Facebook to roll out fake news tools in Germany

Facebook is introducing new tools in Germany to help combat the spread of fabricated news stories.

The world's largest social network said it would enable German users to flag potentially false stories.

The stories will then be passed to third-party fact-checkers and if found to be unreliable, will be marked in users' news feeds as "disputed".

It is the first major rollout of the fake news features announced by Facebook in December.

"Last month we announced measures to tackle the challenge of fake news on Facebook," the company said on Sunday in a German-language statement.

"We will put these updates in place in Germany in the coming weeks."

Facebook has been widely criticised after some users complained that fake news had influenced the US presidential election.

German government officials have expressed concern that misinformation on the internet could influence the country's parliamentary election this year.

Last week, the social news site Buzzfeed found Facebook pages were publishing false stories about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking re-election.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas has also repeatedly warned about fake news on Facebook, and called on the firm to respect the country's defamation laws, which are stricter than in the US.

In the UK, MPs are set to question executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter about fake news amid fears it is undermining democracy, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.

Under the new measures, users in Germany will be able to select "It's a fake news story" as an option when reporting another user's post.

They can then mark the post as fake news, let the other user know they think it is fake, or block that user.

Facebook will send potentially fake stories to Correctiv, a German non-profit body of investigative journalists, to check the facts.

If they find a story to be false, it will be marked on Facebook as "disputed" and will appear lower in users' news feeds.

Facebook is already working with other fact-checkers in the US to verify news on its platform.

The fact-checkers must sign up to a code of principles to take part. There are currently 43 signatories, including news organisations in several different countries.

Facebook Germany also said it was looking into penalising websites, which tried to mimic major publishers or misled readers into thinking they were a well-known news source.

Last week, the company announced new training and tools that would be made available for journalists on its platform.

On Thursday, BBC News said it would expand its Reality Check series to target false stories or facts being shared widely on social media.

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Marissa Mayer not on new Yahoo holding group board

Yahoo says its chief executive Marissa Mayer will not be on the board of a company that emerges from the $4.83bn (£4bn) takeover deal by Verizon.

Yahoo is in the process of selling its email, websites, mobile apps and advertising tools to Verizon.

What is left after that sale will be owned by a holding company to be named Altaba.

Its main assets will be a 15% stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba and a 35.5% stake in Yahoo Japan.

Five other current members of the Yahoo board also won't be on the board of the new firm.

Ms Mayer is expected to remain with Yahoo's core business.

Verizon's deal for Yahoo's core internet assets came under renewed scrutiny last month after the Yahoo disclosed one of the largest known data breaches in history.

Verizon is examining the impact of the data breach and there is speculation that the deal may not go through.

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iPhone - a moment in history

Ten years ago I was running from San Francisco’s Moscone Centre to a nearby hotel to edit a piece for the Ten O’Clock News when my phone rang.

Those were the days, by the way, when phones were for making calls but all that was about to change.

“Have you got your hands on this new Apple phone for a piece to camera?” shouted a producer in London. “If not, why not?”

This appeared to be an impossible demand.

Steve Jobs had just unveiled the iPhone before an adoring crowd but it was not available for grubby hacks to manhandle.

Then I remembered that we had been offered - and turned down for lack of time - an interview with Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller. I turned around and headed back to the Moscone Centre. Having located Mr Schiller I asked whether before our interview I might just have a look at the iPhone.

He graciously handed his over - and rather than trying to ring Jony Ive or order 5,000 lattes as Steve Jobs had on stage, I brandished it at the camera for my Ten O’Clock News piece.

The following weekend a Sunday newspaper columnist described me as having clutched the phone as if it were “a fragment of the true cross”, and some viewers complained that the BBC had given undue prominence to a product launch.

I appeared on the Newswatch programme to defend our reporting and said that some products did merit coverage because they promised a step change in the way we lived - and I mused on whether the Model T Ford would have been a story if we’d had a TV news bulletin back then.

Afterwards, I rather regretted saying that - who knew whether the iPhone would really prove as revolutionary as the arrival of mass car ownership?

But today that comparison does not look so outlandish. The smartphone has been the key transformative technology of the last decade, putting powerful computers in the hands of more than two billion people and disrupting all sorts of industries.

One example is in the photograph at the top of this article. It’s not very good - but then again it was taken by me on a digital SLR camera. In difficult lighting conditions, I struggled to get Steve Jobs in focus on stage.

Compare and contrast with a photo taken 10 years later in Las Vegas last week - it was shot on an iPhone but could just as well been captured on any high-end smartphone such as a Google Pixel, and was the work of the same incompetent photographer.

This 2017 photo could be instantly shared on social media - the Steve Jobs one stayed in my SLR for days.

My point is that the iPhone radically changed the way we thought about photography and a whole range of other activities we could now do on the move.

Of course, there were cameras on phones before 2007, just as there were mobile devices that allowed you to roam the internet or send an email. But the genius of Steve Jobs was to realise that without an attractive user interface many people just couldn’t be bothered to do more with their phones than talk and text.

So, despite my rather British distaste for the hyperbole surrounding the iPhone launch - expressed at the time in a blog - I now look back and feel grateful to have witnessed a moment in history.

Other firms, notably Amazon and Google, are now taking us forward with innovative products imbued with artificial intelligence. But it was on a sunny January morning in San Francisco that the mobile connected era began.

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CES 2017: Nokia Android phone spurns the West

The first in a series of Nokia-branded Android phones is to be released exclusively in China.

The device will be marketed in partnership with the local internet retail giant JD.com.

The team behind the Nokia 6 phone said the handset's "premium design" would appeal to the local market.

The announcement coincided with the final day of the CES tech show in Las Vegas, where other new mobile phones and gadgets have been launched.

Nokia no longer manufactures phones that carry its name but has instead licensed its brand to another Finnish company, HMD Global.

Until now, the only phones that had been released under the deal had been more basic "feature phone" models.

The Android device had been highly anticipated and marks Nokia's return to the smartphone market after a series of Windows Phone models. Nokia also briefly sold Android-based handsets - known as Nokia X - in 2014.

Microsoft used Nokia's brand for a short time after buying the company's mobile devices the same year, but later referred to the devices solely by their Lumia name.
Mobile World Congress

Nokia once dominated the mobile phone market but struggled after the launch of the iPhone a decade ago, and the subsequent release of Google's Android operating system.

HMD Global had previously indicated it would release several Nokia-branded Android phones in 2017.

It is expected to provide details of at least some of the other launches at another trade show - Barcelona's Mobile World Congress - in February.

"The decision by HMD to launch its first Android smartphone into China is a reflection of the desire to meet the real world needs of consumers in different markets around the world," the firm said in a statement.

"With over 552 million smartphone users in China in 2016, a figure that is predicted to grow to more than 593 million users by 2017, it is a strategically important market where premium design and quality is highly valued by consumers."

The Nokia 6 phone runs Android 7.0 - the latest version, also known as Nougat - and features:

    a 5.5in 1080p "full high definition" screen
    a 16 megapixel rear camera
    four gigabyte of RAM memory and 64GB of storage
    two amplifiers supported by Dolby Atmos audio processing, which HMD says creates audio that "seems to flow all around users"

The specifications are mid-range, and so is the price: 1,699 yuan ($245; £200).

That makes it slightly more expensive than Huawei's Honor 6X but cheaper than Xiaomi's Mi 5s.

"Nokia remains one of the most recognised mobile phone brands on the planet," commented Ben Wood from the CCS Insight technology consultancy.

"HMD Global will be hoping it can capitalise on this as it seeks to relaunch Nokia devices in 2017.

"It will be hoping the brand will help it stand out in the incredibly crowded Android smartphone market, which is characterised by cut-throat competition and a sea of design sameness. "

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Google Waymo self-driving minivan tests to start

Google's Waymo will launch the first public road tests of its self-driving minivans later this month.

The trials will take place in California and Arizona, according to Waymo chief executive John Krafcik.

Modified Chrysler Pacificas with Waymo-designed sensors were on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where Mr Krafcik spoke.

One tech analyst said the industry would keenly watch Waymo's performance in the coming months.

Waymo plans to develop self-driving technology and provide it to established carmakers. The company was formally launched by Google in December.

Mr Krafcik said the company had managed to reduce the cost of producing its Lidar laser-based sensor, though did not give details about how, according to Associated Press.

He added that he expected Waymo to have completed three million miles of test-driving by May.

"The Waymo self-driving program is the first true end-to-end integrated solution that we see in the market today," said Arunprasad Nandakumar, a tech analyst with Frost & Sullivan.

"In the coming months, the Waymo minivan will give clearer indications on whether the industry will be able to meet the steep targets that have been publicly announced by various players."

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CES 2017: Razer three-screened laptops 'stolen'

Two prototype models of an unusual gaming laptop with three screens have been stolen at the CES tech show in Las Vegas, according to PC maker Razer.

The concept device boasts three 4K screens and is said to be the first portable laptop of its kind.

Razer said the laptops had gone missing from its booth at the tech show on Sunday.

The incident was being taken "very seriously", said chief executive Min-Liang Tan.

A Razer spokesman said it was offering $25,000 (£20,600) for any "original information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction" of those allegedly involved in the crime.

"Our teams worked months on end to conceptualise and develop these units," Mr Tan said in a post on his official Facebook page.

"It is cheating, and cheating doesn't sit well with us. Anyone who would do this clearly isn't very smart."
Security 'a priority'

A spokeswoman for the Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES, confirmed to the BBC that two laptops had been reported as stolen.

"We express our regrets," she said. "The security of our exhibitors, attendees and their products and materials are our highest priority.

"We use a wide variety of security measures at our show to combat theft.

"For example, we delay labour coming on the show floor until an hour after the show closes so that exhibitors have a chance to secure product before dismantling their booths."

Headquartered in California, Razer was started by Singaporean entrepreneur Min-Liang Tan.

The brand enjoys a cult status among the gaming community, and gamers from around the world expressed their excitement about the device which is part of the firms Project Valerie.

"Razer always finds a way to outclass other brands. No offense to people who like other products," said Jason Vicencio.

"This device is a dream come true for every gamer on the go, no more having to cram graphics and line of vision into just one screen," commented Artie Derilo.

"I would love to open this up on an airplane while sitting in the middle seat," joked Marvin England

But other Facebook users like Malachy Hamilton questioned its design.

"What's the point in three screens? The point of a laptop is portability and being able to do work and some light gaming on the go," he said.

"For this, you'd need a beefy battery which would increase the weight, therefore making it less of a laptop."

Project Valerie is still a prototype and Razer has not yet published a possible release date or price.
Publicity stunt?

Todd Prince, gaming reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal who was at the event, told the BBC the theft was a surprise, given the tight security.

"There were cameras all over the place and how someone was actually able to get this out was a bit of a surprise, that someone would even take that risk," he said.

But the bigger question for some sceptical social media users was if the entire incident was a "publicity stunt".

"If I had some crazy laptop design that I wanted to go viral, I'd claim it had been stolen for free exposure," suggested Facebook user Jon Macleod.

But Mr Prince dismissed this idea.

"Considering how much publicity this product already had gotten before the convention even started, everyone was already talking and writing about it," he said.
"To me, it doesn't seem like Razer would need that much more publicity."

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How to Take Transparent Photos with Mi MIX

 

Social media is a kick-starter for so many photography fads. They are coming and going all the time so you better do not focus on that much. Most of them are alarmingly weird and only a few are creating a positive image of the time it was made in. For example, a recent photography illusion created by Xiaomi fans with a help of Mi MIX. Looks as if you were actually holding a transparent phone. If you already have seen those stunning photos, but were wondering how to do it, we are adding meat to the bones to guide you through the whole process.
Note: original guide suggests that you have two Mi MIX smartphones for the perfect “transparency” effect. But you may own a pair of other Xiaomi devices to implement the idea.
Step 1. Position your hand in front of a nice background and take a picture of it. Check if the proportions of the photograph are correct.

 

Step 2. Zoom in the photo until your photo-trapped hand shows the same as its actual size.

 

Step 3. Drag its position as you like and take a screenshot. Set it as a wallpaper on your phone.

 

Step 4. With Mi MIX in your hand, position it at the same angle and in front of the same background as in Step 1. Now take a photo with another device.

 

There you have it! Such a unique and futuristic photograph. Who would have thought that it could be so easy?

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