Publishers Upset Over Apple’s Opt-Out Terms for Inclusion in iOS 9 News App
Apple recently sent a mass email to news publishers to introduce them to Apple News, an upcoming Flipboard-inspired app for iOS 9 that will deliver curated news and magazine stories with custom layouts, photo galleries, videos and animations optimized for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
The email has ignited some controversy in the news and blogging community over the past week, according to the BBC, which reports that some writers are disappointed about Apple’s decision to automatically include a website’s RSS feeds in Apple News unless they specifically opt out by replying to the email.
“Let me get this straight, Apple: you send me an e-mail outlining the terms under which you will redistribute my content, and you will just assume that I agree to your terms unless I opt out?” wrote Plausible Labs programmer Mike Ash on his personal blog. “This makes typical clickwrap EULA nonsense look downright reasonable by comparison. You’re going to consider me bound to terms you just declared to me in an e-mail as long as I don’t respond? That’s completely crazy. You don’t even know if I received the e-mail!”
Some bloggers argue that not all publishers are guaranteed to see the email, which could easily be overlooked or buried in a spam inbox, leading to their content being featured on Apple News without their knowledge or explicit consent. Apple also has permission to place advertising next to or near a publisher’s content without providing any compensation, and will pass on any legal fees to publishers.
You agree to let us use, display, store, and reproduce the content in your RSS feeds including placing advertising next to or near your content without compensation to you. Don’t worry, we will not put advertising inside your content without your permission. You confirm that you have all necessary rights to publish your RSS content, and allow Apple to use it for News as we set forth here. You will be responsible for any payments that might be due to any contributors or other third parties for the creation and use of your RSS content. If we receive a legal claim about your RSS content, we will tell you so that you can resolve the issue, including indemnifying Apple if Apple is included in the claim. You can remove your RSS feed whenever you want by opting out or changing your settings in News Publisher.
Apple News is highlighted as one of the main features on the iOS 9 preview page, so it is no surprise that Apple is attempting to have as much content available on the platform at launch as possible. It is clear, however, that many publishers would have appreciated the terms of Apple News being set on an opt-in rather than opt-out basis. Apple so far has not commented on those concerns.
Review: Dotti and Notti Are Fun iPhone-Controlled Smart Lights That Deliver Notifications [iOS Blog]
Dotti and Notti are small iPhone-controlled smart lights created by design company Witti. More fun than practical, the two lights connect to an iPhone over Bluetooth, allowing their colors to be changed and letting them light up when a notification is received.
Notti, the more inexpensive of the two at $60, is an angular light that somewhat resembles a candle. Dotti, priced at $80, is a square pixel light with 8×8 grid of LEDs that can be arranged into different pixellated shapes and colors.
I went hands-on with the Notti and Dotti and after a couple of weeks, I can say that they’re both well-designed, fun to play with, and make nice desk or table decorations.
Notti
Notti is the more simple light of the two. Made of opaque white plastic, it’s got a faceted, angular design that looks attractive, especially when lit. It’s a nice mood light for a living room or bedroom, measuring in at 10cm x 7.5cm x 6cm. Notti has a built-in battery that will last for up to five hours when the light is turned on, and up to 720 hours in standby mode while waiting for a notification to come in.
When the Notti is first turned on via a small button on the front of the light, it’s bright green, but with the accompanying Notti app, it can be changed to any color. The Notti pairs with an iPhone automatically once the app has been installed. Lights don’t photograph quite as saturated in as they are in real life, so when looking at photos of Notti and Dotti, keep that in mind. The colors are actually deeper and more vivid.
With the app, you can control both color and brightness with a color wheel, resulting in a lot of different combinations. LEDs in some colored lights can’t do certain shades like blue and green, but the Notti does well with these these colors.
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Nest aims to monitor your home with the Nest Cam
About a year ago, Nest purchased security camera startup Dropcam for roughly $555 million, and now we’re finally getting to see what the two companies have been working on over the past few months. Nest has just unveiled a new product called the Nest Cam wireless camera. Taking a quick glance at the photos available so far, it’s easy to see that the Nest Cam takes some heavy aesthetic inspiration from Dropcam, which is to be expected. But the real changes between the Dropcam and the Nest Cam take place inside the device.
The Nest Cam shoots 1080p video, up from the 720p the old camera was capable of, and also comes with a built-in tripod mount with a magnetic base for easy placement on a refrigerator. It has eight built-in infrared LEDs for better night vision, as well. You’ll be able to mix Nest Cams and Dropcams around your home, as both will be able to be controlled through the revamped Nest mobile application that’s set to launch sometime soon. The new version of the app will be able to show you a quick overview of your home from the company’s three main devices. It will be able to notify you instantly if something goes wrong.
Like the Dropcam, this new camera uses a cloud-based DVR that will store previous footage up to 30 days via the Nest Aware service. If you want to store your footage in the cloud, however, you’ll need to pay a hefty fee. According to TechCrunch, 10 days of video archiving will cost $10 per month, and 30 days of archiving will cost $30 per month. Right now, it seems like this is the only way to store video.
The camera is available for pre-order today for $199.99 and will ship next week. While Nest’s official website is under construction for the time being, you can already pre-order the new security camera through Best Buy’s website. As more details continue to roll in, we’ll be sure to update this post.
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So what are your thoughts so far? Are you interested in the Nest Cam? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Motorola’s David Schuster sheds some light on the Moto X (1st and 2nd Gen.) Android 5.1 schedule
We’ve already seen Android 5.1 Lollipop begin to slowly roll out to a few different Motorola devices throughout various regions in the world, but many are still waiting to receive the latest version of Android on their devices. Even though it may be taking the company some time to get the updates out to devices, Motorola’s David Schuster has just taken to Google+ to shed some light on the update schedule.
Motorola has apparently already launched soak tests for the Moto X (2nd Gen.) in various retail channels including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Singapore and Sweden. As for the Moto X (1st Gen.), soak tests have just been launched in Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. Schuster says that if all goes well, we can expect these two devices receive the update beginning sometime next week.
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When soak tests begin to roll out, most of the time it means the update isn’t too far off, so we should expect to see these devices get the update sooner rather than later. Do you own a Moto X? If so, what version of Android are you running?
6 amazing bikes that fly, float or go faster than cars
By Cat DiStasio, Inhabitat Staff
These days, many people prefer two wheels to four. Folks opt for bikes instead of cars for the exercise, the maneuverability, the low environmental impact and the camaraderie among riders. It’s the ever-changing design of bikes that grabs the world’s attention, including those of us who aren’t so steady on two wheels. Whether you’re a diehard cyclist or you’re skeptical of human-powered transportation, here are six incredible cycles that will leave you thinking bikes are a superior class of vehicle.
Filed under: Transportation
Nest’s home monitoring camera is a sleeker Dropcam
In one of the worst kept secrets in recent history, Nest revealed its new Nest Cam wireless camera. It borrows heavily from Dropcam, a recent Nest acquisition, but has a thinner profile. The new camera shoots 1080p video, is slimmer than the Dropcam and has a new magnetic base with a tripod mount. It also sports better night vision with eight built-in infrared LEDs and improved algorithms. Like its predecessor, the Nest Cam and companion service includes live video streams to mobile devices and a CDR (Cloud video Recording) service that records up to 30 days of footage via Nest Aware. The camera is available for order today for $199. It will ship next week. The Nest Aware subscription will cost $10 a month for the first camera and $5 a month for each additional for 10 days of video playback. For 30 days of playback, it’s $30 for the first camera and $15 for each additional.
Nest also introduced an updated app for iOS and Android. It has a new home screen that gives a quick overview of what’s going on in your home from the company’s three devices. If there’s ever an issue, the green ring that surrounds the home icon changes to yellow then red when something is wrong. It also pairs Nest devices in a room. for example, if a Nest Protect sounds an alarm in a room that also houses a Nest Cam, a camera button is available in the Protect portion of the app to see what’s going on. If there is a a Protect alarm, the app also records an emergency clip without a users needing a Nest Aware subscription.
The app also works with both the Dropcam and the new Nest Cam. It has quick buttons for listening and talk back, Enhance to zoom in on portions of a video, and access to the history recorded footage. users can also keep track of their Nest devices via a browser. The new Nest app is available today.
Filed under: Cameras
Source: Nest
All the news you need to know from Day One of E3 2015
So many games. So much Mario. So much to cram into just three official days of E3 2015. We’ve already seen Sony and Microsoft’s opening salvos from Day Zero, but today Nintendo and big-hitting game makers like Square Enix joined the fray. What do you need to know? All this. We’ll be recapping each day, short and sweet… so we can play even more games. All things E3 can found right here. Don’t worry, Slippy’s here.
Nest’s second-gen Protect is better at detecting fires
Nest’s Protect smart smoke and CO alarm has been getting better with age thanks to software updates, but now it’s time for a hardware upgrade. Nest has just announced a brand new Nest Protect, with improvements in both the hardware and software department. For starters, it’s loaded with what Nest call a “split-spectrum sensor,” which is said to be better at detecting both fast-burning and slow-spreading fires than the photoelectric smoke detector the first-gen Protect uses. A new smoke chamber also greatly reduces the chance of false-positive alerts due to dust or bugs. Also, you can now test the device’s speaker, horn and its sensors from within the companion app, as well as silence the smart smoke detector’s screams from your smartphone when you burn your dinner.
Furthermore, the new Protect has a longer lifespan than the previous generation: Nest says it’ll last ten years as opposed to the predecessor’s seven. In terms of aesthetics, the new Protect is 11 percent smaller, curvier and allegedly easier to mount on walls and ceilings thanks to a new backplate design. It also has a brighter “Pathlight,” an LED ring that lights up when the Protect detects you passing by. Like the first-gen Protect, the refreshed version is launching with a $99 price tag (£89 in the UK) for both the wired and battery-powered models. It’s available to order from today, with shipping starting next month.
With the launch of the second-gen Protect, Nest is also kicking off a program it calls “Safety Rewards” that could save you money on your home insurance premiums. The idea is you allow your Protect to send monthly reports to your insurance company with basic information like battery charge and WiFi connection strength, and earn discounts by simply having a Protect installed. Some insurance customers may even qualify for free or reduced hardware. Safety Rewards is starting out in the US with American Family and Liberty Mutual as launch partners.
Filed under: Household
Source: Nest
E3 Streams: ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ and ‘Cosmic Star Heroine’
We’re at the halway point of E3 2015 and the hits keep coming. We’ve got an awesome interview with Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida covering everything from Morpheus to Shenmue 3. We even chatted with Keiji Inafune about ReCore, his new Xbox One exclusive. That’s cool and all, but wouldn’t you like the chance to talk to the creators at E3? JXE Streams has your back. Join us starting at at 2:30PM ET on Twitch.tv/Joystiq for a chance to chat with the developers behind Divinity: Original Sin and Cosmic Star Heroine.
Where can you watch these streams? Right here in this post! Want to chat with us? Go to Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
If you want to follow along with our E3 streams, here is our complete schedule for Wednesday, June 17th:
2:30PM ET/11:30AM PT: Divinity: Original Sin with Larian Studios. Larian’s RPG was a cult hit on PC in 2014. It’s making its way to PS4 and Xbox One this year.
3PM ET/12PM PT: Cosmic Star Heroine with Zeboyd Games. Zeboyd’s been making classically styled RPGs for years, but Cosmic Star Heroine looks like its most ambitious work yet.
[We’re playing all games in 720p via OBS.]
Amazon’s delivery drones could be in the air within a year
Commercial drone operations like Amazon’s highly-touted delivery service could commence in about a year, according to a senior official from the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker told a congressional committee on Wednesday the necessary regulations for commercial UAVs to operate in public airspace will “be in place within a year.” That’s way shorter than the 2017 start date that the FAA originally figured on. And when the rules are finally settled on, Amazon will be ready. “We’d like to begin delivering to our customers as soon as it’s approved,” Paul Misener, Amazon’s VP of global public policy, testified at the hearing. “We will have it (the technology) in place by the time any regulations are ready. We are working very quickly.”
Amazon debuted the delivery drone idea way back in 2013 and began lobbying for FAA acceptance. This February, the FAA proposed that drones be allowed to operate only during daylight hours at a maximum height of 500 feet while staying within the pilot’s line of sight. However, since the regulations hadn’t been set in place at that point, Amazon had to take its initial flight tests to Canada. However, the FAA’s position has changed rapidly since March making it easier for companies to acquire operational permission and giving Amazon the ok to conduct drone tests (in the continental US no less). At this pace, the company may not need to move forward with its proposed crowdsourced delivery scheme.
[Image Credit: Associated Press]
Filed under: Amazon
Source: Reuters
AIVAnet 