LGBTQ site AfterEllen struck down by cruel modern media climate
The website AfterEllen went live in 2002, producing content for and written by lesbian and bisexual women. Since then, other sites like Autostraddle launched aimed at a similar audience and mainstream sites like The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and NBC have all launched LGBT verticals. But earlier this week, AfterEllen editor-in-chief Trish Bendix posted that she was getting laid off and the site would be effectively shut down today after 14 years of publishing because it wasn’t profitable. So goes another independent voice in a media landscape desperate for the digital advertising dollars Google and Facebook are scooping up in massive portions.
Evolve Media, the company that bought AfterEllen from Viacom in 2014, deemed that it wasn’t profitable and gutted the site’s staff, with future content produced by a skeleton crew of freelancers. After public backlash from its community, a statement by general manager Emrah Kovacoglu of TotallyHer Media, a brand under Evolve Media, tried to calm the storm. But her only assurance was that the archives would stay up and that some content would continue to come out at some point.
By closing @afterellen, @EvolveMedia_LLC has taken away a lifeline to millions of queer people and creators. Yeah I’m mad. #AfterEllen
— Dana Piccoli (@DanaPiccoli) September 21, 2016
So sad to hear about AfterEllen. It was my safe space for years when I was too scared to be myself out loud. Thank you for everything.
— Kaitlyn Alexander (@realisticsay) September 20, 2016
The closure came as a shock to many. Twitter testimonials credit the site for being a crucial to self-exploration and finding community, especially in the early days of the Internet. But just as surprised was Autostraddle’s editor-in-chief Marie Lyn Bernard, known as Riese, who never thought they would outlive AfterEllen — especially after it got bought by a big conglomerate: “Plus, they had Viacom! They got bought by Totally Her! They had that corporate money! But corporate money isn’t the answer, is it? Even with that money, they couldn’t turn a profit.”
AfterEllen editor-in-chief Bendix lays the blame at the feet of Evolve Media: Two years after purchasing the site, she said, they pulled the plug after finding it was “not as profitable as moms and fashion.” That they could not secure the marketing funding to make the site financially feasible. Which is also an indictment of the advertising industry’s failure to appeal to the queer female audience. The website’s founder, Sarah Warn, echoed that critique on Twitter, noting that they’re ignoring a demographic with money: Lesbians tend to earn more money than heterosexual women, who could be the moms into fashion Bendix was talking about.
Regardless, money was central to Evolve Media’s decision to gut AfterEllen. As TotallyHer general manager Kovacoglu told Mashable in an email, “The site was not profitable and Evolve is very committed to running profitable enthusiast sites. Profitability is not something that has been easy to achieve in our industry recently.”
She’s right: Most online ad money isn’t going to media outlets or even their parent corporations. An astonishing 65 percent of the total digital advertising pie in 2015 — $38.5 billion out of almost $60 billion — goes to five tech companies: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Twitter. Without advertising revenue, sites still serving specific audiences like Autostraddle have turned to fundraising from its community through premium memberships. Even then, its editor-in-chief Riese said in a post mourning AfterEllen, “we’re often on the brink of not existing anymore.”
If Autostraddle ever goes the way of its predecessor, there will still be Buzzfeed LGBT and HuffPost Queer Voices to cover news. But these newer sub-sites don’t fully serve the same audience. As Heather Dockray at Mashable writes, “LGBTQ verticals in mainstream sites exist partially to educate and inform cis and straight communities, queer-focused websites maintain more of an internal dialogue. It’s great and profoundly important to watch Buzzfeed debunk LGBTQ myths — but on sites like AfterEllen and Autostraddle, those myths don’t need to be enumerated. They’re understood to be fiction.”
That’s assuming the umbrella sites hosting those verticals survive. Even Buzzfeed had to tighten its belt earlier this year as it slashed its expected revenue in 2016 from $500 million to $250 million. As the independent internet loses ground to the tech giants scooping up most of the digital ad dollars, news that wasn’t lost on Buzzfeed itself, small sites are becoming increasingly endangered. Nor is the irony of unique voices priced out by universally-appealing megasites lost on writers, comparing it to the gentrification wiping out lesbian bars and other queer spaces in major cities. AfterEllen today, which site tomorrow?
Via: The Daily Beast, Mashable
Source: Trish Bendix (Tumblr)
Xiaomi’s Android TV box showed up at a Walmart for $69
It looks like you may be able to check out Google’s Android TV soon. Since Xiaomi’s Mi Box was announced at Google I/O this year, multiple reports have speculated that the company’s set top box will be available for a sub-$100 price soon. It appears those guesses may have been true: some Mi Box units have been reportedly spotted at Walmart going for just $69.
@jasonhowell @androidshow @Ohthatflo @ronxo saw this Mi Box at Walmart today for $69. Was this released yet? pic.twitter.com/AsuNZeU5oJ
— George Garrett (@garrettdotcom) September 23, 2016
According to a picture posted by Twitter user George Garrett, at least three units of the Mi Box were just chilling out on a Walmart shelf. We don’t yet know exactly which outlet of the store this was. The Android-powered set top box will support 4K content at 60 frames per second, HDR video and Google Cast. The latter lets you stream media from your phone, tablet or laptop to your TV. Thanks to its onboard quad-core chip and graphics processor, as well as the Android TV 6.0 software, you’ll also be able to play games pretty decently.
The Mi Box will also ship with a Bluetooth remote control that will support voice commands, and a gaming controller will also be available for you to more intuitively play games with.
Xiaomi has yet to formally announce the Mi Box’s price and availability, and we’ve reached out to the company for comment. Until we hear back though, the picture seems to be genuine and may actually reflect the eventual price of the device. If so, it certainly is a more affordable option than Amazon’s Fire TV, the Roku 4 and the Apple TV, which could make it a compelling alternative.
Via: 9to5Google
Source: George Garrett (Twitter)
Apple Restricts iPhone 7 Reservations to Upgrade Program Members
Apple recently updated the confirmation email it sends to customers who reserve an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus to clarify that in-store reservations are now limited to iPhone Upgrade Program members in the United States.
Apple allows upgraders to reserve an iPhone through its iPhone Upgrade Program reservation system for pick up in store, but many customers were able to bypass the program and pay in full or with carrier financing instead upon arriving at their local Apple retail store.
Old wording:
Can I change to a different form of payment for the iPhone Upgrade Program?
Yes. You can also upgrade your iPhone to carrier financing or purchase it at full price. Ask a Specialist for more information.
New wording:
Can I change from the iPhone Upgrade Program to a different form of payment?
Yes. You must be currently enrolled in the iPhone Upgrade Program, so that you can upgrade your iPhone to carrier financing, or purchase at full price. Ask a Specialist for more information.
MacRumors reader DSTOFEL was one of many customers previously able to reserve an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus online and pay for it outright at an Apple Store without enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program:
I did this last Sunday and it went off without a hitch! I used the iPhone Upgrade Program reservation link to reserve my iPhone 7 at my local Apple Store. I was not a member of the iPhone Upgrade Program at the time and had no plan to join it. I showed up at the store, they had my phone and I just told them I wanted to purchase at full price. Not a problem!
But since the change in wording, it appears that Apple has already turned away some non-upgraders attempting to purchase an iPhone through the Upgrade Program reservation system without signing up for the program.
MacRumors reader vsp attempted to purchase an iPhone 7 for full price last night, for example, but an Apple retail employee allegedly would not let him:
I just tried this earlier today and wasn’t able to purchase one I reserved with a different carrier. According to the clerk, they received notice yesterday that some of the iPhones were reserved for people enrolled in the Upgrade Program and they couldn’t sell to me outright.
While many other MacRumors and Reddit users have faced the same situation since yesterday or so, some customers have still managed to reserve an iPhone and pay in full or with carrier financing. For that reason, your mileage may vary, and non-upgraders are recommended to call their local Apple retail store and request to speak with a manager before placing a reservation.
For its part, Apple’s reservation page has always noted that a 24-month installment loan through Citizens Bank, which finances the iPhone Upgrade Program, is required — this change just cements it. In other countries where the iPhone Upgrade Program does not exist, such as Canada, all customers are able to use Reserve and Pick Up regardless of their payment method of choice.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tags: Reserve and Pickup, iPhone Upgrade Program, Apple retail
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Apple Music Chief Eddy Cue Receives $60 Million Stock Award
Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue, who oversees services like the iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Siri, iCloud, and Apple Maps, received nearly $60 million in company stock earlier this week, as scheduled, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed electronically this week.
Specifically, Cue received 525,000 restricted stock units that vested on September 21 as scheduled, worth $59.6 million based on AAPL’s closing price of $113.55 on Wednesday. The shares represented the final 75% of 700,000 restricted stock units awarded to Cue in November 2011. The first 25% vested on September 21, 2014.
Cue was originally awarded 100,000 RSUs, but the compensation package became 700,000 RSUs when AAPL split 7-for-1 in June 2014.
256,305 shares were withheld by Apple to satisfy the minimum statutory tax withholding requirements on vesting of RSUs. Cue gifted the remaining 268,695 shares that vested, worth approximately $20.2 million, to a family trust as he did when 350,000 of his RSUs, worth $36.1 million at the time, vested in August 2015.
Cue joined Apple in 1989 and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services by Apple CEO Tim Cook in September 2011.
Tags: Eddy Cue, RSUs
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Apple to Offer ‘Spoken Editions’ of Written News on iTunes
Apple is planning on turning news stories and articles from popular news sites into audio podcasts called “Spoken Editions,” reports TechCrunch. Spoken Editions will be short broadcasts that transform content from publishers into spoken word instead of written word, making it possible for customers to listen to their favorite news sites.
An early leak on iTunes suggests Apple has already teamed up with several publishers, including Wired, TIME, and Forbes, offering dedicated “Spoken Edition” sections on company iTunes pages.
Wired, for example, will launch Spoken Editions for “Business,” “Science,” and its homepage. TIME has will offer a Spoken Edition called “The Brief.” Forbes, .Mic, Bustle, Playboy, OZY, and – yep – TechCrunch (which I discovered while browsing our iTunes page, of all things), will have Spoken Editions, it seems, as all popped up for a time on iTunes.
The links to all the publishers’ Spoken Editions have since been pulled, after our discovery and outreach.
Some digging by TechCrunch suggests many of the publishers’ Spoken Edition podcasts were created by SpokenLayer, a company that creates streaming audio and podcasts for media brands using text. SpokenLayer already works with a host of publishers like Forbes, Huffington Post, TIME, Reuters, and more, with audio recordings distributed on iTunes, SoundCloud, and other sources.
Spoken Editions will include audio ads, with revenue shared between the publisher and SpokenLayer, and the company makes an effort to make sure each brand sounds unique. “We make sure Wired sounds like Wired and any other publication sounds like those publications,” SpokenLayer CEO Will Mayo told TechCrunch.
Spoken Editions are set to launch soon, rolling out in early October.
Tags: iTunes, Spoken Editions
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Philips Hue White LED Starter Kit review – CNET
The Good The plain, vanilla version of Philips Hue’s smart LEDs don’t change colors, but they do enjoy all of the benefits of Hue’s well-connected platform. They’re also bright, good looking bulbs with easy-to-use smarts, and you can add extras to your setup for just $15 each.
The Bad At $70, the two-bulb starter kit still comes with a fair share of sticker shock.
The Bottom Line Philips Hue is one of the best-developed DIY smart-home platforms money can buy, and this white-light starter kit is your most affordable entry point. It’s practically a must-buy if you’re serious about smart lighting.
There’s an awful lot to like about Philips Hue’s smart lighting ecosystem. It’s polished. It’s easy to use. It works with just about everything. The only problem? The price. A starter kit with the essential Philips Hue Bridge and three color-changing bulbs costs $200 — a steep point of entry for connected lighting.
Fortunately, that color-changing kit isn’t your only option. For $70, Philips also sells a starter kit with that same Hue Bridge and a pair of plain, soft white smart bulbs. They won’t change colors at all, but you can still automate them to turn on and off or dim up and down, and they’ll work with all of the same third-party services as the rest of the Hue lineup, including Amazon’s Alexa, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT, the Nest Learning Thermostat and more. Plus, given that the Hue Bridge typically sells for about $60 on its own, you’re basically getting them for $5 each if you buy the kit, which is a heck of a deal.
All of that makes the Philips Hue White LED Starter Kit a near must-have for anyone who’s serious about connected lighting and a very safe purchase given how good Philips has been about keeping its bulbs up to date with the latest platforms and products.
Let’s talk light bulbs
If you take a look at the shape of the bulb itself, you’ll see that it’s nice and wide, extending out beyond the heat sink that makes up the bottom half. That gives it a nice, omnidirectional light output that can shine downward if you’re using it in something like a bedside reading lamp. To me, that’s a slight edge over the Lifx White 800 LED. Though the Lifx is a brighter bulb overall, its flat-topped design that falls flush with the base of the bulb prevents the bulb from casting as much downward light as it should.
The Philips Hue White LED does a great job of casting light out evenly in all directions.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The Philips bulb also dims exceptionally well, going all the way down to 0.9 percent brightness at its minimum setting (about 7 lumens). And because it’s using in-bulb dimming smarts as opposed to relying on in-wall dimmer switches, you won’t have to worry about flicker or buzz. Just be sure not to use it with one of those in-wall dimmer switches, as the two dimming mechanisms will clash and cause the bulb to strobe.
Lifx Color 1000 BR30 Wi-Fi LED Smart Bulb review – CNET
The Good The Lifx Color 1000 floodlight LED is an Alexa-compatible smart bulb with full color controls, robust IFTTT support, and a superb design.
The Bad $50 per bulb is still prohibitively expensive, especially since you’ll probably need more than one of them. They also won’t work with Apple HomeKit.
The Bottom Line Prices are still high on these kinds of color-changing LEDs, but this Lifx floodlight is one of the best. It’s worth the splurge if you’re into high-tech novelty lighting.
If money were no object, I’d have Lifx Color 1000 BR30 LEDs all throughout my home. They’re bright, they’re efficient, and they offer better-looking colors than Philips Hue, plus comparable smarts thanks to integrations with the Nest Learning Thermostat, with IFTTT, and with Amazon’s Alexa.
But money is an object, and these LEDs aren’t cheap — 50 bucks each, to be exact, or about £40/AU$65. It’s a lot of money for a light bulb no matter what currency you’re using, and that stops me from recommending them outright (or, you know, filling my house with them). Plus, they don’t work with Apple HomeKit, which might be a deal breaker for the iOS faithful among ye.
Still, these are very good smart bulbs, and a justifiable splurge for owners of the Amazon Echo smart speaker thanks to those Alexa controls. You don’t need these color-changing smart bulbs, but it’s perfectly fine to want them, and fine to buy them, too, if you’re looking for a little more color in your day to day.
The specs are strong with this bulb.
Lifx
As LED floodlights go, the Lifx Color 1000 is flat-out great. With nearly 1,000 lumens at its brightest setting it’s a legitimate upgrade in light output over the kinds of common 65W incandescents you might use it to replace. Bulbs like those typically put out less than 700 lumens.
It’s efficient, too, drawing just 11 watts (oddly even less than the white-light version of this bulb, which doesn’t do colors and isn’t quite as bright). With an 11W power draw, it’ll save you about six or seven dollars per year in energy costs over that 65W bulb, all while putting out significantly more light.
Lifx bulbs are also terrific when it comes to color accuracy, and capable of producing rich, vivid tones at just about every shade. They’re certainly better color-changers than Philips Hue, which struggles to put out true tones of green and cyan due to weak blue diodes.
The “Turn on lights” IFTTT actions for Philips Hue and Lifx LEDs: the Lifx controls go a lot deeper.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
The smarts are on point, as well. The integration with Amazon’s Alexa is particularly strong (I know because I own a couple of Lifx bulbs along with an Amazon Echo smart speaker, and use Alexa to control my lights each and every day). Sync your Lifx account with the virtual assistant in Amazon’s Alexa app, and you’ll be able to ask her to turn things on and off or turn them up and dim them down.
DirecTV Now streaming rumored to supplant satellite by 2020
AT&T is planning to release a DirecTV-branded streaming video service later this year, but according to Bloomberg, it also expects for that to become its primary video platform soon. Earlier this week, its CEO Randall Stephenson confirmed the DirecTV Now launch is still on track for 2016, calling it an exclusively over the top product, with no truck roll, no set-top box or anything else. The report claims that at launch it will be limited to two simultaneous streams, with pricing similar to the $40 – $55 per month PlayStation Vue service.
Randall Stephenson (transcription via Seeking Alpha)
Sure. An MVPD like product. So I think 100 premium channels in a purely over-the-top platform with a completely different cost structure. I mean, this is a very unique cost structure and a very unique platform. We have built this from the ground up. We spent the last year plus developing this platform. And it starts with how does the customer subscribe to the service?
They download an app on their smartphone, their smart TV or their tablet, they subscribe purely digitally, they select their content digitally, they interact with us digitally, the billing is purely an online billing arrangement. This is a very, very low cost customer acquisition product. It is a very low cost to install product meaning the customer has just done it once they downloaded the app. There are no set-top boxes, they are no truck rolls involved in this.
So we are kind of re-platformed all of the cost for this product, and it’s a very, I mean, nominal incremental cost to provision this. So to your point, we had to acquire content rights, and being the largest scale TV provider in the U.S. gave us a lot of opportunity to get a best-in-class cost structure around this content. We’ve been very aggressive about this over the last year.
And we’ve been doing what I would consider some win-win arrangements with the content providers. The content providers, I believe are [indiscernible] referred to it that he is happy with the arrangement we struck. And so you put the different cost structure, kind of a unique position content cost together. And we can’t put together a product that is — I’m going to call it thinner, not thin margins, but thinner than what we’re accustom to. But I’m always willing to take thinner margins, when there is low capital intensity in the product.
So we think we’re going to be able to meet a price point, that’s very, very aggressive in the marketplace. And keep in mind, it’s a product that is integrated with our wireless service. And it’s also integrated with our broadband our home broadband service.
And so to the extent, that is driving additional penetration or further penetration, wireless or driving churn down in wireless, the lifetime value of a customer with this kind of product is actually quite attractive and very positive. So that’s why we’re so excited about it.
While Vue and Sling TV are natural competition, other providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable have launched small tests in offering internet video. If AT&T pushes to replace its satellite TV acquisition and U-verse TV service with a purely over-the-top streaming service, it could be the first major provider to go that route. The projected window is within three to five years, so one way or another, by 2020 you can probably expect easier access to NFL Sunday Ticket.
Source: Bloomberg
Android Central 307: A burning need for Allo
In episode 307, Andrew, Jerry, and Daniel chat about Allo, Google’s smart, AI-powered messaging app. After so much hype, does it live up to our lofty expectations, and does Google capitalize on its ambitious bot strategy?
Plus, replacement Note 7s are here, and with it the “safe” green battery icon. But will it make a difference to Samsung’s battered reputation?
And the new Xperia X Compact is one of the best small phones on the market, but what’s with its $499 price? Come on, Sony.
Finally, Jerry walks us through the things to look for when buying a pair of Bluetooth headphones, which are getting a lot of press since the release of the iPhone 7.
Thanks to this week’s sponsor:
- Harrys: Use promo code AC to save $5 off your first purchase — start shaving smarter.
Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral307.mp3
Unlock your Chromebook using your Android phone with Smart Lock
While the idea that Android is the key to the future is debatable, it can easily be a key to your Chromebook.
Here is a cool Chromebook feature some of us didn’t know about: you can use the Smart Lock feature on your Android phone to enable Smart Lock on your Chromebook! Once set up, as long as your phone is in Bluetooth range, instead of needing to use your password to unlock your Chromebook you can click an icon to sign in via your phone’s credentials. The feature has been around for a while, but it’s really improved and even looks nice in a Google Material way.
A few caveats apply: your phone has to be fully booted, and both the phone and the Chromebook have to be connected to the internet so they can communicate through your Google account. If those two conditions are met, it works reliably and makes things more convenient. Of course, Smart Lock isn’t the most secure way to lock your Chromebook (or your phone) but offering something that’s fairly secure and easy to use is the best way to get folks to lock their devices.
Let’s see how to set it up.
- Make sure your Chromebook and your Android phone are turned on, signed into the same Google account, unlocked, connected to the internet, and that Bluetooth is enabled on both devices. If you haven’t set up Smart Lock for your Android phone, you’ll need to do that first. Any of the methods will work. (Also, make sure only one Chromebook and one phone are turned on in Bluetooth range of each.)
- Open your Chromebook’s settings and scroll down to the bottom. Click Show advanced settings. Scroll down about halfway and find Smart Lock for Chromebook, and click the Set up button.
- Your Chromebook will scan for available Bluetooth devices, and when it finds your Android phone you’ll see it listed with a button to use it. Go ahead and click it.
- On your phone, you’ll see a notification that it was found. Open the notification (nothing will appear) to allow the Chromebook and phone to pair with each other over Bluetooth. Then move back to the Chromebook as suggested.
- A few seconds later you’ll see that everything is setup and you’re ready to give it a try. Click the button to check it out, and your Chromebook is locked and you can click or tap anywhere on your account picture or click the lock icon to sign in.
Instantly, you’ll get an email to your Google account address that lets you know your account has a new device using the Smart Lock feature. If you use a recovery address (and you really should) that address will also get an email. This email tells you which account was used, and which two devices are set up to pass Smart Lock credentials to each other. There’s also a link there if you didn’t do this yourself and something fishy is afoot.
We’ll use device security when it’s this easy. That’s a win all around.
Smart Lock works with multiple Google accounts, too. As long as all the accounts are signed in on the same phone, your Chromebook can sign in using Smart Lock. For managed accounts (like Google Apps or Google Education accounts) the administrator might have to enable it, depending on the policies in effect.
The same inherent security issues with Smart Lock for your phone apply here. This isn’t nearly as safe as signing in manually each time you unlock your Chromebook’s screen. And if someone swipes your phone and your Chromebook, they have one more avenue to try and break into your account. If you ever lose your phone or your Chromebook, you should change your Google account password right away. While not bulletproof on the security front, Smart Lock is miles better than not locking your Chromebook at all. Since it’s this easy to set up and use, people like us will do it. That’s a win for security.
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