Twitter is still having trouble curbing the spread of CSAM (child sexual abuse material). Insider has learned (subscription required) that Twitter inadvertently ran ads on profiles either selling or soliciting CSAM. In an email to marketers, the social network said it had suspended all ads on profiles, updated its detection systems, banned accounts that broke its rules and launched an investigation. Reutersnotes Coca-Cola, Disney and NBCUniversal were some of the brands whose ads appeared next to the offending content.
Existing technology had already blocked over 91 percent of accounts like these, Twitter said. In its most recent transparency report, the company said it took action against 31 percent more CSAM-related accounts in the second half of 2021.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the incident and investigation in a statement. On top of existing work to catch CSAM, the company said it was ensuring it had the “right models, processes and products” to protect both advertisers and users.
The news is ill-timed for Twitter. It comes just weeks after The Verge reported that Twitter ditched efforts to build an OnlyFans clone over concerns it couldn’t effectively catch CSAM and other forms of sexual abuse. It’s also emerging as the social media continues to fight with Elon Musk over the fate of his potentially cancelled $44 billion acquisition. Musk has focused most of his objections on alleged misreporting of fake account data.
There’s been an immediate financial impact as well. Reuters added that big names like Dyson and Mazda had either frozen their marketing campaigns or pulled ads from some areas on Twitter. More might be coming — Coca-Cola and Disney both said they considered the activity unacceptable, while NBCUniversal told Twitter to remove ads that ran against CSAM.
Amazon held its annual fall hardware event on Tuesday. As in years past, the company had a lot to share in a short amount of time. We saw it announce new Echo, Kindle and Ring devices. It also had a few surprises up its sleeve from Eero and some of its other subsidiaries. Here’s everything the company unveiled today.
Kindle Scribe
It only took the better part of 15 years, but Amazon is finally about to begin selling a Kindle with a stylus. Available later this year and starting at $339, the Kindle Scribe features a 10.2-inch, 300ppi front-lit display and magnetic pen. The nifty thing about Scribe is that you don’t need to sync or charge the stylus, and you can use it to jot down notes, annotate books and journal. You can preorder Kindle Scribe starting today.
Echo Studio and Echo Dot updates
Amazon
It wouldn’t much of an Amazon hardware event if the company didn’t update its Echo line. This year it obliged by introducing a redesigned Echo Studio that features a new spatial audio processor that Amazon claims allows the speaker to deliver better stereo sound with “greater, width, clarity and presence.” According to the company, the new speaker also delivers better midrange clarity and deeper bass. Additionally, it now comes in a white colorway. The Echo Studio will cost $200 when it ships next month.
Amazon also redesigned the Echo Dot to fit a larger driver into the diminutive speaker. The company claims the new model offers twice the bass of its predecessor and clearer vocals. Its equally adorable sibling, the Echo Dot with Clock, now features a more capable display that can show information like the current artist and song title. Both models also feature more responsible touch controls. The Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock are available to preorder today for $50 and $60 respectively. Amazon is also releasing two new Kids versions that go on sale next month for $60.
Ring Spotlight Cam and Blink Floodlight Camera
After announcing a security drone in 2020 and apatrolling robot in 2021, Amazon’s home security-related announcements were a bit more subdued this time around. The company introduced two new cameras from Ring, the Spotlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Plus. Both devices include Ring’s advanced Bird’s Eye View motion detection technology, a feature that was previously only available on the company’s flagship cameras. Amazon will offer the Spotlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Plus in battery, plug-in, solar and wired variants, with the most affordable version of the Pro starting at $230. The Plus, meanwhile, will set you back at least $200.
Blink, Amazon’s other home security company, is also releasing new products. Today it announced the $100 Wired Floodlight Camera. It offers a 2,600-lumen LED light, 1080p live view and two-way audio, as well as motion detection. If you own one of the company’s Mini security cameras, you can now buy a pan-and-tilt mount for it that expands the camera’s coverage. The $30 accessory is available to preorder today.
Eero
Amazon
Amazon’s Eero didn’t have as many announcements as we’re used to seeing from it, but if you already own one of the company’s mesh WiFi devices, you’ll appreciate what it did have to share. To start, Amazon’s new Echo Dot speakers will now double as Eero WiFi extenders. Add one to your existing network, and you can add as much as 1,000 square feet of additional coverage to your home. The Eero team is also preparing an Internet Backup feature that will automatically switch your router to an alternate connection during internet outages. That functionality will be available in the “coming months” to Eero Plus customers and from supporting internet providers.
Eero did have new hardware to share, though it’s a device that’s more aimed at businesses. The Eero PoE 6 draws power from an Ethernet connection, making it easier to mount on a wall or ceiling. It offers speeds of up to 1.5Gbps and a maximum of 2,000 square feet of coverage. It will be available this October for $300.
Halo Rise
Amazon
Unspursingly, Amazon is continuing its expansion into the health and wellness market, with a “no-contact” sleep tracker called the Halo Rise. According to the company, the device uses a “low-energy sensor” to detect the movement and respiratory patterns of the person sleeping closest to it. Each morning, you’ll see a summary of your data, with a few tips on how to get more restful sleep. It also doubles as an Alexa-compatible smart speaker and a sunrise clock, meaning you can configure Rise to gradually wake you up in the winter months when the sun might not be up before you need to get out of bed. Halo Rise will cost $140 when it goes on sale later this year.
Amazon Fire TV Cube and Fire TV Omni QLED Series
Amazon
Amazon began the Fire TV portion of its fall event with a refresh of the Fire TV Cube. The new model features a more mature design that should help the Fire TV Cube look less out of place in your living room. Amazon has also equipped it with a more powerful 2GHz octa-core processor, and an HDMI connection for TV passthrough. Taking advantage of the latter feature, you can switch to specific channels with voice commands. Alongside the Fire TV Cube, Amazon introduced the $35 Alexa Voice Remote Pro. It comes with a finder feature that can trigger a noise if you ever lose the remote.
Amazon is also expanding its Fire TV Omni line to add two premium QLED models. Available in 65- and 75-inch models that will cost $800 and $1,100 respectively, they’re the first TVs from the company to include support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10 Plus Adaptive. Additionally, they feature full array local dimming, with the latter model making use of 96 zones. They also come with an Ambient Experience mode that will display art or Alexa widgets when you enter the room. The series will go on sale next month.
Oh, and if you own an Echo Show 15, Amazon says you can expect a free update in the near future that will let you use the smart display as a Fire TV device. Handy that.
Everything Else
Amazon
Amazon had a few other announcements mostly centered around the car. First, there’s a new Echo Auto that’s slimmer than its predecessor and features a more secure adhesive grip. BMW also joined Amazon on stage to announce that it’s working with the retailer to build the next version of its in-vehicle voice assistant using Alexa as a base. The automaker didn’t share too many details about the project, but promised it would “enable an even more natural dialogue between driver and vehicle.”
Follow all of the news from Amazon’s event right here!
What’s the best way for YouTube Shorts to take on TikTok? Apparently, it’s by continually copying its popular competitor. Yesterday, YouTube announced (via TechCrunch) that it would be adding voiceover narrations to Shorts on iOS. It’ll let you add your own commentary on top of existing videos with just a few taps. That’s simple enough, but it’s also something that TikTok has offered for a while, and it brings to mind Instagram’s repeated attempts to copy TikTok’s core features.
Previously, YouTube also lifted TikTok’s feature that lets you reply to comments with your own video. It’s not unusual to tech companies copy each other — Facebook and Instagram practically made a habit of it. But it also makes it clear when established companies are starting to feel defensive about their younger, and usually more innovative, competition. To its credit, YouTube is trying to separate itself by sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators. TikTok may be wildly popular, but that historically hasn’t led to much money for creators.
Ubisoft has once again delayed its long, long-awaited pirate sim Skull and Bones. Last we heard, the game was scheduled to hit Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, Steam, Epic Games Store, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna and Ubisoft Connect on November 8th. That’s no longer the case, as the publisher has pushed back the release date to March 9th.
“We’re very eager for you all to get your hands on Skull and Bones and dive in headfirst to the dangerous and exciting world of building your own pirate empire,” the company wrote in a blog post. “To give you the best possible experience we’ve decided to take a little more time to make sure we can deliver exactly that.”
Skull and Bones was already four years behind schedule. We had our first hands on with it in 2017 and it was supposed to be out the following year. However, Ubisoft went back to the drawing board when the game was already deep into development to turn it into a more realistic pirating experience.
While the news of yet another delay will come as a disappointment to those who’ve already been waiting five years for the game, you still might be able to get your hands on it before March. Ubisoft is planning to run an open beta of Skull and Bones. It will share more details soon.
Google is making it easier to find search results from Reddit and other forum sites. The search engine is adding a new module that will surface discussions happening on forums across the web for queries that may benefit from crowd-sourced answers.
The “discussions and forums” module will surface relevant posts from sites like Reddit and Quora alongside more traditional search results. It’s not clear exactly how Google is determining what types of searches are best suited to forum posts. The company says the new “forum” results will “appear when you search for something that might benefit from the diverse personal experiences found in online discussions.”
The feature is already rolling out for mobile searches in the United States. Google didn’t specify when it may be available more widely, but said they will consider updates in the future.
Google is also adding a new feature to news-related searches that will make it easier to browse international headlines that are published in languages other than English. With the change, news-related searches will also turn up relevant local coverage translated by Google.
Google
The company uses the example of the recent earthquake in Mexico. With the update, search results will also show “news from Mexico,” which will highlight coverage from local outlets originally written in Spanish, but translated into English. Of course, Google Chrome and other browsers are already able to translate web pages. But Google says that by elevating stories from international outlets directly in search will help provide “new global perspectives” on important stories.
The feature, which is labeled as being in beta for now, is expected early next year. It’s starting off with the ability to translate headlines and stories from Spanish, French and German into English, though the beta designation means Google is likely to add more languages over time.
When Amazon introduced its Fire TV Omni line last year, it mostly offered affordable sets oriented toward budget-conscious consumers. At its fall hardware event today, the company announced two new models with QLED panels. Priced at $800 and $1,100 for 65- and 75-inch 4K models, the Omni QLED TVs feature “up to” 96 local dimming zones, support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10 Plus Adaptive. Those are features that should significantly improve the picture quality the new sets can offer over their predecessors.
New presence and ambient light sensors also allow the Omni QLED TVs to offer a feature Amazon is calling “Ambient Experience.” Taking a page from Samsung’s Frame TVs, the Omni QLED TVs can display artwork when you’re not watching a TV show or movie. At any time, you can ask Alexa to tell you more about the piece or the artist who created it. The Ambient Experience automatically turns on when you enter the room and off again when you leave.
If you want something more practical, the TVs can also display Alexa widgets with information on the news, weather and more. You can disable the built-in far-field microphones at any point if you don’t want Alexa listening, and it’s even possible to use the TV to play music without keeping the display on. Preorders for the Fire TV Omni QLED series open today, with orders shipping October 27th.
Follow all of the news from Amazon’s event right here!
You no longer need to join a queue to try OpenAI’s well-known image generator. The company has dropped the waiting list for the DALL-E beta, making the technology available to everyone. If you want to create art, you just have to sign up (if you can get past the authentication glitch that exists as we write this) and start describing the pieces you’d like to produce.
The wider release comes after OpenAI both expanded DALL-E’s features (such as “Outpainting” to expand beyond original image borders) and, importantly, some crucial safeguards. The firm claims it has “more robust” abilities to filter out policy-violating content, including some depictions of sexuality and violence. A developer framework currently in testing should also bring the AI picture maker to third-party apps.
This public debut comes without answers to some key questions. It’s not clear if AI-generated art is fair use or stolen, for instance — Getty Images and similar services have banned the material out of concern it might violate copyright. While this expansion will be welcome, it might test some legal limits.
At its Search On event today, Google unveiled several new ways to help people more easily find what they’re looking for. Some things can be trickier to locate than most, like a particular style of clothing or a certain fragrance. But when it comes to food that makes your mouth and eyes water, Google thinks it can help. Engadget spoke with vice president and general manager of Local Search Yul Kwon to learn how the company believes it can bring people to the dishes they’re craving.
Kwon’s lived many lives. You might remember him as the winner of Survivor: Cook Islands, but he’s also been a management consultant, a law practitioner and the owner of several Red Mango franchise locations in California. “I lost about 20 pounds during the show and when I came back, I was so hungry,” he said. “I basically just sat there and ate everything and anything I could get my hands on.”
His ravenous spiral led to a “40-pound weight swing,” which drove Kwon to find healthier alternatives to junk food and dessert. On a trip to Los Angeles, Kwon discovered frozen yogurt and was hooked. But the dearth of high quality frozen yogurt stores in the Bay Area at the time meant it was hard for him to find the tasty treat at home. Inspired, and driven by the desire to make an “unlimited supply of frozen yogurt for me to eat myself,” Kwon opened stores in downtown Palo Alto, San Carlos and San Jose.
Over time, competition in the froyo business grew intense, as more and more stores opened to cater to growing demand. “At some point everyone and their grandma was opening a frozen yogurt store,” Kwon said. “A lot of the stores that opened were lower quality and lower cost and so they were not as healthy.”
Max Morse / reuters
Kwon said that amid this spike, it not only became became tough to differentiate his business from the competition, but the tools to reach and engage with customers just weren’t available. “It was harder to track new customers to get the word out, and we didn’t really have great tools to drive word of mouth or use technology to drive awareness.”
Eventually, the financial crisis of 2008 became the final straw and Kwon had to close his businesses.
This is a story that’s all too familiar. Small, local businesses lacking the tools to reach larger audiences eventually have to cave to competition and shutter. Though services like GrubHub and DoorDash have made it easier for people to discover restaurants to order food from, they often charge high fees and offer businesses little control over how they’re presented.
These days, companies turn to social media to reach would-be customers, and making an attractive profile can determine how successful you are. Skills that have little to do with running a restaurant, like photography and caption-writing, are now key to bringing in money. Though it’s not technically social media, Google Maps and Search results also play crucial parts in whether a business thrives or fails. If a restaurant’s Maps listing has a rating that’s lower than four stars, or if it doesn’t have a menu available for perusal, a potential diner can quickly be turned off.
Google
Updated digital menus and vibe checks
One of these potential roadblocks is fairly easy to solve. Not only does Google already provide a digital menu on most listings, it also groups user-submitted pictures of physical menus for easier reference. The company also announced today that it’s expanding its coverage of digital menus, “making them more visually rich and reliable.
“We combine menu information provided by people and merchants, and found on restaurant websites that use open standards for data sharing,” Sophia Lin, the company’s general manager of Food and Search, wrote in a blog post. Google also uses image and language understanding technologies like its Multitask Unified Model to scrape available data and produce these menus, which will also showcase most popular dishes and call out different dietary options (starting with just vegetarian and vegan).
Just like Neighborhood Vibe that Google just announced for Maps, a new feature is also coming to Search to help capture and relay to users what makes a restaurant stand out. “Star ratings are helpful, but they don’t tell you everything about a restaurant,” Lin wrote. In the coming months, listings will show pictures and reviews that the company’s machine learning systems determined are representative of how a place feels.
We’ve all been there… a food craving you can’t get off your mind. In the coming months you can search for a specific dish, like “soup dumplings near me,” and quickly see what local restaurants offer it, with pictures and reviews — satisfying that craving in no time. #SearchOnpic.twitter.com/E1oDdk3S0z
Google also wants to help people find the exact food items they’re craving. “Our research shows 40 percent of people already have a dish in mind when they search for food,” Lin wrote. “So to help people find what they’re looking for, in the coming months you’ll be able to search for any dish and see the local places that offer it.”
Lin gave the example of soup dumplings, which she said is a family favorite. The new multisearch near me tool can not only identify the type of xiao long bao (the Chinese name for soup dumplings, or XLB for the well-informed) in a picture, but can also tell you where you can buy it near you. You can also get more specific with your search.
According to Lin, “In the past, searching for soup dumplings near me would show a list of related restaurants. With our revamped experience, we’ll now show you the exact dish results you’ve been looking for. You can even narrow your search down to spicy dishes if you want a bit of a kick”
Of course, these new tools alone won’t help struggling small businesses thrive, but they do help users better understand what restaurants have to offer.
When Kwon recounts his experiences running his Red Mango franchises, he feels on hindsight that “it was hard for people to really understand how we differed from other yogurt shops, It wasn’t any like one place that could go to to really help them find what they’re looking for.”
Kwon said he learned from that ordeal how hard it was to be successful as a small business and wanted to do something to help people in similar situations. He believes that building a set of tools that help small businesses succeed is how he can make a difference.
“Ultimately, technology can be the great equalizer.” he said. “It can be the thing that helps small businesses can change on an even playing field within the big guys.” While today’s announcements on their own don’t seem to specifically target local businesses trying to reach customers in their community, Kwon says the updates “help people connect and find the types of foods that they’re looking for,” which he said is part of helping build relationships between people and their communities.
I want to see Google do more to help and empower small local businesses trying to engage with their communities and customers, and though I’m underwhelmed by today’s announcements on that front, I am hopeful for more to come.
If you recently traveled to a new city, there’s a good chance you used Maps to plan your trip. Google wants to make that process easier. Over the next few months, you can expect Google to expand the availability of its 3D “Immersive View” feature. As o…
Google is shaking up Search in terms of both entering queries and how results are displayed, and you can expect to see the changes in the wild in the coming months. For instance, you may soon find it easier to get answers to questions before you finish writing them. When you start typing into the search box, Google will display badges with autocomplete suggestions, as well as related themes and categories. The goal, as ever, is to help you get to relevant results faster.
When it comes to search results, expect Google to place greater onus on videos, including more vertical clips. According to Google, this is in service of diversifying the types of content formats that users see in results. It builds on an approach centered around browsable, visual-first results and endless scrolling on mobile (where vertical videos thrive). You’ll see related topics as you scroll too. When you look up a city, you might see photos of landmarks, directions to get there, the current weather and tips for travelers. In addition, the search results may include videos from creators who have visited the city.
It could be easier for you to go down the rabbit hole on something you’re interested in too. Google detailed some “drill down” features that are based on a deep understanding of how people search. You’ll be able to add and remove related topics to see more detail or focus on the things you care about. You may discover things you weren’t aware of. Google used Oaxaca’s beaches and musical traditions as examples. That could help you find inspiration for planning trips, for instance.
This seems like an evolution of related searches. It’s described as a streamlined and unified approach to helping folks explore topics by organizing results in a more logical way. Ultimately, it’s all about simplifying Search and getting you the information you need (or didn’t know you need) more quickly.
