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This week, news from Facebook’s F8 conference, new Facebook bans have been announced, Pokemon’s Detective Pikachu movie has leaked online maybe (maybe not), and Toronto’s getting a pro Call of Duty team. But first, Google’s new Pixel 3a handsets and the Google Nest Hub.

Google developer’s conference first day highlights

I/O, Google’s annual developers conference, runs this week, and in a keynote yesterday to kick off the event, the company had plenty to announce. Here’s a rundown of the big news.

New, cheaper Pixel handsets

Available now is the Pixel 3a smartphone, which packs all the main features you want in a handset into a more affordable package: $549 for 5.6-inch and $649 for the 6-inch (Pixel 3a XL).

You can get these in three colours and the device is made of polycarbonate (plastic) and not metal, like the Pixel 3 devices. Other things that make these cheaper are a slower processor, no wireless charging, and no water resistance.

But Google claims the camera on the 3a is the same as on the Pixel 3 and will deliver just the same stunning photos.

Google Nest is the brand for all smart home stuff

Formerly known under the “Home” moniker, the Google connected devices that make your home smart are being tagged with the “Nest” brand now, leveraging the name established by the first smart thermostat.

The Nest Hub is a new product with a seven-inch screen, designed to be the assistant that provides central access to thermostats, lights, can act as a speaker and also a digital photo frame. You can preorder the Nest Hub for $169.

More from F8, Facebook’s developers conference

In a keynote address, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would be reducing the impact of the news feed on user streams, and instead would be highlighting posts coming from groups that you’ve joined. The idea is to encourage users to expand their connections through groups.

This seems like it’s part of the shift to provide an experience that is less fraught and less open to influence by “bad actors”.

Messenger is also being refocused, giving you the opportunity to prioritize the people you are connected with there.

With Instagram, meanwhile, Canada will be the location of a trial in which “likes” are hidden on feeds. In a release, the company said this is being tested to see the result of users being able to “focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get”.

New VR headsets announced

Facebook owns Oculus, the company that helped pioneer modern virtual reality headsets, and last week announced that the two new iterations of the technology are being released this month.

The Oculus Quest is a self-contained system that doesn’t need a computer to operate and the Oculus Rift S is an update to the more powerful kit that replaces the need for external cameras with what’s called an “inside-out” tracking system.

Both systems are priced at CAN$549. A Quest with double the storage space (128 GB is available for $700).

Facebook bans individuals and organizations that promote hate

Last week, Facebook escalated its efforts to scrub extremists from its platform. It designated a number of individuals and groups – including Alex Jones, Infowars, Laura Loomer, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Gavin McInnes – as “individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate”.

They have been banned from Facebook.

While this seems like it’s happened before – Jones was officially banned late last year, but managed to maintain a presence nevertheless – the new Facebook initiative is different because it extends to any individual or group who promotes the banned individuals or shares their material.

Detective Pikachu movie leaked online

It doesn’t hit theatres until Friday, but Detective Pikachu, which stars Ryan Reynolds as the cute little pocket monster, is already available on YouTube.

At least, that’s what Reynolds would have you believe. In a Twitter post this week, he appears to call out the apparent plagiarism.

Watch the video – embedded below – for a great troll: a full 100 minutes of Pikachu dancing to ’80s-era synthesizer music.

Toronto is getting a Call of Duty eSports team

Since 2016, Activision has been running the Call of Duty World League, in which gamers compete in Call of Duty matches.

With prize pools that are regularly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars – championship purses are in the millions – the CWL World League is massive. And now it’s being further professionalized with a city-based Call of Duty league.

The five teams announced to date are based in Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Paris, and Toronto.

The Toronto franchise is owned by OverActive Media, which owns the Toronto Defiant, a team in the Overwatch League.

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This week, why you might want to avoid using the McDonald’s app to place orders, Roku introduces guest features on streaming devices, and a video game proves successful at diagnosing precursers to dementia. But first, a look at what’s going on with Facebook.

Facebook fallout: What’s going on with the social network this week

It’s been a year since the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. Last week, a report released by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia provided specific details about the 622,000 Canadians who were impacted by the breach.

This all came about, recall, because of a “personality quiz” app, and the data shared in the report shows just how the app spread. There were only 33 people in B.C. who installed the app, but because the quiz was able to collect information on people who were connected to those users, 92,208 people were affected by those 33 people.

In Ontario, 142 installs compromised the privacy of nearly 300,000 people.

The report says that Facebook violated federal and B.C. laws and “either outright rejected, or refused to implement our recommendations in any manner acceptable to our Offices.”

Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien plans to take Facebook to court. “Canadians are at risk because the protections offered by Facebook are essentially empty,” Therrien said in a press conference on April 25.

This all happens as reports out of the U.S. suggest that Facebook is preparing to pay a US$5 billion fine related to privacy violations.

Announcements from Facebook’s developers conference, F8

The annual conference began yesterday with a keynote address by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Highlights include a coming redesign to Facebook that reduces the prominence of the News Feed and instead promotes information from groups you are a part of.

We also learned that Canada will be the test location for a new Instagram approach that hides the “likes” on a person’s feed.

Reporter defrauded after using McDonald’s smartphone app

It’s very convenient to be able to use your smartphone to place an order at a cafe or restaurant and have it ready for you to take away when you arrive, but be careful about the security of those apps.

Patrick O’Rourke, a tech journalist at MobileSyrup, claims that he’s out more than $2,000 after trying to use the McDonald’s iPhone app to order a coffee.

And he’s not the only one who seems to have been defrauded.

In an article, O’Rourke details his experience and the claims by McDonald’s Canada that the issue is solely the result of users not following proper password protocols.

“Most of these over 100 transactions were completed over just a couple days,” he wrote. “They’re also all under $30 CAD and minutes apart from one another.”

O’Rourke’s pro tip? “Delete the McDonald’s app from your phone.”

Good advice.

Roku makes it easier for people to use its streaming devices

In an effort to make its software easier to use, Roku has introduced some new features to its Roku streaming players and televisions that use the Roku interface.

The new Guest Mode was created so that visitors can use their own subscriptions to access streaming services like Netflix or Crave. They can then specify when those credentials will expire so they don’t have to worry about other people using their subscription.

This is great for hotels and other short-term stay hosts, and as a guest it’s ideal because you can easily set up the removal of your sign-in details.

The other feature added by Roku is to make it easier to use multiple Roku devices. If you’ve logged in to a subscription service through your Roku account, it will automatically be enabled on all other Roku devices.

This automatic sign-in requires channels to integrate the functionality. So far, only CBS All Access, fuboTV, and Plex are supporting the service.

Video game may be better at detecting dementia than traditional tests

New research into methods of diagnozing Alzheimer’s suggests that a simple video game may be more effective, and cheaper, at detecting people who may be at high risk.

Results of the study were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week.

Sea Hero Quest was developed specifically to be used to test how players navigated through the game space by having them get their boat to locations on a map that they have to memorize before it disappears.

The game susses out the degree to which spatial orientation, one of the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s, may be lacking in players.

And because the app is easy to use and can be distributed widely, it’s a far cheaper method of doing research than traditional methods requiring subjects to get wired up in a lab.

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This week, developments at Amazon and Google around streaming video and music services and Ubisoft invites you to appreciate video game artistry. But first, Samsung delays the launch of its Galaxy Fold smartphone.

Samsung postpones Galaxy Fold release amid reports of the smartphones breaking

Less than a month away from releasing the Galaxy Fold into the U.S. market, Samsung has delayed the smartphone’s release. A new shipping date has not been set.

This comes as media outlets, which were given Galaxy Folds for review purposes, have been breaking the handsets at the crease.

Some of the failures are a result of the removal of a protective layer of film from the screen that Samsung says is critical to the stability of the device, but there have been other breaks that cannot be attributed to the same issue.

There’s no word on what the delay will mean for customers in Canada. Samsung Canada had not set a date for release of the Galaxy Fold.

Amazon and YouTube are sharing each other’s videos again

A few months ago, Amazon dropped the YouTube app from its Fire TV devices. Google, in response, cut Amazon Prime Video from the Chromecast and gadgets running Android TV.

It was all part of the battle for video streaming supremacy. As of last week, though, the two companies decided to cease hostilities.

There’s been no comment as to why the hand waving has stopped. It could be because of moves Apple has made into the space but it’s more likely that the companies realized there wasn’t much to be won by restricing consumer access to a competitor’s service.

Free music services come to a smart speaker near you

Speaking of Amazon and Google, the two companies are rolling out ad-supported versions of their music streaming services in some markets.

Amazon has two paid plans already, Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, but now available in the U.S. is Amazon Music, which will deliver select playlists and stations for free to Echo devices, interspersed with ads. This free service isn’t available outside the U.S. at the moment, but it’s likely to spread to other jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, you can set YouTube Music as your default music service on your Google Home speakers to take advantage of its free service. You can’t request specific artists, albums, songs, or playlists, though. To do that you need to upgrade to a YouTube Music Premium account for $10 a month.

Put some video-game art on your wall

Most video games create characters and worlds with animation, and the artistic talent on display in games is often breathtaking.

Now, with the Ubisoft Art Gallery, you can get prints of that artistry to decorate your own spaces.

Available through the online storefront are pictures of memorable characters and stunning scenes from games including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, For Honor, and Watch Dogs.

It’s an astoudning range of settings and styles, from medieval Europe to Renaissance Italy to cyberpunk cityscapes of the future.

The images can be printed on a variety of media including archival quality paper, canvas, and even metal, and customers can choose to have art matted and framed.

Prices start at about $100.

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