Month: April 2022

Facebook is always involved in privacy issues, as the company has an explicit business model that relies on selling user data. A new document, however, suggests things could be worse than we thought.

The internal document (via Engadget) is a report written by Privacy Engineers from the Facebook Ad team, and it was sent to the company’s leaders. The engineers detail how Facebook could deal with local regulators asking for new privacy measures to protect user data.

However, according to the report, even Facebook engineers agree that the company has no control over how user data is managed internally. The Facebook Ad team warned the social network’s directors that the company would have a hard time promising governments any changes in these aspects.

“We do not have an adequate level of control and explainability over how our systems use data, and thus we can’t confidently make controlled policy changes or external commitments such as ‘we will not use X data for Y purpose,'” wrote the report’s authors. “And yet, this is exactly what regulators expect us to do, increasing our risk of mistakes and misrepresentation.”

The document shows that Facebook’s data base has “open boundaries”, which means that all user data including first, second, and third party data as well as sensitive data can be stored in one place. As a result, controlling a specific piece of this data is not an easy task. Although a Facebook spokesperson denied that the company is not complying with regulators, an anonymous employee described the situation as a “complete shitshow.”

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta is rebuilding its ad infrastructure to target iOS users. Since the launch of App Tracking Transparency last year, the social network has lost more than $10 billion in revenue. Facebook is still critical of Apple’s privacy policies which it claims “harm” both to users and businesses.

Read also:

• Meta announces its first retail store as it wants more people to join the metaverse
• How to deactivate or delete your Facebook account or change privacy settings on iPhone

When Apple launched Studio Display it promised “sensational webcam quality”. Customers discovered that Studio Display’s built-in camera was not capturing good images. Apple has now released beta software to address some of these problems. But Studio Display’s low webcam quality may not be a bug in the software.

The complaints

According to most Studio Display owners, webcam images look terrible compared with the front cameras on Apple devices. In most cases, the images look blurry, are washed out, and have a lot of noise.

In his review for The Verge, Nilay Patel wrote that the Studio Display’s camera looks “awful in good light, and downright miserable in low light.” Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal likened the camera performance to that of an “old BlackBerry.” Gizmodo had similar complaints, saying that the Studio Display’s webcam is “noisy” and “not great.”

Soon after the first Studio Display reviews criticizing its 12-megapixel webcam were published on the web, Apple told the press that it was working on a software update to improve the quality of the image captured by the built-in camera.

What changes when you update

Nearly two months after Studio Display was announced, Apple today released a beta firmware to developers that brings enhancements to the image processing of the company’s built-in display webcam.

The update is currently only available for macOS Monterey beta users. It’s not known when it will become public. Studio Display users are already using the update and have seen what changes it makes. And it turns out, the update doesn’t change much.

As noted by Jason Snell, Apple has made some adjustments to make the Center Stage cropping less aggressive. At the same time, James Thomson also noted that there’s much less noise in the webcam images after the update, as well as a bit more contrast, but the quality is still “quite washed out” compared to other webcams.

The update doesn’t seem to miraculously improve the quality of the Studio Display’s webcam, and there’s a reason for that.

It’s all about the ultra-wide lens

Apple proudly says that the Studio Display has a 12-megapixel camera, which should be enough for sharp images. After all, the iPhone and other Apple devices also have 12-megapixel front-facing cameras. But why is the Studio Display webcam so different in terms of image quality?

While most Apple devices have a regular wide front camera, Studio Display has an ultra-wide lens. This is because it has Center Stage, a feature that uses machine learning to always center the image on a person during a video call or video recording. Since this camera has no optical zoom, Center Stage digitally crops the image to center the people in the frame.

So while an iPhone is capable of taking a real 12-megapixel selfie, Center Stage cameras capture images at 12 megapixels using the ultra-wide lens and then digitally crop them to look like a regular photo or video. These images are less sharp.

For instance, my third generation iPad Air has a seven-megapixel front-facing camera. When I compare it to my iPad mini 6 (which has Center Stage), the old iPad’s images look sharper.

As another example, I took the same picture using the wide and ultra-wide rear lens on my iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Both lenses have 12-megapixel resolution, but then I cropped the photo captured by the ultra-wide lens to make it look like the photo from the wide lens, simulating what happens with photos taken by a Center Stage camera. As you can see, the result is of a significantly lower quality.

And that’s why the webcam on the iMac or MacBook Pro will always look better than the one on the Studio Display, because they’re not ultra-wide. When you’re taking a picture or shooting video with a regular webcam, you’re taking advantage of every single pixel of it.

Is there a solution?

Unfortunately, no matter what Apple does in terms of software updates, there’s nothing that will dramatically improve the Studio Display webcam.

The only two possible solutions to solve this problem are to use a higher resolution sensor, so that the cropped image is at least 12 megapixels, or a larger sensor to capture more light – which would help reduce noise in the image.

Has the Webcam been set up in the original Studio Display?

Smartwatches such as the Apple Watch offer a variety of health functions, including fitness monitoring and blood oxygen monitoring. It’s become a critical part of many people’s lives and has even saved a few. As organizations use the data, it’s becoming an essential research tool.

A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spotted inequalities within the ownership of smartwatches and wearable technology. According to the study, smartwatch owners tend to be white, wealthy, young and educated.

Researchers conducted the study through the NIH’s All of Us Research Program. This effort is building a health database representative of the United States. The team’s goal is to purposefully include underrepresented groups in medical research.

The study revealed that Fitbit users who submitted their health information directly to their Fitbits were more likely to be from wealthy and whiter backgrounds than those in the other groups. This led the team to survey over 1,000 patients at six Federally Qualified Health Centers to find out why. Some of those team members wrote about this survey in STAT:

[R]espondents who were interested in using an activity monitor made it clear: their lack of use wasn’t because they were unwilling to use devices or contribute the resulting data to research. They cited cost barriers (49%), the need for support in using the devices (19%), and a lack of a clear understanding of the potential value of these devices to their health (16%).

People want smartwatches

About 40% of people who responded identify as Hispanic, 36% as non-Hispanic Black or African American, and 15% as as non-Hispanic white. Sixty-eight percent speak English and 32% speak Spanish. When asked if the participants would like a fitness tracker, 58% responded “yes,” 20% responded “no”, and the rest did not answer.

It’s not that people who don’t fit these measures don’t want smartwatches, it’s that the devices are too expensive. High costs for wearable technology make it difficult to include underrepresented populations in medical research.

As health features continue to come to wearable devices, it’s becoming an important tool in people’s health and medical research. It’s important that more people from underrepresented communities have access to the technology so they can provide better and more detailed data to all.

Samsung continues its efforts to create more sustainable products in line with its ‘Going Green’ vision

Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading TV manufacturer for 16 consecutive years, announced that its 2022 Neo QLEDs earned the ‘Reducing CO2’ certification from the Carbon Trust in recognition of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. The ‘Reducing CO2’ certification signifies that a product’s carbon footprint is reducing year-on-year. This certification evaluates GHG (Greenhouse Gases) produced throughout the product’s lifecycle, using international standards. ¹

This year, 11 models across Samsung’s 2022 TV lineup, including three Neo QLED 8K models, three Neo QLED 4K models, two QLED models, two Lifestyle TV models and one Crystal UHD TV model, obtained the certification by reducing the weight of the product and the power consumption during the use phase.

Samsung has long been committed to not only driving product innovation but also shaping and implementing environmental sustainability technologies. During Samsung’s keynote event at CES 2022, Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO and Head of Samsung Electronic’s Device eXperience (DX) Division, unveiled the company’s vision of “Together for Tomorrow”, highlighting Samsung’s commitment to creating a sustainable future and driving collaboration as part of the global community to preserve our planet.

As part of the initiative, Samsung’s Visual Display Business is set to use around 30 times more recycled plastics to produce its display products than it did in 2021. Samsung also revealed its plan to expand the use of recycled materials in all of their mobile and home appliance products by 2025.

In addition, Samsung has been adopting various sustainable practices to minimize the environmental impacts throughout its products’ lifecycles. The company’s ‘Eco-Packaging’ program — which allows consumers to upcycle the packaging for TV products into versatile pieces of furniture — has been upgraded this year with product packaging using 90% less ink while also removing the staples during production.

Samsung has also expanded the SolarCell Remote, which eliminates battery waste with built-in solar panels, to all TV models in 2022. Additionally, Samsung has developed and applied a new material, made with repurposed ocean-bound plastics, to a 2022 high resolution monitor S8 to reduce marine waste and minimize the environmental footprint.

“As the market leader for 16 consecutive years, Samsung is not only focused on the technological advancements, but innovations around human-centric technology and the environment,” said Seokwoo Yong, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D Team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to implement various sustainability initiatives and eco-conscious activities in line with its ‘Going Green’ vision.”

¹ Internationally recognized standards such as PAS 2050, GHG Product Standard or ISO 14067

Apple is slowing down the hiring of Geniuses in some retail shops. Although there is not an actual hiring freeze in place, people close to the issue report that Genius roles aren’t being filled due to employee resignations. Seen as a cost-cutting move by some, the tech giant has also retracted several verbal job offers for some Genius roles.

Reported by Bloomberg, this hiring slowdown has left a handful of technical positions open at retail stores across the United States. This is believed to be an effort to reduce staff in locations not as busy before the pandemic.

While the Genius role has been part of the Apple Store tradition since its inception in 2001, multiple locations have eliminated the famous Genius Bar. The Genius Bar was a place where customers could get technical assistance, but the Geniuses are now available to assist customers throughout the store.

Additionally, the Bloomberg article states that Apple has outsourced its Mac repairs to remote depots. Despite this, Geniuses continue to troubleshoot, manage product repair pickups, and provide general assistance.

It’s not only the Genius Bar that’s seen cutbacks, however. Apple Stores may have reduced the number of Creatives (those who teach Today at Apple) employees. Sources with knowledge of these cutbacks claim it’s hurting customer service and slowing wait times.

Apple declined to comment to Bloomberg even though numerous Genius roles are still available to apply for online.