Category: Technology

Meta has finally released the findings of an outside report that examined how its content moderation policies affected Israelis and Palestinians amid an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip last May. The report, from Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), found that Facebook and Instagram violated Palestinians’ right to free expression.

“Based on the data reviewed, examination of individual cases and related materials, and external stakeholder engagement, Meta’s actions in May 2021 appear to have had an adverse human rights impact on the rights of Palestinian users to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, political participation, and non-discrimination, and therefore on the ability of Palestinians to share information and insights about their experiences as they occurred,” BSR writes in its report.

The report also notes that “an examination of individual cases” showed that some Israeli accounts were also erroneously banned or restricted during this period. But the report’s authors highlight several systemic issues they say disproportionately affected Palestinians.

According to the report, “Arabic content had greater over-enforcement,” and “proactive detection rates of potentially violating Arabic content were significantly higher than proactive detection rates of potentially violating Hebrew content.” The report also notes that Meta had an internal tool for detecting “hostile speech” in Arabic, but not in Hebrew, and that Meta’s systems and moderators had lower accuracy when assessing Palestinian Arabic.

As a result, many users’ accounts were hit with “false strikes,” and wrongly had posts removed by Facebook and Instagram. “These strikes remain in place for those users that did not appeal erroneous content removals,” the report notes.

Meta had commissioned the report following a recommendation from the Oversight Board last fall. In a response to the report, Meta says it will update some of its policies, including several aspects of its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations (DOI) policy. The company says it’s “started a policy development process to review our definitions of praise, support and representation in our DOI Policy,” and that it’s “working on ways to make user experiences of our DOI strikes simpler and more transparent.”

Meta also notes it has “begun experimentation on building a dialect-specific Arabic classifier” for written content, and that it has changed its internal process for managing keywords and “block lists” that affect content removals.

Notably, Meta says it’s “assessing the feasibility” of a recommendation that it notify users when it places “feature limiting and search limiting” on users’ accounts after they receive a strike. Instagram users have long complained that the app shadowbans or reduces the visibility of their account when they post about certain topics. These complaints increased last spring when users reported that they were barred from posting about Palestine, or that the reach of their posts was diminished. At the time, Meta blamed an unspecified “glitch.” BSR’s report notes that the company had also implemented emergency “break glass” measures that temporarily throttled all “repeatedly reshared content.”

 

Starlink satellite internet access has already spread to boats and RVs, and now it might accompany your child on the way home from class. SpaceX told the FCC in a filing that it’s piloting Starlink aboard school buses in the rural US. The project would keep students connected during lengthy rides (over an hour in the pilot), ensuring they can complete internet-related homework in a timely fashion even if broadband is slow or non-existent at home.

The spaceflight company simultaneously backed FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s May proposal to bring WiFi to school buses, and said it supported the regulator’s efforts to fund school and library internet access through the E-Rate program. To no one’s surprise, SpaceX felt it had the best solution thanks to rapid satellite deployment, portable dishes and fast service for the “most remote” areas.

We’ve asked the FCC and SpaceX for comment, and will let you know if they respond. The pitch comes just two months after the FCC cleared the use of Starlink in vehicles, noting that it would serve the “public interest” to keep people online while on the move. The concept isn’t new — Google outfitted school buses with WiFi in 2018 following tests, for example.

There’s no guarantee the FCC will embrace SpaceX and fund bus-based Starlink service. The Commission rejected SpaceX’s request for $885.5 million in help through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and the firm responded by blasting the rejection as “grossly unfair” and allegedly unsupported by evidence. Satellite internet service theoretically offers more consistent rural coverage than cellular data, though, and Starlink competitors like Amazon’s Project Kuiper have yet to deploy in earnest.

 

Meta is facing a hefty bill after losing a patent infringement lawsuit. A federal judge in Texas has ordered the company to pay Voxer, the developer of app called Walkie Talkie, nearly $175 million as an ongoing royalty. Voxer accused Meta of infringing its patents and incorporating that tech in Instagram Live and Facebook Live.

In 2006, Tom Katis, the founder of Voxer, started working on a way to resolve communications problems he faced while serving in the US Army in Afghanistan, as TechCrunch notes. Katis and his team developed tech that allows for live voice and video transmissions, which led to Voxer debuting the Walkie Talkie app in 2011.

According to the lawsuit, soon after Voxer released the app, Meta (then known as Facebook) approached the company about a collaboration. Voxer is said to have revealed its proprietary technology as well as its patent portfolio to Meta, but the two sides didn’t reach an agreement. Voxer claims that even though Meta didn’t have live video or voice services back then, it identified the Walkie Talkie developer as a competitor and shut down access to Facebook features such as the “Find Friends” tool.

Meta debuted Facebook Live in 2015. Katis claims to have had a chance meeting with a Facebook Live product manager in early 2016 to discuss the alleged infringements of Voxer’s patents in that product, but Meta declined to reach a deal with the company. The latter released Instagram Live later that year. “Both products incorporate Voxer’s technologies and infringe its patents,” Voxer claimed in the lawsuit.

Meta denied Voxer’s claims in a statement to TechCrunch. It plans to fight the ruling. “We believe the evidence at trial demonstrated that Meta did not infringe Voxer’s patents,” a spokesperson said. “We intend to seek further relief, including filing an appeal.”

 

Felix Krause’s discovery that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram apps can track iPhone owners across websites hasn’t sat well with some people. Bloombergreports users have filed two proposed class action lawsuits accusing Meta of evading Apple’s privacy-oriented App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature and consequently violating both federal and state laws barring unauthorized data gathering. Meta supposedly created a workaround by injecting tracking code into websites when you use its in-app browser, letting it monitor activity regardless of whether or not you gave permission to the app.

Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency as part of the iOS 14.5 update released in April 2021. The technology lets you ask apps not to track you, and requires that you explicitly opt in. Meta has been vocal in its opposition. It encouraged users to allow tracking, and warned that ATT might cost it $10 billion in ad revenue this year.

Meta rejected the allegations in a statement to Engadget. The company said both lawsuits were “without merit,” and that it would defend itself “vigorously.” It further claimed its in-app browsers honor privacy decisions, including for ads.

The lawsuits aren’t certain to obtain class action status, which could lead to compensation for many users. Whether or not the suits are successful, they illustrate the tension between Meta, Apple and privacy advocates — Meta is determined to preserve the targeted advertising that fuels its business, even as critics and rival companies raise more objections.

 

Verizon (Engadget’s former owner) is finally overhauling TracFone’s service following the 2020 acquisition, and the reborn service might pique your interest in the right circumstances. The newly launched Total appears built to compete against big prepaid carriers like AT&T’s Cricket and T-Mobile’s Metro. In addition to more competitive rates than Verizon’s self-branded option (more on that later), you’ll also get a few new perks. Every plan offers 5G and unlimited calling and texts to Canada and Mexico, while unlimited plans now include a Disney+ subscription at either six months for the $50 plan or indefinitely with the $60 tier.

Service starts at $30 per month (you get 5 percent off with auto-refills) with 5GB of fast data and 5GB of hotspot data. A $0 plan provides 15GB of speedy data with matching hotspot support. The $50 unlimited plan caps you at 10GB of hotspot data, but the $60 offering bumps that to 20GB while also providing ultra-wideband 5G. Additional lines are $35 each, and international roaming is available if you have two or more lines on at least the $40 plan.

Whether or not this is a good value depends on what you’re looking for. Total is a better overall bargain than Verizon’s self-branded prepaid service. That doesn’t dip to $30 per month unless you’ve been with the carrier for three months ($25 after nine months), and Verizon is generally stingier with freebies. No plans include Disney+ for longer than six months, and you have to spend at least $50 per month ($35 after nine months) to get unlimited calls and texts with Canada and Mexico. Video streaming is typically limited to 480p, but you can contact support to remove that ceiling.

Rival providers are another story. Total is usually more enticing than Cricket, with greater benefits even at $30 per month — Cricket doesn’t even enable 480p video streaming until you spring for the $55 unlimited plan. The bundled HBO Max and 150GB of cloud storage in Cricket’s $60 level ($55 with auto-pay) might reel you in. With Metro, it’s more complicated. While the $30 5GB package is no-frills, you only need to shell out $40 to get unlimited data and a year of Spanish-language ViX+ streaming. Metro asks you to spend a minimum $50 per month to get hotspot data (and just 5GB at that), but that outlay also gives you a 100GB Google One subscription. Jump to $60 and you also get an Amazon Prime membership that could easily pay for itself.

Total isn’t a surefire hit as a result. However, it does make Verizon considerably more attractive to the no-contract crowd than before. It may also be alluring if you want Disney+ and don’t expect to switch carriers any time soon, particularly in light of upcoming price hikes for standalone subscriptions.

 

You no longer need to live in the US to use Affirm’s buy-now-pay-later services for much of your online shopping. Affirm is expanding to Canada through a partnership with Amazon. Spend $50 or more at Amazon.ca and you can choose Affirm’s pay-over-time option at checkout to split the bill into monthly payments. As in the States, there aren’t any late fees or surprise charges.

The payment option will be available within a month. The Canadian rollout comes roughly two years after Affirm bought local equivalent PayBright — this is effectively a rebranding. Affirm serves Australia as well, but only for people buying Peloton exercise equipment.

This won’t help if you prefer to shop beyond Amazon, and might prove expensive if your purchase amount and pay schedule involve significant interest rates (they range from zero to 30 percent, Affirm says). As with a car or house, you’re paying more overall to make the price easier to swallow. Still, this could be useful if you can’t afford to buy a computer or TV outright and need to spread the costs.

 

ByteDance subsidiary Pico has unveiled its latest virtual reality headset. The Pico 4 will initially be available in Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and eight other European countries. Pico hasn’t revealed US release plans as yet, but it aims to bring the device to Singapore and Malaysia by the end of the year, and China at a later date.

The headset — which has a Qualcomm XR2 processor, an Adreno 650 GPU and 8GB of RAM — can be used as a standalone device. Pico claims the battery, which is in the rear strap to help keep things balanced, offers around three hours of use on a single charge, as The Verge notes. The device weighs 295 grams without the strap and 586 grams when it’s attached.

You can also connect Pico 4 to a gaming PC for higher-end VR experiences. That might be necessary to make full use of the dual displays, which offer higher than 4K resolution at 4,320 x 2,160 resolution for each eye. The displays have a 90Hz refresh rate and 105-degree field of view, according to Pocket-lint.  

The Pico 4 uses inside-out tracking with no need for external beacons. It comes with Pico 4 motion controllers (which have vibration features) and there are four external cameras, as Road to VR points out. According to the Pico website, the device will offer full-color passthrough — something Meta is working on for its Project Cambria headset. 

Given that ByteDance also owns TikTok, it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a way to view videos from that app. You’ll be able to share VR experiences to TikTok as well. There will be hundreds more things to watch in VR and 360 formats. Pico is working to bring live sports and “avatar-based concerts” to the platform as well. 

As for games, there are 165 of them in the Pico store and more being added each week. The headset will support the likes of Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Demeo, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, All-in-One Summer Sports VR and Just Dance VR (which will arrive in 2023 as a Pico exclusive). There will also be SteamVR support.

Meanwhile, there are plans to launch a metaverse-style experience called Pico Worlds next year. Unlike in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, Pico’s avatars appear to have legs.

Considering the price and specs, it’s Pico is trying to compete with Meta Quest 2 (Meta recently bumped up the price of that product). Whether the brand can hang with Meta on the content front remains to be seen. Users are unlikely to be able to play Beat Saber, for instance. Pico also revealed its latest device just a few weeks before Meta will show off at least one VR headset, likely to be the higher-end Project Cambria model, at Connect.

A Pico 4 with 128GB of storage costs €429 (around $422). A model with double the storage capacity will run you €499 (approximately $491). Preorders open next month and the headset will ship on October 18th. Pico also plans to release some accessories next year. A more accurate fitness tracker, a wireless dongle for PC connectivity and a carrying case will each cost €50 (or around $49).

 

Confirming rumors, Google has unveiled the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) device that offers features from the $50 4K model at a significantly cheaper $30 price. Unlike the original $35 Chromecast, it comes with a remote control that eliminates the need for a smartphone, though you can control it with a mobile device as well. The other key feature is right there in the name — lower 1080p resolution, albeit with HDR support.

The new device looks nigh-on identical to the 4K model, with an oval shape, short HDMI cable and a USB-C input. As before, it comes with all the popular streaming services including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Prime Video, YouTube and others. It supports Stadia games as well, and of course, you can cast compatible Android and iOS apps or mirror your Chrome browser tabs.

There’s a Google Assistant button on the remote to control programming, ask questions or control smart home connected devices. Plus, it can be grouped with Nest speakers for multi-room playback around the home via music apps like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube Music. 

Back in January, it was rumored that the device could decode high-quality, low-bandwidth AV1 files (the 4K model doesn’t currently support that), but there’s no word yet on that. It’s bound to appeal to buyers on a budget, but many people were hoping for a faster 4K model with more storage instead. Chromecast with Google TV (HD) is now available for $30.

 

NASA and Hideo Kojima have teamed up for a project, and it’s not the partnership itself that’s unusual. Kojima Productions’ mascot, after all, is a character called Ludens, who wears an extravehicular activity spacesuit and is meant to be an astronaut exploring digital space. No, it’s the fact that they’ve collaborated on a watch. It’s not even a smartwatch — it’s an actual wristwatch called Space Ludens that’s based on the gaming developer’s mascot.

The watch was designed and will be sold by creative studio and watchmaker Anicorn, which previously worked with NASA on other watches and merch. As IGN notes, it’s based on the visual style of Ludens’ spacesuit, with its gray/silver coloring and gold screws and accents. The NASA logo adorns its watchface, along with the words “Extra-Vehicular Creative Activity Suit.” Underneath, the Kojima Productions logo is stamped on the transparent case showing the watch’s gears.

While a watch is most likely not the first thing that’ll come to mind when you hear that Kojima teamed up with NASA, it does look pretty cool and could appeal to fans of either party. The Space Ludens watch will be released in limited quantities on September 27th. Only 600 pieces will be available for purchase, and 100 of which will ship with a skull mask based on the one that’s prominently featured in the Kojima Productions logo. Anicorn has yet to reveal how much it will cost, but its previous NASA watches don’t come cheap and will set you back over $1,000.

 

DJI has launched the Osmo Mobile 6 gimbal, and it comes with a larger clamp than its predecessors to accommodate bigger phones or smaller ones with bulky cases. It has a new handle handle designed to be more comfortable to hold, but it kept the Osmo Mobile 5’s built-in extension rod that lets you use it as a selfie stick. The Osmo 6 also features an improved version of DJI’s ActiveTrack, which allows stable tracking for longer distances and enables the phone’s front camera to track subjects that spin or turn to the side.

Another new feature is Quick Launch for the iPhone. So long as it’s an iPhone that’s attached to the stabilizer, the Mimo app instantly enters camera view when the gimbal is unfolded. DJI says it could dramatically reduce prep times and can get the phone ready to take photos three times faster than previous Osmo Mobile models can. 

The new gimbal has a built-in status panel that lets you quickly check battery levels, as well as a Mode button that gives you a way to cycle between modes with every tap. When in Follow mode, the camera view stays locked in during rolls but follows the gimbal’s pan and tilt movements. Tilt Lock enables the camera view to follow the gimbal’s pan movements but stays stable during tit and rolls. The camera view follows all the gimbal’s movements in FPV mode for a more dynamic footage, while SpinShot lets you control the camera view by moving the joystick left or right. 

Just like its predecessor, the Osmo Mobile 6 also has a number of intelligent features, namely timelapse, gesture control, automatic dynamic zoom, panorama and story mode. Finally, the gimbal comes with a Side Wheel that lets you control and adjust the focal length and zoom in or out. The DJI Osmo Mobile 6 will be available starting today from the company’s online store for €169/£145 (US$166) and will make its way to more retailers in the future. It will ship with a magnetic clamp, tripod, power cable, wrist strap and storage pouch.