YouTube’s new monetization rules kills ad revenue for small creators

It’s not a good time to be a small content creator on YouTube these days. Google just announced some new changes to its monetization rules and smaller channels are going to suffer for it. Under the new guidelines, channels will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last year to be eligible to earn ad revenue. Before YouTubers just needed 10,000 total views to be able to run ads on their videos. Now, even bigger channels that are part of Google’s Preferred program will have their content manually reviewed before ads will run on these videos. These new rules will be enforced starting February 20.

Source: Gizmodo

Android Auto tweaks user interface a bit with rounded icons

A minor update came to Android Auto recently outside of last month’s design refresh. This time, Google has rounded off the corners to its icons. Twitter user Derek Ross spotted the change where he saw almost every box on the home page and app switcher with round corners. It now resembles the look of your Google Feed, which is perhaps Google’s way of uniting its UI across its different platforms. This new look is rolling out to Android Auto now, so you might see the change head your way soon.

Source: 9to5Google

Essential releases third Oreo beta build, includes patches for Spectre and Meltdown

While we still have no idea when the official Android Oreo release will come to the Essential Phone, the company is at least releasing another beta update roughly a month after the second beta was released. This latest update is an important one. It’s not bringing cool new features, but it comes with Google’s January security patch which includes fixes for the Spectre and Meltdown exploits as well as other stability and bug fixes. So, if you’ve been using the beta version, you might want to update now. It’s 1GB from Essential’s website or will come as an over-the-air update for those running beta 2 and comes in at approximately 106MB.

Source: Android Authority

Apple pledging $350 US Billion contribution to US economy for next 5 years

Apple today announced a new set of investments to build on its commitment to support the American economy and its workforce, concentrated in three areas where Apple has had the greatest impact on job creation: direct employment by Apple, spending and investment with Apple’s domestic suppliers and manufacturers and fuelling the fast-growing app economy which Apple created with iPhone and the App Store.

Apple is already responsible for creating and supporting over 2 million jobs across the United States and expects to generate even more jobs as a result of the initiatives being announced today.

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