Apple Hires Nvidia AI Director With Experience in Self-Driving Car Systems
Apple has hired Nvidia’s Jonathan Cohen, director of deep learning software for the company, according to Cohen’s LinkedIn page, which was first spotted by Re/code. Deep learning essentially trains computers to recognize patterns in data and then organizes them in a similar way to humans. Nvidia uses deep learning in its Nvidia Drive PX platform, which is used to power self-driving cars.
Cohen’s LinkedIn page doesn’t list an official title with Apple, instead only listing “Software” as his position. He’s held multiple positions within Nvidia since joining the company in 2008, starting out as a Senior Research Scientist and building his way to Director of Deep Learning Software this year. Cohen also has experience working with Nvidia’s CUDA platform, which is used to power GPUs in broad-ranging use cases like air traffic control and blood flow prediction software.
As noted by Re/code, Apple currently uses deep learning for Siri and Apple Maps. It’s unknown what Cohen’s expertise could be applied to at Apple, but at this year’s CES Cohen was explaining how Nvidia’s deep learning technology was being used in its self-driving car platform Drive PX.
Apple has met with California DMV officials regarding self-driving car laws within the state and multiple reports from The Wall Street Journal indicate that the Cupertino company is exploring the functionality with the possibility of including it in a later iteration of the much-rumored Apple Car.
In recent years, Apple has poached employees from Tesla, Ford, GM, A123 Systems and Samsung for its secretive automotive project. More recently, it’s hired away talent from electric motorcycle startup Mission Motors, who had to close its doors after the talent drain. In September, it was reported that Apple was labeling the car project a “committed project“, speeding up development and aiming for a 2019 launch date.
WSJ: Walgreens is waiting for answers about Theranos blood tests
Controversy has swirled around Silicon Valley startup Theranos ever since the Wall Street Journal reported the company has struggled to roll out its unique blood testing technology. Since 2013 Walgreens has partnered with Theranos to use it for blood testing in the Phoenix area, but now the Journal says the drugstore chain is looking for answers too. It claims that Walgreens found out from the reports that Theranos had stopped using its tiny “nanotainers” to collect blood for all but one type of test. In a statement provided to Engadget (you can read it in full after the break), Walgreens says “we are currently in discussions about the next phase of our relationship” and that the two are trying to figure out a mutually beneficial arrangement. Meanwhile, Theranos has maintained it is confident in the accuracy of its tests, and says that by being faster and cheaper they can identify health problems earlier.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Verizon teases the “shatterproof” display for the DROID Turbo 2 on Twitter for the second time
Verizon has begun teasing Motorola’s upcoming smartphone(s) using the shatterproof display as the baseline. Big Red just outed a video portraying the new feature on its Twitter page.
It’s still unknown whether both the expected DROID Turbo 2 and DROID MAXX will include the company’s new shatterproof display technology or just one. However, Big Red is apparently really excited about the new phone(s) and has already begun teasing them ahead of the announcement set for next week in NYC.
The Twitter post from Verizon reads “Soon you’ll worry more about snowfalls than phone falls,” thus indicating it’s talking about the display on the upcoming Motorola handsets. This is quite unusual because normally we see the manufacturer tease the device, not the carrier.
The video also shows a device absorbing water thus giving us a possible hint of waterproofing. But we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves. You can check out the teaser video at the link down below.
Source: Verizon (Twitter)
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Oppo will be maintaining an AOSP ROM for several of its devices
Oppo prides itself on its ColorOS, which is based on Google’s own Android operating system, but they’ve started to realize that many customers want Android without the OEM overlay.
The company has announced that they’ll be building and maintaining a stock AOSP ROM for many of its devices that will allow users to get an almost completely untouched stock Android experience, just how Google intended. For better or worse, Oppo will be keeping just a few features from ColorOS in, including the camera software, screen off gestures, and MaxxAudio for certain phones.
Right away, only the Oppo Find 7 will have access to the stock ROM. However, many other devices, including the R5, R5s, and R7 series, will also be getting the ROM after private testing is complete.
Installing the software is supposedly quick and painless, and all users will have to do is download and install it through the phone’s stock recovery. Pretty simple and shouldn’t require any extra rooting or tinkering. The only bad news is that the stock ROM will be based on Android 5.1, not Marshmallow, because of how slowly drivers and software from hardware partners trickles in, but if this initiative takes off Oppo would very likely put more effort into quickly pushing out newer versions of Android.
This is a pretty cool move by Oppo that tons of power users have been clamoring for manufacturers to do for years. Whether or not it takes off and works well remains to be seen.
source: Oppo
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Twitter’s Moments get a Promoted version
Earlier this month Twitter rolled out their new Moments feature that provides users with a dedicated feed of breaking news curated by specialists retained by Twitter. Twitter hopes this new way of storytelling will keep users returning to the social media platform. Expanding the idea of dedicated feeds, Twitter will be rolling out their first “Promoted Moments” feed this weekend focusing on the new movie Creed.
Managed by MGM, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, the Promoted Moments this weekend will work like regular moments in being heavy on photos, videos and animated gifs to tell the story. The difference will be the lack of a Twitter curator being in charge of the feed.
Twitter plans to make the Promoted Moments prominently displayed in an effort to drive revenue growth. Matt Derella, Twitter’s vice president of revenue for North America, anticipates the platform eventually having one Promoted Moment each day. Derella went on to say that companies that take advantage of Promoted Moments will “get this incredible engagement with people coming to see what’s happening in the world, and get this really rich canvas to tell that story.” Of course, some Twitter users may see this as just a way to slide more advertising in front of them by making it look like native content.
source: Twitter
via: Bloomberg
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One South Jersey town calls a free Uber if you’re too drunk to drive
A southern New Jersey town of 45,000 is testing out a new kind of ride-hailing program, this one targeted at people who’ve had a bit too much to drink. Uber has partnered with New Jersey’s Evesham Township to provide free rides to people who are too inebriated to drive themselves home, Reuters reports. The service is available to patrons in at least 19 bars and restaurants in the area. Another free-ride service, BeMyDD, also went live in Evesham on Friday, and both programs are funded via donations from local nonprofits and businesses.
Source: Reuters
Lovejoy is the galaxy’s booziest comet
An international team of astronomers made a surprising discovery recently. They found that the Lovejoy comet is spewing a mixture of alcohol, sugar and 21 other organic compounds as it speeds through our galaxy. “Comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity,” Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory, said in a press statement.
Source: NASA
Smart robot arm can follow your lead without coding
You might not be able to control the 7Bot robotic arm with your mind or your eyes, but at least it’ll only cost you around $350 — cheaper than an iPhone, its creators point out — to get one. Even better, you don’t need to know how to code to program it: just physically guide the arm or use a gesture control device like a Kinect or a Leap motion sensor to make it mimic your movements. In the video below the fold and on its Kickstarter page, you can see it doing calligraphy after a team member’s grandfather physically taught it how. The team also managed make it paint cherry blossoms and do basic mathematics, and we’ll bet you can teach it other productive things, like how to terrorize your cat.
Source: Kickstarter
Motorola reportedly working on new programs to help differ future devices from competitors
Droid Life states Motorola and Verizon have something else up their sleeve to be announced next week. It seems that alongside the new DROID Turbo 2 and DROID MAXX, we could see new programs announced that will help the two models differ from competitors.
As most of you know, one of Motorola’s major selling points is its Moto Maker program that lets users customize how they want their device to look. But this week Motorola may take that to the next stage with a new program it’s calling “Droid Refresh.” This will most likely only work for Verizon subscribers at launch, however more may join the mix in the future, that is, if Motorola’s future handsets come to additional carriers. The Design Refresh program lets buyers “refresh” their smartphone’s design after two years. It will not be free, however it should be reasonably priced. It will likely be compatible with the DROID Turbo 2 smartphone scheduled to release next week. Many assume you’ll have to ship your device back after the period in order to gain a newly polished one. If priced considerably, this could be a hit.
Motorola and Verizon have also discussed a plan regarding the new “shatterproof” displays coming on the company’s newest devices. Apparently a new program called “ShatterShield” guarantees that your device won’t shatter or crack for four years.
It’s great to see that Motorola is working to improve their smartphones when it comes to consumers. We’ll find out all the details next week.
Source: Droid Life
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Apple Music for Android might be sooner than you think
Today we got a first glimpse of Apple Music running on an Android device through some leaked screenshots. Just as a reminder, this is the first Apple service that will be available on the Android platform.
Apple Music has been available on iOS for quite some time now, but hasn’t made much of an impact just yet. Perhaps the addition of the Android ecosystem will do the trick. The app looks to be in beta testing at this time. Nothing looks to be majorly different from that of the version on iOS, at least from what we see in the leaked screenshots. The only difference here seems to be the layout of the menu, which has changed from the tab view on iOS to the familiar material design app drawer style on Android. Users will be able to open the menu by swiping in from the left edge. If you’re patiently waiting to use the new service on Android, it shouldn’t be much longer before the app is made available publicly.
Source: Mobile Geeks
Via: Android Central
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