Digital Trends: Smartphone Cameras Will Soon Identify Objects Without An Internet Connection. “Artificial intelligence is giving a simple photograph the power to recognize objects, faces, and landmarks — sometimes with more detail than a set of human eyes can assign. Now, more of those features will be coming to mobile devices, thanks to Google’s release of MobileNets software.”
smartphones
EurekAlert: People ‘phone snubbed’ by others often turn to phones, social media for acceptance, Baylor study
EurekAlert: People ‘phone snubbed’ by others often turn to phones, social media for acceptance, Baylor study . “People who are phone snubbed – or ‘phubbed’ – by others are, themselves, often turning to their smartphones and social media to find acceptance, according to new research from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.” If you, like me, have no sodding idea what “phubbing” means, this article might help..
Ars Technica: Play Store downloads show Google Pixel sales limited to 1 million units
Ars Technica: Play Store downloads show Google Pixel sales limited to 1 million units. “The Google Pixel, Google’s first totally self-branded phone, launched about eight months ago. Google declared itself a smartphone OEM and jumped into the world of manufacturing, but while the company’s software and optimizations have made the phone a critical success, how have the sales numbers been?”
CNET: Virus scanner — or malware? Beware app store fakes
CNET: Virus scanner — or malware? Beware app store fakes. “RiskIQ, a cybersecurity firm, found seven apps related to WannaCry in the Google Play store and two in Apple’s App Store that demanded excessive permissions such as knowing your phone’s wake password. One of the phony WannaCry apps is actually blacklisted by RiskIQ’s standards because of the red flags it raised. Researchers found hundreds of fraudulent antivirus apps on the market — fakes packed with adware, Trojans and sources of malware.”
The Judy Malware: Possibly the largest malware campaign found on Google Play (Check Point Blog)
Check Point Blog: The Judy Malware: Possibly the largest malware campaign found on Google Play. “Check Point researchers discovered another widespread malware campaign on Google Play, Google’s official app store. The malware, dubbed ‘Judy’, is an auto-clicking adware which was found on 41 apps developed by a Korean company. The malware uses infected devices to generate large amounts of fraudulent clicks on advertisements, generating revenues for the perpetrators behind it.”
Duke University: New Project Uses Phones And Drones To Monitor Endangered Species
Duke University: New Project Uses Phones And Drones To Monitor Endangered Species. “Conservation researchers have developed an interactive software tool called ConservationFIT that can ‘read’ digital images of animal footprints captured from smartphones, cameras or drones and accurately identify the species, sex and age of the animal that made the tracks, and even match tracks to individual animals. Researchers at Duke University and SAS developed the interactive software to help scientists monitor and map the world’s most elusive and endangered species. Anyone who spots animal tracks can upload images, even if they’re unsure what species made them.”
Mashable: Google is making your smartphone camera way smarter
Mashable: Google is making your smartphone camera way smarter. “CEO Sundar Pichai showed off Google Lens with an innocuous image of a little girl playing baseball, taken from behind a chainlink backstop. It was a cute pic — but the criss-crossing metal of the fence in the foreground was a bit of a bummer. That is, until Pichai activated the Lens image and erased the fence from the foreground, with no degradation of the image of the little girl at the plate.”
