Feb
08

Spokespeople for Nancy Pelosi and Facebook got into a Twitter spat over an edited video of Trump's State of the Union video: 'What planet are you living on?' (FB, TWTR)

I often compare the Tesla Model 3 to the Toyota Corolla in terms of basics: Both vehicles are compact sedans.I've driven several Model 3s. Recently, after reviewing a new Toyota Corolla, I decided to put my comparison to the test.The Model 3 is a more compelling and important car — full of ideas, with a revolutionary attitude.But after decades in the US market, the Corolla is still always just there for you. That counts for a lot in my book.Also, Tesla never stops talking about how hard it is to make the Model 3. Toyota, meanwhile, has been quietly cranking out Corollas since the late 1960s.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Whenever I generalize about Tesla and the Model 3, I often point out that although the vehicle is in many ways revolutionary, if you boil it down to its automotive essence — and take out the battery pack and electric drivetrain! — it's a Toyota Corolla.

In other words, it's a compact family sedan. The Model 3 and the Corolla are almost exactly the same size, while the Model 3 is significantly heavier thanks to its fairly large battery. They each have four doors, six windows, and four wheels. (The Model 3, of course, has a panoramic glass roof.)

The fastback Model 3 and the more traditional deck-lidded Corolla are also kin when it comes to the trunk. Because the panoramic glass roof can't move, the Model 3 isn't a true hatchback.

Obviously, we have gas versus electrons here. But the cheapest Corolla comes in at under $20,000. The least expensive Model 3, as listed on Tesla's configurator at the time of this writing, is just under $40,000.

I've driven several Model 3 variants, but the one I officially reviewed was the rear-wheel-drive, single-motor, long-range Premium example, then priced at $57,500.

More recently, I reviewed a $29,189 2020 Toyota Corolla XSE. And an opportunity knocked: Why don't I test my compulsive comparison of the Corolla and Model 3 to determine if I actually have a point?

A quick note before we get started: YES, I KNOW THESE ARE VERY DIFFERENT CARS CONCEPTUALLY. But formally, they aren't so divergent. You could electrify the Corolla or gasify the Model 3 and have something of an interchangeable experience.

Read on to see how it went down.

Original author: Matthew DeBord

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Sep
13

Ahead of SpaceX moon mission, billionaire Yusaku Maezawa sells a $2.3 billion stake in his fashion company to Yahoo Japan

Recently, "Fortnite" shut down completely for a day and a half, only to return with a much-awaited reboot — "Chapter 2."Mike Shields, the former advertising editor for Business Insider who is now CEO of Shields Strategic Consulting, argues that this kind of publicity is perfect for brands and advertisers.That said, he also suggests that breaking into gaming is a tricky business — and experts say it has to be done with caution.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

There were two momentous events recently in my household.

The Yankees have been knocking on the door of their first World Series in a decade, holding my wife hostage from her usual TV binging. 

Also, "Fortnite" shut down completely for a day, only to return with a much awaited reboot — "Chapter 2."

You can guess which event my three sons were buzzing about at school and talking about incessantly at home. Which got me thinking: You have the Major League Baseball playoffs, supposedly featuring one of its marquee teams, pulling in about 5 million live viewers a night on the obscure FS1 — and most of those viewers are not young.

And then you have "Fortnite Chapter 2," a veritable Super Bowl of gaming, being served up to potentially 250 million players across the globe. The incredibly popular game, which lets players try and survive a "Hunger Games"-esque battle on a storm-ridden island, literally shut down on Monday for a day and a half. After staring at a black hole on the screen for hours, players were suddenly invited to "Fortnite Chapter 2," essentially a whole new version of the game.

It's hard to ignore 'Fortnite's' potential audience of 250 million

Did all 250 million registered "Fortnite" players jump in on day one? Surely not. But the audience for the rollout this week has undoubtedly been enormous.

Of course, these two "events" are incredibly different in myriad ways. A big one stands out: The MLB games were loaded with ads. "Fortnite" had none.

It's fair to ask, 'So?' Gaming and live televised sports are completely different animals. In this case, it's not apples and oranges, it's apple pie and virtual hand grenades.

And, of course, as big as "Fortnite" is, live sports still generate outrageous rights fees from media companies, along with a still incredibly healthy ad business. You might even say that sports — particularly the NFL — are propping up the network TV model. All is true.

But in watching these MLB games religiously, I thought about how I'd be worried if I were a big ad executive. I can barely beg my three sons to watch five minutes of these Yankees-Astros games. All they want to do is steal my phone and start shooting and flossing.

'Fortnite' is well-suited to young people's short attention spans. Baseball, not so much.

To be fair, my kids are fairly young and may very well grow into Yankee obsessives. But I'm less certain than ever. The games are typified by dozens of pitching changes and strikeouts and mound visits and endless ad breaks. Game 2 of the Yankees-Astros series was super dramatic — and also ended at 1 a.m. on a weekday.

"There is a reason that sports leagues are embracing gambling and fantasy," Rich Greenfield, a partner at LightShed Partners, said. "It's hard to ask a young person to sit for three or four hours and just watch."

I get it. Baseball is something you grow into. My kids are young. No gambling just yet. 

And other sports are doing fine on TV. Still, if I were a marketer relying on this audience, I would be seeing younger people getting only more distracted.

Which brings me back to "Fortnite." Fans of the game are not the least bit distracted when they play. They're fixated. It's that kind of concentrated obsession brands will kill 99 people on an island to obtain.

And remember, unlike, say, a new "Grand Theft Auto" or "Call of Duty" release, "Fortnite" is free to play. You can buy loads of stuff — the company pulled in $2.5 billion last year in virtual goods and currency, according to Nielsen's SuperData tracking arm. But millions just play for hours and spend no money.

What kind of cash could "Fortnite" maker Epic Games have pulled in if it had run just one or two preroll ads before the "Fortnite Chapter 2" release? What kind of "rating" would that have translated to? It's hard to gauge how big the day-one audience was, since it's nonlinear and non-Nielsen-rated (though the Twitch traffic alone is eye-opening).

Trying just a few ads would be a unique opportunity to help train these freeloading gamers that a few video ads are now part of the deal.

For brands, they'd be building a new high-reach vehicle overnight.

To be sure, there's real risk in any ad overture to gamers, who are a vocal bunch known for their love of ad blockers. A bunch of in-game ad companies came and went about a decade ago, in part because they couldn't get their models right.

The media veteran Patrick Keane, the CEO of the Action Network, said that in-game advertising "feels untapped" but requires caution for gaming companies.

"The battle for consumer attention at any age is getting unrelenting," he said. "Advertisers must determine how to creatively message users in video games, full stop. But they have to ask, 'How can it be noninterruptive and add value to the games?'"

It would be interesting to find out just how interruptive a brand could be. Or could Coke or Pepsi or McDonald's just give every "Fortnite" player a new outfit or weapon just for watching a 15-second ad?

Given what is happening with formerly old reliables, like broadcast networks and traditional sports, marketers need some way to generate big reach.

"It's not just about sports," Greenfield said. "Every brand is having this existential crisis: 'How do I reach my consumers?' The most compelling content is increasingly cut off."

Original author: Mike Shields

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Nov
12

Nigeria’s Interswitch confirms $1B valuation after Visa investment

Amazon's major investment in British food delivery startup Deliveroo has hit another snag after the UK's competition watchdog decided to launch a formal investigation into the deal.The Competition and Markets Authority has been weighing whether to conduct a formal probe since July 2019, after Amazon led a $575 million funding round into Deliveroo.The CMA is worried that Amazon will effectively merge with Deliveroo with the investment, reducing competition.The watchdog will decide in December whether to escalate its probe further, which would result in the deal being blocked or Amazon being forced to sell off parts of its business.

Amazon's massive investment into British food delivery firm Deliveroo has hit another snag, with the UK's competition regulator deciding to launch a formal investigation into the deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) first mooted an investigation in July, after Amazon led a $575 million funding round into Deliveroo, which is a major rival to Uber Eats outside the US.

At the time, the CMA said it was concerned Amazon might effectively acquire Deliveroo through the investment, potentially reducing competition. The watchdog also put the investment on ice, and asked Amazon and Deliveroo to keep their operations separate.

Deliveroo is a UK-based, fast-growing food delivery startup that works much like Uber Eats or DoorDash. The firm offers takeaway food from local restaurants and ferries meals out to customers via delivery riders on bikes or motorbikes. It is one of the largest and most successful startups in the UK, but has faced controversy over its categorization of delivery riders as contractors rather than employees, and its internal working culture.

Should Amazon's investment in Deliveroo go ahead, it would give the retail giant access to an innovative on-demand delivery network, which may help tackle the "last mile" delivery problem of getting packages to their ultimate destination.

Prior to the Amazon deal, Deliveroo was in acquisition talks with Uber, but sources indicated the pair could agree on a price. CEO Will Shu believes the firm is worth some $4-6 billion, sources told Business Insider last year. The company was last publicly valued at $2 billion. It also held early acquisition talks with Amazon, The Telegraph reported.

Amazon and Deliveroo have previously argued that they are not planning to merge, and that they sought regulatory approval ahead of the deal.

The watchdog will carry out what it calls a "phase 1" investigation, meaning it will look more fully into concerns that a merger or investment would reduce competition for consumers. Amazon and Deliveroo could fend off further investigation by making changes to their business, or promising not to merge their operations.

If the CMA decides that the deal is anti-competitive, it will launch a "phase 2" probe that would likely halt the deal or force Amazon or Deliveroo to divest parts of their business.

The CMA said it will decide on a phase 2 investigation in December.

Amazon declined to comment. Business Insider has contacted Deliveroo for comment.

Original author: Shona Ghosh

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Jan
17

Cannabis marketing company Fyllo acquires CannaRegs for $10M

Samantha Lee/Business Insider British artificial intelligence startup Healx has just raised a $56 million Series B led by one of Europe's biggest investors, Atomico. "Originally we weren't planning on doing a Series B this year but Atomico approached us and we were aligned in terms of our vision to scale quickly into Europe," CEO Dr Tim Guilliams told Business Insider.The Cambridge-based company only raised its Series A last year and is looking to expand rapidly with its rare disease treatment programmes in a market worth an estimated $220 billion.Healx uses AI and ML software to help find treatments for some 7,000 rare diseases which affect around 400 million people worldwide and will use the funding to develop its accelerator programme.  Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Cambridge, UK-based healthtech startup Healx has just raised a $56 million Series B led by one of Europe's biggest investors to use artificial intelligence to treat the world's rarest diseases.

The company develops treatments for rare diseases using proprietary artificial intelligence software. It has raised from major European investor Atomico, Global Brain, and Btov Partners as it looks to scale its offering. Healx estimates that some 400 million patients suffer from around 7,000 rare diseases worldwide which will not be covered by traditional medical science. 

It's part of a major push into new forms of biological engineering and tech-led health solutions in what's estimated to be a $220 billion market by Healx. Atomico principal Irina Haivas, a Healx board member, said that the company's combination of strong tech and drug expertise was a winning model in what she claims is a large and growing part of the market. 

The funds raised, just a year after its $10 million Series A, will be used to launch its global "Rare Treatment Accelerator" programme which includes treatments for fragile X syndrome, the leading genetic cause of autism. 

Previous Healx investors, including Balderton Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and angel investor Jonathan Milner also participated in the round. 

"Originally we weren't planning on doing a Series B this year but Atomico approached us and we were aligned in terms of our vision to scale quickly into Europe," Healx's CEO and cofounder Dr Tim Guilliams told Business Insider in an interview. "The average clinician doesn't know anything about the diseases we're dealing with and we're approaching a massive problem, in a huge market with very specific solutions."

Healx was set up in 2014 by Andreas Bender, David Brown (the co-inventor of Viagra and former head of drug discovery at Roche) David Cavalla, and Guilliams, who founded Cambridge Rare Disease Network (CRDN).

You can see the redacted pitch deck that secured Healx's funding below:

Original author: Callum Burroughs

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Nov
04

Microsoft says all business will be collaborative, and infused with data and AI

After months of leaks and teases, Google officially unveiled the Pixel 4 on Tuesday. Google

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.

Google revealed its newest smartphone, the Pixel 4, and a fresh line of products that will rival Amazon and Apple. Google announced the Pixel 4, at its "Made by Google" event on Tuesday alongside several other products, including a new Nest Mini smart speaker, a refreshed Pixelbook Chromebook, and second-generation Pixel Buds.Twitter has published its rules for world leaders, including what types of tweets won't be allowed. While Twitter didn't touch on the actions of any specific world leader, the company said it wanted to better explain why it makes moderation decisions when reviewing controversial posts from political figures.Elizabeth Warren said she won't accept major donations from tech executives after vowing to break up big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Warren has campaigned on the argument that Facebook, Google, and Amazon are monopolies that should be more heavily regulated.Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency plan just got formalized, but a quarter of its backers have now dropped out. Facebook formally established which companies and individuals will govern the currency and its infrastructure as part of the non-profit Libra Association early this week.London fintech unicorn Revolut has initiated talks to raise $1.5 billion from JPMorgan as its funding plans grow. Revolut is exploring the possibility of selling an equity stake alongside a convertible loan as it looks to fuel its expansion plans.Congress has launched an investigation into whether e-cigarette manufacturers paid for bots to spam social media with pro-vaping posts. Researchers found out earlier this year that hundreds of thousands of social media posts promoting vaping most likely came from bot accounts, according to a Wall Street Journal report.Democrats have started to lobby social media companies to stop fake stories about 2020 candidates before they can go viral. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is waging a behind-the-scenes battle to stop the spread of disinformation about its 2020 presidential candidates, according to a Politico report.Amazon said that it has shut down its last Oracle database for its consumer business, reducing its costs by 60%. Amazon is now using Amazon Web Services databases to power its consumer businesses such as Amazon Prime, Alexa, and Kindle.Epic Games announced Fortnite Chapter 2, a major update for the wildly popular multiplayer shooter game after its extravagant black hole stunt. The update includes a new map, new functionality, and the ability to upgrade weapons.Walmart has launched an in-home delivery service where customers can have items delivered directly to their fridge when they're not at home. Walmart workers gain access to customers' homes using smart-lock technology controlled from a mobile phone. 

Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings.

You can also subscribe to this newsletter here — just tick "10 Things in Tech You Need to Know. 

Original author: Mary Hanbury

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Oct
16

The JBL Link Bar is a quick and easy solution for adding smarts and better sound to a dumb TV

 

JBL The JBL Link Bar ($400) isn't just a soundbar, streaming device, or smart speaker — it's all three in one. The device offers Android TV and Google Assistant built right into it, along with a decent design. While it's not perfect, the Link Bar is cheaper than buying three separate devices. 

If you're trying to improve the quality of audio in your living room, then a decent soundbar is a great way to do so. In the past few years, a few soundbars have been released that go a step further though — offering both an improved audio experience and smart operating system, all rolled into one device. The latest of these is the JBL Link Bar.

The JBL Link Bar ups the audio quality of your home theater while also offering Android TV and even a Google Assistant smart speaker — all in one. But is the Link Bar worth it? I've been using the device for a few weeks now to find out.  

Design and controls

The JBL Link Bar will sit on your entertainment center or TV stand, and because of that, you'll want it to look good. Thankfully, it does. The device comes in an all-black color-scheme, with a number of controls on the top and ports at the back.

When it comes to those controls, on the top of the device you'll get an input control, a Bluetooth button, volume controls, and a microphone mute switch. On the back, you'll find the ports, which include three HDMI inputs, an HDMI output, an optical input, an aux port, and an Ethernet port. It's a pretty decent selection of ports and means that you should be able to plug in all your devices, including any gaming consoles and other streaming devices you might have. 

In general, the design of the device isn't bad. It comes with a fabric covering around the sides, with a plastic top, but it still looks pretty good and should look right at home among your other home theater devices.

It's important to consider the design of the remote, too, which is actually pretty well-designed and easy to use. There are a directional pad and controls for the Android TV software, along with volume controls and a quick-access button for Netflix. There's also a Google Assistant button, which is a nice touch; it allows you to communicate with Assistant at the touch of a button while you're using the remote. 

Read more: The best soundbars you can buy

Specs

40.2 inches by 2.4 inches by 3.7 inches100W maximum power75Hz — 20kHz frequency responseBluetooth 4.2Supports 4KChromecast built-inAndroid TV built-inGoogle Assistant built-inHDMI inputs (x3)HDMI outputEthernet portOptical port

Setup process

Setting up the JBL Link Bar is pretty easy, but not necessarily as easy as some other Google Assistant devices. For example, unlike basic Google Assistant smart speakers, you can't just turn on the device and complete the sign-in process on your phone. Instead, you'll have to manually log in to your Google account on the device using the remote and type in your password. It's not hard to do, and there are on-screen instructions to guide you through the process.

Once you do sign in, you'll be able to use the device as a Google Assistant smart speaker as well as use Android TV. You'll also be logged in to YouTube and Google Play, which are important parts of Android TV, and that means that you can easily download and install your favorite streaming apps and services.

JBL

What makes the JBL Link Bar stand out

The best thing about the JBL Link Bar is that it's a streaming device, smart speaker, and soundbar all wrapped into one. That's good news for those who want to bring their living room experience to the next level without having to spend the cash on three separate devices.

Perhaps the main way that you'll use the Link Bar is as a streaming device, and it's not bad as a streaming device. The device has Android TV built right into it, allowing you to quickly install your favorite streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and so on. Android TV, in general, is pretty easy to use, offering a row of apps at the top of the interface and content that you can quickly access below that. Google continues to refine Android TV, too, which is helpful. Unfortunately, the Link Bar does not support HDR just yet; however, some reports indicate that's coming.

Secondary to a streaming device, you'll use the Link Bar as a soundbar, and it's perhaps best at being a soundbar. The JBL Link Bar leverages JBL's experience in home audio, and it sounds pretty good. There's a relatively deep and powerful low end, along with crisp and detailed high frequencies that help deliver a relatively natural sound. There's a built-in equalizer, too, so if it sounds a little too bass-y, or needs a little more high end, in your room, you can tweak it. 

Last but not least, the device also acts as a smart speaker, which means that you can still interact with Google Assistant through the device even when your TV is off. Like other Google Assistant devices, you can activate the assistant simply by saying "Hey Google," and then speaking your request. With Assistant you can find out information from the web, control smart home devices, and more.

Read more: The best smart speaker you can buy

Cons

The JBL Link Bar is a capable soundbar, streaming device, and smart speaker, but it's not really the best at any of those things. If you're looking for a great-sounding soundbar and want a smart speaker built into it, then the Sonos Beam is worth considering instead, as it allows you to use either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

The fact that the device doesn't currently support HDR is also a bit frustrating. We're hoping the device is updated with HDR support sooner rather than later.

Google Assistant on the Link Bar works well, but at times it can be a little slow to respond. That can make using Assistant a little frustrating, and happens both during Android TV use, and when using the device as a smart speaker.

The bottom line

The JBL Link Bar may not be the best streaming device, best smart speaker, or best soundbar, but if you want all those features, it's a whole lot cheaper than buying all three separately. Because of that, it's worth considering for those that want a super-smart device that offers good audio at an affordable price

That said, if you do want the best Android TV streaming device, it's worth considering the Nvidia Shield TV, while if you want an excellent smart soundbar, then the aforementioned Sonos Beam is the way to go.

Pros: Good sound quality, smart features, Android TV is getting better, Google Assistant

Cons: No HDR, Assistant can be slow at times

Buy the JBL Link Bar for $399.95 on JBL's website and Amazon

Original author: Christian de Looper

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Jul
23

Airbnb CTO says graph neural networks will be big in 2021

A Porsche Taycan sports car beat a Tesla Model S sedan in a drag race filmed by the German television show Auto Mobil.A clip of the episode posted to YouTube shows what appear to be two separate races between the vehicles.The Taycan is in the lead when the show cuts away from the first race, and during the second race, it beats the Model S by a wide margin.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Porsche Taycan sports car beat a Tesla Model S sedan in a drag race filmed by the German television show Auto Mobil.

A clip of the episode posted to YouTube shows what appear to be two separate drag races between the vehicles' high-end performance trims, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and the Tesla Model S P100D. (You can watch the full episode here.) The Taycan is in the lead when the show cuts away from the first race, and during the second race, it beats the Model S by a wide margin.

Read more: Tesla solar panels have become a nightmare for some homeowners, especially for one Colorado woman whose roof went up in flames

CNET's Roadshow points out in a summary of the clip that there are factors specific to the vehicles featured, like the tires they use and the year they were produced, that could explain the disparity. 

The Tesla Model S P100D sedan can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds, while Porsche says the Taycan Turbo S can do the same in 2.6 seconds. The Turbo S has a top speed of 161 mph, while the Model S P100D has a top speed of 163 mph.

See also: Apply here to attend IGNITION: Transportation, an event focused on the future of transportation, in San Francisco on October 22

In 2018, Stefan Weckbach, Porsche's head of electric vehicles, said the Taycan would be able to sustain high performance better than the Model S. The Taycan "will offer reproducible performance and a top speed which can be maintained for long periods," he said.

Are you a current or former Tesla employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can ask for more secure methods of communication, like Signal or ProtonMail, by email or Twitter direct-message.

Original author: Mark Matousek

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Oct
15

The best wildlife photos taken this year reveal a horde of interlocked ants and a vicious stand-off between a fox and a marmot

The London Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition awards photographers whose work inspires us to consider our place in the natural world and our responsibility to protect it.This year, the contest received 48,000 entries from photographers in 100 countries.The winning set of images includes snapshots of an interlocked army of ants, a stand-off between a surly fox and a shocked marmot, and a puma ambushing a guanaco. Here are 14 award-winning photographs from this year's contest.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Capturing the hidden, unfiltered world of the animal kingdom on camera isn't easy. But the winning images from the London Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition give rare glimpses of animals' resilience.

This year, the photographers behind these pictures climbed coastal cliffs in Norway, trekked through the jungles of Costa Rica, and dove deep into the waters of Indonesia to observe animals' struggles to survive and get a decent meal.

Photographers from 100 countries submitted 48,000 entries for the contest, including photos of an interlocked ant army, a stand-off between a surly fox and a shocked marmot, and a puma ambushing a guanaco. 

Read More: The best wildlife photos taken this year reveal a hippo murder, a hungry leopard seal, and a weevil ensnared by zombie fungus

The Natural History Museum announced the various winners at an awards ceremony on Tuesday; the photos will be on display at the museum starting October 18. 

Here are 14 of the winners from this year's contest. 

Original author: Aylin Woodward

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Jul
23

Why unstructured data is the future of data management

Facebook said it agreed with the Federal Communications Commission's rules for broadcast stations — which are required to run all ads from political candidates — in a public spat with Elizabeth Warren over its decision to allow ads containing false information from Donald Trump. The FCC regulates broadcast stations in the public interest, and these networks have certain provisions against issuing false information. Facebook is under no such regulations, and it is not liable for posted content, as protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.However, experts say Facebook could one day face a similar set of rules as broadcast stations, as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and bipartisan leaders have expressed a strong desire to introduce regulation. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

What is Facebook? Depending on where and when it's asked, sometimes it's a publisher, and sometimes it's a platform. 

But in its latest controversy — the decision to not fact-check ads from politicians — Facebook is positioning itself as most like a broadcast station.

—Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) October 12, 2019

 

Federal Communication Commission regulations state that broadcast stations — the local TV or radio stations that are often network affiliates — have to accept ads from political candidates, regardless if they are true or false. Broadcast stations are classified separately from cable networks, who have discretion; CNN chose not to run the Trump ad in question because it had been proven false. 

According to Philip Napoli, the author of "Social Media and Public Interest: Media Regulation in the Disinformation Age," courts have historically ruled in favor of counterspeech when it comes to ads from politicians. Instead of taking down false ads, which has been viewed as censorship, the government generally lets politicians issue all ads, believing that the public will make a reasonable decision on who to vote for. 

Similarly, Facebook has said it doesn't believe it should "prevent a politcian's speech from reaching its audience and being subject to public debate and scrutiny." For both the FCC and Facebook, the solution to false speech is usually considered to be more speech, it seems. 

"Facebook is acting like a broadcast station in this case," Napoli told Business Insider. "The irony, of course, is that there is no existing regulation that applies to them." 

The FCC regulates broadcast stations in the public interest. Those regulations have certain provisions against issuing false information, among other lengthy rules and guidelines. 

But Facebook is subject to no such regulation — it generally follows whatever rules it wants to — and it is not liable for any content posted via the service, as protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. If Facebook were actually a broadcast station, it would be subject to FCC regulation. 

—Edmund Lee (@edmundlee) October 13, 2019

 

Still, the FCC is quite limited in media regulation, as it cannot generally infringe on the free press rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. But there are exceptions. 

According to Napoli, the most common exception made is when there are implications for the public interest. For example, the FCC can regulate broadcast stations because they utlilize the broadcast spectrum, which is considered a public resource that is "owned by the people." 

Currently, this public interest framework isn't applied to social media. But Napoli argues that Facebook is also built on a public resource — our user data — and it's the only reason Facebook has been able to gain so much influence in the first place. 

If Facebook is powered by this public resource, shouldn't it be regulated in the public interest? This is how the FCC regulates broadcast stations, and Facebook is clearly acting like one in this case. 

Of course, it would take a lot to enforce these regulations. The US currently lacks any guarantee of individual rights to their user data, and it seems like an even further jump to recognize aggregated user data as a public resource. 

But it's a sensible argument, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has also suggested regulation, calling out companies like Facebook at a hearing in June. 

"The greatest threat to a free and open internet has been the unregulated Silicon Valley tech giants that do, in fact, today decide what you see and what you don't. There's no transparency. There's no consumer protections and I think bipartisan members of both congressional chambers have now come to that realization."

The FCC and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Most of the calls for regulating Facebook, including Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's, are from an antitrust perspective — Facebook should be broken up because it is too big and harms competition, she argues. 

While this regulation may also be necessary, Napoli points out another problem entirely. The FCC's current regulations are entirely insufficient for social media, and our society is in dire need of an update, he says.

"We've just never had communications platforms operating on this scale, by a long shot," Napoli said. "And we have this weird patchwork of regulations that becomes more fragmented every time a new technology becomes more important." 

Original author: Will Fischer

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Jul
24

Deadline 2024: Why you only have 3 years left to adopt AI

BDG Founder and CEO, Bryan Goldberg. (Photo by Emily Assiran/Getty Images for Bustle)

Hello!

It's a panicky time for media, with consolidation sweeping up digital publishers, reports of layoffs at Splinter, Bustle, and Sports Illustrated, and remaining players scooping up the spoils. At some of these companies, the tensions are reaching a boiling point.

My colleague Ben Goggin reported that this is playing out in the form of fear and falling morale at Bustle Digital Group, based on his interviews with 24 current and former employees.

Why it matters: Bustle Digital Group has been one of the most acquisitive media companies of late, making it a bigger influence on the future of digital media.

Insiders say morale at Bustle Digital Group is cratering as it quietly axes staff and loses focus

Then the controversial Jim Heckman's Maven, a 2-year-old platform for independent publishers, stirred backlash when it took over the venerable but troubled Sports Illustrated.

Maven said it would hire dozens of contractors to fuel the site, but to many critics, the plan smacked of the model popularized by Forbes and HuffPost that's been associated with cheap, low-quality content.

How Jim Heckman — the slick businessman behind the mass layoffs at Sports Illustrated — became the most hated man in sports media

Here's Heckman's pitch to investors.

Here's the investor deck that Jim Heckman is using to explain how he'll grow Sports Illustrated

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Elsewhere, Lauren Johnson profiled Jeff Green, the CEO of ad-tech company The Trade Desk. Green is seen as one of the most important bulwarks to Google's advertising dominance — but as Lauren reported, The Trade Desk's growing size is making it a lightning rod for criticism itself.

Meet The Trade Desk's Jeff Green, ad-tech's most loved CEO, who thinks he can save targeted advertising

Hot off the presses in marketing, Patrick Coffee reported on Disney's decision to split its multi-billion dollar ad business — and how it shows the entertainment giant is gearing up to take on Netflix, Apple and others with its Disney+ streaming service next month.

Disney just shook up its $2-plus billion ad business as it prepares to battle Apple, Netflix, and Amazon for streaming audiences

Patrick also reported a series of stories on the US Army's plans to fix its troubled efforts to win over new recruits. The pitch deck from the winning agency shows that while the Army might have a $4 billion budget and be funded by taxpayers, its game plan is not unlike other marketers trying to sway members of Gen Z.  

Pitch deck reveals how ad giant Omnicom won the US Army's $4 billion marketing business. Its first ads are about to hit digital and social media.

And Tanya Dua noticed how several of the big DTC marketers are following their bigger brethren in spinning up their own content studios in the latest example of marketers forgoing traditional agencies. It's likely they won't abandon agencies altogether, but it's another example of how that business is being eroded.

Popular direct-to-consumer brands like Away, Dirty Lemon, Glossier, and Mailchimp are pouring money into building content studios as they go beyond performance marketing

Here are other great stories from media, marketing, and advertising. (You can read most of the articles here by subscribing to BI Prime; use promo code AD2PRIME2018 for a free month.)

The top 14 talent managers for YouTube creators and influencers who are shaping the future of digital media

Ex-Snap exec Imran Khan has raised an additional $12.5 million from Rakuten, Lightspeed, and others for his e-commerce startup Verishop

Shopify is quickly gobbling up e-commerce. Its director of product reveals how avoiding the Amazon model helped fuel its meteoric rise.

The top 10 slides from Netflix's groundbreaking first culture deck that experts say had the most impact

Exclusive data that predicted Netflix's big Q2 subscriber miss suggests international growth has bounced back 

Original author: Lucia Moses

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Oct
15

How to forget a Wi-Fi network on your Mac, so your computer stops automatically connecting to it

Your Mac has a great feature that saves Wi-Fi networks that you've previously signed into, automatically joining the network whenever you're in range of it. However, there are a few scenarios where this may be a burden.

Perhaps you have two networks at home or work, and now only want to use one of them on your Mac. Instead of having to check which one you've connected to every time you turn on your computer, you can remove the one you no longer want to use. 

Maybe the password has changed since you've last signed into a network and for some reason you're not being automatically prompted to enter the new one. Forgetting the network will help solve that problem. 

Or, you could just want to tidy up the long list of saved networks you've accumulated over time.

Whatever the reason it may be, forgetting a Wi-Fi network on your Mac is easy. Here's how.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

MacBook Pro (From $1,299 at Apple)

How to forget a Wi-Fi network on your Mac computer

1. Click on the Wi-Fi icon at the top right of your top menu bar.

2. Click "Open Network Preferences…"

Find your Network Preferences by clicking on the Wi-Fi icon. Christina Liao/Business Insider

3. Click "Advanced…"

4. Find the Wi-Fi network that you'd like to forget and click on it. If you'd like to select multiple networks, hold down the "Command" key as you click on additional networks.

5. Click the minus "—" sign.

Once you've selected the network(s) you'd like to forget, click "—." Christina Liao/Business Insider

6. Click "Ok."

7. Click "Apply."

To save the changes, click "Apply." Christina Liao/Business Insider

Original author: Christina Liao

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  14 Hits
Aug
23

Armory lands $10M Series A to bring continuous delivery to enterprise masses

Twitter has published its moderation policies for world leaders.The post from Twitter doesn't discuss the actions of any specific world leader, but the company said it wanted to better explain why it makes moderation decisions when reviewing controversial posts from political figures."The actions we take and policies we develop will set precedent around online speech and we owe it to the people we serve to be deliberate and considered in what we do," Twitter said.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Twitter has revealed its moderation policies for world leaders in a new blog post.

The post from Twitter doesn't discuss the actions of any specific world leader, but the company said it wanted to better explain why it makes moderation decisions when reviewing controversial posts from political figures.

"When it comes to the actions of world leaders on Twitter, we recognize that this is largely new ground and unprecedented," Twitter said in a blog post. "We understand the desire for our decisions to be 'yes/no' binaries, but it's not that simple. The actions we take and policies we develop will set precedent around online speech and we owe it to the people we serve to be deliberate and considered in what we do."

Twitter said the following types of tweets will lead to enforcement, regardless of who is making the posts:

Promotion of terrorismClear and direct threats of violence against an individual (context matters: as noted above, direct interactions with fellow public figures and/or commentary on political and foreign policy issues would likely not result in enforcement)Posting private information, such as a home address or non-public personal phone numberPosting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consentEngaging in behaviors relating to child sexual exploitationEncouraging or promoting self-harm.

Twitter revealed a new enforcement policy for politicians and other influential users in June that labels tweets that are in violation of the platform's policies instead of deleting them. However, that policy is only in place for Twitter accounts with 100,000 or more followers.

The company said it will leave controversial tweets intact for the sake of discussion, and so that people can engage with statements made by political leaders.

"Our mission is to provide a forum that enables people to be informed and to engage their leaders directly," Twitter said in the blog post clarifying its policies for world leaders.

Twitter's saftey account said that offending tweets will be marked with a new warning label that makes it impossible to like reply, share or retweet the tweet in question. However, users would be able to express their opinions on the tweet by using the "Retweet with Comment" function that provides a link to the original moderated tweet.

As the 2020 presidential candidates and other politicians continue to rely more heavily on Twitter as a platform for policy and discussion, they have also questioned the rules of engagement. Earlier this month, Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, wrote a letter asking Twitter to ban US President Donald Trump for six tweets that she felt violated the companies policies.

Harris specifically identified six tweets that coultargeted or threatened someone, or could incite violence — all of which would violate Twitter's user agreement. Twitter confirmed that it received the letter, but told Business Insider the blog post on world leaders was a separate announcement.

In August, Twitter temporarily suspended an account belonging to Sen. Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign after it posted a video that included violent threats against the senator. Twitter reinstated the account after the campaign appealed the decision and the Republican National Committee threatened to stop funding campaign advertisements on Twitter.

The video posted by @Team_Mitch was reinstated with a sensitive content label.

Original author: Kevin Webb

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Nov
07

November 13 – Rendezvous Meetup to Discuss Competing with Heavily Funded Startups - Sramana Mitra

Some homeowners with Tesla solar panels said they had been left frustrated as they wait for the company to fixed damaged panels on their roof.On August 1, the roof of Briana Greer's home in Colorado caught fire as she waited for Tesla to send a crew to look at her panels. The company has yet to investigate the situation, she said.Greer said that Tesla didn't properly maintain the panels. Homeowners in states from Maryland to Arizona with Tesla solar panels have also found dealing with Tesla to be frustrating, and they've been forced to pay regular fees as their systems have been shut off.Current and former Tesla employees said that this is all related to "Project Titan," a secret program Tesla launched in the summer of 2018 to quietly change out faulty wiring on solar roofs across the country.Business Insider sent Tesla an extensive list of claims made by customers and current and former solar employees for this story. Tesla did not reply to repeated requests for comment via phone calls, emails, or text messages.

Briana Greer was out of town when the fire started in her Tesla solar roof panels. Luckily, her neighbors in Louisville, Colorado — a town outside Boulder — were vigilant, and they were able to put out the fire before the fire department arrived.

That was on August 1. The day before, Greer said, Tesla had contacted her to let her know its system had been detecting voltage fluctuations for a couple of days. The company said it would send a crew to check it out on August 8. That was too late.

Greer, an environmental consultant, said she had yet to receive a report explaining why any of this happened.

"They purposely keep a lot of people in the dark. For an energy company, that's ironic," Greer told Business Insider in an interview last month.

Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this article, but a local Fox station in Colorado reported last month that Tesla told it that "its solar panels are safe and very rarely catch fire." The Fox report also said that Tesla said it was working with Greer's insurance company.

Tesla has not agreed to let her out of her contract, so Greer set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for an attorney to deal with this matter.

Greer said she believes Tesla was in breach of its agreement with her and Xcel, a third-party electric company that installed her meter and connected Tesla to the grid. Her contract with Tesla, viewed by Business Insider, says Tesla maintains the solar panels according to manufacturer specifications.

Xcel did not respond to a request for comment.

Greer's panels were made by a solar-panel manufacturer called Trina, whose handbook says its panels should be physically inspected twice a year. Tesla was not doing that, Greer said.

Trina did not respond to a request for comment.

Greer's contract also said that Tesla should maintain the panels according to state law. In 2017, the year Greer had her panels installed, Colorado adopted the National Electrical Code. But Greer, who provided Business Insider with diagrams of her system, said Tesla did not update her solar panels to code. For example, the NEC 2017 rules require all solar panels to be capable of a rapid shutdown at the module level, and according to Greer, the system that caught fire did not have that.

Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In an email dated September 23 and viewed by Business Insider, a Tesla representative told Greer that the company did not have maintenance records "aside from remote monitoring and reactive response." The company does not visit people's homes proactively, the email said, unless it's performing a mandatory service in a customer's neighborhood.

In August, Walmart sued Tesla, claiming that it failed to maintain the solar panels on stores across the country. Seven of those stores caught fire — one ultimately closed for a week this spring — and millions of dollars in losses and damages occurred, it said. Walmart's complaint says, just as Greer alleges, that Tesla never explained why the fires started.

Walmart had the resources to look into it. Its complaint detailed its finding that Tesla had installed faulty Amphenol connectors that could not regulate heat going into the solar panels. As a result, it said, the panels experienced temperature spikes that could lead to fires.

After the Walmart suit was made public, Business Insider reported that last year Tesla started a secret program, called "Project Titan," to replace as many of these Amphenol connectors as quickly and quietly as possible. Tesla told Business Insider that its software-monitoring applications found that a "small number" of the connectors experienced failures and disconnections higher than their standards allowed.

In that September 23 email to Greer, the most Tesla said about the fire was that her system "was not flagged" as having issues with the Amphenol connectors. To her, that simply isn't enough.

"They're playing with my life while collecting money from the rate-payer," Greer said.

Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Greer's claims.

If you would like to share your experience as a customer or employee of Tesla's auto or solar companies, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Local news channels show a fire at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, in March 2018. WHIO

Shut down and paying anyway?

To understand how customers may be affected by Project Titan, Business Insider spoke with five Tesla customers, as well as one former and two current Tesla solar employees. Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment about their claims.

All the customers — who were in Arizona, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland — said they were given little to no explanation of why their panels needed to be serviced. They said they were told to turn off their systems and wait for a crew to come and do maintenance. All of them said they were forced to continue paying Tesla leasing fees, as well as an estimate for power, while their systems were shut off.

One customer, Christina Caron of Phoenix, Arizona, told Business Insider that her system started having problems in August 2018. Then in November, she said, she received an email from Tesla informing her that her system was producing an arc-fault reading. According to two current Tesla employees, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, an arc-fault reading shows that the connectors have overheated at one point.

Inside the company, the people said, there is a ranking system for the severity of an arc fault. The employees said an X means that a customer should be serviced right away. An arc fault 1 is the next most severe, then an arc fault 2 and, finally, an arc fault 3, the employees said. Caron said she did not know where her arc fault ranked.

A Tesla crew inspected Caron's system in February and determined that it had been damaged and needed to be replaced. The crew didn't say why, but told Caron that there were hot spots and moisture patches in the panels. The system's been off, at Tesla's request, ever since.

However, Caron said she was still paying Tesla to lease the panels, as well as an average energy rate that the company calculates. Plus, she has to pay her local electricity provider.

"So my electric bills are not $250 or lower — they have ranged from $400 to $800 for one month because my solar has been shut off, and that is with roughly the same usage as last year and the year before," Caron told Business Insider. "Nobody could give us any answers except to say, 'We are not responsible for the high electric bills that are coming in when the system is off.'"

Jeffrey Sutherland, a homeowner outside Boston, also experienced an arc-fault error, but he had to let Tesla know about it, he said.

"The claim that they are actively monitoring their systems is not true," he said of his experience in a phone call with Business Insider. "I had to call them in March to ask about the arc-fault errors I had been seeing on my inverter for months. The tech-support person looked at the logs and immediately instructed me to turn the system off."

Sutherland said that Tesla sent someone out to inspect the system in April and that they said they needed to "replace parts that are sending faulty signals to the inverter." They also said there were "faulty components" but did not elaborate on what exactly the problem was, he said.

So after seeing that he was still being charged for 400 kilowatts of production even though his system was turned off, Sutherland turned his system back on.

"The billing representative insisted that I needed to pay under the purchase-power agreement, even though they turned off the system. He would not reverse the charges," Sutherland said.

In August, Sutherland said, his system would intermittently go into standby mode. He would turn it back on only to have it shut down 15 to 20 minutes later. It wasn't until Sutherland read about Project Titan, Tesla's secret project to replace faulty connectors, that he became concerned and shut the system off entirely, he said. As of October 3, his panels had not been replaced.

If you would like to share your experience as a customer or employee of Tesla's auto or solar companies, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Greer's roof. Briana Greer

Inside out

Two current Tesla employees and one former employee told Business Insider that the company instructed its people not to say the word "fire" but "thermal event" instead.

Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the employees' claims.

They also said that there was widespread concern within the company about the quality of the Trina panels that were on Greer's house. Trina did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the claim.

If a customer asked what was happening above their heads, one current Tesla employee who works in solar-panel installation told Business Insider, employees were to read a script that sounds something like this:

"We are here today to replace a part on your system that has shown a propensity to fail and can cause interruption to your service. We're here to prevent that today, and once the work is complete, you'll be able to enjoy uninterrupted, flawless service."

Two current Tesla employees said they were instructed not to tell customers anything specific about why their roof needed maintenance, or anything related to Project Titan.

"At the start, Tesla was being transparent about the connectors. Then they began to hide why maintenance was required," one person said.

"I think people need to understand that we're lucky that no one has died," they said, adding, "This could be on your home, over your kid's bedroom."

Indeed, at Greer's house in Colorado, the fire started over her 16-year-old son's bedroom.

Business Insider sent Tesla an extensive list of claims made in this story. Tesla did not reply to repeated requests for comment via phone calls, emails, or text messages.

Original author: Linette Lopez

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  36 Hits
Oct
15

Apple and Goldman Sachs are being picky about who gets an Apple Card

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Apple and Goldman Sachs are being picky about who they approve for Apple Card, the new credit card they launched in August."The approval rates early on have been lower," Goldman CEO David Solomon said on the bank's third-quarter earnings call, adding that the bank is favoring applicants with excellent credit scores."Keeping approval rates low suggests that at least initially Apple wants to focus on low-risk (higher credit score) customers, rather than catering to higher-risk customers," a Wharton associate professor told Markets Insider.Watch Apple and Goldman Sachs trade live on Markets Insider.

Apple and Goldman Sachs are being picky about who gets an Apple Card, the new credit card they launched in August.

"The approval rates early on have been lower," Goldman CEO David Solomon said on the bank's third-quarter earnings call. "That's a decision Goldman Sachs is making as the bank, but we're doing that in concert with Apple."

The pair are "skewing to the highest side of the FICO bands," Solomon continued, meaning they're mostly approving applicants with excellent credit scores.

"We are quite vigilant" about "not being negatively selected out of the box," he added. "Over time, we'll start to see better credits appear, the approval rates will go up."

Strong interest in Apple Card has allowed Apple and Goldman to be discerning in their choice of cardholders.

"They are keeping their underwriting standards high, and are able to be picky about who to approve, because there is so much demand for the branding, convenience, and new features of the Apple Card," Benjamin Keys, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, told Markets Insider. 

"The usual concern for a credit card lender is that the person who really needs the credit is exactly the person who the lender doesn't want to lend to," Keys continued.

"Keeping approval rates low suggests that at least initially Apple wants to focus on low-risk (higher credit score) customers who will use the card transactionally and generate interchange fees, rather than catering to higher-risk customers who may be charged high interest rates but also default at an elevated rate," he added.

Goldman will be eager to make Apple Card a success after spending about $300 million to build it and reassigning thousands of its engineers to finish it on time, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The bank also conceded to Apple's demands to scrap late fees and not sell customer data, and it agreed to use the iPhone maker's signature font and simplify customers' monthly statements against its lawyers' advice, the newspaper reported.

Read more: The man responsible for the finances of NYC's richest millennials details the road to mastering and growing your wealth in 3 simple steps

Original author: Theron Mohamed

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  34 Hits
Nov
04

Enterprise customer data platform Treasure Data gets $234M backing from SoftBank

Google unveiled the Pixel 4 on Tuesday, its newest flagship smartphone.The phone comes with new motion sensors for unlocking the device more quickly and performing tasks using touchless gestures as well as an improved camera.Starting at $800, the Pixel 4 is a direct competitor to Apple's iPhone 11 — which also boasts noteworthy camera upgrades over its predecessor.Here's a look at how the Google Pixel 4's specifications compare to those of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Google finally introduced its much-anticipated Pixel 4 smartphone on Tuesday, which offers a dual-lens camera and a new radar-powered motion-detection system.

The phone, which begins shipping on October 24, starts at $800 — putting it in direct competition with Apple's new iPhones. The iPhone 11 starts at $700, while the iPhone 11 Pro begins at $1,000.

With the Pixel 4, Google is making a statement about what it envisions as being critical to the future of the smartphone. The Pixel's 4 new motion sensors and deep integration with the Google Assistant suggest the company's approach is all about building more intelligence into its products.

The Pixel 4 — along with all of the other gadgets Google announced on Tuesday — is the latest result of the company's "Made by Google" initiative, which the firm launched in 2016 as its first major push into hardware.

Read more: I've tried every single iPhone Apple currently sells — here's how to decide which one is right for you 

Google trails behind rivals like Samsung and Apple in the smartphone industry. Its sliver of the market is so minimal that research firms like The International Data Corporation and Canalys don't even break out its shipments in their quarterly reports. But Google's hardware products do serve another important purpose: keeping consumers hooked into its ecosystem of increasingly important services and products like the Google Assistant. 

If you're deciding between the Pixel 4 and Apple's latest iPhones, here's a look at how their specifications compare. We'll have a more comprehensive guide on how the Pixel 4 stacks up against Apple's latest smartphones once we've had more time to use it. 

Original author: Lisa Eadicicco

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  31 Hits
Oct
15

You can connect Bluetooth headphones to your Nintendo Switch with a special transmitter — here's how

One would think that with all the features built into a Nintendo Switch console, it would be possible to connect a set of wireless Bluetooth headphones. However, you can't — at least, not without special equipment.

While you can't directly pair Bluetooth headphones to a Nintendo Switch, there is a relatively easy way to work around the issue: a Bluetooth transmitter.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Nintendo Switch (From $299.99 at Best Buy)

Scosche Bluetooth Transmitter (For $39.99 at Amazon)

How to connect Bluetooth headphones to your Nintendo Switch

The solution is to convert the Switch's regular 3.5 mm headphone jack into a Bluetooth transmitter by using a special dongle.

The Nintendo Switch cannot pair with Bluetooth headphones without the use of a third-party transmitter — the small white box in this photo. Steven John/Business Insider

You can get a good Bluetooth transmitter on Amazon, and the dongle can convert any device with an audio jack into a Bluetooth-friendly system.

Just plug the transmitter into the audio output jack on the top of the Nintendo Switch, and then pair it with your Bluetooth headphones.

Here's an example of how to do so with the transmitter linked above:

1. With the dongle inserted into the Switch, hold the pair button for several seconds to place it into pairing mode. Most will flash once in this mode.

2. Now hold down the pair button on your headphones. When the light on the dongle becomes solid, you have successfully paired the devices.

A small Bluetooth dongle allows Bluetooth-enabled earbuds or headphones to work with the Switch. Steven John/Business Insider

Be sure to follow the pairing instructions included in your specific transmitter's manual.

The audio will now play just as it would through a pair of headphones connected by wire.

Of course, an even easier solution here is to simply use headphones with a physical wire, and plug them into the 3.5 mm jack. But this option won't give you nearly as much flexibility.

 

Original author: Steven John

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  14 Hits
Oct
15

A new radar system will track 250,000 tiny pieces of space junk. It may help prevent snowballing collisions that could cut off our access to orbit.

A new radar array in New Zealand will track an estimated 250,000 tiny objects that orbit Earth at high speeds and could threaten satellites and astronauts.It will be the first commercial system to track bits of space debris smaller than 10 centimeters wide, and as small as 2 centimeters.Tracking these objects can help prevent catastrophic collisions and stave off a potential series of snowballing crashes known as a Kessler event. Such a disaster could cut off human access to space for hundreds of years.The data could also eventually support debris clean-up efforts.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For the first time, space companies can track tiny bits of dangerous space junk that orbit the planet and menace satellites.

A new radar system from the company LeoLabs is expected to track an estimated 250,000 dangerous objects smaller than 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide that orbit Earth. It's the first commercial device to track debris that small, though it joins a larger radar network that LeoLabs runs to provide real-time data about objects in low-Earth orbit. (That's the zone where most human-made space objects are clustered.)

That data that LeoLabs collects can help satellite operators and government agencies, like NASA and JAXA (Japan's space agency), avoid catastrophic collisions with space debris.

It could also help prevent a scenario in which the orbital junk gets out of control and cuts off our access to space for hundreds of years.

"Nobody is telling you where the debris is, what's the likelihood it's going to hit your satellite. So we wanted to create that service," Dan Ceperley, LeoLabs' co-founder and CEO, told Business Insider. "If it hits your satellite, it can shatter your satellite. So not only is your satellite gone, but now you've got a cloud of debris that is threatening your other satellites and threatening other people's satellites."

Original author: Morgan McFall-Johnsen

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  44 Hits
Nov
03

How Adobe uses deep learning to improve its products

This week, Disney awarded its advertising business to rival holding companies Omnicom and Publicis after a five-month review.Omnicom retained movie studios and most media properties in the US, while Publicis won parks and Disney Plus.A knowledgeable source said Disney would spend about $375 million to promote Disney Plus.The outcome shows Disney plans to further wall itself off from its rivals Netflix, Apple, and Amazon ahead of next month's launches of Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus.Disney is moving toward a data-driven direct-to-consumer marketing strategy focused on subscriptions.Sources close to the review also said cost savings and data were the driving factors in the review.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The Walt Disney Co. has shifted its marketing strategy as it gears up to battle Netflix, Amazon, and Apple for streaming viewers.

This week, the company announced next month's launch of Disney Plus by listing every original show and movie that will be available on the streaming service in a long Twitter thread. It also awarded its advertising business to the holding company rivals Omnicom and Publicis Groupe after a five-month review.

These developments followed heated disputes between Disney and its chief streaming rivals. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Disney banned ads for Netflix on its properties and resisted Amazon's attempts to sell ad space on Disney-branded Fire TV apps

.

Read more: Exclusive data shows how much buzz Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, and HBO Max have built with streaming users before launch

Disney's most important product moving forward will be digital subscriptions

The review shows Disney is pushing into performance-based marketing and selling subscriptions directly to consumers because it sees them as the future of its media business, people involved in the review told Business Insider.

During August's third-quarter earnings call, Disney CEO and Chairman Robert Iger called Disney Plus "the most important product that the company has launched ... certainly during my tenure in the job."

Iger acknowledged that Disney Plus would lag far behind Netflix in terms of original content but said it would rely on the strength of brands like Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar.

In the review, Publicis won responsibility for marketing parks and Disney Plus in the US, while Omnicom retained Disney's film-studio work and traditional media outlets, including the Disney Channel, ABC, FX, and Nat Geo. ESPN will stay with Publicis, which also won the entirety of work in Latin America, Asia, and the region comprising Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Two people close to the review said one key reason Disney awarded the Disney Plus advertising to Publicis was because Apple, its big streaming rival, has a more than 30-year relationship with Omnicom. Another source said fellow holding company WPP also sat out the global review because of a potential conflict with its client Comcast and pitched only in India, where it retained Disney's business. (The Publicis agency Spark Foundry counts the Comcast-owned NBCUniversal as a client.)

Disney will spend about $375 million to promote Disney Plus, source says

In another sign of Disney's attempts to distance itself from rivals, Iger last month stepped down from Apple's board of directors, the same day Tim Cook announced that Apple's own streaming service would premiere in November two weeks before Disney Plus is set to go live.

A party with direct knowledge of Disney's marketing budget said the company would spend about $375 million to promote Disney Plus in the next 12 months. By contrast, Disney parks spends just under $600 million on marketing annually.

Multiple parties confirmed that Disney's in-house team manages just under half of that $600 million, including programmatic and digital buys. But Publicis could play an advisory role. Arthur Sadoun, its CEO, said in an internal memo that Epsilon, the data firm it acquired earlier this year for $4.4 billion, played a key role in the review, along with the media agency Zenith.

One person familiar with the review said Disney, like most major marketers, has shifted to the performance-based marketing embraced by smaller direct-to-consumer brands. Sources also said saving money was Disney's top concern.

This was not surprising since, in March, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox Inc. in a deal that involved specific cost-savings promises. Bloomberg reported at the time that these cuts would lead to "thousands of firings in the film and TV business."

Disney wants to consolidate media operations around the world

Two other sources said Disney was also interested in the holding companies' ability to coordinate their operations globally. One company said the pitch involved 400 employees in eight offices across four continents.

Spokespeople for Omnicom and Publicis deferred to the client for comment. The consultancy MediaLink, which oversaw the review, declined to comment, as did WPP. 

Disney did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The international research company Comvergence placed Disney's annual paid media spend at around $1.5 billion, while two other sources involved in the review said it was closer to $2.2 billion.

The intelligence firm Kantar Media said Disney's 2018 US marketing budget was made up of $668 million on feature films, $258 million on media networks such as ABC and ESPN, $188 million on direct to consumer, $153 million on parks, and $27 million on consumer products. These numbers do not include the addition of 21st Century Fox properties.

Original author: Patrick Coffee

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Dec
13

Equity Dive: Direct Listings

There are many ways to backup your Mac computer and restore all of its data: cloud-based software, third-party apps, external hard drives. 

Time Machine is a software that's built into your Mac, and uses an external drive to save versions of your computer, taken hourly everyday. (You can delete old Time Machine backups once your disk is full to free up space.)

If you've connected an external drive and selected it as your backup disk, Time Machine will automatically make backups and you'll be able to restore older versions of your Mac, where things like music, photos, and applications are saved.

Here's what you need to know to restore older versions of your Mac using Time Machine:

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

MacBook Pro (From $1,299 at Apple)

How to restore a Mac from a Time Machine backup

Before you start, make sure that your Time Machine backup drive is connected to your Mac and that it's turned on.

1. Turn on your Mac.

2. If your computer starts in the Finder, you'll have to open the Migration Assistant, which is located in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder — if it starts in the setup assistant, you can skip this step.

Open the Migration Assistant in your Finder's Utilities folder. Devon Delfino/Business Insider

3. Within the Migration Assistant, select the option to restore "from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk" when it asks how you want to transfer your information. 

4. Select your Time Machine backup and click "Continue."

If your backup disk is encrypted, you may also have to input your password.You may also have to choose between several different backup versions, which are organized by date and time to help you choose the most recent version if that's what you want. 

5. Check the box to the right of the folder you'd like to transfer, such as your Applications and other files, then click "Continue."

Depending on the amount of information that you choose to restore, it may take several hours for you to complete this process and get your Mac up and running again.

If, for some reason, your computer doesn't start in either the Finder or setup assistant, you'll have to restore both your MacOS and your files. Here's how to do that:

1. Immediately after turning your Mac on, press and hold Command and "R" to restart your computer from MacOS Recovery.

2. Then, when you see the MacOS utilities window, select "Restore from Time Machine backup."

3. Continue through the prompts, selecting the backup version and save location.

4. Finally, restart your computer, and your Mac will be restored.

Original author: Devon Delfino

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Nov
02

SoftBank invests $93M in The Sandbox’s NFT game platform

MasterCard, Visa, eBay, and others have withdrawn from Facebook's cryptocurrency project. AP Photo

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.

SoftBank could reportedly take control of WeWork at a valuation below $10 billion as the embattled office rental company seeks bailout options. WeWork could run out of money as soon as the end of November; the company's new co-CEOs are slashing thousands of jobs, selling off businesses, and closing non-core activities like WeGrow.Facebook's cryptocurrency project suffered a massive blow after MasterCard, Visa, eBay, and others withdrew. Facebook's deteriorating relationships with Libra partners, combined with intense scrutiny from lawmakers, leaves the future of the initiative uncertain.Elizabeth Warren expressed her ire over Facebook running fake ads for Trump — by running a fake ad. Her campaign posted a fake advertisement on the social media platform claiming that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg endorsed Trump's re-election. Google funds climate change deniers while touting environmentally friendly policies. According to a Guardian report, Google has been funding organizations that deny climate change and actively lobby against climate legislation.Bill Gates, who said he had no relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly met with the disgraced financier multiple times, including a 2011 meeting with billionaire Eva Dubin and her teenage daughter. According to a New York Times report, Gates and Epstein met multiple times beginning in 2011.The future of WeWork's $850 million Lord & Taylor building, which it bought in 2017, is in jeopardy now the firm is on the brink of running out of cash and is slashing jobs. The building was an ambitious bet for WeWork's brash and charismatic founder Adam Neumann, and plan had been to turn it into WeWork's HQ.San Francisco is creating a new office of Emerging Technology. The new office will issue permits before any new tech device is used on its streets, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Popular Canadian messaging app Kik said that it is "here to stay" just weeks after its CEO announced that it would be closing down. Earlier this month, CEO Ted Livingston said on Twitter that his company may have found a buyer for Kik.Samsung has launched its Galaxy Fold concierge service in the US. The Galaxy Fold Premier Service will allow Galaxy Fold users get support and find answers to questions about their device 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Benchmark's role ousting the CEOs of WeWork and Uber could be the end of the 'founder friendly' reputation that made it one of Silicon Valley's hottest VC firms. The firm's reputation with startups could determine its future ability to land the hottest deals.

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Original author: Mary Hanbury

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