Thursday 3 January 2019

The Morning After: Apple's bad news

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Thursday, January 03, 2019.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Everyone’s back, and just in time too -- a pair of space missions are making history from Earth’s moon to the Kuiper Belt, and we’re preparing for an 8K onslaught during CES. Also, Tim Cook gave Apple investors some bad news, and Tesla is cutting prices on its cars.

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Crush the ‘gram.

China's Chang'e-4 touches down on the far side of the moon

While you were sleeping, China’s space program was making history. Its Chang’e-4 lander is the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon, and the mission already sent back pictures of the surface via a relay satellite.

The farthest flyby in human history

New Horizons probe sends back clear images of a distant Kuiper Belt object

The snapshots, captured from as close as 17,000 miles away, show that the 21-mile-long Kuiper Belt object (486958) 2014 MU69 is a "contact binary" where two spheres slowly collided and fused. The two may have linked up "99 percent of the way" to the start of the Solar System, Johns Hopkins University APL said.

The shutdown won’t stop Project Soli.

Google wins FCC approval to keep developing radar-based hand sensor

Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team has been working on Project Soli since 2015. The gesture-based system uses broad beam radar to detect and capture hand movements, turning them into commands for mobile devices. Until now, though, the tech has been restricted, with some companies -- including Facebook -- claiming that the frequency levels required might interfere with existing technology. Now, the FCC has granted a waiver that will allow Soli to operate at higher levels than currently allowed.

Get ready.

LG's 2019 TVs add HDMI 2.1 and 8K

With CES 2019 right around the corner, LG just dropped in a preview of its upcoming TVs. They include two 8K models (an 88-inch OLED and a 75-inch LCD), but more importantly, models will pack HDMI 2.1. That’s crucial for anyone trying to watch 8K without plugging in four HDMI 2.0 cables, and also for delivering high frame rate (HFR), enhanced audio return channel (eARC) or gamer-friendly features like variable refresh rate (VRR) and automatic low latency mode (ALLM). There’s also an updated processor inside that can automatically adjust the picture and sound based on room conditions, and an Amazon Prime button on remotes for Alexa routines.

Uh-oh.

Apple blames China struggles and slow iPhone upgrades for earnings miss

Apple has lowered sales guidance for its first fiscal quarter (October to December of last year) from a minimum of $89 billion down to $84 billion due to a variety of factors, most notably due to "fewer iPhone upgrades than we had anticipated." Most of the shortfall, Apple said, stemmed from China's weak economy. The company added that its reduced iPhone battery replacement prices might have also played a role by encouraging people to keep their iPhones a while longer.

But wait, there's more...

1. USB-C could soon offer protection against nefarious devices

2. Tesla slashes EV prices by $2,000 to offset reduced tax credits

3. New 'Meditations' gaming platform will debut one short game each day of the year

4. YouTuber Logan Paul hit new lows in 2018, but it doesn't seem to matter

5. Hacker forces internet-exposed Chromecasts and smart TVs to play a particular YouTube video

6. Roku's free movie and TV channel is adding premium subscriptions

7. UN ambassador Nikki Haley gives up 1.6 million followers to satisfy the State Dept.

8. Latest 'Fallout 76' bug disabled nukes on New Year's Day

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Wednesday 2 January 2019

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Wednesday -- January 2, 2019

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

Headline Scan
The Economics of E-Commerce Chargeback Fraud
6 E-Commerce Shipping Strategies That Level the Playing Field for SMBs
Is Weak Data Integrity Foiling Your CRM?
The Do's and Don'ts of Designing a Great Digital UX

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Today's Story Highlights

The Economics of E-Commerce Chargeback Fraud

E-commerce fraud is an ongoing problem for online merchants and credit
card companies. It has been growing at twice the rate of e-commerce
sales. Identity theft traditionally has been one of the most common
sources of e-commerce fraud, but online merchants increasingly have been
suffering more from chargeback fraud, which requires them to absorb the
costs of disputed credit card transactions.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85763.html

6 E-Commerce Shipping Strategies That Level the Playing Field for SMBs

E-commerce continues to become more competitive as large companies like
Amazon, Target and Walmart soak up market share and customer attention.
Shipping window expectations have become shorter, and many online
retailers struggle to keep up, particularly SMBs. How can SMBs compete?
Not only is competing possible, there are many SMBs that have been
finding exceptional success.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85757.html

Is Weak Data Integrity Foiling Your CRM?

American companies spend an enormous amount of money on training.
Spending reached more than $90 billion in 2017, an increase of over 32
percent from 2016. It's unlikely that even a small share of the billions
spent on training last year were devoted to educating and motivating
employees to regularly and accurately input data into a company's CRM.
Maybe it should have been.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85758.html

The Do's and Don'ts of Designing a Great Digital UX

In tech parlance, the emotional result of a person's interaction with a
website or digital app is called "user experience" or "UX" -- and the
success of a business depends on it. Users who have easy, positive
experiences with websites and apps likely will be drawn back to the
business. On the contrary, websites and apps with poor navigation and
slow loading times likely will turn off consumers.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85756.html

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The Morning After: 'Stranger Things' S3 release date

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Wednesday, January 02, 2019.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to a new year. The calendar rolling over means we’re within just a few days of CES, but until then we do have a few other intriguing bits of information to discuss, like a Nokia leak and what’s going on with the FCC. Plus, we’ll list last year’s gaming highlights and check out a new teaser for Stranger Things. If you’re up around 10 AM, then keep an eye out for updates incoming from NASA’s New Horizons mission which should be relaying data after its historic flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule.

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Plan accordingly.

'Stranger Things' season three arrives July 4th

Netflix brought in 2019 with a special announcement: the premiere date for the third season of Stranger Things. There’s a teaser trailer you should check out for some classic 80s Dick Clark vibes, mixed with the show’s usual Upside Down flavor promising new adventures in Hawkins, IN this summer.

How many lenses do you need?

Nokia's five-camera phone will include an in-screen fingerprint reader

Well-known leaker Evan Blass and MySmartPrice have posted stills and videos of the Android One phone, now called the Nokia 9 PureView (yes, the PureView revival is real), and it's evident that the spider-like rear cameras aren't the only trick up the device's sleeve -- we’re also expecting an in-display fingerprint reader. The five cameras will work in tandem to capture much more detail than usual, and "10X" the light of other smartphone cameras.

Shut down.

FCC to suspend operations January 3rd unless funding resumes

The commission released a statement saying that if the partial funding lapse continues into January 3rd, it will initiate an "orderly shutdown of operations." The majority of the FCC's operations will be put on hold by mid-day Thursday if funding isn't resumed and employees will have four hours to complete the shutdown.

‘God of War,’ ‘Celeste,’ ‘Reigns’ and a few others.

Our favorite games of 2018

Rather than try to come up with a simple "best of" list, the editorial team here at Engadget proudly presents the games that made the biggest impact on us this year, whether they were technically impressive, emotionally engaging or just flat-out fun.

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