Charlotte Henry

A Russian state-owned TV news channel proudly showed off a “state-of-the-art” robot at a technology forum for children this week.  Boris appeared to walk, talk, and dance. Except, as the Telegraph explained, everything was not quite as it seemed. Boris was, in fact, a man in a very expensive costume…

‘Boris’ the Robot was apparently able to walk, talk and dance – and was passed off as state-of-the-art robotics by the TV channel at a technology forum for school pupils. But its authenticity started being questioned when photos appeared online that clearly showed a human inside a robot suit.

All Apple fans know that its products are not the cheapest out there. The argument always was that they were the best though, so that’s why they were the most expensive. Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and people accepted that. Recently, though, the cost of top-end Apple products rose faster than inflation. Some went up 20% or more this fall. The Washington Post took a look at how prices have changed, and why customers keep coming back.

Many Apple product prices are rising faster than inflation — faster, even, than the price of prescription drugs or going to college. Yet when Apple offers cheaper options for its most important product, the iPhone, Americans tend to take the more expensive choice. So while Apple isn’t charging all customers more, it’s definitely extracting more money from frequent upgraders.

Ed Dentel decided to reset his Apple after the new ECG function told him he had an irregular heartbeat. He is active and healthy so thought it must be wrong. But the ECG app kept telling him there was a problem. He told ABC News that he ended up going to his doctor,  who confirmed he was suffering from atrial fibrillation. This is an irregular heartbeat that can increase the likelihood of stroke, amongst other things. Mr. Dentel’s doctor said the Apple Watch may have saved his life.

Checking in, Dentel said he felt like a hypochondriac explaining that his watch told him something was wrong. But he was quickly given an EKG by a technician, who called for a doctor, who said, “Yup, you’re in AFib. This thing may have just saved your life.”

Chinese hackers carried out the massive cyber attack against Marriott hotels that was revealed last month. The New York Times reported that the perpetrators are thought to work for the country’s civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security. In total, 500 million records were stolen over a four year period, making it one of the biggest data breaches in history. The stolen data included customers’ personal details such as credit card and passport number.

The hackers…are suspected of working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security, the country’s Communist-controlled civilian spy agency. The discovery comes as the Trump administration is planning actions targeting China’s trade, cyber and economic policies, perhaps within days. Those moves include indictments against Chinese hackers working for the intelligence services and the military, according to four government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai endured a grueling 3.5 hours of questioning by the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. At one point he even had to explain that his company doesn’t make iPhones. However, as Re/Code reported, Mr. Pichai did not use the hearing to deny that Google will make a version of its search tool for China that censors information.

Pichai could have used the opportunity to publicly scrap plans to build a version of his company’s core tool, code-named Dragonfly, that would block terms such as “human rights,” “Nobel Prize,” and “student protest” from search results in China. But when House Rep. David Cicilline asked Pichai point blank if, as CEO, he would rule out launching a “tool for surveillance and censorship in China,” Pichai deflected.

LONDON – There are over 6,000 traffic lights in London, which both pedestrians and drivers need to navigate as they make their way around the city. Wired has a fascinating feature on how the city’s transport authority, Transport for London, is hacking this network of traffic lights to make London more pleasant for pedestrians. What is more, AI and autonomous vehicles is likely to have a huge effect on how this all works in the future.

Such ideas don’t necessarily require technology, new innovations could further change our roads and the signals managing them. For example, researchers are working on ways to get rid of traffic lights entirely, with autonomous intersection management. Rather than wait at a red light, connected, self-driving cars schedule a route through a junction; because speeds and therefore positioning can be perfectly managed, all the cars can go at once, choreographed like a horrifying traffic ballet.

Lots of recent Apple coverage focussed on iPhone sales figures, Apple’s decision not to reveal iPhone sales figures, and the knock-on effect this has all had on the firm’s share price. However, Bloomberg reported that investors may have something to cheer about. It revealed positive sales numbers from Taiwanese firms that make components for the iPhone. Notably, it included data from Hon Hai Precision Industry, owned by major iPhone manufacturer Foxconn.

Revenue at the two main assemblers of iPhones showed growth that may surprise bears. Across a collection of Taiwanese suppliers, including component makers, November sales climbed 9.3 % from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Taiwan requires companies to report revenue monthly, giving the market unique mid-quarter insight into the hardware supply chain. At Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the flagship of Foxconn Technology Group, combined October and November sales grew 12.9% while Pegatron Corp. posted a 25% uptick.

Having mocked Apple for years for scrapping the iPhone’s headphone jack, Samsung has followed suit. Its new Galaxy A8s phone does not have the component. Instead, users need a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter to plug in headphones. Given the taunting adverts and on-stage jibes from Samsung executives about the lack of a headphone jack in the iPhone, I’m sure nobody at Apple will mention this…from MacRumors:

Samsung today introduced its latest smartphone, the Galaxy A8s. It is Samsung’s first smartphone with an Infinity-O display, which has a nearly edge-to-edge, uninterrupted design beyond a small hole for the front-facing camera. It is also Samsung’s first smartphone without a headphone jack, much to the amusement of iPhone users, as Samsung has mocked Apple for over two years over its decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016, a trend that has continued through to the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.