Ashley Madison settles charges over its massive data breach

Ashley Madison is paying the price for the hack that exposed the info of 36 million customers, and we don’t just mean through executive departures. The owners of the cheat-on-your-spouse site, Ruby Corp, have settled charges from both the US Federal Trade Commission and 13 states alleging that it both misled users and didn’t do enough to protect their info. The actual fine is small — Ashley Madison was intended to pay a total of $17.5 million, but can only afford to pay just over $1.6 million. However, the reforms may go a long way toward solving some of the underlying problems that led to both the breach and shady business practices.

The settlement demands a “comprehensive” data security program that includes periodic security risk assessments (both internal and third-party) and “reasonable safeguards” against any potential attacks identified in those reports. Ashley Madison also has to be more truthful. It can’t offer fake users, display bogus security awards or retain data from customers despite promising to wipe it clean. That last point is a sore one — the site charged $19 for a “Full Delete” that supposedly eliminated all traces of your account, but hackers managed to get that info regardless.

Australia and Canada (Ashley Madison’s home turf) have reached their own settlements, in part through data shared from the FTC.

It’s doubtful that the penalty will change minds about Ashley Madison, at least not in the short term. It’s been over a year since the July 2015 hack, and it will take a while longer to find out how well the infidelity site honors regulators’ demands. Still, it brings a basic level of closure to those burned by Ashley Madison’s willingness to play fast and loose with the truth.

Source: FTC, New York Attorney General

Lucid Motors unveils its 400-mile range luxury EV

After a few sneak peeks during the LA auto show, Lucid has finally ripped the camouflage off its luxury electric sedan: the $100,000-plus Air. The luxury vehicle is taking aim not only at Tesla’s Model S but also traditional gas-powered cars like the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The company is expected to start production in 2018 at its Arizona factory.

Today’s event showed both what the luxury car looks like as well as its battery pack — the largest in the automotive world. The standard Air comes with a 100 kWh battery, the same as what Tesla currently uses in the Model S, but Lucid also plans to offer a 130 kWh option. According to the automaker and its energy partner Samsung SDI, that car has a range of 400 miles per charge.

The company said the Air will fill the luxury, sports car and commuter needs of drivers. When it comes to power, each electric motor outputs 600 horsepower. That powertrain has been integrated with the HVAC and suspension system in the front of the vehicle. The rear wheels get the same set up with an integrated transmission, motor and suspension. By pacing everything together, CTO Peter Rawlinson said the car has more seating capacity since everything is pushed to the edges of the car.

All those motors are pushing a combined 1000 horsepower with a zero to 60 MPH of 2.5 seconds. The Air is also autonomous-ready with short and long range radar, cameras and Lidar. Some of those self-driving features will be available at launch but most will be added later via over-the-air updates. Of course, the tech doesn’t stop there. Like most luxury cars it also has a companion app. It also uses voice control like the Amazon Echo or Siri to control aspects of the inside of the car.

Naturally, the Air is a luxury car with the price to match. Lucid says a well optioned model will cost more than $100,000 but that an $65,000 model will be produced in the future.

Source: Lucid Motors

New MacBook Pro Users Report Improved Battery Life on macOS 10.12.2

Apple released macOS 10.12.2 yesterday with stability improvements and fixes for several key bugs, including major graphics issues plaguing some late 2016 model MacBook Pro users. What the changelog did not mention is that Apple also removed the “time remaining” battery life indicator following an increasing number of battery life complaints, likewise among new MacBook Pro users.

A new MacBook Pro on macOS 10.12.2 with a 99% charge and an estimated 9 hours and 21 minutes of battery life remaining
What it may have also failed to mention is that macOS 10.12.2 appears to have led to battery life improvements for some users. A growing number of MacRumors forum members using the new MacBook Pro claim to be experiencing longer battery life after updating to macOS 10.12.2, despite experiencing less-than-desirable battery life while running macOS 10.2.1 just days earlier.

Many of the users using battery apps like coconutBattery have noticed their new MacBook Pro’s battery is discharging with lower wattage, and if accurate, the lower power consumption would certainly lead to longer battery life.

MacRumors forum member lobo1978 — edited slightly for clarity:

Ok it is official. macOS Sierra 10.12.2 fixed my battery. I am up back to 9-10 hours of regular use. Before updating, idle power consumption was not going lower than 6 watts. On macOS Sierra 10.12.2, it is now MacRumors forum member JohnnyGo:

Before the update was getting 7-9 hours with 50-60% brightness. Now getting >10 hours with 70-75% brightness with the same workload (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on of course).

At least a dozen other users have reported similar results since yesterday after upgrading to macOS 10.12.2.

While the user reports are worth acknowledging, they remain anecdotal and reflect only a small subset of new MacBook Pro users. It remains to be seen if Apple actually made battery life optimizations in the latest macOS Sierra update; if it did, however, Apple could be choosing to do so quietly as to not confirm that battery life issues were actually a problem for some users.

Apple officially says the new MacBook Pro is rated for up to 10 hours of battery life. Specifically, its tech specs page says all new 13-inch and 15-inch models are capable of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge.

Following the release of macOS Sierra 10.12.2, Apple told The Loop that, after a lot of testing, it stands behind the 10 hour battery life advertised.

As more user reports surface, we should be able to see if the alleged battery life improvements are circumstantial or part of a larger trend.

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Here’s how the Galaxy S8 can dethrone the Google Pixel

It wasn’t long ago that the Galaxy S7 was the top dog but now it’s all Pixel. With the Galaxy S8 only a few months away, here’s how Samsung’s upcoming flagship can regain the throne.

Pixel, Pixel, Pixel. That’s all anyone seems to talk about these days, but with the demise of Samsung’s latest, the Galaxy Note 7, is it really all that surprising? The phablet was supposed to be the blockbuster follow-up to the Galaxy S7, but it ended up being a fire hazard.

Joking aside, the Note 7 debacle couldn’t have come at a worse time. Google’s smartphone is now the shining star — have you seen our end of the year lists? — so Samsung’s next device has quite a bit to live up to. Here are a few features Samsung should consider for the Galaxy S8 to give it that je nais se quoi the Pixel’s managed over its predecessor.

Leave the headphone jack alone

This rumor about Samsung dropping the headphone jack is coming in hot. But as The Verge’s Nilay Patel wrote late last week, if Samsung decides to make this design decision for the Galaxy S8, it’ll make its next flagship definitively “user-hostile.”

The lack of a headphone jack will alienate a huge subset of Samsung’s users, not to mention it will be detrimental to those who commute daily on public transit. After all, there’s nothing worse than riding the bus with a dead pair of headphones because you forgot to charge them — or bring the adapter.

Meanwhile, both the Pixel and Pixel XL have retained the headphone jack, which Google joked was a “satisfyingly not new” key feature of its latest device during its launch event.

Better camera performance

Galaxy S7 (left) / Google Pixel (right)

This has been a phenomenal year for smartphone cameras, especially when compared to year’s past. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and its extended family have managed to stay at the top of the crop, though the Pixel’s 12-megapixel rear-facing sensor has definitely got a bit of an edge over Samsung’s equal resolution.

First off, the, um, pixels of the Pixel’s camera sensor are actually bigger than the Galaxy S7’s— 1.55µm compared to the Galaxy S7’s 1.4 µm. Second, there isn’t as much post-processing going on behind the scenes when you’re shooting with the Pixel, as exhibited in the photo comparison above. Photos shot with either of the Pixel variants tend to have more dynamic range, and thus more malleability when it comes to changing exposure or applying a filter after the fact.

Samsung should follow suit by tweaking the algorithm in the Galaxy S8 so that the contrast and saturation of the photos it snaps aren’t so exaggerated. And even though it already offers so many intriguing camera features, it could offer a leg up by borrowing some of the iPhone 7 Plus’s telephoto camera techniques. Have you seen portrait mode on the iPhone? We’re not usually ones to covet features from our Apple-wielding brethren, but our Instagram photos would look so much better.

Compelling software

Samsung was definitely on to something with its Grace UI, which came standard with the Note 7. Unfortunately, some Galaxy S7 users are still waiting for their software update, and what’s out now doesn’t include the Pixel’s major selling point: Google Assistant. This is the latest iteration of Google’s virtual assistant and it works in tandem with a variety of Google products, including Home.

The Galaxy S8 could offer its own compelling AI to prop it up — one that isn’t as limiting and as propriety as S Voice. Fortunately, there are already rumors that Samsung’s acquisition of Viv will play a huge role in how Samsung approaches artificial intelligence and it extends beyond just answering the same questions as Siri and Cortana. Viv’s capabilities could help Samsung devices become more simplified and contextual. What that means is not entirely clear yet, but there are rumblings it has something to do with “Bixby.”

More bragging rights

Isn’t it fun to brag about a feature your phone has that your friend doesn’t? For the Pixel, that’s Google Assistant and its offering of unlimited Photos backup. For the Galaxy S8, it could be something as simple as bringing back the iris scanning technology that went away with the Galaxy Note 7. It was pretty neat, made better by the fact that it actually worked.

Recent rumors have also pointed to the possibility of an optical fingerprint sensor, which would give the Galaxy S8 another bit of that gadget oomph the regular ol’ Pixel doesn’t have.

Your turn

What feature does the Galaxy S8 really need to separate itself from the Pixel? Bezel-free screen? Faster charging? A coffee machine? Let us know in the comments!

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Twitter is making the Periscope app less relevant than ever

Good news for people who live for likes!

Twitter has announced that it is integrating live streaming directly into its core app on Android and iOS, negating the need to download Periscope separately, something it has been encouraging since it acquired the company nearly two years ago.

In a blog post, Twitter said, “Starting today, you can create and Tweet live video from the Twitter app, powered by Periscope. To go live, compose a Tweet, then tap ‘LIVE’ which brings you to pre-broadcast screen where you can frame your shot. When you’re ready, press ‘Go Live’ to start broadcasting.”

Users were already able to live stream from Twitter, but it would require downloading the Periscope app separately; it’s been possible to watch live Periscopes from within the core Twitter app for some time.

We’re making it easier for you to share what’s happening in your world. Now you can #GoLive on Twitter!https://t.co/frWuHaPTFJ pic.twitter.com/Xpfpk1zWJV

— Twitter (@twitter) December 14, 2016

How to sign up for Amazon Prime

Prime Video is just one of several reasons to sign up for Amazon Prime.

With Prime Video now available in over 200 countries, now’s a good time to consider signing up for Amazon Prime. Prime subscription is available in the U.S., UK, Canada, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and Spain. If you subscribe to the annual membership — which varies from $7.5 to $99 — in any of these countries, you get free access to Prime Video, as well as a slew of other benefits.

Amazon offers a 30-day free trial, so you have ample time to check out all the offerings and see if you’re comfortable shelling out the yearly subscription fee. Here’s how you can sign up for Amazon Prime.

How to sign up for Amazon Prime

Go to the Amazon Prime signup page.
Tap Start your 30-day free trial.

Sign in to your Amazon account.

Don’t have an Amazon account? Hit Create a new Amazon account.
Add your payment method and tap Continue.

Tap Start your 30-day free trial.

Once you’ve signed up, make sure you set a reminder to cancel the service before the 30-day trial runs out.

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Wynn Las Vegas puts an Amazon Echo in every hotel room

A tough of artificial intelligence is coming to your luxury room.

The Wynn and Encore hotels in Las Vegas, known as some of the most luxurious in the city, are getting a technology upgrade this month when they install an Amazon Echo in every single hotel room across the two properties. That’s a total of 4748 Echos, which will enable voice control of various actions in the hotel room.

Guests will be able to talk to their Echo to control their lighting, room temperature, audio and TV. Wynn Resorts says that future developments will bring additional functions to rooms, including basic “personal assistant” style features. Obviously to start off things will be more limited, so this won’t be a full Echo experience to match what you can get today at home with a truly personalized Echo tied to your Amazon account.

The rollout will begin in both Wynn and Encore hotels starting this month for suites and eventually hitting every single room by summer 2017.

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