Transgender protection rollback sparks opposition from tech

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it would roll back federal protections for transgender citizens and require states and local school boards to decide how (or, more accurately, whether) they would enforce these people’s civil rights. Given that Silicon Valley tech companies routinely portray themselves as paragons of diversity and tolerance, these companies would surely be equally incensed at the government’s current attempts to regulate where children can pee. However, the responses so far have failed to directly address the president’s recent actions, instead generally relying on passive statements that extol their valuation of diversity and inclusion.

When asked for comment, a Google spokesperson replied “We’ve long advocated for policies that provide equal rights and treatment for all. We’re deeply concerned to see a roll-back in transgender students’ rights.”

Facebook, which gently chastised the Trump administration over its immigration ban, told us that it “is a strong supporter of equality. We stand for ensuring equal rights for everyone, including transgender students, and will continue to advocate for more rights instead of fewer.”

AirBnb, which vowed to help 100,000 people stranded by the Republicans’ immigration ban, simply pointed us to a recent tweet by Chris Lehane, the company’s head of policy.

We want 2 create a world where anyone including those in the LGBTQ community can belong anywhere & oppose these kinds of divisive policies

— Chris Lehane (@chrislehane) February 23, 2017

Similarly, PayPal’s CEO, Dan Schulman provided this stock response, despite cancelling the construction of a 400-job Ops Center in North Carolina following the passage of HB2.

PayPal is committed to preserving human rights and advancing the principles of inclusion and equality that are at the core of our values. We seek to defend against discrimination and actions that violate our values, and we work with communities, regulators, and governments around the world to foster inclusion, understanding and empower the best of human potential.

An IBM spokesperson simply noted that “IBM has had an explicit policy of non-discrimination based on gender identity or expression since 2002, and we are opposed to discrimination in all its forms, including any policies that discriminate based on gender identity in education.” The company was one of hundreds that signed a letter disavowing the government’s immigration ban.

Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich posted this tweet:

Inclusion and diversity are fundamental to creating a successful biz & world. We stand with @HRC in the fight to #ProtectTransKids

— Brian Krzanich (@bkrunner) February 23, 2017

Finally, a GitHub spokesperson told Engadget,

GitHub is dedicated to the creation of safe, inclusive spaces and communities–both in the digital world, and in the real world. We are committed to supporting our community including the transgender community and enabling others to support as well. For those looking for resources, or a way to contribute, Refuge Restrooms is an open source project being built on our platform to index safe restrooms for transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming individuals.

We also reached out to Apple but did not hear back. However the company did tell Axion yesterday, “Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination. We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals. We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.”

We also contacted Twitter for comment as well as Lionsgate films, the NBA and NCAA — all of whom were vocal opponents of the HB2 legislation — but have yet to hear back as of the time of this post’s publication.

These statements are noticeably less forceful than those following the passage of HB2 in North Carolina, a law that required people to use the restroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in government buildings. In the wake of that controversy, everyone from the NCAA to Bruce Springsteen, PayPal to Apple vowed to boycott the the state.

There is little indication that these companies, aside from GitHub, have plans to take proactive steps in response to this announcement. Granted, pushing back against a piece of state legislation is more straightforward than taking on a White House announcement regarding the interpretation of an existing law. It’s one thing to boycott the state of North Carolina but another entirely when the federal government itself decides to take a laissez faire approach to civil rights.

Alphabet sues Uber over Waymo’s self-driving car tech

Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous car business, has sued Uber for stealing crucial technical information about its self-driving technology. Waymo’s lawsuit targets Otto, a promising self-driving truck startup that Uber acquired in mid-2016. As we noted in August, Otto was founded and staffed by former Google employees, including Anthony Levandowski.

“We found that six weeks before his resignation this former employee, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo’s various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo’s LiDAR and circuit board,” Waymo writes.

Waymo argues its self-driving car technology hinges on a custom-built LiDAR — “Light Detection and Ranging” — system, which allows the vehicles to “see” the world in 3D. Building this tech apparently took millions of dollars and thousands of hours.

As Waymo tells it, the company recently received an “unexpected” email from one of its LiDAR suppliers.

“Waymo was recently — and apparently inadvertently — copied on an email from one of its LiDAR component vendors,” the company’s lawsuit reads. “The email attached machine drawings of what purports to be an Uber LiDAR circuit board. This circuit board bears a striking resemblance to Waymo’s own highly confidential and proprietary design and reflects Waymo trade secrets.”

Waymo claims that just before he left the company, Levandowski snuck into the design server and downloaded 9.7 GB of “highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation.” That’s 14,000 files in total.

Levandowski didn’t act alone, according to Waymo.

“A number of Waymo employees subsequently also left to join Anthony Levandowski’s new business, downloading additional Waymo trade secrets in the days and hours prior to their departure,” the lawsuit alleges.

Levandowski is the founder of 501 Systems, a self-driving startup that Google bought in the early days of its own self-driving car project. After leaving Google, he co-founded Otto with Lior Ron, who was the head of Google Maps for three years. The pair launched Otto in May 2016 and Uber bought it in August of that same year for $680 million. Waymo claims theft of its proprietary LiDAR files earned Otto employees more than $500 million.

We’ve reached out to Uber for its statement on the lawsuit.

Source: Waymo, Complaint

‘Skullgirls’ heads to iOS and Android this spring

Popular fighting game Skullgirls has been released on almost every other modern platform; now it’s time to play it on your smartphone. Originally teased last July, the free-to-play version of this fan-favorite title is slated to arrive in Spring 2017 for both iOS and Android devices.

The mobile version of Skullgirls was developed by Hidden Variable Studios (best known for its hit number puzzle game Threes). The new iteration was designed as a pared-down experience compared to the the console version, which should match the more truncated playstyle of mobile gamers. Skullgirls mobile will include leveling systems (like an RPG), team and deck-building mechanics and a Fight Assist mode that will allow players to take on more of a tactical, bigger-picture role using these auto-battle settings.

The original Skullgirls title, released by developer Lab Zero in 2013, was a more traditional fighting game that could be played using specialized controllers. It received high review scores from both critics and gamers. Even if a free-to-play version might not please fans of the more hardcore original, Skullgirls could in fact do well on mobile. Its developer has a proven track record and the IP has solid indie cred.

As for when exactly the game will show up on your phone, the developers are playing it safe. Even though they’ve said it would be available this spring, they’ve declined to share specific launch dates or even which markets Skullgirls mobile will appear in first.

Source: Hidden Variable Games

Alphabet’s Waymo Accuses Uber of Stealing Self-Driving LiDAR System

Google parent company Alphabet’s self-driving Waymo car division today filed a lawsuit [PDF] against Uber, accusing the company of stealing its self-driving intellectual property.

In blog post shared this afternoon, Waymo explains that employees of Otto, a self-driving trucking startup recently acquired by Uber, allegedly stole technical information from Google’s autonomous car project, something it equates to “stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company.”

Specifically, former Google employee Anthony Levandowski, who co-founded Otto, is accused of stealing 14,000 confidential files that included data on the laser-based radar system used in Waymo vehicles. Waymo conducted a forensic investigation of Levandowski’s former computer after accidentally receiving an email of Otto’s LiDAR circuit board, which closely resembled Waymo’s design.

We found that six weeks before his resignation this former employee, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo’s various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo’s LiDAR and circuit board. To gain access to Waymo’s design server, Mr. Levandowski searched for and installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop.

Once inside, he downloaded 9.7 GB of Waymo’s highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation. Then he connected an external drive to the laptop. Mr. Levandowski then wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints.

According to Waymo, its LiDAR system is “one of the most powerful parts” of its self-driving technology. Waymo’s LiDAR system works by bouncing millions of laser beams off of surrounding objects to create a 3D picture of the world for detecting and avoiding objects.

Alongside Levandowski, Waymo says other former employees who now work for Otto and Uber downloaded other confidential files ranging from supplier lists to manufacturing details.

Waymo is asking for an injunction against Otto and Uber to stop the misappropriation of its designs, and it is asking for the return of all trade secret information and for Otto to cease infringing on Waymo patents.

As Google and Uber fight over self-driving car patents in an increasingly competitive market, Apple is rumored to be quietly developing its own autonomous driving system for use in third-party vehicles.

Apple was originally said to be working on its own full-fledged vehicle, but later scaled back its plans and refocused on autonomous driving software after internal staff restructuring. Apple has reportedly given its car team until 2017 to “prove the feasibility” of a self-driving car system.

Tags: Uber, Alphabet, Waymo
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Apple Says iOS 10.2.1 Update Has Significantly Reduced Unexpected iPhone 6 and 6s Shutdowns

For the last several months, iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, and 6s Plus users have been dealing with a problem that causes their devices to unexpectedly shut down, an issue that Apple now says it has successfully addressed in the latest iOS 10.2.1 update, released to the public on January 23.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Apple says that the iOS 10.2.1 update has resulted in an 80 percent reduction of unexpected shutdowns on the iPhone 6s and a 70 percent reduction of unexpected shutdowns on the iPhone 6.

With iOS 10.2.1, Apple made improvements to reduce occurrences of unexpected shutdowns that a small number of users were experiencing with their iPhone. iOS 10.2.1 already has over 50% of active iOS devices upgraded and the diagnostic data we’ve received from upgraders shows that for this small percentage of users experiencing the issue, we’re seeing a more than 80% reduction in iPhone 6s and over 70% reduction on iPhone 6 of devices unexpectedly shutting down.

We also added the ability for the phone to restart without needing to connect to power, if a user still encounters an unexpected shutdown. It is important to note that these unexpected shutdowns are not a safety issue, but we understand it can be an inconvenience and wanted to fix the issue as quickly as possible. If a customer has any issues with their device they can contact AppleCare.

According to Apple, the shutdown issue that is solved by the iOS 10.2.1 update is separate from the problem that caused it to recall a select number of iPhone 6s devices. In that case, Apple said some batteries had been overexposed to “controlled ambient air” during the manufacturing process, resulting in the need for a physical battery replacement.

That there are multiple issues causing iPhone shutdowns explains why many iPhone 6 users also complained of problems after the iPhone 6s recall, and why the iPhone 6s issue seemed more widespread than Apple suggested in the recall program. There were even rumors that Apple was planning an iPhone 6 battery exchange program, something Apple quickly refuted.

The shutdowns solved by iOS 10.2.1 are reportedly caused by uneven power delivery from older batteries, which can trigger an emergency shutdown on an iPhone. Apple has tweaked its power management system to reduce shutdowns, but some users may occasionally still have problems, so Apple has also created a way to auto-restart without needing to connect to power. The auto-restart feature is available on the iPhone 6 and 6s in iOS 10.2.1 and will be added to the iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus in iOS 10.3.

A new battery info screen will also be added to iOS 10.2.1 in the next few days, letting customers who need to replace their battery know that it’s not functioning as expected. The warning, which will be in the Battery section of the Settings app, will only be displayed to customers who need new batteries.

When iOS 10.2.1 was released, Apple did not include a mention of a fix for the iPhone 6 and 6s in its release notes, giving it time to quietly collect data on the shutdown issue before making an official announcement. Customers who are experiencing shutdowns on their iPhone 6 or 6s devices should upgrade to iOS 10.2.1 if they have not done so already.

Related Roundup: iPhone 6s
Buyer’s Guide: iPhone (Neutral)
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Facebook is inserting ads midway through videos

Facebook’s ambitions for video have been pretty explicit. And now the social network is (officially) introducing a way for its publishing partners to get paid for them. Rather than front-loading ads the way YouTube and so many others do, these will appear in the middle of videos, according to Recode. Said sales pitches will be 20 seconds long, can’t run until a video has been playing for at least 20 seconds and must be spaced two minutes apart.

Live video won’t be left out either. If a publisher has at least 2,000 followers and has hit 300 concurrent live viewers in a “recent live video,” they’ll be able to insert ads as well — assuming the broadcast has been running for at least four minutes and has 300 viewers.

As far as revenue split goes, like the rumors predicted, publishers will net 55 percent of proceeds while Facebook grabs the rest. That’s quite a bit different versus the social network’s ad split for instant articles where the publisher would get between 70 and 100 percent of the cash.

With Facebook pushing into the TV space, expect to see even more of this in the future as it tries courting additional professional video producers.

Source: Recode

AMD’s latest Radeon driver doesn’t support 32-bit version of Windows 8.1

Why it matters to you

With the launch of this new driver, AMD isn’t supporting its cards installed in systems based on the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1.

The latest driver for AMD’s Radeon graphics cards is out and the big news surrounding its release is its lack of support for the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1. This doesn’t appear to be an error on AMD’s part or whoever posted the release notes, as a search for a new 32-bit Windows 8.1 driver only leads to Crimson ReLive Edition 17.1.2 released on February 8 and not the 17.2.1 driver released on Thursday.

Crimson ReLive Edition 17.2.1 is optimized for Sniper Elite 4 and For Honor. According to AMD, the new driver boosts the performance of For Honor by up to four percent on the Radeon RX 480 8GB card compared to the previous 17.1.2 driver. The company also claims up to five percent better performance in Sniper Elite 4 running on the same card. Multi-GPU DirectX 11-based profiles were added for these two games as well.

More: AMD’s new Ryzen chips are available for pre-order today, but you might want to hurry

As for the fixed issues presented with this new driver, Crimson ReLive Edition 17.2.1 addresses five specific game-related problems:

For Honor:
PCs using multiple AMD graphics cards experienced game crashes when switching to fullscreen or accessing menus during gameplay.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive:
With Radeon Chill enabled, the game provided incorrect default slider values.
DayZ:
When Radeon ReLive Instant Replay/Recording was active, the game would crash. DayZ also caused the feature to work incorrectly.
Grid Autosport:
The game would hang when players enabled the advanced lighting graphics option.
Civilization VI:
Disabling shadows in the game on Radeon HD 7900 products would corrupt shadows.

As for other fixes, there are three that address DXVA H.264 encoded video corruption (Radeon GCN products), locked memory clocks (Radeon R9 380 Series), and the AMD FreeSync technology mode’s inability to enable itself (all products). Two other fixes attack problems with Radeon ReLive — one that addresses flickering when recording in full screen with Windows Media Player or Power DVD and one that returns GPU information back to captured videos.

On the known issues front, there are seven outstanding general and game-specific problems and seven issues stemming from Radeon ReLive. Here are the game-related issues AMD still needs to fix:

For Honor:
In systems with four Radeon cards installed, the game’s menu may experience flickering or will fail to render after performing a task switch.
Sniper Elite 4:
AMD FreeSync technology mode may not work with this game.
Sniper Elite 4:
Image cropping may occur when supersampling is enabled.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive andWorld of Warcraft:
These games may experience flickering or performance issues the first time they are launched with AMD FreeSync enabled.

For customers using Radeon ReLive, the issues they may encounter could include conflicts with the Xbox DVR application, a failure to install on systems using an auxiliary power unit, and game freezes if recording with Radeon ReLive while the Vulkan API is in use. The Hyper-V feature in Windows may need to be disabled too.

Here are the links to the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.2.1 driver downloads:

Windows 10:
64-bit
32-bit
Windows 8.1:
64-bit
Not available
Windows 7:
64-bit
32-bit

Toshiba enables higher storage, smaller devices with 512Gb 3D flash memory chips

Why it matters to you

Toshiba is cramming a lot of storage onto one very small hard drive, so it could show up in all manner of devices, and decrease the space take up by storage in a system.

The persistent shrinking of flash storage continues, as Toshiba has announced that its 512 gigabit 3D flash memory chips are now shipping out to manufacturers the world over. Production began earlier this month, with expanded mass production scheduled to begin in the second half of 2017.

The new Toshiba memory chips, called BiCS3, were announced in July 2016, though only entered limited production with Toshiba partner Western Digital in early February. Much like other 3D memory chips, BiCS3 chips stack the cells vertically, which is what makes them capable of such large-scale storage. The 512Gb chips equate to 64GB of storage space, which could mean larger capacity and smaller form-factor storage solutions in the future.

More: Transcend uses 3D Flash storage technology in its SSD230 solid-state drive

Although Toshiba isn’t the only company to be developing 3D memory solutions, it’s laying claim to the highest capacity in the smallest footprint. The 64-layer design of BiCS3 chips represents a 65-percent increase in capacity per unit chip over previous 48-layer, 256Gb designs, we’re told.

This has wide-reaching ramifications for the industry, as today flash memory is used in almost every small-form-factor device that requires onboard storage. Smartphones, tablets, solid-state drives, USB drives, games consoles, and other devices all make use of it. Adding greater capacity to single memory chips means we should see greater storage space in future devices, as well as a reduction in their footprint, which in turn leads to smaller, leaner hardware for us all.

Some of the first devices to benefit from these news chips, however, will be Toshiba’s own SSDs. The BGA line will feature 16 of these chips, offering roughly 1TB of storage space, and are expected to see usage in small-scale PCs, as well as lightweight laptops. Samples of these drives will begin shipping out in April, according to Anandtech.

NASA wants to 3D print habitats with metal extracted from Martian soil

Why it matters to you

By building from materials already found on Mars, NASA can save money and pave the way for further space exploration.

NASA wants to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. In the meantime, the agency is working to cut costs by lightening its payload as much as possible. To that end, scientists are studying the various ways to make goods on Mars rather than carry materials there.

The agency teamed up with University of Central Florida (UCF) professor Sudipta Seal to study Martian soil (regolith) and, hopefully, devise a way to extract metals that could then be used to 3D print a human habitat.

“The regolith on any rocky planet is composed of metal oxides,” Kevin Grossman, a UCF graduate student and NASA intern working on the project, told Digital Trends, “and by electrolyzing them, we can essentially convert dirt into pure metal and oxygen.”

More: Two organizations tackle saving Earth and settling Mars … via Kickstarter

Known as molten regolith electrolysis, the process involves melting soil by heating it to almost 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Oppositely charged electrodes on either side of the molten matter then separate the metals from oxygen as each material is pulled toward its preferred electrode.

“Both of these materials are imperative to the colonization of Mars or the moon,” Grossman said. “Oxygen is important for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being that humans like to breathe. The less obvious application for oxygen is as the oxidizer for the propellant needed for said humans to return to Earth.

“This project is focusing on the metal being 3D printed into structural components or small tools,” Grossman continued. “However, future projects may focus on refining the alloy products into base metals such as pure silicon, which will enable the production of electronic components in space.”

Through this research, NASA hopes to promote massless exploration and “in-situ resource utilization” (ISRU), the principle of living off the land instead of lugging resources through space.

“ISRU is not a new concept,” Grossman said. “It has been understood by every explorer and settler in human history, we’re just doing it on the grandest of scales.”

Much of the cost of space missions depends on the weight of the rocket and the goods it carries. As such, the lighter the launch, the more affordable the mission and the more that can be spent on science. With molten regolith electrolysis, astronauts can leave metals — and even a lot of oxygen — on Earth, instead of using metals extracted from Martian soil to manufacture habitats, tools, and equipment while there.

“The added benefit of additive manufacturing from this project also greatly reduces the need for human labor to start the colonization process,” Grossman said. “We can send robots ahead of us to begin construction of human habitats so our colonists already have a comfortable place to stay. A sort of Chateau de Mars, if you will.”

Google files patent for an LED-glowing, motion-sensing power cord

Why it matters to you

Patents don’t always lead to products but Google presents an elegant solution to an everyday problem.

Big tech firms file weird patents all the time and Google is no exception. Recently, the Mountain View, California, company filed a patent for a particular kind of power cord — one with an accelerometer and motion-sensing lights.

Filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean a product will end up on store shelves, sometimes it’s just a preventative measure to get a leg up on the competition. But the patent published on Thursday describes a device that solves a common and pernicious problem some of us face on a daily basis.

You’re in bed, the lights are off, you’re about to fall asleep and you remember you forgot to plug in your phone. Wonderful. Now you have to fumble for your nightstand, grab your phone, and light up the screen to find your power cord. The patent aims to put an end to this minor annoyance, by putting a series of accelerometers and LED lights directly into a USB Type-C power cord.

More: Google’s Perspective tool helps clean up those ugly internet comment sections

“A user may have many power cords used for various different devices in a particular location, and the different cords are often difficult to distinguish, particularly in dim light and when the cords are tangled and jumbled together,” the patent reads, painting a moving portrait of a struggle we all face.

The cord described in the patent is able to help out by lighting itself up when it detects your clumsy human hands. The LEDs are in the plug end of the power cord and would provide enough light to illuminate not only the cord but the outlet on the device you’re trying to plug in.

It’s bizarre but this patent application provides a window into the industrial design processes at work in major tech companies. Even if this little idea never gets used by Google, they will rake in licensing fees when someone else attempts to make this kind of power cord. It’s a common-sense solution to a minor, but common, irritation and that makes it an excellent design to patent.