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iOS 11 preview: Full of promise, especially on bigger screens
As always, Apple spent a considerable chunk of WWDC earlier this month hyping up iOS 11 and all of the new features it brings. Now it's your turn to take them for a spin. The first public release of the iOS 11 beta goes live today for people participating in Apple's testing program, and we've been playing with it for a few days to get a better sense of what it has to offer. Long story short, it's already shaping up to be a very valuable, very comprehensive release. In order to find out for yourself, you'll need the right hardware: an iPhone 5s or newer, an iPad mini 2 or newer or a sixth-generation iPod touch. Before you replace your iVessel's perfectly functional software with something that's still months away from being ready, keep reading for a primer on what to expect.
Nintendo swears the SNES Classic won't sell out so quickly
Nintendo's sales strategy for the NES Classic Edition was frustrating, to put it mildly. It shipped so few systems that they sold out almost immediately, and killed the product despite loads of pent-up demand. Will it learn from its mistakes now that the SNES Classic is on its way? Apparently, the answer is yes... maybe. The gaming giant has put out a statement (you can read it below) promising that it'll ship "significantly more" SNES Classics than it did last year's retro console. It's not divulging numbers (that would be spilling trade secrets), but this suggests you might not have to pre-order right away to bring one home. However, you probably don't want to get your hopes up just yet.
Samsung Pay finally works with your Discover card
Samsung Pay was supposed to work with Discover cards in 2016 (it was announced in 2015), but the year came and went without support. And that's no small problem if you like tap-to-pay purchases. While Discover isn't the biggest name in the credit business, it has over 51 million card holders. Thankfully, that conspicuous gap appears to have closed: Samsung phone owners have noticed that Discover support quietly went live in recent days. We've asked both Samsung and Discover for comment, but Samsung hasn't updated its compatibility list as of this writing. Don't be surprised if the two are waiting before making the news official.
Sony crowdsources ideas for its next PlayStation TV series
Living in television's golden age means that every company wants to film their own hour-long prestige drama for us all to obsess over. Sony is no different, although attempts to turn PlayStation into a Netflix-esque platform fizzled after Powers was axed. That's why the company is now launching the Emerging Filmmakers Program, which is asking members of the public to submit ideas for the next great TV series.
Russia threatens to ban Telegram if it doesn’t hand over data
Russia's communications regulator has demanded Telegram turn over information about the messaging app and the company behind it or risk being blocked. Founder Pavel Durov said that Telegram had also been asked to give the Russian government access to decrypt user messages, all in the name of catching terrorists.
Facebook, Twitter and others band together to fight online extremism
France and the UK aren't the only ones fighting internet hate speech. Four titans of technology: Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube, announced Monday that they are teaming up to fight extremism online and have created the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) to do so.
Vimeo axes plans for its Netflix-esque subscription service
Last November, online streaming site Vimeo revealed that it was building a YouTube Red-like video subscription service to compete with Netflix and Hulu. On Monday however, The Hollywood Reporter learned that the company has effectively killed the plan and is already in the process of liquidating the development team.
AT&T is rapidly expanding its rural wireless internet service
AT&T wasn't kidding when it said it would expand its rural wireless internet service in short order. The carrier has launched its fixed-in-place cellular access in eight more southeastern states, providing broadband to over 70,000 locations that would otherwise have poor or non-existent internet coverage. That still doesn't sound like much, but it's much larger than the Georgia-only service AT&T started with in April. It also gets the provider much closer to its goal of serving over 400,000 locations by the end of 2017.
DHS has a video game-like trainer for active shooter incidents
Today, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate announced the release of a virtual training platform for active shooter incidents. The Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, or EDGE, is a program that creates a virtual active shooter scenario through which first responders can train themselves. EDGE launches today and is free for all first responders.
Google's YouTube party app is available without an invitation
You no longer need an invitation to see whether or not Uptime, the YouTube social viewing app, lives up to the hype. Google incubator Area 120 has made the app accessible to anyone in the US with an iOS device -- sorry, there's still no Android version. The app has gone through a few upgrades since its debut, including a new home screen to help you discover videos, support for music videos and an option for finding friends through Facebook. Either way, the core concept remains the same: you can either watch videos 'live' with your friends or watch their reactions to a previous session.
Pandora's CEO might leave the company he founded
Pandora has had a busy year so far and now, there are rumors circling around co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren. According to Recode, Westergren will be stepping down from his current role. There are currently no candidates to replace him, so he'll likely remain in the CEO slot until someone new is chosen.
HMD's Nokia 6 will arrive in the US next month for $229
Like so many European acts that tried to make it big in the US, Nokia never really managed to crack the market in its original form. But HMD Global, the company that produces smartphones using the Nokia brand, is hoping that will change with the arrival of the Nokia 6. The company has announced that, a little later than expected, the handset will be available in America at the start of July. Unfortunately, there's no carrier deal or other such tie-up, and instead you'll have to purchase the device, for cash, on Amazon.
The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29th for $80
The delicious rumors are true: Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Nintendo's Twitter account, the system will be available on September 29th with 21 games built-in -- including the never-released Star Fox 2.
Amazon Echo Show review: Seeing is believing
Siri may have ushered in the era of the digital assistant, but Amazon's Echo (with Alexa) really took that concept and put it in our homes. The Echo wasn't an immediate, breakout hit -- but having Alexa around to ask questions, manage smart-home devices, play music and much more has turned out to be a pretty great thing. It's a concept Google and Apple are now chasing (to varying degrees), but Amazon isn't standing still. The $230 Echo Show is the first Echo with a touchscreen, and since it was announced, we've been wondering how much a display will really add to the Alexa experience. It depends on what you want to do with it and where you put the Echo Show in your home. But after a week with Amazon's latest, I'm convinced that yet another touchscreen in your life actually makes the Alexa experience better in a lot of ways -- and that's not to mention the special tricks the Echo Show brings.
Exceedingly difficult ‘TumbleSeed’ just got a bit easier
For those who have struggled through and given up on the exceptionally difficult rogue-like TumbleSeed (don't worry, we had a hard time too), a patch was just released that makes the game a bit easier to navigate. The team behind TumbleSeed has acknowledged the game's flaws and where they went wrong in their design, explaining the situation in a detailed blog post.
Facebook reminds you Messenger video chat exists with new effects
Facebook Messenger has had video chat capabilities for a couple of years now, and last December, it finally added group chat capabilities. Today, the company is unveiling even more features to Messenger's video chat service such as animated reactions, filters and effects to hopefully make Messenger video calling a lot more fun.
Anki's cute Cozmo robot can teach kids how to code
In addition to being an adorable robot companion, Anki's Cozmo is now getting a programming platform of its very own. Starting today, Cozmo owners will have access to "Code Lab," a visual programming platform based on MIT's popular Scratch Blocks. Basically, it breaks down all of Cozmo's functionality -- moving, speaking and even recognizing and reacting to things around it -- into blocks that kids can easily rearrange. As usual with Scratch, the idea is to get newcomers familiar with programming concepts, but it could eventually be used to build more complicated routines.
There's a deodorizing coat hanger for the anti-laundry contingent
If you're too lazy to take your clothes to the dry cleaner, well then Panasonic has the tech gadget you didn't even know you needed (and face it, you probably don't need it.) They've invented a clothes hanger, the Nanoe X, that deodorizes your clothes.
Live out your stunt driver dreams in 'Final Fantasy XV'
Final Fantasy XV's latest update isn't that Prompto spin-off episode you've been waiting for, but it does give you a new ride: the Type-D off-roader. (We'll accept the substitution.) Yes, you can finally leave the confines of Eos' roads and highways and tear up the countryside, gifted not only with monster truck tires but also a "jump" button for avoiding anything in your way and... just leaping off really tall things.
Australia wants governments to decrypt terrorists’ secure messages
This week, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand -- the "Five Eyes" alliance -- will meet in Ottawa, Canada, to discuss protecting borders and best practices for combatting terrorism. Yesterday, Australia announced they wanted to add something to the agenda: a push for tech companies to give governments more access to secure communication used by terrorists.
