Kika Tech teams up with Giphy to expand its GIF library

Why it matters to you

Thanks to Giphy’s massive library of GIFs, finding a hilarious loop to send your Facebook Messenger friends is about to become a whole lot easier.

GIFs (or Graphics Interchange Formats), those hilarious and often animated clips that pervade your Tumblr timeline, are perhaps the purest form of digital escapism. And with tools like Emoji Gif, an app for Facebook Messenger, and Emoji Keyboard, a GIF-endowed keyboard for Android, they’re simpler to make than ever — a video, photo, or selfie is enough to generate a social-ready image. And now, thanks to search engines like Giphy, the process is becoming easier still.

On Tuesday, June 27, Kika Tech, the firm behind Emoji Gif and Emoji Keyboard, announced a partnership with GIF search engine Giphy. Giphy will become Kika Tech’s primary supplier of GIFs, and in return, Kika will put Giphy’s search tools in front of an audience of more than 30 million monthly active users in 77 countries.

“We chose to partner with Giphy for its searchable library filled with millions of GIFs which continues to multiply daily,” Bill Hu, co-founder and CEO of Kika Tech, said. “Kika users are always looking for the most interactive and freshest content to express themselves. This partnership with Giphy will only make the Kika ecosystem even more engaging and entertaining for our users.”

Kika has experienced impressive growth lately. Since establishing a new headquarters in Silicon Valley, California last year, it has raised millions of dollars, expanded its development team, and inked partnerships with Huawei, ZTE, 21st Century Fox, and Warner Brothers, among others.

“Kika has built an amazing platform that helps a global community communicate and share with one another,” David Rosenberg, Director of business development for Giphy, said in a statement. “Giphy is excited to partner with Kika to bring the best content in the world to these users and to become part of the way they talk to each other every day.”

But Kika isn’t the only one tapping into Giphy’s firehose of GIF data. In January 2016, Tinder announced a deal that put the search engine’s branding front and center. In October, Tinder launched a tool that let people convert “vines,” the six-second video format popularized by Twitter’s now-defunct Vine app, into GIFs. And in June, it teamed up with Vimeo to replace the platform’s video thumbnails with animated clips.

Giphy’s pursued solo projects, too. In October 2016, it rolled out an upgraded Giphy Cam app with augmented reality features: Using the app’s new tool, you can align a sticker or animation next to a photo’s real-life subject. Last year, the firm opened a production studio in Los Angeles to make its own GIFs as well as GIFs for outside partners. And in March 2017, Giphy launched Giphy Stickers, an app that generates GIF-based stickers you can share with friends.

Those efforts have paid off. The four-year-old Giphy, which serves more than two billion GIFs to more than 150 million users daily, has raised $150 million in funding and maintains a $600 million valuation.

Report: iPhone owners spent $14 billion in repairs since 2007, stay loyal

Why it matters to you

If you’re looking for a more durable smartphone, the iPhone might not be your best option with billions spent on repairs since the first model was released.

It’s officially been 10 years since the first iPhone was released to the consumer market and even though the specs have changed throughout the decade, the damage has not. When comparing all the different models, the iPhone has definitely become more resistant with time but owners of the smartphone still managed to spend $14 billion collectively in repairs and replacements since 2007, according to a report by SquareTrade.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone’s consumer availability, SquareTrade — a warranty service provider for appliances and consumer electronics — released the results of its study done on iPhone owners along with its breakability test comparing the original iPhone to the iPhone 7.

The iPhone Decade of Damage Report — which compared how people used and abused different iPhone models throughout the years —  showed almost half of iPhone users have cracked their screen even after taking protective measures using a phone case or screen protector. The majority of the damage took place when users were multitasking, while for others, the iPhone broke when falling less than three feet or when they were at home.

With Apple using the iPhone to encourage a healthy lifestyle through a variety of tools and apps available — along with reports on possibly soon carrying all your medical information — factors that affect the likelihood of damage requires less physical activity than one would think. The data showed commuters who bike, walk, or take public transit were 46 percent more likely to damage their iPhone and those who played a sport were at 21 percent.

Apple also continues to market the iPhone 7 as the best iPhone yet, but SquareTrade’s damage test might prove that even with 10 years of perfecting the iPhone models, the glass still cracks as it did with the first-generation model. Although there are more durable phones on the market, 43 percent of iPhone users have ever only used iPhones in the history of their smartphone devices.

For those who experience the commonly cracked screen or other damage to their iPhone, the repairs require choosing between Apple or a third-party along with paying a high price. This also means taking the time out to either head to the location physically — which many people struggle to find the time to do — or handing over your phone for a few days by shipping it out to get fixed.

None of these options allow users to actually fix the phone themselves on the spot and if you choose to bypass Apple, you might still suffer the wrath of its third-party policies. Even with states like New Jersey lobbying for the Fair Repair Act — forcing electronics makers to sell replacement parts to the public and third-party repair companies — it may still be a while before users see a change in the process.

Regardless of the easy damage and billions collectively spent to repair the smartphone, it is clear iPhone users stay loyal to Apple. Here’s is hoping a bit more time and effort go into producing a far more sturdy device with the upcoming iPhone 8.

Here are the best Moto E4 cases to keep your smartphone looking brand new

Moto’s latest budget phone, the E4, has just hit the market — offering respectable hardware for a price tag that’s easy on the wallet. Starting at just $130, we called it one of the best smartphone values out there. If you’ve decided to spring for one, you’ll naturally want to pick up a case — or a few — with all the money saved.

We’ve rounded up the best options currently on the market, from ultra-slim, form-fitting designs to rugged, dual-layer cases built to take on the world. And if it’s an E4 Plus case you’re after, we have a guide for that too. Either way, the Moto E4 is a very new device, which means that more accessories are being released all the time — and we’ll update this list accordingly as new products emerge.

Incipio NGP Advanced ($20)

If you’re looking for a somewhat rugged case that can take a bounce but won’t add too much bulk, Incipio’s NGP Advanced case may fit the bill. The NGP Advanced offers a textured exterior and raised, easy-to-locate buttons, along with a honeycomb pattern on the inside for increased flexibility and shock dispersion. Incipio sells these cases for a multitude of phones, including the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8. For the Moto E4, the NGP Advanced is available in either black or plum. It’s not out yet, but the company’s website lists it as “coming soon.”

Buy one now from:

Incipio

J&D Shock Resistant Slim TPU Case ($8)

J&D’s TPU Slim case won’t offer much in the way of drop protection, but it is one of the sleeker options currently available for the E4. The case is multi-textured — on the sides and edges, it sports a glossy, rubbery finish, whereas the back has more of a matte feel for added grip. It does, however, leave a fair bit of the device exposed, with cutouts for the volume and power keys. Cases like these are popular with users who don’t want to sacrifice the shape and style of their phone with a thick, bulky case — just don’t expect it to take a beating.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

NageBee Heavy Duty Defender Case ($8)

NageBee’s tough Defender comprises two parts — a soft, silicone inner layer that is built to absorb impacts, and an outer shell made of harder plastic. The cushioning material is exposed on the corners of the case for enhanced drop protection, and also shields the buttons, which have been labeled for your convenience — a nice touch for an inexpensive case. The Defender comes with a seven-day money back guarantee, no questions asked, as well as a 30-day warranty should it fail to stand up to the elements. It is available in black and rose gold.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Wellci Carbon Fiber Case ($8)

Much like Incipio’s NGP Advanced, Wellci’s Carbon Fiber case strikes a balance between rugged protection and a slim profile. In terms of design, it’s made of a flexible material with a carbon fiber effect on the back at the top and bottom. There’s a grooved diamond pattern on the interior, and the case comes in navy, black, gray, and red. Wellci says it comes with a 60-day warranty, and that it will honor any defective products with a replacement or refund during that time.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Ucc Impact Protection Case ($8)

Ucc’s Impact Protection case features a rugged-looking exterior, with a grippy texture along the sides and increased protection around the corners. It also offers the added benefit of a kickstand, ideal for long trips. The case comes in two styles — all black, and another with rose gold accents. There aren’t a ton of options for cases for the Moto E4 just yet, but this one is a top contender if you’re after something that can weather a fair bit of abuse.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Huawei Honor 9: Our first take

Research Center:
Huawei Honor 9

It’s time to properly introduce Honor, the sister brand to Huawei, which is starting to make a serious impact in the smartphone world. The two share technology, production facilities, and logistics; but the devices, marketing, and fan base are totally different. Think of Honor like Mini to Huawei’s BMW, and you’ve got it right. The Honor 9 is its latest model, and it may be about to take the crown of “top premium, affordable smartphone,” away from OnePlus. Yes, it really is shaping up to be that good. Here’s our Honor 9 hands-on review.

Gorgeous design

Even if we can see the influence of everything from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and the Xiaomi Mi5, to the HTC U11’s color scheme, the Honor 9 is a real beauty. The color you see here is sapphire blue, and it’s the one to buy because of the way it catches, reflects, and seems to soak up the light. The back of the phone is made from 2.5D curved glass, but with even deeper curves at the edges — Honor calls it 3D glass. It has been through 15 different diamond polishing layers to create the end effect. The color extends all the way around the phone, and it looks fantastic.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The Honor 9 is comfortable in the hand, and although it has a super smooth glass body, it’s not too slippery. It does get covered in fingerprints though, and Honor supplies a see-through case for it in the box, providing protection from your grubby hands. The screen measures 5.15-inches, and it makes the Honor 9 almost perfectly-sized. It has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, with a 428 pixel-per-inch ratio. It looked bright, sharp, and attractive in our time with the phone, and was even easy to see in direct sunlight. The fingerprint sensor is well-placed in the home button, which is like the Huawei P10’s seamless touchpad, and has been covered in sapphire glass for a scratch-free life.

Huawei technology

Dig into the specifications and Huawei’s technology makes itself known. The processor is the Kirin 960, which is also found in the Huawei P10 and Mate 9, along with the Honor 8 Pro. It’s joined by 4GB of RAM. There have been some tweaks from when the Kirin chip was inside the Honor 8 Pro, resulting in an 18 percent performance improvement, and 15 percent better efficiency. The Honor 9 runs Android 7.0 Nougat, with Huawei’s much improved EMUI 5.1 interface over the top. It also includes the same long-term speed-boosting algorithms too, ensuring the phone’s performance remains consistent over time.

Dig into the specifications and Huawei’s technology makes itself known.

We only had a brief time with the Honor 9, but it performed very well throughout the operating system, from accessing apps to using the camera. Like the Honor 8, it’s a dual-lens camera on the back of the phone, and this time Honor has borrowed the same hardware from the Huawei P10. That means there’s a 20-megapixel monochrome lens alongside a 12-megapixel RGB lens. Further enhancing the gorgeous look of the phone is the decision to embed the lenses behind the glass, giving a super-smooth finish, while avoiding unsightly camera bumps.

The cameras offered the same attractive color pictures, and the same beautiful black and white images as on the Huawei P10, along with the excellent bokeh blurred background effect. The Honor 9 also has Live Story mode, which we recently saw on the Huawei Nova 2. It’s like Apple’s Live Photos as it creates a two second video clip rather than a static still picture. While we like it, and enjoy watching them on our phones, the sharing options on social networks are minimal and limits its potential. The GoPro Quik video editing app is onboard, ready to make video collages from your activities.

Other features of the Honor 9 that stand out include the 3,200mAh battery with fast charging, which promises to zip to 40 percent capacity in 30 minutes. It’s not quite up there with Huawei’s own SuperCharge system, or OnePlus’s Dash Charge, but certainly better than having no fast charging at all. Also, on the software side, Honor is promising a timely update to Android O when it’s released to the public this fall.

No high-price shocks

All that should have established the Honor 9’s tech credentials, and leave some waiting for a high-price shock. Remember, this is Honor, a brand which sells great hardware at sensible prices, and the Honor 9 is no exception. It’s 380 British pounds, which converts over to about $480. Sadly, the Honor 9 hasn’t been given a U.S. release date, which is a shame; but the converted price isn’t as competitive as it is in the U.K.

Huawei Honor 9 Compared To

OnePlus 5

LG G6

Motorola Moto E4

Huawei Nova 2 Plus

ZTE Blade V8 Pro

HTC U11

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X

Huawei Honor 8 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S8

HTC U Ultra

Huawei P10

Lenovo Moto G5 Plus

ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe Special…

HTC 10

Nexus 6

The OnePlus 5, traditionally a smartphone bargain, has crept up in price and in the U.K. starts at 450 British pounds. The Honor 9 is technically very similar, and we’d say it looks considerably better than the heavily iPhone-influenced OnePlus 5. We highly rate the new OnePlus, and need to spend more time with the Honor 9 to see how it compares everyday; but at this early time it’s shaping up to be a serious competitor. Now all we need is for Honor to do the right thing and release it in the U.S. too.

Smart kid tracker Jiobit aims to help parents breathe a little easier

Why it matters to you

If you’ve ever worried about losing your kids in a crowded mall, Jiobit should provide a little peace of mind.

If you’re a parent, you’ve been there: One minute your kid is sitting next to you, smiling contentedly at a cartoon on his iPad mini, and the next he’s nowhere to be found. It’s enough to terrify anyone. That’s the scenario the Jiobit Smart Tag, a clip-on tracker for kids, aims to prevent. It’s small, lightweight, fully waterproof, and designed to attach to all types of clothing and shoes. And it’s energy efficient — the Jiobit lasts up to two months on a single charge.

Jiobit is the brainchild of John Renaldi, a former Motorola executive and a father of two. The idea was sparked after a scary afternoon in a city park with his son. “I experienced every parent’s nightmare when I lost track of my 6-year-old for 30 minutes. He eventually found me — he was just off playing — but I never want to go through that again,” Renaldit said. “Parents are incredibly enthusiastic about solutions that can help keep their kids safe and make their job a little easier.”

Jiobit — which is made of a soft silicone material and weighs about the same as a AA battery — packs tech designed to withstand toddlers’ adventures. It uses Progressive Beaconing, a wireless technique pioneered by Renaldi, to improve coverage and power consumption, and machine learning to determine a kid’s behavior, context, and location. A special “Follow me” mode helps track down kids in places like parks, grocery stores, and malls, and a summary screen presents the day’s tracking information in an easy-to-read format.

But Jiobit is privacy-conscious, too. It’s fully compliant with COPPA, the U.S. law that imposes strict requirements on online services direct to children under 13 years of age, and implements the same encryption as chip credit cards. It’s also the first kid-tracking wearable with a tamper-resistant chip, which Renaldi says provides encrypted cloud connections and secure identification for each Jiobit.

Jiobit is available for pre-sale Tuesday in over 120 countries. It will require a monthly fee when it begins shipping later this year.

“There’s so much opportunity to create smart everyday objects that help us live better, or artificial intelligence that helps us to be smarter,” Lior Ron, a Jiobit investor, told TechCrunch.”The next wave of innovation, whether it’s in transportation, health or at home, will come from great teams at the intersection of both. Those are the handful of teams I invest in nowadays. I’m pretty selective because I’m heads down with Otto and Uber’s self-driving efforts.”

Mining-oriented graphics cards are here to save us from stupid prices

Why it matters to you

The demand for midrange graphics cards has pushed up prices across the board, but mining-dedicated GPUs could help calm them for future releases.

Asus and Sapphire have become two of the first graphics card partners to announce new cards designed specifically with cryptocurrency mining in mind. These graphics processors (GPU) come without video outputs, so would be useless for gaming, but if sold in sufficient numbers could go some way to preventing the stock shortages and unprecedented price hikes we’ve seen recently.

If you have been looking to upgrade your PC with anything but the top or entry level graphics cards over the past few weeks, you will have run into the bizarre issue of cards priced at up to three times their initial retail price. That’s because cryptocurrency miners have been buying them up in droves. Perhaps in an effort to combat that trend, a few manufacturers are now making GPUs aimed directly at that market, potentially freeing up gaming cards for their originally intended audience: gamers.

Whether that comes to pass at a time of extreme growth in digital currency mining is anyone’s guess, but the mining-oriented cards should be better than the gaming designs they’re based on. Asus’ new Mining P106-6G card has near-identical specifications to the GTX 1060, but has no video ports on the back and has fans that are rated for 24/7 operation (via PCPer). Its price is currently listed at $226, though it may not stay that way for long.

Asus also has an AMD-based design, called the Mining RX470-4G. Although it does have a single DVI-D output, it comes with a big pair of cooling fans designed for consistent operation over long periods of time (thanks TechReport).

Sapphire too will soon have RX 470-based mining cards. Listings for a few have appeared on British retailer Overclockers’ U.K. website. They are said to offer “low power,” operation and have a fully vented rear with no video outputs. Of note is the condensed one-year warranty and the fact that, like the Asus card, they are based on an older GPU design, suggesting that perhaps these companies are leveraging old silicon to create these specialized cards.

The prices on those cards are more reflective of the inflation we’ve seen in recent months. The 8GB “Samsung” version is priced as high as 300 British pounds ($382), which would typically buy you much more powerful graphics cards, though not so much in the current climate.

“We’re happy to support the miners but at the same time we’ve been taking care by supporting our gaming community, too, so it is fair for everyone,” said OCUK’s purchasing manager, Andrew Gibson. “We have listed graphics cards for gamers making sure that they are only 1 per customer, and we’ve also introduced a special scheme for our forum members to make sure they get a good price on graphics cards, too. We are the first to list mining edition graphics cards and high wattage power supply combos that are suitable for mining, too. We’re aiming to get as much stock in as fast as we possibly can.”

Asus and Sapphire aren’t going to be the only ones with these sorts of cards for long though. PCPer also has early details of comparable cards coming down the pipeline from EVGA, Colorful, Inno3D, MSI and Zotac, though pricing or availability information is very light at the time of writing.

IBM will use artificial intelligence to produce Wimbledon highlight packages

Why it matters to you

Having debuted at The Masters, and now being employed at Wimbledon, IBM’s Cognitive Highlights tech could improve the quality and scope of sports broadcasts.

For more than two decades, IBM has served as the official information technology supplier to Wimbledon, one of the biggest events on the international pro tennis calendar. This year, the company will introduce Cognitive Highlights, a new implementation of artificial intelligence that will help fans keep up with all the tournament’s biggest moments.

Cognitive Highlights is a project developed by IBM Research in collaboration with IBM iX. It was first shown off at the 2017 Masters Golf Tournament, where a proof-of-concept version was able to select the best shots of the most compelling moments from a live video feed.

The system set to be employed at Wimbledon goes one step beyond this functionality. Using computer vision and other cutting edge AI technologies, Cognitive Highlights will assess footage and automatically produce highlight packages for individual matches that will be rolled out across digital platforms shortly after play comes to a close.

Wimbledon is a 13-day tournament, and hundreds of hours of video footage will be accumulated over the course of the competition. A total of 18 grass courts will play host to the best players in the world, highlight packages haven’t been traditionally produced for matches played outside of the most popular courts. The streamlined process offered up by Cognitive Highlights means that fans will have better access to a broader selection of play than ever before.

The technology works by combining information recorded by an on-court statistician with data from an array of different sensors. Everything from the number of aces accomplished by a particular player to the speed of individual serves is taken into account.

However, Cognitive Highlights also analyzes how the crowd responded to particularly exciting moments. The system was trained to recognize cheering from the crowd and how players reacted, using audio and video footage gathered at previous iterations of the Championships.

AI has come a long way in recent years, and we’re starting to see some hugely effective applications for the technology, doing jobs that would be too time-consuming or otherwise impractical for a human. Cognitive Highlights certainly fits that mould, and it looks set to give tennis fans more of the Wimbledon coverage they crave when the Championships get underway on July 3.

New app gets rescuers to cardiac arrest victim three minutes ahead of ambulance

Why it matters to you

Cardiac arrest can rapidly turn fatal and this app can shed minutes off the time until aid arrives.

A new smartphone app is helping bring aid to victims of cardiac arrest an average of three minutes before professional first responders arrive. That might not sound like a lot of time but it can be a life-saving difference, since every minute increases a victim’s chance of survival by ten percent.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading natural cause of death in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and it takes just a few minutes to turn lethal if it goes untreated. Created by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), The First Responder App is intended to minimize the lag time between a victim’s cardiac arrest and when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is initiated, by informing bystanders who can help.

To do so, the EHRA app is designed to be integrated into existing emergency systems and uses GPS tracking to locate trained rescuers who are able to quickly respond and administer aid. When emergency services are notified of a victim suffering cardiac arrest, the operator sends out first responders and also contacts trained rescuers through the app to direct them to the scene of the incident.

“We saw that initiatives like those were kicked off in other countries but none of those had a real model in terms of ‘real world functionality,’ as they all neglected data security, legal and insurance aspects.” Christian Elsner, CEO of the University Clinic Schleswig Holstein and EHRA spokesperson, told Digital Trends. “Secondly, we were very interested in the data for a scientific purpose.”

The First Responder App underwent trials with about 600 rescuers in Lubeck, Germany, where 36 percent of cardiac arrests were met by an app rescuer over three minutes before the professional first responders arrived. (Meanwhile, Sweden is testing first responder drones.)

“With every minute chances to survive rise by ten percent,” said Elsner. “Our ‘proof of concept’ [is that] three minutes earlier in 36 percent of the cases would translate into 5,000 to 10,000 people surviving more per year in Germany alone.”

The organizers of the projects are now taking their idea to emergency service agencies such as fire departments and hospitals around the country. The app is currently only available on the iOS Store but will also be available on Android by September.

Token is a ring you can use to make payments, store your passwords

Why it matters to you

There have been many efforts to replace your wallet and keys — Token comes close with its smart ring.

Going abroad? You’ll have to call your credit card company and give them a heads up, just to prevent them from marking your purchases as fraudulent (which still might happen). Logging into Twitter or Gmail? If you have two-factor authentication, you’ll have to wait to get a pin from an SMS, or confirm your authenticity via an authorized device. A new smart ring called Token is trying to make it all simpler, with the help of your fingerprint.

Token is both the name of the ring and the company that’s behind it, which was founded in 2016. The ring won’t track your calories or steps, but it can perform more powerful tasks that may make your everyday life a lot easier. The circular ring — which comes in sterling silver, rose gold, and black — contains Bluetooth and NFC connectivity, along with a fingerprint and optical sensor. First, place your ring finger’s print on the sensor, which is located on the inner ring. Then put the ring on, and the optical sensor detects that you’re wearing it. The optical sensor recognizes when the ring is off, and will then shut it down so it cannot be used until your finger reauthorizes it.

At launch there will be six main functions of the Token smart ring: Store your passwords, allowing you to log in with just two knocks; unlock your front door; tap and go with more than 50 transit systems worldwide; replace your workplace access card; unlock your car; and add your credit card to make payments at more than 15 million stores.

The end of passwords

Token can save all the passwords you use to log into various sites and devices. For example, if you connect your laptop to your ring via Bluetooth and save your password, the next time it’s locked, simply knock twice on a hard surface and you’ll be logged in automatically. The same applies to websites, and Token is working with partner companies in the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to make experience smooth. The ring can even act as your second factor authentication, as well as your first.

Managing these credentials is done through the companion app — add your usernames and passwords during the initial set up of the ring, and you can delete them at any time. The company said the Web Authentication Application Programming Interface (API) will be supported by Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari, “so your Token ring will be able to communicate directly with Gmail through Chrome with no apps involved for creating or using credentials.”

Payment ring, and transit

Token’s NFC sensor allows it to make payments at contactless terminals, just like Apple Pay or Android Pay — except you don’t need to make an account to use it. Simply add your card information in the app, and you can start making payments at stores with NFC terminals. The company has worked with Mastercard and Visa to make sure Token is accepted as a secure payment device.

It also means that the ring will work with public transportation services that use tap-and-go NFC systems — like London, and San Francisco. More than 50 transit systems worldwide use NFC, and 30 more are set to go live in 2018, including New York City.

Open doors, start cars, access your workplace

Token has also worked with a third-party company to build a smart door lock that can open with the NFC ring. It’s called Token Lock.

There’s also the Token Car Plug, which connects to your car’s On-Board Diagnostics (OBD), and it allows you to use Token to unlock your car with two knocks when nearby. The company has also worked to make the ring HID SEOS-enabled, meaning you can ditch your work access card.

There’s a lot Token will be able to do when it ships in December, but the company said it’s looking to more third-party companies to add support for other devices and services.

Token is waterproof up to 50 meters, and the company claims a two-week battery life. It charges inductively via a dock, and to check the ring’s battery life — just tap it twice and you’ll see either green, orange, or red.

The ring — which comes in U.S. sizes 6-12 — will cost $250 for the sterling silver variant, whereas the 14K rose gold model and black rhodium color will be $300. There are three bundles at launch: $350 for Token and Token Lock; $350 for Token and Token Car Plug; and $400 for all three. They’re all available for pre-order now at Tokenize.com. The Token app supports Android, iOS, Windows 10, and MacOS.

European Commission fines Google $2.73B for anticompetitive practices

Why it matters to you

Google has 90 days to amend the way shopping results factor into its search engine, or risk seeing its $2.73 billion penalty get significantly larger.

Earlier this month, reports began to circulate that Google was likely to be hit with a hefty fine following a major investigation into alleged anticompetitive practices conducted by the European Commission. Now, the organization has confirmed that the search giant will be forced to pay $2.73 billion in sanctions.

The Commission’s investigation into Google’s activities emerged in October 2016. The issue revolves around its practice of serving up web results that prioritize products sold via its shopping service, which is being interpreted as an unfair advantage over other retailers offering the same items.

A press release issued Tuesday by the European Commission lays out the charges being leveled against Google in no uncertain terms. Not only does the company stand accused of giving prominent placement to its own shopping service, it’s alleged that it also demotes rival services in order to promote its own.

Having now investigated Google’s practices for several months, the Commission has officially issued the fine of $2.73 billion, with that figure being settled upon as a result of the “duration and gravity of the infringement.” In addition, the company must modify its conduct with 90 days to avoid being subject to penalty payments equaling up to 5 percent of the average daily worldwide turnover of its parent company, Alphabet.

“Google has come up with many innovative products and services that have made a difference to our lives,” said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. “That’s a good thing. But Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals. Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors.

However, Google doesn’t seem to plan on taking the decision laying down, and maintains that its shopping service is designed to deliver a streamlined experience for consumers that helps them find the products they’re looking for quickly.

“We believe the European Commission’s online shopping decision underestimates the value of those kinds of fast and easy connections,” wrote senior vice president and general counsel Kent Walker in a blog post published in response to the ruling. Google is currently mulling whether or not to appeal the decision.