UK MPs launch inquiry into the impact of ‘fake news’

What is fake news? That’s a question that Facebook has been trying to answer for months, but it’s now becoming the subject of a UK parliamentary inquiry. The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee confirmed today that it will launch an investigation into the “growing phenomenon” of fake news in a bid to define exactly what it is, who is impacted by it and the threat it poses to democracy.

The Committee notes that the public has moved away from traditional sources of news, like newspapers and TV bulletins, and are now getting their updates via social media, where it can be hard to verify the source of the story and the veracity of its content. Facebook, Twitter and Google may be asked to play a more active role in addressing the spread of fake news, but the inquiry will also take into account whether their marketing tools are incentivising website owners to post misleading stories in order to boost advertising revenue.

“The growing phenomenon of fake news is a threat to democracy and undermines confidence in the media in general.” said Damian Collins MP, Chair of the Committee. “The Committee will be investigating these issues, as well as looking into the sources of fake news, what motivates people to spread it, and how it has been used around elections and other important political debates.”

In the lead-up to the US Election, Facebook was thrust into the spotlight over its handling of fake news. In August 2016, the company changed its trending news section, replacing human editors with an algorithm. The idea was to remove bias, but in reality it made easier for false stories to trend on the social network. The Committee says it will factor political outcomes in its inquiry, acknowledging that voters “were subjected to possibly unprecedented amounts of fake news” and that it may have had “a significant impact on democratic processes.”

The inquiry will run until March 3rd, after which it will share how the UK public differs to other countries in terms of accepting fake news and how other governments, like Germany, are tackling the epidemic.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Parliament.uk

Three finally rolls out app-free Wi-Fi calling in the UK

For years, Three has offered WiFi-enabled calls through an app called inTouch. While serviceable, the experience pales in comparison to the app-free versions offered by Vodafone and EE. After all, who wants an extra icon taking up your home screen or app drawer? Thankfully, Three now has a competitive service. If you’re using a compatible device (LG G5, Samsung S6 and S6 edge, iPhone 5c, 5s, 6, 6s, SE and 7), you no longer need the app to call someone over the internet. That means you can talk when you’re trapped in a pesky “notspot,” or even on the London Underground. Three says more devices will be added over time — Samsung’s (soon to be replaced) S7 and S7 edge will be compatible next month, for instance.

Google gives $4 million to pro-migrant causes

Google has revealed that it will donate up to $4 million to humanitarian causes in response to the president’s latest executive order. The search engine will hand the cash to four bodies: the ACLU, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee and the UN Refugee Agency. According to TechCrunch, half of that cash is coming from the company itself, with the rest being donated by employees.

The company has already issued a recall notice to many of its overseas employees, telling them to fly back as soon as possible. USA Today believes that Google has around 187 staff who may not be allowed back in the country as a result of the order.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin at SFO protest: “I’m here because I’m a refugee.” (Photo from Matt Kang/Forbes) pic.twitter.com/GwhsSwDPLT

— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) January 29, 2017

For Google, the issue isn’t just one of basic decency, since both co-founder Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai emigrated to the US. The company is one of many that has voiced vocal opposition to the immigration ban, with Lyft pledging $1 million to the ACLU.

Source: TechCrunch, USA Today

Apple Said to Be Removing Iranian iOS Apps From the App Store

Apple has allegedly begun removing iOS apps originating in Iran from the App Store, according to reports over the weekend. Tech news site Techrasa posted a story claiming that the biggest e-commerce service, Digikala, had its app removed from the store a few days ago (Via TechCrunch).

The removal appears to relate to international trade laws. No official App Store exists for Iran, so Iranian startups and developers often register their apps as being outside the country to get onto the store.

Apple has been allowing the Iranian apps onto the App Store since September 2016. Digikala runs the Shaparak payment system which is totally isolated from international systems, so in theory it would not contravene Apple’s terms and conditions. Several Iranian banks also offer iOS apps that are side-loaded onto phones, notes TechCrunch.

The Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury puts blocks on the Iranian market, which is home to 82 million people, 40 million of which use smartphones. According to Techrasa, Apple has sent the following to Iranian startups attempting to upload apps:

“Unfortunately, there is no App Store available for the territory of Iran. Additionally, apps facilitating transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran may not comply with the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (31CFR Part 560) when hosted on the App Store. For these reasons, we are unable to accept your application at this time. We encourage you to resubmit your application once international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality.”

It’s still not clear exactly what part of the regulations the apps have contravened. We’ll update this story if further details emerge in due course.

Tag: Iran
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Fitbit Expected to Announce Layoffs in Fourth Quarter Results

Fitbit is set to announce cuts of between 5 to 10 percent to its workforce later on Monday amid lower-than-expected fourth quarter results.

According to The Information, the job cuts are expected to affect between 80 and 160 people across multiple departments and save the company $200 million in costs. The Q4 results will be the second consecutive quarter in which Fitbit has missed its earnings guidance.

Fitbit is expected to blame the slowdown on a sluggish market, despite Market research data from September that showed a split in the wearables market, with Fitbit’s “basic wearables” gaining popularity, and “smart wearables” like the Apple Watch seeing stalled growth.

Despite a portion of the market stalling out, the overall wearable device market was said to have grown 26.1 percent in comparison to the year ago quarter, with Fitbit the leading brand. Additionally, Fitbit’s stock rose 7.4 percent on December 27, after reports that its app had become one of the most downloaded in the App Store on Christmas Day.

Fitbit’s recent acquisition of Pebble and Vector Watch – along with its rumored interest in Jawbone – suggested the company was increasingly aligning itself with software rather than relying solely on hardware sales, and the reported layoffs could be another part of that plan. Indeed, one source told The Information that Fitbit is aiming to develop its own App Store and open up devices to third-party developers.

Whether Fitbit is planning to launch a more traditional smartwatch with a dedicated app store as part of those plans remains unclear.

Tag: Fitbit
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This is our first proper look at one of Sony’s 2017 mid-range smartphones

Sony is expected to unveil five new smartphones at Mobile World Congress in February, two premium, two mid-range and a low-end one bringing up the rear. We’ve already seen a report from Japan that lays out the proposed specs of each, but now we have the first real leak of the lesser specced mid-range phone.

• Sony could go all out at MWC with five new smartphones

Going by the report from Japan, this is the Hinoki, but TechLover HD which has made the video, calls it the G3121. A brief look around the phone shows a USB Type-C port and what looks to be a 3.5mm headphone port. The G3121 follows a very similar design to the Xperia XA, which in 2016, actually sat between the flagship Z-seres and mid-range M-series. There are incredibly slim bezels on either side of the screen, but rather large ones at the top and bottom, although there appears to be a matte plastic material on the back, rather than glass on the XA.

Elsewhere the G3121 appears to follow the leaks from the Japanese report, including a 720p display as opposed to 1080p full HD and a rear camera with a single LED flash. That rear camera is expected to 16-megapixels (however the video says it will be 23MP) while the front-facing one should be 8MP. The G3121, along with the other mid-range phone, codenamed Keyaki, will run on a MediaTek Helio P20 processor, and this leaked version will get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

The video gives a decent look at Sony’s UI, which looks remarkably familiar to Sony smartphones of old. It’s clean and simple to navigate, and appears to be running on Android 7.0 Nougat.

• Mobile World Congress 2017: Nokia, Sony, Huawei smartphones and more

Of course, nothing is certain until Sony reveals all at MWC, which is now less than a month away.

NASA is using high-tech paint to improve the performance of its rockets

Why it matters to you

Data this accurate will help researchers build better rockets through improved understanding of how a vehicle’s structure responds to buffeting in flight.

Folks at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley have been rolling up their sleeves to apply a lick of paint to a miniature rocket.

No, it’s not about making it look nice for anyone who happens to set eyes on it. It’s actually part of important research to learn more about the stresses put on different parts of a rocket as it hurtles toward supersonic speeds.

And the paint isn’t your run-of-the-mill semi-gloss enamel that you might pick up from your local Home Depot, either.

Instead, it’s a high-tech substance known as “pressure-sensitive paint” (PSP) that reacts with oxygen to produce light in response to buffeting against the rocket structure. Pink in color, the paint is applied to a small-scale model rocket that’s then tested in a wind tunnel, with high-speed cameras recording images under ultraviolet light.

Gathered data provides researchers with vital information that should ultimately lead to improvements in the aerodynamic design and capabilities of space rockets.

NASA’s Amber Favaregh prepares a model rocket for testing with pressure-sensitive paint in a wind tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

NASA

NASA says the video (top) shows a “visualization of the full-coverage measurements of unsteady pressure affecting a rocket, taken during the simulated launch of a wind tunnel test,” adding, “Spacecraft must be designed to withstand these dynamic forces, called buffeting, or risk being shaken to pieces.”

The pressure data is visualized as colors, with red showing higher-than-average pressure and blue representing lower-than-average pressure in the moments before the rocket hits the speed of sound.

More: NASA shows us the hardware for reaching Mars

The paint has been used for several years, but only in small research tunnels. However, a test carried out by the Air Force persuaded the NASA researchers that it’d be possible to adapt the system for their larger wind tunnel environment.

“There’s a lot we don’t understand about unsteady flow that this paint will help us figure out,” NASA’s Jim Ross said.

Buffeting is also measured using data gathered from tiny microphones attached to a model rocket, and the researchers plan to combine data from both methods to better understand how rockets experience airflow and how future designs can reduce those impacts.

Hyperloop passenger pods hurtle along a test track in California contest

Why it matters to you

Engineering students from around the world are keen to get involved in the Hyperloop project, which appears to be moving steadily toward becoming a reality.

SpaceX has run several competitions aimed at pushing forward the ambitious Hyperloop project, with the latest one wrapping up on Sunday.

Although a couple of companies are working on developing the track technology for the ultra-fast transportation system, it’s engineering students from around the world who’ve been busy designing the pods that passengers could one day ride in.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the man who dreamed up the Hyperloop concept back in 2013, has been using the contests to encourage students to develop the capsules, which, if the system ever goes into operation, will carry people inside a near-vacuum environment at speeds of up to 760 mph. At that rate, a journey between LA and San Francisco would take a mere half hour.

Showdown

Taking place just outside SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and judged by SpaceX engineers, the 30 teams in the latest competition spent the last week putting their pods through a range of tests in the hope of securing a run on the test track.

Three finalists were selected, with each one given the chance to send their half-size prototype along the enclosed mile-long track on Sunday.

The Delft Hyperloop team from Delft University in the Netherlands triumphed after gaining the highest overall score with its super-sleek carbon-fiber pod (above) incorporating a specially designed brake and stabilization system. The Technical University from Munich in Germany picked up the award for the fastest design, though speeds are currently way down on those expected with the final Hyperloop system. Among U.S. entrants, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) finished third overall.

MIT had already caught the attention of judges last year when it won the Best Overall Design Award during an early phase of the contest, while Delft University had previously collected the Pod Innovation Award.

More: Hyperloop One to conduct its first full-size test in Las Vegas

SpaceX said that based on the “high-quality submissions and overwhelming enthusiasm surrounding the competition,” it’s planning a second installment of the contest – Hyperloop Pod Competition II – for later this year.

Focusing solely on speed, the summer showdown will be open to all-new student teams with pods designed for the test track, as well as to existing teams with tried and tested pods.

Addressing the participating teams on Sunday, Musk said the event was designed primarily to “encourage innovation in transport technology, to get people excited about new forms of transport … to really get people to innovate and to think about doing things in a way that’s not just a repeat of the past, but to explore the boundaries of physics and see what’s possible.”