BlackBerry wants you to shill in return for prizes
Let’s say you’re in charge of marketing BlackBerry phones. You don’t have nearly as much cachet as you did in BlackBerry’s heyday, and all the social media buzz tends to surround the latest Galaxy or iPhone. What do you do? If you’re TCL, it’s simple: turn the fans into marketers. It’s launching a BlackBerry Smartphone Fan League that rewards the faithful for sharing social network posts, creating original posts about their phones, filling out surveys and recruiting more into their fold. Participants earn points they can use to enter weekly and monthly contests, and they’ll also have access to closed beta tests for new features.
The league is currently available in BlackBerry’s home turf of Canada as well as the US and UK.
It’s hard to shake the slight whiff of desperation in this move: when TCL reportedly sold just 850,000 BlackBerry phones last year, it needs whatever boost it can get. And it’s bound to feel a little crass when you clutter your friends’ feeds with advertising. At the same time, the company is both keenly aware of BlackBerry’s loyalty and is being transparent about its methods and goals. There have been far, far shadier marketing tactics in the past.
Source: BlackBerry Smartphone Fan League
First look at SyFy’s ‘Nightflyers’ is equal parts ‘Aliens’ and ‘Psycho’
If you’re getting a little antsy waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish the next book in his Game of Thrones series, you can always turn to another television project based on one of his older books. Instead of dragons, however, this one has spaceships. Nightflyers, based on Martin’s novella of the same name, is a 10-part, sci-fi-flavored horror series that’s set to launch on SyFy later this Fall.
As Martin himself says in the trailer above, “Nightflyers is a haunted house story on a starship. It’s Psycho in space.” It’s hard not to think Alien, either, when the voice-over says that the message is not a distress call but a warning. They do not want the Nightflyer brought back to Earth. On top of that, the crew itself is full of conflict and distrust, making for a pretty tense horror set piece. This is the second time Martin’s novella has been adapted; there was a 1987 movie with the same title.
Via: Variety
Source: SyFy
New York joins Massachusetts investigation of Facebook’s data use
All eyes are on Facebook as more and more information rolls out regarding Cambridge Analytica, its involvement in recent elections and forums and how it came to obtain 50 million Facebook users’ profile information. Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is joining those demanding more information from the social network giant. “Consumers have a right to know how their information is used — and companies like Facebook have a fundamental responsibility to protect their users’ personal information,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Today, along with Massachusetts Attorney General Healey, we sent a demand letter to Facebook — the first step in our joint investigation to get to the bottom of what happened.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that her office was opening an investigation last weekend and she and Schneiderman aren’t the only ones looking for answers. Congressional leaders have also demanded more information from Facebook as has the UK Parliament. The FTC is also reportedly conducting its own investigation. Facebook plans to brief Congress on its role in the scandal as early as this week.
“New Yorkers deserve answers, and if any company or individual violated the law, we will hold them accountable,” Schneiderman said today.
Source: Eric Schneiderman
Samsung’s commercial-grade Galaxy Tab Active 2 is available in the US
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Active2 is available starting today for $420 if you go the WiFi route; there’s also an LTE option available on AT&T and Verizon. Whether you’re on the shop floor or working outdoors, the slate’s unique build should be up to the task at hand. Samsung made the S Pen a bit more rugged, and now it’s IP68 certified for dust and water resistance, for example, and the Tab has a replaceable battery. The gizmo is also MIL-STD-810-certified, meaning it’s been blessed by the military for being able to withstand drops, “excessive pressure,” temperatures and vibrations.
Samsung also tweaked the display so the touchscreen will still function if you’re wearing gloves, and face-scanning tech ensures that you won’t have to expose your digits to the elements to unlock the device. Oh, and it packs a 5MP camera up front, with an 8MP shooter on the back.
No, this won’t excite anyone looking for an iPad replacement, but for folks working in industrial and commercial environments, the upgrade should be worthwhile — the last Tab Active was released in 2014.
Source: Samsung (1), (2)
Cambridge Analytica CEO: ‘we ran all the digital campaign’ for Trump
At the same time Cambridge Analytica announced it’s suspending CEO Alexander Nix, Channel 4 News released a second report on the company based on undercover videos. In this report, it shows executives claiming that their work was responsible for Trump’s “narrow victory” by 40,000 votes in three states. Nix said in the video that “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.”
In a quote that may be more relevant due to the ongoing investigations, he also said the company uses “self-destructing email” to avoid leaving any trace of its communications. In his words, the candidate (Trump) is “always” the puppet, told by his campaign team what to do and say, while politicians who asked questions after the fact weren’t technical enough to understand what happened.
CA execs took specific responsibility for propaganda targeting Hillary Clinton, and Buzzfeed has shown some of the ads. While CA’s chief data scientist (and now acting CEO after Nix’s suspension) Alexander Tayler discussed using PACs as untraceable sources of negative campaign messaging, the Make America Number One PAC behind these ads worked in exactly the manner described, uploading specific videos to Facebook for targeted advertising, while also posting them widely as YouTube links.
In response, Cambridge Analytica maintained that the use of encrypted communications is “common practice,” and said that it has “been completely transparent about our simultaneous work on both political campaigns and political action committees (including publicly declaring our work on both with FEC filings).”
Source: Channel 4, Buzzfeed
Uber faces lawsuit for denying rides to woman with service animal
Uber is facing still more legal trouble over its accessibility issues. Texas resident D’Edra Steele has sued the ridesharing company for allegedly denying her 25 rides due to the service dog she needs for her cerebral palsy. Reportedly, drivers would either give excuses (such as a lack of blankets or dog allergies) or would even speed off the moment they saw Steele’s companion animal. Steele also had to deal with “disparaging” remarks some of the times she did get rides.
Steele also alleges that Uber didn’t do enough to address her concerns. It would acknowledge formal complaints, educate drivers and give her $5 credits, but didn’t follow up as promised — it even claimed to have spoken with Steele on the phone when the call never happened. The repeated rejection was enough to prompt mental health treatment and a visit to the hospital.
We’ve asked Uber for comment on the lawsuit. This is more a question of the company’s ability to enforce its policies than anything, however. The firm has a clear service animal policy warning drivers that they’re legally obligated to accept passengers with service animals, regardless of their rationale (including allergies). Uber is supposed to remove drivers from the service if they refuse trips from more than one passenger with a service animal, but that doesn’t help if a customer runs into numerous drivers all exhibiting the same discriminatory behavior.
Uber definitely isn’t the only company facing complaints about accessibility — Lyft has faced lawsuits as well. As such, this incident is as emblematic of problems with ridesharing at large as it is any issues with Uber itself. While the companies routinely accessibility, their drivers and vehicles are only sometimes prepared for the responsibility.
Source: Gizmodo
Quick Takes: Smartwatches to Have More Than Just 15 Minutes of Fame as GymKit Rollout Continues
In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.
Tuesday, March 20
Highlights
1. IDC forecasts that smartwatch shipments will nearly double within four years: IDC believes smartwatches will account for almost two out of every five wearable devices shipped in 2022, with an estimated 84.1 million shipments that year, compared to an estimated 43.6 million units in 2018.
Commentary: Apple Watch is the world’s most popular smartwatch by a significant margin, having outsold all competing smartwatches combined in 2017, and there’s no sign that momentum will slow down.
2. Stack Overflow releases the results of its 2018 developer survey: The results, based on over 100,000 respondents from around the world, outline this year’s most loved, dreaded, and wanted technologies and platforms, how developers around the world code, learn, live, and work, and more.
Apple-related highlights:
- 26.7 percent of developers said macOS is their primary operating system for work, versus 49.9 percent for Windows
- iOS was the most loved mobile operating system for development, with 64.6 percent of respondents expressing interest in continuing to develop for the platform, versus 63.8 percent for Android
- Developers using Apple’s open source Swift programming language earned a median salary of $57,000 in the United States, versus a leading $74,000 for programming language F#
3. Introducing IBM Watson Services for Core ML: The service enables corporate developers to build iPhone and iPad apps that leverage IBM Watson models via Apple’s Core ML framework. Apple says these apps can quickly analyze images, accurately classify visual content, and easily train models.
Commentary: This service is an expansion of a four-year-old enterprise partnership between Apple and IBM that has led to over 100 new business apps tailored to industries such as healthcare, finance, and transportation.
Other Links
- Amazon surpasses Alphabet in market value: As of writing, Amazon has a market cap of around $765 billion, while Google parent company Alphabet stands at around $760 billion. Amazon is now the world’s second most valuable company behind Apple and its $890 billion.
- Dutch mobile bank bunq launches in Italy and Spain with Apple Pay support: Unfortunately, Apple Pay has yet to launch in the Netherlands itself. But, this seems like a small step forward.
- Technogym now has more than 5,000 GymKit-enabled pieces of equipment in hundreds of fitness clubs across the world: Apple plans to roll out GymKit to 80 percent of the fitness equipment market, allowing one-tap pairing with an Apple Watch for more accurate fitness data.
For more Apple news and rumors coverage, visit our Front Page, Mac Blog, and iOS Blog. Also visit our forums to join in the discussion.
Tag: Quick Takes
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Offers Discounts on BeatsX, Powerbeats3, and Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones
Apple this week is offering a limited time discount on its lineup of Beats headphones in the United States, dropping the price of the BeatsX Earphones, the Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones, and Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones.
Apple has offered these discounts several times in the past, and the lower prices are often available for a short period of time.
The BeatsX Earphones are available for $119.95, down from the regular price of $149.95. All colors are available at the reduced price.
Apple’s Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones, designed for use with workouts, are available for $159.95, down from the regular price of $199.95. Apple offers both standard and Neighborhood Powerbeats3 collections, with both available at a discount.
The Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones are available for $239.95, down from the regular price of $299.95. Apple also offers these in standard and Neighborhood collections, with both discounted.
BeatsX, Powerbeats 3, and Beats Solo3 Wireless all include an Apple-designed W1 chip much like the AirPods, which means you can easily switch connectivity between different Mac and iOS devices.
All three accessories are also wireless and connect to your devices over Bluetooth, so they work with iPhones that do not have a headphone jack.
While Apple’s prices are an okay deal, these headphones and earphones are also often discounted by third-party retailers. B&H Photo, for example, has some Beats Solo3 Wireless models available for $219.99, a $60 discount that beats Apple’s discount. Not all colors are included, however.
Best Buy is offering the BeatsX for $99.99 this week, a price that also beats Apple’s discount.
For more deals and discounts on headphones and other accessories, make sure to check out our Deals Roundup.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.
Related Roundup: Apple Deals
Discuss this article in our forums
Google Maps for iOS Gains Restaurant Wait Times, Improved Transit Directions and More
Google Maps for iOS was today updated to version 4.47, introducing new and improved features.
When searching for a restaurant using Google Maps, you can now see wait times at more than a million restaurants around the world that will let you know just how long you can expect to wait before being seated.
Google says the update also introduces the ability to sort and search through reviews of a restaurant, store, or other business, so you can find specific information that you’re looking for, and it includes more robust transit directions.
The new transit directions feature in Google Maps is designed to let you know which transit entrance you need to go to, and it is available in New York, Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, Los Angeles, Delhi, Moscow, Singapore, Madrid, Barcelona, Kiev, and Budapest.
Thanks for using Google Maps! This release brings bug fixes and awesome new features to help you discover new places and navigate to them:
– See average wait times at over a million restaurants worldwide.
– Search and sort through reviews of a place.
– Get transit directions that tell you exactly which entrance you need to go into. This feature is available now in New York, Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, Los Angeles, Delhi, Moscow, Singapore, Madrid, Barcelona, Kiev, and Budapest, with more on the way!
Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: Google Maps
Discuss this article in our forums
FrontRow Camera review: A nice toy, but no game-changer
Taking pictures while at an event is always a little hit-and-miss. Either you’re clutching your phone the whole time to make sure you don’t miss a second, or you’re scrambling to get it out of your pocket/purse/whatever when the moment arises. The FrontRow camera seeks to change that, providing an easily accessible camera that can capture your whole night in the form of a time-lapse “Story” or individual instants or moments in time via photo or video.
Build & Design
Said camera is a stopwatch-sized smart device with an anodized aluminum body, sandwiched between two glass faces, and two cameras. This body features an integrated speaker, mic, and two buttons – one Power, one Capture. The top of the device also has a toothed clip to mount accessories (detailed below).
Its bottom features a Type-C USB port which, if you’ve read any of my accessory reviews in the past, you know is a favorite of mine. Type-C is the future, and it’s great to see an accessory manufacturer recognize that. In-hand, the FrontRow camera feels exceedingly premium; it’s hefty, and every detail of the device has been considered thoughtfully.
The front face of the FrontRow camera is glossy black and covered in glass, with a centered, reflective FrontRow logo and a camera sensor mounted above the face. This camera is an 8MP, f2.2 aperture sensor with a 148°±3° Field of View, resulting in an almost fish-eye view of the world. Live video can capture from 1080p to 2.7k (30fps), with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization).
On the flip-side, the rear face serves as the primary interface of the FrontRow with a 1.96″ LTPS LCD touchscreen. At 640 x 572 pixels (327ppi), this display is surprisingly crisp for such a small device. The high (though not quite HD) resolution makes viewing pictures and videos a joy.
It should be noted, though that you can rarely see the entire picture you’ve taken due to the circular nature of the device and the rectangular nature of the pictures it takes. There’s another camera mounted on the rear face, a 5MP, f2.0 aperture sensor with a 85° Field of View.
In Theory
For a little piece of hardware, the FrontRow camera offers surprisingly robust specs under the hood. It features 2/32GB RAM/ROM and a quad-core processor (though what brand or speed, we don’t know) that’s pretty snappy.
Battery size isn’t listed, but, according to the FrontRow documentation it’ll last 50 hours on standby, 10 hours in “Story” mode, or 2 of video/live streaming.
To me, the more impressive aspect of the battery is how fast it charges via Type-C; just twenty minutes for a full charge, in my experience. This makes it extremely viable to charge via external battery on the go.
In terms of connectivity, the FrontRow camera is a bit of a mixed bag. The Type-C USB port is a big win for the accessories industry – too many accessories still use the outdated MicroUSB standard – and 802.11ac is the current WiFi standard, but a lack of Bluetooth 5 (FrontRow only uses the 4.1 standard) stings a bit. And while the built-in WiFi and Bluetooth are nice, the FrontRow really struggles to stay connected to its companion app when running in the background.
In Practice
As great as the FrontRow’s concept is – who wouldn’t want a camera that can capture every moment of an event in stunning detail? – it stumbles a little in execution.
While the prospect of having a standalone camera is an enticing one, the fact of the matter is that most modern smartphone cameras feature a significantly higher megapixel count than FrontRow’s 8. And while megapixels aren’t everything – far from it – it does provide a sort of baseline governing what you should expect from a device.
There are three different Modes to choose from when using the FrontRow: Video (Live or Recording), Photo, and Story. The first two are fairly straight forward, but the last one is where the FrontRow sets itself apart. In Story mode, the camera will take a picture at set intervals and, once you end the Story, will stitch them together to form a time-lapse video summary. This mode is significantly less power intensive when compared to video (10 hours of story vs. 2 hours of video) and adequately summarizes your experience, providing a unique take on an event.
Samples
These videos end up being rather large. One of my stories came close to half a gig uncompressed, but with a little editing and compression they’re pretty shareable. It compressed a four hour game of Mansions of Madness into just over 15 minutes, and a few quick edits to resolution, speed and trimming cut that down to a trim 3 minutes.
Unfortunately, the FrontRow isn’t nearly as crisp and clean when it’s being worn, instead of stationary. The following clip is from the same night with the FrontRow clipped to my sweatshirt instead of placed. As you’ll see, the footage is rather disorienting – it bounces around a lot, and rarely provides a good view of what’s going on.
Still shots are adequate, but not anything game-changing. As you can see, the rear camera really bends photos with that 148° field of view.
There is one thing I did note that was particularly impressive: My FrontRow camera ran out of juice right in the middle of compiling my story after I stopped it. I was concerned that it would corrupt the video, but after charging and rebooting, that fear turned out to be unfounded. The Story resumed compilation right where it left off, and turned out fine.
Accessories Not Sold Separately
I’m truly impressed with how much FrontRow chose to include in the box with the camera. There are three different mounts – necklace, stand and lanyard – included in the box, with more on the way. There’s also a braided USB Cable (Type-C to Type-C) that has a Type-A adapter attached to one end. The lanyard and the USB cable match, to the point it’s almost plausible to build the cable into the lanyard – which would be amazing. Regardless, it’s nice to see FrontRow put as much effort into its accessories as it does into its main product.
OS
The FrontRow Camera OS appears to be based on Android Wear, though that isn’t confirmed anywhere in the included materials. 
As with all Android-based devices, the Home Screen features your choice of wallpaper. At the bottom of the screen is a carousel of apps, including Livestreaming (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Custom RTMP are all supported), Gallery, Spotify, and Stopwatch. From this carousel you also access the various shooting modes of the FrontRow, including Camera and Story mode.
The interface is largely gesture-based, though there is a Home button to take you back to the main screen. DropBox uploading is supported – and while that’s very much appreciated given the non-expandable 32GB storage, I would have loved to see Google Drive or Google Photos support baked into the device.
A fun toy, but no game-changer
In a world where smartphones are taking photos that rival those taken by high-end DSLRs, you’d expect to have a device that only functions as a camera to take photos at least that good. Unfortunately, the FrontRow doesn’t. It just doesn’t have a robust enough sensor to compete with the iPhone X, Pixel 2, or Samsung Galaxy S9. And at $399 MSRP – half the cost of a phone – it becomes a hard purchase to justify.
The FrontRow camera is available from many retailers, including from the source and from B&H. The cheapest price at the time of publication was from Amazon, at $322.99.
