Here’s what we can expect the Google Pixel XL 2 to look like

Google’s Pixel XL may be going bigger, and sleeker, in 2017

We now have a solid idea of what the Pixel XL’s 2017 successor will look like. Android Police, which is generally good about these sorts of things, has published renders of its approximation of what the so-called “Pixel XL 2017” will look like, based on information it has from internal sources. For those keeping up with all of the Pixel rumors back at home, this is the phone known by the codename “Taimen.” That’s the largest of the three rumored upcoming Google devices, with both “Muskie” and “Walleye” also in some progression of development.

For what it’s worth, the naming of the forthcoming device has yet to be finalized. We could be looking at simply “Pixel XL” with no further denomination, “Pixel XL 2” or something else entirely. Names can be finalized much later than the hardware, and often are — we’ll stick to calling this the Pixel XL 2 for now.

Corroborating with previous reports, this confirms that LG is the manufacturer of this new Pixel XL 2, rather than HTC that built the original Pixel and Pixel XL (of course, without any branding indicating the fact). Some of that influence is immediately apparent in the phone — there’s a tall and skinny 18:9 display with rounded corners like the LG G6, which is reportedly 6-inches diagonal, with much smaller bezels than the current Pixel XL. Curved glass on the front is very pronounced, though the screen itself is actually flat underneath.

Lots of LG G6 influence, but plenty to tie it back to the original HTC-built Pixel XL.

The large glass pane at the top of the back of the phone remains, though the fingerprint sensor is no longer inside that glass as the phone is taller than before. In addition to the the back glass panel, there’s a clear familiarity in design from the current Pixel XL to the new Pixel XL 2. There’s still a metal frame that’s nicely brushed to a simple texture that’s flat across the back and rounded on the edges and corners.

Though the manufacturing has changed hands from HTC to LG, the report says the Pixel XL 2 will have a squeezable frame not unlike the HTC U11, which is mildly interesting to see.

The question remains, though, what is to be done with the standard Pixel’s successor in 2017. Will it be a smaller version of this design? Or perhaps a simpler refresh of last year’s phone? And what about the expected third Google-branded phone to be released this year? We can expect to see more information leak as we get closer to the launch.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Online harassment keeps getting worse, study shows

Harassment is sadly an increasing inevitability on the internet with a new study showing that 41 percent of adults saying they’ve it experienced personally and 73 percent saying they’ve seen it happen to someone else.

According to the Pew Research Center study, the most common form of online harassment is offensive name-calling, which has been personally experienced by 51 percent of men aged 18-24. Men in this age group were also more likely to have been purposefully embarrassed and physically threatened.

Women, meanwhile, were more likely to be stalked online, suffer sustained harassment and be sexually harassed — for example, 53 percent of the women surveyed said they’d received explicit images they didn’t ask for.

Pew’s last online harassment survey was completed in 2014, when 35 percent of those surveyed said they’d experienced it personally. This means there’s been a six percent increase in online harassment over three years, despite the likes of Twitter and Instagram tightening protective controls. Yesterday Twitter added mute options to help filter out abuse, while last year Instagram (finally) allowed users to disable comments. But as the numbers in Pew’s study show, such measures are far from fool-proof.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Pew Research Center

Trump sued for blocking users on Twitter

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University warned President Trump to stop blocking Twitter users. The freedom of speech organization sent the president a letter last month arguing that when Twitter is used by a President, it operates as a “designated public forum” like a city council or school board meeting. When blocking users for mocking or critical tweets, it argues, the president is violating their First Amendment rights. While the letter did not explicitly promise legal action, the implication was clear. Now, the same institute has filed suit, asserting that President Trump and “his communications team are violating the First Amendment by blocking individuals from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account because they criticized the president or his policies.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York on the behalf of seven individual Twitter users who have been blocked by the president or his team, affirms that the block impedes the individuals from reading, responding to or participating in discussions around the president’s tweets. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the blocks unconstitutional and to order the White House to restore access to the people named in it. In addition to arguing that the account is a “public forum,” the suit also claims that the individuals have a right to @readDonaldTrump for redress of grievances.

In addition, the blocks prevent everyone else from hearing dissenting voices. “The White House is transforming a public forum into an echo chamber,” said Knight Institute attorney Katie Fallow in a statement. “Its actions violate the rights of the people who’ve been blocked and the rights of those who haven’t been blocked but who now participate in a forum that’s being sanitized of dissent.”

Source: Knight INstitute

Microsoft wants to close the rural broadband gap by 2022

It’s well known that the US has a pretty extreme broadband internet access gap. Around 34 million Americans don’t have it, including 39 percent of rural citizens and today, Microsoft’s president Brad Smith announced how his company plans to close that gap.

Microsoft is calling for an elimination of the rural broadband gap by 2022 and has laid out a few strategies meant to achieve that goal. Over the next five years, Microsoft will invest with telecommunications companies to bring broadband access to two million rural Americans and it will use its recouped investments to invest in additional coverage-expanding projects. It will also invest in training to make sure people in areas with new access have the skills to utilize the technology. And in order to get other groups to do their part to spread broadband access, Microsoft will provide free access to dozens of patents and source code that will help with the development of technology that can expand broadband access and it will also license its own technology. As of now, Microsoft says its Rural Airband Initiative already has plans for 12 projects in 12 states that should get going within a year.

The company also calls on the public sector to play its part, which includes airwave space being made available by the FCC and federal and state funds directed specifically towards closing the broadband gap. Microsoft also says that better data collection on the state of rural broadband coverage would help companies and governments target shortcomings.

To keep costs down, Microsoft has proposed a mixed technologies approach to spreading broadband that includes wireless, fiber and satellite delivery systems. It says with this plan and relying on satellite coverage for low density populations, costs can be up to 80 percent less than using fiber cables alone and 50 percent less than wireless approaches like 4G.

It’s an ambitious plan and one that will require other groups, both private and public, to jump in as well. The FCC has been slowly working on its Connect America Fund aimed at boosting rural internet connectivity. Earlier this year, it approved $170 million to be used to expand broadband access in underserved areas of New York and AT&T recently began fulfilling its Connect America Fund promise to expand internet access. Last month, President Trump announced that his upcoming infrastructure plan will include stipulations that address the rural broadband gap.

Bringing broadband to 23.4 million Americans in five years is a lofty but necessary goal. As Smith said in a statement, “[Broadband connectivity] has become a critical connection to a better education and living. New cloud services are making broadband a necessity to start and grow a small business and take advantage of advances in agriculture, telemedicine and education. In short, broadband has become a vital part of 21st century infrastructure.”

Source: Microsoft (1), (2), (3)

Android stops glitchy apps by detecting your panicky presses

If you can’t dismiss an app by pressing the “back” button, it may just be a glitch or crappy app, but it could also be something much worse. That’s why Google has quietly slipped in a new Android feature called “panic detection” that can preemptively close an app if you stab at the back button multiple times. So far the feature, spotted by XDA Developers, has appeared in some, but not all devices with Android 7.1 Nougat.

Google hasn’t said anything about the feature– XDA just happened to discover the code in a recent build of Android 7.1. Essentially, it listens for back button presses, and if enough of them happen (four to be exact) in rapid succession (with less than a third of a second delay) then Android will override the app and bring back the home screen. This could apply to apps that just freeze, but also to rogue software that tries to intercept any and all actions, like malware or adware.

It’s a smart idea, because what’s the first thing you do when you can’t make an app go away? Frantically pressing the back key is probably the first thing, so that will kill the app and allow you to uninstall or disable it until you figure out the problem.

You’ll have to enable the feature to get it to work, apparently. Google seems to be rolling it out on a limited basis, and may in fact just be testing it, so it may be some time before it ends up on your device.

Source: XDA Developers

Microsoft officially ends support for Windows Phone

It’s official: for all intents and purposes, the Windows Phone era is over. Microsoft has ended support for Windows Phone 8.1 just over 3 years after its April 2014 debut. From now on, your WP8.1-toting device won’t get software updates or technical help. This doesn’t mark the end of Microsoft’s mobile ambitions (Windows 10 Mobile is still hanging around), but it does finish a long, sad story in the company’s history that reflects the tech giant’s shifting priorities.

Windows Phone 7 was launched in 2010 as Microsoft’s formal response to the iPhone and Android. This was the release that was going to prove Microsoft could make a truly consumer-focused mobile platform instead of catering primarily to the business crowd. The tile-based home screen and other interface elements were breaths of fresh air, but the so-so device lineup (HTC Surround anyone?) and lack of feature parity (it launched without copy-and-paste text) set the tone. It was always a bit lackluster compared to what Apple and Google were doing, even if there were occasional bright spots.

Case in point: Windows Phone 8. It was a huge upgrade, but no Windows Phone 7 device could run it. Millions of users were faced with the prospect of having to upgrade their handset early to stay current, erasing a lot of Microsoft’s hard-earned good will. Windows Phone 8.1 finally provided a truly complete answer to Android and iOS, but it was still a little bit behind and never got the sustained big-name app support that Microsoft had tried so hard to cultivate. And we can’t forget the ill-fated partnership between Microsoft and Nokia, including the eventual purchase of Nokia’s hardware business. It was supposed to be a match made in heaven (Microsoft got a huge, reliable partner while Nokia got a modern OS), but it mostly led to a lopsided Windows Phone market where third parties always played second fiddle to the latest Lumia.

That Microsoft ditched Windows Phone entirely in favor of Windows 10 Mobile says a lot. Just as Microsoft shifted from a dependence on Windows sales to a focus on apps and services, the pocket-sized Windows is no longer intended as an iPhone-beater — it’s more an extension of the desktop PC experience. Even then, it’s fading away as Microsoft cuts its former Nokia staff and has been winding down its mobile plans. Windows Phone produced many fond memories, particularly stand-out devices like the Lumia 1020, but it largely represents a missed opportunity to adapt to an industry where phones, not PCs, are the center of the computing universe.

Via: The Verge

Source: Microsoft

Soylent sits alongside Slurpees at some 7-Elevens in LA

Good news if you’re all about nutrition, but not a fan of actually eating while on the go: Soylent is now available at select 7-Eleven stores. The meal replacement substance was only sold on Amazon and the company’s own website prior to this, and CEO Rob Rhinehart told The Verge that soon enough the 7-Eleven deal will go wider than the 18 stores in Los Angeles. Now that no one is getting sick off of algae powder (a previous ingredient) the company stands to make some pretty big inroads with the mass market.

Source: The Verge

Kevin Hart’s comedy streaming service launches August 3rd

Last year, Lionsgate announced it would be launching a comedy streaming service helmed by Kevin Hart and today it gets a launch date. Laugh Out Loud will be available August 3rd with a slew of comedy shows lined up to air.

Among the programming are a handful of scripted shows including Campus Law, where three recent college grads become security guards at their alma mater, and Dead House, a sitcom about a human that joins a reality show alongside four zombies. Other shows include a Jo Koy-hosted series that highlights viral pranks called Inglorious Pranksters and Black Geo, a sketch comedy series that satirically investigates the origins of black culture.

Additionally, all of the Def Comedy Jam seasons will be available on the app as well as standup sets from the comedy festival Just for Laughs. The streaming service will feature content created by YouTube star GloZell, Vine stars King Bach and DC Young Fly, Emmanuel Hudson and MADtv performer Anjelah Johnson. And of course, Kevin Hart will have his own show — a hidden camera series called Kevin Hart: Lyft Legend where he gets into shenanigans as an elderly Lyft driver named Donald Mac. You can watch a clip of Hart’s first episode below.

The Laugh Out Loud app will be available on iOS and Android for free on August 3rd. For $3 per month, users can get ad-free viewing and access to every episode of currently airing seasons.

Source: Deadline

Duolingo’s ‘Game of Thrones’ language course is almost ready

If you’ve been clamoring to learn the languages of Game of Thrones, you might just get your wish. Duolingo’s High Valyrian to English program is nearly out of its Phase 1 testing.

User Dedalvs has been in charge of developing the language learning program, which will teach users the language of Daenerys Targaryen. They’ve been updating interested users on development progress for the last eight months. Yesterday, according to Reddit, an update was posted that says, “Valyrio Māzis,” which translates to “Valyrian is coming.” While the update seems to have disappeared from Duolingo’s site, the project’s estimated completion date is July 13th 16th.

Language app Duolingo has three phases for testing new languages and new language combinations on its site. You can see everything the service is working on in its Incubator. Phase 1 consists of limited testing by volunteers, Phase 2 is a public beta and Phase 3 courses have been finalized and released as finished products.

Edit: Duolingo reached out to let us know that the High Valyrian course is set to be released on Thursday, July 13.

Via: The Verge

Source: Duolingo

‘Awaken’ takes time-lapse filmmaking to new heights

If you’re a fan of wordless cinematic meditations on modern society, like Samsara and Baraka, Tom Lowe’s Awaken should be on your radar. Filmed over the course of five years in more than 30 countries, it’s a documentary that explores humanity’s connection with technology and nature with some gorgeous imagery. It’s also a showpiece for new time-lapse cinematography innovations by Lowe, including gimble technology that allowed him to shoot astrophotography scenes from a moving helicopter. The trailer alone shows off some astounding imagery, including a starry scene from the Sierra Nevada at dusk and a camera zooming above Dubai’s skyline.

Lowe is well known for his 2012 short film Timescapes, which also broke new ground for time-lapse filmmaking. He’s also done cinematography work for the renowned director Terrence Malick, who also serves as a producer for Awaken. To help create the imagery for the film, Lowe’s company Dreamcore worked together with Dubai Film to produce new types of camera equipment, and he also collaborated with Shotover to help build the F1 camera gimble. Awaken doesn’t have a release date yet, but Lowe plans to master the film with Dolby Vision HDR, as well as a Dolby Atmos sound mix. If anything, it’s sure to be a trippy experience in one of Dolby’s cinemas.