theverge--2020-09-01--Sonos patent gives possible first look at unannounced headphones

A newly awarded patent suggests that Sonos is still hard at work on its debut pair of wireless headphones , and gives us a look at their possible design and functionality , Protocol reports .
The patent shows a couple of designs that look similar to other over-ear headphones from the likes of Sony and Sennheiser .
It also mentions support for multiple voice assistants via wake words , as well as Sonos-specific features like integrating with an existing multi-room speaker setup .
There have been reports that Sonos is working on a pair of headphones for over a year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first to report on their existence , and said that the audio company was working on a pair of headphones that would cost over $ 300 and would include support for multiple voice assistants .
Sonos speakers support both Amazon “ Alexa ” and “ Hey Google ” wake words .
Bloomberg reported that the headphones could launch in 2020 .
Sonos ’ patent suggests that the company ’ s headphones might integrate seamlessly into its existing smart speaker ecosystem .
Protocol points to one section of the patent that describes how the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another device on the local network , suggesting that the headphones may be able to handoff music to a set of home speakers .
Tying into its existing ecosystem of speakers is important for Sonos , which relies on repeat purchases from existing customers to grow .
Releasing a pair of portable headphones would be a big change of pace for Sonos , which has historically focused on making wireless speakers for the home .
It ’ s also been resistant to using Bluetooth audio , which is pretty much your only option @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
However , late last year the company released the Sonos Move , its first portable , battery-powered speaker which also works using Bluetooth , indicating that this attitude is changing .
A spokesperson from Sonos declined to confirm the existence of the headphones in a statement given to Protocol .
“ As a company founded in innovation , we ’ re always working on different ideas and innovations that can help the world listen better , ” they said , adding , “ We continue to make investments in our strong patent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
We do not have additional information to share at this time regarding our future product roadmap.
” News of its possible entry into a new product category comes at an important time for Sonos , which has struggled amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
It announced in June that it would be laying off 12 percent of its workforce and close its retail stores in Manhattan along with six satellite offices .
In August , investors grew concerned with supply shortages affecting product availability .
Sonos is also currently engaged in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the search giant stole its smart speaker tech ( Google has countersued for patent infringement ) , and has leveled similar accusations at Amazon .

A newly awarded patent suggests that Sonos is still hard at work on its debut pair of wireless headphones, and gives us a look at their possible design and functionality, Protocol reports. The patent shows a couple of designs that look similar to other over-ear headphones from the likes of Sony and Sennheiser. It also mentions support for multiple voice assistants via wake words, as well as Sonos-specific features like integrating with an existing multi-room speaker setup.
There have been reports that Sonos is working on a pair of headphones for over a year now. In early 2019 Bloomberg was first to report on their existence, and said that the audio company was working on a pair of headphones that would cost over $300 and would include support for multiple voice assistants. Sonos speakers support both Amazon “Alexa” and “Hey Google” wake words. Bloomberg reported that the headphones could launch in 2020.
Yep, sure looks like headphones. Image: USPTO / Sonos
Sonos’ patent suggests that the company’s headphones might integrate seamlessly into its existing smart speaker ecosystem. Protocol points to one section of the patent that describes how the headphones would “swap” playback to another device on the local network, suggesting that the headphones may be able to handoff music to a set of home speakers. Tying into its existing ecosystem of speakers is important for Sonos, which relies on repeat purchases from existing customers to grow.
Releasing a pair of portable headphones would be a big change of pace for Sonos, which has historically focused on making wireless speakers for the home. It’s also been resistant to using Bluetooth audio, which is pretty much your only option if you want to make wireless headphones. However, late last year the company released the Sonos Move, its first portable, battery-powered speaker which also works using Bluetooth, indicating that this attitude is changing.


theverge--2020-09-01--What Facebook should do about its Kenosha problem

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Today let ’ s talk about the controversy around a militia organizing on Facebook , the violence that followed , and where that leaves the company heading into this week ’ s planned visit by the president to Kenosha , WI , threatening to stoke more unrest .
Kenosha police shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back last week , leading to protests in the city .
Two people were killed and a third was injured in a shooting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the shootings .
The afternoon before the murders , a 3,000-member Facebook group calling themselves the Kenosha Guard had advertised an event on Facebook encouraging an armed response to the unrest .
It was taken down after the shooting .
My colleague Russell Brandom broke the news at The Verge : Facebook said it had not found any digital link between the accused shooter and the Kenosha Guard .
Which is to say : his Facebook account did not follow the Kenosha Guard page , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to the event .
Did the shooter see the post , though ?
No one at Facebook could tell me today when I asked .
At the same time , Brandom reported that the group had been reported multiple times as violating the company ’ s policies against militias — but the account was nonetheless found to be “ non-violating , ” in content moderator parlance .
Why ?
That ’ s still under investigation inside Facebook , a source familiar with the subject told me .
The basic , implicit bargain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States sounds something like this .
Platforms agree to remove hate speech , incitements to violence , and other terrible posts , and as long as they do so in a timely fashion they can continue to operate .
This bargain has many flaws — it ’ s more of a gentleman ’ s agreement than a law , and platforms break it in spirit and letter all the time .
( This is one of the main reasons that both the candidates for president say they want to get rid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law that enables the current bargain . )
But it ’ s the status quo and has been for a long time .
The best way to understand the controversy around the Kenosha Guard page is that Facebook broke this implicit bargain .
The reason is that Facebook users had done their part — and as Ryan Mac reported at BuzzFeed , they had arguably done more than their part ( emphasis mine ) : Ultimately , CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a portion of his weekly Q & A with employees publicly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ operational mistake.
” There are a few things to say about this .
The first is that , strange as it may seem , the Kenosha Guard ’ s page might not have been found to be in violation of Facebook ’ s policies at all had the company not changed them quite recently .
On August 19th , Facebook banned “ US-based militia groups ” as part of an effort that made bigger headlines for removing a bunch of QAnon groups .
That ’ s the policy under which the page @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moderators could have elected to take it down for inciting violence , but it isn ’ t guaranteed .
One question coming out of the Kenosha incident is whether Facebook is attempting to remove these militia groups proactively or whether it ’ s relying on user reports instead .
A source told me that for the most part , it ’ s going to be the former .
Facebook has better insights into the growth and operations of pages like this on its network than average users do , I ’ m told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always a great signal — often people will-mass report benign posts for malicious reasons .
That may be one reason the Kenosha Guard page wasn ’ t caught sooner — Facebook is generally less sensitive to seeing a spike in user reports than it is to seeing a spikes in views and growth .
The Kenosha Guard page wasn ’ t getting a lot of either , at least not in Facebook terms , I ’ m told .
That doesn ’ t explain why the moderators who saw the page didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the page , though , which leads me to the second thing worth saying about the Kenosha incident .
When Facebook ’ s policies change — which they do frequently — it often takes time for those policies to be understood , and effectively enforced , by the company ’ s roughly 15,000 outsourced content moderators .
One of the conclusions I came to after spending last year reporting on the lives of Facebook ’ s content moderators in America is that they often lack the necessary context for effectively enforcing the policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that supplemental resources from Facebook and its third-party vendors are often lacking or contain errors themselves .
Moderators also generally give users wide latitude in their posts to discuss events that were even faintly political , even when those posts seem obvious on their face , a former Facebook moderator told me Sunday .
“ We would get examples like “ shoot immigrants , ” “ shoot at immigrants , ” and variations of this , ” the moderator said .
“ People would defend leaving stuff like that up because ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to physically hit them necessarily , they can just be talking about using guns to defend the border/property.
’ ” The moderator continued : “ Essentially , in Facebook ’ s moderator population , they have tons of people who see no problem with things like ‘ bring all your guns.
’ ” Officially , moderators are not supposed to have any leeway in how they enforce Facebook policies .
But in practice , of course they do — there ’ s a lot of gray area in those policies ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calls ; and only a fraction of their decisions are ever audited to ensure fidelity to the written policy .
Add to all that the fact that a majority of Facebook ’ s moderators are located in gun-friendly states like Texas , and you begin to understand why the Kenosha Guard page may not have come down immediately .
So what to do about all this ?
Facebook is continuing to roll out its ban on militias , and it seems likely that a few months from now it will be more effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the network than it is today .
The big question , of course , is to what extent that can happen before the election and its immediate aftermath , when tensions will be at their highest .
Several reports last week found that Facebook still has a lot of work to do on that front .
Another thing the company could consider is publishing a public report about the incident .
The investigation now underway into whether the alleged shooter saw the page in question , why moderators initially dismissed reports , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all subjects of legitimate public interest .
Facebook led the way in publishing quarterly “ transparency reports ” about their enforcement actions — the company could earn some much-needed goodwill by publishing occasional public reports about its high-profile missteps , too .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms .
⬆ Trending up : Facebook is teaming up with academics across the country to determine whether the platform is influencing the 2020 election , although the results won ’ t be public until the election is over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of the study , a research team will split them into groups and begin tinkering with their News Feeds and ad experiences .
This is excellent news .
( Issie Lapowsky / Protocol ) Trending down : Apple refused to waive its 30 percent fee on a Facebook tool that would let influencers and businesses host paid events as a way to offset revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Apple also rejected Facebook ’ s attempt to alert users that some of their money would go toward this fee .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) Trending down : Google declined to remove ads containing “ blatant disinformation ” about mail-in voting .
The ads , sponsored by the shadowy group Protect My Vote , falsely suggest there is a meaningful difference between mail-in voting and casting an absentee ballot .
( Isaac Stanley-Becker / The Washington Post ) Trending down : Militia groups are continuing to show up on Facebook despite the company ’ s recent ban on those that call for violence on its platform .
Many are openly advocating for violence against protesters .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison is now the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the country — a disaster that stemmed from a decision the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation made in late May to move men away from a prison in Chino , CA , that was having an outbreak of its own .
At the time , San Quentin had no known cases of COVID-19 .
Within a month , more than a third of people there had the virus .
By August , 24 inmates were dead .
America ’ s failure to stop the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key piece of its failure to contain the virus at large .
From March through the beginning of June , the number of COVID-19 cases in US prisons grew at a rate of around 8 percent per day , compared to 3 percent in the general population .
Of the top 20 largest disease clusters in the country , 19 are in prisons or jails .
At San Quentin , the outbreak spurred a slew of conspiracy theories among the inmates and staff .
Speaking to The Verge on contraband cellphones , men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on purpose to kill off the prison population .
“ The governor said they weren ’ t going to execute people on death row anymore .
So they sent the virus here to do what ?
To kill off people on death row , ” one inmate told The Verge .
“ They cost more money than anyone else here .
So people like me are getting swept up in the process.
” — Zoe Schiffer and Nicole Wetsman ⭐ TikTok has reportedly chosen a bidder for its US , New Zealand and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deal as soon as Tuesday .
( A lot of folks are skeptical about the timing being so fast , though . )
Here are Steve Kovach and Alex Sherman at CNBC : China announced new restrictions on artificial-intelligence technology exports that could complicate the sale of TikTok ’ s US operations .
The new restrictions cover text analysis , content recommendation , speech modeling and voice-recognition .
These technologies can ’ t be exported without a license from local commerce authorities .
( Eva Xiao and Liza Lin / The Wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Washington could give it a powerful advantage against other tech giants in its bid for TikTok .
While the company was once a cautionary tale of an arrogant tech company caught off-guard by government scrutiny , it has built deep ties with lawmakers .
( Karen Weise and David McCabe / The New York Times ) The rise of social commerce in China could help explain why Walmart is interested in buying TikTok .
There , buying stuff on social media platforms is a massive driver of new business .
( Sherisse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees to draw up a contingency plan in case the app has to shut down in the US .
Trump has ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States , which it is currently trying to do .
( Echo Wang and Greg Roumeliotis / Reuters ) TikTok is thriving in Southeast Asia as it implements a strategy of quickly launching non-political products and promising governments that content will be highly policed in accordance with local laws .
Finally some good news for this app !
( Fanny Potkin / Reuters ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TikTok creators Bryce Hall and Blake Gray for allegedly throwing a series of parties in violation of public health restrictions .
“ If you have a combined 19 million followers on TikTok , and in the middle of a public health crisis , you should modeling great behavior and best practices rather than brazenly violating the law , ” Feuer said .
( Julia Alexander / The Verge ) Trump ’ s “ silent majority ” only seems silent because we ’ re not looking at conservative Facebook feeds , this piece argues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook , Trump ’ s response to COVID-19 has been effective , Joe Biden is barely capable of forming sentences , and Black Lives Matter is a dangerous group of violent looters .
( None of these things are true !
Just underlining that one more time . )
( Kevin Roose / The New York Times ) The Trump campaign is urging people to request their ballots with a flood of Facebook ads , even as the president spreads misinformation about vote by mail fraud .
The ads also double as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Issie Lapowsky / Protocol ) Facebook quietly removed the “ multicultural affinity ” categories on its ad platform , ending the ability of advertisers to target users by race .
It was a huge reversal for Facebook , which had defended its racial ad categories for years .
( Julia Angwin / The Markup ) Facebook has a responsibility to support free speech and democracy in Thailand , argues the person who set up the Facebook Group that was recently blocked in the country at the request of the Thai government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticism of the royal family , which Facebook was forced to comply with , though it is now suing the Thai government .
( Pavin Chachavalpongpun / The Washington Post ) Facebook has been allowing advertisers to target users in mainland China , although the social network has been blocked there since 2009 .
Facebook said this is not a mistake , adding : “ there are various technical ways a very small fraction of people in China may be able to access Facebook and see ads.
” ( Sarah Frier / Bloomberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a political storm in India previously posted about her support for the Hindu nationalist party and disparaged its main rival in an employee-only Facebook group .
Some staff say the posts conflict with the company ’ s pledge to remain neutral in elections around the world .
( Jeff Horwitz and Newley Purnell / The Wall Street Journal ) Mark Zuckerberg said Apple has a “ unique stranglehold ” on what goes on the iPhone , adding that the App Store blocks innovation and competition and allows Apple to charge “ monopoly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook all-hands meeting last week .
( Pranav Dixit and Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed ) Apple suspended Epic Games ’ developer account on Friday .
The account that does not include the Unreal Engine used by third-party developers , which keeps the move in line with the temporary restraining order a judge passed earlier last week .
( Todd Haselton / CNBC ) Apple ’ s new App Store appeals process is live .
Now , developers can challenge Apple over whether their app is in fact violating one of its guidelines .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ anyone actually wins an appeal here !
( Nick Statt / The Verge ) Twitter blocked three accounts associated with a spam operation that pushed a viral message claiming to be a Black Lives Matter protestor who was changing to vote Republican .
The fake accounts received tens of thousands of shares in the past month .
( Ben Collins / NBC ) Twitter placed a “ manipulated media ” label on a tweet from Rep. Steve Scalise ( R-LA ) , which showed a video of activist Ady Barkan , who has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The video was edited to change a question Barkan asked Joe Biden .
( Kim Lyons / The Verge ) Twitter launched a search prompt to guide people to visit vote.gov for accurate information on how to register to vote .
Accurate information on Twitter — we love to see it !
( Twitter ) The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chair Joe Simons , a Republican who has publicly resisted Trump ’ s efforts to crack down on social media platforms .
The FTC would play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s efforts to combat what he alleges is anti-conservative bias at companies like Twitter .
( Leah Nylen , Betsy Woodruff Swan , John Hendel and Daniel Lippman / Politico ) Contact tracing is failing in the US in part because Americans don ’ t trust the government enough to give up their contacts or follow quarantine orders .
About half of the people whom contact tracers call don ’ t even answer the phone .
( Olga Khazan / The Atlantic ) As the novel coronavirus spread from China to the rest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cracked down on how information related to the disease spread on WeChat .
Between January and May this year , more than 2,000 keywords related to the pandemic were suppressed on the platform , which has more than 1 billion users in the country .
( Louise Matsakis / Wired ) Repeated internet shutdowns in Belarus have prompted a spike in VPN usage and a private Telegram channel as people try to get around government censorship .
( Aliide Naylor / Gizmodo ) Google and Facebook abandoned plans for an undersea cable between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration said Beijing might use the link to collect data on Americans .
The companies submitted a revised proposal that includes links to Taiwan and the Philippines .
( Todd Shields / Bloomberg ) Ed Markey stans are leveraging the mechanics of fandom to keep him in the Senate .
Markey is currently facing a heated primary against Joseph P. Kennedy III , who ’ s been buoyed by his family legend and support from party power brokers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) .
Makena Kelly / The Verge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its content recommendation system public for the first time .
In Facebook ’ s Help Center and Instagram ’ s Help Center , the company details how the platforms ’ algorithms filter out content , accounts , Pages , Groups and Events from its recommendations .
Sarah Perez at TechCrunch explains : Facebook is testing out a new feature that would link your Facebook account to your news subscription .
This would allow you to read a paywalled article on Facebook without having to log in again .
It would also indicate to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ articles from that publisher .
( Anthony Ha at TechCrunch ) The number of pages eligible to monetize their videos through Facebook ’ s in-stream ads program has leapt by more than 30 percent in the past month .
The growth has made ad buyers nervous , saying the platform is growing less safe for brands .
( Max Willens / Digiday ) Instagram scams are evolving alongside the tech platforms , as fraudsters find new ways to get into our wallets .
Ultimately , the scams could tell us more about ourselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ / The Verge ) TikTok creators will soon be able to sell merchandise directly to fans in the app .
Creator commerce platform Teespring is set to roll out the integration soon .
( Julia Alexander / The Verge ) Vine co-founder Rus Yusupov has advice for TikTok on how to stay on top .
It includes a focus on premium content and monetization , which the app already seems to be doing .
( Rus Yusupov / CNN ) Zoom ’ s revenue has more than quadrupled from last year .
Revenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the second fiscal quarter .
( Jordan Novet / CNBC ) Explicit deepfake videos featuring female celebrities , actresses and musicians are being uploaded to the world ’ s biggest porn sites every month , and racking up millions of views .
Porn companies aren ’ t doing much to stop them .
( Matt Burgess / Wired ) Send us tips , comments , questions , and whatever you were thinking about sending Ryan Mac : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

Today let’s talk about the controversy around a militia organizing on Facebook, the violence that followed, and where that leaves the company heading into this week’s planned visit by the president to Kenosha, WI, threatening to stoke more unrest.
Kenosha police shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back last week, leading to protests in the city. Two people were killed and a third was injured in a shooting during one of the protests, and a 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the shootings.
The afternoon before the murders, a 3,000-member Facebook group calling themselves the Kenosha Guard had advertised an event on Facebook encouraging an armed response to the unrest. It was taken down after the shooting. My colleague Russell Brandom broke the news at The Verge:
In a post Tuesday afternoon, the Kenosha Guard Facebook group encouraged an armed response to the ongoing unrest. “Any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs?” the post reads. “No doubt they are currently planning on the next part of the city to burn tonight.”
Facebook said it had not found any digital link between the accused shooter and the Kenosha Guard. Which is to say: his Facebook account did not follow the Kenosha Guard page, and he had not been “invited” to the event. Did the shooter see the post, though? No one at Facebook could tell me today when I asked.
At the same time, Brandom reported that the group had been reported multiple times as violating the company’s policies against militias — but the account was nonetheless found to be “non-violating,” in content moderator parlance. Why? That’s still under investigation inside Facebook, a source familiar with the subject told me.
The basic, implicit bargain we have struck with social networks in the United States sounds something like this. Platforms agree to remove hate speech, incitements to violence, and other terrible posts, and as long as they do so in a timely fashion they can continue to operate. This bargain has many flaws — it’s more of a gentleman’s agreement than a law, and platforms break it in spirit and letter all the time. (This is one of the main reasons that both the candidates for president say they want to get rid of Section 230, the part of law that enables the current bargain.) But it’s the status quo and has been for a long time.
The best way to understand the controversy around the Kenosha Guard page is that Facebook broke this implicit bargain. The reason is that Facebook users had done their part — and as Ryan Mac reported at BuzzFeed, they had arguably done more than their part (emphasis mine):
The event associated with the Kenosha Guard page, however, was flagged to Facebook at least 455 times after its creation, according to an internal report viewed by BuzzFeed News, and had been cleared by four moderators, all of whom deemed it “non-violating.” The page and event were eventually removed from the platform on Wednesday — several hours after the shooting. “To put that number into perspective, it made up 66% of all event reports that day,” one Facebook worker wrote in the internal “Violence and Incitement Working Group” to illustrate the number of complaints the company had received about the event.
Ultimately, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a portion of his weekly Q&A with employees publicly, and said the incident had been an “operational mistake.”
There are a few things to say about this.
The first is that, strange as it may seem, the Kenosha Guard’s page might not have been found to be in violation of Facebook’s policies at all had the company not changed them quite recently. On August 19th, Facebook banned “US-based militia groups” as part of an effort that made bigger headlines for removing a bunch of QAnon groups. That’s the policy under which the page was removed. It’s possible moderators could have elected to take it down for inciting violence, but it isn’t guaranteed.
One question coming out of the Kenosha incident is whether Facebook is attempting to remove these militia groups proactively or whether it’s relying on user reports instead. A source told me that for the most part, it’s going to be the former. Facebook has better insights into the growth and operations of pages like this on its network than average users do, I’m told. And user reports aren’t always a great signal — often people will-mass report benign posts for malicious reasons.
That may be one reason the Kenosha Guard page wasn’t caught sooner — Facebook is generally less sensitive to seeing a spike in user reports than it is to seeing a spikes in views and growth. The Kenosha Guard page wasn’t getting a lot of either, at least not in Facebook terms, I’m told.
That doesn’t explain why the moderators who saw the page didn’t take action when they first saw the page, though, which leads me to the second thing worth saying about the Kenosha incident.
When Facebook’s policies change — which they do frequently — it often takes time for those policies to be understood, and effectively enforced, by the company’s roughly 15,000 outsourced content moderators. One of the conclusions I came to after spending last year reporting on the lives of Facebook’s content moderators in America is that they often lack the necessary context for effectively enforcing the policies with a high degree of accuracy, and that supplemental resources from Facebook and its third-party vendors are often lacking or contain errors themselves.
Moderators also generally give users wide latitude in their posts to discuss events that were even faintly political, even when those posts seem obvious on their face, a former Facebook moderator told me Sunday.
“We would get examples like “shoot immigrants,” “shoot at immigrants,” and variations of this,” the moderator said. “People would defend leaving stuff like that up because ‘you aren’t saying you’re going to physically hit them necessarily, they can just be talking about using guns to defend the border/property.’”
The moderator continued: “Essentially, in Facebook’s moderator population, they have tons of people who see no problem with things like ‘bring all your guns.’”
Officially, moderators are not supposed to have any leeway in how they enforce Facebook policies. But in practice, of course they do — there’s a lot of gray area in those policies; even well written policies still require judgment calls; and only a fraction of their decisions are ever audited to ensure fidelity to the written policy.
Add to all that the fact that a majority of Facebook’s moderators are located in gun-friendly states like Texas, and you begin to understand why the Kenosha Guard page may not have come down immediately.
So what to do about all this?
Facebook is continuing to roll out its ban on militias, and it seems likely that a few months from now it will be more effective at rooting out violent social movements on the network than it is today. The big question, of course, is to what extent that can happen before the election and its immediate aftermath, when tensions will be at their highest. Several reports last week found that Facebook still has a lot of work to do on that front.
Another thing the company could consider is publishing a public report about the incident. The investigation now underway into whether the alleged shooter saw the page in question, why moderators initially dismissed reports, and how Facebook will handle similar reports are all subjects of legitimate public interest. Facebook led the way in publishing quarterly “transparency reports” about their enforcement actions — the company could earn some much-needed goodwill by publishing occasional public reports about its high-profile missteps, too.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
⬆ Trending up: Facebook is teaming up with academics across the country to determine whether the platform is influencing the 2020 election, although the results won’t be public until the election is over. Once users opt in to be part of the study, a research team will split them into groups and begin tinkering with their News Feeds and ad experiences. This is excellent news. (Issie Lapowsky / Protocol)
🔽 Trending down: Apple refused to waive its 30 percent fee on a Facebook tool that would let influencers and businesses host paid events as a way to offset revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple also rejected Facebook’s attempt to alert users that some of their money would go toward this fee. (Katie Paul and Stephen Nellis / Reuters)
🔽 Trending down: Google declined to remove ads containing “blatant disinformation” about mail-in voting. The ads, sponsored by the shadowy group Protect My Vote, falsely suggest there is a meaningful difference between mail-in voting and casting an absentee ballot. (Isaac Stanley-Becker / The Washington Post)
🔽 Trending down: Militia groups are continuing to show up on Facebook despite the company’s recent ban on those that call for violence on its platform. Many are openly advocating for violence against protesters. (Shirin Ghaffary / Recode)
Hotspots
San Quentin prison is now the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the country — a disaster that stemmed from a decision the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation made in late May to move men away from a prison in Chino, CA, that was having an outbreak of its own. At the time, San Quentin had no known cases of COVID-19. Within a month, more than a third of people there had the virus. By August, 24 inmates were dead.
America’s failure to stop the virus from spreading in prisons is a key piece of its failure to contain the virus at large. From March through the beginning of June, the number of COVID-19 cases in US prisons grew at a rate of around 8 percent per day, compared to 3 percent in the general population. Of the top 20 largest disease clusters in the country, 19 are in prisons or jails.
At San Quentin, the outbreak spurred a slew of conspiracy theories among the inmates and staff. Speaking to The Verge on contraband cellphones, men said they believe the virus was unleashed on purpose to kill off the prison population.
“The governor said they weren’t going to execute people on death row anymore. So they sent the virus here to do what? To kill off people on death row,” one inmate told The Verge. “They cost more money than anyone else here. So people like me are getting swept up in the process.” — Zoe Schiffer and Nicole Wetsman
Governing
⭐ TikTok has reportedly chosen a bidder for its US, New Zealand and Australian businesses, and it could announce the deal as soon as Tuesday. (A lot of folks are skeptical about the timing being so fast, though.) Here are Steve Kovach and Alex Sherman at CNBC:
Microsoft, in partnership with Walmart, and Oracle are the two top contenders. The sale price is expected to be in the range of $20 billion to $30 billion, CNBC reported last week. However, even though TikTok has selected a bidder, the deal could be slowed or derailed by the Chinese government, which updated its technology export list on Friday to include artificial intelligence technology used by TikTok. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, Bytedance, said over the weekend that it would need a license from the Chinese government before it can sell to a U.S. company. Walmart emerged as a surprise contender last week, saying the social media app would augment its e-commerce efforts.
China announced new restrictions on artificial-intelligence technology exports that could complicate the sale of TikTok’s US operations. The new restrictions cover text analysis, content recommendation, speech modeling and voice-recognition. These technologies can’t be exported without a license from local commerce authorities. (Eva Xiao and Liza Lin / The Wall Street Journal)
Microsoft’s influence in Washington could give it a powerful advantage against other tech giants in its bid for TikTok. While the company was once a cautionary tale of an arrogant tech company caught off-guard by government scrutiny, it has built deep ties with lawmakers. (Karen Weise and David McCabe / The New York Times)
The rise of social commerce in China could help explain why Walmart is interested in buying TikTok. There, buying stuff on social media platforms is a massive driver of new business. (Sherisse Pham / CNN)
ByteDance told TikTok employees to draw up a contingency plan in case the app has to shut down in the US. Trump has ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States, which it is currently trying to do. (Echo Wang and Greg Roumeliotis / Reuters)
TikTok is thriving in Southeast Asia as it implements a strategy of quickly launching non-political products and promising governments that content will be highly policed in accordance with local laws. Finally some good news for this app! (Fanny Potkin / Reuters)
Los Angeles city attorney Mike Feuer charged TikTok creators Bryce Hall and Blake Gray for allegedly throwing a series of parties in violation of public health restrictions. “If you have a combined 19 million followers on TikTok, and in the middle of a public health crisis, you should modeling great behavior and best practices rather than brazenly violating the law,” Feuer said. (Julia Alexander / The Verge)
Trump’s “silent majority” only seems silent because we’re not looking at conservative Facebook feeds, this piece argues. In the alternate universe of conservative Facebook, Trump’s response to COVID-19 has been effective, Joe Biden is barely capable of forming sentences, and Black Lives Matter is a dangerous group of violent looters. (None of these things are true! Just underlining that one more time.) (Kevin Roose / The New York Times)
The Trump campaign is urging people to request their ballots with a flood of Facebook ads, even as the president spreads misinformation about vote by mail fraud. The ads also double as a way to collect data from potential voters. (Issie Lapowsky / Protocol)
Facebook quietly removed the “multicultural affinity” categories on its ad platform, ending the ability of advertisers to target users by race. It was a huge reversal for Facebook, which had defended its racial ad categories for years. (Julia Angwin / The Markup)
Facebook has a responsibility to support free speech and democracy in Thailand, argues the person who set up the Facebook Group that was recently blocked in the country at the request of the Thai government. Thailand has a law that prohibits criticism of the royal family, which Facebook was forced to comply with, though it is now suing the Thai government. (Pavin Chachavalpongpun / The Washington Post)
Facebook has been allowing advertisers to target users in mainland China, although the social network has been blocked there since 2009. Facebook said this is not a mistake, adding: “there are various technical ways a very small fraction of people in China may be able to access Facebook and see ads.” (Sarah Frier / Bloomberg)
The Facebook executive at the center of a political storm in India previously posted about her support for the Hindu nationalist party and disparaged its main rival in an employee-only Facebook group. Some staff say the posts conflict with the company’s pledge to remain neutral in elections around the world. (Jeff Horwitz and Newley Purnell / The Wall Street Journal)
Mark Zuckerberg said Apple has a “unique stranglehold” on what goes on the iPhone, adding that the App Store blocks innovation and competition and allows Apple to charge “monopoly rents.” The remarks came during a Facebook all-hands meeting last week. (Pranav Dixit and Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed)
Apple suspended Epic Games’ developer account on Friday. The account that does not include the Unreal Engine used by third-party developers, which keeps the move in line with the temporary restraining order a judge passed earlier last week. (Todd Haselton / CNBC)
Apple’s new App Store appeals process is live. Now, developers can challenge Apple over whether their app is in fact violating one of its guidelines. Can’t wait to see whether anyone actually wins an appeal here! (Nick Statt / The Verge)
Twitter blocked three accounts associated with a spam operation that pushed a viral message claiming to be a Black Lives Matter protestor who was changing to vote Republican. The fake accounts received tens of thousands of shares in the past month. (Ben Collins / NBC)
Twitter placed a “manipulated media” label on a tweet from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), which showed a video of activist Ady Barkan, who has ALS and speaks through voice assistance. The video was edited to change a question Barkan asked Joe Biden. (Kim Lyons / The Verge)
Twitter launched a search prompt to guide people to visit vote.gov for accurate information on how to register to vote. Accurate information on Twitter — we love to see it! (Twitter)
The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chair Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted Trump’s efforts to crack down on social media platforms. The FTC would play a crucial role in the president’s efforts to combat what he alleges is anti-conservative bias at companies like Twitter. (Leah Nylen, Betsy Woodruff Swan, John Hendel and Daniel Lippman / Politico)
Contact tracing is failing in the US in part because Americans don’t trust the government enough to give up their contacts or follow quarantine orders. About half of the people whom contact tracers call don’t even answer the phone. (Olga Khazan / The Atlantic)
As the novel coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world, the Chinese government cracked down on how information related to the disease spread on WeChat. Between January and May this year, more than 2,000 keywords related to the pandemic were suppressed on the platform, which has more than 1 billion users in the country. (Louise Matsakis / Wired)
Repeated internet shutdowns in Belarus have prompted a spike in VPN usage and a private Telegram channel as people try to get around government censorship. (Aliide Naylor / Gizmodo)
Google and Facebook abandoned plans for an undersea cable between the US and Hong Kong after the Trump administration said Beijing might use the link to collect data on Americans. The companies submitted a revised proposal that includes links to Taiwan and the Philippines. (Todd Shields / Bloomberg)
Ed Markey stans are leveraging the mechanics of fandom to keep him in the Senate. Markey is currently facing a heated primary against Joseph P. Kennedy III, who’s been buoyed by his family legend and support from party power brokers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Makena Kelly / The Verge)
Industry
The company says Facebook’s existing guidelines have been in place since 2016 under a strategy it references as “remove, reduce, and inform.” This strategy focuses on removing content that violates Facebook’s Community Standards, reducing the spread of problematic content that does not violate its standards, and informing people with additional information so they can choose what to click, read or share, Facebook explains. The Recommendation Guidelines typically fall under Facebook’s efforts in the “reduce” area, and are designed to maintain a higher standard than Facebook’s Community Standards, because they push users to follow new accounts, groups, Pages and the like.
Facebook is testing out a new feature that would link your Facebook account to your news subscription. This would allow you to read a paywalled article on Facebook without having to log in again. It would also indicate to Facebook that you want to see more articles from that publisher. (Anthony Ha at TechCrunch)
The number of pages eligible to monetize their videos through Facebook’s in-stream ads program has leapt by more than 30 percent in the past month. The growth has made ad buyers nervous, saying the platform is growing less safe for brands. (Max Willens / Digiday)
Instagram scams are evolving alongside the tech platforms, as fraudsters find new ways to get into our wallets. Ultimately, the scams could tell us more about ourselves than the scammers. (Zoe Schiffer / The Verge)
TikTok creators will soon be able to sell merchandise directly to fans in the app. Creator commerce platform Teespring is set to roll out the integration soon. (Julia Alexander / The Verge)
Vine co-founder Rus Yusupov has advice for TikTok on how to stay on top. It includes a focus on premium content and monetization, which the app already seems to be doing. (Rus Yusupov / CNN)
Zoom’s revenue has more than quadrupled from last year. Revenue grew 355 percent on an annualized basis in the second fiscal quarter. (Jordan Novet / CNBC)
Explicit deepfake videos featuring female celebrities, actresses and musicians are being uploaded to the world’s biggest porn sites every month, and racking up millions of views. Porn companies aren’t doing much to stop them. (Matt Burgess / Wired)
Those good tweets
Talk to us


theverge--2020-09-01--Walmart tries to undercut Amazon Prime with cheaper subscription service

Walmart is trying yet again to take on Amazon Prime with its own delivery subscription service .
The new service , which launches September 15th , is named Walmart+ and costs $ 12.95 a month or $ 98 a year , compared to $ 119 for Amazon Prime .
For that price , subscribers will get unlimited free deliveries from stores on orders over $ 35 .
More than 160,000 items are covered by this , including fresh groceries and household essentials .
Walmart says these deliveries can be “ as fast as same-day , ” but it seems delivery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in each order .
Subscribers will also get fuel discounts at affiliated gas stations worth up to five cents on the gallon and the option to shop in store using Walmart ’ s Scan & Go mobile app .
This lets customers scan items as they shop and pay through their phone .
Walmart+ does not include free delivery for the far larger range of items available at Walmart.com , though many of these already include free two-day delivery for orders over $ 35 .
Walmart+ isn ’ t entirely a new project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it tested a similar service named Delivery Unlimited that also offered free grocery deliveries for $ 98 a year .
As reported by The Wall Street Journal , Walmart+ was originally discussed internally as a rebrand of Delivery Unlimited , with plans to launch in the spring .
These plans were delayed by the pandemic .
Existing Delivery Unlimited subscribers will be inducted into Walmart+ .
Market analysts have long suggested that a Walmart subscription service could attract millions of customers and provide regular revenue for the company .
However , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly with Amazon Prime .
Amazon ’ s subscription service is costlier but offers a far wider range of benefits , including access to the company ’ s streaming service , Amazon Prime Video , as well as Twitch Prime , Prime Music , free photo storage , and Prime Now , which offers one and two-hour delivery on certain items .
Unlike Walmart+ , Prime does not have a minimum purchase amount to qualify for free delivery .
Walmart says it will be adding new perks to Walmart+ in the coming months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to attract a significant amount of customers .
“ For a $ 35 minimum and $ 98 annual fee , this is a thin gruel , ” Craig Johnson , president of retail consulting firm Customer Growth Partners , told The New York Times .

Walmart is trying yet again to take on Amazon Prime with its own delivery subscription service. The new service, which launches September 15th, is named Walmart+ and costs $12.95 a month or $98 a year, compared to $119 for Amazon Prime.
For that price, subscribers will get unlimited free deliveries from stores on orders over $35. More than 160,000 items are covered by this, including fresh groceries and household essentials. Walmart says these deliveries can be “as fast as same-day,” but it seems delivery speed will depend on what exactly is in each order.
Subscribers will also get fuel discounts at affiliated gas stations worth up to five cents on the gallon and the option to shop in store using Walmart’s Scan & Go mobile app. This lets customers scan items as they shop and pay through their phone. Walmart+ does not include free delivery for the far larger range of items available at Walmart.com, though many of these already include free two-day delivery for orders over $35.
This isn’t Walmart’s first delivery subscription service
Walmart+ isn’t entirely a new project for the retail giant. Last year it tested a similar service named Delivery Unlimited that also offered free grocery deliveries for $98 a year. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Walmart+ was originally discussed internally as a rebrand of Delivery Unlimited, with plans to launch in the spring. These plans were delayed by the pandemic. Existing Delivery Unlimited subscribers will be inducted into Walmart+.
Market analysts have long suggested that a Walmart subscription service could attract millions of customers and provide regular revenue for the company. However, it’s not clear if Walmart+ can compete directly with Amazon Prime. Amazon’s subscription service is costlier but offers a far wider range of benefits, including access to the company’s streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, as well as Twitch Prime, Prime Music, free photo storage, and Prime Now, which offers one and two-hour delivery on certain items. Unlike Walmart+, Prime does not have a minimum purchase amount to qualify for free delivery.


theverge--2020-09-01--Twitter quote tweets are now easier to find

Twitter is officially rolling out its new quote tweets counter , which lets you easily see every time a given tweet has been retweeted alongside a comment .
“ Tweets about a Tweet add more to the conversation , so we ’ ve made them even easier to find , ” the company said , also noting that the new counter will be shown between the existing “ Retweets ” and “ Likes ” labels .
The social network has been testing the feature for a few months now , with different names and user interface designs .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Retweets with Comments ” rather than “ Quote Tweets ” for example , and it ’ s also tested hiding it in a sub-menu rather than showing it directly on the tweet .
It ’ s always been possible to search for quote tweets by entering a tweet ’ s URL into Twitter ’ s search box , but a dedicated button makes the process much more convenient .
It ’ s a handy feature considering so many people use the quote tweet function in place of replying to a tweet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these conversations .
And sometimes it ’ s just fun to see everyone dunking on a tweet in one place .

Twitter is officially rolling out its new quote tweets counter, which lets you easily see every time a given tweet has been retweeted alongside a comment. “Tweets about a Tweet add more to the conversation, so we’ve made them even easier to find,” the company said, also noting that the new counter will be shown between the existing “Retweets” and “Likes” labels.
The social network has been testing the feature for a few months now, with different names and user interface designs. It’s experimented with labeling the counter as “Retweets with Comments” rather than “Quote Tweets” for example, and it’s also tested hiding it in a sub-menu rather than showing it directly on the tweet.


theverge--2020-09-01--Astro’s new A20 Gen 2 is its first headset made for the PS5 and Xbox Series X

Astro ’ s latest wireless gaming headset , the A20 Gen 2 , is an upgraded version of the 2017 model .
It will ship in October for $ 119 , which is considerably down from the $ 149 that the previous-generation A20 was priced at .
Despite the price cut , Astro says it has increased the wireless range from the 30 feet offered by the first-gen model to 50 feet , and it charges via a convenient USB-C port .
The A20 Gen 2 headset will ship in two different color mixes : blue , white , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , white , and black for an Xbox look .
Each includes a USB Type-A wireless adapter that lets it easily connect to the console their color mix corresponds to as well as a PC .
Each headset can work with the other console out of the box ( e.g.
, the blue headset can work with the Xbox Series X and vice versa ) but only if you purchase an additional USB Type-A wireless adapter for $ 20 through Astro ’ s site .
As for why it couldn ’ t cram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Astro says it came down to firmware and because each system supposedly handles game and chat audio differently .
If you get both adapters , you ’ ll need to use the correct adapter for the console you ’ re using ( each adapter will be clearly labeled with the console it supports ) , then tap a sync button on the adapter to connect it to the A20 Gen 2 .
Will your old headset work on PS5 or Xbox Series X ?
Probably In addition to announcing the A20 Gen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its plan for supporting its older headsets as the next generation of consoles is about to arrive .
If your Astro headset connects to the audio source via a 3.5mm plug , you ’ re good to go , as both the XSX and PS5 controllers feature a headphone jack .
If you have a wireless Astro headset made for an Xbox One , it ’ ll be as easy as upgrading the headset ( and depending on the model , the MixAmp or base station , too ) firmware through Astro ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Xbox Series X launches .
If your headset typically connects to the console via optical audio , you ’ ll be able to connect the base station to the XSX ’ s USB port instead to get the same features — no optical audio needed ( the console won ’ t have the port anyway ) .
Astro says that wireless headsets from the Xbox 360 era are being left behind .
Updated headsets will still work on PS4 and Xbox One It gets a little more complicated for people who want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the PS5 .
Sony ’ s next-gen console doesn ’ t have an optical audio port either .
However , you won ’ t have to go buy a brand-new headset .
Instead , Astro is releasing an HDMI-to-optical audio splitter that will allow your headset to interface with the PS5 with no additional firmware needed .
It supports HDMI 2.1 , HDCP , and 4K passthrough .
Astro says it won ’ t introduce any input lag , and because it ’ s Dolby-compliant product , the sound shouldn ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be released in October for $ 40 , which isn ’ t a terrible price for a splitter that guarantees lossless quality with your next-gen console .
But what ’ s better is that , if you already own an Astro headset , you can enter your serial number on its site to save $ 15 off the cost of the splitter , bringing the total down to $ 25 .
Correction : Article originally implied that the Xbox Series X will have an optical audio port .
Neither next-gen console will @ @ @

Astro’s latest wireless gaming headset, the A20 Gen 2, is an upgraded version of the 2017 model. It will ship in October for $119, which is considerably down from the $149 that the previous-generation A20 was priced at. Despite the price cut, Astro says it has increased the wireless range from the 30 feet offered by the first-gen model to 50 feet, and it charges via a convenient USB-C port.
The A20 Gen 2 headset will ship in two different color mixes: blue, white, and black for a PlayStation-like vibe or green, white, and black for an Xbox look. Each includes a USB Type-A wireless adapter that lets it easily connect to the console their color mix corresponds to as well as a PC. Each headset can work with the other console out of the box (e.g., the blue headset can work with the Xbox Series X and vice versa) but only if you purchase an additional USB Type-A wireless adapter for $20 through Astro’s site.
Image: Astro
Cross-platform, if you buy a $20 adapter
As for why it couldn’t cram compatibility for both consoles into one adapter, Astro says it came down to firmware and because each system supposedly handles game and chat audio differently. If you get both adapters, you’ll need to use the correct adapter for the console you’re using (each adapter will be clearly labeled with the console it supports), then tap a sync button on the adapter to connect it to the A20 Gen 2.
Will your old headset work on PS5 or Xbox Series X? Probably
In addition to announcing the A20 Gen 2 headset, Astro is also sharing its plan for supporting its older headsets as the next generation of consoles is about to arrive. If your Astro headset connects to the audio source via a 3.5mm plug, you’re good to go, as both the XSX and PS5 controllers feature a headphone jack.
Image: Astro
If you have a wireless Astro headset made for an Xbox One, it’ll be as easy as upgrading the headset (and depending on the model, the MixAmp or base station, too) firmware through Astro’s Command Center PC software once the Xbox Series X launches. If your headset typically connects to the console via optical audio, you’ll be able to connect the base station to the XSX’s USB port instead to get the same features — no optical audio needed (the console won’t have the port anyway). Astro says that wireless headsets from the Xbox 360 era are being left behind.
Updated headsets will still work on PS4 and Xbox One
It gets a little more complicated for people who want to bring their PS4-ready Astro wireless headset to the PS5. Sony’s next-gen console doesn’t have an optical audio port either. However, you won’t have to go buy a brand-new headset. Instead, Astro is releasing an HDMI-to-optical audio splitter that will allow your headset to interface with the PS5 with no additional firmware needed. It supports HDMI 2.1, HDCP, and 4K passthrough. Astro says it won’t introduce any input lag, and because it’s Dolby-compliant product, the sound shouldn’t be worse off, either.
This splitter will be released in October for $40, which isn’t a terrible price for a splitter that guarantees lossless quality with your next-gen console. But what’s better is that, if you already own an Astro headset, you can enter your serial number on its site to save $15 off the cost of the splitter, bringing the total down to $25.


theverge--2020-09-01--Asus Zenfone 7 Pro review: fun flipping cameras with a bulky phone attached

It ’ s not often I receive a phone I immediately want to show off to everyone around me , but the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro is exactly that .
The second I got the device set up , I ran into each of my flatmates ’ rooms in turn and happily flipped and un-flipped its three rear cameras , swinging them around the top edge of the phone to turn them into selfie cameras .
It ’ s far from a unique trick ( you can find a similar flipping array on last year ’ s Zenfone 6 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s still hardly mainstream .
That means the Zenfone 7 Pro is almost guaranteed to get a reaction , whether it ’ s from friends when you try to take a selfie together or from strangers when you go to make a video call in public .
There ’ s a lot to like about the Zenfone 7 Pro , but you ’ ve got to get behind the idea of cameras that flip if you ’ re considering a purchase .
The Asus Zenfone 7 Pro is launching in Europe today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 955 ) .
Alongside it , there ’ s also the Zenfone 7 , which comes with a slightly slower processor and some camera compromises and starts at €699 ( about $ 836 ) .
In Europe , both phones are coming to most major markets including Portugal , Spain , France , Germany , Italy , and Ireland , but not the UK .
There are also no plans for an official release in North America .
The Zenfone 7 Pro ’ s cameras may be the most eye-catching thing about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attached to a capable phone .
The Zenfone 7 Pro is powered by a flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor , paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage .
In the standard Zenfone 7 , meanwhile , you get a slightly slower Snapdragon 865 processor , 128GB of storage , and a choice of either 6GB or 8GB of RAM .
Both support Sub-6GHz 5G , with no support for mmWave .
In other words , they have a fairly typical set of flagship specs for 2020 and are what you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ price .
The most noteworthy of the Zenfone 7 Pro ’ s specs , however , is its gargantuan 5,000mAh battery .
Unsurprisingly , this translates into excellent battery life , and I ’ ve been consistently getting over six hours of screen-on time per charge .
Over this past weekend , I used the phone as a cycling GPS using Google Maps for two hours ( with some added music streaming over Bluetooth for good measure ) .
Even though I didn ’ t charge the phone overnight , it still happily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When your battery runs dry , you can fast charge it at up to 30W , but as with the Zenfone 6 , there ’ s no support for wireless charging .
Unfortunately , putting such a massive battery inside this phone hasn ’ t done any favors for its size or weight .
The Zenfone 7 Pro is surprisingly heavy at 230 grams , which makes it heavier than both the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G .
There ’ s no escaping the fact that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Considering its size , I was thankful to see almost its entire front covered by a big , bright , colorful 6.67-inch OLED display with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate .
It ’ s only 1080p , which on a screen this big means it doesn ’ t have the pin-sharp detail of some other big phones , but given the choice between a high resolution and a high refresh rate on a display , I ’ d choose a high refresh rate every time .
There ’ s no notch or other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cameras , and it ’ s great to see Asus make the most out of the screen real estate this affords it .
The quality of the speakers are generally okay .
You ’ re getting stereo speakers with a combination of an earpiece speaker and a downward-firing speaker .
They get plenty loud enough , but there ’ s not a great deal of bass , and they also sound echoey at loud volumes .
There ’ s no rear-mounted fingerprint sensor like we saw on last year ’ s Zenfone 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Instead , Asus has gone for a side-mounted scanner on the right-hand side of the phone , which also serves as the phone ’ s power button and a shortcut key ( there ’ s an excellent choice of options for customizing its double-press and long-press actions ) .
There ’ s no headphone jack , which is a shame when it was still present on last year ’ s phone .
Asus ’ take on Android is unobtrusive .
It ’ s done the work to fill in the kinds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Android at this point ( like a voice memos app and a built-in screen recorder , similar to what you ’ ll find on Samsung ’ s phones ) , and there are also plenty of battery-saving options to dig into if you want .
But mostly you ’ ll forget that these aren ’ t standard Android features , which is exactly what you want .
These are all fine features , but there ’ s absolutely no way anyone is going to buy this phone because of them .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phone , then it ’ s going to be because of the flipping cameras .
You can ’ t ignore them .
This time around , Asus has included three .
There ’ s a 64-megapixel f/1.8 wide-angle camera , a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide with a 113-degree field of view , and an 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto with a 3x optical zoom .
On the Zenfone 7 Pro , the main and telephoto cameras come with optical image stabilization , but they don ’ t on the 7 .
You can use all three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ display notch is one thing , but the real benefit of the flipping cameras is that you get identical hardware regardless of the direction at which you ’ re taking your photos .
A 64-megapixel selfie camera is nothing to be sniffed at , and Asus also lets you use the ultrawide and telephoto lenses with the cameras flipped .
Ultrawide selfie cameras are a surprisingly useful feature for group shots , and while I ’ m not going to pretend to understand what use someone might have for a telephoto selfie camera @ @ @ @ @ @ @ option open .
There are other uses for cameras that flip .
There ’ s an automated panorama mode which takes photos as the cameras spin round , and you can take photos with the cameras at any angle ( specific angles can be saved as shortcuts ) .
If you ’ re fond of photographing your pets from a satisfyingly low angle , it ’ s a neat feature .
All of this functionality is a little pointless if the cameras can ’ t take good photos , though , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little more dicey .
In daylight , the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro likes to keep its photos on the bright and punchy side .
Fields come out amazingly green , and a dull blue camper van popped with color .
There ’ s plenty of detail , but the amount of saturation can sometimes give photos an unnatural look .
But this bright and punchy look often translates into mushy and unnatural-looking faces .
Even with the camera ’ s beauty mode turned off , it still makes skin tones look too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the layer of virtual foundation the software puts over your skin .
Look at the cropped shots below and you ’ ll see my skin looks far flatter and less detailed in the shot from the Zenfone 7 Pro ( and let ’ s not forget , the Pixel 3 I ’ m comparing it against is almost two years old at this point ) .
That said , the main camera fares better when taking selfie shots , both because it seems to lose less facial detail when subjects are closer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the standard for selfie cameras is generally lower on most other phones .
Take a photo at night , and by default , the phone will enable its night mode and ask you to wait a second for it to gather enough information for a good photo .
The results are fine , but not great , and there are plenty of artifacts visible when you take a closer look .
Weirdly , I quite like how it handles faces at night .
The combination of main , ultrawide , and zoom cameras @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two secondary cameras are far lower resolution and less detailed than the main camera .
Asus claims the ultrawide camera does macro , but I struggled to get a clear shot .
At any rate , using an ultrawide lens that close up led to weird-looking photos with distorted subjects .
The middling camera performance is one thing , but there are also downsides to having a big motorized flipping mechanism in the first place .
Asus says it ’ s worked hard to improve the durability of this mechanism , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to survive 200,000 flips , or five years of heavy use .
But introduce human error , and the phone starts to feel a lot more fragile .
There ’ s a sensible feature where the phone will automatically retract its cameras if it senses that it ’ s been dropped , but it feels like there are plenty of other ways to break a mechanism like this .
I ’ ve yet to absentmindedly shove the phone into my pocket while the selfie cameras are flipped out , but I wouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it eventually .
There ’ s also no IP rating for dust or water resistance .
It ’ s great that you get the same cameras regardless of whether you ’ re taking normal or selfie shots , but it ’ s a shame that overall performance ends up being middle-of-the-road .
It would be unfair to reduce the Zenfone 7 Pro down to just one feature because it offers a very complete package .
Its performance is snappy ; its screen is lovely , bright and has a high refresh rate ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Getting these elements right is important , and the Zenfone 7 Pro delivers .
But its flipping cameras were always going to be the most eye-catching part of the phone , and they ’ re inevitably going to be the deciding factor for anyone thinking of picking this device up .
They give you an enormous amount of versatility with how you take photos , but they can falter on the basics .
Photos can look too saturated and faces over-processed .
So , in the end , it ’ s the flipping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than the cameras it ’ s serving .
It ’ s a striking feature , but it doesn ’ t guarantee great pictures .
The Zenfone 7 Pro is a phone for people who want cameras that flip , not people who want the best cameras in the first place .

It’s not often I receive a phone I immediately want to show off to everyone around me, but the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro is exactly that. The second I got the device set up, I ran into each of my flatmates’ rooms in turn and happily flipped and un-flipped its three rear cameras, swinging them around the top edge of the phone to turn them into selfie cameras.
It’s far from a unique trick (you can find a similar flipping array on last year’s Zenfone 6, among other handsets), but it’s still hardly mainstream. That means the Zenfone 7 Pro is almost guaranteed to get a reaction, whether it’s from friends when you try to take a selfie together or from strangers when you go to make a video call in public. There’s a lot to like about the Zenfone 7 Pro, but you’ve got to get behind the idea of cameras that flip if you’re considering a purchase.
The Asus Zenfone 7 Pro is launching in Europe today with prices starting at €799 (about $955). Alongside it, there’s also the Zenfone 7, which comes with a slightly slower processor and some camera compromises and starts at €699 (about $836). In Europe, both phones are coming to most major markets including Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Ireland, but not the UK. There are also no plans for an official release in North America.
7.5 Verge Score Asus ZenFone 7 Pro The Good Beefy battery life
Big 90Hz display
Versatile selfie cameras The Bad Bulky
Middling camera performance
No IP rating for dust or water resistance How we rate and review products
The Zenfone 7 Pro’s cameras may be the most eye-catching thing about the device, but they’re attached to a capable phone. The Zenfone 7 Pro is powered by a flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In the standard Zenfone 7, meanwhile, you get a slightly slower Snapdragon 865 processor, 128GB of storage, and a choice of either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. Both support Sub-6GHz 5G, with no support for mmWave. In other words, they have a fairly typical set of flagship specs for 2020 and are what you should expect in a phone of this price.
The most noteworthy of the Zenfone 7 Pro’s specs, however, is its gargantuan 5,000mAh battery. Unsurprisingly, this translates into excellent battery life, and I’ve been consistently getting over six hours of screen-on time per charge. Over this past weekend, I used the phone as a cycling GPS using Google Maps for two hours (with some added music streaming over Bluetooth for good measure). Even though I didn’t charge the phone overnight, it still happily lasted until 6PM the following day.
When your battery runs dry, you can fast charge it at up to 30W, but as with the Zenfone 6, there’s no support for wireless charging.
When un-flipped, the camera array sits against the back of the phone. Flipping cameras means no display notch or hole-punch cutout for a selfie camera.
Unfortunately, putting such a massive battery inside this phone hasn’t done any favors for its size or weight. The Zenfone 7 Pro is surprisingly heavy at 230 grams, which makes it heavier than both the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. There’s no escaping the fact that this is a big, bulky phone.
Asus Zenfone 7 Pro Specs Processor: Snapdragon 865 Plus
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB, expandable
Screen: 6.67 inches, 2400 x 1080 OLED, 90Hz
Main camera: Sony IMX686 64-megapixel image sensor, f/1.8
Wide-angle camera: 12 megapixels, 113-degree field of view
Telephoto camera: 8 megapixels, 3x optical zoom
Battery: 5,000mAh
Audio: dual speakers
Considering its size, I was thankful to see almost its entire front covered by a big, bright, colorful 6.67-inch OLED display with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate. It’s only 1080p, which on a screen this big means it doesn’t have the pin-sharp detail of some other big phones, but given the choice between a high resolution and a high refresh rate on a display, I’d choose a high refresh rate every time. There’s no notch or other selfie camera cutout thanks to the flipping cameras, and it’s great to see Asus make the most out of the screen real estate this affords it.
The quality of the speakers are generally okay. You’re getting stereo speakers with a combination of an earpiece speaker and a downward-firing speaker. They get plenty loud enough, but there’s not a great deal of bass, and they also sound echoey at loud volumes.
There’s no rear-mounted fingerprint sensor like we saw on last year’s Zenfone 6, nor is there an in-display scanner. Instead, Asus has gone for a side-mounted scanner on the right-hand side of the phone, which also serves as the phone’s power button and a shortcut key (there’s an excellent choice of options for customizing its double-press and long-press actions). There’s no headphone jack, which is a shame when it was still present on last year’s phone.
Asus’ take on Android is unobtrusive. It’s done the work to fill in the kinds of functionality that should really come as standard in Android at this point (like a voice memos app and a built-in screen recorder, similar to what you’ll find on Samsung’s phones), and there are also plenty of battery-saving options to dig into if you want. But mostly you’ll forget that these aren’t standard Android features, which is exactly what you want.
With a 6.67-inch display and weighing 230g, the Zenfone 7 Pro is a bulky phone. The phone is available in white or black.
These are all fine features, but there’s absolutely no way anyone is going to buy this phone because of them. If you’re going to buy this phone, then it’s going to be because of the flipping cameras. You can’t ignore them.
This time around, Asus has included three. There’s a 64-megapixel f/1.8 wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide with a 113-degree field of view, and an 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto with a 3x optical zoom. On the Zenfone 7 Pro, the main and telephoto cameras come with optical image stabilization, but they don’t on the 7.
You can use all three cameras for selfies
Getting rid of the display notch is one thing, but the real benefit of the flipping cameras is that you get identical hardware regardless of the direction at which you’re taking your photos. A 64-megapixel selfie camera is nothing to be sniffed at, and Asus also lets you use the ultrawide and telephoto lenses with the cameras flipped. Ultrawide selfie cameras are a surprisingly useful feature for group shots, and while I’m not going to pretend to understand what use someone might have for a telephoto selfie camera, I love that Asus leaves the option open.
There are other uses for cameras that flip. There’s an automated panorama mode which takes photos as the cameras spin round, and you can take photos with the cameras at any angle (specific angles can be saved as shortcuts). If you’re fond of photographing your pets from a satisfyingly low angle, it’s a neat feature.
All of this functionality is a little pointless if the cameras can’t take good photos, though, and that’s where things start to get a little more dicey.
In daylight, the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro likes to keep its photos on the bright and punchy side. Fields come out amazingly green, and a dull blue camper van popped with color. There’s plenty of detail, but the amount of saturation can sometimes give photos an unnatural look.
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But this bright and punchy look often translates into mushy and unnatural-looking faces. Even with the camera’s beauty mode turned off, it still makes skin tones look too bright, and you lose detail thanks to the layer of virtual foundation the software puts over your skin. Look at the cropped shots below and you’ll see my skin looks far flatter and less detailed in the shot from the Zenfone 7 Pro (and let’s not forget, the Pixel 3 I’m comparing it against is almost two years old at this point). That said, the main camera fares better when taking selfie shots, both because it seems to lose less facial detail when subjects are closer to the camera, and also because the standard for selfie cameras is generally lower on most other phones.
The Zenfone 7 Pro (left, cropped) can make faces look flat and unnatural compared to a phone like the Google Pixel 3 (right, cropped).
Take a photo at night, and by default, the phone will enable its night mode and ask you to wait a second for it to gather enough information for a good photo. The results are fine, but not great, and there are plenty of artifacts visible when you take a closer look. Weirdly, I quite like how it handles faces at night.
The combination of main, ultrawide, and zoom cameras is definitely the right call, although the two secondary cameras are far lower resolution and less detailed than the main camera. Asus claims the ultrawide camera does macro, but I struggled to get a clear shot. At any rate, using an ultrawide lens that close up led to weird-looking photos with distorted subjects.
Night mode enables automatically when low light is detected
The middling camera performance is one thing, but there are also downsides to having a big motorized flipping mechanism in the first place. Asus says it’s worked hard to improve the durability of this mechanism, and it said that it should be able to survive 200,000 flips, or five years of heavy use. But introduce human error, and the phone starts to feel a lot more fragile. There’s a sensible feature where the phone will automatically retract its cameras if it senses that it’s been dropped, but it feels like there are plenty of other ways to break a mechanism like this. I’ve yet to absentmindedly shove the phone into my pocket while the selfie cameras are flipped out, but I wouldn’t put it past myself to do it eventually. There’s also no IP rating for dust or water resistance.
It’s great that you get the same cameras regardless of whether you’re taking normal or selfie shots, but it’s a shame that overall performance ends up being middle-of-the-road.
When needed, the camera array flips around to the top of the phone.
It would be unfair to reduce the Zenfone 7 Pro down to just one feature because it offers a very complete package. Its performance is snappy; its screen is lovely, bright and has a high refresh rate; and its battery life is faultless. Getting these elements right is important, and the Zenfone 7 Pro delivers.
But its flipping cameras were always going to be the most eye-catching part of the phone, and they’re inevitably going to be the deciding factor for anyone thinking of picking this device up. They give you an enormous amount of versatility with how you take photos, but they can falter on the basics. Photos can look too saturated and faces over-processed.
So, in the end, it’s the flipping mechanism itself that steals the show, rather than the cameras it’s serving. It’s a striking feature, but it doesn’t guarantee great pictures. The Zenfone 7 Pro is a phone for people who want cameras that flip, not people who want the best cameras in the first place.
Agree to Continue: Asus Zenfone 7 Pro Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate. To use the Asus Zenfone 7 Pro, you need to agree to: Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
Google Play Terms of Service
Automatic updates from Google, your operator, and device manufacturer There are also several optional agreements that you need to get past during setup: Product and location info collection
Product registration with Asus
Google services backups, location tracking, Wi-Fi and nearby device scanning, and usage and diagnostics reporting In total, that’s three mandatory agreements and three optional agreements.


theverge--2020-09-01--Sennheiser brings its top-notch sound quality to less expensive true wireless earbuds

Sennheiser is today introducing a lower-cost set of true wireless earbuds that slot in below the company ’ s flagship Momentum True Wireless 2 .
At $ 199.95 , the new “ CX 400BT True Wireless ” — so much for simple names , eh Sennheiser ?
— aim to retain the strong sound quality of the pricier set , though you ’ re losing out on active noise cancellation .
The CX 400BT True Wireless are not what you ’ d call subtle .
They come in either black or white , but there ’ s no getting around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no matter which finish you choose .
There ’ s been a trend recently of companies progressing towards more discreet true wireless earbud designs , but Sennheiser obviously isn ’ t going in that direction .
I don ’ t know whether it ’ s because the company needs more space for audio components or is just making a stylistic choice , but there ’ s no missing these things .
At least the bigger look should mean you ’ ll have an easier time using the tap controls on each side , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s app .
Inside the CX 400BT True Wireless earbuds are the same 7-millimeter drivers that power the True Momentum Wireless 2s .
“ This bespoke acoustic system delivers high-fidelity stereo sound with deep bass , natural mids , and clear , detailed treble , ” Sennheiser said in its press release .
Like the TMW2 , you can adjust the EQ to your liking with the company ’ s mobile app .
Battery life is rated at 7 hours of straight playback and 20 hours when you add in case recharges .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and support SBC , AAC , and aptX for codecs .
Like Sennheiser ’ s more expensive buds , you ’ re still limited to pairing with one device at a time .
When it comes to making calls , the CX 400BT True Wireless have “ ambient noise reduction microphones to make voice interactions sound natural and crystal clear.
” The CX 400BT True Wireless cost $ 100 less than Sennheiser ’ s flagship True Momentum Wireless 2 , and saving that money comes with some sacrifice : you ’ re giving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and even a water resistance rating — and also have to put up with this chunkier design .
Does a price of $ 199.95 make these “ everyday earphones ” as Sennheiser says ?
There ’ s a ton of competition around this price point , but the company ’ s track record for audio quality does speak volumes .
I ’ ve been testing the CX 400BT True Wireless for a few days , so expect to see a full review very soon .

Sennheiser is today introducing a lower-cost set of true wireless earbuds that slot in below the company’s flagship Momentum True Wireless 2. At $199.95, the new “CX 400BT True Wireless” — so much for simple names, eh Sennheiser? — aim to retain the strong sound quality of the pricier set, though you’re losing out on active noise cancellation.
The CX 400BT True Wireless are not what you’d call subtle. They come in either black or white, but there’s no getting around how big they look in the ear no matter which finish you choose. There’s been a trend recently of companies progressing towards more discreet true wireless earbud designs, but Sennheiser obviously isn’t going in that direction.
Image: Sennheiser
I don’t know whether it’s because the company needs more space for audio components or is just making a stylistic choice, but there’s no missing these things. At least the bigger look should mean you’ll have an easier time using the tap controls on each side, which can be customized using Sennheiser’s app.
Inside the CX 400BT True Wireless earbuds are the same 7-millimeter drivers that power the True Momentum Wireless 2s. “This bespoke acoustic system delivers high-fidelity stereo sound with deep bass, natural mids, and clear, detailed treble,” Sennheiser said in its press release. Like the TMW2, you can adjust the EQ to your liking with the company’s mobile app. Battery life is rated at 7 hours of straight playback and 20 hours when you add in case recharges.
Image: Sennheiser
The new earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity and support SBC, AAC, and aptX for codecs. Like Sennheiser’s more expensive buds, you’re still limited to pairing with one device at a time. When it comes to making calls, the CX 400BT True Wireless have “ambient noise reduction microphones to make voice interactions sound natural and crystal clear.”


theverge--2020-09-01--LG hints at dual-screen swiveling ‘Wing’ phone in new video

LG has provided the first public acknowledgement of its rumored “ Wing ” handset , said to be a device with two screens in a swiveling form factor .
A teaser video posted to YouTube hints at the sliding mechanism and serves as an invitation to an announcement event on September 14th .
In a separate press release , LG says the new device will be part of an initiative and product category it calls the Explorer Project .
The project is intended to “ deliver much-needed curiosity and excitement to the mobile sector , ” LG says , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is discovered with innovative designs.
” The recently released Velvet , meanwhile , will form part of LG ’ s “ Universal Line.
” Reporting on the Wing so far has indicated that it ’ ll have one screen behind another that can be rotated 90 degrees horizontally , resulting in a T-shaped dual-screen device .
Possible use cases could be watching widescreen video in what would feel like one-handed portrait orientation , or — as alleged leaked footage recently showed — allowing for full-screen driving navigation with music controls off to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggests that LG is willing to get weird in an attempt to differentiate itself in the crowded mobile market .
We ’ ll be watching along at 10AM ET on September 14th to find out more .

LG has provided the first public acknowledgement of its rumored “Wing” handset, said to be a device with two screens in a swiveling form factor. A teaser video posted to YouTube hints at the sliding mechanism and serves as an invitation to an announcement event on September 14th.
In a separate press release, LG says the new device will be part of an initiative and product category it calls the Explorer Project. The project is intended to “deliver much-needed curiosity and excitement to the mobile sector,” LG says, and “will focus solely on new usability that is discovered with innovative designs.” The recently released Velvet, meanwhile, will form part of LG’s “Universal Line.”
Reporting on the Wing so far has indicated that it’ll have one screen behind another that can be rotated 90 degrees horizontally, resulting in a T-shaped dual-screen device. Possible use cases could be watching widescreen video in what would feel like one-handed portrait orientation, or — as alleged leaked footage recently showed — allowing for full-screen driving navigation with music controls off to the side.


theverge--2020-09-01--Amazon deletes job listings detailing effort to monitor ‘labor organizing threats’

Amazon has deleted two job listings posted to its corporate employment website detailing “ intelligence analyst ” roles that involved , among other duties , monitoring “ labor organizing threats ” within the company .
The listings , which were posted days ago , first began circulating on Twitter earlier today , before Amazon removed them in response to widespread outcry on social media .
The company now claims the listings were not accurate representations of the roles , according to CNBC .
“ The job post was not an accurate description of the role — it was made in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” an Amazon representative said in a statement , although Amazon does not appear to be offering any information as to how the listings were inaccurate .
The job listings were for positions within Amazon ’ s global security operations department , specifically within the Global Intelligence Program .
One was for an intelligence analyst and the other for a senior intelligence analyst , both out of an Amazon office in Phoenix , Arizona .
The role was described in one now-deleted listing as “ vital to ensuring that Amazon operations leadership have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making on a global scale.
” Part of that effort , as the listing explained , involves “ engaging and informing [ executive leadership ] on sensitive topics ... including labor organizing threats against the company.
” None of Amazon ’ s contract , warehouse , or corporate workforces are unionized , and the company has long exhibited anti-union sentiments through policies and actions taken against former employees .
Amazon has been known to distribute anti-union videos to Whole Foods locations , and earlier this year , it was reported to be using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stores throughout the country to track a potential unionization campaign .
The company has also fired workers , like New York City warehouse worker and walkout organizer Chris Smalls , after those workers publicly criticized the company or , like in Smalls ’ case , helped organize labor actions .
Amazon has claimed it does not retaliate against employees and fired Smalls and others , including employees who criticized Amazon ’ s climate record and warehouse worker conditions during COVID-19 , for violations of its corporate policies .
Shortly after Smalls ’ termination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executives published by Vice News revealed a plan to smear Smalls as unintelligent and inarticulate and use him to discredit the company ’ s growing pro-labor movement .

Amazon has deleted two job listings posted to its corporate employment website detailing “intelligence analyst” roles that involved, among other duties, monitoring “labor organizing threats” within the company. The listings, which were posted days ago, first began circulating on Twitter earlier today, before Amazon removed them in response to widespread outcry on social media.
The company now claims the listings were not accurate representations of the roles, according to CNBC. “The job post was not an accurate description of the role — it was made in error and has since been corrected,” an Amazon representative said in a statement, although Amazon does not appear to be offering any information as to how the listings were inaccurate.
The job listings were for positions within Amazon’s global security operations department, specifically within the Global Intelligence Program. One was for an intelligence analyst and the other for a senior intelligence analyst, both out of an Amazon office in Phoenix, Arizona. The role was described in one now-deleted listing as “vital to ensuring that Amazon operations leadership have access to actionable intelligence that informs decision making on a global scale.” Part of that effort, as the listing explained, involves “engaging and informing [executive leadership] on sensitive topics ... including labor organizing threats against the company.”
None of Amazon’s contract, warehouse, or corporate workforces are unionized, and the company has long exhibited anti-union sentiments through policies and actions taken against former employees. Amazon has been known to distribute anti-union videos to Whole Foods locations, and earlier this year, it was reported to be using a heat map to monitor Whole Foods stores throughout the country to track a potential unionization campaign.


theverge--2020-09-01--Razer’s Blade 15 is a capable gaming laptop that’s $400 off at Amazon

Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval , so if you 're looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon , Walmart , Best Buy , Target , and more , this is the place to be .
If you ’ re on the hunt for a gaming laptop to help you run your games at reasonably fast frame rates that will also serve as a great all-around machine for non-gaming tasks , the Razer Blade 15 is a solid option .
You can get this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its original price , which brings it down to $ 1,400 .
It comes with Intel ’ s competent six-core Core i7-10750H processor , Nvidia ’ s RTX 2060 graphics chip , 16GB of RAM , and a fast 512GB SSD .
Its 15.6-inch 1080p display has a 144Hz refresh rate , raising the ceiling of how smoothly games can run on the laptop .
This feature also allows for fluid scrolling outside of games .
Razer ’ s Blade 15 costs more than many other 15.6-inch gaming laptops , but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ build quality and a Thunderbolt 3 port , which can be used for fast data transfer or for connecting it to an eGPU enclosure , like Razer ’ s $ 300 Core X , that can greatly boost its performance .
B & H Photo is offering a tempting gaming laptop deal , too .
Lenovo ’ s Legion 7i is $ 1,600 ( down from $ 1,850 ) .
It features the same Intel Core i7-10750H processor but has double the memory with 32GB , double the storage with a 1TB NVMe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2070 Max-Q graphics chip .
This laptop also has a 240Hz refresh rate display , which is somewhat of a rarity in gaming laptops at this price .
Like Razer ’ s laptop above , this model also features a Thunderbolt 3 port .
I reviewed the Legion 5i , a similarly sized gaming laptop that shares many of the same features but with a weaker GPU and no Thunderbolt 3 port .

If you’re on the hunt for a gaming laptop to help you run your games at reasonably fast frame rates that will also serve as a great all-around machine for non-gaming tasks, the Razer Blade 15 is a solid option. You can get this machine at Amazon for $400 off its original price, which brings it down to $1,400. It comes with Intel’s competent six-core Core i7-10750H processor, Nvidia’s RTX 2060 graphics chip, 16GB of RAM, and a fast 512GB SSD.
Its 15.6-inch 1080p display has a 144Hz refresh rate, raising the ceiling of how smoothly games can run on the laptop. This feature also allows for fluid scrolling outside of games. Razer’s Blade 15 costs more than many other 15.6-inch gaming laptops, but it’s worth considering if you want stellar build quality and a Thunderbolt 3 port, which can be used for fast data transfer or for connecting it to an eGPU enclosure, like Razer’s $300 Core X, that can greatly boost its performance.
Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop / Was $1,800, now 22% off $1,400 at Amazon
Image: Lenovo
B&H Photo is offering a tempting gaming laptop deal, too. Lenovo’s Legion 7i is $1,600 (down from $1,850). It features the same Intel Core i7-10750H processor but has double the memory with 32GB, double the storage with a 1TB NVMe SSD, and a better Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics chip. This laptop also has a 240Hz refresh rate display, which is somewhat of a rarity in gaming laptops at this price. Like Razer’s laptop above, this model also features a Thunderbolt 3 port.
I reviewed the Legion 5i, a similarly sized gaming laptop that shares many of the same features but with a weaker GPU and no Thunderbolt 3 port.


theverge--2020-09-01--Nuclear Throne developer Vlambeer is shutting down after a decade of games

Vlambeer , the indie studio behind beloved games such as Super Crate Box , Nuclear Throne , and Ridiculous Fishing , is shutting down .
The developer , which celebrates its 10th anniversary today , announced the news on Twitter .
“ We had a beautiful run , made incredible games , and worked with amazing people , but it is time for new things , ” the developer said .
“ So we ’ re announcing the end of Vlambeer.
” The Dutch studio was founded in 2010 by Jan Willem Nijman and Rami Ismail and has been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been especially vocal on issues of game clones ; Ismail is a well-known advocate within the community for topics like diversity and independent development .
“ It ’ s not a sad day for us , but the happy conclusion to a whirlwind decade filled with screenshake , ” the developer said in a follow-up tweet .
“ It feels like we ’ ve achieved what we set out to do — as a studio , as a voice , and as individuals , and we are extremely grateful for these past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release its upcoming arcade game , Ultrabugs , and is currently holding a Steam sale in celebration of its decade of development .
In an interview with The Verge ’ s sister site Polygon , Ismail said the pair ’ s intent was to run the studio for as long as they needed “ to have a chance in the games industry and do our thing.
” Ultimately , he told the publication , ending after 10 years was “ right ” for the studio .
“ It ’ s a little overdramatic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does it .
”

Vlambeer, the indie studio behind beloved games such as Super Crate Box, Nuclear Throne, and Ridiculous Fishing, is shutting down. The developer, which celebrates its 10th anniversary today, announced the news on Twitter. “We had a beautiful run, made incredible games, and worked with amazing people, but it is time for new things,” the developer said. “So we’re announcing the end of Vlambeer.”
The Dutch studio was founded in 2010 by Jan Willem Nijman and Rami Ismail and has been a stalwart of the indie community. Vlambeer has been especially vocal on issues of game clones; Ismail is a well-known advocate within the community for topics like diversity and independent development. “It’s not a sad day for us, but the happy conclusion to a whirlwind decade filled with screenshake,” the developer said in a follow-up tweet. “It feels like we’ve achieved what we set out to do — as a studio, as a voice, and as individuals, and we are extremely grateful for these past years.”