Nvidia shuts down its GeForce Partner Program, citing misinformation

Nvidia’s GeForce Partner Program (GPP) is shutting down due to the company’s unwillingness to battle “untruths” and “rumors” surrounding the platform, the company said on Friday, May 4. The company launched GPP at the beginning of March so that gamers know what they’re buying when shopping for a new gaming PC. With this program, partners would provide full transparency regarding the installed hardware and software in their products. 

“The new program means that we’ll be promoting our GPP partner brands across the web, on social media, at events and more,” Nvidia’s John Teeple said. “And GPP partners will get early access to our latest innovations, and work closely with our engineering team to bring the newest technologies to gamers.” 

Shortly after the launch, unnamed sources from add-in card and desktop/laptop manufacturers came forward to reveal that the program will likely hurt consumer choice. Even more, they worried that some of the agreement language may actually be illegal while the program itself could disrupt the current business they have with AMD and Intel. They also revealed one major requirement: The resulting product sports the label “[gaming brand] Aligned Exclusively with GeForce.” 

As an example, if Asus wanted to add its Republic of Gamers (RoG) line to Nvidia’s program, it wouldn’t be allowed to sell RoG products with AMD-based graphics. Of course, manufacturers can choose whether or not to join Nvidia’s program, but membership supposedly had its “perks” including access to early technology, sales rebate programs, game bundling, and more. 

AMD vice president and general manager Scott Herkelman had something to say without calling the program out by name. To the company’s defense, desktop and laptop manufacturers almost always list the hardware components of their products, thus Nvidia’s program really wasn’t about transparency in the first place. But Herkelman felt the need to pledge that it’s reigniting the freedom of choice. 

Yet he didn’t stop there. Herkelman jumped on Twitter to provide a more heated statement regarding the competition’s partner program. 

“Many of you told me how our competition tries to use funding and allocation to restrict or block your ability to market and sell Radeon based products in the manner you and your customers desire,” he said to AMD’s partners. “I want to let you know that your voices have been heard and that I welcome any others who have encountered similar experiences to reach out to me. Together we can work to ensure that we give gamers what they truly deserve — freedom of choice.” 

According to Nvidia, all it asked of its partners was to “brand their products in a way that would be crystal clear.” The company says it didn’t want “substitute GPUs hidden behind a pile of techno-jargon.” Specifications for desktops and laptops tend to list their graphics components and PC gamers are generally intelligent shoppers that don’t need any clarification. 

Regardless, Nvidia is pulling the controversial program because the “rumors, conjecture, and mistruths go far beyond” the program’s intent.

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What to expect from Microsoft Build 2018: Less Windows, more cloud

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Microsoft Build, an annual conference for developers, will begin on May 7, 2018 and run through May 9. It’s the company’s largest event of the year, hosting over 6,000 developers, but it’s not necessarily the most interesting for fans and tech nerds. This is the gig where a sweaty Steve Ballmer famously chanted “developers, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS!” until he seemed on the verge of tears.

What that means, put simply, is you shouldn’t expect any big news about Windows, Surface, or other products that cater to home users. That’s particularly true this year. In the past, Microsoft has sometimes shown big new features of upcoming Windows releases – but a big patch just released. We’ll likely see hints at what the next Windows patch looks like but don’t expect anything concrete.

Don’t expect Surface devices

As for Surface?

Microsoft has never made a major Surface product announcement a Build, so it likely won’t start this year. The Surface Pro and Surface Book 2 are still competitive, so we likely won’t see an update for either until fall of this year.

Surface Pro 4 Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

It’s not inconceivable to think Microsoft would tease a new Surface device at the conference. Build wouldn’t be a bad place to briefly talk about the long-rumored Surface Phone, because developers will be interested in it and how to code for it.

Still, that’s a stretch. Build is a hardcore developer conference, and single tickets start at $2,500. Devoting time to a device that doesn’t necessarily impact how developers code for Microsoft products might make the attendees rather cross.

Do expect coding

Microsoft has two keynotes planned for Build. The first is on May 7, the second is on May 8, and both start at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. The keynotes can be intriguing, as Microsoft often uses them to demonstrate cutting-edge technology or near-future concepts. Just be prepared to sit through coding. Yep. Live coding. On stage.

This coding sessions have infamously become a sore point for tech journalists and Microsoft superfans. Each group would rather see hot new features than watch someone de-bug using the latest version of Visual Studio. Build isn’t for either group. Build is for developers, and developers want to see how a new feature will change the way they work.

While drab, the coding sessions can be insightful. They offer a surprisingly deep look at how Microsoft, and its software, operates. That’s not something you’ll find at Facebook F8 and Google I/O keynotes, both of which are more traditional press conferences.

Get ready to get nerdy

What this all means, in sum, is you’ll need to get nerdy. Real nerdy. Build can be a spectacle, at times, as Microsoft isn’t shy about placing bold demos on stage. At its heart, though, it’s for developers, developers, developers. You’ll learn where the company is going, and what its engineers think the future will look like – not when your next Surface will hit store shelves.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Wander ‘Burning Man’ in VR with help from the Smithsonian

Despite hosting tens of millions of visitors annually, the Smithsonian remains inaccessible to anyone unable to physically make the trip to visit. That’s why the Smithsonian American Art Museum is partnering with Intel to accelerate efforts in digitizing its 157 million-piece collection. It’s first project will allow attendees to virtually wander the site of the annual Burning Man festival.

As part of the “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” installation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, patrons will be able to don VR headsets and visit the Black Rock Desert in Android Jones Deep Playa Experience. Back in the real world, visitors will be able to view everything from sculptures and art to costumes and jewelry that came from the festival. All without getting caked in the desert’s infamous dust. The exhibit runs through January 21st, 2019.

Source: Intel

5G and a whole lot of Benjamins [#acpodcast]

Daniel Bader is back from South Korea, and he has plenty of insight to share with Andrew Martonik and Jerry Hildenbrand about the (finally official) LG G7 ThinQ. But first, Sprint and T-Mobile are merging to become a Voltron of cellular service in the United States. They discuss the business rationale behind this alliance; as well as pros and cons of this news from a customer perspective.

The crew also look ahead with a preview of Google I/O 2018 and new Google Assistant
features on Wear OS. Put this show in your earholes now!

Listen now

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Show Notes and Links:

• Sprint and T-Mobile are merging
• The T-Mobile / Sprint merger may be good news, but it probably isn’t
• LG G7 ThinQ hands-on preview: All about that bass
• LG G7 specs
• MrMobile can’t stop ThinQing about the LG G7
• Google I/O 2018 preview: All of the big announcements you can expect
• Google Assistant on Wear OS gets smart suggestions and Assistant actions

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• Thrifter.com: All the best deals from Amazon, Best Buy, and more, fussily curated and constantly updated.
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Google will reportedly revamp News with video and speed tweaks

Google News is getting a major refresh, pulling in features from YouTube and the Play Newsstand magazine app to modernize the product, according to Ad Age. Google has been in talks with publishers over the update, which is expected to debut at the I/O developer conference next week.

The revamp will consolidate Google’s various news services — Play Newsstand is likely to close as part of the move, with Google News getting a new app. The rework will add YouTube’s news section and incorporate the AMP technology Google uses to load pages faster on mobile.

Google is ringing the changes as it places more focus on news. You can already subscribe to some publications using your Google account and it’s placing your subscriptions higher in search results. The company is also investing $300 million to combat the menace of fake news, taking measures like refusing to show search results for publishers that mask their country of origin.

All of these efforts, along with the News revamp, point towards Google trying to strengthen its relationships with publishers. News organizations are facing drops in traffic after Facebook adjusted the News Feed to prioritize posts from friends, giving Google more of an opportunity to become a stronger partner for publishers. If Google embraces this chance, new features could usher in a better News experience for all users.

Source: Ad Age

How much data is Apple collecting from you? Not that much

Not so long ago, a New York Times journalist took a look at just how much Facebook knew about him, and was horrified by the answer. Of course, this little experiment begged the question — how much do the other popular tech companies know about their users? To answer that, Jefferson Graham of USA Today looked into how much data Apple had collected from him, and was quite  surprised by the answer — not that much.

Like many of us, Graham is quite the avid Apple user, and has an iPhone, iPad, and two Mac computers. As such, it seemed likely that the company could have a veritable treasure trove of key information on someone like Graham. But in a pleasant surprise, this was not the case.

Back in March, Apple made it a bit easier for folks to download their iCloud and Apple ID data in order to comply with European Union rules. Folks also now have the option of correcting personal information, deactivating accounts, or deleting them altogether. But unlike Facebook, these accounts aren’t quite as rife with data as you might expect.

As Graham reported, when Apple finally delivered the requested data (it did take quite a while — eight days, to be exact), it was in a zip file that was only 9 megabytes large. Compare that to Graham’s Google and Facebook files, which were 243 and 881 MB respectively. Part of the reason that Apple’s data package is about 1/100th of the size of Facebook’s is that the majority of your Apple-related information is stored locally on your device, not on Apple’s servers. That means that while Apple has records of your downloads, purchases, and device repairs, it does not have access to your search history either by way of Siri or Safari.

This, Apple says, is a testament to just how seriously the company takes user privacy.

As Graham noted, Apple had time stamps of every time he backed up his iPhone, uploaded photos to iCloud, and his email and physical address. The company also had a copy of every app and song Graham had downloaded over the years. However, Apple did not have the questions Graham had asked smart assistant Siri, even though the company does use user queries to make Siri smarter.

How does this work? Apple says that once you ask Siri a question, Apple uses a “random identifier to mask your identity.” So while Apple knows what questions people are asking, none of those questions can be traced back to a particular user.

While Graham’s data file did include his browsing history from his Macs dating back to July of 2017, Apple claimed to not track that information. That means that Apple doesn’t use this data to send targeted advertisements, again, a very different practice from Google and Facebook. That said, the company does use your data to sell targeted ads based on your activity in the News and App Store apps. You can actually see what information Apple is using here by going to Settings, Privacy, then Advertising. If you tap “View Ad Information,” you’ll see who’s targeting you.

While it’s not quite the case that Apple knows and collects nothing about and from its users, it’s quite clear that in comparison to companies that derive their revenue from advertising (which is to say, Google and Facebook), Apple has relatively little user information. And hopefully, that will help you sleep just a little bit easier.

The best Star Wars toys for the tech-focused fan

Just like March 14 always makes us think of pi (or should that be pie?), May 4 has become synonymous with George Lucas’s iconic sci-fi franchise. Playing off the classic catchphrase “May the Force be with you,” May 4 is officially an international day of appreciation for all things Star Wars. To celebrate the occasion — and the upcoming release of Solo: A Star Wars Story — we rounded up some of our favorite tech-focused Star Wars toys, from X-Wing drones to a pint-sized version of BB-8.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Electronic Chewbacca Mask ($32)

By now, we’re pretty sure everyone has seen the viral Facebook video with the woman wearing this mask. If you haven’t, however, make sure to check it out, because it’s a roaring good time (get it?). The plastic device does look a lot like Chewbacca, but that’s not why we chose to include it on this list. Opening your mouth while wearing the Wookiee mask will cause Chewbacca’s roar to erupt from it — and it’s absolutely hilarious. And we’re not the only ones who think so. At one point, the mask was so popular that Kohl’s completely sold out of it.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Sphero BB-8 ($100)

BB-8 captured the hearts of millions when it was first introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, arguably dethroning R2D2 as the most lovable robot in the entire Star Wars canon. Sphero’s miniature, app-enabled droid is just as cute as the original and can roll around at up to 4.5 mph. The orange-and-white robot also comes equipped with a waterproof shell, an hour of battery life, and a range of up to 100 feet. It can even interact with other Sphero droids and react to the Star Wars films, if you watch them together.

Read our BB-8 hands-on review

Buy it now from:

Amazon

‘Star Wars: Jedi Challenges’ ($183)

Lenovo offers one of the coolest Star Wars experiences of any tech company, if you’re willing to spend a little more. Star Wars: Jedi Challenges is an augmented reality game that allows you to experience what it feels like to hold and fight with a real lightsaber. In order to play, you need to buy the bundle, which comes with an AR headset that is compatible with most Android and iOS devices, a lightsaber controller, and a tracking beacon. You also need to download the free app onto your smartphone, but once you have properly set everything up, you will be able to mow down Stormtroopers and get your Dejarik on.

Read our full Star Wars: Jedi Challenges review

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Luke Skywalker FX Lightsaber ($103)

While there are dozens of different FX lightsabers to chose from, you can’t go wrong with Luke Skywalker’s original, green lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. This collector-grade weapon offers authentic sound effects and realistic lighting. It also features an authentic metal hilt, one designed after the blade Mark Hamill used in the 1983 film. Although you probably don’t want to go on an all-out onslaught with this lightsaber, it is sturdy enough for light to medium dueling and will look awesome on display in your home.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Propel X-Wing Drone ($80)

For anyone who has ever wanted to fly a Star Wars spacecraft, but was unfortunate enough not to be born in a galaxy far, far away, now you can! Propel offers three detailed Star Wars remote-control drones, including an X-Wing, TIE fighter, and a speeder bike. Our favorite of the three is the X-Wing, which uses four miniature motors positioned under the device to keep it afloat. It also has three different speed settings and a T-Mode to accommodate different skills levels. Once you get the hang of the controls, this starfighter can reach speeds of up to 35 mph (yes, really).

Read our full Propel Star Wars Battle Drones review

Buy it now from:

Amazon

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FBI hostage rescue team bamboozled after criminals unleash drone swarm

Griff Aviations Drone concept

As useful as drones may be for delivering your Amazon packages or putting on a killer light show at the Super Bowl, these flying gadgets can also be put to rather nefarious schemes. After all, the machinery is only as good as the person controlling it, and in a recent case with the FBI, it would appear that the machinery was not good at all. In 2017, an FBI  hostage rescue team arranged an “elevated observation post” in order to keep an eye on a developing situation. But suddenly, they were overtaken by a swarm of small drones, who swept in with a series of “high-speed low passes at the agents in the observation post to flush them [out],” according to Joe Mazel, the head of the FBI’s operational technology law unit, speaking at the AUVSI Xponential conference in Colorado.

Needless to say, the fleet of drones presented an enormous problem to the FBI agents. “We were then blind,” Mazel said, “It definitely presented some challenges.”

While the agency has not disclosed any additional details about where this drone attack took place or what situation agents were monitoring, the episode could be indicative of the dangerous applications drones may be involved with in the future. After all, these unmanned flying vehicles are not only effective surveillance devices, but can also run quite a bit of interference. Mazel noted that whoever controlled the drones clearly had an eye on the agents and were keeping other people notified of the FBI’s whereabouts.

“They had people fly their own drones up and put the footage to YouTube so that the guys who had cellular access could go to the YouTube site and pull down the video,” Mazel said.

Apparently, organized criminals are increasingly using drones to run counter operations against law enforcement, Mazel said. In fact, some quadcopters are being used in so-called witness intimidation schemes, constantly monitoring police departments in order to determine “who is going in and out of the facility and who might be cooperating with police,” he noted. And drones are also being to plan robberies and other crimes, as lawbreakers are using the flying devices to surveil target homes, identify security weak spots, and observe patterns of activity.

It’s not just the FBI that is dealing with this issue. As Andrew Scharnweber, associate chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told Defense One,  “In the Border Patrol, we have struggled with scouts, human scouts that come across the border. They’re stationed on various mountaintops near the border and they would scout … to spot law enforcement and radio down to their counterparts to go around us. That activity has effectively been replaced by drones.”

The overwhelming concern, of course, is that drones will continue to be used for illegal purposes and that solutions to this burgeoning problem may take some time either from a legislative or technological perspective.

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These contact lenses use a stunningly simple technique to correct color blindness

University of Birmingham

Color-blindness, also known as color vision deficiency or CVD, affects approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women around the world. It’s an incurable, inherited condition that makes it difficult to distinguish between certain colors. Fortunately, researchers from the U.K.’s University of Birmingham have come up with a way to help. They’ve developed contact lenses that could be used to correct color-blindness the way that regular contact lenses can improve the vision of individuals who are nearsighted or farsighted.

The lenses contain a special dye that is able block certain wavelengths of light. This solves one of the causes of color-blindness, a genetic deficiency in the cluster of cells in the eye (called “optical cones”) that allow us to perceive light. Each cone picks up a different wavelength of light. Combining multiple cones allows us to see the full spectrum of colors. When the cones are working correctly, that is.

The dye used by the University of Birmingham researchers blocks the band of light between the red and green wavelengths, which is perceived by two sets of corresponding cones at the same time. Removing this band makes it easier for people to differentiate between red and green — the most common form of color-blindness.

“We found dyes which are non-toxic and biocompatible, so won’t cause any harm to living cells in the eye,” Dr. Haider Butt, lead researcher from the University of Birmingham’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute of Healthcare Technologies, told Digital Trends. Butt pointed out that the lenses can even improve the vision of people who don’t have color-blindness, since they increase the contrast between colors.

This project isn’t the first to explore this technique. The company EnChroma already produces sunglasses that function in the same way, although as of yet, no one produces contact lenses that perform this task. “I think a lot of it will come down to personal choice on the part of the patient,” Butt continued, describing the difference between glasses and contacts. “Contact lenses have less of a footprint than glasses. Some patients also don’t want to advertise their disability, which makes contact lenses a good solution because it’s less apparent to others. Contact lenses can additionally be a lot cheaper than glasses.”

Looking forward, Butt said he doesn’t want to commercialize the technology, but rather to “open source” it so that people can potentially create the dyes in the privacy of their own home. This would allow patients to experiment with different concentrations to find a personalized, optimal solution, while keeping the cost down.

A paper describing the project was recently published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

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The Force is strong with Google Assistant on this Star Wars Day

It may just be May 4 to some of the world, but to the rest of us (which is to say, dedicated Star Wars fans), it’s practically the most important day of the year. And here to help us celebrate is Google Assistant, who certainly understands the gravity of this most hallowed day. On Friday, product management director of Google Assistant Lilian Rincon introduced a couple new ideas for how Star Wars devotees can celebrate May the Fourth with a little bit of help from Google Assistant.

“What started as a fun pun — May the Fourth — has now become an official holiday for Star Wars fans,” Rincon wrote. “On this day known around the globe as ‘Star Wars Day,’ fans celebrate the lore of the galaxy far, far away.” But with your nearby Google Assistant, you can really get the party going.

Google Assistant can serve as your official box office guide, helping you find, learn about, and purchase tickets to the movies. While this new action is debuting just in time for the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story, which will open on May 25, you can also use this feature to search for plenty of other movies. All you need to do is ask Assistant for “showtimes near me.” If the smart helper returns a title that interests you, ask for more information by asking, “Who stars in it?” or “Show me the trailer.”

Then, if you want to take the plunge, you can now buy movie tickets simply by saying so — thanks to a new partnership with Fandango, Google Assistant will let you make purchases simply by saying “buy tickets” once you’ve decided on a film. And those films don’t have to be in theaters now — you can already buy advance tickets for the latest Star Wars installment by telling Assistant to do so. Fandango will also help you pick your seats before you finish your purchase (if you go to a theater that requires that sort of thing).

Google is also offering discounts and deals on Star Wars apps, games, movies, books, and more on the Google Play store. For more about what you can do with Assistant, check out our handy guide.

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