Heads of U.S. intelligence agencies tell Americans not to buy Huawei phones

The Mate 10 Pro is launching in the U.S. this week.

During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing earlier this week, the heads of the FBI, NSA, CIA, and others proffered a narrative that’s been permeating throughout U.S. government agencies since 2012: Huawei (and to a lesser extent ZTE) are bad actors that can’t be trusted to operate independently in the United States.

According to the head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, “We’re deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don’t share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks.”

U.S. carriers have tacitly been prohibited from purchasing network equipment from Huawei and ZTE since 2012, but at this hearing, the intelligence chiefs extended that warning to handsets. Pressure from the U.S. government is believed to be what led to AT&T and Verizon pulling their support for the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, which is arriving this week in unlocked form through Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers.

For its part, Huawei stayed the course with its response, noting that its phones and networking equipment is sold in “170 countries worldwide and poses no greater cybersecurity risk than any ICT vendor.” The concern that Huawei’s and ZTE’s close relationships with the Chinese government poses a potential for espionage and opens vectors for cyber attacks that could be avoided by just not using their products.

During CES, when Huawei was all set to announce carrier support for the Mate 10 Pro, the company launched a wide-spanning awareness campaign that introduces Americans to Huawei brand, and the latest flagship, with the tag, “The best phone you’ve never heard of.” It has also employed Wonder Woman star, Gal Gadot, as a spokesperson for the company in future international campaigns.

While there is no evidence that Huawei has offered backdoor access to the Chinese government, it doesn’t look like the U.S. government and its affiliated intelligence community is going to let up anytime soon.

Huawei Mate 10

• Huawei Mate 10 Pro review
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Here’s the complete list of real-world Ingress events for the next year

Yes, people still play Ingress. A lot of people. Can we move on now? Good.

It may be the oldest of the Niantic games, but Ingress still draws in massive crowds all over the world to participate in its events. This vibrant community of strategists work together just as well side by side as they do across oceans to complete tasks in the game and win the war for their side. With the launch of Ingress Prime, the massive redesign to the game with new features and a ton af great updated visuals, it’s clear there’s a lot of hope this is going to be a big year for Ingress.

Niantic has assembled the list of events for this year in a fun video, so you can start your planning as early as possible. Here’s a quick look at where you’ll be playing up to early 2019!

• Fukuoka, Japan – April 7, 2018
• Camp Navarro, CA, USA – May 25-28, 2018
• Schloss Kaltenberg, Germany – May 25-28, 2018
• San Diego, CA, USA – July 28, 2018
• Sapporo, Japan – July 28, 2018
• Warsaw, Poland – July 28, 2018
• Boston, MA, USA – July 28, 2018
• Malé, Maldives – July 28, 2018
• Marseille, France – July 28, 2018
• Philadelphia, PA – August 25, 2018
• Singapore – August 25, 2018
• Linz, Austria – August 25, 2018
• Vancouver, BC – August 25, 2018
• Incheon, South Korea – August 25, 2018
• Riga, Latvia – August 25, 2018
• Phoenix, AZ, USA – October 20, 2018
• Taichung, Taiwan – October 20, 2018
• Brno, Czech – October 20, 2018
• Mexico City, Mexico – October 20, 2018
• Minneapolis, MN, USA – October 20, 2018
• Canberra, Australia – October 20, 2018
• Palma de Mallorca, Spain – October 20, 2018
• Bangkok, Thailand – October 20, 2018
• Frankfurt, Germany – October 20, 2018
• Austin, TX, USA – November 17, 2018
• Hong Kong – November 17, 2018
• Barcelona, Spain – November 17, 2018
• Salt Lake City, UT, USA – November 17, 2018
• Yogyakarta, Indonesia – November 17, 2018
• Bucharest, Romania – November 17, 2018
• Asuncion, Paraguay – February 23, 2019
• Quezon City, Philippines – February 23, 2019
• Lisbon, Portugal – February 23, 2019
• New Orleans, LA, USA – February 23, 2019
• Albuquerque, NM, USA – February 23, 2019
• Auckland, New Zealand – February 23, 2019
• Athens, Greece – February 23, 2019
• Pune, India – February 23, 2019
• Genoa, Italy – February 23, 2019
• Atlanta, GA, USA – March 23, 2019
• Ho Chi Minch City, Vietnam – March 23, 2019
• Nuremberg, Germany – March 23, 2019
• Las Vegas, NV, USA – March 23, 2019
• Nagoya Japan – March 23, 2019
• Bristol, UK – March 23, 2019
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan – May 4, 2019
• Amsterdam, NL – May 11, 2019
• Chicago, IL, USA – May 18, 2019

Which event are you heading to this year? Sound off in the comments!

Anker’s $17 PowerPort 4 can charge four of your gadgets at once

Can’t go wrong with one of these.

Anker’s PowerPort 4 is one of the most popular options for charging more than one device at the same time, and right now you can pick one up for just $16.99. To get this price, you’ll need to enter coupon code ANKERUSB during checkout, which will save you $3 from its regular price. From its compact design with folding plug to its 2.4A output per port, this thing is built to last and help keep you charged at all times. The MultiProtect safety system helps to ensure the connected devices are protected from things like overcharging and overheating.

This charger is backed by an 18-month warranty. You’ll need to add your own cables to it, so be sure to grab a Lightning cable, USB-C cable or MicroUSB cable to go along with it.

See at Amazon

Samsung cancels Oreo update for Galaxy S8, new version in the works

The waiting game continues.

On February 8, Samsung confirmed that Android Oreo was finally being released for the Galaxy S8/S8+. This came as exciting news for owners of the two phones, but just less than a week after the update’s been out in the wild, Samsung’s announced that it’s pulling the plug on it.

SamMobile was the first to report on this news, and it appears that the current Oreo update has made its way to users in Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Turkey, India, Poland, and other regions. Anyone that already received and installed the update will be able to continue to use the S8/S8+ like normal and enjoy everything that Oreo has to offer, but everyone else will have to keep using Nougat until Samsung announces otherwise.

It’s unclear why Samsung’s canceling this update (ironically it has the firmware name of G950/G955-FXXU1CRAP), but it’s likely there was a bug or something else that Samsung deemed reason enough to halt the rollout.

When will Samsung’s next Oreo update be ready for primetime? Unfortunately, that’s another unknown we’re dealing with. I can’t imagine it’d take too long to get a resolved Oreo build put together, but then again, this is Samsung we’re talking about.

Oreo update for Galaxy S8 does not support Project Treble

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Facebook Messenger Kids comes to Android via Google Play

Available now on the Play Store.

Last December, Facebook was met with a fair bit of controversy surrounding the release of its Messenger Kids app. Messenger Kids is a tweaked version of the company’s Messenger app that’s designed to be used by kids that are 13 years-old and younger, and after coming to Amazon’s Fire tablets in January, the app is now available for all Android phones and tablets via the Google Play Store.

Children can use Messenger Kids to talk to friends and family members via text-based chat and video calls and parents have full control over who they can contact. There’s a wide variety of kid-friendly stickers and filters that can be used to edit photos and use during video chats, and parents can get in touch with their kids by using the regular Messenger app.

Kids using Messenger Kids aren’t required to have a Facebook account to use the app, and Facebook’s ensured that it took the privacy of its younger uses seriously when creating it.

I don’t see the controversy surrounding Messenger Kids ending anytime soon, but at least from my perspective, this seems like a lot better way to let your kiddos connect with parents, friends, and other family members rather than exposing them to the full app.

See on Google Play

Google brings its parental control Family Link service to Canada

Best Camera Drones of 2018

What are the best camera drones I can buy right now?

Whether you’re an independent filmmaker looking to step up your game with drone videography, or simply a hobbyist looking to record stunning video to share with friends and family, you’ll want to invest in a top-of-the-line camera drone.

This probably isn’t a list for someone buying their first drone, however, we will note which options are most beginner friendly. Considering how expensive high-end drones are, you’ll want to be sure of your competency as a pilot before you get behind the controller. Our list of best drones under $300 might be a better starting point if you’ve never flown a drone before in your life.

• DJI Mavic Pro
• DJI Inspire 1
• DJI Spark
• Parrot Bebop
• DJI Phantom 4
• Blade Chroma 4
• Yuneec Q500 4K Typhoon
• AirSelfie

The Best

DJI Mavic Pro

The Mavic Pro is the latest high-quality camera drone released by DJI, and it’s a very compelling option.

For starters, it’s extremely portable with arms that fold in to pack it down to the size of a bigger water bottle. The Mavic Pro offers up to 4.3 miles of transmission range and flight speeds of up to 40mph with average flight times of around 27 minutes. It’s also packed with the latest smart features including Activetrack which uses advanced image recognition algorithms to track a moving object with the camera without using GPS. TapFly lets you control your drone with simple taps on the touchscreen. And it’s also loaded with advanced sensors for obstacle avoidance, flight safety, and reliability.

Considering all the smart design that went into this drone, along with its portability, the DJI Mavic Pro offers great value at just $800 for a state of the art drone.

See at Amazon

Also Great

DJI Phantom Inspire 1

If you’re looking for the best camera drone, then look no further than the DJI Phantom Inspire 1.

Featuring 4K video capabilities up to 30FPS, 1080p video up to 60FPS, and 12-megapixel photos from the gimbal-mounted camera, the Inspire 1 is fully capable of shooting the professional aerial footage you’ve dreamt about.

The drone itself is also a marvel of technology, featuring aerodynamic transforming design that allows the carbon-fiber arms to move out of the way of the camera at the flip of a switch while in flight. It’s one of the smartest drones you can buy, as DJI has included revolutionary technology, including intelligent battery power management that always lets you know how much battery power remains, and will ensure your drone never dies on you before returning home. Max flight time is around 18 minutes, and if the battery starts running low or your handset loses connection with the drone, sophisticated onboard GPS-positioning algorithms will flip into auto-pilot mode and have the drone fly back to its launch point.

That’s not all, as the Inspire 1 also features a Vision Positioning system, that uses both the camera and sonar sensors to detect where it is when hovering, and will automatically raise or lower the legs if it’s taking off or landing.

The DJI Inspire 1 is a real investment at over $2000, but this kit includes everything you’ll need, including four batteries, a controller harness, replacement props, a 64GB microSD card, UV and ND lens filters and a Pelican case for easy transport.

See at Amazon

DJI Spark

The DJI Spark is one of the best consumer drones we’ve seen. It’s a full-featured video drone that’s fast, maneuverable and capable of stable flight in winds gusting up to 30mph for skilled pilots, but also easy enough for beginners to pick up.

Regularly priced at $500, you can find the DJI Spark on sale for as low as $375, which is an absolute bargain. DJI is the world’s premier drone maker, and unlike lesser drones, the DJI Spark is packed with all the coolest camera tricks you’d want from a video drone — all using your smartphone.

There’s TapFly that lets you use the onboard camera to plot the course, while the Spark’s sensors detect and avoid obstacles for a safe and stable shot. ActiveTrack lets you keep the focus on a moving subject as the Spark follows and tracks automatically. You’re also able to control the Spark via hand gestures for the ultimate selfie.

See at Amazon

Parrot Bebop 2 FPV

Parrot is a reliable name in the drone game, and the Parrot Bebop 2 is a great entry-level camera drone for anyone just getting into the hobby, but especially for those interested in FPV flying.

The body of the drone is built around the 14-megapixel fisheye camera — capturing 180-degree range of 1080p video at 30FPS, but without the horizon-distortion, you’ll find with other wide-angle action cameras. There’s also smart built-in safety features to protect your drone, including an emergency mode that will land the drone safely and props that will stop spinning instantly when a collision is detected to avoid damage.

You control the Parrot Bebop with the Freeflight 3 app, available for Android and iOS devices, which includes one-touch return home function: this flies the drone back to its take-off point, where it hovers six feet off the ground until recovered. But this drone ships with a pretty impressive controller along with a first-person view headset for practicing racing or just checking out the epic drone views.

Set up an account on the Parrot Cloud to have your photos and videos backed up and shared with Parrot’s growing community of over 100,000 pilots. Ready to fly out of the box with beginner-friendly features, the Parrot Bebop should better fit your budget (at $425) while still providing stable, quality video, with a battery that allows for up to 25 minutes of flight time.

See at Amazon

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

It should come as no surprise to see another DJI drone on this list. The DJI Phantom line has been a favorite amongst drone enthusiasts, and the Phantom 4 is as sleek and well-designed as consumer drones get.

Featuring much of the same technology found in the Inspire 1, the Phantom 4 comes with a gimbal-mounted 4K camera which shoots at 30FPS.

Enjoy stable, precision hovering thanks to the Vision Positioning System, so even when you let go of the joystick controls, the Phantom 4 will stop and hover in place — even if the wind picks up. Use the ActiveTrack mode to easily set your drone to follow and record a moving subject, while it avoids running into trees or other objects with its built-in Obstacle Sensing System.

And then there’s the overall look and design of this thing. It’s by far one of the sleekest all-in-one drones on the market and is sure to turn heads whenever you take it out flying. Available for $770 with a package that includes a carrying case, spare props, and a 16GB.

See at Amazon

Blade Chroma 4K/GoPro

The Blade Chroma 4K is another solid choice that comes in four options, but all of which are essentially ready to fly out of the box.

There are two pricier versions that include a 4K camera, as well as a controller with a built-in screen for recording video and keeping track of important flight information such as altitude, speed, and remaining flight time. Upgrade to get an extra battery as well as a handy carrying case for your drone.

Then there are the cheaper versions, which allow you to mount your own GoPro (Hero 4 is recommended), with an option for a 3-axis gimbal. These versions feature the same drone as the 4K camera version, except with a standard wireless transmitter, which means you’ll have to stream video from your GoPro to your smartphone.

No matter which drone you decide to go with, they all come with both Smart Mode for beginners still learning the basics and AP Mode for more advanced pilots who want maximum control over their drone. There are also amazing features like Follow Me Mode and Tracking Mode which allow you to set altitude and distance settings in advance and then focus on getting those epic shots.

It’s an amazing package for a reasonable price — just under $1000 — considering all the professional features that are included.

Shop at Amazon

Yuneec Typhoon H RTF Hexacopter

The Yuneec Q500 4K Typhoon is a sharp-looking hexacopter that takes stunning video at a reasonable price (under $750 on Amazon). If you’re a professional videographer and you want to save some money on the DJI drones, this is the one to get.

It comes fully assembled out of the box — just attach the props and you’re good to go. The controller features an integrated 7-inch Android touchscreen that lets you control video settings such as video resolution, white balance and light exposure on the fly (pun intended). The camera is mounted on a 3-axis precision gimbal and can record 4K video at 30fps, or 1080p slow-mo video at up to 120fps.

Design-wise, the Typhoon H RTF stands out with its industrial-style supports along the arms that stand out from the streamlined look of DJI drones. Yuneec also includes a 16GB flash drive, a 64GB microSD card, a lens cleaning kit, and a copy of Corel Paint Shop Pro X9 for post-processing your photos.

Shop at Amazon

AirSelfie

Airselfie is a CES darling, and this year they were showing off their latest model of the compact drone whose sole purpose is taking selfies. The Airselfie drone is slim enough to slip in your back pocket while you’re out exploring, allowing you to capture brilliant aerial photos and videos whenever and wherever (legally, of course). Entirely controlled via smartphone with the AirSelfie Camera app, the AirSelfie is capable of flying up to 20 meters and has autonomous flight features so you can focus on posing for the camera while the drone hovers steadily.

It’s a pocket-sized drone that you can take selfies with — the future is right now! Get your taste of it for $339 and take your selfie game to the next level.

See at Airselfie

Which drone do you love?

Do you have any experience with the drones we’ve mentioned here? Got a recommendation for one that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Update February 2018 Added the DJI Spark, AirSelfie, and Yuneec Typhoon H RTF to the list, removed some older options that are no longer available and bumped the Mavic Pro up to the top spot!

Google Play removed thousands of legit ‘Game Dev Tycoon’ reviews

Google has removed some 77 percent of reviews for Game Dev Tycoon’s mobile port on Google Play. Developer Greenheart Games contacted Google to find out why the (mostly) five-star reviews were disappearing, and was told that the scores were removed on purpose, with little other explanation. Greenheart’s theory is that Google uses the same algorithm to police free-to-play game reviews on the Play store that it does paid games; Game Dev Tycoon costs $5 and you can’t write a review unless you’ve purchased it. Free-to-play games, on the other hand, anyone can write a review with practically no time investment.

“We are not engaging in any dubious practices regarding reviews,” the developer writes. “We don’t incentivize reviews, we don’t review the game ourselves and we don’t even tell our friends to review it.”

Since the game hit Google Play early this month, it’s been downloaded between 10,000 and 50,000 times. Greenheart says the reviews started disappearing slowly at first but within the first week, over a quarter had vanished. Each day after that, the game lost hundreds more. Greenheart hypothesizes that if the algorithm hadn’t stepped in, Game Dev Tycoon would have around 3,000 reviews by now. Instead two weeks after it was released, there are around 700 — just over what the game had on launch day.

The silver lining? Its overall rating hasn’t suffered despite these losses. Of those 716 reviews, there are only a pair of one-star scores, and the average score is 4.9. We’ve reached out to Google for more information and will update this post should it arrive.

Via: Gamasutra

Source: Google Play, Greenheart Games

Tinder opt-in feature would give women control over conversations

Tinder is taking a page out of Bumble’s book and will soon give women the option to control the initiation of conversations, MarketWatch reports today. Bumble, helmed by Tinder co-founder Whitney Holfe Herd, has amassed some 22 million registered users and what sets it apart from other dating apps is that only women who use the app get to decide whether to start a conversation with a man they’ve matched with. Now, Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group — which owns Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder — says that Tinder will soon allow its women users to decide whether they want to have control over initiating conversations. Through a future app update, women will be able to opt in to the feature. “Often, women don’t really want the pressure of kicking off the conversation, but if they want it, that’s great,” Ginsberg told MarketWatch. “Giving people the choice versus telling people how to engage is the big difference.”

Last year, Tinder launched its Gold subscription service, giving users more control over how they sift through their options for a monthly fee. Between it and Tinder Plus, the app now has over 3 million paying subscribers. Ginsberg told MarketWatch that Match Group is working to “curtail bad behavior, any negative behavior or advances, and inappropriate communication” across all of its dating platforms. Tinder introduced features like Feed last year, which aims to give users more info on their matches, and Reactions, which were marketed as a way to empower women. Meanwhile, another Match holding, OKCupid, made the switch from usernames to real names last year, a move aimed at boosting transparency that was met with a hefty amount of backlash and Meetic, one of Match’s European dating apps, hands out “gentleman’s badges” to men who are deemed respectful.

The new Tinder feature hasn’t been given a launch date and the company declined to comment on the news. In response to reports of the upcoming feature, Herd told TechCrunch, “We applaud any company making business decisions that empower women.”

Via: TechCrunch

Overwatch League signs its first female player

It’s official: Overwatch League has its first female player. The Shanghai Dragons have signed Kim “Geguri” Se-yeon as part of a four-player addition. The South Korean teen rose to prominence thanks to her reputation for playing Zarya (one of Overwatch’s “tank” characters) so well that she was pressed into a livestreamed skill display to prove that she wasn’t cheating. She was also the first female player to compete in her home country’s Apex league, one of the game’s foremost competitive events until Overwatch League showed up.

Two of the four new players players (Lee Eui-seok and Chon Gi-hyeon) are fellow South Koreans, while He Junjian is Chinese. Language won’t necessarily be an issue, in other words, and the Dragons are providing “language assistance” to all the new players in addition to securing US visas. It’s not certain when they’ll start competing in earnest.

The absence of female players has been something of a sore point for not just Overwatch League, but high-profile eSports competitions in general. While they can certainly reach the highest levels of play, teams have repeatedly contended that they’re not good fits for occasionally dubious reasons like team dynamics (many teams have mashed-together rosters) or fears of it being seen as a PR ploy. Geguri’s signing won’t necessarily represent the start of a trend, but it may open the doors to woman players who previously had to settle for smaller-scale tourneys.

As it stands, she might be crucial to the Shanghai Dragons’ chances. The team is at the bottom of Overwatch League as of this writing, with zero wins — it’s hoping that the four additions can address “core problems.” A talented but overlooked player like Geguri might be what the team needs to rise up the standings.

Via: The Verge

Source: PR Newswire

Cryptocurrency mining is hampering the search for alien life

It turns out that high-end graphics cards are fantastic for mining non-bitcoin cryptocurrencies, which has led to a global shortage of GPUs. Gamers are livid at the lack of supply, especially as prices skyrocket on secondary markets. But they’re not the only ones with ruined dreams: The shortage has stalled plans to expand the search for alien life.

Search For Extraterrestrial Life (SETI) researchers want to build out their operations at two facilities, BBC reported, but they can’t find GPUs to buy.

“We’d like to use the latest GPUs [graphics processing units]… and we can’t get ’em,” SETI chief scientist Dan Werthimer told the BBC. “This is a new problem, it’s only happened on orders we’ve been trying to make in the last couple of months.”

Crudely speaking, cryptocurrency miners harness the great processing power of GPUs to work out complex math problems that, when solved, grant coin portions as a payday. SETI researchers need the high-performing processors to scan many communications frequencies at once to ensure they don’t miss out on an extraterrestrial’s potential call; Berkeley SETI alone has 100 GPUs.

Facilities in Green Bank, West Virginia and Parkes, Australia are trying to expand, which the shortage is preventing: “We’ve got the money, we’ve contacted the vendors, and they say, ‘we just don’t have them’,” Werthimer told the BBC.

Last June, AMD and NVIDIA tried to stem the tide by announcing new graphics cards specifically for the cryptocurrency mining market, and Samsung followed suit with its own GPU last month. But that hasn’t made them easier for everyone else to buy. NVIDIA might be apologizing for the shortage all the way to the bank after rising profits last quarter, but the real tragedy might not be all the sweet gaming hours lost like tears in rain — it could be the alien missive gone unnoticed while humans whip their GPUs to puzzle out more digital money.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: BBC