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Verizon and Disney think 5G can 'transform' entertainment
Verizon has announced at CES 2019 that it's teaming up with Walt Disney Studios to bring emerging technologies, namely 5G, to media and entertainment. The partnership is designed to deliver the network's 5G connectivity to every facet of the studio's work, from production to personal consumer experiences. According to Variety, the deal between the two companies will give Disney's StudioLab the ability to tap into Verizon's next-gen wireless broadband, which offers data transferring speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.
Watch NYT's immersive stories on Samsung Gear VR
Virtual reality is proving an accommodating medium for the art of storytelling. Even beyond gaming, a diverse pool of creatives (including award-winning filmmakers) and companies are exploring this brave new world. Among them The New York Times, which became one of the first major news outlets to launch a VR push in 2015. Two years later, its app for all things virtual is now heading to the Samsung Gear VR. Owners of the headset can grab it from the Oculus Store right now. According to the Times, most users will be able to watch the films in 4K resolution.
NYT's curated news app will shut down next month
Just about two and a half years after launching its NYT Now mobile experiment at South by Southwest, the New York Times has announced it will be "officially shelving" the app. After August, NYT Now will no longer be be available for download, but many of the features have already been rolled into the main NYTimes app or the paper's other digital platforms.
Facebook's 360-degree photos invade your News Feed today
We knew they were coming, and now they're here: 360-degree photos on Facebook are rolling out on the social network starting today. The new feature spans across Android, desktop and iOS and thankfully uploading your panoramic and spherical shots doesn't sound much different from how you'd share 2D photos. In the News Feed, you'll be able to differentiate between the two thanks to a compass icon denoting what photos you can drag around to get a different perspective. Folks with a Gear VR-compatible device (Facebook owns Oculus, remember) can even check out the fancy new uploads in virtual reality.
NY Times launches VR app with Google Cardboard giveaway
The New York Times is launching a VR app, and will give a million plus subscribers a Google Cardboard VR viewer to use it. It'll also debut a VR film for the app called The Displaced, which details the struggles of three children caught in the global refugee crisis. Executive Editor Dean Baquet said the NYT "created the first critical, serious piece of journalism using virtual reality, to shed light on one of the most dire humanitarian crises of our lifetime." The film is best viewed on Cardboard, but will also be available on YouTube and smartphones via a 2D version of the app.
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.
DNS hack takes The New York Times offline (update: Twitter images were affected too)
For the second time this month, The New York Times has gone offline. This time around, the Syrian Electronic Army is likely to blame, with a Domain Name System (DNS) hack crippling the news org's online operation. The NYT's web servers are still online, however, so the publication has begun tweeting out direct IP links to recent articles. Meanwhile, Twitter itself may be vulnerable. Hackers have managed to modify some of the registration data, including the contact email address, suggesting an attack on the social site may be imminent. Update: According to a tweet from the paper's official account, it's temporarily publishing updates at news.nytco.com. Update 2: Twitter has confirmed the twimg.com domain used for images and photos was among those affected. According to the post, the original domain record has been restored and no user information was affected.
New York Times app now available for Kindle Fire tablets
All the news that's fit to print is now officially headed to a Kindle Fire screen near you. It's hard to believe that, before today, the New York Times didn't have a presence on Amazon's tablet ecosystem, but that drought is no longer. The new NYTimes app has been optimized for viewing on Kindle Fire tabs and to kick things off (and entice new digital subscribers), the Times is temporarily lifting the paywall and granting users free access to all news sections through July 31st. After that, you'll need to be a paid sub to continue with the all access pass, otherwise you'll be subject to that three articles per day limit. It's live now in the Appstore, so hurry up and download it now while the goods are free for all.
New York Times videos now exempt from paywall, free 'for the foreseeable future'
The New York Times announced this morning that its paywall is coming down from the videos section of its website, meaning that you can now enjoy more than 10 videos per month about vegetable caramelization best practices. The free access comes at the price of advertiser content, of course, which runs ahead of the videos and hocks both Microsoft wares and Acura vehicles currently. A NYT press rep told Engadget that the move to unlimited video access isn't temporary, but "never say never." We were also told that it isn't a test, and, "This is what we're doing now. In terms of when and if we'll move it back behind the gateway, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We literally have no idea. For the foreseeable future, it's free." The Grey Lady has been experimenting with its digital presence for several years now, and the publication instituted a site-wide paywall in 2011. The setup allowed readers free access to 10 pieces per month before being forced to login with a paid access account -- like so many paywalls, it can be easily gotten around using alternate web browsers, and, for a long while, by simply removing a chunk of the URL that redirected visitors to its paywall, anyone could read an unlimited amount of stories / watch unlimited videos. The paper's seen financial success in digital form as of late, reporting increased subscriber numbers and increased digital revenue alongside ever-decreasing ad sales.
Tesla vs. The Times: What one review means for the future of auto news
It's been hard to miss, this brouhaha that's been boiling over between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and The New York Times -- specifically with reporter John M. Broder. Broder published a piece over the weekend called "Stalled Out on Tesla's Electric Highway" in which he panned the Model S for inaccurate range estimates and drastically reduced range in cold weather. In fact, about the only thing he didn't hate was the tow truck driver who was ultimately dispatched to pick up him and the charge-depleted Tesla he had been driving through Connecticut. Musk, likely still stinging from an even more vitriolic 2011 takedown by Top Gear, was quick to take to Twitter and call the article "fake." He later backed that up with comprehensive data logs recorded, apparently, without Broder's knowledge. That data, at least at surface value, shows the Times piece is at best misleading -- at worst libelous. Case closed? Oh no, this is just beginning. In posting this data, and in chastising Broder's driving habits, Musk inadvertently refocused the situation onto himself. Instead of asking how the Times allowed this piece to be published, many are instead asking whether it's right for Tesla to be placing any sort of expectations on reviewers. And then, of course, there's the disconcerting Big Brother aspect of the whole case. Who's in the right? Who's in the wrong? Let's try to find out.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk calls NY Times article criticizing Model S a 'fake'
We recently had a chance to put a Tesla Model S through its paces and we had no problem getting where we were going -- and back again -- despite our testing happening in Upstate New York in the middle of a rather chilly January. The New York Times, however, had a bit of a harder time of it. Over the weekend, Times reporter John M. Broder published what can only be called a negative report on a failed trip to one of Tesla's fabled Superchargers. After a series of short charges and a series of drives in a Model S (the very same car we tested, we would add), Broder ultimately ran out of juice and was left stranded, having to tow the car from Branford, CT to the nearest Supercharger, this one in Milford -- about 25 miles away. Broder blamed the temperature and, ultimately, the car for causing the disappointment -- something Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to rebut, saying: NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake. Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn't actually charge to max & took a long detour. The Times responded (via CNBC) that the report was "completely factual" and that "Any suggestion that the account was 'fake' is, of course, flatly untrue." Musk then took to CNBC himself to talk about a "lengthy detour" Broder took through Manhattan -- something not mentioned in his post. In our own experiences, we definitely did notice a decreased indicated range immediately after turning on the car, but it quickly rose as they gradually rose to operating temperature. That said, we were never able to eke out the "indicated" range in the cold on either of our lengthy trips -- even those that didn't involve trips through Manhattan.
NYTimes for Android updated for tablets, scales for different screen sizes
First Flipboard, then an experimental iPad app, then a Windows 8 app and now, here comes the NYTimes optimized for Android tablets. That last bit says it all, as the Grey Lady's digital gurus have re-worked the application allowing all the news that's fit to print to now scale natively for different screen sizes. The update also brings with it a few minor tweaks, giving users greater control over how they receive "Breaking News" alerts, a new, quick preview window from within Top News, as well as delivering a host of the requisite bug fixes and performance enhancements. You can grab it now from the Google Play link at the source below.
How Apple's mobile devices are re-defining medicine
The New York Times examines how Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are changing the way the health industry works. Of course, a light, powerful, and simple touchscreen computer can be handy almost anywhere, but that's especially true in the field of medicine. Much of the work involves reference materials and careful measurements, and Apple's little devices are quickly becoming many doctors' first step in helping patients. From huge reference books slimmed down into easy-to-access apps and websites, to special accessories designed to measure specific patient conditions. In fact, the Times notes, some professors of medicine are cautioning their students to remember that they have more tools at their disposal than just that iPhone in their pocket. Examining and dealing directly with the patient is always a priority, obviously, and some doctors in the piece say certain tasks just call for a good old fashioned pen and paper. But Apple's iOS devices are certainly great tools to be used in the medical field, as we've seen before. Apps and accessories both, in conjunction with Apple's great computers, are just adding more and more weapons to doctors' growing arsenal of tools to do their jobs.
New York Times releases 'experimental' HTML5 iPad app, puts Twitter trends front and center
The New York Times isn't beyond a little "experimentation" -- not when it comes to iPad apps, at least. The old gray lady today is showing off its "experimental" iPad web app, an HTML5-powered reading experience available to digital subscribers with its Web + Tablet and All Digital Access packages. The app's got four ways to consume all the news that's fit to digitize, including the Trending format, which offers up the past hour's top 25 trending stories on Twitter and the more traditional Today's Paper, which recalls those days when people used to get their news from dead trees. More info can be found in the press release after the break, and if you're on an iPad, you can access the site via the source link below.
Flipboard enters content deal with the New York TImes
The New York Times announced today that it is bringing its subscription content to the popular social reader app Flipboard. Starting Thursday, June 28, subscribers to The New York Times will be able to read full articles, browse image galleries and watch videos using the Flipboard app. This is the first time all the NYT's content is available through a third-party service. Previously, the publication only made a part of its content available outside its own digital subscriptions. Denise F. Warren, general manager of The New York Times's Web site, told Brian X. Chen of NYT's Bits blog that "We realized that we have an opportunity to enable this kind of access for paying subscribers, and we thought it was something we ought to try and see how users react to it." This is a worthy addition to Flipboard, which already pulls down content from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Reader and other social news sources. This also is the second big news story for Flipboard in the recent weeks. After a two-year exclusive stint on iOS, the app debuted on Android last week.
The New York Times is coming to Flipboard Thursday
Well, it's hardly the release of a new summer blockbuster, but getting full length content from the New York Times in Flipboard is certainly going to excite news hounds that also appreciate fine UI design. A lot of content from magazines and newspapers is presented in abbreviated format in the slick app, but now Times subscribers will have unfettered access to the "paper of record's" reporting. Even non-subscribers will be able to read some of the publications articles for free, just as they can through the site. Now all you have to do is wait for the switch to be flipped on Thursday and hope that other outlets follow suit.
New York Times sees higher circulation numbers, digital paywall smiles knowingly
Given how aggressively The New York Times pushes its digital packages -- we've long since dropped our subscription yet are still bombarded with offers -- you'd hope the paper was at least seeing some results. Well, never fear: it is. A report by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) found that the Times has seen a healthy increase in circulation, with the Sunday edition selling 2,003,247 copies (up 50 percent from last year) and the weekday editions racking in an average of 1,586,757 (up 73 percent). The ABC attributes much of this gain to the NYT's addition of digital access to paper subscriptions, and we're sure the paywall, which limits non-subscribers to just ten free articles a month, has something to do with it, too.
New York Times nears half-million online subscriber mark, halves free article allowance to celebrate
The New York Times just gave you more reason to consider making the jump to a paid online subscription -- beginning in April, that free article allowance will see a 50-percent cut, from 20 monthly articles to just 10. This modification comes one year after NYTimes.com launched its infamous content paywall, and following an announcement that the publisher has signed up 454,000 digital subscribers. Paying readers will receive a 12-week subscription that they can gift to anyone on the fence about swiping for access, and smartphone and tablet app users will continue to have access to the "Top News" sections for free. You'll also be able to read articles linked from other sites on the web, including your inbox, and can access five free posts a day that appear in search engine results. Completely unfettered access will range in price from $15 to $35 per month -- you'll find full details in the PR just past the break, and at the source link below.
FAA to take 'fresh look' at gadget restrictions on flights
The only thing worse than the Terrible 10,000 Feet is the underlying sense that it's all so unnecessary. Why should using an iPad, Kindle or bag-holding alarm clock be banned during take-off and landing, even with all wireless comms switched off? Nick Bilton from the New York Times has been hounding the Federal Aviation Administration over this issue for a while, but he's suddenly received a reply other than "Just turn it off, sir." A senior official told him that the agency as decided to take a "fresh look" at the rules, not for cell phones, but for the myriad of other gadgets that can make a flight so much more peaceful and productive. Currently, airlines complain that they have to test each model of device individually, on every single plane in the fleet, and with a separate empty flight used for each test, before they're allowed to relax the rules for that model. That's why personal electronic devices remain so closely restricted, but also why there's so much room for a smarter solution -- even if there are still reams of red-tape to overcome before anything changes.
Report: data centers accounted for just 1 to 1.5 percent of electricity use last year, Google claims less than 1 percent of that
You'd think, watching companies like Apple break ground on sprawling data centers, that the number of servers powering our untethered lives was on the rise. In a different decade, you might have been right. But not this one. According to a study prepared at the request of The New York Times, the number of servers in use has declined "significantly" since 2005. That's mostly because of the financial crisis of 2008, says lead researcher Jonathan G. Koomey of Stanford University, but we also can't discount the effect of more efficient technologies. What's more, he says, servers worldwide consume less energy than you might have guessed: they accounted for somewhere between 1 and 1.5 percent of global electricity use in 2010. And while Google, the king of cloud computing, has been cagey about revealing just how many servers house its treasure trove of data, the company said that of that 1 to 1.5 percent, it accounted for less than 1 percent -- meaning, just a hundredth of a percent of all the electricity consumed last year. All told, data centers' energy consumption has risen 56 percent since 2005 -- a far cry from the EPAs 2007 prediction that this figure would double by 2010, with annual costs ballooning to $7.4 billion. Then again, this slower-than-expected growth could well be temporary. Though Koomey can't specify to what extent the financial crisis and technological advancements are to blame, he insists, broadly speaking, that we're primarily seeing fallout from the economic slowdown -- a stay of execution, of sorts, for those of us rooting for energy conservation.
