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The Nuio Flow is a new ergonomic keyboard and accessory system for those who dont mind trading serious cash for a sleek and thoughtful design. Co-founded by two brothers, one of whom is a former Apple designer, Nuio has an Apple-like value proposition: a split keyboard and an optional trackpad, desk pad, magnetic stands and wristpads for $400 for the keyboard alone to over $1,000 for all of components. At the center of Nuios product lineup is the Flow split ergonomic keyboard, which (heres the Apple influence again) puts the human form at the center of every design. Nuio CEO Tom Wilson says the products purpose is to reject legacy decisions that often dictate keyboard design. There are literally no right angles in the human body, Wilson wrote in a press release shared with Engadget. Yet we spend most of our lives hunched over rigid, rectangular keyboards and peripherals often enduring hours of wrist pain, tech fatigue and poor posture. Nuio The company describes the keyboards split, radial design as optimal for hand positioning. (Of course, there are plenty of ergonomic and split keyboards you can already buy for much less.) It has curved keys with a scissor-switch mechanism (like many laptops, including Apples current models), so this model isnt for those who like mechanical keyboards. The keys and their symbols are backlit but without color customization. Each charge of the Flow keyboard is estimated at up to 28 days, but that drops to around 10 days if you use the backlight for up to four hours daily. The keyboard includes a split USB-C cable that charges both halves simultaneously. The company estimates that the non-user-replaceable internal battery will last about two years, but it says you can send it to the company for a battery replacement after that. Nuios website doesnt say whether the service will be free. We reached out to the startup to ask and will update this story if we hear back. Unlike many top-of-the-line keyboards, you cant swap out the Flow keyboards physical keys. Nuio also doesnt appear to offer key-changing on a software level; its FAQ says it offers a limited amount of key customization through your devices operating system. While most ergonomic keyboards have built-in stands, Nuio sells a $99 pair of magnetic ones separately. They let you tent and tilt the keyboard along multiple axes. The company says the stands hold their position firmly after each adjustment. Nuio Nuio also sells a $249 wireless multitouch Flow trackpad to complement the keyboard. The company says its edge-to-edge glass surface offers precision tracking and pressure-sensing. Unlike Apples current Magic Trackpad, it clicks mechanically, not with haptics and pressure-sensing. Nuio says its trackpad offers full gesture support but doesnt support deep-presses like Apples. You can also buy a $59 magnetic stand for the trackpad with multi-axis tilt support. The rest of the Nuio system includes a $99 pair of supremely comfortable wristpads. They can attach to a deskpad (available in a travel-friendly small size for $129 or a $179 large one). The deskpads include magnets, too, allowing precise and flexible positioning of all NUIO components. The company says it strikes a balance between firmly holding all the systems components in place while still being easy to adjust. Nuio If you order the keyboard, trackpad, stands for each and large desk pad, youre forking over $1,084. (Cue spit take.) Like a luxury watch or car, the Nuio Flow system asks you to care enough about an elegant, modern design while typing (and perhaps have an Apple designers salary yourself) to invest in the elegant-looking accessory ecosystem. The Nuio Flow Keyboard and its peripherals are now available to pre-order from the companys website. The keyboard in space gray with a macOS legend, small deskpad keyboard stands, trackpad stand and wristpads are expected to ship in early December. Meanwhile, if you want the keyboard with Windows / dual OS legends or in other colors (silver, gold, rose gold, blue, green and brown), youll have to wait for early January. The large deskpad is coming soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/the-nuio-flow-is-a-customizable-split-ergonomic-keyboard-with-magnetic-peripherals-192259319.html?src=rss
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NBA League Pass is getting some cool new features for the 2024-25 season. This includes multiview, which is an oft-requested tool. Multiview allows basketball fans to watch up to four games at once on the same screen. The feature works on TVs, smartphones and tablets, and will likely be a mainstay of bookies everywhere. Its actually available right now to subscribers, for those keeping track of preseason developments. The season officially starts on October 22, so thatll be when multiview really starts to prove its worth. NBA Theres a new smart rewind tool thatll automatically pick out key highlights and plays to check out. Subscribers will also be able to download full games for offline viewing, which could be a boon for flights and the like. Just stay away from spoilers. NBA League Pass is an app that exists in the year 2024. That means its getting stuffed with a whole lot of AI. Theres something called NBA Insights, which features an algorithm trained on deep basketball understanding. The algo will use its knowledge to identify key narratives, player performances and notable milestones, providing fans with a continuous feed of text-based updates that go beyond the box score. Heres hoping it keeps hallucinations to a minimum. The league is also using generative AI to localize content, offering translations and automated recaps in French, Portuguese and Spanish. Finally, theres something called the Dunk Score. As the name suggests, this is an AI-calculated grade for dunks. The calculations happen in real time based on a players jumping distance, style and force at the rim and defensive efforts from the opposing team. For the uninitiated, NBA League Pass provides access to hundreds of out-of-market games throughout the season. The premium ad-free version costs $25 per month, or $160 per season. The standard ad-filled subscription costs $17 per month or $110 per season. NBA TV, which is a more limited service to watch out-of-market games, is still available via cable providers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/nba-league-pass-gets-multiview-just-in-time-for-the-season-to-start-191016755.html?src=rss
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An artist who was able to pay off credit card debt, a photographer making extra cash by replying to the most polarizing posts she can find, a food blogger trying to start interesting conversations. These are some of the creators Meta is paying to post on Threads. Meta introduced the invitation-only program in April, but has only shared limited details about how it works. Engadget spoke with half a dozen creators who have joined the program over the last few months. They described their strategies for reaching the required engagement metrics, and the sometimes confusing nature of Threads recommendation algorithm. Creators are sorted into different tiers of the program which determines how much their bonuses can be and what kinds of metrics their posts need to hit. None of the creators who spoke with Engadget knew how or why they had been selected for the bonus program, though they all had an established following on Instagram. (One of the known requirements is a professional account on Instagram.) Audrey Woulard is a photographer with more than 25,000 followers on Instagram and about 5,500 followers on Threads. She uses her Facebook and Instagram accounts to promote her portrait photography business. But when she was invited to the Threads bonus program, she saw an opportunity to experiment with different types of content. Her strategy, she says, is all about replies. She exclusively focuses on replying to other users posts rather than creating her own. I'm not necessarily generating content on my own, she explains. I'm kind of activating other people's content. By focusing on replies, she says shes able to reach the required 60 Threads with at least 750 views each to qualify for a $500 monthly bonus. This has helped her become particularly attuned to the types of subjects that are likely to attract a lot of views. Polarizing content, anything that keeps people talking, she explains. Specifically, she looks for topics that people tend to have strong opinions about, like marriage, parenting, aging and politics, though she tries to avoid replying to obvious engagement bait. Woulards experience isnt unique. Threads defaults to a for you timeline that relies heavily on recommended posts rather than posts from accounts you already follow. Meta has also said it doesnt want to encourage users to post about news and politics. Perhaps as a consequence of this, Threads for you feed often feels a lot slower and less focused on current events than on X. What the algorithm does prioritize, though, is posts that get a lot of replies, even if they are about a seemingly mundane topic. This has led to a bizarrely random quality to the feed, what blogger Max Read dubbed the gas leak social network. Its not uncommon to see a recommended post from someone youre totally unconnected to talking about a trivial inconvenience, or a medical condition or some other anodyne anecdote. What these posts do have in common, though, is lots of replies. Its also created an opportunity for people looking to game the apps algorithm by posting spammy content, generic questions or polarizing takes meant to attract as many replies as possible. (Meta execs have said theyre trying to fix this issue after a surge in such posts, even as they acknowledge that posts with replies are most likely to be recommended.) But for Woulard, Metas emphasis on public conversations has worked in her favor. She says that so far shes been able to max out three months worth of bonuses simply by replying to Threads. Woulard generates more income from her Facebook page, but enjoys the simplicity of the Threads bonus program. It's so easy for me to make this money, I can literally sit in my room and reply to a bunch in 30 minutes. For Meta, offering bonuses to Instagram creators to post on Threads is part of its strategy to use Instagram to grow the year-old service. The company has leaned heavily on Instagram to grow Threads, which has already drawn 200 million users. But there were also bound to be some growing pains, says social media consultant Matt Navarra. I think people find it harder to create for platforms like Threads, Navarra tells Engadget. Writing interesting, engaging posts for a text-based platform, like X, Twitter or Threads is a different set of skills. And I think it's slightly tricky for some sorts of creators. Josh Kirkham, an artist who specializes in Bob Ross-style painting videos, has experienced this firsthand. With nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram, hes in the highest tier of the bonus program, which makes him eligible to earn up to $5,000 a month from his posts on Threads. Hes been able to max out his bonus by sharing painting videos clipped from his livestreams on Instagram and TikTok. Despite the success, he hasnt been able to detect any patterns about what types of videos are likely to take off. He has more than 150,000 followers on Threads but, like other creators in the bonus program, relies on the apps recommendation algorithm for his posts to get noticed. Initially, I was posting mountain videos, and those were doing the best compared to everything else, he says, And then a week later, every mountain video was just getting like, nothing. Some of the times the videos that I think are going to do well don't do well at all, and vice versa. Kirkham says that he almost never replies to Threads posts when hes trying to hit a bonus because he worries it will dilute his chances of getting the 5,000 views per post necessary to earn the max payout. Still, he says hes grateful for the program as a full-time artist and creator. Its enabled me to pay off my credit card debt and then raise my credit score immensely, he says. Im hoping for at least a few more. Nearly all of the creators who spoke to Engadget also expressed some skepticism that Meta would continue the bonus program at its current level for very long. In the past, the company has offered creators generous bonuses when its trying to boost a new format like Instagram Reels or Facbook Live only for those payments to eventually dwindle as more people join and Meta inevitably shifts its strategy and funds for creators somewhere else. Logan Reavis is a photographer with nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram and about 8,500 on Threads. Though she has a bigger following on Instagram, she says Threads algorithm feels more favorable to creators. The [Threads] algorithm works entirely different, especially as a photographer, she says. I feel like it's been hard to share my photography on Instagram, but it's encouraged on Threads. I actually reach an entirely different audience. Even so, she says shes had to grapple with the quirks of the Threads algorithm and its penchant for highlighting engagement bait. Responding to threads that have a lot of comments or conversation is what brings in my bonus views more, which is frustrating too because there's a lot of clickbait, she says. Reavis so far hasnt been able to reach her maximum potential $500 monthly bonus on Threads. While creators are part of Metas strategy to make Threads its next billion-person app, the company hasnt always been able to explain what its newest app is actually for. So it shouldnt be surprising that even the creators its paying to post there view it as something of an experiment. I still don't think it has its own unique place in the social media ecosystem, says Navarra. It doesn't really have much of its own identity or personality, and I think that's one of its many problems at the moment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/creators-getting-paid-to-post-on-threads-dont-understand-its-algorithm-either-065736099.html?src=rss
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