Internal bug promoted problematic content on Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO — Content identified as misleading or problematic were mistakenly prioritized in users' Facebook feeds recently, thanks to a software bug that took six months to fix, according to tech site The Verge.

Facebook disputed the report, which was published Thursday, saying that it "vastly overstated what this bug was because ultimately it had no meaningful, long-term impact on problematic content," according to Joe Osborne, a spokesman for parent company Meta.

But the bug was serious enough for a group of Facebook employees to draft an internal report referring to a "massive ranking failure" of content, The Verge reported. 

In October, the employees noticed that some content which had been marked as questionable by external media -- members of Facebook's third-party fact-checking program -- was nevertheless being favored by the algorithm to be widely distributed in users' News Feeds.

"Unable to find the root cause, the engineers watched the surge subside a few weeks later and then flare up repeatedly until the ranking issue was fixed on March 11," The Verge reported.

But according to Osborne, the bug affected "only a very small number of views" of content.

That's because "the overwhelming majority of posts in Feed are not eligible to be down-ranked in the first place," Osborne explained, adding that other mechanisms designed to limit views of "harmful" content remained in place, "including other demotions, fact-checking labels and violating content removals."

AFP currently works with Facebook's fact checking program in more than 80 countries and 24 languages. Under the program, which started in December 2016, Facebook pays to use fact checks from around 80 organizations, including media outlets and specialized fact checkers, on its platform, WhatsApp and on Instagram. 

Content rated "false" is downgraded in news feeds so fewer people will see it. If someone tries to share that post, they are presented with an article explaining why it is misleading. 

Those who still choose to share the post receive a notification with a link to the article. No posts are taken down. Fact checkers are free to choose how and what they wish to investigate.

Agence France-Presse 

Apple unveils revamped map app to challenge Google

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple on Thursday said it has finished rolling out an overhauled map app in the US in another attempt to challenge Google's popular smartphone navigation software.

Apple spent years rebuilding the application, its cars traveling millions of miles to map roads, after a version launched in 2012 was so problematic it prompted a rare public apology from chief executive Tim Cook.

Mapping programs on mobile devices is seen as a way to stay in tune with smartphone lifestyles and pursue opportunities to make money connecting people with nearby offerings such as restaurants, theaters, clothing shops and other businesses.

Apple said the redesigned "Maps" program is fast, accurate, and comprehensive, even weaving in transit options in some locations.

Maps is to begin rolling out in Europe in coming months.

"We set out to create the best and most private maps app on the planet that is reflective of how people explore the world today," Apple senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue said in a release.

"It is an effort we are deeply invested in and required that we rebuild the map from the ground up to re-imagine how Maps enhances people’s lives — from navigating to work or school or planning an important vacation — all with privacy at its core."

Apple Maps had some features similar to those in Google Maps, such as pictures of locations taken at street level and artificial intelligence to check the status of flight reservations noted in email boxes or on calendars.

As with other products, Apple stressed work done to protect user privacy, such as obscuring search terms, routing, and other data, according to the company.


Agence France-Presse 

Microsoft granted license to export 'mass-market' software to Huawei

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it had been granted a license from the US government to export software to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

"On Nov. 20, the US Department of Commerce granted Microsoft's request for a license to export mass-market software to Huawei. We appreciate the Department's action in response to our request," a Microsoft spokesman told Reuters via email.

The administration of US President Donald Trump said this week it would allow some suppliers to restart sales to the Chinese telecoms giant, which was placed on a trade blacklist over national security concerns 6 months ago.

The Commerce Department confirmed it had begun issuing licenses for some companies to sell goods to Huawei, expanding the company's supplier base and providing long-awaited clarity to the industry that once sold it billions of dollars worth of goods.

On Wednesday, a US official said it had received roughly 300 license requests, about half of which had been processed. Roughly half of those – or one quarter of the total – had been approved and the rest denied.

It was not immediately clear which products had been approved for sale to Huawei, which is the world's top telecommunications equipment maker and second-largest smartphone maker. A person familiar with the process said Wednesday that some licenses for sales of cellphone components and non-electronic components were approved.

Microsoft declined to comment beyond its statement on which products had been approved, and the Commerce Department declined to comment.

Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said the license was most likely for the company's Windows operating system.

"This will be a major relief for Huawei after an arduous period with large technology players like Microsoft, Google and others restricted on the platform," Ives said.

Huawei has been anxiously awaiting a license for Alphabet Inc's Google to supply its mobile services to new models. Without access to Google services such as its Play Store for apps, Huawei phones will become harder to sell to consumers outside of China. Google declined to comment on Thursday.

The granting of licenses comes as the Trump administration is working to sign a phase one trade deal with China to end a tit-for-tat trade war that has roiled markets and hit global growth.

But the move immediately met with opposition. A bipartisan group of 15 senators urged the Commerce Department to suspend the issuing of licenses, saying it could threaten US security.

In a letter on Thursday to Trump, the senators said the administration should halt issuing licenses until it provides Congress "a report outlining specific criteria for determining whether or not the approval of any license poses a national security threat."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Users of some iPhones, iPads urged to update OS to avoid issues

MANILA—Apple said its users must update their iPhone or iPad operating system to the latest version to avoid issues with GPS location and other functions.

The company said some iPhone and iPad models introduced in 2012 and earlier will require an iOS update to maintain the accuracy of their GPS location.

"This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019," Apple said in its official website.

The software update must be done before midnight UTC on Nov. 3, or 8 a.m., Sunday, Manila time.

The updated software version number should be iOS 10.3.4 for iPhone 5 and iPad (4th generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular) and iOS 9.3.6 for iPhone 4s, iPad mini (1st generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA models only) and iPad (3rd generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular).

The issue does not affect iPod touch and any Wi-Fi only iPad models. Devices newer than those mentioned are likewise not affected by the GPS issue.

Apple said users of iPhone 5 are required to update their device's software to maintain accurate GPS location, as well as to continue using functions that rely on correct date and time, including App Store, iCloud, email, and web browsing. 

Those who will fail to update the software in their iPhone 5 would have to back-up and restore their devices using a computer, as over-the-air software and iCloud Backup will not work beyond said date.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Amazon digital assistant Alexa gets into your head

SAN FRANCISCO - Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a cornucopia of new gadgets as it extended the reach of Alexa from automobiles and homes essentially into people's heads.

Amazon digital aide Alexa vies with Google Assistant software to be at the heart of smart homes where lights, security systems, televisions and more are controlled with spoken commands.

While the Seattle-based technology titan has worked with partners to get Alexa built into some 85,000 devices, it also expanded the line-up of hardware it creates itself.

ECHO FRAMES

Eyeglass frames with microphones built in to listen for commands and speakers that channel audio directly into the ears for just wearers to hear. The frames, which can be used for prescription lenses, have no camera or display capabilities and synch with smartphones.

Echo Frames are available invitation-only, and priced at $180.

ECHO LOOP

A ring worn on a finger that can be used to interact with Alexa digital assistant using taps or swipes. The smart ring is available by invitation only and priced at $130.

ECHO BUDS

Wireless earbuds infused with Alexa digital assistant smarts but which synch to smartphones, where they can work with Google Assistant or Apple Siri software. Echo Buds are priced at $130.

ECHO STUDIO

A smart speaker with 5 directional speakers and sophisticated software for premium sound quality and Alexa digital assistant controls built in. Priced at $200.

NEW-GEN ECHOS

Additions to the Echo smart speaker line-up included an improved basic model for $100, a plug-in Echo Flex device for $25, and an Echo Dot with an illuminated clock for $60 because users so often ask the time.

ECHO SHOW 8

An Echo show smart display with an eight-inch screen for $130.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'DeepNude' app that 'undresses' women shut down after furor

WASHINGTON, United States—The creators of an application allowing users to virtually "undress" women using artificial intelligence have shut it down after a social media uproar over its potential for abuse.

The creators of "DeepNude" said the software was launched several months ago for "entertainment" and that they "greatly underestimated" demand for the app.

"We never thought it would be viral and (that) we would not be able to control the traffic," the DeepNude creators, who listed their location as Estonia, said on Twitter.

"Despite the safety measures adopted (watermarks), if 500,000 people use it, the probability that people will misuse it is too high. We don't want to make money this way."

Articles in The Washington Post, Vice and other media showed how the app could be used to take a photo of a clothed woman and transform that into a nude image, sparking outrage and renewed debate over nonconsensual pornography.

"This is a horrifically destructive invention and we hope to see you soon suffer consequences for your actions," tweeted the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a group that seeks protection against nonconsenual and "revenge" porn.

Mary Anne Franks, a law professor and president of the CCRI, tweeted later, "It's good that it's been shut down, but this reasoning makes no sense. The app's INTENDED USE was to indulge the predatory and grotesque sexual fantasies of pathetic men."

DeepNude offered a free version of the application as well as a paid version, and was the latest in a trend of "deepfake" technology that can be used to deceive or manipulate.

Although the app was shut down, critics expressed concern that some versions of the software remained available and would be abused.

"The #Deepnude app is out there now and will be used, despite the creator taking it off the market. If only there were a way to disable all the versions out there," CCRI tweeted.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Smartphone-like software finally heads to space

WASHINGTON - Once a traditional satellite is launched into space, its physical hardware and computer software stay mostly immutable for the rest of its existence as it orbits the Earth, even as the technology it serves on the ground continues to change. 

Just as some aerospace start-ups are developing technologies to repair, modify or refuel satellites to prolong their lives, some satellite manufacturers are looking at a complementary solution -- hoping to install smartphone-like software with more computing power and capable of receiving updates within minutes instead of days or weeks. 

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin presented its new "SmartSat" technology to journalists Wednesday near Washington.

"SmartSat" software will hitch a ride aboard mini satellites called cubesats that they plan to launch within the next 6 months. 

"Today's satellites that exist currently are durable, they're capable, they're precise, but once we launch them, they generally don't change much," Lockheed Martin's Maria Demaree explained. "We want the satellites of the future to operate more like smartphones." 

Instead of computer programs with a single processor, like satellites have today, with "SmartSat," Lockheed Martin says they'll be bringing multi-core processing to space.

"That lets satellites process more data in orbit so they can beam down just the most critical and relevant information -- saving bandwidth costs and reducing the burden on ground station analysts, and ultimately opening the door for tomorrow's data centers in space," the company said in a statement.

For example, according to the company, this technology could allow a commercial operator to more easily reprogram a communications satellite to switch to serving Eastern Europe instead of Western Europe, if necessary. 

The US military might also be interested, though Lockheed has not yet confirmed whether they are a "SmartSat" client. 

Why haven't aerospace organizations implemented such revolutionary technology before now?

Extreme conditions in space make everything more complicated.

"The hardware is very susceptible to locking up or just completely burning out," said "SmartSat" program manager Adam Johnson. "So the hardware is now catching up to the capabilities that we see on the ground, such that it's more radiation-tolerant."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

After New York City’s war with Amazon, Uber could be next

NEW YORK — After New York City and Amazon went to war over a new campus in Queens, the city is heading into battle with another tech giant: Uber.

Mayor Bill de Blasio approved a yearlong cap on Uber vehicles last summer, making New York the first major US city to rein in the booming ride-hail company. Now de Blasio wants to extend the cap, prompting Uber to sue the city last week to overturn the law.

Uber has fiercely opposed the cap, arguing that it hurts New Yorkers who rely on the app, especially outside Manhattan, where there are fewer transit options. The lawsuit called the city’s regulatory approach “unfortunate, irresponsible and irrational.”

De Blasio, a Democrat with presidential ambitions, responded by saying the city’s new rules — both the cap and a measure to raise wages for drivers — were needed.

“No legal challenge changes the fact that Uber made congestion on our roads worse and paid their drivers less than a living wage,” said Seth Stein, a spokesman for the mayor. “The city’s new laws aim to change that.”

Like many other cities across the world, New York is struggling to respond to the explosive growth of the ride-hailing industry. The influx of vehicles has raised concerns about street congestion, working conditions for drivers, the decimation of the yellow cab industry and the siphoning of riders from public transit.

The lawsuit comes at a critical moment for Uber and its main competitor, Lyft, as both companies rush to go public. Uber, which could be valued as high as $120 billion, is likely to be one of the biggest-ever public offerings by a tech company.

The two ride-hail companies have bristled over new regulations in New York, Uber’s largest market in the United States. Lyft recently sued to stop the rules aimed at raising driver pay.

Uber and Lyft are also battling each other to dominate New York’s thriving bike markets. Lyft bought Motivate, the company that operates CitiBike, the city’s popular bike-share program. Uber bought another bike company called Jump and began offering electric bikes in the Bronx and Staten Island.

Uber supports the driver pay rules, but argued that the cap hurts drivers who want to join its app.

“It is disappointing to see the de Blasio administration remain singularly focused on a cap that evidence suggests is doing nothing to relieve congestion while preventing thousands of New Yorkers from earning a living wage,” Josh Gold, a spokesman for Uber, said in a statement.

Some business leaders worry that Amazon’s decision to abandon its deal with New York could hurt the city’s image as a tech hub.

But Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the struggle with Uber is not a tech issue — it’s about worsening street traffic.

“We’re not really afraid of being branded anti-tech,” Gelinas said. "In the long term, our problem is how do we deal with all of this growth — and not the risk that we’re going to drive away that growth with a little bit of rhetoric and a little regulation.”

De Blasio has a bitter history with Uber. When the mayor first proposed a cap in 2015, Uber launched an aggressive attack, introducing a “de Blasio view” in the company’s app to blame him for long wait times. Uber won the debate and became shorthand in his administration for an embarrassing defeat.

But Uber was on the defensive last year when the cap idea was revived by Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker. Uber’s reputation had been harmed by accusations of gender discrimination and other scandals. It hired a new chief executive and a new leader for New York to try to improve its image.

The number of for-hire vehicles in the city has surged to more than 100,000 vehicles, from about 60,000 in 2015. But while Uber and other companies are flourishing, many of their drivers are not. About 40 percent of drivers have incomes so low that they qualify for Medicaid and about 18 percent qualify for food stamps, according to a study by prominent economists last year.

The cap was expected to last a year while the city studied the proliferation of ride-hail trips. At the end of that period, the city’s taxi commission would review the number of vehicle licenses and decide on how they would be regulated.

Last month, de Blasio said in a radio interview that he wanted to “put ongoing caps in place on the for-hire vehicles.” Officials at City Hall confirmed that the mayor was considering extending the cap.

Uber’s lawsuit argues that it was not legal for the city to delegate the power to cap vehicles to the taxi commission. If Uber cannot meet growing rider demand, the lawsuit says that could hurt the state’s efforts to raise money for the subway through new fees on ride-hail trips.

The lawsuit, filed in state supreme court in Manhattan, questions the city’s motives: “This is less a ‘study’ and more a ‘post hoc rationalization’ of a remedy the city appears to have already selected.”

Lyft also opposes a permanent cap. “Any extension of this misguided policy would do even more significant, long-term damage to drivers and riders,” Lyft said in a statement.

The City Council is proud of the new regulations imposed on the ride-hailing industry and had the authority to approve them, said Jacob Tugendrajch, a spokesman for Johnson. The speaker, his office said, wants the taxi commission to make a decision about any future limits on vehicles based on data from its study.

The city’s taxi commissioner, Meera Joshi, recently announced that she was stepping down in March. Her successor will have a powerful role in determining the industry’s future.

In a separate lawsuit, Lyft challenged the city’s rules to raise driver wages to more than $17 an hour. Lyft claims the rules give Uber an unfair advantage because it judges companies differently based on their “utilization rate,” or how often drivers have a passenger in their car versus driving around empty.

The approach gives “the largest company with the biggest market share a built-in and perpetual advantage over companies with lower utilizations,” Lyft’s lawsuit said.

Lyft has sold itself as the more ethical ride-hail option. But the lawsuit hurt its image among some riders like Brad Lander, a councilman from Brooklyn, who said he deleted the app.

After facing harsh criticism, Lyft announced that it would comply with the new pay rules while its legal case proceeded.

Uber and Lyft say they care about public policy, but the lawsuits show their first priority is self interest, said Bruce Schaller, a former city transportation official who has closely studied the industry. The companies face a difficult challenge of balancing both profits and their public image. In this case, Schaller said, Uber chose to protect its bottom line.

“Uber in particular has been playing super nice since its change in management a year ago and particularly as they get closer to the IPO,” he said. “Suing the biggest city in the country isn’t playing super nice.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Walkie-talkie app downloads soar as Irma looms

WASHINGTON - As Floridians flee the path of Hurricane Irma, one app is proving to be a hurricane season essential: Zello walkie-talkie.

Allowing users to communicate even when a natural disaster affects phone signal, the app is the most-downloaded software this week.

WHAT IS THE APP?

Developed by tech start-up Zello, based in Austin, Texas, Zello walkie-talkie was launched in 2011.

Transforming smartphones into modern-day walkie-talkies, it topped the download charts on Google Play and the Apple App Store Friday.

Zello says it has 100 million users -- although before the arrival of Hurricane Harvey, analysis by Sensor Tower showed it was only the 1,400th most-downloaded app.

But over a million people, mostly in Puerto Rico and Florida, installed it earlier this week as Hurricane Irma approached.

HOW DOES IT WORK

"It's voice-focused," explained CEO Bill Moore. "Voice is our natural form of communication. Talking for a few seconds can reveal so much information about your gender, your level of education, your place of origin or the emotions you're feeling."

Users can join a channel and exchange short messages with others. It's as easy as recording a message with your phone and sending it to the group, as with other applications such as Viber and WhatsApp.

It's also possible to send pictures -- but the app does use up a lot of battery.

WHY IS IT SO SUCCESSFUL

Contrary to some reports on social media, the app does require an internet connection.

To send a message using Zello, a 2G cellular data connection is enough - making it practical in the case of a natural disaster, when networks can be disrupted.

Zello is also free to download, and does not feature in-app adverts.

During Harvey, its users exchanged advice and organized rescue efforts, with several channels created to discuss the aftermath of the hurricane. On Friday, with Hurricane Irma looming, thousands of users in Florida took to the app to swap tips.

"Thank you very much, that's very convenient!" said one Floridian to another who'd shared details of numerous shelters near a highway.

But the company warns the app is not intended as a replacement for coordinated rescue efforts, and urged users to follow official instructions.

"While Zello has been helpful in Harvey relief efforts, it is not a hurricane rescue tool and is only as useful as the people who use it, and as reliable as the data network available," it said in a post on its Facebook page.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for $26.2-B in its largest deal

Microsoft Corp. will buy LinkedIn Corp. for $26.2 billion in its biggest-ever deal, marking CEO Satya Nadella's first big effort to breathe new life into the software giant's business-productivity tools.

By connecting core software like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint with LinkedIn's network of 433 million professionals, the deal marks a turn for Microsoft, which stumbled in a mobile phone venture launched under Nadella's predecessor. It also aims to take on challengers in several areas.

The deal could help keep services like Outlook email relevant enough that customers won't want to leave it for rivals such as Google's Gmail, analysts said. And because the acquisition brings a network heavy in marketing and sales professionals, it delivers a shot across the bow to competitors in those areas, such as Salesforce (CRM.N) and Marketo (MKTO.O).

For LinkedIn, the opportunity to tap Microsoft's customers, including the 1.2 billion users of its Office suite of business software, could help it jumpstart growth, which has slowed in recent quarters.

"LinkedIn and Microsoft really share a mission" of helping people work more efficiently, said Microsoft CEO Nadella in a conference call with analysts. "There is no better way to realize that mission than to connect the world's professionals."

Nadella has been trying to reinvigorate the once-lumbering company since taking over two years ago, and has helped build more credibility around Microsoft's efforts in areas such as cloud-based services. When he took the top job in February 2014, the company's share price was $34.20; early Monday afternoon, it was trading around $50.

"The Venn diagram is pretty big," Nadella said in a separate call with Reuters, meaning the overlap of customers of both companies, although he didn't give a precise number.

In a presentation to analysts, Microsoft said after adding in LinkedIn, the total potential market size of Microsoft's productivity and business-process segment was $315 billion, up from $200 billion without LinkedIn.

Nadella gave an example of a customer walking into a meeting scheduled on a Microsoft Outlook calendar integrated with LinkedIn, receiving notification that one of the people in the meeting went to college with a colleague.

"The future of productivity is around people, identity and data and the relationships between the them," said Matt McIlwain, a portfolio manager at Madrona Ventures. "Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for the opportunity to leverage these capabilities and combine them with Microsoft's strong but complementary assets in those three areas."

The offer of $196 per share represents a premium of 49.5 percent to LinkedIn's Friday closing price.

MIXED TRACK RECORD

LinkedIn's shares soared 47 percent to $192.42 and Microsoft's shares were down 2.7 percent to $50.06.

Microsoft has a mixed track record when it comes to acquisitions, with past targets such as business network Yammer, internet video conferencing service Skype and particularly phone company Nokia failing to deliver hoped-for benefits.

Monday's deal raised investors' hopes that another social media company, Twitter (TWTR.N), could be the next acquisition target, sending shares up more than 5 percent.

Reid Hoffman, chairman of LinkedIn's board and the company's controlling shareholder, said the deal has his full support.

Jeff Weiner will remain chief executive of LinkedIn, reporting to Nadella. In a phone call with Reuters, Weiner said LinkedIn would remain its own entity in the way that YouTube is relatively independent from parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), or Instagram from parent Facebook (FB.O).

Microsoft plans to speed-up monetization of LinkedIn by boosting individual and organization subscriptions as well as targeted advertising, it said.

Despite the rich premium paid by Microsoft, LinkedIn is selling for well below its peak of more than $270 per share in 2015. A weak forecast earlier this year sent its shares tumbling amid slowing online ad revenue.

LinkedIn went public in 2011 at $45.

The deal, which won the unanimous support of both boards, is expected to close this year, the companies said.

Microsoft, which has $105.55 billion in cash, said it would issue new debt to fund its acquisition. Moody's said it was reviewing Microsoft AAA rating for a possible downgrade.

After the deal, which will require approval from regulators in the United States, the EU, Canada and Brazil, LinkedIn will become part of Microsoft's productivity and business processes unit, the companies said.

Microsoft's financial adviser was Morgan Stanley and LinkedIn's financial adviser was Allen & Company LLC and Qatalyst Partners, founded by Silicon Valley dealmaker Frank Quattrone.

Microsoft's legal adviser was Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Professional Corp advised LinkedIn.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Virtual assistant Alexa boasts 1,000 'skills': Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Amazon on Friday boasted that its virtual assistant Alexa is capable of 1,000 "skills," as the online retail giant bolsters defenses against rivals such as Google and Apple.

The Seattle-based company said in a blog post that the programs were developed specifically for the voice-commanded Alexa software used in Amazon devices such as Echo and Fire TV.

Amazon released voice-enabled wireless speaker Echo in late 2014, infusing it with virtual assistant smarts that enable it to answer questions or control linked devices upon command.

A kit lets outside software developers create "experiences," similar in concept to apps, for Alexa.

Alexa director Rob Pulciani said tens of thousands of developers are learning about and crafting programs that introduce users "to the magic and simplicity of hands-free, voice-driven interactions."

Amazon is out to put Echo and Alexa at the heart of the connected home.

Alexa's skills include selecting music, appointment reminders, checking bank balances, ordering food, summoning Uber rides and more.

Amazon has not disclosed sales figures for Echo, but the device appears to be having success in the market due, in part, to beating rivals out of the starting gate.

- Google Home coming -

Google last month unveiled a virtual home assistant device that will challenge Amazon Echo as the Internet giant laid out a future rich with artificial intelligence.

Google Home, about the size of a stout vase, will hit the market later this year, vice president of product management Mario Queiroz said at the opening of the Internet giant's annual developers conference.

Home devices will incorporate new Google virtual assistant software introduced by chief executive Sundar Pichai.

"Our ability to do conversational understanding is far ahead of what other virtual assistants can do," Pichai told a packed audience at the conference.

"We are an order of magnitude ahead of everyone else."

Home devices combine machine learning, online search, voice recognition and more to allow people to get answers to questions, manage tasks, or control devices by speaking naturally, demonstrations showed.

Home will synch with Chromecast devices that allow remote control of televisions or stereo systems, and with "smart" devices made by Google-owned Nest and other companies.

Google did not disclose pricing on Home devices.

"Google Home could be a major force and could also dramatically decrease the sales potential of Amazon Echo," said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy.

Apple is expected to enter the market with a home assistant device of its own, perhaps unveiled at its annual developers conference taking place later this month in San Francisco, according to rumors swirling ahead of the event.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Microsoft grounds foul-mouthed teen-speak bot

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - A Microsoft "chatbot" designed to converse like a teenage girl was grounded on Thursday after its artificial intelligence software was coaxed into firing off hateful, racist comments online.

Microsoft this week launched the experiment in which the bot nicknamed "Tay" was given the personality of a teenager and designed to learn from online exchanges with real people.

Bu the plan was sent awry by an ill-willed campaign to teach her bad things, according to the US software colossus.

"It is as much a social and cultural experiment, as it is technical," a Microsoft spokesperson said Thursday in response to an AFP inquiry.

"Unfortunately, within the first 24 hours of coming online, we became aware of a coordinated effort by some users to abuse Tay's commenting skills to have Tay respond in inappropriate ways."

Tay is a machine learning project -- one in which software can evolve as it is being used -- designed for human engagement. But it got a harsh lesson in what it can learn from people.

As a result, Tay was taken offline for adjustments to the software, according to Microsoft.

"C U soon humans need sleep now so many conversations today," Tay said in its final post on Twitter.

All the offensive Twitter posts by Tay were removed, but many echoed online in the form of captured screen shots.

Tay tweets ranged from support for Nazis and Donald Trump to sexual comments and insults aimed at women and blacks.

Tay's profile at Twitter describes it as AI (artificial intelligence) "that's got zero chill" and gets smarter as people talk to it.

People could chat with Tay at Twitter and other messaging platforms, and even send the software digital photos for comment.

The project was said to target young adults with chatter styled after a teenage girl.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Facebook reveals new security tool

WASHINGTON, United States - Facebook announced Tuesday it has been using a new security tool to help detect and remove malicious software for users of the world's biggest social network.

Facebook said it was working with Kaspersky Lab, bolstering a program implemented with other online security firms including ESET, F-Secure and Trend Micro.

"Thanks to the collaboration with these companies, in the past three months we have helped clean up more than two million people's computers that we detected were infected with malware when they connected to Facebook," said Trevor Pottinger, a Facebook security engineer.

"In these cases, we present a cleanup tool that runs in the background while you continue using Facebook, and you get a notification when the scan is done to show you what it found."

Pottinger said the program uses "a combination of signals to help find infections and get the malware off of your computer for good, even if the malware isn't actively spreading spam or harmful links."

Kaspersky Lab's Kate Kochetkova said in a separate blog post that Facebook users are often targeted in online fraud schemes such as "phishing," which are faked emails designed to get recipients to download malware.

"Facebook is a major aim for phishers: one in five phishing scams targets Facebook notifications," she said.

"So be vigilant when you receive emails appearing to be from Facebook: as they can be fake. There are lots of Trojans targeting Facebook users as well."

Fraudsters may also use Facebook, Kochetkova said, to "'like' weird things and promote questionable goods and services on your behalf."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple faces another suit from victorious patent firm

Fresh off a $532.9 million jury win against Apple Inc, a Texas company is again suing the tech giant, this time over the same patents' use in devices introduced after the original case was underway.

Smartflash LLC aims to make Apple pay for using the patent licensing firm's technology without permission in devices not be included in the previous case, such as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the iPad Air 2. The trial covered older Apple devices.

On Tuesday, a jury in federal court in Tyler, Texas found that Apple willfully violated three Smartflash patents with devices that use its iTunes software. The patents relate to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos and games.

The new complaint was filed on Wednesday night in the same court in Tyler, where Smartflash is also based and which over the past decade has become a focus for patent litigation. Smartflash licenses its patents but does not make products itself.

"Smartflash filed the complaint to address products that came out too far into the last proceedings to have been included," Smartflash's attorney, Brad Caldwell, told Reuters on Thursday. "Apple cannot claim they don’t know about these patents or understand that they are infringing. A diligent jury has already rejected those arguments."

A representative from Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

Apple said after Tuesday's verdict it would appeal and that the outcome was another reason reform was needed in the patent system to curb litigation by companies that make money off patent royalties instead of products.

The latest suit alleges Apple infringes the same patents at issue in the trial, and names four others. Three of those additional patents were part of its older complaint against Apple, which was later narrowed.

Both Smartflash lawuits say that around 2000, the co-inventor of its patents, Patrick Racz, met with executives of what is now European SIM card maker Gemalto SA, including Augustin Farrugia, who is now a senior director at Apple.

Smartflash has also filed patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc over the same patents.

The case is Smartflash LLC et al v. Apple Inc, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 15-cv-145.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Rise of the Machines: video gamers beware

PARIS, France - Researchers unveiled a software system Wednesday which had taught itself to play 49 different video games and proceeded to defeat human professionals -- a major step in the fast-developing Artificial Intelligence realm.

Not only did the system give flesh-and-blood gamers a run for their money, it discovered tricks its own programmers didn't even know existed, a team from Google-owned research company DeepMind reported in the scientific journal Nature.




 "This... is the first time that anyone has built a single general learning system that can learn directly from experience to master a wide range of challenging tasks," said co-developer Demis Hassabis.

The feat brings us closer to a future run by smart, general-purpose robots which can teach themselves to perform a task, store a "memory" of trial and error and adapt their actions for a better outcome next time.

Such machines may be able to do anything from driving our cars to planning our holidays and conduct scientific research, said the team.

Inspired by the human learning process, the "artificial agent" dubbed deep Q-network (DQN) was let loose, with only minimal programming, on an Atari game console from the 1980s.

"The only information they (the system) get is the pixels (on the screen) and the game score and the goal they've been told is to maximise the score," Hassabis explains in a Nature video.

"Apart from that, they have no idea about what kind of game they are playing, what their controls do, what they're even controlling in the game."

Unlike humans, the algorithm-based software starts off without the benefit of previous experience.

Presented with an on-screen paddle and ball, for example, a human gamer would already know that the goal must somehow involve striking the one with the other.

The system, by comparison, learns by activating computer keys randomly until it starts scoring through trial and error.

Learns, adapts, and gets better

"The system kind of learns, adapts and gets better and better incrementally until eventually it becomes almost perfect on some of the games," said Hassabis.

Games included the late 1970's classic Breakout, in which the player has to break through several layers of bricks at the top of a computer screen with a "ball" bounced off a paddle sliding from side to side at the bottom, Ms Pac-Man which entails gobbling pellets along a maze, pinball, boxing, tennis and a car race called Enduro.




The system outperformed professional human players in many of the games, but fared poorly in some, including Ms Pac-Man.

In particular game types, explained DeepMind colleague Vlad Mnih, "it's very difficult to get your first points or first rewards, so if the game involves solving a maze then pressing keys randomly will not actually get you any points and then the system has nothing to learn from."

But it did discover aspects of games that its creators hadn't even known about. It figured out, for example, that in Breakout the optimal strategy is to dig a tunnel through one side of the wall and send the ball in to bounce behind it, breaking the bricks from the back.

To the future and beyond

The creators said their system was further advanced in many ways than Watson, an AI question-answering system that outwitted the most successful human players of quiz game Jeopardy in 2011, and Deep Blue, the computer which beat chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997.

Both these had largely been preprogrammed with their particular abilities.

"Whereas what we've done is build algorithms that learn from the ground up, so literally you give them perceptual experience and they learn how to do things directly from that perceptual experience," Hassabis told journalists.

"The advantage of these types of systems is that they can learn and adapt to unexpected things and also... the programmers or the system designers don't necessarily have to know the solution themselves in order for the machine to master that task."

The long-term goal, he added, was to build smart, general-purpose machines.

"We are many decades off from doing that," said the researcher. "But I do think that this is the first significant rung of the ladder that we're on."

The next developmental step will entail tests with 3D video games from the 90s.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lenovo website hacked; Lizard Squad claims responsibility

China's Lenovo Group Ltd website was hacked, the company said on Wednesday, days after the U.S. government advised Lenovo customers to remove a pre-installed virus-like software, "Superfish", on laptops that makes the devices more vulnerable to attacks.

Hacking group Lizard Squad claimed to be behind the attacks, according to its Twitter page.

Lizard Squad has taken credit for several high-profile outages, including attacks that took down Sony Corp's PlayStation Network and Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live network last month. Members of the group have not been identified.

"The domain name service server hosting Lenovo's website was hacked. We do not have any further information at this time to share. We'll update as soon as possible," Lenovo said in a statement to Reuters.

San Francisco-based security firm CloudFlare said hackers transferred the domain to CloudFlare in order to point it to a defacement site.

"As soon as we at CloudFlare noticed, we seized the account and worked with Lenovo to restore service while they worked to recover their domain," Marc Rogers, Principal Security Researcher at CloudFlare, said in an email to Reuters.

Starting 4 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) on Wednesday, visitors to the Lenovo website saw a slideshow of young people looking into webcams and the song "Breaking Free" playing in the background, according to The Verge, which first reported the breach.

"We're breaking free! Soarin', flyin', there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!," Lizard Squad posted on its Twitter page, quoting the song from the movie "High School Musical".





The hackers also posted a couple of screenshots of an email between Lenovo employees regarding the "Superfish" software.



The Department of Homeland Security said in an alert on Friday that the "Superfish" program makes users vulnerable to a type of cyberattack known as SSL spoofing, in which remote attackers can read encrypted web traffic, redirect traffic from official websites to spoofs, and perform other attacks.

Rogers also said CloudFlare was able to restore service before Lenovo recovered the domain, suggesting that the outage was probably "quite small".

However, Lenovo's website was inaccessible at 7:54 p.m. ET (0054 GMT). A message said the site was unavailable due to system maintenance.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple to pay $533-M for patent infringement

NEW YORK - Apple Inc has been ordered to pay $532.9 million after a federal jury found its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by Texas-based patent licensing company Smartflash LLC.

Though Smartflash had been asking for $852 million in damages, the verdict, which came late Tuesday night, was still a costly blow for the U.S. tech giant, the most valuable company in the world.

After deliberating for eight hours in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the jury said that Apple not only used the Smartflash patents without permission, but did so willfully.

Apple suggested the outcome was another reason why reform is needed in the patent system to curb litigation by companies that do not make products themselves, such as Smartflash.

"We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system," an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters.

A representative for Smartflash could not immediately be reached.

Smartflash sued Apple in May, 2013 alleging the Cupertino, California-based company's iTunes software infringed its patents related to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos and games.

The trial was held in Tyler, the hub of the East Texas region, which over the past decade has become a focus for patent litigation in the United States. Some of the biggest jury verdicts have been awarded in the district. Smartflash is also based in Tyler.

Apple tried to avoid a trial by having the lawsuit thrown out. But earlier this month U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, who presided over the case, ruled that the Smartflash's technology was not too basic to deserve the patents.

That ruling set the stage for a trial. Apple argued that it did not infringe the patents and asked the jury to find they were invalid because previously patented inventions covered the same technology.

Smartflash's suit said that around 2000, the co-inventor of its patents, Patrick Racz, met with a man named Augustin Farrugia to discuss the patents' technology. Farrugia, the complaint said, later joined Apple and became a senior director there.

It was also in Tyler federal court that a jury in 2012 ordered Apple to pay $368 million to VirnetX Inc for patent infringement. A federal appeals court later threw out that damages figure, saying it was wrongly calculated.

The case is Smartflash LLC, et al v. Apple, Inc, et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 13-cv-447.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lenovo laptop users urged to remove Superfish program

BOSTON - The U.S. government on Friday advised Lenovo Group Ltd customers to remove a "Superfish," a program pre-installed on some Lenovo laptops, saying it makes users vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The Department of Homeland Security said in an alert that the program makes users vulnerable to a type of cyberattack known as SSL spoofing, in which remote attackers can read encrypted web traffic, redirect traffic from official websites to spoofs, and perform other attacks.

"Systems that came with the software already installed will continue to be vulnerable until corrective actions have been taken," the agency said.

Adi Pinhas, chief executive of Palo Alto, California-based Superfish, said in a statement that his company's software helps users achieve more relevant search results based on images of products viewed. He said the vulnerability was "inadvertently" introduced by Israel-based Komodia, which built the application described in the government notice.

Komodia CEO arak Weichselbaum declined comment on the vulnerability.

Komodia's website says it produces a "hijacker" that allows users to view data encrypted with SSL technology.

"The hijacker uses Komodia's redirector platform to allow you easy access to the data and the ability to modify, redirect, block, and record the data without triggering the target browser's certification warning," according to the site.

Marc Rogers, a researcher with CloudFlare, said that means companies which deploy Komodia technology can snoop on web traffic.

"These guys can do everything from just collect a little bit of marketing information, all the way to building a profile on you and spying on your banking connections," he said. "It's a very dangerous slope."

Rogers said that use of Komodia's technology in other products makes them vulnerable to the same types of attacks as Lenovo's Superfish.

He said other vulnerable products include two parental filters: One from Komodia known as KeepMyFamilySecure and another from Qustodio.

Komodia's Weichselbaum said his company was investigating reports of vulnerabilities in KeepMyFamilySecure.

Qustodio CEO Eduardo Cruz Chief Executive said his company's Windows parental filter was vulnerable and he hoped to push out a fix within a few days.

Lenovo did not disclose how many machines were affected, but said that only machines shipped from September to December of last year had been pre-loaded with the vulnerable software.

Affected Lenovo products include laptops in its Yoga, Flex and MiiX lines as well as its E, G, U, Y and Z series, according to the company's support website.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BitTorrent to produce original online videos

SAN FRANCISCO - Peer-to-peer file sharing star BitTorrent on Wednesday announced a studio partnership to make original online video, ramping up a challenge to Netflix and Amazon Prime and trying to further legitimize its image.

The exclusive alliance with Rapid Eye Studios will "identify, produce, and distribute original video" aimed at young adults, according to the company.

BitTorrent Originals will debut content to be shown exclusively on the platform for one to three months.

BitTorrent chief executive Eric Klinker touted the alliance as a "major milestone for us and an aggressive expansion into the media space."

BitTorrent was founded in 2004 and specializes in software of the same name designed to efficiently share digital files using networks of computers in a peer-to-peer model.

The technology early on became known as a piracy tool that let people easily share copyrighted films, music and television shows.

BitTorrent boasts 170 million users in what it described as a young, creative, and influential group of 14-to-25 year-olds.

"Others in the original content space such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu have made great progress," said BitTorrent chief content officer Matt Mason.

"But, we are starting out with a big advantage: We have a larger audience than all of those platforms combined."

BitTorrent last year enlisted Rapid Eye on their first collaboration, a series titled "Children of the Machine."

The first season of the show is slated to launch late this year with ad-supported episodes of 60 minutes each available for viewing free. A premium version of the series without ads and promising added content will be priced at $9.95.

Ninety percent of the revenue from BitTorrent Originals will go to content creators, who get to decide whether to charge viewers for shows or stream them free with advertising added, according to the company.

BitTorrent users have streamed or downloaded hundreds of millions of "Bundles" of digital content from sources including Sony Pictures Classics and Universal studios as well as musicians including Madonna and Linkin Park, according to Mason.

As part of the partnership, Mason and some of his team from BitTorrent's headquarters in San Francisco will relocate to Los Angeles to work with Rapid Eye there.

"This move helps BitTorrent establish a beachhead in Hollywood, in terms of the deal and by establishing an office there," Mason said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Microsoft, Google tangle over Windows security patch

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp has complained publicly about tech rival Google Inc revealing a security flaw in its Windows 8.1 system just days before Microsoft was scheduled to roll out a fix for the problem, potentially exposing users to hacking.

The spat highlights an ever-present tension in the software security sector between those who believe flaws should be revealed sooner rather than later to put pressure on companies to tackle the issues, and developers who sometimes need more time to come up with a solution.

In this case, Google is in the former camp, through its "Project Zero" team, which scans all types of software for bugs and reports problems privately to the developers who created them. Google gives developers 90 days to fix a problem before making the issue public.

That happened on Sunday, when Google posted a security bulletin concerning weaknesses in the user profile creation process in Windows 8.1, which could allow hackers to take control of a computer. Google had initially told Microsoft about the problem on Oct. 13.

Microsoft plans to publish a fix this week as part of its regular security update, known in the industry as "Patch Tuesday."

"We asked Google to work with us to protect customers by withholding details until Tuesday, Jan. 13, when we will be releasing a fix," Microsoft executive Chris Betz wrote in a blog on the company's site on Sunday.

"Although following through keeps to Google’s announced timeline for disclosure, the decision feels less like principles and more like a 'gotcha,' with customers the ones who may suffer as a result."

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com