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Duolingo’s ABC app will teach kids how to read and write

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Company founder Luis Von Ahn told the publication that there’s “a huge demand globally, and mostly in developing countries, but illiteracy is an issue even in the UK.” He added: “We can make a real dent in this market.” And Duolingo can reach potential users in developing nations, thanks to the availability of cheap smartphones. Most likely, what will hinder its use in remote regions is the lack of steady access to WiFi or mobile data.

Duolingo ABC will start by teaching kids to recognize letters, then words, and then sentences before moving on to paragraphs. Von Ahn says the company worked with literacy experts to decide on the various teaching approaches it’ll use, such as focusing on individual sounds in words and on the relationship between written characters and spoken sounds. The app was also designed to widen and improve the child’s vocabulary and reading comprehension. Of course, ABC will also feature gaming elements like the main Duolingo application. Its gamification aspect will probably be crucial in keeping kids motivated — after all, it’s already encouraging adults to fire up the main Duolingo app to learn new languages.

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Tile’s latest Bluetooth tracker is a tiny, waterproof sticker

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The Sticker is by far the smallest Tile yet. Measuring 27mm in diameter and 7.3mm thick, it’s shaped like a tiny disc. That makes it a lot more versatile than the other Tile trackers, and more practical for items like cameras, headphones and remote controls. The Sticker is also waterproof, which makes it ideal for sticking onto outdoor gear like skateboards or coolers.

As its name suggests, you just peel the plastic off the back for it to adhere. Tile partnered with 3M to create the adhesive, which was designed to bond to most metal and plastic surfaces. According to Tile, if the Sticker is placed on a clean, flat surface, the bond should last three to five years. I placed a Sticker on my laptop, after which I tried to remove it by pushing and pulling on it a few times, and it didn’t budge even the slightest.

Tile

If you do want to remove it, Tile says you just have to yank on it really hard and it’ll eventually come off (much like you would 3M hooks that you have on the wall). I decided to test this with the Sticker on my laptop. I dug my nails and fingers around the sides and pulled really hard several times, almost to the point where I was afraid I would damage my laptop. Finally, the Sticker did release, with only a tiny bit of adhesive residue left on the surface. Tile recommends you use another adhesive backing on the Sticker after removal, but mine still had enough adhesive left that I could reuse it.

As mentioned earlier, the Sticker is also the most affordable Tile product at around $15 or $20 per tracker (depending if you buy a 2- or 4-pack). Like other Tiles, it has a three-year battery life and a 150-foot range (the maximum distance from which you can detect it with your phone).

Tile

Along with the new Tile Sticker, the company announced a refreshed lineup as well. The biggest change was to the new Tile Slim, which is now in a credit card style design (the previous version was simply a wider and flatter version of the original Tile). This newer iteration is a much better fit for wallets, luggage tags and ID badges. It has a 200-foot range, which is double that of the original Slim. It also apparently has twice the alert volume, has a three-year battery life and is waterproof. The Slim will retail for $29.99 each.

Next up are the new Mate and Pro models, which are slightly improved from their predecessors. Design-wise, the Mate is practically unchanged, while the new Pros no longer have a textured surface (also, instead of being called “Sport” and “Style,” they’re simply just black and white). The Mate now has a 200-foot range, while the Pro now has a 400-foot range. The Pro also apparently has the loudest ring of the bunch. Both the Pro and the Mate are water-resistant — not waterproof like the Sticker and the Slim — and have replaceable batteries, which the others do not. The Mate costs $24.99 while the Pro is priced at $34.99 each.

Tile

As a reminder on how Tile works, on top of using Bluetooth to help you find your stuff, it uses a crowd-finding feature where other Tile app users can ping the whereabouts of a Tile that’s out of Bluetooth range. It’s this “crowd-sourcing” feature that sets it apart from just a regular location tracker.

That said, Tile may be facing some tough competition in the not-too-distant future. There have been rumors that Apple is working on location-tracking hardware of its own. But instead of using Bluetooth, it’ll apparently utilize a tech called ultra-wideband (UWB), which is said to be much more precise — almost a hundred times more accurate than Bluetooth. The only caveat is that UWB only works if both devices have the tech, but seeing as the new iPhone 11s do have it, there’s a possibility that this rumor could be true. Even then though, the rumored Apple tag will likely only work with Apple products, while Tile works with both Android and iOS. There’s also no telling just how much it would cost.

The new Tile products are available starting today at Tile.com as well as major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target and others. They’re also available in combo packs: You can get a Tile Essentials bundle with two Tile Stickers, one Tile Slim and one Tile Mate for $69.99; a Pro Combo 2-pack for $59.99 or a 4-pack for $99.99; a 4-pack Mate for $69.99; and a Tile Mate/Slim Combo with two Mates and two Slims for $74.99.

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Sony disables PlayStation 4 Facebook integration

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“We apologize for any inconvenience,” Sony said, while going on to explain that you could use a stock PS4 avatar or upload a new profile image. Otherwise, the company provided no explanation for the sudden service cutoff, and gave no previous warning to users.

The move provoked speculation that it had something to do with Facebook data sharing changes in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, or Facebook’s recent post on eliminating Sony’s friend data access.

We’re working with Sony to finalize an updated contract designed to improve the Facebook integration on PlayStation. While these discussions are in progress, Facebook features will not be available on PlayStation 4. We hope to bring these features back as soon as our teams reach agreement.

However, it looks like the situation might be temporary, according to a statement Facebook gave to Kotaku. “We’re working with Sony to finalize an updated contract designed to improve the Facebook integration on PlayStation,” a spokesperson said. “While these discussions are in progress, Facebook features will not be available on PlayStation 4. We hope to bring these features back as soon as our teams reach agreement.”

Despite this optimistic comment, something must have gone awry for Sony to dump Facebook so unceremoniously. The feature does make it easy to find friends and share game streaming clips, so losing it could inconvenience a large number of folks, given the reach of Facebook and 100 million-plus PS4 consoles sold. For the sake of those gamers, hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.

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Opera’s stricter privacy controls could also speed up your web browsing

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The blocker depends on the EasyPrivacy Tracking Protection List, which covers a host of known tracker scripts. It’s not automatically determining which trackers are the offensive ones.

There are some functional upgrades beyond this, we’d add. An upgraded Snapshot lets you save sites as PDFs, capture screenshots of the entire page and crop specific sections. You can add emojis, selfies and text, too. Although these aren’t likely to win you over to Opera by themselves (Edge has had annotation for a while), they could be helpful if you like Opera’s approach and regularly find yourself commenting on shared web links.

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Samsung could be heading for a 50 percent profit drop

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The tech giant will reveal more details about the state of the company when it releases its full earnings report. As CNBC noted, if Samsung’s forecast is correct, then this will be the third consecutive quarter where its operating profit is halved from the same period a year ago. It even published a warning before it released its earnings guidance for the first quarter of 2019 to prepare investors as early as possible.

The company cited plummeting chip prices and slower chip demand that time, which are issues that continue to plague not just Samsung, but also other chipmakers. Samsung’s chip business has been its biggest moneymaker in a while, so the lack of demand for memory chips worlwide is hurting the company finances. CLSA Senior Analyst Sanjeev Rana told CNBC, however, that things are improving for the industry, and Samsung actually enjoyed better-than-expected memory shipments in the third quarter.

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US government adds Chinese facial recognition firms to entity list

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The blacklisted tech companies include Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., which are two of the largest video surveillance firms in the world. Both companies have cameras that feature facial recognition capabilities. AI giants SenseTime Group Ltd. — the most valuable AI startup in the world, according to Bloomberg — and Megvii Technology Ltd., both backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, are also part of the list. Yitu Technologies is another AI company affected by the move, along with voice recognition software maker iFlytek, data forensics company Xiamen Meiya Pico Information and nanotech firm Yixin Science and Technology Company.

Hikvision told Bloomberg that it “strongly opposes today’s decision by the US government,” which is says “will hamper efforts by global companies to improve human rights around the world.” The company also warned: “Punishing Hikvision, despite these engagements, will deter global companies from communicating with the US government, hurt Hikvision’s US businesses partners and negatively impact the US economy.”

While being added to the entity list will make it harder for the firms to work with US companies, American suppliers can apply for licenses to keep on selling them the products they need. As The Wall Street Journal notes, they can also find ways around the ban such as selling Chinese firms goods made outside the US like what Huawei’s suppliers have been doing.

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Elon Musk and NASA’s administrator will talk Crew Dragon on Thursday

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Just before Elon Musk took a victory lap to show off SpaceX’s Starship in Texas, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated him while mentioning that his organization “expects to see the same enthusiasm focused on the investments of the American taxpayer.” He was referring to the long-delayed Commercial Crew program that SpaceX is participating in with its Crew Dragon.

Musk responded by bringing up NASA’s own oft-delayed project, the SLS, when asked about the comment. Bridenstine is scheduled to visit SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, CA for a tour to check on the company’s progress, followed by a media availability session. He will be there alongside Musk, as well as the two astronauts scheduled to take flight on Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 flight test to the ISS, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

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What’s on TV this week: ‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie’

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This week Breaking Bad fans can dive into another expansion of the story, as Netflix delivers its El Camino movie. If you haven’t started watching Succession yet, you can still binge two seasons and also tweet about watching it all before the season finale airs Sunday night on HBO, ahead of the Ballers series finale.

Movie fans can snag Toy Story 4 on Ultra HD Blu-ray this week, along with Midsommar or Deadwood: The Movie. For gamers, there’s Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair and Grid. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

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Google gives its Android office apps a fresher, more consistent look

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Google is making it easier to juggle its productivity apps on your phone. The internet giant has released updated versions of Docs, Sheets and Slides for Android with a refreshed visual design that doesn’t add any big features, but should provide an easier and more familiar experience. They all have more consistent controls, easier-to-read typefaces and reworked document lists. You won’t have quite such a jarring transition as you move from editing a report to finishing a presentation.

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Roomba update tells your robovacs to steer clear of trouble spots

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Those same devices are also getting smarter mid-job charging. Rather than wait until they have a full charge before resuming a cleaning task, they now only charge for as long as needed to complete their work. You’ll be less likely to come home to a half-cleaned floor.

There’s one more update if you have a Roomba 900 series machine. They now support Imprint Link, letting them pair with the Braava jet M6 to hand off cleaning duties when the vacuuming is finished. While that won’t give you all the perks of more recent robovacs, it will help you add mopping to the process without pressure to get newer hardware.

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