By now, you’re likely familiar with the horror stories featuring bad actors using Apple’s AirTags to track, monitor, and outright stalk individuals. But this issue isn’t unique to Apple’s tracking device. In fact, well before the company even released AirTags, if a person wanted to track a lost item, they’d likely go with Tile.
On Thursday, Tile announced the launch of its new anti-stalking feature that can be found within its mobile app. The feature, known as “Scan and Secure,” will allow anyone — even those who do not own a Tile tracking device — to scan for unknown and unwanted Tiles.
The free app is available on both iPhone and Android devices. Users will need the latest version of the app. Certain permissions, such as Bluetooth, Location Services, and Precise Location will need to be activated in order for the “Scan and Secure” feature to work.
According to TechCrunch, the feature doesn’t provide a way for a user to find the exact location of a Tile that’s within their immediate vicinity. Instead, a user will need to remove themselves from the area and travel some distance away from their original location in order for the feature to work. In addition, the feature will not work if you remain in your location or travel to a busy area like a crowded public space where other Tiles could interfere with the scan.
Tile says that for the most accurate results, a full scan can take up to 10 minutes. Tile recommends multiple scans as well to ensure the original scan doesn’t pick up the wrong device from a passerby.
The app will allow users to save their results when an unwanted device is found so they can provide the information to law enforcement if necessary.
When comparing Tile’s new “Scan and Secure” with the AirTag security updates that Apple released in February, Tile’s feature comes up short. Apple, for example, provides iPhone users with a proactive warning message when the device detects that an unknown AirTag has been following a user. Tile, on the other hand, requires that users take action and manually conduct a scan.
As an originator in the tracking space, it’s a little surprising that its taken this long for Tile to roll out such a feature, too. Apple first launched its AirTags in April 2021. Tile’s history goes back to 2012, with its first tracking devices rolling out shortly after.
But the move is still very much welcome. Hopefully, with the two biggest players in the space taking these safety issues seriously, nefarious uses will become less and less common.
SEE ALSO:
If you find an unwanted AirTag, here’s how to disable it
Heineken wants to have its metaverse beer and drink it, too.
The brewer is the latest company, and second beer manufacturer, to jump on the metaverse bandwagon with its Thursday release of Heineken Silver — a “virtual beer” that the company insists is, yes, as dumb as it sounds. For starters, Heineken is quick to let everyone know, you definitely can’t drink whatever this new thing is.
“Our virtual beer is made only from the freshest pixels: no malt, no hops, no yeast, no water, and also, no beer,” the company explains. “The result? An unusual & inaccessible premium lager with a tech and meta finish that no one can enjoy.”
In fact, you can’t do much of anything of substance at the company’s new digital brewery located in Decentraland, also unveiled Thursday, other than wander around and watch a boring executive talk. But you can, with the help of Heineken’s marketing department, snap and then share some screenshots with (wink wink, nudge nudge) the “cool and relevant hashtag: #awesomeheinekenmarketingstunt”
How do you do, fellow metaverse kids? Credit: Screenshot: Deventraland
Lest metaverse diehards miss Heineken’s knowing self-effacement, Bram Westenbrink, the global head of Heineken brand, is here to redirect their attention.
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“Our new virtual beer, Heineken Silver, is an ironic joke,” Westenbrink is quoted as saying in a Heineken press release. “It is a self-aware idea that pokes fun at us and many other brands that are jumping into the metaverse with products that are best enjoyed in the real world.”
The digital future’s so bright, Heineken’s metaverse DJs gotta wear beer-can shades. Credit: Screenshot: Decentraland
Maybe unlike real beer, consumption of the virtual Heineken Silver leads to improved judgement — at least when it comes to how seriously we should take buzzword-heavy Next Big Things like the metaverse.
That’s according to Google, which on Wednesday announced that its annual developer conference, Google I/O, is scheduled to take place on May 11 and 12, 2022.
“We’ll be back live from Shoreline Amphitheater for this year’s #GoogleIO,” wrote Google CEO Sundar Pichau. “Join us online May 11-12”
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Notably, this year’s Google I/O website suggests but doesn’t clearly confirm that 2022’s conference may have some in-person element along with an online stream.
“Join I/O live from Shoreline and online May 11-12, 2022,” notes the site.
We reached out to Google to determine whether or not attendees will be showing up in the flesh at Shoreline this year, and a company spokesperson clarified that developers and press should not plan on physically attending the event. Actual, real in-person attendance will primarily be restricted to Google employees and partners.
SEE ALSO:
Google trolled from the sky at I/O developer ‘festival’
Google I/O was straight up canceled in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the world, “out of concern for the health and safety of our developers, employees, and local communities—and in line with ‘shelter in place’ requirements by the local Bay Area government.”
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This year, apparently, will be different. Probably. Assuming, of course, no surprises get in the way.
UPDATE: Mar. 16, 2022, 3:43 p.m. PDT This story was updated to include confirmation from Google that in-person attendance at I/O will be restricted to Google employees and a limited set of partners.
In any other context, astronomers would call this isolated, sunlike star “boring” — as nondescript as its serial number name.
But NASA scientists plucked HD84406 from its obscurity 260 light-years away, giving it an important place in history: The U.S. space agency used it to confirm the optics work on the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, the preeminent conservatory in the sky.
With the announcement Wednesday was the release of a crystal clear photo of the star found in the constellation Ursa Major. It’s a little too faint to see with the naked eye on Earth, but through Webb, it’s a beacon of light, flaming red with large spikes.
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The telescope has come a long way since its first snapshot in February, showing 18 separate golden blurry blobs representing a star. NASA promised further calibration of the instrument would refine its capability to make the star look like a star.
The new photo was a delivery on that promise. One could easily read the subtext of a midweek news conference:
See? We told you so.
“All the sleepless nights I’ve had and kind of the worries I’ve had, they’re all behind us now, ” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate.
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The telescope captures infrared light, which is normally invisible to human eyes, said Marshall Perrin, Webb’s deputy telescope scientist. Engineers toned the black-and-white data in a red filter to better show off the visual contrast of the star. The sharp pointy structures radiating from the center are the result of Webb’s hexagonal mirror segments and the arms that hold the secondary mirror. They affect the way the light travels, causing diffraction.
“You see that most intensely when you have a very bright star,” Perrin told Mashable during the briefing.
The Webb team finished the so-called “fine-phasing” stage of telescope alignment on March 11. NASA officials said every optical measurement they have checked and tested thus far is performing well or better than expected. No critical issues have come up that could taint future photography.
Webb, a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, will observe some of the oldest, faintest light in the universe. The powerful telescope will study a period less than 300 million years after the Big Bang, when many of the first stars and galaxies were born. Scientists also will use it to peer into the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets. Discoveries of water and methane, for example, could be signs of potential habitability or biological activity — main ingredients of life.
Astronomers anticipate the telescope will facilitate a golden age in our understanding of the cosmos, providing never-before-seen snapshots of space billions of light-years away for 10 to 20 years.
The James Webb Space Telescope can now take clear images of the night sky. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
The photo released Wednesday was meant as a proof of concept. The ones coming this June, in full-resolution with scientific data, will be meant to dazzle. NASA hasn’t disclosed what celestial targets will be among the first photos.
But this first sharp look at deep space has already made scientists giddy with excitement. Webb’s optics and Near-Infrared Camera are so sensitive that galaxies and other stars appear in the background of the HD84406 shot.
“There’s no way that Webb can look for 2,000 seconds at any point in the sky and not go incredibly deep.”
“You can’t help but see those thousands of galaxies behind it. They’re really gorgeous,” said Jane Rigby, a project scientist. “There’s no way that Webb can look for 2,000 seconds at any point in the sky and not go incredibly deep.”
NASA has more work to do to get the observatory in shape for performing all of its scientific functions. Over the next six weeks, the team will align other instruments on the observatory.
But they’re priming space lovers for fireworks.
“This is going to be the future from now on,” Rigby said. “Wherever we look, it’s a deep field.”
Instagram launched its latest attempt to quell the concerns of parents and guardians Wednesday: its brand new Family Center — a one-stop shop with teen safety tools, parental monitoring, and educational resources for those worried about teen safety on the app.
The Family Center connects all of Instagram’s online safety resources in one spot. The site includes an education hub, which provides Instagram-specific safety explanations; conversation guides for guardians to discuss digital safety and wellness; and external resources from partner organizations like The Trevor Project and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Most interestingly, the Family Center allows parents to closely monitor accounts using a single dashboard. The dashboard provides access to insights and usage on profiles that have provided you access — you can visit Instagram’s explanation of supervised profiles to learn more about these settings. Guardians can see how long supervised accounts are active on the app, will be able to set time limits, can monitor who follows and frequently interacts with the account holder, and get alerts from users when (and why) they report another account or post that appears in their feeds.
The new tools were originally announced in December, and are hosted by Instagram’s parent company, Meta. For now, teens have to approve supervision within the settings on their own account. Instagram will introduce a way for parents to set up supervision outside an account’s settings in the future. Supervision is automatically removed from an account when the owner turns 18.
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In a blog post about the newly added features, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri wrote that the announcement was “the first step in a longer-term journey to develop intuitive supervision tools, informed by experts, teens and parents.” The initiative was co-created by a safety advisory board, which includes representatives from online safety organizations around the world, as well as a collaborative group made up of teens, parents, and other youth safety advisors.
Mosseri said in a video posted to his Twitter account that Instagram’s Family Center would continue to grow and change as it’s used, and that the company receives feedback from parents and teens. “We know parents are busy, and there’s a lot to do in day-to-day life, so we want to make sure these tools are as easy to use as possible,” Mosseri said.
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The intent is to create collaborative, supportive relationships between parents and app users. “Encouraging informed parental engagement in their children’s digital presence is an important way to support young people’s wellness online,” wrote Dr. Michael Rich, director and founder at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Digital Wellness Lab, in a statement from Instagram. “Parents can support and monitor their children’s gradual increase in independence as they demonstrate responsible and safe use, with respect for others and for themselves.”
While that’s a noble goal, it’s also a limitation for the new features. They put a lot of power and responsibility in the hands of parents, who have to be prudent enough to have continuous, active conversations about digital safety with their kids. The tools are also inherently preventative instead of fixing the harm already caused by the app’s use. And what about teens and kids who don’t have any guardian supervision, but are still at high risk for abuse and psychological harm online?
Last year, Instagram and Facebook came under fire for a lack of action in protecting young users from abuse and inappropriate content, even after discovering that the app’s usage led to negative mental health outcomes for teens. Concerns grew alongside a similar reckoning with the ever-growing app TikTok, which continues to churn up concerns for user safety. In December 2021, Instagram representatives, including Mosseri, had to testify in Congress, speaking to the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security about teen safety and industry regulations.
There’s also a question of consent. Will these tools be as effective if teens don’t feel comfortable sharing their experiences on the app with their parents, or if parents take over as account monitors without the consent of their children? Where do you draw the line between fostering independence and trust, versus keeping teens away from danger on an app like Instagram?
Instagram hopes that the safety tools found in the Family Center, especially educational resources about creating healthy digital boundaries and habits, can start users on that path toward safer, healthier usage. The company’s future plans include allowing parents and guardians to apply the Family Center tools across all Meta accounts, the addition of even more safety monitoring tools, and a rollout of the same safety features to Quest VR in the coming months.
It’ll be quite the test of trust between the app and its parent company, worried guardians, and teen users themselves.
If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, Crisis Text Line provides free, confidential support 24/7. Text CRISIS to 741741 to be connected to a crisis counselor. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Here is a list of international resources.
On Wednesday, Netflix announced an upcoming test which is sure to cause drama amongst the account-sharing set. The streaming service said that, over the next several weeks, it will begin prompting some people who share accounts outside of their immediate household to pay extra to continue doing so.
“Members on our Standard and Premium plans will be able to add sub accounts for up to two people they don’t live with — each with their own profile, personalized recommendations, login and password — at a lower price,” read the announcement in part.
Notably, the sub-account test is for now limited to subscribers in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it will remain there. When pressed, Netflix would not provide specifics on any plans to expand the test beyond those three countries. Netflix would also not confirm how many users live in the countries subject to this test.
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“[Accounts] are being shared between households,” noted Netflix’s Wednesday announcement, “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”
According to the streaming giant, the additional sub accounts will be priced at 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru. Netflix also said it will test out a new profile transfer feature, which will allow users to move their entire profiles — think recommendations and viewing histories — to new paid Netflix accounts. (Picture breaking up with a romantic partner, and taking your piece of the Netflix account with you.)
The mostly unregulated practice of account sharing has, up until this point, practically defined Netflix and its streaming competitors. Any challenge to that is sure to put fear in the hearts of users — as it did March of 2021 when Netflix forced some users to verify they had ownership over an account.
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Importantly, Netflix’s Terms of Use clearly state that the “Netflix service and any content accessed through our service […] may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” In other words, Wednesday’s announcement merely represents Netflix enforcing its existing terms.
That may come as a surprise to some users, though. That’s because what, exactly, constitutes a household in the eyes of streaming services is often rather nebulous. Netflix confirmed that it defines a household as people living together at the same property — no ex-roommates, far-off siblings, or best friends need apply.
Like we said, get ready for some hard conversations.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Elon Musk’s satellite internet venture, but things are potentially looking up for Starlink.
Ookla, purveyor of the internet speed measurement tool Speedtest, released its latest satellite internet quarterly report on Wednesday, measuring the final three months of 2021. While median download speeds are still below fixed broadband, Starlink came closer than it ever has to replicating quality home internet with a median download speed of 104 megabits per second, or Mbps.
(Note: Ookla and Mashable are both owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)
The other two main satellite internet providers in the U.S., Viasat and HughesNet, came in at 21Mbps and 20Mbps, respectively. Starlink did see plenty of median speed variance in different locations around the U.S. Per Ookla’s report, south Florida got nearly 200Mbps while parts of Oregon got only about 65Mbps. The median speed for all fixed broadband providers was 131Mbps, so even the best satellite service has some catching up to do.
Still, for Starlink’s median speeds to exceed the FCC’s definition of broadband (25Mbps or higher) even at the low end is potentially encouraging for the future of satellite internet, whether it comes from Musk or not. Now it’s just a matter of stability as the service grows. Starlink’s median speeds actually decreased in the middle of last year as the service got more customers. There’s also the issue of price, with the fastest Starlink service tier costing $500 per month.
So…yeah. Perhaps Starlink works well, but that doesn’t mean it’s especially accessible just yet. But hey, if you’re in Miami and don’t trust your local broadband ISP, maybe hit up Starlink.
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If you had “Mike Myers made a spin-off to his 1993 comedy So I Married An Axe Murderer” on your 2022 bingo card, well, you have an oddly specific 2022 bingo card. But also, bingo!
Netflix just dropped a trailer for The Pentaverate, which, as Mashable’s own Alex Perry sharply observed via Slack, is a conceptual riff on a joke from the almost 30-year-old movie. Now I could explain the premise as the upcoming series’ trailer lays it out, but wouldn’t you rather hear it straight from Myers himself?
In addition to Myers, who plays multiple roles, the cast features Keegan-Michael Key, Debi Mazar, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Saunders, Lydia West, Richard McCabe, and Neil Mullarkey. The Pentaverate is coming to Netflix on May 5. And if you’ve never seen So I Married An Axe Murderer, that movie is still well worth watching. Lucky for you, it’s streaming now on Starz.
A whole new slate of emoji are here, and some of them are so random.
Today (March 15) 100 new emoji became available with Apple’s latest iOS 15.4 update, but that number is a little misleading considering a quarter of those are skin tone variations of the same standard handshake (finally). We have an assortment of new faces, gestures, and objects that are truly an eclectic mix of moods and vibes — from a biting lip that screams “u up?” at 3 a.m. to an empty jar that seems a little too ominous.
SEE ALSO:
Revealing the horniest new emoji in iOS 15.4
Here are some of the strangest new emoji and how you can incorporate them into your digital vernacular.
Troll
This guy belongs under a bridge. Credit: Screenshot: Apple
Unicode Consortium slayed with this one. This ugly little freak is joining the slowly growing ranks of the fantasy emoji squad, and I can already see him being used to signal a vibe shift into goblin mode. Haven’t left the house in days or showered in while? It’s time to send your bestie a deranged text and add the troll emoji as a self-aware nod to your current state of mind.
He can also be used in a “hey, do you want to answer my riddle?” way if that opportunity presents itself to you.
Lip bite
Lin-Manuel Miranda now has his own emoji. Credit: Screenshot: Screenshot
I see the lip bite emoji as being the perfect vehicle for channelling your inner Lin-Manuel Miranda and Debby Ryan. You might know Miranda from famous works like Encanto, Moana, and Broadway’s Hamilton, but his most significant contribution to society was this 2018 selfie in which he bites his lip. This selfie has become synonymous with suggestive lip biting for the extremely online, making an already risky facial expression all the more embarrassing.
Another meme you can evoke with the lip bite emoji is the clip of former Disney Channel star Debby Ryan tucking her hair back behind her ear and staring upward into the camera in a “who? me?” kinda way. While Ryan isn’t actually biting her lip, it has BLBE (big lip-biting energy).
If you’re not familiar with those memes you can also use the lip bite emoji to put your ironic fuckboy hat on. Use it to replace the winky face that might accompany messages like “haha and then what” or “without me.”
Disco ball
I want you to know I’m a mirrorball. Credit: Screenshot: Apple
I smell a hit emoji. While this emoji has some self-explanatory uses — like spicing up a party invite or adding a whimsical flair to an Instagram caption — it can also be used in a more emotional way: to express when you’re in your “‘mirrorball’ by Taylor Swift” feels. For those of you who are not of the Swiftie persuasion, “mirrorball” is an introspective track off her seminal quarantine album Folklore. You see, Blondie compares herself to a mirrorball (disco ball in Swift language) to describe her desire to entertain others, how delicate she is, and how she reflects the people around her. The emotional gravitas is palpable.
So next time you’re feeling like a mirrorball, use the disco ball emoji. (And this is one of the rare emoji that is actually cuter on web.)
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Finger heart
I finger-heart you! Credit: Screenshot: Apple
The Swifties aren’t the only compulsively online stans who benefit from the emoji update. Finger hearts — as demonstrated by touching your thumb and index, therefore creating the shape of an actual beating heart — have been a staple of Korean entertainment fandom for years, and now that love is easier to convey than ever before.
Slide
Yipee! Credit: Screenshot: Apple
This one is easy: Use it to add a playful tone when you’re sliding into someone’s DMs!
Pouring liquid
The liquid being poured out of this glass is left up to your interpretation. Credit: Screenshot: Apple
Don’t cry over spilt juice? Wine? Blood? This is one of those emoji that didn’t need to be released, but now that it’s in our arsenal we might as well use it. There’s an ominous tone to the entirely empty cup pouring out a suspiciously colored liquid, so you could use it to to convey how done you are with a situation or how drained you feel. It’s a modern emoji for the modern era!
Empty jar
An obvious emoji choice. Credit: Screenshot: Apple
Ah, finally an emoji you can use to invite your crush to go firefly catching! Pair it with the sparkle emoji for maximum romantic effect. Bonus points if you listen to “Fireflies” by Owl City while sending that text.
