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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.
Facebook accidentally sent developer reports to app testers
While Facebook is still reeling from it's Cambridge Analytica scandal, it has been trying to clean up its image as a company that plays fast and loose with your privacy. Unfortunately, there's yet another issue. According to TechCrunch, Facebook accidentally leaked analytics reports from developers to app testers.
Apple's secretive internal training program praises Picasso, has full-time faculty
The Apple University, as the company's training courses have been called, was established by Steve Jobs in an effort to get employees acquainted with how Apple does things. Courses there are not mandatory, but getting employees to enroll is apparently never an issue, according to Brian X. Chen's investigations in the New York Times -- which is worth reading in full. It's an unsurprisingly secretive setup, and no pictures of the classrooms (or their contents) have ever surfaced. Chen talked to three employees who have taken classes, and the courses are apparently unequivocally Apple: polished and planned to the finest detail. ("Even the toilet paper in the bathrooms is really nice") It has a full-time faculty (plucked from Yale, Harvard, MIT, Pixar and more) that create and teach courses, with recent classes including one on how to blend resources from recently acquired companies into Apple. Others focus on important decisions in the company's past: the move to offer iTunes on Windows PCs is given as an example, a decision that turned out to be a big success. The university also touches heavily on design philosophy: one course shows a slide of The Bull, Picasso's famous deconstruction of a bull drawn in 1945. "You go through more iterations until you can simply deliver your message in a very concise way, and that is true to the Apple brand and everything we do," said one student. Examples of what not to do also come up. In the case of TV remotes, Google's own 78-button remote is compared unfavorably to Apples's stripped-down iteration.
The surrealistic Dragon's Dogma tech demo
What you're looking at is an internal Capcom video made by the team behind Dragon's Dogma, designed to demonstrate the ease with which the game's character creation system can make universal use of animation data, regardless of a humanoid creature's size or configuration.Aside from being an effective measure of the technology's capabilities and a surprising glimpse into the lighthearted nature of Capcom's internal development process, it's also a surreal, often hilarious and pointedly bizarre carnival sideshow of bulging eyeballs and dancing cyclopes.As you may have noticed, it doesn't really look like footage from a fairly recent game, and there are two main reasons for that: First of all, this is an internal production that was never originally intended for mass consumption. Moreover, this is an early prototype from five years ago, when development on Dragon's Dogma was first underway, and the game still went by its original codename: BBS-RPG.You may have also noticed that this video has no sound, which is more of a legal issue than an effort to enhance the production's already potent hypnagogic qualities. Since Capcom never intended for this video to be distributed to the public, it had to have its uncleared soundtrack removed before the developer could share it with us. If you're willing to have two tabs open, however, we thing we've found an elegant alternative.
How to be an Apple Genius: A look inside the manual
Gizmodo has gotten its hands on an Apple internal training manual for its retail Geniuses, and it's just as Apple-like as you'd expect it to be, complete with very structured, high level how-tos for creating and pushing the always unique Apple brand. It all makes sense, really: Apple is now the most valuable brand in the world, and Apple's Geniuses are the (lowest-paid) ambassadors of that brand, so this manual is an attempt to codify just what it is that's so special about this company. To that end, Apple's made use of strategies like empathizing with customers almost to a fault, and even using special acronyms (Approach, Probe, Present, Listen, End for "Apple," or the three Fs: Feel, Felt, Found, for how a customer's feelings should be adjusted while chatting about discovering new tech options in the store) to smooth out the whole experience. Apple's Geniuses are asked never to use words like "crash" or "hot" -- instead, computers may "stop responding" or iOS devices may be "warm" at best. Perhaps most interesting, Apple Geniuses are encouraged to "surprise" customers instead of correct them. Using the phrase "turns out" (as in, "it turns out the iPad has up to 64 GB of memory") is specifically mentioned as a way to surprise customers with Apple quality. The manual sounds like a fascinating read. At times, it can get a little robotic, especially when Apple talks about Geniuses giving feedback to each other. But it's interesting to see Apple try and codify all of the "secret sauce" it's put into its very popular brand over the years.
AT&T prepares internal systems for shared data, launch date still TBD
We've known AT&T's had shared data plans in the works for a healthy amount of time, as the GSM carrier let the cat out of the bag many seasons ago. And while Ralph de la Vega hasn't hid his company's aspirations from view, the network hasn't exactly been forthcoming about when the party is going to get started. If the above and below screenshots are any indication, however, AT&T has already added support for group data into Telegence, the internal system employees use to manage customer accounts. According to the memo seen above, Telegence has been tweaked to include a new group-level data feature node "in preparation for the launch of Shared Data." This verbiage seems to suggest the new plans are coming in the very near future, but the communication is quick to point out that the launch date has yet to be determined. Unfortunately, since the new adjustments aren't functional just yet, it could simply mean the company's beginning the first wave of crucial internal testing. Regardless, its presence in AT&T's systems is a great step forward, and a welcome one that's been a long time coming. The question is, will the new plans arrive before Verizon can push its version out to the masses? [Thanks, anonymous]
HTC Fireball getting ready to scorch Verizon's 4G lineup?
Hey, we've always said that Verizon LTE is blazing fast, so it seems appropriate to name products in its lineup accordingly. A leaked screenshot of Big Red's internal system, brought to us by Droid Life, indicates that this very well may be the case, as a new device called the HTC Fireball (ADR6410L) just popped up. Aside from its inclusion of the next-gen data speeds, nothing else is known about the gadget; heck, we don't even know for sure if it's going to have the same name (we're half-expecting it to be renamed as something Beats-related). Regardless of its name, if the screenshot above is accurate, we may soon have another quietly brilliant device hanging out next to the Rezound.
Seagate ships 7,200RPM 3TB Barracuda XT internal hard drive, we wonder what took so long
We've been hearing about Seagate's plans to offer an unencumbered 3TB hard drive since May of last year, but despite promises of a 2010 launch and the release of similarly large HDDs from companies like Western Digital and Hitachi, we're only now seeing the 3TB Barracuda XT shipping all on its own. We won't claim to have an explanation for the delay, but it's possible that the company's proprietary software -- which breaks the 2.1TB legacy OS barrier and enables this guy to function within Windows XP -- could have something to do with it. It might be tardy to the party, but the new Barracuda can definitely hold its own when stacked against the competition -- it spins at 7,200RPM, touts a 64MB cache, and plays nice with the 6Gbps SATA interface. It ain't the only 3TB fish in the sea, but at $280, it's definitely not dead in the water.
HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung i520 bring LTE gravitas to Verizon's stock-keeping systems
So if the HTC Incredible was coded as the ADR6300 in Verizon's internal systems, just what do you think an ADR6400 could signify? A pair of screenshots from a VZW employee living out a Julian Assange daydream have seemingly confirmed the common expectation that Verizon will very soon deliver its Incredible successor -- better known to you and us as the LTE-equipped HTC Thunderbolt. Aiding and abetting the HTC handset in getting the red team's LTE network started will be Samsung's SCH-i520, an Android 2.2 device equipped with that most critical of accessories, a front-facing camera. Both are now standing on the precipice of showing up for sale, those zeroes in the stock column shouldn't remain so round for much longer. [Thanks, Andrew]
New iPod touch has vibration motor (Update: No, it doesn't)
FCC pictures of the brand new iPod touch's internal tech show that the device has a vibrating motor inside of it. According to Apple, the motor will be used with FaceTime, but presumably, it'll work when any app calls for vibration. That should help for gaming -- neither the DS nor the PSP has any sort of vibration feedback, and that's a feature that has become more or less standard on game consoles. This also brings the iPod touch in line with most of what the iPhone has. Besides the cell service (obviously), the GPS, and the mute switch, the iPod touch really is, as even Steve commented at last week's event, "an iPhone without the contract." Update: According to iFixit's teardown of the iPod touch, the component identified is actually a microphone and not a vibration motor. Mac Rumors points out that Apple has updated the iPod touch's FaceTime page to remove all reference to vibration. It appears vibration continues to be an iPhone-only feature for now.
TiVo Premiere is updated and expanded, but is it ready?
It's not streaking through downtown Dallas remaking Matt & Kim videos just yet but after an uneven start the TiVo Premiere continues to evolve, this time towards something with even more capacity and (hopefully) less lockups. ZatzNotFunny mentions a new software update to version 14.1c has gone live this weekend which is intended to fix lockups some customers are experiencing with more revisions promised over the coming weeks and months to address various performance and stability issues. Forum reactions are mixed, with some dropping back to the old UI for more stability and speed but if you're living the Premiere lifestyle let us know how things are going for you. Those still on the outside looking in who haven't been scared off by the growing pains can also consider a few new larger capacity options courtesy of longtime modder/reseller WeaKnees, now ready to deliver units with up to 2TB of storage internally or even externally for those who like it like that -- you know who you are.
Sony develops 11Gbps short-range wireless intra-connection
Before you get too excited about the bandwidth number, you should know that Sony's latest wireless innovation works at a range of up to 14 millimeters. So no, it won't be replacing your WiFi antenna anytime soon, but it may well be showing up in your next television set or other bit of Sony-branded gadgetry. Working in the 30GHz to 300GHz frequency range, this is designed to replace wired communication channels inside electronic devices, with Sony claiming it will deliver "advantages such as size and cost-reduction and enhanced reliability of the final product." Basically, erecting 1mm antennae that can beam information at each other at a rate of 11Gbps turns out to be simpler and more reliable than printing ever wider data lanes into the circuit board. Makes sense to us. Full PR after the break.
Samsung's new SH-B083 drive doesn't write Blu-ray, but it kin reed gud
Say hello to Samsung's first internal Blu-ray combo drive for PCs, while the SH-B083 isn't a super fast writer like some of its classmates, it does feature 8x BD-R and BD-ROM read speeds. Also a capable 40x / 16x CD / DVD burner, if all you want to do is watch movies, this should be a considerably cheaper option to the Pioneer BDR-205 12x burner or other 8x recordable drives when it hits shelves (specifically Amazon and Newegg) in November, though exact date and price remain unspecified. Plus, it has that "chic mirror front door design" we can't believe we've lived without for so long, making the 350ms access speed a mere afterthought. This could fit nicely inside that new C-200, right? Specs follow after the break.
Leaked AT&T doc slams the Palm Pre
Need more proof that Apple (and AT&T, by proxy) is taking the Pre kind of seriously? Enter this internal document from the iPhone carrier exposing the Palm phone for what it really is -- a second-rate claptrap that is doomed to failure because of its inferior and stupid design. Among the highlights in this no-holds-barred slamfest -- similar to this Verizon / G1 hit piece -- is the comparison between WiFi (somehow the Pre has "limited WiFi access" because it can't connect for free in Starbucks), and the nasty burn which points out that the Pre is available "in black only." Ouch... Palm might want to stock up on aloe vera. In truth, though, the doc does point out some issues with the Pre that are very real, namely its lack of roaming capabilities outside of the US and an SDK which thus far won't allow for CPU-intensive apps like 3D games. It's significant that AT&T has deemed the phone worthy enough to address (internally at least), but it's also significant to see just how far the company seems to be reaching on a handful of these points. Just remember guys -- competition is a good thing.
WotLK breaks internal records at EB Games
One of our secret correspondents inside an EB Games store forwarded us this picture of an internal email sent out to the videogame retail company, saying that not only was the week of WotLK's launch the biggest sales week of the year, but it was the biggest week ever outside of last year's Christmas sales, and the biggest launch the chain has ever had. Additionally, at EB Games, Wrath was the highest presale ever, the highest single-format (which means PC/Mac only) week one sales (in just two days), and the highest day one sales of any game ever, multiformat or otherwise.Pretty incredible. EB Games isn't a small company by any means, and while we knew Wrath was big, it looks like Blizzard's second WoW expansion smashed pretty much every sequel it could in the chain, even toppling some of the console gaming records. Anyone that claimed World of Warcraft had peaked with Burning Crusade should be looking pretty foolish at this point.We'll have to see where Blizzard goes from here -- there's no doubt that one reason Wrath was so popular out of the gate was that it returned to the "core" of Warcraft III: the story of Arthas and the Scourge. Can Blizzard replicate that with another expansion, no matter what the setting?
Buffalo intros 19x DVDR burner
While the new Buffalo DVD burner can never compare to the wall-rattling speed of Samsung's Super-WriteMaster (which blazes through your pirated software at 20x when hitting DVD±R discs), the 19x offering from the Japanese peripheral manufacturer ain't too shabby. There's not too much to get excited about beyond the burner's adequately fast speeds, save for the ATAPI and SATA configurations and availability of white or black faceplates -- which are sure to be a sweet match to even the most fashionable of desktops. The drive will be available in mid-November and will run you ¥6300 (about $55) for the SATA model, and ¥6900 (or $61) for the ATAPI configuration. [Warning: read link is in Japanese][Via Akihabara News]
Toshiba says 'no comment' to HD DVD Xbox 360
Although the rumor started by Smarthouse that a non-Microsoft branded Xbox with built-in HD DVD drive sounds improbable, Stuff.tv got UK Toshiba to give a "no comment" on the matter. Despite the Stuff.tv headline saying, "Toshiba says no to new Xbox 360 HD DVD rumour," the word "comment" is actually missing between "no" and "to." Which, in essence, means we're actually right back to where we started -- with this rumor still floating out there.An HD DVD built into the Xbox 360 is always possible, but even by the original rumor's timeline, the thing wouldn't even be announced until late next year. With so much extra stuff built into it and without Microsoft branding, it sounds like a load of crazy talk. Mind you, we're getting used to crazy talk around here, so anything is possible.
Rumorang: Built-in HD DVD drive for Xbox 360
Self-described Australian "lifestyle technology guide" Smarthouse is citing "a senior Toshiba executive in Singapore" as saying that Microsoft and Toshiba are working on a new Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive. "An Xbox with a built in HD DVD drive is critical. They and we are working on it," the unnamed executive told the site, adding that the system might have Toshiba branding rather than Microsoft (Panasonic Q, anyone?). As if that weren't enough, the article also hints at the possibility of wireless networking, an HDTV tuner and and MP3 player dock for the super-system, which would at the point probably have the MSRP of a small house.This isn't the first time that rumors of an internal HD DVD drive for the 360 have leaked out, and it's just as hard to give them much credence now. The HD DVD-free system is soundly beating the Blu-ray equipped PS3 in sales and the $179 external drive is already serving the smallish segment market that wants high-def movies. Then again, with Blu-ray movies threatening to run away with the high-def movie crown and developers saying additional storage space is a must, maybe Microsoft is finally ready to make a strong move toward the format.Or maybe not. According to Smarthouse, the new device won't be announced until late 2008 or even the January 2009 CES. We're not holding our breath but we're not exactly ignoring the possibility either.
Pioneer launches BDC-S02J internal Blu-ray player / DVD writer
Pioneer's latest internal Blu-ray player / DVD writer certainly lacks a few amenities, but for those not interested in forking out for BD-Rs or messing with HD DVD, the BDC-S02J is catered specifically for you. Arriving in both black and beige color schemes, this SATA drive plays back content on single- and dual-layer Blu-ray discs, BD-REs, and all flavors of DVDs and CDs including writables. Additionally, it will come bundled with a host of software, and while pricing information is strangely absent, those in Japan can expect it to land sometime next month.[Via AkihabaraNews]
