Facebook has announced that it's "pausing" its Instagram Kids project in order to "work with parents, experts and policymakers to demonstrate the value and need for this product." The announcement follows criticism from 44 state attorneys general who asked Facebook to abandon the project, and a request from Democratic lawmakers for more detail about the project.
The Instagram team said that it was building the app to get around the problem of kids accessing Instagram without parental permission. "We started this project to address an important problem seen across our industry: kids are getting phones younger and younger, misrepresenting their age, and downloading apps that are meant for those 13 or older," wrote Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri.
At the same time, the company rejected the idea it was capitulating due to criticism. "Critics of 'Instagram Kids' will see this as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea. That’s not the case," Mosseri wrote. "The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today."
An important part of what we’ve been developing for 'Instagram Kids' is a way for parents to supervise their child’s use of Instagram. While we’re pausing our development of 'Instagram Kids,' we’ll continue our work to allow parents to oversee their children’s accounts by expanding these tools to teen accounts (aged 13 and over) on Instagram.
Some of the issues raised about the project revolve around Facebook's problems with privacy and particularly child safety. "Not only is social media an influential tool that can be detrimental to children who are not of appropriate age, but this plan could place children directly in the paths of predators," New York state attorney general Letitia James said when the project first came to light.
Most recently, the WSJ published an article claiming that Facebook has knowingly ignored its own research showing that Instagram is toxic to the mental health of younger people. Yesterday, the social network refuted that article as well, saying its research said that young people had "both positive and negative experiences with social media."
Facebook pointed out that both YouTube and TikTok have versions of their apps for kids under 13. It also said that Instagram Kids would not be the same as Instagram today, and was never meant for younger children, but tweens between 10 and 12 years old. "It will require parental permission to join, it won’t have ads, and it will have age-appropriate content and features," according to Mosseri. He also pointed out that Facebook has implemented several new measures on issues like body image, encouraging people to look at other topics or take a break if they're dwelling on negative content.
However, lawmakers don't like even the idea of an app, regardless of intent. "The alternative approach that Facebook appears poised to take—specifically, pushing kids to sign up for a new platform that may itself pose threats to young users’ privacy and wellbeing—involves serious challenges and may do more harm than good," said a group of Democratic lawmakers.
Beyond Meat brought its plant-based “chicken” tenders to restaurants this summer, and soon you'll be able to enjoy them at home when Beyond starts selling them through retailers. You'll find the $5 tenders at Walmart and other major grocery chains starting in October, though only in select markets. Beyond expects to expand availability later this year.
The company says its tenders have 50 percent less saturated fat than ones made with actual chicken, and have no GMOs, antibiotics, hormones or cholesterol. Beyond uses faba beans rather than a soy-based recipe in its attempt to replicate the taste and texture of a chicken tender. It says you'll be able to heat up the pre-cooked tenders in under 10 minutes.
Along with Walmart, Beyond's tenders will be available at some Jewel-Osco, Safeway NorCal, Harris Teeter, Giant Foods and ShopRite stores at the outset. Meanwhile, Beyond says it's increasing availability of its products at Walmart. It'll bring Breakfast Sausage Patties to more than 1,300 additional stores, while more locations will offer Beyond Meatballs and Beyond Beef Crumbles.
It's been a busy month in the plant-based meat alternative ecosystem. Beyond competitor Impossible started selling its "chicken" nuggets in restaurants a few weeks ago. Impossible also announced that restaurants will offer its version of ground pork in their dishes this fall.
The original Uno Synth was IK Multimedia’s surprise entry into the world of budget-minded hardware instruments. It wasn’t just a surprise that the company, best known for its iPhone-friendly MIDI controllers and plug-ins, decided to make a synthesizer, but that it also went full analog — an area where it didn’t have much pedigree. The results were mixed, but the general consensus was that the Uno’s core sound was impressive. Now IK is trying to move up a weight class with the Uno Synth Pro — a three-voice paraphonic synth with its crosshairs squarely aimed at the likes of the Korg Minilogue.
Of course, as with most musical instruments, there is no apples-to-apples comparison. So whether you’re better off spending your synth dollar on an Uno Pro or on something else will depend on your priorities.
The Uno Synth Pro comes in two different flavors: the standard Pro with a 37-key Fatar keybed and a partially metal chassis; and a smaller Desktop model with a set of touch keys and an all-plastic body. The Pro version costs $650, while the Desktop is just $400. I tested the Desktop model, so I can’t tell you much about the feel of the more expensive one, but if you already own a decent MIDI controller and don’t plan on gigging with the Uno Synth, save yourself the cash; they’re otherwise exactly the same instrument.
Under the hood are three oscillators with continuous wave shaping from triangle to saw to square (with pulse width modulation). There are options for hard sync, ring modulation and FM, plus two envelopes, two LFOs, two filters, analog overdrive and a selection of 12 digital effects. In short, there are plenty of options for sound design, especially when you consider the 16-slot modulation matrix.
Physically, the Uno Synth Pro Desktop is a bit of a mixed bag. The overall construction is plastic, and certainly feels it, but it’s solid enough. The knobs offer a good amount of resistance and the buttons are decent. The same is true of the screen: It’s small but gives you all the info you need. The gray, black and red color scheme can make quickly spotting the controls you’re looking for a bit difficult, especially the secondary and shift functions. (On a dark stage they’d be impossible to find.)
The four knobs at the top are used to change almost all the parameters by navigating a grid beneath it. I’ll admit that the interface isn’t my favorite. But in order to keep costs down while preserving as much flexibility as possible IK Multimedia went with a light-up grid instead of a knob per-function design. It’s a decision I could quibble with, but one that I can accept. Also, it’s worth noting that if you want to get real specific with a parameter it’s better to use the endless encoder to the right of the screen after selecting your target with the four pots to the left.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget Terrecn
The biggest problem, however, is with the touch keys and strips. Now, to be clear, this criticism does not apply to the full-sized version with a proper keybed, only the desktop model. But, to be blunt: The capacitive keys and touch strips are not good. They can feel unresponsive. Occasionally, the Uno Synth would straight up fail to detect my touches. And putting the synth in three-voice paraphonic mode seemed to make things worse. The same is true of the pitch and mod strips; sometimes they’d fail to register my touch or react slowly to it. The mod strip in particular is easy to trip up if you move your finger too fast and it has a tendency to jump between values rather than smoothly glide between them. If you plan to actually play your Uno Synth Pro (rather than use an external sequencer or controller) I highly recommend you spring for the full-sized version with the keybed and pitch and mod wheels.
The Uno Synth Pro does have a pretty solid arpeggiator and sequencer, though, so there’s a chance you can get by without having to ever touch the “keys” on the desktop version. There is also a scale mode in the settings that disables the black keys and maps the white ones to the scale of your choice. Which, at the very least, makes it less likely that you’ll sound out of key if your finger lands three millimeters to the right of where you intended.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
And look, I get that touch keys are hard to do right. They were bad on the original Uno Synth. They’re bad on Modal’s Skulpt and Craft synths. The Volca’s are slightly better, but still quite cramped. Honestly, the only synth I can think of where the touch keys aren’t a liability is the MicroFreak. (And there are probably people who would disagree with me even on that.)
Many of the frustrations I have with the interface and physical controls are immediately forgotten once the Uno Synth Pro starts making noise, though. In short, it sounds glorious. Especially with all three of its oscillators stacked in mono mode. While the Pro is a three-voice paraphonic instrument, I think it’s at its best when treated as an extremely beefy mono synth. The oscillators have a lot of body and grit to them. The triangle is glassy but dusty and the saw wave just plain rips. Add a bit more dirt from the analog drive circuit and you’ve got a truly gnarly sounding machine for leads and basses.
The oscillators can also be hard synced, there’s pulse width modulation (though no dedicated knob for it), ring modulation and FM for more metallic sounds. The FM function, though, is slightly hidden in the menus, which is a shame. It’s a valuable sound design tool that’s just not as accessible as it should be thanks to some questionable interface decisions.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The dual analog filters are also lovely. The multimode two-pole filter from the original Uno Synth is here and it’s just as juicy as ever. It can be a bit aggressive, but that’s part of its charm and it really hits the spot if you’re into acid basslines. Then there’s a switchable SSI-based lowpass filter with two and four-pole modes. It’s a little subtler than the multimode option, but with the resonance cranked it will self-oscillate and scream.
The two filters on their own are solid enough. But special things happen when you combine the two. They really allow you to start pulling out unique timbres. You can run them in series to create effectively notch or bandpass filters, or in parallel using each to pull out slightly different tones and then combining them into something new. There’s even an audio-in jack on the back, so you can route any instrument you want through the Uno Pro’s filters and effects. It’s just a shame that it’s an ⅛-inch jack instead of a ¼-inch.
Speaking of the built-in effects, they’re pretty good. The reverbs are lush, the delays effective (if nothing special) and the modulation effects add some body. Not all of them are a home run and the controls are limited, but they do add a lot to the already impressive sound crafting tools at your disposal. The phaser and flanger are forgettable, but the Chorus is pretty solid, especially on the “string” algorithm. The reverse reverb, when combined with one of the delays, can even make the Uno Synth Pro a viable pad machine. Which is pretty impressive because, in paraphonic mode you only have a single amp envelope and you only get one oscillator per note, which can sound a bit thin.
I will say, though, that putting the synth in paraphonic mode and then dialing in a different sound for each voice is super fun and adds an interesting dimension to pad and key sounds. Because there’s a single amp envelope it’s hard to get anything really jittery and glitchy that way, but it does help beef up pads.
The final ingredient in the sound design here is the modulation matrix. This is where you can use the two envelopes or the two LFOs, or even the tuning of the oscillators to control everything from delay amount, to filter cut off, to wave shape, to the rate of an LFO. There are 16 modulation slots that you can fill to get subtle tone changes to bonkers EDM sound effects, with a total of 30 modulation sources and 35 destinations to mix and match.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The matrix does require some menu diving, but it’s pretty straightforward and incredibly powerful. Without it the Uno Synth Pro is a solid but unexciting instrument. But once you start delving into the modulation matrix it really starts to standout from the crowd.
Again, though, it does require menu diving to make the most of it. And this is really the biggest knock against the Uno Pro. I’m just not that interested in navigating sub-menus on a tiny screen on my hardware instruments. It makes me less likely to experiment and push the limits of a device.
IK Multimedia has apparently heard this complaint loud and clear and has built an editor app for macOS and Windows. This makes managing presets and programming the modulation matrix much easier. It puts all your options front and center and, other than switching tabs from the sound engine, to the matrix to the effects, there’s really not much menu diving to speak of. The app is also supposed to work as a VST plugin with your DAW of choice, but I couldn’t get that to work. It functioned fine in standalone mode, but every time I fired up Ableton and loaded the Uno Synth Pro Editor plugin, it failed to detect the instrument.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Keeping the Uno Synth Pro tethered to a computer over USB isn’t ideal, though. Ground loop hum is a real issue for devices in this price range, and the Uno Synth Pro is no different. I was actually able to hear it quietly recalibrating itself over and over thanks to the interference. The balanced outputs on the instrument can help, but even then it’s still pretty noisy and you need to have the balanced audio cables on hand. Standard “instrument” cables aren’t going to cut it here.
The desktop model even relies on micro-USB for power which is surprising and slightly annoying. The company did that so that you could power it with a battery pack while out and about, but there’s already a micro-USB port for MIDI, so having a second just for power is unnecessary.
The last downside I have to mention is that, just like the Uno Drum, the Uno Synth Pro feels unpolished. It goes beyond the somewhat frustrating interface and the mediocre build quality, though. The firmware is a bit buggy. As I mentioned earlier, the keys and touchstrips are unresponsive and jumpy at times. But I’ve also seen weird behaviors like the screen flickering and the audio getting choppy when I select a new preset. After about 30 second it settles down, but still, it’s worth noting. I also saw a full-on crash and freeze once.
So the question becomes: Does the incredible sound of the Uno Synth Pro make up for its myriad annoyances? I’d say unequivocally yes if you’re looking for a feature-packed monosynth and don’t mind menu diving. There are plenty of other great sounding monophonic instruments out there for about the same price, like the Korg Monologue, but they lack the depth and feature set of the Uno Pro. Then there are high-end monos like the Moog Sub 37 that cost more than twice as much as the Uno Pro at $1,800.
The equation gets more complicated if you’re planning to make use of the Uno Pro in paraphonic mode for pads. I might consider spending your money elsewhere at that point. The original Minilogue still offers an incredible analog bang-for-your-buck and true polyphony. Then there’s the Minilogue XD, which is the same price as the full size Uno Synth Pro ($650), also has excellent effects, a combination of analog and digital oscillators, plus access to sound engines and effects developed by third parties for the ‘logue SDK.
And if you don’t demand analog, there’s the Arturia MicroFreak which offers as much depth on the sound design front as the Uno Pro, but for only $350 and its touch keys don’t make me want to rip my hair out.
My frustrations with the Uno Synth Pro’s interface aside, it’s hard not to be impressed with its wealth of sound design tools. And IK Multimedia didn’t cut any corners when it came to the quality of the oscillators and the filters. I will admit to being skeptical of the Uno Pro, but once I started exploring it I was a convert.
Is this a record? No sooner has the iPhone 13 hit store shelves than the rumor mill is already up and churning about the next one. Rumors from the weekend suggest the iPhone 14 will be a “complete redesign,” but the details are thin gruel at this point. Hold not these rumors close to your chest in hope, my friends, lest they disappear into a puff of whimsy.
This complete redesign will reportedly see the 14 look a lot more like the iPhone 4, with a band running around the outside of the device. That makes sense given how beloved the 4’s design was, and how those square edges have recently returned to Apple’s design language. The hints also suggest that, with a marginally thicker body, the camera lenses will be flush with the back.
Another rumor says the 14 may ditch the notch in favor of a hole-punch front camera, or maybe only for the Pro models. Plus, there are the usual rumor hits, including the launch of in-display TouchID and the end of the iPhone Mini. Just remember, we’re a year away from any of this being confirmed, so let’s focus instead on all the delights of the 13 we have yet to discover.
Astronomers using the Hubble telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found six “dead” galaxies. These are galaxies that have run out of the cold hydrogen necessary for star formation, despite being formed during the stellar equivalent of a baby boom. The discovery of these galaxies is testament both to the enduring power of the Hubble and the ingenuity of the astronomers to pull these images from the heavens. But the question of what happened to those galaxies is one that will dog scientists from now until we’ve developed some pretty impressive faster-than-light travel.
If your brand new iPad Mini is operating a little weird, don’t worry, you are not the only person in this particular predicament. There are multiple reports of users talking about jelly scrolling, where one side of the screen moves at a different rate to the other. Apple hasn’t responded yet to the claims, but it’s probably already scrambling to work out the cause as we speak. At the same time, Apple has reportedly revealed that TV+ has fewer than 20 million subscribers in the US and Canada. The reason for the potentially embarrassing admission? The smaller size apparently means it can pay its film and TV crews lower rates compared to Netflix.
To celebrate National Comic Book Day, NASA has published a graphic novel, First Woman, to tell the story of the first woman to walk on the moon. The (currently fictional) tale is designed to spark the public’s interest in the Artemis missions and encourage more people to sign up as astronauts. Download the app for Android or iOS, and you can also explore the Orion spacecraft and tour the lunar surface in AR.
It wants to borrow the structure of a brain to build a brain-like chip.
Researchers at Harvard and engineers at Samsung believe they can create better artificial intelligences if the chips used to make them mirror the structures of our own brains. The teams are proposing a method to copy the way our neurons are wired on to a 3D neuromorphic chip. Don’t worry if that sounds like a lot because it’s not likely to happen in the real world for a while at the very least. The human brain has more than 100 billion neurons and a thousand times more synapses, so it’s not as if anyone could just build one of these in their garage.
With features like WiFi support, Bluetooth, HomeKit and a closed-door sensor, August's 3rd-gen Smart Lock Pro is feature-rich but quite expensive at $230. Fortunately, if you've been coveting that model, you can now pick one up today only for much less — just $99 at Amazon (57 percent off) as its deal of the day.
August has several Smart Lock versions, with the basic model lacking features like Apple HomeKit and Z-Wave Plus compatibility, along with several features (WiFi, Alexa and Google Assistant support and remote access) requiring the $80 August Connect WiFi bridge. That's all included with Smart Lock Pro since it comes with the Connect Hub. At 86mm compared to 72mm, it's larger than the basic version and requires four AA batteries, rather than two CR123 cells in the lower-end model.
Other features include remote/guest access, August app support, auto-lock and unlock, DoorSense to confirm your door is properly closed and arguably a more attractive design. It also fits over your current lock and dispenses with the thumb turn, as you just turn the outside of the lock to open your door.
If the size and configuration isn't an issue, then the Smart Lock Pro is clearly the one you want, so the $99 price tag makes it essentially a no brainer. At that price, it's cheaper than the basic model that's currently priced at around $130, or $154 with Connect. It's also a lot less than August's latest model, the 4th-generation Smart Lock WiFi (which doesn't require the Connect Hub), currently selling for $230.
Researchers from UC San Diego, supported by LG Energy, have made a promising discovery that involves two popular types of battery tech. They created a solid-state battery with an all-silicon anode that could potentially deliver long life, high energy density and fast charging — potentially making EVs cheaper and more practical.
Silicon is a highly desirable anode material as it has over ten times the energy density of current graphite anodes. The problem is that silicon anodes tend to expand and degrade quickly as a battery charges and discharges, particularly with the liquid electrolytes currently used in lithium-ion cells. That issue is mainly what has kept them out of commercial batteries.
Meanwhile, the challenge with solid-state batteries (with solid instead of liquid electrolytes) is that they use metallic lithium anodes that must be kept at elevated temperatures (140 degrees F) during charging. That makes them less practical in cold weather, requiring heaters that consume valuable energy.
The solution to both these problems is a special type of silicon anode in a solid-state battery, according to the US San Diego team. They eliminated the carbon and binders typically used in silicon anodes and replaced the liquid electrolyte with a sulfide-based solid electrolyte.
With those changes, they demonstrated that the all-silicon anodes were much more stable in the solid electrolyte, retaining 80 percent capacity after 500 charge and discharge cycles done at room temperature. It also allowed for faster charging rates than previous silicon anode batteries, the team said.
The team has already licensed the tech to a company called Unigrid battery, and LG Energy Storage plans to expand the research. The work is particularly promising for grid storage, according to lead author Darren H.S. Tan. However, it's still in the experimental stages and "there is more work to do," the team acknowledged. And of course, a lot of batteries that work great in labs have failed to do so in the real world. The paper was published in the Science journal and also appeared earlier on Arxiv.
NBC Universal has warned YouTube TV subscribers that 14 of its channels may be removed if the two parties can't resolve a dispute, 9to5Google has reported. YouTube has acknowledged the situation on its official blog, saying that it will drop its monthly price by $10 if the situation isn't resolved and the content goes offline. If you're a YouTube TV subscriber, you stand to lose NBC, USA Network, Golf Channel, Bravo, CNBC, Telemundo and eight other channels.
According to YouTube, the dispute revolves around how much money its paying NBC Universal (NBCU) for its content. "For the duration of our agreement, YouTube TV seeks the same rates that services of a similar size get from NBCU so we can continue offering YouTube TV to members at a competitive and fair price," the Google-owned service said. NBC said in a statement that it's seeking "fair rates" from Google, adding that YouTube TV is "just days away from letting their contract expire."
NBC Universal is trying to put some pressure on YouTube TV, asking users to tweet at or chat with YouTube TV, or even switch providers. However, YouTube is saying that it will only renew "if NBCU offers us equitable terms" and said it would drop monthly prices by $10 from $64.99 to $54.99 while the channels are off the platform. It even encouraged users to sign up for NBC's Peacock streaming service for $4.99 per month in order to retain NBCU content.
You'd think large galaxies in the early universe would have had plenty of 'fuel' left for new stars, but a recent discovery suggests that wasn't always the case. Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found six early galaxies (about 3 billion years after the Big Bang) that were unusually "dead" — that is, they'd run out of the cold hydrogen necessary for star formation. This was the peak period for star births, according to lead researcher Kate Whitaker, so the disappearance of that hydrogen is a mystery.
The team found the galaxies thanks to strong gravitational lensing, using galaxy clusters to bend and magnify light from the early universe. Hubble identified where stars had formed in the past, while ALMA detected cold dust (a stand-in for the hydrogen) to show where stars would have formed if the necessary ingredients had been present.
The galaxies are believed to have expanded since, but not through star creation. Rather, they grew through mergers with other small galaxies and gas. Any formation after that would have been limited at most.
The findings are a testament to the combined power of Hubble and ALMA, not to mention Hubble's capabilities decades after its launch. At the same time, it underscores the limitations of both the technology and human understanding by raising a number of questions. Whitaker noted that scientists don't know why the galaxies died so quickly, or what happened to cut off the fuel. Was the gas heated, expelled or just rapidly consumed? It might take a while to provide answers, if answers are even possible.
Some new iPad mini customers aren't enjoying the tiny tablet's new screen as much as they'd like. 9to5Macreports that users (includingThe Verge's Dieter Bohn) have noticed a "jelly scrolling" effect where one side of the screen scrolls at a different rate than the other, producing a wobble occasionally noticeable in portrait view. The effect is harder to spot if you tilt the iPad to a landscape orientation, but that's not much consolation if you like to read websites and social feeds
We've asked Apple if it can comment on the jelly effect. It's unclear if the quirk is linked to hardware (such as the screen itself or a display controller) or can be addressed through software. We'll let you know if we have a chance to replicate the issue.
This won't necessarily hurt functionality, especially if you tend to use the iPad mini in landscape mode or view content that doesn't produce the effect. It's also uncertain just how widespread the issue really is. With that said, you probably won't be thrilled if you notice this wiggle on Apple's small-but-premium slate.
Samsung thinks it has a better way to develop brain-like chips: borrow existing brain structures. The tech firm has proposed a method that would "copy and paste" a brain's neuron wiring map to 3D neuromorphic chips. The approach would rely on a nanoelectrode array that enters a large volumes of neurons to record both where the neurons connect and the strength of those connections. You could copy that data and 'paste' it to a 3D network of solid-state memory, whether it's off-the-shelf flash storage or cutting-edge memory like resistive RAM.
Each memory unit would have a conductance that reflects the strength of each neuron connection in the map. The result would be an effective return to "reverse engineering the brain" like scientists originally wanted, Samsung said.
The move could serve as a 'shortcut' to artificial intelligence systems that behave like real brains, including the flexibility to learn new concepts and adapt to changing conditions. You might even see fully autonomous machines with true cognition, according to the researchers.
There's a glaring problem with complexity, however. As a human brain has roughly 100 billion neurons with a thousand times more synaptic links, an ideal neuromorphic chip would need about 100 trillion memory units. That's clearly a difficult challenge for any company, and that doesn't include the code needed to make this virtual brain work. Samsung may have opened a door to human-like AI, but it could take a long time before anyone reaches that goal.
