SDPD finds that body cameras reduce misconduct and force complaints

According to an internal report released to the public this week, the San Diego Police Department has seen a significant drop in allegations against officers for both misconduct and overall use-of-force in the three years since the department adopted mandatory body-worn cameras (BWCs).

The nine-page report found that officer misconduct allegations fell 43 percent between 2013 and 2016. Specifically, allegations of criminal behavior and discrimination are down 47 percent while complaints against officer conduct and courtesy are down more than 40 percent.

Interestingly, the department’s overall use of force is up 14 percent since 2013. However, “high-level” force, such as physical takedowns, discharging a Taser, chemical spray or firearm, are down nearly 17 percent. “Low-level” force, which involves controlled holds and Taser warnings, are up more than 25 percent. “This data is consistent with feedback received from officers indicating body worn cameras help de-escalate some situations,” Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman wrote in the report. “And results in the use of lesser controlling force to gain compliance without the need for greater controlling/defending force.”

As for the rise in use of force, the police union’s president, Brian Marvel, chalks it up to better reporting. “Prior to body worn cameras, you got into an altercation and you were having to recall everything,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. To be fair, even with that rise in force, it’s still very rare. Only 4,600 incidents out of the 520,000 times SDPD was called resulted in any use of force at all. “It’d be great if everybody would just fully cooperate, but in the real world that’s not going to happen,” Marvel said.

The department is so pleased with the results of its BWC program that it plans to upgrade all 1,200 units with high-definition video and the ability to record for up to 2 minutes, four times longer than they can now. Those upgrades should occur the March.

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

California bill doesn’t want Netflix to be taxed like a utility

Proposed legislation in California aims to prohibit video-streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, from being taxed as utilities by local municipalities. The AB 252 bill, called the Streaming Tax Relief of Entertainment And Movies (STREAM) Act of 2017, was introduced by assembly member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas to “safeguard high tech innovation” in his state. This comes after the city of Pasadena had previously worked to introduce a nine percent Utility User Tax for streaming services, although those plans from 2008 didn’t pan out.

Still, according to Ridley-Thomas, at least 45 other California cities have been advised that they could roll out a similar tax policy if they want. “Video streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu are entertainment providers,” he said in a statement, “not local utilities akin to electricity, sewer, or even cable television.” A couple of years ago, Chicago implemented a “cloud tax” on a myriad of streaming services, including Netflix, Spotify and Xbox Live. Ridley-Thomas hopes his legislation will keep that from happening in California.

Via: Variety

Source: California assembly member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas

6 apps to completely overhaul your Android’s look and feel

Have an Android phone that could use some freshening up? There’s nothing wrong with the performance, but you’ve just gotten a little bit tired of how it looks and feels. Fear not, one of the best things about the platform is that it allows for all sorts of customization. In fact, it has been one of our favorite things about Android since launch.

The first thing you might want to consider doing is installing a custom launcher. There are plenty of them around and they don’t require too much effort to get them going. Although we’ve long been a fan of Nova and Nova Prime, there are some others out there which do some incredibly cool things.

Assuming you’ve already gone the route of a new launcher, or don’t care to, we’re going to share a handful of other Android apps to help liven up that phone. Note that this is only one half dozen titles to get you started and is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list. Rather, it’s six apps to get you headed in a new direction with your phone.

KLWP Live Wallpaper Maker | FREE

This all-in-one app combines live wallpapers and widgets with your phones launcher to create unique designs. Included in the bundle are skins, shapes, gradients, customizable text, and much more. It’s like having someone dump a box of delicious ingredients on your counter and letting you put togther a meal of your choosing.

Take a look through the Google Play Store and you’ll find all sorts of incredible apps and plugins to help. It’s not hard to go it alone, but some of the preset designs are downright irresistible. Pictures don’t do it justice; you’ll need to see some of these in action to truly appreciate them.

Heads up, though, you could find yourself dropping a fair amount of money on this over time. For starters, you’ll definitely want to support the developer and unlock the Pro Key ($3.50 US) version. Then, a dollar here and there starts to add up. All can be forgiven, though, because it’s of the sharpest looking stuff around.

KWGT Kustom Widget Maker | FREE

Now that you have a killer home screen you’ll want to add some widgets into the mix. That’s where this one comes into play. With KWGT you can careate customized watches in digital and analog design, weather widgets, battery and memory meters, music players, live maps, and so much more.

VinTypo is one of many apps with widgets designed for KWGT.

As you might expect, there’s a bunch of great widgets in the Play Store already waiting on you. Spend a few minutes looking around and you’ll surely see a few things that would look amazing on your phone. Like KLWP, there’s also a paid version for $3.50 that supports the developer and removes the ads.

Minimalist Wallpaper | FREE

One of the most popular trends in mobile phones these past few years is minimalism. Whether that’s wallpapers, icons, home screen layouts, apps, or even websites, the current fad is to keep things clean and clutter-free.

Minimalist Wallpaper is a free app that gives users access more than 1,000 minimalistic backgrounds. Some are more basic than others, but pretty much everything you’ll find here is easy on the eyes and won’t distract. You’ve got a host of categories to choose from so paring results down is quick; crop, zoom, edit, and share the wallpaper in seconds.

Notify Beta

Spruce up the way your phone handles notifications with this free client. Instead of the same stuff that shows up in your top tray, Notify Beta delivers them in a manner that resembles the achievements in Google Play Games. In other words, they’re colorful little bubble that slide down from the top with icons for easy app identification. A quick glance tells you exactly which app is notifying you, listing the message in the process.

Floatify Lockscreen | FREE

Given that there are not very many people using Android 7.0 Nougat just yet, there’s an awful lot of us missing out some cool features. One such detail, though, can be yours without any major software updates. Floatify Lockscreen is a free app that gives your phone a lock screen with notifications similar to what’s found in the latest Android release.

Want to send direct replies without waking the phone? Interested in controlling music from the lock screen? This app lets you do both; other options include waking on pickup or pulled from a pocket, heads up notifications, quick access to camera, and an expandable calendar of events. Our advice: spend a buck on the Pro code and unlock a whole suite of extra goodies, including themes.

Dynamic Notifications | FREE

Formerly known as ActiveNotifications, this app doesn’t replace your lock screen but, rather, gives you more control over how notifications are treated. Don’t want or need to know of every little social media update, new email, or message? Dial the settings down and handpick which alert you.

Say goodbye to boring notifications; the free app gives you the ability to adjust appearance (date, color, images, backgrounds) of your alerts. And, thanks to the proximity and ambient light sensors in phones, it won’t bother lighting up when it’s in a pocket, purse, or face down.

For a couple of dollars more we definitely recommend going with the Premium features. Among the details here are breathing/pulsing notifications, “Night” mode, customized timeouts, and hiding sensitive info such as SMS sender. Want the phone to wake to the notifications upon picking it up? That comes with the $2 in-app upgrade, too.

‘FTL’ successor shows off adorable mech battles

If you’ve played FTL: Faster Than Light, you know that it’s a sublime gaming experience, well deserving of its high ratings and devoted fan base. Developer Subset Games has just launched a teaser trailer for its follow-up title, Into The Breach. FTL provided players with perfectly-balanced chaos-management activities that made building, defending and upgrading a spaceship and its crew incredibly fun. Into The Breach looks to be as enjoyable, and the gameplay on display has even more of the same retro-pixel sci-fi mayhem.

Once again, the art-style looks adorable, with an isometric viewpoint on a small gaming grid that’s populated with darling little monsters and heroes. The music is by Ben Prunty, the guy that made FTL’s distinctive soundtrack (which you can buy on vinyl, you hipster), so you know it’s going to rock.

While Into The Breach may look and sound similar to FTL, which focused on chaos-management and real-time strategy, the mechanics on display in this teaser lean more toward turn-based combat with RPG-like upgrade systems.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/203014674

The conceit here is that you’re controlling a fleet of powerful mech warriors to beat back an encroaching threat of giant bug aliens called the Vek. Your battle mechs — think Pacific Rim only cuter — are powered by nearby civilian buildings, which the Vek are there to destroy.

Into The Breach will come to Windows, Mac, and Linux (though not in that order nor even at the same time). Subset Games is pretty firm about the release date, too, with a snarky post on Steam (hint: “Available: When it is finished”).

Source: Subset Games

Security first: WhatsApp begins rolling out two-step verification for its users

Why it matters to you

After a public showdown with the Guardian over an alleged security backdoor, WhatsApp is taking measures to protect users with two-step verification.

WhatsApp wants you to communicate securely.

On Friday, the Facebook-owned messaging service announced the implementation of two-step verification to improve security for its more than 1 billion monthly users. While it’s an optional security feature, it’ll make it significantly more difficult for a hacker or other ne’er-do-well to break into your account.

WhatsApp has been testing its two-step verification process since November, and is now beginning its rollout in phases. In order to turn on the feature, you’ll need to log into the app, find your way to the Settings page, then go to Account, where you can enable the security measure.

More: Can WhatsApp intercept and read your messages?

Once activated, you’ll have to enter a six-digit security code alongside your phone number and text or voice call verification. Moreover, a security code will need to be re-entered every seven days to maintain peak security. If you happen you forget the code, you can register an email address with WhatsApp. “We do not verify this email address to confirm its accuracy,” WhatsApp points out. “We highly recommend you provide an accurate email address so that you’re not locked out of your account if you forget your passcode.”

The messaging service also notes, “If you receive an email to disable two-step verification, but did not request this, do not click on the link. Someone could be attempting to verify your phone number on WhatsApp.”

Earlier in the year, WhatsApp became embroiled in a security debate with the Guardian, involving accusations of an alleged backdoor. Security experts later lambasted the publication for misleading the public regarding these supposed security flaws, but all the same, it looks like the app is stepping up its security measures. All in all, it’s a good thing for the multitude of users who depend upon the app to communicate with friends and family from around the world.

Owners of iPhone 7 Plus report paint-chipping issues on matte black model

Why it matters to you

If the finish on your matte black iPhone 7 Plus has unexpectedly begun to chip away, you are not alone.

When Apple announced the Jet Black version of its iPhone 7, it warned that the high-gloss, polished finish would likely show wear and tear more visibly than the other, matte-cloaked models. Many customers who wanted a sleek, stealthy iPhone opted for standard black for this very reason. Now it seems that the decision to go with the matte may not have made much of a difference at all., according to reports from multiple users on Apple’s Support Communities forum.

Owners of the black iPhone 7 Plus are complaining of paint chipping off their devices after mere weeks of use, even when kept in a case. The claims actually date back to mid-November, about two months after the device launched, but have ramped up in the last week.

More: Apple purposefully broke FaceTime on iOS 6 to save money, lawsuit claims

One customer says he took his 7 Plus to an Apple Store, where he was told the damage is only cosmetic and, as such, is not covered in the phone’s warranty. The issues seem to crop up more often around edges and cutouts for the speaker holes and buttons, though some users have recently complained of large flakes and and fine imperfections along the backside as well.

Customers have long pointed out the fragility of their smartphones, but what makes this particular phenomenon so interesting is that vast majority of those affected say they have had a case on their iPhones since day one. The pictures on Apple’s forum all show relatively pristine-looking devices — save for the paint imperfections — indicating they haven’t been dropped or scuffed in any way.

This precise issue has precedent with Apple’s smartphones. A common gripe of the iPhone 5 was the fragility of its anodized aluminum, spotted, in some cases, right out of the box. Phil Schiller, the company’s marketing chief, even responded to one customer’s email directly, saying “Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal.”

Many customers seeking some kind of compensation from Apple might have been turned away late last year because the issues were isolated, the product was brand new, and there was little consensus on the issue among the community at the time. In the meantime, some of those individuals have turned to hiding the marks with black acrylic paint. As affected users continue to speak out, however, it’s possible Apple will have to investigate and respond to the reports.

Forget petroleum — tomorrow’s car tires could be made from grass

Why it matters to you

A new chemical process could end the era of tires manufactured from petroleum — by instead making them out of grass and trees.

Tire production is a multi-billion dollar industry that manufactures billions of tires every single year. Modern tires exhibit impressive performance and durability, while maintaining a relatively low cost.

The one thing they don’t have? A particularly friendly environmental impact, due to the fact that they’re manufactured from synthetic natural rubber, a polymer that’s synthesized from the petroleum-derived molecule known as isoprene.

However, things could soon change due to new research coming out of the University of Minnesota, where chemists have developed a more eco-friendly way to manufacture tires by making them out of grass and trees — and without affecting the color, shape or performance in the process. The research was published this week in the journal ACS Catalysis.

More: Veja sneakers are completely eco-friendly and they actually look stylish

“Our work describes a new catalyst and new chemistry to manufacture isoprene from biomass resources such as grasses, trees or corn,” Paul Dauenhauer, associate professor of chemical engineering, told Digital Trends. “The renewable isoprene can then be converted into renewable synthetic natural rubber, which can be integrated into tire production. Renewable isoprene can be manufactured from domestic resources and co-located with biorefineries, such as ethanol facilities throughout the Midwest United States. This process also has the side benefit of capturing carbon dioxide from the air and sequestering it within useful products.”

Don’t worry if you’re not big into cars, either, since Dauenhauer said that the processes developed as part of the study could also find a home in the preparation of other rubbers and hard plastics — thereby opening up a broad range of potential products.

So what’s next? Well, as Steve Jobs quipped back in 2007 when showing off the iPhone for the first time, “boy, have [they] patented it.”

“The University of Minnesota has patented both the process technology and the catalyst, which are available for licensing through the Minnesota Office of Technology Commercialization,” Dauenhauer continued.

Presumably, money and grass clippings should be sent to the university campus.

Look out, Apple! Xiaomi wants to open 1,000 retails stores in next three years

Why it matters to you

Xiaomi’s retail surge signals a bigger smartphone push in general for the company, which could lead to more of Xiaomi’s phones in the U.S.

Xiaomi has been a pioneer in the online sales business, but over the last year or so it has been facing struggles. The solution to this? According to a report from Bloomberg, the company will open 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores under the Mi Home name over the next few years.

While many assume the retail store is a dying medium, such stores have helped the likes of Oppo and Vivo beat Xiaomi in the Chinese smartphone market in the past. As part of Xiaomi’s new strategy, a hefty 200 stores will be opened in 2017 alone.

More: Xiaomi reportedly building its own processors to break away from Qualcomm

The move could help Xiaomi sell more than just smartphones. The company has been expanding around the world — particularly in India and has invested in dozens of startups, to where it now offers things like drones, speakers, robotic vacuums, and even air purifiers.

Of course, Xiaomi isn’t alone in the retail space, and its stores look very similar to another big player in the electronics retail space — Apple. For example, the Mi Home stores have similar simplistic designs with white walls and spacious tables, with which it will display its wide array of products. Currently, it has 50 locations around China — beating out Apple, which only has 40 stores in mainland China. Most of those stores are located in large cities.

Xiaomi is also making other major decisions to help push its smartphone sales. Most recently, we heard that the company was looking to reduce its dependence on Qualcomm by developing its own processors. Those processors are expected to be called “Pinecone,” and they could find their way onto the market within a month, according to reports. In developing its own chip, it will be following in the footsteps of Samsung, which has developed its own Exynos processors.

Intel Optane-branded solid-state drive for data centers spotted in leaked specs

Why it matters to you

Intel’s Optane-branded products aim to speed up PCs by merging the speed of system memory and the storage capabilities of NAND memory.

The first Optane-branded product released by Intel may be a solid-state drive for data centers. The news arrives by way of leaked specifications for the P4800X Series SSD stuffed onto a PCI Express add-in card. It will have a 375GB capacity, promising the read/write performance of standard system memory (DRAM) and the storage capabilities of NAND flash technology.

That’s the big selling point of Optane products: The merging of the two DRAM and NAND technologies. Optane is based on 3D XPoint technology jointly developed by Micron and Intel, which stacks memory cells vertically rather than horizontally, like standard SSDs and flash drives. This enables more storage capacity and better performance due to 3D XPoint’s vertically designed checkerboard design.

Here are some of the specs for the unannounced Optane SSD:

Sequential read speed:
Up to 2,400MB per second
Sequential write speed:
Up to 2,000MB per second
Random 4KB IOPS read speed:
Up to 550K per second
Random 4KB IOPS write speed:
Up to 500K per second
Latency (typical) Read/Write:
<10 microseconds
Security:
AES 256-bit encryption supported
Mean Time Between Failures:
1,000,000 hours
Endurance Rating:
30 drive writes per day
12.3 petabytes written
Form Factor:
PCIs 3.0 x4 half-height, half-length, low profile
Operating system support:
Windows Server 2016 / 2012 R2
Windows 8.1 / 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7 / 7.0 / 7.1 / 7.3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 / 12 SP1
UEFI 2.3.1

Intel’s Optane products will reportedly have excellent performance with a queue depth of one. A queue depth is essentially the number of commands that the SSD’s controller queues at the same time. Typically, tests show that the performance of an SSD is rather poor when only one command is queued in the controller whereas performance greatly improves when 32 commands are queued. That huge performance gap supposedly isn’t the case with Intel’s Optane drives.

Intel first revealed its Optane products during the CES 2017 technology show in January. They were in the form of sticks that connect to an M.2 slot on a PC’s motherboard. Offering 16GB and 32GB capacities, they aim to speed up PCs with hard drives installed by putting the most-used files on the speedier Optane drive to provide SSD-like performance.

More: Intel’s 48-thread, 24-core Xeon superchip will cost nearly $9,000

The two Optane products on display at CES falls under the company’s Optane Memory group for storage caching in HDD-based systems. The leaked P4800X Series drive falls under its Optane SSD umbrella providing drives with more than 120GB of storage capacity. Optane will also include DRAM products that are crammed into PCs just like memory sticks.

We reached out to Intel for further comment about the leaked Optane SSD specs, but just like the company’s recent eighth-generation Core processor tease it dangled in front of Twitter users, Intel is remaining tight-lipped about the leaked Optane drive specs. Bribing Intel didn’t help us gain additional information either.

On a mainstream level, the take from all of this Optane talk is that systems will get a huge performance boost from these 3D XPoint-based products. We expect to hear more from Intel in the coming weeks.

Google’s Instant Tethering makes it easier to tether from an Android device

Why it matters to you

Tethering can be a real pain to set up sometimes. Google’s new feature should get rid of a lot of the hassle associated with it.

Mobile hot spots are a great feature, but they can be somewhat cumbersome to set up. Google is hoping to fix that, however, and is now rolling out a new feature in Google Play Services 10.2 that’s designed to make tethering from an Android device much easier.

The feature itself is called “Instant Tethering,” and as the name suggests, it basically links up devices connected to your Google account, making it easier to stay online if your wireless connection drops. In other words, if one of your connected devices loses its connection, it can ask you proactively if you want to tether your device, and you can do so without the need for any extra setup. That connection extends beyond the internet — you’ll also be able check the battery life of your other devices.

More: T-Mobile offers HD video day passes and One Plus plan with 4G tethering

We first heard of the feature last month, but at the time, it was made clear that there was a server-side component to it — meaning that while it could be seen in the code for Google Play Services 10.2, it wasn’t showing up as an option to actually use. Now, however, Google seems to have flipped that switch.

Not all devices are getting the feature — support documentation shows that only the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus 6 can act as “hosts” that share their data. Those devices, plus the Pixel C and Nexus 9, can use the connection without the need for a password.

So how do you set up the new feature? Head to Settings > Google > Instant Tethering, then tap “Provide data connection” on the host device and “Get data connection” on the receiving device. You’ll need to have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled. When a connected device lacks a data connection but a nearby phone has one, you can simply press “connect” to begin the connection process.

The feature also aims to save on battery — it’ll automatically disconnect after 10 minutes of no usage, ensuring you don’t use too much of your battery without needing to. Instant Tethering will work on Android Marshmallow, and phones will be able to tether with each other. We expect that Instant Tethering will be available on more devices as time goes on, but we don’t have official confirmation on that just yet.

Updated on 02-10-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added news that Instant Tethering is officially rolling out.