian influence campaign, the company announced today. In total, Facebook’s security team removed a combined 82 pages, groups, and accounts that were masquerading as US and sometimes UK citizens and organizations. Facebook prohibits “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on the platform, and due to this behavior’s proximity to the US midterm elections, the company says it promptly banned all instances of the network it discovered.
The existence of an Iranian influence campaign designed to sow division and amplify tensions in the US was first revealed back in August, and Google has similarly found evidence of the operation spreading to YouTube. “Despite attempts to hide their true identities, a manual review of these accounts linked their activity to Iran. We also identified some overlap with the Iranian accounts and Pages we removed in August,” writes Nathaniel Gleicher, the company’s head of cybersecurity policy. “However, it’s still early days and while we have found no ties to the Iranian government, we can’t say for sure who is responsible.”
Facebook says it removed 30 pages, 33 Facebook accounts, and three groups on Facebook, and it found 16 new accounts on Instagram. The accounts and pages spent less than $100 on advertising, and they only hosted or co-hosted a total of seven events. However, about 1 million people followed at least one of the pages, while roughly 25,000 people joined at least one of the groups. On Instagram, around 28,000 people followed at least one of the Iran-linked accounts. The earliest account was created in June of 2016, but they were most active over the last year, Gleicher told reporters on a press call this morning.
As seen in the past with the extensive Russian operation to influence the 2016 US election, these efforts are mostly designed to stoke tensions around high-priority issues in the country, like immigration and race relations. Facebook provided a number of examples of the posts these pages and accounts posted, and many either profess anti-Trump sentiment or comment on recent controversies like the nomination hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It’s unclear if there was an equal number of pro-Trump and anti-Trump posts, though the larger point is that these operations seem designed simply to inflame current disagreements rather than spread propaganda unilaterally across the political aisle.

Fourth-generation pokémon are coming to Pokémon Go this week

Pokémon Go players will be able to considerably expand their pokédexes this week, as Niantic has confirmed the arrival of the fourth generation of pokémon. This generation first appeared in the Nintendo DS games Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and hail from the Hokkaido-influenced Sinnoh region.
As with the third generation, Niantic will be rolling out the new pokémon in waves rather than all at once. The company says it’ll also be announcing new features and expansion to pokémon storage soon. Meanwhile, a handful of generation 3 pokémon — and even one from generation 2 — are yet to be added to the game, mostly because of unique characteristics that Niantic has to figure out how to integrate.
While the world-dominating hype from its launch has predictably subsided, Pokémon Go remains a phenomenally successful mobile game by any other metric, and continues to add features to attract new players and extract more money from the existing base. Recently the game finally enabled trading, while just this week the Android version got support for more advanced AR through Google’s ARCore SDK. Next month Pokémon: Let’s Go will be released for the Nintendo Switch, featuring heavy integration with Pokémon Go.

A military expert explains why social media is the new battlefield

After the 2016 US presidential election, social media came under scrutiny like never before, and what’s since come to light hasn’t been pretty: widespread consensus that foreign government-backed groups used platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to spread discord and division among the American public. In their new book, P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking make the argument that what we witnessed was a new form of global conflict, in which there are no bystanders.
LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media is a look at the role social media plays in modern conflict. Singer has written extensively about the future of warfare, looking at robotics (Wired for War), cybersecurity (Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What You Need to Know), private military companies (Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry), and even speculative fiction (Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War). Now, he turns his attention to what warfare looks like when information can spread around the world instantly. Singer and Brooking look at how groups like ISIS have used platforms like YouTube and Twitter to spread their message around the world, taunting their opponents and enticing new recruits, while bad actors like Russian-backed groups found ways to game Facebook’s design to spread misinformation and lies.
The telegraph and then the telephone allowed us to connect personally from a distance at a speed not previously possible. Radio and then TV allowed one to broadcast out to many. What social media has done is combine the two, allowing simultaneous personal connection as never before, but also the ability to reach out to the entire world. The challenge is that this connection has been both liberating and disruptive. It has freed communication, but it has also been co-opted to aid the vile parts of it as well. The speed and scale have allowed these vile parts to escape many of the firebreaks that society had built up to protect itself. Indeed, I often think about a quote in the book from a retired US Army officer, who described how every village once had an idiot. And now, the internet has brought them all together and made them more powerful than ever before.

Facebook is adding support for 250-person chats in Groups

Today, Facebook is adding a new feature to Groups: giant, intergroup Messenger chats with the option to add up to 250 people, via TechCrunch.
The chats can also support audio or video calls with up to 50 people in them. The idea is that users in big groups — like a book club or surfing club — will be able to have smaller conversations about things like local meetups that may not be relevant to the entire group.
In-Group chats can be viewed by all members of the group, and anyone already in the group can join or be invited. Crucially, Facebook won’t spam you with notifications for each message in the thread until you accept the invitation to join, and users will be able to further filter that by only getting notifications when they’re directly @-mentioned. Group admins will also be able to shut down chats or set it so that only admins can start threads to help limit spam.

Google rebrands AR stickers as Playground and adds new animations

Google announced a rebranding of its augmented reality stickers feature today, with the name changing officially to Playground as part of the Pixel 3 hardware event that just wrapped in New York City. Playground will now exist as a special mode within the Pixel camera, and it will algorithmically suggest new AR animations to fit the scene you’re in, regardless of whether you’re using the front- or rear-facing lenses. In addition to the rebranding, Google is launching four new packs of these AR animations and fittingly calling them “Playmoji.”
Initially announced last fall as AR Stickers, these virtual animations were similar to the lenses and filters that Snapchat popularized a few years back. But a key difference is that these are entirely in 3D and are deployed with a much smarter sense of spatial and object recognition, thanks to Google’s advances in artificial intelligence. Google launched Strangers Things stickers, as well as a pack for Star Wars during The Last Jedi theatrical run late last year.

Jarvish’s smart motorcycle helmets will offer Alexa and Siri support and an AR display

Smart helmets seem like one of those great ideas that just haven’t really taken off yet, but that doesn’t mean that companies aren’t still trying. Jarvish — the latest to try to claim the crown — has an interesting take on the idea with its upcoming Jarvish X and Jarvish X-AR motorcycle helmets (via Engadget).
The Jarvish X is the more basic of the two models. It offers integrated microphones and speakers for Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa support so wearers have access things like directions, weather updates, and control music through voice control. There’s also a 2K, front-facing camera built into the helmet so you can record your ride. It’s set to cost $799 when it hits Kickstarter in January.
The X-AR goes a step beyond that, offering all of those features and adding a Google Glass-style augmented reality display for things like current speed, turn-by-turn directions, weather, incoming calls, and even a rearview mirror-esque video feed from a second rear-facing camera on the back of the helmet. It’s an ambitious idea, but it’ll really depend on how well it works in practice. (AR displays are notoriously tough to get right.) The added AR tech also makes the Jarvish X-AR far more expensive at $2,599, and it won’t be out until much later; a Kickstarter is planned for the second half of 2019.

Chinese spy chips would be a ‘god-mode’ hack, experts say

Chinese operatives allegedly poisoned the technical supply chain of major US companies, including Apple and Amazon by planting a microchip on their servers manufactured abroad, according to a Bloomberg report today. The story claims that one chip, which was reportedly planted on servers’ motherboards assembled for a company called Elemental by a separate company called Super Micro Computer, would allow attackers to covertly modify these servers, bypass software security checks, and, essentially, give the Chinese government a complete backdoor into these companies’ networks.
Affected companies are vigorously disputing the report, claiming they never discovered any malicious hardware or reported similar issues to the FBI. Even taking the Bloomberg report at its word, there are significant unanswered questions about how widely the chip was distributed and how the backdoor access was used.
But the mere idea of a malicious chip implant has already sent shock waves through the security world, which has traditionally focused on software attacks.

Google Assistant now helps you compare ride-hailing prices and summon a car

After announcing some updates to the Google Assistant user experience yesterday, today Google is rolling out a new way of booking rides with your voice — or at least getting most of the way there. Starting this week, you’ll be able to say “Hey Google, book a ride to” or “Hey Google, get me a taxi to” your destination.

Assistant will then respond by listing off price estimates and current wait times for Uber, Lyft, Ola, Grab, GO-JEK, “and many more” ride-hailing apps, according to Google. You can avoid the longer list and specify your preferred service by using its name when requesting a ride. This works on Android, iPhone, Google Home, and all other smart speakers that have Assistant built in. Support for smart displays is coming soon.

Previously, Assistant would kick you over to Google Maps for this info, as it already lists these price estimates for the services. Now it’s basically just surfacing that same information right in the Assistant window.

Facebook extends account deletion grace period from 14 to 30 days

Facebook recently extended the deletion grace period for terminating your main account from 14 to 30 days, the company confirmed to The Verge. Now, when you go to delete your Facebook account, you have up to one month to reverse the decision if you choose to log back in. Facebook won’t automatically restore your account if you log in, but it says you will have “the option to cancel your request.”
“We recently increased the grace period when you choose to delete your Facebook account from 14 days to 30 days,” says a Facebook spokesperson. “We’ve seen people try to log in to accounts they’ve opted to delete after the 14-day period. The increase gives people more time to make a fully informed choice.”
Of course, the extension of the grace period also means you must wait up to one month instead of just two weeks for the account to permanently disappear, along with all of your data. For those who are interested in leaving Facebook following news of last week’s major hack and the Cambridge Analytica scandal — or for reasons related to Facebook’s role in abetting fake news and election interference — it’s best to make that decision now so you can ensure your account and the data stored on you gets deleted as promptly possible.

What Tesla’s union-busting trial means for the rest of Silicon Valley

In some sense Tesla’s union question is an existential one: is Tesla a tech company or a car company? Car companies tend to have strong unions, while tech companies do not.
Musk runs Tesla like a tech company. Tesla’s done a top-to-bottom redesign of cars, and of the factory workflow. There are sudden pivots, and plenty of investment, despite a lack of profit — so far, so tech. Then you have the cars themselves: have to charge their batteries, the company can push over-the-air software updates to your car and totally change how it works, and uh they’re hackable. But they’re still cars: they go on roads, you drive them, and in most states you are legally compelled to buy car insurance for them.
Unions do exist in tech, though mostly among contract workers — the drivers of tech company employee shuttles have one, for instance. But Silicon Valley, the tech epicenter, exists in part because of opposition to unions, according to Alex Press. That’s how California beat out Boston in the post-World War II boom.

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.”

Windows 10’s next major update arrives in October

Microsoft is officially unveiling the name for its next major Windows 10 update today. Previously codenamed Redstone 5, the “Windows 10 October 2018 Update” will arrive at some point in October. It will include a number of new features for devices, like a new cloud clipboard that syncs across machines, a dark File Explorer, an updated snipping tool, improvements to Microsoft Edge, and performance information in the Xbox Game Bar.
Microsoft’s naming follows the Windows 10 April 2018 Update that was released earlier this year. Microsoft is expected to conclude development of the October update by the end of September, and it should be available to Windows Insiders by early October followed by regular consumers.
Microsoft is now focusing on its next Windows 10 update, codenamed 19H1. This update will likely arrive in April 2019, and the company has not yet revealed which major features will be included. Testing for 19H1 begun in late July, and it’s possible we might see the return of the Sets feature that won’t be included in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

Sony’s latest speaker is a soccer ball-sized portable party machine with Google Assistant

Sony’s Extra Bass speakers are pretty easy to spot: they’re big speakers with lots of LED lights and flashing strobes, and they’re designed to make your next block party or backyard gathering extra lit. But at IFA 2018, Sony is announcing the XB501G. It puts all that fun into a smaller, roughly soccer ball-sized package that lets you bring the party with you wherever you go.
The XB501G isn’t just about partying, though. It also has Google Assistant built in, essentially making it a larger, better-sounding Google Home (with strobe lights). There’s also the option to sync up a pair for stereo audio, too.
That said, if you do want to party it up (like the overly happy folks in Sony’s PR images), the XB501G can do it. It’s rated IP65 against splashes and dust, has a built-in handle for easy carrying, and offers 16 hours of battery life, plus the signature colorful lights and strobes. There’s even USB-C!
The XB501G is set to release sometime in October for $299.99

This tilting kettle will make your coffee-loving friends livid

I’m a geek about a whole bunch of things, though coffee isn’t one of them. But, boy, do passions run hot when coffee preparation becomes the subject of a discussion. Take this recent Kickstarter, called The Automatica, as a good example. What I see is a cute gadget with a really appealing promo video. Set to a minimalist soundtrack of guitar strumming and engine rumbling, the video treats us to a view of the Salt Lake City skyline at sunset before moving on to pleasing closeups of bubbles foaming up as the coffee is filtered through the machine. The narration is calming and friendly. I kind of want to hang out with the makers of this gadget, they seem like good, chilled-out people.

Coffee-loving gadget nerds, though, they see through all of this facade and ask, “wait, isn’t this just a kettle that tilts?” To which the brief answer is “yes.” The longer answer, as per the Kickstarter pitch, is that the Automatica “controls temperature, flow rate, volume, pour pattern, and time so you don’t have to.” My colleagues are in uproar over this completely unnecessary design — engineered solutions for automated pour over coffee already exist and they’re self-contained little boxes — but, in all honesty, I like it exactly because it’s unnecessary. The tipping motion is like a one-step Rube Goldberg machine, and for me it triggers childhood memories of quirky inventions I’ve seen in comics and animated movies where the human is replaced by a clumsy mechanical concoction.

Google prepares for Pixel Watch with mandatory Wear OS app reviews and a rumored fitness coach

Google is making changes to its Wear OS app review process that could improve the quality of software on the platform. It’s also reportedly working on a fitness coach/assistant for wearables. Put together, it sure seems like the company is preparing for some sort of wearable release. Google said yesterday that Wear OS apps will have to go through a mandatory “light review process,” perhaps in an effort to improve the Play Store offerings ahead of announcing a rumored Pixel Watch in October. The reviews for new apps start on October 1st while reviews for existing apps will begin March 4, 2019.
Google already offers an optional review, which it rolled out with Android Wear 2.0, but it says this new process is designed to improve the app quality and presentation. The most common issue, it says, has to do with screen size because Wear OS apps are available for both square and round displays, which might also include various bezels.
VentureBeat reporter and frequent gadget leaker Evan Blass said to expect a new Google smartwatch this fall, and now, Android Police has published additional rumors about a feature called Google Coach.
The service would recommend workout routines, track your progress, and recommend alternatives if you miss a workout. It would also log your activity and maybe even suggest healthy meal options. It could create a meal plan, too, and a shopping list.

How to install Fortnite on Android

Epic Games launched its battle royale hit Fortnite on Android devices last week with a big catch: it was exclusive to Samsung-made phones for a few days as a way to help market the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Now, the exclusivity period appears to be over, and beta invite codes are going out to select users of non-Samsung phones like the Google Pixel 2 XL.
If you’re itching to dive off the battle bus on mobile, you might have to hold on just a little while longer: there appears to be a waiting list, just like there was when the game launched on iOS. There’s also a bit of trickiness involving exactly how you get the app because Epic announced it would be distributing the Android version of Fortnite on its own terms.
Last week, the app was distributed through Samsung’s app store, and Epic is using its own website and a Fortnite Installer program to distribute the game more widely on all compatible Android devices. (Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said this is basically to avoid paying Google’s 30 percent cut on in-app purchases.)
Given this unprecedented arrangement, here’s a step-by-step breakdown to make sure you’re prepared and understand the best way to start playing Fortnite on Android.

Google Play warns users it doesn’t carry Fortnite Battle Royale

Google is warning Android users that it doesn’t carry Fortnite Battle Royale in the Play Store. If you search for Fortnite in the Play Store, it will return a notice from Google. “Fortnite Battle Royal by Epic Games, Inc is not available on Google Play,” the sign says, likely as a clarification to users, as first spotted by 9to5Google.
By saying upfront that the Play Store doesn’t have Fortnite, Google is attempting to protect unknowing users who might download some malicious clone of the app.
Epic Games requires users who want to run Fortnite on Android to download an APK of the beta directly from its site. The decision essentially cuts Google out of potential revenue from app purchases, which would have been a 30 percent cut.
Android settings also usually dissuade users from downloading apps from “unknown sources,” likely as another safety mechanism and a way to maintain the importance of the Play Store as the main source for apps.

YouTube now recommends the best phones for video playback, and it doesn’t suggest an iPhone

At its Note 9 announcement today, Samsung boasted the new phablet is a “YouTube Signature Device” for 2019. If you haven’t heard of that certification before, that’s because it’s a brand-new program YouTube just launched. The YouTube Device Report recommends the best smartphones, which it calls “signature devices,” for watching YouTube. These phones feature the ability to watch 360-degree footage, support for high dynamic range, high frame rate, 4K decoding, next-generation codecs, and reliable DRM performance. Google says its team evaluates each device and works with manufacturers to fix video playback performance and capability issues.
The report launches with 18 devices, with the aforementioned Note 9 alongside other popular smartphones like the Pixel 2 XL, the OnePlus 6, and the HTC U12 Plus. Notably, none of the devices is an iPhone, which might make you feel sad (or understandably neutral since YouTube, Google, and Android are all part of the same company anyway). Apple also doesn’t support the VP9 video codec, which Google developed, which is why Safari users don’t have the option to watch footage in 4K.

The new Anki Vector robot is smart enough to just hang out

the table before me are two diminutive robots, each emitting endearing little robot beeps and bloops, their screen eyes active. When I knock on the table, one of them turns to face the noise with surprising alacrity. The other just watches my face, turning slowly to keep me in focus as I move around.
These are prototypes for Vector, the latest robot from Anki, the company behind both the Cozmo and the Overdrive RC cars. I spent the day in Anki’s labs in San Francisco to learn just what Vector is and — critically — what it can do. When it ships in October for $249.99 (or cheaper for early Kickstarter backers), Anki will be marketing it as a “home robot.” It’s a sort of Cozmo for adults, a step beyond that robot’s learn-to-code toy ethos.
You can ask it questions, play games with it, and even pet it to elicit a chirpy little purr. But Anki doesn’t want you to focus on Vector’s functionality. The company has been putting a lot of effort into its personality. And because Vector is completely autonomous, you can do something completely surprising for a new piece of technology: just ignore it, and let it do its own thing.

The Army is buying microwave cannons to take down drones in mid-flight

The US Army has a new plan for microwaving drones out of the sky. In a public solicitation last Friday, the agency announced its intention to purchase an airborne high-powered microwave system from Lockheed Martin, which is intended for use against drones. The weapon, which would be mounted to an airplane, would disable fixed-wing or quadcopter drones with a beam of focused radiation.
Drone countermeasures are particularly relevant in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro that was carried out by a pair of hexacopter drones rigged with remote-triggered explosives. Public video collected by Bellingcat indicates the attack was carried out by drones similar to DJI’s Matrice 600. Each drone was equipped with a kilogram of C4 explosive, according to a statement by Venezuelan security forces. The Matrice 600’s maximum carrying capacity is 5.5 kilograms.
The Army’s new system comes on the heels of a similar microwave system that was developed by Lockheed Martin for the Air Force called the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator or “SHiELD.” Intended for use against incoming missiles, the project was the subject of a $26 million design award in November 2017.

Android 9 Pie is available for Google Pixel phones today

Google has announced that the final, shipping version of the newest Android update is available for all Pixel phones today. And, as usual, it has announced a name to go along with the over-the-air update: “Android 9 Pie.”
Android 9 Pie’s headline features are the same ones that we revealed back in May: a “Digital Wellbeing” dashboard, a new gesture-based navigation system, and other AI-enhanced improvements to the UI. It also received many subtle improvements to the overall look of the software, including a new status bar that’s designed to work better with notches.
However, the official release will not include all of the features that Google announced at Google I/O. The main things that will be missing are the Digital Wellbeing features, including the usage dashboard, app times, and a “wind down” setting for when you go to bed. Instead, those features will be offered as a beta for Pixel users right away. The actual release will come in the fall; Google says “Android One and other devices coming later this year.” One can assume that among the “other devices” will be the new Pixel 3 phones.

MoviePass will limit users to just three movies a month starting on August 15th

MoviePass has announced that users will soon be limited to seeing just three movies a month. It’s a major change from the current policy that allows users to see a movie once a day with their subscriptions, via The Wall Street Journal. It’s the latest change to the unlimited moviegoing service as the company desperately tries to stay afloat in the wake of problems like entirely running out of money at the end of July.
The new plan undoes some of the changes that MoviePass announced last week, including the $14.95 price increase and surge pricing. Instead, users on the new plan will be able to continue paying $9.95 per month, although they’ll be limited to just three movies (something that MoviePass previously offered for $7.95).
The new plan goes into effect on August 15th. Monthly subscribers will have the chance to subscribe to the new plan after that date when their current monthly subscription expires, while annual subscribers will be able to keep their existing plan until they’re up for renewal. However, it seems that only subscribers to the new, three-movie-a-month plan will be exempt from MoviePass’ surge pricing and ticket-verification policies.
Also sticking around are the added limitations to seeing newly released movies during the first two weeks of the theatrical run (unless the movie has a promotional deal with MoviePass). That started most prominently two weekends ago with the release of Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Users who are interested in seeing the latest films in theaters right at release will still likely be out of luck with MoviePass going forward.

Apple’s 2018 iPhones are rumored to not include headphone dongle in the box

We all knew this day would come eventually, but apparently 2018 is the year: Apple will reportedly no longer bundle its 3.5mm to Lightning port headphone dongle with this year’s iPhone models, according to a research note from Barclays that was seen by MacRumors.
And while you can take Barclays’ note with a grain of salt, the sourcing does seem at least somewhat legitimate. The research note claims that Cirrus Logic, a supplier for the dongle has “confirmed” that it won’t be included in the box alongside the new iPhones.
Apple has been trying to transition away from wired headphones entirely with its AirPods and lineup of wireless Beats headphones, so the move isn’t entirely surprising. The dongle was always meant as a stopgap while customers adjusted to the new, headphone jack-less reality that Apple imposed on the world. Apple will almost certainly continue to sell the dongle — which costs $9 — separately for users who still want it.