Amazon Has Reportedly Gained Edge Over Apple in Deals With Smart Home Builders

Amazon appears to have gained an edge over Apple in deals with smart home builders, according to The Information.

The paywalled report claims that an increasing number of home builders have agreed to partnerships with Amazon to build homes with preinstalled Alexa-enabled accessories, rather than HomeKit-based products from Apple.

Last year, for example, Amazon reportedly struck a large-scale deal with Lennar, one of the biggest home builders in the United States. Lennar first had a partnership with Apple in 2016, but the company is “prioritizing Amazon now.”

As part of its deal, Lennar gets access to Amazon’s growing army of so-called Amazon experts, the company’s in-home service team, to go around to every new homeowner and make sure their smart home is hooked up. Every new Lennar home comes with Echo Dot speakers and Echo Show displays to connect with Alexa, as well as a suite of connected doorbells, locks, light switches and thermostat.

A few other builders, such as Arizona-based Meritage Homes and Shea Homes, also said they considered Apple but opted for Amazon.

“Apple is closed source about what will talk to their system, so we shied away from it,” said CR Herro, a vice president with Arizona-based Meritage Homes. “I don’t want to restrict what I think the future could be because I have no idea what it will be.”

The report claims that Apple requiring accessory makers to install an authentication chip for HomeKit compatibility has “significantly limited the number of new devices getting to market,” but that is no longer the case, as iOS 11.3 introduced software-based authentication for accessories to interface with HomeKit.

Meanwhile, some builders believe there is a downside in allowing Amazon to embed a network of Alexa-powered devices that can collect data into homes, ranging from privacy concerns to competitive reasons.

Startup home builder Kasita, for instance, thinks these traditional players are giving up a huge amount of business by linking up with Amazon. Kasita uses Alexa devices for performing voice control in its “micro homes,” but tries to maintain its relationship with the consumer by providing its own app and wants to offer its own services to consumers in the future.

“Amazon owns you when you buy anything online,” said Jeff Wilson, founder and chairman of Kasita. “Do you really want them owning home experiences?”

While new homes are estimated to account for only about 10 percent of residential home sales in the United States, Apple believes the best way to introduce homeowners to HomeKit is from the get-go.

“We want to bring home automation to the mainstream,” said Greg Joswiak, a marketing executive at Apple, in an interview with Bloomberg. “The best place to start is at the beginning, when a house is just being created.”

Tags: HomeKit, theinformation.com
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Low-Cost Streaming Service Philo Coming to Apple TV This Summer, Unlocking TV Everywhere Authentication Soon

Last November a new streaming TV service called “Philo” was announced, aimed at providing a much cheaper monthly cost for users by cutting out all sports-related content. Starting at $16 per month, subscribers can stream 37 entertainment networks on multiple devices including iPhone, MacBook, Roku, smart TVs, and more.

At the time of its announcement the company said a Philo app would be coming to Apple TV, and now CEO Andrew McCollum has confirmed that the Apple TV app for Philo will be launching this summer (via CNET).

Philo for iOS
Alongside the launch window for the Apple TV app, McCollum revealed that the service will also allow subscribers to unlock the streaming apps for TV networks included in their Philo subscription. Much like DirecTV Now, this means that if users pay to stream a channel like AMC on Philo, they can use their Philo log-in within the AMC app to access paywalled content.

This will be a bonus for Apple TV owners, since most over-the-top live TV streaming services don’t support Apple’s TV app, but many individual network apps do.

The live-TV streaming company will work on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV devices this summer, CEO Andrew McCollum said last week. An Android mobile app is next on the roadmap.

In addition, you’ll be able to do more with your Philo account. The company is unlocking the streaming apps for the TV networks included in a customer’s subscription. That means if you pay for Philo’s $16-a-month bundle of cable channels, you’ll be able to access the paywalled apps for channels like AMC, Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel and History.

Philo’s $16/month tier provides access to 37 channels, including A&E, AMC, BBC America, Lifetime, TLC, Travel Channel, and VH1. There’s also a $20/month option that increases the channel count to 46, adding in options like Logo and Nicktoons. Philo’s entertainment-focused lineup lacks sports, live news, major broadcast networks, and local channels — all of which help lower the monthly cost of the service.

On the channels offered by Philo, subscribers can record live TV and set recordings on future episodes to watch later, with space lasting for 30 days. In terms of streaming, Philo lets users stream on up to three screens at once in HD.

Comparatively, rivals like Sling TV start at $20/month for about 25 channels, DirecTV Now starts at $35/month for about 60 channels, Hulu with Live TV starts at $40/month for about 50 channels, and PlayStation Vue starts at $40/month for about 45 channels. All of these services include sports or have an option to add on sports content for an additional monthly cost.

ESPN itself has launched its own over-the-top streaming package called ESPN+, focusing on live sports, original shows and films, studio programs, and an on-demand library of content. ESPN+ costs subscribers $4.99/month or $49.99/year, and is pitched as a companion service to other ESPN channels and cable packages since it lacks some major live TV content, like games in the NFL and NBA.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTag: PhiloBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of iOS 11.4 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4 update to developers, two weeks after releasing the first beta and three weeks after releasing iOS 11.3, a major update that introduced several new features.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.4 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

The iOS 11.4 update introduces a new ClassKit framework for educational institutions, which will support new features announced at Apple’s March 27 event.

For standard users, the iOS 11.4 update adds features that were originally present in the iOS 11.3 beta but removed ahead of release. It includes support for Messages on iCloud, designed to store your iMessages in iCloud and sync them across devices.

There’s also support for AirPlay 2 features, with the Apple TV once again available in the Home app. With AirPlay 2, the same audio content can be played in multiple rooms. On the HomePod, there are signs of support for stereo sound, but stereo sound is not currently available as it requires 11.4 HomePod software not available for developers.

iOS 11.3, the previous update, introduces a new Battery Health feature for monitoring the status of your iPhone’s battery, Business Chat for iMessage, which lets you communicate with companies directly in the Messages app, ARKit 1.5 with augmented reality improvements, new Animoji on iPhone X, Health Records from participating medical providers, and more.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 11.4 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.4 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first beta and three weeks after releasing the tvOS 11.3 update.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 11.4 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

tvOS 11.4, paired with iOS 11.4, reintroduces AirPlay 2 features that were present in early tvOS and iOS 11.3 betas but were removed ahead of release. With AirPlay 2, the same audio content can be played on multiple devices (like the Apple TV) throughout your home. After installing iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4, the Apple TV will once again be listed in the Home app.

There were no other new features discovered in the first tvOS 11.4 update, and it’s likely it focuses on bug fixes and other small improvements. Apple’s tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, and we may not find any other new additions.

We’ll update this post should new features be introduced in the second beta of tvOS 11.4.

Related Roundup: Apple TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of watchOS 4.3.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3.1 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the first watchOS 4.3.1 beta and three weeks after releasing watchOS 4.2.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

Shortly before watchOS 4.3.1 was introduced, Apple stopped allowing developers to update Apple Watch apps built on the original watchOS 1 SDK. In watchOS 4.3.1, there’s an alert when launching a watchOS 1 app that warns that the app may not be compatible with future versions of watchOS. This suggests Apple may drop support for watchOS 1 apps entirely in the future, just as it did with support for 32-bit iOS apps in iOS 11.

Code hidden within watchOS 4.3.1 suggests Apple is working on introducing support for custom third-party watch faces, but this is likely a feature that would be introduced as part of a major watchOS 5 update rather than through watchOS 4.3.1.

There were no other new features discovered in watchOS 4.3.1, which is unsurprising as this is a minor 4.x.x update. It’s likely this update focuses primarily on bug fixes to address issues discovered since the release of watchOS 4.3.

Apple does not provide detailed release notes for watchOS, so we may not know what’s included in the update until it sees a public release.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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How to try on products using the Samsung Galaxy S9 makeup feature

With Bixby Vision, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus cameras offer the ability to virtually try on makeup using Snapchat-esque filters. It’s all thanks to the front-facing camera, as well as integrated augmented reality technology from a company called ModiFace (now owned by L’Oréal).  If you like how you look, you can also purchase the makeup to add it to your collection.

Whether you’re using the AR feature to try on different looks without the hassle of removing makeup, or you simply want to check out products without heading to the nearest store, here is how to try on and purchase makeup using the Galaxy S9.

How to enable Bixby Vision

To find the makeup filter, you need to turn on Bixby Vision. Do this by opening the camera app and tap on the eye icon in the lower left-hand corner. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a gallery of different options to choose from such as shopping, food, and places but you will want to find the one labeled Makeup.

How to try on makeup filters

To try on the different makeup filters, simply tap through the different options toward the bottom of the screen. Currently, there are three brands to choose from — Sephora, CoverGirl, and Laneige. You can either view products by selecting each brand separately or scroll through all the products together by tapping on All.

If you’re not sure whether you want to go for a smoky eye or more neutral tones, you can choose to try on already completed makeup looks created by the brands. These filters provide you with a full face of makeup which includes lipstick, blush, mascara, eyeliner, eyelashes, and more. There is also the option to try on different products separately such as eyebrow pencils, eyeshadow palettes, foundation, and lipstick, among others, and you can mix and match.

How to purchase items

If there is a product you want to purchase, you are able to start right through Bixby. After taking a selfie while trying the makeup on, a window will appear that lists all the products you wore in the photo. You will be provided with product information such as the brand name, shade, brief description, and price. Once you tap on the item, you will then be taken to the designated site via a web browser — unless you have the Sephora app, at which point you will be directed to the app instead.

How to share your photos

Any photos you take within the makeup section of Bixby Vision will automatically save to your gallery. That way, you can send your looks to family and friends without the presence of all the makeup options underneath. You also can share these photos directly from Bixby Vision as well, by tapping on the share icon located underneath your photo. You can then choose from the apps installed on your smartphone to share it to such as Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail.

Retro old-school shooter ‘Ion Maiden’ is being released on a floppy disk

For gamers of a certain age, the name “3D Realms” conjures up some fond memories. It’s the studio behind some of the classic first-person shooters that pioneered many of the conventions of 3D gaming that are still in use today, publishing games like Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior.

Duke himself has long since moved on to greener (and bloodier) pastures with Gearbox Software, but the company itself, now owned by Danish investors, is making a true throwback game called Ion Maiden, powered by the 20-year-old Build engine.

In another bit of retro nostalgia, the game is also being released on a floppy disk — kind of. The Ion Maiden storage requirements are relatively modest at 100MB, but that’s still much more than a 1.44MB disk from the ‘90s could hold.

We’re releasing Ion Maiden on floppies with a twist! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/CxRpNYzDLB

— 3D Realms (@3DRealms) April 13, 2018

In an unveiling video on its Twitter feed, the studio reveals how it accomplished this feat. By moving the shutter on the top of the disk, you can see it conceals a hidden flash drive.

There’s no word on when this special version will be available or how much it will cost, but it’s a clever bit of marketing for old-school gamers who remember switching to the B: drive to install MS-DOS games. The game will actually run on a 486 computer with four megabytes of memory.

In the game itself, you play as a Global Defense Force soldier named Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, battling a cybernetic army. “Ion Maiden is a throwback to classic shooters, a spiritual successor to Duke Nukem 3D,” Frederik Schreiber of 3D Realms told GamesBeat. “It doesn’t impersonate a ’90s game. It is a ’90s game.”

There’s lots of blood and gore and an arsenal of weapons, including Shelly’s signature revolver “Loverboy.” The pixelated artwork is hand-drawn, and the game featured hundreds of Easter eggs and references to past generations of games.

“We wanted to make it as authentic as possible, but we didn’t want to limit it to the 1990s,” Schreiber explained. “[3D Realms founder] Scott Miller told us that this game should feel like it was built in Texas in the 1990s. It will have a classically illustrated cover.”

Ion Maiden is actually a sequel to a 2015 top-down shooter called Bombshell. That game was originally envisioned as a true Duke Nukem reboot until Gearbox reminded them with a lawsuit that they no longer owned the rights to Duke as a result of the Duke Nukem Forever fiasco.

Ion Maiden is already available in Early Access on Steam, and the initial reviews are very positive. The retail version of the game (including, perhaps, the floppy disk itself) will be out in fall of 2018.

Editors’ Recommendations

• A ‘Duke Nukem’ movie is actually in the works, and it could star John Cena
• From ‘Anthem’ to ‘Smash Bros. on Switch,’ here are the games coming to E3 2018
• Mysterious ‘Ataribox’ console finally gets a name and pre-order window
• The best game console you can buy right now
• Between the Streams: CBS’ desperate ‘Murphy Brown’ revival, Super Bowl trailers

The best Chrome themes

Part of the reason Google Chrome is the most popular browser is its refined simplicity. It’s just enough browser, with room for add-ons if you need a bit of extra functionality, but it’s specifically engineered for efficiency. Unfortunately, this means it’s usually a bit boring to look at. For the most part, every Chrome install looks the same — flat, gray, minimalist, with a few pops of color depending on your extensions.

Sometimes you just want Chrome to show a little personality, to look a little different, to ditch the grayscale for something a little more lively. If that’s the case, you’ve probably ventured into the Chrome Web Store at least once or twice. And let’s be honest, it’s a bit of a mess in there. So rather than subject yourself to the torturous experience of wading through garish, and oftentimes offensive themes, we’ve done it for you.

Here are the 10 best themes available, broken into several categories.

Best minimalist themes

Chrome has a great look on its own. It’s simple, straightforward, and easy on the eyes. If you like that look, but maybe want to change it up a bit — though not too much — these themes are for you. They take that classic Chrome aesthetic and make some subtle changes.

Material Dark

Modern Flat

Best dark themes

Like the minimalist themes above, these themes re-skin your browser to make things darker, dimming the lights and eliminating that gray-white color scheme common to vanilla Chrome.

Dark Horizon

Dark Theme V3

Best colorful themes

Stepping out of the dark and into the light, we scoured the Chrome Web Store for the most colorful themes for anyone who wants their browser to look a little less dour. These themes keep things simple, but inject a little color into your Chrome experience.

Bluegreen Cubes

Flying Paint

Best landscape themes

The best landscape themes borrow an excellent photo and skin your browser based on the colors and overall feel of the original picture. These themes do more than just change a color scheme, however — they’ll turn your browser into a window to the outside world.

Norwegian Fjord

City and Bridge in the Fog

Best cute animal themes

Sometimes you just need to look at a cute animal. Full stop. Thankfully, these themes inject cat and dog photos into your everyday experience, so you can enjoy them any time you open a new tab.

Puppy Love

Kittens

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best web browsers
• How to take a screenshot on a Chromebook
• Rumored 4K Chromebook could make the Pixelbook look like old news
• Google Chrome 66 is set to stall those noisy autoplay videos
• How to copy and paste on a Chromebook

Beyond Bitcoin: How blockchain will reshape the future

This article is part of our series “Blockchain beyond Bitcoin“. Bitcoin is the beginning, but it’s far from the end. To help you wrap your head around why, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of blockchain. In this series, we’ll go beyond cryptocurrency and hone in on blockchain applications that could reshape medical records, voting machines, video games, and more.

Late last year, on October 26th, a small U.K. tech company called On-Line PLC decided to change its name. From that day forward, it would be known as On-Line Blockchain PLC.

That seemingly insignificant move had a massive and almost instantaneous impact on the company. Within 24 hours, its share prices rose by 394 percent. Within 48 hours, its value had grown more than it had in all the past two years combined.

On-Line PLC didn’t change its business model, hire a new executive, or announce a new product. It just tacked “blockchain” to its name, and suddenly investors threw truckloads of money at it — a testament to the blockchain’s hype.

Not much has changed since then. Blockchain technology — the backbone of Bitcoin, and much more — is just as hyped as it’s ever been. You’ve probably heard about it on the news, read headlines about it online, and been lectured about it from that one guy in your office who’s super into cryptocurrencies. It’s like Beanie Babies and Dutch tulips at this point.

Data security is failing and there has to be a better system. Blockchain creates a secure, unalterable public record and is poised to dramatically improve the world around you, from voting systems to rental contracts.

That might lead you to dismiss it as a fad, but don’t let the hype fool you. Blockchain has legitimate potential to change the world. As the Harvard Business Review puts it, “Blockchain is not a ‘disruptive’ technology, which can attack a traditional business model with a lower-cost solution and overtake incumbent firms quickly. Blockchain is a foundational technology. It has the potential to create new foundations for our economic and social systems.”

“It has the potential to create new foundations for our economic and social systems.”

Yet it’s still early days for the technology. Many have likened the recent blockchain boom to the dot-com bubble of the 1990s — which is a fair comparison. That bubble did burst, but after the crash, the world wide web eventually rose from the ashes of the 1990s and became one of the most transformative technologies the world has ever known. Blockchain, it seems, has that same potential — it’s just in its the dot-com phase right now.

Over the course of the next week, Digital Trends is taking a deep dive into the blockchain space. We’re going beyond Bitcoin and homing in on applications that might reshape democracy, economics, advertising, and more. Blockchain’s impact on these concepts could truly change how they function – but, of course, revolution is often messy business.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What is a blockchain? Here’s everything you need to know
• CryptoCelebs: Famous people who’ve bought the cryptocurrency craze
• Google is working on blockchain technology for the cloud
• Litecoin vs. bitcoin
• Bitcoin’s blockchain contains links to child pornography, possible illegal image

From the doctor to the DMV, blockchain can make governments swift and secure

Estonia is the first country to offer e-Residency, a government-issued digital ID available to anyone in the world e-Residency

Although most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, blockchain technology is also being used all over the world for many intriguing purposes. One of the most impactful could be the way in which governments themselves are using it to ensure that the data of citizens and political figures are protected, from both other nation states and themselves.

In some cases, that’s already been realized. From protecting the integrity of citizenship data on government databases, to proving that your next second-hand car won’t kill you, blockchain has the potential to enable trust in data like never before – even if you don’t trust the government behind it.

Estonia is leading the way, but not as much as some think

“People always come here and say, ‘oh, Estonia, it is the country of the blockchain. This is some sort of misunderstanding,” Federico Plantera, of the E-Estonia Showroom, told Digital Trends in an interview. Although Estonia has leveraged its “Keyless Signature Infrastructure” (KSI) system since 2012, there is some debate over whether it can be described as a blockchain.

This article is part of our series “Blockchain beyond Bitcoin“. Bitcoin is the beginning, but it’s far from the end. To help you wrap your head around why, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of blockchain. In this series, we’ll go beyond cryptocurrency and hone in on blockchain applications that could reshape medical records, voting machines, video games, and more.

As Plantera described it to us, KSI is its own variant of blockchain. It grows on a linear scale related to time, rather than the number of transactions. Due to its predetermined number of nodes, it retains a fast and consistent confirmation time for data changes and additions. As advanced as it is, however, it isn’t as far reaching as some might think.

Estonia’s digital infrastructure started development at the turn of the 21st century. What began with electronic tax filing in 2000 slowly morphed into a system that handles the country’s population register, electronic ID cards, internet voting, and health records. All this is facilitated by X-Road, the core component of the Estonian government’s digital data.

The X-Road is a system of connected government databases. It facilitates the confirmation of data points, without moving the data itself around. As Plantera describes it, “It’s basically a government office that keeps all the data there and is available 24/7. If there is […] a company that provides public transport that has to check my place of residence, [for example] that check can be done, say at nighttime, because the system is fully automated, and the data is always available.”

The blockchain’s role in this digital ecosystem comes down to security and data integrity. In the diagram (“x-Road” attached on card) that describes the Estonian system, it is represented as “security servers.” A cryptographic hash function, or “digital footprint” of the data – crucially, not the data itself — is duplicated across many nodes, much like the blockchains used in cryptocurrencies.

However, most blockchains have no limit on the number of confirmation nodes. The KSI blockchain’s Estonian developer, Guardtime, maintains a limited number of nodes, or participants, as it describes them. Those participants are controlled both internally by the government, and by external entities. If any data is altered without notifying all the other nodes, it can be quickly discovered and rejected.

One unique participant is a ‘physical node’ — the Financial Times newspaper. Every issue contains a printed copy of the data’s hash. Even if some external or internal actor were able to compromise or gain control of every node connected to the KSI blockchain, they would never be able to effectively rewrite the blockchain’s history, because it could be checked against the physical, printed copy. Any nefarious actor would have to somehow change tens of thousands of printed newspapers to hide their tracks. Recovering from an attack using the printed hash wouldn’t be fast, but as a failsafe and warning against attempting to make major changes to the blockchain, it should be very effective.

Toolbox Estonia

“The blockchain basically protects all of the information exchanged at the government level,” Plantera said. “All the government institutions use the blockchain to protect the integrity of public information that is exchanged on the X-Road.”

Estonia implemented this system in response to cyber attacks in 2007 which stalled the computer systems of major banks and some media outlets, and even made the country’s ATM services unavailable for some time. Although Plantera told Digital Trends the country saw no long-term consequence from the attacks, it prompted the development of the KSI system, and Estonia’s eventual implementation of it in 2012.

“Since we started using the blockchain, we always know when there is a cyber attack and where it’s happening, because we can detect it straight away,” Plantera said.

Trusting three letter agencies – even the DMV

Though Plantera told Digital Trends that Estonia has no plans to expand its use of blockchain technology as part of the E-Estonia system, GuardTime is constantly iterating and expanding its services. It recently signed a partnership with Verizon to deliver similar protective technologies to large enterprises and government agencies, and the mobile carrier plans to announce its own set of KSI-backed security products later this year.

“Government institutions use the blockchain to protect the integrity of public information.”

GuardTime isn’t the only organization experimenting with the potential of blockchain solutions to governmental problems. Fluence, a startup developing blockchain database technology, sees great potential for improving trust between government departments. If more government entities can rely on the integrity of data from partner agencies, then sharing information should make many facets of government more efficient, while also improving security.

“[Governments] can install a permissioned blockchain to their departments and have some trust and storage between different government agents and departments,” Fluence CEO and co-founder, Evgeny Ponomarev, told Digital Trends. “The thing about a decentralized database, is it can be permissioned, it can be used by government [to engender trust].”

Governments around the world often lose sensitive data due to mishandled physical media. Strong, permissioned data sharing over the blockchain could make that a thing of the past.

HashCoins, most commonly known as the operator of cloud mining company HashFlare, was recently asked to conceptualize a system for the Belarus government to handle a protected, distributed database of car components and service histories.

“[Belarus wants] to have a vehicle registry [built on blockchain technology],” HashCoin’s Product Development and Public Relations Manager, Edgar Bers, told Digital Trends. “That register would contain more than just VIN numbers, but also the serial numbers of the engine parts, so you could always check whether something has been changed or not. All the cases where accidents [take place] are also logged – it’s like a car passport. It has all the information about the car’s history. Car inspections, fines, everything.”

While many countries have systems for maintaining detailed information on a car and its parts’ history, they aren’t always mandatory, and rely on paper as much as digital records. A blockchain-based system would guarantee the integrity of the data, highlighting where proper records hadn’t been kept, making it harder for fraudsters to cheat potential car buyers.

“Automotive production companies, retailers, car shops and mechanics [would use it].” Bers said. “All these places would have access to APIs, so if you are a licensed service who is allowed to make technical checks of car equipment, you would do that and then put all of that data you have received and put it all into the system as an authorized body, so next time something happens with the car and it appears in the blockchain that the car service says that engine is fine, but it turns out that the engine is not fine, it will be easy to see who to blame.”

Classic car scams, such as rolling back the mileage, would be nearly impossible to pull off if a distributed network had note of a car’s real mileage, updated each time the car entered any legitimate business for repairs or servicing. Such a system could easily operate across borders, making it much harder for the scam of importing cars and rolling back the mileage to trick local buyers, far harder to achieve.

Governments protecting against governments

The main purpose of blockchain in governance, at least in its current guise, is data integrity. That’s what it’s used for in most cryptocurrencies, too. It creates trust in the currency’s validity because no one entity can change it without everyone knowing.

“No one from the government could change what the blockchain says.”

In the case of government data, that makes it harder for other nations to hack it or rewrite the data’s history. Estonia says it’d be difficult for anyone to interfere with its digital voting infrastructure, or health records, without giving themselves away. Adding a blockchain layer to a government’s digital ecosystem even prevents the government from altering the historical record. It can’t change one database entry and cover up the logs – it’d have to change every single entry. Even that’s impossible because physical nodes, like the Financial Times, exist.

In Estonia’s case, “It works bi-directionally,” Plantera explained. “It works for the citizens. It prevents against cyber threats from the outside, and works for the government in a sense that no one from the government side could change what the blockchain says, and what has already been encrypted and protected by the blockchain, in terms of data integrity and privacy.”

At a time when collective research suggests that the public’s trust in government is at an all-time low, blockchain technology offers a potential avenue for improving trust in at least the data we are presented with. If the data that underlies policies and discourse can be guaranteed, that could form a better basis for discussion, and make it easier to avoid some of the confusing, often erroneous reporting that has become so common worldwide.