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Lincoln cancels its Rivian-based EV due to COVID-19

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to another car cancellation: Lincoln’s Rivian-based electric SUV. After a report in Automotive News, Lincoln has confirmed to Autoblog that the EV has been scrapped due to the “current environment.” The pandemic, in other words. The two are sticking to their overall commitment and an “alternative vehicle” based on Rivian’s platform, but that initial project is no more.

Lincoln also said it planned to make an EV “consistent with its Quiet Flight DNA,” but didn’t share more details. It wouldn’t be surprising if the brand based a vehicle on parent company Ford’s Mustang Mach-E or the electric F-150, but it’s clearly too soon to know where Lincoln is going.

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Ford delays self-driving taxis to 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic is creating many problems for the car industry, and that extends to Ford’s self-driving taxis. While discussing its quarterly earnings, the company revealed that its autonomous vehicle services have been delayed from 2021 to 2022. In a statement to TechCrunch, it said it needed to “evaluate” the effect of COVID-19 on customer behavior and potentially change its strategy. It also wanted to offer future users “peace of mind” knowing that they and their packages would be safe.

Ford COO Jim Farley warned during the earnings call that the pandemic could influence society for “many years to come,” with people seeking out more ways to avoid unnecessary human contact. Chief executive Jim Hackett cited what happened in China as an example, noting that a third of car sales moved online as a result of the pandemic. Fundamental changes like these could spur adoption of driverless taxis and couriers, but could also require adjustments to everything from capacity to the involvement of humans.

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Streaming-only movies will be eligible for awards at the 2021 Oscars

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is easing up on its opposition to streaming movies, however temporarily. Its board of governors has approved a rule change that will make digital-only movies eligible to win Oscars, but just for the current awards year. There’s no mystery as to why. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing theaters in Los Angeles (and much of the world) to close, the Academy can’t insist that movies show on big screens for a week before they qualify.

Don’t expect this to change minds, however. Academy leaders Dawn Hudson and David Rubin maintained that there was “no greater way” to experience movies than at a theater, and that this was meant to support “members and colleagues during this time of uncertainty.” When it’s safe to resume theater screenings, the Academy will allow movies that exhibit in cities beyond LA, including Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Google saw huge jumps in search usage and app downloads in March

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Android users are also hitting their phones hard. Pichai said that people are spending significantly more time in apps, and Google Play Store app downloads in March were 30 percent higher than February. Overall, Google has over 2.5 billion monthly active Google Play devices. But, the company saw a decline in device activations this quarter due to global consumer demand dropping.

One place where Google saw device interest soar was in the Chromebook segment; Pichai said that analysts saw a 400 percent increase in Chromebook demand the week of March 21st compared to the prior year. Similarly, Google said that 100 million students and educations used its Classroom education tools, double what it saw at the beginning of March.

As for how this all affected Google’s bottom line, the company still increased revenue 13 percent year-over-year to $41.2 billion, largely on the ongoing strength of its Search, YouTube and Cloud businesses. As for what happens next quarter, Google’s CFO Ruth Porat said it was going to be a difficult quarter for the advertising business, which remains the company’s biggest revenue driver by a big margin. Of course, it’ll likely depend on how the pandemic plays out over the next few months.

We’ll be updating this post with any other information we hear from Google’s quarterly earnings call with investors.

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Utah pauses Banjo’s AI surveillance after learning of owner’s racist past

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Utah is putting its AI surveillance system on ice after learning of its creator’s background. The state has suspended (via Salt Lake Tribune) Banjo’s contract after learning from a OneZero report that company head Damien was part of the Dixie Knights of the Ku Klux Klan as a teenager and joined the racist group’s leader in an anti-Semitic drive-by shooting. While Patton has expressed remorse for his past, according to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, officials were concerned enough that they felt it was safer to put an advisory committee and independent audit in place to tackle concerns like privacy and “possible bias.”

Banjo’s deal with Utah lets it combine data from city infrastructure (such as public cameras and 911) with internet content to spot “anomalies,” theoretically detecting some crimes as they happen. The firm is supposed to strip all personal data from the system, but the methods and effectiveness aren’t clear. There’s also the matter of AI bias. Facial recognition systems sometimes have gender and race biases that lead to false matches — a particular problem when it could lead to wrongful arrests and confrontations.

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‘Total War: Shogun 2’ is free on Steam until May 1st

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To help people get through the coronavirus pandemic, Sega has decided to give away free copies of Total War: Shogun 2 until May 1st. While it’s almost a decade old at this point, Shogun 2 is widely considered one of the best entries in Creative Assembly’s Total War series. If you’re new to the franchise, it combines top-down empire management with thrilling real-time army battles involving hundreds of individual soldiers — imagine if Civilization and StarCraft had a baby and you’re most of the way there. Shogun 2 is an excellent introduction to the series since it’s also less complicated than some of its siblings. Just be warned you could end up spending hundreds of hours playing the game.

“The past few weeks have presented unimaginable challenges for many of us, but the remarkable collective effort being made by the global community to overcome this moment of adversity has been truly inspirational,” the studio wrote on its blog. “With this in mind, we want to continue to encourage you all to stay home and save lives by extending a gift to everyone to help make this difficult situation a little bit easier.”

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Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 testing sites across the US

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As hinted earlier, Apple has started displaying COVID-19 testing sites in Maps. People in all 50 states and Puerto Rico can use Apple’s default navigation app to quickly find a place to get checked, whether it’s a hospital, urgent care clinic, pharmacy or dedicated testing site. The facilities also fall under a new “COVID-19 Testing” search category that’s prioritized alongside other essentials like groceries and healthcare.

The listings should include details on what you’ll need to know before going in, such as any requirements for appointments or referrals.

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Anchor converts your video calls into podcasts

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Spotify’s Anchor app is adding yet more functionality to help make producing podcasts more accessible. Starting today, you can use the platform to convert your Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, FaceTime, Twitch and Instagram Live video calls into podcast material.

To use the feature, you’ll first need to upload a recording of your conversation to Anchor’s website. Once the file is online, Anchor will automatically add the resulting audio clip to your library and episode builder. From there, you can edit and trim the segment as needed, as well as add background music, sound effects and other voice recordings to build out an episode. 

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Watch a “potentially hazardous asteroid” fly by Earth tonight

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An asteroid will hit Earth — it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” Fortunately, the space rock known as 1998 OR2 won’t be crashing your quarantine party, but it’s still considered a potentially hazardous object since it will come within four million miles of Earth. Armchair astronomers can watch a livestream of the asteroid’s approach tonight at 7 PM ET. Hosted by Slooh, a web-based telescope service, astronomy experts will be available on Zoom to answer questions from members, while viewers can watch the flyby on YouTube for free.

1998 OR2 will come closest to the Earth tomorrow at 5:56 AM ET, and will be only 3.9 million miles away from the planet. To put that into perspective, that’s about 16 times as far away as the Moon. That may sound like a vast distance, but on a cosmic scale, it’s a pretty close call. Tuning into the livestream could be a fun way to stare death in the face, even if death is millions of miles away.

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Valorant’s ranked mode will go live once its new patch is stable

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The patch includes a number of bug fixes, including for Phoenix’s Run It Back ultimate ability and spike placement. There are a couple of balance changes for Omen’s ultimate, along with some map, observer, UI and quality of life updates. From tomorrow, for instance, you’ll be able to leave a custom match for good without any penalties.

On the other hand, those who drop out standard matchmaking games before they’re complete or “dodge agent selects” will won’t able to queue for another game for a while. The more often they abandon games, the longer they’ll have to wait to join another. It’s a welcome update, and should cut down on people ruining matches for everyone else by leaving early. The update is mainly about competitive mode, however, which truly lays the groundwork for Valorant’s esports future.



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