The first builds of CyanogenMod successor LineageOS are out

The open-source CyanogenMod project has been formally reborn as LineageOS, with the first experimental and nightly ROMs of the custom Android build now available to download. Only a handful of smartphones are officially supported at the moment, including the Nexus 5X and 6P, OnePlus One, Nextbit Robin and a few Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi devices. Anyone up to speed with the latest CyanogenMod releases won’t find anything surprising here — LineageOS grabs the baton at version 14.1 (based on Android 7.1 Nougat), with the only real changes being the new name, logo and some behind the scenes stuff to support the transition.

Last year was a tempestuous one for Cyanogen Inc., as it decided to abandon the development of Cyanogen OS to focus on add-ons for Android, rather than maintaining its own custom version. Cyanogen OS, a commercial build sold to phone makers to preinstall on their devices, hadn’t taken off as first hoped — due, in part, to questionable behavior among the executive ranks. The community-driven, open-source CyanogenMod project lives on despite the forsaken commercial efforts, though, albeit with the new name of LineageOS to avoid any confusion.

Via: Liliputing, Android Police

Source: LineageOS

Adobe’s Creative Cloud Android apps are coming to Chromebooks

There has been a lot of chatter over Chromebooks running Android apps in recent months and creative types are about to get a handful of new tools. Adobe announced today that as part of a beta for Chrome OS devices that launches this month, it will release a collection of six free Android Creative Cloud apps that are optimized for the machines. However, if you have one of the three Chromebooks that are already capable of running Android software, you can use these Adobe apps immediately.

Adobe has already been working with Google on a version of full-on Photoshop that you stream from the cloud for Chromebooks. That beta test began in 2014 and it was only open to Creative Cloud education users. Now that all new Chromebooks, in addition to a few existing options, are slated to run Android apps this year, Adobe can offer versions of its creative suite to anyone who owns one of the computers. Of course, Chromebooks are a big hit in the classroom, so this puts Adobe’s free software in the hands of students, too.

In terms of Android apps, expect Adobe’s Photoshop Mix, Lightroom mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Comp CC and Creative Cloud Mobile to be available later this month. Sure, these are mobile apps, but Adobe has been adding some powerful features to the software for a while now. What’s more, some of those tools include handy tasks from the desktop versions of the creative apps. If you’re using an ASUS Flip, Acer R11/C738T or Google Pixel (2015), that collection of software will be available for you to use today. All you have to to do is head over to the Play Store to nab it.

Google for Education intros two Chromebooks with stylus capability

Schools love Chromebooks, so Google for Education has launched two new models they can choose from: the Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and the Asus Chromebook C213. Both devices have touchscreen displays and come with a low-cost stylus that resembles #2 pencils kids can use to take notes. The stylus has an eraser just like a real pencil does, though its version obviously deals with digital mistakes. Plus, kids can easily share and replace it, since it doesn’t need to be charged or paired. The feature sounds especially useful for science and math subjects that require students to write out formulas and equations. As Roger Nixon, Director of ICT at Wheatley Park School, Oxford said: “Stylus on Chromebooks will be a massive help for mathematics.”

In addition to stylus compatibility, both Chromebook Spin 11 and Chromebook C213 have a rear camera. It’s apparently one of the most requested features from schools, since it’ll give students a way to film videos and take photos from all angles. Finally, the Chromebooks will have USB-C ports for faster charging and compatibility with USB-C devices that will surely crop up in the future.

Google has also revealed that Adobe has released a suite of Android apps optimized for Chromebooks, including Photoshop Mix, Lightroom Mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC and Creative Cloud Mobile. Chromebook administrators will soon be able to create a curated list of Android apps for all models released in 2017 and a select list of older ones, as well. The tech titan is showcasing the devices at Bett (one of the largest education technology conferences) in London this week, but they’ll be available sometime in late spring.

Source: Google for Education

Online learning improves when you feel like you belong

Completing online courses can be daunting, but that’s particularly true if you’re in a developing part of the world. It’s too easy to feel like you don’t belong. Researchers may have a solution, though: giving you activities that help you fit in. An MIT and Stanford study has shown that brief psychological “interventions” can dramatically increase the completion rates for online courses in less developed regions. One of these boosts involved reading testimonials from earlier students who overcame that lack of belonging, while another involved writing a short explanation of how the course reflects and serves their values.

The improvements were enough to close the gap in completion rates between developed and less-developed corners of the globe. And in the case of the explanation test, it actually reversed the gap — at a 41 percent completion rate, the people in developing areas were more likely to stick through to the very end.

The findings suggest there are problems. In one of the classes, people in developed areas were actually less likely to finish after participating in the writing activity. The suspicion is that people who already feel like they fit in may be turned off by that intervention (think of it like the forced team-building activities you might do at work), but more research needs to be done to reach a definitive answer. Even so, the study is promising — it suggests that online courses are powerful educational tools so long as you feel included and motivated.

Source: Stanford, Science

Why is Sprint throwing money at Tidal?

Following reports last week that Tidal hasn’t been honest about its subscriber numbers, Sprint kicked off the week by announcing that it’s buying a third of the streaming service. It’s no secret that Tidal has struggled to gain any ground on Apple Music and Spotify, even with a portfolio of artist exclusives. The company reportedly has financial issues to contend with as well, so a big influx of cash likely made the decision easy for Jay Z. However, there are no obvious benefits for Sprint.

Sprint didn’t reveal any terms in its announcement this morning, but Billboard’s sources say the deal is worth $200 million. Some easy math will tell you that puts Tidal’s overall value at $600 million. That’s quite the increase from Jay Z’s $56 million investment back in 2015. What’s more, Mr. Carter and his fellow artist owners will retain stakes in the company. If all the reports about Tidal’s debts and subscriber woes are indeed true, $200 million is a nice return on investment. It also adds 45 million Sprint customers as potential subscribers, depending on how the two companies bundle their services.

Billboard also reports that the deal includes a “dedicated marketing fund” of $75 million just for exclusive content. Sprint announced this morning that exclusives for its customers would be a by-product of its buying a stake in Tidal, but stopped short of offering any details. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the months to come as artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Kanye West won’t likely limit a new album to the nation’s fourth-largest carrier. A new single or video? Maybe. A timed exclusive on an entire album? Doubtful.

Tidal’s relaunch in March 2015. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For Roc Nation

If Sprint probably won’t see the full benefit of Tidal’s exclusive releases, what is it getting out of the deal? For now, it looks like the answer is: not much. The carrier said today that more details on “exclusive offers and upcoming promotions” are on the way. That could include a discount off Tidal’s monthly subscription price for Sprint customers and perhaps some type of free access to the service. It also likely means that Tidal streaming won’t count against your monthly data allowance, if you don’t already have an unlimited data plan. However, that type of partnership could’ve been possible without a financial investment. Others, including Sprint, have already done it.

Back in November, Sprint and Napster announced a deal where customers could have their monthly streaming fees tacked onto their phone bill. There wasn’t any discount, just the benefit of combined billing. It did the same with Spotify in 2012, before adding free six-month trials of that streaming service to customers on Framily plans in April 2014. Sprint also began selling Amazon Prime monthly subscriptions to its customers last March. At $11 a month, it’s actually more than the $99 annual fee you can pay directly to the online retailer, but you avoid having to commit to a full 12 months up front.

The only obvious benefit for Sprint right now is that its CEO, Marcelo Claure, will take a seat on Tidal’s board of directors. Shortly after Jay Z bought Tidal and its parent company, Aspiro, the New York Post reported that the wireless carrier and its owner, SoftBank, had purchased a minority stake in the streaming service. SoftBank later denied that was true, but it looks like it’s had its eye on the music subscription for a while now. The Japanese company also reportedly tried to purchase Universal Music Group, one of three major record labels, for a cool $8.5 billion back in 2013. That offer was said to have been rejected. Sprint and Tidal are promising “a first-of-its-kind experience for music fans,” but they will need to really wow us for the deal to make sense for the carrier.

Amazon gets six Oscar nominations for ‘Manchester by the Sea’

As awards watchers expected, Manchester by the Sea ended up being a major Oscar magnet for its co-distributor Amazon. The film, which was also Amazon’s first Golden Globe winner, nabbed six Academy Award nominations this morning: best picture, actor (Casey Affleck), actress (Michelle Williams), supporting actor (Lucas Hedges), director (Kenneth Lonargan) and original screenplay. It was a big bet for the online retail giant, which paid $10 million just for distribution rights when Manchester by the Sea debuted at Sundance last year. Of course, the real test for the film will be the amount of Oscars it actually earns, but the nominations alone will give Amazon more clout in Hollywood.

If you’re an indie film lover, you’ve probably noticed Amazon Studio’s (the company’s production and distribution arm) name attached to plenty of titles over the past few years. Last year alone, it distributed notable movies like Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship (which was sadly snubbed by the Academy this year), The Neon Demon, Woody Allen’s Cafe Society, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden and Paterson. While Amazon didn’t produce those films, it can still take a certain amount of credit for critical and box office success.

In comparison, Netflix scored just one Academy Award nomination today for Ava Duvernay’s excellent documentary 13th. Amazon, to its credit, has been quick about snapping up distribution rights for smaller films at festivals like Sundance, and it also ensures they get full theatrical runs. Netflix, meanwhile, still focuses more on getting films onto its streaming service. The lack of a lengthy theatrical run was likely one reason Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation was completely ignored by the Academy Awards a few years ago.

Source: Academy Awards

Ford Hires Apple Marketing Director Musa Tariq as Brand Leader

Ford today announced it has hired Musa Tariq as a Vice President and its Chief Brand Officer starting January 30. Tariq will work with Ford’s marketing and communication departments to “define, build, and communicate” the carmaker’s brand across the world as it further pushes into connected technologies.

Tariq has served as Global Marketing and Communication Director of Apple Retail since August 2014, working on Apple Store initiatives. Prior to Apple, he was a social media director at Nike. He held the same position at Burberry, where he worked for Angela Ahrendts, who is now Apple’s retail chief.

Tariq started his career in marketing and advertising, serving in leadership roles at ad agencies JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Tag: Ford
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Motorola VerveOnes Music Edition offer an affordable way to go completely wire-free

Motorola has announced a cheaper, whiter pair of its VerveLife VerveOnes totally wireless earphones. Called the VerveOnes Music Edition, the latest addition to Motorola’s VerveLife range of lifestyle products are aimed at those who are constantly on the move and don’t want wires of any sort to get in the way.

• VerveLife by Motorola: Ones, Loop or Rider headphones have all your sports covered

Just like the original VerveOnes and VerveOnes+, the Music Edition come with a case that doubles up as a charger when the earphones are placed inside. A full charge promises up to eight hours of playback time and an IPX4-rating ensures they’re protected against the odd splash of water, just don’t go swimming in them.

They’ll respond to Siri and Google Now voice commands – note that isn’t Google Assistant – and can be used with Motorola’s accompanying Hubble for VerveLife app on iOS and Android. The app lets you change the EQ settings of the headphones and show you the last known location of them in case you lose them. You can also use it to activate a pass-through function that lets you hear more of what’s going around you, useful if you’re out cycling for example.

• Apple AirPods review: Wire-free future or design disaster?

The Motorola VerveOnes Music Edition will be available later this month from the Verve Life website in white for £149.99. Other retailers will have them from February.

Microsoft is making Windows 10 security easier

It’s easy to mock bad passwords and phishing scam victims, but PC security is hard to grok for the average user. That’s why Microsoft is introducing the Windows Defender Security Center as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update coming in April. Within a central hub, you’ll be able to see settings for threat protection, performance and more at a glance. The other aim with the new hub, says Microsoft, is to ensure that “you are protected by default and continuously protected.”

The security center’s home screen shows actions you may need to take at a glance and the “five pillars” of protection. “Virus & threat protection” is the area where you access your anti-malware app, whether it be Windows Defender or a third-party app. “Device & performance heath” shows all your latest updates, drivers, storage capacity and battery life. Microsoft also puts its “refresh Windows” program there, letting you do a clean install while keeping all your settings and files.

“Firewall & network protection” helps you see and troubleshoot network issues, while “Family options” is the spot where you can control and see reports on your kids’ online activities. Finally, there’s the “App & browser control” area that warns you of “potential malicious sites, downloads and unrecognized apps and files from the internet,” according to the article.

Microsoft is also erring on the side of safety with new default antivirus settings. If your third-party anti-virus app expires with the Creators Update, Windows Defender will automatically start protecting you until you renew or replace it.

The Windows Defender Security Center and many, many other new Creators Update features are, as mentioned, set to arrive in April this year. It’s also up on the Windows Insider Preview “fast ring,” so you can now grab it if you can’t wait until then.

Source: Microsoft

Google announces the five Lunar Xprize finalists

Google’s Lunar Xprize is finally on the home stretch almost a decade after it was first announced. The contest organizers have revealed the five teams that got into the final phase of the competition by securing launch contracts before 2016 ended. First is team SpaceIL, an Israeli non-profit developing a dishwasher-sized spacecraft (see the image above) that can explore the moon by taking big hops instead of driving around like a rover. They’ve secured a space aboard one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s future launches.

Next is Moon Express from the US, a promising contender with two milestone prizes under its belt that want to use the moon’s resources for humanity. It signed a three-launch contract with Rocket Lab USA for 2020. The next team, Synergy Moon, is made up of people from various parts of the globe who plan to send a lander and a rover to Earth’s faithful companion aboard an Interorbital Systems rocket. Team Indus from India, another milestone prize winner, plan to launch theirs with the help of Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Finally, team HAKUTO from Japan signed a rideshare deal with Team Indus to take its two-rover system to the moon.

Google Lunar Xprize challenged space lovers to create and land a privately funded spacecraft on the lunar surface. The spacecraft has to be able to travel over 1,640 feet and to beam back HD videos and images from its location to win its creators the grand prize worth $20 million. Google has been giving out millions in milestone prizes for years now, however, including its most recent Diversity prize. The company awarded the prize to 16 teams (who’ll have to split the $1 million reward) for proving that “you don’t have to be a government superpower to send a mission to the moon.”

Source: Google Lunas Xprize