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YouTube reverses course on ‘verification’ — you will keep your badges

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Yesterday YouTube announced plans to change its policy around channel verification status. In a move to follow other social networks, the company said changes tying approval to authenticity and prominence would mean some might lose their tag, and would have to go through appeals to keep it.

After a quick and loud backlash to the plan YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki apologized, and YouTube just announced “Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal.” The plan is still to reopen its process for verification next month for all channels that have over 100,000 subscribers, with an eye toward stamping the tag on channels that are both “authentic” and “complete.”



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Watch the ‘Android’ Nokia phone that never had a chance to exist

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The video, unfortunately, doesn’t too much of the phone’s functionality, with multiple parts of the interface blacked out at various points throughout the video. We don’t, for instance, get a chance to see Google Maps in action. However, the video does give us a good sense of what Google was going for. One highlight is that Assistant is present throughout the interface.

Another cool tidbit is that there’s an app called “Chrome Fun”. The icon features the web browser’s mascot, the Chrom Dino. If you’re unfamiliar with the Chrome Dino, switch your phone to airplane mode, launch Chrome and then tap on the pixelated dinosaur that appears above the notification that says you can’t access the internet. You’ll launch Chrome’s hidden endless runner. If I had to take a guess, the dinosaur game would have come pre-installed on Google’s feature phones, just like every single Nokia phone shipped with Snake.

We’ve reached out to Nokia for comment on the device, and we’ll update this article when we hear back from the company. It’s not too shocking to find out Google and Nokia abandoned the project. In a lot of ways, a feature phone version of Android would have only duplicated what Google already offers through an operating system like KaiOS. Although Google doesn’t own KaiOS, it offers Assistant, Maps and Search through the feature phone OS.

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TiVo tries running pre-roll ads before your recorded shows

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TiVo didn’t confirm or deny the test when reached for comment. It told Engadget that it was “dedicated to innovation” in offering control over how you watch, and that it’s “investing in new advertising experiences.” It also claimed that its latest advertising units always let you skip them by hitting “skip,” although it didn’t elaborate on why that wasn’t the case in this test.

This doesn’t necessarily guarantee that TiVo will run ads before recordings, or for all people if it does. This may be used to subsidize or eliminate monthly fees where they apply, or offer free ad-supported content. CNN noted that TiVo aims to release a $50 Android TV-powered dongle in early 2020 that would offer the company’s internet-only service, for example. Pre-roll ads could help make products like that more affordable to people who’d otherwise never consider the TiVo ecosystem.

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YouTube CEO apologizes for channel verification mess (updated)

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“While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark,” she wrote on Twitter. “As I write this, we’re working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon.”

YouTube said it was moving beyond subscriber counts to determine whether a channel should be verified. Instead of surpassing 100,000 subscribers (a threshold creators could game the system to reach), the service will take authenticity and prominence into account when choosing which channels to verify. In essence, it’s adopting the approach of many other social platforms, which verify people if there’s a solid chance they may be impersonated, or if there’s a reasonable possibility they’ll be confused with someone else.

As part of the change, YouTube told a strong of prominent figures they’d lose the vaunted checkmark — which it’s jettisoning anyway in favor of highlighting channel names to denote verified status. That led to confusion and disappointment among many in the community, as well as concern about losing out on brand deals.



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Apple’s new iPhones can better manage your battery as it ages

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This new framework, which Apple specifically says is different from the feature in older phones, uses a combination of hardware and software to avoid performance hits as iPhone batteries age. “While performance impacts are reduced as much as possible, battery aging might still eventually lead to noticeable, possibly temporary, effects,” says the support document. Apple cites “longer app launch times, lower frame rates, reduced wireless-data throughput, backlight dimming or lower speaker volume” as possible results of diminished battery health.

To be clear, the feature isn’t meant to keep your iPhone’s battery running longer in the short term; this is a long term strategy so that the capacity of a phone’s battery stays as high as possible for as long as possible. New iPhone batteries can last for days depending on how frequently power-hungry apps are used. But after a few years, they tend to only last a day, or sometimes much less, before needing a recharge. Apple will replace an old battery with a new one, but it’s either $50 or $70 depending on which iPhone model you have. Hopefully this feature will keep iPhone 11 batteries running at a high capacity throughout their lifespans.

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Twitter bans thousands of state-backed accounts spreading misinformation

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This is part of Twitter’s ongoing effort to sweep state-backed misinformation accounts from the platform. In June, Twitter removed nearly 4,800 accounts with ties to the Iranian government, and in August it banned nearly 1,000 accounts managed by the Chinese state and aimed at Hong Kong protests. In addition to targeting state-backed misinformation, Twitter recently updated its policy to ban advertising from state-controlled news outlets, even when it isn’t misinformation per se.

Facebook also removed accounts linked with misinformation in Spain. The accounts removed by both platforms were linked with Spain’s People’s Party, Partido Popular. As the Financial Times points out, it’s one of the few occasions in which social media platforms have linked a major political party in western Europe with coordinated disinformation campaigns.



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Porsche welcomes challenge from Tesla as it adapts to the EV world

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The CEO concedes that the car purchasing decision, especially around Porsche is irrational and emotional. “It’s not necessarily wanting and having to do everything you can do with a car. But knowing you could, it’s something that gets people to engage with our brand,” Zellmer said. In other words, you might not take your Taycan or 911 to the track, but if wanted too, you can.

But even if you’re just driving around town in a Porsche, it’s still a premium experience. You know you’re in a Porsche even if you’re not trying to break speed records between red lights. The Taycan has to live up to all those expectations while taking on range anxiety.

Zellmer believes it’s more of a psychological barrier for those in the market for a Porsche. He notes that the average Porsche owner has three cars and that new owners will quickly realize that most of their charging will happen at home. But, a Porsche is a drivers’ car and owners will want to drive their Taycan for long periods of time. For that. Electrify America and Porsche dealers fill in the gaps. At least some of them.

All Porsche dealerships will have fast charging facilities for the Taycan while the Volkswagen (the parent company of Porsche) subsidiary Electrify America will be rolling out more charging stations in the near future. It currently has 300 along highways and 150 in metropolitan areas. Not exactly Tesla Supercharger network numbers, but it’s a good start.

The thing is, Tesla fans will continue to buy Teslas and Porsche fans will continue to buy Porsches. Regardless of the Twitter trash talk and seemingly never-ending desire to go really fast around a track in Germany, there will be crossover. There’s bound to be a few folks that own a Model 3 or Model X and Taycan.

Porsche, though, has found a way to gather new (and younger) fans via its recently expanded subscription service, Porsche Passport. According to Zellmer, 80 percent of subscribers are new to the Porsche brand and overall, the demographic skews eight years younger than the average Porsche buyer. “We’re engaging a target group that we obviously did not engage, even though they were affluent enough to pay $2,100 or $3,100 a month.”

Porsche Taycan first ride

The next pilot program the automaker is working on allows people to use Porsches for as little as four hours. Users can rent a car for a few hours, a day or a week. The idea is to give potential Porsche customers options. They can rent a car, subscribe to the Porsche line up, lease a vehicle, or decide to go all in and purchase.

Like electrification, it’s a play to be relevant for the future. Nurburgring track times are a great way to advertise the speed of your vehicle and get other companies riled up. But when it comes down to it, it’s all about getting hands on Porsche steering wheels regardless of their powertrain or purchasing choices.

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Fujifilm’s X-Pro3 mimics film cameras with a fold-out display

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However, the X-Pro3’s most intriguing feature is its “hidden” LCD display. The X-Pro3 doesn’t feature a traditional big rear-facing LCD like most modern cameras. Instead, it includes a small LCD that displays basic capture settings like shutter speed, aperture and ISO. You can flip this part of the camera out to reveal the main LCD. What’s nifty about the articulating mechanism Fujifilm created for the hidden LCD is that it can still angle downwards for when you want to compose a shot with the camera above your head.

X-Pro3 film simulation

Fujifilm says it reworked the X-Pro3’s LCD display to “keep photographers looking through the viewfinder” and “minimize the time looking at the back of the camera.” Another way to look at the redesign is as a logical extension to the company’s approach to camera design. Fujifilm has earned a passionate fanbase by designing cameras that draw inspiration not from modern DSLR cameras but from their film predecessors.

If you’re not familiar with film cameras, the minuscule rear-facing LCD will look like an oddball feature. One thing feature almost every film camera came with was a small slot on the back of the device where you could put the square of your film package to remind what kind of stock you were shooting. The X-Pro3 has a modern take on that feature. It’s possible to configure the display to only show the film simulation you’re using. It’s definitely a gimmicky feature, but one that Fuji fans will probably sell their perfectly good X-Pro2s to get their hands on.

Lastly, the X-Pro3 will also ship with the company’s newest film simulation, Classic Negative. Fuji’s film simulations are one of the main reasons people buy the company’s cameras. They essentially attempt to emulate the colors of the company’s old film stocks. The company says Classic Negative emulates its classic Fujicolor Superia film stock.

Fujifilm says it will share more information about the X-Pro3 on October 23rd, hopefully including the price and planned release date. In the meantime, you can watch the X-Pro3 reveal below. Jump to the 1:10:30 mark to get straight to the camera reveal.

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Facebook suspends tens of thousands of data-scraping apps

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Some of those apps were suspended for inappropriately sharing data, making data available without protecting users’ identities or violating other Facebook policies. They include apps like myPersonality, the previously suspended app used by Cambridge Analytica. But not all of the suspended apps posed an active threat to users. Many were not live, and in some instances, Facebook suspended developers because they didn’t respond to requests for information.

The investigation is ongoing. Facebook says it’s learning how to better understand patterns of abuse and how to “root out bad actors.” As part of Facebook’s settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, app developers will face additional oversight. Developers will be required to certify their compliance with Facebook policies annually, and Facebook says developers who violate those policies will be held accountable.

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Sony will reveal ‘Last of Us’ details in a September 24th PlayStation stream

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Sony will air its next State of Play, the company’s new venue for sharing PlayStation-related news, on September 24th. Per the official PlayStation Blog, the live broadcast will start at 4PM ET/ 1PM PT and run “around 20 minutes.” Sony says it won’t share any information related to its next-generation hardware plans. However, the company promises it will reveal new games, as well as share updates on what its first-party studios have been up to behind the scenes.

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