Friday, October 15, 2021

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Tesla debuts new car insurance that uses Texans' real-time driving behavior

Posted: 15 Oct 2021 03:35 AM PDT

Tesla now offers car insurance in Texas, its new home state, a couple of years after launching the product in California. According to Electrek, though, the insurance available to Texans is quite different than the one owners can get in The Golden State: It calculates for a customer's insurance premium using their real-time driving behavior. Their credit, age and gender that are typically used by other insurance providers apparently don't matter to Tesla. The automaker says it won't even look at customers' claim history and driving records.

Instead, Tesla will look at their "safety scores," which is a feature it introduced with the Full Self-Driving Beta version released in September. That could make things quite tricky, since the premium that needs to be paid can change every month based on the conditions the driver encounters on the road. Every forced collision warning and forced Autopilot disengagement will affect their score. Following other vehicles from an unsafe distance, braking too hard and turning corners aggressively could lower their score, as well. Safety score is still a beta feature at this point, and Tesla said it should improve over time.

Owners can now apply for a quote, wherein which the automaker will assume a 90 safety score to start their policy. The price will depend on the client's performance after that, and it could be higher or lower than what a traditional provider charges. During Tesla's shareholder meeting, where its new home state was also revealed, Elon Musk said the company plans to upgrade its offering in California to be based on real-time driving behavior, as well. It's not allowed to implement the change just yet, but it's currently trying to ask permission from regulators.

'Genshin Impact' now supports 120 fps on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPad Pro

Posted: 15 Oct 2021 02:52 AM PDT

The popular iOS game Genshin Impact is taking advantage of the iPhone 13 Pro's higher-refresh ProMotion display with a new 120fps mode, 9to5Mac has reported. On top of the higher framerates, developer miHoYo introduced new areas, events, missions, character banners and more. 

Apple previously wrote that all iOS developers must release updates to their apps or games to "unlock" the 120Hz mode by adding .plist file key. As with Android devices, use of the mode will drain your battery quicker, but allow for smoother gaming. 2nd-gen or higher iPad Pros don't necessarily need an update to support 120Hz refresh rates, but any game would likely require one anyway.

At the WWDC 2021 Apple Design Awards, Genshin Impact won the best game in the visual category, thanks to graphics and artwork that "push the frontier for mobile gaming," Apple wrote. While the game is also available on Android, PC and Playstation 5, iOS appears to be the first platform to support the higher framerates, according to the Brazilian site Technoblog. 

Clubhouse has a new high-quality audio option for musicians

Posted: 15 Oct 2021 01:24 AM PDT

Clubhouse has proven to be a big hit with musicians, helping them try out material on an audience and even create viral hits. Now, the site is becoming more useful to bands and singers with a new feature called music mode, the company announced in a blog post. 

The new mode appears in the three-dot menu under "audio quality," with a new selection called "music." Clubhouse didn't reveal any of the audio specs, but said it lets users broadcast with high quality in stereo. "You'll also be able to use professional audio equipment for your performance, like external USB microphones or mixing boards," it wrote. Users will also be able to add the mode to pre-recorded Clips, "so any snippets you share from performers using music mode will also sound great," according to Clubhouse.

The new feature is the second boost to sound quality over the last couple of months. Late in August, Clubhouse added spatial audio to create more immersive audio chats, making speakers' voices come from different parts of the room.  

Along with the music mode, Clubhouse rolled out a couple of new tweaks, moving the search bar to the top of the feed and allowing users to wave at each other through the search bar, on iOS to start with. The new features will roll out to iOS first, "with Android as a fast follow," the company wrote. 

Roblox will offer layered clothing and facial gestures for more realistic avatars

Posted: 15 Oct 2021 12:47 AM PDT

Roblox wants to make its avatars look less blocky and more realistic, and it has announced a couple of visual updates meant to achieve that goal during its annual developers conference. One of those changes is layered clothing, which it's been working on since at least 2020. It allows any type of character model to be outfitted with layered clothing items. TechCrunch explains that the feature ensures clothing items will fit avatars and will drape around them naturally, whether they're human- or dinosaur-shaped. At the moment, players can only access the feature in the beta version of Roblox Studio's avatar editor, and it's unclear when it'll be more widely available.

Roblox CEO David Baszucki said during the keynote:

"Self-identity is a crucial pillar of the metaverse, and the ability to precisely customize your clothing to your unique avatar is paramount in personal expression"

Roblox has also announced a feature called Dynamic Heads that can provide facial animations for avatars. The animations could link with facial tracking, so the character's mouth can move in time with its words. TechCrunch says the feature was made possible by the company's acquisition of digital avatar startup Loom.ai last year. 

It'll be a long time before facial animations become an official part of the game, though — Roblox has only given developers access to it right now, so they can play around with it and test it out. "These releases represent important stepping stones in a long line of innovations to improve the expressiveness and combinatorics in the metaverse," Daniel Sturman, Chief Technology Officer for Roblox, wrote in his recap for the event.

In addition to the experimental avatar features, Roblox has announced that it's giving creators a new way to earn money, as well. Creators will be able to put up items they designed for sale for a limited time, turning them into collectibles with higher value than the other goods they're selling in-game.

Former Boeing chief technical pilot involved in 737 Max testing charged with fraud

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:22 PM PDT

Mark A. Forkner, Boeing's former chief technical pilot involved in the company's 737 Max testing, was indicted for fraud by a grand jury in Texas. Due to his position with the company, he was in charge of coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine the kind of training a pilot needs to fly a particular plane. The indictment accuses him of deceiving the agency's Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) when it evaluated and certified the 737 Max model. If you'll recall, two 737 Max planes crashed within months of each other in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.

Forkner allegedly provided the FAA with "materially false, inaccurate, and incomplete information about a new part of the flight controls for the Boeing 737 MAX called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS)." In both crashes, the AEG determined after an investigation that MCAS, a system designed to push the plane's nose down in certain situations, activated during the flight. The planes that crashed — Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 — nosedived almost as soon as they took off.

According to the Department of Justice, Forkner discovered an important change to MCAS in November 2016, but he allegedly withheld that information from the AEG. As a result, the FAA removed all reference to MCAS in the pilot training materials for the 737 Max. Acting US Attorney Chad E. Meacham for the Northern District of Texas said in a statement that the former chief pilot's actions were financially motivated:

"In an attempt to save Boeing money, Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators. His callous choice to mislead the FAA hampered the agency's ability to protect the flying public and left pilots in the lurch, lacking information about certain 737 MAX flight controls. The Department of Justice will not tolerate fraud — especially in industries where the stakes are so high."

Earlier this year, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle the criminal charge that it had conspired to defraud the FAA. It also agreed to work with the FAA's fraud section for any ongoing and future investigations. As for Forkner, he was charged with two counts of fraud involving aircraft parts and four counts of wire fraud. He's now facing a sentence of up to 100 years in prison. 

Alienware celebrates its 25th birthday with a redesigned flagship gaming desktop

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 09:00 PM PDT

Alienware began operations 25 years ago in a garage near Miami, and the Dell-owned brand is celebrating the milestone anniversary with a stylish gaming PC. The latest Aurora system has a redesigned chassis that has extra internal space and more efficient airflow, and it should run more quietly.

The open-air Legend 2.0 chassis increases the internal volume by 50 percent compared with Aurora R12 or R10 without major changes to the overall size of the machine, Alienware says. You won't need any tools to open up the shell, so you'll have easier access to the components. There's an optional transparent side panel, so you can look inside and see a motherboard lit up with up to eight zones of AlienFX lighting. In addition, Alienware is also offering an optional magnetic cable cover to keep the back of the system in order.

Alienware Aurora with optional rear magnetic cover to keep cables tidy
Alienware

As part of the redesign, Alienware focused on improving the airflow. Every system has two 120mm fans, an intake and an exhaust. Depending on the configuration, Alienware may include one or two more fans: first, a second intake and then, if needed, a top exhaust. Since this is an Aurora system, there are of course liquid cooling options too.

Along with keeping your system cool while you're running games at max settings, Alienware says the fans can make the PC quieter. Compared with the previous generation system, the brand claims the new Aurora is up to 16 percent quieter when idle and up to nine percent less noisy during CPU-intensive tasks. While you're overclocking, the PC can make up to 15 percent less noise. In addition, Alienware says the PC can offer a five percent increase in graphics performance compared with the Aurora R12.

There are two color options for the Aurora: Lunar Light and Dark Side of the Moon. In other words, white and black. Alienware will reveal more details about the specs, pricing and availability later this fall.

Virgin Galactic delays the start of its paid spaceflights to the end of 2022

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 03:15 PM PDT

Virgin Galactic has suffered yet another setback. On Thursday, the company told CNBC it has delayed the start of its commercial space tourism service to the fourth quarter of 2022. It had previously hoped to begin offering paid spaceflights sometime in the third quarter of next year.

With the delay, the company will begin refurbishing both its carrier airplane and spacecraft this month. Virgin Galactic says it expects the entire process should take between eight to 10 months. As a result of the move, Unity 23, the company's next flight, won't take off until mid-2022 at the earliest.

"The re-sequencing of our enhancement period and the Unity 23 flight underscores our safety-first procedures, provides the most efficient path to commercial service, and is the right approach for our business and our customers," Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement.

The delay is not connected to the recent investigation the FAA conducted into Unity 22, the flight that took Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson to the edge of space. The federal agency cleared the company for future flights after completing the investigation. 

Senate bill would prevent tech companies from favoring their products over rivals

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 02:38 PM PDT

You're not the only one frustrated with tech companies that appear to favor their own products. The Washington Postreports that Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley will introduce a bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO), to bar tech firms from prioritizing their products and services on their own platforms. Amazon couldn't misuse seller data to compete against those sellers, for example, while Apple wouldn't be allowed to unfairly rank its apps above others in the App Store. 

The senators characterized AICO as a modernization of antitrust law. It tackles the "exclusionary conduct" you see in leading platforms, Klobuchar said. Penalties would be steep, including fines of up to 15 percent of a company's revenue during the period when it broke the law.

The necessary House equivalent to the bill recently cleared that wing's Judiciary Committee and is waiting for a vote. Both bills stand a better-than-usual chance of passing thanks to both bipartisan support and a Biden administration focused on improving competition in technology. The Senators have kept Biden's camp "informed" about work on the bill, Klobuchar added.

Industry lobbying groups like the Chamber of Progress (which counts tech firms like Amazon and Google in its ranks) have unsurprisingly balked at the bill. They contend the measure wouldn't be effective, and might even hurt favorite products. Not that this opposition will necessarily carry much weight. Senators have characterized this period as Big Tech's "big tobacco moment" — that is, it's finally being held accountable for harmful behavior. Politicians across the spectrum appear eager to keep tech companies in check, and AICO may be one of their best near-term opportunities to rein in those corporate giants.

YouTube's misinformation policies led to fewer misleading videos on Facebook and Twitter

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 02:23 PM PDT

New research has found that policies put in place by YouTube to curb election misinformation had a significant impact on the number of false and misleading videos on Facebook and Twitter. The findings come from a report a team of researchers from theCenter for Social Media and Politics at New York University shared withThe New York Times. In the immediate aftermath of the US election on November 3rd, the researchers recorded a dramatic increase in the number of YouTube election fraud videos shared on Twitter. That month, those clips represented approximately one-third of all election-related videos shared on the platform.

After December 8th, the day YouTube said it would remove videos that claimed widespread errors and fraud changed the outcome of the contest, there was a dramatic drop in misleading election claims on Twitter. In that time period, the ratio of election fraud videos shared on Twitter from YouTube dropped to below 20 percent. That ratio fell again following the US Capitol riot when YouTube said it would hand out strikes to any channel spreading misinformation about the results of the election. By the time President Biden swore the Oath of Office on January 20th, only around five percent of all election fraud videos on Twitter were coming from YouTube.

The researchers saw that same trend play out on Facebook. Before YouTube's December 8th policy decision, about 18 percent of all videos shared on the platform were related to election fraud theories. By Inauguration Day, that number fell to four percent. To compile their findings, the team at New York University collected a random sampling of 10 percent of all tweets each day and then isolated the ones that linked out to YouTube videos. They did the same on Facebook using the company's CrowdTangle tool.

If nothing else, the findings highlight the outsized role YouTube plays in how information is shared in our current moment. As the most ubiquitous video platform on the internet, the company has an enormous amount of power to shape political discourse. Its policies can do both great harm and good. "It's a huge part of the information ecosystem," Megan Brown, a researcher at the Center for Social Media and Politics told The Times. "When YouTube's platform becomes healthier, others do as well."

US Army delays Microsoft's $22 billion HoloLens deal

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 01:22 PM PDT

American soldiers won't be training with HoloLens headsets for a while. Reuters and Windows Central report the US Army has delayed the deployment of the HoloLens-based Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) by a year, to September 2022. Janesunderstood the delay was prompted by the need to bump operational testing from July this year to May 2022 to "further mature" the mixed reality technology.

The Defense Department's Inspector General launched an audit earlier in October to determine whether or not Microsoft's system would meet requirements. It's not clear if the audit is linked to the delay.

This didn't mean the military-oriented HoloLens was in trouble. The Army maintained it was "fully committed" to the nearly $22 billion IVAS contract, and had conducted tests as recently as September. The branch planned to "regularly" conduct tests through its fiscal 2022, which ends September of next year.

IVAS is meant to serve as both a combat assistant and training tool. Infantry will see squad positions and other vital data in the field, complete with night vision — they'll ideally have the kind of situational awareness previously reserved for video games. In training, the headsets can supply data to help instructors improve specific techniques.

The delay won't do much to allay criticism of the HoloLens deal from inside Microsoft. Employees have long objected to Microsoft directly supporting the military and 'gamifying' war, especially as workers didn't have input on the decision. Microsoft isn't likely to change its tune, though. The company sees IVAS a way to aid and protect the troops rather than an offensive weapon — and losing the contract would clearly hurt both Microsoft's bottom line and momentum for HoloLens at large.

Chrome OS adds more natural voices for 'Select-to-speak' accessibility feature

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 12:50 PM PDT

Dyslexia affects as much as 20 percent of the population and is one of the most common learning disabilities. It's for that reason accessibility features like the "Select-to-speak" tool in Chrome OS are vitally important. If you're not familiar, it allows you to select a section of text and have it read out loud by the operating system. Following an update earlier in the year that added playback controls, Google is now introducing more human-sounding voices. With today's update, the feature is available in 25 languages and various accents, with more to come.

Google worked with both people who live with dyslexia and educators to develop the new voices. The company says it should help with reading comprehension, particularly in classroom settings. You can enable Select-to-speak through your Chromebook's settings menu. Once the feature is turned on, highlight a section of text and press either the Everything Button or the Launcher Key and S for Chrome OS to dictate your selection.

Battlefield 2042’s Hazard Zone mode is about collecting intel with your team

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 12:15 PM PDT

As is the way of things when it comes to revealing a major game's features these days, EA has been drip-feeding info about Battlefield 2042 over the last several months. To wit, it has only just pulled back the curtain on Hazard Zone, one of the game's three main modes, a month before the November 19th release date.

Hazard Zone is about getting into the arena, retrieving data drives and escaping via an extraction point before a storm overwhelms you or enemies take you out. Only two teams can make it out, as only a couple of extraction windows will pop up at random locations (though only one player needs to get out for their team to win). Matches run for up to 20 minutes and will take place across all seven of Battlefield 2042's maps.

Survival is key here. You only have one life, but one of your three teammates can resurrect you if you're killed. Once your entire team is wiped out, it's game over. Still, if you're sneaky enough, you can win a match without firing a shot. Some satellites will already be on the ground at the start of a game, and more will drop in as the round progresses, so you'll need to adjust your strategy as you go.

Before the start of a round, you and your teammates can kit yourselves out with gadgets. Players can use money earned in previous matches (primarily by making it out with data drives) to buy gear like a scanner that shows data drive locations, a healing upgrade and a Squad Redeploy Call-in. The latter lets you revive dead squad mates; otherwise, you'll need to find a Redeploy Uplink somewhere on the map to bring back your buddies.

All of the XP you earn will go toward your overall Battlefield 2042 progression, which will boost your player level and unlock weapons. Teams are made up of unique characters — players will need to find specialists and loadouts that work in harmony to increase their chances of success.

Hazard Zone isn't quite a battle royale mode, since you don't need to be the last squad standing to win. Instead, it's objective-based and actually sounds a little like the main mode of Ubisoft's recently announced (and delayed) Ghost Recon Frontline. As with the other Battlefield 2042 modes, Hazard Zone supports 64 players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. On PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, up to 128 players will square off on larger maps.

Tinder thinks you should bring a stranger as a date to your next wedding

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 11:50 AM PDT

Tinder wants to help you find a date for the next wedding you plan to attend. The dating app now includes a "Plus One" feature that allows you to indicate whether you're looking for a wedding date or open to be that person for someone else. You'll find the experience inside the Explore tab. That's the same section of the app where you can pay for a Lyft ride for your date.

In a way, the introduction of Plus One is a response to something Tinder users already come to the app to find. Since the start of 2021, the company says profile mentions of "plus one" have increased by 45 percent. Still, it must be said it takes a certain amount of audacity to show up at a wedding with a total stranger — just imagine the drama that could unfold. And not every host may be cool with the idea. Use at your own risk.

Missouri governor threatens to prosecute journalist for sharing web security flaw

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 11:11 AM PDT

Missouri Governor Mike Parson might want to read up on the differences between disclosing and exploiting security flaws. According to The Missouri Independent, Parson accused a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter of being a "hacker" for having the audacity to... report security holes. The journalist disclosed a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education web app flaw that let anyone see over 100,000 teachers' Social Security numbers in site source code, and Parson interpreted this as a "political game" meant to "embarrass the state" — that is, a malicious hack.

The governor has already referred the case to the Cole County Prosecutor, and even has the Missouri Highway State Patrol investigating. An attorney for The Post-Dispatch maintained that the reporter "did the responsible thing" by sharing the flaw with the government to get it fixed. The lawyer also helpfully refreshed Parson on his internet lingo. A hacker is someone who "subverts" security with sinister intent, not a reporter trying to bolster security by sharing publicly available information.

This flaw wasn't recent, either. University of Missouri-St. Louis professor Shaji Khan told The Post-Dispatch that this kind of vulnerability had been known for "at least" 10 years, and that it was "mind boggling" the Department would let these problems linger. Audits in 2015 and 2016 had highlighted data collection issues at both the Department and school districts.

No, prosecutors probably won't file charges. It's a bit difficult to convict someone whose 'hack' effectively amounted to clicking "view page source" in their browser. However, this highlights an all-too-familiar problem with politicians that don't understand tech. It doesn't just lead to embarrassments, such as letters to long-gone CEOs — it can discourage responsible security disclosures and put thousands of people at risk.

WhatsApp begins rolling out end-to-end encryption for chat backups

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:55 AM PDT

The wait is over. It's now possible to encrypt your WhatsApp chat history on both Android and iOS, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday. The company plans to roll out the feature slowly to ensure it can deliver a consistent and reliable experience to all users.

However, once you can access the feature, it will allow you to secure your backups before they hit iCloud or Google Drive. At that point, neither WhatsApp nor your cloud service provider will be able to access the files. It's also worth mentioning you won't be able to recover your backups if you ever lose the 64-digit encryption key that secures your chat logs. That said, it's also possible to secure your backups behind a password, in which case you can recover that if you ever lose it.

While WhatsApp has allowed users to securely message each other since 2016, it only started testing encrypted backups earlier this year. With today's announcement, the company said it has taken the final step toward providing a full end-to-end encrypted messaging experience. 

It's worth pointing out that end-to-end encryption doesn't guarantee your privacy will be fully protected. According to a report The Information published in August, Facebook was looking into an AI that could analyze encrypted data without having to decrypt it so that it could serve ads based on that information. The head of WhatsApp denied the report, but it's a reminder that there's more to privacy than merely the existence of end-to-end encryption.

Ghost Robotics strapped a gun to its robot dog

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:55 AM PDT

Boston Dynamics, the company most commonly associated with robot dogs, prohibits the weaponization of its Spot devices. That's not the case for all robot dog manufacturers, however. One of them, Ghost Robotics, showed off a version of its Q-UGV device that many will have been dreading. It's a robot dog with a gun attached to it.

Ghost Robotics has made robot dogs for the military, and it displayed this deadly model at the Association of the United States Army's 2021 annual conference in Washington DC this week. A company called Sword International built the "special purpose unmanned rifle" (or SPUR) module. According to The Verge, it has a thermal camera for nighttime operation, an effective range of 1.2km (just under three quarters of a mile) and a 30x optical zoom.

"Due to its highly capable sensors the SPUR can operate in a magnitude of conditions, both day and night," a blurb on Sword's website reads. "The Sword Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapon systems, and that future is now."

It's unclear how autonomous a SPUR-equipped Q-UGV will be in the field, as Popular Science notes. It remains to be seen whether a human operator will guide the robot to an otherwise hard-to-reach position and manually aim and take shots (which seems more likely), or if the robot will handle entirely things by itself. Either way, it's an unsettling prospect, and that's before we get to the possibility of enemy hackers taking control of these machines.

As if a robot dog with a gun attached wasn't dystopian enough, Ghost Robotics tweeted about a Q-UGV with a different kind of payload: a Lockheed Martin drone and a Digital Force Technologies recon sensor. Sniper robot dogs. Flying robot spy dogs. The future's looking just peachy, isn't it?

Google mobile search results get ‘continuous scrolling’ treatment

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:13 AM PDT

You'll soon have an easier time scrolling through search results on your phone. In the US, Google is rolling out a tweak that does away with the "See more" prompt you've had to tap on previously to load additional search results on mobile devices. Now, when you get to the bottom of a set of results, the company's search engine will instead automatically load the next page for you, allowing you to continuously scroll until you find a website you want to visit.

You should see the change on both your mobile web browser and the Google app for iOS and Android. Per TechCrunch, the company is staggering out the rollout of the feature, so you won't be able to scroll through every set of results, at least not initially. The change follows a redesign of mobile search Google released at the start of 2021.

While most usually find what they're looking for quickly, Google notes some people view as many as four pages of search results before they click through to a website. The company suggests the move to continuous scrolling should be particularly helpful to those who tend to ask more open-ended questions of its search engine. It's also a tweak that brings the platform more in line with modern feed-style apps like Instagram and TikTok.

'Call of Duty: Vanguard' Zombies takes players to an undead-infested Stalingrad

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Ahead of its November 5th release date, we've seen sneak peeks of Call of Duty's Vanguard's single and multiplayer components. On Thursday, publisher Activision shared a new trailer and blog posts that offer a first look at the game's upcoming Zombies mode.

Developed by Treyarch, Vanguard's Zombies mode ties into the Dark Aether storyline established in Black Ops Cold War. One year after suffering a decisive defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, a Nazi officer named Oberführer Wolfram Von List finds a mysterious artifact that binds him to an entity called Kortifex, allowing him to summon an army of the undead. It's up to you and as many as three other players to battle through the ruins of Stalingrad and stop him.

As you play through a match and complete objectives, you'll find items called Sacrificial Hearts. You can offer these at an Altar of Covenants to access randomized upgrades that will tweak your playstyle. One of those upgrades will reload your weapons while they're holstered, while another will allow you to turn zombies into temporary allies.

Any experience you earn while playing Zombies will count toward Vanguard's Batte Pass, which also shares progression between multiplayer and Warzone. The mode will also support cross-platform play between different consoles. As mentioned above, Vanguard launches on November 5th. It will be available on PlayStation 4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. 

Nanoleaf Lines are customizable smart light bars

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Nanoleaf knows that its users sometimes crave something a bit more minimal than LED light panels that stretch across their wall. That's why the company is launching Lines, a series of backlight LED light bars which offer the same features as previous products, albeit in a more elegant body. Each "Line" is 10.96-inches (27.85cm) long, and can join to its siblings at either end, or at a 60-degree angle. The company says that you can "paint your space with lines," creating "grand geometric shapes" and "sleek linear layouts."

But beyond the new style of design, this is still the same Nanoleaf setup that you already know and love, letting you paint with light. Each Line has two color zones, and you can plug in dynamic lighting scenes, sync with your music and mirror the colors on your computer's display. In addition, the hardware will act as a Thread Border Router to help connect smart gear nearby that can also harness the same protocol. It's also future-proof, and will work with Matter, a new protocol due to roll out next year.

Image of the Nanoleaf Lines arranged upon a wall.
Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf Lines are available to pre-order today, with the 9-line starter kit setting you back $200, while add-on packs with 3-lines a piece will cost $80. It's expected that the products will start shipping to homes in the US at some point before the end of November.

House bill would limit Section 230 protections for 'malicious' algorithms

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 09:29 AM PDT

Congress is once again hoping to limit Section 230 safeguards under certain circumstances. Rep. Frank Pallone and other House Democrats are introducing a bill, the Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (JAMA), that would make internet platforms liable when they "knowingly or recklessly" use algorithms to recommend content that leads to physical or "severe emotional" harm. They're concerned online giants like Facebook are knowingly amplifying harmful material, and that companies should be held responsible for this damage.

The key sponsors, including Reps. Mike Doyle, Jan Schakowsky and Anna Eshoo, pointed to whistleblower Frances Haugen's Senate testimony as supposed evidence of Facebook's algorithm abuse. Her statements were proof Facebook was abusing the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 "well beyond congressional intent," according to Eshoo. Haugen alleged that Facebook knew its social networks were harmful to children and spread "divisive and extreme" content.

The bill only applies to services with over 5 million monthly users, and won't cover basic online infrastructure (such as web hosting) or user-specified searches. JAMA will go before the House on October 15th.

As with past proposed reforms, there are no guarantees JAMA will become law. Provided it passes the House, an equivalent measure still has to clear a Senate that has been hostile to some Democrat bills. The parties have historically disagreed on how to change Section 230 — Democrats believe it doesn't require enough moderation for hate and misinformation, while Republicans have claimed it enables censorship of conservative viewpoints. The bill's vaguer concepts, such as 'reckless' algorithm use and emotional damage, might raise fears of over-broad interpretations.

The bill could still send a message even if it dies, though. Pallone and the other JAMA backers argue the "time for self-regulation is over" — they're no longer convinced social media heavyweights like Facebook can apologize, implement a few changes and carry on. This won't necessarily lead to a more strictly regulated social media space, but it could put more pressure on social networks to implement far-reaching policy changes.

Microsoft to shut down LinkedIn in China over 'challenging operating environment'

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 09:20 AM PDT

LinkedIn will shut down the Chinese version of its service later this year. The company cited "a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China" as the reasons for closing the local edition of its social network for professionals.

"While we've found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed," LinkedIn said in a statement. As such, the company isn't abandoning China completely. It's working on a standalone job board app called InJobs, which won't have a social feed or any way to share posts or articles.

LinkedIn agreed to adhere to state restrictions and block certain content when it launched in China in February 2014. However, some signs of trouble bubbled up this year. In March, the company prevented new Chinese users from signing up for a spell while it made sure it was abiding by the countries' laws. A couple of months later, China said 105 apps were violating data collection laws, including LinkedIn.

The Microsoft-owned service was the last major US social network that was still officially operating in China. The country banned Signal and Clubhouse earlier this year. Facebook and Twitter have been blocked there since 2009, and China barred Instagram in 2014.

Spotify opens its Car Thing waitlist to all US users

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 08:27 AM PDT

Spotify is expanding US availability of its Car Thing, an $80 music and podcast player for vehicles. The company debuted the gizmo back in the spring on an invite-only basis and only charged users for shipping during a test phase.

Those who signed up for the Car Thing waitlist before now will get first dibs on the company's first hardware device, though it's still in limited release for now. In addition, both free and Premium Spotify members in the country can now sign up for the waitlist, though the Car Thing requires a Premium subscription and a smartphone for connectivity. Everyone who signs up for the waitlist will eventually be offered a Car Thing.

Spotify worked on Car Thing for several years before it started shipping the device a few months ago. The idea is to bring infotainment features to almost any car, particularly older ones without newfangled touchscreens. Once you hook up Car Thing to your vehicle with the help of one of the included mounts, you can use it to play music and podcasts with either physical controls or "Hey Spotify" voice commands.

The best fitness trackers you can buy

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 08:05 AM PDT

The fitness tracker isn't dead, and if you're reading this, you're probably one of the people keeping these little devices alive. Smartwatches have all but taken over the mainstream wearable space, but the humble fitness tracker remains an option for those who want a gadget to do one thing right all the time. Despite the headwinds, there are still a bunch of fitness bands out there to choose from. Engadget has tested many of them and picked out the best for most people.

What do fitness trackers do best?

The answer seems simple: Fitness trackers are best at monitoring exercise, be it a 10-minute walk around the block or that half marathon you've been diligently training for. Obviously, smartwatches can do that too, but there are some areas where fitness bands have the upper hand: focus, design, battery life and price.

When I say "focus," I'm alluding to the fact that fitness trackers are made to track activity well; anything else is extra. They often don't have the bells and whistles that smartwatches do, which could distract from their activity-tracking abilities. They also tend to have fewer sensors and internal components, which keeps them smaller and lighter. Fitness trackers are also a better option for those who just want a less conspicuous device on their wrists all day.

Battery life tends to be better on fitness trackers, too. While most smartwatches last one to two days on a single charge, fitness bands will last five days to one week — and that's with all-day and all-night use.

When it comes to price, there's no competition. Most worthwhile smartwatches start at $175 to $200, but you can get a solid fitness tracker starting at $70. Yes, more expensive bands exist (and we recommend a few here), but you'll find more options under $150 in the fitness tracker space than in the smartwatch space.

When to get a smartwatch instead

If you need a bit more from your wearable, you'll likely want a smartwatch instead. There are things like on-watch apps, alerts and even more robust fitness features that smartwatches have and fitness trackers don't. You can use one to control smart home appliances, set timers and reminders, check weather reports and more. Some smartwatches let you choose which apps you want to receive alerts from, and the options go beyond just call and text notifications.

But the extra fitness features are arguably the most important thing to think about when deciding between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch. The latter devices tend to be larger, giving them more space for things like GPS, barometers, onboard music storage and more. While you can find built-in GPS on select fitness trackers, it's not common.

Engadget picks

Best overall: Fitbit Charge 5

Fitbit Charge 5 fitness tracker
Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Fitbit's Charge 5 has everything most people would want in a fitness tracker. First and foremost, it's not a smartwatch. That means it has a slightly lower profile on the wrist and lasts days on a single charge while tracking activity and sleep. It also has a full-color AMOLED display — a big improvement from the smaller, grayscale screen on last year's Charge 4. That display, along with a thinner design, make Charge 5 feel more premium than its predecessor.

But it also costs $180 — $30 more than the Charge 4 — and that's due in part to the design upgrades but also some additional features. The Charge 5 has EDA sensors for stress tracking and it will eventually support ECG measurements and Daily Readiness Scores (the latter is for only for Premium subscribers). Those are on top of existing features that were carried over from the Charge 4 — most notably, Fitbit Pay support and built-in GPS. The former lets you pay for coffee or groceries with a swipe of your wrist, while the latter helps map outdoor runs, bike rides and other activities. Built-in GPS remains the star of the show here — it's fast and accurate, making the Charge 5 the best option if you want a do-it-all wearable that's focused on fitness.

Buy Charge 5 at Amazon - $180

Alternative: Garmin Vivosmart 4

Garmin Vivosmart 4 fitness tracker.
Engadget

A more subtle-looking alternative is the $100 Garmin Vivosmart 4. It's thinner than the Charge 5 and fits in a bit better with bracelets and other jewelry you might wear regularly. But its attractive design is only part of its appeal — Garmin knows how to track fitness, and the Vivosmart 4 is proof that you don't need to drop hundreds on one of the company's fitness watches to get a capable device.

Like the Charge 5, the Vivosmart 4 tracks all-day activity and sleep and has a pulse ox sensor for blood oxygen saturation measurements. It has only connected GPS capabilities, and it has universal music controls that can control the playback of most anything. The band is also waterproof and can track basic swim workouts, plus it also has a battery life of up to seven days. While it's similar to the Charge 5 in that the Vivosmart 4 works with both Android and iOS devices, it's a bit more flexible as it syncs with Apple Health (the Charge 5 and other Fitbit devices do not).

Buy Vivosmart 4 at Amazon - $130

Best budget: Fitbit Inspire 2

A smartphone with the Tile app and a black Fitbit are shown against a dark grey background.
Fitbit / Tile

If you only have $100 to spare, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is the best option. It strips out all the luxury features from the Charge 5 and keeps only the essentials. You won't get built-in GPS, Fitbit Pay or Spotify control but you do get excellent activity tracking, automatic workout detection, smartphone alerts and plenty more. As the updated version of the Inspire HR, the Inspire 2 includes a heart rate monitor, which the device uses to keep track of all-day heart rate, active zone minutes, sleep stages and more.

The Inspire HR is thinner than the Charge 5 but it also has interchangeable bands, so you can switch up its style whenever you feel like it. Its design is also swimproof, and it should last up to 10 days on a single charge. Fitbit also recently added Tile-tracking to the Inspire 2, allowing you to find your misplaced band using the Bluetooth locator feature and the Tile mobile app. All of these features make it the best value fitness tracker you can get.

Buy Inspire 2 at Fitbit - $100

Alternative: Samsung Galaxy Fit 2

Samsung Galaxy Fit 2
Samsung

The $60 Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 band is almost like a more affordable Garmin Vivosmart 4. The two trackers share the same skeletal design but the Galaxy Fit looks a bit more utilitarian — you can swap out its bands, though — something you can't do on Garmin's device.

We haven't given the Fit 2 the full review treatment, but Engadget's Cherlynn Low was impressed with the original Galaxy Fit: the Tizen-based interface is colorful and easy to use, and plenty of people will appreciate its durable, no-nonsense design. It tracks a bunch of workouts as well and even has auto-exercise recognition. That's on top of its daily activity tracking and sleep monitor, all of which uses the built-in heart rate monitor to collect pulse data throughout the day.

The kicker for the Galaxy Fit 2 is battery life — the tiny tracker can last for up to 15 days on a single charge, and you can even extend it to 21 days if you change some settings. That's much longer than most competing bands, so even if Samsung isn't as comprehensive as Garmin or Fitbit is when it comes to fitness data collection and analysis, the Galaxy Fit 2 is a good option for those who want a basic tracker that they can safely forget to charge each night.

Buy Galaxy Fit 2 at Amazon - $60

Most fashionable: Withings Move

Withings Move fitness tracker.
Engadget

All of the previously mentioned fitness trackers are attractive in their own way (bonus points to those that have interchangeable bands), but they share a similar look. There aren't many alternative designs for these devices anymore. The $70 Withings Move watch is an exception, and one of the most traditionally fashionable fitness trackers you can get. It's an analog watch with a couple of health monitoring features including step, calorie, distance and sleep tracking, connected GPS, auto-recognition for more than 30 workouts and a water-resistant design. But we really love it for its button-cell battery, which can last up to 18 months before needing a replacement.

Buy Withings Move at Amazon - $70

HTC’s Vive Flow is a $499 lightweight VR headset built for entertainment and wellness

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 08:00 AM PDT

HTC is today launching a lightweight headset designed to split the difference between a standalone VR headset and a personal cinema. The HTC Vive Flow is a pair of glasses weighing just 189 grams (6.6 ounces) which pair with a smartphone to let you play some VR content or simply watch TV. It's marketed as both a piece of tech to keep you entertained and a device to help you improve your mental wellbeing.

Naturally, the company doesn't want to talk too much about the technology inside Flow, preferring to focus on what it can do. What we do know, however, is that it has two "1.6K" displays running at a 75Hz refresh rate and offering a 100-degree field of vision. There's no battery per-se, except for a tiny cell designed to make sure that it'll shut down safely if Flow is severed from whatever power source you've connected its USB-C cable to. 

Image of the HTC Flow and its hard carrying case
HTC

It's in this regard that it's set up more like a personal cinema than it is your standard VR headset, especially with the fairly narrow body. HTC spent a lot of time and effort shrinking the distance between the display and your eyes, and Flow uses a pair of diopter lenses up front. It means that short-sighted folks won't need to wear their glasses when using Flow, since they can set the lenses up to suit their comfort level.

To ensure that Flow really is portable, HTC set a power budget of 7.5 watts, the upper limit for USB 3's charging spec. It means you can run this thing off any compatible battery pack (or your phone, in a pinch) as well as a standard socket over a USB-C cable. Some of that juice goes to powering a small active fan in front of the nose, which pulls cold air over your face and pushes warm air out of the Flow's top vents.

Promotional image for the HTC Vive Flow
HTC

HTC also spent plenty of time talking about how the dual-hinge system will ensure that the Flow's glasses-like frame will sit comfortably on anyone's head. A pair of speakers embedded into the arms offer what we're told is surprisingly high quality spatial audio, and beefy given their relative size. And since they sit on your head like regular glasses, you can wear them laying down should the need arise.

You can pair Flow with your smartphone over Bluetooth or Miracast (for watching protected content) and use the phone as a pointer inside VR content. That limits the number of experiences you'll be able to enjoy with the gear, but you were hardly going to be able to play Half Life: Alyx on this thing anyway. A pair of camera lenses facing forward will, when the feature is ready, enable the Flow to track your hands for more immersive VR, too.

It's worth saying that this is not, and as I understand it, can never become an AR headset in its current form. Those lenses don't apparently offer much passthrough (beyond what's necessary for motion tracking) and this isn't designed for it anyway. 

HTC says that the focus of Flow's content on "wellbeing, brain training, productivity" and "light gaming," with apps like Color Connect VR, Space Slurpies and VR meditation app Tripp. The headset will be able to access a special version of Viveport Infinity, offering a wide library of Flow-compatible content for a monthly fee of $5.99. The company added that if users wanted to meditate within the Flow towards the end of the day, a blue light filter will kick in to help ensure that you can get more restful sleep.

Image of the Diopter Lenses on the back of an HTC Vive Flow
HTC

If you're looking to get hold of an HTC Vive Flow, then pre-orders are opening from today, with shipping expected to begin in November. The price is $499, and for that you get the glasses and a soft carrying case thrown-in, but I'd strongly advise you to pre-order if you want one. Doing so entitles you to receive the flask-like hard carrying case, as well as seven pieces of additional VR content thrown in gratis.

Naturally, Flow has become something of a worst-kept secret in technology after many of these details were leaked ahead of time. One of the obvious sticking points is the higher price compared to the Quest 2, although HTC was clear to dispel the notion that the products were equals. Flow, after all, is a not a standalone headset, and HTC believes that the lighter, more elegant hardware will win it fans in the health and fitness market. 

What to expect from Apple’s October 18th ‘Unleashed’ event

Posted: 14 Oct 2021 07:25 AM PDT

On October 18th, Apple will hold its second event of the fall and likely last event of the year. The invite the company sent out this time doesn't provide any hints on what announcements we should expect, but thanks to a variety of leaks and reports, we have some good ideas about what it will show off.

MacBook Pro

Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

All signs point to new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models headlining the event. Apple will reportedly turn back the clock on its flagship laptop, undoing many of the design features that have defined the line since late 2016. MagSafe may be back on the table, as well as an HDMI port and SD card slot. Oh, and the Touch Bar will apparently get the axe, with a standard set of function keys set to replace the OLED strip.

Beyond those changes, the new MacBook Pro is expected to feature thinner bezels. According to display analyst Ross Young, it could even come with a mini-LED panel capable of refreshing its screen at 120Hz. Ross suggests that's a feature both models could include, but knowing Apple, it may be something that's only available on the top-tier 16-inch model or an add-on that costs extra. Additionally, there have been reports of the 14- and 16-inch models supporting maximum resolutions of 3,024 x 1,964 and 3,456 x 2,224, which would be a major upgrade over the current 13- and 16-inch MacBook Pros.

Internally, the MacBook Pro will reportedly include Apple's latest system-on-a-chip, possibly called the M1X. According to a recent report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, there will be two variants of the M1X, with the main difference between the two coming down to the number of graphics cores they have at their disposal. In addition to delivering faster performance than the M1, the new chip could come with support for up to 32GB of RAM, making it a much better fit for work like coding and video editing.

Speaking of the M1X, it could tie into the other announcements Apple has planned for October 18th. In August, Gurman said Apple was working on a redesigned Mac mini that will include the new processor and add additional ports. At the time, he noted the desktop would launch sometime within the "next several months." Recent reports suggest that a new Mac mini isn't a guarantee for next week, but Apple could still surprise us. We know from Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple is also working on a redesigned MacBook Air, but the company reportedly won't announce that device until sometime next year.

macOS Monterey

macOS Monterey Facetime Shareplay
Apple

Given the timing of the event and the likely focus on Mac hardware, Apple will almost certainly announce a release date for macOS Monterey. The company previewed the next version of its desktop operating system at WWDC 2021, showing how features like SharePlay and Universal Control will build on the enhancements it introduced with Big Sur in 2020. We got a chance to preview the update this past summer and found it was a mostly subtle upgrade to Apple's desktop OS. Still, we wager Mac fans will be excited to find out when they can download the software.

Everything else

We could also see the company announce a new set of AirPods to replace the current second-generation model. Apple hasn't updated its original wireless earbuds since 2019 when it released a minor update that added support for inductive charging. Taking a page from the AirPods Pro, the new model is expected to feature an updated design with shorter stems, but they won't include more premium features like ANC. In the lead-up to next week's event, we've seen leaked images of the third-generation AirPods with both silicone ear tips and without. So it's not clear just how heavily Apple plans to lean into the AirPods Pro design.

We'll note here AirPods haven't been a frequent feature of Apple's hardware events. Outside of when it unveiled the earbuds back in 2016, Apple has announced all subsequent models, including the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, through press releases. We can see the company doing the same here with the new "basic" model. One last thing the company could mention at the event is that Apple Music is coming to the PlayStation 4 and PS5. Given that you can already access Apple TV from Sony's consoles, it's not a jump for the streaming service to become available there as well.

So there you have it, that's everything we see Apple potentially sharing on October 18th. As always, the company could surprise us, so you'll want to visit Engadget on the day of the event. We'll have comprehensive coverage of the company's latest announcements.
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