Mobile

5G At No Extra Cost Says Three

Posted on by Andy Miller

Mobile operator Three has announced that new and existing customers with compatible handsets will be able to get 5G at no extra cost(s) when its 5G service is launched later this year.

5G Offer

Three says that when its 5G service goes live later this year, starting with 25 UK towns and cities, it will be able to offer unlimited data with no limit on speed for the same price it currently charges for its 4G tariffs (£22 per month). As well as offering 5G to existing customers at no extra costs Three will offer will include 5G as standard for new contracts.

Price War

In what looks likely to be an initial price war, Three’s price and unlimited data speed appears to stand up quite well against competition from Vodafone’s Sim-only tariff (£23 a month with a 2 Mbps limit, and £30 a month full-speed 5G), and EE’s sim-only 5G at £32 a month with a 20GB data download cap.

Criticised By Ofcom

Three has, however, recently been criticised by the regulator Ofcom over its practice of not automatically cutting its customers’ monthly charge at the end of their contract’s lock-in period.  According to Ofcom, this means that subscribers will effectively be overpaying rather than getting a great new deal unless they proactively change to another deal.

Three’s Advantage

Three has an advantage over its 3 big UK operator competitors because Three holds more “blocks” of 5G spectrum (3.4 to 3.8GHz band) than each of them, thereby getting potential speed, capacity, and performance benefits.  This apparently uneven split of the major blocks of the available 5G spectrum among the big operators is one of the issues that has been criticised recently by Telefónica UK boss Mark Evans.

Consultation

Mr Evans has called for a more balanced approach by Ofcom in order to help the sector to invest and meet the UK’s digital connectivity demands. In addition to criticising the uneven split of 5G spectrum, Mr Evans has also pointed out that other countries have already acted to reduce spectrum defragmentation whereas operators in the UK are still awaiting the results of the consultation.

Health Concerns

One other challenge that mobile operators face in the introduction of 5G is concern over possible health risks. 5G uses higher frequency (electromagnetic radiation) radio waves than earlier mobile networks so that more devices can access the internet at the same time with faster speeds. Part of the permitted 5G spectrum actually falls within the microwave band. These higher frequency waves (mmWave high-frequency spectrum), however, travel relatively short distances.  This means that, in order to achieve the right levels of speed and connectivity in urban areas, more transmitter masts closer to the ground will be needed.  This has led to concerns that 5G frequencies may have the potential to damage DNA and increase the risk of cancer.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

5G represents a great opportunity for business.  Its increased speed and lower latency allow the downloading of films and games in seconds and watching them without any buffering, and this kind of speed will allow all kinds of new opportunities for presentation media e.g. in advertising, on social media and on websites.

Many different types of businesses could benefit from improved connectivity with remote workers or with salespeople in remote areas.

Also, the news from an O2 forecast is that 5G could deliver time savings that could bring £6 billion a year in productivity savings in the UK and that 5G-enabled tools and smart items could save UK householders £450 a year in food, council and fuel bills.

Safety, however, is a major concern for all businesses, but even though 5G will use a higher frequency, there is no compelling evidence to date to show that it would pose new health risks to users.  In the UK, it will be some time before 5G networks are up and running to any significant level, and this means that there should be time for research to be conducted in areas where 5G use is at a more advanced stage.

For UK industry mobile operators, there is also an issue still to sort out over the fragmentation of spectrum blocks and how this will affect the market, competitors, customers, and 5G connectivity across the country.  The results of the consultation may provide some guidance and help.

Brain Implants That Link Humans To Computers

Posted on by Andy Miller

Head of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, has announced that human brain implants that can link directly to devices could be a reality within a year.

Neuralink

The implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) that Mr Musk talked about recently to the California Academy of Sciences audience in San Francisco will be known as a ‘Neuralink’.  Mr Musk believes that the operation to insert such an implant could be low risk and as affordable and non-invasive as laser eye surgery and would only require a short visit to a doctor rather than a hospital stay.

Why?

The main reason why Mr Musk has developed the Neuralink implant is as a possible way to counter the threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) becoming so far ahead of human thinking that it could pose a real threat to the existence of the human species.

Mr Musk believes that although humans now have access to large amounts of information via our devices, limitations such as the speed at which we can type could see us fall behind AI.  The ability to have a near-instantaneous, wireless communication between brain and computer via an implant would, therefore, give humans the chance to keep up with AI and, eventually, merge with AI to create access to superhuman intelligence and allowing a symbiotic relationship with AI.  The implant would, therefore, be a kind of ‘upgrade’ to enable our brains to compete with AI.

Another practical reason for the Neuralink implant and its ability to interface with computers could be to help tackle diseases.  For example, the version one Neuralink is capable of around 10,000 electrodes, which is 1,000 times more than the current FDA-approved systems for helping patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

AI Already Trusted

People are now getting more used to the benefits of AI which has led to increased trust in the technology in recent years.  For example, back in September 2017, research from US CRM and strategic applications company Pegasystems found that 60% of UK people would use more AI if it saved them time and money and that 68% of UK consumers would use software robots for banking services. Many consumers in the survey found that the ‘artificial’ aspect was, in fact, a positive because it meant that there was impartiality.

Chip Implants

The idea of implants to humans with technology is not new.  For example, back in 2018 the UK firm BioTeq revealed that it had already fitted 150 implants to people in the UK (between their thumb and forefinger) to enable them to quickly carry out tasks such as open doors, access offices or start cars with a wave of their hand, and also to store important medical data.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

AI brings many time and money-saving benefits to businesses, which is one of the reasons why, for example, Microsoft is investing $1bn in San Francisco-based company OpenAI (of which Elon Musk was an investor) for its work on artificial general intelligence (AGI). However, the threat of AI becoming too intelligent to the point of endangering its creators is, in fact, a real one.

For the time being, however, there are other concerns for businesses and individuals related to the possible threat of AI.  For example, the threat of how to effectively counter AI cyber-attacks should be a concern to businesses. Also, this month, the SB 1001 bot law comes into effect in California which means that it is now unlawful for a person or entity to use a bot to communicate or interact online with a person in California in order to incentivise a sale or transaction of goods or services or, indeed, as a way to influence votes in an election without disclosing that the communication is via a bot.

AI is, therefore, an evolving area with many possible opportunities and threats, the largest and perhaps most obvious of which has been highlighted by Elon Musk and others who would like to ensure that AI becomes our harmless problem-solving servant rather than our unstoppable master and enemy.

London Underground To Get 4G Next Year

Posted on by Andy Miller

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that from March 2020, 4G rollout will begin across the London Underground network, thereby allowing customers, for the first time, to check emails and travel information, use social media, and stream music and video uninterrupted.

First Section

The first section of the network to get a trial of full mobile connectivity within station platforms, tunnels, ticket halls and corridors from March 2020 will be the eastern half of the Jubilee line (between Westminster and Canning Town).  This will help to remove one of the most high-profile mobile ‘not-spots’ in the UK, and to fulfil an important ambition of Mayor Khan to improve digital connectivity in public spaces, stations and right across London’s transport network.

Although free Wi-Fi is already offered by TfL within more than 260 Wi-Fi-enabled London Underground stations and on TfL Rail services, the trialling of 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services along this first section will mark the beginning of a push to boost digital connectivity across London and to tackle the city’s main areas of poor connectivity.  TfL also hopes that the trial work on connecting this first section of the Underground will also give TfL and mobile operators valuable experience of delivering mobile connectivity there ahead of awarding a concession to deliver mobile coverage across the whole underground network, starting from summer 2020.

What’s Been The Problem?

One of the main reasons why mobile connectivity in the London Underground network has been challenging is because of the many old and narrow tunnels, which weren’t built to allow space to install mobile connectivity equipment, and have twists that can make it more difficult for signals to pass through them. The fact that there are now 24-hour tube services may also prove to be a challenge to any engineering staff who need access to the tunnels.

Benefits

The benefits of having mobile (4G) connectivity across the London Underground will include potentially boosting the capital’s productivity and improving the experience of those living and working in and visiting London.

Work

It is estimated that the work to provide connections across the London Underground network could involve the use of over 1,200 miles of cabling. It has been reported that the engineers working on the project will work weeknight shifts in order to minimise any disruption to passengers.

What Will This Mean For Your Business?

The London Underground handles an estimated 5 million passenger journeys per day, and the fact that the network has suffered from a lack of connectivity may have come at a huge cost to businesses over the years as workers can’t receive travel updates and suffer frequent delays, and working people have been simply unavailable and essentially cut-off while travelling through one of the world’s leading modern capital cities. The connectivity work, beginning in key areas from March 2020 should improve the productivity of London and of businesses based there, as well as improving the experience of those living and working in London.

For mobile networks, this represents a significant business opportunity as, once the equipment installed, they will be able to pay the private operator for access to that network. TfL will also benefit from adding connectivity infrastructure by receiving a cut of the profits.

Tech Tip – Apps To Stop Pocket Dialling

Posted on by Andy Miller

If you’ve ever accidentally pocket-dialled someone or accidentally clicked through things on your phone while it’s in your pocket, apps such as ‘Pocket Screen Lock’, ‘Pocket Mode’ and ‘Pocket Sensor’ can prevent this from happening.

These kinds of apps include a proximity sensor to enable them to detect when the phone is in your pocket whereupon it is locked and is unlocked again when it’s taken out of your pocket.

To find these and similar apps for Android, go to Google Play Store.

‘Mobile-Sensing System’ Could Evaluate Your Workplace Performance

Posted on by Andy Miller

A newly developed ‘Mobile-Sensing System’ that uses a combination of smartphone, fitness bracelet, app and cloud-based machine learning algorithms can track and rank the workplace performance of employees with 80% accuracy.

Based On Student Monitoring App

The underlying technology blueprint for the new system, which was developed by a group of researchers including Dartmouth University computer science professor Andrew Campbell, is a student monitoring app that was used to help improve productivity. The ‘StudentLife’ app monitored student behaviour and predicted academic performance.

The ‘Mobile-Sensing System’

The new ‘Mobile-Sensing System’ uses the combination of a smartphone to track physical activity, location, phone usage and ambient light, a wearable fitness tracker to monitor heart functions, sleep, stress, and body measurements e.g. weight and calorie consumption, and location beacons that can be placed in the home or office to provide information about time at work and breaks.

The number-crunching for the system is carried out by cloud-based machine learning algorithms that have been trained to classify workers by performance level.

Why?

The system provides feedback to both the employee and employer and, according to the researchers, by using this ‘passive’ sensing and machine learning system, companies have another way of assessing how individuals are doing in their jobs, and employees can be helped to see how they can optimise and boost their performance.

The researchers believe that the system can unlock and give greater insight into behaviours that drive performance and offers benefits over more traditional review techniques that can require manual effort and can be biased and unreliable.

Best Performers

The researchers have noted that, according to the new system, the best performers are likely to be those who have lower rates of phone usage, have longer deep sleep periods and are more physically active and mobile.

Surveillance?

Although the researchers have pitched the system as something that could help employer and employee, critics may say that, in the relationship where the employer has the power, this kind of close surveillance and micro-management tool could favour younger physically active people (those without disabilities or sleeping disorders), could create stress in individuals who feel that they are constantly being monitored and ‘ranked’ by a ‘big brother’ system with a view to being replaced based on numbers created by secret algorithms.

It could also mean that employees without home/family commitments or who live closer to work may be ranked as more productive because they are able to stay longer or come into the workplace outside normal hours.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This system does show how new technologies can be combined to provide closer insights into work and performance and in some jobs e.g. repetitive manual jobs where time is a key factor anyway.  For some employers, therefore, this system could have a real value in evaluating and improving working processes, particularly if it is accompanied by a positive rewards-based system, and if support is made available to those employees who don’t rank as highly.

This system, however, may not be able to take account of many of the other dynamics and soft factors that make up good performance, and may not be suitable as the main monitoring method in certain more specialised jobs and roles.  There is also a danger that this kind of system in the wrong hands could be used as a blunt instrument of surveillance and control over a workforce.

Privacy and security are also a major concern for businesses and employees, and whether or not the data and performance measurements can be linked to an individual, where (and how securely) that data is stored, and who the data can be shared with should be areas of concern.

Fire-Prone MacBook Pros Recalled

Posted on by Andy Miller

Apple has announced a recall of some older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units due to the fire risk posed by a tendency for the battery to overheat.

Repair and Replace Free

Apple is offering a recall and replacement program for units that were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 with the company offering to replace affected batteries, free of charge due to a potential battery fire risk.

Service options for affected customers include finding an Apple Authorized Service Provider (through the online tool), making an appointment at an Apple Retail Store, or contacting Apple Support to arrange mail-in service via the Apple Repair Centre.

Serial Number

The eligibility for the program is determined by the serial number product which can be checked on Apple’s website here:

https://support.apple.com/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall

Second Time

This is the second time that this generation of MacBook Pro units has been recalled.  Back in June 2018 and after numerous complaints over two years and even an online petition by a customer, Apple decided to offer free repairs or replacements for the butterfly keyboard on its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops.  The petition from the time, which attracted over 21,000 signatures, claimed that every one of Apple’s MacBook Pro models, 13in and 15in, were sold with a keyboard that could become defective at any moment because of a design failure.  Apple responded by launching a program which meant that Apple or an Apple Authorised Service Provider could service eligible MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards, free of charge.

Apple iPad Battery Gas Leak

To make things worse, in August 2018 the leaking of vapours from a damaged iPad battery led to an Amsterdam shop being evacuated and 3 staff being treated for breathing problems caused by the released gas. The fire brigade was called and attended, but there were no reports of any actual flames/fire coming from the affected iPad. Staff had, however, initially reacted to the smoking iPad by putting it in a sand-filled fire bucket. At the time, however, other online reports indicated that similar faults had occurred elsewhere since Apple had started its iPhone battery replacement programme.

Apple Adapter – Fire Risk

In May this year, Apple recalled two different types of plug adapter because of a possible risk of electric shock.  The affected plugs were the two-prong AC wall plug adapter that came with Macs and some iOS devices between 2003 and 2010, and the three prong plug that was included with Apple’s World Travel Adapter Kit.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This latest fire-risk recall appears to be part of pattern that could indicate that some Apple products/components/accessories have been released for sale despite having some potentially serious risks, but that the company (perhaps after some time has elapsed and complaints have been made) has made an effort to admit to risks and at least offer repair and replacement programs.

Apple is one of those brands however, that has built a strong reputation for products that are user-friendly, reliable, not prone to the security risks of PCs for example, and for products that look stylish.  As such the company has built a loyal base of fan-like supporters, many of whom are prepared to accept fire and electric shock risk hiccups, and carry on paying premium prices as they perceive the products to be worthy of their generally positive image and relatively high prices.

It is good to note that this product repair and replacement program was offered swiftly, but it is worrying that the same model has been the subject of two such recall programs to date.  Let’s hope it’s the last.

Tech Tip – Sleep App That Could Help You Work

Posted on by Andy Miller

We spend one-third of our lives asleep, and it has been estimated that around £30bn and 200,000 working days are lost in the UK each year through a lack of good sleep (gov.uk).  The Rise app shows you how to get better sleep, and keeps a record of your sleeping progress, thereby helping you to feel better and be more productive at work.

Rise offers 4 techniques to help users with sleep, provided by experts, 120 sleep relaxing guides, and sleep tracking tools to enable you to understand how your sleep is affected by the techniques. The app learns your sleep patterns and suggests the technique that may suit you best.  Rise claims that a massive 85% of app respondents reported better sleep after using the Sleep Better app.

You can find the Rise app in Google Play and Apple iTunes stores.

Serious Security Flaws Discovered In Popular GPS Tracker

Posted on by Andy Miller

Researchers at UK cyber-security company, Fidus Information Security, say that they have found security flaws in a popular Chinese-manufactured white-label location tracker that could be serious enough to warrant a recall.

Which Tracker?

The GPS tracker which is used as a panic alarm for elderly patients, to monitor children, and to track vehicles is white label manufactured but rebranded and sold by several different companies which reportedly include Pebbell (by HoIP Telecom), OwnFone Footprint and SureSafeGo. The tracker uses a SIM card to connect to the 2G/GPRS network.  According to Fidus at least 10,000+ of these trackers are currently used in the UK

What’s The Problem?

According to the researchers, simply sending the device a text message with a keyword can trick the tracker into revealing its real-time location. Also, other commands tried by the researchers can allow anyone to call the device and remotely listen in to its in-built microphone without the user knowing, and even remotely stop the signal from the tracker, thereby making the device effectively useless.  On its blog, Fidus lists several other things that its researchers were able to do to the device including change or completely remove all emergency contacts, disable the motion alarm, disable fall detection and remove any device PIN which had been set.

All these scenarios could pose significant risks to the (mainly vulnerable) users of the trackers.

According to Fidus, one of the main reasons why the device has so many security flaws is that it doesn’t appear that the manufacturers, nor the companies reselling the devices, have conducted any security testing or penetration testing of the device.

PIN Problem

The research by Fidus also uncovered the fact that even though the manufacturers built in PIN functionality to help lock the devices down, the PIN, by default, is disabled and users need to read the manual to find out about it, and when enabled, the PIN is required as a prefix to any commands to be accepted by the device, except for REBOOT or RESET functionality.  The problem with this is that the RESET functionality is the thing that really could provide any malicious user with the ability to gain remote control of the device.  This is because is the RESET command that wipes all stored contacts and emergency contacts, restores the device to factory defaults and means that a PIN is no longer needed.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

What is particularly disturbing about this story is that the tracking devices are used for some of the most vulnerable members of society.  Even though they have been marketed as a way to make a person safer, the cruel irony is that it appears that if they are taken over by a malicious attacker, they could put a person at greater risk.

This story also illustrates the importance of security penetration testing in discovering and plugging security loopholes in devices before making them widely available.  This is another example of an IoT/smart device that has security loopholes related to default settings, and with an ever-growing number of IoT devices out there, many of them perhaps not tested as well as they could be, many buyers are unknowingly at risk from hackers.f

Could Biometric Regulations Be On The Way Soon?

Posted on by Andy Miller

A written parliamentary question from MP Luciana Berger about the possibility of bringing forward legislation to regulate the use of facial recognition technology has led the Home Office to hint that the legislation (and more) may be on the way soon.

Questions and Answers

The question by the MP about bringing forward ‘biometrics legislation’ related to how facial recognition was being used for immigration purposes at airports. Last month, MP David Davis also asked about possible safeguards to protect the security and privacy of citizens’ data that is held as part of the Home Office’s biometrics programme.

Caroline Nokes has said on behalf of the Home Office, in response to these and other questions about biometrics, that options to simplify and extend governance and oversight of biometrics across the Home Office sector are being looked at, including where law enforcement, border and immigration control use of biometrics is concerned.  Caroline Nokes is also reported to have said that other measures would also be looked at with a view to improving the governance and use of biometrics in advance of “possible legislation”.

Controversial

There have been several controversial incidents where the Police have used/held trials of facial recognition at events and in public places, for example:

In February this year a deliberately overt trial of live facial recognition technology by the Metropolitan Police in the centre of Romford led to an incident whereby a man who was observed pulling his jumper over part of his face and putting his head down while walking past the police cameras ended up being fined after being challenged by police.  The 8-hour trial only resulted in three arrests as a direct result of facial recognition technology.

In December 2018 ICO head Elizabeth Dunham was reported to have launched a formal investigation into how police forces use facial recognition technology after high failure rates, misidentifications and worries about legality, bias, and privacy.

A trial of facial recognition at the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff back in 2017 only yielded one arrest, and this was the arrest of a local man for something unconnected to the Champions League. This prompted criticism that the trial was a waste of money.

Biometrics – Approved By The FIDO Alliance

One area where biometrics has got the seal of approval by The FIDO Alliance is in its use in facial recognition, and fingerprint scanning as part the login for millions of Windows 10 devices from next month. The FIDO Alliance is an open industry association whose mission is to develop and promote authentication standards that help reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords.

In a recent interview with CBNC, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer Bret Arsenault, signalled the corporation’s move away from passwords on their own as a means of authentication towards biometrics and a “passwordless future”.  Windows Hello (the Windows 10 authenticator) has been built to align with FIDO2 standards so it works with Microsoft cloud services, and this has led to the FIDO Alliance now granting Microsoft official certification for Windows Hello from the forthcoming May 2019 upgrade.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Taking images of our faces as part of a facial recognition system used by the government may seem like an efficient way of identifying and verification e.g. for immigration purposes, but our facial images constitute personal data.  For this reason, we should be concerned about how and where they are gathered (with or without our knowledge) and how they are stored, as well as how and why they are used.  There are security and privacy matters to consider, and it may well make sense to put regulations and perhaps legislation in place now in order to provide some protection for citizens and to ensure that biometrics are used responsibly by all, including the state, and that privacy and security are given proper consideration.

It should be remembered that some of the police facial recognition tests have led to mistaken identity, and this is a reminder that the technology is still in its early stages, and this may provide another reason for regulations and legislation now.

Tech Tip – Lightbeam Screen-Sharing App

Posted on by Andy Miller

If you’d like an app that enables you to easily share mobile screens with a friend or colleague, for work or leisure, Lightbeam is a new, free, cross-platform app which does just that.

The social screen sharing app also makes it easy to book group itineraries and reservations for trips, and it also works as a video chat service.

To download the app find it on Apple’s iTunes, and on Google Play Store.