Debate
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Apple defends the App Store ahead of antitrust debates
A 16-page letter explains that without Apple's protections, the iPhone would become a security hellscape.
‘Last Word’ is an RPG about the power of debate
Last Word is the rare RPG where you battle enemies with words.
Apple News partners on a presidential debate for the first time in February
Apple isn't just offering in-depth election news -- for 2020, it'll have a degree of participation in the process. Apple News will partner on its first political debate on February 7th, when it cooperates with ABC and WMUR-TV for the eighth Democratic debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. Apple hasn't outlined just what it will do as part of its co-hosting duties (we've asked it for details), but it's safe to presume that the debate will receive priority coverage in the News app.
NLRB tells Google to remind workers they can speak freely (updated)
Google has agreed to a proposed settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to remind employees they can freely discuss workplace issues, which follows a directive from the company ordering Googlers to "avoid controversies that are disruptive to the workplace." The NLRB was responding to formal complaints claiming Google punishes people who speak out on those matters and political issues, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google's internal community guidelines discourage political discussions
Today, Google released a new set of community guidelines that bans political discussions inside the company and reminds Googlers that they are responsible for their words and will be held accountable for them. The policy change appears to be an attempt to avoid the controversies that have sprung up amongst employees, but it could be seen as a way to curb employee outcry over Google's policies.
Democratic hopeful Tulsi Gabbard sues Google over alleged censorship
Tulsi Gabbard, one of the many Democratic presidential hopefuls, is suing Google for at least $50 million. Gabbard filed a federal lawsuit against the company today, claiming that it suspended her campaign's advertising account for six hours following the first Democratic debate. Doing so, the lawsuit reportedly states, infringed on Gabbard's free speech.
Apple News debuts a guide to the 2020 Democrat hopefuls
Apple wants you to take its news service seriously. To demonstrate its potential beyond a simple headline aggregation platform, it's launched its own candidate guide ahead of the 2020 Democratic debates. The guide contains facts, biographies and candidate positions on key issues, and will be supplied with what Apple says is "timely, trusted and comprehensive" information about those taking part, via providers such as CNN, Axios and The New York Times.
IBM AI fails to beat human debating champion
After suffering defeat to AI at Go and Dota 2, the battle between man and machine was starting to look a little one-sided. But a human has finally notched up a win against our future robot overlords. Champion debater Harish Natarajan triumphed in a live showdown against IBM's Miss Debater AI at the company's Think Conference in San Francisco on Monday. The 2012 European Debate winner and IBM's black monolith exchanged quick retorts on pre-school subsidies for 25 minutes before the crowd hailed Natarajan the victor. You can watch the debate in full below.
IBM’s Project Debater is an AI that's ready to argue
A large group of journalists and IBM employees sit quietly while a black monolith (yes, like the one found in 2001: A Space Odyssey) with a display shows three animated blue balls floating in front and behind each other. The assembled humans are waiting for Project Debater to state its rebuttal. It's arguing for government-subsidized space exploration. It's parsing the four-minute opening remarks of 2016 Israeli national debate champion Noa Ovadia. It's thinking, and its reply is impressive but not always natural.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 34: Intergalactic
On this special all Samsung edition of the Engadget Podcast host Terrence O'Brien is joined by executive editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Chris Velazco. First all three will debate some of the most burning questions surrounding South Korea's biggest phone manufacturer. Should Samsung be using resources to build yet another virtual assistant? Is there anyone who wants to use their phone as a desktop? And, most importantly, can the Galaxy S8 save Samsung from itself? Then Chris Velazco will paint a picture of the event on the ground, before the crew dives deep on the finer point of the S8's design, interface and audio pedigree. Then, on The Wind Down, we discover that Dana failed to do her homework and Chris is contemplating picking up Dungeons & Dragons.
Trump made a 30-year-old Janet Jackson song a hit again
Memes and Saturday Night Live sketches have been the only bright spots coming out of this year's televised garbage fires presidential debates. Last night's final meeting between priapic Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton was no different. But rather than a mustachioed man in a red sweater asking about climate change, we got Trump interrupting Clinton, calling her a "nasty woman" at one point. As a result Spotify reports that following the debate, streams of Janet Jackson's "Nasty" have jumped 250 percent.
Did Trump pilot a TV service during the debate?
Just ahead of last night's debate, Donald Trump launched his own Facebook Live video stream featuring coverage and analysis before, during and after the event. The feed, which featured analysis and slick graphics, could be a preview of a Trump TV network rumored to be in the works. "If you're tired of biased, mainstream media reporting (otherwise known as Crooked Hillary's super PAC), tune into my Facebook Live broadcast," Trump said in a Facebook post
Amazon Alexa can answer your debate and election questions
Since your racist uncle is not a reliable source, many Americans have turned to Alexa for information about the presidential election. It's hard to say whether that's good or bad, but Amazon has taken notice and released new commands for its AI assistant ahead of the next debate. You can now ask questions about the time and channel of the debate, where it's happening, and afterwards, who won.
YouTube challenged TV in the second presidential debate (updated)
Did you choose to watch coverage of the second US presidential debate on your computer or phone instead of your TV? You're not alone... in fact, you might have plenty of good company. YouTube reports that round two of Clinton versus Trump racked up 124 million worldwide views across live streams and on-demand videos, compared to 'just' 63 million TV viewers. That's a roughly 40 percent jump over what YouTube saw in the last debate, although it's notable that there were fewer concurrent viewers -- the town hall debate saw a peak of 1.5 million versus 2 million the last time.
Memes made the presidential debate great again
There's something magical about an inside joke. A good inside joke reminds friends that no matter what happens, you'll always have that moment when you were completely in sync, united by laughter and happy tears. Memes, meanwhile, are inside jokes on a massive scale. Memes remind the people involved of happier times, when an entire country or group of disparate people shared a moment of levity, something to laugh about, something adorable to bond over. Throughout the cutthroat 2016 presidential election, citizens of the United States have been in dire need of a uniting force. And, during last night's second presidential debate, the people found their common ground in an affable, red-sweatered meme named Ken Bone.
How to watch the second US presidential debate
The second US presidential debate promises to draw even more attention than the first. On top of giving Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a chance to adjust their strategies, there's a switch to a town hall format based on public questions. And then there's both Trump's video apology and Clinton's leaked comments to banks -- how will the candidates deal with these curveballs? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to follow the drama online. We've aggregated many of the internet viewing options so that you won't have to miss a moment when the debate kicks off at 9PM Eastern.
How to watch the US vice presidential debate
In this US election, the vice presidential debate matters more than ever -- both the Democrats' Tim Kaine and the Republicans' Mike Pence have had relatively little time in the limelight beyond their home states. You may want to watch just to see where they stand, not to mention how they handle themselves on the national stage. But how to do that online? Never fear: we've rounded up the major streaming options that you'll have when the VP debate starts at 9PM Eastern.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 8: He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot
On this week's episode managing editor Dana Wollman, reviews editor Cherlynn Low and senior editor Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to discuss Elon Musk's plans to colonize Mars, racing 3D boats in Red Hook and the over-simplification of "the cyber" at the first presidential debate.
The first presidential debate broke multiple internet records
It won't shock you to hear that the first US presidential debate shattered TV viewing records -- Nielsen says the broadcast was the most-watched debate ever with an average of 84 million viewers. However, it also pushed boundaries of the internet, too. For starters, YouTube reports that Clinton-versus-Trump was the biggest political live stream "of all time," with almost 2 million concurrent viewers spread across six major news outlets. It was also one of the largest streams in the site's history, and had 14 times more live viewers than during the 2012 debate.
How to watch tonight's US presidential debate
So you're determined to watch the first of 2016's US presidential debates, but you don't subscribe to TV... or you live in a country that won't have a live broadcast. What to do? Relax. This year, there are more choices than ever for watching online, and not just in the US. We've rounded up the main internet viewing sources for Clinton versus Trump, including the kind of commentary you'll get. Whichever option you choose, you'll probably want to keep our guide to the candidates on hand when things kick off at 9PM Eastern -- the odds are that the grand speeches and spirited arguments won't answer all your technology policy questions.
