Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘Privacy is a Fundamental Human Right’
Apple CEO Tim Cook this evening sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN’s Laurie Segall, where he discussed everything from his iPhone usage habits to the importance of privacy.
On the subject of device usage, Cook says that when he started using the new Screen Time feature built into iOS 12, he found he was spending too much time on the iPhone. “I found I was spending a lot more time than I should,” he said. “I thought I was fairly disciplined about this. And I was wrong.”
Cook said that Apple is aiming to provide the tools to consumers to let them make their own decisions about device usage, and what’s considered too much will vary from person to person. He said that while Apple wants customers to be “incredibly satisfied and empowered,” it’s not the goal to get customers to spend all of their time on iOS devices.
I think the power is now shifted to the user and that has been What Apple has always been about – giving the power from the institution to the user. I am hopeful great things are going to happen from this.
Cook reiterated his stance on privacy, and called it a “fundamental human right,” as he has done in the past. He said it’s “not healthy” to point a finger at companies like Facebook, and instead, we should be focusing on making the web an “unbelievable place.”
To me, and we feel this very deeply, we think privacy is a fundamental human right. So that is the angle that we look at it. Privacy from an American point of view is one of these key civil liberties that define what it is to be American.
Cook said customers can trust Apple to be “on their side.” “We’re the trusted adviser and company here,” he said, explaining that people are not fully aware of how their data is being used and who has access to it. “I think this needs to be addressed.”
The interviewer asked Cook whether or not he was concerned about machines taking over the world, and he said it’s not something that he worries about. Instead, he is concerned about people becoming more machine-like.
I don’t subscribe to machines the taking over the world. And I don’t worry about that. I worry much more about people thinking like machines then machines thinking like people. I mean forgetting the humanity in things. Forgetting that all of our products should be infused with humanity. Forgetting that we have a broader obligation to society.
Cook said he doesn’t consider himself to be political, and suggested that he would not run for political office.
I’m not political. I’m not sure I would really do well in that environment. I think that I can make the greatest contribution doing what I’m doing. […] I love getting things done and I don’t love the political machine in the background. I love Apple, it is the privilege of a lifetime to be leading this company at this time.
He also said that he believes Steve Jobs would support Apple’s current trajectory when asked how Jobs would feel “about this moment in time.”
In terms of the broader issue of humanity, that was his philosophy. That is the DNA of this company. Apple should always be trying to change the world, and change means make it better. That is the thing that we get up in the morning and focus on doing. And I don’t see that changing. That is the north star that keeps us going.
Several snippets of Cook’s full interview, which cover topics like DATA, immigration, tariffs, and more, are available over on CNN and are well worth checking out for those who want to see everything Cook had to say this evening.
Cook also did a separate interview with NPR, which covered topics like privacy, rumors that Apple had access to Facebook users’ personal information, the new Screen Time feature, and the Trump administration.
Tag: Tim Cook
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Apple Launches New ‘App Store Connect’ App for Developers
Apple today introduced a new App Store Connect app, which appears to be a replacement for the existing iTunes Connect app. iTunes Connect is, however, still available from the iOS App Store at this time.
App Store Connect allows developers to manage their app, see analytics trends, and respond to App Store reviews, features that are also available in iTunes Connect.
App Store Connect for iOS helps developers manage their apps that are available in the App Store. Developers can use App Store Connect to monitor their latest trends, receive notification from user reviews, as well as respond to customer reviews immediately from their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
App Store Connect is available for both the iPhone and the iPad and can be downloaded right now. [Direct Link]
Tag: App Store
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iOS 12 Hidden Features: New Close App Gesture on iPhone X, Revamped iPad Gestures, Screen Time Widget and More
Apple today introduced iOS 12 with a whole slew of updates, ranging from improvements to Do Not Disturb to a whole new activity monitoring system that tracks how much time you spend on your iPhone or iPad.
There are also new “Memoji,” aka personalized Animojis, there’s support for Group FaceTime, and there were tons of other changes covered in the keynote event. But in addition to all of these new features, there are dozens of smaller tweaks that Apple didn’t cover in its iOS 12 announcement.
Below, we’ve rounded up a list of new, lesser-known or “hidden” features in the new iOS 12 operating system update.
– iPhone X App Switcher – You no longer need to hold down on apps to close them. Swiping up like on the iPhone 8 and older works.
– Multiple Faces in Face ID – In the Face ID Settings, there’s an option to “Set Up an Alternate Appearance” which appears to be aimed at people who may need to drastically change their appearance on the regular or those who want to unlock Face ID with two faces.
– Screen Time Widget – In the Widgets section, accessible by swiping to the right on the Home screen, there’s a new Screen Time widget where you can see how much time you’ve spent on your iOS device lately, and what you’ve been doing. You can also see your full Screen Time usage metrics in the Settings app.
– Automatic Updates – iOS 12 introduces an option to turn on automatic software updates under General –> Software Update. This will update your version of iOS automatically when an update is available.
– Messages Shortcuts – If you tap on a person’s name in the Messages app, there are now shortcuts to initiate a FaceTime audio call, initiate a standard FaceTime video call, or get info on the contact. This is also how group FaceTime calls are started from the Messages app.
– Notification Grouping – In the Notifications section of the Settings app, there are options to customize Notification Grouping for all of your apps. Notification Grouping Settings include Automatic, By App, and off. Notification settings have also been redesigned somewhat, and there are toggles for setting notifications to show up only in the Notification Center but not the Lock screen.
– New iPad Gestures – Apple tweaked gestures on the iPad to better match the iPhone X. You now swipe down from the top right of the iPad to bring up Control Center, rather than swiping up from the bottom. Swiping up from the dock goes to the Home screen.
– iPad Menu Bar – The menu bar at the top of the iPad has been redesigned, and it looks like Apple is making room for a notch that will be included on upcoming iPad Pro models that will feature Face ID. The time, day, and date are located on the upper left hand side of the screen, while the right shows Wi-Fi or LTE connection, Bluetooth, and battery life.
– Passwords – There’s a new Password Manager API that can show passwords from 1Password and similar apps in the QuickType suggestion bar when you’re inputting login information. iOS 12 also adds iOS password suggestions to third-party apps, like Keychain in Safari. Apple will also keep track of passwords that have been reused and prompt you to create new ones.
– One-Time Password Autofill – Apple says that one-time SMS passcodes will appear automatically as Autofill options so you don’t need to hassle with quitting out of an app, opening the Messages app, copying it, and then entering it in the app that needs the code. In the Settings app, Safari Autofill has been replaced with the more general Password Autofill, and there’s a new Autofill Passwords setting under Passwords & Accounts.
– Smarter Siri – Siri can answer questions about famous people, food, and motorsports. Siri can also look up passwords and search for memories in Photos.
– Scan QR Code in Control Center – There’s a new Control Center shortcut for scanning a QR code.
– Wallpaper – There’s a new iOS 12 wallpaper available.
– Siri Suggestions – Siri is smarter in iOS 12, and there’s a new setting to allow Siri suggestions to appear on the Lock screen. You can also enable Shortcuts in the Settings menu, though Shortcuts are not yet available and will be coming through an app set to be released at a later date. Siri suggestions on the Lock screen can be enabled on a per-app basis.
– Lock Screen Options – There are new options to disable access to Wallet and USB Accessories when an iPhone is locked with a passcode. With USB Accessories disabled, you need to unlock the iPhone to allow USB accessories to connect when it has been more than an hour since your iPhone was locked. This setting will make it more difficult for law enforcement to access locked devices with USB tools like the GrayKey box.
– Voice Memos – Now that Voice Memos is also on the iPad and Mac and has iCloud support, there are settings for Voice Memos in the Settings app. You can choose when to delete Voice Memos, choose audio compression quality, and set a default recording name.
– Markup Colors – There are a lot more colors available when using Markup for editing screenshots, marking up images, editing PDFs, and more.
– Safari Icons – There’s an option in the Settings app to enable Favicons for Safari tabs, a new feature in iOS 12. There are also several new Experimental WebKit Features that Apple is testing.
– Apple Books – With the Books app getting a revamp and a new name, there are several new settings for Books in the Settings app. You can turn on syncing options for the “Reading Now” feature to keep track of where you are in a book across devices, and you can choose specific devices where you want to update your place.
– Podcasts – You can set custom durations for the Forward and Back options in Podcasts. The two options are separate, and durations from 10 to 60 seconds are available.
– Battery Info – In the Settings app, the battery usage chart shows usage for the last 24 hours or the last 10 days instead of the last 7 days.
Have you found other features in iOS 12 that we haven’t mentioned here? Make sure to let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for more coverage on the new features in iOS 12, macOS Mojave, tvOS 12, and watchOS 5.
Related Roundup: iOS 12
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Google reportedly plans to end involvement with Project Maven
Sundar Pichai
In April, more than 4,000 Google employees signed an open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai wanting out of what they term “the business of war.” Google senior engineers were among thousands of Google staff members who signed the letter, according to The New York Times. The letter requested the immediate cancellation of a specific military project and a more general policy statement about building technology for the military.
One month later, around a dozen Google employees have decided to resign as a form of protest over Google’s continued participation in the military project known as Project Maven. Those who are resigning cited ethical concerns in leveraging A.I. in drone warfare, as well as more general concerns about Google’s decisions in the political arena. Many of the employees who have chosen to end their tenure at Google have shared their rationales in a document that has been circulated internally at Google.
As Gizmodo reported, “The employees who are resigning in protest … say that executives have become less transparent with their workforce about controversial business decisions and seem less interested in listening to workers’ objections than they once did.” And while Google’s culture has often been described as open and honest, that seems to be shifting. As one resigning employee said, “Over the last couple of months, I’ve been less and less impressed with the response and the way people’s concerns are being treated and listened to.”
The open letter, which has apparently gone ignored by management, requested that Google immediately cancel its role in implementing Project Maven. The code name for a Department of Defense (DoD) Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (AWCFT), Project Maven is an artificial intelligence (A.I.) program currently under development. Maven’s purpose is to assess drone video footage, Gizmodo reported.
In response to these protests, Google has reportedly decided not to renew Project Maven though it will finish out current contract. Google has not made any formal announcements regarding this, though Reuters cited sources “familiar with the deal.” Previously, Google had defended the contract saying that Project Maven was being used for non-offensive purposes and would save lives.
Project Maven was established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the Pentagon in April 2017. A letter under Deputy Secretary of Defense letterhead date stamped April 26, 2017 states the DoD needs to “integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning more effectively across operations to maintain advantages over increasingly capable adversaries and competitors.”
The Defense Deputy Secretary’s announcement says the initial intended use of Maven is to to provide “computer vision algorithms for object detection, classification, and alerts” for tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), or drones.
Getty Images
The second, more general request in the Google letter, was that Pichai “draft, publicize, and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology.”
Participating in Project Maven will “irreparably damage Google’s brand and its ability to compete for talent,” the letter stated. Google is “struggling to keep the public’s trust,” the letter continued, while many fear “biased and weaponized A.I.”
The letter refers to a Google core value statement: “Every one of our users is trusting us. Never jeopardize that. Ever.” The letter’s signatories assert that the contract with the DoD directly opposes this core value and places the company’s reputation at risk.
Former Google CEO and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was the keynote speaker at the November 2017 Center for a New American Security Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Summit. Schmidt was asked about the relationship between tech companies, A.I. research, and national security.
“There’s a general concern in the tech community of somehow the military-industrial complex using their stuff to kill people incorrectly,” Schmidt said.
The letter to current CEO Pichai is evidence that at least for those who signed it, the general concern Schmidt mentioned is real and specific. Another letter has since been circulated, authored by over 90 academics in artificial intelligence, ethics, and computer science, who similarly asked Google to cease its work on Project Maven.
Updated on June 2: Google has reportedly decided it will not renew Project Maven.
Editors’ Recommendations
- Does Project Maven’s use of Google’s A.I. tech violate ‘Don’t Be Evil’ credo?
- DT Daily: Facebook deletes over a half-billion fake accounts
- Google co-founder’s letter focuses on the dangers and promises of A.I.
- Google eliminated that ‘don’t be evil’ motto
- Google Project Fi: Phones, Plans, Pricing, and Perks Explained
HTC U12 Plus vs. LG G7 ThinQ: Which powerful flagship prevails?
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
While we’re always the first to acknowledge excellence, it’s important to remember there are a lot of great phones out there that don’t have “Apple” or “Samsung” stamped on them. High on that list will almost always be the latest offerings from LG and HTC, and if you’re not keen on the latest iPhone or Galaxy flagship, then these companies are a great place to start. That’s especially true with the LG G7 ThinQ and the HTC U12 Plus.
Now, the question becomes which of these two should you buy? With powerful specs, great displays, and 2018-worthy designs, it can be hard to pick between the two. We’ve taken an in-depth look at both phones, so you know which one is best for you.
Specs
HTC U12 Plus
LG G7 ThinQ
Size
156.6 x 73.9 x 8.7 mm (6.16 x 2.9 x 0.34 inches)
153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm (6.03 x 2.83 x 0.31 inches)
Weight
188 grams (6.63 ounces)
162 grams (5.71 ounces)
Screen size
6-inch Super LCD
6.1-inch IPS LCD
Screen resolution
2,880 x 1,440 pixels (537 pixels per inch)
3,120 x 1,440 pixels (564 pixels per inch)
Operating system
Android 8.0 Oreo
Android 8.0 Oreo
Storage space
64GB, 128GB
64GB, 128GB
MicroSD card slot
Yes
Yes, up to 2TB
Tap-to-pay services
Google Pay
Google Pay, LG Pay (in South Korea only)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
RAM
6GB
4GB, 6GB
Camera
Dual 12MP and 16MP telephoto rear (both with OIS), dual 8MP lenses front
Dual 16MP (with OIS) and 16MP wide-angle rear, 8MP front
Video
Up to 4K at 60 frames per second, 1080p at 240 fps
Up to 4K at 30 frames per second, 720p at 240 fps
Bluetooth version
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0
Ports
USB-C
3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C
Fingerprint sensor
Yes (back)
Yes (back)
Water resistance
IP68
IP68
Battery
3,500mAh
QuickCharge 3.0 (4.0 with adapter, not included)
3,000mAh
QuickCharge 3.0 (4.0 with no adapter included)
Qi wireless charging
App marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store
Network support
T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon
T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint
Colors
Translucent Blue, Ceramic Black, Flame Red
Aurora Black, Platinum Gray, Raspberry Rose, and Moroccan Blue
Price
$800
$750
Buy from
HTC, Amazon
Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Project Fi
Review score
Hands-on review
3.5 out of 5 stars
Performance, battery life, and charging
With the brand-new and powerful Snapdragon 845 powering these devices, you’re likely to get similar great performance out of them. The U12 Plus has a small advantage with 6GB of RAM as standard, but the impact is likely to be minimal. Expect great performance from both in a variety of apps and games.
The G7 ThinQ’s 3,000mAh battery surprised us during testing, providing strong performance that belied its smaller capacity. It could easily manage more than one day on standard usage, and it’s unlikely to disappoint. We’ve not had a chance to fully test the HTC U12 Plus’ 3,500mAh battery yet, but we expect the extra capacity will prove to be a strong contender in this fight. There’s QuickCharge 3.0 support enabled for both right out of the box, with the option to attach a QuickCharge 4.0 adapter, if you have one. There’s wireless charging on the G7 ThinQ, but none on the U12 Plus, despite the glass back.
This is an exceptionally tough fight for us to judge. There’s a lot here that’s equal between the two phones. Without proper testing of the HTC’s battery life, we think the inclusion of wireless charging just ekes out the win for the G7 ThinQ.
Winner: LG G7 ThinQ
Design and durability
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
The LG G7 ThinQ boasts an extremely up-to-date design with a glass body, notched display, and bezel-less design — and while that’s a good thing, it’s also a little boring. While it’s a pretty enough phone, there’s not much here to differentiate the G7 ThinQ from the competition, and that’s honestly a real downside. In contrast, while the U12 Plus hits similar notes — bezel-less design and glass build — there’s enough of HTC’s unique touches to make it really stand out. The Liquid Surface design ethos that debuted last year is beautiful, and the Translucent Blue’s transparent back is stunning. There’s at least one major downside to HTC’s design choices — the death of the headphone jack started with the HTC U11 and it has not been resurrected here.
Durability-wise, you can expect similar performance from both of these phones. Both are water- and dust-resistant up to an IP68 rating, but with all that glass, you can bet you’re going to want a protective case for both.
Despite the lack of headphone jack, the U12 Plus’ improved design just barely puts it ahead of the G7 ThinQ.
Winner: HTC U12 Plus
Display
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
There are two great 1,440p screens on display here. The G7 ThinQ’s screen is the larger of the two, a 6.1-inch LCD display running a taller than average 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 3,120 x 1,440-pixel resolution. It supports HDR10, and comes with a boosted brightness mode for direct sunlight. LG refers to the area around the notch as the “second screen,” and you can turn it into black bars if you want to hide the notch.
The U12 Plus’ 6-inch Super LCD display has a more standard 18:9 aspect ratio, running a 2,880 x 1,440-pixel resolution. It’s not as sharp as the G7 ThinQ’s display, but we doubt anyone would notice the tiny difference between the two. We did notice that the U12 Plus’ display was slightly harder to see in direct sunlight though, and while we haven’t finished our full tests on the U12 Plus’ display, that leads us to suspect the G7 ThinQ has a slight lead here.
Winner: LG G7 ThinQ
Camera
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
The G7 ThinQ comes with a pair of 16-megapixel lenses — one standard, one wide-angle — and they provided some decent test images during our review. The wide-angle mode took some especially notable shots, but it’s let down by the low light performance, even with the Super Bright Camera enabled. The AI Cam does help in some circumstances, but on the whole, low-light performance is fairly disappointing. Still, the overall performance is solid.
We haven’t had a chance to really dig into the U12 Plus’ capabilities yet, but we’re hopeful. The phone has been awarded a high mark by camera tester DxOMark, placing it second only to the stunning Huawei P20 Pro right now, and the dual 12-megapixel and 16-megapixel telephoto lenses really seem to take care of business. We reckon the U12 Plus’ camera will be a surprise hit when we fully test it.
In terms of video, both are capable of 4K recording and slow motion of up to 240 frames per second — the U12 Plus can achieve 240fps at 1080p, while the G7 ThinQ is stuck at 720p.
Initial tests of the U12 Plus are strong, and we’re expecting it’ll do very well in our tests. It wins this round.
Winner: HTC U12 Plus
Software and updates
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
You won’t find pure stock Android on either of these phones, but they’re pretty close. The U12 Plus is the closest to stock Android, with the phone running on Android 8.0 Oreo, with a few HTC additions like Blinkfeed. The G7 ThinQ uses a slightly adapted skin over the top of Android 8.0 Oreo, but it’s still fairly close to a stock experience. Either way, no one with previous Android experience should have an issue with these quick and snappy interfaces.
You can bet your bottom dollar that both of these phones will be getting an eventual upgrade to Android P. However, HTC has generally been quicker with Android upgrades than LG, which wins the U12 Plus this round.
Winner: HTC U12 Plus
Special features
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
As befits premium flagships, both of these phones are chock-full of special features. The G7 ThinQ is part of the ThinQ brand, which means it’ll be able to talk with other LG devices with the ThinQ name. We suspect you’ll find some of the other features more useful though, with the amazing Boombox sound especially worthy of note, as is the dedicated button for activating the Google Assistant.
The U12 Plus also has its own special way of activating the Google Assistant — Edge Sense. The “squeeze-to-activate” feature from the HTC U11 is back, and it’s better than ever. HTC has added some new options in there, with the U12 Plus supporting single-edge squeezing. A double tap on either side will activate one-handed mode — a great idea on a phone this large. The U12 Plus also uses the Edge Sense sensors to detect how you’re holding your phone, so it’ll know whether to rotate your view based on how you’re holding it. The U12 Plus comes with HTC’s BoomSound for better sound quality.
In our eyes, the HTC phone has more special features that you’re likely to use day-to-day.
Winner: HTC U12 Plus
Price
The HTC U12 Plus is currently available for pre-order, and the base model will set you back $800. However, it’s only available on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon’s networks. The LG G7 ThinQ is now available for sale, with prices starting from $750. The G7 ThinQ is available from most carriers, with the exception of AT&T.
Overall winner: HTC U12 Plus
It was a hard-fought battle on both sides, but thanks to its fresh design, incredible camera, and special features, the HTC U12 Plus has come out the other end as the stronger phone. That’s not to say the G7 ThinQ is a bad choice, though — it’s got amazing power, some fresh ideas, and a super-sharp display, even if the design leaves a bit to be desired. But for our money, the HTC U12 Plus is simply the better phone of the two.
Editors’ Recommendations
- HTC U12 Plus vs. Galaxy S9 Plus: Clash of the plus-sized phones
- HTC U12 Plus vs. OnePlus 6: The new kids battle for supremacy
- HTC U12 vs Google Pixel 2 XL: Can HTC take out the stock Android king?
- OnePlus 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: Which big phone is better?
- LG V35 ThinQ vs. LG V30: Is the newer model worth the extra cash?
Take a VR journey to an exoplanet with NASA’s new ‘Travel Bureau’
NASA/JPL
NASA has opened a new Exoplanet Travel Bureau, a place where you can journey through the cosmos and imagine what it might be like to stand on the surface of an alien planet.
The website offers an intergalactic vacation in the form of interactive visualizations of planets beyond our solar system. No actual images of these planets exist, of course, but the artistic conceptions are based on observations from the Kepler Space Telescope.
The 360-degree visualizations are available for desktop or mobile devices, as well as virtual reality headsets.
Accompanied by cool retro-style travel posters, there are three planets to visit, with more on the way. The “nightlife never ends” on PSO J318.5-22, because it doesn’t orbit a star, but wanders freely through space. The latest entry, Kepler-186f, has a setting that lets you toggle atmosphere on or off.
“Because Kepler-186f and the majority of Kepler-discovered planets are so distant, it is currently impossible to detect their atmospheres — if they exist at all — or characterize their atmospheric properties,” said NASA scientist Martin Still in a blog post.
“Consequently, we have limited knowledge about what these distant worlds are really like, but these surface visualizations allow us to imagine some of the possibilities,” he added. “Current and future NASA missions, including TESS and the James Webb Space Telescope, will find the nearest exoplanets to our solar system and characterize their atmospheres, bridging the gap between speculation and what’s really out there.”
The Travel Bureau was designed by NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Although hundreds of potential exoplanets have been discovered so far, scientists arte particularly intrigued by those in the “Goldilocks Zone,” the orbit in a temperature range that could support liquid water and, possibly, extraterrestrial life.
The Kepler spacecraft, which trails the Earth in an orbit around the sun, has produced most of the exoplanet discoveries, but it’s out of gas and about to end its mission. However, the just-launched TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope are both specifically designed to search for exoplanets, and thousands of alien worlds await discovery.
Editors’ Recommendations
- NASA’s planet-hunting TESS satellite: What you need to know
- NASA’s planet-hunting satellite sends back its first image — and it’s amazing
- NASA’s planet-hunting deep space telescope is about to run out of fuel
- NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe might as well be walkin’ on the sun
- Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier
7 of the biggest scandals in tech history
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
The tech industry isn’t immune to scandal. With literally trillions of dollars at stake and the ability to gain access to people from all over the world for personal or political gain, that’s no surprise. But what are the biggest scandals to have shaped the history of high tech as we know it? While it’s tough to narrow it down to just a short list, here are seven of the most infamous.
Samsung’s disastrous Note 7
Think of how much it would cost to have airlines read out the name of your company’s latest flagship smartphone before every single flight. That’s the situation Samsung found itself in back in 2016. Unfortunately, it happened to be because the company’s Galaxy Note 7 phones had a tendency to explode, and were therefore banned from airplanes.
After news stories ranging from a Note 7 torching a family’s car to one causing the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines flight, Samsung made the decision to recall the disastrous handset at great personal expense. It tried reissuing a corrected version, but this also suffered from similar issues. In the end, Samsung took the phone off the market entirely and put out a software update to brick any surviving handsets.
To this day, the company’s reputation as a handset maker is suffering the aftereffects of the Galaxy Note 7 scandal.
The treatment of Alan Turing
Unlike many of the scandals on this list, the death of Alan Turing was tragically not officially recognized as such for many years. Turing, the genius World War II codebreaker, computer pioneer and grandfather of artificial intelligence, killed himself in 1952.
This followed Turing’s conviction for gross indecency after he was exposed as homosexual at a time when this was illegal in Britain. Turing was given the choice of prison or a painful chemical castration, and opted for the latter. He subsequently committed suicide at the age of 41.
In 2013, Turing was given an official royal pardon. It reads: “Now know ye that we, in consideration of circumstances humbly represented to us, are graciously pleased to grant our grace and mercy unto the said Alan Mathison Turing and grant him our free pardon posthumously in respect of the said convictions.”
The death of Aaron Schwartz
Along with Alan Turing’s story, the death of Aaron Schwartz is the most tragic scandal on this list. Schwartz was a computer programmer and copyright activist who committed suicide in 2013 after being charged with downloading large numbers of academic journal articles to make them freely available online.
Schartz’s punishment entailed a potential maximum of $1 million in damages and 35 years in prison. He was found dead after hanging himself in his Brooklyn apartment, a victim of one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the U.S. Justice Department.
Foxconn suicides
Foxconn, a Taiwan-based manufacturer which assembles the iPhone for Apple, was at the center of a 2010 scandal after a string of suicides at its Chinese factories. In the aftermath, it asked employees to sign “no suicide” pledges and erected external nets to break the fall of any would-be jumpers.
Although Apple is not the only company to use Foxconn for manufacturing, the scandal threatened to engulf the Cupertino tech giant due its role as the most prominent Foxconn client. In a rare misstep, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs made things worse when he defended Foxconn’s factories as being “pretty nice” and “not a sweatshop.” The comments made Jobs and Apple appear uncaring, as did his suggestion that, “We’re all over this.”
In the years since, Apple has continued to work to improve conditions in its supply chain. Nonetheless, the Foxconn incident was a reminder to many people about where exactly their beautiful shiny new devices come from.
Massive Yahoo data breach
From eBay to Anthem and Sony to Equifax, there have been a number of large-scale data breaches in the age of the internet. However, the one which looms the largest remains the 2013 Yahoo data breach of 3 billion (!) user accounts. The perpetrators of the massive hack haven’t ever been caught, although Russian spies were indicted for a later 2014 breach.
The fallout of the 2013 hack cost ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer her cash bonus and slashed the company’s value by hundreds of millions of dollars. But for most users the biggest takeaway was just how unsafe our data is in the era of ultra-connectivity.
Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
Hacking user accounts is one thing, but helping to hack democracy itself? That was the accusation leveled at Facebook following the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. While it’s no secret that Facebook tracks user data, the Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the alleged illegal data mining of as many as 87 million users on Facebook for political ends.
The media reported links with President Donald Trump’s presidential bid and the U.K.’s Brexit vote, which further fed fears about the way that technology can help shape opinions — often without us being aware of exactly how this is happening.
NSA spying
The worry that our tech may be spying on us surfaces every year or so when an Amazon Alexa erroneously records a conversation and sends it to another user or photos show that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taped over his laptop webcam.
The biggest piece of evidence that we really are being watched by our tech took place in 2013, however, with revelations about the way that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was carrying out global surveillance of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. Edward Snowden was the ex-NSA contractor responsible for the leaks, which were published in leading media outlets around the world.
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Can this explosion-proof AR headset change how industries do business?
Augmented reality (AR) hasn’t truly permeated the mainstream consciousness yet, but the technology is swiftly being adopted by global industries. It’ll soon be unsurprising to find a pair of AR glasses strapped to a helmet sitting on the heads of service workers, and RealWear, a company at the forefront on developing these headsets, thinks it’s on the edge of something big.
RealWear has worked to ensure its headsets are both well-designed and easy to use. Think Google Glass, but bulkier and attached to a hardhat or cap. It’s immensely useful technology that can help workers access digital data without using their hands, stream video back to another team member, or receive guidance during training periods.
Christian de Looper / Digital Trends
The latest version of its AR headset is called the RealWear HMT-1Z1, recently unveiled at Augmented World Expo (AWE) in California. It’s billed as the first “intrinsically safe” headset — which in layman’s terms means it’s explosion-proof.
Explosion-proof and designed for tight spaces
Perhaps the most important aspect of the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is its design. After all, the headset needs to be lightweight and comfortable to be adopted by industrial workers, and it must quickly get out of the way when the wearer doesn’t need it. The HMT-1Z1 is designed for tight spaces — it fits on standard hard hats, and while it does add a bit of extra weight and width to a helmet, it doesn’t extend anywhere close to the wearer’s shoulders — which means it should fit anywhere a human can fit.
There’s an arm on the side of the helmet that extends in front of the wearer’s eye, and it can be moved out of the way when it’s not in use. It’s here where a display is stored that workers will look at when they need visual information to help with the task at hand. RealWear said you can still use parts of the headset when you’re not looking directly at the display, which is why the camera is not directly attached to the arm (it sits higher up).
The whole thing reminds us a lot of Toshiba’s recently announced AR headset, which the company told us is as important as the laptop it invented back in 1985.
Christian de Looper / Digital Trends
Safety is a big deal in the industrial world. The headset is completely free from any sparks or micro-sparks that could result in disaster for certain hazardous environments, such as places with flammable gases, for example. Companies can begin to do away with those bulky, ruggedized tablets they’ve been carrying around factories and move to the HMT-1Z1.
Under the hood, the headset boasts a Snapdragon 625 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 3,250mAh battery rated for up to a hefty 12 hours of use, though that will depend on exactly what you’re doing with the headset.
Voice activation
What’s most impressive about the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is how you control it. There’s no touch-sensitive gestures you need to learn — it’s all managed with voice, and better yet, there’s no need for a hotword like “Hey Google.” The headset listens for certain commands. For example, from the home screen just say “show my files” to see files downloaded to the device, and you can go back to the home screen by saying “navigate home.” When you’re looking at documents — like schematics — you can say “zoom in” or “zoom out” to change focus. It worked almost flawlessly, even in a noisy environment like the AWE show floor.
That’s an important factor to consider. If you’re a worker repairing a factory component, you don’t want to have to mess around with physical controls, and you need to easily navigate through the software, which is based on Android. From each screen, there are a few voice commands you can give, and options are often numbered too, so instead of having to remember the names of things, you can simply select them based on their number.
The future of AR
AR has a place with businesses, and as RealWear explains, this interest will only grow as younger employees who grew up in the information age continue to join the work force. Some aspects of RealWear’s tech, we think, could very much be applied to consumer augmented reality in the future. It’s exciting to see the technology grow, and we can’t wait for AR glasses to trickle down further for consumers.
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Can this explosion-proof AR headset change how industries do business?
Augmented reality (AR) hasn’t truly permeated the mainstream consciousness yet, but the technology is swiftly being adopted by global industries. It’ll soon be unsurprising to find a pair of AR glasses strapped to a helmet sitting on the heads of service workers, and RealWear, a company at the forefront on developing these headsets, thinks it’s on the edge of something big.
RealWear has worked to ensure its headsets are both well-designed and easy to use. Think Google Glass, but bulkier and attached to a hardhat or cap. It’s immensely useful technology that can help workers access digital data without using their hands, stream video back to another team member, or receive guidance during training periods.
Christian de Looper / Digital Trends
The latest version of its AR headset is called the RealWear HMT-1Z1, recently unveiled at Augmented World Expo (AWE) in California. It’s billed as the first “intrinsically safe” headset — which in layman’s terms means it’s explosion-proof.
Explosion-proof and designed for tight spaces
Perhaps the most important aspect of the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is its design. After all, the headset needs to be lightweight and comfortable to be adopted by industrial workers, and it must quickly get out of the way when the wearer doesn’t need it. The HMT-1Z1 is designed for tight spaces — it fits on standard hard hats, and while it does add a bit of extra weight and width to a helmet, it doesn’t extend anywhere close to the wearer’s shoulders — which means it should fit anywhere a human can fit.
There’s an arm on the side of the helmet that extends in front of the wearer’s eye, and it can be moved out of the way when it’s not in use. It’s here where a display is stored that workers will look at when they need visual information to help with the task at hand. RealWear said you can still use parts of the headset when you’re not looking directly at the display, which is why the camera is not directly attached to the arm (it sits higher up).
The whole thing reminds us a lot of Toshiba’s recently announced AR headset, which the company told us is as important as the laptop it invented back in 1985.
Christian de Looper / Digital Trends
Safety is a big deal in the industrial world. The headset is completely free from any sparks or micro-sparks that could result in disaster for certain hazardous environments, such as places with flammable gases, for example. Companies can begin to do away with those bulky, ruggedized tablets they’ve been carrying around factories and move to the HMT-1Z1.
Under the hood, the headset boasts a Snapdragon 625 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 3,250mAh battery rated for up to a hefty 12 hours of use, though that will depend on exactly what you’re doing with the headset.
Voice activation
What’s most impressive about the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is how you control it. There’s no touch-sensitive gestures you need to learn — it’s all managed with voice, and better yet, there’s no need for a hotword like “Hey Google.” The headset listens for certain commands. For example, from the home screen just say “show my files” to see files downloaded to the device, and you can go back to the home screen by saying “navigate home.” When you’re looking at documents — like schematics — you can say “zoom in” or “zoom out” to change focus. It worked almost flawlessly, even in a noisy environment like the AWE show floor.
That’s an important factor to consider. If you’re a worker repairing a factory component, you don’t want to have to mess around with physical controls, and you need to easily navigate through the software, which is based on Android. From each screen, there are a few voice commands you can give, and options are often numbered too, so instead of having to remember the names of things, you can simply select them based on their number.
The future of AR
AR has a place with businesses, and as RealWear explains, this interest will only grow as younger employees who grew up in the information age continue to join the work force. Some aspects of RealWear’s tech, we think, could very much be applied to consumer augmented reality in the future. It’s exciting to see the technology grow, and we can’t wait for AR glasses to trickle down further for consumers.
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Apple has finally allowed a Telegram update to go through, CEO says
It’s been a couple months since Russia banned popular encrypted communication app Telegram across the country. And while you may think that such a ban would only affect Telegram users in the Kremlin-run nation, that hasn’t been the case. Rather, ever since the Russia-wide ban, Apple has allegedly blocked Telegram from making updates to its services. That is, until now. Apparently, Apple has finally given in and allowed the app to push through updates that make it compliant with the new GDPR privacy laws.
On Friday, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov tweeted to both Apple and its CEO Tim Cook, thanking both Twitter handles “for letting us deliver the latest version of @telegram to millions of users, despite the recent setbacks.”
Thank you @Apple and @tim_cook for letting us deliver the latest version of @telegram to millions of users, despite the recent setbacks.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 1, 2018
These setbacks first began in mid-April with the Russian ban on the app. The government noted that the app continually refused to give the Kremlin access to encryption keys that would grant the nation’s Federal Security Service (FSB) access to Telegram’s user data. Once this ban was implemented, it meant that American tech companies (including Apple) had to pull the app from their app stores. In fact, Russia apparently sent a letter to Apple just a few days ago ordering that the company remove Telegram from its offerings within the month, or face legal consequences.
But apparently, Apple has been giving Telegram grief since before the ban was put into place.
“Apple has been preventing Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally ever since the Russian authorities ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store,” Durov noted in a public Telegram message yesterday. “While Russia makes up only 7 percent of Telegram’s user base, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April.”
It seems that this message had its desired effect, as Apple has now apparently allowed the first iOS Telegram update in months.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Telegram’s woes are over. The company is still embroiled in a legal battle with the Russian authorities, and there’s no telling when Russian users will be able to access the app again. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as this story develops.
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