Innholdsfortegnelse for #376 i Techlife News

Sharing false information on Facebook is old. People over 65 and ultra conservatives shared about seven times more fake information masquerading as news on the social media site than younger adults, moderates and super liberals during the 2016 election season, a new study finds. The first major study to look at who is sharing links from debunked sites finds that not many people are doing it. On average only 8.5 percent of those studied — about 1 person out of 12 — shared false information during the 2016 campaign, according to the study in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances. But those doing it tend to be older and more conservative. “For something to be viral you’ve got to know who shares it,” said study co-author Jonathan Nagler, a politics professor and…

Too often people die of an opioid overdose because no one’s around to notice they’re in trouble. Now scientists are creating a smartphone app that beams sound waves to measure breathing — and summon help if it stops. The app is still experimental. But in a novel test, the “Second Chance” app detected early signs of overdose in the critical minutes after people injected heroin or other illegal drugs, researchers reported this week. One question is whether most drug users would pull out their phone and switch on an app before shooting up. The University of Washington research team contends it could offer a much-needed tool for people who haven’t yet found addiction treatment. “They’re not trying to kill themselves — they’re addicted to these drugs. They have an incentive…

Iran’s president said Thursday the Islamic Republic soon will send two new satellites into orbit using Iran-made rockets, despite U.S. concern the launch could help further develop its ballistic missiles. President Hassan Rouhani’s comments, during a commemoration for the late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, confirmed the rocket launches would take place. Iran typically displays achievements in its space program in February, during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution, which saw the Persian monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced by the Islamic Republic overseen by a Shiite cleric. “Soon, in the coming weeks, we will send two satellites into space using our domestically-made rockets,” Rouhani said, without elaborating. Previously, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit over the…

With Apple issuing guidance on its fourth-quarter results and fewer iPhone units shifting than expected in 2018, the company’s reputation has taken a slight dent. Learn all about the latest report, discover the truth behind the tech giant’s performance, and see what to expect in 2019 as Apple works harder than ever to appease both consumers and shareholders. CHANGING LANDSCAPE Last week, Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook penned a letter to investors , citing China as one of the key reasons for its 2018 sales problems. Cook said that Apple “did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration” in China and that US-China trade tensions had hurt consumer confidence, causing fewer consumers to purchase new iPhone and iPad models. The note was unprecedented, and it was the first time…

The world’s largest tech conference has apparently learned a big lesson about gender equity. CES, the huge annual consumer-electronics show in Las Vegas, caught major flak from activists in late 2017 when it unveiled an all-male lineup of keynote speakers for the second year in a row. Although it later added two female keynoters , the gathering’s “boys’ club” reputation remained intact. It didn’t help that one of the unsanctioned events latching on to CES last year was a nightclub featuring female “robot strippers.” This year, four of the nine current keynoters are women. GenderAvenger, the activist group that raised a ruckus last year, recently sent CES organizers a congratulatory letter and awarded the show a “Gold Stamp of Approval” for a roster of keynote and “featured” speakers that it…

— Just a few years ago, virtual reality was poised to take over the world. After decades of near misses, the revolution finally seemed imminent, with slick consumer headsets about to hit the market and industries from gaming and entertainment to social media ready to hop on the bandwagon. But the buzz over VR has faded to a whisper. At the CES 2019 tech show in Las Vegas, Facebook’s Oculus unit isn’t holding any glitzy press events, just closed-door demos for its upcoming Oculus Quest, a $399 untethered headset due out in the spring. Other VR companies are similarly subdued. HTC announced two new headsets — one with only sketchy details — while Sony has some kiosks for its $300 PlayStation VR set in the main hall. It’s a world…

5G E? 5G Plus? 5G Ultrawideband? Will the real 5G please stand up? AT&T has drawn ridicule by relabeling the network used by some of its phones as “5G E” to signal that the next-generation wireless network is here. Problem is, phones capable of connecting to 5G aren’t coming for another few months, and a national 5G network won’t be deployed until 2020 or 2021. But Verizon, which complained this week about AT&T’s move, did something similar when it launched a residential wireless service with the 5G moniker using its own proprietary technology. Although there are now industry standards specifying exactly what 5G networks must meet, dubbed “5G NR,” there are still some grey areas, particularly when it comes to marketing. Carriers are using all tools at their disposal as…

It’s said that January is one of the prime months that Hollywood chooses to dump its most embarrassing films and “The Upside” doesn’t exactly disprove that notion. Few films in memory have squandered so much acting talent in such a cliche-ridden, exploitative and dishonest way. It deserves its frozen grave. The film stars Kevin Hart as a lazy, skirt-chasing ex-con hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife and son. He accidentally gets a job taking care of an obscenely wealthy New York businessman who became a paraplegic while hang gliding, played by Bryan Cranston. (“You as rich as Jay-Z?” Hart’s character asks. “No, richer,” comes the reply.) You can virtually write the rest as ”The Upside ” unspools. Will Hart’s street-wise Dell break his high-class boss out of his luxury…

Samsung expects its quarterly operating profit to fall 29 percent compared with last year, adding to the tech sector’s unease about the effect of slowing global economic growth on the industry. The announcement from the South Korean computer chip and smartphone giant comes less than a week after a weak outlook from Apple Inc. jolted markets. Samsung said there’s weak global demand for chips amid a worldwide economic slowdown, while its smartphones are facing stronger competition. The weakening trend follows many record-breaking profit quarters from Samsung. In October, the company said there was strong demand for its memory chips, although it had previously noted the slowdown for smartphones. It has been revamping its lower-cost phones lineup. In a rare move for Apple, meanwhile, last week the company walked back its…

One of China’s major cities has reached an environmental milestone: an almost entirely electric-powered taxi fleet. The high-tech hub of Shenzhen in southern China announced at the start of this year that 99 percent of the 21,689 taxis operating in the city were electric. Last year, it still had 7,500 gasoline-powered taxis on the roads. A few can still be found, but electric ones far outnumber them. The metropolis of 12.5 million is the second to achieve this feat in China and the largest. The northern China city of Taiyuan, with a population of 4.3 million, has had only electric taxis since 2016. Shenzhen “has taken the lead among major Chinese cities,” said Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association. Shenzhen’s bus fleet has been all-electric since…

Nissan is showing the beefed up version of its hit Leaf electric car as the Japanese automaker seeks to distance itself from the arrest of its star executive Carlos Ghosn. The unveiling Wednesday at Nissan Motor Co.’s Yokohama headquarters, southwest of Tokyo, had been postponed when Ghosn was arrested Nov. 19. Ghosn has been charged with underreporting his income. Tokyo prosecutors have extended his detention through Friday, adding breach of trust allegations. The Tokyo District Court rejected Wednesday the protest filed by Ghosn’s lawyers on his prolonged detention. The lawyers have said they will appeal to a higher court. Ghosn made his first public appearance since his arrest Tuesday, and denied each allegation in the Tokyo District Court. The Leaf was among the achievements for Nissan that Ghosn highlighted in…

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, are divorcing, ending a 25-year marriage that played a role in the creation of an e-commerce company that made Bezos one of the world’s wealthiest people. The decision to divorce comes after a trial separation, according to a statement posted Wednesday on Jeff Bezos’Twitter account. He and his wife both signed the announcement, which ended with a vow to remain “cherished friends.” “If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again,”the couple said. Left unanswered was one of the biggest sticking points in any divorce: How the assets amassed during the marriage will be divided. And there may never have been more money than in this case. Jeff Bezos is ranked at the top of…

The United States and China gave no indication of their next step after wrapping up talks aimed at resolving a tariff fight that threatens to chill global growth. The two sides will “maintain close contact,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. But they announced no agreements or date for meeting again during the 90-day truce declared on Dec. 1 by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in their fight over Beijing’s technology ambitions. That uncertainty dampened Asian investor sentiment. Stock markets in Germany, France, Japan and China fell back after rising Wednesday following Trump’s comment on Twitter that the talks were “going well!” Negotiators focused on China’s pledge to buy a “substantial amount” of agricultural, energy, manufactured goods and other products and services, the U.S. Trade Representative said. However, a…

The CES 2019 gadget show is revving up in Las Vegas. Here are the latest findings and observations from Media reporters on the ground as technology’s biggest trade event gets underway. MORE SMART DEVICES, FEWER TVS What gadgets will Americans buy this year? Lots of “smart” devices for their home, according to projections from a technology association. If that sounds a lot like last year, you’re right, but sales are still expected to grow again in 2019. The Consumer Technology Association expects nearly 37 million Amazon Echoes, Google Homes and other smart speakers to be sold this year in the U.S., a 5 percent increase from a year ago. Meanwhile, more than 29 million smart doorbells, thermostats and switches are expected to be sold, a 23 percent increase from the…

The CES 2019 gadget show opened its doors Tuesday, with tech companies from giants to tiny startups showing off their latest products and services. In recent years, CES’s influence has declined as Apple, Google and other major companies throw their own events to launch new wares. Still, more than 180,000 people from about 150 countries are expected to attend. The sprawling event spans 11 official venues, plus scores of unofficial ones throughout Las Vegas. The four-day show in Las Vegas opened after two days of media previews. Here are the latest findings and observations from Mediareporters on the ground. CUTTING THROUGH THE BABEL Google has transformed CES into a Disney-like theme park — complete with singing animatronic macarons — to showcase new features of its voice-enabled digital assistant. This includes…

The CES 2019 gadget show is revving up in Las Vegas. DING-DONG, THE PEEPHOLE IS RINGING Ring is giving the old-school peephole a high-tech spin. The company unveiled a new internet-connected video doorbell that fits into most peepholes. The new device is aimed at apartment dwellers or college students who want a video doorbell, but may not be allowed to install one next to their doors. Amazon bought Ring last year, giving it a shot at competing better with Google’s Nest, which also makes cameras and doorbells. Privacy experts have long sounded the alarm on Wi-Fi connected cameras and how video is stored. Amazon recently filed a patent application for a facial-recognition system involving home security cameras, which would allow multiple cameras to create composites of faces to identify people…

Some northern Nevada counties are using blockchain, the online ledger best known for helping secure virtual currencies such as bitcoin, to store digital versions of government records like birth and marriage certificates. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that as of December in Washoe County, about 950 couples had received secure digital marriage certificates to home computers and smartphones since the program debuted in April 2018. The newspaper found that Elko County is trying similar technology for certified digital birth certificates. Phil Dhingra at San Francisco-based Titan Seal said the Washoe County digital marriage certificate program uses the Ethereum blockchain because it has computing power that makes it hard to hack. He said he believes the number of digital certificates per year in the United States could at least match the billions…

Streaming TV may never again be as simple, or as affordable, as it is now. Disney and WarnerMedia are each launching their own streaming services in 2019 in a challenge to Netflix’s dominance. Netflix viewers will no longer be able to watch hit movies such as “Black Panther” or “Moana,” which will soon reside on Disney’s subscription service. WarnerMedia, a unit of AT&T, will also soon have its own service to showcase its library of blockbuster films and HBO series. Families will have to decide between paying more each month or losing access to some of their favorite dramas, comedies, musicals and action flicks. “There’s definitely a lot of change coming,” said Paul Verna at eMarketer, a digital research company. “People will have more choices of what to stream, but…

Huawei Technologies Ltd. showed off a new processor chip for data centers and cloud computing this week, expanding into new and growing markets despite Western warnings the company might be a security risk. Huawei and other Chinese technology companies that rely on Western technology are stepping up efforts to develop their own. The company based in southern China’s Shenzhen has pushed ahead with commercial initiatives despite the Dec. 1 arrest of its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, in Canada on U.S. charges related to possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. Huawei said the Kunpeng 920 chip is designed for servers that handle a flood of data from smartphones, video and other network services — a fast growing sector with the development of…

The Hubble Space Telescope’s premier camera has shut down because of a hardware problem. NASA said the camera stopped working Tuesday. Hubble’s three other science instruments are still working fine, with celestial observations continuing. This third incarnation of the wide field camera was installed by spacewalking astronauts in 2009. The camera has backup electronics that could be called into action, if necessary, according to NASA. The camera has captured stunning images of stars, galaxies stretching far back in time and assisted in deep sky surveys. It’s also studied objects in our own solar system, discovering some of the tiny moons around Pluto, as well as a 14th moon around Neptune. It takes pictures in both visible and ultraviolet light, as well as near infrared. Orbiting 350 miles (560 kilometers) above…

Oklahoma’s outgoing lieutenant governor has landed a job with an Oklahoma City cybersecurity technology firm. Two-term Republican Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb announced Tuesday that he’s joining TriCorps, a privately held company that operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. He will be the company’s chief development officer. The former U.S. Secret Service agent was elected twice to the state Senate before running for lieutenant governor in 2010 and 2014. He couldn’t seek another term because of term limits and launched an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018, finishing third in the GOP primary.…

THE NEW YEAR COULD BRING NEW ATTITUDES New year, new you? While individuals all over the world begin to ponder this annual predicament of reflection and self-improvement, isn’t it about time tech giants around the globe did the same? 2018 will hopefully prove to be a watershed in design, development and above all, ethics in the production of the tech that we love, but have begun to distrust. And this is no surprise. Last year saw an unnerving plethora of data breaches and scandals hit the news , the most notable of which was the Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, the most worrying aspect of each extensive breach was arguably not the incredible numbers involved, but instead how long they had gone unnoticed. In fact, in some instances, it wasn’t until…

One day, finding an oven that just cooks food may be as tough as buying a TV that merely lets you change channels. Internet-connected “smarts” are creeping into cars, refrigerators, thermostats, toys and just about everything else in your home. CES 2019, the gadget show opening Tuesday in Las Vegas, will showcase many of these products, including an oven that coordinates your recipes and a toilet that flushes with a voice command. With every additional smart dev ice in your home, companies are able to gather more details about your daily life. Some of that can be used to help advertisers target you — more precisely than they could with just the smartphone you carry. “It’s decentralized surveillance,” said Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, a…

The companies founded by blacksmith John Deere and candle-and-soap-making duo Procter & Gamble may not be the hip purveyors of new technology they were in 1837. But they’re first-time exhibitors at this year’s CES gadget show, along with other unlikely newcomers such as missile-maker Raytheon, outdoorsy retailer The North Face and the 115-year-old motorcycling icon Harley-Davidson. The four-day consumer-electronics show opens with some 4,500 companies exhibiting products and services and more than 180,000 people expected to attend. It’s the place startups and established tech giants alike go to unveil everything from utilitarian apps to splashy devices. So what are these legacy companies doing here? “Every company today is a technology company,” said Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES. Shapiro said many companies already send executives…

Every year at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, we get a glimpse of what vehicles may be — and what they could do. The event has also become an annual progress report on the latest electric vehicles and how close we are to “full driving automation,” as the Society of Automotive Engineers calls it. Here are a few vehicle trends from CES that you’ll see in the immediate future and some others that are much further away. BYTON’S INTERIOR DESIGN Byton, a Chinese electric automaker, is revealing its plan for bringing the M-Byte SUV to the United States, along with a close approximation of its high-tech interior. The company says it intends to retain many of the unique ideas from its concept vehicle, such as a…

When Andre Braugher learned last May that Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was canceled, it was an ending that he’d anticipated after five years and softening ratings. “When we weren’t on the schedule for Fox, I said to my wife, ‘Here’s the new chapter, or whatever it is. Let’s see what it brings.’ And then I went to bed.” Morning arrived with the news that the police sitcom was getting a second chance at NBC, which had decided there was life left in the series produced by corporate sibling Universal Television. It begins its new season Thursday. “I missed all the drama. I have no idea what happened overnight,” said Braugher, whose steady gaze and thoughtful manner indicate not much else eludes him — unless by choice. That includes the Hollywood glad-handing…

Margot Robbie will bring Barbie to life in a live-action film. Mattel and Warner Bros. Pictures announced this week that Robbie will star as the iconic doll in the franchise’s first-ever live-action film. The 28-year-old “I, Tonya” actress will also co-produce the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment banner. The Barbie film is the first announced deal to come out of toymaker’s newly-established Mattel Films. The Barbie doll debuted at a New York toy fair in 1959. Robbie said in a statement that she believes the film will have a “tremendously positive impact on children and audiences worldwide.” The Oscar-nominated actress has also starred in “Mary Queen of Scots,” and “Suicide Squad.” The film’s title and release date have not been revealed.…

Tesla Inc. broke ground this week for a factory in Shanghai, its first outside the United States. CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the company will start production in China of its Model 3 and a planned crossover by the end of the year. Tesla announced plans in July to build the Gigafactory 3 facility in China, the biggest electric vehicle market, despite trade tension between Beijing and Washington. That followed Beijing’s announcement it would end restrictions this year on foreign ownership of electric vehicle producers in an effort to spur industry development. “Looking forward to breaking ground on the @ Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory today!” said Musk on Twitter. “Aiming to finish initial construction this summer, start Model 3 production end of year & reach high volume production next…