YouTube is making it easier to find the best moments in a video. The service is updating its desktop and mobile video players with a previously experimental graph that shows the most popular (that is, replayed) segments. You might not have to use guesswork or chapter markers to jump past the fluff and get to the content you're really there to watch.

The company has also teased plans to test an "easier" method of seeking the exact point in a video that you want to play. Rather than simply displaying a thumbnail for a given point, the player will show a visual timeline (below) that can indicate a scene change. The test will come "soon" to Premium subscribers through YouTube's "new" section.

Google

The additions join an existing wave of improvements, including an enhanced full-screen mode, auto-generated chapters and single-video looping. These latest upgrades are more targeted, however— YouTube is clearly aware that you might not want to sit through a whole video just to find the snippet you're really looking for.

The Biden administration may be struggling in its efforts to fight security-related misinformation. The Washington Postsources claim the Department of Homeland Security has "paused" a Disinformation Governance Board just three weeks after its April 27th announcement. Officials reportedly decided to shut down the board May 16th, but that decision appears to be on hold after a last-minute effort to retain board leader Nina Jankowicz. She resigned from the board and the DHS today (May 18th).

While the leakers didn't directly explain why the Disinformation Governance Board was frozen, they claim the White House neither had clear messaging nor a defense against misinformation and threats levelled against Jankowicz. The board was meant to examine approaches for fighting viral lies and had no power over content, but far-right influencers and outlets misrepresented it as a censorship tool and villainized Jankowicz. The campaigns led to harassment and threats against the board leader — in other words, the board was the victim of the very sort of attack it was supposed to prevent.

We've asked the DHS for comment. In a statement to the Post, the department said the board's role had been "grossly mischaracterized" and that Jankowicz had been targeted by "unjustified and vile personal attacks and threats." Previously, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House press secretary Jen Psaki have respectively tried to clarify the board's objectives and debunk falsehoods with little effect.

There is a chance the board could survive depending on a Homeland Security Advisory Council review. If the reports are true, though, the US government may have to rethink its anti-disinformation efforts if they're going to survive both criticism and internal scrutiny.

Russia is supposedly using its invasion of Ukraine to try new technology on the battlefield. As Reutersreports, the Russian government says it's using a new wave of laser weapons to counter the Western technology aiding Ukraine's self-defense. Deputy prime minister Yury Borisov claimed Russia was using prototypes for a drone-destroying laser weapon, Zadira, that can burn up drones. One test incinerated a drone 3.1 miles away within five seconds, according to the official.

A more established system, Peresvet, reportedly blinds satellites up to 932 miles above Earth. This was already "widely deployed," Borisov claimed. The deputy leader maintained that new lasers using wide electromagnetic bands could eventually replace traditional weapons.

This isn't the first reported use of cutting-edge tech in the war against Ukraine. CNNnoted that Russia has fired multiple Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukrainian targets. This variant of the Iskander short-range ballistic missile can be launched from a fighter jet (the MiG-31K). Russia has maintained that Kinzhal is virtually impossible to stop due to its very high speed, but US and UK officials have dismissed its effectiveness and argued that it's really just an air-launched variant of a conventional weapon.

As with those hypersonic weapons, it's difficult to know how well the lasers work in practice. Russia has routinely made false claims about its overall capabilities and the war in Ukraine, where it has struggled to gain ground despite a large military. However, these uses may be less about turning the war around and more about symbolism — Russia wants to boast about its technological prowess and discourage further material support for Ukraine.

You don't need to pay a hefty sum (or go large) to get OLED in a laptop. Acer has unveiled a refreshed laptop line headlined by the Swift 3 OLED, an enhanced version of its thin-and-light mainstream portable. The highlight, as you'd guess, is a 14-inch "2.8K" display that promises OLED's signature high contrast, accurate color (100 percent of DCI-P3) and 500-nit HDR. Add in a 92 percent screen-to-body ratio and it might be a good fit if you want lush visuals without buying an exotic PC.

The Swift 3 OLED runs on 12th-gen Intel Core H-series chips with Iris Xe integrated graphics, PCIe Gen 4 SSDs and as much as 16GB of LPDDR5 memory. It ships to the US this July starting at $900. While we wouldn't call it a budget laptop, that's a relative bargain given the display tech.

Acer

The are upgrades for convertible machines, too. The 14-inch Spin 5 (shown at middle) comes with a 1600p display and configurations that offer up to a 12th-gen Core i7, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. You'll also get two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an improved cooling system that should net more performance under heavy loads. Opt for the Spin 3 and you'll get 'just' a 1080p 14-inch display, but you'll also have the twin Thunderbolt 4 ports, SSD storage and a range of 12th-gen Core CPUs.

The updated Spin 5 arrives first, shipping in July with a $1,350 starting price. Acer delivers the new Spin 3 in August at an $850 base sticker.

And yes, Acer is expanding its eco-friendly Vero line. You'll find new 14- and 15-inch Vero laptops that meld 12th-gen Core, Thunderbolt 4 and 1080p displays with bodies made partly from recycled and ocean-bound plastic. Desktop users can spring for a 24-inch Veriton Vero all-in-one with up to a 12th-gen Core i9 and GeForce MX550 graphics. The Vero portables ship to the US in September starting at $750 regardless of size, while the Veriton Vero will wait until October to sell for $799.

Acer's creativity-oriented ConceptD laptops are joining the wave of OLED upgrades. The PC maker has updated its ConceptD 5 and ConceptD 5 Pro portables with a 16-inch, 3,840 x 2,400 OLED screen that promises very high contrast while preserving the all-important color accuracy for visual editing. You can expect 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, Pantone Matching System colors and Delta E<2 calibration. Acer also promises HDR support, although the display's 400-nit brightness will limit that output.

Both systems promise up-to-the-minute specs, including 12th-gen Intel Core chips (up to the i7-12700H), up to 32GB of LPDDR5 memory and as much as 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1 and a full-size SD card reader should also help creatives. The differences largely come down to GPUs. The ConceptD 5 is more mainstream with GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics, while the Pro version uses the workstation-focused RTX A5500.

The ConceptD 5 comes to North America in August with a $2,500 starting price. The Pro edition will only be available in Europe and the Middle East this September, when it will sell for €2,599 (about $2,740). That's not a small expense, but it could be easy to justify if your livelihood depends on a powerful laptop.

Acer's no-glasses 3D is finally available beyond a laptop. The company has trotted out SpatialLabs View and SpatialLabs View Pro portable monitors that bring the more immersive screen tech to gamers and creators. Both 15.6-inch displays deliver stereoscopic 3D for content that either has a profile (for over 50 games) or the right export plugin. The screens can convert 2D content to 3D, and they'll still be useful as 4K monitors with a 400-nit brightness and 100 percent Adobe RGB color coverage.

The differences largely come down to tweaks for particular audiences. The Pro builds on the regular SpatialLabs View with both creative tech and an "intelligent industrial design" to help deploy in the field. You can even use a VESA wall mount when you want a more permanent presence than the integrated kickstand (present on both models) can provide.

You'll have to wait until summer for either model. Acer hasn't yet outlined pricing, but these stand-alone monitors should be considerably more affordable than the $1,700 the company originally charged for its lowest-priced 3D laptop. It's just a question of whether or not you want a 3D monitor in the first place. The glasses-free visuals could add a pleasant spin to otherwise familiar experiences, but there's little doubt they'll carry a premium compared to 'plain' 2D screens.

Now that the Matter smart home standard is finally close to launch, Samsung is doing its part to help device makers get ready. The company's SmartThings unit has launched an early access program that will help some smart home companies test their first Matter-friendly products. The initial roster of 10 brands includes a multiple well-known names like Eve Systems, Nanoleaf, Wemo and Yale.

The program will verify that devices will support both SmartThings hubs and control through the SmartThings app. You ideally won't need a dedicated hub just to bring this technology into your household. Matter will support a range of assistants (including Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri) as well as connectivity like Bluetooth LE, Thread and WiFi.

The effort comes just days after Google committed to rolling out Matter in the fall. The standard has endured multiple delays, and it's not yet clear how well it will work in practice. However, Samsung's testing should increase the chances of a smooth debut – it may just be a question of choosing the devices that best suit your needs.

Apple is once again delaying its return to the office, and this time it will be less strict about in-person work. The New York Timesunderstands that Apple has delayed the return to offices once again. The iPhone maker will no longer require staff to come to the office three times a week by May 23rd. Instead, the company will reportedly launch a pilot that has some employees return two days a week in the "weeks ahead." Anyone who doesn't feel comfortable can still work remotely, according to a company note.

While Apple didn't share many other details, it promised at least two weeks' notice before any changes. The test will require that in-person workers wear masks in common spaces and elevators.

We've asked Apple for comment. The delay was reportedly prompted by an increase in COVID-19 cases, and comes after multiple setbacks that included the coronavirus' more transmissible Omicron variant. Until this latest hurdle, Apple had wanted in-person work at least once per week in April and twice per week as of May 2nd.

The company may not have had much choice regardless of the exact infection levels. Thousands of Apple workers have pushed back against the return-to-office plans as part of an "Apple Together" movement. In early May, the alliance published an open letter asking management for more flexibility in remote work. The company's director for machine learning, Ian Goodfellow, even quit over the return-to-office policy. Apple risked further stoking tensions, and potentially losing more talent, if it continued with its earlier plans.

You might not have to worry that Disney+ will bombard you with marketing when the ad-supported tier arrives later this year. Disney has confirmed to TechCrunch that it will limit the volume of ads to an average of four minutes per hour with this cheaper plan, or far less than the 7.4 minutes you endure with Hulu. Content aimed at preschoolers won't include any ads, and Disney will "never" target ads at individual kids.

It's still not clear how much the ad-backed tier will cost. However, Disney mentioned during its latest earnings call that it would likely hike the price of the ad-free version (currently $8 per month) once the more affordable plan arrives.

The restraint wouldn't be surprising. Disney+ is mostly built around family-friendly content, and a heavy ad load could be seen as exploiting the high ratio of child viewers. It just has to look to YouTube as an example. Google's video service drew flak from politicians and other critics for allowing targeted ads meant for kids, not to mention exploitative videos. YouTube responded by restricting ad targeting and demonetizing "low-quality" videos that are overly commercial or promote bad behavior. Limited ads could both prevent a regulatory crackdown and reassure companies jittery about where their ads appear.

As it stands, Disney can't afford to risk alienating customers. While the company said during its call that its growth strategy is still on track, its direct-to-consumer division (which includes streaming) saw losses deepen to $887 million last quarter as licensing and other costs hit hard. The more people sign up for the ad-supported tier, the sooner Disney+ can swing to a profit.

Amazon isn't the only one hoping you'll be willing to use biometrics to pay at the store. Mastercard has unveiled a Biometric Checkout Program that aims to set standards for paying with scans or gestures. The company hopes to make the purchase as simple as smiling for a camera or waving your hand in front of a reader — you wouldn't risk holding up the queue by reaching for your card, phone or watch.

The initiative would have you enroll either at the store or through an app. The potential standard is meant to accommodate shops of all sizes, and Mastercard is teaming with Fujitsu, NEC, Payface and other companies to establish baseline requirements for performance, privacy and security.

A pilot version is launching this week in Brazil, with Payface providing technology in five St Marche supermarkets across São Paulo. Customers will just have to smile to pay for their groceries. Tests are also planned for Asia and the Middle East, although Mastercard didn't share more details.

Biometric checkouts may be appreciated if you've ever fumbled for your wallet at the cash. As with other implementations, though, it's not clear if Mastercard will satisfy privacy concerns. Regardless of promises to protect your data, you're still trusting companies with photos and other sensitive body info. Many people aren't comfortable with that, and the Red Rocks Amphitheater even dropped Amazon palm scanning after a backlash from artists and activists worried about hacking and government surveillance. If Mastercard and its allies are going to establish a standard, they'll need to reassure shoppers that spies and fraudsters won't abuse body scans.