Visual One smartens up home security cameras with object and action recognition

“Smart” cameras are to be found in millions of homes, but the truth is they’re not all that smart. Facial recognition and motion detection are their main tricks… but what if you want to know if the dog jumped on the couch, or if your toddler is playing with the stove? Visual One equips cameras with the intellect to understand a bit more of the world and give you more granular — and important — information.

Founder Mohammad Rafiee said that the idea came to him after he got a puppy (Zula) and was dissatisfied with the options he had for monitoring her activities while he was away. Here she is doing what dogs do best:

There are no bad dogs, but chairs are for people

“There were specific things I wanted to know were happening, like I wanted to check if the dog got picked up by the dog walker. The cameras’ motion detection is useless — she’s always moving,” he lamented. “In fact, with a lot of these cameras, just a change in the lighting or wind or rain can trigger the motion alert, so it’s completely impractical.”

“My background is in machine learning. I was thinking about it, and realized we’re at a stage where this problem is starting to become solvable,” he continued.

Some tasks in computer vision, indeed, are as good as solved — detecting faces and common objects such as cars and bikes can be done quickly and efficiently. But that’s not always useful — what’s the point of knowing someone rode their bike past your house? In order for this to have value, the objects need to be understood as part of a greater context, and that’s what Rafiee and Visual One are undertaking.

Unfortunately, it’s far from easy — or else everyone would be doing it already. Identifying a cat is simple, and identifying a table is simple, but identifying a cat on a table is surprisingly hard.

“It’s a very difficult problem. So we’re breaking it down to things we can solve right now, then building on that,” Rafiee explained. “With deep learning techniques we can identify different objects, and we build models on top of those to specify different interactions, or specific objects being in specific locations. Like a car in the wrong spot, or a dog getting on a couch. We can recognize that with high accuracy right now — we have a list of supported objects and models that we’re expanding.”

In case you’re not convinced that the capabilities are that much advanced from the usual “activity in the living room” or “Kendra is at the front door” notifications, here are a few situations that Visual One is set up to detect:

• Kid playing with the stove
• Toddler climbing furniture
• Kid holding a knife
• Baby left alone for too long
• Raccoon getting into garbage
• Elderly person taking her medications
• Elderly person in bed for too long
• Car parked in the wrong spot
• Garage door left open
• Dog chewing on a shoe
• Cat scratching the furniture

The process for creating these triggers is pretty straightforward

If one of those doesn’t make you think “actually… that would be really good to know,” then perhaps a basic security camera is enough for your purposes after all. Not everyone has a knife-curious toddler. But those of you who do are probably scrolling furiously past this paragraph looking for where to buy one of these things.

Unfortunately Visual One isn’t something you can just install on any old existing system — with the prominent exception of Nest, into which it can plug. Camera workflows are generally too locked down for security and privacy purposes to allow for third-party apps and services to be slipped in. But the company isn’t trying to bankrupt everyone with an ultra-luxury offering. It’s using off-the-shelf cameras from Wyze and loading them with its own software stack.

Rafiee said he pictures Visual One as a mid-tier option for people who want to have more than a basic camera setup but aren’t convinced by the more expensive plays. That way the company avoids going head-on with commodity hardware’s race to the bottom or the brand warfare taking place between Google and Amazon’s Nest and Ring. Cameras cost $30-$40, and the service is $7 per month currently.

Ultimately the low-end companies may want to license from Visual One, while the high-end companies will be developing their own full stack at great cost, making it difficult for them to go downmarket. “Hardware is hard, and AI is specialized — unless you’re a giant company it’s hard to do both. I think we can fill the gap in the market for mid-market companies without those resources,” he said.

Of course privacy is paramount as well, and Rafiee said that because of the way their system works, although the AI lives in the cloud and therefore requires the cameras to be online (like most others), no important user data needs to be or will be stored on Visual One servers. “We do inference in the cloud so we can be hardware agnostic, but we don’t need to store any data. So we don’t add any risk,” he said.

Visual One is launching today (after a stint in YC’s latest cohort) with an initial set of objects and interactions, and will continue developing more as it observes which use cases prove popular and effective.

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Symptoms

Symptoms

TikTok to open a ‘Transparency Center’ where outside experts can examine its moderation practices

TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, has been under a national security investigation by U.S. lawmakers who have raised concerns about the company’s access to U.S. user data and whether it was censoring content at the behest of the Chinese government. Today, TikTok tries to combat these concerns with the opening of a “Transparency Center” that will allow outside experts to examine and verify TikTok’s practices.

The new facility in TikTok’s L.A. office will allow outside experts to view how TikTok’s teams operate day-to-day, the company explains, as staff moderates content on the platform. This includes how moderators apply TikTok’s content Guidelines to review the content its technology automatically flagged for review, as well as other content the technology may have missed.

In addition, the experts will be shown how users and creators are able to bring concerns to TikTok and how those concerns are handled. TikTok will also explain how the content on the platform aligns with its Guidelines, the company says.

This center mainly aims to address the censorship concerns the U.S. has with TikTok, which, as a Chinese-owned company may have to comply with “state intelligence work,” according to local laws, experts have said. TikTok has long denied that’s the case, claiming that no governments — foreign or domestic — have directed its content moderation practices.

That being said, The Washington Post reported last year that searches on TikTok revealed far fewer videos of the Hong Kong protests than expected, prompting suspicions that censorship was taking place. The Guardian, meanwhile, came across a set of content guidelines for TikTok that appeared to advance Chinese foreign policy through the app. TikTok said these guidelines were older and no longer used.

Today, TikTok’s moderation practices are still being questioned, however. In November, it removed a video that criticized China’s treatment of Muslims, for example. The video was restored after press coverage, with TikTok citing a “human moderation error” for the removal.

While the larger concern to U.S. lawmakers is potential for China’s influence through social media, TikTok at times makes other moderation choices that don’t appear to be in line with U.S. values. For example, singer Lizzo recently shaded TikTok for removing videos of her wearing a bathing suit, even as TikTok stars posted videos of themselves dancing in their bathing suits. (The deleted video was later restored after press coverage). The BBC also reported that transgender users were having their posts or sounds removed by TikTok, and the company couldn’t properly explain why. And The Guardian reported on bans of pro-LGBT content. Again, TikTok said the guidelines being referenced in the article were no longer in use.

TikTok says the new transparency center will not only allow the experts to watch but also provide input about the company’s moderation practices.

“We expect the Transparency Center to operate as a forum where observers will be able to provide meaningful feedback on our practices. Our landscape and industry is rapidly evolving, and we are aware that our systems, policies and practices are not flawless, which is why we are committed to constant improvement,” said TikTok  U.S. General Manager, Vanessa Pappas. “We look forward to hosting experts from around the world and continuing to find innovative ways to improve our content moderation and data security systems,” she added.

The Center will open in early May, initially with a focus on moderation. Later, TikTok says it will open up for insight into its source code and efforts around data privacy and security. The second phase will be led by TikTok’s newly appointed Chief Information Security Officer, Roland Cloutier, who starts next month.

The company notes it has taken many steps to ensure its business can continue to operate in the U.S. This includes the release of its new Community Guidelines and the publishing of its first Transparency Report a few months ago. TikTok has also hired a global General Counsel and expanded its Trust & Safety hubs in the U.S., Ireland, and Singapore, it said.

 

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European lawmakers propose a ‘right to repair’ for mobiles and laptops

The European Commission has set out a plan to move towards a ‘right to repair’ for electronics devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops.

More generally it wants to restrict single-use products, tackle “premature obsolescence” and ban the destruction of unsold durable goods — in order to make sustainable products the norm.

The proposals are part of a circular economy action plan that’s intended to deliver on a Commission pledge to transition the bloc to carbon neutrality by 2050.

By extending the lifespan of products, via measures which target design and production to encourage repair, reuse and recycling, the policy push aims to reduce resource use and shrink the environmental impact of buying and selling stuff.

The Commission also wants to arm EU consumers with reliable information about reparability and durability — to empower them to make greener product choices.

“Today, our economy is still mostly linear, with only 12% of secondary materials and resources being brought back into the economy,” said EVP Frans Timmermans in a statement. “Many products break down too easily, cannot be reused, repaired or recycled, or are made for single use only. There is a huge potential to be exploited both for businesses and consumers. With today’s plan we launch action to transform the way products are made and empower consumers to make sustainable choices for their own benefit and that of the environment.”

The Commission said electronics and ICT will be a priority area for implementing a right to repair, via planned expansion of the Ecodesign Directive — which currently sets energy efficiency standards for devices such as washing machines.

Its action plan proposes setting up a ‘Circular Electronics Initiative’ to promote longer product lifetimes through reusability and reparability as well as “upgradeability” of components and software to avoid premature obsolescence.

The Commission is also planning new regulatory measures on chargers for mobile phones and similar devices. While an EU-wide take back scheme to return or sell back old mobile phones, tablets and chargers is being considered.

Back in January the EU Parliament voted overwhelmingly for tougher action to reduce e-waste, calling for the Commission to come up with beefed up rules by this summer.

In recent years MEPs have also pushed for the Ecodesign Direction to be expanded to include repairability.

The Commission proposals also include a new regulatory framework for batteries and vehicles — including measures to improve the collection and recycling rates of batteries and ensure the recovery of valuable materials. Plus there’s a proposal to revise the rules on end-of-life vehicles to improve recycling efficiency and waste oil treatment. 

It’s also planning measures to set targets to shrink the amount of packaging being produced, with the aim of making all packaging reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030.

Mandatory requirements on recycled content for plastics used in areas such as packaging, construction materials and vehicles is another proposal.

Other priority areas for promoting circularity and reducing high consumption rates include construction, textiles and food.

The Commission expects the circular economy to have net positive benefits in terms of GDP growth and jobs’ creation across the bloc — suggesting measures to boost sustainability will increase the EU’s GDP by an additional 0.5% by 2030 and create around 700,000 new jobs.

The backing of MEPs in the European Parliament and EU Member States will be necessary if the Commission proposals are to make it into pan-EU law.

Should they do so, Dutch social enterprise Fairphone shows a glimpse of what’s coming down the repairable pipe in future…

Can Fairphone 3 scale ethical consumer electronics?

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Storz & Bickel sidesteps Apple’s vaping app ban

Users of Storz & Bickel’s vaporizers can once again connect their vapes to iPhones. The company’s solution comes several months after Apple enacted a ban on apps for tobacco and cannabis vaporizers. This time around, Storz & Bickel turned to a web app to provide iPhone users with expanded controls over their vapes.

I found the process straightforward and requiring just a few more steps than installing a traditional app. First, using the right browser, navigate to Storz-Bickel.com and click the link on the home page. Press the Connect button and load the device. From there the web app works as advertised, providing access to temperature control and different settings on two of Storz & Bickel’s vapes.

Right now, Storz & Bickel’s web app features most of the functionality of the company’s Android app. Peter Popplewell, Canopy Growth’s CTO, tells TechCrunch more functions are coming, including the ability to update firmware. The company will soon roll out similar web apps to other products like Juju Joints.

The web app requires the use of specific third-party browsers as Safari and Chrome lacks a critical function. Users need to install a browser that supports Bluetooth connections. Storz & Bickel recommends iPhone owners us Bluefy or WebBLE.

In my testing, I used the free Bluefy browser. The connection was reliable and easy to use. The experience isn’t as seamless as an app, but this solution is the only way to restore the features lost after Apple pulled the company’s app from the App Store.

Banned iOS apps like these from Storz & Bickel give users more control and transparency into consuming cannabis. Some allow users to fine-tuning temperature to control dosage amounts. A few vape apps display detailed lab reports around the contents of pre-packaged cartridges, offering the consumer protections against harmful chemicals.

This ban came after illicit vaping products caused a public health crisis. In response, Apple institute a complete removal on vaping apps rather than filtering apps from legitimate companies like Canopy Growth, Pax, and others. Now, six months after the ban, these companies are turning out workarounds to restore advertised functions disabled by Apple’s ban.

How companies are working around Apple’s ban on vaping apps

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Real-Time 3D Object Detection on Mobile Devices with MediaPipe

Posted by Adel Ahmadyan and Tingbo Hou, Software Engineers, Google Research

Object detection is an extensively studied computer vision problem, but most of the research has focused on 2D object prediction. While 2D prediction only provides 2D bounding boxes, by extending prediction to 3D, one can capture an object’s size, position and orientation in the world, leading to a variety of applications in robotics, self-driving vehicles, image retrieval, and augmented reality. Although 2D object detection is relatively mature and has been widely used in the industry, 3D object detection from 2D imagery is a challenging problem, due to the lack of data and diversity of appearances and shapes of objects within a category.

Today, we are announcing the release of MediaPipe Objectron, a mobile real-time 3D object detection pipeline for everyday objects. This pipeline detects objects in 2D images, and estimates their poses and sizes through a machine learning (ML) model, trained on a newly created 3D dataset. Implemented in MediaPipe, an open-source cross-platform framework for building pipelines to process perceptual data of different modalities, Objectron computes oriented 3D bounding boxes of objects in real-time on mobile devices.

 

3D Object Detection from a single image. MediaPipe Objectron determines the position, orientation and size of everyday objects in real-time on mobile devices.

Obtaining Real-World 3D Training Data
While there are ample amounts of 3D data for street scenes, due to the popularity of research into self-driving cars that rely on 3D capture sensors like LIDAR, datasets with ground truth 3D annotations for more granular everyday objects are extremely limited. To overcome this problem, we developed a novel data pipeline using mobile augmented reality (AR) session data. With the arrival of ARCore and ARKit, hundreds of millions of smartphones now have AR capabilities and the ability to capture additional information during an AR session, including the camera pose, sparse 3D point clouds, estimated lighting, and planar surfaces.

In order to label ground truth data, we built a novel annotation tool for use with AR session data, which allows annotators to quickly label 3D bounding boxes for objects. This tool uses a split-screen view to display 2D video frames on which are overlaid 3D bounding boxes on the left, alongside a view showing 3D point clouds, camera positions and detected planes on the right. Annotators draw 3D bounding boxes in the 3D view, and verify its location by reviewing the projections in 2D video frames. For static objects, we only need to annotate an object in a single frame and propagate its location to all frames using the ground truth camera pose information from the AR session data, which makes the procedure highly efficient.

Real-world data annotation for 3D object detection. Right: 3D bounding boxes are annotated in the 3D world with detected surfaces and point clouds. Left: Projections of annotated 3D bounding boxes are overlaid on top of video frames making it easy to validate the annotation.

AR Synthetic Data Generation
A popular approach is to complement real-world data with synthetic data in order to increase the accuracy of prediction. However, attempts to do so often yield poor, unrealistic data or, in the case of photorealistic rendering, require significant effort and compute. Our novel approach, called AR Synthetic Data Generation, places virtual objects into scenes that have AR session data, which allows us to leverage camera poses, detected planar surfaces, and estimated lighting to generate placements that are physically probable and with lighting that matches the scene. This approach results in high-quality synthetic data with rendered objects that respect the scene geometry and fit seamlessly into real backgrounds. By combining real-world data and AR synthetic data, we are able to increase the accuracy by about 10%.

An example of AR synthetic data generation. The virtual white-brown cereal box is rendered into the real scene, next to the real blue book.

An ML Pipeline for 3D Object Detection
We built a single-stage model to predict the pose and physical size of an object from a single RGB image. The model backbone has an encoder-decoder architecture, built upon MobileNetv2. We employ a multi-task learning approach, jointly predicting an object's shape with detection and regression. The shape task predicts the object's shape signals depending on what ground truth annotation is available, e.g. segmentation. This is optional if there is no shape annotation in training data. For the detection task, we use the annotated bounding boxes and fit a Gaussian to the box, with center at the box centroid, and standard deviations proportional to the box size. The goal for detection is then to predict this distribution with its peak representing the object’s center location. The regression task estimates the 2D projections of the eight bounding box vertices. To obtain the final 3D coordinates for the bounding box, we leverage a well established pose estimation algorithm (EPnP). It can recover the 3D bounding box of an object, without a priori knowledge of the object dimensions. Given the 3D bounding box, we can easily compute pose and size of the object. The diagram below shows our network architecture and post-processing. The model is light enough to run real-time on mobile devices (at 26 FPS on an Adreno 650 mobile GPU).

Network architecture and post-processing for 3D object detection.

Sample results of our network — [left] original 2D image with estimated bounding boxes, [middle] object detection by Gaussian distribution, [right] predicted segmentation mask.

Detection and Tracking in MediaPipe
When the model is applied to every frame captured by the mobile device, it can suffer from jitter due to the ambiguity of the 3D bounding box estimated in each frame. To mitigate this, we adopt the detection+tracking framework recently released in our 2D object detection and tracking solution. This framework mitigates the need to run the network on every frame, allowing the use of heavier and therefore more accurate models, while keeping the pipeline real-time on mobile devices. It also retains object identity across frames and ensures that the prediction is temporally consistent, reducing the jitter.

For further efficiency in our mobile pipeline, we run our model inference only once every few frames. Next, we take the prediction and track it over time using the approach described in our previous blogs for instant motion tracking and Motion Stills. When a new prediction is made, we consolidate the detection result with the tracking result based on the area of overlap.

To encourage researchers and developers to experiment and prototype based on our pipeline, we are releasing our on-device ML pipeline in MediaPipe, including an end-to-end demo mobile application and our trained models for two categories: shoes and chairs. We hope that sharing our solution with the wide research and development community will stimulate new use cases, new applications, and new research efforts. In the future, we plan to scale our model to many more categories, and further improve our on-device performance.

 

 

Examples of our 3D object detection in the wild.

Acknowledgements
The research described in this post was done by Adel Ahmadyan, Tingbo Hou, Jianing Wei, Matthias Grundmann, Liangkai Zhang, Jiuqiang Tang, Chris McClanahan, Tyler Mullen, Buck Bourdon, Esha Uboweja, Mogan Shieh, Siarhei Kazakou, Ming Guang Yong, Chuo-Ling Chang, and James Bruce. We thank Aliaksandr Shyrokau and the annotation team for their diligence to high quality annotations.

The dangers of a noisy ocean -- and how we can quiet it down | Nicola Jones

The dangers of a noisy ocean -- and how we can quiet it down | Nicola Jones

The ocean is a naturally noisy place full of singing whales, grunting fish, snapping shrimp, cracking ice, wind and rain. But human-made sounds -- from ship engines to oil drilling -- have become an acute threat to marine life, says science journalist Nicola Jones. Watch (and listen) as she discusses the strange things that happen to underwater creatures in the face of ocean noise pollution -- and shares straightforward ways we can dial down the sound to see almost immediate impacts.

Click the above link to download the TED talk.

The 5 Best Conference Speakerphones for Your Office or Home

Conference speakerphones and their use have become fairly commonplace in most office environments. In the current climate, COVID-19 poses a health-risk and the need for self-isolation is present. A conference speakerphone could be exactly what you need in your home office, too.

While using an app on your laptop or mobile device may be of some worth, the quality can vary wildly. It also depends on a number of variables. This can make conducting business even more difficult, instead of easier (as they should).

There are tonnes of options available when it comes to conference speakerphones, all packing different features. We’ve rounded up the best of the bunch to help you make your decision on which one to buy.

1. Anker PowerConf

Anker PowerConf Anker PowerConf Buy Now On Amazon $129.99

For a fantastic, feature-rich device that won’t break the bank, check out Anker’s PowerConf Bluetooth and USB Speakerphone. This is one handy little unit, we have to say, and its uses don’t stop at being just a speakerphone. At a relatively bargain price, you’re getting plenty for your money.

The box features the PowerConf unit itself, a carry case, and a USB-C cable. It is just what the Poweconf is capable of that really impressed us. For a start, the tiny 4.88 x 4.84 x 1.18 inches is really unimposing when sat on your desk. This means it won’t take up too much space where the real estate in your office is lacking.

Inside its diminutive housing lies all manner of awesome tech which comparative devices like the Jabra Speak 710 can’t match. It holds no less than six microphones, offering excellent voice pick-up during calls. This voice-pickup has 360-degree coverage over a 5-meter radius, which is great if you like to walk around the room as you hold discussions.

Ambient noise is reduced by 20dB for a much clearer call at the other end. This combines with the Smart Voice Enhancement tech to deliver even more call-clarity. Therefore, neither you nor the caller will miss any important details.

Finally, the Anker PowerConf not only boasts 24-hour talk time from its on-board battery, but it can also charge other USB devices. If you want an excellent catch-all conference speakerphone, for a very reasonable price, this one comes highly recommended.

2. Poly Calisto 7200

Poly Calisto 7200 Poly Calisto 7200 Buy Now On Amazon $162.28

If you’re not a newcomer to conference speakerphones, then the Poly Calisto 7200 may look somewhat familiar to you. Polycom (who formerly manufactured the Calisto) and Plantronics have joined forces. The result is a new brand: Poly.

The Calisto is a stylish machine, with a flashy aluminum outer case that gives it additional durability. This also means that it remains lightweight and portable, so you can carry it with you if required.

The Poly Calisto 7200 comes with four microphones to pick up voice signals and has a range of 10m. You get a maximum talk-time of 10 hours from one complete charge of the device’s internal battery. Alongside this, you can charge while in use. This means you needn’t worry about the battery losing juice while you’re in the middle of an important call.

The Calisto 7200 features Bluetooth connectivity, which works perfectly with your smartphone. Also, if you would like to use it with a desktop app, you can do so via USB. The speakerphone works straight from the box, therefore no fiddly set-up process. So, you can just plug it in and away you go.

3. Sennheiser SP 30+

Sennheiser SP 30+ Sennheiser SP 30+ Buy Now On Amazon $170.73

Sennheiser is an expert in audio, so it goes without saying that the Sennheiser SP 30+ speakerphone would rate highly on our list of recommendations. Their little device is barely more than the diameter of a coffee mug. It packs in Sennheiser quality sound to deliver an excellent call experience and you can even use it to play music!

Where the PowerConf and Calisto only allow six users simultaneously, the Sennheiser SP 30+ speakerphone allows for eight. That is to say, you can hold a larger conference call, with more input and more efficiency from your remote meeting.

The speakerphone is easy to set up, too. The USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity make this a great all-round speakerphone; it will allow you to connect with your laptop, smartphone, or your tablet. Voice clarity is always an important feature, so it is good to know that the Sp 30+ makes use of voice clarity tech. This, along with the noise cancellation, means your calls should be crisp and clear at both ends of the line.

4. Konftel Ego

Konftel Ego Konftel Ego Buy Now On Amazon

If budget is high on your priority list, then the Konftel Ego will do just the job. It retails at under $100, so it won’t break the bank.

The device looks a little more like how you might expect a conference speaker to look. It is heptagonal in shape, with each of the three longer edges carrying the controls. The call controls also double up as media player controls. These are useful for instances in which you’re using the Ego as a music speaker or similar.

The speakerphone only supports a meeting size of up to four people, but this is perfect if you’re only going to be using it from home. Its fairly diminutive size means that this is a great alternative to wearing a Bluetooth headset to make and take calls. It supports a Bluetooth connection, NFC, and wired connectivity.

The Konftel Ego also features a nice LED screen which forms part of this base. This is a simple function, but it does have the advantage of indicating what the Ego is doing at the time. It will display either a Bluetooth symbol, a USB symbol, or a music symbol. This way, you’re left in no doubt as to what mode your speakerphone is in.

In short, this is an excellent entry-level personal conference speaker that is excellent for home office use.

5. eMeet Note N1

eMeet Note N1 eMeet Note N1 Buy Now On Amazon $299.99

The eMeet Note N1 is a brilliant conference speaker and for a multitude of reasons. It might be a little on the pricier side, but it packs loads of cool features which will make the investment worth it.

The area in which the Note N1 really shines is its note-taking functionality. All speech is automatically recorded to text and can be recorded as an audio file, too. This could make note-taking a thing of the past, leaving you to concentrate on your call rather than fumbling around the back of your desk drawers for a pen that works.

It even features role-based recording. This means that you can assign two people a role within the meeting, and capture what they say as color-coded text. They are then kept as notes and can be placed in manuscripts to find conversation points easily and quickly.

Despite being pricier than the other speakerphones on our list, the eMeet Note N1 packs in so many useful features that we are certain that the cost reflects a great buy.

The Best Conference Speaker for Your Needs

As you can see, there are plenty of conference speakers on the market. Each one has different features depending on your needs, whether you are using it via Bluetooth or a USB connection.

Not sure which USB cable to use with a wired conference speaker? Check out our handy guide on understanding USB cable types and their uses.

Read the full article: The 5 Best Conference Speakerphones for Your Office or Home

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Get Fit With Video Games, Cheap Windows 10 Upgrades, Google Assistant Reads Aloud

Get the most out of Google Assistant, upgrade to Windows 10 for a discount, and get fit with video games in this week’s podcast. PLUS: learn how to spot Bitcoin email scams, and understand the US Election 2020 better with Alexa.

Christian Cawley is joined by Ben Stegner, James Frew, and Megan Ellis for a show packed with tips and news of new MakeUseOf tech giveaways.

Really Useful Podcast Season 5 Episode 6 Shownotes

This week’s news:

• Google Assistant reads the internet aloud
• Alexa can tell you all about the US Election 2020

We have a single recommendation this time:

• The Heimatdamisch on YouTube

Some tech tips and tricks:

• Get fit with these video games
• Bitcoin email scams
• Affordable Windows 10 upgrade options

We also take a look at the latest giveaways and reviews:

• Creality LD-002R resin printer
• Simbans TangoTab (Android tablet)
• MegaModz PS4 Controller

Leave us a rating or review on iTunes will help us reach more listeners. So you don’t miss a show, subscribe for notifications:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Transistor.fm
• Player.FM
• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher.com
• YouTube

See you next week!

Read the full article: Get Fit With Video Games, Cheap Windows 10 Upgrades, Google Assistant Reads Aloud

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Libra rival Celo launches 50-member Alliance For Prosperity

Some Libra Association members like Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase are double-dipping, backing a competing cryptocurrency developer platform. Launching today with over 50 partners, non-profit The Celo Foundation’s ‘Alliance For Prosperity’ offers a way for developers to build decentralized mobile apps that are based on Celo’s blockchain platform and USD stablecoin.

The open-source Celo platform is still in testing with plans to officially launch its mainnet in April. The non-profit founded in 2017 has raised $36.4 million, including its Series A where Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Crypto bought $15 million worth of Celo Gold tokens.

The biggest differentiator of Celo’s network versus other blockchains is that payments in the Celo Dollar stablecoin can be sent to people’s phone numbers rather than complicated addresses. The goal is to make delivering utility via blockchain easier by building a flexible network of applications that doesn’t scare regulators like Libra has.
The Alliance For Prosperity includes Andreessen Horowitz (which funded Celo), Coinbase (Ventures), Bison Trails, Anchorage, and Mercy Corps — all of which are also Libra Association members. That could potentially create a conflict of interest regarding which cryptocurrency and developer platform they promote to their portfolio companies, integrate into their products, or focus on for delivering financial services to the needy.

Other high-profile Alliance partners include Carbon, GiveDirectly, Grameen Foundation, Maple, and Polychain. Partners have made a somewhat vague commitment to “backing development efforts of the project, building infrastructure, implementing desired use cases on the platform, integrating Celo assets in their projects, or collaborating on education campaigns in their communities to further advance the use of blockchain technology” according to Chuck Kimble, Celo’s cLabs head of business development and head of the Alliance. Anyone can apply to join the open network, and there’s no minimum financial investment like Libra’s $10 million prerequisite.

Celo isn’t trying to replace the dollar with its own synthetic currency, and its reserve is backed with other cryptocurrencies rather than fiat cash. That might make it more acceptable to regulators who were worried that Libra’s token and fiat currency bundle-backed reserve could impact the global financial system. The first of the decentralized apps on the platform, the Celo Wallet, is already available for iOS and Android.

Like many blockchain projects, there are some lofty intentions for social impact with Celo. Use cases include “powering mobile and online work, enabling faster and affordable remittances, reducing the operational complexities of delivering humanitarian aid, facilitating payments, and enabling microlending” says Kimble. The real driver of this potential is Celo’s promise of much lower transaction fees than traditional middlemen charge.

When asked what the biggest threats to Celo’s success are, he told me “Banking infrastructure improving faster than we expect” and “Mobile adoption or LTE data not expanding on their current trajectory.” He did not mention the developer fatigue, regulatory scrutiny, technical complexity, or slow adoption of blockchain utilities that have plagued other crypto for good projects.

Here’s the full list of members working towards these goals:

Abra, Alice, AlphaWallet, Anchorage, Appen, Ayannah, Andreessen Horowitz, B12, BC4NB (Blockchain for the Next Billion), BeamAndGo, Bidali, Bison Trails, Blockchain Academy Mexico, Blockchain.com, Blockchain for Humanity (b4h), Blockchain for Social Impact (BSIC), Blockdaemon, Carbon, cLabs, CloudWalk Inc, Cobru, Coinbase, Coinplug, Cryptio, Cryptobuyer, CryptoSavannah, eSolidar, Fintech4Good, Flexa, Gitcoin, GiveDirectly, Grameen Foundation, GSMA, KeshoLabs, Laboratoria, Ledn, Maple, Mercy Corps, Metadium, Moon, MoonPay, Pipol, Pngme, Polychain, Project Wren, SaldoMX, Semicolon Africa, The Giving Block, Utrust, Upright, Yellow Card, and 88i.

“Many of these organizations have on-the-ground operations that will begin to get Celo into the hands of those who have been underserved by the current global financial system” Andreessen Horowitz general partner Katie Haun told me. “Our hope is that this partnership will start unlocking the potential of internet money”. To spur adoption, the Alliance will distribute ‘Prosperity Gifts’ in the form of financial grants to developers proposing Celo products that would benefit society. 

There are also some peculiar characteristics of Celo’s system. People exchange other cryptocurrencies for Celo Gold, then exchange that for Celo Dollars they can spend. The reserve is backed with other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum rather that fiat, and isn’t fully collateralized. That could make it vulnerable to a Celo bank run or crash in price of those currencies. Celo also lets arbitrageurs pocket the difference if Celo Gold and Celo Dollars get out of sync.

While it might not be a danger to the world financial system like Libra, it could be a danger to itself. At least on the anti-money laundering front, cLabs — the team that’s kicking off development of the Celo platform — has hired former Capital One head of enterprise risk management Jai Ramaswamy. Plus, the Celo founders come well pedigreed, including Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg who spun out machine learning startup Locu from MIT and sold it to GoDaddy, as well as EigenTrust inventor and former MIT Media Lab professor Sep Kamvar.

So far, 130 teams have expressed interest in building on the Celo platform. For reference, Libra said 1,500 organizations had said they wanted to work on that project four months after its reveal. Celo Camp and Blockchain for Social Impact Incubator will also be fostering projects for the blockchain.

Celo could make banking cheaper and more accessible while power new fintech innovation. But for any of that to happen, it will need to get enough developers building truly useful products, make the blockchain and currency exchange simple enough for mainstream audiences in developing nations, and grow adoption to meaningful levels few cryptocurrency projects have yet achieved. The Alliance For Prosperity will have to throw their weight into this project, not just their names, if it’s going to succeed.

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Spotify’s New Home Screen Is Full of Your Favorites

Spotify has updated the home screen on its mobile and tablet apps, putting your favorites front-and-center. This should help Spotify users cut through the swathe of content available and zero in on the music and podcasts they actually enjoy.

Spotify Hosts More Content Than Ever

Spotify has always offered music to listen to. However, in recent years, the streaming service has made a big thing of creating playlists personalized for individual users. It also hosts podcasts, and Spotify even offers a personalized podcast playlist.

What this all means is that there’s now more content than ever to listen to on Spotify. But sometimes it’s difficult to find that content. However, as detailed in a post on For the Record, Spotify’s redesigned home screen should help us all find that content.

How to Navigate the New Spotify Home Screen

Spotify’s new home screen greets you with “Good Morning,” “Good Afternoon,” or “Good Evening” depending on what time of day you log into the app. Directly underneath this is a rotating selection of albums, podcasts, and playlists.

This will change through the day to reflect what you listen to at various times. So, if you normally start your day with a particular podcast, that will make the cut. And if you work out in the afternoon to a particular playlist, that will make the cut.

Ready to move in? Your new Spotify Home is here ? https://t.co/ADCYkRRr40 pic.twitter.com/ZKZJ4JvNsv

— Spotify (@Spotify) March 9, 2020

Under this you’ll find your Recently Played, Your Top Podcasts, New Podcast Episodes, Made for You, and more besides. The common theme being that these are all aimed directly at you, being either what you listen to or what Spotify thinks you should listen to.

Making the Spotify App Easier to Use

This all makes your Spotify homepage much more useful than it was previously. And you can be fairly confident that by clicking on Home and scrolling down the page you’ll find something worth listening to. And all without needing to use the Search function.

This isn’t the only way in which Spotify has improved its mobile app lately. The latest version of the Spotify app for iOS uses simplified icons to make the UI easier to use. All of which should help Spotify battle back against Apple Music et al.

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Is Your Antivirus Tracking You? Here’s What You Need to Know

An antivirus is the most trusted piece of software, as its primary goal is to protect you from malware. However, when it comes to antivirus privacy, your security program may be sending home more data than you would like.

Let’s explore the current state of antivirus privacy and how they handle your data.

3 Ways Your Antivirus Can Breach Your Privacy

The data behind this case comes from Restore Privacy, an organization dedicated to helping people protect their privacy. They published a report called “Is Your Antivirus Software Spying on You?” which collates information about how antiviruses track you.

1. Antiviruses Have Sold User Data in the Past

One of the biggest privacy shakeups in 2020 was when Avast was caught selling click information to third parties. Avast’s tracking data was anonymized, but companies that bought the data could compare the click logs to their own website’s activity logs. This allowed companies to identify who was who on the logs.

These kinds of scandals occur with antiviruses that offer a free version of their software. This is typically how these companies make their money—by selling user information to interested third parties.

2. Antiviruses Can Peek Inside HTTPS Data

Antivirus protects you from visiting malicious websites. To do this, it needs to see what you’re visiting. This becomes a problem when you visit an HTTPS website, as your computer will encrypt the data before your antivirus can get its mitts on it.

Antiviruses get around this by creating a proxy on your computer, capable of creating fake SSL certificates. When your computer connects to an HTTPS website, the proxy grabs it, checks the URL, then sends it onto the destination with a new certificate.

You can see this process happening on the certificate itself; click the padlock next to an HTTPS website, check the certificate, then see who it was “Issued by.” If it says your antivirus’s name, it means your security software is peeking into your traffic.

3. Antiviruses Can Contain Additional Programs Which Track You

Some antivirus programs come with additional tools that claim to help secure your browsing. These are potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), which can cause a breach of privacy.

The report above mentions AVG, which comes bundled with a PUP called SafePrice. Supposedly aimed at giving you the best prices for goods on the internet, with the downside that SafePrice tracks your spending habits.

As such, antiviruses can track you in more ways than one. Depending on the PUPs they install, and how you use them, you may be handing over data through multiple avenues.

Why Do Antiviruses Want to Collect Your Data?

These days, data is worth a lot to companies. When an online service offers its platform for free and without advertising, it doesn’t have many options for income. Therefore, it has to sell on the data it collects to third-parties interested in harvesting information.

These days, data harvesting is a commonplace occurrence. Facebook is the most famous example, harvesting personal information and using it for beneficial gain. It’s at the point where people model election wins using Facebook’s data.

One of the main mantras with free software is “if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product.” As such, some people aren’t surprised whatsoever that free antiviruses harvest information. After all, how else would the companies pay their employees?

Despite this, the idea of antivirus harvesting data worries people. A good antivirus should protect its users and prevent privacy breaches. Now, we’re discovering that even antiviruses are untrustworthy, especially the previously highly-recommended free solutions.

How to Avoid Handing Over Data to Antiviruses

Unfortunately, merely going antivirus-less isn’t the ideal choice. It’s always good to have a layer of defense against viruses and hackers. So, what can you do in the light of antiviruses tracking you?

Use Paid Antiviruses Over Free Ones

Using paid antiviruses feels like going back to square one. For years, people recommended free versions over paid ones, and now we’re going back to paying for our security. The truth is, however, free antiviruses grew to the point where they need to harvest data to stay afloat.

So, instead of paying for your antivirus with your data, pay with your money instead. We’ve recommended some paid options in our picks of the best antivirus software for Windows 10, so give it a read if you’re unsure about your security.

Research and Customize Your Free Antivirus

Some people, however, won’t be able to pay what premium antiviruses want. In this case, you’re going to need to be pickier when choosing your antivirus.

When you like the look of free antivirus, do some reading through their terms of service and see what they’re logging. Don’t blindly click “Next” through the installation and uncheck everything that asks to harvest your data. Finally, check the options and get rid of any default settings that may breach your privacy, such as HTTPS URL checking.

Check For PUPs During Download and Installation

When you download and install an antivirus, do some reading to ensure you’re not installing any PUPs. Read the installer carefully and don’t mash the “Next” button until you do. By carelessly speeding through an installer, you may accidentally agree to install software you don’t want. This, in turn, can invade your privacy and track your activity.

The Most Privacy-Conscious Antiviruses

It’s a pain to have to navigate the minefield of antivirus privacy. Are there any antiviruses that protect your data without you needing to scan the installer and check every option? While they’re few and far between, they do exist.

First, you have Emsisoft. Emsisoft does send home information about its license, the computer’s name, and details about the viruses it caught. However, it doesn’t send home anything else, which makes it an excellent choice if you don’t want your antivirus monitoring your actions.

The report also recommends ClamAV. ClamAV is a fascinating case, as the entire program is open source. This means you can trust the AV won’t track you—if you don’t, you can always look over the code and check for yourself!

ClamAV is also the rare case of an antivirus that’s both free and respectful of your privacy. As such, it’s a good option if you don’t want to pay for an antivirus, but you also don’t like the idea of surrendering your data.

Keeping Your Information Safe on the Internet

It’s easy to trust antiviruses as your digital guardian. After all, they keep our computers safe from viruses and keep themselves updated to repel attacks. However, it’s not all good; some antivirus software will harvest and sell on your data. Be careful with which antivirus you pick, and what options you enable on them.

If you want to defend your privacy on the internet further, be sure to try one of the free anonymous web browsers that hide your data.

Read the full article: Is Your Antivirus Tracking You? Here’s What You Need to Know

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The 7 Best Free IPTV Apps: How to Watch Live TV on Android

It’s easier than ever to watch on-demand TV shows and movies on your Android device. But what about live TV?

Yes, there are services like Sling and YouTube TV. However, if you know where to look, you don’t need to subscribe to their expensive plans. You can use free IPTV instead; you just need an IPTV app and an IPTV source.

But which is the best IPTV app for Android and Android TV? Keep reading to find out.

What Is an IPTV App?

IPTV apps are a bit like Kodi; they are empty shells that can’t stream any content without some user input. You have the responsibility for adding channels, playlists, and other sources.

Typically, you cannot use the apps to watch Netflix, Hulu, or direct content from other third-party providers. You need to grab an M3U file, which you add to the IPTV app.

1. IPTV Smarters Pro

If you have ever subscribed to a paid IPTV service, there’s a good chance the provider gave you access to a branded version of the IPTV Smarters Pro app. It’s the software of choice among many distributors.

However, you don’t need to rely on a branded version. As long as you have an M3U URL from your provider, you can add it to the app and enjoy all the same features. Better yet, this “white label” version of Smarters Pro can accept multiple logins, while the branded versions typically cannot.

The app supports on-demand movies and TV shows, as well as catch-up channels, if your provider offers them. It even integrates with external video players (like Perfect Player and VLC) if you would rather use their respective interfaces.

IPTV Smarters Pro is great on mobile devices, but really shines on a TV. It’s definitely one of the must-have IPTV apps for Android TV.

Download: IPTV Smarters Pro (Free, premium version available)

2. Lazy IPTV

Lazy IPTV supports M3U playlists in open-view, ZIP, and GZ formats. The app can also read playlists in XSPF (XML Shareable Playlist Format).

Adding new content to Lazy IPTV is easy. You can access media on your local file system, as well as pasting URLs directly from the web or your device’s clipboard. The app works with HTTP and UDP streams and can play videos directly from YouTube and social network VK. There’s also a built-in audio player for internet radio channels.

Importantly for an IPTV app, Lazy IPTV supports electronic program guides (EPGs). It can read XMLTV EPGs saved as open-view, ZIP, or GZ.

From a usability standpoint, Lazy IPTV lets you add favorites, supports nested folders, and allows you to create playlist groups. You can export your playlists if you ever decide to switch to an alternative app. The app’s home screen is also fully customizable, providing the option to add shortcuts to your most-watched channels and change how the content displays.

Lazy IPTV is great for mobile devices. It is less well-suited to the larger screens of Android TV, however.

Download: Lazy IPTV (Free)

3. TiviMate

In our opinion, TiviMate is comfortably the best IPTV app for Android TV. It’s not available as a mobile version.

The app supports multiple playlists, renaming of channels and categories, and hidden categories. You can import your own channel logos, customize the order in which channels appear in the TV guide, and take advantage of the search feature (which works for both channel names and currently playing shows).

The free version of TiviMate will suffice for people with one playlist who don’t watch too often. If you’re an IPTV power user, it’s worth upgrading to the pro version. This costs $4.99 per year and allows you to install the app on up to five devices.

Download: TiviMate (Free, subscription available)

4. GSE Smart IPTV

GSE Smart IPTV is one of the most popular IPTV apps in the Google Play Store, and for good reason. First, it’s one of the best-designed IPTV apps for Android. Its crisp design and cable TV-like EPG layout make it easy to forget you’re even using an app.

Second, GSE Smart IPTV is available on far more platforms than most of its competitors. You’ll find versions for Android, Android TV, iOS, and Apple TV. The app is also Chromecast-compatible. And remember, you can even install Android apps on Amazon Fire TV devices if you know how to sideload APK files.

Feature-wise, GSE Smart IPTV supports EPG content in the XML, ZIP, and GZ formats. It also offers native parental controls and subtitles (SRT files) support. It can play live streams from HTTP, HSL, M3U8, MMS, RTSP, and RTMP sources. The app is ad-supported and suitable for both Android TV and mobile Android devices.

Download: GSE Smart IPTV (Free, premium version available)

5. Perfect Player IPTV

Perfect Player IPTV is another hugely popular app. It’s especially popular among Android TV users looking for an alternative to the native Live Channels app.

The app supports M3U and XSPF playlists. And if you want to add an electronic program guide, you can use XMLTV (ZIP, GZ, XZ) and JTV.

There are also a few different decoder options to choose from: Native, Software, Hardware, and Hardware Accelerated. Other features include the ability to watch locally saved content, UDP-to-HTTP proxy server support, and automatic syncing with the desktop version of the app for a consistent experience.

Like GSE Smart IPTV, Perfect Player uses a theme that’s easy on the eyes and draws its design cues from cable and satellite TV EPGs.

Download: Perfect Player IPTV (Free, premium version available)

6. IPTV

The straightforwardly named IPTV app is one of the most-downloaded IPTV apps for Android, with more than 10 million installs.

As you’d expect, you can add both M3U and XSPF playlists to the app. EPG support comes in the form of XMLTV and JTV. If you have a UDP proxy (installed via your local area network), you can use the IPTV app to play multicast streams.

The app offers some customization options too. It can display the channels you’ve added in a list, grid, or tile view, depending which you prefer.

Finally, if you have a dedicated Android set-top box that you use for watching IPTV, it’s worth upgrading to the pro version. It includes a feature that allows the app to auto-start when its host device boots up. The pro version also removes ads and adds a “resume watching” feature that can auto-play your most recently watched channel.

Download: IPTV (Free) | IPTV Pro ($2.99)

7. OTT Navigator

OTT Navigator is the biggest IPTV rival to TiviMate on the Android TV platform. Like TiviMate, it is popular among power users.

There is little difference between them; the two apps share a lot of similar features. OTT Navigator supports filters (by channels, categories, genres, seasons, years, favorite channels, rating, and country), customization of channels and categories, and a search tool.

In our view, the TiviMate interface is slightly more modern and the UI is a little more user-friendly, but you might think differently. Make sure you check out both options before deciding on which is the best IPTV app for your needs.

Download: OTT Navigator (Free, in-app purchases available)

What About Free IPTV on Kodi?

In this roundup, we focused on apps that specialize in IPTV. Kodi can play IPTV content, but also does so much more that we didn’t feel it was a fair comparison.

If you prefer to use Kodi, you won’t need to install any third-party Kodi add-ons. M3U playlist support is a native part of the Kodi app—you just need to add the right component. To get up and running, head to Add-ons > My Add-ons > PVR > PVR IPTV Simple Client > Configure. Enter your M3U playlist address when prompted.

To learn more about this topic, check out how to watch free TV on Android TV.

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