Monthly Archives: August 2021

Amazon may jump into live audio with a focus on music

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Amazon may be the next to hop on the live audio bandwagon, although its take might not be what you'd expect. Axiossources claim Amazon is developing a live audio offering that would focus on music, including concerts and other events — more like Spotify than Clubhouse. The company is reportedly considering podcasts and talk radio as extensions, but Amazon Music would lead the project.

The internet giant also hopes to build live audio into Twitch. The sources didn't say how or when this might arrive.

We've asked Amazon for comment on the rumors. It wouldn't be surprising if Amazon leapt into the live audio space, at least. Amazon recently integrated Twitch streams into the Music app, and the firm's acquisition of podcast subscription business Wondery in 2020 signalled an intent to dive further into audio. There's also the simple matter of competition. Spotify, Twitter Spaces and Facebook's audio rooms could all pose a threat, even if Clubhouse doesn't. This would at least give Amazon a foothold before others dominate the category.

Facebook will reduce political content in the News Feed starting today

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Facebook is planning to reduce political content in the News Feed starting today, it confirmed to Engadget. The move, which was first reported by Axios, follows tests in the US, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia earlier this year, where Facebook limited political content. The company plans to expand the tests to Costa Rica, Sweden, Spain and Ireland.

"These changes are in response to common feedback from our community," a Facebook spokesperson told Engadget. "We conduct ongoing research with people to hear what parts of Facebook are working well for them, and to gather feedback about what we could be doing better. One of the themes we’ve heard is that some people feel that there’s too much political content in their News Feeds. We hope these changes address this feedback and preserve the ability for people to find and interact with political content on Facebook, while respecting their appetite for it at the top of their News Feed."

Facebook says some engagement signals are better than others at indicating which posts people deem interesting or valuable. As a result, the company is expanding some tests related to engagement signals. The tests put less importance on how likely a user is to share or comment on political content. "At the same time, we’re putting more emphasis on new signals such as how likely people are to provide us with negative feedback on posts about political topics and current events when we rank those types of posts in their News Feed," Facebook wrote in an updated blog post.

The changes could reduce the level of misinformation on Facebook, if the algorithms are able to effectively detect and de-emphasize all political content. Political campaigns might have to rethink their strategies of how to reach voters too. On the flip side, the move could come as a blow to news organizations, especially those focused on politics, given the volume of traffic Facebook can drive to websites.

The switch could also make Facebook a less hostile place for users. Political discussions can quickly get heated, which might put off those who use the service largely for keeping in touch with their loved ones and sharing pictures of their kids. For what it's worth, Facebook claimed in November political content makes up just six percent of what users see.

"We’ve learned that these changes will affect public affairs content more broadly and that publishers may see an impact on their traffic," Facebook said. "Knowing this, we are planning a gradual and methodical rollout for these tests, but remain encouraged, and expect to announce further expansions in the coming months."

The reported changes follow other moves that Facebook has made to make political content less visible. It stopped recommending civic and political groups to users earlier this year after temporarily pausing those recommendations ahead of the 2020 US election.

‘NBA 2K22’ enhancements include tweaks to dribbling, blocking and shooting

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With NBA 2K22’s September 10th release date fast approaching, 2K has shared a first look at the game’s PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S version. The publisher calls this a gameplay reveal, but it's mostly a showcase of what developer Visual Concepts managed to do with the new hardware from Sony and Microsoft. Thankfully, the studio also published a new Courtside Report that details some of the gameplay enhancements players can look forward to when they pick the game up next month.

To start, Visual Concepts says it completely rebuilt the shot contest and blocking systems, as well as made a significant update to how the game handles defensive rotations. When it comes to moving a player up the court, the studio promises tighter controls that will allow you to put together new combos in creative ways.

But some of the most significant changes look like they’re coming to how the game handles shooting. NBA 2K22 will feature a new shot meter that will dynamically change depending on the abilities of the player you’re controlling and whether their shot is contested. According to Visual Concepts, NBA 2K22 will put a greater emphasis on Shot IQ. You’ll be more successful if you take the time to find an open teammate and take a smart shot. For players who like to drive to the basket, there’s a new dunk style creator that will allow you to customize their dunk repertoire.

Outside of those improvements, fans of women's basketball can look forward to much-improved WNBA mode. All told, it looks like NBA 2K's second PS5 and Xbox Series X outing should be a good one. 

Chrome beta’s experimental cards help you resume recent tasks

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Google might just save you from hitting your browser's "back" button (or sifting through your history) more than you'd like. The company is rolling out a Chrome beta feature that adds New Tab Page cards (pictured below) for resuming recent tasks. You can quickly jump back to your shopping cart, a recipe or a Google Doc you were working on. You'll have to switch this on by enabling the #ntp-modules flag, but it could be helpful if you'd rather not backtrack through your page visits just to pick up where you left off.

Google Chrome beta recent task cards
Google

Another addition will help you avoid a back-and-forth when digging through your search results. An experimental feature adds a row below Chrome's address bar on Android to display the rest of your search results. If one link wasn't what you were looking for, you won't have to tap "back" to check out the rest. You can try the row by enabling the #continuous-search flag.

The Android beta will help you share pithy sayings, too. Enable the #webnotes-stylize flag and Chrome will create stylized images from quotes. You just have to share highlighted text and tap "create card" to choose a template.

It's not certain if or when these features will be active by default in Chrome. Don't be surprised if Google changes or even cuts them based on feedback. With that said, they appear to be helpful enough that it might just be a matter of time before they reach more users. 

Strava makes its location sharing safety feature free

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Social fitness network Strava has made one of its most useful safety features available to all users. Starting today, anyone — not just those with a subscription — can use the app’s Beacon feature to share their location with friends and family members.

To enable the feature, tap the “You” tab at the bottom of the main interface and then the cog icon that appears near the top right corner. Once you’re in the settings menu, scroll down until you see the relevant section and toggle the feature on. With Beacon, you can share your location with up to three people. When you add a list of safety contacts to the app, Strava will automatically notify those individuals when you start recording an activity. Another option is to manually text a Beacon link to a friend or family if you don’t want to flood them with notifications each time you go out for a spin.

As a free user, you won’t be able to use the Beacon functionality through a connected device like a Wahoo bike computer or Apple Watch. Strava says that’s something that you will still need a subscription to access “due to the added complexity of supporting those integrations.” One other thing to keep in mind is the software will only share your location as long as you’re recording an activity. Either way, making a safety tool like Beacon free in most contexts is a good move for Strava, particularly after the company moved some previously free features behind a subscription.

Google Calendar can show how much of your time is taken up by meetings

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Most of us have had meetings that simply could have been an email. Google Calendar will soon provide insights on how you spend your work day, including how long you spend in meetings, so you can find out just how much time you could be saving if your bosses sent memos instead.

This idea behind Time Insights is for you to gain a better understanding of how your time is taken up, so perhaps you can make adjustments if you're spending too much time in Zoom calls or conference rooms. For instance, maybe you can consolidate meetings if you spend many of them with the same people.

The feature can highlight the days and times where you tend to be in meetings the most. You'll also see a time breakdown (including the average time spent in meetings each day) and details about the people with whom you're in meetings most often. When you hover over a person, Google Calendar will highlight all the meetings they're included in.

Time Insights will only be visible on computers, not mobile devices. The insights will typically only be visible to you, but if you manage other people's calendars and they've enabled the “manage sharing access” permission, you'll be able to see their Time Insights too.

Workspace admins will be able to turn the feature off, but other users won't have that option. You can, however, hide Time Insights by closing the bar on the right of the screen.

Time Insights is coming to certain Google Workspace accounts (i.e. Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits users). It won't be available to those on other plans, including G Suite Basic and Business users. Workspace admins should see it within the next couple of weeks. Google will roll out Time Insights to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains on September 6th and 20th, respectively. The rollout will take up to 15 days on each type of domain.

This foldable, portable laser-engraver lets you customize practically anything!

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RA Laser Z3 is a compact and portable laser engraving tool with an open base design so that anyone can laser engrave their products from anywhere for any reason.

Laser engraved products like iPads and crystal glass paperweights make for great gifts and give each item a more official feel. Whether you want to laser engrave a plaque to commemorate a life achievement or a ring of keys just to remember which one is which, laser engravings provide a clean, easy way to recognize major accomplishments or just stay organized on the day-to-day. RA Laser Z3 is a portable laser engraving tool that makes laser engraving any item that much easier with a compact build and precise laser programming.

Before use, the RA Laser Z3 folds down to the height of a closed book. When users unfold the RA Laser Z3 to engrave an item, the bulk of the laser opens up just like a book as the engraving module swings out to form an L-shape. From there, users position the products they’d like to engrave beneath the bottom rectangular frame. Designed with an open base, the RA Laser Z3 is prepared for users to engrave products of any size, from iPhones to dog tags.

To avoid any skin contact with the laser itself, the team of designers behind RA Laser Z3 constructed a splash cover to envelop the entire tool and restrict the laser’s movement. Before engraving their products, users can program preset designs in the accompanying app for the laser to trace and engrave with precision.

Following multiple ideations and an intricate prototyping phase, the RA Laser Z3 was developed into a portable and compact laser engraving tool. The RA Laser Z3 offers a quick and intuitive solution for laser engraving needs that span from organizing stationery items in the office to etching birthday messages onto gift items like iPads and glass paperweights.

Designer: Y Z, 2 Young, Zach Zhan, & JW J

When folded, the RA Laser Z3 reaches the height of a closed book. 

Following multiple ideations and mockups, the RA Laser Z3 found its final, compact form. 

The RA Laser Z3 can be brought anywhere thanks to its compact size. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An accompanying app allows users to program built-in engraving presets for the laser to trace.

Hyundai’s next robotaxi is an upgraded Ioniq 5 EV

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Motional, the autonomy-focused joint venture from Hyundai and Aptiv, has chosen its next robotaxi — and it's entirely what you'd expect. The company has revealed that its first commercial robotaxi will be based on the Ioniq 5, adding self-driving hardware (cameras, LiDAR and radar) to the brand new EV. It'll also include in-cabin interfaces to give passengers some options during their ride, such as asking for an extra stop.

The crossover includes "safety redundancies" to keep critical systems running. Motional can also take remote control if the robotaxi doesn't know how to handle a given situation — likely necessary when this is a Level 4 self-driving car that can't quite operate autonomously under all conditions.

The driverless Ioniq 5 will enter service in 2023 through Motional's partnership with Lyft. While it isn't surprising that Motional would pick a Hyundai car over previous examples (such as the BMWs Aptiv used), this might be an ideal fit — it's a roomy, zero-emissions car with a 300-mile range. That might also give Motional a slight edge over other manufacturer-linked robotaxi services, such as GM's Cruise (which currently relies on the smaller, shorter-ranged Bolt EV).

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE user manual appears online

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We have heard lots of different rumors about the new Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone. The handset is rumored to be launching some time soon. The handset recently appeared on the Google Play Console. Now the user manual for the new galaxy S21 FE has appeared online, this is another indication that Samsung will be […]

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The post Samsung Galaxy S21 FE user manual appears online appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Windows 11 will be available on October 5th

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After months of hype, Windows 11 has a release date. Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 will be available on October 5th, both as a free upgrade for qualifying Windows 10 systems as well as new PCs shipping with the OS pre-installed.

Don't assume you'll get the upgrade on day one, though. This is a gradual rollout that will prioritize newer hardware and use "intelligence models" to determine who gets the upgrade first, including reliability and device age. All supporting machines will get the update by mid-2022, but this suggests you may be toward the back of the queue if you're using relatively old hardware. At least some shipping Windows 10 PCs will be on the fast track for Windows 11 updates, including models from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and (of course) Microsoft.

Notably, though, Android app support won't be available on launch. Microsoft now only expects to introduce the feature in a Windows Insider preview build sometime in the "coming months." That's not completely shocking given the challenges of translating mobile apps to a mouse-and-keyboard experience, but this still means one of Windows 11's tentpole features won't be available for a long while.

The new platform centers on a refreshed interface with a new Start interface, Snap Layouts, widgets and Teams integration. You'll also find a redesigned Microsoft Store that even lets third-party stores operate within its walls. Technology like DirectX 12, DirectStorage and Auto HDR also promise to help gamers.

This might not be Microsoft's smoothest launch, however. On top of the delayed Android feature, Microsoft sparked some confusion with relatively steep hardware requirements that have evolved over time and include demands for security features like TPM 2.0. Microsoft will technically let you install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, but you might be denied updates unless you're willing to install new OS images on a frequent basis. Unlike Windows 10, then, you can't just assume your years-old computer will run this software without a hitch — there's a chance you'll have to upgrade your hardware first, even if it's still fast enough for your needs.