Amazon Chime is yet another videoconferencing tool

Somehow, in 2017 it’s still a chore to collect people for a conference call, much less one with video. Now Amazon is taking on Microsoft/Skype, Cisco and the rest with its new solution, Chime. Aimed squarely towards businesses, Chime comes out of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) side of things, running on the company’s servers and promising “frustration-free meetings.”

It’s launching with support for apps on desktop or mobile or the web; and is designed with features like a visual roster of who is currently connected, single-click ability to join a call, plus screen sharing and file sharing. There’s a free basic edition if all you need is the calls, messaging and chat features, while Plus and Pro versions adding the kinds of features IT managers probably dig (Active Directory configurations, email domains, unlimited VoIP support) can cost as much as $15 per user, and there’s a 30-day free available for Pro.

Source: Amazon, Amazon Chime

Playboy goes full-frontal, again

Playboy is bringing nudity back to the magazine a year after striking totally bare bodies from its pages. In October 2015, the publication’s CEO Scott Flanders said that nudity was “passé” when you can find it in any form imaginable online. But things have changed since last March’s controversial nude-free issue, and now founder Hugh Hefner’s 25 year-old son seems to be calling the shots. Cooper Hefner, chief creative officer, tweeted out an image with the following quote:

“I’ll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake. Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn’t a problem. Today we’re taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are.”

In a post outlining the “new Playboy philosophy,” Hefner draws parallels of between himself and his dad, the present and the past. The commonality? “Both my dad and I understand, at its simplest form, what Playboy and the United States strive to represent in their greatest forms: freedom.”

He reminds that the magazine published blacklisted writers during the McCarthy era and advocated for the LGBTQ community. Now, “just as the social and political pendulum had swung in liberals’ favor, as history has shown time after time, the pendulum swings back.”

As evidence of the former, he cites marriage equality going before the Supreme Court and the path to legalized marijuana. As for the latter, Hefner says that “the most vital intellectual discussion we can have is how to create a society that’s as free as possible without ignoring the social and economic implications of our policy decisions.”

It seems that Playboy, under the new direction, will be working to challenge conservative views and that bringing back nudity is just one way of doing so. The March/April 2017 issue will be the first with nudity reinstated.

Let’s just hope that the reversal of said pictorial decision doesn’t affect the stellar cover design that’s graced the magazine this past year — the retro, minimalist layouts and designs are too good. If the new issue is any indication, we’re in good shape.

pic.twitter.com/sL1nSF6fYC

— Cooper Hefner (@cooperhefner) February 13, 2017

Via: Buzzfeed News

Source: Playboy (SFW), Cooper Hefner (Twitter), Playboy (Twitter)

Eddy Cue reveals ‘Planet of the Apps’ reality show details

Last fall we heard many of the details of the reality TV show that’s coming to Apple Music, but now we’ve actually seen a bit of it. During an onstage interview at Code Conference, Apple exec Eddy Cue and co-producer Ben Silverman revealed a trailer for the show. As promised, Planet of the Apps will be very familiar to anyone who has seen Shark Tank, with entrepreneurs giving presentations and even literal elevator pitches to four potential backers (Will.i.Am, Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba), before it turns into The Voice, with each judge coaxing their picks along the path to success and riches.

There’s also a new trailer for its Carpool Karaoke adaptation, flashing many of the stars that will be riding and singing along in its first season. Everyone from Jeff Gordon to Shaquille O’Neal to Alicia Keys to Metallica will join in as part of the 16 celebrity pairings.

Both shows will be available only via Apple Music, which Cue mentioned has grown beyond 20 million subscribers. You can watch the full interview here.

Source: Recode, Recode (YouTube)

Maker Studios parts ways with Pewdiepie after anti-Semitic jokes

Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg’s actions have cost him a business partner: Disney’s Maker Studios. While the YouTube personality claimed a video published on January 11th was nothing more than a joke, the House of Mouse doesn’t agree according to The Wall Street Journal. In the clip, Kjellberg hired a pair of Indian men from quick-task service Fiverr to hold up a banner that said “Death to all Jews.”

His reaction is one of shock. “I didn’t think they’d actually do it,” he said on camera. This wasn’t the first time the Swedish-born Kjellberg has invoked anti-Semitic and Nazi imagery, but it’s apparently the one that was too much for Disney, which paid between $500-and-$675 million for Maker Studios in 2014.

The deal that Maker terminated was one where it and Kjellberg were in a joint venture that would result in produced videos, mobile apps and merchandise according to WSJ’s sources. How much this will end up costing YouTube’s biggest star isn’t clear.

In a since-deleted video he defended himself with the following rationale:

“What I just think — and I believe strongly in — is that it is 2017 now. We’re going to have to start separating what is a joke, and what is actually problematic. Is a joke actually pure racism? Is something that would be considered a joke purely homophobic, or anti-Semitic and all these things? Context fucking matters.”

“Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate,” a Maker spokesperson said in a statement. “Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward.”

As The Hollywood Reporter noticed, Kjellberg has issued a statement of his own. Writing on Tumblr, he said that the point of the video wasn’t to disparage any one group of people, but to expose “how crazy the modern world is” in terms of what you can pay people money to do online. “I picked something that seemed absurd to me — That people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars.

“I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.

“Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive.”

Source: Wall Street Journal, Pewdiepie (Tumblr)

Musical.ly launches another video-centric app in the form of Ping Pong

Why it matters to you

Musical.ly is the biggest app since Snapchat among younger users. Now, it’s hoping its 100 million members will adopt its latest video messaging app, dubbed “Ping Pong”

Musical.ly, the social platform for creating and sharing short videos beloved by teens, is releasing a new app to build upon its success.

The Chinese startup (which, by its own account, boasts 100 million users on its flagship service) recently debuted a new video messaging offering for iOS entitled “Ping Pong.”

There’s just one major problem: the app isn’t currently allowing sign-ups. Having installed Ping Pong, we tried logging in with a Musical.ly account, and signing up via Facebook and Twitter, but were denied. The app didn’t even offer an error message, it just got stuck on a loading screen until we were forced to quit. We pointed out the issue to Musical.ly in an email, but have yet to receive a response. Ping Pong could be in test mode ahead of its public debut, claims TechCrunch, which first spotted the app.

More: YouTube begins rolling out live-streaming, starting with creators

With that in mind, here’s what Ping Pong is all about, in case you’re still interested in downloading it in the hopes that Musical.ly gets around to giving it a proper launch (we’re presuming it will). Ping Pong lets you record and share video messages with friends asynchronously, in the vein of Snapchat and Marco Polo. However, judging from its App Store description, it doesn’t seem like Ping Pong offers customization features like its rivals.

Whether or not Musical.ly’s large collective of younger users adopt Ping Pong remains to be seen. The startup has reportedly already found success with its Live.ly live-streaming service, released last summer. Just three months after its launch, the app had already overtaken Twitter’s Periscope on iOS with almost 4.6 million monthly active users, according to Variety. And, last month, Musical.ly quietly dropped a group video chat app for iOS in the form of “Squad,” which immediately drew comparisons to Houseparty (the buzzing comeback app from the makers of live-streaming also-ran Meerkat).

Ping Pong is available to download on iOS now. This is a developing story — we’ll update this article with more info as and when it is released.

What’s on TV: ‘Planet Earth II,’ ‘Chef’s Table’ and ‘The Good Fight’

It’s time. Nearly ten years after the original Planet Earth documentary showed us what our HDTVs were for, Planet Earth II is arriving Sunday night. Even better, if you have Dish Network, you can watch it in 4K (everyone else will have to wait for the Ultra HD Blu-ray.) Other viewing options this week include the season premiere of Humans on AMC, as well as a new season of Chef’s Table on Netflix, while Marvel’s Doctor Strange is available for purchase on your digital movie store of choice.

CBS is launching its sequel to The Good Wife, called The Good Fight, on broadcast and its streaming All Access network this weekend, while Halo Wars 2 brings RTS action on Friday if you’re willing to buy the Ultimate Edition. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Arrival (4K)
• The Edge of Seventeen
• Priceless
• Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Series
• One Million Years B.C.
• It Came from Outer Space
• Bleed for This
• Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One)
• How to Survive 2 (Xbox One)
• iO (PS4)
• Sniper Elite (PC, Xbox One)
• Ride 2 (Xbox One, PS4)
• Monster Loves You (PS4)
• For Honor (PS4, PC)
• Semispheres (PS4, PC)
• Blackwood Crossing (Xbox One, PS4)

Monday

• 24: Legacy, Fox, 8PM
• The Bachelor, ABC, 8PM
• Supergirl, CW, 8PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30PM
• The Young Pope (season finale), HBO, 9PM
• APB, Fox, 9PM
• Superior Donuts, CBS, 9PM
• Beyond, Freeform, 9PM
• Jane the Virgin, CW, 9PM
• 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 9:30PM
• Humans (season premiere), AMC, 10PM
• Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis, HBO, 10PM
• Hate Thy Neighbor, Viceland, 10PM
• Timeless, NBC, 10PM
• Quantico, ABC, 10PM
• Scorpion, CBS, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
• Startalk, National Geographic, 11PM

Tuesday

• Girlfriend’s Day, Netflix, 3AM
• Katherine Ryan: In Trouble, Netflix, 3AM
• Project Mc² (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• White Nights, Netflix, 3AM
• The Mindy Project (winter premiere), Hulu, 3AM
• Creative Galaxy: Heart Day, Amazon Prime, 3AM
• The Tough Mudder: The Challenge Within, CW, 8PM
• The Wall, NBC, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• The Game of Dating, TV One, 8PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• 60 Minutes Sports, Showtime, 8PM
• American Housewife, ABC, 8:30PM
• The Mick, Fox, 8:30PM
• The Challenge: Hall of Fame, MTV, 8:30PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Switched at Birth, Freeform, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 9PM
• Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• This is Us, NBC, 9PM
• Fresh Off the Boat, ABC, 9PM
• Bones, Fox, 9PM
• The Real O’neals, ABC, 9:30PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Imposters, Bravo, 10PM
• Teachers, TV Land, 10PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 10PM
• Taboo, FX, 10PM
• Killing Fields Discovery, 10PM
• Noisey (season finale), Viceland, 10PM
• Detroiters, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Throwing Shade, TV Land, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3AM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8PM
• Madiba: Part 3 (miniseries finale), BET, 8PM
• Arrow, CW, 8PM
• Hunted, CBS, 8PM
• Lethal Weapon, Fox, 8PM
• Unsung: Case, TV One, 8PM
• Speechless, ABC, 8:30PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• Are You the One?, MTV, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Nova, PBS, 9PM
• Star, Fox, 9PM
• Doubt (series premiere), CBS, 10PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 10PM
• Legion, FX, 10PM
• The Quad, BET, 10PM
• Suits, USA, 10PM
• Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FXX, 10PM
• Match Game, ABC, 10PM
• Bong Appetit (season finale), Viceland, 10PM
• Man Seeking Woman, FXX, 10:30PM
• Jeff & Some Aliens, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Thursday

• Supernatural, CW, 8PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8PM
• The Great Indoors, CBS, 8:30PM
• Powerless, NBC, 8:30PM
• The History of Comedy, CNN, 9PM
• Riverdale, CW, 9PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• My Kitchen Rules, Fox, 9PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30PM
• Lip Sync Battle, Spike TV, 10PM
• How to Get Away With Murder, ABC, 10PM
• Baskets, FX, 10PM
• Colony, USA, 10PM
• The Blacklist, NBC, 10PM
• Portlandia, IFC, 10PM
• Nirvanna the Band the Show, Viceland, 10PM
• Training Day, CBS, 10PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 10PM
• People Just Do Nothing, Viceland, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Friday

• Chef’s Table (S3), Netflix, 3AM
• The Seven Deadly Sins (S2), Netflix, 3AM
• Race to the Edge (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
• Grimm, NBC, 8PM
• Macgyver, CBS, 8PM
• Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM
• Rosewood, Fox, 8PM
• Dr. Ken, ABC, 8:30PM
• Reign, CW, 9PM
• Rise, Viceland, 9PM
• Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
• Emerald City, NBC, 9PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
• Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 9PM
• Cut-Off, Viceland, 10PM
• The Wheel, Discovery, 10PM

Saturday

• Britney Ever After, Lifetime, 8PM
• Cops, Spike TV, 8PM
• Ransom, CBS, 8PM
• Planet Earth II: Islands (series premiere), BBC America, 9PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight (series premiere), CBS, 8PM
• The Paley Center Salutes NBC’s 90th Anniversary, NBC, 8PM
• The Missing, Starz, 8PM
• Mercy Street, PBS, 8PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
• Son of Zorn (season finale), Fox, 8:30PM
• Big Little Lies (series premiere), HBO, 9PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 9PM
• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 9PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
• Black Sails, Starz, 9PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9PM
• Family Guy, Fox, 9PM
• Victoria, PBS, 9PM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 9:30PM
• Billions (series premiere), Showtime, 10PM
• Trapped (series premiere), Viceland, 10PM
• Elementary, CBS, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
• Crashing (series premiere), HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

Humble’s latest bundle benefits ACLU, Doctors Without Borders

Humble Bundle has raised millions for charities like the American Red Cross and Girls Who Code, but its latest offering is not only for a good cause — it’s making a political statement. The Humble Freedom Bundle is offering $600 worth of games and e-books for a minimum donation of $30, with the proceeds going to the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee.

The Humble Freedom Bundle features an impressive line-up of recent indie games, such as critical darlings The Witness, Stardew Valley and The Stanley Parable. Humble Bundle said it’ll match contributions up to $300,000. It more than doubled that goal in a couple of hours.

This latest bundle is a direct response to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, Humble Bundle’s Jeffrey Rosen told Ars Technica. “Our employees, our business partners and our millions of customers come from all around the world,” he said. “We stand together in dismay over Trump’s recent immigration ban. We find it to be un-American and damaging to global businesses like ours.”

A number of game developers publicly opposed the travel ban — currently on hold due to recent court decisions — by raising money for the ACLU. iNK Stories, the creator of 1979 Revolution, donated proceeds from sales made between February 1st-10th, while Ridiculous Fishing studio Vlambeer gave a day’s worth of revenue. Donations to the ACLU surged in the days following Trump’s executive order; the organization received over $19 million in a single weekend, according to CNN.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Humble Bundle

Apple CFO Luca Maestri to Speak at 2017 Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference Tomorrow

Apple CFO Luca Maestri will speak at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference tomorrow afternoon, according to Apple’s investor news site. Maestri will speak at 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time, and Apple will provide an audio webcast of the session.

The Technology and Internet Conference is hosted by Goldman Sachs each year, and while Tim Cook has attended the event multiple times in the past, it will be Maestri’s first time speaking at the event.

As CFO, Maestri may be asked about Apple’s impressive iPhone sales and return to revenue growth last quarter. Other topics could include Apple’s capital return program, overseas cash, growth in emerging markets, and other finance-related topics. No major announcements have been made at the conference in the past, but Maestri’s comments may offer an interesting look into Apple’s business.

MacRumors plans to provide coverage of the event and will share details on what Maestri has to say.

Tags: Goldman Sachs Conference, Luca Maestri
Discuss this article in our forums

Twitter briefly stops notifying people when they’re on lists

Twitter just made a big (if momentary) blunder when it comes to fighting abuse. The social network briefly stopped providing notifications whenever someone adds you to a list, ostensibly to make sure you only see the “notifications that matter.” However, it quickly backtracked when users pointed out that this only made harassment easier. Hate groups could build their hit lists in secret, leaving targets woefully unaware until the threatening tweets were already on the way.

We’ve asked Twitter for comment will let you know what it says. Whatever the response, the about-face suggests that Twitter is still struggling to understand the nature of abuse on its service. The issue isn’t usually that people see notifications they don’t like, it’s that harassers are sometimes free to run amok until they become particularly reprehensible. When you know that you’re on a harassment-oriented list, you have a better shot at reporting abuse before it becomes completely unbearable.

We heard your feedback – this was a misstep. We’re rolling back the change and we’ll keep listening. https://t.co/9ozPS4XlVI

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 13, 2017

Source: Twitter Safety (Twitter), Ed Ho (Twitter)

A closer look at Nintendo’s ‘1-2 Switch’ mini-games

I played plenty of Nintendo Switch titles during last month’s launch event, but it was the mini-game collection 1-2 Switch that I couldn’t get out of my head. (I suppose virtually milking a cow with highly suggestive gestures has a way of sticking with you.) It was unlike anything I’ve ever played — it often has you glaring at your opponent and following audio queues, instead of looking at a TV screen. It’s more like an actual party game, but instead of reading off cards or booklets, you’re relying on a console.

To give us a better sense of 1-2 Switch’s appeal, Nintendo invited journalists to its New York City headquarters to get some more hands-on time with it. And after playing a few more short games, it’s pretty clear Nintendo made the right move. When it’s not competing for attention with Zelda and Splatoon sequels, the sheer ingenuity of the mini-game collection really shines — especially when you’re playing it in front of lots of people.

To that end, Nintendo announced a new mode for the game, Team Battle, which lets large groups of people pick sides and go head-to-head. Reporters were split into two teams, and we were led by two Nintendo developers who worked on 1-2 Switch. We were also introduced to a new mini-game, Signal Flag, which has you follow an announcer to mimic flight control arm gestures. The catch? You have to do exactly what the female announcer says, but also do the exact opposite of what the male announcer tells you.

Signal Flag isn’t something I’d see myself playing with just one or two friends, but it’s lot of fun with a bigger group. And that’s a theme I noticed throughout plenty of the mini-games. Fake Draw is a slight twist on 1-2 Switch’s other shooting mini-game, except this time you have to avoid shooting when the announcer shouting other words that rhyme with “fire.” And for fans of Wii Boxing, there’s Boxing Gym, which has you swinging boxing moves on command. It’s fun, but not nearly as visceral as pummeling your friends’ adorable cartoon faces on the Wii, though.

Given that this was my colleague Chris Velazco’s first time with 1-2 Switch, we decided to completely embarrass ourselves with Runway mini-game. As you might have guessed, it’s all about strutting your stuff like a supermodel. With your hands at your hips (along with a Joy-Con controller), the game tracks how many times you successfully sway down the runway. And at the end, you also have to pose for a mini-photo shoot. Don’t ask me how it calculates points for that, though. We also clocked in some more time with the 1-2 Switch cow milking mini-game, which will likely end up being the first thing I have friends try whenever I show off the console.

Since this wasn’t my first time with the Switch, I was far removed from the initial “wow” factor from the launch event. It’s clear that 1-2 Switch, in particular, will be a hit with friends. But I also wonder how fresh these games will seem after you’ve been playing them for a few months. It’s launching with 28 mini-games, but Nintendo developers at the event hinted that there are plenty more they’re considering. They haven’t yet decided what they’ll do with additional mini-games, though. Some could eventually head to 1-2 Switch via future updates, while others could end up becoming individual games.