The EU might force Netflix and Amazon to show more local titles
The European Union is rewriting its broadcasting rules, and according to Reuters, it could end up requiring streaming services operating in the region to change their practices. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and similar companies could be forced to ensure that EU-made shows and movies make up 20 percent of their catalogues in member countries. They’d also have to prominently feature those titles on their websites and apps. But that’s not all: the commission wants to oblige them to make financial contributions towards the production of European shows, as well.
That would put these services in the same category as broadcasters like the BBC, which already invest up to 20 percent of their revenue in EU-made shows and movies. Reuters says video-on-demand companies only invest around one percent of their revenue at this point in time. According to Financial Times, Netflix told the commission that forcing streaming services to adhere to a quota could lead to companies snapping up cheap titles. “An obligation to carry content to meet a numerical quota may cause new players to struggle to achieve a sustainable business model,” it said in its response to the EU. Also, the requirement to feature European titles would mess up its algorithm that offers personalized recommendations.
Besides everything we’ve mentioned above, the EU wants YouTube to have stricter age barriers in place to prevent minors from accessing videos meant for adults. Further — and people might actually like this one — the commission wants to ban geo-blocking, which makes some titles available in certain regions and not in others. The EU is slated to unveil the proposal’s first draft on May 25th, so we’ll likely hear more about its contents next week.
Source: Reuters, Financial Times
Google will stop you hitting backspace in Chrome by mistake
Have you ever filled out a form in Chrome, only to hit the backspace key accidentally? Suddenly you’re catapulted to the previous page in your browsing history, losing everything you had just submitted. It’s not a deal-breaker, but frustrating all the same. To help, Google is experimenting with a version of Chrome that removes the ability to go “back” with the backspace key. The change was implemented a couple of weeks ago, but seems to be limited to the Canary version of Chrome. Indeed, I was able to replicate the change on Canary (Mac), but not the public channel.
On a Chrome Code Reviews page, Google explains that 0.04 percent of page views are currently triggered by going back with the backspace button. In addition, 0.005 percent of page views are from people using the backspace key after a form interaction. “Years of user complaints have been enough that we think it’s the right choice to change this given the degree of pain users feel by losing their data, and because every platform has another keyboard combination that navigates back.” Inevitably, some users aren’t happy with the change. Especially those that are careful or nimble-fingered enough to have never experienced such a backspace snafu.
One user responded in a Chromium bug tracker thread: “How is someone who grew up in terminal times expected to navigate back when using a two-button mouse? Are you suggesting that the only remaining options are Alt-Left (a two-hand key combo for that I have to move my mouse hand towards the keyboard, and then back) and the back button left of the omnibox (for which I may have to move the mouse across much of the whole display height/width, and then back)?”
Should there be a wide-scale backlash, it’s possible Google will reconsider the tweak. In its Chrome Code Review, for instance, the company has anticipated how many will react: “We’re doing this via a flag so that we can control this behavior should there be sufficient outcry.” So what do you think? Good move, or a feature that shouldn’t be removed from Chrome?
Via: The Register
Source: Chromium Code Reviews
Google patents human flypaper for self-driving car crashes
Self-driving cars are pretty smart, but it’s inevitable that one will eventually hit a pedestrian. To avoid any nasty injuries, Google has patented a simple but crazy solution: an adhesive coating that would stick humans to the hood like flypaper. There’s no guarantee that such a system will be used — Google stressed this to the San Jose Mercury News — but it does hint at the company’s crazier, off-the-wall thinking. The patent describes an “eggshell-like” coating that would protect the adhesive layer during normal driving conditions. Only the force dealt by a collision would be enough to break it, catching the pedestrian near-instantaneously.
“We hold patents on a variety of ideas. Some of those ideas later mature into real products and services, some don’t.”
Such a system would soften the initial blow, but more importantly, it would also stop pedestrians from being thrown forward by the vehicle. Secondary impacts, caused by hitting the tarmac or another object, such as a car, can often be just as dangerous, if not more so than the original collision. Google says its adhesive layer could be applied to the hood, front bumper and side panels to ensure the human is “caught” properly at different angles. It might sound silly, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Google was already testing this concept with some of its bubbly self-driving cars.
Via: San Jose Mercury News
Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office
ICYMI: Rubik’s phone, underwater bomb bot and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: The University of Bristol’s Interaction Group made a phone prototype out of small cubes that can be flipped around to form different shapes. Saab created an underwater robot to help detect explosives. And Colorado State University students made a real life Mario Kart game with carts that we are dying to experience for ourselves.
In case you want to share it with friends, the video for the bottle opener that automatically messages your friends when you open a beer is here. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Up close with the Moto G4 Plus, the best from a puzzling new lineup
I’ve been spending my time here at Google I/O hoping to catch a Google exec pull a supersecret VR headset out of a coat pocket. Instead I ran into one using Motorola’s new Moto G4 Plus — the highest-end of the three new Moto G models announced earlier this week. Said exec was surprisingly cool about letting me give a personal phone the full hands-on treatment too. After a few minutes of play time, I can say that Motorola once again has an impressive device on its hands. It’s too bad, though, that a confusing lineup of Moto Gs suggest Motorola’s priorities have shifted in some unsettling ways.
First things first: To quickly recap, the G4 Plus runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with an octa-core Snapdragon 617 chipset, and either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. The pricier 4GB model is paired with either 32GB or 64GB of storage, while the lower-specced version has only 16GB of storage. It’s a good thing, then, that the microSD slot takes cards as large as 128GB. This particular Plus was a 4GB/64GB model, making it a terribly snappy little machine. Swiping through home screens, launching apps and some furious multitasking all felt instantaneous.
Two software factors probably helped here: Motorola once again used a near-stock build of Android, and fortunately the exec who loaned me his phone hadn’t yet loaded up his device with many apps. This level of performance would’ve been flagship quality not that long ago, and now we’re squeezing it out of a mostly midrange phone. The overall experience — complete with mostly clean Android and useful extras like an always-on display — make the G4 Plus a compelling choice compared with other Snapdragon 617-enabled phones, such as the HTC A9.
And, speaking as a phone-design nerd, the slim G4 Plus actually feels pretty great in hand. It’s an entirely plastic phone with a nicely textured removable back (hiding a nonremovable 3,000mAh battery), and its surprisingly skinny frame reminds me a bit of the Galaxy S4. That’s not to say, however, that every design choice Motorola made works well. Consider the square fingerprint sensor below the bright, 5.5-inch TFT LCD screen: It looks like a home button but doesn’t work as one, making the placement feel odd and clumsy. This isn’t something the old Motorola would have done.
At the very least, the 16-megapixel camera seems impressive. Besides the fingerprint sensor, this camera is the only difference between the G4 Plus and the regular G4, which instead comes with a 13-megapixel camera. DxOMark puts it slightly ahead of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in terms of image quality. I wasn’t able to snap photos with this phone — mostly because I didn’t want to accidentally look into this guy’s camera roll — but the phase-detect and laser autofocus worked remarkably well.
So yes, the Moto G4 Plus is a fine phone. It’s also part of a confusing trio of Moto Gs, including one — the Moto G Play — that felt noticeably less powerful than the others. Potential Moto E replacement? Maybe, though Motorola said earlier this year it has “no plans to retire” the E. What was always nice about the Moto G was how uncomplicated its ambitions were: If you wanted an inexpensive, undeniably good Android phone, the Moto G was your best choice. That clarity is now gone. You’ll be able to get a good Moto G, or a better Moto G or a slightly worse Moto G.
It’s a sign of pragmatism, I suppose: The company can reach different customers with different needs, but it’s also a sign that Motorola has lost some of the focus that once made it so special. With any luck, I’m totally wrong. Maybe everything is great under Lenovo, and Motorola President Rick Osterloh’s return to Google doesn’t mean the company’s vision has been muddled. We’ll see.
For all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2016, follow along here.
Global Smartphone Market Grows in Q1 2016 as iPhone Share Shrinks to 14%
Apple’s global smartphone market share fell to 14.8 percent in the first quarter of 2016, down from 17.9 percent in the same period the previous year, despite a 3.9 percent growth in overall smartphone sales compared to Q1 2015, according to Gartner (via DigiTimes).
The number of smartphones delivered to end users in Q1 totalled 349 million globally, compared to 336 in the same period in 2015. Apple shipped 51.6 million iPhones to maintain its number two spot in the top five largest makers, while Samsung reached unit sales of 81.2 million to maintain its position as number one. The figures show Samsung extended its lead over Apple in the same period with a 23.2 percent market share, despite a slight decline from 24.1% in Q1 2015.
Oppo had the best performance in the first quarter of 2016, moving into the number 4 position among the top-five smartphone vendors with unit sales growth of 145%. Like Huawei and Xiaomi, Oppo saw strong growth in China, taking share from the likes of Lenovo, Samsung and Yulong, Gartner indicated.
The overall growth in smartphone sales was put down to a demand for low-cost handsets in emerging markets and more affordable 4G promotion plans globally.
In a separate note disclosed by research firm IDC yesterday, more Google Chromebooks were sold in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2016 than Apple’s entire Mac line.
Apple’s Mac shipments are estimated to have been around 1.76 million in Q1 this year, according to an IDC analyst who spoke to The Verge, while combined estimates for Dell, HP, and Lenovo put the number of low-cost Chromebooks sold at 2 million in the same quarter.
IDC put the Chromebook’s sales growth down to their appeal in the education sector, with wide uptake across K-12 schools in the United States. The milestone also comes at a time when Mac sales have held steady while PC shipments have seen an overall decline, making the news more of a concern for Microsoft as it tries to maintain its dominance in the low-cost laptop market.
The research firm also predicted a “modest rebound” over the coming months as buyers consider transitioning to Windows 10 and a continued increase Chromebook sales.
Tags: IDC, Gartner
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Uber Enters Race to Perfect Driverless Vehicle Technology
Uber has announced it is currently testing self-driving car technology with a view to completely remove the need for drivers from its ride-hailing service.
According to a statement by the company posted online yesterday, the initial testing phase is being conducted on the streets of Pittsburgh, using a hybrid Ford Fusion fitted with various sensors including radar, laser scanners and cameras.
The test vehicle from Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center (ATC) collects mapping data as it travels, while a trained driver monitors operations in the car at all times.
The driverless project is being carried out in partnership with Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. Uber says it is pursuing the goal of inducting autonomous vehicles into its fleet by 2020.
Real-world testing is critical to our efforts to develop self-driving technology. Self-driving cars have the potential to save millions of lives and improve quality of life for people around the world. 1.3 million people die every year in car accidents — 94% of those accidents involve human error. In the future we believe this technology will mean less congestion, more affordable and accessible transportation, and far fewer lives lost in car accidents. These goals are at the heart of Uber’s mission to make transportation as reliable as running water — everywhere and for everyone.
Uber joins an accelarating industry race for the mainstream introduction of self-driving cars, with Tesla already developing the technology and multiple Chinese firms also making headway.
There have been indications suggesting Apple is exploring autonomous vehicles for its own car project, codenamed “Titan”, but sources say the first car it releases will not be driverless, with that functionality perhaps coming at a later date.
Tag: Uber
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Nintendo 2DS review – CNET
The Good The Nintendo 2DS is the most affordable portable system for a younger gamer or for those not interested in 3D visuals. It packs in a 4GB SD card and gives players access to the 3DS’ impressive library of cartridge-based and downloadable games. Best of all, it comes with a free download code for Mario Kart 7.
The Bad The 2DS feels cheap and has only one speaker, which sounds a little lacking. Though it’s designed for children, there are a few vulnerable spots on the 2DS, and it might not survive a bad fall. By today’s standards, its screens feel too small.
The Bottom Line With a new low price, the 2DS offers a huge array of compelling games and makes for a great entry-level system for uninitiated first-time gamers.
Remember the Nintendo 2DS? Yeah, that little wedge-shaped portable console without all the bells and whistles the 3DS XL has? It’s now even cheaper.
Starting May 20, the price of the 2DS will drop from $100 down to $80 — and that’s still including a free download code for Mario Kart 7. That’s 38 percent less than the $130 price at which the 2DS debuted in October 2013.
It’s important to reinforce that the 2DS is Nintendo’s no-frills, entry-level portable. The 2DS plays nearly all games for the Nintendo 3DS platform, but it can’t display anything in 3D. It also has the smallest screens of any of the current DS models, and it doesn’t have a great-sounding speaker.
Moreover, there’s no hinge to keep it closed, so you’ll want to protect it with a case. It also feels cheaply made and likely wouldn’t survive a decent fall. But if you can look past those issues, I think the 2DS is perfect for younger players.
Editors’ note: This review has been updated from its original publication in October 2013 to reflect a major price drop and changes in the competitive landscape.
Google Play Awards 2016 winners: Best Android apps and games of the year
During its Google I/O developers conference, the software giant hosted the inaugural Google Play Awards, a celebration of the most outstanding achievements in apps and games over the last year.
The winners were selected by the Google Play team itself and unlike other app awards that occur around the end of each calendar year, they include some obscure or innovative applications.
That’s why it’s of particular interest to Android device owners who are looking for something to download that’s a bit different. So here’s a run down of the Google Play Awards 2016 winners and what they offer.
READ: The Google I/O 2016 announcements that matter: Assistant, Home, Android N, Instant Apps, Allo, Duo and Daydream
Google Play Awards 2016: Best app
Houzz
Free from here
If you’re looking to redesign your home or have recently moved, Houzz gives access to millions of pictures of interior design ideas, plus places to buy furniture and fittings. It also has millions of design professionals connected to contact and share thoughts with. And it even lets you place and draw objects onto photos so you can see what a specific item would look like in your house.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best early adopter
World Around Me
Free from here
World Around Me uses augmented reality to help you find places in your current location. It uses your phone’s camera to see your surroundings and overlays virtual signboards and directions over your view to help you get to where you want to go, be that a restaurant, cash point, shop, train station or more.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best families app
Thinkrolls 2
£2.29 from here
Educational app Thinkrolls 2 is a puzzler for kids aged three to nine. A child must navigate cute characters through increasingly more complex mazes, using logic and basic physics along the way. There’s no better way to learn than when you’re having fun to boot.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best go global
Pokémon Shuffle Mobile
Free from here
Pokémon Shuffle has been available on other platforms before but you can get it on mobile too. It’s a match-three game starring everybody’s favourite collectable monsters, but the twist is that by doing so you get to battle and collect other Pokémon along the way.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best game
Clash Royale
Free from here
Based in the same world as Supercell’s incredibly popular and addictive Clash of Clans, Clash Royale is a real-time multiplayer card battle game. You build up a deck of cards featuring the Clans characters and use them to defeat your friends and foes online.
Google Play Awards 2016: Most innovative
NYT VR
Free from here
New York Times
With Google Cardboard already available and the Daydream platform on its way, VR is becoming massive in 2016. NYT VR has daily virtual reality video stories from the New York Times, presenting news in a more immersive way.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best use of material design
Robinhood
Free from here
Stock market app Robinhood isn’t just free to download it also offers free trading. That means you don’t have to pay a commission on buying and selling stocks, unlike with other services. It’s also a clean and simple app to use. Of course, you’ll need a decent knowledge of trading to get anywhere, but the app itself is lovely.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best standout indie
Alphabear
Free from here
Word puzzle game Alphabear has been incredibly popular here in Pocket-lint Towers. You spell words through the letter bricks on screen which turn into bears when successfully chosen. Select words next to each other and they turn into bigger bears that score well. Get a specific score and you win a digital bear as a collectable. Addictive fun.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best use of Google Play Game services
Table Tennis Touch
£2.29 from here
Table Tennis Touch is a beautiful and simple ping pong game for mobile that gets fiendishly difficult as you progress. There is a great career modes, plus mini games and multiplayer online action. You can take on friends over the net or locally.
Google Play Awards 2016: Best standout startup
Hopper
Free from here
Hooper analyses flight prices and presents the cheapest when you next want to book a trip. It can also be set up to send you a notification if the flight you’re looking for drops in price or is available for cheaper elsewhere. It also has quicktap booking.
The FCC is getting tons of net neutrality complaints
The FCC has unveiled a new online portal where anybody can see the kind of complaints people have been submitting to the commission. And according to the info on the website, the FCC has received 20,991 net neutrality complaints since the rules took effect on June 12th, 2015. That’s an average of 61 submissions a day and is eclipsed only by the number of billing-related reports under the internet category. It’s not really that surprising, considering the agency got 2,000 complaints a month after the rules took effect.
That number includes unverified submissions, and as Ars Technica notes, it’s not clear how many instances actually violate the core net neutrality rules. But it definitely sends a message that people — who tend to go straight to the FCC, because companies are actually required to respond to them after 30 days — are dissatisfied with their ISPs’ and carriers’ services.
While 20,991 is a sizable chunk of all the internet-related submissions the FCC got (see pie chart below), it’s still quite small compared to all the phone-related concerns the commission fielded. Over the past year, the FCC received 169,975 telemarketing-related reports and 78,876 submissions complaining about robocalls.
Via: Ars Technica
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