Articles by "Tech"
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The spike led in part to Apple lowering its quarterly earnings guidance.

In a recent all-hands meeting, Tim Cook reportedly revealed that Apple replaced 11 million iPhone batteries in 2018, up from its normal 1-2 million tally. The spike was a result of Apple's price cut to its battery replacement program as part of the fallout from its iPhone throttling debacle. And it seems that trend hit Apple where it hurts: iPhone sales.

The millions of extra customers who took advantage of the $29 replacement offer -- which was available throughout 2018 -- may have been happy to hold on to their iPhone instead of upgrading. With the swap reducing the impact of throttling on older models, iPhone users suddenly found that CPU performance was better, meaning an older device was faster and longer lasting.

The resulting dent to Apple's bottom line "wasn't apparent until after the iPhone XR and XS models were available," claims Daring Fireball's John Gruber, who leaked the tidbit from Cook's meeting. Sure enough, Cook mentioned the battery program in his letter addressing Apple's revision to its first quarter 2019 earnings, which saw it lower its guidance from a minimum of $89 billion down to $84 billion due to a shortfall in iPhone sales.

The Apple CEO wrote (emphasis our own): "While macroeconomic challenges in some markets were a key contributor to this trend, we believe there are other factors broadly impacting our iPhone performance, including consumers adapting to a world with fewer carrier subsidies, US dollar strength-related price increases, and some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements."

"Some customers" snagging cheaper battery swaps is putting it lightly, seeing as Apple was faced with up to 11 times the usual demand for the program. And 11 million people holding on to their older iPhones equates to a lot of customers resisting newer models.

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January 15, 2019
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The team behind Samourai, the privacy-focused bitcoin wallet, has removed a series of key security-related features from a version of its app as a result of “extremely restrictive policies” by Google.

Having released version 0.99.04 of its app Tuesday on the digital distribution service run by Google, called Google Play, Samourai explained in a blog post that three features – stealth mode, SIM switch defense, and remote SMS commands – have been removed as a result of Google’s push to “become more of a ‘walled garden’ experience.”

A version that contains those features is available, but not through Google’s app service. Google did not respond to a request for comment.

“Walled garden” is a term synonymous with closed-platform or closed ecosystem, referring to a software system where the service provider takes on holistic control over all operations in the system including applications, content and media. However, this is not a new trend taken on by Google, but rather one that has been proliferating for years among big technology companies even outside of Google, including Facebook and Amazon.

Speaking to CoinDesk, co-founder of Samourai who goes by the pseudonym “SW” explained that the walled garden remark was in reference to a series of policy changes carried out over the last year by Google towards all Play store application developers.

“Users of Samourai might have noticed that they are no longer getting notifications on when they receive bitcoin. That’s because if you want to use notification services you have to route everything through Google services,” said SW.

The accumulation of “little things like that” according to SW is pushing Samourai developers to opt-out of more features when releasing new wallet versions to the application.

What’s more, SW is hopeful that a compromise can be drawn between Samourai and Google Play to reintroduce these features at a later date, saying:

“If [Google] reached out to us, we’ll be able to make arrangements and be able to figure out a way to keep these features. We’re happy to change code on our end to keep in compliance with them.”

‘A matter of life or death’

Indeed, after having been notified of Google’s policy changes back in October, SW describes filing for an exemption to the rule changes immediately after highlighting in their request that “for some of these users especially in South America, it is a matter of life or death.”

Stealth mode is a feature that cloaks the existence of a bitcoin wallet on a user’s mobile device such that transactions can be made without detection in dangerous parts of the world. Remote SMS commands as highlighted by SW to CoinDesk ensures if a user’s “phone does get stolen, they can just send an SMS and wipe their wallet off of the phone securely.”

“It’s things like that that perhaps Google hasn’t thought of because they’re not thinking from the lens of a bitcoin wallet … What I’m hoping for is that someone at Google will manually look at what we’re doing here and say well actually they’re trying to do this the right way,” said SW.

And despite Google’s rejection of Samourai’s request for exemption, the company has released a temporary workaround for users still wanting to use these three features uploading to GitHub a feature complete version of the bitcoin wallet, dubbed version 0.99.03.

According to Samourai’s official Twitter account, this version is meant “to install over the Google Play version” and ensures users are “able to access wallet[s] as normal.”

But as highlighted by SW, installation from GitHub requires users to “side-load” the application by changing mobile device settings to “install from unknown sources.” This is a potentially risky move for users who aren’t used to manually screening third-party Google applications called Android Package Kits (APKs) for viruses or malicious software.

As SW explained:

“Part of what [Google] is saying is that we’re trying to make a safer experience for users but what they’re actually doing is pushing users to side load APKs onto their devices which if they’re not careful can install a malicious APK.”

Nevertheless, Google Play, according to co-founder SW, offers developers the “greatest exposure” and reach to users which being “a very small team … we need people to use the wallet to sustain ourselves.”

As such, the wallet-maker will continue to utilize the Play store platform as the application’s sole distributor before a “version 1.0” is officially launched.

Until then, Samourai is encouraging users to request that Google Play “rethink their rejection.”

“I really do hope Google reconsiders,” emphasized SW.
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January 11, 2019
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Apple made $100 billion last year from products besides the iPhone
By William Gayde,
Big quote: "If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution to mankind?' It will be about health," Cook said.

In a lengthy interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer (watch below), Apple CEO Tim Cook touched on iPhone sales, wearables, services, legal disputes, and Apple's outlook on the future. Despite some troubles in 2018, Cook is confident that 2019 will be a great year for Apple.

While the company is most known for the iPhone, they generated a staggering $100 billion in revenue from other products. This number is up 19% from the previous year and Cook wants to continue to see that number grow. He stated that current revenue from wearables is 50% more than the iPod at its peak. Counting the total revenue brought in since the products were launched, the Watch and AirPods have generated 4-6 times as much as the iPod.

Cook also highlighted the importance that Apple's services such as iTunes, the App Store, and Apple Music will have in 2019. He wants to see this portion of Apple double in revenue by the end of 2020. To meet this goal, Apple has been working on several new "material" services which they plan to launch this year. One major area for these new products and services will be in personal health.

Cook is optimistic on trade relations and believes US-China regulations will be updated to reflected a more global economic landscape. Apple's stock grew to record highs last year before taking a big hit in the last quarter after Wall Street grew concerned over iPhone sales and production issues. Cook says he's "heard this over and over again" and isn't worried.

The interview then touched on Apple's legal battle with Qualcomm. Cook made it clear that this case will keep raging on for a long time to come with little chance of a settlement. He views Qualcomm's actions regarding patents and licensing as illegal. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/51838
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January 10, 2019
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Uber is launching a program that encourages drivers to report any suspicious activity of riders to the police. The program, which is coordinated with Crime Stoppers USA, will launch in five U.S. cities: Jacksonville, Fla.; Atlanta; Indianapolis; New Orleans; and Las Vegas. It will utilize an app that allows drivers to send anonymous tips to law enforcement via Crime Stoppers, which already has networks set-up in those five cities. Crime Stoppers sometimes give cash rewards to tipsters and Uber drivers will also be eligible for compensation. Drivers, who are not classified as employees of Uber but are considered independent contractors, will not receive any special training about what activity they should report. "They are encouraged to report any information that they see or hear about during their travel," Barb Bergin, chairwoman of Crime Stoppers USA, told UPI, adding: "Uber encourages the drivers to beware of potential human-trafficking situations and other crimes. Bottom line is if drivers are concerned or suspicious they are encouraged to report." Law enforcement agencies in the cities where the programs have launched have relationships with Crime Stoppers. But in Jacksonville, no special arrangements are being made to accommodate the Uber program. "We don't have anything to do with that," Melissa Buejda, the public information officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said of the Uber-Crime Stoppers program. But she said that JSO does receive anonymous tips via Crime Stoppers "all the time." The situation is different in Atlanta, where the Atlanta Police Department has a full-time employee tasked with acting as a liaison between Crime Stoppers and investigators, APD public affairs director Carlos Campos said. In a statement announcing the program, Uber said the new program is part of the company's growing effort to cooperate with law enforcement agencies around the world. Image used on the post "Uber has invested in a global team of former law enforcement professionals, response team specialists and an online portal for law enforcement use only. These three components work together to inform, cooperate with, and respond to law enforcement's investigative needs," said Mike Sullivan, the head of Uber's global law enforcement operations. In addition to the five U.S. cities, the Uber and Crime Stoppers program also launched in two Canadian cities -- Toronto and Ottawa -- and there are plans to launch in Latin America, as well. In October, Uber was one of several tech companies, NGOs and law enforcement agencies that signed the Hague Accord at the Crime Stoppers International conference in The Netherlands. According to CSI, the accord is "an effort to lead a progressive movement to empower communities to take action against criminals and criminal networks through anonymous reporting networks." Although Uber is encouraging drivers to report suspicious activity, the company cooperates with law enforcement by providing them with data on riders. In its latest transparency report, released in July, state and federal law enforcement agencies requested information on more than 17,000 riders and nearly 2,600 drivers during 2017. Of those requests, Uber complied fully or partially in about 70 percent of cases, according to the report. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/50296 Join Geezgo for free. Use Geezgo's end-to-end encrypted Chat with your Closenets (friends, relatives, colleague etc) in personalized ways.>>
December 20, 2018
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The municipal network will cost far more
By Cohen Coberly,

It's no secret that Comcast isn't exactly the most-liked company in the world, and that became particularly clear on Friday when a small town in Massachusetts -- Charlemont -- voted against a proposal that would have allowed Comcast to roll out cable internet in the area.

The proposal, which may have cost Charlemont roughly $462,000, could have saved the town close to $1 million in the short term. The alternative, which will go into effect soon, was to let the town itself build out a municipal fiber network, a project that will cost $1.4 million in total.

However, it should be noted that the network won't be free to residents. By acting as its own service provider, Charlemont can sell off internet packages to its residents, potentially allowing it to make up its costs or even turn a profit. If at least 72 percent of households subscribe to the network, there would be "no tax impact," according to Ars Technica.

For a mere $79/month, residents of the town will get unlimited gigabit internet speeds, both upload and download. That price is already significantly cheaper than many comparable services in other cities, but it could get bumped up to $99/month if too few households adopt the network.
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December 12, 2018
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What's the control panel? Okay. And what's the start menu? Right. And what's this big button here?

On Call To no one’s surprise, Friday has arrived again, and brings with it On Call, El Reg’s weekly foray into the best (and the worst) technical problems our readers have helped solve over the years.

This week, a very forthright “Bill” has written in to tell us about his time working in the tech department of a small IT firm for which he apparently has little professional respect.

“It offered questionable quality computers and peripherals as well as extremely amateurish network installations,” he said.

“We would usually be on the road three to four days a week, with the remaining time spent in the workshop building barely serviceable PCs out of third-rate components, sourced always from the supplier with the cheapest, nastiest and least reliable components on offer.”

As well as, in Bill’s words, “building the shittest PCs known to humankind”, he and his team manned the help desk.

This meant dealing with a “multitude of (justifiably) irate customers who'd had the misfortune to be lured in with one of the company's spammed fax messages”.

A lot of the people who “elected to spend their hard-earned cash on the tripe we had on offer” weren’t “the sharpest tools in the box”, Bill said, as he continued to mince his words.

“One such valued client called the office when I was there,” he said. “I can't remember the exact nature of the problem he called with but it wasn't his only one, of that I am sure.”

Nonetheless, the one he had called on Bill to solve had to begin with a walkthrough of the basic settings, and so Bill asked the user to open the control panel.

“OK, where is it?” came the reply, to which Bill explained it was under ‘Settings’ on the start menu.

“What’s the start menu?” the user said, met quickly by the sound of Bill rolling his eyes.

“It's the thing that pops up when you press the start button,” he replied.

“And what’s the start button?” our user asked, no doubt becoming aware it was a good thing he was physically distant from Bill.

“It’s in the bottom corner of the screen,” Bill said through grated teeth. “Can you see it?”

When the user answered in the affirmative, Bill no doubt did mental cartwheels, as the problem inched closer to being fixed – but alas the pantomime was to continue.

“OK. Click on it.”

“OK.”

“Now click on ‘settings’,” Bill instructed.

“Where’s that?”

“In the menu that just popped up,” Bill said, barely keeping a grip on himself.

“I can't see a menu,” said the user.

“Oh, that's strange, what can you see?” Bill asked – perhaps there was a real issue, after all.

“Nothing.”

Bill continued on. “You mean there's no menu at all?”

“No,” replied the user.

“Ok, tell me what's on the screen,” said Bill.

“Nothing," came the reply.

“Nothing at all?”

“No, it's just black.”

“Ok, that's very strange, what did you do?” Bill asked, still in the dark.

The user, disgruntled at the impertinence of Bill, questioning whether he had followed the instructions, replied: “I just pressed the button on the corner of the screen like you told me to!"

And, lo, the penny dropped for Bill.

“…You mean the power button?”

Our erstwhile hero said that at this point his memory of the call goes blank. "I believe several parts of my brain fused together."

El Reg is sure Bill has plenty more stories to tell from his time at this fine establishment – but could you do better? Drop a line to On Call if you can beat this tale of sheer user error.
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December 08, 2018
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It's the least they could do. Really. The bare minimum

Hotel-chain turned data faucet Marriott says it will help some customers cover the cost of replacing stolen documents.

The company on Friday confirmed to The Register that customers who fall victim to fraud as a result of forged passports will be eligible to claim a replacement passport at Marriott's expense.

"As it relates to passports and potential fraud, we are setting up a process to work with our guests who believe that they have experienced fraud as a result of their passports being involved in this incident," a spokesperson told El Reg.

"If, through that process, we determine that fraud has taken place, then the company will reimburse guests for the costs associated with getting a new passport."

This after last week's revelation that half a billion customer records collected over four years of hotel bookings had fallen into the hands of criminals who managed to get into Marriott's Starwood reservation system.

In addition to encrypted card details, the attackers were able to access customers' name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood account number, date of birth, and gender.

The attackers also would have been able to look at information on when customers stayed with the hotels, though that info would have been of far less value.

Earlier this week, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called on the company to cover the costs of new passports for the customers who have fallen victim to fraudulent activity as a result of the data theft.

"A new passport costs $110. Marriott must personally notify customers at greatest risk," Schumer Tweeted.

"And Marriott should pay the costs of a new passport for victims who request it."

Despite the calls for Marriott to cover costs in case of fraud, actually cloning a US passport would require much more than a passport number, as the US State Department recently noted.
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December 08, 2018
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The extra power on display here means you can actually get work done.

The last time I used one of new always-on PCs, I was intrigued by its potential -- why wouldn't I want to use an actual Windows computer that was always online? My job would be so much easier if I didn't need to, I don't know, stress about WiFi or events or file stories while waiting to get on the subway. Needless to say, the reality didn't quite live up to the hype.

That machine — the ASUS NovaGo — is still well under a year old, but Qualcomm has taken big steps forward since then with the launch of its Snapdragon 850 chipset for laptops and today's announcement of its "extreme" new 8cx processor. The company has spent most of the morning here in Hawaii talking about how powerful it is compared to its previous attempts at shoe-horning smartphone-class processors into PCs, and after a little hands-on time with a reference laptop, I'm starting to think Qualcomm is on to something. You're still never going to use one of these machines for dedicated gaming, but the 8cx now seems more than powerful enough for actually getting your work done.

The first reference laptop I played with was pretty ornately set up: not only did it have loads of tabs open in the early Chromium and Firefox builds for ARM machines, it was also outputting video to two wall-mounted 4K displays and running apps in a virtual machine. In the early days, getting one external display running off an always-connected PC was about as good as things got, and I don't realistically think many people who would invest in a hyper-mobile laptop would spend much time at a battle station like this one.

To be clear, it was apparent that the 8cx powering all of this stuff was having some trouble keeping everything running smoothly — I had a lot of difficulty keeping tabs on the cursor because it seemed to be jumping, not gliding, from window to window. Even so, this is a pretty unorthodox use-case for most people, and I was impressed that the machine could handle this stuff at all.

The second machine held up noticeably better, though the setup wasn't as elaborate. Even so, it had about a dozen tabs open between Chromium and Firefox, and handled a library of 116 photos in Lightroom without complaint. Bear in mind, that's not a version of Lightroom specifically compiled for ARM processors — Qualcomm told me it was the version they downloaded straight from Adobe's website. Same goes for Photoshop, which had about 20 photos open and handled some decently complex edits without trouble. Your mileage may vary, but between editing photos and running a browser with loads of open tabs, my day-to-day routine actually seems to work on these 8cx machines surprisingly well.

With all that said, my experience with the 8cx still leaves me with plenty of questions. For one, it has basically been impossible to tell what kind of battery life I could squeeze out of these machines if I used them for work -- Qualcomm has promised "amazing" battery life but who knows what that means at this point. And beyond that, we still don't actually know which hardware makers are going to start building these new always-on PCs, or when they plan to start. We can make a few educated guesses, though.

Lenovo VP Matt Bareda took the stage to talk up the always-connected PC concept and left before making any definitive announcements, but it's hard not to read into his presence here. It's also worth pointing out that these reference designs look exactly like ASUS laptops, down to the telltale fonts on their keyboards, so I'd bet they're working on new 8cx products too.

At this point, it seems pretty clear that 2019 is the year always-on, always-connected PCs will start to hit their stride. And even now, I'm seriously wondering -- once again -- whether I can ditch my work Mac and live that constantly online life. The idea is just as tempting now as it was before, but we might finally be reaching the point where people could feasibly embrace these things.
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December 07, 2018
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NetherRealm didn't forget the blood or guts.



Mortal Kombat 11 exists and it's due to launch on April 23rd, complete with classic characters and buckets of blood. NetherRealm announced the new game in a surprise segment during The Game Awards, showing off a cinematic battle between Raiden and Scorpion. It's a real nail-biter. Or, nail-breaker. Or, bone-breaker. OK, it's all of those things.

NetherRealm is planning to host a reveal event for Mortal Kombat 11 on January 17th. Until then, enjoy the reveal trailer and all of its stabby, spine-stealing goodness. https://www.geezgo.com/sps/48953
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December 07, 2018
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Ready to revisit Hawkins, Indiana?

At The Game Awards, Stranger Things creators The Duffer Bros. hit the stage and announced a new game on the way tying in with their Netflix series. Made by Bonus XP -- developers of the first retro Stranger Things Game for mobile devices -- it looks to feature some arcade-style isometric action that blends in well with the show's 80s aesthetic.

We don't have a lot of details yet, but this one will tie in with season three, which is set to debut next year. We'll have to wonder what might have been for the planned Telltale Games version, but at least it looks like fans will have something to play on "all platforms."

Stranger Things 3: The Game from @BonusXP is coming to all platforms. Hold onto your quarters. #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/m00x1nGeFy
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) December 7, 2018
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December 07, 2018
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The Dread Wolf rises... eventually.

The rumors were true: despite departures from the original team, BioWare has confirmed that it's working on a new Dragon Age game. Only... there's not much to say about it. Apart from promoting a curious #TheDreadWolfRises hashtag, the developer is saying virtually nothing about what the new title entails, when it will ship or even its name. You're going to be disappointed if you were planning your gaming calendar around another fantasy RPG from the studio.

It will have experienced developers, though. On top of people from the Dragon Age days, you'll find veterans from Jade Empire and even the classic Baldur's Gate series. The pedigree is right -- let's just hope BioWare doesn't leave gamers hanging and provides some real information in the near future.

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December 07, 2018
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It's a must-own for every Nintendo Switch owner.
You know what you're getting with a Smash Bros. game. A ton of iconic characters -- mostly from Nintendo, but also from the likes of Konami, Capcom and Square Enix -- battle to knock each other off elaborately-themed stages. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Switch doesn't really change up this formula, but it refines it in several ways. It packs in just about everything you'd want, with a slew of modes and a ton of fighters to choose from (74 so far). And for the older gamers, the ones who grew up battling with their friends for hours on end, it's a pure nostalgia bomb.

I've lost count of just how many times Smash Bros. Ultimate made me feel like I was being thrown into a time machine. Loading up Dracula's Castle from Castlevania, gave me flashbacks to booting up Symphony of the Night for the first time. That moment feels burned into my soul, as if I instantly knew it would be one of my favorite games of all time. It happened again as I was fighting on the Midgar stage and the Final Fantasy VII fight theme started playing -- it's hard not to feel a pang of nostalgia for something I spent hundreds of hours listening to as a teenager.

Much like a Pokémon evolving into its true form, I suppose it was inevitable that Smash Bros. would end up being the ideal gaming nostalgia vehicle. The first game brought together new and old Nintendo stars like Donkey Kong, Fox McCloud and Pikachu. And once Nintendo added Sonic in Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii a decade ago, all bets were off. The series wasn't just about Nintendo characters beating the crap out of each other, everyone was fair game. With the Wii U and 3DS entry, we got Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Pac-Man, Mega-Man, Bayonetta and a bunch more. Now, Nintendo is also adding Simon and Richter Belmont (hence the Castlevania stage), and it's making even deeper pulls from its catalog, like the notorious Piranha Plant from Mario.

Even the mere act of playing Smash Bros. Ultimate feels like a blast from the past. Similar to Street Fighter, once you learn how to play Smash, you never really forget. Characters still move slowly around the stage, and jumping at times feels like you're floating. But it's incredibly tight and responsive when going toe-to-toe with your opponent. While it felt like there was a huge element of luck in previous Smash versions -- it was tough to tell when an attack would connect, and items could easily swing a battle -- Ultimate is better at reflecting your actual skill as a fighter. In heated battles against the computer (I didn't get to try out online play, unfortunately), I felt like I had more direct control over my character, which made every win and loss more meaningful.

The series has always been renowned for its beginner-friendliness. It's easy to just pick up and start fighting since everyone shares a basic move list. But you'll also be rewarded for learning the intricacies of every character, and how to deftly move around and defend yourself. I'm pleased to see that Nintendo isn't changing the formula too much. Getting too bogged down in special moves and archaic systems has hurt other fighting franchise (hello, Street Fighter), but Smash Bros. has always toed the line of being both simple and surprisingly deep.

Smash Bros. Ultimate's sprawling single player campaign, "World of Light," puts Kirby on a quest to save all of the other characters after they've been turned into spirits by an army of Master Hands. Don't worry, the plot isn't very important. Kirby has to battle his way through an enormous map that feels reminiscent of Super Mario World, rescuing possessed versions of his friends along the way. Once you defeat them, they're added as playable fighters for all of the game's modes.

Nintendo also added another layer of complexity with primary and support spirits, deeper cut characters from the same games as the core fighters. So far, my roster includes the likes of the Guardian from Breath of the Wild, Gravity Suit Samus, and Blaze the Cat from Sonic. By pairing these characters to your fighter in World of Light, you get special bonuses, like a buff to your stamina, or the ability to have items drawn slightly towards you. Spirits also level up and have power levels, which seems to affect the strength of your fighter. If that sounds confusing... well, it is. But thankfully, you can also just hit "Y" in your party screen to automatically equip the most useful spirits for every fight.

Even if the story doesn't make much sense, I enjoyed fighting my way through World of Light. It's a more compelling way to acquire new characters than waiting for a new challenger to appear as you fight in other modes. The matches are also more interesting, since your opponents also have spirits of their own. That means you could end up fighting a giant Donkey Kong, an Isabelle (from Animal Crossing) that's constantly healing, or an army of Mr. Game & Watch. Some matches are genuinely difficult, and similar to an RPG, you might have to wait for your array of spirits to get stronger before you can emerge victorious.

You can also rescue support characters from the Spirit Board mode, which basically offers you direct access to the fights you'd see in World of Light without the world map. There are a few twists, though: The spirit battles are only available for a certain time, so if you really want a specific character, you're pretty much forced to fight as soon as it appears. There are also a variety of difficulty levels for every battle, which are clearly labeled before you jump in. Once you win the fight, you also have to free the spirit from its prison with a well-placed blaster shot. If you miss, the fight goes away and you'll have to wait for that spirit to reappear.

It's not surprising that Nintendo is investing more in the single player experience, since it gives you something to do with the game when you're away from friends and the internet. After spending a few hours in World of Light, I've only made a slight dent on the map, so I'd wager it could easily last dozens of hours. The Spirit Board, meanwhile, offers a quick hit of action for players on the go.

I bought both of the previous Smash Bros. games for the Wii U and 3DS, but I never got into them. I didn't have enough friends nearby to play local multiplayer on the Wii U, and the online play was buggy and not much fun. And while it was cool to see the series on the 3DS, that device's small screen made it hard to keep track of all the mayhem. Thankfully, the Switch's display is big enough for handheld play. And since it's a console people are actually buying, I'm looking forward to some local Wi-Fi battles around New York City. I'm also hoping that the Switch's online service is robust enough to handle the gameplay.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate really is the series at its best. It's hard to imagine how much bigger the next game can be without imploding on itself. Ultimate has everything I've ever wanted, and, unlike its predecessor, it's on a console with a vibrant player community, so it'll be something I'll be able to play for years. And while it's already a nostalgia bomb in its current form, I'd imagine it'll be an even more powerful one in a few years, when I'm playing alongside my daughter as she relives the same gaming experiences I grew up with. "A new challenger approaches," indeed.
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December 07, 2018
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'The Last Campfire' is a cute, internal experiment from Hello Games.

Hello Games is known for No Man's Sky, an expansive space-exploration game that received heavy marketing from Sony ahead of its launch in 2016, and rocketed studio founder Sean Murray to infamy and stardom. No Man's Sky endured a turbulent release period, but developers continued to roll out updates and deliver on their most ambitious promises, and this year it was nominated for Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards. But before No Man's Sky, Hello Games was the home of Joe Danger, a cartoony racing title that found great, yet comparatively mild, success in the early 2010s.

Hello Games' new project, The Last Campfire, is a lot more like Joe Danger than No Man's Sky.

"Fundamentally we believe that small, talented teams can achieve great things," Murray told Engadget just before The Game Awards on Thursday night. "As a team of four in a tiny room above a tile shop, we created the multi-million-selling Joe Danger. As a dozen developers in a leaking shed, we borrowed our neighbor's internet and created one of the biggest-selling new IPs in video games, No Man's Sky. We've got a dead nice office now, so we'll probably ruin it all."

"We want to allow talented folks to take risks."

The Last Campfire is the first Hello Games Short -- smaller, more experimental projects that developers at the studio work on in the name of fostering creativity and free expression, a lot like Pixar's short-film initiative. The Last Campfire comes from Steve Burgess and Chris Symonds, the creators of 2008 WiiWare launch title LostWinds, who joined Hello Games a while back. It's an adventure game starring a character called Ember, who is searching for meaning and a way home, and it features the duo's floaty, adorable and richly detailed art style.

"In many ways I look back and realize Joe Danger was the Short that was a learning experience for No Man's Sky for us, and I still feel like No Man's Sky is a huge learning experience for what our next big thing turns out to be," Murray said.

Hello Games revealed The Last Campfire at The Game Awards -- a process that's worked out well for them in the past. The world first got a glimpse of No Man's Sky at the 2013 VGX Awards (the predecessor to The Game Awards), and it generated huge buzz from there, kicking off a cascade of events that eventually landed Murray on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

"Life was so hard during those [early] years though," Murray said. "We made so many mistakes, and with the success of No Man's Sky we are keen to help other developers and encourage new voices to build things we would be proud of."

There's no firm release date or platforms for The Last Campfire, but it does have a Steam page. Murray promises there's a lot more to talk about with the game, and it sounds like it won't be the last Hello Games Short.

"We want to allow talented folks to take risks on smaller projects they are passionate about," Murray said.
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December 07, 2018
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Steam, take note.

The Epic Games Store is live and it's not messing around. Epic threw it live during The Game Awards, where a handful of titles debuted as Epic Games Store exclusives. This comes just two days after announcing a digital marketplace with a significantly more profitable pricing model for developers than Steam.

Four games are available right now on the Epic Games Store: Fortnite (of course), Ashen, Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek, and Hades. That last title is the new project from Supergiant Games, and it's available in early access exclusively on the Epic Games Store.

On top of new games, it's now confirmed that acclaimed PlayStation exclusive Journey is heading to PC via the Epic Games Store, published by Annapurna Interactive. The store is also offering a free game every two weeks throughout 2019, starting with Subnautica from December 14th to 27th. After that, it's Super Meat Boy from December 28th to January 10th.

The Epic Games Store has a revenue split of 88/12 -- giving developers who sell a game 88 percent of the cash it generates. Steam, meanwhile, has a revenue split of 70/30, the longtime industry standard. It recently updated that policy, though, offering better cuts for games that make more than $10 million. Still, that can't compete with a flat rate of nearly 90 percent.

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December 07, 2018
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It took back its title Friday at the close of trading, from Apple, which had first surpassed its market cap eight years ago, when both companies were worth about $226 billion, according to FactSet.

Microsoft's market valuation was $851.2 billion at $110.89 per share at closing Friday, compared to Apple's valuation of $847.4 billion, at $178.58 per share.

Though Apple surpassed Microsoft in 2010, Exxon Mobil won the title of most valuable company that year. However, Apple has held the tile as the most valuable company from 2012 to 2017, CNBC reported.

Microsoft last held the top spot in 2002.
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December 01, 2018
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WASHINGTON: Amazon.com Inc said on Friday (Nov 30) that Apple Music will become available on its Echo smart speakers starting Dec 17, signaling increasing collaboration between the tech heavyweights.

Apple Music subscribers who own Echo devices will be able to listen to Apple Inc's library of 50 million songs, Amazon said in a blog post.

Earlier this month, Amazon said it would carry more Apple products globally in time for the holiday shopping season.

Amazon had said it would sell the latest editions of Apple's iPhone, iPad and other devices in the United States, Europe, Japan and India in coming weeks.

Apple also has a HomePod smart speaker, which uses the Siri voice assistant and competes against similar offerings from Amazon and Alphabet Inc's Google
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November 30, 2018
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The custom engine reportedly collects personal info and censors search results

A hot potato: After having an internal letter signed by 1,400 employees ignored, Google staff members took to the internet to publicly protest Project Dragonfly. The job is being carried out in cooperation with the Chinese government, which looks to censor internet searches and collect personally identifiable information. A new open letter demands the project's closure.

Back in August, we reported on Google’s Project Dragonfly — a censored search engine it is building for the Chinese government. The algorithms will exclude any website the communist state deems a threat. Anything pertaining to democracy, religion, human rights, protests, and more will be banned. For example, Wikipedia and the BBC’s website are already forbidden.

The project has stirred internal conflict within the company. Five employees have already quit in protest over the plan despite not knowing all of the details. Another 1,400 signed an internal letter demanding more information on the project, which was ignored.

On Tuesday, employees posted an open letter publicly on Medium demanding that the company cancel the project saying that it makes “Google complicit in oppression and human rights abuses.”

"Dragonfly would establish a dangerous precedent that would make it harder for Google to deny other countries similar concessions"

As of this writing, only about 250 staff members have signed on, but the letter claims that thousands of Google employees are against Project Dragonfly.

“We are among thousands of employees who have raised our voices for months. Our opposition to Dragonfly is not about China: we object to technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be. The Chinese government certainly isn’t alone in its readiness to stifle freedom of expression and to use surveillance to repress dissent. Dragonfly in China would establish a dangerous precedent at a volatile political moment, one that would make it harder for Google to deny other countries similar concessions.”

In October, US Vice President Mike Pence blasted Google over the project.

“[Google’s actions will] strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers,” the VP said in a speech to the Hudson Institute.

While Google has not had much to say on the project, it has been widely reported that the Chinese search engine would also be capable of capturing personal information such as phone numbers. One can only presume that the communist regime would use that data to identify and punish dissidents based on their search history. It may even be wishing to integrated the search engine into its plans for a social scoring system.

Google has yet to respond to the new letter.
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November 28, 2018
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Pushing the boundaries of mirrorless cameras

Why it matters: Mirrorless cameras are highly desirable due to their compact footprint compared to traditional DSLRs. Early efforts weren't all that impressive in the megapixel department although that's been changing here lately and Canon could really push the envelope with a 75-megapixel shooter.

Canon is reportedly developing an EOS R full-frame mirrorless camera that’ll boast a resolution of at least 75 megapixels.

Sources tell Canon Rumors that an exact announcement date hasn’t yet been decided but it could be revealed as early as mid-2019. Another source added that Canon won’t unveil the camera until at least four or five more native RF mount lenses are announced, one of which is said to be the best landscape lens in Canon’s line-up.

A report last week claimed Canon recently shared a roadmap in a marketing meeting highlighting three unreleased EOS R bodies and five RF lenses. All were slated to arrive before the second quarter of 2020.

Sources also said at the time that Canon has scrapped plans for at least one DSLR in favor of a mirrorless camera. Details weren’t provided although the publication speculates that the axed product could be in the EOS 5DS line.

Canon in September announced the EOS R, a 30.3-megapixel mirrorless shooter priced at $2,999 for the body only. It’s also sold as part of a kit with the RF 24-105mm f/4 IS lens for $3,399.
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November 28, 2018
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And that fall guy just happens to be someone who is already leaving the company. Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s outgoing head of communications and public policy, has stepped forward to take the blame for the Definers scandal–the last scandal Facebook could squeeze in before the Thanksgiving holidays.

The Definers scandal saw Facebook hire the Washington, D.C., opposition research firm of the same name to link anti-Facebook groups to the left-wing billionaire financier George Soros, who also happens to be Jewish, sparking accusations that Facebook was directly involved in anti-Semitism campaigns. Definers, under Facebook’s command, also reportedly tried to disperse criticism of rival Apple by seeding negative stories about the company to the press.

TechCrunch obtained an internal memo written by Schrage, who in June had previously announced his departure from the company in the wake of the Cambridge Analytic scandal. In the memo, Schrage says that he “knew and approved of the decision to hire Definers and similar firms. I should have known of the decision to expand their mandate . . . I regret my own failure here.”

The full memo is below, followed by an internal comment on the memo by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: Many of you have raised questions about our relationship with the Definers consulting firm. We’ve been looking into this and though it is close to a holiday for many of you I wanted to share an update on what we’ve learned and where things stand:

Why did we hire Definers?

We hired Definers in 2017 as part of our efforts to diversify our DC advisors after the election. Like many companies, we needed to broaden our outreach. We also faced growing pressure from competitors in tech, telcos and media companies that want government to regulate us.

This pressure became particularly acute in September 2017 after we released details of Russian interference on our service. We hired firms associated with both Republicans and Democrats — Definers was one of the Republican-affiliated firms.

What did we ask them to do and what did they do?

While we’re continuing to review our relationship with Definers, we know the following: We asked Definers to do what public relations firms typically do to support a company — sending us press clippings, conducting research, writing messaging documents, and reaching out to reporters.

Some of this work is being characterized as opposition research, but I believe it would be irresponsible and unprofessional for us not to understand the backgrounds and potential conflicts of interest of our critics. This work can be used internally to inform our messaging and where appropriate it can be shared with reporters. This work is also useful to help respond to unfair claims where Facebook has been singled out for criticism, and to positively distinguish us from competitors.

As the pressure on Facebook built throughout the year, the Communications team used Definers more and more. At Sheryl’s request, we’re going through all the work they did, but we have learned that as the engagement expanded, more people worked with them on more projects and the relationship was less centrally managed.

Did we ask them to do work on George Soros?

Yes. In January 2018, investor and philanthropist George Soros attacked Facebook in a speech at Davos, calling us a “menace to society.” We had not heard such criticism from him before and wanted to determine if he had any financial motivation. Definers researched this using public information.

Later, when the “Freedom from Facebook” campaign emerged as a so-called grassroots coalition, the team asked Definers to help understand the groups behind them. They learned that George Soros was funding several of the coalition members. They prepared documents and distributed these to the press to show that this was not simply a spontaneous grassroots movement.

Did we ask them to do work on our competitors?

Yes. As I indicated above, Definers helped us respond to unfair claims where Facebook was been [sic] singled out for criticism. They also helped positively distinguish us from competitors.

Did we ask them to distribute or create fake news?

No.

Who knew about this work, and who signed off on it?

Responsibility for these decisions rests with leadership of the Communications team. That’s me. Mark and Sheryl relied on me to manage this without controversy.

I knew and approved of the decision to hire Definers and similar firms. I should have known of the decision to expand their mandate. Over the past decade, I built a management system that relies on the teams to escalate issues if they are uncomfortable about any project, the value it will provide or the risks that it creates. That system failed here and I’m sorry I let you all down. I regret my own failure here.

Why have we stopped working with them?

Mark has asked us to reevaluate how we work with communications consultants. It’s not about Definers. It is about us, not them.

Mark has made clear that because Facebook is a mission driven company, he wants to hold us to a higher standard. He is uncomfortable relying on any outside firm to make decisions about how to make our case about our mission, policies, competitors and critics until he can become comfortable with our management, oversight and escalation.

Where are we now?

Many people across the company feel uncomfortable finding out about this work. Many people on the Communications team feel under attack from the press and even from their colleagues. I’m deeply disappointed that so much internal discussion and finger pointing has become public. This is a serious threat to our culture and ability to work together in difficult times.

Our culture has long been to move fast and take risks. Many times we have moved too quickly and we always learn and keep trying to do our best. This will be no exception.

What happens next?

Our legal team continues to review our work with Definers to understand what happened. Mark and Sheryl have also asked Nick Clegg to review all our work with communications consultants and propose principles and management processes to guide the team’s work going forward. We all want to ensure that we, our advisors and consultants better reflect Facebook’s values and culture.

And here’s Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s written reply:

Comment on the Memo from Sheryl Sandberg

Thank you for sharing this, Elliot.

I want to be clear that I oversee our Comms team and take full responsibility for their work and the PR firms who work with us. I truly believe we have a world class Comms team and I want to acknowledge the enormous pressure the team has faced over the past year.

When I read the story in New York Times last week, I didn’t remember a firm called Definers. I asked our team to look into the work Definers did for us and to double-check whether anything had crossed my desk. Some of their work was incorporated into materials presented to me and I received a small number of emails where Definers was referenced.

I also want to emphasize that it was never anyone’s intention to play into an anti-Semitic narrative against Mr. Soros or anyone else. Being Jewish is a core part of who I am and our company stands firmly against hate. The idea that our work has been interpreted as anti-Semitic is abhorrent to me — and deeply personal.

I know this has been a distraction at a time when you’re all working hard to close out the year — and I am sorry. As I said at the All Hands, I believe so deeply in the work we do and feel so grateful to all of you for doing so much every day. Thanksgiving seems like the right time to say a big thank you once again.
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November 22, 2018
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Microsoft is blocking the latest Windows 10 update for affected users.

The return of Windows 10's October update wasn't welcome news for everyone. Microsoft says it's "working with Apple" to solve an iCloud for Windows bug that creates problems updating or syncing shared photo albums when using the latest Windows release. Suffice it to say that's a serious problem if you're interested in seamless access to your photos across your devices.

It's not certain when you can expect a solution, but the two companies aren't taking any chances in the meantime. It's blocking PCs with iCloud for Windows from installing the latest Windows 10 update, and those who try to install it after the fact will get a warning that Windows doesn't support that version of iCloud. Like it or not, you may have to forego iCloud or the Windows update for a while.
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November 19, 2018

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