Video: LG G7 canceled + what we know so far about the 2018 flagship

The LG G7 is dead.

With news that the phone originally planned for February launch has been canceled, to be replaced an entirely new product at some point later in the year.

Right before the CES show in January, LG let slip that it would be retiring the “G” brand for its next-gen flagship. Then came the bombshell that the phone which had been in development as the LG G7 had been scrapped by the new CEO. That means LG will be scrambling to bring a new high-end smartphone to market in April — though it’s not clear whether the upcoming model will be completely new, or merely a re-tooling of an alternative design.

Check out our video above to find out exactly what’s going on with LG’s 2018 flagship, and subscribe so you don’t miss everything Android in 2018!

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• LG V30 review
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This limited edition PyeongChang Winter Olympic Galaxy Note 8 is gorgeous, and you can’t have one

Samsung has done it again.

To celebrate the 2018 Winter Olympics coming to PyeongChang, in its home country of South Korea, Samsung has created a wonderful limited edition Galaxy Note 8. And unfortunately, you will never have a chance to own one … that is, unless you are competing in or involved with managing the games this year.

Samsung has made 4,000 of these, officially dubbed the “PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition,” for athletes and Olympic staff to have as part of their Olympic experience. Samsung is also providing a Note 8 to all of the athletes participating in the Paralympic Winter Games.

The limited edition version of the phone is identical to the standard Galaxy Note 8 in terms of specs and capabilities, but has a custom color scheme with a shiny white back glass, black front, gold frame and gold accents including the Olympic inscription on the back. The S Pen is, naturally, white and gold to match. Younghee Lee, CMO and Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics:

Throughout our 20-year legacy as an Olympic partner, Samsung has showcased our support of the Olympic Movement by helping spread the Olympic Spirit and enhance connections through our latest technological innovations and immersive experiences. We’re proud to provide the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition to all athletes in an effort to help them to stay connected, capture and share one of the most memorable moments of their lives.

Naturally this is a nice bit of promotion as well, as Samsung is a “Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment and Computing Equipment category” (yeesh) for the games this year. But Samsung has a knack for releasing specially designed limited edition versions of its phones to align with big cultural and sporting events, and has been involved with the Olympics for 20 years now. With the Winter Olympic Games in its home country this year, everything has aligned perfectly.

You’ll probably never see one of these in person. And though I wouldn’t totally rule out the possibility of someone finding one to sell online after they leave the Olympics this year, you probably shouldn’t count on being able to buy one, either. But we can lust after this white and gold beauty regardless.

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Dallas Mavericks are the latest pro team to accept cryptocurrency

You don’t just have to attend Sacramento Kings games if you’re itching to spend some digital money on a pro sports event. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has confirmed (both to Bloomberg and on Twitter) that his basketball team will start accepting bitcoin and ethereum for ticket purchases during the 2018-2019 NBA season. It’ll also accept tokens from companies with “business relationships.” In short: if you’ve benefited from the bitcoin boom, you can probably score some courtside seats.

The decision isn’t coming out of the blue. While Cuban warned that bitcoin was in a bubble back in June, he also invested in it (not to mention a blockchain fund and Unikrn’s digital tokens) before 2017 was over. He sees enough of a future in cryptocurrency that it only makes sense for his team to support it. You might not see other teams or leagues rushing to follow suit, but it does represent a vote of confidence for the emerging technology.

Next season.

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 16, 2018

Source: Mark Cuban (Twitter), Bloomberg

Samsung designed a 2018 Winter Olympics edition Galaxy Note 8

Samsung has unveiled a sweet-looking Galaxy Note 8 you might never get your hands on. The Korean conglomerate has designed a limited edition version of its extra large phone exclusively for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics participants. It’s fitted with a shiny white back glass to represent snow and wintertime, and it’s adorned with a gold Olympics logo and similarly gold accents as inspired by the Olympics torch. Inside, it’s still the same Galaxy Note 8 everyone else has, minus the pre-loaded PyeongChang 2018 themed wallpapers.

Samsung will distribute 4,000 devices to competing athletes and staff members before the games begin in early February. All Paralympic Winter Games participants will also get cases that feature the Paralympic Games logo to go with their new phones.

Since the company has been an Olympic partner for decades, a special edition for the event is par for the course, especially now that the event is being held in its home country. While it’s unfortunate that this version is exclusively available to Olympics athletes and staff, you may want to cross your fingers and hope that Samsung eventually decides to sell it. The company released the 2016 Olympics edition Galaxy S7 Edge to the public, after all, though it only sold a couple of thousand units worldwide.

Source: Samsung

YouTube implements stricter requirements for partners

YouTube has been under fire for months over inappropriate content masquerading as kid-friendly videos and popular creators acting out of line. Now, Google has introduced stricter requirements for the video platform’s YouTube Partners and Preferred programs over advertiser concerns, which could impact creators’ earnings. To start with, Google will now manually vet videos and ensure they meet its ad-friendly guidelines before adding them to Preferred, a program that offers advertisers access to the top 5 percent content on the platform.

Creators part of Preferred get more per click than their counterparts and have bigger earning potential. The program was recently thrust into the spotlight when it booted popular YouTuber Paul Logan from its roster. Logan was slammed for posting a video showing him and his friends laughing and making jokes upon coming across a body in Aokigahara, Japan’s “suicide forest,” and claiming that his video was meant to raise mental health awareness. Google will finish its manual review of all Preferred channels in the US by mid-February and worldwide by the end of March.

In addition, YouTube has changed the eligibility requirements channels need to be meet in order to earn money from the platform. Starting today, creators can only be part of the program if they have 4,000 hours of watchtime within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers. YouTube says it came upon those new thresholds “after thorough analysis and conversations” with creators. Last year, it slapped a 10,000 channel view minimum requirement on creators who want to apply for YouTube Partnership in order to prevent channels uploading stolen content and low-quality videos from making money. But it’s “been clear over the last few months that [it needs] a higher standard,” YouTube said in its announcement.

Even older channels already earning money on the platform will be affected, though YouTube is giving them until February 20th. They’ll be dropped from the program if they fail to meet the requirements next month, but they can apply again later. The company knows, however, that the new requirements aren’t enough to keep bad actors out. (Toy Freaks, which it had banned for disturbing content targeting kids, had over 8.5 million subscribers, for instsance.) It promised to “continue to use signals like community strikes, spam, and other abuse flags to ensure [it’s] protecting [its] creator community.”

Source: YouTube, AdWords

Malicious Link Texted to Mac and iOS Devices Can Cause Freezes and Resprings

A link that exploits a bug in iOS and Mac devices was shared on Twitter this afternoon, and if you receive this link through the Messages app, your iPhone or iPad can freeze up or respring, and the Messages app can become unusable.

The link, which goes to a Github page, breaks the Messages app and causes problems on both iOS devices and Macs. Simply receiving the link results in issues, likely due to the Messages feature that lets you preview web links. We tested the bad link and while we saw few resprings, it did reliably cause the Messages app to freeze entirely.

The only solution appears to be to quit out of the Messages app and then delete the entire offending conversation to restore full functionality.

These kinds of Message-based bugs have surfaced several times in the past, with text strings, videos, and more crashing the Messages app in the past. Such bugs are not serious, but they can be highly irritating when abused as a prank.

It’s best not to send the link to friends, because it can cause the sending device to freeze up and crash as well. If your device is affected, quit the Messages app on Mac or iOS, open it back up, and immediately delete the entire message thread.

On Mac, you’ll need to swipe right on the trackpad or right click on to the person’s name to delete the conversation, while on iOS, you’ll need to swipe to the right on a person’s name to bring up the delete option.

Blocking the domain using Parental Restrictions may prevent the link from affecting your iOS devices. You can turn on Restrictions on iPhone or iPad by going to Settings –> Restrictions –> Websites and adding “GitHub.io” to the “Never Allow” list.
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Ferrari plans to build an electric supercar after all

Despite Tesla’s lead on the electric vehicle market, large automakers spent 2017 announcing they will transition their gas-powered car models to EVs. But other companies selling more elite vehicles are also throwing their hat in the ring. At NAIAS in Detroit, Ferrari stated it will build its own electric sportscar seven years after its previous president vowed the company would never build an EV.

“If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first,” Ferrari Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne told reporters, according to Bloomberg. “People are amazed at what Tesla did with a supercar: I’m not trying to minimize what Elon did but I think it’s doable by all of us.”

Despite Marchionne’s aspiration to be first past the post, Aston Martin and Volkswagen both claimed in 2017 to already be developing their own electric supercars. Ferrari didn’t announce any details about its future EV, but its model will almost certainly compete with Tesla’s higher-end vehicles. But it’s a sign of the times — and Marchionne’s new tenure — that the company is investing in EVs after former president Luca di Montezemelo flatly denied Ferrari ever would when Engadget asked him back in August 2011:

“You will never see a Ferrari electric because I don’t believe in electric cars, because I don’t think they represent an important step forward for pollution or CO2 or the environment. But, we are working very, very hard on the hybrid Ferrari. This should be the future, and I hope in a couple of years you can see it.”

For the record, Ferrari did end up rolling out a limited-edition hybrid in 2014, and Marchionne vowed to make all of its models hybrid in some way by 2019. However else the company might distinguish its EV from the competition is anyone’s guess, but even the fanciest cars are joining the electric revolution.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from NAIAS 2018.

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook teams up with ‘True Blood’ creators for new series

Facebook’s Watch tab won’t just be chock-full of sports shows and gaming culture. The social site has ordered 10 episodes of Sacred Lies, an adaptation of the Stephanie Oakes novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the Grimm Brothers’ The Handless Maiden). The show revolves around a handless teen who escapes from a cult and is believed to know who killed the cult leader. It’s an intriguing (if not completely original) premise — and importantly, there’s an appropriate pedigree.

The show will be executive produced by Raelle Tucker (shown above) and Scott Winant, who respectively produced and directed True Blood. Winant will also direct the first two episodes. While this is definitely different than True Blood, the reunion might bode well for Sacred Lies. The two also have strong backgrounds elsewhere: Tucker executive produces Netflix’s Jessica Jones and has worked on Supernatural, while Winant has worked on everything from Breaking Bad to Thirtysomething.

There’s no mention of when Sacred Lies will be ready. When it is ready, however, it could add some crucial variety to Facebook’s Watch tab. While Facebook isn’t strictly going toe-to-toe with the likes of Amazon or Netflix, it’s clearly hoping to at least match them in quality and the range of shows on offer.

Source: Deadline

Curve’s payment-switching smart card goes live in the UK

Like the thought of switching payment methods for a purchase long after you’ve left the store? You now have a chance to try it. Curve has launched its smart card in the UK, letting you not only consolidate your credit cards (currently just Mastercard) and debit cards, but switch between them for payments up to 2 weeks after the transaction. If you know you’re going to hit your credit limit, for instance, you can switch a purchase to debit to give yourself some breathing room.

The companion mobile app also adds a slight twist to the smart card formula by placing an emphasis on financial management. You should have a better sense of your spending habits, and you can lock cards if need be. Curve is promising that you can use your cards overseas without currency exchange fees or other unstated costs.

It’s currently free to sign up for a Curve card, although spending £50 for Premium promises additional rewards. Just be ready to wait, especially if you’re outside of the UK. Other European countries won’t get access until sometime later, and the goal is to “eventually” make Curve available worldwide. The question is whether or not there will be enough demand for it. All-in-one cards don’t have a strong track record — and while payment switching is certainly helpful, it’s not necessary for everyone.

Source: Curve

Motorola’s 2018 lineup may include an iPhone X lookalike

Someone might have just spoiled Motorola’s 2018 in a big way. Droid Life has posted a trio of leaks which, if accurate, hint at some big changes to the Lenovo brand’s smartphone lineup. The headliner would be the Moto X5, and it’s not hard to see why: the device reportedly includes a 5.9-inch, 18:9 aspect ratio display with an iPhone X-style notch. There’s no visible fingerprint reader, for that matter, so the X5 is either relying on face detection (the dual front cameras could help with this) or has a fingerprint reader tucked under the screen.

The X5 wouldn’t lean solely on its screen as its selling point: there would also be a “smart AI” helping out, and dual rear cameras to complement those on the front.

Not that the X would hog all the clever ideas. The Moto Z3 and Z3 Play would have tall, curved 6-inch screens but no notch (they’d be closer to the Galaxy S8). Instead, they’d rely on MotoMod support as their selling point — there would even be a 5G mod (mentioned by Moto back in December 2016) to deliver super-fast wireless, presumably without a battery life hit. There may be a third Moto Z with a Snapdragon 845 down the road.

And it wouldn’t be Motorola without updates to its rapidly burgeoning Moto G line. The G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play would bring 18:9 displays to the company’s more affordable phones (5.7 inches in the G6 and G6 Play, 5.93 inches in the G6 Plus), albeit with more familiar designs that include conventional fingerprint readers. Otherwise, they’re speed bumps. The regular G6 would use a Snapdragon 450, while at least the G6 Plus would use a Snapdragon 630. The G6 Plus would get a battery increase to 3,200mAh, and the G6 Play would be a longevity champ with a 4,000mAh power pack.

Only the G6 models have detailed specs and pricing ($240 for the G6, $330 for the Plus), and there’s no definitive launch window. The G6 makes sense for a debut at Mobile World Congress in February, but it could be months more until the other phones arrive. And we’d definitely take these leaks with a grain of salt. Whether or not the rumors are accurate, a lot can change over the course of several months. Motorola may have to scale back its ambitions or otherwise make tweaks before launch.

Source: Droid Life (Moto X), (Moto Z), (Moto G)