Android 13 Beta 2 is available today

You won’t have to wait much longer if you want to check out some of the Android updates that Google plans to roll out later this year. The company revealed at its I/O 2022 developer conference today that the second public beta of Android 13 will be available starting today.

Google said it designed the latest version of the OS around three big themes: doing more with your phone at the center; going beyond the phone to other devices like tablets and watches; and making all those devices work together in harmony.

You should expect privacy and security upgrades, along with more ways to personalize your device with the likes of app icons. There’s a big focus on Android tablets this time around, with features such as a new taskbar at the bottom of the home screen and redesigns for more than 20 Google apps, including Messages, Maps and YouTube Music.

It was already expected that Google would release the second beta this month as it moves towards a final Android 13 release later this year. The first beta, which followed two developer previews, was mostly about behind-the-scenes backend improvements, though there were some welcome UI updates, such as a refreshed media playback box.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Watch the Google I/O 2022 keynote here at 12:40PM ET

Google I/O is one of the company’s most important events of the year, and it all kicks off with today’s keynote. It’s a safe bet that Google will reveal fresh details about Android 13, but the company will most likely have much more to discuss.

It’s not exactly a secret that Google has been beavering away on its own smartwatch — especially after a prototype was left at a restaurant recently. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the company officially showed off the Pixel Watch for the first time today. There are also rumblings of news on the smartphone front, particularly in the form of the rumored Pixel 6a. 

Google will also surely have announcements on other fronts. Key products like Search, Google Assistant and other hardware may be on the docket as well (I have my fingers crossed for some Stadia news, but I’m not holding my breath).

Before the keynote gets underway at 1PM ET, join us for our pre-show, which starts at 12:40PM. Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low and Senior Reporter Sam Rutherford will break down what we expect Google to announce and provide their expert analysis. Engadget will also have full coverage of all the biggest news from I/O.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Alexa Together will let caregivers remotely set up routines for aging loved ones

Amazon is rolling out some more features for Alexa Together, a service designed to help aging folks and caregivers stay connected using the voice assistant and Echo devices. One of these is called Circle of Support, which is now available to all users. This allows the person receiving support to have up to 10 designated caregivers.

Both that person and their primary caregiver can add or remove trusted people such as siblings, cousins, friends and close neighbors. All caregivers will receive daily alerts and check-ins through the activity feed. Circle of Support could be especially useful if the primary caregiver doesn’t live close to the person receiving care. If the person receiving support enables Remote Assist, only the primary caregiver will be able to use it. 

Speaking of Remote Assist, Amazon will soon upgrade that feature to let the primary caregiver set up Alexa Routines for their loved one. For instance, to make life a little simpler for the person receiving care, a routine might group together early morning actions like switching off the alarm, playing a news bulletin and turning on the coffee machine, all of which can be triggered with a single voice command.

Amazon says over 25 percent of Alexa Together users communicate across state lines and 65 percent do so between different cities. Adding some extra functions for users who live far apart from each other could make the service a more attractive proposition for some folks. Alexa Together, which is only available in the US for now, costs $20 per month or $200 per year. There’s a six-month trial available as well.

EV maker Canoo is in danger of going out of business

Electric vehicle maker Canoo has warned investors it’s running low on funds as it works toward bringing its products to market. It said that, due to the timing of the announced funding and some other factors, it has “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

“We have been clear about our philosophy of raising capital judiciously and will continue with this disciplined approach,” CEO Tony Aquila said in a statement. “We have more than $600 million in accessible capital to support Start of Production (SOP). As operators and investors, we have significant experience raising capital in challenging markets — and the best way to raise capital is to achieve your goals. We will continue to raise when needed, bridge to milestones and be in a position to take advantage of improving market conditions. We are focused on long term value creation for our customers and shareholders.”

Canoo reported a $125.4 million net loss in its first-quarter earnings (compared with $15.2 million in Q1 2021). It burned through $120.3 million in the first three months of the year, up from $53.9 million a year earlier. That left it with cash and cash equivalents of $104.9 million as of the end of March.

The company projects operating expenses of between $95 million and $115 million this quarter, as well as $85 million to $105 million in capital expenditures. As it stands, Canoo is not generating revenue.

The EV maker says it had built 39 Gamma lifestyle vans as of the end of March, with 17 of those now on the road. According to Reuters, company leaders said in an earnings call that it’s making up to just 12 vehicles a week and is focusing on fleet customers for the time being. Canoo claims it has received more than 17,500 pre-orders with a projected value of $750 million, and added that it secured a deal with NASA to provide Artemis ground crew transportation vehicles.

The company has had a turbulent history, as TechCrunch notes. It’s been the subject of an SEC investigation into factors such as the departure of certain executives and the SPAC merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp that took it public. Canoo has also been beset by production delays.

ICE ‘now operates as a domestic surveillance agency,’ think tank says

Although it’s supposed to be restricted by surveillance rules at local, state and federal levels, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has built up a mass surveillance system that includes details on almost all US residents, according to a report from a major think tank. Researchers from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology said ICE “now operates as a domestic surveillance agency” and that it was able to bypass regulations in part by purchasing databases from private companies. 

“Since its founding in 2003, ICE has not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations but has also played a key role in the federal government’s larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives,” the report’s authors state. “By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time.”

The researchers spent two years looking into ICE to put together the extensive report, which is called “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century.” They obtained information by filing hundreds of freedom of information requests and scouring more than 100,000 contracts and procurement records.

The agency is said to be using data from the Department of Motor Vehicles and utility companies, along with the likes of call records, child welfare records, phone location data, healthcare records and social media posts. ICE is now said to hold driver’s license data for 74 percent of adults and can track the movement of cars in cities that are home to 70 percent of the adult population in the US.

The study shows that ICE, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has already used facial recognition technology to search through driver’s license photos of a third of adults in the US. In 2020, the agency signed a deal with Clearview AI to use that company’s controversial technology. In addition, the report states that when 74 percent of adults hook up gas, electricity, phone or internet utilities in a new residence, ICE was able to automatically find out their updated address.

The authors wrote that ICE is able to carry out these actions in secret and without warrants. Along with the data it acquired from other government departments, utilities, private companies and third-party data brokers, “the power of algorithmic tools for sorting, matching, searching and analysis has dramatically expanded the scope and regularity of ICE surveillance,” the report states.

Spending transactions reviewed by the researchers showed that, between 2008 and last year, ICE spent around $2.8 billion on “new surveillance, data collection and data-sharing initiatives.” It spent approximately $569 million on data analysis, including $186.6 million in contracts with Palantir Technologies to help it make sense of its vast troves of data. Records showed that ICE also spent more than $1.3 billion on geolocation tech during that timeframe and $389 million on telecom interception, which includes tech that helps the agency track someone’s phone calls, emails, social media activity and real-time internet use.

In addition, the findings suggest the agency started engaging in certain surveillance activities much earlier than previously believed. The researchers found a contract from 2008 that granted ICE access to the Rhode Island motor vehicle department’s facial recognition database. Prior to that, it was understood that ICE started conducting facial recognition searches on state and local data sets in 2013.

The authors claim that ICE has been able to sidestep congressional oversight and bypass attempts at state level to curtain its surveillance capabilities. They included a list of recommendations that may help rein in the agency’s surveillance dragnet, such as Congress reforming immigration laws to “undercut ICE surveillance authority” and blocking ICE’s use of DMV data. The recommended measures also include protecting people who trust federal, state and local authorities with their data and blocking the use of utility records for immigration enforcement.

Engadget has contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

EA will stop using FIFA’s name in its soccer games next year

Electronic Arts is calling it quits with FIFA after nearly 30 years of using the soccer governing body’s name in the titles of its games. FIFA 23 will be the last EA game with that branding when it arrives later this year. Starting in 2023, the annual soccer sim games will use the moniker “EA Sports FC” instead. More info about the first title in the revamped series will be revealed in July 2023.

Other than the rebranding, the EA Sports FC games may not be vastly different from what fans are used to in the long run. EA still holds licenses for more than 300 soccer partners and has exclusive agreements with the likes of the Premier League, MLS, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A.

You can expect next year’s title to still have more than 19,000 players, 700+ teams, north of 100 stadiums and 30 leagues. Features such as career mode, Ultimate Team and VOLTA Football will still be present too. It’s unclear, however, what the move will mean for the inclusion of the World Cup in future titles.

In the meantime, EA Sports and Racing executive vice-president Cam Weber said his team and FIFA “are excited to deliver the greatest, most expansive EA Sports FIFA ever later this fall.” He said there will be more teams, players, competitions, leagues and game modes than in any previous games. These updates will not only be present in FIFA 23, but also in FIFA Mobile, FIFA Online 4 and esports.

“We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. “The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. We have an incredible opportunity to put EA Sports FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.”

The end of the partnership isn’t too surprising. FIFA expressed concern last fall about one entity (i.e. EA) having too much of the soccer gaming pie. It was talking with developers and other parties about how to “widen” the scope of its gaming and esports offerings. EA, on the other hand, said soon after the launch of FIFA 22 that it was “reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA” ahead of a possible rebranding. It filed a trademark application for “EA Sports FC” around the same time.

There are, of course, financial considerations at play. The New York Times reported in October that FIFA makes around $150 million per year through its licensing agreement with EA. In negotiations with the publisher, FIFA is said to have asked for a payment of over $1 billion for each World Cup cycle of four years. The two sides were also reportedly at odds over the scope of the partnership as well, including aspects like exclusivity.

Meanwhile, FIFA says EA will be able to release its next game as FIFA 23 under a non-exclusive, temporary extension of their partnership. This year’s edition will include both the men’s and women’s editions of the World Cup for the first time. 

The governing body noted it will release games created in collaboration with other developers in the third quarter of this year. These will be non-simulation titles, and the first one will be connected to the men’s World Cup, which starts in November in Qatar. 

Perhaps most significantly, FIFA said it’s in talks with “leading game publishers, media companies and investors” in relation to “a major new FIFA simulation football game title for 2024.” It may be fairly short notice to make a game on a comparable level with the current FIFA series for next year, unless FIFA is able to work with the likes of Pro Evolution Soccer/eSoccer developer Konami. Still, it seems there will be soccer sims bearing the FIFA branding beyond this year, even if they aren’t from EA.

“I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, seemingly in total sincerity. “The FIFA name is the only global, original title. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26 and so on — the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain THE BEST.” 

Update 5/10 3:50PM: Added more details from FIFA.

Netflix’s ad-supported plan and password sharing fees may arrive this year

Although Netflix had long said its service wouldn’t include ads, it revealed last month that it will actually roll out a cheaper, ad-supported plan. Co-CEO Reed Hastings said on an earnings call that plans for that tier would be firmed up “over the next year or two.” However, it seems the company is looking to offer the option even sooner. It reportedly suggested in an internal memo that an ad-supported version of the streaming service will emerge later this year.

Executives told staff in the note that they want to introduce an ad-supported plan in the last three months of 2022, according to The New York Times. What’s more, the note suggested the tier will be introduced around the same time as an extra fee for subscribers who share their passwords with people living at different addresses.

In the memo, Netflix is said to have noted that, outside of Apple TV+, every major streaming platform offers a lower-cost, ad-supported plan. Those include Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock. The company reportedly said that some of its competitors have still been able to “maintain strong brands” while showing commercials.

Meanwhile, Netflix recently said that more than 222 million households are paid subscribers. However, it claimed more than 100 million households are watching Netflix on someone else’s account without paying for access. On the earnings call, chief operating officer Greg Peters said that while the company is “not trying to shut down that sharing,” it is “going to ask you to pay a bit more to be able to share.” Netflix started testing an extra fee for account sharers in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica in March.

After years of impressive growth, Netflix suddenly has a big issue when it comes to subscriber numbers, which fell for the first time last quarter. It lost 200,000 members (largely due to shutting down its service in Russia) and it thinks it may lose as many as another two million this quarter. With its stock nosediving by over 50 percent in the last month, the company is hoping an ad-supported tier and extra charges for password sharing will help increase revenue.

Peloton’s huge loss highlights how hard it’ll be to turn things around

Peloton has posted a heavy quarterly loss for the first quarter, indicating that it has a lot of work to do in order to correct course. The company made a net loss of $757.1 million in the first three months of the year (Q3 of Peloton’s 2022 fiscal year). Not only was that a worse result than expected, it’s a massive decrease from the $8.6 million loss it posted for the same period in 2021.

Revenue dropped from $1.262 billion a year ago to $964 million. Operating expenses, meanwhile, grew by 101 percent year-over year to $920 million. Peloton says those represented 95.4 percent of total revenue for the quarter, compared with 36.3 percent a year earlier.

One of the company’s biggest challenges has been handling its stockpile of connected fitness equipment in the wake of a sales decline as more people return to office life. “We have too much [inventory] for the current run rate of the business, and that inventory has consumed an enormous amount of cash, more than we expected, which has caused us to rethink our capital structure,” CEO Barry McCarthy, who took on the job in February, wrote in a letter to shareholders. “We believe the inventory will sell eventually, so this is primarily a cash flow timing issue, not a structural issue.”

Around the time McCarthy was appointed, Peloton announced it would cut 2,800 jobs, or around 20 percent of the corporate workforce. Rumors swirled in February that the company was an acquisition target for several suitors, with the likes of Amazon and Nike said to be interested.

Although it won’t be easy for the company to get back on track, Peloton at least has a plan to turn things around. It aims to return to positive free cash flow in its 2023 fiscal year.

Last month, it announced an upcoming increase to subscriptions along with price cuts for many of its connected fitness machines. There are several reasons why Peloton is banking more heavily on subscriptions. For one, subscription revenues rose by 55 percent year-over-year to $369.9 million. The company now has 7 million members, and McCarthy has a long-term goal of reaching 100 million. “Our users are highly engaged, and our subscriber churn rate is less than 1 percent, which is the best I’ve seen,” McCarthy, a former Netflix and Spotify executive, said.

McCarthy said the pricing changes could help the company deliver “roughly $40 million of incremental revenue monthly.” The increased cost of the All-Access plan doesn’t kick in until June 1st, but McCarthy says there’s only been a small increase in user attrition and the move will generate an extra $14 million in revenue each month if that level of churn holds.

Cutting prices on some hardware models has led to a 69 percent increase in daily unit sales too. So far, that move has increased revenue by $25 million per month. The company also plans to keep testing a program that will combine an All-Access subscription plan with rentals of its equipment.

McCarthy noted that Peloton is revamping its workforce as it shifts from a hardware- to a software-focused company. The recent job cuts factor into the company’s plan to increase annual run-rate savings to at least $800 million by its 2024 fiscal year. It also signed a binding commitment letter to borrow $750 million in five-year term debt from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Meanwhile, Peloton says more than half a million users have tried Lanebreak, its first gamified workout, on Bike and Bike+. The company expects to lean “more into gaming content in response to the success of Lanebreak.”

Amazon fired two workers who helped organize its first union

Weeks after its workers won a union election for the first time, Amazon fired two of the employees who were involved in organization efforts. It’s the first time Amazon has forced out workers involved in the union drive since the election win on April 1, according to Motherboard, though it’s not whether the company took these actions in retaliation.

Mat Cusick, a warehouse worker and communications lead for the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), was on COVID-19 leave to care for a loved one when he received notice of his firing on May 3rd, he told the outlet. The reason Amazon gave was that it let go Cusick for “voluntary resignation due to job abandonment.”

Fellow organizer Tristan Dutchin said he was fired four days later for failing to meet productivity targets. “I believe it was retaliatory,” Dutchin, who has been a vocal union advocate in the press, told Motherboard.

Amazon has fired workers on both sides of labor organizing drives at JFK8. In March 2020, the company terminated the employment of Chris Smalls, who led a protest over Amazon’s alleged failure to protect workers from COVID-19. Smalls is now the president of ALU. In April, the company was ordered to reinstate a JFK8 worker who it fired after a protest two years earlier.

Last week, Amazon let go six senior managers who were said to have been involved in the company’s anti-union efforts at JFK8. Amazon said it pushed them out as part of “management changes.” Some believed they were fired as a result of the union’s election win.

Amazon has challenged the election result in court. It has yet to recognize the ALU. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

A US college is shutting down for good following a ransomware attack

Lincoln College says it will close this week in the wake of a ransomware attack that took months to resolve. While the impact of COVID-19 severely impacted activities such as recruitment and fundraising, the cyberattack seems to have been the tipping point for the Illinois institution.

The college has informed the Illinois Department of Higher Education and Higher Learning Commission that it will permanently close as of May 13th. As NBC News notes, it’s the first US college or university to shut down in part because of a ransomware attack.

Lincoln says it had “record-breaking student enrollment” in fall 2019. However, the pandemic caused a sizable fall in enrollment with some students opting to defer college or take a leave of absence. The college — one of only a few rural schools to qualify as a predominantly Black institution under the Department of Education — said those affected its financial standing.

Last December, Lincoln was hit by a cyberattack, which “thwarted admissions activities and hindered access to all institutional data, creating an unclear picture of fall 2022 enrollment. All systems required for recruitment, retention and fundraising efforts were inoperable,” the college said in a statement posted on its homepage. “Fortunately, no personal identifying information was exposed. Once fully restored in March 2022, the projections displayed significant enrollment shortfalls, requiring a transformational donation or partnership to sustain Lincoln College beyond the current semester.”

Barring a last-minute respite, the one-two punch of the pandemic and a cyberattack have brought an end to a 157-year-old institution. Lincoln says it will help students who aren’t graduating this semester transfer to another college.

Over the last few years, ransomware hackers have attacked other educational facilities, as well as hospitals, game studios, Sinclair Broadcast Group and many other companies and institutions.