A quick chat with Alexa can start charging your EV

If you drive an electric car and would rather not venture into the garage (or wade through a phone app) to start charging, you can now rest easy. ChargePoint has introduced Alexa support to its Home system, giving you voice control over your EV charging. You can start charging, stop charging or find out whether you’re plugged in just by talking to a device like an Echo speaker. If you have Nest hardware, you can link charging to multiple parts of your home. And if you top up at ChargePoint stations away from home, you can check your balance or see how much you’ve spent on electricity so far.

The ChargePoint app itself has a pair of upgrades. You can get notifications when a nearby station opens up, and upload photos of stations so fellow travelers know what to look for. There’s a third-party app update for Tesla owners as well — Teslarati now shows ChargePoint stations, which might save your hide if you’re nowhere near a Supercharger. If all goes well, you should spend less time hunting for a top-up and more time actually driving.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: ChargePoint

FCC releases the text of its order to undo net neutrality

A few weeks after the FCC voted to undo Title II protections for net neutrality, it has released the final text of its “Restoring Internet Freedom Order.” That includes the contained arguments for why chairman Ajit Pai and two other commissioners believe the existing rules were harmful and absolutely must go, as well as dissenting opinions from commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel. Among the items addressed, it includes a note claiming that “identical or nearly-identical non-substantive comments
that simply convey support or opposition” did not impact the commission

If you’ve been paying attention to the debate then you’ll be familiar with the various sides, but the 539-page document’s release sets the stage for the next step: hearings, lawsuits, attempts by states and cities to establish their own rules, and attempts by Congress to firm up the rules in one way or another. Chairman Pai won’t speak at CES next week, reportedly due to death threats, so if you’d like more information on why he pushed through such an unpopular decision, then for now this is the only way.

The @FCC just released the text of its decision rolling back #NetNeutrality. https://t.co/bA0O2dmmwb

Warning: it’s not good. But we’re going to fight. And we won’t stop until internet openness is the law of the land. My statement below: pic.twitter.com/8ZMLLuHlJA

— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) January 4, 2018

Text of the @FCC majority’s #NetNeutrality repeal has finally been released. Took almost 6,000 words for me to detail all that is wrong with this action. Read my complete written dissent here: https://t.co/ZlEF3alRvD

— Mignon Clyburn (@MClyburnFCC) January 4, 2018

Great news! The final text of the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order is out.

My statement –> https://t.co/Qz6fLXDgo2 pic.twitter.com/n4HbAZwdBH

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) January 5, 2018

Source: FCC

Jimmy Iovine Allegedly Planning to Leave Apple in August

Apple Music exec Jimmy Iovine, who works alongside Dr. Dre, Eddy Cue, Robert Kondrk, Trent Reznor and other prominent executives is planning to leave Apple in August, reports Billboard.

The rumor about Iovine’s alleged departure from Apple first surfaced on music rumor site Hits Daily Double, but Billboard says its sources have confirmed the news. According to Billboard, Iovine’s exit will be timed with the vesting of stock he acquired when first joining Apple.

Iovine joined the Apple Music team back in 2014, when Apple acquired Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service, both of which were co-founded by Iovine and Dr. Dre. Iovine has had a long history with the company, though, first pitching a subscription music service to Steve Jobs in 2003.

Iovine does not have an official title at Apple, but he has been heavily involved in with Apple Music since its 2015 launch and has negotiated many of the streaming deals for the service.

Under Iovine’s leadership, Apple music has seen strong growth since its debut, with the service now boasting more than 30 million subscribers.

Should Iovine leave Apple, it’s not clear if he would be replaced, nor what his plans are after departing the company.

Tags: Jimmy Iovine, Apple Music
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Apple Confirms ‘Meltdown’ and ‘Spectre’ Vulnerabilities Impact All Macs and iOS Devices, Some Fixes Already Released

Apple today confirmed that it has addressed the recent “Meltdown” vulnerability in previously released iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 updates, with additional fixes coming to Safari in the near future to defend against the “Spectre” vulnerability.

Apple has also confirmed that the two vulnerabilities affect all Mac and iOS devices. The company’s full statement, available through a new support document covering Meltdown and Spectre, is below:

Security researchers have recently uncovered security issues known by two names, Meltdown and Spectre. These issues apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operating systems.

All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time. Since exploiting many of these issues requires a malicious app to be loaded on your Mac or iOS device, we recommend downloading software only from trusted sources such as the App Store.

Apple has already released mitigations in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 to help defend against Meltdown. Apple Watch is not affected by Meltdown. In the coming days we plan to release mitigations in Safari to help defend against Spectre. We continue to develop and test further mitigations for these issues and will release them in upcoming updates of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

Apple’s statement does not make it clear if these vulnerabilities have been addressed in older versions of iOS and Mac, but for Macs, there were security updates for older versions of macOS released alongside macOS 10.13.2, so it’s possible fixes are already available for Sierra and El Capitan.

News of the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities first came to light this week, but Intel and major operating system vendors like Apple, Linux, and Microsoft have known about the issue for several months and worked to prepare a fix before the security flaws were publicly shared.

Spectre and Meltdown are serious vulnerabilities that take advantage of the speculative execution mechanism of a CPU. As these use hardware-based flaws, operating system manufacturers are required to implement software workarounds. These software workarounds can impact processor performance, but Intel has insisted every day users will not see serious slowdowns. Apple also says that no measurable impact has been detected in macOS and iOS.

Apple released mitigations for Meltdown in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2. watchOS did not require mitigation. Our testing with public benchmarks has shown that the changes in the December 2017 updates resulted in no measurable reduction in the performance of macOS and iOS as measured by the GeekBench 4 benchmark, or in common Web browsing benchmarks such as Speedometer, JetStream, and ARES-6.

The Meltdown vulnerability allows a malicious program to read kernel memory, accessing data like passwords, emails, documents, photos, and more. Meltdown can be exploited to read the entire physical memory of a target machine. The vulnerability is particularly problematic for cloud-based services.

Spectre, which covers two exploitation techniques, breaks the isolation between different applications. Apple says that while the Spectre vulnerability is difficult to exploit, it can be done using JavaScript in a web browser. Apple plans to release Safari updates for macOS and iOS to prevent Spectre-based exploits.

As with the Meltdown vulnerability, Apple says the upcoming Safari mitigations will have “no measurable impact” on Speedometer and ARES-6 tests, and an impat of less than 2.5% on the JetStream benchmark.

Apple says it will continue to test further mitigations for Spectre and will release them in future versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
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HP recalls laptop batteries due to overheating issues

If you’ve got an HP notebook or mobile workstation computer, you’ll want to check out the latest battery recall from the company. Lithium-ion batteries for affected HP laptops were shipped between December 2015 and December 2017. There have been eight reports of the battery packs overheating, melting or charring, three of which include reports of $4,500 in property damage and one report of a first degree burn to a hand.

You’ll want to go to here to see if your model is one of the ones named in the recall. If so, you can enable a battery safety mode and get instructions on how to get your battery replaced by an authorized technician, since these batteries are not able to be replaced by consumers. According to the recall notice, affected models include HP ProBooks (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series), HPx360 310 G2, HP Envy m6, HP Pavilion x360, HP 11, HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) Mobile Workstations. In addition, batteries sold as replacement or accessories for the HP XBook Studio G4 mobile workstation are also named.

Source: Consumer Product Safety Comission

Ajit Pai reportedly cancelled CES appearance due to death threats

Yesterday, CES announced that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would no longer be appearing at the trade show where he was scheduled to take part in a conversation with FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen. No reasons were given by CES or the FCC at the time for the sudden change in plans, but Recode now reports that the cancellation is due to Pai receiving death threats. Two FCC sources said the threats were the cause and that law enforcement had become involved with the issue.

Pai has come under fire for a number of the decisions he’s made since taking over as chairman, but none have garnered as much negative attention as his rollback of net neutrality protections. Pai has stated that he and his family have been threatened both in public and online and he and the rest of the FCC were forced to briefly suspend their December 14th vote on the net neutrality rollbacks after a bomb threat was issued. The person claiming responsibility for that threat was also allegedly responsible for a swatting hoax last week that ended in the death of a Kansas man. A congressman also received a death threat regarding the net neutrality decision.

A spokesperson for Pai told Recode, “We do not comment on security measures or concerns.” FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn and Mike O’Rielly will still be speaking at CES and Chairman Ohlhausen is now scheduled to appear alongside Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Via: Recode

India’s massive citizen database was reportedly breached

India’s government Aadhaar database, which holds personal information of over one billion Indian citizens, was allegedly breached, BuzzFeed News reports. Along with demographic info, the database also contains biometric data like fingerprints and iris scans. Indian publication The Tribune reported earlier today that it was able to access any registered citizen’s demographics after it was granted admin access by an anonymous individual. In just 20 minutes, a reporter was given an administrator ID and a password after contacting the individual through WhatsApp and transferring what amounted to less than $8. Afterwards, the reporter was able to plug in anyone’s Aadhaar number and get their name, address, postal code, photo, phone number and email. For an additional $5, the reporter was also able to get software that allowed them to print an Aadhaar card with anyone’s number.

An officer with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the government authority that runs Aadhaar, initially told The Tribune, “Except the Director-General and I, no third person in Punjab should have a login access to our official portal. Anyone else having access is illegal, and is a major national security breach.” However, it later released a statement denying a breach, saying The Tribune’s article was “a case of misreporting” and assured that “there has not been any Aadhaar data breach.” But in the same statement it admitted that The Tribune report was an “instance of misuse of the grievance redressal search facility,” suggesting that sensitive data was in fact accessed. India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, one of the country’s two major political parties, called The Tribune’s report “fake news.”

Full statement from @UIDAI on Aadhaar breach report today. pic.twitter.com/OIChO5q9dA

— Chandra R. Srikanth (@chandrarsrikant) January 4, 2018

BuzzFeed News got in touch with the person who allegedly sold The Tribune the admin access. The person said that they had paid around $95 for access themselves through a WhatsApp group and was told that they could then create as many usernames and passwords as they wished. Becoming an Aadhaar admin appears to allow you to create other admin accounts, a feature that seems like a fundamental flaw of the system. The person admitted to selling access to seven other people over the last week but said they didn’t know they were breaking the law or compromising data security by doing so.

‘AADHAR’ data breached yet again!

As every citizen’s personal information is exposed to hackers everyday & ‘Right to Privacy’ is mocked and flouted with impunity, Modi Govt remains immune.

Is anyone listening?https://t.co/UDSfOlSWv9

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 4, 2018

Many have been critical of the database, data from which has been exposed before, for its lack of security and this alleged breach has just added fuel to the fire. Meghnad S, spokesperson for India’s online SpeakForMe.in movement, told BuzzFeed News, “In its hurry to make Aadhaar mandatory and not ensuring data safety, the government has allowed shady vendors to exploit this data for their own gains.”

Via: BuzzFeed News

Source: The Tribune

iPhone X beats Samsung’s Note 8 and 7 Edge in OLED display burn-in test

After the iPhone X was released, Apple addressed that, over time, the OLED display could experience burn-in. First seen by BGR, Korean tech site Cetizen tested the smartphone’s display to measure exactly how long it takes to burn in an image and found it took more than 500 hours to show significant effects.

In addition to testing the iPhone X, Cetizen mixed in the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy 7 Edge — both of which also feature OLED screens. All three phones displayed a static image on each respective screen with settings turned up to maximum brightness throughout the entire test.

But what exactly causes burn-in? When the static image is left on your screen for too long, it then gets burned into the display permanently. This means the image is still visible even when it’s not supposed to be there anymore.

The iPhone X was the first device to show signs of burn-in after 17 hours of constant use, but the image was barely noticeable while using the device. The Galaxy Note 8 took 62 hours to show any signs of burn-in but once it did, it was much more distinct than the iPhone X.

In total, it took 510 hours of testing for the iPhone X to show permanent burn-in effects. The Galaxy 7 Edge performed well but still showed signs of visible burn-in sooner than the iPhone X — while the Note 8 experienced the worst signs of burn-in by the end of the test.

Burn-in is especially common with OLED screens across the board whether it’s smartphones, monitors, or TVs. Google’s Pixel 2 XL showed early signs of burn-in for some users in October and the company released a software update to relieve the problem but to also expand the life of the OLED panel.

With the update, the Android navigation keys fade out after a short period of time when not being used. The screen’s brightness also drops 50 nits, which Google claims is unnoticeable but will reduce the load on the screen.

While Apple doesn’t have a software update to help reduce the effects of burn-in on the iPhone X, there are steps you can take instead. Apple recommends reducing the brightness on your phone via the Control Center’s brightness slider. You can also turn on Auto-Lock so that your automatically screen turns off when you’re not using it.

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Child-friendly wearable smartphone gives parents a direct line to their kids

For parents of young kids, the decision to give them a smartphone can be a difficult one. One the one hand, the ability to give your child a way to contact you in an emergency, or vice versa, cannot be overstated in terms of importance. On the other, handing them a phone means potentially exposing them to unwanted communication — or simply carries the more mundane risk of being put down and lost.

A new Kickstarter campaign for the so-called “myFirst Fone” hopes to solve some of those issues. For starters, the 3G smartphone is worn like a watch, which should reduce the chance of it being misplaced. Despite this shift in form factor, it boasts a lot of the features you find on a regular phone — such as a pedometer and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

In terms of safety, the device lets parents plug in only certain numbers, so your kid will be able to receive only phone calls or text messages from numbers that have been pre-approved by you. It also lets you keep track of what your kid is up to. This can be done either through GPS or Wi-Fi-based tracking, or a feature which promises to alert you if your child leaves a geo-fenced area. Your child can additionally send an SOS message to his or her parents with a single button, while parents can listen in to what their kid is up to by accessing the device’s built-in microphone.

MyFirst Fone certainly isn’t going to assuage the fears of all parents who are worried about gifting their kids a phone. It’s easy to imagine some parents strongly disapproving if the idea of giving their offspring a device which can be used for spying on them throughout the day — even if the spies are simply their well-meaning parents. However, if you’re looking for a straightforward way of keeping in touch with your young son or daughter, and don’t think a regular smartphone (or a more expensive call-making smartwatch like the Apple Watch Series 3) is the answer, this could be the gadget for you.

The device is currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter, with prices starting at $89. Shipping is set to take place in May.

Child-friendly wearable smartphone gives parents a direct line to their kids

For parents of young kids, the decision to give them a smartphone can be a difficult one. One the one hand, the ability to give your child a way to contact you in an emergency, or vice versa, cannot be overstated in terms of importance. On the other, handing them a phone means potentially exposing them to unwanted communication — or simply carries the more mundane risk of being put down and lost.

A new Kickstarter campaign for the so-called “myFirst Fone” hopes to solve some of those issues. For starters, the 3G smartphone is worn like a watch, which should reduce the chance of it being misplaced. Despite this shift in form factor, it boasts a lot of the features you find on a regular phone — such as a pedometer and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

In terms of safety, the device lets parents plug in only certain numbers, so your kid will be able to receive only phone calls or text messages from numbers that have been pre-approved by you. It also lets you keep track of what your kid is up to. This can be done either through GPS or Wi-Fi-based tracking, or a feature which promises to alert you if your child leaves a geo-fenced area. Your child can additionally send an SOS message to his or her parents with a single button, while parents can listen in to what their kid is up to by accessing the device’s built-in microphone.

MyFirst Fone certainly isn’t going to assuage the fears of all parents who are worried about gifting their kids a phone. It’s easy to imagine some parents strongly disapproving if the idea of giving their offspring a device which can be used for spying on them throughout the day — even if the spies are simply their well-meaning parents. However, if you’re looking for a straightforward way of keeping in touch with your young son or daughter, and don’t think a regular smartphone (or a more expensive call-making smartwatch like the Apple Watch Series 3) is the answer, this could be the gadget for you.

The device is currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter, with prices starting at $89. Shipping is set to take place in May.