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Walmart+ is the retailer’s latest attempt to take on Amazon Prime

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At first, Walmart+ won’t be much more than a rebranded version of the company’s existing Delivery Unlimited service, in which customers pay $98 per year for unlimited same-day grocery deliveries from participating stores. (That price, by the way, isn’t set in stone — Walmart may test the service at different price points.) If that doesn’t sound like much of an Amazon Prime competitor, you’d be right. The long-term plan, Recode says, is to eventually sweeten the deal with additional perks like discounts on fuel and prescription medications, and to possibly even allow shoppers to purchase items in-store without having to swing through a cashier lane.

Unfortunately for Walmart, there’s little to suggest that these perks will be folded into Walmart+ in the short term — the testing process is meant in part to help determine what sort of perks people will respond to. For now, at least, it’s unclear whether this retail giant will find the immediate edge it needs to thrive in the age of Amazon.

One thing is clear, however: Walmart needs whatever advantage it can build for itself. Amazon has long since surpassed Walmart to become the world’s largest retailer by market value, and research firm Packaged Facts projects Amazon will overtake Walmart as the largest retailer in the United States by 2022. And in its most recent earnings release, Walmart reported sagging comparable-store sales growth and operating income compared to the previous quarter — the only real standout in that release was a big boost in e-commerce sales thanks largely to online grocery sales for in-store pickup and delivery. No wonder its Prime competitor is focused so heavily on groceries right now — if Walmart can nail the rest of its perks, Amazon may find itself facing surprisingly stiff competition.

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Facebook cancels F8 developer conference over coronavirus concerns

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Of course, Facebook is hardly the first to make such a move. MWC, which takes place in Barcelona at the end of February, was cancelled after multiple high-profile companies pulled out. Similarly, many companies are deciding to pass up on exhibiting at the GDC conference in San Francisco next month — Sony, Facebook and Microsoft have all decided not to participate.

At this point, it’s fair to wonder if some of the spring’s other marquee tech events, like Microsoft Build and Google I/O, will be happening. These cancellations we’ve seen thus far this year highlight how the global health community doesn’t quite have a handle on the coronavirus spread, something that’s probably making participants and organizers alike reluctant to take part in events like F8.

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Peloton settles music licensing lawsuit over its exercise videos

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Peloton didn’t detail the terms of the settlement, but it sounds like it’s in a position to avoid any future licensing issues with what it’s calling a joint collaboration agreement. “We are pleased the music publishers and their songwriter partners in this case have reached a settlement with Peloton that compensates creators properly and sets forth the environment for a positive relationship going forward,” said NMPA president and CEO David Israelite.

Peloton likely had little choice but to settle after a federal judge tossed its countersuit in January. The company had tried to argue the NMPA’s licensing fees were so high as to violate antitrust laws. It also alleged the association had attempted to sabotage its negotiations with individual publishers. When it stopped playing the songs included in the suit, the episode caused discontent among the company’s customers, with many complaining of worse playlists during classes.

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IKEA’s new vegetarian meatballs will taste more like meat

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According to The Verge, the updated veggie meatballs will be made out of apples, oats, peas and potatoes. They’ll be available both as an in-restaurant meal and a frozen package to make at home. IKEA hopes that the new taste will be more attractive to meat eaters, and help them make the transition to a more plant-based diet.

Meat production has a major impact on the environment — the resources to support livestock, the waste animals emit and the pollution caused by shipping meat around the world are all major contributors to climate change. The UN has even called for society to eat less meat in order to curb global warming, especially as the world’s population increases. IKEA hopes that its new plant-based meatballs will help the company become carbon positive by 2030 and help customers have a smaller impact on the planet.

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Altice One brings its cable lineup to Apple TV

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On Apple TV 4K, Altice One customers will still have access to streaming live TV, On Demand, DVR recordings and the program guide. They’ll also have the option to select an Apple TV 4K as part of their Altice cable package. Customers who choose this option will receive one year of Apple TV+ for free.

It’s been several years since Altice, a French company, bought CableVision, making it the fourth largest cable operator in the US. More recently, Altice has introduced an Alexa-enabled smart speaker, the Amplify, which comes with Amazon Prime Video. It’s also added a $20 mobile plan, which anyone even people who aren’t Optimum or Suddenlink subscribers, can sign up for.

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Samsung is already working to fix the Galaxy S20 cameras

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Samsung didn’t say what the problems were, exactly, but the Galaxy S20 Ultra indeed has a very advanced camera with a 108-megapixel sensor. It also packs a phase-detect system that’s supposed to make autofocus (AF) quicker and more accurate. However, reviewers have found that it’s slow and in some cases inaccurate, yielding out-of-focus photos. Video is also affected as the system attempts to hunt for focus, causing a wobble in the image. Samsung’s image processing is also reportedly too aggressive, causing excessive smoothing in skin tones.

The Galaxy S20 and S20+ don’t have the same focusing issues as they use a different type of phase-detect system that packs more AF pixels onto the sensor. However, the S20 Ultra is supposed to have the best camera system of the three phones, so it’s surprising that Samsung still hasn’t nailed down the AF and noise reduction algorithms. The company hasn’t said when the fixes will be coming, but the smartphone is due to arrive on March 6th. Engadget’s review is also due shortly, so we’ll have more info on how it’s working right now.

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Judges rule that YouTube isn’t bound by the First Amendment

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Prager argued that since Google runs YouTube as a public forum, it should be subject to First Amendment scrutiny. However, a US District Court judge disagreed and tossed his lawsuit. The three judges who oversaw the appeal clearly share the first judge’s opinion, writing in their decision:

“Despite YouTube’s ubiquity and its role as a public-facing platform, it remains a private forum, not a public forum subject to judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment… PragerU’s claim that YouTube censored PragerU’s speech faces a formidable threshold hurdle: YouTube is a private entity. The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government — not a private party — from abridging speech.”

In short, internet platforms like YouTube can regulate the content their users post using their own rules without having to worry about running afoul of the First Amendment. Prager’s camp isn’t backing down, though: his attorney said they will “continue to pursue PragerU’s claims of overt discrimination on YouTube in the state court case under California’s heightened antidiscrimination, free-speech and consumer-contract law.”

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Google’s latest VR app lets you gaze at prehistoric paintings

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Chauvet: Meet the Ancestors contains 54 curated exhibits with over 350 digitized assets. These include 3D models of the iconic The Horses Fresco painting and a bear skull that was left behind by some of the cave’s inhabitants. In addition, Google has created a 10-minute VR experience called Chauvet: The Dawn of Art for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. The free app has 12 explorable ‘stations’ that cover the surroundings of the cave and some of the site’s most famous paintings. It’s narrated by actors Daisy Ridley (English version) and Cécile de France (French version), and features expert commentary from some of the cave’s scientific team.

If you don’t have a VR headset, don’t worry: Google is also releasing a non-interactive video version on YouTube. In addition, the Google Arts & Culture app will have an augmented reality ‘Pocket Gallery’ that lets you look around a life-size model of the site. Google Search ‘Chauvet Cave,’ meanwhile, and you will find an informative card that has a ‘View in 3D’ button. Click or tap it and Google will open a 3D model of the cave that can be spun around and zoomed into. Like the Pocket Gallery, you can also view this digitised version through your phone in augmented reality.

Chauvet

The cave render shown in the Pocket Gallery

It’s not the first time that Google has used AR and VR to support its broader Arts & Culture work. Last September, for instance, the company used photogrammetry to create a virtual reality tour of the Château de Versailles in France. On the AR side, Google has made an app about the Big Bang and a special Pocket Gallery that included colour-themed art from 33 partner institutions. If you haven’t checked out Google’s Arts & Culture platform in a while, consider revisiting — the website and native app are consistently updated with educational, interactive and reliably accurate material.

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The $35 Raspberry Pi 4 now comes with double the RAM

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The Pi 4 2GB cost $45 at launch. Compared to the original, though, it has eight times the memory, 10 times the I/O bandwidth, four times the number of pixels on screen and dual-band wireless networking. As the company notes, thanks to inflation, $35 in 2012 is equivalent to nearly $40 today. So effectively you’re getting all these improvements, and a $5 price cut. This is a permanent price cut, with the 1GB version remaining at $35, so opting for the larger memory variant is pretty much a no brainer.

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FCC begins collecting data to help carriers replace Huawei and ZTE hardware

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The agency is gathering data from the carriers to help it design a feasible reimbursement program and figure out if it needs to anything else to ensure a smooth transition. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Huawei’s and ZTE’s designations as national security threats may become final this spring. That’s why the agency is “moving forward quickly to identify where equipment and services from these suppliers are embedded in [the country’s] communications networks and, where they do have a foothold, to be in a position to help remove them.”

In addition to asking carriers if they’re using equipment or services from the Chinese tech giants, the FCC also wants to know what type of equipment or services they are, as well as the costs associated with purchasing, installing and replacing them. The carriers have to submit the information the FCC requests on or before April 22nd.

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