Thursday, December 9, 2021

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Instagram's Playback feature retells the story of your 2021

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 09:00 AM PST

This has been another rough year for many of us, but there have perhaps been more high points than in 2020, with families and friends reuniting and vacations becoming a bit more viable. To give you another way to reflect upon 2021, Instagram is rolling out a feature called Playback.

Starting today, the app will create a Playback using up to ten of your Stories. You'll be able to remove some of the Stories and add your own through the Stories archive. A message will appear on the feed that asks if you'd like to create or modify your Playback. Instagram says that if you see a Story with a 2021 sticker, you can tap on it to see and share your own Playback. The feature will only be available for a few weeks, so folks can "celebrate and reflect on 2021 ahead of the New Year," according to Instagram.

Over the last few years, many Instagram users have been using third-party apps to create a collage of their top nine most-liked posts of the year, which they can share in the main feed or Stories. Given how popular the top nice grid is each year, it would have been nice to see Instagram offer that feature in its own app. It seems Playback will have to suffice for now.

Paramount+ adds live streaming channels for Star Trek, 'Survivor' and more

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 08:32 AM PST

Paramount+ is offering folks another way to watch ViacomCBS' vast library of shows. The streaming services now includes live channels (just like TV!). 

The initial batch of 18 channels includes one focused entirely on Star Trek, which will stream episodes from new shows like Discovery and Picard and classics such as Enterprise and The Next Generation. There are franchise-specific channels for Survivor, The Challenge, PAW Patrol and SpongeBob Squarepants too.

The other channels focus on themes and/or genres, including drama, comedy, adult animation, Black voices, crime and justice and reality shows. "Nostalgic Hits" showcases hit series from the '80s and '90s, including Cheers, Frasier and Wings. "TV Classics" goes a bit further back with episodes from the likes of I Love Lucy, The Love Boat and The Twilight Zone. 

There are several kid-friendly channels too, such as "Animation Favorites," "Kids & Family Fun" and "Preschool Corner." Later this month, Paramount+ will add two more live channels: Movies and one focused on RuPaul's Drag Race. In addition to these channels, the platform offers live sports, breaking news from CBSN and, for Premium subscribers, a live stream of their local CBS station.

ViacomCBS says the live channels, which are available to all paid Paramount+ subscribers, were "inspired and informed" by Pluto TV, its free streaming platform. Pluto TV founder Tom Ryan became president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming last year. 

The 8-quart Instant Pot Duo Nova is on sale for $59 right now

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 08:22 AM PST

You probably already know about the conveniences an Instant Pot can provide, but choosing the right size can be a tricky task. If you've been on the hunt for a good deal on a large multi-cooker, Walmart has the 8-quart Instant Pot Duo Nova for only $59 right now. That's nearly half off the price it's going for on Amazon right now as well as the lowest we've seen in a long time.

Buy Instant Pot Duo Nova (8-quart) at Walmart - $59

This particular Instant Pot is a Walmart exclusive, but it's almost identical to the standard Duo Nova aside from its front panel looking a bit different. It's an upgraded version of the Instant Pot Duo, adding a lid that automatically seals shut when you close it. It's a 7-in-1 device, combining a pressure cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, cake maker, slow cooker, egg cooker and sauté machine into one. You're also getting a number of different one-touch cooking programs for things like soup, meat and stew, porridge and more, taking even more of the guesswork out of preparing a meal for your family. And with the 8-quart model, you'll be able to prepare a lot of food — it's arguably the best size for large families and those who entertain often.

The number of Instant Pot models has grown over the years to the point that there's almost a confusing number of these devices available. Some are more straightforward than others, like the Duo Crisp, which includes an air-fry mode and comes with the appropriate lid for it. But the Duo Nova remains a solid option for newbies as it combines the convenience of a pressure cooker with a bunch of other functions in a relatively counter-friendly appliance. You may need to make a bit more space for the 8-quart model in your kitchen, but it's a small price to pay for all of the cooking time you'll get back while using it.

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

NES and SNES creator Masayuki Uemura dies at 78

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 06:25 AM PST

It's a sad moment for gamers. Kotakureports Masayuki Uemura, the lead creator of the Famicom and Super Famicom (aka NES and SNES), died on December 6th at the age of 78. He started working at Sharp, where he sold solar cell and light sensor technology, but he's best remembered for a long and highly influential run at Nintendo that effectively revived the video game industry following the 1983 crash.

Uemura first became involved with Nintendo after the company's Gunpei Yokoi asked about using Sharp solar cells to produce light gun games. The future console designer joined Nintendo in 1971, and the company released gun games that included a home-friendly game called Duck Hunt (yes, the predecessor of the NES title). Company president Hiroshi Yamauchi put Uemura in charge of the R&D2 division responsible for hardware, including consoles, and in November 1981 famously called Uemura asking him to build a machine that lets you play arcade games on your TV. The result was 1983's Famicom, the system that would become the NES outside of Japan.

You know at least some of what happened next. The Famicom and NES were wild successes, selling nearly 62 million units combined and rejuvenating interest in home consoles. Uemura then led work on the Super Famicom, whose global launch as the SNES further cemented Nintendo's reputation. He also produced some NES games, including Ice Climber and three sports titles. He retired from Nintendo in 2004, but continued to serve as an advisor and would go on to teach and research video games as a professor at Ritsumeikan University.

It's hard to overstate Uemura's influence. The video game business as it exists today arguably owes much to the skill of Uemura and his team when they designed their first TV consoles. He also helped grow Japan's overall tech industry by making Nintendo a global force in electronics. While he certainly wasn't the only star at Nintendo, he was one of the most directly influential.

Shark's robot vacuum with AI navigation is 30 percent off today at Amazon

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 06:00 AM PST

The holiday shopping season is one of the best times of the year to look for a robot vacuum. Since many are quite expensive, you'll usually find good discounts during this time, and even some of the most budget-friendly models can be on sale. Today, Amazon has a one-day sale on a mid-range Shark robo-vac that brings the machine down to its lowest price yet. The Shark AV2001 robot vacuum with AI navigation is on sale for $300, or $130 off its normal price.

Buy Shark AV2001 at Amazon - $300

Shark took the top spot in our budget robot vacuum guide, and this model is more advanced and has more suction power than the one we tested. It has a self-cleaning brush roll that will help it pick up debris and even pet hair more easily, and it supports UltraClean Mode, which lets you deep clean specific rooms of your home. It moves through your home in neat rows thanks to its AI laser navigation system and it should bump into furniture less than other robo-vacs thanks to its ability to detect and avoid objects four inches high or taller.

The AV2001 also has precision home mapping with LiDAR, which means it'll learn the layout of your home as it cleans the first few times. You can then use the companion mobile app to send the machine to clean your bedroom only, and you can also set "no-go" zones to block off certain areas. The mobile app also lets you control the robot from anywhere and set cleaning schedules, and since it's compatible with Alexa and the Google Assistant, you could do all that with voice commands if you prefer. While it doesn't have a clean base like some higher-end robot vacuums do, it does come with a dock that it'll automatically return to once it's done cleaning or when it's battery has run low. All of those features make it a pretty capable robo-vac and a good option if you've been holding out for a good deal on a mid-range device.

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

Tinder's 'Music Mode' is like a mixtape from potential dates

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 05:43 AM PST

In partnership with Spotify, Tinder has introduced Music Mode as part of its new Explore section, letting you hear the "Anthem" songs of members when you swipe to their profiles — a sort of mixtape for dates, if you will. The idea is to help you find others that share your musical taste, according to Tinder.

The new feature requires that you link your account to Spotify and choose an Anthem song "that defines [you] inside and out," according to Tinder. If you've done all that, you'll be able to head over to the Explore section and find the Music Mode card. Once you enable that, it'll automatically play any member's chosen anthem when you swipe their profile.

Tinder and Spotify added the Anthem feature back in 2016, so Music Mode is a new way discovering users favorite songs. Tinder notes that "around 40 percent of all Gen Z members globally have already added Anthems to their profiles and when they do, they see a 10 percent increase in matches." Tinder said the Explore tab introduced this summer is the "biggest update to Tinder since the invention of the original Swipe feature," thanks to the interactive features.

At the very least, Music Mode could help reduce the awkwardness of realizing you and your date have nothing in common when it comes to music. "Songs are deeply personal, and Music Mode is a place to spark something new through music," Tinder VP Kyle Miller said in the press release. The new feature should launch "soon," according to Tinder.

WhatsApp begins offering Novi money transfers to some users in the US

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 04:40 AM PST

Back in October, Facebook (now Meta) launched a small pilot test of its cryptocurrency wallet Novi in the US and Guatemala. Pilot testers have been able to send each other personal payments through the service since then. Now, the company has announced that a limited number of people in the US will also be able to send and receive Novi payments from within WhatsApp.

The development doesn't come as a surprise: Novi co-founder David Marcus previously said that Meta will roll out Novi payments to all of its subsidiaries, namely Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. For WhatsApp, sending money is almost as easy as sending a message — users won't even need to leave the application. It's also a simple way to send money without incurring fees. To do so, users will have to find their intended contact within WhatsApp, tap the paper clip icon on Android or the + icon on iOS in the text bar, select Payment and follow instructions on how to log into their Novi account. 

Head of Novi Stephane Kasriel said on Twitter: "We often hear that people use WhatsApp to coordinate sending money to loved ones, and Novi enables people to do that securely, instantly and with no fees. Payments will appear directly in people's chat."

Facebook has been teasing its digital wallet and the Diem (formerly Libra) cryptocurrency it was supposed to support for years. After facing pushback from regulators around the world, though, the Diem Association shifted its focus, and Novi ended up using a stablecoin called the Pax Dollar (USDP) that's backed by the US dollar. On Novi, 1 USDP is equivalent to 1 USD. People won't be buying cryptocurrency when they use it, and it's simply money transfers that use stablecoin as an instrument. While sending USDP via Novi on WhatsApp has extremely limited availability for now, Kasriel said the service will look to expand its reach after getting feedback from users about the experience. 

The Morning After: Future iOS update will help you spot third-party iPhone parts

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 04:15 AM PST

Apple's incoming iOS 15.2 update includes a "parts and service history" section that indicates not only if the battery, camera and display have been replaced but also if they're officially sanctioned Apple parts. If something is listed as an "unknown part," it's either unofficial, malfunctioning or an already-used part from another iPhone.

This ties into Apple's spare parts and self-replacement service coming in 2022, but the "unknown part" label might not thrill advocates for third-party component options. Apple clearly wants you to use its official parts. That said, it may help you catch shops lying about the quality of their replacements.

I'm intrigued to see how Apple's self-repair service comes into being. What a nerdy reason to be excited for 2022.

— Mat Smith

Instagram is bringing back the chronological feed in 2022

Mosseri said the company has been working on the feature for months.

Five years since it ditched the chronological feed, Instagram might be bringing it back. Speaking to lawmakers at a Senate hearing on Instagram and teen safety, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said he supports "giving people the option to have a chronological feed."

Instagram has confirmed this on Twitter, adding there would be the "option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order." The app is also adding a "favorites" feed to surface posts from designated friends higher in the feed. Both would be optional.

Continue reading.

Apple may have been forced to halt iPhone assembly for the first time in a decade

Let's all say it together: supply issues.

TMA
Engadget

According to a report from Nikkei Asia, Apple was forced to cease iPhone and iPad production for several days when it was supposed to kick into high gear. Apple factories typically ramp up production during the Chinese holidays at the beginning of October, running 24-hour shifts so it can meet holiday shopping demands. This year, though, it reportedly gave its workers some time off instead, due to limited ​​chip and component supplies.

Continue reading.

Researchers have strapped a jetsuit to a humanoid robot

It'll probably fly better than I did.

TMA
Instituto Italiano di Technologia

You might recall me testing a real-world jetsuit from Gravity Industries earlier this year, but now researchers in Italy are strapping them to robots. They believe flying humanoid bots could one day serve as first-line of emergency responders.

Continue reading.

YouTube TV is back on Roku after a lengthy feud

Both companies said the YouTube app could have disappeared from the streaming stick.

YouTube TV is finally back on Roku streaming devices following a dispute between the two parties that has dragged on since April. Roku originally pulled YouTube TV because it said Google made anti-competitive demands, like more prominent placements for the apps and demanding Roku use certain chips in its hardware. Google retorted that Roku's claims were "baseless," and it was focused on "ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for viewers."

Continue reading.

Sonos lays out plan to improve its mixed environmental track record

Eco-friendly products are key to its strategy.

The smart speaker firm has unveiled its first climate plan to make its "value chain" carbon neutral by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The company plans to use some carbon offsets (such as a marine ecosystem project in Cambodia), but it also promises to improve both its products and operations. While we know Sonos supports its speakers for a long time, its older devices often can't operate alongside newer ones, and its now-dead "recycle mode" bricked devices before they could be traded in.

Continue reading.

 

The biggest news stories you might have missed


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Polestar will increase its EV's horsepower with a €1,000 software update

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Google Stadia is finally available on LG TVs almost one year later

The Ford Bronco Sport contains trace amounts of recycled ocean plastic

Verizon might collect your browsing data even if you previously opted out

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Oppo's Find N is the company's first foldable flagship phone

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 03:20 AM PST

Oppo has teased its first foldable smartphone nearly three years after it unveiled a prototype device. The Find N looks like a device along the lines of Samsung's Galaxy Fold lineup, created after "four years of intense R&D and six generations of prototypes," Oppo said in a press release. The launch is set to take place at Oppo Inno Day on December 15th. 

Oppo didn't reveal any processor, display or other specs of the Find N, other than showing an image and video. It did promise a "beautiful" device that feels good in the hand, and will be simple to use in both the open and closed positions. It also said that it has solved any screen creasing and durability issues inherent in folding smartphones. 

The company best known for folding smartphones is Samsung, with both the Fold and Flip devices. It took Samsung three generations to work out major kinks in the Fold lineup, but the latest Fold 3 model "still needs work," we said in our Engadget review. Oppo has played things differently by waiting to release its first model, presumably until it felt it had ironed out any major issues. 

On top of the Find N, Oppo is set to reveal other products, having teased a "cutting-edge" neural processing unit (NPU) and smart glasses. The latter will presumably succeed last year's Oppo AR Glass 2021, developer-only Wayfarer-type glasses with 0.71-inch OLED panels meant to be connected to Android devices via a USB cable. It teased the new model with a "light vs. light" tagline, so they might be lightweight models aimed consumers, not just developers. We'll soon find out, as Oppo Inno Day runs from December 14-15.

Amazon will shut down its Alexa.com web ranking site next year

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 03:03 AM PST

Before Amazon's Alexa became known as the e-commerce giant's voice assistant, it was the name of the company's web ranking site. It was established in 1996 and became famous sometime ago for analyzing web traffic and listing the most popular websites around the world. The service also offers paid subscriptions for those who want detailed SEO analytics and insights. Now, Amazon has announced that it's retiring Alexa.com on May 1st, 2022, just a month after it celebrates its 26th anniversary. 

In its announcement, the company said:

"Twenty-five years ago, we founded Alexa Internet. After two decades of helping you find, reach, and convert your digital audience, we've made the difficult decision to retire Alexa.com on May 1, 2022. Thank you for making us your go-to resource for content research, competitive analysis, keyword research, and so much more."

While Amazon didn't explicitly say why it's shutting down the service, Alexa Internet's traffic has been on the decline over the past decade based on data from Semrush, as Bleeping Computer notes. It's also been a while since anybody's been concerned about their Alexa ranking, so Amazon may have decided it was time to bid it farewell.

The e-commerce giant has already stopped accepting new subscriptions for Alexa's paid tier, but current subscribers will be able to access their account until May 1st, 2022. They'll lose access after that date, but they'll be able to export their data from the service's various tools if they wish. 

Italian regulator fines Amazon $1.28 billion for abusing its market dominance

Posted: 09 Dec 2021 12:57 AM PST

Italy's antitrust authority (AGCM) has fined Amazon €1.13 billion ($1.28 billion) for "abuse of dominant position," the second penalty it has imposed on Amazon over the last month. Amazon holds a position of "absolute dominance" in the Italian brokerage services market, "which has allowed it to promote its own logistics service, called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)," the authority wrote in a (Google translated) press release.

According to the AGCM, companies must use Amazon's FBA service if they want access to key benefits like the Prime label, which in turn allows them to participate in Black Friday sales and other key events. "Amazon has thus prevented third-party sellers from associating the Prime label with offers not managed with FBA," it said. 

The authority said access to those functions are "crucial" for seller success. It also noted that third-party sellers using FBA are not subject to the same stringent performance requirements as non-FBA sellers. As such, they're less likely to be suspended from the platform if they fail to meet certain goals. Finally, it noted that sellers using Amazon's logistics services are discouraged from offering their products on other online platforms, at least to the same extent they do on Amazon. 

The AGCM said it imposed the steep fine as it considered Amazon's actions to be "particularly serious" given their duration and the effects they've caused. On top of the fine, it has demanded that Amazon grant the privileges enjoyed by FBA sellers to all third-party sellers, provided they respect other rules and laws. It will have to define and publish those standards within a year, and its actions will be enforced by a monitoring trustee.

In a statement to Engadget, an Amazon spokesperson said the company "strongly disagreed" with the decision and will appeal. It also noted that non-FBA sellers can use its Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) service, which gives them access to Prime benefits without having to use Amazon's logistics services.

We strongly disagree with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) and we will appeal. The proposed fine and remedies are unjustified and disproportionate. More than half of all annual sales on Amazon in Italy come from SMBs, and their success is at the heart of our business model. Small and medium-sized businesses have multiple channels to sell their products both online and offline: Amazon is just one of those options. We constantly invest to support the growth of the 18,000 Italian SMBs that sell on Amazon, and we provide multiple tools to our sellers, including those who manage shipments themselves.

Last month, Amazon and Apple were fined $228 million in Italy for unfairly restricting Beats sales by limiting them to select retailers. The EU also handed Amazon a record $888 million fine for violating the bloc's strict GDPR data privacy laws. Other tech giants are also under scrutiny in the EU. Notably, the EU recently opened an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store rules, particularly over commissions related to in-app purchases.

Update 12/9/2021 4:43 AM ET: Amazon has provided a comment to Engadget which has been included in the article. 

SpaceX launches a NASA telescope that will observe black holes

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 10:08 PM PST

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has blasted off with NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite. First announced in 2017, the IXPE is the first satellite capable of measuring the polarization of X-rays that come from cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars. 

The fridge-sized satellite has three telescopes that can track and measure the direction, arrival time, energy, and polarization of light. When data from all those telescopes is combined, NASA can form images that could give us more insight into how mysterious celestial objects — those that emit X-ray — work. For instance, they're hoping it can give us a more thorough look at the structure of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant with a neutron star rapidly spinning in its center.

By observing black holes, the IXPE will help scientists gain more insight and broaden humanity's knowledge on the regions of space we still barely know. It could provide clues on why they spin and how they gobble up cosmic materials, though it could also lead to new discoveries. Martin Weisskopf, the mission's principal investigator, said during a briefing: "IXPE will help us test and refine our current theories of how the universe works. We may even discover more exciting theories about these exotic objects than what we've hypothesized." 

SpaceX used a Falcon 9 rocket from a previous mission for this launch. If all goes well, the rocket's first stage will land on the company's drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" after ferrying IXPE to space.

Senators came to the Instagram hearing armed with their teenaged finstas

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 04:17 PM PST

Instagram's top executive spent more than two hours being grilled by the Senate about Instagram's safety policies and its impact on teens' metal health. Unfortunately for Mosseri, members of the subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security came to the hearing armed with fresh anecdotes from their own finstas.

During the hearing, Mosseri's first time appearing in Congress, multiple senators revealed that they and their staffs had created fresh Instagram accounts disguised as teenagers. They all said that the app had steered them toward content that was inappropriate for young users, including "anorexia coaches," and other content related to self harm.

The staff of one lawmaker, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, managed to uncover a significant bug in one of Instagram's teen safety features. Blackburn said that her staff created a fresh account as a 15-year old-girl, but that the account defaulted to public, not private. Instagram said in July that teens younger than 16 signing up for the first time would be defaulted to private accounts.

"While Instagram is touting all these safety measures, they aren't even making sure that the safety measures are in effect for me," Blackburn said. Mosseri later confirmed that the company had mistakenly not enabled the private default settings for new accounts created on the web. "We will correct that quickly," he said.

Blackburn wasn't the only senator who came to the hearing prepared with questions about what they saw on a staff-created finsta. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said that his staff had created a new account posing as 13-year-old just days before. He said after following "a few accounts promoting eating disorders," that "within an hour, all of our recommendations promoted pro-anorexia and eating disorder content." He later added that a search for self harm content turned up results so graphic he didn't feel he could describe them.

It was a notable shift from the cringeworthy moment at a September hearing, when Blumenthal clumsily pushed Facebook's Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, on whether she could "commit to ending finsta." This time, Blumenthal pressed Mosseri on whether he would commit to ending work on Instagram Kids entirely — Mosseri did not — and whether he would make more data about Instagram's algorithms available to researchers outside the company.

"I can commit to you today that we will provide meaningful access to data so that third party researchers can design their own studies and make their own conclusions about the effects of well being on young people," Mosseri said. He later added that Instagram is working on giving users the option for a chronological feed.

Utah Senator Mike Lee also shared his experience creating an Instagram account for a fictitious 13-year-old girl. He described how the recommendations in the account's Explore page changed after following just one account. "The Explore page yielded fairly benign results at first," he said. "We followed the first account that was recommended by Instagram, which happened to be a very famous female celebrity. After following that account, we went back to the Explore page and the content quickly changed.

"Why did following Instagrams top recommended account for a 13-year-old girl cause our Explore page to go from showing really innocuous things, like hairstyling videos, to content that promotes body dysmorphia. sexualization of women and content otherwise unsuitable for a 13 year old girl?"

Mosseri replied that, according to the company's Community Standards Enforcement report, content promoting eating disorders accounts for "roughly five out of every 10,000 things viewed." Lee didn't buy it. "It went dark fast," he said. "It was not five in 1,000 or five in 10,000, it was rampant."

While much of what the senators described was similar to what journalists and others have reported experiencing on Instagram, the exchanges were telling because they underscored a point that's been raised by whistleblower Frances Haugen and others studying the company: That Facebook often uses deceptive statistics to mask its problems. And that the sheer size of the platform means that even relatively low amounts of harmful content can have an outsize impact on users. 

It also indicated just how seriously lawmakers are taking the issue of teen safety and social media. While previous hearings with big tech executives have often veered wildly off topic, senators stayed relatively focused on the issues. And it was clear that there was bipartisan agreement on the need for Instagram to disclose more information about its platform to the public and to researchers.

"I would support federal legislation around the transparency of data, or the access to data from researchers, and around the prevalence of content problems on the platform," Mosseri said. But Blumenthal pushed back, saying Instagram's previous actions haven't gone far enough.

"​​The kinds of baby steps that you've suggested so far, very respectfully, are underwhelming," Blumenthal said at the close of the hearing. "I think you will sense on this committee, pretty strong determination to do something well beyond what you've indicated you have in mind. That's the reason that I think self-policing based on trust is no longer a viable solution."

'Reading Rainbow' will return in 2022 with an interactive component

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 03:07 PM PST

After more than 15 years off the air, Reading Rainbow will return in early 2022. Per CBS News, this latest version of the classic children's show will be known as Reading Rainbow Live. It will feature an interactive component that kids will be able to access through Looped. The platform will allow viewers to ask questions of the cast, and participate in games. Naturally, Reading Rainbow Live will be available to stream online.

The original debuted in 1983 and was famously hosted by LeVar Burton. The Star Trek: The Next Generation actor won't be involved in the new project, at least not as a host. Instead, a cast of "Rainbows" will share that duty. What won't change is the format of the show. As before, each episode will be about 25 minutes and will try to teach audiences through music, field trips, cultural experiences and the book of the day of course.

Creative Director Amy Guglielmo told CBS News the new show is partly a response to the pandemic. "We know it was a tough pandemic for parents, for caregivers, for teachers," she said. "We wanted to make sure that we have kids engaging with books and we're going to use movement and music to engage kids in learning."

Twitter has a secret system for dealing with attacks on high-profile accounts

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 02:08 PM PST

As the meme goes, the goal of every Twitter user is to avoid being the main character of the day. But if you end up being that unlucky soul, it turns out Twitter is prepared to help you survive the potential trolling onslaught. As Bloomberg reports, the company has developed Project Guardian, an internal list of thousands of accounts who could potentially be attacked by other users. Being on that list fast-tracks any complaints related to those users on Twitter's moderation systems.

While it may sound a bit suspect, the big takeaway from Bloomberg's reporting is that Project Guardian is just a predictive aspect of Twitter's security measures. And unlike Facebook's treatment of VIP's, which has been criticized for allowing celebrities and politicians to break that platform's rules, Twitter's system doesn't necessarily grant more privileges to users. 

Project Guardian also includes some well-known athletes, media personalities and politicians, but Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of site integrity, tells Bloomberg that the list doesn't include famous users. As, as we mentioned, it also helps to protect normal people who end up going viral.

"The reason this concept existed is because of the 'person of the day' phenomenon," Roth said. "And on that basis, there are some people who are the 'person of the day' most days, and so Project Guardian would be one way to protect them."

In an ideal world, Twitter would be able to give every user the same amount of security support. But, as Bloomberg notes, the company currently receives too many moderation requests to manage that. Perhaps that's an argument that user safety should be scaled in proportion with user growth. And while Project Guardian helps to protect some users, it's also a smart way for Twitter to squash harassment that could also hurt its own image. You could argue that's true for practically every security measure a social media company takes, though.

A labor coalition wants the FTC to take action against Amazon's 'deceptive' search ads

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 02:07 PM PST

You won't find a clear distinction between organic search results and paid ads on Amazon, according to a complaint the Strategic Organizing Center filed on Wednesday with the Federal Trade Commission. The organization, which is a coalition of labor unions, analyzed more than 130,000 search results and found that about 28 percent of the results you see on Amazon represent ads. What's more, SOC says those ads don't comply with FTC guidelines designed to make it possible for consumers to distinguish between sponsored content and organic search results.

In 2013, the agency said companies should feature prominent shading or borders, in addition to clear text that is properly situated and sized to avoid confusion. SOC found that zero percent of Amazon's advertisements featured prominent shading and only about 1.1 percent had an easily distinguished border. When it came to the company's use of "sponsored" labels, SOC found that in about 22 percent of ads the disclosure was buried under more prominent labels, such as ones that said "Highly rated" and "Today's deals." Additionally, those disclosures used a font that was smaller and lighter than the ones the company employed to advertise if a product was liked by other customers or part of a deal.

Elsewhere, SOC claims Amazon employs a technique called "lazy loading" where sponsored labels take longer to appear, particularly on slower internet connections. Using a 12 to 25Mbps connection, the organization found those labels could take up to three seconds longer to load than the top banner ad. We'll note here we had difficulty verifying that claim at Engadget.

SOC has asked the FTC to take "aggressive and swift action" against the company. "Amazon's violations are so omnipresent that Amazon's representation that its platform presents 'search results' to consumers is itself deceptive," it said.

Amazon disputes SOC's findings. "This report is incorrect and misunderstands FTC guidance – ads in Amazon's store always include a clear and prominent 'sponsored' label, implemented in accordance with FTC guidelines," an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. "We design our store to help customers discover products we think may best meet their needs – sponsored ads is one of the ways to help them find products they may be interested in."

It's hard to say if the FTC will take up SOC's complaint against Amazon. And, even if it does, what kind of action it could take against the company. Part of the problem here is that the agency's own guidelines leave some room open for interpretation.

"We understand that there is not any one specific method for clearly and prominently distinguishing advertising from natural search results, and that search engines may develop new methods for distinguishing advertising results," the FTC said in 2013. "Any method may be used, so long as it is noticeable and understandable to consumers."

At the same time, this is exactly the kind of issue the agency is likely willing to take up under recently appointed chair Lina Khan. In 2017, Khan, then a student at Yale Law School, published an article titled "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox" in which she argued current US policies and laws weren't enough to keep companies like Amazon accountable.

Biden orders federal buildings, vehicles to adopt renewable energy by 2050

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 01:52 PM PST

The White House's renewable energy push now includes a transformation of the federal government. President Biden has issued an executive order that would require the government to stop buying combustion engine vehicles by 2035, and to switch all buildings to renewables and other zero-carbon energy sources by 2050. The administration willbuy only carbon-free electricity by 2030, and aims to cut building emissions in half by 2032.

Biden saw the measure as a way to "lead by example" and encourage both a "carbon pollution-free" electricity industry by 2035 and net zero emissions for the entire economy by 2050. The federal government is the largest employer, energy user and land owner in the US, the President said, and its shift to renewables could influence private businesses.

It's a modest goal in some ways. The timeline is very long, for a start. Multiple states will have banned gas-powered car sales by 2035 — why would it take the federal government that long to switch a relatively modest 600,000-vehicle fleet to EVs and other emissions-free machines? The 300,000 buildings are more daunting, but the order gives officials roughly three decades to make the transition.

At the same time, there are plenty of challenges. The feds depend on a wide range of buildings and vehicles across the country, many of them with different requirements. It may take a highly coordinated effort to transition everything to zero-emissions transport and renewable energy, even if the scale is relatively modest. And then there's the question of future administrations. As we've seen before, a new presidency can undo environmental regulations and delay or even thwart emissions reduction plans. The targets offer plenty of opportunities for reversals.

The order is still notable even if there are setbacks. It's an acknowledgment that efforts to limit climate change aren't confined to the private sector, and it could prompt contractors to transition to environmentally friendly products in a bid to win federal deals.

Blizzard employee says she was told to 'get over it' after reporting sexual harassment

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 01:19 PM PST

In the midst of multiple lawsuits and investigations over allegations of gender discrimination and sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard, an employee on Wednesday made a public statement about the abuse she says she's experienced over her four-year career at the studio. Christine works for Blizzard, the group responsible for games including Overwatch and Diablo, and she stood outside the studio's headquarters in Irvine, California, with her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, by her side. 

Through tears, Christine said she experienced years of sexual harassment at Blizzard, even though it had started out as her "dream job."

"I was so excited to be a part of a community that seemed to care so much about their employees," Christine said. "Unfortunately, that didn't happen to me. Since I've been employed at Blizzard, I've been subjected to rude comments about my body, unwanted sexual advances, inappropriately touched, subjected to alcohol-infused team events and cube crawls, invited to have casual sex with my supervisors, and surrounded by a frat-boy culture that's detrimental to women."

Christine said she brought these negative experiences to her supervisors and they were brushed aside. According to her statement, her superiors said the men harassing her were "just joking" and that she should "get over it." She was told not to go to HR. She was told her abusers had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law.

Christine said that after she complained about the sexual abuse she was experiencing, she was demoted and faced retaliation. She said she was denied shares in the company and full profit-sharing, and she received minimal raises.

In her statement, Christine said her mental health was shattered by these events, but she was going public in order to fight for a safe work environment for all Activision Blizzard employees.

"Blizzard has some amazing people that work for them, but we need to feel safe and supported by people in leadership roles, and hold people accountable for their actions," she said.

Activision Blizzard is facing multiple investigations and lawsuits regarding its alleged frat-boy culture. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is suing the studio after an investigation uncovered years of discriminatory hiring practices, a systemic failure to treat sexual harassment seriously, and a culture that encouraged abuse. The result, according to the DFEH report, was a studio where just 20 percent of employees were women, and leadership roles were held only by white men.

Lisa Bloom, Christine's lawyer, made a statement of her own after the employee spoke.

"We are here because sexual harassment victims at Activision Blizzard have been ignored," Bloom said. "They are still suffering and it's time that they are prioritized."

Following an investigation by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission earlier this year, Activision Blizzard was ordered to establish an $18 million fund to compensate victims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the studio. Bloom argued that this amount is far too low, considering there are hundreds of victims. She also pointed out that Activision Blizzard has already missed critical deadlines when it comes to distributing this money.

"I think we can all agree that the $18 million number is woefully inadequate," Bloom said.

Bloom then outlined three demands. She first said Activision Blizzard should establish a streamlined, fair and fast process for all victims to resolve their legal claims, and asked for a fund exceeding $100 million. Second, Bloom said the studio should deliver a real apology to Christine and the other victims, and third, she demanded a review by a neutral third party of the career damage employees like Christine have endured, with the goal of remedying any discriminatory decisions.

Bloom has ample experience in this legal arena, most recently representing victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

Activision Blizzard employees have staged a handful of walkouts in protest of the studio's response to these allegations, which has been dismissive and generally terrible. More than 800 workers in November signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign, considering he's held that position for 30 years and has overseen the alleged culture of harassment and discrimination the entire time. Kotick's tenure at the studio and his power over the board is also likely why he hasn't yet been forced out.

Instagram will bring back a chronological feed in 2022

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 01:12 PM PST

After more than five years, Instagram plans to bring back "a version" of its chronological feed next year, the company's top executive said on Wednesday. Speaking to lawmakers at a Senate hearing on Instagram and teen safety, Mosseri said that he supports "giving people the option to have a chronological feed."

"We're currently working on a version of a chronological feed that we hope to launch next year," Mosseri said, adding that the company has been working on the feature "for months." He didn't share additional details about how such a feed would work, but said that the company is "targeting the first quarter of next year" for a launch.

Launching an option for a chronological feed would be a major reversal for the photo sharing app, which has consistently defended its algorithmic feed despite persistent complaints and conspiracy theories from users about how their posts are ranked. In a blog post in June, Mosseri wrote that a chronological feed made it "impossible for most people to see everything, let alone all the posts they cared about." He said the chronological feed resulted in people "missing" a majority of the posts in their feed in 2016.

Since then, Instagram has faced even more scrutiny over how its algorithms rank and suggest content, particularly for teenagers and younger users. Congress has also been debating legislation to rein in social media platforms' ranking systems, including a proposed bill that would regulate "malicious" algorithms.

Elsewhere, Instagram is currently testing another change to feed: the addition of "suggested posts" from accounts you don't follow into the main feed. Developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi also recently spotted a feature that would allow users to sort their feeds by "home," "favorites" or "following," though it's not clear if any of those refer to a chronological feed. We've reached out to Instagram for more information and will update if we hear back.

Update 12/8 5:28pm ET: Instagram confirmed it's working on a chronological feed, with the "option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order." The app will also add a "favorites" feed, which will surface posts from designated friends higher in the feed. Both feeds will be optional.

Apple gets last-minute delay in complying with App Store changes after Epic lawsuit

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 12:10 PM PST

Apple won't have to allow App Store developers to direct users to alternative payment systems for the time being. At the last minute, an appeals court judge granted Apple's motion to delay App Store changes that were to take effect on December 9th.

"Apple has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questions on the merits of the district court's determination that Epic Games, Inc. failed to show Apple's conduct violated any antitrust laws but did show that the same conduct violated California's Unfair Competition Law," the decision reads, according to 9to5Mac. "Therefore, we grant Apple's motion to stay part (i) of paragraph (1) of the permanent injunction. The stay will remain in effect until the mandate issues in this appeal."

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw the case between Apple and Epic Games, issued an injunction in September to prevent Apple from stopping developers who wanted to include "buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing." Apple typically takes a 30 percent cut of in-app purchases, and these measures would have allowed developers to use other payment systems.

Apple filed an appeal against that permanent injunction in October, claiming that it would "take months to figure out the engineering, economic, business, and other issues" that were required of such changes. Judge Gonzalez Rogers denied the appeal, but Apple took it to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In August 2020, Epic informed Fortnite players on both iOS and Android that they'd receive a discount if they bought the virtual V-Bucks currency if they bypassed Apple and Google's in-app payment methods. The latter two companies removed the battle royale game from their stores and Epic swiftly filedsuit against them both.

The Apple case went to trial in May. Judge Gonzales Rogers ruled in Apple's favor in almost all counts. Among other things, she determined that the App Store doesn't violate antitrust rules. Epic appealed the ruling a couple of days later.

Italian researchers have built a humanoid robot that may one day fly like Iron Man

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 11:27 AM PST

As robots have steadily expanded their operations out of the controlled environments of research labs and into the chaos of real-world architectural infrastructure, getting from point A to point B has become a major challenge — take stairs, for example. In response, roboticists have developed a number of solutions, from installing rotors so that the robot can helicopter over obstacles or, in Boston Dynamics case, execute backflips that would give Simone Biles pause. And then there's Daniele Pucci, head of the Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence lab at the Italian Institute of Technology, who has taken the audacious step of strapping a fully functional jetpack akin to what Richard Browning developed onto the back of an iRonCub synthetic humanoid with hopes of eventually blasting it into the sky.

You'd think we'd have learned our lesson about the dangers of building aerial humanoid robots after our first time through Age of Ultron but Pucci's team believes that such systems could one day act as first responders to the roughly 300 natural disasters that kill around 90,000 people worldwide annually. We've seen a slew of disaster response bots — some humanoid, some not so much — emerge from labs for more than a decade, often with varying degrees of success.

Humanoid robots have an advantage over both more esoteric builds and traditional UAVs when it comes to disaster response because they can more easily manipulate a world, which is already designed for human use. However when a natural disaster strikes, much of that human-centric infrastructure could become damaged or otherwise rendered impassable, which negates many of the humanoid robot's initial advantages. But by combining a humanoid design with the capability of flight, Pucci's team can leverage the best aspects of both technologies.

"Aerial Humanoid Robotics unifies aerial manipulation and humanoid robotics. By doing so, aerial humanoid robots overcome the lack of terrestrial locomotion of aerial manipulators and extend the locomotion capabilities of humanoid robots to the flight case. Aerial humanoid robots can then walk, fly, manipulate and transport objects, thus offering energetically efficient solutions to payload transportation and object manipulation," the IIT team wrote in 2019.

"Aerial humanoid robotics extends aerial manipulation to a more robust and energy efficient level. In fact, aerial manipulation is often exemplified by quadrotors equipped with a robotic arm," Pucci told IEEE Spectrum. "These robots can't move around by means of contact forces with the environment, and they often struggle with flying in windy environments while manipulating an object, requiring precise position control for accomplishing manipulation tasks. So the extra hand of a flying humanoid robot could establish a contact point between the robot and the environment, thus making the robot position control simpler and more robust."

"I truly believe that aerial humanoid robotics can be used as a test-bed for actuated flying exoskeletons for human beings," he continued. "The recent successful story of Richard Browning shows the engineering feasibility of these futuristic actuated exoskeletons. However, the journey in front of us is still long, and we can use flying humanoid robots to boost this journey and avoid lots of tests on humans."

Pucci's most recent study, Momentum-Based Extended Kalman Filter for Thrust Estimation on Flying Multibody Robots, is slated for publication in the January issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. 

      

'Horizon Zero Dawn' now supports NVIDIA and AMD upscaling on PC

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 11:16 AM PST

Guerrilla Games has rolled out the latest Horizon Zero Dawn update on PC, which should improve the game's performance. The RPG now supports NVIDIA's DLSS and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling tech. The game previously supported AMD's FidelityFX CAS. Guerrilla also says it improved the shader management system.

NVIDIA claims DLSS will improve Horizon Zero Dawn performance by up to 50 percent. Other PC games that are getting DLSS support this month include Lemnis Gate, Chorus and Icarus.

Meanwhile, Sony revealed more details about a PC version of another of its blockbuster PlayStation games: God of War. It too will support DLSS, as well as NVIDIA Reflex (which is minimizing system input lag).

Like Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War will have unlocked framerates on PC. You can also expect HDR support, higher-resolution shadows and more detailed assets. Players can control Kratos with their keyboard and mouse, third-party controllers or Sony's DualShock 4 or DualSense peripherals.

Santa Monica Studio also announced the PC specs for God of War. You'll need at least an NVIDIA GTX 960 or AMD R9 290X GPU, 8 GB of RAM, 70 GB of storage and an Intel i5-2500k or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 processor.

God of War will arrive on PC on January 14th. Meanwhile, God of War Ragnarök is scheduled to hit PS4 and PS5 sometime next year.

Apple Wallet’s hotel keycard support is now live, starting at Hyatt hotels

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 11:00 AM PST

Back at WWDC 2021, Apple said that iOS 15 and watchOS 8 would allow iPhone and Apple Watch owners to store digital hotel keys on their devices. While that feature didn't quite make the release of those two updates, it's now available at six Hyatt locations across the US. As you might expect, it allows you to store a digital version of your hotel keycard in Apple Wallet.

You can add the keycard at any point after you reserve a room. However, you'll still need to check in at the front desk before you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to enter your guestroom or any other restricted area within the hotel. The digital keycards support Apple Wallet's Express Mode feature, which means you don't need to authenticate your identity with Face ID or Touch ID every time you want to use the feature.

If at any point you decide to extend your stay or change rooms, the hotel can update your keycard without the need for you to visit the front desk. What's more, if your device starts running low on battery life and enters Power Reserve mode, you can still use your iPhone or Apple Watch as a keycard for up to five hours.

The six locations where you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to store a keycard are as follows: Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, Hyatt Centric Key West Resort and Spa, Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop-Fulton Market, Hyatt House Dallas/Richardson, Hyatt Place Fremont/Silicon Valley and Hyatt Regency Long Beach.

Hyatt says it expects to roll out the technology to all of its locations globally. Sometime next year, Apple also plans to allow iOS 15 and watchOS 8 to store government issued IDs from select states as well.

The Ford Bronco Sport contains trace amounts of recycled ocean plastic

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 10:46 AM PST

Many car brands are touting recycled parts in their vehicles, but Ford thinks it can claim some extra bragging rights. The badge claims the Bronco Sport is the first vehicle to use parts made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Ford used plastic from the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to make wireless harness clips in the SUV. They're as durable as previous petroleum-based clips, but require less energy to make and even cost 10 percent less.

The company has been using some degree of recycled plastic for over two decades, although it has been getting creative as of late. It recently started making F-250 fuel-line clips from 3D printer waste, and used water bottles for the underbody shields on the 2020 Escape.

This move could be an important step toward more sustainable car production. At the same time, it shows just how far Ford has to go. They're small parts in an SUV that's sold exclusively with a combustion engine inside — this would carry more weight if they were larger components in a hybrid or pure electric vehicle. Ford has vowed to further electrify its lineup and explore future uses of ocean plastic. Until that happens, though, this is more a hint of that future than a major milestone.

iOS 15.2 will help you spot third-party iPhone parts

Posted: 08 Dec 2021 09:45 AM PST

Apple's seeming about-face on repairability will soon help you spot less-than-honest iPhone repair shops and part sellers. As Gizmodonotes, Apple has revealed iOS 15.2's settings will include a "parts and service history" section (under General > About) that indicates not only whether the battery, camera and display have been replaced, but will indicate whether or not they're officially sanctioned Apple parts. If a component is listed as an "unknown part," it's either unofficial, an already-used part from another iPhone or malfunctioning.

Just how much you'll learn depends on your iPhone model. Anyone using an iPhone XR, XS or second-generation iPhone SE can only tell if the battery has been replaced. You'll need an iPhone 11 or newer to also find out if there's a display swap, and an iPhone 12 or later to know if the camera has been replaced. Apple stressed that these alerts won't prevent you from using your device — you're fine if you're comfortable using unofficial parts and losing warranty coverage.

iOS 15.2 currently exists as a release candidate for developers, suggesting the finished version will be available relatively soon. It's not yet clear if iPad owners will see a corresponding part history feature at some point.

The "unknown part" label might not thrill advocates for third-party component options. Apple clearly wants you to use official parts, and that means either taking it in for authorized service or (in 2022) buying parts from Apple. This might help you catch shops lying about the quality of their parts, though, and could be useful if you repair an iPhone yourself and want to be sure your fixes went smoothly.
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