Alexandria Berry | World Tech Today

Tesla Motors’ Model X debuts to eager consumers

Sep 30, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

After two years and over 25,000 pre-orders, Tesla Motors newest foray into the automotive world will begin rolling out of the plant this week, according to Reuters.

The Model X is the first of its long-awaited electric sports-utility vehicles joining the ranks with the company’s other popular models to date, the Model S and the Roadster.

The launch of the Model X means Tesla Motors can now boast a second model in production beyond its Model S sedan, launched in 2012, but warns that delay in production means a delay in release with consumers today facing an 8-12 months wait to receive their SUV.

The newest addition to the Tesla line is priced as high as $144,000 with features like the “falcon-wing” doors that open upward and are sensor-controlled to modulate the height for garage ceilings and a panoramic windshield that extends overhead.

But the most difficult turned out to be nothing new to the industry. ”One of the hardest things to design is a good seat,” Telsa CEO Elon Musk said.

The new cars, six in all, were delivered Tuesday to a group of board members, investors and friends of Musk and Tesla who had pre-ordered.

Russia enters conflict in Syria

Sep 30, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

Air strikes were launched in Western Syria Wednesday in what US officials are calling Russia’s biggest play in the region since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, according to Reuters.

President Vladimir Putin with the unanimous support from his parliament backed the intervention in the Middle East but was quick to put limitations on it’s complete involvement saying that only air force would be utilized and that it would be only temporary.

The Homs area was targeted specifically by the Kremlin even though it is not an ISIS stronghold at the moment. It is, however, crucial to President Bashar al-Assad’s control of western Syria, where Russia operates a naval facility.

On Monday at a meeting of the United Nations, Putin criticized the current US-led coalition that has been bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria saying that a more coordinated effort was needed to really defeat the militants.

Moscow is already facing challenges internationally following the Ukrainian conflict that took place over the summer. As a result, Russia’s economy has suffered from Western sanctions over the action as well as low oil prices globally.

The command center in Baghdad has been working with Russian military experts over the summer to coordinate air strikes and ground troops in Syria but stressed that this new effort would be limited and not open-ended.

US democracy at risk due to outdated voting machines

Sep 29, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

A disturbing report has been released by the by the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law regarding the US voting system and hardware with many pleading for a solution to the ever-growing problem.

Since the hanging-chad debacle of 2000 and Florida ballots that left American voters in the lurch for 5 long weeks, relatively little has been done to update voting systems leading many to think another voting disaster is bound to occur, according to Al Jazeera.

The degree of variety in voting systems differs across the spectrum from counties still using analog modems to those that only work with Windows 2000. Some still use dot-matrix printers and those that do use touchscreen machines are finding the surfaces so degraded that votes are inaccurately reported if reported at all.

The 68 page report claims that forty-three states have counties using machines that will be at least 10 years old by Election Day 2016, and counties in 14 states will be using machines that will be more than 15 years old.

Currently, elections are run and funded primarily by counties which results in the counties with more wealth or those with more constituents seeing upgrades while the poorer, more rural counties are left in the lurch.

The Help America Vote Act was passed by Congress after the 2000 Election which gave grants across the country and sent a wave of election spending including new equipment and expensive long-term maintenance contracts.

GM to add connectivity features to new models

Sep 29, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

GM is currently leading the charge towards a more connected automotive experience as they prepare for a meeting with investors and analysts Oct. 1 to discuss the future of the GM brand, according to Reuters.

The technology will help make a more personalized car a simple matter of downloading an app. The app would allow the embedded cars to import their preferences from a smartphone app onto any other GM car and instruct it on how to function.

Next year GM launches it’s autonomous driving feature, SuperCruise, which will use the high-sped connections to see maps, construction, and delays.

The broadened connectivity will help GM keep a record on what customers are doing with their cars and how they respond to the automatic braking or hands-free highway driving of SuperCruise.

Currently Google and Apple are in a battle to see who will control the software for dashboard displays in the race for domination of the autonomous car market while GM prefers to take their own route in the development of their displays.

This move puts GM at ahead of the usual suspects (Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, etc) and currently offers more high-speed, 4G LTE data connections in it’s cars than any other.

“We sold more 4G LTE connected vehicles in three days in June than the rest of the industry did in the first half of the year,” Phil Abram, GM’s executive director for connectivity said in a recent interview.

Silicon Valley is currently trying to uproot the more foundational automotive companies by aggressively pursuing a reinvention of transportation and connectivity is at the forefront of this expansion.

Women underrepresented in Cybersecurity according to recent survey

Sep 28, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

According to a recent survey by ISC2, one out of ten cyber security professionals were women, down from 11 percent years ago, shocking many in the field.

The gender gap widened what is already a male-dominated field even with a drastic workforce shortage leaving 62 percent of survey respondents saying their organizations does not have enough security professionals, according to Reuters.

ISC2, the company that conducted the survey and the largest organization that certifies cyber professionals, said that of nearly 14,000 information security professionals in developed countries only 10 percent were women.

Included with the uneven employment stats the survey also found pay inequalities with 47 percent of men reported annual salaries of at least $120,000, compared to 41 percent of women.

All these factors add up to be quite the deterrent for any woman wanting to enter into the tech field for employment and has resulted in a steady or declining rate of women in the field. Currently women account for about one third of workers at tech firms.

The study supports a broader debate about the lack of women in the technology industry as well as the treatment of women currently employed at tech companies.

In 2014 Gamergate became a powder keg for the women’s movement in the tech industry and was started when women in executive roles were targeted in threats and online harassment.

Earlier this month Katie Moussouris, a former Microsoft Corp security manager, filed a gender bias lawsuit against her former company which resulted in dismissal as Microsoft said it reviewed her claims and could not substantiate them.

Record-setting weekend for newest iPhone

Sep 28, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

A record setting weekend occurred for tech titan Apple this weekend as their newest generation of the iPhone sold more than 13 million units during their first weekend of availability which included 12 markets, according to Reuters.

The showing exceeded expectations of 12 million to 13 million units as originally thought. But even with the superb performance, shares of Apple fell more than 1 percent. The skepticism of the investors suggests that Apple still has work to do to sustain demand for the iPhone with each new generation that is released.

The previous iPhone release, the 6, had also been a record breaker for the company, selling 10 million units in it’s first weekend, but those figures did not include China due to regulatory problems delaying release.

The remarkable showing over the weekend has impressed many in Apple’s ability to drum up consumer interest in a device that only has subtle differences to the iPhone 6. The new, larger screens touched off a sales frenzy last year.

It is estimated that Apple sold more than 2 million iPhones in China over the weekend, adding to their robust 13 million plus sold.

Apple’s upgrade program also debuted alongside the 6s, which allows users to receive a new iPhone each year, regardless of their carrier, for monthly installments starting at $32.

The iPhone is the driving force to the Apple brand and generated nearly two-thirds of it’s revenue in the latest quarter.

NZ court case could determine US copyright reach

Sep 28, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

In a New Zealand court on Monday, after nearly four years of legal wrangling, German tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and three other executives entered into a hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to the United States and face copyright infringement as well as racketeering and money laundering, according to Al Jazeera.

The self-proclaimed “modern-day pirate” entered the courtroom adorning sunglasses and a baseball cap, and was transported to the courtroom in his personalized Mercedes SUV, with a license plate reading “KIM.COM.”

The effort on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation started in 2012 with a raid on Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion with years of legal wrangling to follow.

The claim by U.S. authorities is that Dotcom his three Megaupload business partners cost film studios and record companies more than $500 million and generated more than $175 million in the trading and sharing of these media.

The current case unfolding in New Zealand does not need to determine guilt only whether extradition is the correct course of action and if there is a strong enough case to back a trial on US soil.

Beyond the outcome of Megaupload and Kim Dotcom, this is sure to be hallmark case determining just how far the U.S. government is willing to go to protect American copyright holders.

Potential Sprint merger paints picture of telecomm future

Sep 25, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

Although no official talks are happening, Sprint chief executive said on Thursday that the cell phone carrier would be a stronger if it merged with a cable company, setting some tongues wagging at the prospect of a multi-platform service provider that includes cellular service, according to Reuters.

When asked about swift acquisition activity of U.S. cable companies Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N) and Suddenlink Communications by newcomer Altice NV (ATCA.AS), Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure stated that the union would make the company “a stronger and more formidable competitor,” especially as the customer war amongst cell carriers is heating up.

Altice’s founder, French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, responded “Someday,” when asked about the potentiality of acquiring a wireless carrier in the future. Altice executives are hopeful of providing US customers with a wide range of services including cellular phone coverage sometime in the future.

Because of an aggressive price war with Verizon Communications Inc(VZ.N) , AT&T Inc (T.N) and T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.N), Sprint Communications has hit a rocky point in their investment history.

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp(9984.T)raised its stake in the wireless company in August to 82 percent, up 2%, through a share purchase, boosting the value on the market for the struggling U.S. wireless carrier.

Visuals take center stage at iPhone release

Sep 25, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

The new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are being unleashed on the public today and while some things are the same compared to the 6, where this new generation of phone differs is in it’s cutting edge visuals, rising to meet the other competition on the market, according to AP News.

The new phone boasts 50 percent more detail and is introducing animation for still images as well as brighter low-light selfies.

Screens remain at 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches diagonally but the megapixels have been raised to 12 instead of 8 megapixels, producing sharper photos. Still images on the front camera improve to 5 megapixels, from 1.2 megapixels.

This increased clarity will help greatly in cropping or editing images. While this is still an improvement, Samsung’s high-end phones come in at 16 megapixels so this move on Apple’s part is more of a middle ground between tech-focused consumers and entry-level consumers.

The phone’s newest camera features provide more contrast and less distortion than before. The iPhones tend to reproduce more accurate colors than other phones on the market including Samsung.

With this newest release the iPhone meets up with several Android phones that can record at Ultra HD, also known as 4K. While there aren’t many 4K displays available this is more in preparation for future technologies that are just on the horizon. The Plus model also has better anti-shake technology.

The last hardware improvement with the iPhone’s body is that screen is now three-dimensional. Light, medium and hard touches are prompt different responses from the phone and might take some getting used to.

While upgrading might not be necessary for iPhone 6 users, any older model would benefit from the competitive additions made by Apple in this newest release.

Saudi Arabia under fire as blame for stampede deaths intensifies

Sep 25, 2015 by Alexandria Berry Leave a Comment

Blame continues to circulate regarding the over 700 deaths that occurred at the haj pilgrimage this week in Saudi Arabia.

Over 863 people were injured in what was the worst disaster at the HAJ pilgrimage in 25 years, according to Reuters. The incident occurred in Mina, a few km (miles) east of Mecca, while two groups were on their way to perform the “stoning of the devil” ritual at Jamarat.

While the Saudi government along with Saudi King Salman have maintained that the pilgrimage route was well managed and the blame for the tragedy lie elsewhere, namely in the pilgrims, politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event.

An investigation would be conducted rapidly and a final toll of dead and wounded is being calculated now according to Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih.

The Health Minister’s comments are likely to be seen by the kingdom’s critics as a deflectment of responsibility in the catastrophe. The kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty presents itself as the representative of orthodox Islam and ruler of the holy places within Mecca and Medina and safety during one of the holiest times in Islam is politically important.

In a U.N. General Assembly, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani echoed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in blaming Saudi Arabia for the incident.

The official statement from the Saudi government echoed that the blame isn’t with event management. “The investigations into the incident of the stampede that took place today in Mina, which was perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities, will be fast and will be announced as has happened in other incidents,” the statement said.