theverge--2020-05-05--The Blacklist’s season finale will be partially animated as teams work to finish from home

NBC ’ s The Blacklist is another show whose producers and writers are finding intuitive ways to end the season while on-set production has come to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic .
The show ’ s seventh season finale will air as a half-live-action , half animated special next week .
The animation will be comic book-style , according to Variety .
Based on the artwork above , it looks like the episode might be visually similar to movies like Sin City , which used similar art styles .
The animated component will be added to incorporate the live-action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Variety reports , with lead actors James Spader and Megan Boone recording audio from their individual homes .
Everyone ’ s work on the episode will be carried out remotely .
Although The Blacklist is the latest show to figure out a way to tell a narrative story by introducing new methods to editing an episode from home , it ’ s far from the first .
CBS ’ legal drama All Rise produced an entire episode remotely , incorporating video conferencing tools like Zoom to conduct a court case while characters practiced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own Parks and Recreation found its 10 main cast members reunite for a one-off episode about the coronavirus pandemic .
The network ’ s long running Saturday Night Live has also produced two episodes completely remote since mass self isolation protocols went into effect in the United States .
The specials have received applause from critics who have stressed how impressive it is that teams have created each episode .
Some critics have stressed that while it works as a one-off , the episodes prove that television is a long way off from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remote settings .
The Blacklist ’ s season finale is set to air on Friday , May 15th at 8PM ET .

NBC’s The Blacklist is another show whose producers and writers are finding intuitive ways to end the season while on-set production has come to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. The show’s seventh season finale will air as a half-live-action, half animated special next week.
The animation will be comic book-style, according to Variety. Based on the artwork above, it looks like the episode might be visually similar to movies like Sin City, which used similar art styles. The animated component will be added to incorporate the live-action scenes that have already been filmed, Variety reports, with lead actors James Spader and Megan Boone recording audio from their individual homes. Everyone’s work on the episode will be carried out remotely.
The animation style evokes Frank Miller’s Sin City
Although The Blacklist is the latest show to figure out a way to tell a narrative story by introducing new methods to editing an episode from home, it’s far from the first. CBS’ legal drama All Rise produced an entire episode remotely, incorporating video conferencing tools like Zoom to conduct a court case while characters practiced social distancing protocols. NBC’s own Parks and Recreation found its 10 main cast members reunite for a one-off episode about the coronavirus pandemic. The network’s long running Saturday Night Live has also produced two episodes completely remote since mass self isolation protocols went into effect in the United States.
The specials have received applause from critics who have stressed how impressive it is that teams have created each episode. Some critics have stressed that while it works as a one-off, the episodes prove that television is a long way off from producing seasons long entertainment executed in completely remote settings.


theverge--2020-05-05--Lyft’s ‘Wait and Save’ rides offer a cheaper fare for essential trips

If your region is under stay-at-home guidelines , it ’ s best to avoid using ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft .
But not everyone has that option .
And with both companies having suspended shared rides and carpooling during the pandemic as a safety precaution , some people who need rides are finding themselves left without more affordable , reduced-fare ways of getting to their destination .
Lyft is trying to offer up one solution by expanding its “ wait and save ” ride option to cover “ most ” riders in the United States and Canada .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re willing to wait a longer-than-normal amount of time to be picked up , you ’ ll save on the cost of your trip .
Drivers make their standard rate no matter what .
“ More riders than ever will see Wait and Save as an option in their Lyft app alongside our standard ride modes .
Riders who choose Wait and Save will always pay less than they would for a standard Lyft ride , and typically the longer they need to wait , the more they will save , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ This allows for the rider to be matched with the best-located driver .
Of course , for riders that need a quicker pickup , a standard Lyft ride is still available and prices and ETAs are always shown in the Lyft app.
” Lyft says that 40 percent of its rides in the US either start or end in low-income areas , and the company is very much aware that people are relying on its service for trips to the pharmacy , grocery store , and other necessary trips .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we will evaluate all of our options to make sure Lyft riders are able to get where they need to go affordably and responsibly.
” For its part , Uber says it ’ s offering free transportation for frontline workers and helping to coordinate free food deliveries to first responders , among other efforts it ’ s making during the novel coronavirus pandemic .

If your region is under stay-at-home guidelines, it’s best to avoid using ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft. But not everyone has that option. And with both companies having suspended shared rides and carpooling during the pandemic as a safety precaution, some people who need rides are finding themselves left without more affordable, reduced-fare ways of getting to their destination.
Lyft is trying to offer up one solution by expanding its “wait and save” ride option to cover “most” riders in the United States and Canada. The name says it all: if you’re willing to wait a longer-than-normal amount of time to be picked up, you’ll save on the cost of your trip. Drivers make their standard rate no matter what.
“More riders than ever will see Wait and Save as an option in their Lyft app alongside our standard ride modes. Riders who choose Wait and Save will always pay less than they would for a standard Lyft ride, and typically the longer they need to wait, the more they will save,” the company wrote on its blog today. “This allows for the rider to be matched with the best-located driver. Of course, for riders that need a quicker pickup, a standard Lyft ride is still available and prices and ETAs are always shown in the Lyft app.”


theverge--2020-05-05--Leaked videos show Lenovo’s first gaming smartphone

Lenovo ’ s first gaming phone , the Lenovo Legion , has leaked in a series of promotional videos showing off the device .
A “ trusted ” anonymous source provided the unreleased material , in addition to some new specs , to XDA Developers .
There ’ s no guarantee that these videos will reflect the product ’ s final design , but they offer an interesting look at some features we may have to look forward to .
Per XDA , the videos indicate that the phone will feature fast 90W wired charging ( a slogan claims “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thanks to a beastly 5,000mAh dual-cell battery .
We ’ re also looking at a USB-C charging port , a SIM card tray , and a data port ( but no headphone jack ) on the bottom ; an additional USB-C on the side ; speakers in the top and bottom bezel ; and a microphone hole on the top .
The back of the device features a symmetrical Y-shaped design similar to those found on some other Legion products .
The dual cameras appear to be located in the center of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where you ’ d expect to see them .
That ’ s perhaps a more useful location for mobile gamers who may be frequently holding the phone horizontally .
The videos also indicate that there ’ s no iPhone-esque camera notch on the Legion .
Instead , the front camera appears to pop out of the side — another decision that seems optimized for landscape orientation .
XDA ’ s source also revealed some specs : it ’ s purported to be powered by Qualcomm ’ s Snapdragon 865 , with FS 3.0 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ screen is said to have 2340 x 1080 resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate .
The rear camera array includes a 64MP and a 16MP wide-angle shooter ; the front camera is 20MP .
Legion phone rumors have been swirling for a few months .
Many of them line up with the details in these videos ; Lenovo revealed 90W fast charging in a poster last month , and has teased the notch-less display , Snapdragon 865 , and dual USB-C ports in previous renders as well .
The leaks don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release date , so we may need to wait a while to see this phone for ourselves .

Lenovo’s first gaming phone, the Lenovo Legion, has leaked in a series of promotional videos showing off the device. A “trusted” anonymous source provided the unreleased material, in addition to some new specs, to XDA Developers. There’s no guarantee that these videos will reflect the product’s final design, but they offer an interesting look at some features we may have to look forward to.
Per XDA, the videos indicate that the phone will feature fast 90W wired charging (a slogan claims “30 minutes to 100%”) thanks to a beastly 5,000mAh dual-cell battery. We’re also looking at a USB-C charging port, a SIM card tray, and a data port (but no headphone jack) on the bottom; an additional USB-C on the side; speakers in the top and bottom bezel; and a microphone hole on the top.
The back of the device features a symmetrical Y-shaped design similar to those found on some other Legion products. The dual cameras appear to be located in the center of the rear, rather than on the top where you’d expect to see them. That’s perhaps a more useful location for mobile gamers who may be frequently holding the phone horizontally. The videos also indicate that there’s no iPhone-esque camera notch on the Legion. Instead, the front camera appears to pop out of the side — another decision that seems optimized for landscape orientation.
XDA’s source also revealed some specs: it’s purported to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865, with FS 3.0 internal storage and LPDDR5 RAM. The screen is said to have 2340 x 1080 resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate. The rear camera array includes a 64MP and a 16MP wide-angle shooter; the front camera is 20MP.
Image: XDA Developers
Image: XDA Developers
Legion phone rumors have been swirling for a few months. Many of them line up with the details in these videos; Lenovo revealed 90W fast charging in a poster last month, and has teased the notch-less display, Snapdragon 865, and dual USB-C ports in previous renders as well.


theverge--2020-05-05--Slack is testing a major redesign of its Android app with new navigation bar

: Slack ’ s mobile apps have always valiantly tried to replicate the desktop and web experience with a single home screen and a reliance on swipe-based navigation and cumbersome menus .
But a new update the company is rolling out on its Android beta channel is introducing a “ simpler , more organized ” Slack with major visual and user interface changes .
The update ’ s biggest new feature is the navigation bar at the bottom that now lets you easily jump to various sections of the app without having to swipe , tap a tiny icon , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ text .
The bar includes a home screen for laying out all of your channels , and from there , you can swipe right to access other workspaces or left to go back to the last channel you were looking at .
Next to the home tab is now a dedicated DMs one for accessing private messaging , and after that is a mentions tab that more clearly organizes what used to be buried in the activity section of the app , which was only accessible by swiping right and tapping the button @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right end is a new “ You ” tab that pulls up your profile for setting your status and accessing settings .
There ’ s also now a compose button for starting a new DM that floats in the bottom-right of the other three tabs .
This is poised to be a huge improvement over the current version of Slack on Android , which tends to bury features and access to vital parts of the app under annoying icon taps and drop-down menus .
In the current public version of Slack , quick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to either tap the workspace icon in the upper-left corner or swipe from the left .
But the swipe only works if you ’ re not using the new Android Q gesture system , which controversially remapped that gesture to a universal back button .
Features like accessing the dedicated direct message tab or seeing your workspaces are buried under the Home screen menu and only after you swipe to expose it .
( Navigation and ease of use on Slack mobile are only slightly improved on iOS , which doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more robust swiping options for accessing various parts of the app with a single finger and without button presses . )
In other words , the new Slack should be a lot faster and easier to use than what we have now , once people get used to how it works .
It ’ s not clear when Slack intends to roll this out to the public version of its Android app or if there are other changes it intends to make before it does so .
But you can access the latest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

:Slack’s mobile apps have always valiantly tried to replicate the desktop and web experience with a single home screen and a reliance on swipe-based navigation and cumbersome menus. But a new update the company is rolling out on its Android beta channel is introducing a “simpler, more organized” Slack with major visual and user interface changes.
The update’s biggest new feature is the navigation bar at the bottom that now lets you easily jump to various sections of the app without having to swipe, tap a tiny icon, or scan a menu of sometimes hard-to-read text.
The bar includes a home screen for laying out all of your channels, and from there, you can swipe right to access other workspaces or left to go back to the last channel you were looking at. Next to the home tab is now a dedicated DMs one for accessing private messaging, and after that is a mentions tab that more clearly organizes what used to be buried in the activity section of the app, which was only accessible by swiping right and tapping the button under your profile. At the far right end is a new “You” tab that pulls up your profile for setting your status and accessing settings. There’s also now a compose button for starting a new DM that floats in the bottom-right of the other three tabs.
Previous Next
1 / 4 Screenshots by Dan Seifert / The Verge Previous Next
1 / 4 Screenshots by Dan Seifert / The Verge
This is poised to be a huge improvement over the current version of Slack on Android, which tends to bury features and access to vital parts of the app under annoying icon taps and drop-down menus.
In the current public version of Slack, quick access to the channel panel requires you to either tap the workspace icon in the upper-left corner or swipe from the left. But the swipe only works if you’re not using the new Android Q gesture system, which controversially remapped that gesture to a universal back button. Features like accessing the dedicated direct message tab or seeing your workspaces are buried under the Home screen menu and only after you swipe to expose it. (Navigation and ease of use on Slack mobile are only slightly improved on iOS, which doesn’t have a navigation bar but does have more robust swiping options for accessing various parts of the app with a single finger and without button presses.)


theverge--2020-05-05--Tom Cruise will work with NASA on first movie filmed in space, NASA says

NASA is working with Tom Cruise to film the first movie shot in space , according to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine .
The details of the project aren ’ t clear , but Bridenstine says the film will take place aboard the International Space Station .
We don ’ t know yet how Cruise will be participating in the adventure , but he ’ s well-known for performing increasingly impressive stunts in his recent films , including clutching the side of an Airbus A400 as it takes off in 2015 ’ s Mission : Impossible — Rogue Nation .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more difficult stunt to pull than making a feature film in space .
News of a possible collaboration between Cruise and NASA was first reported by Deadline .
The report said that Cruise was working with SpaceX to shoot the film , though neither NASA nor SpaceX has confirmed that speculation .
SpaceX did announce in February that it will launch four private citizens to orbit around Earth at the end of 2021 or in early 2022 .
The passengers are set to fly in SpaceX ’ s newly developed Crew Dragon spacecraft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first NASA astronauts to the International Space Station later this month .
When asked for comment , NASA declined to provide more details .
“ We will say more about the project at the appropriate time , ” a NASA spokesperson told The Verge .
“ Anything else would be premature.
” Hours later , SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted at Bridenstine : “ Should be a lot of fun !
” Update May 5th , 8:08PM ET : This post was updated to include a statement from NASA and an Elon Musk @ @

NASA is working with Tom Cruise to film the first movie shot in space, according to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. The details of the project aren’t clear, but Bridenstine says the film will take place aboard the International Space Station.
Bridenstine didn’t say how Cruise will be participating in the adventure, but a NASA spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Cruise will launch to space and stay on board the ISS. Cruise is well-known for performing increasingly impressive stunts in his recent films, including clutching the side of an Airbus A400 as it takes off in 2015’s Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation. It’s hard to think of a more difficult stunt to pull than making a feature film in space.
News of a possible collaboration between Cruise and NASA was first reported by Deadline. The report said that Cruise was working with SpaceX to shoot the film, though neither NASA nor SpaceX has confirmed that speculation. SpaceX did announce in February that it will launch four private citizens to orbit around Earth at the end of 2021 or in early 2022. The passengers are set to fly in SpaceX’s newly developed Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is slated to fly its first NASA astronauts to the International Space Station later this month.
When asked for comment, NASA declined to provide more details. “We will say more about the project at the appropriate time,” a NASA spokesperson told The Verge. “Anything else would be premature.” Hours later, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted at Bridenstine: “Should be a lot of fun!”
Update May 6th, 11:40AM ET: This post was updated to include additional reporting from CNN.


theverge--2020-05-05--Virgin Galactic lost $60 million in first quarter, announces new NASA partnership for supersonic tec

Virgin Galactic lost $60 million in first quarter, announces new NASA partnership for supersonic tech

Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic lost $ 60 million in the first quarter of 2020 , down from the $ 73 million net loss it suffered at the end of last year , according to the company ’ s earnings statement today .
The company says it earned revenue of just $ 238,000 this first quarter by “ providing engineering services.
” Along with these earnings results , Virgin Galactic is announcing that 400 people put down refundable deposits to fly on the company ’ s tourist spaceplane in the future .
The full cost to fly on the vehicle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new initiative , Virgin Galactic allowed aspiring astronauts to put down just $ 1,000 to reserve a seat on a future flight .
The company says those deposits represent “ over $ 100 million of potential future revenue upon full ticket payment.
” The deposits represent “ over $ 100 million of potential future revenue upon full ticket payment ” Virgin Galactic is also announcing today that it is getting some help from NASA to develop future high Mach vehicles — or supersonic jets — that can potentially be used for high-speed air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new Space Act Agreement with NASA , which will leverage the space agency ’ s research in the field of supersonic air travel .
For the last two decades , Virgin Galactic ’ s primary goal has been to send paying customers to the edge of space and back to get a quick taste of weightlessness .
The company ’ s primary vehicle is the VSS Unity , a spaceplane that deploys from underneath the wing of a giant carrier aircraft in midair .
Pilots on board the spaceplane ignite the vehicle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an altitude 50 miles above the Earth , what many consider to be the boundary to space .
At that height , passengers would experience a few minutes of floating before the plane glides back down to Earth and lands on a runway .
Though space tourism is Virgin Galactic ’ s ultimate focus , the company has expressed interest in expanding its capabilities .
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson has talked about eventually developing point-to-point travel , which entails rocket-powered vehicles taking passengers from one point on the Earth to another .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies , too , notably SpaceX , but such technology is far from reality .
And there are concerns about the feasibility of such forms of travel .
Developing supersonic aircraft could be an important step to making point-to-point travel happen , though .
And NASA has a lot of experience with these kinds of high Mach vehicles , with decades of history developing aircraft to travel faster than the speed of sound .
In recent years , NASA has also been working on a new “ silent ” supersonic jet called the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company ’ s full year financial results and test flight program will depend on future developments.
” Along with all of these announcements , Virgin Galactic said it was still unsure how the COVID-19 pandemic would affect the company .
“ The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company ’ s full year financial results and test flight program will depend on future developments , such as the ultimate duration and scope of the outbreak , the timing and impact of future stay-at-home orders and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at which the company can resume normal course operations , ” the company said in a statement .
Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said that after pausing operations in March , the company took various safety precautions at the company ’ s facilities to allow employees to continue working .
They required facial coverings , rearranged facilities to encourage social distancing , and tested up to 579 employees for the virus .
“ Over 90 percent of our employees , whose work requires them to be in the facilities , are now working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ For the time being , we are encouraging those employees who are able to work from home to continue doing so while we develop our plans for the safe return of those workers to our facilities.
” The company has also been working on side projects to help fight the coronavirus pandemic , such as creating a breathing hoods to help provide oxygen to patients with COVID-19 .
Virgin Galactic also worked with NASA to develop enclosures for patients on gurneys , to help protect medical workers from the virus .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ still looking ahead to its next test flights .
So far , the company has only flown a total of five people to the edge of space and back on two test flights .
The company recently did a glide flight with its plane at the company ’ s new permanent headquarters at Spaceport America in New Mexico , after moving there from their test facilities in Mojave , California .
Virgin Galactic plans to fly at least one more glide flight before starting powered flights back up again .
Virgin Galactic doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first passenger flights will begin .
Before the pandemic , the company was targeting the first customer trip — with Branson — to occur this summer .
Now the company is just focused on starting their powered tests back up again and Whitesides says they can continue to test throughout lockdowns if needed .
“ We also remain focused on flying Richard Branson to space as soon as we can , ” Whitesides said .

Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic lost $60 million in the first quarter of 2020, down from the $73 million net loss it suffered at the end of last year, according to the company’s earnings statement today. The company says it earned revenue of just $238,000 this first quarter by “providing engineering services.”
Along with these earnings results, Virgin Galactic is announcing that 400 people put down refundable deposits to fly on the company’s tourist spaceplane in the future. The full cost to fly on the vehicle is $250,000, but through a new initiative, Virgin Galactic allowed aspiring astronauts to put down just $1,000 to reserve a seat on a future flight. The company says those deposits represent “over $100 million of potential future revenue upon full ticket payment.”
The deposits represent “over $100 million of potential future revenue upon full ticket payment”
Virgin Galactic is also announcing today that it is getting some help from NASA to develop future high Mach vehicles — or supersonic jets — that can potentially be used for high-speed air travel. Today, the company announced a new Space Act Agreement with NASA, which will leverage the space agency’s research in the field of supersonic air travel.
For the last two decades, Virgin Galactic’s primary goal has been to send paying customers to the edge of space and back to get a quick taste of weightlessness. The company’s primary vehicle is the VSS Unity, a spaceplane that deploys from underneath the wing of a giant carrier aircraft in midair. Pilots on board the spaceplane ignite the vehicle’s onboard engine to climb to an altitude 50 miles above the Earth, what many consider to be the boundary to space. At that height, passengers would experience a few minutes of floating before the plane glides back down to Earth and lands on a runway.
Though space tourism is Virgin Galactic’s ultimate focus, the company has expressed interest in expanding its capabilities. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson has talked about eventually developing point-to-point travel, which entails rocket-powered vehicles taking passengers from one point on the Earth to another. Point-to-point travel has been floated by other companies, too, notably SpaceX, but such technology is far from reality. And there are concerns about the feasibility of such forms of travel.
Developing supersonic aircraft could be an important step to making point-to-point travel happen, though. And NASA has a lot of experience with these kinds of high Mach vehicles, with decades of history developing aircraft to travel faster than the speed of sound. In recent years, NASA has also been working on a new “silent” supersonic jet called the X-59 QueSST.
“The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s full year financial results and test flight program will depend on future developments.”
Along with all of these announcements, Virgin Galactic said it was still unsure how the COVID-19 pandemic would affect the company. “The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s full year financial results and test flight program will depend on future developments, such as the ultimate duration and scope of the outbreak, the timing and impact of future stay-at-home orders and other government mandates, and the pace at which the company can resume normal course operations,” the company said in a statement.
Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said that after pausing operations in March, the company took various safety precautions at the company’s facilities to allow employees to continue working. They required facial coverings, rearranged facilities to encourage social distancing, and tested up to 579 employees for the virus. “Over 90 percent of our employees, whose work requires them to be in the facilities, are now working back on site,” Whitesides said. “For the time being, we are encouraging those employees who are able to work from home to continue doing so while we develop our plans for the safe return of those workers to our facilities.”
The company has also been working on side projects to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, such as creating a breathing hoods to help provide oxygen to patients with COVID-19. Virgin Galactic also worked with NASA to develop enclosures for patients on gurneys, to help protect medical workers from the virus.
Despite the pandemic, Virgin Galactic is still looking ahead to its next test flights. So far, the company has only flown a total of five people to the edge of space and back on two test flights. The company recently did a glide flight with its plane at the company’s new permanent headquarters at Spaceport America in New Mexico, after moving there from their test facilities in Mojave, California. Virgin Galactic plans to fly at least one more glide flight before starting powered flights back up again.
Virgin Galactic doesn’t have a timeline for when the first passenger flights will begin. Before the pandemic, the company was targeting the first customer trip — with Branson — to occur this summer. Now the company is just focused on starting their powered tests back up again and Whitesides says they can continue to test throughout lockdowns if needed.


theverge--2020-05-05--Tinder will launch in-app video chats later this year

Tinder is going to launch its own in-app , one-on-one video chats later this year .
Match Group , the brand ’ s parent company , announced the feature in its earnings release today .
Details are scarce , but the fact that Tinder is even going to release this feature is big news .
This would be one of the largest feature introductions for the brand , and an especially impressive undertaking considering Tinder has millions of users , and video calls can be places ripe for abuse .
The company couldn ’ t share additional details with The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficult to screen for on video , as opposed to text-based messaging .
But presumably , the team is either building its own offensive image detection system or looking to a third party to provide one .
Users will also have to get used to the idea of swiping and then chatting with people over video rather than just screening their dates in person .
The app ’ s only video feature until now has been looping GIFs Otherwise , Match provided updates on its brands ’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lockdown and unable to meet up for in-person dates .
It says it ’ s seen an uptick in the average Tinder swipes each day and said they reached “ all-time highs.
” Women users under the age of 30 increased their daily average swipes by 37 percent , Match says , in the month of April compared to the last week of February .
The average number of daily messages sent across all of its products , including on Hinge , Match.com , and OkCupid , in the month of April was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week of February , and for users under the age of 30 , it was 35 percent higher .
That said , the company did also note that it saw a decline in first-time paying users from February to March , although the numbers were still higher than last year at this time .
It also regained its subscriber momentum from March to April .
“ As the lockdowns have dragged on , we have seen some impact on younger male users , while there has been some recovery in the over 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Although the dating apps are making changes to their product in an effort to keep people dating , the full impact of the pandemic on dating will likely be seen later this year .
If lockdown orders stay in effect around the world , it ’ s possible people will shelve dating until they can actually meet up in person .
“ We are confident that demand for human connection will never dissipate and remain committed to fulfilling that need , ” the company said in its earnings note .
“ This period @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more dire for single people – who no longer have other avenues to meet and connect such as bars and concerts – if not for our products .
”

Tinder is going to launch its own in-app, one-on-one video chats later this year. Match Group, the brand’s parent company, announced the feature in its earnings release today. Details are scarce, but the fact that Tinder is even going to release this feature is big news. This would be one of the largest feature introductions for the brand, and an especially impressive undertaking considering Tinder has millions of users, and video calls can be places ripe for abuse. The company couldn’t share additional details with The Verge.
Harassment and abuse could be difficult to screen for on video, as opposed to text-based messaging. But presumably, the team is either building its own offensive image detection system or looking to a third party to provide one. Users will also have to get used to the idea of swiping and then chatting with people over video rather than just screening their dates in person.
The app’s only video feature until now has been looping GIFs
Otherwise, Match provided updates on its brands’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic where most of the world is under strict lockdown and unable to meet up for in-person dates. It says it’s seen an uptick in the average Tinder swipes each day and said they reached “all-time highs.” Women users under the age of 30 increased their daily average swipes by 37 percent, Match says, in the month of April compared to the last week of February. The average number of daily messages sent across all of its products, including on Hinge, Match.com, and OkCupid, in the month of April was 27 percent higher than during the last week of February, and for users under the age of 30, it was 35 percent higher.
That said, the company did also note that it saw a decline in first-time paying users from February to March, although the numbers were still higher than last year at this time. It also regained its subscriber momentum from March to April.
“As the lockdowns have dragged on, we have seen some impact on younger male users, while there has been some recovery in the over 30 demographic,” the company says.
Although the dating apps are making changes to their product in an effort to keep people dating, the full impact of the pandemic on dating will likely be seen later this year. If lockdown orders stay in effect around the world, it’s possible people will shelve dating until they can actually meet up in person.


theverge--2020-05-06--Samsung heir offers rare apology, won’t pass company control to children

The heir-apparent to the Samsung Group , Jay Y. Lee , has apologized for his role in a succession plot that resulted in a bribery conviction , and for executives caught sabotaging attempts to organize labor at the company .
Lee , the only son of the incapacitated Chairman Lee Kun-hee and grandson of founder Lee Byung-chull , also pledged that he would not pass control of the Korean dynasty to his children .
Until today , two things were thought to be true about Samsung ’ s royal family : it doesn ’ t apologize unless things explode , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Lees .
The break in tradition could be an historic moment for the chaebol that got its start as a small grocery store in the 1930s , before rising to become a major international force responsible for nearly 20 percent of South Korea ’ s GDP .
“ We failed , at times , to meet society ’ s expectations .
We even disappointed people and caused concern because we did not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards , ” said Lee during the apology , according to Reuters .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s managerial rights to my children .
I have thought about it for a long time , but was hesitant about making it public , ” he added , according to The Korean Herald .
Lee was advised to apologize by an internal oversight panel , according to Reuters , making the apology by the 51-year-old vice chairman of Samsung Electronics seem like an attempt to secure leniency .
In 2017 , Lee was convicted of perjury , embezzlement , and bribery in a plot that was meant to ensure control of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his father .
Lee was released on appeal after serving one year of his five-year sentence .
That ruling was overturned in August and he ’ s now awaiting the court ’ s decision .

The heir-apparent to the Samsung Group, Lee Jae-yong (or Jay Y. Lee in the Western construction), has apologized for his role in a succession plot that resulted in a bribery conviction, and for executives caught sabotaging attempts to organize labor at the company. Lee, the only son of the incapacitated Chairman Lee Kun-hee and grandson of founder Lee Byung-chull, also pledged that he would not pass management control of the Korean dynasty to his children.
Until today, two things were thought to be true about Samsung’s royal family: it doesn’t apologize unless things explode, and company control is a birthright of the Lees. The break in tradition could be an historic moment for the chaebol that got its start as a small grocery store in the 1930s, before rising to become a major international force responsible for nearly 20 percent of South Korea’s GDP.
“We failed, at times, to meet society’s expectations. We even disappointed people and caused concern because we did not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards,” said Lee during the apology, according to Reuters. “I will not pass the company’s managerial rights to my children. I have thought about it for a long time, but was hesitant about making it public,” he added, according to The Korean Herald.


theverge--2020-05-06--Microsoft offers $100,000 to hack its custom Linux OS

Microsoft is offering hackers up to $ 100,000 if they can break the security of the company ’ s custom Linux OS .
The software giant built a compact and custom version of Linux last year for its Azure Sphere OS , which is designed to run on specialized chips for its Internet of Things ( IoT ) platform .
The OS is purpose-built for this platform , ensuring basic services and apps run isolated in a sandbox for security purposes .
Microsoft now wants hackers to test the security of the Azure Sphere OS , paying up to $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Secure World sandbox is breached .
The bug bounty program is part of a three-month research challenge that runs from June 1st until August 31st .
“ We will award up to $ 100,000 bounty for specific scenarios in the Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge during the program period , ” explains Sylvie Liu , a security program manager at Microsoft ’ s Security Response Center .
Microsoft wants a group of security researchers to join the challenge The challenge is focused on the Azure Sphere OS itself , and not the underlying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Azure bounty program awards .
Microsoft is specifically looking for a group of security researchers to try and break its Linux OS security .
Physical attacks are out of scope , but researchers can apply to be part of the challenge here .
Azure Sphere was announced at last year ’ s Build developer conference , and it ’ s still relatively new .
Businesses like Starbucks are rolling out Azure Sphere to secure its store equipment , which feeds back data points on the type of beans , coffee temperature , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ espresso .
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sees IoT devices as a key area for the company , describing its cloud business as the biggest hardware business at Microsoft earlier this year .
Nadella is chasing the billions of IoT devices that analysts predict will be in use over the next decade .
Azure Sphere is a key part of the mission to help secure and manage these devices , and part of Microsoft ’ s increased push to win a world beyond Windows that ’ s increasingly moving to cloud computing .

Microsoft is offering hackers up to $100,000 if they can break the security of the company’s custom Linux OS. The software giant built a compact and custom version of Linux last year for its Azure Sphere OS, which is designed to run on specialized chips for its Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The OS is purpose-built for this platform, ensuring basic services and apps run isolated in a sandbox for security purposes.
Microsoft now wants hackers to test the security of the Azure Sphere OS, paying up to $100,000 if the Pluton security subsystem or Secure World sandbox is breached. The bug bounty program is part of a three-month research challenge that runs from June 1st until August 31st. “We will award up to $100,000 bounty for specific scenarios in the Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge during the program period,” explains Sylvie Liu, a security program manager at Microsoft’s Security Response Center.
Microsoft wants a group of security researchers to join the challenge
The challenge is focused on the Azure Sphere OS itself, and not the underlying cloud portion that’s already eligible for Azure bounty program awards. Microsoft is specifically looking for a group of security researchers to try and break its Linux OS security. Physical attacks are out of scope, but researchers can apply to be part of the challenge here.
Azure Sphere was announced at last year’s Build developer conference, and it’s still relatively new. Businesses like Starbucks are rolling out Azure Sphere to secure its store equipment, which feeds back data points on the type of beans, coffee temperature, and water quality for every shot of espresso.


theverge--2020-05-06--Huawei’s new FreeBuds 3i take plenty of inspiration from Apple

Huawei ’ s latest pair of earbuds are the FreeBuds 3i .
Like their predecessor , the FreeBuds 3 , they ’ re truly wireless , offer noise-cancellation , and bear more than a passing resemblance to Apple ’ s earbuds .
This time Huawei ’ s earbuds look like they ’ re going for a more AirPods Pro look rather than the original AirPods , so it ’ s nice that they ’ re keeping with the times .
Huawei says the earbuds support Bluetooth 5.1 and can be controlled by tapping out the outside of the earbud .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ playback on a single change , and their charging case holds 14.5 hours more .
That ’ s a little low compared to the AirPods Pro , which deliver up to 4.5 hours from a single charge , while Apple ’ s charging case brings total listening time up to 24 hours .
Thankfully , a key area where Huawei hasn ’ t followed Apple ’ s lead is on price .
The FreeBuds 3i will cost £90 ( around $ 111 ) when they go on sale on May 20 in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll also be a black model which will be released later on June 17 .

Huawei’s latest pair of earbuds are the FreeBuds 3i. Like their predecessor, the FreeBuds 3, they’re truly wireless, offer noise-cancellation, and bear more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s earbuds. This time Huawei’s earbuds look like they’re going for a more AirPods Pro look rather than the original AirPods, so it’s nice that they’re keeping with the times.
Huawei says the earbuds support Bluetooth 5.1 and can be controlled by tapping out the outside of the earbud. They offer up to 3.5 hours of playback on a single change, and their charging case holds 14.5 hours more. That’s a little low compared to the AirPods Pro, which deliver up to 4.5 hours from a single charge, while Apple’s charging case brings total listening time up to 24 hours.


theverge--2020-05-06--The world’s biggest PC games are fighting a new surge of cheaters and hackers

If you ’ ve ever played a PC game that has a competitive element , you ’ ve probably played against a cheater .
Whether it ’ s that sniper bullet that felt a little too accurate , the person teleporting around the map , or the opposition that just somehow knows which angle you ’ re about to peek from every single time .
Some of the world ’ s most popular PC games are now fighting back against cheaters in new and interesting ways — just as cheating becomes an even bigger problem .
The developers behind Call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Destiny 2 have all announced big pushes to respond to cheating in recent weeks .
The hottest game on Twitch , Valorant , isn ’ t even out yet , and cheating is already a problem that needs to be addressed .
Cheating in PC games isn ’ t a new phenomenon .
Game hacks and cheat software have been around as long as PC games have existed .
Aimbots automatically lock onto opponents ’ heads , so cheaters can fire and immediately win a battle .
Wallhacks expose everyone on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of knowing when you ’ re about to push a point or turn a corner .
There ’ s even lag switching , which mainly affects peer-to-peer games , allowing cheaters to stutter around a map and become very difficult to hit .
Aimbots and wallhacks are the most common forms of cheating in online shooters , allowing people who are new to a game or simply at a lower skill level to get a huge advantage over other players .
Some cheats are the obvious type , where a player is flying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or firing a gun faster than anyone else .
Others , like wallhacks , are far less obvious , and often go undetected in games for weeks or even months .
There ’ s a constant cat and mouse game between developers and communities that create and sell mods and cheats for games .
Cheaters often purchase tools that act like malware , hacking and injecting a game with specialized code that will change how it works .
These tools have gotten increasingly complex in recent years , with whole underground communities and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remain undetected for monthly subscription fees .
A PC Gamer investigation back in 2014 warned that some of these cheat providers could be making millions of dollars per year , and some cheat developers now claim to sell specialized tools for hundreds of dollars a month .
The cat and mouse game has intensified recently during a pandemic that ’ s helped Steam break its all-time concurrent user record multiple times in recent weeks .
The perfect storm of more people looking to play games and find cheats has been met with new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Valorant , alongside plenty of existing battle royale games .
Developers are now looking to increasingly unique and controversial ways to prevent people from cheating .
Infinity Ward is matching suspected Call of Duty : Warzone cheaters against each other in a virtual battle of whose wallhacks and aimbots are more sophisticated .
More than 70,000 cheaters have already been banned , and Infinity Ward says it has a “ zero tolerance for cheaters.
” Respawn Entertainment , the maker of Apex Legends , has also been struggling with cheaters and hackers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cheaters a year ago , hackers have figured out how to bypass hardware ID bans from the Easy Anti-Cheat software that Apex Legends utilizes .
PUBG has similarly spent months trying to respond to cheaters .
“ Last year , we spent time working on various measures to block cheat programs , ” explains Taeseok Jang , executive producer of PUBG PC .
“ Most of these actions focused on blocking cheat program developers to make it more difficult for them to create these highly lucrative cheats.
” PUBG is now improving its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that cheat developers continue to “ excel at adapting to our measures.
” PUBG utilizes BattlEye , a self-confessed “ anti-cheat gold standard ” that hasn ’ t been enough to counter cheaters in the game .
Other games like Overwatch and Destiny 2 are also seeing competitive games riddled with cheaters .
“ Cheating in Destiny 2 is up roughly 50 percent since January , ” admitted developer Bungie in a blog post addressing the issue last month .
Bungie recently reintroduced its competitive Trials of Osiris mode , and cheaters have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Destiny 2 went free to play around six months ago .
Much like other games affected by cheaters , there ’ s growing community anger over Destiny 2 ’ s cheater problem , with developers slow to respond .
I play Destiny 2 far too much , and not a day goes by without noticing a cheater in the game .
One Destiny 2 cheater even got caught using wallhacks live on a stream recently and was quickly banned .
Blizzard started detecting Xion and Pentagon aimbot tools for Overwatch around six months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the next two patches going in to address anti-cheat ” back in January .
Some community members have even turned into virtual sheriffs to police Overwatch .
The “ Overwatch Police Department , ” infiltrates cheating networks to find the latest hacks to get them shut down .
It ’ s a hobby for those involved and part of the ongoing battle to stop cheating .
As many of these games are free to play , game developers also have to balance the ability for cheaters to simply create a new account if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increasingly difficult for the popular battle royale games that are purposely designed to make it quick and easy to jump straight into a game with a new account .
Even PC games that are still thriving after almost a decade aren ’ t immune from a wave of hacker attention .
Valve has also been battling a big increase in cheaters in Counter-Strike : Global Offensive since the game went free to play more than a year ago .
Valve , like many others , has invested heavily in anti-cheat efforts , using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system to detect cheats installed on computers .
Valve has also created other methods to tackle CS : GO cheats , including a system where experienced players could serve as virtual jurors to review suspected cheaters and regulate the community .
“ Eventually we realized that cheating itself was a goal for some users and they were going to return no matter how many of their accounts we banned , ” says John McDonald , senior software engineer at Valve , in a statement to The Verge .
“ Starting in 2019 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trust which leverages deep learning and all of the data on Steam to do an even better job of identifying the likelihood that an account was going to cheat , even before the very first time that account interacts with other players , whether those accounts are free-to-play or premium users .
We ’ ve rolled out Steam Trust to several partners and expect to do a broad release to all Steam partners later this year.
” There are controversial ways of dealing with hackers arising , too .
Riot ’ s new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even out of beta yet , and cheats have already been developed .
Riot has created a controversial anti-cheat engine for Valorant , that it also recently introduced in League of Legends .
It involves a kernel-level driver that ’ s always on , even when the game isn ’ t running .
Fans raised fears over privacy and security , and Riot has had to provide more control over how its Vanguard anti-cheat software works .
You can now disable the software , but it will prevent you from playing Valorant until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is very similar to how malware is developed for PCs , with cheats using methods to tamper with games and inject themselves into memory .
At the heart of the PC gaming issues is Microsoft ’ s Windows operating system .
It ’ s the platform that the vast majority of PC games are played on , but its openness allows cheaters to develop these tools easily .
There ’ s no unified or single anti-cheat system that can address the problems across a variety of games , and game developers are forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essentially antivirus software .
Some of these systems , like BattlEye , have even caused issues with Windows 10 updates or led other apps to crash on a PC .
Microsoft was working on its own “ TruePlay ” anti-cheat system for Windows 10 , but it was limited to the Universal Windows app Platform ( UWP ) that most game developers have ignored .
Here ’ s how Microsoft described its anti-cheat engine : After briefly appearing in test versions of Windows 10 , it has since disappeared .
We asked Microsoft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PC games , and the company provided the following statement : The vast majority of aimbots , wallhacks , and other cheats simply don ’ t exist on consoles like the PS4 , Xbox One , or Nintendo Switch .
The locked-down nature of these systems makes it far more difficult for hackers to gain access and build cheat software .
Consoles aren ’ t immune , as we ’ ve seen in the past with Modern Warfare 2 , but modern consoles have kept most cheaters at bay .
There ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ games don ’ t address the cheating issues they ’ re facing .
PUBG has gradually been losing active players in recent months , and Destiny 2 ’ s PC player base has fallen behind Xbox One and PS4 after taking over both consoles last year .
A drop in player numbers means less revenue for developers who have adopted a free-to-play model , and nobody wants to watch pro players on Twitch face cheaters all the time .
Riot ’ s complex approach to anti-cheat isn ’ t the first of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sign of where PC games will need to head .
Game developers have been slow to respond to cheating , and often , companies refuse to detail what they ’ re doing at all for fear of providing hackers a heads-up .
If a developer reveals an upcoming patch will address cheating , then the cheat creators simply advise their subscribers to stop using the software until they can reverse-engineer the changes and guarantee they remain undetected .
Riot has also been using bug bounty programs to reward security researchers for finding vulnerabilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Valorant developer has increased this up to $ 100,000 for flaws that undermine the privacy and security of its Vanguard anti-cheat software .
Valorant is still in the closed beta phase , but it will be the title to watch to see if the combination of an aggressive , albeit controversial , anti-cheat system and big security bounties helps keep cheaters away .
All game developers are searching for a solution to the same problem that ’ s growing bigger every month .

If you’ve ever played a PC game that has a competitive element, you’ve probably played against a cheater. Whether it’s that sniper bullet that felt a little too accurate, the person teleporting around the map, or the opposition that just somehow knows which angle you’re about to peek from every single time. Some of the world’s most popular PC games are now fighting back against cheaters in new and interesting ways — just as cheating becomes an even bigger problem.
The developers behind Call of Duty: Warzone, PUBG, and Destiny 2 have all announced big pushes to respond to cheating in recent weeks. The hottest game on Twitch, Valorant, isn’t even out yet, and cheating is already a problem that needs to be addressed.
Cheating in PC games isn’t a new phenomenon. Game hacks and cheat software have been around as long as PC games have existed. Aimbots automatically lock onto opponents’ heads, so cheaters can fire and immediately win a battle. Wallhacks expose everyone on a map so cheaters get a huge advantage of knowing when you’re about to push a point or turn a corner. There’s even lag switching, which mainly affects peer-to-peer games, allowing cheaters to stutter around a map and become very difficult to hit.
A wallhack cheat for Warzone.
Aimbots and wallhacks are the most common forms of cheating in online shooters, allowing people who are new to a game or simply at a lower skill level to get a huge advantage over other players. Some cheats are the obvious type, where a player is flying around a map at an impossible speed or firing a gun faster than anyone else. Others, like wallhacks, are far less obvious, and often go undetected in games for weeks or even months.
There’s a constant cat and mouse game between developers and communities that create and sell mods and cheats for games. Cheaters often purchase tools that act like malware, hacking and injecting a game with specialized code that will change how it works. These tools have gotten increasingly complex in recent years, with whole underground communities and forums dedicated to ensuring aimbots and wallhacks remain undetected for monthly subscription fees. A PC Gamer investigation back in 2014 warned that some of these cheat providers could be making millions of dollars per year, and some cheat developers now claim to sell specialized tools for hundreds of dollars a month.
The cat and mouse game has intensified recently during a pandemic that’s helped Steam break its all-time concurrent user record multiple times in recent weeks. The perfect storm of more people looking to play games and find cheats has been met with new titles like Call of Duty: Warzone and Valorant, alongside plenty of existing battle royale games. Developers are now looking to increasingly unique and controversial ways to prevent people from cheating.
Warzone cheaters are matched up against each other. Image: Activision
Infinity Ward is matching suspected Call of Duty: Warzone cheaters against each other in a virtual battle of whose wallhacks and aimbots are more sophisticated. More than 70,000 cheaters have already been banned, and Infinity Ward says it has a “zero tolerance for cheaters.” Respawn Entertainment, the maker of Apex Legends, has also been struggling with cheaters and hackers recently. After banning more than 350,000 cheaters a year ago, hackers have figured out how to bypass hardware ID bans from the Easy Anti-Cheat software that Apex Legends utilizes.
PUBG has similarly spent months trying to respond to cheaters. “Last year, we spent time working on various measures to block cheat programs,” explains Taeseok Jang, executive producer of PUBG PC. “Most of these actions focused on blocking cheat program developers to make it more difficult for them to create these highly lucrative cheats.” PUBG is now improving its code to protect against manipulation but admits that cheat developers continue to “excel at adapting to our measures.” PUBG utilizes BattlEye, a self-confessed “anti-cheat gold standard” that hasn’t been enough to counter cheaters in the game.
Other games like Overwatch and Destiny 2 are also seeing competitive games riddled with cheaters. “Cheating in Destiny 2 is up roughly 50 percent since January,” admitted developer Bungie in a blog post addressing the issue last month. Bungie recently reintroduced its competitive Trials of Osiris mode, and cheaters have become a huge issue on PC since Destiny 2 went free to play around six months ago. Much like other games affected by cheaters, there’s growing community anger over Destiny 2’s cheater problem, with developers slow to respond. I play Destiny 2 far too much, and not a day goes by without noticing a cheater in the game. One Destiny 2 cheater even got caught using wallhacks live on a stream recently and was quickly banned.
Destiny 2 streamer gets caught using wallhacks.
Blizzard started detecting Xion and Pentagon aimbot tools for Overwatch around six months ago and promised “major things in the next two patches going in to address anti-cheat” back in January. Some community members have even turned into virtual sheriffs to police Overwatch. The “Overwatch Police Department,” infiltrates cheating networks to find the latest hacks to get them shut down. It’s a hobby for those involved and part of the ongoing battle to stop cheating.
As many of these games are free to play, game developers also have to balance the ability for cheaters to simply create a new account if they get banned. That’s increasingly difficult for the popular battle royale games that are purposely designed to make it quick and easy to jump straight into a game with a new account.
Even PC games that are still thriving after almost a decade aren’t immune from a wave of hacker attention. Valve has also been battling a big increase in cheaters in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive since the game went free to play more than a year ago. Valve, like many others, has invested heavily in anti-cheat efforts, using its automated Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system to detect cheats installed on computers. Valve has also created other methods to tackle CS:GO cheats, including a system where experienced players could serve as virtual jurors to review suspected cheaters and regulate the community.
“Eventually we realized that cheating itself was a goal for some users and they were going to return no matter how many of their accounts we banned,” says John McDonald, senior software engineer at Valve, in a statement to The Verge. “Starting in 2019, CS:GO converted to using Steam Trust which leverages deep learning and all of the data on Steam to do an even better job of identifying the likelihood that an account was going to cheat, even before the very first time that account interacts with other players, whether those accounts are free-to-play or premium users. We’ve rolled out Steam Trust to several partners and expect to do a broad release to all Steam partners later this year.”
Riot’s new Valorant shooter. Image: Riot Games
There are controversial ways of dealing with hackers arising, too. Riot’s new shooter, Valorant, isn’t even out of beta yet, and cheats have already been developed. Riot has created a controversial anti-cheat engine for Valorant, that it also recently announced may eventually come to League of Legends. It involves a kernel-level driver that’s always on, even when the game isn’t running. Fans raised fears over privacy and security, and Riot has had to provide more control over how its Vanguard anti-cheat software works. You can now disable the software, but it will prevent you from playing Valorant until you reboot.
The ongoing hacking back-and-forth is very similar to how malware is developed for PCs, with cheats using methods to tamper with games and inject themselves into memory. At the heart of the PC gaming issues is Microsoft’s Windows operating system. It’s the platform that the vast majority of PC games are played on, but its openness allows cheaters to develop these tools easily. There’s no unified or single anti-cheat system that can address the problems across a variety of games, and game developers are forced to use or build systems that are essentially antivirus software.
Some of these systems, like BattlEye, have even caused issues with Windows 10 updates or led other apps to crash on a PC. Microsoft was working on its own “TruePlay” anti-cheat system for Windows 10, but it was limited to the Universal Windows app Platform (UWP) that most game developers have ignored. Here’s how Microsoft described its anti-cheat engine:
TruePlay provides developers with a new set of tools to combat cheating within their PC games. A game enrolled in TruePlay will run in a protected process, which mitigates a class of common attacks. Additionally, a Windows service will monitor gaming sessions for behaviors and manipulations that are common in cheating scenarios. These data will be collected, and alerts will be generated only when cheating behavior appears to be occurring. To ensure and protect customer privacy while preventing false positives, these data are only shared with developers after processing has determined cheating is likely to have occurred.
After briefly appearing in test versions of Windows 10, it has since disappeared. We asked Microsoft about its plans to prevent cheating in PC games, and the company provided the following statement:
“Due to the open nature of the PC platform, cheating in PC games is a complex and varied challenge. The PC ecosystem consists of several layers, such as hardware, the operating system, 1st and 3rd party software, services and more. With that said, we are committed to providing the best experience for players while continuing to ensure that Windows is an open ecosystem supporting a diverse hardware ecosystem, multiple methods to acquire and service games, and supporting multiple technologies and services to analyze, identify and mitigate cheating. We partner closely with industry-leading game developers, middleware, and anti-tamper/anti-cheat services to provide the most robust, end-to-end solutions.”
The vast majority of aimbots, wallhacks, and other cheats simply don’t exist on consoles like the PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch. The locked-down nature of these systems makes it far more difficult for hackers to gain access and build cheat software. Consoles aren’t immune, as we’ve seen in the past with Modern Warfare 2, but modern consoles have kept most cheaters at bay.
There’s a lot at stake if these PC games don’t address the cheating issues they’re facing. PUBG has gradually been losing active players in recent months, and Destiny 2’s PC player base has fallen behind Xbox One and PS4 after taking over both consoles last year. A drop in player numbers means less revenue for developers who have adopted a free-to-play model, and nobody wants to watch pro players on Twitch face cheaters all the time.
Riot’s complex approach to anti-cheat isn’t the first of its kind, but it’s a sign of where PC games will need to head. Game developers have been slow to respond to cheating, and often, companies refuse to detail what they’re doing at all for fear of providing hackers a heads-up. If a developer reveals an upcoming patch will address cheating, then the cheat creators simply advise their subscribers to stop using the software until they can reverse-engineer the changes and guarantee they remain undetected.
Riot has also been using bug bounty programs to reward security researchers for finding vulnerabilities in the company’s anti-cheat engine. The Valorant developer has increased this up to $100,000 for flaws that undermine the privacy and security of its Vanguard anti-cheat software.


theverge--2020-05-06--HyperX and Ducky collaborated on a limited edition version of the One 2 Mini keyboard

HyperX teamed up with popular mechanical keyboard maker Ducky to make a new limited edition colorway of its compact , 60 percent-sized Ducky One 2 Mini .
In addition to splashing this keyboard with a matte black frame surrounding the keys and a glossy cherry red hosing on the bottom , it utilizes HyperX ’ s Red linear mechanical key switches .
Each of those switches is covered in Ducky ’ s durable keycaps , which are said to maintain their grippy texture and their key label despite long-term use .
This model costs $ 109.99 , and you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online store starting on Tuesday , May 12th .
Only a total of 3,700 units will be made .
In terms of niceties , the One 2 Mini has plenty of them .
This keyboard plugs in via a USB-C to USB Type-A cable , so it ’ s simple to plug it in at your desk without looking .
Its rear feet feature two height settings , giving you more options if you prefer a slightly angled keyboard instead of all-or-nothing options for height .
HyperX ’ s provided switches are pleasant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel of the travel is highly subjective , the “ thock ” sound and feel satisfies my needs .
HyperX claims they have a 80 million click lifespan .
PBT , the key material that Ducky uses , feels great , but whether the 60 percent form factor works for you is another thing entirely .
As I touched on earlier , this 60 percent keyboard is incredibly space-efficient .
I share a desk with my partner , and this model might be a godsend if space is a commodity .
In case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 percent figure is relative to a fully sized keyboard with a row of function keys , directional keys , and a full number pad .
The Ducky One 2 Mini lacks all of those features , instead opting to cram in a bunch of options that you can execute when you hold the Fn key .
It ’ s clever to have access to every function available in a smaller keyboard .
Yet , navigating to find where each of these options is hidden around the keyboard all but asks you to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Simple shortcuts like adjusting the volume , using arrow keys , and trying to do the Windows + Prt Scn shortcut to take screenshots will require some studying up on .
I had to keep the manual next to me while I used the One 2 Mini to access some of the macro and RGB backlight options .
After over a week of using the Ducky One 2 Mini , I think it ’ s the perfect fit for my desk .
It ’ s small , capable , and the switches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partner too much , unlike my Durgod 80 percent mechanical keyboard that uses Cherry MX Brown switches .
It ’ s great to use with games , though from the perspective of a writer , the amount of compromises in terms of executing some of the most basic keyboard functions , like using directional keys to pilfer through copy , is difficult on a 60 percent form factor keyboard .

HyperX teamed up with popular mechanical keyboard maker Ducky to make a new limited edition colorway of its compact, 60 percent-sized Ducky One 2 Mini. In addition to splashing this keyboard with a matte black frame surrounding the keys and a glossy cherry red hosing on the bottom, it utilizes HyperX’s Red linear mechanical key switches.
Each of those switches is covered in Ducky’s durable keycaps, which are said to maintain their grippy texture and their key label despite long-term use. This model costs $109.99, and you can pick it up through HyperX’s online store starting on Tuesday, May 12th. Only a total of 3,700 units will be made.
Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
In terms of niceties, the One 2 Mini has plenty of them. This keyboard plugs in via a USB-C to USB Type-A cable, so it’s simple to plug it in at your desk without looking. Its rear feet feature two height settings, giving you more options if you prefer a slightly angled keyboard instead of all-or-nothing options for height. HyperX’s provided switches are pleasant to type on, and while the feel of the travel is highly subjective, the “thock” sound and feel satisfies my needs. HyperX claims they have a 80 million click lifespan. PBT, the key material that Ducky uses, feels great, but whether the 60 percent form factor works for you is another thing entirely.
Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
As I touched on earlier, this 60 percent keyboard is incredibly space-efficient. I share a desk with my partner, and this model might be a godsend if space is a commodity. In case you’re not aware, the 60 percent figure is relative to a fully sized keyboard with a row of function keys, directional keys, and a full number pad. The Ducky One 2 Mini lacks all of those features, instead opting to cram in a bunch of options that you can execute when you hold the Fn key.
It’s clever to have access to every function available in a smaller keyboard. Yet, navigating to find where each of these options is hidden around the keyboard all but asks you to rethink how you use the entire device. Simple shortcuts like adjusting the volume, using arrow keys, and trying to do the Windows + Prt Scn shortcut to take screenshots will require some studying up on. I had to keep the manual next to me while I used the One 2 Mini to access some of the macro and RGB backlight options.
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theverge--2020-05-06--Joe Biden’s digital campaign hasn’t quite come into focus

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
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The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that April was in many ways another lost month in the COVID-19 response , with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day .
Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that , for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into decline , it merely plateaued .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wholly plausible prospect that Americans will simply normalize COVID-19 deaths the way they have normalized deaths from gun violence .
A few hours later the president all but confirmed it .
Around here we ’ re generally most interested in the push and pull between platforms and governments .
But everything the platforms are working on right now , from exposure notification to symptom tracking and expanded testing , is downstream of federal inaction .
And meanwhile , many basic questions about COVID-19 — how it works , how it spreads — are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And so ... would anyone object to me changing the subject ?
Here are three other storylines I ’ m following as they work their way through the big tech platforms and our democracy .
One , how ’ s Joe Biden doing ?
The presumptive Democratic nominee has had a bruising week , vehemently denying Tara Reade ’ s allegations of sexual harassment .
And elsewhere , reporters are digging into the question of how a candidate should campaign in 2020 .
The answer would seem to be : digitally .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Alex Thompson profiles the 77-year-old candidate ’ s 25-person digital team , which has been experimenting with Upworthy-style inspirational posts in an effort to cultivate “ Facebook empathy moms ” and build a “ stan culture.
” In the New York Times , David Axelrod and David Plouffe , former senior strategist and campaign manager for Barack Obama , lay out a blueprint for Biden that includes recruiting more platform-savvy Democratic stars as surrogates , creating a “ virtual content production studio ” with programming for every social platform , and planning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s digital efforts are already quite sophisticated , as Stefan Smith noted on Twitter .
Smith , the former director of online engagement for Pete Buttigieg , outlined the components of Trump ’ s campaign that go beyond Facebook ads : an app with push notifications , original programming , and gamification elements ; nightly live shows with familiar characters from Trump world ; and a family investment in the upstart conservative news network OANN .
The reality show president is running a reality show campaign , and with the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good .
The news isn ’ t all bad for Biden , who leads Trump in most national polls .
But then , so did Hillary Clinton .
Two , should Facebook and Google fund the news business ?
Journalism has been in crisis for some time now , and the pandemic has made it worse .
This is particularly true for local newspapers , which have seen advertising revenue plummet .
And with much of the advertising business having migrated from newspapers to the Google/Facebook duopoly , a growing number of countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support the former .
Sara Fischer rounds up proposals from Western governments to prop up journalism in Axios .
Australia , for example , might force Google and Facebook to pay publishers for the right to show snippets of their articles in feeds .
On one hand , it ’ s heartening to see governments recognize the role a healthy press can play in sustaining good governance and democracy .
On the other , for reasons Will Oremus lays out at OneZero , the proposals to date leave a lot to be desired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is true : Oremus suggests that governments explore models that would tax big tech platforms to fund public and nonprofit media , which we desperately need more of .
And on Twitter , Fortune ’ s Jeff John Roberts offers another suggestion I love : “ Google could provide an immense boost to news media if they built a one-click pay/subscribe button into Chrome , which would eliminate a huge amount of friction for readers.
” Google and Facebook get outsized benefits from the mostly free-to-them contributions of journalists , and some form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes me as being in everyone ’ s best interest .
And one-click subscriptions could go a long way to help , too .
Finally : can Twitter encourage us to be nicer online ?
More than two years ago , Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he was going to work to make the service nicer .
“ We ’ re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health , openness , and civility of public conversation , and to hold ourselves publicly accountable towards progress , ” he tweeted .
History @ @ @ @ @ @ @ followed as a turning point for public conversation .
Twitter did take several steps to reduce harassment and make it easier to report bad actors , but it ’ s not clear that the median interaction between Twitter users is measurably more positive than it was before .
On Tuesday , Twitter announced a test designed to help : if you attempt to reply to a tweet using “ harmful ” language , the company will ask you if you ’ re sure you want to do that .
Nick Statt wrote about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ write really mean tweets in the composer just to see how they look , and then delete them without tweeting , and find the process hugely cathartic .
Building this feature into the system feels like a win , even if it puts us in the position of relying on an algorithm ’ s judgment once again .
But it seems to be working well enough for Instagram — the company saw “ positive results ” from its own anti-bullying algorithms for comments last year , the company told me today , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feature for mean captions in December .
Yesterday I quoted a CNBC piece that reported acceptances of job offers from Facebook had declined by up to 50 percent after the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal .
Someone who would know reached out to tell me that the actual percentage decline was in the single digits .
So : enough to cause concern , but not quite the crisis that a 50 percent decline might have suggested .
Total cases in the US : 1,199,700 Total deaths in the US : 70,300 Total test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York : 1,028,899 Total test results ( positive and negative ) in New Jersey : 287,623 Data from The New York Times .
Test data from The COVID Tracking Project .
⭐ The UK is one of the few countries building a contact-tracing app that will be incompatible with the contact-tracing API currently being developed by Google and Apple .
And researchers are warning that the app likely won ’ t work as advertised .
Here ’ s James Vincent at The Verge : Critics are worried that India ’ s contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tool as the country lacks a federal privacy law .
Some are asking if millions of Indians will be forced to download the app as the cost of returning to their lives .
( Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed ) Verily , the Alphabet company that President Trump said would soon roll out a nationwide testing system , is struggling to live up to the hype .
Even the company ’ s vast resources can ’ t solve many of the problems , including finding testing sites and getting enough equipment .
( Kristen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg ) The Supreme Court heard its first remote oral argument and streamed the event live online for the first time yesterday .
Although there were a few minor glitches , the hearing went relatively smoothly .
( Adi Robertson / The Verge ) The online car retailer Carvana gave employees an ultimatum between returning to work as COVID-19 deaths continue to mount , or lose their jobs .
It ’ s a choice more workers will likely face and businesses begin to reopen .
( Dave Jamieson / HuffPost ) Google removed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Store .
Researchers said they could be used to surveil , monitor , and harass users .
Now , some of these apps are coming back , and already have thousands of downloads .
( Todd Feathers / OneZero ) Tumblr announced that it will now remove repostings of any blogs that were suspended for violating its policies around hate speech .
The company found that most of the repostings weren ’ t providing “ necessary counter-arguments ” to the hate speech .
( Sarah Perez / TechCrunch ) Facebook removed a small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , calling it part of a “ coordinated inauthentic behavior ” campaign around the 2020 election .
It ’ s one of the first times Facebook has announced cracking down on QAnon content , and suggests the company views some of the campaigns to be deliberate manipulation — not just false information .
( Adi Robertson / The Verge ) Animal Crossing fans say they ’ re getting into trouble on Facebook for talking about weeds — as in the pesky plants , not marijuana .
Facebook ’ s community standards prohibit selling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Patricia Hernandez / Polygon ) ⭐A worker at Amazon ’ s Staten Island fulfillment center died of COVID-19 .
Workers have been calling for greater safety precautions at the facility since early March .
And while the company has made changes , the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb .
Josh Dzieza reports at The Verge : Amazon is winning over vendors that had previously been wary of the online retail giant .
Now that many brick and mortar locations are closing , brands have little choice but to sell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been avoiding the company .
( Spencer Soper / Bloomberg ) Amazon ’ s free-to-play multiplayer game , Crucible , is launching on May 20th .
It ’ s Amazon Game Studios ’ first big-budget original game .
( Nick Statt / The Verge ) Facebook is testing a new app in Peru called Discover that lets people browse text on any mobile website for free — that is to say , without data usage — for a certain amount of time .
The move highlights the social media giant ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Queenie Wong / CNET ) A virtual prom hosted on Instagram Live gave more than 500 high school seniors a chance to celebrate the class of 2020 and participate in an important rite of passage .
The event featured music and dancing , along with a digital red carpet and celebrity appearances from stars like Logan Allen and Max Jenkins .
( Caitlin Fichtel / NBC ) Oculus is building a new version of its Quest standalone virtual reality headset .
The device is facing potential delays due to the impact of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supply chain .
( Mark Gurman / Bloomberg ) Apple announced a free online-only version of its Worldwide Developers Conference will take place starting on June 22nd .
WWDC was changed to an online event because of the “ current health situation.
” ( Jay Peters / The Verge ) Tinder is going to launch its own in-app , one-on-one video chats later this year .
It ’ s one of the largest features the brand has announced , and an especially impressive undertaking considering Tinder has millions of users , and video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Ashley Carman / The Verge ) Shares of Pinterest fell as much as 19 percent after the company reported disappointing user growth its first quarter results .
( Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC ) Zoom CEO Eric Yuan wrote a blog post addressing rumors about the company ’ s relationship with China .
Ben Thompson is still skeptical .
Americans without internet access are sitting outside closed cafes and libraries to get free connections .
It shows the lengths people are going to combat the country ’ s digital divide — a problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kang / The New York Times ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
YouTube and Facebook are now competing to see who can host the most star-studded virtual commencement ceremony .
You can see Oprah Winfrey , Awkwafina , and Lil Nas X at Facebook graduation on May 15th ; Barack Obama , former first lady Michelle Obama , K-pop stars BTS , and Google CEO Sundar Pichai will headline YouTube graduation on June 6th .
President Obama is doing another commencement address May 16th here .
Take a class @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offering free classes during the pandemic .
Read these 25 coronavirus takes that aged very , very badly .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and harmful replies : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that April was in many ways another lost month in the COVID-19 response, with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into decline, it merely plateaued. Charlie Warzel raised the grim and yet wholly plausible prospect that Americans will simply normalize COVID-19 deaths the way they have normalized deaths from gun violence. A few hours later the president all but confirmed it.
Around here we’re generally most interested in the push and pull between platforms and governments. But everything the platforms are working on right now, from exposure notification to symptom tracking and expanded testing, is downstream of federal inaction. And meanwhile, many basic questions about COVID-19 — how it works, how it spreads — are not fully or even mostly understood.
And so ... would anyone object to me changing the subject? Here are three other storylines I’m following as they work their way through the big tech platforms and our democracy.
One, how’s Joe Biden doing? The presumptive Democratic nominee has had a bruising week, vehemently denying Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual harassment. And elsewhere, reporters are digging into the question of how a candidate should campaign in 2020. The answer would seem to be: digitally. But what does that mean?
At Politico, Alex Thompson profiles the 77-year-old candidate’s 25-person digital team, which has been experimenting with Upworthy-style inspirational posts in an effort to cultivate “Facebook empathy moms” and build a “stan culture.”
“Empathy is just as good at getting engagement,” Biden’s digital director Rob Flaherty said in an interview. “The suburban Facebook empathy moms that we think about a lot, those folks are just hungry for the contrast between the darkness of Donald Trump and the goodness of Joe Biden.” Flaherty added that “if we did what the algorithms told us what to do all the time, it would be punching Trump in the face.” While “that will always be part of the toolkit,” a negative-first approach wouldn’t create the stan culture — or avid following — that campaigns need to develop. “The way you win online in 2020 is [by] building enthusiasm and enthusiastic online communities that talk to and bring people in.” The campaign argued the approach is beginning to work. Views across platforms have about doubled since February, rising from 27.4 million to 61.7 million in March and 51.1 million in April.
In the New York Times, David Axelrod and David Plouffe, former senior strategist and campaign manager for Barack Obama, lay out a blueprint for Biden that includes recruiting more platform-savvy Democratic stars as surrogates, creating a “virtual content production studio” with programming for every social platform, and planning for an online convention.
The news isn’t all bad for Biden, who leads Trump in most national polls. But then, so did Hillary Clinton.
Two, should Facebook and Google fund the news business? Journalism has been in crisis for some time now, and the pandemic has made it worse. This is particularly true for local newspapers, which have seen advertising revenue plummet. And with much of the advertising business having migrated from newspapers to the Google/Facebook duopoly, a growing number of countries have sought to tax the latter to support the former.
Sara Fischer rounds up proposals from Western governments to prop up journalism in Axios. Australia, for example, might force Google and Facebook to pay publishers for the right to show snippets of their articles in feeds. On one hand, it’s heartening to see governments recognize the role a healthy press can play in sustaining good governance and democracy. On the other, for reasons Will Oremus lays out at OneZero, the proposals to date leave a lot to be desired. For example, all of this is true:
Facebook may have an even stronger argument against a scheme that would force it to pay for linking to publishers’ content. That’s because their articles are posted to the News Feed by users — including the publishers themselves — rather than being surfaced automatically by Facebook’s software. When France tried to require it to pay publishers to show previews of their articles in the News Feed, it simply stopped showing them unless the publisher agreed to waive the fee. Otherwise, when a user posted a link to that publication, Facebook would only show the URL with no accompanying headline or image. Again, that might hurt news organizations more than it hurts Facebook, whose primary appeal is not news but the social connections between its users.
Oremus suggests that governments explore models that would tax big tech platforms to fund public and nonprofit media, which we desperately need more of. And on Twitter, Fortune’s Jeff John Roberts offers another suggestion I love: “Google could provide an immense boost to news media if they built a one-click pay/subscribe button into Chrome, which would eliminate a huge amount of friction for readers.”
Google and Facebook get outsized benefits from the mostly free-to-them contributions of journalists, and some form of taxation to keep journalism in live strikes me as being in everyone’s best interest. And one-click subscriptions could go a long way to help, too.
Finally: can Twitter encourage us to be nicer online? More than two years ago, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he was going to work to make the service nicer. “We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation, and to hold ourselves publicly accountable towards progress,” he tweeted.
History will probably not remember the period that followed as a turning point for public conversation. Twitter did take several steps to reduce harassment and make it easier to report bad actors, but it’s not clear that the median interaction between Twitter users is measurably more positive than it was before.
On Tuesday, Twitter announced a test designed to help: if you attempt to reply to a tweet using “harmful” language, the company will ask you if you’re sure you want to do that. Nick Statt wrote about it at The Verge:
Twitter describes it as a limited experiment, and it’s only going to show up for iOS users. The prompt that is now supposed to pop up in certain situations will give “you the option to revise your reply before it’s published if it uses language that could be harmful,” reads a message from the official Twitter Support channel. The approach isn’t a novel one. It’s been used by quite a few other social platforms before, most prominently Instagram. The Facebook-owned app now warns users before they post a caption with a message that says the caption “looks similar to others that have been reported.” Prior to that change, Instagram rolled out a warning system for comments last summer.
I frequently write really mean tweets in the composer just to see how they look, and then delete them without tweeting, and find the process hugely cathartic. Building this feature into the system feels like a win, even if it puts us in the position of relying on an algorithm’s judgment once again. But it seems to be working well enough for Instagram — the company saw “positive results” from its own anti-bullying algorithms for comments last year, the company told me today, which led to it rolling out a similar feature for mean captions in December.
Pushback
Yesterday I quoted a CNBC piece that reported acceptances of job offers from Facebook had declined by up to 50 percent after the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. Someone who would know reached out to tell me that the actual percentage decline was in the single digits. So: enough to cause concern, but not quite the crisis that a 50 percent decline might have suggested.
Virus tracker
Total cases in the US: 1,199,700
Total deaths in the US: 70,300
Reported cases in California: 56,732
Total test results (positive and negative) in California: 779,902
Reported cases in New York: 326,606
Total test results (positive and negative) in New York: 1,028,899
Reported cases in New Jersey: 130,593
Total test results (positive and negative) in New Jersey: 287,623
Reported cases in Massachusetts: 69,087
Total test results (positive and negative) in Massachusetts: 333,349
Governing
⭐ The UK is one of the few countries building a contact-tracing app that will be incompatible with the contact-tracing API currently being developed by Google and Apple. And researchers are warning that the app likely won’t work as advertised. Here’s James Vincent at The Verge:
As The Register reports, iOS apps can only send Bluetooth signals when the app is running in the foreground. If your iPhone is locked or you’re not looking at the app, then there’s no signal. The latest versions of Android have similar restrictions, only allowing Bluetooth signals to be sent out for a few minutes after an app has closed. Such restrictions will block devices from pinging one another in close quarters, drastically reducing the effectiveness of any contact-tracing app. Google and Apple can rewrite these rules for their own contact-tracing API because they control the operating systems. But for countries trying to go it alone, like the UK, the restrictions could literally be fatal. iPhone users with the app installed could interact with someone who is later diagnosed with COVID-19 and never know it, if their phone doesn’t keep a log of their interaction.
Critics are worried that India’s contact tracing app could become a government surveillance tool as the country lacks a federal privacy law. Some are asking if millions of Indians will be forced to download the app as the cost of returning to their lives. (Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed)
Verily, the Alphabet company that President Trump said would soon roll out a nationwide testing system, is struggling to live up to the hype. Even the company’s vast resources can’t solve many of the problems, including finding testing sites and getting enough equipment. (Kristen V Brown and Gerrit De Vynck / Bloomberg)
The Supreme Court heard its first remote oral argument and streamed the event live online for the first time yesterday. Although there were a few minor glitches, the hearing went relatively smoothly. (Adi Robertson / The Verge)
The online car retailer Carvana gave employees an ultimatum between returning to work as COVID-19 deaths continue to mount, or lose their jobs. It’s a choice more workers will likely face and businesses begin to reopen. (Dave Jamieson / HuffPost)
Google removed nearly 1,000 malicious apps from the Play Store. Researchers said they could be used to surveil, monitor, and harass users. Now, some of these apps are coming back, and already have thousands of downloads. (Todd Feathers / OneZero)
Tumblr announced that it will now remove repostings of any blogs that were suspended for violating its policies around hate speech. The company found that most of the repostings weren’t providing “necessary counter-arguments” to the hate speech. (Sarah Perez / TechCrunch)
Facebook removed a small cluster of groups promoting the QAnon conspiracy, calling it part of a “coordinated inauthentic behavior” campaign around the 2020 election. It’s one of the first times Facebook has announced cracking down on QAnon content, and suggests the company views some of the campaigns to be deliberate manipulation — not just false information. (Adi Robertson / The Verge)
Animal Crossing fans say they’re getting into trouble on Facebook for talking about weeds — as in the pesky plants, not marijuana. Facebook’s community standards prohibit selling or buying non-medical drugs on the platform. (Patricia Hernandez / Polygon)
Industry
⭐A worker at Amazon’s Staten Island fulfillment center died of COVID-19. Workers have been calling for greater safety precautions at the facility since early March. And while the company has made changes, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb. Josh Dzieza reports at The Verge:
Managers notified several workers at JFK8 of the death yesterday. Amazon says the employee was last on site on April 5th and was placed on quarantine after he was confirmed to have COVID-19 on April 11th. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of an associate at our site in Staten Island, NY,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues.” JFK8 was the first of several Amazon facilities to have workers walk out in protest of the company’s handling of COVID-19, in late March. Following that walkout, Amazon made a series of changes to warehouse processes, including mandating social distancing and screening workers for fevers. In its quarterly earnings release last week, the company said it planned to spend $4 billion — equivalent to its expected operating profit — on its COVID-19 response. But workers say the safety precautions are still insufficient and that their jobs often require them being in close proximity.
Amazon is winning over vendors that had previously been wary of the online retail giant. Now that many brick and mortar locations are closing, brands have little choice but to sell on Amazon. Even the brands that had been avoiding the company. (Spencer Soper / Bloomberg)
Amazon’s free-to-play multiplayer game, Crucible, is launching on May 20th. It’s Amazon Game Studios’ first big-budget original game. (Nick Statt / The Verge)
Facebook is testing a new app in Peru called Discover that lets people browse text on any mobile website for free — that is to say, without data usage — for a certain amount of time. The move highlights the social media giant’s ambitions to expand internet access globally. (Queenie Wong / CNET)
A virtual prom hosted on Instagram Live gave more than 500 high school seniors a chance to celebrate the class of 2020 and participate in an important rite of passage. The event featured music and dancing, along with a digital red carpet and celebrity appearances from stars like Logan Allen and Max Jenkins. (Caitlin Fichtel / NBC)
Oculus is building a new version of its Quest standalone virtual reality headset. The device is facing potential delays due to the impact of COVID-19 on product development and the global supply chain. (Mark Gurman / Bloomberg)
Apple announced a free online-only version of its Worldwide Developers Conference will take place starting on June 22nd. WWDC was changed to an online event because of the “current health situation.” (Jay Peters / The Verge)
Tinder is going to launch its own in-app, one-on-one video chats later this year. It’s one of the largest features the brand has announced, and an especially impressive undertaking considering Tinder has millions of users, and video calls can be ripe for abuse. (Ashley Carman / The Verge)
Shares of Pinterest fell as much as 19 percent after the company reported disappointing user growth its first quarter results. (Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC)
Americans without internet access are sitting outside closed cafes and libraries to get free connections. It shows the lengths people are going to combat the country’s digital divide — a problem the coronavirus has exacerbated. (Cecilia Kang / The New York Times)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
YouTube and Facebook are now competing to see who can host the most star-studded virtual commencement ceremony. You can see Oprah Winfrey, Awkwafina, and Lil Nas X at Facebook graduation on May 15th; Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, K-pop stars BTS, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai will headline YouTube graduation on June 6th. President Obama is doing another commencement address May 16th here.
And finally...
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