Business, Financial & Legal - Page 71

Facebook seems to be going all-in with remote working, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying that the social networking giant has plans to "aggressively" ramp up hiring for remote workers.

The social networking company will also be taking applications for workers who want to permanently work from home, joining Facebook's current flock of 48,000 staff. An internal survey run by Facebook saw that 40% of its employees were interested in working from home, indefinitely.

Facebook says that within the next 5-10 years it will have up to 50% of its workforce working remotely. Zuckerberg told The Verge: "We're going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale". Financially, there are benefits of work-from-home (WFM), with Zuckerberg adding: "That means if you live in a location where the cost of living is dramatically lower, or the cost of labour is lower, then salaries do tend to be somewhat lower in those places".

Intel has made a killer acquisition today with the company acquiring Rivet Networks, the company behind Killer NIC networking products.

Killer-branded NICs are pretty kick ass, and can be found inside of the best laptops from the likes of Alienware, Dell, HP, and others. Any gamer will know that Killer NIC-powered gaming rigs have gaming-focused features that keep lag at a minimum, network prioritization for your games, and more.

Intel has been competing against Rivet Networks for a while now, but this now ends now that Intel owns the company and all things Killer. We should see future Intel chipsets and platforms (laptops, NUCs) with Killer-infused networking connectiviy (be it wired, or Wi-Fi).

It might not seem like it, but Disney has had a gigantic shake up internally in the last few months -- having its ex-CEO Robert Iger stepping down in February 2020, and now its head of streaming has left for TikTok.

Disney has lost its Head of Streaming to Chinese video giant TikTok (where influencers can make $1 million per post -- more on that here), with Kevin Mayer leaving as the boss of Disney's Direct to Consumer & International division. Mayer was recently passed over for the position of CEO when Iger stepped away suddenly, with now-CEO Bob Chapek replacing him.

Just as Disney+ is beginning its streaming dominance, and days away from the huge launch of HBO Max -- it loses its head of streaming to... TikTok. There's another few reasons why this is big: Mayer has been with Disney for over a decade, joining Disney in 1993 -- but left the company for Playboy.com, and then returned to Disney to run many websites for the company that eventually led him to strategic planning at Disney.

The coronavirus pandemic has most certainly changed the technology world and other industries all around the globe. Many events that would normally take place with hundreds or even thousands of people in the same location have been canceled and made digital-only. One example from Apple is it canceling its in-person WWDC event in favor of a completely digital WWDC 2020. Apple has now announced that it has purchased a virtual reality startup called NextVR.

NextVR is a startup that's focused on broadcasting major events in virtual reality. While Apple has confirmed the purchase, it hasn't said what exactly it plans to do with the company. An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

It seems like current services offered by NextVR are being shut down with all content on the company's website removed and a message that says the company is "heading in a new direction" left in its place. Apple has been pushing into augmented and mixed reality, and claims to have the world's largest AR platform with hundreds of millions of AR-enabled devices and apps on the App Store.

Ford has announced an interesting new tidbit about it's coming electric vehicle called the Mustang Mach-E. Ford says that the charging time for the electric vehicle is improved by about 30% from early estimates. The automaker says that the Mach-E can add an average of 61 miles of range with only a 10-minute charge using the Electrify America DC fast-charging stations.

The charging estimate is for the extended-range battery and rear-wheel-drive version. Ford also announced that it is expanding its FordPass Charging Network by 1000 charging stations. It's also adding an additional 5000 charge plugs for a total of more than 13,500 stations and almost 40,000 charge plugs in North America.

Ford says that the estimated average of 61 miles of range added with a 10-minute charge is an improvement of 14 miles added with a 10-minute charge over its previous estimates. Ford says that the all-wheel-drive version with the extended-range battery could add an estimated 52 miles of range with a 10-minute charge. Both versions of the vehicle are still able to go from a 10% charge to 80% charge in approximately 38 minutes on a DC fast charging station.

Twitch announced that it has developed a new avenue for keeping the community safe and healthy. The Twitch Safety Advisory Council aims to support the growth of the community moving forward. Twitch says that the Council will inform and guide decisions made at Twitch by contributing their experience, expertise, and belief in the Twitch mission of empowering communities to create together.

The Safety Advisory Council will advise on a number of topics that include:

The group is composed of both Twitch creators and online safety experts who all have a deep understanding of the Twitch network, its content, and its community. The Council has both streamers and experts who can provide an external perspective.

Chromium says that following the Better Adds Standards, it is taken steps to address ads that most people find unacceptable. Chromium Blog writes that it recently discovered that a fraction of a percent of ads consume a significant share of device resources such as battery and network data without the user knowing it. These ads, such as those that mine cryptocurrency, can drain battery life, saturate data networks, and cost users money.

To save the battery life and data plans of users, Chrome will limit the resources a display ad can use before the user interacts with the ad. When the advertisement reaches its limit, the ad frame will navigate to an error page informing the user that the ad has used too many resources. The image below is an example of what an ad removed for using too many resources will look like.

Chromium says to determine threshold limits for the unloading it extensively measured ads Chrome sees. The most egregious ads were targeted, meaning those that use more CPU or network bandwidth than 99.9% of all detected for that resource. Chrome is setting thresholds at 4 MB of network data or 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30 seconds, or 60 seconds of total CPU usage.

E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that it has filed a lawsuit accusing two companies of what it calls "widespread tech support fraud" that is targeting users of its Alexa devices. The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Robojap Technologies in Washington state and Quatic Software Solutions in Punjab, India. The lawsuit also reportedly targets several employees at both companies.

Amazon says that these companies scammed Amazon users by offering to set up Alexa on consumer-owned devices via "fraudulent websites and applications." Amazon says that the companies used "Amazon's trademarks, as well as false and misleading statements about Amazon and [the companies'] services, to divert victims from Amazon's genuine activation process and customer support."

A company spokesperson from Amazon told CNN in a statement that the company works "hard to protect our customers," noting that the "blatant misuse" of the Amazon brand to deceive unsuspecting customers setting up their new device is "appalling." Since the lawsuit has been filed, neither of the companies has responded to inquiries about the suit, according to CNN.

Sony has announced two new intelligent vision sensors, which it says are the first image sensors in the world equipped with AI processing functionality. That AI processing functionality is on the image sensor itself, enabling high-speed edge AI processing and extraction of only the necessary data when using cloud services. That sort of extraction reduces data transmission latency and minimize privacy concerns while reducing power consumption and communication costs. Sony says that the new products will expand opportunities to develop AI-equipped cameras in both retail and industrial equipment industries.

The sensors include the IMX500 1/2.3-type (7.857 mm diagonal), with approximately 12.3 effective megapixels, and the IMX501 1/2.3-type (7.857 mm diagonal) with approximately 12.3 effective megapixels. Sony began shipping samples of the IMX500 in April and will begin shipping the IMX501 in June.

Sony's new sensor products use a stack configuration consisting of a pixel chip and a logic chip. The product are the world's first image sensors to be equipped with an AI image analysis and processing functionality on the logic chip. The signal required by the pixel chip is processed via an AI on the sensor, which eliminates the need for high-performance processors or external memory.

Facebook is rolling out a new future for both the main Facebook website and Messenger in the United States. The new feature is digital avatars that are sort of like bitmoji. Similar services are offered on both Snapchat and Apple devices via Memoji stickers.

Facebook's digital avatars are intended to allow users to share feelings and interact with friends in comments on Messenger and Stories. The avatars are usable in text posts with backgrounds too. The user's Facebook gaming profile can also use the avatar. Facebook introduced the avatars in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland last year. They expanded to Europe and Canada this year and are now coming to the United States.

The digital avatars are entirely customizable, including customization for skin tone and complexion to facial features and hairstyles. Users can choose the outfits their digital avatars wear and the accessories to allow complete personalization. Facebook has said that it spent time building the feature to ensure that the avatars were able to represent the diversity of its billions of users.

One of the most anticipated accessories that Apple has launched in recent memory was the iPad Magic Keyboard, aimed at both versions of the iPad Pro. Early on, the iPad Magic Keyboard earned praise for a responsive multi-touch trackpad, backlit keyboard, and its fancy counterbalancing magnetic stand. After using the Magic Keyboard for a while, some iPad Pro users are complaining about significant issues.

The latest round of complaints comes from iPad Pro users who say that battery life has become an issue when using the iPad Magic Keyboard. According to some of the users, the battery life of the iPad drops quickly when the keyboard backlight is enabled. Some are claiming that the battery drain issue arises even if the iPad is idle and not in use.

The Magic Keyboard has no battery of its own and uses the Smart Connector on the iPad to get the power it needs to operate. Unsurprisingly, Apple doesn't offer any indication of battery life impact that could be expected when using the Magic Keyboard. That means users have no idea what normal behavior is for the device.

Instagram has announced the fifth edition of its Community Standards Enforcement report that tracks its efforts to keep the social network safe. Along with that report, Instagram is also announcing new features that go along with its effort to fight online bullying. One of the key features is giving users the ability to manage multiple unwanted interactions at once.

Instagram wrote, "We know it can feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we've been testing the ability to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments." Instagram reports that early feedback has been "encouraging," noting that the feature is particularly useful to those with large followings that want to maintain a positive environment on their account.

Enabling the feature on iOS requires users to tap on a comment and then the dotted icon in the top right corner. Users can then select Manage Comments and choose up to 25 comments to delete at once. Tapping More Options to block or restrict accounts in bulk is also available. To block or restrict accounts on Android, users press and hold on a comment, tap the dotted icon, and select Block or Restrict. Another new feature is giving users a way to highlight encouraging and positive interactions, called Pinned Comments. Instagram says it will soon begin testing Pinned Comments.

A new report is going around the claims Apple is looking to have its employees returned to the office during 2020. This is in contrast to other major technology companies that have announced plans to keep employees out of the office the remainder of the year due to coronavirus. The report, which first originated with Bloomberg, says that Apple has already begun the first stages of returning employees to work with essential workers unable to do their jobs from home already returned to the office.

Some Apple workers who have returned to the office were having issues working from home in some regions. Apple reportedly told staff that major locations will begin returning to work later this month or in June. Apple is also said that workers may return to offices globally starting in July.

However, those plans are not firm and can fluctuate according to the changing status of state and local emergency orders. Managers will inform their staff what phase of reopening they will fall under, and if they are required to be at the office daily or just for periods of time. The first group of employees expected to return the office will include those who work in data center management, software deployment, sales, and hardware testing and development.

One of the things that long sat iPhone and Android messaging apart is that Apple's iMessage has had some features that Android users didn't have. Android users did get some improvements when RCS messaging rolled out, but it wasn't exactly what many users hope for. Some Android users have spied a new Google Messages feature in the wild that many Android users will be excited about.

That feature is reactions that allow users to share Facebook -like reactions to RCS chat conversations with various emoticons. Available emoticons include a thumbs up, laughing face, surprised face, sad face, angry face, and a thumbs down icon. Apple's iMessage for iPhone users has something similar with the ability to hold down a message and select a heart icon, thumbs up icon, thumbs down, "haha" icon, "!!" icon, or "?" icon.

According to those who have seen the reactions feature live in Android Messages, accessing the reactions is done by long-pressing a message. Currently, the reactions appear to have a fallback for users with devices that don't support reactions directly on messages. The fallback looks like the image below. Reports indicate that the new reactions don't appear in the web-based Google Messages platform.

One of the coolest accessories that Apple rolled out with the updated iPad Pro models was the iPad Magic Keyboard. That keyboard magnetically attaches to the iPad Pro with versions available for the 11-inch tablet and the 12.9-inch tablet. Another of the features of that keyboard is the ability to charge the iPad Pro through the Magic Keyboard USB-C power port.

However, some users are reporting that some USB-C power adapters and cables are unable to charge the iPad Pro through the Magic Keyboard's USB-C port. MacRumors reports that multiple iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard owners are reporting issues with pass-through charging that refuses to work with third-party cables or power adapters.

One user reported that they tried three different USB-C cables, and all resulted in a "Not Charging" message displayed next to the battery icon. In that instance, the user claims that Apple Support was trying to arrange pickup of the Magic Keyboard and would send out a replacement for what was seemingly a hardware issue. MacRumors notes that it was unable to charge the iPad Pro using the Anker PowerPort Atom and Apple's official USB-C cable.

One of the most challenging things for businesses and schools around the United States and other countries during the coronavirus is getting employees and students together to work and learn. Many video chat platforms have become popular during the coronavirus pandemic, including WhatsApp, which recently gained support for 50 people on a video call. Another service has now announced that it is free to use, and is called Spatial.

The exciting thing about Spatial is that it's not your typical video chat application, it allows for virtual reality meetings. Spatial enables users to take advantage of VR or mixed-reality headsets from a variety of manufacturers as methods to meet inside virtual spaces. The company has announced a significant change today with support for web browsers on desktops.

Previously all users in a Spatial meeting were required to have VR headsets to attend. Support for web browsers on desktops, Android, and iOS means that no headset is required, and the platform is free and open to everyone. Spatial says that it had an "intense amount of demand" during coronavirus with a 1000% increase in demand for its service.

WhatsApp is working hard to keep its rapidly growing number of users happy. The desktop app for the service is currently beta testing video calling that supports up to 50 people on a single call. With WhatsApp moving to support 50 people on a call, it would be a more viable alternative to Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype.

The way the 50-person video calls would work with WhatsApp would be to transfer people into the new Facebook Messenger Rooms service that was announced not long ago. The WhatsApp menu would have a shortcut that redirects people to Facebook Messenger Rooms, where they're able to create a virtual meeting room within the Facebook service and invite users to join.

Since the video calls would be conducted in Messenger Rooms, they would support virtual backgrounds for individual participants. There's no clear indication at this time when support for up to 50 callers will exit beta and be integrated into the public version of WhatsApp Web. If all the services doing is shooting people to Messenger Rooms, it would seem the functionality is ready to roll out.

Most gadget fans like to see the folks over at iFixit tear the latest and greatest gadgets apart so you can see the inside. It's also nice to find out how repairable the devices are so if anything needs to be fixed down the road buyers know if it's possible or not. The latest product that iFixit is tearing apart is the new magic keyboard for iPad Pro.

Before iFixit jumps into a complete teardown of the keyboard, it first took apart the trackpad. The trackpad is the only part of the Magic Keyboard that's able to be taking apart without significant destruction of the keyboard. A full keyboard tear down will be coming according to the publication.

Underneath trackpad cover, there is a single button that operates on a lever system. When the trackpad is pressed near the center the user is pressing the sole button in the trackpad. That press causes contact plate in the center to be forced upward, making a click happen. When the trackpad is pressed from one of the other sides or corners, the lever system is activated, causing the contact plate in the center to be forced upward to complete the click.

Microsoft first announced the Family Safety app in March as a way for parents to protect those who matter most with both physical and digital security. The software giant is now rolling out a limited preview of the Family Safety app on iOS and Android. During the coronavirus, pandemic families around the world are both learning and working from home, with many spending more time on computers and phones trying to be sure their loved ones are safe.

The Microsoft Family Safety app allows parents to facilitate a dialogue with kids about the time they are spending on their device and the content they're viewing. The app is designed to provide transparency on where everyone is spending time online and allows the creation of flexible schedules to carve out time for tasks like online learning.

Microsoft Family Safety also allows parents to keep on top of what kids are doing when they are apart via location sharing. Microsoft says it is committed to bringing additional physical safety features in the coming months, such as safe driving, as we go back to a "new normal" to help protect the family. Some key features of the app include activity reporting. Activity reporting includes screen time, top websites visited, and terms kids are searching online. Parents will get an email summary each week outlining usage.

Google has announced updates that it has made to the Google Duo service aimed at making the application more fun and usable for families. One of the significant changes is the new family mode that allows users to doodle on video calls allowing everyone to see what they draw. The mode also supports effects and masks that will enable users on the call to be transformed into astronauts, cats, and more.

Using the new mode requires users to start a video call, tap the menu icon, and then tap Family to get started. Google says that it hid the hang up and mute buttons while using these new features to prevent accidental muting or disconnection of calls while playing. Google also reminds us that Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted.

Any one-on-one video call also gets support for masks and effects on both the Android and iOS versions of the app starting this week. Google promises to roll out more effects and masks to help people express themselves in the future. One of the most significant updates to the service is coming down the road.