Uber picks up a new CEO, Expedia’s Dara Khosrowshahi, ending high-profile search

Why it matters to you

For days, rumors swirled around several high-profile execs in the running for the Uber CEO job. In the end, the ridesharing company went with the lesser-known Dara Khosrowshahi of Expedia,

Uber’s board has finally chosen a new leader, and it’s not any of the high-profile executives that rumors had been swirling around. Rather, it’s the much-less-well-known Dara Khosrowshahi, who is the current leader of Expedia. On Monday, the travel company confirmed that its CEO had been offered the leading position at the ridesharing giant, where he’ll have his work more than cut out for him.

Over the course of the last few days, rumors had run rampant about who the final pick for the challenging position might be. It was initially suggested that former GE leader Jeff Immelt would be taking the reins from Travis Kalanick, but Immelt himself confirmed that he would not be pursuing the position in a tweet on Sunday. Then it seemed as though Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise was the top contender. But now, all this speculation has passed, and Khosrowshahi has emerged as the last person standing.

The Expedia exec, in many ways, seems to be the opposite of the scandal-prone Kalanick. Khosrowshahi hails from Iran, where his family owned a number of manufacturing plants. As such, it came as little surprise that he was one of the first tech leaders to voice opinions against the Trump administration, especially as they related to its travel ban.

Khosrowshahi also boasts considerable experience, having served as president and chief executive of Expedia since 2005. While the public company is smaller than the private Uber, it provides a similar service — helping people travel from Point A to Point B (though the distance may vary quite a bit between the two firms). Expedia is based in Bellevue, Washington, where the tech culture is markedly different from that of Silicon Valley.

Still, relatively little is known about the executive, as his name seemed to be one of the few not mentioned in the ongoing deliberations surrounding Uber’s leadership future. And Khosrowshahi may need to fend off attempts by Kalanick himself to regain control of Uber, as the former CEO has long been rumored to be looking for a way back in.

Android Oreo’s picture-in-picture feature now usable in Google Maps

The latest version of Google Maps makes Oreo’s PiP actually usable and adds other news features.

While Google Maps added support for Android Oreo’s Picture-in-Picture mode a few weeks ago, it wasn’t actually any good. Users reported rendering issues and application crashes, prohibiting the PIP experience. That has been fixed with the latest update to Google Maps.

Android Police reports that Google Maps 9.60 has fixed the previous issues with PIP, meaning all Android Oreo users will now be able to take advantage of the feature.

Also spotted in the update file were references to a new “personal notes” feature. This would presumably allow users to jot down specific information for a location, such as a gate code, that you wouldn’t want to share with the general public or save in a permanent Google Keep note. Another feature will allow business owners to publish events through the smartphone app. Owners can already put events information in Maps via the website, but being able to publish events through the app would be great for adding or changing events quickly.

The one (possible) feature that I’ll be most excited for is shortcut support. Rather than dig through the hamburger menu every time one opens the Maps application, users would be able to pin shortcuts to a specific location in the interface to save a few seconds. Another cool feature will allow for restaurant goers to add photos and reviews of their food dishes, with a basic rating system consisting of a thumbs up. Hopefully, Google fleshes that out before launch, with a 1 to 5 scale to let users know about “meh” food offerings. Google Maps 9.60 is rolling out to users now.

Have you received the latest Google Maps update? Let us know down below!

Numworks graphing calculator is made for students raised on tech

Like textbooks, graphing calculators are still a necessary (and expensive) accessory for math and science students in high school and college. Sure, there are calculator apps for tablets and smartphones, but those are often banned for tests because they could let you cheat online. So, many students have to buy them, and the dominant models from Texas Instruments and Casio can be complex and expensive. Now, an open-source calculator called Numworks is taking them on with a clean, simple look, an intuitive interface and open source programming and design.

“It seems crazy to say this, but it’s the only calculator on the market conceived for people of the 21st century,” the creator and head of Numworks, Romain Goyet, tells Engadget. As such, the team steered clear of existing calculators, and instead looked at game consoles, smartphones and other modern devices for inspiration.

Physically, Numworks is much smaller than most scientific calculators, weighing just 5.9 ounces with a thickness of 10 millimeters (0.4 inches). It’s rechargeable via a micro USB port (a cable, but not a charger, is included), and can go 20 hours between charges under normal operation. When not in use, it can hold a charge for “years” in deep sleep mode. The 2.8-inch diagonal (2.2 x 1.7 inch) screen can display over 262,000 colors.

Goyet says he and Paris-based industrial designer Alexandre Morronoz wanted a clean, Apple-like design. They succeeded in that regard, though the look borders on generic — far from the nerdcore models of TI, Casio, HP and others. That choice is deliberate, so as not to distract from its main purpose, says Goyet. “We deliberately avoided complexity in order to make something simple and logical that students will want to use,” he says.

The keyboard is split into three distinct areas: navigation, advanced calculations and a numeric keypad with widely spaced keys to reduce entry errors. There’s also a home, back, and standard On/Off button.

There’s no touchscreen, as with the pricey Casio FX-CP400 and similar models. Rather, navigation is done with arrow keys placed on the left of the device, opposite to most other graphing calculators. That’s not an accident: It’s designed to match the position of the navigation keys on gamepads. “We examined controllers from Sony and others to compare the layouts, buttons, etc. to see what made them efficient,” Goyet explains.

There are six applications to choose from: calculations, functions, sequences, statistics, probability and regression. (There’s also a Python interpreter that’s in beta.) Calculations are entered much as you’d see on paper, using numbers, operators and brackets, followed by “Exe” to get the answer. Students learning chalkboard algebraic notation will be at ease: If you tap 8π(25+6), for instance, it knows you mean 8*π*(25+6).

Functions are entered the same way, and let you see a graph and table of possible solutions (x, y and other variables are entered by selecting the “alpha” key first). The same logic is used for statistics, regression and other calculations. The suite of applications was developed in collaboration with teachers and professors to cover all of a student’s needs for high school and early college math and science.

The other main idea behind Numworks is the transparency and open source nature of the design. “When you use an iPad, you don’t really know how it works or what’s inside. We publish all our plans,” says Goyet. “How we do the plastic pieces, how we make the electronic circuits, how we write the software.”

Studying those plans and manuals could help students gain an understanding of coding and electronics, for one thing. But it also means that the product is expandable in the future. For instance, Goyet’s team added the aforementioned Python interpreter so that students can learn or test code.

Teachers and others can also contribute to the project, and see their work or suggestions arrive to all via updates (contributions are made here at Github). Right now, the calculator is a bit too basic for advanced math classes, Goyet says, but that could change down the road with the addition of new functions. You could even update your own, individual calculator if you’re ambitious, as Numworks uses a standard flashing protocol (DFU) and the SDK is public.

It’s been a long while since I used a scientific calculator, but navigation feels similar to using a console controller, which may be a comfort to students that have gamed since they were tots. Despite my rustiness, I was able to quickly figure out how to enter calculations, create functions and make graphs.

Calculator purists who like the funky style of devices like the Texas Instruments TI-84 may decry Numworks’ minimalism, but the company doesn’t really care about that. Rather, it’s hoping that high-schoolers who have never not used smartphones, tablets and consoles will grasp it quickly and be able to focus on math, not learn a calculator.

“If you give students something that’s 25 years old, it’s going to seem complicated to them,” says Goyet. “So, it was simply made for the tastes of today.” Numworks is available starting August 29th at Amazon and Numworks’ website, for $100 in the US, £80 in the UK and $80 in Europe.

Get ready for ‘Halo’ in VR

Microsoft regularly uses Halo as a selling point for its technology (see: the original Xbox), and that’s definitely true in the virtual reality era. The tech pioneer and 343 Industries have revealed that they’re working on Halo mixed reality experiences. The two aren’t saying anything more at this early stage, but it’s safe to say these offerings will run on Windows Mixed Reality headsets whenever they’re ready… and of course, Microsoft is bound to hype them to the hilt.

Between this and the move to add Windows Mixed Reality support in Steam, it’s evident that Microsoft sees gaming as an important battlefront in its quest for VR market share. It’s safe to say that gamers make up a large chunk of VR’s early adopters, and Microsoft needs to win them over if its own approach to VR is going to lure people away from the likes of HTC and Oculus. Halo may not be as much of a system seller as it used to be, but it’s a big-enough name that it might lure players who are still waiting for a must-have title before they pick up a VR headset.

Source: Windows Experience Blog

Taylor Swift’s new music video sets first-day record on YouTube

Taylor Swift returned from her self-imposed social media exile with a single that’s already breaking records. Her music video for ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ raked in over 31 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours, surpassing Adele’s previous high-water mark of 27.7 million views of ‘Hello’ for most-watched video on the platform in a single day.

While the song was released on Friday, the music video landed on YouTube yesterday. Of course, some of those views might be from fans who get a slightly better chance of snagging tickets to her upcoming tour if they watch her video multiple times per day. Or, for a better place in virtual line, if they buy her album, which comes out November 10th.

It took less than seven months for ‘Despacito’ to dethrone ‘Gangnam Style’ for lifetime YouTube views. But with fans shrewdly egged on by Swift’s marketing machine to keep watching day-in and day-out, perhaps ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ will surpass the 3.4 billion-view record held by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s dance track in a lot less time.

Source: Pitchfork

DJI pulls drone app plugins that swiped too much user data

DJI’s efforts to improve drone security go well beyond offering bug bounties and requiring updates. The company has rolled out updates to its Go and Go 4 mobile apps in order to pull add-ons that collect too much of your data. The main culprit is JPush, a third-party extension DJI implemented to send notifications when you finish uploading videos to the SkyPixel sharing service. It’s supposed to help you move on to other tasks while your video goes to the cloud, but DJI has learned that it’s collecting unnecessary info without asking, including the list of apps installed on Android devices. The company says it doesn’t approve of this practice any more than you do, and it’s creating its own status system as a replacement.

The company is also pulling two other plugins, jsPatch and Tinker, that let DJI deliver small updates without replacing an entire app. While DJI doesn’t mention any instances of these add-ons swiping more data than necessary, the firm is yanking both to make sure that all app updates get a “thorough screening” before they hit your Android or iOS device. The drone maker is looking at other plugins in its Go apps, too, and promises to be cautious before incorporating more.

It’s unusual for a company to announce that it’s removing features, if temporarily in some cases. However, DJI has a strong incentive to scale things back. Questions over the security of its drones have led to lost business. What good would it do to keep the plugins if DJI didn’t have the trust of its customers? Between this and the other security initiatives announced today, DJI has undoubtedly decided that it’s worth a little short term pain to earn your long term respect.

Via: The Verge

Source: DJI

Patton Oswalt returns to Netflix this October with a new special

Patton Oswalt’s honest, story-based stand-up and everyman persona has brought him quite a bit of success. He’s active and loved on Twitter and won an Emmy for his 2016 Netflix special, Talking for Clapping. His wife Michelle McNamara died last February, and Oswalt is just starting to get back to work with projects like his role on the MST3K reboot with Felicia Day. Now he’s landed another Netflix special, which is set to air October 17th.

Netflix confirmed to Engadget that the one-hour special will focus on Oswalt’s tragic year of coping with the death of his wife and being the single widowed parent of their 7-year-old daughter, Alice. Neflix also says that Patton Oswalt: Annihilation will cover the angst of participating in social media, our current political climate and being tricked by robocalls. Who doesn’t hate robocalls?

Via: Entertainment Weekly

The ghost of annoyance past, Clippy makes a comeback as an extension

Why it matters to you

If you want to see if Clippy annoyed you as much as you remember, open up this new Visual Studio extension, it’s pretty authentic.

Microsoft Office assistant Clippy is making its big resurgence as part of a Visual Studio extension. Named ClippyVS, the extension effectively resuscitates Clippy and makes it as useful as it ever was inside the independent development environment (IDE) of Visual Studio, where it will have some of its classic reactions to some of your actions.

Clippy, as it was colloquially known, was an animated paperclip character which would appear in Microsoft Office documents in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Its purpose was to help you with certain tasks, though it was traditionally disliked by many Office users, many of whom found its tone a little patronizing. Still, that does not mean some don’t hold a special place in their heart for the digital helper.

While Microsoft has gone to great effort to create new and much more helpful digital assistants in recent years, that does not mean some would not like to see its original helper make a comeback. That is why developer Eros Fratini is adding Clippy to our modern computing environments.

Although still in development and with much of its classic features still to add, the open source ClippyVS v0.1 is available as a Visual Studio extension (no word if it will come to Mac OS in the future). When installed, Clippy will have some thoughts on things you are doing within the IDE and you can move it around to customize its location.

Early reviews of the extension are strong, with one requesting the addition of multi-monitor support so that they could move Clippy to a secondary screen of its own. Another expressed sadness at the lack of certain bubble popup messages from Clippy’s historical vocabulary. Fratini quickly replied saying that they were in the works and will be added in the near future.

If you want to download Clippy yourself and have a dose of irritating nostalgia or merely get yourself ready for when it can help you like it once did, you can download it straight from the Visual Studio tools section. If you would like to have a look at the code behind it and provide feedback for the developer, you can find more information on the project’s Github page.

MIT’s RFID drones could solve a multibillion-dollar problem — and find lost keys

Why it matters to you

Misplaced items can waste time and, potentially, billions of dollars for major retailers. MIT’s new drone-based system can help.

When you’re dealing with the kind of giant warehouses required by retail giants and other large organizations, taking inventory of stock by hand can be an enormously time-consuming job that verges on the impossible. For example, even the smallest Walmart warehouse is larger than 17 football fields, making it easy for things to get lost. (This is actually more of a serious problem than you might think: over an eight-year period, the U.S. Army lost track of $5.8 billion of supplies in its warehouses.) As a result, companies have increasingly been looking into using drones to speed up the task. However, most attempts to do this haven’t been as efficient as they could be, primarily because they rely on barcode readers or cameras, which miss any items not visible to a camera through line of sight.

That’s an issue that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have tried to address with a new project called RFly, which uses a combination of drones and RFID (radio frequency identifier) tags to, they hope, revolutionize both inventory management and the “non-line-of-sight” problem.

“We developed RFly, a new technology that allows drones to find missing and hidden objects using wireless signals,” Fadel Adib, whose group at the MIT Media Lab developed the new system, told Digital Trends. “Our technology works by analyzing the wireless signals reflected from battery-free RFID stickers. RFIDs are wireless stickers that are attached to objects similar to barcodes. To locate these RFIDs, our drones transmit wireless signals to power them up, then analyze their responses. As these drones fly, they analyze the physical waves of the RFID responses and use these waves to locate the RFIDs. Our technology allows drones to pin down the location of an RFID to the exact shelf an item is on, and our location-finding algorithm is inspired by how airplane radars map the surface of the Earth.”

According to its creators, the RFly system can read RFID tags from more than 50 feet away and identify objects on shelves within 8 inches of their location. The system could also be used for doing more than just Identifying products.

“The applications are vast, and they range from doing remote inventory control in an entire warehouse to allowing people to find missing items at home,” Adib continued. “Imagine a future where each of us has a small miniature drone, and we dispatch the drone to fetch our keys, wallets, or glasses when we can’t find them.”

Clever illusion helps protect your PIN from ‘shoulder surfers’

Why it matters to you

IllusionPIN could help keep your PIN private by deploying an optical illusion.

A PIN password might seem like a secure way to lock a device but, considering how easy it is for a stranger to peak over your shoulder, it might not be that all that secure. Soon, an app called IllusionPIN might help protect your PIN by muddling the keyboard so the numbers appear normal from a distance but randomized when seen up close.

PIN sign-ins are a popular authentication method for various software and devices, from smartphones to ATMs. These relatively short string of digits are easy to remember but, for much the same reason, they are also easy to crack.

Nasir Memon

“The traditional configuration of numbers on a keypad is so familiar that it’s possible for an observer to discern a PIN or access code after several viewings of surveillance video,” Nasir Memon, a New York University Tandon School of Engineering professor, told Digital Trends. Memon said his team’s aim was to make PIN authentication more secure without requiring much more work from the device or making user experience any less smooth.

The app they developed uses a hybrid-image keyboard that tricks the eye when viewed from a distance of a few feet or more. The specific technology combines an image of a keyboard with a high spatial frequency and a different image of a keyboard with a low spatial frequency. The visibility of each image depends on the distance from which it is seen and results in an illusion that deceives the eye of a “shoulder surfer” so that the keyboard appears to be normal when, in fact, it isn’t.

To test whether IllusionPIN would actually trick an onlooker, the researchers performed 84 shoulder-surfing attacks on 21 participants as they entered their PIN using the app. In a study published online last one in the journal IEEE Xplore, the researchers report that none of the attempted attacks were successful. They also preformed one attack on each participant without using IllusionPIN, each which successfully identified the password.

“We also determined that IllusionPIN makes it nearly impossible to steal PIN or other authentication information using surveillance footage,” Memon said.

Moving forward, the team will explore ideas for deploying their technology on smartphones, ATMs, and computers.