Month: February 2018

Most analysts and economists agree, robots are slowly replacing humans in many jobs. They weld and paint car bodies, sort merchandise in warehouses, explore underground pipes and inspect suspicious packages. Yet we still do not see robots as domestic help, except for robotic vacuum cleaners. Robotics experts say there is another barrier that robots need to cross in order to work alongside humans. VOA's George Putic reports. ...

The White House on Thursday blamed Russia for the devastating "NotPetya" cyber attack last year, joining the British government in condemning Moscow for unleashing a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine's infrastructure and damaged computers in countries across the globe. The attack in June of 2017 "spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "It was part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict," Sanders added. "This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber attack that will be met with international consequences." The U.S. government is "reviewing a range of options," a senior White House official said when asked about the consequences…

The European Commission says social media giants Facebook and Twitter have only partially responded to its demands to bring their practices into line with EU consumer law.   The Commission asked the two companies a year ago to change their terms of service following complaints from people targeted by fraud or scams on social media websites.   The EU's executive arm said Thursday that the firms only partly addressed “issues about their liability and about how users are informed of possible content removal or contract termination.”   It said changes proposed by Google+ appear to be in line with demands.   Europe's consumer affairs commissioner, Vera Jourova, said “it is unacceptable that this is still not complete and it is taking so much time.” She called for those flouting consumer…

Until recently, Javier, a 60-year-old line cook, couldn’t afford a smartphone. Now, thanks to a Silicon Valley company, Javier has a Galaxy S8, one of Samsung’s high-end smartphones. Javier said he relies on it for everything. Once a month, he walks into a mobile phone store near San Francisco and makes a cash payment. If he didn’t, the phone would be remotely locked. No YouTube, no Skype calls, no Facebook. He has never missed a payment.   WATCH: Pay-As-You-Go Smartphone Gives the Poor Access to Better Technology Smartphones out of many people’s reach Around the world, people rely more and more on their smartphones for connecting to the internet, and yet for many, the device is still cost prohibitive. For the roughly 1 in 10 American consumers without financial identities…

In the U.S. and around the world, many poor people don't have access to smartphones. But a Silicon Valley company is offering phones to customers in the U.S. and Mexico who pay in installments. If they don't pay, the phone is turned off remotely. VOA's Michelle Quinn reports. ...

Ride-hailing giant Uber's full-year net loss widened to $4.5 billion in 2017 as the company endured a tumultuous year that included multiple scandals, a lawsuit alleging the theft of trade secrets and the replacement of its CEO. The results also showed that Uber cut its fourth-quarter net loss by 25 percent from the third quarter as new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi moves to make the company profitable ahead of a planned initial public stock offering sometime next year. The full-year loss grew from $2.8 billion in 2016, a year with results skewed by a gain from the sale of Uber's unprofitable business in China. Uber also said its U.S. ride-hailing market share fell from 82 percent at the start of last year to 70 percent in the fourth quarter. Uber said…

Even though the U.S. Postal Service delivers about 46 percent of the world's total mail, competition is getting tougher every day. The post office is turning to technology to stay current. VOA's Elizabeth Lee shows how the USPS is using virtual and augmented realities, along with email, to attract business. ...

Leaders of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies said Tuesday the U.S. private sector has been helpful in efforts to keep the country safe. While the leaders did not name companies, industry sectors or what specific help has been provided, they did discuss the challenges of monitoring social media. The comments may reflect a shift in what law enforcement has seen as the technology industry's adversarial approach when it comes to fighting crimes and addressing national security issues. The most notable example of this tension was support by tech industry groups for Apple's battle with law enforcement over breaking the encryption of an iPhone used by the man who killed 14 people in the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. 'Forward-leaning engagement' At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing…

A new service that sends virtual images of the day's mail to inboxes, before snail mail arrives in actual mailboxes, is now a reality in the United States.   "Informed Delivery" is the latest way the United States Postal Service (USPS) is trying to stay competitive.   “Informed Delivery is a way for you to receive an email every single day of all the digital images of all your mail," explained David Rupert, media relations specialist at USPS.  Rupert said his digital images arrive around 9 a.m. each day. Though the USPS delivers about 46 percent of the world’s total mail, it is battling email, text messages, online advertising, television and other delivery services for consumers' attention and business.   "In a digital world, more and more people are having…

In the dense tropical rainforests of the Minkebe national park in northern Gabon, conservationists are hoping a new weapon can help them win a war against elephant poaching. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. ...

You've seen apps and toys that promise to teach your child to code. Now enter the robots. At the CES electronics show in January, coding robots came out in force. One convention hall area was packed with everything from chip-embedded, alphabet-like coding blocks to turtle-like tanks that draw on command. Of course, no one can really say how well these coding bots teach kids, or even whether learning to code is the essential life skill that so many in the tech industry claim. After all, by the time today's elementary-school kids are entering the workforce, computers may well be programming themselves. But experts like Jeff Gray, a computer science professor at the University of Alabama and an adviser to the nonprofit coding education group Code.org, say kids can derive other…

Plastic foam, plywood and some other plastic parts could make the difference between life and death. These are the materials that make up a delivery drone created by DASH Systems. The California company also describes its lightweight aircraft as an unmanned aerial vehicle or glider. It can be used to deliver up to 20 kilograms of food, medicine or other essential supplies to people in need in areas that traditional shipping and delivery companies cannot reach. And because it's made of low-cost materials, it's disposable, so there is no worry about getting it back. "Many times, we found that during times of crisis or humanitarian need, it's very, very difficult to get supplies into remote regions," said Joel Ifill, chief executive officer and co-founder of DASH Systems. "Couple that with reduced or…

It has been called a delivery drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle or even a glider. It can be used to deliver essential supplies to areas traditional shipping and delivery companies cannot go to. Elizabeth Lee has details from Los Angeles. ...