Twitter Lets Anyone and Everyone Apply for a Blue Badge

Twitter on Tuesday announced it has opened up the application process for verified account status, which previously was reserved for celebrities and other high-profile users. Any user may now file an online application to have an account verified.

Twitter account verification, denoted by a blue badge icon, flags individuals and organizations as authentic, the company explained.

An account may be verified if it is determined to be of public interest, Twitter noted. Examples include accounts maintained by public figures and organizations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key areas of interest.

"We want to make it even easier for people to find creators and influencers on Twitter so it makes sense for us to let people apply for verification," explained Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of user services. "We hope opening up this application process results in more people finding great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for these creators and influencers to connect with a broader audience."

Opaque Process

In the past, how Twitter determined which accounts to anoint with the blue badge of verification was unclear, said Sam Colt, a content associate at the Bateman Group and a verified account holder.

"People have always been unsure about how to get verified. It's a nebulous process," he told TechNewsWorld. "If you aren't a celebrity, you had to know someone at Twitter to make the connection to get verified."

Verification can be important for some classes of Twitter users.

"Successfully completing the Twitter verification process denotes a kind of legitimacy on the user," explained Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"It means that you've submitted to the process, been vetted, and that you are who you say you are," he told TechNewsWorld.

"In certain cases, particularly for people using Twitter for professional purposes, that carries some weight," said King. "It also makes it difficult or impossible for verified users to be trolled or impersonated."

Boon for Journalists

Journalists comprise another class of Twitter users who benefit from verification.

"If you're a verified user, you can filter search information by other verified users -- something a journalist would want to do because their information is likely to be the most accurate," the Bateman Group's Colt pointed out.

Expanding verification could reduce the risk of some kinds of abuse on Twitter -- but will it?

"TLS/SSL certificates have been on websites for many years," said Dan Mathews, a director at Lastline.

"Does anyone outside of the IT profession pay attention to the padlock in the Web browser bar which acts as an identity assertion mechanism for a website you are trying to reach?" he wondered.

"Will the Twitter verified check mark be any different? Time will tell," he told TechNewsWorld.

The proliferation of blue check marks on Twitter could bring the verification process some unwanted attention.

Hacker Magnet

"If anything, verification raises the attack surface of an account," suggested Brad Bussie, director of product management at Stealthbits Technologies.

"Hackers will want to take advantage of the perceived trust that is being created by verification," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Celebrities constantly battle with others spoofing their Twitter handles by slightly altering the name and using the celebrity's likeness," Bussie said. "The problem Twitter still has is actually proving the user behind the tweet is indeed the owner, regardless of a verified account."

That's because even verified accounts can be hacked.

"Accounts can still be hacked if someone steals or otherwise obtains passwords and other information," observed Pund-IT's King. "What verification does make clear is which accounts are legitimate and which are shams or parodies."

Fighting Harassment

Expanded verification could help Twitter address another embarrassing problem on the service: online harassment. Such harassment recently drove Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones to quit the service.

"If the new verification process works as the company hopes, it should help make that kind of harassment difficult or even impossible," King said.

"The company is likely to get some pushback from users who feel Twitter is essentially creating two levels of service -- one for verified users and one for the rest," he continued, but "Twitter has increasingly been tarred by extreme, offensive behavior. Whenever that happens, it negatively impacts the company's brand."

That kind of impact is something every online company wants to avoid.

"You can't afford to have negative user experiences when you're in an industry where things go viral very quickly," said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"This is about making sure they keep their existing user base happy," he told TechNewsWorld, "more than attracting new users."

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Twitter Lets Anyone and Everyone Apply for a Blue Badge

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All the Pokemon Go News From Around the World

Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO) is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company as part of the Pokémon franchise. It was released worldwide in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon Go Plus, is planned for future release and will alert users when Pokémon are nearby.

Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices. Although the game is free-to-play, it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. An optional companion Bluetooth wearable device, the

The game received mixed critical reception. It was praised by some medical professionals for potentially improving the mental and physical health of players, but attracted some controversy due to reports of causing accidents and being a public nuisance to some locations. It was one of the most downloaded smartphone apps upon its release, and was a boon to the stock value of Nintendo, which owns a part of The Pokémon Company.

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All the Pokemon Go News From Around the World

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Will Apple ditch its 16GB entry-level model with the iPhone 7?

July 2, 2016 update: Chinese shopping site Weibo has posted prices for three iPhone 7 models, with storage tiers starting at 32GB -- twice the capacity of the current entry-level iPhone models. In 2014, Apple doubled the top two tiers of the iPhone from 32GB and 64GB to 64GB and 128GB (and kept pricing the same). Earlier this year, analyst firm Trendforce predicted that the iPhone 7 would support 256GB of storage space, matching the iPad Pro and offering lots more room for apps and videos.

In addition, Apple has been awarded a US patent for a system that can force an iPhone into disabling video-recording functions at concert venues. The system uses infrared signals to send messages to your phone to tell it to shut down video recording. Apple's patent illustration shows a phone at a concert with the words "recording disabled" on screen. It's not known whether Apple plans to put the patent into use, and it's highly unlikely that this technology will appear in iOS 10 or the iPhone 7.

Editors' note: This story was originally posted on December 14, 2015 and has been updated regularly.

iPhone 7: All the rumors about the specs, design and features of Apple's 2016 iPhone

Announcement and release dates

According to Apple's traditional cadence, iPhone models always debut in the fall. That changed on March 21, 2016, with the introduction of the iPhone SE, a new model that combines the look of the iPhone 5S with the soul of the iPhone 6S. That noted, the iPhone SE is a relatively minor, mid-cycle update that brings little to the table in terms of design, features, or specs.

Given this, there remains a pervasive expectation that we'll see the next major iPhone update, right on schedule, in the fall of 2016.

Design

For the past several years, Apple's iPhone updates have followed a predictable cycle: major design changes in even-numbered years, followed by "under the hood" tech upgrades that keep the same basic physical chassis in odd-numbered "S phone" years. For 2016, then, a total redesign is a near certainty -- possibly with some dramatic innovations.

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However, the iPhone 7 may buck this trend. According to Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz, supply chain murmurs indicate that the iPhone 7 won't have "any must-have form factor changes," suggesting that we'll see only a few modest refinements and perhaps some newer internal components. In this vein, MacRumors has suggested that the iPhone 7 will have a design that's "very similar" to that of the iPhone 6 and 6S, though without the antenna bands that run across the current generation.

Clearly, Cook's May interview with Jim Cramer was meant to dispel this theory.

Apple may introduce a third variant. According to tech blog site Mobipicker, the company has already begun production of its 2016 iPhone lineup. The portfolio would include an iPhone 7, an iPhone 7 Plus -- and an iPhone 7 Pro or Plus Premium. Apple device makers Foxconn and Pegatron have reportedly bumped up staff to handle all three versions, reported Mobipicker. We shall see.

Apple Patent Application Publication (US 2015/0357741 A1).

Given the regularity with which folks drop phones in toilets and other bodies of water, could Apple develop a water-resistant or waterproof chassis? (By the way, here's what to do when it inevitably happens to you.) Other manufacturers have already gone there, of course: Samsung with the Galaxy S5, Sony with its Z5 Premium and Motorola with its entry-level Moto G. Still, the fact that Samsung did not make the Galaxy S6 waterproof suggests that it's not a critical feature for most consumers.

In recent months, multiple sources (of varying reliability) have reported that the iPhone 7 will be waterproof and dustproof. Business Insider reports that Apple has filed for a new waterproofing-related patent. Titled "Electronic Device with Hidden Connector," the application suggests that ports could be covered with a "self-healing elastomer." According to the patent description, iPhone ports equipped with this technology would be covered with membranes, which could be penetrated by a headphone or USB connector, for example, and which would seal back up once the connector is withdrawn.

Building on this narrative, 9to5Mac reported that Apple is developing a new set of Bluetooth earphones that could be introduced simultaneously with the iPhone 7. The fruit of the company's acquisition of Beats Electronics, the new earphones, potentially called "AirPods," are rumored to be completely wireless, similar to the Motorola Hint.

One of the most active categories of iPhone predictions involves the home button. In June, analysts at Cowen and Company predicted that the iPhone 7 would have a "Force Touch" home button. According to Business Insider's coverage of the report, "Instead of a physical mechanism, Apple will use its 'Force Touch' technology and a motor inside the iPhone to provide the sensation that the button is being physically depressed." Replacing the traditional, slightly concave iPhone button, a new home button would sit flush with the front of the phone, and would capably convey the sensation of pressing a button -- without an actual button.

As CNET reported earlier, recent iPhone innovations -- specifically the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch screen and increasing always-on hands-free functionality of Siri -- have diminished the need for a physical home button altogether. Could Apple unveil an iPhone without a physical home button?

That would also allow the large top and bottom bezels to shrink, effectively allowing Apple to squeeze a larger screen into the same size body. The trick, of course, would be keeping the all-important Touch ID fingerprint sensor somehow integrated into the device.

9to5mac.com reports that in 2015 Apple filed a patent for a transparent fingerprint sensor embedded into a smartphone display. First published in May 2015, the patent application outlines three sensor technologies, including "ultrasonic imaging" that could be embedded into a display and deliver greater accuracy than the current iPhone's Touch ID capacitive sensor.

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Will Apple ditch its 16GB entry-level model with the iPhone 7?

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