Samsung’s Galaxy Watch will soon stream live video from Nest and Ring cameras

Samsung says it’s bringing more smart home features to Galaxy Watch devices. It will enable users to view live feeds from home and doorbell Ring and Nest cameras on their smartwatch. Ring camera owners can also use the two-way intercom feature from their Galaxy Watch. Samsung first brought Nest integration to the SmartThings ecosystem in early 2021.

Users will soon be able to control a broader selection of devices from their wrist as well, including smart air purifiers, thermostats and blinds. This builds on existing Galaxy Watch support for TVs, air conditioners, lights and other devices.

Samsung says users won’t need to open the SmartThings app to control their smart home devices. They can swipe right from the watch face to access those functions. The company didn’t reveal exactly when the update will be available, but we could learn more details at Unpacked on February 1st.

RED’s V-Raptor cameras can now upload 8K RAW footage directly to Adobe’s Frame.io

Adobe’s Camera to Cloud system, which can upload footage from cameras to the cloud (shockingly enough), is now available without the need for additional hardware. In what the company is calling an industry first, the tech is integrated into RED’s V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL cinema camera systems, which can directly upload 8K RAW footage to Frame.io. The only other thing you’ll really need is a high-bandwidth internet connection.

Swift cloud uploads should let post-production teams start work on the footage quickly, wherever they may be located. Adobe suggests this can save production companies time and money. It previewed the RED Camera to Cloud integration at Adobe Max in October, noting at the time that Fujifilm’s X-H2S mirrorless camera would also be able to upload RAW photos to Frame.io directly.

Adobe says more than 6,000 productions are already using Camera to Cloud, which until the RED integration required another piece of gear. Now, anyone who happens to have a V-Raptor camera can try it out. Direct Camera to Cloud uploads will likely remain the domain of professionals for now (the V-Raptor starts at $24,500), but here’s hoping Adobe brings the integration to other cameras soon.

In addition, Adobe announced at the Sundance Film Festival that a beta version of an AI-powered video editing tool is opening up to more users, but not everyone just yet. The web-based Project Blink pinpoints people, objects, dialogue, actions and sounds in video and makes them all searchable. When the AI finds the relevant section, it creates a new clip. You can copy and paste text and the tool will slot in that part of the video.

Among the new features and upgrades include more audio tags (which flag elements like applause and laughter) and the option for users to upload as many files as they wish thanks to infinite scrolling in the library. Project Blink isn’t the only text-based video editing tool around, however. Other companies, such as Descript and Runway, have developed their own versions.

Instagram adds a new ‘Quiet Mode’ and recommendation controls

Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give users more control over the app, starting with a new Quiet Mode. The tool functions a lot like your phone’s Do Not Disturb setting. When active, Instagram won’t push notifications to your device. Your profile will also display a note that you’re “in quiet mode,” and anyone who attempts to message you will receive an automatic reply that you’re not available.

You can set Quiet Mode to activate automatically at certain times of day. Once you’re outside those hours, Instagram will send you a summary of your notifications. Anyone can use Quiet Mode, but the company says it will prompt teens to use the feature if it notices they’re spending a lot of time scrolling through their feed late at night. Quiet Mode is available starting today in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Instagram Quiet Mode
Instagram

Alongside the new mode, Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give people more control over the photos and videos they see on the platform. Specifically, you can now tell the app the types of content you don’t want to be recommended to you. Starting with the Explore tab, you can select multiple tiles and tap “Not Interested” to shape Instagram’s content algorithm. Doing so will also affect what you see when you search for posts. Additionally, in an expansion of a feature that was already available for comments and direct messages, you can list specific words, hashtags and emoji you want Instagram to filter for when recommending content. You can access that tool through the “Hidden Words” section of the app’s privacy settings. One limitation is that filters will only work when the app detects the words you listed in hashtags and captions. Lastly, Instagram notes it recently added a feature that allows parents to see their teen’s app settings.

The subject of inappropriate recommendations came up during Adam Mosseri’s congressional hearing in 2021. Members of the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security grilled the head of Instagram about the content they saw the app steer them toward after creating fresh Instagram accounts designed to impersonate teens. Specifically, Utah Senator Mike Lee said he saw the Explore page of his finsta account change dramatically after following a single account recommended by Instagram. According to Lee, the app began recommending posts promoting body dysmorphia, sexualization of women and other content inappropriate for teen girls. “It went dark fast,” he said.

Whether the changes Instagram is introducing today will sufficiently address the concerns raised by lawmakers is hard to say, as Instagram is putting the onus on teen users to filter their feeds instead of doing that work itself.

Samsung’s display injunction leaves repair technicians worried

Samsung may have found a way to strike a hefty blow to the United States’ burgeoning right to repair movement. It has approached the International Trade Commission (ITC), requesting an investigation into the importation of third-party OLED displays for…

The Morning After: Apple’s HomePod returns with new smart home features

Apple discontinued its original HomePod smart speaker a few years ago. Now, we have a sequel. The company has resurrected the bigger unit with upgraded audio, a more powerful chip, more smart home abilities and, importantly, a lower price. The overall design, however, is mostly unchanged. Some will think it’s still a little pricey at $299, however.

The HomePod has room-sensing tech, so it can read sound reflections to determine its position (near a wall or in free space) and adjust the audio in real-time. There’s also Spatial Audio support. But the most interesting updates are its smart home tools. First, a feature called Sound Recognition can monitor for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send an alert to your iPhone if it hears one. This tool will be available in a software update “later this spring.” Since the new smart home standard Matter is (almost) everywhere, the 2023 HomePod can connect to and control gadgets compatible with it. Apple added that any smart home communications are end-to-end encrypted by default, and the company can’t read them.

The new HomePod is available for pre-order now and ships February 3rd. However, if you’re looking for something a little different, you could wait for a hub-styled smart home device. The latest rumors suggest Apple is working on an iPad-based device to go up against the likes of Google and Amazon.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Google may be working on a location tracker like Apple’s AirTag

It could be announced during Google I/O.

According to developer (and well-sourced leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski, Google’s Nest team is developing a tracker codenamed Grogu. It’ll reportedly include an onboard speaker, as well as support for Bluetooth Low Energy and ultra-wideband (UWB). Wojciechowski found evidence of the tracker when he noticed Google added support for locator tags in the developer hub for Fast Pair, the Android feature that quickly connects Bluetooth devices. Wojciechowski says the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both shipped with UWB modules, which would allow them to direct you to nearby objects accurately.

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Amazon is shutting down the AmazonSmile charity program in February

It says the program ‘has not grown to create the impact’ it was hoping for.

Amazon plans to wind down AmazonSmile, its giving program for buyers to donate to their favorite charities with every purchase, by February 20th, 2023. Apparently, the program’s ability to make a meaningful impact was hampered by it having over a million eligible organizations worldwide. Donations were apparently spread too thin. According to Bloomberg, the company donated almost $500 million to charities over the past 10 years through AmazonSmile. Still, the average amount per charity was apparently only $230 due to the sheer number of participating organizations. The cynical approach is that Amazon is axing the program to help with its own cost-cutting. Surely some charitable donation is better than none?

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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas shows off its acrobatic ‘gopher’ skills

Robot, fetch me my tools.

TMA
Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics showed off more of its Atlas robot’s stunning agility and dexterity in a new demo video, delivering a tool bag to a human at the top of some scaffolding. “This is more a demonstration of some of the robot’s new control capabilities, and a fun connection to our prior work,” Scott Kuindersma, Atlas team lead, said. “Our hope is that, if we can build the foundational technology that allows us to easily create and adapt dynamic behaviors like these, we should be able to leverage it down the road to perform real, physically demanding jobs.” The robot flips off the scaffolding at the end, too.

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