3 Lens iPhone Cam; Amazon’s Massive R&D Spend; Facebook Bounty For Dev Data Misuse

Posted: April 10, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not from a blue-chip reliable source like KGI Securities, but there’s a rumor from Economic Daily News that Apple will have a 3 lens iPhone in 2019. 9to5mac.com notes that Huawei already has a triple lens smartphone, the P20 Pro. The Huawei phone has a 40MP RBG sensor, a 20 MP black and white sensor and an 8 MP ‘telephoto.’ In Apple’s case, the source claims the iPhone will have 12MP lenses, and will have a 5x optical zoom…up from 2x on the present top line phones. Here’s hoping this is true…I use the optical zoom probably more than any other camera feature!

Amazon smoked other tech giants in research and development last year, with $22.6 billion. Geekwire.com reports that Alphabet (Google) dropped $16.6 billion on R&D, Intel spent $13.1 billion, Microsoft $12.3 billion, and Apple $11.6 billion. Facebook popped into the top 10 for the 1st time at $7.8 billion. A lot of Amazon’s R&D budget went into its cloud computing…Amazon Web Services, with Alexa also gobbling up a substantial amount.

In its ongoing effort at damage control, Facebook has launched a bounty program to smoke out misuses of data by app developers. According to zdnet.com, the program will be similar to their bug bounty program, and will offer financial payouts to users who spot valid instances of data collection that violate Facebook’s revamped data policies. Bounties can go as high as $40,000!

Posted: April 9, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Facebook is going to provide some of its data to elections researchers selected by a new panel of experts. Ahead of Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress this week, axios.com says the outside experts will “develop a research agenda about the impact of social media on society — starting with elections.” A group of private, blue chip foundations will pay for the effort. (Frankly, Facebook should reimburse them, with all the money they make!)

As rumored over the weekend, Apple has rolled out Product (RED) iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models today. According to theverge.com, preorders open tomorrow, the 10th, and the phones should start shipping on Friday the 13th…ooh, scary. The price is the same as other colors, starting at $699 for the 8 and $799 for the Plus.

Earlier in the year, Tesla registered new VINs that correspond to dual motor Model 3s. As reported here last week, the company is now producing more than 2000 of the smaller model per week now. Yesterday, Elon Musk Tweeted that they need to hit 5000 per week before adding the complexity of a 2nd motor. He then sent out a follow up Tweet saying ‘So probably July.’ the added motor will increase both the acceleration and extend the range of the Model 3. That is also when they will add white interiors…at the present, only black upholstery is available.

Word is, Spotify has been working on hardware for cars…either an in-car controller or standalone player. Now, engadget.com reports that some people have received offers for such a device, with plan pricing from $12.99 to $14.99 a month…when they clicked on the offer in the Spotify app, an error page popped up. A few sharp eyed users said their offer noted the gadget had built in 4G cellular. Spotify does have an event April 24th…maybe we’ll get more info at that time.

Apple News- Phone Screens & New AI Head; Facebook Privacy Standards; Parallel Reality Tech ‘Magic Pixels’

Posted: April 4, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple is reportedly working on some wild ideas for future iPhones. Bloomberg.com reports that two ideas Cupertino is pursuing include touches gesture control, and curved screens….but different from those of Samsung. The control feature would let users interact in some ways by moving a finger near the screen, without actually touching it. This possible feature is a couple years away, if they go through with it. The curved screen curves inward gradually from top to bottom. There was no info on how this type of curve might help the user.

Apple also lured away Google’s Chief of Search and Artificial Intelligence. John Giannandrea will oversee Apple’s machine learning and AI strategy, and will report directly to CEO Tim Cook. One major item on his to-do list: Make Siri work better!

The word is out that Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress next week, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data mess, and the Android phones tracking calls and texts. Now, we’ve all heard that Facebook was putting in new privacy standards, which it should. The bad news? According to 9to5google.com, the gold standard privacy protection European Union users will get WON’T be extended to the US! The social media giant only says they will do something ‘in the same general direction.’ Facebook has made it easier to remove apps, though. You could always do this, but had to jump through hoops. Now, you merely click each app you want to remove, and hit the Remove button to delete them.

A Redmond, WA company has given a peek into the future of what they’re creating, and it’s pretty amazing. Misapplied Sciences was started by former Microsoft and Disney geniuses. Geekwire.com says the tech will…for example…allow you to be walking along in an airport, look up at the screen to find your gate, and only see YOUR gate info! Others walking along will only see their info. There’s no smoke, but mirrors are involved in what they call ‘parallel reality’ display technology. They have developed a ‘multi’view’ pixel, which can send different colors of light in up to millions of directions. No goofy looking (sorry, Disney) goggles or glasses are required!

Apple Working On Own CPUs for Macs; Cheaper Google Pixel 3; Tesla Model 3 Production Scramble; Facebook Adds HD Video and 360 Degree Photos to Messenger

Posted: April 3, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Just as Intel is rolling out i9 and updated i7 chips, comes word that Apple is working on Macs that run its own CPUs. Arstechnica.com reports that Apple could be shipping computers running its own processors by 2020, but it will take a serious rewrite of the MacOS. On the plus side, the Apple designed chips will use less juice, increasing battery life on MacBooks, and developers will be able to publish apps that run on both the MacOS and iOS for mobile devices. Apple is thought to be treading carefully in this, and would continue to use Intel CPUs for a time, as developers still need to build apps that run on Intel processors, and they would not want to take a huge hit to the App Store if developers balk at non-intel processors.

Google is apparently going to have 3 models in the Pixel 3 lineup pater this year. According to bgr.com, one will be a more affordable model. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news? The cheap model may only be available in India and similar markets, and not here in the US. As a mid range device, it would also lack features most smartphones offer as standard…specifically, the other two Pixel models. The lower priced Pixel 3 could hit the market in July or August. No date range for the two higher line Pixel 3 phones yet…or pricing.

By now, Tesla was supposed to be cranking out 2500 Model 3s per week. They are still falling short, but are now producing 2000 per week, so at least have gotten into the ballpark after a number of production hiccups. Theverge.com says Elon Musk claims to be sleeping at the factory until they hit the 2500 number. Tesla has promised to be building 5000 per week by later the end of the 2nd quarter, as they try to clear the backlog of orders and deposits still numbering several hundred thousand. The continued misses, have spooked Wall Street and the stock has dropped 22% in March.

Facebook is trying to put on a happy face in the wake of all the negative news about privacy. The social network’s newsroom has announced that Messenger will now be able to handle 360 degree photos and panoramic shots, as well as HD quality, 720p videos right from the camera roll of smartphones. They note you will need to download the latest software update to Messenger to get the new features.

Amazon & Retailer Store Automation; Saudi Prince in the Valley; Cloudflare’s Privacy DNS; Tesla Updates Model 3 Autopilot

Posted: April 2, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Now that Amazon has opened Amazon Go, their checkout-less brick and mortar store, retailers are going into overdrive to automate stores. Some are turning to robots to help assess and maintain stock, but a big push is to eliminate the check out wait, which frustrates shoppers. Of course, that will make it quicker and more convenient for shoppers, who can just scan items with their phone apps, to have the tab hit their debit or credit card upon leaving, but it also endangers between 30 and 50% of the world’’s retail jobs if auto check out were to be fully implemented….that’s according to the World Economic Forum. Another issue to deal with is protection of customer data. There was another reminder of this over the weekend, as Lord and Taylor and Saks disclosed that data for 5 million customers’ cards had been stolen.

What could possibly close one of the toniest hotels in Silicon Valley for a week? The official story says the need to accommodate ‘a large VIP delegation,’ at the request of the State Department. Most observers say is is very likely the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, and his entourage. Through the 7th, neither rooms nor any of the Four Seasons Silicon Valley facilities will be available. In New York last week, a $200 billion memo of understanding was signed with the Prince and SoftBank for investment in solar power in the Saudi Kingdom. Will a giant deal come out of the visit to the Valley this week? Stay tuned, as they say. F

Cloudflare launched what it calls a ‘privacy first’ consumer DNS service yesterday, which they promise will speed up your internet connection, and perhaps more importantly, keep it private. It’s Https://1.1.1.1, and Cloudflare claims it is ‘the internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service.  DNS- or Domain Name System- services work behind the scenes to convert the google.com name and all the rest into a real IP address that the routers and switchers of the internet can understand.

Tesla has addressed one of the biggest knocks to the Model 3…the autopilot controls. The automaker has moved the controls to the steering wheel, so drivers don’t have to take eyes off the road for a glance over to the center display, and reach across. With just a software update, however, drivers can now adjust the Autopilot’s cruise speed and follow distance via the steering wheel scroll buttons. The autopilot system can still be accessed through the central display if a driver prefers. The Model 3 is even more software intensive than the bigger Model S. 

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