Intel’s acquisition of Mobileye is officially complete

In March, Intel announced the acquisition of Mobileye, a company it has partnered with to develop self-driving automobile technology. And as of today, the $15.3 billion deal is officially complete. Intel purchased 84 percent of Mobileye’s outstanding ordinary shares and the company is now an Intel subsidiary.

Mobileye is an Israel-based company and it will remain headquartered in Jerusalem under the leadership of co-founder Amnon Shashua. Ziv Aviram, Mobileye’s president and CEO has stepped down. A follow-up offer period for the remaining outstanding stock has commenced and will expire on August 21st.

“Leading in autonomous driving technology requires a combination of innovative proprietary software products and versatile open-system hardware platforms that enable customers and partners to customize solutions,” said Shashua in a statement. “For the first time, the auto industry has a single partner with deep expertise and a cultural legacy in both areas. Mobileye is very excited to begin this new chapter.”

Source: Intel

Nintendo World Championships return on October 7th

You won’t have to wait nearly so long for the third Nintendo World Championships as you did for the second. Nintendo has revealed that its third World Championships will take place in New York City on October 7th, 2017. Anyone in the US or Canada can register (it’s not really a world tournament, is it?), but you’ll have to qualify by playing Mario Kart 7 for the 2DS/3DS at certain Best Buy locations in eight American cities. The first qualifiers start August 19th in New York City and San Jose, while Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle and Miami are also on deck.

The competition focuses on time trials and is split into two age groups: 12 and younger, and 13 and older. Only the winners from each age bracket at each event will move on from qualifications to the finals, so there will be just 16 people vying for glory.

You clearly can’t think of the World Championships as a regular event when Nintendo is not only holding it at a different time of year, but skipped 2016 altogether. It still amounts to a promotional vehicle (Nintendo will be showing off Super Mario Odyssey and Metroid: Samus Returns at the qualifiers) rather than an full-fledged eSports competition. Still, it’s promising that gamers didn’t have to wait 25 years for a third tourney — it could become relatively commonplace instead of a once-in-a-generation occurrence.

Source: Nintendo

Federal court steps in to protect podcasts from patent troll

The venerable podcast is the bastion of broadcasters big and small, from major news outlets to DIY publishers. But, for the last few years, this hallowed ground has come under threat from patent troll Personal Audio — which has tried to sue podcasters of all sizes. It claims it created the concept of the podcast. Thankfully, the U.S. Court of Appeals disagrees. A three-judge panel of the court just affirmed a previous decision rendering Personal Audio’s patent invalid. The ruling declares the company was trying to protect an invention that already existed. Meaning podcasters and listeners can rest easy, for now.

Sure enough, internet audio shows were alive and kicking as far back as the early ’90s. But that didn’t stop Personal Audio from filing for a patent that effectively covered all podcasts made after 1996. Upon receiving it in 2012, the company began demanding licensing money from big-name podcasters, such as Adam Carolla, and CNN. By 2014 — the year in which it won a lawsuit against CBS — its podcasting patent had become the scourge of the industry.

Then, in 2015, came a legal breakthrough: US patent officials dealt Personal Audio its first blow by quashing some of the core claims of its patent. With the federal appeals court upholding that decision, the company’s future legal campaigns don’t stand a chance. Now, the only option left for Personal Audio is to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Even then, it could still find it extremely difficult to hound podcasters for dough. Therefore, you can stay safe in the knowledge that the likes of Stuff You Should Know and This American Life won’t be cut short by a nefarious troll.

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation

LG’s middling tablet comes with a weird accessory dock

Since Android tablet sales have fallen off a cliff (to the benefit of Windows and Chromebook convertibles), companies have to do something, anything to make them more enticing. Case in point is LG, which has launched the GPad X2 8.0 Plus, according to a T-Mobile leak spotted by Android Police. The device itself is pretty humdrum, but what makes it interesting is the optional dock that gives you a 4,100 mAh battery boost, stereo speakers and a USB port.

The GPad X2 8.0 Plus fits the description of “middling” with an 8-inch 1,920 x 1,200 screen, 8-core 1.4Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM and 5-megapixel front and rear cameras. LG doesn’t seem inclined to build high-end tablets anymore — as of today, its priciest US model is the oldish GPad X2 10.1-inch, which runs $350.00 or so and doesn’t have any kind of optional dock.

Rather than going for better specs, LG and T-Mobile are offering the GPad Pack Plus dock, which attaches to the tablet via a set of pogo pins. That could easily stand-in for a Bluetooth speaker that happens to have a tablet attached, assuming the sound quality is decent. Since it supports LTE, you can stick in a nano-sim to get music and videos on the road.

If nothing else, this shows that Android tablet vendors are feeling the need to get more creative. Apple is still selling plenty of iPads, thanks in part to and effort make them more powerful and business-oriented with the iPad Pro lineup. However, Android tablets are suffering because business users prefer Windows-powered convertibles like the Surface Pro — or, if money is an issue, Chromebooks, which are also becoming more like tablets.

Via: Android Police

Source: T-Mobile

Facebook Removes Standalone ‘Groups’ and Teenage-Focused ‘Lifestage’ Apps From iOS App Store

Facebook has removed two of its standalone apps from the iOS App Store: the high school chat app “Lifestage” and community-focused gathering place “Groups.” Lifestage had been on the App Store since August 2016, while Groups had been around as a standalone app since 2014.

The company discussed the closure of Groups directly on its website (via TechCrunch), assuring users that the feature will continue to be a major aspect of Facebook on mobile and the web, but the standalone app will no longer allow users to log in after September 1, 2017. “Because we’re focusing on groups in the main Facebook app and on facebook.com, we are discontinuing the Facebook Groups app for iOS and Android.”

Separately, Lifestage was built for those under 21 years of age, allowing users to search for their local high school and discover fellow classmates who go to the same school, then chat with each other primarily through videos and selfies. The video-focused app included user profiles to showcase short clips of each person’s “happy face,” “sad face,” likes, dislikes, best friend, favorite dance, and more. These features and the app’s UI earned it a designation as another one of Facebook’s Snapchat clones.

Now, Facebook has confirmed to Business Insider that the app was removed from the App Store on August 4. In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said that while the app has been shut down, the company “learned a lot from Lifestage,” and will use this information to continuously bolster similar camera- and video-focused Facebook features, likely referring to Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories.

“We originally launched Lifestage to make it easier for teens in the US to connect with others at their school by creating a video profile with content for all of things that make up their identity,” a company spokesperson told BI. “Teens continue to make up an important part of the global community on Facebook, and we’ve learned a lot from Lifestage. We will continue to incorporate these learnings into features in the main Facebook app.”

Facebook started the first wave of “Snapchat clone” stories last summer with Instagram Stories, which let users post 24 hour-long visual updates to their profiles for their friends to watch. The company followed with WhatsApp Status, Messenger Day, and then Facebook Stories directly within the main Facebook app earlier this year, which so far has yet to catch on with users as much as Instagram Stories.

Facebook’s next big push into video will be a “higher end” version of YouTube that’s set to combine short 5-10 minute videos with original big-budget, cable-length dramatic series in one section of the social networking app. In July, sources predicted that the major push into video from Facebook was gearing up for a mid-August launch, but now that we’re approaching the middle of the month it’s unclear whether or not Facebook has delayed the launch yet again.

Tag: Facebook
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Apple’s Stock Price Rises Above $160 Mark to Set New All-Time High

Apple shares are currently trading for between $161 and $162, eclipsing the $160 mark for the first time ever and setting a new all-time intraday high. The nearly 2 percent rise in Apple’s stock price gives the company a market valuation of around $835 billion on its path to becoming a trillion dollar company.

Apple’s previous all-time high in intraday trading was $159.75, set after its third quarter earnings results beat expectations. Apple’s record close is $157.14, which could be topped today after less than one week. Conversely, Apple’s 52-week low is $102.53, set September 12, 2016, five days after its iPhone 7 event.

With focus shifting to the so-called iPhone 8 upgrade supercycle expected later this year, AAPL price targets range between $140 and $208.

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Instagram Testing New Feature That Lets Live Broadcasters Add a Friend

Instagram today announced that it’s testing a new feature allowing live video streamers to invite a friend to their stream.

When using live video with a friend, the screen is split into two and viewers see both streams at the same time.

Adding a guest or a friend can be done by tapping the “new” icon on the bottom right and then tapping “Add” on anyone who is currently watching an ongoing livestream on Instagram. Viewers can be swapped out at will, but live streamers can only have a single guest at a time.

Instagram says it’s testing this feature with a small percentage of Instagram users, with plans to roll it out globally over the course of the next few months.

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Apple Releases Fourth iOS 11 Public Beta

Apple today released the fourth public beta of iOS 11 to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to download and test the new operating system ahead of its fall launch. The fourth public beta of iOS 11 comes two weeks after Apple released the third public beta and it corresponds to the fifth developer beta that was released earlier this week.

Beta testers that have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program will receive the new iOS 11 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.

Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple’s beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. Step-by-step instructions for downloading installing the public beta can be found in our how to. Betas should only be installed on a secondary device because the software is not stable and includes many bugs that have yet to be resolved.

Today’s update, if it matches up with the fifth developer beta, removes the iCloud Messages feature, introduces new icons for Camera and Settings, features a new Control Center Music widget that makes it easier to send music to AirPlay devices, speakers, and headphones, and more.

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iOS 11 introduces some fairly significant changes to the operating system, including a new Lock screen experience and a customizable, redesigned Control Center. Siri is smarter, has a more natural voice, and can do more, Messages features person-to-person Apple Pay, Notes has searchable handwriting and document scanning, and Music lets you share playlists with your friends for the first time.

A new Files app introduces better file management on iOS devices, and on the iPad, there’s a new Dock, an App Switcher, and support for Drag and Drop, all of which improves multitasking on the device. A revamped App Store is coming in iOS 11, photos and videos take up less space, iMessages can be stored in iCloud, and developers are getting new tools like ARKit for creating impressive new augmented reality apps and games.

For complete details on all of the features included in iOS 11, make sure to check out our iOS 11 roundup. Apple plans to release iOS 11 to the public in the fall following several more weeks of testing and refinement.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple Seeds Fourth Public Beta of tvOS 11 to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11 update to its public beta testing group, two weeks after providing testers with the third beta. The tvOS 11 public beta marks the first time public beta testers have had access to pre-release tvOS software, and this fourth beta corresponds to the fifth developer beta released earlier this week.

The tvOS 11 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under “System.” “Get Public Beta Updates” will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.

Compared to iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, and watchOS 4, tvOS 11 is a minor update that brings few changes to the tvOS operating system. It’s minor enough that it received no time on stage at the Worldwide Developers Conference aside from a mention of an Amazon Prime Video app coming to the Apple TV this fall.

According to Apple’s release notes, tvOS 11 introduces automatic light/dark appearance switching based on local time, Home screen syncing options for syncing content between two or more Apple TVs in a household, new background modes and notification support, plus new tools for developers and improvements to Mobile Device Management.

Additional tvOS 11 features may be unveiled ahead of the operating system’s public release, which is expected to be in the fall alongside other software updates.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS High Sierra to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the fourth public beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra update to public beta testers, two weeks after releasing the third public beta. The fourth public beta of macOS High Sierra is likely identical to the fifth developer beta, which was provided to developers earlier this week.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program are able to download the third macOS High Sierra beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store after the proper profile has been installed.

Those who want to be a part of Apple’s beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. For instructions on how to install the public beta, check out our how to, and make sure to make a backup before giving the software a try. Don’t install the beta on a main machine, because betas are notoriously unstable.

The macOS High Sierra update is designed to improve and refine the existing macOS Sierra operating system. Along with a new, more efficient file system (APFS) designed for modern storage, the update introduces Metal 2, the next-generation version of Apple’s Metal graphics API with support for machine learning, external GPUs, and VR content creation.

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High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC aka H.265) is coming in High Sierra, and many existing apps are being updated. Photos features a new persistent side view and editing tools for Curves, Selective Color, and Live Photos, for example, while Siri gains a more natural voice and support for more music-related commands.

Safari offers a new autoplay blocking feature for videos and Intelligent Tracking Prevention to protect your privacy, and Mail storage is being optimized to take up 35 percent less space. iMessages can now be stored in iCloud, plus there are new iCloud Drive file sharing options and new iCloud storage family plans.

For a full overview of the new features you can expect to see when macOS High Sierra is released in the fall, make sure to check out our macOS High Sierra roundup.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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