Coconut Portable Waterproof Light: $36.99

We have a deal on the Coconut Light, a portable, waterproof light made of silicone. It’s a perfect sphere with an LED, whose light diffuses through the silicone shell. it has small feet on the “bottom” to keep it from rolling around, but it’s also waterproof, so you can toss it in the pool. The Coconut Light is $36.99 through our deal.

‘Mirage’ Helps You Detect Edited Photos Using Machine Learning

Mirage is a cool app I discovered today that uses machine learning to detect edited photos. Not only that, it can also undo the editing. However, it requires a face to be present in the photo, so it won’t work on any image. It’s based on this research paper [PDF]:

We present a method for detecting one very popular Photoshop manipulation – image warping applied to human faces – using a model trained entirely using fake images that were automatically generated by scripting Photoshop itself. We show that our model outperforms humans at the task of recognizing manipulated images, can pre- dict the specific location of edits, and in some cases can be used to “undo” a manipulation to reconstruct the original, unedited image.

App Store: Mirage – US$2.99

Private Messenger ‘Signal’ Now Automatically Blurs Faces

Private messenger app Signal added a feature that lets it automatically blur faces in your images.

Thousands of people are protesting against police brutality and to support the Black Lives Matters cause. If you are a part of the protests, you might post photos of the demonstration around you on social media or send them to your friends — and that’s not entirely safe, because it could help identify people there and put them in danger.

A great feature. I’ve been trying to create a shortcut that can obfuscate faces.

X-Mirage AirPlay for Mac: $9.99

We have a deal on X-Mirage, software that turns your Mac into an AirPlay receiver for mirroring whatever on your iPhone, iPad or iPod screen – apps, games, photos, videos, presentations, websites, and more to the bigger screen. It also offers real-time mirroring and media control. A lifetime license for this software is $9.99 through our deal.

Google Facing Lawsuit Overs Alleged Tracking of Users Using Incognito Mode

Google is facing a $5 billion lawsuit amid claims its technology invades the privacy of users even when they are using incognito mode. The class proposed by the complaint could potential involve “millions” of Google users,  Reuters reported.

According to the complaint filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, Google gathers data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps, regardless of whether users click on Google-supported ads. This helps Google learn about users’ friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and even the “most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” they search for online, the complaint said. Google “cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorized data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone,” the complaint said. Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesman, said the Mountain View, California-based company will defend itself vigorously against the claims.

iOS 14 May Work on an iPhone 6s, And Other Firms Should Take Note

Recent rumors suggest that the iOS 14, likely to revealed at WWDC towards the end of the month, will work on devices going as far back as the iPhone 6s. Which is pretty impressive. Christine Chan at iMore thinks it shows Android device makers have a lot to learn from Apple.

It’s actually quite impressive that Apple continues to support its devices for so long, especially when you compare it to Android devices. With Android, you have hundreds or even thousands of different hardware devices from different manufacturers, and these range from being super cheap models to flagship devices. Google releases a new version of Android every year, and for the most part, Google’s own Pixel devices get first dibs on new software updates. At the same time, other handsets need to wait for their manufacturer to modify that software before it reaches users, and sometimes, others are just left out entirely. And who knows how long it takes before that update reaches a specific manufacturer’s hardware? So even if you buy a flagship Android device today, there’s no guarantee that it will still be getting support or updates five years down the road. So when compared to Apple, where even a five-year-old iPhone 6s will be getting support through at 2021 with the latest iOS 14, it’s a bit of a letdown.

CES 2021 to be Physical Event in Las Vegas

CES 2021 is to be a physical event in Las Vegas, along with some digital elements, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced on Wednesday. However, as The Verge points out, it’s not clear it will be ok to hold large scale events at that point, nor that people will actually want to go.

The stakes are high for CES. It’s one of the largest conventions held each year in Las Vegas, responsible for bringing a huge number of visitors to the city, with around 175,000 attendees last year. The Las Vegas Convention Center, the primary venue where the event is held, is scheduled to complete a $980 million expansion just in time for next year’s show. And while consumers may know CES as the event where new TVs, cars, and other gadgets are announced, it also remains an important venue for meetings between retailers, manufacturers, and all the companies in between. The CTA is promising new health policies for the show. The group intends to “regularly clean and sanitize spaces” and offer “sanitization stations.” It also plans to widen aisles and seats to increase distancing, limit “touch points” by using tech like mobile payments, and provide on-site health services. The CTA says it’ll look into doing temperature scans and that it plans to issue “best practices,” like wearing a mask — though it doesn’t say if they’ll be required.