Technology Simplified

By KATE CONGER, DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI and KATIE BENNER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2qk5SaW

Twitter is digging one of its most important new features out of its settings and putting it within easy reach. Twitter is now testing with a small number of iOS users a homescreen button that lets you instantly switch from its algorithmic timeline that shows the best tweets first but out of order to the old reverse chronological feed that only shows people you follow — no tweets liked by friends or other randomness. Sometimes you want to see the latest Tweets, first. We’re testing a way for you to make it easier to switch your timeline between the latest and top Tweets. Starting today, a small number of you will see this test on iOS. pic.twitter.com/7NHLDUjrIv — Twitter (@Twitter) October 31, 2018 Twitter had previously buried this option in its settings. In mid-September , it fixed the setting so it would only show a raw reverse chronological feed of tweets by people you follow with nothing extra added, and promised a more easily accessible design for the feature in the fut...

Google boss has message to employees planning walkout over treatment of sex-harassment cases Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday said that employees who plan to walk out of the company in protest — following accusations leadership covered up claims of sexual harassment — have Google's support. via https://ift.tt/2JvUVvy

Robots just want to get things done, but it’s frustrating when their rigid bodies simply don’t allow them to do so. Solution: bodies that can be reconfigured on the fly! Sure, it’s probably bad news for humanity in the long run, but in the meantime it makes for fascinating research. A team of graduate students from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania made this idea their focus and produced both the modular, self-reconfiguring robot itself and the logic that drives it. Think about how you navigate the world: If you need to walk somewhere, you sort of initiate your “walk” function. But if you need to crawl through a smaller space, you need to switch functions and shapes. Similarly, if you need to pick something up off a table, you can just use your “grab” function, but if you need to reach around or over an obstacle you need to modify the shape of your arm and how it moves. Naturally you have a nearly limitless “library” of these functions that you switch between at w...

Influcencer marketing could get a lot more accountable if Snapchat’s PR firm wins this lawsuit. Snapchat hoped that social media stars promoting v2 of its Spectacles camera sunglasses on its biggest competitor could boost interest after it only sold 220,000 of v1 and had to take a $40 million write-off. Instead Snap comes off looking a little desperate to make Spectacles seem cool. Snap Inc comissioned its public relations firm PR Consulting (real imaginative) to buy its an influencer marketing campaign on Instagram . The firm struck a deal with Grown-ish  actor Luka Sabbat after he was seen cavorting with Kourtney Kardashian. Sabbat got paid $45,000 up front with the promise of another $15,000 to post himself donning Spectacles on Instagram. He was contracted to make one Instagram feed post and three Stories posts with him wearing Specs, plus be photographed wearing them in public at Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks. He was supposed to add swipe-up-to-buy links to two of those Sto...

from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2OmVOru

By KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2P5dEUT

It’s less than a year since we reviewed the first iteration of Mekamon – a spider-like robot designed to battle others of its kind, or virtual enemies in augmented reality via a smartphone app. Think Pokémon in real life and you’re most of the way there. Mekamon V2 is available in white, black, and a fetching new grey camo pattern. The camo is exclusive to Apple Stores, but all robots are compatible with both Android and iOS. It’s also backward compatible, so V2 bots can battle their V1 counterparts without any trouble. Mekamon’s creator, UK-based Reach Robotics, says it intends to continue supporting its older models, so you don’t need to worry about your bot becoming obsolete when V3 struts into stores. Design The robot itself looks very similar to its predecessor, with four limbs (each with three joints), detachable armor plates, and a pair of removable ‘guns’ atop its torso. The main difference is the light within its head, which now glows different colors to indicate its mood...

Titan could put an end to stock market FOMO. The app choose the best 20 stocks by scraping top hedge fund data, adds some shorts based on your personal risk profile, and puts your money to work. No worrying about market fluctuations or constantly rebalancing your portfolio. You don’t have do anything, but can get smarter about stocks thanks to its in-app explanations and research reports. Titan wants to be the easiest way to invest in stocks for a mobile generation who want an affordable coach to guide them through the market themselves. “Our goal is to take things that aren’t accessible [in wealth management] and make them accessible, starting with hedge fund” says Titan co-founder Joe Percoco. That potential to democratize one of the keys to financial mobility has won Titan a $2.5 million seed round from Y Combinator’s co-founder Paul Graham, president Sam Altman, and partners including Gmail creator Paul Bucheit. The rest of the capital comes from Maverick Ventures, BoxG...

Roku TVs combine the best built-in streaming system with affordable prices, and the S405 series adds 4K to the mix. But how's the picture? from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2zhIajD

Tech employees are much more liberal than their employers 4 by seapunk | 0 comments on Hacker News.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here: 1.  Waymo, take the wheel: Self-driving cars go fully driverless on California roads The Alphabet-owned company has been testing on public roads for years now. But this permit, issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, allows Waymo to test these self-driving cars without a human driver behind the wheel. Waymo said its driverless test cars will initially hit the streets near its Silicon Valley headquarters, including parts of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto. 2.  Facebook bans the Proud Boys, cutting the group off from its main recruitment platform We reported in August that the Proud Boys operate a surprisingly sophisticated network for getting new members into the fold via many local and regional Facebook groups. Photo Credit: Susan W...

Last year, the top subscription video apps like Netflix and Hulu raked in a combined $781 million , and that trend is showing no sign of slowing down in 2018. In the third quarter of 2018, U.S. consumers spent an estimated $329 million in the top 10 subscription video-on-demand apps across the App Store and Google Play – a figure that’s up 15 percent from the $285 million spent in Q1. The data is the latest in a new report from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, which has been following the growth of subscription video apps for some time. Last year, for example, it found that Netflix’s app topped the charts in terms of revenue, when compared with all the other non-game apps on the market. Netflix hasn’t fallen from its top ranked position, the new data shows. In fact, it’s continuing to grow. The app pulled in an estimated $132 million in consumer spending across the app stores in Q3, which is up 78 percent from the $74 million spent in the third quarter of 2017. However, Hulu ...

In 2015 Switzerland was fucked. This blunt belief, grunted out by Apple’s Jony Ive and repeated by the media as a death knell for the watch industry, seemed to define a sad truth: that the Swiss watch was dead and Apple pulled the trigger. Now, three years and four Apple Watches later , was Ive right? Did Apple change the world? And, most importantly, did Switzerland survive? Yes, but… As you might have noticed the Swiss watch industry is still standing. The major Swiss houses – LVMH, Richemont, and Swatch Group – are seeing a major uptick in sales, especially in the US. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry , sales are up 5.5% year-over-year, a bit of news that was, amusingly, almost buried by the onslaught of Apple Watch Series 4 reviews. This increase of US sales bucked a major trend this year and one market insider, who preferred to remained anonymous, noted that all of his sales contacts are seeing increased sales in the $3,000 and above watch category. Whi...

The beloved laptop design ran from 2008 to 2018, but its DNA lives on in a radically different iteration. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://www.cnet.com/reviews/apple-macbook-air-2018-preview/#ftag=CADe9e329a

Uber launches $14.99 ride pass monthly subscription Uber really wants you to use its service exclusively for your transportation needs, but in order for that to happen the ridesharing service realized consumers need a little more control over the prices they pay per ride. via https://foxnews.com/tech/uber-launches-14-99-ride-pass-monthly-subscription

With Apple’s AirPower still missing in action , the Apple accessory ecosystem has been attempting to fill the need with similar products. Some of these third party products are better than others, and the new Base Station from Nomad looks to be the best of them all. The Base Station does two things. One, it wireless charges up to three mobile devices. Two, it charges an Apple Watch through an integrated Apple MFi-certified Magnetic Apple Watch charger. More so, it looks great. A padded leather surface covers three charging coils allowing the unit to recharge up to three devices — or one device laying horizontally across the pad. Each of the coils are Qi-certified and output at 7.5W. As for the Apple Watch, it can only be recharged using the included magnetic charger unless Apple activates Qi-compatibility through a software update. The Nomad Base Station is available now for $120. Don’t have an Apple Watch? The same charging base is available for $20 less and still supports up to...

from ComputerWeekly.com https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252451671/Triumph-Motorcycles-kick-starts-changes-with-high-tech-HR

Cardiff tech firm: 'We'll pay £100k, but can't get staff' 4 by happy-go-lucky | 2 comments on Hacker News.

Google CEO 'deeply sorry' about sexual harassment incidents as Alphabet exec quits Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized for the company's handling of past sexual harassment incidents in an email to employees, promising that the tech giant would take a "much harder line" on inappropriate behavior. via https://ift.tt/2Sxtplw

This is clever. Made by HyperDrive, the USB-C Hub slips onto an Apple USB-C power adapter and adds two USB 3.0 ports. That’s all. I love it and it addresses a major shortcoming of Apple’s current notebook lineup. Apple ditched full size USB ports in favor of the versatile USB-C. It makes sense on some levels. USB-C supports nearly every bus format available but there are still a bunch of devices that ship with the older USB plug. Like the iPhone. If a person walks into an Apple store and buys the latest iPhone and the latest MacBook Pro, the iPhone will need a dongle to recharge off the MacBook Pro. Why not make it this dongle? Similar devices have long been on the market but tend to use the power port to add a USB port. This one uses the power of USB-C, which results in an adapter that’s a touch smaller than the alternatives. The HyperDrive USB-C Hub comes in two flavors to match the two versions of Apple’s power adapters. The USB-C Hub for the 61W power adapter costs $39.99 while...

Why Is Steve Bannon Giving a Keynote Speech at an Academic Tech Conference? 3 by tellarin | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Satanic Temple claims Netflix show stole statue design, vows legal action Lucien Greaves, cofounder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, said the self-described religious organization is taking legal action regarding the new Netflix show "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" for what Greaves claims is copyright infringement. via https://ift.tt/2Q8xE5o