Former Uber CEO says fraud lawsuit defies common sense

Travis Kalanick says Benchmark Capital, the Uber board member suing him for fraud, pretended to be on his side and then forced him to resign as CEO while he was vulnerable due to the death of his mother. The former Uber chief has filed his response to the investment firm’s lawsuit, which seeks to kick him off the board and to invalidate a previous company decision to expand the board with three additional seats. Benchmark said the expansion was “fraudulently induced,” a ploy by Kalanick to “increase his power for his own selfish ends.” Now Kalanick has fired back, accusing the firm of fabricating its allegations.

The controversial exec said that the lawsuit was the first time he heard Benchmark say that it would have never agreed to those seats’ addition if it knew about his “gross mismanagement and other misconduct at Uber.” Benchmarks position prior to the lawsuit, the filing says, was “explicitly to the contrary.” Kalanick stressed that the firm was well aware of and even agreed to add three additional seats after Saudi’s Public Investment Fund put $3.5 billion into the company in June 2016.

Further, when Benchmark’s representatives pressured him to resign, they didn’t mention being “fraudulently induced” to adding the seats as one of the reasons why they wanted him to step down. They already knew about incidents that could be considered “mismanagement” and “misconduct” at the time, including the Waymo lawsuit, Greyball and Uber’s unethical investigation of the passenger who was raped by a driver in India. According to the filing, Benchmark never disputed Kalanick’s right to appoint three new board members and even agreed that he should take one seat for himself after he leaves his post.

The filing also made it clear that Kalanick felt personally attacked by the company. “[Benchmark,] secretly [planned] an effort to oust him,” the documents read. “It executed its plan at the most shameful of times: immediately after Kalanick experienced a horrible personal tragedy.” The firm reportedly threatened to launch a public campaign against him if he didn’t sign his resignation.

More importantly, the documents said Benchmark failed to back its allegations with facts and that its claims of fraud defy common sense:

“Benchmark’s fraud claim is premised on the assertion that, in or about 2016, Kalanick somehow determined that he would be forced into resigning as CEO approximately a year later — and that he therefore fraudulently induced all of the stockholders to enter into the amended Voting Agreement to preserver his role in the company. Not only does Benchmark’s fraud claim defy common sense, it is belied by the fact that Kalanick did not fill any of the new seats for a year, and only ever filled one of them (with himself) after resigning as CEO.”

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Axios

Blurry Images Allegedly Depict A11 Processor Set to Power ‘iPhone 8’

Images purporting to show the A11 series chip that will power the upcoming “iPhone 8” emerged online today, suggesting that Apple’s processor is already making its way through iPhone assembly plants.

All iPhone models coming in the fall are expected to use the A11 chip, including the iterative “S” cycle upgrades to Apple’s existing 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones. The processor relies on a new 10-nanometer FinFET manufacturing process introduced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the sole supplier of the new chip.

Images via Slashleaks
TSMC was said to have reached the exclusive deal with Apple last year thanks to its advanced device packaging techniques, capable of higher-width memory buses and lower-power operation.

As such, the A11 processor will be faster and likely more power efficient than the current A10 found in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, translating to speedier overall performance and better battery life for the upcoming devices.

Apple has a major redesign in store for the iPhone 8, which will feature a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that does away with the Home button, and a new facial recognition system that may well replace its Touch ID fingerprint authentication.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
Tag: A11 chip
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Hollywood Pushing for iTunes to Sell Major Films Just Weeks After They Debut in Theaters

Despite the objections of some cinema chains, the largest Hollywood studios are considering pushing ahead with a plan to offer digital rentals of films just weeks after they appear in theaters, according to Bloomberg.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, claims Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. remain in talks with potential distributors such as Apple and Comcast on ways to push ahead with the project even without theater chains.

A deal with Apple, which reportedly could happen as soon as early next year, means iTunes could supposedly offer major films as early as 17 days after their theatrical debut for about $50, or four to six weeks from release for $30.

That timeframe would be significantly shorter than the current average of three months between a major film’s theatrical release and availability in DVD and digital formats, but it would also cost viewers more than an $8 or $9 movie ticket.

The revenue from the premium video on demand, or PVOD, product would help offset a continuing decline in DVD sales, which were down 10 percent in the first half of 2017, according to research firm The Digital Entertainment Group.

Disney, which plans to remove its movies from Netflix and launch its own streaming service by 2019, reportedly isn’t interested in the PVOD talks.

Bloomberg first reported on the discussions in December, when it claimed 21st Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. were all seeking deals with Apple to create a $25 to $50 premium movie download product.

Tag: bloomberg.com
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Rumors persist about a larger Nokia 9 phone, if the new Nokia 8’s just too small

Why it matters to you

New Nokia 8 too small for your massive hands? Nokia may have a larger Nokia 9 model in the works.

Nokia has already launched several smartphones in 2017, including the Nokia 8, its most powerful phone to date. Rumors still persist it has a further device in the works, which is known as the Nokia 9, and it may be a larger, bezel-less version of the Nokia 8.

How can we be sure the Nokia 9 rumors aren’t just false Nokia 8 rumors? We can’t, but a quote from Nokia executives circulating after the Russian Nokia 8 launch event hints a larger screen Nokia phone is still to come, ready, “to meet the needs of absolutely all users.”

Nothing is certain, and the release date is unknown for now; but here’s all the information we’ve gathered about the Nokia 9 so far.

Design

The Nokia 9 may have been confused with the Nokia 8 over the past months, and therefore many of the leaked images said to be the Nokia 9, turned out to be more representative of the Nokia 8. However, one image leaked back in April shows a schematic of what could be a larger device from Nokia, which may be the Nokia 9.

It’s intriguing because the design is bezel-less, unlike the Nokia 8, and therefore more in-line with other 2017 flagship Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6. The image shouldn’t be taken as final, because when it was leaked out, it was accompanied by a similar sketch for the Nokia 8, also with thinner bezels than the final version. This casts doubt over the accuracy of the Nokia 9 image.

Specification

The Nokia 8 is the most powerful version of the new 2017 range of Android phones from the company. The Nokia 9 may share many of the same features, including the Snapdragon 835 processor, and dual-lens Zeiss camera. A version with 8GB of RAM has been seen on the Geekbench benchmarking website, but these results are easily faked.

Where the Nokia 9 may differ is in its screen size. The Nokia 8 is compact at 5.3-inches, and rumors suggest the Nokia 9 may have a 5.5-inch or even 5.7-inch screen. This fits in with the quotes attributed to Nokia from the Nokia 8 launch event, but shouldn’t be taken as official confirmation of the Nokia 9’s existence.

Other features which have been mentioned in rumors include 128GB of internal memory, IP68 water resistance, and an iris scanner. We’d recommend treating all rumors regarding the Nokia 9’s specification as being speculation at best.

Release

We don’t know when, or even if, the Nokia 9 will be released. The Nokia 8 arrived in mid-August, and it seems unlikely Nokia will launch another device in the very near future. We’ll keep you updated with all the rumors.

How to use App Twin on the Huawei Mate 9

You can clone Facebook or WhatsApp to log in with two different accounts at the same time.

Running a business from your smartphone? That’s pretty cool, but I bet you feel like switching between personal and business accounts is kind of a pain in the butt. Fortunately, some Android devices offer the ability to make an “app twin,” essentially emulating an existing app so that you can log in with different accounts at the same time.

There are already apps in the Play Store that can help you achieve this helpful little runaround for dealing with multiple accounts on one social network, including App Cloner and Parallel Space. But if you have the Huawei Mate 9, Honor 9, or any of Huawei’s devices running EMUI, this helpful feature is built into the software, though it’s only limited to two specific apps at present.

If you want to become familiar with EMUI’s built-in App Twin feature, read on. We’ll also provide you with some resources to expand the feature beyond the apps provided, too.

How to enable App Twin for the Huawei Mate 9

Whether you’ve got two different phone numbers you’re hoping to stay keyed into, or you’re just a very popular person on the Internet, you can create two instances of the same app to launch separately and with different accounts.

Head into the Settings panel.
Tap on App Twin.
Flip the switch on the app you want to clone.
On the home screen, locate the shortcut you just made.

Tap it to launch it and input your account details.

From here on out, you can switch between accounts on Facebook or WhatsApp with a mere launch of the application. At present, Huawei’s EMUI’s App Twin is only available for these two apps in most regions, or QQ and WeChat if you’re overseas. If you’re finding you’re heavily relying on these sorts of apps or you’re constantly multitasking between different accounts, the App Twin featurette should be a helpful one for you, though note that you can’t use the feature on any other launcher.

Once you clone an app, you can have two instances of it running at the same time.

Using App Twin with other apps

If you’re feeling brave and you’re hoping to find a run around EMUI’s stringent rule of only allowing its cloned apps to work with its own launcher, check out this thread at XDA Developers. There’s also a link that will help you learn how to clone apps that aren’t compatible with Huawei’s App Twin.

For those of you who aren’t into tinkering or doing much customization to your device, here’s to hoping Huawei will add more cloning options in the next major iteration of its Android software.

Huawei Mate 9

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The Morning After: Friday, August 18th 2017

This Friday morning involves car news, more smartphones with almost too many cameras and a glimpse at Tribeca’s TV festival.

Not to mention iOS, Android, Apple Watch, Android Wear…
Newton is the rare email app that works great on both Windows and Mac

Yep, there are plenty of good third-party Windows email apps out there, but not many of them work across all the platforms you might use. If you jump between macOS and Windows, Newton (formerly CloudMagic) might be worth a look. Its app is now available on the Windows Store and with Newton already available on macOS, Android and iOS (not to mention the Apple Watch and Android Wear), it’s now one of only a few email apps that works on pretty much any device.

Gimme.
This Infiniti EV defies all logic, but you will want it anyway

We rarely buy cars based on logic. It’s usually about the emotional reaction to a vehicle: How it looks, how it drives and the way it makes us feel when we’re seen behind the wheel often seal the deal. Sometimes, though, cars are thrust upon us. Our first car might be a hand-me-down, or maybe financial issues limit our choice. Even if we end up with a vehicle that’s more Bondo than burnished metal, we often still form an emotional connection with our wagon. Our most memorable cars (be they low-cost commuters or high-end supercars), make us feel something. And that’s what the Infiniti EV does. Take a peek at the Prototype 9.

Co-founder Jane Rosenthal talks about the inspiration behind the event.
Tribeca’s TV Festival aims to be a curator for television’s golden age

A lot has changed since the Tribeca Film Festival debuted in 2002. Netflix and Amazon, for instance, hadn’t even launched their video-streaming services — and now they’re two of the biggest players in the TV and movies industries. The event, founded by Robert De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal, welcomed 153,000 attendees to 530 screenings and celebrity-filled panels to its most recent event, in April. Now, inspired by its past successes, Tribeca is launching a new TV Festival that promises to highlight the best projects from the world of television.

The automaker dropped two new concept cars at Pebble Beach.
BMW’s redesigned 8 Series is cleaner, more aggressive

At the Monterey Car Week, BMW unveiled two new concept vehicles. Both are previews of planned production models of the Series 8 and Z4 Roadster. If the versions on the forecourt are even close to these concepts, there are going to be a lot of very happy movie producers and hedge-fund managers (thanks to the probable high price and outstanding-but-aggressive looks).

It’s trying a bit of everything here.
ASUS goes dual-camera crazy, announces a sackful of new phones

ASUS smartphone division was unusually quiet back at Computex a couple of months ago, but now we know why. The Taiwanese company has unveiled its ZenFone 4 smartphone line with not one but five Android Nougat devices: ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie and ZenFone 4 Max Pro (and these will all get updated to Android O). Going along with the event’s “We Love Photo” slogan, all five models have one thing in common: They all have a dual-camera setup, though one model is using it for 2x optical zoom.

But wait, there’s more…

• What does a fancy toothbrush tell me about myself?
• An iOS 11 feature can quickly disable Touch ID
• How ‘We Happy Few’ plans to avoid the pitfalls of ‘No Man’s Sky’

Apple demonstrates how the iPad Pro was made for iOS 11

Apple’s iPad sales were surprisingly good last quarter, but a lot of critics (including us) thought there was still no way the iPad Pro could replace a proper PC. The release of iOS 11 next month will change some minds, however. A new series of Apple videos shows how to use the new features, including the Dock, Files app, multitasking, Apple Pencil and more. Suffice to say, it drastically improves productivity on the tablets, making it much easier to do multiple jobs concurrently.

For instance, one video shows how to drag the messages app out of the dock and place it as a panel on the side of the screen. Then, you can continue to work on an a presentation or other app, and share your finished artwork with a client just by dragging it over.

With the Files app, you can view and open files from iPad folders, as well as iCloud, Dropbox and other cloud apps. It’s easy to then favorite, drag-and-drop and organize them — much like with, well, a Mac or PC. Other videos show how to scan, sign and send documents, mark up files with Apple Pencil and “get the most out of your hands,” by dragging and dropping multiple photos .

With 4GB of RAM and a peppy A10X chip, the latest 10.5-inch iPad Pro (and earlier models) can easily handle the new features, and Apple’s Smart Keyboard and Pencil stylus make it more like a laptop than ever before. The new videos clearly show, though, that iOS 10 was severely holding the devices back. With iOS 11 coming sometime this September, it’ll almost be like Apple is launching the iPad Pro all over again.

Source: Apple (YouTube)

Apple Watch Shipments Could Reach 15 Million in 2017

Overall Apple Watch shipments are expected to rise to 4.5 million units in the fourth quarter of this year and could reach 15 million for the whole of 2017, according to sources in the upstream supply chain (via DigiTimes).

Those predictions bode well for Apple as it prepares to launch its third-generation smartwatch, but the figures stand in stark contrast to other vendors of wearable devices, who are seeing increasingly weakening demand.

Xiaomi and Fitbit are both experiencing dropping sales for their current smartwatch ranges, while wearable shipments from Samsung, LG, Huawei, and Motorola remain weak overall. Asustek has already decided to leave the market completely and Intel has been cutting staff and R&D resources involved in its wearable platforms.

High prices, weak battery life, overlapping functionalities with smartphones, and poorly integrated ecosystems are among the reasons cited for the less-than-impressive demand for rival wearables.

Meanwhile Apple’s smartwatch continues to ride a wave of popularity, with supply chain sources expecting Apple Watch volume to rise to up to 20 million units in 2018. By contrast the first-generation Apple Watch shipped less than 5 million units in 2015, while the second-generation model has maintained strong sales since its launch in September 2016.

Set to launch next month, the Apple Watch Series 3 is said to be coming in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + LTE models in 38mm and 42mm sizes, according to KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo reckons the cellular-enabled model will have an embedded SIM, but it might support VoIP calling only. Apple Watch Series 3 models will also reportedly have improved performance and longer battery life.

Rumors of a design change for the third-generation watch can’t be confirmed, but it’s possible some small tweaks to the form factor could be revealed in September, alongside new iPhones and possibly a 4K-capable Apple TV.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3, watchOS 4
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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Hacker Releases Firmware Decryption Key for Apple’s Secure Enclave

A hacker released what he claimed to be a firmware decryption key for Apple’s Secure Enclave on Thursday, initially sparking fears that iOS security had been compromised.

Apple’s Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) handles all cryptographic operations for the Apple Watch Series 2, the A7 processor that powers the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air, the iPad mini 2 and 3, and subsequent A-series chips. The encrypted SEP is completely isolated from the rest of the system and handles Touch ID transactions, password verifications, and other security processes on a separate OS to maintain data protection integrity even if the kernel has been compromised.

One of the ways the SEP does this is by generating a Unique ID (UID) for each device for authentication purposes. The UID automatically changes every time a device is rebooted and remains unknown to other parts of the system, further enhancing its security.

Beyond that, little is known about how the SEP actually works outside of Apple, but that’s by design – the enclave’s isolation serves to obfuscate it from the rest of the system, preventing hackers from rifling through its code to make it as secure as possible.

key is fully grown https://t.co/MwN4kb9SQI use https://t.co/I9fLo5Iglh to decrypt and https://t.co/og6tiJHbCu to process

— ~ (@xerub) August 16, 2017

The decryption key posted on GitHub yesterday would not enable hackers to access data stored inside the Secure Enclave, but it could allow hackers and security researchers to decrypt the firmware that controls it and potentially spot weaknesses in the code.

Speaking to TechRepublic, the hacker that released the key claimed that Apple’s effort to obfuscate the code was itself cause for concern.

“The fact that the SEP was hidden behind a key worries me,” said xerub. “Is Apple not confident enough to push SEP decrypted as they did with kernels past iOS 10?” He added that while SEP is amazing tech the fact that it’s a “black box” adds very little, if anything to security. “Obscurity helps security — I’m not denying that,” he said, but added that relying on it for security isn’t a good idea.

“I think public scrutiny will add to the security of SEP in the long run,” xerub said, noting that was also his intention with releasing the key.

Xerub claimed it’s theoretically possible that the decryption key could be used to watch the SEP do its work, which could potentially allow hackers to reverse-engineer its process and gain access to its contents, including passwords and fingerprint data. However, he admitted that a lot of additional work would need to go into exploiting the decrypted firmware.

It’s still unclear what the longer term repercussions could be, but an Apple source who wished to remain anonymous told TechRepublic that the release of the SEP key doesn’t directly compromise customer data.

“There are a lot of layers of security involved in the SEP, and access to firmware in no way provides access to data protection class information,” they said. “It’s not an easy leap to say it would make getting at customer data possible.”

More accurately, it makes research into the structure of the SEP possible, which could allow hackers to find flaws in its workings. Apple said it did not plan to roll out a fix at this time.

Tags: security, Apple security
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Amazon is considering sending your drone-delivered package down a chute

Why it matters to you

It’s impossible to know if Amazon’s delivery drone ideas will ever come to fruition, but it’s interesting to see how it’s tackling the various challenges the service faces.

In case it’d somehow escaped your attention, Amazon is building a drone that it wants to use as part of its delivery service. So alongside couriers and drivers, it also plans to use autonomous flying machines to buzz through the sky and drop off orders right outside your door.

It may sound a bit far-fetched, and it’s true that a full-fledged drone delivery system is still a ways off, but the company, along with a number of competitors, is investing huge resources in moving toward its ambitious goal.

We’ve seen a slew of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office linked to Amazon’s plan, the latest of which tackles the process of actually plopping a package down when it reaches the delivery address.

Granted this week and spotted by BizJournals, the document outlines an idea that allows a drone to deposit a package without having to land. It centers around a chute — or “shroud” as Amazon calls it — that extends, accordion-like, from the drone once it arrives at its delivery address. The flying machine then releases the package into the chute, which slows and protects the package as it descends. After that, the chute retracts and the drone returns to base.

Amazon cites two main reasons for the chute. Firstly, it allows the drone to stay high in the sky, reducing noise levels on the ground while at the same time keeping it a safe distance from people. Secondly, it could make the delivery process a whole lot easier in locations that are built-up or have tricky obstacles close by such as trees. Of course, it also reduces the chance of some ne’er-do-well running off with it.

The issue of obstacles on the ground is clearly a matter of concern for the company’s drone team, especially as it envisages multiple drones buzzing around urban areas dropping off packages in busy places. At least one other patent focusing on the issue describes using parachutes, compressed air, and landing flaps attached to packages as a way of getting orders to the ground without having to land the drone.

Amazon has been pumping out patents for its drone project for several years, but it’s impossible to say how many of the ideas, if any, will ever make it off the page. This wacky concept featuring a warehouse and drone airport in the sky, for example, seems highly unlikely at the current time, though another suggesting the use of existing infrastructure to keep the drones juiced up on their delivery runs seems a little more plausible.

As for extendable chutes dangling from delivery drones … well, like the others, we’ll just have to wait and see.