Technical Doctorz

Verizon is the first major US carrier to offer one of HMD Global’s Nokia phones, launching a custom version of the Nokia 2.1 starting today. Verizon’s version, called the Nokia 2 V Prepaid, is one of the few Android Oreo Go phones sold in the US. Android Go devices are low-cost phones usually reserved for countries like China and India, and for people with limited internet connectivity. The Nokia 2 V has a basic spec list, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and 1GB of RAM. There’s a 5.5-inch HD display with two cameras, one 8MP rear camera, and a 5MP selfie camera. The phone comes in two colors, blue and silver, and its 4,000 mAh battery is bigger than most, which HMD Global says should last up to two days on standby. It sells for $70. HMD Global announced it would begin selling Nokia phones directly through North American carriers last week. Verizon isn’t quite the first to join in, though, with Cricket beginning sales of the Nokia 3.1 Plus . It costs $159.99, and runs Andro

Oral arguments will begin tomorrow for one of the most important cases in internet law history. The case will be heard in a Washington, DC courtroom, as a group of net neutrality defenders squares off with the Federal Communications Commission in a legal battle to decide the rules of the web. When the FCC, led by a Republican majority, moved in late 2017 to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules, it kicked off a fight on several fronts. There’s been some pressure on congressional lawmakers to overrule the decision, and states have moved to implement their own versions of the rules. But what may be the most likely shot at restoring net neutrality regulations will come from a petition against the FCC filed by several supporters of the dismantled rules. The case, Mozilla Corporation v. FCC , will be heard by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the court will decide whether the FCC, led by Chairman Ajit Pai, was within its rights to end the protections. Informatio

PC accessories, like mice, keyboards, and headsets, can be pricey investments, but several options from Logitech are discounted today on Amazon. Many are from Logitech’s G series of gaming accessories, though the selection includes gear that’s more subdued in design as well. The Logitech G703 wireless gaming mouse is excellent if you’re on a budget. It has rubberized sides that allow for a steady grip, optional weights for better control, a slick design, and it can even charge wirelessly with the right mouse pad. You can find it for $66.32 today instead of its usual price of $99.99. The Logitech MX Master wireless mouse is a solid option if ergonomics are important to you. According to Logitech, you’ll get about 40 days of use per charge, and you can use this mouse on practically any surface. Probably the best feature for this one is that its scroll wheel can spin freely to fluidly shift down the page or race to the bottom of a huge document. It’s just $49.99 instead of $99.99 tod

from The Verge - Teches http://bit.ly/2RycYUE

Next month’s Mobile World Congress is shaping up to be an interesting one for LG, with the South Korean company now rumored to be unveiling two handsets at the show: the LG G8 ThinQ and a second, higher-end, 5G-enabled device, possibly the LG V50 ThinQ 5G. This latter rumor comes from Korea’s ETNews , which says the LG V50 will feature a 6-inch display, 7nm Snapdragon 855 chipset with vapor-chamber cooling, and 4,000mAh battery. More importantly, says ETNews , it’ll have a 5G modem. If the V50 does land at MWC, it’ll be arriving sooner than expected. The V40 and its five cameras only launched last fall , and we weren’t expecting an update to LG’s highest-end line until the same time this year. But, speeding up the launch cadence would make sense if LG wants to keep up with Samsung, which has promised a 5G device in the first half of 2019 . And LG said it will push “5G products and smartphones” this year in its latest earnings report . A quick turnaround, though, could end up disap

Programming note: I’m on assignment tomorrow and Friday. The Interface will return on Monday. At around 2:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Facebook sent me an update about the controversial market research program revealed on Tuesday by TechCrunch . Effective immediately, the company said, the program would end on Apple devices . It also took issue with some of the language in TechCrunch ’s report: “Key facts about this market research program are being ignored,” the company said. “Despite early reports, there was nothing ‘secret’ about this; it was literally called the Facebook Research App. It wasn’t ‘spying’ as all of the people who signed up to participate went through a clear on-boarding process asking for their permission and were paid to participate. Finally, less than 5 percent of the people who chose to participate in this market research program were teens. All of them with signed parental consent forms.” Some of that, I think, is fair: it seems wrong to call a program adverti

Samsung Electronics has turned in an earnings report in line with its guidance, as happens every quarter. The difference this quarter, though, is that the guidance was unexpectedly bad , and so as predicted the company’s 10.8 trillion-won (~$9.7 billion) operating profit is down 29 percent year on year. Revenue dropped 10 percent from a year earlier to 59.27 trillion won ($53.3 billion), slightly on the high end of Samsung’s provided range. Samsung says its earnings were primarily affected by falling demand for memory chips, usually its biggest profit driver, as well as slowing smartphone shipments and increased competition for mobile displays. The company doesn’t expect demand for memory to pick up this quarter, either, and is warning of weaker full-year performance overall with essentially flat smartphone sales. The decline in the final quarter wasn’t enough to stop Samsung setting record financial results for the full 2018 year, however, and the company believes the upcoming fla

Google just disabled a private iOS app that monitored users’ iPhone usage, after it was revealed today that the app violated Apple’s distribution policies in the same way that Facebook’s usage-tracking Research app did. Called Screenwise Meter, the iOS and Android app gave users who opted into Google’s Opinion Rewards program gift cards in exchange for tracking their internet usage data. The iOS version of the app relied on Apple’s enterprise program, which allows for the distribution of apps with special privileges to be used only by a company’s employees. The app has now been disabled on iOS, though it’s still available on Google’s Play Store. A Google spokesperson told The Verge , “The Screenwise Meter iOS app should not have operated under Apple’s developer enterprise program — this was a mistake, and we apologize. We have disabled this app on iOS devices. This app is completely voluntary and always has been. We’ve been upfront with users about the way we use their data in thi

Last October, Google announced plans to shut down Google+ for consumers after a security flaw exposed users’ profile data. Shortly after, Google+ had another data leak, prompting Google to fast-track the shutdown for its social network, moving the deadline up four months to April 2019. Now, Google has formally released the timeline for how and when Google+ will go away. As early as February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities, or events. Comments generated by Google+ on external websites will be removed from Blogger by February 4th and from other sites by March 7th. All your website comments made using Google+ will be deleted starting on April 2nd. On April 2nd, all consumer Google+ content will be deleted (other than Google notes, content that it’s required to keep for legal reasons). This includes photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive as well as Google+ pages. If you want to grab your Google+ data before it’s wiped a

New York state Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation into the circumstances of Apple’s recent FaceTime bug. The bug, which allowed callers to listen and watch through a phone’s camera before a call was picked up, became public on Monday, and Apple has since disabled the relevant feature. The AG’s office will be focusing on Apple’s slow response to the bug, which was reported to the company more than a week before it became public . “This FaceTime breach is a serious threat to the security and privacy of the millions of New Yorkers who have put their trust in Apple and its products over the years,” James said in a statement. “New Yorkers shouldn’t have to choose between their private communications and their privacy rights.” The move comes just two days after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a consumer alert about the bug, warning citizens to disable FaceTime until a fix could be deployed. “The FaceTime bug is an egregious breach of privacy that puts New York

Criterion will launch its forthcoming streaming service, The Criterion Channel , on April 8th, 2019, and has opened signups for subscribers. The platform will showcase the company’s library of classic feature films, as well as short films, master classes with directors, and more. Subscriptions will run customers $10.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with Charter Subscribers getting a discounted rate of $9.99 a month / $89.99 a year for signing up before April 8th. The site says that subscribers will have access to Criterion’s entire streaming library, along with a “constantly refreshed” selection of “Hollywood, international, art-house, and independent films.” Our first Movie of the Week is MIKEY AND NICKY! Charter Subscribers can watch our full edition of Elaine May's 1976 masterpiece now alongside our special features! ️ pic.twitter.com/cJSSyQWTKA — Criterion Channel (@criterionchannl) January 30, 2019 The channel will also include its own programming, such as a Sunday spotlig

Apple could release at least two new iPads this year, including a cheaper version of the iPad mini, which hasn’t been updated since 2015, according to Bloomberg . The other upcoming iPad reportedly has a 10-inch screen with a faster processor and might be released as soon as this spring. That device would keep its Lightning port. Bloomberg also reports that an upgraded iPad Pro is planned for spring 2020 and would introduce a laser-powered 3D camera to Apple devices. Apple also seems to be focusing on the iPad for the next version of iOS, iOS 13, which is reported to include iPad-specific updates, like a new home screen and the ability to go through multiple versions of a single app, as well as improvements to file management. Earlier this week , programmer Steven Troughton-Smith uncovered references to four new iPad models in the iOS 12.2 code. He speculated that one might be a mini. MacRumors also spotted Eurasian Economic Commission Database registrations for seven new iPads

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a new dark mode in its iOS 13 update later this year. Bloomberg reports that iOS 13 will include a dark mode, which will presumably be system-wide, for “easier nighttime viewing.” Many apps have added dark modes in recent years, but many iPhone owners have been calling on Apple to introduce its own OS support, so this will be a welcome addition. It follows a dark mode that launched with macOS Mojave last year . Dark mode won’t be the only major addition to iOS 13, though: CarPlay improvements are reportedly planned, alongside a new iPad home screen. We’ve heard rumors about a redesigned home screen before, but Apple reportedly delayed introducing it with the iOS 12 update last year, favoring reliability and performance improvements instead . Bloomberg doesn’t offer up any new details on what the new iPad home screen will look like, but iOS 13 is also said to include a tab interface for apps and file management improvements. Apple is also

Apple is planning to release an iPhone that has three rear cameras in 2019, according to a new report from Bloomberg’ s Mark Gurman . The company’s current top-of-the-line iPhones, the XS and XS Max, have two cameras on the back — one of them being a portrait lens. But Android phone makers including LG and Huawei have already released triple-camera systems that allow for more creative flexibility and ultra-wide-angle shots. Apple is set to join them with the successor to the XS Max, according to Gurman, with the newest camera capturing a wider field of view. The third rear camera will also “capture more pixels so Apple software could, for example, automatically repair a video or photo to fit in a subject that may have been accidentally cut off from the initial shot.” Additionally, Apple’s Live Photos feature will be extended from three seconds to six seconds. All three 2018 iPhones are set to receive updated models for 2019, and Gurman says their designs will remain largely the same

Xbox One owners are dealing with a pretty severe Xbox Live issue today that’s making Microsoft’s console difficult to use for anything at all. Many people (just take a look at the Xbox One subreddit ) are reporting seeing a black screen shortly after their console boots up. Microsoft has tweeted that it’s aware of the “Xbox One console startup, title update, and sign-in errors” and will provide updates as it can. We are aware of reports of Xbox One console startup, title update and sign-in errors. We will keep everyone informed once we have more information to share. Thank you all for your patience. — Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) January 30, 2019 You don’t need to be alarmed that your console hardware is having problems: as far as we can tell, this is an Xbox Live issue — albeit a bad one that’s basically making the Xbox One unusable at the moment. Xbox Live servers down? Turned on Xbox, nornal start up welcoming screen, then goes to home page and instant black screen. Can hea

Microsoft unveiled a new Outlook for iOS design back in December , complete with new animations and a move away from the traditional all-white design. While beta testers have had access for more than a month, the new design is rolling out to everyone using Outlook for iOS today. The most notable change will be the immediate blue bar at the top of the app, but most of the design work is very subtle. You’ll now get prompted to set up custom swipe actions when you first use them, and there’s a new favorite folder feature to improve managing and filing of emails. Microsoft has also enabled avatars in the core inbox of Outlook for iOS, making it easier to glance at and find emails from contacts. These little improvements extend to showing your calendar inline in an email when you receive a calendar invite, or showing recent contacts and search queries in the search part of the app. As of today the rollout of the new @Outlook for iOS design is now available to all users! Thank you for

Meizu is now selling its Zero phone — its device with no ports, buttons, or holes — on Indiegogo . In typical crowdfunding fashion, Meizu has to raise at least $100,000 in order for anyone to receive the $1,299 device. The company still hasn’t posted specs beyond the fact that it’ll use the Snapdragon 845 processor. We also know that it’ll have an in-display fingerprint sensor, rely on wireless charging, support eSIM, and incorporate “in-screen sound technology” so that it doesn’t need speaker holes to play audio. The company also sold its prototype version for $2,999 on Indiegogo, but that unit has already sold out. Typically, we at The Verge will warn you about backing a crowdfunding project because if it doesn’t ship, you’ll be out the cash. That warning still stands, with the caveat that Meizu is a legitimate company, so hopefully it will be able to ship the phone if there’s enough interest. That said, we don’t know how well this phone will work, so crowdfunding participants wi

Maybe it’s because CES only happened a few weeks ago, but Amazon’s Super Bowl ad is giving me flashbacks to rows of gadgets touting Alexa in places where it didn’t belong. Amazon’s ad acknowledges that the company itself has been putting Alexa in a lot of stuff, too, including a voice-activated microwave , and that some combinations haven’t always been so successful. The commercial imagines a bunch of celebrities using Alexa with gadgets that ultimately didn’t make the cut: Forest Whitaker using an Alexa toothbrush to play podcasts that get muddled by his mouth; Harrison Ford’s dog abusing his “Alexa dog collar for dogs ” and using it to order sausages and gravy; and Broad City stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer getting shot out of an Alexa hot tub (which looks like an oversized Echo dot) by powerful jet streams. Finally, there’s the “incident,” in which twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly somehow manage to use Alexa to power on and off... the Earth? It’s silly, but at least it’s

Verizon took great pride in being first to roll out “5G” home broadband, but the company has announced that its 5G Home won’t be expanding to other cities beyond the initial four launch markets until later this year. More specifically, it’ll take until sometime in the second half of 2019. Why the wait? Verizon’s 5G Home is built upon its own, pre-standard 5G communication technology called 5G TF. It does employ some core 5G tech like millimeter wave, but Verizon’s fixed home 5G internet really felt like a rush job to get out ahead of competitors and shout “first!” T-Mobile CEO John Legere slammed it as such, and the fact that Verizon is halting 5G Home’s rollout until it can switch everything over to the industry-backed 5G NR basically underlines that. (The company had already said it would switch over the first four 5G Home cities from 5G TF to 5G NR at some point in the future.) My colleague Chaim Gartenberg wrote a great explainer on 5G Home if you want more details. For now, Ve

Apple announced today that it’s partnering with American Airlines to provide Apple Music subscribers access to the streaming app on flights, without having to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi. Apple Music customers can access their music on any American Airline domestic flight that’s equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi starting on February 1st. It’s the first time Apple Music has partnered with an airline. Subscribers will be able to stream on any device with which they use Apple Music, including PCs, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and Macs. Although it’s a convenient perk for Apple Music customers, the bigger picture is that it’s a zero-rating service that undermines competition and net neutrality principles. Offering free data for specific apps (like Apple Music) is the same controversial strategy that several states like California have banned in the past, and it’s no different from carriers offering sponsored data to third-party providers . Onboard Wi-Fi is still a developing technol

iFixit, the company that sells gadget repair kits, said today that it’s going to keep selling its iPhone battery replacement kits for $29.99 , the price that Apple charged for its official replacements in 2018. If you want to get your iPhone repaired at an Apple Store, the price now ranges from $49 to $79. The iFixit kits include everything you need to replace your iPhone battery, including tweezers, a suction handle, the battery itself, and a precision bit driver. The company is selling kits for every model between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 8 Plus. (The 4S battery kit is cheaper at $16.99.) Of course, remember that if you take your phone apart and replace the battery with unofficial parts, it voids your warranty. Apple only lowered the price of its battery replacements by $50 after it was discovered in 2017 that the company purposely slowed down older phones. Apple adjusted the price to try and make peace with users after its speed-throttling practice was outed. Now, the comp

Backers of the deal underestimated the strength of the opposition to corporate subsidies https://www.recode.net/2019/1/30/18202825/amazon-hq2-new-york-city-political-battle-de-blasio-queens from The Verge - Teches http://bit.ly/2FXpZWq

One popular criticism of Facebook and other tech platforms is that they never compensate users for their time, their data, or their contributions. Facebook is one of the richest companies in the world because of the data we hand over to it for free, the argument goes. Why doesn’t it pay up? Today we learned that Facebook has heard these criticisms — and if you’re aged 13 to 35, it would like to give you a $20 gift card. In exchange, all you have to give up is total access to all data on your phone, and also maybe screenshot your Amazon purchases and fork that over too. Josh Constine has the scoop in TechCrunch : Since 2016, Facebook has been paying users ages 13 to 35 up to $20 per month plus referral fees to sell their privacy by installing the iOS or Android “Facebook Research” app. Facebook even asked users to screenshot their Amazon order history page. The program is administered through beta testing services Applause, BetaBound and uTest to cloak Facebook’s involvement, and i