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Technology
Microsoft is setting itself some high goals for its new Chromium-based Edge browser. As Chuck Friedman, the corporate vice president for Edge told me, he wants Edge to hit one billion users — a number that would start to rival Chromenumbers. First, though, Friedmanteam has to get version 1.0 of Edge out to users in January.
Itno secret that Microsoft went to Chromium out of a bit of desperation. Indeed, Friedman, who joined the team about two years ago, called it an &existential crisis,& brought about by questions about why users would even want to use the old Edge. &When I got brought in, we almost had this existential crisis of, okay, what do we want to do? There was sort of this moment of like, why Edge? Why would users choose that? Were we delivering on meaningful problems?& At the time, he didn&t really have an answer to those questions, so the team went back to the basics to figure out what value Microsoft specifically could deliver in the browser space — and whether there was even a role for Edge going forward.
The fact that Friedman ran the program management team for the Windows 10 user experience — trying to overcome the missteps of Windows 8 — before running the Edge product team also clearly shows how important a product this is for Microsoft.
Friedman argues that thereplenty of work left to do in the browser space. &Therean emerging new set of problems that felt like they had legs,& he told me. &And then it wasn&t about solving the problems of the last five years, it was about solving the problems of the next five.& To do so, the team had to move past the original Edgeissues with compatibility — while still acknowledging that at least in the work environment, the browser still had to be compatible with the legacy web.
Clearly, privacy is top of mind for anybody in the web browser business, Microsoft included. Friedman noted that while people were generally aware of the privacy issues that come with surfing the web, they didn&t have the tools to protect themselves. &We sort of reached this point where we recognize the promise of the web, open access to all the worldinformation, feels great, but the price of all of your information as part of that body wasn&t OK,& Friedman said. And so that, too, became a focus for the team, but looking at all of these issues together — combined with an additional focus on security — the Edge team then looked at how all of this fits in with the entire Microsoft suite. &Itnot just about the operating system. Itnot just about search. But itactually about the full M365, the combination of the operating system, plus security, plus the productivity tools.&
But Friedman also echoed something I&ve heard from GoogleChrome team, and that is that the web today heavily depends on an advertising model that, at least for the time being, is the main income source for most of the companies that are publishing on the web. That can be a hard balance to strike. The way Microsoft is approaching this is by focusing on transparency. &The user should know where their data is and they don&t know what the data is and how itbeing used,& he explained. So users should have the ability to know how their data is being used and have control over it.
&There are those in our industry that think we absolutely should go to a point of extreme privacy and control. And I think there is a small set of users who prefer that. I also think that therea certain element of that that breaks the web. And I think that it has the potential to undermine the ability for publications to be able to monetize in a way that is reasonable.& He also argues that for users, about half prefer targeted ads versus non-targeted ads — but what makes them uncomfortable is to not have control over it.
In its browser, Microsoft defaults to blocking third-party cookies. To do so, it uses the same whitelist as Mozilla, but it also regularly updates this list when a site can demonstrate that it gives users the ability to delete their data — and with that, it hopes to encourage a wider range of players in the advertising industry to offer users these controls.
Edge, however is also very much a tool for business users, and so the team also started looking at how it could improve overall productivity in the browser for these users as well as consumers. That, for example, is where the idea of Collections came from, Microsofttake on whatsomething of a hybrid between bookmarks, scratch pads and reading lists, which aren&t yet ready for a wider roll-out, but which are available behind a flag in the more experimental canary builds of Edge.
But the team also found that users often copy and paste content from Edge to Office products — so expect the company to do more in this area going forward. &We do a better job of integrating around collaboration with Microsoft Office properties who all have great web experiences. But, frankly, we need to meet them partway and help them do more. I&m excited for an opportunity of almost a relaunch of the Office web properties with the browser. Theremore innovative work we can do there.&
Another area the team is looking at is tab management. &Tab chaos is an interesting problem. It still exists. I don&t think anybodydone a great job at solving it,& Friedman said. What exactly that will look like, though, remains to be seen.
One thing we won&t see right away, though, is an integration with Cortana. Thatpart of the current pre-Chromium version of Edge, but itsomething Friedman doesn&t seem quite ready to bring to the new version yet. To be useful in the browser, he argues, a personal assistant has to be right most of the time. But what that will look like in the new Edge remains to be seen. He thinks therepotential there, but what a real-world implementation would look like isn&t clear yet.
Once version 1.0 ships, the team plans to launch about two or three major new features in the browser every year, with Collections likely being the first.
Friedman also acknowledged that there are still lots of users who use Edge currently. There are about 150 million of those. And they use Edge because itthe browser that comes with Windows. These &low-confidence users,& as Friedman described them, aren&t all that likely to download a different browser if the new Edge is too radical a departure. Instead, they&ll go out and buy a different device, like an iPad, that they view as a simpler experience.
But for more experienced users, Microsoft is obviously setting up Edge as an alternative to Chrome. The team is trying to provide them a relatively friction-less pathway to switch. Finding that balance is tricky, but Friedman thinks itpossible, in part thanks to his work on Windows.
&My last gig was working on Win 10. I ran the product team for the core user experience for Windows 10. Sort of inherited the Windows 7 and 8 code base and said: Okay, how do we bring those users together in a way that ends up making both of them feel good about the product. It was a similarly interesting challenge, where you have […] to have true empathy for users that come from a lot of different spaces.&
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Write comment (92 Comments)Tinderbig experiment with interactive content — therecently launched in-app series called &Swipe Night& — was a success. According to Tinder parent company Match during its Q3 earnings this week, &millions& of Tinder users tuned in to watch the showepisodes during its run in October, and this drove double-digit increases in both matches and messages. As a result, Match confirmed its plans to launch Tindernew show outside the U.S. in early 2020.
Swipe Nightlaunch was something of a departure for the dating app, whose primary focus has been on connecting users for dating and other more casual affairs.
The new series presented users with something else to do in the Tinder app beyond just swiping on potential matches. Instead, you swiped on a story.
Presented in a &choose-your-own-adventure&- style format thatbeen popularized by Netflix, YouTube and others, Swipe Night asked users to make decisions to advance a narrative that followed a group of friends in an &apocalyptic adventure.&
The moral and practical choices you made during Swipe Night would then be shown on your profile as a conversation starter, or as just another signal as to whether or not a match was right for you. After all, they say that the best relationships come from those who share common values, not necessarily common interests. And Swipe Night helped to uncover aspects to someonepersonality that a profile would not — like whether you&d cover for a friend who cheated, or tell your other friend who was the one being cheated on?
The five-minute episodes ran every Sunday night in October from 6 PM to midnight.
Though early reports on Tinderplans had somewhat dramatically described Swipe Night as Tinderlaunch into streaming video, itmore accurate to call Swipe Night an engagement booster for an app from which many people often find themselves needing a break. Specifically, it could help Tinder address issues around declines in open rates or sessions per user — metrics that often hide behind what otherwise looks like steady growth. (Tinder, for example, added another 437,000 subscribers in the quarter, leading to 5.7 million average subscribers in Q3).
Ahead of earnings, there were already signs that Swipe Night was succeeding in its efforts to boost engagement.
Tinder said in late October that matches on its app jumped 26% compared to a typical Sunday night, and messages increased 12%.
On Tinderearnings call with investors, Match presented some updated metrics. The company said Swipe Night led to a 20% to 25% increase in &likes& and a 30% increase in matches. And the elevated conversation levels that resulted from user participation continued for days after each episode aired. Also importantly, the series helped boost female engagement in the app.
&This really extended our appeal and resonated with Gen Z users,& said Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg. &This effort demonstrates the kind of creativity and team we have at Tinder and the kind of effort that we&re willing to make.&
The company says it will make Season 1 of Swipe Night (a hint theremore to come) available soon as an on-demand experience, and will roll out the product to international markets early next year.
Swipe Night isn&t the only video product Match Group has in the works. In other Match-owned dating apps, Plenty of Fish and Twoo, the company is starting to test live streaming broadcasts. But these are created by the appusers, not as a polished, professional product from the company itself.
Match had reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, with earnings of 51 cents per share — above analysts& expectations for earnings of 42 cents per share. Matchrevenue was $541 million, in line with Wall Streetexpectations.
But its fourth-quarter guidance came in lower than expectations ($545 million-$555 million, below the projected $559.3 million), sending the stock dropping. Match said it would have to take on about $10 million in expenses related to it being spun out from parent company IAC.
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Google has partnered with mobile security firms ESET, Lookout and Zimperium to combat the scourge of malicious Android apps that sneak into the Google Play app store.
The announcement came Wednesday, with each company confirming their part in the newly created App Defense Alliance. Google said itworking with the companies to &stop bad apps before they reach users& devices.&
The search giant has struggled to fight against malicious apps in recent years. Although apps are screened for malware and other malicious components before apps are allowed into Google Play, the search and mobile giant has been accused of not doing enough to weed out malicious apps before they make it to users& devices.
Google said earlier this year that just 0.04% of all Android apps downloaded from Google Play were considered potentially harmful apps — or about 30 million potentially malicious apps.
Yet, it remains an ongoing problem.
ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium have all contributed to the discovery — and eventual takedown — of hundreds of malicious apps on Google Play in recent years.
But each time Google takes down a suspicious or malicious app from Google Play, the thousands or millions of users with the app installed on their phone remain vulnerable. The apps are not removed from devices, continuing to put users at risk.
By integrating its Google Play Protect technology, which serves as Androidbuilt-in antimalware engine, with each of its partners& scanning engines, the collective effort will help to better screen apps before they are approved for users to download.
Google said that knowledge sharing and industry collaboration are &important& to combat rising mobile app threats.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the company will unveil its all-electric &cybertruck& November 21 in Los Angeles near the serial entrepreneurother company, SpaceX.
The date just so happens to coincide with the LA Auto Show. However, this is a Tesla event and not associated with the auto show in downtown Los Angeles.
Instead, it appears Musk is tying the reveal on the same date thatlisted in the opening title for Blade Runner. Hmmm … perhaps Musk wants us to walk away mumbling to ourselves, &I&ve seen things you people wouldn&t believe.&
Musk has talked about producing an all-electric pickup truck for years now. In December, Musk resurrected the idea, saying that Tesla might have a prototype to unveil in 2019.
Musk mentioned on Twitter the desire to produce a pickup truck way back in April 2017, before the first Model 3 sedans had been handed over to customers and the CEO had entered production hell. At the time, Musk tweeted that a pickup truck would be unveiled in 18 to 24 months.
Musk had hoped to unveil the truck this summer, but it was pushed back to fall.
Little is known about what this cybertruck will look like, although there has been plenty of speculation. In an earnings call in January, Musk said it will be &unique.&
Last month, Musk said the cybertruck doesn&t look like anything heseen on the internet, a reference to the numerous speculative renderings out there.
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Read more: Elon Musk will reveal Tesla’s ‘Cybertruck’ all-electric pickup on Nov. 21
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Securing a green card can feel overwhelming for people in Silicon Valley who were born in India and China. But with the right help and guidance from a skilled immigration attorney, the process can be simpler, smoother and more successful.
Limits written into existing immigration laws on both the number of green cards issued each year, as well as the number of green cards available based on country of origin, leave some waiting half a century or more for a green card, with people from India and China facing the longest wait times for employment-based green cards.
In this fiscal year, which ended on October 31, 226,000 family-sponsored green cards and 141,918 employment-based green cards were available. And the per-country cap, which is the maximum number of green cards available to individuals born in a particular country, was 25,754.
Although these U.S. laws pose an extra challenge for people born in countries with the highest demand for green cards, if you were born in India or China, there are some things you can do to mitigate this wait.
Differentiate yourself
The EB-1 green card is considered the &first preference& for those who&ll receive offers for employment-based green cards. It offers three unique and accelerated sub-paths:
- EB-1A green card for individuals of extraordinary ability
- EB-1B green card for outstanding researchers and professors
- EB-1C green card for multinational managers and executives
The EB-1A green card for extraordinary ability does not require an employer sponsor or even a job offer, which means itone of the few self-petition green cards. To demonstrate eligibility,you must be able to show you have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics and that you and your work have received national or international acclaim.
Individuals who apply for the EB-1A do not need to obtain labor certification (as required of employers). That means the process is simpler and can be much faster than typical employment-based green cards. Also, an individual applicant may have more flexibility to change jobs than if an employer applied on their behalf.
The EB-1B green card for outstanding researchers and professors requires an employer to sponsor you. Candidates for the EB-1B green card must demonstrate great achievements in their academic field.
And finally, the EB-1C green card for multinational managers and executives enables an employer to bring an executive or manager who has been working abroad over to the U.S. to live and work. The EB-1C candidate must have worked outside the U.S. for the employer for at least one year.
This Cato Institute analysis estimates individuals born in China and India face waiting eight and nine years, respectively, for an EB-1 green card.Despite the small and growing backlog for EB-1 green cards for individuals born in China and India, it still remains one of the quicker options.
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In a new deal tying Uber Eats closer to the Los Angeles-based delivery management service Ordermark, the companies are offering special discounts to restaurants that use the service.
Uber Eats is giving all Ordermark restaurants a preferred fee rate, waiving the upfront set-up fee, and fully eliminating the need for the Uber Eats tablet in the restaurant, the companies said.
Ita perk that should expand the footprint of Ordermarktablet delivery service, the company said.
&Our top priority at Ordermark is deepening technical integrations and partnerships with forward-thinking industry leaders, such as Uber Eats,& says Alex Canter, CEO of Ordermark. &We&re pleased to partner with Uber Eats as this relationship will translate directly into greater efficiency, more orders, and higher value for our restaurant partners nationwide.&
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