TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT FARADAY FUTURE’S (SUPPOSED) TESLA-KILLER

Faraday Future is nothing if not ambitious. The Los Angeles startup promises to do more than make electric vehicles even cooler than Elon Musk did, steal his customers, and deliver a fully autonomous ride. It promises to change how the auto industry works, and how people get around.

Changing the world is hard, especially for a company that has in just the past year lost a slew of key executives, fallen behind on payments for its new factory, and been accused of running a Ponzi scheme by a Nevada official. Company brass remain unfazed. They rolled into CES earlier this month with what they promise will be Faraday’s first production vehicle, the FF91.

Your skepticism is warranted. History has seen no end of upstart automakers with big plans to shake up the industry. Remember Preston Tucker? John DeLorean? Henrik Fisker? Put aside your doubts, and this super-luxe electric limo—which would cost as much as a Bentley—shows some serious style. No wonder it attracted sizable crowds at CES. It’s outfitted for autonomous tech, it sports touchscreens built into the interior, and those doors open themselves at the touch of a button.

SRK

See all of Shahrukh Khan's titles:
https://youtu.be/nSZXST1tefM

iPhone 'Bendgate' May Be Overblown: Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports ran lab tests on the two new iPhone models, and found that it is difficult to bend the devices under pressure. Apple said on Thursday that only nine customers’ iPhones have bent.
To test the strength of the hardware, the consumer watchdog placed the phone on two wooden points, then applied force on top with a high-precision compression machine. While the iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus bent under less pressure than did the iPhone 5, the Apple phones were not the weakest: The HTC One deformed and separated from its case under less pressure than the other phones tested.
“Impressively, despite some serious damage from our Instron machine, some of the phone continued to work,” Consumer Reports wrote in a post on Friday. “Several of the screens illuminated and were functional to the touch; we even completed a call from one phone to another.”
Apple this week scrambled to rebut the fallout of a video that went viral showing a bent iPhone 6. On Thursday, the infamously tight-lipped company sent an unusually long statement to The Huffington Post explaining that the bend is “extremely rare.”
Still, coupled with the botched rollout of a glitchy update to the iOS 8 operating system, Apple had a rough week. The company’s stock rebounded on Friday after taking a hit from the dual snafus.
This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post

IOS 8 Breakdown

With almost two weeks of the IOS 8 the problems have already raised. Some users of the latest IOS have complains that the IOS limits the use of calls and other messaging systems. Apple is working on the problem, IOS 8 is still available for upgrading on the store though.

SpaceX, Boeing land NASA contracts for manned space flight

LOS ANGELES—Boeing and SpaceX have landed NASA contracts worth a total of $6.8 billion (U.S.) to launch an astronaut into space, the agency announced Tuesday.
The contracts are aimed at continuing the final development of spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station.
Under the contracts, the companies will have a goal of performing a test flight to the space station with a NASA astronaut in 2017.
Since NASA retired its space shuttles in 2011, it has been paying the Russian government about $70 million a seat to transport U.S. astronauts to the space station. That arrangement, which was always intended to be temporary, has become strained in recent months amid tensions between Russia and the West over the situation in Ukraine and Crimea.
SpaceX, whose name is short for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is based in Hawthorne, Calif., and helmed by entrepreneur Elon Musk. It already has a $1.6-billion contract with NASA to deliver cargo to the space station.
Chicago-based Boeing Co. has built nearly every manned spacecraft in U.S. history.
Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., which has been building a space plane that closely resembles a miniature space shuttle, had also been in the running for the NASA contract.

British PM warns Scots against vote for independence

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday made a trip to Scotland to urge Scots to vote against independence and warned them of dire consequences otherwise in his most forceful speech yet ahead of this week's historic referendum.
Cameron was speaking in Aberdeen on what could be his last visit to Scotland before the vote on Thursday and promised to give Scotland sweeping new powers in the event of a "No" result against independence.
"Head, heart and soul, we want you to stay," Cameron said to applause from a mostly elderly audience of hundreds of people who were bussed in for the event in a city that is a hub for Scotland's offshore oil and gas industry.
"Independence would not be a trial separation, it would be a painful divorce," he warned.
A "Yes" victory would endanger pensions and put up a physical border between England and Scotland that "may not be so easily crossed," he continued.
He said Scotland's pro-independence government had outlined a future that was "too good to be true", and added: "I don't want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that will disappear."
"There is no going back from this", he said.
A "Yes" win would be "the end of a country that all of us call home, and we built this home together".
The United States has stepped into Scotland's knife-edge debate by saying that it hoped to maintain its "special relationship" with a "united" Britain.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest stressed that Washington respected the right of Scots to decide their future in Thursday's referendum, but hoped for a "strong, robust and united" ally.
The upped pressure to keep the United Kingdom together, though, was dismissed by 73-year-old Ron Fowlie, a Scottish resident handing out pro-independence leaflets in Aberdeen's city centre.
He said he was "confident" of victory and stated: "We would like to run our own country."
Asked about the opinion polls, he said: "It seems to be 50-50, so half of the population will be disappointed."
Gilliam Wanterbberin, 39, who attended Cameron's speech, was more sympathetic to the pro-unity stance. "He's done a good thing in coming here and not staying in London," he said.
With polls showing an extremely tight vote on Thursday, campaigners for and against keeping Scotland in the United Kingdom were pulling out all stops.
English football icon David Beckham lent his support to the "Better Together" camp and pro-UK campaigners held a rally in Trafalgar Square in London.
Meanwhile, Scotland's pro-independence first minister, Alex Salmond, met some business leaders who have argued that leaving the United Kingdom makes economic sense.
"This is about creating a more prosperous Scotland but also about creating a fairer society," Salmond said, accusing Cameron of "orchestration" in getting other business leaders to come out against independence.
"People have got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in three days' time to put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands," he said.
Support for a "Yes" vote has grown in recent weeks. The campaign got a further boost on Sunday with top Scottish bands Franz Ferdinand and Mogwai playing a gig in the capital Edinburgh and encouraging Scots to cast ballots against the union.
"People are excited. The 'Yes' camp, I feel, are more invigorated," Calum Forbes, a 22-year-old recent graduate and "Yes" supporter, said at the concert.
Three surveys published over the weekend put the pro-union campaign ahead by varying margins: 47 percent for "No" to 40.8 percent for "Yes" in a poll by Survation; 47.7 to 42.3 percent in an Opinium survey; and 47.1 to 46.1 percent in a Panelbase poll.

Cars that drive themselves starting to chat with each other

DETROIT - An Acura RLX sedan demonstrated an unusual way to tow another car this week: the vehicles were not physically attached. The second car drove itself, following instructions beamed over by the first in a feat of technology that indicates a new stage in automation is happening faster than many expected.
Systems that enable vehicles to communicate with each other have been developed in recent years in parallel with features that enable cars to drive themselves. Manufacturers and suppliers now are putting the two together in novel ways, with broad implications for vehicle safety and convenience.
General Motors Co, Honda Motor Co, which owns Acura, and other automakers are working with traditional suppliers and startup firms. Tech giants Google, with its pioneering work on driverless cars, and Apple, which is working with automakers to embed greater connectivity in their cars, are accelerating the change.
"It is the mix of big companies -- Apple, Google, the automakers and the data aggregators -- that starts to create momentum. Two years ago, it was different. It was a promise. Today, it’s reality," said Laurens Eckelboom, executive vice president of business development at Parkmobile, a smart-parking startup whose investors include BMW AG and Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford's venture capital firm Fontinalis Partners.
A "truck platooning" application by Peloton Technology, a startup based in California's Silicon Valley, is intended to save fuel and reduce collisions.
As with virtual towing, a "platoon" of two heavy trucks use wireless communication and computer-controlled braking and acceleration to keep in close formation on the highway, according to a description by the company, which expects to start selling the technology late next year at $2,000 per truck plus a share of the projected operating savings.
The total price tag for widespread adaption of such features could be steep. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates automakers will need to spend billions of dollars to install safety systems that automatically assist drivers and could be mandated by 2020, when the industry expects the first self-driving cars to start easing onto roads.
There are other risks and issues including reliability, cybersecurity and legal liability.
"What happens if a self-driving car gets into an accident? Who is liable for the damages? Will the human ‘copilot’ be at fault or will the car’s manufacturer?," the Center for Insurance Policy and Research wrote last month, citing "a long list of safety and legal issues to iron out before self-driving cars hit the road.”
All the razzle-dazzle technology promised by automakers and regulators "shouldn't take our eyes off the prize -- cars that don't crash," Jon Lauckner, GM's chief technology officer, said at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Detroit this week.
Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said the convergence of connected and automated technologies also has the potential to reduce vehicle emissions and fuel usage, and bring down vehicle operating and insurance costs.
Active safety, including hands-free driver assistance and accident avoidance, was a common thread of many technical discussions and technology advances on display at the ITS show, which attracted 10,000 engineers, scientists and researchers, ending on Thursday.
Automakers are starting to put more of the new technologies on the road "to get some experience and see how the market reacts in advance of the government requiring it," said Jeff Owens, Delphi Automotive chief technology officer.
Price is still a big question. Some advanced systems could cost two to three times more to develop than early adopters are likely to pay, several industry insiders estimated in conversations at the show.
Even with just a few semi-automated systems installed, the price tag remains stiff, although recent studies have shown car buyers are willing to pay about $3,000 to have hands-free driving capability.
The Chrysler Group, a unit of Italy’s Fiat SpA, is charging nearly $3,500 for a technology bundle on its new 2015 Chrysler 200C sedan that includes adaptive cruise control, which automatically applies brakes and throttle to keep a vehicle a safe distance behind the one ahead; lane departure warning with lane keep assist, which automatically redirects a vehicle that is drifting out of its traffic lane; blind spot and cross path detection, which helps the driver monitor the presence of vehicles, and automatic park assist.
GM's Cadillac brand hasn't said how much its new Smart Cruise system will cost when it debuts in about two years. The system is designed to enable hands-free driving on the freeway with automatic steering, braking and throttle, as well as using GM's OnStar system to provide location, weather and traffic information to the automated systems.
But drivers should not expect to take a snooze. "We are talking about 'automated' driving features, not autonomous driving," with Smart Cruise, warned spokesman Jim Cain. "We will have strategies in place to keep the driver alert and engaged."

Google's secret lab working on fleet of self-flying vehicles to deliver packages more quickly

SAN FRANCISCO - Google's secretive research laboratory is trying to build a fleet of drones designed to bypass earthbound traffic so packages can be delivered to people more quickly.
The ambitious program announced Thursday escalates Google's technological arms race with rival Amazon.com Inc., which also is experimenting with self-flying vehicles to carry merchandise bought by customers of its online store.
Amazon is mounting its own challenges to Google in online video, digital advertising and mobile computing in a battle that also involves Apple Inc.
Google Inc. calls its foray into drones "Project Wing."
Although Google expects it to take several more years before its fleet of drones is fully operational, the company says test flights in Australia delivered a first aid kit, candy bars, dog treats and water to two farmers after travelling a distance of roughly one kilometre, or just over a half mile, two weeks ago. Google's video of the test flight, set to the strains of the 1969 song "Spirit In The Sky," can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTNvWcx9Oo .
Besides perfecting their aerial technology, Google and Amazon still need to gain government approval to fly commercial drones in many countries, including the U.S. Amazon last month asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to expand its drone testing. The FAA currently allows hobbyists and model aircraft makers to fly drones, but commercial use is mostly banned.
Project Wing is the latest venture to emerge from Google's "X'' lab, which has also been working on self-driving cars as well as other far-flung innovations that company CEO Larry Page likens to "moonshots" that push the technological envelope. The lab's other handiwork includes Internet-connected eyewear called Google Glass, Internet-beaming balloons called Project Loon and a high-tech contact lens that monitors glucose levels in diabetics.
Google says it is striving to improve society through the X's lab's research, but the Glass device has faced criticism from privacy watchdogs leery of the product's ability to secretly record video and take pictures. Investors also have periodically expressed frustration with the amount of money that Google has been pouring into the X lab without any guarantee the products will ever pay off.
A team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics professor Nick Roy already has been working on Project Wing for two years, according to Google. The Mountain View, California, company didn't disclose how much the project has cost.
Drones clearly could help Google expand an existing service that delivers goods purchased online on the day that they were ordered. Google so far is offering the same-day delivery service by automobiles in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York.
"Self-flying vehicles could open up entirely new approaches to moving goods, including options that are cheaper, faster, less wasteful and more environmentally sensitive than what's possible today," Google said in a pamphlet outlining Project Wing.
Google, though, seems to see its drones as something more than another step in e-commerce delivery. The aerial vehicles also could make it easier for people to share certain items, such as a power drill, that they may only need periodically and carry emergency supplies to areas damaged by earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural catastrophes, according to Google's Project Wing pamphlet.

Growing up poor erodes a sense of control over life well into adulthood, study finds

More than a half century after Stanford University’s landmark marshmallow test, in which children who managed to defer the pleasure of eating a candy for a few minutes were rewarded with two, self-control is still said to be the key to success. And current educational thinking exalts the value of overcoming obstacles with grit and perseverance.
But those very qualities, said to lead to achievement and happiness, are eroded by the experience of childhood poverty, researchers say. A University of Minnesota study (pdf), released Wednesday by the American Psychological Association, presents evidence suggesting that growing up poor can influence people’s sense of control over their lives well into adulthood, even if they have become much wealthier. The result, the researchers say, is more impulsive decision-making and giving up quickly on challenging tasks in uncertain situations.
“Persistence is directly tied to myriad important outcomes, including self-control, academic achievement, substance abuse, criminal behavior, healthy eating and overspending,” one of the study’s co-authors, Vladas Griskevicius, said in a release on the paper. “Future research should investigate strategies to prevent individuals from poor childhoods from potentially quitting challenging tasks in the face of adversity.”
The researchers conducted five experiments with adults in different age and income brackets and at different stages of their life, to test how exposure to economic uncertainty influenced their sense of control. Researchers asked how much they agreed with statements such as “I can do just about anything that I really set my mind to” or “Whether or not I am able to get what I wa
One of the more revealing tests found that among 95 people, those who grew up poor had a lower sense of control after looking at photos depicting economic hardship, such as unemployment lines, home foreclosure signs, and empty office buildings.

The researchers conclude, however, that sometimes persistence is not the most logical behavior, especially when people are faced with an impossible task. “Although past research has viewed persistence on such impossible tasks as good and desirable, the adaptive behavior is to quit, since persisting on the task is not all that different from dancing in hopes that it will start raining,” they write. “Time and energy are limited resources, and sometimes it is adaptive to stop expending effort on an endeavor one cannot control in order to pursue more promising opportunities.”

nt is in my own hands.” To hone in on the issue of childhood poverty, they asked participants to describe their childhood household incomes by indicating agreement with statements such as: “My family usually had enough money for things when I was growing up,” or “I felt relatively wealthy compared to the other kids in my school.”

Man United bans tablet computers

Manchester United has banned fans from bringing tablets and laptops to football matches at its stadium.
The club said it was reacting to "security intelligence", adding the restriction was in line with new checks on electronic equipment at airports.
It said that unlike at airports, it would be "impractical" at the stadium to check the devices were genuine by asking for them to be powered up.
Greater Manchester Police said it was not involved with the ban "in any way".
A statement on the club's site says the ban extends to large and small tablets "including iPad minis", as well as larger electronic devices.
Smartphones are still permitted as long as their dimensions are smaller than 15cm by 10cm (5.9in by 3.9in).
"The regulations at each stadium are a matter for the relevant stadium management authorities, however, the scale of Old Trafford and profile of Manchester United mean that the risk at this venue is unique," it adds.
A spokesman for the club told the BBC it had made the move after receiving "advice", but would not say from whom this had come.
He added the action was unrelated to concerns about fans using tablets to record video of matches, potentially blocking the view of others, as had been reported elsewhere.
A spokesman for the Premier League said: "This is not something we are responsible for or involved in."
A spokesman for the Football Association was unable to provide comment.
But Manchester United's rival Arsenal issued a statement: "Our ground regulations haven't changed. Our stadium management team are happy with our procedures."
The government announced in July that passengers flying to the US or elsewhere who passed through UK airports needed to show that devices carried in their hand luggage were charged and could be powered on. The move followed a warning that US officials had become aware of a "credible" unnamed terrorist threat.
The airport restrictions cover phones, MP3 players and cameras in addition to larger kit.

Italy's Super Mario sinks England

Mario Balotelli scored the winner as Italy beat England 2-1 in their World Cup duel in the Amazon on Saturday as Costa Rica provided a major shock with an upset win over Uruguay.
AC Milan striker Balotelli nodded past former Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart on 50 minutes to decide the tense Group D encounter at Manaus's sweltering Amazonia Arena.
Italy's Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio had fired the Azzurri into a deserved lead on 35 minutes, rifling home a low shot from outside the area after a well-worked corner routine wrong-footed the English defence.
England struck back with a fine goal on the counter-attack. Raheem Sterling released Wayne Rooney down the left and the Manchester United star's cross was buried by Daniel Sturridge.
The Italian victory leaves Cesare Prandelli's side in pole qualifying position from Group D.
The only blot on a satisfying day for Italy was the absence of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who was ruled out of the England match hours before kick-off with a twisted ankle.
England now face Uruguay in Sao Paulo next Thursday with the loser of that contest facing almost certain elimination.
"It's disappointing, we put so much effort into it," said England captain Steven Gerrard after.
"Italy were a very good team tonight and we fell a bit short. But we're still very much alive in this group," he added.

World Cup: Colombia blanks Greece

BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL—Colombia started its first World Cup campaign in 16 years in dazzling fashion, beating Greece 3-0 with goals from Pablo Armero, Teofilo Gutierrez and James Rodriguez in the Group C opener on Saturday.
Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombia’s second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th that confused Karnezis and two defenders covering the near post.
Greece had a chance to pull a goal back after Gutierrez’s goal, but an unmarked Georgios Samaras rattled the crossbar from close range.
James Rodriguez scored with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado

WTO to examine US solar trade spat with India

Washington on Friday took its battle to get India to open its solar market a step further, demanding that the WTO create a panel to review the dispute.
The United States told the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement board that consultations with India had gone nowhere, insisting the global body step in.
Washington maintains New Delhi’s requirement that only locally made products be used in its solar industry impedes competition.
India, which has some of the world's most ambitious plans for expanding solar power, expressed disappointment at the move, saying that "the United States has chosen to litigate rather than negotiate."
Friday marked the second time the United States has asked the WTO to set up a panel of experts to review the dispute.
India blocked the first request, but the WTO, which polices global trade accords in an effort to offer its 159 member economies a level playing field, is required to grant any panel request made a second time.
In its statement to the WTO, the United States said that it had repeatedly tried to resolve the problem, but to no avail.
"Not only did these consultations fail to resolve the dispute, but India actually chose to expand the scope of the domestic requirements following initial consultations in 2013," it said.
It insisted that such requirements were "inconsistent with WTO obligations and do not promote solar power."
India, whose solar industry has grown rapidly in the past few years as the government looks to ease reliance on imported fossil fuels and coal, has meanwhile defended its solar policies as compliant with WTO regulations and stressed that a number states in the US have similar rules.
On Friday, it insisted it had "participated in the consultations with an open mind and had shown willingness to explore all options for a mutually satisfactory solution."
WTO panels are in general composed of three people tasked with investigating complaints and providing recommendations to resolve the dispute.
In principle the investigating panel has six months to deliver its findings, and can authorise retaliatory trade measures by the wronged party.

For Apple Inc's iPhone, the Best Is Yet to Come

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) reported a huge earnings beat this week, with EPS coming in 14% ahead of the average analyst estimate. The iPhone was by far the biggest driver of Apple's strong performance.
Fortunately for Apple shareholders, iPhone sales and earnings growth is likely to continue at a strong pace in the next few years. Apple is attracting plenty of new users, and a larger-screened iPhone 6 should accelerate that trend, while also driving a major replacement cycle.
Most importantly, Apple's iPhone product roadmap positions it well for strong growth in China in the next few years. Larger-screened phones should help Apple gain share from Android among wealthy Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, as lower-cost phones become available through top carrier China Mobile (NYSE: CHL  ) , sales will probably surge.
The iPhone is crushing sales expectations
Last quarter, Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones, up 17% year-over-year. This set a new March-quarter record. iPhone revenue rose 14% or more than $3.1 billion, which accounted for more than 100% of Apple's total revenue growth last quarter.
Apple's iPhone sales total came in way ahead of what analysts expected. In a survey of 32 analysts (20 Wall Street professionals and 12 "independents") conducted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune, the average iPhone sales estimate was 38.2 million units. The highest estimate was 42.5 million: still more than 1 million units short of Apple's actual sales tally.
Apple executives explained on the earnings call that the iPhone strength is broad-based. Apple fans are continuing to buy the new iPhone 5s in droves (it now accounts for more than 20% of all iPhone usage), but the iPhone 5c and the older iPhone 4S are also selling well. Apple estimated that more than 50% of iPhone activations in the last 6 months came from new iPhone users.
iPhone sales in China hit a new quarterly record, driven in part by the addition of China Mobile as an iPhone carrier partner. However, that was not the whole story. Strong sales of the cheaper iPhone 4S -- which is not available through China Mobile -- also contributed in a big way.
The China opportunity is growing
Most signs are pointing toward Apple releasing a new iPhone (presumably the iPhone 6) with a 4.7" or 4.8" screen later this year. Apple may also add a "phablet" with an even bigger screen within the next year. Larger screen sizes have been popular in China, and so Apple could significantly improve its competitive position there with a bigger iPhone.
Furthermore, Apple clearly saw some sales lift last quarter from its recent agreement with China Mobile, which is the world's largest wireless carrier. However, the short-term sales lift pales in comparison to the long-term opportunity at China Mobile.
First, Apple's iPhone is one of the first devices to be promoted for China Mobile's new LTE service. China Mobile is in the midst of expanding LTE from just a handful of key cities at the beginning of 2014 to (hopefully) hundreds of cities by the end of the year. As LTE service improves, Apple's sales through China Mobile should rise.
Second, most Chinese consumers cannot afford to buy a top-of-the line iPhone, which can cost the equivalent of nearly $1000. That's why Apple has seen such strong sales of the older iPhone 4S in China and other developing markets. However, the iPhone 4S does not have LTE and it doesn't work with China Mobile's 3G network either.
When the next iPhone comes out, Apple will probably stick to its policy of slashing the price on its older models. That will move the LTE-equipped iPhone 5c to a more affordable price point at China Mobile. (Apple took a step down this road last month by putting an 8GB iPhone 5c on sale in China at roughly 10% off the price of the 16GB version.) This will make Apple competitive in a huge market segment that it's not competing in today.
Foolish bottom line
Today, Apple is fighting in the smartphone market with one arm tied behind its back. It doesn't have a big-screen iPhone yet, let alone a phablet. It can't sell its current entry-level phone at China Mobile -- the world's largest carrier -- because of compatibility issues. Lastly, the China Mobile LTE rollout, which is one of the biggest long-term iPhone growth catalysts, is still in its early stages.
In spite of this, Apple's iPhone posted double-digit growth for the 3rd time in the last 4 quarters. With Apple set to fix some of its weak points in the smartphone market later this year and into 2015, the iPhone is positioned for even stronger growth going forward. This momentum should carry Apple stock higher as well.Is this incredible product Apple's next growth driver?If you thought the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad were amazing, just wait until you see this. One hundred of Apple's top engineers are busy building one in a secret lab. And an ABI Research report predicts 485 million of them could be sold over the next decade. But you can invest in it right now... for just a fraction of the price of AAPL stock. Click here to get the full story in this eye-opening new report.

Virtual cash thieves target Android

Android apps that have been downloaded millions of times have been subverted to mine virtual coins for cyberthieves, say security firms.
Two firms have found apps inside and outside the Google Play store seeded with the hidden mining code.
The programs have been mining coins for the Dogecoin, Litecoin and Casinocoin virtual currencies.
If installed, the booby-trapped apps will run down a phone's battery very quickly, said researchers.

Hot phones

Some of the apps harbouring the mining code were found on non-official Android stores but two of the programs, called Songs and Prized, are still available on the Google Play store. Songs has been downloaded at least one million times.
Lookout said it had seen the apps in stores popular in Spain and France.
Thieves are keen to steal computer power because virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin and others rely on large networks of connected machines. All those computers verify who is spending what and fresh coins are handed out for being involved - a process known as mining.
The more computer power someone can amass, the more mining they can do and, potentially, the more coins they can acquire.
However, using phones to do the mining was "odd", said Trend Micro researcher Veo Zhang in a blogpost detailing the apps seeded with the crypto coin code.
"Phones do not have sufficient performance to serve as effective miners," he said.

Lookout security researcher Marc Rogers said the simplistic nature of the code made it potentially dangerous as it made no attempt to manage how much processing power it used. Instead, he said, it just grabbed as much as it can.
"It will drive the hardware to mine until it runs out of battery," he said. "Overheating associated with this kind of harsh use can also damage hardware."
Those behind the coin code might have made efforts to hide the fact that phones were mining but users were still likely to notice, said Mr Zhang.
"Slow charging and excessively hot phones will all be seen, making the miner's presence not particularly stealthy," he wrote. "Yes, they can gain money this way, but at a glacial pace."
Despite this, he said, one of the groups producing the malicious apps had managed to amass thousands of Dogecoins which they then swapped for Bitcoins. One Bitcoin is currently worth £337.
Mr Rogers from Lookout said users might notice as mining involves swapping lots of data back and forth - which could quickly eat up a monthly data allowance.
Mr Zhang said Trend Micro had told Google's Android security team about its findings. Google has yet to comment on the discovery of the mining apps.

The Futuristic Liquid Nitrogen Machine That Makes Ice Cream To Order

Despite the warm wood and cheery red accents, Smitten Ice Cream can feel a bit like a mad scientist's shop. There's the industrial-sized tank of liquid nitrogen that greets you inside the entrance of its new flagship location in Oakland. And there's the billowing clouds of nitrogen when the stainless steel ice cream machines churn out personalized scoops to order.

With Smitten's Oakland store set to open next week, Gizmodo went to visit and get the, erh, inside scoop on how these machines make some of the best ice cream out there.
I have to say I was skeptical when I first heard about Smitten's schtick, which just seemed like a way to differentiate itself from the other cultishly trendy ice cream shops in the Bay Area. (That there is more than one such ice cream shop perhaps says something about the San Francisco of 2014.) I've made liquid nitrogen ice cream before, and the lumpy result was, put charitably, no better than supermarket brands. It's kinda fun but definitely not worthy of cultish devotion. But when I tried the ice at Smitten's original San Francisco location, damned if it wasn't delicious and creamy.
In theory, liquid nitrogen is supposed to make the best ice cream because its extremely low temperature prevents the formation of large ice crystals—hence the creamier result. In practice, though, superchilling your cream causes it to stick to the cold steel bowl, creating those lumps I encountered stirring by hand. That's where Brr does its job.
Smitten's founder Robyn Sue Fisher spent two years tinkering in a basement lab with a retired engineer to make Brr, the shop's patented ice cream machine. The breakthrough behind Smitten's ice cream is not really liquid nitrogen, but the little machine that stirs. "My first kid was Brr," jokes Fisher.
At first, they tried to tinker with existing mixers, but none were up to the formidable stirring. So they threw it all out and started from scratch. Fisher recalls looking at snow plows and airplanes for inspiration—machines that are already designed to prevent ice buildup. Oe of their earlier prototypes was "literally a snowplow that went around the snow." Ultimately, they settled on two helical stirrers shaped much like strands of DNA.
With a design in place, getting a handcrafted batch of customized machines manufactured was also no small (nor cheap) feat. "You could basically buy a car for the cost of a machine," says Fisher. To keep the machines running smoothly, she also has a team of seven engineers to call for help. Smitten has now expanded to two existing locations with two more slated to open soon, including the one I visited in Oakland.
With the new stores, Smitten is also upgrading to Brr 2.0, which is more than the sum of its mechanical parts. It knows to stir every flavor a little differently because, for example, chocolate ice cream is more viscous than strawberry white balsamic.
Fisher doesn't have any plans to franchise the brand or make Brr for sale, so you'll just have to be in the Bay Area to judge the ice cream for yourself. But really, watching the machines go and getting ice cream made in front of you is half the fun.

Is This Weird Little Blob The Future Of Bottled Water?

We get it. Our love of drinking water from disposable plastic bottles is a problem, enough of a problem that San Francisco actually wants to ban them . But then what will we drink water out of? Ooho, a biodegradable membrane made of brown algae, is an interesting idea.

Touted by some as an "edible water bottle," Ooho is actually more of a blob. The three London-based design students who developed the technology wanted to make something cheap, sustainable, and durable, so they improved upon a decades-old culinary technique called "spherification." Made popular by the molecular gastronomy nuts at El Bulli, spherification is exactly what it sounds like. Put simply, you turn liquid into spheres held together with a gelatinous membrane.
Ooho is actually not one but two membranes, for durability's sake. The double layer also makes it possible to sandwich a label in between the membranes, though Ooho's not quite ready for the supermarket. The real fun, of course, is trying to drink from Ooho. Since the container is edible, you could just pop the whole thing in your mouth like a bon-bon, but that doesn't seem particularly sanitary. Instead, you can just poke a hole in the membrane with your teeth and suck the water out. Based on Fast Company's test, however, you'll probably end up getting water everywhere.
All things considered, Ooha is a pretty cool, though slightly absurd invention. Will it save the world from living under a mountain of plastic Dasani bottles? Probably not. Does it signal the beginning of a new way to think about food packing? Absolutely.
And Ooha's not the only one onto this edible packaging idea, either. In the next month or so, Wikipearl will make its debut on the shelves of Whole Foods around Boston. The design of these little balls was inspired by biological cells and they are actually supposed to be eaten like bon bons. For now, however, it's safe to say that products like Ooho and Wikipearl are a novelty. An intriguing novelty! But a novelty nonetheless.

Planes, ships chase new leads in search for Malaysian jet

PERTH/KUALA LUMPUR - New satellite images have revealed more than 100 objects in the southern Indian Ocean that could be debris from a Malaysian jetliner missing for 18 days, while planes scouring the frigid seas on Wednesday also reported seeing potential wreckage.
The latest sightings came as searchers stepped up efforts to find some trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, thought to have crashed on March 8 with the loss of all 239 people aboard after flying thousands of miles off course.
"We have now had four separate satellite leads, from Australia, China and France, showing possible debris," Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference. "It is now imperative that we link the debris to MH370."
The latest images were captured by France-based Airbus Defence & Space on Monday and showed 122 potential objects in a 400-sq-km (155-sq-mile) area of ocean,Hishammuddin said. The objects varied in size from one metre to 23 metres (75 ft) in length, he said.
Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, and investigators believe someone on the flight may have shut off the plane's communications systems.
Partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and recrossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot.
Malaysia's air force has released few details of its radar tracking beyond saying the plane was last detected off the northwest coast heading towards India.
But the country's deputy defence minister, Abdul Rahim Bakri, told parliament that no action was taken when the unidentified plane was spotted because it was assumed it had been ordered to turn back, local media said.
"It was detected by our radar, but the turn back was by a non-hostile plane and we thought maybe it was at the directive of the control tower," he was quoted as saying.
Asked at the news conference whether air force radar operators thought the plane had been told to turn back by air traffic controllers, Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, said he could not confirm it.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

A dozen aircraft from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, China, Japan and South Korea were once more scouring the seas some 2,500 km (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth in the hunt for wreckage on Wednesday, after bad weather the previous day forced the suspension of the search.
"The crash zone is as close to nowhere as it's possible to be but it's closer to Australia than anywhere else," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, before leading the country's parliament in a moment's silence.
"A considerable amount of debris has been sighted in the area where the flight was last recorded. Bad weather and inaccessibility have so far prevented any of it from being recovered. But we are confident that it will be."
Wednesday's good weather was unlikely to last, in an area renowned among mariners for high winds and big waves.
"This is only going to be a narrow window of opportunity by the looks of things, because another weather system is moving in for Thursday, which looks like that will bring an increase in winds again and also lead to a reduction in visibility through the rain associated with the cold front," Neil Bennett, a spokesman for Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak this week confirmed Flight MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
Citing satellite-data analysis by British company Inmarsat, he said there was no doubt the Boeing 777 came down in one of the most remote places on Earth.
Recovery of wreckage could unlock clues about why and how the plane had diverted so far off course in one of aviation's most puzzling mysteries. Theories range from a hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems.
Australia, China and France have all released satellite images over the past week showing possible debris in the same general area as the latest sighting, but no confirmed wreckage has been located.

PASSENGER RELATIVES DISTRAUGHT

An Australian navy ship returned to the area after being driven away by gale force winds and 20-metre (66 ft) waves on Tuesday, while a Chinese icebreaker and three Chinese navy vessels were also in the search zone.
Two Chinese ships were looking for a two-metre floating object spotted earlier in the day by an aircraft, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
The United States has sent an undersea Navy drone and a high-tech black box detector which will be fitted to an Australian Defence vessel due in Perth in the coming days.
The so-called black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, record what happens during flight, but time is running out to pick up locator beacons that stop about a month after a crash due to limited battery life.
Malaysia said on Tuesday that the U.S. "Towed Pinger Locator" would not arrive in the search area until April 5, which would give it only a few days to find the black box before the beacon battery would be expected to run out.
At the Pentagon, the U.S. and British defence chiefs acknowledged the incident remained a mystery.
"On the terrorism question, I don't think at this point we can rule anything in or out. I think we have to continue to search," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.
"Unless and until we recover the cockpit voice recorder, we will not know for certain," British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said.
FBI Director James Comey said at a Washington hearing on Wednesday he expected his agency to finish an investigation of computer files related to the flight in the next day or two. He did not say what results he expected.
The prolonged and so far fruitless search and investigation have taken a toll, with dozens of distraught relatives of Chinese passengers clashing with police in Beijing on Tuesday, accusing Malaysia of "delays and deception".
Malaysia's confused initial response to the plane's disappearance and a perception of poor communications have enraged many relatives of the more than 150 Chinese passengers and have strained ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese special envoy Zhang Yesui met Malaysia's Najib on Wednesday and called for "unremitting efforts" to find the plane, Xinhua said.

Robots, hands-free wizardry wow at high-tech fair

A "toddler" robot that sees red, a digital master chef and a suitcase that never gets lost -- new technology at the world's biggest high-tech fair has the potential to change lives.
The gadgetry ranged from time-saving to life-saving in the buzzing CeBIT halls in the northern German city of Hanover.
Robots never fail to pull in the crowds, and they set the scene at the official opening of the five-day showcase of what's new and ueber-hot in the IT and high-tech world.
RoboThespian, a life-sized humanoid robot, delivered an articulate welcome address to guests, among them Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Both leaders went on to shake the bionic i-limb hand that has 24 different grips, produced by prosthetics company Touch Bionics, on a joint tour of the stands from CeBIT's 2014 partner country, Britain.
While pole-dancing robots "Lexy" and "Tess" were on hand for pure entertainment, two others, including one-year-old "Roboy", which has bones and muscles, pave the way for possible future developments in medicine or even Moon exploration.
"I can be happy," says Roboy, pulling the appropriate facial expression. "I can be angry," it says, its face turning red.
Resembling a small child, Roboy can move its limbs thanks to its 48 muscles, which are being further developed by the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence of the University of Zurich and the EU research project Myorobotics.
"It was built in nine months like a human baby," project manager Rafael Hostettler said.
The goal is to simply better understand how we work and use the lesson to improve industrial production, he said.
"There might be applications in prosthetics," Hostettler said, saying simulating illnesses could help to bring down the cost of teaching doctors.
- 'Back in 10' -
Meanwhile "Charlie", an ape-like robot with an flexible spine and feet that "feel", can crawl and balance on a tilting surface.
Developed by the German Center for Artificial Intelligence with Bremen University, it raises hopes that Charlie's descendants will one day explore craters on the Moon.
Back down to earth and "Kochbot" (German for "cook-bot") not only selects a recipe from among its library of 30,000 to suit whatever ingredients the cook has at home, but also reads it aloud and monitors the cooking time.
The Kochbot app means that sticky fingerprints on the pages of recipe books are a thing of the past and it will even repeat quantities or detailed prepping notes.
Further hands-free gadgetry at CeBIT gave new hope for frequent travellers.
At a mock-up of an Airbus cabin, there was a close-up look at "Bag2Go", a suitcase that is equipped with a SIM card, transmission module and display, to ensure it never gets lost.
"You always know where the bag is because you have an app, you can control it by GPS," said Torsten Chudobba, account executive for Airbus group, which together with T-Systems and luggage company Rimowa, is behind "Bag2Go".
Good news perhaps for skiers comes in the form of "Airwriting", developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which will mean not having to take off your gloves to write a short message via a mobile phone.
"Home in 10 minutes" for example can simply be spelled out on the palm of the user's hand and a sensor attached to the wrist records the hand movements for a computer to write out the message.
And with the soccer World Cup on the horizon, software giant SAP has the ultimate in analysing the beautiful game.
It has teamed up with the German national football squad to produce a touchscreen tool with a panoramic view of past matches that digitally analyses team and individual performances, such as distances between players, passing frequency or possession of the ball.
"Here you can see the tactic, whether it works, how the opponent reacts," explained project manager Christoph Jungkind.
"So this is the basis for a good performance evaluation."

Canada’s Olympians enjoy passport to free beer

The value of a Canadian passport just went up.
Bright, flag-red beer fridges have been set up at Canada Olympic House in Sochi offering free Molson products to Canada’s Olympians and their sporty friends.
All it takes to open it is a swipe of a Canadian passport.
Once opened, the athletes can extract as much beer as they see fit.
The fridge looks something out of hoser heaven, but it’s actually the product of a modified webcam and a tiny computer.
They scan the passport’s image and then check if it matches what’s found on a Canadian passport.
If it computes, then the fridge’s latch is released and the passport-holder can extract as much free beer as is desired.
Molson’s spokesperson Forest Kenney said in an interview that the promotion is a continuation of a campaign that began last summer with the Rethink advertising agency.
In that campaign, which went viral, a fridge was left in random locations with a note that it could only be opened with a Canadian passport.
When a Canadian would happen by, he/she would be able to play the role of a good host and give the strangers beer.
The Canadian women’s hockey team created a short-lived flap after winning the gold in the Vancouver Olympics, and then celebrating on ice with champagne, cigars and Molson’s Canadian beer.
Kenney said he couldn’t immediately say how much free beer has been quaffed in Sochi and how much it cost to set up the fridge there.
Not surprisingly, reviews have been favourable from lovers of free beer, despite the blatant attempt to cash in on patriotism.
“Well played, Canada. Well played,” tweets ABC News producer Meredith Frost.
“1st time I’ve ever wanted 2b Canadian,” confesses John Elder of Nashville.
“This is why Canada is the greatest country in the world,” raves a tweeter who identifies him/herself as “FromIceLevel.”
The deft marketing move has also drawn favourable nods from major media, including USA Today, whose writer excitedly raved, “This Canadian beer machine is the most amazing technology in the Olympics.”