theverge--2020-09-30--Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA review: a standard step ahead

Asus has so many ZenBook 14 models it stresses me out .
There ’ s the UX433 , a 2.6-pound slim-bezeled affair .
There ’ s the Flip 14 , an elegant convertible .
There ’ s the UX431 , a mid-tier $ 900 option .
And there ’ s the UX425 , which Asus quietly rolled out earlier this summer , that included a few tweaks to the traditional ZenBook design .
Announced earlier this month were the UX435 , with a tiny secondary display in place of the touchpad , and the UX425EA .
For the past few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ZenBook 14 UX425EA ( specifically , the UX425EA-SH74 ) .
You can ’ t buy it yet — Asus is eyeing a mid-October release .
There ’ s not much that differentiates the UX425EA from the horde of ZenBooks above — it ’ s got the same lustrous metal lid , the fold-under hinge , and the compact build .
But eyes are on this particular ZenBook for one reason : the processor .
The UX425EA is one of the first production machines to contain Intel ’ s quad-core Core i7-1165G7 ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
I got to try the flagship Core i7-1185G7 in an Intel reference design earlier this month , and the results I saw from Intel ’ s new integrated graphics were excellent .
So I had high expectations for the very similar 1165G7 as well , particularly on the gaming front .
I went into this review with two main questions : does the 1165G7 beat its Intel predecessor ( the 1065G7 , which powers the most recent Dell XPS 13 ) and does it beat AMD ’ s Ryzen 7 4800U @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Slim 7 ) ?
The answer to both of these questions is yes — albeit not as badly as I expected .
The appeal of the ZenBook is in its portability First , a quick ZenBook 14 crash course .
The appeal of this line ( and the UX425 in particular ) is in portability over performance .
The UX425 is light for a 14-inch laptop at 2.49 pounds ( 1.13kg ) and thin at 0.54 inches ( 13.72mm ) .
Asus has managed to work the display into a chassis that doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that of most 13-inch rigs — there ’ s a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio , thanks to the thin ( 2.5mm ) bezels on the sides of the display .
( The top and bottom bezels are more visible than those of the Dell XPS 13 , but they ’ re not terrible — 6.2mm and 10.9mm , respectively . )
Two other features help differentiate the UX425 from the field .
The first is a 1W screen option , which should theoretically help to extend battery life — Asus says it consumes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ displays do .
The ZenBook ’ s battery results didn ’ t blow me away , however .
Our test involved running the system through my daily workload ( using around a dozen Chrome tabs , downloading , uploading , copying files , Google Sheets , Zoom calls , and other office stuff ) on the Better Battery profile around 200 nits of brightness — it lasted seven hours and 20 minutes .
That ’ s identical to the result we saw from the Dell XPS 13 , but it doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Lenovo ’ s IdeaPad Slim 7 , which made it 13 and a half hours .
Charging speed was also fine , but not mind-blowing — it took 58 minutes and 40 seconds to juice up to 60 percent ( during light use ) .
The second is NumberPad 2.0 .
If you tap a small icon in the top right corner of the touchpad , an LED numpad appears .
( This does require a surprisingly firm press — I usually had to thunk it a couple times . )
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do you see a number pad on a 14-inch laptop ? )
and it worked as advertised .
One thing I didn ’ t expect is that you can still use the touchpad to navigate and click on things while the numpad is up — the ZenBook never mistook my swipe for a tap or vice versa .
I could even rest my palm on the numpad while clicking around with no issue .
You can also swipe down from the top left corner of the touchpad to bring up the Calculator app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on or off ) .
There are a few other tidbits to note .
Design-wise , the UX425 is as ZenBook as they come , with Asus ’ signature concentric swirl design on the lid and a familiar aesthetic that I can best describe as “ industrial chic.
” Asus says the UX425 meets the MIL-STD-810G testing standard , which means it ’ s passed a barrage of drop tests , temperature tests , vibration tests , and altitude tests .
There is a fair bit of flex in the lid , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m not floored by the build quality .
But the chassis does feel durable enough that I ’ m not worried about battering the thing around .
The port selection is decent , with one weird omission .
You get two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports ( you can thank the 11th Gen chip for those ) , one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A , one HDMI 2.0 , and one microSD card reader .
Notice something missing ?
Yep , there ’ s no audio jack ; Asus nixed that for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fully transitioned to wireless headphones and microphones , pay this no heed — but that could reasonably be a deal-breaker for folks who still want to use wired gear .
The ZenBook does ship with a dongle , but the thought of having to take up a precious USB-C port to plug headphones into a laptop just makes me sad .
For authentication , there ’ s a webcam that supports Windows Hello but no fingerprint reader .
The webcam isn ’ t great for video calls — I wasn ’ t washed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were also times when my face was entirely dark even though I wasn ’ t in a very dark setting .
Finally , the keyboard has an extra column of keys on the far right containing Home , PgUp , PgDn , and End .
There are various hotkeys , including one that turns off the webcam , one that locks the whole system , one that disables the touchpad , one that lets you take a snip screenshot , and one that brings up Asus ’ command center .
This ZenBook configuration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the 1165G7 with Intel ’ s Xe integrated graphics , it has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage , a 67Wh battery , and a 1920 x 1080 panel screen ( with the 1W power draw ) .
There ’ s also an $ 899 model , which has 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM .
The extra storage may be worth the premium for folks who want to play games — 512GB can fill up quickly — and I ’ ll always recommend buying as much RAM as you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout my workday , and pages loaded a bit faster than they have on Ice Lake systems that I ’ ve tested recently .
The bottom of the laptop got hot at times ( concentrated on the left side ) , but the keyboard , touchpad , and wrist rests remained cool throughout my testing — and I never heard the fans .
During gaming , the CPU didn ’ t pass 95 degrees Celsius .
It completed an export of a five-minute , 33-second 4K video in 11 minutes and 28 seconds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Plus systems like the Surface Laptop 3 , the XPS 13 2-in-1 , and the LG Gram 17 .
There was a significant performance difference between this system and the Core i7-1185G7 reference design , though — that device finished the same task in eight minutes .
Speaking of gaming , Intel ’ s biggest bet with Tiger Lake is on its Xe integrated graphics , which it claims offer up to twice the graphics performance of previous generations .
While the ZenBook did beat both the 1065G7-powered XPS 13 and the 4800U-powered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t give them the sound drubbing the reference design led me to expect .
The system did fine on easy titles , averaging 200fps on League of Legends and 92fps on Rocket League ’ s maximum settings .
( The XPS 13 averaged low 160s on the former and 70fps on the latter . )
Overwatch , however , was stuttery at maxed settings , averaging 43fps on Epic and 62fps on Ultra .
That ’ s better than the XPS and the Slim 7 but still closer to those than to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Epic and 89fps on Ultra ) .
And , of course , this isn ’ t a laptop you ’ d buy for serious gaming .
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was not playable in 1080p , averaging 29fps on the lowest settings .
This is , again , better than the Ice Lake XPS 13 , which averaged 17fps , and worse than the 1185G7 reference platform ( I wouldn ’ t , of course , recommend using any of these to actually run this title ) .
In short , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lake and Ryzen 4000 .
They ’ re a respectable step forward .
But they ’ re also a reminder that not all Tiger Lake systems ( and not all chips ) are created equal — and this configuration isn ’ t as far ahead of Lenovo ’ s 4800U system as I ’ d hoped it would be .
At $ 800 , I ’ d call this ZenBook an absolute steal .
At $ 1,100 , I ’ ll say it ’ s a fine purchase .
It ’ s portable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be .
On the outside , there ’ s no category where it ’ s terrible and no category where it ’ s the best in its class ( apart from the NumberPad , which is legitimately very cool but won ’ t be useful for everyone ) .
There ’ s no category where it ’ s terrible and no category where it ’ s the best in its class And then there ’ s the processor .
Yes , it does deliver the best gaming performance we ’ ve seen from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But it ’ s a step forward , rather than the leap forward the 1185G7 appeared to be — and given the advantage that AMD has in multicore performance , I ’ m not sure that ’ s enough to crown Intel the new ultraportable king .
Tiger Lake is certainly a more formidable competitor than Ice Lake was — but the battle isn ’ t over .

Asus has so many ZenBook 14 models it stresses me out. There’s the UX433, a 2.6-pound slim-bezeled affair. There’s the Flip 14, an elegant convertible. There’s the UX431, a mid-tier $900 option. And there’s the UX425, which Asus quietly rolled out earlier this summer, that included a few tweaks to the traditional ZenBook design. Announced earlier this month were the UX435, with a tiny secondary display in place of the touchpad, and the UX425EA.
For the past few days, I’ve been testing the ZenBook 14 UX425EA (specifically, the UX425EA-SH74). You can’t buy it yet — Asus is eyeing a mid-October release. There’s not much that differentiates the UX425EA from the horde of ZenBooks above — it’s got the same lustrous metal lid, the fold-under hinge, and the compact build. But eyes are on this particular ZenBook for one reason: the processor. The UX425EA is one of the first production machines to contain Intel’s quad-core Core i7-1165G7 (of the 11th Gen Tiger Lake line).
You can get it in “pine grey” or “lilac mist.” This is the pine one.
I got to try the flagship Core i7-1185G7 in an Intel reference design earlier this month, and the results I saw from Intel’s new integrated graphics were excellent. So I had high expectations for the very similar 1165G7 as well, particularly on the gaming front. I went into this review with two main questions: does the 1165G7 beat its Intel predecessor (the 1065G7, which powers the most recent Dell XPS 13) and does it beat AMD’s Ryzen 7 4800U (part of Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7)? The answer to both of these questions is yes — albeit not as badly as I expected.
The appeal of the ZenBook is in its portability
First, a quick ZenBook 14 crash course. The appeal of this line (and the UX425 in particular) is in portability over performance. The UX425 is light for a 14-inch laptop at 2.49 pounds (1.13kg) and thin at 0.54 inches (13.72mm). Asus has managed to work the display into a chassis that doesn’t feel too much larger than that of most 13-inch rigs — there’s a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to the thin (2.5mm) bezels on the sides of the display. (The top and bottom bezels are more visible than those of the Dell XPS 13, but they’re not terrible — 6.2mm and 10.9mm, respectively.)
Two other features help differentiate the UX425 from the field. The first is a 1W screen option, which should theoretically help to extend battery life — Asus says it consumes 63.6 percent less power than most laptop displays do.
The ZenBook’s battery results didn’t blow me away, however. Our test involved running the system through my daily workload (using around a dozen Chrome tabs, downloading, uploading, copying files, Google Sheets, Zoom calls, and other office stuff) on the Better Battery profile around 200 nits of brightness — it lasted seven hours and 20 minutes. That’s identical to the result we saw from the Dell XPS 13, but it doesn’t come close to the gargantuan life span of Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7, which made it 13 and a half hours. Charging speed was also fine, but not mind-blowing — it took 58 minutes and 40 seconds to juice up to 60 percent (during light use).
The second is NumberPad 2.0. If you tap a small icon in the top right corner of the touchpad, an LED numpad appears. (This does require a surprisingly firm press — I usually had to thunk it a couple times.) This is a clever idea (how often do you see a number pad on a 14-inch laptop?) and it worked as advertised. One thing I didn’t expect is that you can still use the touchpad to navigate and click on things while the numpad is up — the ZenBook never mistook my swipe for a tap or vice versa. I could even rest my palm on the numpad while clicking around with no issue. You can also swipe down from the top left corner of the touchpad to bring up the Calculator app (regardless of whether the numpad is on or off).
The chassis and lid are made of aluminum alloy.
There are a few other tidbits to note. Design-wise, the UX425 is as ZenBook as they come, with Asus’ signature concentric swirl design on the lid and a familiar aesthetic that I can best describe as “industrial chic.” Asus says the UX425 meets the MIL-STD-810G testing standard, which means it’s passed a barrage of drop tests, temperature tests, vibration tests, and altitude tests. There is a fair bit of flex in the lid, and a smidge in the keyboard, so I’m not floored by the build quality. But the chassis does feel durable enough that I’m not worried about battering the thing around.
The port selection is decent, with one weird omission. You get two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (you can thank the 11th Gen chip for those), one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI 2.0, and one microSD card reader. Notice something missing? Yep, there’s no audio jack; Asus nixed that for the UX425. If you’re fully transitioned to wireless headphones and microphones, pay this no heed — but that could reasonably be a deal-breaker for folks who still want to use wired gear. The ZenBook does ship with a dongle, but the thought of having to take up a precious USB-C port to plug headphones into a laptop just makes me sad.
The display reached 349 nits in our testing.
For authentication, there’s a webcam that supports Windows Hello but no fingerprint reader. The webcam isn’t great for video calls — I wasn’t washed out in bright areas, but there were also times when my face was entirely dark even though I wasn’t in a very dark setting.
Finally, the keyboard has an extra column of keys on the far right containing Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End. There are various hotkeys, including one that turns off the webcam, one that locks the whole system, one that disables the touchpad, one that lets you take a snip screenshot, and one that brings up Asus’ command center.
The ErgoLift hinge tilts the deck up at a slight angle. The ErgoLift hinge is supposed to provide a more ergonomic typing position (and also more space for heat dissipation).
Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA specs (as reviewed) Processor: Intel Core i7-1165G7 1.2-2.8 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz)
RAM: 16GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
Weight: 2.49 lbs (1.13 kg)
Dimensions: 12.56 x 8.19 x 0.55 inches (319 x 208 x 13.9 mm)
Battery: 67Wh
Display: 14-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS level display
Camera: HD infrared camera
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
This ZenBook configuration will cost $1,099. In addition to the 1165G7 with Intel’s Xe integrated graphics, it has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, a 67Wh battery, and a 1920 x 1080 panel screen (with the 1W power draw). There’s also an $899 model, which has 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The extra storage may be worth the premium for folks who want to play games — 512GB can fill up quickly — and I’ll always recommend buying as much RAM as you can afford.
The ZenBook performed solidly throughout my workday, and pages loaded a bit faster than they have on Ice Lake systems that I’ve tested recently. The bottom of the laptop got hot at times (concentrated on the left side), but the keyboard, touchpad, and wrist rests remained cool throughout my testing — and I never heard the fans. During gaming, the CPU didn’t pass 95 degrees Celsius.
microSD slot and USB-A on the right. Two USB-C and an HDMI on the left.
It completed an export of a five-minute, 33-second 4K video in 11 minutes and 28 seconds, which is much faster than Iris Plus systems like the Surface Laptop 3, the XPS 13 2-in-1, and the LG Gram 17. There was a significant performance difference between this system and the Core i7-1185G7 reference design, though — that device finished the same task in eight minutes.
Speaking of gaming, Intel’s biggest bet with Tiger Lake is on its Xe integrated graphics, which it claims offer up to twice the graphics performance of previous generations. While the ZenBook did beat both the 1065G7-powered XPS 13 and the 4800U-powered IdeaPad Slim 7, it didn’t give them the sound drubbing the reference design led me to expect.
Asus says the ZenBook has a new “camera algorithm” to correct exposure and color balance in selfies.
AGREE TO CONTINUE: ASUS ZenBook 14 UX425EA Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate. To use the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA you have to agree to: Request for your region and keyboard layout
Windows 10 License Agreement and Asus License Agreement
Microsoft account
Windows Hello PIN
Register for an Asus account The following agreements are optional: Connecting to Wi-Fi
Windows Hello facial recognition
Privacy settings, including online speech recognition, find my device, inking and typing, advertising ID, location, diagnostic data, and tailored experiences
Sync an Android phone
OneDrive backup
Microsoft 365
Set up Cortana
Register for a McAfee account and an Asus account
Save your email address on your device That’s seven mandatory agreements and 15 optional ones to use the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA.
The system did fine on easy titles, averaging 200fps on League of Legends and 92fps on Rocket League’s maximum settings. (The XPS 13 averaged low 160s on the former and 70fps on the latter.) Overwatch, however, was stuttery at maxed settings, averaging 43fps on Epic and 62fps on Ultra. That’s better than the XPS and the Slim 7 but still closer to those than to the 1185G7 reference design (which averaged 59fps on Epic and 89fps on Ultra).
And, of course, this isn’t a laptop you’d buy for serious gaming. Shadow of the Tomb Raider was not playable in 1080p, averaging 29fps on the lowest settings. This is, again, better than the Ice Lake XPS 13, which averaged 17fps, and worse than the 1185G7 reference platform (I wouldn’t, of course, recommend using any of these to actually run this title).
In short, these results are an improvement over Ice Lake and Ryzen 4000. They’re a respectable step forward. But they’re also a reminder that not all Tiger Lake systems (and not all chips) are created equal — and this configuration isn’t as far ahead of Lenovo’s 4800U system as I’d hoped it would be.
At $800, I’d call this ZenBook an absolute steal. At $1,100, I’ll say it’s a fine purchase. It’s portable and functional, as ZenBooks tend to be. On the outside, there’s no category where it’s terrible and no category where it’s the best in its class (apart from the NumberPad, which is legitimately very cool but won’t be useful for everyone).
There’s no category where it’s terrible and no category where it’s the best in its class
And then there’s the processor. Yes, it does deliver the best gaming performance we’ve seen from integrated graphics outside of a test design. But it’s a step forward, rather than the leap forward the 1185G7 appeared to be — and given the advantage that AMD has in multicore performance, I’m not sure that’s enough to crown Intel the new ultraportable king. Tiger Lake is certainly a more formidable competitor than Ice Lake was — but the battle isn’t over.


theverge--2020-09-30--Lynk & Co’s compact SUV costs €500 a month but might earn you a profit

Car company Lynk & Co has finally revealed the details of its hybrid ownership model , which lets people subscribe to its Lynk & Co 01 compact SUV for €500 per month , with the option of renting the vehicle to other Lynk & Co members to begin earning that fee back .
At a launch event today , the company said customers could even make a profit on their €500 a month subscription if they ’ re able to rent out their vehicle with enough frequency .
The company ’ s 01 hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars will begin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Lynk & Co brand was first announced in 2016 in Gothenburg , Sweden as a “ born digital ” alternative to Volvo , the company that spawned Lynk & Co with help from their Chinese parent Geely .
Lynk & Co CEO Alain Visser is a 30-year auto industry veteran of Ford , General Motors , and Volvo .
There are two kinds of Lynk & Co members : those paying for a car and those who rent cars .
Members looking to rent can join for free in the Lynk & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can set their own price and conditions for rentals , including car pickup and drop-off locations .
A member with a car can share their digital key to free members to open their rented vehicle .
The €500 membership fee can also be split between multiple individuals , allowing a group of friends in the same city to share a single car .
The monthly fee includes insurance and servicing by the Volvo dealer network .
( Digital keys can also be shared with Volvo , to let its employees retrieve your car @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
The monthly fee doesn ’ t cover the cost of fuel or electricity , however .
Paid memberships can be canceled with one month ’ s notice .
The Lynk & Co 01 can also be purchased outright and then rented to members .
The standalone price will be announced in the next couple of weeks , the company says .
In China the 01 is only sold directly , as the company claims the market isn ’ t mature enough to support the membership model .
In China , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24,000 when it first went on sale in 2017 .
Lynk & Co will initially offer the 01 compact SUV in two colors , blue or black , and two powertrains , hybrid or plug-in hybrid .
The plug-in hybrid is capable of going 68km ( 42.25 miles ) on electricity only .
The new 01 differs from the original 01 in a number of ways .
The face has some slight tweaks ( but remains largely unchanged visually ) while inside the cars there ’ s a new infotainment system , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the use of more sustainable fabrics made from recycled fishing nets .
The Lynk & Co club concept is meant to inject a sense of cool into the brand .
The company envisions opening up “ clubs , ” not dealerships , in major European cities where both paying and free members can hang out with local artists , DJs , and chefs , for example , or be treated to exclusive “ product drops.
” Its first club will open in Amsterdam at the end of October , followed by a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
“ Young customers more than ever like cool things and like cool brands , ” says Visser in a video promo .
“ By being a member of Link & Co you also get access to fun things , to fun brands , to fun artists .
Whether it ’ s music festivals or artists [ or ] art galleries .
So you don ’ t just get access to a car , you also get access to events that happen in your neighborhood.
” During today ’ s launch event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be cool is not cool.
” Launching a new sharing concept and brand in the age of social distancing won ’ t be easy .
But at least by choosing Amsterdam , Lynk & Co is putting itself in front of a city filled with young , multi-modal professionals who already share cars using services like Greenwheels , SnappCar , Fetch , and Share Now ( the joint venture operated by Daimler and BMW formerly known as Car2go ) .
It doesn ’ t guarantee success but at least its car sharing @ @ @ @ @

Car company Lynk & Co has finally revealed the details of its hybrid ownership model, which lets people subscribe to its Lynk & Co 01 compact SUV for €500 per month, with the option of renting the vehicle to other Lynk & Co members to begin earning that fee back.
At a launch event today, the company said customers could even make a profit on their €500 a month subscription if they’re able to rent out their vehicle with enough frequency. The company’s 01 hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars will begin shipping to European members in April.
The Lynk & Co brand was first announced in 2016 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a “born digital” alternative to Volvo, the company that spawned Lynk & Co with help from their Chinese parent Geely. Lynk & Co CEO Alain Visser is a 30-year auto industry veteran of Ford, General Motors, and Volvo.
Born digital
There are two kinds of Lynk & Co members: those paying for a car and those who rent cars. Members looking to rent can join for free in the Lynk & Co app. Members with a car can set their own price and conditions for rentals, including car pickup and drop-off locations. A member with a car can share their digital key to free members to open their rented vehicle.
The €500 membership fee can also be split between multiple individuals, allowing a group of friends in the same city to share a single car. The monthly fee includes insurance and servicing by the Volvo dealer network. (Digital keys can also be shared with Volvo, to let its employees retrieve your car and return it when servicing is complete.) The monthly fee doesn’t cover the cost of fuel or electricity, however. Paid memberships can be canceled with one month’s notice.
The Lynk & Co 01 can also be purchased outright and then rented to members. The standalone price will be announced in the next couple of weeks, the company says. In China the 01 is only sold directly, as the company claims the market isn’t mature enough to support the membership model. In China, the 01 originally listed at just under $24,000 when it first went on sale in 2017.
Image: Lynk & Co Image: Lynk & Co
Lynk & Co will initially offer the 01 compact SUV in two colors, blue or black, and two powertrains, hybrid or plug-in hybrid. The plug-in hybrid is capable of going 68km (42.25 miles) on electricity only. The new 01 differs from the original 01 in a number of ways. The face has some slight tweaks (but remains largely unchanged visually) while inside the cars there’s a new infotainment system, a new airbag configuration for Europe, and the use of more sustainable fabrics made from recycled fishing nets.
Clubs not dealerships
The Lynk & Co club concept is meant to inject a sense of cool into the brand. The company envisions opening up “clubs,” not dealerships, in major European cities where both paying and free members can hang out with local artists, DJs, and chefs, for example, or be treated to exclusive “product drops.” Its first club will open in Amsterdam at the end of October, followed by a second in Gothenburg before the end of the year.
“Young customers more than ever like cool things and like cool brands,” says Visser in a video promo. “By being a member of Link & Co you also get access to fun things, to fun brands, to fun artists. Whether it’s music festivals or artists [or] art galleries. So you don’t just get access to a car, you also get access to events that happen in your neighborhood.” During today’s launch event, Visser also conceded that “trying to be cool is not cool.”


theverge--2020-09-30--Google’s Pixel 5 event: how to watch today’s live stream

Google isn ’ t known for keeping secrets , especially about the phones they plan to introduce .
In the case of Google ’ s upcoming Launch Night In event , we ’ re looking forward to two new Pixel phones : the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4A 5G .
But who knows ?
It ’ s possible that Google may be keeping some surprises up its corporate sleeve .
There have , of course , been the usual leaks .
For the 5.8-inch Pixel 4A 5G , the follow-up to Google ’ s popular mid-priced Pixel 4A , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ processor , a dual-camera system with a 12.2MP main lens and a 16MP ultrawide lens , and an 8MP front camera — all similar to what is being said about the Pixel 5 .
The latter will ( possibly ) add wireless charging , more RAM , and a higher IP rating among other things .
We will also be introduced to a new Chromecast and Nest Audio smart speaker .
Of course , while all these leaks may prove absolutely accurate , there is no way to say for sure until Google @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event .
So if you want to know the real facts and get the news as it happens , watch the event and follow our reporters as they contribute their expert commentary on the proceedings .
WHEN DOES THE PIXEL 5 EVENT START ?
It starts today at 2PM ET / 11AM PT / 7PM BST .
WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GOOGLE EVENT ?
We will have the live stream video embedded up top , so you can stick around here to watch when it begins .
Otherwise , head to these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Verge ’ s live blog for expert commentary • Google is streaming the event on its website • Keep an eye on @ verge on Instagram for live updates

Google isn’t known for keeping secrets, especially about the phones they plan to introduce. In the case of Google’s upcoming Launch Night In event, we’re looking forward to two new Pixel phones: the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4A 5G. But who knows? It’s possible that Google may be keeping some surprises up its corporate sleeve.
There have, of course, been the usual leaks. For the 5.8-inch Pixel 4A 5G, the follow-up to Google’s popular mid-priced Pixel 4A, there is talk about a Snapdragon 765G processor, a dual-camera system with a 12.2MP main lens and a 16MP ultrawide lens, and an 8MP front camera — all similar to what is being said about the Pixel 5. The latter will (possibly) add wireless charging, more RAM, and a higher IP rating among other things.
We will also be introduced to a new Chromecast and Nest Audio smart speaker.
Of course, while all these leaks may prove absolutely accurate, there is no way to say for sure until Google actually presents them at today’s event. So if you want to know the real facts and get the news as it happens, watch the event and follow our reporters as they contribute their expert commentary on the proceedings.
WHEN DOES THE PIXEL 5 EVENT START?
It starts today at 2PM ET / 11AM PT / 7PM BST.
WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GOOGLE EVENT?


theverge--2020-09-30--The Google Pixel couldn’t win at the high end, but the midrange isn’t any easier

Today , Google will announce the Pixel 5 and 4A 5G .
Well , not so much “ announce ” as launch , since the company already told us these phones were coming when it announced the Pixel 4A in early August .
We know what to expect because these phones have leaked every which way but Sunday .
And Google has already told us what the Pixel 4A 5G will cost , too : $ 499 .
About the only thing that isn ’ t widely confirmed as of this writing ( late last night ) is the pricing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strong rumors that it will clock in at $ 699 , which lines up with the big takeaway I expect to come away with today .
That would be this : Google is retrenching into the midrange this year instead of directly trying to compete with the flagships from Apple and Samsung .
Moving down in price would be more true to what the Pixel is .
But when it comes to Pixel hardware , no good deed goes unpunished .
The midrange market Google is presumably headed towards has recently filled up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 ’ s rumored price , beat it on rumored specs , or both .
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is sitting on my desk right now and after just a couple of days I can already say it ’ s a very good deal for $ 699 .
The OnePlus 8 regularly sells for $ 599 these days and its cheaper Nord phone is also likely to come to the US in some configuration .
Plus , of course , the iPhone 11 is $ 699 and it ’ s likely that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same price class soon enough .
Even so , it ’ s a smart move to head into the midrange .
Expectations of perfection in every category are lower and frankly I don ’ t think there ’ s as much appetite for ultra-premium phones and their ultra-high price tags right now .
Besides , Google has struggled to credibly compete in the flagship market , where phones cost well over a thousand bucks and are packed with every spec and feature you can think of .
The Pixel line has also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we see from the top-tier Galaxy phones and iPhones in the US .
Google has done much better with the Pixel 3A and presumably is doing well with the Pixel 4A , but it still isn ’ t making a dent in the market .
IDC analyst and associate VP Francisco Jeronimo estimates that Google sold about 7.2 million Pixel phones in 2019 .
7.2 million phones is a drop in the bucket in global smartphone sales , and yet he reports it was a 52 percent year-over-year increase on the strength of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When you ’ re trying to decide which smartphone to buy , I don ’ t think you should care about how many units are sold just like I don ’ t care about the stock price .
Market share only matters insofar as its an indication of two things : the availability of accessories like cases and the likelihood you ’ ll get support when you need it .
In both cases , I think it ’ s fair to say Google is committed to filling those roles .
But I bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s numbers like these that have me continually wondering just what Google is up to with the Pixel .
In this newsletter I asked why it is making its own phone hardware and had the CEO of the company directly answer that question .
Here ’ s Sundar Pichai ’ s answer from this past May , emphasis mine : On all three fronts , I give the Pixel line a C. I give that grade even though I grade the quality of the individual phones themselves much higher .
The Pixel 3A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the oft-maligned Pixel 4 is still a cleaner , more elegant experience than more powerful devices from other Android makers .
I obviously won ’ t tell you if the Pixel 5 or 4A 5G are any good until I actually use them .
But the specs that have leaked recently make me think they both will end up being better than expected .
Let ’ s go through these justifications .
When it comes to driving computing forward and guiding the ecosystem , I don ’ t think the Pixel makes a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier models kicked the whole industry in the rear on camera quality , forcing everybody to up their game .
But since then , Pixel phones have mainly shown how to make a version of Android that ’ s not annoying , and a lot of manufacturers seem to be ignoring that .
Google also comes in so late in the year that there have always been Android phones that have beaten it to the punch on using the latest Qualcomm chips .
Trying to make secure face unlock a thing seems to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What ’ s sort of wild about the first two Cs is that before the Pixel , Google had another lineup of phones with precisely those goals , the Nexus phones .
And in fact , Nexus phones regularly “ drove computing forward ” by showcasing how Android could work on new chips and I think also served to “ guide the ecosystem ” better than the Pixel does today .
The difference is that Google didn ’ t directly “ make ” the Nexus phones , it partnered with other companies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Google never really claimed that it would sell Nexus phones in large numbers or “ build a sustainable hardware business ” with them .
Whatever the actual sales number for the Pixel line may be , it ’ s indisputable that they ’ re low compared to the big-name competition .
I don ’ t see how it has become a “ sustainable hardware business ” yet .
But the growth seems good and Google has hit upon a very obvious strategy : sell a good phone for a lower price .
Funny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason to believe that on all three fronts , Google may be getting lower grades now because it ’ s putting all its effort into next year ’ s classes .
Given the frenetic pace of news , you ’ ll be forgiven if you missed that Google is working on its own processor silicon in collaboration with Samsung .
Axios reported that it ’ s codenamed “ Whitechapel ” and it could ship as early as next year .
Getting off Qualcomm ’ s Snapdragon chips would be an instant differentiator for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better , it would also make it easier for Google to re-enter the flagship market and to get a lot of people to look at the Pixel line again .
( It ’ s doubtful Google would also make its own 5G modems , though . )
It ’ s always risky to assume that a product will be better next year — just ask Bluetooth — but my hunch and hope is that the Pixel 5 and 4A may represent the end of the first era of Pixel phones .
I hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their own right .
I also hope that when it comes to the grades Google is earning on Pichai ’ s three hardware goals , the Pixel 5 isn ’ t the final exam .

Today, Google will announce the Pixel 5 and 4A 5G. Well, not so much “announce” as launch, since the company already told us these phones were coming when it announced the Pixel 4A in early August. We know what to expect because these phones have leaked every which way but Sunday. And Google has already told us what the Pixel 4A 5G will cost, too: $499.
About the only thing that isn’t widely confirmed as of this writing (late last night) is the pricing for the Pixel 5. There are strong rumors that it will clock in at $699, which lines up with the big takeaway I expect to come away with today. That would be this: Google is retrenching into the midrange this year instead of directly trying to compete with the flagships from Apple and Samsung.
Moving down in price would be more true to what the Pixel is. But when it comes to Pixel hardware, no good deed goes unpunished. The midrange market Google is presumably headed towards has recently filled up with competitors that either beat the Pixel 5’s rumored price, beat it on rumored specs, or both.
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The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is sitting on my desk right now and after just a couple of days I can already say it’s a very good deal for $699. The OnePlus 8 regularly sells for $599 these days and its cheaper Nord phone is also likely to come to the US in some configuration. Plus, of course, the iPhone 11 is $699 and it’s likely that there will be a new iPhone in the same price class soon enough.
Even so, it’s a smart move to head into the midrange. Expectations of perfection in every category are lower and frankly I don’t think there’s as much appetite for ultra-premium phones and their ultra-high price tags right now. Besides, Google has struggled to credibly compete in the flagship market, where phones cost well over a thousand bucks and are packed with every spec and feature you can think of.
The Pixel line has also never credibly competed with the sales numbers we see from the top-tier Galaxy phones and iPhones in the US. Google has done much better with the Pixel 3A and presumably is doing well with the Pixel 4A, but it still isn’t making a dent in the market.
IDC analyst and associate VP Francisco Jeronimo estimates that Google sold about 7.2 million Pixel phones in 2019. 7.2 million phones is a drop in the bucket in global smartphone sales, and yet he reports it was a 52 percent year-over-year increase on the strength of the Pixel 3A and expanded markets.
When you’re trying to decide which smartphone to buy, I don’t think you should care about how many units are sold just like I don’t care about the stock price. Market share only matters insofar as its an indication of two things: the availability of accessories like cases and the likelihood you’ll get support when you need it. In both cases, I think it’s fair to say Google is committed to filling those roles.
So for me, three reasons. One is to drive computing forward. The second is we really guide our ecosystem. [...] And third is to really build a sustainable hardware business.
On all three fronts, I give the Pixel line a C. I give that grade even though I grade the quality of the individual phones themselves much higher. The Pixel 3A and 4A are inexpensive marvels and even the oft-maligned Pixel 4 is still a cleaner, more elegant experience than more powerful devices from other Android makers. I obviously won’t tell you if the Pixel 5 or 4A 5G are any good until I actually use them. But the specs that have leaked recently make me think they both will end up being better than expected.
Let’s go through these justifications. When it comes to driving computing forward and guiding the ecosystem, I don’t think the Pixel makes a strong case right now. Yes, earlier models kicked the whole industry in the rear on camera quality, forcing everybody to up their game.
But since then, Pixel phones have mainly shown how to make a version of Android that’s not annoying, and a lot of manufacturers seem to be ignoring that. Google also comes in so late in the year that there have always been Android phones that have beaten it to the punch on using the latest Qualcomm chips. Trying to make secure face unlock a thing seems to have gone precisely nowhere, too.
What’s sort of wild about the first two Cs is that before the Pixel, Google had another lineup of phones with precisely those goals, the Nexus phones. And in fact, Nexus phones regularly “drove computing forward” by showcasing how Android could work on new chips and I think also served to “guide the ecosystem” better than the Pixel does today.
The difference is that Google didn’t directly “make” the Nexus phones, it partnered with other companies. And the other difference is that the Google never really claimed that it would sell Nexus phones in large numbers or “build a sustainable hardware business” with them.
Whatever the actual sales number for the Pixel line may be, it’s indisputable that they’re low compared to the big-name competition. I don’t see how it has become a “sustainable hardware business” yet. But the growth seems good and Google has hit upon a very obvious strategy: sell a good phone for a lower price. Funny how that works.
There’s reason to believe that on all three fronts, Google may be getting lower grades now because it’s putting all its effort into next year’s classes. Given the frenetic pace of news, you’ll be forgiven if you missed that Google is working on its own processor silicon in collaboration with Samsung. Axios reported that it’s codenamed “Whitechapel” and it could ship as early as next year.
Getting off Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips would be an instant differentiator for Google. If its own chips perform better, it would also make it easier for Google to re-enter the flagship market and to get a lot of people to look at the Pixel line again. (It’s doubtful Google would also make its own 5G modems, though.)


theverge--2020-09-30--Samsung’s Premiere 4K laser projector now available, starting at $3,499

The Premiere , a 4K laser projector from Samsung that ’ s designed as an alternative to its high-end QLED TVs , is now available to order .
There are two models : the $ 3,499 LSP7T which gives you up to an 120-inch projection , and the $ 6,499 LSP9T which goes up to 130-inches .
Samsung describes both as “ ultra short throw ” projectors , meaning you get massive projection sizes even when the unit is placed directly in front of your wall or screen .
Maximum projection sizes aren ’ t the only thing separating the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 2,800 ANSI lumens , compared to 2,200 ANSI lumens for the cheaper model .
This obviously means it provides a brighter image , but it also means its image should be clearer when there ’ s more ambient light in the room .
The more expensive LSP9T also has a 40-watt , 4.2-channel audio system compared to a 30-watt , 2.2-channel setup for the LSP7T .
Otherwise the two projectors share a lot of specs .
Both are powered by the same Tizen operating system as Samsung ’ s TVs , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Bixby voice assistants .
They ’ re both laser projectors , which should mean their light sources will last longer than the bulbs used in traditional projectors .
Samsung also advertises The Premiere as the first projector to support HDR10+ , although the format hasn ’ t been as widely adopted as other HDR standards like Dolby Vision .
Both projectors are available to order on Samsung ’ s website starting today .
The site notes that shipping is expected by October 16th .
If you ’ re looking for something a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our recent guide to the best projectors , where our top picks start at the slightly more affordable $ 899 .

The Premiere, a 4K laser projector from Samsung that’s designed as an alternative to its high-end QLED TVs, is now available to order. There are two models: the $3,499 LSP7T which gives you up to an 120-inch projection, and the $6,499 LSP9T which goes up to 130-inches. Samsung describes both as “ultra short throw” projectors, meaning you get massive projection sizes even when the unit is placed directly in front of your wall or screen.
Maximum projection sizes aren’t the only thing separating the two projectors. The LSP9T is brighter at 2,800 ANSI lumens, compared to 2,200 ANSI lumens for the cheaper model. This obviously means it provides a brighter image, but it also means its image should be clearer when there’s more ambient light in the room. The more expensive LSP9T also has a 40-watt, 4.2-channel audio system compared to a 30-watt, 2.2-channel setup for the LSP7T.
The projector is the first to support the HDR10+ standard. Image: Samsung
Otherwise the two projectors share a lot of specs. Both are powered by the same Tizen operating system as Samsung’s TVs, and both can be controlled via the Alexa and Bixby voice assistants. They’re both laser projectors, which should mean their light sources will last longer than the bulbs used in traditional projectors. Samsung also advertises The Premiere as the first projector to support HDR10+, although the format hasn’t been as widely adopted as other HDR standards like Dolby Vision.


theverge--2020-09-30--Why Coinbase will struggle to ban politics from the workplace

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
Subscribe here .
Programming note : There ’ s a presidential debate tonight !
Here ’ s how to watch it online .
And here ’ s Politico ’ s handy “ pre-bunk ” of 10 lies you ’ re likely to hear at the debate .
If there is a manager in your life , there is a good chance that they are miserable right now .
They are miserable for the reasons everyone is miserable : the pandemic ; quarantine ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raising children ; the steady erosion of American democracy .
But unlike us working stiffs , managers are miserable for another reason : their employees are miserable , too — and worse , they expect the managers to do something about it .
In July I wrote about how a surge of employee activism inside tech companies was beginning to remake the relationship between managers and their workforces .
The turbulent past four years have roiled once-harmonious businesses of all sorts , from venture-backed e-commerce companies to giants like Google .
Increasingly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stands , as I wrote about last week after listening to a summer ’ s worth of internal meetings at Facebook .
And because these companies sell themselves as “ mission-driven ” to their idealistic employees , many managers feel pressure to live up to that by engaging with current affairs .
This is particularly true because the US government has become staggeringly unresponsive to its citizenry — unable to provide for their basic safety and economic security during a historic crisis .
Meanwhile , corporations — particularly big US tech corporations — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workforces , courting their feedback regularly and using it to improve the operations of the company .
And so the worse that the government performs , the more that workers ask of their employers .
Other managers , though , are taking a look at all of these dynamics and saying the hell with it .
Take it away , Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong ( emphasis his ) : It has become common for Silicon Valley companies to engage in a wide variety of social activism , even those unrelated to what the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees who really want this in the company they work for .
So why have we decided to take a different approach ?
The reason is that while I think these efforts are well intentioned , they have the potential to destroy a lot of value at most companies , both by being a distraction , and by creating internal division .
We ’ ve seen what internal strife at companies like Google and Facebook can do to productivity , and there are many smaller companies who have had their own challenges here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t want to work in these divisive environments .
They want to work on a winning team that is united and making progress toward an important mission .
They want to be respected at work , have a welcoming environment where they can contribute , and have growth opportunities .
They want the workplace to be a refuge from the division that is increasingly present in the world .
As a result , Armstrong said , Coinbase would not take positions on broader societal issues , advocate for political causes or candidates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of time or resources to nonprofit work .
“ We are an intense culture and we are an apolitical culture , ” he wrote .
Armstrong ’ s post resonated with some prominent members of the managerial class , who showered it with more than 5,000 Medium claps .
“ Yet again , Brian Armstrong leads the way , ” tweeted Y Combinator founder Paul Graham .
“ I predict most successful companies will follow Coinbase ’ s lead .
If only because those who don ’ t are less likely to succeed.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s post , my timelines began to light up with takes .
The tweets , which more often come from rank-and-file workers , expressed skepticism that an organization whose mission is “ to use cryptocurrency to bring economic freedom to people all over the world ” could also manage to be apolitical .
Meanwhile , my direct messages lit up with takes from managers , who argued that a less political company is the kind that most people want to work at .
If you ’ re an underrepresented minority and find yourself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regard as hostile , you ’ ll probably want to work elsewhere .
And sure , a person who is regularly posting hostile or borderline-hostile messages internally might deserve to be fired .
But certain beliefs are protected — you can ’ t be fired for your views on religion , for example .
And so , like basically everything we cover here at The Interface , the question of what employees should be allowed to say — and what they should be allowed to demand from their employers — becomes a question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content moderation is , it ’ s no surprise that some companies are trying to limit discussion of these issues at all .
Coinbase made headlines for it this week , but earlier this month it was Facebook in a similar spot .
Here ’ s Salvador Rodriguez at CNBC : If the past year has seen a surge of employee activism in the workplace , it seems , the next will see managers attempt to swing the pendulum back in the other direction .
In addition to the moves announced this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two Slack channels that employees were once able to use to ask questions .
( Like Facebook , the company now asks employees to submit questions in advance , with Armstrong and other executives answering only the questions with the most votes . )
Talking with current and former Coinbase employees over the past day , I found mixed reviews of Armstrong ’ s post .
( The company itself declined to comment when I asked . )
“ Most people disagree with the stance and don ’ t see a clear-cut separation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ societal issues , ” one employee told me .
“ Others may agree with the spirit of what Brian ’ s suggesting , knowing how he personally thinks about mainstream issues , but don ’ t agree with the tone or the approach.
” Whatever you think about Armstrong ’ s move , I suspect that on some level we will ultimately look back on it as an act of wishful thinking .
Armstrong is not alone in wishing that the polarized politics of 2020 would recede into the background long enough to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nothing now unfolding in the world around us suggests that anything of the sort is about to happen .
On the contrary , the next several weeks promise to inject politics into everyday life in frequent and possibly unsettling new ways .
It may be that your friendly neighborhood cryptocurrency exchange has nothing of consequence to add to these events .
But it seems more than a little odd to declare that to be so in advance , and by fiat .
Politics are not vampires — they do not need to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One last point : it was reported last night on Twitter by Erica Joy , and confirmed by my own sources , that Coinbase engineers walked out on the job in June after Armstrong declined to issue a public statement affirming that Black lives matter .
( He later did so in a Twitter thread . )
Inside the company , it is widely believed that Armstrong ’ s post this week is his response to the walkout — an effort to remind employees who is in charge .
And if that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth saying that much of what we have been discussing this summer has not been “ politics ” so much it has been human rights .
Breonna Taylor was shot dead by police in the middle of the night ; Armstrong ’ s post referred to the killing only as “ recent events regarding Breonna Taylor , ” before the coldness of the language was mocked on Twitter and he deleted any reference to her .
There are many issues on which I can easily accept that a cryptocurrency exchange , or really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But during an election year in which democracy itself is at stake , and state-backed violence against protesters continues unchecked , racial justice can ’ t be one of them .
By lashing out at employees who dared to challenge him , the CEO ’ s worldview became crystal clear .
Coinbase won ’ t be apolitical so much as it will be as political as he wants it to be , and those politics will be whatever Brian Armstrong says they are .
Today in news that could affect public perception of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Facebook estimates that 100,000 new poll workers have signed up in response to the company ’ s election efforts .
In North Carolina alone , 11,000 people signed up from Saturday to Monday morning , with 60,000 people clicking the link on Facebook .
( Facebook ) Trending up : TikTok launched an in-app guide to the 2020 US election as part of its ongoing efforts to protect the platform from misinformation .
It ’ s meant to help users register to vote and get information about federal , state , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Verge ) Trending down : Amazon has deceived the public about rising injury rates among its warehouse workers , according to internal documents .
The crisis is especially acute at robotic facilities and during Prime week and the holiday peak .
( Will Evans / Reveal ) ⭐ The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ( CFIUS ) is stepping up its scrutiny of Chinese investments in US tech start-ups .
The committee has been sending a flurry of inquiries about past deals , making startups more cautious about accepting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whalen at The Washington Post : President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines lashed out at Facebook for taking down fake accounts that supported his policies .
The president , who rose to power in part by harnessing Facebook ’ s platform to get his messages to millions , is now making vague threats to shut it down in the Philippines .
This is why Facebook was not excited about India banning TikTok , incidentally .
( Jason Gutierrez and Paul Mozur / The New York Times ) QAnon leaders are asking followers to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their conspiracy theories and simply refer to their fight against a fictitious cabal of powerful baby-eating politicians .
The move comes as tech companies crack down on QAnon content .
( Ben Collins / NBC ) Baseless rumors about Joe Biden planning to use a hidden earpiece during tonight ’ s debate are spreading among right-wing influencers on Facebook and Twitter .
“ If Joe Biden isn ’ t hiding anything , why won ’ t he consent to a third party checking for an earpiece before tonight ’ s debate ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lies have a history in US presidential debates dating back at least 20 years .
( Kevin Roose / The New York Times ) Project Veritas , an organization run by right-wing activist James O ’ Keefe , has a new investigation on “ ballot harvesting ” that ’ s going viral on Facebook , YouTube , and Twitter .
The video contains significant misinformation .
( Popular Information ) There have been at least 10 major foreign interference claims related to the 2020 election in the month of September .
The Digital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assess the credibility and impact of each claim .
( Digital Forensic Research Lab ) President Trump ’ s assault against Twitter may represent the most egregious violation of the First Amendment by a president since Nixon went to war against the Washington Post almost half a century ago , say these authors .
The president has repeatedly accused the platform of censorship .
( Lee C. Bollinger and Donald E. Graham / The Washington Post ) Google is set to win EU antitrust approval for its $ 2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ giant said it would restrict the use of Fitbit data for Google ads and would also tighten the monitoring of that process .
( Foo Yun Chee / Reuters ) ⭐ Amazon unveiled a new biometric technology called Amazon One that allows shoppers to pay at stores by placing their palm over a scanning device .
To register to use the technology , a customer will scan their palm and insert their payment card at a terminal .
After that , they can just pay with their hand .
Jason Del Rey at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promoting Alex Schultz , one of its longest-tenured product and growth executives , to take over as chief marketing officer .
Schultz is taking over the CMO job from Antonio Luciom who departed last month .
( Kurt Wagner and Sarah Frier / Bloomberg ) Zynga is shutting down its original FarmVille web game on Facebook at the end of the year .
In July , Facebook said it would no longer support Flash games as of December 31st .
( Kim Lyons / The Verge ) Media companies have largely backed off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Google ’ s digital advertising dominance .
In 2017 , many invested in pricey ad tech deals to lure advertisers away from the tech giants .
( Sara Fischer / Axios ) Colleges are hiring students as COVID-19 safety influencers .
They ’ re tasked with sharing coronavirus content written by the university on their personal accounts .
( Ezra Marcus / The New York Times ) Emma Chamberlain has mastered the art of being relatable on YouTube , despite her increasing wealth and fame .
She also just launched a new line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ / Vox ) Send us tips , comments , questions , and political opinions appropriate to your workplace : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

If there is a manager in your life, there is a good chance that they are miserable right now.
They are miserable for the reasons everyone is miserable: the pandemic; quarantine; the challenges of working from home while raising children; the steady erosion of American democracy. But unlike us working stiffs, managers are miserable for another reason: their employees are miserable, too — and worse, they expect the managers to do something about it.
In July I wrote about how a surge of employee activism inside tech companies was beginning to remake the relationship between managers and their workforces. The turbulent past four years have roiled once-harmonious businesses of all sorts, from venture-backed e-commerce companies to giants like Google. Increasingly, workers want their employers to take political stands, as I wrote about last week after listening to a summer’s worth of internal meetings at Facebook. And because these companies sell themselves as “mission-driven” to their idealistic employees, many managers feel pressure to live up to that by engaging with current affairs.
This is particularly true because the US government has become staggeringly unresponsive to its citizenry — unable to provide for their basic safety and economic security during a historic crisis. Meanwhile, corporations — particularly big US tech corporations — tend to be very responsive to their workforces, courting their feedback regularly and using it to improve the operations of the company. And so the worse that the government performs, the more that workers ask of their employers.
Other managers, though, are taking a look at all of these dynamics and saying the hell with it. Take it away, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (emphasis his):
It has become common for Silicon Valley companies to engage in a wide variety of social activism, even those unrelated to what the company does, and there are certainly employees who really want this in the company they work for. So why have we decided to take a different approach? The reason is that while I think these efforts are well intentioned, they have the potential to destroy a lot of value at most companies, both by being a distraction, and by creating internal division. We’ve seen what internal strife at companies like Google and Facebook can do to productivity, and there are many smaller companies who have had their own challenges here. I believe most employees don’t want to work in these divisive environments. They want to work on a winning team that is united and making progress toward an important mission. They want to be respected at work, have a welcoming environment where they can contribute, and have growth opportunities. They want the workplace to be a refuge from the division that is increasingly present in the world.
As a result, Armstrong said, Coinbase would not take positions on broader societal issues, advocate for political causes or candidates, or commit more than a minimal amount of time or resources to nonprofit work. “We are an intense culture and we are an apolitical culture,” he wrote.
Armstrong’s post resonated with some prominent members of the managerial class, who showered it with more than 5,000 Medium claps. “Yet again, Brian Armstrong leads the way,” tweeted Y Combinator founder Paul Graham. “I predict most successful companies will follow Coinbase’s lead. If only because those who don’t are less likely to succeed.”
As more people read Armstrong’s post, my timelines began to light up with takes. The tweets, which more often come from rank-and-file workers, expressed skepticism that an organization whose mission is “to use cryptocurrency to bring economic freedom to people all over the world” could also manage to be apolitical. Meanwhile, my direct messages lit up with takes from managers, who argued that a less political company is the kind that most people want to work at. If you’re an underrepresented minority and find yourself regularly confronted with internal posts that you regard as hostile, you’ll probably want to work elsewhere.
And sure, a person who is regularly posting hostile or borderline-hostile messages internally might deserve to be fired. But certain beliefs are protected — you can’t be fired for your views on religion, for example. And so, like basically everything we cover here at The Interface, the question of what employees should be allowed to say — and what they should be allowed to demand from their employers — becomes a question of content moderation.
Given how difficult content moderation is, it’s no surprise that some companies are trying to limit discussion of these issues at all. Coinbase made headlines for it this week, but earlier this month it was Facebook in a similar spot. Here’s Salvador Rodriguez at CNBC:
Under the new set of principles, Zuckerberg said, Facebook will ensure all employees feel supported at work, especially the company’s Black community, by strengthening the company’s harassment policy with more protections for underrepresented employees. The company will also be more specific about which parts of Workplace can be used to discuss social and political issues. This change will be so that employees do not have to confront social issues during their day-to-day work.
If the past year has seen a surge of employee activism in the workplace, it seems, the next will see managers attempt to swing the pendulum back in the other direction. In addition to the moves announced this week, for example, Coinbase also removed two Slack channels that employees were once able to use to ask questions. (Like Facebook, the company now asks employees to submit questions in advance, with Armstrong and other executives answering only the questions with the most votes.)
Talking with current and former Coinbase employees over the past day, I found mixed reviews of Armstrong’s post. (The company itself declined to comment when I asked.)
“Most people disagree with the stance and don’t see a clear-cut separation of the company’s mission and societal issues,” one employee told me. “Others may agree with the spirit of what Brian’s suggesting, knowing how he personally thinks about mainstream issues, but don’t agree with the tone or the approach.”
Whatever you think about Armstrong’s move, I suspect that on some level we will ultimately look back on it as an act of wishful thinking. Armstrong is not alone in wishing that the polarized politics of 2020 would recede into the background long enough to let us concentrate on work. But nothing now unfolding in the world around us suggests that anything of the sort is about to happen. On the contrary, the next several weeks promise to inject politics into everyday life in frequent and possibly unsettling new ways.
It may be that your friendly neighborhood cryptocurrency exchange has nothing of consequence to add to these events. But it seems more than a little odd to declare that to be so in advance, and by fiat. Politics are not vampires — they do not need to be invited in to enter your home.
One last point: it was reported last night on Twitter by Erica Joy, and confirmed by my own sources, that Coinbase engineers walked out on the job in June after Armstrong declined to issue a public statement affirming that Black lives matter. (He later did so in a Twitter thread.) Inside the company, it is widely believed that Armstrong’s post this week is his response to the walkout — an effort to remind employees who is in charge.
And if that’s the case, it’s worth saying that much of what we have been discussing this summer has not been “politics” so much it has been human rights. Breonna Taylor was shot dead by police in the middle of the night; Armstrong’s post referred to the killing only as “recent events regarding Breonna Taylor,” before the coldness of the language was mocked on Twitter and he deleted any reference to her.
There are many issues on which I can easily accept that a cryptocurrency exchange, or really any company, has no opinions. But during an election year in which democracy itself is at stake, and state-backed violence against protesters continues unchecked, racial justice can’t be one of them. By lashing out at employees who dared to challenge him, the CEO’s worldview became crystal clear. Coinbase won’t be apolitical so much as it will be as political as he wants it to be, and those politics will be whatever Brian Armstrong says they are.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
🔼 Trending up: Facebook estimates that 100,000 new poll workers have signed up in response to the company’s election efforts. In North Carolina alone, 11,000 people signed up from Saturday to Monday morning, with 60,000 people clicking the link on Facebook. (Facebook)
🔼 Trending up: TikTok launched an in-app guide to the 2020 US election as part of its ongoing efforts to protect the platform from misinformation. It’s meant to help users register to vote and get information about federal, state, and local candidates. (Makena Kelly / The Verge)
🔽 Trending down: Amazon has deceived the public about rising injury rates among its warehouse workers, according to internal documents. The crisis is especially acute at robotic facilities and during Prime week and the holiday peak. (Will Evans / Reveal)
Governing
⭐ The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is stepping up its scrutiny of Chinese investments in US tech start-ups. The committee has been sending a flurry of inquiries about past deals, making startups more cautious about accepting foreign investments. Here’s Jeanne Whalen at The Washington Post:
Michael Borrus, the founding general partner of XSeed Capital, said CFIUS scrutiny is causing investors and companies to think twice about deals. “We’ve had Chinese VCs or Chinese families who have been interested in putting money in” to some companies where XSeed Capital is a shareholder, Borrus said. “In the current environment, we’ve decided it’s too complicated.” [...] CFIUS is particularly focused on companies and apps that collect sensitive personal information on users, such as location or financial data, and on companies involved in technology seen as critical for national security, such as certain types of battery technology and biotechnology, lawyers said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The committee is mostly inquiring about Chinese investment, but on a few occasions has asked about Russian investors.
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines lashed out at Facebook for taking down fake accounts that supported his policies. The president, who rose to power in part by harnessing Facebook’s platform to get his messages to millions, is now making vague threats to shut it down in the Philippines. This is why Facebook was not excited about India banning TikTok, incidentally. (Jason Gutierrez and Paul Mozur / The New York Times)
QAnon leaders are asking followers to drop the “QAnon” label from their conspiracy theories and simply refer to their fight against a fictitious cabal of powerful baby-eating politicians. The move comes as tech companies crack down on QAnon content. (Ben Collins / NBC)
Baseless rumors about Joe Biden planning to use a hidden earpiece during tonight’s debate are spreading among right-wing influencers on Facebook and Twitter. “If Joe Biden isn’t hiding anything, why won’t he consent to a third party checking for an earpiece before tonight’s debate?” asked conservative activist Charlie Kirk. These lies have a history in US presidential debates dating back at least 20 years. (Kevin Roose / The New York Times)
There have been at least 10 major foreign interference claims related to the 2020 election in the month of September. The Digital Forensic Research Lab launched a tracker to assess the credibility and impact of each claim. (Digital Forensic Research Lab)
President Trump’s assault against Twitter may represent the most egregious violation of the First Amendment by a president since Nixon went to war against the Washington Post almost half a century ago, say these authors. The president has repeatedly accused the platform of censorship. (Lee C. Bollinger and Donald E. Graham / The Washington Post)
Google is set to win EU antitrust approval for its $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit. The news comes after the search giant said it would restrict the use of Fitbit data for Google ads and would also tighten the monitoring of that process. (Foo Yun Chee / Reuters)
Industry
⭐ Amazon unveiled a new biometric technology called Amazon One that allows shoppers to pay at stores by placing their palm over a scanning device. To register to use the technology, a customer will scan their palm and insert their payment card at a terminal. After that, they can just pay with their hand. Jason Del Rey at Recode has the story:
The technology will be available at the entrance of two of the company’s Amazon Go cashierless convenience stores in Seattle, Washington, starting Tuesday, and will roll out to the rest of the chain’s 20-plus stores in the future, Amazon Vice President Dilip Kumar told Recode in an interview Monday. Recode reported in December that Amazon had filed a patent application for such a hand-payment technology. The technology could also show up in Whole Foods stores, with Amazon hinting in a press release that it will introduce palm payments in the coming months at its other stores beyond its Amazon Go locations. Kumar wouldn’t comment on a potential Whole Foods implementation, though the New York Post reported a year ago that such a plan was in the works.
Facebook is promoting Alex Schultz, one of its longest-tenured product and growth executives, to take over as chief marketing officer. Schultz is taking over the CMO job from Antonio Luciom who departed last month. (Kurt Wagner and Sarah Frier / Bloomberg)
Zynga is shutting down its original FarmVille web game on Facebook at the end of the year. In July, Facebook said it would no longer support Flash games as of December 31st. (Kim Lyons / The Verge)
Media companies have largely backed off their attempts to compete with Facebook and Google’s digital advertising dominance. In 2017, many invested in pricey ad tech deals to lure advertisers away from the tech giants. (Sara Fischer / Axios)
Colleges are hiring students as COVID-19 safety influencers. They’re tasked with sharing coronavirus content written by the university on their personal accounts. (Ezra Marcus / The New York Times)
Emma Chamberlain has mastered the art of being relatable on YouTube, despite her increasing wealth and fame. She also just launched a new line of fair-trade coffee. (Rebecca Jennings / Vox)
And finally...
Talk to us


theverge--2020-09-30--Amazon starts offering virtual classes and sightseeing tours via new Explore platform

Amazon has launched Explore , a new platform which it promises will let you “ explore anything from lessons to landmarks.
” It works via a video stream , with tour guides , instructors , and personal shoppers providing one-on-one sessions .
Amazon says the video is one-way , meaning only the host is on camera during the virtual experience , but the audio is two-way so you can ask questions and make requests .
The Explore page provides an idea of the range of experiences on offer .
These include relatively cheap sessions like a $ 10 , 40-minute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to a 45-minute virtual tour of a mansion in Lima , Peru for $ 70 , or a $ 129 bagel cooking class .
In some cases Amazon lists ingredients and supplies to buy before a session , but it says that these are optional if you just want to watch along from home .
TechCrunch reports there are a total of 86 experiences across 16 countries .
Amazon is just the latest company to start offering virtual events this year , as people have had to cut down on trips and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Airbnb launched its own virtual travel experiences , and fitness company ClassPass has shifted to offering online classes .
Apple was initially criticized for taking a 30 percent cut of these virtual purchases , The New York Times reports , but last week said it would temporarily stop taking its cut on virtual purchases from Airbnb , ClassPass , and Facebook ’ s online events feature .
Amazon ’ s Explore product pages note that customers are able to browse and purchase experiences on mobile phones and tablets , though it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Apple ’ s 30 percent commission .
According to Amazon , hosts come from a range of established tour guide companies including Intrepid Urban Adventures , Bamba , and Essence of Berlin .
TechCrunch notes that hosts are in charge of the prices of their sessions , but says that Amazon declined to comment on the revenue split .
If you take a virtual shopping experience , any purchases are handled via Amazon ’ s payment system .
According to TechCrunch , Amazon Explore is currently only available on an invite-only basis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book by choosing an experience , and then picking a date and time for a session , and these can be cancelled or rescheduled with up to 24 hours ’ notice .
Although Amazon says you can browse and book experiences on mobile , you ’ ll need to switch to a laptop or desktop computer for the session itself .

Amazon has launched Explore, a new platform which it promises will let you “explore anything from lessons to landmarks.” It works via a video stream, with tour guides, instructors, and personal shoppers providing one-on-one sessions. Amazon says the video is one-way, meaning only the host is on camera during the virtual experience, but the audio is two-way so you can ask questions and make requests.
The Explore page provides an idea of the range of experiences on offer. These include relatively cheap sessions like a $10, 40-minute virtual shopping experience in Ridgeland, USA, to a 45-minute virtual tour of a mansion in Lima, Peru for $70, or a $129 bagel cooking class. In some cases Amazon lists ingredients and supplies to buy before a session, but it says that these are optional if you just want to watch along from home. TechCrunch reports there are a total of 86 experiences across 16 countries.
Experiences include a virtual bagel baking lesson. Screenshot: Amazon.com
Amazon is just the latest company to start offering virtual events this year, as people have had to cut down on trips and other in-person activities. Earlier this year, Airbnb launched its own virtual travel experiences, and fitness company ClassPass has shifted to offering online classes.
Apple was initially criticized for taking a 30 percent cut of these virtual purchases, The New York Times reports, but last week said it would temporarily stop taking its cut on virtual purchases from Airbnb, ClassPass, and Facebook’s online events feature. Amazon’s Explore product pages note that customers are able to browse and purchase experiences on mobile phones and tablets, though it’s unclear whether these will be subject to Apple’s 30 percent commission.
According to Amazon, hosts come from a range of established tour guide companies including Intrepid Urban Adventures, Bamba, and Essence of Berlin. TechCrunch notes that hosts are in charge of the prices of their sessions, but says that Amazon declined to comment on the revenue split. If you take a virtual shopping experience, any purchases are handled via Amazon’s payment system.


theverge--2020-09-29--Apple outage affected App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, iCloud, Photos and more

Many Apple services were hit by outages Tuesday evening , including the App Store , Apple Music , Apple TV @ @ @ @ @ , according to Apple ’ s system status page .
For a majority of the @ @ @ @ @ said that “ some users were affected , ” though for AppleCare in iOS and @ @ @ @ @ said “ all users were affected.
” Here are some of the services that were @ @ @ @ @ time .
Apple ’ s status page says that 25 outages were resolved today .
@ @ @ @ @ only company to experience services outages lately — many Microsoft services were affected by a @ @ @ @ @ and there was a multi-state 911 outage on Monday as well .
Update , September @ @ @ @ @ Updated to confirm that Apple has resolved the outages .
The headline has also been @ @ @ @ @ .

Many Apple services were hit by outages Tuesday evening, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and Apple Arcade, according to Apple’s system status page. For a majority of the affected services, Apple vaguely said that “some users were affected,” though for AppleCare in iOS and Apple School Manager, Apple said “all users were affected.”
Here are some of the services that were affected at one point in time. Apple’s status page says that 25 outages were resolved today.
Find My
Game Center
iCloud Account & Sign In
iCloud Backup
iCloud Calendar
iCloud Contacts
iCloud Mail
iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com)
iWork for iCloud
Photos
Apple Arcade
Apple Music
Apple Music radio
Apple TV Plus
Radio
App Store
Apple Books
Apple hasn’t replied to a request for comment.
Apple isn’t the only company to experience services outages lately — many Microsoft services were affected by a multi-hour outage on Monday, and there was a multi-state 911 outage on Monday as well.


theverge--2020-09-30--Google says the Pixel’s Soli radar and Motion Sense will return

Google ’ s $ 799 Pixel 4 had built-in radar .
The new $ 699 Pixel 5 does not — it ditches the sensor-laden forehead of its predecessor entirely in favor of thinner bezels and a hole-punch camera , like the $ 349 Pixel 4a before it .
The result is more screen , but Google ’ s “ Motion Sense ” gestures and its answer to Apple ’ s Face ID are totally gone .
But Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh tells The Verge that the Project Soli radar and gestures will return .
“ They ’ ll be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
They were just too expensive for the phone that Google wanted to build this time .
And let ’ s not get started on Pixel 4 battery life I doubt buyers of the Pixel 5 will really miss Google ’ s gimmicky air gestures , which never really advanced the way Google originally teased ; not that they had time to , since Google axed the product after just 10 months .
But as Dieter pointed out in his review of the Pixel 4 , those gestures weren ’ t the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radar chip could detect your presence and fire up the phone ’ s facial recognition sensors — for a faster face unlock than even Apple ’ s Face ID had managed thus far .
It ’ s not too surprising that Google would keep its Soli radar around : it ’ s been working on the project for five years now , originally demoing the air gestures in speakers and smartwatches .
For now , you ’ ll unlock your $ 699-and-up Pixel 5 with the same kind of rear-mounted fingerprint sensor you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4a .
I have the cheaper phone , and it ’ s not bad !
I like balancing the phone in my hand using the fingerprint divot .
It ’ s pretty responsive .
But it ’ s not quite the same as face unlock .
Below , find a few of our earlier stories about Google ’ s Project Soli .

Google’s $799 Pixel 4 had built-in radar. The new $699 Pixel 5 does not — it ditches the sensor-laden forehead of its predecessor entirely in favor of thinner bezels and a hole-punch camera, like the $349 Pixel 4A before it. The result is more screen, but Google’s “Motion Sense” gestures and its answer to Apple’s Face ID are totally gone.
But Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh tells The Verge that the Project Soli radar and gestures will return. “They’ll be used in the future,” he says. They were just too expensive for the phone that Google wanted to build this time.
(He didn’t say whether they’d appear in a new phone, specifically; a recent FCC filing suggests they might come to a new Nest thermostat as well.)
And let’s not get started on Pixel 4 battery life
I doubt buyers of the Pixel 5 will really miss Google’s gimmicky air gestures, which never really advanced the way Google originally teased; not that they had time to, since Google axed the product after just 10 months. But as Dieter Bohn pointed out in his review of the Pixel 4, those gestures weren’t the best part. It was how the radar chip could detect your presence and fire up the phone’s facial recognition sensors — for a faster face unlock than even Apple’s Face ID had managed thus far.
It’s not too surprising that Google would keep its Soli radar around: it’s been working on the project for five years now, originally demoing the air gestures in speakers and smartwatches.
For now, you’ll unlock your $699-and-up Pixel 5 with the same kind of rear-mounted fingerprint sensor you can get on the $349 Pixel 4A. I have the cheaper phone, and it’s not bad! I like balancing the phone in my hand using the fingerprint divot. It’s pretty responsive. But it’s not quite the same as face unlock.


theverge--2020-09-30--The just-announced Pixel 5 has somehow already been unboxed

The Pixel 5 , Google ’ s latest Android flagship , was just announced today , and someone on YouTube has already posted an unboxing video of the new device ahead of its release ( via 9to5Google ) .
What ’ s in the box is fairly standard — there ’ s the phone itself , as well as a charger , a USB-C to USB-C cable , and a USB-C to USB-A converter .
The YouTube user who has the phone , who goes by the name Sergiu , does power it on , giving us a look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1080 OLED screen and 8-megapixel hole-punch selfie camera .
Sergiu doesn ’ t use the phone all that much in the video , though , sticking mostly to the phone ’ s home screen .
Sergiu also zooms in on back of the Pixel 5 , showing the phone ’ s aluminum back , fingerprint sensor , and square camera housing .
If you ’ ve seen the camera housing on the Pixel 4 and 4 XL , the Pixel 5 ’ s looks pretty similar , though the Pixel 5 has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telephoto camera found on the Pixel 4 and 4 XL .
Overall , there ’ s nothing that surprising here , as Google has already shown us the device .
But it ’ s still interesting to see the new phone in the wild a couple weeks before it ’ s officially available .
The Pixel 5 launches in eight countries on October 15th and in the US on October 29th .
It costs $ 699 .

The Pixel 5, Google’s latest Android flagship, was just announced today, and someone on YouTube has already posted an unboxing video of the new device ahead of its release (via 9to5Google).
What’s in the box is fairly standard — there’s the phone itself, as well as a charger, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a USB-C to USB-A converter. The YouTube user who has the phone, who goes by the name Sergiu, does power it on, giving us a look at the phone’s 6-inch 2340 x 1080 OLED screen and 8-megapixel hole-punch selfie camera. Sergiu doesn’t use the phone all that much in the video, though, sticking mostly to the phone’s home screen.
Sergiu also zooms in on the back of the Pixel 5, showing the phone’s aluminum back, fingerprint sensor, and square camera housing. If you’ve seen the camera housing on the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, the Pixel 5’s looks pretty similar, though the Pixel 5 has a 16MP ultrawide camera instead of the 16MP telephoto camera found on the Pixel 4 and 4 XL.
Overall, there’s nothing that surprising here, as Google has already shown us the device. But it’s still interesting to see the new phone in the wild a couple weeks before it’s officially available.


theverge--2020-09-30--Facebook will ban ads that wrongly claim election victory

Facebook will ban ads that wrongly claim victory in the US presidential race .
The news comes a week after the company announced it would reject ads from Donald Trump or Joe Biden claiming a premature win on November 3rd .
The policy covers ads that claim legal forms of voting — like voting by mail — will corrupt the outcome of the election .
It also bans ads that claim rampant voter fraud could alter the results of the election .
This is a real concern for the 2020 race .
Due to mail-in voting , the electoral process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years past , and the official results likely won ’ t be announced on November 3rd .
Experts worry that because more Democrats are expected to vote by mail than Republicans , Trump could declare an early victory , then sow doubt about the results as more Biden votes trickle in .
Google likely had this in mind last week when it announced it would ban election ads after polls close on November 3rd .
Similarly , Facebook is seeking to limit the spread of misinformation about the vote with ad policies targeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new political ads the week before the election .
Now it ’ s looking past the election , too .

Facebook will ban ads that wrongly claim victory in the US presidential race. The news comes a week after the company announced it would reject ads from Donald Trump or Joe Biden claiming a premature win on November 3rd.
The policy covers ads that claim legal forms of voting — like voting by mail — will corrupt the outcome of the election. It also bans ads that claim rampant voter fraud could alter the results of the election.
See more 2020 election coverage from Vox Media (parent company of The Verge), including how to vote and how different policies will impact your community.
This is a real concern for the 2020 race. Due to mail-in voting, the electoral process is expected to take longer than in years past, and the official results likely won’t be announced on November 3rd. Experts worry that because more Democrats are expected to vote by mail than Republicans, Trump could declare an early victory, then sow doubt about the results as more Biden votes trickle in.
Google likely had this in mind last week when it announced it would ban election ads after polls close on November 3rd.


theverge--2020-09-30--One of Google Stadia’s most interesting features, Crowd Choice, is finally coming this week

Google has always wanted its cloud game-streaming service , Stadia , to change how YouTube streamers interact with their fans .
Nearly ten months after release , Google is finally bringing its “ Crowd Choice ” feature to its first two games .
Crowd Choice allows viewers to vote on , say , which team a streamer joins in the game , which piece of dialogue they pick , or other in-game choices the player might make .
The streamer can ultimately decide if they want to follow the audience ’ s suggestion or make their own choice .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launch on Stadia Pro , and it will be the first game to integrate Crowd Choice .
In Dead by Daylight , the feature gives the audience a chance to vote whether the streamer should be a “ killer ” who is tasked with killing the other players in the match or one of the four “ survivors ” that is trying to evade or run away .
As you can see below , Dead by Daylight ’ s Crowd Choice shows what percent of the audience voted for each role .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 will be the second game to support the feature .
Unlike Dead by Daylight , which is an asymmetric survival horror game , Baldur ’ s Gate 3 is an RPG with the option to play solo or online with other players .
When Crowd Choice is enabled , the streamer ’ s audience can vote on what narrative decisions the creator should make to progress the story .
In Baldur ’ s Gate 3 , Google says “ everything from who your character falls in love with , to which friend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viewers.
” Despite not being a Stadia player myself , I ’ d like to watch a Stadia streamer play Baldur ’ s Gate 3 so I can vote on the goofiest dialogue option for them to choose .
Alongside Dead by Daylight , Stadia ’ s paid Pro subscription is also adding five additional games to its library on October 1st — Human : Fall Flat , Superhot : Mind Control Delete , Lara Croft : Temple of Osiris , Celeste , and Jotun .
Stadia ’ s one-year anniversary is coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it looks like it ’ ll have more serious competition : the cloud gaming market has recently started heating up with the announcement of Amazon ’ s Luna and the release of Microsoft ’ s xCloud .

Google has always wanted its cloud game-streaming service, Stadia, to change how YouTube streamers interact with their fans. Nearly ten months after release, Google is finally bringing its “Crowd Choice” feature to its first two games.
Crowd Choice allows viewers to vote on, say, which team a streamer joins in the game, which piece of dialogue they pick, or other in-game choices the player might make. The streamer can ultimately decide if they want to follow the audience’s suggestion or make their own choice.
On October 1st, Dead by Daylight will launch on Stadia Pro, and it will be the first game to integrate Crowd Choice. In Dead by Daylight, the feature gives the audience a chance to vote whether the streamer should be a “killer” who is tasked with killing the other players in the match, or one of the four “survivors” who is trying to evade or run away. As you can see below, Dead by Daylight’s Crowd Choice shows what percent of the audience voted for each role.
Dead by Daylight on Google Stadia with Crowd Choice enabled. Image: Google
On October 6th, Baldur’s Gate 3 will be the second game to support the feature. Unlike Dead by Daylight, which is an asymmetric survival horror game, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an RPG with the option to play solo or online with other players.
When Crowd Choice is enabled, the streamer’s audience can vote on what narrative decisions the creator should make to progress the story. In Baldur’s Gate 3, Google says, “everything from who your character falls in love with, to which friend becomes a foe can be decided by viewers.”
Crowd Choice in Baldur’s Gate 3 lets viewers vote on which dialogue option the streamer should choose. Image: Google
Despite not being a Stadia player myself, I’d like to watch a Stadia streamer play Baldur’s Gate 3 so I can vote on the goofiest dialogue option for them to choose.
Alongside Dead by Daylight, Stadia’s paid Pro subscription is also adding five additional games to its library on October 1st — Human: Fall Flat, Superhot: Mind Control Delete, Lara Croft: Temple of Osiris, Celeste, and Jotun.


theverge--2020-09-30--Google’s new ‘Hold for Me’ feature saves you from elevator music

For many of us , calling a doctor ’ s office , an insurance carrier , customer support , or indeed any kind of administrative office has become an exercise in frustration — especially these days , when increased demand and cuts in staffing have made phone waits interminable .
Yes , you can simply use speakerphone to monitor the line , but do you really want to listen to that awful music for over an hour ?
A new Android feature called Hold for Me , which Google just announced , may just be able to make those phone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Me is currently available as a preview feature in the US for Google ’ s new Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A ( 5G ) phones .
Here ’ s how it works , according to Google : if you call a toll-free number and are put on hold , Google Assistant will monitor the call for you while you go back to doing whatever you need to do .
When a human being gets on the line , you ’ ll be notified with a sound , vibration , and a notification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked to hold so you can take the call .
If at any time you get nervous and want to know what ’ s going on , you can monitor what ’ s being said — or played — via real-time caption on your phone ’ s screen .
Currently , Hold for Me is an optional feature that can be enabled in Google settings .
It can be considered similar to other features Google has introduced to enhance the phone experience , such as call screening , which uses voice transcription to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for information before you actually take the call .
Personally , as someone who has spent all too much time listening to the same tunes over and over again , I can ’ t wait for it to become more widely available .

For many of us, calling a doctor’s office, an insurance carrier, customer support, or indeed any kind of administrative office has become an exercise in frustration — especially these days, when increased demand and cuts in staffing have made phone waits interminable. Yes, you can simply use speakerphone to monitor the line, but do you really want to listen to that awful music for over an hour?
A new Android feature called Hold for Me, which Google just announced, may just be able to make those phone waits a bit more tolerable. Hold for Me is currently available as a preview feature in the US for Google’s new Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A (5G) phones.
Here’s how it works, according to Google: if you call a toll-free number and are put on hold, Google Assistant will monitor the call for you while you go back to doing whatever you need to do. When a human being gets on the line, you’ll be notified with a sound, vibration, and a notification on the screen while the representative is asked to hold so you can take the call. If at any time you get nervous and want to know what’s going on, you can monitor what’s being said — or played — via real-time caption on your phone’s screen.
Currently, Hold for Me is an optional feature that can be enabled in Google settings. It can be considered similar to other features Google has introduced to enhance the phone experience, such as call screening, which uses voice transcription to allow you to ask an unknown caller for information before you actually take the call.