Huawei denies its Android replacement will launch next month

Its been a rollercoaster afternoon for Huawei news, even by the manic standards of this month. Then, almost immediately after, the company issued a swift denial. So, what happened? Thats a big job title, but the nuggets of information he dropped were even bigger. Heres the full quote, as reported by TechRadar: Huawei knew this was coming and was preparing. The OS was ready in January 2018 and this was our Plan B....

May 28, 2019 · 3 min · 453 words · Leslie Henderson

Understanding the rising popularity of China’s rural influencers

Beginning in 2016, China saw the sudden and meteoric rise of the short video social media platform Kuaishou . And the Chinese internet loves it. Need a little perspective? Thats more followers thanJack Dorsey, the guy who founded Twitter. All this falls under thetuweibanner. So what ties it all together? What exactly constitutes rural flavor? Other than place of origin, its hard to define precisely what makestuweicontent, well,tuwei. In common usage, the term can be disparaging or complimentary, depending on its target....

May 28, 2019 · 1 min · 208 words · Michelle Gibson

7 steps to building a stellar engineering competency matrix

This objectivity is important in removing any potential bias from both promotion and compensation conversations. I call that tool a competency matrix. This was a lengthy process, spanning eight months from inception to organizational adoption. Along the way I learned a lot, including what steps we took were wasteful and which were useful. So here I present to you the seven essential steps you need in building your own competency matrix....

May 27, 2019 · 3 min · 461 words · Stephen Neal

[Best of 2019] Slimy fish mucus can help chemists develop new antibiotics — here’s how

It is critically important to find the next generation of antibiotics. The incidence of bacterial infections resistant to current antibiotics continues to climb. Deaths attributed to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally is predicted to rise in the coming decades. Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, CC BY But how do you find a new antibiotic? Perhaps surprisingly, over 70 percent of currently used anti-infectives werederived from naturally occurring chemicals. 40% off TNW Conference!...

May 27, 2019 · 2 min · 253 words · Sarah Cisneros

The Earth’s magnetic north pole is shifting rapidly, but the northern lights will stay where they are (for now)

Like most planets in our solar system, the Earth has its own magnetic field. Thanks to itslargely molten iron core, our planet is in fact a bit like a bar magnet. Now a new study,published in Geophysical Research Letters, has come up with an answer. Our planetary magnetic field has many advantages. But, more importantly than that, our geomagnetic field helpsprotect all life on Earth. This magnetosphere helps to deflect solar radiation and cosmic rays, preventing the destruction of our atmosphere....

May 25, 2019 · 2 min · 312 words · Vernon Brown

[Best of 2019] What the hell is a ‘cyber diplomat’?

Im an avid consumer of any TV series or podcast thats even remotely political. I love the drama, intrigue, maneuvering, and most of all, thepower. ), Im kind of clueless. Then Im even more oblivious when you throw out the term cyber diplomat. Is it a Robocop-esque humanoid with a British judges wig? No clue, all I know is it sounds cool. Cyber diplomacy is computers and stuff First up, cyber diplomacy…?...

May 24, 2019 · 2 min · 360 words · Suzanne Jones

Leave your DSLR at home: The Huawei P30 Pro is the only camera a traveller needs

But, I had to decide what my secondary handset would be. And after using it consistently during my travel I was convinced that my choice was right. Ill talk about the camera results in a bit. First, the camera specs: The P30 Pro 40% off TNW Conference! Lets talk about the primary sensor now. Huawei has simply nailed it with point-and-shoot photography, both with their hardware and software. Photos snapped from this sensor are extremely detailed and punchy....

May 24, 2019 · 2 min · 300 words · Latasha Solis

Review: Brilliant’s smart home controllers are the antidote for smart-speaker hell

My home is inundated with smart speakers. And thats not even getting into all the other smart gear I have. And then we were disappointed. Dont get me wrong, smart speakers are amazing technology. And who among us doesnt use our Google Mini to keep up with our schedule and set reminders? Its all the other stuff that gets tedious. Alexa, turn on living room light number 2. Alexa dim living room light number one....

May 24, 2019 · 2 min · 420 words · Lauren Foster

Review: The Vuze XR handheld camera makes it dead simple to create VR videos

HumanEyes Vuze XR is a rare breed of camera. What really sets it apart, however, is how easy it is to use. But Im neither a filmmaker nor a professional photographer. The Vuze XR is. I was incredibly surprised to find the camera is sturdy, well-made, and attractive. At under $500, I was expecting some corners to get cut. Quite the opposite is true. The camera feels and looks like a premium rig and comes with more bells and whistles than youd expect....

May 24, 2019 · 2 min · 284 words · Mr. Jesse Townsend

Bolt won’t beat Uber by copying it – it needs to forge its own path

Its plans for domination seem to revolve around copying Uber. But first, some background. Bolt is a genuinely interesting and successful company. Bolt has improved this massively; it’s possible for you to now get a reliable vehicle, easily. For all intents and purposes its flourishing. I feel theres a but coming… Yup. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Youre not going to beat Uber by basically being it. To provide some balance, Bolt isntexactlylike its biggest competitor....

May 23, 2019 · 2 min · 338 words · Robert Pacheco

This female-led company is using blockchain to promote sustainability

AtTNW Conference, we explored the future of tech, including blockchain and cryptocurrency. One use case is to track and monitor supply chains. 40% off TNW Conference! It started as a side project of my Ph.D. in Computer Science at UCL. By 2013, I decided to pause my Ph.D and focus on Provenance full time. Todays internet is great for communication, but data is stored in centrally-controlled silos. This means we need to trust central authorities to make it trust data....

May 23, 2019 · 2 min · 376 words · Brenda Blackwell

Exploring the dark underbelly of smart home technology

But as innocuous as it all seems on the surface, does a darker reality exist beneath the surface? 40% off TNW Conference! Its a serious topic that deserves serious attention. According to Rambus, an estimated80 percent of IoT devicesare vulnerable to a wide range of cyber attacks. Think of it like a line of dominos. Once one unit is tripped, the rest can easily be knocked down as well. unit hijacking is one common method....

May 22, 2019 · 2 min · 335 words · Elizabeth Joseph

How DevOps managers can learn to trust automation

It worked in staging! says the dev team. And the ops team replies: it must be a code issue. Developers and ops people sometimes have different perspectives on why a deployment went wrong. Was it the code? In the end, its the user that suffers, and that user doesnt care aboutwhyyour product was broken. They just want it to work, so they can do their work. Thats why development teams adhere to deployment best practices....

May 22, 2019 · 2 min · 410 words · Sara Maxwell