Samsung Listens to Its Customers

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Samsung Listens to Its Customers
Number 2425
Broadcast Date FEBRUARY 9, 2015
Episode Length 33:32
Hosts Tom Merritt
Guests Brian Brushwood

Brian Brushwood joins the show to talk about Samsung’s SmartTV that listens to everything you say and reports back to headquarters. Is that really what’s going on? Is it worse than the Xbox or Amazon Echo?

Guest

Headlines

The Verge has a story on US Senator Ed Markey’s report on 16 different automakers security policies. The report found nearly 100% of cars on the market are vulnerable attacks through WiFi or Bluetooth “Only two automobile manufacturers were able to describe any capabilities to diagnose or meaningfully respond to an infiltration in real-time.” The report also called Security measures to prevent remote access to vehicle electronics, “inconsistent and haphazard.” The issue of privacy was also raised about the use and collection of driving data. Notably, Tesla did not participate in the survey.
TechCrunch reports Netflix is making its service available to Cuban customers today for US$7.99. That US dollar figure comes with the need to have an international payment method as well as Internet access. The US relaxed trade restrictions with Cuba in December making this kind of offering possible if largely symbolic. Netflix said in a statement it hopes to bring Cuban filmmakers work to a global audience as well.
9 to 5 mac has sources. And they are familiar with the matter. What matter are they familiar with today? Apparently Apple’s iOS 9, slated for release in 2015 will have a major focus on stability. iOS 9 engineers are putting a “huge” focus on bug fixes, maintaining stability and boosting performance, rather than focusing on new features. Apple will also continue to keep the size of the OS and updates manageable, especially for the millions of iOS device owners with 16GB smartphones.
LG is giving a virtual reality headset and the VR game Robobliteration away for free with purchase of its LG G3 phone. The headset is a plastic version of Google’s Cardboard VR housing. The user mounts their phone, in this case the G3, inside the googles which mainly consists of biconvex lenses. The G3 has a 538 ppi screen which makes it usable for this kind of VR. It also has the sleep button the back instead of the side. The offer is good for a limited time with no word on whether the headset will be sold separately.
CNBC is reporting that Ecuador’s bid to become the first country in the world with its own digital currency should become reality at the end of the month. The Central Bank of Ecuador signed a deal with a taxi organization to accept the electronic money and the ability to pay for select services and send money between individuals starts the middle of this month. The government says the Sistema de Dinero Electronico (electronic money system) iwill be controlled through the government and pegged to the US dollar. The US Dollar became the official currency of Ecuador in 2000. The system is not like Biotcoin, which is banned in Ecuador, but similar to mobile bankless payment systems like M-Pesa.
The head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission antitrust division said a new antiturust settlement with Qualcomm will soon be released. Reuters reports Qualcomm will pay China a fine of around $1 billion, ending a 14-month investigation into anti-competitive practices. The deal may also have Qualcomm lower its royalty rates around a third on patents used in China. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 28, Qualcomm earned about half its global revenue of $26.5 billion in China.
The Verge says Microsoft is letting anybody try out Office 2016. All you need to do is head to https://connect.microsoft.com/ and agree to an NDA. If you can’t keep a secret Both Office 2016 and Office for Windows 10 will ship later this year.

News From You

Attention cordkillers! Sling TV is now accepting signups without invitations. Gigaom reports that you can sign up on the Sling TV website to get live access to 15 channels including ESPN, TNT, TBS, CNN and others. Also the Sports package is now live alongside the News and Kids packages, all $5 a month extra. And special note to fans of The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul, AMC will be added to the base package soon.
Submitted by KAPT_Kipper
CNET has a report on the controversy over Samsung’s SmartTV privacy policy regarding voice commands. The Daily Beast noted the policy says “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.” Samsung responded to anyone who asked that they encrypt data, only send the voice commands used to control the TV, display a mic when the TV is listening, and assured everyone that users can turn the feature off.
Submitted by gigglepunch and habichuelacondulce

Discussion

Pick of the Day

If you are an Inbox zero follower, it lets you get there quickly. If you simply want to use your Gmail as a task list, fine. If you go full GTD, it is not hard to set it up (following it is up to you).

You can set due dates, change active status and projects, categorize, add notes and checklists to an email all in one interface. If a project is finished, a single button removes all labels that kept it active, and adds a !Finished label and gets it out of your way. It has built-in searches that let you see at a glance just those things important to you.

It’s not free but there is a two-week free trial.
Submitted by Jake Overton in Johns Creek GA

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