US establishes a federal committee on automation

Someday, self-driving vehicles could rule the roads, what with several tech titans, ride-hailing companies and automakers developing their own. To prepare for the era of autonomous vehicles, the United States’ transportation department has established a federal committee on automation. The committee, comprised of industry experts, will work in the development and deployment of not just autonomous cars, but also trains, buses, planes and even drones or unmanned aerial vehicles. They’ll help shape policy and regulations, determine what areas need more research and prepare for autonomous vehicles’ infrastructure needs.

As you can see below, the members come from both public and private sectors, from universities, big automakers and ride-hailing services:

• Co-Chair: Mary Barra- General Motors, Chairman and CEO
• Co-Chair: Eric Garcetti- Mayor of Los Angeles, CA
• Vice Chair: Dr. J. Chris Gerdes- Stanford University, Professor of Engineering
• Gloria Boyland- FedEx, Corporate Vice President, Operations & Service Support
• Robin Chase- Zipcar; Buzzcar; Veniam, Co-founder of Zipcar and Veniam
• Douglas Chey- Hyperloop One, Senior Vice President of Systems Development
• Henry Claypool- Community Living Policy Center, Policy Director
• Mick Cornett- Mayor of Oklahoma City, OK
• Mary “Missy” Cummings- Duke University, Director, Humans and Autonomy Lab, Pratt School of Engineering
• Dean Garfield- Information Technology Industry Council, President and CEO
• Mary Gustanski- Delphi Automotive, Vice President of Engineering & Program Management
• Debbie Hersman- National Safety Council, President and CEO
• Rachel Holt- Uber, Regional General Manager, United States and Canada
• Lisa Jackson- Apple, Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives
• Tim Kentley-Klay- Zoox, Co-founder and CEO
• John Krafcik- Waymo, CEO
• Gerry Murphy- Amazon, Senior Corporate Counsel, Aviation
• Robert Reich- University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy
• Keller Rinaudo- Zipline International, CEO
• Chris Spear- American Trucking Association (ATA), President and CEO
• Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger- Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., Founder and CEO
• Bryant Walker Smith- University of South Carolina, Assistant Professor, School of Law and (by courtesy) School of Engineering
• Jack Weekes- State Farm Insurance, Operations Vice President, Innovation Team
• Ed Wytkind- President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• John Zimmer- Lyft, Co-founder and President

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the committee “will work to advance life-saving innovations while boosting our economy and making our transportation network more fair, reliable, and efficient.” They’ll hold their first official meeting on January 16th, 2017, so we’ll know soon enough if they decide on anything big from the get-go.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: US Department of Transportation

Wileyfox’s Swift 2 X is its priciest smartphone yet at £219

After launching a trio of forgettable devices over the summer, Wileyfox rebounded late last year with a follow-up to the great value Swift. A couple of follow-ups, in fact: the Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus. But both of these are 5-inch handsets, and were always destined to be joined by a sibling made for bigger paws. That’s where the Swift 2 X comes in with its slightly larger 5.2-inch display at a higher, 1080p resolution. Wileyfox’s latest handset is also its most expensive, as the Swift 2 X is available from today for £219.

The Swift 2 X might be new, but it’s pretty familiar all the same. Save the 5.2-inch full HD display and 3,010mAh battery, it’s a Swift 2 Plus massaged in a marginally taller, thinner frame. You’re therefore looking at a 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 humming away inside, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. The dual-SIM device is sandwiched between a 16-megapixel main camera with Samsung sensor and phase detection autofocus, and an 8MP front-facer. All the other upgrades that elevate the Swift 2 family over the original are also present, including the fingerprint reader, NFC chip and fast-charging support via USB-C.

Like the other two devices, the 2 X is clad in the same aircraft-grade aluminum and sports the same, commendable build quality — for now, though, the new handset is only available in the one, bluish black “Midnight” colour. Given it’s only a hair bigger to accommodate the extra 0.2 inches of display, there’s no noticeable difference in look or feel, with chamfered edges and comfortable curves in all the right places. It’s hard to tell at a glance that the 2 X’s screen is more pixel-packed than the 5-inch models, but it does appear to have more accurate white balance out of the box.

You can personally calibrate this in device settings, however, thanks to Cyanogen OS 13.1 (based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow). Those in the know might see this as a red flag, since development of Cyanogen OS formally ceased at the end of last year. Wileyfox has promised this won’t have any impact on updates, though, and has already pushed a transition release to its smartphones. Before spring, the company says all devices bearing its name will be upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat, with all the extra features of Cyanogen OS preserved.

The Swift 2 X completes Wileyfox’s latest affordable smartphone range, but was an ever-so-slightly larger device really needed? Consumers will be the ultimate judge of that, of course, and Wileyfox has locked its sights firmly on the low- to mid-range. Those with lighter budgets can pick up the Swift 2 for £159, or pay an extra £30 for a better camera and more storage in the £189 Swift 2 Plus. And now, an additional £30 on top of that will get you the larger screen and battery of the £219 Swift 2 X, if that’s your bag.

Source: Wileyfox

New York’s Citi Bikes are getting laser safety lights

Cyclists have to be wary of everything in big cities, even robotic cars. To help its sharing-service users, Citi Bike in New York is outfitting 250 bicycles with “Laserlight” safety lights from UK company Blaze. They project a bright green bicycle outline 20 feet ahead, effectively giving you a personal bike lane symbol. That helps alert motorists, pedestrians and other cyclists of your presence 30 percent more often than without them, Blaze says.

According to the New York Post, the 250 lights are just a pilot program, due to end mid-March. By the end of the year, however, all 6,000 bikes will be equipped with the lights. “By incorporating Blaze’s lights into the bikes, we aim to keep New Yorkers on foot, behind the wheel and riding a Citi Bike safer,” Citi Bike operator Motivate’s CEO told the Post.

It’s not the first time the tech has been tried. In London, UK, the “Boris Bikes” service did an identical trial in 2015, and ended up installing Blaze Laserlights on all 11,500 of its Santander bikes. A study by London’s mass transportation service found that Laserlights made them up to 30 percent more visible to trucks, buses and vans. The units retail to consumers in the US for $200, or £125 in the UK.

Via: Gothamist

Source: NY Post

Peter Thiel ‘Confirms’ the ‘Age of Apple is Over,’ But Says It’s Not Tim Cook’s Fault

In a “Confirm or Deny” feature by The New York Times this week, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel “confirmed” that “the age of Apple is over” based on his belief that smartphones will lack further innovation.

The age of Apple is over.

Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It’s not the fault of Tim Cook, but it’s not an area where there will be any more innovation.

While the iPhone has become a familiar product as it turns ten, which perhaps makes it less exciting to some, to say smartphones are not an area where there will be any more innovation will certainly fuel a debate. And, of course, while the iPhone is Apple’s most profitable product, it’s not its only.

Thiel’s comment can be argued one way or the other, but it does raise the question of what Apple’s next “one more thing” will be after annual iPhone sales declined for the first time amid an uncharacteristically down year for Apple—perhaps something in the augmented reality or electric vehicle spaces? Will this be the year Apple pushes deeper into artificial intelligence with Siri and an Echo-like device?

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has routinely teased about what’s around the corner. Last year, he said Apple has “great innovation in the pipeline,” including “things you can’t live without that you just don’t know you need today.” Likewise, he told employees last month that Apple has “great desktops in our roadmap,” and earlier this week he said “the best is yet to come” for iPhone.

Tag: Tim Cook
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Opera Neon turns your web browser into a mini desktop

As much as modern desktop web browsers can do, their basic concept is stuck in a rut. It’s not really designed for the way many people use the web, such as chatting while you surf. Opera wants to climb out of that hole, and it’s trying an unusual approach to make that happen: it’s launching Opera Neon, a separate “concept” browser that shows where software could go. It’s much more visual, with an uncluttered look, tabs and shortcuts as bubbles and a side control bar that largely gets out of your way. However, the real fun starts when you want to juggle multiple sites — this is more of an intelligent desktop than your usual web client.

If you want to have two pages running side by side, it’s relatively easy: you drag one of your open tabs to the top of the window, creating a split view much like what you see in Windows or the multi-window modes on mobile devices. Also, Neon acknowledges that your browser can frequently double as a media player. You can listen to tunes in the background, or pop out a video in order to switch websites while you watch. These aren’t completely novel concepts all by themselves, but it’s rare to see all of them in a browser at the same time.

There are two more perks that you might appreciate if you’re a power user. A smart tab system surfaces frequently used tabs, while a quick “snap” feature captures screenshots of websites for a gallery. If you’re the sort who regularly wants to share photos and quotes in chat, this might be your pick.

Neon is available now for both Mac and Windows users. Don’t expect it to replace the standard Opera browser, though. Some of its features should cross over in the spring, but this is really a separate experiment to see which ideas stick. You’ll most likely want to give this a try if you either do a lot of web-based multitasking or just feel that your existing browser choices are a bit stale.

Source: Opera

New DoE guidelines stand for scientific integrity over politics

At a time when scientific facts are frequently disputed for political reasons, the Department of Energy is updating its policy to ensure the “protection of scientific integrity.” That quote comes from a Medium post by US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz that lays out why we need accurate, unbiased science and three points for the department’s policy going forward:

• Energy Department scientists are able to express their opinions.

• Energy Department scientists must get the opportunity to review Department statements about their work.

• Energy Department officials should not and will not ask scientists to tailor their work to particular conclusions.

As mentioned by The Verge and Nature, the revised guidelines arrive alongside concerns about appointments by the President-elect that have a troubling connection to science. His incoming energy secretary has previously said he’d like to shut the department down, but these new regulations would require Rick Perry to appoint an independent Scientific Integrity Official to handle complaints (like the kind you’d get after the coverup of an accident at a secret lab in Hawkins, Indiana).

The Union of Concerned Scientists notes the department has been working on the revised policy for years, pointing out an incident where a DOE scientist working at Los Alamos appeared to have been fired for a scientific paper he wrote on his own time. It will be up to the incoming administration to implement these new policies, and we’ll have to wait and see if they try to roll any of the changes back. As it stands, they could be the only thing protecting employees working on issues like climate change or other politically charged topics. You can read the new rules yourself here (PDF).

Via: The Verge

Source: DOE Scientific Integrity Policy (PDF), Ernest Moniz (Medium)

Report: Fitbit tried to buy wearable arch-rival Jawbone

Jawbone is clearly struggling, having scaled fitness tracker production way back and reportedly not paying a customer service provider. Part of its problems stem from a protracted legal dispute with FitBit, but according to the Financial Times, Jawbone’s arch-rival actually tried to buy it last year. Fitbit offered to acquire Jawbone’s assets and settle any legal battles, but the deal reportedly fell through because the price was too low for Jawbone and its backers.

Jawbone was valued at up to $1.5 billion at the beginning of 2016, but Fitbit reportedly only offered a fraction of that. The companies battled back and forth in court throughout the year, with Jawbone losing a patent case in May, but prevailing in a similar one in July. The company has accused Fitbit of trying to bleed it dry via litigation and is still pursuing corporate espionage charges, despite a setback last summer.

The fact that the smartwatch and fitness tracker sector is hurting right now isn’t helping Jawbone, either. The company is said to be pivoting from fitness trackers to medical wearables, and is seeking FDA approval so it can sell them through US insurers. Meanwhile, it has stopped looking for a buyer and is close to finding a new investor, the FT says.

Fitbit, meanwhile, is taking advantage of a its rivals’ problems to buy them up for a song. It recently snapped up Kickstarter darling Pebble at a steeply reduce price and and also acquired Vector, a wearable company founded by former Citizen executives. However, it only purchased the firms for their employees, IP and software and plans to discontinue all products.

Source: Financial Times (paywall)

Telegram updates desktop app with new look

In the midst of (yet another) security scare, Telegram has updated its desktop app. The new app (version 1.0) features a thorough redesign, bringing the experience more in line with Google’s Material Design aesthetic, complete with animations and support for themes.

Version 1.0 also supports deleting messages from the company’s servers, a feature that was already available in the mobile app. (Previously, deleting a message from a chat on the desktop would only remove it from the device you’re using.) Like editing, deletion only works on recently sent messages.

While the update is a welcome one, the messaging service, which offers server-client encrypted messaging and end-to-end encrypted private chats, is currently answering some difficult question regarding its security standards. Telegram has been maligned for relying on its own security protocols, rather than the many tried-and-tested options available.

More recently, an unverified intelligence document published by BuzzFeed and reported on extensively with regards to President-elect Trump and Russia’s impact on the US election, flagged Telegram as being compromised by Russia’s state security agency. Specifically, it says “the FSB now successfully had cracked this communications software and therefore it was no longer secure to use.”

Telegram called the report a “scare story,” and said it believes it’s mostly likely fake, or possibly refers to SMS interception in accounts not protected by 2-step verification, an attack that was reported earlier this year. Many of the other allegations in the document, dated July 2015, have been proven inaccurate, or impossible to verify.

Separately, cryptography expert Nadim Kobeissi, who has been a perrenial critic of Telegram, detailed another attack vector: a vulnerability in the way the service deals with keys. Telegram, again, disputed the findings, this time directly responding to Kobeissi on Twitter, saying that the chat would not work if an attack of this type happened. Kobeissi has yet to respond.

“To this day, no ways of undermining Telegram’s encryption have been discovered,” the service said in a blog post. “We are continuously working with our worldwide community of developers and security specialists to keep it this way.” Whatever happens, the app is way more pretty than it used to be, and that’s all that matters in the end. Right?

Source: Telegram (security blog), (app changelog)

Opera Debuts New ‘Opera Neon’ Concept Browser

Opera today showcased its first ever concept browser, codenamed Opera Neon. Built on the same browser engine as the standard Opera browser, Neon is designed to focus primarily on content.

Opera Neon includes a new user interface that consists of a start page using the user’s current desktop background image, a sidebar with a video player, image gallery, and download manager, and a visual tab bar that makes it easier to switch between tabs and tell which tab is active.

There’s also a built-in “intelligent system” that manages tabs, with frequently used tabs listed at the top and the less used tabs being relegated to the bottom.

A pop-out video option lets users watch videos while viewing other web pages, and a snap to gallery feature lets users take a screenshot and crop any part of a webpage, saving it for later use. With an included split screen mode, it’s also possible to view two web pages simultaneously, side by side.

Opera Neon won’t replace the current Opera browser, but some of its features will eventually be added to Opera. Both Mac and Windows users can download a free version of Opera Neon to test.

Tag: Opera browser
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Apple Plans to Launch Original TV Shows Comparable to ‘Westworld’ and ‘Stranger Things’ By End of 2017

Apple is building a “significant” business centered around creating original, scripted television shows and possibly even movies, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. The content would be made available on Apple Music, falling in line with previous reports and accompanying already-announced projects for the music streaming service, including Carpool Karaoke and Vital Signs.

Apple executives have told Hollywood that the new original content will launch by the end of 2017, according to the new report. In terms of specific genres, HBO’s Westworld and Netflix’s Stranger Things were both used as comparisons for what Apple is aiming to produce on Apple Music. These proposed series and movies “don’t have any particular relationship to music,” unlike Carpool Karaoke and Vital Signs.

Rumors about Apple meeting with Hollywood executives to create original TV shows for Apple Music or iTunes have existed since last year, and now Apple is even looking into producing original films for the service, “though those plans are more preliminary,” according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is said to have been in talks with producers over the past few months about purchasing the rights to scripted television programs, as well as seeking out marketing people to come on board and promote the new content. The move is looked at as a way for Apple to gain an edge in its competition against Spotify, rather than become a streaming contender alongside Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Because it is looking at just a handful of carefully selected shows, and potentially films, it doesn’t appear Apple is preparing to spend the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars it would need to spend annually to become a direct competitor to Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video or premium cable networks.

Rather, it would escalate the arms race between Apple Music and Spotify, which both offer essentially the same catalog of tens of millions of songs, by adding other content that could distinguish Apple’s service.

Although most of Apple’s plans are still steeped in secrecy, the company has reportedly told producers an advantage it hopes to offer is that it would share its viewer and demographic data on the people who watch the new shows. Netflix has remained infamously private about the specific number of viewers who watch its streaming shows, making it hard to tell what is a successful launch or not, “which has been a source of contention among some in Hollywood.”

Last Summer, Eddy Cue said that Apple is “not in the business of trying to create TV shows” when asked about the future of the company and its past relationships with Hollywood, where it once spoke with network programmers to get a live-streaming TV bundle launched before ultimately shelving the plans. At the time, Cue said that Apple would “help” producers whenever it had the chance and that any TV project would serve as “complimentary to the things we’re doing at Apple Music.”

Tag: Apple Music
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