Apple Retail Ends Genius Training in Cupertino, Moves to In-Store Web Seminars

For years, Apple has sent new Genius hires to its Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino, or sometimes an auxiliary campus in Austin or Atlanta, to receive hands-on training for up to three weeks. Recently, however, Apple appears to have stopped offering these group-based trips, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple’s off-site Genius Training program has been replaced by an in-store, self-guided experience using company-provided reference materials, according to a source. The training now involves watching web-based seminars through the Apple Technical Learning Administration System, or ATLAS, another source said.

At its Cupertino headquarters, Apple had a small training facility with a mock Genius Bar and Macs set aside specifically for trainees to take apart and perform test repairs on. But with the switch to web-based seminars, Apple is allegedly providing “virtual take aparts” only now, with no physical hardware.

“This means that many customers who check their computers in for repair may have their device serviced by someone who has never physically worked on their model of computer before,” said a person familiar with the matter.

A handful of Geniuses have shared photos of their training experience on social networks over the years, with one person calling it a “life-changing experience” and others echoing similar positivity. One source described it to us as a “rite of passage” and “a milestone in the career” of an Apple retail employee.

Apple’s Genius Training program was for years a rite of passage for Apple Retail employees: not only a training opportunity, but a chance to visit one of Apple’s corporate campuses, to get questions answered at the source, and, for those who headed to Cupertino, to experience Silicon Valley and the Apple culture. The traditional “selfie” in front of One Infinite Loop was a milestone in the career of every Apple Genius.

Apple Store managers have been quietly informing new Genius hires of the changes in recent weeks. It is unclear if the off-site training is permanently discontinued, or if it could return to Infinite Loop or Apple’s new campus in the future. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year, we revealed a new Apple retail position called Technical Expert, which falls between Technical Specialist and Genius. These employees are able to provide mobile repairs, a task previously limited to Geniuses, and troubleshooting for software and products like the Apple Watch and Apple TV.

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‘Farpoint’ will feature online co-op

There’s even more riding on the success of Farpoint, the first PlayStation VR title that uses Sony’s new Aim controller. The company has revealed that the game will also be a showcase online VR FPS co-op, with two people exploring alien worlds and killing things in tandem. At launch, there will be just four co-op levels, with pairs competing with players from all across the world to ratchet up the highest score.

Impulse Gear, the developers of Farpoint, has been working closely with Sony to ensure that the game and Aim controller work in tandem. For instance, if your teammate leans in to view the virtual scope on their futuristic rifle, you’ll be able to watch them do it. As we’ve previously reported, Farpoint will make its debut on May 16th in the US and Canada, and you’ll pay wither $80 for it and the Aim gun, or $50 on its own.

Source: Sony

UK newspapers want Facebook and Google probed over ‘fake news’

The UK’s newspaper industry is calling on the British government to investigate Google and Facebook’s role in the controversial rise of ‘fake’ news. Responding to an inquiry set up by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the News Media Association (NMA), which represents both local and national newspapers, advised MPs to call on both companies for questioning. Grilling representatives in person would, it argued, help ministers to understand how important news is to their business models, and how their algorithms are being manipulated by fake news sites.

In addition, the association has asked for either Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to open up a separate investigation into Facebook and Google’s role in the media. The NMA argues that fake news travels “fast” on social platforms and is easier to produce because, unlike ‘real’ journalism, creators don’t have to spend time or money on proper reporting. The problem is compounded, it says, because Facebook and Google’s algorithms are designed to surface what it thinks people will be interested in, regardless of the source’s quality.

The nature of online advertising means that oftentimes, brands are supporting fake news sites without their knowledge. They’re merely chasing eyeballs, which just so happen to be pointed toward publications of suspicious quality. “Funding fake news causes real social harm by rewarding piracy and facilitating the spread of conspiracy theories,” the NMA writes in its submission to the the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. “Another social harm caused is the diversion of funds from real news to fake news, weakening the former’s voice, reducing its reach and undermining its vital role of anchoring public discourse in reality.”

Facebook has long argued that it’s not a traditional media company. But its influence on the news business is unquestionable; for many, it’s their primary source of information. The complexity lies in how much responsibility companies such as Google and Facebook have for the content that’s shared and presented to their users. UK readers are savvy to fake news, the NMA says, but the problem is worrying nonetheless.

“Fake news has arisen because of a cumulative failure by a number of players,” it admitted. “That is not to say there is no role for government and regulators in this issue. They cannot ignore forever the impact on our media landscape of the Google-Facebook duopoly.”

The NMA’s recommendations include an inquiry by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to confirm whether the two companies “are in a dominant position” regarding the “collection, aggregation, processing and sale” of users’ personal data. Finally, it wants a regulatory review of Google and Facebook’s role as news “intermediaries,” or distributors. “Such a review should look at what additional responsibilities they should bear, without creating any new regulatory burdens or wider liabilities for the traditional media, or new restrictions on its publishing freedoms.”

The NMA’s position is pretty clear: fake news is threatening the viability of real news, and whether or not it’s their attention, Facebook and Google are tied to its growing popularity. The UK’s newspaper industry wants the pair investigated, not necessarily to penalise them, but to figure out how the phenomenon can be curtailed. “Instead of weakening the press, government and regulators should concentrate on combating fake news with a renewed emphasis on the importance of genuine news media to democracy. The best defence against fake news is for genuine news publishers to continue their important work of investigative journalism.”

Source: News Media Association

Snapchat’s politics show is coming back for a second season

Snapchat will stream a second season of Good Luck America, a political show that aims to “help Snapchatters make sense of a weird time in America,” the social network told Variety. It’s once again hosted by Peter Hamby, a former CNN correspondent and Snapchat’s head of news. The first season launched in January, 2016 and to date it’s the only show that the company has produced itself.

Last year, the show informed its mostly young viewers on basics about the nomination process and more in-depth coverage about field organization, debates and more. Hamby also talked about issues important to millennials like student debt and income inequality, and interviewed President Obama, Paul Ryan, Hillary Clinton and other key figures. In the inaugural broadcast, he presciently ended the show by saying “Welcome to 2016. Things are about to get really weird. Good luck America.”

In the first episode this season, Hamby will interview Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Daines, Senators who both use Snapchat. Upcoming episodes will feature chats with Republican Senator John McCain, Senator Bernie Sanders and Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau.

Snapchat used Good Luck America to develop techniques for TV news-style reporting adapted for its unique vertical platform. It shared many of those techniques with partners like Disney, which is producing a Snapchat “Aftershow” for The Bachelor. Snap recently went public, earning its founder Evan Spiegal some $850 million, and sees broadcast and media streaming as a key strategy to generate ad revenue.

Source: Variety

Congress begins rolling back Obama’s broadband privacy rules

As expected, Republicans in Congress have begun the process of rolling back the FCC’s broadband privacy rules which prevent excessive surveillance. Arizona Republican Jeff Flake introduced a resolution to scrub the rules, using Congress’ powers to invalidate recently-approved federal regulations. Reuters reports that the move has broad support, with 34 other names throwing their weight behind the resolution.

The rules require broadband providers to secure their customers’ consent before they can sell their private data to marketing agencies. That information includes your precise geolocation, financial and health data, information about your children and your social security number. In addition, the rules forbade ISPs from storing your web browsing, app usage and contents of your text messages automatically.

Ajit Pai, current head of the FCC, has already moved to undermine the rules by halting their rollout late last month. Pai, who opposed move during his predecessor’s tenure, claims that they favor one set of companies over another. He believes that limits on ISPs data-gathering are unfair given that social networks are exempt from the regulation.

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement saying that “Congress is essentially allowing companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to sell consumers’ private information to the highest bidder.” The organization added that “consumers have a right to control how these companies use their sensitive data.”

Source: Reuters, ACLU

Some Google Pixel phones are having microphone issues

Following hundreds of user complaints, Google has confirmed that some of its Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are having microphone problems that require a warranty replacement. Owners have reported failures of one or more of the three mics on the devices, resulting in either no audio input at all or failure of the camera app’s audio recording function. “The most common problem is a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec,” said Google employee Brian Rakowski. “The other related problems are due to a faulty microphone.”

In other words, the problems with the devices (built in partnership with HTC) are hardware-related, so you can’t just install an update to fix them. Luckily for frustrated owners, the company is handling the problem expeditiously. “Google will put a hold your credit card for the replacement and ship you the phone immediately,” said Rakowski. “Once we receive the defective phone and verify the problem, the hold will be removed.” If you purchased your phone from elsewhere, you’re advised to contact the dealer.

Google said that it has reinforced the connections on Pixel phones manufactured since January, so recent phones should be fine. While it has also started inspecting refurbished phones for the problem, “it’s possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue.” In other words, there’s a chance that your replacement phone will have the same problem, so watch it closely after you get it.

The problem doesn’t bode well for wannabe Pixel buyers, as the devices are already in short supply. However, Google is shipping a new Pixel sometime this year, and if, as promised, it build its own silicon and pushes out suppliers like Qualcomm and HTC, quality control may (or may not) improve. Either way, the new devices won’t be cheap.

Via: Android Police

Source: Google forums

Foxconn Chairman Raises Uncertainties About U.S. iPhone Manufacturing Plant

Uncertainties over Foxconn’s manufacturing expansion into the United States have been raised once again, this time following comments made by company chairman Terry Gou, who spoke to reporters at an event celebrating the start of construction on a $8.87 billion display plant in Guangzhou, China (via Nikkei). At the ceremony, Gou told reporters he had just returned from a trip to Washington without confirming if he met with the Trump administration while he was there.

Since the November election, and even before it, the Trump administration has advocated for Apple specifically to make some of its products in the U.S. and not at foreign facilities, leading to multiple reports that Apple suppliers are looking into building large plants stateside. Now, Gou has raised concerns over any of the company’s previous U.S. manufacturing plans because he’s not sure if the U.S. government can work fast enough to stay ahead of all of the work needed to be done before any company like Foxconn can build a successful, large-scale facility in the states.

“I am concerned as to whether the U.S. can resolve all the investment issues in only a few months’ time,” Gou said, adding America also lacks the skilled labor and comprehensive supply chain the display industry requires.

“Does the U.S. offer incentive programs for foreign investors? They’ll need to pass bills first, and we’ll need to wait for American authorities to make a decision first,” Gou said.

Ultimately, Gou tried to avoid strictly siding with one country or the other, saying that the best course of action would be to support both once the option became available. “I am not willing to choose between [the U.S. and China]. Why should I give up on any market?” Gou ended the line of questioning from reporters with a pledge for the governments of both countries to avoid a trade war and “get along peacefully.”

“It is in the interest of the entire humanity that China and the U.S., the top two economies in the world, can get along peacefully,” Gou said. “They are in the process of gambling with each other, and I can foresee that the two will eventually work together to grow [their] economies and deliver beneficial outcome for many. If they don’t, then everyone will be losers.”

In a separate report from Reuters, Foxconn is now said to have lost ground in its bidding for Toshiba’s memory chip business “due to its close ties with China.” The Japanese government is worried about “the transference of key technology” if a winning bidder has a close relationship with China, and Toshiba executives are reportedly aware of the government’s wishes and “will take into account how close bidders are to China in the selection.”

Apple accounts for over 50 percent of Foxconn’s total revenue, and because of lukewarm demand for the iPhone 7 in 2016, Foxconn saw its first ever profit decline since the company went public 1991. Optimism has now surrounded the company’s 2017 outlook, however, due mostly to excitement for the debut of the “iPhone 8,” perhaps called the “iPhone Edition.”

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.

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Readdle’s PDF Expert for Mac Gains Improved Search, New Toolbar Layout

Readdle today updated its popular PDF Expert app for the Mac to version 2.2, overhauling the app and adding new features to make editing and annotating PDFs even easier than before.

New editing tools automatically detect the font, size, and opacity of the original text in a PDF document, so PDFs can be edited more like regular text documents for a much quicker editing experience.

Readdle has also introduced a new toolbar layout that’s specialized for tasks like going over a contract or reading an article, with options for viewing several pages of a single document, comparing two documents, and more.

To make searching faster, version 2.2 of PDF Editor includes search indexing, plus the ability to search all opened files and save history has been added.

PDF Expert for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $59.99. [Direct Link]

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Samsung Galaxy S8 may feature super-fast face recognition

Awkward fingerprint placement and slow iris scanner may not matter if Samsung can make facial recognition work.

One of the most common criticisms of the Galaxy S8 images we’ve seen so far has been the apparently awkward placement of its fingerprint scanner. It’s located around the back, according to leaked photos, to the right of the main camera lens, where it’s not exactly convenient to reach. At the same time, the Note 7’s iris recognition system, an alternative way to unlock the phone, was widely panned in last year’s phone. But Samsung could have a solution to both problems.

According to reports from Korea’s The Investor, which cites local outlet Korea Economic Daily, Samsung will plug the gap with facial recognition in the upcoming phone.

“Due to some limits of iris scanning such as speed and accuracy, we have decided to add facial recognition to the Galaxy S8,” a Samsung official was quoted as saying. “With a face scanner, it will take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock the phone.”

Face recognition via the front-facing camera has been part of Android since 2011’s 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich release, but it’s always been finicky. (In fact, the feature failed publicly during its first on-stage demo at Google’s Galaxy Nexus launch event, and hasn’t improved much since.)

So if Samsung has made use of the additional sensors and computing horsepower of modern phones to make face recognition work quickly and reliably, it might convince GS8 owners that this should be their main security method. There will be challenges, however, such as making the system smart enough to not be fooled by a photograph, and handling face recognition in darker environments, where the Note 7’s iris scanner didn’t do so well.

We’ll find out more when the Galaxy S8 officially breaks cover on March 29 in New York.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

• Latest Galaxy S8 rumors!
• Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
• Galaxy S8 release date set for April 28
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

Size comparison: Galaxy S8 versus Galaxy S7, S6 and iPhone 7 Plus

CAD renders show how Samsung’s 2017 flagship may be both bigger and smaller than you were expecting.

With its super-slim bezels and the apparent shift to an extra-tall “18:5” aspect ratio, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is purported to pack a larger display than ever into a standard-sized body. Rumors put the display diagonal of the regular GS8 at 5.8 inches, and the larger GS8 Plus at a whopping 6.2 inches. Those are big, but the new aspect ratio makes it hard to visualize just how large they might be.

Thanks to French leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer, better known as @onleaks on Twitter, we have CAD mock-ups showing how the two Galaxy S8 models measure up against Samsung’s previous two flagships, as well as Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Hemmerstoffer has made a name for himself rounding up accurate CAD visuals and measurements of unannounced phones, so there’s a good chance what we see here is an accurate size comparison.

A few quick takeaways from these shots:

• The regular GS8 is narrower but taller than both of its predecessors.
• The GS8 Plus is almost the same width as the Note 7, but a good 5.5mm taller.
• The regular GS8 is a good deal taller than the iPhone 7, but only slightly wider — a difference of less than 1mm.
• The GS8 Plus is noticeably narrower than the iPhone 7 Plus, but around the same height — again, less than 1mm difference.

Would like to compare #Samsung #GalaxyS8 vs #GalaxyS8Plus vs #GalaxyNote7 and maybe more? Just ask and forget approximate Weibo crap… 😉 pic.twitter.com/LYPzwmEXV7

— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) March 8, 2017

.@Blaa_Boi There you have it, #Samsung #GalaxyS8 vs #Apple #iPhone7 vs #GalaxyS8Plus vs #iPhone7Plus… 😉 pic.twitter.com/uMT2xWDaDq

— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) March 8, 2017

With the move to aspect ratios around 18:9 (or 2:1) in some of 2017’s flagship Android phones (and perhaps even Apple’s iPhone 8), and larger screen measurements, visual comparisons like this will become even more important in showing how new, taller phones measure up to their predecessors.

Perhaps the most striking contrast in today’s set of images is the iPhone 7, using a three-year-old design, fits only a 5.5-inch display into a body of comparable size to Samsung’s upcoming 6.2-incher. We can surely expect the Korean company to make a great deal of noise about that at the Galaxy S8’s March 29 launch event.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

• Latest Galaxy S8 rumors!
• Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
• Galaxy S8 release date set for April 28
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