Friday, 24 February 2017

The Morning After: 48 hours with the Nintendo Switch

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Friday, February 24, 2017.

Hey, good morning!

Good morning. We spent two days with the Nintendo Switch and we have feelings. Amazon is citing the First Amendment in defense of its robot Alexa, and we look forward to transforming into cups and bananas in Bethesda’s forthcoming Prey.

Nintendo still has to prove itself.

48 hours with the Nintendo Switch

Even without a Virtual Console, is the Switch more like the Wii, Nintendo's ambitious and wildly successful console which unearthed a whole new audience of casual gamers, or the Wii U, the half-baked followup that even the company's hardcore fans never truly adopted? That was the main question we had as we started testing the new console this week. Here are our thoughts.

This will be a very different show from years past.

All the smartphones we expect to see at MWC 2017

It's that time of year again. Barcelona, with its stunning architecture and succulent jamón, will soon be packed with new smartphones, tablets, wearables, networking gear, app developers and, well, tech journalists like us. But things are going to be a little different this year. You can expect phones from LG, Sony, but we’re unlikely to see them from HTC and Samsung -- not that they’ll have nothing to show...

OnFlub

Google glitch freezes OnHub, WiFi routers

The networking devices Google rolled out are supposed to make your WiFi situation easier to manage, but that wasn’t true yesterday. The company says an issue with its Accounts Engine caused problems for many owners of the routers, who needed a hard reset to get going again. That’s a minor inconvenience for some, and more of an issue for others who may have used the devices at remote locations, or with custom settings that the software doesn’t allow users to backup.

How you can master machine learning and AI for under $20.

Former Google employees may have stolen thousands of secret documents.

Alphabet sues Uber over Waymo's self-driving car tech

Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous car business, has sued Uber for allegedly stealing crucial technical information about its self-driving technology. Waymo's lawsuit targets Otto, a promising self-driving truck startup that Uber acquired in mid-2016. As we noted in August, Otto was founded and staffed by former Google employees, including Anthony Levandowski.

Making your gaming laptop portable again.

Razer’s USB-C Power Bank will keep your laptop running

Gaming laptops are great -- unless you’re on the go. All of that power usually means a compromise on battery life, which means there’s probably a solid market for Razer’s new battery pack. The 12,800mAh Power Bank isn’t especially large, but it is ready to keep your USB-C laptop (whether it’s a Blade Stealth, XPS 13 or Macbook) powered for a few extra hours. In the case of the Blade Stealth, using it should keep you going for up to 15 hours.

You can be anything! (Well, some things.)

Behold, the insane shape-shifting potential of 'Prey'

Behold, the insane shape-shifting potential of 'Prey'

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I’m a little teapot, short and stout.

It’s Google’s newest old messaging app

Google Messenger turns into Android Messages

Google wants texting to work more like iMessage or Whatsapp. As part of a push to expand Rich Communications Services (RCS) support, the company is renaming its main Android SMS app. Now dubbed Android Messages, it is… almost exactly the same as it was before. Hopefully, the new name will get this app on more Android devices, and push carriers to adopt RCS standard features that will tighten up group texts, photo sharing and read receipts.

But wait, there's more...

1. Getting all the 'Hearthstone' cards will be more expensive than ever

2. In the NBA's eSports league, diversity means a new kind of athlete

3. Amazon cites First Amendment while refusing to hand over Alexa/Echo data to cops investigating a murder

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Thursday, 23 February 2017

Editor's Pick: GE Digital VP Beena Ammanath: For Most Women, STEM Is an Uphill Battle

GE Digital VP Beena Ammanath: For Most Women, STEM Is an Uphill Battle

Vivian Wagner Feb 23, 2017 12:50 PM PT
	Beena Ammanath is VP for data and analytics at GE Digital. She has worked in the data analytics field for more than 20 years and serves as board director at ChickTech, a nonprofit dedicated to recruiting girls and women into the tech workforce and retaining them once they're there. Ammanath also serves on the Cal Poly Computer Engineering Program Industrial Advisory Board. [More...]

More Picks:

Open Source IoT on Steady Enterprise March
Enterprise IT decision makers have been exploring the potential of Internet of Things technologies, but they are not rushing IoT projects into development and are showing caution in their adoption commitments, according to survey results Red Hat released Wednesday. Of the 215 participants in the company's survey, "Enterprise IoT in 2017: Steady as she goes," 55 percent indicated that IoT was important to their organization. [More...]

Uber Wants Fleeing Customers to Know It's Hurting
Uber has been responding to recent requests to delete customer accounts with a statement that claims "everyone at Uber is deeply hurting" and "it's everyone's number one priority to create change in the coming months and years." The pop-up statement, which Twitter users began circulating on Wednesday, appears to be Uber's latest effort to stem the flow of customers from the company. [More...]

Federal IT Acquisition Worth $50B Cleared for Takeoff
A major federal acquisition opportunity with a potential contract value of $50 billion for IT vendors is back on track. The GSA recently resumed processing vendor applications after a legal challenge to the contract was resolved in its favor. As a result, the GSA this fall will reveal the names of approximately 60 vendors who will be eligible to participate in the Alliant 2 IT contract vehicle. [More...]

Salesforce Adds Health Cloud Features
Salesforce this week announced new features and an expanded partner ecosystem for its Health Cloud at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference. The new features are lead-to-patient conversion, risk stratification and advanced segmentation. Salesforce also announced a slew of new partner-developed applications for Health Cloud available on the Salesforce AppExchange. [More...]

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Tech News Flash

Tech News Flash: Thursday -- February 23, 2017

TechNewsWorld -- All Tech - All The Time
http://www.TechNewsWorld.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
GE Digital VP Beena Ammanath: For Most Women, STEM Is an Uphill Battle
Rich Content Makes WhatsApp Look a Lot More Like Snapchat
Open Source IoT on Steady Enterprise March
Facebook Puts More Work Into Social Networking
Microsoft Makes VR Drone Fight Simulator Available on GitHub
Could IBM's Watson Fix President Trump?
Facebook Gets More In-Your-Face

Today's Story Highlights

GE Digital VP Beena Ammanath: For Most Women, STEM Is an Uphill Battle

Beena Ammanath is VP for data and analytics at GE Digital. She has
worked in the data analytics field for more than 20 years and serves as
board director at ChickTech, a nonprofit dedicated to recruiting girls
and women into the tech workforce and retaining them once they're there.
Ammanath also serves on the Cal Poly Computer Engineering Program
Industrial Advisory Board.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84321.html

Rich Content Makes WhatsApp Look a Lot More Like Snapchat

Facebook has rolled out a WhatsApp update that could threaten Snapchat's
share of the mobile app messaging market. The update allows WhatsApp
users to share photos and videos through the app's status area.
Moreover, like WhatsApp text messages, content shared through status
updates is protected by end-to-end encryption -- a key distinction
between WhatsApp and its competitors.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84316.html

Open Source IoT on Steady Enterprise March

Enterprise IT decision makers have been exploring the potential of
Internet of Things technologies, but they are not rushing IoT projects
into development and are showing caution in their adoption commitments,
according to survey results Red Hat released Wednesday. Of the 215
participants in the company's survey, "Enterprise IoT in 2017: Steady as
she goes," 55 percent indicated that IoT was important to their
organization.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84322.html

Facebook Puts More Work Into Social Networking

Facebook last week launched new features for advertising job openings on
the network. Although many companies already have been using Facebook to
find workers, the new functionality formalizes its job search
capabilities, the company said. U.S. and Canadian businesses can use the
company's new jobs bookmark to list open positions and allow users to
apply directly from the site.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84318.html

Microsoft Makes VR Drone Fight Simulator Available on GitHub

Microsoft has introduced an open source virtual reality toolkit for the
training of autonomous drones. The beta software became available on
GitHub last week. The toolkit is designed to allow developers to "teach"
drones how to navigate the real world by recreating conditions such as
shadows, reflections and even objects that might confuse a device's on-
board sensors.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84309.html

Could IBM's Watson Fix President Trump?

President Trump offers a good emulation for a future artificial
intelligence system, suggests a column I read earlier this month, and
his presidency may be an early warning of what could happen if we should
fail to think through its training and information sources. Cathy
O'Neil, the author of the piece, compares artificial intelligence to
human intelligence that is mostly id.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84312.html

Facebook Gets More In-Your-Face

Facebook this week announced new features for News Feeds videos, along
with an app for TV. News Feed videos now have sound turned on by default
in mobile devices. This can be disabled in the Settings menu. A larger
format to present vertical videos now is standard on iOS and Android
devices. The feature became available as a preview last year. A Watch
and Scroll feature lets users minimize the video they're watching and
drag it to any corner of the screen.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84310.html

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E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Thursday -- February 23, 2017

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Uber Wants Fleeing Customers to Know It's Hurting
Federal IT Acquisition Worth $50B Cleared for Takeoff
Salesforce Adds Health Cloud Features
Verizon Cuts Better Deal for Breach-Battered Yahoo
US Rep Likens Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to 'Tyranny'
Microsoft Seeks Global Cybersecurity Accord

Today's Story Highlights

Uber Wants Fleeing Customers to Know It's Hurting

Uber has been responding to recent requests to delete customer accounts
with a statement that claims "everyone at Uber is deeply hurting" and
"it's everyone's number one priority to create change in the coming
months and years." The pop-up statement, which Twitter users began
circulating on Wednesday, appears to be Uber's latest effort to stem the
flow of customers from the company.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84324.html

Federal IT Acquisition Worth $50B Cleared for Takeoff

A major federal acquisition opportunity with a potential contract value
of $50 billion for IT vendors is back on track. The GSA recently resumed
processing vendor applications after a legal challenge to the contract
was resolved in its favor. As a result, the GSA this fall will reveal
the names of approximately 60 vendors who will be eligible to
participate in the Alliant 2 IT contract vehicle.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84320.html

Salesforce Adds Health Cloud Features

Salesforce this week announced new features and an expanded partner
ecosystem for its Health Cloud at the Healthcare Information and
Management Systems Society conference. The new features are lead-to-
patient conversion, risk stratification and advanced segmentation.
Salesforce also announced a slew of new partner-developed applications
for Health Cloud available on the Salesforce AppExchange.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84323.html

Verizon Cuts Better Deal for Breach-Battered Yahoo

Verizon and Yahoo on Tuesday announced new terms for the acquisition
deal they inked last summer. Verizon will pay $350 million less than the
original contract price, which places the new value of the deal at $4.48
billion. Yahoo will be responsible for 50 percent of any breach-related
cash liabilities incurred as a result of non-SEC government
investigations and third-party litigation, under the new agreement.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84317.html

US Rep Likens Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to 'Tyranny'

The Financial Protection Bureau has come under increasing fire from
Republican lawmakers who now have the Trump administration to back their
efforts. Long-time critic Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R.-Texas, who chairs the
House Financial Services Committee, compared the bureau to a tyranny in
a recent interview. Hensarling reportedly is preparing legislation to
enact CFPB reforms.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84319.html

Microsoft Seeks Global Cybersecurity Accord

Microsoft has called on governments around the world to create a
"digital Geneva Convention" as a way to normalize international
cybersecurity rules and protect civilian use of the Internet. President
Brad Smith, who is also Microsoft's chief legal officer, addressed the
issue at the annual RSA conference held earlier this week, saying that
governments need to establish international rules.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84311.html

News Alerts From ECT News Network
Get the day's top business and technology news delivered
to your inbox as stories break. Sign up today -- it's free!
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How to Advertise in This Newsletter
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please call our sales department toll-free at (877) 328-5500, or view
our online media kit at
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here: Newsletter Management Wizard

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