Tesla CEO Elon Musk won’t quit Trump’s advisory council

While a boycott movement that registered over 200,000 account deletions and messages from employees convinced Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to end his tenure on the president’s economic advisory council, Elon Musk will not be moved. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted that at tomorrow’s meeting of the advisory council he and others will “express our objections to the recent executive order on immigration and offer suggestions for changes to the policy.”

There have been reports of customers canceling preorders due to Musk’s participation in the council, however, it has not received the level of focus directed at Uber last week. The way Musk sees it, participation does not indicate agreement with the Administration’s, and he can help “the greater good” by engaging.

Of course, only two weeks in, there have already been multiple mass protests in response to President Trump’s administration. Particularly as Tesla becomes a company serving a wider range of people, it will be interesting to see how customers react to its CEO’s decisions, even when they’re away from the main product lines.

Regarding the meeting at the White House: pic.twitter.com/8b1XH4oW6h

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2017

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter)

Plex for Alexa will get the party started with your voice

It seems like Amazon has been adding new Alexa skills nearly every day lately. The latest trick is voice control for the popular home media streaming server Plex. Just use your voice to ask Plex to bring up any movies or music you have stored on your home (or cloud) media server. Once enabled, all you need to do is ask Alexa for your favorite movies, TV shows and music, provided you have them all on a Plex-connected media server. The skill works on the Amazon Tap, Echo Dot, Echo, Fire TV and on newer model Fire tablets.

Got three minutes to spare? Check out this video on how it all works:

Now you can request The Big Lebowski by name or just ask to hear some Bob Marley songs; the Alexa skill will work the Plex install to find the right stuff.

While asking for a song or movie by name via Alexa is pretty great, the killer feature here is the ability to get suggestions. Just ask Plex to suggest some relevant music or videos. And yes, you can just tell Alexa to tell Plex to “get this party started” for some hip music or even “What’s new?” to find out what movies have been recently added to your Plex system.

Plex itself is easy to use, and is available on many common media streamers, like Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and NVIDIA Shield. Using your voice seems like a useful addition, allowing fans of the app to perhaps spend less time with their remotes.

Just please, let’s all call it Plexa from now on, OK?

Source: Plex Blog

Lawsuit Alleges Apple Broke FaceTime on iOS 6 to Force iOS 7 Upgrades, Save Money

Christina Grace of California has filed a new class-action lawsuit that alleges Apple broke FaceTime in iOS 6 to force users to upgrade to iOS 7, reports AppleInsider. According to the lawsuit, Apple forced users to upgrade so it could avoid payments on a data deal with Akamai.

The class action found its genesis in internal Apple documents and emails disclosed in the VirnetX patent infringement lawsuit, which eventually ended in Apple paying $302 million after a retrial. Apple used two connection methods when launching FaceTime in 2010: a peer-to-peer method that created a direct connection between two iPhones and a relay method that used data servers from Akamai.

When Apple’s peer-to-peer FaceTime technology was found to infringe on VirnetX’s patents in 2012, Apple began to shift toward Akamai’s servers to handle iPhone-to-iPhone connections. A year later, Apple was paying $50 million in fees to Akamai, according to testimony from the VirnetX trial. The class-action lawsuit, pointing to an internal email titled “Ways to Reduce Relay Usage,” alleges that the growing fees were beginning to bother Apple executives.

Apple eventually solved the problem by creating new peer-to-peer technology that would debut in iOS 7. The class-action lawsuit, however, alleges that Apple created a fake bug that caused a digital certificate to prematurely expire on April 16, 2014, breaking FaceTime on iOS 6. Breaking FaceTime on iOS 6, the lawsuit claims, would allow Apple to save money on users who did not upgrade to iOS 7.

At the time, Apple recognized the bug, publishing a support document saying that users who were having FaceTime connectivity problems after April 16, 2014 could update to the latest software to fix the issue. The same support document eventually removed the date “April 16, 2014,” according to AppleInsider.

The lawsuit later points to an internal Apple email chain in which an engineering manager mentions that they were looking at the Akamai contract for the upcoming year and understood that Apple “did something” to reduce usage of Akamai’s services. Another engineer responded by pointing out iOS 6 leaned a lot on Akamai’s services and that Apple “broke iOS 6” and the only way to fix FaceTime was to upgrade to iOS 7.

Apple’s developer page pegged iOS 7 adoption at 87 percent on April 7, 2014, nearly 10 days before Apple allegedly broke iOS 6. The lawsuit claims that forcing iPhone 4s and 4 users to upgrade to iOS 7 was harmful to them because the software would allegedly crash more and run more slowly.

The lawsuit is seeking undisclosed damages and to prove Apple violated California’s unfair competition law.

Tags: lawsuit, FaceTime, VirnetX
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Target shuts down its ‘Store of the Future’ project

An effort to bring Target stores into future has reportedly been nixed before it could ever see the light of day. As Recode reports, Target’s aptly named “Store of the Future” project, which would have put the retailer in direct competition with Amazon’s forthcoming cashier-free Go stores, was abruptly canceled after a disappointing holiday season.

According to Recode’s sources, the new, smaller stores were slated to debut sometime this year and an internal team had already begun building out a test version. Instead of the normal rows and aisles most Target customers are used to, the Store of the Future would look more like a showroom and employ a team of robots to pick up items and bring them to customers at checkout. The stores also had an e-commerce component and Target intended to use the spaces to encourage other, non-retail experiences and community gatherings.

Target was also building out a new online marketplace codenamed Goldfish that would have compete with Amazon online and allowed third parties to sell their goods through a Target platform. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the San Francisco-based Goldfish team led by former Paypal exec West Stringfellow was recently let go, leading to some confusion internally. In a statement to Recode, the company said it had to make “tough choices” to it’s innovation portfolio, but “remains absolutely committed to pursuing what’s next.”

Source: Recode, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Outlook for iOS gets better with third party app support

Outlook mobile turns 2 years old today. To celebrate, Microsoft is introducing an add-in feature on iOS (Android is “coming soon”) that promises to reduce the time you spend switching between apps.

Add-ins are already available on the desktop, but now you can access third party apps like Evernote, GIPHY, Nimble, Trello and Smartsheet on your phone without leaving Outlook. With these add-ins, you can translate an email in a foreign language, pin it to a Trello board, and embed a snarky GIF in your reply. Once the feature is turned on, you’ll see an icon in the email header. Tapping it will launch a quick menu with all of the add-ins you’ve enabled.

Microsoft has been steadily working to revamp Outlook mobile since its acquisition of the popular calendar app Sunrise in 2015. The company eventually killed Sunrise and replaced it with Outlook, but not before it cannibalized most of Sunrise’s best features.

Via: The Verge

Source: Office Blogs

Apple Supplier Wistron to Manufacture iPhones in India

Apple has agreed to a deal with the government of Indian state Karnataka to begin manufacturing iPhones in Bangalore, reports The Times of India. The Karnataka government announced that it had approved Apple’s proposal to “commence initial manufacturing operations” in a press release.

Apple’s desire to open a manufacturing hub in India started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began promoting his “Made in India” initiative. Apple manufacturing partner Wistron will make the iPhones in a new plant, reportedly beginning with the iPhone 8.

Over the past couple of months, Apple and Indian officials began narrowing down possibilities to manufacture products locally. Last month, Apple finally chose a Karnataka-based facility over competing bids from other Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. During negotiations, Apple was said to be seeking a number of tax and other incentives, including the possibility of long-term duty exemptions.

The government said it’s in discussions with Apple for other potential collaborations, but declined to say what they could be. The move is a major step for Apple as it looks to solidify its footing in the subcontinent so it can access India’s customer base.

Tag: India
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Windows 10 took small step back among Steam gamers in January, fell below 50%

Why it matters to you

Windows 10’s popularity among Steam gamers is hovering around 50 percent, but it’s poised to get a major boost from the upcoming Creators Update.

Just as Microsoft can breathe a sigh of relief after learning Windows 10 has crossed the 25 percent market share threshold, another important metric has slipped a bit and demonstrates just how hard it is to push the market forward. This time around, it’s how well-favored Windows 10 is among gamers, at least by one important measure.

Steam is, of course, one of the most popular gaming platforms, and it serves as a sort of bellwether for how gamers are configuring their systems. Measuring how many Steam users are running Windows 10 provides a good indication of how well Microsoft is doing in convincing gamers of the gaming chops of the new OS — and this month, Windows 10 took a step back, as Neowin reports.

More: Microsoft confirms Game Mode coming in Windows 10 Creators Update

The decrease isn’t significant, with Windows 10 falling below the 50 percent threshold it crossed in December 2017 to settle at 49.67 percent in January 2017. It’s not the absolute number that matters, however, but rather the step back itself — Microsoft would hope that Windows 7 and XP would be falling by the wayside by now.

In fact, that’s the opposite of what’s happened. Windows 7 has increased slightly to 35.11 percent, and Windows XP is hanging on to is paltry 1.24 percent share among gamers. Apple gamers remained constant at around 3.31 percent of Steam users running a version of MacOS.

Microsoft has been making a concerted effort to turn Windows 10 into the premier PC gaming platform. The upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update will bring some other important new enhancements, including a Game Mode to optimize the OS while playing certain titles, and built-in Beam game streaming.

Whether or not that’s enough to push Windows 10 back into the majority of Steam users remains to be seen. However, we should find out soon enough, as Creators Update is expected in April. Most of the new features coming in the update are already available to Windows Insiders, and so if you’re a gamer who wants the latest and greatest gaming that Microsoft has to offer, then you can always sign up to get the improvements a little early.

Outlook for iOS gains add-ins and apps like Evernote, Translate, and more

Why it matters to you

Outlook for iOS’s new add-ins and apps will make it easier to manage third-party services within your email inbox.

Mail apps don’t always do everything you want them to do. No matter how many bells and whistles your email client boasts, chances are it falls short in one area or another. That is probably why Microsoft has taken a third-party approach with Outlook, letting developers code add-ins that tie into the app on mobile devices. On Thursday, on the Outlook app’s second anniversary, it is rolling out the first few fruits of its labor.

You will likely recognize the names responsible for the first crop of apps and add-ins. At the new feature’s launch, Outlook will support Evernote, Giphy, Nimble, Trello, and Smartsheet, and several in-house Microsoft creations like Microsoft Translator and Dynamics 365.

More: Microsoft’s new Outlook inherits a few of Sunrise’s most popular features

Enabling them is a relatively simple affair. Once you have launched the latest version of Outlook on your iOS device of choice, head to the settings menu and tap the Add-Ins menu. You will see a list of potential add-ins and a “plus” symbol to add them. Once an app is enabled, you will be able to invoke it when you are reading an email by tapping the corresponding symbol in the upper-right-hand corner. Microsoft is working on making it possible to use add-ins in other contexts, such as writing emails.

Each has its own behavior “specific to the service that build it,” Microsoft said. Dynamics 365 delivers real-time insights about your business contacts and their organizations to your inbox. Trello lets you add cards straight from Outlook’s inbox, and track changes to existing projects. Microsoft Translator supports 60 different languages. Evernote allows you to clip emails to an Evernote folder. And Giphy lets you reply to an email with a GIF.

Microsoft said it will approve additional add-ins in the near future and said it is opening add-on development to third parties.

More: Microsoft’s new Outlook app for iOS and Android syncs all your email together

Apple’s iOS software already provides a means of sharing information between apps in Extensions, a feature introduced in iOS 8. But Microsoft’s Javier Soltero told Computerworld that it “wasn’t right” for Outlook’s purposes. “In [my] view, Apple’s design is based on a series of events that users don’t typically follow,” he said. “To email a picture, users find the photo in their Photos app, then open the share sheet and send the photo to Outlook for inclusion in an email.” Outlook’s add-ins, by contrast, are based around intents. “You know what you’re going to do — you’re going to send a message, and what you include in that message is the other consideration,” he said.

Add-ins and apps are not available for everyone just yet. You will have to be an Office 365 customer to take advantage but Microsoft said the functionality is rolling out slowly to Outlook.com users. Support for Android will be available soon.

Add-in support for Outlook on iOS follows the beta debut of apps for Windows and Mac.

Outlook for iOS gains add-ins and apps like Evernote, Translate, and more

Why it matters to you

Outlook for iOS’s new add-ins and apps will make it easier to manage third-party services within your email inbox.

Mail apps don’t always do everything you want them to do. No matter how many bells and whistles your email client boasts, chances are it falls short in one area or another. That is probably why Microsoft has taken a third-party approach with Outlook, letting developers code add-ins that tie into the app on mobile devices. On Thursday, on the Outlook app’s second anniversary, it is rolling out the first few fruits of its labor.

You will likely recognize the names responsible for the first crop of apps and add-ins. At the new feature’s launch, Outlook will support Evernote, Giphy, Nimble, Trello, and Smartsheet, and several in-house Microsoft creations like Microsoft Translator and Dynamics 365.

More: Microsoft’s new Outlook inherits a few of Sunrise’s most popular features

Enabling them is a relatively simple affair. Once you have launched the latest version of Outlook on your iOS device of choice, head to the settings menu and tap the Add-Ins menu. You will see a list of potential add-ins and a “plus” symbol to add them. Once an app is enabled, you will be able to invoke it when you are reading an email by tapping the corresponding symbol in the upper-right-hand corner. Microsoft is working on making it possible to use add-ins in other contexts, such as writing emails.

Each has its own behavior “specific to the service that build it,” Microsoft said. Dynamics 365 delivers real-time insights about your business contacts and their organizations to your inbox. Trello lets you add cards straight from Outlook’s inbox, and track changes to existing projects. Microsoft Translator supports 60 different languages. Evernote allows you to clip emails to an Evernote folder. And Giphy lets you reply to an email with a GIF.

Microsoft said it will approve additional add-ins in the near future and said it is opening add-on development to third parties.

More: Microsoft’s new Outlook app for iOS and Android syncs all your email together

Apple’s iOS software already provides a means of sharing information between apps in Extensions, a feature introduced in iOS 8. But Microsoft’s Javier Soltero told Computerworld that it “wasn’t right” for Outlook’s purposes. “In [my] view, Apple’s design is based on a series of events that users don’t typically follow,” he said. “To email a picture, users find the photo in their Photos app, then open the share sheet and send the photo to Outlook for inclusion in an email.” Outlook’s add-ins, by contrast, are based around intents. “You know what you’re going to do — you’re going to send a message, and what you include in that message is the other consideration,” he said.

Add-ins and apps are not available for everyone just yet. You will have to be an Office 365 customer to take advantage but Microsoft said the functionality is rolling out slowly to Outlook.com users. Support for Android will be available soon.

Add-in support for Outlook on iOS follows the beta debut of apps for Windows and Mac.

Like a robotic art teacher, this little projector will show your kids how to draw

Why it matters to you

Want to teach your kid to draw? FollowGrams is a smart projector that lets children turn any picture they’ve taken into a traceable image.

There’s ongoing debate in the art world about whether or not the great Renaissance painters may have used optical aids to help them trace the timeless masterpieces which now hang in galleries all around the world. But while that might be a controversial accusation for a renowned art master, the idea of drawing over a projected image is far less contentious — and even beneficial — when you think that it could be used to help a young kid learn how to draw.

More: Whip out your Apple Pencil and try out the 20 best iPad Pro drawing apps

That’s the concept behind FollowGrams, a smart projector that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth, and which then allows kids to turn any picture they’ve taken into a traceable image. Just dim your lights, turn on the projector, and put down a blank page to get started…

“In the past couple of years we worked on a coloring book line called Painting Lulu where kids start on paper and then scan their artwork into a digital app and continue there,” creator Tal Zilberman, an engineer, told Digital Trends. “People were asking us [whether] kids can then transfer their digital work from their tablet back to paper. It was funny at first, but then we thought why not [give it a] try?”

The resulting hardware and software is geared toward making the experience of drawing fun for kids. The projector itself is colorful and chunky, while there are plenty of fun animations built into the software. There are also plenty of existing drawings available they can practice on, in addition to copying from photos. Some of these even have educational value, such as traceable letters designed to help young’uns practice their handwriting, and work out which way round certain pesky letters and numbers should go.

“We’re mainly aiming for kids ages five and up, but obviously adults can use it and enjoy it as well,” Zilberman continued. “The FollowGrams platform can be used to develop so many different content types — whether it’s a 5-year-old trying to write his name for the first time or an adult looking for some time [away from] screens. We even tried making cupcakes and using [FollowGrams] to project an image to decorate it.”

If you want to get hold of a unit, you can currently place a pre-order on Kickstarter, where projectors and a range of smart cards start at $65.

Estimated delivery is set to take place in July — if we can project that far ahead.