Eric David
Latest from Eric David
Did you see secret Russian propaganda on Facebook? Soon you can find out
Facebook Inc. announced today that it will release a new tool that will allow users to see if any of the pages they have liked or followed were secretly created by the Internet Research Agency, an organization backed by the Russian government as part of a misinformation campaign to influence U.S. elections. Facebook will release the ...
Apple’s self-driving car team uses machine learning to get more out of LiDAR
Apple Inc. has had a “will they or won’t they” relationship with self-driving car development over the last few years, and unlike companies like Alphabet Inc. or Uber Technologies Inc., Apple has been fairly tight lipped about most of its work. From what little is known, Apple has been focusing more on the software side rather than on hardware, and ...
Facebook Messenger now lets you send images in 4K resolution
Facebook Inc. announced today that pictures are about to get a lot better on Messenger, as the popular chat app will now support images at 4K resolution, the maximum resolution supported by most new smartphone cameras. Users do not have to do anything different to take advantage of the new feature. Once they have updated ...
Cue the outrage: FCC reveals plan to end net neutrality
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission unveiled a plan today that would completely repeal net neutrality laws put in place two years ago under the Obama administration, a move that would have long-term implications for the future of the internet. Under current laws, internet service providers must treat all content equally. The FCC’s new plan, which goes ...
Skype removed from Chinese app stores at government’s request
The government of China has forced the removal of yet another foreign-made communication app, the New York Times reported today. Microsoft Corp.’s video chat service Skype has been removed from the Apple App Store and several other app platforms in China for allegedly violating the country’s laws, but it is unclear exactly which laws the app broke. ...
Pixvana raises $14M for its cloud-based VR studio – in a VR pitch, naturally
Startups and sales teams know how hard it can be to make an interesting pitch with slideshows and charts, and every convention expo is full of neglected booths that try to lure people with the promise of koozies and flashing lanyards. Seattle-based startup Pixvana Inc. believes that virtual reality holds the solution to these problems, and ...
Spotify acquires cloud-based music recording platform Soundtrap
Spotify AB is not content with being a place only to listen to music anymore, and now the Stockholm-based company wants to help people create music too. Spotify announced today that it has acquired fellow Swedish company Soundtrap, a cloud-based recording platform for amateur and professional musicians and podcasters. The terms of the deal were ...
Amazon Key vulnerability could let couriers enter your home unseen
Many people were skeptical about Amazon.com Inc.’s new electronic lock system, Amazon Key, which allows deliveries to be dropped inside your home when you are gone, and now it looks like some of those fears might be justified. According to a report by Wired, network security company Rhino Security Labs discovered a flaw in Amazon Key ...
Google, Facebook and others will show ‘trust indicators’ to fight fake news and hoaxes
Internet giants such as Facebook Inc. and Google LLC have come under fire over the last year the untrustworthy news that gets circulated on their platforms, but now the two companies and several others are joining a new initiative from The Trust Project aimed at helping users spot sketchy sources using “trust indicators.” Trust indicators are ...
Aiming at Amazon’s Alexa, Baidu unveils a quirky smart speaker and robot
Chinese web giant Baidu Inc., one of the biggest names in artificial intelligence outside the U.S., today joined the smart device race with a wild-looking new smart speaker and equally colorful home robot. Baidu revealed the new devices, both powered by Baidu’s DuerOS AI assistant, today in Beijing at its annual Baidu World conference, whose theme this ...