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There's been a leadership change at one of the most prominent companies building an augmented reality headset.

Daqri's founder and CEO, Brian Mullins, will step down, according to an announcement from the company on Tuesday.

He'll be replaced by Roy Ashok, who was previously Daqri's chief product officer and a director at Qualcomm.

Mullins will advise Daqri and will still have a board seat. 

Daqri makes hardware and software that overlays the digital world and the physical world, a hot technology referred to as augmented reality. Its offices are tucked away in downtown Los Angeles, on a floor that used to be the set of "Mad Men." 

The company sells to enterprises a helmet-based AR headset called Smart Helmet, a slimmed down pair of AR glasses called Smart Glasses, making it a direct competitor to Microsoft's Hololens. It also makes a gadget for cars that visually overlays information like speed and directions on the windshield called Smart HUD. 

Daqri says its Smart Glasses will ship later this month. Its helmet retails for $15,000, including customer service. 

The startup raised $290 million over the summer in a round of private equity financing, according to Crunchbase. A person with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider in February that Daqri raised "in excess of $200 million."

Augmented reality is a quickly-growing field of technology that many technologists believe could be a massive market, especially if smart glasses replace the smartphone.

But now that giants such as Apple and Facebook are said to have their eyes on the technology, companies that build headsets will need to streamline their businesses and focus on their strengths. 

Ashok previously consolidated Daqri's engineering and design efforts, according to the announcement. "As the company transitions from its development phase to a global and scalable market leader in professional grade AR, Roy Ashok is the absolute right choice to take the helm and capture the huge opportunities ahead," Mullins said in a statement. 

SEE ALSO: An augmented reality company that raised over $130 million is laying off staff worldwide

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NOW WATCH: Google Pixel 2 vs iPhone X: The biggest differences between the two

Google is rolling out simpler video calling on mobile for Android users. Those wanting to make a video call will be able do so straight from the Phone, Contacts, and Android Messages apps. The integration is as tight as you’d expect (as seen in the GIF above) with the option to start video presented in the same list of options where you’d call or text a contact. Google says it will add a function later that allows you to upgrade an ongoing voice call to video with a single tap.

When the video call is made, it’ll be routed through your carrier’s ViLTE service (video over LTE). If you’re not on a carrier with that service, Google will link the call through its Duo app, as long as both parties have it installed. The integrated video calling...

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Delta just did away with the standard, antiquated flight check-in process that’s plagued modern flyers for years. Now, Delta passengers’ boarding passes will automatically be sent out 24 hours prior to a flight, so long as they use Delta’s mobile app. The change was noted in the iOS version of the Fly Delta app, and it’s sure to be a welcome one to those who hate having to go through the cumbersome online process. The Android app doesn’t yet appear to have the option.

This is notable because no other US airline offers this service, and it should hopefully inspire others to follow suit. German airline Lufthansa does automatic check-in, and JetBlue briefly tried a pilot program with select customers of its Even More Space pricing tier...

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The fact that Apple is still selling the iPhone 6S, a phone that will be three years old in four months, is a testament to how good the phone is.

In the past, Apple has only offered the previous-generation iPhone after it announces a new model.

But if you compare the specs of the iPhone 8 or the iPhone X on Apple's website, you'll notice that the phones look pretty similar. You'll be telling yourself: "Yep, the iPhone 6S has this, and that, and that."

The main differences are the chips that dictate performance and certain features, as well as a few incremental improvements in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X to things like the display and camera. These are hugely important factors when deciding which iPhone to buy, but the iPhone 6S is still a top contender, especially as it now starts at $450.

Here's why you should consider buying the iPhone 6S instead of the iPhone 8 or iPhone X:

SEE ALSO: Forget the iPhone 8 and iPhone X — here are 7 reasons you should buy the iPhone 7 instead

1. It's more affordable.

It should go without saying that Apple's older iPhones are going to be cheaper than its new ones.

Here's what the new iPhones cost:

• iPhone 8 with 64 GB of storage: $700.

• iPhone 8 Plus with 64 GB of storage: $800.

• iPhone X with 64 GB of storage: $1,000.

However, Apple is still selling the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus for significantly less than the new iPhones:

• iPhone 6S with 32 GB of storage: $450.

• iPhone 6S Plus with 32 GB of storage: $550.

Unfortunately, you can't buy either iPhone 6S models refurbished from Apple's Refurbished Mac Store.

2. It comes in a color that the iPhone 8 and iPhone X don't have.

The new iPhone 8 comes in only silver, gold, and space gray. The new iPhone X comes in only silver and space gray.

The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus come in silver, gold, space gray, and rose gold — you can't get an iPhone 8 or iPhone X in rose gold.

3. It looks nearly identical to the new iPhone 8.

If you value design above everything else, the iPhone X would be the iPhone of choice. It's the freshest iPhone design since Apple released the iPhone 6 in 2014, and it looks downright gorgeous.

But the iPhone 6S has an excellent design — and you'll find comfort in knowing that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus look nearly identical to the new iPhone 8 models. Both the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 8 have the same size of bezels around the display and same overall shape, and their screens are the same size and same resolution.

The main differences in the iPhone 8 is the hidden antenna stripes and the glass back.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The company is forgoing building and running its own data centers in order to focus IT teams and resources on digital innovation.

As blockchain sweeps the service-provider industry, Oracle is yet another top SaaS/ERP software company to pick up the tech. 

Amazon has been selling Kindles for 10 years now, but “waterproof” never appeared on its list of incremental technological advancements — until now. The company just announced a new version of its popular e-reader that builds on last year’s Kindle design and has an IPX8 waterproof rating.

The new Kindle Oasis — the same name as last year’s premium Kindle — has jumped up in size, moving from a 6-inch screen to a 7-inch screen. It has an aluminum back, which gives it a more premium look and feel than the Kindles with soft-touch plastic.

Unlike last year’s Kindle Oasis, which used a magnetic case you attached to the e-reader to extend its battery life, the new Oasis relies entirely on its built-in battery. It has a similar physical...

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Dubai International Airport has come up with a novel way for departing travelers to clear security: by walking through a virtual aquarium lined with facial recognition cameras.

According to a report from The National, the virtual aquarium is shaped like a tunnel, and outfitted with 80 cameras that can scan faces and irises as passengers walk through. The images inside the tunnel can be changed to show different landscapes, like deserts, or to display advertisements. Once a traveler reaches the end, they’ll either be cleared with the message “have a nice trip,” or a red sign will be displayed to alert security.

The aquarium doesn’t just hide the facial recognition tech — it also encourages travelers to look around, and increase the...

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The most annoying toy of 2017 is almost certainly the humble fidget spinner. For a short while it was ubiquitous: sold in supermarkets, dodgy corner stores, and basically anywhere you can drop money. Kim Kardashian had her own branded version, and Arcade Fire even put their new album on one for $109 a pop. My friend has one and has played with it so much she can spin it and balance it on her nose at the same time. And now, there’s a phone version.

Made by Hong Kong-based Chilli International, the fidget phone has been around for a while. We saw it on Reddit this week, but PhoneRadar had a hands-on with the device back in September. The handset has a 1.4-inch screen, comes in six colors, and features a tiny 32MB of internal memory...

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 Everyone wants a piece of the Internet of Things, and why not? If predictions come to fruition, there are going to be billions and billions of devices and sensors broadcasting information at us by 2020, and someone has to make sense of it and point us to the data that matters. Salesforce wants to be that company (or at least one of them). Salesforce has never been shy about jumping on the… Read More

Joe Belfiore, Microsoft's corporate VP of the Operating Systems Group, confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that the company won't be adding new features or building new devices that run the mobile Windows Phone operating system.

Belfiore's tweet solidified what Terry Myerson, executive VP of Microsoft's Windows and Devices group, said in an interview with The Verge in March 2016: The Windows mobile platform simply isn't Microsoft's focus now.

It means that phones running Windows Phone 10 or earlier will continue to work, but they won't receive updates containing new features. Any update will simply contain general support, like bug fixes and security updates.

The Windows Phone platform never enjoyed much success during its competition with Android and iPhone, mostly because the app ecosystem on Windows Phone was lacking compared to Android and iPhone. Belfiore also commented on the lack of apps and failure to get more apps onto the platform, saying that Windows Phone's "volume of users is too low for most companies to invest": 

A Twitter user asked Belfiore whether it was time to "leave the Windows Mobile platform," to which Belfiore replied "Depends who you are. Many companies still deploy to their employees and we will support them!" Belfiore followed up to his answer, saying "As an individual end-user, I switched platforms for the app/hw diversity. We will support those users too!"

Essentially, business users will still get Windows Phone support, but consumers won't see the improvements needed to keep them on the platform. Belfiore says even he has switched to a different platform "for the app/[hardware] diversity."

Microsoft has recently shifted its focus to making Windows apps for Android and iPhone's iOS mobile operating systems. The company recently announced that it's releasing its Microsoft Edge web browser mobile app for iOS and Android, as well as a Microsoft Launcher for Android that's designed to integrate more closely with Windows 10 PCs.

Microsoft Launcher will let you press your Android phone's home button to continue what you were doing on your Windows 10 PC, like viewing photos or documents you were working on.

SEE ALSO: Here's why it seems like your iPhone gets slower when a new one comes out

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NOW WATCH: I switched from Mac to Windows and I'm never going back — here's why

Chatbots, computer programs that typically use text-based live chat as an interface to carry out tasks for customers on behalf of the business, are emerging as an inexpensive way to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in banking.

New digitally savvy companies have found success attracting consumers with user-friendly offerings, while legacy banks are finding it difficult to invest in and adopt innovative products. To remain competitive, these large banks will have to adapt their traditional services by incorporating more robotics in banking that will attract more tech-savvy customers.

Chatbots in Banking

Chatbots in banking are a digital solution that is relatively inexpensive to develop and maintain. For starters, chatbots require less coding than standalone banking apps. And the current growth in popularity of messaging platforms saves banks the cost of developing their own channels, as well as saving on data storage thanks to chatbots' cloud-based systems.

Companies such as Cleo, Stripe, and Wealthfront are giving traditional banks a run for their money. However, for these players it is more difficult to meet the demand of key bank products (such as loans) due to less restricted regulations that force their customers to spend heavily on compliance and maintain large capital cushions.

DBS uses Kasisto’s Kai, the underlying technology of MyKai, to allow customers to conduct transactions such as transfers and bill paying. Furthermore, they can ask about their personal finances using messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger and eventually WhatsApp and WeChat, all of which are the top messaging applications used across the world.

In 2016, Swedbank launched on its website and mobile application Nuance’s NINA, who helps answer customer inquiries more quickly by sourcing information relevant to their query using intuitive analysis.

Chatbots in Finance

The finance industry is built on processing information, which makes it an ideal industry for automation and reduction of salary expenditure, according to a new report from PwC. However, two-thirds of US financial services respondents said that they’re limited by operations, regulations, budgets, or resources to make the investment in such innovative development.

Fintech companies such as Plum, Digit, and Cleo use chatbots that drive microsaving by putting small amounts into savings each day for their users. These companies’ chatbot is their core product, unlike legacy banks that use it to supplement a core product.

These companies are improving various financial services that provide their customers more than just automated savings. Chatbots can provide wealth management for the masses, underwrite loans and insurance, provide data analyses and advanced analytics, and detect and notify of fraudulent behavior, all through an automated virtual assistant.

Bank of America uses ERICA to give customers key and real-time updates on their finances using a channel of their preference. Her predictive analytics and cognitive messaging helps customers make payments, pay down debts, and check their balances. 

Chatbots Set to Grow

Although chatbots have been around for a long time, recently the underlying AI technology has made waves in the market.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has found that the technological advancements in AI has made leaps and bounds in recent years in financial services.

The growing popularity of messaging apps have made them reliable hosts for chatbots, and the increasing public acceptance of chatbots have created more trustworthy relationships with users, particularly for millennials, whom banks are trying to target.

More to Learn

Chatbot technology will continue to improve in the coming years, particularly thanks to robotics in banking and chatbot financial services. Chatbot architecture and design will evolve to the point that interactive AI will become standard for customer service. But there are numerous applications for chatbots across a variety of sectors.

That's why BI Intelligence has put together a bundle of detailed reports on chatbots:

• The Chatbots Explainer
• Chatbots in Banking
• Chatbot Monetization
• Conversational Commerce

To get all four reports, subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now

You can also purchase and download the full reports using the links above.

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Facebook today announced a new Apple Music integration for Messenger that allows you to stream full songs, a first for the social network’s messaging service. Prior to this partnership, you could build collaborative Spotify playlists inside Messenger group chats and Facebook’s digital AI assistant M would also recommend songs via Spotify based the content of your conversations. Yet you could not stream full songs, until today.

Now, you can only stream from within Messenger so long as you’re an Apple Music subscriber. If you’re not a subscriber, you can still stream and share 30-second snippets. You access Apple Music by clicking the “+” sign from a one-on-one or group chat in Messenger on mobile and navigating over to the Apple Music...

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Nearly a week after shooter Stephen Paddock killed at least 59 people and injured 527 others on the Las Vegas Strip, details have emerged about his gun-buying history. In the past year, Paddock purchased 33 guns, most of them rifles. He owned more than 40 firearms.

It's legal to own that many guns in Nevada, which has resisted efforts to tighten firearm laws in recent years. It's not only relatively easy to get a gun in Nevada, it's also easy to find a firearm dealer. Statewide, there are approximately 505 federally licensed gun dealers as of September 2017.

That number may sound high, but gun stores permeate every US state. They are integrated into suburbs, towns, and cities across the United States — even moreso than McDonald's, coffee shops, grocery stores, 7-11s, and pharmacies.

To put things in perspective:

• In the US, there are approximately 50,271 more gun stores than McDonald's. Specifically, there are 14,146 McDonald's (as of December 2016) and 64,417 firearm dealers nationwide (as of September 2017).
• There are approximately 32,927 more gun stores than coffee shops (31,490 as of December 2015).
• There are approximately 39,017 more gun stores than grocery stores (25,400 as of December 2016).
• There are approximately 54,017 more gun stores than 7-11s (10,400 as of 2017). 
• There are approximately 3,578 more gun stores than pharmacies (60,839 as of 2014).

We define gun dealers according to two ATF classifications: "Dealer in firearms other than destructive devices (including gunsmiths)" and "pawnbroker in firearms other than destructive devices." If we were to include gun manufacturers, collectors, and importers, the national figure would be higher (132,799). Gun dealers would outnumber public schools (98,000 as of 2014).

There are a few caveats to this analysis. The data for gun stores is more recent than the data for other retailers. Also, not everyone with a license to sell guns actively sells them.

At the same time, these stats illuminate the size of the gun industry in the US, which is expected to gain $13 billion in sales this year, according to analysts at IBIS World.

The gun industry is thriving in the US, and firearm sales tend to spike after mass shootings. Many gun-store owners attribute the increases to worries about new gun regulations.

"Normally what happens — and I've been doing this for 30 years — is whenever they start talking about gun control on the news and they start pushing that, people have a tendency to think they're going to take away their right to buy the gun, and that usually spurs sales," Paul Decker, owner of Hunters Heaven in Virginia, told the Christian Science Monitor.

The opposite of a gun crackdown often happens, according to a 2016 research paper from Harvard’s Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra, and Christopher Poliquin. They found that, between 1989 and 2014, the most probable policy response in states with Republican-controlled legislatures to a mass shooting was a loosening of gun laws by 75%. The researchers found no significant effect of mass shootings on state gun legislation in Democrat-controlled legislatures.

This helps explain why gun stores are so common in the US. When gun regulation is less strict, it creates opportunity for firearm sellers to launch more retailers.

SEE ALSO: Where Americans are most likely to be killed by gun violence

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NOW WATCH: Ex-Google employees created a vending machine to replace corner stores — and the idea is being mocked all over Twitter

When it comes to rudeness in the office, things aren't going to get better anytime soon.

While bullying bosses are falling out of fashion, technology may encourage people to adopt harsher, less empathetic communication styles, said Liz Dolan, a former exec at Nike, OWN, and the National Geographic Channels.

Dolan hosts the podcast I Hate My Boss with executive coach Larry Seal. As they've rolled out their first season, Dolan and Seal have received tons of feedback about terrible workplace experiences from listeners.

Dolan said some industries and companies seem to foster — and even reward — overt bullying and rudeness.

"It's like sports," Dolan told Business Insider. "There are some coaches that are very collaborative with their players. But there are plenty of coaches that think the screaming and yelling and the 'Bobby Knight throwing a chair' approach works. You can't say it never works. Sometimes it does work, unfortunately."

On average, however, she said workplaces are replacing authoritative, hierarchical command-control structures — in which workplace bullying can thrive — with more collaborative styles. As a result, while bad behavior at work will likely never entirely disappear, more collaborative environments tend to subdue classic bullying behaviors, like screaming, shaming, and undermining.

"There's just less accommodation of this kind of behavior," she said. "There's still plenty of it around, but there's much less than there was a generation ago where the definition of leadership included yelling and screaming and taking a parental voice with your employees."

That may sound like good news, but it's not the whole picture. While Dolan argues that certain aspects of office life are on the up and up, there's one development that threatens to set us all back when it comes to bad behavior in the workplace: the rise of indirect technological communications.

Relying on email and Slack may result in streamlined, effective communication, but all that indirect talk can take a toll on relationships, according to Stanford professor Robert Sutton.

"It makes it really hard for people to understand what boundaries are when they don't really get to know each other because all their communication is online," Dolan said. "We all know that it's true that there are things you would say in an email or a text message to someone that you would never in a million years say to their face."

What's worse, researchers at the University of Florida have found rudeness to be contagious. So just one heated email can have a truly toxic ripple effect throughout your team. Dolan said there's no quick fix for the issue, but establishing professional communication standards is a good first step.

"Maybe that means just being more explicit about what is professional communication and what isn't, whether it's in a formal or informal environment," she said.

SEE ALSO: A Stanford professor says, at the rate things are going, workplaces will only get more toxic in the future

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NOW WATCH: A CEO spent $6 million to close the gender pay gap at his company

Microsoft quietly released its own Android launcher more than two years ago. It was the basic, functional Arrow Launcher for Android devices, built by an employee as part of the company’s Garage experiment. That experiment is getting a big upgrade today with the release of Microsoft Launcher.

While iPhones don’t let you customize what happens when you push on the home button, Android devices include launchers that dictate the homescreen experience. Microsoft is taking advantage of that in a big way to bridge the gap between mobile and PC. Microsoft Launcher will let Android users continue viewing photos, editing documents, or reading websites from a mobile to a PC. It’s something Microsoft has been experimenting with recently, and...

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Consumers now expect retailers to have some form of an augmented reality (AR) experience, according to a report by DigitalBridge.

Of the consumers surveyed, 20% said they expect retailers to have an AR tool now that iOS 11 has been released, while 49% say they expect retailers to launch AR features within the next six months.

Many consumers would like to see AR paired with artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize the shopping experience. Most consumers (64%) would like to see a virtual shopping assistant that uses AR and AI together. Notably, these customers would be more likely to use AR if it was partnered with an AI assistant that could suggest and visualize products based on their previous purchases or browsing history.

Many retailers in the home and furniture space have already launched into AR, and retailers in other segments should follow suit. Wayfair, Ikea, Anthropologie, and a slew of other furniture retailers have all debuted their own AR apps. These retailers have the most immediate use for AR, as consumers have been most interested in using the technology for their furniture purchases. But all retailers could benefit from providing virtual visualization of their products. For example, Topology Eyewear allows customers to virtually try on glasses through its AR app, enabling customers to build confidence in a purchase that typically requires a physical fitting. AR is a simple way for retailers to recreate the try-on experience that customers get in-store, and could convince digital shoppers to follow through with more purchases.

One of retailers' top priorities is to figure out how to gain an edge over Amazon. To do this, many retailers are attempting to differentiate themselves by creating highly curated experiences that combine the personal feel of in-store shopping with the convenience of online portals. 

These personalized online experiences are powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This is the technology that enables e-commerce websites to recommend products uniquely suited to shoppers, and enables people to search for products using conversational language, or just images, as though they were interacting with a person. 

Using AI to personalize the customer journey could be a huge value-add to retailers. Retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It could also boost profitability rates 59% in the wholesale and retail industries by 2035, according to Accenture. 

Stephanie Pandolph, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has written a detailed report on AI in e-commerce that:

• Provides an overview of the numerous applications of AI in retail, using case studies of how retailers are currently gaining an advantage using this technology. These applications include personalizing online interfaces, tailoring product recommendations, increasing the relevance of shoppers search results, and providing immediate and useful customer service.
• Examines the various challenges that retailers may face when looking to implementing AI, which typically stems from data storage systems being outdated and inflexible, as well as organizational barriers that prevent personalization strategies from being executed effectively.
• Gives two different strategies that retailers can use to successfully implement AI, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.

To get the full report, subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now

You can also purchase and download the full report from our research store.

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If you've seen current FCC Ajit Pai's name in print so far this year, it's probably for any number of his extremely anti-consumer, telecom industry friendly positions. Like his attempts to kill net neutrality, his support of gutting consumer broadband privacy protections, his efforts to protect the cable industry's cable box monopoly from competition, efforts to dramatically reduce media consolidation rules, his defense of prison phone monopoly price gouging, or the way he's making it harder for Americans to get affordable broadband.

To obfuscate this arguably-lopsided agenda, Pai has been busy trying to portray himself as somebody notably other than the revolving door regulator he actually is.

For example, Pai has repeatedly insisted that he's a heroic advocate for closing the digital divide, even while simultaneously weakening broadband deployment standards and eroding all oversight of historically-despised mono/duopolists like Comcast. Similarly, Pai spent many of his first months in office insisting he'd be breathlessly dedicated to transparency, yet the FCC boss has already been sued for refusing to document his communications with incumbent ISPs regarding net neutrality, or to provide hard data on why his agency appears to have hallucinated a DDoS attack.

Last week, Pai trotted out yet another effort to try and portray himself as an unwavering ally to consumers. In a missive posted to the FCC website (pdf), Pai lambasted Apple for refusing to turn on the FM radio chipsets embedded in iPhones, something he was quick to proclaim was a major affront to the safety and security of the nation's wireless subscribers:

"Apple is the one major phone manufacturer that has resisted doing so. But I hope the company will reconsider its position, given the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. That’s why I am asking Apple to activate the FM chips that are in its iPhones. It is time for Apple to step up to the plate and put the safety of the American people first. As the Sun Sentinel of South Florida put it, ‘Do the right thing, Mr. Cook. Flip the switch. Lives depend on it.’”

And while that may look like Pai was busy trying to do a good thing, Apple was forced to issue a public statement pointing out that the chipsets Pai wants turned on -- don't actually exist:

"Apple cares deeply about the safety of our users, especially during times of crisis and that’s why we have engineered modern safety solutions into our products. Users can dial emergency services and access Medical ID card information directly from the Lock Screen, and we enable government emergency notifications, ranging from Weather Advisories to AMBER alerts. iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips in them nor do they have antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception in these products."

And while some older iPhone models do have such chipsets, they don't have the embedded antennas necessary to effectively utilize them. In many instances, the FM functionality is just part of an overall "system on a chip" (SOC) that technically contains the functionality, but isn't actually capable of being turned on. Pai appears to have drawn his information from this similarly incorrect Florida news report, something ten minutes of research could have clarified. From some additional commentary from Apple evangelist John Gruber:

"I’ve dug around, and what I’ve been told is that there is an FM radio chip in older iPhones, but it’s not connected, and there’s no antenna designed for FM radio. The chip is just part of a commodity component part, and Apple only connected the parts of the chip that the iPhones were designed to use. No iPhone was ever designed to be an FM radio, and there is no “switch” that can be “flipped” — nor software update that could be issued — that could turn them into one. It’s a complete technical misconception.

What’s absurd is that the FCC commissioner would take his understanding of the iPhone’s technical capabilities from a newspaper editorial rather than from Apple’s own FCC regulatory filings, which I’m pretty sure would show that they’re not capable of acting as FM radios.

If that's the level of Pai's fact-checking before accusing Apple of harming the safety of the "American people," it leaves you wondering just how much homework Pai has done before deciding to "take a weedwhacker" (his words) to essential consumer protections on the telecom front.

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Yahoo's infamous hack — already one of the worst in history — is even worse than previously thought.

All 3 billion user accounts it had in 2013 were affected by the security breach, the company, which Verizon acquired in June, said on Tuesday. Yahoo had previously estimated the hack affected 1 billion accounts.

In its statement, the company said:

"Subsequent to Yahoo's acquisition by Verizon, and during integration, the company recently obtained new intelligence and now believes, following an investigation with the assistance of outside forensic experts, that all Yahoo user accounts were affected by the August 2013 theft."

The hacked user information included phone numbers, birth dates, security questions and answers, and "hashed," or scrambled, passwords, Yahoo said in a list of frequently asked questions on its website. The information did not include "passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information," the company said.

However, the technique Yahoo used to hash passwords on its site is an outdated one that is widely considered to be easily compromised, so it's possible that people who had the hashed passwords could unscramble them.

Yahoo said it was sending email notifications to account holders that it didn't previously determine were affected by the hack.

SEE ALSO: Yahoo announces theft of a billion accounts - Business Insider

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NOW WATCH: An internet security expert explains one of the scariest things hackers can do to your computer

Technology research company Cambridge Consultants has unveiled a drone delivery concept called DelivAir that delivers a package directly into someone’s hands, using coded patterns sent via a phone’s LED flash to identify the recipient. The company says this type of delivery is ideal for items that are needed instantly or critically like a first aid kit to a hiker, emergency relief packages to disaster areas, or for delivering medical supplies like an EpiPen.

Delivering a package is a two-stage process: first, the DelivAir drone uses GPS to locate a person via their smartphone. Then, it switches to optical tracking and a 3D-imaging and ranging system to locate and authenticate the person receiving the package when they come into view....

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The partnership will grant Slack entrance to more companies' communication networks than the platform could access on its own. 

Why wait until 9am PT/12pm ET to see what Google's upcoming Pixel 2 smartphones will look like when you can just check them out for yourself a little early on Google's Play Store?

Indeed, Google swapped out images of the original Pixel in the Google Home Play Store page with one of the new Pixel 2 smartphones. Based on previous rumors, it looks like the pictured device is the larger of the two Pixel 2 XL:

Google's own leak doesn't show the entire device, but we can at least see that the Pixel 2 XL will come with a redesigned front surface with narrower bezels around the display. It also looks like the Pixel 2 XL will have rounded corners, as is the trend in recent flagship devices from Samsung, LG, and Apple. There also appears to be a red power button on the right of the pictured device, which is something that leaked images didn't include. We'll have to wait and see for Google's announcement to see what that red button is all about.

It seems to confirm previous leaks from prolific gadgets leaker, Evan Blass, who recently posted leaked photos of the device's front:

Verizon's CMO Diego Scotti also revealed on Twitter earlier on Wednesday that the devices will be Verizon exclusives as far as carriers that will be carrying the new Pixel 2 devices in store. It's not clear yet if they'll work on other carriers like the original Pixel. 

Google is set to fully unveil its new Pixel 2 smartphones and their specs in just a few minutes at 9am PT/12pm ET. You can watch the livestream here, or watch right from the video below:

 

SEE ALSO: How to watch Google's Pixel 2 smartphone announcement today

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NOW WATCH: Everything we know about Google's upcoming smartphone, the Pixel 2

The local government in Dubai has officially launched its own cryptocurrency called emCash, according to announcements by local news media outlets. The cryptocurrency would be used for payment of governmental and nongovernmental services. According to Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, the token will be considered legal tender “for various government and non-government […]

T-Mobile says it will continue to claim it has the country’s fastest LTE network even after the National Advertising Division, a telecom industry watchdog group, “recommended” that it stop doing so in print, TV, and web advertisements. “NAD previously recognized third-party crowdsourced data as a way to look at network performance, so we looked at the latest results, and verified what we already knew,” T-Mobile said in a statement given to Ars Technica. “T-Mobile is still the fastest LTE network and we'll continue to let consumers know that.”

The dispute arose earlier this year as part of a T-Mobile ad campaign that insinuated that Verizon’s network was older and slower, and that its service did not feature unlimited plans. Verizon then...

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As widely predicted, the Senate today voted to reconfirm FCC chairman Ajit Pai, allowing him to continue in the role for four more years.

Pai, a Republican member of the FCC elevated to the top post by President Trump in January, has spearheaded deregulation efforts in the telecom industry since taking over. Most significantly, he has moved to roll back net neutrality rules, a plan widely criticized by consumer advocacy organizations.

A campaign was mounted to block Pai’s reconfirmation, and during a floor debate, Democratic senators criticized Pai’s agenda. But with a Republican-led Senate, the approval seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Pai was ultimately reconfirmed by a 52 to...

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 Chipmaker Intel wants a piece of the growing Internet of Things market and they have developed the Intel Secure Device solution to help companies provision IoT devices in a secure and automated way. Dipti Vachani, vice president and general manager for the Internet of Things Group at Intel, says we hear that 50 billion IoT devices will be deployed by 2020, but there is a gap between that… Read More

6 scientific tricks to fall asleep.  

If you can't sleep, get out of bed. Experts say if you stress out in bed you'll associate negative feelings toward where you sleep. So go read a book on the couch. 

Turn off your phone! The blue light can trick your mind into thinking it's daytime. Give yourself 30 minutes before bed to unplug. 

Try meditation or practiced relaxation. Your body will produce stress hormones if you're anxious. Try relaxing one part of your body at a time starting with your toes and working your way up. Lots of people fall asleep before they reach their head! 

It sounds counter-intuitive, but try to stay awake. It's easier to sleep when you're not obsessing over it. One study shows obsessing over staying awake has the opposite effect. 

Stick to a routine. The more consistently you set your bedtime the quicker your body recognizes it's time to shut down. 

Do something mindless. Experts recommend counting backwards from 100 in multiples of 3. The more bored you are, the faster you'll fall asleep. 

Sweet dreams!

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Earlier this month, credit reporting company Equifax disclosed that hackers had accessed the names and social security numbers of approximately 143 million of its US customers.

The breach tarnished Equifax's reputation, destroyed its stock and decimated its executive ranks.

No one wants to be the next Equifax and it's a safe bet that at this very moment big and small businesses across the country are scrambling to bolster their cyber fortifications. 

It's not an easy feat. But Steve Martino, chief information security officer at Cisco, has developed some clever techniques through years of fighting the bad guys. 

Cisco employees are constantly kept on their toes as Martino probes them for weak spots and drills a defensive mindset into them. 

Martino sat down with Business Insider to share some of his key tactics for creating an organization that won't become the victim of the next big cyber attack.  Here's what he recommends:

SEE ALSO: Traders refuse to let Equifax off the hook

Kill your click-throughs

In online business, big click-through rates are great: it means customers are clicking on links and web pages to buy stuff. 

Inside a company though, high click-through rates can be deadly as a daily barrage of phishing emails and other nefarious tricks try to entice susceptible employees into clicking a dangerous link.

Martino sends out fake phishing emails to Cisco's entire staff every quarter. Anyone who clicks on the phishing link is brought to an employee training video to teach them how to avoid engaging with suspicious emails in the future. The method works because it helps every employee understand their role in protecting their company against attacks. 

"We've been able to reduce our click through rates by over 60% by giving them that training," Martino says.

Protect your treasure

It's extremely difficult to protect against every possible method of intrusion, so it's best to focus on protecting the most important data. Figure out which customer and company data is most sensitive, as well as which portals of entry are most vulnerable, Martino advises.

"If you don't know what your key things are, you're trying to protect everything and you probably protect nothing," he says. 

 

 

 

 

Seek and destroy

Expect that attackers will get through some of the time and actively seek out the intruders.

"You have to recognize that in today's interconnected world, no matter how much you deploy, mistakes will happen," Martino says. From employees that click on phishing emails, to programmers that build buggy software, human mistake is often at the heart of security.

"Hackers are dedicated, and well funded adversaries, and they're going to find errors in software," says Martino.

Because of this, it's vital that security teams actively look for existing breaches.

One way to do this is to look for cybersecurity software which can work together, so that when something goes wrong at one point in the security process, protections are in place to prevent it from going any further.

 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Back in 2015, a weird dairy epidemic struck Microsoft office kitchens worldwide.

Employees were opening an eight-ounce carton of milk from the fridge, pouring a splash into their coffee, and leaving behind the opened container so the next person could finish it. 

But nobody wanted to use milk that might have already spoiled, so the next person would just open a fresh carton, and leave it behind.

The cycle continued. 

"The Orphaned Milk Carton culture is somehow deeply ingrained in our worldwide culture," one Microsoft employee wrote on Reddit at the time. 

In his new book, "Hit Refresh," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tells the story from his perspective — and how he turned it into a teachable moment for the company as he tried to reform Microsoft's dog-eat-dog culture. 

Nadella writes that the problem came to his attention when the milk carton issue blew up in an internal group on Yammer, Microsoft's corporate social networking tool. While Nadella doesn't mention it in the book, that group was called "Milk cartons of the Pacific Northwest," and featured photos of lonely containers spotted around campus.

Meanwhile, a cornerstone of Nadella's leadership style is the idea of the "growth mindset," or the idea that you should take nothing for granted and always be willing to adjust your views as new data comes in. The opposite of a "growth mindset" is being set in your ways to a fault, what's called a "fixed mindset."

"[...] I used one of my video messages to employees to have a good laugh at it, showcasing it as a humorous example of a fixed mindset," writes Nadella. 

Nadella doesn't address the solution here, but we've heard that Microsoft ended up addressing the milk situation by getting rid of the tiny containers and replacing them with full-sized, quarter-gallon milk containers. Employees pour their bit of milk, and put it back in the fridge for the next person to use, until it's gone. Problem solved.

To Nadella, this is a light-hearted example of a serious problem he inherited when he first took the reins of the company: How do you get Microsoft employees to stop fighting each other, and to start taking responsibility for improving the company?

This is something that Nadella spends much of the book addressing. He describes how he forced executives to interact with employees way below their paygrade at a luxe corporate retreat, and how he eventually had to tell his team to "stop whining" and that "to be a leader at this company, your job is to find the rose petals in a pile of shit." 

SEE ALSO: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explains the 'not universally loved' changes he made to a luxury executive retreat

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Zoom video meetings can now be streamed to Facebook Workplace. Zoom announced the integration this week, along with a new transcription service for video recordings.