 Coming up on DTNS Apple makes nice with indie repair shops robots for fixing your brain and the play dates with Nicole Lee This is the Daily Tech news for Thursday, August 29 2019 in Los Angeles. I'm Tom Merritt and from studio feline I'm Sarah Lane and I'm Roger Chang the shows producer as I just mentioned miss Nicole Lee senior editor Ed and Gadget is back on the show. Welcome back to Cole Happy to be back. Thank you so much. We I can't wait to talk about the the little weird Console game with a black-and-white screen that seems awesome that you've got a chance to play with Yeah, I've totally that's the play date. That's the name of the console. We're gonna get it's a handheld console We're gonna talk about that in a bit If you are a patron and you subscribe to the good day internet feed You know that we spent most of it talking about seafood and fried chicken that sounds interesting to you You can sign up and listen as well at patreon.com slash DTNS. All right, let's start with a few tech things you should know Apple sent out invitations to an event on September 10th at 10 a.m. At the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California The invite showed a five colored version of its logo with the text by innovation only. I wonder if it'll be phones Well, it'll be innovative. That's for sure. Mm-hmm. I did not get innovated to this event, but Microsoft Executive Vice President Harry Shum told the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai that the HoloLens 2 Will go on sale in September Microsoft announced it at Mobile World Congress They've been taking pre-orders for thirty five hundred dollars a pop The HoloLens 2 has a larger field of view and improved eye and hand tracking All right, let's talk a little bit more about what's going on with Huawei a Source tells Reuters that Huawei plans to launch its Mate 30 lines of phones on September 18th in Munich, Germany Google told Reuters that under current US trade rules The Mate 30 will not be able to include Google apps and services such as the Google Play Store The US Department of Commerce has received more than 130 applications from companies to ease such restrictions against applying highway Highway Huawei rather Yeah, really, that's a good show title But none have been approved as of yet of those 130 Google hasn't commented on whether or not it has applied Huawei can use the open-source version of Android, which doesn't include Google services Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that it has sources saying US prosecutors are investigating Huawei for allegations of intellectual property theft from Individuals and companies. So as far as the tech world goes, we know this is part of a much larger story But as far as the tech world goes, this is the the the the calling your bluff moment Google Google hasn't confirmed whether they've applied but we can assume they have they they've said they would like to continue to supply Huawei With the official version of Android with Google services on it while way has said they would like that as well And while way not backing down saying, all right, we're gonna put out our phone September 18th one way or the other And that gives us 20 days to see if any of these applications get approved if one of those applications is Google's if that's enough time for Huawei to be able to, you know, get get the Get the Android operating system in the pipeline Because I I think everyone agrees that if the Mate 30 launches without Google services on it It's not going to do as well as if it launched with Google services on yeah I suppose the open-source version of Android is a possibility But you know, this is such a short amount of time You can't to to have all these phones in the pipeline that I I suppose you could announce a phone and and shipping could be delayed Based on how this all shakes out Update if Process or something you you're absolutely right But you could you can have something that checks when you during startup and says hold on we can we can actually add this now Well, okay, I suppose and if that what if if Huawei magically had its own OS in place Which is that's that is probably a slim chance Would it be the sort of thing that anybody would choose over Android? I Think sorry I was going to say I don't know what it like, you know, this whole thing with the trade situation with Huawei and the US I mean, that's obviously part of this larger issue. As you said, Tom Huawei does have does have its own OS. It's not Android, but it's kind of it's sort of based on this open-source version of it and I don't they might have to go their own I you know, it really I don't know what the deal is. I mean, it sounds as if Google wants to and who always wants to but it's all down to this Really if he and contentious relationship right now between the two countries. Um, I Don't it might not be a choice. I guess it's from trying to say it might not be a choice It all depends on how trade negotiations with China are going and the brinksmanship that is being used for those negotiations now Most recently as of this recording China had backed off their retaliatory tariffs for the moment Which means that you know, the the negotiations have cooled down a bit for the moment But if you've been following those negotiations, you know that nothing stays the same for long So by September 18th, it's quite likely that Huawei doesn't have approval to use Google services My guess is that their Huawei the honor os is really meant for internet of things. It's not meant for phones I'm guessing it's not ready for phones Huawei has not made any indication that it is ready for phones Which means they will just run, you know playing rapper open-source android without the google services Which is something that uh, they run in china the the chinese version of Huawei is that So they have experience with offering that it's just that they can get updates from google faster Even in china if they're allowed to get those updates That's really the big sticking point is google can't provide them security updates through the google version Of android under this law Which means that their security updates have to come later because they have to wait for them to get pushed out to the wider operating system That is open source Yeah, apparently it's called harmony os Yeah Thank you. Um, yeah, I don't think they're gonna. I don't see them using that on a phone For a couple of years and by then I think this whole story has changed All right apple announced the independent repair provider program Which will let repair shops in the u.s. Get authorized parts and tools training diagnostics and other resources without having to pay to become an apple authorized service provider You can apply for this independent repair provider program for free You do have to meet some criteria Most of the criteria revolve around having apple certified technicians, but certification through apple is also free Except for your time So this is something that a lot of people have been criticizing apple about because you know We talked about the amazon story where they said well if it's not on apple authorized reseller You can't sell it on amazon which put a lot of smaller businesses out of Place this is the equivalent for repair where apple had been cracking down and saying you have to be an authorized repair Uh provider and now they're loosening that up and saying okay. We want people to have a good experience Uh having other apple stuff fixed, but we don't want to limit As much how they have it fixed and and sarah. I know this applies for you today very close to home Yeah, I have a uh macbook pro it's a couple years old, but it's in decent shape But the display is shot it needs a new display and it's kind of a known issue sadly not under warranty, but the nearest, uh authorized Repair shop is closer than the nearest apple store. So that's where I went But it still was a hassle. It was a hassle to get to it was kind of a hassle to go through the the rigmarole of Letting them know what was wrong with my computer and dropping it off. It's there now. Hopefully everything turns out Well, there are repair shops though that are closer to me They're just not authorized and it's one of those deals where they're not going to be able to help me Because they have to have a good relationship with apple. So this again Yeah, you want the people to know what they're doing as long as they do I say open it up I don't know that this satisfies the the most excitable people in the right to repair movement Uh, because this is an apple just providing tools to anybody But nicole it feels like apple is at least trying to move in the direction of doing the right thing, right? Yeah, I mean apple's never going to be completely open and we just have to accept that That's just how the companies run. Uh, but you know, this is at least a good thing Especially for those independent retailers Which you know to be which I actually I would be interested to see the numbers of how many retailers There are now compared to like a few years ago and whether that number have gone has gone down because They don't have this official relationship with apple or whatever. Um, so it would be interesting to see if That's maybe a resurgence or maybe there's maybe an uptake of this relationship And whether that will be improvement in this independent businesses or not Hopefully it does. Hopefully comes up with again, like, you know, sarah Like not everyone is close to an apple store, right? Like that's just the reality of it And hopefully this means that more people can get their stuff fixed Yeah, and and and I like that apple's like, yeah, we want you to get certified We'll provide that for free But that means that even if you're not going to an authorized service provider, you're hopefully still going to get a a good experience Well speaking of fix fixing things google will now pay researchers who find verifiably an unambiguous evidence of data abuse Using its platforms google will pay a bug bounty If somebody identifies quote situations where user data is being used or sold unexpectedly or repurposed In an illegitimate way without user consent Also, the app or chrome extension will be removed or api access removed depending on The nature of the abuse. There's no reward table, but a single report could get $50,000 in bounties Apparently instagram recently added misuse of data to its bug bounty program as well Yeah, this is great news. I think uh google is Doing something good and and not that they're the first obviously like you said instagram's doing it too To say hey, uh vulnerabilities aren't just about Breaking in and doing malware and and malicious things, but it's about how your Data is used you if you give data to somebody and they use it in a way that you didn't know or didn't approve That is a bug that is that is a that is a malicious behavior of its own even if it's not malware So let's try to get more eyes on that. Uh, this is this is an excellent move, right? I think so I think you know anything that is going to help the ecosystem of any company that offers bug bounty programs What you have to lose somebody comes to you with information You you you fix issues you say thank you We'd like to pay you for your good deed I know that bug bounty programs have Have expanded for a lot of companies over the last year really and that's that's a great thing for folks that can help you Make the products that you you sell them stronger Yeah, and I really love it that the bug bounty has expanded to not just include your actual real like bugs But also as you mentioned the the fact that the data can be abused by third parties for like nefarious purposes and so forth Yeah, maybe uh, google can have a bug bounty program for when youtube recommends something that's stupid or unauthorized to me Uh, she happens quite frequently Paid for a bug bounty program for saying you know what I would have done differently That wasn't really the star wars trailer that your youtube notification told me I can watch No, I I say that sarcastically because that's a thing that happens with youtube and it's one of the problems with youtube but I I also say it because This is google saying hey, let's take an existing tool that's used for a specific thing and use it to help fix this Other thing because it can it's a tool that can be used for that too. So I think that's good engineers at mit Have published a paper in the journal science robotics describing a robotic thread They developed that can wind its way through brain blood vessels to deliver clot reducing drugs To treat strokes or aneurysms. Possibly they could equip it with lasers to take out clots It's a nickel titanium thread with a rubbery paste Embedded with magnetic particles and covered with a hydrogel So why all that the hydrogel helps prevent the thread from damaging blood vessels And makes it possible to enter blood vessels in the brain that were previously too risky So there are parts of the brain where right now they they do take a thread when they go in and get rid of Clots, but sometimes they get to a point where like yeah, we'll do more harm than good if we go there This hydrogel helps them to reach those spots Uh and also prevents damaging blood vessels in any other place the magnetic particles that are in there Let the thread be moved by magnets Uh, and this would let surgeons perform from outside the operating room Now that's something that's important because the fluoroscopes that are used to let surgeons see in such procedures Expose the surgeons to radiation. So they're they're physically tasking Uh They're they're not good for the surgeons to do that too often. So this could help also you can use a joystick To do brain surgery. Uh, that is a real thing that is in the paper The robotic thread is not yet ready for clinical use They have demonstrated how it works on a life-size replica of the brain's major blood vessels However, so they've showed that their control system works the next steps would be to Do it in an actual living tissue Wow Magnets, how do they work? Yeah, that's amazing. That's really like the fact that you can you mentioned the fact that you can use it outside the body outside of the room That's like next that's like sci-fi stuff right there. That's crazy. Yeah. Well, I mean anybody There's some remote operations that are already happening but not on this level, right this precision, right? Yeah This this is You're right. There there is lots of remote operations that are possible And this is a new one to add to the stack, right, which is pretty cool Well, and the fact that not only is it the precision is really important when talking about brain surgery and blood vessels But also the fact that the surgeons themselves are physically in much better shape than being Uh exposed to something that's going to harm them while they're saving other people's lives Yeah, and and not to mention that this would uh, if it if it turns out that it that it works well in living tissue Which there's no reason to think it wouldn't but they haven't done it yet Uh, this would allow them to get to clots that they wouldn't otherwise So it it will literally save lives that that you can't save right now Um, so yeah, I mean doesn't involve google facebook. Uh, it's uh Humanity it's not a security breach. Yeah, like, uh, roger and I got very excited. Uh, when we saw this today So yeah, hoping hoping to bring you more stories like these As time goes on because uh, this is this is pretty positive and real like it's it's a real thing that they've done Right, it's not like hey, maybe we could do this some sometimes those are interesting scientific Papers too where they have a theory, but this is something that that does work They just need to now make it work on humans in a safe way I I can't help but think of a doctor navigating my brain with a joystick as if I was a pac-man game You know like, you know, we got to get over to that little aneurysm here over in the top left quickly quickly I think the key here is if they can do this kind of procedure quickly that I think is the next step because Strokes are very time sensitive. You need to get at that clock like a a sap So if they can do all of this stuff on the quick, that would be a next step level for sure. Yeah. Yeah Good news for plex users Potentially plex announced that later this year will add an on-demand library of movies and tv series from Warner Brothers available to us Plex users for free, although they will be ad-supported the content will be available whether you pay for plex premium or not plex plans to add content from other partners as well I was actually pretty excited pretty excited about this So I use plex as my main media server It like many media management programs. It's all about the content that you have I mean, it doesn't do anything for you unless you have content to watch But let's say you don't run a media server or you don't have access to a friend's media server This is the sort of thing that plex as a I mean as user experience and interface. I love it Heads and shoulders above the competition at least for me So this would give somebody who's like, well, okay At least I can watch a certain library of stuff from within plex And the fact that you don't have to pay for it plex premium is it gives you some extras You know sinking options and kind of live tv recording and that sort of thing But I don't pay for that either. So the the free option is is pretty great But yeah, like I think you were about to say tom. This is this is definitely a trend Yeah, this is a trend to add these free streaming options IMDb tv Does it voodoo does it if you you can buy things from voodoo But you can also just watch things roku has a channel with these free streaming options So something to keep an eye on especially those of you who complain about you know, oh my gosh There's too many bills. There's too many channels to pay for You're seeing more and more of these free options now They are ad-sported But this is sort of the equivalent of your cable television channels that show movies, right? With actually fewer advertisements some of them are better than others Some of them will just do pre-roll and then you watch the movie Sometimes others of them will interrupt your movie with an ad in a weird place So there's still sort of working out that system But I expect to see more of this and I think like you said sarah. It's really interesting to see plex get into this game Yeah, nicole. I don't know how much experience of any you have with plex, but uh, But this is this is a this is a welcome addition Yeah, you know, I haven't used I don't really use plex, but this is great And hopefully this kind of model will spread to other You know services as well And I think you as you know as more and more more and more people cut the core This will be even more important going forward Well folks if you want to get all the tech headlines each day in about five minutes be sure to subscribe To daily tech headlines dot com On wednesday nicole posted her write-up of the $149 handheld game system play date It's made by panic ink the folks behind software like transmit and the publisher of games like fire watch if you know those It was announced may 22nd and 110,000 people so far have signed up for the wait list While 8,000 developers have registered to make content for the device Nicole tell us about this weird yet compelling little handheld gaming machine Yeah, so when it first when was first announced in may 22nd I along with i'm sure Much of the internet I also it seemed anyway Was very excited about the small little thing and it's like it's it's a small little handheld thing Basically the size of a post-it notes stack But but the thing that made everyone sort of like gasp I guess is that it has a crank Yes, I said a crank There's actually not not to power it though. You're not like Well, I I I talked to them and they said no That it's far too small for you to be able to crank it and even then it would take a lot of cranks to power it up So that's not a really a realistic thing for you the crank is actually a game controller. So Yeah It's it's actually a you don't have to use the the crank for some but some games do require the crank as its main Uh controller, so there's a d-pad a couple of buttons and this crazy crank thing And that's like a super unique Part of this game part of this handheld. Sorry. It's a black and white screen So it has that's kind of like weird retro appeal But it's a very modern system because it has you know an arm compatible processor. It has wi-fi But it's bluetooth on here usbc charging So it's a very modern system But with like weird retro vibe because of this black and white screen Also, the black and white screen is a sharp memory lcd not a you know Like a kindle e ink screen Is a sharp memory lcd think like early pebble watches think like the screen on your coffee maker like it's that kind of like weird Screen, I don't know how to That they said that this screen is used in very few other places one of them being the coffee machines at 7 11's in japan, right? Yeah, so it's very limited and and because it's so limited only my sharp Sharp is the only company that makes this memory lcd and because of that It's not mass produced and because it's not mass produced It's kind of surprisingly expensive according to uh the panic people So like it would actually be cheaper for them to go with an old that full color screen because that's like mass produced on a On a large scale. Why why don't they do that then? They're just being him Well, that's kind of part of it But they they wanted to be kind of outside of the box, right? They wanted to be like sort of kooky but cool, but not really cool And sort of modern yet retro but not really retro It's that sort of in between thing and part of it is that they want to capture the feel of Those old school like game and watch style games. I don't know if you guys remember the intended to watch style games But not quite that level because it's not that you know It's not that technology But the interesting thing about this is also because of the black and white screen It's it has it has that retro stick, right? It has it sort of strikes that nostalgia Memory, I guess if you want to think of it that way But the other part of it is that it's actually a really good screen It's like it's a really pixel dense screen like a really good black and white screen That's kind of why they went with it and the other part the reason other reason why they didn't go with All that full color screens because your phone is full color You know like every other thing in your life your tablet is a full color your laptop is a full color screen So there's nothing unusual about if they went with that full color screen So according to them, this is their reasoning is that we didn't want it to be just like your phone because you have your phone your phone exists Yeah, so What is something something different something that that your phone can't offer you right give you a different gaming experience? It's it's not just about looking different. It's about giving you a different experience that you wouldn't get otherwise Right exactly and the other the other key part to the plate and why it's called the plague date is because With the hundred and forty nine dollars. You don't you don't get just the console You also get a season's worth of games And the idea is that is that every week on like let's say a monday for like 12 weeks You get a new game delivered to you and it's a surprise I mean, well not all to be fair like a couple of games that's been spoiled having spoiled already, but the At least the idea is that every every week you would get a game delivered to your No play date box or whatever as a surprise and it's called the play date because that's the date that you get your game Um, and that's the other like unique part of the whole concept Yeah, I I mean, I think it's easy to dismiss this as as you know hipstery Silly this if you don't need uh, and you're not wrong. It is it is definitely hipstery and you don't need it But if you want it and you and you're like, yeah, but I I like the idea of having a Dedicated gaming device that I could hold on my hand. There's some interesting things about this including like that crank control Which is I know it's great for fishing games. I'll be interested to see what else it can be good for And and that experience of like hey, these are games tailored for this device So you're gonna get an experience gaming that you can't get otherwise because it because other devices don't do this They don't have this kind of black and white screen. They don't have this control system, etc And that's something to think about too because these most of the designers that have signed up for this device are in the game developers like the one that has been Blowing up is that one that they've been publicizing is um crankins time travel adventures by kira takahashi Who is the person behind karmare demasi if you know, like the rolling ball, uh, so the Very wacky makes very kind of wacky out of the box kind of game So the crankins time travel adventure you use the crank to control the flow of time So if you go forward the the character goes forward and you grow backwards or spin it backwards The character moves backwards. So that's kind of the concept behind this little game But even though you can control the flow of time of this character The enemies and obstacles around it exist outside of the time flow So it's a weird way to let the character to interact with its environments depending on your place in time. So it's yeah It's a very The games developed for it are going to make or break it right that sounds like Real quickly faux pas in our chat room on twitch has a question Are there online games because playdate makes it sound like you could play with others um So they haven't you haven't really talked about all of these games just yet But they've talked about that they they they there is wi-fi involved and um, and even though you can get games delivered every week You will you will because it's an open source system. You will be you will be allowed to sideload games um, I don't know about the wi-fi Online player option. I'm not I'm not sure is what I'm trying to say I don't know Thanks, nicole for for sharing the experience there. It sounds interesting Yeah And also thanks to everybody who participates in our sub reddits and midstories and vote on them at daily tech news show dot reddit dot com If you hang out on facebook head on over to our group facebook.com Slash groups slash daily tech news show. I'd say check the mail bag, but today we're checking the discord We are it's a different kind of mail bag really It's a it's a live mail bag of sorts and if you're not in our discord You're missing some good conversations for instance earlier this month j. Ramadan had posted for all the places I seem to go now where apple pay is accepted It seems somewhat appropriate to get the apple card for 2% back Possibly 3% if the uber deal with the other merchants ever happens easy to get we'll kick the well We'll kick tires on it gadget rich rosso Also chimed in on the thread and said I didn't really need another credit card either But the perks are decent enough. It's impressive to apply Be approved and then be able to use the card for lunch very same day That into itself is going to change things for banks if they're not paying attention Bio cow added a little expertise as well and said some banks can already do that Actually, they have a card put into your apple or google wallet, but it will become become more common moving forward This is a nice feature even for debit cards if you lose your card call and get a new one While you wait three to five days for it to arrive in the mail You can use it from your phone the best audience in the world making you smarter all the time And you can join our discord lots of great conversations happening there every day by becoming a patron at patreon.com Slash dtns. Yeah, good stuff in there. You know when you were talking about the apple card While I was out I tried to go in and look and see how to sign up for it. I couldn't because I was not in the united states Oh, that's funny. I I I did not I'm not getting a physical card because I've just you know I'm gonna scratch that thing up to heck or hi heaven for sure But I I am now an apple card Um member and it was very painless setup experience Thanks everybody who writes us emails hangs out in discord slack channel Subreddit all of those things an extra special. Thanks to nicole lee for being with us today nicole tell folks how to keep up with all of your fabulous work Um, you can always go to engadget.com for my latest writing or you can just go check out my twitter doc my twitter page Which is twitter.com slash nicole Our show is funded by you unless you're not funding it in which case it's not funded by you but it is 90 funded by actual people making small Bits of support uh through patreon.com slash dtns get a few people supporting us on paypal Which they they don't even get anything for except the satisfaction of knowing they're supporting us the point being We don't have a big corporation behind us. We are the corporation me roger and sarah That's that's all you got. So if you like our perspective and you want to support independent tech news Think about becoming a member. We've got some rewards for you at patreon.com slash dtns Our email address is feedback at daily tech news show dot com and we are live monday through friday 4 30 p.m Eastern that's 20 30 utc and you can find out more and tell a friend daily tech news show dot com slash live Back tomorrow with richard gunther and len peralta talk to you then This show is part of the frog pants network get more at frogpants.com