Elon Musk: Tesla’s upgraded Autopilot could roll out next week

Elon Musk told a Model S owner in late November that the Enhanced Autopilot update should roll out sometime in mid-December. Now, the Tesla chief has confirmed the company’s timeline on Twitter. He announced that the automaker “might be ready to to roll out most of Autopilot functionality” for its latest self-driving hardware (HW2) by the end of next week.

See, the Autopilot that came with HW2 doesn’t have access to a bunch of features that the older version of the technology already has. Those features include upgraded autosteer, smart summon, auto lane change, autopark, lane departure warning, collision warning and avoidance, emergency braking and cruise control, among others. The company said it needed to “further calibrate the system using millions of miles of real-world driving to ensure significant improvements to safety and convenience” before activating them on the new hardware.

Based on Musks’ tweets, it sounds like their real-world testing is going well. Take note that even if Tesla starts rolling out the upgrade next week, you’ll have to wait for months to get all the features. The automaker is planning to do incremental monthly releases throughout 2017.

Looks like we might be ready to rollout most of Autopilot functionality for HW2 towards the end of next week

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2016

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter)

Firefox’s multi-process mode is coming to more users soon

Over the last few months, the developers of Firefox have been slowly rolling out technology that will bring the browser up to par with competitors when it comes to speed, security and reliability. Others like Chrome, Safari and Edge are already designed using multi-process, to separate tabs, add-ons and even rendering from the main browser. As it stands, Firefox 50 users with extensions approved for multi-process are already using the technology, which the team says has increased responsiveness by 400 percent, and 700 percent while pages are loading.

So what’s next? Beyond switching on multi-process for users with a broader set of extensions, it’s working on bringing multiple processes for content and security sandboxing, first on Windows then later to OS X and Linux. As we spend an increasing amount of time online, anything that improves performance and security we can get behind, while alternative options to browsers built by Google, Microsoft and Apple will keep everyone on their toes.

Source: Mozilla Blog

Leaked Documents Reveal What Kind of Data Cellebrite Can Extract From iPhones

Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite gained media attention earlier this year when rumors suggested the FBI recruited the company to unlock San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone. While the FBI did not enlist Cellebrite’s help, the company does have technology licensed by governments that can extract iPhone data. ZDNet has obtained documents that reveal the scope of this technology.

The leaked files are “extraction reports,” which are organized to allow investigators to easily see and analyze data from a phone. Extraction is conducted by plugging the phone into a Cellebrite UFED device. While the device is primarily for extracting information currently on the phone it can, in some cases, extract recently deleted items. The phone at the heart of ZDNet’s extraction report was an non-passcode protected iPhone 5 running iOS 8.

The first couple pages of the report include case numbers and unique identifying information for the device, including phone number, IMEI numbers and Apple ID. In these first pages, the report also divulges which plugins the software used to extract information from the device. These plugins can help the software extract data from QuickTime and iPhone backups.

The report compiles geolocation data from every photo taken on the device and visualizes it on a map, allowing an investigator to easily see when and where a person was. Text messages are organized in chronological order, which makes it easier for investigators to track conversations. The wireless networks a device has connected to are also logged, including the MAC address of the router, encryption type and the time last connected to the network.

Call log information includes whether the call is incoming or outgoing, the time, date, the other number on the call, and the duration of the call. Contacts, installed apps and user accounts on the device are also collected. Configurations and databases from apps, which include settings and cache data, are included in collection. Notes and voice mails are also extracted.

Finally, Cellebrite’s technology includes an analytics engine that can figure out how many actions have taken place per phone number. For instance, it can tell investigators how many calls and text messages have occurred with each contact.

Cellebrite notes that its UFED device cannot crack passcodes on iPhone 4s and later. iPhone 5s and later come with a secure enclave co-processor that makes it even more difficult to crack for information. In November, Cellebrite signed a deal with the Indian government to provide technology to bypass locked iPhones.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: privacy, Encryption, Cellebrite
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Google to launch two Android Wear watches in 2017, others also expected

Google is taking hardware seriously lately, as it’s now getting into wearables.

It’s been long-rumoured that Google is developing its own smartwatches, mostly because several Android Wear manufacturers have decided not to move forward with new wrist-worn products anytime soon. Now, we’re hearing news that Google is definitely planning to launch two Android Wear flagship smartwatches, and we can expect them to arrive soon. They won’t be Pixel-branded devices, however, which is strange, especially considering that Google recently launched Pixel-branded flagship smartphones, which were made by HTC but completely designed by Google itself.

According to The Verge, which spoke to Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear, Google is planning to launch new watches that will be flagship Android Wear 2.0 devices. In other words, they’ll be the first pieces of hardware to launch with the new platform, which we’ve explained in detail here. While the new watches had been rumoured before, Google has now confirmed them, and we can’t help but think it’s part of an effort to let people know that watches, including Android Wear watches, are still a thing. But these won’t be Pixel-branded Google watches.

• Best Android Wear smartwatch 2016

They’ll be branded by the company that is manufacturing them, though Chang wouldn’t confirm the company name. He did mention, however, that the company has produced Android Wear devices in the past. Change said Google is focusing on the hardware design and software integration for the upcoming watches, and he compared the partnership to Google’s Nexus smartphones made by LG, Huawei, and others in the past.

Keep in mind current Android Wear manufacturers include Moto, LG, Polar, Casio, Tag, Fossil, Michael Kors, Huawei, Asus, and others. Many of these manufacturers have also promised to upgrade their existing watches to the new Wear 2.0 platform launching in 2017. Google will release the fifth and final developer preview of Android Wear 2.0 in January. It will also work with iOS devices, but there will be differences.

Chang also confirmed that other Android Wear partners will release new devices with Android Wear 2.0 throughout 2017, and we should expect announcements for these devices at CES in a couple of weeks and the Baselworld trade show.

Tesla’s Autopilot will now stick to the speed limit

Autopilot-enabled Teslas are about to become slightly more conservative drivers. The company’s latest software update will match the top speed to the posted speed limit when the vehicle’s Autosteer function is engaged, TechCrunch reports today. In the previous version, Autopilot was allowed to speed by about five mph on undivided highways, but the new cap won’t apply on freeways where the system is limited to 90 mph.

In addition to throttling the Autopilot, Tesla has also been updating the system and adding alerts to let drivers know when they need to take the wheel. Although these updates seem relatively, the Enhanced Autopilot features Tesla CEO Elon Musk will miss their promised “mid-December” launch date. As Musk noted on Twitter last week, the Tesla software team needs a little more time for testing and validation of the software. When that update does start reaching Tesla owners, anyone who received a Model S or Model X in October 2016 or later will find themselves in possession of a new self-driving car.

Source: TechCrunch

US starts asking foreign travelers for their social media info

Foreigners visiting the US under the visa waiver program will find a new question asking for their social media info in the travel authorization they have to fill out. It reads “Please enter information associated with your online presence,” along with a drop-down menu for various social media outlets and a text box for the username associated with each one. The US Customs and Border Protection first requested its addition to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form back in June, apparently in an effort to help identify terrorist threats. According to Politico, the Department of Homeland Security has approved the controversial proposal on December 19th.

Here’s a screenshot we took of that section. To note, citizens from 38 countries that don’t need a visa to enter US soil have to apply for an ESTA.

As you can guess, the proposal was met with a lot of criticism from the start due to the privacy risks associated with giving your online usernames to the American government. The American Civil Liberty Union is especially worried that discrimination would “fall hardest on Arab and Muslim communities, whose usernames, posts, contacts and social networks will be exposed to intense scrutiny.”

Sure the section is clearly marked “optional,” but knowing how strict the US is in letting people in, most people would likely fill it out to avoid any hassle. Further, its critics argue that the US is setting an example that other countries might copy, putting more people’s privacy at risk. The good news is that travelers aren’t required to make their posts public, so they can tweak their privacy settings if they ever feel forced to hand over their social media usernames.

Source: Politico

R.I.P. Pebble: What to wear next

Why, why, why?!

Pebble has bought the farm, as Fitbit has bought Pebble, so they could pay off all the debts they acquired from buying the farm. Since Pebble has gone to that big wrist in the sky, you’re going to need to know what’s ready-to-wearable.

MrMobile and special guest Joshua Vergara of Android Authority team up to talk about the good times and bad, the bright and the dark of what was once Kickstarter’s King. They’ll also suggest alternatives; because, like the ticking of a clock, life goes on.

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Honor 8 to get Nougat and EMUI 5.0 in Feb 2017

Something Nougat this way comes.

Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5.0 will come to the Honor 8 in February 2017, according to parent company Huawei.

The popular 5.2-inch Android phone, which emerged this summer with some great specs, nice looks and excellent reviews, shipped with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and EMUI 4.1, and will gain the same feature set as the larger Mate 9, which begins shipping this month in some parts of Europe (and in the U.S. next January).

We’ve played with EMUI 5.0 on the Mate 9 and it’s a huge step in the right direction for Huawei, and based on early feedback from the Nougat beta on the Honor 8, it translates well to less powerful hardware and smaller screen sizes.

One major addition to the Honor 8 with EMUI 5.0 will be the addition of an app drawer in the launcher which, though it sounds like a fairly small detail, will appease many U.S. owners of the device. The Honor 8 will also benefit from EMUI 5.0’s machine learning algorithms which, according to Huawei, “dynamically optimize processing resources by analyzing the user’s behaviour over time and prioritizing frequently used apps.”

While it’s unclear whether the update will arrive at the beginning or end of February, at least now Honor 8 owners have a general sense of when they can expect it.

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