ByteDance owns more than a dozen apps, including popular short video platform TikTok. Hong Kong (CNN Business) TikTok owner ByteDance wants more than just your viral short videos — it wants to help make the devices you watch them on. The Chinese tech firm said it is developing a smartphone after striking a deal with electronics company Smartisan. ByteDance isn’t trying to be the next big smartphone maker. A company spokeswoman said in a statement that the new device will be “a continuation of plans that were in place” before it began working with Smartisan. “The focus is on […] […]
Tag: big
Capital One hack exposed thousands of Social Security numbers. Why are we still using them as ID?
Bad actors can use Social Security numbers to steal your identity, open bank accounts, apply for a loan or receive medical care under your name. Many of the biggest hacks in recent years, including those targeting Equifax , insurance company Anthem and the US Postal Service , have left Social Security numbers exposed. Because these numbers are so closely tied to our identities, it raises the question: Why are we still using Social Security numbers as ID? In 1936, the Social Security number was introduced to track a worker’s earnings history for benefits, according to the Social Security Administration. […] […]
Facebook’s Libra could massively help the cryptocurrency industry — or hurt it badly
New York (CNN Business)Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency worries lawmakers. And increased government scrutiny for Libra could dent plans not only for Facebook but for other cryptos as well. Others in the field worry lawmakers’ distrust of Facebook might prompt harsh regulations that could stunt the nascent crypto industry’s growth. When Libra exploded onto the cryptocurrency scene last month, it brought attention to a sector that’s been growing quietly and operating without clear regulations for a decade. Suddenly, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were talking publicly about cryptocurrency and stressing the need to regulate it: Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters […] […]
Marty the grocery store robot is a glimpse into our hell-ish future
Attention shoppers: I’ve seen the future of grocery store technology, and let me tell you, we can do better. I’m no Marty McFly. I simply reside in a small Connecticut town, which means that in addition to doing Extremely New England things like commuting to the city on the Metro North, bragging about beaches, and the fact that the state inspired the picturesque fictional town in Gilmore Girls , I occasionally spend some time on the weekends shopping for groceries at a local Stop & Shop. Prior to 2019, the Stop & Shop shopping experience was similar to that […] […]
Here’s How Much Bots Drive Conversation During News Events
Casey Chin; Getty Images Last week, as thousands of Central American migrants made their way northward through Mexico, walking a treacherous route toward the US border, talk of ” the caravan ,” as it’s become known, took over Twitter. Conservatives, led by President Donald Trump, dominated the conversation, eager to turn the caravan into a voting issue before the midterms. As it turns out, they had some help—from propaganda bots on Twitter. Late last week, about 60 percent of the conversation was driven by likely bots. Over the weekend, even as the conversation about the caravan was overshadowed by […] […]
The CEO’s Social Media Challenge
Like it or not, most CEOs are fighting a losing battle when it comes to social media. They are overwhelmed and bewildered. Many have decided to essentially withdraw and leave it to others to figure out. First the good news: companies are opening their wallets when it comes to social media spending. Budgets are going up faster than almost any other corporate expenditure. In a 2018 survey, US-based chief marketing officers reported that digital marketing expenditures were growing at double-digit rates and predicted that spending on social media alone would capture nearly 25 percent of total marketing budgets by […] […]
The US pushes to build unhackable quantum networks
Researchers working on quantum teleportation A few years ago, Edward Snowden, a contractor working for the US National Security Agency, leaked documents that showed the ways in which intelligence agencies were spying on our data. One of the most striking revelations was that spies had tapped into fiber-optic cables to monitor the vast amounts of information flowing through them. Snowden’s revelations have spurred efforts to tap the almost mystical properties of quantum science to make such hacking impossible. Now there are signs of progress. A startup called Quantum Xchange says it has struck a deal giving it access to […] […]
A digital revolution is reshaping Democratic campaigns
Two weeks before the 2016 election, Bloomberg’s Joshua Green and Sasha Issenberg published a story about Trump’s brash, self-aggrandizing digital team. Democrats treated the story as evidence of the Trump campaign’s utter cluelessness, until he won. For months after, coverage of the Trump’s tech and digital strategy dominated headlines. Those stories had consequences: Facebook locked down its user data; Cambridge Analytica folded; and a wave of startups, including my own, emerged to help progressives mobilize online. A change is coming to the Democratic Party, and for some campaigns, it’s already here. I’ve seen it firsthand. As part of my […] […]
Ransomware and the enterprise: A new white paper
Throughout 2018 criminals have continued to target large organizations with ransomware. Today we introduce a new white paper that explains why ransomware is still a serious threat to your organization – regardless of size – and what can be done to reduce exposure to, and damage from, ransomware attacks. The paper focuses on three particularly dangerous ransomware attack vectors: remote access, email, and supply chain. The paper is intended to help CEOs, CIOs, CISOs, and enterprise risk managers understand the current state of the ransomware threat as well several evolving areas of concern. The more technical aspects of ransomware […] […]
IoT: A roomful of conundrums
As the drive to bring any and all imaginable physical objects online continues full steam ahead, internet-enabled devices are increasingly part of our day-to-day routines. In our quest for more productive and enjoyable – or simply easier – lives, we cannot avoid jumping on the Internet-of-Things (IoT) bandwagon. Up to 30 billion devices are predicted to be online by 2020 , according to the Mozilla Foundation. To be sure, IoT is not just about our personal efficiency or enjoyment, and the class of products such as smart watches or smart light bulbs. Spurred by innovations in hardware, networking, cloud […] […]
IBM’s $34 billion purchase of Red Hat is a mega-bet on a coding revolution
Today The world’s biggest-ever deal for a software company points towards a significant change in how code is being developed for the computing cloud. The news: Big Blue is swallowing Red Hat , a company that has made its reputation in open-source software development. The open-source movement makes core code freely available so that a community of developers can keep updating it. Companies like Red Hat create services to help companies deploy and use that code. Not just a business deal: IBM is interested in Red Hat because of its infrastructure for managing various kinds of cloud platforms. But […] […]
Chevy’s Making an Electric Camaro to Dominate the Drag Strip
Chevy has created a vehicle that would hurt Dominic Toretto more than a treacherous family member: an all-electric Camaro. Punch ” Tesla drag race vs” into YouTube, and you’re offered a panoply of ways to complete your search. You can watch one of Elon Musk’s electric cars face off with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Dodge Hellcats, McLarens, Corvettes, and just about any supercar or muscle machine you can think of. These videos are much the same: Again and again, the instant torque of the EV’s motors smokes the gas belcher off the line, leaving nothing but the squeal of the tires […] […]
How Google’s Night Sight Works, and Why It’s So Good
Reading all the gushing praise for Google’s new Night Sight low-light photography feature for Pixel phones, you’d be forgiven for thinking Google had just invented color film. In fact, night shooting modes aren’t new, and many of the underlying technologies go back years. But Google has done an amazing job of combining its prowess in computational imaging with its unparalleled strength in machine learning to push the capability past anything previously seen in a mobile device. We’ll take a look at the history of multi-image capture low-light photography, how it is likely used by Google, and speculate about what […] […]
Slimme speakers verkopen inmiddels als een malle, vooral in China
De slimme speaker wordt niet alleen steeds populairder, er komen er ook steeds meer van. Dat verklaart waarom het aantal verkochte Google Assistants, Alexa’s en vooral Chinese smart speakers bijna verdubbeld is in het afgelopen jaar. Er zijn inmiddels bijna 17 miljoen slimme speakers verkocht, alleen al in het tweede kwartaal van 2018! Marktonderzoek van Canalys heeft uitgewezen dat er wel een verschuiving gaande is op de markt. Waar eerst de globale slimme speaker-markt werd gedomineerd door Amazon met de Echo’s met een marktaandeel van meer dan 80 procent is het nu Google die voorop loopt. De verkopen van […] […]
Met deze technologieën kun je zien of iemand liegt…
Liegen is een onderwerp waar wetenschappers zich al lange tijd mee bezighouden. We doen het allemaal. Een leugentje om bestwil kan je zelfs verder helpen. “Goh, wat heb je leuke schoenen”. Niet gemeend misschien, maar toch handig om een positieve indruk te wekken bij iemand. Bij kinderen is liegen zelfs gezond. Gezond? Ja, omdat dit aangeeft dat ze zich kunnen verplaatsen in wat een ander denkt. Dit heet Theory of Mind. Autistische kinderen vinden het bijvoorbeeld soms moeilijker om te liegen. Onderzoekers willen graag uitpluizen hoe en waarom mensen liegen. Deze kennis kan uiteindelijk nuttig zijn voor politie-onderzoek. In […] […]
Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe Orbit the Milky Way
When the universe was young, there were no stars, galaxies , or even atoms. As space expanded, hydrogen atoms formed and coalesced into stars. Eventually, the first galaxies emerged, and some of those galaxies may still exist. New data from researchers at Durham University in the UK and Harvard in the US suggests several of those ancient galaxies could be in our own backyard . This discovery also lends credence to a leading model of the early universe. Our current understanding holds that the early universe was not even transparent to radiation. It took thousands of years for that […] […]
Before Using Birth Control Apps, Consider Your Privacy
Hotlittlepotato Score one for the quantified self-surveillance movement. Last week, the US Food and Drug Agency approved the first-ever, over-the-counter digital contraceptive—a polished and almost preternaturally upbeat mobile app called Natural Cycles . Basal body temperature readings and monthly menstruation data feed into an algorithm that tells users whether or not they should be having unprotected sex. Like most forms of birth control, it’s not foolproof ; the app has been dogged by reports of unwanted pregnancies that prompted two ongoing investigations by European authorities into its Swedish maker’s marketing claims. But that hasn’t hurt Natural Cycles’ popularity. The […] […]
This Browser Extension Is Like an Anti-Virus for Fake Photos
Casey Chin and HOTLITTLEPOTATO When Michael Bennett played for the Seattle Seahawks, he celebrated wins with a victory dance in the team locker room. He did not celebrate them by burning the American flag, contrary to a viral Photoshopped picture that began making the rounds online in September of 2017. If you’d read the fact-checks on sites like Snopes.com , Time , and yep, even WIRED , you would have known that the photo of Bennett burning a flag, his teammates and coach looking on joyfully, was fake. But if you happened to encounter the fake photo on Facebook, […] […]
The Self-Driving Startup Teaching Cars to Talk
Every element of Drive.ai’s exterior design—from the color scheme to the location and phrasing of the text—is carefully selected and tested. “We have a lot of opinions and ideas. They are not worth anything unless the user says so,” says design chief Bijit Halder.Drive.ai Horns honk. Hands wave. Lights flash. Fingers fly and eyes meet. This orchestra may seem a mess to anyone stuck in the pit at rush hour, but for the most part, it works. Humans may not excel as drivers when it comes to paying attention or keeping calm, but we’re masters of communication, even when […] […]
The “neuropolitics” consultants who hack voters’ brains
Maria Pocovi slides her laptop over to me with the webcam switched on. My face stares back at me, overlaid with a grid of white lines that map the contours of my expression. Next to it is a shaded window that tracks six “core emotions”: happiness, surprise, disgust, fear, anger, and sadness. Each time my expression shifts, a measurement bar next to each emotion fluctuates, as if my feelings were an audio signal. After a few seconds, a bold green word flashes in the window: ANXIETY. When I look back at Pocovi, I get the sense she knows exactly […] […]