Category: Technology

The new profanity rules YouTube introduced late last year are being relaxed — with an update outlining a less restrictive policy that will allow the use of moderate and strong profanity to be used without risking demonetization. The original policy, first introduced in November, would flag any video that used rude language in the first several seconds as ineligible for advertising, with little delineation between “strong” or “moderate” swearing. The policy also seemed to apply retroactively, with many creators claiming that videos they published before the updated policy had lost their monetization status. Now, YouTube is reversing course with a tweaked set of rules that allows some swearing.

Now, creators who use colorful language in the first seven seconds of a video are still eligible for advertising, with some conditions. If the profanity is “moderate,” the video won’t face any restrictions — but strong profanity in those opening seconds could result in a video only receiving “limited ads.” Under the original rules, the update notes, both of these scenarios would have caused a video to be completely demonetized. Creators will be able swear more frequently after the first seven seconds without fear of losing advertising revenue, though YouTube notes that excessive swearing will still put content at risk of being demonetized or limited.

The update also clarifies that strong language in background, outro or intro music should not affect monetization status.

The new language policy goes into effect starting on March 7th — and while it doesn’t address every concern creators had about the November ruleset, it should make it easier for most YouTubers to continue to monetize their videos without significantly changing their content or style.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-reverses-course-on-controversial-swearing-and-monetization-policy-210534968.html?src=rss 

It’s been so long since Meta cut Messenger out of the Facebook mobile app that Windows Phone was still somewhat of a thing at the time. Almost nine years later, Meta is ready to bring them back together. “We are testing the ability for people to access their Messenger inbox within the Facebook app and you’ll see us expand this testing soon,” Facebook head Tom Alison wrote. “Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether in the Messenger app or directly within Facebook.”

When Meta removed Messenger from the Facebook app in 2014, it said that “our goal is to focus development efforts on making Messenger the best mobile messaging experience possible and avoid the confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences.” It’s unclear whether Meta has any plans to bring messaging back to the mobile browser version of Facebook. It started pushing mobile web users toward the Messenger app in 2016. In any case, having one fewer app to juggle on your phone is probably not a bad thing. You might be able to send messages to Instagram users from the Facebook app too.

Meta made the announcement in a bizarrely framed blog post about Facebook’s focus areas for 2023. The post seeks to assure people that “Facebook is not dead nor dying,” as it now has more than 2 billion users.

In an effort to become more competitive with TikTok, Meta is attempting to shift Facebook away from an app where you keep up with friends and family to more of an entertainment and discovery platform. It’s trying to “make Facebook the best place for social discovery and sharing,” as Alison put it in the blog post. 

A key reason why Meta is bringing messaging back to the Facebook app is to “make it easier for people to share what they discover on Facebook via messaging, when, where and how it suits their needs, without needing to switch to another app,” Alison wrote. TikTok enables users to share videos that they stumble upon with their friends through built-in direct messaging. So, on one hand Meta is reversing course and going back to an older way of doing things, but on the other it is, once again, aping a competitor.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/messenger-is-returning-to-the-facebook-mobile-app-after-nine-years-away-191426674.html?src=rss 

Since Panic’s Playdate began shipping last spring, the handheld has offered two ways for players to install games. To start, the device comes with a seasonal lineup of free titles. These are automatically added to your Playdate’s library at a cadence of two every week for 12 weeks, for a total of 24 games during its first season. It’s also possible to sideload games purchased through marketplaces like Itch.io. Today, Panic is adding a third way to download software for your Playdate in the form of Catalog, a curated storefront of Playdate content.

At launch, there are 16 games to be found on Catalog. You can browse the storefront on your Playdate and the web. Eleven of the titles are brand new, and it looks like there are some promising gems on the list. Specifically, Grand Tour Legends looks like a standout. It’s an arcade racing game where your only job is to turn the pedals on your bike by spinning the Playdate’s signature crank. There’s more strategy involved than you might think, as you need to manage your rider’s energy levels. Another intriguing title comes in the form Carve Jr, a game where you use the Playdate’s crank to perform snowboarding tricks. At most, you can expect to pay up to $15 for a game from the storefront.

Separately, Panic is increasing the price of Playdate. Effective April 7th, the handheld will cost $199, a $20 increase from its current $179 price. The company blamed the price increase on increasing production costs. “Our manufacturing partner recently gave us the news that the cost of building a Playdate is going up,” Panic said. “And given our already tight margins, we’re at a point when we need to adjust Playdate’s price.” Panic adds it’s giving customers a month’s notice on the price increase to soften the blow caused by the move. “We don’t take this lightly: we’ve always wanted Playdate to be as affordable as possible.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playdates-catalog-games-store-is-live-today-192058857.html?src=rss 

Peridot, the next game from Pokémon Go developer Niantic, will arrive on May 9th, the studio announced today. First revealed last spring, Peridot is the first original release from Niantic since it relaunched Ingress in 2018. Gameplay involves players breeding and caring for virtual pets named Dots. According to Niantic, each Dot will feature a unique appearance thanks to a system that allows them to inherit a mix of “genes” from their parents.

Pre-registrations for Peridot are now open on the App Store and Google Play Store. Players who pre-register and play the game within its first two weeks of availability will get a special party hat cosmetic for their Dots. It’s obvious Niantic has high hopes for Peridot and hopes to recapture some of the success it saw following the release of Pokémon Go in the summer of 2016. The last few years have seen the studio experience multiple setbacks. In 2021, for instance, it announced the shutdowns of both Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Catan: World Explorers. More recently, Niantic laid off approximately 90 employees and canceled four more projects.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/niantics-tamagotchi-like-peridot-arrives-on-may-9th-173804425.html?src=rss 

Twitch already forbids explicit deepfake images and videos, but it’s taking a tougher position against them today. The livestreaming service is updating its policy on adult nudity to include a ban on synthetic NCEI (non-consensual exploitative images), even if it’s only shown briefly or to criticize its existence. It’s also revising ts sexual violence and exploitation policies to make clear that intentionally making and sharing non-consensual deepfakes can lead to a ban with the first offense.

The policy changes should take effect within the next month. The company hopes the added clarity and modernized language will deter potential offenders. The company is holding a virtual Creator Camp with NCEI expert Zara Ward on March 14th to help spot and deal with malicious deepfakes. We’ve asked the company if it has any plans to detect deepfakes as they appear, and will let you know if we hear back.

The update comes after an incident in which well-known streamer Atrioc briefly showed a browser tab with a website selling access to deepfakes of female Twitch streamers, including some high-profile creators. Atrioc has since apologized and says he was only “morbidly curious,” but that still left broadcasters and viewers angry. None of the women consented to these images.

Women on Twitch are no strangers to harassment, including brigaders who try to get them banned for allegedly violating policies forbidding sexually suggestive content. Twitch has added more tools to discourage harassment and trolling, but critics have also accused it of implementing confusing guidelines that enable abuse and force women to dress conservatively.

Deepfakes can be used for positive purposes, such as clever music videos. However, the non-consensual versions remain a problem and have prompted government crackdowns. Both states and countries like the UK are either enacting or drafting laws that criminialize sharing such deepfakes. In that regard, Twitch is just adding another mechanism to help limit the spread of this content.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitch-takes-a-harder-stance-against-explicit-deepfakes-175407437.html?src=rss 

Slack is the latest notable app to embrace ChatGPT as the generative AI buzz continues to sweep through the tech industry. OpenAI has built a ChatGPT app using Slack’s development tools and it’s available in beta today.

The app can draft messages and summarize conversations and threads, according to Slack. If you have the ChatGPT app installed, you can click on a thread’s menu button and select the “summarize thread” or “draft reply” option. The app will whip up a summary or response that only you can see. You’ll then be able to share that information.

Slack says the app can also use AI to deliver answers and insights on any project or topic, chatbot-style. It suggests this could be useful when looking up best practices or researching a potential new customer. Slack notes OpenAI won’t use any of the data that the ChatGPT app can access on the platform to train its language models.

Meanwhile, Slack’s parent company Salesforce has created a generative AI system called Einstein. It includes integration with OpenAI’s tech, but companies that use Salesforce products can tap into other third-party AI models through Einstein too. As such, Salesforce says its customers can “use natural-language prompts directly within their Salesforce CRM [customer relationship management tools] to generate content that continuously adapts to changing customer information and needs in real time.”

In any case, this is another case of generative AI quickly being shoved into even more mainstream tech products beyond search engines and many facets of the Microsoft ecosystem. But hey, at least you won’t have to bother thinking up responses to your coworkers’ terrible jokes in Slack DMs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/even-slack-has-a-chatgpt-app-now-154334452.html?src=rss 

You won’t have to buy a HomePod to listen to Apple Music spatial audio in your living room. Sonos has confirmed that its speakers will support Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos playback from March 28th. You won’t need the new Era 300 to experience the more immersive format, either. Sonos also says the Arc and second-gen Beam soundbars will also handle spatial audio tracks.

Play-series speakers and older Sonos soundbars unsurprisingly won’t support spatial audio as they were built around conventional stereo and surround output. You’ll need to upgrade if you want the grander audio experience, unfortunately.

The news makes the Era 300 considerably more appealing. Before today, Sonos was only committed to supporting spatial audio through Amazon Music Unlimited. This effectively doubles the potential audience. Statista notes that Amazon had 13.3 percent market share in the second quarter of last year, while Apple Music had 13.7 percent. Unless you’re a Spotify die-hard (where spatial audio isn’t really an option as we write this), there’s a real chance you can try this feature yourself.

It’s not certain if other speaker brands will support Apple Music spatial audio. We’ve asked Apple for comment. For now, though, this gives Sonos an edge over competitors that might not offer Atmos music at any price point. Whether or not it fares well against Apple’s own hardware is another matter. If you’re looking for spatial audio support at the lowest price possible, the $299 HomePod is decidedly more affordable than the $450 Era 300. We won’t be surprised if the Sonos model sounds better, but it also represents a larger investment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-speakers-will-support-apple-music-spatial-audio-starting-march-28th-161505844.html?src=rss 

If you love technology as much as we do and have writing chops to boot, we want to hear from you. Engadget is looking for freelance news writers in the US! Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume and links to three writing samples to jobs at engadget dot com. Here’s the deal:

Contributing writer

Engadget is looking for ambitious and enthusiastic freelance writers capable of telling compelling stories about technology, science and the future of everything. The ideal candidate will put important news in proper context with minimal fluff, find an interesting and original angle from which to tackle a story, explain complicated subjects simply and clearly, and do this all reasonably quickly.

As a writer at Engadget you’ll be an essential part of our dedicated and passionate news team. Our ideal candidates will have some solid professional media experience under their belt, but we’re also open to early-career writers who are ready to hustle. You’ll gain valuable experience and exposure in a fast-paced, online newsroom. Plus, you’ll have access to some of the finest writers and reporters in the business who can offer invaluable lessons on how to thrive in the modern media landscape.

Freelance contributing writers will take on between three and five assignments per day (we’re looking for coverage on East Coast hours, with shifts such as 8AM-1PM ET and 1PM-5PM ET available). We are currently looking for writers located in the US, or anyone willing to work during US business hours. Shifts will be a minimum of four hours, paid hourly at $28.

We’re looking for:

Preferably someone who already has some professional tech/science/auto bylines under their belt.

A familiarity with and sincere interest in consumer technology.

A writer with a strong, lively voice who can turn in clean copy quickly.

Works well with others, and is receptive to feedback.

Experience with Photoshop or other photo editing software is a plus.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engaget-contributing-writers-jobs-160008551.html?src=rss 

The original Kona EV was appealing if you wanted a compact electric crossover, but it lost some of its appeal when the longer-ranged (and frankly more stylish) Ioniq 5 arrived on the scene. However, Hyundai just gave you a reason to consider its ‘entry’ model once more. After months of early peeks, the automaker has unveiled a sleeker second-generation Kona built with an electric powerplant in mind. That, in turn, promises some meaningful improvements to the performance and interior design.

The higher capacity 65.4kWh battery option now provides an estimated 304 miles of range using the WLTP testing cycle. We wouldn’t be surprised if the EPA-estimated figure is more conservative, but that still hints a longer range than the 258 miles of the current model. You now get battery preconditioning to improve charging times and cold weather range, and vehicle-to-load support lets you power devices both inside and outside of the car. There’s also new support for “i-Pedal” one-pedal driving. Just don’t expect the speediest charging. The Kona doesn’t have the 800V architecture of the Ioniq 5 or Kia EV6, so it will take 41 minutes to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent.

Regardless of what motor system is inside your vehicle, you can expect a larger “living space” with more storage (17 cubic feet in the trunk), a front trunk and plenty of in-cabin tech. An optional heads-up display sadly isn’t available in North America, but you will find dual 12.3-inch screens, over-the-air software updates and NFC-based digital car key support. The driver aids are also supposedly more powerful than in other mini-SUVs in this class, such as an attention monitor (to make sure you don’t doze off), a blind spot monitor and assistants for forward collision avoidance and safer highway driving.

Hyundai hasn’t detailed US pricing, although it says the Kona will still be available in combustion-only and hybrid versions in addition to the EV. It should reach US customers in the third quarter of the year. If history is any indication, the Kona should cost less than the Ioniq 5. That could make it appealing if you want to go electric but can’t justify the premium for the brand’s most advanced offerings.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hyundais-revamped-kona-ev-offers-more-room-and-a-longer-range-151216854.html?src=rss 

Even as it has radically expanded the hands-free driver assist capabilities of its current generation Super Cruise ADAS, General Motors has been hard at work on the system’s successor, Ultra Cruise, since 2021. On Tuesday, GM finally revealed which model will be first to receive the upgraded features of Ultra Cruise and that vehicle is the Cadillac Celestiq.

“We’re trying to expand our hands-free driving experience that we have with Super Cruise to most paved and public roads,” Jason Dittman, General Motors’ Chief Engineer, said during a press call Monday. “It will be a ‘destination to destination’ experience.”

“You get in your car, use the internal nav navigation system, put a destination in it, and the car would essentially do the driving — roughly on 95 percent of the driving maneuvers on a typical drive, you’ll be able to do hands-free,” he added.

We already had a solid understanding of what Ultra Cruise would be capable of as GM went into detail when it first announced development of the system in 2021. Super Cruise currently works on around 400,000 miles of US and Canadian highways, allowing drivers to take their hands off the wheel when driving on a compatible highway or state route. It uses a mix of LiDAR, radar, GPS and cameras to know where the vehicle is on the road.

Ultra Cruise, builds off this with a new computing system, that will fuse the incoming data streams into a unified 360-degree view around the vehicle. “They’re not redundant, they’re fused together to give us the most accurate picture of the vehicle surroundings,” Dittman said. Ultra Cruise equipped vehicles will also use an interior-facing infrared driver attention monitor that will track the, “driver’s head position and/or eyes in relation to the road,” according to Tuesday’s announcement.

Ultra Cruise will work on more than 2 million miles of highway at launch. Over time, the company plans to further expand the number of roadways covered by the Ultra Cruise network to include 3.4 million miles of roadway encompassing, “nearly every paved road, city street, suburban street, subdivision, and rural road in addition to the highways that today on the super cruise operates on,” Dittman added.

Note that despite the larger number of roads the new system will work on, it still offers the same Level 2 driver assist capabilities as the rest of the auto industry, save Mercedes. That means, you will have to keep paying attention to the road you just won’t have to keep your hands strictly on the wheel.

Unfortunately, current Super Cruise subscribers will not be able to upgrade to the new system once it arrives later this year. Ultra Cruise requires additional sensors and hardware to operate and GM doesn’t currently have plans to offer a retrofit kit. You’ll have to pony up the $300k Caddy is asking for the Celestiq if you want to be among the first to try it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gms-ultra-cruise-system-will-debut-on-the-cadillac-celestiq-later-this-year-140011591.html?src=rss