Google Assistant is getting a sense of humor from ‘The Onion’
As Google Home gets closer to launch, the AI assistant is not only getting smarter, but also a little more friendly and — hopefully — a whole lot funnier. As the Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Mims notes in a piece about friendly AI like Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, Alphabet’s big play for the space includes hiring up comedy writing alumni of Pixar and The Onion.
While none of the major AI assistants on the market today or coming soon are truly “artificial intelligence” (that is: the device itself doesn’t actually understand the conversation) people have a natural tendency to form an emotional connection with the little robot voice in the kitchen speaker. So, subtle improvements like a witty joke or unexpected bit of humor can go a long way to improving the user experience, especially as voice and conversation becomes the interface itself. Although Siri and Alexa already have a few jokes in their repertoire, they tend to be pretty bad and definitely don’t have quite the same punch as the topical humor of “America’s Finest News Source.”
Since Amazon and Alphabet’s endgoal is to get Alexa and Google Assistant into any connected device within earshot, then it’s good to know those devices will at least have a sense of humor about listening to us humans 24 hours a day.
Via: CNET
Source: Wall Street Journal
Olloclip’s new lenses attach quickly to your iPhone 7
Now that there are new iPhones with revised cameras, many smartphone photographers are going to want new Olloclip lenses. Thankfully, they’ve arrived… and Olloclip didn’t just tweak the connectors and call it a day. Its new Core, Active and Macro Pro lens sets not only have improved optics (“premium multi-element coated glass,” Olloclip says), but an improved interchangeable lens system. Called Connect, it separates the frame on your phone from the lens housings. This lets them quickly attach to and align with your iPhone’s camera, even if you have a screen protector. You should spend less time swapping lenses and more time shooting, in other words.
The lenses themselves aren’t a revolution, but they’ll cover most of your photographic needs. The $100 Core Lens kit includes fisheye, 120-degree wide-angle and 15X macro lenses that prioritize flexibility above all else. You can get it with a protective case for $120. The $80 Macro Pro set includes 7X, 15X and 21X lenses for extreme close-ups, while the $120 Active Lens bundle includes both a 2X telephoto lens and a 155-degree ultra-wide lens to capture those outdoor adventures.
You can pre-order all of the lens kits today ahead of the planned early November launch. You may want to choose your lenses carefully if you have an iPhone 7 Plus, however. There’s no mention of taking advantage of the Plus’ longer-range secondary camera — you’re not going to combine that extra zoom with Olloclip’s other optical tricks.
Via: Mashable
Source: Olloclip (PR Newswire)
Apple Watch Banned From U.K. Government Cabinet Meetings Over Hacking Fears
Government ministers in the United Kingdom have been banned from wearing the Apple Watch to cabinet meetings over fears the device could be hacked, according to The Telegraph.
Several cabinet ministers reportedly wore the device to meetings while serving under former Prime Minister David Cameron, however new PM Theresa May has apparently banned the smartwatches over fears that they could be used by Russian spies as listening devices. One source told The Telegraph: “The Russians are trying to hack everything.”
The Verge notes that the Apple Watch has been banned from Australian cabinet meetings as well. An advisor for the Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull said that more attention needed to be paid to communications security as an increasing number of devices, from glasses to running shoes, offered internet connectivity.
The bans follow serious concerns over the potential reach of clandestine state-sponsored hacker groups, after U.S. officials pointed the finger at Russian hackers following the release of confidential emails from the Democratic National Congress during the U.S. election.
Russian hackers have also been implicated in the release of private medical files of some of the world’s most famous athletes. Smartphones have also been barred from the Cabinet because of similar worries that the devices could be used to listen in on meetings.
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New York’s busiest railways now accept Apple Pay
New York has been in the process of rolling out a mobile solution for the Metropolitan Transit Agency’s super-busy Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad lines over the summer, and this week the app was updated with support for both Apple Pay and Mastercard’s Masterpass payment systems. With that addition, the app appears to be feature complete: you can use it to basically any flavor of ticket for those MTA lines, including one-way, round trip and monthly passes.
Surprisingly, New York is a bit ahead of schedule here. Originally, the MTA eTix app wasn’t going to be fully ready to go until the end of 2016. But earlier this summer, the MTA said that it was accelerating its mobile ticketing rollout, with “full system-wide implementation” scheduled for the end of August.
That should certainly make things easier for customers of the LIRR and Metro North — they’re the two busiest commuter railway systems in the country. Of course, we’re still waiting for mobile payment and ticket options for most subway systems, but we’ll take what we can get in this traditionally slow-moving industry. While these updates only apply to the iOS app, Android users can also use the MTA eTix app on their phones — they’ll just have to put in their credit card details the old-fashioned way.
Via: 9to5mac
Source: Mastercard
Apple’s $120M patent victory over Samsung reinstated on appeal
Once again, the tables have turned in the Apple vs. Samsung patent saga. Back in February, a US circuit appeals court overturned the $120 million victory awarded to Apple way back in 2014, claiming that Samsung didn’t infringe on patents for swipe to unlock and an quick-link feature that turns information like addresses or phone numbers into links. But here we are six months later, with a different federal appeals court reinstating the case’s first decision awarding $120 million to Apple.
In an 8-3 decision, the new judicial panel found that the three judges presiding over the first appeal acted incorrectly by taking information into account that wasn’t in the first trial and ruling on issues never brought up on appeal, according to The Verge. But by reinstating the case’s first ruling, they also maintained that Apple pay Samsung $158,400 in damages for infringing on a video and gallery patent.
Developing…
Via: The Verge
Source: Bloomberg
The FBI wants to crack another iPhone after Minnesota stabbings
The FBI and Apple might be headed for another fight over the case of a locked phone. Last night, FBI special agent Rich Thorton confirmed that the agency is trying to crack an iPhone belonging to Dahir Adan, a 20-year-old Somali immigrant who stabbed 10 people in a Minnesota mall last month. Per Wired, Thorton said the bureau was already sifting through some “780 gigabytes of data from multiple computers and other electronic devices,” but unlocking Adan’s phone could shed valuable light on why he did what he did and help figure out who (if anyone) helped him on his path.
But cracking the phone isn’t a matter of course — the FBI’s currently weighing its “legal and technical” options to get inside the unspecified device. A lot of the FBI’s work here depends on what kind of iPhone they recovered, too — the introduction of iOS 8 two years ago meant not even Apple could decrypt the contents of a locked device running that software.
“Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data,” the company wrote in 2014, referring to photos, messages, contacts and more. “So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.”
Still, that didn’t stop the FBI cracking from iPhone 5c owned by Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters who killed 14 people in late 2015. The road to that crack was a winding one — the FBI originally pushed Apple for support to unlock the iOS 9-powered device, and got court orders compelling the company to assist. Apple resisted, but the FBI ultimately found a way to crack Farook’s iPhone without Apple’s assistance, a move that apparently cost the bureau a tidy sum. At the time, FBI director James Comey said he hadn’t decided if the bureau would reveal that crucial backdoor to Apple out of concerns it would be closed.
While the FBI might still have that particular ace up its sleeve, the process of sifting through Adan’s data might be way more difficult. Farook’s iPhone 5c lacked the secure enclave that was baked into newer models with the A7 chipset and beyond. It’s unclear at this point how much progress the FBI has made — only time will tell if it’ll try to force Apple to help somehow, or how Apple will response if the government comes knocking.
Source: Wired
Apple and Spotify start streaming unofficial mixes
Earlier this year, both Spotify and Apple inked deals with Dubset for unofficial mixes, one of SoundCloud’s most popular services. As Techcrunch reports, the first of those is now streaming, a DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeff remix from Anderson .Paak. Dubset’s MixBANK system automatically scans samples to find original copyrighted materials, and pays artists, labels and publishers where appropriate. That tech allowed Spotify and Apple to clear the legal hurdle and start playing remixes.
With the top two streaming services carrying remixes, that will give DJs more publicity and sampled artists more royalties. For a sense of how popular this is, Dubset CEO Stephen White tells Techrunch that 700 million people listen to mixed content a month. At this point, multi-song DJ mixes that can carry your party through the night still aren’t available, but White says they’re “coming next” to Apple and Spotify.
Twitter recently invested $70 million in SoundCloud, and Spotify is reportedly in the process of buying the struggling streaming service. The Dubset deal means that SoundCloud no longer has an exclusive on remixes, but it still has a lot to offer Spotify — artist demos and rough track cuts often appear on the service ahead of commercial releases, for instance.
Source: Techcrunch
Does anyone want to buy Twitter?
At the end of September, the list of reported potential suitors for Twitter included Apple, Disney, Google and Salesforce. Based on new reports from Recode and CNBC, it sounds like none of those companies are interested in buying the social network at this point. Recode’s sources indicated this week that Google wasn’t preparing to make a bid and that Apple wasn’t likely to do so either. It followed that up with a report that Disney, after exploring a potential proposal, wouldn’t move forward with an official offer. Twitter’s shareholders surely aren’t happy about those big names withdrawing interest as the company’s stock fell 9 percent yesterday.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff downplayed his company’s interest in Twitter during an interview with CNBC yesterday as well. The chief executive said that while he considers a lot of potential acquisitions, he ultimately decides to pass on most of them. Benioff didn’t comment specifically on Twitter, but noted that “it’s in our interest to look at everything.”
According to Reuters, Twitter wants to wrap the sale process by October 27th, the day it’s scheduled to announce its Q3 earnings. That news follows a Bloomberg article that detailed the internal battle at Twitter over the potential sale, including that CEO Jack Dorsey is reportedly holding up the process because he wants the company to remain independent. Twitter does have some untapped potential on top of its social network and newly cemented live video push, but it looks like getting a deal done before the end of the month may be a lot harder than it seemed just a week ago.
Search ads show up on Apple’s App Store
While we’ve known for months that Apple would start placing adverts in App Store search results, only a small percentage of iPhone and iPad users have seen them so far. From today, however, all device owners running iOS 10 in the US will see targeted apps whenever they search for popular terms like “taxi,” “to do” and even “Pokémon” on Apple’s app marketplace.
Should you search for a common keyword that Apple has allowed advertisers to target, the App Store will show the familiar app card — detailing its name, developer rating and price — but sponsored listings will show a light blue background and a small badge labelled “Ad.”
When Apple SVP Phil Schiller first confirmed that developers could influence the visibility of their apps, the company wanted to be “fair to developers and fair for indie developers,” allowing smaller studios with limited budgets to make their creations more visible to the hundreds of millions of iOS device owners.
Apple continues to reinforce the claim that its Featured sections are “not for sale,” so this could be seen as a fair compromise. The company follows Google, after the search giant introduced a similar feature in May 2015. It now remains to be seen how closely Apple’s marketing teams will monitor the placement of apps so that users aren’t shown spoofed apps or are tricked into downloading a third-party app purporting to be the real deal.
As VentureBeat points out, Pokémon Go already has a clone called Catch ‘Em sitting in the paid top spot. However, the real app is listed below, so just be sure to double-check before you download anything.
Via: The Verge
Source: Venturebeat
RIP, third-gen Apple TV
The Apple TV of old — the one that doesn’t have a tiny, Siri-enabled remote, or any desire to play games — is no more. As MacRumors reports, the third-gen hardware is no longer listed on Apple’s site, all but sealing its fate. Maybe you’ll see one in a brick-and-mortar store — but consider it a hanger-on. A remnant of the past, before tvOS and its fancy new apps were introduced. 9to5Mac has obtained an Apple email, sent out to employees and education partners, confirming the decision to kill the ageing hardware. From here on out, it’s all about the new, fourth-gen Apple TV.
Via: The Verge
Source: MacRumors, 9to5Mac
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