Manchester police to give thousands of officers body cams
After conducting a prolonged, small-scale trial of body-worn cameras, Greater Manchester Police has announced plans to equip roughly 3,000 officers with the gizmos before the end of the year. The first new devices recently joined the 80-odd already in circulation, with more frontline officers including local Bobbies, special response units and Manchester Airport police to receive theirs over the coming months. The force expects having more cameras in the field will improve evidence gathering, as well as increasing public confidence in the officers wearing them.
Many regional forces (on both sides of the pond) are seeing the value of body-worn cameras; and the commitment from Greater Manchester Police is one of the largest since London’s Metropolitan Police began rolling out over 20,000 devices to officers last year. While body cams offer several obvious benefits to both the police and the public, they have their downsides.
Preliminary results from an ongoing study of UK and US forces have shown officers are 15 percent more likely to be assaulted when wearing a camera (idiocy knows no bounds, it seems). And when officers are given more freedom to switch cameras on and off as they feel necessary, use of force increases significantly compared with camera-free shifts, suggesting we still have plenty to learn about where, when and how body cams should be used.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Greater Manchester Police
Pal smart strap turns your Pebble Time into a fitness tracker
The Pebble Time smartwatch (and Steel variant) launched with the promise of extended functionality via “smartstraps” connected to the magnetic charging port. So far, however, there are very few bands out there, and the extra functionality is limited to NFC payments, wireless charging and mid-air hand gestures. A company called Powerstrap wants to make something a bit more useful with the Pal, a smartstrap that effectively turns the Pebble Time into a sports tracker.
The Pal’s two features are a built in Qualcomm GPS unit and 250mAh battery. The latter ensures the GPS doesn’t drain your Pebble Time’s battery, and even extends its life by up to seven days (while using the same charger). Thanks to the GPS, you can head out on a run or other activity without your smartphone and it’ll track your speed, distance, elevation and route for 24 hours. The info is displayed on the watch while you’re working out, and you can transfer it to an iOS or Android smartphone app later to chart your route, tracks improvements and share milestones via social media.
The device is water resistant (but not waterproof), and together with the Pebble Time, weighs 65 grams (2.3 ounces). That’s less than most GPS-equipped watches, the company says. It’s opening up its software development kit to third parties, so the device could presumably track cycling, golf and other sports too.
Now comes the caveat: Powerstrap needs to crowdfund the Pal, so it’s launching it on Kickstarter with an $80,000 goal. To get it in one of six colors, you’ll have to pledge at least $79, since the $65 early bird price is already sold out. The good news is that the company started development in April 2015, and is promising a ship date in October 2016. It’s also piggybacking on the Pebble Time, which is the best-selling device in Kickstarter history, and has raised nearly half the goal in just a few hours. If you’re willing to risk $79, you can order one here.
Source: Kickstarter
Acura introduces a sleeker self-driving test car
As we creep ever closer to an autonomous-car future, one thing is for certain, most of the driverless cars we see being tested look hideous thanks to all the sensors strapped to the roof. Today Acura introduced its second generation Automated Acura RLX Development Vehicle with updated sensors and a more pleasing aesthetic.
Gone is the spinning LIDAR system replaced with a more compact and robust version of the light detection and ranging technology. It’s also got updated RADAR, camera, GPS and higher performance GPUs and CPUs as well as what Acura is calling “more intelligent software algorithms to support more complex testing scenarios.”
Acura and its parent company Honda have been testing autonomous cars at its GoMentum Station in the Bay Area since last year with a specially outfitted RLX (shown in the video below with the spinning LIDAR system). This new car will replace that vehicle.
Tesla update helps users avoid self-parking mistakes
Tesla has issued an update for the “Summon” mode on its Model X and Model S vehicles, according to a Reddit user. The feature instructs your vehicle to autonomously park or come to you like Kitt from Knight Rider (though only at one mph for 33 feet). You now must confirm the vehicle’s travel direction on the touchscreen, which should make users think twice about what’s around them. The fix may be a response to a Utah user whose Model S rolled into the back of a trailer in “Summon” mode.
The user claimed that he stood in front of the the vehicle for a good minute and that it crashed on its own accord after he left it and went into a store. However, in a letter dug up by The Verge, Tesla says the vehicle logs show that the driver deliberately initiated Summon mode and received several warnings and messages. It then started moving just seconds after he exited the driver-side door.
Tesla previously issued a “dead-man’s switch” safety fix for the Summon feature that requires a user to continuously press the key fob or smartphone. If you release your finger, the car stops immediately. Reddit users point out that the feature is on by default, so the Utah driver must have disabled it. In that case, he would have activated the feature by double pressing the “park” button, as Tesla says, and to stop it, he’d have to press a smartphone icon or key fob button.
By forcing users to choose whether the vehicle backs up or moves forward when summoned, the new feature may have prevented the Utah accident. Either way, sensors are supposed to stop the Model S immediately if they detect obstacles around it. As is clear from the accident photo (above), however, the high position of the trailer may have eluded them. Tesla hasn’t commented on the new feature, but we’ve reached out for more info.
Via: The Verge
Source: Reddit
Britney’s new mobile game offers a piece of the pop princess
First came Kim. Then came Katy. And now it’s time for Britney, bitch. Vegas’ pop-princess-in-residence is following in the digital footsteps of Kanye’s notorious Instawife with a free-to-play mobile game out today on iOS and Android. Britney Spears: American Dream, the first release of a five-year deal with developer Glu Mobile, is described as narrative role-playing game. It positions you, the player, as an aspirational pop star seeking Britney’s advice and approval, and, ultimately, fame in the finicky music industry. Despite headlining the game and providing access to her catalog of hits, however, Britney is mostly a side attraction.
The game, which opens with an aerial shot of Spears’ Vegas act and a video of Britney on stage addressing players, is peppered with sound bites that lead into, but do not complete, her written dialogue. Make no mistake: The specter of Britney is present, but the game is more about players aping her achievement of the “American Dream” through performances, social media popularity and outfit changes (funded by in-app purchases).
Glu’s CEO Niccolo de Masi is hoping user-generated content, which takes the form of customized cover art for singles in-game, will help spur a lingering community and become the defining factor of American Dream’s success. De Masi says that already an overwhelming number of beta testers — about 85 percent — are spending time simply tweaking their avatar’s single artwork, a feature that translates social-media likes into in-game points.
“There’s a positive gamified feedback loop for having a more popular single than somebody else,” says de Masi. “And that obviously is not only the way life works in the music industry, but it’s also something that will keep players engaged and competing to be the most popular singles creator.”
Whether that social-media slant will prove alluring enough to foster a robust community remains to be seen. But Glu’s got a backup plan designed to attract the sort of player-vs.-player interaction that will keep players around and, in turn, help generate in-app purchases: competing “guilds,” as de Masi calls them, or in American Dream’s parlance, record labels.
As with all things tied to the business of being Britney Spears, the release of American Dream is timed to her new album, which is rumored to be dropping sometime soon. De Masi says once Britney’s new music is out, the game will be updated with “more features, as well as messaging around … her next singles” and even the next season of her Vegas show.
With the recent underwhelming performance of Glu’s other high-profile, celeb-driven mobile experiments, Katy Perry Pop and Kendall and Kylie, and a subsequent round of layoffs, de Masi is pretty candid about the importance of Britney’s resurgent popularity and expanding fanbase to the company’s bottom line.
“She’s been around long enough to capture not just 15-year-olds, but also 35-to-45-year-olds,” he says. “I think that could be a real secret monetization weapon, so to speak. Because, of course, as people age, they tend to have more disposable income. And that might well be highly favorable to this game.”
Spears, who declined to be interviewed for this piece, provided a statement to Engadget:
“I’m a creative person by nature, and I love expressing that through my show, music, personal style and dance. Now I get to flex my creative muscles in a whole new way! I’m so excited to share this project with my fans. Mobile gaming is something completely new for me and I can’t wait to hear what my fans think of all the fun music, outfits, pets and artwork. I hope they adore it as much as I do!”
Image credits: Glu Mobile
ICYMI: Science Spiderman would love and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: A team of researchers from Boston University have figured out how to 3D print metals in a free-form style while Oxford University discovered that spider silk strands can recoil themselves when compressed to create stretchable circuit boards. A company called Otto is working on kits to retrofit 16-wheelers into self-driving autonomous rigs.
And a menstrual startup wants women to attach a clip at the waist with extra long-stringed tampons clipped into the device. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Mozilla fails to get the details on the FBI’s malware hack
Mozilla has to take another approach if it wants to discover and fix the vulnerability feds exploited to infiltrate a child porn website. Washington US District Judge Robert Bryan has thrown out the organization’s request for the security flaw’s details. If you’ll recall, the FBI seized the server of a child porn website on the Tor network called Playpen in early 2015. They then used a flaw in the Tor browser, which is based on Mozilla Firefox, to install malware that pointed agents to users’ locations. They nabbed over a hundred people from that sting, including a defendant in one of Bryan’s cases.
Mozilla asked for the vulnerability’s details when Bryan ordered prosecutors to disclose the flaw to that defendant’s lawyers. The company wanted to get those details before the defendant could in order to patch up the security hole. However, the Justice Department managed to convince the judge to overturn his own decision for the sake of national security. Since the prosecutors don’t have to share the flaw’s details with the defendant’s lawyers anymore, Bryan decided that Mozilla’s request had no legs to stand on. “[It] appears that Mozilla’s concerns should be addressed to the United States,” he said.
Other defendants around the US and the world are facing charges brought about by the FBI’s operation. In one particularly interesting case, a judge tossed out the feds’ evidence, because they used an invalid warrant to carry out the malware hack.
Source: Reuters
Tim Cook Starts India Trip With Temple Visit and Meetings in Mumbai
After arriving in India from Beijing on late Tuesday night, Apple CEO Tim Cook started his five-day trip in the country with a pre-dawn visit to the famous Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to The Indian Express. Cook was accompanied by newly promoted Apple India head Sanjay Kaul.
Tim Cook and Apple India head Sanjay Kaul, right (Image: The Indian Express)
Cook proceeded to meet Anant Ambani, the son of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, before holding business meetings with Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, and TCS CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran, among others, at the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel where he is staying in Mumbai.
Local media reports claim that Cook also has plans to have dinner with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan at his seaside home in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, and meet Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.
Indian website Mid-Day reported that Cook will travel to Hyderabad, India on Thursday, where he is expected to formally announce a $25 million technology development center that will focus on Apple Maps development and house over 150 employees. The CEO is also expected to make stops in Bangalore and Delhi later this week.
Great to hear from some of India’s top iOS developers today. Innovative apps and many ideas for the future! pic.twitter.com/ZhEfE7wNW7
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 18, 2016
Cook is reportedly scheduled to meet India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday before wrapping up his visit. The conversation may center upon the Indian government’s recent decisions to approve single-branded Apple Stores, which could open within 18 months, but deny the sale of refurbished iPhones in the country.
Apple’s market share in price-sensitive India remains less than 2 percent, but Cook believes the country provides a “really great opportunity” for growth after sales in the U.S. and China have slowed. Apple’s revenue grew 56 percent in India last quarter, passing the $1 billion mark for the first time.
Earlier, Apple announced plans to establish a new iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bangalore.
Tags: Tim Cook, India
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Google Home to rival Amazon Echo, launching at Google I/O
Google has been heavily tipped to announce its own version of Amazon Echo at the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco today. Now it has a name.
Google Home will be a voice controlled, connected device that is said to answer “simple questions” and carry out “basic tasks”.
Its shape and size has not yet been revealed, nor whether it will also be a Bluetooth speaker like the Echo, but we will find out more at the conference it is said.
The virtual agent market is in its early days but Amazon has sold more than three million Echo units since its launch more than a year ago – even more impressive considering it’s never made it over to the UK or mainland Europe.
READ: Amazon Echo vs Amazon Tap vs Echo Dot: What’s the difference?
It’s not known whether Google plans to release Home outside of the States, in order to beat Amazon to the punch over here, for instance, but it is claimed that the device will hit US stores in the fall.
The Google I/O opening keynote starts at 10am PST, so 6pm BST. You’ll be able to see the Google Home and other significant announcements on the livestream here.
Hugely controversial Preacher exclusive to Amazon Prime Instant Video in UK
Amazon has snapped up several exclusive rights to one of the most eagerly anticipated US TV series, Preacher.
It will be only available on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK, Austria, Germany and Japan. The series starts on Monday 23 May.
Based on the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic book series, the controversial show stars Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer, the eponymous preacher, who sets out to find God somewhere in the US after a mysterious power is bestowed on him.
Along the way, he buddies up with Irish vampire Cassidy, played by This is England’s Joe Gilgun, and his ex-girlfriend and weapons expert Tulip (Ruth Negga from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). Other outlandish characters are met on their travels.
READ: New TV shows on BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon and Now TV you must not miss
If it follows the plot of the comics there will be some major shocks in store, although we suspect some might be cut entirely or watered down. After all, it is originally screened on ABC in the States.
The Preacher books are much-loved by comic fans and collectors, so it will be interesting to see if the TV show can meet lofty expectations. ABC has great recent track history in adaptations though, with The Walking Dead being one of the best TV shows in modern times.
An Amazon Prime subscription, priced at £79 a year, will be required to stream the show.
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