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
• Facebook Résumé? The feature is in testing, company confirms
• Cribitt app wants to help New Yorkers find an apartment fast
• 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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How to download and install MIUI 9 on the Redmi Note 4

It’s a straightforward process to update to MIUI 9 on the Redmi Note 4.

Xiaomi has started rolling out the stable build of MIUI 9 to its devices in India, with the Redmi Note 4, the Mi Mix 2, and the Mi Max 2 included in the first wave. The company kicked off the OTA update to the Redmi Note 4 at the start of the week, and if you haven’t received the notification yet on your device, here’s what you can do.

How to download MIUI 9 on the Redmi Note 4

The fastest way to download the MIUI 9 update is through the Updater app. With the stable build now rolling out widely, all you have to do is see if the OTA is available for your device. Here’s how you can do that:

Locate the Tools folder on the home screen.
Open the Updater app from the list.

You should already see the update information filled in. Tap Update to initiate the download.

If you don’t see the update listed, select the action overflow button (the three vertical dots on the top right corner).
Select Download update.

The update should automatically start downloading.

It should be as easy as that. However, I’ve been trying to update to MIUI 9 for the last three days using this method, and have been running into problems while installing the OTA update. The download goes through just fine, but I see an “Update failed, download full ROM” message when trying to install the update.

If you’re seeing a similar error, then you’ll have to download the full ROM from Xiaomi, and use fastboot to flash the ROM onto your Redmi Note 4.

How to flash MIUI 9 on the Redmi Note 4

The fastboot image for the MIUI 9 stable build is now available for the Snapdragon 625 variant of the Redmi Note 4, making it relatively easy to make the switch to the latest version of Xiaomi’s custom ROM. Here’s what you need to download before we get started:

• Redmi Note 4 (SD625 version) fastboot image (1.8GB)
• Mi Flash v7.4.2.5 (46.5MB)

Once the downloads are finished, extract the fastboot image (the file will be in .tgz format), and install Mi Flash on your computer. You’ll then need to put your Redmi Note 4 in fastboot mode. Power off your device, and then press and hold the power and volume down keys simultaneously. you should see the Mi Bunny and the fastboot logo after about five seconds.

After getting to the fastboot screen, connect your phone to the PC and launch Mi Flash. Use the Select button to browse to the folder path of the extracted ROM, and hit Ok to load the fastboot image into Mi Flash. Then select the Clean all button at the bottom right corner, and then hit the Refresh button. Mi Flash should be able to detect your device, and it should look something like this:

Now hit the Flash button. Wait until the bar turns green, and you’ll see a success message:

Once the ROM is flashed onto your device, it should automatically reboot and upgrade to MIUI 9. The latest version of MIUI comes with several new features, including a new image editor, a brand-new notification pane with bundled notifications, native split screen mode, and so much more.

Your turn

Did you install MIUI 9 on your Redmi Note 4 yet? How are you liking the new additions? Let us know in the comments below!

Facebook explains bizarre revenge porn prevention program

When Facebook revealed its experimental porn prevention program in Australia, it raised a lot of eyebrows. After all, you’ll first need to upload your sensitive images if you don’t want them to get posted by anybody else. Now, Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis has defended the test feature in a post that also explains how it will work in detail. She clarified that it’s “completely voluntary” and that Facebook will still remove any intimate images you report, hash them and prevent them from being uploaded again. This method is merely an “emergency option” for people who want to proactively prevent their photos from being shared.

To participate in the trial, you’ll first have to complete an online form on Australia’s eSafety Commissioner’s official website. You will then be asked to send the images you want to block to yourself on Messenger. The commissioner’s office will notify Facebook that you sent in a form — it won’t have access to your images — so a “specially trained representative” from the social network can review and hash your images.

Whenever someone uploads pictures on Facebook, it checks them against a database of hashes, which are like digital fingerprints and are unique for each photo. Facebook and other internet titans already use the technique to fight the dissemination of child porn online: they keep a database of hashes from known child porn images in an effort to block them.

Davis assures everyone who wants to use the feature that the the company only keeps those number-and-letter hashes and not the photos themselves. Also, Facebook promises that once it’s done hashing your images, you’ll get a notification telling you to delete them from Messenger, so Facebook can also jettison them from its servers. At the moment, only users in Australia have access to the feature, but the social network is reportedly planning (probably depending on user feedback) to roll it out in the US, UK and Canada in the near future.

Source: Facebook

Colorado voters really want city-run broadband service

Internet access and quality varies widely depending on where you live in the US. There’s a huge rural broadband gap that the FCC, companies like Microsoft and the Trump administration have said they’d like to close in the coming years and as Cleveland’s situation shows, service can be drastically different even within the same city. One solution that has been proposed as a fix for spotty or inadequate broadband service is city-run internet, and it’s one that Colorado communities are continuing to back.

Colorado state law requires municipalities to hold public referendums before they can provide services like broadband internet access. And as of Tuesday’s elections, Ars Technica reports, 31 of the state’s 64 counties have opted to allow their local governments to build broadband networks. Voters in Fort Collins, Colorado joined those supporting municipal broadband, approving a ballot measure giving its city council permission to establish a city-run network. The measure passed despite an anti-municipal broadband group that spent nearly half of a million dollars campaigning against it. The group was funded by the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association and the city’s chamber of commerce, which Comcast and CenturyLink are members of. And though it doesn’t mean each of them will actually build their own broadband networks, over 100 cities, towns and counties in Colorado have now passed ballot measures allowing their towns to do so, Motherboard reports.

Other states have been even more aggressive in their attempts to restrict municipal broadband. Earlier this year, a Virginia politician proposed a bill that would make municipal internet nearly impossible to establish throughout the state, and Tennessee sued the FCC in 2015 after it decided that the state couldn’t prevent municipalities from building broadband networks.

The FCC began pushing to clear state restrictions on municipal broadband in 2014 and the following year, passed an order that preempted state laws banning city-run broadband services in North Carolina and Tennessee. However, in 2016, a federal appeals court overruled that order and the FCC opted not to appeal the decision. But that hasn’t slowed down Colorado. “We overcame the opponents’ massive, record-setting negative advertising campaign because we had a group of dedicated and passionate volunteers who believed in our cause,” Glen Akins, a leader of Fort Collins’ pro-municipal broadband group, told Ars Technica. “Big money can buy ad spots and air time but it can’t buy votes in Fort Collins. Affordable, symmetric gigabit broadband will make Fort Collins an even more incredible place to live.”

Via: Ars Technica

Tesla Powerpacks will supply Nantucket’s backup power

Tesla has been boosting power grids all over the world with its Powerpack battery systems and now its energy storage products are heading to Nantucket, Electrek reports. The island will host over 200 Powerpacks that will serve as backup power and grid stabilizers for Nantucket’s 11,000 permanent residents and nearly 40,000 seasonal visitors.

Nantucket’s power is supplied by two submarine cables that connect to Cape Cod, and two six-megawatt diesel generators supply backup power when the main electricity supply fails. Those generators need to be replaced in the near future and National Grid has been looking into battery systems as an alternative power support. It recently selected Tesla as its battery supplier and the company will build a 48 megawatt-hour energy storage system which will be supported by one generator. This set up not only provides necessary electricity backup, but will also stabilize the grid during times of high energy demand. An additional submarine cable will likely be needed in the future in order to support growing energy demands, but the battery system pushes that need off by another ten years at least, according to National Grid.

Tesla already has some experience when it comes to powering small islands. Its Powerpacks are already being used on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, the American Samoa island of Ta’u, a resort island in Fiji and North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island. Other Powerpack users include Vermont, California, Australia and, recently, Puerto Rico as it recovers from massive hurricane damage.

Via: Reddit

Source: Electrek

HBO GO/NOW getting all eight Harry Potter movies in 2018

Don’t expect to be very productive this coming January.

There are certain movies that deserve to be watched over and over again, and the entire Harry Potter series falls into this category beautifully. The tale of the Boy Who Lived is one that never gets old, and starting at the beginning of next year, you’ll be able to binge watch all eight titles on HBO GO and HBO NOW.

Business Insider’s Kim Renfro broke the news on Twitter, and the titles will all be available to stream starting on January 1, 2018. On that same day, HBO will also be airing the entire series starting at 9:00 AM ET/PT with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and ending with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

In addition to this, HBO Family will also air each movie in consecutive order starting January 2 and play one title each day at 8:00 PM.

This is the first time the Harry Potter movies have been available to watch on a streaming service, and although most wizards and witches likely already own hard copies of the titles, the fact that we’ll soon be able to take them with us wherever we go is a thing of true beauty.

Google Assistant makes its way to HBO NOW, CBS All Access, and The CW

New T-Mobile app checks if your phone supports Extended Range and VoLTE

The app is called “BYOD Check App”, and it’s available on the Play Store right now.

T-Mobile’s been one of the most disruptive carriers in the wireless space for some time now, and while some of the company’s decisions have created for a fair bit of controversy here and there, there’s no denying the Un-Carrier’s constant push to offer the best wirelss service possible for its subscribers.

Shortly after announcing that its LTE Advanced network is now available in more than 920 markets, T-Mobile just released a new app on the Play Store called “BYOD Check App.” It’s a pretty simple application, but it serves an important purpose.

Once you open up the app and either type in the first eight digits of your phone’s IMEI number or use your camera to scan it, the app will let you know whether or not your device is compatible with T-Mobile’s Extended Range Network and VoLTE.

Phones with either band 12 (700MHz) or band 71 (600MHz) are supported here, and while you can just as easily find this info by doing a quick Google search, having an app right from the horse’s mouth is nice to get that extra bit of confirmation that some folks might want before making the switch.

If you want to download the app for yourself, check the link above.

T-Mobile’s LTE Advanced network now live in over 920 markets