Gboard beta for Android lets you create your own GIFs

Google’s third-party keyboard Gboard added a quick way to create reaction GIFs on iOS last January. Now the feature is starting to show up on some Android handsets, as first noted by Android Police. We’ve been able to confirm the Make a GIF button on a Pixel 2 handset that’s downloaded the Gboard app beta.

If you want to try the new feature at home, you’ll need the latest Gboard beta. Then, you simply open the GIF interface in Gboard on your supported phone, tap on the “My GIFs” tab and make a quick animation using the camera. You can add some funky filters to your moving picture, as well, and save it in the My GIFs tab. Whether or not you’ll see the feature right away seems to depend on which model you’re rocking; Android Police has seen it show up on a Pixel, but not a Galaxy S9 (we used a Pixel 2 in our testing). It’s likely the feature will work on many other handsets when it rolls out of beta.

The updated app also includes new stickers, which includes an Allo-like gallery and the old-style blobmoji for those of you who miss the adorable little gumdrops.

Via: The Verge, Android Police

Vine 2 Project Postponed for an ‘Indefinite Amount of Time’

After Twitter discontinued the original Vine service in 2016 and transitioned it into “Vine Camera,” Vine co-founder Dom Hoffman said he was developing “a follow-up to Vine” that would serve as a sort of Vine 2 app.

Hoffman didn’t provide much info on the second-generation Vine app, but he did say that it was self-funded and would be released at some point in 2018.

It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, though, as Hoffman today announced that the Vine 2 project has been postponed for an “indefinite amount of time” citing legal and financial reasons.

Vine 2, he says, will not work as a personally funded project and it needs to operate as a company with “sizable external funding,” which he does not have the resources to start up at this time due to his work on Interspace and Byte.

The code and ideas still exist, but until everything else comes together, we can’t move forward.

Again, this is indefinite, which means that it could take a long time. But it’s necessary.

I’m very, very sorry for the disappointment. If it’s any consolation, I think it would have been even more disappointing if this service had been developed and released incorrectly, which is where we were headed. I’d like for us to get it right.

The community forums that were set up for the Vine 2 project will continue to be available for community members who had joined, and Hoffman says that any changes to future Vine projects will be announced there.

Vine was founded in June of 2012 and was acquired by Twitter before its launch in January of 2013. The Vine service became a huge hit after launch and it developed a dedicated fan base, but after it began to wane in popularity, Twitter decided to shutter it.

Twitter has turned the original Vine app into Vine Camera, an app that allows users to create six-second video loops that can be shared on Twitter.

Tag: Vine
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Fortnite on iOS Has Earned $50M Since Launch

Popular battle royale game Fortnite has eared more than $50 million in revenue since its March 15 launch, according to new data shared this afternoon by app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Fortnite is free to download, but it encourages players to shell out cash within the app for “V-Bucks” that can be used to purchase customization items like emotes, outfits, gliders, and more. The minimum in-app purchase is $9.99 for 1,000 V-Bucks, but players can spend more if desired. Players are also able to earn V-Bucks in game, but at a slow rate.

On iOS devices, Fortnite has proven to be incredibly popular. While it was still in beta, Fortnite had earned more than $1.5 million, and during its first month of availability on iPads and iPhones, the game brought in $25 million. It only took two weeks for that to double to $50 million.

Fortnite continues to be the number two top free game on the iOS App Store, with Epic Games managing to keep players engaged through different seasons that introduce new challenges to complete and content to unlock. Players can also purchase Battle Passes for $10 worth of in-game currency to receive additional items for completing season content.

Fortnite’s fourth season content, which debuted earlier this week, is what pushed it over the $50 million mark. Player spending in the game jumped up 293 percent on May 1 when the content launched, a 4x increase compared to the preceding Tuesday.

Sensor Tower says that Fortnite’s strategy of selling limited-time skins and other items has resulted in players spending approximately $1 million per day in the mobile game alone.

PUBG, another battle royale game that launched shortly after Fortnite, has not been as successful, which Sensor Tower attributes in part to its loot box monetization strategy. While Fortnite offers unique items available for a limited amount of time, PUGB only allows players to purchase randomized boxes that can result in duplicate and non-useful items.

Tags: Sensor Tower, Fortnite
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Google Tasks review: To-do list app accomplishes only the bare minimum

Google this past week, introduced a revamped Gmail interface, along with a dedicated Tasks app for Android and iOS.

Known for its scattered approach to messaging, Google fares no better when it comes to its to-do list apps. The search giant has been offering Google Keep for taking notes, Google Reminders, and Google Tasks, which was previously buried somewhere in Gmail’s messy interface.

In an attempt to declutter this confusing landscape, and give you a viable alternative to sort through your daily chores, Google has outed the Tasks app. One of the big barriers to adoption for Google Tasks in the past was the lack of a dedicated mobile app. Now this issue has been solved.

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So what does the new app bring to the table?

Setup

You can download the Google Tasks app from the Google Play Store for free. Just install it and tap on the Tasks icon to launch it on your Android device.

Impressions

Let’s get one thing clear from the start: Google Tasks is not a full-featured to-do list app. In fact, the app is extremely minimalist when it comes to both interface and function. It sticks to the basics in order to get the job done. Well, at least in part. Hey, at least it won’t distract you with any flashy elements, right?

To start creating lists, simply access the app and tap the “Get started” button. Then tap on “Add a new task”. It’s quite easy.

Check the hamburger menu which expands into a little overlay if you want to:

• Change your account
• Switch between tasks lists
• Create a new one

The app lets you create as many lists as you want/need and create sub-tasks too. Simply tap the Add a new task blue button and type a relevant text.

Tap on a particular task to add more info, such as:

• Additional details
• Date
• Adding a sub-task

Tasks can be reordered manually. Just tap on the three dots in the bottom left corner and tap on My order. Tap the checkmark next to each task to complete one or you can swipe them from left to right. There’s also the option to delete all completed tasks, otherwise they will show up in a sub-menu under Completed.

The app sends notifications to remind you a task is due. However, in my experience some notifications got lost and were never delivered.

Tasks are also accessible in the new Gmail interface. Tap the icon located on the vertical panel on the right and start adding tasks. You can also add emails as tasks in the web Gmail interface, just drag and drop them. Everything will be synced between the web and mobile version.

While its main drawing point is the Gmail integration, Tasks is a very limited service which can’t yet compete with the likes of Todoist.

But apparently, that’s exactly what Google was looking to offer – a “simple-to-use and straightforward tasks app.” Nothing more. Although, Tasks product manager Florian Goerisch revealed there are plans to bring additional features to the app.

We’ve seen what Tasks can do, but what can’t it do? Well many things. For example you won’t be able to set reminders or assign a certain time to a task, share lists with others, add tags or alarms. There’s also no integration with the Google Assistant.

Wrap-up

Even though I fully appreciate Tasks’ simplicity, I can’t help feeling Google left out some essential features that would have really made the app a lot better. Like the ability to set a time deadline for your task. But hopefully, the app will get better over time, since there’s clearly plenty room for a lot of improvement.

Billboard weighs paid streams more heavily on its music charts

Since Billboard started using streaming data in calculating the country’s most popular songs and albums in 2013, there’s been a sea change in how music’s popularity is quantified. Some artists, like Chance the Rapper, have had hits with streaming-only albums, while bigger names, like Kanye West with The Life of Pablo, can reach the Hot 200 summit primarily on streams.

We’ve known since October that subscription streams will play a bigger role in shaping the Hot 100 songs and Hot 200 albums charts than free and ad-supported streams. The new rules go into effect on June 29th, and Billboard has revealed more detail on how it will calculate its charts going forward.

Subscription song streams account for one point per play for the Hot 100 songs and genre-specific charts. Ad-supported streams, such as those on YouTube, will snag artists two-thirds of a point, and programmed streams (i.e. Pandora) a half point. Free plays have even less of an impact on the Hot 200 albums list with 3,750 streams equating to one album unit sold, and 1,250 subscription streams equalling one unit. Previously, 1,500 streams equaled one album unit sold, no matter if they were free or subscription-based.

Billboard will further refine the rules next year: paid subscription services with full library access will carry more weight than those with a limited library or on-demand listening restrictions. In 2017, Spotify started withholding some new albums from its free tier for a limited time, but it’s not yet clear how that change will affect how it is categorized by the RIAA next year.

Streaming is the biggest factor in determining chart positions, ahead of radio airplay then digital song sales, according to Billboard. It’s not clear how many streams are equivalent to a radio play or single song sale. Billboard wants to “measure streams in a revenue-reflective and access-based manner,” so Spotify and others might feel additional pressure from music publishers to push users towards a paid subscription.

The new rules, however, might not still reflect a song’s true popularity at a given moment. There could be twice as many people listening to a song on YouTube as there are checking out a different tune on Spotify or Tidal, but they’ll hold the same weight on the charts.

Via: Rolling Stone

Source: Billboard

What to expect at Google I/O 2018

It’s somehow already May, which means Google’s I/O developer conference is right around the corner: next week, in fact. The show is once again being held in scenic Mountain View, California, and with its keynotes, sessions and musical acts, I/O feels like a developer conference with just a hint of Coachella. Personally, we’re going for the hard news, and we expect a lot of it, even despite a recent, massive Google news dump. In anticipation of all that action, here’s a quick primer on what we know Google has in store for I/O, along with a few things we’re likely to see once the show kicks off on Tuesday.

Android P

Google’s latest version of Android is already available for tinkerers, so the broad strokes are well known at this point. Expect to hear the company lay out its vision of how these features fit together in greater detail. On a more mechanical level, lots of sessions are dedicated to getting developers acquainted with under-the-hood changes that come with Android P. If that’s not applicable to you, we’re also hoping to get an in-depth look at the new gesture-based navigation system coming to Android P (though it may be a Pixel exclusive) along with Google’s lighter, rounder new take on Material Design.

For those of you who haven’t felt comfortable flashing early software onto your phones, I/O typically marks the release of a second, more stable developer preview. These releases are much closer to full daily driver quality, and since we haven’t run into any major issues in the initial release, you probably don’t need to worry too much about taking this build for a spin. (Disclaimer: Please don’t install the second dev preview unless you’ve made backups and know what you’re getting into!) We aren’t expecting a confirmation on what Android P will actually be called when it launches, but we’ll let you know if the company starts serving popsicles.

The future of Wear OS

There was a time when you couldn’t escape Google-powered smartwatches, but those days seem mostly over. That doesn’t mean Google has given up though: It recently rebranded Android Wear as Wear OS to better reflect the fact that a solid chunk of its users have iPhones, and it baked new Google Assistant features into the platform for good measure. That Google is hosting a “What’s new with Wear OS” session at the show suggests that something interesting for wearable fans should pop up, but at this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to what new features Google has planned.

Chrome OS

Everyone’s favorite browser-based operating system is poised to receive at least one big update, and I/O would be the perfect time for Google to talk about it. According to Chrome Unboxed, the search giant has quietly been working to build Linux app compatibility into Chrome OS for some time now, and the feature recently found its way into a Chrome OS developer build. There’s no ambiguity left, people: It won’t be long before you’re able to run “Linux tools, editors and IDEs” on your Chromebooks. Given that the lack of native desktop apps has been problematic for some people considering a switch to Chrome OS, this is huge news: With browser-based Chrome apps, Android apps from the Play Store and this new support for Linux software, Chrome OS might soon be able to rival more-traditional PCs in sheer functionality. That might not mean a lot to mainstream computer buyers, but it sounds like Chrome OS has the potential to become a platform where real dev work is done. We could see I/O’s audience eating this up.

We’ve also recently seen Chrome OS make its first outing onto a proper tablet, and we’d be shocked if Google or its hardware partners didn’t have more to say on the matter. We’re not sure how much spotlight this is going to get, but since Android apps can now run Chromebooks, Google has a session scheduled to help developers tune their apps for different inputs and bigger screens. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to lay our eyes on some neat demos.

Google Assistant

Google’s Assistant often feels like the most well-rounded of the virtual assistants out there right now, and there’s no way the company won’t use its keynotes next week to highlight new changes to the platform. Exactly what kinds of changes to expect, however, remain to be seen. We’ve seen devices like the new G7 ThinQ run with new, device-specific Google Assistant commands (you know, like, “Hey Google, take a wide-angle selfie”), and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a few other smartphone makers show off similarly deep integrations at I/O.

Google and its hardware partners also showed off a slew of so-called smart displays for the Assistant back at CES, complete with a sleek new interface that’s designed for bigger screens. Lenovo has one, as does LG and JBL, but none of them have actually hit the market yet since the underlying Android Things OS is only now nearing completion. In the past year or so, the platform has been updated with machine learning and improved camera support for certain kinds of devices, so hopefully Google will lay out a clearer vision of what it wants these new screens to do for us. If we’re lucky, Google’s partners will actually announce some release dates too.

Google

Android Auto

Until the day driverless cars become ubiquitous and we’re free to goof around on our phones behind the wheel, platforms like Android Auto will serve to put familiar features on dashboards. Android Auto has seen a relatively solid stream of enhancements since it launched in 2015, including, most recently, the addition of Google Assistant.

Curiously, Google’s own I/O companion app suggests some big changes. A map listing for an Android Auto sandbox — basically a glorified hands-on space — revealed the existence of a “brand new media experience … both on your phone screen and on your car display, making it easier and faster than ever before to surface content to users.” That’s not all: This new automotive interface will have optimized versions of services like Google Maps, Assistant and the Play Store. Since in-car LTE is growing more common, we might soon be able to download apps directly from the Play Store and onto our cars.

Android TV

Apple TVs, Fire TVs, Roku sticks and more have all become mainstays in living rooms around the world, but Android TV hasn’t had the same kind of penetration. Based on the published agendas, Google plans to talk about developer features and ways the platform is evolving, which will be fascinating to see in light of the competition. A recent appearance by a Google-branded HDMI dongle at the FCC has only added fuel to the fire, especially since the filing was unceremoniously yanked from the commission’s database after getting too much attention. Google tends to thoroughly show off new hardware at a separate event later in the year, but the timing seems right for an announcement — after all, the company revealed its plans for standalone Daydream VR headsets last year, so talk of new devices isn’t exactly rare at I/O.

Fuchsia

We listed this as a long shot last year, and honestly, we’re not sure this year will be any different. For those just catching up, Fuchsia is the third major operating system in Google’s portfolio, and unlike Android and Chrome OS, there’s little in the way of hard detail. Persistent rumors suggest it’s meant to be a sort of hybrid operating system to possibly unify or replace Android and Chrome OS, while a deep dive performed by Ars Technica earlier this year revealed an interface that, while actually quite pretty, was barely functional. Long story short, Fuchsia’s true nature and mission are still shrouded in secrecy, and we can only hope that Google decides to get a little more chatty on the subject next week.

Google’s latest app easily transfers VR180 footage to your phone

Google’s work toward democratizing virtual reality has taken a big step forward. The company recenlty released the VR180 app for Android and iOS, which takes photos and video captured on its special VR cameras and uploads them directly to Google Photos and YouTube. There’s an option for live-streaming too, according to TechCrunch. You’ll need one of Google’s VR180 cameras to use the app, of course, but there are already a few options to choose from in that regard. Lucky for you, Lenovo’s Mirage Camera is available as of today.

This is likely just the start of Google’s VR news, though. After all, its annual I/O developers conference is Monday, and you can bet Google has a few response’s to Facebook’s tech from this week.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Play

Google Assistant can now buy movie tickets on your behalf

Google Assistant’s latest trick is ordering movie tickets. It’s a partnership with Fandango that enables the digital helper to assist you with movie night decisions. You can buy tickets with your voice, or you can ask for general showtimes in your area, along with finding out a movie’s cast and maybe even watching a trailer. Google says picking assigned seats is pretty simple too.

It was only a matter of time before Google brought Assistant into the movie mix. Not long ago, the tech juggernaut added movie showtimes and reviews to Search results. The AI has its limits though, and predicting how long, say, MoviePass will stay afloat is probably outside of its purview.

How police are using corpses to unlock phones

If you’ve ever imagined a scenario where police demand you unlock your phone and thought “Over my dead body!” — we have bad news for you. Here in our absurd dystopian future, having a phone means that upon your demise you could find yourself participating — limp and lifeless — in a legal search and seizure of your own digital property.

Police in Largo, Florida recently tried to use a dead man’s finger to open his phone. This was to the complete astonishment of his family and probably also staff at the Sylvan Abbey Funeral Home. Detectives just rolled right in with Linus F. Phillip’s phone and asked staff where his corpse was. They then attempted to unlock his phone by pressing his hands and fingers on to the fingerprint sensor.

The dead man’s fiance Victoria Armstrong told press, “I just felt so disrespected and violated.”

Mr. Phillip, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed outside a gas station after police claimed he tried to drive away during a search. His death was ruled a “justifiable homicide.” His family does not trust the investigation into his death.

“They were trying to open up that cellphone using a dead man’s finger,” the family’s attorney, John Trevena said. “That’s disgusting beyond words.”

Attempts by police to use the dead man’s hands for what they claimed was “to preserve evidence” by unlocking his phone were unsuccessful. The alleged evidence on his phone, press wrote, was “to aid in the investigation into Phillip’s death and a separate inquiry into drugs” according to Lt. Randall Chaney.

“We can’t remember having unlocked a phone in that fashion, either at the scene, the Medical Examiner’s office, or the funeral home,” Lt. Chaney said.

The Tampa Bay Times wrote:

According to Chaney, there’s a 48- to 72-hour window to access a phone using the fingerprint sensor. Police got the phone back within that window but after the body was released from state custody to the funeral home.

Apparently we don’t have an expectation of privacy after we die. It sounds diabolical, but damn if it isn’t America’s newest law enforcement trend. They aren’t just playing with your cold, dead hands, they’re using it to access your selfies, dick pics, cat pics, drunk DMs, and anime porn search history. I mean, “look for evidence.”

Like it or not, what the police did was legal — and it’s becoming a practice. In November 2016, FBI agents used the bloody finger belonging to Ohio State University killer Abdul Razak’s iPhone in hopes of finding information and evidence. They got the timing wrong, missing the window before the phone required a passcode and ended up cracking the device with other means.

Imagine the plot twists if “Weekend at Bernie’s” was released today.

Getty

That was the first publicly known instance of posthumous Touch ID access attempts by authorities, though there have been more since. “Separate sources close to local and federal police investigations in New York and Ohio,” Forbes wrote in March, “who asked to remain anonymous as they weren’t authorized to speak on record, said it was now relatively common for fingerprints of the deceased to be depressed on the scanner of Apple iPhones.”

It’s widely accepted nowadays, then, when a person dies, they may specify to be (or not to be) an organ donor, to be cremated or buried, or even to be wrapped in bedsheets and unexamined. Perhaps now is an era calling for the need of overly specific privacy and security instructions, including no posthumous fingerprinting, no unlocking of private folders, or even “bury me with my phone.”

If it sounds outrageous, think about what could be found on your devices and in your DMs and search history for authorities and family to find if tomorrow was suddenly your day to explore the hereafter.

Let’s imagine law enforcement mistaking your intentions and then the next thing you know, you’re tits-up in the morgue while the cops corpse-finger your phone and then have a frank discussion about what’s in your photo albums. Not cool, right?

With the living, as most know, a regular password or passcode is protected by the Fifth Amendment’s safeguards for self-incrimination. Police can’t force you to give it up. But if your device is only protected by a fingerprint, your phone and all its contents are fair game.

For instance, in May 2016, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg made headlines when she issued a warrant to search an Armenian gangster’s girlfriend’s phone by taking her fingerprint and unlocking her iPhone. Things would have been different had the woman been using a regular password or passcode, which is protected by the Fifth Amendment’s safeguards for self-incrimination. Rosenberg’s decision was preceded by a Virginia Circuit Court judge in October 2014, where it was a ruled that giving biometric data is not the same as divulging knowledge.

But when you die, so do a lot of your rights. No heartbeat? No warrant needed. Tampa Bay Times wrote that a deceased person “can’t assert their Fourth Amendment protections because, well, you can’t own property when you’re dead,” according to Charles Rose, professor and director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University College of Law.

If this seems backwards and problematic, then you’re noticing how badly the law needs to catch up with new technology, as well as new corridors of abuse for authorities. Think of our laws around tech, privacy, and the demands of authorities like an old building. A building that has every inch of usable space utilized. But with new technologies, that building needs to be expanded. The only thing really guiding it is the structural bits that can’t be moved (like the Fifth Amendment). To expedite growth into the next room, cops are basically just punching through walls. Until someone tries to stop them, anyway.

Here’s the thing. Generally speaking, authorities can get into your device if they really want to, meaning if they have the budget to spend on phone cracking software or shady, ethics-free hacking teams. But most departments don’t have that kind of budgeting, so when push comes to shove, sometimes a cop is gonna pull rank with the goths at the morgue.

Should you be worried? Yes! You should totally be worried! Look around! Between ICE and Facebook, it’s a free for all with rights and privacy right now. We lost net neutrality, the internet left sex workers to die, Russia runs the country, and the wrong Terms agreement could land you in a bathtub of ice missing a couple necessary organs!

Seriously: Don’t lock your phone with your fingerprint. These things were designed by people who never leave the house.

Images: Getty (Weekend at Bernie’s / Fingerprint identity)

HTC Shares Teaser for New Phone That Inexplicably Features iPhone 6 Parts

HTC today sent out emails and updated its website with a teaser image for an upcoming event that will see the launch of its next flagship device.

The image in question features smartphone components overlaid with a date, and given that HTC is teasing a new smartphone, it would be logical to assume these are HTC components, but as AnandTech points out, HTC’s image features iPhone 6 parts.

HTC’s teaser image
It is not clear why HTC is teasing its next-generation smartphone with components from an Apple device that’s four years old rather than the upcoming device or at least an HTC smartphone, but it’s an embarrassing mistake for the company to make.

iPhone 6 components, via iFixit
HTC’s May 23 event will likely see the debut of the HTC U12, the successor to the HTC U11.

Tag: HTC
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