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YouTube videos with kids or video games get most views

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The study made it clear that YouTube is hardly a phenomenon restricted to the US. All together, the high-subscriber channels (those with at least 250,000 subscribers) analyzed by Pew produced a total of a quarter-million videos in the first week of January 2019. Of those videos, only 17 percent were fully in English.

While the US is the country with the most active YouTube users (more than 180 million active users in 2018), the platform has become a vital source of free entertainment in other countries. The ten most subscribed YouTube channels in 2019 according to Digital Trends include the Mexican interview show Badabun (39 million subscribers), the Hindi entertainment channel Set India (48.7 million subscribers), the Brazillian EDM musical channel Canal Kondkilla (49.6 million subscribers). T-Series, a Bollywood music network that has yielded a whopping 100 million subscribers, is currently this year’s biggest YouTube channel.

Back in the English-speaking world, gaming and kids were king. The non-profit did a separate content analysis of more than 30,000 English-language videos, sorting videos by category (i.e. video games, food, current events or politics). It found that nearly one in five of the videos featured video games. Gaming videos received an average number of over 120,000 views, topping virtually every other category — from beauty to vehicles to music. Politics videos received the lowest average number of views compared to any other category, and only made up 4 percent of the videos posted by the most popular channels.

Videos aimed at or featuring children — regardless of their intended audience — elicited nearly three times as many views as other videos. It’s an interesting finding, given that the platform hasn’t been the safest for children. Despite YouTube’s requirement that users be at least 13 years old, children or family-focused content has always been some of the most popular on the platform. Congress is currently urging the FTC to investigate YouTube for potentially violating children’s privacy laws. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that YouTube is considering moving all children’s content to YouTube Kids in order to keep youth from viewing objectionable videos. Such a move worries family-focused content creators, who believe that they’ll lose viewers if they’re blocked from the general platform.

While the Pew study focused on the most popular parts of YouTube’s ecosystem, it’s added proof that programming by and for kids is a key part of the platform’s business. Protecting the safety of its young users will be crucial for its future success.

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Amazon asks police to advertise Ring cameras as part of partnerships

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In the case of Lakeland, Florida’s police department, Amazon donated 15 camera-equipped doorbells and started a program encouraging Lakeland residents to download Neighbors, Ring’s neighborhood watch app. Every qualifying download counted as $10 toward the cost of another free doorbell. In return, Lakeland PD not only advertised Neighbors and Ring through “outreach efforts,” but created Ring-specific roles like a point of contact and coordinators for the press, social media, investigations and the community. Ring told Motherboard the positions weren’t mandatory, but an email from one Ring staffer said that the people in these roles needed to be part of the company’s online training session.

Amazon also provided material support to numerous other cities (such as Albuquerque, Green Bay and Jersey City). They received Amazon-branded crafting material to create package theft stings, and in at least one case provided theft heat maps to plan the stings.

A Ring spokesperson said the partnerships weren’t secretive, contrary to Motherboard‘s original assertion, and went through public institutions before officials sign them. Neighbors app notifications and press releases also make the alliances clear. Ring emphasized that the team-ups were meant to “make neighborhoods safer” and that there were “many positive examples” of cooperation.

While those might be true, those aren’t the main issues. On top of objections to companies and police working so closely in the first place, you’re contributing (with consent) to a surveillance network that will keep watch over both your home and anything within view of Ring’s cameras. It raises questions as to whether or not people are really prepared for and comfortable with trusting their home cameras to police.

There’s also issues with the Neighbors app. Much like Nextdoor, it has a problem with racial profiling and otherwise fostering a culture of suspicion. Police may be unwittingly spurring divisiveness at Amazon’s request.

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Google’s hardware division is recovering from slow Pixel 3 sales

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As usual, Alphabet’s press release doesn’t say a whole lot about the more interesting parts of its business — for that, we’ll have to wait for the company’s call with investors, which starts at 4:30PM ET. We’re listening in and will update this post with anything we learn.

A few other tidbits worth noting: Google’s “other” revenues, which includes consumer-facing products like the Play Store and its growing hardware division grew significantly this quarter. Revenue was up 40 percent to $6.2 billion. We expect Google CEO Sundar Pichai to break down the strengths of that group on the call, and it’ll be worth seeing how the company explains that growth. Last quarter, the “other” revenues division only grew about 25 percent year-over-year, and the company admitted it was having trouble selling the Pixel 3 line of smartphones. While Google certainly won’t be breaking out individual sales, Pichai did say on the earnings call that the company sold twice as many Pixel phones this quarter as compared to a year ago — seems like the 3a strategy likely played a part.

Alphabet’s “other bets,” meanwhile isn’t looking quite so hot right now. It’s the part of the company where experimental ventures live, and they’re not necessarily at the stage where they’ll be making profits. Still, it’s probably not ideal when losses mount, as they did this quarter. Other bets lost Alphabet $989 million, up from the $732 million they lost in the quarter one year ago. Revenues did grow 12 percent to $162 million, but clearly this isn’t a big financial driver for Alphabet right now. From the overall perspective of Alphabet’s giant overall revenue, though, it’s hard to be worried too much about losing a billion bucks.

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Apple buys the ‘majority’ of Intel’s smartphone modem business

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The arrangement still gives Intel the ability to develop modems for computers, Internet of Things devices and self-driving cars. It’s not completely out of the cellular chipset business, then, it’s just scaling back. This will let the chip designer focus on 5G in spaces where it “most closely aligns” with what its customers want. Its phone modems weren’t that popular beyond Apple, to put it another way, and this gives it a chance to refocus.

Apple wasn’t shy about its plans for the acquisition. The move would fuel its “growing cellular technologies group” and help “expedite” the creation of future products that stand out from the pack. The tech giant has repeatedly hinted at designing its own cellular hardware to obtain more control over its fate, and it has been aggressively recruiting staff to make that happen.

Intel might not have had much choice but to sell. When Apple and Qualcomm settled their patent dispute and signed a multi-year chipset deal, that effectively negated the need for Intel modems in Apple devices. It’s no coincidence that Intel cancelled plans for 5G phone modems within hours of the patent truce becoming public. The company either had to persuade Android device makers to embrace its modems (a difficult prospect given Qualcomm’s dominance) or halt much of its work.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll see a legion of iPhones and iPads with Apple-badged Intel modems. This is more about acquiring talent and ideas. Think of it as you might Apple’s purchase of PA Semiconductor — it’s a long-term bet that the newly-acquired knowhow will translate to not just higher performance, but greater independence.

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Save $250 on a Vizio Soundbar with Dolby Atmos

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Vizio SB46514-F6 Soundbar

vizio

Street price: $950; deal price: $700

Down to $700 from a street price of around $950, this is a new low that we expect to see more regularly on this soundbar. This new top pick includes built in Bluetooth and Chromecast for music streaming, as well as a connection panel with every type of input you could possibly need.

The Vizio SB46514-F6 Soundbar is the top pick in our guide to the best soundbar. Wirecutter Editor Adrienne Maxwell wrote, “The Vizio SB46514-F6 is a full-featured soundbar that comes with everything you need to create a 360-degree sound experience. While many other high-performance soundbars require you to pay more to add a subwoofer or rear speakers, Vizio includes a wireless 10-inch subwoofer and wired rear speakers, as well as four built-in up-firing Atmos speakers to produce a fully enveloping soundstage.”

Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS Ultra Wide Angle Lens for Fuji X Mount

rokinon

Street price: $300; deal price: $250

Matching the previous all-time low we saw for this pick, this lens is down to $250 from $300. This deal price, though growing increasingly common, is a solid drop if you’re in the market for a budget wide lens.

As the budget pick in our guide to the first Fujifilm lenses you should buy, we like the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS as an option over $100 less than our other picks. Amadou Diallo wrote, “This lens’s 18mm-equivalent focal length is wider than our main pick, the Fujifilm 14mm f/2.8, and with a fast f/2.0 aperture it lets in twice as much light as well. You have to focus this lens manually; there’s no electronic autofocus communication between it and the camera.”

Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS, 44mm)

apple

Street price: $420; deal price: $380

Down to $380, this isn’t the lowest we’ve seen on our top Apple watch pick, but it matches previous deals we’ve posted before. Praised for its iOS integration, the Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS, 44mm) offers the best combination of style and additional features of any smartwatch for any platform.

The Series 4 Apple Watch is the top pick in our Apple Watch guide. Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Nick Guy and Dan Frakes wrote, “It’s the first redesign since the device launched, and its bigger screen is a major improvement that you’ll notice no matter what you use your watch for—it’s a big enough difference that it’s worth paying the premium. A faster processor, more-reliable Siri, a new Digital Crown, and better heart-rate and health-tracking features only sweeten the deal. Of all the smartwatches we’ve tested—for both iPhone and Android—the Apple Watch Series 4 offers the best overall package.”

Jabra Elite 85h

jabra

Street price: $300; deal price: $250

This drop to $250 on the Jabra Elite 85h is only $13 more than the short-lived, all-time low we saw during Prime Day. Along with their great sound and great design, these headphones have an intuitive set up and easily accessible controls, making them a great choice if you’re in the market for Bluetooth headphones.

The Jabra Elite 85h is the top pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth wireless headphones. Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Lauren Dragan wrote, “Whereas other Bluetooth headphones can have confusing and fiddly buttons that often cause you to trigger the wrong task, the Elite 85h has straightforward controls and a painless pairing process across all device platforms. This pair works with the Amazon, Apple, and Google digital assistants, too. The sound quality is great for both music and phone calls, the headphones fit comfortably, and the set features a 36-hour battery life. Plus, you get passable noise cancellation and a two-year warranty against rain damage. Overall, the Jabra Elite 85h headphones embody ease of use, and they’re just plain enjoyable to pick up and wear.”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursday, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go here.

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Apple’s rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro may ditch the flaky keyboard

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This is just the latest rumor to come from Kuo. He previously predicted that the 16-inch MacBook Pro will arrive before the end of this year. He also believes future Macs, coming in 2020, will use the scissor mechanism rather than the butterfly mechanism. That wouldn’t be surprising, given all the complaints over Apple’s butterfly keyboard — including claims that it is susceptible to debris and overheating. Apple launched a next-day repair program for the problematic keyboards, and it attempted to improve them with a switch cover, but those efforts have had limited success.

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Democratic hopeful Tulsi Gabbard sues Google over alleged censorship

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According to The New York Times, after the first debate, Gabbard was briefly the most searched-for candidate on Google. Purchasing ads would have helped the campaign get its website at the top of the search results, Tulsi Now Inc. said. The campaign team also believes its emails were being placed in Gmail spam folders at “a disproportionately high rate” compared to other Democratic contenders.

Google told The New York Times that its automated systems flag unusual activity from advertisers, like a sudden increase in spending. “In this case, our system triggered a suspension and the account was reinstated shortly thereafter,” a Google spokesperson said. “We are proud to offer ad products that help campaigns connect directly with voters, and we do so without bias toward any party or political ideology.”

Gabbard was relatively unknown before the first Democratic debate, but one of the issues she has gained bipartisan support for is her suspicion of big tech. According to the lawsuit, she sides with Senator Elizabeth Warren in the call for large tech companies to be broken up — Warren recently had an ad criticizing Facebook removed and then restored by the platform. While this lawsuit may not go anywhere, it is believed to be the first time a presidential candidate has sued a major tech firm. It’s a bit surprising that it’s coming from a Democratic candidate, given that most of the recent censorship complaints and bias accusations have come from Republicans.



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Discord introduces a better way to organize servers

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Starting today, there’s an easier way to organize your servers on chat platform Discord: folders.

If you’re a member of many Discord servers, you’ll know that organizing them is a bit of a pain. Previously, you could move server icons in your sidebar to reorder them, but if you had more than 10 or so, it was hard to find the one you want.

Now, you can drag and drop servers into folders, and rename or color code those folders. For example, you could create a folder for gaming servers or one for servers that you mod. You can dismiss notifications by folder, so you needn’t go through servers marking channels as read one by one.

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Twitter teams up with NBC for live 2020 Olympics coverage

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NBC previously worked with Snapchat for the 2018 Winter Games, offering some live coverage and highlights packages through the Discover tab. Still, this is the biggest step the Comcast subsidiary has taken to date in terms of allowing a partner to use live Olympics video, the New York Times notes.

There’s an interactive element here. Each morning, you can vote on which primetime event or athlete you want to see on Twitter, and live streams lasting five minutes or so will be broadcast on the platform. Advertisers will also be able to sponsor the Twitter coverage.

Of course, the vast majority of NBC’s Olympics coverage will stay on its own networks and digital platforms. The event is an important revenue stream for NBCUniversal; it expects to rake in over $1.2 billion in ad sales during next year’s Games.

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The best (and mostly free) apps to help you keep up in class

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Photomath

Some people have keen, mathematical minds and can intuitively grasp complex relationships between numbers. Others, uh, aren’t so great at it. If you fall into that latter camp, you’re in good company, and Photomath might be able to help. Once you’ve installed it, all you have to do is snap a photo of the equation that’s giving you trouble: It doesn’t matter if it’s printed or scrawled out by your own hand. Photomath then proceeds to solve the problem for you and provides a step-by-step guide for solving it yourself.

Obviously, that last bit is part of what makes Photomath so potent: It helps to dispel that feeling of looking at a math problem and simply not knowing where to start. (The less scrupulous among you might also notice it could be handy for cheating through your homework, not that we condone that.) You don’t need to follow the process all the way through to the end either, in case all you’re looking for are a few hints to get you going. You might come to a point in your academic career when you don’t have to worry about math classes at all anymore, but until then, Photomath should make those courses a little less daunting.

Subscribe to Photomath – Free

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