With some mirror magic, the Fishball records 360 video from any iPhone camera

The best 360 cameras run upward of $500 and even the cheapest options cross into three digits, but a San Francisco-based startup is working to make an affordable 360 solution by using the camera tech already inside the iPhone. Fishball is a clip-on 360 lens for iPhone that shoots immersive photos and video, starting at $39.

The Fishball uses only the iPhone’s rear camera, and employs specially designed optics that mix lenses with mirrors to send views from two different angles to the sensor. The Fisheye app then stitches the views together to create that traditional 360 view. Inside the app, users can also share to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Vimeo and view the footage or send the shot to a VR app with a headset.

The Fishball clips over the iPhone’s camera and the company says the lens system is kept secure with a latch system. The optics are compatible with the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X and Fishball says the optics will likely work with future iPhone cameras as well. Because the Fishball works with the sensor built into the iPhone, there’s no need for a battery, SD card, or any cords or physical port connection to the smartphone.

The 360 lens was designed by three UC-Berkeley-Haas students with backgrounds in engineering, tech marketing, and manufacturing. The group is taking to Indiegogo to fund the production of the Fishball. If the funding, development, and manufacturing are successful, the startup plans to ship to backers in June 2018. Pledges that include the Fishball lens as a reward start at $39, a 60-percent discount from the expected retail price of $99.

The Fishball campaign comes after another company launched a campaign for a similar idea earlier this week. Fusion, developed by the same company behind the Spincle 360 app, is a clip-on lens that widens the view of both the front and rear cameras to stitch them together in 360 in an app. The Fusion has a number of different 360 formats to choose from including the traditional immersive and Little Planet, but only records still photos and time-lapses. Fusion is also on Indiegogo, reaching full funding after two days.

Editors’ Recommendations

• This $44 accessory creates an iPhone 360 camera, no batteries required
• Wool you look at that: Sheep-powered Google Street View now live
• Meet the Samsung 360 Round, a pro-level 360 with 3D and impressive live-streams
• Egg-shaped Tamaggo 360 camera goes live in one tap with its integrated screen
• Garmin Virb 360 gains new creative editing controls and 5.7K mode

Best Gifts for Cord-cutters

What are good gifts for someone who’s cut cable out of their life?

The cord-cutter movement is growing more and more these days. People are looking to save money by canceling that pesky cable bill and finding alternative ways to fulfill their entertainment needs via the internet and/or wireless needs.

Netflix. Plex. Over-the-air antennas. Just a few of the options cord-cutters rely on to stay entertained without cable TV. Give the gift of cutting that special someone’s cable bill with these fantastic gifts for cord-cutters.

• OTA Antennas
• NVIDIA Shield TV
• Tablo Tuner Antenna Adapter
• Chromecast
• Amazon Fire TV (2017)
• HDHomeRun Connect
• TiVo Roamio
• Gift memberships to streaming service

OTA Antennas

If you or someone you know is looking to cut out the cable bill from their budget, but still enjoys just throwing on the TV and vegging out without the hassle of finding something new to watch on Netflix (right?), an over-the-air (OTA) antenna can be a great compromise. But before you consider whether to buy an OTA antenna, you’ll want to know what channels are available in your area and what type of antenna you’ll need to draw them in. This TV signal locator from TVFools.com will let you know what signals are available from you or your giftee’s address, and from there let you determine whether you should be getting an indoor or outdoor antenna.

An OTA antenna can be hooked up straight to a TV in your house to watch live TV. A couple of the other items on this list require an OTA antenna — HDHomeRun Connect and TiVo Roamio. If either of those boxes tickles your fancy, you’ll need one to draw in the signal. Depending on what channels are available in your area, you’ll need either an indoor or outdoor digital antenna. The antenna we’ve recommended here, the HD Frequency Cable Cutter Antenna, is designed for urban areas and can be set up indoors or outdoors. Again, the channels you’ll get will be dependant on a number of variables, so the price of this antenna makes it great for testing purposes.

See at Amazon

NVIDIA Shield TV

The NVIDIA Shield doesn’t garner as much attention as it deserves — it’s a sleek-looking box running on the Android TV platform, granting access to all the great content streaming and media options found in the Google Play Store, along with being a scrappy gaming console powered by a GeForce GTX graphics card.

It can stream Netflix and YouTube in 4K, and supports a number of great media server apps including Plex and Kodi. If you’re only planning to use it for streaming purposes, you’ll get 16GB of onboard storage for your media, along with a streamlined and fast UI so you can get right down to binge-watching PLUS it doubles as a Cast target.

NVIDIA has recently lowered the price on the base model (remote only) to just $179, which is a great deal for cord cutters. For an extra $20, you can get one with the gaming controller included — you’ll be able to enjoy the latest and greatest Android games, along with the ability to stream popular PC games via a GeForce NOW subscription.

See at Amazon

Tablo Tuner Antenna Adapter

We specifically placed the Tablo Tuner Antenna Adapter at this position on the list because if you’re buying for someone who already owns a NVIDIA Shield TV box and a digital antenna in their home, this is the perfect gift to round out their cord cutting experience.

The adapter lets you link your digital TV antenna and Shield together, converting the Shield into the ultimate cord-cutter TV box. Using the Tablo Tuner Engine app for Android TV, you’re able to watch and record over-the-air HD TV channels right to the internal storage of your Shield, although the recording functionality and enhanced TV guide information is only available as part of a $3.99 monthly subscription — which is still a fraction of the cost of renting a DVR set-top box from your local cable company.

Check out my full review of the Tablo Tuner adapter for a more in-depth analysis of how it all works.

See at Tablo TV

Chromecast

Once you get your first Chromecast, you quickly learn that you can never have too many Chromecasts. It’s such a versatile little device that lets you stream Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu, YouTube, HBO Now… There’s a ton of great content available for Chromecast.

While the older models still work great, the updated Chromecast Ultra is the only one you should be buying in 2017. Available from the Google Store for just $70, it supports streaming in up to 4K Ultra HD and HDR, so even if the person you’re buying for doesn’t currently own a 4K TV they’ll be set if they decide to upgrade in the future. The older Chromecast from 2015 is still available for only $35 and would still make for a great stocking stuffer because, like I said, once you get your first Chromecast, you’re going to want one for every TV in the house.

See the Chromecast Ultra at Best Buy

Amazon Fire TV (2017)

If the person you’re buying for prefers Amazon’s Alexa assistant over the Google Assistant, the brand new Amazon Fire TV dongle will be right up their alley. Not only is this little dongle capable of streaming in 4K at 60fps, it’s also got Alexa support built right into the remote which is super handy.

It fits in somewhere between a Chromecast and an Android TV box — it dangles from the back of your TV just like a Chromecast, but also has 8GB of internal storage and a remote control. As expected, it’s a great option for those who are already bought into Amazon’s services. With an Amazon Prime membership, you get access to Amazon Prime Video and Music, along with Thursday Night Football, and the Fire TV of course supports popular subscription services such as Hulu, Netflix, PlayStation Vue, YouTube, and Sling TV.

Get it from Amazon (where else?) for just $70.

See at Amazon

HDHomeRun Connect

The HDHomeRun Connect is an HDTV broadcast tuner that, working in conjunction with an OTA antenna, lets you draw on the available HDTV channels broadcasting in your area. Setup is easy — simply connect your HDHomeRun box to power, the antenna, and your router, then install the software on your computer. From there, you’re able to watch live TV from the available channels shows on any DLNA-compatible device connected to your Wi-Fi network, whether that be a smart TV, a phone or tablet running the HDHomeRun DVR app.

But that’s not all. What makes the HDHomeRun a real home run (I’m sorry) is its beta DVR compatibility with Plex. Anyone in the know knows that Plex is one of the absolute best media servers you can use, so if you know your friend or family member relies on Plex this exclusive integration with HDHomeRun receivers is certainly worth exploring.

See at Amazon

TiVo Roamio

TiVo’s Roamio is certainly worth looking into if you’re cutting a cord and considering an OTA antenna. The Roamio comes with 1TB of space to record all your favorite shows as well as built-in integration with Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu and more.

It’s a TiVo, so you’ll be able to pause and rewind TV live, as well as use SkipMode to skip over the commercials in your recorded content, or use QuickMode to watch your shows 33% faster with no audio distortion, meaning you can binge watch your favorite shows in less time.

See at Amazon

Gift memberships to streaming services

Netflix. Amazon Prime. Hulu.

These are the services that are largely replacing cable TV for an ever-growing number of consumers. Whether or not your loved one already has one of these services, you can cover a few months of their favorite streaming service for a gift that keeps giving throughout the year.

Your best value is absolutely a year’s worth of Amazon Prime. Not only do they get access to both Amazon’s music and video services, they also get all the benefits of being an Amazon Prime including next-day delivery on a number of products.

Both Netflix and Amazon Prime offer electronic gift cards for their services, but you should also be able to find them at a most major retailers. Hulu currently doesn’t offer electronic gift cards, but you should find physical Hulu gift cards at retailers such as Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

Learn more at Amazon

Learn more at Netflix

Update November 2017: Added the Tablo Tuner Antenna Adapter and Amazon Fire TV to our list, and updated the article for the 2017 Holiday Season.

Xiaomi launches 360-degree camera, headphones, and more on Amazon in U.S.

A few unexpected toys right ahead of Black Friday.

Despite being the fifth largest smartphone maker in the world, Xiaomi is a name that’s unfamiliar to a lot of U.S. consumers. None of the company’s phones have yet to make an appearance in the country, and while it’ll likely be some time before this happens, Xiaomi is releasing a few new accessories in the United States in preparation of the holiday shopping season.

There are five products in total that are being launched, including some basic accessories such as a 10,000 mAh battery pack and over-the-ear and in-ear headphones.

If you’re in the market for something with a bit more wow factor, you might want to check out Xiaomi’s Mi Sphere Camera and Mi Robot Builder. The Mi Sphere Camera is a 360-degree camera with a 23.88MP sensor, and this allows you to record video in up to 3.5K. A 6-axis electronic-image-stabilization system should help to keep your footage nice and smooth, and an IP67 rating provides you with protection against dust and water.

As for the Mi Robot Builder, think of this as a LEGO set for the modern era. You can build three main designs with the 978 parts (including a robot, dinosaur, and aircraft), and once you’ve got your contraption built, you can use the companion app on your smartphone to easily create code to control it.

All of Xiaomi’s products are available to purchase on Amazon now, and their prices are as follows:

• Mi Sphere Camera ($299.99)
• Mi Robot Builder ($139.99)
• Mi Headphones ($129.99)
• 10,000 mAh Mi Power Bank Pro ($29.99)
• Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro ($25.99)

See at Amazon

Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t blow your socks off [#acpodcast]

Daniel Bader and Andrew Martonik welcome Mobile Nation’s newest member to the show — Associate Video Editor Hayato Huseman!

Hayato talks with the gang about their experience and initial testing of the OnePlus 5T, which was recently unveiled in New York City. A modest update to the OnePlus 5, the 5T is marketed as a $499 flagship. It may not fully comparable with phones like the Galaxy S8 and Pixel 2, but the price is far more accessible.

They also discuss the enthusiast community’s disappointment with the Razer Phone and Daniel’s impressions of iPhone X. To wrap things up, Andrew gives us the skinny on Google’s Pixel Buds.

Show Notes and Links:

• OnePlus 5T hands-on preview

• OnePlus 5T specs

• OnePlus 5T vs. OnePlus 3T: Should you upgrade?

• OnePlus 5T vs. Samsung Galaxy S8

• Razer Phone review: Don’t go outside

• iPhone X: The Android Central review

• Google Pixel Buds: What I learned in my first afternoon with the headphones

Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral361.mp3

The best Bluetooth audio receiver for your home stereo or speakers

By R. Matthew Ward

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter, reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here.

After doing 13 hours of research and considering 76 models, we performed dozens of hours of real-world testing and 13 additional hours of focused, in-depth testing on the top 14 Bluetooth-audio receivers for adding wireless connectivity to an existing audio system. We think the StarTech BT2A Bluetooth Audio Receiver is the best receiver for most people thanks to its combination of connectivity, range, audio quality, and usability at a reasonable price.

Who should buy this?

Photo: Michael Hession

Whether it’s because your new smartphone has no headphone jack, or you aren’t ready to give up your old stereo in favor of a great Bluetooth speaker, a Bluetooth audio receiver can add wireless streaming capabilities to your existing home stereo or speakers with little loss in sound quality.

How we picked and tested

Photo: Michael Hession

The ideal Bluetooth receiver should sound as good as a direct, wired connection. It should pair with your devices easily and reliably, and should have a large-enough range to cover a typical living area. We also like when a Bluetooth receiver has a digital audio output, which allows you to use an optional, separate DAC (digital-to-analog converter) for better sound quality.

We considered 76 top Bluetooth receivers, and ultimately tested 14 models. For our tests, we paired each one first to a MacBook and an iPhone to see how easy it was to pair source devices to the receiver. We also tested how reliably the receiver connected and disconnected once paired, how well it reconnected following a disconnection, and how easy it was to switch to a different source. For devices that could pair with multiple devices simultaneously, we used up to six devices to test this feature.

To evaluate audio quality, we first used each device to listen to background music, then compared them head-to-head using our favorite test tracks. We also assessed the range of each receiver by measuring the distance at which music started skipping with both an unobstructed and obstructed line of sight. To read about our testing process in more detail, please see our full guide.

Our pick

The StarTech BT2A (right) and the nearly identical Monoprice Bluetooth Streaming Music Receiver (left) offer good sound, reliable connectivity, and good range at a reasonable price. Photo: Michael Hession

The StarTech BT2A Bluetooth Audio Receiver is our top pick for most people thanks to its combination of good sound quality, range, usability, connectivity, and price. In our tests, it reliably paired to new devices and reconnected to old devices, and it could remember up to eight paired devices. It comes from a reputable vendor, has a two-year warranty, and is reasonably priced.

In terms of audio quality, the BT2A—along with our runner-up, below—provided the best sound quality of the models we tested in this price range. Overall, these two models offered better dynamic range and crisper high-frequency and midrange detail compared with similarly priced models, along with minimal high-frequency distortion and a tight low end. The BT2A also features an optical digital-audio output, allowing you to upgrade audio quality by using an external DAC.

Runner-up

While running our tests, we noticed that Monoprice’s Bluetooth Streaming Music Receiver appears to be functionally identical to the StarTech BT2A. When we opened both models, we found that they use the same circuit board and the same DAC, and they performed essentially identically in our testing. We made the StarTech receiver our top pick because it’s covered by a two-year warranty, versus only one year for the Monoprice receiver, but the Monoprice is also a safe buy.

An upgrade for better sound and better range

The Audioengine B1, our upgrade pick, offers substantially better audio quality than the StarTech receiver, as well as outstanding wireless range. Photo: Michael Hession

If you have nice speakers or a higher-end audio system—such as our picks for best receiver and bookshelf speakers—and you want a Bluetooth connection that can do them justice, the Audioengine B1 Bluetooth Music Receiver is a great upgrade choice.

The B1 is based on the same circuitry as Audioengine’s well-regarded D1 DAC, and the unit’s audio quality reflects this: It offers better sound, by a good margin, than the less expensive Bluetooth receivers we tested. Music is lively and involving, with crisp, clear highs; detailed midrange; and tight, clean bass. The Audioengine B1 also includes optical-digital output if you want to hook it up to an even better DAC in the future.

The B1 is also the only model we tested that includes an external antenna. According to Audioengine, the antenna extends the B1’s range to 100 feet, three times what most other receivers claim. In our tests, the B1 never skipped, even when at maximum range.

A pick for older speaker docks

Among the receivers designed to add Bluetooth to a 30-pin speaker dock, the Samson 30-Pin Bluetooth Receiver BT30 had the best range and audio quality, as well as the most reliable pairing and connection. Photo: R. Matthew Ward

Before Bluetooth speakers became ubiquitous, many people bought speaker docks—compact speaker systems with a docking cradle for a smartphone or MP3 player. The vast majority of these used Apple’s older 30-pin dock connector, which has since been replaced by the Lightning connector. If you have one of these 30-pin docks, you can use Samson’s 30-Pin Bluetooth Receiver BT30 to wirelessly stream music to it.

The BT30’s sound quality isn’t fantastic, but it is better than any of the other dock-connector models we tested. Its range is also superior to that of the other models we tested, and pairing and connecting Bluetooth devices is hassle-free.

This guide may have been updated by Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Note from Wirecutter: When readers choose to buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn affiliate commissions that support our work.

Google Assistant can help troubleshoot your Pixel 2 phone

Plenty of companies offer chat support to troubleshoot problems with your phone. But do you really want to talk to another human for what could be a simple fix? You don’t have to… if you have a Pixel 2. Android Police has discovered that you can ask Google Assistant for help with battery issues. Ask why your battery isn’t charging properly and the AI companion will not only run a diagnostics check, but look for particularly power-hungry apps. It offers to connect you to Google’s chat or phone support if it can’t answer your questions in one shot, although problems in the AP test suggest this component isn’t ready for prime time.

AP tried the feature on a Pixel 2 XL running the Android 8.1 developer preview, but we got similar (not exact) responses using 8.0. This doesn’t work on other Android phones, though. And help for other issues is limited. We asked why our phone was slowing down, and it pointed us to a “more info” link.

We’ve asked Google if it can comment on the feature. However, it’s reasonable to believe that this AI support could become more robust over time. If Google can point you to Assistant for help with numerous issues, it potentially lightens the load for flesh-and-blood support reps by limiting their involvement to trickier problems.

Via: The Verge

Source: Android Police

Dave Chappelle’s third Netflix special will premiere December 31st

Dave Chappelle’s third Netflix special, Dave Chappelle: Equanimity, will debut on the streaming service December 31st, Variety reports. It’s the first comedy special Chappelle has made exclusively for Netflix. Last year, the service announced that three specials from the performer were on the way and the first two — previously unreleased material from shows performed at Austin City Limits and the Hollywood Palladium — were released in March.

Netflix has made moves in recent years to ramp up its comedy offerings. Along with the Chappelle specials, it also reportedly dropped $40 million for the rights to two Chris Rock specials, signed Jerry Seinfeld on for two specials — the first of which premiered in September — while also taking over his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee from Crackle and snagged the 25th anniversary Def Comedy Jam special, which Chappelle performed for.

Netflix tweeted a short teaser of the special today featuring an appearance by Stranger Things’ Eleven, which you can check out below.

Dave Chappelle. The new stand-up special. New Year’s Eve. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eLosxwoGiZ

— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) November 17, 2017

Via: Variety

Source: Netflix

Digital democracy’s steep decline

We thought the internet was going to be great for equality, freedom, and maybe even human rights, but now we’re not so sure. Turns out, the internet is great for propaganda. And totally unraveling democracy.

If only the people who invented and run everything we use online had thought of this! If only they had imagined someone using their social sites, apps, advertising networks, and comment systems to attack and oppress people of color, women, anyone who wants healthcare, and enemies of the state (the same thing, usually). They didn’t think of these things because they were coding, developing, and seeking venture capital in order to make the world a better place. Also licking advertiser bootheels. And lobbying.

They’re pretty sure that whole democracy disruption thing isn’t real anyway. Until they have to say so to official inquiries. In any case, they’re pretty sure it would be against their Terms of Service if it were, and Terms are sort of like laws, but not really, because even enforcing those is hard enough around Silicon Valley. That’s because the companies who control the world’s internet experience know better how to govern communities than anyone else. I mean, look around! This place is practically a meritocracy.

So we can imagine that the handful of companies with a stranglehold on the dissemination of global discussion and news distribution are going to be pretty surprised when they find out about what’s going on. A recent report from democracy watchdog Freedom House shows that governments from at least 30 countries are “mass producing their own content to distort the digital landscape in their favor.”

Freedom on the Net 2017: Manipulating Social Media to Undermine Democracy, Freedom examined developments that occurred between June 2016 and May 2017 in 65 countries, accounting for 87 percent of internet users worldwide.

I do hope the hardworking men and five women and one black person working at Silicon Valley’s social media companies will be surprised. If they acknowledge it at all. It would really suck for, like, the world if the Facebooks and the Googles ignored Freedom House’s report and just went back to buying houses or vapidly monetizing human interactions or only just pretending to give a shit about propaganda (but not really calling it propaganda).

“The watchdog found that these efforts to manipulate information online — by governments or other forces — may have affected 18 countries’ elections, “damaging citizens’ ability to choose their leaders based on factual news and authentic debate,” wrote Recode. “That included the U.S., where Russian-sponsored trolls fueled conflict around controversial debates like immigration, gun control and gay rights.”

“Governments are now using social media to suppress dissent and advance an anti-democratic agenda,” said project director Sanja Kelly in a statement. “Not only is this manipulation difficult to detect, it is more difficult to combat than other types of censorship, such as website blocking because it’s dispersed and because of the sheer number of people and bots deployed to do it.”

“The fabrication of grassroots support for government policies on social media creates a closed loop in which the regime essentially endorses itself, leaving independent groups and ordinary citizens on the outside,” Kelly’s statement read.

Freedom on the Net 2017 said that most governments it assessed “targeted public opinion within their own borders, but others sought to expand their interests abroad — exemplified by a Russian disinformation campaign to influence the American election.” Explaining further about our democratic decline it read, “Fake news and aggressive trolling of journalists both during and after the presidential election contributed to a score decline in the United States’ otherwise generally free environment.”

The report makes it seem like Joseph Goebbels would’ve loved Reddit. “In the Philippines, members of a ‘keyboard army’ are tasked with amplifying the impression of widespread support of the government’s brutal crackdown on the drug trade,” the report said, totally understating the murderous terror of the situation. “Meanwhile, in Turkey, reportedly 6,000 people have been enlisted by the ruling party to counter government opponents on social media.”

Freedom House has a nifty interactive map of the 65 countries included in the report. But what the report describes is also happening in countries left out of Freedom on the Net 2017, and in ways Freedom House probably didn’t expect, because engineers in Menlo Park were probably still innovating democracy’s decline while the report was compiled.

I’m talking about the damage done by its very recent “Explore” tab experiment in a handful of countries. In Hey, Mark Zuckerberg: My Democracy Isn’t Your Laboratory, Serbian independent investigative journalist Stevan Dojcinovic writes, for the New York Times, about Facebook’s devastating experiment on his county’s news media. “Last month,” he wrote, “I noticed that our stories had stopped appearing on Facebook as usual. I was stunned. Our largest single source of traffic, accounting for more than half of our monthly page views, had been crippled … Facebook had made a small but devastating change. Posts made by “pages” — including those of organizations like mine — had been removed from the regular News Feed.”

Facebook had shuffled them off to the “Explore” tab, which no one uses. Paid posts are still in the News Feed, of course. Dojcinovic elaborated:

Serbia is a perfect example of why the political context of Facebook’s experimentation matters. … One party, led by President Aleksandar Vucic, controls not only the Parliament but also the whole political system. Our country has no tradition of checks and balances. Mr. Vucic now presents himself as progressive and pro-European, but as minister of information in the Milosevic government, he was responsible for censoring news coverage.

Today, censorship in Serbia takes a softer form. Pliant outlets loyal to the government receive preferential treatment and better funding from local and central budgets. Those that stray out of line find themselves receiving unexpected visits from the tax inspectors.

This isn’t an easy place to be an independent journalist. Since 2015, my investigative nonprofit, KRIK, has covered stories the mainstream media won’t touch. In return, we have been spied on and threatened, and have had lurid fabrications about our private lives splashed on the front page of national tabloids.

For Dojcinovic, the company’s so-called experiment poisons an entire population’s access to democracy. “Facebook allowed us to bypass mainstream channels and bring our stories to hundreds of thousands of readers. But now, even as the social network claims to be cracking down on “fake news,” it is on the verge of ruining us.” To him, the company is a threat “not only to my organization and others like it but also to the ability of citizens in all of the countries subject to Facebook’s experimentation to discover the truth about their societies and their leaders.”

Freedom House president Michael Abramowitz said in a statement that “the use of paid commentators and political bots to spread government propaganda was pioneered by China and Russia but has now gone global. The effects of these rapidly spreading techniques on democracy and civic activism are potentially devastating.”

Abramowitz makes a point that’s important here: What these countries are doing inside and out to influence opinion and undermine factual reporting isn’t new. Historically it’s old. Online it’s old news too, it’s just that now we’re more aware of it than ever in light of Russia’s recent activities. Oh, and apparently Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Reddit never heard of it before. But the use of social media for propaganda has been around as long as trolling.

So on one hand, we might be inclined to shrug and say, huh. We can’t do anything about it. Our current administration sure as hell doesn’t stand to gain from doing anything to fix it. In fact, it even looks like the FCC has more than openly embraced fraudulent opinion influence campaigns if its welcoming stance on anti-net neutrality bots is any example.

The four companies that control online opinion and news aren’t going to do anything about it. In fact, they can barely contain their perpetual amazement that their services are being used this way, and continue to remind us that they’re just bad at their jobs in general. Avoiding accountability for one’s actions isn’t just a job in Silicon Valley. It’s a way of life.

Thus, their cluelessness, whether real or a fabricated PR shield, is weaponized.

In which case, allow me to make a shocking proposal: That the media outlets whose fortunes are slowly being bled out by the companies facilitating democracy’s suffocation stop printing company PR statements as unquestioned fact.

Whenever these companies try to spin yet another defense of the indefensible, that reporters, bloggers, journalists of all stripes stop saying whatever Facebook and Google and Twitter and Reddit want them to, in hopes of access or pageviews. There will be no access when your media outlet is dead.

Stop running the PR recovery campaigns of the companies that are killing you. And question the comfort out of any company that thinks censorship is a solution.

Question these companies like they’re Roy Moore. Don’t agree with unverified claims, and fight to get to the truth of what their company is doing as if your life depended on it.

Or, as if your democracy depended on it.

Images: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Fake ads); Freedom House (Map)

Germany bans children’s smartwatches over privacy concerns

Germany’s telecommunications regulator, the Federal Network Agency, announced a ban today on the sale of kids’ smartwatches, the BBC reports, and encouraged parents to destroy the ones they already own. The agency appears to be taking particular issue with the devices’ abilities to transmit audio from its surroundings. Jochen Homann, the agency’s president, said today, “Via an app, parents can use such children’s watches to listen unnoticed to the child’s environment and they are to be regarded as an unauthorised transmitting system.”

Devices and apps geared towards kids have become a focus of concern when it comes to protecting children’s privacy. In 2015, VTech, a maker of a number of kid’s toys, was hacked, exposing some 6.4 million customers’ data as well as children’s photos and chat logs. The manufacturer of an internet-connected teddy bear also mismanaged its customers’ data, making it easily accessible online. The information was subsequently taken by hackers and held for ransom. Further, a number of companies with apps and websites geared towards children have been both sued by parents and handed financial penalties from the FTC and New York state for illegally collecting information from children under the age of 13. Additionally, privacy concerns have been directed towards smart speakers aimed at children and a doll that not only records kids’ voices without permission, but also allows unauthorized Bluetooth devices to connect to them. Germany banned that doll earlier this year.

Germany’s smartwatch ban comes after a Norwegian Consumer Council report noting that certain brands of kids’ smartwatches transmitted data without encryption, opening them up to breaches. “There is a shocking lack of regulation of the ‘internet of things’, which allows lax manufacturers to sell us dangerously insecure smart products,” security expert Ken Munro told the BBC. “Using privacy regulation to ban such devices is a game-changer, stopping these manufacturers playing fast and loose with our kids’ security.”

Source: BBC

Garmin and Samsung wearables could earn you health care savings

Wearable devices for health and fitness aren’t anything new, of course, but insurance companies aren’t really known for their fast response to tech trends. That may be changing, though, as big companies like Aetna and John Hancock have started offering steep discounts on devices like the Apple Watch, as long as customers use the gadgets to track their activity. Now insurance company UnitedHealthcare is looking to integrate both Garmin and Samsung wearables into its own bring-your-own-device program that rewards members for meeting daily walking goals.

The new program, dubbed UnitedHealthcare Motion, allows you to use a Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro, Gear Sport or Garmin Vivosmart 3 to track your steps and earn up to $4 per day (for a maximum of $1,000 per year) in HSA or HRA credits if you reach the company’s specific fitness goals. These include completing 500 steps within seven minutes six times per day at least an hour apart, completing 3,000 steps within 30 minutes and racking up 10,000 total steps every day. The trackers will be available at a discount (or even free) to plan participants via a dedicated page of the UnitedHealthcare website. Qualcomm is involved in keeping the data secure as it is shared with the insurer via the Motion app, as well as integrating devices that people already own.

While a program like this definitely benefits consumers both monetarily and health-wise, it’s probably more about the insurance company saving money in the long run. “Studies have shown walking can be an effective way to help improve well-being and reduce medical costs,” said Qualcomm’s Dr. James Mault in a statement, “and we are seeing how UnitedHealthcare Motion helps people take charge of their health.”

Source: UnitedHealthcare