Author: Christine Fisher

Criterion Will Stream Notable Titles by Black Filmmakers for Free

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It is one of several steps the company has taken to support the fight for social justice. Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox Stay informed and join our daily newsletter now! June 5, 2020 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget In response to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade and Breonna Taylor, as well as the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has had on communities of color, the Criterion Collection announced a few steps it’s taking to fight systemic racism. For starters, Criterion plans to lift the paywall on select titles from black filmmakers and documentary portraits of the black experience. The titles will stream for free on Criterion’s new streaming service, which is available on several platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS and Android. Related: 10 TV Shows Every Entrepreneur Should Watch on Netflix Some of the titles include Daughters of Dust (the first feature film by a black […]

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Facebook Pledges $100 Million To Small Businesses Impacted By Coronavirus

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It’s also giving $1,000 bonuses to each of its employees. March 18, 2020 3 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Until now, Facebook’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has focused on fighting the spread of misinformation — by offering free WHO ads and banning ads that promote false ‘cures.’ Now, Facebook plans to invest $100 million in 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where its employees work and live. Facebook is also giving $1,000 bonuses to each of its employees, CNBC reports. For the small businesses, the financial assistance will come in the form of cash grants and ad credits. Those are meant to help businesses stay afloat as more customers stay home, and Facebook intends for the aid to be used to pay workers who can’t come to work, help with rent costs, enable businesses to connect with more customers and contribute to overhead costs. Facebook will begin taking applications in the coming weeks. […]

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YouTube Will Allow Some Creators To Monetize Coronavirus Videos

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It’s taking a cautious approach. March 12, 2020 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget YouTube says it’s reassessing its coronavirus policies and will enable ads on a limited number of channels that discuss the outbreak. Initially, YouTube demonetized all videos that mentioned coronavirus. But after facing backlash, and realizing that this will be an ongoing topic for many creators, YouTube is changing its stance. At first, YouTube applied its sensitive events policy and placed the coronavirus outbreak under “atrocious acts that result in the loss of human lives.” That policy is meant to cover short-term events of significant magnitude, like a natural disaster. “It’s becoming clear this issue is now an ongoing and important part of everyday conversation, and we want to make sure news organizations and creators can continue producing quality videos in a sustainable way,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote in a letter to creators. To start, YouTube will enable […]

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HBO Is the Latest to Abandon SXSW Because of Coronavirus

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Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Netflix and Twitter have done the same. March 6, 2020 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget HBO is the latest company to pull out of SXSW. Other companies —including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Netflix and Twitter — have done the same, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern. HBO said Thursday that its parent company Warner Media “decided it’s best not to move forward with activations at SXSW,” CNET reports. At the moment, it seems that SXSW will still happen. According to a statement on the festival’s website, officials are “working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event.” Even if the festival does start as planned on March 13th, it will be considerably smaller than it has been in past years, as large and small companies alike attempt to avoid putting people in unnecessary contact. Several other festivals and tech shows have already been canceled, […]

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Toyota Invests $349 Million in Flying Taxi Startup

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January 17, 2020 2 min read This story originally appeared on Endgadget Toyota just invested $349 million in the flying taxi startup Joby Aviation. The two companies say they will work together, Joby sharing its all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) expertise and Toyota lending its knowledge of manufacturing, quality and cost controls to the development and production of Joby’s future aircraft. “Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky,” Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda said in a press release. As part of the deal, Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama will join Joby’s board of directors. Toyota’s investment was part of a Series C financing round, in which Joby raised $590 million. Past investors have included Intel Capital, JetBlue Technology Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures. Toyota […]

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Amazon Employees Say They Were Threatened for Climate Change Criticism

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The Washington Post reports that the employees were told future communication policy violations could lead to termination. January 2, 2020 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Two Amazon employees who spoke out against the company’s environmental policies say they were threatened with termination if they continue to violate the company’s external communications policy, The Washington Post reports. In October, the employees, Maren Costa and Jamie Kowalski, told The Washington Post that Amazon contributes to climate change by supporting oil- and gas-company exploration with its cloud computing business. Both employees say they were subsequently called into meetings with human resources, where they were accused of violating the company’s external communications policy. Costa says she then received an email from a company lawyer, who claimed future violations could “result in formal corrective action, up to and including termination of your employment with Amazon.” Kowlanski says she received a similar email. Related: Breaking Down How Amazon Makes Its […]

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Google Is Adding Spam Detection and Verified Business SMS to Messages

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So you know that appointment confirmation isn’t spam. December 13, 2019 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Businesses often send one-time passwords, account alerts and appointment confirmations via text. But if you’ve ever received one of those, you know they tend to come from a random number, and bad actors can take advantage of that by disguising phishing scams as one of those messages. To protect users, Google will soon verify SMS messages from registered businesses. When you receive a message from a verified business, you’ll see the company name, logo and a verification badge in the message thread. Businesses must sign up to use Verified SMS, and so far, 1-800-Flowers, Banco Bradesco, Kayak, Payback and SoFi are on-board. Verified SMS is rolling out gradually in the US, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Mexico, Philippines, Spain and the UK. Google is also adding real-time spam detection. When Google suspects a message is […]

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Google Assistant Will Place Your Dunkin’ Orders, Finally

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December 6, 2019 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Google just added a handful of voice control features to Google Assistant. You can now manage notes and lists in select third-party apps, ask Assistant to search your photos, search for podcasts by topic and set reminders for the whole family. You can also place Dunkin’ Donuts orders — just what everyone was hoping for. If you have the Dunkin’ App on your Android phone, you can now place orders through Google Assistant. Alexa has been serving up Dunkin’ drinks and donuts for more than a year, so really, it’s about time that Google Assistant caught up. Related: Google Home and Amazon Echo Can Store Your Voice Recordings. Here’s When They Could Be Used Against You. Google Assistant now works with Google Keep, Any.do, AnyList or Bring! too. So you can create and manage your holiday notes or lists in more apps. The […]

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T-Mobile’s 5G Network Goes Live Ahead of Schedule

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The original launch date was scheduled for December 6th. December 2, 2019 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Last month, T-Mobile promised its 5G network would go live in 5,000 cities and towns on December 6th — if its merger with Sprint went through. That deal is not yet final, but today, a few days ahead of schedule, T-Mobile says it’s launching its nationwide 5G network. The catch is that, for now, T-Mobile is offering 600 MHz “low-band” 5G. Related: 5 Lessons to Learn from T-Mobile CEO John Legere The network covers more than one million square miles, including many rural areas, and 200 million people. The “low-band” 5G won’t be as fast as the 5G we’ve seen from carriers like Sprint and Verizon, but it will have better range, so it shouldn’t run into problems like not being able to travel through walls. It will be accessible to a lot more people, and T-Mobile says it will cost […]

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Disney Is Tweeting Everything That’s Coming to Disney+

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October 14, 2019 2 min read Brought to you by Engadget The Disney+ launch is less than a month away, and the streaming service is busy drumming up nostalgia in an attempt to hook users. Today, it started a massive tweet thread sharing “basically everything” coming to Disney+ on November 12th. Related: Disney to Ditch Netflix and Start its Own Streaming Service   It. Is. Time. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Mandalorian, check out basically everything coming to #DisneyPlus in the U.S. on November 12. Pre-order in the U.S. at https://t.co/wJig4STf4P today: https://t.co/tlWvp23gLF pic.twitter.com/0q3PTuaDWT — Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 14, 2019   It is impressive just how many titles Disney owns, and it’s worth taking a look at the thread. As you’d expect, there are the classic Disney, Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel titles — plus remnants of the Fox empire. But the thread is also a reminder that Disney (and Fox) have made some […]

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Nissan’s Zero-Emission Ice Cream Truck Uses Recycled EV Batteries

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The prototype is built on Nissan’s e-NV200 and comes with rooftop solar panels. June 20, 2019 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget For some, chasing the neighborhood ice cream truck is a favorite summer tradition. But many ice cream trucks have diesel engines, and older models keep those engines running to power the freezers. That means you get a hefty side of CO2 emissions with your cone. Nissan thinks it can change that. To celebrate the U.K.’s Clean Air Day, Nissan unveiled a zero-emission ice cream van concept, called “Sky to Scoop.” The prototype is based on Nissan’s e-NV200, a fully electric light commercial vehicle that has a range of up to 124 miles. The company installed two Nissan Energy ROAM power packs — which use lithium-ion cells recovered from first-generation Nissan electric vehicles — to power the coolers. Those can be charged along with the van, but there are […]

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Volvo’s Shared ‘Care Key’ Will Keep Your Teens From Speeding

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Starting with model year 2021, you’ll be able to set your own speed limits. March 21, 2019 2 min read This story originally appeared on Engadget Volvo is continuing its bet on safety over speed. The company announced today that, beginning with model year 2021, all new cars will come with a “Care Key.” Owners will be able to set a speed limit attached to the key, and anyone using it will be capped at that speed. The feature might be especially helpful if you plan on lending your car to new or speed-hungry drivers, and Volvo is hoping insurance companies will offer incentives to those who use Care Key. Earlier this month, the company announced it would cap the speed in all of its new cars at 112 mph, starting with the 2021 model year. Care Key will let owners set their top speeds even lower, if they choose. The […]

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