Thursday 18 October 2018

The Morning After: Can anyone trust Facebook?

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Thursday, October 18, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

It’s time for OITNB to say goodbye, advertisers claim Facebook lied about its video stats for over a year and we’re giving streaming games a try. Clearly, it’s Thursday morning.

(View in browser.)

Good to know.

RED Hydrogen One graphic outlines the holographic phone's specs

RED director Phil Holland published a "tech overview" infographic showing just what buyers of the company’s holographic phone will get. Some of them you may be very familiar with, such as the 5.7-inch "holographic" LCD, dual front and back cameras and the pogo pin connector for add-ons. Others may be relatively new to you, such as the 6GB of RAM, 4,500mAh battery and the "deep cavity" stereo speakers.

Enjoy ‘endless’ artist radio.

Spotify Premium redesign borrows one of Pandora's best features

Starting today, paying subscribers can enjoy streamlined navigation, personalized search and a feature called Endless Artist Radio. For that last one, just choose a favorite band or song, select the Artist Radio playlist and you'll get an endless stream of music based on what you've chosen. Also, Spotify is ready for more wrists with a standalone Wear OS app that will launch in the next week.

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

Facebook stands accused of lying to advertisers about video-view stats

Back in 2016, online marketing agency Crowd Siren sued the social network for inflating its metrics -- now the company claims Facebook knew as early as 2015 that it was over-reporting figures.

The social network had reported average viewing time of video ads -- only counting views that lasted more than three seconds when it worked out “average duration of video viewed” -- inflating the average length of a view. Facebook disclosed the issue in 2016, claiming it had "recently discovered" the error at the time. In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said, "suggestions that we in any way tried to hide this issue from our partners are false."

Get this $260 Philips Sonicare alternative for just $50

Lock it down.

Google details the Pixel 3's Titan M security chip

The chip is tied into Android's secure boot process and saves the last known-safe Android version to prevent attackers from rolling you back to an insecure firmware version. It also blocks attempts to unlock the bootloader from within Android, and no one can update your firmware unless you've entered your passcode. Also, apps that use Google's StrongBox KeyStore framework can generate and store transaction keys in the secure hardware, and protected confirmation ensures that you're the one who authorizes a payment.

Google's Project Stream is a breath of fresh air.

The next generation of streaming video games is on its way

Much like Netflix forever changed the way we consume TV and movies, Project Stream or Project xCloud could be the catalysts that usher the video-game industry into a new era of play. Thanks to Google’s game-streaming service, Jessica Conditt queued up Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on a 2015 Macbook Air and found that it worked smoothly, even though PlayStation Now frequently chugs on the same connection. The future is… now?

It may take a few days for Apple to prepare your info.

Apple enables data downloads for US customers

Apple allowed its customers in the EU to download copies of the data the company held earlier this year, complying with General Data Protection Regulation rules. Now, Apple has updated its privacy website and is letting its customers in the US grab their data, too -- it just may take a few days for Apple to prepare your info, but judging from our own investigations into GDPR and tech companies, Apple doesn’t hold all that much information on your digital life.

But wait, there's more...

1. Netflix's 'Orange is the New Black' will end with season seven

2. Verizon launches a smartwatch version of its kid-tracking wearable

3. Tesla buys the land it needs for its Shanghai Gigafactory

4. Researchers 3D print custom-sized lithium-ion batteries

5. Rocket Lab selects NASA's Virginia facility as its US spaceport

6. Google's Chrome 70 lets you unlink your web and browser sign-ins

7. Sony brings its 100-percent renewable-energy goal forward from 2040 to 2030

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't subscribe.

Craving even more? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note.

Our mailing address is:
AOL
770 Broadway #4
New York, NY 10003

You are receiving this email because you opted in at engadget.com.

Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe from this newsletter.

Wednesday 17 October 2018

Editor's Pick: Where Online Shopping Search Has Gone Wrong

Where Online Shopping Search Has Gone Wrong

Amir Konigsberg
Oct 17, 2018 5:00 AM PT

While online shopping has exploded over the last decade and innovation around e-commerce has skyrocketed, there has been very little development around quality improvements in product search, navigation or discovery, notwithstanding the success of generic and open source search solutions, such as Elastic. That is ironic, as great search can make all the difference for an etailer's bottom line. Here's the problem: Define exactly what "great search" is. [More...]

More Picks:

OpenWorld Preview
As of this writing, I haven't been prebriefed on what Oracle will be announcing at OpenWorld regarding CRM -- or as it refers to it, "CX" -- so this is a good time to express my own opinions. Oracle's direction in the last few years increasingly has been toward cloud computing and the autonomous database, and each has several flavors or divisions. The company has three levels of cloud. [More...]

Building a Speed Bump for Tech Companies' Maniacal Data Race
Facebook has been in seriously hot water for its data monetization model almost from the firm's beginning. The Cambridge Analytica, election meddling and fake news scandals have turned up the heat. Facebook's problems aren't limited to the public and government backlash that spans several countries; the firm faces potentially devastating legal threats too. [More...]

DevOps: Let's Talk About Security
In spite of all the high-profile breaches that seem to sweep the headlines with greater frequency, companies slowly but surely have been getting a handle on internal security practices. At this point, it's hard to imagine any employee, in or out of the tech sector, who hasn't been run through antiphishing training. However, security is only as strong as its weakest link. [More...]

Follow Us

This Editor's Pick alert is a premium service provided to ECT News Network newsletter subscribers. If you wish to make changes to your subscription settings, please click to manage your account.

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Wednesday -- October 17, 2018

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

Headline Scan
Where Online Shopping Search Has Gone Wrong
OpenWorld Preview
Top 3 E-Commerce Trends That Will Drive Sales in 2019
For Great Customer Experiences, Design Great Employee Experiences
How to Avoid 10 Mobile E-Commerce Conversion Killers

Message From Our Sponsor
Getting the Best Out of Your Digital Customer Service Investment
Global Webinar: October 24 @ 11AM PT / 2PM ET.
Join Genesys and Forrester Principal Analyst to learn about
best practices and tools for "going digital." Register Now!
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=10157/Genesys_Webinar

Today's Story Highlights

Where Online Shopping Search Has Gone Wrong

While online shopping has exploded over the last decade and innovation
around e-commerce has skyrocketed, there has been very little
development around quality improvements in product search, navigation or
discovery, notwithstanding the success of generic and open source search
solutions, such as Elastic. That is ironic, as great search can make all
the difference for an etailer's bottom line. Here's the problem: Define
exactly what "great search" is.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85621.html

OpenWorld Preview

As of this writing, I haven't been prebriefed on what Oracle will be
announcing at OpenWorld regarding CRM -- or as it refers to it, "CX" --
so this is a good time to express my own opinions. Oracle's direction in
the last few years increasingly has been toward cloud computing and the
autonomous database, and each has several flavors or divisions. The
company has three levels of cloud.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85624.html

Top 3 E-Commerce Trends That Will Drive Sales in 2019

When it comes to e-commerce, it seems like one day you are in and the
next you are out. With online shopping now more accessible than ever,
customers steadily are becoming harder to please, and they are
considering it a given that their rising expectations be met every time.
Just having an online version of a physical store isn't enough anymore,
as consumers don't want to grab and go.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85620.html

For Great Customer Experiences, Design Great Employee Experiences

"Customer experience" is the great watchword of 2018 -- and it was a
great watchword in 2017 and 2016, too. Eighty-five percent of executives
said that CX was important to their companies' strategic priorities, in
an Accenture survey. Sixty-two percent of companies viewed CX delivered
by contact centers as a competitive differentiator, Deloitte found.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85623.html

How to Avoid 10 Mobile E-Commerce Conversion Killers

Just five years ago, mobile e-commerce was a minor part of the e-
commerce landscape. Today, most online searches are carried out from
mobile devices, and 40 percent of all e-commerce is carried out from
smartphones. This has forever changed the e-commerce industry. The
smartphone is the most important lead channel. Smartphones are an
extended part of our brains and social life.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85619.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!
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=2202/News_Alerts

INSTA-LEADS From ECT News Network
Access 30 million B2B purchasing decision makers. Learn more:
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=8734/INSTA-LEADS

How to Advertise in This Newsletter
To advertise in this newsletter or elsewhere on ECT News Network,
please call our sales department toll-free at (877) 328-5500, or view
our online media kit at
http://www.ectnews.com/advertising/

Subscribing and Unsubscribing
You are receiving this newsletter in response to your request on
the E-Commerce Times Web site for our daily newsletter. If you wish
to make changes to your newsletter subscription, or if you wish to
receive other free newsletters from the ECT News Network, please click
here: Newsletter Management Wizard

If this e-mail was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe to
this FREE newsletter, please use our newsletter sign-up wizard:
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/newsletter_registration.pl/

Feedback
We welcome your feedback. Contact us online at
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/contact_form.pl?to=editorial