The Weeknd has shut down any speculation that his Super Bowl LV Halftime Show will feature surprise guests. “I’ve been reading a lot of rumors… I wouldn’t bet on it,” he told sportscaster Kay Adams in a new interview for the NFL Network. “There wasn’t any room to fit it in the narrative, in the story I was telling in the performance. So yeah. There’s no special guests.” Check out the interview clip below.
Many people have speculated whether or not the Weeknd would be joined by any of his previous collaborators on Sunday Night—a list of names that includes Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, SZA, Lil Uzi Vert, and more. The most common rumor was that the Weeknd might be joined by elusive French duo Daft Punk, who worked with the artist on his 2016 LP Starboy.
This isn’t hardware, per se, but Alexa has proven to be one of Amazon’s biggest moves in the consumer product space. And the now-ubiquitous voice assistant debuted inside the first Echo speaker. It came along a full five years after Siri, but on arrival Alexa was markedly more useful and fun than Apple’s own voice assistant because it could reach much further into the internet’s knowledge banks.
The first Echo speaker is also the device that made Alexa a household name and brought conversational computing to the masses. Ask a question, get a response? It seemed novel at the time, but it also clearly pointed to the future. And it became the future quite rapidly after Amazon began pumping out dozens of Echo variants and licensing the voice tech in ways that allowed other hardware manufacturers to put Alexa into their own speakers … and alarm clocks, light bulbs, shower heads, microwaves, headphones, and smart watches. Sure, Alexa’s limitations as a conversation partner make it feel gimmicky even today, but the types of computing interactions Alexa popularized now seem completely normal. We just talk to our computers these days! No biggie.
2017: Echo Look
In April 2017, Amazon revealed what was perhaps its most bizarre gadget at that time: the Echo Look, a phallic smart camera with a four-microphone array that would snap hands-free photos of your outfits and tell you what to wear. This is not a joke. The camera was available only by invitation, though one of WIRED’s writers managed to buy one off eBay and review it for another publication at the time.
Ultimately, the Echo Look gave us a glimpse at our computer-vision futures. It used machine learning to make recommendations, like so many consumer products do these days, but it also got a lot of those “personalized” suggestions wrong and alarmed privacy advocates. In the spring of 2020, Amazon said it would discontinue the Echo Look and the camera would no longer function starting July 2020.
2017–2020: Echo … Everything
Here we break from our regular chronology. On a sunny Seattle morning in late September 2017, the tech press gathered at Amazon’s headquarters for … well, we didn’t know what to expect. Amazon, it turns out, had decided to join its tech brethren in hosting an official hardware launch. That day, and again in subsequent years, Amazon vomited up an uncountable number of new products (both hardware and software).
We’ve attempted to list a few key products here: Echo Plus; a shorter, fatter Echo; Echo Spot; Echo Buttons; Echo Connect; a Big Mouth Billy Bass with Alexa (again, this is not a joke); Echo Auto; Echo Sub; Echo Wall Clock; Amazon Basics Microwave (more on Amazon’s kitchen appliances below); Echo Link; Fire TV Recast; Ring Stick-Up Cam; Echo Dot Kids; new Eero routers; Ring Car Alarm, Car Cam, and Car Connect; a spherical Echo; and a cloud gaming service called Luna. Did we forget anything? Just kidding. We definitely did.
2017: Echo Show
One of the products that arrived on that September day in 2017 was the first Echo Show. It was a “smart display,” essentially a small tablet-like screen with speakers for playing music, a microphone for capturing your Alexa commands, and a camera for … wait, what was the camera for? For use with a new Alexa-based communication platform, which let people send audio, video, and texts to anyone with an Alexa device or the Alexa app on their phones.
That chat service didn’t really take off, and all the camera did was skeeze people out. The Echo Show did succeed in showing how much more useful Alexa could be when it was built into a dedicated touchscreen. Smart displays became a hit. Google made its own version that worked with its Google Assistant, and both companies licensed the tech to other hardware makers who helped these countertop devices proliferate. Thankfully, there are plenty of options out there today that come with camera shutoff switches.
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival concluded tonight by awarding the top jury prizes to films that premiered at the event. The Questlove-directed Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)—a film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival—was awarded the U.S. Documentary Competition’s Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Questlove reacted to the news on Twitter: “OOOOMMMGGGGHGGG WE DID IT.”
“It has always been a dream of mine to direct films and telling this story has truly been an amazing experience,” Questlove wrote in a statement. “I am overwhelmed and honored by the reception the film is receiving and want to give special thanks to Sundance, and my production partners: Radical Media, Vulcan Productions, Concordia, Play/Action Pictures and LarryBilly Productions.”
The film made its world premiere at this year’s festival. It features footage that sat unseen in a basement for 50 years. Stevie Wonder, the Staples Singers, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and other icons appear in the film.
Read Pitchfork’s feature “Questlove On Why Music Festivals Matter and How to Do Them Right.”
It fell in the toilet. Your clumsy partner knocked a glass of water onto it. You forgot it was in your pocket when you jumped into the pool. That’s just a few of the hundreds of ways your phone could come into life-threatening contact with liquid.
Fortunately, waterproofing has become mostly standard on modern phones. New iPhones, Samsung Galaxy devices, and Google’s newest Pixel phones all feature some degree of water resistance or waterproofing. How well a phone resists water is measured on an IP (or Ingress Protection) scale. If your phone is rated with a high number, like IP67 or IP68 protection, congratulations, it’s probably going to be fine! But if it’s got a lower rating, or none at all, you should prepare for the worst before you start chilling in the hot tub with your trusty Sidekick.
So when your phone decides to take a dive, as soon as you’re done freaking out, you’ll probably begin frantically tapping all the buttons, blowing on it, or blasting it with a hair dryer to quickly get rid of all that water. While those are all well-meaning actions, guess what? Totally the wrong approach. Here’s the right way to rescue your water-damaged smartphone.
First, retrieve it as quickly as possible. If your phone is still in the bottom of the jacuzzi or the toilet, get it out ASAP. The longer it’s in the liquid, the greater the likelihood of damage will be.
Once the device is no longer submerged, power it off right away. Don’t try to press any of the other buttons or load any apps, just switch it off. Remove the case if you have one. If you have a phone with a removable battery, pop the battery out. You want to cut off power in the device as quickly as possible to prevent the possibility of a short circuit. Most of today’s smartphones don’t have removable batteries, but some older models, or new models built with repairability in mind like the Nokia 1.3, let you pop the battery out.
Do not blow-dry your wet phone or stick it in the oven! Heat can damage the delicate electronics inside. What you should do is give the naked, case-free phone a quick wipe with a clean towel, making sure no water accidentally ends up draining into its charging port, SIM or MicroSD slots, or headphone jack (if your phone still has one). If there are traces of water trapped inside cracks or indentations in the case, try carefully and conservatively using compressed air to blow it out. If you don’t have a can of air lying around, you can use your mouth to gently blow it out. Just be careful not to blow the water further inside the phone, or add any of your own spit to the mix.
Next we have a few different options. If you search the internet or ask a friend, a common piece of advice you’ll hear is to stuff your device in a bag of rice. It does often work in a pinch, but that method can cause some problems. While rice is absorbent, it’s incapable of collecting all the moisture hidden deep within your phone, so it only serves as a partial fix. Also, the rice gets mushy and sticky as it absorbs the water, and then you could wind up with gummy bits of rice stuck in your phone’s seams and ports. To be safe, wrap the phone loosely in a paper towel before dropping it into the rice.
Chrome 88 was released only last week, marking the release of the Manifest V3 extension API, changes to password management, and the official death of Adobe Flash support. Chrome 89 has now arrived in the Beta Channel, and it seems to be an even bigger release — even if many of its changes are hidden to most people. Let’s dive in!
Privacy Sandbox
Google first announced Privacy Sandbox all the way back in 2019, as the company’s planned replacement for third-party browser cookies. It’s still very much a work in progress, but Google aims for it to be “a secure environment for personalization that also protects user privacy.” Chrome 89 has the first pieces of the personalization interface, currently hidden behind a new flag: #privacy-sandbox-settings.
With the flag enabled, a new page for Privacy Sandbox can be found in Settings > Privacy and security > Privacy sandbox. There’s currently a single toggle, which enables ‘Web crowd and ad measurement.’ Google explained how this works in a recent blog post:
Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) [Privacy Sandbox] proposes a new way for businesses to reach people with relevant content and ads by clustering large groups of people with similar interests. This approach effectively hides individuals “in the crowd” and uses on-device processing to keep a person’s web history private on the browser.
By creating simulations based on the principles defined in Chrome’s FLoC proposal, Google’s ads teams have tested this privacy-first alternative to third-party cookies. Results indicate that when it comes to generating interest-based audiences, FLoC can provide an effective replacement signal for third-party cookies.
Google isn’t allowing sites to use Privacy Sandbox yet, but now we know where you’ll be able to manage its settings once the feature is finished.
Discover feed
Chrome 89 has a few changes to the Discover feed on the New Tab Page. Currently, articles in the Discover section are listed in cards, but in Chrome 89 they are only separated by dividers. The title font also seems to be slightly bigger, and perhaps most importantly, the description preview has been removed.
Chrome 88 (left) vs. Chrome 89 (right)
It’s interesting to see Google experiment with removing the teaser text. In most cases, they’re too short to provide any helpful context or added information, and removing them potentially allows more articles to appear on-screen at once.
Google is testing a new interface for the site info popup on Android, which appears when you press the ‘I’ or lock icon in the address bar. The popup normally shows the full address, information about page security, and a list of granted permissions. Chrome 89 includes a new flag (#page-info-discoverability) that updates the popup’s design.
Left: Old UI; Center, Right: New UI
The new popup fits in better with Google’s updated design language, and you can revoke permissions without opening Chrome’s normal settings panel.
Web NFC API
Google first began testing NFC in web apps with the release of Chrome 81. That version added initial support for the Web NFC API, allowing sites to read and write NFC tags. It’s mainly intended for inventory management, conferences, museum exhibits, and anywhere else NFC is frequently used. Starting with Chrome 89, the Web NFC API is enabled by default on Android.
Web NFC demo from Chrome Dev Summit 2019
The Web NFC API is limited to reading and writing NDEF data, so low-level operations like ISO-DEP, NFC-A/B, NFC-F are not supported. Peer-to-peer communication mode and Host-based Card Emulation (HCE) also won’t work. Unfortunately, that probably rules out any chances of someone creating an Amiibo creator web app.
Like with microphones, cameras, and other hardware features, NFC requires granting a permission from a popup. It will be interesting to see how the API will be used in the coming years.
Web Sharing on desktop
Chrome on Android has supported the Web Share and Web Share Target APIs for a while now, which allows web apps to send and receive data with Android’s native share menu. The features have gone a long way to blur the lines between native and web apps on Android, but annoyingly, they haven’t been available on desktop platforms (except with Safari on macOS)… until now.
Web sharing on Chrome OS 89
With the release of Chrome 89, web sharing (where web apps can open the system share dialog) is now available on Windows and Chrome OS, and web apps can function as a target on Chrome OS. Developers won’t have to add any extra code for the functionality to work on desktop platforms.
Other changes
As always, this update includes changes for both users and developers. Here are some smaller changes included in Chrome 89:
Chrome added support for text fragment links in 2019, which are links that automatically scroll to a certain string of text. Google Search started using them in 2020, and now websites can change how the highlighted portions look like with the new CSS ::target-text pseudo-element.
Chrome 89 can load AVIF content natively using AV1 decoders on Android and WebView.
The CSS property ‘list-style-type’ supports two new keywords: ‘disclosure-open’ and ‘disclosure-closed’.
The default value of CSS ‘display’ property for
Chrome now supports the CSS property ‘overflow:clip,’ which allows web pages to turn off any type of scrolling for a box. It uses less RAM than ‘overflow: hidden,’ which is often used for the same purpose.
Google has added a new cross-origin reporting API for sites to track usage across different web domains.
Sites can now detect if the current device is set to high contrast display mode, using the new forced-colors CSS media query (similar to how detection for dark mode works).
Some legacy prefixed events (webkitprerenderstart, webkitprerenderstop, webkitprerenderload, and webkitprerenderdomcontentloaded) have been removed.
Chrome now supports the ‘await’ keyword at the top level in JavaScript modules.
The chrome://media-internals page will be removed in Chrome 91, and Chrome 89 includes a new flag (#enable-media-internals) that toggles access to the page.
The new flag #enable-table-ng is available in Chrome 89, which enables the new Blink table layout engine, TableNG.
There’s a new flag for enabling “a rich bottom sheet” for installing Progressive Web Apps on Android, #mobile-pwa-install-use-bottom-sheet, but it doesn’t appear to do anything yet.
When you enter a website in the Chrome address bar, it currently adds “http://” to the front by default. Chrome 89 has a new flag (#omnibox-default-typed-navigations-to-https) that changes this behavior, and if the website doesn’t appear to support HTTPS, Chrome will fall back to the HTTP URL.
Chrome 89 has initial support for XFA forms in the PDF reader.
A new flag, #read-later-reminder-notification, adds a popup when an article in your reading list has been unread for a week.
The Web Serial API, which allows web apps to communicate with hardware over serial connections, is now enabled by default on Windows and Chrome OS. It was previously only enabled by default on Android.
The WebHID API allows sites to more easily use gamepads and other interface devices, and it’s enabled by default with Chrome 89.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.
Apple’s iPad Pro (2020) is arguably the most powerful and popular tablet on the market. But it doesn’t come cheap, which is why we’re always super-excited when great deals on the device pop-up. Right now, Amazon has the 2020 12.9-inch iPad Pro for £912, that’s a very decent £57 saving.
Over the in the US, there’s a similar deal on Amazon, with the retailer knocking $59 off the price of the same model iPad Pro, now down to $940.
This 2020 iPad Pro boasts a 12Z Bionic chip, which rivals that of many laptops available today. It also houses an eight-core graphics processor that can handle everything from gaming to 4K video editing, with ease.
While these might not seem like massive savings, finding any kind of Apple discount is rare, especially on the latest models in the iPad line-up. So if you’ve been thinking of investing in Apple’s Pro tablet, then see below for the cheapest prices you’ll currently find on the web.
Best Apple iPad Pro deals: US
Lowest price
Apple iPad Pro (2020): $999 $939.92 at Amazon Save $59: Amazon has knocked almost $60 off this fourth generation, 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi and 128GB SSD. Perfect if you don’t need huge amounts of storage space, and all for well under a grand. View Deal
Apple iPad Pro (2020): $1,299 $1,223.93 at Amazon Save $75: If you’re after a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a bit more room, this 512GB SSD model might be a better choice. It’s slightly more expensive, but has $75 knocked off, which is the cheapest you’ll find this model on the web right now. View Deal
Best iPad Pro deals: UK
Best deal
Apple iPad Pro (2020): $969 $912 at Currys Save £57: Get a very decent £57 off off this 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 128GB of storage, a powerful A12Z Bionic chip, Face ID, Wi-FI, 12 megapixel camera with 4K HD video, and up to 10 hours of battery life. View Deal
Apple iPad Pro (2020): £969 £912 at Amazon Save £57: If you miss out on the deal at Currys, Amazon has the exact same offer, with £57 off the same model iPad Pro. Now just over £900, this is an incredible price for this super-powerful tablet, armed with Wi-Fi and 128GB SSD. View Deal
Apple iPad Pro (2018): £769 £726.70 at Amazon Save £42: It might not be the shiny new version, but this 2018 iPad Pro model still packs a punch. Complete with 11-inch screen, Wi-Fi and 128GB SSD, this quality device can handle even the most complex of tasks – and it’s a steal at just over £700.
View Deal
If none of these iPad deals are quite right for you, see below for more of today’s best deals.
Dave Chappelle has canceled performances scheduled at Stubbs in Austin, Texas after testing positive for COVID-19, TMZ reports and Chappelle’s representative confirmed to Pitchfork. The canceled dates were among a handful the comedian had booked through this weekend. He had already performed the first of the Austin gigs on Wednesday. Tickets are being refunded.
“Chappelle has safely conducted socially-distanced shows in Ohio since June 2020 and he moved those shows to Austin during the winter,” a statement from Chappelle’s representative reads. “Chappelle implemented COVID-19 protocols which included rapid testing for the audience and daily testing for himself and his team. His diligent testing enabled him to immediately respond by quarantining, thus mitigating the spread of the virus. Chappelle is asymptomatic.”
Chappelle began hosting outdoor, socially distanced performances in his current home state of Ohio since June. His guests included Common, Tiffany Haddish, John Mayer, and several others. After hosting a block party to celebrate the Fourth of July, Chappelle emceed the first post-election episode of Saturday Night Live at the beginning of November.
Earlier this week, Chappelle was photographed maskless with Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, and Grimes. Grimes posted about her own recent experience with the virus on January 9.
