The Morning After: Two days with the always on, always online laptop

Welcome to the hump! The problems for Cambridge Analytica and Facebook won’t stop, we have some intriguing indie games across several consoles as well as more reportage from GDC. We also strapped an updated, incredibly well-stabilized 360-degree camera to a dog. What a day!

And then it got even worse, again.
Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO Alexander Nix during investigation

The scandal over what Cambridge Analytica did with data obtained from 50 million or so Facebook users continues to grow. A second video by UK’s Channel 4 News showed its CEO Alexander Nix claiming that for the Trump campaign, “We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting, we ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign, and our data informed all the strategy.” He’s been suspended by the board. UK and US government officials want answers, while WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton (who sold his company to Facebook for billions of dollars) tweeted #DeleteFacebook.

It’s all about boost and takedowns.
‘Onrush’ is a racing game with no finish lines

In a game like Forza Motorsport or Need for Speed, you’re tasked with hurtling between two points or completing a certain number of laps before your opponents. Not so with Onrush, the next title by racing specialist Codemasters. Instead, you’re fighting for points in a range of bombastic modes centered around a chaotic swarm of drivers. Outrageous crashes occur every second alongside ridiculous speed boosts and a death-defying medley of jumps, flips and barrel rolls. The developers behind it is trying to bring the team dynamics of Overwatch to an arcade racer.

A PC powered by a Qualcomm mobile chip, and it’s perfect for working from the back of a cab.
48 hours with an always on, always online laptop

Reviews editor Cherlynn Low has the constitution to hammer away at her laptop in the back of the car. In the past few weeks, she’s had to work nonstop, and the only hope she’s apparently had at securing a good night’s rest is chipping away at stuff while out and about. (At least, that’s what she claims… )

That’s been possible with the ASUS NovaGo: a portable, constantly connected and long-lasting laptop. Microsoft delivers on its promise of ‘always-connected PCs’ — notebooks that are constantly connected to the internet and wake up as quickly as a smartphone.

‘Banner Saga 3,’ ‘Lumines Remastered’ and ‘Reigns’ are all coming to the console.
Nintendo Switch’s 2018 indie roster is looking strong

A year ago, Nintendo followed the launch of the Switch with a bold proclamation: The console would get a new indie game every week. This signaled a new era and approach to welcome third-party games, which previous Nintendo systems had failed to court well. Today, it seems indie titles are lining up to jump on the Switch — and the company announced over a dozen new and remastered games will be headed to the console this year. That includes Banner Saga 3, and several GameMaker Studio games like Hyper Light Drifter.

Publications from around the world are ready to take your money.
Google just made paying for the news dead simple

Good journalism is worth paying for, period. As part of a larger plan to help valuable reporting thrive in an age where content is a commodity, Google unveiled a new tool for publishers called Subscribe, which makes it trivial to — what else? — subscribe to premium news services.

Now, Google isn’t exactly new to news subscriptions; the ability to buy monthly access to top-tier newspapers and magazines has been a part of the Google Play experience for years. Subscribe is special because it works directly in-browser. If you’ve hit your final free New York Times article for the month, you’ll be able to quickly set up a subscription with your Google account and pay with any card you’ve used with that account in the past. At its most effective, Google’s Subscribe takes a process that lasts a few minutes and involves scrounging around for your credit card and strips it down to a couple of taps.

But wait, there’s more…

• Samsung’s first 3D Cinema LED screen launches in Switzerland
• First look at SyFy’s ‘Nightflyers’ is equal parts ‘Aliens’ and ‘Psycho’
• Insta360 One camera update adds ‘pro-level’ video stabilization
• TCL’s wallet-friendly 6-Series Roku TVs will be available by May 1st
• GDC 2018: Skywalker Sound and the challenges of making audio for VR films
• Police chief says Uber ‘likely not’ at fault in pedestrian accident

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AMD vows to fix newly-disclosed processor vulnerabilities

Semiconductor company AMD has finally acknowledged there’s a problem with its Platform Security Processor. Earlier this month Israel-based CTS labs found 13 critical vulnerabilities (including RyzenFall, MasterKey, Fallout and Chimera) with AMD’s product, which could allow attackers to access sensitive data, install malware and gain complete access to compromised machines (although doing so would require admin access). Today, AMD has published a statement that largely underplays the threat, but claims that patches will be coming soon.

The announcement comes against a wider backdrop of controversy involving responsible disclosure. When researchers find vulnerabilities in products they typically give companies 90 days to respond — sometimes even longer, depending on the seriousness of the flaw in question. Google gave Intel around 200 days to fix Meltdown and Spectre before revealing them to the public, for example. The idea, of course, is to give companies an opportunity to get a fix out there before nefarious individuals find a way to capitalize on the vulnerability themselves.

But CTS Labs told AMD about the problem just 24 hours before disclosing it to the public — certainly not long enough for the company do to anything about it. Although CTS Labs didn’t disclose any technical information about the issue that could have harmed AMD users in any way, its premature revelation has caused ripples in the industry. Linux creator Linus Torvalds, for example, told ZDNet “It looks more like stock manipulation that a security advisory to me.”

However, CTS Labs maintains it did the right thing, claiming that they didn’t think AMD would be able to fix the problem for “many, many months, or even a year” anyway. CTS Labs’ CTO Ilia Luk-Zilberman has also posted a letter on the AMDflaws site in which he explains his gripe with the 90-day response window and why he believes revealing vulnerabilities to everyone at once (consumers and media, as well as the companies in question), puts pressure on the relevant parties to get things fixed.

That certainly appears to be the case with AMD, which says that patch updates can be expected through BIOS updates (without affecting performance) in the coming weeks — a fair response having been caught so off guard. The issue now, however, would be other security research companies similarly doing away with the 90-day ‘rule’. If vulnerabilities were made public the moment they were discovered, they’d never be out of the news, and it would be a real challenge for everyone concerned to know where the risks really were.

Via: The Hacker News

Source: AMD

Facebook makes it easier to control large Messenger groups

Facebook’s Messenger app is on its way to becoming a social network in its own right, thanks to new group chat features rolled out today. Like regular groups (the app for which Facebook killed last year), group chats now come with admin privileges. Anyone with admin status can add someone else to the chat, and also has the power to remove members, or promote or demote them as an admin.

This should be useful in discussions with friends of friends, or if you’re trying to get large groups of people you’re not connected with together (to plan a party, or talk about community issues, for example). Groups can support up to 250 people at one time, though, so you might want to turn your notifications off.

It’ll also be easier to add people to group chats as the update also features joinable links. Anyone in the chat can create a custom link and share it with whoever they want to join the conversation. Tapping the link puts them directly into the group, or gives them pending status until an admin approves the request, depending on your control preferences.

Facebook has been adding to its arsenal of Messenger features for some time. Over the last year it’s introduced @mentions, reactions, group payments, customized chats, and real time voice and video conversations for up to 50 people. More recently it made these features more accessible to those with low-budget phones by integrating video chat into its Messenger Lite app. Now it’s only got to shoehorn some news and adverts in there and it’ll be a network all of its own.

Siri can now talk to Tesla’s Model 3

Telsa’s Model 3 uses a lot of voice and touchscreen rather than physical controls, which makes it a bit harder to operate than it should be, we found. One thing that will help is more voice controls, and Tesla has addressed that with its latest iOS app release — sort of. The Model 3 now supports Siri, letting you do some functions like unlocking it, flashing the lights and honking the horn by voice without opening the Tesla app. You can also find your car and check the charge levels.

The Siri feature, spotted by Reddit users and Electrek, has been available on the Model S and Model X since November of last year. It’s arguably more useful on the Model 3, though, since that EV is much more tech dependent. To be clear, however, the Tesla app commands controlled by Siri aren’t useful while you’re driving.

For that, you need the built-in voice control, and as it stands now, you can only use that for navigation and calling. However, Elon Musk recently tweeted that Tesla plans to add vehicle control functionality to the built-in voice systems. That might let you set the cruise control and do other things that are currently fiddly to do on the touchscreen. Don’t expect Tesla to tackle that until it gets Model 3 production where it wants, though.

Source: Reddit, Electrek

EU proposes strict new taxes on large technology companies

The European Commission has unveiled radical measures to better tax technology companies with large operations in its member states. The first proposal would allow countries inside the EU to effectively tax profit that is created inside their borders, regardless of whether the business in question has an office there. Under this rule, a company would be eligible for taxation if it had more than 100,000 users, earned more than 7 million euros annually, or over 3,000 “business contracts for digital services” inside the country. The Commission hopes this would stop companies from re-routing revenue to countries with more favourable tax laws.

“Our pre-Internet rules do not allow our Member States to tax digital companies operating in Europe when they have little or no physical presence here,” Pierre Moscovici, Europe’s commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs said. “This represents an ever-bigger black hole for Member States, because the tax base is being eroded. That’s why we’re bringing forward a new legal standard as well an interim tax.”

The Commission sees this a long-term solution, so it’s also proposing an unorthodox interim tax that would apply to revenue, rather than profit generated inside the EU. Specifically, it would apply to online advertising space (hello Google), the selling of user information, and “digital intermediary activities” (think eBay and Airbnb) that allow users to sell goods and services to one another. It would only apply to large companies, however, with revenues that exceed 750 million euros worldwide and 50 million euros inside the EU. A proposed three percent rate would, according to the Commission, generate 5 billion euros for EU members.

Both rules are, for now, merely proposals. Still, they represent a dramatic shift that could stop tech giants from shifting their profits to so-called tax havens. There will no doubt be resistance from the industry and individual member states that have their own ideas on taxation. But for now, it’s a start. “We would prefer rules agreed at the global level, including at the OECD,” Valdis Dombrovskis, Europe’s vice-president for the Euro and social dialogue said. “But the amount of profits currently going untaxed is unacceptable. We need to urgently bring our tax rules into the 21st century by putting in place a new comprehensive and future-proof solution.”

Source: European Commission

How to Group Mac App Icons More Prominently in Your Dock

In macOS, the Dock provides convenient one-click access to your most frequently used Mac applications. The simplest way to organize docked apps is to click and drag them into your preferred place, but here we’re going to show you a lesser-known trick for arranging docked items more clearly.

To relate certain types of apps and add an extra visual clue to their location in the Dock, try inserting some spaces. Using this method, you could separate out other apps from, say, conversion tools that you frequently drag and drop files onto. Keep reading to learn how it’s done.

How to Insert Spaces into the macOS Dock

Launch the Terminal app found in Applications/Utilities. (To quickly open the Utilities folder in Finder, select Go -> Utilities from the menu bar, or use the key shortcut Shift-Command-U.)
At the Terminal prompt, type the following command and press Enter: defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add ‘“tile-type”=”spacer-tile”;’; killall Dock

Your Dock will reboot with a single space added to it. Click and drag the space to your desired location, just like a regular app icon.

Repeat the Terminal command above to insert additional spaces and arrange them in your Dock to suit.
To remove a space from your Dock simply right-click (or Ctrl-click) it and select Remove from Dock. Alternatively, click and drag the space out of the Dock then let go of the mouse button to delete it.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Second-Generation iPhone X Estimated to Cost Apple Up to 10% Less to Manufacture

Apple has managed to reduce the manufacturing cost of its iPhone X successor to a level much lower than the current flagship model, according to DigiTimes’ research analyst Luke Lin.

Lin cited information from Apple’s upstream supply chain as indicating that the new device’s MBOM [manufacturing bill of materials] will be more than 10% lower than that for iPhone X. He added that the MBOM of the iPhone X was more than US$400 in 2017.

Apple is rumored to be introducing three iPhones in 2018: The first is said to be a second-generation version of the iPhone X, with the same 5.8-inch OLED display, while the second can be thought of as an “iPhone X Plus” with a larger 6.5-inch OLED display.

Apple is also reportedly planning to introduce a new, more affordable 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD display. However, recent engineering samples from the 5.8-inch device are said to show components with lower-level specifications or lower capacities than those of the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, with LPDDR memory being one of the major differences.

According to Lin, the cost reduction could see Apple position the new 5.8-inch device as the cheapest model of all three next-generation iPhone models. The analyst also believes a project to develop a 5.8-inch LCD iPhone has been suspended since the end of the Lunar New Year holidays in mid-February and may be eventually terminated.

Lin reckons weak demand for iPhone X meant Apple needed a lot less OLED panels from Samsung than it said it would, which gave the Korean firm more bargaining power with regards to panel quotes for the next generation of iPhones. However, Apple has supposedly reached an agreement with Samsung and secured “satisfactory terms” that will prevent display panel cost increases.

DigiTimes’ sources often provide reliable information, but the site has a mixed track record when it comes to interpreting that information and accurately deciphering Apple’s plans, so it would be wise not to base any future purchasing decisions on today’s report.

Related Roundup: 2018 iPhonesTags: digitimes.com, OLED
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YouTube Increasing Ads Between Music Videos So More Users Pay for Upcoming Streaming Service

YouTube will soon place more advertisements in between music videos for some users, in an attempt to “smoke out” anyone who treats YouTube like a free music video playlist service and convince them to pay for its upcoming subscription music service (via Bloomberg). YouTube’s unnamed service is described as a “necessary counterweight” to Apple Music and Spotify, and was last rumored to be launching this month.

The news came from a recent SXSW interview with YouTube’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen, who went so far as to say that the company is trying to “frustrate” free YouTube users so that they’re subsequently “seduced” into paying for a monthly subscription. The new service will include exclusive videos, music playlists, and more, all aimed at “die-hard music fans.”

People who treat YouTube like a music service, those passively listening for long periods of time, will encounter more ads, according to Lyor Cohen, the company’s global head of music. “You’re not going to be happy after you are jamming ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and you get an ad right after that,” Cohen said in an interview at the South by Southwest music festival.

“There’s a lot more people in our funnel that we can frustrate and seduce to become subscribers,” Cohen said. “Once we do that, trust me, all that noise will be gone and articles people write about that noise will be gone.”

Cohen said that YouTube is trying to “be good partners” with the music industry, while also hoping to silence any rumors about the company’s alleged harm to the industry and its artists. Over the years, some people have criticized YouTube for copyright violations in videos and underpaying artists and record companies. According to Cohen, this “noise” will end once the subscription service debuts.

A date for that launch has still not been given, but “thousands” of Google employees are said to be testing it right now.

Tags: Google, YouTube
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Apple Rises to Sixth in LinkedIn’s 2018 List of Top Companies to Work, Trails Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook

Apple is ranked sixth on LinkedIn’s annual list of the top 50 companies where professionals most want to work in the United States.

Apple moved up one spot after ranking seventh in 2017. The top five spots belong to Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Salesforce, and Tesla, while NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company, Oracle, and Netflix round off the top ten.

LinkedIn says the list is based on billions of data points generated by over 546 million users on the site, with four areas of focus: interest in the company, engagement with the company’s employees, job demand, and employee retention.

• Job demand: At what rate are people viewing and applying to job postings, including paid listings, unpaid ones and those linked from other sites?
• Engagement with the company: How many professionals are viewing a company’s career page? How many new followers has the company attracted?
• Interest in its employees: How many non-employees are viewing and asking to connect with a company’s employees?
• Retention: Are employees sticking around for at least a year?

It’s worth noting that many different lists are published each year, and the results can often vary significantly. In December, for example, Apple ranked 84th on Glassdoor’s annual list of the best companies to work at in the United States.

2018 LinkedIn Top Companies:
Amazon
Alphabet
Facebook
Salesforce
Tesla
Apple
NBCUniversal
The Walt Disney Company
Oracle
Netflix
Spotify
Uber
McKinsey & Company
Adobe
Airbnb
Time Warner Inc.
Dell Technologies
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
LVMH
IBM
Samsung
Deloitte
Verizon
Goldman Sachs
PwC
The Boston Consulting Group
Live Nation Entertainment
Morgan Stanley
EY
Stryker
Cisco
Dropbox
National Basketball Association
Accenture
Nike
WeWork
Citadel
Kering
National Football League
Square
ADP
Capital One
Twitter
Box
Johnson & Johnson
Starbucks
PepsiCo
JLL
Tableau Software
AbbottLinkedIn shared similar lists for other countries, including Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Tag: LinkedIn
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Apple Music’s Jimmy Iovine Transitioning Into ‘Consulting Role’ This August

Following rumors of his plans to leave Apple earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal today reported that Jimmy Iovine will transition into a “consulting role” with Apple Music this August. Iovine won’t completely leave Apple and his involvement with Apple Music behind, but will step back from daily involvement, people familiar with his plans stated.

At the time of the original rumor, Iovine denied he would leave the company: “I am committed to doing whatever Eddy [Cue], Tim [Cook] and Apple need me to do, to help wherever and however I can, to take this all the way. I am in the band.” As of now, it’s unclear what exactly he will be doing in his consulting role with the streaming music service, but upon his transition he will no longer be the public face of Apple Music.

Iovine reportedly plans to spend more time with his family while at the same time supporting Apple Music and Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue “as needed.” According to people close to Iovine, the transition from Beats’ “edgy culture” to Apple’s focus on “appealing to the masses” proved to be a challenge.

While Iovine was the public face of Apple Music and held meetings with employees and artists in Los Angeles, in recent years “most of Apple Music’s operations” had been designated to Robert Kondrk and Jeff Robbin, overseeing business and engineering sides respectively. Cue is said to now be deciding on whether to continue divvying up responsibilities between Kondrk and Robbin, promote one to a more public role, or hire someone outside of Apple to become the new Iovine.

Iovine has been with the Apple Music team since 2014, when Apple acquired Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service, both of which were co-founded by Iovine and Dr. Dre. Before that acquisition, Iovine has had a long history with Apple, first pitching a subscription music service to Steve Jobs in 2003.

Iovine’s transitioning this August will be timed with the vesting of stock he acquired when first joining Apple. In January, he said that the bulk of his stock “vested a long time ago,” and while a tiny portion remains unvested, it’s “not what [he] thinks about.” Still, the people familiar with his plans have now confirmed that the timing of his transition is in some part “linked” to the Apple shares he received in the Beats acquisition.

According to the WSJ, Iovine’s stepping back from leadership makes him “one of the last” of the Beats team that Apple gained following the acquisition in 2014.

Mr. Iovine is one of the last of a team of prominent music executives Apple gained when it bought Beats Electronics LLC in 2014 for $3 billion. Former Chief Executive Ian Rogers, Beats co-founder Dr. Dre and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, another top Beats executive, have all left or distanced themselves from the company since the Apple deal, people familiar with the business said. Beats President Luke Wood, who oversees the headphone business, remains.

In his time at Apple, Iovine grew Apple Music to amass 36 million subscribers as of March 2018, while also pushing for the service to include more than just music and helping to launch shows like Carpool Karaoke. Before the launch of that show, as well as Planet of the Apps, Iovine said he hoped Apple Music would be “an entire pop cultural experience.”

Tags: Jimmy Iovine, The Wall Street Journal
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