Google’s high-speed Fiber internet goes live in Salt Lake City
If Google’s experimental Fiber plans pan out, 24 locations across the US will be able to try it out. You know which place doesn’t have to wait for that to happen, though? Salt Lake City, Utah. The service officially went live in the state capital at 9AM on August 24th. Fiber’s initial rollout covers roughly 112 blocks from 100 South to 800 South between 400 West and 1300 East, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Google even launched a portal where you can check if your address is within that area. Even if it’s not, you might not have to wait that long anyway — the company said the rest of the city will get access to Fiber within the coming months.
To refresh your memory, Google’s Gigabit internet will set you back $70 a month — $50 if you only want a 100Mbps connection for some reason. A Gigabit connection bundled with a TV service will cost you double at $140 a month. No matter which option you choose, though, you won’t ever have to deal with data caps, and you can add a home phone for an additional $10 a month.
Source: Google Fiber, The Salt Lake Tribune
‘Titanfall 2’ multiplayer will be tweaked after fan feedback
Last weekend Titanfall 2 opened its doors for the first of two multiplayer test weekends, allowing fans to play an alpha version of the game for free on Xbox One and PS4. While it achieved a goal of testing out some of Respawn Entertainment’s revamped cloud-based server technology (and will be followed by the second test this weekend running Friday through Sunday), players also had a lot of feedback about how the game plays.
In the original game, the eponymous mech drops were an ability that charged both passively and based on kills, a shift from the usual Call of Duty-style killstreak rewards that only reward actions. In the test last weekend, the passive charging was gone, but Respawn says it’s coming back. It’s unclear if the passive charging of a pilot’s Titan Meter will be implemented for the upcoming test, but in a blog post multiplayer game designer Steven DeRose explains “We still want objectives to be the fastest way to get a Titan, but the goal of every player being guaranteed a Titan per match hasn’t changed.” Other changes that should feel familiar to Titanfall vets include making air and wall-running speed faster and letting players retain more speed while wall-running.
Those are the kinds of abilities that separated the first game from its shooter competition when it launched, and it’s important to nail them again this time around — especially since Call of Duty has included them in games released post-Titanfall. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any word on more integration with AI bots in most game modes, which is different from the original.
Still, some players are concerned, particularly given an interview with ShackNews where game director Steve Fukuda remarked on an intentional decision to slow things down “just a touch” from the original game, and maps designed around “more fundamental” lanes of movement. DeRose’s blog post says the team will showcase other map types soon, including some traditional maps. The HUD and Titans themselves will also undergo significant tweaks before the game is released October 28th on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Source: Titanfall 2 MP Tech Test and Your Feedback, MP Tech Test Successes
WhatsApp to Share User Data With Facebook to Show Targeted Ads
WhatsApp has updated its terms of service and privacy policy to reflect that it will begin sharing select data with Facebook, including the phone number a user verifies during the registration process and the last time a user accessed the service. Facebook, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, will use the information to provide better friend suggestions and targeted ads and offers to users of its own service.
By coordinating more with Facebook, we’ll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp. And by connecting your phone number with Facebook’s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them. For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone you’ve never heard of.
WhatsApp ensures that nothing users share on the service, including messages, photos, and account information, will be publicly shared onto Facebook for others to see. The updated terms and privacy policy also state that the new data sharing measures will help WhatsApp more accurately count unique users, fight spam and abuse, and improve the overall experience of its messaging service.
Existing WhatsApp users can choose not to share their account information with Facebook. On the iPhone app, before you tap “Agree” to accept the updated terms, tap on “Read,” scroll to the bottom, and toggle the control. Users that agree to the updated terms also have an additional 30 days to opt out by going to Settings > Account > Share My Account Info and toggling the appropriate control in the app.
WhatsApp remains committed to providing private communications. All messages sent through the service are not stored on its servers, and end-to-end encryption has been in place since April on the latest version of the app. The updated terms and privacy policy do not affect these security measures.
In a new FAQ about its updated terms and privacy policy, WhatsApp says it will still not allow third-party banner ads on the service.
WhatsApp is free on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone.
Tags: Facebook, WhatsApp
Discuss this article in our forums
Telstra Joins T-Mobile in Offering Data-Free Apple Music
Australia’s largest carrier Telstra has announced that all of its Go Mobile plans now include data-free Apple Music streaming as of this week, enabling customers to listen to songs and albums without tapping into their monthly data allowance. Telstra’s FairPlay policy regarding unreasonable usage applies. In tandem, it continues to offer free six-month Apple Music subscriptions to new customers.
Telstra also now includes a three-month subscription to popular streaming services Netflix, Stan, and Presto on select mobile plans. Additionally, all plans include a free 200GB OneDrive cloud storage subscription, free and unlimited Telstra Air hotspot data, and a NRL and AFL 2016 Footy Season Pass.
Many carriers offer free subscriptions to services like Apple Music or Spotify to attract new customers. Telstra became the first carrier to gift Apple Music with a mobile plan when it offered a 12-month subscription for free last August. German carrier Deutsche Telekom is similarly planning to offer new customers six months of Apple Music service for free starting in September, according to a recent report.
When the six-month Apple Music subscription ends, Telstra will automatically charge customers $11.99 per month until the plan is canceled, but data-free streaming will continue. The carrier has posted an Apple Music FAQ with more information about the offer, including how to sign up.
Tags: Australia, Apple Music, Telstra
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple is reportedly developing a social video app
Deep in the bowels of Apple HQ, the company is reportedly developing a new video-editing and sharing application. According to Bloomberg, it’s similar to Snapchat, allowing iPhone users to quickly record video, apply filters and scribble messages on top with their finger. The app is being optimized for one-handed use, a source tells the site, with a workflow that you can plow through — from shooting to sharing — in under a minute.
Snapchat and Instagram are hugely popular, and Apple wants to accommodate this sort of casual sharing in its own software. Bloomberg says it’s being developed as a standalone app, but could end up as a feature in the existing camera application. The report has stressed, however, that the app may never see the light of day. Apple has killed projects before while they were still in development, and could do the same here if the app doesn’t meet its expectations. The team is said to be striving for a 2017 release, and any delays could also result in its cancellation.
Bloomberg’s report also mentions an improved “proactive assistance” feature which, separate to the new video app, would help people to stay in touch with their closest friends and family. The company is trying “to make sharing and connectivity with contacts a system-wide feature,” the publication writes, and would include “single panels” where you could review all of your texts and emails from a specific person. Its release is dependent on approval from Apple’s internal privacy team, however.
Apple’s challenge is to develop software that’s relevant and appealing to iPhone users. The company has long-struggled to build market-leading applications and services — it’s why most people stuff the pre-installed iOS apps into a folder (or, now, remove them from their device entirely.) Hardware is but one piece of the smartphone puzzle — to keep millions of people smitten with the iPhone, it needs to build compelling apps too.
Via: The Verge
Source: Bloomberg
Report: YouTube will fend off Facebook with social features
If you want to post a video on the web several years ago, YouTube was the go-to spot. Now, Google’s video network is feeling the pinch with strong video features from Facebook, Twitter and others, and has decided to push back, according to Venture Beat. The feature, internally code-named “Backstage,” will reportedly allow users to share photos, short posts, links, polls and videos with subscribers. Much like a Facebook timeline, items will be listed from newest to oldest and posted in subscribers’ feeds.
Backstage, which will appear as a channel tab, gives producers a new way to share content with fans. But it will also allow subscribers to comment with (Backstage-only) video, photos and other “rich replies,” according to VB. That’s along the same lines as Twitter, which supports links, videos and GIFs. It could also open it up to more abuse, though it’s hard to top a YouTube comments section for that.
YouTube is still by far the most popular video site on the net. Facebook recently reported that users watch 100 million hours of video per day, but YouTube reportedly serves up over 500 million hours daily. There’s often not much reason to linger on YouTube (other than watching more videos), though, so the site is likely hoping the social aspect will convince viewers to stick around longer. Backstage is expected to arrive by the end of the year, starting with select, influential YouTube accounts.
Source: Venture Beat
WhatsApp will start sharing your data with Facebook
WhatsApp announced a major change that we suspected was coming today by adding terms that allow it to share user data with its parent company Facebook.
Back in January, code showed up suggesting a closer sharing of data between the two companies, and now it’s arrived whether you wanted it or not. Privacy advocates will clearly be concerned about the sharing of data between two of the worlds’ most popular social services, and the two largest messengers.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, says it needs to share data to test out new features in the next couple of months, like “ways for you to communicate with businesses that matter to you” and “hearing from your bank about a potentially fraudulent transaction, or getting notified by an airline about a delayed flight.”
It’s worth noting the details included in the agreement: your phone number, profile name and photo, online status and status message, last seen status, and receipts. That means read receipts and sent receipts, if the option is switched on. It doesn’t include the content of your messages.
If it all makes you a bit uneasy, try not to worry, it’s just the biggest social company in the world working out better ways to target its ads — and there is a way to opt out, but it could be easier.
Via: The New York Times
Source: WhatsApp
The first self-driving taxis are cruising around Singapore
Uber announced that it will start self-driving trials in Pittsburgh later this month, but it was beat to the punch by a much less well-known company. Starting today, nuTonomy will offer rides to Singapore residents in specially equipped Mitsubishi i-MiEV or Renault Zoe electric vehicles. As with Uber, passengers won’t be alone with a robotic driver like Silicon Valley’s hapless Jared. A nuTonomy engineer will be along to monitor the vehicle, and a safety driver will “assume control if needed to ensure passenger comfort and safety,” the company wrote.
The rides will be free to start with, and the company will stick to an area called “One-North” for the tests. Municipal officials designated the 2.5-square-mile residential zone specifically for self-driving trials in an effort to reduce congestion in the city, where 5.5 million residents live in a region about three times the size of Boston. Pick-ups and drop-offs will also be limited to certain areas to avoid traffic concerns.
nuTonomy, which spun off from MIT in 2013, equipped its EVs with six Lidar sets and two cameras to detect obstacles, lanes and traffic light changes. Just a few dozen passengers have signed up so far, but the company says it will open the trials to thousands of users in the coming months. The aim, it says, is to “collect and evaluate valuable data related to software system performance, vehicle routing efficiency, the vehicle booking process, and the overall passenger experience.”
With the city’s cooperation, other companies, including Delphi, plan their own self-driving tests in Singapore. However, nuTonomy appears to be the farthest along, and plans to launch its robotic service there as early as 2018. There are still some bugs to work out, though. An Associated Press reporter noted that the safety driver had to hit the brakes when a parked vehicle moved suddenly into the oncoming lane.
Via: Associated Press
Viveport Development Awards offers cash prizes for VR apps
How do you attract developers to a fledgling virtual reality content delivery service for a VR headset that already has a shopping platform? With half a million dollars in cash and prizes, of course! Today, HTC announced the Viveport Development Awards: a contest with a $500,000 prize pool designed to attract developers the HTC’s global VR app store.
Viveport’s Development Awards is open to any developer that submits an app to the platform from today, and five finalists each will be selected for each category: the Viveport “pillars” of Discover, Create, Connect, Watch and Shop. From there, a panel of judges will pick the grand prize winners — though HTC says all of the final nominees will be awarded prizes.
The contest also kicks off Viveport’s Developer Beta and community pages — which contestants will need to use to submit their projects. With any luck, the awards program will help Viveport build a strong library for the consumer launch later this year. If not? Well, at least we’ll always have Steam.
Source: HTC Viveport
Harvard’s Octobot is a soft, fully autonomous robot
See that pretty translucent octopus up there? That’s not a toy or a real (but strange) creature from the deep: it’s a soft robot developed by a team of Harvard University researchers, and it’s completely autonomous. “Octobot’s” components, including its fuel storage system, are all 3D printed. But since it’s nowhere near the first squishy robot out there — other Harvard researchers created their own in the past — what’s truly impressive is the system that gives it the ability to move on its own.
Octobot uses a microfluidic logic circuit designed by team member George Whitesides to control the reaction that turns small amounts of hydrogen peroxide into large amounts of gas. It’s in charge of starting up and stopping the reaction and of pumping the gas into the machine’s tentacles. The current version of Octobot is only around the size of an SD card and can only wiggle its tentacles. But the team plans to build one that can actually crawl and swim like a real octopus. One of the researchers, Engineering and Applied Sciences Professor Robert Wood, said “[t]his research demonstrates that [scientists] can easily manufacture the key components of a simple, entirely soft robot, which lays the foundation for more complex designs.”
Source: Harvard
AIVAnet 