Google, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo to assume liability for accidents involving self-driving cars
The idea of a self-driving car is brilliant but there is definitely risk involved with the operations of such vehicles. After all, this is still an automated machine. So the makers of self-driving cars are going to need strong legal teams for when things go wrong; however, select manufacturers are ready to assume liability for accidents that involve these vehicles. Google, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo are three of the brave companies ready to face potential disasters.
Last weekend, during a 60 Minutes report, CBS News mentioned that both Google and Mercedes-Benz are not going to shy away from accidents involving self-driving cars:
Google and Mercedes told us, if their technology is at fault once it becomes commercially available, they’ll accept responsibility and liability. But all involved expect fewer crashes as the technology evolves.
And today, Volvo Cars’ Håkan Samuelsson is expected to take a similar stance while speaking in Washington, D.C. at the “A Future with Self Driving Cars — Is it Safe?” seminar. He will also cover the issue of vehicles being hacked. Samuelsson already commented yesterday on the status of self-driving cars in the United States:
“The US risks losing its leading position due to the lack of Federal guidelines for the testing and certification of autonomous vehicles. Europe has suffered to some extent by having a patchwork of rules and regulations. It would be a shame if the US took a similar path to Europe in this crucial area.”
“The absence of one set of rules means car makers cannot conduct credible tests to develop cars that meet all the different guidelines of all 50 US states. If we are to ensure a smooth transition to autonomous mobility then together we must create the necessary framework that will support this.”
What does this all mean? Google, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo all realize that accidents are bound to happen with or without a computer operating a vehicle.
Source: CBS News, Volvo
Via: Jalopnik
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Motorola’s Moto X Style finally reaches India, Flipkart starts sales next week
Today, India sees an addition to the choice of phones available throughout the country. Motorola’s flagship Moto X Style (which is known at the Moto X Pure Edition elsewhere) has launched in the country.
The price of the Moto X Style in India is ₹29,999 (or $450) for 16GB and ₹31,999 (or $485) for 32GB. Flipkart will begin selling the handset exclusively on October 15.
Flipkart will be running several promotions celebrating the Moto X Style’s arrival through October 20. Customers can trade-in their current phone for a discount on the Moto X Style while a lucky group of one hundred will receive 100% cashback. Others might receive MakeMyTrip discounts and Flipkart gift vouchers.
Via: NDTV
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Verizon Customers on Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans Face $20 Price Increase
Verizon customers with grandfathered unlimited data plans, which the carrier stopped offering to new customers in 2011, face a $20 increase in their monthly bill starting November 15, according to CNET. The monthly cost of unlimited data will rise from $30 to $50 as a result.
The rate increase is yet another move by Verizon to encourage customers to move from unlimited data plans to tiered data plans. Less than 1% of Verizon customers still have an unlimited data plan, according to a company spokesperson, but those remaining few are often stubborn about switching.
Verizon customers with unlimited data plans are required to pay full retail price for smartphones, although grandfathered subscribers do qualify for the company’s monthly installment plan for new devices.
In the United States, Sprint and T-Mobile are the two largest nationwide carriers that continue to offer unlimited data plans. AT&T stopped offering unlimited data to new customers in 2010.
Wi-Fi Calling Now Available for AT&T Users
AT&T has flipped the switch on Wi-Fi calling, making it available to customers with eligible plans that are running iOS 9. MacRumors has received tips from customers who were able to activate Wi-Fi calling and we were able to activate the feature on our own iPhones. A number of readers in our forums are also having success activating Wi-Fi calling.
Wi-Fi calling is a feature that lets calls be placed over a wireless connection when cellular connectivity is poor, functioning much like an AT&T M-Cell does now. It’s similar to Apple’s own FaceTime Audio feature, which also routes calls over a Wi-Fi connection.
AT&T customers can turn on Wi-Fi calling by going to the Phone section of the Settings app and toggling on the Wi-Fi calling feature. From there, there are a set of steps to walk through, including entering an emergency 911 address.
Customers who want to use Wi-Fi calling need to have AT&T HD voice features enabled, along with an Internet connection. Wi-Fi calling can be used for voice calls within the United States, Puerto Rico, and United States Virgin Islands at no charge. Long distance global voice calls will be charged standard long distance rates.
Once the setup process is complete, customers are receiving notifications letting them know the Wi-Fi calling feature will be available after a short activation period.
AT&T promised to launch Wi-Fi calling alongside iOS 9, but last week announced the feature was delayed due to its inability to get an FCC waiver that would temporarily allow the carrier to forgo offering support options for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. On Tuesday of this week, AT&T finally received the waiver that it needed to move forward with Wi-Fi calling.
Lightroom for iOS Now Available to All Users, No Longer Requires Creative Cloud Subscription
Adobe updated its lineup of mobile apps earlier this week, and among those updates was a new version of Lightroom, the company’s iOS-based photo editing app. As part of the recent update to Lightroom, Adobe quietly made the app available to all users, removing the need for a subscription to Creative Cloud.
Prior to this week, the free Lightroom app was dependent on the desktop version of Lightroom and it required users to have one of Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription plans. Signing up first on Lightroom used to activate a trial Creative Cloud account, giving iOS users only a limited amount of time to use the app. Now restriction free, Lightroom can be downloaded by all iOS users at no cost and used to manage and edit photos on iOS indefinitely.
The Next Web was the first to highlight the change to Lightroom, and the site spoke to Adobe’s director of product management for digital imaging Tom Hogarty who said Lightroom has been a popular choice for mobile users. Adobe is likely hoping the change will draw potential subscribers to Adobe’s other apps.
We’re seeing alot of people come in first on Lightroom mobile, so now we’re allowing people to use it locally on their local assets, their local photos and videos on their phone and tablet for as long as they like.
More and more people are adopting the phone as their primary camera, taking the DSLR out less and less, and we’re seeing the same thing with the use of Lightroom. Some users are creative pros who are aiming for efficiency, but many others are just consumers who love photography.
Lightroom for mobile devices has many of the same capabilities that are available for the desktop and it’s a powerful editing tool on iOS devices. It includes one-touch improvement tools and more advanced adjustments for fixing problems like insufficient lighting or unwanted objects.
The recent update to the app adds a new haze removal feature that’s useful for removing haze in landscaping photos, and it includes a targeted adjustment to that allows colors in a specific area to be tuned. It also offers an in-app Adobe camera, integration with Photoshop Fix, and better organizational tools.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for iPhone is available for free from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for iPad is available for free from the App Store. [Direct Link]
You might have to wait until November for the new Apple TV
While Apple previously said it would officially launch the revamped Apple TV this month, you might not actually see it until November, reports 9to5Mac. Sources tell the site that the new set-top box won’t be hitting Apple stores until next month, and while it may still pop up for online orders later this month, online shoppers will probably have to wait until November to receive it, as well. Though it was unveiled alongside the iPhone 6S and iPad Pro, the new Apple TV feels like the most interesting Apple device this season. That’s probably because we’ve been waiting so long for a legitimate upgrade to the 2012 Apple TV (it’s hard to imagine it took Apple that long to add 1080p) support. The new set-top finally adds an App Store, and it runs a new operating system dubbed tvOS (an iOS spinoff). It also comes with a an upgraded remote that adds a touchpad (no more clicking that darn circle pad) and voice control.
[Photo credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Source: 9to5Mac
Netflix’s most popular streaming plan now costs $10 a month for new customers
Netflix last raised the price of its most popular streaming plan in May of 2014, but it looks like new customers will now have to pay a little bit more. As noted by Bloomberg and confirmed by a quick look at the Netflix sign-up page, the company’s standard streaming plan now costs $9.99 a month, up from $8.99 previously. Customers who are currently paying less appear to be grandfathered into their earlier plans — looking at your account page will show you just how long you’re guaranteed to keep your current price for.
Netflix confirmed the price increase with the following statement:
“To continue adding more TV shows and movies including many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price for some new members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. As a thank you to existing Netflix members — who aren’t already benefiting from a previous price guarantee — we will maintain their current price for a year.”
As of now, $9.99 will get you HD streaming to two devices simultaneously; stepping up to the $11.99 “premium” plan adds the ability to stream in 4K and across four devices at the same time. There’s also still a basic $7.99 plan that only lets you stream to one device in standard definition.
It seems that Netflix isn’t letting existing customers keep their lower prices for as long it did with the last price increase. In 2014, it let current customers stay at the $7.99 price point for two full years. At this point, it seems likely that those customers will be moved to the $9.99 price, and those currently paying $8.99 will get to keep that price for another year.
[Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images]
Via: Bloomberg
Source: Netflix
BlackBerry could quit hardware as early as next year
At a panel interview at Code/Mobile, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has said that the company might quit the hardware business if it isn’t profitable by next year. He said that he “never says never” to shutting down its device business and perhaps focus entirely on providing security services to other platforms. Indeed, BlackBerry’s Enterprise Servers is already compatible with both Android and iOS, so it won’t be a significant pivot. That said, Chen is bullish on trying to make the hardware business work. On stage, he showed off the new BlackBerry Priv, which isn’t only the firm’s first ever Android product, but also BlackBerry’s first ever device that uses an operating system that isn’t its own.
The Priv, Chen says, stands for privacy and privilege. It addresses three key factors that Chen believes is necessary for BlackBerry to succeed. First, is that he believes BlackBerry needs to go cross platform and accommodate all ecosystems. Second, the Priv helps to solve the lack of apps that BB10 has historically been plagued with. And thirdly, it leverages BlackBerry’s strength in security solutions, which is something that Chen says he’ll never let go of.
“We want to bring the BlackBerry security knowhow to Android,” he said, adding that the Priv will likely be one of the most secure Android phones on the market, with possibly only the Blackphone being equally or more secure. He also acknowledged the strength of Samsung Knox, which he says is a good competitor in the mobile security space. Of course, what with recent Android vulnerabilities like Stagefright and so forth, he can’t guarantee complete security, but he said “We’ll be more resilient than eveyrybody else.” He says the Priv will be available later this year at a comparable price to other high-end smartphones.
Even though he says that BlackBerry’s hardware business is in a make-or-break phase, he is confident that it’ll succeed. “Android in the enterprise is a very underserved space,” he said. “With our connections, our accounts, our security knowhow, this has expanded our market.” He also isn’t ready to give up on BB10, which he says is even more secure. Indeed, he says there’ll be two new BB10 releases coming up. As for new BB10 devices, that “will be dictated by market needs.” He said that BlackBerry is still widely used in government and other arenas that require higher security. “The market wants privacy and security, and they also want apps,” he said about the Priv’s marketability.
Answering a question on whether his audience is a consumer or enterprise one, he says it’s anyone who wants high-end productivity and security. “I’m building a software business that focuses on endpoint security. My audience goes beyond just enterprise,” he said, adding that it also involves hospitals, banks, government agencies and consumers too. “We’re focusing on the high-end,” he said.
Illustrated ‘Harry Potter’ novels come to iBooks
Apple fans are used to getting the latest and greatest before others, from apps all the way through to, uh, U2’s latest album. But, they’ve also had to learn how to be patient, for instance, when it took several years before the Beatles released their back-catalog onto iTunes. That’s why it’s a red letter day for Harry Potter fans, since Apple has signed an “exclusive” detail with JK Rowling’s people. For the first time, the digitally-enhanced versions of the world-famous novels are available on iBooks complete with high-quality illustrations and animations. The texts are still on sale at the official Pottermore website, but should you want to read them on your iPhone or iPad, you can grab each one for $9.99 a pop.
Source: Apple
DNA nanomachine detects HIV antibodies in minutes, not hours
Current methods for detecting the antibodies that indicate HIV infection are agonizingly slow and cumbersome. However a new DNA nanomachine developed by an international team of researchers (and funded, in part, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) could shorten the process to a matter of minutes.
The DNA-based nanomachine is designed and synthesized to recognize and bind with a specific target antibody, even within biologically-dense and complex samples like blood. When these “machines” do bind with the target antibody, the joining causes a structural change that generates a little burst of light. A test that used to require hours of careful, complex and downright expensive prep-work could now take as little as five minutes. And the sooner that doctors are aware of the infection, the sooner they can start treating it. What’s more, these nanomachines can easily be customized to detect a wide variety of antibodies.
“Our modular platform provides significant advantages over existing methods for the detection of antibodies,” Prof. Vallée-Bélisle of the University of Montreal, a senior co-author of the paper, said in a statement. “It is rapid, does not require reagent chemicals, and may prove to be useful in a range of different applications such as point-of-care diagnostics and bioimaging.”
The team hopes to further develop the technology, making the signals even easier to detect. “For example, we could adapt our platform so that the signal of the nanoswitch may be read using a mobile phone,” Simona Ranallo, University of Rome PhD student and first-author of the paper, said in a statement. “This will make our approach really available to anyone! We are working on this idea and we would like to start involving diagnostic companies.”
[Image Credit: lede – LightRocket via Getty Images, inline – Marco Tripodi]
Source: University of Montreal
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