In the next two decades, technology will connect people, the physical world, information, and collective intelligence, according to Tata Consultancy.
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Friday, 31 January 2020
The DOJ Is Finally Suing US Telecom Providers for Robocalls
The defendants have allegedly connected hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to US residents.
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There's still so much we don't know about Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The next Animal Crossing title is coming, and here are all the juicy details!
Finally, after years of anticipation, E3 2019 gave Animal Crossing fans the announcement they've been waiting for. Nintendo announced Animal Crossing: New Horizon for the Nintendo Switch, the first console addition since the beloved GameCube release and it's easy to see that this franchise entry will be worth the wait.
Here's everything we know so far.
- What is Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
- New Horizons: What's new with gameplay
- Phone a friend: Call an Islander and New Horizons multi-player
- Other twists on the New Horizons
- When does Animal Crossings: New Horizons release?
A relaxing getaway
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Build, craft, relax
Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes place on a deserted island. Start off with a tent and upgrade to a house, customize it to your liking, make friends with the villagers, and play with your friends.
What's new in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Update January 30th, 2020: Animal Crossing: New Horizon custom Nintendo Switch, dock and case
Aloha! to the newest Nintendo Switch design. Nintendo of America tweeted the lastest design for a brand new custom Nintendo Switch, and it's all about Animal Crossings: New Horizons. Featuring unique Joy-Con controllers, Animal Crossing-inspired embossed details, a Tom Nook and family designed dock, and a leaf-printed protective case, it's the perfect package for any Animal Crossing enthusiast.
The new Nintendo Switch design is available for pre-order and the accessories will be available on March 13, 2020, just in time for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Update January 24, 2020: Target releases Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-order bundle
If you haven't already pre-ordered Animal Crossing: New Horizons and you love getting bonuses, you're in luck. Target tweeted out a pre-order bundle that includes a free, and exclusive, Animal Crossings: New Horizons journal. When you pre-order the game, you get access to this cute, matching notebook. The pre-order bundle is currenlty available only through Target.
Update January 10, 2020: Officially-licensed Animal Crossing: New Horizons Accessories from Hori
Animal Crossing fans rejoice! It looks like Nintendo and Hori have joined to bring us some great Animal Crossing: New Horizon-inspired accessories for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch Lite. Though they are currently only available through Amazon Japan, and fans can purchase these adorable extras. The collection includes a storage case, a shoulder bag, a patterned pouch, a Switch Lite semi-hard cover, a super cute Switch stand, and a charming tote bag. At this time, they are not available for purchase, but you can pre-order them! The entire collection will ship internationally, but not until March 31, 2020. Unfortunately, they are not included as part of the New Horizon Getaway Package.
Update January 2, 2020: New trailer for Animal Crossing: New Horizon
It's finally 2020, and that means only a few short months until Animal Crossing: New Horizon. With the new year came a new trailer tweeted by ACPocketNews. This trailer acts like a timeshare presentation to some of our favorite animal NPCs, including Isabella! Included with the 30-second trailer was a release date of March 20, 2020.
What is Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Animal Crossing is a simulator game series where players control a taciturn avatar starting a new life in a new town filled with quirky inhabitants and fun seasonal changes. The goal is to explore, gather, chat with townsfolk, clean up weeds, and really deck out your living quarters.
With the help of resident retailer and business raccoon, Tom Nook, you start small and work your way up to a bigger house with more additions. To do this, you'll need to earn Bells (money) doing odd jobs for your neighbors, collecting and selling all manner of creatures, or just getting rid of your junk.
To top things off, you don't actually need to be in the game for things to happen. That's right; the town will go about its daily business without you. There's no shortage of things to do in these casual, yet fun games.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a brand-new unexplored world, and everything about the franchise may be changing for the better.
New Horizons: What's new with gameplay?
Compared to the previous entries in the franchise, to say it's a lot is putting it mildly. Animal Crossing games typically present players with a random map design whenever a new town is created. While there is no word specifically about how much control you will have in selecting your remote island setting, you will be able to customize it. You can dig paths, place your home anywhere you want (even the beach!), and move trees!
From the trailers, it appears that everyone starts from scratch, even Nook, by receiving the "Nook Inc. The Deserted Island Getaway Package." Players have a tent, a NookPhone, and a pocket full of dreams. With this blank canvas, or "empty map," you can really set to work making this island according to your vision. And that is exciting!
The game's focus is still similar, but it comes with some new mechanics. The goal is still to collect, explore, and shape your town, but there are a few enhancement to really take customization to the next level.
Getting crafty and hunting for materials
Originally incorporated in the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp mobile game, players will have the chance to get crafty and create their own items using materials found in their own backyard. From the game footage, it appears that you won't have a personal bench to start, but that's OK. Tom Nook has a workbench for you to craft whatever you need, for free!
Tom Nook's shop looks like it'll be the place to go if you want to buy or sell materials or anything else you're carrying around, including weeds. (Yes, weeds!) Of course, if you're a hoarder (like me), you'll want to hold on to those materials. From what we've gathered from the trailer, those materials will be useful for building all sorts of items, like the "flimsy ax" used to chop down trees. Of course, getting a new item can help you gather even more materials, and sometimes some rare components may just pop up.
You can use just about anything to build new items, from wood to weeds. Players can uncover recipes to craft items using the NookPhone under the DYI Recipes app, which has tons of recipes for tools, furniture, clothes, bait, and more. All the information you'll need to build will be right in the recipe, down to the number of resources.
When it comes to gathering sources, you can find what you need right on the island. Weeds, rocks, wood — pretty much anything is useful for crafting. You can also buy what you need from Tom Nook, which may come in handy for rarer components. From the looks of it, crafting may be the key to upgrading your equipment. With an example like "flimsy ax," one can only hope that better things are ready to get built.
Frequent flyer: What are NookPhone and Nook Miles?
One of the fancy new additions and key items in New Horizons is the NookPhone. This handy little device has a bunch of useful apps that will help as you play.
- DIY Recipe App: Contains recipes and materials needed for crafting
- Camera: For snapping handy photos
- Map: Check out your island's layout
- Nook Miles: Rewards program
- Call an Islander: Call a friend to join you.
The NookPhone is pretty much your connection to everything. While most of the apps are self-explanatory, the Nook Miles is a nifty new feature that rewards players as they complete objectives, much like airline miles. Simple tasks like crafting a certain number of items or catching a certain amount of bugs can earn Nook Miles. If you accumulate enough miles, you can complete the 'Nook Mile' card and exchange it for rewards. This addition is pretty great; we can finally be rewarded for our hard work.
If you want to capture every moment, the camera app comes in handy. You can snap photos, zoom, and add graphics; you can even pose if you'd like. This feature is even better when you have some friends along for the fun.
Phone a friend: Call an Islander and New Horizons multi-player
Playing together with your friends has always been a staple feature of Animal Crossing games, and New Horizons looks no different. At the end of the trailer, there are a total of eight villagers seen together gathering at some rocks next to the water.
It's confirmed that up to eight islanders can be living together on the same island. Up to four of them can play together at the same time using two pairs of Joy-Cons. There are online and local multiplayer, and more details will be revealed later.
During each multiplayer session, a leader can be designated for the group. The leader can use the Call an Islander app to bring in additional islanders. The leader will have a yellow flag marker shown above their head, so it's easy to distinguish who is currently leading the group. If at any time you want to switch the leader so they can share in the 'material' wealth, you can easily move the flag around from player to player. Plus, each player can emote, which is a fun little detail.
During co-op play, the other islanders will teleport near the leader if they stray too far. It should be noted, to engage in the four-player co-op, every player needs to have a house on the island. For eight-islander multi-player, you can travel to one player's island and explore there.
Other twists on the New Horizons
While the game has a very familiar look, there are so many new details that are exciting about New Horizons. We've only received a glimpse of the possibilities, and this was before the game was delayed. Who knows what could have been added?
In addition to crafting, the NookPhone, and multi-player, some new gameplay elements are being introduced. From the trailer and gameplay demos, we can tell there's going to be customization options galore. Items no longer have to be placed inside the home; you can set up a nice bonfire and hammock right outside your house.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons will also feature multiple hemispheres, so no matter where you are, your island will experience similar seasons and weather. Fishing, bug catching, fossil finding, and planting are all still staple activities, but now you can pick flowers instead of crushing them. Players can craft bait, make a garland, use weeds to craft, and move trees! Plus, the fruit will no longer be a novelty. Eating a piece of fruit seems to give your islander strength to perform more strenuous tasks, like pulling up and moving a tree.
What's more exciting about this update is the variety it brings. Weeds, plants, and growth will change, as the trailer shows plant life cycles and even mushrooms in fall. The island itself will just be much bigger.
When does Animal Crossings: New Horizons release?
Originally, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was supposed to come out sometime in 2019, but the release has been delayed. Nintendo said the reason for the delay is that they want to "ensure the game is the best it can be." That's fine with me since it seems the game will be worth the wait.
The new release date is March 20, 2020, which isn't too far from now, and it will be available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Article updated January 30th: New Animal Crossing: New Horizons inspired Nintendo Switch and accessories releases March 13, 2020.
A relaxing getaway
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Build, craft, relax
Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes place on a deserted island. Start off with a tent and upgrade to a house, customize it to your liking, make friends with the villagers, and play with your friends.
Get More Switch
Nintendo Switch
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Nintendo just announced a new Nintendo Switch inspired by Animal Crossing
It's beautiful and we need it right now.
What you need to know
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases on March 20.
- Nintendo revealed a new Nintendo Switch console inspired by the game.
- The console along with a carrying case and screen protector release on March 13.
As if Nintendo doesn't already have enough of our money, it decided to go and announce a new Nintendo Switch inspired by Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Truthfully it looks much better than the Nintendo Switch Lite that released with Pokémon Sword and Shield, in my opinion. But you can judge for yourself.
A #NintendoSwitch system inspired by #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons is on the way! With unique Joy-Con controllers, a custom design on the back, and a special Nintendo Switch dock, it’s the perfect way to start your island life. Available 3/13 for $299.99.https://t.co/MC5dJ11F3U pic.twitter.com/VigTPi4NDB
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 31, 2020
The Joy-Cons are pastel green and blue with white on the back accompanied by a white wrist band. The dock itself sees Tom Nook and Nooklings Timmy and Tommy gracing the front. And if you're wondering how you'll keep it nice and safe while you show it off to all of your friends, Nintendo has you covered with an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Aloha Edition Carrying Case & Screen Protector that will go on sale the very same day as the console.
The console hits store shelves on March 13, just a week before Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases. Unfortunately the game is sold separately and not included with your purchase of the new console.
Special Edition
Nintendo Switch - Animal Crossing
I want it right now
To celebrate the launch on Animal Crossing: New Horzons in March, Nintendo has revealed a new Nintendo Switch console inspired by the game. You can pre-order it today, just remember to buy the game as well because it's sold separately and not included.
A relaxing getaway
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Build, craft, relax
Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes place on a deserted island. Start off with a tent and upgrade to a house, customize it to your liking, make friends with the villagers, and play with your friends.
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HomeKit Routers are coming! Here's what Linksys is bringing to the party
Linksys Velop line of mesh routers is getting a HomeKit upgrade soon.
What you need to know
- Linksys is now listing 3 Velop router packs as HomeKit compatible.
- All 3 router packs are available today, update to come soon.
- Linksys, eero, and Charter Spectrum are HomeKit router partners.
HomeKit router support sure is looking like it could be making its official appearance soon as Linksys after first being announced way back at WWDC last year. Just days after eero routers began to appear in the Home app, Linksys has updated their product pages to show which of their routers will be getting the HomeKit love.
Previously, the only mention of Linksys on Apple's list of HomeKit accessories was the rather generic Linksys Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System, Tri-Band, which included a link to the AC6600 model. Over on the Linksys website, the HomeKit badge along with "coming soon" is now featured on the listings for all models of the AC6600 which span the available packs that it comes in:
- Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System, Tri-Band (AC2200/WHW0301)
- Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System, Tri-Band (AC4400/WHW0302) 2-Pack
- Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System, Tri-Band (AC6600/WHW0303) 3-Pack
Each model offered by Linksys will come in both black and white variants, and because of the flexible nature of mesh routers, single, double, and triple packs can be purchased, keeping costs down depending on coverage needs. Once HomeKit router support is available, new control options will be found within the Home app that can keep your accessories from accessing the internet and each other for added privacy and security.
Home app controls will include the following in the Home settings panel:
- No Restriction: The router allows the accessory to connect to any internet service or local device. This provides the lowest level of security.
- Automatic: The router allows the accessory to connect to an automatically updated list of manufacturer-approved internet services and local devices.
- Restrict to Home: The router only allows the accessory to connect to your home hub. This option may prevent firmware updates or other services.
All 3 model packs listed are currently available for purchase today, although the exact release date for HomeKit router support has not yet been announced by Apple. As with all things HomeKit, even though support has been announced, it is no guarantee that the feature will be added, although with this one, it seems pretty likely.
Solid foundation
Linksys AC2200 Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System
HomeKit ready
This single pack is an affordable way to jump into the HomeKit router game once it gets an upgrade later this year. The Tri-Band AC2200 can also be expanded with additional nodes for larger areas as your needs change.
2 of a kind
Linksys AC4400 Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System
HomeKit ready
The Velop AC4400 is best for medium sized homes, spanning on 2-3 bedrooms. In addition to HomeKit, this set works with Alexa, and includes parental controls built right in.
Maximum coverage
Linksys AC4400 Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System
HomeKit ready
The AC6600 3-Pack offers maximum coverage, blanketing most 3-4 bedroom homes in glorious, fast Wi-Fi. All 3 nodes work together using self healing technology that allows the others to pick up the slack if one is unplugged.
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Nintendo's special 'Animal Crossing' Switch is coming March 13th
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As new Boeing CEO takes over, it's unclear when the 737 Max will fly again - CNET
Two crashes killed 346 people and authorities are blaming Boeing's design, a faulty sensor and airline staff. Plus: Everything you need to know about the plane's other issues.
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Ricky Brabec and Honda win the 2020 Dakar rally - Roadshow
It was a 9,000-kilometer race over the span of nearly two weeks and Ricky is the first American to ever take the top spot.
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Honda's 2020 Dakar effort brought home the first US victory ever - Roadshow
Ricky Brabec rode to victory on a Honda CRF450 Rally and had help from a crew of dedicated mechanics.
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How Ricky Brabec and Honda won the 2020 Dakar Rally for America - Roadshow
The Dakar Rally is a brutal and dangerous test of man and machine that no American had previously won, until now.
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Kobe Bryant will be honored at the Super Bowl on Sunday - CNET
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira say they'll pay tribute to the late basketball star in the halftime show.
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Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing-themed Switch looks amazing
Nintendo is releasing an Animal Crossing-themed Switch on March 13th, just one week before the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it’s one of the best-looking Switch models yet. Nintendo says you’ll be able to pre-order the themed console at select retailers soon.
This is the full-size Switch, which means it can be played in handheld mode or on a TV by dropping the Switch into the (Nook family-adorned) dock. It also comes with detachable Joy-Con controllers, and the colors on them look amazing.
This model of the Switch also has an embossed design on the back that’s just awesome.
If you do pick this up, though, you should be aware that Animal Crossing: New...
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Google searches for coronavirus will now show you safety tips
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Searching Google for “coronavirus” will now send users to a curated search results page with resources from the World Health Organization, safety tips, and news updates, Google and the WHO announced today. This effort, which is just one of Google’s SOS Alerts, is now live.
Google also announced a $250,000 direct grant from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, that will go to the Chinese Red Cross to help support coronavirus relief efforts.
To help support relief efforts, @Googleorg issued a $250,000 direct grant to the Chinese Red Cross. Additionally we launched an internal campaign inviting Googlers to donate. So far, https://t.co/ldmgae16C7 and Googlers have raised over $800K USD (3.5M rmb).
— Google Communications...
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Amazon reports big earnings, crosses $1 trillion in value
Enlarge / Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)
Amazon delivered its final quarterly earnings report for the 2019 fiscal year today, and investor response to a largely positive report describing big holiday sales and AWS performance drove the company's market cap above $1 trillion.
Amazon told investors that it achieved $87.4 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter of its fiscal-year 2019.
This quarter included the holiday shopping frenzy, and Amazon impressed investors with a 21 percent increase in sales compared to the same quarter last year. Amazon executives said that the company quadrupled same-day and one-day shipping over last year's figures, and credited part of the holiday success to the company's ability to offer expedient shipping. Achieving those speedy deliveries brought Amazon's shipping expenditures in the quarter up to $12.9 billion, more than 40 percent more than last year.
Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Britain 'doing the wrong thing' by letting in Huawei 5G: former ASD officer
The hardest part of hacking is the access problem, he said. If you have the keys to 5G networks, you get to be 'The Borg'.
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Australian government and opposition dismiss talk of revisiting Huawei 5G ban
Canberra will not revisit the ban on Huawei supplying 5G equipment in Australia.
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Satechi launches USB-C Slim Adapter with 60W charging, 4K HDMI, and more
Stay connected to all of the things on the go.
What you need to know
- Satechi has added a new USB-C adapter to its accessory lineup.
- The adapter features 60W charging, Gigabit Ethernet, and more.
- Customers can purchase the adapter through Satechi or Amazon.
Satechi has always made themselves known for their stellar iPhone, iPad, and Mac accessories. Today, they continue to add to their offerings with a new adapter that is designed to help Macbook and iPad Pro users stay connected to all of their peripherals on the go.
The USB-C Slim Multi-port with Ethernet Adapter features all of the connections you would expect from a portable adapter for your laptop or tablet, but with some new enhancements.
"Take your workspace on-the-go with the ultra-portable Satechi USB-C Slim Multi-Port with Ethernet Adapter. Featuring Gigabit Ethernet, 4K HDMI (30Hz), USB-C PD charging, two USB-A 3.0 ports, and micro/SD card readers, the Adapter seamlessly combines seven ports into one compact device. With a plug and play design and modern aluminum finish, it has never been easier to connect your setup on-the-go."
The first is that Satechi has been able to fit a 60W USB-C PD charger into this tiny adapter, which allows you to charge up to a 13-inch Macbook Pro at full speed. On top of its impressive power capability, it also features two USB-A ports, a regular SD port, and a micro SD port.
The adapter is also capable of handling a 4K external monitor. According to Satechi, this port is limited to outputting 4K resolution at only 30Hz and requires an HDMI to HDMI direct connection. This means that you can't run through additional hubs or adapters - the HDMI cable from the Satechi must go directly into your monitor.
Another new addition to the adapter is a Gigabit Ethernet port, which allows users to plug in for super-fast internet in areas with spotty WiFi.
The adapter is compatible with any iPad Pro or Macbook with a USB-C port and comes in black, silver, and space gray. It currently runs for $79.99 and is available to buy today at Satechi's own website or on Amazon.
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Mammoth Biosciences aims to be Illumina for the gene editing generation
In 1998, the startup company Illumina launched a revolution in the life sciences industry by developing technology to slash the costs of identifying and mapping genetic material.
Now, a little over 20 years later, Mammoth Biosciences is hoping to do the same thing for gene editing tools.
The company, co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, who did some of the pioneering work to discover the gene editing enzyme known as CRISPR, has just raised $45 million as it looks to bring to market products that can be used not only for disease detection, but are more precise editing tools for genetic material.
Rather than get bogged down in the patent dispute that raged over the provenance and ownership of applications for the original CRISPR enzyme — the Cas9 discovered by Doudna and developed for clinical applications at the Broad Institute — Mammoth has joined a number of startups in identifying new enzymes with a broader array of properties.
“From the very beginning of the company we’ve only worked with novel new enzymes to create these diagnostic products and the new novel diagnostic and editing,” says Trevor Martin, Mammoth Biosciences co-founder and chief executive.
Chiefly, the company is touting its Cas14 enzyme, which the company says opens up new possibilities for programmable biology thanks to its small size, diverse targeting ability and high fidelity — meaning that there are no unforeseen side effects to edits made using the enzyme (something that has arisen with Cas9 applications).
“There’s not one protein that’s going to be the best at everything,” says Martin. “For any particular product that you’re building, at Mammoth, we have the broadest toolbox.”
The Cas14 enzyme can be used to make gene edits in-vivo, meaning in live organisms, instead of ex-vivo, or outside of an organism. The in-vivo use-case could accelerate the time it takes to conduct experiments or develop treatments.
“Twenty years from now, when the umpteenth drug gets approved using Crispr and some nuclease named Cas132013, people are going to look back on this patent battle and think, ‘what a godawful waste of money,’ ” Jacob Sherkow a patent law scholar at New York Law School told Wired back in 2018.
Already, Horizon Discovery, a Cambridge, U.K.-based gene editing technology developer, is using the new tools developed by Mammoth Bioscience to create new CRISPR tools for Chinese Hamster Ovary cell line editing.
That partnership is an example of how Mammoth is thinking about the commercialization of the new Cas14 enzyme line and its role in biological engineering.
“You will need a full toolbox of CRISPR proteins,” says Martin. “That will allow you to interact with biology in the same way that we interact with software and computers. “From first principles, companies will programmatically modify biology to cure a disease or decrease risk for a disease. That’s going to be really kind of a turning point.”
To achieve its vision, Mammoth has managed to nab top talent from the life sciences industry, including Peter Nell, a co-founder of Casebia (a joint venture between Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics), who came on board as chief business officer, and Ted Tisch, a former executive at Synthego and Bio-Rad, who joined the company as chief operating officer.
The company also nabbed $45 million of funding, including investment firms Mayfield, NFX, Verily (the Alphabet subsidiary) and Brook Byers, which was led by Decheng Capital — bringing the company to more than $70 million in funding.
“There are a dozen or so products that are in clinical development with CRISPR,” says Ursheet Parikh, a partner with Mayfield. “Maybe that number would go up by five or 10 without Mammoth, but it will go up by one or two orders of magnitude with Mammoth.”
To Parikh, Mammoth is the best positioned of the CRISPR development tools, because the company is building a whole platform that customers can license and use to develop products using gene editing.
The thinking, according to Parikh, is as follows, “if this technology can power lots of applications, let’s basically ensure that lots of these applications can come to market and as that happens I get my app store cut.”
“It’s an Illumina-like business,” Parikh says. “Just as anybody who is innovating with genomics needs an Illumina sequencer because they want to be able to do the sequencing… if someone wants to do editing… This gives them the access to do the right sequencing.”
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United Nations reportedly suffered a hack, which it tried to keep secret - CNET
The UN was targeted in an apparent spy operation last year, but top officials kept quiet, according to the AP.
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Super Bowl 2020 movie and TV trailers: Sonic the Hedgehog, Hunters and more - CNET
A couple of (expensive) movie ad spots have already arrived online. You can also expect trailers from Black Widow, Fast and Furious 9, and more.
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In Iowa, people worry about one social network as caucuses loom - CNET
Locals are concerned about the role Facebook will play in next week's contest and the general election.
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Thursday, 30 January 2020
Apple Q1 2020: iPhone powers the ecosystem
The iPhone 11 is going to be so boring. So iterative. A real yawner. A letdown. You don't need it. Totally. Completely. Must skip. Facepalm emoji dash thumbnail.
That was not an uncommon narrative last year when iPhone 11 rumors started making the rounds. Hell, even once it was announced.
Now, just four months later, Apple has released its first quarter, 2020 financial results and, well…
OK Doomers.
Apple Q1 2020
Now, you all know how much I don't hate to say I told them so. The misinformers. Not the ones who are just wrong. We're all sometimes wrong. We learn we grow. No. The deliberate ones. The ones who do it on purpose to manipulate markets or just manipulate their audiences.
Because they cause real damage. Not to Apple. Apple is enormous. Apple can ride it. But to the people and audiences who put their trust in them, and then miss out, get screwed over, and lose. Because there's a real-world cost. There's always a real-world cost. Hot takes, they burn.
That's why I've done a bunch of videos about precisely how and why all of that misinformation was so misinformed. And I'm going to keep on doing just that and, when the results come in, I'm going to analyze them as well. To keep everyone honest. Especially me.
iPhone
So, Q1 2020, Apple's first big holiday quarter of the new decade, and iPhone revenue in total was up 8% year-over-year, which given how mature and saturated the phone market is, shows that there's still room for some small surges when the product and positioning it right.
Sadly, Apple doesn't report unit sales anymore, because it doesn't help Apple to report them anymore in an industry where few if any other vendors ever have.
And, lest you think it was some common, bargain iPhone that did all that heavy lifting, Tim Cook did say that iPhone 11 was, in fact, the top-selling model every week of the holiday quarter, with the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max coming in right behind.
Overall gross product margins were 34%, down from the 38 or 39% they'd been from the end of the Jobs era until far more recently. Which, yeah, once again shows that while prices might be up under Tim Cook, its because Apple is spending more to make devices, not just charging more for them. In fact, now Apple is charging less, and eating more of the difference.
Apple listened, some will say. The market wanted the iPhone to be affordable again. And they're right. I think the price drop from the $749 iPhone XR to the $699 iPhone 11 was certainly a big part of it, especially psychologically. That would explain the iPhone 11's success. But what explains the iPhone 11 Pros? See, I think what the market actually wanted most was respect.
Apple's mistake wasn't selling a $999 iPhone. It was selling the iPhone for $999 and making the iPhone 8 and then the iPhone X look and feel discounted, less than, worse. And nobody likes to feel that way about something they're buying. It makes them feel that way about themselves.
I made a video on the need for this long before it happened, but that was the real correction Apple made. Putting the iPhone 11 — the iPhone, back in the sweet spot, and positioning the $999 — the pro — as a premium option on top of it, everyone felt great again.
Great enough to push the iPhone 11 to new revenue records in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and even kickstart solid growth again in China.
Where, despite a trade war, and facing incredibly strong competition from local vendors like Huawei, the iPhone managed to rebound.
Which, when you think that this time last year, Apple and Tim Cook were coming off a letter to investors revising earnings for only the second time in history, primarily due to the iPhone and China, shows a fairly damn remarkable navigation of incredibly complex market conditions by a company and CEO so clearly, so always doomed.
Apple is also reportedly seeing massive growth in India, which is a market it's struggled in for ages. The reason? iPhone 11 and also iPhone XR. Yeah, the disappointing iPhone XR.
Taken together, it's almost impossible to believe the major business publications still haven't bothered to fix that weird glitch in their auto-correct systems that keeps inserting the words declining, lackluster, flagging, stalling, faltering, slumping, slowing, waning, sputtering, down-turning, business damaging before the word iPhone in their coverage, in the months and months of whatever malpractice passes for journalism there these days.
Now, you'd think being so wrong so always would motivate all the pundits to pause, to reassess to grow. But… we're already seeing the same thing with the rumored iPhone 9 this spring and expected iPhone 12 this fall.
Not just that they'll be boring, because, of course, they'll be, but because we're reaching peak phone and simply don't need anything more or better.
But there are a couple of important things to remember there as well.
First of all, unlike most of the tech pundits, real humans simply don't buy new iPhones every year. People getting the iPhone 11 weren't coming from iPhone XR or XS. They were coming from iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s. And, apparently, taking advantage of trade-in programs twice as much as before.
Later this year, people getting the iPhone 12 won't be coming from iPhone 11, but from iPhone 6s and 7.
And, every year, when people upgrade, Apple wants them to get the best possible iPhone they can get. One that's not just great when they get it, but stays great, able to get software updates and run the latest apps, until however long it takes them to want to upgrade again. Even if that's iPhone 15. Which, yes, should also be the best possible iPhone they can get then.
There's a ton of work that needs to be done on software and services and interfaces and voice assistants, and all of that, absolutely.
But that work is going to need, is going to depend on, the same amount of work being put into ever-better hardware. Better chipsets. Better radios. Better battery tech. Better displays. Better devices that are easier to carry and to use.
It all goes hand-in-hand, because the phones we have now, tiny tech miracles that they are, still fail us in so many ways, so many days, that they still need to be pushed forward. Hard.
We may well have reached peak pundit but we by no means have reached peak iPhone.
Which brings us to the equal and opposite concern that's be re-surfacing recently — that for all its doom-ed-ness, Apple is still way too dependent on iPhone revenue.
It's a variation on the same theme. You're not making enough money until you're making all of it, and then you're making way too much.
Ecosystem
Apple reported services revenue of 12.7 billion, another record high, but growth of 17%, down ever so slightly from the 18% last quarter. While the iPad and Mac were down, especially the iPad, which is something I'll get into in the near future, wearables were up. Explosively. 44%. And that's with both the AirPods Pro and the Apple Watch Series 3 being constrained throughout the quarter. In other words, Apple couldn't make enough to meet demand.
Two products that were widely mocked and dismissed when they were announced and for years after by many of the same tech-sperts, by a company that's supposedly done nothing of note in the last ten years, especially in the post-Steve Jobs era.
The uptick in iPhone sales and downtick in iPad and Mac sales means not-iPhone wasn't able to equal iPhone, but taken together, not-iPhone was still a business better than most in this world.
Especially since the iPhone still feeds so many of Apple's other businesses. About half of the iPad and Mac customers were new to those products. More than 75% of Apple Watch customers were new to that product as well.
People with Samsung or other Android phones still switch to iPhone more than the other way around, and once they switch they start buying more products and services from Apple.
This is a huge challenge, since there's a limited number of people on earth, and as the iPhone customer base grows, the number of upgrade sales will increasingly dwarf new-to-any-phone or switcher sales. But Apple seems to be leaning into that by making devices that last longer, that can be re-sold or handed down longer, and on growing that iPhone platform to be as big as it can be.
Given that Apple announced its installed base of devices is now over 1.5 billion, apparently more than Microsoft at this point, with almost a billion iPhones alone, maybe 2 billion devices total in the next 5 years, all those iPhones create room for a ton of ecosystem growth, both for other devices and services on top of them.
Especially as we go from the age of screens to an age that also includes ambient voice and, Tim Cook's favorite topic recently, augmented reality.
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117 new emoji coming in 2020 including ninja, bubble tea, and more
Express yourself with a green bell pepper, black cat, or non-binary symbol.
What you need to know
- The 2020 emoji lineup has been announced.
- There are 117 new emoji coming this year.
- There is finally a roller skate emoji.
Every year, the Unicode Consortium votes on and approves a new set of emoji symbols for the year. Emoji 13.0 was just announced today and with it comes a laundry list of 117 new symbols (no laundry list symbol though). These emoji symbols will be coming to most platforms in the second half of 2020. Not every device will have all 117 symbols. Most software developers pick about half from the list to add to their various apps and operating systems.
New symbols range from new facial expressions, like a smiling face with a tear (I feel this way often), to body parts, like an anatomical heart and lungs, to animals, like a black cat, bison, mammoth, beaver, polar bear, and the dodo bird. There are a few new food and drink options, like blueberries, olive, bell pepper, flatbread, tamale, fondue, and bubble tea.
I can't wait to see how people get indignant over what a tamale is supposed to look like.
What's your favorite new emoji for 2020?
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Stronger than expected Windows sales contribute to Microsoft's solid Q2 FY20
While all eyes are on Microsoft's cloud performance, Windows' contribution to Microsoft's second fiscal quarter was stronger than expected.
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US DOI halts operations for its entire drone fleet over Chinese cybersecurity concerns
Effective immediately, it will only be used in emergency situations.
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NBN retreats from directly signing enterprise customers
Government-owned broadband wholesaler to behave more like a wholesaler again.
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DOD contractor suffers ransomware infection
Virginia-based EWA has had systems infected with the Ryuk ransomware.
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CBA invests another $200m to fund Klarna's entry into Australia
CBA now has 50:50 ownership rights in the Swedish-based company's Australian and New Zealand business.
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Rich countries should invest in LatAm to create AI talent
A new report on AI skills readiness suggests the region offers a number of opportunities, despite its many hurdles.
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Facebook pays up $550M for facial recognition privacy lawsuit - CNET
The settlement fund follows a five-year lawsuit over tagging photos.
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Coronavirus cases spike to over 7,700, death toll rises: Everything we know - CNET
The death toll from the deadly new virus continues to rise as the first cases are reported in the United Arab Emirates, Tibet and Finland.
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Human hearts and brides with mustaches: The best new emojis on the way - CNET
Commentary: The 117 new emojis revealed in the final list of upcoming designs are both inclusive and unexpected.
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