Everything's Coming Up Augmented
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| Everything's Coming Up Augmented | |
| Number | 2702 |
| Broadcast Date | MARCH 2, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 43:33 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
| Guests | Scott Johnson |
Will we replace smartphones with augmented reality glasses? Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson discuss. Plus the latest on the Apple encryption debate.
Guest
Headlines
- We mentioned yesterday that Facebook VP for latin america, Diego Dzodan, was arrested in São Paulo yesterday in relation to a court order for WhatsApp messages related to a drug investigation. Well, AFP reports that Judge Ruy Pinheiro ordered Dzodan released calling his imprisonment an “extreme and disproportionate measure” and “unlawful coercion.”
- Late Tuesday Apple filed a formal appeal of Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym’s order requiring it to the assist the FBI in accessing data on an iPhone 5C. Last Thursday Apple filed a motion to vacate which asks the judge to withdraw her order. The appeal goes to the District Court in the Central District of California. Apple also introduced the New York ruling in its favor as evidence in the California case.
- Google is testing a new payment system called Hands Free. The system uses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and location services on a smartphone to determine if a user is at a participating store. When its time to check out the user says “I’ll pay with Google”. The cashier will ask for initials and see a picture of the user. The pilot is limited to the South Bay region of the SF Bay Area at select McDonald’s, Papa John’s and local stores. South Bay residents interested in joining the program can visit get.google.com/handsfree.
- Meta started taking pre-orders for its Meta 2 Augmented Reality headset. The Meta 2 offers 88-degree field of view and a 2560x1440 display. Meta is targeting business uses. You can preorder today for $949.
- Wednesday, the Bundeskartellamt (literally the "Federal Cartel Office") said it is investigating whether, “under the aspect of abuse of market power whether the consumers are sufficiently informed about the type, and extent of data collected,” by Facebook. The agency said it is working closely with other EU competition authorities. A Facebook spokesperson told Ars Technica, “We are confident that we comply with the law.”
- Slack launched a new beta feature called ‘Calls’ today. If you’re invited to the beta you can enable it for your team. It uses WebRTC, so the latest desktop app or browser interface is all you need. It’s not rolling out to mobile yet. A phone button appears in each channel or direct message. Clicking the button allows up to 15 people in the channel to join a call.
- The US Department of Defense’s Defense Digital Service announced Wednesday it will begin inviting hackers to attack its systems. It’s a pilot project called “Hack the Pentagon” to get security researchers to test systems for vulnerabilities and earn monetary awards. Unlike say Google’s bug bounty system, participants must be US Citizens and submit to a background check. The program will start with public-facing systems only.
- Submitted by stevei0
- In related news, Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt will head the Defense Innovation Advisory Board for the US Department of Defense. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced the creation of the board Wednesday. Carter and Schmidt will select up to 12 individuals to provide advice on becoming more innovative and adaptive in developing technology.
- The Video Electronics Standards Association, or VESA announced DisplayPort 1.4 Tuesday. Among other specs 1.4 will support 8K and USB-C. VESA designed a Display Stream Compression technology that it says will not affect video quality.
- This year’s Turing Award has been awarded to Martin E. Hellman and Whitfield Diffie, creators of public-key cryptography. The award is given to engineers or scientists who have aided in the advancement of computing.
- Submitted by Kylde
- AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey has passed away at age 76. Kimsey helped reorganize a failing video game download company in the early 1980s and took the helm under the renamed Quantum Computer Services with co-founders Marc Seriff and Steve Case. In 1991 that company changed names to America Online.
- Submitted by habichuelacondulce
Discussion
- Hands-on with the $949 mind-bending Meta 2 augmented reality headset
- HTC claims 15,000 pre-orders in 10 minutes for its Vive VR headset
Pick of the Day
- Yesterday Patrick had a pick on an Asus router that costs $300, but for those who have ADSL and live in Europe (mostly*) there is a better choice: AVM FritzBox adsl modems ( http://en.avm.de/ ). AVM is a German manufacturer or networking products that are very powerful, they are not cheap but offer a lot of features, way beyond simple adsl modems/routers. Their latest product, the FritzBox 7490 offers:
- ADSL/VDSL modem up to 100 mbit/s
- Latest Wifi standards (Dual AC / N) with guest separation and parental control.
- Built in VPN server.
- VOIP station, with Answering machine/fax built in for both VOIP and fixed line.
- DECT base station: to connect DECT cordless phones directly with the modem.
- USB 3.0 ports for Media station / NAS
- Smart home base for other AVM smart home products (and they really have few great smart home products)
- A lot more, don't want to make the list 3 pages long ;)
- Not to mention that when there were security problems with online connected routers (default password, open upnp, wpa issues), their products were never affected. Their main target is the European market, but their products are sold in the US (Amazon), and they also offer Cable modems for docsis.
Sincerely - Submitted by Rami from Bethlehem, Palestine (the little town where Jesus Christ was born)
- Not to mention that when there were security problems with online connected routers (default password, open upnp, wpa issues), their products were never affected. Their main target is the European market, but their products are sold in the US (Amazon), and they also offer Cable modems for docsis.
Messages
- Hi all,
Begrudgingly being a Microsoft customer so I can play games on my PC, I'm cautiously optimistic about their announcement on Tuesday, only for the fact that it might make ports a thing of the past. I have suffered through some horrible ports of games that were created with the Xbox in mind and the PC as an afterthought (with a sterling example last year with Batman Arkham Knight). If their "write once, run anywhere" mindset works, this could mean that they would not need the porting teams and expenses spent in the past, and they could release on multiple platforms at the same time.
Another thing, I've never seen exclusive game releases as a good thing for anyone except the console manufacturer. It just means that someone is the odd man out. Being a PC only gamer, I have missed out on original and innovative titles that have only released on Xbox or Playstation (God of War, Uncharted, Halo, etc.)
Thanks Tom and all for your show. - Sent by Joshua
- Hi all,
- Some individuals do not want to worry about the baggage of a PC for their gaming and it is easier to facilitate multiplayer games on a console than a PC (in most cases). I could see Microsoft releasing a module Xbox One where the consumer could choose upgrades such as more RAM or a better GPU that can be swapped into the xbox itself. I don't mean it in a bad way but it would be a PC for the person who doesn't want to build and maintain a gaming PC.
Thanks! - Sent by Brandon Kidwell
- Some individuals do not want to worry about the baggage of a PC for their gaming and it is easier to facilitate multiplayer games on a console than a PC (in most cases). I could see Microsoft releasing a module Xbox One where the consumer could choose upgrades such as more RAM or a better GPU that can be swapped into the xbox itself. I don't mean it in a bad way but it would be a PC for the person who doesn't want to build and maintain a gaming PC.
- What if what the FBI was really looking for here are other suggestions for getting into this phone regardless of the outcome of this case? Now even I laughed at myself when I thought this, but then had that “hmmm” moment when I really thought about. It was Apple that wanted this whole fight sealed, but the FBI wanted it open. We now know for sure of other cases where law enforcement has other iPhones they’re trying to get Apple to unlock. And the FBI has stated that they’ve tried everything they could think of to get into this particular phone and now need Apple’s help. So without asking the public directly, could what the FBI really be doing is saying, “We’re tapped out. Can anyone else help us out here?” By going public with this fight they’ve now done just that haven’t they?
- Sent by Eric
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "A Hack of the Clones" |
Everything's Coming Up Augmented |
Followed by: "Is There an Echo in Here" |