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David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s blockchain subsidiary Calibra, testified before the Senate Banking Committee today. He said Calibra will be interoperable, so users can send money back and forth with other wallets, and he committed to data portability, so users can switch entirely to a competitor.
At the same time, Marcus said Facebook will embed only its own wallet into its messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp, which could give the company a sizable advantage.
The company has been testing a new version of its desktop website since the beginning of the year, and yesterday, the final product started rolling out to the public.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the deal said that the acquisition price was north of $750 million. As part of the transaction, Vungle has also reached a settlement with founder Zain Jaffer, who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company earlier this year.
The startup lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card and app to make it easier to manage your spending and access other benefits.
Whittaker and another one of the walkout’s organizers, Claire Stapleton, previously said they had faced retaliation from Google after the protest. Other employees also claimed they had experienced fallout as a result of their participation, which Google denied.
Although Substack started out two years ago as a way to turn newsletters into a paid subscription business, it’s since added support for podcasts and discussion threads. As CEO Chris Best put it, the goal is to allow writers and creators to run their own “personal media empire.”
We’re witnessing the beginning of a sweeping upheaval in how companies are allowed to obtain, process, manage, use and sell consumer data, and the implications for the digital ad competitive landscape are massive. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
Lidar is a critical method by which robots and autonomous vehicles sense the world around them, but the lasers and sensors generally take up a considerable amount of space. Not so with Voyant Photonics, which has created a lidar system that you really could conceivably balance on the head of a pin.
Before getting into the science, it’s worth noting why this is important. Lidar is most often used as a way for a car to sense things at a medium distance — far away, radar can outperform it, and up close ultrasonics and other methods are more compact. But from a few feet to a couple hundred feed out, lidar is very useful.
Unfortunately even the most compact lidar solutions today are still, roughly, the size of a hand, and the ones ready for use in production vehicles are still larger. A very small lidar unit that could be hidden on every corner of a car, or even inside the cabin. It could provide rich positional data about everything in and around the car with little power and no need to disrupt the existing lines and design. (And that’s not getting into the many, many other industries that could use this.)
Lidar began with the idea of, essentially, a single laser being swept across a scene multiple times per second, its reflection carefully measured to track the distances of objects. But mechanically steered lasers are bulky, slow, and prone to failure, so newer companies are attempting other techniques like illuminating the whole scene at once (flash lidar) or steering the beam with complex electronic surfaces (metamaterials) instead.
One discipline that seems primed to join in the fun is silicon photonics, which is essentially the manipulation of light on a chip for various purposes — for instance, to replace electricity in logic gates to provide ultra-fast, low-heat processing. Voyant, however, has pioneered a technique to apply silicon photonics to lidar.
In the past, attempts in chip-based photonics to send out a coherent laser-like beam from a surface of lightguides (elements used to steer light around or emit it) have been limited by a low field of view and power because the light tends to interfere with itself at close quarters.
Voyant’s version of these “optical phased arrays” sidesteps that problem by carefully altering the phase of the light traveling through the chip. The result is a strong beam of non-visible light that can be played over a wide swathe of the environment at high speed with no moving parts at all — yet it emerges from a chip dwarfed by a fingertip.
“This is an enabling technology because it’s so small,” said Voyant co-founder Steven Miller. “We’re talking cubic centimeter volumes. There’s a lot of electronics that can’t accommodate a lidar the size of a softball — think about drones and things that are weight sensitive, or robotics, where it needs to be on the tip of its arm.”
Lest you think this is just a couple yahoos who think they’ve one-upped years of research, Miller and co-founder Chris Phare came out of the Lipson Nanophotonics Group at Columbia University.
“This lab basically invented silicon photonics,” said Phare. “We’re all deeply ingrained with the physics and devices-level stuff. So we were able to step back and look at lidar, and see what we needed to fix and make better to make this a reality.”
The advances they’ve made frankly lie outside my area of expertise so I won’t attempt to characterize them too closely, except that it solves the interference issues and uses a frequency modulated continuous wave technique, which lets it measure velocity as well as distance (Blackmore does this as well). At any rate their unique approach to moving and emitting light from the chip lets them create a device that is not only compact, but combines transmitter and receiver in one piece, and has good performance — not just good for its size, they claim, but good.
“It’s a misconception that small lidars need to be low-performance,” explained Phare. “The silicon photonic architecture we use lets us build a very sensitive receiver on-chip that would be difficult to assemble in traditional optics. So we’re able to fit a high-performance lidar into that tiny package without any additional or exotic components. We think we can achieve specs comparable to lidars out there, but just make them that much smaller.”
The chip-based lidar in its test bed.
It’s even able to be manufactured in a normal fashion like other photonics chips. That’s a huge plus when you’re trying to move from research to product development.
With this first round of funding, the team plans to expand the team and get this tech out of the lab and into the hands of engineers and developers. The exact specs, dimensions, power requirements and so on are all very different depending on the application and industry, so Voyant can make decisions based on feedback from people in other fields.
In addition to automotive (“It’s such a big application that no one can make lidar and not look at that space,” Miller said), the team is in talks with numerous potential partners.
Although being at this stage while others are raising 9-figure rounds might seem daunting, Voyant has the advantage that it has created something totally different from what’s out there, a product that can safely exist alongside popular big lidars from companies like Innoviz and Luminar.
“We’re definitely talking to big players in a lot of these places, drones and robotics, perhaps augmented reality. We’re trying to suss out exactly where this is most interesting to people,” said Phare. “We see the evolution here being something like bringing room size computers down to chips.”
The $4.3 million raised by Voyant comes from Contour Venture Partners, LDV Capital, and DARPA, which naturally would be interested in something like this.
IQ Capital, a U.K.-based deep tech fund that has invested in startups such as Paragraf, Senseye and Funderbeam, has launched a new $125 million Growth Opportunities Fund and closed its third venture fund, IQ Capital Fund III, at $175 million. This brings the total new capital to be invested to more than $300 million. National Grid Partners have joined British Patient Capital and a number of other global institutions as an investor in IQ Capital Fund III.
The move is part of a wider shift in VC investing across Europe toward so-called deep tech (AI, biotech, blockchain, etc.).For instance, Adara Ventures, a Spanish VC firm, recently closed its third fund with commitments in excess of €65 million to back European early-stage deep tech startups.
IQ says the $125 million fund will provide later-stage capital to the best-performing companies in their existing portfolio. The first to benefit from this is Privitar, a startup in data privacy engineering that IQ Capital funded from seed stage as part of its $40 million Series B funding round announced last month.
Alongside the launch of the new fund, IQ Capital has reached the final closing for its third venture fund at $175 million, which focuses on investing into companies at seed and Series A stage. In the last year, IQ Capital has invested in 12 companies, including Causalens, Concirrus and Iotic. Previous Fund II startups include Thought Machine, Fluidic Analytics, Paragraf and Speechmatics.
Max Bautin, co-founder and partner at IQ Capital, said in a statement: “The partners, Ed Stacey, Kerry Baldwin, and I, have been investing in deep-tech for over 20 years, and during this time we’ve seen investment in the sector grow from tens of millions p.a. to $1.75 billion deployed across Europe in 2018 alone. Half of this capital was invested into UK start-ups, reinforcing the UK as a leader in Europe, with well-established technology ecosystems formed in Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, and London.
“IQ Capital has grown its funds under management over 10x in the last five years, following exits to Google, Apple, and Facebook, and a double-dragon to Oracle. The investment team has tripled in size over the same period with recent joiners Rick Hao, Daniel Carew and Marek Chalupnik. IQ Capital is now firmly established as the leading deep tech investor in the UK.”
Lisa Lambert, founder and president of National Grid Partners said: “IQ Capital…is positioned as the go-to deep-tech fund in the EU, and the team has a proven ability to connect with founders through all stages, from seed to exit.”
Calibra will be interoperable so users can send money back and forth with other wallets, and Marcus committed to data portability so users can switch entirely to a competitor. But solely embedding Facebook’s own wallet into its leading messaging apps could give the company a sizable advantage over banks, PayPal, Coinbase, or any other potential wallet developer.
Other highlights from the “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations” hearing included Marcus saying:
The US should “absolutely” lead the world in rule-making for cryptocurrencies
“Yes” Libra will comply with all US regulations and not launch until the US lawmakers’ concerns have been answered
“You will not have to trust Facebook” because it’s only one of 28 current and potentially 100 or more Libra Association members and it won’t have special privileges
“Yes I would” accept his compensation from Facebook in the form of Libra as a show of trust in the currency
It is “not the intention at all” for Calibra to sell or directly monetize user data directly, though if it offered additional financial services in partnership with other financial organizations it would ask consent to use their data specifically for those purposes.
Facebook’s core revenue model around Libra is that more online commerce will lead businesses to spend more on Facebook ads
But Marcus also didn’t clearly answer some critical questions about Libra and Calibra.
Unanswered Questions
Chairman Crapo asked if Facebook would collect data about transactions made with Calibra that are made on Facebook, such as when users buy products from businesses they discover through Facebook. Marcus instead merely noted that Facebook would still let users pay with credit cards and other mediums as well as Calibra. That means that even though Facebook might not know how much money is in someone’s Calibra wallet or their other transactions, it might know how much the paid and for what if that transaction happens over their social networks.
Senator Tillis asked how much Facebook has invested in the formation of Libra. TechCrunch has also asked specifically how much Facebook has invested in the Libra Investment Token that will earn it a share of interest earned from the fiat currencies in the Libra Reserve. Marcus said Facebook and Calibra hadn’t determined exactly how much it would invest in the project. Marcus also didn’t clearly answer Senator Toomey’s question of why they Libra Association is considered a not-for-profit organization if it will pay out interest to members.
Perhaps the most worrying moment of the hearing was when Senator Sinema brought up TechCrunch’s article citing that “The real risk of Libra is crooked developers”. There I wrote that Facebook’s VP of product Kevin Weil told me that ““There are no plans for the Libra Association to take a role in actively vetting [developers]”, which I believe leaves the door open to a crypto Cambridge Analytica situation where shady developers steal users money, not just their data.
Senator Sinema asked if an Arizonan was scammed out of their Libra by a Pakistani developer via a Thai exchange and a Spanish wallet, would that U.S. citizen be entitled to protection to recuperate their lost funds. Marcus responded that U.S. citizens would likely use American Libra wallets that are subject to protections and that the Libra Association will work to educate users on how to avoid scams. But Sinema stressed that if Libra is designed to assist the poor who are often less educated, they could be especially vulnerable to scammers.
The hearing is ongoing and we’ll continue to update this article with more highlights
Calibra will be interoperable so users can send money back and forth with other wallets, and Marcus committed to data portability so users can switch entirely to a competitor. But solely embedding Facebook’s own wallet into its leading messaging apps could give the company a sizable advantage over banks, PayPal, Coinbase, or any other potential wallet developer.
Other highlights from the “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations” hearing included Marcus saying:
The US should “absolutely” lead the world in rule-making for cryptocurrencies
“Yes” Libra will comply with all US regulations and not launch until the US lawmakers’ concerns have been answered
“You will not have to trust Facebook” because it’s only one of 28 current and potentially 100 or more Libra Association members and it won’t have special privileges
“Yes I would” accept his compensation from Facebook in the form of Libra as a show of trust in the currency
It is “not the intention at all” for Calibra to sell or directly monetize user data directly, though if it offered additional financial services in partnership with other financial organizations it would ask consent to use their data specifically for those purposes.
Facebook’s core revenue model around Libra is that more online commerce will lead businesses to spend more on Facebook ads
But Marcus also didn’t clearly answer some critical questions about Libra and Calibra.
Unanswered Questions
Chairman Crapo asked if Facebook would collect data about transactions made with Calibra that are made on Facebook, such as when users buy products from businesses they discover through Facebook. Marcus instead merely noted that Facebook would still let users pay with credit cards and other mediums as well as Calibra. That means that even though Facebook might not know how much money is in someone’s Calibra wallet or their other transactions, it might know how much the paid and for what if that transaction happens over their social networks.
Senator Tillis asked how much Facebook has invested in the formation of Libra. TechCrunch has also asked specifically how much Facebook has invested in the Libra Investment Token that will earn it a share of interest earned from the fiat currencies in the Libra Reserve. Marcus said Facebook and Calibra hadn’t determined exactly how much it would invest in the project. Marcus also didn’t clearly answer Senator Toomey’s question of why they Libra Association is considered a not-for-profit organization if it will pay out interest to members.
Perhaps the most worrying moment of the hearing was when Senator Sinema brought up TechCrunch’s article citing that “The real risk of Libra is crooked developers”. There I wrote that Facebook’s VP of product Kevin Weil told me that ““There are no plans for the Libra Association to take a role in actively vetting [developers]”, which I believe leaves the door open to a crypto Cambridge Analytica situation where shady developers steal users money, not just their data.
Senator Sinema asked if an Arizonan was scammed out of their Libra by a Pakistani developer via a Thai exchange and a Spanish wallet, would that U.S. citizen be entitled to protection to recuperate their lost funds. Marcus responded that U.S. citizens would likely use American Libra wallets that are subject to protections and that the Libra Association will work to educate users on how to avoid scams. But Sinema stressed that if Libra is designed to assist the poor who are often less educated, they could be especially vulnerable to scammers.
The hearing is ongoing and we’ll continue to update this article with more highlights
Sony unveiled the latest in its line of interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras on Tuesday, debuting the A7R IV, its top-of-the-line full-frame digital shooter aimed at pros. The new camera packs a walloping 61-megapixel sensor, and will retail for $3,500 when it goes on sale this September.
The camera’s image resolution is a “world first” for a 35mm equivalent full-frame digital sensor, Sony notes, and that’s not where the improvements on this successor to the wildly popular A7R III ends: The A7R IV also has 10fps rapid shooting with continuous autofocus and autoexposure tracking capabilities; 567 phase-detect autofocus points that cover 74% of the frame; real-time eye autofocus tracking for stills and movies, which can handle both human and animal subjects; 4K movie recording without any pixel binning and with S-Log 2/3 support for editing (although without a 60p mode, as it caps out at 30p); ISO range of 100-32000 (and 50-102400 expandable); battery life of around 539 shots with the EVF or 670 shots without, and much more.
This Sony camera is clearly a shot across the bow at recent entrants into the full-frame mirrorless camera market including Nikon and Canon, and it looks like Sony will be upping one of its biggest advantages by offering even better subject-tracking autofocus, which is a category where it already has a strong lead. The high-resolution sensor is another area where the competition will be left behind, since the Nikon Z7 captures at 45.7 MP and the Canon R maxes out at 30.3 MP.
Real-time eye autofocus in movie recording will also help a lot for video shooters, after Sony introduced it to still shooting for the A7 and A7R III via a firmware update in April. Touch tracking allows shooters to just tap the thing they want to maintain autofocus on using the back display LCD while shooting, and a new digital audio interface added to the camera’s hot shoe connector means recording with shotgun mic that support the feature without any additional cable clutter.
The A7R IV also offers five-axis in-body image stabilization, a 5.76 million-to UXGA OLED EVF, boosted weather and dust resistance, wireless tethered shooting capabilities and dual UHS-II SD card slots for storage.
If you’re a movie lover, you might have been gifted a Fandango gift card by a friend or relative. Fandango is a movie ticketing service and FandangoNOW is a video streaming service, both available as websites and apps. You can use your gift card to redeem against purchases on them.
We’re going to tell you everything you need to know about a Fandango gift card: what it is, how to check the balance, how to use it, and how to buy one for someone else.
What Is a Fandango Gift Card?
Fandango sells movie tickets for theaters nationwide across the US, including chains such as Regal, AMC, Cinemark, and more.
Depending on the theater, you can reserve your seat and then pick the ticket up when you are there, have it on your mobile, or print it out.
The aim of Fandango is to list theater movie times all in one central place so you can see which show works best for you and then buy through Fandango.
A Fandango gift card is a dollar amount loaded on a card to be used on their site or app. The card can either be physical or virtual and can be themed with the latest big movie releases.
You can also use the card for rentals or purchases from FandangoNOW, which is a movie and TV streaming service.
How to Check Fandango Gift Card Balance
If you have been given a Fandango gift card, or perhaps found an old one lying around, the most important thing you need to know is how much dollar value it has.
Be wary that the balance will remain tied to your gift card’s code, so don’t trash it. The value cannot be loaded to your Fandango account.
Once here, input your card number. This can be found on the back of your card or on the email. You don’t need the pin. Next, prove you’re not a robot and click Check Balance.
Don’t worry if your balance doesn’t cover the full cost of a ticket; you can make up the extra with a different payment method.
How to Use a Fandango Gift Card
A Fandango gift card can only be used on Fandango or FandangoNOW—and the mobile apps for both. You cannot use it in person at the theater or on the theater’s website.
It’s simple to use the gift card. Go to the site or the app and select what you want to buy. Once on the payment section, click Use Fandango Gift Card. Input your card number or claim code and your PIN (if available.) All of that information can be found on the back of the card (you might need to scratch to reveal the PIN) or in the email.
If your purchase is less than the value of the gift card, that remaining balance can be used for a future purchase. Remember, the value remains on the card, not on your account. If your purchase exceeds the gift card’s value, you will need to pay the difference with another payment method.
Note that every Fandango transaction for movie tickets is charged a per-ticket convenience fee. This is applied to every purchase, regardless of your payment method.
Where to Buy a Fandango Gift Card
You can buy a Fandango gift card online and in stores.
One choice is through Fandango directly. You can either buy a physical card or have it sent to a recipient as a gift via email. If the latter, you can choose to send it instantly or at a scheduled time. The cards are available in six amounts: $15, $25, $35, $50, $75, and $100.
If buying physical, you’ll be charged an additional $1.95 processing charge per card. Shipping is free, though you can pay extra to get it to your recipient quicker.
For physical cards, you can select from a range of fun designs that depict scenes and characters from the latest and greatest movies. You can even select a blank card design and upload your own image. If you do that, you need to have the right to distribute the image and it cannot violate the Terms and Conditions of the service.
Another option to buy a Fandango Gift Card is through a retailer like Amazon. They sell physical gift cards.
While the design is less exciting than buying through Fandango directly, you save on the processing charge and will get quicker shipping for free. However, bear in mind the card isn’t covered by Amazon’s usual return policy.
You can also buy the cards from retail stores all over the US like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Safeway, and so many more. Chances are if you’re in a store that sells gift cards then you’ll find one for Fandango. Take it to the till and the cashier will activate it for instant use.
Going to the cinema is something that most people do often, so your recipient will undoubtedly get value out of it—not like some gift cards that can sit around collecting dust.
That said, Fandango isn’t flawless. It isn’t unusual for it to be cheaper to buy the movie ticket direct from the theater instead, especially as you avoid Fandango’s fees. The gift recipient might not mind since it isn’t their money, but it doesn’t necessarily offer the best bang for the buck.
Hopefully, now you’re aware of exactly what a Fandango gift card is, how to use it, and where to go to buy one. Now you have no excuse to not using it as a gift and helping them enjoy the latest cinematic delight.
If you’re still in the movie mindset, why not peruse our guide on the best movie showtime apps? We compared Fandango against IMDb and Flixster to see which is the best.
Our verdict of the MotionBlock Robotics Kit:
The build quality, software, and potential of this STEAM-focused robotics kit is worth every single dollar. If your kids are excited by STEM or STEAM, the MotionBlock kit is an unmissable purchase.1010
Looking for a programmable robot to help your kids get to grips with STEM or STEAM education? Makeblock’s MotionBlock kit might just be exactly what you’re looking for—but is it just a bit too complicated for most school-age children?
What Is STEM/STEAM?
Aimed at 14 years and above, MotionBlock is a collection of robotics components that can be programmed using Scratch and Python. A 2019 Red Dot award winner (for Programmable Robot Kit), Makeblock has specifically marketed the kit as being suitable for school-age children with an interest in robotics.
Or more specifically, Science, Technology, Engineering, (optional Art), and Math. Often, to test kits like this, we recruit someone of suitable age to help assess its suitability.
However, in this case, it has not been possible, ironically due to school exams. So, I’ve channeled my 14-year-old self to review the MotionBlock kit. This might not be as ridiculous as it first seems…
Unboxing the MotionBlock
An immense collection of 144 components can be found inside the MotionBlock box. So many, in fact, that the (pretty heavy) box is subdivided into two smaller boxes, each loaded with robotics kit.
Described as “sophisticated mechanical and electronic components” these modules can be combined using simple dovetail joints and cables. Five intelligent servo blocks are included, offering 360 degrees continuous rotation and high precision. They can be programmed using a synchronizer, motion recording, or in Scratch.
Along with the servos, cables, and dovetail joints, you’ll find wheels, a ball gun, and the central computer. This is accompanied by a simple 12×16 LED dot display (mounted on the “main brain”, known as the Master Control) which can help to add some character to your robot builds. The computer is powered by a compact rechargeable battery, which comes with its own USB charger. It’s worth plugging this in for a few hours before you get started.
There’s also a box complete with a Torx screwdriver and various screws. These are required to construct the modules. For example, the swing and clamping module segments of the robot arm and grabber need to be built.
This, really, is the basis for the age grouping. While I suspect younger children could program the robot with Scratch, building the modules is certainly for older kids with superior motor skills.
What Can You Do With the MotionBlock Robotics Kit?
[amaon id=”B07QVQC3NY”]
The MotionBlock kit comes with various designs for you to try:
Fighter
Sampling Rover
Footballer
Gorilla
Off-Road Auto
Snake
Larva
Dog
Robotic Arm
Pitching Auto
These unusual builds highlight the versatility of the MotionBlock components and utilize key modules. Among these are the acceleration module, ejection module, and rotating module, as well as the swing and mechanical claw clamping modules mentioned earlier.
Underlying each build are a collection of five high-performance intelligent servos. They’re designed to imitate the behaviors of many animals, with high stability of control and strong capacity of bearing.
Pen module, suction cups, and more can be also be employed for unique, individual builds. The main module, meanwhile, features Bluetooth, enabling you to control your MotionBlock creation remotely via a mobile app or a dedicated controller. There’s also a micro USB port for connecting the module directly to your computer to upload programs.
Meanwhile, thanks to a pair of LEGO adaptors, you can also integrate your MotionBlock build with your latest LEGO project.
Building Your First Robot
Many robotics kits come with a bunch of components and modules that just snap together. A few minutes later, you’ve got a robot moving around, a program freshly uploaded via USB.
Not so with MotionBlock.
Aiming for simplicity in the review, I opted for the Robotic Arm. Instructions for this build are included in the printed manual (others are in the mobile app for Android and iOS), so it made sense to start here.
90 minutes later I was done, having constructed every servo module. Unfortunately, I still had to build the Synchronizer, a remote unit that controls the robot arm. While this was a bit faster, the entire build time was around two hours.
It’s worth highlighting here that although the Synchronizer is a useful remote, it is limited by the 25mm cable connection to the Master Control. It’s also limited by some restrictive brackets (“Stoblocks”) that prevent full motion. They appear to be provided to prevent the cables from being stretched but have the opposite effect. Better motion can be achieved without these parts.
Also, the robot arm requires calibration when used with the remote, but this isn’t the case with app-based remote control.
Getting the Build Right
Unfortunately, I ran into a problem. It seems that early in the build, I connected a component incorrectly. While I immediately fixed the issue, the damage was done.
Four 16mm screws had penetrated the case of one of the servos, resulting in the arm being non-functional. This was the servo installed in the rotating block, a key component of the arm.
This happened thanks to a simple misreading of the instructions. No unreasonable force was used. In fact, it was tougher to screw the 16mm screws correctly.
On the plus side, if I had used the instructions in the mobile app, it would have been far clearer. Here, each step is guided, with an animated illustration and an interactive 3D graphic of the components. In short, if you’re planning to buy this kit, use the manual in the mobile app.
Seized Up Servo
Reading the instructions carefully won’t prevent manufacturing failures, however. While experimenting with the Synchronizer arm, it turned out that one of the servos—ironically the one fitted in the rotating module to repair the one I damaged—had seized up.
With all builds of the MotionBlock kit requiring four or more servos, that pretty much brought things to an end.
Fortunately, Makeblock were kind enough to forward a pair of replacement servos. A few weeks later, the robot was finally up and running.
Further investigation showed that the screws were not sorted as per the labels in the box. This resulted in me using 20mm screws instead of 16mm. That 4mm difference would probably have saved the circuit board in the servo!
Once again, the moral or the story is clear: pay close attention to every step of the instructions.
Hook Up the Mobile App to Control Your Robot via Bluetooth
With your robot built, it’s a good time to sync it to your mobile device over Bluetooth. Get started by installing the Makeblock app, available for Android and iOS. While phone versions of the apps are available, we found the tablet user interface was more usable.
Syncing over Bluetooth is handled by the app (with the usual system confirmation) and is surprisingly painless. A few moments later, you’ll be ready to control your robot project. Each supported robot build has its own control interface, enabling you to steer, guide, or otherwise manipulate the construction based on the component parts.
Additional Mobile App Features
Various extras are hidden in the mobile app that can change the way you use your robot build. For example, there’s a neat little pixel art screen that lets you alter the default LED displayed on the Master Control’s display.
There’s also the option to change some default settings. For example, with the robot arm build, you can alter the strength of the arm and grabber. Note that a different surface may be required to ensure the suction cups are properly secured. We used a varnished farmhouse-style table for this review, which has various imperfections that can weaken suction.
And if you’re looking for something new to do with your robot arm, how about mounting a pen on it? The app features a drawing tool that you can use to easily program a few words, doodles or even artwork. Watching a robot write or draw is quite a sight!
The app will also display the battery status, so you can tell when your robot will need recharging.
Programming Is Simple With Scratch and Python
When you’re done with manual control of the robot, you can begin to program it with Scratch and Python.
This is easiest via the mobile app, where you can use the Scratch software to program your robot. In the case of the arm, this could be something as simple as instructing it to pick up an object and place it elsewhere. With vehicular builds, the program might be to move around. While no standard sensors are included, this should be possible regardless if you know the distances involved.
A desktop interface is also available, called mBlock 5. This features a Scratch interface that supports the conversion of the program into Python code. A version of mBlock is also available for Android and iOS. Programming in this manner can be done live, although the best results seem to be enjoyed by uploading programs directly, as you might an Arduino.
Another, less high-tech way to program the MotionBlock robot is included. This relies on programming the Master Control module directly by recording manual servo movements. For example, you might program the arm to move around, open, and close, using your hands. This action is then saved and played back, with the robot following the steps you manually programmed by manipulating it.
Reimagine Your Robot with MotionBlock Kit
By the time you’ve reach the end of your first build with the MotionBlock kit, the truth is clear. This is a truly amazing collection of projects and activities, solidly manufactured and expertly packaged and presented.
There’s literally nothing wrong with this kit, short of the ability of a 40-something reviewer to accidentally break it. Maybe the battery could last longer, or perhaps it could feature a camera module for the vehicular builds. These are minor gripes, however.
If you have STEM or STEAM-interested kids who are in the right age group, you should seriously consider the MotionBlock kit.
An email address that ends in @your_name.com has a sweet ring to it. Luckily, it’s easy enough to get such a personalized address for free with Zoho Mail. We’ll show you exactly how to go about it, right after we outline the prep work you need to do.
Prep Work: Register a Domain Name
Before you can configure Zoho to host your email at a vanity URL, you’ll need to buy the URL or domain from a domain name registrar. Here are the registrars we recommend:
(If you’re not sure what exactly a domain name is, these domain name examples will help you understand what it means.)
Zoho itself has a domain name registration service. If you decide to go with that, you can skip this step and buy the domain name through Zoho during the email hosting setup process.
For the purposes of our tutorial, let’s assume you already have a domain ready to go.
Note: Web hosting plans usually include email hosting too. So if you’ve paid for such a plan to set up a website, you don’t need Zoho to host email at your domain. But you can sign up for an account anyway if you want to make use of Zoho’s feature-rich suite of email and other cloud-based apps.
Alternative Email Hosting Setup
Certain domain name registrars—for example, iwantmyname.com—let you add various popular services to your domain in a few clicks. Check with your registrar if it has such a simple setup process for email hosting with Zoho.
If it does, you can skip this tutorial and go with that alternative setup method to save some time. If it doesn’t, follow the steps below to configure Zoho Mail manually to manage email at your custom domain. Your setup experience might vary slightly if you’re using a region-specific version of Zoho such as zoho.in.
Step 1: Sign Up for Business Email With Zoho
You’ll need a business email account to host email at a custom domain. (With a personal email account, you get an email address that ends in @zoho.com.)
To start creating a business email account, visit Zoho Mail’s homepage. There, select the Business Email radio button and then click on the Sign Up Now button. This takes you to the Zoho Mail pricing page, where you’ll have to select a pricing tier.
If you want to host email at a single domain, Zoho’s Forever Free plan should be enough. Of course, the email hosting setup process remains more or less the same no matter which plan you go with.
After you select the sign-up button for the plan you need, it’s time to connect your domain:
Select the Sign up with a domain I already own radio button.
Type in your complete domain name (including the extension) in the field provided. The www bit of the URL is pre-filled for you.
Click on the Add button next to the field.
Zoho will then ask you for a few personal details including:
The username for the email address you want to set up. Zoho automatically appends it with your domain name and extension and treats this first user as the administrator.
A contact email address for special scenarios such as for resetting your password. This should be different from the one you’re creating now.
After you enter the required registration details, select the I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy checkbox and click on the Proceed button. Next, verify Zoho’s summary of your registration details and hit the Sign Up button to create your account.
At this point, Zoho will ask you to verify your mobile number and set up 2FA or two-factor authentication for your account. The first step is mandatory. If you aren’t ready to enable 2FA, you can skip this step using the Remind me later option provided.
Step 2: Add and Verify Your Domain
Now you’ve entered your domain’s Control Panel or the Domain Setup screen. And it’s time to verify that you indeed own the domain you’ve connected to Zoho. This tells Zoho that you do have administrative privileges to use Zoho’s services with the connected domain.
To verify your domain, you can go with one of these three methods:
TXT Method
CNAME Method
HTML Method
You’ll receive Zoho’s instructions for each method after you select your DNS hosting provider from the Select your domain’s DNS Manager from the list dropdown menu. Use this online tutorial to identify the DNS host for your domain.
(DNS providers are different from domain name registrars, although, the latter double up as DNS providers in some cases.)
Followed Zoho’s step-by-step instructions to verify your domain? Then it’s time to wait for the updated information to make its way around the web. In other words, you have to wait for DNS propagation, which might take a couple of hours. Here’s what DNS propagation means and how you can check its status.
Once the DNS changes have propagated, return to the Control Panel screen from before. There, click on the Verify… button that matches the verification method you have chosen. For example, if you added a TXT record for verification, click on the Verify by TXT button.
Here, Zoho prompts you to finish creating the primary user. Feel free to edit the username you’d chosen during the registration process.The first userautomaticallybecomes a Super Administrator and has complete control over the account.
Step 3: Set Up MX Records to Start Receiving Email
At this point, you can add more users to the account and create shared email addresses or groups. Ensure that you complete these steps before you configure email delivery at your new email address(es).
You’ll start receiving email only after you set up the MX records for your domain correctly with your DNS host. Here also, Zoho provides the necessary instructions after you select your DNS host.
Once you follow the instructions and update the MX Records, return to the Control Panel and click on the MX Lookup button. In the confirmation prompt that follows, click on the OK button.
Now you’re all set to receive messages in your new Zoho mailbox. You can go a step further and add SPF records and DKIM records to your domain. These will protect your domain as well as your incoming and outgoing emails from spammers and other malicious entities.
Zoho also walks you through the process of migrating your emails from your existing provider and setting up Zoho Mail’s mobile apps. That brings you to the end of Zoho’s official setup for receiving email at your own domain. Click on the Go to Workplace button to get started with your new mailbox and the productivity apps that go with it.
Get a Better Email Address
Zoho is one of the few reliable and convenient options that provide ad-free email hosting for your custom domain without any cost. This feature is one of the top reasons we recommend getting a Zoho account.
A new malware type targeting smartphones has infected some 25 million devices, 15 million of which are in India. The malware is dubbed “Agent Smith.” It targets the Android mobile operating system, replacing installed apps with a malicious version without alerting the user.
Here’s how you spot Agent Smith, how to stop it, and how to protect against Android malware.
What Is Agent Smith Malware?
Agent Smith is a modular malware that exploits a series of Android vulnerabilities to replace legitimate existing apps with a malicious imitation. (What is modular malware, anyway?) The malicious app doesn’t steal data. Instead, apps replaced display a huge number of adverts to the user or steal credit from the device to pay for adverts already served.
The malware carries the “Agent Smith” moniker, the same name as the infamous Matrix character who is characterized as a virus. The Check Point research team reason that the methods the malware uses to propagate are similar to Agent Smith’s techniques in the film series.
“The malware attacks user-installed applications silently, making it challenging for common Android users to combat such threats on their own,” says Check Point Software Technologies Head of Mobile Threat Detection Research Jonathan Shimonovich in the blog post. “Combining advanced threat prevention and threat intelligence while adopting a ‘hygiene first’ approach to safeguard digital assets is the best protection against invasive mobile malware attacks like “Agent Smith.”
Moreover, Agent Smith has infected a huge number of devices. India has by far the most infections. The Check Point research indicates some 15 million devices carrying Agent Smith. The next closest country is Bangladesh, with around 2.5 million devices infected. There were over 300,000 Agent Smith infections in the US and around 137,000 in the UK.
How Does the Agent Smith Malware Work?
Check Point Research believe the Agent Smith malware originates from a Chinese company that helps Chinese Android developers publish and promote apps in foreign markets.
The malware first appeared on the third-party app store “9Apps.” The third-party app store targets Indian, Arabic, and Indonesian users, explaining the significant number of infections in those areas. (It is a good reason to avoid downloading Android apps from third-party app stores.)
Agent Smith malware works in three phases.
A dropper app lures the victim to install the malware voluntarily. The initial dropper contains encrypted malicious files and usually takes the form of “barely functioning photo utility, games, or sex-related apps.”
The dropper decrypts and installs the malicious files. The malware uses Google Updater, Google Update for U, or “com.google.vending” to disguise its activity.
The core malware creates a list of installed apps. If an app matches its “prey list,” it patches the target app with a malicious advertising module, replacing the original as if it was a simple app update.
The prey list includes WhatsApp, Opera, SwiftKey, Flipkart, and Truecaller, among others.
Interestingly, Agent Smith bundles together several Android vulnerabilities, including Janus, Bundle, and Man-in-the-Disk. The combination creates a 3-stage infection process allowing the malware distributor to build a monetized (via adverts) botnet. The Check Point research team believe Agent Smith is “possibly the first campaign seen that integrates and weaponized” all the vulnerabilities together, making the malware “as malicious as they come.”
Agent Smith Malware Modules
Agent Smith malware uses a modular structure to infect targets, consisting of:
Loader
Core
Boot
Patch
AdSDK
Updater
The dropper is a repackaged legitimate application that also contains the malicious loader.
The loader extracts and runs the Core module, which in turn communicates with the malware command and control (C&C) server. The C&C server sends the prey list. If any apps are found, the malware uses a vulnerability to inject the Boot module into the repackaged application.
The next time the infected application starts, the Boot module runs the Patch module, which uses the AdSDK module to introduce the adverts and begin generating revenue.
Another interesting element of Agent Smith is that it doesn’t stop at one malicious app. If Agent Smith finds multiple app matches on the prey list, it will replace each one with a malicious version. Agent Smith also issues malicious update patches to the repackaged apps, keeping the infection going, and serving new advertising packages.
Removing Agent Smith Apps From Google Play
The main point of infection for Agent Smith was third-party app store, 9Apps. However, Google Play wasn’t untouched. Check Point discovered 11 apps on the Google Play store containing a “malicious yet dormant” set of files relating to the Agent Smith actor. The Google Play versions of Agent Smith use a slightly different propagation technique but have the same end-goal.
Check Point reported the malicious apps to Google, and all were removed from the Google Play store.
How to Spot and Remove Agent Smith From Android
You can spot Agent Smith fairly easily. If your regularly used apps suddenly start producing an overwhelming amount of adverts, it is a sure sign something is wrong. The ads the malware serves are difficult or impossible to exit, which is another indicator. But as Agent Smith acts almost silently bar the adverts, picking up on subtle changes to your apps is incredibly difficult.
Please note that apps suddenly displaying a huge volume of adverts isn’t the solo marker of Agent Smith. Other Android malware types serve adverts to increase revenue. Your device could have a different type of Android malware.
The first port of call is Malwarebytes Security, the Android version of the excellent antimalware tool. Download Malwarebytes Security and run a full system scan. It should catch and remove any malicious apps.
If Agent Smith or other Android malware persists, we strongly advise checking our guide to removing Android malware without a factory reset. It features more Android malware removal apps as well as a step-by-step guide to cleaning your device—without deleting any data!
Facebook has launched a tool for UK users to report ads they suspect of being scams.
The feature can be accessed by clicking the three dotsin the top right corner of each ad on Facebook, then selecting ‘Report ad’, then ‘Misleading or scamad’ and finally: ‘Send a detailed scam report’.
So if you want to think of it as a reporting ‘button’ it’s a button that actually requires four presses to function as intended…
Once a scam ad report has been filed, the feature will alert a dedicated internal ops team at Facebook that is tasked with handling reports — so will be reviewing reports and removing violating ads.
The new consumer safety feature follows a defamation lawsuit filed in April last year by consumer advice personality, Martin Lewis, who had become exasperated by the volume of scam ads misappropriating his image on social media to try to trick users into parting with their savings.
Earlier this year Lewis announced he was withdrawing his lawsuit after Facebook agreed to beef up its response to the problem by saying it would add the scam ad reporting feature — which is exclusive to the UK for now — and establish a local team to monitor ad trends for dubious activity.
Facebook also agreed to donate £3M worth of support in cash and Facebook ad credits to UK consumer advice charity, Citizens Advice, to fund the setting up of a Citizens Advice Scams Action (Casa) service — which has also launched today.
This service will provide specialist one-on-one help to those worried they’re being scammed or who have already lost money as a result of fake ads. It will also undertaken scam prevention work, including by raising awareness of online scams in the UK.
Writing in a blog post today on the money saving advice website he founded, Lewis confirms both the Facebook scam ad report tool and Casa have launched — the former some three months tardier than Facebook had suggested at their joint press conference in January.
As regards Casa, UK Internet users who think they have been, or are being, scammed online — either by ads or other methods — can now call the service on 0300 330 3003 for one-on-one help, or access http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scamsaction for more info or a web chat.
Face to face appointments will also be available in England, Wales and Scotland at local Citizens Advice bureaus. Lewis writes that the service is expected to help at least 20,000 people in the first year.
“These initiatives, which are available from today, are crucial, as scam ads can have devastating consequences,” he adds, noting that his own complaints to Facebook vis-a-vis scam ads bearing his image led to more than 1,000 ads being taken down.
“The adverts, placed by criminals, often use fake celebrity images or endorsements to dupe people into investing in fake ‘get rich quick’ schemes, buying diet pills and more.
“They can lead to many people being conned out of their cash – in the case below a man in his 80s lost almost £50,000 – and have a serious impact on people’s mental health and self-esteem.”
We’ve reached out to Facebook with questions, including whether it has plans to extend the scam ads reporting tool to other markets.
In a statement provided to Lewis, Steve Hatch, Facebook’s vice president for northern Europe, said: “Scam ads are an industry-wide problem caused by criminals and have no place on Facebook. Through our work with Martin Lewis, we’re taking a market leading position and our new reporting tool and dedicated team are important steps to stop the misuse of our platform.
“Prevention is also key. Our £3 million donation to Citizens Advice will not only help those who have been impacted by scammers, but raise awareness of how to avoid scams too. At a global level we’ve tripled the size of our safety and security team to 30,000 people and continue to invest heavily in removing bad content from our platform.”
Also commenting in a statement, Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, added: “We know online scams affect thousands of people every year. We’re pleased the agreement between Martin Lewis and Facebook meant we could set up this dedicated service to give more help to people who have fallen victim to online scams.
“This project means we can not only support people who have been targeted, but also raise awareness of what to look out for to help prevent online scams happening in the first place. Citizens Advice Scams Action will work alongside the free and impartial help we already offer to anyone who needs advice — whoever they are, whatever their problem.”
While celebrating the launch of Casa, Lewis’ blog post points out that the initial funding “won’t last for ever” — and he calls on other big online ad players to “follow Facebook’s lead, and put their hands in their pockets”.
At the press conference in January Lewis was especially critical of Google for being less responsive to the issue and for not having easy ways for users to report scam ads running on its networks.
We’ve reached out to Google for a response.
In another recent change to its ads platform, Facebook is also now providing users with more information about why they are seeing an ad — if they click through the menu to the option ‘why I am seeing this ad?’.
The company had been criticized for displaying only extremely general targeting criteria — making the feature appear more like a smokescreen than a genuine step towards ad targeting transparency. But last week Facebook said it was now showing “more detailed targeting, including the interests or categories that matched you with a specific ad”.
It also said it will be “clearer where that information came from (e.g. the website you may have visited or Page you may have liked)”.
Facebook also announced updates to the Ad Preferences menu to provide its users with more information about businesses and third parties that upload lists containing their personal data, such as their email address or phone number, to Facebook to target them with ads — though limiting the data to a 90-day snapshot.
“This section aims to help you understand the third parties and businesses who have uploaded and shared lists with your information,” it wrote of the changes. “In this section, you’ll see the business that initially uploaded a list, along with any advertiser who used that list to serve you an ad within the last 90 days.”
Despite this, Facebook still does not let users deny advertiser uploads of their personal data to Facebook via Facebook itself.
In order to do that a Facebook user would have to contact each and every advertiser individually.
Two years have passed since Snap Inc first struck a deal with Baidu that authorized China’s largest search engine to be a reseller of Snapchat ads for companies in Greater China as well as Japan and South Korea, where Baidu runs a portfolio of mobile apps.
This week, the pair announced they have renewed the sales partnership without revealing how revenues are divided between the two and when the extended agreement expires.
Despite being blocked in China like most other western social media services, Snap has shown interest in China in various capacities, including a research and development center in Shenzhen for Spectacles. It’s also serving the country’s game developers, e-commerce merchants and other export-led advertisers who wish to capture the network’s 190 million daily active users around the world.
Facebook and Twitter are in the same overseas ad business in China. Facebook, with an “experience center” in Shenzhen for clients to learn how its ads work, counted China as its second-largest ad spender in 2018, according to Pivotal Research Group. Twitter also holds an annual summit in China for small and medium enterprises going global.
None of the western social giants can go it alone in China, which is why Snap chose Baidu to be its local partner to not only overcome regulatory restrictions on foreign entities but also tap the latter for language support, account management and an extensive advertiser network.
Baidu also intended to resell Facebook ads but did not manage to get a license, a former Facebook employee who wishes to remain anonymous told TechCrunch. Instead, Facebook works with Cheetah Mobile,PapayaMobile and seven other advertising representatives in China.
Through the deal, companies that purchase media through Baidu gain access to all forms of ad slots in Snap’s videos, real-time selfie effects, overlays and more. The return can be satisfying. Besides the opportunity to capture a predominantly young user base, advertisers are reaching a sticky group who, on average, opens Snapchat over 20 times and spends over 30 minutes on the app every day.
“With its young, vibrant user base, Snap’s advertising platform has been instrumental in driving growth for our game AFK Arena,” said Chris Zhang, vice president of Shanghai-based Lilith Games, in a statement.
“Our partnership with Snap Inc. provides Chinese companies new avenues to expand their businesses through Snapchat advertising,” said Sheng Hu, head of U.S. strategy and partnership at Baidu’s Global Business Unit that operates a range of overseas products such as Japanese keyboard app Simeji. “We look forward to connecting with marketing executives in China and beyond on behalf of Snap to discuss the benefits of these advertising solutions.”
Shopping in the Mac App Store can be pretty expensive. Add online courses and digital subscriptions to your expenses, and your bank account will quickly run dry. Thankfully, there is a cheaper way to upgrade. The Mighty Mac Bundle offers lifetime online protection from VPNSecure, plus 167 hours of developer training and eight top Mac apps — and it’s currently just $29.99 at MakeUseOf Deals.
Mighty Bundle
Whether you’re interested in privacy or just trying to get things done, this bundle has you covered. What’s more, the line-up is worth over $1,800.
One of the headliners is VPNSecure. This highly-rated service helps you to stay anonymous online, block hackers, and unlock restricted content. With this bundle, you get lifetime unlimited protection on one Mac.
In addition, the bundle contains eight great Mac apps. CrossOver 13 lets you run Windows software inside macOS, and WALTR 2 makes it easier to sync your iOS devices. CleanMyMac X can speed up your machine, while MacPilot 10 and ActiveDock allow you to customize your workflow. You can also handle torrents with Folx Pro, share files instantly with Dropshare, and keep track of your bills with Chronicle Pro.
If that wasn’t enough, the bundle even contains 10 beginner-friendly courses on web development.
Less Than $30
With this deal, you can get all of the above for just $29.99. At that price, the bundle is worth buying for the lifetime VPN subscription alone!
Hulu is offering 4K content once again. The programming you can stream in 4K is currently limited, as is the number of platforms it’s available on. However, for Hulu subscribers who want to watch their favorite shows in the best possible quality, it’s a start.
In 2016, Hulu introduced 4K streaming, later than rivals such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hulu offered its Originals in 4K, as well as a selection of films. Then, in 2018, Hulu abruptly pulled support for 4K content, leaving 1080p HD as the best option.
Hulu Brings Back Support for 4K Content
Now, 4K content is back on Hulu. It has returned to less of a fanfare, and more of a whisper in the dark. We only know thanks to a tweet from Hulu Support, which itself was a reply to a tweet from someone upset at Hulu’s lack of 4K content.
According to the Hulu Help Center, content is now available in “various high definition (HD) video qualities, like 720p, 1080p, 4K Ultra HD, and 60fps high definition (HD)”. And “quality will automatically adjust based on your available bandwidth”.
We have good news! 4K streaming was just re-released today on select devices: https://t.co/5BjUFgexXk. You'll be able to watch any of our Hulu Originals in 4K. We hope this helps! ?
Ramping up the quality obviously requires higher bitrates. While streaming an SD video requires just 1.5 Mbps and 1080p HD requires 6 Mbps, an Ultra HD 4K video will consume at least 16 Mbps. So you’ll need to watch your data cap (if you have one).
Content is currently limited to a “select list of programming, including most Hulu Originals”. Which means The Handmaid’s Tale. As for platforms, Hulu’s 4K content is currently limited to the Apple TV (5th Generation or later) and the Chromecast Ultra.
Hulu Is Lagging Behind the Competition
It feels like Hulu has always been playing catch-up to its competitors when it comes to 4K content. And this hasn’t changed anything. However, it’s good to see 4K content streaming on Hulu once more, and this should just be the start.
Let’s be honest, if streaming in 4K is important to you, Hulu isn’t where it’s at. So you should probably consider subscribing to Netflix or Amazon Prime instead. Still, if you’re sticking with Hulu, here are some tips to help you get the most out of Hulu.
