YouTube to axe community contributions for closed captions and subtitles

Google on Friday announced YouTube’s Community Contributions feature, which allows viewers to add closed captioning and subtitles to videos, will be discontinued on September 28, 2020. The company cites two reasons behind the discontinuation of the feature: It’s not being widely used and is a regular source of spam and abuse.

According to Google, community contributions were featured in “less than 0.001% of channels” in the past month, covering than 0.2% of watch time. Creators are, for the most part, relying on alternative captioning tools for their videos.

As The Verge points out, deaf and hard-of-hearing creators will be most affected by the feature’s removal. Several “VTubers”, or Virtual YouTubers, will also be affected, as well as content creators with significant foreign language audiences. Some content creators have already voiced their concerns, pleading with Google to create a better community contributions system rather than axing it entirely.

It’s a fine line to walk for Google. Captions and subtitles are crucial for accessibility—not just to reach deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, but to reach viewers who speak different languages. While the community contributions feature is being canceled, captions and subtitles will still be available in YouTube videos. Creators can continue to manually add captions, while YouTube has technology that automatically adds captions to every video. The automatically generated captions are generally not as accurate as user-contributed captions, but they can be improved over time as Google continues to train its speech recognition and language translation technologies.

Even though Google said YouTube’s Community Contributions feature is rarely used, the company acknowledged the difficulty this decision might cause for some creators. As a consolation, Google said it would cover the cost of a 6-month subscription to Amara.org, a service that captions, subtitles, and translates videos.

If you currently have contributions saved as drafts, they’ll be available to publish until September 28. All contributions that have already been published will remain, and creators can manage them as they see fit.

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Google and Pure Digital almost partnered for Flip Video camera

Back before Google acquired (and then sold) Motorola, and back before Google had developed its first Pixel-branded smartphone, the search giant nearly released a Flip Video camera in partnership with Pure Digital at the dawn of the YouTube era.

According to internal emails obtained by the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust sub-committee (via The Verge), Google Video product manager Peter Chane attempted to convince colleagues to partner with Pure Digital, the owner of Flip Video, for a consumer video camera.

In a 2006 email, Chane highlights the popularity of Pure Digital and argues how important personal video cameras would be for a community-driven site such as Google Video. The emails laid out Chane’s argument and his urgency to get a deal done before Yahoo and YouTube did something similar. At the time, YouTube was still a competitor to Google Video.

We already know that Google never made a deal to release a Google-branded Flip Video camera, but there were conversations about the possibility. What ultimately happened was, at the suggestion of Google Video director Jennifer Feikin, Google opted to pursue an acquisition of YouTube instead, and the rest is history.

“I think perhaps a better route to take would be quickly figure out the strategy of how to work with both types of content in the ideal ways, and then to acquire YouTube,” Feikin said in an email.

Feikin said she admired YouTube’s UI and active community. By acquiring YouTube, Google could then use its considerable resources to scale the service and bring it to a wider audience. Some colleagues were apparently skeptical about acquiring YouTube, but Google ultimately made a deal all the way back in 2006.

Today, Google is one of the most popular websites on the internet, while Pure Digital and its Flip Video cameras are no more, thanks in part to the rise of smartphones. In hindsight, it was good business sense from Google, but it still would have been interesting to see a Google-branded Flip Video camera.

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Learn Linux Inside Out With 110 Hours of Training for Just $69

We often don’t realize it, but Linux plays a huge part in daily life. Every time you search with Google and check Facebook, your device is working with Linux servers. Using an Android phone? That is based on Linux, too. If you would like to know this system better, the Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle can help. This huge learning library offers 12 courses and 110 hours of training for only $69 at the XDA Developers Depot.

As you may have gathered by now, Linux is a very powerful and versatile platform. For this reason, expert developers are always in demand, earning up to $111,000 a year according to Payscale. In addition, Linux skills are valuable in many other technical careers.

This bundle provides a comprehensive education in Linux. Through hands-on tutorials, you learn how to power almost any project using the open-source operating system.

You start by learning how to navigate the graphical user interface, before diving into the shell. Once you have some command-line skills under your belt, you discover how to deploy Linux in the cloud, set up enterprise systems, and run Linux servers.

The bundle also provides extensive training on networking and cybersecurity, including full prep for the CompTIA Linux+ exam.

You would normally expect to pay over $3,500 for these courses, but you can get them now for only $69 with this deal.

 

The Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle – $69

See Deal

Prices subject to change 

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Motorola One Zoom and Moto G8 Plus get Android 10 soak test updates in Brazil

Different smartphone OEMs go by their own schedule when it comes to Android updates. Motorola, for example, prefers to conduct limited invitation-based public beta testing (commonly referred to as “soak testing”) before the actual release of a major Android version update through the stable channel. The final beta firmware is often mature enough to be considered as the stable build, which means the soak testing phase is a pretty good indicator of the arrival of the stable update. Now, the Motorola One Zoom (also known as the Motorola One Pro) and the Moto G8 Plus have started receiving such soak test builds of Android 10.

Motorola One Zoom XDA Forums || Moto G8 Plus XDA Forums

Motorola One Zoom

Despite the “One” tag, the Motorola One Zoom (codename “parker”) is not a part of the Android One initiative. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 675-powered phone was announced at IFA 2019 with Android Pie onboard. The Android 10 soak test for this device is currently running in Brazil, where the company has pushed several beta builds so far. The version number of the latest soak test build is QPH30.29-Q3-28-13 and it comes with the July 2020 security patches.

Moto G8 Plus

The Moto G8 Plus (codename “doha”) packs in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone runs a close-to-stock version of Android Pie out of the box, while the soak testing of Android 10 is underway in Brazil. Those enrolled their device to Motorola’s Feedback Network (MFN) have received multiple beta builds as of yet, with the latest one featuring July 2020 security patches.

Thanks to Reddit user u/karanpatils for the screenshot!

It is worth noting that the soak test beta builds sometimes contain critical bugs. Therefore, we would recommend you to stay away from sideloading these beta builds on your daily driver. Once all the known issues are being ironed out, Motorola will push the stable update to all users, including the beta testers.

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Samsung rolls out the August 2020 security update to the Galaxy Note 10 series

Just a day ago, Samsung started rolling out an update for the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S10 series in some regions. The update included August 2020 security patches for the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e, along with a new bootloader (v8) for the devices. Even though the update is yet to make its way to most Galaxy S10 users, Samsung has now started rolling out a similar update for the Exynos-powered Galaxy Note 10 devices.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 XDA Forums || Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ XDA Forums

The latest update for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series (software version N975FXXS6CTGA/N975FOXM6CTGA) measures in at 168.86MB and it includes the August 2020 security patches. Much like the OTA update for the Galaxy S10 series, the update also brings a new bootloader (v6) for the Galaxy Note 10 series, which means that end-users will no longer be able to downgrade to older builds once they install this update.

Thanks to XDA Senior Member jaylence for the screenshot

As with all previous updates from Samsung, the latest OTA update is currently rolling out to a few users and it’s expected to reach all Galaxy Note 10 series devices in the coming days. In case you don’t wish to wait for the OTA update, you can use a community developed tool called Frija to download the updated firmware for your device from Samsung’s repository. The required parameters can be found in the screenshot below.

Thanks to XDA Senior Member henklbr for the screenshot

Once you have downloaded the decrypted firmware package created by Frija, you can flash it on your device using Odin. You can follow the instructions given in this post if you aren’t familiar with upgrading your Samsung device’s firmware with Odin. Do note that the aforementioned update is only for the international Exynos 9825-powered Galaxy Note 10 devices and it isn’t compatible with the Snapdragon 855-powered variants of the Galaxy Note 10 series.

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Honor 9A, Honor 9S launched in India with AppGallery, alongside Honor MagicBook 15

Honor is launching two smartphones in the Indian market, focusing on the entry-level segments in one of the most competitive markets in the world. The Honor 9A was released earlier this year in China, and the device made its way to the European markets later. Similarly, the Honor 9S and MagicBook 15 have also made their way to global markets, and are now finally making their way to India.

Honor 9A and Honor 9S

Specification	Honor 9A	Honor 9S
Dimensions & Weight	–	146.5 x 70.94 x 8.35 mm 144g
Display	6.3″ HD+ display	5.45″ HD+ display
SoC	MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762R	MediaTek Helio P22 MT6762R
RAM & Storage	3GB + 64GB Expandable via microSD	2GB + 32GB Expandable via microSD
Battery & Charging	5000mAh battery Reverse wired charging	3020mAh battery
Rear Camera	13MP 5MP 2MP	8MP, f/2.0
Front Camera	8MP	5MP, f/2.2
Other Features	Rear fingerprint sensor MicroUSB port 3.5mm headphone jack	MicroUSB port 3.5mm headphone jack
Android Version	Android 10 with Magic UI 3.1	Android 10 with Magic UI 3.1

The Honor 9A and Honor 9A are decidedly entry-level devices, so people used to flagships may not find them impressive by themselves. However, Honor’s use of the aging MediaTek Helio P22 on both the phones does not incite confidence as the phones will face very stiff competition from phones from Xiaomi, Realme, and Samsung. Further, both of these devices do not come with GMS and Google Play Store, and instead, adopt Huawei’s AppGallery and HMS Core.

Honor 9A

The Honor 9A will be available in Midnight Black and Phantom Blue color variants, starting from August 6, 2020, on Amazon.in. The phone will cost ₹9,999, but users can get it for ₹8,999 in the first sale.

Honor 9S

On the other hand, the Honor 9S comes in Blue and Black color options for ₹6,499, but users can get it for ₹5,999 in the first sale.

Honor MagicBook 15

The Honor MagicBook 15 is Honor’s first foray into the laptop market in India. As the name implies, it features a 15.6″ FHD IPS display with an 87% screen-to-body ratio and TÜV Rheinland certification. The laptop is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor coupled with Radeon Vega 8 graphics. You also get 88GB of DDR4 dual-channel RAM and a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD.

The laptop is charged through an included 65W charger that charges the laptop 0-50% in half-hour through the USB Type-C port. Other notable features on the notebook include a two-in-one fingerprint power button, a pop-up webcam hidden underneath the camera button, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and more. And of course, you also get Windows 10 Home edition preloaded.

The Honor MagicBook 15 is priced at ₹42,990 in India and will go on sale on August 6, 2020, in the Mystic Silver color option on Flipkart.com. There is a first-sale discount available, letting users pick it up for ₹39,990.

Buy the Honor MagicBook 15 from Flipkart

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Xiaomi Black Shark 3S with 120Hz refresh rate display, Snapdragon 865 launched in China

Over the last couple of days, several smartphone OEMs have launched their latest and greatest gaming smartphones. ASUS unveiled its ROG Phone 3 and ROG Phone 3 Strix Edition, Lenovo launched the much-awaited Lenovo Legion Phone Duel, and Nubia launched the Red Magic 5S. Adding on to the list of new gaming smartphones, Xiaomi has now unveiled the Black Shark 3S in China. Xiaomi’s latest gaming smartphone is just a minor upgrade over the Black Shark 3 from earlier this year, with a better screen and a few other changes.

Xiaomi Black Shark 3S: Specifications

Specification	Xiaomi Black Shark 3S
Display	6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate 270Hz touch sampling 17ms latency
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
RAM & Storage	12GB LPDDR5 + 128GB UFS 3.1 12GB + 256GB 12GB + 512GB
Battery & Charging	4,720mAh 65W fast charging via USB Type-C 18W fast charging via secondary magnetic port
Rear Camera	64MP primary camera 13MP wide-angle camera 5MP depth sensor
Front Camera	20MP
Other Features	3.5mm headphone jack Secondary magnetic charging port USB Type-C
Android Version	Joy UI 12 based on Android 10

For the most part, the Black Shark 3S is the same device as its predecessor. It’s powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip, packs in 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It offers the same camera setup, with a 64MP primary camera, a 13MP wide-angle camera, and a 5MP depth sensor on the back, along with a 20MP selfie camera over on the front.

The device packs in the same 4,720mAh battery with support for 65W fast wired charging via USB Type-C, it still features a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it also includes a secondary magnetic charging port, which is capable of charging the device at 18W.

In terms of improvements, the Black Shark 3S packs in a 6.67-inch FHD+ 120Hz high refresh rate display, instead of the 90Hz display found on the previous model, and it runs the company’s latest Android skin — Joy UI 12.

Thanks to the new software, Xiaomi has managed to include several new features on the Black Shark 3S, including screen pressure 4.0 for 3D touch controls, voice control 2.0 to help users adjust settings using voice commands while in-game, and something called somatosensory control that offers 6 built-in somatosensory actions. We aren’t exactly sure what somatosensory control offers, but it seems to refer to touch-sensitive shoulder buttons on the device.

Additionally, Joy UI 12 brings features like Game barrage to control notifications while playing games, Game macro to help users set up macro commands in games, Hunting mode to enhance vegetation and ground contrast in games, and Black Shark Moment 3.0 for game recording and editing.

Joy UI 12 also enables screencasting support on the Black Shark 3S, which will let users cast their device’s screen on a larger display with a delay of just 40ms.

Along with the Black Shark 3S, Xiaomi has also announced a couple of new gaming accessories. These include the Black Shark Gamepad 3, Black Shark Gaming Finger Gloves, and an attachment that adds physical shoulder keys to the device.

Pricing and Availability

The Black Shark 3S will be available in three RAM/storage variants that have been priced as follows:

• 12GB+128GB: CNY 3999 (~$573)
• 12GB+256GB: CNY 4299 (~$616)
• 12GB+512GB: CNY 4799 (~$688)

The device will go on sale in China starting from August 4th via JD.com and other major Chinese etailers. Buyers will be able to choose from two different color options — Skyfall black and Crystal blue.

The new Black Shark Gamepad 3 has been priced a CNY 238 (~$34), while the Black Shark Gaming Finger Gloves and shoulder keys will be available for CNY 29 (~$4) and CNY 79 (~$11), respectively. As of now, we have no information from Xiaomi regarding a global launch.

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