Android ┏ Android gets new accessibility features, including Google Assistant-powered Action Blocks ┏ Samsung's Galaxy S20 Tactical Edition dresses up its flagship for the army Despite the grand military branding and aspirations, the S20 Tactical Edition is effectively just a regular S20 phone with some extra software features and security options in a rugged Juggernaut case. ┏ Vivo's next flagship has a giant gimbal-style camera lens. Sam Byford: It's possible that the X50 could use Samsung's new ISOCELL GN1 sensor, which was just announced yesterday. A Vivo product manager posted about the new sensor on Weibo, highlighting its 1/1.3-inch size and 2.4μm-equivalent pixels. The GN1's large physical size together with Vivo's advanced stabilization tech could certainly explain the unusually big primary lens on the X50. Microsoft ┏ Windows 10 gets accessibility improvements to cursor, screen reader, and more ┏ Microsoft's new Windows Package Manager is already better than the Windows Store ┏ Microsoft Surface Earbuds review: comfort at a cost. Becca Farsace on the video and Chris Welch on the text. When a company announces a baffling product like this you think "I'll reserve judgement until the review." I'm glad I did — because it's the right thing to do, not because they didn't turn out to be a baffling product after all. ┏ Microsoft hid lots of secret nerdy messages to devs in its Build stream. I briefly joked about this yesterday, but Tom Warren actually explains the thinking behind Build's online format. I think it was the best way to handle a tech announcement online-only that I've seen yet. "We had scripts and storyboards. We put it on like it was an hour of television," says Hanselman. The nerdy feel and intimacy took weeks of planning, and the film Searching and a Modern Family episode — both shot entirely on PCs and phones — inspired the Build keynote heavily. Covid ┏ Facebook says it will permanently shift tens of thousands of jobs to remote work ┏ Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote ┏ Three US states have signed on to Apple and Google's exposure notification system. Russell Brandom: So far, there are no available apps making use of the framework, but three US states have come forward to announce projects that are in development. Alabama is developing an app in connection with a team from the University of Alabama, while the Medical University of South Carolina is heading up a similar project in collaboration with the state's health agency. Most notably, North Dakota is planning to incorporate the system into its Care19 app, which drew significant criticism from users in its early versions. ┏ Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can't handle iPhone photos. Amazing story by Monica Chin. The College Board's response to this problems is abysmally bad. Bryner is among the many high school students around the country who completed Advanced Placement tests online last week but were unable to submit them at the end. The culprit: image formats ┏ Amazon reportedly delays Prime Day until September as it works to restore normal shipping Space ┏ Meet the first NASA astronauts SpaceX will launch to orbit. Loren Grush: They'll be the first passengers that SpaceX has ever launched into space, and they'll also be the first people to launch to orbit from the United States since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. All of NASA's astronauts have had to fly on Russian rockets out of Kazakhstan for nearly the last decade. But thanks to a partnership with NASA, SpaceX is set to start launching the agency's astronauts from Florida once again with the Crew Dragon, beginning with Behnken and Hurley. ┏ How the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission could shape the future of commercial space. Loren Grush on how space flight is changing, and fast: In essence, NASA wanted to bring capitalism to human spaceflight. "It's Capitalism 101," Lori Garver, the deputy administrator of NASA under President Obama, tells The Verge. "The government is just not good at that stuff. We have been launching for 50 years, and the industry was doing all the work. Why not let them take it over and we buy the service?" Streaming and Podcasting Wars ┏ Apple TV Plus is still looking for its big win. Pretty weird how nobody's really talking about Apple TV Plus! Julia Alexander thinks about why that is: Now should be Apple's time to shine. The company is gifting subscriptions to practically anyone with an Apple device, and the entire world is stuck at home during a global pandemic with nothing to do but watch TV. The service is filled with high-profile names like Oprah Winfrey, Jason Momoa, and Jennifer Aniston, and it just debuted a new series starring Chris Evans. ┏ The podcasting world is now Spotify versus everybody else. Must-read report from Ashley Carman examining all the issues surrounding Spotify's Rogan deal. There's never been a single podcasting company that sells ads, makes shows, has an already-popular podcast player, and offers the tools to make new series. Spotify now has all of that, and the Rogan deal means it also offers a hit show that guarantees millions of people will regularly use its platform for podcast listening. ┏ Hulu is bringing back a simpler, more familiar home screen The fancy old interface was confusing as hell. Chris Welch spoke to Hulu about how the newer, clearer design still hangs on to at least a few of the (rare) good parts: You'll still see touches of the 2017 design in the new Hulu: the company is still a fan of that cinematic, full-bleed artwork for whatever piece of content is in the hero slot when you open the app, and you'll also see larger rectangles to emphasize certain collections or items as you progress down the home screen. ┏ Netflix is making it easier for people to cancel their subscriptions. More of this from more companies, please. On May 18th, the company started reaching out to subscribers who haven't used the service in two years (or within one year of their initial sign-up for newer customers) to let them know they can either keep their membership or have it canceled upon the next billing cycle ┏ The 'Snyder Cut' of Justice League is coming to HBO Max in 2021. |
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