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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Articles by Charlotte Henry

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BeardID - Facial Recognition Software Learning to Identify Bears And Cows

Charlotte Henry ·

Facial recognition software is a key part of how we use our iPhones with Face ID. CNet reported that similar technology is now learning to recognize bears and cows.

After spending over a decade tracking and studying grizzly bears in British Columbia, Canada, bear biologist Melanie Clapham has teamed up with two Silicon Valley-based tech workers to create a facial recognition software called BearID. Designed to monitor grizzly bears and track them via small differences like scars and nicks, the project has been used to recognise 132 of the animals thus far. By adapting existing artificial intelligence programs (namely, funny apps that put moustaches on dogs) the team was able to collect 4,674 images of grizzly bears. According to the team’s research, published in Ecology and Evolution, the system is now 84% accurate — though it requires the bears to be in the system prior to identification.

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M1 Mac Mini Logic Boards With 10 Gigabit Ethernet in Internal Parts Ordering System

Charlotte Henry ·

The new M1 Mac mini is currently only available with Gigabit Ethernet. However, MacRumors reported that Apple included multiple logic boards with 10 Gigabit Ethernet for the device in an internal parts document intended for Authorized Service Providers.

While the boards are available to order (in limited quantities), it is unclear why at this point. There are several possibilities, including that Apple listed the parts mistakenly or before it decided against offering a 10 Gigabit Ethernet option. The logic boards could also be designated for special circumstances, such as enterprise use. Apple could also choose to release an M1-based Mac mini with 10 Gigabit Ethernet at a later time.

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T-Mobile First Carrier to Enable 988 For Mental Health Services

Charlotte Henry ·

T-Mobile has become the first carrier to enable the 988 number for mental health services, The Verge reported.  If its customers dial that number, they will be connected to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL).

T-Mobile says it is the first carrier in the US to make 988 available to its customers. T-Mobile chief technology officer Abdul Saad said in a statement that making the shorter emergency number available to customers was “a matter of urgency for us, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the holiday season approaches.” In 2019, the FCC released a report suggesting a three-digit hotline number would make it easier for those seeking help. The FCC voted unanimously in July to make 988 the number to connect to the NSPL hotline, and it gave carriers until July 2022 to put it into effect. However, the 988 number isn’t able to receive text messages, which FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said at the time was problematic. She noted that voice service is “not native for most young people.”

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Apple Invited to Showdown EU Talks

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook are among the tech companies invited to partake in video talks with the EU next week, Reuters reported. It is to discuss draft rules set to be imposed on them that will be presented by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on December 9.

The video conference on Nov. 24 will discuss the proposed rules, which are known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). Some companies do not think the discussion will lead to changes at this late stage, people close to the companies said on condition of anonymity. The DSA will require tech companies to explain how their algorithms work and also open up their ad archives to regulators and researchers. The DMA targets online gatekeepers with a list of dos, such as sharing data with rivals and regulators, and don’ts, such as not favouring their own services. Breton has invited chief executives from about 20 companies, which also include Microsoft, Booking.com, Expedia, Trivago, DuckDuckGo, a person familiar with the matter said. It was unclear whether CEOs would take part or send senior executives.

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How Oprah Could Interview President Barack Obama in The 'Same' Room

Charlotte Henry ·

In the latest The Oprah Conversation episode, in which Oprah Winfrey interviews President Barack Obama,  the two appear in the ‘same’ room. In fact, they were on two different coasts of the U.S. The team at Harpo Productions explained to Oprah Magazine how it all worked.

To ensure a sense of total seamlessness, the two rooms’ identical furniture was arranged with “extremely precise” measurements. The production teams in D.C. and Santa Barbara used the same cameras, lenses, lighting, and audio equipment, to avoid discrepancies. To incorporate the green screen technology, the 44th president was instructed not to wear any green or white garments, and steer clear of shiny shoes, according to the production team. Further, he couldn’t drink water from a clear glass, as it would “disappear” before the green screen, making it look like he was sipping water out of nothing. Oprah and Obama sipped from matching tea mugs. Finally, once the spaces were arranged, Obama and Oprah really did meet in a shared room—a hybrid of real and virtual.

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Popular Android Messaging App Go SMS Pro Has Exposed Millions of Private Photos And Files

Charlotte Henry ·

Popular Android messaging app Go SMS Pro has exposed millions of photos and videos, it has emerged. Cybersecurity firm Trustwave made the discovery and shared the information with TechCrunch.

Security researchers at Trustwave discovered the flaw in August and contacted the app maker with a 90-day deadline to fix the issue, as is standard practice in vulnerability disclosure to allow enough time for a fix. But after the deadline elapsed without hearing back, the researchers went public. Trustwave shared its findings with TechCrunch this week. When a Go SMS Pro user sends a photo, video or other file to someone who doesn’t have the app installed, the app uploads the file to its servers, and lets the user share a web address by text message so the recipient can see the file without installing the app. But the researchers found that these web addresses were sequential. In fact, any time a file was shared — even between app users — a web address would be generated regardless. That meant anyone who knew about the predictable web address could have cycled through millions of different web addresses to users’ files.

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Apple Fitness+ Arriving with iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2?

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has said that its Fitness+ service will arrive by the end of this year. MacRumors reported that the iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 betas (the latest of which was released Wednesday,) indicate the service could arrive alongside those updates.

The current watchOS 7.2 beta that was released this morning has a splash screen with what’s new, and Apple Fitness+ is listed as one of the features. The first iOS 14.3 beta also had an unfinished mention of Apple Fitness+ in the Analytics portion of the Privacy settings, but it has since been removed. Given that we’re expecting iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 to come out right around the beginning of December, it matches up with Apple’s late 2020 launch timeline for Fitness+.

 

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First Developer Beta for macOS 11.1 Out Now

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has released the first developer beta of macOS Big Sur 11.1, AppleInsider reported. Those enrolled in the test program can download it via the Apple Developer Center. There is an over-the-air update for devices already running beta software.

The beta is the first since Apple released macOS Big Sur to the public on November 12, in the form of macOS 11.0.1. More than ten beta builds were released in the time between Big Sur’s announcement and its eventual release, and roughly two months after Apple issued public versions of other operating systems including iOS 14. It is so far too early to determine what Apple has changed in the first beta, but it is likely to include some trial fixes for a range of launch issues.

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How Walk-in Closets Helped Get Ted Lasso on Apple TV+

Charlotte Henry ·

COVID-19 restrictions have impacted huge swathes of the entertainment industry, and Apple TV+ is no different. In a fascinating interview with The Wrap, Ted Lasso supervising sound editor Brent Findley how he recorded Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) remotely.

Findley shipped professional recording equipment to members of the cast, and then from his home in Los Angeles, was taken on tours inside the residences of the mostly London-based cast, sleuthing for the best place to record.  “In doing ADR with actors normally, it’s only a voice relationship,” he said. “I’m in a studio and they’re in a studio. So this was actually a nice consolation prize amid the pandemic. Everybody got to wave and say hello to each other. And we all got comfortable with it pretty quickly because we were all stuck at home. It became, as it did for a lot of people, an outlet to socialize.” Over the spring and summer, Findley recorded the dialogue of 42 different actors. Across the spectrum, one thing proved to be universally true about the experience: There is one room in the home most rewarding as a mock studio. “A walk-in closet is the best homemade vocal booth that exists,” he said pointedly.