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Accudio's earbuds use an 'inner mic' to put phone calls first
True wireless earbuds are one of the hottest consumer electronics categories right now, what with big companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft all jumping in on the wireless earbud trend. That hasn't stopped smaller startups from coming up with their own spin on it however. Orfeo Soundworks, a Korean company that's been making audio hardware since 2015, is planning on its own version called Accudio. But unlike other earbuds that focus more on listening to music, these have another focus: clearer phone calls.
Facebook secretly pays users for complete access to their data
According to TechCrunch, Facebook has been paying teenagers around $20 a month to use a VPN app called "Facebook Research" that allowed the company full access to all of their phone and web activity. The app appears to be a reincarnation of Onavo Protect, a Facebook app that was pulled last year due to Apple's privacy objections. As "Facebook Research" seems to have the same features as Onavo, this would appear to be in violation of Apple's privacy policies as well. Facebook has admitted to TechCrunch that the app exists, and that its purpose was to gain insight on usage habits. The program has reportedly been live since 2016, and has been referred to as "Project Atlas" starting in mid-2018.
Jawbone is reportedly leaving consumer for clinical wearables
It's no secret that things haven't been going well at Jawbone HQ. Last year, rumors came out that the company was halting the production of all its fitness trackers, and its customer service provider dropped it for unpaid services. Now a new report by TechCrunch says the wearable maker is fully abandoning consumer wearables to shift to the creation of products and services for clinicians and health care providers.
Styr's system of health gadgets exists to sell you supplements
I'm the kind of guy who can always stand to lose a few pounds. The Styr Lab regimen seemed like a great way to do so. When I first saw it at TechCrunch's Disrupt event in San Francisco last September, I was genuinely excited to give the fitness-tracking system a try. After three months using the regimen, however, I find myself just as pudgy and unmotivated as I was beforehand. Maybe even more so.
Intel is reportedly backing away from wearables (update: it says no)
When Intel bought Basis back in 2014, there were hopes the acquisition would push the wearables firm to the next level. Sadly, things didn't go that way -- the company's first Intel-backed product had a tendency to catch fire, and was subsequently pulled from the market earlier this year. Now, any hope for a bounce back has been all but extinguished: according to a report from TechCrunch, Intel's wearable division is facing massive layoffs.
OurMine 'hackers' are targeting news sites now
OurMine has been making quite a name for itself this summer, pulling off account takeovers of several high-profile targets. Celebrities have, for the most part, been the target, with the most recent attacks being on Sony's Shuhei Yoshida and Star Trek actor William Shatner. But today, OurMine gained access to the backend of Engadget's sister news site TechCrunch, marking a significant change in target.
Get ready for ads in Facebook Messenger
If you've been chatting with businesses via Facebook Messenger, don't be too surprised if they start sending you ads in the near future. A leaked document obtained by TechCrunch apparently says that users who've voluntarily messaged a company could open themselves up to the spam as early as this April. Note the "voluntarily" bit there. From the sounds of it, Facebook is going to be working pretty hard to ensure that the incoming messages are actually welcome, lest you get annoyed and uninstall the app.
Apple pushes iOS patch to counter the dreaded 'Error 53'
As reported earlier this month by the Guardian, a number of iPhone users -- specifically those who have had their home buttons or screens repaired by third-party technicians -- have had their devices bricked due to "Error 53". This error occurs when the device doesn't recognize the replacement cable running to the home button, throwing the device into a boot loop. Apple announced on Thursday that it is releasing an update to iOS 9.2.1 to counter the issue and restore functionality.
NFL welcomes startup ideas for the future of football
Tomorrow, the biggest event in football will take place in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. But today, a group of technology entrepreneurs gathered in an auditorium at Stanford's Graduate School of Business to be involved in football's future. They were there as part of 1st and Future, a startup competition hosted jointly by TechCrunch and the NFL in order to find the best football-related tech in three areas: the home viewing experience, tech for athletes and improving the stadium of the future.
Stratos is going out of business
According to TechCrunch, the Stratos Card company is going out of business barely half a year after launching the product. The Stratos, which was meant to replace a customer's various debit, credit and loyalty cards, promised to be "100 percent compatible" with US payment systems and point of sale machines. Over the past few weeks, the company reportedly stopped replying to social media and customer service requests. What's more, they've also placed their Ann Arbor-based HQ up for sale.
Telegram founder knew ISIS was using his service before Paris attacks (updated)
Secure messaging service Telegram announced on Wednesday it had shut down 78 ISIS-related channels since the deadly attacks on Paris and Beirut, alongside a statement saying the company was "disturbed to learn that Telegram's public channels were being used by ISIS to spread their propaganda." This made the situation sound like new information to Telegram -- but that's not the case. At TechCrunch Disrupt in September, Telegram founder Pavel Durov told interviewer Mike Butcher that he knew ISIS used his app (as spotted by The Washington Post). "I don't think we are actually taking part in these activities," Durov said. "I don't think we should be guilty or feel guilty about it." The relevant conversation went down as follows:
CatFi Box is the Google Cardboard of smart cat feeders
Last year, Zillians launched a high-tech cat feeder called Bistro that'll monitor how much food and water your little feline is eating thanks to a smart built-in facial recognition camera. Since then, the company has renamed the product to the CatFi Pro, which is pretty much the same exact thing, except with a different name. But what if you don't have the $199 or so to drop on the CatFi Pro and you still want to keep tabs on kitty's diet? Well, Zillians has just come out with a less-functional but still-workable cardboard alternative called simply CatFi Box, which they showed off at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this week. Yep, all you need is a spare Android phone, a piece of cardboard and an Exacto knife to make your very own high-tech cardboard cat feeder. Think of it as Google Cardboard but for your cat. And you know, without that whole VR thing.
Makerbase knows who built your favorite website
Makerbase, a new site from Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani and former blogger Anil Dash that's being billed as the IMDb of web design, has just launched. Just as IMDb maintains archives of the people that help produce television shows and movies, Makerbase focuses on those that create the sites and tools that make the web what it is. You won't find listings of corporate stuffed shirts and legions of VPs here. Instead you can get information on the likes of Tracy Chou of Pinterest or Buster Benson from Locavore.
Uber picked up some of Bing's mapping tech and employees (update)
It turns out that Uber's desire for mapping tech didn't really stop with Nokia's Here maps. The ride-sharing platform just picked up a portion of Microsoft's Bing maps technologies and about 100 of Redmond's employees as TechCrunch tells it. The way that TC describes the deal, the employees that Uber is absorbing were responsible for putting image data into the search engine (aerial, 3D and street footage, apparently) and the folks'll likely be doing the same task at their new employer. What's that mean for you? Well, that the map display in Uber's app is probably going to get a bit more detailed now, hopefully making it easier for your driver to figure out exactly where you are. Nah, they'll still likely drive around in circles while you watch in frustration.
Arms control and free speech go to court over 3D-printed guns
Cody Wilson fundamentally altered the way we produce and distribute firearms in 2013 when his company, Defense Distributed (DD), first published the plans for a 3D-printed pistol, dubbed The Liberator, on its website. The State Department didn't take too kindly to this revelation and sent DD a letter demanding the instructions be removed as they violated a number of US Arms Export control laws. Now, two years later, Defense Distributed and the State Department are going to court over the matter in a lawsuit that potentially holds far-reaching implications for both the First and Second Amendments.
TUAW ceasing publication on February 3, 2015
We're probably the last tech site to report on our own demise, but we ask your forgiveness -- it's been a rough couple of days. Yes, TUAW will be ceasing publication this week. Expect to see our last posts sometime on Tuesday, February 3. You'll probably see some personal farewells from a number of our bloggers between now and then. We have a large, loyal following of readers and we still have the fire in us when it comes to our passion for Apple products. However, TUAW is a small cog in a big machine -- AOL -- and our niche offering did not fit in with the corporate direction for larger content providers such as Engadget and TechCrunch. The corporation is doubling down on all of the large properties, and the resources -- however meager -- being expended on sites like TUAW and Joystiq are being reallocated to fuel that big machine. Like it or not, that's the reality for any major corporation. Don't worry about the TUAW staff; our talent and passion will be put to use elsewhere, and you're sure to see our names pop up wherever there's a need for solid reporting and writing about the world's most successful company -- Apple. We had a great time bringing you the news and reviews on TUAW, and for a while, at least, those articles will be available as part of Engadget. Good luck to all of our readers, stay well, and keep in touch.
This butterfly keyboard can replace your mouse, sort of
Have you ever thought about how you might improve the standard QWERTY keyboard? Jesse Vincent has. He's a keyboard enthusiast, a rare breed of geek inexplicably obsessed with text entry devices. We found him showing of Keyboardio at TechCrunch Disrupt -- a butterfly-shaped keyboard designed to put more emphasis on the opposable thumb. In addition to general ergonomic tweaks, Vincent's design puts keys like ctrl, delete, shift and alt under the user's left and right thumbs, taking the load of peripheral toggling off of the pinky finger. There's also a new "function" button under the typist's palms, which can apply macros and modifiers to almost any key.
Uber CEO claims his company creates 50,000 new jobs every month
How fast is Uber growing? Pretty darn fast -- CEO Travis Kalanick claims the company adds tens of thousands of new drivers every month. "There are hundreds of thousands of partners connected to our system," he said at TechCrunch Disrupt this morning. "We're in the neck of 50,000 new jobs every month that are being created." Kalanick admitted he didn't have the exact number, but that's a pretty massive increase. Back in May, the company said it was adding an average of 20,000 new drivers every month. You're not alone in thinking those numbers seem a little optimistic. By comparison, the entire US added 142,000 job in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest jobs report.
Daily Roundup: 5-year-old hacks Xbox Live account, Amazon Fire TV teardown and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
TechCrunch reviews 2013 iMac
Apple doesn't love us enough to send us devices for review, nor can we afford to purchase one of every new Mac that hits the market. Fortunately, our sister site TechCrunch was able to take a close look at the 2013 iMac and did a short-but-sweet review of the top features of Apple's all-in-one desktop machine. Darrell Etherington notes that the 2013 model still uses last year's slimmer design, and that the 27-inch iMac is "no longer an absolute horror to move and reposition." He loves the Fusion Drive's ability to speed up boot times while still providing huge amounts of storage, but it's the performance of the new iMac -- outfitted with the 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7 "Haswell" CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 780M -- that made him note that "this iMac isn't one that will back down to a gaming challenge." The bottom line? "Apple still definitely makes the best all-in-one available."