Posts Tagged: better
Anker Soundcore Flare Bluetooth speaker review: LEDs make everything better
Anker recently released the Soundcore Flare, a portable Bluetooth speaker with a built-in LED lighting system. It’s very clearly designed for being a social speaker, since the lighting reacts to music to liven things up a bit, but it’s also ruggedized and water resistant so you don’t have to worry about any spills or drops […]
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Building a better news experience on YouTube, together
The work of trusted journalistic organizations is as critical as ever, especially when it comes to seeking information about current events online.
In March, the Google News Initiative (GNI) kicked off with the goal of helping journalism thrive in the digital age. Today, we’re announcing steps we’re taking with the GNI to support the future of news in online video, and product features we’ve been working on to improve the news experience on YouTube.
Supporting journalism with technology that allows news to thrive
We believe quality journalism requires sustainable revenue streams and that we have a responsibility to support innovation in products and funding for news.
For example, in 2015 European publishers came to us to ask about how they could scale their video efforts, especially because maintaining video delivery infrastructure is costly. Working alongside them we launched Player for Publishers, a solution that enables news organizations to use YouTube’s video player to give viewers a world-class video experience across their own websites and mobile apps. Player for Publishers reduces costs and offers improved monetization for news organizations.
Since then, we’ve expanded these efforts beyond Europe. Today, over 100 publishers in more than 25 countries use Player for Publishers.
As part of the launch of GNI in March, we announced funding to support the future of news. Today we are committing $ 25M to a YouTube-specific investment:
- Expertise. We’re establishing a working group with news organizations and experts from around the world to help us develop new product features, improve the news experience on YouTube, and tackle emerging challenges. News organizations including Vox Media, Jovem Pan, and India Today are early members of the working group. We’re looking forward to having more join as we convene the group in the coming weeks.
- Innovation Funding. We will provide funding across approximately 20 global markets to support news organizations in building sustainable video operations. Provided on an application basis to news organizations of all types, these grants will enable our partners to build key capabilities, train staff on video best practices, enhance production facilities and develop formats optimized for online video.
- Support. We’re significantly expanding our team focused on supporting news publishers. These specialists will be based around the world and support partners with training and best practices in formats, audience development, day-to-day platform operations, and sophisticated technical integrations.
News organizations interested in more information about these efforts can sign up here.
Making authoritative sources readily accessible
Authoritativeness is essential to viewers, especially during fast-moving, breaking news events, so we’ve been investing in new product features to prominently surface authoritative sources:
Providing more sources and context on breaking news
After a breaking news event, it takes time to verify, produce and publish high-quality videos. Journalists often write articles first to break the news rather than produce videos. That’s why in the coming weeks in the U.S. we will start providing a short preview of news articles in search results on YouTube that link to the full article during the initial hours of a major news event, along with a reminder that breaking and developing news can rapidly change.
Expanding Top News and Breaking News
To make it easier to find quality news, our Top News shelf prominently highlights videos from news sources in search results (see the picture below on the left). And when a breaking news event happens, we want users to know about it. That’s why our Breaking News shelf highlights videos from news organizations about that event directly on the YouTube homepage (see the picture below on the right). Today, our Top News and Breaking News features are launched in 17 countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Japan, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria and more. We will double that number in the coming months.
Showcasing more local news, starting with the U.S.
Many people want, value, and trust local news. And when a major event happens, local reporters are often the first on site to capture events as they unfold. We’ve begun testing features that surface local news in the YouTube app for TV screens across 25 media markets around the United States, making it easy to access local news in the living room–our fastest growing screen. So far, local news has seen strong engagement, and we will be expanding it to dozens more markets like Cincinnati, Las Vegas and Kansas City.
Providing context to help people make their own decisions
We also believe users should be able to choose and make their own judgments about the information they consume along with context to inform their judgments. That’s why we’re rolling out a few new features that we will continue to build upon:
Giving users more sources of information on topical searches and videos
Starting today, users will begin seeing information from third parties, including Wikipedia and Encyclopædia Britannica, alongside videos on a small number of well-established historical and scientific topics that have often been subject to misinformation, like the moon landing and the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Investing in digital literacy education
Along with the Google News Initiative and Google.org, we have teamed up with the Poynter Institute, Stanford University, Local Media Association, and the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) to support MediaWise, a U.S.-based initiative designed to equip 1 million teens with digital literacy skills. Six incredible YouTube Creators, including John Green, Ingrid Nilsen, and Mark Watson, will be working with MediaWise to bring awareness to digital literacy and help educate teens.
We remain committed to working with the journalism community to build a more sustainable video ecosystem for news organizations. We know there is a lot of work to do, but we’re eager to provide a better experience to users who come to YouTube every day to learn more about what is happening in the world from a diversity of sources.
– Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer and Robert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer
Continued Conversation launches for Google Home for better AI conversations
During Google I/O this year, Google showed off Continued Conversations for their Google Home devices, a new feature that will allow users to keep up a conversation with their virtual assistant without having to repeatedly say a hotword before every sentence. That feature is finally rolling out today to Google Home, Google Home Mini, and […]
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The Moto Z3 Play packs a bigger, better screen and full Mod support
It wasn't that long ago that Motorola revealed its new G-series phones, and it's already giving us yet another option to consider. This time, we're looking at the Moto Z3 Play — it's the follow-up to one of the brand's most beloved smartphones,…
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Amazon’s flop of a phone made newer, better hardware possible
Amazon devices have taken root in our homes with almost alarming speed, but the tech giant hasn't gotten everything right. Back in 2014, Amazon released the Fire Phone, an ambitious smartphone that remains the company's biggest hardware flop to date….
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ZTE Axon M review: Two screens are better than one
ZTE’s new Axon M isn’t the first attempt at a dual-screen folding smartphone. That honor goes to the Kyocera Echo from 2011, a doomed Sprint exclusive. Back then, the required tech to pull off such a unique form factor didn’t quite exist and being chained to Sprint was a fatal mistake. The phone was a […]
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Newly leaked images give us a better look at the touchscreen-equipped Amazon Echo
We earlier saw a leaked thumbnail image of Amazon’s rumored and upcoming touchscreen-equipped Echo. Due to the quality of the photo, we weren’t able to garner many details from it, but now, thanks to Evan Blass, we’ve got a couple of newly leaked high quality images of the device. This photo does give us a more […]
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Google Pixel vs. Samsung Galaxy S8: Which is the better Android phone?
Samsung has finally taken the wraps off the forthcoming Galaxy S8, the company’s latest flagship. But can the device compete with the Google Pixel when it comes to power and performance?
The post Google Pixel vs. Samsung Galaxy S8: Which is the better Android phone? appeared first on Digital Trends.
AMD claims its Ryzen 5 is better value than Intel’s Core i5
AMD made a big comeback with its high-end Ryzen 7 CPUs, and it's now ready to take on Intel's Core i5 mid-range chips with the Ryzen 5. It's offering four chips in the family ranging from the $ 169 Ryzen 5 1400, a 3.2 GHZ 4-core, 8-thread chip, to the…
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Google will use your health data to help make Fit a better personal coach
Google is using your health data to make Google Fit better and that is only going to continue as the app becomes more of your personal assistant, at least according to a recent interview.
The post Google will use your health data to help make Fit a better personal coach appeared first on Digital Trends.
Better, stronger, faster microrobots may take inspiration from ciliary cells
Nature is a source of infinite inspiration. From submarines to solar panels, natural designs found in plants and animals guide the work of engineers so much so that the field has earned its own name: biomimetics.
The post Better, stronger, faster microrobots may take inspiration from ciliary cells appeared first on Digital Trends.
Kickstarter has crowdfunded a better economy, creating more than 300,000 jobs
Kickstarter has been in the business of bringing dreams to market since 2009, but according to a new study from the b corp and the University of Pennsylvania, it’s brought a lot more to life than just projects and dreams.
The post Kickstarter has crowdfunded a better economy, creating more than 300,000 jobs appeared first on Digital Trends.
Google takes on Apple with better revenue deal for app developers, report says
On the same day that Apple revealed it’s improving its revenue deal for app developers, a report suggested Google is planning a similar change, though with one important difference.
The post Google takes on Apple with better revenue deal for app developers, report says appeared first on Digital Trends.
Why doodling on your phone’s screen is better than a password
Researchers from Rutger University have shown that using a free-form gesture to secure apps on your smartphone is easier, faster, and equally as secure as using a text-based password.
The post Why doodling on your phone’s screen is better than a password appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple’s top counsel: Our customers are ‘better protected from thieves and terrorists’
Here’s everything that has happened since a court order requiring Apple to disable an auto-erase function on one of the San Bernardino shooter’s phones was issued. The Obama administration says Apple can keep and destroy the software used to hack into the iPhone.
The post Apple’s top counsel: Our customers are ‘better protected from thieves and terrorists’ appeared first on Digital Trends.
People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but they might sleep better
The Photon Space is a $ 330,000 house made entirely of glass. It’s meant to give you an ideal amount of sun to help you tap into your circadian clock and get the proper amount of sleep.
The post People living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but they might sleep better appeared first on Digital Trends.
These seven Android phones have a better camera than the iPhone 6S
It seemed as certain as death and taxes that the iPhone would always have the best smartphone camera in the world. However, things have dramatically changed as seven Android phones are now ranked higher than the iPhone 6S.
The post These seven Android phones have a better camera than the iPhone 6S appeared first on Digital Trends.
Samsung’s flagship test drive has gone way better than expected
Yesterday Samsung began a new service to test drive one of its newest flagships for only $ 1 so long as you live in the U.S. and have an iPhone under contract. Today we are getting a report from Samsung that apparently the test drive went so well, the company is already out of test units.
I’m sure this is just what the company wanted to see. Samsung says the service was more popular than it examined and has promised to add more units to the service shortly. In case you have forgotten here is how the service works:
iPhone users living in the United States can get a brand new Samsung flagship smartphone of their choice for only $ 1 for 30 days. The smartphone will include a pre-installed sim card for testing purposes. After the 30 day trial ends, users will be given 5 days to return the handset if they don’t like it. If they decide to keep the smartphone, Samsung will send owners a manual containing information on how to easily transfer files from your iPhone to your new Samsung smartphone for easier convenience. As long as the condition of the smartphone is kept to a minimum, users won’t be charged anything additional when handing it back.
Apple seemed to have gained a lot of Android users when switching over to the larger screened iPhones this year and Samsung believes it can win Apple users back over with their new service. If you’re looking to get a test drive, Samsung says the best thing you can do right now is keep checking the page, which can be seen at the source link. From what we have heard so far, the service almost seems to good to be true.
Source: Samsung
Via: PhoneArena
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