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YouTube will label videos to help European users avoid fake news
Google has launched some new tools in a bid to fight misinformation about upcoming elections in Europe. A large part of that effort is focused on YouTube, where Google will launch publisher transparency labels in Europe, showing news sources which receive government or public funding. Those were unveiled in the US back in February, but had yet to arrive in the EU. "Our goal here is to equip you with more information to help you better understand the sources of news content that you choose to watch on YouTube," the company said.
Facebook's breaking news video push begins next week
Facebook has been cutting back on breaking news in your News Feed, but the plan has been to replace it with a dedicated section of its Watch tab. The solution, in Facebook's eyes, was to pay reputable news networks for exclusive content. Now, the social network has announced that programming will kick off next week, beginning with the premiere of Fox News Update from Fox News on Monday, July 16th.
Twitter is making it easier to follow your favorite topics and events
Twitter has always been the ideal site for conversations and reactions around live events, be it a sports game, an awards show or serious breaking news. Up until today, you've been able to use the Twitter mobile apps to get notifications from specific accounts you're into, like an NBA team or a media outlet, as well as breaking news. But now, the company wants to take that one step further and make it easier for you to see the latest about events and topics you care about. You'll notice this in the form of push notifications that will be sent to your phone based on your particular interests, including who you follow and what you tweet about.
Facebook expands breaking news label to more publishers
Facebook began testing a "breaking news" label for developing stories back in November, and now the social network is expanding the option to more publishers. Starting this week, the company says 50 more outlets in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia will be privy to the tag. That's in addition to the "small group of local and national publishers" that are already using it. If all goes well, Facebook said it may offer the option to even more publishers in the future.
Facebook is testing a 'breaking news' tag for developing stories
Facebook will set a cookie to keep you logged in, but it won't set one to remember whether you want to stick with a chronological News Feed. That sort of thing makes it hard to tell at a glance how old a story from a media outlet in your Feed might be. To counter that, the social network is giving certain publications access to a "breaking" tag for their posts. The bright red tag sits below a post's image and highlights how long ago it was published. Recode writes that publishers will be able to flag a story for between 15 minutes and six hours, and that it can be used once every 24 hours.
Twitter’s ‘Happening Now’ feature groups tweets about ongoing events
Twitter is introducing a new feature to timelines that will keep you up to date on particular ongoing events. At the top of your timeline, you'll start to see a Happening Now label that will show you all of the events and current topics Twitter thinks you're interested in, which when clicked, will take you to tweets people have posted about them.
BlackBerry Z10 spotted at retailers prior to BB10 event
Looks like retailers might be jumping the gun a bit on the about-to-be-announced BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. Twitter user @bandozer spotted one at a UK Phones4U retailer and managed to snap a pic (after the break), saying that "it looks and feels good," while our own tipster forwarded us the above image that came from another store. Looks like the only thing that'll stop the numerous leaks is when RIM finally announces the darned thing -- sometime in the next hour or two. [Thanks, Anonymous]
T-Mobile chief: iPhone availability might come some time in the next three months, maybe
Getting an iPhone on the Magenta network? Not too hard -- but it'll get easier soon, according to the company's CEO. In a chat with Reuters, T-Mobile head honcho John Legere said that the network's iPhone launch was more likely to happen in the next "three to four months" than the next "six to nine." Not the clearest launch window, but one that fits comfortably within the carrier's LTE rollout and network reframing plans. It gives the network plenty of time to ditch its subsidies, too, which could help T-Mobile grow its US market share. "If the old industry structure chooses to ignore what we do," he told Reuters, "that's a potential." Legere didn't commit to a time frame there either, but a dual launch might make sense -- Magenta's iPhone customers don't seem to care much for subsidies anyway.
Nexus 4 priced at £390 by purported Carphone Warehouse in-store display placard
Oh, Carphone Warehouse -- it just can't seem to keep what it knows about the LG / Google Nexus 4 under lock and key. Just days after briefly listing the phone on its website, purported in-store displays for the yet unannounced device have leaked out to Android Authority. While essentially of the details are the same as what we saw last (1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 SoC, 8MP cam, 12-hour talk time rating, etc.), the listing reveals that the "sim-free" phone itself will sell for £390 (about $504) -- previously we'd only seen the per-month pricing at £31, which is also found here. There's no mention of that October 30th sale date this time, and it would seem unlikely now given that Google's had to indefinitely postpone its NYC-based Android event for the 29th due to hurricane Sandy. For now, you can get more details from the source link below.
The iPad mini vs. the competition: fight!
The traditional trail of inventory listings, leaked casings and internal components have teased us enough: it's finally time to get down to the nitty gritty specs, and see how Apple's latest (and daintiest) iPad shapes up to the competition. We've collected a trio of like-sized slabs to pit the device against, just for the fun of it. Read on to see how it stacks up against its peers. For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!
Apple introduces 'Fusion Drive' as a build-to-order option for the new iMac
So you want the performance of a new-fangled SSD with the extra storage of a good 'ole HDD? Apple has you covered with Fusion Drive for its new iMac. Unlike existing standalone hybrid drives the company is apparently "fusing" together a separate SSD and HDD with custom software in Mountain Lion. Better yet, the OS and all the pre-installed applications live on the SSD by default, while your documents and media reside on the HDD. This sounds similar to the software RAID functionality in OS X, but cranked to the next level. Stay tuned for details as we find out more. For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!
Intel reports Q3 earnings, revenue holds steady at $13.5 billion
Hot off the heels of a slightly disappointing Q2, mega chip-maker Intel's Q3 results are in. Good old Chipzilla managed to wrangle $13.5 billion in revenues with a net profit of $3 billion. While Intel's latest figures reflect a profit of about 5.1 percent sequentially, the company is still taking a dip year over year of around 19 percent. "Our third-quarter results reflected a continuing tough economic environment," said Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO. Happy to take progress in any form during a trying economy, the company's fourth quarter strategy will highly focus on the success of ultrabooks, phones and Intel-powered tablets. While its recent gains may be somewhat slim, last we checked, a win is a win.
ASUS PadFone 2 hands-on in Taipei (updated with video)
Well look at this! Our lucky buddies over at Engadget Chinese managed to get an early hands-on with the brand-spanking new PadFone 2 from ASUS. As we mentioned earlier, the bulkiness of the original model is totally gone and we're still blown away by the combo's new weight. But first, the phone: in our hands, it really just feels like an enlarged version of the original PadFone, especially with the ripple pattern on the back, as well as the plastic chin at the bottom along with the slightly tapered aluminum bezel. We do love the new and larger Super IPS+ screen, which is much sharper than the old PenTile Super AMOLED display, and it no doubt has better outdoor performance as well. Additionally, the Android soft keys are no longer virtual -- you can access them below the screen at any time, and we dig that. While docking the phone into or pulling it out of the PadFone Station is hardly a challenge, there's some sort of magic that keeps the phone tucked into the bay no matter how hard our pals shook the tablet upside down (please don't try this at home) -- the geared rubber grip along the two sides of the bay are somehow responsible for this. The back of the PadFone Station has a rubbery texture that's essentially identical to its predecessor's, making it just as comfortable to hold, but only time will tell how durable the coating is. Software-wise it's just as snappy on the tablet as it is on the phone, and we noticed the switch between phone mode and tablet mode is now a tad quicker as well. It'll probably be easier to see once we have our English hands-on video, so stay tuned. Update: We've finally managed to upload our hands-on video -- it's right after the break. Watch how we kept shaking the PadFone Station upside down and the phone still stayed inside its bay (again, don't do this at home, kids!). Also, we have a demo of the phone's Instant Dictionary feature. It's very handy. Update 2: We've just been informed that the magical grip mechanism in the docking bay took over two years to develop. Nice one, ASUS!
ASUS PadFone 2 vs PadFone 1... hang out!
While getting their hands dirty with the ASUS PadFone 2, our guys over at Engadget Chinese also had the chance to compare it with the OG PadFone, and they came back with a generous batch of side-by-side shots. Here you can see how the phone itself is almost just a scaled-up copy of its predecessor, while the new PadFone Station slate loses some body fat by shedding the original docking bay cover, and we're certain that the battery has become denser and lighter as well to achieve this amazing diet -- we're talking about losing just over 200g here! Also apparent is the new 13-pin dock connector (MHL plus concurrent data, display and power) at the bottom of both the phone and the tablet. For the rest, we shall let your eyes do the work in the gallery below. Enjoy!
A walk-through of the Fall of Theramore scenario from the Alliance side
The Fall of Theramore is live on European servers, so as your spy across the pond I thought I'd run it as soon as possible to bring you a review and how-to from the Alliance side. Please note that if you don't want spoilers, don't read this. This post is going to be very spoiler-heavy if you want to be surprised by Theramore's fall. Last warning! Spoilers behind the cut!
Apple EarPods hands-on
By now, you're probably familiar with Apple's latest earbuds. But are they an improvement over their arguably disposable predecessor, you ask? You bet. Still, they're not going to win out over high-end or even mid-range audio options. That's to be expected, though -- the EarPods do sound better, and, well, they cost 29 bucks and ship with all of the devices Apple announced today. The attractive white 'buds are packaged in a plastic case that's quite similar to the enclosure that Apple introduced with its previous-gen step-up set. They're very lightweight, not that you had any doubts, and appear to be durable enough. The "one size fits all" design worked well in our ears -- it wasn't a snug fit by any means, but we didn't fear that they'd fall to the ground with the slightest movement. You'll net the best performance in quieter settings, considering that they don't isolate sound like some other options on the market, and if you're a frequent air traveler or often find yourself working in noisy environments, you'll probably want to consider other options. That said, folks who don't need the absolute best or want to save up for a better solution should find these to be sufficient -- we didn't have a chance to do any in-depth testing and analysis, but expect that to come after we've had a chance to digest all of today's new gadgets. For now, you can take a closer look in the hands-on gallery just below.
Steam Big Picture beta hands-on
Been keeping up with Steam's Big Picture interface? Then you probably know it's already in beta. The 10-foot UI hopes to help Valve's content distribution portal get comfortable in front of your couch, offering gamers access to their favorite PC titles from a gamepad-friendly interface. We piped the beta out to our own living room to take a look, and weren't surprised to find a sleek attractive UI with a heap of polish. That said, we were glad we didn't leave our mouse and keyboard at the office.
Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuit
It's a big day in the world of e-books, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the government, rather than face trial -- as Apple, Macmillian and Penguin Group will do in June of 2013. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the publishers will be required to terminate their contracts with Apple within one week. Similarly, they will be required to end contracts with other e-book retailers where clauses exist that would hinder the seller's ability to set pricing. Further, the settling companies won't be able to form contracts for the next two years with e-book retailers that would hinder the seller's discretion to set pricing. During the settlement approval period, individuals and companies alike were given 60 days to weigh in on the matter, which included objections from the American Booksellers Association, the Authors Guild and Barnes & Noble. Ultimately, Judge Cote determined that arguments against the settlement were "insufficient" to block the approval.
Motorola Droid RAZR HD hands-on: a 720p Android ICS update with 2,500mAh battery life
The curtains have finally been pulled back on Motorola's Droid RAZR HD, revealing little in the way of surprise. Abysmal attempts at secrecy aside, the Verizon-bound handset pushes the line forward with an incrementally larger 4.7-inch screen, 720p display, dual-core 1.5GHz S4 CPU and, most importantly, a 2,500mAh battery to temper LTE's juice-sapping ways. So does this less-than-wafer-thin device live up to its predecessor's legacy? Follow along after the break as we deliver our first impressions.%Gallery-164426%
PvP season 11 ends Aug. 28
The title says it all -- it has been announced on Battle.net that season 11, the current PvP season, will end on Aug. 28 (Aug. 29 for the EU). That's about two weeks away (15 days if you're on EU servers), so if you want to grind out those last points of rating, you'd better get your skates on! As ever, at the end of the season, your conquest points will be converted to honor points. In the interim period between Aug. 28 (29 for EU) and Mists' arrival on Sept. 25, there will be no honor cap. Come Sept. 25, all your points over the 4,000 honor point cap will be converted to a ridiculously tiny amount of gold -- 35 copper silver per point, to be precise. So make sure you're not over the cap. Spend everything! On Aug. 28 (29 for EU), all the gear that was purchasable with conquest points becomes purchasable with honor points. Any items with rating requirements attached are no longer available for purchase. If you think you may be in the running for an achievement, it is very important not to do anything to the character you think might be eligible. Don't faction-change, don't realm-change; either of these things could wipe out your rating. Season 12 will begin approximately one week after the release of Mists of Pandaria, and in the interim period, there will be no arenas or rated battlegrounds available. Only normal battlegrounds will continue as usual.