Twitter expands display name length to 50 characters

If you’ve always wanted to use all your names, aliases, titles and suffixes on Twitter, now’s your time to shine. The social network now supports display names up to 50 characters in length. It would’ve been better if the feature came out last Halloween so you could’ve used that awesome but lengthy spooky name you wanted to use. However, rolling out support for 280-character tweets seemed to be more important to Twitter, so we got that first instead.

Starting today, your Twitter display name can be up to 50 characters in length! Go ahead, add that middle name or even a few more emojis. https://t.co/QBxx9Hnn1j

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 10, 2017

Since Twitter has so many deeper issues, it’s getting a lot of flak for introducing features that seem trivial in comparison. It continues to grapple with abuse and harassment on its website, fake accounts created to influence the US Presidential Elections as well as accounts made by terrorist organizations to spread propaganda. Just recently, it had to suspend its verification process when it faced backlash after verifying the account of the leader of the Charlottesville white supremacist rally. Some users even took advantage of the platform’s display name expansion by changing their names to add “#wouldpreferthatyoubannazis.”

Source: Twitter

YouTube to target disturbing videos masquerading as kids’ shows

YouTube is clamping down on the disturbing videos aimed at children on its service. The burgeoning genre depicts family-friendly characters (like Spider-Man and Frozen’s Elsa) in violent and sexual scenarios. We reported on the clips (and inappropriate ads) earlier this year, and recent coverage in the The New York Times claimed the vids are evading filters on the YouTube Kids app. In August, YouTube enforced a policy that restricted creators from monetizing videos that make “inappropriate use of family friendly characters.” The video platform’s latest step will automatically block this content from its kids app, as initially reported by The Verge.

“We’re in the process of implementing a new policy that age restricts this content in the YouTube main app when flagged,” YouTube’s director of policy Juniper Downs said in a statement. “Age-restricted content is automatically not allowed in YouTube Kids.”

The move adds an additional human element to the policing process. Until now, Google has mainly relied on its algorithms to filter inappropriate content from its kids app. But, that obviously didn’t do the trick. It also claims that dedicated human teams work around the clock to block disturbing videos. Google will be hoping that the age-gate feature combined with its existing security layers will stop the sinister clips from reaching children. Time may also be on its side, as it takes several days for a video from YouTube proper to reach YouTube Kids. The changes will go live within a few weeks.

It seems YouTube doesn’t want to censor the content altogether. But, its latest safeguard will also impact its main service, where age-restricted videos are only accessible to signed-in users aged 18 and over. Meanwhile, creators of the clips will feel the heat from the lack of monetization.

Parents should also note that YouTube Kids already contains controls that let you block channels and turn search on and off — there’s also the relatively new kids profiles.

Chrome Browser Updates Coming to Prevent Unexpected Web Page Redirects

Google this week revealed some upcoming enhancements to its Chrome browser that aim to protect users from encountering unwanted content on the web, such as when a site unexpectedly redirects them to another page when they click on a video play button.

Google says that incidents of users being redirected by websites to unintended destinations are mentioned in 1 of every 5 Chrome feedback reports it receives, and it’s now intent on putting a stop to the “abusive” behavior.

One piece of feedback we regularly hear from users is that a page will unexpectedly navigate to a new page, for seemingly no reason. We’ve found that this redirect often comes from third-party content embedded in the page, and the page author didn’t intend the redirect to happen at all. To address this, in Chrome 64 all redirects originating from third-party iframes will show an infobar instead of redirecting, unless the user had been interacting with that frame. This will keep the user on the page they were reading, and prevent those surprising redirects.

Another example that Google says causes user frustration is when clicking a link opens the desired destination in a new tab, but the main window navigates to a different, unwanted page. The behavior is designed to circumvent pop-up blockers, but Google is planning a clampdown.

Staring in Chrome 65, the browser will detect this abusive behavior, trigger an infobar, and prevent the main tab from being redirected, allowing the user to continue on to their intended destination.

Lastly, starting in early January, Chrome’s pop-up blocker will attempt put a stop to several other types of abusive experiences that are harder to detect, such as links to third-party websites disguised as play buttons or other site controls, or transparent overlays on websites that capture all clicks and open new tabs or windows.

To help site owners prepare for the changes, Google is launching the Abusive Experiences Report alongside other similar reports in the Google Search Console. These can be used by owners to see to see if any of the abusive experiences have been found on their site and help them improve their user experience.

Tags: Google, Chrome
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Instagram’s Testing a Feature That Lets Users Follow Hashtags

Instagram is currently testing a new feature that allows users to follow hashtags on the picture-sharing social platform, according to reports.

Currently, Instagram users must rely on individual accounts to keep up with content they want to engage with. However the added ability to follow hashtags, first spotted by Twitter user @Social_Pip and The Next Web, could make it much easier for users to find the content they’re interested in.

Ok this is new. What does this do @SimonSocialMM @BizPaul @NatalieTFG any ideas? I’ve followed 2 but can’t find what that means!! pic.twitter.com/LlCBk4Wmfv

— Pippa Akram (@Social_Pip) November 9, 2017

For example, users interested in Formula 1 racing could follow the hashtag #formula1 and see the relevant content in their feed without having to actually follow the account holders who post the content.

Understandably, this could quickly become overwhelming, so Instagram appears to be limiting current hashtag follows to “top posts and recent stories”, as per the overlay description that hovers over the option.

So far there’s no indication if or when Instagram will roll out the hashtag following ability to everyone, but the feature’s usefulness suggests it could make the cut sooner rather than later.

Tag: Instagram
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First Honolulu, now Chicago could hit texting walkers with fines of up to $500

Has Honolulu started something?

Just weeks after the Hawaiian city started fining folks caught looking at their smartphone while crossing the street, officials in Chicago have made similar proposals.

But while in Honolulu the fines starts at $35 for a first offense before topping out at $99 for a third transgression, lawmakers in the Windy City are suggesting fines of between $90 and a whopping $500.

Five hundred bucks! You could buy half an iPhone X for that.

Distracted walking is believed to be the cause of an increasing number of accidents, and staring at your smartphone while sauntering along the street — or indeed across the street — is certainly one way to increase your chances of an unwanted collision.

Two elected officials in Chicago, Edward Burke and Anthony Beale, have co-sponsored an ordinance proposing the fines, Chicago’s Fox32 reports.

The ordinance states: “No person shall cross a street or highway while using a mobile electronic device in a manner that averts their visual attention to that device or that device’s activity.”

Burke told Fox32, “The goal of the introduction of this measure is to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries, especially at crosswalks.”

Beale added that the passage and enforcement of the proposed law “would increase safety by eliminating distractions for pedestrians at intersections and elsewhere in the city of Chicago.”

The ordinance still has to pass a number of stages to become law, so for the time being at least, Chicago’s pedestrians can continue to look at their phone while crossing the street, secure in the knowledge that they won’t be emptying their wallet when they get to the other side. They’d just better hope they don’t get taken down by a bus while doing so.

Traffic lights and texting lanes

The problem of distracted walking isn’t just an issue for officials in the U.S.

Stopping short of imposing fines, cities in Germany and Australia have have fitted ground-level traffic lights at crossings in the hope that pedestrians lost in their smartphones will spot them as they go to cross.

Other initiatives to cut down on sidewalk collisions include the introduction of “texting lanes” in cities such as Antwerp, Belgium and Chongqing, China.

Our advice? Stop walking when you need to look at your smartphone screen, or else something horrible like this might happen.

Editors’ Recommendations

• In Honolulu? Text and cross the street and you’ll get a fine
• Hobby drones are hampering wildfire air crews in California
• Paris implements its third annual day without cars
• Google kicks off the Android Wear beta program with Android 8.0 Oreo
• Opinion: iPhone X? Nah. Here’s why I’m recommending the iPhone 6S

Tesla’s newest driving mode is ‘chill’

Tesla’s latest driving mode is an about-turn from its previous options, which were all about squeezing the optimal performance from its cars. The new “chill” setting makes for a “gentler ride,” according to the manufacturer. That sounds like an odd upgrade from an EV maker that was once obsessed with cracking the fastest acceleration time, motivated by its rivalry with Faraday Future. It achieved that milestone earlier this year (after dropping the “Ludricous” easter egg), when the Tesla Model S P100D became the quickest car to 60 MPH.

Apparently, some people aren’t interested in taking up EVs on their instant torque credentials. All those boring folk can tap chill mode for “smoother” and “more gradual” acceleration. Okay, so maybe we’re being a bit harsh. The setting is probably a godsend for those who can’t handle (or aren’t accustomed to) an EV’s jerky acceleration. According to YouTube channel DragTimes, chill mode in a Tesla Model S 100D gets the car from 0-60 MPH in a “ridiculously slow” 7.2 seconds.

Good point. We will add that to all cars in one of the upcoming software releases.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2017

Another new feature that comes with the update is “exit mode” — which Elon Musk previously confirmed would make the cut after a Tesla driver suggested it on Twitter. Building on the driver profile, the setting results in the steering wheel and seat automatically adjusting for an “easier exit.” Once you return, they’ll adjust back to your recent driving profile.

Humvee maker sues Activision for using its trucks in ‘Call of Duty’

The maker of Humvee is suing the publisher of the Call of Duty series for using its military vehicles in the games without permission, reports Reuters. In its lawsuit, AM General LLC accused Activision Blizzard Inc of reaping “billions of dollars” by using both the Humvee and HMMWV trademarks in the games, and related toys and books.

The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (aka the HMMWV or Humvee) is a four-wheel drive, light military truck that’s been deployed in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, on the virtual battlefield in Call of Duty, which started life in 2003 and has been breaking sales records ever since. By 2016, Activision was touting over 250 million copies sold of the first-person shooter, and more than $15 billion in revenue.

AM General thinks its trucks played a large part in that success. The company claims that Activision duped gamers into “believing” that “AM General licenses the games or is somehow involved [in their] creation.” After more than a year of alleged failed communications with the video game publisher, it’s now seeking compensatory, punitive, and triple damages from Activision — which should amount to a lot of dough. Activision is refusing to comment on the pending legal matter.

Logitech to Upgrade Harmony Link Owners for Free Following Online Backlash

Logitech has announced in a blog post that it will offer Harmony Link hub owners a free upgrade to the more recent Harmony Hub before it bricks the older smart home controller in early 2018.

Previously, the company had offered owners who were out of warranty a 35 percent discount on the newer $100 hub to compensate for the six-year-old Harmony Link’s deactivation in spring of next year, when the device’s encryption certificate expires. But the news sparked an online backlash which has led Logitech to reverse course, according to Wired.

Logitech Harmony Link

If you are a Harmony Link user, we will reach out to you between now and March 2018 to make arrangements to replace your Link with a free Harmony Hub, a product with similar app-based remote control features to Link, with the added benefit of controlling many popular connected home devices plus, it works with popular voice assistants.

Additionally, Harmony Link customers that have already redeemed their 35% discount on a Harmony Hub will also be refunded the full amount they paid for the replacement. Again, we will be in touch with you regarding these updates between now and March 2018, before your Harmony Link will no longer function.

Logitech said it decided to end support for the Harmony Link “because we would be acting irresponsibly by continuing the service knowing its potential/future vulnerability”.

As for why it couldn’t just patch the device or extend the license, the company explained that the newer Harmony Hub has around 40 times as many users as the Link, so focusing support and services on the former was a better use of its resources.

Logitech has also responded to suggestions that it had been pressing the mute button on angry customers in its forums by censoring the phrase “class action lawsuit” in complaint threads.

Logitech said the removal was due to a list of auto-blocked keywords in its Community Terms of Service, which doesn’t allow solicitation, including legal solicitation. The company has now unblocked the phrase and is in the process of reviewing all of its forbidden forum words and phrases.

Tag: Logitech
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Facebook just added hundreds of thousands of new listings for apartment hunters

It’s been about a year since Facebook launched Marketplace, and since then it’s been building out the buying-and-selling feature to ensure you spend even more time on the site.

From this week it’s showing major love to apartment listings in the U.S., adding “hundreds of thousands” of them to Marketplace to give you another option alongside Craigslist and others when it comes to making that move.

The gargantuan social network already lets you post apartment ads, but now it’s partnering with the likes of Apartment List and Zumper, increasing the number of available properties massively.

The latest addition to Marketplace comes with custom filters for things like location, price, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, rental type, pet friendliness, and more. You can also check out 360-degree images of the premises if the landlord chooses to add them.

If a property in Marketplace does take your fancy, tap on it for more information. Still interested? Then hit the appropriate icon to place a call to the landlord, request a tour, or save for later.

Facebook’s Bowen Pan said Marketplace is already “a popular place for people to look for a home to rent,” adding that the new partnerships mean “people can search even more options in the U.S. to find a place to call home. First with vehicles and now with housing rentals, we’re partnering with businesses to bring more ease and convenience for consumers.”

That’s right, the company is also in the process of boosting its automobile section within Marketplace in a similar move that saw it partner with Edmunds, Cars.com, Auction123, CDK Global, and SocialDealer, bringing a lot more listings for people to peruse.

Just like the new apartment listings, the revamped motor section offers filters for vehicle year, make, model, mileage, vehicle type, and transmission.

Even prior to Marketplace’s launch in 2016, more than 450 million people visited buy and sell groups on Facebook, according to the company’s director of product management, Mary Ku.

With Marketplace streamlining the process, and Facebook making ongoing efforts to expand the listings, the social network is hoping to get users to extend their time on the site, which should result in more ad interaction. Facebook’s most recent earnings report, released on November 1, saw its third-quarter ad sales rise 49 percent year-on-year to $10.1 billion. Facebook said it’s now working with more than six million advertisers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Facebook Marketplace will soon become an even better spot for buying cars
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• You can now buy and sell things on Facebook using its Marketplace feature
• Airbnb partners with Florida developer to enable sharing-friendly apartments

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 India review: Two months later

The Galaxy Note 8 is the best phone you can buy in India.

Samsung jumped on the minimal bezel bandwagon earlier this year with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, offering an evocative design with top-notch internals. The Infinity Display design language backed by Samsung’s industry-leading Super AMOLED panels ensured the Galaxy S8 and S8+ broke all sales records for the company, allowing Samsung to set record profits for three quarters in a row.

With the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung is looking to keep that momentum going. Samsung has perfected the two flagship-per-year release cycle: the Galaxy S series is aimed at mainstream users, whereas the enthusiast-focused Note lineup is the proving ground for the South Korean manufacturer’s latest tech. That’s no different this time around, with the Note 8 being the first phone to receive dual rear cameras. It is also the first Samsung flagship with 6GB of RAM.

The Note 8 is available for ₹67,900 in India, and at that price point there really isn’t a lot of competition. The Pixel 2 XL is retailing in the country for ₹73,000, and while Google is stepping up its marketing efforts, it cannot meet the scale of Samsung’s marketing might. Read on to find out why the Galaxy Note 8 is the best phone currently available in India.

Galaxy Note 8 What you’ll love

Unlike the iPhone X, there’s no notch to distract you from the beautiful OLED display.

The Galaxy Note 8 shares a lot of visual cues from the Galaxy S8+, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the GS8+ is one of the best-looking phones in the market today. The phone has a slightly larger 6.3-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, and to accommodate the S Pen, Samsung increased the overall thickness to 8.6mm, 0.5mm more than the GS8+.

The increase in size makes the Note 8 rather boxy, with less pronounced curves at the front and back. However, the design works in the phone’s favor, as you have more room to grip the device. The phone features an aluminum mid-frame sandwiched between two Gorilla Glass 5-backed glass panels. The Infinity Display is still a sight to behold, and unlike the iPhone X, there isn’t a cutout for the front camera that mars the overall look at the front.

Like the Galaxy S8+, the screen on the Note 8 is one of its best features. Samsung has invested significant amounts of resources into its AMOLED display tech over the years, and the result is that the company has the best displays in the smartphone segment. Thanks to HDR10 Mobile certification, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the panel in apps like Netflix and Prime Video.

The Note 8’s display has a resolution of 2960 x 1440, but it runs at 2220 x 1080 out of the box. You can, however, head into the display settings and change the native resolution to QHD+. There are four display modes to choose from, which let you tailor the screen to your preferences. The panel gets sufficiently bright under harsh sunlight and goes all the way down to 2nits in low-light conditions. The Always On Display has picked up a few additions as well, giving you a quick overview of the time and incoming notifications without having to switch on the phone.

Coming over to the performance, the Exynos 8895 SoC coupled with 6GB of RAM ensure the Note 8 blazes through everyday tasks with ease. I haven’t encountered any lag in over two months’ of usage, and the phone continues to be a delight to use. (The North American version ships with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC.)

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 specs

Not everyone picking up a Note 8 will use the S Pen regularly, but the stylus is a great addition. The ability to take notes while the screen is off comes in handy if you need to jot down a few lines in a hurry, and Samsung Notes gives you plenty of options for doodling. The screen-off memo is engaged automatically when the display is off, and Air Command kicks in when you pull the stylus out of its silo when the screen is on, giving you quick access to shortcuts. Smart Select allowing you to take screenshots of a particular area on the screen, Screen Write lets you doodle on the screen, and Translate gives you access to real-time translations.

You’re better off just ignoring Bixby altogether.

Then there’s Live Message, which is an interesting addition to the S Pen’s feature set. Live Message lets you draw and send animated messages, with the feature recording your pen strokes in real time. There are several fonts and effects to choose from, and you can send the message in any app that supports GIFs. You can also invoke Bixby Vision from Air Command, but you’re better off not using the feature.

With the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung finally made the switch to dual rear cameras. The manufacturer ended up using a primary 12MP camera — similar to that on the Galaxy S8+ — and augmenting it with a secondary 12MP telephoto lens. The primary shooter has an f/1.7 lens, 1.4-micron pixels, and Dual Pixel autofocus, whereas the secondary lens offers an f/2.4 aperture and 1.0-micron pixels.

What’s different with Samsung’s implementation is that both imaging sensors feature OIS. The introduction of the telephoto lens enables 2x optical zoom and a portrait mode in the form of Live Focus. The mode selectively blurs out the background, and you have the option to adjust background blur after the fact.

As is the case with the Galaxy S8+, photos and videos shot with the Note 8 are exceptional. The phone consistently delivers great images irrespective of the lighting conditions. Photos come out saturated and with plenty of dynamic range, and the phone is one of the best at shooting in low-light scenarios.

The Note 8 comes with Samsung Experience 8.5 atop Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, and the overall experience is in line with that of the Galaxy S8+. It’ll take you a few days to go through the sheer number of features on offer, and even if you don’t end up using all of them, they’re there if you need them.

Samsung Pay continues to be great for payments at offline stores, with the service picking up 1.5 million customers over the last few months. Barring a few retail stores, I haven’t had any issues using the mobile payments service to pay for purchases over the last two months.

Samsung is great at including a lot of goodies with its flagships, and with the Note 8, you get AKG-branded earbuds in the box, spare tips for the S Pen, a clear case, and a USB Type-C to Type-A and a Type-C to Micro-USB converter. The AKG headphones are surprisingly good, with decent bass response and clear highs — they’re certainly a far cry better than bundled earbuds from most other manufacturers.

You can also redeem a free wireless charger from the My Galaxy app, provided you purchased the Note 8 before October 21.

Galaxy Note 8 What needs work

Samsung was always going to be conservative regarding battery size following last year’s debacle. The 3300mAh battery is smaller than the 3500mAh unit on the Galaxy S8+, and combine that with a slightly larger 6.3-inch screen and you’ll find that the battery life on the Note 8 is one of its main drawbacks. The phone barely manages to last the course of a day, with usage spread across an hour or two of web browsing, streaming music over Spotify, social media, navigation, and an hour’s worth of calls.

Battery life is really the only major knock against the Note 8 right now.

Screen-on-time averaged anywhere between three-and-a-half hours to four hours, but that varied wildly based on usage patterns. During the weekends — when I was out running chores and was primarily using cellular data — I saw screen-on-time of under three hours, with the battery lasting for just over 10 hours.

While vacationing in Thailand, a fully-charged Note 8 conked out in just under seven hours, with screen-on-time of under two hours. I managed to take a hundred photos, and that undoubtedly put a strain on the battery. But in the time it took the Note 8’s battery to go down to 5%, the Pixel 2 XL — which was also used to shoot a lot of images — still had a 45% charge.

Samsung’s much-hyped virtual assistant Bixby still needs a lot of work. Bixby Voice debuted in India last month, and while it’s great for surfacing specific images from the gallery or delving into the settings, it isn’t a service you’ll end up using often. The lack of integrations make Google Assistant a much better alternative, particularly when you consider that the “Ok Google” hotword works even when the screen is off.

Another area of annoyance with the Galaxy Note 8 is the location of the fingerprint sensor. Its placement was awkward on the GS8+, and things haven’t gotten any better on the Note 8. Given that the phone is larger than the S8+, you’ll find it harder to reach the sensor.

Finally, the single speaker at the bottom is decent, but it’s nowhere close to the BoomSound setup on the HTC U11 or the stereo speakers on the iPhone 8 Plus.

Galaxy Note 8 Bottom line

Although the Note 8 has sub-standard battery life, the phone more than makes up for it in other areas. The screen and the camera in particular are outstanding, and the sheer number of features on offer make it the phone to beat in 2017.

The Pixel 2 XL has a better software experience, and Google’s advances in computational photography have led to an outstanding camera, but the lack of a 3.5mm jack is a drawback. Then there’s the fact that the Pixel 2 XL has a blue tint across the display, and the phone is also plagued with quality control issues.

Simply put, if you want the best overall package, the Galaxy Note 8 should be at the top of your list.

See at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy Note 5
• Which Note 8 color is best?
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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