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YouTube now takes full advantage of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip

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If you splurged on a Galaxy Z Flip, you’ll be glad to hear that it’s now a better video viewing machine. Google is rolling out an updated YouTube app for Android that supports the foldable smartphone’s Flex mode. Prop up the Z Flip’s top half and you can watch clips hands-free, with comments and other features pushed to the bottom so they won’t interrupt your experience. Square and vertical videos will fill much of the screen, too.

Samsung is keen to stress hat the app was redesigned “from the operating system level” to make this happen, including a tie-in with the Android Support Library.

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A Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ series is coming from a ‘Russian Doll’ co-creator

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Disney+ appears to have more Star Wars shows lined up beyond a Rogue One prequel and the Obi Wan Kenobi series. Variety sources say the service is lining up a new series from Leslye Headland, the co-creator and showrunner of Netflix’s Russian Doll. The plot is still a mystery, but it’s reportedly a “female-centric” series that isn’t attached to the timelines of other Star Wars productions. Don’t expect Skywalker saga or Mandalorian tie-ins, then.

It’s not certain when the show would premiere. The project is still staffing up, the sources said. Headland would both serve as the showrunner and a writer.

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Twitter targets conspiracy theories linking 5G and coronavirus

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Conspiracy theories about 5G technology have become particularly problematic during the coronavirus pandemic. There have been 50 fires “targeting cell towers and other equipment,” in the Uk during the past month, according to the Associated Press. The conspiracy theories have been linked to anti-vaccine groups and Russian state media.

Twitter’s latest update is an expansion of the site’s previous rules around unverified info that can incite panic or social unrest, such as claims of food shortages that encourage panic-buying. Since then, the company says it’s removed more than 2,230 tweets with “misleading and potentially harmful content.”



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Verizon extends 15GB of additional mobile data through May

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Verizon (Engadget’s parent company) will keep offering additional mobile data for a while longer to help people deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier is adding another 15GB of LTE data to regular and small business shared data plans, including hotspots, for the entire month of May. You won’t have to do a thing — it’ll be applied automatically.

As before, this is ultimately part of a broader push by US carriers to keep people online while they’re staying at home, whether it’s for work or to catch up on TV shows. The May extension suggests that Verizon doesn’t expect lockdowns to lift quickly, and that it would rather hand out automatic extensions than face an uproar if stay-at-home measures continue significantly longer.

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Google’s data centers will process some tasks when clean energy is abundant

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The system works by comparing two different forecasts each day. The first one predicts the average carbon output the local electrical grid the data center pulls from will produce every hour. The other one estimates how much electricity the data center’s computers will need to complete their tasks over the same period. Using both projections, the system tries to align certain tasks to times when there’s a significant supply of low-carbon energy. So it may, for instance, defer some tasks to the afternoon when there’s typically an abundance of solar energy. Some of the things Google is currently shuffling to different times of day include YouTube video processing and adding new words to Translate.

At the moment, the system works at a local level, but in the future, Google says it may allow it to move tasks between different data centers to further take advantage of locally available clean energy. Like most tech companies, Google has had something of a mixed record when it comes to climate change. Since 2017, the company has used solar and wind power to offset all of its operational energy use. However, a Guardian report last year found the company had made “substantial” political contributions to individuals and organizations that had denied climate change.

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Bird adds a ‘Warm Up Mode’ for gentler acceleration

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Scooter safety will still be a problem when it’s clear to start travelling again, and Bird thinks it can help assuage newcomers to its sharing service when people return to the streets. It’s piloting a Warm Up Mode feature that accelerates the e-scooter more gently than usual — you won’t risk flying off because you’re unused to that quick-off-the-line performance. You can learn to ride more at your own pace.

The test will be available in “select cities” around the US and Europe in the weeks ahead. Bird hasn’t said what happens after that, but any further rollouts will clearly be dependent on how the pandemic develops.

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Skype takes on Zoom with custom backgrounds for video calls

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Whether you’re using Zoom, Houseparty, Group FaceTime or another app, many of us are hopping into video calls much more often in the current climate. You might have any number of reasons for choosing one of these apps over another, and Skype may be hoping to draw people in by taking a leaf out of Zoom’s playbook.

You can now add custom backgrounds to your desktop calls in the latest version of Skype on Windows, Mac, Linux and the web. Head over to the Audio & Video settings and you can make it seem as though you’re dialing in from the likes of Pride Rock or the Iron Throne instead of your couch — even if you don’t have a green screen.



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YouTube Originals launches a star-studded slate of COVID-19 content

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The first of the new Originals, Money Talks: Taxes, is already available. It features financial experts answering questions about filing taxes and the COVID-19 stimulus check. Premiering later this month, the weekly series Stay Home With: Yungblud will follow the UK musician trying to shoot a music video and write new songs from an LA apartment where he’s quarantining with his manager, videographer and two bandmates. There’s also a global dance competition, #MoveWithMe, scheduled for April 29th.

Beginning May 7th, the series Celebrity Substitutes will invite celebs like Karlie Kloss, Bill Nye, Camila Mendes, Janelle Monáe and Terry Crews to teach high school students lessons on topics like biology and coding. YouTube says it’s working on more Originals content for kids and families, which will be available on YouTube and YouTube Kids beginning in May. The full slate of originals can be found here.

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Israel stops using phone tracking to enforce COVID-19 quarantines

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Israel’s use of phone tracking technology to track COVID-19 patients has come to a partial end. A parliamentary oversight committee has halted use of the tracking to enforce quarantines after raising privacy concerns. The privacy violations outweigh the benefits, committee member Ayalet Shaked said — the phone monitoring tech doesn’t help much when police already pay visits to COVID-19 patients to ensure they’re following the rules.

Police have so far argued that the tool is effective, having arrested 203 people with the help of phone location info. Law enforcement conducted about 500 random location checks per day.



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Call of Duty: Mobile’s $1 million esports tournament starts April 30th

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To keep things on a level playing field, players won’t be able to use any external input devices such as a controller or mouse and keyboard (unless officials grant an exemption), or run the game on a desktop emulator. This is almost exclusively a touchscreen tournament. 

Activision will reveal more details about prize money and the format for the second stage of the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship tournament in the coming weeks. All eligible players will earn in-game rewards for registering and playing each weekend.

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