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The filters build on the effects from Lenses like Baby and Time Machine. Yes, you’ll probably only use them sparingly — say, to portray a place as a literal hellscape. They do show how advanced phone-based augmented reality has become, though. They also give Snapchat something else it can lord over Instagram, at least until its social media rival decides to counter the feature.
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If you’ve stayed at an MGM Resorts hotel, you may be among victims of the latest massive data breach. The personal details of more than 10.6 million hotel guests were recently posted on a hacking forum, and ZDNet has confirmed the data’s authenticity. ZDNet said the data dump contains affected guests’ full names, home addresses, phone numbers, emails and dates of birth. Names and information in the breach include tech CEOs, celebrities, government officials and reporters.
In a statement, MGM Resorts said it already notified affected customers about the breach last year, and that it commissioned two cybersecurity forensics firms to investigate the incident. While guests who only stayed at the resort more recently may not have had their information included, it’s unclear which years were covered.
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Last week Samsung announced and almost immediately released its foldable Galaxy Z Flip, but only in “limited” quantities that dried up almost as soon as they appeared, unless you spot one in a store somewhere. Now Samsung says that tomorrow, on February 21st it will make more of the $1,380 devices available online, coincidentally around the same time pre-orders will begin for its flagship lineup of phones that includes higher specs and 5G across the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra.
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The US, on the other hand, recently enacted the CLOUD Act (PDF). And based on how it works, it might make it easier for foreign authorities (like British law enforcement) to compel US-based companies to hand over data for investigations. Google is based in Ireland in the EU, along with many other tech companies like Facebook. Reuters says the tech giant decided to move British users out of Irish jurisdiction, because it remains unclear if Britain intends to adopt the GDPR following its exit from the European Union.
We’ve asked Google for a statement and a confirmation. If Reuters‘ report is true, though, then users in the UK will be required to acknowledge Google’s new terms of service, along with the new jurisdiction in the near future.
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Starting off with the entry-level Vive Cosmos Play, eagle-eyed readers may already notice that this is the same design as the Cosmos in its teaser form back at CES 2019. Rather than packing six tracking cameras, the Cosmos Play only comes with four, so chances are there will be a slight drop in tracking performance. That said, HTC insists that this is still great for the likes of Viveport Video and Angry Birds VR. Another trade-off here is the lack of built-in headphones, but you can always just plug your own ones in.
Fortunately, you still get the same 2,880 x 1,700 LCD with a 110-degree field-of-view and 90Hz refresh rate, making it “the best VR display I’ve ever seen,” according to our very own Devindra Hardawar. Likewise, the headset has kept the flip-up visor, which is particularly handy for those who are trying VR for the first time. This is why the Cosmos Play is aimed at the likes of education, art and museum environments. It’s also worth mentioning that you’ll still be able to add the Vive Wireless Adapter to any of the headsets across the Cosmos family, though the target audience for the Cosmos Play may not go this far.
Sadly, there’s no word on pricing nor date just yet, but here’s hoping the bundle — with two Cosmos controllers included — will cost somewhat closer to the $400 price point offered by HTC’s main rival.
Next, we have the Vive Cosmos Elite, which is clearly made with gamers in mind. Rather than using the Cosmos’ inside-out tracking, the Elite’s headset comes preinstalled with an External Tracking Faceplate (the same one HTC teased back in September) that can be paired with both generations of SteamVR base stations for higher precision. The Elite bundle includes two 1.0 base stations along with a pair of Vive controllers plus built-in headphones, and it’ll cost NT$29,900 when it launches later this quarter (this is around US$990; US local price will likely be lower). You can pre-order from February 24th and get two months of free Viveport Infinity subscription.
In the following quarter, existing Cosmos owners can also upgrade with the External Tracking Faceplate for NT$6,600 (about $219) per piece, but they’ll obviously need to source the base stations and Vive or Vive Pro controllers as well. This upgrade path makes sense to those who own a Vive kit and a Vive Cosmos, as the latter would then add a sharper display plus a handy flip-up visor to the sturdy motion tracking experience.
Last but not least, we have the Vive Cosmos XR which, as the name implies, is designed to bring mixed reality experience to a VR headset. This business-focused faceplate is essentially the Cosmos Play (so just four tracking cameras) with two additional high-resolution passthrough cameras on the front, which apparently deliver passthrough field of view of up to 100 degrees. That’s a lot higher than the field of view on the current crop of mixed reality headsets like Hololens 2 and Magic Leap, thus making VR collaboration more versatile, especially when you want to check out virtual objects in the real-world environment using the Vive Sync collaboration platform.
But then again, considering how those mixed reality devices offer real-world vision instead of mixing that onto a display, there are certain benefits that the Cosmos XR may not be able to provide. We have to assume that there’s bound to be some latency between the real world and the version rendered in front of our eyes. We shall see what the developers say when they get hold of the developer kit in Q2 this year, and more info about this upcoming device will be released at GDC in March.
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Yes, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series Whatever are coming your way by the end of the year. But if you can’t wait until then for a 4K or VR gaming upgrade, then at least you can save a little money on the most powerful PlayStation console available. On Amazon the PS4 Pro is currently available for $299.98, $100 less than the usual price.
We’ve occasionally seen it available for this amount before, and if you just bought a new TV and are tearing through your back catalog of games before the next gen upgrades hit, then it might be the right time to buy. It upgrades the WiFi support over older PS4s, and even though many games aren’t running natively in 4K resolution, they’ll still look better than ever with some extra GPU horsepower.
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You no longer have to go digging through your tweets to reply to one with an update. Twitter has added a feature that makes it easier to connect an in-progress tweet to an earlier post. When you’re writing your latest missive, you’ll just have to pull down to see earlier tweets and tap the “continue thread” or ellipsis button to find an older tweet to reply to.
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The framework is cloud-based and lets stores, schools and other facilities contribute their data to registries.
The limitations of the system are quite clear. It’s based on voluntary submissions, so it’s most likely to be used by those eager to promote privacy — if it’s not in the registry, you won’t know about it. A business determined to track its workers may be reluctant to let staff know they’re being monitored, let alone give them a chance to opt out. This also assumes that there are enough people concerned about privacy to download an app and check if the sensor over their head is a privacy risk. The Carnegie team is betting that companies and institutions will use the infrastucture to ensure they’re obeying rules like the California Consumer Privacy Act and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, but there’s no guarantee they’ll feel pressure to adopt this technology.
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This comes just two weeks after Flywheel Sports settled a patent infringement dispute with Peloton. Flywheel admitted that it copied Peloton’s technology, such as the leaderboard display where you could compare your stats to other riders during the class. In the settlement, Flywheel Sports had agreed to stop using the leaderboard system for 60 days, at which point Peloton would drop its case. Of course, now that’s moot since the service will be gone entirely.
Flywheel Sports is not the only competitor that Peloton has sued. Last year, Peloton filed a suit against Echelon Fitness LLC for broadcasting live and recorded cycling classes and “imitating the Peloton Bike experience” through a similar leaderboard interface. Echelon was also accused of copying Peloton’s logo, coloring and font, and for lying to its customers about Peloton’s offerings. That lawsuit is still ongoing.
Peloton has other rivals too, such as the NordicTrack Commercial S22i and Proform’s Studio Bike Pro, both of which offer streaming cycling classes with their bikes. At CES this year, we saw several other companies that could prove to be worthy Peloton rivals, such as the aforementioned Echelon and the Amazfit Home Studio. But Peloton’s biggest rival may have yet to come, as Equinox and SoulCycle announced recently that they would be offering a similar in-home workout solution with their own treadmills and bicycles in early 2020.
Last year, Peloton faced a string of bad press when a controversial ad that was criticized as “unintentionally terrifying” went viral. It was embroiled in a music licensing dispute with the NMPA, and its shares also dropped 11 percent after it opened below its IPO price on its first day of trading. Add shareholder pressure to all of the aforementioned competition, and it’s not surprising that Peloton might be more compelled than ever to protect its intellectual property.
While Flywheel Sports have discontinued its online service, several of its in-person cycling studios continue to operate.
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The policy will change in April, but developers can ask for feedback on their use cases starting in May. There will also be a grace period for the first few months. Only new apps will need background location approval when August 3rd arrives, but Google will start removing existing apps without that approval on November 2nd.
While this won’t do much to limit Android’s own location sharing, it could still be a big deal if you’re particularly privacy-conscious. Facebook and others have been accused of grabbing more location data than they really need, and in some cases giving users little to no choice over how that info is sent. The stricter policy not only promises to cut back on privacy abuses, but may have above-board developers asking whether or not they need background location checks in the first place. If there’s a concern a this early stage, it’s that the criteria for acceptable location use is currently vague. What’s “necessary” in Google’s view might not be the same for everyone else.
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