Washington state sues Uber over data breach

The lawsuits are continuing to pile on top of Uber after it revealed that it covered up a hack in fall 2016. Washington state’s Attorney General has sued Uber for allegedly violating its local data breach notification law. Companies are supposed to notify the AG within 45 days if a breach affects 500 or more Washington residents, but that clearly didn’t happen when Uber paid hackers to keep quiet. The state is demanding penalties of up to $2,000 for each person whose data was exposed, which should lead to a penalty in the “millions of dollars.”

We’ve asked Uber if it can comment on the lawsuit.

The suit is only going to add to Uber’s many headaches as of late, but it was likely expecting this kind of response. The very point of the disclosure was to come clean and make amends for the ridesharing outfit’s actions during Kalanick’s leadership era, when the company all too frequently skirted the law. It may pay a stiff penalty now, but it may reap rewards in the long run if it regains trust and avoids future legal battles.

Via: Reuters

Source: Washington State Attorney General

NASA to release Voyager Golden Record as a vinyl box set

Speaking as a space-loving child of the ’70s and a music fan, it was hard to contain my excitement when NASA took to Kickstarter to fund a pressing of the space agency’s Voyager Golden Records. Sent into space in 1977, the Golden Record contained sounds of nature, greetings in many different languages and classical and rock music in the hopes that any aliens that found the space probe would better know humanity. The crowdfunding was successful, thankfully, and you can now get a box set of the watershed discs, this time on vinyl (or CD, if you must).

Released by Light in the Attic and Ozma Records, the $50 box set will contain two CDs containing all the audio content from the original, plus the encoded images — each scanned from a set of the master slides. There’ll also be a 96-page hardcover book with an original essay by journalist Timothy Ferris, who produced the Carl Sagan-curated Voyager Interstellar Record in 1977. The book will also have a gallery of photos sent back to Earth from the Voyager probes. You’ll be able to purchase the 3 LP Box Set in February of next year for $98. You can pre-order either edition now, with delivery for Christmas only available for the CD version.

Ozma Records notes that Voyager I entered interstellar space in 2010 and is currently almost 21 billion kilometers away from Earth. Voyager 2 is just finishing up its own, slower run of our solar system, but will end up “out there” as well. Whether aliens ever listen to the sounds on the Golden Record or not, at least we can own a piece of space history that embodies a hopeful viewpoint on our own.

Via: Pitchfork, Washington Post

Source: Ozma Records, Light In The Attic

Apple May Be Testing Autonomous Vehicles at Arizona Site

Apple may be leasing a former Fiat-Chrysler vehicle testing site in Arizona for autonomous vehicle research purposes, according to an unnamed source that spoke to Jalopnik.

Apple has reportedly been recruiting automative test engineers and technicians from vehicle proving grounds around Arizona to work at the site, located in Surprise, Arizona, but neither Apple nor Fiat-Chrysler would confirm Apple’s presence at the location.

Fiat-Chrysler in the early 2000s used the site to test the impact of hot temperatures on cars and their components. The location is said to contain multiple road surfaces, a high speed oval, steep grades, and areas dedicated to wet weather testing.

A Google Earth image of the test site in Surprise, Arizona, via Jalopnik
It was sold to a developer for $312 million in 2005 as a housing location, but the plans fell through and it has been unused for the past several months. Jalopnik says that records suggest recent activity has been spotted on the site, which has now been leased to a company called Route 14 Investment Partners LLC.

There’s no clear link between Apple and Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, but Apple has been known to use shell companies for leasing properties, trademarking, and other purposes.

It would also not be unusual or surprising for Apple to lease an autonomous vehicle testing site, as the company has made it clear that an autonomous system is something that’s in the works.

While Apple was originally said to be working on developing a full autonomous electric vehicle, the company’s focus shifted to an autonomous driving system in 2016 after the return of Bob Mansfield, who took over the project.

One of Apple’s autonomous driving test vehicles
Apple is already testing its autonomous driving system out on public roads using several Lexus RX450h SUVs outfitted with a slew of sensors and cameras.

In June of 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly confirmed Apple is working on autonomous driving systems.

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems. It’s a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It’s probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on,” he said.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
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OnePlus 5 battery life review

Every new smartphone brings with it the inevitable question: how good is the battery life? Smartphone technology has advanced rapidly over the past ten years, but while there have been some improvements in battery technology, it definitely hasn’t kept up the pace. Packed full of a plethora of features, battery life can be the make or break feature for a smartphone, so how does the OnePlus 5 battery stack up?

In the last month since its launch, we’ve been trying out OnePlus’ new flagship, in a bid to answer how good the battery life actually is. As part of our new reviews process, we’ve tested it in our lab using our custom battery app, as well as used it as a daily driver and below, we’re outlining the results, as well as showing how it compares to last year’s OnePlus 3T flagship, as well as three of its current flagship rivals: the Galaxy S8, LG G6 and Google Pixel XL.

Based on the specs, you might think the largest capacity battery will have the best battery life, but there’s more to battery life than just capacity. Clean code, rogue apps, background processes and display resolution can all have large impacts on battery life, so how does the OnePlus 5 battery life compare to these other devices? Let’s find out:

Wi-Fi Browsing test (higher is better)

The first benchmark test we ran was Wi-Fi browsing. Our Wi-Fi test repeatedly loads a selection of webpages until the battery goes from 100% to zero. Device displays are set to 200 nits brightness and pages are loaded over Wi-Fi with airplane mode enabled. Auto-updates and any battery saver modes are also disabled during the test.

The OnePlus 5 battery won the battle here, with a benchmark rating of 11 hours and 7 minutes, while the Pixel XL (10 hours 38 minutes) narrowly beat the Galaxy S8 (10 hours 31 minutes) into third place. The LG G6 came in last place with a measly rating – by comparison, at least – of 8 hours and 31 minutes. The OnePlus 3T by comparison, ranked in at 9 hours and 47 minutes, which represents a ~13.6% increase in a year for OnePlus.

Gaming test (higher is better)

Our next benchmark tests for battery life while gaming, which is known to tax battery life more than browsing thank to the enhanced graphical demands. Our test runs Epic Citadel, a 3D gaming simulation with a fully charged battery until the battery is depleted, while the display is set to 200 nits. A key point to note is that this runs at the max resolution of the device, meaning the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 3T are running at Full HD, while the LG G6, Pixel XL and Galaxy S8 are all running at QHD, or equivalent.

3D gaming is amongst the most demanding tasks you can ask of your smartphone, but some phones are better equipped to handle those demands than others. In this test, the OnePlus 5 far exceeded the battery life of the competition, lasting 9 hours and 54 minutes compared to the OnePlus 3T, which came in second at 6 hours and 54 minutes. An improvement of ~43.5% year-on-year is testament to improvements made by OnePlus, but the OnePlus 5′ scores also serve as an indictment of the differences that display resolution can make on battery life.

Of the three other Android flagships, the LG G6 and Galaxy S8 both achieved the same rating of 5 hours and 21 minutes, while the Pixel XL came in last at 4 hours and 43 minutes. The differences between QHD and Full HD displays is quite stark, with Full HD smartphones rating an average battery life of 8 hours and 24 minutes, which is 64% higher than the QHD phones in our test, which scored an average of 5 hours and 8 minutes.

Video Playback test (higher is better)

Our last dedicated battery test is for video playback, perhaps the most common way to deplete your battery by doing just one thing. With YouTube taking up hours of many people’s day, video playback is likely to be a big drain on OnePlus 5 battery life for most users. As you have probably guessed, our test runs an endless loop of video to see how long each device lasts before the battery runs from full to empty. The Full HD video file at 23.9fps, was stored locally and Wi-Fi was turned off.

This test resulted in some interesting results, with the OnePlus 5 again out in front, albeit at a much smaller margin over its nearest competitor, with its rating of 13 hours and 6 minutes. The OnePlus 3T came in second at 11 hours and 57 minutes but the Galaxy S8 is arguably the most impressive of these, with a rating of 11 hours and 49 minutes, despite a larger, and more dense, display. The LG G6 comes in fourth at 8 hours and 56 minutes and the Pixel XL ranks in lowest at 7 hours and 1 minute, despite it having the largest capacity of all of these phones.

Average Battery Test (higher is better)

The last of these tests is our general battery test, which uses a combination of the above three dedicated tests to simulate “general” usage and extrapolate a battery life figure. Of course, your mileage will vary as your usage does, but because this test is identical on each device, it gives a good indication of how well each phone can handle a variety of everyday tasks. As our tests have shown, different phones excel in different ways, so which phone offers the best all round battery life?

In this test, the OnePlus 5 yet again proves to be the most durable competitor, with an average all-round battery life rating of 6 hours and 52 minutes, followed by the OnePlus 3T in second with a rating of 6 hours and 17 minutes. It is followed by the Galaxy S8 in third with 6 hours and 2 minutes, the Pixel XL in fourth at 5 hours and 52 minutes, and the LG G6 in fifth with 5 hours and 31 minutes. In the space of a year and one generation of phone, OnePlus has managed to increase its average battery life by just under 10 percent, or around 35 minutes.

Battery Charging Time (lower is better)

So how well does the OnePlus 5 battery handle when it comes to charging speed? Great question.

When it comes to charging times there are two main things to consider: the capacity of the battery and the charging tech involved. All things being equal, a smaller battery will charge faster than a larger battery (although all batteries charge faster at the beginning and slow down as they near a full charge). But each manufacturer also has their own custom fast charging tech, some of which is better than others. So, to keep things on an even keel, we’ve ranked our devices in two different ways:

The first is straight forward: which device charged the fastest, regardless of how large its battery cell is. This is our “real world” test and aims to show how long it will take to device your charge from completely flat. Our second test aims to reveal which device charges the fastest, pound-for-pound, and pits each manufacturer’s fast charging solution against each other.

In the first test, the OnePlus 3T charged the fastest, with its battery charging to full in 87 minutes, while the OnePlus 5 was slightly behind at 90 minutes and the Galaxy S8 came a very close third at 92 minutes. Qualcomm’s Quick Charge solution proved to be the slowest in this first test, with the LG G6 a little faster than the Pixel XL at a charging time of 104 and 111 minutes respectively.

mAh/min rating
OnePlus 3TDash Charge3,400 mAh87 minutes39.08 mAh/min
OnePlus 5Dash Charge3,300 mAh90 minutes36.67 mAh/min
Galaxy S8Adaptive Fast Charging3,000 mAh92 minutes32.61 mAh/min
LG G6Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.03,300 mAh104 minutes31.73 mAh/min
Google Pixel XLQualcomm Quick Charge 3.03,450 mAh111 minutes31.08 mAh/min

In our second test, it’s time to pit Qualcomm’s Quick Charge (on the LG G6 and Pixel XL) against Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charging and OnePlus’ Dash Charge solution. Pound-for-pound, which smartphone charges the fastest per minute on average (remembering that this is averaged out as smartphones tend to charge slower as they approach full battery)?

The OnePlus 3T juices up at ~39 mAh per minute on average, while the OnePlus 5 came in a little slower at ~37 mAh per minute. Next up was the Galaxy S8 at ~33 mAh per minute, while the LG G6 (~32 mAh per minute) and the Google Pixel XL (~31 mAh per minute) topped out the list.

OnePlus 5 battery life vs competition – Wrap Up

The OnePlus 5 battery may be smaller than its predecessor, but the Chinese company has managed to make improvements on the battery front, with its latest flagship lasting on average 21% longer than the OnePlus 3T. Compared to the competition, the OnePlus 5 lasts on average 45% longer than both the LG G6 and Pixel XL, and 22% longer than the Galaxy S8, although it’s worth noting that all of these three devices have a much higher density display (and in the case of the Galaxy S8, a ~9% smaller battery).

Looking past the data, it’s clear that a Full HD display definitely delivers better battery life than a QHD display – which is obvious when you think about it – but Samsung shows that a smaller battery and QHD display doesn’t have to mean a much poorer battery experience. We’re planning to follow this up with further testing on the Galaxy S8 with the display set to Full HD resolution, just to see how big a difference it actually makes.

It’s not quite the 2+ day battery life that we’ve all been yearning for, but the OnePlus 5 definitely comes close

In actual real world usage, the OnePlus 5 has proven to be a very stellar companion, lasting through every day and on most days, lasting until the end of the next day. This is with an average of 4.5 to 6 hours’ screen on time and although phone calls in particular do drain the battery somewhat, the OnePlus 5 battery certainly does a pretty good job at keeping the handset powered all day. It’s not quite the 2+ day battery life that we’ve all been yearning for, but the OnePlus 5 definitely comes close.

What do you think of the OnePlus 5 battery life and would you buy one based on these tests? What do you think of our testing methods and how can we improve? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Read next:

• OnePlus 5 vs LG G6
• How good is the OnePlus 5 camera?
• 5 OnePlus 5 features every Android phone needs
• OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3T
• OnePlus 5 vs Galaxy S8

Google’s AI can tell when someone is peeping at your phone

Face detection isn’t just for signing you in or making silly animations… it could also keep nosy bus passengers from snooping on your phone. Google researchers Hee Jung Ryu and Florian Schroff are about to present research into an “electronic screen protector” that uses AI-based eye detection in the front camera to determine when someone is looking over your shoulder. In the demo video (below), the app switches over to a camera view that shames the spy with rainbow vomit — you’d know someone was being intrusive before they had time to feign innocence.

As the recognition happens on the phone rather than in the cloud, the technology can recognize a rude viewer in as little as 2ms. It should also work in different lighting conditions and poses.

There’s no mention of whether or not this will ever become a shipping feature. We’ve asked Google if it can say more about the project ahead of the presentation. However, it’s easy to see this becoming an option, even if it’s not something you’d want to run non-stop (that would likely kill your battery life). You could turn it on when reading sensitive email or watching a video. This wouldn’t prevent people from seeing things in their peripheral vision, but it could encourage peeping types to mind their own business.

Via: Quartz

Source: Hee Jung Ryu (YouTube)

Instagram’s new feature lets you draw on your friends’ photos

Instagram released a new feature today that lets you edit pictures friends send you via direct message. Here’s how it works. Once someone sends you a photo directly, tap the camera icon in the bottom of that message to reply. Then snap a picture to send back. The original picture sent to you will be included within the photo you reply with and you can then change that original photo by moving it, resizing it, drawing on it, adding stickers or adding text.

Some other recent additions to Instagram’s offerings include the ability to add older pictures and videos to your Story, to follow hashtags and to post Stories via your phone’s web browser. The platform also recently began allowing users to invite others to join or request to be added to a live video. Many of these recent additions have been very Story-focused while today’s update seems to be geared towards ramping up use of Instagram’s direct message feature.

Along with the editing feature, which Instagram is calling “remixing,” Instagram has also given users the option of sending a photo or video that can be viewed just once or on loop. Instagram says both additions are available today.

Image: Instagram

Via: The Verge

Source: Instagram

Huawei’s new facial-recognition technology could be better than Apple’s Face ID

The iPhone X is one of the most hyped phones of the year, largely because of its new design and features such as Face ID. As is often the case with Apple devices, other manufacturers will likely try to copy the iPhone’s features — and some may even improve upon it. That is what Huawei thinks it can do with Face ID. In fact, it claims that it will ship a version of Face ID with 10 times the accuracy of Apple’s version.

This is not the first time Huawei has tried to beat Apple at its own game. The company unveiled a phone with a “Force Touch” style feature days before the launch of the iPhone 6S.

Huawei’s new take on facial recognition was unveiled at a presentation about the Huawei V10, where it noted a technology that combines things like infrared and a projector to create a 3D map of the user’s face. According to Huawei, its tech will capture 300,000 points in 10 seconds. That is 10 times the number of points captured by the iPhone X.

With accuracy like that, the technology will be secure enough for things like mobile payments and will work almost as quickly as Huawei’s fingerprint sensors.

Of course, there is one problem with the tech — it’s not currently in any of Huawei’s phones. When Huawei showed it off at the event, the company didn’t note that it would come with any specific phones. In other words, expect plenty of Face ID copies in the next year or so — but don’t hold your breath for getting an Android phone with a Face ID equivalent in the next few months.

It’s unknown what kind of a role Face ID will play in phones. It’s possible that facial-recognition technology could eventually replace fingerprint sensors, though many suggest that phones should have both. After all, Face ID is not the most convenient way to unlock a phone that is sitting on a desk.

It’s likely that Huawei is not the only company working on an answer to Apple’s Face ID — though we will have to wait and see if any other companies follow suit.

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Photoshop streamlines the photo-editing process with one-click selections

Photoshop contains a number of different tools that allow photo editors to isolate a specific area of the photo for local adjustments, but all of them take some time — and several clicks — to get just right. But Adobe is working on a one-click solution that will soon be headed to an upcoming version of Photoshop CC. Adobe shared a sneak peek of a tool called Select Subject during Adobe Max Japan on Monday, November 27.

Unlike techniques like the pen tool, magnetic lasso or Select and Mask window, Select Subject takes just one click to isolate the photo’s main subject and it even works in images with multiple subjects, according to Adobe. Just pick the tool, click and Photoshop will create a selection containing the subject.

So how can Adobe do away with all those selection tools in just one click? Select and Mask is powered by Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s family of machine learning tools. To tell Photoshop what to select, the Select Subject tool uses computer vision, which means the computer is able to recognize many different objects, animals, and people. Once the program recognizes what objects (or people) are in the photo, the software can then make a selection that includes only that object. In cases such as groups of people, the software can also select multiple people at once.

The one-click solution isn’t quite perfect — in one of the samples Adobe shared, part of the subject’s arm was left out of the selection and included in the background while the subject’s shadow was also included. But in many cases, the tool appeared to get an accurate selection the first time. Users can refine what the machine learning tool selects, Abode says, because the tool will be compatible with Select and Mask. The Select and Mask is a tool already included in Photoshop that allows users to refine selections by feathering the edge or painting in a new piece using a brush with edge detection. After making the one-click selection, users could go into Select and Mask if the selection isn’t quite right.

Selecting a subject allows for a number of different popular photo edits, from blurring the background to pasting the subject on a blank background or adjusting the exposure of only one area of the image. For now, users will still have to use pen, lasso, wand, and other tools to make a selection, but Adobe says Select and Mask is coming to an upcoming edition of Photoshop CC.

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Apple obtains patent that could bring FaceID to the Mac and MacBook

Apple was granted a patent on November 28, originally filed in 2016, for a technology that could bring FaceID to the iMac and MacBook sooner rather than later. The patent uses technology from PixelSense, a company Apple acquired back in 2013, according to MacRumors. That technology was the basis for the Xbox One’s Kinect functionality, and eventually became part of the TrueDepth camera on the front of the iPhone X — the one that paints your face with IR dots for FaceID.

The patent details plans for a device which could sit atop a Mac like a webcam, and detect not only your face but your movements. This implementation, as a peripheral, seems unlikely for an Apple product though. Given how TouchID was integrated into the latest MacBook Pro lineup, rather than sold as an add-on, it seems more likely that Apple would embed a TrueDepth-like camera into a new lineup of Macs and MacBooks.

The images in the patent detail more than just using the camera to unlock your computer though. The patent describes the use of gestures like pushing and swiping to control on-screen elements, similar to how Kinect owners could control the on-screen interface on the Xbox One with simple gestures. Additionally, the patent suggests that users might couple FaceID with gestures to unlock compatible devices, adding another layer of security.

“An unlock gesture enables the user to engage a locked non-tactile 3D user interface, as pressing a specific sequence of keys unlocks a locked cellular phone. In some embodiments, the non-tactile 3D user interface conveys visual feedback to the user performing the focus and the unlock gestures,” the patent reads.

While this is all just speculation at this point, the patent comes at an interesting time for Apple. With the recent release of the iPhone X, FaceID is a technology that’s becoming as familiar and reliable as TouchID was. Despite the fact that it took a while for Apple to roll it into the MacBook Pro, things might move quicker with FaceID given Apple’s preference for unified functionality across all its devices. While we might not see it this coming year, it’s entirely possible we could see a FaceID-enabled MacBook or iMac sooner rather than later.

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Laptop owners accuse HP of secretly installing software in the background

Customers who own a Windows-based laptop manufactured by HP are hitting the internet with complaints about software the company is allegedly installing in the background. It’s an updated version of the HP Touchpoint Manager software for IT management, and with it, a new Windows telemetry service called HP Touchpoint Analytics Client. Both are appearing on HP’s Windows-based laptops without the user’s permission.

Before the update, HP Touchpoint Manager was a stand-alone device management service licensed out to businesses and corporations. It’s used by administrators to locate, lock, and erase a device if needed, troubleshoot devices by remote, and get device-based statistics. Now the service is rolled into HP’s Devices-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform, thus HP discontinued the stand-alone version.

Even more, HP’s new DaaS platform is served up in Standard, Enhanced, and Premium licensing plans. There is nothing about this platform that targets HP’s mainstream customer base. That said, why are these laptop owners even receiving HP Touchpoint Manager in the first place?

“I found HP Touchpoint Manager unexpectedly deployed on my PC earlier this week — obviously without my consent,” reports one laptop owner. “No sign of the installation via HP Support Assistant, it only appeared in Program & Features all of a sudden.”

“Got it installed automatically,” says another. “No idea where it came from and it installed itself in three different HP laptops.”

Outside the sudden appearance of unexpected software, the HP Touchpoint Analytics Client component installed with HP Touchpoint Manager is reportedly slowing down laptops. For instance, one owner jumped on Reddit to report that the software was installed on his HP Pavilion P3V59Pa notebook without his consent, and consumes large amounts of memory. Another Reddit user reported a similar issue with a tablet manufactured by HP, who saw better performance after uninstalling the unwanted software.

Over on HP’s forums, another customer reports that the software appeared just days ago, and began consuming between 95 and 98 percent of his laptop’s processor.

“In Task Manager, I can see it starting and stopping numerous applications, it’s client service and installer, console window host, command prompts, and timeout-pause command prompt,” the post reads. “It’s causing a lot of up and down use of anti-malware service executable and local system.”

According to its Services description in Task Manager, the HP Touchpoint Analytics Client “harvests telemetry information that is used by HP Touchpoint’s analytical services.” It appears to collect data each day and sends that data to HP’s licensed cloud-based DaaS service. That is not entirely suspicious on laptops used in the enterprise space for administrative reasons, but it is clearly an unnecessary privacy issue on consumer-facing machines not meant to be monitored by anyone but the owner.

Ultimately, because HP Touchpoint Manager is installed in the background, it may not be listed on the Start Menu in Windows 10. To remove the unwanted software, right-click on the Start Button, and then click on the “Apps and Features” link. Once the “Settings” window opens, locate and uninstall HP’s software.

We reached out to HP for comment.

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