France fines Uber for illegal ridesharing
You may love Uber for enabling your wild drunken weekends, but there’s clearly no love lost between the ride-hailing app and the French government. After a slew of suspensions and protests, a French court has slapped Uber with an 800,000 euro fine (about US$900,000), claiming its UberPOP service caused “durable disruption” of the transport sector.
Uber plans to appeal the charges, and said it is “disappointed by this judgment,” as it stopped UberPOP service last summer. The “POP” portion of the company’s app uses cars owned and driven by non-professional drivers, while UberX and UberBlack employ professionals.
An Uber spokesperson said its service in France will not be affected, and that it currently uses more than 12,000 professional drivers to serve 1.5 million passengers there.
The Paris court has ordered Uber to pay 400,000 euros, suspending the other half of the fine barring further incidents. According to Reuters, Uber’s legal officer told the court that the company made a 500,000 euro profit in 2014.
Two Uber executives were also fined between 20,000 and 30,000 Euros each for what the court deemed to be deceptive commercial practices, being accomplices in operating an illegal transportation service, and violating privacy laws.
France isn’t alone in its crackdown on Uber. Cities in Australia, Italy and Spain have already declared the UberPOP service illegal. In London and the Philippines, however, Uber has become legal after facing similar fines and suspensions. Uber clearly still has an uphill battle in many other countries, but its success in those two regions suggest that its challenges are ultimately solvable.
Via: ArsTechnica
Source: Reuters
Engadget moved to HTTPS because we love you
It’s been a long time, we shouldn’t have left you… without a secure site to connect to.
Security is (or at least should be) top of mind for everyone who uses the internet. We can’t go more than a week or two without news of another breach that has compromised customer or user information. In such an environment, securing websites is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity. Which is why, after over a year of hard work by Engadget’s intrepid product team, we’ve made the switch to HTTPS.
But what does that mean? And, why should you care?
Let’s travel back to a simpler time. You’re in school, daydreaming about your crush sitting two rows in front of you, instead of listening to the insipid historical lecture spouting forth from your teacher’s face. You write a note meant to titillate and entertain that special someone, and have your classmates pass it your crush’s way. Your teacher sees this happening and intercepts the note. But instead of reading your witty and risque words (that would surely get you sent to the principal’s office), all teacher sees is a sheet of gibberish, thanks to the secret code you and the object of your desire share.
If the internet is history class, then you, dear reader are our crush (you look great by the way), and you can think of HTTPS encryption as our secret code. We want to make sure our notes reach you without anybody else being able to read them beforehand.
For a publication that writes a lot about technology, it’s important that we take steps to secure the ways that you connect to us, and HTTPS has really become online security 101. In other words, the least we could do in terms of security is encrypt the information we send and receive from you.
This is especially important to us as we continue to grow our user base. Currently, you can write product reviews, contribute stories to Public Access and comment on our stories. But we’ll be building more features and ways to interact with Engadget in the coming months, and we want to make sure that you can do so using a platform as secure as we can make it.
Twitter is experimenting with adding ‘Moments’ to your timeline
Twitter is testing adding Moments directly to your timeline. The feature that highlights trends and news items on the social network is appearing in a carousel post that can be swiped horizontally. While only an experiment right now, this early exploration of dropping into user feeds shows just how important the trending-topic element is to the company.
A small group of users in countries where Moments is already live (US, Canada, UK, Australia and Brazil), started seeing the test this afternoon on iOS and Android. The carousel of five topics appears similar to how ‘While You Were Away” works. The “Recommended Moments” box can be dismissed with a tap and appears less frequently the more you’re on Twitter. When a news item is tapped it expands to show you the event.
So far, the test has not shown up on Twitter.com.
Both the iOS and the Android apps already have dedicated Moments buttons. By adding the feature to user feeds Twitter is hoping to get more traction out its curated topics. The company is continually adding features hoping to make the service more attractive to new users.
When asked about the test a Twitter spokesperson told Engadget: “Moments are awesome for catching up with the latest stories unfolding on Twitter. Because we’re always working on new ways to bring the best content to our users, we’re experimenting with showing recommended Moments in the timeline.”
World’s first child-sized exoskeleton gets kids on their feet
The Spanish National Research Council, a.k.a. CSIC, has created a kid-sized exoskeleton designed specifically for children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. Because SMA causes a loss of motor neurons, the patient’s body starts to wither away to the point where many child patients end up bedridden and unable to walk. Built from aluminum and titanium, the 26-pound machine uses five assistive motors in each leg to actually help the child keep active and avoid further complications from immobility.
Those leg motors include sensors to detect “the slightest intention of movement,” and an onboard computer then follows the child’s steps to create the smoothest mechanical gait possible. Because children are constantly growing and moving, the whole setup is designed with telescoping supports that get taller with the patient.
CSIC’s “smart” approach is similar to the algorithm that SRI Ventures recently built into the Superflex soft exosuit, and with a little tweaking the algorithm could probably help extend the CISC suit’s five-hour battery life. Finally, the CISC is currently testing the exoskeleton with three child volunteers in Madrid and Barcelona, but in the U.S., Harvard engineers have teamed up with ReWalk Robotics to test and eventually market a similar, soft exosuit designed for adults with limited mobility.
Amazon reportedly working on a standalone music streaming service
CNBC is reporting that Amazon plans to launch a free-standing streaming music service, according to sources within the company. The as-of-yet unnamed service will reportedly launch in the late summer or fall, after the company finalizes its licensing agreements, and should cost $10 a month.
This move follows the company’s similar spinoff of Prime Video, which is available for $11 a month, and appears to be an effort by Amazon to diversify its subscription structure beyond Prime’s single annual fee. What’s more, this service will exist separately from Amazon’s current Prime music catalog
Though Amazon is already tardy to the streaming music party, the company could well steal a number of subscribers from both Apple and Spotify. Heck, Pandora’s shares have already dropped nearly 3 percent since this story first broke. Plus, the new Amazon service is expected to be tightly marketed alongside the company’s Echo speaker, which has been a breakout star for the company. The synergy between an Alexa-enabled Echo speaker and a streaming music service unencumbered by Prime’s hulking per year cost could prove a potent combination. It will be interesting to see how Google, which already offers an extensive streaming catalog and is currently working on an Echo of its own, will respond.
A third of the world can no longer see the Milky Way
If you never thought light pollution was a problem before, think again. New research claims that more than a third of humanity cannot see the Milky Way anymore, because artificial lights have made the night sky too bright to view the galaxy.
The study, called “The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.” claims that 60 percent of Europeans and almost 80 percent of North Americans can’t see the collection of stars and planets anymore. The planet has, according to the paper, been hidden behind a “luminous fog that prevents most of Earth’s population from having the opportunity to observe our galaxy.”
Singapore was deemed the most light-polluted country, and I am not surprised that my incredibly well-lit home country ranks so highly. San Marino, Kuwait, Qatar and Malta join Singapore on the list of places where people can’t see the Milky Way at all.
According to the researchers, light pollution causes myriad problems, from wasting money and energy, to a loss of biodiversity and culture. These problems can be “instantly mitigated (by turning off lights),” they say. This seems like a no-brainer, but the team is also proposing several bigger changes.
In addition to recommending people use the minimum amount of light for their tasks and strongly limiting blue light that interferes with circadian rhythms, the paper suggests installing shielding to prevent light from being sent at or above the horizon level.
If you live in one of the light-polluted regions and still want to see the Milky Way, consider trekking out to Chad, the Central African Republic or Madagascar, which the study says are the least affected. Or, if you don’t want to leave your desk, check out this giant zoomable image of the galaxy. You won’t have to turn off your lights.
[Image: Amr Dalsh / Reuters]
Via: The Guardian
Source: Science Advances
The NSA wants to spy on the Internet of Things
We already know the National Security Agency is all up in our data, but the agency is reportedly looking into how it can gather even more foreign intelligence information from internet-connected devices ranging from thermostats to pacemakers. Speaking at a military technology conference in Washington D.C. on Friday, NSA deputy director Richard Ledgett said the agency is “looking at it sort of theoretically from a research point of view right now.” The Intercept reports Ledgett was quick to point out that there are easier ways to keep track of terrorists and spies than to tap into any medical devices they might have, but did confirm that it was an area of interest.
When asked whether the entire Internet of Things — that is, everything from a kid’s WiFi enabled toy to someone’s biomedical device — would be a boon for the NSA or just a whole lot of digital noise to sift through, Ledgett replied, “Both.”
“As my job is to penetrate other people’s networks, complexity is my friend,” he continued. “The first time you update the software, you introduce vulnerabilities, or variables rather. It’s a good place to be in a penetration point of view.”
Earlier this year, the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also said during a Senate hearing that internet-connected devices could be useful for “identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials.” Clapper’s office did, however, follow up that statement with the caveat that, “information obtained from a refrigerator, a washing machine, or a child’s toy” is no substitute for access to terrorists’ actual communications.
WWDC 2016: MacRumors Readers’ OS X 10.12 Wishlists
At WWDC 2016 next week, Apple will unveil the next major versions of iOS and OS X. Based on Apple’s historic naming pattern, the operating systems are presumptively referred to as iOS 10 and OS X 10.12. However, there is evidence to suggest that Apple may instead rebrand OS X as macOS, in line with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
Ahead of the keynote, MacRumors readers have been sharing their iOS 10 and OS X 10.12 wishlists in our discussion forums. For OS X 10.12, some of the most popular feature requests include Siri integration, remote unlocking, Safari picture-in-picture capabilities, expanded Continuity and Handoff features, Mission Control and Notification Center improvements, a system-wide Dark Mode, and more.
Siri
Siri debuted in beta on the iPhone 4s in late 2011, and it has since expanded to iPad, iPod touch and, in a more restricted form, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Since then, Mac users have hoped that Apple will bring the virtual assistant to OS X, and the latest rumors suggest that may finally happen this year.
“This one is heavily rumoured for this year, and not without good reason,” writes MacRumors reader Joseph H. “It’s madness the personal assistant is not on Mac yet. There are tons of useful queries we could ask the assistant which could range from searching to launching and quitting apps to simply restarting the machine.”
We previously reported that Siri will have a menu bar icon on OS X 10.12, positioned next to the Notification Center toggle, along with a colorful dock icon. When either is clicked, a waveform will pop up to give users a visual cue that the virtual assistant is listening for commands, akin to holding down the Home button on iOS devices.
When a supported Mac is connected to a power source, users will be able to make hands-free “Hey Siri” voice commands, just like on the latest iPhones and iPads. OS X users will also be able to set a keyboard shortcut to activate Siri and configure other settings through System Preferences.
Many users also hope that Siri on Mac will have an option to provide feedback.
Remote Unlocking
A common item among OS X wishlists is the ability to unlock a Mac without typing a password, such as with Touch ID, facial recognition, or a trackpad pattern, and the functionality could be introduced as early as this year.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said that Apple’s next-generation MacBook Pro will feature Touch ID, but he did not specify if the fingerprint reader will be integrated into the notebook as a hardware feature.
We previously reported that Apple is working on an auto unlock function that would allow an iPhone, and possibly Apple Watch, to unlock a Mac when in close proximity, alleviating the need to enter a password on a password-protected Mac.
The feature, which uses Bluetooth LE frameworks, would likely work hand-in-hand with rumored Apple Pay support for web browsers. Remote unlocking could be introduced as part of OS X 10.12, but there is a chance that the function could be shelved until a later date if internal development is not completed in time.
Other
- System-wide Dark Mode: Apple introduced Dark Mode on OS X Yosemite in 2014, but when enabled it only darkens the OS X menu bar and Dock. A true system-wide Dark Mode would extend to windowed apps like Finder and Safari and all other elements of the operating system.
- Night Shift: Introduced on iOS 9.3, Night Shift is a feature that cuts down on the amount of blue light an iPhone or iPad is putting out during the evening hours by automatically shifting towards the warmer (yellower) colors in the spectrum. F.lux has provided similar functionality on Mac for several years, but many users are hopeful that Apple will introduce Night Shift as a stock OS X feature.
- Time Machine backups to iCloud: The application is currently only able to create physical backups of files.
- Dock: Right-click options for “New Window” and “New Private Window” even when Safari is closed. Ability to chose default behavior in System Preferences > Dock for folder clicks in Stacks, when using Grid and List view: to open the folder in Stacks or to go directly to Finder.
- Finder: A sorting option to have folders pinned to the top of file lists. Ability to view total size of multiple selected folders in “Get Info” menu.
- Notification Center: Display a notification badge in menu bar when new notifications are available. For example: Notifications (3). Set default Notification Center pane in System Preferences > Notifications.
- Mission Control: Close windows. View minimized windows. Switch to the Desktop by clicking on it in the background. Hide Safari’s Private Window contents.
- Continuity and Handoff: Transfer calls from iPhone to Mac.
- Window management: Change the green button to resize the window to the largest possible size with the Dock and Menu Bar visible. A separate button for full-screen view. Automatic window snapping. Native HyperDock functionality.
- Splitting up iTunes: Individual apps for Music, Videos, Podcasts, Books, and Sync.
- More stock apps: Apple News, Health, Phone, and Weather.
- Multi-display Dock: Make the Dock visible on all desktops for users with multiple displays.
- Text size options: A slider function to increase or decrease text sizing in apps such as Contacts and Mail.
- Systemwide support for more languages: Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, and others
- Native Caffeine functionality
- Front Row app replacement
- Expanded codec support for QuickTime
Read more about the features people are hoping for in OS X in the dedicated OS X 10.12 wishlist thread on the forums.
The new version of OS X or macOS will be unveiled alongside iOS 10, and possibly new tvOS and watchOS versions, on Monday, June 13 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. The event is set to kick off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Related Roundup: WWDC 2016
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Philips Hue Starter Kit From Stringify
For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Internet of Things platform Stringify to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Philips Hue white and color ambiance starter kit to use with the free Stringify app. [Direct Link]
Stringify is a pretty popular home automation app that’s able to link together a long list of Internet-connected devices and apps, connecting products like the Nest Thermostat, Hue bulbs, and Fitbit with apps like Dropbox, Slack, Twitter, and Yelp.
Basically, Stringify is a centralized app for controlling all of your home products and automating a huge variety of actions. If you’ve ever used IFTTT, Stringify is similar to that, but it’s more powerful because it can connect to a lot more devices. It’s an app that tells your devices “when this happens, then do this.”
Most people are probably familiar with the Philips Hue at this point, but if you’re not, it’s a line of Wi-Fi connected bulbs that are linked together via a HomeKit-enabled hub. The starter kit we’re giving away includes a hub and three color bulbs, which can turn any color or any shade of white.
Stringify uses “flows” to link devices together to perform specific tasks. With Stringify and the Philips Hue, it’s possible to set up complex flows involving timers and location that aren’t available with the regular Hue app. Flows can also be used to get the Philips Hue to work with other connected home products, like the Nest. Some examples:
- On weekday evenings at 11 and location is at home, turn bedroom Hue lights on, set a timer, and fade off both lights.
- Every weekday between 5pm and 7pm, turn on Hue lights when leaving work.
- At 5:30 a.m. on weekdays, turn on Bedroom Hue lights, send a message with a weather report, and set the Nest thermostat to 62 degrees.
Creating flows between home products and apps is done through a simple drag and drop interface that makes it easy to set up the desired effect. With the Hue lights, there are a huge number of triggers that can be used for actions in Stringify, based on parameters like time, weather, location, and more.
Want to set a trigger to turn on the lights whenever a new story is posted on MacRumors? That’s possible. Want the lights to turn blue whenever rain is forecasted? That’s also possible. There are a near endless series of triggers and events you can set up with the Hue, and there’s even more you can do if you own multiple Stringify-compatible products.
Stringify can be downloaded immediately and used with the products you already own, but Stringify also has a Philips Hue Starter Kit to give to one lucky MacRumors reader. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.
You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (June 10) at 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time on June 17. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 17 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
Tags: giveaway, Stringify
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WWDC 2016 Decorations Going Up at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Ahead of Monday’s Keynote Event
Apple today began decorating the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, which is where the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote will be held on Monday. Crews have started putting up window decorations, and rainbow-colored flags, and as the weekend progresses, we should see additional banners and signage.
This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference website, app, and media invites have all featured a simple but colorful dark theme, and it’s likely signs and banners will adopt the same aesthetic.
Image via Instagram
Decorations have not yet started going up at the Moscone Center, where the rest of the conference will take place. Apple typically starts decorating Moscone West on Tuesday or Wednesday during the week ahead of WWDC, but an event that took place at the venue through Thursday may delay decorations until later today.
A photo posted by thaiboe1 (@thaiboe1) on Jun 10, 2016 at 12:04pm PDT
This year’s keynote event will feature the debut of iOS 10 and OS X 10.12, along with new versions of watchOS and tvOS. We may hear more details on Apple’s App Store changes, and we could see updates to some services, like Apple Pay. For full details on what to expect, make sure to check out our WWDC roundup.
Apple will provide a live stream of the WWDC keynote on the Apple TV and on iOS and Mac devices through its website. MacRumors will also provide live coverage of the event for those unable to watch, both on MacRumors.com and through our MacRumors Live Twitter account.
Related Roundup: WWDC 2016
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