Thursday, October 14, 2021

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Twitter tests ads in the replies to tweets

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 06:40 AM PDT

Don't be surprised if your Twitter feed is cluttered with more advertising than usual. The Vergereports that Twitter is testing a format that displays ads in the replies to a given tweet. As Revenue Product Lead Bruce Falk explains, those involved in the test will see ads under the first, third or eighth reply to a tweet. The experiment is worldwide and applies to both Android and iOS users.

Falck said the ad format produces value and "aligns incentives for creators and advertisers." However, he also acknowledged that it wasn't a surefire concept. Twitter would spend the "coming months" testing the frequency, layouts and other aspects of the ads to see how well they perform and affect the community. This could be helpful for advertisers, of course, but it might also lead to more compensation for Twitter users.

This probably isn't the sort of Twitter test you'd want to see, but it's not surprising. Twitter has been eager to find new sources of revenue for both itself and its most prolific users, ranging from Blue subscriptions to Tip Jar donations. Ads in replies could not only improve Twitter's bottom line, but attract creators used to making money from sponsored Instagram and TikTok posts.

A bunch of Bose headphones and earbuds are on sale at Amazon right now

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 06:30 AM PDT

It's smart to try to get some of your holiday shopping done early this year and Amazon's making it a bit easier to do so for those looking for solid headphones and earbuds to gift. The online retailer has a big Bose sale going on right now that knocks up to 29 percent off a bunch of the company's audio devices. Key among them are the Bose QuietComfort earbuds, which are down to a record low of $199.

Shop Bose sale at AmazonBuy QuietComfort earbuds at Amazon - $199

The QuietComfort earbuds give our favorite Sony pairs a run for their money, and we consider them to be the best option if you want to truly block out all surrounding noises. These buds shine in the ANC department with 11 levels of noise cancellation that you can choose from in its companion app, three of which you can assign to onboard controls for easy access. They block out the world better than all other true wireless earbuds we've tested — only Sony's WF-1000XM3 (and the newer XM4) even come close. Sound quality is also great and battery life is good at roughly seven hours. Our biggest complaints about the QuietComfort earbuds are that they are quite large (but not too heavy) and they have limited customizations and touch control options.

A couple of other Bose buds are on sale, too, including the Sport Open earbuds for $179. In many ways, these are the opposite of the QuietComfort earbuds. They have an open, over-ear design that's supposed to let in outside noise so you can be more aware of what's going on around you. They're also comfortable since they don't stick directly inside your ear canal. Since they're quite niche, you probably know already if you, or someone you love, is the type of person who would love these earbuds.

Buy Sport Open earbuds at Amazon - $179Buy QuietComfort 35 II at Amazon - $250Buy QuietComfort 35 II gaming headset at Amazon - $279

Unfortunately the new Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones are not included in this sale, but the QC 35 II and their gaming-headset equivalent are. The QC 35 II are down to $250, which isn't a record low but still a decent $50 discount. They're Bose's hallmark headphones for noise cancellation that came out in 2017 and they have excellent ANC and sound quality along with a comfortable design. Last year, the company turned the QC 35 II into a gaming headset by essentially giving you a detachable boom mic and PC controller to use with the cans. That one is down to a record low of $279 in this sale.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The 'Lower Decks' season two finale is Star Trek at its best

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 06:00 AM PDT

This post contains spoilers for season two, episode 10 of 'Star Trek: Lower Decks.'

Last week I posited that seasons one and two of Lower Decks together would make up one story arc of the show. Given this week's finale, it looks like we'll be dealing with the consequences of the Pakled threat for just a bit longer. But when an episode is this good, I'm perfectly fine with being wrong.

Especially when this installment just encompasses so many of my favorite things about Star Trek. It's not just the delightful appearance by Captain Sonya Gomez — you might remember her as the ensign who spilled hot chocolate on Captain Picard way back in season two of The Next Generation. And it's not because of the first on-screen appearance of cetacean ops, a concept hinted at in various blueprints but never actually mentioned with any real seriousness.

CBS

It's the general plot of the episode, where the entire crew must work together to save the day. I'm a real sucker for teamwork scenes, like the final battle in The Undiscovered Country or, more recently, when the crew of the USS Discovery had to disguise themselves as their mirror universe counterpart. Star Trek has been described as "competence porn" by many online, in how it depicts people who are insanely good at their jobs and work together well.

The first two seasons haven't always showcased the crew at their finest. We've seen Boimler and Mariner lose the Klingon diplomat they were supposed to be escorting, Freeman get into a pissing match with the captain of another Starfleet vessel, and the crew fail its (rigged) assessment test spectacularly. At times the show is very much like The Office, more interested in the personal lives and antics of its employees than the actual business at hand.

CBS

However, even The Office would occasionally remind you that the staff of Dunder Mifflin were good at their jobs, particularly Michael Scott. Michael was a terrible manager, but one hell of a salesman. And this episode of Lower Decks put the spotlight on Carol Freeman, whose fine work over the past two years is being rewarded with a promotion to a better ship. The USS Cerritos is a California-class ship, a real workhorse of a vessel that doesn't get a lot of respect. That the Cerritos even became important at all is completely due to circumstance in encountering and surviving the newly empowered Pakleds. But it's given Freeman a lot of time in the spotlight, with her tasked a few episodes ago with negotiating a cease-fire with the Pakled government. (It was a ruse, but that's not her fault.)

Last week I thought this episode would wrap up that storyline, given that we now know the Pakleds were getting help from a Klingon captain, one who is no longer alive thanks to the actions of a lower-decker. Instead, this episode focuses on Freeman's possible promotion, her senior staff's reaction to it, and the futures of our lower decks ensigns.

CBS

This is all happening against the backdrop of a first contact mission. The USS Cerritos mostly specializes in second contact missions — we're told this in the very first episode. That means they come in and handle all the annoying administrative stuff after flagships like the Enterprise come in and establish initial relations. Now, the Cerritos gets to take part in the more important first impression, but only as backup to the USS Archimedes.

Sitting on the bench ends up serving the Cerritos well when a solar flare plus an unstable planetoid ends up disabling the Archimedes and putting it on a crash course with the planet below. Freeman is ready to sacrifice herself in order to save the other ship, but Rutherford and company have a better plan, one that can prevent fatalities on both vessels. But they've only got 20 hours, so the whole crew has to chip in. That means Ransom piloting, Billups supervising the hull removal, and Tendi giving Mariner a much-needed pep talk. The latter might not be necessary to the functioning of the ship, but it is important to the show because it pushes the two women toward the emotional resolution they need.

CBS

We also get to meet the crew of cetacean ops, two beluga whale lieutenants named Kimolu and Matt. But it's Boimler who has to save the day, because the clamp they need to release isn't made to be turned by flippers. (I really appreciate the accessibility joke here, because Starfleet has often been cited over the decades as an OSHA nightmare.) Needless to say, the crew succeeds (this isn't a movie, after all, so we're not losing the ship). After the bravery shown by the entire crew of the Cerritos, particularly Boimler and Rutherford, it's hard to imagine that season three won't start off with a few promotions.

But first, there's the matter of Freeman's transfer, which she has decided to decline in favor of staying with a crew that has proven itself capable of being truly excellent. Unfortunately, that Pakled storyline comes to bite us all one more time, leading us into the show's very first cliffhanger, and the very first season-ending cliffhanger in the new Kurtzman-era of Trek programs.

CBS

Star Trek: Lower Decks had a lot to prove when it debuted last year: It was the first animated show since the '70s, and the franchise's first attempt at a primarily comedic series. It also had to overcome the initial impressions of it as being akin to Rick and Morty or Family Guy. The quality of the first season started a bit rough but improved as time went on, ending on the fantastic action-packed episode, "No Small Parts." Season two's "First First Contact" ups the game in several ways, not just in its element of danger but also in how the show is willing to use big storylines to push the characters forward as the seasons progress.

Facebook is using first-person videos to train future AIs

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 05:47 AM PDT

One of the obvious goals of almost every computer vision project is to enable a machine to see, and perceive, the world as a human does. Today, Facebook has started talkingabout Ego4D, its own effort in this space, for which it has created a vast new data set to train future models. In a statement, the company said that it had recruited 13 universities across nine countries, who had collected 2,200 hours of footage from 700 participants. This footage was taken from the perspective of the user, which can be used to train these future AI models. Kristen Grauman, Facebook's lead research scientist, says that this is the largest collection of data explicitly created for this focus.

The footage was centered on a number of common experiences in human life, including social interaction, hand and object manipulation and predicting what's going to happen. It's, as far as the social network is concerned, a big step toward better computing experiences which, until now, have always focused on sourcing data from the bystander's perspective. Facebook has said that the data sets will be released in November, "for researchers who sign Ego4D's data use agreement." And, next year, researchers from beyond this community will be challenged to better train machines to understand what exactly humans are doing in their lives.

Naturally, there is the angle that Facebook, which now has a camera glasses partnership with Ray Ban, is looking to improve its own capabilities in future. You probably already know about the perils of what this potential surveillance could entail, and why anyone might feel a little leery about the announcement.

Amazon’s second-gen Echo Show 8 falls back to $100

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 04:35 AM PDT

If you missed the chance to grab the new Echo Show 8 during Amazon's Prime Day event in July, you may want to check the smart display's listing on Amazon. It's currently on sale for $100, $30 less than its original retail price of $130. That's only $5 more than what it was listed for during Prime Day, and it's certainly not a bad deal for a relatively new device that was only released in June. 

Buy All-new Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen, 2021) at Amazon - $100

We gave the Echo Show 8 a score of 87 in our review. Between this device and its smaller 5-inch sibling, it received more upgrades from the previous generation, including a faster octa-core processor. It also has a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera that's a huge improvement over the previous version's one-megapixel sensor. The smart display uses digital panning and zooming to follow you around during calls, and it worked well enough when we tested it out. It even works with every video calling platform the device supports, including Skype and Zoom.

Aside from its faster processor and better camera, we praised the Echo Show 8 for its minimalist design and its 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution display. It lacks the 3.5 mm jack of its predecessor that will let you connect it to a speaker, but it already has a powerful bass and impressive volume. The device's overall sound quality is also better than its smaller sibling's, since it has two speakers instead of one. 

We found the Echo Show 8 a great digital photo frame that's capable of displaying current time and weather conditions during our tests. In addition, we found it helpful in the kitchen, thanks to its large library of recipes with step-by-step instructions from sources that include the Food Network and Allrecipes. And in case you want to use the smart display to watch videos, you can do so, as well, since it supports video streaming from Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The Morning After: Apple Watch Series 7, reviewed

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 04:15 AM PDT

Apple still dominates the world of wearables. Over the last year, research company Canalys noted that smartwatch sales have actually overtaken basic bands and now account for 62 percent of all wearable shipments. And Apple's versions lays claim to just under a third of all smartwatches sold.

Apple Watch Series 7 on-screen keyboard
Engadget

That's interesting because you need an iOS device to setup and use an Apple Watch, so the company has discounted all the Android phone users that might be interested in an Apple smartwatch. I've played with Fitbits, Samsung Galaxy Watches and the occasional Garmin, even, but nothing quite offers the capabilities and premium build-quality of an Apple Watch. (And this comes from someone who was averse to — and still bought — the first Apple smartwatch.)

So here we are for round 7. Apple's Watch Series 7 goes on sale this Friday, and there seems to be a lot of interest in the bigger-screened watch, with pre-order screens soon showing early November delivery dates when Apple opened up orders. If you've already pre-ordered, well you probably don't care about reviews! For the rest of us, Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low has put the wearable through its paces for the last week. We'll take a closer look at her review below.

— Mat Smith

William Shatner becomes the oldest person to reach space

The Star Trek legend's Blue Origin flight went smoothly.

William Shatner has become the oldest person to fly to space. The 90-year-old Star Trek icon was one of four crew members aboard Blue Origin's NS-18 mission as it flew to an altitude of 66 miles. The sci-fi actor and random Engadget nemesis (there was a whole Twitter beef) edged out 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who set the previous age record just a few months ago.

It's also some good publicity for Blue Origin. Jeff Bezos' private spaceflight outfit is currently grappling with accusations of a toxic work environment, not to mention the fallout of its legal tussle with SpaceX over NASA's Moon mission contract.

Continue reading.

Sponsored by CISCO

2021 Security Outcomes Study for Small Businesses

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Apple Watch Series 7 review

It's all about the screen

According to Cherlynn Low, just a little bit more screen makes a huge difference on a device this small. Though it's otherwise not a huge upgrade over its predecessor, the Apple Watch Series 7's bigger screen makes it more user-friendly than ever. It's a solid choice for anyone new to smartwatches or who's upgrading from a much older device. If you're a Series 6 owner, however, you could probably wait until the next update. And if you're looking for substantial sleep tracking, the Apple Watch still won't be the right wearable for you.

Continue reading.

Apple may be exploring ways to use AirPods as health devices

They could potentially take your temperature and even check your posture.

Oh, the other wearable. Wall Street Journal sources claim Apple is exploring multiple ways it can use AirPods as health devices. It might use the buds as hearing aids, but it could also use the motion sensors to correct your posture. A prototype would even include a thermometer to check your core body temperature.

Continue reading.

HTC Vive Flow headset images leak days before reported launch

The device will set you back $499, according to the leaked images.

HTC Vive Flow leak
Evleaks

HTC is expected to launch a new VR headset within the week, but some leaked images have spoiled the party. A collection of Vive Flow images made its way online, courtesy of Evleaks over on Twitter, before the launch event. Looking like a lightweight steampunk VR fantasy, the goggles appear to be more for media viewing and light gaming than more substantial (or business-centric) capabilities. The images suggest the Vive Flow will be available for pre-order starting on October 15th, with shipments going out in early November.

Continue reading.

Facebook's latest effort to curtail leaks immediately leaked

The social network is trying to lock down access to sensitive info.

Facebook is ramping up its fight against leakers following the disclosures of whistleblower Frances Haugen. According to a report from The New York Times, Facebook is limiting access to some internal groups that deal with "sensitive" issues like safety and elections. The change, which was made to prevent further leaks, immediately leaked. Which is hilarious.

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Bowers & Wilkins' new Zeppelin speaker was built for streaming

It'll come with built-in Alexa and cost $799.

Bowers & Wilkins has launched a new version of its iconic Zeppelin speaker, and the company says it was reimagined for the streaming age. It describes the new Zeppelin as "smarter and more flexible" than its predecessors, with built-in support for Amazon's Alexa.

B&W plans to give it multi-room capability in early 2022 through a software update. Once that arrives, users will be able to link several Zeppelins together or link a Zeppelin with other B&W speakers in a multi-room environment. A chain of Zeppelin speakers isn't a cheap endeavor, however. Each new speaker will cost $799.

Continue reading.

Fujifilm launches its first wide-format Instax Link smartphone printer

Print Polaroid-like snapshots from your smartphone.

Fujifilm new photo printer
Fujifilm

Fujifilm has revealed a new Instax printer that supports its wider, more Polaroid-like film. The Instax Link Wide Smartphone printer connects to your smartphone and prints out camera roll photos twice as wide as the credit-card-sized images from the original Instax mini Link printer. You can also directly transfer and print images from Fujifilm's X-S10 mirrorless camera.

Continue reading.

The biggest news stories you might have missed

Sony's new zoom lens has features designed for video creators

Anker's audio glasses pair swappable frames with 'surround' sound for $200

Bose's new rugged Bluetooth speaker floats in water

Riot Games disables all chat in 'League of Legends'

'Call of Duty: Warzone' and 'Vanguard' anti-cheat updates include a kernel-level driver

Roland SP-404MKII sampler hands-on: Dragging an iconic sampler into the modern age

AMD's Radeon RX 6600 is a $329 GPU for 1080p gaming

Google's Pocket Gallery art museum experiences come to the web

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 03:34 AM PDT

Google's Pocket Gallery came along in 2018, allowing users with AR-enabled smartphones to see artworks by the likes of Vermeer and Klimt, even pieces normally not accessible to the public. Now, Google is opening up the exhibitions to everyone on the web, letting you explore them on desktop or mobile devices with or without AR capabilities, it announced in a Keyword post. 

Up until today, Pocket Gallery was essentially an (overly complicated) AR experience inside Google's Arts & Culture app, placing an art gallery on your desktop or another flat surface and allowing you to explore different art pieces. Now, you just need to load up the Arts & Culture website, find the Pocket Gallery section, choose a relevant exhibition in your browser and use your mouse or finger to scroll around, zoom in, etc. 

Otherwise, it works much the same, allowing you to view, pan and zoom right in, down to brushstrokes and flecks of paint on certain pieces. It also provides a written description along with audio narratives for key pieces (complete with a museum-like echo), describing an artwork's history, meaning and more. It's a welcome and much overdue change, opening up the educational possibilities of Pocket Gallery to far more people.

Google Arts & Culture has other virtual experiences, including 360-degree videos and more. Along with the update, Google also unveiled a new exhibition in the collection done in collaboration with Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais in France. It features 40 marine masterpieces from the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre and elsewhere. 

Planet orbiting a dead star previews our own solar system's fate

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 02:10 AM PDT

Scientists have spotted a Jupiter-like exoplanet orbiting a dead star that was once like our Sun, The New York Times has reported. According to a paper in the journal Nature, the white dwarf star and planet around 6,500 light years away provides a preview of what will happen to our own solar system in approximately 5 billion years. 

When a yellow dwarf star like our sun exhausts its helium supply, it expands into a red giant and incinerates its inner planets (bye-bye, Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury). It then contracts from its own gravity into a white dwarf, a dim Earth-sized star with about half its original mass. Though the fate of inner planets is sealed, scientists aren't exactly sure what happens to planets farther away, like Jupiter and Uranus.

Using the Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck observatory in Hawai'i, a team of researchers spotted a planet around 1.4 times the size of Jupiter orbiting a dim white dwarf star (about 60 percent the size of the Sun) in a Jupiter-like orbit. They discovered it using a technique called gravitational microlensing (thanks, Einstein), possible when a target and a nearer star align with Earth. The nearer star bends the light from the subject, allowing scientists to observe it with a telescope.

The team tried to find the planet's associated star, but eventually concluded that it must be a white dwarf too faint to directly observe. Scientists previously discovered a different Jupiter-like planet around a white dwarf, but its orbit was much closer — so it wasn't a great analog to our own solar system. 

The finding indicates that planets with wide orbits are probably more common than inner planets. It also shows that some of our solar system's worlds may survive the Sun's death. "Earth's future may not be so rosy because it is much closer to the Sun," co-author David Bennett said in a statement. "If humankind wanted to move to a moon of Jupiter or Saturn before the Sun fried the Earth during its red supergiant phase, we'd still remain in orbit around the Sun, although we would not be able to rely on heat from the Sun as a white dwarf for very long."

Apple extends repair program for crackling AirPods Pro buds for one more year

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 01:18 AM PDT

Last year, Apple launched a repair/replacement program for AirPods Pro units experiencing sound issues, such as crackling or static. It was only supposed to last for two years after the buds were first sold in October 30th, 2019, which means the program was going to come to a close in a couple of weeks. As first noticed by someone on Reddit, though, the tech giant has quietly updated its program's information page to extend its availability. "The program covers affected AirPods Pro for 3 years after the first retail sale of the unit," the updated page reads, giving people the chance to exchange their faulty buds within the next year.

Apple previously said that a "small percentage" of units manufactured before October 2020 may be affected by the issue. The program covers buds exhibiting cracking or static sounds in loud environments, or while the user is exercising or talking on the phone. It also covers units with faulty Active Noise Cancellation that show irregularities, such as the loss of bass or an increase in background sounds. According to a few commenters on the Reddit post, however, even their buds that were manufactured later than October 2020 were exhibiting sound issues. While those models are technically not covered by the program anymore, the users were still able to get them replaced by getting in touch with Apple.

Volvo reveals its first vehicle made of fossil-free steel

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 10:55 PM PDT

A few months ago, Volvo teamed up with Swedish steel producer SSAB to develop a type of steel it can use for its vehicles that doesn't use fossil fuels. Now, the automaker has revealed what it says is the world's first vehicle made of fossil-free steel: A four wheeled fully electric load carrier made for quarrying and mining. In addition to having no greenhouse gas emission, it's also autonomous and can follow a pre-programmed route to transport materials at a job site.

SSAB produces fossil-free steel by replacing the coal used during the manufacturing process with hydrogen from electrolysis. As Forbes notes, though, the whole vehicle isn't exactly fossil-free, since the steel used for its components provided by third-party suppliers, such as its electric motor, were made using traditional means. Still, Volvo Group CTO Lars Stenqvist told the publication that "majority of the steel" in the vehicle is fossil free. He said three tons of the carrier's 8.2-ton weight is made of green steel from SSAB, and those eight tons include other heavy components like the vehicle's tires.

Volvo plans to start a small-scale production for the vehicle next year and to scale up production, depending on the availability of steel from SSAB. The Swedish manufacturer is hoping to start mass-producing its fossil-free steel in 2026, so we may see more Volvo vehicles made using the material by that time.

Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO Volvo Group, said in a statement:

"This initiative with SSAB sets the benchmark for a fossil-free future. Just as the nations of the world come together at COP26 to address climate change, so too must organizations and industries work in collaboration to develop innovative new solutions for a greenhouse gas emission free future. Volvo Group is committed to pioneering partnerships such as this with SSAB to develop attractive, safe and efficient new vehicles and machines that pave the way for a more sustainable transport and infrastructure system adopted for the future."

Facebook’s latest effort to curtail leaks immediately leaked

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 04:39 PM PDT

Facebook is ramping up its fight against leakers following the disclosures of whistleblower Frances Haugen. According to The New York Times, Facebook is limiting access to some internal groups that deal with "sensitive" issues like safety and elections. That the change, which was made to prevent further leaks, immediately leaked is both highly amusing and emblematic of some of the bigger issues the company is currently facing.

Ever since Haugen revealed herself as the whistleblower, one of the more noteworthy aspects of her story is that the documents she provided to Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission were widely accessible to employees. The documents included slides detailing the company's research into teen mental health, as well as numerous memos about how the company has handled rules for VIPs, misinformation and other thorny issues.

As The Times points out, the reason these documents were so readily available is because Facebook has long had an open culture that promotes sharing. And employees themselves often take to its internal communication platform, Workplace, to discuss controversial issues facing the company.

But now the social network is moving away from that openness. The company is making some internal groups private, and will remove employees "whose work isn't related to safety and security," according to the report. "Sensitive Integrity discussions will happen in closed, curated forums in the future," the company told employees in a memo.

On one hand, the fact that news of the change immediately leaked would seem to back up that the company is in fact more leaky than it has been in years past. But it could also signal increasing unrest among employees, some of whom are reportedly concerned that walling off teams that work on important issues could ultimately do more harm than good.

It also underscores just how much Facebook is still reeling from Haugen's disclosures. In addition to the Senate hearing last week, Haugen is expected to brief the select committee investigating the Jan. 6th insurrection, as well as European lawmakers investigating the company. The SEC also appears to be investigating her claims.

Apple TV+ will now have two series about unethical shrinks

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 03:30 PM PDT

On November 12th, The Shrink Next Door will debut on Apple TV+. Oddly enough, the Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd vehicle is one of two upcoming shows centered on unethical psychiatrists coming to the streaming service. This week, Apple announced a 10-episode order for Shrinking, a new series that will star Jason Segel as a therapist who tells his patients exactly what he thinks. Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence and star Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent in the popular comedy series, will write and produce the new show alongside Segel.

It's an interesting move for a company that, despite some recent successes, is one of the newer players in the streaming space and still building out its lineup while seeing what works. As ever, the company's approach seems to be to give established talent the runway to create what they think people will want to watch.

Facebook is testing its 'less political' News Feed in 75 new countries

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 03:00 PM PDT

Facebook is slowly expanding its effort to weed out political content from News Feed. The company is now testing its "less political" feed in 75 new countries, Facebook said in an update.

The company has already introduced a version of the revamped News Feed in the United States, as well as Costa Rica, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia. But the latest update marks a significant expansion of the effort, and brings the total number of countries involved to more than 80. Facebook didn't identify the latest countries to join the test, but a spokesperson confirmed the company is showing the News Feed changes to "a small percentage of people" in each country. The spokesperson added that countries with upcoming elections and those "at higher risk of conflict" are not included in the tests.

Mark Zuckerberg first announced plans to make News Feed less political in January, just weeks after the insurrection. "People don't want politics and fighting to take over their experience," he said at the time.

Rolling out the changes to more countries could help Facebook learn more about how to lower the temperature on its platform, which could be particularly useful as the company is accused of making its service angrier to boost engagement. At the same time, the company has acknowledged the changes could hurt publishers. "As we get more insights from these tests, we'll share updates on what we're learning and will continue to make changes accordingly," Facebook wrote in an updated blog post.

EA Sports is deleting ex-Raiders coach Jon Gruden from 'Madden NFL 22'

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 02:50 PM PDT

Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden will be removed from Madden NFL 22 and replaced with a generic character, EA Sports confirmed today on Twitter. The change will occur within the next few weeks and will roll out automatically in a title update. 

Gruden resigned from his position as Raiders head coach on October 11th amid reports that he routinely and for years sent racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails to colleagues.

Regarding the removal, EA Sports said, "Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden's resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22. We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks."

Madden NFL 22 is the latest iteration of the legendary American football series, and it came out on August 20th for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia.

OLED Switch teardown reveals smaller cooler assembly

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 02:05 PM PDT

It turns out there's much more to Nintendo's recently released OLED Switch than a new display panel from Samsung. Conducting a teardown of the console, the DIY heroes at iFixit found the company made a variety of internal tweaks that make for a device that's significantly different from its predecessor.

Like Sony's latest PlayStation 5 revision, the OLED Switch features a smaller cooling assembly than previous models. iFixit suspects Nintendo this tweak to either save on space or dial back the launch model's "cooling overcompensation." All we can say is we hope the change doesn't lead to claims the new model is "worse" than its predecessor. In another space-saving measure, Nintendo has consolidated some components onto a single board. The console's SD card reader, headphone jack and cartridge reader are now all found on a single PCB.

Nintendo Switch OLED
iFixit

Notably, the only controller-related change the OLED variant features is a set of new console-side rails that hold their respective Joy-Cons more securely. Another change sees the console's interconnect cables taped to the top of a metal shield. While that's something that will make fixing the OLED Switch on your own more difficult, iFixit suspects it could help with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity issues.

Speaking of repairability, iFixit gave the OLED model a score of seven out of 10. That's one less than the company awarded the original model. The OLED Switch features a non-modular storage module that's soldered to its motherboard, making easy repairs and upgrades on that front something you can't do.

Twitter's Spaces Spark Program will pay creators to broadcast live audio

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Twitter has launched a new three-month accelerator program to help up-and-coming Spaces creators. Dubbed the Twitter Spaces Spark Program, the company says the initiative will provide audio hosts with financial, technical and marketing support. Those who get into the program can look forward to a $2,500 monthly stipend, monthly ad credits, early access to upcoming Twitter products and features, as well as support from the company's social media channels.

The accelerator is currently only open to creators over the age of 18 who live in the US. Additionally, Twitter will only accept those with 5,000 or more active followers. There's also an expectation those in the program will broadcast a minimum of two Spaces per week. 

Following a limited iOS-only release in August, Twitter also announced today that it has started rolling out Ticketed Spaces to Android users in the US. The feature allows creators to charge for access to their live audio events.

David Fincher's next Netflix project is VOIR, visual essays about cinema

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 12:39 PM PDT

Sadly, we're note getting Mindhunter season 3. After a short tease yesterday, Netflix just revealed its next project from renowned filmmaker David Fincher: VOIR, a collection of visual essays about the love of cinema. The short teaser doesn't tell us much, sadly. But according to writer and film critic Drew McWeeny, who's working on one episode of the series, VOIR will feature standalone explorations about different aspects of movies. 

"We're not trying to sell you anything, and we're not interviewing anyone about what Marvel movies they're doing," McWeeny wrote in his newsletter, Formerly Dangerous. "We're each tackling a totally different idea, something that intrigues us or upsets us or that has to do with our connection to the movies."

Much like Love, Death and Robots, the animated sci-fi series from Fincher and Tim Miller (Deadpool), VOIR episodes will range from 10 to 30 minutes. The series is also co-created by David Prior, the director of the recent cult horror hit The Empty Man. Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos, The duo behind the excellent YouTube series Every Frame a Painting, Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, are also listed as directors. VOIR will premiere at LA's AFI Fest in November, and Netflix says it'll be heading to the streaming service soon.

Dreamlike platformer 'Solar Ash' is delayed until December 2nd

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 12:30 PM PDT

Solar Ash, Heart Machine's follow-up to the influential Hyper Light Drifter, will arrive a little later than previously planned. The studio and powerhouse indie publisher Annapurna Interactive are delaying the action platformer from October 26th until December 2nd. The team needs a little more time to polish Solar Ash and fix some bugs. As such the extra few weeks will allow the game to debut "in its best form."

Solar Ash will be released on PlayStation 4, PS5 and PC. You'll take on the guise of a Voidrunner named Rei who tries to save her home from a supermassive black hole. To do so, she'll need to make her way through treacherous lava-filled areas, sunken cities and other perilous and colorful biomes.

Instagram's 'Practice Mode' lets users check if they're ready to go live

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 12:15 PM PDT

Instagram is adding two new enhancements to its livestreaming toolset. Starting today, creators can schedule their Live broadcasts up to 90 days in advance, and share the fact they're doing so in both posts and Stories. Viewers can use those to set a reminder for themselves not to miss the broadcast.

Instagram also plans to roll out a "Practice Mode" soon. The tool allows creators to connect with guests before they start a broadcast so that they can do things like check audio levels and lighting, and go over any content they plan to cover.

The new features follow the introduction of audio-only livestreams in April. If you're someone who merely watches Live sessions, Live Scheduling and Practice Mode won't change your experience dramatically, but they may help your favorite creators get more organized.

TikTok gives livestreamers more ways to mute annoying people

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 11:49 AM PDT

As promised in July, TikTok is rolling out more ways for livestreams to wrangle their unruly audiences. Now, streamers and their trusted helper will be able to temporarily mute people for minutes, hours or the length of an entire livestream. According to Eric Han, head of Tiktok's US Safety team, muting a person will remove their entire comment history from the stream. And of course, you could also just turn off comments entirely or filter out specific keywords. Together with Tiktok's last batch of "kindness" updates for livestreamers, the platform is aiming to create a safer environment for creators.

Han says the prompts TikTok added in July — which pop up to make you think twice about posting an "unkind or harmful" comment — have led almost 40 percent of people editing or withdrawing their comment entirely. That's not too surprising, as Twitter found a similar feature also led to reduced bullying.

Given Tiktok's meteoric rise as a relatively young social network, it's apparently learned quite a bit from the struggles of older outfits like Facebook and Twitter. Based on its Q2 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, the company says it's also getting better at weeding out improper videos. Han says 73.3 percent of harassment videos were removed before there were any user reports, whereas that figure was 66.2 percent in the previous quarter. Similarly, 72.9 percent of videos showing hateful behavior were removed in the second quarter, compared to 67.3 percent previously. 

A live-action 'System Shock' TV series is on the way

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 11:20 AM PDT

Nightdive Studios' immersive sim franchise System Shock franchise is being turned into a live-action TV show. You'll be able to watch it on the upcoming streaming service Binge, which is also working on a show based on Ubisoft's Driver.

More details about the System Shock TV show will be revealed in due course. It will tell "a harrowing story of Citadel Station and its rogue AI that subjects the crew to unimaginable horror," Binge said. The service, which is set to launch next year, didn't reveal when the series will premiere.

Meanwhile, Nightdive is working on a System Shock remake. The game was supposed to arrive this past summer, but it's now scheduled to debut by the end of 2021.

System Shock joins a long list of shows and movies based on games that are in the pipeline. Among them are Twisted Metal, Firewatch, Disco Elysium and a ton of Netflix projects, like League of Legends series Arcane. Rumors are also floating around that Epic Games might be making a Fortnite movie.

Elsewhere, Sony is supposed to release the Uncharted film in February at long, long last. Has, uh, anyone happened to see a trailer lying around somewhere?

Amazon India allegedly copied products and promoted its own versions in searches

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 10:40 AM PDT

Amazon allegedly "ran a systematic campaign" of copying other companies' products in India and gamed search results to promote its own versions. Reuters obtained thousands of pages of internal documents including emails and business plans that detail the practices.

A private brands team in India (which works on the company's own products) used data from Amazon's marketplace in the country to find and target goods and create knockoff versions, the agency reported. The goal was to find "reference" or "benchmark" wares and copy them. A document from 2016 detailed a plan for an Amazon brand called Solimo, which is tailored toward the Indian market. The aim was to "use information from Amazon.in to develop products and then leverage the Amazon.in platform to market these products to our customers."

The document indicated that the private brands group aimed to form partnerships with the manufacturers of the benchmark items, because those companies use "unique processes which impact the end quality of the product." The team sought to gain insights from the manufacturers and use the so-called "Tribal Knowledge" in its own versions to "fully match quality with our reference product."

After it made the knockoffs, the company manipulated search results with a method called "search seeding" so that AmazonBasics and Solimo items would pop up near the top of the page, according to the document. The company also "aggressively" used a technique called "search sparkles on PC, Mobile and App to specifically promote Solimo products on relevant customer searches from 'All Product Search' and Category search," per the document. Sparkles are the banners placed above search results.

"As Reuters hasn't shared the documents or their provenance with us, we are unable to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the information and claims as stated," an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. "We believe these claims are factually incorrect and unsubstantiated."

"Amazon identifies selection gaps based on customer preferences at an aggregate level only and shares this information with all sellers," the spokesperson added. "Amazon's policy strictly prohibits the use or sharing of non-public, seller-specific data for the benefit of any seller, including sellers of private brands. This policy applies uniformly across our company to all employees — our internal teams receive regular trainings on its application and we thoroughly investigate any reports of employees acting contrary to this policy."

This is far from the first time we've heard reports of Amazon allegedly copying other companies' products. Over the years, the company has been accused of cloning the Instant Pot, Allbirds sneakers and a camera bag from Peak Design to name a few. A 2020 Wall Street Journal investigation also indicated that Amazon studied sales data of third-party products on its platform to inform the design and pricing of its own goods.

Regulators in India, the US and Europe have targeted Amazon over alleged anti-competitive practices. Reuters points out that an investigation in India is looking into whether the company unfairly promoted its own branded goods.

Facebook introduces new policies to protect public figures from targeted harassment

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 10:28 AM PDT

Facebook is introducing new policies to safeguard users from online bullying and harassment. In a post attributed to Head of Safety Antigone Davis, the company said it will take down mass coordinated harassment campaigns targeted at individuals at heightened risk of offline harm. It will do so even if the content people post wouldn't normally violate its safety guidelines. Additionally, Facebook says it will remove objectionable content in whatever form it takes, be that direct messages, comments or posts. As part of the same policy, the company will remove state-linked networks that work together to silence and harass people.

Had the above policy been in place in the past, one situation where Facebook may have enforced it was when Taylor Swift's Instagram account was bombarded with snake emoji following a dramatic breakup with electronic producer Calvin Harris. Speaking of celebrities, the company has also put in place new protections to safeguard public figures from sexual harassment and appearance shaming. To that end, it plans to remove profiles, pages and groups dedicated to sexualizing those individuals. It will also target "severe sexualizing content," including photoshopped images and drawings.

"We made these changes because attacks like these can weaponize a public figure's appearance, which is unnecessary and often not related to the work these public figures represent," the company said. Facebook will also provide additional protections for individuals who become famous involuntarily. Those may include individuals like journalists and human rights activists. 

Facebook has repeatedly faced pressure to do more to prevent bullying and harassment across all of its apps, but particularly on Instagram. In the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final, which saw three Black players on the English national team face a flood of harassment after England lost to Italy, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri promised the company would introduce new features to protect users. "Racism and hate speech have no place on Instagram," he said at the time. "It is not only honestly fucked up to see people treated that way, but it breaks how Instagram works."

'Call of Duty: Warzone' and 'Vanguard' anti-cheat updates include a kernel-level driver

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Activision has unveiled its big, new approach to squashing hackers in Call of Duty: Warzone and Vanguard, and it's a two-pronged system called RICOCHET Anti-Cheat. The first stage is a series of server-side enhancements that will better identify and remove cheaters from games, and this is scheduled to hit Warzone with the Pacific update later this year. These new server tools will be live in Vanguard when it comes out on November 5th.

The second prong is a PC kernel-level driver designed to monitor the deepest level of every player's rig while they're in-game, in an effort to stop outside software from sneaking in through this back door. The kernel, or ring 0, is the most privileged level of any PC, granting access to every layer of hardware, and generally reserved for things like graphics card drivers and trusted bits of the operating system. The RICOCHET Anti-Cheat kernel-level driver will only turn on when Warzone or Vanguard is active; it's not an always-on situation.

While operating in the kernel isn't uncommon for anti-cheat software, this is likely the most concerning part of Activision's new plans for many players. Riot Games faced scrutiny in 2020 for implementing a similar kernel-level driver in Valorant, though the main issue was that it was always on, operating even when the game wasn't active. (Confusingly, the Valorant anti-cheat system is called Vanguard).

This isn't a new worry, either — in 2013, the always-on ring 0 anti-cheat system employed by ESEA was commandeered to turn unsuspecting players' PCs into a secret bitcoin mining farm.

With these lessons in mind, Activision has stressed that RICOCHET will only be active when the associated game is live, saying specifically, "the driver shuts down when you exit the game and turns on when you start a new game."

The kernel-level driver will hit Warzone alongside the Pacific update this year, and it'll come to Vanguard at a later date.

Cheating has been a significant problem in Call of Duty: Warzonefor a long while now. Activision has banned more than 500,000 accounts since the game's launch, though it's not uncommon for matches to be riddled with aimbots and cheap hacks to this day. Players have been screaming for a robust anti-cheat system in Warzone and other Call of Duty titles, and RICOCHET is Activision's kernel-level, not-always-on answer.

DoorDash establishes $1M relief fund for restaurants hit by natural disasters

Posted: 13 Oct 2021 09:20 AM PDT

Over the next year, DoorDash has earmarked $1,000,000 to support local restaurants affected by state or federally declared natural disasters. With help from Hello Alice, it will distribute $10,000 grants to businesses that can use the funds to pay for essential expenses like rent, supplies and payroll in times of need. Starting on November 1st, the companies will process applications every three months, with funding to follow shortly thereafter.

Currently, the program is only available to restaurants in the US. Other eligibility requirements include that a business owner operate three restaurants or less. None of those locations may have generated more than $3 million in revenue over the last 12 months. Notably, a partnership with DoorDash or Caviar isn't required to apply for the program.

The relief fund comes as food delivery apps face increasing scrutiny from local governments. The City of Chicago recently launched separate lawsuits against DoorDash and GrubHub, accusing the two companies of using bait-and-switch tactics to mislead consumers. New York City also recently passed sweeping legislation aimed at protecting workers of app-based delivery services.
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