Technology

Google Inc. is restricting how political candidates use its advertisement tools in a set of policy changes it published on 20^th November 2019 that may change how elections unfold in the digital arena going forward. Google announced that if not the most radical, move taken by technology giants to reduce the false information shared by political campaigns on the platform. Google will no longer allow campaigns to be based on certain political attributes. This move may make a political advertisement on Google is less effective than the previous cycle.

Campaigns will target voters by gender, age, and location through Google products (from search to YouTube). However, valuable advertiser choices (such as “customer matching”) can be used by political candidates who can upload potential voter’s emails or phone numbers in campaigns and matched and link them to online profiles. Google notified the change directly to the 2020 campaign on Wednesday, i.e. 20^th November 2019. After a few weeks, Twitter completely banned political advertising on its platform, Google made the decision and immediately put new pressure on Google’s main rival in digital advertising: Facebook. The social media giant also said it is also considering changing its targeted practices, although some executives are sometimes overwhelmed, most recently in an interview with Mr. Peter Kafka at the Code Media conference on Monday, i.e. 18^th November.

Facebook stubbornly refused to conduct a fact-checking on political advertising, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the ability of candidates to express their ability to speak, even if it meant lying in an advertisement. YouTube and Google also responsible to let politicians lie in the ads, Google did not alter or resolve this policy in the announcement on Wednesday. Google does say it will take new steps to curb the wrong information because it has changed its policy to ban the display of “deep fakes” and apparent wrong advertising.

An international team of experts has proved that Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google assistant can be hacked by throwing a laser pointer on microphones of the devices. Experts have said that dubbed light commands remotely enable hackers to send inaudible and invisible commands to the voice assistants. Laser pointers target the Micro Electro Mechanical System of the device and make it respond to light as if it was sound. As per the study, hackers can easily send sounds into the microphone by modulating the amplitude of the laser light. The authors of the study threw laser light to hijack the voice assistants at distances up to 110 meters. Intruders need to have a clear view of the target along with specialized equipment and expertise to hack the voice assistants with the laser.

Authors have argued that user authentication on these voice assistants is almost non-existent. The study has revealed some of the shocking truth behind the safety of these voice assistants. Tech scholars said that through sound injected light beam, hackers could easily unlock the user’s smart lock protected front gate, locate, and start vehicles and shop on websites at the user’s expense. Hackers are also able to target the user’s Google account by hacking voice assistants.  Experts have shared these findings with Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Ford, and Google. They have also contacted security teams of ICS-FERT and FDA.

Amazon has quickly responded to the rising concern and said that the company is reviewing the findings of the study. The officials of the company said that the privacy and security of the customers is their top priority and they are devising ways to improve the security of the devices. There had been many security concerns around voice assistants in the past. Amazon’s popular Echo device faced a lot of criticism over its handling of user data. Considering the security issues of its devices, Amazon has recently rolled out a new Auto Delete feature, which gives users better control over stored voice recordings in their Alexa devices. As per Amazon, users can set up voice pins to keep their data safe. Apple, Tesla, and Ford have not yet responded to new security concerns.

Google has decided not to launch its flagship smartphone Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL in India. The decision has been taken after considering the fact that the device uses a radar frequency feature, which is barred in South Asian countries. The new smartphones have a unique motion-sensing radar technology called project soli that works on 60GHz mm frequency, which is banned for civilian use in India. It has been impossible to launch Pixel 4, 4 XL in India as Google has removed the rear fingerprint scanner, and the new devices do not have any other alternative to the Soli chip-based face lock feature. There have been many countries where Google could not launch its Android flagship due to its radar feature.

Google unveiled its much-hyped smartphones in the United States with the newly designed camera setup, project soli motion-sensing face lock, and some high-end specifications. Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL have 5.7 and 6.3 inches OLED display respectively. The devices have a Qualcomm snapdragon 855 processor with 64 GB/128 GB internal memory. Pixel 4 has 2800 mAh battery and Pixel 4XL has 3700 mAh battery power. Both devices support 18W fast charging. Like most smartphones, Pixel 4 also trades in its one rear camera, which is not as impressive as iPhone 11 Pro with three rear cameras.

With blacklisting of Huawei, Google definitely has an upper hand in the market gain but due to lack of relationship with mobile carriers, it is miles away from becoming a mass-market player. The company has been working round the clock to create buzz for its new smartphones but still holds only 1 percent of the global market. With the Nexus line of cellphones, Google has made it clear that its strategy is not for mass-market scale rather they come up with the best of Android features to set a benchmark for other vendors. However, recently with Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, the company has taken its first step to compete with already established market players.

Mr. Hiroto Saikawa, the chief executive of Nissan, said that he received overcompensation than he deserved. Though he denied any prior knowledge about the improper overcompensation. In an interview with local news media, the chief executive admitted that during investigation within Nissan, he and other executives had received more than the equity-linked compensation. According to NHK, the official Japanese broadcaster, Mr. Saikawa had received an excess compensation of about $440,000, which he blamed on the company’s mistakes. He also apologized for the inconvenience caused. Further, he showed intention to return excess amount from the original registration to the company.

The acknowledgment may be in line to draw comparisons for the uproar over the compensation paid to Carlos Ghosn. Mr. Ghosn was the former boss of Nissan and the ex-leader of the vast car-making alliance between Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, and Renault of France. The Japanese prosecutors charged Mr. Ghosn for understating his compensation, an allegation which he has denied. Nissan’s spokeswoman, Azusa Momose said the investigation results are expected to be submitted to board of directors of Nissan on Monday. Later, she declined. The disclosure of Mr. Saikawa has brought further gloom to a car manufacturer that has been stunned by scandals and broader industry issues. The profits almost evaporated, and sales fell. The company is in process to lay off 12,500 employees worldwide. This has found at odd itself along with the French car manufacturer Renault, its alliance partner.

The profit of the company declined by 94% during the period from April to June as compared to last year. The company previously warned about its net profit that would hit “rock bottom” this year. It would drop to nearly 47% at the end of the fiscal year in March. The announcement followed to fall almost 45% in profit last year. Global demand for automobiles has slowed, especially in Nissan’s largest Europe and North America markets due to decreasing demand for cars. The company problems have made it difficult to attract American customers who favor sport utility vehicles and trucks because of the stagnant product lineup. At a press conference in July, Mr. Saikawa veiled that he may resign within a year. He also pointed out that he had asked the newly formed Nominating Committee to start looking for his replacement.