Get ready to lose the tiniest USB-C authentication key in the world

Yubico has launched a new USB-C authentication key and it is tiny. The tiniest in the world, in fact. But size doesn’t matter in this instance, as the YubiKey 4C Nano it works just like any other USB-C authentication key. Designed to replace text messages or external authenticator apps when using two-factor authentication, just insert the key into your PC and bingo, you’ve got access. Interestingly, though, the company claims its incredibly small size makes it well-suited to simply being left in your laptop, which kind of defies its security and protection purpose. Of course, the alternative is taking it out and — for something of this size — inevitably losing it.

Source: Yubico

Firefox Quantum beta promises to double your browser speeds

After announcing plans for Project Quantum late last year, Mozilla has now launched its overhauled Firefox in beta stage, making it an increasingly imminent challenge to Chrome. And it’s a very feasible challenge too, given the browser’s improvements. Speed is its main selling point — Mozilla says Quantum is roughly twice as fast as Firefox was a year ago. This is largely due to a new CSS engine written in Mozilla’s programming language, Rust, which operates across cores rather than as a single memory-hungry process on one core. It also priorities tabs, loading up in-use tabs before background ones, which Mozilla says makes Quantum 30 percent more RAM-efficient than Chrome. The team has also tracked down and eliminated 469 bugs that were contributing to slowness.

And it’s had a makeover. Menus and tabs have been redesigned, while a new “library” button pulls together bookmarks, downloads and history into one place. Overall, it’s got a more minimalist look, which will work well on high-DPI displays, but die-hard fans of the original style can still switch back to old familiar via preferences. It’s available in beta now for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android and iOS, but is expected out on general release on November 14th, so you won’t have to wait too long to see the impact Quantum makes on the long-established browser landscape.

Source: Mozilla.org

Twitter App Disappears From Apple Watch Following Latest iOS Update

Twitter last night updated its iOS app to version 7.8 to patch a bug that prevented users from uploading photos in high resolution, but the same update also appears to have removed the company’s companion Apple Watch app from the App Store. As noticed by users on Reddit and Twitter, after updating the Twitter app on iPhone the Apple Watch app has subsequently vanished, and Twitter has yet to comment on whether or not the app’s removal is permanent.

On Apple Watch, Twitter users could view their timeline to browse recent Tweets made by people they follow, check out top trends, and Tweet directly from the Apple Watch using a voice-to-text feature. Now, any mention of Twitter offering an Apple Watch app has been removed from the app’s page on the iOS App Store.

MacRumors forum members pointed out earlier this week that the Twitter app on Apple Watch began crashing and had trouble displaying the Twitter icon on notifications following the launch of watchOS 4. This means Twitter could be working on the app behind the scenes to get it up and running again for the new operating system on the Apple Watch, but it’s also a possibility that the app is gone for good.

If it is, Twitter will fall in line with a series of high-profile Apple Watch apps that have pulled support for Apple’s wearable device this year. Over the course of a few months in the first part of 2017, Google Maps, Amazon, and eBay all quietly removed their Apple Watch apps from the App Store without many people taking notice until May. Google and eBay said the move was to rework the apps and debut new versions later, which has yet to happen.

There are still some third-party Twitter clients with Apple Watch support, including Tweetbot and Twitterific. If Twitter comments on the removal of its Apple Watch app, we’ll update this article.

Tag: Twitter
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easyJet to offer free in-flight streaming service

Most easyJet flights are short enough that you can usually stave off boredom with a book and an expensive beer, but in-flight entertainment could soon be part and parcel of your airfare. Instead of retrofitting planes with seatback screens, easyJet is going down the increasingly popular route of launching a bring-your-own-device entertainment service. Connect your phone or tablet to the plane’s WiFi network, point your browser at the Air Time portal and you’ll have access to TV, films and audiobooks for adults and kids alike.

easyJet partnered with Rakuten for that side of things — Rakuten TV being the streaming service formally known as Wuaki.tv. Additionally, the service will feature games, flight info, destination guides and language lessons. Air Time will initially be available on only five planes from this autumn, but easyJet plans to launch it across the entire fleet in due course.

Comcast quietly introduces Xfinity Instant TV streaming beta

Cord cutters can already choose from a variety of internet TV companies for skinny bundles, including Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, Hulu, DirecTV Now and any we may have forgotten. Soon some of them will have an option from an unexpected challenger: Comcast. Predictably, its IPTV effort is only available to Comcast internet customers “in select areas,” but the Xfinity Instant TV Beta will allow viewing on PCs, tablets, phones or via Roku. Variety highlighted the rollout, although Comcast isn’t saying exactly where it’s available so far — there have been tests running for a couple of years around Boston and Chicago — just that customers can sign in and watch via the Stream app.

The lowest $18 package doesn’t buy much, with just the “limited basic” lineup of broadcast channels, although there is a 30-day free trial available. Adding more channels means selecting from the add-on packages below, while HBO and Starz networks are also available.

• Kids and Family ($10 per month) – Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, MTV, National Geographic Channel, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, NickToons, Universal Kids, TeenNick and TLC.
• Entertainment ($15 per month) – A&E, AMC, Animal Planet, BET, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, E!, Food Network, FX, FXX, Hallmark Channel, HISTORY, HGTV, Lifetime, OWN, Syfy, TBS, TNT, TV One, USA and VH1.
• Sports and News ($30 per month) – CNBC, CNN, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPNU, Fox Business, Fox News, Fox Sports 1, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports, NFL Network and Regional Sports Networks based on markets.

There’s a cloud DVR with about 20 hours of HD capacity, and the Instant TV Beta FAQ indicates subscribers can access up to two streams at once. It’s a little weird to discuss Comcast as an option for those ditching cable, but if they already have your internet business, it could be worth a shot once the Instant TV Beta is accessible in your town.

Source: Variety, Xfinity Instant TV Beta

Blizzard is fixing ‘Overwatch’ bug that bans innocent players

If you find yourself slapped with a season ban on Overwatch even though you did nothing wrong, don’t worry — it’s a bug and Blizzard is on it. A rare Overwatch bug has affected around 200 accounts, eating up the skill ratings they earned and banning them from Competitive Play for the entire season despite having no history of leaving matches early or being kicked due to inactivity. According to a post on Reddit, the bug could be triggered by someone leaving right as a competitive match is loading. The screen gets stuck on the “waiting for players” state and any attempt to load a match after that fails.

At first, it was difficult to confirm if it was truly a bug since relatively few people got affected, but Blizzard has admitted in a statement that the issue exists. The developer promises fixing the bug is the team’s priority at the moment, but it can’t say when it can roll out a fix. It assures everyone, however, that it will lift affected players’ seasonal bans so they don’t contribute to the possibility of a permaban and will also restore people’s skill ratings. It’ll obviously be a hassle to get the issue fixed if it ends up affecting you, but at least you won’t have to worry about not being able to play this season at all.

“We recently identified a bug that, in extremely rare cases, can cause players to lose their skill rating progress and receive a seasonal ban from Competitive Play without any prior penalties for leaving early or being kicked for inactivity. This bug is a high priority for our team, and we’re working on a fix to prevent further instances of it occurring as we speak.

In the meantime, we’ll be removing the seasonal ban for all players affected by this bug as well as restoring their skill rating. To date, this bug has impacted fewer than 200 accounts, but we’ll continue to monitor for additional occurrences and provide assistance until we can implement a permanent fix. We don’t have an ETA to share right now for when the fix will go live, but we’ll update this thread as soon more information becomes available.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this bug has caused and are grateful for your patience and ongoing reports.”

Source: Blizzard

Getty bans images photoshopped to make models look thinner

A law forcing magazines to label photoshopped model images will start being enforced next month in France, but its effects are reverberating around the fashion industry world. Getty Images, the largest stock photo agency in the world, has declared that it will no longer accept images “depicting models whose body shapes have been retouched to make them look thinner or larger” because of the new act. Technically, agencies and magazines can photoshop all they want in France as long as it’s labeled, but Getty’s outright ban will likely kill the practice widely.

Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it😍😘 Thank you @modelistemagazine for pulling down the images and fixing this retouch issue.

A post shared by Zendaya (@zendaya) on Oct 20, 2015 at 7:49pm PDT

Photos altering the body shape of models be labeled “photographie retouchée,” or “retouched photo” in France. Magazines, websites and other publications that use altered images without disclosure face fines of up to €37,500, or $44,000.

As part of the new law, enacted in 2015 but being enforced on October 1st, 2017, models must also get a note from doctors declaring that they are not dangerously thin. “Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem,” said France’s health minister, Marisol Touraine in May.

Getty notes that “other changes made to models like a change of hair color, nose shape, retouching of skin or blemishes, etc., are outside the scope of this new law, and are therefore still acceptable.” As pop star Lorde, Christie Teigen and others have caustically noted in the past, however, photoshopping blemishes doesn’t exactly do wonders for young people’s self-esteem, either.

The situation with France’s body-image law is much like strict pollution regulations in California. While those were only implemented in one state, California has enough size and clout to impact the auto industry in the US and elsewhere. In this case, with Paris as the de facto couture capital of the world, the new law is already reverberating around the fashion world.

Via: DP Review

Source: Getty Images

macOS High Sierra and iOS 11 May Fix Long-Standing Sync Issues With iCloud Text Replacements

Apple appears to have resolved long-running iCloud sync issues linked to its text replacement feature with the release of iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. Originally introduced in Snow Leopard and iOS 5, text replacements let users create shortcut text that, when typed, expands to something longer, thus saving input time.

The feature can be found on iOS devices in Settings -> General -> Keyboards -> Text Replacement, and in System Preferences -> Keyboard on Macs. Ideally, changes to the text snippets list on one device should sync to all devices logged in using the same Apple ID, but that hasn’t always been the case, as MacStadium’s Brian Stucki attests:

Text replacement syncing is completely broken. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it will only sync back old snippets that you have deleted. Sometimes the sync will work one direction, but not the other. Every time I ask about this on Twitter, it brings a strong response of similar experiences.

After years of struggling to get text replacement syncing to work properly, Stucki recently decided to set up a weeks-long experiment to test the reliability of the feature across hundreds of Apple devices running various versions of iOS and OS X/macOS. In short, Stucki’s results suggested that the text replacement syncing service was “a complete mess” and routinely failed to sync text snippets across devices.

Following the experiment, Stucki wondered why the syncing had remained so poor across several generations of OS, given that other iCloud syncing features such as Apple Notes had improved in recent years. As noted by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, these improvements corresponded with the introduction of the CloudKit API in 2014, suggesting that text replacements had not been upgraded to run on the newer syncing framework.

However, in an update to his experiment posted on Tuesday, Stucki reported that when he made text replacement changes on a Mac running macOS High Sierra, surprisingly his edits were recognized and synced across nearly every device on the same Apple ID, regardless of OS. “Perhaps a clean install of High Sierra is now saving snippets correctly?” he wondered.

@daringfireball @gruber @rjeitani @MacStadium I just confirmed that text replacements sync through CloudKit on iOS 11 and High Sierra pic.twitter.com/Y1nkfyjx32

— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) September 27, 2017

Since then, iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has been able to confirm that text replacements do sync through CloudKit on iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, suggesting Apple has got around to updating the feature to run on the more reliable API. So if you’re having trouble syncing text snippets, updating your devices to Apple’s latest operating systems might be the best course of action.

Related Roundups: iOS 11, macOS High Sierra
Tag: CloudKit
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Apple to Open Retail Store in Bangkok as Confirmed by Job Listings

Apple has posted a series of job listings for a future retail store in Bangkok, Thailand, as spotted by local publication The Nation.

Apple retail store in Brussels, Belgium
The company is looking to fill the usual Creative, Expert, Genius, Manager, Store Leader, and Business Leader positions, among others, and applications for the two-year Apple Store Leader Program are also open.

The location will be Apple’s first retail store in Thailand, and its second in Southeast Asia, following its Singapore location that opened in May.

In July, the Bangkok Post reported that the store will open in 2018 at the Iconsiam, a future mixed-use development with two shopping malls in Bangkok. The flagship location is said to have over 20,000 square feet of space.

Apple continues to hire for retail stores near Vienna and Seoul as well, which will be the first in Austria and South Korea respectively.

Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Tag: Thailand
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WSJ Says iPhone X Production Issues Due to Fewer ‘Romeo’ Than ‘Juliet’ Modules

The Wall Street Journal reports that iPhone X production issues were due to a supply imbalance of components dubbed Romeo and Juliet.

The report, citing people familiar with the situation, claims it has taken more time to assemble the Romeo module than the Juliet module, both part of the iPhone X’s new TrueDepth facial recognition system for Face ID.

The so-called Romeo module reportedly includes the dot projector that beams more than 30,000 invisible dots to create a precise depth map of your face, while the Juliet module includes the infrared camera that analyzes the pattern.

Earlier this week, both KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and sources speaking with Nikkei Asian Review said the TrueDepth system has indeed been a significant bottleneck for Apple suppliers manufacturing the iPhone X.

One of The Wall Street Journal’s sources said the assembly process is now moving smoothly, but the production issues add to concerns about extended shortages when iPhone X sales begin in early November.

iPhone X pre-orders begin October 27, and the device officially launches November 3.

Related Roundup: iPhone X
Tag: wsj.com
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