Logan Paul loses Google ad deal and YouTube Red projects

After facing backlash for remaining tight-lipped over Logan Paul’s controversial Aokigahara forest video, YouTube has finally spoken. The company has limited the social media star’s ability to earn money from its platform, starting by cancelling his lucrative Google Preferred ad deal. Google’s Preferred program allows brands to publish ads in the videos of the top five percent creators on YouTube. So while Paul can still monetize his videos, he won’t be earning the same money per click like he used to.

In addition, YouTube has also put Paul’s original projects for its ad-free streaming service on hold, including the sequel to his dystopian sci-fi film The Thinning. It was supposed to launch on YouTube Red later this year, but now it’s unclear whether it will ever be released. His character’s fate in Red comedy Foursome also remains unclear, since YouTube has chosen not to feature him in season four.

Paul was heavily criticized for posting a video showing him and his friends laughing and joking around upon coming upon a dead body inside the Japanese forest. (Aokigahara near Mt. Fuji is known as one of the most prevalent suicide sites in the world.) Critics slammed him for being disrespectful of the suicide victim and claiming that his video was meant to raise mental health awareness.

Source: Kotaku, Hollywood Reporter

Malware charged for 13-year spying spree

You don’t need an elaborate crime ring (or a government agency) to write malware that spies on others — sometimes, just one person can be responsible. The US Department of Justice has charged Ohio resident Philip Durachinsky with 16 crimes for allegedly writing malware, nicknamed “Fruitfly,” that gave him unfettered access to the PCs of “thousands” of individuals and institutions between 2003 and January 2017. Reportedly, he not only stole sensitive data to use for fraud and blackmail (such as logins, embarrassing chats and medical records) but took screenshots, logged keystrokes and spied on people through their webcams.

The DOJ also alleged that Durachinsky used victims’ PCs as a kind of malicious search engine. Fruitfly would alert him when users typed in words associated with porn, helping him save “millions” of images and take “detailed notes.” The charges (which mostly cover violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Wiretap Act) include an indictment for the production of child porn, but it’s not clear to what degree the images or the eavesdropping were involved.

Whether or not the charges are validated in court, the claims serve as not-so-subtle reminders that backdoor malware can sometimes be created for entirely personal reasons, not just by gangs looking for profit or spies collecting intelligence. You don’t have to be an obvious target to be a victim, and good security policies are important even if you don’t think you have anything particularly valuable.

Source: Department of Justice

Amsterdam will limit Airbnb rentals to 30 days per year

Last year, Amsterdam limited Airbnb rentals to no more than 60 days in a calendar year but that is about to be halved according to a report from DutchNews.nl. The city’s executive board agreed to the proposed shortened limit today and housing alderman Laurens Ivens said, “I recognize that reducing the length of time is not the solution to city congestion but it will reduce the problems caused by tourists in some areas and will make it less inviting to use your home as a way to earn money.”

Amsterdam isn’t the only city to impose rental limits on Airbnb hosts. London set a 90-day limit last year and Paris has set a maximum of 120 days per year. New York state has had a long-standing law against short term rentals, making any rental less than 30 days illegal. And in 2016 it took that a step further, declaring ads for short term rentals, like those posted on Airbnb, Kayak and others, also illegal. New York has butted heads with Airbnb a few times, as has San Francisco.

In response to Amsterdam’s new 30-day limit, Airbnb’s public policy manager for the Netherlands and Nordics, Bo de Koning, said in a statement, “The Airbnb community – which consists of 19,000 Amsterdam hosts – is disappointed by your announcement this morning to favour big hotels over local families who occasionally share their homes.”

The new limit will go into effect next year.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: DutchNews.nl

Apple orders sci-fi drama from ‘Hunger Games’ director

Apple is pulling out all the stops when it comes to landing original shows. Deadline has learned that the tech firm has ordered an “epic, world-building” sci-fi drama series that would not only be written by Steven Knight, the creator of British crime drama Peaky Blinders, but would be directed by The Hunger Games’ Francis Lawrence. It’s not known who would star or even how long the initial run would be (it’ll “likely” consist of eight episodes), but it would come from the same scripted series unit that gave Apple the Octavia Spencer thriller Are You Sleeping?

This is the fourth scripted show Apple has obtained since hiring the execs who secured Breaking Bad to run its video programming team. It’s still not certain what Apple intends to do with these productions once they’re ready (start a direct Netflix rival? Tack them on to Apple Music?), but See is consistent with the company’s pattern so far: it’s interested in productions with big names attached, whether they’re in front of or behind the camera. It reportedly has $1 billion to spend on originals, and the focus appears to be on quality over quantity.

Source: Deadline

Siri Gains Info About Tennis and Golf Tournaments Ahead of Australian Open

Siri has been updated with additional sports information, allowing the personal assistant to provide details about a range of tennis and golf events. Siri’s new knowledge has been introduced just ahead of the Australian Open, which is set to kick off this weekend, and it joins other sports data Siri offers for baseball, basketball, hockey, and football.

As noted by 9to5Mac, Siri can provide information on both upcoming tournaments and past events from recent years, along with details on player backgrounds and statistics.

For tennis, the personal assistant can answer queries about the ATP world tour and the Women’s Tennis Association, offering up data from 2016-2018. For golf, Siri can provide details about men and women’s PGA and LGPA tours.

The new golf and tennis data available from Siri is accessible on iOS devices running the latest version of iOS, and it is also available on Macs, the Apple TV, and the Apple Watch.

Tag: Siri
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Missing plane: U.S. firm uses its tech in new search for Malaysia Airlines jet

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, when it suddenly disappeared off the radar. Despite an extensive and costly search effort covering vast parts of the southern Indian Ocean, the aircraft and its 239 crew and passengers are yet to be found.

Relatives and friends of those on board, as well as the aviation industry itself, are desperate for answers, but the events of that fateful night remain a mystery.

But now, following months of negotiations, U.S. seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity is offering some hope. The company has signed a contract with the Malaysian government that will allow it to use its powerful search technology to explore another part of the ocean on a “no find, no fee” basis.

Ocean Infinity’s vessel, Seabed Constructor, is already on its way to the search area in the southern Indian Ocean, with the deep-sea exploration scheduled to begin on January 17.

The Texas-based company will receive as much as $70 million if it finds the aircraft, the Malaysian government confirmed this week, and it has just 90 days in which to do so.

Initial search

A lengthy multi-national search carried out by Malaysia, China, and Australia covered almost 50,000 square miles of the southern Indian Ocean but was called off at the start of 2017 after failing to locate the plane, a Boeing 777.

Ocean Infinity will focus on a region of around 10,000 square miles identified as an area of interest by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau believes there is a “high probability” that the plane is located somewhere in that zone.

Ocean Infinity

Seabed Constructor has 65 crew on board and is carrying eight autonomous underwater vehicles that can search in greater detail (with HD cameras and an array of sensors), as well as four times faster, than earlier efforts.  Six unmanned surface vessels work with the underwater vehicles for precise positioning and communications, Ocean Infinity says on its website.

It’s the first time the company has taken on such a project, but its experience using deep-sea technology for seabed mapping and imaging, marine geological surveys, and environmental monitoring stands it in good stead.

Unsurprisingly, there’s been plenty of speculation about what might have happened to MH370, from some form of mechanical failure to deliberate actions by someone on board. Hopefully, Ocean Infinity can finally locate the aircraft to once and for all solve this lingering mystery.

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Facebook’s Messenger Kids app arrives on Amazon Fire tablets

Facebook launched a Messenger app just for kids this past December, but it was only available on iOS. Now the app is available on Amazon’s app store for Fire tablets as well. While it might not help counter the current worries over connected gadget addiction, the app has some built-in features to help limit kids exposure to undesirable content and people.

The app has parental controls that limit video calls and messages to approved family and friends. Kids can engage in group or one-on-one video calls, adding age-appropriate GIFs, frames, emojis, interactive masks, Facebook reactions and sound effects to their chats. Adults can chat with kids via the adult version of Messenger, too, so there’s no need for a separate app if you’re a grandparent or parent. The app works via WiFi so there’s no phone number needed for kids to use the app.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Facebook

Kickstarter’s lasting effect on consumer tech is on full display at CES 2018

Crowdfunding site Kickstarter has been around for the better part of a decade, but you could argue that CES 2018 is its breakout year when it comes to lasting effects on the industry. No less than 250 of the companies exhibiting on the show floor began as Kickstarter projects, and 2018 marks the first year Kickstarter has an actual booth.

Julip Terra, director of technology and design for Kickstarter, stopped by the Digital Trends booth at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon to provide some details on what Kickstarter is up to, as well as to explain why after nine years the company finally decided to have a physical presence at the show.

forTerra says that having the booth helps illustrate how his company is moving beyond just funding, and toward a comprehensive solution g bringing products from concept to prototype and then mass market release. At any given time, Kickstarter hosts nearly 1,000 design and tech gadgets looking for funding, he said, and all Kickstarter projects must have working prototypes.

This in theory should prevent the biggest potential problem with any crowdfunding effort: a project that’s funded and never makes it to market, leaving supporters high and dry. It still happens — DigitalTrends has covered quite a few of these fails in the past — but this at least gives backers some comfort in knowing that Kickstarter itself is working to keep scams and dubious projects off the service.

For those that pass muster, Kickstarter doesn’t merely help them raise money. One effort called Hardware Studio helps startups get products to market through education on the manufacturing process and connections to hardware providers.

Another effort — currently in “private beta” — is called Drip. You can think of the service as kind of a Patreon for tech innovators. Instead of supporting a particular Kickstarter, backers here would be able to “subscribe” to creators, and support their efforts through a monthly contribution.

Terra admitted that even Kickstarter isn’t exactly sure yet how Drip will actually work, but did point to it as an exciting new way to spur innovation in the technology sector. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

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Boeing’s beast of a drone can carry up to 500 pounds of cargo

Perhaps the only surprising thing about Boeing’s remotely controlled octocopter is that it’s taken it this long to make one.

The aerospace company unveiled this meaty flying machine on Wednesday and claims it has the potential to transform the way we carry heavy payloads over relatively short distances.

Described by Boeing as an “unmanned electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) cargo air vehicle (CAV) prototype,” the octocopter took just three months to build and measures 4.57 meters by 5.49 meters. It weighs more than 700 pounds and can carry payloads of up to 500 pounds. To give that a bit of context, the much, much smaller Phantom 4 consumer drone made by DJI can hardly manage 2 pounds. Yes, Boeing’s creation is a beast.

The company’s chief technology officer, Greg Hyslop, said the new air vehicle represents “another major step in our Boeing eVTOL strategy,” adding, “We have an opportunity to really change air travel and transport, and we’ll look back on this day as a major step in that journey.”

A short video (above) posted by Boeing this week shows the hefty machine lifted into the air by its eight counter-rotating sets of blades. But the enormous scale of the design is only apparent in the few brief shots in which you can see some of the team standing right by it.

“It’s fully electric on some Boeing custom-designed batteries,” says David Neely of Boeing Research and Technology. “The goal is to extend into a large-scale cargo platform; if you extend the range and extend the payload a little bit [we can] deliver 250 to 500 pounds over a 10 or 20 mile radius [and] change the way we deliver goods.”

The unveiling comes just months after Boeing acquired Aurora Flight Sciences, a world-class developer and manufacturer of advanced automated drones and aerospace platforms. Hyslop said at the time that the two companies would work together to “advance the development of autonomy for our commercial and military systems [and] open new markets with transformational technologies.”

One thing springs to mind with Boeing’s beast. If Amazon gets wind of the technology, it may be keen to incorporate it into its own Prime Air drone, paving the way for flying televisions and other heavy goods for delivery to customers.

But of course, with drone delivery platforms of all shapes and sizes, strict regulatory hurdles still need to be overcome before they can go into operation.

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Indiegogo stops by DT’s booth at CES to show off some cool crowdfunding projects

Crowdfunding is hot right now, but what do creators do once they’ve got the money? That’s the question Indiegogo wants to answer, and its CEO David Mandlebrot stopped by the DT booth at CES 2018 in Las Vegas to discuss that question and show off some neat new Indiegogo projects.

The company’s current focus is on a concept-to-market approach, where the crowdfunding site provides assistance to creators before, during, and after the crowdfunding experience. One example is Travis the Translator, a successful crowdfunding campaign for a device that can translate from and to 80 languages.

Mandlebrot says that Indiegogo assisted the Travis team by connecting them with partner Arrow Electronics. Arrow, in turn, helped Travis source parts to make its innovative handheld translator a reality.

But it’s not always about tech: Mandlebrot says that there’s typically a 50/50 split between tech gadgets and other useful inventions when it comes to crowdfunding projects. He had one such invention to show off at the DT booth called the Mifold — think of it as a booster seat without the boost. Instead of the child sitting on a seat that allows the safety belt to safely restrain him or her, the Mifold instead brings the top part of the belt down to the child’s shoulder, where it can safely restrain them without causing discomfort.

Of course, we’re a tech site here at DigitalTrends, so Mandlebrot had plenty to show us, including a new type of VR system called the VR Free by SensoryX. These new type of gloves include built-in sensors to track finger movements without the need for any other tracking devices, which the company claims makes its offering more immersive, intuitive, convenient, and precise.

We were impressed with the demo they showed us at the booth, which really seemed to allow for fine movements — like playing a virtual piano — that might be more difficult to do with other platforms.

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