Tech News Today for September 20, 2017
Tech News for Wednesday September 20, 2017
The Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular reviews are out. Many reviewers, including friend of the show Serenity Caldwell ran into LTE problems, which Apple confirms, and which Serenity calls an existing WiFi bug that prevents the watch from connecting to networks. The software bug makes your watch attempt to connect to public WiFi networks that require login prompts or terms of service agreements like the ones at Starbucks or McDonalds. Your watch can't connect to them on its own, but it doesn't stop it from thinking it’s connected, and then not connecting to available LTE networks. For the average person that just means it doesn't work. Apple told Lauren Goode at the Verge that they are exploring a software fix. As Serenity also points out, this would be possible if Apple let us authenticate Wi-Fi networks locally on Apple Watch with dictation. Read more at iMore.com.
Nest just unloaded a bunch of new products today. The Nest Secure alarm system is designed as a full-fledged home security system that includes the Nest Guard hub that will coordinate and control the rest of the connected components throughout the home. Those include the Nest Guard, an alarm system capable of an 85 decibel siren complete with backup battery. Also, Nest Detect for attaching to windows and doors to know when they open and close. Finally, Nest Tag, for attaching to important things like keys to make sure they don’t go missing. Nest also unveiled the Hello, a doorbell camera capable of face and person recognition, and the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor, an outdoor version of its Nest Cam product that is also capable of facial recognition and two way talk. Read more at pocket-lint.com.
Facebook is clarifying its advertising policy after last week's discovery by Pro Publica that users were able to self-identify as Jew Haters" and then advertisers were able to target them. Because apparently even Jew haters need to buy stuff. In a post on her platform, CTO Sheryl Sanberg writes that they are tightening enforcement processes to make sure ad targeting terms don't violate Facebook's community standards. This includes targeting anyone based on their negative opinions based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or disabilities or diseases. They also promise to add more human review to automated processes and they're creating a program to encourage people on Facebook to report potential abuses of the Facebook ads system. Read more at bloomberg.com.
A report in the Financial Times says that Amazon is hard at work on smart glasses that utilize Amazon’s voice assistant technology. The glasses would reportedly bypass an earbud design, instead opting for bone conduction for the audio system, similar to what Google Glass did at launch. The glasses are expected to tether to the smartphone wirelessly, and are meant to look like a normal pair of glasses. The new smart glasses could be unveiled along with updated Echo products by the end of the year. Read more at ft.com.
Megan Morrone and Jason Howell are joined today by Ryan Whitman from Android Police to talk about the signs pointing to Google buying HTC. Tech News Today streams live weekdays at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern at twit.tv/live. You can subscribe to the show and get it on-demand at twit.tv/tnt.