Saturday, 14 July 2018

The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Saturday, July 14, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to the weekend! Before looking back at some highlights from the last few days, we’ll go hands-on with Apple’s new MacBook Pro and investigate the typo that might have taken down an alien.

(View in browser.)

Quieter keyboard, 'Hey Siri' and True Tone.

MacBook Pro 2018 hands-on

We'll post a full review next week (and, ya know, spend the weekend indoors putting this thing through its paces). For now, here's a first look at some of the more noticeable differences.

But first…

iFixit finds a 'cover-up' inside new MacBook Pro keyboards

Apple said this third-generation keyboard had changed to make it quieter. Early results from iFixit suggest its changes may also help the “butterfly switch” keys block out dust and dirt.

Oops?

Did a single typo screw up the AI in 'Aliens: Colonial Marines'?

The 2013 release of Aliens: Colonial Marines went so poorly that it not only received a 1-star review, but gamers even filed lawsuits over feeling misled. Now, we’re finding out that late last year a modder discovered a simple misspelling that could be responsible for ruining the alien xenomorph’s AI.

Get ready for a hybrid F-Series truck.

Ford is saying goodbye to cars and hello to batteries

Ford made waves recently when it announced it would stop producing cars (except for the iconic Mustang) -- in favor of SUVs, trucks and other large vehicles -- for the United States. But there's another big change going on at Ford: the move to electrification.

"With (Ford CEO Jim) Hackett, we're all in. We're going to be bigger and we want to change the process," said Ted Cannis, Ford's global director of battery electric vehicles. The automaker is adjusting to a rapidly changing automotive world and that means dropping vehicles that no longer sell (cars) and making sure that its lineup is electrified.

But wait, there's more...

1. Lawmakers ask FTC to investigate smart TV data collection

2. Elon Musk said he will pay for home water filters in Flint

3. Comma.ai's driver assist system is a robot chauffeur for the rest of us

4. Watch the trailer for Netflix's resurrected sci-fi thriller 'Extinction'

5. Audi's latest infotainment system is a smarter driving companion

6. Billy Dee Williams is reportedly coming back to 'Star Wars' in Episode IX

7. We Happy Few's dystopia is held together by drugs and denial

8. Blue Origin's suborbital flights might cost $200,000 per ticket

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Friday, 13 July 2018

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Friday -- July 13, 2018

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

Headline Scan
TrueCommerce Integration With Shopify Promises Boatloads of Benefits
Will MVNO Worries Complicate T-Mobile, Sprint Merger?
New B2B Customer Experience Dashboards Promise Better Business Visibility

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Today's Story Highlights

TrueCommerce Integration With Shopify Promises Boatloads of Benefits

TrueCommerce has announced the integration of its unified commerce
solutions with Shopify, a cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform.
Shopify powered more than 600,000 merchants across 175 countries as of
last August. The new offering will give Shopify merchants a unified
scheme for greater integration across all commerce channels within a
business' systems and supply chain network.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85444.html

Will MVNO Worries Complicate T-Mobile, Sprint Merger?

T-Mobile and Sprint have embarked on the road to a merger, creating some
consternation among competitors. One concern that the combined company
would have too much power as a mobile virtual network operator --
possibly controlling as much as 40 percent of the MVNO marketplace. The
question is, should regulators require the new company to do something
about this prior to approving the deal?
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85441.html

New B2B Customer Experience Dashboards Promise Better Business Visibility

MaritzCX has unveiled preconfigured B2B CX templates that monitor key
financial indicators; metrics for customer touchpoints, including NPS
and OSAT; business-specific outcomes; and overall account performance.
Integrated into the MaritzCX Technology Platform, "the dashboards become
a hub that aggregates all of the data being monitored," said Jennifer
Rubin, MaritzCX associate practice leader.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85442.html

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The Morning After: Apple's MacBook Pro upgrade and Netflix beats HBO

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Friday, July 13, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Morning there! Netflix claims a bunch of Emmy nominations, Apple snuck out a powerful new MacBook Pro, and Nintendo’s Switch gets an old-school RPG many were waiting for.

(View in browser.)

Quantity counts for something.

Netflix beats HBO in total Emmy nominations for the first time

With a total of 112 Emmy nominations for programs like The Crown, Godless and Stranger Things, Netflix edged out HBO’s 108. It’s the first time any competitor has topped the premium cable network in 17 years.

Now it has more than just minivans.

Waymo's first Jaguar I-Pace EVs hit Bay Area roads

The Alphabet company finally got its first handful of prototypes of the electric SUVs and is testing them on Bay Area streets to gauge their performance for hardware- and software-design requirements. Eventually, the company will integrate the I-Pace into its forthcoming self-driving service, which is set to debut in 2020.

Back to the MacBook Pro?

Apple's MacBook Pro refresh appeals to power users

Both the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models have received some under-the-hood upgrades, along with a quieter keyboard -- even if this tweak isn’t the redesign many are hoping for. The new models are on sale now at the same starting prices as their predecessors: $1,299 and up for the 13-inch model and $2,399-plus for the 15-incher. They both have larger batteries, as well as the same True Tone screen calibration tech seen in the newest iPad Pro. Also, Apple will be selling an external GPU in its store for the first time, a $699 model from Blackmagic that features AMD Radeon Pro 580 graphics, 8GB of GDDR5 memory and a slew of ports.

You can get these Airpod alternatives for just $45

Prepare for the wind-down.

Tesla's $7,500 EV tax credit is close to disappearing

Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company has sold enough cars to hit the ceiling for federal tax incentives. The automaker has confirmed that it has sold 200,000 units, and, as such, the $7,500 tax credit buyers have enjoyed will begin to phase out next year. If you take delivery of a Model S, Model X or Model 3 between January 1st and June 30th, you'll get a $3,750 credit, which is halved after July 1st and then will end next December 31st. A chart on the Tesla support page lays it all out.

And a free version of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft’s collaborative Whiteboard app is now available

Microsoft's Whiteboard app, which lets users collaborate on an intelligent canvas through their Windows 10 devices, is now out of preview and available for download. There’s also an upgrade for its Slack competitor, Teams, allowing anyone to use the collaboration software for free without an Office 365 account.

We’ll call it a draw?

Justice Department appeals approval of Time Warner-AT&T merger

Just when we thought the AT&T/Time Warner merger was finally a done deal after a district court judge ruled in its favor last month, it seems not everyone wants to accept its terms. The Justice Department has filed to appeal the approval. AT&T General Counsel David McAtee said in a statement that “We are ready to defend the Court's decision at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Get ready to pay up.

FCC officially changes rules for formal complaints

Now, complainants will have to pay a $225 fee to bring their issue to the commission via the official process. Informal complaints, however, are still free.