Facebook is partnering with Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi, whose hardware team will build the former company's first standalone virtual reality (VR) headset, the Oculus Go (we first saw the news via CNBC).

One of the people responsible for this partnership is Hugo Barra, a former Google executive who more recently worked at Xiaomi before being snatched up by Facebook to lead the social network giant's VR efforts last year.

"We're working with Xiaomi as our hardware partner for the global launch of Oculus Go," the company wrote in a blog post featuring both Barra and Xiaomi's vice president Cristiano Amon.

The Mi VR and Oculus Go headsets.Oculus

But the collaboration between the two doesn't stop there, as Xiaomi will use the Oculus Go as the foundation for the Mi VR, a second standalone headset designed specifically for the Chinese market.

The two will partner up with chip manufacturer Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon 821 will power up the Mi VR. The chip was first deployed in high-end smartphones at the end of 2016, but despite its relatively old age it may serve its purpose just well.

Facebook VP of VR Hugo Barra, Qualcomm Incorporated President Cristiano Amon, and Xiaomi VP Thomas Tang at CES 2018.Oculus

"We've worked closely with Qualcomm to deliver the highest possible level of performance to meet the high computing demands of the standalone VR product category," the post reads.

There are no finalised launch dates as of yet, but we should expect the Oculus Go to go on sale for $200 (£148) some time over the coming weeks or months.

Original author: Edoardo Maggio

Facebook is trying to figure out the right video ad model for Watch.It's not clear whether consumers will be OK with pre-roll or mid-roll ads. A solution may lie in Spotify's video ads, which are upfront with consumers about giving them 30 minutes of music with no ad interruptions after a single ad.

Facebook has painted itself into a corner.

The company wants to be a major video-advertising player, but its executives have declared that they are firmly against pre-roll ads, those video ads that run right before video clips.

That's probably a smart position to take for now, at least when it comes to Facebook's news feed – which is where the bulk of Facebook's video consumption occurs. Shoving a must-watch ad into someone's feed before video content they may or may not even be interested in in the first place sure seems like a way to infuriate consumers.

But for the fledgling Facebook Watch, which is designed to be a section of Facebook where people hang out and watch videos because that's what they've set out to do, pre-rolls have to be on the table. And, according to Recode, a test of six-second pre-roll ads is coming to Watch this year.

However, Facebook doesn't seem to love this strategy. It has publicly, and in discussions with media partners, talked up mid-roll ads – those that arrive midway through a video, during content breaks, like TV commercials.

The problem Facebook faces is that the mid-rolls ads currently interrupt mostly very short videos, the kind of people are used to blazing through on their phones, though longer content is in the works.

And the early buzz from consumers and some publishers on mid-rolls hasn't been great. It's very easy for viewers to bail out once these ads start playing – which means they essentially stop watching or leave the site/app altogether.

Spotify offers Facebook a model

But there's another approach. 

Instead of emulating YouTube (which again, it seems to be doing with Watch), Facebook could learn a lot from – wait for it - Spotify.

The model here is simple: give users the run of Watch without ads for a pre-set period – as long as they watch one quick ad upfront.

Spotify's not a major digital ad player you say? It's about subscriptions, and maybe advertisers sponsoring playlists, right? Perhaps, but it's also got one of the more elegant - and, more importantly, tolerable - ad products out there.

Since 2015, Spotify has offered advertisers what it calls Sponsored Sessions. Basically, when using the free Spotify service, people encounter a video ad preceded by the following message: "The next 30 minutes are ad free, thanks to the following sponsor." Then you watch a Volvo or a Wild Turkey ad, and you're off to streaming whatever music you fancy.

Not only is it a pretty good deal - you get premium content (like, say, Beyonce) and all you have to do is sit through a 15 or 30-second ad that you can pay attention to, or not.

But also, you know what's coming, and that your experience won't get hijacked by a mid-roll at any given moment. 

That's because Spotify is upfront about the deal. It's exactly the kind of overt appeal that advertisers and publishers need to take in an era when consumers are skipping and avoiding ads all over the planet, and any interruptions are viewed with hostility.

Transparency with consumers

Steven TweedieWhen launching Sponsored Sessions, the streaming service had the advantage of building a video-ad experience from scratch rather than having to retrofit a model, says Brian Benedik, Spotify's vice president and global head of sales.

Plus, the company's core subscription model gave his team cover, since the whole company wasn't relying on ads to pay for everything. Yet the approach has paid off – and most people can see the ads and tend to finish them (neither a given in digital video). Plus, TV advertisers can use their already paid-for TV ads. 

"It's very transparent with consumers," he told Business Insider just prior to setting out for the Consumer Electronics Show, where Spotify is planning a major presence in courting attending marketers. "We give them a proposition. And they get a long listening session." And even better, marketers are seen as giving people something they love.

Wouldn't this overt tactic make total sense for Facebook Watch? True, Facebook first has to get more humans to know that Watch exists. That's no small matter. But once you get people into the fold, wouldn't it make sense to set their expectations on advertising upfront?

Facebook has been researching the different ways people interact with ads in different environments. They have found that people will tolerate interruptive video ads as long as they aren't too long.

Perhaps. But it's awfully early in establishing the ad mores for Watch. Maybe 30 minutes of ad-free isn't the way to go here. Shorter sessions might be better.

Either way, by spelling out the idea to consumers that you'll be able to watch all the videos you want for a while after checking out such and such an ad could serve to make the whole platform more palatable.

To be sure, not every digital media company can afford restraint when it comes to how many ads they shove down our throats.

"Our business does allow us to be selective," said Benedik.

But if anybody else has the revenue structure to be picky, and the power to set consumer expectations, it's Facebook.

Original author: Mike Shields

Microsoft is pausing Spectre- and Meltdown-related security patches for AMD machines after reports of computers not booting up, as first written up by The Verge.

Users took to the company's support forums en masse, with the bulk of complaints coming from users with Windows machines running on AMD chips.

The company has acknowledged the issue, and blamed it on AMD and its documentation: "Microsoft has reports of customers with some AMD devices getting into an unbootable state after installing recent Windows operating system security updates," Microsoft's post reads.

"After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown."

Customers that found their computers unable to boot following the update must now visit Microsoft's support site to restore their machine, while both Microsoft and AMD work to resume the availability of patch-equipped software updates.

Get the latest Microsoft stock price here.

Original author: Edoardo Maggio

BI IntelligenceThis is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

In the US, the in-store mobile wallet space is becoming increasingly crowded. Most customers have an option provided by their smartphone vendor, like Apple, Android, or Samsung Pay. But those are often supplemented by a myriad of options from other players, ranging from tech firms like PayPal, to banks and card issuers, to major retailers and restaurants.

With that proliferation of options, one would expect to see a surge in adoption. But that’s not the case — though BI Intelligence projects that US in-store mobile payments volume will quintuple in the next five years, usage is consistently lagging below expectations, with estimates for 2019 falling far below what we expected just two years ago. 

As such, despite promising factors driving gains, including the normalization of NFC technology and improved incentive programs to encourage adoption and engagement, it’s important for wallet providers and groups trying to break into the space to address the problems still holding mobile wallets back. These issues include customer satisfaction with current payment methods, limited repeat purchasing, and consumer confusion stemming from fragmentation. But several wallets, like Apple Pay, Starbucks’ app, and Samsung Pay, are outperforming their peers, and by delving into why, firms can begin to develop best practices and see better results.

A new report from BI Intelligence addresses how in-store mobile payments volume will grow through 2021, why that’s below past expectations, and what successful cases can teach other players in the space. It also issues actionable recommendations that various providers can take to improve their performance and better compete.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

US in-store mobile payments will advance steadily at a 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to hit $128 billion in 2021. That’s suppressed by major headwinds, though — this is the second year running that BI Intelligence has halved its projected growth rate.To power ahead, US wallets should look at pockets of success. Banks, merchants, and tech providers could each benefit from implementing strategies that have worked for early leaders, including eliminating fragmentation, improving the purchase journey, and building repeat purchasing.Building multiple layers of value is key to getting ahead. Adding value to the user experience and making wallets as simple and frictionless as possible are critical to encouraging adoption and keeping consumers engaged. 

In full, the report:

Sizes the US in-store mobile payments market and examines growth drivers.Analyzes headwinds that have suppressed adoption.Identifies three strategic changes providers can make to improve their results.Evaluates pockets of success in the market.Provides actionable insights that providers can implement to improve results.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND more than 250 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> Learn More NowPurchase and download the report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

Original author: Jaime Toplin

Apple has promised to make its devices safer for children after two of its biggest investors said they were concerned about the company's role in child phone addiction. Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System published an open letter on Saturday that was addressed to Apple's board of directors. Child phone addiction has been linked to poor performance in school, sleep deprivation, and even suicide.

Apple has promised to introduce new features and tools after two of the company's biggest investors said they wanted Apple to address the issue of child phone addiction.

An Apple representative told Business Insider on Tuesday: "Apple has always looked out for kids, and we work hard to create powerful products that inspire, entertain, and educate children while also helping parents protect them online."

They added: "We have new features and enhancements planned for the future, to add functionality and make these tools even more robust."

Apple did not go into any detail about the exact nature of the new features and enhancements it referred to.

Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which reportedly own a combined $2 billion (£1.5 billion) stake in Apple, published an open letter on Saturday urging the Cupertino tech giant to set an example about the obligations of technology companies to their youngest customers.

"We have reviewed the evidence and we believe there is a clear need for Apple to offer parents more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using your products in an optimal manner," the companies wrote.

"As a company that prides itself on values like inclusiveness, quality education, environmental protection, and supplier responsibility, Apple would also once again be showcasing the innovative spirit that made you the most valuable public company in the world."

iPhones (and other devices) are making it difficult for students to stay focused at school, according to research touted in the letter. Other potentially negative impacts linked to phone addiction include a lack of sleep and depression.

Professor Jean Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University and author of the book "iGen" found that US teenagers who spend three hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35% more likely, and those who spend 5 hours or more are 71% more likely, to have a risk factor for suicide than those who spend less than 1 hour, according to the letter.

iPod co-creator and Nest founder Tony Fadell.Stephen McCarthy/GettyTony Fadell, the co-creator of the iPod and iPhone publicly criticised Apple on Monday, arguing that adults and children alike are slaves to their phones and social media.

Fadell was on the team that worked on the first iPhone, and is one of the key inventors of the iPod. He went on to found smart thermostat firm Nest, which he sold to Google for $3.2 billion (£2.3 billion).

He wrote on Twitter: "Apple Watches, Google Phones, Facebook, Twitter — they've gotten so good at getting us to go for another click, another dopamine hit. They now have a responsibility & need to start helping us track & manage our digital addictions across all usages - phone, laptop, TV etc."

He added that tech companies would probably face government regulation if they didn't provide better tools for people to manage how much time they spend with their devices.

Here is the full statement from Apple:

"Apple has always looked out for kids, and we work hard to create powerful products that inspire, entertain, and educate children while also helping parents protect them online. We lead the industry by offering intuitive parental controls built right into the operating system.

With today’s iOS devices, parents have the ability to control and restrict content including apps, movies, websites, songs and books, as well as cellular data, password settings and other features. Effectively anything a child could download or access online can be easily blocked or restricted by a parent.

We began delivering these controls for iPhone in 2008 with the introduction of the App Store, building on what we’d learned from offering similar features for the Mac a few years before iPhone was introduced. We also have a long history of curating our content platforms to make sure they are free of offensive material, such as pornography, and clearly labeled so parents can determine if an app, movie or song is age-appropriate. Of course, we are constantly looking for ways to make our experiences better. We have new features and enhancements planned for the future, to add functionality and make these tools even more robust.

"We think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users and the people around them. We take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids."

Additional reporting by Shona Ghosh.

Original author: Sam Shead

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Get the latest Bitcoin price here.>>

Original author: Will Martin

Anabel Kingsley has spent years studying the hair and scalp at the Philip Kingsley clinic. Philip Kingsley

There are many myths out there about hair loss and what causes it. Washing your hair too frequently is one of them, according to hair doctor Anabel Kingsley. You should ideally wash your hair every day, and never leave more than three days in between shampooing, she says.

 

There are plenty of myths out there about how often you should wash your hair. One of those, according to trichologist Anabel Kingsley, is that washing your hair too often will damage it or cause it to fall out.  

Many people say that you should only wash your hair once or twice a week, and berate anyone who shampoos any more than that. Kim Kardashian once proudly claimed that she only washes her hair twice a week — but then not everyone is blessed with a Kardashian head of hair.

The common argument is that frequent shampooing will strip the hair of its natural oils and dry it out.

But Kingsley, daughter of the late "celebrity hair doctor" Philip Kingsley who has spent years studying the hair and scalp at their clinic, disagrees. 

Speaking from personal experience, Kingsley, who recently spoke out about suffering from hair loss following the death of her father, told Business Insider: "Shampooing can be really really upsetting for people suffering from hair thinning because when you massage the shampoo into your hair all of the hairs that were ready to fall come out at once instead of gradually."

But it's not falling in reaction to being washed too frequently, she said.

It's no different than your skincare regime

"You should think of washing your hair as a a skincare regime, after all your scalp is just skin," Kingsley told BI. "It has oil and sweat glands, and with all of the secretions being produced, added to pollution, you don't want it sitting on there for days."

Hair gets greasy for the same reason that your face gets oily: the glands in the skin produce a substance called sebum, which keeps hair from drying out.

The sebaceous glands that produce sebum sit next to the hair's roots in the layer of skin called the dermis. Channels from the sebaceous glands lead to the hair follicle — that's how sebum secretes onto your scalp. Take a look at this diagram.

"Ideally we say you should wash your hair everyday, and certainly if you have greasy hair," Kingsley said. "Every follicle has an oil gland attached to it and people with fine hair usually have more hairs on the scalp, therefore you'll find hair gets really quite greasy by the end of the day, and the only way to get rid of it is by shampooing.

"If you have really coarse hair and shampooing each day isn’t realistic because you need to use straighteners etc., then you should definitely not leave it more than three days in between."

Hair is tougher than you think

Hair specialists at The Belgravia Centre agree that anyone with greasy hair ought to wash their daily, and say that they usually advise their clients about hair washing on an individual basis, depending on their hair type.

Daiva Valioniene, a Belgravia nurse who specialises in hair loss, added: "If you have thinning hair, washing it more often would be a positive because it can look fuller once it is washed."

The hair shaft is also pretty resilient, according to Kurt Stenn, author of "Hair: A Human History," but the trick is to use a gentle shampoo.

He previously told Business Insider that the hair shaft is "a very tough structure and can handle a lot of trauma, [including] washing."

"In fact," he said, "gentle washing could be done several times a week or even every day if it’s gentle enough. If it’s harsh, then even once a week is going to be too much.

"You should use the most gentle shampoo possible because the hair shaft itself is not growing so it can’t repair itself and once you destroy a shaft it's destroyed."

Flickr / Morten Skogly

Original author: Rosie Fitzmaurice

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Get the latest GoPro stock price here.

Original author: Joe Ciolli

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TransferWise's borderless account and card. TransferWise

TransferWise rolling out its "borderless" account and debit card to 1,000 customers. Full rollout coming later in the year.

LONDON — TransferWise is quietly launching its new "borderless" accounts and linked debit card to just 1,000 consumers on Tuesday.

TransferWise first announced the "borderless" account, which lets people hold up to 28 currencies through one account, last May. It followed on from a similar product launched by rival international currency exchange WorldFirst.

TransferWise's new account is linked to a debit card that lets people spend in local currency around the world on one card. BI first reported on TransferWise's plans to launch a debit card in 2016.

The new consumer product brings TransferWise into competition with Revolut, the fast-growing London startup that also lets people hold multiple currencies through one account and spend it through a pre-paid debit card. Both Transferwise and Revolut are backed by venture capital firm Index Ventures.

TransferWise chairman and cofounder Taavet Hinrikus said in a statement: "The borderless account is a game changer for anyone living or working between countries. Opening a bank account abroad is incredibly difficult without a local proof of address, but the borderless account can be opened in minutes. For expats, second homeowners, freelancers, sole traders and more the borderless account is invaluable.

"One day anyone will be able to send and receive money, in any currency, from friends, customers or companies anywhere in the world, and spend anywhere, never worrying about the exchange rate again. That’s the vision for the borderless account. Today’s launch is a huge step towards realising that future."

London-headquartered TransferWise was founded 2011 as a platform for people to send money internationally online. More than £1.5 billion is sent over its platform each month.

Original author: Oscar Williams-Grut

A taxi waits for customers as pedestrians make their way past the central railway station in Pyongyang on July 10, 2016. ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images

On-demand taxis are gaining traction in North Korea. This popularity is driven by the country's growing consumer class. In turn, taxis have become highly lucrative and being a driver is one of the country's most sought after jobs.

On-demand taxis are gaining popularity among wealthier customers across North Korea.

According to Daily NK, a Seoul-based news site staffed by North Korean defector journalists, customers can summon North Korean taxis with a phone call, and one should arrive within 10 minutes no matter the time, day or night.

"Wealthier individuals in the city like to summon a taxi right to their doorstep on special occasions like holidays and birthdays, which then take them to their favorite restaurant, for example," a source in Pyongsong told Daily NK.

Customers pay a base price of $1 to $2. The rate is three times more than a standard cab and far more than what the average North Korean worker earning $4 a day can afford.

Plus, some "call taxi" drivers only accept US dollars and Chinese yuan.

Given their high cost and need for foreign currency, the best explanation for the popularity of "call taxis" amongst locals is for North Korea's "consumer class" to be growing.

North Korea's taxi market is highly lucrative

The potential income from taxis is significant in North Korea, and the competition between companies is fierce.

In previous years, both private and government drivers hired part-time 'shepherds' who would go out and find customers for them.

These shepherds could earn up to $50 a day by working for a driver, indicating drivers are earning many times that amount. Even drivers for state-run taxi companies get to keep all their earning beyond a daily fee.

Given the ability to earn foreign currency while doing a relatively comfortable job, being a taxi driver has quickly become one of North Korea's most popular jobs.

Potential workers are even paying bribes to secure a driver job, according to Radio Free Asia.

A number of North Korean businesses have launched taxi services

Taxis are parked outside a department store in central Pyongyang, North Korea May 4, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File photo

The market for taxis has grown so large in North Korea that several businesses aimed at middle class and wealthy North Koreans have diversified into the market.

In 2014, The Daedong River Passenger Transport Company launched its own service asking residents to call '186' for a taxi.

In 2015, state airline Air Koryo launched a taxi service with cars, minivans, and SUVs.

And the following year the Mirim Horse Riding Club, which offers gambling and charges locals a hefty $10 to use its luxury facilities, launched its own taxi service.

"It seems like everyone’s doing it," Rowan Beard, a tour guide from the Young Pioneer Tours company, told NK News at the time. "Mirim have a good brand name and represent a finer class of Koreans."

The $35 million Masikryong Ski Resort also has its own taxi company.

Original author: Tara Francis Chan

The island of Ishigaki is famous for its white sandy beaches and speciality Yaeyama soba noodles, according to TripAdvisor. Getty

TripAdvisor has released its annual Travellers’ Choice awards for "Destinations on the Rise." Japan's Ishigaki was crowned the top trending destination in the world for 2018. The sandy white island is popular among snorkellers and foodies.

Ishigaki, a stunning white island in Japan's Okinawa archipelago, is the top trending travel destination for 2018 on TripAdvisor — but you'd be forgiven for never having heard of it.

The Japanese island has topped TripAdvisor's "Destinations on the Rise" list, which, as part of its sixth annual Travellers’ Choice awards, used an algorithm that measured the year-on-year increase in positive TripAdvisor traveller feadback around accommodation, restaurants, and attractions, as well as increased booking interest.

Ishigaki is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture and is home to many sandy white beaches, rare coral, mountains, and mangrove forests. 

It's a popular destination with snorkellers and foodies, and is known for its speciality Yaeyama soba noodles, which are made of flour instead of the more traditional buckwheat, according to TripAdvisor.

Getty

The average price for a night's stay in a hotel on the island is £114· One of TripAdvisor's best-rated value hotels is the Art Hotel Ishigaki, which costs from £87 per night in June.

Okinawa has been tipped as the new Bali or Hawaii, and international tourism is growing fast. Bloomberg previously reported that the number of visitors to Okinawa rose 10.5% to 8.77 million in 2016, according to Okinawa prefecture data. This compares to the 8.93 million visitors that went to Hawaii that year, representing an increase of 2.9% comparatively.

Getty

Here are the top 10 "Destinations on the Rise" in 2018, according to TripAdvisor:

1. Ishigaki, Japan.

2. Kapaa, Hawaii.

3. Nairobi, Kenya.

4. Halifax, Canada.

5. Gdańsk, Poland.

6. San Jose, Costa Rica.

7. Riga, Latvia.

8. Rovinj, Croatia.

9. Nerja, Spain.

10. Casablanca, Morocco.

Casablanca, Morocco. Flickr

Original author: Rosie Fitzmaurice

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Zuma mission. SpaceX

A highly classified US spy satellite was reportedly lost after a failed SpaceX launch in Florida. The satellite, code-named Zuma, failed to reach orbit and fell back into Earth's atmosphere after separating from the Falcon 9 rocket. A SpaceX spokesperson told Business Insider, "We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally."

A highly classified US spy satellite has been lost after a failed SpaceX launch from Florida on Sunday, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The satellite, code-named Zuma, failed to reach orbit and fell back into Earth's atmosphere after separating from the Falcon 9 rocket.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this situation occurs when a satellite is released at the wrong time or is damaged.

Officials who spoke with NBC said the satellite likely broke up or landed in the sea.

A SpaceX spokesperson told Business Insider, "We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally."

The Journal indicated this type of language points to normal rocket operations, meaning the cause of any issue came from elsewhere.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said on Twitter that SpaceX did not supply the payload adapter, which shoots the satellite off the rocket, for this mission. Instead it was supplied by the customer, so Elon Musk's SpaceX may not have been the cause of any problem. However, those details were not immediately known.

Zuma was built by defense contractors Northrop Grumman, though it is unknown which US agency would have been using the satellite.

Zuma was initially scheduled to launch in November, but was delayed until the rocket and satellite were declared "healthy" for launch last week.

The mission likely cost billions of dollars and lawmakers in the US Senate and House have been briefed on the developments, The Journal reported.

Original author: Tara Francis Chan

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Ap Images

Intel has been under fire since it was revealed that many of its processors have a vulnerability that could allow attackers to steal data. Krzanich said on Monday that the exploits haven't been used to steal customer data.  He thanked the industry for its "remarkable" response, with Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Amazon getting the first set of patches out very soon after it was disclosed.

LAS VEGAS — Last week, Google revealed "Meltdown" and "Spectre," a pair of big security holes in pretty much every processor. These vulnerabilities could make it possible for a hacker to access sensitive information, like photos or passwords, from almost every PC, phone, and tablet.

Meltdown, in particular, affects nearly every Intel processor, including the chips used in laptops and servers. That's why the world eagerly anticipated Intel CEO Brian Krzanich's keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest technology trade show. Would Intel's CEO offer any additional details, or address the issue at all?

Turns out, he would, and he did, right at the beginning of his presentation: "Before we start, I want to take a moment to thank the industry for addressing the recent security findings," Krzanich said. "The collaboration among so many companies to address this industry wide issue, has been truly remarkable."

Indeed, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Apple, and others have rushed operating system updates out the door to mitigate the potential impacts of Meltdown and Spectre. Krzanich noted that there's no evidence that Meltdown or Spectre have ever been used to steal customer data in real life, and that Intel plans to keep it that way. 

But even as he was thanking these  other companies, he pointed that it affects different processor architectures — not just Intel's. While Meltdown primarily affects Intel processors, some ARM processors are also vulnerable. And most modern ARM and AMD chips are vulnerable to Spectre, in addition to almost every Intel chip made in the last 20 years.

Krzanich repeated the company's claims from late last week that Intel will have patched 90% of its recently-made processors by the end of the week, with the rest getting covered by the end of January. While he says that some customers have seen their computers' performance degrade after getting these patches, he says that the magnitude of the drop will be determined by the kind and intensity of work you're trying to do with it.

All in all, Krzanich says that the best thing you can do to protect yourself from Meltdown and Spectre is to stay on top of your device's software updates and install them as soon as they become available. 

"The best think you can do to make your your data remains safe is to apply updates from your operating system vendor as soon as they become available," Krzanich said. 

Then Krzanich quickly moved onto his prepared remarks, including announcements of deals with Ferrari and Nissan for self-driving car components, as well as a partnership with Paramount Pictures to make virtual reality videos.

Get the latest Intel stock price here.

Original author: Kif Leswing

Mark Lennihan/AP Images

Employees at Google who express "conservative viewpoints in politically-charged debates" may find themselves blacklisted by managers at the company, alleges an explosive new lawsuit. And by blacklisted, that means their names may appear on actual lists, the suit contends. Google employees who identify as conservative say they have complained to HR and senior management about the blacklists. These allegations are part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of fired Google engineer James Damore that seeks to represent white males and conservatives who feel like they've been the target of discrimination.

A well-known Republican San Francisco lawyer has filed a lawsuit against Google seeking to represent white, male or conservative employees who believe the company has discriminated against them.

The lawyer is Harmeet Dhillon, a partner with the Dhillon Law Group in San Francisco and the former chairwoman of the Republican Party in San Francisco.  

She has been on the hunt for such victims since she took on fired Google engineer James Damore as a client in August. And on Monday she presented the first fruits of her  research in a 161-page complaint that's chock full of allegations and  screenshots.

The most jaw-dropping allegation is that "Google publicly endorsed blacklists" of conservatives. The lawsuit claims that several hiring managers publicly vowed not to hire people categorized as "hostile voices" aka conservatives.

For instance, one manager wrote on one internal forum, "I will never, ever hire/transfer you onto my team. Ever."

Another manager wrote in another, "I keep a written blacklist of people whom I will never allow on or near my team, based on how they view and treat their coworkers. That blacklist got a little longer today."

The lawsuit cites another post from another hiring manager that said, "If you express a dunderheaded opinion about religion, about politics, or about ‘social justice’, it turns out I am allowed to think you’re a halfwit... I’m perfectly within my rights to mentally categorize you in my [d*ckhead] box... Yes, I maintain (mentally, and not (yet) publicly)."

Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn't show the statements that provoked such strong reactions from these managers. It only characterizes them as "tactfully expressed conservative viewpoints in politically-charged debates."

Whether expressing anti-diversity sentiments at a workplace is a protected "conservative viewpoint" or, rather, a form of bigotry that actually creates a hostile environment is at the heart of the case — and it reflects a broader debate gripping the country under the divisive presidency of Donald Trump.

The lawsuit shows that in at least one case, a manager (a white woman), was contemplating keeping some kind of actual, public list of employee names.

The manager wrote on an internal post, "I am thinking of something like a google doc that accepts comments, and which calls out those googlers that are unsupportive of diversity," she wrote.

She wondered, in the post, whether special "trials" should be held for employees nominated for the list, to determine whether they belonged on it or not. 

The lawsuit shows her post as evidence:

Damore lawsuit

The lawsuit names other instances, too. It says that conservative employees reported such lists or other attempts to block them and their comments on Google's internal social media sites to HR who told them that employees have the right to block others or make statements about the type of employees they liked to work with.

The lawsuit says that conservative employees on two occassions in the fall of 2017, also brought the matter of such lists up with Paul Manwell, Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s chief of staff, and to senior lawyer Kent Walker. 

This lawsuit was filed on behalf of Damore, the engineer who created a firestorm last summer with his memo about women in tech and his comments about how Google treats conservatives. It seeks class-action status to represent other white or male or conservatives employees who believe they faced discrimination at Google.

A Google spokesperson says the company is ready to fight this lawsuit, telling us. "We look forward to defending against Mr. Damore's lawsuit in court."

Original author: Julie Bort

Senator Claire McCaskill. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Democrat senators have gathered enough support to force the Senate to vote on restoring net neutrality.  They only need a simple majority to win this vote.  While that's a long shot, there's still a good political reason for them to force a vote: It will force Republican senators to take a public stand on this hot-button issue.

On Monday, Senator Claire McCaskill announced that she was the 30th senator to call for the Senate to vote on net-neutrality rules.

Thirty senators is the "magic number of cosponsors needed to get #net neutrality vote in the full senate," she tweeted. 

Net neutrality means that internet service providers – like your cable company – can't do things like slow down or block apps or charge more to let you access them. They have to remain neutral and open to any app. For instance, it forbids them from slowing down apps from their competitors (such as Netflix or Google). 

The rules were put in place during the Obama Administration to keep the people who own the wires that bring you the internet – for which you pay a monthly fee – from using their ownership of those wires to give themselves a competitive advantage on other businesses they own.

Under the Trump Administration, last month the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, ignoring or discounting an outpouring of comments from the tech industry that believes handing such control over to cable companies and other ISPs is a bad for everyone but the ISPs.

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, immediately introduced a plan to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would allow the Senate to vote to restore the 2015 open-internet rules. 29 Senators signed on to support it — and McCaskill just became No. 30.

As you might expect, all of these senators are Democrats. So forcing a vote alone isn't enough to get the open-internet rules restored. The act requires a simple majority vote, so at least seven Republican senators would have to vote to support the effort, too.

But that's the brilliant part. 

Even if everyone votes along party lines and this vote fails, senators will have had to take a public stand either way. And those Republicans that voted against the act will have handed a bit of politically-charged fodder to be used against them during the upcoming 2018 elections. 

Activist groups like Fight for the Future have instituted campaigns like VoteForNetNeutrality.com, which asks people to vow to vote against lawmakers who won't vote for the CRA resolution to restore the 2015 rules.

All of this is, of course, a long shot. Of the 34 senate seats up for election in 2018, 25 are seats held by Democrats. 

But activism has worked in the past on this issue. An outpouring by the internet community was the reason why the FCC passed the net-neutrality regulations in the first place back in 2015. 

And senators may be aware that there's a lot of anger over this issue. FCC chairman Ajit Pai, who led the repeal of net-neutrality rules last month, abruptly cancelled his appearance at the CES trade show this month due to death threats. This is the first time since 2009 that the FCC chairman didn't appear at CES.

So, from the Democrats' point of view, there's not a lot of hope that they will win this battle — but there's every reason to try.

Twitter/@clairecmc

Original author: Julie Bort

The Lenovo Smart Display will be one of the first Google Assistant-powered smart screens when it launches this summer. It will start at $199 for the eight-inch model. Lenovo

Google Assistant, the company's smart voice assistant, is now installed on 400 million devices, including the Google Home speakers and certain Android phones.  Google is teaming up with partners including Lenovo to make "smart screens" — voice-controlled tablets, like the Amazon Echo Show and Echo Spot. These smart screens will have YouTube. In December, Google pulled YouTube support from all Amazon devices.  Google Assistant is also coming to Android Auto, the search giant's connected car software. It's also coming to new headphones and speakers.

Amazon's Alexa voice assistant dominated last year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Now, CES is upon us once again, and Google is striking back — with a little help from its friends. 

First up: Google now says that Assistant, its rival to Amazon's Alexa, is on 400 million devices, including the Google Home smart speakers, certain Android phones like the Google Pixel 2, and other Google-powered gadgets. Amazon doesn't disclose a similar number for Alexa, but as of October, CEO Jeff Bezos had pegged it around 20 million.

More importantly, Google is announcing a new line of "smart screens" that are powered by its Assistant but manufactured by partners including JBL, Lenovo, Sony, and LG. They'll be available starting later this year, Google says, with Lenovo introducing 8-inch and 10-inch screen models at $199 and $249 "this summer."

"The speakers are great, but there's lots that hard to do just in a voice-only way," Google Assistant VP Scott Huffman tells Business Insider.

These devices will be primarily controlled with your voice, but also offer a touchscreen, much like Amazon's recent Echo Show and Echo Spot speakers. With just your voice, you can pull up photos from your Google Photos library, make video calls with the Google Duo service, and, notably, play YouTube videos — potentially a big selling point for these devices, given Google recently yanked support for YouTube from Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices. 

Here's a Google video showing what you can expect from these smart screens: 

Huffman tells Business Insider that the search giant is still committed to building its own Assistant-powered hardware, as evidenced by the recently-launched $49 Google Home Mini and $399 Google Home Max speakers.

The first smart screens are being made by Google partners, and not Google itself, for the simple reason that those partners asked, says Huffman. He says that there was a lot of "excitement" about bringing the Google Assistant to screen-based devices from those manufacturers, so Google moved to assist.

The advantage of this model is that each partner can make a smart screen that appeals to different audiences: Some may have better sound quality, others may focus on screen size or price. 

But wait, there's more. 

Google is also announcing:

Starting this week, Google Assistant is coming to Android Auto, the system for connecting select Android phones up to certain car infotainment systems. Google boasts that Android Auto is now available on 400 models from Ford, GM, Nissan, and other car manufacturers.  LG, JBL, Jaybird and Sony are all making Google Assistant-enabled headphones that will let you access the Assistant with the press of a button — assuming you've paired them with your phone. Google Assistant is coming to speakers made by Bang & Olufsen, LG, Anker, Altec Lansing, and more. More Android TVs will be getting Google Assistant in the coming months. A new directory of "actions," or apps, for the Google Assistant, to make it easier to add new capabilities. 

The general theme is that Google Assistant is coming to more devices, and (ideally) getting more useful. 

The original Google Home smart speaker is always getting new capabilities. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It's worth noting that Amazon is following the same playbook with Alexa: Partners like Kohler, Garmin, and First Alert already used CES to announce that they're building Alexa into their own devices. And even though Google Assistant has that 400-million-strong install base, analysts say there are still more Amazon Echos than Google Homes in the world.

Huffman acknowledges that Google isn't the only player in the market, but says that companies have been flocking to work with the Google Assistant. Google's strength in search technology and its investments in artificial intelligence have convinced partners that Google Assistant is poised for success, Huffman says. 

"There's a belief that this is in the wheelhouse of what Google can do," he says.

Original author: Matt Weinberger