Study: Uber may have lowered wages, but taxi driver jobs have not been displaced
Why it matters to you
If you’re a taxi driver where Uber exists, this study shows you should be more concerned about your hourly wage than losing your job.
One of the taxi industry’s biggest complaints against ridesharing platforms like Uber is their negative economic impact, particularly when it comes to the number of taxi driver jobs. According to a study of data from the U.S. Bureau Labor of Statistics, however, that impact is not as negative as it might seem.
Published by the University of Oxford, “Drivers of Disruption? Estimating the Uber Effect” looks at Uber’s effects in large cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco between 2009 and 2015. According to Dr. Carl Benedikt Frey, one of the paper’s authors, this is the first time anyone has taken a close look at Uber’s impact on jobs.
More: Your Uber driver might be sleeping in his car at night, report reveals
“Uber is the flagship of the sharing economy,” said Frey. “But what our study shows is that even in one of the sharing economy’s most exposed industries, traditional jobs have not been displaced.”
To that point, the study finds that, even though the number of self-employed drivers increased by 50 percent once Uber showed up, the number of regularly employed taxi drivers also increased, albeit slightly. As for how much money was earned, self-employed drivers saw a 10-percent wage increase while taxi drivers saw a 10-percent decrease with Uber’s arrival.
The study surmises the wage bump for self-employed drivers is due to their more efficient use of time and services, which allows the per-ride rate to result in an increase in the hourly wage.
“The higher hourly earnings among self-employed drivers suggest that capacity utilization, in terms of the time spent in the car with a passenger, has increased with Uber, as its platform allows for better matching between drivers and passengers,” said Frey. “But for traditional taxi drivers the effect has been the opposite, with a decline in the amount of time they have a passenger in their vehicle.”
The study does not look at the number of rides self-employed and regular taxi drivers undertook, though it concludes we should take a hard look at data before any restrictions are issued.
“The effects are complex,” said Frey. “While some have seen a loss in income, Uber has also created more jobs than it has destroyed, demonstrated by the staggering expansion of self-employment following its introduction.”
The study comes after a recent report unveiled that full-time Uber drivers will trek to areas with higher fares, even if it means they sleep in their cars.
Viber app offers free calling for those affected by immigration ban
Why it matters to you
Free two-way calling between the United States and the seven Middle Eastern’s countries affected by the immigration is a small consolation for the families affected.
If you have a friend or family member in one of the seven countries affected by the recently implemented immigration ban, Viber has a slight silver lining to offer you. Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Viber’s parent company, Rakuten, has announced that the messaging service will allow for free calls between the United States and Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. And it’s a two-way street. Not only will Americans not have to pay to dial out, but those in affected countries will not have to pay to communicate with folks in the U.S.
I am very sad to see what is happening now in the US. I came to US when I was seven and I really respect big American big heart.
— 三木谷浩史 H. Mikitani (@hmikitani) January 30, 2017
“Viber has always been committed to enabling people to connect freely and securely whenever and wherever they are,” said Viber CEO Michael Shmilov. “Under the current circumstances, we feel obligated to enable our users to remain close even when apart.”
Viber set up its free calling service in a speedy manner, making things available within 24 hours to affected parties. And just because the calls are free doesn’t mean they’ll be any different in quality.
More: Viber has just made it even easier to send video messages to your buddies
Viber, which has been around since 2010, already claims more than 800 million users across the world. And while messaging services seem to be a dime a dozen these days, Viber is different in that it lets you make calls to normal telephone numbers, including both mobile and landlines. That makes it particularly useful for those in countries where Wi-Fi and mobile service provisions aren’t as ubiquitous as they are in the U.S.
Ransomware reportedly crippled D.C. camera network a week before inauguration
Why it matters to you
Ransomware is increasingly targeting Internet of Things networks, where it can spread aggressively.
Ransomware is a major threat to consumers and businesses alike, but it’s rare to hear of it going after surveillance systems. That is what happened in the run-up to President Donald Trump’s recent inauguration, though, where it was discovered that between January 12 and 15, just shy of two-thirds of the police’s closed-circuit television networks across city-wide public spaces were locked up, The Washington Post reported.
Although officials claim that the safety of the public was never put in jeopardy, there was a three-day period where much of the city’s recording capabilities were several reduced. Out of 187 recording servers, 123 were infected by the attack, effectively making them unusable for those few days. Although the city didn’t pay any ransom, it did have to take the system down for a few days and clean the infection out.
Traditionally, ransomware has attacked corporate and personal systems, encrypting important files and demanding payment to return them to normal. Ransomware is very tricky to deal with, though mostly because it has affected key files. In the case of recording systems, it may be that little of worth was encrypted — and likely lost due to non-payment — but it seems that the police were able to get them back online in short order.
More: Beware of new image files you didn’t download: They may launch ‘Locky’ ransomware
No word has been released on who may have been responsible for the attack and an investigation is still ongoing. It is perfectly possible that it was merely some exploitative hackers who found a backdoor into a lot of Internet of Things devices, not knowing or necessarily caring that they were official police cameras. Other than being a week prior, there are no solid links with the inauguration ceremony.
Still, this has raised concerns about the security of police cameras. If it was possible to hack into them and effectively break the network of recorders and their connected cameras, it could well be possible to use them for nefarious purposes.
As always, we recommend to keep yourself safe from ransomware that you are very careful with links and attachments, especially from unsolicited sources.
No mini-bar for you: Luxury hotel pays up after virus locks guests out of rooms
Why it matters to you
Ransomware isn’t going away, and this attack on a hotel’s key card network shows cybercriminals are getting more creative.
The targets for ransomware attacks continue to get stranger. Over the weekend it was reported that a luxury hotel in Austria paid about $1,600 in bitcoin to retrieve its systems. The attack had even compromised the hotel’s electronic key card network, locking guests out of their rooms.
The Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt hotel in Turracher Höhe, Austria, said it has been targeted numerous times by ransomware attacks, but is only going public with this information now as a warning to others.
In this particular attack, the culprits managed to freeze the hotel’s system for managing key cards. The incident meant once a guest had left the room, they couldn’t re-enter, and new cards couldn’t be programmed. As a result, hotel staff had to resort to a separate internal system for locking and unlocking doors. The hotel’s reservation management system and cash desk was also affected. The disruption lasted for about 24 hours.
More: Ransomware locked over 700 of its computers, but St. Louis library system refused to pay
It appears the hackers timed the attack quite well as it was the opening of skiing season, the 111 year old hotel’s busiest period. “The house was totally booked with 180 guests, we had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance help you in this case,” said Christoph Brandstaetter, managing director of the hotel, on the decision to cough up the money.
According to Brandstaetter, his hotel was attacked by more conventional ransomware last summer as well, which cost the business thousands of euros in IT costs. The most recent hack, meanwhile, forced the business to pay a Bitcoin ransom worth about $1,600.
“Every euro that is paid to blackmailers hurts us. We know that other colleagues have been attacked, who have done similarly,” said Brandstaetter.
Once paid, the hackers restored all the systems, which was good news for The Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, but paying off a ransom is never a guarantee that you’ll get your systems back running. The hotel almost learned this the hard way, as the cybercriminals attempted yet another attack after the ransom was paid. That attempt was only thwarted by the installation of new hardware.
Now, to prevent a similar fate in the future, the hotel’s managers are going a little old school: “We are planning at the next room refurbishment for old-fashioned door locks with real keys. Just like 111 years ago at the time of our great-grandfathers.” In this case, it seems old technology is the best way to prevent a high-tech attack.
Science could soon make tomatoes taste great again
Why it matters to you
Researchers have isolated the chemicals which make the best tomatoes taste so good. Next step? Making supermarket-bought ones even tastier.
Modern science has a new problem in its sights: restoring the flavor of bland supermarket tomatoes.
In a new paper, published in the journal Science, researchers in the United States and China break down the first steps in what they hope could soon bring us more flavorsome shop-bought tomatoes.
“In terms of value, tomato is the largest fruit or vegetable crop in the entire world,” University of Florida Professor Harry Klee, one of the study’s authors, told Digital Trends. “It’s been adopted into virtually every cuisine in the world. But if you ask anyone in the developed world, they’ll tell you that the quality of supermarket tomatoes is not good. Most everyone has at some point tried one of the older, delicious varieties of tomato and know what it is capable of delivering — and store-bought tomatoes just don’t live up to it.”
The study carried out by Professor Klee and others has been ongoing for the past 12 years. It involved carrying out taste tests, as well as chemical and genetic analysis, on hundreds of varieties of tomatoes.
More: New sun-absorbing nanoparticle spray boosts tomato plant yields by over 80 percent
“What we’ve shown is that tomatoes available in stores are significantly deficient in about half of the important flavor volatile chemicals, the aroma compounds which give tomatoes their unique flavor,” he continued. “With our collaborators, we also sequenced the genomes of 400 different varieties and carried out a genetic association study, mapping out on the genome the areas that areas that influence the synthesis of those important flavor chemicals.”
One of the big challenges with tomatoes, Klee said, is that they have particularly complex flavors. The researchers have identified 30 different compounds, all of which contribute in some way to how a tomato tastes.
“There is no single compound which is a ‘tomato flavor,’” he said. “That’s not true for things like banana, blueberry, or strawberry. For all of those I could give you one volatile chemical you could smell and instantly recognize. It’s the complexity of tomato which makes this project difficult. It’s really a large mixture of chemicals which, when combined, registers in your brain as a tomato flavor.”
Still, the researchers are making progress. While they’ve decided not to pursue a GMO approach to creating more flavorsome tomatoes, Klee said that the plan is to use “traditional breeding approaches involving older varieties to rescue the genetics that have been lost.”
The ultimate plan is to get tastier tomatoes into the hands (and, well, the stomachs) of the general public within the next three years.
Can science next work out why Snickers seem to have gotten so much smaller since we were kids?
Yes, Microsoft does have plans to release a Hololens headset for consumers
Why it matters to you
If you’re dreaming of a day when Microsoft’s Hololens AR headset will be affordable for consumers, it’s coming — just not anytime soon.
Microsoft’s Hololens augmented reality headset has served at least one purpose — showing off what is possible with a self-contained device and AR development platform. Hololens has a price to match, running $3,000 for the Development Edition and while large organizations and AR developers have bought “thousands” of units, HoloLens has not made its way to consumers.
While a few companies have worked on some real Hololens projects, Microsoft’s AR platform has mostly been experimental so far. In order for it to become a viable consumer product, hardware pricing will have to fall considerably. According to Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman, the man responsible for Hololens’ development, that will happen but likely not relatively soon, CNET reports.
More: Microsoft explains why it’s happy selling only ‘thousands’ of Hololens headsets
In an interview, Kipman was upbeat about the promise of the AR, virtual reality, and the combination of the two represented by mixed reality solutions, saying, “Mixed reality is a new medium for how we interact with technology. But when you talk about mixed reality with AI as the intelligence that powers it, [we’re talking] the future of computing. And the goal, to get philosophical, is to essentially allow new types of conversations to happen — where we are spending time together as humans, but with technology transparently around us. Essentially empowering us to do more, to achieve more, to be more creative.”
Kipman also justifies the high price of the Hololens system, pointing out that it is a self-contained PC rather than a mere headset that connects to a PC and projects what that PC creates. Hololens includes custom-developed processors like the holographic processing unit, or HPU, along with a number of sensors, cameras, lenses and passive cooling components, and that explains its high price.
At some point, however, economies of scale and continued development will drive the price point close to something the average person will be able to afford. Responding to a question about plans for a consumer version, Kipman said:
“The better question and the better way to answer it is, at what point is this thing going to be under $1,000? Because I can say it’s a consumer product tomorrow because I can remove the dev kit thing, [but] the $3,000 thing is going to get in the way of it becoming a mass market consumer product. You have to reduce the price point until it’s affordable to the majority of the populous of Earth, which will be under a $1,000 and then some to get there. Roadmaps for both of those things exist today, but I’m not going to announce or talk about it today.”
In short, Microsoft does have plans for consumer AR and MR solutions and the company is already working with its OEM partners to develop consumer-level VR and MR headsets that connect to lower-end PCs.
The ghost of Windows RT may live on in Microsoft’s ‘cloud’ version of Windows 10
Why it matters to you
Rather than reduce licensing fees for device makers, Microsoft seems to be working on a thin and light version of Windows 10 to address the Chromebook market directly.
Recent weeks have brought two reports about plans for Windows 10 in 2017. Microsoft is reportedly moving to finalize its mission to provide one complete operating system that works on all device sizes and classes. Right now, all Windows 10 devices share the same “core” and universal app platform, but the outer “shell” is built for a specific class of device, such as smartphone or gaming console. However, the new shell will enable Windows 10 to adapt to any device without the need for specific customization.
This shell is expected to roll out in the full-blown version of Windows 10 this year along with Windows 10 Cloud, which was previously thought to be a cloud-based version of Windows 10 that could run on any device with any hardware configuration due to its streaming nature. While this option would work extremely well in the enterprise sector, mainstream customers would undoubtedly not find a streaming-only platform an attractive option.
More: Microsoft’s wish to provide one operating system for all devices may come true
But Windows 10 Cloud likely won’t be a streaming operating system. Instead, the platform will target Google’s Chrome OS installed on Chromebooks, which relies on web-based apps that can be used online and offline made available through the Chrome Web Store. Chrome OS is light and fast, and is highly popular in the educational and mainstream markets due to its performance and price level.
Thus, with Windows 10 Cloud, the operating system will only be compatible with Universal Windows Platform apps sold through the Windows Store. Microsoft may be using the “cloud” term because of this version’s vapor-like lightweight design and dependence on apps that only reside in the cloud. The name may also be used for OEMs to distinguish this license-free version from the full-blown Windows 10 release.
Listings for Windows 10 Cloud began showing up builds of Windows 10 starting with software development kit version 15003. There are actually two versions: Windows 10 Cloud with Media Player pre-installed, and Windows 10 CloudN without Media Player. The platforms are expected to go live later this year, and the company may even officially announce Windows 10 Cloud during its BUILD conference in May.
The news arrives after unnamed industry sources said that Microsoft would reduce its Windows 10 licensing fee for device makers in March to combat the growing Chromebook market. Despite Windows 10 Cloud, which will likely be offered for free to OEMs, Microsoft may still reduce Windows 10 licensing fees for specific laptop sizes and configurations for customers who want a little more than what’s offered on the Windows Store.
Unnamed sources claim that Microsoft wants to offer a version of Windows 10 that’s extremely safe and simple to use, but cheap enough in price to compete directly with Chrome OS devices. However, Microsoft has no plans to publicly market Windows 10 Cloud with that mindset, so it will be interesting to see how Windows 10 Cloudbooks will be sold alongside Chromebooks without a direct comparison being offered.
Samsung may soon launch wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation
Why it matters to you
Wireless earbuds are getting better and better, but few of them have come with active noise cancellation — if you’re looking for that feature, Samsung may have the answer.
Samsung wants to take on Apple at every turn, and now that Apple has launched a great pair of portable headphones — the AirPods — it seems as though Samsung wants to compete. How? Well, with its own set of headphones, naturally.
We already knew that Samsung was preparing its own set of next-gen wireless earbuds to launch alongside the Galaxy S8, but now it seems like the company will offer a pair of wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation, too, according to Twitter leaker Roland Quandt.
More: Samsung Galaxy S8 rumors and news leaks
According to Quandt, the headphones will offer active noise cancellation, and will be available in a color choice of red, green, black, or silver. They’ll be priced at around 130 euros, which equates to around $140. At that price, the headphones will hopefully offer at least a decent audio quality, however we won’t know for sure until they’re launched for real.
Samsung first had a go at wireless earbuds with the Gear IconX earbuds, and while they were pretty nice, they weren’t perfect. According to SamMobile, Samsung is shooting for perfection with a new pair. Of course, the firm will probably settle for offering a better product that can compete with Apple.
It’s likely that the new earbuds will focus on a few key points — most likely including battery life. While the IconX headphones offered decent battery life, they generally didn’t last for more than a few hours at a time. On top of that, they suffered from connectivity problems, and provided only average audio quality.
Rumors originally hinted at a removal of the headphone jack on the Galaxy S8, which would make wireless earbuds even more important, however recent reports are now suggesting that instead, the headphone jack will remain on the device.
Google confirms two Android Wear smartwatches will launch in early 2017
While it’s known a major revamp to Android Wear — version 2.0 — will debut in early 2017, it’s been unclear whether Google would release its own hardware alongside it like it did with the Google Pixel. The official answer is not cut and dry, but the search giant confirmed it will launch two new smartwatches.
Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear at Google, confirmed to The Verge that two new smartwatches will debut in the first quarter of 2017, and they will be the first to launch with Android Wear 2.0. And in the fall of 2016, noted leaker Evan Blass and Android Police revealed the devices’ product names: Watch Sport and Watch Style. Last but not least, in January we heard from an Android Police report that the LG Watch Sport would start at $249.
Design
We have a few looks at what the watches may look like, but the latest comes from Twitter leaker Blass (@evleaks), who tweeted the most detailed look at the watches we’ve had yet. The new tweet shows the smaller LG Watch Style in a little more detail, and we can see both silver and rose gold options. The images themselves look like press shots — so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the same images used by LG and Google when the watches officially launch.
LG Watch Style, in silver (top) and rose gold (bottom) pic.twitter.com/JlHaq35bZ0
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 28, 2017
Before that, we got images from a TechnoBuffalo report, which included a somewhat blurry image of what it says are renders of the upcoming watches — renders that were “provided by a source.” The device at below left is the LG Watch Sport, which will include a rubber band and metallic body. On the right, we can see the Watch Style, which opts instead for a leather strap, while keeping the metallic body.
That image leak does somewhat fall in line with a previous render we got, which was an artist’s rendering of the watches based on source material — in other words, it’s not official, but it has some basis behind it.
Again, the image is an artist’s rendering based on the primary source material. There is always a strong chance the devices will look different when they are finally released. We cannot verify this information but with Chang’s confirmation, it seems more plausible. But take it with a grain of salt.
A launch in February
Blass wrote in January that the watches will be unveiled at an event on February 9. They will reportedly go on sale in the U.S. the next day on February 10 and roll out to other regions throughout the month and into March.
The watches are expected to receive prominent placement at LG’s booth at Mobile World Congress, which starts on February 27 in Barcelona, Spain.
More: Here’s a look at some of the first stand-alone apps on Android Wear 2.0
Watch Sport
Angelfish resembles the Moto 360 and LG’s Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, and will be the larger of the two smartwatches. It contains a heart-rate monitor, GPS, and LTE radio — features that pair well with the upcoming Android Wear 2.0 update. It’s capable of placing and receiving phone calls with the same phone number as the user’s primary handset.
In terms of hardware, the Watch Sport is said to be the superior of the two. It features a 1.38-inch plastic OLED display that measures 480 x 480 pixels in resolution, 768MB of RAM, and a 430mAh battery. It also packs an NFC radio that will allow it to take advantage of Android Wear 2.0’s support for Android Pay contactless payments.
More: Google brings the Cronologics team onboard to give Android Wear 2.0 a boost
The Watch Sport features lugs with a “smooth housing shape that curves where the watch band meets the body,” which gives the device an appropriately sporty aesthetic. A touch-sensitive digital crown will serve as a navigation button and the watch’s capacitive display will boast handwriting recognition.
Angelfish is more than 14.2mm in cross-section, which Android Police guesses is due to a larger battery to accommodate LTE features. The diameter is 43.5mm, and it will come in titanium and dark blue.
Watch Style
Watch Style is smaller than the Watch Sport, won’t have the extra features of its big brother such as LTE or GPS, and likely doesn’t have a heart-rate monitor. Its design is reportedly more in tune with the Pebble Time Round, though without the large screen bezels — the part surrounding the watch face is still large but the shape is more “gentle and rounded” than the Pebble. The crown’s bezel is ridged, moreover, and the Watch Sport is noticeably thinner at 10.8mm. It will come in silver, titanium, and rose gold.
Generally speaking, the Watch Style is the less capable of the two watches. It sports a 1.2-inch screen lower in resolution (360 x 360 pixels), less RAM (512MB), and a smaller battery (240mAh) than the Watch Sport. Its exterior shielding is less effective at keeping out water and dust (IP67).
But the Watch Style shares the touch-sensitive dial and 4GB storage size common with the Watch Sport. One key point about both smartwatches is that they will tout Google Assistant integration with contextual alerts.
Google Assistant is the company’s artificially intelligent assistant, which is debuted first in Allo, a messaging app. It’s now available in the Pixel and in Google Home.
The Watch Sport will not support Google’s interchangeable Mode watch bands due to its design and lugs, but the Watch Style will be compatible. The Mountain View, California, company is also reportedly working on a “brand-new style of watch faces” for both of these smartwatches that will allow them to gain quicker access to notifications, media controls, and other functions for commonly used apps.
Android Wear 2.0
The major update is expected to roll out early in 2017 after the new smartwatches launch and will be available for the following Android Wear smartwatches: Asus ZenwWatch 2, Asus ZenWatch 3, Casio Smart Outdoor Watch, Moto 360 Gen. 2, Moto 360 Sport, Tag Heuer Connected, LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, LG Watch Urbane, LG G Watch R, Polar M600, Fossil Q Wander, Fossil Q Marshal, Fossil Q Founder, Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch, Michael Kors Access Dylan Smartwatch, Nixon Mission, Huawei Watch, and Huawei Watch Ladies.
The highlights of the update, other than a redesign of the interface, include stand-alone apps that do not require a phone, the Google Assistant, and support for Android Pay. Some existing watches do not have NFC support, so Android Pay will not work on those devices. New devices in 2017 will likely feature NFC, but it’s still not a requirement for Android Wear partners.
Android Wear 2.0 is currently in beta and users can expect the fifth and final Developer Preview to drop in January — this final preview before the official release will include Android Pay and the Assistant. Interestingly, the update will also bring support for iOS devices, meaning Android Pay will work on both Android and iOS.
More watches will be announced at the Baselworld 2017 trade show in Swizerland in March.
Updated on 01-23-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added new image leak from @evleaks.
Wondering if your PC can handle VR? Basemark’s new VRScore will let you know
Why it matters to you
VR Score offers another way to test whether your PC is capable of running virtual reality games.
Basemark has announced its new VRScore PC benchmark, designed specifically to test whether your PC can run the smooth, high frame rates of commercial virtual reality. It’s even going so far as to call it the “world’s first comprehensive VR benchmark,” which is quite a high bar to set, though we’re sure others will look to meet it in the future.
3Dmark might have something to say about that as well, but until it does, Basemark appears to be leading the way. Its test supports both DirectX11 and 12, and features high-end visuals of an expansive world. Produced for Basemark by Crytek, the environment is designed to mimic a real game world and the explosive effects we can expect when playing high-end VR titles.
Much like a traditional 3D benchmark, Basemark’s VRScore spits out a score at the end to let you know how capable your PC is, but it goes beyond that with some specific VR metrics. It measures application to photon latency for the left and right eyes and gives you a custom report for particular headsets.
More: AMD just released an awesome new benchmark for DirectX 12 games – here’s how to use it
VRScore tracks what headset you have plugged in at the time and gives you a report based on that. However you don’t even need to have one to try the benchmark out. Indeed one of its best features is that it can give you an idea of how the demo would run on a range of different head-mounted displays. That way, if there any major differences, you can pick the headset that works best with your PC.
VRScore is currently available to select media in a limited guise, though there are corporate and “Corporate Premium,” versions available too. The professional version and free, consumer version will be released in the second quarter of this year. As with benchmarks from other developers, the free, consumer edition will have the least features of the lot.
Most versions will require an internet connection to run, meaning VRScore is an “always on,” piece of software. Interestingly enough, that’s a restriction that the Corporate Premium version does away with, including automated result submission.
Whether you like always-on or not, a new benchmark for virtual reality sounds useful. Do you think your PC is ready for it?
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