theverge--2020-05-04--The saga of Apple’s bad butterfly MacBook keyboards is finally over

With today ’ s announcement of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro , Apple has finally stopped trying to fix one of the most controversial and problematic hardware designs in its history : the butterfly switch mechanism on its laptop keyboards .
After five years of applying bandages to the butterfly keyboard , Apple has switched over its entire laptop line to the scissor-switch-based Magic Keyboard in the span of six months .
Switching the entire product lineup over to a new keyboard in the span of six months is impressive , but the decision to finally do so came far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this keyboard design for much too long , hurting its image and causing wholly unnecessary hassle and cost for its customers .
I would say good riddance , but I am typing this on a MacBook Pro with a butterfly keyboard right now .
If you ’ re using a MacBook yourself , there ’ s a good chance you ’ re typing on one , too .
So while the butterfly keyboard may be gone from Apple ’ s store , it ’ s certainly not gone from this world .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with 2015 ’ s 12-inch MacBook .
It was just called MacBook ( no “ Air ” or “ Pro ” modifier ) , and it was heralded as a new kind of laptop for Apple .
It kicked off a new design language , complete with USB-C ports and that butterfly keyboard .
For a brief time , it seemed as though Apple intended it to be the MacBook , but it was too small , underpowered , and expensive to go truly mainstream .
That MacBook was discontinued in July 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But that little MacBook really was influential : the keyboard mechanism spread to the MacBook Pro and the first iterations of the redesigned MacBook Air .
Apple clearly believed in it and thought its benefits outweighed its problems up until relatively recently .
The primary benefit of the butterfly keyboard was that it was thin , giving Apple more flexibility to use the extra space for more components or to make the entire laptop thinner .
It also meant that the keys were more “ stable ” as you pressed down , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you pushed down on the corner of a keycap as the center .
Notably , today ’ s new 13-inch MacBook Pro is ever so slightly heavier and thicker than the last one .
But those benefits were eclipsed by the butterfly keyboard ’ s many faults .
The biggest is simply that the design was unreliable .
The mechanism was so fragile that seemingly any little piece of debris or grit could break a key , keeping it from working or making it type double letters .
Adding insult to injury , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ replacing that single key wasn ’ t a simple operation .
It required taking the laptop into an Apple repair center where the entire machine would have to be disassembled .
Casey Johnston was the first major tech journalist to call Apple out on this issue in a serious and sustained way , beginning with a 2017 article in The Outline titled “ The new MacBook keyboard is ruining my life.
” A March 2019 editorial from Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal also made a huge splash , taking the idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mainstream .
Apple tried tweaking the butterfly mechanism through several iterations Through it all and up until the November 2019 launch of a “ new ” keyboard design in the 16-inch MacBook Pro , Apple kept defending and tweaking the butterfly keyboard .
It created a “ second-generation ” version in 2016 .
Then , in 2018 , it added a silicone membrane underneath the keys to keep dust out ( though Apple claimed it was meant to make the keyboards quieter ) .
A third — and , depending on how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generation design followed , with Apple descriptions of its tweaks getting more and more arcane until the last generation when it would only say that there were “ new materials ” in 2019 ’ s MacBooks .
However , Apple did acknowledge keyboard problems , but it was in a way that implied the problem wasn ’ t as widespread as people thought .
In 2018 , it instituted an “ extended keyboard service program , ” essentially warrantying butterfly keyboards for four years .
When it released new MacBooks after that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say the extended service program would apply to those brand-new machines as they were announced .
Only Apple truly knows how widespread the problems with this keyboard really are , and only Apple truly knows whether those problems made a significant impact on MacBook sales .
If they have , it ’ s difficult to separate that effect out from larger trends in laptop and Mac revenue , which has been little better than flat over the past five years .
It fit the narrative that Apple cared about thinness above all else @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s problem , not yours .
If you are a MacBook user , the biggest effect on you is whether your keyboard lets you type .
That ’ s doubly important now , with Apple ’ s stores shut down in most countries during the pandemic and no clear way of knowing when you might be able to get a repair done .
More than anything else , though , the whole butterfly keyboard saga has been a huge reputation hit for Apple .
For those who thought Apple was sacrificing functionality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the butterfly keyboard looked like confirmation .
For those who felt Apple was intentionally making its devices harder to repair as a way to further lock them down and also cut out third-party repair shops , it was another data point .
For those who felt Apple had stopped paying attention to the Mac , here was a prime example of a problem allowed to languish to years .
For those who felt Apple is still trying to create a “ reality distortion field ” where everything it makes is great but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well ... you get the picture .
The butterfly keyboard hurt Apple ’ s reputation precisely because the outlines of its problems and Apple ’ s response to them lined up with some of the biggest complaints people have about the company .
Earlier , I called Apple ’ s attempts to save the butterfly keyboard obstinate , but a less charitable way of putting it is simply to call it hubris .
For some , it called Apple ’ s judgment into question .
How could the company fail to see — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was shipping a bad product ?
The Mac has serious challenges in front of it .
As Intel ’ s processor roadmap meanders , Apple is reportedly working on a switch to its own ARM-based processors .
As the iPad Pro gains more traditional computer functionality , more people are considering it a laptop replacement .
Through it all , macOS has seen slower development compared to iOS , plus less clear direction over the past few years .
Are Catalyst apps the future ?
Is it SwiftUI ?
How will the impending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Those are fundamental software questions for the Mac , and answering them could be an invigorating challenge — one that could spark an exciting next era for the Mac .
What a relief that we don ’ t need to worry about fundamental hardware problems at the same time .

With today’s announcement of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple has finally stopped trying to fix one of the most controversial and problematic hardware designs in its history: the butterfly switch mechanism on its laptop keyboards. After five years of applying bandages to the butterfly keyboard, Apple has switched over its entire laptop line to the scissor-switch-based Magic Keyboard in the span of six months.
Switching the entire product lineup over to a new keyboard in the span of six months is impressive, but the decision to finally do so came far too late. Apple obstinately stuck with this keyboard design for much too long, hurting its image and causing wholly unnecessary hassle and cost for its customers.
I would say good riddance, but I am typing this on a MacBook Pro with a butterfly keyboard right now. If you’re using a MacBook yourself, there’s a good chance you’re typing on one, too. So while the butterfly keyboard may be gone from Apple’s store, it’s certainly not gone from this world.
You are reading Processor, a newsletter about computers, software, and tech by Dieter Bohn. Dieter writes about consumer tech, software, and the most important tech news of the day from The Verge. You can read an archive of Processor newsletters here and subscribe to all of The Verge’s great videos here! Subscribe
By subscribing, you are agreeing to receive a daily newsletter from The Verge that highlights top stories of the day, as well as occasional messages from sponsors and / or partners of The Verge.
The era of the butterfly keyboard kicked off with 2015’s 12-inch MacBook. It was just called MacBook (no “Air” or “Pro” modifier), and it was heralded as a new kind of laptop for Apple. It kicked off a new design language, complete with USB-C ports and that butterfly keyboard. For a brief time, it seemed as though Apple intended it to be the MacBook, but it was too small, underpowered, and expensive to go truly mainstream.
That MacBook was discontinued in July 2019, replaced by the refreshed MacBook Air. But that little MacBook really was influential: the keyboard mechanism spread to the MacBook Pro and the first iterations of the redesigned MacBook Air. Apple clearly believed in it and thought its benefits outweighed its problems up until relatively recently.
The primary benefit of the butterfly keyboard was that it was thin, giving Apple more flexibility to use the extra space for more components or to make the entire laptop thinner. It also meant that the keys were more “stable” as you pressed down, giving you virtually the same feel when you pushed down on the corner of a keycap as the center. Notably, today’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro is ever so slightly heavier and thicker than the last one.
But those benefits were eclipsed by the butterfly keyboard’s many faults. The biggest is simply that the design was unreliable. The mechanism was so fragile that seemingly any little piece of debris or grit could break a key, keeping it from working or making it type double letters. Adding insult to injury, Apple’s laptop construction meant that replacing that single key wasn’t a simple operation. It required taking the laptop into an Apple repair center where the entire machine would have to be disassembled.
Casey Johnston was the first major tech journalist to call Apple out on this issue in a serious and sustained way, beginning with a 2017 article in The Outline titled “The new MacBook keyboard is ruining my life.” A March 2019 editorial from Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal also made a huge splash, taking the idea that these keyboards are fundamentally flawed to the mainstream.
Apple tried tweaking the butterfly mechanism through several iterations
Through it all and up until the November 2019 launch of a “new” keyboard design in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple kept defending and tweaking the butterfly keyboard. It created a “second-generation” version in 2016. Then, in 2018, it added a silicone membrane underneath the keys to keep dust out (though Apple claimed it was meant to make the keyboards quieter). A third — and, depending on how you’re counting, fourth — generation design followed, with Apple descriptions of its tweaks getting more and more arcane until the last generation when it would only say that there were “new materials” in 2019’s MacBooks.
However, Apple did acknowledge keyboard problems, but it was in a way that implied the problem wasn’t as widespread as people thought. In 2018, it instituted an “extended keyboard service program,” essentially warrantying butterfly keyboards for four years. When it released new MacBooks after that, it even went so far as to say the extended service program would apply to those brand-new machines as they were announced.
Only Apple truly knows how widespread the problems with this keyboard really are, and only Apple truly knows whether those problems made a significant impact on MacBook sales. If they have, it’s difficult to separate that effect out from larger trends in laptop and Mac revenue, which has been little better than flat over the past five years.
It fit the narrative that Apple cared about thinness above all else
Apple’s Mac revenue is Apple’s problem, not yours. If you are a MacBook user, the biggest effect on you is whether your keyboard lets you type. That’s doubly important now, with Apple’s stores shut down in most countries during the pandemic and no clear way of knowing when you might be able to get a repair done.
More than anything else, though, the whole butterfly keyboard saga has been a huge reputation hit for Apple.
For those who thought Apple was sacrificing functionality for thinness across its entire product lineup, the butterfly keyboard looked like confirmation. For those who felt Apple was intentionally making its devices harder to repair as a way to further lock them down and also cut out third-party repair shops, it was another data point. For those who felt Apple had stopped paying attention to the Mac, here was a prime example of a problem allowed to languish to years. For those who felt Apple is still trying to create a “reality distortion field” where everything it makes is great but the truth is much more mundane, well... you get the picture.
The butterfly keyboard hurt Apple’s reputation precisely because the outlines of its problems and Apple’s response to them lined up with some of the biggest complaints people have about the company.
Earlier, I called Apple’s attempts to save the butterfly keyboard obstinate, but a less charitable way of putting it is simply to call it hubris. For some, it called Apple’s judgment into question. How could the company fail to see — or refuse to admit — that it was shipping a bad product?
The Mac has serious challenges in front of it. As Intel’s processor roadmap meanders, Apple is reportedly working on a switch to its own ARM-based processors. As the iPad Pro gains more traditional computer functionality, more people are considering it a laptop replacement. Through it all, macOS has seen slower development compared to iOS, plus less clear direction over the past few years. Are Catalyst apps the future? Is it SwiftUI? How will the impending ARM switchover affect the future Mac apps?
Those are fundamental software questions for the Mac, and answering them could be an invigorating challenge — one that could spark an exciting next era for the Mac. What a relief that we don’t need to worry about fundamental hardware problems at the same time.


theverge--2020-05-04--Former Oculus exclusive Vader Immortal is heading to PlayStation VR this summer

Vader Immortal — the formerly Oculus-exclusive VR Star Wars experience from ILMxLAB — is coming to PlayStation VR this summer .
The three episodes of the series are set to be bundled together into a single collected purchase for the port .
Designed as an episodic narrative virtual reality experience , Vader Immortal puts players into the digital shoes of a smuggler who gets drawn into a larger scheme from the infamous villain .
The story sees players work with — and , eventually , face off against — the Dark Lord of the Sith himself .
The story , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goyer , is considered to be part of the sprawling Star Wars canon , and it plays out like a personal Star Wars theme park , according to a review from The Verge ’ s Adi Robertson .
Until now , though , the only way to experience Vader Immortal has been to own an Oculus headset .
The PSVR launch this summer will finally change that , making the title more accessible to a wider group of players .
There ’ s no price or exact release date for the PSVR port @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll arrive later this summer .

Vader Immortal — the formerly Oculus-exclusive VR Star Wars experience from ILMxLAB — is coming to PlayStation VR this summer. The three episodes of the series are set to be bundled together into a single collected purchase for the port.
Designed as an episodic narrative virtual reality experience, Vader Immortal puts players into the digital shoes of a smuggler who gets drawn into a larger scheme from the infamous villain. The story sees players work with — and, eventually, face off against — the Dark Lord of the Sith himself.
The story, which was written by screenwriter David S. Goyer, is considered to be part of the sprawling Star Wars canon, and it plays out like a personal Star Wars theme park, according to a review from The Verge’s Adi Robertson. Until now, though, the only way to experience Vader Immortal has been to own an Oculus headset. The PSVR launch this summer will finally change that, making the title more accessible to a wider group of players.


theverge--2020-05-04--Intel acquires transit data startup Moovit for $900 million

Intel moved deeper into the world of smart mobility and autonomous driving by announcing Monday its plan to acquire Israel-based urban transit data startup Moovit for $ 900 million .
Moovit ’ s principle product is an urban mobility app with a particular focus on public transportation , which is used by hundreds of millions of customers .
It uses public transit data to provide route planning in the vein of Google ’ s and Apple ’ s mapping apps , as well as scooter- and bike-sharing services and ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft .
But because it relies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also provide routing for areas where no publicly released data is available .
The app is used by 800 million customers and services 3,100 cities across 102 countries , Intel said .
Intel said its acquisition of Moovit brings it closer to achieving its plan to “ become a complete mobility provider , including robotaxi services , which is forecast to be an estimated $ 160 billion opportunity by 2030.
” Moovit is the latest mobility-themed acquisition by Intel , which previously predicted a $ 7 trillion windfall from autonomous driving ( though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stands , given the rocky start to autonomous vehicles ’ path to commercialization ) and has since been laboring to position itself to reap some of those profits .
In 2017 , the company acquired Mobileye , another Israel-based startup that specializes in chips for camera-based autonomous vehicles .
The company is testing a self-driving taxi service in Israel and just announced plans to deploy its robot taxis in South Korea .
Mobileye also has a partnership with Chinese EV startup Nio to build electric autonomous vehicles .
Intel led a $ 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 .
The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Tel Aviv , Israel , with approximately 200 employees .
Intel sees Moovit , as well as Mobileye ’ s advanced driver assist system ( ADAS ) , as pieces in a bigger puzzle in its plan to deploy a fleet of robotaxis .
“ Mobileye ’ s ADAS technology is already improving the safety of millions of cars on the road , ” Bob Swan , Intel CEO , said in a statement , “ and Moovit accelerates their ability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and saving lives – as a full-stack mobility provider .
”

Intel moved deeper into the world of smart mobility and autonomous driving by announcing Monday its plan to acquire Israel-based urban transit data startup Moovit for $900 million.
Moovit’s principle product is an urban mobility app with a particular focus on public transportation, which is used by hundreds of millions of customers. It uses public transit data to provide route planning in the vein of Google’s and Apple’s mapping apps, as well as scooter- and bike-sharing services and ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. But because it relies partly on crowdsourced data, Moovit can also provide routing for areas where no publicly released data is available. The app is used by 800 million customers and services 3,100 cities across 102 countries, Intel said.
“a complete mobility provider, including robotaxi services”
Intel said its acquisition of Moovit brings it closer to achieving its plan to “become a complete mobility provider, including robotaxi services, which is forecast to be an estimated $160 billion opportunity by 2030.”
Moovit is the latest mobility-themed acquisition by Intel, which previously predicted a $7 trillion windfall from autonomous driving (though it’s doubtful that projection still stands, given the rocky start to autonomous vehicles’ path to commercialization) and has since been laboring to position itself to reap some of those profits.
In 2017, the company acquired Mobileye, another Israel-based startup that specializes in chips for camera-based autonomous vehicles. The company is testing a self-driving taxi service in Israel and just announced plans to deploy its robot taxis in South Korea. Mobileye also has a partnership with Chinese EV startup Nio to build electric autonomous vehicles.
Intel led a $50 million investment round in Moovit back in 2018. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, with approximately 200 employees.


theverge--2020-05-05--The Verge’s Graduation Gift Guide 2020

The Verge’s Graduation Gift Guide 2020

If you 're striking out on your own — whehter that be to college or a new job — you 're gon na need some tools to put some stuff together .
And this Channelock screwdriver is the best around , with a wide variety of useful bits that store right in the handle , so you 've always got what you need , when you need it .
Price : ~ $ 26 Smart watches may be all the rage , but a good mechanical watch will outlast them all .
Tissot 's Everytime watches offer a classic design @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while the Swiss-made movement will keep ticking without any batteries , chargers , or even solar panels — just wind it and you 're good to go .
It 's the kind of watch that lasts a lifetime , instead of just until the next hardware refresh .
Price : ~ $ 255 Wavelength is a board game that is great with friends , but possibly better with acquaintances .
First a player decides how something fits between two diametric ends of a spectrum , say whether buttered toast is mainstream or niche @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guess where on that spectrum that player would put it .
Leading to thrilling wins when the team guesses close to the right answer , or hilarious uproar when they discover the player marked buttered toast as completely niche .
Price : ~ $ 35 Now that school is ( finally ) over , you probably have some free time cleared up in your schedule , and the Nintendo Switch is the perfect time sync .
It 's a home/handheld console hybrid , so you can play video games on car rides or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Not to mention it is one of the more popular gaming consoles on the market right now thanks to its strong library of games ranging from first-party hits like Animal Crossing : New Horizons and The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild along with some solid third-party games , too .
Price : ~ $ 300 If you 're carrying around multiple devices that might need a charge throughout the day then a wall charger with multiple USB ports can save a lot of space in your bag .
This model @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both support USB-PD for fast-charging .
One can charge at up to 65W when used on its own , or you can get up to 45W per device if you 're using both .
Price : ~ $ 55 Verge readers , both old and new , may not be aware that we make our very own merchadise .
We do !
Our merch store has a varied selection of unisex t-shirts and hoodies , as well as stickers for your tech , and more .
Let people know you have good taste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10 to $ 45

Kaweco Classic Sport fountain pen Nothing makes writing feel better than using a fancy pen, and Kaweco's fountain pen is the perfect way to add some old-school charm to your note-taking, lease signing, or doodling without breaking the bank.
Price: ~$17 to $25 Amazon Newegg
Hario V60 Gooseneck kettle There are many cheaper vessels for hot water, but Hario's V60 Gooseneck kettle heats quickly, and rarely needs to be cleaned. What's best, though, is that it delivers a perfect, measured pour so you don't get carried away with a delicate drink.
Price: ~$46 to $78 Amazon Newegg
Dagne Dover Dakota backpack If you're going to carry your backpack all day, from home to school (or the library) to dinner and home again, you're going to need something that's well-designed without being ostentatious. The Dagne Dover Dakota neoprene backpack comes in three sizes and a bunch of colors, and it will carry all of your stuff efficiently and safely.
Price: ~$175 Dagne Dover
Apple Watch Series 5 If you've got an iPhone, there's basically one smartwatch to get: an Apple Watch. The latest model has an always-on display, works well even when you don't have your iPhone handy, and can track basically all of your fitness activities right from your wrist.
Price: ~$378 to $429 Apple Amazon Best Buy
Channellock 13-in-1 ratcheting screwdriver If you're striking out on your own — whether that's to college or a new apartment — you're going to need some tools to put stuff together. This Channellock screwdriver is the best around, with a wide variety of useful bits that store right in the handle, so you've always got what you need when you need it.
Price: ~$26 to $29 Amazon
Madewell Medium Transport Tote This leather tote bag not only offers ample room for all of your everyday stuff, but it's also big enough to carry your laptop while still having room to spare. If things happen to get a bit too cumbersome, you can attach the shoulder strap for additional support or just to free up your hands.
Price: ~$158 Madewell
Beats Solo Pro Beats' popular Solo line of on-ear headphones finally gets upgraded with noise-cancellation tech, along with Apple's own wireless technology (the same as it uses with its AirPods) to make connecting them to your devices a snap.
Price: ~$230 to $299 Amazon Best Buy Newegg
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 The Instant Pot pressure cooker is the Swiss army knife of the kitchen. With it, you can easily make a ton of different meals, or you can just use it to make batches of rice and broth. It's useful, and if you're short on space for appliances, it's well worth picking up.
Price: ~$79 to $100 Amazon Best Buy Newegg
Apple AirPods Pro Apple’s AirPods Pro are the company’s first true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation, which means they can help muffle the world around you while you’re studying. Like the original AirPods, you can talk to Siri by saying “Hey Siri,” and the case charges wirelessly.
Price: ~$230 to $250 Apple Amazon Best Buy
Apple MacBook Air Apple’s refreshed MacBook Air has a reliable keyboard, a Retina display, faster processors, and it's finally back to that sweet-spot $999 price. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel called it the best Mac for most people.
Price: ~$949 to $1,000 Apple Amazon Best Buy
Takeya water bottle No better way to stay hydrated — a thing adults do! — than drinking out of a big, beautiful water bottle. The Takeya stainless steel bottles have nicely designed spouts. But more importantly, they come in a bunch of pleasing colors.
Price: ~$28 to $35 Amazon Best Buy
UE Boom 3 Ultimate Ears' Boom speakers are some of the best around. Their bright colors, waterproof exteriors, and waterbottle-sized designs make them the perfect options to use at home, in a dorm, or at a park. The Boom 3 is the most recent model, with the best-sounding, longest-lasting, and most durable design yet.
Price: ~$140 to $150 Amazon Best Buy Ultimate Ears
Allbirds shoes Beloved by Silicon Valley startups, Allbirds are basically the internet's favorite shoes. But if you can get beyond all of the social media hype, what's left is actually a really comfortable, easy-to-clean pair of shoes that are great for hanging at home or a walk in the park.
Price: ~$95 to $135 Allbirds
Asus Zephyrus G14 The Asus Zephyrus G14 doesn't look like a gaming laptop, but it very much is one. This $1,450 machine has AMD's powerful, new Ryzen 4900HS processor, along with a host of other capable specs, like an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 120Hz refresh rate display. With its looks, you'll feel like you're a professional — even when you're playing.
Price: ~$1,450 to $1,600 Best Buy
Jawa plush toy If you're bored of Baby Yoda but still want something huggable and adorable, this talking Jawa plush is just the thing. It stares at you with those big yellow eyes and says cute, unintelligible things while planning to steal your iRobot for parts. What more could you want?
Price: ~$16 Amazon
Dell XPS 13 Every year, we say that Dell's XPS 13 gets better and better. This year's no different, but it might be the most definitive version yet. It has a nearly bezel-free 16:10 aspect ratio that's great for getting things done, fairly powerful specs, and an excellent keyboard and trackpad combo.
Price: ~$1,000 Dell
Google Nest Mini If you're in the market for a smart speaker, there are a few reasons why you should get the Google Nest Mini: it's affordable, it sounds good, and you can easily mount it to your wall. With it, you can play music, get a heads-up on traffic and weather, and more.
Price: ~$40 to $50 Best Buy Newegg
Tissot Everytime Swissmatic watch Smartwatches may be all the rage, but a good mechanical watch will outlast them all. Tissot's Everytime watches offer a classic design that looks good with nearly everything, while the Swiss-made movement will keep ticking without any batteries, chargers, or even solar panels — just wind it, and you're good to go. It's the kind of watch that lasts a lifetime, instead of just until the next hardware refresh.
Price: ~$375 to $450 Tissot
Apple iPad The iPad may be a computer — or it may not be. But one thing we know for sure is that it's a relatively low-cost tech product that can do a whole lot. The App Store is full of fun and useful apps, and iPadOS makes the iPad even more capable.
Price: ~$320 to $329 Apple Amazon
DEKOPRO 100-piece home repair tool set If you're trying to isolate at home while studying, you're probably not going to want to call repair people unless you absolutely have to. Having a toolset like the DEKOPRO will give you every tool you might need to do any basic repairs, while also being easy to move around and store away until needed.
Price: ~$38 Amazon
Apple iPhone 11 Apple’s $699 iPhone 11 has two cameras, including an ultrawide that allows for some fun shots, a terrific battery, the company’s speedy A13 Bionic processor, and it comes in six colors. It should be a great iPhone if you’re in the market for a new one but don’t want to spend $1,000.
Price: ~$699 Apple Best Buy
Fitbit Charge 4 Keeping track of your health has never been more important, and the latest Fitbit Charge 4 is the best the company offers in one tiny tracker. You can use it to control Spotify songs, make contactless payments, and track your location without ever bringing a phone along.
Price: ~$150 Amazon Best Buy
RavPower wireless charger Wireless chargers are a super convenient way to charge your phone, and RavPower's are cheap, solidly made, and super fast at charging. They come in both stand and pad versions, perfect for always making sure your gear is ready to go at your desk or nightstand.
Price: ~$54 Amazon
Wavelength Wavelength is a board game that is great with friends, but possibly better with acquaintances. First a player decides how something fits between two diametric ends of a spectrum, say whether buttered toast is mainstream or niche. While the other players try to guess where on that spectrum that player would put it. Leading to thrilling wins when the team guesses close to the right answer, or hilarious uproar when they discover the player marked buttered toast as completely niche.
Price: ~$30 Amazon
Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner Figuring out finances is something that most people will eventually, maybe accidentally, do at some point in their lives. If you're in your 20s or 30s, you should pick up Get a Financial Life, and just get it over with. Thankfully, this book makes the journey a little more fun.
Price: ~$10 Amazon
Sony WF-1000XM3 Sony's WF-1000XM3 truly wireless earphones put an emphasis on sound quality. Among the options from Apple, Jabra, and others, these are worth their price if the combo of excellent sound performance and noise cancellation is on your wishlist.
Price: ~$228 Amazon Best Buy Newegg
Nintendo Switch Even the most dedicated student has to take time off sometimes, and the Nintendo Switch is the perfect way to relax. It's a home / handheld console hybrid, so you can play video games on car rides or on a TV at your house. Not to mention it is one of the more popular gaming consoles on the market right now, thanks to its strong library of games. (Is the regular Nintendo Switch sold out? Check out this guide, which we update when we spot new inventory.)
Price: ~$300 Best Buy Amazon
Lodge cast iron dutch oven If there's a single pot that can transform your kitchen, its Lodge's cast iron combo cooker. It's a little more work to take care of, but the cast iron pot is perfect for making everything from casseroles to stews to homemade sourdough, while the lid actually doubles as its own cast iron pan. It's two great pots for the price of one!
Price: ~$50 Amazon
Filson Original Briefcase Sometimes a classy case will make you feel better about things. If you want to impress someone when you do go out, don't bring your beat-up backpack. Instead, class up your commute with a new briefcase, like this sleek and durable canvas / leather option from Filson, which will look great and keep your important gear safe.
Price: ~$245 to $325 Amazon Filson
Samsung Galaxy S20 The Galaxy S20 is the smallest and least expensive of Samsung's S20 lineup, but it's also the best option. The star of the show is the 6.2-inch OLED display that refreshes at 120Hz, which provides the smoothest scrolling and touch interactions you can get. On top of that are a cutting edge processor, adept camera system, and 5G connectivity thrown in for good measure. The S20 isn't cheap, but if you're looking for the best the Android world has to offer right now, it's the one to get.
Price: ~$1,000 Amazon Best Buy Newegg
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite For years, Amazon's Kindles have ruled the e-reader space. And for nearly as long, the Paperwhite has been the model that nearly everyone should get. With an integrated light, a crisp display, and a virtually endless battery life — and only slightly more expensive than Amazon's entry-level model — it's not just the best e-reader; it's almost better than physical paper.
Price: ~$130 Amazon


theverge--2020-05-05--Microsoft shifts Windows 10X towards more of a Chrome OS competitor

Microsoft confirmed yesterday that it ’ s reprioritizing its Windows 10X development to focus on regular single-screen devices .
The Windows variant was originally intended to run on new dual-screen hardware , but sources familiar with Microsoft ’ s plans say the company wants to shift the operating system to launch first on secure and portable laptop-shaped devices .
Changes to Windows 10X include a simplified interface , an updated Start menu , multitasking improvements , and a method for running apps in a special container for performance and security .
At the heart of 10X is Microsoft ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , streamlined , and modern cloud-powered version of Windows .
This simplification has put Windows 10X devices on a path to eventually compete with Chromebooks , which Microsoft has always seen as a big threat in businesses and schools .
The Windows and Chrome OS competition is particularly relevant when you consider Google ’ s focus on the cloud with Chromebooks .
It ’ s something that Windows and devices chief Panos Panay hinted at yesterday .
“ Our customers are leveraging the power of the cloud more than ever , and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into this acceleration in a different way , ” says Panay .
Microsoft had originally been planning to launch Windows 10X first on dual-screen devices , measure feedback , and then tweak the OS for laptops .
The company has been carefully avoiding detailing its plans for traditional clamshell laptops , but a document leaked last year revealed how Windows 10X will adapt for single-screen devices .
We understand Microsoft reprioritized Windows 10X work after it was clear the coronavirus pandemic was a bad time to start launching dual-screen devices .
Demand for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has increased recently , and Microsoft has seen a 75 percent increase in Windows 10 usage year-over-year .
Students and workers are increasingly turning to laptops instead of smartphones and tablets as they ’ re stuck working or learning from home .
Microsoft notified PC makers like Lenovo , Dell , HP , and Asus recently that it would no longer deliver Windows 10X for dual-screen devices in 2020 .
Lenovo is still pressing ahead with the launch of its foldable ThinkPad X1 Fold with Windows 10 Pro , but it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asus will do with their unannounced dual-screen devices .
Microsoft is now repositioning Windows 10X as a streamlined version of Windows 10 for laptops .
Most of the existing 10X UI changes and underlying platform work is relevant for clamshell laptops , and it will now arrive first on single-screen devices .
That includes the new Start menu , the modern look and feel of Windows 10X , and most importantly the new app container technology .
This could cause some confusion , though .
Microsoft had planned to initially deliver Windows 10X @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will appear with both Windows 10X and Windows 10 .
Microsoft has already tried and failed with a similar approach with Windows 10S in the past , and the comparisons are obvious .
Windows 10X does have the benefit of some deep platform changes , though , as well as Microsoft ’ s focus on modernization and simplification .
It lends itself perfectly towards an OS that could power low-cost and cloud-powered laptops .
While Microsoft won ’ t be ready to fully detail its Windows 10X plans at Build later this month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that will hint at where 10X is heading .
“ We are going to share how we will reduce complexity for developers by making it easier than ever to build for all 1 billion Windows 10 devices , all at once , ” says Panay .
“ We will share how we will enable developers to build applications that seamlessly enable cloud-powered virtualization.
” Combined with Microsoft ’ s new commitment to “ accelerate innovation in Windows 10 , ” it ’ s clear that there ’ s a renewed focus on leveraging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That could involve 10X devices running virtualized apps from the cloud , similar to what Microsoft has been delivering to enterprises in the form of Microsoft Application Virtualization ( App-V ) .
Microsoft is also increasing its focus on Windows Virtual Desktop , something that CEO Satya Nadella mentioned in internal leadership meetings as a key area of focus for the company during the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak .
Windows Virtual Desktop usage has grown more than three times , and Nadella is also prioritizing work on Microsoft Teams after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acceleration and adoption of remote working has dramatically shifted how we all work and learn in a matter of weeks .
“ We ’ ve seen two years ’ worth of digital transformation in two months , ” explained Nadella in Microsoft ’ s recent earnings .
How Microsoft now responds to the pandemic with Windows 10X will shape the direction of the company ’ s operating system for years to come .
Microsoft ’ s Surface chief , Panos Panay , took control of Windows earlier this year , in a shift @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tighter hardware integration in the future .
That future is now changing in unexpected ways , but it ’ s a unique opportunity for Microsoft to respond with an OS that has always been ready for productivity and education .
Microsoft ’ s new Windows boss seems to be ready to take that challenge on .
“ We have an incredible opportunity and responsibility in front of us to build more seamless experiences across software and hardware for our customers around the world , ” says Panay .
“ I am pumped for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Microsoft confirmed yesterday that it’s reprioritizing its Windows 10X development to focus on regular single-screen devices. The Windows variant was originally intended to run on new dual-screen hardware, but sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans say the company wants to shift the operating system to launch first on secure and portable laptop-shaped devices.
Changes to Windows 10X include a simplified interface, an updated Start menu, multitasking improvements, and a method for running apps in a special container for performance and security. At the heart of 10X is Microsoft’s overall goal to create a stripped back, streamlined, and modern cloud-powered version of Windows.
This simplification has put Windows 10X devices on a path to eventually compete with Chromebooks, which Microsoft has always seen as a big threat in businesses and schools. The Windows and Chrome OS competition is particularly relevant when you consider Google’s focus on the cloud with Chromebooks. It’s something that Windows and devices chief Panos Panay hinted at yesterday. “Our customers are leveraging the power of the cloud more than ever, and we believe the time is right to lean into this acceleration in a different way,” says Panay.
Windows 10X on the Surface Neo. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Microsoft had originally been planning to launch Windows 10X first on dual-screen devices, measure feedback, and then tweak the OS for laptops. The company has been carefully avoiding detailing its plans for traditional clamshell laptops, but a document leaked last year revealed how Windows 10X will adapt for single-screen devices.
We understand Microsoft reprioritized Windows 10X work after it was clear the coronavirus pandemic was a bad time to start launching dual-screen devices. Demand for traditional PCs, webcams, and laptops has increased recently, and Microsoft has seen a 75 percent increase in Windows 10 usage year-over-year. Students and workers are increasingly turning to laptops instead of smartphones and tablets as they’re stuck working or learning from home.
Related Microsoft confirms Windows 10X is coming to laptops amid big jump in Windows usage
Microsoft notified PC makers like Lenovo, Dell, HP, and Asus recently that it would no longer deliver Windows 10X for dual-screen devices in 2020. Lenovo is still pressing ahead with the launch of its foldable ThinkPad X1 Fold with Windows 10 Pro, but it’s unclear what Dell, HP, and Asus will do with their unannounced dual-screen devices.
Microsoft is now repositioning Windows 10X as a streamlined version of Windows 10 for laptops. Most of the existing 10X UI changes and underlying platform work is relevant for clamshell laptops, and it will now arrive first on single-screen devices. That includes the new Start menu, the modern look and feel of Windows 10X, and most importantly the new app container technology.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
This could cause some confusion, though. Microsoft had planned to initially deliver Windows 10X on dual-screen devices, but now laptops will appear with both Windows 10X and Windows 10. Microsoft has already tried and failed with a similar approach with Windows 10S in the past, and the comparisons are obvious.
Windows 10X does have the benefit of some deep platform changes, though, as well as Microsoft’s focus on modernization and simplification. It lends itself perfectly towards an OS that could power low-cost and cloud-powered laptops.
While Microsoft won’t be ready to fully detail its Windows 10X plans at Build later this month, the company will reveal some details that will hint at where 10X is heading. “We are going to share how we will reduce complexity for developers by making it easier than ever to build for all 1 billion Windows 10 devices, all at once,” says Panay. “We will share how we will enable developers to build applications that seamlessly enable cloud-powered virtualization.”
Combined with Microsoft’s new commitment to “accelerate innovation in Windows 10,” it’s clear that there’s a renewed focus on leveraging the cloud for core parts of Windows. That could involve 10X devices running virtualized apps from the cloud, similar to what Microsoft has been delivering to enterprises in the form of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V).
Microsoft is also increasing its focus on Windows Virtual Desktop, something that CEO Satya Nadella mentioned in internal leadership meetings as a key area of focus for the company during the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak. Windows Virtual Desktop usage has grown more than three times, and Nadella is also prioritizing work on Microsoft Teams after a surge in demand.
The sudden acceleration and adoption of remote working has dramatically shifted how we all work and learn in a matter of weeks. “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months,” explained Nadella in Microsoft’s recent earnings.
How Microsoft now responds to the pandemic with Windows 10X will shape the direction of the company’s operating system for years to come. Microsoft’s Surface chief, Panos Panay, took control of Windows earlier this year, in a shift that will see the OS focused on tighter hardware integration in the future.


theverge--2020-05-05--Sonos Play:5 successor and new Sonos Sub appear in alleged leaked images

Images of what appear to be a new Sonos speaker and subwoofer have leaked online , showcasing a familiar look for the two revamped devices .
Leaker Roland Quandit posted the images on Twitter , referring to the products as the Sonos Five ( 2020 ) and Sonos Sub ( 3rd Gen ) .
Beyond their slightly revamped designs , the images don ’ t give much indication of what ’ s new with the two speakers .
The Sonos Five ( 2020 ) appears to be a successor to 2015 ’ s Sonos Play:5 , but features a slightly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meanwhile , the new Sub appears to be almost identical to its predecessor .
The existence of the two new speakers was reported by 9to5Mac last week alongside a new Atmos-equipped Playbar — images of which subsequently leaked over the weekend .
The leaks don ’ t give an indication of when Sonos might be prepared to launch the new speakers , but with the company ’ s Twitter account teasing an announcement of some kind tomorrow on May 6th , we might not have too long to wait .
Update May 5th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mention of Sonos announcement on May 6th .

Images of what appear to be a new Sonos speaker and subwoofer have leaked online, showcasing a familiar look for the two revamped devices. Leaker Roland Quandit posted the images on Twitter, referring to the products as the Sonos Five (2020) and Sonos Sub (3rd Gen).
Beyond their slightly revamped designs, the images don’t give much indication of what’s new with the two speakers. The Sonos Five (2020) appears to be a successor to 2015’s Sonos Play:5, but features a slightly less prominent logo on its front. Meanwhile, the new Sub appears to be almost identical to its predecessor. The existence of the two new speakers was reported by 9to5Mac last week alongside a new Atmos-equipped Playbar — images of which subsequently leaked over the weekend.
The leaks don’t give an indication of when Sonos might be prepared to launch the new speakers, but with the company’s Twitter account teasing an announcement of some kind tomorrow on May 6th, we might not have too long to wait.


theverge--2020-05-05--Nest is rolling out mandatory two-factor authentication starting this month

Nest will start enabling two-factor authentication by default for its accounts in May , the company has announced .
When a user tries to log in using their username and password , they ’ ll now also have to enter a six-digit code sent to them over email as an extra security measure .
In a help page spotted by Engadget , Nest says that the change will apply to any users who haven ’ t already set up two-factor authentication via a phone number , or who haven ’ t migrated to a Google account .
The changes were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports that Nest ’ s security cameras were being “ hacked ” across the US .
Google was quick to respond to confirm it hadn ’ t suffered a security breach , and that what had actually happened was that users were re-using passwords across services , and that the hacks were the result of security breaches elsewhere .
An extra layer of security like two-factor authentication helps prevent this issue , but previously it relied on Nest users opting in to turning it on .
Nest says it will be notifying users @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Until then , ensure you can still access the email associated with your Nest account , ” it warns .

Nest will start enabling two-factor authentication by default for its accounts in May, the company has announced. When a user tries to log in using their username and password, they’ll now also have to enter a six-digit code sent to them over email as an extra security measure. In a help page spotted by Engadget, Nest says that the change will apply to any users who haven’t already set up two-factor authentication via a phone number, or who haven’t migrated to a Google account.
The changes were announced earlier this year in response to reports that Nest’s security cameras were being “hacked” across the US. Google was quick to respond to confirm it hadn’t suffered a security breach, and that what had actually happened was that users were re-using passwords across services, and that the hacks were the result of security breaches elsewhere. An extra layer of security like two-factor authentication helps prevent this issue, but previously it relied on Nest users opting in to turning it on.


theverge--2020-05-05--An Amazon VP’s resignation has cast a spotlight on the company’s working conditions

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
Subscribe here .
In the latest instance of unrest at the company , several thousand Amazon workers walked off the job Friday .
The occasion was International Workers ’ Day , also known as May Day , and the Amazonians joined workers at Instacart , FedEx , Target , and Walmart demanding better conditions for work that the government has deemed essential , and their own employers have frequently called heroic .
The protests to date have drawn attention to widespread outbreaks of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of protective equipment for warehouse personnel , and the low pay and draconian sick-leave policies that workers in fulfillment centers have endured for years .
And they ’ ve been effective in at least two ways .
One , Amazon increased pay and expanded sick leave as the pandemic spread .
And two , as I noted here last month , they have created a sense of solidarity between Amazon ’ s fulfillment center workers and its white-collar workforce , which has increasingly been willing to speak out on their behalf .
Amazon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ While there was tremendous media coverage of the protests we saw no measurable impact on operations , ” the company told me .
“ Health and safety is our top priority and we expect to spend more than $ 800 million in the first half of the year on COVID-19 safety measures.
” But on Monday , we saw one of the most striking acts of solidarity between Amazon workers to date .
Tim Bray , a well known technologist who served as a vice president at Amazon Web Services and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quit the company in protest of the treatment of his coworkers .
In a scathing blog post , Bray accused Amazon of repeatedly firing warehouse workers on flimsy pretexts after they complained about working conditions in public .
( Amazon denies retaliating against the employees . )
Bray writes : Bray ’ s cannonball of a blog post landed just days after Amazon , historically clumsy at public relations , had begun to show signs that it was reading the room .
With more scrutiny developing around both its working conditions and its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took pains not to appear as if it were profiteering off the recession .
Here ’ s Cameron Faulkner and Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge : This is the right thing to do , of course , even if it ’ s also in the company ’ s best interests .
It ’ s notable to me less for the size of investment , however large , than for the way it acknowledges and responds to mounting external pressures on the company .
For its first two decades , Amazon was able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mantra of “ customer obsession.
” In the COVID-19 era , the company has finally been forced to find some new words .
A series of investigative reports in the press and regulatory pressure from Congress have surely played their part in the shift .
But the real pressure to change has come from Amazon ’ s own workers .
Tech giants can ’ t stay ahead of their competition without a brilliant , motivated , mission-driven workforce — and brilliant , motivated , mission-driven people tend to be highly sensitive to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yielding to its workers because , in this fraught moment , workers have real leverage .
Facebook learned this lesson in 2018 .
The Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal , along with outrage over Russian interference on the platform during the 2016 US presidential election , ravaged internal morale .
This , in turn , made it harder for Facebook to recruit — with acceptances of Facebook job offers dropping as much as 50 percent in 2019 .
And it led to a series of high-profile denunciations from company co-founders , early employees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s what makes Bray ’ s exit so significant .
It signals the arrival of a new moment in Amazon ’ s crisis — one of open dissent at the upper echelons of the company .
Amazon famously asks employees on the losing end of an argument to “ disagree and commit.
” Bray suggests that at least on the subject of working conditions , high-level employees who disagree would rather clear out .
Total cases in the US : More than 1,178,200 Total deaths in the US : At least 68,300 Total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in New York : 985,911 Total test results ( positive and negative ) in New Jersey : 275,066 Data from The New York Times .
Test data from The COVID Tracking Project .
As the spread of COVID-19 has turned into the biggest story in the world , we ’ ve started to feel like it makes less sense to have a dedicated “ pandemic ” section .
Instead we ’ re going to try sorting these stories as we did before — into stories that are about governance or about the industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the biggest force shaping those stories in the moment .
We welcome any feedback you have on this change .
⭐ Apple and Google shared sample interface designs of what their automatic exposure notification system could look like .
The designs are intended for developers , and show how specific alerts would appear and when particular API calls should be made .
Russell Brandom at The Verge has the story : Here ’ s how contact tracing apps are developing around the world .
Governments and technology companies are embracing the apps as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a good overview of the various attempts .
( Gerrit De Vynck / Bloomberg ) The United Nations announced a new social distancing app designed to help alert people when they get too close to another person during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
But the app is barely functional , and doesn ’ t perform the most basic of tasks .
( Joseph Cox / Vice ) A group of Senate Republicans is planning to introduce a privacy bill that would regulate the data collected by coronavirus contact tracing apps .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ make a lot of sense .
One expert called it “ a privacy ‘ cure ’ worse than the disease , ” and said it amounted to “ deregulation disguised as consumer protection.
” ( Kim Lyons / The Verge ) ⭐ Extremists are trying to turn the coronavirus pandemic into a powerful recruiting tool in the deep corners of the internet and on the streets of state capitals .
They ’ re using the public health crisis to bolster their white supremacist , anti-government agenda .
Here ’ s Neil MacFarquhar at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started to crack down on the anti-quarantine activists , taking down content that advocates violations of social-distancing guidelines .
And so protesters are moving their organizing efforts to MeWe , a social media platform that says it prides itself on user privacy .
( Paige Leskin / Business Insider ) Rep. Adam Schiff , ( D-CA ) , asked the CEOs of Google , YouTube and Twitter to follow Facebook ’ s lead on coronavirus misinformation policies .
I imagine this led to a lot of high-fiving on the Facebook policy team .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s plan to combat misinformation on the platform could be more effective if it actually tells people what misleading news they ’ ve interacted with .
The co-author of one of the studies Facebook cited in its current strategy said retractions were more effective in correcting misinformation when they explicitly repeated the original falsehood .
( Erin Brodwin / Stat ) Still : extremists and fringe medical communities are pushing coronavirus conspiracy theories on Facebook , participating in the “ infodemic ” the World Health Organization warned people about .
( BBC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wayback Machine to promote “ zombie content ” that evades moderators and fact-checkers .
( Joan Donovan / MIT Technology Review ) Why does COVID-19 overwhelm some countries and spare others ?
The answer may lie in demographics , culture , environment and the speed of government responses .
But no one really knows .
( Hannah Beech , Alissa J. Rubin , Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ruth Maclean / The New York Times ) Protests against coronavirus-related shelter-in-place restrictions continued to spread last week , organized on social media .
The demonstrations have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , vaccine opponents and anxious business owners .
( Craig Timberg , Elizabeth Dwoskin and Moriah Balingit / The Washington Post ) The Bay Area has six criteria for loosening shelter-in-place restrictions .
Here ’ s where each county is now .
Some criteria are already being met , like new cases and hospitalizations staying flat .
Others , like testing , are close .
( Erin Allday / San Francisco Chronicle ) Three counties in California have announced they ’ re reopening nonessential businesses in defiance of Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first to make the move , announcing it would reopen restaurants , bars , and churches .
( Zeeshan Aleem / Vox ) After a single tweet , New York state paid a Silicon Valley engineer $ 69.1 million for ventilators that never materialized .
The engineer , who has no apparent background in government contracting or medical devices , was apparently recommended by the White House .
( Rosalind Adams and Ken Bensinger / BuzzFeed ) The coronavirus ’ s economic wreckage is going to make tech giants like Facebook , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But it also increases the risk of an antitrust collision with Washington .
( Steven Overly and Leah Nylen / Politico ) Speaking of which : House lawmakers investigating Amazon for antitrust violations called on Jeff Bezos to testify at an upcoming hearing .
The escalation between the company and members of Congress follows reports that Amazon employees used data from third-party sellers to launch its own competing products .
( Tony Romm and Jay Greene / The Washington Post ) Chinese propaganda about COVID-19 is growing .
To combat the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should stop allowing paid political advertisements from media outlets registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act .
They should also consider banning state media accounts run by countries that block their own citizens from accessing the platforms .
( Vanessa Molter , Renee DiResta and Alex Stamos / The Washington Post ) YouTube deleted conspiracy theorist David Icke ’ s channel from its platform .
The company had repeatedly warning the popular creator that he had violated its policies by posting misleading information about the coronavirus pandemic .
Poynter Institute , a non-profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debunk coronavirus-related hoaxes .
The bot relies on information from over 100 independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries .
( Manish Singh / TechCrunch ) Joe Biden ’ s campaign has the daunting task of trying to make the 77-year-old candidate go viral on social media .
The digital team is committed to staying away from the combative tone of President Trump , opting instead for a feel good strategy .
But social media platforms tend to amplify conflict .
( Alex Thompson / Politico ) Related : Candidates who lack name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like influencers in an effort to go viral on social media .
As political campaigns continue to operate almost entirely online , the old political playbook is going out the window .
( Makena Kelly / The Verge ) Nine mobile app companies are launching a new trade group to weigh in on the nation ’ s most controversial tech policy issues .
They ’ re banding together to assert their independence from Apple and Google .
( Naomi Nix and Ben Brody / Bloomberg ) TikTok has a new lobbyist tasked with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beckerman ’ s job is to persuade Congress that TikTok is a trustworthy social media platform that helps families bond and gives users authoritative health information .
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has become the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the national security community .
He sits on two government advisory boards aimed at jump starting technological innovation at the Defense Department , and is focused on revamping America ’ s defense forces with more engineers , more software and more AI .
( Kate Conger and Cade Metz / The New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Twitter meltdown — which included a tweet about Tesla ’ s share price being too high — constitute securities fraud ?
Elizabeth Lopatto investigates .
( But probably not . )
( Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge ) Facebook has started to reopen some of its content moderation centers and allow contractors to return to work if they want to .
Employees will have their temperatures checked at the beginning of their shift and buildings will be deep-cleaned at the end of shifts .
( BBC ) Facebook might lose its accreditation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives companies confidence they are getting what they pay for when it comes to advertising on the platform .
The council said Facebook failed to address advertiser concerns related to how it measures and reports data about video ads , among other things .
( Jeff Horwitz and Suzanne Vranica / The Wall Street Journal ) Amazon told thousands of employees in Seattle and Bellevue that they can continue to work from home until at least October .
The guidance applies to “ employees who work in a role that can effectively be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ / The Seattle Times ) Twitter usage spiked to 166 million daily users in the first quarter of 2020 , the largest growth the company has ever reported year-over-year .
The increase in traffic still wasn ’ t enough to offset the sudden advertising decline caused by the pandemic .
( Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge ) Zoom doesn ’ t actually have 300 million daily active users as it previously claimed .
The company admitted the mistake and edited references to say it actually has “ 300 million daily Zoom meeting participants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tom Warren / The Verge ) Google Cloud engineers discussed acquiring Zoom in 2018 .
They went so far as to evaluate what would be a reasonable price to pay and calculated the unit economics for the service if it ran on Google ’ s servers .
( Kevin McLaughlin / The Information ) Here ’ s how to look your best on Zoom , according to three male beauty influencers .
( Joseph Longo / Mel ) Parents are hiring Zoom babysitters to hang out with their kids virtually .
( Heather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ algorithms big companies use to manage their supply chains don ’ t work during pandemics .
Normally , the system can reliably analyze things like inventory levels , historical purchasing trends , and discounts to recommend how much of a product to order .
( Nicole Wetsman / The Verge ) Salesforce created a set of new tools , called Work.com , to help businesses and public agencies reopen workplaces safely .
The new apps , available in June , include tools for tracking employee health , managing shifts so office spaces don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep tabs on local regulations .
( Paayal Zaveri / Business Insider ) A day after Reddit announced it was introducing built-in subreddit chat rooms , the company rolled back the feature due to a site-wide bug .
The platform ’ s vice president of product and community said Reddit had “ made several errors ” in the process of releasing the feature .
( Monica Chin / The Verge ) TikTok is toying with the idea of producing a reality TV show .
The move would be part of a push to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showcase different ways of using its videos .
( Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg ) Netflix ’ s chief content officer , Ted Sarandos , wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times about how film production can “ safely resume in a COVID-19 world.
” It varies heavily by locale , but the key seems to be available testing for cast and crew members .
Felix Kjellberg , the YouTuber better known as PewDiePie , signed an exclusive live-streaming deal with YouTube .
The move comes almost exactly one year after Kjellberg announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a small blockchain-based live-streaming site .
( Bijan Stephen / The Verge ) YouTubers tricked Carole Baskin into giving her first major interview since Tiger King by pretending to be Jimmy Fallon .
They pulled off the prank with a Zoom call , some sound bites from old clips , and one of the creators pretending to be a producer .
( Lindsay Dodgson / Business Insider ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
Watch Juilliard students perform Ravel ’ s Bolero from their homes .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Imgflip , a website that automatically generates captions for memes using a neural network .
If Zoom isn ’ t cutting it for you , try exploring a virtual world .
Listen to an audiobook for free on your Sonos speakers thanks to a new integration with OverDrive ’ s Libby app .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and job leads for Tim Bray ( just kidding ) : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

In the latest instance of unrest at the company, several thousand Amazon workers walked off the job Friday. The occasion was International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, and the Amazonians joined workers at Instacart, FedEx, Target, and Walmart demanding better conditions for work that the government has deemed essential, and their own employers have frequently called heroic.
The protests to date have drawn attention to widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 in Amazon warehouses, the lack of protective equipment for warehouse personnel, and the low pay and draconian sick-leave policies that workers in fulfillment centers have endured for years. And they’ve been effective in at least two ways. One, Amazon increased pay and expanded sick leave as the pandemic spread. And two, as I noted here last month, they have created a sense of solidarity between Amazon’s fulfillment center workers and its white-collar workforce, which has increasingly been willing to speak out on their behalf.
Amazon played down the effectiveness of the walkout. “While there was tremendous media coverage of the protests we saw no measurable impact on operations,” the company told me. “Health and safety is our top priority and we expect to spend more than $800 million in the first half of the year on COVID-19 safety measures.”
But on Monday, we saw one of the most striking acts of solidarity between Amazon workers to date. Tim Bray, a well known technologist who served as a vice president at Amazon Web Services and held the title of distinguished engineer, quit the company in protest of the treatment of his coworkers. In a scathing blog post, Bray accused Amazon of repeatedly firing warehouse workers on flimsy pretexts after they complained about working conditions in public. (Amazon denies retaliating against the employees.) Bray writes:
Amazon is exceptionally well-managed and has demonstrated great skill at spotting opportunities and building repeatable processes for exploiting them. It has a corresponding lack of vision about the human costs of the relentless growth and accumulation of wealth and power. If we don’t like certain things Amazon is doing, we need to put legal guardrails in place to stop those things. We don’t need to invent anything new; a combination of antitrust and living-wage and worker-empowerment legislation, rigorously enforced, offers a clear path forward. [...] Firing whistleblowers isn’t just a side-effect of macroeconomic forces, nor is it intrinsic to the function of free markets. It’s evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.
Bray’s cannonball of a blog post landed just days after Amazon, historically clumsy at public relations, had begun to show signs that it was reading the room. With more scrutiny developing around both its working conditions and its pandemic-related surge in revenue, the company took pains not to appear as if it were profiteering off the recession. Here’s Cameron Faulkner and Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge:
Amazon expects to spend $4 billion or more — the predicted operating profit for the company’s entire coming quarter — just on COVID-19-related expenses. In a quarterly earnings release today, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the expenses will come from spending on personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning for facilities, “higher wages for hourly teams,” and expanding its own COVID-19 testing capabilities. [...] Bezos’ note tries to make Amazon sound serious about “keeping employees safe,” telling shareholders to “take a seat” while the company ramps up this spending. “The best investment we can make is in the safety and well-being of our hundreds of thousands of employees,” Bezos writes.
This is the right thing to do, of course, even if it’s also in the company’s best interests. It’s notable to me less for the size of investment, however large, than for the way it acknowledges and responds to mounting external pressures on the company. For its first two decades, Amazon was able to evade sustained scrutiny by robotically repeating its mantra of “customer obsession.” In the COVID-19 era, the company has finally been forced to find some new words.
A series of investigative reports in the press and regulatory pressure from Congress have surely played their part in the shift. But the real pressure to change has come from Amazon’s own workers. Tech giants can’t stay ahead of their competition without a brilliant, motivated, mission-driven workforce — and brilliant, motivated, mission-driven people tend to be highly sensitive to the treatment of their coworkers. Amazon is yielding to its workers because, in this fraught moment, workers have real leverage.
That’s what makes Bray’s exit so significant. It signals the arrival of a new moment in Amazon’s crisis — one of open dissent at the upper echelons of the company. Amazon famously asks employees on the losing end of an argument to “disagree and commit.” Bray suggests that at least on the subject of working conditions, high-level employees who disagree would rather clear out.
Virus tracker
Total cases in the US: More than 1,178,200
Total deaths in the US: At least 68,300
Reported cases in California: 55,355
Total test results (positive and negative) in California: 715,751
Reported cases in New York: 324,357
Total test results (positive and negative) in New York: 985,911
Reported cases in New Jersey: 128,269
Total test results (positive and negative) in New Jersey: 275,066
Reported cases in Massachusetts: 68,087
Total test results (positive and negative) in Massachusetts: 314,646
Pandemic
As the spread of COVID-19 has turned into the biggest story in the world, we’ve started to feel like it makes less sense to have a dedicated “pandemic” section. Instead we’re going to try sorting these stories as we did before — into stories that are about governance or about the industry — with an understanding that COVID-19 is the biggest force shaping those stories in the moment. We welcome any feedback you have on this change.
Governing
⭐ Apple and Google shared sample interface designs of what their automatic exposure notification system could look like. The designs are intended for developers, and show how specific alerts would appear and when particular API calls should be made. Russell Brandom at The Verge has the story:
The companies also laid out six specific principles that public-sector partners would be expected to uphold. Most notably, the apps can only be used for COVID-19 response efforts, will be restricted from using Location Services, and require opt-in consent before accessing the API or sharing a positive diagnosis. They also will not allow any form of targeted advertising in the resulting apps; any existing apps using targeted advertising or location services will need to turn off those systems before they access the API. In one new twist, the companies plan to restrict access to a single app per country in an effort to avoid fragmentation. But the wording of the principle leaves the door open for countries like the US where the response has been led by states.
Here’s how contact tracing apps are developing around the world. Governments and technology companies are embracing the apps as a way to fight COVID-19. Here’s a good overview of the various attempts. (Gerrit De Vynck / Bloomberg)
The United Nations announced a new social distancing app designed to help alert people when they get too close to another person during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But the app is barely functional, and doesn’t perform the most basic of tasks. (Joseph Cox / Vice)
A group of Senate Republicans is planning to introduce a privacy bill that would regulate the data collected by coronavirus contact tracing apps. Unfortunately, the plan doesn’t make a lot of sense. One expert called it “a privacy ‘cure’ worse than the disease,” and said it amounted to “deregulation disguised as consumer protection.” (Kim Lyons / The Verge)
⭐ Extremists are trying to turn the coronavirus pandemic into a powerful recruiting tool in the deep corners of the internet and on the streets of state capitals. They’re using the public health crisis to bolster their white supremacist, anti-government agenda. Here’s Neil MacFarquhar at The New York Times:
What success the groups have had in finding fresh recruits is not yet clear, but new research indicates a significant jump in people consuming extremist material while under lockdown. Various violent incidents have been linked to white supremacist or anti-government perpetrators enraged over aspects of the pandemic. The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness said in March that white supremacists have encouraged followers to conduct attacks during the crisis to incite fear and target ethnic minorities and immigrants. “We have noticed domestic extremist groups taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by spreading disinformation,” Jared M. Maples, its director, said in a statement. The coronavirus has been dismissed as a hoax, painted as a Jewish-run conspiracy and, alternatively, described as a disease spread by nonwhite immigrants, he said.
Facebook has started to crack down on the anti-quarantine activists, taking down content that advocates violations of social-distancing guidelines. And so protesters are moving their organizing efforts to MeWe, a social media platform that says it prides itself on user privacy. (Paige Leskin / Business Insider)
Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-CA), asked the CEOs of Google, YouTube and Twitter to follow Facebook’s lead on coronavirus misinformation policies. I imagine this led to a lot of high-fiving on the Facebook policy team. (Lauren Feiner / CNBC)
Facebook’s plan to combat misinformation on the platform could be more effective if it actually tells people what misleading news they’ve interacted with. The co-author of one of the studies Facebook cited in its current strategy said retractions were more effective in correcting misinformation when they explicitly repeated the original falsehood. (Erin Brodwin / Stat)
Why does COVID-19 overwhelm some countries and spare others? The answer may lie in demographics, culture, environment and the speed of government responses. But no one really knows. (Hannah Beech, Alissa J. Rubin, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ruth Maclean / The New York Times)
Protests against coronavirus-related shelter-in-place restrictions continued to spread last week, organized on social media. The demonstrations have brought together a coalition of gun activists, vaccine opponents and anxious business owners. (Craig Timberg, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Moriah Balingit / The Washington Post)
The Bay Area has six criteria for loosening shelter-in-place restrictions. Here’s where each county is now. Some criteria are already being met, like new cases and hospitalizations staying flat. Others, like testing, are close. (Erin Allday / San Francisco Chronicle)
Three counties in California have announced they’re reopening nonessential businesses in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide restrictions. Modoc County was the first to make the move, announcing it would reopen restaurants, bars, and churches. (Zeeshan Aleem / Vox)
After a single tweet, New York state paid a Silicon Valley engineer $69.1 million for ventilators that never materialized. The engineer, who has no apparent background in government contracting or medical devices, was apparently recommended by the White House. (Rosalind Adams and Ken Bensinger / BuzzFeed)
The coronavirus’s economic wreckage is going to make tech giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon even more dominant. But it also increases the risk of an antitrust collision with Washington. (Steven Overly and Leah Nylen / Politico)
Speaking of which: House lawmakers investigating Amazon for antitrust violations called on Jeff Bezos to testify at an upcoming hearing. The escalation between the company and members of Congress follows reports that Amazon employees used data from third-party sellers to launch its own competing products. (Tony Romm and Jay Greene / The Washington Post)
Chinese propaganda about COVID-19 is growing. To combat the spread of misinformation, experts say social media platforms should stop allowing paid political advertisements from media outlets registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They should also consider banning state media accounts run by countries that block their own citizens from accessing the platforms. (Vanessa Molter, Renee DiResta and Alex Stamos / The Washington Post)
YouTube deleted conspiracy theorist David Icke’s channel from its platform. The company had repeatedly warning the popular creator that he had violated its policies by posting misleading information about the coronavirus pandemic.
Poynter Institute, a non-profit organization, launched a WhatsApp chatbot to debunk coronavirus-related hoaxes. The bot relies on information from over 100 independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries. (Manish Singh / TechCrunch)
Joe Biden’s campaign has the daunting task of trying to make the 77-year-old candidate go viral on social media. The digital team is committed to staying away from the combative tone of President Trump, opting instead for a feel good strategy. But social media platforms tend to amplify conflict. (Alex Thompson / Politico)
Related: Candidates who lack name recognition are starting to act a lot like influencers in an effort to go viral on social media. As political campaigns continue to operate almost entirely online, the old political playbook is going out the window. (Makena Kelly / The Verge)
Nine mobile app companies are launching a new trade group to weigh in on the nation’s most controversial tech policy issues. They’re banding together to assert their independence from Apple and Google. (Naomi Nix and Ben Brody / Bloomberg)
TikTok has a new lobbyist tasked with changing its reputation in Washington. Michael Beckerman’s job is to persuade Congress that TikTok is a trustworthy social media platform that helps families bond and gives users authoritative health information.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has become the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the national security community. He sits on two government advisory boards aimed at jump starting technological innovation at the Defense Department, and is focused on revamping America’s defense forces with more engineers, more software and more AI. (Kate Conger and Cade Metz / The New York Times)
Does Elon Musk’s Twitter meltdown — which included a tweet about Tesla’s share price being too high — constitute securities fraud? Elizabeth Lopatto investigates. (But probably not.) (Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge)
Industry
Facebook has started to reopen some of its content moderation centers and allow contractors to return to work if they want to. Employees will have their temperatures checked at the beginning of their shift and buildings will be deep-cleaned at the end of shifts. (BBC)
Facebook might lose its accreditation from the Media Rating Council, which gives companies confidence they are getting what they pay for when it comes to advertising on the platform. The council said Facebook failed to address advertiser concerns related to how it measures and reports data about video ads, among other things. (Jeff Horwitz and Suzanne Vranica / The Wall Street Journal)
Amazon told thousands of employees in Seattle and Bellevue that they can continue to work from home until at least October. The guidance applies to “employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home.” (Benjamin Romano / The Seattle Times)
Twitter usage spiked to 166 million daily users in the first quarter of 2020, the largest growth the company has ever reported year-over-year. The increase in traffic still wasn’t enough to offset the sudden advertising decline caused by the pandemic. (Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge)
Zoom doesn’t actually have 300 million daily active users as it previously claimed. The company admitted the mistake and edited references to say it actually has “300 million daily Zoom meeting participants” — a significant difference. (Tom Warren / The Verge)
Google Cloud engineers discussed acquiring Zoom in 2018. They went so far as to evaluate what would be a reasonable price to pay and calculated the unit economics for the service if it ran on Google’s servers. (Kevin McLaughlin / The Information)
Parents are hiring Zoom babysitters to hang out with their kids virtually. (Heather Kelly / The Washington Post)
The algorithms big companies use to manage their supply chains don’t work during pandemics. Normally, the system can reliably analyze things like inventory levels, historical purchasing trends, and discounts to recommend how much of a product to order. (Nicole Wetsman / The Verge)
Salesforce created a set of new tools, called Work.com, to help businesses and public agencies reopen workplaces safely. The new apps, available in June, include tools for tracking employee health, managing shifts so office spaces don’t get too dense, and keep tabs on local regulations. (Paayal Zaveri / Business Insider)
A day after Reddit announced it was introducing built-in subreddit chat rooms, the company rolled back the feature due to a site-wide bug. The platform’s vice president of product and community said Reddit had “made several errors” in the process of releasing the feature. (Monica Chin / The Verge)
TikTok is toying with the idea of producing a reality TV show. The move would be part of a push to broaden the app’s appeal and showcase different ways of using its videos. (Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg)
Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times about how film production can “safely resume in a COVID-19 world.” It varies heavily by locale, but the key seems to be available testing for cast and crew members.
Felix Kjellberg, the YouTuber better known as PewDiePie, signed an exclusive live-streaming deal with YouTube. The move comes almost exactly one year after Kjellberg announced that he was streaming exclusively on DLive, a small blockchain-based live-streaming site. (Bijan Stephen / The Verge)
YouTubers tricked Carole Baskin into giving her first major interview since Tiger King by pretending to be Jimmy Fallon. They pulled off the prank with a Zoom call, some sound bites from old clips, and one of the creators pretending to be a producer. (Lindsay Dodgson / Business Insider)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
And finally...
Talk to us


theverge--2020-05-05--The fight over Donkey Kong’s former world record is going to court

Billy Mitchell , who rose to fame hunting high-scores in classic video games , is suing internet game scoreboard Twin Galaxies over its decision to strip him of his records and ban him from its leaderboards , according to court documents seen by Ars Technica .
Mitchell is arguing that Twin Galaxies ’ statement was libelous , and implied that he was a cheater .
A court hearing is currently scheduled for July 6th .
Twin Galaxies announced its decision to strip Mitchell of his records back in April 2018 after its investigation revealed that he had not achieved his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hardware .
While some in the community have accused Mitchell of using the arcade emulation software MAME , Twin Galaxies said it didn ’ t have enough evidence to support this claim .
Guinness World Records , which had been relying on Twin Galaxies to verify Mitchell ’ s scores , subsequently stripped him of his records .
Mitchell has multiple complaints about how the investigation was handled , Ars Technica notes .
He says that the decision was “ pre-ordained , ” that Twin Galaxies refused to hear the testimonies of 25 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high scores on “ certified arcade boards in front of hundreds of people.
” Twin Galaxies , meanwhile , maintains that its investigation was thorough and correct .
“ Twin Galaxies believes that this was the most professionally documented and thoroughly investigated video game score of all time , ” owner Jason Hall stated in a public declaration filed with the Los Angeles Los Angeles County county court where the suit is being heard .
The site ’ s investigation tried and failed to use original arcade hardware to replicate the “ images @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s video score submissions , said Hall , and the fact that it couldn ’ t means that the scores couldn ’ t have been achieved on original hardware .
Twin Galaxies ’ original statement notes that Mitchell had the chance to contribute to the investigation , but chose not to .
“ I am indifferent one way or another whether his Donkey Kong or other scores appear on the Twin Galaxies Website leaderboards , ” Hall wrote in a public declaration , “ My only concern is to maintain the integrity of @ @ @ @

Billy Mitchell, who rose to fame hunting high-scores in classic video games, is suing internet game scoreboard Twin Galaxies over its decision to strip him of his records and ban him from its leaderboards, according to court documents seen by Ars Technica. Mitchell is arguing that Twin Galaxies’ statement was libelous, and implied that he was a cheater. A court hearing is currently scheduled for July 6th.
Twin Galaxies announced its decision to strip Mitchell of his records back in April 2018 after its investigation revealed that he had not achieved his Donkey Kong high scores on original arcade hardware. While some in the community have accused Mitchell of using the arcade emulation software MAME, Twin Galaxies said it didn’t have enough evidence to support this claim. Guinness World Records, which had been relying on Twin Galaxies to verify Mitchell’s scores, subsequently stripped him of his records.
Mitchell has multiple complaints about how the investigation was handled, Ars Technica notes. He says that the decision was “pre-ordained,” that Twin Galaxies refused to hear the testimonies of 25 eyewitnesses, and that he achieved his high scores on “certified arcade boards in front of hundreds of people.”
Twin Galaxies, meanwhile, maintains that its investigation was thorough and correct. “Twin Galaxies believes that this was the most professionally documented and thoroughly investigated video game score of all time,” owner Jason Hall stated in a public declaration filed with the Los Angeles Los Angeles County county court where the suit is being heard.
The site’s investigation tried and failed to use original arcade hardware to replicate the “images and artifacts” seen in Mitchell’s video score submissions, said Hall, and the fact that it couldn’t means that the scores couldn’t have been achieved on original hardware. Twin Galaxies’ original statement notes that Mitchell had the chance to contribute to the investigation, but chose not to.


theverge--2020-05-05--Google’s Stadia controller will finally work wirelessly with computers starting this week

Google ’ s Stadia Controller will finally work wirelessly with laptops and desktops starting this week , the company announced @ @ @ @ @ .
Since the cloud gaming service ’ s November launch , the only way you @ @ @ @ @ was if you were playing Stadia on your TV with a Chromecast Ultra .
You @ @ @ @ @ the Stadia Controller wirelessly with an Android phone , though , and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ might arrive .
When used wirelessly , the Stadia controller connects to Google ’ s @ @ @ @ @ connecting to the device in front of you over Bluetooth , like most other gaming @ @ @ @ @ helps the controller “ deliver precise controls.
” If you want to connect your Stadia @ @ @ @ @ follow Google ’ s support documentation here .
If you want to pick up a @ @ @ @ @ buy one for $ 69 or for $ 129 as part of the Stadia Premiere @ @ @ @ @ includes a Chromecast Ultra and three months of the paid Stadia Pro subscription .

Google’s Stadia Controller will finally work wirelessly with laptops and desktops starting this week, the company announced today (via Engadget). Since the cloud gaming service’s November launch, the only way you could use your controller wirelessly was if you were playing Stadia on your TV with a Chromecast Ultra. You still can’t use the Stadia Controller wirelessly with an Android phone, though, and it’s not clear when that functionality might arrive.
When used wirelessly, the Stadia controller connects to Google’s servers over Wi-Fi instead of connecting to the device in front of you over Bluetooth, like most other gaming controllers. Google says this helps the controller “deliver precise controls.” If you want to connect your Stadia controller wirelessly, you can follow Google’s support documentation here.


theverge--2020-05-05--Spotify CEO expects Apple will ‘open up’ even more in the future

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he expects longtime rival Apple will “ open up ” iOS and its platforms more in the future as a result of contention with developers and growing antitrust concern from regulators , according to an interview with Ek published on Tuesday by Bloomberg .
Spotify filed a regulatory complaint with the European Union last year , calling Apple ’ s mandatory 30 percent App Store cut a “ tax ” that stifles innovation and unfairly benefits Apple against its competitors .
Spotify also cited Apple ’ s control over system-level features like its Siri voice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not work with Spotify but naturally did integrate with Apple Music .
The complaint resulted in an ongoing EU antitrust investigation .
“ Long term , we do expect Apple to open up.
” While the two companies have routinely squabbled publicly before and after the EU complaint , Apple has in some cases relented in its approach .
It worked with Spotify to enable Siri support for the iPhone and Apple Watch .
And Spotify also released an Apple TV app for the first time .
“ Long term , we do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ek told Bloomberg in a televised interview .
“ We ’ re very encouraged about being able to now finally use Siri as a way of building in voice support and also being available to build products for the Apple TV and Apple Watch , something that we haven ’ t been able to do until very recently.
” Apple may soon let rivals , including Spotify , run natively on its HomePod smart speaker , according to Bloomberg .
Last month , the existence of a new Apple program for third-party video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Apple is now cutting deals with companies like Amazon to allow them to bypass the 30 percent App Store cut for certain digital items like TV show and movie rentals .
Ek was quick to provide a caveat , however , saying in his interview that while “ it ’ s moving in the right direction , ” he thinks “ we still have many , many steps to go before ” Apple ’ s ecosystem can be considered a fair platform .

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he expects longtime rival Apple will “open up” iOS and its platforms more in the future as a result of contention with developers and growing antitrust concern from regulators, according to an interview with Ek published on Tuesday by Bloomberg.
Spotify filed a regulatory complaint with the European Union last year, calling Apple’s mandatory 30 percent App Store cut a “tax” that stifles innovation and unfairly benefits Apple against its competitors. Spotify also cited Apple’s control over system-level features like its Siri voice assistant, which at the time did not work with Spotify but naturally did integrate with Apple Music. The complaint resulted in an ongoing EU antitrust investigation.
“Long term, we do expect Apple to open up.”
While the two companies have routinely squabbled publicly before and after the EU complaint, Apple has in some cases relented in its approach. It worked with Spotify to enable Siri support for the iPhone and Apple Watch. And Spotify also released an Apple TV app for the first time.
“Long term, we do expect Apple to open up,” Ek told Bloomberg in a televised interview. “We’re very encouraged about being able to now finally use Siri as a way of building in voice support and also being available to build products for the Apple TV and Apple Watch, something that we haven’t been able to do until very recently.”
Apple may soon let rivals, including Spotify, run natively on its HomePod smart speaker, according to Bloomberg. Last month, the existence of a new Apple program for third-party video providers also came to light, indicating that Apple is now cutting deals with companies like Amazon to allow them to bypass the 30 percent App Store cut for certain digital items like TV show and movie rentals.


theverge--2020-05-05--Leak reveals new Sonos soundbar could be called the Arc and have up-firing speakers

Sonos may be close to releasing a new soundbar called the Arc , as apparent marketing images of the device have been shared on Twitter by leaker and WinFuture writer Roland Quandt .
The Arc appears to have up-firing speakers and could be considerably longer than the existing Sonos Beam soundbar .
You can see the images for yourself in Quandt ’ s tweet , embedded below : The first image in the top-left shows just how much longer the Arc might be compared with the 25.6-inch Beam .
And the image of the Arc ’ s internals in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not only have two upward-firing speakers , but also two outward-firing ones and four front-firing ones .
It ’ s unclear exactly how much the Arc might cost , but Quandt replied to his own tweet with a clue : “ price : money , lots of it.
” Dave Zatz shared images of what appear to be the Arc over the weekend , though he called it an upgrade to the Sonos Playbar and did not mention the Arc name .
The new soundbar could come in black and white , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and may have Apple ’ s AirPlay 2 and Dolby Atmos on-board , he said .
Earlier today , Quandt posted images of what appear to be a new Sonos Five speaker , which looks like a a successor to the Sonos Play:5 , and a third-generation Sonos Sub on Twitter and in an article on WinFuture .
9to5Mac reported on all three of the new Sonos speakers on April 29th , though did not mention the Arc or Sonos Five names .
Sonos has been teasing some kind of announcement for tomorrow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible these three speakers could be unveiled soon .

Sonos may be close to releasing a new soundbar called the Arc, as apparent marketing images of the device have been shared on Twitter by leaker and WinFuture writer Roland Quandt. The Arc appears to have up-firing speakers and could be considerably longer than the existing Sonos Beam soundbar.
You can see the images for yourself in Quandt’s tweet, embedded below:
The first image in the top-left shows just how much longer the Arc might be compared with the 25.6-inch Beam. And the image of the Arc’s internals in the lower-left appears to show the new soundbar will not only have two upward-firing speakers, but also two outward-firing ones and four front-firing ones.
It’s unclear exactly how much the Arc might cost, but Quandt replied to his own tweet with a clue: “price: money, lots of it.”
Dave Zatz shared images of what appear to be the Arc over the weekend, though he called it an upgrade to the Sonos Playbar and did not mention the Arc name. The new soundbar could come in black and white, according to Zatz’s images, and may have Apple’s AirPlay 2 and Dolby Atmos on-board, he said.
Earlier today, Quandt posted images of what appear to be a new Sonos Five speaker, which looks like a a successor to the Sonos Play:5, and a third-generation Sonos Sub on Twitter and in an article on WinFuture. 9to5Mac reported on all three of the new Sonos speakers on April 29th, though did not mention the Arc or Sonos Five names.