The next Huawei superphone may have 3 camera lenses

What’s better than two? Three, if you’re Huawei, at least that’s what it seems from some accidentally leaked marketing material. Huawei has used two camera lenses on its smartphones, to great effect, for several years; but in the near future it may add a third lens to the line up. A feature referred to as a, “Pro triple-lens Leica rear camera,” is talked about in the advertising copy, with the blurb promising, “super clarity pictures and perfect light in all scenarios. Effortlessly.”

Evleaks/Twitter.com

It goes on to say these three lenses will take 40 megapixel shots with a 5x hybrid zoom feature. Currently, the Mate 10 Pro has 20-megapixel and 12-megapixel camera lenses on the back, with a 2x hybrid zoom. A further ad says the camera on the unidentified smartphone will have a new sensor and new optics, which will let in 100-percent more light for excellent lowlight pictures, with no need for a tripod.

Evleaks/Twitter.com

One of the posters talks about the selfie camera, which will also see a significant upgrade, if the content is real. The “Pro Selfie Camera” will apparently perform better in lowlight, producing sharper 24-megapixel images than previous cameras. Again, the word effortlessly is repeated, and another image explains why. It’s related to Huawei’s artificial intelligence efforts, which have already been used in the Mate 10 Pro’s camera for scene recognition. This will also be part of the new camera, should it come about, and be joined by an automatic framing tool for setting up the best possible shot.

These are bold, exciting claims, so where do they originate? The Huawei and Leica co-branded advertising apparently showed up in a digital artist’s portfolio at an agency known to work with Huawei. The four pictures were collectively published by @evleaks on Twitter. It’s not known if these are genuine mock-ups for a future campaign, or simply creative concepts and not based on real features. If a three-lens camera is coming to a Huawei phone, what device could it be? The posters mention the Huawei PCE Series, which could be a brand-new device collection for the company, or a code name for the next major release, likely to be a follow-up to the Huawei P10 and potentially called the P11.

None of this is official, and rumors have barely begun to spread regarding Huawei’s near-future device plans, so treat this as speculation — just very intriguing and exciting speculation — for now.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Huawei Mate 10 Pro review
• Huawei Mate 9 review
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro vs. LG V30: Can Huawei’s A.I. beat LG’s edge-to-edge screen?
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs. Huawei Mate 10 Pro: Which phablet reigns supreme?
• Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are here — with some strange differences

The Morning After: Wednesday, December 6th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to Wednesday, where the line between phones and PCs is blurrier than ever, and we’re entering a new round of Google vs. Amazon.

Thanks to mobile CPUs.‘Always Connected’ Windows 10 PCs have 20 hours of battery life

Late last year, Microsoft announced plans to make Windows 10 work on ARM CPUs — usually used in phones and tablets — and now we’ve seen the first real devices. The HP Envy x2 and the ASUS NovaGo both have Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chips inside, but run all your usual Windows programs. The best part is that, just like phones, they’re instantly on and promise incredible battery life. Plus, AMD is getting in on the trick.

Ooops.How not to store your bitcoin

Some finicky software, a broken laptop and the skyrocketing value of bitcoin combine to make for one epic tale.

Here we go again.Google is blocking YouTube on Amazon’s Echo Show and Fire TV

Amazon only recently brought YouTube back to its Echo Show, and now Google says it will block the company’s devices again. Google is ticked off because Amazon isn’t selling some of its hardware or making Prime Video work with Cast, putting the two at odds.We’ll see who blinks first (or ever).

Yes, we know you would rather use microSD.Samsung’s 512GB chip will put PC-like storage in your phone

So many podcasts.

Choose whatever carrier you like.Apple’s iPhone X is available unlocked and SIM-free in the US

If you’re paying $1,000 or more for a new handset, you should be able to choose your network at will, and now you can.

But wait, there’s more…

• Marvel is making a scripted ‘Wolverine’ podcast for Stitcher
• HQ’s live trivia is coming to Android in time for the holidays
• The iPhone 8 goes up against the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
• Netflix cuts ties with Danny Masterson following rape allegations
• Honor squeezed more screen into its budget View 10 flagship

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The BBC will teach school kids how to spot fake news

Social networks and search engines are trying all manner of tactics to help users identify fake news, from flagging trusted publishers to relying on readers to spot misinformation. A new initiative from the BBC, however, wants to teach kids how to spot fake news for themselves, instead of relying on the front pages of the internet to do it for them. From March next year, the BBC will begin sending reporters to secondary schools and events, as well as release digital resources, to encourage teenagers to think critically about what they read online.

Up to 1,000 schools could benefit from talks on the topic and classroom activities, including a game developed by animation studio Aardman (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and that will put pupils on the floor of a newsroom. Speaking at an event yesterday, Director-General of the BBC Tony Hall said: “We at the BBC have a real responsibility here.”

“By sharing our journalistic expertise, we want to give young people the skills and awareness they need to be confident about identifying the real news stories, and calling out the fakes.”

Source: BBC News (1), (2)

Facebook is asking random questions to learn more about you

Facebook is trying to get its users talk more about themselves in between all their link shares, photos and videos. Its newest feature for web and mobile called “Did You Know” asks you random questions to tease out info you might never willingly tell anyone yourself. You’ll find the new section when you visit your profile page, waiting for you to answer a few fun (perhaps silly) questions like who your favorite superhero is, your favorite sport, hidden talent, what day of the week you’d rather be and what your absolute dream job is (Friday and astronaut, of course.)

As TechCrunch notes, the feature seems to take on popular teen app “tbh’s” lighthearted approach. “Tbh,” which Facebook snapped up back in October, encourages users to talk positively about other people by asking questions like “Who has the most infectious laugh?” Unfortunately, it took a nosedive in popularity since the purchase.

Unlike “tbh,” this particular feature isn’t a standalone app but a part of Facebook itself. You can cycle through questions to find one you want to answer, and when you do, you can post it as a colorful status update to your wall to show your friends. Or, you can set the privacy to “Only Me” and keep your replies a deep, dark secret.

Source: TechCrunch

Deliveroo fends off ‘gig economy’ criticism with courier insurance

Deliveroo is combating criticism of its employment practices with a new sickness and accident insurance policy for riders. Bicycle, scooter and motorcycle couriers can now access “industry-leading cover” — supplied by Bikmo, a cycle insurance specialist, through benefits site Perkbox — for £1.85 per week. With this, people who are unable to work because of illness or an accident can claim 75 percent of their average weekly earnings for up to 26 weeks. The average amount will be based on their gross income — before tax and national insurance — in the 12 months prior to the claim.

The policy also grants riders to £2,500 in annual medical expenses cover, £2,000 for dental repair, £200 for phone damage caused during an accident, £700 for jury service cover, and £1,500 annual cover for overnight hospital stays, as well as £750 for accompanying family members. Taken as a whole, Deliveroo says the insurance policy is “cheaper than comparable products for people working in the on-demand economy.” In addition, cyclists can take out public liability insurance — legal cover should they injure a member of the public or cause property damage — for 65 pence per week, covering costs up to £2 million.

Deliveroo has enjoyed extraordinary growth since it launched in 2013. The company stood out with its legion of lycra-clad couriers — removing the requirement for restaurants to have their own drivers — and big-name restaurant partnerships including Byron, Zizzi and PizzaExpress. The way it employs riders, however, has been called into question. Delivery personnel are currently treated as self-employed, limiting their rights and job security. Some ministers believe they should be classified as “workers” instead — a fuzzy middle-ground between self-employed and full-time work that would give them the right to the national living wage, minimum levels of paid holiday, and basic protections against discrimination.

Uber falls into the same camp. Some of its drivers have successfully challenged their self employed status, much to the company’s chagrin. (It’s currently trying to appeal the decision.) The government is now debating regulatory reform. In July, Matthew Taylor completed an independent review of modern work practices for the government. As part of that work, Deliveroo argued that the law should be changed in one of two ways: create a whole new category of employment, or allow companies to offer self-employed people additional rights. Two parliamentary groups have since argued that gig economy drivers should be treated as workers by default.

The UK government needs to make a decision. According to the Guardian, it was going to make an announcement later this month. Those plans have been shelved, however, due to fears that right-wing party members will kick up a fuss. That would reflect poorly on a government that is already struggling with Brexit negotiations. It’s not clear, then, if or when the law will be updated to reflect the rise in Deliveroo and Uber workers. In the meantime, individual cases will be examined by the courts, providing legal precedent for subsequent people who believe they deserve better rights.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Hopes Apps Pulled From China’s App Store Will One Day Return

Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday he is optimistic that some apps pulled from China’s App Store to comply with regulatory rules will eventually be reinstated (via Reuters). Cook made the comments at the economic Fortune Forum in the southern city of Guangzhou, in the latest stint of his week-long China visit.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at World Internet Conference in Wuzhen (Image: Reuters)

“My hope over time is that some of the things, the couple of things that’s been pulled, come back. I have great hope on that and great optimism on that,” Cook said, adding that he always tries to find areas to work together and if he gets criticized for that, so be it.

Apple has come in for criticism from local users and rights groups for acceding to government requests that it pull some apps from its Chinese App Store, including VPN services used to gain access to online services banned in China.

During the Forum, Cook also said that he believes strongly in freedoms – a comment that has been interpreted as response to a U.S. democratic senator’s remarks on Tuesday that Apple had a moral obligation to promote freedom of expression.

“[T]ech companies must continue to push back on Chinese suppression of free expression,” Vermont senator Patrick Leahy told CNBC. Leahy said he believed Apple was in danger of not fulfilling its “obligation to promote free expression and other basic human rights.”

In October, senators Leahy and Ted Cruz wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking why the company removed third-party VPN apps from its App Store in China.

Apple responded in a letter, explaining that it had “questioned the legal basis of the request” and had provided formal comments on Chinese cybersecurity law through trade associations. However, Apple stopped short of condemning the Chinese government’s censorship, instead telling the senators that “actions are our most powerful statement.”

Cook kicked off his China visit on Sunday, at the country’s state-run World Internet Conference, which aims to develop an “open” digital economy, despite its regular practice of online censorship and regulation.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: China, Tim Cook
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Google Maps ‘Two-Wheeler’ Mode Launches In India, More Countries to Follow

Google debuted a new “two-wheeler” mode for Google Maps on Tuesday as part of its Google India media event in New Delhi. The biker-based feature joins the existing driving, walking, and public transit modes for Google Maps users in India looking for the fastest possible directions to their intended destination.

Image via India Today
The new mode for motorcycle and scooter users shows trip routes that use “shortcuts” not accessible to other vehicles, and provides customized traffic and arrival time estimates.

The two-wheeler mode also shows major landmarks along the planned route to help riders who rely on them for navigation, as is often the case in India.

#LookBeforeYouLeave to get where you need to, faster with directions and voice navigation mode for two-wheeler riders in @googlemaps#GoogleForIndia pic.twitter.com/TkktD4T9s0

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) December 5, 2017

Like offline maps when they first launched, the two-wheeler mode for Google Maps is only available in India to begin with, but Google says the feature will roll out to more countries in the coming months. It’s unclear at present where “two-wheeler” mode will sit in relation to Google Maps’ existing cycling directions, but rider safety, speed, and designated routes are sure to differ.

Tags: Google Maps, India
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Amazon Prime Video App Launches on Apple TV

It’s been six months since Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Amazon Prime Video would be coming to Apple TV later this year, and now that app is officially beginning to roll out to tvOS devices in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several other regions across Europe.

Similar to other versions of Amazon Prime Video, the Apple TV app allows Prime subscribers to sign into their accounts and watch Amazon Prime exclusive TV series, as well as browse a collection of movies. Users can add shows and movies to a watchlist, sync their watchlist across devices, and use Amazon’s X-Ray feature to look into the actors and crew members behind each show and movie.

Universal Search nows supports Amazon Prime Video, allowing users to search for videos using the native Search function on their devices, while version 5.0 of the accompanying iOS app also supports iPhone X displays. While the tvOS app is a separate component of the installation, Amazon Prime Video is said to be available on pre-app store third-generation Apple TVs as well as fourth-gen and 4K Apple TVs, according to the release notes. (We’re waiting for clarification on generational support.)

Prior to its official launch, there were numerous release date rumors surrounding the Amazon Prime Video tvOS app. The first pointed to its launch on the day of the iPhone X keynote event, and then a separate report from Recode countered that rumor with sources that claimed the app would not be ready at that time. Later in September, the next rumor predicted its launch alongside Thursday Night Football, and when that date came and went the most recent rumor — sourced from a Redditor claiming to work for Amazon — predicted an October 26 debut.

Yesterday, a redditor opened up the App Store and saw an Amazon Prime Video story as the top feature in the “Today” section, after he had manually turned his device’s clock forward by a day. He linked the section on reddit, which other users were able to see temporarily before the content was pulled by Apple. The “Today” App Store description in question specifically referenced Amazon Prime Video for Apple TV, which was finally launched today.

Amazon Prime Video was one of the last remaining streaming service holdouts to release a tvOS app, so users will now be able to rely on the 4th and 5th generation Apple TV devices a little more without having to use a PlayStation 4, Fire TV, or Roku to jump to Amazon’s video catalog. In terms of other Apple products with Amazon Prime Video apps, users can also watch Prime shows on iPhone and iPad with the company’s iOS app [Direct Link], which also supports downloading select videos to view offline.

Tim Hardwick contributed to this article.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTags: Amazon, Amazon Prime VideoBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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A popular virtual keyboard leaked the personal data of 31 million users

It seems there’s been another sizable data leak, this one affecting 31 million users of the popular customizable virtual keyboard app Ai.type.

The personal information — all 577GB of it — was exposed online because the Israel-based maker of the app had failed to secure its database server, according to Kromtech Security Center, which exposed the leak.

Reports suggest that the data in question, which has been verified by ZDNet, includes full names and email addresses of Ai.type users, as well as dates showing when the cross-platform app was installed. Each record also reveals the user’s registered location, such as their city and country.

For reasons currently unclear, some of the leaked information is reported to also include details linked to Google profiles, such as birth dates, genders, and profile pictures. Around 10 million email addresses were also found, as were some 373 million phone numbers seemingly taken from the contacts of registered users’ phones, though as ZDNet pointed out, “It’s not clear for what reason the app uploaded” such data.

The app’s website insists that information input by those using Ai.type is “encrypted and private”, but it appears the database was not encrypted, with researchers claiming that at least some of the text entered on the keyboard was being recorded and stored by the startup.

The app’s creator, Eitan Fitusi, told Digital Trends that far from spying on users, any collected input data is simply “statistical information” used to help power the app’s AI prediction engine. Fitusi added that the input data is “non-personal” so it can’t be connected to a particular user or device.

It seems that users who downloaded the freemium version of Ai.type had more data exposed than those with the paid version as the free one collects more information from devices. Also, the misconfigured database seems to have contained information linked only to Android users of the app, meaning that data belonging to the app’s iOS users is unaffected. All data has now been secured by the startup, ZDNet reported.

Ai.type users will, however, be relieved to learn that no passwords or payment details were kept on the server.

Elementary error

In what appears to have been an alarmingly elementary error, the server reportedly had no password protection, opening up the data to internet users who could then browse, download, or even delete the information held on it.

Ai.type uses artificial intelligence to help users type faster and more accurately. DT listed it earlier this year as a decent virtual keyboard app for emoji fans as it lets you put the colorful characters front and center in a couple of taps.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Australian companies may soon be using a national facial recognition database
• 1Password comes to Microsoft Edge as an extension, but you still need software
• Google estimates 1.9 billion usernames are available on the black market
• Facebook will soon make it easier to see who paid for political ads
• OnePlus announces it will allow users to opt out of data-collection program

Flipkart will sell the Pixel 2 at an unbeatable price of ₹39,999 in India

Flipkart is rolling out the best smartphone deal of 2017.

The Pixel 2 made its debut in India a month ago, but the phone’s starting price of ₹61,000 ($950) effectively made it a non-starter in the country. That’s all changing later this week, as Flipkart is rolling out a massive discount on the phone that will see the Pixel 2 being available for just ₹39,999 ($620). That’s a flat ₹20,001 discount ($330), making it one of the best smartphone deals of 2017.

Flipkart is rolling out the promotion as part of its Big Shopping Days sales event. The Pixel 2 isn’t getting a flat ₹20,001 discount: the retailer is instead slashing the price by ₹11,001, and then issuing a ₹10,000 off on all credit and debit cards, bringing the effective price of the Pixel 2 down to ₹39,999.

Again, that’s a fantastic price for a phone that was launched just over a month ago. As a refresher, the Pixel 2 has a 5.0-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 12.2MP camera, 8MP front shooter, IP67 dust and water resistance, and a 2700mAh battery.

If you’re interested in the Pixel 2, this is the deal for you.

It doesn’t have the 18:9 display as the Pixel 2 XL, but it does feature a Samsung-made panel, which doesn’t have any of the shortcomings of its larger sibling. Best of all, you get the same stunning camera as the Pixel 2 XL. I’ve been using the phone for just over a week now, and the camera is fantastic.

Flipkart is also offering a buyback guarantee of ₹36,500 if you turn in the Pixel 2 before twelve months. The sale kicks off tomorrow, December 7, and is valid until December 9. There’s no mention of how many units are available under the promotion, so if you’re interested in getting your hands on the Pixel 2 for under ₹40,000, best act fast.

Who’s picking up a Pixel 2 tomorrow?

See at Flipkart