The Computer That Know What Humans Will Do Next

Computer Code – Comprehend Body Poses/Movement

A fresh computer code tends to provide robots with the possibility of an improved understanding of humans around them, making headway for more perceptive machines from self-driving cars to investigation. The new skill enables the computer to comprehend the body poses as well as movements of various people even to the extent of tracking parts as tiny as individual fingers.

Though humans tend to communicate naturally utilising body language, the computers tend to be somewhat blind to these interactions. However, by tracking the 2D human form and motion, the new code is said to improve greatly the abilities of the robots in social situations.

A new code had been designed by the researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute by utilising the Panoptic Studio. The two-story dome has been equipped with 500 video cameras developing hundreds of views of individual action for a specified shot. Recording of the system portrays how the system views the movement of humans utilising a 2D model of the human form.

Panoptic Studio – Extraordinary View of Hand Movement

This enables it to trail motion from the recording of video in real time, capturing everything right from the gestures of the hand to the movement of the mouth. Besides this, it also has the potential of tracking several people at once.

Associate professor of robotics, Yaser Sheikh had stated that they tend to communicate mostly with the movement of the bodies as they tend to do with their voice. However computer seems to be more or less blind to it. Multi-person tracking gives rise to various challenges to computers and hand detections is said to be more of an obstacle.

The researchers, in order to overcome this, utilised a bottom-up approach localizing individual body area in an act. Thereafter the areas were associated with certain individuals. Though the image datasets on the hand of the human seemed quite restricted than those on the face or body, the Panoptic Studio provided extraordinary view of hand movement.

 A PhD student in robotics, Hanbyul Joo had stated that a distinct shot provides 500 views of individuals hand and also automatically interprets the position of the hand.

2D to 3D Models

He further added that hands tend to be too small to be interpreted by most of the cameras, but for the research they had utilised only 32 high-definition cameras though were still capable of building a huge data set. The method could ultimately be utilised in various applications for instance helping to enhance the ability of self-driving cars to predict pedestrian movements.

 It could also be utilised in behavioural diagnosis or in sports analytics. Researchers would be presenting their work CVPR 2017, the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference, from July 21 -26 in Honolulu. Up to now they have released their code to several other groups in order to expand on its skills.

Finally, the team expects to move from 2D models to 3D models by using the Panoptic Studio in refining the body, face and hand detectors. Sheikh had mentioned that the Panoptic Studio had boosted their research and they are now capable of breaking through various technical barriers mainly as a result of the NSF grant 10 years back.

How an iOS Developer Just Uncovered the Next iPhone

The HomePod Firmware

Developer Guilherme Rambo thought that it could be a mistake when he had seen Apple’s release of firmware for the forthcoming HomePod speaker, which will not show up till December. Getting more curious over the issue, he had begun probing through the code where he had discovered and probably the last thing which he least expected was the next iPhone of Apple.

Rambo discovered in the HomePod not hints or rumours which had earlier been disclosed but Apple’s documentation of one of its largest releases in years. It endorses a fresh look with a slimmer bezel, an end of the home button together with a powerful new face-recognition feature. It seems to be the major bombshell of Apple leak in years, coming from Apple itself.

The HomePod firmware had first been seen on an official public update feed of Apple recently and Rambo had unpacked it with the intention of gathering anything of interest on how Apple’s Siri powered speaker would function before Apple had comprehended its error and had drawn the code. Similar to the iPhone, the HomePod tends to run iOS which is discreet.

Developers had access to a beta version of iOS 11 for over a month now. However, for a developer like Rambo of a Brazilian e-commerce company, he could quickly make a critical discovery. The HomePod firmware which had been released by Apple was iOS 11.0.2, was a full two patches ahead of what is publicly made available.

Face ID Feature

Supporting the discovery of Rambo, iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith commented that `it was a process Apple goes through every year, to make sure developers can still access the upcoming iOS without disclosing too much about the unexpected iPhone which would be coming up at the final release’. Comprehending the prospective for discovery he had begun to work stating that he had decided to search for strings within the firmware which could be linked to the rumoured `Face ID’ feature.

He further added that he had searched for the word `face’ and observed that it matched many symbols in BiometricKit, which is the framework that presently handles Touch ID. These references do not prevail in the iOS 11 beta. Rambo kept on persisting with his probe into the issue.

An iPhone 8 does not make references to face recognition. Yet as Rambo went ahead in the investigation through BiometricKit, he came across similar expressions utilised in listing a fresh Touch ID finger `EnrollTouchID’ had a face-authentication counterpart - `EnrollPearlID’. `Pearl ID’ continued to appear all through his explorations, always linked to facial recognition.

Discovered Internal Codename

This may not stop to what Apple considers its face recognition feature but calling it Pearl ID at this stage probably had no intention of hiding its purpose. Troughton-Smith had stated that `the codename just makes it easier to find all the related pieces of code in the OS and by inspecting the code you can then see what type of function it has.

 When Rambo had seen it, it was an unreleased, unexpected Apple feature laid bare. Speculating what `Pearl ID’ meant, led him to a larger discovery. Rambo adds that during the exploration for references to `Pearl ID’ he located a reference to Pearl D-22 and decided to search for D22 and found that it is the internal codename for the `iPhone Pro’ or `iPhone 10’.

 Apple had left little doubts to what it could mean though there were not many D22 references. Rambo had located a file in the PassKit framework utilised by Wallet known as `Payment_glyph_phone-D22.caar’ which is a format type that Apple tends to utilise in storing vector graphics for animated UI elements. When Rambo had extracted that image he viewed an iPhone different from any he had seen earlier since it did not exist till then.

Significant Overhaul of iPhone

He also discovered another reference to D22 in a video file which was not present in the firmware, known as `Enrollment_Tutorial_Loop-D22’ that probably displays iPhone 8 owners on how to register their face with Pearl ID. Rambo had informed that there are some references in the firmware which recommend this D22 model would have a diverse battery charging system, though iOS 11.0.2 provides no hints to what those variances could be.

 The disclosures detail the unreleased iPhone of Apple to the earlier unthinkable degree excepting the early debut of iPhone 4 by Gizmodo in 2010. The slightly bezeled design together with the lack of a home button seems to mark the most significant overhaul of iPhone in years. The face-ID feature tends to be primed by the company, in being a focal point of the ultimate introduction of the phone.

 Troughton-Smith had stated that this could be a rough situation for Apple and for them to be the source of the only concrete leaks regarding it and its design would be to upset a lot of people internally. Beside embarrassment, the influence on actual sales could be subdued.

Internal Security of Apple – Slipped

The founder of Jackdaw Research, Jan Dawson, commented that he thinks that the kind of people probably to wait for a new iPhone based on leaks were possibly aware of all the reporting on the subject in advance.

He also observed that while this seems to confirm the prevailing rumours, the real test of the upcoming features of the iPhone is how well they function and firmware can only tell you so much. In this case, the main takeaway seems that the internal security of Apple has once more slipped as it occurred when macOS Sierra had shown off MacBook Pro with OLED touch panel of Apple, last fall, just a few days before the official unveiling of the product.

Apple had more time on the iPhone 8 than it had on its whole line of laptop put together and while airing it out a month before its announcement could have a material effect on the company and it certainly was not helpful. Tim Cook CEO of Apple had stated at the most recent earnings call of the company that they were seeing what they believe to be a pause in purchases of iPhone which they are of the belief is owing to the earlier and more frequent reports regarding the future iPhones.

Mono-Live.Com Gadget News: Moto G5S Plus

What is New in Moto G5S Plus

Motorola G5S Plus: New aluminum design and dual-cam

The G5S comes with Unibody metal housing, a particularly fast-focusing 16 megapixel camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB memory, Snapdragon 430 and 5.2-inch FullHD display. The 3000mAh battery should have enough power for 15 hours. Dual SIM, fingerprint sensor with the new Moto gestures are the other specifications of the LunarGrey and Fine Gold appearing G5S.

The 5.5-inch G5S Plus with similar specifications but a 5.5-inch display, stronger Snapdragon 625 comes with an f / 2.0 dual camera, which has 13 megapixels and a somewhat sharper 8 megapixel self-camera with wide angle. It dominates to boot 4K video at 30fps and has NFC as well as 5Ghz Wifi (both features with which the G5S can not adorn itself).

With NightDisplay and QuickReply the software of the two motos has also learned new tricks. For the Moto G5S Plus, of course, everything depends on the camera software, which connects the two lenses, but we hoped because of Motorola's experience only good.

Whether it is the two synonymous in other specifications (4GB RAM, 64GB of memory were in conversation) in some countries, is currently unclear, because the Motorola site does not list them.

Just a few months after the launch of the Moto G5S and its plus version announces the successor somewhat early. The Moto G5S Plus is likely to be officially launched soon and will bring new hardware as well as a detachment of the plastic housing. Here, too, there will be an aluminum design in the future.

The Moto G5S Plus also has a metal housing. The display is 5.5 inches slightly larger than the Moto G5S. The device is powered by a Qualcomm-Snapdragon-Octa-Core processor with a clock frequency of up to 2.0 GHz. 4G LTE is also supported.

The battery of the Moto G5S Plus has a capacity of 3,000 mAh and can also be recharged via the quick charging function TurboPower. The fingerprint sensor allows, in addition to unlocking the smartphone, some other functions. In addition, the Moto G5S Plus, like the Moto G5S, also features such as a night display and a quick response function.

Evan Blass once again surprised us with marketing material for the future Moto G5S Plus from Motorola aka Lenovo. The pictures shows a new aluminum housing design of the Midranger, which fits better into the current Motorola lineup by Motorola. On the back, Motorola has donated a Dual Cam to the Moto G5 Plus successor, which consists of two 13 megapixel sensors, one RGB and one monochrome lens. Now, Motorola's midrange offer is now also possible bokeh effects and b / w recording.

At the front, Lenovo has exchanged the 5 megapixel shooter of the predecessor for an 8 megapixel camera. The display is somewhat larger with 5.5 inch diagonal but remains at full HD resolution. The Snapdragon 625-SOC provides midrange performance with a maximum of 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of memory. Whether the Moto G5S Plus is officially presented during the global launch event on July 25 is not certain. Also the Moto X4 and the two high-end devices Moto Z2 and Moto Z2 Force are still waiting for their official launch.

Nuna9 Solar Car Revealed

Nuna9 - Revolutionary

Nuna9 has been designed differently from anything that has ever been created in the solar racing world and the most significant aerodynamic change is that the nose of the Nuna9 has now become more compact and does not tend to overhang any longer.

 The organisers of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge tend to control the regulations for each edition. The solar panel this year is only allowed to be a maximum of 4 m² in comparison to 6 m² in the earlier race. The team aerodynamicist, Jasper Hemmes, had explained that the design of Nuna9 tends to signify a new step ahead in solar racing.

As a consequence of the change to the World Solar challenge regulation, the need of a smaller solar panel had been utilised on cars of this year. This could mean that they had to make dramatic modifications to the car and eventually they had reached at this exceptional shape. The details of the solar car had not been kept undisclosed till date, from the competitors.

Sander Koot, team captain had stated that Nuna9 is revolutionary and the shape of the car is totally different to the earlier solar cars. They wanted to keep the new shape a secret for as long as possible to refrain from letting the competition in the open.

Take on the Dutch Nuna9

In recent years, the gap between the different teams during the race had been lessening down. They also had seen elements of the earlier solar cars reflected in what the other teams had been in the race. It had been naturally important to them once again in bringing home the world championship title this year.

This was the reason why the TU Delft students have kept the interior of the car away from interfering eyes. Sander chuckled that they do not want to go giving them ideas. After winning the race on various cases as well as the reigning world champion, the Nuon Solar Team is said to be the clear favourite to take the title home in Australia.

The controllers of the race have now been utilising the slogan `Take on the Dutch’ in order to challenge teams from across the world to try and overcome the team from TU Delft. To characteristically direct their winning mentality, the team had intended to mount a lion’s mane on their solar car.

Mane of Lion – Symbolic of Dutch Pride/Glory

Sarah Bennink Bolt, a member of the team had explained that the mane radiates strength and the larger the lion’s mane, the stronger and more invincible he is. The mane of the lion is also symbolic of Dutch pride and glory. The Nuon Solar Team for this year tends to comprise of sixteen students.

They will be defending their world title in October 2017 during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge with Nuna9, their self-built solar car. The TU Delft students had won the race in total of six times inclusive of the last edition of the race in 2015. They had covered over 3,000 kilometres and the track had stretched around Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide.

How to Record Calls on Your Smartphone

Seek Permission before Recording

Recording a call is said to be one of the most reliable means of capturing a conversation though not very convenient. It needs an external gadget which can be linked to a digital recorder to the base and handset of a desk phone. With the entry of smartphones, this has turned out to be quite easy in most areas; though a disappointment since none of the leading mobile operating systems have included a built-in call recorder.

This could be due to some countries or states having a law against recording call without the consent of all parties in the conversation. However in the present scenario, smartphone apps together with cloud services tend to make recording conversations easy and convenient irrespective of chatting with White House officials or not.

Anthony Scaramucci, as Communications Director of White was out after ten days owing to an open late-night phone conversation with New Yorker writer, Ryan Lizza. Similar to most of the journalists, Lizza had recorded his call not for successors but for proof and with audio evidence it tends to get difficult to debate on that issue.

State laws tends to differ significantly with regards to recording phone calls and some may need both parties to approve in recording the conversation and hence it is essential to check the laws of the state and seek permission before indulging in recording. Recording conversation can be done by:

Using an App

iPhone or Android devices do not come with a built-in call recorder though their respective app stores come with a variety of options for downloading.

TapeACall 

This seems to be a favourite with the journalists since the app is made available on iOS as well as Android at $10, which makes recording easy as setting up a three-way call. You could dial the TapeACall line and dial the person you would prefer to talk to and merge the two calls in a conference. The recordings are saved within the app and one can share them through Dropbox, Google Drive or Evernote.

It tends to put out a free version too though one can access only the first 60 seconds of the recording. If one intends talking for over a minute, it is worth indulging for the Pro version. As the app tends to utilise a three-way calling in order to record the conversation, one would need to have a service plan which can sustain three-way calls.

Recording – Privacy Violation 

There are also several other apps which enables you to record for free such as Another Call Recorder for Android. Google Voice also tends to provide free recording but the procedure tends to be a bit fussy One needs to first enable call recording on the account of Google Voice and then can record when calls comes in to your Google Voice number.

The service also tends to announce when the recording has started. When one hangs up, Google tends to save the recording right into your inbox. Recording calls is said to be a privacy violation though there could be several useful reasons for the same. It can be beneficial while conducting phone interviews or in receiving complicated instructions which would be difficult to note down or when one would prefer storing an intimate moment of some personal event, on their phone.