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Facebook warns users who 'interacted' with COVID-19 misinformation
Facebook will also expand its “Get the Facts” COVID-19 information center to Facebook News in the US.
D-Link brings AI-powered person detection to its home security cameras
Ahead of CES, D-Link is bringing new features to its home security cameras. Today, the company announced that its devices can now detect people and breaking glass. The added capabilities are powered by AI that runs on the edge, and D-Link says it's able to provide faster, more accurate results than it would with cloud-powered AI.
Jaguar’s ‘sensory steering wheel’ heats up to deliver notifications
Much of the technology developed for new cars has to do with safety, and that's for good reason -- in 2017, distracted driving killed 3,166 people in the US. Like other manufacturers, Jaguar Land Rover hopes it can prevent fatalities, but the way it wants to get there is unique. The company has developed a steering wheel that heats up to give drivers signals, like when to turn or that they're approaching an intersection. According to Jaguar, the "sensory steering wheel" will help drivers keep their eyes on the road.
Facebook's expanded local news strategy includes government alerts
Facebook is expanding its efforts to promote local news, and this now includes potentially vital information. The social network has started testing local alerts from both government bodies and first responders, including both notifications as well as labels in your News Feed and the Today In section. If there's a school closure or an impending natural disaster, you might find out about it before you check local news sites.
Echo alerts you to voice or text messages with a yellow light
Now that the Echo has become a handy way to place calls and send messages, wouldn't it be nice to be able to tell them apart? Amazon is about to make it a lot easier to do just that by changing how it notifies you of voice and text messages. As before, the device signals that you're receiving calls by illuminating a green rotating ring light, but it now shows any new message, whether voice or text, via a solid yellow light.
Twitter and TfL team up for instant Tube disruption alerts
From today, London's Tube and train passengers can get travel alerts sent to their phone, thanks to a partnership between Transport for London (TfL) and Twitter. In what's being described as a "world first" by the travel authority, the new service will notify travellers via a direct message if there are severe delays on their chosen line.
Facebook will soon let you turn off all Live Video notifications
Since Facebook opened up its Live Video feature to all users earlier this year, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of folks livestreaming. That's all well and good, but there's currently no way to turn off notifications when a company or friend starts to broadcast. It's particularly annoying if you follow a lot of brands or news outlets looking to take advantage of the platform. Facebook says you won't be inundated with the alerts by default for much longer, though, as the ability to turn off Live Video notifications is on the way "soon."
Google lets you hide unwanted web notifications
When you launch a Google service like YouTube or Gmail on the web, there's always a little bell icon in the corner hiding a bundle of notifications. For many people, this feed is a complete mess and full of alerts for services they rarely use. Well, now Google is making it a little easier to focus its notifications on the tools that really matter to you. As Android Police notes, it's now possible to hit the settings cog and toggle alerts for Google+, Photos and YouTube individually. Never use Google's social network? Now you can remain blissfully ignorant whenever someone adds you to a circle or gives your post a +1. Likewise, if you only care about knowing when people have replied to your YouTube comments, it's now much easier to keep those notifications front and center. At the moment only a handful of Google services are supported, but if enough people start using it, we suspect it'll only be a matter of time before the company bundles in all of its web properties.
Google adds pre-registration and alerts for Android apps
Starting with Glu's Terminator Genisys: Revolution mobile game, you can now pre-register for apps from the Play store. Now if a developer wants to drum up some interest before an app release, they can stick a placeholder page in the store where users can sign up and receive an alert on their phone when the app is actually released. This is obviously handy for users, but it can also help devs gauge interest in their apps before they're released.
Waze will tweet if there's unusual traffic in your area
Unless you live in California, it's not that often that you make an effort to specifically check the traffic conditions for your morning commute. That's probably because you'll be spending a big chunk of your time with your face buried in Twitter instead. That's why Waze thought it'd be a good idea to launch a traffic alerts program on the social network, called Unusual Traffic. The system compares current journey times with historical data and, when there's a noticeable difference, will send a tweet letting you know.
Japanese phones will soon get alerts for inbound missiles and other attacks
The Japanese get phone alerts for natural disasters, but they have more than that to worry about these days with an occasionally belligerent North Korea just a stone's throw away. Accordingly, Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency says that it will soon warn phone owners when there's a hostile missile launch, a terrorist attack or a similar human-made threat to their region. The new alerts will use the disaster technology from before, so residents won't have to worry about software upgrades when the warning system takes effect on April 1st. Locals hopefully won't ever see the system put to use, but it's good to know that it exists. [Image credit: Ignat Gorazd, Flickr]
Fantastical 2 for iPhone wants to be your all-in-one calendar and reminder app
From its humble beginnings on OS X, Fantastical's contextual input changed the way plenty of people set appointments and reminders. When it arrived on the iPhone last November, the app became the first calendar software to reach number one on the App Store. Almost a year later, and Flexibits is looking to build on that success with Fantastical 2, a $2.99 upgrade that offers a new design and plenty of iOS 7 specific features.
Cryptic tweaks Champions' alert system
Cryptic and Perfect World have patched in a significant update to Champions Online's alert system. For starters, rewards for Grab and Smash alerts have been swapped. Grabs now give XP while Smashes grant resources and a resource buff. Grab alerts will also require a level 10 character going forward, while Smashes will require a level 20 toon. This was done to prevent low-level XP seekers from signing up for something they likely won't survive. The devs have also tweaked Champions' queue structure so that "there will always be one Grab, one Burst, and one Smash available at a time." Click through the links below for more info.
Twitter announces Twitter Alerts for SMS and push notifications during emergencies
We just saw Twitter broaden its use of push notifications for tweets it thinks you might find interesting, and the social network is now also expanding their use for a more serious matter. The company has just announced a new Twitter Alerts feature, which it says will deliver "accurate information from credible organizations" during an emergency or natural disaster. To ensure you don't miss them, those alerts will be delivered via SMS in addition to a push notification on Android or iOS, and you won't be getting notifications from just anyone who wants to send them. At launch, only a hundred odd NGOs and governmental agencies in the U.S., Japan and Korea are able to send the alerts, although Twitter says it will be expanding that to include organizations in other countries. You can sign up to receive the alerts by going to an organization's Alerts setup page; just add "/alerts" at the end of its Twitter URL, or find it on Twitter's list of participating organizations.
UK government to begin testing mobile emergency alerts
UK folks could soon be made aware of local emergencies via their mobile phone after the government announced plans to test its new alert system later this year. With support from O2, Vodafone and EE, around 50,000 residents across Yorkshire, Suffolk and Glasgow will be subjected to individual tests which will assess the Cabinet Office's SMS and cell broadcast early warning systems and measure the public's response. Currently, there's no word on whether UK citizens will get to enjoy iOS support for emergency notifications, like their American and Japanese counterparts, but the Cabinet Office plans to publish its findings in early 2014 -- that's if the UK hasn't already been enveloped by a massive fog cloud. [Image credit: Sussertod, Flickr]
Crying wolf: when emergency alerts stop being effective
Yesterday, I switched off all AMBER and Emergency iPhone Alerts in Settings > Notification Center. This followed a day and a night of flash flood warnings that started at 1 AM and continued until just after noon. [Erica is in Colorado, where recent wet weather has contributed to disastrous flooding. –Ed.] In that time, I counted eight individual Emergency Alerts issued by the National Weather Service in my personal notification center. These included alerts in the middle of the night; alerts as I was in office buildings; and alerts while I was waiting for appointments or having meetings. Since AT&T pushed out its Emergency Alert upgrade to support my iPhone 4S, I have received alerts for a variety of weather situations plus that abduction one from California. I cannot point to a single alert in my history that I considered necessary to receive on a phone rather than seeing on the TV or by hearing the local tornado alarms. I cannot customize the alerts I hear. It's all on or all off for AMBER and/or emergency items. These alerts are loud, scary, intrusive and blunt. I think my alert burnout is pretty human. When people get tired of alerts that aren't relevant, they're going to shut them off. Emergency alerts by their very nature should be few, important and effective. As is, they've become the spam of disaster preparedness. And I've just sent mine to my virtual alert spam folder. We posted a how-to on turning off your emergency alerts in July. Please consider the risks and benefits before changing this setting on your phone. –Ed.
iPhone 101: Living dangerously with government alerts turned off
Given the surfeit of wild and life-threatening weather events across the USA over the past few months, it's great that the major iPhone carriers now all support the Federal system for wireless emergency alerts. These location-specific messages are broadcast by cell towers in an affected area, and provide brief messages that may help provide warning or guidance in a crisis. Verizon and Sprint both launched their capability in 2012, T-Mobile has the alerts enabled, and AT&T joined the parade last month approximately one year after the service was originally turned on. Note that emergency alert support is limited to the iPhone 4S and 5 models; neither Verizon or AT&T supports it on older handsets. (Thanks to John F. Braun for the reminder on the model restrictions.) As long as your handset is new enough and is running iOS 6.1 or later, the alerts -- which include both local weather/environmental "imminent threats" and missing-person AMBER Alerts, as well as the hypothetical Presidential announcement of an alien invasion or zombie attack -- are turned on by default. (I believe they also show up on cellular-capable iPads, but I'm not 100% certain about that.) The only problem with alerts that are on by default is that they don't have much awareness of your sleep schedule or other responsibilities, and as they deliberately use an unfamiliar alert tone, they can be quite startling... especially if a roomful of iPhones all pop an alert at once in the middle of a classroom, seminar or worship service. (I experienced this personally: flash flood warning, training class, several minor freakouts.) If, on your own recognizance and at your own risk, you should choose to turn off either the emergency or the AMBER alerts, the NY Times pointed out that it's easy enough to do (as did our own Yoni Heisler when AT&T's support kicked in). Simply go to the Settings app, tap Notifications, and swipe down to the relevant toggles at the bottom of the list. Where's the toggle for the Presidential alerts? Guess what, conspiracy theorists: they cannot be disabled, short of jailbreaking your phone. Clearly, when the time comes for us to be told where to report for our mandatory Google Glass corneal implant/PRISM uplink installation surgery, that's how we'll get the message. Now please kindly observe this brief public awareness video regarding the wireless emergency alert system. Your cooperation is much appreciated. And noted. On your permanent record. Thank you.
Google adds public alerts to Search, Now and Maps in Japan
When trouble looms, most people turn to the internet before anything else. As such, the search giant is ensuring that it's offering public alerts to those in disaster-prone regions. Following a rollout in the US last year, Google is also adding disaster warnings to its local versions of Search, Maps and Now -- using data from the Japan Meteorological Agency. At the same time, Google is teaming up with 14 Japanese prefectures and cities to make governmental data online during crises and that troubling period afterward.
Mosoro releases its Bluetooth LE sensors and SDK for VIP appcessory developers
Since we last heard about Mosoro's Lego-brick sized Bluetooth LE modules, they've changed their names, picked up another member and are now making their way to iOS app developers. The 3D-Motion's got an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, while the Enviro measures temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. New to the team is Proximity, useful for triggering location-based apps and tracking motion for creating alerts. All three rechargeable Bluetooth low energy sensors have "shake-to-wake" support, an RGB "glow-cap" for notifications and a humble programmable button. They are expected to hit retail in fall 2012, but "VIP" app developers can grab them now, as well as the SDK which simplifies iOS Bluetooth integration. Got the ideas and inclination to become one of Mosoro's "rock star app-developer partners?" Then go sign up on the website and see if you make the VIP grade.
Wireless Sensor Tags alert you to movement and temperature changes, fit on your keyring
There's plenty of sensor gear around for hobbyists to play with, but not so many polished products for the monitoring-obsessed. Cao Gadgets is attempting to fill that niche with its functionally named Wireless Sensor Tags -- small devices which monitor movement and temperature, notifying you if anything's amiss. A magnetometer registers movement by changes in its orientation, and can inform you of door openings or similar disturbances, while the temperature triggers are based on upper or lower thresholds. The $15 sensors (or $12 if you want three or more) have a battery life that should last several years depending on their setup, but there is one catch -- you also need the Tag Manager hub ($50), which plugs into your router via Ethernet. It keeps in frequent contact with any subordinates in its 200-foot range, and if after several attempts it finds one MIA, a warning can be sent in case any of your home guards have walked or fallen asleep. The tags also have inbuilt beepers which can be pinged to track down any rogue possessions they're partnered with, like your keys. A lot of thought has been put into micromanaging the tags, which are customizable through web-based, Android or iOS apps, and will send out alerts via email, Twitter, or push notifications on slates and phones (text-to-speech is available if you're too lazy to read). If you're into your data, you can also access trigger statistics from the software, complete with graphs. The home monitoring kit is available now, and instead of crashing your browser with too many embeds, we've decided to point you to the source below for the half-dozen demo vids.
