Here are four essential wardrobe pieces that will make getting dressed every day super simple

Have you heard of Elizabeth Holmes? And what do you think? Brilliant and thwarted? Insane? A thief?

One thing I can’t help agreeing with her about is her approach to wardrobe. Pick an outfit, fill your closet with it, and stop wasting time worrying about what to wear.

I’m sure she cleared her closet out for the documentary people and that, like all of us, she has items that are not part of her famous uniform. But I watched the documentary about her and decided I wanted a uniform, for days when I just couldn’t be bothered to fashion crisis.

So I went shopping and I bought duplicates of the items I miss when they’re in the laundry.

I’m not scamming the tech world out of billions. I live on a normal income. So my staple pieces are all super affordable.

These Affordable and Comfortable Leggings

A great pair of comfy, flattering leggings (no pockets) for $18? (Often much lower.) This is a basic you need in triplicate. I have so many that I can reach for a pair every day of the week without ever experiencing an “I have nothing to wear” moment.

This Essential Tank

A great, washable top that covers your butt and comes in tons of colors for $13. I think that’s the description of ‘essential’ right there. Wear it alone or under a jacket or sweater, with leggings or a skirt, and you are good to go anywhere.

This Perfect Everyday Pencil Skirt

It’s hard to find a pencil skirt that’s the right mix of comfortable, washable, and not too formal. Here you go! I did all the work. And this perfection is currently $15 in some size/color combos. It never goes over $30. I tried on a dozen skirts to get here. Just don’t size up.

This Elegant and Comfy Dress

Get up. Throw on a dress. Ready. And this dress looks awesome, like you are starring in a French film involving a dashing soldier and tragedy and romance. Also? It’s $30.

Few things are more satisfying to me than one elegant line of Bash that automates hours of tedious work. As part of some recent explorations into automatically re-creating my laptop with Bash scripts (post to come!), I wanted to find a way to easily clone my GitHub-hosted repositories to a new machine. After a bit of digging around, I wrote a one-liner that did just that. Then, in the spirit of not putting all our eggs in the same basket, I wrote another one-liner to automatically create and push to GitLab-hosted backups as well. Here they are.

A Bash one-liner to clone all your GitHub repositories

Caveat: you’ll need a list of the GitHub repositories you want to clone. The good thing about that is it gives you full agency to choose just the repositories you want on your machine, instead of going in whole-hog.

You can easily clone GitHub repositories without entering your password each time by using HTTPS with your 15-minute cached credentials or, my preferred method, by connecting to GitHub with SSH. For brevity I’ll assume we’re going with the latter, and our SSH keys are set up.

Given a list of GitHub URLs in the file gh-repos.txt, like this:

git@github.com:username/first-repository.git
git@github.com:username/second-repository.git
git@github.com:username/third-repository.git

We run:

xargs -n1 git clone < gh-repos.txt

This clones all the repositories on the list into the current folder. This same one-liner works for GitLab repositories as well, if you substitute the appropriate URLs.

What’s going on here?

There are two halves to this one-liner: the input, counterintuitively on the right side, and the part that makes stuff happen, on the left. We could make the order of these parts more intuitive (maybe?) by writing the same command like this:

<gh-repos.txt xargs -n1 git clone 

To run a command for each line of our input, gh-repos.txt, we use xargs -n1. The tool xargs reads items from input and executes any commands it finds (it will echo if it doesn’t find any). By default, it assumes that items are separated by spaces; new lines also works and makes our list easier to read. The flag -n1 tells xargs to use 1 argument, or in our case, one line, per command. We build our command with git clone, which xargs then executes for each line. Ta-da.

A Bash one-liner to create and push many repositories on GitLab

GitLab, unlike GitHub, lets us do this nifty thing where we don’t have to use the website to make a new repository first. We can create a new GitLab repository from our terminal. The newly created repository defaults to being set as Private, so if we want to make it Public on GitLab, we’ll have to do that manually later.

The GitLab docs tell us to push to create a new project using git push --set-upstream, but I don’t find this to be very convenient for using GitLab as a backup. As I work with my repositories in the future, I’d like to run one command that pushes to both GitHub and GitLab without additional effort on my part.

To make this Bash one-liner work, we’ll also need a list of repository URLs for GitLab (ones that don’t exist yet). We can easily do this by copying our GitHub repository list, opening it up with Vim, and doing a search-and-replace:

cp gh-repos.txt gl-repos.txt
vim gl-repos.txt
:%s/\<github\>/gitlab/g
:wq

This produces gl-repos.txt, which looks like:

git@gitlab.com:username/first-repository.git
git@gitlab.com:username/second-repository.git
git@gitlab.com:username/third-repository.git

We can create these repositories on GitLab, add the URLs as remotes, and push our code to the new repositories by running:

awk -F'\/|(\.git)' '{system("cd ~/FULL/PATH/" $2 " && git remote set-url origin --add " $0 " && git push")}' gl-repos.txt

Hang tight and I’ll explain it; for now, take note that ~/FULL/PATH/ should be the full path to the directory containing our GitHub repositories.

We do have to make note of a couple assumptions:

1. The name of the directory on your local machine that contains the repository is the same as the name of the repository in the URL (this will be the case if it was cloned with the one-liner above);
2. Each repository is currently checked out to the branch you want pushed, ie. master.

The one-liner could be expanded to handle these assumptions, but it is the humble opinion of the author that at that point, we really ought to be writing a Bash script.

What’s going on here?

Our Bash one-liner uses each line (or URL) in the gl-repos.txt file as input. With awk, it splits off the name of the directory containing the repository on our local machine, and uses these pieces of information to build our larger command. If we were to print the output of awk, we’d see:

cd ~/FULL/PATH/first-repository && git remote set-url origin --add git@gitlab.com:username/first-repository.git && git push
cd ~/FULL/PATH/second-repository && git remote set-url origin --add git@gitlab.com:username/second-repository.git && git push
cd ~/FULL/PATH/third-repository && git remote set-url origin --add git@gitlab.com:username/third-repository.git && git push

Let’s look at how we build this command.

Splitting strings with awk

The tool awk can split input based on field separators. The default separator is a whitespace character, but we can change this by passing the -F flag. Besides single characters, we can also use a regular expression field separator. Since our repository URLs have a set format, we can grab the repository names by asking for the substring between the slash character / and the end of the URL, .git.

One way to accomplish this is with our regex \/|(\.git):

• \/ is an escaped / character;
• | means “or”, telling awk to match either expression;
• (\.git) is the capture group at the end of our URL that matches “.git”, with an escaped . character. This is a bit of a cheat, as “.git” isn’t strictly splitting anything (there’s nothing on the other side) but it’s an easy way for us to take this bit off.

Once we’ve told awk where to split, we can grab the right substring with the field operator. We refer to our fields with a $ character, then by the field’s column number. In our example, we want the second field, $2. Here’s what all the substrings look like:

1: git@gitlab.com:username
2: first-repository

To use the whole string, or in our case, the whole URL, we use the field operator $0. To write the command, we just substitute the field operators for the repository name and URL. Running this with print as we’re building it can help to make sure we’ve got all the spaces right.

awk -F'\/|(\.git)' '{print "cd ~/FULL/PATH/" $2 " && git remote set-url origin --add " $0 " && git push"}' gl-repos.txt

Running the command

We build our command inside the parenthesis of system(). By using this as the output of awk, each command will run as soon as it is built and output. The system() function creates a child process that executes our command, then returns once the command is completed. In plain English, this lets us perform the Git commands on each repository, one-by-one, without breaking from our main process in which awk is doing things with our input file. Here’s our final command again, all put together.

awk -F'\/|(\.git)' '{system("cd ~/FULL/PATH/" $2 " && git remote set-url origin --add " $0 " && git push")}' gl-repos.txt

Using our backups

By adding the GitLab URLs as remotes, we’ve simplified the process of pushing to both externally hosted repositories. If we run git remote -v in one of our repository directories, we’ll see:

origin git@github.com:username/first-repository.git (fetch)
origin git@github.com:username/first-repository.git (push)
origin git@gitlab.com:username/first-repository.git (push)

Now, simply running git push without arguments will push the current branch to both remote repositories.

We should also note that git pull will generally only try to pull from the remote repository you originally cloned from (the URL marked (fetch) in our example above). Pulling from multiple Git repositories at the same time is possible, but complicated, and beyond the scope of this post. Here’s an explanation of pushing and pulling to multiple remotes to help get you started, if you’re curious. The Git documentation on remotes may also be helpful.

To elaborate on the succinctness of Bash one-liners

Bash one-liners, when understood, can be fun and handy shortcuts. At the very least, being aware of tools like xargs and awk can help to automate and alleviate a lot of tediousness in our work. However, there are some downsides.

In terms of an easy-to-understand, maintainable, and approachable tool, Bash one-liners suck. They’re usually more complicated to write than a Bash script using if or while loops, and certainly more complicated to read. It’s likely that when we write them, we’ll miss a single quote or closing parenthesis somewhere; and as I hope this post demonstrates, they can take quite a bit of explaining, too. So why use them?

Imagine reading a recipe for baking a cake, step by step. You understand the methods and ingredients, and gather your supplies. Then, as you think about it, you begin to realize that if you just throw all the ingredients at the oven in precisely the right order, a cake will instantly materialize. You try it, and it works!

That would be pretty satisfying, wouldn’t it?

A business graduate from the University of Toronto Scarborough came up a start-up to introduce electric scooters for the Canadian market.

“I want to provide a reasonable product to the market that people actually need and can use in a safe way,” says Richard Cao, the mastermind behind the said company called Roll Technologies Inc (Roll).

He revealed that the idea of bringing scooters to Canada also came from his father’s manufacturing ties with many American scooter companies.

With a team of six, Roll now has an official website and apps for Android and iOS. It will deploy a fleet of 200 electric scooters and 50 electric bikes in Kelowna, B.C. in September after reaching a deal with the local government.

“E-scooters are a popular and effective form of shared mobility — and one that provides a green solution to a common, urban transportation problem,” says Cao.

However, while many scooter programs popped up in the United States in 2017, they have resulted in numerous injuries and deaths due to factors in safety practices and scooter designs.

A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that around 20 out of 100,000 users injured themselves during a trip using scooters. Around half of those wounded riders also suffered from head injuries. On top of that, one-third of users hurt themselves on their first ride.

To prevent harm caused by design flaws and insufficient safety practices, Roll uses wider and heavier scooters with larger wheels to ensure a higher level of stability and better performance on uneven pavement. The yellow-themed platform also employs a mandatory helmet policy and has plans to launch a free helmet program. Furthermore, Roll limits the speed for newcomers to reduce chances of getting into accidents.

As to environmental sustainability, Cao says the team will focus more on repairing its fleet rather than replacing them.

“It doesn’t cost you too much to do these features, it only costs a little bit of thinking and education, but the reason those companies are not doing it is because they seem like they don’t care,” Cao says.

“They’re expanding the market and that’s the only thing that matters to them, but we want to do it differently, we actually care about safety.”

Source: University of Toronto

The post U of T alumni establishes startup to bring electric scooters to Canada appeared first on MobileSyrup.

A simple rule, if a community question goes unanswered for 24 hours (or 48 hours in smaller communities) it should be escalated.

Why not set-up a simple mailing list which all superusers are subscribed to. Any questions which are not answered within 24/48 hours are pushed to the list (in a digest) for your expert members to answer.

If they’re still not answered within 48 hours, have another list which escalates the question to customer support (because some questions require trained staff with access to a user’s account to answer).

If you’re going to take the monumental effort of creating a community where members can ask questions, take the significantly smaller effort of designing a system to guarantee they get answers to those questions.

Dai Barnes was my partner in crime. We’d posse up, steal some horses, perhaps rob a bank, and then have a dramatic shoot-out with the law. All the while on PS4 voice chat.

Not only would we talk about how much of a great game Red Dead Redemption 2 is, but also life, the world, and everything. Dai would swear like a sailor. We’d laugh. We’d tell each other stuff we probably wouldn’t have shared with other people.

Men don’t really call one another up and just ‘have a chat’, which is one of the reasons why I found recording the TIDE podcast with Dai so amazing. We recorded TIDE for just over four years, from March 2015 until this June. It was just like having a chat with a mate while drinking whisky, that just happened to also be a podcast.

TIDE didn’t come from nowhere. Dai and I met in October 2014 in a Newcastle coffee shop when he was up for an event. I hadn’t seen him for a few years, and had a actually forgotten he went barefoot. We talked about how we missed the good old days of EdTechRoundUp, which was between about 2007 and 2011.

Dai was a bit of an enigma. At the same time as there being layers and layers to him that you’d peel back as conversations unfolded, he also wore his heart on his sleeve. I’ve never known anyone like him. He was fiercely loyal, but (I’ve learned) also kept his friendship groups separate.

He was around a decade older than me, but it didn’t feel like that at all. Dai had such a youthful exuberance about him and I’ve never met anyone who had such an affinity with kids. It really was his mission in life to be the best educator he could possibly be.

If there’s anything that Dai’s taught me over the years, and I feel like he’s taught me a lot, it’s that there’s nothing so important as human relationships. He also taught me a healthy dose of pragmatism gets shit done. And finally, knowing a little of his personal life, he demonstrated how to keep it all together and show courage under fire. What a guy.

I miss him.

Dai Barnes passed away suddenly in his sleep after a camping trip with friends in Idaho, USA on the night of Thursday 1st / Friday 2nd August 2019.

Ways to remember Dai:

1. Write a blog post (see Christian, Tim, Aaron), compose a poem, record a song, or paint a picture. You could share using the #RIPDai hashtag on Twitter.
2. Contribute to the #barefootfordai hashtag on Twitter (and Flipgrid)
3. A few of us a planning a memorial episode of TIDE for later this month for which we’ll be taking audio contributions. Whether you knew Dai well or fleetingly, please have a think about what you could say, and we’ll feature your contributions.

Finally, I’d like to thank Amy Burvall and Eylan Ezekiel for their love, support, and organisational skills. Also, the edtech community, whose outpouring of affection for Dai has been touching.

Please message Amy, Eylan, or me for Dai’s parents’ address should you wish to send something. I believe they are collecting tweets and other online contributions into a book.

CarPlay fascinates me because it’s a relatively rare example of a successful Apple software product that isn’t tightly integrated with the company’s hardware. Of course, CarPlay runs from an iPhone, but it also relies on automaker media systems to deliver its experience to users in their cars. This lack of integration shows in cars with slower media systems; however, even when automakers’ hardware provides a subpar experience, CarPlay’s simplified but familiar interface and access to content already on users’ iPhones is superior. So much so in fact that Apple says CarPlay has managed to capture 90% of the new car market in the US and 75% worldwide.

I first tried CarPlay three years ago, when I leased a Honda Accord. As I wrote then, Honda’s entertainment system was slow, but the experience was nonetheless transformative. Easy access to the music and podcasts I love, multiple mapping options, and access to hands-free messaging all played a big part in winning me over.

When my lease was up earlier this year, CarPlay support was at the top of the list of must-have features when we began looking for a new car. We wound up leasing a Nissan Altima, which has a faster entertainment system, larger touchscreen, and better hardware button support for navigating CarPlay’s UI. The hardware differences took a system I already loved to a new level by reducing past friction and frustrations even though the underlying software hadn’t changed.

Just a few weeks after we brought the Altima home though, Apple announced that it would update CarPlay with the release of iOS 13 this fall. In a jam-packed keynote, CarPlay got very little stage time, but I was immediately intrigued by the scope of the announcement. CarPlay hasn’t changed much since it was introduced in 2014, but with iOS 13, iPhone users can look forward to not only significant improvements in its design, but a new app and other features that make this the biggest leap forward for CarPlay to date.

Setup and Settings

Setting up CarPlay in iOS 12 (left) and iOS 13 (middle and right).

Activating CarPlay is accomplished in the iOS Settings app. Since Carplay’s introduction, after you connected your car to your iPhone in Settings → General → CarPlay, you could delete apps and rearrange them with drag and drop using a virtual CarPlay interface on your iPhone. The interface was intuitive and easy to use, but required swiping back and forth between CarPlay screens as more and more app developers added CarPlay support.

With iOS 13, instead of a virtual CarPlay UI, CarPlay’s settings include a ‘Customize’ buttonthat takes you to a screen that lets you delete and rearrange apps from a list reminiscent of what you see when editing your iPhone’s Today widgets. The new interface isn’t a one-to-one replication of CarPlay on your iPhone, but by using the iPhone’s screen space better, setting up CarPlay to your liking is faster now.

CarPlay’s Settings app.

CarPlay has its own updated Settings app too. When you tap on Settings in CarPlay, you’ll find four ways to change how CarPlay behaves. The first is Do Not Disturb While Driving. Before iOS 13, Do Not Disturb could be activated when you connected to your car via Bluetooth or when driving was detected. With the new iOS 13 CarPlay setting turned on, Do Not Disturb is also activated as soon as your iPhone is connected to your car using CarPlay.

CarPlay sends an automatic response when Do Not Disturb is turned on that can be overridden in some circumstances.

Do Not Disturb’s behavior depends on how you have the feature set up in the Settings app on your iPhone. For instance, I have it set up to allow contacts marked as favorites to break through Do Not Disturb. With the setting turned on in CarPlay too, people labeled as favorites who text me while I’m driving will get a response that I’m unavailable until I stop, but they can bypass the feature if necessary by responding with ‘urgent.’

CarPlay’s light and dark modes.

The next control governs light and dark mode. The two options are ‘Automatic’ and ‘Always Dark.’ Automatic changes between light and dark mode depending on the level of light detected in your car by your iPhone’s ambient light sensor. Light mode is new with iOS 13, and although I can see it being a good option in bright sunlight, I find it too bright for my tastes. I can also see why it’s not an option when it’s dark outside. Light mode is so bright that it would be a distraction to drivers. Instead, I’ve set CarPlay to Always Dark, which renders the entire interface in muted tones.

The Dashboard UI with Siri suggestions turned on and off.

From Settings, you can also turn off Siri suggestions, which appear in the new Dashboard feature that I’ll cover further below. I’ve found Siri suggestions to be valuable and have left them on, but one benefit of turning them off is that it frees up space for CarPlay to show more ‘Now Playing’ information in the Dashboard. Instead of just artwork, play/pause, and skip forward, you gain track and album information, as well as a skip back button.

The final setting is another space-saving option called ‘Show Album Art.’ The setting is turned on by default and displays album art to the right of track information in CarPlay’s Now Playing app. However, because the layout reduces the available horizontal space, track information is sometimes truncated. This is an especially frequent issue with podcast titles, which are often longer than a song’s title. Add the fact that titles don’t scroll to reveal the full name of a song, podcast, or audiobook, and there’s an argument for turning off artwork, though, on balance, I prefer to see the artwork.¹

Design

The Dashboard UI.

Apple’s CarPlay introduces a new view called the Dashboard. Previously in my car, CarPlay-compatible apps were arranged in a 2x4 grid of icons organized on multiple screens which I could swipe between just like on an iOS device. That view is still available, but I suspect many users will use the Dashboard more often because it offers ready access to more apps and information.

The best way to think of Dashboard is as a simplified Today widget view on an iPhone. Like widgets, the Dashboard is accessed by swiping right from the first page in icon view. Swiping back returns you to the icon view.

Alternatively, you can tap on the button in the lower-left corner of the screen toggle between the Dashboard and icon views. If you’re running an app full screen in CarPlay, the same button returns you to the Dashboard or icon view depending on which you were using last. In other words, if you navigate to Maps or Music from the Dashboard, the button returns you to the Dashboard, whereas when navigating to one of those apps from the icon view, the button returns you to the icon view. It’s a departure from how a Home button or Home indicator works, but I like it because it allows me to treat the Dashboard as my Home screen as long as I don’t need to use an app that it doesn’t support.

The Dashboard uses a two-column layout.

The Dashboard uses a two-column layout. The first column is an Apple Maps view of your current location, or if you’re navigating somewhere, your route. The second column is divided into three sections, except when Siri suggestions are turned off in Settings, in which case there are just two sections. On the top are suggested destinations like parking and gas stations. I’ve also seen ‘favorite’ destinations that I’ve saved in this section. If you’re already navigating, the top section displays turn-by-turn directions.

The middle section of the right-hand column is reserved for whatever is currently shown in the Now Playing app. The controls are limited to tappable artwork that opens the associated app, a play/pause button, and a skip forward button unless, as I mentioned, Siri suggestions are turned off, in which case track and album information are added as well as a back button.

The final section displays Siri suggestions, which are handy to have alongside the other Dashboard information. For example, since running the iOS 13 beta, I’ve seen suggestions for opening and closing my garage door with the Insignia HomeKit-enabled garage door opener that I installed at the beginning of the summer and upcoming calendar events from the new Calendar app that I cover below.

Each of the widgets in the Dashboard view is a mini version of the full CarPlay UI for each app. Except for the Siri suggestions widget, when you need more information or functionality from one of the widgets, tapping it takes you into the associated app’s fullscreen view.

In my use this summer, I’ve found the impact of the Dashboard is far greater than the sum of its parts. Each widget’s functionality is limited, but significantly reduces the time spent jumping back and forth between apps, especially from Maps. Previously, if I were navigating somewhere new, I’d keep Maps open but find myself moving to other apps to do things like skip a song and then return to Maps. Now, I can do that without leaving the Dashboard. It’s also nice to be able to open a calendar event or other app full-screen without first returning to the icon view to find it. It saves taps, which is faster and less distracting while driving.

Siri no longer takes over CarPlay’s entire interface.

Apple has updated a couple of other UI elements too. Siri is no longer modal, taking up the entire screen. Instead, the Siri animation is displayed at the bottom of the CarPlay screen, partially obscuring other content, but leaving most of it readable. Also, notifications for things like messages and reminders appear from the bottom of the screen instead of the top, putting them within easier reach than before.

Overall, I love the Dashboard. It has significantly reduced how often I switch between apps, which is a better user experience and safer. Still, the Dashboard leaves me wanting more. I’d love to treat the Dashboard like an Apple Watch face and set up multiple Dashboards for different occasions. For instance, I don’t need Maps if I’m running short errands near my home. For those occasions, I’d like to replace Maps with a more full-featured Music widget that lets me navigate through my favorite music. I’d also like to see Apple allow third-party apps to offer widgets like they do with Watch complications. That way, I could substitute in Google Maps or Waze for Maps or a weather widget for Siri suggestions, for example.

Screen Independence

Throughout Apple’s CarPlay update, the company has addressed the practicalities of how iPhones are used in cars, reducing friction and adding conveniences. When I’m on a long trip with my iPhone connected to the car’s entertainment system, I usually have a family member sitting in the passenger seat next to me. In the past, if they picked up my phone to use an app that isn’t available through CarPlay, it would dump CarPlay back to its icon view, disrupting navigation or whatever else I might have been using.

With iOS 13, CarPlay’s display is now independent of the iPhone running it. That means I can continue to follow the navigation instructions in CarPlay as I drive while a family member does a Google search, checks my email for me, or does anything else unsupported by CarPlay. It’s a small change, but one that acknowledges that a CarPlay-connected iPhone should be available to more than just the driver, which is a welcome change.

Apps

Calendar

CarPlay’s new Calendar app.

In discussing apps, I want to start with Calendar because it’s the sole entirely new app from Apple available as part of CarPlay. The app is a simplified version of its iOS counterpart that shows a handful of upcoming events only. There isn’t a way to create new events inside CarPlay. Instead, the Calendar app acts as an event viewer that’s condensed to show only the times you have blocked off. Tapping on an event opens its detail view showing the start and end time. If an event is associated with a location, that’s displayed too and can be tapped to open turn-by-turn directions in Maps.

The implementation of Calendar for CarPlay is simple but effective, providing the essential elements you need to know at a glance about upcoming appointments. Anyone who spends time driving to meetings will get a lot of value from the ability to keep up with upcoming events between this app and calendar-based Siri suggestions that are built into the Dashboard view.

Maps

Minimal UI (left) and navigation UI (right).

The core functionality of Maps hasn’t changed with CarPlay, but the UI has been substantially improved. With iOS 13, Apple has pulled off an impressive design achievement. Map controls are simultaneously more accessible than before and stay out of your way when not needed. That’s accomplished by a combination of UI elements that expand and collapse with a tap and others that serve multiple purposes depending on whether or not you’re navigating to a location as well as a UI that fades into the background when it’s not needed. At the same time, the app remains familiar to anyone who has used it before, making the transition to the update easy.

When you’re not navigating somewhere, Maps’ UI fades into the background after a little while, opening up use of your car’s full display. But with a tap the UI returns, re-centering your vehicle on the visible part of the map. In the top-right corner, a tap of the location icon centers the map on your current location, oriented with the direction your car is pointing to the top of the map. Tap it again, and the location icon adds a little line above the compass-like arrow that orients the map so north is always at the top of the map. Beneath the location button are buttons to toggle between 2D and 3D map views, pan the map beyond its current bounds, and zoom in and out.

Navigation in CarPlay’s Maps app.

The left side of Maps’ UI is reserved for navigation. At the top are favorite destinations that you’ve saved, which get you on your way quickly. Below that are Search and Destinations.

Search has buttons to dictate a search term to Siri, a new keyboard UI for typing a search, and categories of destinations like gas stations, parking, and grocery stores. This is the first time a keyboard has made an appearance in CarPlay. While it’s not safe to type on a keyboard when you’re driving, I think it’s safe to assume this is a tacit admission by Apple that Siri just can’t handle the names of certain places well. When that happens, at least you now have the option to pull over and type your search. Destinations include a list of places you’ve recently navigated to as well as Collections, which are destinations you can save in groups.

Search and Destinations in Maps.

With Favorites, Search, and Destinations, Apple has moved functionality that was buried under layers of Maps’ toolbar UI and hard to reach to exactly where it’s needed. When you find the location you wish to navigate to, tap it and Maps provides a summary of the location if it’s available from Yelp, an estimated arrival time, whether tolls must be paid along your route, a phone button to call your destination, and a big green ‘Go’ button to start navigation.

Tap ‘Go’ to start navigating and switch to ETA only mode by tapping the button that appears when you hit Go or tapping the turn-by-turn directions.

When you first tap ‘Go,’ the Maps interface briefly displays an ‘ETA Only’ button that mutes Siri and de-emphasizes turn-by-turn directions when tapped. The feature isn’t new, but it’s a great example of functionality that I expect will get more use in iOS 13 because it’s more prominent now.

Maps offering an ETA Only route home.

ETA Only mode is also surfaced from Favorites when Maps anticipates your destination. For example, when I’m out driving, and Maps expects I’m heading home next, the Home Favorites button’s size increases and displays an ETA for the trip. When I tap ‘Home,’ there’s a big ‘ETA Only’ button just above the green ‘Go’ button, making it simpler to pick that option. If you’re already navigating using turn-by-turn directions, you can also enter ETA Only mode by tapping the navigation directions in the top-left corner of the CarPlay screen.

I love ETA mode. When I’m driving somewhere I know how to get to, but there’s heavy traffic, it serves as a low-key version of turn-by-turn directions that doesn’t interrupt you with audio cues but still lets you know when you’ll get to your destination.

In the lower-left corner, Maps displays your arrival time and the time and distance to your destination. Tapping on the information opens a menu to search, mute navigation prompts, and share your arrival time with contacts – similar to the feature that’s also available on the iPhone and iPad in Maps.

Sharing your ETA.

When you tap ‘Share Your ETA,’ Maps suggests people to share your arrival time with that appears to be based on machine learning. It’s not clear how the list is ranked, but it seems to be some combination of people to whom you’ve recently sent text or email messages that prioritizes text messages but excludes group threads.

In my testing, the suggestions have generally been solid, floating family and friends with whom I’m in regular contact to the top, but it doesn’t seem to account for their locations. Although there are scenarios where you’d want to let someone far away know when you arrive somewhere, I’d prefer that distant friends and family be pushed down to the bottom of the list. For instance, although I regularly use Messages with Federico, the fact that he’s in Rome significantly reduces the chances I’d want to share my arrival time at a local Chicago destination with him.

When you share your ETA, your arrival time, location, route, and destination are shared until you arrive. Along the way, the person you share your trip with will get an iMessage alert of the start of your trip, any delays, and when you are arriving.

The same menu’s search functionality drops you into the search UI available when you’re not navigating without interrupting your current trip, allowing you to set up intermediate stops along a route. Finally, the mute button turns off Siri turn-by-turn prompts as you’d expect.

Music and Now Playing

CarPlay’s Music and Now Playing apps surface album and playlist art better than before.

The most significant update to CarPlay’s Music app is a greater emphasis on album and playlist art. The Library, For You, and Browse tabs all include small album and playlist thumbnails at the top of each view, which makes it quick and easy to pick out recently added or suggested music and playlists. CarPlay’s use of thumbnail artwork isn’t new, but currently, the thumbnails are one level deeper in Music’s views. With iOS 13, your four most recently played tracks or albums and your four personalized playlists will all show up under For You, for example, which is not the case with iOS 12 and earlier. Artwork is also displayed to the right of track information in the Now Playing screen for music, podcasts, and audiobooks unless the Show Album Art toggle is turned off.

The Now Playing app also has a new icon that still resembles a play button, but it’s drawn using vertical red lines on a white background that looks as though it’s meant to suggest audio waveforms. When you’re in a list of content like the songs of an album or episodes of a podcast, the Now Playing icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen has replaced the words ‘Now Playing’ that were used in earlier versions of CarPlay when audio isn’t playing. However, when audio is playing, the icon is replaced by a small waveform animation, which is an excellent visual cue that it’s what you tap to return to the Now Playing interface.

The functionality of Music and Now Playing hasn’t changed, but the new design of Music makes it feel more familiar because it more closely resembles the Music app on iOS and the upcoming macOS Catalina app. Add to that the small, but meaningful change of bringing thumbnails for things like recently played tracks, albums, and personalized playlists to the top level of For You and Browse, and finding something to play without a lot of tapping or scrolling feels a lot faster and easier.

Messages and Phone

Messages no longer takes you into a Siri UI (left) and adds a new UI for interacting with messages (right).

The features of Messages and Phone haven’t changed much, but the way you get to them has. On iOS 12 and earlier, tapping the Messages or Phone icons took you directly into the modal Siri UI to read or send messages and make calls. Now, users are delivered into the Messages chronological list of recent conversations and the Favorites tab of the Phone app. If you have unread messages from multiple people, the new approach means you can tap directly on the ones you want to hear and skip others. While a message is being read, CarPlay displays buttons to play and stop the audio, reply, and skip. Those buttons change to ‘Review,’ ‘Change,’ and ‘Send’ after you’ve recorded a message to someone but haven’t sent it yet. Siri is available for calls and messages from a microphone icon in each app’s UI too.

Removing Siri as an intermediary in Messages has made a world of difference in sending messages on the go. Before, I had to open Messages, tell Siri who to send a message to, speak the message, confirm that Siri got it right, and after any changes, send it. Now I can simply tap a person’s name and begin speaking the message. The people I’m most likely to message are near the top of the list in most cases because I’ve recently messaged them, but if they aren’t there’s a new message button available to start fresh, telling Siri who I want to contact.

Siri

iOS 13 adds new ways to invoke Siri in CarPlay. In prior iterations, if you pressed on a dedicated steering wheel button, you needed to wait for the Siri tone to sound before speaking your command. With iOS 13, car manufacturers will be able to use always-on microphones to respond to Siri commands as soon as hardware buttons are pressed. That’s not a feature that’s available in my car, so I haven’t been able to test it.

CarPlay also supports ‘Hey Siri,’ which I’ve come to rely on. With my iPhone connected using a Lightning cable, invoking Siri by voice immediately triggers the Siri animation on my car’s screen, which is how I send messages with the Messages app and navigate using Maps most of the time.

I’ve already mentioned how much I enjoy the new Dashboard view, but the button used to invoke it hides another feature that I haven’t seen discussed elsewhere. Long pressing the Dashboard/icon view button invokes Siri as was possible with the Home button in previous versions of CarPlay. Since it’s in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, that means Siri is always within easy reach even if you don’t have a dedicated steering wheel button or always-on microphone that can respond to commands.

Finally, at WWDC, Apple announced that third-party navigation apps and audio apps like Pandora and Waze will be able to take advantage of Siri. Although I’m on the Waze beta, I haven’t seen the feature tested yet, nor have I seen the feature implemented by any other app.

More to Come from Manufacturers

At WWDC, Apple also announced CarPlay support for irregularly-sized in-car screens, second independent screens for spots like between a car’s instrument clusters, and dynamic screen resizing that can adjust to show CarPlay content alongside information from other sources like the car manufacturer’s entertainment system. Manufacturers are generally slow to adopt new technology, but for vehicles released in the future, these additions to CarPlay’s frameworks promise to give carmakers additional flexibility that will open up new ways to implement CarPlay.

When I first tried CarPlay in 2016, I knew I’d never want to go back to driving without it. Not only does CarPlay provide a familiar environment, but because the iPhone is where my music, podcasts, and contacts live and are updated continuously, it’s the perfect device to power navigation, entertainment, and communication when I’m driving.

With iOS 13, CarPlay will get an update far beyond any of the tweaks it’s received in the past five years. In apps like Maps, which got a big update, and Calendar, which is brand new, you can see CarPlay adopting a new design language that’s a lot like what is currently used on the iPhone and iPad. There is less reliance on navigation bars that reduce the size of the content area, and controls are better positioned for tapping while driving. Finally, with Dashboard and tweaks to other apps, Apple has reduced the number of taps necessary to perform many tasks. There are still remnants of the old design in apps like Music, Messages, and Phone that I hope receive more complete refreshes in the future, but between Dashboard, Maps, and Calendar, the update has already significantly improved my CarPlay experience.

The changes to CarPlay are the sort of evolution that feels so natural that it’s hardly noticeable unless you go back to the old version of CarPlay, which I spent a lot of time doing for this review. For example, with Dashboard, when I’m listening to a podcast and navigating with Maps, I no longer have to switch from Maps to Overcast to pause a podcast while talking to someone else in the car. Also, as I pull onto my street, Siri suggests opening my garage, which I do with a quick tap of the button on the Dashboard from a further distance than would work with the dedicated button in my car. I’ve also begun using ETA mode regularly because it’s surfaced better in iOS 13. Individually, each is a small change, but together they’ve added up to a much better experience for me, which I expect will be the case for many drivers when they update to iOS 13 this fall and connect their iPhones to their cars for the first time.

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Last June I looked in a description of my feed reading habits by social distance I mentioned the number of feeds I currently subscribe to. Now two months later, I was curious to see what, if anything, has changed.

Here’s the table with the number of subscriptions on June 12th:

And these are the numbers for August 8th, two months since:

About 3 dozen new subscriptions in two months. In reality it is a bit more than that, as I also removed some existing ones. Subscription maintenance is like gardening. There’s been a slow trickle from the outermost folder to more inwards folders. This was expected, as I’ve met-up with various people at events, and that usually means moving their feed to a ‘closer’ folder. Events, such as Peter’s Crafting {:} a Life unconference in June als led to new subscriptions, some of which as they started in intensive conversations immediately moved to a ‘closer’ folder. And there have been a few cases of ‘I’m going back to blogging and leaving Facebook’. (much like I did late 2017, and Peter did much earlier, before severing the connection to FB completely mid 2016) So those subscriptions are more of the ‘welcome back playing outside’ variety.

Btw, I publish my current list of feeds that I subscribe in the side bar of this blog, titled OPML Blogroll. That link is to a file (tonzylstra.opml) you can read yourself, as well as provide to your feedreader for import. As always I am interested in what other people are reading and who’s blog they follow. So if you don’t, I hope you’ll consider publishing your subscription list or turn it into an old fashioned blogroll.

I admit it. I’m an egotistical know-it-all when it comes to writing. But I need an editor, too. (I’m not talking about a copy editor, whose job is to identify typos and grammatical errors. Of course I need one of those, as anyone who has spotted the typos in this blog realizes. So do you.) … Continued

The post Why every book needs an editor. (Even mine.) appeared first on without bullshit.

An interesting read, and a timely reminder that there are a lot of traditional, background (almost legacy) services that can be exploited on any mobile device.

The Visual Voicemail bits were especially interesting to me, since I was involved in getting that to work at Vodafone and I always felt the entire thing was a bit of a hack (for which our voicemail provider - Comverse at the time, if I recall correctly - happily charged us an insane amount of money, but I digress).

I told you Autopilot is safer than the other humans on the road. Tesla today released a safety report with more road data that shows Autopilot is out performing its human drivers.

I can tell when Tesla owners aren’t using it, too. They aren’t as smooth, they don’t signal as well. Autopilot, when used to switch lanes (I changed the default in my Model 3 to automatically switch lanes whenever it wants), turns on the signals way in advance. Many human drivers never signal when switching lanes. It also doesn’t switch lanes if there’s a car in the lane that it wants to move into.

Funny story, too:

Over the weekend I was driving in lane #1 on Freeway 280. Doing the standard 80 miles per hour.

A faster car came up behind me.

My car automatically pulled out of the #1 lane, let the faster car past, then promptly pulled back into the #1 lane because I was going faster than everyone else. Automatic lane changes have already changed my behavior. Now I rarely need to look if there’s a car in the other lane. Today it automatically changed lanes, got halfway over, and another driver came into my lane, didn’t notice I was switching lanes. My Tesla just pulled back into my original lane, waited for the jerk to drive past, then attempted the lane change again.

This totally changes the stress level too. Tonight I was driving Milan home from his speech therapy. We were stuck in traffic for more than an hour. Stop and go. Stop and go. Stop stop stop stop and go.

I didn’t care at all. I held Milan’s hand and we had a nice conversation about eating crab. Never touched the brakes or accelerator in more than an hour of driving. Then Ryan told me all about the weird stuff he’s been doing in VR lately. Then Irena called me. While it drove I barely paid attention. This tech is magic and I can’t wait for everyone to have it.

I met a lawyer from Los Angeles when camping in Yosemite who has a Tesla. He admitted to me he works in Los Angeles traffic while his car drives. I still don’t recommend that, but admit it is changing my attention levels on freeways too, particularly in traffic. Mostly I pay attention to my rearview camera and mirrors looking for motorcycles splitting lanes. Even there it’s safer for them since my car always stays exactly in the center of the lane and is very predictable. When I watch other humans they aren’t predictable at all, and many human drivers are on phones or doing other things. Distraction is a cause of many accidents that I see go down.

By the time my kids are driving age (about five years away) I wonder if they will need a driver’s license. Probably, for some roads and probably because we will give them our Toyota. I will never buy another Toyota, so even that is a short term problem for them (and they may choose never to take it, because self driving car systems will replace Uber and Lyft and be cheaper than buying a car anyway, not to mention safer). But another five after that will probably solve most of these problems. By the time they are 30 they definitely won’t need to drive and the system will be way safer and will let them play immersive games.

Today Irena Cronin and I interviewed Marcus Kühne, cofounder/CIO of Holoride. His company makes VR games for use in cars. He knows he’s just a little early but knows that by the end of 2021 we’ll have augmented reality visors we can wear in the car that will be pretty mind blowing. He’s been working with a bunch of car companies and they see his system will be a differentiator to help them compete with Tesla. Already my kids are playing both iPads and VR in our Tesla. VR while charging, but that may change with AR. I don’t want them to get car sick and controllers don’t work very well while vehicles are moving. That will all change in 2021, though.

What a future is ahead.

And, yes, I know these stats are a little skewed because most people only use Autopilot on freeways (I use it on every street I can, including in city streets, but know that’s not common) and freeway usage are the safest miles. That said, even in city streets it’s safer. Lets me pay more attention to other vehicles and pedestrians and look for things that I wouldn’t be able to look for if i always had to pay attention to just the car in front of me.

That said, every day on the freeway I pass a fender bender accident because someone was on their phone in all that stop and go traffic. My Tesla will never hit someone because I’m distracted in that kind of situation. Humans mess up all the time and we see the wreckage everytime we go for a drive.

You really need to watch my ride last week where I show you how it handles a long drive, starting in traffic. You can see that I trust my family’s lives to the technology.

What does this have to do with #spatialcomputing? Everything. Spatial Computing is computing that you, a robot, or a virtual being moves through and autonomous cars are using a ton of spatial computing technology. Tonight we are writing about factories. The car is made with spatial computing technology too. Computer vision FTW!

One of the world’s most iconic vans is making a comeback…

But this time, it’s electric. Slated for production by 2022, the “electric microbus” is one of five new electric models in Volkswagen’s ID. series — a family of 100% electric vehicles, which includes a crossover, a compact, a sedan, and of course, the van.

Just like the classic VW van, there will be room for up to seven people with an adjustable interior that includes a table and movable seats. Volkswagen also intends on enabling all ID. series models with a fully autonomous feature option.

Distance, a major concern of many when it comes to purchasing an electric vehicle, is no longer an issue. The van will have an electric range of 400 to 600 km, comparable to pretty much any gas-powered vehicle. Further, Volkswagen has partnered with Electrify Canada (partnership formed by Electrify America in cooperation with Volkswagen Canada) to build ultra-fast electric vehicle charging infrastructure to give Canadians the reliability they need to confidently make the switch to electric. Planning and deployment are well underway, including network routes — you can check out the Vancouver to Calgary route here.

While the price is currently unknown, a point of reference may be offered by the current retail price of Volkswagen’s e-Gulf, of which starts at $36,000 CAD.

With the news of this release, I couldn’t help but think: what if other companies brought back electrified versions of cool old favourites? Would this help incentivize at least some of the drivers who are reluctant to give up their gas powered vehicles for electric?

For example, what if mainstream car companies responsible for the creation of classics like the Dodge Charger or Ford Mustang offered an electric model? With Ford planning to release a hybrid Mustang, this concept may not be too far off.

Cool-factor aside, there are other emerging incentives to encourage the purchase of electric over gas, including recent Federal and Provincial (BC) tax rebates offered to those who’ve purchased new electric vehicles. Federal incentives include a rebate of up to $5,000 (ranging from $2,500 for short-range vehicles, to $5,000 for long-range vehicles). To qualify, vehicles must have a retail value of $45,000 or less (base model), with higher values qualifying when the vehicle has more than seven seats

Provincial incentives include rebates of up to $3,000 based on vehicle type and battery capacity. Battery electric, fuel cell, and plug in hybrids above a 15kWh capacity are eligible for the full incentive amount up to $3,000, while plug-in hybrids below 15kWh (but above 4kWh) are eligible for incentives up to $1,500. Vehicles must retail for less than $55,000.

While the prospect of consumers purchasing electric vehicles over gas is certainly a plus for the environment — they produce little-to-no greenhouse gas emissions when driven, and reduce consumer demand for oil — it’s important to remember that electric vehicles will still contribute at least some emissions and waste during their production and end-of-life.

Electric vehicles must also still be driven. Across North America, we must still contend with major issues of vehicle traffic and road congestion. Demand for vehicle space must be managed. In Metro Vancouver, for example, virtually all of the road space for cars is built out – they’re not adding much of anything new to the network.

Accordingly, if one has the option to walk, bike or transit, one should be encouraged and enabled (and able) to do so.

But for those of you who must drive, there are fewer and fewer excuses for not seriously considering electric vehicles.

Hi, this is Simon, I am a software engineer at Datawrapper. For this week’s edition of the weekly chart, I took a look at ecological footprint data.

July 29th was this year’s Earth Overshoot Day. On this day, we had used up all natural resources that our planet can regenerate within the current year. We call this deficit the ecological overshoot. Humanity continues to exceed what Earth can renew and falls back on reserves which have been built up over millions of years.

Ecological footprinting

The ecological footprint is a metric for the ecological assets that the population of a given region consumes – for example, livestock, plant-based food, timber, and space used for urban infrastructure. It also includes the ecologic impact of waste, particularly carbon emissions. The ecologic footprint is compared with the region’s biocapacity, which is a metric for its capacity to absorb waste and generate new resources, e.g. through forests and cropland. If the ecological footprint of a region is higher than its biocapacity, it runs an ecological deficit. A region with an ecological footprint that is lower than its biocapacity has a ecological reserve.

Ecological footprints differ vastly between countries and correlate heavily with economic wealth. To visually compare footprints around the world, I created a chart with a curve for every region the Global Footprint Network API has data on. Then I highlighted the five countries with the biggest economies according to their GDP (PPP).

This chart illustrates: Four of the five biggest economies are deep in ecological deficit. If every person in the world would live like a resident of the United States, we’d need the equivalent of 5 Earths. For Germany, it would be 3 Earths, for Japan 2.7 and for China 2.2. India still has an ecological reserve, but its ecological footprint has grown steadily.

Chart choices: Line charts and log scales

For this post I created two very different line charts. With the first chart I wanted to emphasize the ecological deficit and reserve, so I highlighted them using the new area tool which lets you fill the area between two lines with a color. The idea for this chart came from graphics used in the Ecological Footprint Explorer.

With the second line chart I wanted to illustrate the world’s vast inequality in terms of ecological footprints. For this, I put data for more than 220 regions into a single line chart and customized the chart’s appearance to make the important information stand out. But there was a problem: Just like in my last weekly chart, there is a very strong concentration of countries at the lower end of the scale, which makes it difficult to visualize the data without too much overlap between important data. Once again, I worked around this issue by using a log scale. Log scales give more prominence to the bottom half of the scale but can also be misleading – in the above line chart they visually reduce the extreme differences between the countries at the top and the bottom of the scale.

By the way, in April 2018 we featured a completely different chart that was based on the same data set: This excellent scatter plot by french information designer Edith Maulandi.

That’s it from me for this week. As always, do let me know if you have feedback, suggestions or questions. I am looking forward to hearing from you at simon@datawrapper.de, Mastodon, or Twitter.

In a sense this is old news, because as the author observes, industry networks have been around for some 20 years. By the same token, the article still signals a change in what might be thought of as business strategy, from 'moats' to 'turnstiles'. "This shift from moats to turnstiles can be hard to grasp. For most business strategists, it is second nature to protect your existing assets and to keep competition at bay. But a pure-play orchestrator is happy to open up to competition and to share its intellectual property, as long as that keeps the ecosystem growing. Its aim is to maximize the number of people coming through the turnstile, rather than to increase the height of the fence or the width of the moat." Imagine marketing an online course this way...

PodcastOne, the podcasting network started by Westwood One founder Norm Pattiz, is launching a free hosting platform called Launchpad Digital Media for podcasters.

“We will see which podcasts are performing well and offer them the opportunity to partner and grow with PodcastOne, and provide them with all the resources the network offers, including production, talent booking, promotion, a dedicated sales team and more,” said PodcastOne CEO Peter Morris. The company is trying to “support the long-term growth of independent podcasters.”

Launchpad Digital Media will provide podcasters with a free platform for unlimited hosting, audience analytics and total ownership of direct monetization. New podcasters also have complete control over the distribution of their content through third-party platforms like Spotify.

The Beverly Hill-based celebrity podcasting network, which hosts stars like Adam Carolla, Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Austin, is using Launchpad as a scouting ground for potential new talents for the company. It will offer free promotion for podcasters if their contents are gaining popularity on the platform.

“We will see which podcasts are performing well and offer them the opportunity to partner and grow with PodcastOne, and provide them with all the resources the network offers, including production, talent booking, promotion, a dedicated sales team and more,” said PodcastOne CEO Peter Morris.

Morris said their new platform is designed with independent podcasters in mind and PodcastOne is trying to “support the long-term growth of independent podcasters” without any fee for the platform.

However, the definition of free came with a catch. Just like YouTube where Google injects ads for revenue, PodcastOne is doing the same to its podcasters on Launchpad.

Although individual podcasters can manage their monetizations, PodcastOne can still slot in ads for big spending advertisers. Podcasters can determine the location of the mid-way ads and it won’t be longer than two minutes per episode.

Source: TechCrunch

The post PodcastOne to provide free hosting platform for independent podcasters appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Following its launch of the Note 10 in Brooklyn, New York, Samsung has quietly removed ads in which the company mocked Apple for ditching the headphone jack from the iPhone.

Before Wednesday’s event, Samsung was one of the last remaining smartphone manufacturers to continue releasing smartphones with analog audio ports. The company took great relish in this, releasing several ads since 2017 that poked fun at Apple for its decision to remove the venerable port from the iPhone.

One of the most famous of these ads was called ‘Growing Up.’ The advert documents how a young man becomes disillusioned with the iPhone. It culminates when he buys the iPhone 7, the first Apple smartphone to ditch the headphone jack. In the end, he ends up buying a new Note to replace his iPhone.

Following the reveal of the Note 10, the first Samsung flagship to ditch the headphone jack, the South Korean electronics giant has started removing said ads from its official channels.

‘Growing Up’ is one of the casualties of the company’s recent purge.

In a move first spotted by Business Insider, it’s no longer possible to view the advert on Samsung’s main YouTube channel, nor its U.S. YouTube channel. Together, the two channels have some 5.6 million subscribers between them. To view the video, one must either use the Way Back Machine or head to one of Samsung’s regional channels.

The internet never forgets.

Source: Business Insider

The post Samsung quietly deletes ads mocking Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ are not compatible with any of the tech giant’s Gear VR virtual reality headsets.

While the company hasn’t confirmed this is the case, the Note 10’s lack of compatibility with Gear VR likely indicates Samsung’s virtual reality plans have come to an end — at least as far as headsets that are powered by a smartphone. This news comes courtesy of a tweet from Anshel Sag (@anshelsag), a consumer and chip tech analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

I just got confirmation from @Samsung. No version of the #Note10 is compatible with the GearVR. Not a huge loss tbh. Standalone is where it’s at. #VR

— Anshel Sag (@anshelsag) August 7, 2019

Samsung didn’t discuss Gear VR during its Note 10 Unpacked event and also refrained from mentioning the device back when it announced the Galaxy S10 earlier this year. That said, it was possible to use the S10 — as well as last year’s Note 9 — with a Gear VR headset through an adapter.

Given the prevalence of far better standalone VR headsets like the Oculus Go, in some respects, it makes sense for Samsung to be moving on from VR headsets that utilize a smartphone as their display.

Further, while the Gear VR with Controller (2018) is still listed on Samsung’s Canadian website, the headset is no longer available to purchase.

MobileSyup has reached out to Samsung Canada for comment regarding the future of the Gear VR.

Source: @anshelsag Via: The Verge 

The post Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ don’t work with Gear VR appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Foodora operates in seven Canadian cities but couriers in Toronto could very well be the first unionized app-based business in the country.

Foodora is an on-demand food delivery service that connects customers with restaurants.

In a filing last week by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the couriers are pushing for a union certification on Friday, August 9th.

Restaurants pay Foodora up to about 30 percent of the total order. However, Foodora couriers are currently paid $4.50 per order plus $1 per kilometre travelled, plus tips.

Couriers aim to negotiate ‘a better compensation model, health and safety protections, and recognition of some of their basic rights as workers — rights that are currently not recognized by Foodora, who misclassifies them as independent contractors.’

“We will not stand for this type of intimidation from the employer — we will not back down,” says Jan Simpson, CUPW National President. “Foodora couriers deserve to be treated with respect and we will negotiate better working conditions for them. Gig economy workers have been too vulnerable for too long. Their exploitation ends now.”

“Foodora is our boss when it comes to scheduling, work rules, pay and other conditions, but they aren’t taking on the responsibilities that come with that,” says Ivan Ostos, a Foodora bike courier. “It’s only now that we’ve organized that they’ve taken any interest in us. We won’t fall for it. We have worked hard to create this union and we won’t be threatened out of it.”

Apparently, Foodora is sending Toronto-based couriers anti-union messages stating a ‘yes’ vote “could cost you up to $1,100 in union fees.”

Foodora spokeswoman Sadie Weinstein stated, “We greatly value our relationship with our couriers and the work they do as independent contractors. Foodora recognizes that the decision on whether or not to unionize is an important one for our couriers, and we’ll continue to exercise our right to free speech to ensure that our couriers can make a fully informed choice.”

Voting will be by telephone and online from noon on Friday, August 9th to noon on Tuesday, August 13th.

Source: CUPW, Foodster, PressProgress

The post Foodora couriers in Toronto to vote on union certification over basic rights as workers appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Payments and point-of-sale company Square wants small-to-medium-sized businesses to stop using several iPads, tablets, and smartphones to manage their sales by officially launching the Square Terminal in Canada.

The terminal released in the U.S. less than a year ago and Canada is its first international market.

It’s also worth adding that Square worked with sellers across the country and provided them with early access to the terminal so the company was able to test the product and get feedback.

Jesse Dorogusker, head of hardware at Square, told reporters that the payment terminal features everything a business owner needs, including managing inventory, being able to send invoices, recording deposits, managing payment history, generating history and get reports about the business.

By having these services within the terminal, Dorogusker said it eliminates the need to have other devices within the store like smartphones, iPads, and tablets. He said that many businesses end up having a challenging time managing these devices and what is stored on them, taking away from the focus of running a business.

“We see challenges for a business. They manage a fleet of iPads, they end up telling their personal Apple iTunes IDs to employees that are covering, they give their personal cell to someone because their whole business is on the cellphone and have not figured out how to manage it all in all of these places,” he said. “For larger businesses, that total fluidity is a disservice to them.”

Dorogusker explained that the terminal will eliminate the necessity of hiring someone to do updates and cleanups of several devices.

The white touch screen terminal is compact and is capable of storing a small receipt paper roll in it. Merchants will be able to purchase the terminal today and offer customers contactless payment options for multiple credit cards and payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Square allows merchants to buy the terminal for $299 CAD, offers no contracts and charges merchants a 2.65 percent transaction rate and $0.10 per debit card charge. Merchants will also be able to pay for the payment terminal in monthly installments.

Clients using a physical credit card can swipe, insert or tap their card, says Square.

Jack Dorsey, Square’s and Twitter’s founder, said he saw the Canadian entrepreneurial market grow and said it was “not my experience of Canada in terms of slow adoption” of technology.

He noted that the terminal is easy to use and that it was designed with the business owner in mind.

“It’s so hard running a business. The last thing you want to consider is redoing your equipment or system so when something works you don’t want to touch it because you need to focus on your customers,” he said. “So [the terminal] it’s the consideration of a new system and breaking through the noise of the day-to-day operations.”

Square looking to help rural communities in Canada

Dorsey said that Square is a growing presence in Canada and highlighted that the concentration of merchants using the terminal wasn’t just within just metropolitan areas, but from those using the technology across the country.

“We have a huge percentage of our sellers existing out of the top 10 populated cities within the country,” he said.

But a challenge that many merchants, especially those residing in rural parts of Canada, is that they often don’t even have a broadband network to help run their business.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government announced in Budget 2019 a plan to connect 100 percent of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2030. More recently, Rural Economic Development Minister Bernadette Jordan announced her Connectivity Strategy regarding how the country intends to improve the availability of high-speed internet.

Dorogusker agreed that this was a challenge and that the company is always thinking about how to serve those clients that aren’t connected properly to Wi-Fi services.

“It’s on our mind for sure, there is spotty coverage in a lot of areas in Canada and it’s an issue in rural areas,” he said. “We don’t have any programs that build out your Wi-Fi but we offer offline payments.”

Dorogusker explained that a client can charge their card and details will be encrypted and stored securely on the Square terminal, after which the merchant is able to push the transaction through once they are able to get back online.

Further, Dorogusker and Dorsey both assured that the device complies with modern security standards.

The post Square officially launches its contactless payment terminal in Canada appeared first on MobileSyrup.

On Sunday night, when Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince announced in a blog post that the company was terminating service for 8chan, the response was nearly universal: Finally.

It was hard to disagree: it was on 8chan — which was created after complaints that the extremely lightly-moderated anonymous-based forum 4chan was too heavy-handed — that a suspected terrorist gunman posted a rant explaining his actions before killing 20 people in El Paso. This was the third such incident this year: the terrorist gunmen in Christchurch, New Zealand and Poway, California did the same; 8chan celebrated all of them.

To state the obvious, it is hard to think of a more reprehensible community than 8chan. And, as many were quick to point out, it was hardly the sort of site that Cloudflare wanted to be associated with as they prepared for a reported IPO. Which again raises the question: what took Cloudflare so long?

Moderation Questions

The question of when and why to moderate or ban has been an increasingly frequent one for tech companies, although the circumstances and content to be banned have often varied greatly. Some examples from the last several years:

• Cloudflare dropping support for 8chan
• Facebook banning Alex Jones
• The U.S. Congress creating an exception to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for the stated purpose of targeting sex trafficking
• The Trump administration removing ISPs from Title II classification
• The European Union ruling that the “Right to be Forgotten” applied to Google

These may seem unrelated, but in fact all are questions about what should (or should not) be moderated, who should (or should not) moderate, when should (or should not) they moderate, where should (or should not) they moderate, and why? At the same time, each of these examples is clearly different, and those differences can help build a framework for companies to make decisions when similar questions arise in the future — including Cloudflare.

Content and Section 230

The first and most obvious question when it comes to content is whether or not it is legal. If it is illegal, the content should be removed.

And indeed it is: service providers remove illegal content as soon as they are made aware of it.

Note, though, that service providers are generally not required to actively search for illegal content, which gets into Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that is continuously misunderstood and/or misrepresented.1

To understand Section 230 you need to go back to 1991 and the court case Cubby v CompuServe. CompuServe hosted a number of forums; a member of one of those forums made allegedly defamatory remarks about a company named Cubby, Inc. Cubby sued CompuServe for defamation, but a federal court judge ruled that CompuServe was a mere “distributor” of the content, not its publisher. The judge noted:

The requirement that a distributor must have knowledge of the contents of a publication before liability can be imposed for distributing that publication is deeply rooted in the First Amendment…CompuServe has no more editorial control over such a publication than does a public library, book store, or newsstand, and it would be no more feasible for CompuServe to examine every publication it carries for potentially defamatory statements than it would be for any other distributor to do so.

Four years later, though, Stratton Oakmont, a securities investment banking firm, sued Prodigy for libel, in a case that seemed remarkably similar to Cubby v. CompuServe; this time, though, Prodigy lost. From the opinion:

The key distinction between CompuServe and Prodigy is two fold. First, Prodigy held itself out to the public and its members as controlling the content of its computer bulletin boards. Second, Prodigy implemented this control through its automatic software screening program, and the Guidelines which Board Leaders are required to enforce. By actively utilizing technology and manpower to delete notes from its computer bulletin boards on the basis of offensiveness and “bad taste”, for example, Prodigy is clearly making decisions as to content, and such decisions constitute editorial control…Based on the foregoing, this Court is compelled to conclude that for the purposes of Plaintiffs’ claims in this action, Prodigy is a publisher rather than a distributor.

In other words, the act of moderating any of the user-generated content on its forums made Prodigy liable for all of the user-generated content on its forums — in this case to the tune of $200 million. This left services that hosted user-generated content with only one option: zero moderation. That was the only way to be classified as a distributor with the associated shield from liability, and not as a publisher.

The point of Section 230, then, was to make moderation legally viable; this came via the “Good Samaritan” provision. From the statute:

(c) Protection for “Good Samaritan” blocking and screening of offensive material

(1) Treatment of publisher or speaker
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
(2) Civil liability No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of—

(A) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected; or
(B) any action taken to enable or make available to information content providers or others the technical means to restrict access to material described in paragraph (1).

In short, Section 230 doesn’t shield platforms from the responsibility to moderate; it in fact makes moderation possible in the first place. Nor does Section 230 require neutrality: the entire reason it exists was because true neutrality — that is, zero moderation beyond what is illegal — was undesirable to Congress.

Keep in mind that Congress is extremely limited in what it can make illegal because of the First Amendment. Indeed, the vast majority of the Communications Decency Act was ruled unconstitutional a year after it was passed in a unanimous Supreme Court decision. This is how we have arrived at the uneasy space that Cloudflare and others occupy: it is the will of the democratically elected Congress that companies moderate content above-and-beyond what is illegal, but Congress can not tell them exactly what content should be moderated.

The one tool that Congress does have is changing Section 230; for example, 2018’s SESTA/FOSTA act made platforms liable for any activity related to sex trafficking. In response platforms removed all content remotely connected to sex work of any kind — Cloudflare, for example, dropped support for the Switter social media network for sex workers — in a way that likely caused more harm than good. This is the problem with using liability to police content: it is always in the interest of service providers to censor too much, because the downside of censoring too little is massive.

The Stack

If the question of what content should be moderated or banned is one left to the service providers themselves, it is worth considering exactly what service providers we are talking about.

At the top of the stack are the service providers that people publish to directly; this includes Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, 8chan and other social networks. These platforms have absolute discretion in their moderation policies, and rightly so. First, because of Section 230, they can moderate anything they want. Second, none of these platforms have a monopoly on online expression; someone who is banned from Facebook can publish on Twitter, or set up their own website. Third, these platforms, particularly those with algorithmic timelines or recommendation engines, have an obligation to moderate more aggressively because they are not simply distributors but also amplifiers.

Internet service providers (ISPs), on the other hand, have very different obligations. While ISPs are no longer covered under Title II of the Communications Act, which barred them from discriminating data on the basis of content, it is the expectation of consumers and generally the policy of ISPs to not block any data because of its content (although ISPs have agreed to block child pornography websites in the past).

It makes sense to think about these positions of the stack very differently: the top of the stack is about broadcasting — reaching as many people as possible — and while you may have the right to say anything you want, there is no right to be heard. Internet service providers, though, are about access — having the opportunity to speak or hear in the first place. In other words, the further down the stack, the more legality should be the sole criteria for moderation; the further up the more discretion and even responsibility there should be for content:

Note the implications for Facebook and YouTube in particular: their moderation decisions should not be viewed in the context of free speech, but rather as discretionary decisions made by managers seeking to attract the broadest customer base; the appropriate regulatory response, if one is appropriate, should be to push for more competition so that those dissatisfied with Facebook or Google’s moderation policies can go elsewhere.

Cloudflare’s Decision

What made Cloudflare’s decision more challenging was three-fold.

First, while Cloudflare is not an ISP, they are much more akin to infrastructure than they are to user-facing platforms. In the case of 8chan, Cloudflare provided a service that shielded the site from Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks; without a service like Cloudflare, 8chan would almost assuredly be taken offline by Internet vigilantes using botnets to launch such an attack. In other words, the question wasn’t whether or not 8chan was going to be promoted or have easy access to large social networks, but whether it would even exist at all.

To be perfectly clear, I would prefer that 8chan did not exist. At the same time, many of those arguing that 8chan should be erased from the Internet were insisting not too long ago that the U.S. needed to apply Title II regulation (i.e. net neutrality) to infrastructure companies to ensure they were not discriminating based on content. While Title II would not have applied to Cloudflare, it is worth keeping in mind that at some point or another nearly everyone reading this article has expressed concern about infrastructure companies making content decisions.

And rightly so! The difference between an infrastructure company and a customer-facing platform like Facebook is that the former is not accountable to end users in any way. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince made this point in an interview with Stratechery:

We get labeled as being free speech absolutists, but I think that has absolutely nothing to do with this case. There is a different area of the law that matters: in the U.S. it is the idea of due process, the Aristotelian idea is that of the rule of law. Those principles are set down in order to give governments legitimacy: transparency, consistency, accountability…if you go to Germany and say “The First Amendment” everyone rolls their eyes, but if you talk about the rule of law, everyone agrees with you…

It felt like people were acknowledging that the deeper you were in the stack the more problematic it was [to take down content], because you couldn’t be transparent, because you couldn’t be judged as to whether you’re consistent or not, because you weren’t fundamentally accountable. It became really difficult to make that determination.

Moreover, Cloudflare is an essential piece of the Facebook and YouTube competitive set: it is hard to argue that Facebook and YouTube should be able to moderate at will because people can go elsewhere if elsewhere does not have the scale to functionally exist.

Second, the nature of the medium means that all Internet companies have to be concerned about the precedent their actions in one country will have in different countries with different laws. One country’s terrorist is another country’s freedom fighter; a third country’s government acting according to the will of the people is a fourth’s tyrannically oppressing the minority. In this case, to drop support for 8chan — a site that was legal — is to admit that the delivery of Cloudflare’s services are up for negotiation.

Third, it is likely that at some point 8chan will come back, thanks to the help of a less scrupulous service, just as the Daily Stormer did when Cloudflare kicked them off two years ago. What, ultimately is the point? In fact, might there be harm, since tracking these sites may end up being more difficult the further underground they go?

This third point is a valid concern, but one I, after long deliberation, ultimately reject. First, convenience matters. The truly committed may find 8chan when and if it pops up again, but there is real value in requiring that level of commitment in the first place, given said commitment is likely nurtured on 8chan itself. Second, I ultimately reject the idea that publishing on the Internet is a right that must be guaranteed by 3rd parties. Stand on the street corner all you like, at least your terrible ideas will be limited by the physical world. The Internet, though, with its inherent ability to broadcast and congregate globally, is a fundamentally more dangerous medium that is by-and-large facilitated by third parties who have rights of their own. Running a website on a cloud service provider means piggy-backing off of your ISP, backbone providers, server providers, etc., and, if you are controversial, services like Cloudflare to protect you. It is magnanimous in a way for Cloudflare to commit to serving everyone, but at the end of the day Cloudflare does have a choice.

To that end I find Cloudflare’s rationale for acting compelling. Prince told me:

If this were a normal circumstance we would say “Yes, it’s really horrendous content, but we’re not in a position to decide what content is bad or not.” But in this case, we saw repeated consistent harm where you had three mass shootings that were directly inspired by and gave credit to this platform. You saw the platform not act on any of that and in fact promote it internally. So then what is the obligation that we have? While we think it’s really important that we are not the ones being the arbiter of what is good or bad, if at the end of the day content platforms aren’t taking any responsibility, or in some cases actively thwarting it, and we see that there is real harm that those platforms are doing, then maybe that is the time that we cut people off.

User-facing platforms are the ones that should make these calls, not infrastructure providers. But if they won’t, someone needs to. So Cloudflare did.

Defining Gray

I promised, with this title, a framework for moderation, and frankly, I under-delivered. What everyone wants is a clear line about what should or should not be moderated, who should or should not be banned. The truth, though, is that those bright lines do not exist, particularly in the United States.

What is possible, though, is to define the boundaries of the gray areas. In the case of user-facing platforms, their discretion is vast, and responsibility for not simply moderation but also promotion significantly greater. A heavier hand is justified, as is external pressure on decision-makers; the most important regulatory response is to ensure there is competition.

Infrastructure companies, meanwhile, should primarily default to legality, but also, as Cloudflare did, recognize that they are the backstop to user-facing platforms that refuse to do their job.

Governments, meanwhile, beyond encouraging competition, should avoid using liability as a lever, and instead stick to clearly defining what is legal and what isn’t. I think it is legitimate for Germany, for example, to ban pro-Nazi websites, or the European Union to enforce the “Right to be Forgotten” within E.U. borders; like most Americans, I lean towards more free speech, not less, but governments, particularly democratically elected ones, get to make the laws.

What is much more problematic are initiatives like the European Copyright Directive, which makes platforms liable for copyright infringement. This inevitably leads to massive overreach and clumsy filtering, and favors large platforms that can pay for both filters and lawyers over smaller ones that cannot.

None of this is easy. I am firmly in the camp that argues that the Internet is something fundamentally different than what came before, making analog examples less relevant than they seem. The risks and opportunities of the Internet are both different and greater than anything we have experienced previously, and perhaps the biggest mistake we can make is being too sure about what is the right thing to do. Gray is uncomfortable, but it may be the best place to be.

I wrote a follow-up to this article in this Daily Update.

1. For the rest of this section I am re-using text I wrote in this 2018 Daily Update; I am not putting the re-used text in blockquotes as I normally would for the sake of readability

There are lots of decisions you need to make when buying a new car: for example, what make and model, petrol or hybrid, and whether to opt for new or second-hand.

But it’s easy to forget one of the trickiest choices: how to finance the purchase. From PCP to HP it can feel like a confusing alphabet soup of options.

Here we explain what’s available to help you get the finance plan that suits your situation, whether you’re after a family hatchback or dream sports car.

First off, if you have savings in the bank, this will normally be the cheapest approach – as you avoid all interest charges. But that’s not an option for many, so here are the alternatives.  

Unsecured Personal Loan

With this approach, you’ll take out a loan, with a bank, or a finance company like Zopa. The money is transferred into your account, and then used to pay for the car.

The loan is repaid in monthly instalments over a fixed term, typically one, three or five years.

The interest rate you get will vary. It’s dependent on the term of the loan, the lender, and personal factors like your credit rating. The lowest rates will normally be offered to those with the best credit scores.

It’s important not to ignore the small print, some loans will have penalties for those who want to pay off early.

If you do go for this route, be sure to shop around in advance to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

The advantages:

• You own the car from day one, so are free to sell it at any time
• Can mix and match with savings to fund part-purchase
• There’s usually no upfront deposit to pay

But remember:

• It’s worth working out how this will fit in a monthly budget, as payments can be higher than other finance options
• Your car’s value will drop over time, so it’s likely to be worth significantly less by the time the loan is repaid
• Missing a repayment can hurt your credit score

Hire Purchase (HP)

Next up, we have hire purchase arrangements. These are available from car dealerships and finance companies, like us here at Zopa.

HP has similarities with an unsecured personal loan. Plans can be fixed over different time frames and the balance is paid back – plus interest – in monthly instalments.

However, with HP the debt is secured against the car. This means you won’t own it until the final payment is made. It also means that if you don’t repay the loan, the car can be repossessed. You’ll normally need to pay a deposit at the outset, though this isn’t always the case with Zopa.

The advantages:

• Monthly costs may be lower, as the loan is secured against the vehicle
• Can mix and match with savings to fund part-purchase
• Through voluntary termination, you can cancel your agreement early once you’ve paid half the agreed amount

But remember:

• You don’t own the car until the loan is paid off
• You can return the car during this period, but then will have to repay any outstanding balance.
• If you can’t meet the repayments you will lose your car
• You may need to fund an upfront deposit

Personal Contract Purchase (PCP)

And finally, we have PCP. This is typically provided by car dealerships and some finance companies. At Zopa, we don’t currently offer PCP. With this option you pay an upfront deposit – usually 10% – but then a far lower monthly payment over a fixed term, usually one to four years.

At the end of this period the driver has two options: they can pay a lump sum — known as a balloon payment — and own the car outright, or they simply hand the keys back, and take out another PCP on a different model.

These contracts are based on something called a ‘minimum future guaranteed value’. This is set at the start, and will be partly based on the annual mileage you think you’ll drive. It is important to stick within this limit and ensure the car is regularly serviced and kept in good condition, otherwise you could be forced to pay out for extra charges at the end.

PCP can be a good choice if you get bored with your car easily and like to change things up every few years. If you want to own the car at the end, a hire purchase agreement will probably be more up your street.

The advantages:

• PCP tends to have lower monthly repayments, as you are not paying for the full cost of the car over the term
• Can work out cheaper for those who switch cars regularly
• Through voluntary termination, you can cancel your agreement early once you’ve paid half the agreed amount

But remember:

• You’re paying finance costs on a car that you may never own
• Over the long term these can prove more expensive, particularly for those who want to keep the car at the end
• You could end up tied in with a particular car dealership, if you can’t afford the final balloon payment to buy the car outright
• If you can’t meet the repayments you will lose your car
• There are mileage restrictions on how far you can drive
• An upfront deposit will probably be required

The post Picking the right car finance option for you appeared first on Zopa Blog.

Our very own Nicole Faerber has made it to the short-list for “CTO of the Year” by the Women in IT Awards!

Congratulations are in order–we are so proud to say that Nicole Faerber just got nominated to the short-list of such a meaningful award. Nicole’s nomination means a lot to Purism, and we are here today to say just so.

She totally deserves this nomination (and, if we may say so ourselves, she’d also deserve to get the award…) for oh-so-many reasons:

• for her amazingly innovative work on our upcoming Librem 5 smartphone
• for her concerns about privacy and security and avoiding data and user exploitation
• and of course her assertive presence in the free software community, where she contributes to making free software an industry standard… helping the rest of the world take its possibilities seriously.

So thank you, Nicole Faerber for all that you do!

“Women have been an important part in creating the very foundations of modern IT, naming Ada Lovelace as just one example (here and here are some more), and have ever since played an important role in IT and computer science.” – Nicole

Women in technology are clearly not represented enough: they amounted to somewhere between 2% and 5% of all programmers a decade ago, and about 10% now. At Purism, we pride ourselves on being gender diverse, in addition to being racially and geographically diverse. Our full team is comprised of 20+% women (with women accounting for 37+% of our board, and 33+% of Purism executives) and we continue to work to increase that percentage. Diversity is an asset, and creates safe workplace environments. If you want a safe workplace environment that respects diversity, we are hiring.

The post Nicole Faerber nominated for “CTO of the Year” by Women in IT Awards appeared first on Purism.

"If you choose to respond, screenshot the tweet, and respond to your screenshot." So says Bill Fitzgerald in this Twitter thread. And it raises obvious questions. Like: there are #edutwitter celebrities? What do they look like? The very next Twitter thread gives us an answer, with some observations by Audrey Watters and Akil Bello introducing us to the phrase “toxic positivity”. Fitzgerald also points us to this thread from Jennifer Binis, who asks "about who gets elevated to the status of EduCelebrity." Image: me taking Fitzgerald's advice. More: @EduCelebrity Twitter profile.

Samsung announced its next biggest flagships, the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, at its Galaxy Unpacked event in New York.

Along with clearing up questions and concerns about the devices, the announcement also means pricing and availability information is finally available, along with the specifications of the new phones.

To begin, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 will start at $1,259 outright, and the Note 10+ will start at $1,459. Interestingly, Samsung Canada said the Note 10 would be exclusive to Best Buy and Samsung stores, while the Note 10+ would be available in “all stores.”

That said, you should still be able to get the Note 10 on contract if that’s what you want — you’ll need to head to a Best Buy or Samsung store to do it.

As for colours, you can get the Note 10 in Aura Black and Aura White. The 10+ is available in Aura Glow and Aura White. The 512GB version of the phone is only available in Aura Black. Finally, the Note 10+ Aura White and the 512GB Aura Black will only be available at Samsung stores, with Aura Glow and Black available everywhere else.

Pre-orders will go live in Canada at 4:30pm ET on August 7th and will run until the phones’ release on August 23rd. Canadian pre-orders get a free pair of Galaxy Buds.

Below the spec sheet you’ll find Note 10 and 10+ pricing information for each major Canadian wireless carrier.

Videotron

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ will be available with Videotron starting at $279.95 on a $125 per month plan including 19GB of full-speed data. You can learn more on Videotron’s website.

Bell

Bell is selling the Note 10+ online starting at $579.99 on a two-year Premium Plus contract and $779.99 on a regular Premium plan. Outright, Bell is selling it for $1,699.99.

If you pre-order the phone by August 22nd, the day before it releases, you’ll get a free pair of Galaxy Buds

Telus

Telus has priced the Note 10+ at $1,725 outright, but it has cheaper options if you want it on a contract. Through the carrier’s ‘Bring-it-Back’ program you can get the phone for $0 today and then pay it back at a rate of $53.33 per month for two years.

You can also pay either $400 or $800 upfront to get the phone on a two-year contract and pay slightly less per month.

Pre-ordering the phone before the 22nd on a two-year contract will also net you a free pair of Galaxy Buds.

Rogers

Not to be left out, Rogers has a few deals on the Note 10+ as well, including free Galaxy Buds with pre-orders.

With Edge Financing you can get it for $0 upfront and pay $60.42 per month for two years.

Additionally, if you want the phone on a contract you can pay either — $490, $730, 970 upfront with varying monthly prices.

Rogers is selling the phone outright much cheaper than its competitors at $1450.

Freedom Mobile

Freedom is selling the Note 10+ from $0 to $1460. You can set the price you want to pay into Freedom’s price calculator and then it will tell you how much you’ll have to pay for the phone over the next 24 months.

Freedom seems to be the only carrier not offering the free Galaxy Buds for pre-ordering.

SaskTel

SaskTel is offering three different price points to pick up the new phone. You can get it for $0 upfront and pay $45 per pay period. The other two-year contract is $699 upfront and costs $10 per pay period, or $899 upfront on a two-year contract.

The prairie carrier is selling the phone Note 10+ outright for $1,459.99.

SaskTel is offering free Galaxy Buds with pre-orders until August 18th.

Fido

Guess what, Fido is also offering free Galaxy Buds with pre-orders.

The lowest price with Fido is $490 on a two-year contract. The other prices for two-year contracts are as follows — $730, $970, $1,090 and $1,210.

The Fido outright price is $1,450.

Koodo

Koodo has a similar plan to Telus’ since its outright price is $1,725.

On a two-year contract, you can get the phone from either $980, $1,100 or $1,220.

If you pre-order the phone before the 22nd of August you’ll get a free pair of Galaxy Buds as well.

Eastlink

East Coast regional carrier Eastlink is offering a free pair of Galaxy Buds with the purchase of the Galaxy Note10+, which the carrier is selling for $0

We are updating this article with carrier pricing as it comes available.

The post Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ specs, pricing and availability in Canada appeared first on MobileSyrup.

At its Galaxy Unpacked event in New York, Samsung made a surprise announcement alongside the reveal of its new Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ phones: the Galaxy Book S.

The Galaxy Book S sports a Qualcomm chipset with mobile connectivity. While it didn’t specify which chip, it’s likely the 8cx revealed earlier this year.

The Book S also runs Windows 10 — not a huge surprise, considering Microsoft’s recent work adapting the OS to ARM chips.

Another benefit of the Book S is its “all-day power.” Samsung claims the laptop will last 23 hours. However, that will need to be tested as manufacturer claims often don’t line up with real-world use.

When you do finally need to plug in, Samsung says you can charge the Book S with the same charger as the Note 10.

Finally, Samsung said the Book S would be available starting in September for $999 USD (roughly $1,329 CAD).

Samsung told MobileSyrup that “[it does not] currently have any Canadian-specific details to share at this time.”

The post Samsung shows off new ‘Galaxy Book S’ Windows 10 laptop appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Samsung’s DeX platform now connects to a Mac or PC with any USB-C cable, the South Korean-based company announced at its recent Unpacked event in New York.

“We’ve continued to improve the DeX experience every year, today I am happy to announce that Dex works on PC and Mac,” Hassan Anjum, product strategy and marketing at Samsung Mobile, said at the event.

“DeX works by extending the power of your phone to your PC, integrating key services onto the Note 10 and unifying the PC to mobile experience,” he said.

Anjum also said that Samsung is partnering with Microsoft to bring more DeX features to the platform. Shilpa Ranganathan, corporate vice-president of mobile and cross-device experiences at Microsoft, showcased a few of the features, including linking the Windows button in the quick panel.

She explained that users will now have access to text notifications and pictures from inside the app, as well as the ability to reply directly to text messages. Ranganathan indicated that later this year users will eventually be able to receive phone calls from their PC as well.

Back when Samsung launched DeX back in 2017 users needed to use a proprietary DeX dock. Now, the ability to launch DeX is integrated within the Note 10.

With the dock, users were able to plug into any HDMI compatible monitor and connect the phone to a USB or Bluetooth-enabled mouse or keyboard. Later Samsung ditched the dock for a standard USB-to-HDMI connection with the release of the Note 9.

Essentially, once you plug your phone in, DeX automatically activates and switches to a Windows or macOS-like desktop user interface on the computer it’s connected to.

Samsung says that the standard version of DeX that connects the device to a monitor will still be featured in the Note 10.

Update 08/07/2019 6:22pm: The story was updated with more information regarding different versions of DeX and the Note 10.

The post Samsung DeX for PC connects Galaxy Note 10 to Mac or PC with any USB-C cable appeared first on MobileSyrup.

Google’s new pair of flagship smartphones, the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, will feature fast, 90Hz refresh rate displays, according to 9to5Google.

Citing a “reliable source,” 9to5Google‘s Stephan Hall writes Google will market this feature “Smooth Display.” We’ve seen a number of phones ship with this feature, including, most notably, the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Where the two phones will differ is that they’ll continue Google resolution split. Like its predecessor, the Pixel 4 reportedly will feature a Full HD resolution panel. The Pixel 4 XL, meanwhile, like the Pixel 3 XL did, will reportedly feature a QHD panel.

Both phones will reportedly include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, as well as 6GB of RAM, stereo speakers and Google’s Titan M security module.

Google will likely offer the phones in 64GB and 128GB storage configurations. Where they’ll differ once again is in terms of battery size. Notably, the Pixel 4 is said to feature a minuscule 2,800mAh battery, which means it will have a smaller capacity battery than the Pixel 3, which includes a 2,915mAh capacity power cell. The Pixel 4 XL, meanwhile, will reportedly feature a 3,700mAh battery. By comparison, the current Pixel 3 XL features a 3,430mAh battery.

Hall writes that Google is also developing a “DSLR-like” attachment that the company may sell as an optional accessory.

Source: 9to5Google

The post Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL to feature 90Hz displays: report appeared first on MobileSyrup.

A small bedroom is a delicate ecosystem, often teetering on the edge of total chaos. After ping-ponging from coast to coast, and from one tiny apartment to another, I’ve learned the value of doing regular audits to keep my stuff under control. (Pre–Marie Kondo, my purges were out of necessity, not to spark joy.)

But the experience has also made me a master at efficiently storing what I own. Some of my small bedrooms have also doubled as living rooms, offices, and a nursery, making space-saving, double-duty gear even more essential.

It may feel counterintuitive to add more stuff to a space that’s crammed full, but these organizing tools can give you the upper hand against overstuffed closets and awkward floor plans. Here are five cheap(ish) things to help make the most of every inch.

A super-slim nightstand

Every adult deserves an adult-size bed, but in a small bedroom, sometimes that means the frame stretches nearly wall-to-wall, and many nightstands won’t make the cut. An extra-slim bedside table can squeeze into spaces others can’t, and it can keep your nighttime essentials close at hand.

Wirecutter recommends the slim but sturdy IKEA Nordli for small bedrooms. It’s less than a foot wide, so it fits in tiny spaces, but it still has extras such as a deep drawer and a cutout in back to hide cords.

A damage-free room divider

The easiest way to carve out privacy in an open floor plan is with a room divider, but some—like a chunky bookshelf, for example—can take up a lot of room. A curtain divider, on the other hand, makes for the most efficient use of space. You can mount it to the ceiling or hang it on a frame, but the easiest way to use one without damaging your walls is to put it on a tension rod. Wirecutter’s pick for a curtain divider is the RoomDividersNow Tension Rod Room Divider Kit because it installs in minutes, fits spaces up to 12 feet wide, and comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns.

A floating shelf

You don’t need to forgo bedside storage when floor space is tight. A shelf or cubby that mounts to the wall can create enough room for a small lamp, an alarm clock, and a few small items, and its sleek silhouette can make a cramped room look less crowded than models that sit on the floor. Another bonus: If you have a space-maximizing storage bed, a floating shelf won’t get in the way of the drawers as a nightstand with legs might.

Wirecutter recommends the Umbra Bijou Floating Shelf Cubby, a wall-mounted shelf that measures 16 by 8 inches and has a subtle, modern look that will blend in with most styles.

A sturdy, cheap storage bench

Don’t overlook multipurpose pieces like storage benches—they’re the MVP of small-space living. Place one at the foot of the bed for a perfect place to stash extra linens, a yoga mat, or other gear you need easy access to. But do check the measurements of any bench you consider to make sure you’re getting your inches’ worth: Some “storage” benches have a large footprint but offer very little interior room.

For a cheap, foldable bench that can go almost anywhere, Wirecutter recommends the Seville Classics Foldable Storage Bench Ottoman. It’s surprisingly attractive—and roomy—for the money.

A garment rack

If your small bedroom is missing a closet (or if yours is already at maximum capacity), a garment rack can help. It’s a great way to get bulky, space-hogging coats or bags out of the way or to keep frequently worn items on hand. Look for one that will stay sturdy under the weight of heavy items and has casters so it’s easier to move around as space permits. Try to find one with extra features, such as shelves or hooks, that will store more and look neater, such as The Container Store's Industrial Pipe Clothes Rack, which is Wirecutter’s favorite. This model offers multiple ways to store many types of items, and looks great doing it.