Latest Science and Technology

“The deployment of connected home security cameras that allow footage to be queried centrally are simply not compatible with a free society.” Amazon engineer Max Eliaser The greatest threat posed to democracy in any free nation is that of ubiquitous government surveillance. Many countries today are struggling to find the proper balance between useful facial recognition and connected-camera technologies and those that threaten our privacy. We’re here to make it easy: Public-facing facial recognition or connected home-security camera systems that offer access to law enforcement are dangerous and should be banned outright. Read: Amazon Engineer: ‘Ring should be shut down immediately… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Amazon from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2S7aWwR

At least one email campaign is preying on fears by claiming to offer info about the Wuhan coronavirus. from Security Latest https://ift.tt/2RKP7Ej

Nintendo definitively crushed my dreams this week, when it insisted, once and for all, that it is not releasing a new Switch model in 2020. This more or less debunks the longstanding rumor that a Switch Pro is on its way, and I’m fine, not salty about it at all. In case you haven’t been party to the madness, there have been persistent rumors that Nintendo is working on a third Switch model. This hypothetical sibling to the Switch Classic and the Switch Lite was thought to be a “Switch Pro.” This would have been more of a souped-up model, with support… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Nintendo from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2ROxAeF

Ripple (XRP) is still arguably the most polarizing digital asset in the cryptocurrency space. Powered by a network of less than 100 validators, Ripple Labs pitches XRP as a liquidity tool for the traditional finance sector. Its supporters fervently believe adoption is coming, while critics have long claimed that regulators may one day classify XRP as a security. [READ: XRP bag holders are begging Ripple to stop dumping its coins] Still, quarter after quarter, Ripple Labs sells millions of dollars worth of XRP to investors. This quarter saw the firm earn $13.08 million by selling XRP, down from $66.24 million in the previous three… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/31hdbBR

At last year’s TNW Conference, we welcomed 350 speakers to share their ideas and visions of what’s next in tech. Divided over 11 themes, our program let you find the talks you’d enjoy the most – whether you were interested in marketing trends, the future of work, or digital art. Several of these tracks were clear crowd pleasers, which is why we’re bringing them back for TNW2020 on June 18 & 19 in Amsterdam. With new and improved themes and an even better lineup than last year, these tracks will take things one step further and explore how tech will… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2UdTHgb

All-electric vehicle sharing services in London are being scrapped after their operators say they is no longer economically viable. The French-owned company Bluecity said its £5 per-half hour EV car sharing platform will officially close on February 10 in the city, the Evening Standard reports. Bluecity first entered the London market back in 2017 with its fleet of recognizably branded red cars. Since then, the company was only able to arrange deals with three London borough councils. [Read: Scientists invent a faster and cheaper way to repurpose EV batteries] As Bluecity is a point-to-point service, vehicles must be picked up… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/31eb69G

With that kind of history and pervasiveness, it’s a coding discipline any worthy programmer should have at their disposal. If you need it, that training is available now in The Essential PHP Coding Bundle ($29.99, over 90 percent off). from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36Gg2Wh

Humans are not the only living things beset by hidden cameras and tracked by portable devices. from Ideas Latest https://ift.tt/31dqL9B

Since signup sheets, office managers and simple foot of mouth can’t seem to untangle this divine corporate comedy, the folks behind the Joan 6 Meeting Room Display ($499, $50 off the regular price from TNW Deals) have come up a logical, efficient, cost-effective solution. from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2UosxTZ

OnePlus has shied away from wireless charging for quite a while, but not anymore. As spotted first by MobileScout, the company has joined Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), the industry body that regulates standards for Qi wireless charging used by the majority of smartphones. While this might not mean that we’ll see wireless charging support in all OnePlus phones released this year, we can hope for some level of compatibility. A leak published earlier this month, suggested that the OnePlus 8 Pro — the upcoming high-end model from the company — might feature wireless charging. Earlier this year, in a podcast interview… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aVCIoB

Microsoft is handing out up to $20,000 to security researchers who can unearth vulnerabilities in Xbox. The Windows-maker announced it’s launching a bounty program specifically for its gaming console. To be eligible for a reward, researchers must identify a flaw in the Xbox Live networks and services which can be reproduced in the “latest, fully patched” version of the platform. “Bounties will be awarded at Microsoft’s discretion based on the severity and impact of the vulnerability and the quality of the submission [sic],” the announcement reads. Of course, you’ll also have to satisfy the program‘s terms and conditions. [Read: This hacker made… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Xbox , Microsoft from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2RKx80Y

If ray tracing wasn’t enough to get you excited, the latest update to Minecraft has brought a hive of new bugs to Minecraft, more specifically Bees! In partnership with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), Mojang added these buzzy little friends into the world of Minecraft. With over 400 million copies sold and 112 million active monthly players as of November 2019, Minecraft boasts one of the most extensive and varied gaming communities. Bees are a passive mob in the game. They buzz around all day collecting pollen from nearby flowers, and return to their nests to create deliciously sweet honey!   (BEE)HAVIOUR… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/37QJKt6

Our robot colleague Satoshi Nakaboto writes about Bitcoin every fucking day. Welcome to another edition of Bitcoin Today, where I, Satoshi Nakaboto, tell you what’s been going on with Bitcoin in the past 24 hours. As Stephen Hawking used to say: Success is just a product of your motivation! Bitcoin price We closed the day, January 30 2020, at a price of $9,508. That’s a respectable 2.07 percent increase in 24 hours, or $192. It was the highest closing price in ninety-four days. We’re still 52 percent below Bitcoin‘s all-time high of $20,089 (December 17 2017). Bitcoin market cap Bitcoin’s… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aXPVx7

Following the release of Tesla‘s Q4 2019 earnings, Elon Musk jumped on a conference call where he reportedly boasted about the company’s improvements in battery tech and what this means for range. According to Musk, Tesla‘s battery cell technology has improved and is improving at such a rate, that it won’t be much longer until it launches a 400-mile range Model S, Electrek reports. [Read: Tesla posts first annual profit — still loses $862M] The 400-mile range mark might sound like something of a milestone in the EV world. But it’s not actually that far away. According to figures from… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Tesla from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3b1uMlE

The idea that blockchains may bring benefits in terms of cybersecurity is a widespread myth. Even the US Department of Defense fell for this myth in a recent report “DoD Digital Modernization Strategy” with plans to build a “Block Chain Cybersecurity Shield” allowing to “transmit secure messages” and “develop unhackable code.” It’s important to set the record straight on these complex topics. But before I get into it properly, let’s begin with a few general points to set the stage: 1) Blockchains are not designed to solve security issues. They minimize trust. They allow unidentified users to exchange scarce digital… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Security from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2Ohb4ZH

Yesterday, the US House Oversight and Reform subcommittee announced an investigation into popular dating apps including Tinder, Grindr, and Bumble for allegedly allowing minors and convicted sex offenders to use their services.  In a press release issued yesterday, the Chairman of the subcommittee, Raja Krishnamoorthi, sent letters to Match Group, Inc — the parent company of major dating apps — seeking information related to recent reports that numerous dating apps have failed to effectively screen out underage users, “which creates dangerous and inappropriate situations.” Dating services will have to hand over information on the age of its users, the procedure… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Tinder from The Next Web https://ift.tt/38OEbey

This morning I woke up in a good mood. It was a bright day with sunshine, I pet my cats, and went to a nearby cafe to have coffee. I thought this was going to be a good day, but then my colleague Abhimanyu Ghoshal posted Elon Musk‘s new single, Don’t Kill ur Vibe on Slack. It’s been almost an hour since I first heard the song, and I’m yet to recover from it. What the hell, Elon? I understand that you’re rich and you have lots of money lying around to do stupid stuff. But you could’ve created something like… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36HN2NG

If you accessed the internet in last week or so, chances are you came across the name ClearView AI — a terrifying facial recognition software that has over three billion images in the database; far more than what FBI has. The New York Times wrote a lengthy report on how the software scraped images from all over the internet to increase its algorithm’s accuracy. However, if you think Clearview AI, or other facial recognition systems are just a passing fad that will fall out of favor soon, you’re mistaken. A report by the Chigao Sun Times suggests police are more than… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36IaJFJ

Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. Twitter‘s attempting to combat the spread of election misinformation, just as the 2020 U.S. Presidential Race is starting to heat up. Today it rolls out a new reporting option that specifically targets such falsifications. This option essentially allows users to report things like voter suppression, which is probably going to be critical in the months to come. The new feature, first spotted by Politico, adds a new option to the menu when you try to… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Twitter from The Next Web https://ift.tt/317QY9e

The defendants have allegedly connected hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to US residents. from Security Latest https://ift.tt/2tdezZP

In the world of anime and manga, there’s no franchise more enduring than Eichiro Oda‘s One Piece. Both show and comic have been running for over twenty years, maintaining remarkably consistent quality throughout. To that point, the story’s current arc is one of the series’ very best. So when Netflix announced it was adapting the story into a live-action series yesterday I was a little concerned. The history of live-action anime adaptations is… not good. The fact that the series has avoided one so far is something I considered a blessing, not a curse. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: A One Piece live… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Netflix from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2uROMGP

Cambodia’s central bank is readying to launch its blockchain-based, peer-to-peer money platform within the next few months, Phnom Penh Post reports. The system, named ‘Project Bakong,’ is a payments app powered by a central bank digital currency (CBDC). National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) chairman Chea Serey described it as “the national payment gateway for Cambodia.” The current Bakong implementation links to users’ bank accounts to exchange the CBDC with hard currency. An exec from one participating bank told reporters that Bakong is cheaper and more convenient than credit and debit cards, before noting that some banks might lose some of their… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2OcIdWc

Looking to attend TNW2020 but still need it approved by your manager? Our tech festival will welcome 400 amazing speakers and guarantees two days of fun – but that might not be enough to convince your boss. Don’t fret! We’ve got you covered. Here are three “bottom line and boss ready” reasons why TNW2020 is the number one event for your calendar in 2020: It’s the best way to connect with the tech community Amsterdam’s digital connectivity is amongst the best in the world. Throw in the city’s vibrant startup community, and you’ll soon realize you’ll be in the company… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36GZQ78

The United Nations suffered a critical breach in its networks last year — which it subsequently tried to cover up. The attack, which was likely orchestrated by state-sponsored actors, began in July, according to reports from The New Humanitarian and the Associated Press. A leaked internal document, obtained by The New Humanitarian and reviewed by AP, revealed the hackers compromised at least a dozen servers belonging to the UN. The extent of the breach remains unclear, but reports suggest the hackers pulled a 400GB trove of data. The attack affected the servers of the UN’s Vienna and Geneva offices, as… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2Ortwir

“Computer says no” was the punchline for Little Britain’s sketches parodying the very worst examples of customer service, aided and abetted by a dumb terminal. Having had our own similar encounters, we grimly laughed along. However, as more services become automated, “computer says no” could mean being turned down for a job, a mortgage, or even healthcare treatment without any explanation. No laughing matter. It’s the responsibility of all data scientists — myself included — to ensure that the datasets used to train AI/ML models are accurate, complete, and unbiased. In addition to that, it’s also incredibly important that we… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2S5ZsJW

Despite its popularity and strong sales figures, Tesla seems to have turned a corner recently after posting its first annual profit, kind of. According to CNN, in operating terms, Tesla posted a $386 million profit across the last three months of 2019. This meant it finished the year $35.8 million in the black. That said, when considering the full company accounts, Tesla actually posted a loss for the whole year. In fact, it lost $862 million, The Verge writes. A notable improvement over the $1 billion loss it posted in 2018, though. [Read: Tesla becomes America’s first $100B publicly listed… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Tesla from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2ObowOF

Developers building machine learning or object detection models have to manually label hundreds to thousands of images to train them. To make the task easier, IBM has introduced a new auto-labeling tool. The new feature is available for everyone through Cloud Annotations GUI, IBM’s online tool for labeling images. If you’re a developer, this is what you have to do: Head to the IBM Cloud Annotation tool from your desktop. Upload a few sample images from your dataset along with labels. Use instructions from here to train your model. Tap Autolabel in the interface and the tool will automatically annotate your images. You… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: IBM from The Next Web https://ift.tt/36KSIqs

You’re online, right? That means you must’ve heard about the Unicode Consortium unveiling the latest emoji that’ll soon grace our phones? Of course you have! Well, then you’ll also know there are two new emoji that tower above the rest. The first? The transgender flag we’ve already covered (thank us later). And the second? Well, that’s what many of us would call the ‘Italian hand’ emoji. You, your mom, your racist grandma — we all know it. Whether it’s from TV shows, movies, or just life in general, it’s hard to have avoided coming across this symbol: [Read: Apple’s Q1 2020 financials… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/314jxEL

With each passing year, our adoption of advanced technology becomes more pronounced. Different aspects of our lives are enhanced by the changes in our digital world, and this, in turn, reveals even greater potential. Between the widespread integration of the internet of things (IoT) and cryptocurrencies, we have become a society that implements its ideas—both domestic and ambitious—through the lens of tech. It’s an exciting time to be alive. But there are certainly challenges. It would be nice to think that we live in a utopian world, wherein all users of tech are doing so for the benefit of the greater good.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2GD6kJG

Facebook has taken down the profile of Rambhakt Gopal, a person who allegedly opened fire at students in New Delhi. His profile featured a few live videos uploaded before the incident and posts asking his friends to take care of his family. Earlier this afternoon, the person began shooting at students near New Delhi’s Jamia university. A report from Scroll noted that he identified himself as Rambhakt Gopal before the police arrested him. Delhi Police Sources: Man who brandished a gun and opened fire in Jamia area has been identified as 19-year-old Ram Bhagat Gopal Sharma. He is a resident… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2ObfukJ

Most exoplanets, bodies orbiting stars other than the sun, are too far away for us to be able to send probes to. So it’s no wonder that the discovery of a possible habitable planet around the sun’s nearest neighbor star, Proxima Centauri, a few years ago generated a lot of excitement. Now we have spotted what we think is a second planet around this star. Our study, published in Science Advances, suggests this planet could have a mass about half that of the planet Neptune. Dubbed Proxima Centauri c (abbreviated to Proxima c), it has an orbit about 1.5 times… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2vC727P

Starting any side hustle is about explaining your passion to the widest possible audience and stoking their excitement. You can learn how to get that process off the ground with The Digital Marketing Side Business Certification Bundle. Right now, it’s just $29, over 90 percent off from TNW Deals. from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2RFBhTR

Debuting in 2017, FusionLens has now taken the lens game up a notch with the latest FusionLens hardware ($79.99 for most standard 5.8-inch or 6.5-inch notched iPhone models) -- and it’s a game-changer for iPhone photographers and videographers looking to add cinematic flair to their work. from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2u5S9Ke

Millennial investors are hooked on two different kinds of stocks: Tech, and Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway. Apex Clearing’s recent analysis of 734,000 portfolios presents the top 100 most-popular stocks with US-based investors with an average age of 31. As one would expect, FAANG is incredibly popular with the tech-savvy demographic. Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google are all in the top 15 — Apple leads the pack with 13.5 percent of the average investor‘s holdings. Computing manufacturers Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and NVIDIA placed decently, in the top 12. AMD just reported a record quarterly revenue of $2.13 billion, up 50 percent from… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple , Facebook from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2u24oYn

A former telecoms entrepreneur, the Virginia senator says that saving the industry (and democracy) might mean blowing up Big Tech as we know it. from Security Latest https://ift.tt/36GJ1ZO

The internet just got over 150,000 high-definition images of historic art to turn into memes — without any fear of breaking copyright laws. Well, sort of. As part of its Open Content initiative, Paris Musées — a consortium of 14 Parisian museums — revealed it’s making 150,000 digital reproductions of art works from its collection available for use entirely free of charge. The images include pieces from legendary names like Rembrandt and Van Dyck, as well as many others. “The launch of Open Content will mark a new stage in Paris Musées’ digitisation [sic] policy,” the institution said. “It will contribute… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2RCNhW8

One of the coolest things from Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy was the Babel fish. If you never read the books, it’s a little creature (well, a fish, but whatever) that slips inside your ear and translates the world around you. And it kicked ass. A universal translator that works that simply? Amazing. It’s not just me that feels this way — tech companies have been trying to create a universal translator forever. And it’s no surprise. Just think of how it amazing it was when you first used Google Translate, but imagine that on the fly. Well, you don’t have to any… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/38OmFHp

App-based last-mile forms of transport have thrown a metaphorical grenade into the world of transport regulations. But things look like they might be getting a little clearer, in the UK at least, as the country’s government looks set to legalize e-scooter use on roads and bike lanes. According to a Times report earlier this week, electric scooters are to be legalized for use in the UK. It’s allegedly part of an attempt to get people out of cars and onto greener forms of transport.  It should be noted, though, that the regulations are far from nailed down. Government ministers are… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/37ISL7a

With the Conservative Party’s win in Britain’s general election back in December, Brexit is back on track. The clock is now ticking on Britain’s move out of the EU on January 31, and the final deal is meant to be ready by the end of the year. That’s not much time to prepare, especially for companies entrusted to protect customer data. With the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in 2018, the European Union became the world leader in data protection. In our increasingly data-driven world, GDPR hands power back to everyday internet users and streamlines the transfer… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2tTVmNc

Got questions for Jeremy Burge, an emoji historian and Chief Emoji Officer at Emojipedia? He’s hosting a TNW Answers session TODAY at 4:00PM (CET), ask your questions NOW! While there seems to be an emoji to represent everyone and everything, a significant group was completely left out — the transgender community. But yesterday, the Unicode Consortium (the group which decides what emoji make it onto our phones) revealed 117 new emoji designs that’ll be rolled out later this year, and among them is a transgender flag.  The call for a transgender flag and symbol was sponsored by Google and Microsoft… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2RYziZC

Does YouTube create extremists? A recent study caused arguments among scientists by arguing that the algorithms that power the site don’t help radicalize people by recommending ever more extreme videos, as has been suggested in recent years. The paper, submitted to open-access journal First Monday but yet to be formally peer-reviewed, analyzed video recommendations received by different types of channels. It claimed that YouTube’s algorithm favors mainstream media channels over independent content, concluding that radicalization has more to do with the people who create harmful content than the site’s algorithm. Specialists in the field were quick in responding to the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2GCfLck

Our new Digital 2020 reports – published in partnership with We Are Social and Hootsuite – show that digital, mobile, and social media have become an indispensable part of everyday life for people all over the world. More than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population is already online, and the latest trends suggest that more than half of the world’s total population will use social media by the middle of this year. Some important challenges remain, however, and there’s still work to do… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/37G2uuW

Remember the time when Facebook used to automatically tag you in photos uploaded by your friends using facial recognition? Now the company has agreed to pay $550 million to settle a class-action lawsuit for using the technology in Illinois. A report by the New York Times noted that the suit alleged Facebook of violating Illinois biometric privacy law by collecting data of millions of users without their consent for the company’s photo tagging product.  While the company denied the charges, it agreed to settle because it thought “it was in the best interest of our community and our shareholders to move… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web https://ift.tt/38I8qUy

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is at it again with a new batch of leaks, but there’s more than just iPhones, iPads, and Macs, for a change. Instead, Kuo’s latest research note (via MacRumors) details a variety of devices Cupertino appears to be working on for release this year, including high-end headphones, tracking tags, and a small wireless charging mat. We’ve long heard rumors about Apple working on full-size headphones, but it seems like they might finally come to fruition; Kuo notes the company is working on “high-end headphones.” Of course, the company owns the highly successful Beats lineup, but as… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple from The Next Web https://ift.tt/38R8n92

Like many a Nintendo fan, I still have fond memories of the Wii. I may never play it nowadays, but there was something innocent about that era when, for a brief time, it seemed like motion controls might actually become mainstream. If your Wii’s been collecting dust on a shelf or in storage like mine, now might be a good time to check if it still works. Nintendo of Japan recently released a statement saying it will no longer repair the aging console beginning March 31. The company is essentially running out of parts, which presumably aren’t being made anymore;… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Nintendo from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2U5FPUX

Fear, finger-pointing, and militaristic action against the virus are predictable, but unproductive. We may be better off adjusting to a new normal of periodic outbreaks. from Ideas Latest https://ift.tt/38OPLX1

MoviePass is dead. Again. For real this time though: as reported by Deadline, the company declared bankruptcy today, and there’s no way it’s coming back. MoviePass shut down its services in September, but at the time, its parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics was still looking into a potential sale. There was at least a bit of a chance the service would be revived under new ownership. But MoviePass’ leadership has all resigned now. Moreover, the company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, meaning its assets will be dissolved (as opposed to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where a company might try… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2ObafBt

Online misinformation works, or so it would seem. One of the more interesting statistics from the 2019 UK general election was that 88% of advertisements posted on social media by the Conservative Party pushed figures that had already been deemed misleading by the UK’s leading fact-checking organisation, Full Fact. And, of course, the Conservatives won the election by a comfortable margin. Internet firms such as Facebook and Google are taking some steps to limit political misinformation. But with Donald Trump aiming for reelection in 2020, it seems likely we’ll see just as many false or misleading statements online this year… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/37yypNY

XLM is the native cryptocurrency of the Stellar network, a blockchain-powered solution pitched to make cross-border payments more efficient. Stellar’s consensus architecture is relatively centralized when compared to Bitcoin. While this does allow it to process transactions with low fees and fast confirmation times, it does require users to place more trust in the network comparatively. Regardless of this sacrifice, Stellar is almost always listed in the top cryptocurrencies. XLM’s market cap is currently $1.19 billion, and ranked 14th — just behind Monero. XLM/USD 2019 Q3 performance recap As with the rest of the cryptocurrency market, Stellar had a pretty tough… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2O8QD0V

If you’re an Apple follower, you’ll have seen the company just released its Q1 2020 financials. There’s a raft of interesting information in there, but without getting bogged down by numbers, let’s just get to the meat of it: iPhone sales were incredibly strong, growing 8 percent Wearables growth skyrocketed (Tim Cook said that if you collated the Apple Watch, Beats headphones, and AirPods sales, it’d match a “Fortune 150 company) — overtaking Mac revenue And services (including things like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Pay, Apple Card, and others) saw a 17 percent year-over-year increase On the surface, this… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: iPhone , Apple from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2O7LV3y

When was the last time you had a “conversation” with Siri or Alexa that was satisfactory? Maybe never. The primary reason is that while these assistants or bots have improved a lot, their conversational ability is still quite limited. But Google claims its new chatbot, called Meena, is the hot shit and it can talk to you about anything on earth — just like with any human. Google says the conversational neural network with 2.6 billion parameters can chat with people better than any AI generator out there. The team trained the model with 40 billion words — 341 GB of… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aV2xoL

It's less a monument to long-term thinking than a Gilded Age distraction. from Ideas Latest https://ift.tt/2GArXdz

Both iPhones and Androids are encrypted by default. But there are steps you can take to safeguard your data on backups and messaging apps. from Security Latest https://ift.tt/2vwGip8

If you’ve never heard of Lean Six Sigma, it’s basically a distillation of Lean and Six Sigma, two of the most popular project management methods around. By using elements of both systems, Lean Six Sigma approaches any business project with the same philosophy: eliminating mistakes and waste leads to improved results and happy stakeholders. from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2U8aT6y

Google handed out a record amount of bug bounty prize money in 2019 as part of its Vulnerability Reward Programs. In an announcement, the company revealed it rewarded security researchers who found kinks in its defenses $6.5 million last year — that’s nearly twice the amount Google paid for bug bounties in 2018 which amounted to a total of $3.4 million. This brings the total amount of rewards given since 2010 to $21 million. “We paid out over $6.5 million in rewards, doubling what we’ve ever paid in a single year,” Google reps wrote. “At the same time our researchers… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/38P1Kns

Our robot colleague Satoshi Nakaboto writes about Bitcoin every fucking day. Welcome to another edition of Bitcoin Today, where I, Satoshi Nakaboto, tell you what’s been going on with Bitcoin in the past 24 hours. As Hannah Arendt used to say: Talk to a stranger on a bus! Bitcoin price We closed the day, January 28 2020, at a price of $9,358. That’s a respectable 5.00 percent increase in 24 hours, or $446. It was the highest closing price in eighty-two days. We’re still 53 percent below Bitcoin‘s all-time high of $20,089 (December 17 2017). Bitcoin market cap Bitcoin’s market… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Bitcoin from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2vw9Seq

Google‘s AI team has developed a new model to protect the endangered species of killer whales known as orcas in the Salish Sea. According to the Center for Whale Research, there are only 73 Southern Resident orcas — a subspecies of the killer whale — left in the world. So Google has teamed up with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to monitor their condition and alert experts in the event of sickness or accidents across 12 locations. Google‘s team trained its AI model using 1,800 hours of underwater audio and 68,000 labels that identified the origin of the sound. When the model “hears” sound of… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2U34vxk