Hoaxy visualizes how fake news spreads across social media
We’re at the point where the proliferation of fake news online has had extreme offline consequences. While Google has poured funds into battling misinformation and Facebook has asked its users to rate headlines for truthfulness, Indiana University is going about things a different way. Hoaxy, a project from IU’s Center for Complex Networks and System Research, is a search engine that tracks the spread of fake news stories, visually.
As CNET explains, the tool, currently in beta, indexes 132 sites responsible for writing fake news stories and illustrates how the links travel across social media. Beyond that, it will also keep an eye on sites that serve to further conspiracy theories, like Info Wars does, or those that twist real news stories into wholesale falsehoods.
The “Picklegate” clips start around 70 seconds in.
For example, searching for “pickle jar” brings back 20 results claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton opened a pre-opened jar of pickles to prove how healthy she was on late-night TV. Many come from Alex Jones (above) of Info Wars.
Selecting one, and then hitting “visualize” brings back a graph showing tweets and a timeline of when the story was most active. On the right side of the page is a network map illustrating the source of the link, who’s retweeted it and where it’s picked up the most traction.
The web app can be a bit kludgy at times (it’s a beta after all) but it offers a unique way to look at how propaganda can take over the internet and where it originates from.
Via: CNET
Source: Hoaxy
Shortage of OLED Making Machines Could Potentially Impact Production of 2017 iPhone
Amid rumors suggesting Apple is planning on introducing at least one iPhone model with a flexible OLED display in 2017, Bloomberg has taken a closer look at Japanese company Canon Tokki, the corporation responsible for making the machines that will likely be used to create OLED displays for the iPhone.
Canon Tokki is said to produce nearly all of the machines that make OLED Displays. Each ELVESS OLED machine is actually a vacuum production system that’s 328 feet in length and is used to deposit red, blue, and green pixels on a glass surface using evaporating organic materials.
Canon Tokki has developed key technologies for the production process that have significantly reduced the margin of error, leading to much higher yields that other companies can’t compete with.
According to Bloomberg, Canon Tokki reportedly makes less than 10 machines per year and has two-year backlog due to high-demand, but it is not clear if this will have an impact on Apple. Apple is rumored to be using OLED displays produced by Samsung, and much of the equipment may already be on hand.
Samsung’s own line of smartphones have used OLED displays for several years, but Blooomberg does warn that Samsung may not be able to make enough OLED displays to meet Apple’s demand due to low yield rates.
The potential production bottleneck is raising questions over Apple’s ability to feature OLED displays in next year’s iPhones, and whether the Cupertino, California-based company will be able to line up additional suppliers. The current wait for a machine, which can cost more than 10 billion yen ($85 million) each, is about two years.
“We are doing all we can to increase output and make that wait shorter,” said Chief Executive Officer Teruhisa Tsugami, adding that demand from display makers, including Samsung Display Co., LG Display Co. and Sharp Corp., will remain strong for the next three years.
OLED displays offer superior contrast and better power efficiency for improved battery life compared to traditional LCDs. OLED displays can also be made from flexible plastic and can be made much thinner.
According to rumors, Apple will release at least one iPhone model that uses an OLED display in 2017, but rumors have disagreed on what the display will look like. While some rumors suggest the iPhone 8 will use a curved OLED display that wraps around the edges of the device (similar to the Galaxy S7 Edge), others point towards less dramatic curves, suggesting a flat OLED display that eliminates all bezels for an edge-to-edge design.
Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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Sling AirTV Player Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Sling TV
Before its possible announcement at CES, Sling TV revealed some details about its forthcoming bright-blue-and-white streaming box. Sadly hardware pricing wasn’t one of them. But the AirTV Player box adds live TV capabilities with a built-in antenna rather than necessitating partnerships with traditional over-the-air broadcasters to stream the limited live content they agree to. It also supports all the other Sling TV streaming options, but it won’t require a subscription unless you want to sign up for services other than OTA.
It’s fashionably late to the OTA party, but all your channels and services are unified into a single screen, a priceless convenience for some people. According to the FAQ on the company’s site, the box connects to your TV via HDMI and it’s portable because you can only stream video to a single display at a time. (Based on the box’s aesthetic, I’d say that’s in your teenager’s bedroom. Just my 2 cents.)
The remote supports voice as well, and has dedicated buttons for Netflix and Google; it’ll be interesting to see which Google services it supports, since there’s a gazillion. It’s not clear if it has local DVR capabilities but could have cloud-based recording.
Dave Zatz seems to have sleuthed his way to figuring out what’s inside, and thinks it’s the Technicolor box that recently earned FCC certification and runs on Android.
Given that Sling TV’s parent company, Dish Network, isn’t holding a press conference at CES this year, we’re not sure of the timing of the official announcement. So stay tuned.
Sling TV product photos
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HP Sprocket Photo Printer review – CNET
The Good The HP Sprocket is exceptionally easy to use and prints straight from your phone. The image editing tools bring fun to an otherwise ordinary task.
The Bad Print quality is average and the cost of replacement paper can add up quickly.
The Bottom Line If you can afford its initial and ongoing costs and aren’t looking to hang your work in a museum, the HP Sprocket Photo Printer is a simple and enjoyable way to get photos off your phone.
Like with other digital cameras, I’d wager that most photos you take with your phone never make their way into print. That’s a shame since your photos (or some of them, at least) are meant to be seen, not just live in a gadget’s memory.
HP’s Sprocket Photo Printer lets you show your work to the world quickly, easily and with a little fun. Its small enough to carry in a bag, you don’t have to hassle with ink cartridges and the internal battery lets you print anywhere for immediate photo gratification.
Don’t just text your photos, print them with…
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About the size of a deck of cards, the Sprocket is smaller and lighter (6 ounces) than most phones you’ll be printing from. It’s covered in a smooth plastic skin that comes in either basic black or white. Controls are minimal, as well. There’s just a power button, a battery indicator light and a port for the USB charging cable.
Setup couldn’t have been easier when I used it with my iPhone 6. Just charge the Sprocket, connect it to your phone via Bluetooth or NFC and download the free Sprocket app (available for both iOS and Android). Then, you can print shots straight from your phone’s camera roll or connect to your Facebook, Instagram or Flickr accounts. From the app you can even edit your shots with effects like graphics, borders, text and filters before you print. That’s a welcome touch on otherwise strictly practical gadget. You also can share shots via text or email directly from the app.
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Edit your photos before you print on the Sprocket’s mobile app.
Kent German/CNET
Printing each wallet-size photo takes about 40 seconds and happens so silently, I wasn’t sure the thing was even on. Print quality through the Zink “Zero Ink” technology is just average; I could see lines in most prints and colors are muted. But, really, what do you expect from something so small? No, I wouldn’t use the Sprocket to showcase my vacation or wedding photos, but it’s perfectly fine for having some fun with your camera phone shots. And you never have to replace an ink cartridge.
HP sells the Sprocket for $129.99, £99 or about AU$179 (there’s no official Australian pricing). In the box you get 10 sheets of printer paper, each of which doubles as a sticker when you peel off the back. Given that HP sells full desktop printers for less, you’re paying a premium for a gadget that doesn’t feel like anything more than a toy. I’d say that you’d need to use it a lot to get your money’s worth, but additional photo paper costs $10 (£10 or about AU$14) for a pack 20 sheets. But if the Sprocket fits your budget, it’s easy to get carried away and you’ll have blast doing it. Polaroid sells a similar product called the Zip for the same price, but with a couple of extra features and cheaper replacement paper.
Disney is making mini TV series for Snapchat
As Snapchat (or, if you want to be technical, Snap Inc) gets ready for its upcoming IPO, the company has been expanding its scope. No longer just an ephemeral messaging app, Snapchat has grown into a content platform with articles and videos. It’s lately been taking on original TV-like content as well, with an NBC deal to air a The Voice-like show within the app. That library of media is growing, and now a new partner has joined the fray. According to Reuters, Disney’s television arm will create shows for Snapchat, starting with a The Bachelor recap series.
The Snapchat series, titled Watch Party: The Bachelor, will kick off on Jan. 3rd, 2017, a day after the new season airs, according to Reuters. Each episode will be between three to five minutes long, and will be available to view for 24 hours after going live, according to Variety.
This isn’t the first collaboration between the two companies. Disney’s subsidiary ABC had previously teamed up with the app to curate Live Stories around its broadcast of the Academy Awards this February. But the deal to come up with original content for Snapchat could give the app more ways to engage its users and therefore generate more advertising revenue.
In addition to broadening its software offerings, Snap Inc also unveiled its first hardware product this year in the form of $130 video-recording sunglasses called Spectacles. It’s clear the millennial-friendly company has pretty big plans for expansion in the future, and its multi-billion-dollar valuation shows that industry analysts have high hopes for it, too.
Source: Reuters
6 awesome tech gifts Amazon can still deliver before Christmas
Time is running out! Good thing Amazon delivers quickly.
We’ve all been there. You waited a little too long and now you don’t have a gift for someone, right? Don’t panic, don’t stress, there is still a way out of this. Amazon carries some of the best gifts out there and offers some pretty quick shipping methods. If you’re still shopping for people on your list, and need some fresh ideas, here are six great tech gifts you can still have delivered in time for Christmas.
Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping on all eligible orders, and cheap upgrades on some to get it the next day. If you aren’t already an Amazon Prime member, you should really sign up for a 30-day trial to get the benefits and help save the holiday!
Aukey 30000mAh Quick Charge 3.0 power bank
You can never have too much battery power to make it through the day. Phone batteries have become much better over the years, but there are likely still times that people could use some more power, and this is a perfect solution to that. Avoid having your friends and family stuck sitting next to a wall, and let them charge from anywhere.
This particular one has a 30,000mAh capacity and offers a Quick Charge 3.0 output so you can charge quickly while on the go. Thanks to its huge capacity you should be able to charge your phones and tablets up to 10 times per charge of the pack. It has two USB outputs and charges through Micro-USB or Lightning.
See at Amazon
Nextbit Robin
If you’ve got a friend still holding on to an old smartphone and you want to get them an upgrade, there is still time. You don’t need to know their account information or anything (as long as they aren’t on Verizon or Sprint), because you can just grab them an unlocked phone. Want to be one gift that stands out above the rest? The Nextbit Robin may be just the perfect one.
The unlocked phone has a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of local storage and 100GB of cloud storage. It is available in both midnight and mint color options, and if you act quick you can score a really sweet deal on one. Don’t let them continue thinking that their current phone is “good enough” and let them see what owning something better feels like!
See at Amazon
Choetech Quick Charge 3.0 car charger
Whether just a few minutes or a few hours are spent in the car, having a charger in there is a great idea. These days we rely on our phones for just about everything, so you don’t want to get in the car with a low battery and no way to charge it. Whether you want to use it to listen to music, find a place to eat, or have it navigate you to a new place, all of it uses battery heavily.
Quick Charge 3.0 allows phones to charge up to four times faster than traditional chargers, so this is the one you’ll want to have in your car. The distance or time of your commute won’t matter when every minute that you are plugged in you are getting the fastest charge for your phone.
See at Amazon
Sonos Play:3
Bluetooth speakers are convenient in some ways and annoying in others. They are great for playing music louder than your phone can, but as soon as you walk away with your phone the music stops. With Sonos speakers that isn’t the case, making them a bit more useful for many people. With Sonos, Pandora, Google Play Music and other streaming services, you can set music to play and have it keep going for the whole day, whether you keep the phone there or not.
The speakers are connected to the internet, meaning they can be updated and they won’t be left behind next year. Sonos does a great job of continuing to support its whole line, even when it releases something newer. You’ll pony up some extra cash to get these, but in the long run it is likely well worth it.
See at Amazon
Fitbit Alta
After Christmas comes New Years, which means people are trying to get back on track with new resolutions. Often times people set new fitness foals for themselves, and here’s a great way to support their goals. With Fitbit’s Alta you can not only track how many steps you’ve taken but how you are sleeping, the number of calories that are burned and much more.
Unlike many other fitness trackers, the Alta is actually pretty nice looking, so odds are most people wouldn’t mind wearing it every day. It comes in a few different colors, and three different sizes to pick between.
See at Amazon
Mpow Cheetah Bluetooth headphones
We’ve started seeing some phones released without headphone jacks, so now may be a great time to get the people around you moving over to Bluetooth options. Mpow’s Cheetah headphones are great for running, working out, and sweating at the gym without getting ruined. The behind the ear design ensures that they will remain in place, even when you don’t, and they offer no-lag when listening to music or making a call with the built-in microphone.
Sure, they may not be Jaybird or Bose headphones, but they also don’t carry the same type of price tag. With nearly 4,000 reviews on Amazon, these headphones hold strong at 4 stars with lots of positive remarks.
See at Amazon
Your favorites?
Do you have a favorite tech gift that isn’t listed here but can still arrive before Christmas? If so, be sure to drop a brief description along with the link so that others can check it out!
Google Drive offering discount when you prepay for bulk storage
Bulk discounts available for 100GB and 1TB only.
If you’re an Android user — which you are, because you’re at Android Central, duh — you should consider using Google Drive to sync your files and folders. It’s extremely easy to use, it’s cross-platform, and Google is constantly offering deals on storage plans.
This time, it’s offering discounts if you prepay for storage for the year ahead. The ability isn’t technically live in the mobile app just yet, but as discovered by Android Police, there is an option in the Drive storage settings that lets you prepay for the year ahead.
The bulk discount applies for 100GB and 1TB purchases only. If you’re going higher, you’ll have to pay full price, which rounds out to about US$10 per terabyte per month.
See Google Drive storage plans
Samsung may not update all Galaxy S7 models to the latest Nougat software
Is Samsung sending two different updates for phones with identical hardware?
A report originating from a Vodafone Australia representative says that Samsung will be sending different platform versions of Android to different markets when updating the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 egde.
I’ve checked in with the right people for you @chri5tin3 and @shauno100, and they’ve confirmed the references to Samsung skipping 7.0 refer to other markets and not to Australia. We’re definitely testing 7.0 for both devices.
Samsung has stated the official Android N update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be based on Android 7.1.1. This is the latest version and includes improvements and fixes that aren’t addressed in the 7.0 update. That’s the place where any custom versions of Android should start and we were all happy to hear that news. Today’s news is puzzling if correct.
More: Galaxy S7 Nougat update: Top 10 features to know
Samsung can incorporate their own improvements and fixes to the 7.0 version the same way they can with the latest code. They have to do it because Android is generic before companies like Samsung tailor it to work on their hardware. But having two separate update paths for one device model means more work for Samsung and longer wait times for any updates on at least one model. And maybe both. No reason for the deviation for Vodafone Galaxy S7 models is given.
Of course, any representative can have incorrect information. This may be another case where something was lost when details are given from department to department. But if this is correct, seeing a phone with identical hardware as any being sold in England or Canada with a separate software track isn’t a good thing.
Android Nougat
- Android 7.0 Nougat: Everything you need to know
- Will my phone get Android Nougat?
- Google Pixel + Pixel XL review
- All Android Nougat news
- How to manually update your Nexus or Pixel
- Join the Discussion
Super Mario Run was downloaded an insane number of times in four days
Forget about Pokemon, people are now going crazy for Mario.
Nintendo’s first true smartphone game launched recently, and it’s already a huge hit. According to the company, Super Mario Run for iOS was downloaded more than 40 million times in its first four days, breaking the App Store record for number of downloads during that timespan. Granted, Super Mario Run debuted in 140 different countries, and it reached the top 10 highest-grossing charts in 100 of those countries.
While it’s free to download, the full game costs $9.99. Nintendo hasn’t confirmed exactly how many Mario Runners decided to pay that one-time fee in order to unlock the popular title, but based on its success in the charts, we’re betting Nintendo is a lot richer now than it was a week ago. It’ll therefore be interesting to see if the company is willing to walk away from its fledging console business to better focus on mobile gaming.
Keep in mind Niantic’s Pokemon Go launched this past summer and was massively hyped. While it’s not exclusive to iPhones and iPads (it launched cross-platform), it is available across the globe and hit 30 million downloads in two weeks. It’s also free to play, though there are in-app purchases.
We’re not sure when the Android edition of Super Mario Run will appear. It won’t be until later in 2017, we suspect.
- Super Mario Run: How to play
- Super Mario Run: Tips and tricks
- Super Mario Run cannot be played offline, the non-mobile mobile game
- Pokemon Go is coming to Apple Watch by end of 2016
- Pokemon Go for Apple Watch: How to play and when can you get it?
Nokia sues Apple over a slew of patent infringements
Nokia announced today that it has sued Apple for patent infringement in Germany and the US. According to the suit, Apple did agree to license a few Nokia patents in 2011, but has declined offers since then. “Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today’s mobile devices, including Apple products,” said Ilkka Rahnasto, Nokia’s head of Patent Business, in a statement.
The suit was filed in Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. A total of 32 patents are involved and cover a range of technologies that include everything from the display and user interface to chipsets and video encoding.
Apple is no stranger to patent infringement lawsuits. It paid $24.9 million in a Siri patent lawsuit earlier this year and $625 million in a Facetime patent lawsuit as well. Of course, it’s had the occasional victory too, like when it sued Samsung for patent infringements and won.
Source: Nokia
AIVAnet 