Verified Twitter users have their very own dating app

Just like the rest of us, celebrities yearn for love too. These days most people seeking romance (and other pursuits) can turn to a dating app. But a traditional Tinder account is just too basic for the rich and famous (especially if they want to hookup with mutually wealthy people). Enter Loveflutter “Blue,” the latest premium app aimed at celebs — only this new dating service comes with a twist. The app exclusively caters to verified Twitter users. Hence its name, which refers to the platform’s blue tick community.

Its creators claim it’s all about authenticity. Whereas other dating services can fall prey to bots and catfish, Blue taps into Twitter’s verification system to connect you with “real” celebs. There’s just a slight catch: not all verified Twitter users are actually famous. Although Twitter doesn’t release official numbers, a report from 2015 claimed out of 150,000 checkmarked profiles, 25 percent belonged to journalists and media personalities. And that was before the platform opened up verification applications to everyone. Therefore, don’t go raising your hopes of snagging Rihanna or Justin Bieber.

For a service targeting Twitter’s blue tick collective, it’s odd that Loveflutter itself isn’t verified on the platform. Even the app’s co-founders can’t use Blue because they lack the little checkmark. In fact, there’s every chance that Blue will never make it to where you live. Despite rolling out in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo, the app won’t go live until 1,000 local members are available.

What’s stopping it from taking off? Oh, just Tinder’s very own celeb-dating service. Not to mention apps such as Raya, Luxy, and The League, which exclusively court rich, famous and educated patrons. There’s also nothing prohibiting celebs from just sliding into one another’s DMs on Twitter — like all the other creepy folk on the platform.

Via: Mashable

Source: Loveflutter

Jony Ive Talks Apple Park, Scoffs at Claim of New Campus Contributing to Local Tree Shortage

The Wall Street Journal has shared a lengthy interview with Apple design chief Jony Ive about Apple Park, the company’s new headquarters in Cupertino, California, revealing a few new anecdotes about the all-new campus and the exhaustive architectural process that has went into constructing it.

Ive, for instance, reportedly scoffed at a recent article claiming Apple Park has contributed to a tree shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ive takes offense at the idea that he hasn’t already thought of every detail during the years of planning Apple Park. He scoffs at an article claiming that Apple contributed to a tree shortage in the Bay Area by buying up so many plants for the campus, “as if we’d got to the end of our project and we thought, Oh, we’d better plant some trees.” Apple began working with an arborist years ago to source trees, including varieties that once made up the bountiful orchards of Silicon Valley; more than 9,000, many of them drought-resistant, will have been planted by the time the campus is finished.

The report also mentions that Ive’s design team will be among the last to move into the new headquarters this fall. Employees began moving over from Apple’s existing Infinite Loop campus in April, and when the transition is completed, the spaceship-like campus will reportedly house some 12,000 workers.

Apple Park’s fourth floor is where the company’s executives will be situated, including Ive’s design studio, along with the Apple Watch team and part of the group working on Siri, according to the report. Apple’s Mac and iPad divisions will be interspersed with software teams on the middle levels, it adds.

Apple Park has open workspaces with desks that can be raised to standing level at the push of a button (Image: WSJ)
Apple Park’s main cafeteria, which will reportedly serve some 14,000 lunches a day, is a four-level atrium with massive 440,000-pound glass doors. Apple employees have to pay for food, but at a somewhat subsidized rate, the report said. For perspective, some tech companies like Google offer entirely free meals.

Outside, the green space within Apple Park’s inner circle will play host to Apple’s iconic “beer bashes” on Friday afternoons, which often include featured performances. Here, more than 9,000 trees, many of them drought-resistant, will supposedly have been planted by the time the campus is finished.

Some of the trees will be regularly harvested to provide fruit for the campus kitchen, according to the report.

The Wall Street Journal’s complete interview is a worthwhile read for those interested in learning more about Apple Park. A handful of drone operators have also been filming monthly videos that provide a closer look at the new headquarters and its surrounding facilities throughout the construction phase.

Tags: Apple Park, Jony Ive
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Facebook’s ‘Higher End’ Version of YouTube Said to Be Ready for Mid-August Launch

Earlier in May, news came out that Facebook was working to develop a slate of television shows that would combine short 5-10 minute videos with big-budget, cable-length dramatic series in a new video section on the popular social network. After a delay, people familiar with the company’s plans are pointing towards a mid-August debut for the new TV-focused Facebook update (via Bloomberg).

Facebook is said to be asking its video partners to deliver the first episodes of their “spotlight shows,” mainly focusing on the shorter and more inexpensive programs that will run under 10 minutes in length. The longer marquee series will launch “later on the site,” and presumably on the main iOS app and video-focused Apple TV app.

Facebook Video for Apple TV launched earlier in February
Despite being delayed numerous times already, the people close to the project said that “further delays could occur.” Eventually, the new video section of Facebook will combine both scripted and user-generated content, with Bloomberg describing Facebook’s aim to create a “higher end” version of YouTube. While the company is funding hour-long, TV-style shows, those close to the project said that it is refraining from directly competing with the likes of Netflix, HBO, and Showtime.

The company has been asking its partners to turn in the first episodes of their spotlight shows, the people said. Some already have finished these short-form, inexpensive programs. Facebook is also funding higher-end TV-style shows, which will be launched later on the site, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public.

The new video section will offer the social network’s more than 2 billion users a mix of scripted and user-generated content. Facebook aims to make something higher-end than Google’s YouTube, but it’s not competing with video producers such as Netflix, HBO and Showtime.

Even though it doesn’t want to enter the market as a competitor to such big networks, Facebook hopes to use the TV content to gain a cut of the overall advertising market that’s traditionally associated with cable networks. To this end, Facebook has already hired former MTV executive Mina Lefevre to oversee its push into original TV shows, one of which is said to be a dating series from media partner Condé Nast.

Original TV production is becoming a focus for many companies that aren’t normally associated with scripted television content, with Snapchat having already launched short-form shows on its app, and Twitter gearing up for a big 24/7 live news network in partnership with Bloomberg.

Apple Music has also become Apple’s home for its first original TV content, having debuted Planet of the Apps in June and getting ready for the launch of Carpool Karaoke: The Series in August. Down the line, Apple intends to launch its own traditional TV-length dramatic content with shows from potential partners like J.J. Abrams, guided by two former Sony executives who are helping to create the slate of original TV shows.

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Video
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Dual-camera Mi 5X is exactly the type of smartphone we love to see from Xiaomi

Why it matters to you

The latest Xiaomi phone has a low cost, good looks, and one of the big must-have phone features right now.

On the same day analyst data shows Xiaomi winning back market share in China, the popular smartphone manufacturer has announced a brand-new device: The Xiaomi Mi 5X, and it’s a return to what the company does best. It’s not going to cost very much, offers must-have features, and looks great in an iPhone-like way. Exactly what we expect from Xiaomi.

The Mi 5X is a midrange smartphone modeled on the recently revealed Mi 6 flagship phone, from which it borrows its standout feature — a dual-lens rear camera. The two lenses both take 12-megapixel photos, but perform different tasks. The first is a wide-angle lens with a 1.25-micron pixel size and an f/2.2 aperture. The second lens has an f/2.6 aperture, a smaller 1-micron pixel size, and takes telephoto images.

This makes it similar to the iPhone 7 Plus’s camera setup, and like Apple’s phone, the Xiaomi Mi 5X takes “portrait” photos where the background around the in-focus subject gets blurred out. This, along with dual-lens cameras, have become main smartphone features over the past year, with Huawei, Honor, and other brands all introducing something very similar. Xiaomi has also experimented with dual-lens cameras in the past, including on the Redmi Pro.

Otherwise, the Mi 5X is what we’d expect a 2017 midrange Android phone to be. It has a 5.5-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 pixel screen with a 2.5D curved piece of glass over the top, and a Snapdragon 625 processor with 4GB of RAM provides the power. It has 64GB of storage, a MicroSD card slot, a 5-megapixel selfie camera, a fingerprint sensor on the back, and an all-aluminum body in black, gold, or rose gold. A 3,000mAh battery stores the energy, and Android 7.0 with MIUI 8 is the operating system.

Xiaomi will update the Mi 5X and other phones in its range with MIUI 9 in the near future. The latest version of Xiaomi’s user interface gets a smart assistant, further system optimization, quicker app launch times, and a new app launcher. Initially it will only be available in China, and an international version will follow in the future.

The Xiaomi Mi 5X will cost the local equivalent of about $220 when it goes on sale in August, when it should help Xiaomi’s renewed attack on China’s smartphone market. Data from research firm Canalys shows Xiaomi has now taken back fourth place in China from Apple, and amassed 15 million phone sales over the last three months. It still trails Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei.

Chrome 60 brings official Touch Bar support to MacBook Pro users

Why it matters to you

If you’re a Chrome user on a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, then you’ll likely want to download Chrome 60 right away.

Google Chrome 60 dropped today, bringing a fresh new version of the world’s most popular browser to millions of users. For most people, Chrome 60 won’t offer much in the way of visible changes, but MacOS users will find a particularly nice new feature in official Touch Bar support that will make that newer MacBook Pro a bit easier to use.

The new Touch Bar support was spotted by 9to5Mac, and Chrome 60 brings the functionality to the browser’s stable channel after a few months of being available to developers and beta users. For the most part, Touch Bar works with Chrome as it has during the preview period, with the main differences being a Google Logo added to the Omnibox for entering URLs and searches along with a new tab shortcut and bookmark feature.

9to5Mac

If you’re a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar user and would like to check out the new Touch Bar support, first go to Chrome settings via the dot menu, selecting Help, and the About Google Chrome. Your update might already be waiting for you there, and if so, you’ll need to relaunch Chrome to run the newest version.

You can also make the Touch Bar work in the most productive way for you by selecting View > Customize Touch Bar in the menu bar. There, you can alter the layout at your pleasure, as well as customize buttons and disable typing suggestions if desired.

In addition to Touch Bar support for MacOS users, Chrome 60 brings the usual security fixes — 40 of them in fact. You can check out all of the security updates at the Chrome Security Page. The Payment Request API is now supported on the desktop for auto-filled checkout forms. Most of the other changes are behind-the-scenes updates to make things easier for developers.

If you’re a Chrome user, then you’ll want to get your machine updated as soon as possible. While you won’t find nearly as many visual changes as Chrome 59’s introduction of the new Material design in the browser’s settings, you will benefit from a browser that’s more secure and provides more features for developers to leverage in enhancing your browsing experience.

Android Octopus: Are animals the new sweet treats?

Could Android 8.0 Octopus become a thing?

In sensible, functional terms, it’s probably the least important thing about a new version of Android. Yet each year, there’s intense speculation around what the new nickname of the next release will be. Google — including prominent Googlers like Hiroshi Lockheimer — play into the hype, teasing fans with cryptic confectionery references. The result is a predictable crescendo of hype in the month running up to the launch of each new version. Normally, by the time the final developer preview drops, we know the nickname.

Yet this year, there’s been no Oreo or Oatmeal Cookie or Ontbijtkoek announcement — which, admittedly, could mean just about anything. Maybe Nabisco is driving a hard bargain, and that Android Oreo deal is taking a bit longer to hammer out. Maybe Google wants to make a bigger splash when the final version of O drops, likely later in August.

Or maybe, just maybe, the days of Android “sweet treats” are over, and the animal era has begun, starting with Android 8.0 Octopus.

Android 8.0 Octopus…. Android 9.0 PANDA??

The new (and presumably final) Android O Easter Egg shows a somewhat creepy physics-equipped polygonal cephalopod. Sure, Android O is version 8.0, and octopi are well known for their eight tentacles. But perhaps there’s more to it than that.

Google is running out of letters, desserts and time.

Once Android version letters start venturing further into the back half of the alphabet, it’ll be near impossible to come up with new sweet treats. If there’s no Oreo deal, the tepid Oatmeal Cookie is about the only option for O. Android P could easily be Pancake or Popsicle, but Q? U? Google will be forced to seek out increasingly esoteric desserts as we reach the end of the decade.

Moving over to the animal kingdom would solve this problem, and also give Google more interesting options when it comes to cutesy branding and statues, both of which have been a little stale since the Lollipop era. The current Android lawn statue sitting outside Building 40 of the Googleplex is a boring old Bugdroid standing on a triangle of nougat. Who wouldn’t love to see that replaced with a giant robot octopus?

Rubbish.

Here at AC, we’ve all tried to forget Android 3.x Honeycomb, but probably the best thing about that version was this little guy, the Honeycomb bee. Perhaps it’s time to resurrect this idea.

Apple famously named OS X releases after big cats, until it ran out of felines and moved onto Sea Lion Mavericks. Perhaps it’s time for Google to do the same, and let Octopus prepare the way for Android 9.0 Panda, Android 10.0 Quokka and Android 11.0 Rhinoceros.

Or we can wait another five years until the dessert train finally runs out of steam with Android 13.0 Upside Down Cake.

Your choice, Google.

We should know what Android O in all its crumbly or tentacly goodness is actually called by late August. Keep it locked to AC for the latest on this highly important, non-trivial development.

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Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition could offer 6GB of RAM and 256GB storage

The Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition will be limited to Asia.

If a recent rumor out of Weibo is to be believed, Samsung will launch a special edition of the Galaxy Note 8 in its home market. Dubbed the Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition, the phone will feature 6GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Samsung is set to launch the special edition alongside the standard model, which is expected to feature 6GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

The leakster also mentions that the Emperor Edition will be debuting in China following its availability in South Korea. The variant is unlikely to be sold outside of Asian markets, but as SamMobile notes, Samsung may launch a Galaxy Note 8 model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage in North America, Europe, and South America with a price tag in the vicinity of $1,100.

Other rumored specs of the Galaxy Note 8 include dual 12MP cameras at the back, a 6.3-inch Infinity Display, Snapdragon 835 chipset, and a 3300mAh battery. The device is expected to be offered in three color options at launch — Midnight Black, Orchid Grey, and a new Deep Blue variant.

The phone is slated for an official unveil on August 23, so we should know more in the coming weeks.

Update: The Weibo leaker (Ice Universe) amended his post to state that the special edition Note 8 will offer 6GB of RAM and 256GB storage, and not 8GB of RAM as initially predicted. We’ve updated the article to reflect the same.

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This is our best look yet at the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2

Leaked CAD renders give us a detailed look at Google’s 2017 flagships.

We got a first look at the Pixel XL 2 earlier this month, and a new leak out of MySmartPrice gives us a detailed look at the Pixel 2 and the larger Pixel XL 2. The 3D renders are based on CAD designs given out to accessory makers, and given the publication’s accuracy with the Galaxy S8 leak, there’s a high probability that this is what Google’s 2017 flagships will end up looking like.

The renders highlight a tall display, and with LG set to be the manufacturer, it’s likely we’ll see an LG G6-esque 18:9 panel. It looks like the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 will offer a dual stereo speaker configuration up front. The USB-C port is located at the bottom, and as there’s no 3.5mm jack at the top, it’s possible Google is following in the footsteps of Motorola, HTC, and Xiaomi in eschewing the headphone jack.

It looks like the Pixel and Pixel XL 2 will retain the glass window at the back, although it doesn’t reach down all the way to cover the fingerprint sensor. The overall design doesn’t seem all that different, with the phones sporting a similar brushed metal aesthetic with rounded edges. While there’s no dual camera setup, the imaging sensor itself is larger, and juts out slightly from the body. The rumored dimensions for the Pixel 2 are 145.3 x 69.3 x 7.8mm, while the Pixel XL 2 is set to come in at 157.6 x 76.3 x 7.9mm.

We don’t have a whole lot of information regarding the internal specs, but it’s likely the Pixel and Pixel XL 2 will be the first to be powered by the Snapdragon 836, a mid-cycle refresh of the Snapdragon 835 with a 10% uptick in performance.

What are your thoughts on the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2?

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OnePlus explains why it sent a push notification survey to OnePlus 5 customers

OnePlus gets caught out advertising the OnePlus 5 to OnePlus 5 customers.

OnePlus came under fire once again yesterday for sending out a push notification to OnePlus 5 customers asking them to take part in a survey to win a OnePlus 5. As expected, the move didn’t go down well over on Reddit, with enterprising users tracking down the app that sent out the notification — the “Push” system app.

In an official statement, OnePlus said that the survey was to solicit user feedback to “help with the continuous improvement” of its products:

Feedback from our community has always been at the heart of our product decision making and as part of this feedback loop, OnePlus 5 users have been sent a notification to share their personal experiences about the OnePlus 5 with an option to opt-out. This is to help with the continuous improvement of our products and to better understand our community of users.

We thank all those who have taken part.

This isn’t the first time OnePlus sent out a push notification — it did so a month ago to drum up interest in the launch of the OnePlus 5. No one likes getting ads on a device they paid a lot of money for, and if OnePlus is genuinely interested in seeking customer feedback, there are plenty of other avenues to do so.

For what it’s worth, the latest stable build of OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5 allows you to block all notifications from the Push app.

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The Morning After: Wednesday, July 26th 2017

Welcome to your Wednesday morning. Today we explain how we’ll try to stop killer robots, reveal some new gadgets from Motorola and look into the sketchier side of YouTube influencers.

What happens when art, paradoxically, is too fragile to be seen?
The unending fight to preserve ‘The Last Supper’

Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is a particularly tragic example of man’s impermanence. And the fight to save it has been laden with controversy, particularly in the modern era, as corporate sponsorship and claims to technology have muddied the waters of an already sensitive subject. The latest attempt to stave off its inevitable deterioration comes in the form of a state-of-the-art air-filtration system, which will be active by 2019.

Just like the movies, we’ll have to work together.

Will we be able to control the killer robots of tomorrow?

The Pentagon has long tried to protect human forces with the use of robotic weapons, but as these systems gain ever-greater degrees of intelligence and independence, some critics fear that humans are ceding too much power to devices whose decision-making processes we don’t fully understand (and which we may not be entirely able to control). How do we make sure Skynet doesn’t happen?

Good news: We can all just keep spewing CO2 into the atmosphere.
House science chairman thinks climate change is “beneficial”

Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the Republican head of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology just doesn’t believe the climate change “hype.” In a baffling editorial titled ‘Don’t Believe the Hysteria Over Carbon Dioxide,’ Smith complains that Americans are being brainwashed by scientists and offers up some bizarre pluses caused by all that CO2.

And that it wasn’t all bad.
The makers of ‘Pokémon Go’ explain away its first live-event’s woes

On Saturday, Pokémon Go players from around the world gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park for a promised special anniversary event, but as we now know, things didn’t quite work out. As Niantic Labs explains it, the issues that tripped up Pokémon Go Fest ranged from technical hiccups that caused the client to crash to network congestion and overloaded cell networks. The company is quick to trumpet the figures: Through late Saturday and early Sunday, players in the downtown area caught more than 7.7 million Pokémon, 440,000 Legendary Pokémon and participated in more than 69,000 raid battles.

Trying to mash up the best bits of its last two phones.
The Moto Z2 Force is a powerhouse that plays it safe

While the Z2 Force is not as crazy-slim as Motorola’s first Z smartphone, the Moto Z Force comes awfully close. That’s pretty damned impressive when you consider all the extra physical layers that form Motorola’s ShatterShield display technology. It’s also so light it’s barely there — Chris Velazco carried it in his jacket pocket all day and apparently forgot where it was three or four times. The Z2 Force will look awfully familiar if you’ve spent any time with the Moto Z2 Play as well, but you probably could’ve guessed that based on their names. And yes, the modular cases and add-ons are still here.

Billionaires once again prove that they’re just as classy as the rest of us.
Musk and Zuckerberg bicker over the future of AI

Everyone’s favorite eccentric billionaire, Elon Musk, publicly slammed Mark Zuckerberg with a tweet stating that the Facebook CEO’s understanding of AI “is limited.” The 140-character burn came after comments made on a recent live stream by Zuckerberg, where the Facebook founder expressed some heavy-handed criticism of those who believe that we should be wary of AI and put in safeguards and regulations before the tech becomes mainstream. (There’s also some livestreamed BBQ talk from Zuck, and an MIT expert who decided to weigh in, too.)

But wait, there’s more…

• Uber will charge $15 to return your lost bag
• Motorola’s newest Mod is this $300 360-degree camera
• Lyft’s Taco Bell mode indulges your late-night cravings
• LG’s display arm invests billions to take OLED mainstream
• China is launching an ‘unhackable’ quantum messaging service
• YouTube stars are blurring the lines between content and ads
• Congress invites tech CEOs to testify at net neutrality hearing