OnePlus 5: A reminder that retailer listings mean nothing, and About screens can be faked

Never Settle for dubious online rumors.

So we’re getting to the time of year when folks are expecting a new OnePlus smartphone. The number four being considered bad luck in some Asian cultures, the name everyone seems to have settled on is OnePlus 5, and boy is the rumor mill already churning. In the past week a post by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau on social network Weibo, not mentioning the OnePlus 5, and revealing no new information was widely reported to be a teaser of the OnePlus 5.

And now we’re seeing reports of the OnePlus 5 being listed at OppoMart, which sounds very official, but actually has nothing to do with the Oppo which makes phones, and which shares some of the same investors as OnePlus.

The storefront uses an alleged OnePlus 5 render which surfaced a few days back, with the watermark photoshopped out, and a spec sheet which could’ve been easily put together from other OnePlus 5 rumors — Snapdragon 835, 6GB of RAM, 5.5-inch 2K display, dual cameras, and so on. In other words, nothing new.

It’s a tactic we’ve seen many retailers deploy ahead of anticipated phone launches. One or two in the UK were even taking Samsung Galaxy S8 pre-orders before the phone had been announced, and before the final price was known. (In those cases, the initial pre-order prices were completely wrong.)

What’s more, a screenshot of an “About” screen, purportedly from the OnePlus 5, has also cropped up on Weibo in the past day, apparently showing a variant with 8GB of RAM. That’s entirely possible, especially for spec-sensitive markets in Asia, but screens like that are also ridiculously easy to fabricate and this one comes from an unknown source.

This kind of thing is as old as Android itself, as the good old Android Central build.prop Hall of Shame, from 2010, can attest.

So maybe the OnePlus 5 will look like the images above. Or maybe not. Maybe it’ll have 6GB of RAM. Maybe it’ll have 8GB of RAM. Either way, a sizeable pinch of salt is recommended for any OnePlus rumors you might be seeing this week.

AT&T Buyer’s Guide: Everything you need to know

Find out what AT&T has to offer.

AT&T is the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with over 100 million subscribers across the country. It offers nationwide Voice and LTE data coverage on its network, using GSM and LTE technology for both voice and data, primarily on 700, 850, 1700 and 1900MHz spectrm.

AT&T offers unlimited talk and text wireless plans for individuals and families and have deals on the latest phones including the Samsung Galaxy S8. If you’re a loyal AT&T customer for other services, you’ll be happy to know that there are benefits to bundling your services together, but if you’re strictly looking for a wireless plan, AT&T’s base offerings are definitely on the pricier side — though they do offer affordable prepaid plans and the option to save by bringing your own device.

Read on to learn more about what AT&T has to offer, and find the best plan and phone deal for you!

• Best Individual Plans
• Best Family Plan
• Best Phones
• Best Deals on AT&T
• How to cancel AT&T
• How to unlock an AT&T phone
• Finding an alternative carrier that uses AT&T’s network

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Best Individual Plans

AT&T offers a range of mobile service options for individuals. We’ll start off with their standard talk, text, and data plans available when you’re buying a new phone through AT&T, then look at AT&T’s prepaid no-contract options, and finally your options for bringing your own device to the AT&T Network.

• Talk, Text and Data plans
• AT&T Prepaid
• Bring your own device to AT&T

Talk, Text and Data plans

AT&T offers two base talk, text, and data plans for individual lines — the AT&T Unlimited Choice plan, and the Unlimited Plus plan.

The Unlimited Choice plan starts at $65 a month and includes unlimited talk, text, and data with standard definition video streaming and data speeds that max out at 3Mbps. It’s a great option if you don’t want to worry about managing monthly quotas and don’t mind the slower data speeds for video.

The Unlimited Plus plan is significantly more expensive at $95 a month, but includes high definition video streaming and 10GB of mobile hotspot all delivered at the fastest speeds available on AT&T’s nationwide 4G LTE network. It also includes an HBO subscription, which lets you watch all your favorite HBO shows on all of your devices.

Keep in mind the cost of these plans do not include payments towards a new phone. If you’re trying to budget getting a new phone on contract with AT&T, add an extra $25 to get a closer estimation of what your monthly bill might look like. However, there are ways to bring that bill down a bit. You can save $5 a month by signing up for AutoPay, and an additional $5 a month for signing up to receive paperless bills. And all DirectTV customers (existing and new) save an additional $25 when bundled with wireless service.

AT&T offers a number of bundles that include DirectTV alongside its other services, so if you’re looking for a total home package through one carrier you may lock down a pretty good deal that includes TV, home phone, internet and wireless all through AT&T.

To find the pricing offered in your area, you’ll want to go to AT&T’s website and enter your ZIP code.

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AT&T Prepaid

Not interested in locking yourself into a long-term contract with AT&T? You may be interested in a prepaid plan instead. AT&T offers GoPhone plans for those looking for cheap and functional wireless services without the hassle of dealing with overage fees and or paying for features you don’t end up using.

Monthly GoPhone plans start at $30 for unlimited talk and text, and it also offer decent pay-as-you-go plans which start as low as $2 a day for unlimited minutes and texts. With pay-as-you-go, you’re not charged on days that you don’t place or receive a call or send a text.

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Bring your own device to AT&T

If you’re switching over to AT&T from another carrier, you may be able to bring your current phone over to the network. You’ll want to make sure that your device has been unlocked by your previous carrier and then check its eligibility on AT&T’s network. You’re also able to connect laptops, tablets and mobile hotspots to an AT&T wireless plan, which you can learn more about in store.

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Best Family Plans

AT&T offers shared data plans for families with unlimited domestic talk and text and worry-free data — you won’t receive overage charges when you’ve reached your data allotment.

Add up to 10 lines to your plan and find the monthly data amount that meets your family’s needs. Starting at $80 for 10GB of shared data, your best value for a data-hungry family is the 30GB plan for $135. Spread across a family of four, that averages to 7.5GB per phone, which is more than enough to support regular streaming of audio and video, along with everything else your family uses their phones for.

Since AT&T offers much more than just wireless service, you have the option to add a plethora of features to your plan. First, you can add more devices such as LTE-enabled tablets and wearables for a monthly access charge, as well as laptops and mobile hotspot devices.

More importantly for families, you can add both home phone and internet to your plant for only $30. AT&T also offers cable bundles if you’re interested in cable TV packages.

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Best Phones

Looking to buy a brand new phone through AT&T? It can offer you the latest and greatest devices — for both Android and iOS — including:

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+
• LG G6
• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
• Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge
• LG V20

You have two options for buying phones through AT&T — you can buy them outright, or pay no money down with AT&T Next, a payment plan service that links the cost of the phone to your wireless contract, as you pay for the phone in monthly installments with an option to upgrade to a new device in two years. You may choose put a down payment on the device to bring the monthly payment down, or consider trading in an older phone to put cash towards your new one.

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Best Deals on AT&T

Right now, AT&T is pushing a couple great deals for unlimited data plans.

AT&T’s Unlimited Plus plan is jam-packed with awesome features for heavy mobile users and fans of HBO. You get 22GB of high speed data before AT&T may slow your speeds and 10GB of mobile hotspot per line per month. Stream high definition video on the go with unlimited domestic talk and text including Canada and Mexico all for just $90 a month for one line, or $145 for two.

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AT&T is also offering a free Galaxy S8 when you buy a Galaxy S8 using the AT&T Next upgrade program. There are some limitations, but it’s a pretty good deal if you and another person on the same account plan to upgrade every year and a half.

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How to cancel AT&T

If you’re considering signing a multi-year contract with AT&T, you need to know the details and processes for canceling your service. This is where reading the fine print of your contract ahead of time comes in handy. Depending on your wireless plan, you may have to pay an Early Termination Fee or the outstanding balance of an installment agreement like AT&T Next plans.

You have two options for canceling your services with AT&T:

• Call 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from an AT&T wireless phone, and then follow the call prompts to cancel your service.
• Cancel in-person at an AT&T store near you.

If you’ve decided to cancel your service within 14 days of activation, you’ll want to know about AT&T’s equipment return policies.

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How to unlock an AT&T phone

If you plan on buying a phone through AT&T, you may want to know the process for unlocking your phone. AT&T has complete instructions on their support website, and the whole process should take no more than three days to process.

The first step is determining whether your device is eligible to be unlocked, and of course AT&T has a site for that. Unlocking your AT&T phone is a fairly painless process, requiring you to fill out some forms with your AT&T credentials and your device’s IMEI number. Once your request has been processed, you are free to connect your device to another wireless carrier.

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Finding an alternative carrier that uses AT&T’s network

If you want to use the AT&T network but are looking for plans that offer a better deal, you might be interested in a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). MVNOs are often referred to as alternative carriers, and they work by partnering with the big four carriers to piggyback on their networks. That means they can offer better deals to consumers without needing to worry about infrastructure upkeep.

They’ve become increasingly reliable over the years and offer the cheapest plans in the mobile industry. There are currently 12 MVNOs that operate on AT&T, including Cricket Wireless, Straight Talk, and H20 Wireless.

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Microsoft will show the world “what’s next” on 23 May, but what is next?

Microsoft recently held an event in New York City where it revealed products aimed at the education sector. They included Windows 10 S, a new operating system that only has access to apps from the Windows Store, which has been done to make sure everything runs quickly and smoothly, and the Surface Laptop, a rather eye-catching laptop that will go head-to-head with the Apple MacBook Air when it launches on 15 June. 

• You can watch Microsoft’s 2 May education event here, Surface Laptop and Windows 10 S revealed

But education isn’t all Microsoft is focusing on this year it seems, as the company has released a teaser to say there will be another event on 23 May in Shanghai to show off what’s next for Microsoft.

But what exactly is next? Microsoft isn’t giving anything away, but we take a few educated guesses as to what the computing giant has up its sleeve.

• Microsoft unveils the Surface Laptop, a Windows 10 S device looking to take down the MacBook

Surface Pro 5

Microsoft’s VP of Devices, Panos Panay tweeted the teaser from his account and included the hashtag #Surface. Panay credits himself as being the creator of the Surface series of devices, so it would be fair to assume there will be another new Surface device on the way. 

Considering we’ve just been given the Surface Laptop, it’s unlikely to be another computer, but could instead be the Surface Pro 5 2-in-1. A search around the web for leaks and rumours surrounding the new device all tend to suggest that any updates will be minor. The Surface Pro 4 already has a very competitive spec list, and any major changes, such as upgrading to a 4K display will make it too expensive and sacrifice battery life.

The most likely upgrade will be to Intel’s Kaby Lake processors for greater efficiency and the Surface Pro 5 should also have a USB Type-C input for charging and connecting accessories. 

There will more than likely be several different variations of the Surface Pro 5 available when it does launch, with different processor speeds and storage. As for price, we can’t be sure, but the starting price will be somewhere between £700 and £1000.

Surface Phone

Talks of a Surface Phone have been on and off in recent months and years. At one point there were strong rumours to suggest Microsoft would channel its Surface laptop 2-in-1 technology into a powerful phone. But since then the company has sold off its phone patents, implying it won’t be working on a phone itself.

But we’ve then seen images of a possible Surface Phone, although some media outlets thought it was a Windows Phone made by Dell. We haven’t heard much more on the subject since those images surfaced. 

However, Alcatel manufactures Microsoft branded phones, and Alcatel is headquartered in Shanghai, the same city where Microsoft’s event is taking place. It could therefore be possible that we’ll either see a new Microsoft phone unveiled, or at the very least get an update on the current state of play. 

Of course, until Microsoft officially reveal whatever it’s planning on 23 May, we can only speculate. We’ll be sure to bring you the very latest news and product announcements as and when we hear them.

New Balance PaceIQ review: Affordable sports earphones are outpaced by rivals

New Balance is no stranger to fitness, with sports gear and footwear already established, but gadgets are a newer complement to its product rosta.

In 2017 we’ve already seen the company’s RunIQ Android Wear smartwatch to assist fitness and workouts – a product which we had some reservations about – and now there’s the Jabra-powered PaceIQ earphones to fill such workouts with music to your ears.

The PaceIQ offer plenty of positives for an affordable pair of workout-friendly in-ears, but do these hook-design earphones perform well enough to keep you away from the competition?

New Balance PaceIQ review: Design

• Over-ear hook design
• Weigh 21.6g
• Inline remote
• IP54 water/sweat/dust resistant

As design goes, the New Balance PaceIQ earphones are pretty basic, even for the budget end of the earphone market. To compare them to a more popular product, they almost look a little like stripped back versions of the Powerbeats 3 wireless earphones.

Pocket-lint

Except, unlike the Powerbeats, the New Balance feature a plastic ear hook on each side which leaves the internal cable almost entirely exposed. Combined with the rather plain plastic ear hook material, and lack of any soft/grippy coating, it feels like a compromise.

However, there is one huge upside to having less physical material: weight. The New Balance only weigh 22 grams. The last thing you want when bursting your lungs and sweating from your eyeballs is a pair of earphones that feel heavy and tug on your ears. These don’t do that at all, their lightness ensures they move with you easily, with no resistance. This, in turn, means they stay in your ears without any effort.

What’s more, the ear hooks are incredibly durable, thanks to being strong and flexible. We twisted and pulled them every which way, and they returned to their original position every time.

Also on the upside is that the cables hang towards the back of your ear, unlike from the front like with the Powerbeats, which makes a lot more sense.

Pocket-lint

The PaceIQ ships with three different sizes of ear tip – or EarGel, as they’re officially called – which are more of a squashed, round shape than the usual style. They fit onto the protruding disc-shaped earbud very snugly, which itself protrudes from the plastic casing again, in a similar design to the Powerbeats.

This means all the internal components and battery are housed inside the plastic casing, featuring a round edge one side and flat, angled edge on the other. On the left ear’s housing, there’s a dedicated sports button for performance prompts – which only works if you have a RunIQ smartwatch paired – and the Micro-USB port which is sealed under a rubber flap on the underside.

For those worried about sweat destroying your earphones, you’ll be pleased to know these are rated against water and dust ingress, so it should survive all your sessions, regardless of levels of sweat, or rain.

New Balance PaceIQ review: Performance

• 5-hour battery per charge
• Fast charging
• Reliable Bluetooth connection

Where the New Balance sports earphones fall down compared to much of the competition is in battery life. This is where the small, lightweight design forces a compromise. While a pair of Powerbeats 3 can deliver almost 10-hours of use, and Sony’s ExtraBass pair offer seven hours, the PaceIQ max out at five hours in our experience.

In our testing, we easily managed more than four hours per charge, which means even your longest training sessions are covered. It would be nice to have a longer use time, as five hours feels like the bare minimum a pair of wireless earphones should offer.

Pocket-lint

On the plus side, the earphones charge pretty quickly, offering a full hour’s use from just 15-minutes plugged into a power outlet.

Another consistently good area of performance is the Bluetooth connection. Being powered by Jabra you’d expect as much, as the connection between earphones and paired device was always rock solid in our use, regardless of what exercise we happened to be doing at the time.

As a bonus, using a technology the company calls Advanced Multiuse, the PaceIQ can stay connected to two different sources at once. In real life use, that means you could have it connected to your smartphone for music and have it connected to your smartwatch for prompts during a running session. We tested this and found that it retained two such connections (as long as we connected the smartphone first and, in this instance, RunIQ smartwatch second in that scenario).

New Balance PaceIQ review: Sound quality

Given the pricing, the sound quality from the New Balance PaceIQ is surprisingly decent. It’s bassy and punchy, definitely immersive enough to keep you entertained while your running shoes pound the Tarmac. It’s not with audiophile-grade cleanliness, but it is loud and only distorts ever so slightly when high frequencies peak at maximum volume (which is far too loud for comfortable listening in any situation).

Pocket-lint

As an overall soundscape, the audio seems a bit more balanced and slightly clearer than the similar-price Jaybird X3 we tested, although unlike Jaybird you can’t adjust it to suit your preferences. There’s no dedicated app with an equaliser, so you’re pretty much stuck with the default – unless your favourite music app happens to have a built-in EQ.

Despite the lack of adjustability, we were happy with the overall quality of the sound. The PaceIQ handle treble, mid and bass levels well, with a slight preference for the bass – just as expected from a pair of modern sports earphones.

Verdict

As an overall package, the PaceIQ is promising, especially at its £100 price point. Lightweight, durable, and with decent sound that stays connected consistently, they sound almost unbeatable.

The problem is battery life. With just five hours of play time, that sees the PaceIQ sit noticeably behind virtually all of the big players. That’s three hours less playback time than the Jaybird X3, or two hours behind the Sony XtraBass. As a more extreme comparison, this is half the battery life compared to the Powerbeats 3 wireless.

In short, the New Balance earphones are good, but there’s plenty of competition, and it’s only real sports-beneficial function – that dedicated hardware switch – only works if it’s connected to the RunIQ smartwatch rather than anything else (which is some distance from being the best sports watch around).

The alternatives to consider…

Pocket-lint

Jaybird X3

They’re roughly the same price as the New Balance, and don’t feature as clean a sound, but they are lightweight, easy to wear, and really versatile. With their customisable EQ that’s easy to change through the intuitive app and the ability to wear them below, or over your ears, there’s a lot to like about the X3. They’re also really easy to charge and last three hours longer than the PaceIQ. 

Read the full article: Jaybird X3 review: Affordable sports earphones without the compromise

Pocket-lint

Beats Powerbeats 3 wireless

Without meaning to direspect New Balance, the Powerbeats 3 wireless are essentially the earphones that the PaceIQ are trying to be. They cost £69 more, but last twice as long, are more durable, arguably better design and their W1 chip makes them really convenient to connect. 

Read the full article: Powerbeats 3 Wireless review: Beats and bass

The Morning After: Friday, May 5th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

It’s Friday, everyone. Rejoice. Google’s offering voice assistants to your next DIY computing project, we review the new BlackBerry phone (yes, it is 2017), and test-ride an electric dirt bike. Vrmm vrmm.

Voice commands on your home-made computerGoogle turns Raspberry Pi into a dirt cheap Home competitor

Raspberry Pi has teamed up with Google to bring voice integration to the Pi with a clever combination of hardware and software. Packed with the same tech that powers Google Home, the companies have released a kit that transforms a regular Raspberry Pi 3 into your very own virtual assistant. The collaboration marks the first time that Google has produced something for hobbyists. The initiative is called “Artificial Intelligence Yourself” (AIY), and Google’s project director said that he wants to create more hobbyist uses for Google software.

The ride-hailing firm has received a subpoena from a California grand jury.Uber faces criminal probe on ‘greyball’ software it used to evade authorities

Uber has to tell the feds how its “Greyball” software worked to hide cars from regulators checking to see if the ride-hailing company was operating in areas without permission. The Department of Justice has reportedly issued the ride-hailing firm a subpoena from a Northern California grand jury. Uber confirmed the questionable tool months earlier after it a New York Times report revealed the scheme.

Lots of changes and disagreements.Splitting up with Apple is a chipmaker’s nightmare

Back in March, Imagination publicly announced that Apple was ditching it in favor of its own graphics silicon. Now, the chipmaker has revealed that it’s going to take Apple to dispute resolution, maintaining that the iPhone maker used its IP without permission. It gets worse: Imagination is going to have to sell off MIPS and Ensigma, two parts of its business that aren’t as profitable as PowerVR. Now, without iPhones to make chips for, the latter will now form the base of its business.

‘Donkey Kong.’ ‘Halo.’ ‘Pokemon.’ ‘Street Fighter II.’The Video Game Hall of Fame basically inducted your childhood this year

The National Museum of Play announced the four titles it’s inducting into the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year, and they’re all pinnacles in the industry: Donkey Kong, Halo: Combat Evolved, Pokémon Red and Blue and Street Fighter II. But if you think they were all shoe-ins compared to the competition, prepare to get your nerd hackles raised. The games that didn’t make the cut this year include Final Fantasy VII, Myst, Portal, Resident Evil and Microsoft Windows Solitaire.

The third time really is the charm. Review: BlackBerry KEYone

BlackBerry’s early Android phones may have felt generic, but the KEYone is an impressive device that channels the style and functionality of classic models. Even better, the KEYone is a respectable performer with solid battery life. Throw in an excellent camera plus a satisfying keyboard and you’ve got the best Android-powered BlackBerry out there. (There’s not much competition, mind.) Ultimately, the KEYone is a great choice for BlackBerry fans and keyboard nuts, but just about everyone else can look elsewhere.

Say goodbye to noise and hello to torque.The Alta Redshift MX brings electricity to the dirt track

Say hello to the Redshift MX. Alta Motors is electrifying the race track and if you can handle the $15,000 price tag, the results are tremendous. Roberto Baldwin took one for a ride and was surprised that he didn’t miss the sheer noise of typical dirt bikes. The bike is meant to be the equivalent of a 250cc petroleum-powered engine. With 40 horsepower it’s right on par with offerings from all the major bike makers. But then there’s that electric torque. Read on.

Call my agent.17 real-life NBA franchises will field 2K eLeague squads

When the NBA’s eSports league kicks off in 2018, it will have more participants than expected. Commissioner Adam Silver was expecting around a dozen participants, but 17 teams including both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are on the list. Now, we just have to practice and wait to hear how the draft process will work.

We’re so close.Take a look at Microsoft’s remastered ‘Phantom Dust HD’ for Xbox One

Three years after it was originally announced, we’re finally able to see the up-rezzed version of Microsoft’s 2004 card battler. Producer Adam Isgreen brought 19 minutes of footage to an interview with Polygon, as well as information that Phantom Dust HD will run at 1080p on Xbox One and 4K on PC. What we don’t know about so far is its pricing model, which will include some mix of free and paid DLC, and could see the game released via Games with Gold.

But wait, there’s more…

• ‘Blackout’ is a VR love letter to NYC’s subway riders
• ‘Titanfall Assault’ RTS is the series’ second attempt at a mobile game
• ‘Zombies Chronicles’ brings classic maps back to ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’
• The last Ringling Bros. circus will be streamed on Facebook Live

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

Terror attack victims claim social media enables extremism

Social media has allowed violent extremism to flourish, and the companies involved have done nothing to prevent it. That’s the claim being made by relatives of those murdered in the San Bernardino terrorist attack in a Los Angeles court. Reuters is reporting that families of some of the victims have launched a lawsuit against Facebook, Google and Twitter. The trio stand accused of providing “material support” to terror groups through omission, refusing to properly tackle the issue and shut down such online activity.

The internet’s power to connect people is undisputed, but there’s no barrier on what sort of people can be brought together. The question of what responsibility, if any, the companies enabling such connection bear is thorny and complex. Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act offers a pretty broad immunity for online publishers, saying that these businesses are not responsible for their user’s actions.

That hasn’t stopped several other victim groups from attempting to force Facebook, Twitter, Google and others into action. Late last year, relatives of those murdered during the Pulse Nightclub attack filed a very similar lawsuit in Detroit federal court. As did the families of five victims of a Tel Aviv terror attack and the widow of Lloyd Carl Fields Jr, who was murdered in Jordan.

None of these cases have — yet — made any real progress in the courts, and it’s unclear if judges will be sympathetic to their pleas. For its part, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to hire 3,000 more moderators across the year. Those moderators, while principally engaged in preventing violent videos, will also be tasked with helping the company get better at removing “hate speech and child exploitation.”

For their part, a study does seem to say that Twitter’s efforts to tackle extremism have been more or less successful. In early 2016, researchers found that pro-terror debate on the social network had slowed down after Twitter began mass-banning upwards of 125,000 ISIS-sympathetic accounts. Similarly, Telegram has worked to shut down messaging channels that it believes are used to propagate violence.

Although that may now be too little, too late, as reports have emerged claiming that ISIS is developing its very own social media platform.

Source: Reuters

Where to buy the BlackBerry KEYone in the UK

The new BlackBerry KEYone won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. If you remember physical keyboards with a certain fondness, however, then the KEYone offers the latest version of Android, a respectable camera and the kind of battery life you want in a productivity machine. After launching exclusively at Selfridges last week, the KEYone goes on general sale in the UK today, not that you need to look much further than Carphone Warehouse, which is the only place selling the device on contact right now.

Contracts start at £42 per month if upfront payments aren’t your thing, or £26 per month if you’re willing to drop £100 then and there. Otherwise, you can always pick up an unlocked KEYone for £499 at Carphone Warehouse, Currys PC World or Unlocked Mobiles. See you on BBM, yeah?

YouTube to Spend Millions Producing Free-to-View Original Content

YouTube has announced plans to produce a raft of original programming beginning this year, as the Google-owned video site moves to counter the rising tide of premium streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.

The difference in YouTube’s approach to original content is that its shows will be free to view on its website and apps through an ad-supported format, rather than being tied to the company’s ad-free $9.99 YouTube Red subscription service.

The company will make a multi-million dollar investment in more than 40 original shows and movies in the next year, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg. YouTube hopes that high-profile stars will feature in the content and that this will in turn attract bigger advertisers to sponsor the programming.

“We’re working with YouTube stars and big celebrities that we know have global appeal, advertiser appeal and are largely established on the platform,” Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s head of original content, said in an interview.

YouTube has signed up comedian Kevin Hart and TV host Ellen DeGeneres as its first two high-profile celebrities. Hart’s show will be a workout-based series, while DeGeneres’ program will give fans a peak backstage into the making of her talkshow.

Katy Perry and Demi Lovato also announced behind-the-scenes shows with YouTube, while TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest confirmed his involvement in a music competition called “Best.Cover.Ever”, which will debut on the site later this year.

YouTube’s original content plans were announced at the annual digital NewFronts conference in New York on Friday.

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Bosch to Supply Up to Half of Motion Sensors in Future iPhones

Bosch has won orders to supply Apple with some of the motion sensors in its next range of iPhones, according to a report by Bloomberg, potentially loosening Invensense’s position as the primary supplier of the smartphone components.

California-based Invensense exclusively supplied the gyroscopes and accelerometers in the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7, but Apple’s new deal with Bosch could see the German firm supply as much as half of the motion-sensing components in Apple’s upcoming phones.

Bosch already supplies the barometric pressure sensors for the iPhone, but the deal could reflect Apple’s aim to source components from at least two suppliers to make it easier to negotiate cheaper prices.

Invensense is currently seeking to complete a $1.3 billion sale to Tokyo-based TDK Corp, which had hoped to strengthen its business with Apple as part of the deal. “We aim to become a strong player in the sensor business with InvenSense as our perfect partner,” TDK CEO Shigenao Ishiguro said in December, when the purchase agreement was first made. Shares in Invensense dipped more than 5 percent on Thursday’s news.

Apple has a major iPhone redesign planned this year, with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera. The new iPhone is expected to be sold alongside standard “S” cycle 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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Uber Facing Criminal Probe Over Software Used to Identify Driving Regulation Officials

Uber found itself in more hot water on Thursday after Reuters revealed that the ride-hailing service is facing a criminal investigation by the U.S. government.

The Department of Justice has reportedly begun an investigation over the company’s use of “secret” software that allowed its drivers to operate in areas where Uber was banned or restricted.

First reported by The New York Times, the so-called “greyball” software is said to have allowed the company to identify officials seeking to prevent the service from running. It is claimed the software was used in several areas including Portland and Oregon, where the service was still waiting for approval to operate.

Transport regulation officials regularly posed as passengers in those regions where Uber had yet to obtain approval, in an effort to prove that Uber was operating illegally. The software was used to work out who was an undercover official and would attempt to block them from booking rides in the first place.

Uber has already admitted to using the software. In a letter sent to Portland transport regulators last week, the company said it used greyball “exceedingly sparingly” in the city, but had not used it since April 2015 when it received permission to operate.

Uber has also previously defended its use of the software by claiming that it helped the company limit fraud and protect its drivers from harm. The company prohibited the use of the software for identifying officials shortly after the New York Times report brought the practice to light.

The nature of any potential federal criminal violation, and the likelihood of anyone being charged, remains unclear because the investigation is still in its early stages, according to sources. However, Uber has reportedly received a subpoena from a Northern California grand jury seeking documents concerning how the software tool functioned and where it was deployed. A subpoena indicates that an official criminal investigation is underway.

Uber has come under increasing pressure on several fronts in recent months following several controversies. Concerns were first raised late last year when users complained that the app appeared to track them for days or even weeks after they last used the ride-hailing service.

Recently it emerged that Apple CEO Tim Cook threatened to pull Uber’s app from the App Store in early 2015 after discovering that it was secretly “fingerprinting” iPhones that used the app. The revelation came in a New York Times article published last month that detailed the ride-hailing service’s history of controversial business tactics.

Tag: Uber
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