Canaan, the China-based maker of Bitcoin mining machines, prices its US IPO at the bottom of the range at $9 per share, raising $90M — Canaan Inc., a maker of Bitcoin mining machines, raised $90 million after pricing its U.S. initial public offering at the bottom of its marketed range.
Uber plans to test letting riders and drivers in the US record audio of their trips “soon”, as a similar pilot program debuts next month in Brazil and Mexico — Uber plans to record audio during rides in the United States as part of a new security feature, its latest push …
Uber has been testing video recording of some trips in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee since July; riders, drivers can send video to Uber after safety incidents — The company says it is increasing the recording of rides to settle disputes between drivers and passengers and to improve safety.
Google has joined Twitter in revising its political ad rules ahead of what promises to be a brutal election season. But while the latter chose to ban political advertising altogether, Google is mainly limiting the ability to target political demographics, and promises to take action against “demonstrably false claims.”
In a blog post Wednesday afternoon, the search giant explained the new rules in a way that is clearly intended to be understood by a broad audience, not the ad-buying elite.
“Given recent concerns and debates about political advertising, and the importance of shared trust in the democratic process, we want to improve voters’ confidence in the political ads they may see on our ad platforms,” wrote Scott Spencer, VP of product management at Google Ads.
The primary change, he explained, will be the limitation of targeting terms that can be used for political advertising buys that appear in search, on display ads, and on YouTube.
Google knows an immense amount about every one of its users, and as such can display ads to people who like certain products, are concerned with certain issues, and so on. But starting in December, if the ad is political in nature, it will only be able to be targeted to age, general, and postal code. (Notably, Twitter considers using zip codes “microtargeting” and will not allow it for political content.)
That’s nice, but it should be noted that such microtargeting may not be necessary for political issues, since advertisers can target search terms like “South San Jose city council candidates” and they’re off to the races. They just can’t send ads to people because they’re a Democrat, a Republican, support marriage equality, handgun restrictions, etc… but they can buy ads for the search terms “gay marriage,” “assault rifle ban,” and other items. That’s kind of fundamental to search-based ad buys.
At least it seems to be a step in the right direction — deep targeting for serious issues like that is not only unproven and controversial, but also fundamentally creepy. Better to do without it.
Google also said that it’s already “against our policies for any advertiser to make a false claim—whether it’s a claim about the price of a chair or a claim that you can vote by text message, that election day is postponed, or that a candidate has died.”
As further examples of what it would not allow, it cited “misleading claims about the census process, and ads or destinations making demonstrably false claims that could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process.” That puts rather a fine point on it.
And as a warning to temper your expectations, Google noted that “no one can sensibly adjudicate every political claim, counterclaim, and insinuation,” so it plans to take “very limited” action, only for “clear violations.”
Funnily enough, of all the institutions on Earth, Google seems the one best suited to adjudicating content in that way. But “sensibly” is the key word here, and it is sensible for Google to avoid making promises it can’t keep.
Lastly Google will be expanding its election-related ad transparency reports to include “state-level candidates and officeholders, ballot measures, and ads that mention federal or state political parties.” These will be publicly searchable like those for national candidates, as shown above.
That the major platforms are moving at all on this question of money in politics is good, but it is hard to say how these restrictions — such as they are — will affect how things play out. It’s unlikely this is the last we’ll hear from Google, Twitter, or others on the topic.
Neon, which operates a digital bank in Brazil with nearly 2M accounts, has raised $94M in a round led by Banco Votorantim and General Atlantic — Neon, which operates a digital bank in Brazil, has reportedly raised $94 million in funding in a round led by Banco Votorantim and General Atlantic …
Realme is all set to launch the Realme X2 Pro and Realme 5s in India today. While the Realme X2 Pro is the company’s flagship device, Realme 5s is said to be another offering in the budget segment. The company has already launched Realme X2 Pro in China. On the other hand, Flipkart teasers have revealed key specifications of the Realme 5s. Realme X2 Pro will feature a 64MP primary sensor whereas Realme 5s will sport a 48MP quad rear camera.
The Realme X2 Pro and Realme 5s launch event will begin at 12:30 PM in India. The event will be live-streamed on the company’s YouTube channel. You can watch the launch event in the below-embedded video as well. Those who bought tickets to attend the launch event will get assured goodies worth Rs 2,100 that include a Realme Power Bank and an R-Pass with Rs. 855 discount on Realme X2 Pro. Realme conducted the Blind Order sale for the Realme X2 Pro two days ago, where users were able to reserve the phone by paying a Rs 1,000 deposit.
Realme X2 Pro features a 6.5-inch full-HD+ (1080x2400 pixels) Super AMOLED Fluid display with 20:9 aspect ratio, 90Hz refresh rate. It is said to sport a 91.7 percent screen-to-body ratio. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset, paired with 6GB, 8GB, and 12GB RAM. It comes with 64GB (dual-channel UFS 2.1), 128GB (UFS 3.0), and 256GB (UFS 3.0) storage options.
On the optics front, Realme X2 Pro sports a quad rear camera setup: 64MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 primary sensor with a six-piece, f/1.8 lens + a 13MP sensor with an f/2.5 telephoto lens + an 8MP sensor with a 115-degree ultra-wide-angle lens that has an f/2.2 aperture + a 2MP depth sensor. It also has a 1^MP selfie shooter.
Realme X2 Pro packs a 4000mAh battery with 50W SuperVOOC Flash Charge support, which is said to charge the phone fully in just 33 minutes. The phone comes equipped with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio technology. Its price starts at CNY 2,699 (approx Rs 27,200) in China.
On the other hand, Realme 5s is teased to feature a 6.51-inch HD display with a waterdrop-style notch. It is revealed to be powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset and pack a 5000mAh battery. The smartphone will sport a 48MP quad rear camera setup. It is teased to come equipped with a rear fingerprint sensor and a diamond-cut back panel finish. It may come with 4GB RAM and up to 128GB storage option. Realme 5s price in India could start at around Rs 9,000.
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Volkswagen revealed Tuesday evening a new concept vehicle called the ID Space Vizzion, and despite the crazy Frank Zappaesque name, this one might actually make it into production in Europe and North America.
The ID Space Vizzion is the seventh concept that VW has introduced since 2016 that uses its MEB platform, a flexible modular system — really a matrix of common parts — for producing electric vehicles that VW says make it more efficient and cost-effective.
The first vehicles to use this MEB platform will be under the ID brand, although this platform can and will be used for electric vehicles under other VW Group brands such as Skoda and Seat. The ID.3, the first model in its new all-electric ID brand and the beginning of the automaker’s ambitious plan to sell 1 million EVs annually by 2025.
The ID Space Vizzion is equipped with a rear-mounted 275-horsepower motor and a 82 kilowatt-hour battery pack with a range of up to 300 miles under the EU’s WLTP cycle. A second motor can be added to give it all-wheel drive capability and a total output of 355 horsepower.
This concept will likely be described in a number of ways — and during the event at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles it was — but this is a wagon through and through.
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Israel-based Viisights, which develops a video intelligence service that uses AI to analyze and manage video surveillance streams, raises $10M Series A — AI technology developer Viisights has raised $10 million in Series-A funding that will be spent on further developing behavioral recognition systems …
Sarah Kessler / New York Times : US coding boot camp graduates are facing a tough job market due to AI coding tools and mass layoffs; Com...
