Study Backs Up Creeping Feeling That Facebook Is Just for Old People Now
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Is Facebook losing itself to the olds? A new study released from research firm eMarketer predicts Facebook lost 2.8 million users under the age of 25 last year as many of them move to the aggressively youthful Snapchat.
eMarketer is an outside research firm without privileged access to Facebook’s numbers, so take these numbers more as estimates than exact figures. Still, the study is sure to come as good news to Snapchat. The platform struggled with user growth early last year as Facebook introduced the Instagram Stories feature, a blatant Snap clone that nonetheless boosted its user base.
Facebook lost users in all three “youth” groups: users under 11 years old, 12- to 17-year-olds, and 18 to 24 years old. Facebook’s steepest estimated drop last year, according to eMarketer, was in the middle category: 1.4 million teens were no longer regular users. Facebook’s estimated drop in younger users last year dovetails neatly with Snap’s growth in 2017, when it gained about 1.9 million users under 25. We reached out to Facebook to comment on Marketer’s numbers and will update if we heard back.
Facebook still reigns supreme with its 1.4 billion daily users compared to Snapchat’s 187 million, but the changes in user growth reflect a longstanding cultural truth: what old people like isn’t cool. It’s entirely possible that Facebook is less popular with young people precisely because it’s so popular with older people. Can a platform be “cool” if your aunt, grandfather, and third grade teacher all use it? By contrast, Snapchat, even after its loathed-by-teens redesign, is notoriously difficult to pick up and use. That’s kept it from mainstream success, but part of its appeal may be that older people don’t “get it.”
Ultimately, youth is an immensely valuable currency in the online attention economy. It’s morbid, with an older user base, every decade or so Facebook will lose a certain percentage of its user base to old age. In its first eight years, 30 million users died. With billions of users worldwide, that means millions of people will make up Facebook’s digital graveyard. Snapchat is smaller, younger, and, in addition to advertisers’ bottomless appetites for youthful spending, it almost certainly has highly valuable insights into what the next generation of online users want.
AMD’s Newest Processors Are So Good You Can Skip the Graphics Card
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All images: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo
In the past year, graphics cards have gone from the reasonably priced computer part you pick up on Amazon or Newegg to something bordering on as precious as gold. If you happen to find one being sold at its MSRP, you can easily snatch it up and sell it on Amazon for twice the price. The market has gotten so cutthroat in the face of a GPU shortage that vendors like Microcenter have limited the number of GPUs you can buy and will only sell at the original MSRP if you can prove you’re buying it for personal use. And into this fierce market enters AMD with a new CPU with an integrated graphics card so good you can leave the other GPUs to the cryptominers.
Today, AMD is launching two new APUs, or accelerated processing units, that are way cheaper than their Intel rivals but with performance that’s far better. APU, if you’re unfamiliar, is the AMD-coined term for a CPU with integrated graphics. APUs, and CPUs with integrated graphics, don’t need an additional graphics card (or GPU) in order to function, and right now that is a very big deal.
These two new APUs are very good at what they do, and they easily rival their Intel competitors, while also being faster than even some low-end graphics cards available. If you’ve been thinking about building up a new PC for casual gaming, or looking to build your first PC on the cheap, then these APUs are intended for you.
The AMD Ryzen 5 2400G retails for $170 and is roughly comparable to Intel’s $255 i5-8600K. The AMD Ryzen 3 2200G goes for a crazy cheap $100 and is roughly comparable to Intel’s $170 i3 8350K. That $70 to $85 difference is nothing new for AMD. It sells a lot fewer CPUs than Intel and has always undercut its primary competitor, but now it’s selling processors that aren’t only cheaper, but far better choices for people who have no plans to buy a separate graphics card.
The reason these new CPUs are so good at graphics is that AMD makes really good graphics cards too. That’s a key difference between it and Intel. GPUs are built into AMD’s DNA, and thus it can, the theory goes, better implement integrated graphics than Intel. Intel gets that too—it’s why it partnered with AMD on a new series of chips earlier this year, and why it poached AMD’s lead GPU architect last year.
When it comes to integrated graphics the proof is in the benchmarks—particularly the gaming ones. Simply put, the AMD Ryzen APUs have the fastest integrated graphics you can buy right now. Even when compared to the integrated graphics in Intel’s top-of-the-line desktop processor, the $360 Intel i7-8700K AMD’s budget APUs are tremendous. The Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5 have the same integrated graphics chip that’s based on AMD’s Vega microarchitecture, and consequently they pull nearly identical numbers. Both were twice as fast at rendering frames in the Civilization VI benchmark we use, and both rendered five times as many frames per second in the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark.
Below you can see the benchmark numbers speak for themselves. For comparisons sake, I also threw in the results for the AMD 550 GPU. That graphics card is one of the cheapest currently available right now, with an MSRP of $80 and a street value of more than $160.
Those numbers are great, but something like Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is a AAA game with extremely taxing graphics, isn’t exactly what integrated GPUs are meant for. If you want to play the fanciest games available than you’ll need a fancy graphics card. Integrated graphics are intended for the games you want to play a quick round of after dinner—hugely popular but not taxing titles like Gwent or Hearthstone or Overwatch. Because I really wanted to see how the graphics hold up with more popular games I also opted to test the popular shooter Overwatch. As with Civ VI and Rise of the Tomb Raider it was tested at a resolution of 4K. And again it trumped the best Intel integrated GPU you can get right now, with both the Ryzen 5 and 3 being twice as fast as the Intel Iris 630 that’s integrated with the i7-8700K.
Unfortunately none of the results were actually good at 4K. Even on the lowest settings the Vega GPU in AMD’s APUs only managed an average 20 frames per second, which is absolutely unplayable. But when I dropped the resolution to 1080 things improved significantly. On the lowest graphics setting the AMD APUs managed an average 66fps—which is more than enough for most players and almost twice as fast at the 33fps of the Intel CPU. And on the Ultra it still managed a perfectly acceptable 35 frames per second versus the Intel’s unplayable 17fps. That means you could build an Overwatch ready computer with something as cheap as the $100 Ryzen 3 2200G. No need for one of the sky-high priced graphics cards out there.
That’s a big deal. Intel has been promising gaming-worthy integrated graphics for the last few years, but it’s been unable to deliver. Trying to play Overwatch on a desktop sans discrete GPU, or trying to play on a laptop, is an exercise in frustration. AMD’s new Ryzen APUs actually make gaming without a graphics card possible—and pleasant! The experience is even similar to if you had a card plugged into the PCI slot sucking up power. You still have to install AMD drivers just as you would with discrete graphics you get the same tweaks to gaming performance as you would with a discrete card.
In fact the only issue I’ve run into so far with these APUs is that they currently do not play very nicely with discrete graphics cards from AMD’s rival Nvidia. Originally I’d hoped to give a detailed look at how the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G performed against their competitors on benchmarks like Geekbench 4, WebXPRT 2015, and Gizmodo’s Photoshop test. However all CPUs we’ve previously tested were benchmarked with an Nvidia 1080 GPU installed. When I tried to get that same CPU working with the Ryzen APUs I ran into some pretty annoying errors related to the AMD and Nvidia drivers not playing well together. AMD is still investigating the issue, and I’ll update here should the situation be resolved.
But I find myself reluctant to ding these Ryzen APUs too much for this driver issue. Because these APUs aren’t necessarily the processors someone would, or should, buy when building your next big gaming rig. Instead these super cheaps CPUs are what you buy when you’re building your first PC or slowly building up a new PC out of spare parts. You spend $100 on a CPU one month. Then $50 on the motherboard the next. Before you know it you’re building a fast enough computer for a few hundred bucks and playing Overwatch with you friends. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to build a PC but have been put off by the potential price then the $170 Ryzen 5 2400G and $100 Ryzen 3 2200G are the processors for you. These things are so good you can put off worrying about what kind of graphics card to buy until the prices drop.
README
These processors are cheap and between $70 and $85 cheaper than their competitors.
If you’re looking to game at reasonable graphics settings in 1080p than these processors are perfect and give you nearly identical performance.
People looking for 4K gaming should not be idiots, and still plan to invest in a discrete graphics card.
We found driver issues occurred when trying to use a Nvidia card with the AMD APUs, but you own mileage may vary.
GANGNEUNG, South Korea—The diplomatic efforts between the two Koreas at the Pyeongchang Olympics so far have included a visit from Kim Jong Un’s sister, bilateral meetings, and the decision to field a single squad of athletes under the flag of a unified Korea.
Those instruments of statecraft, however, were conspicuously lacking in choreographed chants and speedy wardrobe changes. For that, North Korea has fallen back on its favorite weapon of mass distraction: cheerleader diplomacy.
Purdue Pharma says it will stop promoting opioids to doctors
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More than a decade after Purdue Pharma was first criticized by the federal government for its “aggressive” marketing of the addictive painkillerOxyContin, the company says it will stop promoting the opioid to doctors.
The company told CNN on Sunday that it has cut its sales force in half to 200 representatives and will turn its focus to marketing non-opioid drugs. The news was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
Purdue will continue to sell OxyContin, but sales reps will no longer visit doctors’ offices to promote the drug.
For the past couple of years Purdue has routinely directed doctors to the CDC’s “Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain,” the company said.
Opioids, a class of pharmaceuticals that include prescription pain killers like OxyContin as well as illicit drugs like heroin and fentanyl, are at the root of an ongoing public health crisis in America.
In 2016, there were 42,249 opioid-linked drug fatalities in the U.S. — more than the number of deaths linked to breast cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The opioid crisis has raised significant concern about prescription painkillers. Between 1999 and 2009, overdoses from such drugs rose about 13% annually, though the increase has since slowed to 3% per year.
Sales of OxyContin, which is a long-acting version of the drug oxycodone that was designed to deliver medicine over 12 hours, grew rapidly after it hit the market in 1996.
Reports about OxyContin abuse began to surface by early 2000, according to a 2003 government report.
The Drug Enforcement Administration “expressed concern that Purdue’s aggressive marketing of OxyContin focused on promoting the drug to treat a wide range of conditions to physicians who may not have been adequately trained in pain management,” the report states.
Purdue collaborated with the Food and Drug Administration on a “risk management plan” aimed at preventing abuse of the drug, according to the report.
Then, in 2007, the federal government broughtcriminal charges against Purdue for misleadingly advertising OxyContin as less addictive than other opioids. Purdue and three executives pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $634.5 million in civil and criminal fines.
Purdue says it has since been involved in various measures to curb opioid addiction. In 2010, the firm released a new version of OxyContin that is more difficult to crush — and therefore more difficult to abuse by snorting or injecting it.
— Nadia Kounang and Sonia Moghe contributed to this report.
CNNMoney (New York) First published February 11, 2018: 5:46 PM ET
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When it comes to enjoying movies while you are on the move, many of us have resorted to copying a movie file onto our smartphones. The very thought of catching your favourite movie on a larger sized display is nice, but not so when you are mobile and need to move around frequently. What if there was an amalgamation of a projector and a smartphone? This idea is definitely not new, first mooted and developed by Samsung, before others such as the Logic Bolt Projector Phone made it to the market. However, these handsets did not really take off in reality, but the idea lives on through the Movi Smartphone, with Wireless Mobi Solution, Inc. being the driving force behind this device.
The Movi Smartphone will arrive embedded with a laser, high definition (HD) 720p pico projector that ensures users are able to utilize many kinds of surfaces as an additional screen. Doing so lets them enjoy and share digital content which range from movies to videos, games, photos, and others. Sounds like the Movi Smartphone has a whole lot to achieve, but fret not, it will arrive with enough processing power to deliver best-in-class performance when it comes to mobile computing and graphics capabilities while taking up minimal power.
The projector itself will be powered by MicroVision’s PicoP Scanning Engine, instantly throwing a screen of up to 100-inches in size regardless of where they are. The 32-bit MediaTek processor is powerful enough to handle virtually any task that you throw at it, while there is a 16MP shooter at the back with a front-facing 8MP camera. One main area of concern when it comes to projector smartphones would be the battery life, and the Movi Smartphone intends not to disappoint in this department. It claims to deliver an extended battery life, where using it with a certified power adapter enables the handset to be charged up to 4 times faster compared to traditional charging methods.
Powered by Android 7.0 Nougat, the Movi Smartphone will feature Miracast 2.0 streaming, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz, NFC and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity. There is no word on pricing just yet.
Code suggests Google Assistant will come to all Chromebooks
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If you want Google Assistant on a Chromebook, you currently have exactly one option: Google’s own $1,700 Pixelbook. It looks like Google’s about to unleash its voice helper on any ChromeOS device, however, if code spotted by XDA Developers is implemented. In a recent ChromeOS built, there’s a new feature that will let manufacturers enable Google Assistant (by default, it’s off). According to another part of the code, OEMs will be able to decide whether it listens for a keywords or is activated simply by a button press.
Google Assistant code for ChromeOS has been spotted before, but this is the first time we’ve seen a reference to a code commit. While the Pixelbook is a stunning device, many folks choose Chromebooks as an inexpensive web and email machine or basic PC for family members. Having the Assistant, then, will make them a lot more useful for that crowd.
It’s hard to say when the feature will arrive, as the time between a committed feature and wide release can vary drastically. On top of that, it could take manufacturers like ASUS and HP awhile to implement it. On the other hand, it’s a pretty strong selling point, so that could motivate Google and sellers to get it ready as soon as possible.
Under Armour’s HOVR smart running shoes are more than just a gimmick
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As fascinating as shoes like Nike’s "PlayStation" PG2s or Adidas’ "4D" Futurecrafts are, those particular models don’t offer many (if any) benefits to avid runners. They’re more geared toward sneakerheads than anyone else. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any tech-oriented pairs designed for people who enjoy running, be it casually or on a regular basis. That’s exactly the demographic Under Armour is going after with its HOVR connected shoes, which consist of two different versions: a low-top (the Sonic) and a mid-top (the Phantom, pictured here).
Both of these come with a sensor built in that can track your cadence, distance, pace, stride and, of course, steps — all the important metrics runners care about. Under Armour developed this Record sensor in-house, and it has been drastically improved since it debuted on the SpeedForm Gemini 2 running shoes in 2016; it’s now able to track more data than before, such as stride length. The Bluetooth-powered sensors are located inside the thickest part of the midsole, which ensures that they can work even during your rainy-day runs.
As far as power goes, you don’t need to worry about charging the HOVRs, since the batteries in the sensors are self-contained. According to Under Armour, the Record chip is designed to outlast the life of the running shoes themselves, so longevity will depend on each individual and how much they work out. That said, the company is confident that you won’t ever have to worry about running out of power.
Of course, you’ll need an app to digest all the data captured by the shoes. For that, you’ll use Under Armour’s Map My Run application, available for iOS and Android. Pairing the Phantoms to my iPhone was surprisingly quick and seamless: I took the pair out of the box, placed my phone near them, opened the Map My Run app and, within seconds, a message popped up prompting me to connect my shoes. After I accepted and hit continue, the app pushed an update to them, added them to my "Gear Tracker" tab in Map My Run and then the setup process was complete.
Altogether, it only took about four minutes before my Phantoms were paired to the app. If, for some reason your iOS or Android device doesn’t automatically pick up the Bluetooth signal from the HOVRs, Under Armour says it’ll give customers a walkthrough of how to connect the shoes to the Map My Run app, which may include telling you to turn on Bluetooth or having to shake the right shoe to wake it up from sleep mode.
One of the main differences between Under Armour’s latest Record sensor, compared to the previous version, is that it now lets you go on smarter untethered runs. This means you don’t need to have your phone with you with the Map My Run app open to track your stats, since the HOVRs measure your data as soon as you start running. You can then sync that to your app when you get back home if, say, you forgot to take your phone with you. It’s a great option for those who like to be as light as possible during their training or workout, or if you simply want to use the HOVRs as an unobtrusive step counter.
Later this month, Under Armour plans to roll out a coaching feature that will add more functionality to the HOVRs and the Map My Run app, both for iOS and Android users. You’ll be able to monitor your gait/stride length mile after mile, and the application will show you how that impacts your pace and cadence. Under Armour says that, by interpreting that data, Map My Run can offer you tips on how to improve your pace and splits by changing your form, like if you should be taking shorter or longer strides as you run.
Comfort-wise, the Phantom HOVRs are bouncy yet stiff enough to reduce the amount of impact you feel every time your feet hit the ground. Under Armour says its HOVR foam tech is meant to provide a "zero gravity feel," an element that’s complemented by an Energy Web material that’s spread through various areas of the shoe’s midsole and a knit upper that wraps around your foot like a sock. It’s definitely one of the most comfortable running shoes I’ve tried on, right up there with Adidas’ popular Ultra Boost.
The Sonic and Phantom HOVR connected sneakers are available now for $110 and $140, respectively. And if you like the shoes but don’t care about making them work with the Map My Run app, Under Armour also has versions without the Record sensor for $10 less per pair.
