The Morning After: Friday, September 8th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

It’s Friday. We have some bad news for you.

Yes, yours. Probably.Equifax leaks personal info of 143 million US consumers

One of the largest US credit bureaus revealed that hackers attacked its website and may have stolen information tied to 143 million US customers (plus some in Canada and the UK). The information stolen includes names, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth dates and presumably the details of your most embarrassing dream, too. There’s a website set up to let people know if they’re in the lucky 44 percent of Americans affected, but it involves handing Equifax six digits of your SSN, so we can understand why you might not want to do that again so quickly.

We’ll make this quick.Intel’s Optane SSDs, explained.

A few months ago, Intel launched Optane, the first new memory technology to hit the PC market since Toshiba released commercial flash memory over three decades ago. Intel claims this new storage medium will be more durable than flash, and an order of magnitude faster. Join us on a brief journey through the past, present and future of PC storage, as we explain why you should (and shouldn’t) care about Optane right now.

Long live Backup and Sync.Google Drive on PC/Mac is dead

If you use Google Drive and/or Photos on PC and Mac, beware that both apps are being eliminated starting December 11th, 2017, and shut off completely in March of next year. In their place is the new Backup and Sync app that handles your photos and other data.

Has anyone considered Oklahoma City?Amazon wants US cities to bid for its second major HQ

Famously based in Seattle, Amazon is looking for a city to host its HQ2. The company says it’s bringing up to 50,000 new jobs and “tens of billions of dollars in additional investment,” so the competition will likely be fierce.

That’s the cheap one.Meet Sony’s new $5,000 ‘true 4K’ projector

While other companies rely on technological tricks to get 4K out of their projectors, Sony’s SXRD tech is bringing every single pixel. Of course, that will cost you, but now the company has introduced a new entry level projector that’s significantly cheaper than its other options. The only catch? The VPL-VW285ES still costs just under $5,000.

All-in-one charging.Pebble founder’s comeback is a battery case for iPhone and AirPods

While his smartwatch company is a footnote after its acquisition by Fitbit, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky isn’t done with the hardware game. His current Kickstarter is this $99 iPhone case, the PodCase, which can charge your mobile device and a pair of AirPods all at once.

‘A gaming laptop for everyone’HP Omen 15 review (2017)

According to Devindra Hardawar, “The new Omen 15 fixes everything wrong with the previous model.” There’s still short battery life, and it doesn’t quite have the power needed for 4K gaming, but it’s just right for 1080p and all the VR we could find.

But wait, there’s more…

• Florida Gov. tells residents: Use Google Maps for real-time road closure updates
• Inside the London store that only accepts personal data as currency
• Marvel and Star Wars films will be Disney streaming exclusives… in 2019
• Trailer for Netflix’s ‘Neo Yokio’ anime shows the brand is strong
• A huge solar flare temporarily knocked out GPS communications

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Uber wants all of its London drivers using EVs by 2025

The UK government already has plans to ban petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2040. (Scotland wants to do the same by 2032.) Uber hopes to go one better, however, and switch over to hybrid and fully electric vehicles by 2022. At least for UberX rides, anyway. In London, the company thinks it can manage the same feat by 2019. It then wants every Uber vehicle in the capital to be electric by 2025. To meet these ambitious targets, Uber has unveiled a “Clear Air Plan” that includes a new “Clean Air Fund,” a diesel car scrappage scheme and an EV charger network in London.

First, the fund. It will allow licensed Uber drivers to claim up to £5,000 towards a new hybrid or electric vehicle. Uber expects to pay out “well in excess” of £150 million over the fund’s lifetime, but curiously is only contributing £2 million to the pot at launch. The rest, at least to begin with, will be funded through Uber trips. In London, all rides excluding UberPool (these are pretty green already) will rise by 35 pence — with all of the extra revenue going straight into the fund. A similar, but yet to be confirmed amount will be added to rides elsewhere in the UK “over the next year.”

In addition, Uber will launch a diesel scrappage scheme in London. The first 1,000 people to hand over a diesel vehicle with a pre-Euro 4 emissions standard will be given £1,500 in Uber credit. That might appeal to passengers, but obviously it won’t help drivers who still need to work while they save for a new electric or hybrid vehicle. Finally, the company is promising a network of Uber-branded rapid chargers in London. We’ve heard this one before, but now Uber says they’ll be available “in the coming weeks.” At launch they’ll be exclusive to Uber drivers, but there’s a chance the company will open them up to all EV owners in the future.

“Air pollution is a growing problem and we’re determined to play our part,” Fred Jones, Uber’s Head of UK Cities said. “Londoners already know many cars on our app are hybrids, but we want to go much further and go all electric in the capital.” The company’s targets are ambitious, however. Electric cars are expensive, even with a £5,000 subsidy. Drivers need to be sold on the general feasibility of EV ownership too. The UK’s charging infrastructure is improving, but it’s still a long way off matching gasoline convenience. A 2019 switchover, therefore, might be a little optimistic.

Canada’s new radio telescope starts mapping the universe

On September 7th, an extraordinarily powerful radio telescope in Canada has begun listening to the sounds of the universe. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment or CHIME will help scientists learn more about the history of the cosmos, radio bursts from pulsars and gravitational waves, the ripples in spacetime whose existence were finally confirmed by scientists in 2016.

CHIME looks like a collection of four 100-meter-long skateboarding halfpipes, but they weren’t made for anybody to skate on. They were built over the past seven years to hear very weak signals from the universe and to gather one terabyte of information per second all day, every day. That means it’s constantly creating and updating a massive 3D map of space.

When the 50 Canadian scientists from the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, McGill University and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) started conceptualizing the project, there was no system that could handle that amount of information. Thanks to advances in video game hardware, the system now exists. Since 1 TB per second is pretty insane, CHIME compresses the info it gathers by a factor of 100,000 first before saving files on disks.

Now that it’s up and working, CHIME is ready to work towards achieving its primary goal: measuring the acceleration of the universe’s expansion. An accurate measurement of the expansion will help scientists figure out what causes it, whether it’s actually the mysterious form of energy that’s believed to be permeating space called “dark energy” or something else. By extension, the telescope’s data could one day confirm if dark energy truly exists.

University of British Columbia’s Dr. Mark Halpern explains:

“With the CHIME telescope we will measure the expansion history of the universe and we expect to further our understanding of the mysterious dark energy that drives that expansion ever faster. This is a fundamental part of physics that we don’t understand and it’s a deep mystery. This is about better understanding how the universe began and what lies ahead.”

Source: CHIME

Spotify Announces First Live Music Event in the U.K.

Spotify has announced its first live music event in the U.K., just days after Apple axed its own annual London music festival (via The Verge).

Called “Who We Be”, the event is scheduled to take place at London’s Alexandra Palace on November 30 and will have a rap and grime theme, with a line-up featuring the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Bugzy Malone, Cardi B, Giggs, J Has, and Stefflon Don.

The festival gets its name from Spotify’s curated Who We Be playlist, which has a 140,000-strong following. Subscribers to the playlist can take advantage of a pre-sale ticker offer that starts on Saturday 9, while general ticket sales begin on Monday 11. Tickets can be ordered from Spotify’s event website.

Apple’s Music Festival had a decade-long run before it was confirmed that the company had decided to bring the tradition to an end. The free annual concert’s performances had been broadcast live and on-demand through Apple Music since 2015. Apple provided no reason for ending the annual festival nor any indication that it will return anytime soon.

Tag: Spotify
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Fitbit Announces Deal to Bring Glucose Monitoring Data to its Ionic Smartwatch

Fitbit has announced a new partnership with glucose monitoring device company Dexcom that is set to bring diabetes monitoring capabilities to the fitness tracker company’s new Ionic smartwatch.

The deal initially means Ionic users will be able to connect a Dexcom device to the Fitbit app and seamlessly transfer up-to-date glucose level data to the smartwatch, making the information more easily accessible on their wrist.

“The collaboration between Dexcom and Fitbit is an important step in providing useful information to people with diabetes that is both convenient and discreet,” said Kevin Sayer, President and CEO, Dexcom. “We believe that providing Dexcom CGM data on Fitbit Ionic, and making that experience available to users of both Android and iOS devices, will have a positive impact on the way people manage their diabetes.”

There’s nothing in the partnership to suggest the Ionic smartwatch will be able to give continuous glucose monitoring readouts on its own when it’s released next month – current continuous glucose monitoring systems require a small sensor that’s worn under the skin to monitor glucose levels – but Fitbit shares jumped 13 percent on the news, a high for the company since January, when it laid off some of its employees and announced its smartwatch plans.

Dexcom also has a deal with Apple to bring its features to the Apple Watch this year, while owners of Dexcom monitors can already view their glucose data on an Apple Watch – advanced devices by Dexcom include a transmitter, which can display glucose information directly to an iPhone app.

Apple is thought to be working on a non-invasive real-time glucose monitor for a future version of Apple Watch. In April, a CNBC report suggested Apple had a team of biomedical engineers working to develop sensors for non-invasively monitoring blood glucose, with work on the sensors far enough along that the company had started conducting feasibility trials.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was reportedly spotted in May testing a prototype glucose monitor that’s connected to his Apple Watch. Cook, who is said to be aiming to understand how his blood sugar is affected by food and exercise, has been seen wearing the device around the Apple Campus.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 3, watchOS 4
Tags: Fitbit, Dexcom
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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American Red Cross is launching a drone disaster-relief program

Starting next week, a drone will hover over Houston, assessing the damage Hurricane Harvey caused and finding areas that need more help. The American Red Cross will conduct the survey in one of the most badly affected areas of the city for a week as part of the first drone disaster-relief program in the US. This week-long pilot period involves the use of a Cyphy drone that’s tethered to a generator, so it can operate for lengthy periods of time, and has a 30x zoom camera to provide miles of visibility from 400 feet above ground.

According to the Red Cross, the images the drone takes will help it funnel aid to areas that need it the most. They will also be used to evaluate billions of dollars of damage for insurance, since that’s a necessary step towards the city’s recovery. The program is funded by UPS’ charitable arm, which is probably why the team is using a Cyphy drone — the parcel delivery company owns a stake in the dronemaker. This isn’t the first time UPS is using drones to send help either: last year, it also tested the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver emergency medical supplies.

Brad Kieserman, Red Cross Disaster Services VP says “The measure of success for the American Red Cross on this pilot will be to prove that drones can help support, complement and accelerate the work already being done by our tremendous volunteers.” If the team successfully accomplishes their task next week, they could deploy the program for similar disaster-relief operations in the future. In fact, they plan to use the same drone and methods to assess Hurricane Irma’s impact after it passes through Florida this weekend.

Source: Reuters, UPS

Taxify halts operations following Transport for London investigation

When you’re a ride-hailing company, a lot can happen in a week. Just three days after it brought its private hire app to London, Taxify has suspended all rides as it seeks to clarify its standing with the capital’s transport authority. Transport for London (TfL) confirmed yesterday that it was “urgently investigating” the Uber rival because it isn’t a “licensed private hire operator” and was performing its services without the necessary clearance.

Taxify’s suspension comes at the behest of TfL, which asked the company to cease all rides: “The law requires private hire bookings to be taken by licensed private hire operators at a licensed premises, with appropriate record keeping,” said a TfL spokesperson. “Taxify is not a licensed private hire operator and is not licensed to accept private hire bookings in London. TfL has instructed Taxify to stop accepting bookings and it has done so.”

While Taxify doesn’t hold a licence itself, CEO Markus Villig told media that the company operates as a “technology platform,” which sources rides for an existing ride-hailing operator called City Drive Services. Taxify purchased City Drive Services, allowing it to piggyback on the London-based firm’s licence (which expires in 2019).

In a statement, Taxify said it had accumulated over 30,000 customers and added 3,000 drivers since it launched, adding: “Taxify is a technological platform for customers to hail rides from City Drive Services, a licensed London based private hire company. This has been raised as a concern by TfL and in full cooperation, Taxify have temporarily stopped operations to clarify its legal position with the regulator and reach a resolution so that services can return to normal.”

“TfL have a responsibility to Londoners to make sure there is a competitive ride-hailing market in the capital that strengthens incentives for operators to improve quality and safety while also bringing the overall cost down for customers. Taxify’s model does just this having achieved significant breakthroughs in over 19 markets around the world, and we look forward to an open and transparent dialogue with TfL in the coming days to resolve this.”

In a letter to Transport for London and London’s deputy mayor for transport, GMB union secretary Steve Garelick called Taxify’s acquisition tactics into question, noting that the company’s decision not to advise TfL of a change to licencing conditions appeared “incompatible with the law.”

It’s now Transport for London’s job to identify whether Taxify’s decision to trade under a subsidiary’s licence is against the rules, which could see the company keep its drivers off the road indefinitely.

Show off demo-ready apps with the latest Oculus update

Oculus recently slashed the price of its Rift and Touch bundle by almost $100. The Facebook-owned virtual reality firm was hoping it would seal the deal for buyers considering a leap into the world of VR. But, HTC quickly followed suit with a Vive discount of its own. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had with Oculus’s headset — which has made ground on its competitors since the launch of its Touch motion controllers last year. The wealth of updates, including support for more tracking sensors and modifications to its launcher, have also helped. The same goes for Rift’s latest PC release, version 1.18. The update gives you even more control over your Oculus library and offers more mixed reality capture options.

A brand-spanking new Demo Mode is the chief addition this time round. The feature basically lets you customize your library to highlight select apps, via the settings menu. Oculus suggests using the option to set-up “a self-guided tour of VR for your friends.” Think of it as a way to show your buddies the best virtual reality has to offer. You want to convince your best mate to buy a headset so you can hit up multiplayer games together, right? Then, take a stab at curating the user experience, and sit back and watch the (crazy) results. Or, you could just use Demo Mode to hide your virtual porn stash. It’s really up to you.

Oculus PC 1.18 is rolling out – new Demo Mode makes it easy to showcase VR, MxR Capture stereo camera supporthttps://t.co/78YN9wD1VY

— Brendan Iribe (@brendaniribe) September 7, 2017

Earlier this year, Oculus introduced native mixed reality capture support to the Rift. That meant users could finally start recording themselves, mixed with actual in-game footage. The latest update builds upon the feature by improving the calibration tool, and includes support for stereo (aka 3D) cameras. However, you’ll still need a green screen if you’re thinking of streaming your VR adventures.

Rift fans can expect even more new features to be announced at the Oculus Connect event on October 11.

Source: Oculus (forums)

Equifax data breach threatens the personal data of 143 million Americans

Why it matters to you

Hackers have stolen sensitive data from Equifax, a major credit reporting agency. A free identify theft protection service is being offered to those effected.

Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies and thus possessing a massive cache of sensitive private information, was recently hacked, the breach has put 143 million Americans at risk of having sensitive data stolen.

The New York Times reported on the cyberattack today, which occurred sometime between the middle of May 2017 and July 29 when the intrusion was discovered. What makes the Equifax attack particularly troublesome is the company’s status as a central clearinghouse for sensitive credit-related information including social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other data that can be used in a variety of ways to harm those affected.

While the Equifax breach isn’t the largest in terms of the number of victims — Yahoo’s attacks involved more people, for example — it’s of concern because of the kind of personal information that was stolen. Examples of sensitive information include 209,000 credit card numbers, personal information relating to credit disputes for 182,000 victims, and data that could be further used to access medical histories, bank accounts, and more.

This isn’t the first attack to target Equifax. An earlier hack stole W-2 data from the credit giant, and other attacks have occurred against the company’s subsidiaries. This breach, however, is by far the company’s largest.

As Pamela Dixon, executive director for the nonprofit research group World Privacy Forum, said in a statement that “This is about as bad as it gets. If you have a credit report, chances are you may be in this breach. The chances are much better than 50 percent.”

According to a press release issued by the office of U.S. Senator Mark Warren, the Equifax attack raises important questions about the role of government in responding to the ongoing threat to personal information.

“While many have perhaps become accustomed to hearing of a new data breach every few weeks, the scope of this breach – involving Social Security Numbers, birth dates, addresses, and credit card numbers of nearly half the U.S. population – raises serious questions about whether Congress should not only create a uniform data breach notification standard, but also whether Congress needs to rethink data protection policies, so that enterprises such as Equifax have fewer incentives to collect large, centralized sets of highly sensitive data like SSNs and credit card information on millions of Americans.”

In calling such attacks “a real threat to the economic security of Americans,” it’s likely that Warren and other government officials will push for legislation creating stronger consumer protections from data theft. Warner has been working on developing just that sort of legislation, and that’s likely to accelerate.

In the meantime, Equifax has established a web site that individuals can visit to learn more about the attack, find out if they’re affected, and enroll in free identity theft protection and file monitoring services. If you’ve ever applied for credit — and that’s most people — it’s a good idea to head over to the site sooner rather than later.

Florida Gov: Use Google Maps for real-time road closure updates

Google and Florida have teamed up to make Maps a much more useful resource for the state’s evacuation plans in preparation for Hurricane Irma’s arrival. Florida Governor Rick Scott has advised residents to use various apps and websites to help them navigate their way if they have to leave their homes due to the category 5 storm expected to hit the state this weekend. One of those apps is Google Maps, and the big G promises to mark closed roads in it as soon as its emergency response team notifies the company.

By having an instantly and constantly updated resource they can check, people won’t have to waste precious time waiting for Waze users to update the crowdsourced navigation app where Google gets its real-time traffic info. They won’t have to drive down roads they can’t get through either, only to be told that they have to turn back. That makes Maps a valuable tool, since time is of the essence when evacuating from the path of a storm, as proven by how fast it took for waters to rise in Texas when Hurricane Harvey hit.

“Our thoughts are with those affected by Hurricane Irma,” Google told The Verge in a statement. “To provide access to accurate and useful transportation information, we use algorithmic and manual methods to account for everyday and emergency road closures. We’re working directly with Florida officials to help provide up-to-date information to those affected by the storm. These road closures will also appear on our Irma Crisis Map, embedded as part of our SOS Alert on Search.”

Source: ABC Action News, The Next Web, TechCrunch, The Verge