IBM’s AI can predict schizophrenia by looking at the brain’s blood flow

Schizophrenia is not a particularly common mental health disorder in America, affecting just 1.2 percent of the population or around 3.2 million people, but its effects can be debilitating. However, pioneering research conducted by IBM and the University of Alberta could soon help doctors diagnose the onset of the disease and the severity of its symptoms using a simple MRI scan and a neural network built to look at blood flow within the brain.

“This unique, innovative multidisciplinary approach opens new insights and advances our understanding of the neurobiology of schizophrenia, which may help to improve the treatment and management of the disease,” Dr. Serdar Dursun, a Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience with the University of Alberta, said in a statement.

MRI scans showing statistically significant differing blood flows within the brain – Image: IBM

The research team first trained its neural network on a 95-member dataset of anonymized fMRI images from the Function Biomedical Informatics Research Network which included scans of both patients with schizophrenia and a healthy control group. These images illustrated the flow of blood through various parts of the brain as the patients completed a simple audio-based exercise. From this data, the neural network cobbled together a predictive model of the likelihood that a patient suffered from schizophrenia based on the blood flow. It was able to accurately discern between the control group and those with schizophrenia 74 percent of the time.

“We’ve discovered a number of significant abnormal connections in the brain that can be explored in future studies,” Dursun continued, “and AI-created models bring us one step closer to finding objective neuroimaging-based patterns that are diagnostic and prognostic markers of schizophrenia.”

What’s more, the model managed to also predict the severity of symptoms once they set in. These insights could lead researchers to more effective diagnostic tools and treatment options. And why wouldn’t they? IBM’s most famous AI, Watson, has already shown that neural networks are surprisingly adept at coming up with effective cancer treatment regimens.

‘Call of Duty: WWII’ takes zombies back to the front lines

Of course zombie mode is back for Call of Duty: WWII, and developer Sledgehammer Games just dropped a trailer for the undead nightmare mode. Of course, you and pals are tasked with eradicating the Nazi zombie scourge. The trailer’s YouTube description is as follows:

“Players will embark on a chilling and mysterious journey through a snowy Bavarian village in Mittelburg, Germany, as they attempt to recover priceless works of art stolen by the Axis powers in World War II. This village holds a shadowy secret key to an unimaginable and monstrous power. Nothing is as it seems in this zombies horror, as a dark and sinister plot unfolds to unleash an invincible Nazi army of the dead.”

There isn’t by way of concrete info in the trailer, aside from the fact that a Nazi scientist claims he’s created “the devil himself.” He sounds like he’d be a real blast to have at parties. There may be even more info releasing soon, but for now, you’ll just have to loop the video embedded below until Sledgehammer fills us in.

Here’s to hoping that we’ll have more news ahead of WWII’s November 3rd release date across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Call of Duty (YouTube)

Moto Z2 Force reportedly has smaller battery than its predecessor

In April, some spec leaks gave us a look at what Motorola’s Moto Z Force follow up had in store. We learned that the Moto Z2 Force would have a 5.5 inch display, a Snapdragon 835 chip upgrade, a dual rear camera system and the return of the audio jack. Today, we get some more details thanks to specs shared with VentureBeat but it’s not all good news.

The Moto Z2 Force will have two 12-megapixel modules rather than a single 21-megapixel camera like its predecessor and the front-facing camera is unchanged at 5-megapixels. But when it comes to memory, the US is getting the short end of the stick. The US version will have 4GB of RAM compared to 6GB for other versions. And while the Chinese Moto Z2 Force gets 128GB of internal storage, everybody else gets 64GB. Every version will have a microSD slot, however, that can support cards with up to 2TB of storage. Previous leaks showed that the model would also be thinner than the one before it, but that reportedly leads to a 22 percent smaller battery — a move Motorola also made with its Moto Z2 Play.

The Moto Z2 Force will come in Super Black, Fine Gold or, for T-Mobile customers only, Lunar Grey shades and reports say that the phone’s body will be covered with a water-repellant nano coating. It’s unclear when the phone will be released, but it’s likely we’ll get that information at the Motorola launch event on July 25th.

Source: VentureBeat

PayPal taps into your Chase and Citibank accounts

Paypal-owned mobile payment app Venmo opened up third-party app support last year in an attempt to capture more money via more merchant transactions, including those from Poshmark, Parking Panda, and Delivery.com. The service has a competitor, of course, backed by more than 30 major US banks. Zelle promises easy money transfer between the bank’s own apps without having to go through a middleman like Paypal or Facebook Messenger. Two of the banks involved with Zelle, Citibank and Chase, however, have just partnered with Paypal.

With the new deal, you can now add Chase and Citibank-issued cards to your PayPal account and accrue reward points from each bank when you use them via PayPal. Chase Pay becomes another way to fill your PayPal Wallet, while you’ll also be able to use the service to pay Braintree merchants like OpenTable, Uber and TaskRabbit. Chase cardholders are also in line for an upcoming NFC mobile feature using “tokens” in stores.

“Similar to some of our other issuer and bank partnerships, our partnership with Chase will drive more choice, flexibility and value for our joint customers, enable PayPal to further expand its reach in-store, enable Chase-issued cards to be easily added to newly created or existing PayPal accounts and will allow joint customers to use their Chase Ultimate Rewards Points anywhere PayPal is accepted online and in-app,” said PayPal’s Dan Schulman in a statement.

Source: Paypal, PayPal

Classic motorcycle adventure game ‘Full Throttle’ hits iOS

It’s been a few months since Tim Schafer’s classic LucasArts adventure game Full Throttle got an HD remastered release on PS4, PS Vita and PC. Today, it comes out on iOS: For $5, you can take a rowdy ride into gaming history.

Just like the last Schafer gem Double Fine restored, players will be able to switch between the original and fully refreshed versions in Full Throttle Remastered. The app version also includes concept art and commentary by the game’s creators.

But as Schafer explained to Engadget at this year’s GDC, they didn’t re-record a single line of dialogue. “The original voice actor, Roy Conrad, has passed away since we made this game,” he said. “He’s irreplaceable, I think, as Ben Throttle. We wanted to just kind of do the Blu-ray version, if you will. The nicest version of his voice.”

Source: Full Throttle Remastered (App Store)

Elon Musk’s Hyperloop ‘approval’ seems to be from the White House

Earlier today, we reported that Elon Musk and The Boring Company had reportedly been given verbal government approval to build a Hyperloop that would connect New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC, according to a tweet posted by Musk.

Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017

He followed that up with a statement about how formal approval will take a lot of work, but that he was confident it would get done quickly.

Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017

But for that to happen, he’ll probably have to have some sort of conversation with the cities themselves, and so far that doesn’t seem to have taken place. While a White House spokesperson told us that it believes innovation often comes from the “ingenuity and drive of the private sector,” and that it has had “positive conversations” with Musk, it appears that those conversations didn’t include representatives from the cities that would be affected by the Hyperloop. The New York City mayor’s deputy press secretary Ben Sarle told Engadget, “Nobody in City Hall, or any of our city agencies, has heard from Mr. Musk or any representatives of his company.”

Similarly, the Washington DC mayor’s deputy press secretary Susana Castillo said, “This is the first we heard of it too, but we can’t wait to hear more.”

Whether Baltimore has been included in these talks is unclear, but according to a statement made by its mayor, Catherine Pugh, the city is excited about the prospect. “I am excited to hear about Elon Musk’s underground Hyperloop connecting New York to Washington, DC through Baltimore. If his plan becomes a reality it has tremendous potential to create new opportunities for Baltimore and transform the way we link to neighboring cities,” said Pugh.

We’ve reached out to Philadelphia’s city hall to see if they’ve been a part of any of these conversations. But if they’re as out of the loop as everyone else is, it’s hard to imagine how these approvals will be issued as rapidly has Musk hopes. In the meantime, he probably should hold off on handing out Hyperloops like he’s Oprah.

For sure. First set of tunnels are to alleviate greater LA urban congestion. Will start NY-DC in parallel. Then prob LA-SF and a TX loop.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017

Surface, LinkedIn, and cloud revenues are bright spots for Microsoft

Good news for Microsoft: Its Surface revenues have rebounded from last quarter’s slump, when sales fell 26 percent over the previous year. For the fourth quarter, Microsoft says Surface sales only fell 2 percent year-over-year. Sure, decreases aren’t generally good, but in this case it’s a sign that sales have actually picked back up. It’s not a huge surprise why: Microsoft revealed the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro in June. Even though they arrived during the tail end of the quarter, they likely added a bit to the company’s ledger. Overall, Microsoft reported revenues of $23.3 billion for the fourth quarter, a 13 percent increase over last year, and it also doubled its profits, reaching $6.5 billion.

Among other highlights, LinkedIn revenues have also surpassed $1 billion for the first time since Microsoft’s acquisition closed on December 6th, 2016. While the $1.1 billion figure is only a slight jump over the previous quarter’s $975 million in revenue, it’s an important milestone. Microsoft spent $26.2 billion to acquire LinkedIn, so the sooner it could start earning some real money for the company, the better. LinkedIn sessions also grew over 20 percent, which is a good sign for future growth.

That revenue didn’t come easy, though: Microsoft also says its operating expenses increase by 41 percent, or by about $1 billion, mainly due to LinkedIn. So while it’s nice to see the employment social network ramping up, it’s mainly a wash for Microsoft. We still see plenty of potential for the two company’s union, though.

Finally, Microsoft’s success in the cloud continued in the fourth quarter, with overall revenue up 11 percent and Azure sales up by 97 percent. All of that led to a 56 percent increase in Microsoft’s Commercial Cloud revenue run-rate (the amount of money it expects this year), which now sits over $18.9 billion.

Apple May Replace Some Original Apple Watch Models in Need of Repair With Series 1 Models

Apple today informed retail store employees and Apple Authorized Service Providers that some original first-generation Apple Watch models that require repairs can be replaced with Series 1 Apple Watch models.

The substitutions are limited to aluminum Apple Watch models in Silver, Space Gray, Gold, and Rose Gold, and are only available in some countries, which were not specified in Apple’s directive.

In some countries, Apple Watch Aluminum (1st generation) parts (in all colors) may be substituted with Apple Watch Aluminum (Series 1) parts. The parts substitution should now be working properly in MobileGenius and Repair Central.

Apple Watch Series 1 models, which were introduced alongside the Series 2 Apple Watch in September of 2016, are nearly identical to original Apple Watch models, with the exception of the processor. In Series 1 Apple Watch models, there’s an upgraded dual-core S2 chip, which is similar to the chip in the Series 2 but without GPS capabilities.

Original Apple Watch models are no longer covered by Apple’s one-year warranty, but customers who purchased AppleCare for their watches are still eligible for no-cost repairs of manufacturing issues for two years from the date of purchase.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3, watchOS 4
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Recently patched vulnerabilities provided hackers complete access to iPhones

Why it matters to you

Although new exploits are being discovered all the time, researchers are working tirelessly to protect you and your information.

A new report from a mobile security firm has highlighted a series of vulnerabilities in previous versions of iOS that, when used in the right context, could give an attacker complete control of a user’s device. The findings were published by Zimperium, and relate to two components in particular: the IOSurface and AppleAVE kernel extensions.

These components are responsible for driving a device’s display and allowing hardware acceleration for videos, respectively — though Zimperium has outlined eight ways in which they can be used to compromise an iPhone or iPad. The vulnerabilities concern the elevation of privileges, so unscrupulous parties can be granted free rein over the system. Once they’re in, a hacker can access a variety of personally identifiable information, like the device’s GPS location data, contacts, microphone, and even photos.

The IOSurface extension in particular has been previously linked to jailbreak methods, and with the release of iOS 10.3.2, Apple has patched the issues. However, users of older devices are still left unprotected. According to Zimperium’s Adam Donenfeld, who discovered the vulnerabilities, the exploits are so discreet that they can be performed without the user’s knowledge.

“Before the patch, the only way for a user to guard itself was to install a third-party mobile protection solution,” Donenfeld told Digital Trends. “Unless patched, without a third-party mobile protection solution there’s no way for a user to know whether he’s being attacked.”

Thankfully, Donenfeld noted that Apple has acted swiftly in issuing fixes. Zimperium notified the company of its findings toward the end of March, and Apple pushed out iOS 10.3.2 to devices in mid-May. The oldest iPhone currently supported with updates is the iPhone 5, meaning the wide majority of current iOS users have been covered. Zimperium will publish an expanded proof-of-concept explaining the vulnerabilities in greater detail soon, but the report is currently being delayed at Apple’s request.

Mobile devices carry unique risks. That’s the reason why firms like Zimperium exist — to address the concerns of smartphone and tablet users, who face a very different threat from their desktop counterparts. One of the dangers Donenfeld identifies is the behavior of many mobile devices in automatically connecting to available public Wi-Fi networks.

“Network-based threats are significant and far too easy to execute,” Donenfeld said. “Plus, malware in many forms has grown at an alarming rate in recent years. We’ve seen an increasing number of mobile vulnerabilities — such as Stagefright — being discovered.”

Despite manufacturers’ and researchers’ best efforts, Donenfeld doesn’t expect the rising tide of crime to turn anytime soon.

“Mobility provides a huge number of assets with much less risk of discovery and prosecution than traditional crimes, so it is only logical that mobile threats will continue to grow.”

What does 4G sound like? Robotic instrument turns mobile data into music

Why it matters to you

Our lives are becoming increasingly connected. This installation helps put that in perspective by turning data usage into music.

We hear it almost every day — robotic machines are getting smarter and they’re coming to take our jobs. But when we think about automation, we tend to see robots in kitchens and factories, not jamming out on concert stages.

That future might not be far away, though. A team of researchers at Georgia Tech recently created a marimba-playing robot that writes and plays its own compositions using deep learning. And now a Lithuanian artist named Andrius Sarapovas has created an immense robotic sculpture that turns 4G data into music.

The Kinetic Generative Music Installation consists of 77 individual “players” that use a metal bar, sound activator, dampener, resonator, and mechatronics, which combine electronics and mechanical engineering.

Each component is either hanging from the ceiling or attached to the wall. With access to mobile company Tele2’s Lithuanian 4G network, the installation uses a custom algorithm to translate the network’s statistical data into sounds.

One second of data usage creates one second of music, while the number of sessions connected to Tele2’s network determine the music’s rhythm, velocity, volume, and lighting within the installation. Pitch is decided by the amount of data downloaded.

“The installation can also be viewed as a single large musical instrument that sets its own routine,” Sarapovas told Creators.

Through his installation, the artist hopes to explore the area where structure and chaos meet in a way that’s perceivable to people.

“What’s interesting is that not all of the data used in the project is generated directly as a result of human actions,” Sarapovas said. “Some of it is determined by long-term choices to use one device or another, by the apps they’ve installed, or by the settings they use.”

We live increasingly connected lives and, although many of us are dependent on data and algorithms, we rarely perceive just how reliant we are.

“Our smart devices are always on, updating their apps, refreshing their news feeds, and synchronizing their data,” Šarapovas said. “This means that our kinetic installation’s algorithm is also being activated by other algorithms, which can be affected by yet other algorithms, and so on.”

Creating the installation was a collaborative and generative process in its own right, including a team of over 70 people, including professional programmers, engineers, and electromechanics.