Tech News Weekly (Video)

• (02:13) Matt Binder from Mashable breaks apart YouTube's new Terms of Service changes to try to assess what is "Commercially Viable."
• (14:54) After a Federal Court ruled suspicionless phone and laptop search unconstitutional, Sophia Cope from the EFF says the case may make its way to the Supreme Court.
• (29:01) Rene Ritchie from iMore has the brand new MacBook Pro 16" laptop and says that all the problems with the old keyboard design are in the past.
• (48:46) Motorola held an event where it revealed the new Moto RAZR phone, a pricey foldable that appeals to retro-design fans.
• (01:00:10) Apple released its new Health Research app, promised earlier this year to enable iOS users to donate their time and health data to aid in powerful research.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Matt Binder, Sophia Cope, and Rene Ritchie

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (02:09) Kashmir Hill of The New York Times stops by to tell you how to get access to your secret consumer score. Turns out companies are collecting, tabulating, and scoring your online activity to fight fraud, monitor product returns, and track wealth. Hill details the why and the how of these data gatherers.
• (29:15) Android Central's Daniel Bader spent some time with Amazon's new premium smart speaker, the Echo Studio. He shares his thoughts on the device and the target market and explains why one of the Studio's new features should be turned off by default.
• (56:56) Mikah's story of the week: In an exclusive piece, OneZero's Dave Gershgorn details the U.S. military's facial recognition system.

Check out these TWiT episodes:

• Microsoft Ignite Vision Keynote: http://bit.ly/2qAF75i
• Rosemary Orchard on iOS Today: http://bit.ly/33C7Q8R
• John Hodgman on Triangulation: http://bit.ly/2rgjdom

Host: Mikah Sargent

Guests: Kashmir Hill and Daniel Bader

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (02:03) With Facebook and Twitter approaching political ads from different perspectives, Seth Rosenblatt from The Parallax talks about how Facebook is resisting the urge to retreat from "free expression."
• (16:04) Heather Kelly from the Washington Post discusses how apps and services are intermingling with school administration resulting in data tracking of students.
• (32:52) The Airpods Pro are out, and Rene Ritchie from iMore shares his thoughts on whether they deserve the "Pro" moniker and who they are for.
• (45:30) Netflix is about to bring variable speed playback to its mobile app.
• (52:30) It's difficult to trace the source of AmazonBasic items like batteries, but it's important to know.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Seth Rosenblatt, Heather Kelly, and Rene Ritchie

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (02:09) Douglas MacMillan of The Washington Post joins us to explain how and why universities are tracking the activity of prospective students.
• (18:22) Remember the Pebble smartwatch? iFixit's Kevin Purdy reveals how Rebble.io is breathing new life into the e-ink device.
• (36:38) Jason and Mikah check out Google's new digital wellbeing apps. Can they keep us from using our phones?
• (44:22) Mikah gets nostalgic about old iOS games, celebrating the introduction of GameClub, a subscription-based service that gives users access to 70+ classic iOS games.
• (50:58) Alfred Ng from CNET explains why American lawmakers have set their sights on TikTok as a potential national security risk.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Douglas MacMillan, Kevin Purdy, and Alfred Ng

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:56) Lory Gil from iMore takes a look at the Google Pixel 4 from an iOS perspective to see what she likes and doesn't like in the new phone.
• (20:00) Reed Albergotti from the Washington Post details how kids are circumventing Screen Time control on their iOS devices.
• (35:01) The Internet Archive has added more than 2,000 MS-DOS titles to its online playable catalogue and its a win for historical preservation of video games.
• (40:37) Rick Osterloh, who leads Google's hardware division, thinks it might be prudent to warn house guests that you have a smart speaker in your home.
• (48:45) Sam Abuelsamid from the Wheelbearings podcast covers the downfall of Faraday Future, the failure of the Dyson EV, and what EV owners should do in case of a power outage.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Lory Gil, Reed Albergotti, and Sam Abuelsamid

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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This is a special Tech News Weekly as we're back in the studio after the forced power outages imposed by PG&E for select northern California residents.

Mikah Sargent and Ant Pruitt discuss the latest news from the China protest controversy, Blackberry innovation and ultra-wideband.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Ant Pruitt

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (02:15) Facebook really cares about your perception of its platform. ZDNet's Chris Matyszczyk explains.
• (15:55) Microsoft announces new hardware with its surface line of products as well as the rumored dual-screen devices. Mary-Jo Foley shares her thoughts on the new hardware and the new Windows "phone" running Android.
• (30:30) Yes, you can remove Google services from your day-to-day. Nithin Coca has proven so by going Google-free for one year.
• (42:31) Google contractors reportedly uses homeless people and others to train its facial recognition AI without their knowledge.
• (49:51) Taboola acquires Obrain to grow its market share in recommendation engines online.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Ant Pruitt

Guests: Nithin Coca, Chris Matyszczyk, and Mary Jo Foley

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (02:21) Stacey Higginbotham joins us to talk about Amazon and its boatload of new products, services, and improvements.
• (22:55) Jason gives us a little tour of the OnePlus 7T — you can catch the full review on TWiT.tv's Hands-On Tech. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech/episodes/53
• (28:48) ProPublica says U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is using online translators to vet refugees' social media posts.
• (35:58) Cade Metz talks about the article he wrote for The New York Times, which details a new AI bias art project called "ImageNetRoulette."
• (49:16) Ashley Carman of The Verge details the Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Match Group Inc., the company behind dating site Match.com. The site reportedly connected its users to fraudulent accounts to boost subscriptions.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Stacey Higginbotham, Cade Metz, and Ashley Carman

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:55) Britt Paris, co-author of "Deepfakes and Cheap Fakes," discusses the ways that fakes are being detected and how those systems might not be good enough as the technology gets better.
• (15:55) Employees at Microsoft are sharing their salary information on an anonymous spreadsheet, and Dave Gershgorn from OneZero was granted access to it.
• (32:14) With the launch of Apple Arcade, Ian Sherr from CNET got perspectives from developers to understand the value proposition of creating exclusives for the subscription service.
• (44:47) Descript is a startup working on creating tools for podcasters that will allow for editing audio like an email and replacing words with synthetically generated words in the voice of the speaker.
• (51:04) Mikah has a surprise for Jason and the world, and things will never be the same again.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Britt Paris, Dave Gershgorn, and Ian Sherr

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:43) Journalist and analyst John Koetsier explains how a mesh networking app, Bridgefy, is gaining popularity in Hong Kong, where protestors are using the app to stay in touch.
• (17:13) Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica shares his initial thoughts on HTC's new Vive Cosmos VR system.
• (35:50) We're joined by Dan Moren of Six Colors for an overview of Apple's iPhone event and a few more details about developments that weren't mentioned on stage.
• (47:42) Plus, we talk about the latest round of Pixel 4 leaks and the discovery of an exoplanet with water vapor in the atmosphere.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: John Koetsier, Sam Machkovech, and Dan Moren

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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