Thu. Aug 6th, 2020

Grace

Attorneys general from twenty states call on Facebook to do more to fight discrimination, disinformation and harrassment – TechCrunch

By Grace 18 hours ago

In an open letter to Facebook’s leadership posted earlier today, the attorneys general from twenty states called on the company to do more to fight intimidation, discrimination, disinformation, harassment and hate speech on the platform.

“Although Facebook has made some progress in counteracting the use of its platform to dehumanize and demean, that is just the beginning of what is necessary,” the attorneys general wrote. “Private parties, organized groups, and public officials continue to use Facebook to spread misinformation and project messages of hate against different groups of Americans. In many cases, these messages lead to intimidation and harassment of particular individuals online.”

Roughly 40 percent of Americans have experienced online harassment, according to study by the Anti-Defamation League and around 70 percent of those reporting harassment said it came on Facebook or its associated platforms, according to the report.

So the attorneys general asked Facebook to take more

… Read more

Samsung Unpacked: The best new products for business users

By Grace 1 day ago

The Galaxy Note 20 makes it easy to move from one device to another and the Galaxy Live Buds block more background noise.

Samsung executives and engineers showed off the latest phones, tablets, and earbuds at Galaxy Unpacked 2020 on Aug. 5. The virtual event streamed from Korea reflected the mixing of work life and home life many people are navigating during the coronavirus. With faster phones and bigger tablet screens, the new products can help people work hard and play hard, according to Samsung.

The company saved the Z Fold 2 for the second-to-last slot during the live event. Victor Delgado, Samsung’s director of strategic alliances for global mobile B2B, showed off the device along with some unboxing help from Korean super group BTS. His brief presentation covered some of the concerns around the first version of the foldable phone, namely the durability of the hinge, the gap between

… Read more

Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+: With a redesigned keyboard, Samsung focuses on functionality

By Grace 1 day ago

At Samsung Unpacked 2020, the company unveiled numerous products including the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+. These latest tablets boast a completely reimagined keyboard.

Image: Samsung

On Wednesday, Samsung held its annual Unpacked virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event typically serves as the unveiling of a vast set of new product offerings and this year’s was no different. At Unpacked 2020, presenters revealed everything from the new Note 20, upgraded features for the Galaxy Watch 3, and even a sneak preview of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, although more product details about this particular product are to be released in the coming weeks. Samsung also announced the latest in its tablet series—the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+. These two products include a host of new features including an entirely revamped keyboard.

SEE: Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+: 5 essential features for business users (TechRepublic)

A new keyboard

… Read more

Hollywood’s Triller sets its own rhythm even as it gains from TikTok troubles – TechCrunch

By Grace 2 days ago

Triller, the short video app backed by a Hollywood mogul and music celebrities, is rapidly ballooning in both user size and valuation. It’s now seeking a new funding round of $250 million that will push its valuation to over $1 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

That’s a leap from its $130 million valuation reported last October. Triller’s founder and CEO Mike Lu declined to comment, although another executive confirmed the funding with Dot.la.

The app has emerged as what many see as a TikTok replacement, but it has been around since 2015, two years before TikTok’s debut, and has its own “identity and ecosystem,” the founder insisted.

According to Lu, Triller was already recording “significant growth” even before the Trump administration began mulling a ban or a forced sale of TikTok, although he also admitted the app is getting a boost from the TikTok backlash.

… Read more

Headless CMS might be key to liberating your front-end development

By Grace 2 days ago

A cofounder of the Strapi open source project–which has 450 external contributors and users that include IBM, NASA, Walmart–reveals how the headless CMS is impacting front-end software development.

Image: scyther5, Getty Images/iStockphoto

As important as it is to modernize back-end infrastructure, far more developers will engage with front-end development. As Kelsey Hightower rightly reasons, though, “There’s a ton of effort attempting to ‘modernize’ applications at the infrastructure layer, but without equal investment at the application layer, think frameworks and application servers, we’re only solving half the problem.” To enable that front-end development, key innovations have been helpful, among them the rise of the headless content management system (CMS), which decouples front-end development from the back-end CMS. 

In a world where content is as likely to show up in a smartphone app or IoT device as a web page, and where developers have been spoiled by rich front-end frameworks like

… Read more

The tablet PC market surges 26% worldwide amid the pandemic

By Grace 2 days ago

It’s an excellent time to invest in a versatile tablet, as vendors ramp up production to meet demand and retailers boost sales by offering device and data incentives.

Image: bernardbodo/iStock

In recent years, the popularity of tablet PCs has waned, but in the second quarter, worldwide tablet shipments hit 37.5 million units, up 26% from the same quarter last year, according to Canalys. 

With the coronavirus-imposed work-from-home (WFH) culture, and 90% of the world’s 694 million students shifting to virtual learning earlier this year, it makes sense that tablet vendors and carriers are experiencing a kind of renaissance. Canalys analysts released a report outlining the increasing world demand for tablets.

Consumers and businesses need and want affordable access to basic computing power. They’re also looking for larger (than mobile) screens to facilitate the new normal’s WFH policies. Vendors are ramping up production and retailers hope to further boost sales with

… Read more