"IT'S LIKE A SPEEDOMETER FOR YOUR DATA," GOOGLE SAID. Google on Thursday launched an app designed to help Android phone users understand, control and save on their expensive mobile data.
This app, called Datally, allows users to track their data usage in real time, and get personalised recommendations on saving data along with notifications of public Wi-Fi spots available nearby. The app is now globally available on the Google Play Store for all phones running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and higher, Google said. Datally is an initiative of Google's Next Billion Users division that aims to make Internet services more accessible even in countries with limited technology infrastructure. "Mobile data is expensive for many people around the world. And what's worse, it's hard to figure out where it all goes. "That's why we built Datally, an app that helps you to control, save more and do more with your data," Caesar Sengupta, Vice President, Next Billion Users, Google, said in a blogpost. Tests of the app in the Philippines had shown that Datally could help users save up to 30 per cent on their data, Google said. Datally helps users do three things. First, it allows users to see data usage on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis and get personalised recommendations for how they can save more. Secondly, it also help users block background data usage and track real-time data usage while using each of the apps "It's like a speedometer for your data," Google said. And lastly, Datally also tells users if they are near public Wi-Fi so that they can save on data. App Link - Google PlayStore AS PART OF ITS RECOMMENDATIONS, TRAI ALSO SUGGESTED THE GOVERNMENT SET UP A BODY TO MONITOR ACTIVITIES. Net neutrality was given a boost on Tuesday, when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) brought out its much-awaited recommendations.
TRAI maintained that internet services should be non-discriminatory. It also suggested the government set up a body to monitor activities. "The service providers should be restricted from entering into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory treatment based on content, sender or receiver, protocols or user equipment," a release issued by the sector regulator said. It also said the scope of the proposed principles on non-discriminatory treatment apply specifically to 'Internet Access Services', which are generally available to the public. The TRAI said Internet access services should be governed by a principle that restricts any form of discrimination or interference in the treatment of content, including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content. The paper said the Internet Access Service Providers may take reasonable measurements for traffic management, provided the same are proportionate, transient and transparent. "The Telecom Service Providers (TSP) shall be required to declare their Traffic Management Practices, as and when deployed and the impact it may have had on the users. The disclosure requirements shall also include information about specialised services, direct or indirect arrangements entered by them," the regulator recommended. The TSPs and the over-the-top (OTT) players have locked horns over the issue of net neutrality. The regulator was debating the issue for almost two years now. Over-the-top services refer to applications or services that is delivered over the internet, and does not involve an operator. WhatsApp and Skype are examples of OTT services. The regulator recommended that for monitoring and enforcement, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may establish a multi-stakeholder body with framework for collaborative mechanism among the stakeholders. The TRAI said for monitoring and investigation of violations, a collaborative mechanism has been recommended to be established in the form of a multi-stakeholder body comprising members representing different categories of TSPs and Internet Service Providers, large and small content providers, representative from research and academia, civil society organisations and consumer representatives. TRAI, in its 55-page recommendation, said that the terms of various license agreements governing the provision of Internet services in India be amended. They said that these be amended in order to incorporate the principles of non-discriminatory treatment of content by Internet Access Services along with the appropriate exclusions and exceptions. Talking about Internet of Things (IoT), the TRAI recommended that the IoT, as a class of services, should not be specifically excluded from the scope of the restrictions on nondiscriminatory treatment. "Those critical IoT services, which may be identified by DoT as satisfying the definition of specialised services, would be automatically excluded," it added. You could have 'unbreakable' security without taking a speed hit. Quantum encryption is theoretically a dream for security, as you can't even inspect the data without altering it. However, it's currently several times slower than the conventional kind, which makes it impractical for voice calls or streaming video. Science may have come to the rescue, though: researchers have developed a quantum encryption key distribution system that promises to be five to 10 times faster than existing methods, or roughly on par with conventional encryption when run in parallel. The trick was to cram more data into each photon.
Normally, you can only encode one bit per photon by using a weak laser. The team discovered that it could encode two bits by tweaking the release time of photons and using high-speed photon detectors to track these changes. Effectively, they're giving photons properties they couldn't have before. There's a lot of effort left before this becomes practical, not the least of which is the size: a transmitter/receiver combo would be about as large as a computer. It's more realistic than you might think, mind you. All the parts beyond the single-photon detector are readily available, and it could even be used for "free space" (read: over the air) transmissions. Eventually, there may be a time when you could hold a secure voice chat knowing that even the most determined spy couldn't listen in. The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand. Scientists have developed the world's first artificial intelligence politician, that can answer a person's queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education and immigration.
The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand. "There is a lot of bias in the 'analogue' practice of politics right now," said Gerritsen. "There seems to be so much existing bias that countries around the world seem unable to address fundamental and multiple complex issues like climate change and equality," he said. The AI politician is constantly learning to respond to people through Facebook Messenger as well as a survey on its homepage. While Gerritsen acknowledges that humans biases can creep into algorithms, he said that he does not view bias as just a challenge to technology solutions. While the system is not perfect, it may still help bridge the growing political and cultural divide in many countries, 'Tech In Asia' reported. By late 2020, when New Zealand has its next general election, Gerritsen believes SAM will be advanced enough to run as a candidate. However, it is not legal for AI to contest elections. "SAM is an enabler and we plan to operate within existing legal boundaries," Gerritsen said. $10 to charity for each Echo sold Amazon’s second-generation Echo has the benefit of easily swappable shells, and today the company announced that it’s releasing a red version of the smart speaker to benefit (RED) and its fight against AIDS.
Other than the unique color, the (RED) Echo is identical to the regular version. The only difference is that for every (RED) Echo sold, Amazon will donate $10 to the charity. Plenty of tech companies have teamed up with (RED) in the past to release special versions of their products. Apple has famously released numerous iPods and accessories over the years to support the charity, including a red iPhone 7 earlier this year. Custom Audiences feature being used to track down millions of owners with recalled cars Several years after US government officials got involved in the massive Takata airbag recallthat encompassed tens of millions of cars, many still haven’t been repaired. One of the automakers implicated in the recall scandal is turning to Facebook to track down owners. On Monday, Honda announced a new set of initiatives to complete the replacement of defective Takata inflators, which have caused hundreds of injuries and deaths. Millions of Hondas sold in the US still haven’t been repaired, so the automaker is using Facebook Custom Audiences to find owners. “To reach specific owners of affected vehicles, encrypted email addresses associated with recalled VINs are matched to Facebook UserIDs,” Honda said in a news release. “When a customer logs into Facebook, they are presented with a custom message featuring the PSA in their Facebook feed.” The automaker’s US arm also released a video Monday urging owners to get their vehicles checked out and repaired if necessary. Honda enlisted Stephanie Erdman, who testified November 20th, 2014 before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about how the inflator on her 2002 Honda Civic ruptured and sent metal shrapnel into her eye. The video is set for local broadcast TV airings, the company said.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration requires automakers of vehicles subject to recall to notify owners by mail, using information obtained by state vehicle registration records. Recalls can also be verified on NHTSA’s website using the vehicle’s identification number. But in many cases, these letters go unnoticed or are sent to outdated addresses and vehicles go without repair. And since some of the affected vehicles are at least 10 years old, they could have been sold two or more times by now. Honda, one of the automakers most affected by the Takata inflator scandal, estimates it’s replaced 71 percent of the recalled inflators in the US, Chris Martin from American Honda told on Monday. But roughly 4.7 million inflators in US Honda vehicles have not yet been replaced. Despite the 2.2 million mailers sent out in July, Honda is making another push to reach owners. The Takata inflators involved in a series of recalls have been reported to send metal fragments out of the airbag, sometimes without the vehicle being involved in a crash, and injuring or killing people in vehicles made and sold around the world. Honda began recalling vehicles globally in 2013 following more than 100 injuries and eight deaths, later admitting it and Takata knew about the defects for many years. Previously a leading airbag supplier to automakers that also included BMW, General Motors, Volkswagen and even Tesla, Takata was slammed in January with $1 billion in fines and restitution by US regulators over the scandal. It filed for bankruptcy in June. Leaks on Weibo suggest that the Galaxy S9 could come with Bluetooth earphones, suggesting removal of 3.5mm jack Samsung’s flagship smartphones are always touted to be the next big thing and the upcoming Galaxy S9 is no exception. The Galaxy S series smartphones represent the best in the world of Android and next year’s Galaxy S9 has to lock horns with the iPhone X. Therefore, it has to have the latest technologies, which could even mean dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Yes, a Weibo user, who claims to have sources inside Samsung, has stated that Samsung’s next-generation flagship smartphone will be shipped with Bluetooth earphones. These wireless earbuds will be tuned by AKG in the same way as they have been tuned for the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. While that may certainly be good news for the techno-savvy crowd, it raises one critical question related the Galaxy S9 — is the 3.5mm jack doomed on Samsung’s flagship? As for this tipster, he says that prototype units of the S9 are still rocking the headphone jack. However, Samsung might ditch it in the 11th hour if their Bluetooth headset turns out to meet the Samsung’s satisfaction. They could also be settling for the USB Type-C port in the same way Google adopted it for their second generation Pixel smartphones. Is this good news or bad news? Well, if you have an arsenal of a good pair of headphones and pricey AUX cables, then you will be left with no choice rather than to depend completely on that pesky ' Type-C to 3.5mm’ converters. If you have already made the transition to the wireless camp, then it’s a no-brainer. However, take this leak with a pinch of salt as this is still a rumour. The 3.5mm jack has been one of Samsung’s USP amongst other old-school features and could even stay alive on Samsung flagships for the next few years. Samsung is expected to launch a mini variant of the Galaxy S9 to make a strong foothold in the mid-range segment. South Korean giant Samsung seems to be prepping to showcase its flagships in 2018, and looks like we already have an idea how the upcoming device will shape up. Latest leak spotted by Forbes hints a mini variant of the Galaxy S9, while the other two will be similar to its predecessors.
If the reports are to be believed, all three models will boast a dual-edge curved Infinity display. Unlike, previous mini variants, Samsung will give the same design to all of the models to make a strong foothold in the mid-range division. The leaks also suggest that the flagship will have dual camera setup with BABR coating 'broad-band anti-reflection.' The fingerprint sensor is also expected to be relocated on the rear panel. The device model SM-G960F was spotted in a Geekbench listing scored 2680 points in the single core test which far exceeds that of the Google Pixel 2 which gained1685 points. The device still doesn’t beat the iPhone X which scored a whopping 4218 points. The listing also reveals that the smartphone will have the Exynos 9 series 9810 which was recently announced. It will be backed by 4GB of RAM and will have support for Gigabit speeds on LTE. Samsung is also said to launch the device with Snapdragon 845 processors. Qualcomm is reported to sell the entire first batch of the Snapdragon 845 to Samsung for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The flagship will come with Android Oreo out-of-the-box. The smartphone is expected to see the light of day at MWC 2018 held in Barcelona, Spain. The company is reportedly planning a launch event for February 25. The Nokia Threat Intelligence Report 2017 claimed that the main findings were worrisome. Recently, a research done by Nokia stated that Android is the worst operating system out there. The Nokia Threat Intelligence Report 2017 claimed that the main findings were worrisome. Ransomware was the largest threat in 2017, and even though security patches were available, WannaCry and NotPetya spread like wildfire through enterprise networks. Other than the desktop and network threats, Android smartphones were the worst, where even efforts from Google to secure their mobile operating system platform and Android ecosystem are being overpowered by attackers. ‘Android remains the main target for mobile malware with 68% of the occurrences,’ said the report, continuing that it is attributed to ‘the prevalence of side-loading apps from third party app stores and other sources.’ The genie is out of the bottle is China for example, where third party app stores account for 96% of the app market. Mobile adware is becoming more and more aggressive and most of it is associated to ad-funded apps from reputed app stores.
The report puts Android as the worst attacked and vulnerable mobile operating system, while credits Apple’s iOS platform to be highly secure in comparison. ‘Android devices were responsible for 68.50 per cent, Windows/PCs for 27.96 percent, with 3.54 per cent coming from iPhones and other mobile devices,’ claims the research. The 3.54 per cent figure consists of iPhone and other devices, which puts Apple’s iOS in a practically safer zone by being lower than that figure. It clearly states that iPhone users are less targeted by malware infections — thanks to Apple’s secure operating system and sandboxing of apps that does not allow the infections to spread beyond a particular point. Android becomes highly vulnerable because of the sideloading option/feature that can be obtained with great ease, using which, Android users can download and install apps from the internet without being scanned or authenticated by Google Play Store. ‘prohibitive listening devices’ Germany’s telecommunication agency, the Bundesnetzagentur, has banned smartwatches for kids, and is asking parents to destroy them. According to Bleeping Computer, (via Gizmodo) the regulators have deemed smartwatches targeted at kids “prohibitive listening devices” and are asking parents to destroy any smartwatches their kids have and advising schools to pay closer attention to kids with them.
Germany is targeting the listening capabilities of smartwatches but strangely didn’t say anything about the European Consumer Organization’s (BEUC) announcement that smartwatches pose a security threat to kids’ privacy. The BEUC warned that GPS-tracking smartwatches could be hacked and attackers could track or spoof the GPS location of kids’ smartwatches. If Europe’s crackdown on smartwatches continues, it will force manufacturers to step up their security protocols and improve the smartwatch market — which isn’t that great right now — for everyone. |
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