The Different Ebook Formats Explained: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, IBA, and More

More people are reading ebooks than ever before. Their lower cost and more portable nature means that they now account for 30 percent of all book sales in the United States.

But it’s not all good news for consumers. Unlike MP3s, which you can throw onto any music player and expect them to work, ebooks are a maze of proprietary and open standard formats. To complicate matters further, not all e-readers support all formats.

In this article, we look at some of the most common formats, explain their pros and cons, and tell you which readers support them.

1. EPUB

EPUB is the most widely adopted ebook file format. Initially developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (which is now part of the World Wide Web Consortium), it superseded the old Open ebook format (OEB) in 2007.

Because EPUB is free to use, open standard, and vendor-independent, it has grown to become the most common ebook format. Although not often seen, it can even support color images, SVG graphics, interactive elements, and full videos.

In many ways, it’s the ebook equivalent of the trusty MP3—both in a good and bad way. Almost all mainstream e-readers and computer operating systems support the format, but publishers can also wrap it in any DRM system of their choosing (although you can remove the DRM on any ebook you own).

And the downside? Amazon Kindle devices cannot read it (except for the Kindle Fire tablet). If you have a book in the EPUB format that you want to read on your Kindle, you can convert ebooks into a different format using Calibre.

2. MOBI

Like EPUB, the MOBI format also grew out of the old OEB format. French company Mobipocket forked it in 2000 and it went on to form the basis of its Mobipocket Reader software.

Amazon bought the company in 2005 and allowed it to flourish for 11 years. In October 2016, Amazon finally shut down Mobipocket’s website and servers, but the MOBI format continues to live on.

There are a few key differences between EPUB and MOBI. Most pertinently, it is not open standard and, therefore, is not publicly available. It also cannot support sound or video.

Once again, its supported by all the major e-readers with one exception: the Barnes and Noble Nook.

Note: The MOBI format also uses the PRC extension.

3. AZW and AZW3

The AZW and AZW3 extensions are Amazon’s two proprietary ebook formats. AZW is the older of the two; it debuted alongside the first Kindle back in 2007. AZW3 arrived in 2011 with the release of the Kindle Fire reader.

Whenever you buy or download an ebook from Amazon, you will receive it on your device in one of the two formats. AZW3 is more advanced than AZW. It supports more styles, fonts, and layouts.

Behind the scenes, both formats are extremely similar to the MOBI format. Although it’s never been publicly confirmed, it’s widely assumed that the reason Amazon bought Mobipocket was so it could use the underlying technology as the basis for its AZW format. Unlike MOBI, the Amazon formats both support video and sound.

Because AZW is proprietary, it is not as widely supported on e-readers as EPUB and MOBI. Naturally, all of Amazon’s Kindle products can read the format, but other popular devices such as the Nook and Kobo e-readers cannot.

Android and iOS can both read AWZ, and it’s also readable on popular ebook management apps like Calibre and Alfa.

4. IBA

The other common proprietary ebook format which you’re likely to stumble across is IBA. It is the format used for books created in Apple’s iBooks Author app.

Technically, the format is very similar to EPUB. However, it relies on custom widget code in the Apple Books app to function and thus cannot be universally read on all e-readers.

Remember, this format is only used for books written in iBooks Author. If you buy regular best-selling ebooks from the iTunes store, they will be delivered in the EPUB format (though they will be DRM-restricted).

The iBook format supports video, sound, images, and interactive elements.

5. PDF

The last major ebook format in circulation is PDF. Because of the format’s widespread adoption around the web, PDFs have become a popular way of delivering ebooks.

Its big downside is the lack of native reflowing. Reflowing is the term used to describe when a file can adapt its presentation according to the size of the screen or the settings a user selected.

All the dedicated ebook formats offer reflowing based on the sequence of objects in the content-stream. The PDF format can circumnavigate the lack of regular reflowing by using tags to define the underlying structure of a document. However, tagged PDFs are still not well supported by ebook readers.

On the positive side, it’s only the second format on the list that’s open standard; it became ISO 32000 back in 2008.

Other Ebook Formats to Be Aware Of

There are a few less-common formats you might see from time-to-time…

6. LRS, LRF, and LRX

LRS, LRF, and LRX are the file extensions for the Broad Band ebook format. They were proprietary formats that Sony created for use on its own range of ebook readers.

LRS is now open standard, but LRF and LRX remain closed. Regardless, Sony has abandoned all three formats in favor of EPUB.

7. FB2

The XML-based FB2 started life in Russia. It is common among ebook collectors thanks to its ability to store metadata within the ebook file itself.

It also heavily used as a storage format due to the ease with which it can be converted into other formats.

8. DJVU

DJVU is popular in the scientific community. It boasts a compression that’s approximately 10 times better than PDF; it can store more than 100 black and white scans in less than a megabyte.

Note: You can reduce the size of a PDF with a few compression tricks.

9. LIT

LIT was Microsoft’s proprietary ebook format. When DRM-enabled, the books were only readable on the Microsoft Reader app.

In 2011, Microsoft discontinued the LIT format. Reader vanished earlier this year.

10. RFT

The Rich Text Format is compatible with every e-reader on the market. It has an advantage over TXT because of its ability to retain special characters and its support for reflowing and text formatting.

EPUB vs. MOBI vs. AZW: Which One Is Best?

In truth, the only formats you need to worry about are EPUB, MOBI, and AZW.

If you plan on building a sizeable ebook library on your computer that’s supported on most readers, stick with EPUB. If you want to create a library that’s predominately Kindle-specific, choose MOBI. It doesn’t have quite as many features as AZW but more devices can read it.

If you’d like to learn more about file types, check out our guide to image file types and our guide to video file types.

Read the full article: The Different Ebook Formats Explained: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, IBA, and More

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MoviePass borrowed $5M to end yesterday’s outage

More bad news for subscription movie ticket service MoviePass, which acknowledged yesterday that there was an unidentified issue preventing people from using their MoviePass credit cards to get tickets.

A regulatory filing from parent company Helios & Matheson offers more insight about what happened. The filing (first spotted by Business Insider) announces a “demand note” of $6.2 million, including $5 million in cash that the company borrowed. It goes on to explain:

The $5.0 million cash proceeds received from the Demand Note will be used by the Company to pay the Company’s merchant and fulfillment processors. If the Company is unable to make required payments to its merchant and fulfillment processors, the merchant and fulfillment processors may cease processing payments for MoviePass, Inc. (“MoviePass”), which would cause a MoviePass service interruption. Such a service interruption occurred on July 26, 2018.

In other words, it looks like MoviePass wasn’t able to pay one of its service providers, which led to the outage. In order to make those payments, it borrowed $5 million.

This doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in MoviePass’ finances. A Helios & Matheson filing from earlier this month suggested that the company was looking to raise up to $1.2 billion in equity and debt financing to fund MoviePass’ operations and growth.

Meanwhile, although the service is best-known for offering access to unlimited movie tickets for $9.95 per month, the specifics of the pricing model have been changing pretty frequently.

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3 Actionable Steps to Improving Your Online Privacy Right Now

You’re worried about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. You know you’re being tracked by advertisers each time you go online. And your operating system is recording your online activity and searches.

This isn’t privacy, it’s surveillance. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can improve your online privacy right now in just three steps.

You’re the Product and You’re for Sale

Considering the risks from viruses, keyloggers, and ransomware, dealing with online security is bad enough. Having online privacy issues on top of this is more than inconvenient. After all, what business is it of online services that you don’t subscribe to just what websites you use, where you go offline, and who you’re friends with?

Well, the problem is, you’ve given them permission to keep records of these things. By signing up for free accounts, these permissions are implied. These accounts might be free, but they come with a cost.

If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold.

— Andrew Lewis (@andlewis) September 13, 2010

It’s a phrase you might have heard before today. If not, then I suggest you repeat it a couple of times, as you consider all of the free accounts to online services that you own.

They’re not really free at all, are they?

The companies impeding your privacy with the greatest frequency are household names. By rejecting their tactics, you can help abandon them (or at least their privacy-breaching business model) to history.

It’s time to say “goodbye” to Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.

Step 1: Abandon Facebook

You’ve probably seen the adverts: Facebook is sorry. They didn’t mean to be cruel to you, and are working hard to make it up to you and make their service better…

Better at what?

Listen, we’re way beyond trusting Facebook. Sure, there may be reasons to stick with the service, but the best thing you can do is stop using Facebook.

After all, we were only just coming to terms with the Cambridge Analytica scandal (your Facebook data was used to influence political campaigns) and the fact that Facebook was spying on your instant messages

Quitting Facebook will improve your online privacy considerably. You’ll reduce your exposure to online ads, to scammers, and to cyber stalkers. But if you absolutely need it to stay in touch with people who for some reason can’t use email, then at least take the time to manage your Facebook privacy settings.

Step 2: Abandon Google

You may have used Google to find this article. Perhaps you have Gmail, or a Google Drive. There’s an over 50 percent chance that you’re using an Android device, which you’ve tied your Google account to.

Google is everywhere. Search, advertising, smartphones and computers, the Internet of Things. Its tentacles reach everywhere; Google knows everything about you. Over time, it can even form a history of you, a record of the things you’ve done.

It might even predict what you do next. Perhaps it already has. Along with Facebook, Google is the biggest privacy drain out there. Providing a unifying force of big business versus Joe Public, it is the facility by which we can be tracked (online and offline), and oils the wheels for every purchase we make, whether we need the item or not.

No wonder Google dropped its “Don’t be evil” motto.

You should be deeply concerned about Google’s knowledge. It’s worth taking the time to clear your Google account and regain your privacy. While you’re at it, grab your mobile and do something about Android ads.

You don’t even really need Google on your Android device. Android is based on AOSP, an open source mobile operating system. As such, you can remove Google from your phone. While you’re fixing your Google-related privacy issues, meanwhile, take the time to quit Gmail. It’s hard, but you have strong alternatives like privacy-minded ProtonMail, developed by CERN and MIT scientists with end-to-end encryption.

Step 3: Abandon Microsoft

We’re not taking sides here. The tech giant has been a part of our lives for years, and since the late 1990s it has successfully wormed its way into our homes, fulfilling its founder Bill Gates’ dream of a PC in every home.

Over the years, Microsoft has been at the center of a number of online security controversies. Often, these problems were down to poor security on the Windows operating system. While this is problem that has been largely left in the past, security issues in Windows have been supplanted by privacy issues.

Note: This isn’t true only of Windows 10. While older versions of Windows were less clear about what was collected, these days you’re at least given an idea of just how much data they collect.

Windows 10 is designed like a desktop version of Android. It records a vast volume of data about your activities; you have a unique tracking reference for advertisers. Windows 10 features pre-installed apps that you don’t need, as ever, but it also includes pop-ups for apps you might be interested in installing.

You can find out more about how Windows 10 is impacting your privacy by checking our Windows 10 privacy guide. When you’re done reading that, take the time to follow our guide to Windows 10 privacy settings—or better yet, switch to Linux and never look back.

It Won’t Be Easy, But Online Privacy Is Worth It

Binning these three companies, minimizing their effect on your life, probably won’t solve privacy issues. But it will deal with the overwhelming majority of them.

All you need to do is take the time to decouple from Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, and start enjoying your life without worrying about where the next privacy breach is coming from.

If you want to go further, first educate yourself with these online privacy resources.

Read the full article: 3 Actionable Steps to Improving Your Online Privacy Right Now

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Maisie Williams shows off Daisie, an app for artistic collaboration

Maisie Williams, who’s best-known for playing Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, announced earlier this year that she’s founding a startup called Daisie. With the app set to launch on August 1, Williams and her co-founder Dom Santry came by the TechCrunch New York office to discuss her plans for the company.

Daisie will offer a way for filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, writers and other creators to showcase their work and find collaborators. The startup has already picked an initial 100 creators to kick things off.

Williams and Santry also gave us a quick runthrough of the app. At first glance, it might look like other social media services, but there are no follower counts, as Williams (who has no shortage of followers) explained: “If you have follower counts it then becomes about a competition, like a popularity contest between who can get the most.”

In addition, she noted that social media followings are generally one-sided, whereas Daisie is all about enabling a “chains” of users who aren’t just viewing your profile, but can actually view your projects and contribute.

“A chain is where you reach out to someone who is in your area — or maybe even not,” she said. “So connecting with someone you’re inspired by, reaching out to them and saying, ‘Hey, I have this 30-second video of me singing the song, but I realized I’m actually a better lyricist than I am a songwriter, a musician. And I really love what you play, I wonder if you could make me a melody and we could sort of work together on this.'”

Ultimately, Williams is hoping that people’s Daisie profiles becomes an “online résumé or portfolio of work that they’re really proud of, that can be shown to the world.” And that, in turn, could help them find paying work, ideally on their own terms.

“We want to basically give the power back to the creator,” Williams said. “Instead of them having to market themselves to fit someone else’s idea of what their job would be, they can let their art speak for themselves.”

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Maisie Williams shows off Daisie, an app for artistic collaboration

Maisie Williams, who’s best-known for playing Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, announced earlier this year that she’s founding a startup called Daisie. With the app set to launch on August 1, Williams and her co-founder Dom Santry came by the TechCrunch New York office to discuss her plans for the company.

Daisie will offer a way for filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, writers and other creators to showcase their work and find collaborators. The startup has already picked an initial 100 creators to kick things off.

Williams and Santry also gave us a quick runthrough of the app. At first glance, it might look like other social media services, but there are no follower counts, as Williams (who has no shortage of followers) explained: “If you have follower counts it then becomes about a competition, like a popularity contest between who can get the most.”

In addition, she noted that social media followings are generally one-sided, whereas Daisie is all about enabling a “chains” of users who aren’t just viewing your profile, but can actually view your projects and contribute.

“A chain is where you reach out to someone who is in your area — or maybe even not,” she said. “So connecting with someone you’re inspired by, reaching out to them and saying, ‘Hey, I have this 30-second video of me singing the song, but I realized I’m actually a better lyricist than I am a songwriter, a musician. And I really love what you play, I wonder if you could make me a melody and we could sort of work together on this.'”

Ultimately, Williams is hoping that people’s Daisie profiles becomes an “online résumé or portfolio of work that they’re really proud of, that can be shown to the world.” And that, in turn, can help them find paying work, ideally on their own terms.

“We want to basically give the power back to the creator,” Williams said. “Instead of them having to market themselves to fit someone else’s idea of what their job would be, they can let their art speak for themselves.”

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Peer Review

How to Create a Flowchart in Excel

Plenty of options exist for creating flowcharts, but you may not need one if you’re already subscribed to Microsoft Office 365. We’ve shown how you can create a flowchart in Word, but Excel works just as well.

In this article, we’ll show you how to set up a flowchart environment and create awesome flowcharts in Excel. We’ll end with some links where you can download free Microsoft Excel flowchart templates.

Set Up a Flowchart Grid in Excel

When creating a flowchart in Excel, the worksheet grid provides a useful way to position and size your flowchart elements.

Create a Grid

To create a grid, we need to change the width of all the columns to be equal to the default row height. The worksheet will look like graph paper.

First, select all the cells on the worksheet by clicking the box in the upper-left corner of the worksheet grid. Then, right-click on any column heading and select Column Width.

If you’re using the default font (Calibri, size 11), the default row height is 15 points, which equals 20 pixels. To make the column width the same 20 pixels, we must change it to 2.14.

So enter 2.14 in the box on the Column Width dialog box and click OK.

Enable Snap to Grid

The Snap to Grid features makes it easy to place and resize shapes on the grid so you can consistently resize them and align them to each other. Shapes snap to the nearest grid line when you resize and move them.

Click the Page Layout tab. Then, click Align in the Arrange section and select Snap to Grid. The Snap to Grid icon on the menu is highlighted with a gray box when the feature is on.

Set Up the Page Layout in Excel

You should set up the page layout for your flowchart so you know your boundaries before laying out your flowchart. For example, if you’re going to insert your flowchart into a Word document, you should set the margins in Microsoft Excel to the same margins as your Word document. That way you won’t create a flowchart larger than the pages in your Word document.

To set up items like margins, page orientation, and page size, click the Page Layout tab. Use the buttons in the Page Setup section to change settings for the different layout options.

How to Create a Flowchart in Excel

Now that your worksheet is set up for flowcharts, let’s create one.

Add a Shape Using the Shapes Tool

To add your first shape to your flowchart, go to the Insert tab and click Shapes in the Illustrations section. A dropdown menu displays a gallery of various types of shapes like basic shapes, lines, and arrows.

Select a shape in the Flowchart section of the dropdown menu.

Drag the shape to the size you want on the worksheet. If Snap to Grid is enabled, the shape automatically snaps to the gridlines as you draw it.

Add More Flowchart Shapes Using the Format Tab

Once you draw your first shape and select it, a special Format tab becomes available. You can use this tab to add more shapes to your flowchart and to format your shapes, which we’ll cover later.

A dropdown gallery of shapes displays, just like when you clicked Shapes in the Illustrations section on the Insert tab. Select the shape you want to add and draw it on the worksheet.

You can also double-click a shape on the gallery menu to add it to the worksheet. To resize the shape, select it and drag one of the handles along the edges.

To move the shape, move the cursor over the shape until the cursor becomes a cross with arrows. Then, click and drag the shape to where you want it.

Add Text to a Shape

To add text to a shape, simply select the shape and start typing. We’ll show you later how to format the text and change its alignment.

To edit text in a shape, click on the text in the shape. This puts you in edit mode allowing you to add, change, or delete the text.

Click outside the shape or select the shape like you were going to move it as we talked about in the previous section.

Add Connector Lines Between Shapes

After adding some shapes to your flowchart, it’s time to connect them.

Select Line Arrow on the shapes gallery either on the Insert tab or the Format tab.

The cursor becomes a plus icon. Move the cursor over the first shape you want to connect. You’ll see dots at the points that represent connection points for that shape.

Click on the connection point where you want the line to start and drag the line to the next shape until you see the connection points on that one. Release the mouse on one of those points.

An arrow displays where the line ends. When a line is properly connected to a shape, the connection point is solid. If you see a hollow connection point, the line didn’t connect to the shape.

Add Text to Connector Lines

In flowchart programs like Visio and Lucidchart, you can add text directly to connector lines. In Microsoft Excel, you can’t do that. But you can do the next best thing.

To add text to a connector line, you create a text box and position it along the line or on the line.

Select a shape or a connector line to activate the Format tab. Click the tab and then click Text Box in the Insert Shapes section.

Draw the text box near the connector you want to label. Move the text box to where you want it the same way you move shapes.

You may want to turn off Snap to Grid when positioning text boxes on connector lines. This allows you to fine tune the size and position of the text boxes.

To add text, select the text box and start typing. We’ll show you how to format and position text boxes a bit later.

Add Notes Using Callouts

You can also use text boxes to add notes to your flowchart the same way you used them to add text to connector lines. And you can use a connector line to point to the area relating to the note.

But, that might be confusing and look like a step in the flowchart. To make a note look different, use a callout.

Select a callout from the shapes gallery either on the Insert tab or the Format tab.

Draw the callout on the worksheet just like you would draw a shape.

Add text to the callout and use the handles to resize it the same way you would on a shape.

Initially, the part of the callout that points shows on the bottom border. To make the callout point to where you want, click and drag the point. When the point connects with a shape, the connection point turns red.

How to Format a Flowchart in Excel

Excel has many formatting options, too many to cover here. But we’ll show you a few basics so you can format your shapes, text, and connector lines.

Format Shapes

An easy way to format shapes and the text in shapes is to use Theme Styles.

Select all the shapes you want to format with the same style. Click on the first shape, then press and hold down Shift while clicking the other shapes. Then, click the Format tab.

Click the More arrow in the lower-right corner of the Theme Styles box in the Shape Styles section. A gallery of styles displays in a dropdown menu.

When you move your mouse over the various theme styles, you’ll see how they look on your shapes. Click the style you want to use.

Format Text in the Shapes and Text Boxes

Formatting text in shapes and text boxes is done the same way you normally format text in cells.

First, we’ll format shapes. Select all the shapes containing text you want to format using the Shift key while clicking the remaining shapes after the first one.

Click the Home tab and use the commands in the Font and Alignment sections to format your text. For example, we used the Center and Middle Align buttons in the Alignment section to center the text in the shapes horizontally and vertically. Then, we applied Bold to all the text.

Do the same thing with the text boxes along the connector lines to format and align the text.

Format Connector Lines

The default format on the connector lines is a bit thin. We’re going to make them thicker.

Select all the connector lines you want to format using the Shift key while clicking the remaining lines after the first one. Then, click the Format tab.

Click Shape Outline in the Shape Styles section and select a color from the Theme Colors section or Standard Colors section. Then, on the same menu, go to Weight and select a thickness for the connector lines from the submenu.

Get Started With These Excel Flowchart Templates

Excel flowchart templates provide a quick start when creating your own flowcharts. We’ve previously covered flowchart templates for Microsoft Office, but these are specifically for Microsoft Excel.

Here are more templates you can download:

• Process Map for Basic Flowchart
• Sample Flow Chart Template in Microsoft Word, Excel | Template.net
• Flow Chart Template in Microsoft Word, Excel | Template.net
• 8+ Flowchart Templates – Excel Templates
• Editable Flowchart Templates For Excel
• 40 Fantastic Flow Chart Templates [Word, Excel, Power Point]: There is one flowchart template for Excel on this page: Flow Chart Template 39

Organize Your Life With Excel Flowcharts!

The ability to create flowcharts in Microsoft Excel makes it a very useful and versatile tool for keeping yourself organized. It’s not the only option, though. There are several good free flowchart tools available for Windows.

Read the full article: How to Create a Flowchart in Excel

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The cloud continues to grow in leaps and bounds, but it’s still AWS’s world

With the big cloud companies reporting recently, we can be sure of a couple of things: the market continues to expand rapidly and AWS is going to be hard to catch. Depending on whose numbers you look at, the market grew around 50 percent as it continues its unprecedented expansion.

Let’s start with market leader, Amazon Web Services. Canalys has them with 31 percent of the market while Synergy Research puts them at 34 percent. That’s close enough to be considered a dead heat. As Synergy’s John Dinsdale points out, AWS is so dominant that in spite of mega growth numbers from other vendors, it is still bigger than the next four competitors combined, even after all these years.

Those competitors, by the way, are no slouches by any means. They include Microsoft, Google, IBM and Alibaba, so some pretty elite enterprise players. As we’ve noted in past analyses, one of the primary issues for all the competitors is how late they were to the market. They gave Amazon a massive head start, and they show no signs of ceding that lead any time soon.

 

Of course, AWS isn’t standing still either, it grew 48 percent last quarter by Canalys’ estimate, while Synergy has AWS marketshare up a tick to 34 percent.

Interestingly, Synergy finds this overall competitor growth did not cut into Amazon’s marketshare at all, but was the result of continued growth in the marketplace, as companies continue to shift workloads to the cloud. “The rapid growth of Microsoft, Google and Alibaba sees them all increase their market shares too, but it is not at the expense of AWS,” Synergy’s John Dinsdale pointed out in a statement.

Microsoft and Google still growing fast

That is not to say that Microsoft and Google are not growing too. In fact, Canalys had Microsoft growing at an 89 percent clip last quarter while Google grew an amazing 108 percent. It’s always important to point out that it’s easier to grow from a small number to a bigger number than it is to grow from a big number to a bigger number. Yet AWS continues to defy that idea and grow anyway, although not quite at the rate of its competitors.

Synergy reports these marketshare percentages for the competitors: Microsoft 14 percent, IBM 8 percent, Google 6 percent and Alibaba 4 percent, while Canalys shows Microsoft with 18 percent and Google with 8 percent. It did not report on IBM or Alibaba.

 

While these growth numbers have to drop at some point, they could continue to grow for the next several years as large companies get more comfortable with the cloud and move increasing percentages of their workloads.

Of course, even then it’s not a zero sum game. As we see increasing use of data-intensive workloads involving internet of things, blockchain and artificial intelligence, it’s entirely possible that the market will continue to grow even with fewer workloads moving from private data centers.

For now, even with their eye-popping growth numbers, the competition continues to chase AWS. Even as these companies find ways to differentiate themselves with different approaches, offerings and services, the market dynamics are hardening and catching AWS seems less and less likely.

It also seems increasingly less likely that some small upstart can come in and undermine the top players, as it just takes too much investment to keep up with them and their scale. “In a large and strategically vital market that is growing at exceptional rates, [the market leaders] are throwing the gauntlet down to their smaller competitors by continuing to invest enormous amounts in their data center infrastructure and operations. Their increased market share is clear evidence that their strategies are working,” Synergy’s Dinsdale said a statement.

What the competitors need to do now is continue to focus on customer requirements and what they can offer in terms of price and service to continue to take advantage of their own unique strengths. There’s plenty of room in this space for everyone to thrive, but some will thrive more than others. That’s just the nature of the market.

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Browser maker Opera successfully begins trading on NASDAQ

Opera is now a public company. The Norway-based company priced its initial public offering at $12 a share — the company initially expected to price its share in the $10 to $12 price range. Trading opened at $14.34 per share, up 19.5 percent. The company raised over $115 million with this IPO.

Opera Ltd. filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. earlier this month. The company is now trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OPRA.

Chances are you are reading this article in Google Chrome on your computer or Android phone, or in Safari if you’re reading from an iPhone. Opera has a tiny market share compared to its competitors. But it’s such a huge market that it’s enough to generate revenue.

In its F-1 document, the company revealed that it generated $128.9 million in operating revenue in 2017, which resulted in $6.1 million in net profit.

The history of the company behind Opera is a bit complicated. A few years ago, Opera shareholders decided to sell the browser operations to a consortium of Chinese companies. The adtech operations now form a separate company called Otello.

Opera Ltd., the company that just went public, has a handful of products — a desktop browser, different mobile browsers and a standalone Opera News app. Overall, around 182 million people use at least one Opera product every month.

The main challenge for Opera is that most of its revenue comes from two deals with search engines — Google and Yandex. Those two companies pay a fee to be the default search engine in Opera products. Yandex is the default option in Russia, while Google is enabled by default for the rest of the world.

The company also makes money from ads and licensing deals. When you first install Opera, the browser is pre-populated with websites by default, such as eBay and Booking.com. Those companies pay Opera to be there.

Now, Opera will need to attract as many users as possible and remain relevant against tech giants. Opera’s business model is directly correlated to its user base. If there are more people using Opera, the company will get more money from Google, Yandex and its advertising partners.

Cheers to @opera on its IPO day! #OperaIPO $OPRA pic.twitter.com/dYeHux7pvq

— Nasdaq (@Nasdaq) July 27, 2018

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Google follows in Apple’s footsteps by cleaning up its Play Store

Google is cracking down on the apps published to the Play Store. An updated version of the company’s Developer Policy, released this week, indicates the company will now ban a wider variety of apps including cryptocurrency miners, those selling firearms and accessories, those that aim to trick children into downloading adult-themed apps, and apps built using automated tools or wizard services, or based on templates.

The latter move is especially interesting, as Apple did something similar last December that resulted in developer backlash, controversy, and even a U.S. Congressman reaching out to Apple to clarify its intent and reconsider its policy.

While it’s true that apps made with templates and wizards lead to spam apps and App Store clutter, several developers felt Apple, with its blanket ban, was wiping out small businesses from being able to participate in the App Store. The issue at hand was the fact that many smaller businesses, nonprofits and other organizations used an app templating service to create their own app. For example, templates and wizards were often used by local restaurants, schools, churches, clubs, and other small businesses that couldn’t invest in the design and development of their own apps.

As a result of the backlash, Apple revised its policy so it only impacted developers attempting to spam the App Store with multiple copies of a certain type of app. Instead of banning all templated apps, Apple’s new policy said that apps built using templates would be allowed if they were submitted by the provider of the app’s content. That is, if the local pizza place wanted its own app, it could submit its templated-built app itself.

Google clearly made a point not to make the same mistake with its own policy changes.

Its new policy clarifies the ban effects only:

Apps that are created by an automated tool, wizard service, or based on templates and submitted to Google Play by the operator of that service on behalf of other persons are not allowed. Such apps are only permissible if they are published by an individually registered developer account belonging to the user of the automated tool, not the operator of the service.

This more careful wording ensures that the policy will only address the problems with app store spam, and not with small business customers, or the app development services they use.

Another Google Play policy change bans apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices – something that could make it easier for Google Play to directly kick out apps that market themselves as something else, then mine on the sly without user’s consent. This follows a Google’s ban of mining apps from the Chrome Store this spring, due to a number of sketchy extensions that were misleading users.

Meanwhile, Google takes an almost moral position with the addition of a ban of apps that ” facilitate the sale of explosives, firearms, ammunition, or certain firearms accessories.” Specifically, Google calls out apps that sell accessories used to simulate automatic fire or convert firearms to automatic fire. This includes bump stocks, gatling triggers, drop-in auto sears, conversion kits, and magazines or belts carrying more than 30 rounds.

The change here follows the approval of several newer state laws banning bump stocks across the U.S., in the wake of an increasing number of school shootings. Gun control advocates believe that the loss of life in mass shootings could be lessened if the perpetrators didn’t have ready access to guns and accessories that allow for automatic fire.

It doesn’t seem Google has taken action on this category, however:

Other policy changes take aim at various types of misleading apps, including those adult-themed apps that appeal to children (something Google’s YouTube struggles to moderate as well, in terms of misleading video); apps that only seem to exist to serve ads (ads appear after every tap, e.g.); and apps engaging in impersonation.

Many of Google’s policy changes address areas of app spam and clutter Apple had already tackled, having announced a year ago its plans to clean up the App Store. Its cleanup was so sizable, in fact, that the App Store shrank for the first time ever in 2017. It’s now around 2+ million apps.

At this year’s WWDC, Apple again updated its guidelines to further secure the App Store, which included its own version of a crypto mining ban.

Google’s Play Store has been in need of a similar cleanup. Although Google regularly kicks out sizable numbers of malicious apps, it has always been more lenient on spammy apps than Apple. That’s allowed the store to grow to 3.5 million apps, as of December 2017. Many of those apps should now be removed, if Google chooses to retroactively enforce its new policies at scale – which remains to be seen.

(h/t to Android Police, which first saw the policy changes) 

 

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Google Bans Crypto-Miners From the Play Store

Google is banning several types of apps from the Play Store. This includes apps that mine cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, apps aimed at children but which contain adult themes, and apps which help you buy, sell, or acquire firearms.

In April 2018, Google banned crypto-mining extensions from the Chrome Web Store. While “extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining” are still permitted, crypto-miners are banned. And now Google Play has followed suit.

Google Bans Multiple Apps

According to the latest update to its Developer Policy Center, Google no longer allows “apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices.” However, the company still permits “apps that remotely manage the mining of cryptocurrency.” And there is a difference.

Apps that mine cryptocurrency will use your CPU, with or without your knowledge. However, apps that just help you manage the mining of cryptocurrency are more administrative in nature. Still, banning crypto-miners outright may upset some people.

$Crypto History:#Bitcoin miners and their equipment, Summer 2011. pic.twitter.com/qDbAKTilk5

— The Crypto Dog? (@TheCryptoDog) July 24, 2018

Google is also cracking down on “apps that appeal to children but contain adult themes.” This will be in response to an upsurge in apps which use cartoon characters such as Elsa from Frozen, but contain imagery and ideas that aren’t suitable for children.

Google has also banned “apps that facilitate the sale of explosives, firearms, ammunition, or certain firearms accessories.” While this is likely to upset some people, it’s just Google protecting itself from being associated with potential criminal activity.

Quality Is Important Too

On a more general note, Google is also cracking down on low quality apps. Which means apps that copy content from others, apps primarily made to serve ads, and apps that don’t even function properly. Of which there are far too many on Google Play.

Luckily for you we spend our days sorting the good from the bad. So why not check out our comprehensive list of the best Android apps. It pinpoints the best apps across a wide range of genres, so there should be something there for everyone.

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The 7 Best Volume Booster Apps for Your Android Phone

Twitter vows to continue spam fight despite negative impact on user numbers

Twitter has no intention of easing up on its fight against spam users and other factors that jeopardize the “health” of its service, despite the approach costing it three million in ‘lost’ monthly active users.

Investor panic sent Twitter’s stock price down by nearly 20 percent in early trading today following its latest financial report. Twitter posted a record profit of $100 million for Q2, but its monthly user count dropped by one million, with its U.S. number in particular down to 68 million from 69 million in the previous quarter.

The company said on an earnings call that efforts aimed at “prioritizing the health of the platform” combined with other factors cost it three million monthly users — a number which could have turned the user decline into a more favorable story of growth.

The company is anticipating another drop in the next quarter as it continues to double down on fighting spam and bots on its service. That isn’t the only factor reducing numbers, however. A reassessment of its paid partnerships with carriers worldwide — which help bring in and retain new users — in response to the development of its Lite app is also forecast to reduce MAU.

Investors may be concerned, but Twitter is bullish that an increase in the quality of users is ultimately better in the long run that the short-term gain of higher numbers.

Answering questions on an earnings call, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the clean-up strategy would be ongoing as Twitter intends to “build [concerns for platform health] into our DNA.”

“When we do focus on removing some of the burden of people blocking/muting, we see positive results in our numbers,” he added. “We believe this will encourage our growth story.”

Yet the execs also played down the material impact by explaining that “many” of the “tens of millions” of removed accounts were already not counted within Twitter’s MAU metrics. Some, they added, had never been counted because they had been identified as questionable right from when they were registered.

Twitter explained as much in its earnings release:

When we suspend accounts, many of the removed accounts have already been excluded from MAU or DAU, either because the accounts were already inactive for more than one month at the time of suspension, or because they were caught at signup and were never included in MAU or DAU. We will continue to work hard to improve the health of the platform, providing updates on our progress at least quarterly, and prioritizing health efforts regardless of the near-term impact on metrics, as we believe the best driver of long-term growth of Twitter as a daily utility is a healthy conversation.

On the positive side, the executives played up the development of overseas revenue, which grew 44 percent year-on-year and now accounts for 48 percent of Twitter’s total income.

Twitter posts record $100M profit but loses 1M users

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MacBook Battery Replacement: 4 Options, From the Safest to the Least

Facebook trips on its own moderation failures

After weeks of speculation around how it plans to handle conspiracy website Infowars, its creator Alex Jones and others that spread false information, Facebook finally gave us an answer: inconsistently.

The company hit Jones with a 30-day ban after it removed four videos that he shared on the Infowars Facebook Page.

The move is Facebook’s first that curtails the reach of Jones, who has been a major talking point in the media because he is continually allowed a voice on the social network, despite spreading “alternative theories” on events like 9/11 and the San Bernardino shootings.

Confusion

Sounds good so far, but, for a six-hour period today, it didn’t seem as though Facebook itself even knew what is going on.

CNET reported that Jones’ had been hit by a 30-day suspension for posting four videos that violate its community standards on the Infowars page that counts him as a moderator. When reached by TechCrunch to confirm the report, Facebook said Jones had only been handed a warning and that, in the event of another warning, a 30-day ban would then follow.

After hours of waiting for further confirmation and emails to the contrary, Facebook clarified that in fact Jones’ personal account was given a 30-day ban, while Infowars received a warning but no ban.

Facebook is literally shooting the messenger but allowing the page — which pushed the video out to its audience — to remain in place.

In subsequent emails, Facebook explained that the inconsistency is because Jones’ personal account had already received a past warning, which triggers the 30-day ban. Surprisingly, though, this is a first warning for the Infowars page.

At least, that’s what we think has happened because Facebook hasn’t fully clarified the exact summary of events. (We have asked.)

Beyond the four videos, there’s a lot riding on this decision — it sets a precedent. Infowars is one of the largest of its kind, but there are plenty of other organizations that thrive on pumping out misleading/false content that plays into insecurities, misplayed nationalistic pride and more.

That’s why Infowars (involuntarily) became the subject of two Facebook video events held with press his month. On both occasions, Facebook executives said that even those peddling false information deserve to have a voice on the social network, no matter how questionable or inflammatory their views may be. CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself even said Holocaust deniers have free speech on the service.

Based on today, so long as they spew their message within the Facebook community rules, they are fine.

Follow fast

In fact, you could take it further and suggest that if they don’t raise the suspicions of rival platforms like YouTube, they’ll remain untouched on Facebook.

The Jones/Infowars videos were pulled by Facebook days after being removed from YouTube. Indeed, one of the Facebook videos had even survived a review after it was flagged to Facebook moderators last month. The reviewer marked the video as acceptable and it remained on the platform — until this week.

Facebook called that decision a mistake, but arguably it’s a mistake that wouldn’t have been rectified had YouTube not raised the alarm by banning the videos on its platform first. (YouTube has well-documented content moderation problems so that it is it running circles around Facebook should draw much concern from the social network’s management.)

That Facebook is unable to communicate a significant decision like this in a cohesive manner doesn’t give the confidence to think it has its house in order when it comes to video moderation. If anything, it shows that the social network is playing catch up and winging what is a critical topic.

Its platform is being used nefariously worldwide, whether it is to sway elections or incite racial violence in foreign lands, so now, more than ever, Facebook needs to nail down the basics of handling malicious content like Infowars which, unlike those other threats, is hiding in plain sight.

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Dropbox for Gmail Helps You Manage Your Attachments

You can now install a Dropbox add-on for Gmail to help you manage your attachments. This is perfect for people who already use both Gmail and Dropbox, but we suspect users of one or the other may also switch in order to make use of the partnership.

Dropbox already has partnerships in place with the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Adobe. And in March 2018, Dropbox announced it was teaming up with Google Cloud to make life even easier for users of both products. And that is now paying dividends.

What Can You Do With Dropbox for Gmail?

The first integration resulting from that partnership has now arrived in the form of a Dropbox add-on for Gmail. This will allow you to “view, store, and share any file—from the smallest doc to the largest video—without leaving your inbox.”

In its blog post announcing the add-on, Dropbox suggests this will allow you to “stop worrying about file size or inbox space,” “eliminate distractions […] from “jumping back and forth between apps,” and “keep all your work in one place”.

Just announced: The new Dropbox add-on for @Gmail

— Dropbox (@Dropbox) July 25, 2018

Once installed, the Dropbox add-on for Gmail resides on the right-hand side of your inbox, cosying up to Calendar, Keep, and Tasks. Clicking on it will make the app scan your current email thread for attachments, and offer contextual information on what it finds.

You’ll then be able to store those files in your Dropbox, and they’ll be available across the different browsers and platforms you use. Later this year Dropbox will also be adding the option to share files with others from right within your Gmail inbox.

Download: Dropbox for Gmail from the G Suite Marketplace

Make Managing Your Attachments a Breeze

Anyone reading this who still uses email on a daily basis will immediately see the benefit of this Dropbox add-on for Gmail. It should make finding, saving, and sharing attachments a breeze, potentially saving you a lot of time and effort.

If you’ve landed on this article because you’re a Gmail user, check out our beginner’s guide to Gmail and expert’s guide to Gmail. And if you’re a Dropbox aficionado you should check out these tools for Dropbox power users.

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How to Automatically Mute Audio When Unplugging Headphones on Windows

Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically mute your computer’s audio output whenever you unplug your headphones? It would prevent accidentally waking up your flatmates in the small hours of the morning, or mistakenly revealing your love of Britney Spears in public.

Of course, you can mute speakers and headphones on a case-by-case basis using the Volume Mixer. (Learn more about customizing sound in Windows 10.) But honestly, there’s no need to do that when you can automate it with PowerShell.

Here’s how to automatically mute your PC’s audio when you remove the headphones, much like smartphones do.

To get started, open Notepad. Then, paste the following code into the blank document:

[cmdletbinding()]
Param()

#Adding definitions for accessing the Audio API
Add-Type -TypeDefinition @'
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
[Guid("5CDF2C82-841E-4546-9722-0CF74078229A"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
interface IAudioEndpointVolume {
// f(), g(), ... are unused COM method slots. Define these if you care
int f(); int g(); int h(); int i();
int SetMasterVolumeLevelScalar(float fLevel, System.Guid pguidEventContext);
int j();
int GetMasterVolumeLevelScalar(out float pfLevel);
int k(); int l(); int m(); int n();
int SetMute([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)] bool bMute, System.Guid pguidEventContext);
int GetMute(out bool pbMute);
}
[Guid("D666063F-1587-4E43-81F1-B948E807363F"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
interface IMMDevice {
int Activate(ref System.Guid id, int clsCtx, int activationParams, out IAudioEndpointVolume aev);
}
[Guid("A95664D2-9614-4F35-A746-DE8DB63617E6"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
interface IMMDeviceEnumerator {
int f(); // Unused
int GetDefaultAudioEndpoint(int dataFlow, int role, out IMMDevice endpoint);
}
[ComImport, Guid("BCDE0395-E52F-467C-8E3D-C4579291692E")] class MMDeviceEnumeratorComObject { }
public class Audio {
static IAudioEndpointVolume Vol() {
var enumerator = new MMDeviceEnumeratorComObject() as IMMDeviceEnumerator;
IMMDevice dev = null;
Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(enumerator.GetDefaultAudioEndpoint(/*eRender*/ 0, /*eMultimedia*/ 1, out dev));
IAudioEndpointVolume epv = null;
var epvid = typeof(IAudioEndpointVolume).GUID;
Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(dev.Activate(ref epvid, /*CLSCTX_ALL*/ 23, 0, out epv));
return epv;
}
public static float Volume {
get {float v = -1; Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Vol().GetMasterVolumeLevelScalar(out v)); return v;}
set {Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Vol().SetMasterVolumeLevelScalar(value, System.Guid.Empty));}
}
public static bool Mute {
get { bool mute; Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Vol().GetMute(out mute)); return mute; }
set { Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Vol().SetMute(value, System.Guid.Empty)); }
}
}
'@ -Verbose


While($true)
{
#Clean all events in the current session since its in a infinite loop, to make a fresh start when loop begins
Get-Event | Remove-Event -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Registering the Event and Waiting for event to be triggered
Register-WmiEvent -Class Win32_DeviceChangeEvent
Wait-Event -OutVariable Event |Out-Null

$EventType = $Event.sourceargs.newevent | `
Sort-Object TIME_CREATED -Descending | `
Select-Object EventType -ExpandProperty EventType -First 1

#Conditional logic to handle, When to Mute/unMute the machine using Audio API
If($EventType -eq 3) 
{
[Audio]::Mute = $true
Write-Verbose "Muted [$((Get-Date).tostring())]"
}
elseif($EventType -eq 2 -and [Audio]::Mute -eq $true)
{
[Audio]::Mute = $false
Write-Verbose "UnMuted [$((Get-Date).tostring())]"
}
}

Now you need to save the file in the PS1 format. When you’re looking at the Save File dialogue, select All Files from the dropdown menu and call the file AutoMute.ps1. The name of the file itself is not important, so just choose something that’s easy to remember.

To activate the script, right-click on the newly created file and select Run. The script will be active until you turn off your machine.

This is just one of many ways PowerShell can boost your productivity. There are lots of PowerShell cmdlets that’ll improve your Windows experience.

Image Credit: peus/Depositphotos

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Facebook also removes 4 Infowars videos, including one it previously cleared

Days after defending its decision to give a voice to conspiracy theory peddler Alex Jones and his Infowars site, Facebook has removed four of his videos for violating its community standards.

But one of the four had already been allowed to slip through the firm’s review system. A source within Facebook told TechCrunch that one of the videos had previously been flagged for review in June but, after being looked over by a checker, it was allowed remain on the social network. That decision was described as “erroneous” and it has now been removed.

Facebook’s removal of the videos comes days after YouTube scrubbed four videos from Jones from its site for violating its policies on content. The Facebook source confirmed that three of the videos it has removed were flagged for the first time on Wednesday — presumably after, or in conjunction with, them being highlighted to YouTube — but the fact that one had gotten the all-clear one again raises question marks about the consistency of Facebook’s review process.

Contrary to some media reports, Jones has not received a 30-day ban from Facebook following these removals. TechCrunch understands that such a ban will be issued if Jones violates the company’s policies in the future, but, for now, he has been given a warning.

“Our Community Standards make it clear that we prohibit content that encourages physical harm [bullying], or attacks someone based on their religious affiliation or gender identity [hate speech]. We remove content that violates our standards as soon as we’re aware of it. In this case, we received reports related to four different videos on the Pages that Infowars and Alex Jones maintain on Facebook. We reviewed the content against our Community Standards and determined that it violates. All four videos have been removed from Facebook,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the company’s head of News Feed John Hegeman said of Infowars content — which includes claims 9/11 was an inside job and alternate theories to the San Bernardino shootings — that “just for being false, doesn’t violate the community standards.” He added: “We created Facebook to be a place where different people can have a voice.”

Facebook seemed to double down on that stance on Monday when, at another event, VP of product Fidji Simo called Infowars “absolutely atrocious” but then said that “if you are saying something untrue on Facebook, you’re allowed to say it as long as you’re an authentic person and you are meeting the community standards.”

It’s not been a good week for Facebook. A poor earnings report spooked investors and caused its valuation drop by $123 billion in what is the largest-single market cap wipeout in U.S. trading history. That’s not the kind of record Facebook will want to own.

Facebook would make a martyr by banning Infowars

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How to Add Custom Design Text Boxes in Microsoft Word Documents

It’s dead simple to type up a document in Microsoft Word: just click on a blank document and start typing. Of course, Word provides tons of options for formatting, fonts, and more to make your documents stand out.

One of these options is the text box. Why would you need a specific tool for inserting text when you can type it anywhere in a Word document? Let’s take a quick look at how to add customizable text boxes and why you might want to.

How to Add a Text Box in Word

With a Word document open, switch to the Insert tab. In the Text section, you’ll see a Text Box entry.

Once you click this, you’ll see a variety of built-in options. These range from the basic Simple Text Box to more involved options like Banded Sidebar. Simply click the one you want to insert it into your document.

Word will place the text box into a default position with some generic text. Next, you can customize it to your needs.

How to Customize Text Boxes in Word

With a text box inserted into your document, you can click and drag the outline to move it anywhere on the page. Grab one of the handles and you can resize the box too.

Double-click inside the box to select the placeholder text and insert your own. When you’re working inside a text box, use the Format bar at the top of the page to change the colors, font style, alignment, and more.

Why Use Text Boxes in Microsoft Word?

For simple documents with standard layouts, you probably don’t need text boxes. But they can add a nice touch for more dynamic papers. They’re perfect for pull quotes, calling attention to the most important parts of your piece. You might use them for a statistical aside or graphically different text instead.

Try text boxes in your next document for an exciting touch! For more on Microsoft Word, check out hidden Microsoft Word features that make life easier.

Image Credit: dennizn/Depositphotos

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Meet Salto-1P, the jumping robot

Salto is a jumping robot that is all heart (and legs). A project originally launched in 2017 this tiny robot thrusts itself up and down and back and forth like a crazed grasshopper, jumping with absolute precision and loads of speed.

Created by the UC Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab, this little robot uses rotor-based thrusters and bouncy legs to do its tricks.

Salto, which stands for “Saltatorial Locomotion on Terrain Obstacles,” is designed to mimic saltatorial – jumping – animals like kangaroos and bush babies.

Sadly, this little robot doesn’t always survive its jumps. In this video, Salto basically destroys itself as it jumps, something all robots may need to fear as they reach for the sun (or ceiling.)

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Tech companies can bid on the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud contract, starting today

On Thursday, the Pentagon opened bidding for a huge cloud computing contract that could be worth as much as $10 billion. Given its size, the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, known as JEDI, is alluring for major cloud computing companies that might not normally do much business with the Department of Defense.

Announced in March, JEDI is structured as a winner-take-all contract with a potential 10-year term, though the Pentagon clarified that the original award will span just the first two years, so all 10 years aren’t set in stone up front.

While it’s not yet sparked the same level of outcry as Google’s AI contract with the Pentagon known as Project Maven, JEDI isn’t uncontroversial. The now infamous Project Maven was a smaller, more specific contract with direct implications for the military’s use of drones, while JEDI is broader and bigger, seeking a vendor to provide cloud services for all branches of the military. Google has since abandoned plans to renew the contract, but Maven was likely a kind of test run for the company in the lead-up to JEDI.

While Amazon is largely regarded as the most likely winner, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle are also among the major tech companies expected to throw their hats into the ring. Earlier in the process, it looked possible that companies could band together to form unlikely alliances against the perceived frontrunner, though it appears in the final request for proposal that the Pentagon plans to award the contract to a single company capable of handling it. Interested parties will have until September 17 to submit proposals, so in the months to come we can certainly expect to hear more from companies in the running and workers who oppose JEDI involvement.

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