Thursday 8 March 2018

The Morning After: What's next for Netflix and the future of Windows 10 S

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Thursday, March 08, 2018.

Hey, good morning!

Good Thursday morning! Is Alexa freaking you out with its creepy sudden laughing? There’s a fix for that. Also: Notched displays are sticking around, and Netflix’s plans include Snapchat-esque design tweaks, a cautious approach to VR and an otherwise confident attitude towards rival streaming services.

Amazon has fortunately fixed it.

Alexa was randomly laughing, and it was creepy as hell

If you have an Alexa-powered device, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was haunted: Users have been complaining that their devices would laugh randomly or simply refuse to do what they were asked. Is your smart speaker going to murder you in your sleep? Thankfully, no. Amazon was made aware of the weirdness and is taking steps to make its virtual-assistant’s reaction a little more complicated. Instead of “Alexa, laugh”, you’ll have to make the request into an entire sentence, and Alexa will confirm your weird command first.

P stands for notch.

First Android P beta adds full support for notched displays

It's March, and, thus, time for Google to release its first look at the next version of Android. As of today, developers can download the first version of Android P to last year's Pixel and Pixel XL as well as the newer Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Since it's a developer preview, we're not getting a ton of information about it all, but the focus appears to be on better notifications and… notched display support. It’s not going anywhere.

Meet S mode.

Here’s the deal with Windows 10 S

After some leaks, Microsoft has confirmed Windows 10 S is going away -- at least by that name. Instead, some PCs will ship with Windows 10 Home, Pro or Enterprise “in S mode,” capable of running only Microsoft Store apps. Upgrading them to standard Windows 10 is possible free of charge, and the new mode will launch with the next operating system upgrade.

The feds reportedly paid a Geek Squad tech for info at least once.

EFF: Geek Squad has been working with the FBI for a decade

When the defense in a California doctor's child pornography case accused the FBI of paying Geek Squad's crew to look for evidence in the defendant's computer, Best Buy denied it enjoys close ties with the agency. According to the EFF, the big-box retailer's team of IT technicians are even closer to the feds than previous reports indicated. The non-profit has received the results to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) it filed last year and found that Best Buy has been enjoying "a particularly close relationship with the agency" over the past 10 years, at least.

But the White House wants to talk about 'em anyway.

For the people in the back: Video games don't cause violence

Video games do not cause violent behavior. There is no scientific, consensus-backed research supporting the idea that playing video games leads to real-life acts of brutality. Still, the theory prevails, however, and after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead on February 14th, a handful of politicians decried video games for corrupting young minds and inciting violent behavior. (Okay, Alexa, now you can laugh.)

Tomorrow, video-game industry leaders are scheduled to meet with President Trump to discuss this (non-existent) problem. The Entertainment Software Association will be there, and it has a clear message for the White House: "Video games are plainly not the issue: Entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation."

But Snapchat-style video previews are coming.

Netflix isn’t worried about live TV or VR

So what’s going on with Netflix? Beyond launching season two of Jessica Jones, the company had time to talk smack about the competition (don’t expect to see live TV or sports any time soon,) and explain why it’s taking things slowly with VR. One thing that’s coming soon, though, is video previews on mobile, which are edited for viewing vertically, like Snapchat.

They're the company's smartest screens yet.

We try out Samsung's 2018 QLED TVs lineup

Samsung practically stole the show at CES with its massive 146-inch MicroLED TV, The Wall -- that's coming August. But that's not something most people will be able to afford. That's where the company's mainstay QLED 4K lineup comes in. At a media event in New York City today, Samsung unveiled its next generation of QLED TVs, which not only look better but feature some genuinely useful improvements. They're an even better option for consumers who want to get rid of the typical cable clutter. Oh, and they even get a wall camouflage feature.

But wait, there's more...

1. MoviePass pulls 'unused app location' features from its iOS app

2. Huawei's notch-infused P20 phone lineup leaks out

3. Google's productivity suite now shows who viewed your files

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Wednesday 7 March 2018

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Disaffected Social Media Users Flock to Vero
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New AI-Powered Voice Tool Aims to Boost Sales
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Kali Linux Security App Lands in Microsoft Store
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The Morning After: BlackBerry suddenly sues Facebook

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Wednesday, March 07, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to the middle. Dyson’s range of vacuums are going cordless, Porsche unveils a speedy Tesla Model X rival and BlackBerry decides to sue Facebook, all of a sudden.

Ja Rule is not facing criminal charges.

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland pleads guilty to wire fraud

Remember last summer’s Fyre Festival, the ultimate social-media-fueled disaster event? It turns out that attendees weren’t the only ones disappointed, as Fyre Media founder Billy McFarland pled guilty yesterday to charges he lied and forged documents while convincing investors to pour $26 million into his company. According to the DOJ, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the two counts of wire fraud and will be sentenced on June 21st.

Nine years later...

Dyson to go all cordless with vacuums, starting with the Cyclone V10

Between the DC30 from 2009 and the more recent V8 series, Dyson's handheld vacuum cleaners have barely changed on the outside, so color us surprised when Sir James whipped out a very different-looking machine today. The Cyclone V10 resembles a huge conventional hair dryer thanks to the repositioned cyclones and bin -- these are now in line with the head attachment and exhaust. Together, these form a linear airflow path from front to end, which apparently boosts suction power while also reducing noise. The new bin also benefits from a larger capacity, along with a more intuitive dirt-eject mechanism: just remove the head, point at a trash can and push the eject button. Like a dust shotgun or something.

Need another Model 3 alternative?

Honda's Urban EV pre-orders start in early 2019

Honda’s Urban EV is scheduled to become a reality next year, and the company says it will open up the books for orders (in Europe, at least) early in 2019. We’re still waiting to find out what a production version of this concept car will look like, but there’s plenty of time for that to happen.

The Mission E gets a bit taller with the Cross Turismo

Porsche unveils its insanely fast Tesla Model X rival

Porsche continues to target Tesla. After taking a swipe at the Model S, X and 3 maker last week, the German automaker just surprised us in Geneva with the Mission E Cross Turismo SUV (even though Porsche calls it a CUV, a cross utility vehicle). Watch out Model X.

Of course there’s ThinQ AI built-in.

LG’s AI-enabled OLED TVs go on sale this month

We finally have pricing and release-date details for most of LG’s 2018 4K TVs. That includes high-end Signature W8 OLED models that can cost up to $15,000 for a 77-incher, to E8 with a $3,500 sticker on the 55-inch version. If that’s too pricey for an OLED, don’t worry -- we’re still waiting for info on the B8 series. If you prefer LCD options, the SK8000 series starts at $1,000.

The 72-qubit chip will help researchers understand error rates and scalability.

Google backs its Bristlecone chip to crack quantum computing

Google has designs on being the first to achieve quantum supremacy -- the point where a quantum computer could run particular algorithms faster than a classic computer. Today it announced that it believes its latest research, Bristlecone, is going to be the processor to help it achieve that. According to the Google Quantum AI Lab, it could provide "a compelling proof-of-principle for building larger scale quantum computers." The race is still on, however.

The lawsuit impacts Facebook, Instagram as well as WhatsApp.

BlackBerry sues Facebook for violating messaging patents

BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles Federal Court against Facebook for infringing the patent on its messaging technology. The lawsuit calls out Facebook, WhatsApp as well as Instagram for their use of instant messaging. To be clear, the suit has been filed by BlackBerry and not TCL, the maker of BlackBerry-branded handsets since 2016.

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