ajax – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Google hires the lead for Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving tech

Apple and Tesla aren’t the only two tech companies grabbing each other’s staff to fulfill their automotive dreams — Google has quietly hired Robert Rose, the lead for Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot program. It’s not clear what he’s working on besides software at Google Robotics, but it won’t be surprising if he’s working on self-driving cars . He’s unlikely to be working for Boston Dynamics , whose staff are relatively independent from the Google mothership. One thing’s for sure: Tesla will notice his absence. Rose was the lead engineer for some of SpaceX’s earlier rocketry and reported directly to Elon Musk while at Tesla, so this clearly wasn’t a trivial move. [Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Via: 9to5Google Source: LinkedIn

6 hypermiling cars that get over 100 miles per gallon

By Cat DiStasio Fuel efficiency is one rating that can really set a car apart from the pack. Although you can’t yet walk into just any dealership and drive away in a vehicle that gets more than 100 miles a gallon, there are some sweet rides out there that demonstrate just how incredibly efficient a car can be. To get a better idea of what the uber-efficient car of tomorrow looks like, we’ve compiled some of the most efficient vehicles on the planet, all of which exceed that 100-mpg marker. In fact, most of the cars featured here leave that rating in the dust, and several break into the quadruple digits .Slideshow-342967

Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

Apple’s quest for ever-thinner , ever-smarter devices may produce another casualty: your iPhone’s headphone jack. A rumor at MacOtakara claims that the next iPhone might drop the 3.5mm port and use the Lightning port for audio instead. The move would let Apple slim its phone even further (reportedly, over 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s ) and take advantage of Lightning’s features, such as headphone-based DACs and app launching. You’d have to use an adapter for any conventional wired headphones, or else make the leap to Bluetooth. Via: MacRumors Source: MacOtakara (translated)

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Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

New Android exploit can hack any handset in one shot

Hackers have discovered a critical exploit in Chrome for Android reportedly capable of compromising virtually every version of Android running the latest Chrome. Quihoo 360 researcher Guang Gong demonstrated the vulnerability to the PSN2OWN panel at the PacSec conference in Tokyo yesterday. While the inner workings of the exploit are still largely under wraps, we do know that it leverages JavaScript v8 to gain full administrative access to the victim’s phone. Source: The Register

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New Android exploit can hack any handset in one shot

Copyright exemption lets you modify old games to keep them running

You no longer have to dread the day that a game developer shuts off its servers and renders your favorite title unplayable. As part of a series of DMCA copyright exemptions, the US Library of Congress has granted long-sought permission to disable authentication server requirements in games where a server’s shutdown will completely break the experience. Historians can even hack the consoles themselves, if necessary. This doesn’t allow you to tweak games where you’d only lose multiplayer modes, but it does mean that at least some aspects of a classic game will live on. Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation Source: Copyright.gov (PDF)

Waze’s maps and traffic app gets a cleaner and smarter design

Waze is one of the most popular maps and traffic apps on iOS and Android. For good reason, too: It’s fast, intuitive and, often times, more accurate than the highly rated Google Maps. Today, Waze’s making its mobile application even better, thanks to an overhaul designed to offer a cleaner, prettier user interface and quicker access to useful actions. With a single tap, you can now send directions, location or estimated time of arrival to your contacts. You can also get traffic-based reminders, making it easier to get to any destination on time — as long as your calendar is synced with Waze. Last but not least, this new version of the app “significantly” reduces battery consumption, according to the company; if true, that’ll definitely be appreciated by users who rely on the app for their daily commutes or casual trips. The 4.0 update is already available for iOS , while Android’s expected to get it ” soon .” [Image credits: AFP/Getty Images] Source: Waze

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Waze’s maps and traffic app gets a cleaner and smarter design

Android Marshmallow begins rolling out to Nexus devices today

As expected , Nexus owners are in for a treat this week as Google’s latest OS revisions begins rolling out to select devices. According to a post on the Official Android Blog , the Nexus 5, 6, 7 (the 2013 model), 9 and Player are all in line to receive the over-the-air software update starting today. The newly released Nexus 5x and 6P handsets, of course, come with Marshmallow already installed. [Image Credit: Shutterstock] Source: Android Blog

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Android Marshmallow begins rolling out to Nexus devices today

Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones

With certain exceptions , most iOS-focused malware targets jailbroken devices whose compromised security makes them easy prey. However, there’s been concerns that a recent strain of malware, YiSpecter , can attack even ‘pure’ devices running stock iOS. Do you have to worry about catching a bug online and losing control over your device? Probably not, if you ask Apple. In a statement to The Loop , the company notes that it not only fixed the vulnerability with iOS 8.4 , but blocked the apps handing out the offending code. The victims downloaded apps from “untrusted sources” (that is, outside of the App Store) Cupertino adds. In short, Apple believes this is a non-issue as long as you install updates and stay cautious — and given that more than half of its users are already running iOS 9, it might be right. Via: AppleInsider Source: The Loop

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Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones

Daimler tests a self-driving, mass-produced truck on real roads

Daimler’s dreams of self-driving big rig trucks just took one step closer to reality. The automaker has conducted the first-ever test of its semi-autonomous Highway Pilot system in a production truck on a public road, driving an augmented Mercedes-Benz Actros down Germany’s Autobahn 8. While the vehicle needed a crew to keep watch, it could steer itself down the highway using a combination of radar, a stereo camera array and off-the-shelf systems like adaptive cruise control. The dry run shows that the technology can work on just about any vehicle in the real world, not just one-off concepts. This doesn’t mean you’ll see fleets of robotic trucks in the near future. Daimler had to get permission for this run, and the law (whether European or otherwise) still isn’t equipped to permit regular autonomous driving of any sort, let alone for giant cargo haulers. Still, this could make a better case for approving some form of self-driving transportation. Even though there’s still plenty of work left before this tech can handle any situation, it’s good enough that it can be trusted in run-of-the-mill vehicles at high speeds. Source: Daimler

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Daimler tests a self-driving, mass-produced truck on real roads

Tim Cook: Apple won’t merge iOS and OS X

Now that Apple is blurring the lines between its mobile tablets and PCs with the iPad Pro , it’s tempting to imagine iOS and OS X merging into a single operating system ( Windows 10-style ) that works on virtually every device the company makes. You’ll want to put any such ideas on hold, though. In a chat with Box’s Aaron Levie, Apple chief Tim Cook dismissed the prospects of unifying iOS and OS X. It “subtracts from both, ” he said, arguing that you “don’t get the best experience from either.” This isn’t a completely new idea from Apple (it once explained in detail why OS X doesn’t have touch), but it’s clear that Cook doesn’t feel any pressure to follow in Microsoft’s footsteps on this front. Not that Cook and crew are giving Microsoft and its ideas the cold shoulder — just the opposite, in fact. The exec said he doesn’t believe in “holding grudges” against Apple’s frequent rival, and that the two tech giants can “partner on more things” than they compete in. Witness the slew of iOS-friendly Office updates that were unveiled in tandem with the iPad Pro and iOS 9, for example. The enterprise crowd, Cook adds, would rather see Apple and Microsoft collaborating than fighting. On that note, the CEO contended that Apple isn’t nearly as work-phobic as it used to be. The company is big on enterprise deals (it made $25 billion in enterprise revenue in the space of a year), and that there’s no real distinction these days between personal and office-focused devices. You don’t buy enterprise smartphones any more than you buy enterprise cars, he said. We’re sure that BlackBerry won’t be happy with that last statement, but it’s hard to dispute — with occasional exceptions, software is the only thing distinguishing an off-the-shelf smartphone from a locked-down corporate handset. [Image credit: Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Source: ZDNet , Recode

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Tim Cook: Apple won’t merge iOS and OS X