iPhone 12 Production-Delay by Month; Facebook Messenger Rooms; UPS- Drone Rx Deliveries; Teslas React to Stop Lights

A number of reports have indicated that the iPhone 12 will be delayed…notably by reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Now, the Wall Street Journal joins Kuo in saying the phones will be delayed by a month. The WSJ goes on to say that the mass production delay may not mean the rollout date will also be delayed. In the past, Apple has shown phones that weren’t widely available until late October or even early November….but it has generally only been one model…others have been dropped around a week and a half after the rollout presentation. The Journal also says Apple has cut build estimates for July-December by as much as 20%.

Everyone wants to get in on the popularity of Zoom, which in spite of the terrible reports of ‘Zoombombing’ and other security flaws…which Zoom says are now fixed…continues to be the most popular video mass-conferencing platform. Now, theverge.com reports that Facebook is rolling out a suite of new products to expand chat capabilities. Messenger Rooms is a tool for starting what they are terming ‘virtual hang outs,’ where up to 50 people can be in on the chatfest, and friends can drop in whenever they like. Facebook has also doubled the capacity on WhatsApp video calls from four to eight, added video calls to Facebook Dating, and is adding new live streaming features to both Facebook and Instagram. More than 700 million people are now making calls on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp every day, so the push into more video is no small potatoes. Messenger Rooms Should be available worldwide right now.

As contactless delivery accelerates with the pandemic driving us to ‘social distance,’ UPS is getting ready to deliver prescriptions in partnership with CVS in part by autonomous drones. According to engadget.com, at first the drone will drop off the Rx at a pickup location, then a driver on the ground will take them the last mile. The process could begin in The Villages, Florida in May! UPS has previously tested transporting meds by drone in North Carolina. They say they have successfully completed 3,700 flights.

Tesla has started pushing out a software update that allows vehicles to recognize and respond to traffic signals and stop signs in properly equipped cars. Techcrunch.com says the feature had been available to a small set of Tesla vehicles, but now a larger chunk of the fleet will have the new abilities. Only cars with the most recent Hardware 3 package and fully optioned Autopilot (the one called ‘full self-driving’) will get the new features. With the software, the vehicle will indicate an intention to slow down as it approaches a regulated intersection. It will then duo so, and stop at a red line on the driving visualization on the center display. Owners will need to pull the Autopilot stalk once or manually hit the accelerator to proceed through the stop line. Tesla says the software will be very conservative at first, but over time will learn from the fleet. Besides the stopping, they have added stop lights, stop signs, and select road markings on the center screen. Tesla cautions that the new feature is NOT a substitute for an attentive driver stopping the car.

Google Ad Verification; 2021 Apple Macs Will Get Custom ARM Chips; Tesla Adds Heavyweight Board Member; Workplace Rolls Out New ‘Draft For’ Feature

Google is now requiring all all advertisers to complete a “verification program” in order to buy ads on its platforms, including Google Search, YouTube and its display ad network. The search giant previously rolled out a verification program for political advertisers. Cnet.com says Advertisers will need to submit information that proves their identity and the country where they operate. People will start seeing this info in “Why This Ad?” disclosures starting this summer. Annual revenue for Alphabet is more than $160 billion, and roughly 85% comes from ads.

Apple is set to release its first Mac based on a custom ARM chip next year, according to Bloomberg. Apple is working on a range of chips aimed for future Macs. The first Apple-designed chip will apparently be based on a 5-nanometer fabrication process, and feature 12 CPU cores: 8 high-performance cores and 4-efficiency cores. Apple’s own chips are widely expected to best Intel’s current lineup in performance, and the addition of more cores will certainly help achieve that. The 12-core chip will be “much faster” than the A13 chip currently found in Apple’s latest iPhones and iPads.

Tesla just added the chief investment officer of Japan’s $1.5 trillion government pension fund to its board of directors. According to Businessinsider.com (Hiro) Mizuno, most recently served as the chief investment officer of Japan’s $1.5 trillion government pension fund, the largest pension fund in the world, which owns roughly $874 million worth of Tesla stock. Before that post, Mizuno worked in finance roles in New York, San Francisco, and other global business centers. This year, the company’s board will be reduced to just seven directors.

Collaborative enterprise solution Workplace from Facebook has introduced several new features, including ‘Draft For,’ which lets administrators select individual employees to draft posts for executives to publish in an internal company social network. Venturebeat.com says if executives approve of the post, they can review and publish the post under their name. Facebook says the changes are geared toward helping people work remotely as people around the world practice social distancing to combat COVID-19.

iPhone Bug; Hackers Weaponize COVID-19; AT&T Expands 5G Footprint; Zoom Boosts Security

Apple will patch a newly discovered iPhone vulnerability that security researchers say hackers have already used to steal data from their victims’ devices. Techcrunch.com says the bug is in the iPhone’s default Mail app. By sending a specially crafted email to the victim’s device, an attacker can overrun the device’s memory, allowing the attacker to remotely run malicious code to steal data from the device. Worse, the bug doesn’t require any user interaction on the latest version of iOS 13. A fix will be rolled out in an upcoming update. Until then, high-risk users should disable the Mail app.

From hawking fake vaccines and stolen masks to phishing attempts designed to take advantage of the pandemic, the internet has seen coronavirus-related scams and attacks skyrocket over the past few weeks. According to mashable.com, Google’s Threat Analysis Group released a report, saying it has specifically identified attacks targeting U.S. governmental workers and health agencies, phishing emails going after employees working from home, and fake charity solicitations, and more than a dozen of the hacker groups were state-sponsored-like ‘Charming Kitten’ out of Iran!

AT&T is dramatically ramping up the rollout of its 5G network to new markets. The carrier is nearly doubling the availability of its low-band 5G network, bringing it to 90 new areas starting today. 9to5mac.com reports that with today’s expansion, the low-band 5G network is now available in over 190 markets, according to the carrier, covering more than 120 million people. The added markets include Sacramento, Chico, Redding, and Yuba City. AT&T plans to reach nationwide coverage of its low-band 5G by sometime this summer.

Zoom promised a 90-day feature freeze to fix privacy and security issues, and the company is delivering on some of those promises. Theverge.com says A new Zoom 5.0 update is rolling out this week that’s designed to address some of the many complaints that Zoom has faced in recent weeks. With this new update, there’s now a security icon that groups together a number of Zoom’s security features. You can use it to quickly lock meetings, remove participants, and restrict screen sharing and chatting in meetings. Zoom is also now enabling passwords by default for most customers.

Google Assistant Sensitivity; Snapchat Use Gets Big Increase; Facebook Algorithm Squashes Fake Accounts; Amazon Looks at Ring Facial Recognition

Google is starting to “roll out gradually” a feature allowing you to customize voice detection sensitivity on Google Assistant devices, a spokesperson confirmed to The Verge. Although the feature has not been widely released yet, the “‘Hey Google’ Sensitivity” feature displays a slider that allows you to increase or reduce the sensitivity with which Google Assistant devices pick up the command “Hey Google.” The new setting is meant to decrease accidental activations of your Assistant.

With more users stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, Snapchat has more users than ever. Engadget.com says Snapchat gained 11 million users during the first quarter of 2020, a significant uptick from the 8 million it added last quarter quarter, and well ahead of the company’s expected growth. It now has 229 million daily active users, up 20 percent from last year. Like other social networks, Snapchat has seen a surge in usage in recent weeks, but CEO Evan Spiegel says that not all the extra growth is due to the coronavirus. They have also grown programming consumption with Snapchat Discover.

Facebook engineers, in a blog post, describe an algorithm — SybilEdge — that detects fake accounts that evade Facebook’s anti-abuse filters at registration time but that haven’t friended enough people to perpetuate abuse. According to venturebeat.com, The goal is to mitigate the accounts’ ability to launch attacks against other users. An analysis from Oxford found that 33% of people have seen some form of misinformation about COVID-19 on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Amazon subsidiary Ring, which has partnerships with almost 1,200 law enforcement agencies nationwide, does not currently include facial recognition or license plate scanning tools in its home surveillance line of consumer products. Arstechnica.com reports that The company appears to be evaluating adding both tools… raising additional privacy concerns. Potential new features for Ring include options for enabling or disabling the camera both physically and remotely, both visual and audible alarms to ward off “would-be criminals,” and potential object, facial, and license plate detection.

Fandango Buys Vudu; Netflix Android ‘Screen Lock’; Electric Co’s Look to AI; iPad Pro Delay

Movie ticketing company Fandango has agreed to buy Walmart’s on-demand video streaming service, Vudu, for an undisclosed sum. Techcrunch.com says the video service reaches more than 100 million living room devices across the U.S., including smart TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles and other over-the-top streaming devices, as well as Windows 10 and Mac computers, and iOS and Android mobile devices. To date, the Vudu app on mobile has been installed more than 14.5 million times. As a part of the agreement, Vudu will continue to power Walmart’s digital movie and TV store on Walmart.com.

It can be frustrating-to put it lightly- to accidentally tap a button and mess up playback when watching Netflix on your phone. Now, Netflix is rolling out a new feature for Android devices that tries to prevent that. This new feature, which 9to5Google spotted, lets Android users avoid accidental touches when using the Netflix mobile app. A “screen lock” option will now appear at the bottom of your screen after you start watching a TV show or movie. Enabling screen lock will stop the button prompts, helping to prevent you from stopping playback or accidentally enabling subtitles.

With the shelter in place due to the coronavirus, the shift has strained the utilities supplying power to the nation’s electrical grid. According to venturebeat.com, U.S. electricity use on March 27, 2020 was 3% lower than the prior year, a loss of about three years of sales growth. The rise in household electricity demand won’t offset reduced business electricity demand, because residential demand is just 40% of the total. Some utilities are now employing AI to ensure that operations aren’t interrupted in the coming months, thereby preventing blackouts and brownouts.

Last week, analyst Jeff Pu told investors that the rumored high-end ‌iPad Pro‌ may be delayed until early next year due to the device’s “complex panel design.” Macrumors.com reports that Apple originally planned to launch the device in the fall, but has given up on meeting this roadmap because of the outbreak. Back in December, before the global health crisis took hold, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was developing up to six Mini-LED products, including a 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌. The iPad Pro with LIDAR that just launched looks like it will be the standard bearer for the rest of this year.

Tesla Updates Powerwalls; Facebook- New Game Streaming App; Uber Revives Goods Delivery; Amazon-Thermal Cams for Warehouse Employee Fever Checks

What happens if you have a Tesla Powerwall, and there’s a power outage and the battery pack has to juggle the needs of both your home and your EV? Engadget.com reports that Tesla has released a software update that will coordinate with the company’s cars to prioritize charging during power outages. Charging will slow down if there’s a high load in your household during the outage, and will even stop entirely if the Powerwall dips below an “energy threshold.” The feature is currently available to North American owners who drive a Model 3 or Model Y.

Twitch and YouTube don’t have much competition when it comes to streaming platforms for the gaming community, but Facebook wants to change that with a new dedicated mobile gaming app. The verge.com notes that Facebook initially had a number of games in their main app from the likes of Zynga. Facebook’s gaming app will largely curate and focus on the streaming community, although it will also highlight casual games that people might play online already, including Words with Friends. The app, which is set to be introduced today on Android, then on iOS devices once “Apple approves them.”

Uber is reviving an attempt to offer deliveries of goods as well as people and food, as it searches for new sources of revenue during the coronavirus outbreak.
Its latest effort to transport items ranging from medical supplies to pet food via two new services, Direct and Connect, follows a recently accelerated push into online groceries. Financial Times says Uber has cautioned that its new logistics services may not outlast the current lockdown if the car-booking service cannot run the operations profitably.

Amazon has started to use thermal cameras at its warehouses to speed up screening for feverish workers who could be infected with the coronavirus, according to Reuters. The cameras in effect measure how much heat people emit relative to their surroundings. They require less time and contact than forehead thermometers, earlier adopted by Amazon.Cases of the virus have been reported among staff at more than 50 of Amazon’s U.S. warehouses.

Bezos Calls for Global COVID-19 Testing; Google Slowing Hiring; Facebook Warns Users Re Interacting With Fake COVID-19 Info; Apple-Modular, High-End Noise Cancelling Headphones

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has called for testing everyone regularly for COVID-19, and not just his own employees, as the effort begins to bring the world back to work and some intermediate step towards normalcy as we wait for a vaccine for the virus. Geekwire.com reports that Bezos made the virus and response to it the main topic of his annual letter to shareholders. He noted how the company has been adapting to the crisis, and also how Amazon has seen the extent of how people depend on the company. Bezos feels that there needs to be regular testing of people, even those showing no symptoms, as we move to get the economy back up and running. People who test positive would be quarantined and those who aren’t could continue working without fear of constantly being exposed to the virus. Bezos ended the letter quoting Dr. Seuss: He quoted Dr. Seuss to end the letter: “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.”
“I am very optimistic about which of these civilization is going to choose,” Bezos said.

Google has said that it will slow hiring for the rest of 2020, and will adjust its investments in areas like data centers and marketing…all due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to theverge.com, the info came out in an email from CEO Sundar Pichai to employees, which was obtained by Bloomberg. The Verge got this from Google when they inquired: “We’ll be slowing down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people who’ve been hired but haven’t started yet.” Google had hired 20,000 in 2019, and had planned on a similar number of hires in 2020. Microsoft is also temporarily ratcheting back hiring a bit due to the epidemic. As we reported earlier, Facebook will still tack on an additional 10,000 this year, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Google drops back to a similar number.

Facebook will start notifying users if they have liked, reacted, or commented on COVID-19 misinformation that has since been removed. Engadget.com says that the alerts will appear in a person’s news feed, and will include links to COVID-19 myths debunked by the WHO. The alerts should start popping up in the next few weeks. The effort will be similar to the bogus pages run by the Russian troll farm called the Internet Research Agency. There will also be notices posted when users search for vaccine related content, and referrals to the WHO and CDC for actual, credible information. In March, Facebook displayed warnings on about 40 million posts related to COVID-19. Facebook claims that on flagged posts 95% of users didn’t go ahead and view the fake content.

Apple has been rumored to be working on pricey noise-cancelling headphones…bearing the Apple brand and not Beats. Now, techcrunch.com reports that the noise-cancelling ‘cans’ will use tech like the AirPod and AirPod Pro ear buds have…and more. They will apparently be made with interchangeable parts that will allow some moddiing with custom accessories. They may have some different headbands and ear cups for workouts as opposed to long term wearing, for example. They will apparently have a ‘retro look,’ stealing from such brands as Master + Dynamic…which already makes high-end, noise-cancelling headphones with Bluetooth and replaceable ear cups. As previously reported, Apple will continue to market the Beats brand as a separate line of headphones. An FCC filing points to imminent release of an updated PowerBeats Pro fully wireless in ear sport headphone.

New 4.7 Inch iPhone SE; Washington Sate Sues Facebook Over Political Ads; Google-Emergency Fund for Local Journalism; Zoox Settles Lawsuit With Tesla

Apple has unveiled the expected smaller, cheaper iPhone. Macrumors.com reports the new iPhone SE has a 4.7 inch display, A13 Chip, and Touch ID. Best of all, it starts at $399 with 64 gigs of memory. The color selection is limited…black white, and (Product) RED. You can order your new SE starting this Friday, and it will be available at Apple Authorized retailers beginning April 24th. It does just have a single camera, but the Apple cam software should give you very good pictures considering that…it will support Portrait mode and Smart HDR.

The state of Washington has sued Facebook for violating its state political ad law. According to geekwire.com, this is the second lawsuit by the Washington Attorney General against Facebook for violating a law that requires any entity selling political ads to maintain a publicly available database of those ads and details on who purchased them. The first one, in 2018, was settled when the social network paid a $238,000 fine. The state also settled a similar suit against Google at that time. The new lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims Facebook sold ads to at least 171 political committees in Washington state, generating at least $525,000 in revenue. Those findings come from investigations by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and attorney general’s office. The ad disclosure law has been on the books in Washington state since the 1970’s.

Google is creating a Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to help support local newsrooms around the world. News departments had already been scuffling along when the coronavirus hit, causing ad revenue to evaporate. Venturebeat.com says Google is pointing to the fact that local news has become even more vital amid the widespread lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. Even though revenue has dropped, readership, listenership, and viewership is up notably as people seek out the latest virus info in their own area. Google hasn’t said what kind of cash they are pouring into the fund, but a similar one has been started by Facebook, which pledged $100 million. Local news organizations have until April 29th to apply for relief to the Google fund.

Self-driving car startup Zoox has settled a lawsuit with Tesla. According to reuters.com, the startup admitted some new hires poached from Tesla brought along certain Tesla documents. Tesla had alleged that the employees stole proprietary information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics and inventory control operations. Zoox is required to pay an undisclosed amount in the settlement agreement, and also get an audit to ensure no employees have retained or are using confidential Tesla information.

Facebook Blocked Nutty 5G Conspiracy Groups; Amazon Stock Hits All-Time High; Google Designed Chips Coming to Pixels; Ford Patent App To Sniff Out Stinky Rideshares; Half Million Zoom Accounts Sold on Dark Web

Facebook gets rapped frequently…and often appropriately…for not policing their platform to clean up lies, fake reports, and conspiracies, but here’s a case where they jumped right in and blocked a couple of nutzo conspiracy groups. Businessinsider.com reports that the two anti-5G groups had users that were using conspiracy theories that 5G cellular radio waves caused the coronavirus. The groups were “Stop 5G UK” and “Destroy 5G Save Our Children,” were open for anyone to join and had thousands of members. The ‘Stop 5G UK’ group was also pushing the drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for coronavirus. The drug is not proven as an effective treatment. This group had already gotten up to 60,000 members, while the other one had 2500 when shut down. Two 5G cell phone towers in Britain had been set on fire by anti-5G groups in the past week, and members of one of the groups were openly discussing more plans to attack 5G towers. Anti-5G activists believe that 5G radio waves harm humans. But radio waves are low energy compared to other types of radiation, and Cancer Research has concluded that neither 4G or 5G cause cancer. A note about radio waves…viruses don’t travel on radio waves, nor do radio waves weaken your immune system so the coronavirus can sicken or kill you.

While the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the markets and business, one particular business has done quite well…Amazon. As we reported yesterday, they are looking for another 75,000 employees to add to the 100,000 they tacked on last month. Geekwire.com says that this morning, Amazon stock was up over 4%, and hit a record price of $2262 per share. The online giant is now valued at $1.1 trillion! According to a survey by analysts at Jefferies, Amazon was the only online retailer that saw consumers increasing their spending since the pandemic hit. Amazon will be reporting 1st quarter earnings later this month, and there could be a major ‘virus bump’ in the figure!

Google has apparently been working with Samsung on its own silicon. According to 9to5google.com, axios got some details on the project, that appear to make it more than a rumor. One is the code name….’whitechapel.’ The chips could appear in Google’s flagship smartphones by next year, and after that find their way into Chromebooks. The Google designed chip would have an 8 core ARM processor, as well as hardware “optimized for Google’s machine-learning technology” in part “dedicated to improving the performance and “always-on” capabilities of Google Assistant.”

Not all patent applications ever see the light of day, and here’s an unusual one from Ford. Cnet.com says earlier this month, Ford filed one that would let you see…in addition to the usual info about ride sharing vehicles, if there are any smells that might irritate or offend you. An example they gave was that…say you are allergic to pachouli, and the driver is an old head who wears that scent. You would want to avoid that car. Ford apparently would use an environmental sensor to pick up and determine the nature of the smell in the car, then compare the odors and their concentrations to a list of thresholds set by the ride-hailing customers. Whether it’s pungent cologne or food smells, that might bug you or set off an allergy, an interesting idea.

Zoom just can’t buy a break. Getting too big too fast with all the working at home, more bad stuff keeps creeping out. Now, according to bleeping computer, over 500,000 Zoom accounts are being sold on the dark web and hacker forums for less than a penny each…some are being given away for free! The credentials are scooped up via credential stuffing attacks where threat actors attempt to log into Zoom using accounts leaked in older breaches. Successful logins are compiled into lists and sold to other hackers. The net is, change your password and use a unique one if you are going to continue to use Zoom!

Apple- iPad Style Chassis for iPhone 12; Tesla Still Plans Robotaxis This Year; Amazon to Hire 75,000 More; Big Tech Hiring Aggressively

Apple is still planning a Fall hardware release. As has been reported earlier, the 4 iPhone 12 models will have flattened stainless steel edges, as opposed to the present rounded ones. The top models will have LiDAR scanners like the top iPad. Appleinsider.com also reports that there will be a new HomePod, weighing in at about half the size of the present one…at a welcomed lower price point! The oft-rumored Air Tags? A new tip says they will be sold with a keychain and a leather sleeve. While the iPhones and the rest may be delayed past September due to the coronavirus, they are all still expected this Fall.

Paging Korben Dallas! Over the weekend, Elon Musk reasserted that Tesla still plans to have a million robotaxis on the pavement by the end of the year…pending regulatory approval. Electrek.co says once final approval is given, Tesla will push out an over-the-air software update that will activate ‘Full Self-driving Capability.’ If this seems improbable considering the disruption from the coronavirus pandemic, keep in mind that it wouldn’t be the first time Musk was overly optimistic about a timeline for Tesla feature releases! Don’t be surprised if it is mid or late 2021 before the robo fleet is actually on the road.

Amazon has tacked on 75,000 of the 100,000 employees they had expected to add in the last 4 weeks…due to increased demand from the coronavirus pandemic. According to techcrunch.com, the company now expects to add another 75,000 full and part time positions to the 100,000 previously announced. They have also bumped up the amount being poured into pay increases to over $500 million. Amazon says they are positioning some of the openings as an option for anyone seeking work “until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back.” They are putting more into safety, after much outcry— rolling out temperature checks across fulfillment centers and Whole Foods stores, as well as distributing masks to employees and conducing daily audits of these practices. There have still been calls for brief, complete closures of distribution centers for deep cleaning after virus infected staffers have had to leave sick. No word that they intend to go that far, however.

Besides Amazon, other big tech firms are stating up, as they did during the last financial crisis. Businessinsider.com reports that Google, Apple, and Facebook are all looking to increase staff. All are looking for engineers, data scientists, cyber security experts, and designers. Facebook has said they will hire at least 10,000 new employees by the end of the year. All seem wide open to poaching employees from smaller startups or tech companies that aren’t as well heeled or are in shutdown mode.