ArduinoMania

Brave is putting Google's Accelerate Mobile Pages (AMP) on blast with a new feature called De-AMP, The Verge reported. It's designed to bypass any pages rendered with AMP and take users directly to the original website. "Where possible, De-AMP will rewrite links and URLs to prevent users from visiting AMP pages altogether,” the company wrote in a blog post.

If that's not possible, then "Brave will watch as pages are being fetched and redirect users away from AMP pages before the page is even rendered, preventing AMP/Google code from being loaded and executed," it added. 

The new feature was implemented in the name of privacy, security and internet experience, according to Brave. "In practice, AMP is harmful to users and to the Web at large," the article states. "Just as bad, AMP helps Google further monopolize and control the direction of the web." It adds that the next iteration of AMP "will be even worse." 

Google originally promoted AMP as a way to improve the mobile web experience by loading pages faster. However, it has recently been a target of critics who see it as a way for Google to increase its hegemony in the internet ad market by hosting content on its own servers. A group of publishers recently announced it was moving away from AMP, and a lawsuit filed by several US states accuses Google of running a monopoly that harmed ad-industry competitors and publishers.

Brave promises "the best privacy online" with its browser, so of course attacking Google is part of its business strategy. Despite its efforts, though, it lags well behind most other browsers in mobile market share, sitting in the "other" category behind Internet Explorer on Statcounter. De-AMP is now available in beta and "will be enabled by default in the upcoming 1.38 Desktop and Android versions, and will be released on iOS soon after," Brave said.

Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian has revealed in an interview that the airline held talks with SpaceX and conducted "exploratory tests" of Starlink's internet technology for its planes. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bastian declined to divulge specifics about the test, but SpaceX exec Jonathan Hofeller talked about the company's discussion with several airlines back in mid-2021. Hofeller said back then that the company was developing a product for aviation and that it's already done some demonstrations for interested parties. 

SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted in the same period last year that Starlink antennae for planes would have to be certified for each aircraft type first. He added that the company is focusing on dishes for 737 and A320 planes, because they serve the most number of people.

Hofeller reiterated SpaceX's quest to put Starlink on planes at the Satellite 2022 conference last month, saying that the company believes "[c]onnectivity on airplanes is something [that's] ripe for an overhaul." He said SpaceX is developing a service that would allow every single passenger on a plane to stream content like they're able to do in their homes.

SpaceX filed an application with the FCC in August last year for a ruggedized type of Starlink antenna that can withstand harsh environments meant for use on planes, ships and other types of moving vehicles. A couple of months later, another FCC filing had revealed that SpaceX was going to test the new "mobile user terminal" on an aircraft for six months. 

Even though Delta had already tested Starlink's technology, Summit Ridge Group (a consulting firm with expertise in satellite communications) founder J. Armand Musey told The Journal that it could take several years for SpaceX's satellite broadband to see widespread adoption. It still has to schedule time with airlines to install terminals on their planes, after all, while more established competitors are also taking steps to improve their service. 

Netflix might offer cheaper ad-supported plans in the coming years. In the company's most recent earnings call, co-CEO Reed Hastings has revealed that the streaming giant is currently working on the offering and that it will be finalizing details for those plans "over the next year or two." Hastings said he finds ads complex and he's a huge fan of the simplicity of subscriptions, but giving consumers who don't mind watching ads the option to pay less "makes a lot of sense."

And it could make a lot of sense for the company, too. The service lost around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, a development it blamed on stiffer competition, inability to expand in some territories due to technological limitations and account sharing. Apparently, 222 million households are paying for Netflix, but over 100 million more are sharing those accounts. 

Back in March, Netflix started testing a feature in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru that allowed subscribers to add two "sub-members," who'll get their own log-ins and profiles, for $3. It may just be a fraction of what a full membership costs, but at least Netflix is getting something from people who'd normally just borrow their friends' accounts.

Hastings clarified during the call that the ad-supported memberships will be added as tiers and members who don't mind paying full subscription fees don't have to be subjected to advertisements. "It is pretty clear that it is working for Hulu, Disney is doing it, HBO did it. We don't have any doubt that it works," he said. The executive also added that Netflix will merely be a publisher and that it will not track user data to match ads like some of its competitors do.

The San Diego Padres will start wearing a Motorola logo on their sleeves, beginning with the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season. While corporate partnerships are nothing new in baseball, it’s the first time we’re seeing an MLB team with a sponsored patch. The league earlier this month said MLB teams could feature the logos of corporate sponsors on their uniforms, similar to what both the NBA and NHL are doing.

Beginning in 2023, the Motorola “batwing” logo will be featured on the right sleeve across versions of the Padres’ jerseys. Motorola will also outfit the Padres’ Hall of Fame with interactive technology displays and product integration throughout the exhibit.

“We are thrilled to partner with a quintessential and innovative brand like Motorola to bring cutting-edge technology, design, and performance to Petco Park,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner said in a press release. “Motorola’s iconic logo on our jersey is a perfect alignment with our Padres brand, and we look forward to teaming up to provide a great experience for our fans.”

The NBA’s jersey patch program has ended in some particularly lucrative deals — the combined value for the 2021-22 season was projected to be $225 million. The brands involved tend to be more unconventional than your run-of-the-mill beverage and sneaker company sponsors. A number of tech companies have sponsored jersey patches, including rebate app Ibotta, Squarespace, Vistaprint and online trading company WeBull. The Philadeliphia 76ers recently entered into a $10-million-a-year jersey patch partnership with Hong Kong-based Crypto.com arena.

Motorola is also the jersey patch sponsor of three separate NBA teams; the Milwaukee Bucks, the Indiana Pacers and the Brooklyn Nets. Perhaps the biggest score for Motorola is that is now the official smartphone sponsor for all these teams. These deals could raise the Android phone maker’s profile and generate more buzz around this year’s new Edge+ and Moto G Stylus.

Cre8Audio made a splash a few years ago when it launched the NiftyCase in 2019, a Eurorack case that featured a surprising amount of convenient features for a stunningly low price. Seriously, $200 for an 84hp Eurorack case with a power supply, MIDI to CV converter, MIDI over USB capabilities and audio connections is kind of bonkers. Now the company is going a little more upmarket, targeting a niche within a niche, with the NiftyKeys.

NiftyKeys is a full-sized 49-key MIDI keyboard with a 112hp Eurorack case mounted on top. Now, at $600 it's a decent investment, especially considering you still have to fill it up with modules. But the only comparable product I can think of is the now discontinued Waldorf kb37 which retailed for $999 and was smaller and less feature packed than the NiftyKeys. Which means, it's actually something of a bargain? 

There are four paired CV pitch and gate outs across the top which means you can patch up a four-voice polyphonic synth, or four separate monophonic patches playable split across different zones of the keyboard, or a pair of duophonic patches, or... you get the idea. There's also CV outs for aftertouch, velocity, modwheel, expression or the clock-synced LFO. There's an internal clock, but the whole rig can also be clocked externally, even over MIDI. There's five-pin MIDI In and Out/Through, plus MIDI over USB. Plus the keyboard itself has an auto-chord feature, a multi-mode arpeggiator, glide and swing control. 

Netflix may have benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's not blaming its latest troubles on people leaving their homes. The company has revealed that it lost about 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, a sharp contrast from the millions of additions per quarter over the past year. However, the streaming giant said that the pandemic only "obscured the picture" — there were multiple problems hiding under the surface.

The company pointed to stiffer competition from online services like Disney+ and Prime Video. While Netflix has still been gaining share at a modest rate, it wants to grow "faster." The firm also blamed limited room to expand in many countries due to both technology factors outside of its control (such as smart TV adoption and data prices) and the abundance of account sharing. There are more than 222 million paying households, Netflix said, but another 100 million-plus sharing those accounts.

The decision to halt service in Russia also helped swing Netflix from growth to a loss. It would have added 500,000 customers, but ultimately lost 700,000 after dropping its Russian base in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Growth was still "soft" across all regions, however.

Netflix outlined multiple efforts to turn things around. It hoped to improve the quality of its shows, profit from sharing (such as an option for paid sharing in Latin America) and produce more content to suit audiences outside the US, where growth was stronger.

These results might not pay off in the short term. Netflix still expects either mild growth (no more than 1.5 million new members) or a loss (up to 2 million) in the ongoing second quarter. With that said, Netflix is clearly under no illusion that mobile games and minor feature additions will be enough to spark renewed interest by themselves — its fundamentals need to improve if it's going to fend off rivals.

Amazon will perform a racial equity audit of its nearly one million hourly employees, the company said last week in a statement to shareholders. The company is hiring a law firm to conduct the audit, which will be led by former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and released to the public. But some critics say the audit should extend to the corporate level, instead of Amazon’s traditionally more diverse warehouse workers.

“Before you applaud this step, read the fine print. This audit will not include Amazon’s negative practices impacting Black employees at the corporate level. That’s a major carve out,” tweeted tech entrepreneur Charlotte Newman, a former corporate employee who once sued the company for racial and gender discrimination.

Amazon made clear that the purpose of the audit would be to study if there was any disparate racial impacts from its policies. "The focus of the audit will be to evaluate any disparate racial impacts on our nearly one million US hourly employees resulting from our policies, programs and practices," the company said in its statement.

The decision comes after Amazon investors rejected 11 proposals from shareholders to improve racial equity and diversity at the company. One of the rejected proposals would invite an hourly employee to join Amazon’s board.

“Amazon’s board lacks representation from hourly employees, who thoroughly understand the company’s daily operations. Women and racial minorities, which constitute a large percentage of Amazon’s hourly associates, are also comparatively underrepresented at the board level, which remains predominantly male and white,” wrote the proposal’s author.

Amazon’s board of directors recommended against voting for the proposal. “Our current process to identify and nominate directors has successfully recruited diverse and qualified directors with extensive human capital management experience,” wrote the board.

Another rejected proposal called for a more extensive racial audit of Amazon’s corporate and hourly workforce. A large percentage of Amazon’s hourly associates are women and racial minorities and its corporate workforce is overwhelmingly white. Nearly 60 percent of Amazon’s lowest-paid hourly workers are Black or Hispanic, according to a 2021 company report that looked at the past two years of demographic data. More than half of Amazon’s hourly workers are women. Meanwhile, Amazon’s highest-paid workers are white or Asian and male.

The company has faced multiple lawsuits from former and current employees who allege they faced race and gender discrimination at work. Back in February, a New York federal judge dismissed a class action racial discrimination lawsuit made by a former Amazon warehouse manager regarding its Covid-19 policies.

Amazon plans to hold its annual shareholder’s meeting on May 25th, where investors will vote on a number of proposals on racial equity and healthcare. Amazon has advised shareholders to vote against a proposal that would call for a full, top-down racial equity audit of the entire company.

“There is no public evidence that Amazon is assessing the potential or actual negative impacts of its polices, practices, products and services through a racial equity lens,” stated the shareholder’s proposal.

Every year, companies like Canon and Nikon push camera technology forward with new models that add features like 8K video recording and 30 fps shooting speeds. But the batteries powering those cameras haven’t changed nearly as much during the mirrorless era.

Enter Chinese manufacturer Nitecore with its newly announced replacement for Sony’s NP-FZ100. First spotted by Gizmodo, the UFZ100 features a built-in USB-C port so that you don’t need to use a proprietary Sony power adapter to charge it. The battery also includes a handy LED indicator to tell you when it’s below 10 percent charge. That same LED will indicate when the UFZ100 is below half power, above 50 percent and finally fully topped up, with a constant green light indicating the final state. With a 2,250mAh capacity, it’s only slightly smaller than Sony’s 2,280mAh NP-FZ100 and works with many of the company’s most recent camera models, including the A6600 and A7 IV.

USB-C charging has been a standard feature on Sony cameras for a few years now, so it’s not like you couldn’t live without one of the company’s proprietary power adapters before. But having a USB-C port on the battery does make things more convenient since you don’t need access to a wall outlet. With enough cables, you could also more easily charge multiple batteries simultaneously.

One thing we don’t know about the UFZ100 yet is how much it will cost. Third-party battery manufacturers tend to price their offerings lower than Sony, Canon and Nikon to entice consumers to buy their products, but the added USC-C port on the UFZ100 could make it more expensive.

Real-time strategy game Crossfire: Legion will soon be available on Steam in early access. You'll be able to get your hands on Blackbird Interactive's latest Starcraft-esque title starting on May 24th.

It's based on the CrossFire tactical shooter series, which is immensely popular in Asia. The original game has more than a billion registered players, according to developer Smilegate. The most recent title, CrossfireX, was released on Xbox consoles earlier this year.

The early access build of Crossfire: Legion will include the entire first act of the campaign. You can also expect co-op as well as multiplayer modes with leaderboards. Players will take command of an army from one of three factions: Black List, Global Risk and New Horizon. You'll duke it out with rivals across a range of environments and terrains.

Blackbird has a strong track record, with the likes of Minecraft Earth and Hardspace: Shipbreaker under its belt. The studio is also working on Homeworld 3. Given both Blackbird's reputation and CrossFire's overall popularity, Crossfire: Legion has the potential to be a big hit.

Meta's VR hand tracking has come a long way in two years. The company has upgraded its Presence Platform hand tracking support for Quest headset apps to allow considerably more natural gestures, particularly those involving hand-over-hand interactions. You can now clap your hands, provide a truer-to-life thumbs-up and deliver high-fives — you can show your appreciation without reaching for your controllers.

The update also provides more consistent tracking, including for fast movements like waving. Meta chalked up the improvements to new AI-based approaches, including deep learning that's better at understanding your hand poses when the cameras have only a limited view.

It will take a while before Quest apps can take full advantage of the improved hand tracking, although Meta is promising relatively little work. However, it's easy to see the practical improvements. Many VR apps ask you to avoid certain gestures. After this upgrade, though, you can use your hands more like you would in real life. Don't be surprised if you see more apps and games that let you go controller-free.