Free Republic

If you have a smartphone, you probably use its front-facing camera for selfies and the occasional video call. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, you’ll shoot the next viral TikTok masterpiece. You might use your next smartphone’s front camera for the same things, but there’s a chance that camera won’t completely turn off once you’re done with it. This week, chipmaker Qualcomm revealed its latest Snapdragon processor, which will power many of the high-end Android smartphones you’ll see in stores in 2022, including models from Motorola, Sony, OnePlus. And a new feature built into that chip could allow smartphone makers to keep...

Recently, a mainland Chinese netizen named “v64500” wrote on the online forum “V2EX” that his internet-connected television was scanning electronic devices in his house and uploading the data to a company called “Gozen Data.” The netizen revealed that his television is a mainland Chinese brand called “Skyworth.” The netizen thought the television was a bit slow and checked its backend service program and “found something called ‘Gozen Data’ and had no idea what it was doing.” The netizen said the television used the Android system. After studying the data for a while, v64500 found that “this thing [Gozen Data] scans...

Telescreen = Portal and Echo

Amazon wants to put a camera and microphone in your bedroom with the UK launch of its latest Echo home device. The camera on the £119.99 ($129) Echo Spot, which doubles up as a 'smart alarm', will probably be facing directly at the user's bed. The device, which is already available in the US has such sophisticated microphones it can hear people talking from across the room - even if music is playing.

I just bought a new TV. The old one had a good run, but after the volume got stuck on 63, I decided it was time to replace it. I am now the owner of a new “smart” TV, which promises to deliver streaming multimedia content, games, apps, social media, and Internet browsing. Oh, and TV too. The only problem is that I’m now afraid to use it. You would be too — if you read through the 46-page privacy policy. The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. It logs where, when, how, and for how long you...

Speaking at a gathering of digital advertisers in New York City last night, Mr Schmidt refused to forecast when internet video would displace television, instead declaring: "That's already happened." "It's not a replacement for something that we know," he added. "It's a new thing that we have to think about, to program, to curate and build new platforms." YouTube recently surpassed the milestone of a billion unique users a month. Only the Google search engine and social network Facebook are frequented more often by those browsing the internet worldwide. However, the video site lags behind traditional television in the UK,...

The first thing that came out of our mouths when we heard that Google is working on a system that listens to what's on your TV playing in the background, and then serves you relevant adverts, was "that's cool, but dangerous". The idea appeared in Technology Review citing Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, who says these ideas will show up eventually in real Google products - sooner rather than later. The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going off or the TV...

After reviewing the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts, we sincerely recommend everyone pick up a copy of George Orwell's novel "1984" to read over the holidays. The socialists gave us the Newspeak. Now, under the guise of fighting terrorism, Republicans are giving us the continuous monitoring -- almost every violation of privacy modern technology makes possible. All we will be missing is the Orwell-type constant surveillance (the telescreen) while at home. On the other hand, information leaking from the White House indicates that President George W. Bush will soon be informing Americans that federal laws are somewhat arbitrary and capricious....