Android key mobile competition Security

Google has dismissed the European commission’s charges that it abuses the market dominance of its Android operating system to prevent rivals from competing with alternative software and services.

The EC filed charges in April that could carry a fine for Google of up to $7.4bn (£5.9bn), or 10% of its global revenue, and centre on what the commission saw as “unjustified restrictions and conditions” placed on smartphone and tablet makers, preventing them from choosing other, non-Google default search engines and browsers.

Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel for Google, said: “Android hasn’t hurt competition, it’s expanded it. Android is the most flexible mobile platform out there, balancing the needs of thousands of manufacturers and operators, millions of app developers and more than a billion consumers. Upsetting this balance would raise prices, hamper innovation, reduce choice and limit competition.”

In its response to the EC today, Google objects to several of the commission’s premises, including the view that Google’s Android does not compete with Apple’s iOS operating system that runs iPhones and iPads.

Walker said: “The commission’s case is based on the idea that Android doesn’t compete with Apple’s iOS. We don’t see it that way. We don’t think Apple does either. Or phone makers. Or developers. Or users.

“To ignore competition with Apple is to miss the defining feature of today’s competitive smartphone landscape.”

The company claims that its agreements with smartphone makers, which insist that a suite of Google apps be pre-installed on devices with some positioned on the homescreen when a device is first started, allow Google to distribute Android for free and continue investing in the development of the platform.

Industry watchers said Google’s prospects of making money from advertising could diminish if its apps were not pre-loaded on devices, despite users being free to delete many of them and replace all of them apps of their choosing.

It also insists that its agreements are crucial to allow anyone to take Android and modify it to suit their requirements, but maintain a level of control on compatibility to help prevent so-called fragmentation, where one version is incompatible with another.

Walker said: “Our voluntary compatibility agreements enable variety while giving developers confidence to create apps that run seamlessly across thousands of different phones and tablets. This balance stimulates competition between Android devices as well as between Android and Apple’s iPhone.”

Google’s Play Store has more than 2.2m third-party apps available for download across 1,000s of devices, including apps from the search company’s chief rivals, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook, of which Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp have been downloaded more than 1bn times.

Commenting on the EC’s case, Daniel Castro, vice president of tech policy think tank ITIF said: “If Google instead only sold Google-made devices, it would … control all aspects of the operating system plus the apps it includes on Android devices.

“This is exactly what companies like Apple and Blackberry have long done with their respective mobile operating systems, yet the practice is not considered anti-competitive for them.”

The case against Android comes at a time when Google is also embroiled in a battle with the EC over its Shopping search engine feature and its AdSense text advertising service. Last week, Google dismissed the commission’s Shopping case with similar rhetoric, saying that its competition with Amazon should be taken into account.

Galaxy S7s Are Not Exploding

Isolated reports of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S7 smartphone exploding have not been confirmed, according to the Korean tech giant. As it continues to deal with the aftermath to end production of the Galaxy Note 7 some Galaxy S7 have seemingly exploded as well.

There have been several recent reports in Asia and Canada, according to VentureBeat, raising the possibility that the same issues that plagued the Samsung Galaxy Note7 are also cropping up in the Samsung Galaxy S7. In the US, a construction worker in Ohio and an employee at a smartphone store both claimed that they had seen fire-damaged on the slightly dated flagships, PhoneArena reported.

In a statement, Samsung said there are 10 million Samsung Galaxy S7 devices in the US, and none of them have had internal battery failures, but it has confirmed "a number of instances" caused that are known to have severe external damage.

"Until Samsung is able to obtain and examine any device, it is impossible to determine the true cause of any incident," the statement said. It is certainly unclear if the company had sought out the devices in the reported explosions to examine them. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Samsung's reputation as a maker of high-end smartphones took a big hit two months back when it recalled and ultimately discontinued the Note 7 following multiple confirmed reports of fires and explosions. The US Department of Transportation classified the next-gen flagship smartphone as dangerous goods and banned passengers from carrying them on commercial flights.

Samsung apologised to consumers and even offered incentives, all of which come in zone-specific variants, to get owners to switch to another Samsung flagship device. At press time, it has so not yet announced the cause of the fires and explosions.

Amazon Alexa Offers Hands-Free Access to 60,000 Recipes Cooking

Amazon Alexa wears many hats—fitness tracker, mood setter, life scheduler, trip planner, and now, sous chef. In partnership with Allrecipes, the digital assistant helps you plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner via hands-free access to 60,000 recipes.

"There is no need to tap, swipe, type, or squint to get the five-star results your family craves," Allrecipes said in a YouTube video description (watch below).

To enable the feature, simply open the Alexa mobile app, navigate to Menu > Skills > Allrecipes; created a new account or link to an existing one before asking Alexa to search and save favorite meals from the website.

Use just your voice to find step-by-step instructions by title, ingredients, or cooking time. Say "Alexa, ask Allrecipes for the Recipe of the Day," for instance. Or "Alexa, ask Allrecipes for an easy lasagna recipe."

Need ideas for how to create a meal using the three ingredients left in your fridge? Kids hungry for something other than meatloaf? Ask Alexa. She even broadcasts online ratings and reacts to personal needs like time limit.

Home chefs, meanwhile, can also tap into the artificial intelligence to control connected General Electric kitchen appliances—refrigerators, dishwashers, wall ovens, ranges, laundry machines—thanks to a recent partnership between GE and Amazon.

As of September 2016, Alexa boasted more than 3,000 skills—triple the amount it had just three months earlier.

Apple Launches iPhone 6s Repair Program for Faulty Batteries

Last week, Apple launched a repair program after acknowledging the Apple iPhone 6 Plus had a touchscreen issue widely dubbed as 'Touch Disease'. The program is not well-received as Apple blamed users instead of acknowledging that there is a design fault on the phone.

Because of that, the repair will cost Apple iPhone 6 Plus owners US$149. Now we have a second repair program underway, only this one is for the Apple iPhone 6s.

A small batch of Apple iPhone 6s handsets manufactured between September and October 2015 have a battery issue. There's no threat of injury or device damage, but it may unexpectedly shut down. The battery is at fault and Apple will happily replace it for you for free.

For those experiencing the unexpected shut downs, take the problematic Apple iPhone 6s to an Apple retail store or an authorised Apple service provider. The serial number of the device will be checked to verify it is carrying one of the faulty batteries. If it is, expect a replacement to be fitted to solve the issue.

Before taking it in to be checked, Apple recommends backing up the data to Apple iTunes or iCloud, turning off the 'Find my iPhone' feature, and erasing data and settings in Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings.

There are two ways this 'free repair' could end up costing money. If the APple iPhone 6s is experiencing the shut down problem and is not eligible for the repair program, users are, likely, expected to pay for the fix. Also, if the smartphone has another issue that interfere with a battery replacement, for example, the screen is cracked, Apple won't replace the battery unless you agree to have that fault repaired as well, which won't be free.

Apple Mulls Moving iPhone Production to US

President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants Apple to start making its "damn computers and things" in the US, and he may get his wish. Citing unnamed sources, Japanese-based Nikkei claimed that Apple's key partner Foxconn "is studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the US."

One source reportedly told the paper that Apple in June asked Foxconn and another Taiwanese iPhone assembler Pegatron to look into making the handsets in the states.

"Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns," the source said, according to Nikkei.
Moving iPhone production to the US would undoubtedly be more costly for Cupertino. One source told the newspaper that production costs would more than double.

Apple and Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2011, Steve Jobs reportedly scoffed at the idea of bringing iPhone production to the US when asked by President Obama what it would take to make that happen.

"Those jobs aren't coming back," Jobs said at the time.

A year on, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced plans to bring some parts of Mac production to the US; Apple reportedly invested more than $100 million as part of that effort.
This isn't the first time Foxconn has considered setting up shop in the US. The manufacturing giant in 2012 confirmed that it was looking to expand operations in North America, but that has not yet happened.

"We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the US because, in general, customers want more to be done there," Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, told Bloomberg Businessweek at the time.

Nintendo Switch Pokemon Game Expected in 2017

Today is the day Pokemon fans have been waiting for, with Pokémon Sun and Moon launching in North America on Nintendo 3DS (while Japan and Europe have to wait until next week). However, there's news of another Pokemon game in development.

However, this one is heading to the Nintendo Switch.

Eurogamer has reported that multiple sources have confirmed Nintendo is planning to release a Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch before the end of 2017. If true, it will class as the first mainline Pokémon game to ever see a release on a home console.

The new game carries the codename Pokémon Stars and has Game Freak as the designated developer—the developer behind the majority of Pokémon games since Red and Green launched in 1996. Game Freak also handled Sun and Moon development and this is significant because Pokémon Stars is thought to be the third game of this generation's Pokémon releases.

Nintendo typically releases two new Pokémon games at the same time and then follows up with a third game a couple of years later offering an enhanced version of the previous two games (for example, Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum are all enhanced version releases). Pokémon Stars will form the enhanced version of Pokémon Sun and Moon, but on a separate platform (also a first).

We will be kept waiting until January 12 to learn the launch line-up of Nintendo Switch games. However, rumours suggest The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won't be one of them due to localisation taking longer than planned. Zelda should appear later in 2017, and if it is closely follows Nintendo's first home console mainline Pokémon game, the Nintendo Switch could have a bumper holiday season next year.

Xgimi’s H1 is a powerful, portable all-in-one home theater projector

To project or not to project, that is the question. For a growing number of individuals who are happy using their smartphones, tablets and notebooks for the bulk of their media consumption, a projector makes a lot of sense vs. a traditional TV for occasional big-screen viewing, and Xgimi’s new H1 is an even better fit than most for the mobile generation.

The Xgimi H1 is currently available for pre-order via a funding campaign on Indiegogo, but the review unit the company sent is definitely already production-ready. The projector is about the size of a medium-sized Bluetooth speaker (and it doubles as one as well), but provides a screen of up to 300-inches in size with true 1080p output, better sound than you’ll hear from far more expensive projectors, and a built-in, Android-powered computer that means you really don’t need any other devices to get a full home theater experience.

Projector setup can be frustrating, especially when it comes to getting the angle right. The Xgimi H1 has automatic keyframe adjustment, and it’s effective enough that I was able to get a clear, aligned picture working pretty much out of the box with minimal fuss. That’s a huge advantage, especially when the total package is small enough that you can see yourself moving the projector around frequently to use it indifferent places (more on this later).

The picture quality is good – crisp and clear, with bright, vivid colors. It’s not the kind of projector that can contend with a whole lot of ambient light, however, so don’t expect to use this in the middle of the day with the windows unblocked by curtains. It’s 900 ANSI lumens are still effective with reasonable measures taken to prevent too much light getting in, like thick curtains or whenever used in the evening, however – which is true even for most home theater projectors that cost $500 to $1,000 more than the H1.

My only real qualm with the Xgimi H1 in terms of its projected image is that size adjustment and vertical angle are entirely manual processes. Unlike other dedicated home theater projectors, the H1’s only means of increasing the size of the picture is what I like to call “foot zoom,” which means you have to adjust its physical distance from the projection surface. Others offer an optical zoom on the projection lens itself. Likewise for the angle of the lens – many competitors will offer physical “feet” which can adjust the tilt, but the Xgimi has to be placed at the proper height to hit the projection surface with a screen where you want it – which can be tricky depending on your available mounting options.

The Xgimi is unlike other projectors in another, much more positive way; while smart TVs have loaded in operating systems, apps and access to services, most mainstream home theater projectors are basically just output waiting for cable connections to other devices. The H1 has its own processor, 3GB of RAM, and an Android-based OS that provides direct access to content-filled apps like Netflix and Plex.

The interface isn’t native Android TV; it’s Xgimi’s own flavor of the mobile OS, reconfigured for big-screen use. Android TV is a little more visually rich and user-friendly, but the Xgimi interface is very usable, especially with the included Bluetooth remote/gaming and motion controller the company includes int eh box.

To be clear, the H1 still has plenty of inputs and outputs, including two HDMI ports, one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port, and an Ethernet port, for connecting to external devices. But it’s also completely self-sufficient, with built-in Wi-Fi, meaning you can plug it into power anywhere you have a data connection (or stored local media) and get to viewing, without needing the other components of a typical home theater setup.

It’s sort of like having a media PC right at your fingertips, but with more out-of-the-box support for mobile games and the apps you’re suing on your smartphone typically anyway.

Standalone sound
In addition to being itself media source, the H1 is also a standalone speaker, with Harman Kardon-branded audio. The speaker runs the length of most of the height of the projector, and its grill and the Harman Kardon branding are among the first things you’ll notice about the outside design of the H1. It’s actually very reminiscent of the look of a Sonos Play:1 speaker, which is actually a good thing because it blends seamlessly into most decor, just like the Sonos does.

The speaker itself is pretty good, too. I wouldn’t put it quite on the level with Sonos, which manages to deliver terrific sound for its size and weight, but the H1 can definitely hold its own and offers very clear dialogue for TV and films in addition to rich music playback. It’s far better than the typical built-in speakers offered on much more expensive projectors, and it’s definitely capable enough to act as its own Bluetooth speaker for your smartphone – which it can do, with pairing as easy as it is for your average dedicated mobile sound system.

Having a capable speaker onboard is a huge reason why the H1 seems like a complete, portable package. Even your average pico projector typically requires an external sound device to be worth anything in a group setting, and yet the H1 is good for both movies and standalone tunes wherever you set it up. The Xgimi H1 is a bit big in terms of devices that I’d typically classify as “portable,” but in this case the moniker definitely applies. It’s not heavy, despite its size, and it’s basically the size of a small muffin tray or a large Bluetooth speaker, both things you’d definitely pack for a friendly visit or a road trip.

Xgimi even offers a carrying case through its Indiegogo campaign, but you can probably transport it fairly easily without. And an integrated slide-over lens cover should help ease your mind in terms of damaging the optics.

The H1 is almost small enough that I’d feel comfortable packing it in a suitcase for use in hotels, but that’s a bit extreme. It’s definitely road-trip worthy, however, and paired with an external power source like a backup car battery, and a bed sheet, you could definitely use it to make yourself a mean little camp-side movie theater.

While the H1 isn’t quite as good as some of the more expensive dedicated home theater offerings from big brands like Epson and Benq when it comes to image quality, it’s a far more versatile device, with IQ that’s close enough most people probably won’t appreciate the difference. It’s important to note that while the Xgimi team uses 4K in their marketing materials, that just means it can interpret and downsample a 4K signal intelligently – output is 1080p, but it does manage that with sharp definition even at large sizes.

The choice about whether it’s right for you will probably depend on what you want to do with it; if you’re looking for a flexible, bright big screen you can use in a number of different settings, the Xgimi H1 is a great all-arounder and almost certainly your best bet at this price point.

15in Apple MacBook Pro Uses a Non-Removable SSD

Apple creates device it expects you to use and then replace, but never repair. We know this from the countless teardowns iFixit carries out on iDevices only to find lots of glue, soldered in place components, and a generally hostile environment for anyone venturing inside.

With the launch of the 15in Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar late last month, Apple removed the last user-friendly component from the notebook: the SSD.

The 13in Apple MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar retains the removable SSD seen in earlier models, but the new 15in Touch Bar entry, and we have to assume the 13in model as well, replaces it with storage chips soldered to the logic board.

The change had been confirmed via MacRumors reader Jesse D. who had been brave enough to unscrew the base of his new MacBook Pro to take a look. Sure enough, he found the logic board cutout where the removable SSD usually sits is now gone. The soldered in place chips can be seen in the image above.

Storage is usually the first component that gets replaced in a notebook, either due to an issue or simply as part of an upgrade. But Apple removes that option completely from its Touch Bar models entries. If anything goes wrong with the SSD, the entire logic board will have to be replaced, which won't be cheap.

The situation is actually worse than that, though. By soldering the storage to the board, if anything else goes wrong on the logic board you also lose all your data. You can't simply remove the SSD and recover the data anymore.
Backing up your data on a regular basis is a task everyone should be doing anyway, but if an Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is your next purchase, it becomes absolutely essential.

In New Zealand, Your Domino's Delivery Guy Is a Drone

Ever imagine a future where you could order up a cheesy pizza and it would be delivered to your doorstep by drone? The future is here for some lucky people in New Zealand. Pizza chain Domino's teamed up with up with drone delivery service Flirtey to send its pies via the sky.

The companies this week launched what they're calling the "world's first pizza-by-drone" commercial trials. While they're just testing this concept in New Zealand at the moment, the companies plan to expand the operation to other areas of the globe "in the near future."

In this week's tests, Flirtey had able been to successfully deliver hot, fresh pizzas in an urban environment, validating that the system works and that it's "prepared for mass market deliveries around the globe," said the company's CEO, Matthew Sweeny.

"We are moving closer and closer to widespread store-to-door drone delivery," he added.

A lot of customers are on board with this idea. 70% of Domino's customers recently polled said they would be willing to have their pizza delivered via drone.

"We invested in this partnership, and technology, because we believe drone delivery will be an essential component of our pizza deliveries, so even more customers can receive the freshest, hottest pizza we can offer," added Domino's Group CEO and Managing Director Don Meij. "Drones offer the promise of safer, faster deliveries to an expanded delivery area, meaning more customers can expect to receive a freshly made order within our ultimate target of 10 minutes. This is the future."

Flirtey's autonomous, electric drones are made from carbon fibre, aluminium, and 3D-printed components. They lower cargo via tether, and are programmed to return to a safe location if the battery is running low, and automatically return home if they lose communication or encounter a low GPS signal.

In 2013, Domino's teased drone delivery in the UK via a video featuring the 'DomiCopter', though it had largely been viewed as a marketing stunt at the time rather than an actual service.

Drone technology has changed a lot in three years. In the US, Chipotle recently teamed up with Google's parent company, Alphabet, to deliver burritos by drone at Virginia Tech, one of the FAA's six approved drone test sites.

The Moto Z gets a Nougat update and Daydream certification

The last time we checked in on Nougat market share numbers (a little over a week ago), the latest version of Google’s operating system was ranked below Gingerbread in terms of adoption. Slowly but surely the needle is starting to move. A handful of manufacturers have announced updates for their devices in the lead up to the holiday, including both variants of the OnePlus 3.

This week, Motorola’s modular Moto Z handsets will be getting Android 7.0 (not 7.1, mind) this week – or at least the Moto Z and Z Force – no word yet on the Play, but it’ll likely follow fairly shortly after, as that’s how these things tend to go.

Along with the software upgrade comes Daydream compatibility, meaning you’ll be able to plug the phone into Google’s new VR headset without any hassle, marking the first non-Google-branded handset to be certified with that official distinction. Perhaps Google is throwing a little love toward its former sub-brand.

At the very least, the Pixel is about to get a little less lonely on the Daydream page, and Motorola’s bringing some more key functionality to its most compelling handset.

ZTE announces Force Touch-equipped version of its Axon 7

A few days after OnePlus announced a souped-up verson its flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 3T, ZTE is following suit with the Axon 7.

The limited edition phone is available starting today for $499.98 direct from ZTE's website.

The upgraded Axon 7 is the first ZTE device available in the US with a pressure sensitive display, ZTE calls Force Touch. If that name sounds familiar, that's because it's the same name Apple uses for similar technology on the Apple Watch and its Mac trackpads. The same tech is used in the iPhone with the name 3D Touch.

Through Force Touch users gain the ability to press on the screen to trigger various actions. If you press on an app icon it will bring up a shortcut to launch to a specific task within the app. For example, you could Force Touch on the messaging app to display a shortcut to create a new conversation or select an existing conversation.

Also included for the $100 premium over the standard Axon 7 is 6 gigabytes of memory, and 128 gigabytes of storage.

The new Axon 7 model will use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, microSD card support, 20-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, 3,250 milliamp-hour battery, and 5.5-inch display.

Zuckerberg Teases Warning System, Labels for Fake News

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, last Friday outlined some of the things his team is doing and considering to combat fake news, including a warning system for suspicious content and bringing in third-party fact-checking services to weigh in on popular content across the site.

"While the percentage of misinformation is relatively small, we have [so] much more work ahead on our roadmap," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

Some might quibble with his assertion that fake news has not proliferated on the site; earlier this week, for example, BuzzFeed reported that fake stories generated more engagement on Facebook in the last three months of the election than stories from reputable news sources. Even President Obama has criticised its spread. "If we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems," he said during a news conference in Berlin this week.

Indeed, this is the third time Zuckerberg has had to address the topic since Election Day alone. The Friday after the election, he told those at the Techonomy Conference that "the idea that fake news on Facebook...influenced the election in any way… is a pretty crazy idea." He followed that up with a Facebook post that said "more than 99% of what people see [on Facebook] is authentic, [and] only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes."

That did little to assuage concerns, thus, prompting Zuckerberg's latest post. "Normally we wouldn't share specifics about our work in progress, but given the importance of these issues and the amount of interest in this topic, I want to outline some of the projects we already have underway," he wrote last night.

Zuckerberg promised "better technical systems to detect what people will flag as false before they do it themselves." He also tipped easier reporting that will make "it much easier for people to report stories as fake [and] help us catch more misinformation faster."

Facebook is also exploring a labeling system for stories that have been "flagged as false by third parties or our community, and showing warnings when people read or share them." The company has reached out to "respected fact checking organizations" and "we plan to learn from many more," he wrote.

"We will continue to work with journalists and others in the news industry to get their input, in particular, to better understand their fact checking systems and learn from them," according to Zuckerberg.

When you click on a news story, Facebook will suggest related articles you might also want to read. Going forward, "we are raising the bar for stories that appear in related articles under links in News Feed," Zuckerberg added.

Earlier this month, BuzzFeed also reported on a group of teens in the Balkans whose raison d'etre is to create fake news that would appeal to Trump supporters. As engagement increased, so did the funds making their way to the scammers' Google AdSense account.

"A lot of misinformation is driven by financially motivated spam," Zuckerberg acknowledged in his post. "We're looking into disrupting the economics with ads policies like the one we announced earlier this week, and better ad farm detection."

That new ad policy bans ads in apps or sites containing fake news stories. Google also said it will punish websites pushing fake news by banning them from using its AdSense service.

Zuckerberg's post came at 9:30pm on a Friday night, leading some to speculate that the CEO is trying to bury his post. In the comments, however, Zuckerberg said he posted so late because "that's when I landed and got into in Lima last night" for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference.

Huawei Mate 9 really want a 5.9in phablet

Huawei’s new smartphone has a massive 5.9in screen. But just how big do you really want your smartphone to be?

Phablets – smartphones with screen sizes over 5.5in – have become more and more popular, showing a trend migration from their Asian origins to the US and Europe. Even Apple, famous for smaller smartphones, launched a phablet in 2014 with the iPhone 6 Plus. But few phablets have stretched their screens beyond 5.7in.

The new €699 (£621) Huawei Mate 9 has a 5.9in full HD display, dual cameras on the back, is 7.9mm thick and runs the company’s latest version of its customised Android 7.0 Nougat called Emotion UI 5. It also has Huawei’s latest processor, which the company claims is 20% more powerful than its previous generation and more powerful in multi-core operations than Apple, Samsung or Qualcomm’s latest processors.

But the question remains whether buyers in the US and Europe want such a large screen. Previous iterations of the Mate line have not been sold en masse in stores, meaning the Mate 9 is the first of Huawei’s super-sized phablets to officially roll out in the UK.

With the failure of Samsung’s Note 7, which was expected to be the big seller in the phablet category, Huawei and others have an opportunity to fill the gap. While others have concentrated on the smaller end of the phablet scale, with Google’s Pixel XL having a 5.5in screen, Huawei has attempted to address poor battery life and the slowing down of phones over time.

To do that, the Mate 9 has a large 4,000mAh battery that’s about 500mAh larger than most mainstream phablets, including the Pixel XL, along with a learning-based system, which runs locally on the phone and detects usage patterns, preparing apps that are normally used at certain times of the day to launch faster without impacting battery life or performance.

Huawei claims the system will also be able to run maintenance routines overnight, clear out the cruft and keep the phone running like new two years down the line. Compared with previous versions of the company’s software, it is expected to run 80% faster after a year.

The Mate 9’s large battery also has Huawei’s new fast-charging system, which like OnePlus’s Dash Charge, moves some of the electronics required to safely charge a battery at high voltage into the charger. The company claims that the new charge system will be able to reach 58% battery capacity in 30 minutes, with a full charge in 90 minutes.

“Battery management research and development is performed in house, and given recent developments we’ve upped research and development spend to make sure nothing similar can happen. We spend a year qualifying and testing components such as batteries both internally and externally before going on sale,” said Ed Gemmell, Huawei’s consumer business group director of communications.

Tablet sales, along with PC sales, are shrinking, as more people use their smartphone as their primary computing device. But whether European and US consumers will take to such a large smartphone remains to be seen.

A limited edition Mate 9 Porsche Design variant, with a smaller 5.5in quad HD curved screen and similar specifications will also be available in the UK and EU costing €1,395 (£1,238), but not in the US.

SpaceX Successfully Tests Mars

Elon Musk's private spaceflight company, SpaceX, has successfully tested a prototype of the fuel tank it plans to use for its Mars spaceship. It announced the news on Twitter last Wednesday, noting that the successful test took place last week.

"Hit both of our pressure targets—next up will be full cryo testing," the company wrote. According to Space.com, the company hauled the large carbon-fiber fuel tank out to sea on a barge before testing how it performed under pressure.
Musk, in September 2016, laid out his plan for making humans a 'multiplanetary species' and creating a self-sustaining civilisation on Mars. To make this a reality, four things need to happen, he said: rockets need to be fully reusable (a goal SpaceX and others have been making progress on as of late); rocket re-fuels need to happen in-orbit; propellant will need to be produced on Mars to send spaceships back to Earth; and the right propellant needs to be used (Musk favors methane over hydrogen).

The idea is that the spaceship will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and enter orbit, at which point the rocket booster will detach and head back to Earth, landing upright on the launch mount. From there, a propellant tanker will be loaded onto the booster and sent to space, where it will refuel the spaceship in orbit. The tanker will then return to Earth and the spaceship will depart for Mars.

SpaceX also recently test-fired the Raptor interplanetary transport engine, the advanced tech it plans to use on Mars missions. This test marked the first time SpaceX successfully fired it.

Hands On With GoPro's Karma Drone

The GoPro Karma drone has been a long time in the making. The company first teased a new line of 'multi-rotor helicopters' outfitted with high-definition cameras two years ago, and hinted that sales would begin in early 2016.

Then the Photokina 2016 unveiling happened. Thus, the world now knows the GoPro Karma is a concrete product.

Of course, it won't go on sale until October 23, which had been last week. At a launch event near Lake Tahoe, California, Nick Woodman, CEO of GoPro, offered some vaguely apologetic explanations for the drone's lengthy development. Based on PCMag's quick hands on, this is a drone that needs no apology.

Besides the fact that it's easy to fly, the GoPro Karma works with the GoPro Hero4, a camera that many outdoor enthusiasts already have in their backpacks. That enables a relatively low US$799 price tag, though pricier bundles with the new GoPro Hero5 Black cameras are also available.

The drone itself won't surprise you. It's a fairly ordinary quad-copter, though it does fold to fit in a backpack and has very bright lights that make it easy to identify against the deep blue Sierra Nevada sky.

Notably, the first thing about the GoPro Karma that makes you raise your eyebrows is the controller. Unlike the DJI Phantom 3, it has a built-in, 720p touch screen display, making for a flying experience that feels a bit like a videogame.

KarmaDroneWeb5

To engage automatic take-off, you hold down the centre button until a countdown timer appears on the screen. After a few seconds, the rotors roar to life and the drone lifts off. The screen then switches to a livestream from the camera; you can adjust the gimbal using the left and right trigger buttons on the controller.

A nudge on the right joystick will free the GoPro Karma from hover mode and send it skyward at a deliberate pace. Even if you flick the joysticks to the stops, the drone responds slowly. This is good for the gusty mountain winds during the test flight, but might not be optimal for quick maneuvering in calm weather.

KarmaDroneWeb3

I flew the drone for approximately four minutes, or 20% of its battery life. I never felt like I had to battle the strong winds nor did I have the opportunity to push the drone to its limits or modify the flight controls' responsiveness. During the entire flight, the video feed appeared smooth, with the camera set to record in 1080p at 60fps.

When it is time to land, you can either activate the 'return to home' feature, or manually guide the GoPro Karma to the ground. I opted to do the latter with assistance from an ever-watchful GoPro pilot.

KarmaDroneWeb1

Incidentally, by the time the GoPro Karma ships, the GoPro Passenger app will be ready for download as well, allowing friends to connect to your GoPro Karma contoller, view the live video from the GoPro camera, and even control the camera's direction by adjusting the gimbal. The app makes a wireless connection directly to the controller, so video should appear as smooth as it is on the controller's screen.

Obviously, the app isn't ready for the test flight.

Interestingly, even as I handed over the controller, my GoPro Karma experience is not yet finished: the US$799 Karma base price includes the GoPro Karma grip, an accessory that I found to be essentially like a mini Steadicam. The fact that GoPro is including it with the drone is a bit puzzling, since it has nothing to do with flying. If you have a spare hand to film, though, it will make your on-the-ground action shots look so much better than if you rely solely on the camera's built-in image stabiliser.

KarmaDroneWeb6

It would be tempting to have left Lake Tahoe convinced that GoPro Karma will be a worthy DJI competitor—the four-minute flight is nothing short of being very good. However, too much uncertainty remains: GoPro engineers are still putting the finishing touches on the GoPro Passenger app and it's unclear how the drone controller will handle some of the most advanced drone features, like autoflight, landing at a set home location, 4K video, and adjusting flight controls.

Still, it's clear that GoPro means business and at least two features—a palatable price and a household name—will work in the company's favor even if the GoPro Karma can't deliver on its promises.

Cortana Now Supports Shopping Lists

Microsoft Cortana is setting out to rescue grocery shoppers, busy professionals, and pretty much everyone else who relies on to-do lists but hates to make them. Starting today, Cortana can automatically start a grocery, to-do, or shopping list to which you add items using your voice.

Phrases like "Hey Cortana, create a holiday list," will trigger the new option, which is available on the Cortana Android and iOS apps, as well as Windows 10.

If you'd like access to the lists Cortana creates without asking her to read them back to you, you can read them via an integration with Wunderlist. Connecting to Wunderlist also gives you the ability to add due dates to your to-dos and create shared lists from the Wunderlist app.

Cortana Gives Third-Party Apps a Voice
One of Cortana's chief rivals, Apple's Siri, can also create and update to-do lists. Siri keeps track of your lists via the Reminders app for iOS and macOS.

Microsoft has been positioning Cortana as a worthy alternative to Siri and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. One of the keys in that strategy is welcoming third-party developers: at its Build developers conference in April 2016, Microsoft announced a new 'Actions' platform that makes it easier for developers to add items from their apps to Cortana.

Panasonic's Multilingual Megaphone Translates as You Speak

As Japanese tourism grows, businesses struggle to bridge the language divide between international visitors and locals. Panasonic, however, may have a solution: a multilingual loudspeaker. The Megahonyaku—an amalgamation of 'megaphone' (megahon) and 'translation' (hon'yaku)—automatically translates Japanese into English, Chinese, and Korean. Simply speak into the microphone; the machine listens as well as analyses sentence structure, and then transcribes the words. Using the integrated touchscreen, pressing the respective dialect button outputs your sentence in one of the three available languages.

Aimed at corporate customers, including train stations and airports, the amplifier could prove very useful in crowded locations and tourist destinations where information is dispensed to groups who may all speak different languages. The Megahonyaku, The Japan Times reported, comes pre-installed with 300 common sentences in Japanese, including "The train has been delayed" and "Watch your step." Additional phrases will be available via Web-based updates.

Making your voice heard in a congested, noisy terminal isn't always an easy task—even with a portable PA system. However, the Megahonyaku's speech recognition system will be unaffected with background noise, the Times said, and is 'almost certain' to recognise preset sentences if not spoken verbatim.

Google Translate Now Covers 99% of Online Population Panasonic did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. The megaphone is expected for launch December 20 2016, on sale for less than ¥20,000 (US$183) per month on a three-year contract. This comes with all future updates and maintenance.

Panasonic is also developing a number of other audio solutions, with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, an event tht promises throngs of international travelers spilling into the capital city.

There's no going back now: Two months with iPhone 7 Plus

Even before Apple announced the iPhone 7 Plus, I made the decision to go big with this year's model, despite my reservations.

Once Apple confirmed nearly every rumor we'd covered and read leading up to the iPhone 7 announcement, including two cameras on the back of the 7 Plus model and increased battery life, there was no turning back.

On launch day, my iPhone 7 Plus arrived, and I spent a weekend adjusting and tweaking how I held the phone and where I placed it while driving my car.

Fast-forward two months, and it's (mostly) as if I've always used the larger iPhone.

A BIGGER SCREEN REALLY IS BETTER
By far, my favorite aspect of the iPhone 7 Plus is the size of the screen. From watching videos to reading news, I appreciate the added screen real estate.

Due to the increased screen size, I've found myself using my iPhone in landscape mode more often. When Apple first announced the larger "Plus" model iPhone 6 in 2014, the company also revealed developers could create custom interfaces to take advantage of the bigger screen, even in landscape orientation.

For example, when using an app like Safari in landscape orientation, you can view and manage tabs in the same manner as on an iPad or Mac.

I'm continuously surprised each time I rotate my phone and find myself interacting with more than one column of information in Mail or an iPad-inspired look in a third-party app such as Deliveries. Even the home screen is usable in landscape.

Other than when watching a video, I don't recall ever using the standard iPhone 6S in landscape mode. Now, it's a common occurrence.

After using countless Android phones with screens larger than 4.7-inches, I knew the added screen size would be useful. I just didn't imagine it being this useful on an iOS device.

PORTRAIT MODE IS HIT OR MISS
If you recall, one of the headlining features of the iPhone 7 Plus over the standard iPhone 7 is an additional camera lens on the back of the phone that can be used to optically zoom, and thanks to some fancy software tricks, create a depth-of-field effect on some photos.

IPHONE 7 PLUS REVIEW
The iPhone 7 Plus is the best iPhone, as it should be.

Read More
Despite announcing it at the iPhone event in September, the iPhone 7 didn't launch with Portrait mode. It wasn't until a few weeks later that Apple released a beta version of iOS 10.1 with a Portrait mode included for the iPhone 7 Plus. A few weeks after that, the update went live for all (although the Portrait mode feature is still labeled as a beta).

The short review of Portrait mode is this: when the software gets it right, it looks amazing. You'd be hard pressed to find another smartphone camera with a similar effect that can pull it off with the same level of clarity.

However, when Portrait mode gets it wrong, it's laughable. I've taken countless photos where the top half of a glass is cut off or an entire side of someone's face is blurred out all together.

That said, after you use Portrait mode for an extended amount of time, you begin to learn situations, subjects, and lighting environments that work well with the camera's latest trick.

Having the option to optically zoom in on a photo or video has proven invaluable, as I take photos of my kids or products for work. I want every phone to have optical zoom after using the 7 Plus.

NO GOING BACK NOW

Out of curiosity, I picked up the review iPhone 7 I have on hand and was shocked at just how small the phone felt. It was a similar feeling when Apple launched the 4-inch iPhone 5, using it for a while, then picking up the 3.5-inch iPhone 4S.

That said, I find myself still trying to figure out the best technique for one-handed use -- specifically when typing. I haven't dropped the 7 Plus yet, but plenty of close calls and miraculous catches as my phone spiraled toward the floor would make you believe my phone has nine lives of its own.

I have yet to master shuffling the 7 Plus up or down in the palm of my hand with just my thumb, while keeping it secure.

It's still a big phone, too big most of the time, but at this point I've learned to deal with the size in exchange for the larger screen, better camera, and battery life.

I'm disappointed to read rumors about next year's bigger iPhone getting a bigger screen, but leaving the overall footprint of the phone the same. That is to say, the 2017 Plus model -- whatever Apple ends up calling it -- might have the same size of housing, but thanks to new display technology, the company can increase the screen size.

I would much rather Apple use the same size of screen and shrink down the overall size of the phone. While carrying the Plus model, I am constantly reminded of its size when it's in my jeans or coat pocket, and when I'm trying to get it to sit in a cup holder as I drive, if it fits at all.

Despite my gripes, I can't see myself ever using a smaller iPhone.

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 835, Quick Charge 4

Qualcomm is manufacturing its next-generation mobile processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, in a partnership with Samsung, the companies just announced. Seeing both rivals coming together is unprecedented as is.

This is due to the fact that the two are increasingly rivals when it comes to chips for smartphones and tablets, but Qualcomm said it chose Samsung to produce the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 in part because the Korean tech giant is the first to offer 10nm chip fabrication. Although Samsung uses Snapdragon processors in some of its devices, including the flagship Samsung Galaxy S7 for its US release, it is also well-known for making its own Exynos-series mobile chips.

"This collaboration is an important milestone for our foundry business as it signifies confidence in Samsung's leading chip process technology," Samsung's Chip Foundry Head, Jong Shik Yoon, said.
In using the 10nm fabrication process, mobile chips are able to deliver either 27% higher performance or 40% lower power consumption. Qualcomm said its newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is in production now and expected to ship in commercial devices in the first half of 2017.

Qualcomm also revealed the next generation entry for its Qualcomm Quick Charge technology that is to be used for smartphones and tablets, one week after Google strongly encouraged Android manufacturers to ditch Quick Charge and other similar technologies over compatibility concerns.

Quick Charge 4 will be 20% faster at charging devices and includes new protections against battery overcharging. It will start to show up in consumer devices in early 2017, Qualcomm shared.

Last week, Google criticised third-party charging technologies for modifying the voltages of Android-powered devices beyond default levels, explaining that they may interfere with its own USB Type-C quick charging technology.

Google's USB Type-C specification requires between 4.45- and 5.25V, while Qualcomm Quick Charge typically uses 9- or 12V. Qualcomm also revealed how its new power-management controllers used in the Quick Charge 4 are compatible with any high-voltage power source, including USB Type-C.

There are more than 100 Quick Charge-compatible mobile devices and more than 300 unique accessory products such as wall and car adapters, battery packs, and docking stations. In total, Qualcomm revealed that over 600 million mobile devices and accessories support Quick Charge technology.

Google Slams Proprietary Fast Charging on Android Devices
For most devices, Quick Charge 4 will provide up to 50% battery charge in 15 minutes or less. By comparison, Google's own fast charging on the Google Pixel XL lets recharges up to 35% in 30 minutes, and fully in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Google's advice to manufacturers to stop using Quick Charge and other third-party charging technology.

In April, it issued a statement that said it has "received no reports of user experience or device malfunction issues with or without USB Type-C connectors."

Google's request for map of Korea denied

Google's request for a detailed map of South Korea for Google Maps has been denied by the government.

The decision was made by a joint-committee led by the country's transport ministry and IT, foreign affairs, unification, defense, administration, and trade ministries. The committee cited "security concerns" as the reason behind the decision.

The final call comes after a delay from the initial August deadline for the US search giant's request in June. The postponement is speculated to have been caused by the US election, so as to wait for the election results and see the stance of President-elect Donald Trump before making a decision.

This is not the first time Google has requested access to more detailed maps from South Korea. The company has been requesting access to Korean maps that include navigation details and driving directions since 2010, which have been repeatedly refused.

South Korea, which is technically at war with North Korea since the armistice in 1953, has strict regulations over revealing map information.

Current law doesn't allow detailed maps to be housed in servers outside of the country. Google has created a server in South Korea to service the map of the country in a limited capacity.

WhatsApp Rolls Out Video Calling to All

All 1 billion-plus WhatsApp users around the world can now make video calls.

The Facebook-owned messaging service on Monday began rolling out the new feature to folks on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices.

"We know that sometimes voice and text just aren't enough," a company blogpost said.
Last month, reports tipped a Beta Program testing the ability to make video-calls from within the app; screenshots showed that tapping the call button or contact card brings up a dialog with voice and video as options.

"There's no substitute for watching your grandchild take her first steps, or seeing your daughter's face while she's studying abroad," WhatsApp said this week. "And we want to make these features available to everyone, not just those who can afford the most expensive new phones or live in countries with the best cellular networks."

Based on WhatsApp's track record for major feature rollouts, it's surprising this function appeared so quickly after initial trials. Reports that the company had been adding voice calling surfaced in 2014, but it isn't until early this year that all Google Android users gained access to it; the Apple iOS rollout had been completed a month later.

Parent company, Facebook, has invested heavily in its flagship Facebook Messenger client, a platform that had video calling from 2015.
Video-chat challenger Skype, meanwhile, just expanded its program to allow anyone with an Internet connection to chat with friends and make voice- or video-calls without an account.

Old-fashioned texting, however, has not been forgotten: WhatsApp recently announced support for animated GIFs, shareable in one-on-one and group chats. Word has it the platform is also testing its own version of Snapchat Stories.

GoPro Sends Out Recall for All GoPro Karma Drones

Looks like it's not all on Samsung when it comes to battery woes as GoPro, which made headlines with the launch of its first unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV), the GoPro Karma, issued a recall for its newest drone.

Based on a video that had been posted online showing the GoPro Karma experience total power lost and dropping from the sky—with more following after—GoPro made the decision to recall all drones that have been sold. That means having more than 2,500 devices sold so far since launch to be sent back.

Details of the recall can be found here: GoPro Karma Recall and Return Information.

All devices sent in will be converted into a full refund for owners as GoPro is looking to investigate the cause of the problem.

PCMag US reported that those that bought the bundle wit hthe GoPro Hero5 Black and Karma Grip need to return everything in order to initiate the full refund process.

According to PetaPixel, this is what GoPro had to share: “GoPro is committed to providing our customers with great product experiences. To honor this commitment, we have recalled Karma until we resolve a performance issue related to a loss of power during operation. We plan to resume shipment of Karma once the issue is addressed.”

Even if GoPro made such a promise, at press time, there are no replacements on hand, hence why GoPro moved to make the global recall. Those outside the US are also encouraged to send the GoPro Karma back.

Apple Now Selling Refurbished iPhones

Looking to buy an Apple iPhone, but don't have the money to pay full price? Apple has a new option. As 9to5Mac noted, the tech giant has long offered refurbished Mac devices and now it's selling refurbished iPhones as well.

The Apple iPhone maker currently has a number of refurbished Apple iPhones for sale on its website for 15% off the price of a new model. You can, for instance, get a 16GB Apple iPhone 6s for US$449, an equivalent US$80 off. If you'd rather have the larger-screen model, you can get a 16GB Apple iPhone 6s Plus for US$529, a full US$100 off. The 64GB Apple iPhone 6s Plus can be yours for US$589.

This is the first time Apple has offered refurbished Apple iPhones directly. The company is offering its refurbished models in a number of colour options, including silver, gold, space gray, and rose gold.

Apple tests and certifies all refurbished products before selling them. For added peace of mind, the company also included a one-year warranty with refurbished models, all of which also include a brand-new battery and outer shell.
"Supply is limited and availability is guaranteed once we receive your full payment," Apple said on its website.

In other Apple news, Cupertino recently dropped the price of dongles in response to complaints about all the connectors needed with the new Apple MacBook Pro, a flagship that only has USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. Apple's USB Type-C adapters and some of its USB Type-C cables are now US$6 to US$20 cheaper.

Samsung Launch the Galaxy Blue Coral S7 Edge

Samsung Corp. on Thursday announced it will launch the Galaxy S7 Edge in Blue Coral colors on Friday in its home country of South Korea.

The widely-praised color variation was first applied to the Galaxy Note 7, which the company ended for good on October due to battery explosions.

The Galaxy S7 Edge Blue Coral version has blue shades in the front and back glasses, a blue back cover, and rose gold rims. It will come in both 32GB and 64GB models.

The new phone will be available from all three local telcos, SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus. It is expected to be available in the US on November 18.

Samsung has been promoting the S7 and S7 Edge to offset as much as possible the huge loss from ending the Note 7. The company’s mobile division’s fortune will depend on the upcoming Galaxy S8 that is expected early next year, which will have Samsung’s own AI assistant on it.

The South Korean tech giant last month acquired Viv, which was founded by members who made Apple’s voice assistant Siri.

Samsung also confirmed that it intends to launch a Galaxy Note 8, and continue that line of phablets despite the recent fiasco.

In the local market, rivals Apple and LG saw some sales bump immediately after the end of the Note 7, but sales have not stabilized, an official from local telcos said.

Ultrahaptics Lets You 'Feel' Virtual Objects

Virtual reality (VR) has been around for decades, but it's re-emerged as 'new technology' in recent years thanks to research work that is backed with the deep pockets of Facebook and Sony, among others.
However, while the visuals have improved significantly, there are still some big problems VR has to overcome. One of the biggest is being able to feel objects that only exist virtually.

One promising solution is haptic holograms, a concept that use sound waves to allow you to feel objects that don't exist in reality. Such ideas first came about in 2014, but the world is only now starting to see the technology come to market, with Ultrahaptics as a front-runner.

While not limited to use with VR, Ultrahaptics's mid-air touch-less haptic tech is sure to get a welcome boost through association and the promise of being able to feel the virtual objects at that users are looking. A Ultrahaptic Touch development kit is set for release in January next year and takes the form of a plug-and-play pad that can be set up in a matter of minutes.

The control system measures 29 x 18.6 x 22.1cm, has a focal point accuracy of 8.6mm and can interact with your hands at a minimum height of 50cm above the pad.



Users are also limited to a 60-degree cone of interaction from the center of the pad upwards. The development kit can be used with Windows 8 and 10 or Mac OSX 10.9 onwards. Ultrahaptics recommended an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, and a dedicated graphics card as the specs to use if its Ultrahaptic Touch is to reach its full potential.

Ultrahaptics TOUCH pad in action
Placing your hands above the pad allows for a range of touch sensations. This is achieved through a combination of hand tracking and a 14-by-14 grid of ultrasound transducers. Invisible buttons, dials, and switches, as well as a range of textures and sensations, like bubbles popping against fingers, can all be simulated. Think of it like a gesture-control system, but being able to literally grab objects in mid-air to carry out the gesture.

According to IEEE Spectrum, the Ultrahaptic Touch dev kit costs around US$2,000. While it may seem high, it is a huge drop from the US$20,000 evaluation kit that shipped previously. It also bodes well for an eventual consumer version shipping for significantly less if the same drop happens again. A price of under US$200 would make it a very tempting proposition.

Twitter Purges Alt-Right Accounts

Twitter has reportedly suspended a number of accounts associated with the 'alt-right' movement. Known members of the white nationalist group that championed Donald Trump's run for the White House have been kicked off the social network on

This is the very same day Twitter rolled out anti-harassment tools to address online bullying.

The purge, according to USA Today, included Richard Spencer, 38-year-old president of the National Policy Institute, who once called for the removal of African-Americans, Hispanics, and Jews from the US.
In a video titled Knight of Long Knives (a reference to the 1934 mass murder of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler), Spencer calls Twitter's move "corporate Stalinism."

"I was using Twitter the same way I always use Twitter," he said, claiming that he and other banned users "were not even trolling."

"What this leads me to believe is that there was some kind of coordinated effort to just wipe out alt-right Twitter," he added.

Spencer's personal account (@RichardBSpencer) was pulled, alongside the National Policy Institute (@npiamerica) think tank and Washington Summit Publishers (@washsummit) publishing firm he runs.

Twitter did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. However, it did tell USA Today that "Twitter Rules prohibit targeted abuse and harassment, and we will suspend accounts that violate this policy." USA Today also reported a handful of other blocked users, including Paul Town, Pax Dickinson, Ricky Vaughn, John Rivers, and New Order.

In January, Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos—who has also been linked to the alt-right—had been stripped of his account verification after reportedly telling another user that she "deserved to be harassed." Six months later, Twitter permanently banned Yiannopoulos for his role in the online harassment of actress and comedian Leslie Jones.

Google, Facebook Go After Fake News With New Ad Policies
A user on Tuesday, meanwhile, directed Twitter's attention to a promoted tweet from New Order—a website propagating Nazism in the 21st Century—publicising a news article about 'White America'.

"I can't believe anything still surprises me, but why the f**k am I seeing Nazi ads on this website?" Ariana Lenarsky tweeted. The New Order account has since been suspended.

The move comes just as the social network extended its 'mute' feature, allowing users to block keywords, phrases, and entire conversations from their notifications.