Google acquires GIF search platform Tenor

Google is acquiring the platform Tenor, which runs GIF-searching functionality in keyboards for phones and messenger software, including on Samsung devices and Facebook Messenger. The company will keep operating as a separate brand under Google, improving its products as well as building out its tech and API.

This makes sense for the company following its push to make GIF-searching a big part of its keyboards for iOS and Android. Folding Tenor’s wide library and context searching into Google Images and Gboard, among other products, will help them serve up smarter GIFs at a better clip, as the company wrote in a blog post announcing the acquisition. This shows how seriously Google considers the format. It’s been improving its GIF services across the board, from boosting its moving image-creating app and Gboard to licensing out its tech: Back in September, GIF-hosting company Giphy implemented Google AI to improve its search functionality.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google, Tenor

Lexus is the latest carmaker to offer a subscription service

Just a day after a report about BMW’s planned car subscription service, Lexus has announced its own take on the concept. The Lexus UX compact luxury crossover will be available via purchase, lease and a brand-new subscription option in December of this year. Details on how such a service will work — as well as vehicle pricing — will be announced closer to when the UX goes on sale. In addition, like the 2019 Corolla Hatchback, the new Lexus UX will come with CarPlay and Alexa functionality.

The new vehicle will be available in two drivetrain flavors. The front-wheel drive UX 200 has a 2.0 liter, four-cylinder engine with a continuously variable transmission, while the UX 250h has a similarly powerful hybrid drive system and all-wheel drive. The company hopes that young car buyers will flock to this automobile. “The first-ever Lexus UX is designed for the modern urban explorer seeking a fresh, contemporary and dynamic take on luxury driving,” said Lexus’ Chika Kako. “We designed the UX to appeal to buyers in their 30s who seek not only what is new and exciting, but what is also relevant to their lifestyles.”

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Toyota

MoviePass adds Landmark Theatres to its subscription service

MoviePass, the popular cinema subscription service, just added another large theater company to its roster. While some movie theater groups, like Cinemark, have begun to offer their own (far less generous) take on the idea, others are jumping onboard. MoviePass announced its partnership with Landmark Theaters, known for its indie films and noticeably absent from the service. The agreement integrates MoviePass into Landmark Theatres’ ticketing system, adding e-ticketing, advanced screening reservations and in-app seat selection to the movie-going experience.

According to the press release, Landmark operates 255 screens in 53 theaters across 27 markets nationwide, including Florida, Los Angeles, New York, Minnesota and others. MoviePass claims it has more than two million members in the US. “We are excited to offer MoviePass customers access to our Landmark Theatres,” said Landmark co-owner Mark Cuban in a statement. “There is no better place to watch a movie than Landmark and now MoviePass customers will be able to enjoy all of our theaters.”

Via: TechCrunch

Source: MoviePass

NBA League Pass offers a discount on in-progress games

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve no doubt had that moment when you scrambled to watch the end of a live game after leaving a social function. And that can be expensive with streaming services — do you really want to pay for a whole match just to catch the last 15 minutes? You won’t have to with NBA games. As it hinted before, the basketball association and Turner are launching an option to watch games in progress at a “reduced price.” They’re not saying what that price is, but users have been seeing options to watch the last quarter of a game for 99 cents.

The option will be available starting with the 2018-2019 regular season and should be available through apps, the NBA website and Turner’s soon-to-come Bleacher Report Live. As always, you’re limited to out-of-market games.

It’s clear why the NBA and Turner would go this route. Subscriptions are undoubtedly the better bargains for regular viewers, but they’re overkill for someone who just wants to catch the end of a game when they can’t make it to a TV. This lets the NBA and Turner make some money from those occasional online viewers, and might just sell them on a subscription if they like what they see.

Source: Turner

Huawei’s latest Porsche phone has an in-screen fingerprint reader

Along with its P20 and P20 Pro, Huawei also unveiled its Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS smartphone today. Built with Porsche Design’s signature aesthetic, the phone comes with a Leica triple camera — which features a 40-megapixel RGP sensor, a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor with telephoto lens — as well as a 24-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone also features an in-screen fingerprint sensor. Hover your finger over the screen to wake up the phone or touch the sensor to unlock it. Users can also unlock the phone with a back fingerprint sensor.

The Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS has a 6-inch OLED 2K curved screen, 6GB of RAM and a 4,000 mAh battery. The smartphone comes in black, though if you’re in mainland China, you can also snag it in red. While the phone itself has some nice features, the price won’t be as appealing to most people. It comes in two versions — one with 256GB of internal storage and one with 512GB. The former will cost €1,695 (approximately $2,100) and the latter is priced at €2,095 (approximately $2,600).

New Logitech Crayon is Compatible Only With Sixth-Generation iPad

To go along with the new sixth-generation iPad, Apple announced two accessories designed by Logitech — a $99 Rugged iPad Keyboard Case and a unique $49 Crayon Stylus that shares many characteristics with the Apple Pencil.

The Crayon Stylus looks similar to the Apple Pencil, with a slim aluminum body and an Apple Pencil-style tip. Interestingly, Logitech’s website says that the Crayon has been designed for and is compatible with the 6th-generation iPad, suggesting it’s not going to work with the iPad Pro.

iMore’s Serenity Caldwell was able to get a bit more information on the Crayon from Logitech, and it turns out it’s using the same technology as the Apple Pencil. It has the same latency, tilt, and palm rejection features as the Apple Pencil, but there is no pressure sensitivity.

The Crayon connects to the iPad via a single frequency and does not use Bluetooth, and it will last for up to 8 hours before needing to be recharged via an included Lightning port, much like the one on the Apple Pencil. Crayon works with all of the apps that support the Apple Pencil.

Just press the on button and start writing or drawing on iPad right away — it’s that easy. Logitech Crayon connects to iPad instantly with no complex device pairing or other delays.

There was speculation ahead of Apple’s event that a lower-cost Apple Pencil might be in the works given the $99 price point of Apple’s device, and it appears that we did indeed get that, but from a third-party manufacturer. Students who have a sixth-generation iPad will be able to use the Crayon or the Apple Pencil with the tablet.

Compared to the Apple Pencil, the Logitech Crayon has a more kid-friendly design with a pry-resistant smart tip that requires a special tool when the tip needs replacing. The leather cap at the end that covers the Lightning connector is also tethered to the Crayon so it doesn’t get lost.

It’s not entirely clear why the Crayon is not backwards compatible with iPad Pro models, and we’ve asked Logitech for clarification.

Logitech does not plan to release the Crayon to the public at this time, with the accessory limited to teachers. Teachers will be able to purchase it for $49 starting this summer.

Related Roundup: iPadTag: LogitechBuyer’s Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
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iWork Apps for Mac and iOS Updated With New Features, Apple Pencil Support on iPad

At today’s education-focused event in Chicago, Apple announced several new features for its suite of iWork apps for Mac and iOS devices, and those updates have now been pushed out in new versions of the apps that are available for download now.

All of the iWork apps for iOS, including Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, are compatible with the Apple Pencil both on iPad Pro models and the new sixth-generation iPad, which now supports Apple Pencil.

In all three apps, you can draw and write with the Apple Pencil and use it for navigational purposes instead of a finger. In Pages, there’s also a new Smart Annotation beta that’s designed to allow you to use the Apple Pencil to add comments and marks to a Pages document, and you can add Apple Pencil drawings.

Pages for iOS also includes a new digital books templates for creating books, donut charts, real-time collaboration for documents stored in Box, and more. Full release notes for Pages for iOS are below:

– Draw, write, and annotate using Apple Pencil on supported devices, or use your finger.
– Easily add drawings with pen, pencil, crayon, and fill tools.
– Use Smart Annotation Beta to add comments and marks that stay anchored to their associated text.
– Make beautiful digital books using new book templates.
– Collaborate in real time on documents stored in Box.
– Add an image gallery to view a collection of photos on the same page.
– Use presenter mode to easily read and auto scroll text while giving a speech.
– Create and edit paragraph styles and character styles.
– View pages side by side as you work.
– Turn on facing pages to format your document as two-page spreads.
– Create master pages to keep the design consistent across your page layout document.
– Change your document orientation to landscape or portrait.
– Enhance your documents with a variety of new editable shapes.
– Use donut charts to visualize data in an engaging new way.
– Use conditional highlighting in tables to change the appearance of a cell when the value meets specified conditions.
– New option to automatically format fractions as you type.

In Keynote for iOS, there’s an option to animate your drawings during slideshows, and you can more easily change the theme of a presentation. Donut charts have been added for visualizing data in new ways, and there’s an interactive image gallery for viewing collections of photos. Full release notes for Keynote for iOS are below:

– Draw and write with Apple Pencil on supported devices, or use your finger.
– Animate drawings during slideshows.
– Collaborate in real time on presentations stored in Box.
– Easily change the theme of a presentation.
– Adjust presentation slide size and aspect ratio.
– Use donut charts to visualize data in an engaging new way.
– Add an interactive image gallery to view a collection of photos.
– Enhance presentations with a variety of new editable shapes.

Numbers for iOS offers new options for sorting and filtering tables, new donut charts, and interactive image gallery, editable shapes for spreadsheets, and more. Full release notes for Numbers for iOS are below:

– Draw and write with Apple Pencil on supported devices, or use your finger.
– Collaborate in real time on spreadsheets stored in Box.
– Use conditional highlighting in tables to change the appearance of a cell when the value meets specified conditions.
– Powerful new options for sorting and filtering tables.
– Improved, customizable import of CSV and text data, with support for custom delimiters and fixed-width files.
– Use donut charts to visualize data in an engaging new way.
– Add an interactive image gallery to view a collection of photos.
– Enhance spreadsheets with a variety of new editable shapes.
– Full bidirectional support for Arabic and Hebrew.

While Apple Pencil support in iWork for iOS was Apple’s big announcement, all of the company’s Mac apps have also gained new features in line with new features added to the iOS versions of the apps.

All Mac apps have been updated with support for real-time collaboration on spreadsheets stored in Box (macOS High Sierra required), and there are new donut charts for visualizing data in an “engaging new way.” A new interactive image gallery is available in all three for viewing a collection of photos, and there’s support for adding new editable shapes and reducing the file size of documents.

In Numbers for Mac, Apple has improved imports of CSV and text data with support for custom delimiters and fixed-width files, while in Pages, there are new book templates for creating digital books. You can also now view pages side by side as you work with two page spreads available, and master pages can be added to keep design consistent across your document. There’s also a new Pages option for automatically formatting fractions while you type.

All of Apple’s iWork apps are free downloads that can be obtained from the App Store and Mac App Store.

– Pages for iOS [App Store]
– Keynote for iOS [App Store]
– Numbers for iOS [App Store]

– Pages for macOS [Direct Link]
– Keynote for macOS [Direct Link]
– Numbers for macOS [Direct Link]

Tags: iWork, Pages, Keynote, Numbers
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FBI Didn’t Investigate All Unlocking Options Before Seeking Order for Apple’s Help in San Bernardino Case

Back in early 2016, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation failed to pursue all possible solutions to unlock the iPhone 5c owned by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook before demanding Apple’s help accessing the device, reports Reuters.

The information was shared today in a report issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General.

According to the report, the FBI’s in-house unit that handles breaking into mobile devices did not begin looking for outside help to unlock Farook’s iPhone until the night before the FBI demanded Apple’s help through a court filing.

The FBI was aware that one of the vendors contacted at that point in time had “almost 90 percent completed” a technical solution that would allow the FBI access to the phone. The FBI, though, in its court filing with Apple at the time, said there were no other options for accessing the device.

A judge ended up ordering Apple to help federal investigators access the data on Farook’s iPhone by creating a tool that would bypass the auto-erase function and allow investigators to submit an unlimited number of passwords to attempt to unlock the iPhone.

Apple, of course, opposed the order and refused to build such a tool, leading to a long and drawn out legal battle with the FBI that only ended when the FBI admitted it had indeed found another way to access the device.

Communication failures at the FBI were to blame, causing some officials to “misunderstand the status” of the FBI’s efforts to open the device. That led to delays seeking help from the FBI and the vendor that was ultimately able to unlock the iPhone.

The report from the Department of Justice comes as some law enforcement officials are again pushing for backdoor access into electronic devices to aid in criminal investigations.

Both DOJ and FBI officials have been quietly meeting with security researchers to explore technology that would allow “extraordinary access” to encrypted devices like the iPhone without weakening a device’s defenses against hacking.

Earlier this week, Apple’s Craig Federighi reiterated Apple’s stance that such a backdoor would be dangerous. “Weakening security makes no sense when you consider that customers rely on our products to keep their personal information safe, run their businesses or even manage vital infrastructure like power grids and transportation systems,” he said.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Apple-FBI
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App Store Experiencing Issues With Customers Unable to Update and Download Content

The App Store for iOS devices appears to be experiencing issues at this time, with many customers unable to access the store to make purchases and install updates to apps. It appears the iTunes Store is also affected.

Affected customers are getting a popup message that reads: “The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later.”

The App Store issues have been ongoing for approximately a half hour now, but no outage is listed on Apple’s System Status page.

We’ll update this post when the issue is resolved. Problems like this are often fixed quickly, so apps shouldn’t be unavailable for too long.

Update: Apple’s System Status page now displays issues with the App Store, Apple TV, iTunes U, iTunes Store, Volume Purchase Program, and Mac App Store.
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Apple Watch Series 4 to Feature Redesign, Longer Battery Life and 15% Larger Display

Apple Watch Series 4 models set to be released this fall will feature a new design and a display that’s 15 percent larger, according to predictions shared by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a new note that was sent out to investors this morning (via 9to5Mac).

In addition to a new design with larger displays, the new fourth-generation Apple Watch models will feature a longer battery life enabled through more battery capacity and improved health monitoring capabilities. The display size of the watch could increase due to smaller bezels, and it’s not quite clear what impact a larger display would have on physical device size.

The Apple Watch’s design has remained unchanged since the first-generation Apple Watch was introduced in 2015, so a redesign three years later in 2018 would make sense.

Kuo also does not go into detail about what new health monitoring capabilities the fourth-generation Apple Watch might offer. Rumors have suggested Apple is exploring a sensor that would allow for continuous electrocardiograph monitoring to better detect serious heart conditions.

Apple is also pursuing a method for non-invasively monitoring blood glucose levels, but that technology seems to be a bit away and may not make it into a 2018 Apple Watch update.

Ming-Chi Kuo often shares accurate predictions about Apple’s plans, so it’s likely we can expect to see some kind of Apple Watch redesign this year. We’ll be hearing more about Apple’s plans as the watch’s likely September release date gets closer.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: Ming-Chi KuoBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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