We have a deal on the Pictar Smart Grip and a bundle of two lenses. This device is a camera grip that fits most iPhones and Android devices, if that’s your thing, and it does that in a very clever way. Rather than matching physical buttons or even using a wireless connection for camera controls, this device emits high frequency sounds you can’t hear, but that the free companion app can. That allows you to control all manner of camera settings on your iPhone while using very little power. The deal includes the Pictar Smart Lens Wide 16 mm + Macro X12 clip on lens kit, and you get the bundle for $129.99 through our deal.
Don't Storm Area 51, Begs Fan Site Webmaster
Joerg Arnu is fascinated by Area 51. He even runs websites focussed on the site. However, as Wired discovered, he really does not want people descending on the mysterious Air Force base.
Arnu isn’t into it. He is not into the joke that has already inspired at least two people, young Dutch YouTubers, to breach the Air Force’s perimeter. And he is not into the party that threatens to take over his very little locale, a place located freakishly close to Area 51’s back gate. He has tried to put an end to its flight path. With the original festivities scheduled to start today, it’s unclear whether the horde will be huge or whether this bang will end with a poorly attended whimper.
Photographer Heaps Praise on iPhone 11 Pro Camera
Photographer Austin Mann could not wait to get his hands on a new iPhone 11 Pro and test the camera. His conclusion following a trip to China with the device? “If you are a serious photographer, get a Pro.” He explained why in a blog post, which also contained some stunning pictures (including the one featured in this article).
The addition of any new lens is a pretty big deal. You might remember my excitement when we gained the “telephoto” 51mm lens with the iPhone 7 Plus, and today I’m just as thrilled to be putting an entirely new Ultra Wide lens in my pocket. It gives us another format to tell the story, another perspective to visualize, and a better rounded tool for doing our best creative work. I’ve had a blast shooting with the new Ultra Wide on iPhone 11 Pro in all kinds of scenarios here in China.
Mark Zuckerberg Heads back to Washington D.C. for Dinner with Senators
On Wednesday, Axios exclusively revealed that Mark Zuckerberg was set to return to Washington D.C. The site later reported that the Facebook CEO dined with senators Thursday evening. It was his first visit to the city since his high profile hearings on Capitol Hill.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed election security and privacy with a group of senators over dinner ahead of his return to Capitol Hill Thursday, said a spokesperson for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who organized the meeting. Warner’s spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Axios that he organized Wednesday’s dinner at Facebook’s request. “The participants had a discussion touching on multiple issues, including the role and responsibility of social media platforms in protecting our democracy, and what steps Congress should take to defend our elections, protect consumer data, and encourage competition in the social media space.”
Babbel Language Learning 1-Year Subscription: $69
We have a deal on a 1-year subscription for Babbel Language Learning. You can choose from 14 languages to learn, practice with 10-15 minute bite-sized lessons, and it uses speech recognition technology to keep your pronunciation on point. 1 year through our deal is $69. There’s also a 2-year option for $99.
Apple Moves to Trademark 'Slofie'
Apple wants to trademark ‘slofie’, it’s term for slow-motion video clips you can now take with iPhone 11.
Apple has applied to the USPTO for a trademark on the term “Slofie” in terms of “downloadable computer software for use in capturing and recording video.” Don’t worry, it’s not trying to own the cultural landscape — rather, this is largely to prevent app developers and phone makers from ‘borrowing’ the term for their own features.
At least Apple isn’t trying to pull an Ohio State University, which was recently denied its effort to trademark the word “the.”
California Governor Signs AB5 Bill Into Law Protecting Gig Workers
AB5 is a bill that could one day give full employee status to gig workers from companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash. Today, California’s governor signed it into law.
While a major victory for the organized labor movement in California and in the U.S. broadly, the passing of AB5 is by no means a guarantee drivers in the state will become employees. Drivers or individual cities will need to challenge these businesses in court to apply the aforementioned ABC test, and Uber has already adopted an offensive posture in that regard, claiming that drivers are not core to the company’s business model—one of the stipulations of the ABC test.
Drivers in a ride-sharing company are not core to Uber’s business model. Wow.
Facebook Launches New Surveillance Devices For Your Home
Today Facebook launched Portal video chatting devices that definitely won’t be used to spy on you and your loved ones. They will let Facebook users watch television together over a video call. Andrew Bosworth, VP of AR/VR at Facebook, said:
I think that in a couple years’ time, if you have a smart streaming device that doesn’t have a camera allowing you to video call people, you’re not going to have a competitive product. I think this is the killer feature for a device like this.
Bosworth also touted privacy protections like local processing of smart features on the devices, which means most user data will not be sent back to Facebook servers.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Fortnite Adds Party Hub and Split View on iPad
Fortnite added a Party Hub and split view support for iPad in a recent update. The Party Hub tells you which friends are online for voice chat, according to Cult of Mac. Split View support means you can have another app running along side the game on compatible iPads.
The Party Hub is the first thing you’ll see when you load up Fortnite on an Android or iOS device (after installing the latest update). And it shows you instantly which of your friends is online. You can then voice chat with any of those friends — even if they’re in a game and you’re not. You can also start a party to voice chat with multiple friends before jumping into a match together. Party Hub works across platforms, so you can chat to friends who play on console and PC. And you can quickly transfer your party from your smartphone or tablet to another device.
Amazon Has a Mole in the California State Assembly
Perhaps using the word “mole” is hyperbole. But it’s deeply concerning that California Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin is actively trying to kill California’s privacy act that would impede companies like Amazon Ring, when her husband is the COO for Ring.
Like other companies that collect vast amounts of consumer data, Ring — and its parent company, Amazon — has a financial stake in the details of California’s groundbreaking data-privacy law. Industry groups, including those representing Amazon, have been scrambling to change the law before it takes effect Jan. 1.
“We can talk about this later,”Jacqui Irwin said, side-stepping questions about a potential conflict outside her office last week. “It’s a little bit offensive there.”
Steam Gets Long-Awaited Library Overhaul
Steam’s library view got an upgrade in the latest public Beta. Eurogramer looked at what’s new.
Once you’ve opted in to the beta (which merely requires selecting the appropriate drop-down option from Steam’s settings menu), the first thing you’ll likely notice is your new library’s aesthetic overhaul. That immediately comes into play on the new library landing page, which offers a snapshot of recently played titles, as well as recent activity for select games in your collection – seemingly pulled from developer-created news posts. There’s also an overview of recent friend activity, and the ability to display games organised into user-created collections. Steam’s library update (which, incidentally, isn’t reflected across its Big Picture mode at present) also brings with it new-look pages for individual games. Select a title in your library at random, and you’ll be presented with a broad selection of information pertaining to that game, now organised in a manner which doesn’t appear to have tumbled out of the 90s.
Why The iPhone 11 Pro Has 3 Cameras
Just what are the two cameras on the iPhone 11 doing? What’s different about the three cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro? TechCrunch explains.
On the back of the iPhone 11 Pro can be found three cameras. Why? Because the more light you collect, the better your picture can be. And we pretty much reached the limit of what one camera can do a little while back. Two, three, even a dozen cameras can be put to work creating a single photo — the only limitation is the code that makes them work.
Your X-Ray Images and Medical Data Are Available on the Internet
A ProPublica investigation revealed that medical images and health data are often stored in insecure servers that are easily accessible to anyone with a bit of computer knowledge.
We identified 187 servers — computers that are used to store and retrieve medical data — in the U.S. that were unprotected by passwords or basic security precautions. The computer systems, from Florida to California, are used in doctors’ offices, medical-imaging centers and mobile X-ray services.
All told, medical data from more than 16 million scans worldwide was available online, including names, birthdates and, in some cases, Social Security numbers.
The United States Sues Edward Snowden Over Book
Edward Snowden recently published a book called Permanent Record. The United States filed a civil lawsuit against him and his publisher, saying that he violated nondisclosure agreements because he didn’t submit the book to the CIA and NSA for pre-publication review.
The United States’ lawsuit does not seek to stop or restrict the publication or distribution of Permanent Record. Rather, under well-established Supreme Court precedent, Snepp v. United States, the government seeks to recover all proceeds earned by Snowden because of his failure to submit his publication for pre-publication review in violation of his alleged contractual and fiduciary obligations.
Organize Your Apple Accessories with BentoStack: $42.95
One of our most popular deals is back: the BentoStack, an organizer for your Apple accessories. Borrowing its design from a Japanese bento box, BentoStack fits everything just so. It includes four adjustable compartment dividers and two 2 silicone straps, and it’s $42.95 through our deal, and there’s a silver version, too.
Amazon Music HD Adds Tracks for Audiophiles
Amazon Music HD is a new service that provides high quality streaming for audiophiles. New subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited get a three month free trial.
Amazon Tweaked Algorithm to Push Its Own Products
Amazon changed the way its search algorithm works. According to an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal, the company will now boost products that are more profitable for the online retailer.
Amazon optimized the secret algorithm that ranks listings so that instead of showing customers mainly the most-relevant and best-selling listings when they search—as it had for more than a decade—the site also gives a boost to items that are more profitable for the company. The adjustment, which the world’s biggest online retailer hasn’t publicized, followed a years long battle between executives who run Amazon’s retail businesses in Seattle and the company’s search team, dubbed A9, in Palo Alto, Calif., which opposed the move, the people said. Any tweak to Amazon’s search system has broad implications because the giant’s rankings can make or break a product. The site’s search bar is the most common way for U.S. shoppers to find items online, and most purchases stem from the first page of search results, according to marketing analytics firm Jumpshot.
Why Apple's EU Tax Case Matters
Apple’s appeal against the EU’s demand for €13 billion in taxes allegedly owed from its Irish business will be heard in the coming days. The Irish Times had a really good explainer on Friday explaining why the case is so important.
Apple has always insisted that it is absolutely not true that it did not pay all the taxes due. Apple says it is committed to respecting all tax laws as they stand, and that it pays huge amounts of tax on its profits – some $37 billion to the US treasury alone in respect of its international operations. It is now, the company boasts, the world’s and Ireland’s largest taxpayer. And the 6,000 workers it employs in Ireland pay a huge part of the State’s income tax, it notes
ImageNet Roulette Shows How ML Classifies You
ImageNet Roulette is part of an art and technology exhibit called Training Humans. Upload a photo and the algorithm will give you a classification. Some of the labels are funny, others are racist.
ImageNet Roulette is meant in part to demonstrate how various kinds of politics propagate through technical systems, often without the creators of those systems even being aware of them.
We did not make the underlying training data responsible for these classifications. We imported the categories and training images from a popular data set called ImageNet, which was created at Princeton and Stanford University and which is a standard benchmark used in image classification and object detection.
I uploaded a photo of me and the label I received was “beard.” Accurate.
How Apple Arcade Became Tempting For a Hardcore Android User
Apple and Google are soon to expand their rivalry into the realm of gaming services. Apple Arcade and Google Stadia are both compelling products. However, Apple Arcade seems to be getting interest from some unlikely people. On CNet, hardcore Android user Shelby Brown explained why she is paying attention to Apple’s offering.
Stadia still feels like it’s aimed solely at console gamers. On Twitter, Stadia business development manager Ray Bautista touted that the service offers 4K gameplay, no patches, no updates, no installs, no downloads and no console. But, the average person, a casual gamer or a family looking for a game to play on a Friday night probably isn’t too concerned about frames per second. While Stadia still has games to add, Apple Arcade has established itself as a lifestyle gaming service from day one.
The Most Memorable Apple Ads Over the Years 1984-2019
Business Insider has collected in one place all the most memorable Apple ads over the years.
- We looked at the ads that have aired in the years since [1984] and highlighted the most memorable one each year, from dancing iPod silhouettes to the “Get a Mac” ad campaign.
This trip down memory lane is great to mull over as we’ve watched Apple grow and change.
Netflix Buys Streaming Rights to Seinfeld Starting 2021
Netflix has bought global streaming rights for Seinfeld. It will begin in 2021, when Hulu’s contract for streaming it expires.
This is the first time Seinfeld will be available on Netflix and the first time that all 180 episodes will be on one service globally and in 4K. Seinfeldmade its streaming debut with the Hulu deal. Internationally, it is streaming on Amazon in a number of territories; that will all be consolidated on Netflix under the new deal.
I watched a couple of reruns of Seinfeld on TV when I was younger, and I never got into it. Maybe I’ll give it another go on Netflix.
HP Printers Send a Ton of Data Analytics Back Home
Software engineer Robert Heaton found disturbing evidence that HP printers request a lot of analytics permissions to send back to the company.
In summary, HP wants its printer to collect all kinds of data that a reasonable person would never expect it to. This includes metadata about your devices, as well as information about all the documents that you print, including timestamps, number of pages, and the application doing the printing (HP state that they do stop short of looking at the contents of your documents).
iPhone 11's U1 Chip Could Spark a Revolution
You wouldn’t know it because it wasn’t mentioned during the iPhone 11 keynote, but the new iPhones have a new chip. Called Ultra Wideband, or “U1” it’s a way for iPhones to figure out their position in 3D space relative to other U1 devices. Apple mentions the use-case of a person pointing their U1 iPhone at another U1 iPhone to send files over AirDrop. Jason Snell writes that this is just the beginning.
But the possible applications of UWB go way beyond AirDrop and tracking tags. Decawave’s Viot says potential applications include smart home tech, augmented reality, mobile payments, the aforementioned keyless car entry, and even indoor navigation. (And it’s not a power hog, either—Viot says that Decawave’s latest UWB chip uses one-third of the power of a Bluetooth LE chip when in beacon mode, as a tracking tile would be.)