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Pinterest makes it easier for groups to organize and react to their boards

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Pinterest

Pinterest is also rolling out a new sorting feature that gives you a way to sort by “Most Reactions” and “Most Comments,” helping you quickly find the most popular (or unpopular) ideas. In the future, the new feature will even make it possible to sort by Pinner. The social network also promises to release a redesigned space for communicating with collaborators right on the group board. You can already start conversations in the activity tab, so we’re guessing Pinterest is giving it an overhaul or introducing a completely new way to chat in the coming weeks.

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Huawei’s Mate 30 Pro has quad-camera array and a vegan leather option

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In terms of battery life, the Pro ships with a 4,500mAh battery which the company claims will last for 9.2 hours of “heavy” use, while the regular model will last for 8.2 hours on its 4,200mAh cell. In the past, Huawei devices have lasted a long time — these new devices will likely do the same. In terms of charging, you can pump 40W of electricity over a cable, or 27W via its SuperCharge wireless plates.

The Mate 30 harnesses the company’s new Kirin 990 5G system-on-chip, made with a 7-nanometer process that promises significant performance increases over the previous generation. The company says that 5G performance will be

Huawei is relying upon its partnership with Leica to burnish its imaging credentials, with four image sensors poking out of the back of the phone’s “Halo Ring” back. On the Pro, that includes a 40-megapixel “Cine Camera,” a 40-megapixel “SuperSensing” camera, and 8-megapixel Telephoto and a 3D, depth-sensing lens.

The banner feature among all those cameras may be a new ultra-slow motion mode on the Mate 30 Pro, which was demonstrated by filming a hummingbird where you can see every movement of the beating of its wings. It’s faster (well, slower?) than the competition, with a deliberate reference to the Galaxy Note 10. The company is clearly suggesting that the Mate 30 Pro is more of a camera than it is a smartphone, with low-light images and video recording that could be the equal of professional equipment. Although we should always take Huawei’s claims with a pinch of salt after it was found faking sample images from its phones with a DSLR just a few years ago.

On the vanilla Mate 30, the cameras are a little more modest, with a 16-megapixel, f/2.2 sensor adjoining a 40-megapixel f/1.8 wide-angle lens. The set is rounded out by an 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto with OIS.

Huawei is also making a big deal of the notch on the Mate 30 Pro, which is packing a quartet of sensors, starting with the 32-megapixel front-facing selfie camera. Next to that is a gesture sensor (much like LG’s G8), a 3D depth camera and an ambient light and proximity sensor. The Mate 30 has a far smaller notch, and has just the 24-megapixel selfie lens and the ambient light and proximity sensor. The loudspeaker for both devices is nestled underneath the device.

The Mate 30 series will come in four colors: Emerald Green, Black, Space Silver and Cosmic Purple. All of these have a matte metal gradient finish that is designed to avoid catching fingerprints and the handset sliding out of your greasy palm. There is also a Vegan Leather edition in a green and orange-tinted leatherette, and both models have the same ingress protection as the metal editions. In terms of sturdiness, the Mate 30 Pro is rated for IP68 for water and dust, while the Mate 30 is IP53.

Huawei hasn’t yet spoken about pricing or availability for either device, but it also was reticent to talk too much about the software that it’s running and with good reason. US sanctions mean that it can’t use Google’s services, including the Play Store, on this handset. Consequently, it may be a very hard sell for consumers who, as is common in the west, believe that Android and Google to be one and the same.

This breaking news story is developing, please refresh for more information.

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Disney might have merged with Apple if Steve Jobs were alive

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Iger talked about his friendship with Jobs in the piece, telling the story of how Disney managed to acquire Pixar happened even though Jobs held a “deep-rooted” animosity toward Disney at the time. He also talked about they discussed the future of TV before the iPhone’s release and how he told Jobs that he envisioned an iTunes-like platform for television.

“With every success the company has had since Steve’s death, there’s always a moment in the midst of my excitement when I think, I wish Steve could be here for this… I believe that if Steve were still alive, we would have combined our companies, or at least discussed the possibility very seriously,” he wrote.

Iger didn’t say why he chose to focus on his relationship with Jobs and Apple for his Vanity Fair piece. It may simply be one of the most compelling parts of his book, but it makes one wonder if it’s because he’s currently trying to make a Disney-Apple merger happen. As CNBC notes, though, an acquisition likely wouldn’t get approved now that authorities have become more conscious of how big-tech mergers are being viewed as anti-competitive. The companies are much too large at this point, with Apple valued at $1 trillion and Disney at $300 billion.

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Turns out smartphones aren’t making millennials grow horns after all

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The article was widely panned for its scientific inaccuracies, and now the journal Scientific Reports has published a correction to the article, in an unusual and embarrassing move for both the authors and the journal editors.

The authors had to correct significant chunks of the paper, including materials from the abstract, discussion, methodology, results and competing interest statement.

In the abstract, all mention of smartphones and tablets was taken out, and language was modified to relay the speculative nature of the information. The sentence “We hypothesize EEOP [enlarged external occipital protuberance, or a ‘horn’ at the back of the head] may be linked to sustained aberrant postures associated with the emergence and extensive use of hand-held contemporary technologies, such as smartphones and tablets” was removed.

Other changes including making it clear that there was no evidence for a casual link between ‘horn’ formation and use of screen devices, correcting wrongly labelled figures, and admitting that the data for the study came from a clinical database and not from a recruited study group.

Perhaps most importantly, one of the authors of the paper sells services claiming to treat issues of forward head posture. This is a clear competing interest in the study which should have been disclosed immediately. The paper now states “David Shahar provides posture related services as a chiropractic clinician and posture related advice and products through drposture.com.”

Scientific Reports is a large, open access journal from the respected publisher Nature Research that does require peer review. However, due to the high number of articles it publishes, the editors have had to provide other corrections in the past. There was an issue of alleged plagiarism in a 2016 study published there which was later retracted, and this year the journal also retracted a 2018 paper claiming that homeopathic remedies could treat pain in rats.

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Tesla’s Model 3 joins Audi’s E-Tron in claiming top safety award

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Last month, Audi’s flagship E-Tron also garnered a 2019 Top Safety Pick+ award, becoming the first EV to do so, according to the organization. That vehicle also impressed the IIHC with its crash ratings, collision avoidance systems and headlights that automatically dim thanks to a high-beam assist feature.

Along with the two EVs, another alternative fuel vehicle, the hydrogen fuel cell powered Hyundai Nexo, also qualified for a Top Safety Pick+. Chevy’s Bolt, meanwhile, earned “good” ratings in most crash tests, but failed to receive a Top Safety Pick award because its headlights gave off too much glare to oncoming drivers.

Tesla’s Model 3 has previously received a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA. However, it got into trouble with the organization for making certain safety claims about the Model 3 in its marketing materials. The NHTSA issued a cease and desist letter and referred the matter to the FTC.

The IIHS awards buttress the argument that EVs are safer than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in a crash. Without a large, heavy gasoline engine in the front, the theory goes, manufacturers are better able to design the structure to absorb impacts and protect the occupants. “The fact that the battery can be placed in in a variety of places, maybe with more flexibility than a gas tank, [also] provides the potential to make electric vehicles safer,” chief IIHS research officer David Zuby told CNBC.

The IIHS hedged that a bit, though, saying that EVs aren’t “inherently” safer than ICE cars. However, Zuby noted that the vehicles seem to be at least on an equal footing. “There’s no need to trade away safety for a lower carbon footprint when choosing a vehicle,” he said.

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Volta Football is exactly what ‘FIFA 20’ needs

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As you might expect, your Volta avatar isn’t that good right after you create them, but you can help them get better by trying different skill challenges and playing different tournaments. Not only do you gain skill attributes by playing well and winning street matches, but you also get Volta points you can spend on clothes, accessories and shoes to make your player look more swaggy. Mine started out at level 65 (out of 100) and now I’m above 70, plus he’s now wearing cool camo joggers and Adidas gear, which I was able to to buy after hours of playing.

Volta World and League, for their part, are an extension of Volta Story. League is where you can play Volta Football against friends and other people online, while World lets you explore the different street venues in the game and play matches there — though you’ll need to have unlocked the pitches in story mode before you can do play in some. Each location in this virtual tour has unique court with different match types, so you can play 3v3 (no goalkeepers), 4v4, 5v5 or even professional futsal (indoors) depending on which city you choose. It’s great because playing in NYC, Mexico City, London or any of the other cities in Volta feels different.

I’ll definitely miss The Journey, as I think it was one of the best features to come to the FIFA franchise in years, but Volta Football makes FIFA 20 feel fresh — and I’m perfectly content with that.

FIFA

Manager press conference in FIFA 20 Career Mode.

Although Volta Football is obviously the biggest addition to the latest edition of FIFA, EA Sports also made significant changes to Career Mode, which were long overdue. For starters, you’ll have a chance to create and choose female characters as your manager, a first for the game. Unlike previous years, when you could only pick your manager from a group of standard, dull characters, in FIFA 20 you can customize their body type, skin tone, clothing and hairstyle. Additionally, EA took a cue from Football Manager and will now let your manager attend pre- and post-match press conferences, where your answers to questions from reporters will affect your team’s and individual players’ morale.

The changes extend to the classic gameplay, where EA has tried to make the game more realistic with tweaks that mimic real-world players and matches. With Composed Finishing and Controlled Tackling, for instance, shooting and defending is so much better that it won’t take long for FIFA fans to notice. Composed Finishing makes scoring harder, especially in situations like volleys, and Controlled Tackling makes it so that when you play as a defender you have to time your tackles just right if you want to keep control of the ball.

EA says it wanted these new animations to make FIFA 20 feel like “true-to-life” experience, and it shows throughout the entire game.

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Skullcandy’s Crusher ANC block noise while you feel the bass

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The Crusher ANC still offers the adjustable haptic low-end tone that’s the trademark feature of this headphone line. Officially dubbed “adjustable sensory bass,” this new model allows you to control the level of thump with a physical slider — much like the previous models. Skullcandy says the Crusher ANC has the “broadest range of adjustable sensory bass” of any of its headphones thus far. You can further personalize the sound via the company’s app. That piece of software allows you to tweak the tuning and set sound profiles so you don’t have to remember your preferred levels.

Skullcandy Crusher ANC

As far as the active noise cancellation (ANC, hence the name) goes, Skullcandy’s tech “actively monitors” your environment to block out any noise and keep things sounding their best. Like a lot of headphones these days, the Crusher ANC has an ambient sound mode that disables the noise cancellation when you touch and hold the left earcup. It can be quite useful for things like speaking to a flight attendant or quickly conversing with a colleague.

Skullcandy promises up to 24 hours of battery life on a charge with the Crusher ANC. The headphones also have a quick-charge option that will give you three hours of listening time in 10 minutes. And like the company’s other noise-cancelling headphones, the Venue, this new Crusher model also packs in Tile’s object-tracking technology. If you happen to lose these, you can fire up the Tile app to locate them. Other companies like Bose and Sennheiser are using Tile inside headphones too, so it’s not unique to Skullcandy devices.

The Crusher ANC is available starting today on the Skullcandy website for $319.99, which puts it in the same price range as a lot of flagship models from the competition. You can choose from Deep Red or Fearless Black colors for now, or if you can wait until October 6th, Best Buy will offer a black and tan version for the same price.

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Zero’s 2020 electric motorcycles include one that’s loaded for adventures

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Other 2020 refreshes are focused more on wringing extra value (and range) out of the lineup, with a few perks. The DS has dipped to a relatively affordable $10,995 through its 7.2kWh, 82-mile battery, all the while adding more storage. Hop to the street-oriented SR and $15,495 now gets you a 14.4kWh Power Pack to extend your rides up to 223 miles — the best range you’ll get from the lineup this year, Zero said.

All the new bikes are available now. The updates probably won’t make you cancel your Harley-Davidson Livewire order, but they could put these machines on your short list if earlier models weren’t quite up to snuff for longer expeditions.

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Jonah Hill tackles bullying in new Instagram TV series

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“I tried to create an environment for young people to be heard and listened to,” the actor said. “I wish there was a platform to hear other’s struggles and experiences when I was growing up. I hope that this will be inspiring for young people to share their stories and feelings and not feel so alone.”

Un-filtered is part of Instagram’s broader anti-bullying and harassment initiatives. In July, the company introduced two new tools to combat bullying. One of them uses artificial intelligence to warn individuals when they’re about to post a potentially offensive comment. The other allows Instagram users to restrict comments from abusive followers. While feature additions and policy changes are the most effective tools Instagram can wield to curb harassment, Hill’s fame helps put a public face to the company’s efforts.

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FCC creates two ‘innovation zones’ to test next-gen wireless

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Testers have to honor the FCC’s guidelines for a given zone, including the authority of the zone administrator, and provide early notice for their projects.

The New York City zone will support COSMOS (Cloud Enhanced Open Software Defined Mobile Wireless Testbed for City-Scale Development) in West Harlem and will run by Columbia University, Rutgers University and NYU. Salt Lake City’s zone will support POWDER (Platform for Open Wireless Data-driven Experimental Research with Massive MIMO Capabilities) and run in multiple “connected corridors” with the leadership of Rice University and the University of Utah.

There’s no guarantee that these zones will lead to breakthroughs. It’s easy to designate an innovation space, but it’s another matter entirely to attract development teams that can shake up the industry. It’s not often that wireless tech researchers have access to relatively large regions, though, and this might unify disparate testing efforts. As it stands, the US isn’t always on the forefront of wireless (such as mid-frequency 5G). This could help the country catch up or pull ahead in key areas.

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