theverge--2020-06-24--The Lumix G100 is Panasonic’s answer to Sony’s ZV-1

Panasonic has announced the new Lumix G100 mirrorless camera ( known as the G110 outside of the US ) that ’ s compatible with the full suite of Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lenses .
It will be out by the end of July and , like the recently launched Sony ZV-1 , it has several features specifically geared toward people who want to create vlog video content .
With a preorder price of $ 749.99 ( until August 1st — it ’ ll cost $ 50 more after that ) , this could be a solid pick , depending on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electronic viewfinder that Panasonic says is 2.8x brighter than the one in the Lumix G90 .
Sony ’ s ZV-1 doesn ’ t have this feature , but both the G100 and the ZV-1 have an articulating display .
In the new Lumix , the display automatically triggers a video selfie recording mode when it ’ s flipped out to the side and adjusts the depth of field instantly once it finds your face .
( Note : If you like the idea of ZV-1 ’ s “ Product Showcase ” mode that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ field relative to a face , there ’ s no such quick tool here .
You ’ ll just need to hide your face behind the product you ’ re holding up or completely move out of the frame to have the G100 automatically adjust the focus . )
The G100 ’ s video feature will outline the screen in red to let you know when it ’ s recording .
If you want to upload to multiple platforms , like YouTube or Instagram , you can switch the aspect ratio of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet another color-coded border ) without the need for post-processing .
Another neat feature is an option on the mode dial called “ S & Q , ” which stands for slow and quick .
When S & Q is activated , the G100 can record FHD footage in 4x slow motion up to 120 frames per second at 30p , or you can double the speed of FHD footage to 30 frames per second at 60p .
It ’ s nice to have this feature readily available on the camera so you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speed in post .
You can split video recordings into smaller clips from within the camera ; it also comes with Panasonic ’ s V-Log L feature to give footage a wider dynamic range so you have more flexibility when you color grade in post-processing .
When you ’ re ready to send your footage over to your phone , you can do so with the “ Send Image ” button on the body , which pairs the camera to your phone or tablet over a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection via a companion app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by tracking faces Most vloggers probably don ’ t rely heavily on built-in microphones , but Panasonic is going hard on Nokia ’ s OZO spatial audio to power the three-microphone array in the G100 .
When the camera detects a face , it will focus the microphones on the face wherever it is in the frame — all while using active noise cancellation to block out other sounds that might otherwise find their way into your recording .
If the camera detects more than one face , it will use different microphones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the voices .
If there are no faces in view , it will switch to recording in surround sound audio .
If you don ’ t want to fuss with the built-in microphones , the G100 has a 3.5mm jack for external microphones ( though , unfortunately , not for headphones ) .
The G100 has a 20.3-megapixel sensor that can record 4K resolution video at 30p and 25p in 10-minute sessions , or FHD at 60p in 20-minute sessions .
It charges via a Micro USB port and has an HDMI port @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capture card .
Panasonic says it won ’ t be usable as a webcam at launch .
Panasonic will include a second battery and wall charger for free with preorders before August 1st Panasonic has sacrificed a few features , both to meet its price point and to end up with a lightweight build .
The G100 isn ’ t weather-sealed , so it ’ s not a great choice for vlogging during inclement weather .
And for video , the G100 relies on a hybrid of in-body electronic image stabilization and support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thirds compatibility .
It relies solely on lens OIS for taking photos .
Panasonic showed a demo of the G100 ’ s most stabilized setting while recording video , and while everything was a little choppy over our virtual briefing , it seemed smoother than the Canon EOS M50 to which Panasonic compared it .
The Panasonic Lumix G100 launches in late July in the US .
It ’ s arriving in two different configurations .
What ’ s called the K kit contains the camera body and a 12-32mm lens for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ V kit has a preorder price of $ 799.99 and contains the camera , the aforementioned lens , and a tripod ( priced at $ 99.99 separately ) that can trigger recording or the shutter without having to tap a button on the camera .
Panasonic will also include a second battery and a wall charger during this period .
Preorder lasts until August 1st ; after that , they ’ ll both go up in price by $ 50 ( and you ’ ll miss out on the extra battery and wall @ @ @

Panasonic has announced the new Lumix G100 mirrorless camera (known as the G110 outside of the US) that’s compatible with the full suite of Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lenses. It will be out by the end of July and, like the recently launched Sony ZV-1, it has several features specifically geared toward people who want to create vlog video content. With a preorder price of $749.99 at Adorama and B&H Photo (until August 1st — it’ll cost $50 more after that), this could be a solid pick, depending on your needs.
The G100 has an electronic viewfinder that Panasonic says is 2.8x brighter than the one in the Lumix G90. Sony’s ZV-1 doesn’t have this feature, but both the G100 and the ZV-1 have an articulating display. In the new Lumix, the display automatically triggers a video selfie recording mode when it’s flipped out to the side and adjusts the depth of field instantly once it finds your face. (Note: If you like the idea of ZV-1’s “Product Showcase” mode that does not automatically adjust the depth of field relative to a face, there’s no such quick tool here. You’ll just need to hide your face behind the product you’re holding up or completely move out of the frame to have the G100 automatically adjust the focus.)
The G100’s video feature will outline the screen in red to let you know when it’s recording. If you want to upload to multiple platforms, like YouTube or Instagram, you can switch the aspect ratio of the recording on the fly (indicated by yet another color-coded border) without the need for post-processing.
Unlike the ZV-1, the G100 supports interchangeable lenses
Another neat feature is an option on the mode dial called “S&Q,” which stands for slow and quick. When S&Q is activated, the G100 can record FHD footage in 4x slow motion up to 120 frames per second at 30p, or you can double the speed of FHD footage to 30 frames per second at 60p. It’s nice to have this feature readily available on the camera so you don’t have to adjust the speed in post.
Unlike the Sony ZV-1, the Lumix G100 has a built-in EVF if you prefer a more traditional solution for lining up your shot. Panasonic
You can split video recordings into smaller clips from within the camera; it also comes with Panasonic’s V-Log L feature to give footage a wider dynamic range so you have more flexibility when you color grade in post-processing. When you’re ready to send your footage over to your phone, you can do so with the “Send Image” button on the body, which pairs the camera to your phone or tablet over a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection via a companion app.
The microphones can provide spatial audio by tracking faces
Most vloggers probably don’t rely heavily on built-in microphones, but Panasonic is going hard on Nokia’s OZO spatial audio to power the three-microphone array in the G100. When the camera detects a face, it will focus the microphones on the face wherever it is in the frame — all while using active noise cancellation to block out other sounds that might otherwise find their way into your recording. If the camera detects more than one face, it will use different microphones in the array to catch all of the voices. If there are no faces in view, it will switch to recording in surround sound audio.
If you don’t want to fuss with the built-in microphones, the G100 has a 3.5mm jack for external microphones (though, unfortunately, not for headphones).
The G100 has a 20.3-megapixel sensor that can record 4K resolution video at 30p and 25p in 10-minute sessions, or FHD at 60p in 20-minute sessions. It charges via a Micro USB port and has an HDMI port that can push a signal to a capture card. Panasonic says it won’t be usable as a webcam at launch.
Panasonic will include a second battery and wall charger for free with preorders before August 1st
Panasonic has sacrificed a few features, both to meet its price point and to end up with a lightweight build. The G100 isn’t weather-sealed, so it’s not a great choice for vlogging during inclement weather. And for video, the G100 relies on a hybrid of in-body electronic image stabilization and support for lens-based OIS through its Micro Four Thirds compatibility. It relies solely on lens OIS for taking photos. Panasonic showed a demo of the G100’s most stabilized setting while recording video, and while everything was a little choppy over our virtual briefing, it seemed smoother than the Canon EOS M50 to which Panasonic compared it.


theverge--2020-06-24--With iOS 14, Apple is finally letting the iPhone home screen get complicated

Eight years ago , I wrote a piece bemoaning the fact that the iPhone ’ s home screen was too restrictive and boring .
It only allowed a single grid of apps or folders , they had to flow in from the top left , there were no widgets , and even the icons themselves never changed .
The title of that piece , the iPhone 5 forecast : a predictable 73 degrees and sunny , became something of a running joke .
It was inspired by the icon for the Weather app , which remained exactly the same no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sky was doing .
Through huge screen size changes , complete design overhauls , and an ever-expanding ecosystem of apps , the iPhone ’ s home screen remained simple .
Meanwhile , Windows Phone was experimenting with Live Tiles and Android was letting users throw widgets anywhere they wanted .
No more .
Apple is finally allowing the home screen on iOS 14 to become complicated .
I ’ m not posting a full preview of iOS 14 today — I ’ ll wait for the public beta to do that .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look at the home screen in particular .
Apple waited until literally the 14th version of iOS to change the paradigm for the home screen , so it must think these options are worthwhile .
The positive way to talk about the boringness of the iPhone home screen up until now is to point out that it has been simple and trustworthy .
No matter what oddity an app would throw at you , you could aways hit the home button ( or swipe up ) to go to a safe space .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 .
When you eventually upgrade , all your stuff will be in the same place and nothing will work differently by default .
There will be a new section called the “ App Library ” over to the side , but you are free to pay it no mind .
Offering complexity as an option is a tricky thing , but I think Apple has landed upon a good balance .
There are four main ways that Apple is adding complication .
None of them are a rebuke of the old way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them require a different and more involved mental model of what it means to use an iPhone .
This is the most prominent change in iOS 14 .
Widgets can come in three sizes ( just like Windows Phone ) , can be placed in a way that tiles the other icons and folders in a clean grid ( just like Windows Phone ) , and so far are very elegantly designed .
Android widgets , by comparison , often look like they are creatures from the 2011 lagoon .
To me , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fundamental shift in Apple ’ s philosophy of simplicity .
We ’ ve had widgets on iOS before , available in the vertical scrolling “ Today ” view that ’ s to the left of your main home screen .
( A view , by the way , that is still so much better than the algorithmic dreck that Google and Samsung try to put there . )
You can can “ stack ” them in a clever way that lets you swipe through multiple widgets .
If there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Apple is gleefully offering so many different options .
Three sizes .
Putting widgets on the home screen or in the traditional Today view .
The option to have stacks be “ smart ” and algorithmically surface the most relevant one .
All of these are things that would have been antithetical to the old home screen ’ s ethos of simplicity .
One interesting note : developers are going to need to remake their widgets if they want them to work on the home screen — but that same code can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ macOS .
Apple says that ’ s because the new widgets are updated on Apple ’ s schedule and therefore eat up less battery life .
On that timeline of widget updates , apps can declare the priority of their new information and that might put them at the top of the smart stack .
( Hopefully nobody will abuse that feature . )
Look , I ’ m calling it jiggle mode .
Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi called it jiggle mode in Monday ’ s keynote , so it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s interesting here is that you can get into jiggle mode in so many different ways .
A long press on any icon includes an “ Edit Home Screen ” button , but you can also long press on a black space on the home screen for the first time .
That ’ s been a feature on Android for ages .
It ’ s one of those things that ’ s a little undiscoverable but wildly useful .
I bring up jiggle mode because there ’ s another undiscoverable but wildly useful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pages.
” If you tap on the navigation dots above your dock , you get a fly-out view of all the pages on your various home screens — again , just like you can do on many Android phones .
But Apple added something new and unexpected here : checkboxes .
You can hit a checkbox to turn a page off without deleting everything that ’ s on it .
It seems like a weird feature until you realize you can use it to customize your phone for different contexts .
You could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set up for work , but when it ’ s time for the weekend you could uncheck them and hide all those apps in exchange for a weekend page .
It ’ s really well done and something I haven ’ t seen executed to this degree of simplicity anywhere else .
Widgets are flashy , but the App Library is the thing that represents the more fundamental shift for Apple .
It ’ s a bucket where all of your apps live , categorized by Apple .
What this means is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two : a series of home pages you customize yourself and a single page that lists all of your apps .
That means that your home screen ( s ) could have two or even three ways to find your app : in an icon you placed , in the App Library , or even from a widget .
If you ’ re an iPhone user , this is going to feel foreign and strange .
If you ’ re an Android user , this is old hat .
Android has had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was first released .
I hope that Apple ’ s take on this concept evolves over the course of the betas .
As it stands , App Library is a somewhat maddening experience .
Apple automatically groups your apps into categories that sometimes make little sense and there ’ s no way to change them .
There are not enough visual indications that tapping on the big icons opens an app directly while tapping on the little ones opens up the category .
Apple handled the potential confusion of uninstalling apps vs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well , though .
Now , the “ x ” icons are minus symbols , and tapping one pops up a very clear dialog box with very clear options for what will happen next .
Most of all , I ’ m just relieved that I can finally get rid of the “ Apple Junk ” folder that ’ s sat on my last home screen ever since folders were introduced on the iPhone .
App Clips are like Instant Apps on Android — little mini versions of apps you can use without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ installing something through the App Store .
They need to be smaller than 10MB and they show up in your App Library with a little dotted line around them to denote their temporary status .
They disappear automatically after 30 days unless you go in and manually convert them to full apps .
Think of them as living in between the extreme transience of a browser tab and the frustrating “ why is that still on my phone ” permanence of an app on your home screen .
They can do things web @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less burdensome than real apps .
I don ’ t have the time ( or maybe the emotional wherewithal ) to get into all the issues App Clips and Instant Apps raise .
I dropped a small Twitter thread with some gestures to why I wish that these kinds of apps weren ’ t necessary — and maybe I ’ ll get into it for real another time .
For our purposes here , it ’ s just important to note that App Clips add yet another layer of metaphorical complexity on top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Library split .
Will users understand what an App Clip is or why they might care ?
Will they know why some icons in their App Library have dotted lines ?
Will they be confused when those apps disappear ?
I think that these questions will end up being lower stakes than they may seem at first blush .
But I also think it ’ s fascinating that Apple is willing to make a UI that raises those questions in the first place .
That just doesn ’ t happen very often on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could change before iOS 14 is released .
Apple could tweak the App Library , jiggle mode could get invoked in a new way , widgets could come in yet more sizes .
Hell , Apple could finally allow you to put an icon at the bottom of a home screen instead of forcing everything to pack in from the top left .
Just kidding , that would be madness !
( Sigh . )
What ’ s more important than any of these preliminary impressions is the overall observation : Apple is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complicated .
I ’ m using precise wording here : “ letting.
” The complicated new UIs and metaphors Apple is putting into the home screen are totally optional .
You don ’ t need to actually learn any of this stuff if it all seems unnecessary to you — and more power to you .
iPadOS , by comparison , has made text selection and windowing get complicated — they ’ re harder to avoid .
iPadOS doesn ’ t seem to do anything to fix that .
Ironically , so far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the App Library are coming to iPadOS , which means the iPhone now has a more complex home screen than the iPad .
Apple has fully swung from a years-long obstinate refusal to change up the iPhone home screen to stacking multiple new ways of thinking about these little icons all on top of each other in a single release , all at once .
Apps not only can appear in multiple places , but there are multiple kinds of apps and widgets .
Home screen pages can be toggled on and off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to these new interface metaphors .
But with the iOS 14 home screen , they ’ re all landing at once .
I ’ m glad they ’ re finally here and I ’ m glad that you can choose to ignore most of them if you prefer .
Mostly , though , I wish that it hadn ’ t taken over eight years to get here .
┏ Apple will extend the lifespan of your AirPods by choosing when they charge .
I think every gadget with a rechargeable battery should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feature lets the iPhone alert you if it hears sounds like a doorbell or fire alarm .
Ashley Carman : ┏ All the new features iOS 14 borrows from Android .
These lists are fun and you know what ?
More borrowing good ideas please .
┏ Mixer failed — here ’ s why .
Bijan Stephen has , as ever , the smartest take on live streaming platforms : ┏ Microsoft ’ s Mixer streamers are sad , angry , and moving to Twitch .
Tom Warren spoke to a ton of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mixer was a failure , but it kicked off a talent war for streamers .
Andrew Webster : More from The Verge ┏ Google is on a mission to stop you from reusing passwords .
Jay Peters : ┏ Acer ’ s new rugged laptop has a water-repelling fan inside it .
Monica Chin :

Eight years ago, I wrote a piece bemoaning the fact that the iPhone’s home screen was too restrictive and boring. It only allowed a single grid of apps or folders, they had to flow in from the top left, there were no widgets, and even the icons themselves never changed.
The title of that piece, the iPhone 5 forecast: a predictable 73 degrees and sunny, became something of a running joke. It was inspired by the icon for the Weather app, which remained exactly the same no matter where you were or what the sky was doing.
Through huge screen size changes, complete design overhauls, and an ever-expanding ecosystem of apps, the iPhone’s home screen remained simple. Meanwhile, Windows Phone was experimenting with Live Tiles and Android was letting users throw widgets anywhere they wanted.
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No more. Apple is finally allowing the home screen on iOS 14 to become complicated.
I’m not posting a full preview of iOS 14 today — I’ll wait for the public beta to do that. But I do want to take a close look at the home screen in particular. Apple waited until literally the 14th version of iOS to change the paradigm for the home screen, so it must think these options are worthwhile.
(By the way, I don’t recommend you install the developer beta on your primary phone. Or any phone at all unless you are a developer who needs to test apps, actually. A public beta is coming in July and it’s worth the wait. Nothing catastrophic has happened, but there are still plenty of unpolished edges and bugs.)
The positive way to talk about the boringness of the iPhone home screen up until now is to point out that it has been simple and trustworthy. No matter what oddity an app would throw at you, you could aways hit the home button (or swipe up) to go to a safe space.
That isn’t changing in iOS 14. When you eventually upgrade, all your stuff will be in the same place and nothing will work differently by default. There will be a new section called the “App Library” over to the side, but you are free to pay it no mind.
Offering complexity as an option is a tricky thing, but I think Apple has landed upon a good balance. There are four main ways that Apple is adding complication. None of them are a rebuke of the old way of doing things, but all of them require a different and more involved mental model of what it means to use an iPhone.
You can place widgets on the home screen in iOS 14
Widgets on the home screen
This is the most prominent change in iOS 14. Widgets can come in three sizes (just like Windows Phone), can be placed in a way that tiles the other icons and folders in a clean grid (just like Windows Phone), and so far are very elegantly designed. Android widgets, by comparison, often look like they are creatures from the 2011 lagoon.
To me, though, it doesn’t represent a fundamental shift in Apple’s philosophy of simplicity. We’ve had widgets on iOS before, available in the vertical scrolling “Today” view that’s to the left of your main home screen. (A view, by the way, that is still so much better than the algorithmic dreck that Google and Samsung try to put there.)
You can can “stack” them in a clever way that lets you swipe through multiple widgets. If there’s a philosophical shift here, it’s that Apple is gleefully offering so many different options. Three sizes. Putting widgets on the home screen or in the traditional Today view. The option to have stacks be “smart” and algorithmically surface the most relevant one. All of these are things that would have been antithetical to the old home screen’s ethos of simplicity.
One interesting note: developers are going to need to remake their widgets if they want them to work on the home screen — but that same code can be reused on the next version of macOS. Apple says that’s because the new widgets are updated on Apple’s schedule and therefore eat up less battery life. On that timeline of widget updates, apps can declare the priority of their new information and that might put them at the top of the smart stack. (Hopefully nobody will abuse that feature.)
You can turn entire home screen pages on or off depending on your mood in iOS 14
Jiggle mode and editing pages
Look, I’m calling it jiggle mode. Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi called it jiggle mode in Monday’s keynote, so it’s canon now.
What’s interesting here is that you can get into jiggle mode in so many different ways. A long press on any icon includes an “Edit Home Screen” button, but you can also long press on a black space on the home screen for the first time. That’s been a feature on Android for ages. It’s one of those things that’s a little undiscoverable but wildly useful.
I bring up jiggle mode because there’s another undiscoverable but wildly useful feature hidden in there: “Edit Pages.” If you tap on the navigation dots above your dock, you get a fly-out view of all the pages on your various home screens — again, just like you can do on many Android phones.
But Apple added something new and unexpected here: checkboxes. You can hit a checkbox to turn a page off without deleting everything that’s on it. It seems like a weird feature until you realize you can use it to customize your phone for different contexts. You could have a page (or three) set up for work, but when it’s time for the weekend you could uncheck them and hide all those apps in exchange for a weekend page.
It’s really well done and something I haven’t seen executed to this degree of simplicity anywhere else.
App Library
Widgets are flashy, but the App Library is the thing that represents the more fundamental shift for Apple. It’s a bucket where all of your apps live, categorized by Apple. What this means is that your home screen has been split in two: a series of home pages you customize yourself and a single page that lists all of your apps.
That means that your home screen(s) could have two or even three ways to find your app: in an icon you placed, in the App Library, or even from a widget.
If you’re an iPhone user, this is going to feel foreign and strange. If you’re an Android user, this is old hat. Android has had a separate home screen and app drawer since it was first released.
I hope that Apple’s take on this concept evolves over the course of the betas. As it stands, App Library is a somewhat maddening experience. Apple automatically groups your apps into categories that sometimes make little sense and there’s no way to change them. There are not enough visual indications that tapping on the big icons opens an app directly while tapping on the little ones opens up the category.
Apple handled the potential confusion of uninstalling apps vs removing them from the home screen fairly well, though. Now, the “x” icons are minus symbols, and tapping one pops up a very clear dialog box with very clear options for what will happen next.
Most of all, I’m just relieved that I can finally get rid of the “Apple Junk” folder that’s sat on my last home screen ever since folders were introduced on the iPhone.
App Clips
App Clips are like Instant Apps on Android — little mini versions of apps you can use without having to go through the folderol of installing something through the App Store. They need to be smaller than 10MB and they show up in your App Library with a little dotted line around them to denote their temporary status. They disappear automatically after 30 days unless you go in and manually convert them to full apps.
Think of them as living in between the extreme transience of a browser tab and the frustrating “why is that still on my phone” permanence of an app on your home screen. They can do things web pages can’t, but are less burdensome than real apps.
I don’t have the time (or maybe the emotional wherewithal) to get into all the issues App Clips and Instant Apps raise. I dropped a small Twitter thread with some gestures to why I wish that these kinds of apps weren’t necessary — and maybe I’ll get into it for real another time.
For our purposes here, it’s just important to note that App Clips add yet another layer of metaphorical complexity on top of the already-more-complex home screen / App Library split. Will users understand what an App Clip is or why they might care? Will they know why some icons in their App Library have dotted lines? Will they be confused when those apps disappear?
I think that these questions will end up being lower stakes than they may seem at first blush. But I also think it’s fascinating that Apple is willing to make a UI that raises those questions in the first place. That just doesn’t happen very often on the iPhone.
Simple by default, complicated by choice
All of the above could change before iOS 14 is released. Apple could tweak the App Library, jiggle mode could get invoked in a new way, widgets could come in yet more sizes.
Hell, Apple could finally allow you to put an icon at the bottom of a home screen instead of forcing everything to pack in from the top left. Just kidding, that would be madness! (Sigh.)
What’s more important than any of these preliminary impressions is the overall observation: Apple is finally letting the iPhone home screen get complicated. I’m using precise wording here: “letting.” The complicated new UIs and metaphors Apple is putting into the home screen are totally optional.
You don’t need to actually learn any of this stuff if it all seems unnecessary to you — and more power to you. iPadOS, by comparison, has made text selection and windowing get complicated — they’re harder to avoid. iPadOS doesn’t seem to do anything to fix that. Ironically, so far as I know neither inline widgets nor the App Library are coming to iPadOS, which means the iPhone now has a more complex home screen than the iPad.
Apple has fully swung from a years-long obstinate refusal to change up the iPhone home screen to stacking multiple new ways of thinking about these little icons all on top of each other in a single release, all at once. Apps not only can appear in multiple places, but there are multiple kinds of apps and widgets. Home screen pages can be toggled on and off.
Apple usually takes years to build up to these new interface metaphors. But with the iOS 14 home screen, they’re all landing at once. I’m glad they’re finally here and I’m glad that you can choose to ignore most of them if you prefer. Mostly, though, I wish that it hadn’t taken over eight years to get here.
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More from WWDC 2020
┏ Apple will extend the lifespan of your AirPods by choosing when they charge. I think every gadget with a rechargeable battery should do this.
┏ New iOS 14 feature lets the iPhone alert you if it hears sounds like a doorbell or fire alarm. Ashley Carman:
For now, Apple seems focused on using sound recognition for everyday accessibility purposes, and the company discourages anyone from depending on it for staying safe. The settings screen says “Sound Recognition should not be relied upon on in circumstances where you may be harmed or injured, in high-risk or emergency situations, or for navigation.”
Apple has taken the best of both Android widgets and Windows Phone’s Live Tiles and combined them into iOS 14. It’s not the first time we’ve seen Windows Phone features appear in iOS or Android, and it underlines how important Microsoft’s mobile efforts were even if they were a glorious failure.
┏ All the new features iOS 14 borrows from Android. These lists are fun and you know what? More borrowing good ideas please.
The end of Mixer
┏ Mixer failed — here’s why. Bijan Stephen has, as ever, the smartest take on live streaming platforms:
Mixer was doomed from the start because what Microsoft never seemed to understand was that its live-streaming platform was first and foremost a community. That’s not to disparage the streamers on Mixer or the fans who followed them there. Those relationships are real, solid, and will probably last even as streamers leave the platform for greener pastures — adversity binds, after all. What I mean is that Microsoft never marketed Mixer as anything more than a more technologically advanced version of Twitch, and it couldn’t seem to figure out how to showcase the community it was building.
┏ Microsoft’s Mixer streamers are sad, angry, and moving to Twitch. Tom Warren spoke to a ton of people in the Mixer community:
Most Mixer partners I spoke to had decided to move to Twitch or were leaning that way, despite Facebook reportedly offering a one-time $2,500 sign-up bonus to Mixer partners who choose to move. Most simply feel like Twitch is the bigger platform and that Facebook is too personal, with a lack of anonymity for viewers or streamers.
Now we’re set for arguably the biggest free agency frenzy in the history of streaming. Suddenly, all of those big names that Microsoft spent millions of dollars to lure in are searching for a new home. Because the landscape has changed so much, it’s not clear where they will land. The obvious choice for many would be Twitch, but YouTube has also emerged as a strong competitor. Cory “King Gothalion” Michael, who joined Mixer last October, has already announced that he’s moving to Facebook.
More from The Verge
┏ Google is on a mission to stop you from reusing passwords. Jay Peters:
Password Checkup took about two to three years from inception to having it appear in many Google products, according to Thomas. Down the line, Google wants to have Security Checkup email you when it detects that a stored login has been compromised in a data breach, which the company plans to launch in the coming months. And later this year, Google aims to let people use Password Checkup in Chrome even if they aren’t logged into a Google account.
The problem with Superhuman is that you have to be willing to use the app Superhuman’s way. The app is heavily reliant on its hotkeys, but you can’t change or edit them to your liking. Deleting email will always be Shift-3, and the only way to switch between accounts is by using the Control key. Some of that is fine; I’ve used email apps with settings menus so complex as to be immediately off-putting to even bother changing anything. But it also leads to some frustrating interactions when you don’t fit into the Superhuman-sized box.
The N3 has achieved MIL-STD 810G and IP53 certifications. The former guarantees durability from incidents like shocks, drops, and vibrations. The latter means it can withstand certain quantities of dust and spraying water. The laptop also includes what Acer calls an Aquafan, which repels water from all angles from inside the laptop.


theverge--2020-06-24--AI experts say research into algorithms that claim to predict criminality must end

A coalition of AI researchers , data scientists , and sociologists has called on the academic world to stop publishing studies that claim to predict an individual ’ s criminality using algorithms trained on data like facial scans and criminal statistics .
Such work is not only scientifically illiterate , says the Coalition for Critical Technology , but perpetuates a cycle of prejudice against Black people and people of color .
Numerous studies show the justice system treats these groups more harshly than white people , so any software trained on this data simply amplifies and entrenches societal bias and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear : there is no way to develop a system that can predict or identify ‘ criminality ’ that is not racially biased — because the category of ‘ criminality ’ itself is racially biased , ” write the group .
“ Research of this nature — and its accompanying claims to accuracy — rest on the assumption that data regarding criminal arrest and conviction can serve as reliable , neutral indicators of underlying criminal activity .
Yet these records are far from neutral.
” An open letter written by the Coalition was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the world ’ s largest publisher of academic books , planned to publish just such a study .
The letter , which has now been signed by 1,700 experts , calls on Springer to rescind the paper and for other academic publishers to refrain from publishing similar work in the future .
“ At a time when the legitimacy of the carceral state , and policing in particular , is being challenged on fundamental grounds in the United States , there is high demand in law enforcement for research of this nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The circulation of this work by a major publisher like Springer would represent a significant step towards the legitimation and application of repeatedly debunked , socially harmful research in the real world.
” The study claimed to predict criminality from facial recognition “ with 80 percent accuracy ” In the study in question , titled “ A Deep Neural Network Model to Predict Criminality Using Image Processing , ” researchers claimed to have created a facial recognition system that was “ capable of predicting whether someone is likely going to be a criminal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racial bias , ” according to a now-deleted press release .
The paper ’ s authors included Phd student and former NYPD police officer Jonathan W. Korn .
In response to the open letter , Springer said it would not publish the paper , according to MIT Technology Review .
“ The paper you are referring to was submitted to a forthcoming conference for which Springer had planned to publish the proceedings , ” said the company .
“ After a thorough peer review process the paper was rejected.
” However , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , this incident is only one example in a wider trend within data science and machine learning , where researchers use socially-contingent data to try and predict or classify complex human behavior .
In one notable example from 2016 , researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University claimed to have created an algorithm that could also predict criminality from facial features .
The study was criticized and refuted , with researchers from Google and Princeton publishing a lengthy rebuttal warning that AI researchers were revisiting the pseudoscience of physiognomy .
This was a discipline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cesare Lombroso , who claimed he could identify “ born criminals ” by measuring the dimensions of their faces .
“ When put into practice , the pseudoscience of physiognomy becomes the pseudoscience of scientific racism , ” wrote the researchers .
“ Rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled scientific racism to enter a new era , in which machine-learned models embed biases present in the human behavior used for model development.
” The 2016 paper also demonstrated how easy it is for AI practitioners to fool themselves into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system of measuring criminality .
The researchers from Google and Princeton noted that , based on the data shared in the paper , all the “ non-criminals ” appeared to be smiling and wearing collared shirts and suits , while none of the ( frowning ) criminals were .
It ’ s possible this simple and misleading visual tell was guiding the algorithm ’ s supposed sophisticated analysis .
The Coalition for Critical Technology ’ s letter comes at a time when movements around the world are highlighting issues of racial justice , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by law enforcement .
These protests have also seen major tech companies pull back on their use of facial recognition systems , which research by Black academics has shown is racially biased .
The letter ’ s authors and signatories call on the AI community to reconsider how it evaluates the “ goodness ” of its work — thinking not just about metrics like accuracy and precision , but about the social affect such technology can have on the world .
“ If machine learning is to bring about the “ social good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ releases , researchers in this space must actively reflect on the power structures ( and the attendant oppressions ) that make their work possible , ” write the authors .

A coalition of AI researchers, data scientists, and sociologists has called on the academic world to stop publishing studies that claim to predict an individual’s criminality using algorithms trained on data like facial scans and criminal statistics.
Such work is not only scientifically illiterate, says the Coalition for Critical Technology, but perpetuates a cycle of prejudice against Black people and people of color. Numerous studies show the justice system treats these groups more harshly than white people, so any software trained on this data simply amplifies and entrenches societal bias and racism.
Algorithms trained on racist data produce racist results
“Let’s be clear: there is no way to develop a system that can predict or identify ‘criminality’ that is not racially biased — because the category of ‘criminality’ itself is racially biased,” write the group. “Research of this nature — and its accompanying claims to accuracy — rest on the assumption that data regarding criminal arrest and conviction can serve as reliable, neutral indicators of underlying criminal activity. Yet these records are far from neutral.”
An open letter written by the Coalition was drafted in response to news that Springer, the world’s largest publisher of academic books, planned to publish just such a study. The letter, which has now been signed by 1,700 experts, calls on Springer to rescind the paper and for other academic publishers to refrain from publishing similar work in the future.
“At a time when the legitimacy of the carceral state, and policing in particular, is being challenged on fundamental grounds in the United States, there is high demand in law enforcement for research of this nature,” write the group. “The circulation of this work by a major publisher like Springer would represent a significant step towards the legitimation and application of repeatedly debunked, socially harmful research in the real world.”
The study claimed to predict criminality from facial recognition “with 80 percent accuracy”
In the study in question, titled “A Deep Neural Network Model to Predict Criminality Using Image Processing,” researchers claimed to have created a facial recognition system that was “capable of predicting whether someone is likely going to be a criminal ... with 80 percent accuracy and no racial bias,” according to a now-deleted press release. The paper’s authors included Phd student and former NYPD police officer Jonathan W. Korn.
In response to the open letter, Springer said it would not publish the paper, according to MIT Technology Review. “The paper you are referring to was submitted to a forthcoming conference for which Springer had planned to publish the proceedings,” said the company. “After a thorough peer review process the paper was rejected.”
However, as the Coalition for Critical Technology makes clear, this incident is only one example in a wider trend within data science and machine learning, where researchers use socially-contingent data to try and predict or classify complex human behavior.
In one notable example from 2016, researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University claimed to have created an algorithm that could also predict criminality from facial features. The study was criticized and refuted, with researchers from Google and Princeton publishing a lengthy rebuttal warning that AI researchers were revisiting the pseudoscience of physiognomy. This was a discipline was founded in the 19th century by Cesare Lombroso, who claimed he could identify “born criminals” by measuring the dimensions of their faces.
“When put into practice, the pseudoscience of physiognomy becomes the pseudoscience of scientific racism,” wrote the researchers. “Rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled scientific racism to enter a new era, in which machine-learned models embed biases present in the human behavior used for model development.”
Images used in a 2016 paper that claimed to predict criminality from facial features. The top row shows “criminal” faces while the bottom row shows “non-criminals.” Image: Xiaolin Wu and Xi Zhang, “Automated Inference on Criminality Using Face Images”
The 2016 paper also demonstrated how easy it is for AI practitioners to fool themselves into thinking they’ve found an objective system of measuring criminality. The researchers from Google and Princeton noted that, based on the data shared in the paper, all the “non-criminals” appeared to be smiling and wearing collared shirts and suits, while none of the (frowning) criminals were. It’s possible this simple and misleading visual tell was guiding the algorithm’s supposed sophisticated analysis.
The Coalition for Critical Technology’s letter comes at a time when movements around the world are highlighting issues of racial justice, triggered by the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement. These protests have also seen major tech companies pull back on their use of facial recognition systems, which research by Black academics has shown is racially biased.


theverge--2020-06-24--Ford aims to be carbon neutral by 2050

Ford aims to be carbon neutral by 2050

Ford pledged today to become carbon neutral by 2050 , a goal that would bring the automaker in line with targets set by the landmark Paris climate agreement .
To fulfill its commitment , the company needs to shrink its output of greenhouse gases and find ways to remove whatever pollution it continues to produce .
The automaker says it will focus on three key sources that make up 95 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions .
These are emissions from the vehicles it sells , emissions from its factories , and from its suppliers .
The company has set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manufacturing plants with locally-sourced renewable energy by 2035 .
Limiting its contribution to the climate crisis will be a tall order for a business that primarily makes gas-guzzling vehicles .
Three quarters of the planet-heating CO2 emissions Ford is responsible for come from consumers driving its cars .
The vehicles it sells create 135 million metric tons of carbon dioxide , according to a sustainability report the company released today .
That ’ s almost as much as 35 coal-fired power plants would produce in one year .
In comparison , Ford facilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less than one coal-fired power plant in 2019 .
Ford has already made some progress towards this target , with absolute carbon emissions from its facilities falling by over 14 percent in 2019 .
That ’ s roughly equal to taking 138,000 passenger vehicles off the road for a year .
However , the combined fuel economy of its cars and trucks flatlined that same year , suggesting making changes to its biggest source of carbon emissions is still a major challenge .
Ford ’ s absolute carbon emissions from facilities fell by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reducing car emissions has been stymied by the Trump administration , which has attempted to rollback fuel efficiency standards .
This move has not necessarily been welcomed by automakers , though .
Last year , Ford , along with Volkswagen , Honda , and BMW , agreed to improve fuel economy through 2026 .
Meanwhile , nearly two dozen attorneys general have sued the US government over these planned rollbacks .
In 2018 , Ford committed to spending more than $ 11 billion in investment into its electric vehicles through 2022 .
Its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Volvo and Volkswagen also setting goals of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 .
“ We believe that making great vehicles and maintaining a strong business don ’ t have to beat the cost of protecting our planet , ” Ford ’ s vice president and chief sustainability , environment and safety officer , Bob Holycross , said in the sustainability report .
“ These priorities are dependent on each other and aren ’ t mutually exclusive .
”

Ford pledged today to become carbon neutral by 2050, a goal that would bring the automaker in line with targets set by the landmark Paris climate agreement. To fulfill its commitment, the company needs to shrink its output of greenhouse gases and find ways to remove whatever pollution it continues to produce.
The automaker says it will focus on three key sources that make up 95 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions. These are emissions from the vehicles it sells, emissions from its factories, and from its suppliers. The company has set a goal of completely powering all its manufacturing plants with locally-sourced renewable energy by 2035.
The vehicles Ford sells create 135 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
Limiting its contribution to the climate crisis will be a tall order for a business that primarily makes gas-guzzling vehicles. Three quarters of the planet-heating CO2 emissions Ford is responsible for come from consumers driving its cars. The vehicles it sells create 135 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to a sustainability report the company released today. That’s almost as much as 35 coal-fired power plants would produce in one year. In comparison, Ford facilities worldwide produced the CO2 emissions equivalent to less than one coal-fired power plant in 2019.
Ford has already made some progress towards this target, with absolute carbon emissions from its facilities falling by over 14 percent in 2019. That’s roughly equal to taking 138,000 passenger vehicles off the road for a year. However, the combined fuel economy of its cars and trucks flatlined that same year, suggesting making changes to its biggest source of carbon emissions is still a major challenge.
Ford’s absolute carbon emissions from facilities fell by over 14 percent in 2019
Progress in reducing car emissions has been stymied by the Trump administration, which has attempted to rollback fuel efficiency standards. This move has not necessarily been welcomed by automakers, though. Last year, Ford, along with Volkswagen, Honda, and BMW, agreed to improve fuel economy through 2026. Meanwhile, nearly two dozen attorneys general have sued the US government over these planned rollbacks.
In 2018, Ford committed to spending more than $11 billion in investment into its electric vehicles through 2022. Its new commitments come on the heels of Volvo and Volkswagen also setting goals of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.


theverge--2020-06-24--Basecamp’s protest of Apple’s policies is already benefiting other developers

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A weird thing about running a tech company is that if you are very successful , at some point you will also be operating a vast quasi-legal system .
Up to a certain point , one of your users complaining that they got locked out of their account is just a customer service problem .
But after some threshold — after you ’ ve reached a billion people , certainly , but also well before then — the same complaint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue .
Do you have the right to speak ?
Do you have the right to conduct business ?
And if you lose that right , to whom do you appeal ?
That ’ s one reason I suspect Basecamp ’ s public protest of Apple and its App Store policies has gotten so much traction .
Basecamp , you will remember , is a mid-sized 16-year-old company that makes project management software , and a week ago it introduced a new email service called Hey .
Because email is the kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all your devices , Basecamp made six native clients for Hey , including one for Apple ’ s iOS .
I installed it on my phone and used it without any issue during the time I was reviewing Hey .
But then Basecamp submitted its first bug fix release for Hey , and Apple rejected it .
The issue : Hey did not let users sign up for the product within the app .
Apple presented this purely as a customer experience issue — account creation is a necessary part of an email @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revenue issue .
Apple keeps 30 percent of revenue from signups like these , and Basecamp did not want to give it to them .
Eventually Apple said it had been a mistake to let Hey into the App Store to begin with .
If we lived in a world with more than two mobile phone operating systems , it seems unlikely that Apple would be able to take 30 percent of an email app ’ s revenue just for hosting it in an app store .
Instead the fees might resemble those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which hover in the low single-digit percentages .
But more than 1.5 billion iOS devices are in use , and many of the customers who would potentially pay for Hey at $ 99 a year are users of those devices and expect to find Hey there .
Amid a flurry of interest lately in Apple ’ s anticompetitive behavior from regulators here and in the European Union , Apple ’ s obstinance in the Hey case drew outsized attention .
What once might have been dismissed as a lone , cranky developer seemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It started to look , in other words , like something closer to a human rights issue .
The Basecamp developers are — and I say this with fondness — loudmouths , and they have seemed to relish in highlighting the various logical gaps and inconsistencies in the App Store ’ s policies and their enforcement .
Look close enough at any system of law or content moderation and it can start to feel arbitrary , but Apple ’ s has proven to be particularly vulnerable to criticisms .
What Apple has prevented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it has allowed the much larger Netflix to do , because Netflix has been designated a “ Reader ” app , exempting it from offering sign-up within the app .
Maybe there ’ s a good , principled reason for holding email apps to one standard and video streaming apps to another .
Or maybe Apple is just playing favorites .
In any case , users of the App Store don ’ t get to vote , and neither does Hey .
What Hey could do , though , was embrace Apple ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ app imaginable , a dadaist take on email whose sole real purpose was to highlight the absurdity of software development in the modern era .
And that ’ s just what it did .
Here ’ s Nilay Patel writing Monday in The Verge : Surprisingly , it worked — at least for now .
Hey is in the App Store as negotiations continue .
And whether out of fear of antitrust regulation or a desire not to see this week ’ s Worldwide Developer Conference overshadowed by a developer dispute , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of yielding .
Nick Statt had the surprising news at The Verge : Buried hundreds of words into a long press release about improvements to the developer experience , “ a mechanism to challenge the guideline ” doesn ’ t exactly leap off the page .
At the moment , no other details are available .
But these changes suggest that Apple is taking an important question — who has the right to conduct business ?
— more seriously than it has before , and might begin to answer it in a more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment , this “ mechanism ” sounds less ambitious than what Facebook is attempting with its Oversight Board , an independent group that later this year will begin hearing appeals from people who believe their posts have been removed in error .
Facebook has spent more than two years developing the board , funded it with $ 130 million , and it still isn ’ t operating quite yet .
But the basic idea is the same .
If our entire working and personal lives are to be mediated by the policies of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policies will have to shift from a mindset of customer service to one of justice .
I find it heartening that Apple is moving down this path , even if took Basecamp dragging them there .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms .
Trending up : Twitter is giving US employees Election Day off from now on .
Employees around the world will get paid time off to vote in national elections .
( Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press ) Trending up : Facebook is adding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House race through the Facebook Ad Library .
The information will allow the public to track how much each candidate is spending on political ads on the platform .
( Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC ) Trending up : Amazon launched a $ 2 billion fund to advance technologies that will cut down greenhouse gases .
The fund will help Amazon reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040 .
( Justine Calma / The Verge ) Trending down : But Amazon also said its carbon footprint rose 15 percent last year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ its businesses emitted 51.17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019 , the equivalent of 13 coal burning power plants running for a year .
( Joseph Pisani / Associated Press ) ⭐ Twitter restricted a tweet from President Trump where he promised to use “ serious force ” if Washington , DC ever tried to create an autonomous zone like Seattle ’ s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area .
The company said the tweet violated its policy against abusive behavior .
Adi Robertson at The Verge has the story : Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to its advertising model , as Germany ’ s highest civil court said that it has “ no doubt ” the social network misuses its dominant market position .
The court ruled that Facebook must comply with a strict order curbing how it tracks users ’ browsing and smartphone apps .
Facebook is appealing the decision .
( Karin Matussek / Bloomberg ) Weeks after content moderators reached a $ 52 million settlement with Facebook over trauma they suffered working for the company , many are being told that they must view some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet for an extra 48 minutes per day .
( Sam Biddle / The Intercept ) Nine months after Facebook vowed to investigate abusive posts by anti-vaxxers , none of the users involved have been penalized .
Anti-vaxxers have posted violent , horrific comments and death threats to vaccine advocates on the platform .
( Elizabeth Cohen / CNN ) The police chief who helped create the “ Facebook Unit ” in Menlo Park abruptly stepped down on Friday , citing a loss of community trust .
Earlier this month , local residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook cease funding the Menlo Park Police Department .
( Sarah Emerson / OneZero ) More than 70 employees at Mark Zuckerberg ’ s philanthropy are calling for significant internal change at the organization to combat systemic racism .
Employees at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are asking management to commit to 12 changes that will make the philanthropy more inclusive .
( Theodore Schleifer / Recode ) Facebook is suing a developer who is allegedly behind a data scraping campaign that took personal information , including login credentials , from thousands of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop data abuses on its platform in recent years .
( Alfred Ng / CNET ) Twitter and Apple spoke out against Trump ’ s suspension of a variety of guest worker visas .
The new restrictions would fall particularly hard on H-1B visas , which are often used by tech companies to hire foreign workers without engaging a traditional immigration process .
( Russell Brandom / The Verge ) Google also released a statement condemning the new restrictions , saying : “ Immigrants have not only fueled technological breakthroughs and created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enriched American life.
” ( Russell Brandom / The Verge ) A group of black YouTube creators filed a lawsuit regarding alleged racial discrimination in the YouTube algorithm .
They say the platform has been systematically removing their content without explanation .
( Reed Albergotti / The Washington Post ) The FBI used Instagram , an Etsy review , and LinkedIn to identify a protestor accused of setting two police cars on fire during recent protests in Philadelphia .
The case shows how police have been able to use social media and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a few scraps of initial information .
( James Vincent / The Verge ) As local governments ease shelter-in-place restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic , they ’ re relying on contact tracing apps to help stop the spread of the disease .
But the apps are far from ready for a major rollout , as this latest piece on the subject documents .
( Rolfe Winkler and Patience Haggin / The Wall Street Journal ) China is cracking down on live-streaming services for “ vulgar content ” amid their explosion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The move is hitting big Chinese tech companies like Tencent and ByteDance .
( Wayne Ma / The Information ) EU officials admitted the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) has been difficult to implement and enforce .
Regulators have struggled with a lack of clarity around how the rules apply to fields like artificial intelligence , blockchain and the internet of things , and the burden has fallen most heavily on small businesses .
( Javier Espinoza / Financial Times ) ⭐ More than 70 people in the gaming industry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forward with allegations of gender-based discrimination , harassment and sexual assault since Friday .
They have shared their stories on Twitter , YouTube , and Twitch .
Here ’ s Taylor Lorenz and Kellen Browning at The New York Times : Over the weekend , a former Mixer employee shared a blog describing his experiences with racism while working at Microsoft ’ s streaming platform .
The post included allegations that upper level management refused to act when a racist analogy was used during a meeting .
( Ian Walker / Kotaku ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultimately a failure .
But it kicked off a talent war between the big streaming platforms that will likely continue even after Mixer no longer exists .
( Andrew Webster / The Verge ) Microsoft ’ s surprise closure of Mixer comes with a plan to port its creators over to Facebook Gaming .
But it ’ s difficult to find many Mixer streamers who are willing to move to Facebook instead of the much more popular , Amazon-owned Twitch .
( Tom Warren / The Verge ) Pinterest sent an email to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of color to its board and will start evaluating managers based on diversity hiring .
The news comes in response to employee concerns about racial disparities after two black former workers on the policy team said they faced discrimination there .
( Sarah Frier / Bloomberg ) Facebook promoted tips to help users spot fake news .
When scientists tested the effectiveness of the company ’ s advice , the lessons appear to work .
Encouraging news .
( Kaveh Waddell / Consumer Reports ) Oculus is ending sales of its low-end Oculus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oculus Quest .
The company will maintain Oculus Go firmware through 2022 and accept new apps through December 2020 , but it will stop selling Go hardware after the current stock runs out .
( Adi Robertson / The Verge ) Accessibility advocates criticized Twitter for the lack of captions in the company ’ s brand-new audio tweet feature .
The company doesn ’ t have a team dedicated to accessibility , instead relying on employees who volunteer their time above and beyond their usual duties .
It ’ s not a good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Verge ) Social media influencers are actively participating in the online conversation about racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement .
In the past , many say they lost followers for speaking out about politics .
( Rachel E. Greenspan and Kat Tenbarge / Insider ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
Play a new game on Houseparty .
It ’ s called Word Racers and it looks fun !
Look at this botched art restoration .
The destruction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also I can ’ t stop laughing !
Subscribe to Bnet .
Brian Feldman is an excellent internet culture writer who recently left New York magazine .
His newsletter , Bnet , is a reliably sharp and entertaining guide to trending memes that you may or may not have already encountered .
Half the posts are free ; I ’ m a happy paying subscriber .
Watch a possum play tic-tac-toe .
His name is Pablo and he ’ s better than you might guess .
( Via Bnet . )
Send @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and appeals to the App Store review board : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

A weird thing about running a tech company is that if you are very successful, at some point you will also be operating a vast quasi-legal system. Up to a certain point, one of your users complaining that they got locked out of their account is just a customer service problem. But after some threshold — after you’ve reached a billion people, certainly, but also well before then — the same complaint can look strangely like a human rights issue. Do you have the right to speak? Do you have the right to conduct business? And if you lose that right, to whom do you appeal?
That’s one reason I suspect Basecamp’s public protest of Apple and its App Store policies has gotten so much traction. Basecamp, you will remember, is a mid-sized 16-year-old company that makes project management software, and a week ago it introduced a new email service called Hey. Because email is the kind of service you expect to be accessible on all your devices, Basecamp made six native clients for Hey, including one for Apple’s iOS. I installed it on my phone and used it without any issue during the time I was reviewing Hey.
But then Basecamp submitted its first bug fix release for Hey, and Apple rejected it. The issue: Hey did not let users sign up for the product within the app. Apple presented this purely as a customer experience issue — account creation is a necessary part of an email app — but it was also a revenue issue. Apple keeps 30 percent of revenue from signups like these, and Basecamp did not want to give it to them. Eventually Apple said it had been a mistake to let Hey into the App Store to begin with.
If we lived in a world with more than two mobile phone operating systems, it seems unlikely that Apple would be able to take 30 percent of an email app’s revenue just for hosting it in an app store. Instead the fees might resemble those in the more competitive payments industry, which hover in the low single-digit percentages. But more than 1.5 billion iOS devices are in use, and many of the customers who would potentially pay for Hey at $99 a year are users of those devices and expect to find Hey there. Amid a flurry of interest lately in Apple’s anticompetitive behavior from regulators here and in the European Union, Apple’s obstinance in the Hey case drew outsized attention. What once might have been dismissed as a lone, cranky developer seemed symbolic of a larger injustice.
It started to look, in other words, like something closer to a human rights issue.
The Basecamp developers are — and I say this with fondness — loudmouths, and they have seemed to relish in highlighting the various logical gaps and inconsistencies in the App Store’s policies and their enforcement. Look close enough at any system of law or content moderation and it can start to feel arbitrary, but Apple’s has proven to be particularly vulnerable to criticisms. What Apple has prevented Hey from doing, for example, it has allowed the much larger Netflix to do, because Netflix has been designated a “Reader” app, exempting it from offering sign-up within the app. Maybe there’s a good, principled reason for holding email apps to one standard and video streaming apps to another. Or maybe Apple is just playing favorites.
In any case, users of the App Store don’t get to vote, and neither does Hey.
What Hey could do, though, was embrace Apple’s pretzel logic and concoct the strangest app imaginable, a dadaist take on email whose sole real purpose was to highlight the absurdity of software development in the modern era. And that’s just what it did. Here’s Nilay Patel writing Monday in The Verge:
Basecamp isn’t done with the fight. The company has submitted a new version of Hey that meets the strict letter of Apple’s rules but clearly defies their spirit: the company will now offer iOS users a free temporary Hey email account with a randomized address, just so the app is functional when it is first opened. These burner accounts will expire after 14 days. Hey is also now able to work with enterprise customers, as Apple initially took issue with the app’s consumer focus. Hey has not adopted Apple’s own in-app payment system or allowed users to sign up for its full, paid service through the iOS app. Instead, users will still need to subscribe by going directly to Hey’s website.
Surprisingly, it worked — at least for now. Hey is in the App Store as negotiations continue. And whether out of fear of antitrust regulation or a desire not to see this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference overshadowed by a developer dispute, the historically obstinate Apple has even shown sides of yielding. Nick Statt had the surprising news at The Verge:
Apple today announced two major changes to how it handles App Store disputes with third-party developers. The first is that Apple will now allow developers to appeal a specific violation of an App Store guideline, and that there will also be a separate process for challenging the guideline itself. Additionally, Apple says it will no longer delay app updates intended to fix bugs and other core functions over App Store disputes. “Additionally, two changes are coming to the app review process and will be implemented this summer. First, developers will not only be able to appeal decisions about whether an app violates a given guideline of the App Store Review Guidelines, but will also have a mechanism to challenge the guideline itself,” reads a press release from Apple published this afternoon. “Second, for apps that are already on the App Store, bug fixes will no longer be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal issues. Developers will instead be able to address the issue in their next submission.”
Buried hundreds of words into a long press release about improvements to the developer experience, “a mechanism to challenge the guideline” doesn’t exactly leap off the page. At the moment, no other details are available. But these changes suggest that Apple is taking an important question — who has the right to conduct business? — more seriously than it has before, and might begin to answer it in a more rigorous and principled way.
At the moment, this “mechanism” sounds less ambitious than what Facebook is attempting with its Oversight Board, an independent group that later this year will begin hearing appeals from people who believe their posts have been removed in error. Facebook has spent more than two years developing the board, funded it with $130 million, and it still isn’t operating quite yet.
But the basic idea is the same. If our entire working and personal lives are to be mediated by the policies of four or five for-profit corporations, those policies will have to shift from a mindset of customer service to one of justice. I find it heartening that Apple is moving down this path, even if took Basecamp dragging them there.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
🔼Trending up: Twitter is giving US employees Election Day off from now on. Employees around the world will get paid time off to vote in national elections. (Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press)
🔼Trending up: Facebook is adding spending trackers to every US Senate and House race through the Facebook Ad Library. The information will allow the public to track how much each candidate is spending on political ads on the platform. (Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC)
🔼Trending up: Amazon launched a $2 billion fund to advance technologies that will cut down greenhouse gases. The fund will help Amazon reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. (Justine Calma / The Verge)
🔽Trending down: But Amazon also said its carbon footprint rose 15 percent last year. The company revealed that activities tied to its businesses emitted 51.17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019, the equivalent of 13 coal burning power plants running for a year. (Joseph Pisani / Associated Press)
Governing
⭐ Twitter restricted a tweet from President Trump where he promised to use “serious force” if Washington, DC ever tried to create an autonomous zone like Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area. The company said the tweet violated its policy against abusive behavior. Adi Robertson at The Verge has the story:
Restricted tweets can’t be liked or replied to, although they can be retweeted with a comment. Despite this, Trump’s huge social media following almost guarantees any tweet will be widely seen on Twitter. So the decision is largely symbolic, but it helps Twitter stake out a position of acknowledging and acting on Trump’s problematic social media posts — in contrast with Facebook, which has kept a largely hands-off approach but did remove a Trump ad for using Nazi imagery last week. A Facebook post with Trump’s “serious force” message has so far not been labeled or removed.
Facebook suffered a setback in a key challenge to its advertising model, as Germany’s highest civil court said that it has “no doubt” the social network misuses its dominant market position. The court ruled that Facebook must comply with a strict order curbing how it tracks users’ browsing and smartphone apps. Facebook is appealing the decision. (Karin Matussek / Bloomberg)
Nine months after Facebook vowed to investigate abusive posts by anti-vaxxers, none of the users involved have been penalized. Anti-vaxxers have posted violent, horrific comments and death threats to vaccine advocates on the platform. (Elizabeth Cohen / CNN)
The police chief who helped create the “Facebook Unit” in Menlo Park abruptly stepped down on Friday, citing a loss of community trust. Earlier this month, local residents protested the police unit, and demanded Facebook cease funding the Menlo Park Police Department. (Sarah Emerson / OneZero)
More than 70 employees at Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy are calling for significant internal change at the organization to combat systemic racism. Employees at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are asking management to commit to 12 changes that will make the philanthropy more inclusive. (Theodore Schleifer / Recode)
Facebook is suing a developer who is allegedly behind a data scraping campaign that took personal information, including login credentials, from thousands of people. Facebook has increasingly turned to lawsuits to stop data abuses on its platform in recent years. (Alfred Ng / CNET)
Twitter and Apple spoke out against Trump’s suspension of a variety of guest worker visas. The new restrictions would fall particularly hard on H-1B visas, which are often used by tech companies to hire foreign workers without engaging a traditional immigration process. (Russell Brandom / The Verge)
Google also released a statement condemning the new restrictions, saying: “Immigrants have not only fueled technological breakthroughs and created new businesses and jobs but have also enriched American life.” (Russell Brandom / The Verge)
A group of black YouTube creators filed a lawsuit regarding alleged racial discrimination in the YouTube algorithm. They say the platform has been systematically removing their content without explanation. (Reed Albergotti / The Washington Post)
The FBI used Instagram, an Etsy review, and LinkedIn to identify a protestor accused of setting two police cars on fire during recent protests in Philadelphia. The case shows how police have been able to use social media and other publicly-available online records to identify protesters from just a few scraps of initial information. (James Vincent / The Verge)
As local governments ease shelter-in-place restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, they’re relying on contact tracing apps to help stop the spread of the disease. But the apps are far from ready for a major rollout, as this latest piece on the subject documents. (Rolfe Winkler and Patience Haggin / The Wall Street Journal)
China is cracking down on live-streaming services for “vulgar content” amid their explosion in popularity due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move is hitting big Chinese tech companies like Tencent and ByteDance. (Wayne Ma / The Information)
EU officials admitted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been difficult to implement and enforce. Regulators have struggled with a lack of clarity around how the rules apply to fields like artificial intelligence, blockchain and the internet of things, and the burden has fallen most heavily on small businesses. (Javier Espinoza / Financial Times)
Industry
⭐ More than 70 people in the gaming industry, most of them women, have come forward with allegations of gender-based discrimination, harassment and sexual assault since Friday. They have shared their stories on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. Here’s Taylor Lorenz and Kellen Browning at The New York Times:
The outpouring of stories from competitive gamers and streamers, who broadcast their gameplay on platforms like Twitch for money, led to the resignation of the C.E.O. of a prominent talent management company for streamers and a moment of reflection for an industry that has often contended with sexism, bullying and allegations of abuse. Already, the response has been a far cry from Gamergate in 2014, when women faced threats of death and sexual assault for critiquing the industry’s male-dominated, sexist culture. Now, some are optimistic that real change could come.
Over the weekend, a former Mixer employee shared a blog describing his experiences with racism while working at Microsoft’s streaming platform. The post included allegations that upper level management refused to act when a racist analogy was used during a meeting. (Ian Walker / Kotaku)
As a streaming platform, Mixer was ultimately a failure. But it kicked off a talent war between the big streaming platforms that will likely continue even after Mixer no longer exists. (Andrew Webster / The Verge)
Microsoft’s surprise closure of Mixer comes with a plan to port its creators over to Facebook Gaming. But it’s difficult to find many Mixer streamers who are willing to move to Facebook instead of the much more popular, Amazon-owned Twitch. (Tom Warren / The Verge)
Pinterest sent an email to staff saying it will add a person of color to its board and will start evaluating managers based on diversity hiring. The news comes in response to employee concerns about racial disparities after two black former workers on the policy team said they faced discrimination there. (Sarah Frier / Bloomberg)
Facebook promoted tips to help users spot fake news. When scientists tested the effectiveness of the company’s advice, the lessons appear to work. Encouraging news. (Kaveh Waddell / Consumer Reports)
Oculus is ending sales of its low-end Oculus Go virtual reality headset to focus on Oculus Quest. The company will maintain Oculus Go firmware through 2022 and accept new apps through December 2020, but it will stop selling Go hardware after the current stock runs out. (Adi Robertson / The Verge)
Accessibility advocates criticized Twitter for the lack of captions in the company’s brand-new audio tweet feature. The company doesn’t have a team dedicated to accessibility, instead relying on employees who volunteer their time above and beyond their usual duties. It’s not a good look. (Kim Lyons / The Verge)
Social media influencers are actively participating in the online conversation about racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. In the past, many say they lost followers for speaking out about politics. (Rachel E. Greenspan and Kat Tenbarge / Insider)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
Play a new game on Houseparty. It’s called Word Racers and it looks fun!
Look at this botched art restoration. The destruction of our cultural heritage is a tragedy but also I can’t stop laughing!
Subscribe to Bnet. Brian Feldman is an excellent internet culture writer who recently left New York magazine. His newsletter, Bnet, is a reliably sharp and entertaining guide to trending memes that you may or may not have already encountered. Half the posts are free; I’m a happy paying subscriber.
Watch a possum play tic-tac-toe. His name is Pablo and he’s better than you might guess. (Via Bnet.)
And finally...
Talk to us


theverge--2020-06-24--WhatsApp payments suspended in Brazil by Central Bank

Brazil ’ s Central Bank has suspended Facebook ’ s WhatsApp payments feature in the country , just over a week after the messaging service announced its launch , Bloomberg reports .
In a statement , the central bank said that it had taken the decision to ensure competition in the payment system market .
Bloomberg notes that the bank will use the suspension to evaluate potential risks to the country ’ s payment infrastructure , and to work out whether WhatsApp is compliant with regulation .
The suspension in WhatsApp ’ s second biggest market is the latest setback @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Despite launching in beta back in 2018 in India ( WhatsApp ’ s largest market ) , TechCrunch reports that parent company Facebook has struggled to gain regulatory approval for the service , preventing a wider roll out .
Facebook missed its target for the service to be available nationwide by the end of last year .
The WhatsApp payment service is also been tested in Mexico “ We will continue to work with local partners and the Central Bank ” WhatsApp had hoped that its payments system could be used by people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money to individuals .
The service would be free for individuals but would charge businesses a 3.99 percent processing fee .
In countries like India and Brazil , WhatsApp often serves as the main online presence for many small businesses .
Over 5 million merchants around the world use the business version of the app , according to Bloomberg .
Bloomberg reports that WhatsApp was surprised by the Brazillian Central Bank ’ s decision , since the company had been in regular contact with the authority .
WhatsApp had started a small test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a month prior to its launch .
“ Our goal is to provide digital payments to all WhatsApp users in Brazil using an open model and we will continue to work with local partners and the Central Bank to make this possible , ” WhatsApp said in a statement given to Bloomberg .
It added that it plans to support the Central Bank ’ s instant-payment system , which is scheduled to launch in November .
Brazil ’ s Central Bank requested that Mastercard and Visa stop enabling payment and money transfers through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could face fines for non compliance .

Brazil’s Central Bank has suspended Facebook’s WhatsApp payments feature in the country, just over a week after the messaging service announced its launch, Bloomberg reports. In a statement, the central bank said that it had taken the decision to ensure competition in the payment system market. Bloomberg notes that the bank will use the suspension to evaluate potential risks to the country’s payment infrastructure, and to work out whether WhatsApp is compliant with regulation.
The suspension in WhatsApp’s second biggest market is the latest setback for Facebook’s payment ambitions. Despite launching in beta back in 2018 in India (WhatsApp’s largest market), TechCrunch reports that parent company Facebook has struggled to gain regulatory approval for the service, preventing a wider roll out. Facebook missed its target for the service to be available nationwide by the end of last year. The WhatsApp payment service is also been tested in Mexico.
“We will continue to work with local partners and the Central Bank”
WhatsApp had hoped that its payments system could be used by people to pay businesses as well as transfer money to individuals. The service would be free for individuals but would charge businesses a 3.99 percent processing fee. In countries like India and Brazil, WhatsApp often serves as the main online presence for many small businesses. Over 5 million merchants around the world use the business version of the app, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that WhatsApp was surprised by the Brazillian central bank’s decision, since the company had been in regular contact with the authority. WhatsApp had started a small test of the service in the country around a month prior to its launch. “Our goal is to provide digital payments to all WhatsApp users in Brazil using an open model and we will continue to work with local partners and the Central Bank to make this possible,” WhatsApp said in a statement given to Bloomberg. It added that it plans to support the central bank’s instant-payment system, which is scheduled to launch in November.


theverge--2020-06-24--Apple announces digital car keys for wirelessly unlocking your car with an iPhone

Apple announced at WWDC this week that you ’ ll be able to add a digital car key to your iPhone or Apple Watch to wirelessly unlock and start your car .
The feature is part of the newly revealed iOS 14 , and it will work over NFC , Apple says .
The first car supported will be the new 2021 BMW 5 Series , which comes out next month , and Apple says it ’ s working on an industry-wide standard that would use its new U1 ultra wideband chip instead of relying solely on NFC .
Once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apple Watch with a car that supports the digital car keys , if you want to unlock your car , you ’ ll just need to hold your Apple device near an NFC reader that ’ s in your car ( for example , in the car ’ s door handle ) .
You won ’ t be asked to confirm your identity with Face ID or a passcode by default , but you can turn off the so-called “ Express Mode ” for additional security .
Apple says the feature will support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If you want to share your car key , you ’ ll be able to do so via the Messages app .
When sharing a digital car key , you ’ ll be able to restrict certain features in your car , such as limiting acceleration , top speed , or stereo volume .
That could be useful if you ’ re lending your car to a teen driver , for example , and you can revoke the keys later at any time .
Also , Apple won ’ t know when you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your car keys with , the company said in a video .
Apple says the digital car keys work with no network connection , so in theory , you ’ ll still be able to lock your car even in the depths of a parking garage .
The keys are also supposed to work “ for up to 5 hours ” after your iPhone ’ s battery has run out and flipped into a “ power reserve ” mode , which will hopefully alleviate some anxiety about not being able to access your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for awhile .
Other carmakers already offer digital keys that have similar functionality , but they ’ re separate apps , not baked directly into Apple ’ s operating systems , with all of the advantages that can provide .
Having a central place in iOS for car keys could also allow you to keep digital keys for multiple cars in one place .
Apple ’ s reliance on NFC for their digital car keys suggests that the feature could be using the Car Connectivity Consortium ’ s Digital Key Release 2.0 specification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The specification “ leverages Near Field Communication ( NFC ) technology for contactless communication between smartphones and vehicles , and supports a scalable architecture for mass adoption while reducing costs.
” Ultra wideband ( UWB ) tech has the promise to let you unlock your car much more seamlessly than Apple ’ s current implementation — the company says you ’ ll be able to “ unlock your car while your iPhone stays in your bag or pocket.
” And the Consortium has already confirmed that the Digital Key Release 3.0 specification , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ leverage Bluetooth Low Energy and Ultra Wideband wireless connectivity to support passive , location-aware keyless access.
” But for now , automakers will need to provide NFC tags , and you ’ ll need to tap them directly .
Apple ’ s SK Yong , who is a manager of wireless technologies and ecosystems at the company , according to his LinkedIn , is listed as a director on the Consortium ’ s board .
Emily Schubert , an Apple senior manager of car experience engineering who appeared in Apple ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s alternate .
Her name , interestingly , is on an Apple patent for using a “ portable computing device ” for locating a vehicle .
Update June 24th , 7:34PM ET : Removed references to “ Car Key , ” as Apple doesn ’ t appear to be giving its digital car key feature an official marketing name .
Also added new context from Apple ’ s website and a developer video about the digital car keys .

Apple announced at WWDC this week that you’ll be able to add a digital car key to your iPhone or Apple Watch to wirelessly unlock and start your car. The feature is part of the newly revealed iOS 14, and it will work over NFC, Apple says. The first car supported will be the new 2021 BMW 5 Series, which comes out next month, and Apple says it’s working on an industry-wide standard that would use its new U1 ultra wideband chip instead of relying solely on NFC.
Once you’ve paired your iPhone or Apple Watch with a car that supports the digital car keys, if you want to unlock your car, you’ll just need to hold your Apple device near an NFC reader that’s in your car (for example, in the car’s door handle). You won’t be asked to confirm your identity with Face ID or a passcode by default, but you can turn off the so-called “Express Mode” for additional security. Apple says the feature will support the older iOS 13 as well.
Coming to the 2021 BMW 5 Series
If you want to share your car key, you’ll be able to do so via the Messages app. When sharing a digital car key, you’ll be able to restrict certain features in your car, such as limiting acceleration, top speed, or stereo volume. That could be useful if you’re lending your car to a teen driver, for example, and you can revoke the keys later at any time. Also, Apple won’t know when you access your car or who you share your car keys with, the company said in a video.
Apple says the digital car keys work with no network connection, so in theory, you’ll still be able to lock your car even in the depths of a parking garage. The keys are also supposed to work “for up to 5 hours” after your iPhone’s battery has run out and flipped into a “power reserve” mode, which will hopefully alleviate some anxiety about not being able to access your car after being away from a charger for awhile.
Other carmakers already offer digital keys that have similar functionality, but they’re separate apps, not baked directly into Apple’s operating systems, with all of the advantages that can provide. Having a central place in iOS for car keys could also allow you to keep digital keys for multiple cars in one place.
Apple’s reliance on NFC for their digital car keys suggests that the feature could be using the Car Connectivity Consortium’s Digital Key Release 2.0 specification, which was finalized in May. The specification “leverages Near Field Communication (NFC) technology for contactless communication between smartphones and vehicles, and supports a scalable architecture for mass adoption while reducing costs.”
Ultra wideband (UWB) tech has the promise to let you unlock your car much more seamlessly than Apple’s current implementation — the company says you’ll be able to “unlock your car while your iPhone stays in your bag or pocket.” And the Consortium has already confirmed that the Digital Key Release 3.0 specification, which is currently in development, will “leverage Bluetooth Low Energy and Ultra Wideband wireless connectivity to support passive, location-aware keyless access.”
But for now, automakers will need to provide NFC tags, and you’ll need to tap them directly.
Apple’s SK Yong, who is a manager of wireless technologies and ecosystems at the company, according to his LinkedIn, is listed as a director on the Consortium’s board. Emily Schubert, an Apple senior manager of car experience engineering who appeared in Apple’s WWDC video, is listed as Yong’s alternate. Her name, interestingly, is on an Apple patent for using a “portable computing device” for locating a vehicle.


theverge--2020-06-24--Two months after last peak, US hits grim new record in COVID-19 cases

There were 38,672 positive COVID-19 tests reported in the United States today , a new record high , according to the COVID Tracking Project , a volunteer organization housed at The Atlantic that collects data on the pandemic .
The count surged past the previous high of 36,001 , reported on April 25 .
Early in the pandemic , the US caseload was driven by outbreaks in New York , New Jersey , and Connecticut .
Those states have largely controlled the transmission of the virus , and daily case counts are down .
The outbreak is now accelerating in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Arizona , Florida , California , and South Carolina — which had relatively low numbers of cases early on — are home to the lion ’ s share of the newly diagnosed cases .
The US is testing more people for COVID-19 now than it was in April , but that ’ s not the only reason for the skyrocketing case numbers .
The percentage of the tests done in the country that come back positive is ticking back up , as well .
In Arizona , for example , over 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the start of the month in that state , only around 10 percent of tests were positive .
The spikes in some states began a few weeks after those same states lifted stay-at-home orders , even though they hadn ’ t met some expert-recommended benchmarks .
Leaders in many of those states are also reluctant to enforce strategies that could help slow the resulting spread of COVID-19 : Texas Governor Greg Abbott , for example , resisted calls to announce a statewide mask mandate .
This week , he encouraged Texas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he would not reintroduce restrictions on businesses .
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said that there would not be a second lockdown order .
As cases surge , President Trump and the federal government are withdrawing from the virus response .
The administration announced Wednesday that it ’ s withdrawing federal support for 13 COVID-19 testing sites and turning management — and supply acquisition — over to the states .
Seven of those sites are in Texas .
Trump also said at a campaign rally this weekend that the country should slow down testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US tally .
Some COVID-19 patients weren ’ t worth counting , Trump indicated .
“ The young man is 10 years old .
He ’ s got the sniffles .
He ’ ll recover in about 15 minutes .
That ’ s a case !
” White House officials said that Trump was kidding and that he didn ’ t actually want to slow testing down .
Trump said on Monday that he wasn ’ t kidding .

There were 38,672 positive COVID-19 tests reported in the United States today, a new record high, according to the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization housed at The Atlantic that collects data on the pandemic. The count surged past the previous high of 36,001, reported on April 25.
Early in the pandemic, the US caseload was driven by outbreaks in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Those states have largely controlled the transmission of the virus, and daily case counts are down. The outbreak is now accelerating in the South and the West. States like Arizona, Florida, California, and South Carolina — which had relatively low numbers of cases early on — are home to the lion’s share of the newly diagnosed cases.
The US is testing more people for COVID-19 now than it was in April, but that’s not the only reason for the skyrocketing case numbers. The percentage of the tests done in the country that come back positive is ticking back up, as well. In Arizona, for example, over 20 percent of tests are coming back positive. At the start of the month in that state, only around 10 percent of tests were positive.
The spikes in some states began a few weeks after those same states lifted stay-at-home orders, even though they hadn’t met some expert-recommended benchmarks.
Leaders in many of those states are also reluctant to enforce strategies that could help slow the resulting spread of COVID-19: Texas Governor Greg Abbott, for example, resisted calls to announce a statewide mask mandate. This week, he encouraged Texas residents to stay home, but said he would not reintroduce restrictions on businesses. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said that there would not be a second lockdown order.
As cases surge, President Trump and the federal government are withdrawing from the virus response. The administration announced Wednesday that it’s withdrawing federal support for 13 COVID-19 testing sites and turning management — and supply acquisition — over to the states. Seven of those sites are in Texas.
Trump also said at a campaign rally this weekend that the country should slow down testing to avoid adding new cases to the US tally.
Some COVID-19 patients weren’t worth counting, Trump indicated. “The young man is 10 years old. He’s got the sniffles. He’ll recover in about 15 minutes. That’s a case!”