Apple will fix the ‘chaiOS’ text message bug next week

Yesterday, we wrote about the chaiOS bug, which is a specific link that can cause iMessage on iOS and Macs to crash. Today, Apple let us know that a fix is on the way. The chaiOS bug will be patched in a software update next week.

chaiOS was first uncovered by Abraham Masri, who tweeted about the bug. He noted that the cause of the bug was linked to Effective Power, which was first uncovered in 2015. It worked similarly, in that texting someone a link was enough to cause their iPhone to crash continuously. chaiOS won’t cause any permanent damage to your phone, but it’s certainly an annoying little bug that needs to be squashed, so it’s good that Apple is working on a fix.

Spotify’s revamped podcasts will include more photos and video

Spotify announced today that it’s launching a new multimedia format called Spotlight that will pair visual elements like photos and videos with podcasts, audiobooks and other audio content. It’s the first big feature from Courtney Holt, Spotify’s head of studios and video who joined the company last September after Tom Calderone left in August. When Holt was hired, Spotify said that he would be focusing on expanding premium video content as well developing podcast and audio programming offerings. “We are excited to launch Spotlight, a new format that merges great storytelling, news, information and opinion with visual elements all delivered in playlist form across a number of content categories,” Holt said in a statement. “Playlists play an important role in the daily lives of our users bringing them closer to the creators they love.”

At launch, Spotlight will sport content from BuzzFeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Gimlet Media and Refinery29 among others. Some of Spotify’s original series such as RISE, Spotify Singles and Viva Latino will also create content for Spotlight. Spotify says more series will launch next month.

Spotify hasn’t really found a direction when it comes to video. The streaming service developed a handful of original video series including Traffic Jams and Landmark not that long ago, but Spotify decided to cancel many of those shows last October as part of a shift in video strategy. Those shows never really picked up much traction anyway. But the platform has played with other types of video. Earlier this month, in what appeared to be a test, a video loop was paired with a Superorganism song instead of the typical static image and Spotify began including video in playlists like RapCaviar last year. Spotify started to really push its podcast offerings last year as well, adding its own original content and giving podcasts their own dedicated browse tab. Bringing video to podcasts appears to be the next iteration of that push.

Spotlight is only available in the US as of now, but Spotify says it will hit more markets in the near future.

Via: Variety

Source: Spotify

‘Counter-Strike’ tournaments will now stream exclusively on Facebook

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League has got a new home. Starting February 13th, the beginning of its seventh season, it’ll be streamed exclusively on Facebook, along with the ESL One Dota 2 and CS:GO tournament series. ESL, the company behind the tournaments, says that full English and Portuguese coverage will include a “much more advanced” viewing experience than fans are used to, moving beyond stories, clips and select streams, thanks largely to the success of Facebook Watch.

ESL has previously had streaming deals with Own3d, Twitch and YouTube, and says its past broadcast successes have given it confidence to explore new platforms for streaming, even if that means losing out in the short term. Speaking to Polygon, ESL’s senior vice president of media rights and distribution, Nik Adams said, “We may lose 10 or 15 percent of our audience, but then we grow because we reach a new audience.” However, ESL isn’t putting all of its eggs in one basket, as the new deal doesn’t appear to include other ESL tournaments, such as the Intel Extreme Masters and ESL Pro League.

Via: Polygon

Source: ESL Gaming

Nintendo Labo: Overpriced or innovative?

Weird Nintendo is often the best Nintendo, or so it is said. After all, two of its biggest successes (the Wii and the Switch) are far from ordinary consoles. Now, with a year of huge Switch sales behind it, Nintendo is getting even weirder with Labo — cardboard accessories that kids can built themselves and use to immerse themselves in a game’s world. So far, Nintendo has shown off a mini piano, fishing rod, robot fighting suit, remote-controlled robot walkers … and what amounts to a cardboard house with your Switch screen built right into the middle. All of these are controlled in some way by the Switch Joy-Cons.

It’s incredibly unusual and rather inexpensive (the initial sets start at $70), but it’s also the kind of thing that only Nintendo would dream up. Of course, the company’s imagination sometimes takes it to places that don’t work as well (Wii U, Virtual Boy, the list goes on). Many of Engadget’s editors had immediate reactions to Nintendo’s Labo, ranging from disgust to extreme excitement — here are some of the things we’ve been thinking in the day since Labo was made official.

Daniel Cooper
Senior Editor

As far as genius business decisions go, getting otherwise-sensible adults to spend $80 on a sheet of cardboard (not to mention $10 for a tiny sheet of stickers!) is something else. But I can’t begrudge Nintendo, the home of wacky ideas that somehow work, for giving this one a punt, because if anyone can pull it off, it’s them. Although, after watching the announcement video, it’s not yet clear how shoving a Joy-Con… sorry, Toy-Con, into a cardboard house is a good gameplay mechanic.

I wonder if Nintendo hasn’t also put some measure of thought into this as a very basic STEM toy, because it’ll demonstrate to kids how to put stuff together. Who knows? After learning how to assemble a toy fishing rod or robot fighting suit out of cardboard and rubber bands, they might get inspired to do more. I have a feeling that putting the stuff together might provide more entertainment than the mini-games themselves.

Ever since Google started using cardboard as a construction material, it seems like semipermanent gadgets are having a renaissance. The idea that the toys will degrade over time will make some wary about investing, but if you can cram 50 hours of fun out of them before they crumple, it’ll be worth it. My own kid is a couple of years too young for Labo but I might get one anyway — for research purposes, naturally.

And, of course, I want an adult-size version of that robot fighting suit, so I’m down to my local supermarket to scavenge some cardboard.

Devindra Hardawar
Senior Editor

Nintendo’s Labo debut video made one thing clear: Few companies today can elicit the same amount of childlike wonder as Nintendo. I felt that during the initial Switch reveal, which gave us a game console unlike any we’ve ever seen. Now with Labo, Nintendo is in many ways making our childhood dreams come true. Or, well, at least, my childhood dreams of constructing robot suits out of cardboard.

More than anything, Labo is a reminder that Nintendo understands the concept of “play” is about more than just throwing beefier hardware into consoles. Just like with the Wii, it’s going to deliver experiences we’ve never seen before. Of course, there are pitfalls: The kits are too expensive, and who knows how durable these products will be. But it still seems like a low risk for Nintendo. If it fails … well, at least cardboard is cheap.

David Lumb
Contributing Editor

Nintendo’s Labo is a weird stretch for the company — that’s undeniable. Most console owners balk at anything other than the high-octane games they’re used to playing, and kids are forever skeptical of wholesome uses for their sin machines. But Nintendo is a shrewd peddler of delight, and Labo could be the right mix of tactile construction and unexpected experiences that sneaks some learning in alongside the fun.

That’s just taking Nintendo’s new system at face value. Its real potential lies in homebrew hacks of the system. Using the Labo kits’ software as a basis, folks could theoretically find a way to build their own custom game-and-cardboard packs. Inevitably, someone will 3D-print more durable versions of the cardboard kits Nintendo sells, but there’s something awesome about someone paper-printing a design they found on the internet for a cheap one-day project they can hook up to their hacked Switch. Or perhaps if Nintendo continues opening up, it could create a Github-style forum for users to swap their own Labo designs. With Doom on the Switch, anything’s possible.

Kris Naudus
Senior Editor, Buyer’s Guide

Labo might be Nintendo at its peak Nintendoness. Sure, it’s innovative and imaginative and quirky, but what strikes me is how much it makes sense as part of Nintendo’s broader history. Yes, the company was a toy manufacturer at one point (and still is, if you consider Amiibo as more than collectibles). But it’s also another way for Nintendo to maintain control, in the footsteps of actions like manufacturing all the NES cartridges in the ’80s and, more recently, the company’s reluctance to put titles on mobile.

Remember how a decade ago toy and game stores were flooded with cheap plastic peripherals for the Wii? It was embarrassing for everyone involved, and there’s nothing stopping companies jumping on the Switch bandwagon in the same manner and cheapening Nintendo’s latest hit. Except when the company beats them there and does it better and cheaper. Plastic might be cheap, but cardboard completely undercuts it. Parents will also appreciate that once their kids tire of the Labo accessories (and they will), they can just toss it in the recycling bin and buy another kit. Of course, it’s all dependent on what Nintendo charges for future sets because those early prices feel a bit steep.

Mat Smith
Bureau Chief, UK

Those cardboard gadgets,

Nintendo priced ’em real high.

I blame Amiibo.

Classic ‘Macintosh’ Painting by Andy Warhol Estimated to Fetch Up to $30,000 at Auction Next Month

Woodshed Art Auctions has announced it will be auctioning an opaque watercolor painting of Apple’s classic logo by the late Andy Warhol next month.

The painting is part of Warhol’s “Ads” collection from 1985, one year after the original Macintosh launched. It features Apple’s old rainbow logo, which the company used from 1977 to 1998, between Apple and Macintosh word marks.

The painting measures eight inches squared inside a 16.5-inch squared frame, and it is signed by Warhol on the front and back. It is said to be in “very good condition” with archival corners and no adhesives touching the artwork.

While a similar Macintosh canvas painting by Warhol sold for $900,000 at a recent Sotheby’s auction, this gouache painting is on paper, so it is seemingly less valuable. Still, it is estimated to fetch between $20,000 and $30,000.

Warhol, who passed away in 1987, was a famous artist known for his paintings of iconic American items like Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup, and celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Muhammad Ali.

Live bidding opens on the Woodshed Art Auctions website on February 1 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with a minimum bid of $5,000.
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AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile Tout Boosted Cellular Capacity Across Twin Cities in Anticipation of Super Bowl LII

In November, AT&T shared its plans to launch its “5G Evolution” network — which isn’t true 5G — in select areas of Minneapolis as part of its overall plan to boost cellular coverage in the city during Super Bowl LII. This week, three of the major United States cellular carriers — AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile — each outlined their own plans to ensure that customers retain quality coverage in the Twin Cities on the weekend of February 4.

U.S. Bank Stadium via Darb02 / Wikimedia Commons
AT&T said its users can expect “a better mobile experience” in the city, with technology it’s been working on for over a year that combines both permanent and temporary upgrades to the carrier’s cellular connectivity. The company’s $40 million investment in its Minneapolis wireless network boost includes coverage within the U.S. Bank Stadium (where the game will take place), as well as outside the stadium in hotels, airports, and other venues that will see increased traffic in a few weeks.

AT&T’s upgrades:

• Upgraded in-stadium Distributed Antenna System (DAS) offering “nearly 220% more LTE capacity.”
• More than 800 hidden antennas in the stadium to help manage wireless traffic.
• DAS installed at 16 total locations in Minneapolis.
• 10 Cell on Wheels (COWs, or temporary towers) deployed to further support reliability of AT&T’s network.
• 5G Evolution with 256 QAM, 4×4 MIMO, and 3-way carrier aggregation in select areas on supported smartphones.

Verizon predicted a “blizzard” of data usage for the Super Bowl this year, and said it’s been working for two years on preparing the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area for the event. Verizon focused on its more permanent updates, which include boosted performance in the U.S. Bank Stadium and other venues throughout the Twin Cities area.

Verizon’s upgrades:

• 24 new permanent cell sites and more than 230 permanent small cell sites.
• Introduction of LTE Advanced features to 4G LTE network “for greater capacity and faster peak data speeds.”
• Addition of 48 percent more antennas to DAS inside stadium.
• New neural host DAS in Mall of America to boost network capacity by 900 percent.
• Similar system added to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to boost network capacity by more than 1,000 percent.

T-Mobile laid out similar upgrades it’s been working on for the last two years, which it said make its LTE network “the fastest in the Twin Cities.” Those on T-Mobile’s network can expect boosted network capacity in the U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minneapolis Convention Center, Xcel Energy Center, and locations like the Armory, Nicollet Mall, downtown St. Paul, Mall of America, and the International Airport.

T-Mobile’s upgrades:

• Boosting network capacity 30x in U.S. Bank Stadium, 35x in the convention center, and 16x in Xcel Energy Center.
• Doubling the amount of LTE spectrum in the Twin Cities, along with carrier aggregation, 256 QAM, and 4×4 MIMO.
• Deploying more than 120 small cells across Minneapolis and surrounding areas.
• Increasing upload speeds up to 40 percent inside the stadium with Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) technology.

Sprint’s news on boosted Super Bowl network coverage came in a press release last month. Sprint users will get much of the same bonuses as the other carriers, with the company installing a DAS with 800 antennas inside the stadium, as well as small cells installed on lamp posts and street lights throughout Minneapolis. There will also be the “Sprint Magic Box,” which Sprint described as the “world’s first all-wireless small cell” to be placed in hundreds of locations across the Twin Cities to boost indoor data speeds by an average of 200 percent.

Although it won’t launch in time for Super Bowl LII, T-Mobile has also provided more details on its own plans for a true 5G network, while commenting on AT&T’s “#Fake5G” debut in 2017. T-Mobile said its schedule for 5G hasn’t changed, and is still on track to debut nationwide by 2020. The company said it’s been “encouraged” by confirmed chipset and OEM plans to launch wider support for 5G smartphones in 2019, which will initiate broad support for a “real 5G” network.

Tags: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Super Bowl
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Apple Confirms Fix is Coming Next Week for Malicious Link That Freezes Messages App

A software update coming next week will fix an issue that allows a malicious link to freeze the Messages app on the iPhone and iPad, Apple confirmed to MacRumors this morning.

Apple is likely talking about iOS 11.2.5, which is nearing the end of the beta testing period. iOS 11.2.5 beta 6, as we discovered yesterday, does indeed address the issue and prevents the malicious link from working.

We expect to see a final release of iOS 11.2.5 available next week alongside macOS High Sierra 10.13.3, watchOS 4.2.2, and tvOS 11.2.5.

The malicious link first surfaced on Tuesday after it was shared on Twitter. When texted to an iOS device, it is able to cause the Messages app on the iPhone or iPad to freeze up and become unusable. Macs are also affected, and we expect to see a Mac fix in macOS 10.13.3.

A user who receives the link will see their Messages app freeze entirely, and the fix appears to require users to quit out of the Messages app and then delete the entire conversation with the person who sent the link to restore the app to working condition.

The link initially went to a webpage on GitHub, but GitHub took it down on Wednesday, limiting its spread. Most users are not likely to be impacted at this point because the original link has been disabled, but if you do get a text with a bad link before iOS 11.2.5 is released, deleting the Messages conversation is a reliable fix.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Office for Mac 16 Gains Real-Time Collaborative Editing and Other New Features

Office for Mac today received a major update, with Microsoft updating the software to version 16 and introducing new features for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Microsoft is introducing real-time collaborative editing, allowing multiple people to work on the same document at the same time. In Word and PowerPoint, flag icons will let you know what others are working on and what’s been changed.

Changes to documents, worksheets, and presentations stored in the cloud will be saved automatically, and updates will be synced in seconds. A version history will let you roll back to earlier versions of a document if necessary.

Quick access to sites and groups has also been included, with presentations, documents, and worksheets stored in the frequently used sites and groups section in the Open menu.

In addition to collaborative editing, Excel is gaining new chart types, additional functions, improved support for PivotTable charts, and multi-threaded calculation for faster formula updating when values are changed.

PowerPoint includes a QuickStarter function that lets you create an outline complete with suggested talking points and designs, while a new Trim Media tool will let you quickly edit audio and video clips. The mouse can also be used as a laser pointer in Slide Show for highlighting slide content.

Outlook, Microsoft’s email app, is gaining a new feature that will let you archive or delete emails with a swipe across the touchpad, and support for Google Calendar and Contacts has been added.

Along with these feature changes, version 16 of Office 2016 for Mac includes an overhaul of the underlying code for Office, PowerPoint, and Excel, introducing more common code between platforms to ensure better feature parity.

Full details on what’s new in Office for Mac can be found in the release notes shared on Microsoft’s Office 2016 for Mac support site.
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Study spells and take classes on your phone in ‘Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’

Miss out on your letter to Hogwarts? Jam City has partnered with Warner Bros. for the next best thing — a mobile game. OK, maybe it won’t compare to actually going to Hogwarts, but the game, called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery still looks pretty fun.

The game is a role-playing game and you start by creating your character, attending classes, and learning different magical skills. You also form friendships and, as you might expect, become rivals. From there, you make decisions on how you want to progress through Hogwarts into a full-fledged witch or wizard.

The game isn’t available to download just yet. For hardcore fans, you have to head to A Celebration of Harry Potter at Universal Studios from January 26 to 28, where you will get to play the game, get exclusive merch, and even meet members of the team that made the game. The game will finally then be available to a wider audience, on both iOS and Android, in the spring.

“Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a role-playing experience about magic, friendship, and life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” Jam City co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe said in a statement. “We can’t wait to give fans a first look at the game at A Celebration of Harry Potter and this spring, players will be able to explore Hogwarts fully in their journey toward becoming a witch or wizard.”

The game itself is set between Harry Potter‘s birth and the time he first enrolls in Hogwarts — so while you won’t meet Harry himself, there certainly might be references to the Boy Who Lived along the way. In the game, you encounter Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley, who are both students at the time.

We don’t know a whole lot else about the game just yet; how the gameplay works has yet to be revealed. Jam City, however, has developed puzzle games like Snoopy Pop, a bubble shooter, and Paint Monsters, another color-matching game available for iOS and Android. While pricing for the app hasn’t yet been announced, all of Jam City’s other games on Google Play come free with in-app purchases. If you want a little more information about it, head to the Hogwarts Mystery website or follow the game on Facebook or Twitter. You can check out the trailer for the game below.

Editors’ Recommendations

• We’re all wizards now — ‘Pokémon Go’ developer sets its sights on Harry Potter
• Harry Potter label Portkey Games brings the wizarding world to new players
• Niantic promises it won’t abandon Pikachu for Buckbeak anytime soon
• A.I. reads the Harry Potter series, then writes some absurd fan fiction
• Pull out those phones: Another legendary creature is coming to ‘Pokémon Go’

How to use face unlock (trusted face) on the Google Pixel 2

A fingerprint sensor is both secure and fast, but sometimes you want other unlocking methods.

Much was made of the OnePlus 5T’s Face Unlock, but it’s hardly the only Android phone to have a great face-unlocking feature. Google’s own Pixel 2 actually has a great face unlock feature available as part of Smart Lock. And even though the fingerprint sensor is more secure and often faster, some of us want to have other options for unlocking. Whether you’re wearing gloves or have your phone in positions that are awkward to reach behind the phone, it may actually make sense in some cases to unlock with your face rather than your finger.

Here’s how you can set up and use face unlock to unlock your Pixel 2 with just a glance, and a couple ways to make sure you don’t compromise your phone’s security in the process.

Head into your phone’s Settings, scroll down and tap Security & location.
Tap on Smart Lock underneath the Device security subheading.
Confirm your current screen lock, then tap on Trusted face.
Go through the setup process, making sure to keep your face centered in the circle for the whole scanning process.

• It’s helpful to be in a well-lit environment when you first train it, preferably during the day.

After completing initial setup, tap on Improve face matching to make it even better.

• This is particularly important if you wear glasses or regularly change your hairstyle, but can be useful even if you just face a different way or use different lighting for the extra scan.

You can come back and use “Improve face matching” at any time, but for now, you’re finished!

To use face unlock, simply turn on your Pixel 2 to its lock screen. You’ll notice, centered at the bottom of the screen, an icon with the silhouette of a head and shoulders, that means it’s actively looking for a face. If the phone has already recognized you, the face will turn into a padlock that has been unlocked. Just swipe up on the lock screen, and you’re in!

If you haven’t unlocked your phone in a four-hour period, only your PIN, pattern, password or fingerprint will work. (The same goes for restarting your phone, minus fingerprint.) Additionally, by tapping the face icon or padlock on the lock screen will manually lock the phone, so that it can then only be unlocked by your PIN, pattern, password or fingerprint and not your face or other Smart Lock methods.

Stay unlocked, but stay safe!

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

• Pixel 2 FAQ: Everything you need to know!
• Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL review: The new standard
• Google Pixel 2 specs
• Google Pixel 2 vs. Pixel 2 XL: What’s the difference?
• Join our Pixel 2 forums

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