Tuesday, 27 February 2018

The Morning After: Sony's new A7 III

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Tuesday, February 27, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

MWC 2018 is in full swing, and we have a whole new list of phones to pore over, including Sony’s Xperia XZ2 and the first cellphone with a cryptocurrency wallet.

Sony's fastest, strangest flagship phone yet.

Hands-on with the Sony Xperia XZ2

And its Compact sibling.

It’s getting smarter.

Google Assistant can launch specific tasks in Android apps

Google has announced some new updates for its AI helper at MWC. Along with support for seven new languages (16 in total), it lets voice commands connect to specific actions within apps on your phone. Also, it’s smart enough to ask for your location mid-conversation if it needs that information to do something like order a pizza. Finally, if you’re in an app that you use regularly, then it can cut out the intro process.

Missed you at CES.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai talks 5G and net neutrality repeal

During an MWC 2018 event, titled "The Future of the Industry: Transatlantic Digital Policy and Regulation," Pai discussed his plans for 5G connectivity and, of course, his decision to repeal net neutrality in the US. He said that, despite public perception on the moves he's made since taking over the FCC as part of President Trump's administration, the internet will remain open and free and that "no one gets a pass."

New plan.

Fitbit plans a family of smartwatches in 2018

To answer the question of what it needs to succeed, Fitbit is planning to roll out some new smartwatches this year. The company revealed that during its earnings report Monday, saying it will also push into subscription services. Hopefully a follow up (or two) to the Iconic does the trick -- Fitbit lost $277 million last year.

710 shots per charge.

Sony's $2,000 A7 III camera adds 4K video

Following the recently refreshed A7R III, last night Sony announced its "basic" model update with the A7 III mirrorless camera. This time around it's packing a 24.2 MP sensor, internal 4K HDR video capability (downscaled from 6K) and what Sony says is the longest rated battery life of any mirrorless camera thanks to its Z series battery. It will cost $2,000 when it goes on sale in April.

Just a little.

Huawei made a Porsche slightly autonomous with a smartphone

To showcase the company's AI push (read: remind everyone it's really into this neural-processing gig), Huawei used its Mate 10 Pro smartphone as a lightweight autonomous car brain, inside a Porsche, right outside FC Barcelona's stadium. Of course Mat Smith went for a ride.

But wait, there's more...

1. I found a Gemini PDA running Sailfish OS, and it was wild

2. Tesla's electric trucks may be more cost-effective than expected

3. BlackBerry thinks shipping 850,000 KEYOne phones is a success

4. The Big Picture: Bitcoin miners turn Quebec's cheap energy into cold cash

5. Michael B. Jordan burns all the books in 'Fahrenheit 451' trailer

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Monday, 26 February 2018

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Monday -- February 26, 2018

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

Headline Scan
5 Effective Ways SMB Etailers Can Battle Fraud
Different Strokes Approach Can Damage a Brand
FCC's Final Rule on Net Neutrality Sparks Legal Challenges

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Today's Story Highlights

5 Effective Ways SMB Etailers Can Battle Fraud

Fraud is a major concern for 72 percent of businesses, according to
Experian's Global Fraud and Identity Report. More than 5,500 consumers
and 500 business executives in 11 markets around the world participated
in the survey. The situation has not been improving, the report
suggests, as six out of 10 businesses said experienced the same or
increased losses to fraud as they did a year ago.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85162.html

Different Strokes Approach Can Damage a Brand

One fundamental element of building a brand relationship with customers
is consistency. Widely franchised companies like Starbucks compromise
consistency, however. They employ several different business models
instead of sticking to one. This approach confuses customers and hurts
the master brand, since customers never really know what to expect.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85159.html

FCC's Final Rule on Net Neutrality Sparks Legal Challenges

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday officially published
its Net neutrality rollback order in the Federal Register , triggering a
flurry of legal actions and Capitol Hill scrambling to stop it before it
takes hold. The order, which goes into effect on April 23, reverses an
Obama era rule requiring that broadband access be regarded as a utility.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85158.html

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Tech News Flash

Tech News Flash: Monday -- February 26, 2018

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

Headline Scan
Camera, Audio Star in New Galaxy Phones
Real Danger and Dangerous Distraction - AI to the Rescue?
Right Blasts Twitter's Bot Takedown

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Today's Story Highlights

Camera, Audio Star in New Galaxy Phones

Samsung has raised the curtain on the latest models of its flagship
Galaxy smartphones, the S9 and S9+, featuring improved imaging and audio
performance. Two standout features in the 12-megapixel rear-facing
camera are improved low light performance and super slow-mo video. By
adding dual aperture capabilities to the camera, Samsung has boosted the
unit's performance in challenging lighting conditions.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85161.html

Real Danger and Dangerous Distraction - AI to the Rescue?

The shooting at the school in Florida was devastating, and it appears
clear that Russia has been manipulating public opinion in the U.S. to
stoke the flames of a divisive argument on guns. What is being missed is
a brewing problem that potentially could have an even more devastating
impact. Competing for our eyeballs is the news that the U.S. president
kissed a woman without her permission.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85154.html

Right Blasts Twitter's Bot Takedown

Conservatives on Twitter have been fulminating over their losses of
followers measured in the thousands, a consequence of the network's
unannounced lockout earlier this week of suspected bot accounts. Among
those objecting to the move are conspiracy theorist Michael Flynn Jr.,
white supremacist Richard Spencer, Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson,
and NRA TV host Dan Bongino.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85157.html

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The Morning After: Testing out the Samsung Galaxy S9

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Monday, February 26, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous... in slow-mo.

Welcome back! We kicked off MWC 2018 in Barcelona, in style, with the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S9 -- and the S9 Plus. That’s not all: There’s a ridiculous Huawei laptop with a hidden webcam and Nokia’s latest smartphone range as it continues to reinvent itself. You’ll be able to find all things MWC right here.

The new flagship is a big bundle of small changes.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ hands-on: The devil is in the details

Getting to know the Galaxy S9 is like unwrapping a present you think you've already opened. On the surface, it looks familiar, but once you peel back the layers, you'll notice the contents are new. That's not to say the changes between the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S8 are insignificant. There's a ton of them, and you'll have to look carefully to spot them all, but when considered as a package, this update feels more incremental than monumental. We test it out.

The flagship gets a full redesign and some hardware improvements, too.

The Nokia 8 Sirocco edition is 95-percent glass

HMD brought a Nokia phone for all tastes to this year's MWC. Just as some people might want a retro feature phone or an entry-level smartphone, others want the best money can buy. HMD's latest offering to these flagship fiends is the Nokia 8 Sirocco, which is pitched as a special edition of the Nokia 8 that launched last summer. Make no mistake, this isn't merely the same phone in a new funky color. It sports a completely overhauled design consisting almost entirely of glass.

"Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here."

The Nokia 8110 Reloaded is HMD's latest retro feature phone

HMD Global undeniably stole MWC in 2017 with, of all things, a new feature phone. Flexing its newly-acquired license to the Nokia brand, the company put on a marketing masterclass by announcing a re-release of the iconic Nokia 3310. This year, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Here’s the Nokia 8110 Reloaded, AKA the reinvented banana-phone.

It's a symptom of the VFX industry's problems.

'Black Panther' is amazing. Why are its CG models so terrible?

Black Panther is a refreshing answer to the increasingly stale world of superhero cinema. But its use of CG models to replace humans during action sequences leaves an awful lot to be desired. You'd think in the year 2018, following the recent glut of comic-book films, visual effects (VFX) studios would have perfected the art of creating realistic CG humans. Instead, we appear to have peaked at Avatar in 2010. What gives?

The company's classy take on the MacBook has a weird home for your webcam.

Huawei's MateBook X Pro crams a pop-up webcam into the keyboard

When Huawei unveiled its first true laptop barely a year ago, it was a slightly more useful MacBook lookalike. Borrowed looks aside, it offered some minor changes that alleviated common grievances, including the MacBook's solo USB-C port and its barely-there key travel. At MWC, Huawei introduced the new MateBook X Pro, and the company has decided to put the webcam somewhere it’s never been before: hidden inside your keyboard.

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