You can now use Amazon Alexa on Huawei Mate 9: Here’s how it works

Remember when Huawei said it would bring Amazon Alexa to the Mate 9 phone? Well, today is the day.

At CES 2017 in January, the Chinese first manufacturer announced that an over-the-air update would deliver a “Huawei Alexa app” to Mate 9 customers in the US. That update is now rolling out, meaning soon you can activate intelligent voice control on Huawei’s phone. You’ll be able to do almost everything with Alexa on Mate 9 that you can do with Alexa on an Amazon Echo-branded speakers.

• Huawei Mate 9 review: The big-screen boss?
• Amazon Alexa comes to iOS devices
• 12 best Amazon Echo compatible devices you can buy today

Huawei/Pocket-lint

How does Alexa work on Mate 9?

When the Huawei Alexa app rolls out to your Mate 9 via an over-the-air update, you’ll have to manually launch the app every time in order to use Alexa. There’s no hot-word detection in the current version of the app, and Huawei didn’t reveal any plans to add such functionality.

What can you do with Alexa on Mate 9?

The Huawei Mate app offers many Alexa features, like the ability to controll your smart home devices, check the news, shop, listen to Audible content, and more. While we haven’t had the chance to play with the Huawei Alexa app yet, Huawei told Pocket-lint that the experience is largely voice-driven, for people on the go. But it still offer access to “features and scenarios” you expect from Alexa.

Those include the ability to control your smart lights, smart thermostats, smart locks, and smart fans and access to fun games like Jeopardy, Magic Door, and 20 Questions, as well as skills, news flash briefings. You’ll also have the ability to create shopping lists, order items with voice shopping, and cue up podcasts and Audible content. But you won’t be able tap into every Alexa feature.

For instance, you can’t yet set alarms.

What can’t you do with Alexa on Mate 9?

Huawei said timers/alarms are coming soon. Also, you can’t yet access music like Spotify or even TuneIn briefings through the app. These abilities will come later this year. Huawei also told Pocket-lint that the Huawei Alexa app doesn’t offer geolocation, so if you want Alexa to serve up location-specified results to your questions, you’ll have to manually input your location in Amazon’s own Alexa app.

Also, when you’re sitting at home near an Echo, then load up the Huawei Alexa app and say “Alexa”, both your phone and the speaker will start going off. Unlike Google Assistant AI on a Pixel device and in the Google Home speaker, there’s is no intelligent handing off of responses. But the Mate 9 does boast a full mic system with noise cancellation, so it should your hear commands from across the room.

How do you manage Alexa on Mate 9?

You’ll still need the Amazon Alexa app installed on your device to manage settings, features, and skills for Amazon’s voice assistant. And Huawei said multiple Mate 9 devices can be connected to the same account. So, if everyone in your family owns Mate 9 devices but uses the same Amazon account for Alexa (for whatever reason), you can just log in and manage them through the Amazon Alexa app.

When does Alexa roll out to Mate 9?

The Huawei Alexa app is exclusive to Mate 9 and will exclusively become available to all Mate 9 users in the US simultaneously on 22 March 2017. Huawei didn’t reveal any plans for an international roll out. Pocket-lint plans to post a review when we’ve had a chance to really test it out.

• Amazon Echo: First 7 things you should do to get Alexa started
• Amazon Echo tips and tricks: Getting a grip on Alexa
• Amazon Echo: What can Alexa do and what services are compatible?

LG is finally launching its mobile payment system (in Korea)

LG is finally ready to debut its Samsung and Apple Pay rival now that it has forged a partnership with US-based firm Dynamics Inc. According to Reuters and Yohnap News, the Korean tech giant plans to launch its mobile payment system aptly called “LG Pay” in its home country this June. It will use Dynamics’ wireless magnetic technology and will work with existing credit card terminals, just like Samsung’s solution — you only need to tap your phone against the device to make a purchase.

The service will first be available through the LG G6, which is already available in Korea. It’ll roll out to LG’s other phones later through a software update. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t officially announced the service’s details yet, so you’ll have to wait a bit to get your questions answered. It’s still unclear if and when LG Pay will be released elsewhere and if it will charge fees like Apple Pay does.

Source: Reuters, Yonhap News

Critical security flaws found in LastPass on Chrome, Firefox

Last year Google Project Zero researcher Tavis Ormandy quickly found some “obvious” security problems in the popular password manager LastPass, and now he’s done it again. Last week Ormandy mentioned finding an exploit in one version of its extension for Firefox, before following that up with a new bug that affected both Chrome and Firefox, and finally a third vulnerability that could allow “stealing passwords for any domain.”

The first vulnerability has apparently not been addressed yet, which Ormandy mentions may be the result of Mozilla needing time to review the updated extension before pushing it to users. Based on his tweet, it could reveal a user’s password, but not all of the details have been revealed yet.

The issue reported by Tavis Ormandy has been resolved. We will provide additional details on our blog soon.

— LastPass (@LastPass) March 21, 2017

We are aware of reports of a Firefox add-on vulnerability. Our security is investigating and working on issuing a fix.

— LastPass (@LastPass) March 22, 2017

The second issue could be more serious, with the ability to steal a user’s passwords or, if the binary version of the extension is installed, run any code the attacker tells it to (in an example, Ormandy causes the target’s computer to open a Calculator program.) According to LastPass the issue has been resolved, although a promised follow-up blog post with more details has yet to appear.

I found another bug in LastPass 4.1.35 (unpatched), allows stealing passwords for any domain. Full report will be on the way shortly. pic.twitter.com/9VkV7R3vud

— Tavis Ormandy (@taviso) March 21, 2017

There’s even less info available about the latest vulnerability identified, although the version number (4.1.35) matches a LastPass changelog note for its most recent Internet Explorer add-on.

The pace of these discoveries and the lack of information from LastPass is certainly troubling, although using a password manager to maintain unique passwords can help protect you from being hacked. We’ve contacted the company and will update this post with any news, however, it may be wise to disable the affected browser extensions for now. If you’re suddenly looking for another service to store your important login information, Tavis (who makes a habit of poking holes in security products) suggested KeePass, a manager that doesn’t use browser extensions to keep a layer of security between websites and your vault.

Oops, new LastPass bug that affects 4.1.42 (Chrome&FF). RCE if you use the “Binary Component”, otherwise can steal pwds. Full report on way. pic.twitter.com/y92vm3Ibxd

— Tavis Ormandy (@taviso) March 20, 2017

Source: Tavis Ormandy (Twitter), LastPass (Twitter), LastPass Support Forum

UK banks finally learn how to clear cheques in a day

Despite a huge rise in online and contactless payments, cheques are still ridiculously popular. In 2016 alone, Brits sent over 477 million of them, making their recipients wait up to five days to get their hands on the money. For decades, the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company has facilitated this delay by requiring banks to send them to a clearing centre — which involves a system of checking, verifying and transportation around the country — but that wait will soon be reduced to one day under new rules unveiled today.

From October 2017, banks will be able to utilise the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company’s new industry-wide imaging system. Customers will pay them into their bank as usual but banks will swap images of the cheques instead of popping them in the post. “The new system will mean that if they pay in a cheque on a weekday they will be able to withdraw the funds by 23.59 on the next weekday (excluding bank holidays) at the latest,” said the organisation in a statement.

Some banks, including Barclays and Lloyds, have already trialled a similar technology in their apps. Customers can access funds (limited to around £500) by taking a photo of a cheque using their smartphone. However, this was limited to customers with the same bank.

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company notes that while some banks and building societies will go live from October 30th, it will take until “the second half of 2018” for all UK institutions to get on board. The move will also put an end to the practice of “floating”, a process where customers use the five-day clearing period to get their hands on the intended funds before they’re debited from their account.

Source: Cheque and Credit Clearing Company

‘Castlevania’ successor ‘Bloodstained’ is coming to the Switch

The next game by Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was pitched on Kickstarter in 2015 as a spiritual successor to the beloved gothic adventure series. With Igarashi at the helm and the promise of new, updated ‘Metroidvania’ gameplay — a style that fuses side-scroller platforming with deep exploration and RPG mechanics — the project raised more than $5.5 million from 64,867 backers. The updated platform support does come with a downside, however — the Wii U version is being cancelled.

In a backer update, the team said the launch of the Switch had made it “difficult to receive the necessary support” from Nintendo for the Wii U version. “We are very sorry that it has come to this after all your support, but we hope you will understand,” the post reads. Backers who had selected the Wii U as their preferred platform will now receive the Switch version automatically. It will be possible, however, to request a PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Vita copy instead, using the team’s backer survey tool. Supporters can also get a full refund, should they prefer.

The Switch release is good news for Nintendo. The company needs a steady flow of games to keep owners and prospective buyers interested in the platform. Nintendo’s first-party exclusives will always be the main draw, but the company could use some third-party software to fill the gaps in between. The Switch is underpowered compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, so support will likely come from smaller indie releases. Games like WarGroove, Stardew Valley and Overcooked, as well as Yooka-Laylee, which also ditched the Wii U in favor of Nintendo’s new console.

If you’re a Castlevania fan, however, you might have to wait a while for Bloodstained. The game was delayed last September from a planned March 2017 release to the first half of 2018. “The last thing I want to do is keep our backers waiting,” Igarashi said at the time, “but after receiving such incredible support, I feel responsible for delivering the best product I possibly can. Again, I offer my sincerest apologies.” For Switch owners, then, it’s one to put in the diary and forget. Still, it’s good to know that Nintendo’s new hardware will have support beyond its first year.

Via: VideoGamer

Source: Bloodstained (Kickstarter)

LinkedIn tries to be your tech news source with ‘Trending Storylines’

Most every social network offers a news aggregation service to help keep its users abreast of what’s happening in the world around them. However, many of these feeds (looking at you Twitter and Facebook) tend to devolve into echo chambers as users both consciously and unconsciously filter out dissenting opinions. On Wednesday, LinkedIn announced that it is debuting its own aggregation service, dubbed “Trending Storylines”, which aims to help members of its community break out of their respective bubbles and find more diverse news sources.

Trending Storylines is a curated news feed that highlights the day’s trending stories and personalizes what you see based on what the company knows about you. That includes your identity, network, and behavior patterns, Tomer Cohen, Vice President of Content, Search & Discovery Products, told me during a recent interview. It grew out of the company’s older LinkedIn Today program, which monitored 150 influencer accounts and promoted posts based on what they were sharing and commenting on.

With the new system, “we wanted to see not just what people are reading but how they think,” Dan Roth, LinkedIn’s Editor-in-Chief told me. “The guiding principle was: there is incredible insight trapped inside the cubicles of professionals everywhere. What if we gave people the ability to talk about what they know or based on their expertise?”

To that end, LinkedIn has spent the last couple years fully redesigning its feed, resulting in referral traffic from the network to some of its top publishers jumping by as much as 300 percent since last year. A user’s feed used to feature a little bit of everything, Tomer said, “but that’s not a great way to build a user experience so we shifted it to be completely about professional stories.” Therefore, the company is giving users more control over what appears on their feed.

That is, say you’re in the solar industry. You can now follow just the topics and people that directly relate to your industry while ignoring unrelated posts from people you may be connected to on the site, such as recruiters or people you know but who work in a different profession. You can connect with and follow two entirely different sets of people on the site if you want to.

Plus, since there isn’t really any anonymity on LinkedIn, you don’t have to worry about your feed or comments being hijacked by trolls or conspiratorially-minded racist uncles. “People come to LinkedIn for a reason,” Roth explained. “Whatever it is they’re doing in their professional world is what they want to talk about. That alone rules out a lot of what would constitute ‘fake news’. This is not the place where you post conspiracy theories about a pizza chain.”

What’s more, each curated story serves as a jumping off point to more deeply read and discuss the topic. Every story includes a quick summary of the issue and links to curated posts covering the topic as well as recommendations for relevant industry leaders and opinions from people from your network who are talking about it. Each story is also uniquely tagged so that you can easily follow the news as it develops.

Trending Storylines uses a hybrid curation system to generate its content. On one hand, LinkedIn leverages machine learning algorithms to help surface trending stories and ideas from across its network. On the other, the company also employs around two dozen human editors scattered around the globe that help round out each topic with quality posts and diverse opinions from influencers, industry leaders, even if the user doesn’t individually follow them. The editors also serve as reality checks against the algorithms to prevent the system from inadvertently promoting inappropriate items.

The new Storylines feature will begin rolling out in America beginning today before eventually expanding to the entire global network. Stories will initially focus on the fields of tech, finance and health before likewise expanding in due time.

The Galaxy Tab S3 is good, but not $600 good

Samsung is continuing its quest to outdo Apple at the tablet game with the new Galaxy Tab S3. The $600/£599 Android slate improves on the already pleasant multimedia experience that the Tab S2 offered by packing a brilliant HDR display and four speakers tuned by AKG. It also comes with an S Pen for on-the-go scribbling. Plus, its beefy processor and long-lasting battery help the Tab S3 better take on rival flagships. But although I enjoy watching movies, playing games and sketching on the Tab S3, I still find its $600 price hard to swallow.

Hardware

If you’ve seen the Tab S2, you’ve basically seen the Tab S3. The new tablet has the same slim silhouette as its predecessor, although it’s gained a glass covering that lends it a more premium feel. That unspecified glass also makes the tablet heavier and very prone to smudges, though.

Aside from that reflective facade and sharp profile, the Tab S3 looks as unassuming as earlier models. I like the minimalist look here, especially how much less unsightly the rear is now that the camera sits flush with the casing. That camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, by the way, while the front-facer has seen a bump to 5 megapixels. Along the sides is an array of ports and connectors, including a microSD card slot on the right and a USB-C socket and headphone jack at the bottom. Like previous Tab S devices, the S3 also has a fingerprint sensor built into the physical home button below the display. I like that this reader is capable of identifying whether you placed your thumb on it horizontally or vertically, as long as you set it up correctly in the settings.

Overall, Samsung didn’t deviate much from the previous Tab’s aesthetic, choosing instead to build the S3 from more premium materials. It’s not the most inspired or exciting design, but it succeeds in making the tablet feel classier and more expensive.

Display and audio

One of the Tab S3’s highlights is its 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display. Its 2,048 x 1,536 resolution gives it a 4:3 aspect ratio, just like on the iPad Pro. Samsung’s screen here offers HDR support for higher contrast and more vivid colors; indeed, it provides a rich canvas for videos and games. When you view HDR content on the Tab S3, objects in the shadows become clearer and easier to see. But HDR content is not widely available yet, so this feature’s usefulness remains limited for now.

To accompany the rich images you see, Samsung equipped the Tab S3 with four speakers tuned by AKG for louder, fuller sound. Although this setup provides volume that was loud enough to hear over my TV, the actual audio quality is merely decent. Songs like “I Don’t Want to Live Forever” by Zayn come through with ample bass but sound hollow. More percussive songs, like “It’s Just Us Now” by Sleigh Bells, get tinny at times too.

The speakers also support a neat new feature that uses the accelerometer to understand how you’re holding the tablet and then adjusts the audio output to make sure the left and right speakers are tuned to deliver balanced surround sound in either landscape or portrait orientation. Frankly, I didn’t notice a huge difference in the way music was reaching my ears, although I did catch some small volume changes as I rotated the device in hand. It’s a nice feature, but not one that will make you go out and buy the tablet.

Keyboard and S Pen

It’s not easy to get a portable keyboard right, so kudos to Samsung for coming close with the Tab S3’s optional $130/£119 accessory. Typing is mostly bearable on the Tab’s relatively cramped keyboard, which attaches magnetically to the tablet as well as through a POGO connector for power and data. Each button press is satisfying, thanks to ample travel and the springy mechanism underneath each keycap. In general, too, the letter keys were comfortably sized, and I also appreciate the support for shortcuts like Alt-Tab, Ctrl-X and Ctrl-C, although that’s standard for such keyboard accessories.

But the keyboard still presents a few frustrating issues. For one, as a heavy user of keyboard shortcuts, I would have appreciated a second Control button to the right of the space bar, close to the arrow keys. Instead Samsung has placed a so-called Language key in that spot, and it doesn’t do much more than show you what language your keyboard is set to.

The Enter and Backspace keys are also undersized and placed just out of reach of my little finger, so I have to exercise extra care when aiming for them. Finally, even though I initially thought a touchpad wasn’t necessary for a device with a touchscreen, its absence here was jarring — my fingers frequently wandered over to where a trackpad would normally be, only to be left hanging. To its credit, Android does at least support cursor input (unlike iOS), and some similar keyboards, such as the one on the Lenovo Yoga Book, have such a space to make navigating the OS more intuitive when working in a laptop-style configuration.

To be fair, the companion keyboards for the Pixel C and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro don’t have trackpads either, and squeezing one in would have made the keys smaller, so I’m willing to overlook this trade-off. Plus, I rather enjoy using the S Pen as a mouse replacement to scroll through websites or navigate the OS without having to reach for the screen, so it’s a good thing Samsung included it.

Speaking of, the S Pen is another standout feature of the Tab S3. I appreciate that Samsung, unlike Apple, includes the stylus gratis, though I wish there were a way to stow it on the device itself. Still, the pen provides a comfortable, natural writing experience, thanks to its grip-friendly shape, larger size (than the version for the Note phablets) and fine 0.7mm nib.

As the pen hovers over the Tab’s screen, a little circle appears to track its position. Using the button on the S Pen’s side, you can activate Air Command to access shortcuts such as Create Note, Smart Select and Translate. That last one lets you pick a word with the stylus to translate into your desired language.

Drawing with the S Pen feels smooth, and because of the fine nib and bigger canvas, you can achieve fairly detailed drawings. Plus, the new S Pen is twice as pressure sensitive as previous iterations, and can detect up to 4,096 levels of force. This means you can get thinner lines than before, and the extremely wispy strands of hair I drew onto my hapless stick figure is a testament to that level of detail. In addition to the pre-installed Microsoft OneNote and Samsung Notes apps, I also tried the pen out with Autodesk SketchBook and Adobe Draw, both of which offer more advanced controls.

Like the most recent S Pen, this stylus doesn’t need to be recharged, which is convenient. Ultimately, Samsung’s effective integration of the S Pen here will make it a popular new bonus of the Tab line, just as it has become a defining feature of the Note series.

Performance and battery life

Thanks to its quad-core Snapdragon 820 chipset and 4GB of RAM, the Tab S3 was mostly fast and responsive. Jumping between graphics-intensive apps like room-escape games and scrolling through web pages is mostly smooth. There’s a slight delay in launching apps like Camera and Chrome, but once they’re up and running, the apps perform well. I’m tempted to blame the company’s TouchWiz UI for that lag, which is overlaid here on Android 7.0 Nougat in a more restrained manner than usual. It’s still noticeable through the software’s icons and app offerings, though.

* SunSpider: Lower scores are better.

Despite the inclusion of Microsoft’s Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote apps, as well as Android Nougat’s new multi-window features, the Tab S3’s capability as a productivity machine is limited. Android apps in general still aren’t optimized to make better use of the larger screens of tablets, although Google and Microsoft’s offerings have improved in that respect. But with Tab S3, my usual workflow is further hampered by the cramped keyboard and missing touchpad.

Synthetic benchmark results paint a similar picture, placing the Tab S3 just behind the Google Pixel C, which packs a powerful Tegra X1 processor, on most tests. Samsung’s tablet beat Lenovo’s Yoga Book, which uses an Intel Atom chip, on most general performance benchmarks. The three devices also ranked similarly on graphics tests, with the Pixel leading the pack, the Tab taking second place and the Yoga Book falling behind.

Battery life
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
11:50
Lenovo Yoga Book (Android)
11:09
Apple iPad Pro (9.7 inch)
9:11
Google Pixel C
8:15

The Tab S3’s endurance varies quite a bit depending on how you use it. When you’re not overworking the device by multitasking with a video streaming in the background, you’ll find its 6,000mAh battery is enough to last a day and a half. Start playing games, or run a graphics- and computing-intensive app, and you’ll find the power level dropping at a much faster rate, going from about 60 percent charged to 25 percent in just a few hours. The Tab S3 clocked nearly 12 hours on Engadget’s battery test, which involves looping an HD video at fixed display brightness. That’s three hours longer than what the Pixel C was capable of, and two hours longer than the iPad Pro. The Yoga Book is a closer contender, having finished the same test within 40 minutes of the Tab S3.

The competition

Few Android tablets on the market try to be productivity powerhouses, simply because the OS itself isn’t designed well for that purpose. But that hasn’t stopped Samsung, Lenovo and even Google itself from trying.

The Tab S3’s most obvious rival is Google’s Pixel C, which costs the same (for more storage) and has a similarly premium build. Samsung’s slate comes with the S Pen and has a more brilliant display, making it the better device for creatives. On the other hand, the Pixel has a more powerful Tegra processor, which, despite being paired with less RAM, performs better on benchmarks than the Galaxy Tab. The Pixel also offers a companion keyboard for $20 more than the Tab’s, but neither accessory is a good substitute for a full-size keyboard.

Lenovo, on the other hand, ditches the keyboard altogether with the Yoga Book, which costs $100 less than the Tab S3. Instead of physical keys, you get a smooth surface on which to write notes or doodle, and it has light-up outlines of keys you can tap when you need to type. Artists who prefer a more old-school pen-and-paper experience will prefer the Yoga Book’s integration, which lets you use actual pen and paper to draw and has your sketch appear on the tablet in real time. The Lenovo slate’s biggest downside is its terrible typing experience, and it also trails the Tab S3 in both performance benchmarks and battery life.

Then there’s the iPad Pro 9.7. The different OS aside, the iPad Pro is very similar to the Tab S3. It has a 9.7-inch 2,048 x 1,536 display, a svelte 6.1mm (0.24-inch) profile and quad-speaker setup, just like Samsung’s slate. The Tab S3’s advantages over Apple’s device include HDR media support, bundled S Pen, and a battery that lasts two hours longer than the iPad on a charge. But the iPad will still hold more appeal for iOS fans.

Wrap-up

Ultimately, the Tab S3 is a solid utility tablet that does nearly everything it promises. It provides a bright, vibrant display and booming audio for enjoyable binge watching or gaming, and a fluid S Pen experience that digital artists will appreciate. Its long-lasting battery is also a bonus. I don’t recommend getting the $130 keyboard or trying to use this tablet for any real work (in other words, writing a report or intensive multitasking), though. It’s also $100 more expensive than the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

Don’t think of the Tab S3 as a laptop replacement and you’ll find it a perfectly capable machine that’s largely inoffensive. Whether that’s worth $600 depends on how much you want a really nice screen and loud speakers.

Alexa on Huawei’s Mate 9 won’t listen unless you press

When we first learned that Huawei planned to bring Amazon’s Alexa to its Mate 9 flagship, there weren’t many details on what that implementation would look like. All we really knew was that it would be rolling out via software update to the phone, and that its availability would be limited. Today, Huawei has unveiled just how the integration will work. Sadly, parts of this implementation don’t make sense, with the most disappointing being the fact that you have to press your phone twice before you can talk to Alexa, which defeats the point of having a voice assistant.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, here’s how the feature will work. Starting today, the company will be rolling out updates over the air that will push the Huawei Alexa app to Mate 9 owners in the US (those in other countries will have to wait, although it’s not clear till when). You’ll have to install that as well as Amazon’s own Alexa app to use the tool, and that’s what will have the information from your Amazon account. Then, whenever you want Alexa to, say, help you order a new book or turn on your lights, you have to open the Huawei Alexa app and tap the round microphone button before speaking.

In a news release, Huawei itself describes Alexa as a “primarily voice-driven experience, ideal for people on the go,” so the lack of hotword support is confusing, if not frustrating. It’s not as if Huawei wasn’t able to create hotword shortcuts for its own “Okay Emy” tool in the past. The company said that this is the way Alexa works “currently,” although it did not say if that will change in the future.

Huawei’s execution of an initially exciting feature is flawed, but having Alexa on your phone is still very useful, considering the assistant’s prowess at controlling smart home appliances and shopping. If you’re disappointed with this news and want an alternative means of getting Alexa on a mobile device, there are also Alexa-powered smartwatches to consider.

Amazon Brings ‘Send to Kindle’ Read-it-Later Feature to Safari iOS

Amazon has added a long-awaited Pocket-style read-it-later feature to its Kindle iOS app that allows users browsing the web to send articles to their Kindle device for offline reading.

Amazon has offered desktop Chrome and Firefox browser extensions to feed into its Send to Kindle feature for some time, but the company had not offered a Safari-compatible iOS solution until now.

The new feature works as a Send to Kindle extension in Safari’s Share Sheet. After updating the Kindle app, users can add the extension by scrolling to the end of the first row of icons in Share Sheet, tapping the More button, and enabling it in the app list.

Users can find saved articles at the top of their library in the Kindle app as well as any Kindle devices associated with their Amazon account.

Articles are saved in Kindle format, meaning users can adjust their look in the usual way via the text, font, page color, and line spacing options. The articles are also compatible with Kindle features like dictionary lookup, translations, Wikipedia search, bookmarking, text highlighting, and annotations.

The read-it-later feature is included in the latest version of Kindle for iOS, which is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Amazon, Kindle
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Apple Drops iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED Branding in China

Yesterday, Apple announced a special edition (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, to go with its current (PRODUCT)RED line-up that Apple promotes as a way for customers to support HIV/AIDS charity (RED).

The red handset, which launches on Friday, is the first time Apple has included its flagship phone in the promotional line-up, but the PRODUCT(RED) iPhone branding does not apply across all regions.

Apple’s Taiwan website
As noted by TechCrunch, internet users have spotted that the (PRODUCT)RED branding is missing on the regional China website, but all other details including launch date and time remain identical, indicating that Apple is promoting the red iPhone in the country simply as an additional colorway.

Apple’s China website
Sex remains a controversial issue in China, where traditional values frequently clash with more liberal Western attitudes as the country’s economic boom increasingly opens it to outside influence. In the past, AIDS and HIV have been characterized in China as a consequence of contact with the West, but recent legislation has been more progressive and a lot more successful in treating the AIDS/HIV problem in the country.

Despite the gradual change in attitudes, it’s likely Apple took the decision to drop the (PRODUCT)RED affiliation in order to avoid possible tension with the Chinese government, following recent incidents in which the company has fallen foul of China’s restrictive internet policies.

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.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: (PRODUCT)RED
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