theverge--2020-07-13--Seventeen states sue Trump administration over new student visa guidelines

Seventeen states and Washington , DC have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration ’ s policy that would prevent international students who are taking online courses from remaining in the US .
ICE ’ s guidelines , announced on July 6th , stated that in order to remain in the country for the fall 2020 semester , international students must be enrolled in in-person classes at their schools or be subject to “ immigration consequences including , but not limited to , the initiation of removal procedures.
” Meanwhile , students who remain in their own countries would only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintain their “ Active status ” if their school will only be offering remote classes .
Under the previous policy , the Student and Exchange Visitor Program ( SEVP ) allowed international students to take online classes without risking their visa status due to the unusual circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic .
Prior to the July 6th announcement , there was no indication that the fall 2020 semester would not be subject to the same policy .
“ The Directive was arbitrary and capricious , ” the lawsuit reads , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for its reversal of prior policy ... failed to consider the substantial reliance interests of universities and foreign students and the harm this abrupt reversal will cause.
” The plaintiff states — which include Massachusetts , Colorado , Connecticut , Delaware , Illinois , Maryland , Michigan , Minnesota , Nevada , New Jersey , New Mexico , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , Vermont , Virginia , and Wisconsin — claim that they will suffer “ irreparable harm ” if the court doesn ’ t vacate the rule .
In particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposes large financial and administrative burdens on colleges and universities .
The lawsuit notes that schools would have to reevaluate the plans they ’ d already made for the upcoming year and would lose substantial revenue from international students , who commonly pay out-of-state rates and do not receive financial aid .
They also argue that ICE ’ s directive would interfere with reopening guidelines that state governments have already issued , and that the pressure to reopen would make it harder for those governments to keep their communities safe .
The lawsuit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide .
“ The Directive has thrown colleges and universities across the country into confusion — and our students and prospective students as well , ” the action reads .
The suit includes declarations from more than 40 schools impacted by the new rule , including the University of Massachusetts , Boston University , Yale , the University of Connecticut , and Tufts University .
Prior to ICE ’ s announcement , a large number of universities — just under a third of colleges , per The Chronicle of Higher Education — were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ model of online and in-person instruction .
A smaller number had announced intention to offer entirely online instruction , including Harvard , whose announcement came very shortly before ICE ’ s directive .
Harvard and MIT have already filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Boston seeking a temporary restraining order .
ICE declined to comment for this story , citing the sensitivity of pending litigation .

Seventeen states and Washington, DC have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s policy that would prevent international students who are taking online courses from remaining in the US.
ICE’s guidelines, announced on July 6th, stated that in order to remain in the country for the fall 2020 semester, international students must be enrolled in in-person classes at their schools or be subject to “immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal procedures.” Meanwhile, students who remain in their own countries would only be permitted to take remote classes and maintain their “Active status” if their school will only be offering remote classes.
Under the previous policy, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) allowed international students to take online classes without risking their visa status due to the unusual circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the July 6th announcement, there was no indication that the fall 2020 semester would not be subject to the same policy.
“The Directive was arbitrary and capricious,” the lawsuit reads, “because it failed to offer a reason for its reversal of prior policy ... failed to consider the substantial reliance interests of universities and foreign students and the harm this abrupt reversal will cause.”
The plaintiff states — which include Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin — claim that they will suffer “irreparable harm” if the court doesn’t vacate the rule.
“The Directive was arbitrary and capricious”
In particular, the plaintiffs claim that the rule imposes large financial and administrative burdens on colleges and universities. The lawsuit notes that schools would have to reevaluate the plans they’d already made for the upcoming year and would lose substantial revenue from international students, who commonly pay out-of-state rates and do not receive financial aid. They also argue that ICE’s directive would interfere with reopening guidelines that state governments have already issued, and that the pressure to reopen would make it harder for those governments to keep their communities safe.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to vacate the directive nationwide. “The Directive has thrown colleges and universities across the country into confusion — and our students and prospective students as well,” the action reads.
The suit includes declarations from more than 40 schools impacted by the new rule, including the University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Yale, the University of Connecticut, and Tufts University.
Prior to ICE’s announcement, a large number of universities — just under a third of colleges, per The Chronicle of Higher Education — were planning on offering some sort of hybrid model of online and in-person instruction. A smaller number had announced intention to offer entirely online instruction, including Harvard, whose announcement came very shortly before ICE’s directive. Harvard and MIT have already filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Boston seeking a temporary restraining order.


theverge--2020-07-13--You can now stake your claim in Apple’s $500 million iPhone slowdown settlement

The iPhone “ batterygate ” saga was one of the bigger controversies that Apple has ever faced .
Apple ’ s throttling of iPhones with aging batteries prompted a class action lawsuit , and now you can register to get your chunk of the settlement that was reached earlier this year .
Per MacRumors , there ’ s now a website where US consumers who owned an affected iPhone can go to file a claim .
To meet the criteria , you must currently or have previously owned : • An iPhone 6 , iPhone 6 Plus , iPhone 6S @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or an iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21st , 2017 • An iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21st , 2017 As part of the settlement terms , Apple agreed to pay out a maximum of $ 500 million .
The company will “ provide a cash payment of approximately $ 25 per eligible device , ” though that number can go down if the total number of approved claims exceeds the $ 500 million cap .
You can also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website .
The only real reason for doing so would be if you plan to sue Apple directly about the battery management issue .
The claims website will ask for your iPhone ’ s serial number .
There ’ s also a search tool if you no longer have access to that information — in case you sold or otherwise got rid of one of the iPhones that are part of the case .
Wondering when you might see your check ?
According to an FAQ on the website , there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where a judge will potentially sign off on the settlement .
If that happens without any appeal , settlement benefits will be distributed “ promptly.
” Apple apologized for its handling of the iPhone slowdown drama in late 2017 .
The company ’ s lack of transparency around its decision to reduce performance of older iPhones with aging batteries was at the heart of the controversy .
To make up for the “ misunderstanding , ” Apple offered battery replacements at a reduced cost and gave customers a way to disable battery management @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — in the iPhone ’ s settings menu .
Aside from the resulting public outcry and many news headlines about the issue , Apple was also investigated by several countries over the iPhone battery decision .

The iPhone “batterygate” saga was one of the bigger controversies that Apple has ever faced. Apple’s throttling of iPhones with aging batteries prompted a class action lawsuit, and now you can register to get your chunk of the settlement that was reached earlier this year. Per MacRumors, there’s now a website where US consumers who owned an affected iPhone can go to file a claim.
To meet the criteria, you must currently or have previously owned:
An iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and / or an iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21st, 2017
An iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21st, 2017
As part of the settlement terms, Apple agreed to pay out a maximum of $500 million. The company will “provide a cash payment of approximately $25 per eligible device,” though that number can go down if the total number of approved claims exceeds the $500 million cap. You can also exclude yourself from the settlement at the website. The only real reason for doing so would be if you plan to sue Apple directly about the battery management issue.
The claims website will ask for your iPhone’s serial number. There’s also a search tool if you no longer have access to that information — in case you sold or otherwise got rid of one of the iPhones that are part of the case.
Wondering when you might see your check? According to an FAQ on the website, there’s a final hearing scheduled for December 4th where a judge will potentially sign off on the settlement. If that happens without any appeal, settlement benefits will be distributed “promptly.”


theverge--2020-07-13--Twitch unbans Trump after two-week suspension for ‘hateful conduct’

Twitch has unbanned President Donald Trump , two weeks after suspending his account for “ hateful conduct.
” Trump ’ s account , which was used to broadcast new and past campaign rallies , was banned for racist comments made by the president on two occasions .
Twitch pointed to remarks at his recent rally in Tulsa , where he referred to criminals as “ hombre [ s ] , ” and remarks from a rebroadcast of the 2015 event announcing his candidacy , when he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “ rapists.
” The ban came days after Twitch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as streamers began sharing stories of harassment and assault within the industry .
By banning Trump , Twitch seemed to indicate that no one is above the rules .
The question now is how much longer Trump can last on Twitch .
Should his campaign continue to broadcast rally streams , it ’ s sadly probable the president will make additional disturbing racist comments — bannable offenses under Twitch ’ s guidelines , which prohibit any language that promotes harassment based on race , gender , and other personal characteristics .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines , ” Twitch previously said .
“ We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content , and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.
” This initial ban suggests that Twitch wants to be set apart from other social networks that have given Trump leeway to make racist and violent comments that a typical user would be punished for .
Twitter has slowly started to highlight false and violent statements by the president , while Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for failing to do so .

Twitch has unbanned President Donald Trump, two weeks after suspending his account for “hateful conduct.”
Trump’s account, which was used to broadcast new and past campaign rallies, was banned for racist comments made by the president on two occasions. Twitch pointed to remarks at his recent rally in Tulsa, where he referred to criminals as “hombre[s],” and remarks from a rebroadcast of the 2015 event announcing his candidacy, when he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “rapists.”
The ban came days after Twitch swore it would crack down on harassment, as streamers began sharing stories of harassment and assault within the industry. By banning Trump, Twitch seemed to indicate that no one is above the rules.
Related Twitch reckons with sexual assault as it begins permanently suspending streamers
The question now is how much longer Trump can last on Twitch. Should his campaign continue to broadcast rally streams, it’s sadly probable the president will make additional disturbing racist comments — bannable offenses under Twitch’s guidelines, which prohibit any language that promotes harassment based on race, gender, and other personal characteristics.
“Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines,” Twitch previously said. “We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”


theverge--2020-07-13--Fisker wants to use Volkswagen’s EV platform to power its electric SUV

EV startup Fisker Inc. wants to power its first SUV with Volkswagen ’ s mass-manufactured modular electric vehicle platform , or “ MEB , ” and it says it is in talks with the German automaker to do just that .
In fact , the prototype SUV that Fisker Inc. revealed at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show was built on the MEB platform .
Fisker Inc. laid all of this out in an investor presentation that was assembled ahead of its push to become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange , which the startup formally announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of many pages of documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the publicly listed company Fisker Inc. plans to merge with , Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation , which was formed by investment firm Apollo Global Management .
Fisker plans to become a publicly traded company on the NYSE Volkswagen announced the MEB platform in 2018 as part of its multibillion-dollar push into electric vehicles .
It consists of a modular battery pack that can scale to fit differently sized vehicles , a motor , and other electronics — basically all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electric vehicle move .
All of Volkswagen ’ s upcoming ID-branded electric vehicles are being built on the MEB platform , and it will also power certain vehicles from Volkswagen Group brands like Audi , Seat , and Skoda .
Volkswagen has said it plans to sell access to MEB , an idea that already attracted Ford , which is going to build a commercial vehicle powered by the German automaker ’ s platform .
But it is also open to partnering with startups .
The first attempt , with Germany ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small startup became insolvent .
Now , the automaker is considering working with Fisker Inc. , with the prototype of its Ocean SUV — which was built by Volkswagen subsidiary Italdesign — apparently serving as a test of how much a startup can differentiate the design of an MEB-powered vehicle .
Volkswagen says no deal has been reached “ Volkswagen is still open to support small series projects that demonstrate the variety of conceivable concepts based on the MEB platform through their emotional appearance , ” a spokesperson for Volkswagen said in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consultation with Volkswagen , the Audi subsidiary Italdesign has now used the MEB platform as the basis for the development of the Fisker Ocean SUV .
However , a final decision has not yet been made about a possible cooperation with Fisker to implement a series project.
” A spokesperson for Fisker Inc. declined to comment .
Using Volkswagen ’ s MEB platform to power an affordable SUV would be quite the about-face for Fisker Inc. , which was founded in 2016 .
Founder Henrik Fisker spent the first few years promoting a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a solid-state battery that would last longer and be easier to build than the lithium-ion batteries that power modern electric vehicles .
Slowly but surely , Fisker ’ s plans for the solid-state battery slipped further into the future , and he ultimately pivoted the company to developing the Ocean , a subscription-only SUV that would be powered by lithium-ion batteries .
Now , according to the investor presentation , it appears that the Ocean was “ developed on ” the MEB platform .
Fisker Inc. says using the MEB platform will make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ market in “ half of the time and with costs substantially reduced.
” Using Volkswagen ’ s tech would be a big reversal from Fisker Inc. ’ s original goal Fisker Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with Volkswagen in November 2017 , and a more fleshed-out “ collaboration agreement ” in December 2018 , according to the investor presentation .
A “ cornerstone agreement ” that would finalize costs , production capacity , and a timeline is anticipated to be signed in July 2020 , the document says , with a supply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the second half of this year .
If those agreements are reached , Fisker Inc. anticipates building 50 to 100 pre-production cars by the end of 2021 and starting production by the end of 2022 .
Fisker Inc. has also been telling investors that it wants to build two additional vehicles on the MEB platform .
Electric vehicle startups have burned through billions of dollars in an attempt to become the next Tesla , and many of them designed their own electric vehicle architecture along the way with the goal of either licensing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a buyer from the tech industry .
Few have accomplished anything close to that , though , with Rivian — which is building vehicles for Amazon and Ford based on its EV platform in return for billions of dollars of investment — being the most obvious exception .
That pitch gets even harder to make when a company like Volkswagen is doing the same thing at greater scale and lower costs .
While Volkswagen ’ s willingness to work with Fisker Inc. would be something of a life raft for a hopeful automaker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a clear path to volume production , it could put even more stress on other startups that are struggling to survive .

EV startup Fisker Inc. wants to power its first SUV with Volkswagen’s mass-manufactured modular electric vehicle platform, or “MEB,” and it says it is in talks with the German automaker to do just that. In fact, the prototype SUV that Fisker Inc. revealed at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show was built on the MEB platform.
Fisker Inc. laid all of this out in an investor presentation that was assembled ahead of its push to become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, which the startup formally announced on Monday. The presentation was one of many pages of documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the publicly listed company Fisker Inc. plans to merge with, Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation, which was formed by investment firm Apollo Global Management.
Fisker plans to become a publicly traded company on the NYSE
Volkswagen announced the MEB platform in 2018 as part of its multibillion-dollar push into electric vehicles. It consists of a modular battery pack that can scale to fit differently sized vehicles, a motor, and other electronics — basically all of the technical underpinnings required to make an electric vehicle move. All of Volkswagen’s upcoming ID-branded electric vehicles are being built on the MEB platform, and it will also power certain vehicles from Volkswagen Group brands like Audi, Seat, and Skoda.
Now, the automaker is considering working with Fisker Inc., with the prototype of its Ocean SUV — which was built by Volkswagen subsidiary Italdesign — apparently serving as a test of how much a startup can differentiate the design of an MEB-powered vehicle.
Volkswagen says no deal has been reached
“Volkswagen is still open to support small series projects that demonstrate the variety of conceivable concepts based on the MEB platform through their emotional appearance,” a spokesperson for Volkswagen said in an email to The Verge. “In consultation with Volkswagen, the Audi subsidiary Italdesign has now used the MEB platform as the basis for the development of the Fisker Ocean SUV. However, a final decision has not yet been made about a possible cooperation with Fisker to implement a series project.”
A spokesperson for Fisker Inc. declined to comment.
A slide from Fisker Inc.’s investor presentation.
Using Volkswagen’s MEB platform to power an affordable SUV would be quite the about-face for Fisker Inc., which was founded in 2016. Founder Henrik Fisker spent the first few years promoting a luxury sedan and claimed he was developing a solid-state battery that would last longer and be easier to build than the lithium-ion batteries that power modern electric vehicles.
Slowly but surely, Fisker’s plans for the solid-state battery slipped further into the future, and he ultimately pivoted the company to developing the Ocean, a subscription-only SUV that would be powered by lithium-ion batteries.
Now, according to the investor presentation, it appears that the Ocean was “developed on” the MEB platform. Fisker Inc. says using the MEB platform will make it possible to bring the Ocean to market in “half of the time and with costs substantially reduced.”
Using Volkswagen’s tech would be a big reversal from Fisker Inc.’s original goal
Fisker Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with Volkswagen in November 2017, and a more fleshed-out “collaboration agreement” in December 2018, according to the investor presentation. A “cornerstone agreement” that would finalize costs, production capacity, and a timeline is anticipated to be signed in July 2020, the document says, with a supply and manufacturing agreement to be signed in the second half of this year. If those agreements are reached, Fisker Inc. anticipates building 50 to 100 pre-production cars by the end of 2021 and starting production by the end of 2022. Fisker Inc. has also been telling investors that it wants to build two additional vehicles on the MEB platform.
Electric vehicle startups have burned through billions of dollars in an attempt to become the next Tesla, and many of them designed their own electric vehicle architecture along the way with the goal of either licensing that technology to other companies or attracting a buyer from the tech industry.
Few have accomplished anything close to that, though, with Rivian — which is building vehicles for Amazon and Ford based on its EV platform in return for billions of dollars of investment — being the most obvious exception.


theverge--2020-07-14--Panasonic’s hacky mirrorless camera webcam solution is now available on Macs

Panasonic is updating its Lumix Tether application for Mac to make it easier to use some models of its mirrorless Lumix cameras as a webcam — but it ’ ll take a bit more effort than some other solutions , at least for now , via DPReview .
Like the Windows version , the current solution for macOS is pretty hacked together .
Panasonic is simply taking its existing Lumix Tether software ( used for tethered shooting from a computer ) and offering an update that removes the GUI elements from the live preview on the software by adding a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clean video feed .
That live view window can then be passed to a streaming app , like Open Broadcaster Software ( OBS ) , and only then passed through to your videoconferencing or streaming service .
If that sounds confusing , check out Panasonic ’ s video to get a better idea of how to set things up .
That makes it much more finicky to set up compared to Canon , Fujifilm , or Olympus ; those webcam solutions allow for directly passing a camera ’ s output to videoconferencing software @ @ @ @ @ @ @ version of the Lumix Tether application is also compatible with the same list of Lumix cameras as the Windows one : the DC-S1H , DC-S1R , DC-S1 , DC-GH5S , DC-GH5 , and DC-G9 models .
Panasonic knows that using the Tether application isn ’ t great .
It ’ s a stopgap measure while the company works on a proper “ Lumix Webcam Software ” application , which will offer the same full-fledged webcam support that its competitors are offering .
Unfortunately , it ’ ll still be some time until the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Panasonic promising a release at the end of September for the Windows version and the end of October for Macs .

Panasonic is updating its Lumix Tether application for Mac to make it easier to use some models of its mirrorless Lumix cameras as a webcam — but it’ll take a bit more effort than some other solutions, at least for now, via DPReview.
Like the Windows version, the current solution for macOS is pretty hacked together. Panasonic is simply taking its existing Lumix Tether software (used for tethered shooting from a computer) and offering an update that removes the GUI elements from the live preview on the software by adding a new “Live View” with a clean video feed. That live view window can then be passed to a streaming app, like Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), and only then passed through to your videoconferencing or streaming service. If that sounds confusing, check out Panasonic’s video to get a better idea of how to set things up.
That makes it much more finicky to set up compared to Canon, Fujifilm, or Olympus; those webcam solutions allow for directly passing a camera’s output to videoconferencing software like Zoom or Skype.
The Mac version of the Lumix Tether application is also compatible with the same list of Lumix cameras as the Windows one: the DC-S1H, DC-S1R, DC-S1, DC-GH5S, DC-GH5, and DC-G9 models.


theverge--2020-07-14--Spotify is launching podcast charts to help people discover new shows

Spotify is revamping its podcast charts today to help listeners find new shows and keep up with what people are enjoying in their area .
This brings a well-known , and controversial , feature in the podcasting industry to Spotify , making the app more on par with other popular players , like Apple Podcasts .
The two initial podcast charts will be called Trending and Top .
Trending , which is based partially on the speed of growth in listener numbers , includes 50 rising shows , while Top will be the 200 most popular shows overall and will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which already exists in a much smaller form currently , can also be separated into categories , like business , comedy , and technology , in certain regions .
The charts will be available in 26 countries , including the US , Mexico , the UK , Brazil , and Germany .
Both will be updated daily .
Podcast charts can be controversial , especially because the algorithms that determine their rankings are often opaque .
People try to game them , too , making people in the industry question their legitimacy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has “ overlapping systems ” in place that ’ ll monitor fraudulent activity and remove bad actors from the service .
Spotify has battled listener bots in the past that try to inflate music plays and royalties .
In those cases , the incentive to cheat the system was higher because the scammers were paid per listen , so long as they published and created the music .
Podcasters aren ’ t paid per listen , which is one reason Spotify has wanted to focus on the industry .
Still , people have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the podcast charts on other platforms .
The charts could make shows more popular sheerly by exposing listeners to podcasts they haven ’ t heard .
In 2018 , podcaster John Perotti was able to pay $ 5 to someone online who then managed to get his tiny show to number 55 on Apple ’ s top podcast chart .
The same could happen on Spotify as podcasters seek more attention and listeners .

Spotify is revamping its podcast charts today to help listeners find new shows and keep up with what people are enjoying in their area. This brings a well-known, and controversial, feature in the podcasting industry to Spotify, making the app more on par with other popular players, like Apple Podcasts.
The two initial podcast charts will be called Trending and Top. Trending, which is based partially on the speed of growth in listener numbers, includes 50 rising shows, while Top will be the 200 most popular shows overall and will be localized by region. Top, which already exists in a much smaller form currently, can also be separated into categories, like business, comedy, and technology, in certain regions. The charts will be available in 26 countries, including the US, Mexico, the UK, Brazil, and Germany. Both will be updated daily.
Podcast charts can be controversial, especially because the algorithms that determine their rankings are often opaque. People try to game them, too, making people in the industry question their legitimacy. A Spotify spokesperson tells The Verge it has “overlapping systems” in place that’ll monitor fraudulent activity and remove bad actors from the service.
Spotify has battled listener bots in the past that try to inflate music plays and royalties. In those cases, the incentive to cheat the system was higher because the scammers were paid per listen, so long as they published and created the music. Podcasters aren’t paid per listen, which is one reason Spotify has wanted to focus on the industry.


theverge--2020-07-14--Kano’s second-generation buildable Windows 10 PC has a faster processor and USB-C

Kano is releasing a second-generation model of its buildable Windows 10 PC , which keeps the $ 299.99 price point and DIY touchscreen form factor , but offers a faster new processor and a slightly updated design ( including the addition of USB-C ) .
The overall form factor — a convertible 2-in-1 tablet with an attachable keyboard that also doubles as a protective case — is the same as last year ’ s model , but Kano has made big improvements to the internal hardware .
The main difference is the jump from the old Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jumping from a 2W chip to a dramatically more powerful 6W processor .
The company also now promises a minimum of 10 hours of battery life on the new model , which charges via USB-C .
There are physical volume buttons on the side , Bluetooth 5.0 , and a redesigned heatsink that should help with efficiency and performance .
Some things aren ’ t changing : the new model will still feature an 11.6-inch touchscreen , 64GB of eMMC storage , and 4GB of RAM .
And like the original version released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was developed in partnership with Microsoft and runs full Windows 10 .
The new model is the continuation of Kano ’ s ambitions to expand into the educational computing space .
The company ’ s original buildable computers were based on Raspberry Pi modules and feature more actual assembly but could only run Kano ’ s custom software on top of Linux .
The new Windows 10 models sacrifice some of the assembly process that made the products more unique ( all that really has to be done is attaching the speaker and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s far more usable as an actual computer .
The improved specs on the new Kano PC model are key to those ambitions , with the company touting performance that ’ s on par with other entry-level laptops from companies like Acer or HP .
As for the software itself , Kano will continue to offer its own apps and learn-to-code tools , with games , videos , and the company ’ s signature block-based coding system .
There ’ s also a new optional subscription layer , Kano Club , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 39.99 per year .
Membership includes guided video tutorials , access to Artopia ( a shared drawing app ) , and new Kano beta apps .
Kano is also launching a new lineup of accessories that are meant to complement the new Kano PC : a pair of headphones and a USB mouse ( both of which are assembled from their various components in typical Kano fashion ) , and a USB webcam ( which makes sense , given the increasing reliance on video-conference platforms that even younger children are experiencing ) .

Kano is releasing a second-generation model of its buildable Windows 10 PC, which keeps the $299.99 price point and DIY touchscreen form factor, but offers a faster new processor and a slightly updated design (including the addition of USB-C).
The overall form factor — a convertible 2-in-1 tablet with an attachable keyboard that also doubles as a protective case — is the same as last year’s model, but Kano has made big improvements to the internal hardware. The main difference is the jump from the old Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor to a new Intel Celeron N4000 — jumping from a 2W chip to a dramatically more powerful 6W processor.
The company also now promises a minimum of 10 hours of battery life on the new model, which charges via USB-C. There are physical volume buttons on the side, Bluetooth 5.0, and a redesigned heatsink that should help with efficiency and performance.
Some things aren’t changing: the new model will still feature an 11.6-inch touchscreen, 64GB of eMMC storage, and 4GB of RAM. And like the original version released last year, the second-gen Kano PC was developed in partnership with Microsoft and runs full Windows 10.
The new model is the continuation of Kano’s ambitions to expand into the educational computing space. The company’s original buildable computers were based on Raspberry Pi modules and feature more actual assembly but could only run Kano’s custom software on top of Linux. The new Windows 10 models sacrifice some of the assembly process that made the products more unique (all that really has to be done is attaching the speaker and battery) in exchange for software that’s far more usable as an actual computer.
The improved specs on the new Kano PC model are key to those ambitions, with the company touting performance that’s on par with other entry-level laptops from companies like Acer or HP.
As for the software itself, Kano will continue to offer its own apps and learn-to-code tools, with games, videos, and the company’s signature block-based coding system. There’s also a new optional subscription layer, Kano Club, which costs $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year. Membership includes guided video tutorials, access to Artopia (a shared drawing app), and new Kano beta apps.


theverge--2020-07-14--Lego made a 2,600-piece replica of playing Mario on the NES

Lego and Nintendo are teaming up for a new Lego set that assembles into a blocky model of Nintendo ’ s 8-bit gaming console , the Nintendo Entertainment System , along with an interactive TV displaying Super Mario Bros .
The two companies collaborated earlier this year to create interactive Super Mario-themed sets .
Designed for adult builders , this new set contains 2,646 pieces that combine to create Nintendo ’ s first home console as well as an NES controller , a game cartridge that can fit into the console , and a miniature retro TV .
The TV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1985 classic , and a crank located on the left side of the TV lets you move the mustached plumber up and down between platforms .
Like the earlier Super Mario sets , the Nintendo Entertainment System kit will combine traditional building with digital technology .
Placing the Bluetooth-enabled Mario figurine from the Adventures with Mario Starter Course set on top of the TV will produce sounds as if you were actually playing the original 1985 classic .
The Nintendo Entertainment System Lego set will launch on August 1st — the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — for $ 300 .
The Super Mario kits incorporate different characters and obstacles for Mario to tackle , including an expansion that lets him square off against his arch-nemesis , Bowser .
Update July 14th , 8:20AM ET : Lego has now announced pricing for the NES set .
Update July 14th , 8:37AM ET : Lego changed the list price to $ 300 .
It initially listed the NES set as costing $ 200 .
We ’ ve reached out to confirm the set ’ s pricing .

Lego and Nintendo are teaming up for a new Lego set that assembles into a blocky model of Nintendo’s 8-bit gaming console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, along with an interactive TV displaying Super Mario Bros. The two companies collaborated earlier this year to create interactive Super Mario-themed sets.
Designed for adult builders, this new set contains 2,646 pieces that combine to create Nintendo’s first home console as well as an NES controller, a game cartridge that can fit into the console, and a miniature retro TV. The TV displays Mario traversing through a stage from the 1985 classic, and a crank located on the left side of the TV lets you move the mustached plumber up and down between platforms.
Previous Next
1 / 11 Image: Lego Previous Next
1 / 11 Image: Lego
Like the earlier Super Mario sets, the Nintendo Entertainment System kit will combine traditional building with digital technology. Placing the Bluetooth-enabled Mario figurine from the Adventures with Mario Starter Course set on top of the TV will produce sounds as if you were actually playing the original 1985 classic.
The Nintendo Entertainment System Lego set will launch on August 1st — the same day as the Super Mario Lego sets — for $230. The Super Mario kits incorporate different characters and obstacles for Mario to tackle, including an expansion that lets him square off against his arch-nemesis, Bowser.


theverge--2020-07-14--UK bans Huawei from 5G networks, with total removal by 2027

Huawei ’ s networking equipment is to be phased out of the UK ’ s 5G networks , the government announced today .
Telecoms operators will not be allowed to buy new 5G telecoms equipment from the Chinese firm from January next year , and they will have seven years to remove its existing technology from their 5G infrastructure at an expected cost of £2 billion .
The announcement follows a new report about Huawei ’ s role in the UK ’ s national infrastructure from the UK ’ s National Cyber Security Centre .
The decision marks a U-turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , announced in January , which allowed Huawei ’ s equipment to be used in the country ’ s 5G infrastructure , with certain limitations .
Under that position , Huawei would be limited to a 35 percent market share , and its equipment couldn ’ t be used in core parts of the network or geographically sensitive locations .
Now , however , its equipment will be completely removed from the country ’ s 5G networks .
The UK ’ s Digital , Culture , Media , and Sport Secretary Oliver Dowden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our rollout of 5G.
” As part of the announcement , the government said that it is also advising full fiber broadband operators to transition away from buying Huawei ’ s equipment .
In recent months , the British government has seen mounting pressure , both domestically and internationally , to phase out the use of Huawei ’ s equipment entirely .
That pressure has been driven by concern from security experts that Huawei ’ s equipment poses a national security risk by allowing Beijing to spy on Western countries .
Huawei has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been on the USA ’ s entity list since May 2019 International pressure has mainly come from the US .
Huawei has been on the country ’ s “ entity list ” since May 2019 , meaning US companies can not sell technology to the company .
However , in May this year , The New York Times reported the US toughened its stance with the announcement of new sanctions against Huawei .
Under the new measures , which are due to go into effect in September , Huawei and its suppliers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use American tech to design or produce Huawei ’ s products .
At the time , US officials characterized the move as “ closing a loophole ” through which Huawei could effectively have previously used American technology .
These new measures could have a big impact on the products Huawei is able to produce , which critics argue could make its equipment less safe to use .
The restrictions “ will force the company to use untrusted technology that could increase the risk to the UK , ” according to a security report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example , Huawei ’ s own HiSilicon chipsets could be impacted by the measures .
BBC News reports that the semiconductor industry relies on electronic design automation ( EDA ) software to automate the process of designing modern chips like Huawei ’ s Kirin 990 5G processor .
However , the sanctions mean that this software can no longer be used in the design or production of Huawei ’ s chips since the major EDA developers have ties to the US .
It makes it difficult for Huawei to produce its own modern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , pushing it towards third-party chips that , it ’ s argued , could be harder for UK cybersecurity officials to vet .
Meanwhile , UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also facing pressure from inside his own party .
The government suffered the biggest defeat of its current term back in March , when BBC News reports 38 Conservative MPs voted against the government in favor of an amendment calling for an end to the use of Huawei equipment in the country ’ s 5G networks by 2023 .
Increasing numbers of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a national security risk , potentially allowing Beijing to spy on the UK , according to the Financial Times .
Although the government won the vote , the incident put pressure on Johnson to take a tougher stance .
Responding to the news , a spokesperson from Huawei called the decision “ disappointing ” and said that the company is “ confident ” the new US sanctions wouldn ’ t affect “ the resilience or security of the products we supply to the UK.
” It claimed that they were driven by US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the British government to reconsider its decision .
News of a possible ban has proved unpopular with telecom firms , many of which have already started using Huawei ’ s equipment to build out their 5G networks .
In comments later published in The Guardian , BT chief executive Philip Jansen told BBC Radio 4 ’ s Today program that it would be “ impossible ” to remove Huawei entirely from the country ’ s telecoms infrastructure in the next decade and that it would take five to seven years to remove it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that forcing the removal of Huawei ’ s equipment too quickly could create outages and security risks of its own .
Update July 14th , 8:13AM ET : Updated with response from Huawei and more details from government press release .

Huawei’s networking equipment is to be phased out of the UK’s 5G networks, the government announced today. Telecoms operators will not be allowed to buy new 5G telecoms equipment from the Chinese firm from January next year, and they will have seven years to remove its existing technology from their 5G infrastructure at an expected cost of £2 billion. The announcement follows a new report about Huawei’s role in the UK’s national infrastructure from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.
The decision marks a U-turn from the government’s previous position, announced in January, which allowed Huawei’s equipment to be used in the country’s 5G infrastructure, with certain limitations. Under that position, Huawei would be limited to a 35 percent market share, and its equipment couldn’t be used in core parts of the network or geographically sensitive locations. Now, however, its equipment will be completely removed from the country’s 5G networks.
The UK’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Secretary Oliver Dowden warned that the decision “will delay our rollout of 5G.” As part of the announcement, the government said that it is also advising full fiber broadband operators to transition away from buying Huawei’s equipment.
In recent months, the British government has seen mounting pressure, both domestically and internationally, to phase out the use of Huawei’s equipment entirely. That pressure has been driven by concern from security experts that Huawei’s equipment poses a national security risk by allowing Beijing to spy on Western countries. Huawei has strenuously denied these allegations.
Huawei has been on the USA’s entity list since May 2019
International pressure has mainly come from the US. Huawei has been on the country’s “entity list” since May 2019, meaning US companies cannot sell technology to the company. However, in May this year, The New York Times reported the US toughened its stance with the announcement of new sanctions against Huawei. Under the new measures, which are due to go into effect in September, Huawei and its suppliers, like chip manufacturer TSMC, cannot use American tech to design or produce Huawei’s products. At the time, US officials characterized the move as “closing a loophole” through which Huawei could effectively have previously used American technology.
These new measures could have a big impact on the products Huawei is able to produce, which critics argue could make its equipment less safe to use. The restrictions “will force the company to use untrusted technology that could increase the risk to the UK,” according to a security report that leaked earlier this month.
For example, Huawei’s own HiSilicon chipsets could be impacted by the measures. BBC News reports that the semiconductor industry relies on electronic design automation (EDA) software to automate the process of designing modern chips like Huawei’s Kirin 990 5G processor. However, the sanctions mean that this software can no longer be used in the design or production of Huawei’s chips since the major EDA developers have ties to the US. It makes it difficult for Huawei to produce its own modern top-of-the-line processors, according to BBC News, pushing it towards third-party chips that, it’s argued, could be harder for UK cybersecurity officials to vet.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also facing pressure from inside his own party. The government suffered the biggest defeat of its current term back in March, when BBC News reports 38 Conservative MPs voted against the government in favor of an amendment calling for an end to the use of Huawei equipment in the country’s 5G networks by 2023. Increasing numbers of Conservative MPs claim that the equipment poses a national security risk, potentially allowing Beijing to spy on the UK, according to the Financial Times. Although the government won the vote, the incident put pressure on Johnson to take a tougher stance.
Responding to the news, a spokesperson from Huawei called the decision “disappointing” and said that the company is “confident” the new US sanctions wouldn’t affect “the resilience or security of the products we supply to the UK.” It claimed that they were driven by US trade policy rather than security and urged the British government to reconsider its decision.
News of a possible ban has proved unpopular with telecom firms, many of which have already started using Huawei’s equipment to build out their 5G networks. In comments later published in The Guardian, BT chief executive Philip Jansen told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that it would be “impossible” to remove Huawei entirely from the country’s telecoms infrastructure in the next decade and that it would take five to seven years to remove it from the 5G network. Jansen warned that forcing the removal of Huawei’s equipment too quickly could create outages and security risks of its own.


theverge--2020-07-14--Google Meet adds new zoombombing protections for online classes

Google is turning on new security features in its Google Meet video chat service for meetings held by education subscribers , the company has announced .
The changes , which are due to go into effect over the next 15 days , will mean that anonymous users won ’ t be able to join meetings organized by G Suite for Education or G Suite Enterprise for Education subscribers .
An anonymous user is anyone not signed into a Google account , the company says .
The new features appear to be designed to prevent “ zoombombing , ” where unauthorized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by broadcasting shock videos , or hurling insults .
ZDNet notes that as school lessons have moved online due to the pandemic , some students have shared links to their classes and have asked pranksters to disrupt them in the hope that they ’ ll be allowed to leave early .
Zoom has added its own protections against zoombombing Google isn ’ t the only company that ’ s had to deal with the problem .
Zoom , where the phrase “ zoombombing ” comes from , has introduced a range of new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase security and bring an end to the practice .
With its recent 5.0 update , for example , it let users quickly lock meetings , remove participants , and restrict sharing , and it has also turned passwords on by default for most customers to restrict who can access their meetings .
In its announcement , Google says that the new security settings will be turned on by default for Education customers , and that the only way to turn them off is to contact G Suite support directly .

Google is turning on new security features in its Google Meet video chat service for meetings held by education subscribers, the company has announced. The changes, which are due to go into effect over the next 15 days, will mean that anonymous users won’t be able to join meetings organized by G Suite for Education or G Suite Enterprise for Education subscribers. An anonymous user is anyone not signed into a Google account, the company says.
The new features appear to be designed to prevent “zoombombing,” where unauthorized users connect to meetings and disrupt them by broadcasting shock videos, or hurling insults. ZDNet notes that as school lessons have moved online due to the pandemic, some students have shared links to their classes and have asked pranksters to disrupt them in the hope that they’ll be allowed to leave early.
Zoom has added its own protections against zoombombing
Google isn’t the only company that’s had to deal with the problem. Zoom, where the phrase “zoombombing” comes from, has introduced a range of new security and privacy improvements to try and increase security and bring an end to the practice. With its recent 5.0 update, for example, it let users quickly lock meetings, remove participants, and restrict sharing, and it has also turned passwords on by default for most customers to restrict who can access their meetings.


theverge--2020-07-14--TikTok’s biggest problem is outside its control

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
Subscribe here .
Last week I wrote about some of the forces putting the squeeze on TikTok — and , uncharacteristically for me when I write about TikTok , the course of events did not immediately reverse and put TikTok into a stronger position .
Instead , by several measures , the situation for ByteDance ’ s popular video app got significantly worse .
For starters , Peter Navarro , an adviser to the president , said in an interview with Fox News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will take “ strong action ” against TikTok and a fellow Chinese-made social app , WeChat .
Worse from ByteDance ’ s perspective is that Navarro said the United States will not back down even if TikTok is sold to an American buyer .
Here ’ s Bloomberg : At the root of this concern is that no matter what ByteDance says about TikTok ’ s independence from Chinese governance , ultimately it must do whatever the country ’ s brutal , repressive authoritarian regime demands .
Russell Brandom examined American anxieties about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experts , the concern is less about mass data collection and more about targeted operations that are harder to detect .
Because TikTok maintains the standard level of invasive app access , the Chinese intelligence services could potentially use it as a portal to surveil specific users or gather compromising information .
The FBI has already raised the alarm about Chinese spies stealing US trade secrets , so that same access is even scarier for Amazon or Wells Fargo , which might plausibly have proprietary tech that China wants to steal .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressure on TikTok through its ownership , there will be ways to snoop on users without raising alarms .
That makes it hard for high-risk users to feel entirely safe , no matter what the app does .
Anxiety over foreign interference has reared its head before .
As recently as April , Zoom was caught rerouting external video calls through China , a behavior far more serious than anything we ’ ve seen from TikTok .
Equifax lost data from more than 100 million people ( possibly working for Russia , depending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is certainly more information than TikTok has ever had access to .
But there ’ s something about TikTok ’ s ownership entanglement that makes it harder to forgive .
Even if Zoom was careless or Equifax was outmatched , there ’ s a belief that they ’ re still fighting on the right side .
But political pressure can ’ t be fixed with security audits .
If you believe TikTok is collaborating with Chinese intelligence services , there ’ s simply nothing the company can do to reassure you .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ByteDance , either directly indirectly , to push a worldview that embraces censorship and political oppression on America and the world at large .
This is not an abstract fear — we have already seen it happen with content related to the NBA and Hong Kong , as Ben Thompson documented last year .
( TikTok says NBA content may not have appeared in those searches due to issues with language and localization , but were not actively removed from the platform . )
And censorship on the app still appears to reflect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reflects an American one ; only recently did the app ’ s censors begin allowing people with large tattoos , and what the company said was a bug temporarily appeared to hide content related to Black Lives Matter .
( The content was visible but a bug made the view count appear to be zero . )
It ’ s not a stretch to imagine Beijing eventually using TikTok to distribute propaganda — and without leaving any fingerprints , either .
And so : there are bans .
Amazon emailed employees telling them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , then backtracked .
Then Wells Fargo banned the app from corporate devices , and stuck to it .
The Democratic and Republican national committees have now both told staffers not to install the app on their phones for fear that TikTok could be sending back unspecified data to the Chinese government .
What sort of data ?
Well , more researchers have been looking into that .
At the Washington Post , Geoffrey Fowler asked Patrick Jackson of privacy company Disconnect to take a look .
“ TikTok doesn ’ t appear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook , ” Fowler writes .
“ That ’ s still an appalling amount of data to mine about the lives of Americans .
But there ’ s scant evidence that TikTok is sharing our data with China.
” He goes on : Which basically leaves us back where we started : with no evidence TikTok is doing anything extraordinarily shady with our data , and no evidence it could stop the Chinese government from forcing it to at any point .
Perhaps realizing that the app may be caught up in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stars have begun to panic .
In the New York Times , Taylor Lorenz finds young people worried about losing a key outlet for creative freedom during months of quarantine — and also , for some number of them , their livelihoods .
ByteDance is reportedly considering all manner of proposed solutions to keep TikTok alive around the world — it ’ s expected to generate $ 500 million in revenue this year , after all .
But it seems clear that whatever happens to TikTok , ByteDance itself won ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , of course , has been TikTok ’ s problem all along .
Facebook is considering a ban on political ads in the days leading up to the US election , Kurt Wagner reports at Bloomberg .
In some quarters , this was received as a capitulation to vocal calls for the company to ban political ads altogether .
In my view , it ’ s less a full-scale retreat than a reasonable balancing of equities .
Politicians get access to Facebook ’ s ad platform for the vast majority of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , their lies will still not be subject to fact-checking .
But in the waning days of the campaign , candidates will have to turn elsewhere for paid promotion .
That reduces the chances that a particularly vile ad goes massively viral before it can be removed , or before the free press can fact-check it and distribute any articles intended to debunk it .
It may also make life harder for challengers against well known incumbents , who could have used the final promotional push that Facebook ads provide .
( Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this outcome in the past . )
At the same time , they ’ ll still be able to post on their own pages where it seems to me they will be at just as great a risk of saying something terrible as they would in an ad .
And those posts might get even wider distribution than their ads , if history is any guide .
By this point , I ’ m more or less persuaded that an ad blackout in the days before the election — of the sort that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the right thing to do .
But I remain unconvinced it will make any significant difference in the basic logic of campaigning .
I heard from some frustrated venture capitalists last week after I wrote about Clubhouse , an audio-only social app currently in closed beta .
At that point Clubhouse had no in-app mechanisms for reporting harassment , and its community guidelines were little more than legal boilerplate .
But wasn ’ t I being a little too harsh on the co-founders , some of you wanted to know ?
Clubhouse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this really the time to beat them up over trust and safety issues ?
My answer is that this is precisely the time to start thinking about trust and safety .
For too long Silicon Valley social apps punted on these questions until they were bona fide crises .
I believe community standards are something that an app should launch with , rather than wait to develop until their first content moderation crisis .
If that ’ s me being “ unreasonable , ” it feels like the kind of unreasonable I can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I was heartened to see that over the weekend Clubhouse wrote a blog post about their dramatic week and posted some community guidelines .
The guidelines are at times comically naive — how , exactly , does an app that essentially consists of unlimited live phone calls intend to ensure that users “ not spread false information ” ?
But you ’ ve got to start somewhere , and I ’ m glad Clubhouse did .
Writing about Facebook last week , I said something I say a lot , which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech and civil rights violations would be smaller if Facebook itself were smaller .
Not everyone agrees with me .
Particularly people who work at Facebook , but also other people .
One of them ( and there were others ! )
is friend of the newsletter Evelyn Douek .
She writes : I agree the size matters and I probably think it should be broken up for other reasons , but I ’ m not sure it really solves any of the content moderation problems .
First , I think there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scale of the internet back in the tube .
People will find ways to share information across networks ; some of it will be awful .
[ ... ] The problems might be less extreme , and it sure would be nice to stop it being Mark ’ s Choice ( although there are other ways to do that too ... ) , but I don ’ t think they go away .
Second , we have the same concerns now about other , smaller platforms too .
E.g.
, Twitter .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when we knock them off Facebook .
Again , maybe we ’ re not as concerned , but I think the fundamental problem of how and who decides what content can be online remains , regardless of size .
I think Reddit is the strongest argument against decentralization solving it all .
In the end , we needed a powerful , centralized gatekeeper to come in and be a chokepoint .
The thing about powerful gatekeepers is they have power !
Points taken — but I don ’ t know .
The thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t just host hate speech , it ( almost always unwittingly ) recruits new adherents for that ideology through algorithmic promotion of emotionally charged posts and virulent right-wing groups .
At the end of the day , a smaller Facebook — which is to say , a Facebook that does not include Instagram or WhatsApp — has fewer potential recruits .
If there ’ s an argument that a smaller Facebook would somehow make our global hate speech problem worse , I still have yet to read it .
Today in news that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tech platforms ⬆ Trending up : Apple has allocated $ 400 million of a planned $ 2.5 billion to fight California ’ s housing crisis .
The first announced project will create ... 250 units of housing .
Trending sideways .
Google said it will invest $ 10 billion “ in India ’ s digital future ” .
I ’ m pretty sure this mostly means “ creating new Google customers , ” but we ’ ll see !
⬇ Trending down : Pinterest is “ hiding ” rather than removing content that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it remains discoverable — and is being actively promoted via algorithmic recommendations .
( Sarah Emerson / OneZero ) ⭐ California is reportedly planning its own antitrust investigation of Google .
The company ’ s home was conspicuously absent from the list of 48 states — along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia — that are taking part in a separate investigation led by Texas .
Leah Nylen reports : Google will likely argue that it does not control enough of the advertising industry to effectively set rates or outmaneuver its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a recent document sent to Australian regulators .
( David McCabe / New York Times ) Tech giants joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its efforts to strip foreign students of their visas .
“ In an amicus brief filed Monday , the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , as well as Facebook , Google , Twitter , Salesforce , Microsoft and more , sided with Harvard and MIT in their lawsuit against the U.S. government.
” ( Emily Birnbaum / Protocol ) The Supreme Court will hear a Facebook robocalling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2015 by non-Facebook user Noah Duguid , who complained that he ’ d been receiving unwanted text messages from the site.
” ( Adi Robertson / The Verge ) “ The three most prominent U.S. anti-vaccination organizations — National Vaccine Information Center , Children ’ s Health Defense , and Informed Consent Action Network — are using Facebook and other major social media platforms to lay the groundwork for widespread coronavirus vaccine rejection.
” ( Timothy Johnson / Media Matters ) “ Google may be able to stave off a full-scale EU antitrust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bid for Fitbit by pledging not to use Fitbit ’ s health data to help it target ads , people familiar with the matter said.
” ( Foo Yun Chee / Reuters ) The United States is retaliating against France ’ s imposition of a “ tech tax ” with new tariffs .
If you ’ re relying on French cosmetics , soap and handbags , to get through quarantine , they ’ re about to become more expensive .
( Jim Tankersley / New York Times ) Law enforcement authorities are using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social media related to protests .
Dataminr relies on Twitter to provide the full firehose of tweets , raising questions about its complicity in surveillance .
( Sam Biddle / The Intercept ) An unexpected bottleneck in COVID-19 response : the United States ’ dependence on fax machines .
( Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times ) The president of the Coalition for a Safer Web is calling for a new “ social media standards board.
” Marc Ginsberg says social networks should lose Section 230 immunity if they fail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Hill ) “ Social platforms are authoritarian spaces dressed up in borrowed democratic language , ” John Herrman writes in an essay about tech platforms insistence on calling themselves “ communities .
“ Their policies and rules are best understood as attempts at automation .
Stylistically , they ’ re laws .
Practically , and legally , they ’ re closer to software updates.
” ( New York Times ) Signal is storing user data on company servers for the first time , worrying security-minded users .
The company says the move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers , which is the status quo and raises security concerns of its own .
Everything is tradeoffs !
( Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Vice ) Twitch lifted its temporary ban on President Trump .
The president was prevented from streaming after airing an old rally in which he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “ rapists.
” ( Jake Kastrenakes / The Verge ) Trump just made his 20,000th false or misleading claim since becoming president .
That is not a typo .
( Glenn Kessler , Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly / Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pull one over on the president again .
They ’ re mad Trump has suggested the app be banned , and have been review-bombing the president ’ s official apps .
( Shelly Banjo and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou / Bloomberg ) India ’ s Supreme Court approved sending legal summonses via WhatsApp , Telegram and email .
Better check that “ other inbox ” !
( Abhimanyu Sharma / Times Now News ) ⭐ The pandemic has been an absolute gift to mobile apps .
Here ’ s Sarah Perez in TechCrunch : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down Friday after another bug in Facebook ’ s login SDK .
A nearly identical problem led to similar issues in May .
( James Vincent / The Verge ) After this woman was diagnosed with cancer , her Facebook feed came to be dominated by ads for phony “ alternative ” cures .
“ Interestingly , I haven ’ t seen any legitimate cancer care ads in my News Feed , ” she writes , “ just pseudoscience.
” ( Anne Borden King / New York Times ) Instagram banned gay conversion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question : you could post gay conversion therapy ads on Instagram ?
( Rob Picheta / CNN ) If you spend enough money on Facebook ads you can have dinner at Sheryl Sandberg ’ s house .
How the company ’ s efforts to build goodwill among its clients helped propel it to $ 71 billion in ad sales .
( Hannah Murphy / Financial Times ) Ime Archibong runs Facebook ’ s New Product Experimentation group and has become one of the highest-ranking Black leaders at the company .
He ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best-liked leaders , period .
( Sal Rodriguez / CNBC ) Twitter debates feel unproductive because no one is arguing in good faith any more , this piece argues .
Instead , people are skipping to the assumed end of the debate right away and trading ad hominem attacks .
( Lili Loofbourow / Slate ) “ Google ’ s campus security system subjected Black and Latinx workers to bias and prompted complaints to management , according to people familiar with the situation , leading the company to scrap a key part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg ) Watch TikToks of coronavirus cases rising and falling represented as rollercoaster rides .
Hats off to the project ’ s creator , 17-year-old Aidan Carroll .
Read Subtweets .
Every single issue to date has been a gift .
This one has essential reading on , among other things , Cake Twitter .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and political ads : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

I.
Last week I wrote about some of the forces putting the squeeze on TikTok — and, uncharacteristically for me when I write about TikTok, the course of events did not immediately reverse and put TikTok into a stronger position. Instead, by several measures, the situation for ByteDance’s popular video app got significantly worse.
For starters, Peter Navarro, an adviser to the president, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that he expects President Trump will take “strong action” against TikTok and a fellow Chinese-made social app, WeChat. Worse from ByteDance’s perspective is that Navarro said the United States will not back down even if TikTok is sold to an American buyer. Here’s Bloomberg:
The Trump administration is “just getting started” with the two apps, and he would not rule out the US banning them, Navarro said on Fox News on Sunday. Even if TikTok is sold to an American buyer, it would not solve the problem, he said. “If TikTok separates as an American company, that doesn’t help us,” Navarro said. “Because it’s going to be worse – we’re going to have to give China billions of dollars for the privilege of having TikTok operate on US soil.”
At the root of this concern is that no matter what ByteDance says about TikTok’s independence from Chinese governance, ultimately it must do whatever the country’s brutal, repressive authoritarian regime demands. Russell Brandom examined American anxieties about the app in The Verge:
For experts, the concern is less about mass data collection and more about targeted operations that are harder to detect. Because TikTok maintains the standard level of invasive app access, the Chinese intelligence services could potentially use it as a portal to surveil specific users or gather compromising information. The FBI has already raised the alarm about Chinese spies stealing US trade secrets, so that same access is even scarier for Amazon or Wells Fargo, which might plausibly have proprietary tech that China wants to steal. As long as the Chinese government can put pressure on TikTok through its ownership, there will be ways to snoop on users without raising alarms. That makes it hard for high-risk users to feel entirely safe, no matter what the app does. Anxiety over foreign interference has reared its head before. As recently as April, Zoom was caught rerouting external video calls through China, a behavior far more serious than anything we’ve seen from TikTok. Equifax lost data from more than 100 million people (possibly working for Russia, depending on who you believe), which is certainly more information than TikTok has ever had access to. But there’s something about TikTok’s ownership entanglement that makes it harder to forgive. Even if Zoom was careless or Equifax was outmatched, there’s a belief that they’re still fighting on the right side. But political pressure can’t be fixed with security audits. If you believe TikTok is collaborating with Chinese intelligence services, there’s simply nothing the company can do to reassure you.
The other fear is that China will influence ByteDance, either directly indirectly, to push a worldview that embraces censorship and political oppression on America and the world at large. This is not an abstract fear — we have already seen it happen with content related to the NBA and Hong Kong, as Ben Thompson documented last year. (TikTok says NBA content may not have appeared in those searches due to issues with language and localization, but were not actively removed from the platform.) And censorship on the app still appears to reflect a Chinese worldview far more than it reflects an American one; only recently did the app’s censors begin allowing people with large tattoos, and what the company said was a bug temporarily appeared to hide content related to Black Lives Matter. (The content was visible but a bug made the view count appear to be zero.) It’s not a stretch to imagine Beijing eventually using TikTok to distribute propaganda — and without leaving any fingerprints, either.
And so: there are bans. Amazon emailed employees telling them to delete the app from corporate phones, then backtracked. Then Wells Fargo banned the app from corporate devices, and stuck to it. The Democratic and Republican national committees have now both told staffers not to install the app on their phones for fear that TikTok could be sending back unspecified data to the Chinese government.
What sort of data? Well, more researchers have been looking into that. At the Washington Post, Geoffrey Fowler asked Patrick Jackson of privacy company Disconnect to take a look. “TikTok doesn’t appear to grab any more personal information than Facebook,” Fowler writes. “That’s still an appalling amount of data to mine about the lives of Americans. But there’s scant evidence that TikTok is sharing our data with China.” He goes on:
Jackson, from Disconnect, said the app sends an “abnormal” amount of information from devices to its computers. When he opened TikTok, he found approximately 210 network requests in the first nine seconds, totaling over 500 kilobytes of data sent from the app to the Internet. (That’s equivalent to half a megabyte, or 125 pages of typed data.) Much of it was information about the phone (like screen resolution and the Apple advertising identifier) that could be used to “fingerprint” your device even when you’re not logged in. And there is a hole in our ability to verify all of what TikTok does. Jackson said the app uses some technical measures to encode its activity, meaning some of it is hidden from independent researchers looking under the covers. “In order to disrupt hackers and those who wish to manipulate the app, we use obfuscation to help reduce automated attacks, like bots,” [a spokeswoman] said.
Which basically leaves us back where we started: with no evidence TikTok is doing anything extraordinarily shady with our data, and no evidence it could stop the Chinese government from forcing it to at any point.
Perhaps realizing that the app may be caught up in an intractable conflict between global superpowers, TikTok stars have begun to panic. In the New York Times, Taylor Lorenz finds young people worried about losing a key outlet for creative freedom during months of quarantine — and also, for some number of them, their livelihoods.
Influencers who watched the fall of Vine, another popular short-form video app, in 2016 learned the importance of diversifying one’s audience across platforms. But even for TikTok’s biggest stars, moving an audience from one platform to another is a huge undertaking. “I have 7 million followers on TikTok, but it doesn’t translate to every platform,” said Nick Austin, 20. “I only have 3 million on Instagram and 500,000 on YouTube. No matter what it’s going to be hard to transfer all the people I have on TikTok.”
ByteDance is reportedly considering all manner of proposed solutions to keep TikTok alive around the world — it’s expected to generate $500 million in revenue this year, after all. But it seems clear that whatever happens to TikTok, ByteDance itself won’t be in control of the outcome.
And that, of course, has been TikTok’s problem all along.
II.
Facebook is considering a ban on political ads in the days leading up to the US election, Kurt Wagner reports at Bloomberg. In some quarters, this was received as a capitulation to vocal calls for the company to ban political ads altogether. In my view, it’s less a full-scale retreat than a reasonable balancing of equities. Politicians get access to Facebook’s ad platform for the vast majority of the campaign — and for the most part, their lies will still not be subject to fact-checking.
But in the waning days of the campaign, candidates will have to turn elsewhere for paid promotion. That reduces the chances that a particularly vile ad goes massively viral before it can be removed, or before the free press can fact-check it and distribute any articles intended to debunk it.
It may also make life harder for challengers against well known incumbents, who could have used the final promotional push that Facebook ads provide. (Democrats and Republicans have been equally concerned about this outcome in the past.)
At the same time, they’ll still be able to post on their own pages where it seems to me they will be at just as great a risk of saying something terrible as they would in an ad. And those posts might get even wider distribution than their ads, if history is any guide.
By this point, I’m more or less persuaded that an ad blackout in the days before the election — of the sort that is already common in the Australia — is the right thing to do. But I remain unconvinced it will make any significant difference in the basic logic of campaigning.
Pushback: the Clubhouse rules
I heard from some frustrated venture capitalists last week after I wrote about Clubhouse, an audio-only social app currently in closed beta. At that point Clubhouse had no in-app mechanisms for reporting harassment, and its community guidelines were little more than legal boilerplate. But wasn’t I being a little too harsh on the co-founders, some of you wanted to know? Clubhouse has just two full-time employees; is this really the time to beat them up over trust and safety issues?
My answer is that this is precisely the time to start thinking about trust and safety. For too long Silicon Valley social apps punted on these questions until they were bona fide crises. I believe community standards are something that an app should launch with, rather than wait to develop until their first content moderation crisis. If that’s me being “unreasonable,” it feels like the kind of unreasonable I can feel good about.
In any case, I was heartened to see that over the weekend Clubhouse wrote a blog post about their dramatic week and posted some community guidelines. The guidelines are at times comically naive — how, exactly, does an app that essentially consists of unlimited live phone calls intend to ensure that users “not spread false information”?
But you’ve got to start somewhere, and I’m glad Clubhouse did.
Pushback: Facebook’s size
Writing about Facebook last week, I said something I say a lot, which is that Facebook’s problems with hate speech and civil rights violations would be smaller if Facebook itself were smaller. Not everyone agrees with me. Particularly people who work at Facebook, but also other people. One of them (and there were others!) is friend of the newsletter Evelyn Douek. She writes:
I agree the size matters and I probably think it should be broken up for other reasons, but I’m not sure it really solves any of the content moderation problems. First, I think there’s no putting these concerns or the scale of the internet back in the tube. People will find ways to share information across networks; some of it will be awful. [...] The problems might be less extreme, and it sure would be nice to stop it being Mark’s Choice (although there are other ways to do that too...), but I don’t think they go away. Second, we have the same concerns now about other, smaller platforms too. E.g., Twitter. And we worry about where the extremists go when we knock them off Facebook. Again, maybe we’re not as concerned, but I think the fundamental problem of how and who decides what content can be online remains, regardless of size. I think Reddit is the strongest argument against decentralization solving it all. In the end, we needed a powerful, centralized gatekeeper to come in and be a chokepoint. The thing about powerful gatekeepers is they have power!
Points taken — but I don’t know. The thing about Facebook is that it doesn’t just host hate speech, it (almost always unwittingly) recruits new adherents for that ideology through algorithmic promotion of emotionally charged posts and virulent right-wing groups. At the end of the day, a smaller Facebook — which is to say, a Facebook that does not include Instagram or WhatsApp — has fewer potential recruits. If there’s an argument that a smaller Facebook would somehow make our global hate speech problem worse, I still have yet to read it.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms
⬆ Trending up: Apple has allocated $400 million of a planned $2.5 billion to fight California’s housing crisis. The first announced project will create ... 250 units of housing.
🔃Trending sideways. Google said it will invest $10 billion “in India’s digital future”. I’m pretty sure this mostly means “creating new Google customers,” but we’ll see!
Governing
⭐ California is reportedly planning its own antitrust investigation of Google. The company’s home was conspicuously absent from the list of 48 states — along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia — that are taking part in a separate investigation led by Texas. Leah Nylen reports:
The California antitrust probe is a separate investigation from the multi-state effort, two of the individuals said. All of the individuals spoke on condition of anonymity to talk openly about a confidential probe. Alabama is now the only state that is not investigating the company. It was not immediately clear what aspect of Google’s business California is targeting. A spokesperson for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra declined to comment.
Google will likely argue that it does not control enough of the advertising industry to effectively set rates or outmaneuver its competitors. The company argued as much in a recent document sent to Australian regulators. (David McCabe / New York Times)
Tech giants joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its efforts to strip foreign students of their visas. “In an amicus brief filed Monday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Salesforce, Microsoft and more, sided with Harvard and MIT in their lawsuit against the U.S. government.” (Emily Birnbaum / Protocol)
The Supreme Court will hear a Facebook robocalling case. “Facebook was sued in 2015 by non-Facebook user Noah Duguid, who complained that he’d been receiving unwanted text messages from the site.” (Adi Robertson / The Verge)
The United States is retaliating against France’s imposition of a “tech tax” with new tariffs. If you’re relying on French cosmetics, soap and handbags, to get through quarantine, they’re about to become more expensive. (Jim Tankersley / New York Times)
An unexpected bottleneck in COVID-19 response: the United States’ dependence on fax machines. (Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times)
“Social platforms are authoritarian spaces dressed up in borrowed democratic language,” John Herrman writes in an essay about tech platforms insistence on calling themselves “communities. “Their policies and rules are best understood as attempts at automation. Stylistically, they’re laws. Practically, and legally, they’re closer to software updates.” (New York Times)
Signal is storing user data on company servers for the first time, worrying security-minded users. The company says the move will let users communicate without sharing phone numbers, which is the status quo and raises security concerns of its own. Everything is tradeoffs! (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Vice)
Twitch lifted its temporary ban on President Trump. The president was prevented from streaming after airing an old rally in which he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “rapists.” (Jake Kastrenakes / The Verge)
Trump just made his 20,000th false or misleading claim since becoming president. That is not a typo. (Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly / Washington Post)
Rascally TikTok teens are trying to pull one over on the president again. They’re mad Trump has suggested the app be banned, and have been review-bombing the president’s official apps. (Shelly Banjo and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou / Bloomberg)
India’s Supreme Court approved sending legal summonses via WhatsApp, Telegram and email. Better check that “other inbox”! (Abhimanyu Sharma / Times Now News)
Industry
⭐ The pandemic has been an absolute gift to mobile apps. Here’s Sarah Perez in TechCrunch:
As the world continued to cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the second quarter of 2020 became the largest yet for mobile app downloads, usage and consumer spending. According to new data from app store intelligence firm App Annie, mobile app usage grew 40% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020, even hitting an all-time high of over 200 billion hours during April. Consumer spending in apps, meanwhile, hit a record high of $27 billion in the second quarter. And app downloads reached a high of nearly 35 billion. The growth in app usage has been fueled by social distancing and lockdown measures, as countries around the world try to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus.
After this woman was diagnosed with cancer, her Facebook feed came to be dominated by ads for phony “alternative” cures. “Interestingly, I haven’t seen any legitimate cancer care ads in my News Feed,” she writes, “just pseudoscience.” (Anne Borden King / New York Times)
Instagram banned gay conversion therapy ads on Friday. Raising the question: you could post gay conversion therapy ads on Instagram? (Rob Picheta / CNN)
If you spend enough money on Facebook ads you can have dinner at Sheryl Sandberg’s house. How the company’s efforts to build goodwill among its clients helped propel it to $71 billion in ad sales. (Hannah Murphy / Financial Times)
Ime Archibong runs Facebook’s New Product Experimentation group and has become one of the highest-ranking Black leaders at the company. He’s also one of the company’s best-liked leaders, period. (Sal Rodriguez / CNBC)
Twitter debates feel unproductive because no one is arguing in good faith any more, this piece argues. Instead, people are skipping to the assumed end of the debate right away and trading ad hominem attacks. (Lili Loofbourow / Slate)
Things to do
Watch TikToks of coronavirus cases rising and falling represented as rollercoaster rides. Hats off to the project’s creator, 17-year-old Aidan Carroll.
Read Subtweets. Every single issue to date has been a gift. This one has essential reading on, among other things, Cake Twitter.
Those good tweets
Talk to us


theverge--2020-07-14--Amazon’s new smart shopping cart lets you check out without a cashier

Amazon is expanding its real-world footprint with another unconventional physical product : a shopping cart .
While it certainly looks like an aesthetic upgrade to your standard grocery store cart , the Dash Cart , as it ’ s called , is in fact a smart version of the tried-and-true food transport vehicle .
It ’ s equipped with a touchscreen and other various hardware components to automatically detect what items you ’ re placing inside and even how many of those items you ’ ve picked off the shelf .
When you ’ re done shopping , you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a special lane that checks you out digitally without requiring a human cashier to ring you up .
The idea builds on Amazon ’ s approach of trying to take the convenience it ’ s mastered in the digital realm and bring it into the real world .
For years now , Amazon has been trying to apply all the learning its picked up from developing Alexa-powered products , including microwaves and wall clocks , and establishing a brick-and-mortar presence through its Whole Foods acquisition and growing Amazon Go store network .
Those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that bridge the digital and physical , if only in small and experimental bursts .
The Dash Cart links with your Amazon account and tracks the items you place inside The Dash Cart is coming first to Amazon ’ s grocery store in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles .
The store , first confirmed last year , is not an Amazon Go store , meaning it does not have the cameras , sensors , and other equipment built into the ceiling for automatically detecting items you take off the shelves .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyday grocery store , only it has smart Amazon-made grocery carts for you to use .
The store is up and running for fulfilling online grocery orders , but the physical space isn ’ t yet open to the public ; Amazon says it ’ s aiming to open the store later this year .
The store joins Amazon ’ s network of existing Whole Foods locations and its larger-format Amazon Go grocery store that opened in Seattle back in February .
It ’ s not clear why Amazon is opting for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than two dozen Go stores and a planned second Go Grocery in the works for the Redmond area of Washington .
On one hand , it could be that the Go model is hard to scale at the size necessary for a full-service grocery store ; the Go Grocery in Seattle is on the smaller side , while the new Woodland Hills location is reportedly at the site of a former Toys “ R ” Us , which is certainty much larger .
There ’ s also the privacy question , and whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surveillance approach is maybe not as palatable as a smart shopping cart a consumer must opt in to use .
That said , it does seem as if scaling its cashierless approach either from a privacy perspective or a technical one is a challenge Amazon is trying to overcome , and the cart is one to do that in a small and manageable fashion .
For now , Amazon isn ’ t ready to use the Dash Cart technology beyond low-key grocery trips .
So the device can handle up to about two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t do a full cart quite yet .
That means the Woodland Hills store will have standard carts and standard checkout lanes for all the customers who are shopping for more than what the Dash Cart will allow .
But other than that , Amazon ’ s Dilip Kumar , the company ’ s vice president of physical retail and technology , tells The Verge everything else is fair game , including produce and other food items not contained in traditional packaging .
“ [ The Dash Cart ] has a ring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ computer vision and weight sensors to determine not just the item , but the quantity of the item , ” he says .
For an item like , say , an apple , the touchscreen on the cart itself allows you to input the price look-up code of the item before you place it in the cart to be weighed and added to your order .
The Dash Cart will weigh items and its touchscreen lets you input PLU codes The cart processes your order at the end of the trip only because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amazon account on your phone and scanned it at the beginning of the grocery trip .
The cart also has a coupon scanner built in and supports Amazon ’ s Alexa shopping lists feature .
When you finish shopping , Amazon says dedicated Dash Cart lanes let you just exit the store without dealing with payments or waiting in a checkout line .
Amazon isn ’ t saying whether this cart will make it out of the Woodland Hills store , as the company doesn ’ t typically talk about new locations or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ store expansion .
But there is a good chance that , in the event the Dash Cart is a hit among consumers , Amazon could be rolling this out elsewhere .
It ’ s easy to see , for instance , how such a device might function in a Whole Foods store and help cut down on checkout times , although perhaps there might even be waits to use the carts themselves , if it works as well as advertised .

Amazon is expanding its real-world footprint with another unconventional physical product: a shopping cart. While it certainly looks like an aesthetic upgrade to your standard grocery store cart, the Dash Cart, as it’s called, is in fact a smart version of the tried-and-true food transport vehicle.
It’s equipped with a touchscreen and other various hardware components to automatically detect what items you’re placing inside and even how many of those items you’ve picked off the shelf. When you’re done shopping, you’re allowed to take the cart through a special lane that checks you out digitally without requiring a human cashier to ring you up.
The idea builds on Amazon’s approach of trying to take the convenience it’s mastered in the digital realm and bring it into the real world. For years now, Amazon has been trying to apply all the learning its picked up from developing Alexa-powered products, including microwaves and wall clocks, and establishing a brick-and-mortar presence through its Whole Foods acquisition and growing Amazon Go store network. Those efforts are now resulting in hybrid products that bridge the digital and physical, if only in small and experimental bursts.
The Dash Cart links with your Amazon account and tracks the items you place inside
The Dash Cart is coming first to Amazon’s grocery store in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The store, first confirmed last year, is not an Amazon Go store, meaning it does not have the cameras, sensors, and other equipment built into the ceiling for automatically detecting items you take off the shelves. Instead, this is your standard, everyday grocery store, only it has smart Amazon-made grocery carts for you to use. The store is up and running for fulfilling online grocery orders, but the physical space isn’t yet open to the public; Amazon says it’s aiming to open the store later this year. The store joins Amazon’s network of existing Whole Foods locations and its larger-format Amazon Go grocery store that opened in Seattle back in February.
It’s not clear why Amazon is opting for a more traditional store, given its more than two dozen Go stores and a planned second Go Grocery in the works for the Redmond area of Washington. On one hand, it could be that the Go model is hard to scale at the size necessary for a full-service grocery store; the Go Grocery in Seattle is on the smaller side, while the new Woodland Hills location is reportedly at the site of a former Toys “R” Us, which is certainty much larger. There’s also the privacy question, and whether the Go format’s tracking and surveillance approach is maybe not as palatable as a smart shopping cart a consumer must opt in to use.
Photo: Amazon
That said, it does seem as if scaling its cashierless approach either from a privacy perspective or a technical one is a challenge Amazon is trying to overcome, and the cart is one to do that in a small and manageable fashion. For now, Amazon isn’t ready to use the Dash Cart technology beyond low-key grocery trips. So the device can handle up to about two bags of items, but it can’t do a full cart quite yet. That means the Woodland Hills store will have standard carts and standard checkout lanes for all the customers who are shopping for more than what the Dash Cart will allow.
But other than that, Amazon’s Dilip Kumar, the company’s vice president of physical retail and technology, tells The Verge everything else is fair game, including produce and other food items not contained in traditional packaging. “[The Dash Cart] has a ring of cameras, a scale, and computer vision and weight sensors to determine not just the item, but the quantity of the item,” he says. For an item like, say, an apple, the touchscreen on the cart itself allows you to input the price look-up code of the item before you place it in the cart to be weighed and added to your order.
The Dash Cart will weigh items and its touchscreen lets you input PLU codes
The cart processes your order at the end of the trip only because you’ve first signed into your Amazon account on your phone and scanned it at the beginning of the grocery trip. The cart also has a coupon scanner built in and supports Amazon’s Alexa shopping lists feature. When you finish shopping, Amazon says dedicated Dash Cart lanes let you just exit the store without dealing with payments or waiting in a checkout line.


theverge--2020-07-14--Mythbusters host Grant Imahara dies at 49

Grant Imahara , the engineer who co-hosted Mythbusters for Discovery and White Rabbit Project on Netflix , has suddenly died at the age of 49 .
“ We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant , ” Discovery said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety .
“ He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man .
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
” Imahara died from a brain aneurysm , according to The Hollywood Reporter .
After a career as an engineer at Lucasfilm ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mythbusters in the show ’ s third season , and left in 2014 alongside co-hosts Kari Byron and Tory Belleci ; the trio reunited for Netflix ’ s White Rabbit Project in 2016 .
He was also active in the robot combat community , regularly appearing on BattleBots in the early 2000s with his robot Deadblow and later returning as a judge .
In 2018 , Imahara hosted Home of the Future , a web series co-produced by The Verge and Curbed .
“ I ’ m at a loss , ” former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweet .
“ No words .
I ’ ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years .
Grant was a truly brilliant engineer , artist and performer , but also just such a generous , easygoing , and gentle PERSON .
Working with Grant was so much fun .
I ’ ll miss my friend .
”

Grant Imahara, the engineer who co-hosted Mythbusters for Discovery and White Rabbit Project on Netflix, has suddenly died at the age of 49. “We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” Discovery said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.” Imahara died from a brain aneurysm, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After a career as an engineer at Lucasfilm’s THX and ILM divisions, Imahara joined Mythbusters in the show’s third season, and left in 2014 alongside co-hosts Kari Byron and Tory Belleci; the trio reunited for Netflix’s White Rabbit Project in 2016. He was also active in the robot combat community, regularly appearing on BattleBots in the early 2000s with his robot Deadblow and later returning as a judge. In 2018, Imahara hosted Home of the Future, a web series co-produced by The Verge and Curbed.