Charmin’s ‘Van-Go’ is the on-demand toilet NYC deserves

Everybody’s favorite cartoon shit bear (slow your roll there, Mike Isaac), is coming to New York City! On June 21st and 22nd, the Charmin toilet paper company is running a promotional event wherein folks will be able to order an on-demand, mobile port-a-potty in select neighborhoods throughout the city, right from their smartphones.

If you feel the need to pop a squat on Wednesday or Thursday and don’t want to simply poop in the gutter like we did in the good old Cholera days, go to CharminVanGo.com, follow the instructions and pretty soon a modified runner van will arrive for you to defecate in.

Not only will you be able to poop privately on a minibus parked in some of NYC’s busiest neighborhoods, but Anthony Anderson, star of ABC’s hit family sitcom Black-ish, will be onboard as well, “surprising and delighting people with bathroom humor along the route” according to Business Wire.

The vans will be in operation between 8am and 5pm ET. On Wednesday the 21st, they’ll be available for hire at Columbus Circle on W. 57th, Herald Square and Bryant Park. On Thursday the 22nd, you can find them at the Lincoln Center, the High Line, Rockefeller Plaza and Union Square.

Charmin’s promotion, albeit temporary, joins the growing ranks of wacky on-demand products. These days you can get everything from snacks to scooters, manual labor to McDonald’s meals, with just a couple of clicks. At least now when that drone-delivered sushi makes you sicker than that time you ate gas station nachos, you won’t have to hold it till you get home. You’ll just have to make small talk with Anthony Anderson.

Source: Business Wire

Google Glass adds Bluetooth support for whoever still uses it

Google Glass seemed headed for awkward retirement after the device’s most recent update in September 2014 appeared to be its last. But out of nowhere, almost three years later, the augmented reality pioneer is getting its code refreshed with the usual performance boosts and bug fixes — as well as added Bluetooth support.

Which means users can add keyboards or mice or whatever else links up via the wireless protocol. But what volume of users are we talking about? Why now, and cui bono? Last we heard back in December 2015, the Google Glass designers (rechristened under the Project Aura name) were preparing to present a sleeker, tougher version for enterprise that has yet to launch. In any case, if you’re one of the AR diehards still trucking around the consumer Explorer model, this update’s for you. And possibly only you.

Via: The Verge

Source: Google Glass

Instagram gives social media influencers the benefit of the doubt

The chaos surrounding the cancelled Fyre Festival is a perfect example of how social media influencers can misguide consumers. Instagram users were led to believe they would be rubbing shoulders with supermodels like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid in the Bahamas, after both of them heavily promoted the event on their accounts without ever disclosing they were paid to do so. People who spent thousands of dollars to attend eventually realized this was far from reality. Instead, the promised “cultural experience of the decade” left some stranded at airports. This led to a long list of legal problems organizers have had to deal with since Fyre Festival was shut down on its opening day in May. Celebrities have been getting away with this type of stealth shilling on social networks for years now, but that may be coming to an end soon — at least on Instagram.

Naturally, the Federal Trade Commission is doing its part by sending warning letters to influencers who violate its guidelines, which include labeling sponsored posts as #Ad or #PaidAd. But Instagram recently announced it would be taking matters into its own hands with a new tool on its app. The “Paid partnership with [enter brand name here]” post format is designed for users who want to advertise products on their page, letting them easily disclose when one of their posts is actually an ad. Instagram says this is an effort to bring the platform some much-needed transparency. The feature is set to roll out in the coming weeks to a “small number” of creators and businesses, according to the company.

In a blog post last week, Instagram said its branded content tool is only the first step in a larger plan to tackle this issue, noting that in the coming months it plans to unveil a formal policy for influencers “based off of Facebook’s current practices.” Instagram declined to comment for this story, but a glimpse at Facebook’s “Branded Content Policies” suggests influencer profiles will be treated differently than regular ones, with access to tools like “Paid partnership with” and others that may not be live yet. “We define branded content as a creator or publisher’s content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value,” reads Facebook’s Branded Content policy.

Instagram’s tool will let users tag brands they’re working with, making it easy for both parties to gather analytics and, most importantly, for followers to know when a post doubles as a product placement. The question is: Will influencers actually use the feature? And what will happen if they don’t? Unfortunately, we won’t know those answers until Instagram shares definite details about its policies. Facebook does make it clear to both users and brands that any partnership must “comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including by ensuring that you provide all necessary disclosures to people using Facebook, such as any disclosures needed to indicate the commercial nature of content posted by you.” It’s unclear if the FTC, which declined our request for comment, did anything to influence Instagram’s new tool.

That said, the government agency is of course trying to keep people from committing violations. Back in March, it sent over 90 letters to social media influencers, including A-list celebs like Heidi Klum and Victoria Beckham, reminding each of them they must clearly disclose paid endorsements on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else on the web. The problem is, the FTC’s efforts to crack down on dubious advertising don’t seem all that effective.

Getty Images for Absolut Elyx

Julie Zerbo, editor-in-chief of legal site The Fashion Law, says that a large number of influencers who received an FTC warning letter are still violating its advertising guidelines. This includes people such as Emily Ratajkowski, the model-actress who just happened to be revealed as a OnePlus brand ambassador earlier today, during the company’s launch of its latest smartphone, the OnePlus 5. Zerbo, who has been covering the lack of ad disclosures on social media since 2014, says she believes Instagram is introducing its new tool to avoid secondary liability in the future.

As we saw with the Fyre Festival, Instagram has become the platform of choice for many influencers who want to promote products, be it their own or another from a third-party brand. Because of that, she says “it’s not a huge stretch that the FTC might take action against Instagram for providing a platform for such FTC Act violations, and/or failing to police the potentially illegal content of its users.” On a broader scale, tackling misleading content seems to be an ongoing problem for Facebook, as shown by how slow the company tends to take down graphic material from its site, or even ads promoting counterfeit goods. And even though you can’t compare the livestreaming of murders, suicides and rapes to shady paid ads, at least Instagram is trying to change for the better.

Amazing facial today with @skinesis x my favorite…..Intense hydrating booster for winter dehydration,good for glowing skin! X VB

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Feb 23, 2017 at 7:28am PST

Ultimately, though, the FTC needs to take tougher action if it wants to put an end to the issue at hand. Because as of this writing, the agency has yet to file a legal case against any individual, although it did settle charges with Lord & Taylor last year for deceiving consumers through sketchy advertorial and paid Instagram posts by 50 fashion influencers. There was no monetary fine, however, only an agreement to put a monitoring program in place for the brand.

This remains the highest profile case to date related to the topic, despite clear evidence of new violations in situations like the Fyre Festival. And brands, too, are partially responsible for the rise of stealth shilling, since they should be doing their due diligence and educating their partners on how to properly disclose paid advertisements. Adidas, one of the companies who works with influencers for product activations on Instagram, did not respond to our request for comment.

“I am not terribly optimistic that Instagram’s new feature will change [anything],” Zerbo says, “especially since the FTC has not officially penalized any influencers or brands by way of monetary fines.” As such, she added, these social media celebrities will continue to view their actions as a non-issue. Still, we won’t know if Instagram can reverse this problematic trend until its new transparency tools are fully implemented, so there’s some hope. Until then, Instagram’s 700 million users (and counting) will have to question if their favorite celebrity is really on Bumble or if it’s just an ad.

‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ hits Netflix July 18th

That exclusive deal with Disney that Netflix made back in 2012 started to pay off last fall. We wondered when we might see any Lucasfilm releases at the time, but it looks like the time is ripe for spending some time with Jyn Erso and her band of plucky Rebels. Rogue One is headed to Netflix on July 18th.

If you watch Netflix’s upcoming releases trailer above, you’ll note that Rogue One won’t be available to download for offline viewing, unlike the rest of the announced movies and TV shows. If you’re wondering why you still can’t stream The Force Awakens on Netflix in the US, blame a Starz licensing agreement that covered Disney films released through the end of 2015. Canadians, though, can stream the first reboot just fine.

Source: Netflix

Samsung puts you on the field with MLB VR videos

Are you a baseball aficionado with a Gear VR headset? You’re in for a treat beyond Intel’s weekly live games. Samsung and MLB have unveiled plans to release “over 20” virtual reality videos over the course of the league’s 2017 season. Some of them will include highlights of key moments, such as All-Star events and division championships, while others will give you close-ups with players and “unrivaled” views of ballparks. Some of these will have supplements, too, such as stats and trivia.

The videos will be available in the US and several other baseball-loving parts of the world, including Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan.

Regular live VR games aren’t coming anytime soon. Outside of the Intel deal, MLB isn’t focused on as-it-happens experiences. However, this gives you a sense of what could happen with VR baseball viewing (and VR sports in general) going forward: it’s less about the outcome of a game and more about giving you a sense of what it’s like to walk on to the field.

Source: Samsung Newsroom

WannaCry ransomware causes Honda plant to shut down

WannaCry isn’t done yet. Honda Motor Co. had to shut down its Sayama plant on Monday after finding the ransomware in its computer network. The plant’s production resumed on Tuesday.

The WannaCry ransomware got everyone’s attention in May when UK NHS hospitals fell victim to it. It then quickly spread around the world, affecting over 150 countries and hitting companies like French car manufacturer Renault and FedEx.

WannaCry was made possible by a Windows vulnerability uncovered by the NSA and subsequently stolen and released by a hacking group called The Shadow Brokers. WannaCry, which US agencies suspect a North Korean group was behind, took advantage of that vulnerability in computers that hadn’t been updated with Microsoft’s patch or had versions of Windows that were too old to use it.

Honda’s Sayama plant, located outside of Tokyo, manufactures the Accord, Odyssey and Step Wagon models and produces around 1,000 vehicles each day. Production at other plants wasn’t affected.

Via: Road Show

Source: Reuters

Dailymotion is trying to clean up its act with major redesign

Dailymotion announced this week that it has completely redesigned its app and advertising strategy. And the company hopes to attract viewers with higher quality content created through partnerships with media and entertainment brands. Three new partnerships with Universal Music Group, CNN and Vice were also announced.

On the new app, video content will now be divided into four themes — news, sports, music and entertainment — and geared towards 18- to 49-year-olds. Dailymotion is also offering less intrusive advertising formats that they say will “promote a more fluid user experience and stronger brand integration.”

Dailymotion, which Vivendi acquired a majority stake in two years ago, has had its share of issues. Users have had a history of posting pirated content, which led to the company being found guilty of copyright infringement in France and a ban in Russia. The site was also hacked last year.

According to a statement, Dailymotion has 300 million unique users per month — well below competitor YouTube’s nearly one billion visitors. Reuters reported that the video-sharing site hired around 100 engineers to work on the redesign that it hopes will bring in more viewers.

The app should be available soon for both iOS and Android and a desktop version is scheduled for a worldwide release on July 25th.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Dailymotion

NASA goes all-out with livestreaming for this summer’s total eclipse

The US will experience its first continent-wide total solar eclipse in 99 years on August 21st, and NASA wants to make sure you see it… including perspectives you just couldn’t get otherwise. It’s promising an hours-long livestream that will cover the eclipse from seemingly every angle. There will be video on the ground as the sky briefly goes dark, of course, but there will also be views from aircraft, high-altitude balloons and the International Space Station. If you don’t live in an eclipse area or just can’t afford to step outside, this is probably your best bet at seeing what the fuss is about.

The agency is also taking the lead on viewing safety with its own guide. In essence: it’ll only be truly safe to stare directly at the eclipse during the two minutes when everything will be dark. At every other moment, you’ll want to use either a solar filter (such as eclipse glasses) or a pinhole projector. And of course, that’s where the livestream could come in handy — in some cases, it might offer a better view of the Sun than you’d get first-hand.

Source: NASA (release), (Eclipse Live), (safety)

Apple’s paranoia about leaks is misplaced

Apple’s inability to keep its secrets is so bad that even its internal presentation about confidentiality was leaked. But according to internal videos obtained by The Outline, the company is very serious about secrecy. It reportedly conducted an hour-long briefing titled “Stopping Leakers – Keeping Confidential at Apple” for about 100 employees to make sure they understood the importance of not leaking information. But that concern is misplaced: Clamping down on leaks won’t help Apple’s bottom line.

CEO Tim Cook definitely thinks leaks and iPhone sales are related, though. On the company’s second quarter earnings call this year, he said, “We’re seeing what we believe to be a pause in purchases on iPhone, which we believe are due to the earlier and much more frequent reports about future iPhones.” What’s more, according to The Outline, Apple believes that “It’s our DNA… It’s our brand” to “surprise and delight” people at product announcements, and keeping its plans secret is key to doing so.

Whether leaks have a direct impact on Apple’s sales requires further investigation and is not something we can easily determine — even Cook was just speculating when he discussed the “pause” in iPhone purchases. But would complete secrecy prior to product announcements have surprised and delighted consumers into buying more products?

Let’s look back at two of Apple’s recent hardware launches: the iPhone 7 and the MacBook Pro. Despite having been leaked to death prior to the reveal, the iPhone’s missing headphone jack still generated plenty of buzz. The same goes for the MacBook Pro, which drew lots of attention to the controversial Touch Bar feature. Again, despite having been all but confirmed by the rumor mill before the official announcement. Possibly the best example here is the original Apple Watch — it was heavily exposed before the company even confirmed it, but is still the most successful wearable today.

Sure, maybe there would have been more surprise at features like the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-camera and Portrait Mode had they not been leaked. On the other hand, there would possibly have been more horror at widely perceived missteps like the headphone jack removal, too.

Apple should focus on “delighting” its audience, and shutting down leaks isn’t going to make that easier. Whether people already have an inkling of what to expect from a product doesn’t prevent them from being pleased when it officially gets announced. Their reactions are only different when what’s revealed turns out to be underwhelming.

Protecting trade secrets and preventing corporate espionage are part of most major organizations, but, like Apple, some tech companies may be taking the anti-leak fixation too far. Google, for example, is facing a lawsuit for “illegal confidentiality agreements, policies, and practices.” According to the legal documents, this includes an alleged “spying program” and a “global investigations team” that runs a “Stopleaks” program and investigates “information security issues when a Google employee is suspected of being involved.”

It’s important to note, though, that Apple has taken a strong stance against surveillance. It famously resisted the FBI when the latter demanded access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. Cook has also publicly defended consumers’ rights to strong encryption and security against governments. But it apparently doesn’t have a problem hiring people from the same national security organization it frequently opposes, nor do its executives seem to have trouble throwing around terms like “breaking secrecy,” which make it seem like they’re agents at those very institutions.

Neither Apple nor Google responded to requests for comment on these alleged security processes, although Google has refuted the lawsuit’s claims. The exposé about Apple’s obsession with secrecy is unlikely to make the company less uptight. But it also won’t slow down the deluge of leaks around the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. Still, if we’re to be surprised and delighted (not just surprised) by the product, Apple should be focusing on delivering an innovative and useful set of features rather than clamping down on leaks.

Apple Provides Second Beta of tvOS 11 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 11 update for the fourth-generation Apple TV, a little over two weeks after seeding the first beta following the keynote of the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Registered developers can download tvOS 11 by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes.

tvOS 11 received little attention at the Worldwide Developers Conference, but according to the release notes, it introduces a few new features to the operating system.

tvOS 11 brings automatic switching between light/dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options that keep multiple Apple TVs in a household in sync, new background modes and notification support, Focus API improvements, custom sound support, network-based pairing and development support, and improvements to Mobile Device Management.

Later this year, Apple will partner with Amazon to bring an Amazon Prime Video app to the Apple TV for the first time, and in tvOS 11, AirPods are able to pair automatically with an Apple TV.

The new tvOS 11 update is only available for registered developers at the current point in time, but Apple plans to release a public tvOS 11 beta in the future.

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