Nokia got better at Android phones, fast

In case you forgot, Nokia’s new 6, 5 and 3 aren’t actually the company’s first Android devices. Many years ago, it made a mistake the Nokia X. It wasn’t really aimed at western markets and (if you ever got to play with one), it wasn’t really all that good. Fortunately, this second attempt demonstrates that the company’s far more serious with Android, with a classy Scandinavian design notes and an unobtrusive (and importantly up to date) mobile operating system. All the devices clock in at under $250, too, which means Nokia’s taking aim at the mid-range smartphone heartland. The company has learned fast.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from MWC 2017.

Aol starts to shut down third-party AIM apps

Aol has revealed that it will soon block third-party apps from accessing its aging AIM messenger service. According to reports from 9To5Mac, the internet provider has notified Adium users that the app will stop functioning on March 28th. So far, Adium is the only service to be affected, but from the look of Aol’s statement it seems as though this could just be the first casualty of ye olde AIM’s imminent shutdown.

The current iteration of AIM runs on the more modern TOC protocol, so third-party apps were the only way to access the older version. That system ran on an Aol platform called OSCAR, which also provided the backbone to Apple’s iChat service back in the day.

Hello. Effective 3/28, we will no longer support connections to the AIM network via this method. If you wish to use the free consumer AIM product, we invite you to visit http://www.aim.com for more information.

The number of people using AIM has been in a steady state of decline as folks move across to rival platforms from other companies. The company massively downsized its messenger team in 2012, only leaving enough employees to ensure that the platform could keep the lights on. Speaking to Ars Technica, a former Aol employee said that dwindling users and the high cost of running OSCAR is behind the shutdown. They added that AIM users currently number in “the single-digit millions.”

While the AIM of old still holds a lot of nostalgia for internet users of er, a certain age, this doesn’t mean that IM lovers will be left without an alternative. Despite its dwindling userbase, you can still download AOL’s latest chat app on iOS, macOS, Windows and Android. Still, for those of us who long to return to the days of the classic AIM chat rooms, it looks like you might only have 27 days to say goodbye to that FLyboY2000 account.

Source: 9to5mac

BioLite’s new off-the-grid gear doubles down on power and light

BioLite released most of its 2017 product line today, spearheaded by the new and improved CampStove 2. All the products share common design features, centered around either battery improvements, expanded lighting possibilities, or both. Along with the redesigned stove, which now includes onboard power storage, there’s a double-wide solar panel, heavy duty portable batteries and, in the spirit of keeping you charged up, a coffee press. The company has also expanded its NanoGrid lighting system by adding a collapsible and hangable diffusion light, a scaled-down version of the daisy-chainable SiteLight series and the long-awaited arrival of the BaseLantern.

While that’s a lot of gear, BioLite has focused on portability and smaller sizes to help you get the most out of your off-the-grid travels. While these are generally designed for life in the great outdoors, some of these products can probably earn a spot in your everyday routine.

The first product out of the gate this year is the new wood-powered CampStove 2, which generally looks and acts like its predecessor providing thermo-electrically generated power, albeit with improved electronics. Instead of simply providing a pass-through for charging, its able to store some of that juice with its on-board 2,600mAh battery.

There’s also a new LED dashboard that displays battery and heat levels along with a four-step adjustable fan control. As before, everything easily breaks down and fits into itself for portability. If you have a KettlePot, you can still stow the whole CampStove inside to keep things organized. Additionally, BioLite is releasing a new Coffee Press attachment for the pot, giving you the tools for both cooking and caffeinating in a portable package. (And yes, the press will also fit into the same compact bundle.)

When the sun’s out, you’ll be able to double your solar charging capability with BioLite’s new SolarPanel 10+. The design is similar to the preceding 5/5+ series, except that you get a pair of five-watt panels doubling the output. This unit has a 3,000mAh battery for improved post-sunset charging levels, along with a USB charging port and micro-USB for manual recharging. The exterior coating on this new model is made of softer, more tactile material that spans both panels across the hinge area, which allows the two sides to fold in or out. When they’re not sipping at the sun’s rays you just snap the corners together to keep them closed.

The standalone Charge Series of rugged battery packs are on the horizon, but there’s no exact release date yet. They’re encased in stainless steel with charging slots along the top and will arrive in three sizes: 10Wh, 20Wh and 40Wh. More detailed specs have yet to be provided, but the smallest is similar in size to a lighter, with the largest a bit wider than a deck of cards. They have more heft that you’d usually find in portable batteries, but they’re built for rough-n-tumble activities.

After some delays, the previously announced BaseLantern and BaseLantern XL are scheduled for an April 15th release (although you can pre-order now). Both products have the same exterior, however the standard BaseLantern has a 7,800mAh battery, while the XL model offers 12,000mAh. Both units have two USB charging ports, a micro-USB for recharging and two SiteLight ports for expanding your lighting setup. There’s a separate control for the SiteLight output, so you can dim those independently. The design is compact with a bit of heft, measuring 5 x 5 x 1.73 inches (or about the size of a sandwich) with two fold-out stainless steel legs to raise it off the ground. It’s IPX4 splash resistant, so a quick shower is fine, but I would avoid leaving this out all night in the pouring rain, just to be safe.

The most useful feature here is the introduction of a mobile app to control the lighting and set up the proximity feature. You get white or full-color LED lighting up to 500 lumens, with adjustable settings for brightness and warmth (for plain white). If solid colors don’t float your boat, pre-sets give you the option of running the light as a strobe, pulse or just chill with smooth transitions across the color spectrum. While the lights are bright and there’s a wide color gamut, they are edge lit and it’s not exactly the same output you’d get from a Philips Hue type bulb. These are multi-faceted, however, and can easily find a spot in your home environment to add a splash of color or light up a park picnic as easily as a campsite.

The BaseLanterns support Bluetooth LE, which lets you remotely power them up with the app and also set up proximity controls to shut the light down as you leave and/or back on when you return. After having this at my desk for a while, I can tell you that the proximity control works pretty well, surprising me a bit each time after switching on when I sit back down. The application also lets you view the remaining battery life for your BaseLantern, calculating the time in hours and minutes based on your current output set up, which is a special and useful treat.

With either BaseLantern, the PowerLite or any USB power source (using BioLite’s new USB to mini adapters) you can host the various hangable lighting options released today. Along with the original SiteLight pods, you can now string the SiteLight Mini and SiteLight XL to further illuminate your surroundings.

The SiteLight Mini is a holiday-like string of four LED lights with 10-feet of trailing cable, to give you some distance when setting up. When you’re packing up, they conveniently snap into each other like a centipede. The SiteLight XL is a collapsable ball-shaped diffuser with LED lights inside, which helps to spread illumination without any troubling glare. The 15 feet of cable on the XL gives you additional flexibility for placement, possibly on a tree branch above. When it’s time to break down, the XL is a twist and a press away from being a compact bundle (although it may take a few tries to perfect it). All these lights can be daisy-chained together with additional units to fill the area with light — even better if you use the USB adapter and a battery to free yourself from cabling to a centralized lamp.

The majority of the new releases are available today on BioLite’s website, including the CampStove 2 ($130), SiteLight Mini ($20), SiteLight XL ($30) and SolarPanel 10+ ($130). The BaseLantern ($100) and BaseLantern XL ($130) will ship on April 15th, and the rugged trio of Charge Series batteries ($25 to $60) should arrive in the coming months.

Facebook testing AI that helps spot suicidal users

Pointing out that suicides happen every 40 seconds and are the second leading cause of death for young people, Facebook has unveiled new tools to help prevent them. While it already has self-harm prevention features, they rely users to spot and report friends’ problematic posts. The company is now testing AI tech that can detect whether a post “is very likely to include thoughts of suicide.” It can then be checked by the company’s Community Operations teams, opening up a new way for worrying posts to be discovered.

Facebook’s AI is also helping users report friends’ problematic posts. Using pattern recognition, it will make “suicide or self injury” reporting options more prominent so that a user’s friends can find them easily. Facebook said, however, that the AI detection and reporting options, either by friends or Facebook employees, is just a “limited test” in the US for now.

Facebook has also created new Messenger tools in collaboration with the Crisis Text Line, the National Eating Disorder Association, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and other organizations. That’ll let at-risk users or concerned friends contact knowledgeable groups over chat either directly from the organization’s page or via Facebook’s suicide prevention tools. The Messenger program is also in the testing phases, but Facebook will expand it “over the next several months” so that organizations can ramp up to increased call volumes.

Finally, the social network has integrated suicide prevention tools into Facebook Live. If users see a troubling live post, they can reach out directly to the person and report it to Facebook at the same time, as shown above. It will “also provide resources to the person reporting the live video to assist them in helping their friend,” it wrote. Meanwhile, the person sharing the video will see resources that let them reach out to a friend, contact a help line or see tips.

“Some might say we should cut off the livestream, but what we’ve learned is cutting off the stream too early could remove the opportunity for that person to receive help,” Facebook Researcher Jennifer Guadagno told Techcrunch.

Source: Facebook

Target Returns iPhone SE Stock Ahead of Apple’s Rumored March Event

Target this week instructed its stores to return a number of iPhone SE models to Apple by today, March 1, according to a company memo obtained by MacRumors.

iPhone SE devices that are to be returned include six unlocked 16GB and 64GB models in Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, and Space Gray, and two Sprint models.

An anonymous employee informed us that her Target store had not received iPhone SE stock since before the iPhone 7 was announced in September 2016.

While there are many possible reasons for Target to send back iPhone SE stock, such as poor sales of select models, the move comes just days or weeks before Apple’s rumored March event, where a 128GB iPhone SE may be announced. However, no other hardware changes have been rumored.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said an iPhone SE refresh is unlikely in the first half of this year, so fans of Apple’s lower-priced smartphone shouldn’t set their hopes too high about a second-generation model yet. The original iPhone SE, which starts at $399, was introduced in March 2016.

Even without a full refresh, one possible scenario is that Apple could begin selling the iPhone SE in 32GB and 128GB capacities, doubling the storage space of the current 16GB and 64GB models, going forward.

Related Roundup: iPhone SE
Tag: Target
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Twitter Doubles Down on Safety With Expanded Filter Options and Quicker Response Times

Twitter today announced a list of new features for the web and mobile that plan to leverage the company’s learning technology to drastically reduce harassment on the service.

The updates will place more tools in the hands of the users to “control your experience,” and overall Twitter said it intends to be more vocal and “communicate more clearly” about the actions it takes in the realm of online safety.

The company’s first step is an overall boost to its learning algorithms that it says can detect when accounts are violating the Twitter Rules repeatedly, or otherwise engaging in abusive behavior, and take actions prior to even getting a digital abuse report from other Twitter users. Abusive accounts will then face repercussions, “such as allowing only their followers to see their Tweets.”

Our platform supports the freedom to share any viewpoint, but if an account continues to repeatedly violate the Twitter Rules, we will consider taking further action.

We aim to only act on accounts when we’re confident, based on our algorithms, that their behavior is abusive. Since these tools are new we will sometimes make mistakes, but know that we are actively working to improve and iterate on them everyday.

In terms of tools, users will now have even more filtering options for notifications so that basic “egg” accounts with a profile photo, and those with an unverified email address or phone number, can all be filtered out completely. Expanding on the mute feature implemented last November, users will be able to more easily gain access to mute words or entire conversations right from the Twitter timeline. A length of time can now be selected as well, so content can be muted for one day, one week, one month, or indefinitely.

After negative press surrounded Twitter for its inaction towards anti-harassment measures on the site, the company noted in its blog post that a big point moving forward will be “continuing to improve the transparency and openness of our reporting process.” So on a big scale the company plans to be more consistent with its safety feature rollouts, and on a small scale it said that users will be notified more often about Tweets and accounts they’ve reported, from the moment the report comes in to the measures Twitter takes in dealing with the situation.

The report updates will be visible in the Notifications tab on Twitter.com and the Twitter iOS app. The company admitted that the process towards a more widespread sense of safety on the social network isn’t easy, and referenced the mistakes it’s made in the past, like when it decided to turn off notifications every time users are added to a list. At the time, users pointed out how oddly anti-safe that move was, which placed them even more in the dark about who was interacting with their Twitter profile.

We’re learning a lot as we continue our work to make Twitter safer – not just from the changes we ship but also from the mistakes we make, and of course, from feedback you share.

Online safety has become a big concern for many social networks. Besides Twitter, Instagram has updated its app to let users moderate keywords that appear in the comments of their posts, as well as turn comments off completely. Facebook today also announced a suite of new suicide prevention tools aimed at leveraging AI systems and contacting at-risk users based on their actions within comments, posts, and Facebook Live videos.

Today’s updates follow safety tweaks introduced by Twitter in February where it updated how users report abusive Tweets, prevented the creation of new abusive accounts, created safer search results, collapsed “low-quality” Tweets in conversations, and reduced notifications from conversations initiated by blocked or muted users. The new updates will be rolling out globally in the coming days and weeks.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Twitter
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Apple Expands Carrier Billing to Italy, Singapore, and Austria

Apple has enabled carrier billing in Austria for Drei customers, Italy for Three customers, and Singapore for M1 Limited customers, expanding upon the feature’s existing availability among select carriers in Belgium, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The payment method enables customers to pay for iTunes content, App Store apps, iBooks, and Apple Music subscriptions without needing a credit or debit card, or even a bank account. Instead, purchases are added to a customer’s mobile phone bill and paid off at the end of the month.

Apple has a support document explaining how to set up carrier billing on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and Mac or PC.

Tags: Italy, Austria, Singapore, carrier billing
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Do you need to buy Nintendo Switch accessories? Pro Controller and Joy-Con Charging Grip explained

When the Nintendo Switch was unveiled at a special event in January, the major worry was its pricing. Not of the console itself, but all the extras you need to shell out around it.

The console is £280, which is par for the course for a new games machine these days, and games cost an extra £40 to £60 a pop – again, industry standard really. But the accessories seem very expensive for what they are, especially as some argue that one or two of them should have been included in the box.

Well, the good news is that, after using everything that does come with the Nintendo Switch initial purchase and a couple of the optional add-ons, those fears are allayed somewhat.

We detail the two most popular accessories below, both offering control options, alongside what you already get as part of the main package and reveal whether you really need them or not.

Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Grip

Pocket-lint

• Comes in the box
• You clip the Joy-Cons either side
• Works like a full gamepad
• Amiibo support (through right Joy-Con)

When the Nintendo Switch is docked, the most common way to play games will be through attaching the Joy-Con controllers to a plastic Grip device that comes in the box.

You slide them either side of a central unit and all of the controls you require to play non-motion games are within your grasp. It feels comfortable and, while not as ergonomic as other game controllers, is sturdy and more than capable to play with for long periods.

Pocket-lint

The Grip itself is fairly uncomplicated, with just a bank of LEDs either side to show you when the Joy-Cons are paired and what player you are.

We’ve happily played long sessions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the standard Joy-Cons and Grip without ever feeling strain. We’ve also not had to recharge the controllers during a session.

Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Charging Grip

Pocket-lint

• Costs £28 from Amazon.co.uk, $30 from Amazon.com
• You clip the Joy-Cons either side
• Works like a full gamepad
• Amiibo support (through right Joy-Con)
• Has a USB Type-C connection for charging

In shape and form, the optional Joy-Con Charging Grip feels and does the same as the one included in the box. However, it is rendered in a smokey clear plastic rather than black. It also comes with a USB Type-C port at the top so you can charge your Joy-Cons while playing.

A USB Type-C to USB cable is supplied, which you connect to one of the USB ports on the Switch dock and, while playing with the wire attached, the Joy-Cons charge.

Pocket-lint

Contrary to previous reports, it doesn’t have a battery inside, so will not charge the Joy-Cons unless the cable is attached.

In our experience there is little need to replace the standard, included Grip with this as we clipped the Joy-Cons back onto the Switch unit each time we finished playing, which recharged them fully for the next time we wanted to play. And considering each Joy-Con officially lasts up to 20 hours between charges, there are few occasions we can see where you wouldn’t have that opportunity.

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

Pocket-lint

• Costs £65 from Amazon.co.uk, $70 from Amazon.com
• Separate game controller
• Has USB Type-C connection for charging
• Amiibo support

The Pro Controller is a more tantalising accessory for gaming as it is undoubtedly more traditional in shape and size. It too has a smokey clear plastic build on the main body and grippier handles. But in terms of functionality, it does very little different to a Grip with Joy-Cons.

The rumble is better, if that’s important to you. Battery life is considerably better too, with a claimed 40 hours – double that of the Joy-Cons. Is that worth an extra £65 though?

Pocket-lint

The good news for parents and the budget conscious is that, while it does feel better playing with the Pro Controller on games such as Zelda, it isn’t a necessity. We’ve happily played many hours of the game with the Joy-Cons and the standard Grip, so you can save the money – maybe even invest in another game instead.

Hardcore gamers will probably opt for the Pro, but you can get on just fine without one.

Conclusion

The upshot of our tests with all three control methods is that you can largely ignore the doombringers who claim that you need to spend extra on top of the initial Switch purchase for this, that or the other. You don’t.

You will need a game, naturally, and that adds to the cost. And we do advise purchasing a decent microSD card as the built-in storage is measly, but everything else Nintendo has supplied in the box is more than capable for great gaming sessions. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.

Nintendo Switch storage full? The best microSD card offers to buy and avoid download disappointment

You’ve got a shiny new Nintendo Switch but, wait, what’s that? Yep, just one game download can easily fill the console’s measly 32GB storage.

Fortunately the Switch has a microSD card slot for expansion to avoid this being a huge issue.

Furthermore cartridge games don’t need to install on the console unlike downloaded titles from the Nintendo eShop, which is another way to swerve filling up the on-board storage.

• Nintendo Switch: Price, release date and everything you need to know

Although Nintendo hasn’t released official specification to date about card size compatibility or speed requirements, we can confirm you’ll need a launch day one patch for things to work. Typically devices support up to 128GB XC (“extra capacity”) cards.

Here are some safe bets to ensure your day one Nintendo Switch has spare storage for dabbling in eShop download land. The 64GB option is our preferred choice.

SanDisk 16GB microSD HC card (Class 10): £5.99 on Amazon.co.uk

SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSD HC card (Class 10): £9.99 on Amazon.co.uk

SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSD XC card (Class 10): £17.99 on Amazon.co.uk

Toshiba Exceria 128GB microSD XC card (Class 10): £34.05 on Amazon.co.uk

Some advice: check the card speed, but don’t read too deeply into it. See that circle with a number in it? That’s the card class. Class 10 means 10MB/second minimum sustained write speed, Class 6 means 6MB/sec, and so forth.

Often you’ll see a “I” to the bottom corner of a card, too, in numeral style, which represents UHS-I, or ultra-high speed, assuring a decent buffer speed to keep data chugging along. UHS-II (“II” rather than “I” symbol) is a lot faster, but rarely supported – so best avoided on a cost basis here as it’ll bring no benefit, we suspect. If you see a 3 symbol in a bucket then, again, that’s the higher UHS speed class and not necessary.

A final word of caution: if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. A number of tampered cards are available to buy, many of which might say “128GB” on the outside buy be considerably less capacious in reality. Don’t get stung!

‘Overwatch’ Season 4 brings a server browser and tweaked respawns

Big news for Overwatch players: Season 4 has begun and a bevy of changes and additions have arrived alongside it. First up, the competitive shooter’s server browser. It’s live! This means that from here on out, you can set your own parameters for how you want to play. Up for “total mayhem” in the Brawl gametype? Have at it. If the pre-made lists don’t turn your crank, you can customize everything from movement speed; hero abilities; map rotation; capture speed; ultimate abilities and a whole lot more for your perfect match. For a peek, check out the video embedded below.

Beyond that, the developers at Blizzard have tweaked how skill ratings will change moving forward. High-ranking players (with ratings north of 3000) will have to compete in seven matches per week to maintain their ranking. It’s a “change that will improve the accuracy of a player’s skill rating, make maintaining multiple high-level accounts more difficult, and make upper-tier placement more meaningful” according to a blog post from Blizzard.

The way respawns work has been changed, too. Now, on objective game types, there’s a respawn delay timer that comes into play when attackers outnumber the amount of defenders on a control point.

“If the point hasn’t been captured and the defense hasn’t regained the advantage after a specified time, the defender respawn timer will slowly begin to increase until it hits a maximum value,” Blizzard writes. “If the defense manages to gain the upper hand, the timer resets to zero.”

The developer thinks this could encourage better play: improving the attackers’ capture abilities while simultaneously pushing defenders to act as a group to retake the objective rather than do their best lemming impressions. For the rest of the patch notes, hit the source links below.

Source: Battle.net, Overwatch (1), (2) (YouTube)