Oppo’s new flagship has a bit of everything

It shares a name with the biggest little city in the world, and fittingly, the Oppo Reno appears to have a lot going for it. Top level, there’s a nutty pop up camera wedge for selfies, 10x zoom, a 48 megapixel camera, in-display fingerprint reader and an optional 5G version. It’s got a whole lot of everything.

The handset makes its debut in Zurich today, but the company’s offered up just about all of the insight you’ll need earlier this morning There are going to be a few different versions of the handset, including the 6.4 inch standard and the 6.6 inch version, which sports the aforementioned 10x Zoom, along with a Snapdragon 855.

We are excited to announce #OPPOReno will be one of the first commercially available 5G phones to hit the European market, and we are proud to partner with @Swisscom to achieve this milestone through our 5G Landing Project! #FirstTo5 #GetReadyForReno pic.twitter.com/WAglcDGnVF

— OPPO (@oppo) April 10, 2019

More info on the 5G version is still forthcoming, but Oppo says it will be “one of the first commercially available 5G phones to hit the European market,” using Swisscom’s network. On that note, I would be surprised to see the handset available in the States, as Oppo doesn’t have much of a footprint in this part of the world. More info on availability in places like Europe and India is coming later this month.

As for pricing, the base level model starts at around $450, with the zoom starting at around $600. Pricing on the non-5G versions go up to just over $700.

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For true transparency around political advertising, U.S. tech companies must collaborate

In October 2017 online giants Twitter, Facebook, and Google announced plans to voluntarily increase transparency for political advertising on their platforms. The three plans to tackle disinformation had roughly the same structure: funder disclaimers on political ads, stricter verification measures to prevent foreign entities from posting such ads, and varying formats of ad archives.

All three announcements came just before representatives from the companies were due to testify before Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election and reflected fears of forthcoming regulation, as well as concessions to consumer pressure.

Since then, the companies have continued to attempt to address the issue of digital deception occurring on their platforms.

Google recently released a white paper detailing how it would deal with online disinformation campaigns across many of its products. In the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections, Facebook announced it would ban false information about voting. These efforts reflect an awareness that the public is concerned about the use of social media to manipulate their votes and is pushing for tech companies to actively address the issue.

These efforts at self-regulation are a step in the right direction — but they fall far short of providing the true transparency necessary to inform voters about who is trying to influence them. The lack of consistency in disclosure across platforms, indecision over issue ads, and inaction on wider digital deception issues including fake and automated accounts, harmful micro-targeting, and the exposure of user data are major defects of this self-governing model.

For example, individuals looking at Facebook’s ad transparency platform are currently able to see information about who viewed an ad that is not currently available on Google’s platform. However, on Google the same user can see top keywords for advertisements, or search political ads by district, which cannot be done on Facebook.

With this inconsistency in disclosure across platforms, users are not able to get a full picture of who is trying to influence them, which prevents them from being able to cast an informed vote.

One hundred cardboard cutouts of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stand outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 10, 2018. Advocacy group Avaaz is calling attention to what the groups says are hundreds of millions of fake accounts still spreading disinformation on Facebook. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Issue ads pose an additional problem. These are public communications that do not reference particular candidates, focusing instead on hot-button political issues such as gun control or immigration. Issue ads cannot currently be regulated in the same way that political communications that refer to a candidate can due to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment.

Moreover, as Bruce Flack, Twitter’s General Manager for Revenue Product, pointed out in a blog post addressing the platform’s impending transparency efforts, “there is currently no clear industry definition for issue-based ads.”

In the same post, Flack indicated a potential solution, writing, “We will work with our peer companies, other industry leaders, policy makers and ad partners to clearly define [issue ads] quickly and integrate them into the new approach mentioned above.” This post was written 18 months ago, but no definition has been established—possibly because tech companies are not collaborating to systemically confront digital deception.

This lack of collaboration damages the public’s right to be politically informed. If representatives from the platforms where digital deception occurs most often — Facebook, Twitter, and Google — were to form an independent advisory group that met regularly and worked with regulators and civil society to discuss solutions to digital deception, transparency and disclosure across the platforms would be more complete.

The platforms could look to the example set by the nuclear power industry, where national and international nonprofit advisory bodies facilitate cooperation among utilities to ensure nuclear safety. The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) connects all 115 nuclear power plant operators in 34 countries in order to facilitate the exchange of experience and expertise. The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in the U.S. functions in a similar fashion but is able to institute tighter sanctions since it operates at the national level.

Similar to WANO and INPO, an independent advisory group for the technology sector could develop a consistent set of disclosure guidelines — based on policy regulations put in place by government — that would apply evenly across all social media platforms and search engines.

These guidelines would hopefully include a unified database of ads purchased by political groups as well as clear and uniform disclaimers of the source of each ad, how much it cost, and who it targeted. Beyond paid ads, the industry group could develop guidelines to increase transparency for all communications by organized political entities, address computational propaganda, and determine how best to safeguard users’ data.

Additionally, if the companies were working together, they could set up a consistent definition of what an issue ad is and determine what transparency guidelines should apply. This is particularly relevant given policymakers’ limited authority to regulate issue ads.

Importantly, working together regularly would allow platforms to identify technological advances that might catch policymakers by surprise. Deepfakes — fabricated images, audio, or video that purport to be authentic — represent one area where technology companies will almost certainly be ahead of lawmakers’ expertise. If digital corporations were working together as well as cooperating with government agencies, they could flag new technologies like these in advance and help regulators determine the best way to maintain transparency in the face of a rapidly changing technological landscape.

Would such collaboration ever happen? The extensive aversion to regulation shown by these companies indicates a worrying preference towards appeasing advertisers at the expense of the American public.

However, in August 2018, in advance of the midterm elections, representatives from large tech firms did meet to discuss countering manipulation on their platforms. This followed a meeting in May with U.S. intelligence officials, also to discuss the midterm elections. Additionally, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube formed the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism to disrupt terrorists’ ability to promote extremist viewpoints on those platforms. This shows that when they are motivated, technology companies can work together.

It’s time for Facebook, Twitter, and Google to put their obligation to the public interest first and work together to systematically address the threat to democracy posed by digital deception.

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Review: The $199 Echo Link turns the fidelity up to 11

The Echo Link takes streaming music and makes it sound better. Just wirelessly connect it to an Echo device and plug it into a set of nice speakers. It’s the missing link.

The Link bridges the gap between streaming music and a nice audio system. Instead of settling for the analog connection of an Echo Dot, the Echo Link serves audio over a digital connection and it makes just enough of a difference to justify the $200 price.

I plugged the Eco Link into the audio system in my office and was pleased with the results. This is the Echo device I’ve been waiting for.

In my case the Echo Link took Spotfiy’s 320 kbps stream and opened it up. The Link creates a wider soundstage and makes the music a bit more full and expansive. The bass hits a touch harder and the highs now have a new-found crispness. Lyrics are clearer and easier to pick apart. The differences are subtle. Everything is just slightly improved over the sound quailty found when using an Echo Dot’s 3.5mm output.

Don’t have a set of nice speakers? That’s okay, Amazon also just released the Echo Link Amp, which features a built-in amplifier capable of powering a set of small speakers (read the review here).

Here’s the thing: I’m surprised Amazon is making the Echo Link. The device caters to what must be a small demographic of Echo owners looking to improve the quality of Pandora or Spotify when using an audio system. And yet, without support for local or streaming high resolution audio, it’s not good enough for audiophiles. This is for wannabe audiophiles. Hey, that’s me.

Review

There are Echo’s scattered throughout my house. The devices provide a fantastic way to access music and NPR. The tiny Echo Link is perfect for the system in my office where I have a pair of Definitive Technology bookshelf speakers powered by an Onkyo receiver and amp. I have a turntable and SACD player connected to the receiver but those are a hassle when I’m at my desk. The majority of the time I listen to Spotify through the Amazon Echo Input.

I added the Onkyo amplifier to the system last year and it made a huge difference to the quality. The music suddenly had more power. The two-channel amp pushes harder than the receiver, and resulted in audio that was more expansive and clear. And at any volume, too. I didn’t know what I was missing. That’s the trick with audio. Most of the time the audio sounds great until it suddenly sounds better. The Echo Link provided me with the same feeling of discovery.

To be clear the $200 Echo Link does not provide a night and day difference in my audio quality. It’s a slight upgrade over the audio outputted by a $20 Echo Input — and don’t forget, an Echo device (like the $20 Echo Input) is required to make the Echo Link work.

The Echo Link provides the extra juice lacking from the Echo Input or Dot. Those less expensive options output audio to an audio system, but only through an analog connection. The Echo Link offers a digital connection through Toslink or Digital Coax. It has analog outputs that’s powered by a DAC with a superior dynamic range and total harmonic distortion found in the Input or Dot. It’s an easy way to improve the quality of music from streaming services.

The Echo Link, and Echo Link Amp, also feature a headphone amp. It’s an interesting detail. With this jack, someone could have the Echo Link on their desk and use it to power a set of headphones without any loss of quality.

I set up a simple A/B test to spot the differences between a Link and a Dot. First, I connected the Echo Link with a Toslink connection to my receiver and an Echo Input. I also connected an Echo Dot through its 3.5mm analog connection to the receiver. I created a group in the Alexa app of the devices. This allowed each of the devices to play the same source simultaneously. Then, as needed, I was able to switch between the Dot and Link with just a touch of a button, providing an easy and quick way to test the differences.

I’ll leave it up to you to justify the cost. To me, as someone who has invested money into a quality audio system, the extra cost of the Echo Link is worth it. But to others an Echo Dot could be enough.

It’s important to note that the Echo Link works a bit differently than other Echo devices connected to an audio system. When, say, a Dot is connected to an audio system, the internal speakers are turned off and all of the audio is sent to the system. The Echo Link doesn’t have to override the companion Echo. When an Echo Link is connected to an Echo device, the Echo still responds through its internal speakers; only music is sent to the Echo Link. For example, when the Echo is asked about the weather, the forecast is played back through the speakers in the Echo and not the audio system connected to the Echo Link. In most cases this allows the owner to turn off the high-power speakers and still have access to voice commands on the Echo.

The Echo Link takes streaming music and instantly improves the quality. In my case the improvements were slight but noticeable. It works with all the streaming services supported by Echo devices, but it’s important to note it does not work with Tidal’s high-res Master Audio tracks. The best the Echo Link can do is 320 kbps from Spotify or Tidal. This is a limiting factor and it’s not surprising. If the Echo Link supported Tidal’s Master Tracks, I would likely sign up for that service, and that is not in the best interest of Amazon which hopes I sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited.

I spoke to Amazon about the Echo Link’s lack of support for Tidal Master Tracks and they indicated they’re interested in hearing how customers will use the device before committing to adding support.

The Link is interesting. Google doesn’t have anything similar in its Google Home Line. The Sonos Amp is similar, but with a built-in amplifier, it’s a closer competitor to the Echo Link Amp. Several high-end audio companies sell components that can stream audio over digital connections yet none are as easy to use or as inexpensive as the Echo Link. The Echo Link is the easiest way to improve the sound of streaming music services.

Review: The $299 Echo Link Amp adds Alexa to any speaker

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Review: The $299 Echo Link Amp adds Alexa to any speaker

The Echo Link Amp is designed to give Echo owners options. Instead of settling for the sound from a couple of Echo speakers, this amp lets owners use a set of nice bookshelf speakers. Best yet, this replaces a large receiver generally needed to power speakers.

At $299 the Echo Link Amp lives in a curious spot. It’s less expensive and smaller than a traditional home audio system. Yet it’s more expensive than smaller desktop amps with a similar power rating.

Like it’s little brother the $199 Echo Link, the $299 Echo Link amp requires another Echo device. The Link and the Link Amp lack a microphone, which is needed to talk to the system. These two products are, if you will, the missing link between Alexa and better sound.

There are less expensive ways to replicate a lot of the Echo Link Amp’s feature set. There are a handful of small and powerful amps available for around $50 that can take audio from an Echo Dot and power a set of speakers. I use a $30 Lepai amp to power a set of Yamaha outdoor speakers on my deck. I used this system to test the Echo Link Amp.

Review

It’s finally nice outside here in Michigan. The sun is out and the leaves are budding. I’m writing this from my deck where I have two Yamaha speakers connected to a small amp and an Echo Dot, which are mounted the floorboards. It’s the best. I can yell requests to the Dot from my fire pit. The Dot and $30 amp have survived two Michigan winters, too.

This is the perfect use case for the Echo Link Amp though I’m sure Amazon will disapprove of the placement outside. That’s okay.

Like when I tested the Echo Link, I enlisted the help of another Echo product to make switching between the audio sources a bit easier. Using an AV switcher I was able to connect everything simultaneously and press a button to switch between the sources. I cued up some summer BBQ music and stepped back remote in hand.

There wasn’t a difference.

The $30 amp had the same bass response, vocal reproduction and soundstage as the $300 Echo Link Amp. On paper the Echo Link Amp has more power but in practice that power did not result in a difference with these outdoor speakers. I disconnected everything and this time plugged the speakers directly into the amps. Nothing changed. Hank Jr. sounded the same. For better or worse, of course.

I tried the system on a set of old Infinity speakers and had the same results. The sound had the same fidelity. On both systems the highs were just as high and the lows were just as low. The quality had the same, admittedly, lack of punch but sounded good enough to blast Kenny Chesney throughout my yard.

The $299 Echo Link Amp shares a lot with the $199 Echo Link. The main difference, as the name suggests, is the amp. The Link Amp has the ability to drive a set of speakers where the Link needs to be connected to an amplifier. I found the Echo Link to be a fantastic addition to a home audio setup. The $199 device provides a digital connection lacking on other Echo devices and I found it to improve the audio quality of streaming services.

The Echo Link Amp, however, is a touch disappointing but at the same time very proficient at its job. Buyers are paying for the ease of use more than the quality of the amplifier. It’s clever too. If the connected Echo Dot is asked a question, it responds with the answer. This lets the owner to turn off the amplifier and still retain access to Alexa. Only when the owner asks the Echo to play audio does it offload the task to the powered speakers.

With a series of inputs, the Echo Link Amp can easily serve several roles including as a 2.1 channel home theater receiver.

The Echo Link Amp is a lovely device even though I find the audio quality lacking when compared to less expensive amps. It’s clever and I’m surprised Amazon is selling the device. While the rest of the Echo product line is a mass market play, the Echo Link and Echo Link Amp are designed for a smaller market. The Echo Link Amp features a set of functions unavailable on any other Echo device and the easiest way to add Alexa to a set of speakers.

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Review: The $199 Echo Link turns the fidelity up to 11

The Echo Link takes streaming music and makes it sound better. Just wirelessly connect it to an Echo device and plug it into a set of nice speakers. It’s the missing link.

The Link bridges the gap between streaming music and a nice audio system. Instead of settling for the analog connection of an Echo Dot, the Echo Link serves audio over a digital connection and it makes just enough of a difference to justify the $200 price.

I plugged the Eco Link into the audio system in my office and was pleased with the results. This is the Echo device I’ve been waiting for.

In my case the Echo Link took Spotfiy’s 320 kbps stream and opened it up. The Link creates a wider soundstage and makes the music a bit more full and expansive. The bass hits a touch harder and the highs now have a new-found crispness. Lyrics are clearer and easier to pick apart. The differences are subtle. Everything is just slightly improved over the sound quailty found when using an Echo Dot’s 3.5mm output.

Don’t have a set of nice speakers? That’s okay, Amazon also just released the Echo Link Amp, which features a built-in amplifier capable of powering a set of small speakers (read the review here).

Here’s the thing: I’m surprised Amazon is making the Echo Link. The device caters to what must be a small demographic of Echo owners looking to improve the quality of Pandora or Spotify when using an audio system. And yet, without support for local or streaming high resolution audio, it’s not good enough for audiophiles. This is for wannabe audiophiles. Hey, that’s me.

Review

There are Echo’s scattered throughout my house. The devices provide a fantastic way to access music and NPR. The tiny Echo Link is perfect for the system in my office where I have a pair of Definitive Technology bookshelf speakers powered by an Onkyo receiver and amp. I have a turntable and SACD player connected to the receiver but those are a hassle when I’m at my desk. The majority of the time I listen to Spotify through the Amazon Echo Input.

I added the Onkyo amplifier to the system last year and it made a huge difference to the quality. The music suddenly had more power. The two-channel amp pushes harder than the receiver, and resulted in audio that was more expansive and clear. And at any volume, too. I didn’t know what I was missing. That’s the trick with audio. Most of the time the audio sounds great until it suddenly sounds better. The Echo Link provided me with the same feeling of discovery.

To be clear the $200 Echo Link does not provide a night and day difference in my audio quality. It’s a slight upgrade over the audio outputted by a $20 Echo Input — and don’t forget, an Echo device (like the $20 Echo Input) is required to make the Echo Link work.

The Echo Link provides the extra juice lacking from the Echo Input or Dot. Those less expensive options output audio to an audio system, but only through an analog connection. The Echo Link offers a digital connection through Toslink or Digital Coax. It has analog outputs that’s powered by a DAC with a superior dynamic range and total harmonic distortion found in the Input or Dot. It’s an easy way to improve the quality of music from streaming services.

The Echo Link, and Echo Link Amp, also feature a headphone amp. It’s an interesting detail. With this jack, someone could have the Echo Link on their desk and use it to power a set of headphones without any loss of quality.

I set up a simple A/B test to spot the differences between a Link and a Dot. First, I connected the Echo Link with a Toslink connection to my receiver and an Echo Input. I also connected an Echo Dot through its 3.5mm analog connection to the receiver. I created a group in the Alexa app of the devices. This allowed each of the devices to play the same source simultaneously. Then, as needed, I was able to switch between the Dot and Link with just a touch of a button, providing an easy and quick way to test the differences.

I’ll leave it up to you to justify the cost. To me, as someone who has invested money into a quality audio system, the extra cost of the Echo Link is worth it. But to others an Echo Dot could be enough.

It’s important to note that the Echo Link works a bit differently than other Echo devices connected to an audio system. When, say, a Dot is connected to an audio system, the internal speakers are turned off and all of the audio is sent to the system. The Echo Link doesn’t have to override the companion Echo. When an Echo Link is connected to an Echo device, the Echo still responds through its internal speakers; only music is sent to the Echo Link. For example, when the Echo is asked about the weather, the forecast is played back through the speakers in the Echo and not the audio system connected to the Echo Link. In most cases this allows the owner to turn off the high-power speakers and still have access to voice commands on the Echo.

The Echo Link takes streaming music and instantly improves the quality. In my case the improvements were slight but noticeable. It works with all the streaming services supported by Echo devices, but it’s important to note it does not work with Tidal’s high-res Master Audio tracks. The best the Echo Link can do is 320 kbps from Spotify or Tidal. This is a limiting factor and it’s not surprising. If the Echo Link supported Tidal’s Master Tracks, I would likely sign up for that service, and that is not in the best interest of Amazon which hopes I sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited.

I spoke to Amazon about the Echo Link’s lack of support for Tidal Master Tracks and they indicated they’re interested in hearing how customers will use the device before committing to adding support.

The Link is interesting. Google doesn’t have anything similar in its Google Home Line. The Sonos Amp is similar, but with a built-in amplifier, it’s a closer competitor to the Echo Link Amp. Several high-end audio companies sell components that can stream audio over digital connections yet none are as easy to use or as inexpensive as the Echo Link. The Echo Link is the easiest way to improve the sound of streaming music services.

Review: The $299 Echo Link Amp adds Alexa to any speaker

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CleverTap lands $26M for its mobile-focused customer marketing service

CleverTap, an India-based startup that lets companies track and improve engagement with users across the web, has pulled in $26 million in new funding thanks to a round led by Sequoia India.

Existing investor Accel and new backer Tiger Global also took part in the deal, which values CleverTap at $150-$160 million, the startup disclosed. The deal takes CleverTap to around $40 million from investors to date.

Founded in 2015 and based in Mumbai, CleverTap competes with a range of customer experience services, including Oracle Cloud. Its service covers a range of touchpoints with consumers, including email, in-app activity, push notifications, Facebook, WhatsApp (for business) and Viber. Its service helps companies map out how their users are engaging across those vectors, and develop “re-engagement” programs to help reactive dormant users or increase engagement among others.

The company says its SDK is installed in over 8,000 apps and it some of the public clients it names include Southeast Asia-based duo Go-Jek and Zilingo, Hotstar in India and struggling U.S. startup Fandango. With a considerable customer base in Asia, CleverTap puts a particular focus on mobile because many of these markets are all about personal devices.

“Asia is mobile-first and massively growing,” CleverTap CEO and co-founder Sunil Thomas told TechCrunch in an interview. “A lot of engagement in this [part of the] world is timely… we were sort of born physically on the east side of the world, so we got to scale with all these diverse set of devices.”

That stands to benefit CleverTap as it seeks to grow market share outside of Asia, and in markets like the U.S. and Europe where mobile is — right now — just one part of the marketing and customer engagement process. The company believes that engagement by mobile has a long way to develop there.

“Engagement [in the West] is still email-heavy and not really timely,” Thomas said. “Whereas the East thinks of it as ‘Hey, let’s be proactive… instead of a user coming in to hunt for information, can I provide it when I think he or she will need it?'”

Of course, mobile push and in-app notifications can be easily abused.

Most people will know of an app on their phone — or perhaps once on their phone — that falls into that category. So, how does a company know what is too much or what isn’t enough?

“As long as you use push or in-app as an extension of your brand, then I think it’s extremely useful,” explained Thomas. “After all, this is a really competitive world; it isn’t just your app out there — if you can make your brand count when this person isn’t in your app, that’ll help you.”

More broadly, Thomas argued that CleverTap brings data to the table which, ultimately, “changes the whole context in real time.” So a customer can really look holistically at their online presence and figure out what is working, and with which users. In real terms, when used to acquire new users online, he said he believes that CleverTap typically doubles registration conversions and triples the buying rate.

“The cost of acquisition to first purchase is what we really effect,” said Thomas. “It’s that moment you get a new person into your house.”

CleverTap has just opened an office in Singapore, and it plans to add a location in Indonesia before the end of the year. Both of those expansions are centered around business development, with some customer support. Already, according to Thomas, the company is looking to grow in Europe while it is weighing the potential to enter Latin America in a move that could include a local partnership.

The CleverTap CEO is also considering raising more money towards the end of the year, when he believes that the company can push its valuation as high as $400 million.

“That’s very doable based on revenue growth,” he said. “We think that the revenue will demand that valuation.”

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Movo grabs $22.5M to get more cities in LatAm scooting

Madrid-based micromobility startup Movo has closed a €20 million (~$22.5M) Series A funding round to accelerate international expansion.

The 2017 founded Spanish startup targets cities in its home market and in markets across LatAm, offering last mile mobility via rentable electric scooters (e-mopeds and e-scooters) plotted on an app map. It’s a subsidiary of local ride-hailing firm, Cabify, which provided the seed funding for the startup.

Movo’s Series A round is led by two new investors: Insurance firm Mutua Madrileña, doubtless spying strategic investment potential in helping diversify its business by growing the market for humans to scoot around cities on two wheels — and VC fund Seaya Ventures, an early investor in Cabify.

Both Mutua Madrileña and Seaya Ventures are now taking a seat on Movo’s board.

Commenting on the Series A in a statement, Javier Mira, general director of Mutua Madrileña, said: “The equity investment in Movo reflects Mutua Madrileña’s aspiration to respond to the new mobility needs that are emerging, and to the economic and social changes that are occurring and that are transforming our life habits.”

Movo currently operates in six cities across five countries — Spain, México, Colombia, Perú and Chile.

It first launched an e-moped service in Madrid a year ago, according to a spokeswoman, and has since expanded domestic operations to the southern Spanish coastal city of Malaga, as well as riding into Latin America.

The new funding is mostly pegged for further international expansion, with a plan to expand into new markets in LatAm including Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Movo is targeting operating in a total of 10 countries by the end of 2019.

The Series A will also be used to grow its vehicle fleet in existing markets, it said.

“We are very excited to be able to offer a solution to the problems of mobility in cities, particularly for short distances in areas with high population density,” said CEO Pedro Rivas in a statement. “We are committed to working together with governments to complement mass public transport with these new micromobility alternatives, so that people can get around in a more sustainable and efficient way.”

Commenting on its investment in the Cabify subsidiary, Seaya Ventures’ Beatriz Gonzalez, founder and managing partner, said the fund is “committed to the evolution of mobility towards sustainable alternatives in the world’s major cities”.

“We want to be part of the transport revolution by promoting projects like Cabify and, of course, Movo,” she said in a statement which seeks to paint micromobility as a solution for urban congestion and poor air quality. “We are motivated to continue to promote companies with which we share this sense of responsibility towards the development and improvement of people’s quality of life.”

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Movo grabs $22.5M to get more cities in LatAm scooting

Madrid-based micromobility startup Movo has closed a €20 million (~$22.5M) Series A funding round to accelerate international expansion.

The 2017 founded Spanish startup targets cities in its home market and in markets across LatAm, offering last mile mobility via rentable electric scooters (e-mopeds and e-scooters) plotted on an app map. It’s a subsidiary of local ride-hailing firm, Cabify, which provided the seed funding for the startup.

Movo’s Series A round is led by two new investors: Insurance firm Mutua Madrileña, doubtless spying strategic investment potential in helping diversify its business by growing the market for humans to scoot around cities on two wheels — and VC fund Seaya Ventures, an early investor in Cabify.

Both Mutua Madrileña and Seaya Ventures are now taking a seat on Movo’s board.

Commenting on the Series A in a statement, Javier Mira, general director of Mutua Madrileña, said: “The equity investment in Movo reflects Mutua Madrileña’s aspiration to respond to the new mobility needs that are emerging, and to the economic and social changes that are occurring and that are transforming our life habits.”

Movo currently operates in six cities across five countries — Spain, México, Colombia, Perú and Chile.

It first launched an e-moped service in Madrid a year ago, according to a spokeswoman, and has since expanded domestic operations to the southern Spanish coastal city of Malaga, as well as riding into Latin America.

The new funding is mostly pegged for further international expansion, with a plan to expand into new markets in LatAm including Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Movo is targeting operating in a total of 10 countries by the end of 2019.

The Series A will also be used to grow its vehicle fleet in existing markets, it said.

“We are very excited to be able to offer a solution to the problems of mobility in cities, particularly for short distances in areas with high population density,” said CEO Pedro Rivas in a statement. “We are committed to working together with governments to complement mass public transport with these new micromobility alternatives, so that people can get around in a more sustainable and efficient way.”

Commenting on its investment in the Cabify subsidiary, Seaya Ventures’ Beatriz Gonzalez, founder and managing partner, said the fund is “committed to the evolution of mobility towards sustainable alternatives in the world’s major cities”.

“We want to be part of the transport revolution by promoting projects like Cabify and, of course, Movo,” she said in a statement which seeks to paint micromobility as a solution for urban congestion and poor air quality. “We are motivated to continue to promote companies with which we share this sense of responsibility towards the development and improvement of people’s quality of life.”

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Watch day 2 of Google Cloud Next live right here

Yesterday, the opening keynote for Google’s Cloud Next conference was packed with news, from Google’s hybrid cloud platform Anthos to Google’s new product to turn a container into a URL. At 9 AM PT, 12 PM ET, 5 PM GMT, Google is opening day 2 of its conference with the product innovation keynote.

Later at 4:30 PM PT, 7:30 PM PT, you’ll be able to watch the developer keynote:

Along with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, Google is building the infrastructure of the web. Countless startups use Google Cloud as their only hosting provider. And there are now more and more specialized and niche services launching. So it’s going to be interesting to see what Google has in store to beat their competitors on the cloud front.

We’ll have a team on the ground covering all the announcements and explaining what it means.

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Don’t Get Fooled by Employment Scams: How They Work

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Amazon Order Scams, Improve Your Memory, and 10 Old PC Games Still Worth Playing

We’re back with a big bunch of tips and tricks in the latest Really Useful Podcast. If you’ve ever been hit by an Amazon order scam, or want to improve your memory skills, this is the show for you!

We also take a look at how to play Snake in Google Maps and make Google Assistant sound like John Legend. Plus, 10 great PC games you can still play on Windows 10.

Really Useful Podcast Season 2 Episode 9 Shownotes

As ever, we provide you with the links to the topics we discuss in this week’s Really Useful Podcast:

• Make Google Assistant sound like John Legend
• Play Snake in Google Maps
• Improve your memory recall
• Spot Amazon order scams
• 10 PC games still worth playing
• MakeUseOf Xbox One X giveaway

This week’s hosts are Christian Cawley and James Frew, who you can follow on Twitter:

• @thegadgetmonkey
• @jimjamfroo

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Read the full article: Amazon Order Scams, Improve Your Memory, and 10 Old PC Games Still Worth Playing

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Facebook Makes It Easier to Manage Memorialized Accounts

People die. And when they do, the internet can be both a blessing and a curse. Especially when it comes to social networks.

On the one hand it allows people to live on in digital form. A person’s online presence remaining long after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. However, this can be a painful reminder to those still living that they’ve lost someone close to them.

For a long time, Facebook has allowed users to memorialize the accounts of those who have died. Which preserves them forever. And now the social network is rolling out several changes to make it easier to manage memorialized accounts.

Facebook Protects People Who Have Died

In a post on the Facebook Newsroom, COO Sheryl Sandberg explains how the social network wants “Facebook to be a place where people can support each other while honoring the memory of their loved ones”. Which has resulted in a trio of changes.

First is a new Tributes section for memorialized profiles. With millions of people visiting memorialized accounts every month, Facebook has created a tab “where family and friends can share posts […] all while preserving the original timeline of their loved one”.

Making It Easier to Honor a Loved One on Facebook After They Pass Away https://t.co/ZhqJvgCoMK

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) April 9, 2019

Legacy contacts are also gaining additional controls for memorialized accounts. This means that the person entrusted to take care of the account of the deceased can moderate posts, edit who can post and see posts, and change certain settings.

Last but not least, Facebook will now be using AI to better protect people’s feelings. This should prevent people who have died being invited to events and friends of the deceased being sent a reminder to wish them a happy birthday.

Who Owns Your Data When You Die?

Facebook has justifiably come in for a lot of criticism of late over its attitude to privacy and security. However, as far as the memorialized accounts of those who have passed away, the social network genuinely seems to have people’s feelings in mind.

While it isn’t something many of us ever think about, there are some interesting issues surrounding what happens to our online data when we die. And we explored many of these issues in our look at who owns your data when you are dead?

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Ticket-O-Matic Is the Best Fake Airline Ticket Generator

Are you looking for a fake airline ticket generator? There’s only one app worth talking about: Ticket-O-Matic.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to create elaborate pranks or just dream of a summer vacation in the sun, this is the app you need. Keep reading to find out how to use the app to make a fake flight ticket.

Creating a Fake Airline Ticket

Creating a ticket is easy. To get started, head to the Ticket-O-Matic fake ticket generator website and click the Start Now link in the center of the page.

Enter Your Details

On the first screen, you can enter your passenger details and flight information.

For added realism, the app even includes a link to a handy list of worldwide airport codes. Unfortunately, the number of supported airlines is slightly limited. You have 33 to choose from, though most familiar ones are offered.

Hit Done when you’re ready to move to the second step.

Download Your Fake Airline Ticket

One the next screen, you can download your fake air ticket.

You have two formats to choose from: PNG and JPG. The JPG file is smaller, but the image quality isn’t as good. Make your choice and click the corresponding download button.

If you’d rather send your ticket to a friend, click the Email Me link in the center of the screen.

You have two and a half hours to download your creation, otherwise, Ticket-O-Matic will delete it.

Ticket-O-Matic’s Limitations

For a fun and free tool, Ticket-O-Matic is hard to criticize. There are a couple of drawbacks though:

• You cannot choose your seat number.
• There’s no way to alter the color of the background or airline logo (in my example, the Aeromexico logo is red, it should be dark blue).
• You cannot make an entire fake flight itinerary—only a ticket is available.
• The developer’s logo is always in the bottom left-hand corner. It’s a giveaway if you’re trying to fool someone. You will need to edit it out.

Buy a Real Airline Ticket!

If you would like to buy a real ticket and actually go on holiday somewhere nice, make sure you check out our article on the best apps to find the cheapest airline tickets.

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These 8 Overcooked 2 Tips Will Help You Serve Up Victory

Overcooked 2 is a fantastic game which should appeal to fans of cooking, simulation games, and fast-paced action games equally. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy game to get the hang of, so we have rounded up a number of Overcooked 2 tips to help you succeed.

A Brief History of the Overcooked Series

If you’re a fan of simulation games, then you’ve probably heard of the Overcooked series. The first Overcooked originally came out in August 2016. Fast-forward to two years later, and Overcooked 2 arrived on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.

Overcooked 2 is a frantic cooking simulation game that offers co-op and competitive play. It’s packed with insane kitchens full of various obstacles and hazards. Players must rapidly prepare different recipes and fulfill customer orders within a time limit.

Overcooked 2 is a crazy cooking game for everyone, especially when playing with friends (or strangers) through the local co-op or online multiplayer. And the following tips should help you win at Overcooked 2 before Overcooked 3 inevitably gets released.

1. Delegate Tasks to All Players

In Overcooked 2’s single-player campaign, you control two chefs in the kitchen by constantly switching between them (with the L or R triggers on consoles). While it gets difficult switching back and forth for different kitchen tasks, you at least get complete control over what’s happening.

As you play with up to three other people, things get a bit harder to manage, especially when you and your friends choose similar-looking chefs. With the brand new Overcooked characters like the mouse, eagle, octopus, beaver, unicorn, and platypus, you hopefully won’t confuse your chefs.

Overcooked 2 is all about working together to get orders out. To maximize efficiency, everyone playing should study the layout of each Overcooked level, and then take charge of a task. Or delegate one person as the manager and have them assign tasks.

For example, it’s efficient to have one person gather ingredients, while another is in charge of chopping and tenderizing. In the meantime, someone else cooks and plates, and the last person serves and clean dishes. If you have fewer than four people, then everyone may have more than one task to do.

Some stages have kitchens that move around every so often, so that’s another important factor to keep in mind. This causes the layouts to change, so players also need to adapt to these changes and switch roles instantly if necessary.

2. Watch Your Pots and Pans

Once a pot or pan has ingredients in it and is over the burner, it starts cooking. If a pot or pan stays on the burner for too long, it will start a fire—so make sure you’re watching them. An exclamation mark and audible warning begin after a few moments, which is helpful when the kitchen is chaotic.

The cooking timer gets delayed once you add another ingredient, so if you’re making soup and it’s about to burn, just toss in another ingredient to reset the timer. If there are no ingredients available, just take the pot or pan off the burner and place it on the counter. It stops cooking but picks up where it left off once replaced.

If you do let a pot or pan burn, it causes a fire that spreads quickly. To put it out, grab the fire extinguisher (there’s always one around) and use the action button to put out the flames. You can’t use burned utensils until you “toss” them out, which means taking them to the garbage disposal and emptying out the burnt contents.

It’s important to note that cooking is always the longest process in the kitchen. Because of this, it’s always recommended to have at least two dishes (if not more) cooking at once, so everything’s ready to go when needed.

3. Toss Ingredients

The first Overcooked requires you to walk your ingredients across the entire kitchen in order to pass it on to another cook. Fortunately, Overcooked 2 does away with this time-consuming task—you can now toss your ingredients directly to your fellow chefs, instead of just throwing them on the ground.

In some Overcooked levels (like the one below), you’re forced to throw food. Some kitchens are permanently split for the entire level, so you’ll have to make do.

Whip your tomatoes, chicken legs, and hamburger patties to the chef (or into the pan) on the other side of the kitchen using X on Nintendo Switch, Y on Xbox One, and Triangle on PS4. Try your best to aim the ingredient at another chef. Otherwise, it’ll fall to the floor and the other chef will waste time picking it up.

Keep in mind that the throw button is the same as your cut button. When you’re ready to cut, be sure to stand right in front of the cutting board, or you’ll end up accidentally throwing an ingredient.

4. Scoop Out Rice and Use Buns as Plates

Luckily, you don’t need Overcooked cheats to get through a tough level—you need a strategy. And sometimes, that strategy isn’t something you’d normally do in real life.

You’d think that when the rice’s done, you should pour the contents onto a plate. But this involves taking the pot off the burner, and then you have to put it back before proceeding with another task.

It’s easier to take a plate up to the pot, and use the plate to “scoop” out the rice and serve it. This way, the pot stays on the burner, ready for another batch of rice. The same goes for soup and pasta.

On stages where you make burgers, sometimes plates aren’t ready for cooked patties. Since the game’s burgers all have buns, players can place cooked patties into buns themselves and have them resting on the counter until a plate’s available.

This Overcooked strategy definitely isn’t sanitary, but it works. It applies to tortillas and rolled pizza dough as well.

5. Split Up Ingredients

As mentioned earlier, some stages will cut you off from the ingredient, chopping, or cooking areas. For these kitchens, it’s important to make sure that you have something to work on at all times.

In order for this to happen, you may have to throw some raw or chopped ingredients onto the floor in a specific sector of the kitchen, or into another chef’s hands. This way, the cook in that part of the kitchen can get some work done too.

Again, these are not sanitary kitchens, but you have to do whatever it takes to get as many orders out as possible.

You should also make sure that dirty dishes get into the sink area. While one chef cooks, another can wash up the plates.

6. Stack Dirty Plates

Speaking of dirty plates, there’s a more efficient way of dealing with them. When you serve a dish, a dirty plate comes back after a few moments once the customer’s done eating.

Judging by the flow of the kitchen, you may think it’s logical to take that single dirty dish to the sink, wash it, then place it on the counter near the cooking area. However, players are able to stack dirty plates together, then take them to the sink to clean. This can be a time saver, as you are moving one stack of plates rather than making multiple trips back and forth.

7. Go With the Flow

Sprinting is incredibly useful in the kitchen, as well as when traversing the world map. Pressing the sprint button (Circle on PS4, B on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch). allows your truck or cook to dash forward in a straight line, so it’s great for saving time.

But be careful when sprinting in the kitchen. If you slam into another cook, it pushes them back quite a bit and may cause chaos, so use it with caution.

In the above screencap, you can see that Overcooked 2 also introduces moving walkways. Since these walkways only move in one direction, you need to make sure that you walk on them in the direction that their arrows point. Walking with the current will give you a brief speedup, while walking against it will slow you down immensely.

Another Overcooked strategy that you should master is cutting up food while a counter shifts. To do this, players must move against the direction of the counter while holding down on the action (cut) button. This way, you don’t waste a second.

8. Pay Attention to Customer Patience

Just like real life, the customers in Overcooked 2 have their own level of patience when it comes to waiting for their food.

In each kitchen, orders from customers come in along the top of the screen. This tells you exactly what they want, whether it’s sushi, pasta, fries, salad, fried chicken, or whatever. At the top of the order is a colored bar. This indicates the customer’s patience, and it’s vital to pay attention to it.

As you’d expect, each one starts off green when it’s a new order. The bar will gradually decrease, becoming yellow, then orange, and finally red when time for that order is about to expire.

Cooks should focus their attention on orders that are not about to run out of time. Once the patience for an order is gone, it’s dropped. This means instead of wasting your resources in filling that order that won’t even matter, it’s more efficient to work on other orders that have enough time left.

Get Cooking With These Overcooked 2 Tips

While Overcooked 2 may seem like a silly cooking game at first, it’s one of those simple games that are surprisingly deep.

The later stages get crazy. You’ll encounter haunted swamps, lightning storms, and even teleportation portals. It’s the variety of Overcooked 2 that makes this a worthy successor to the original Overcooked—not to mention that it’s unlike any cooking simulation that you’ve played before.

There are several ways to get better at video games, but hopefully these Overcooked 2 tips and tricks will help you succeed in those insane kitchens. Even if you aren’t good at the game, it’s still a ton of fun to play with family and friends.

If you love playing Overcooked on the Switch, you should check out the best Nintendo Switch games money can buy. And for more frantic gaming fun, check out the best speedruns that you can learn from.

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The 10 Best Firefox Add-Ons for Android

Firefox is the browser for power users. It’s fast, privacy-focused, and endlessly customizable using extensions. Firefox for Android follows in the same footsteps.

Unlike Google Chrome, it supports extensions (or add-ons, as Firefox calls them). While not all add-ons from the desktop version of Firefox work on Android, a lot of the popular ones do. In fact, you’ll find add-ons specifically designed to solve issues faced by Android users.

Check out the best Firefox add-ons for Android below.

1. Dark Reader

Dark Reader is a popular extension that enables dark mode for all websites. The beauty of this tool is that it can be as simple or complex as you’d like. At the basic level, you can just turn it on and forget about it. All websites will now open with a dark background and white text, making it easier on your eyes.

But if you open the add-on’s options, you’ll find that you can fine-tune the theme details, switch to a different theme, and create website-specific themes as well. And of course, you can add a website to the blacklist so it opens in the default view.

Download: Dark Reader (Free)

2. Simple Gesture

Simple Gesture is a must-have add-on for anyone who spends hours browsing Firefox on their phone. Once enabled, you can configure simple directional gestures for doing common tasks. For example, a right swipe takes you forward, while a left swipe sends you back to the previous page. The add-on supports actions like next tab, previous tab, new tab, close tab, refresh page, and more.

In addition, Simple Gesture lets you combine multi-directional swipes into a single gesture. For example, you swipe down, then left, and swipe up to reload the page. This can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you get used to the gesture, you’ll love the ability to navigate between all open tabs without hitting the menu button.

Download: Simple Gesture (Free)

3. Ghostery

Ghostery is a powerful Firefox privacy add-on that every user should install. It’s an all-in-one extension that blocks ad trackers, frees up clutter on web pages, and speeds up the web for you.

You’ll see the extension in action every time you load a new page. It shows a little circle in the bottom-left corner with the number of trackers found. Tapping on this will expand to show the names of the trackers found and the ones it blocked.

Download: Ghostery (Free)

4. Video Background Play Fix

This simple add-on gives you access to a paid YouTube Premium feature for free. Once installed, you’ll be able to play any video from YouTube in the background.

Just start playing a video and exit the app. The audio will still play in the background and you’ll see a playback notification, from which you can play or pause the video.

Download: Video Background Play Fix (Free)

5. I Don’t Care About Cookies

The EU’s new GDPR regulations require websites to ask for your permission before installing cookie trackers. As a result, the frequency of annoying cookie tracking messages has gone way up. Plus, if you use an add-on like Cookie AutoDelete that deletes cookies every time you close a tab, seeing a popup every time you open a web page gets quite frustrating.

The solution here is quite simple; install the I Don’t Care About Cookies add-on and forget about your cookie troubles.

Download: I Don’t Care About Cookies (Free)

6. HTTPS Everywhere

While most websites do support the encrypted HTTPS protocol, some websites still default to unsecured HTTP pages. The HTTPS Everywhere add-on forces every website to open its secure HTTPS version.

To stay secure, you can also use this add-on to automatically stop any HTTP page from ever loading in the browser.

Download: HTTPS Everywhere (Free)

7. Tab Close Button

One big issue with Firefox for Android is that it hides too many important features behind the menu button. Buttons like back and close require two taps instead of one. This simple add-on adds a small X button between the URL bar and menu button. Tapping it closes the current tab.

Download: Tab Close Button (Free)

8. Cookie AutoDelete

Cookie AutoDelete makes it simple to prevent trackers from following you across the web without the need to install a full-fledged privacy add-on. The extension does just one job and does it well.

Every time you close a tab, the cookies pertaining to that website and tab are instantly deleted. Of course, you can whitelist websites where you want to continue using cookies.

Download: Cookie AutoDelete (Free)

9. Redirect AMP to HTML

When you tap a search result from the Google results page, chances are that you’ve opened an AMP page. AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, is Google’s protocol for serving mobile websites quickly. While it does accomplish this goal, it does so at the cost of privacy and an inferior user experience.

The Redirect AMP to HTML add-on makes this better. It will automatically open any AMP link directly as an HTML web page. This also makes it easier to share the page, as you can easily copy and paste the HTML link.

Download: Redirect AMP to HTML (Free)

10. Dark Theme for Firefox

If you’re using dark mode apps on your Android phone, you’ll want to enable a dark theme for Firefox as well. While there are a plethora of themes available, this is the best option we’ve found. It uses the same color palette as the popular Turn off the Lights add-on—it’s not completely black. Instead, it’s an 80 level of darkness.

Download: Dark Theme for Firefox (Free)

Maybe Also Try a Unique Android Browser

Because of its privacy-focused features and add-on support, Firefox is a solid primary browser. If you install the Ghostery, Dark Reader, and Simple Gesture add-ons, you’ll be well-off.

Since Android is an open platform, there are many unique, single-purpose Android browsers that can serve the role of a secondary or tertiary browser quite well. For instance, Lynket Browser supercharges custom tabs, while Cake bypasses the search engine altogether and presents you directly with search results you can swipe through.

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