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Instagram experiments with disappearing text messages

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Instagram has been experimenting with disappearing messages for a quite a while now. Back in 2018, for instance, it rolled out a feature that lets you control how a recipient can view a photo or a video from the Instagram Direct camera. You can decide whether to allow them to view it only once, to give them the capability to replay it for a period of time or to leave a permanent thumbnail of it in your chat box.

If this particular feature ships in the form Wong unearthed, then you’ll find yourself in a dark mode messaging window when you start an Instagram Direct conversation. The window clears up after participants exit it, and there’s no way to reread what you wrote in the past — a thread always appears empty when you reopen the chat box.

Here’s a demo of its current version:

In response to that tweet, Instagram said: “We’re always exploring new features to improve your messaging experience. This feature is still in early development and not testing externally just yet!”



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YouTube follows Netflix by reducing video stream quality in Europe

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Most countries in Europe have introduced confinement measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. That means folks working at home or kids taking classes via teleconferencing will be using bandwidth-hungry services like Skype or Zoom. As such, EU industry czar Thierry Breton has asked streaming platforms to reduce video quality in order to keep the internet running smoothly. Breton personally spoke to both Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, according to Reuters.

Yesterday, Netflix became the first major streaming platform to reduce video stream bitrates. Over the next 30 days, it has promised to reduce its footprint by around 25 percent by “reducing bit rates across all our streams in Europe,” the company told Engadget.

Meanwhile, France has asked Disney to delay the launch of Disney+ to ease infrastructure loads, possibly because kids stuck at home might binge on that content. In the UK, operator BT noted that many more folks are working from home due to the pandemic, so daytime traffic has increased up to 60 percent. However, it’s still “only around half the average evening peak, and nowhere near the 17.5 Tb/s we have proved the network can handle,” the company wrote.

YouTube has also launched a dedicated hub on its home page to promote “authoritative content” to users. ” We want everyone to have access to authoritative content during this trying time,” it tweeted.

Conspiracy theories and fearmongering are dangerous at any time, but during a pandemic, they can be fatal. Multiple coronavirus hoax videos have already gone viral, including one calling the virus a Chinese bioweapon and another stating that 5G radiation somehow caused the pandemic. YouTube’s effort is part of a promise made by multiple tech giants, including Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, to quash misinformation and promote credible content during the pandemic.

So far in France, I’ve yet to see the reduced video speeds or the hub, but I expect they should come along soon. You should be able to see the dedicated hub in the US by now, though.



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GameStop tells employee it’s ‘essential’ and can stay open during lockdowns

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In a memo the company sent, it explained that it believes it’s an essential business since the products it carries “enable and enhance [its] customers’ experience in working from home.” The memo even includes instructions on what to do in case law enforcement officers attempt to enforce closure. It told store managers to hand officers a flyer with a number for GameStop’s corporate office. The flyer reads:

“Thank you for what you are doing to keep us all safe. If you have questions about our store’s hours, operations or policies could I ask you to please call our corporate office:

GameStop Corporate Office
844-993-3145

Thank you for understanding.”

Whether the tactic will actually work — and whether employees will actually comply and defy authorities for their employer — remains to be seen. GameStop released Doom Eternal a day early as a safety precaution, seeing as it was supposed to be released on the same day as Animal Crossing: New Horizons. However, Kotaku says employees are worried, because it’s taken “little to no measures” to prevent further outbreak.

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Uber’s former self-driving lead pleads guilty to stealing from Google

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After about three years of legal wrangling between Uber and Waymo over self-driving car tech, the engineer at the center of it has agreed to plead guilty to one count of stealing materials from Google. Anthony Levandowski was a lead engineer on the self-driving car project that’s now known as Waymo, until he left to form his own company, Otto, which Uber then acquired.

Reuters reports that the agreement will see all the other criminal charges go away while he admits to taking a file that tracked Google’s goals for its self-driving car project. A court already ruled that Levandowski owes Google $179 million for violating his contract, and he has declared bankruptcy. Prosecutors said they will recommend a sentence of fewer than 30 months.

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GDC could return to San Francisco as a 3-day event in August

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In addition, attendees may see exhibitors they’ve never seen at a GDC event before, since the organizers are giving organizations the chance to apply for space onsite. Those who do can hold meetings and meet-ups alongside the main event.

GDC Summer is scheduled to take place from August 4th through 6th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Whether it actually pushes through or not depends on the situation, though: The GDC organizers promise to continue monitoring the situation surrounding the coronavirus outbreak “to ensure a safe and compelling event for everyone.”

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Facebook finally lets desktop users opt-in to dark mode

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This has been in the works for a long time. Facebook first promised a cleaner and faster desktop interface at its F8 developers conference last spring. A limited number of users began testing the revamped design in January.

If you use Facebook’s desktop version, you’ll likely see a banner at the top of the page, asking if you want to try the “New Facebook.” For now, you can still switch back to “Classic Facebook” if you choose, but the redesign will become the default later this year.

Other changes include centralized tabs for Facebook Watch, Marketplace, Groups and Gaming. Even if users don’t like all aspects of the redesigned interface, dark mode will likely be popular. It’s already available in a number of Facebook-owned apps, including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. Plus, there’s a good chance users are looking at their screens even more during the coronavirus pandemic, and this could help reduce some eyestrain.

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Snapchat adds mental health tools to ease coronavirus anxiety

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With the new feature, Snapchat users can find mental health resources in the app when they search for terms like “anxiety,” “stress,” “depression,” or “bullying.” Search results turn up videos from organizations, such as Crisis Text Line or the Ad Council.

Besides these previously-planned updates, Snap says it’s working on a section of “Here For You,” that’s specifically meant to deal with coronavirus-related anxiety, which will highlight information from health organizations like the CDC and World Health Organization. The feature should begin rolling out to the app next week, according to the company.

Snap has previously offered other coronavirus-related updates to its users. The company has been covering the pandemic in its daily news show Good Luck America and the app has regularly featured geofilters encouraging hand washing and social distancing.

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NASCAR is replacing canceled races with esports featuring pro drivers

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Familiar Fox broadcasters like Jeff Gordon will commentate on the 90-minute race programs. And before you’re wondering: no, this isn’t another giant opportunity for the novel coronavirus to spread. Fox said it was “following CDC guidelines” to make sure the production is safe.

The first event takes place on March 22nd at 1:30PM Eastern on FS1 and the Fox Sports app.

There’s no doubt that the virtual series was born out of desperation. It might, however, serve as a crash course on esports for millions of people. Many in the general public are only vaguely familiar with competitive gaming at best. A smooth race could do much to inform people about virtual motorsports, even if only a fraction of viewers keep watching once conventional NASCAR returns.

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Tesla suspends work at Fremont plant, will comply with shelter in place order

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The Alameda County had initially deemed Tesla’s 10,000-employee plant an essential business, allowing it to stay open and fully staffed despite the shelter in place order, but quickly reversed that decision when challenged by reporters.

“We have followed and are continuing to follow all legal directions and safety guidelines with respect to the operations of our facilities, and have honored the Federal Government’s direction to continue operating,” the company stated in a Thursday press release. “Despite taking all known health precautions, continued operations in certain locations has caused challenges for our employees, their families and our suppliers.”

The company will wind down its production lines through the rest of the week and plans to cease work by the end of the day, March 23rd. The shelter in place order does allow for basic operations like security, payroll processing to continue so workers sent home will retain their employee benefits. Tesla is also suspending operations at its factory in New York, though the company will keep its Nevada plant and Supercharging network online for now.

Tesla is also working on a “touchess delivery” program so that customers might still be able to take possession of their already completed vehicles without breaking social distancing rules. “Due to the unique over-the-air connectivity of our vehicles, customers are able to unlock their new cars at a delivery parking lot via the Tesla App, sign any remaining relevant paperwork that has been placed in their car, and return that paperwork to an on-site drop-off location prior to leaving,” the company announced.

We’ve reached out to Tesla for commend and will update this post once we hear back.

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Essential designer shows off the phones that might’ve been

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Essential PH-2

In a post he has since locked, Kevin Hoffman, a former employee who says he was the lead designer on two successor devices, the PH-2 and PH-3, shared images of the phones and detailed their backstories.

Let’s start with the PH-2. It appears it would have featured the same basic design as the original Essential Phone. We see that in the prototype’s dual-camera array, magnetic pins and rear-facing capacitive fingerprint sensor. The Essential Phone’s signature display cutout is also there. You can see some tweaks in the rounded edges of the phone and the matte finish on the back of the device. Had the PH-2 gone into production, Hoffman says it would have featured IP68-certified waterproofing, addressing one of the main shortcomings of its predecessor.

Essential PH-2

Hoffman notes Essential cancelled the PH-2 during what’s called engineering validation testing, suggesting the device was almost ready for release. The decision reportedly came directly from Andy Rubin, who wanted the company to focus on its then-upcoming Essential Home lineup. The irony here is that Essential never released those devices either.

Of the two devices, the Essential PH-3 (pictured below) is the more interesting one. The company was working on the handset as recently as early this year. It appears one of Essential’s goals with the PH-3 was to cut costs since Hoffman mentions the design was constrained by low build material costs and the fact his team had to use an existing OLED display.

Essential PH-3

Hoffman also shared images of the company’s Project Gem smartphone (pictured at the start). The one tidbit we learn here is that, with the help of Gorilla Glass maker Corning, Essential developed a way to manufacture a molded 3D glass unibody.

It’s hard to say whether any of the above devices would have reversed Essential’s fortunes, but it’s certainly interesting to see what the company was working on before it closed.

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