IBM supercomputers will power global weather forecasts

IBM’s supercomputers might soon power the weather-predicting systems of tomorrow. Through its subsidiary The Weather Company, the computing titan has partnered with the University Corporation for Academic Research (UCAR) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to move beyond today’s regional-scale forecasting to anticipate weather at the local level…and aspire to introduce the first model that covers the whole globe.

Current tech forecasts massively-sized meteorological systems that influence regional weather, like snowstorms and hurricanes. The model this IBM collaboration wants to build would account for the influence smaller events (like thunderstorms) have on local weather. IBM will join with UCAR to co-design a computational solution that runs on the former’s POWER9-based systems, which are set to launch at the end of the year. The Weather Company will use this computing powerhouse to adapt NCAR’s community-weather model to a global scale and refine the longer-term predictions to make more accurate forecasts weeks or months out.

Source: IBM

Former Epix exec pleads guilty over $7 million fraud

In 2009, Viacom, Lionsgate and MGM joined forces to launch a premium movie channel called Epix, with Emil Rensing as its Chief Digital Officer. Turns out hiring Rensing was a bad move: according to the Justice Department, he has just pleaded guilty to defrauding the network $7 million over his five-year employment with the company. The former exec apparently used his position to forge contracts between the network and vendor companies he himself owned and controlled. He then used the names of business associates and acquaintances as vendor personnel, setting up fake email accounts for each one of them to make them look legit.

Rensing would apparently use those dummy accounts to pose as the people whose identities he stole in order to communicate with the network about payment. The vendors never performed the services they promised, though, and the real people behind the names had no idea what the exec was doing. Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement:

“Emil Rensing, an executive at a premium cable network, defrauded his employer out of more than $7 million by causing the network to pay companies Rensing controlled for services that were never rendered. To conceal his role in the payments, Rensing used false and stolen identities and dummy email accounts. I want to thank the FBI for their work to hold Rensing accountable for his crimes.”

A few months ago, Rensing pleaded not guilty to embezzling $8.5 million — people familiar with the matter said part of that amount is likely made up of legitimate expenses. He has changed his plea now that the amount is down to $7 million, admitting guilt to one count of wire fraud, which could lead to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release. It was probably the best course of action for him, since his deal with prosecutors didn’t require him to plead guilty to aggravated identity theft, as well.

According to Variety, Rensing is far from the only entertainment executive who got tempted by all the millions thrown around in the industry. The publication says the industry is “ripe for thievery” since media companies have grown so big in recent years, overwhelming their financial departments. As a result, questionable transactions take years to discover, if they’re even discovered at all.

Source: Reuters, US Department of Justice

Windows Store receives an important addition with Spotify Windows 10 app

Why it matters to you

If you’re a Windows 10 S user, you’re no longer quite so limited in which streaming music apps you can run.

With the recent introduction of Windows 10 S, which limits app installations to the Windows Store, Microsoft needs more developers to make apps that work within that limitation. The most important developers are those supporting major services and the Windows Store just got a major infusion with the addition of Spotify.

Spotify created a Windows 10 app and made it available for installation via the Windows Store. The means that Windows 10 S users — and everyone else running Windows 10 Anniversary Edition or later — can now install the client for possibly the most popular music streaming service available.

As of June, Spotify has more than 140 million active users, ranking it among the largest in terms of number of users of any music service. And, perhaps even more important, as of March, more than 50 million of them were paid subscribers. That dwarfs the next largest paid service, Apple Music, which sat at 27 million subscribers as of last week.

Spotify’s success makes it a particularly important addition to the Windows Store. Now, users of Microsoft’s first traditional notebook, the Surface Laptop that ships by default with Windows 10 S, have access to a client for another paid streaming music service other than Microsoft’s own Groove Music.

As mentioned earlier, you need to be running Windows 10 Anniversary Edition or later if you want to install the Spotify app from the Windows Store. Once you do, then you will have access to all of its most popular features, including full search capabilities and music discovery, access to all of the service’s curated playlists, and more.

Furthermore, the Windows 10 Spotify app works with both free and premium accounts and you can access your music offline as well. The app is available in all 60 countries where Spotify is supported and it works similarly to the Win32, or Windows desktop, app that was already available for download.

Microsoft has been pushing developers to publish their apps on the Windows Store for years, arguing that doing so improves security and performance and provides for a more seamless experience for users. Apple surprised the industry at Microsoft’s Build 2017 conference by announcing that iTunes will be coming to the Windows Store, meaning that even Apple fans will be able to more easily manage their music on Windows 10.

There are still people in parts of the world who use Android Market on Android 2.1

Google is officially ceasing support for Android’s archaic app store on Eclair at the end of the month.

Do you remember using the Android Market to download apps for your smartphone? Google announced that it will cease support for the relic app on Eclair devices at the end of June.

In the Android Developers Blog, Google’s Maximilian Ruppaner writes:

On June 30, 2017, Google will be ending support for the Android Market app on Android 2.1 Eclair and older devices. When this change happens, users on these devices will no longer be able to access, or install other apps from, the Android Market. The change will happen without a notification on the device, due to technical restrictions in the original Android Market app.

The news is hardly revelatory. Developers don’t support Eclair, anyway, since it’s so old. Many other third-party app makers have also ceased support in the last few years, focusing instead on maintaining support for Android 2.3 Gingerbread and up. But there are still people out there using smartphones from that era, either because they can’t afford to purchase a new device or because that’s all they’ve had access to. Granted, the Android Platform Version numbers don’t include the tally of users still on Eclair — or Froyo, for that matter — but the heavily worded blog post seems to suggest that it was published as a warning to the stray few.

Anyway, consider the rest of the month your chance to mourn the past and look ahead to new beginnings.

Android O

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• Join the Discussion

We’ve reached peak fidget spinner, thanks to Google

If you’ve managed to avoid fidget spinners thus far – whatever you do, don’t Google the word “spinner”.

The fidget spinner craze, which swept the world this spring, may finally seem like its on the way out, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for Google to jump on board. Redditors recently discovered that Google made an easter egg out of fidget spinners. It basically hid a virtual spinner inside Google search. In order to find the simulation, you have to search the right word: spinner.

You can’t search “fidget spinner” or “spinners”. It only works for “spinner”. Once you type in the correct variation, you should see a fidget spinner appear, whether you’re on mobile or desktop, as long as you use Chrome or Firefox. To get the toy spinning, do a rotating motion with your mouse, or just click the designated spin button. You can even swap out the spinner for a wheel.

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Fidget spinners are marketed as a toy you can use to relieve stress. They’re now considered one of the must-have gadgets of 2017. They’re like the Tamagotchi or Beanie Babies of the late 1990s; they emerged out of nowhere and became an overnight sensation.

Now, courtesy of Google, we may have reached peak fidget spinner.

This Microsoft app uses Cortana tech to add voice dictation to Office

Ever wish you could just say your essay aloud and have Microsoft Word write it out for you?

Well, now you can, with a new app called Dictate. Microsoft has released the add-in for not only Word, but also Outlook and Powerpoint. It uses Cortana’s speech-recognition technology to offer speech-to-text functionality. In other words, you simply speak what you want to type. But Dictate is not the first app to offer dictation. Goole already offers a similar experience in Google Docs, for instance.

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Office also supported voice-to-text typing before now. Dictate just adds some new features, including support for 20 languages and new editing commands such as “new line”, “delete”, and “stop dictation. Another cool feature is real-time translation into over 60 languages. So, you could say something in English and have it immediately translated in French, Spanish, or whatever else you want.

Dictate is available for 32- and 64-bit Office. You must be running at least Windows 8.1. It’s also free to download and use. Keep in mind this app, which is from Microsoft’s experimental Garage unit, follows the release of Microsoft Office via the Windows Store for the first time.

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ESA’s search for Earth’s ‘twin’ starts in 2026

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today that it is officially adopting the PLATO mission. PLATO, which stands for PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, is a planet-hunting project that will look for Earth twins — planets just like our own.

So far, scientists have found thousands of exoplanets — planets outside of our solar system — many of which were a result of the TRAPPIST and Kepler missions. Just this week NASA announced that the Kepler telescope spotted ten Earth-sized planets among a batch of 219. But it’s hard to get much detail about planets so far away, and that’s where PLATO comes in.

PLATO’s data will come from a satellite loaded up with 26 telescopes. They’ll survey large areas of the sky for up to two years at a time in order get a good look at distant exoplanets and the stars they orbit. The telescopes will spot exoplanets as they pass in front of and dim the light of their stars. PLATO will then analyze the mass, radius and age of each one.

Past ESA missions include a failed Mars lander and the spectacular Rosetta mission that ended last September. Last year the agency announced future missions to the moon.

PLATO will search for and characterize what’s sure to be many planets orbiting several hundred thousands of stars with the larger goal being to locate habitable planets and Earth twins. The researchers on the project expect they’ll collect several petabytes of data throughout the mission, which is scheduled to last a minimum of four years. PLATO’s launch is scheduled for 2026.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Max Planck

Apple enlists help of startup Health Gorilla to add diagnostic data to iPhones

Why it matters to you

The iPhone can make doctors visits easier by giving you constant access to your medical history and helping to avoid a misdiagnoses.

Last week, Apple was reportedly working on a “secret” plan for the iPhone to carry all your medical information — doctor’s visits, prescriptions, lab results, and any other clinical data. Apple had apparently already been meeting with health care administrators and developers to build out additions to the iOS Health app.

Details of Apple’s next move reportedly involves working with a startup called Health Gorilla, according to individuals who relayed the information to CNBC. The startup’s app runs similarly to how Apple might structure its own version by keeping all the medical information on one platform.

The small startup sets out to change the process of doctors visits and encourages people to stay updated on their own health. For patients, the app keeps all medical records stored for easy access which can then be shared with any doctor or specialist. As for doctors, the app is able to automatically inform them of a patients’ medical history as soon as they walk in — potentially eliminating the guesswork of piecing together an accurate diagnosis.

Health Gorilla also intends to reduce the amount of waste produced through ordering billions of diagnostic tests each year. With the app, physicians have access to diagnostic labs, radiology centers, along with skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, among others and can place orders and referrals for patients using a simplified process.

In terms of teaming up with Apple, CNBC noted that Health Gorilla is supposedly working alongside the company to include diagnostic data — such as blood work — on the iPhone through integration with lap-testing companies, imaging centers, and hospitals.

Apple has consistently been making strides to use the iPhone as a tool and resource to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle — with tons of different fitness apps available to keep you moving. Through the Health app itself, users can record their own body measurements, vitals, nutrition, activity, and more. While it can improve a user’s personal relationship with fitness, it still leaves a wide gap between a user and other important aspects of health.

With this plan, the potential upgrade to Apple’s health app can also help those who need to visit doctors apart from their main physician if they are away from home or need to take care of an urgent matter. By having all of the information stored on the iPhone, new patients can reduce the risk of doctors misdiagnosing them or experiencing any other medical errors.

About 86 percent of active Apple iPhone and iPad devices run iOS 10

Why it matters to you

More Apple devices running the latest version of iOS means more people have better security, and are accessing Apple’s latest features.

Update: We’ve added the latest metrics from Apple — 86 percent of Apple devices are currently on iOS 10.

Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 10, has been out since September 2016. In the nine months since then, 86 percent of active iOS devices have adopted it.

The Cupertino company frequently updates the number of devices on its OS based on App Store data, and the latest numbers as of June 5 claim that 86 percent of active iOS devices run some version of iOS 10. Eleven percent of devices run iOS 9, while three percent of active devices are using an even earlier version.

It’s great news for Apple, as the majority of the company’s customers are staying on its most up-to-date software. Speaking of up-to-date, Apple unveiled iOS 11, the next and greatest version of its smartphone and iPad OS, at its 28th annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

While the iOS 11 developer beta is currently available, the public beta will be released at the end of June, with the final version is scheduled for the fall. All 64-bit iPhone and iPad devices and apps will receive iOS 11, meaning 32-bit devices like the iPhone 5C and the iPad Mini will not get iOS 11.

With iOS 11, users will see a incremental changes ranging from a redesigned Control Center and notifications, along with additional photo effects akin to Live Photos. As far as new features go, Apple introduced peer-to-peer transactions with Apple Pay, and Files — a new file management system. The update also introduces ARKit, which will allow developers to build or bring fluid augmented reality apps to iOS.

Apple maintains tight control over its operating system and hardware, which allows the company to see high adoption rates of its latest software. Google’s Android version updates, on the other hand, have to be released by a myriad of manufacturers and then by carriers if the device is locked.

Android Nougat jumps to more than 9 percent of active devices

Why it matters to you

Tracking the popularity of different versions of the Android operating system helps device owners know how their own version stacks up.

Update: Android Nougat 7.0 and 7.1 have increased in distribution by four percent since April and is currently on over nine percent of devices.

The latest distribution numbers are in, and surprisingly, Android 7.0 has jumped more than four percent since April. That is in stark contrast to the meager advances it has made since its release at the end of August.

According to the Android Developer Dashboard, Nougat devices have jumped 4.6 percent from April, now accounting for 9.5 percent of active Android devices together. Marshmallow is still the reigning king with an API level at 31.2 percent — taking the crown from Lollipop trailing close behind at 30.8 percent.

In contrast, Apple’s iOS 10 was released in the middle of September and it’s installed on 86 percent of devices as of June 5th.

Even though 31.2 percent — the share of devices running Marshmallow — sounds like a small number, it accounts for a lot of phones, especially considering there have been well over 1.4 billion Android devices activated since September 2015. It’s an improvement, but the numbers continue to highlight one of Android’s biggest problems: Fragmentation. Google issues monthly security updates and rolls out version updates to all of its supported Pixel, Nexus, and Android One devices, but these are not always released in a timely manner by manufacturers and carriers for other devices.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t account for the millions of Android smartphones in China, as Google only collects data from devices that access the Google Play Store. The Play Store is not available in China.

Version

Code Name

API

Distribution

2.3.3 – 2.3.7
Gingerbread
10
0.8 percent
4.0.3 – 4.0.4
Ice Cream Sandwich
15
0.8percent
4.1.x
Jelly Bean
16
3.1 percent
4.2.x
17
4.4 percent
4.3
18
1.3 percent
4.4
KitKat
19
18.1 percent
5.0
Lollipop
21
8.2 percent
5.1
22
22.6 percent
6.0
Marshmallow
23
31.2 percent
7.0
Nougat
24
8.9 percent
7.1
Nougat
25
0.6 percent

*The data above is from Google. It was collected during a seven-day period ending on June 5, 2017. Any versions with less than 0.1 percent distribution are not shown.

Nougat 7.0 and 7.1 were the only versions to see some gains this month — all other Android versions decreased in percentage, while Marshmallow stayed at 31.2 percent. During the January data collection period, Google added the entry for 7.1 as it saw wide roll out in December 2016. That has fragmented Nougat’s numbers, but now over nine percent of Android devices have Nougat.

Nougat’s numbers will continue to increase as manufacturers and carriers begin to push updates and as more devices are released this year, but it will be a slow and arduous process. Google’s Pixel smartphones are reportedly “very popular” according to Verizon, and if it becomes a household name as Samsung has managed to achieve with its Galaxy lineup, then Google’s dream of having a large user base with the latest version of Android will come true.

The huge number of people using older versions of Android is not a good thing, as software vulnerabilities and bugs may never be fixed. The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission sent letters to software giants, including Apple and Google, as well as manufacturers and carriers, inquiring about the security process and how they push updates to consumers.

We’ll continue to update this post as Google updates its Android distribution figures.