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New York state moves to ban flavored e-cig sales

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It’s also stepping up efforts to curb the marketing of e-cigs to teens.
New York state bans sales of flavored e-cigarettes

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced an “emergency executive action” that will ban sales of flavored e-cigarettes. The move will see the state Department of Health’s Commissioner hold an urgent meeting with the Public Health and Health Planning Council to implement the ban. E-cig makers and stores are “intentionally and recklessly” trying to court a younger audience, Cuomo claimed.

He pointed to Department of Health data showing steep climbs in e-cig use among teens. About 27 percent of high schoolers were apparently using e-cigarettes — 160 percent more than they were in 2014, according to officials. The governor also referenced a 2017 survey showing that 19 percent of state teens tried e-cigs due to flavors, with 27 percent citing flavor as a reason to keep smoking. He went on to accuse companies of falsely claiming e-cigs are safe, noting that early studies suggested they could lead to cardiovascular and respiratory problems.

E-cig producers will have to sell ‘plain’ e-cigs in one of the most populous states in the country, and they risk further legal action if New York feels their sales tactics are still too inviting to teens.

More power, better cameras. (Duh.)
More Pixel 4 leaks, in case you missed all the others

Another day, more close-up photos. Vietnamese phone shop D Store Mobile sent nearly two dozen photos of a pre-release Pixel 4 XL to The Verge, and they appear to confirm some of its previously rumored specs. Notably, a main rear camera that will snap shots with a brighter f/1.73 aperture (versus f/1.8 on the Pixel 3). The telephoto camera’s specs (yep, more cameras on this model) aren’t available, but you can safely presume there will be improvements to low-light photos and some close-ups.

This gadget did one thing really well.
This week in tech history: Apple pulls the plug on the iPod classic

It’s been just over five years since Apple killed off the iPod Classic (henceforth known as the iPod because it is the One True iPod). Its death on September 9th, 2014, was no big surprise: Sales had been declining for years as the iPhone surpassed it in sales and feature set. Indeed, the notion of loading files from a computer onto a spinning hard drive to listen to music was totally anachronistic by 2014. Apple Music hadn’t arrived yet, but Spotify was quickly becoming the most important way to listen to music. Since we were all carrying smartphones, having another device for music just didn’t make sense anymore. Nathan Ingraham tells the tale.

The S Pen shines, but the tablet’s keyboard cover and desktop software still need work.
Galaxy Tab S6 review: Good notepad, bad notebook

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 is a powerful, long-lasting Android tablet that is excellent until you try to use it as a laptop replacement. Its Samsung-made keyboard cover and DeX desktop software need a lot of work before you can truly multitask heavily on the system. But if all you need is to edit some documents and spreadsheets and reply to emails and chats on the go, the Tab S6 is more than capable. Plus, the S Pen is a truly helpful tool for people who like jotting down random thoughts and having a device that automatically organizes them.

But wait, there’s more…

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Photos of Huawei’s Mate 30 range leak online

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The information comes from leaker Evan Blass via The Verge, and includes images of the four upcoming devices. There’s the top-end Mate 30 Pro, the regular Mate 30, the Mate 30 Lite and the Mate 30 Porsche Design. The Mate 30 Pro and the Mate 30 will reportedly be powered by the new Kirin 990 SoC chip, which has 5G support so it’s likely these will be 5G devices.

Huawei Mate 30

The most noticeable feature of the Mate 30 Pro is a huge rear camera module and the presence of an always-controversial notch. There’s also the “waterfall” display with a curved screen that continues from the front down the sides of the phone.

Huawei Mate 30 Porsche

The Mate 30 Porsche Design will be a variant of the Pro that comes in a striking red or black color scheme with what looks like leather on the back.

Huawei Mate 30

As for the regular Mate 30, it looks similar to the Pro but it has a slimmer notch and doesn’t have the waterfall display. There’s no image of the back of the Mate 30 so we don’t yet known whether it will have the same distinctive camera module.

Huawei Mate 30

The Lite mid-range model is believed to use the Kirin 810 chip and looks rather different from the Mate and the Pro, with a punch-hole camera cutout at the front and curved glass at the back framing a square rear camera cutout.

Huawei will use Android for the Mate 30 range as it is open source software. However, the devices will ship without Google apps like Maps and YouTube due to the current US restrictions on the company. That also means the phones won’t have access to the Play Store, so many Android apps may be inaccessible on the devices.

We’ll have to wait until September 19th to learn about official specs and pricing.



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Motorola is making Android TVs too

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The lower range sets will feature 1080p screens, while 43-inch and higher screens will pack 4K tech. Motorola India pointed out that the TVs will be particularly bright and well-adapted for Bollywood films, with up to 178-degree viewing angles. For gaming and smart TV chores, they’ll have Mali 450 GPUs with 2.25 GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. As for sound, the Motorola TVs are equipped with built-in 30W soundbars with DTS Tru Sound and Dolby Audio.

It’s becoming a trend for smartphone brands to release TVs, as OnePlus, Xiaomi and now Motorola are doing it. OnePlus is due to unveil its own Smart TV this month, so Motorola effectively beat it to the punch.

There’s no word yet on whether Motorola’s TVs will come to other markets, but they’ll arrive to India on Flipkart on September 29th. The sets will start at RS 13,999 ($200) for the 32-inch model, and range up to RS 39,999 ($560) for the 55-inch model and 64,999 ($910) for the 65-inch set.

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Google may soon let you search with a screenshot

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Google might be about to do pair up two mobile screen-related features, “Edit & Share screenshots” and the AI-powered “What’s on my Screen,” according to some APK digging by 9 to 5 Google. A new feature called “Smart Screenshots,” tucked into the latest version of the Google 10.61 app, brings up an updated toolbar when you take a screenshot. As before, you get edit, share and the option to use your favorite app to send the shot, but there’s a new option with the latest version: Lens.

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US investigates escort and massage sites over human trafficking

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All three sites might also be linked to one man, David Azzato. While the Swiss businessman has denied running any sites in the US and claimed to have cut ties with Eros and Rubmaps, investigators believe he’s still involved based on evidence. While Rubmaps changed from a .com address to .ch after the Backpage shutdown, for example, the domain holder was the same company — and its lone founding shareholder is a marketing firm created by Azzato. EroticMonkey’s previous .com domain, meanwhile, was linked to an IP address from a “Davide Azzato.” Eros also came under control of a Cyprus-based company that counted Azzato as a founder.

A spokesman for Azzato insisted that Rubmaps was just a “design project” the businessman never profited from, maintained that “Davide” was a different person, and said that Azzato sold Eros to another company (owned by a former director of Azzato’s marketing agency). The representative also claimed not to know where Azzato lives, even as a LinkedIn page appeared to indicate that he lived in the United Arab Emirates.

As a result, it may be difficult for US officials to extradite Azzato if they determine he and the sites are knowingly promoting crimes like trafficking. They may coordinate with other countries to shut down the sites, though. The challenge is to take long-lasting action. A shutdown might not matter much if other sites merely pop up in their place, especially if the old sites creators aren’t held to account.

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Nissan envisions car-themed esports gaming chairs

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Nissan’s connection to gaming might extend beyond the occasional car in a racing sim. The automaker has joined with FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming to design a trio of “esports gaming chairs” themed around (what else?) some of its more iconic cars. The GT-R Nismo is a “performance” chair with a thin carbon fiber shell, a racing seat shape, Nismo leather and an audio system built into the headset. The Armada chair echoes the SUV with extra-comfy lumbar support, posh leather and its own climate control. A Leaf chair, meanwhile, mimics the EV with “eco-friendly” materials and a USB charging port.

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AI can gauge the risk of dying from heart conditions

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The approach is based on the notion that greater variability between heartbeats reflects greater risk. Scientists trained the machine learning system using historical data for patient outcomes. If a patient survived, their heartbeats were deemed relatively normal; if a patient died, their heart activity was considered risky. The ultimate risk score comes by averaging the prediction from each set of consecutive heartbeats.

There’s plenty of work to be done, including refining the training data to account for more ages, ethnic backgrounds and genders. It clearly needs to be accurate when mistakes could have dangerous consequences. If RiskCardio does enter service, though, it could prove vital to health care. Doctors could quickly assess a patient’s health and decide on an appropriate level of treatment. CSAIL also hopes it can help understand less-than-clear scenarios by running poorly-labeled data through the system.

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OnePlus 7T Pro may debut on October 10th

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Both phones will reportedly tout slightly faster Snapdragon 855 Plus chips, the long-rumored 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a host of photography modes that includes a new macro mode. You won’t see fundamental changes beyond that, according to the leak. It’s not necessarily a bad thing when that still means top-tier specs in key areas, particularly the responsive 90Hz AMOLED screen. If these specs prove authentic, though, this is the definition of a “T” release from OnePlus — an iterative upgrade meant to keep the device current, rather than court enthusiasts who replace their phones as often as possible.

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‘Minecraft’ now has 112 million players per month

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Chiang described it partly as a virtue of the creative game’s evergreen status — it’s a title that people “keep coming back to.” You may fire up Fortnite or other games that take the spotlight, but there’s a real chance you’ll return to building homes and tunnels in Minecraft after that.

Other factors are likely important as well. On top of its sheer ubiquity across platforms, Minecraft’s blocky graphics and simple mechanics make it easy to play on modestly-equipped devices, whether it’s a budget PC or a smartphone. You can spend a modest amount on hardware and still get a quality experience.

Microsoft’s challenge at this point is to keep the game relevant. The augmented reality of Minecraft Earth helps, as does ray-tracing and other attempts to spruce up the look. It’s not clear that’s enough, though. Roblox recently topped 100 million monthly players, and Fortnite may not be far off (it reported 78.3 million users in August 2018). It might not take much for other games to capture the cultural zeitgeist.

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Central banks to question Facebook over Libra cryptocurrency

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In response, Libra reiterated its earlier stance that it “welcome[s] this engagement” with politicians and regulators, and that it “deliberately” set out a long launch schedule to discuss issues and modify its plans based on feedback.

The conversation might not go the way Facebook and the Libra team hope. Coeuré in particular has warned that Libra has to clear a “very high” bar, and EU finance ministers in particular have worried that cryptocurrencies like Libra could destabilize finance and undercut the authority of government banks. France and Germany have both argued that Libra should be blocked in the EU as it would challenge the “monetary sovereignty” of governments.

Facebook has pitched Libra as a way to democratize money, providing banking to many first-timers and creating a format that’s independent of any one country. However, it’s that last part that has officials and critics worried. While Libra is a “stablecoin” that should be pegged to the value of conventional currency, it could give Facebook and the Libra Association a tremendous amount of clout if it takes off. It may not have much choice but to make concessions if it wants the currency to be widely available, and even that isn’t guaranteed.

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