If Trump reveals private info, Twitter could take action

It’s clear by now that President Trump isn’t held to the same standards as everyone else on Twitter — or at least, the standards to which Twitter claims to hold everyone else. But now, in an interview with the BBC, Twitter’s VP in Europe Bruce Daisley clarifies what Trump could do that would actually prompt the service to take action: reveal someone’s personal information.

“If someone tweets private information — if someone tweets someone’s private address, phone number — then there are no-go areas where we don’t permit that,” Daisley said in the BBC Radio interview with Emma Barnett. This isn’t the only area in which Twitter would take action, but just an example that Daisley picked. Daisley also clarified that the service wouldn’t necessarily ban Trump from Twitter over such an action. “We would caution him to remove that tweet for sure,” but it’s unclear what further steps would be taken.

Twitter has fallen all over itself trying to explain why Trump’s tweets are allowed to violate its terms of service. His tweets are considered “newsworthy,” so even if they contain a threat, the service won’t suspend or ban the president. That goes for other world leaders as well.

Users of the service have been raising more and more question as to why Trump’s belligerent behavior is allowed to continue on Twitter, especially as he threatens North Korea with nuclear war. “Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets, would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” the service said this week. It’s unclear whether Trump will actually ever cross this line, but if he does, let’s hope that Twitter actually sticks to its rules and does something about it.

Via: The Verge

Source: BBC Radio

Facebook’s video chat device could be released this year

Facebook has long been rumored to be working on a video chat device to leapfrog the smart speaker competition. Now, apparently, financial website Cheddar has sources that say that the $499 device, named “Portal,” will be announced in May with a planned release for late 2018.

Cheddar‘s sources say that Facebook’s first consumer device will be positioned as a way for family and friends to stay in touch with video chat and various social features. Similar to Amazon’s Echo Show, Facebook’s Portal will likely use voice commands, but will also include facial recognition to identify users via a wide-angle lens on the front of the device. Cheddar reports that Portal will be able to connect to streaming services like Netflix or Spotify.

Cheddar also notes that Portal will be sold via pop-up stores and online, and that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself told employees that changing user behavior, not profit, is the goal of this still rumored device. We’ve reached out to Facebook for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Source: Cheddar

Apple Store in Zurich Evacuated Following Incident With Overheated iPhone Battery

The Apple retail store located on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland was evacuated on Tuesday following a situation with an overheated iPhone battery and its injury of a repair worker (via Reuters and Swissinfo.ch). Zurich police said that the incident happened as the worker was removing the battery from the iPhone, subsequently overheating and “slightly” burning his hand.

It wasn’t confirmed which iPhone was the source of the incident, but afterwards smoke began building up within the store, leading to the temporary evacuation of around 50 customers and employees from the premises. In addition to the repair worker, seven other people required medical attention but none were hospitalized.

The police mentioned that Apple staff responded quickly to the overheated battery by sprinkling quartz sand over it and containing the smoke as fast as possible.

“At the same time, there was a slight build-up of smoke, which led to around 50 customers and employees having to leave the business temporarily,” a police statement said.

“The staff responded well and correctly. It sprinkled quartz sand over the overheated battery so that the smoke could be contained and sucked out after switching on the ventilation.”

According to the police statement, forensic specialists are now examining what caused the incident in the first place, so no explanation was given at the time of writing. Apple has yet to comment on the situation.

Related Roundup: Apple StoresTag: Zurich
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CES 2018: Misfit Announces New ‘Misfit Path’ Hybrid Smart Watch

Misfit, known for its line of affordable fitness tracking devices and smart watches, today announced the launch of the Misfit Path, its latest smart watch.

The Misfit Path is Misfit’s smallest smart watch yet, allowing it to look much like a traditional analog watch while also providing smart features.

Misfit has designed the Path with a stainless steel case that has a matte finish, and it comes in four colors: Stainless Steel, Rose Tone, Gold Tone, and Stainless Steel with Gold Tone Accent. Each watch also features a silicone sport strap in matching colors.

Like all of Misfit’s smart watches, the Path tracks health metrics like steps, calories burned, distance traveled, and sleep duration using its built-in 3-axis accelerometer. It is not as advanced as devices like the Apple Watch as it has no heart rate monitoring function.

It does have smart watch functionality, though, alerting users to incoming calls, texts, and emails through an iOS app. Path also includes a smart button that serves as a remote control, allowing users to do things like ring their iPhones, control smart devices, snap pictures, and more.

Path is swimproof and water resistant up to 50 meters, and it does not need charging because it uses a standard watch battery that lasts for six months before needing to be replaced.

Path is priced starting at $150 and it will be available from the Misfit website starting in the spring of 2018.

Tags: Misfit, CES 2018
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CES 2018: Satechi Debuts New Dual Charging Station for iPhone and Apple Watch

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Satechi is launching a new Smart Dual Charging Station designed to charge both the iPhone and the Apple Watch at once.

Made from silver or space gray aluminum, the Charging Station features two separate docks — one that accommodates a Lightning cable to charge the iPhone and a second one that houses an Apple Watch charging puck to charge an Apple Watch.

Unlike some docks on the market, Satchi’s option does not come with built-in cords, so you will need to supply your own cables. Cables are designed to wrap around the base of the Charging Station inserts to hide any excess. Satechi says that its dock distributes a total of 15W of power, providing fast yet safe charging capabilities.

Satechi’s Smart Dual Charging Stand will be available for $64.99 starting in the spring of 2018.

Tags: Satechi, CES 2018
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of iOS 11.2.5 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming iOS 11.2.5 update to developers, one week after seeding the third beta and almost a month week after releasing iOS 11.2.1, an update that introduced a fix for a HomeKit vulnerability.

Registered developers can download the iOS 11.2.5 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

iOS 11.2.5 introduces a new feature that allows Siri to play daily news podcasts when queried about the current news. Siri will offer up news from The Washington Post by default, but you can also choose to switch to Fox News, CNN, or NPR.

The new audio news feature, which appears to have been developed for use with Apple’s upcoming HomePod speaker, is invoked when using Hey Siri or asking Siri about the news when using CarPlay or with headphones connected – essentially any situation where you’re not looking at the display of an iOS device. If you activate Siri using the side button or Home button of a device, standard Apple news headlines are provided instead of the audio-based news highlights.

It’s not clear what other new features, if any, will be included in the iOS 11.2.5 beta. We didn’t discover other noticeable outward-facing changes in the first three iOS 11.2.5 betas, so it’s possible this update focuses mainly on bug fixes and security improvements aside from the Siri news update.

If that’s the case, we may not know the extent of what’s in the update until it sees a public release.

Apple is supposed to be releasing an iCloud Messages feature that was pulled from the iOS 11 release, but there has been no indication of when we can expect iCloud Messages to be reintroduced. Should new features be discovered in the fourth beta of iOS 11.2.5, we’ll update this post.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of watchOS 4.2.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the third beta and more than a month after releasing watchOS 4.2, an update that introduced support for Apple Pay Cash.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

We don’t yet know what features or improvements might be included in the watchOS 4.2.2 update, as no outward-facing changes were discovered in the first three betas.

It’s possible this update focuses mainly on bug fixes, and if that’s the case, we won’t know the extent of the changes until it sees a public release complete with release notes. Should new features be discovered in the fourth watchOS 4.2.2 beta, we’ll update this post.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of tvOS 11.2.5 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2.5 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the third beta and almost a month after the release of tvOS 11.2.1, an update that introduced a fix for a HomeKit vulnerability.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 11.2.5 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

We don’t yet know what features or changes might be included in the tvOS 11.2.5 update, but it likely focuses primarily on bug fixes and performance improvements rather than major outward-facing changes.

There were no outward-facing changes discovered in the first three developer betas, but we’ll update this post should new features be found in the fourth beta.

Related Roundup: Apple TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 update to developers, one week after seeding the third beta and more than a month after releasing macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, the second major update to the macOS High Sierra operating system.

The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

It’s not yet clear what improvements the third update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it’s likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren’t addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.2.

The previous macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update focused solely on security fixes and performance improvements, with no new features introduced.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Here’s how to send a text from your email account

Despite the fact that just about everyone can read their email on their smartphone, there will always be times and situations in which it is more advantageous to send a short email as a text.

This is particularly useful if you’re emailing a non-smartphone user, need to send a text when you’re away from your phone, or want to use a text for branding purpose. Professionals tend to pay far more attention to texts than emails, so it can be a powerful communication strategy!

The process works via an email to SMS gateway. As long as you know the phone number of the recipient in question — and the name of their service provider — it’s easy to locate an appropriate gateway address for forwarding your message. Here is everything you need to know about how to send a text from your email account.

Sending an email as an SMS

Step 1: Using the email client of your choice, compose your email as you would normally. You can use either your smartphone or your computer to do so.

Step 2: Instead of entering an email address in the recipient box, insert the 10-digit phone number of the person you’re trying to reach.

Step 3: Once entered, tack on the appropriate “@gateway” address behind it. Below, we’ve put together a list of some of the most common service providers in the United States and their corresponding gateway addresses.

Carrier
SMS gateway domain
MMS gateway domain
Alltel
[insert 10-digit number]@message.alltel.com
[insert 10-digit number]@mms.alltelwireless.com
AT&T
[insert 10-digit number]@txt.att.net
[insert 10-digit number]@mms.att.net
Boost Mobile
[insert 10-digit number]@myboostmobile.com
[insert 10-digit number]@myboostmobile.com
Cricket Wireless

[insert 10-digit number]@mms.cricketwireless.net
Project Fi

[insert 10-digit number]@msg.fi.google.com
Sprint
[insert 10-digit number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
[insert 10-digit number]@pm.sprint.com
T-Mobile
[insert 10-digit number]@tmomail.net
[insert 10-digit number]@tmomail.net
U.S. Cellular
[insert 10-digit number]@email.uscc.net
[insert 10-digit number]@mms.uscc.net
Verizon
[insert 10-digit number]@vtext.com
[insert 10-digit number]@vzwpix.com
Virgin Mobile
[insert 10-digit number]@vmobl.com
[insert 10-digit number]@vmpix.com
Republic Wireless
[insert 10-digital number]@text.republicwireless.com

Keep in mind that if you’re trying to send an email that’s more than 160 characters long, it will often be sent through the Multimedia Message Service (MMS). If the person you’re messaging doesn’t have a messaging plan that includes Multimedia Messaging, then they will not receive the message. Some carriers also offer email to MMS gateways — detailed in the table above — so if you’d like to send a message that’s more than 160 characters, use an MMS gateway instead of an SMS gateway.

Download an extension for faster texting

There is also a Chrome extension that is specifically designed to help users send texts from Gmail. If you use Gmail and send a whole lot of emails as text messages, this little extension is a valuable — and free — download.

The extension is called Send Your Email to SMS (text), and you can download it here if you are currently in the Chrome browser. This won’t change much: It simply adds a little phone icon to your Gmail email window. Type out the email that you want to send, and then click the phone icon. This will bring up your list of Gmail contacts and allow you to search through it to find the person you want to text. You also have the option to add a new phone number just by typing it in.

The email is automatically formatted for proper texting and replies to the text will be emailed back to that Gmail address, allowing you to successfully carry on conversations. It’s not that useful if you don’t use Gmail at all, but if a lot of your contacts and activity are in Gmail, this extension makes email-to-text much easier and more efficient — and you don’t have to worry about carrier codes. The app also allows you to reverse the process and get text alerts for important emails that you receive in Gmail, which may be nice if you are on the go but really need to follow a particular email conversation.

It’s also worth mentioning that Gmail and Google Calendar also tie in with the If This Then That smart device management system. That means you can set up IFTTT to, for example, schedule a text using Google Voice, which may be easier than jumping directly into an email for some devices.

Update: The Gmail extension option was added. 

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