Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 600
June 9, 2021
Kabuto’s giant smart suitcase announced for Hot Vax Summer,
Smart luggage maker Kabuto is now selling a 95L Trunk with magnetically attachable Backpack that itself can double in capacity from 9L to 18L. The hard shell trunk includes a TSA-approved fingerprint lock, removable battery to charge your gadgets, and magnetic Fidlock fasteners, just like those found on the Kabuto Smart Carry-On bags launched on Kickstarter in 2019. Both bags should begin shipping by the end of summer as vaccine-fueled travel begins again.
The $629 (early bird pricing) Kabuto Trunk measures 72 x 36 x 37cm (28 x 14 x 14.5 inches) and weighs 4.7kg / 10.4lb. It can be configured with a $29 30W 10,000mAh battery for smartphones or a beefier $79, 60W, 20,000mAh battery that can also charge most USB-C laptops. The batteries can be stored in an optional $69 Pocket that magnetically attaches to the front of the Trunk and charges devices stored inside or out thanks to an external charging hub. That means you can sit down, wheel the trunk in front of you, plug in your laptop, and place it on the boxy Trunk for a mobile workspace on the go. When you check the Trunk, just pop off the Pocket to keep all your valuables (and battery) with you on the plane. The Trunk is available in black / copper or blue / silver color combinations.
The fingerprint sensor can store up to 10 fingerprints, making it suitable for sharing with family or friends. Like the Carry-On, the Trunk’s fingerprint sensor has its own dedicated replaceable battery that will warn you when the charge is getting low. Nevertheless, you’ll also get a set of slim back-up keys that can be carried in a wallet or purse. Kabuto claims the sensor is fast. I tested the sensor on the 2019 Kabuto Carry-On and that’s already very fast — equivalent to what you’d expect unlocking a modern smartphone. Assigning fingerprints is also quick, although you’ll likely need to relearn the steps should you ever share the bag as it’s not entirely intuitive.
[embedded content]The $299 (early bird pricing) Kabuto Backpack includes a USB-C hub on the side. It doubles in capacity using hidden magnets that incrementally expand the sides of the bag as pressure builds. And like the Pocket, it snaps onto the Kabuto Trunk using a magnetic Fidlock mechanism that Kabuto says can securely hold up to 10kg / 22lb. The Trunk remains upright with the help of four “tires” that Kabuto claims are “the most silent wheels ever.” The Backpack is available in silver, blue, grey, and a nude beige.
The Trunk / Backpack combo is available for $929 via early bird pricing. Kabuto bags are covered by a lifetime warranty and are expected to begin shipping in September at the tail end of Hot Vax Summer, just as the world hopefully emerges from our collective traveling funk.
A note on crowdfunding:
Crowdfunding is a chaotic field by nature: companies looking for funding tend to make big promises. According to a study run by Kickstarter in 2015, roughly 1 in 10 “successful” products that reach their funding goals fail to actually deliver rewards. Of the ones that do deliver, delays, missed deadlines, or overpromised ideas mean that there’s often disappointment in store for those products that do get done.
The best defense is to use your best judgment. Ask yourself: does the product look legitimate? Is the company making outlandish claims? Is there a working prototype? Does the company mention existing plans to manufacture and ship finished products? Has it completed a Kickstarter before?
And remember: you’re not necessarily buying a product when you back it on a crowdfunding site.
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Google will stop charging search providers for chance to be Android default in Europe, Jon Porter
The screen will now show up to 12 providers. | Image: GoogleGoogle is changing how its Android search engine choice screen works in Europe, following complaints from rivals about its pay-to-play model, the company has announced in a blog post. The selection screen appears for users when they first set up an Android device, and is designed to offer a choice of search engines after Google was hit by a record $5 billion antitrust fine in 2018. From September, the search giant is making it free for search engines to be included, and is increasing the number of services that’ll be shown on the selection screen.
Currently, the selection screen includes a choice of just four search providers. One is Google, and the other three are chosen through a sealed-bid auction process. Search providers each “state…
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Google will stop charging search providers for chance to be Android default in Europe,
Google is changing how its Android search engine choice screen works in Europe, following complaints from rivals about its pay-to-play model, the company has announced in a blog post. The selection screen appears for users when they first set up an Android device, and is designed to offer a choice of search engines after Google was hit by a record $5 billion antitrust fine in 2018. From September, the search giant is making it free for search engines to be included, and is increasing the number of services that’ll be shown on the selection screen.
Currently, the selection screen includes a choice of just four search providers. One is Google, and the other three are chosen through a sealed-bid auction process. Search providers each “state the price that they are willing to pay each time a user selects them from the choice screen” and Google then selects the three highest bidders over a minimum bid threshold, and displays them in a random order on the screen.
After the changes, which will apply to all devices sold in the European Economic Area and the UK, Google will display up to 12 providers on its search selection screen, and none will have to pay to be included. The first five will be the most popular search engines in a given country, as determined by the web analytics service StatCounter, displayed in a random order. Below these, Google will show up to seven more providers in a random order. If there are ever more than seven other providers to choose from, then Google says it’ll randomly display a selection of seven whenever the choice screen in shown.
Although providers won’t have to pay to be included, Google has detailed a number of eligibility requirements here. Providers must offer a “general search service,” which means results can’t be limited to a single topic, they need to offer a free app on Google Play, and they need to be correctly localized in a country to be visible on its selection screen.
Google is now doing what it should have done 3yr ago: a free search preference menu on Android in the EU: https://t.co/M9XmB1VuGr
However, it should be on all platforms (e.g., also desktop Chrome), accessible at all times (i.e., not just on factory reset), and in all countries. https://t.co/HcIrE8KJx3
— Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg)
Responding to the news, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg cautiously welcomed the changes, but criticized Google for not having made them three years ago. He said they should also apply to more devices and in all countries, and that the selection screen should not be limited to the first time a user sets up or factory resets an Android device. In its FAQ Google confirmed that users will only see the choice screen once per device, during setup. Last year, Weinberg criticized the auction process, and called it “fundamentally flawed.“
But in comments given to Bloomberg, EU officials welcomed the “positive” move that addressed complaints from rivals. “Users will have even more opportunities to choose an alternative,” the European Commission said.
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HBO Max update fixes the worst of its Apple TV woes,
HBO Max has updated its Apple TV app as it attempts to fix the myriad issues that have been plaguing the software since last week. The update fixes significant problems with basic features like fast-forwarding and rewinding, which had been introduced after the software switched away from using the native tvOS video player. The software update brings the native player back.
“We just released an update to our Apple TV app, restoring the native tvOS video playback experience you know and love, with more improvements to come,” HBO Max said in a tweet. “Ensuring HBO Max viewers have a quality experience is our top priority and we missed the mark here.”
We just released an update to our Apple TV app, restoring the native tvOS video playback experience you know and love, with more improvements to come. Ensuring HBO Max viewers have a quality experience is our top priority and we missed the mark here. Thank you for your patience.
— HBOMaxHelp (@HBOMaxHelp)
Although the worst of the issues appear to have been fixed, users on the HBOMax subreddit are reporting that some bugs remain after the new update. One user reports that they’re finding their subtitles keep reverting back to Spanish, for example. Thankfully, as another user has pointed out, the new update makes it easier to switch subtitles back, a process which the previous update had made significantly more difficult.
Questions remain about how such broken software was able to be released to users in the first place. Responding to a tweet from The Verge’s editor in chief Nilay Panel, HBO Max’s EVP and general manager Andy Forssell admitted that this was “the zillion dollar question” and that the company would be investigating the issue.
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HBO Max update fixes the worst of its Apple TV woes, Jon Porter
Illustration by William Joel / The VergeHBO Max has updated its Apple TV app as it attempts to fix the myriad issues that have been plaguing the software since last week. The update fixes significant problems with basic features like fast-forwarding and rewinding, which had been introduced after the software switched away from using the native tvOS video player. The software update brings the native player back.
“We just released an update to our Apple TV app, restoring the native tvOS video playback experience you know and love, with more improvements to come,” HBO Max said in a tweet. “Ensuring HBO Max viewers have a quality experience is our top priority and we missed the mark here.”
We just released an update to our Apple TV app, restoring the native tvOS video playback…
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The Vivaldi browser now has mail, calendar, and an RSS reader built-in, Mitchell Clark
Image: VivaldiVivaldi users will now be able to check their email, calendar, and RSS feeds all through the browser’s built-in tools: the 4.0 release is launching today, and includes the Vivaldi Mail beta, which promises a more private alternative to web apps made by “Big Tech” companies. Even putting any potential privacy gains aside, Vivaldi is offering something that power users may want: an all-in-one app for browsing, emailing, and planning.
The email client supports IMAP and POP accounts, so you can connect the vast majority of email services to it, and you can easily have messages open up in tabs rather than taking over the current window — handy if you’re the type who often needs to bounce between emails. The search is also, in my experience,…
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The Vivaldi browser now has mail, calendar, and an RSS reader built-in,
Vivaldi users will now be able to check their email, calendar, and RSS feeds all through the browser’s built-in tools: the 4.0 release is launching today, and includes the Vivaldi Mail beta, which promises a more private alternative to web apps made by “Big Tech” companies. Even putting any potential privacy gains aside, Vivaldi is offering something that power users may want: an all-in-one app for browsing, emailing, and planning.
The email client supports IMAP and POP accounts, so you can connect the vast majority of email services to it, and you can easily have messages open up in tabs rather than taking over the current window — handy if you’re the type who often needs to bounce between emails. The search is also, in my experience, very quick.
Having your email available as a sidebar can be handy for quickly checking if you have unread messages.The calendar and RSS reader also include most of the features I’d expect, along with a few really cool bonuses. For example, the RSS reader also supports YouTube channels, which could be handy for those who are worried about an algorithm deciding not to show a creator’s videos.
You can mix RSS feeds, YouTube videos, and even podcasts if you want. The other headline feature of this Vivaldi update is built-in translation. The browser will be able to translate entire webpages (automatically, if you want) in 50 languages as of today, but the company says it’ll be expanding to support 109 languages soon. While the Mail tools are desktop only, the translation is also available on Vivaldi for Android.
Vivaldi has also come up with a solution for those who don’t want these features taking up room in their browser: you’ll be able to choose between three layouts, which will give you a basic web browser, one with a few power-user features, or the all-in-one experience with email, calendars, and RSS. All the features will still be available, even in the “Essentials” layout, but they won’t be taking up space in the interface.
The layout options can keep you from getting overwhelmed if you don’t want all the extra features.Image: VivaldiIt could be argued that, since many people manage their email and calendars on websites, that most browsers have this functionality built-in. But for those (like myself) whose emails and calendars are spread across multiple accounts, dedicated tools are way less fussy to deal with. Vivaldi is now offering the power that comes with dedicated tools, with the convenience of not having to leave your browser.
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June 8, 2021
OnePlus to launch stripped-down Nord CE 5G this week, Sam Byford
The OnePlus Nord CE 5G. | OnePlus via TechRadarOnePlus is planning to announce a new budget smartphone called the Nord CE 5G this week. TechRadar has a render of the device straight from OnePlus itself, showing that, well, it looks quite a lot like the original OnePlus Nord.
The CE 5G, however, will be a little cut back in terms of specs. OnePlus’ product head Oliver Zhang tells TechRadar that CE stands for “Core Edition” and refers to a design philosophy where the company had a goal of “distilling the product down to the most important things.”
“You see mid-range phones on the market with very exaggerated specifications,” Zhang says. “We actively avoided some of those features and kept the things we felt would really make a difference to the daily smartphone experience, like fast…
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OnePlus to launch stripped-down Nord CE 5G this week,
OnePlus is planning to announce a new budget smartphone called the Nord CE 5G this week. TechRadar has a render of the device straight from OnePlus itself, showing that, well, it looks quite a lot like the original OnePlus Nord.
The CE 5G, however, will be a little cut back in terms of specs. OnePlus’ product head Oliver Zhang tells TechRadar that CE stands for “Core Edition” and refers to a design philosophy where the company had a goal of “distilling the product down to the most important things.”
“You see mid-range phones on the market with very exaggerated specifications,” Zhang says. “We actively avoided some of those features and kept the things we felt would really make a difference to the daily smartphone experience, like fast charging (Warp Charge 30T Plus), a 90Hz AMOLED display, or 5G.”
OnePlus itself has been guilty of these “exaggerated specifications” in the past — the original Nord, for example, had a “quad-camera” setup that included a 2-megapixel macro camera and depth sensor of dubious utility. The Nord CE 5G, on the other hand, makes do with three cameras on the back. That camera proposition, as well as the CE 5G’s processor and price, will be key to the product’s appeal.
Evleaks has posted several leaked images and a video of the Nord CE 5G, revealing some more features like a 64-megapixel main camera, 7.9mm thickness, and — unlike the original Nord — a headphone jack.
OnePlus Nord Core Edition 5G pic.twitter.com/9ovnqoXxKL
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
The full reveal is happening tomorrow, June 10th, at 10PM ET. The Nord CE 5G is being targeted at the European and Indian markets, according to TechRadar.
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Huge web outage takes Reddit, Twitch, and other big sites offline for an hour,
A huge global web outage swept across the internet this morning, taking out popular sites including Amazon, Twitch, and Reddit. The outages started at around 5:30AM ET, with a large number of sites affected. The Fastly content delivery network (CDN) was the source of the issues, which lasted for more than an hour.
Major news sites like CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Financial Times were also affected. The Verge was also down for more than an hour, forcing us to head into Google Docs to share the outage news with readers.
Vast chunks of the internet are offline, including The Verge. Until we’re back, we’re reporting to you live out of Google Docs. Here’s what we know so far about the outage: https://t.co/4b1p2qhYif
— The Verge (@verge)
The issues also affected UK government websites, so British citizens were unable to renew passports, apply for tax allowances, or obtain driving licenses during the outage.
Fastly hasn’t commented fully on the issues other than an outage message on the company’s status page. “The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented,” said Fastly at 6:44AM ET.
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