Tag Archives: language|en-US

TikTok to creators: make longer videos, get paid

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Last year TikTok rolled out a new monetization system for streamers called the Creativity Program to encourage longer videos that allow it to sell more ads. Now, the company is rolling the scheme out widely with a new name, the Creator Rewards Program, that only pays for videos longer than one minute. 

"The Creator Rewards Program will continue rewarding high-quality, original content over a minute long with an optimized rewards formula focused on 4 key areas: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement," the company wrote. 

TikTok noted that longer content is more lucrative with “with total creator revenue increasing by over 250 percent within the last 6 months, and the number of creators making $50,000 each month nearly doubling” since the beta began. 

TikTok to creators: make longer videos, get paid
TikTok

TikTok is also expanding its subscription features for creators. Previously, only live streamers could access offerings like exclusive (paid) content, badges and personalized emoji, but now the company is expanding these benefits beyond live streams.

"In the coming weeks, eligible creators can sign up to access a new way to strengthen their community with added value through exclusive content and benefits, while providing their most engaged communities an opportunity to connect even deeper with their favorite creators," TikTok wrote.

The company’s Creator Fund, which had no minimum requirement for video length and ended last year, was often criticized for low payouts. Last year, streamer Hank Green shared that he made about 2.5 cents per 1,000 views on the platform — a fraction of his YouTube earnings and about half of what he earned on TikTok prior to the fund.

By comparison, select streamers embraced the beta Creativity Program. Some (with subscriber numbers varying from a half million to several million) received payouts ranging in the low thousands to nearly $100,000 per month, "a complete 180" from what they saw in the Creator Fund, according to one creator.

That said, audiences have been uncertain about longer videos. In a TikTok internal survey from last year, nearly 50 percent of users said videos over a minute in length were "stressful," and a third of users watched videos online at double speed, according to a Wired report from earlier this year.

How to pay creators is not TikTok's only challenge at the moment. Yesterday, a group of US lawmakers introduced a new bill that would force parent ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the app to remain in the United States.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-to-creators-make-longer-videos-get-paid-055013923.html?src=rss

Mini’s first electric Countryman has a wild interior that’s not to be missed

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Mini has promised to go all electric by 2030, a date that seemed pretty far off back in 2021 but right now is starting to sound not that far off at all. While the company's prior battery-powered efforts have been great, it's going to take something more serious and more practical to convert the masses to the wonders of electrification.

That something might just be the 2025 Mini Countryman. While Mini will offer this car with a gasoline-burning engine if you're feeling traditional, the star of the lineup will be the new, $45,200, all-electric Countryman SE. With 313 horsepower and 363 pound-feet of torque, it's quick, and with way more cargo space, it's practical too.

But how does it drive? That's what we headed to Portugal to find out, and while the extra volume and weight of the new Countryman does come with some compromises, it's an engaging SUV to drive with a fantastic interior that's just a few software updates away from perfection. Full the full preview, watch the video up top.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/minis-first-electric-countryman-has-a-wild-interior-thats-not-to-be-missed-041508080.html?src=rss

Lawmakers have a new plan to force ByteDance to sell TikTok

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A group of lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the app to remain available in the United States. The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” would prohibit US app stores and web hosting services from distributing TikTok unless it divested from parent company ByteDance.

The bill is the latest in a long line of attempts by lawmakers and other officials to ban or force a sale of the app. Former President Donald Trump attempted to force a sale of TikTok in 2020, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The Biden Administration has also pressured the company to divest. And a US District Court Judge recently blocked an attempt to ban the app in Montana.

The new bill, which comes from a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House, takes a different approach. It would give ByteDance a six-month window to sell TikTok before app store-level bans would come into effect. It would also require TikTok and other apps to “provide users with a copy of their data in a format that can be imported” into competing apps. And though TikTok is referenced several times in the text of the bill, the legislation would open the door for bans on other “foreign adversary-controlled” apps if the president deemed them to be a national security threat.

“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it,” TikTok said in a statement. “This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

TikTok CEO Shou Chew has maintained that a divestment would not fully address officials’ concerns about US user data. The company has spent years trying to address national security concerns about its service with an initiative called Project Texas. Under the plan, created as a result of years of negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), US users’ data would be separated into US-based servers and government officials would be able to oversee audits of TikTok’s source code and other aspects of its operations.

The Washington Post reported last year that TikTok’s negotiations with CFIUS had been recently “revived amid doubts the [Biden] administration has the authority to ban TikTok on its own.” If Congress was able to pass the new bill, it would clear up such questions and create a new process for forcing ByteDance's hand. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other digital rights groups have criticized the government's efforts to ban TikTok. In a statement on the latest bill, the ACLU said the proposed measure was "unconstitutional" and would hurt free speech. "Just because the bill sponsors claim that banning TikTok isn’t about suppressing speech, there’s no denying that it would do just that," senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff said. 

Columbia University's nonprofit Knight First Amendment Institute raised similar concerns. "Congress can protect data privacy and security without banning Americans from accessing one of the world’s most popular communications platforms," the organization's executive director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement. "It should start by passing a comprehensive privacy law restricting the kinds of information that TikTok and other platforms can collect." 

Update March 5, 2024 6:50 PM ET: This story has been updated to add comments from the ACLU and Knight First Amendment Institute. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lawmakers-have-a-new-plan-to-force-bytedance-to-sell-tiktok-220408004.html?src=rss

Lawmakers have a new plan to force ByteDance to sell TikTok

Posted on by

A group of lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the app to remain available in the United States. The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” would prohibit US app stores and web hosting services from distributing TikTok unless it divested from parent company ByteDance.

The bill is the latest in a long line of attempts by lawmakers and other officials to ban or force a sale of the app. Former President Donald Trump attempted to force a sale of TikTok in 2020, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The Biden Administration has also pressured the company to divest. And a US District Court Judge recently blocked an attempt to ban the app in Montana.

The new bill, which comes from a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House, takes a different approach. It would give ByteDance a six-month window to sell TikTok before app store-level bans would come into effect. It would also require TikTok and other apps to “provide users with a copy of their data in a format that can be imported” into competing apps. And though TikTok is referenced several times in the text of the bill, the legislation would open the door for bans on other “foreign adversary-controlled” apps if the president deemed them to be a national security threat.

“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it,” TikTok said in a statement. “This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

TikTok CEO Shou Chew has maintained that a divestment would not fully address officials’ concerns about US user data. The company has spent years trying to address national security concerns about its service with an initiative called Project Texas. Under the plan, created as a result of years of negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), US users’ data would be separated into US-based servers and government officials would be able to oversee audits of TikTok’s source code and other aspects of its operations.

The Washington Post reported last year that TikTok’s negotiations with CFIUS had been recently “revived amid doubts the [Biden] administration has the authority to ban TikTok on its own.” If Congress was able to pass the new bill, it would clear up such questions and create a new process for forcing ByteDance's hand. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other digital rights groups have criticized the government's efforts to ban TikTok. In a statement on the latest bill, the ACLU said the proposed measure was "unconstitutional" and would hurt free speech. "Just because the bill sponsors claim that banning TikTok isn’t about suppressing speech, there’s no denying that it would do just that," senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff said. 

Columbia University's nonprofit Knight First Amendment Institute raised similar concerns. "Congress can protect data privacy and security without banning Americans from accessing one of the world’s most popular communications platforms," the organization's executive director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement. "It should start by passing a comprehensive privacy law restricting the kinds of information that TikTok and other platforms can collect." 

Update March 5, 2024 6:50 PM ET: This story has been updated to add comments from the ACLU and Knight First Amendment Institute. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lawmakers-have-a-new-plan-to-force-bytedance-to-sell-tiktok-220408004.html?src=rss

Microsoft is ending support for Android apps on Windows

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Microsoft is pulling the plug on Android apps for Windows. The company said it’s ending support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), the underlying component behind the Amazon Appstore (and other Android apps) in Windows 11. Microsoft told Engadget it was responding to “evolving customer needs.”

Microsoft first said in 2021 that Windows 11 would be able to run Android apps. When it arrived the following year, users could install the Amazon Appstore, and some individual Android apps were found in the Microsoft Store. The rollout was viewed as an answer to the dual threats of Android apps on Chromebooks and iOS apps on Apple Silicon Macs.

A Microsoft spokesperson clarified to Engadget why it’s now terminating the feature. “As part of our commitment to meeting evolving customer needs, we periodically update our product offerings,” they said. “This involves introducing new technical innovations and retiring products. Microsoft remains dedicated to an open platform and ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing to bring the best experiences and apps to Windows.”

With Microsoft blazing full-tilt into all things AI, it may now see its past attempts at making Windows a dramatically better touch-focused platform as no longer worth the resources. Another possibility, as The Verge speculates, is that people hunting for Android apps on Windows expected the full Google Play Store experience — not Amazon’s variant, which has an inferior overall selection.

Microsoft says customers who installed the Amazon Appstore (or other apps and games using WSA) on their Windows 11 machines before Tuesday can keep using them until March 5, 2025. Meanwhile, Amazon clarified that its Appstore and associate apps will no longer be discoverable in the Microsoft Store beginning on Wednesday. In addition, developers can no longer submit new apps for the Amazon Appstore on Windows, but those with existing ones can continue to submit updates for them until this time next year.

As for what’s next for Microsoft, the company is rumored to launch new Surface devices on March 21. The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected, with the company possibly marketing them as its first AI PCs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-is-ending-support-for-android-apps-on-windows-213534468.html?src=rss

Microsoft is ending support for Android apps on Windows

Posted on by

Microsoft is pulling the plug on Android apps for Windows. The company said it’s ending support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), the underlying component behind the Amazon Appstore (and other Android apps) in Windows 11. Microsoft told Engadget it was responding to “evolving customer needs.”

Microsoft first said in 2021 that Windows 11 would be able to run Android apps. When it arrived the following year, users could install the Amazon Appstore, and some individual Android apps were found in the Microsoft Store. The rollout was viewed as an answer to the dual threats of Android apps on Chromebooks and iOS apps on Apple Silicon Macs.

A Microsoft spokesperson clarified to Engadget why it’s now terminating the feature. “As part of our commitment to meeting evolving customer needs, we periodically update our product offerings,” they said. “This involves introducing new technical innovations and retiring products. Microsoft remains dedicated to an open platform and ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing to bring the best experiences and apps to Windows.”

With Microsoft blazing full-tilt into all things AI, it may now see its past attempts at making Windows a dramatically better touch-focused platform as no longer worth the resources. Another possibility, as The Verge speculates, is that people hunting for Android apps on Windows expected the full Google Play Store experience — not Amazon’s variant, which has an inferior overall selection.

Microsoft says customers who installed the Amazon Appstore (or other apps and games using WSA) on their Windows 11 machines before Tuesday can keep using them until March 5, 2025. Meanwhile, Amazon clarified that its Appstore and associate apps will no longer be discoverable in the Microsoft Store beginning on Wednesday. In addition, developers can no longer submit new apps for the Amazon Appstore on Windows, but those with existing ones can continue to submit updates for them until this time next year.

As for what’s next for Microsoft, the company is rumored to launch new Surface devices on March 21. The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected, with the company possibly marketing them as its first AI PCs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-is-ending-support-for-android-apps-on-windows-213534468.html?src=rss

Microsoft may debut its first ‘AI PCs’ later this month

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Microsoft will reveal the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on March 21, according to a report. This isn't likely to just be a matter of a hardware refresh, however. Microsoft is expected to call these systems its first AI PCs, as Windows Central notes.

The devices are set to be equipped with new Intel Core Ultra or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-based processors that feature the latest neural processing units (NPUs) to boost AI capabilities. They're said to approximately match the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro in terms of efficiency and performance.

The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected to be among the first machines to support upcoming AI features in Windows 11. Along with on-device Copilot support, these functions are expected to include real-time live captions and translations, upscaling for games, frame rate smoothing, upgraded Windows Studio Effects and something that (at least for the time being) is seemingly called AI Explorer.

Windows Central suggests the latter will be the feature that sets AI PCs apart from regular computers. AI Explorer will apparently work across any app and let you search through documents, web pages, images and chats using natural language. It's believed that the feature will create a history of everything you do on your computer and make it searchable. The tool is said to be capable of understanding context and suggesting tasks based on what's on the screen. AI Explorer is also expected to support text-based image editing. According to the report, these AI features are likely to roll out as part of this fall's 24H2 update for Windows 11.

As for what else to expect from Microsoft's next laptops, both are said to have all-day battery life. The Surface Pro 10 is slated to include an anti-reflective, HDR-capable OLED screen. Rumors suggest it will have a front-facing ultrawide webcam and an NFC reader.

The Surface Laptop 6 is believed to have a more significant redesign compared with its predecessors. Along with thinner bezels and rounded corners, it's expected to have a haptic touchpad, a dedicated key for Copilot and a revamped group of ports. It's also slated to be the first Surface Laptop with an Arm variant (it's worth noting that we had major reservations about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9). The report suggests that the Intel versions of the Surface Laptop 9 and Surface Pro 10 will ship in April, with the Snapdragon variants to follow in June.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-may-debut-its-first-ai-pcs-later-this-month-204522580.html?src=rss

Microsoft may debut its first ‘AI PCs’ later this month

Posted on by

Microsoft will reveal the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on March 21, according to a report. This isn't likely to just be a matter of a hardware refresh, however. Microsoft is expected to call these systems its first AI PCs, as Windows Central notes.

The devices are set to be equipped with new Intel Core Ultra or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-based processors that feature the latest neural processing units (NPUs) to boost AI capabilities. They're said to approximately match the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro in terms of efficiency and performance.

The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected to be among the first machines to support upcoming AI features in Windows 11. Along with on-device Copilot support, these functions are expected to include real-time live captions and translations, upscaling for games, frame rate smoothing, upgraded Windows Studio Effects and something that (at least for the time being) is seemingly called AI Explorer.

Windows Central suggests the latter will be the feature that sets AI PCs apart from regular computers. AI Explorer will apparently work across any app and let you search through documents, web pages, images and chats using natural language. It's believed that the feature will create a history of everything you do on your computer and make it searchable. The tool is said to be capable of understanding context and suggesting tasks based on what's on the screen. AI Explorer is also expected to support text-based image editing. According to the report, these AI features are likely to roll out as part of this fall's 24H2 update for Windows 11.

As for what else to expect from Microsoft's next laptops, both are said to have all-day battery life. The Surface Pro 10 is slated to include an anti-reflective, HDR-capable OLED screen. Rumors suggest it will have a front-facing ultrawide webcam and an NFC reader.

The Surface Laptop 6 is believed to have a more significant redesign compared with its predecessors. Along with thinner bezels and rounded corners, it's expected to have a haptic touchpad, a dedicated key for Copilot and a revamped group of ports. It's also slated to be the first Surface Laptop with an Arm variant (it's worth noting that we had major reservations about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9). The report suggests that the Intel versions of the Surface Laptop 9 and Surface Pro 10 will ship in April, with the Snapdragon variants to follow in June.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-may-debut-its-first-ai-pcs-later-this-month-204522580.html?src=rss

Google is changing its search results to weed out SEO spam

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Amid complaints that its search results have declined in quality, Google is tweaking its algorithms to do a better job of weeding out spammy or automated content. The company says the ranking updates, arriving in May, will “keep the lowest-quality content out of search.” Of particular note, Google says its engine will be better at eradicating today’s automated (read: AI-generated) content that’s harder to spot.

Google says it’s taking what it learned from a 2022 algorithmic tuneup to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content” and applying it to the new update. The company says the changes will send more traffic to “helpful and high-quality sites.” When combined with the updates from two years ago, Google estimates the revision will reduce spammy, unoriginal search results by 40 percent.

“This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people,” Google product management director Elizabeth Tucker wrote. “This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries.”

Google sounds like it’s targeting AI-generated SEO spam with its notes about scaled content abuse. The company says it’s strengthening its approach to the growing problem of sites that generate garbage automated articles (as well as zeroing in on old-fashioned human-created spam).

“Today, scaled content creation methods are more sophisticated, and whether content is created purely through automation isn’t always as clear,” Tucker said. Google says the changes “will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”

AI-generated content farms shotgun-blasting content to game the system are an increasing problem, so Google’s changes — if they’re as effective as promised — will be welcome. Although sites spamming that content exclusively may be easier to spot, it will be interesting to see if scenarios where once-reputable outlets experimenting with AI-generated spam (CNET and Sports Illustrated are recent examples) will be affected.

Another change to the algorithm will tackle the practice of otherwise reputable sites hosting low-quality content from third parties designed to leech off the site’s good name. Google provides the example of an educational site hosting a third-party payday loan review. “We’ll now consider very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight of a website owner to be spam,” Tucker wrote.

Finally, Google’s updates will allegedly do better at rooting out expired domains bought by someone else and transformed into click mills. The search engine will begin treating those websites as spam.

You won’t see the improvements immediately as Google is giving site owners a two-month notice to adapt accordingly. The search engine changes will take effect on May 5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-changing-its-search-results-to-weed-out-seo-spam-195259063.html?src=rss

Google is changing its search results to weed out SEO spam

Posted on by

Amid complaints that its search results have declined in quality, Google is tweaking its algorithms to do a better job of weeding out spammy or automated content. The company says the ranking updates, arriving in May, will “keep the lowest-quality content out of search.” Of particular note, Google says its engine will be better at eradicating today’s automated (read: AI-generated) content that’s harder to spot.

Google says it’s taking what it learned from a 2022 algorithmic tuneup to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content” and applying it to the new update. The company says the changes will send more traffic to “helpful and high-quality sites.” When combined with the updates from two years ago, Google estimates the revision will reduce spammy, unoriginal search results by 40 percent.

“This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people,” Google product management director Elizabeth Tucker wrote. “This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries.”

Google sounds like it’s targeting AI-generated SEO spam with its notes about scaled content abuse. The company says it’s strengthening its approach to the growing problem of sites that generate garbage automated articles (as well as zeroing in on old-fashioned human-created spam).

“Today, scaled content creation methods are more sophisticated, and whether content is created purely through automation isn’t always as clear,” Tucker said. Google says the changes “will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”

AI-generated content farms shotgun-blasting content to game the system are an increasing problem, so Google’s changes — if they’re as effective as promised — will be welcome. Although sites spamming that content exclusively may be easier to spot, it will be interesting to see if scenarios where once-reputable outlets experimenting with AI-generated spam (CNET and Sports Illustrated are recent examples) will be affected.

Another change to the algorithm will tackle the practice of otherwise reputable sites hosting low-quality content from third parties designed to leech off the site’s good name. Google provides the example of an educational site hosting a third-party payday loan review. “We’ll now consider very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight of a website owner to be spam,” Tucker wrote.

Finally, Google’s updates will allegedly do better at rooting out expired domains bought by someone else and transformed into click mills. The search engine will begin treating those websites as spam.

You won’t see the improvements immediately as Google is giving site owners a two-month notice to adapt accordingly. The search engine changes will take effect on May 5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-changing-its-search-results-to-weed-out-seo-spam-195259063.html?src=rss