Twitter Launches ‘Birdwatch’ to Fight MisInfo; Biden-Government Fleet to Go EV; Future Apple Watch May Measure Blood Sugar; Hyundai Trials Showroom Robot Assistant

Twitter has rolled out ‘Birdwatch,’ which it says is ‘a community-based approach to misinformation.’ According to TechCrunch.com, Twitter has launched a pilot version via the Birdwatch website. From a post by Twitter VP/Product Keith Coleman, the goal is to expand beyond the labels that the company already applies to controversial or potentially misleading tweets, which he suggested are limited to “circumstances where something breaks our rules or receives widespread public attention.” Users can sign up on the Birdwatch site to flag Tweets they find misleading, ad context via notes and rate notes from other contributors, based on helpful/not helpful. It appears that Twitter intends to incorporate the notes into the main Twitter experience after a trial run. 

President Biden ha pledged to replace the US government fleet of almost 650,000 vehicles with electric models as soon as possible. Reuters.com notes that, in a speech this week, he talked specifically about American built products and referred to cars in particular, and how the government would be changing metrics to ensure that cars assembled in the US were really made from more than half US parts. It could cost $20 billion or more to replace the whole fleet, and the president didn’t give a time frame. Right now, the US fleet burns 375 million gallons of gas and diesel, and the government spends some $4.4 billion on upkeep, so an electric fleet would be cheaper in the long run. Biden has also pledged to build out 350,000 EV charging stations.

A report is out that Apple plans to include blood sugar measurements as a banner feature on the next iteration of the Apple Watch. 9to5mac.com says this would be a huge plus for millions of people, and could really explode the use of the Watch. All rides right now on the accuracy of the watch’s readings. Millions of diabetics would love to give up finger sticks, or a device on their shoulder that a smartphone reads (which has a needle stuck in your arm all the time). It is expected that Apple won’t release the feature unless it is accurate enough. The current latest models read blood oxygen, as well as ECG measurements (dating back to series 4.) It is thought that the blood sugar measurement feature might be available on current Apple Watches, too…as they can already measure blood oxygen. This could be huge for Apple Watch and for diabetics….who need to stay on top of their sugars all the time. 

Hyundai has unveiled a cute little robot assistant dubbed DAL-e, to assist customers who are iffy about other human interaction due to the pandemic (or maybe otherwise!) Engadget.com reports, the little robot is being piloted in a Seoul showroom. The name is an acronym for ‘Drive you, Assist You, Link with you-experience.’ It has facial recognition, and can detect when someone has entered the showroom not wearing a mask, and advise them to put one on. It is allegedly programmed with ‘smooth dialogue,’ and has a touchscreen on the top of its head. The little robot has 4 wheels and can accompany a customer all around the showroom, or lead them to the service department. If it pans out, you could see DAL-e robots in other Hyundai and Kia showrooms around the world.