Facebook Secretly Pays Users For Complete Access To Their Data

Photo: TechSpot

According to TechCrunch, Facebook has been paying teenagers around $20 a month to use a VPN app called "Facebook Research" that allowed the company full access to all of their phone and web activity. 

The app appears to be a reincarnation of Onavo Protect, a Facebook app that was pulled last year due to Apple's privacy objections. 

As "Facebook Research" seems to have the same features as Onavo, this would appear to be in violation of Apple's privacy policies as well. 

Facebook has admitted to TechCrunch that the app exists, and that its purpose was to gain insight on usage habits. 

According to TechCrunch, the program has been in distribution since 2016, and has been referred to as "Project Atlas" starting in mid-2018.

Instead of downloading the app through the App Store or via Apple's own TestFlight beta testing program, users were getting it through three different beta testing services: BetaBound, uTest and Applause. 

Those three services specifically ran ads on Instagram and Snapchat targeting a demographic of those ages 13-35, saying that it was a "paid social media research study." When signing up for the app, minors are prompted to ask parental permission via a form. 

One of the forms reads: "There are no known risks associated with the project, however you acknowledge that the inherent nature of the project involves tracking of personal information via your child's use of apps."

Here's the text from a disclaimer when users download the Facebook Research app from Applause (procured by TechCrunch):

"By installing the software, you're giving our client permission to collect data from your phone that will help them understand how you browse the internet, and how you use the features in the apps you've installed ... 

This means you're letting our client collect information such as which apps are on your phone, how and when you use them, data about your activities and content within those apps, as well as how other people interact with you or your content within those apps. 

You are also letting our client collect information about your internet browsing activity (including the websites you visit and data is exchanged between your device and those websites) and your use of other online services. 

There are some instances when our client will collect this information even where the app uses encryption, or from within secure browser sessions."

According to a Will Strafach, a security expert commissioned by TechCrunch, the level of access that the Facebook Research app provided could lead to the company collecting all manner of data that includes private messages, instant messaging chats that include photos and videos, emails, web activity and even location information.

Rather than downloading the app from Apple, users would download it from a separate Facebook URL, told to install an Enterprise Developer Certificate, and allow the company root access to their phone. 

One program from Applause even asked users to provide screenshots of their Amazon order history. If users kept the VPN running and sent the data to Facebook, they would get paid via e-gift certificates.

Facebook has acknowledge the existence of this program to TechCrunch: "Like many companies, we invite people to participate in research that helps us identify things we can be doing better. 

Since this research is aimed at helping Facebook understand how people use their mobile devices, we've provided extensive information about the type of data we collect and how they can participate. 

We don't share this information with others and people can stop participating at any time."

According to the Facebook spokesperson, the company is not in violation of Apple's rules, as the app was distributed inline with Apple's Enterprise Certificate program. 

But as the Certificate program is primarily for internal developer use and not as a public beta where users would get paid, it's not clear if this is true.

Source: TechCrunch

World's Largest Digital Sky Survey Issues Biggest Astronomical Data Release Ever

Photo: HubbleSite

Pan-STARRS releases 1.6 petabytes of data from its four-year survey

Data from the world's largest digital sky survey is being publicly released today (28 JAN 2019) by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, in conjunction with the University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Data from the Pan-STARRS1 Surveys will allow anyone to access millions of images and use the database and catalogs containing precision measurements of billions of stars and galaxies. 

This data release contains over 1.6 petabytes of data (a petabyte is one million gigabytes), making it the largest volume of astronomical information ever released. 

The survey data resides in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), which serves as NASA's repository for all of its optical and ultraviolet-light observations.


The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, in conjunction with the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy (IfA), is releasing the second edition of data from Pan-STARRS — the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System — the world's largest digital sky survey. 

This second release contains over 1.6 petabytes of data (a petabyte is 1015 bytes or one million gigabytes), making it the largest volume of astronomical information ever released. 

The amount of imaging data is equivalent to two billion selfies, or 30,000 times the total text content of Wikipedia. The catalog data is 15 times the volume of the Library of Congress.

The Pan-STARRS observatory consists of a 1.8-meter telescope equipped with a 1.4-billion-pixel digital camera, located at the summit of Haleakalā, on Maui. 
Conceived and developed by the IfA, it embarked on a digital survey of the sky in visible and near-infrared light in May 2010. Pan-STARRS was the first survey to observe the entire sky visible from Hawai'i multiple times in many colors of light. 

One of the survey's goals was to identify moving, transient, and variable objects, including asteroids that could potentially threaten the Earth. The survey took approximately four years to complete, scanning the sky 12 times in five filters. 

This second data release provides, for the first time, access to all of the individual exposures at each epoch of time. 

This will allow astronomers and public users of the archive to search the full survey for high-energy explosive events in the cosmos, discover moving objects in our own solar system, and explore the time domain of the universe.

Dr. Heather Flewelling, a researcher at the Institute for Astronomy in Hawai'i, and a key designer of the PS1 database, stated that “Pan-STARRS DR2 represents a vast quantity of astronomical data, with many great discoveries already unveiled. 

These discoveries just barely scratch the surface of what is possible, however, and the astronomy community will now be able to dig deep, mine the data, and find the astronomical treasures within that we have not even begun to imagine.”

“We put the universe in a box and everyone can take a peek,” said database engineer Conrad Holmberg.

The four years of data comprise 3 billion separate sources, including stars, galaxies, and various other objects. This research program was undertaken by the PS1 Science Consortium — a collaboration among 10 research institutions in four countries, with support from NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). 

Consortium observations for the sky survey were completed in April 2014. The initial Pan-STARRS public data release occurred in December 2016, but included only the combined data and not the individual exposures at each epoch of time.

“The Pan-STARRS1 Survey allows anyone access to millions of images and catalogs containing precision measurements of billions of stars, galaxies, and moving objects,” said Dr Ken Chambers, Director of the Pan-STARRS Observatories. 

“While searching for Near Earth Objects, Pan-STARRS has made many discoveries from ‘Oumuamua passing through our solar system to lonely planets between the stars; it has mapped the dust in three dimensions in our galaxy and found new streams of stars; and it has found new kinds of exploding stars and distant quasars in the early universe. We hope people will discover all kinds of things we missed in this incredibly large and rich dataset.”

The Space Telescope Science Institute hosts the storage hardware, the computers that handle the database queries, and the user-friendly interfaces to access the data. 

The survey data resides in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), which serves as NASA's repository for all of its optical and ultraviolet-light observations, some of which date to the early 1970s. 

It includes all of the observational data from such space astrophysics missions as Hubble, Kepler, GALEX, and a wide variety of other telescopes, as well as several all-sky surveys. Pan-STARRS marks the nineteenth mission to be archived in MAST.

The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys and its science archive have been made possible through contributions by the Institute for Astronomy, the University of Hawai'i, the Pan-STARRS Project Office, the Max-Planck Society and its participating institutes, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, the Johns Hopkins University, Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, the Queen's University Belfast, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian (CfA), the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network Incorporated, the National Central University of Taiwan, 

the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No. NNX08AR22G issued through the Planetary Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, the National Science Foundation Grant No. AST-1238877, the University of Maryland, Eōtvōs Loránd University (ELTE), the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

SOURCE: hubblesite.org

Google Assistant May Scan Your Face To Personalize Commands

MakeUseOf

Google might soon have an alternative to voice matching when you want to use Assistant to get personalized results. 

The latest beta for Android's Google app includes code references to a previously hinted-at Face Match feature that, as the name implies, would scan your visage to provide tailored commands on camera-equipped devices. 

While there isn't a detailed description, you'd have to both train the system and could add multiple devices. 

Your face profile wouldn't be limited to one gadget, which some companies do in the name of security.

You could also invite other people to create profiles.

There's no clue as to when Face Match might launch, assuming it launches in the first place. The absence of imagery and other content implies that it might not arrive for a while. 

It could make sense, though. So long as your device has a camera (no Home Hub users need apply), you could view sensitive info or issue commands without having to create a voice profile. 

This might also be an accessibility feature -- people who can't speak could still get a customized, private experience in a multi-user household.

SOURCE: ENDGADGET

Lombok Set To Be Next Hub For AirAsia

Photo: Tribun Travel - Tribunnews.com

AirAsia is looking to turn Lombok into its next major hub, with plans to launch services to Perth, Yogyakarta and Denpasar by mid-year.

The budget carrier group states that the announcement of its hub plan follows a series of discussions on Lombok’s recovery from the 2018 earthquake, along with Indonesia’s plans to develop more tourist destinations across the archipelago.

“In the next few months, we will be working with airports and government authorities to turn Lombok into our newest hub in Indonesia, making this commitment a reality,” says AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes.

In support of that goal, Indonesia AirAsia plans to base two Airbus A320s at Lombok, which will allow it to double its services to Kuala Lumpur, in addition to the new routes flagged.

FlightGlobal schedules data shows that Lombok International airport is connected to 13 domestic destiantions, and to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

AirAsia operates the daily Kuala Lumpur service, and SilkAir the thrice-weekly flights to Singapore.

“As an idyllic destination, Lombok has so much potential,” says Indonesia AirAsia chief Dendy Kurniawan.

“We know that when we combine our resources and work with the tourism industry on marketing and public relations initiatives, we’re able to expand the market and drive greater demand for destination Lombok.”

SOURCE: : FLIGHT DASHBOARD

Huawei Launches 5G Multi-mode Chipset and 5G CPE Pro

Photo: HUAWEI

Huawei officially launched its 5G multi-mode chipset Balong 5000 on 24 January – along with the first commercial 5G device powered by it, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro. 

Together, these two new products provide the world's fastest wireless connections for your smartphone, your home, the office, and on the go.

Balong 5000 officially unlocks the 5G era. This chipset supports a broad range of 5G products in addition to smartphones, including home broadband devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and 5G modules. It will provide consumers with a brand new 5G experience across multiple scenarios.

"The Balong 5000 will open up a whole new world to consumers," said the CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu. 

"It will enable everything to sense, and will provide the high-speed connections needed for pervasive intelligence. 

Powered by the Balong 5000, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro enables consumers to access networks more freely and enjoy an incredibly fast connected experience. 

Huawei has an integrated set of capabilities across chips, devices, cloud services, and networks. 

Building on these strengths, as the leader of the 5G era, we will bring an inspired, intelligent experience to global consumers in every aspect of their lives."

Balong 5000: Ushering in the 5G era

HUAWEI launches 5G multi-mode chipset and 5G CPE Pro
Huawei launches the world's first single-chip multi-mode modem

With a small form factor and high degree of integration, Balong 5000 supports 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G on a single chip. 

It effectively reduces latency and power consumption when exchanging data between different modes, and will significantly enhance user experience in the early stages of commercial 5G deployment. Balong 5000 marks a significant step forward for the Balong series of chipsets.

Balong 5000 is the first chipset to perform to industry benchmarks for peak 5G download speeds. At Sub-6 GHz (low-frequency bands, the main spectrum used for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 4.6 Gbps. On mmWave spectrum (high-frequency bands used as extended spectrum for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 6.5 Gbps – 10 times faster than top 4G LTE speeds on the market today.

Balong 5000 is also the world's first chipset that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G.

 With non-standalone, 5G network architecture is built on top of legacy 4G LTE networks, whereas standalone 5G, as the name implies, will have its own independent architecture. 

Balong 5000 can flexibly meet different user and carrier requirements for connecting devices throughout different stages of 5G development.

Balong 5000 is the world's first multi-mode chipset that supports Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communications, providing low-latency and highly reliable solutions for connected vehicles. Huawei's 5G smartphones powered by Balong 5000 will be released at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Huawei 5G CPE Pro: Changing user experiences in home broadband networks

HUAWEI launches 5G multi-mode chipset and 5G CPE Pro
The Huawei 5G CPE Pro achieves a high speed of 3.2 Gbps in live network tests

Powered by Balong 5000, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro supports both 4G and 5G wireless connections. On a 5G network, a 1-GB HD video clip can be downloaded within three seconds, and 8K video can be streamed smoothly without lag. 

This sets a new benchmark for home CPEs. In addition to homes, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro can also be used by small and medium-sized enterprises for super-fast broadband access.

Adopting new Wi-Fi 6 technology, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro delivers speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps. It is the first 5G CPE that supports HUAWEI HiLink protocols, bringing smart homes into the 5G era.

As a 5G pioneer, Huawei began research and development in 5G as early as 2009, and is currently the industry's only vendor that can provide end-to-end 5G systems. 

Huawei has more than 5700 engineers dedicated to 5G R&D, including over 500 5G experts. In total, Huawei has established 11 joint innovation centers for 5G solutions worldwide.

SOURCE: HUAWEI

Facebook Will Shut Down Moments Photo App On February 25th

Photo: YouTube

Did you use Facebook's Moments app to handle and share your social network photos? No? You're not the only one. 

Facebook has informed CNET that it's shutting down the Moments app on February 25th, partly because there weren't enough people using it. 

If you have a collection you'd like to keep, you can visit a special website before May 2019 to export your photos and videos either as a private Facebook album or as a download.

This doesn't mark the end to everything Moments represented. Facebook's Rushabh Doshi said the company would "continue offering ways to save memories" within its main app. 

However, it does signal the end to Facebook's most direct attempt to compete with Google Photos, which offers numerous comparable features like automatic movie generation from snapshots.

The shutdown also exemplifies a recurring problem for Facebook: it has trouble getting users to embrace apps beyond its core offerings. 

Paper, Lifestage and acquired apps like tbh have all closed down in recent years, and frequently due to low usage. 

And it's not clear that Facebook can convince users to change their habits. Most activity on Facebook involves either the main app or Messenger, and there isn't much incentive to venture further than that.

Source: CNET, Moments Export

Huawei Eyes Smartphone Supremacy This Year After Record 2018 Sales

Photo Credit: CTV News

BEIJING/HONG KONG: China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Thursday said it could become the world's biggest-selling smartphone vendor this year even without the U.S. market and as global scrutiny of the firm intensifies.

The bullish forecast contrasts with those of market-leader Samsung and other rivals such as Apple Inc, both of which have flagged weakening sales in China - the largest smartphone market where demand has long been slowing, and where economic growth is at its lowest pace in nearly three decades.

It comes as the United States and its allies restrict market access for Huawei, alleging its products could be used by China for espionage. Huawei has said the allegation is unfounded.

Meanwhile, the firm's chief financial officer - the founder's daughter - has been arrested in Canada in relation to U.S. sanctions violations. Huawei has denied wrongdoing.

"Our customers have trust and confidence in us," Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer division chief, said at a new-product news conference in Beijing. "It's only politics guys which are trying to put pressure on us."

The maker of telecommunications equipment, spanning aerials to handsets, reported a 50 percent jump in consumer business revenue last year to in excess of US$52 billion. It said it aimed to keep the momentum with the launch next month of a foldable smartphone powered by its new fifth-generation (5G) chipset.

The jump meant the consumer business accounted for 48 percent of total revenue, contributing more than Huawei's business for telecoms network providers for the first time.

"Even without the U.S. market we will be number one in the world," Yu said, referring to Huawei's smartphone division, which shipped 208 million handsets last year. "I believe at the earliest this year, and next year at the latest."

Worldwide smartphone shipments likely fell 3 percent last year, returning to low single-digit growth this year and through 2022, when 5G mobile network technology is likely to give the industry a boost, showed forecasts from consultancy IDC.

Yu said Huawei will launch the foldable phone at the Mobile World Congress next month with sales beginning in April at the earliest. He said its Balong 5000 chipset, a rival to Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon X50, is the world's most powerful 5G modem and can be used in vehicles. The modem is also the first to support countries' differing 5G architecture, Huawei said.

Huawei uses its own chipsets in its high-end phones and servers but said it does not intend to become a standalone chip vendor to rival the likes of Qualcomm and Intel Corp.

Huawei also introduced a 5G base station chipset, dubbed Tiangang. Carrier business chief Ryan Ding said Huawei has won 30 5G contracts, including 18 in Europe, nine in the Middle East and three in the Asia-Pacific region.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Amazon Starts Testing Its ‘Scout’ Delivery Robot

Photo: AMAZON

Amazon is working on delivery robots, and it's already bringing the self-driving machines to the streets. 

Starting today (23 JAN), six Amazon Scout devices are delivering packages in a neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington, north of Amazon's Seattle home base. 

While the robots can navigate by themselves, an Amazon employee will accompany them, at least for now.

Scout is about the size of a small cooler and it trundles along at walking pace. Amazon claims the battery-powered robot can safely deal with obstacles such as pedestrians and pets. 

However, it's not yet clear how Scout verifies customers' identity to make sure its storage hatch opens only for the correct people.

Amazon is far from the only company working on delivery robots, though the e-commerce giant's expansive ecosystem could give Scout more of an advantage over rival robots. 

It's not unlikely that Scout, or future versions of it, will work with Key, which opens your door (and soon your garage) to let couriers drop off packages inside your house when you're not there. 

For the time being, at least, it seems you'll have to be home to receive a package from Scout when it stops by.

Source: Amazon

Samsung Reveals The First-Ever 15.6-inch 4K OLED Display

Photo: Samsung

We've been waiting impatiently for high-resolution 4K OLED displays to come to laptops, and that finally happened at CES 2019 with models from HP and Dell. 

Now we know one likely source for those, as Samsung has unveiled what it says is the first-ever 15.6-inch 4K OLED display. 

The screens will offer "HDR, excellent color reproduction and high outdoor visibility," said Samsung Display's marketing director Yoon Jae-nam.

Each pixel has its own "light," so you get true blacks when they're turned off, and Samsung points out that the panels meet VESA's DisplayHDR True Black specification. 

OLED panels tend to have better color accuracy than LCD, too, and can easily handle HDR. The brightness levels peak out at 600 nits, enough to meet the demanding DisplayHDR 600 certification, and the display covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 range with 34 million colors. It's also thinner, lighter and uses less power compared to an LCD, Samsung said.

OLEDs aren't without their issues, however, as screen burn-in and overall lifespan can be problematic. Samsung will start manufacturing the panels in mid-February of 2019, but hasn't said which laptop makers will be using them. 

However, it just so happens that 4K OLED screens will be coming to Dell's XPS 15, Alienware m15 and G 15 in March, and HP will release its Spectre x360 OLED 2-in-1 laptop in July.


SOURCE: ENDGADGET

Ford Unveils Its Most Powerful Mustang Yet

Photo: CNN NEWS

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN Business

Detroit (CNN Business) Ford unveiled the most powerful factory-produced Mustang the company has ever made at the Detroit Auto Show Monday. 

The new Shelby GT500 has a supercharged V8 engine that will produce more than 700 horsepower.

More testing and validation needs to be done before an exact horsepower figure can be announced, the company said. 

What we do know is that it will have more power than the $450,000 Ford GT supercar, which has 647 horsepower, and it will be capable of going from zero to 60 miles an hour in a little over three seconds.

Hyundai big winner at Detroit auto show

Power from the car's 5.2-liter aluminum engine will go through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission similar to the type used in the Ford GT.

Dual-clutch transmissions provide a more direct transfer of power to the wheels than ordinary automatic transmissions and can shift gears much more quickly.

There's no manual transmission offered in this car, said Jim Owens, Ford Performance marketing manager, because the automatic can get much more performance from the engine than any human shifting gears could. The transmission was engineered specifically for this car.

The Shelby GT500 will be the most powerful factory-produced Mustang that Ford has ever made.

Plastic parts to hold the car's brake lines will be produced using 3D printing. Compared to stamping out parts, 3D printing is a relatively slow process -- the machine averages about five pieces per hour -- but it's very flexible in that one machine can make parts of almost any shape depending on the plans that are fed into it. 

(The same exact machine makes entirely different pieces for some Ford Raptor trucks.) This technique makes sense for a car like the GT500 since the car and its parts will be produced in low numbers.

The first Shelby GT500 appeared in 1967. That car had half the horsepower of the new model. The original Shelby GT500s are considered among the most desirable American performance cars in the world. A 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake recently sold at a Mecum classic car auction in Florida for $2.2 million.

The most recent Ford-produced Shelby GT500 before this one, which went out of production in 2015, produced 662 horsepower from a 5.8-liter V8 engine.

Toyota brings back the fast and sporty Supra

Ford (F) has a complicated but fruitful relationship with the Las Vegas-based Shelby American company. 

Shelby Mustangs were originally made by Shelby using Mustangs supplied by Ford as a starting point. 

Shelby still does these sort of performance conversions. In fact, there are already Shelby Mustangs, such as the Shelby-produced Super Snake, with over 700 horsepower. 

This one, though, will be the most powerful ever produced by Ford Motor Co. itself.

SOURCE:  CNN Business

These Are The 10 Most in-Demands Skills of 2019, According To LinkedIn

Photo: Pinterest

BY: Emma Charlton
Writer

Are you looking for a fresh start in 2019? Maybe you’d like to get fit? Learn a new skill? Or change career?

According to analysis from networking site LinkedIn, 2019’s employers are looking for a combination of both hard and soft skills, with creativity topping the list of desired attributes. 

The findings chime with the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, which concluded that “human” skills like originality, initiative and critical thinking are likely to increase in value as technology and automation advances.

“Strengthening a soft skill is one of the best investments you can make in your career, as they never go out of style,” LinkedIn Learning Editor, Paul Petrone wrote in a blog. 

“Plus, the rise of AI is only making soft skills increasingly important, as they are precisely the type of skills robots can’t automate.”

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution advancing, employers are demanding a greater mix of skills. 

As technologies like automation and algorithms create new high-quality jobs and wipe out others, demand for such competencies is only likely to increase. 

The hard skills in demand also reflect the increasingly digital world, with cloud computing and AI coming out on top.

After creativity, LinkedIn said the top soft skills were persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and time management. The Forum looked at how the desirability of those attributes is likely to evolve over time, with active learning, creativity and social influence climbing up the list.

On the hard-skill side, cloud computing was top, with engineers in demand as more and more services and data migrate to the cloud.

Artificial intelligence came next, followed by analytical reasoning, since companies need to make decisions based on the myriad of data that’s now accessible to them. 

People management came fourth, followed by user experience design – the process of making all these new technologies accessible and easy for humans to interact with.

For the Forum, there’s also a “growing skills instability” where technology changes the profiles of many current jobs and different competencies are required. It estimates that more than half of all employees will require significant re- and upskilling in the coming years.

And its message for policymakers is clear: a considered and strategic approach is needed to manage the changes that are already underway.

“Current shifts underway in the workforce will displace some workers while at the same time create new opportunities for others,” the Forum’s report said. 

“However, maximizing the gains and minimizing the losses requires attention not just from policymakers, but also coherent responses from companies to find win-win solutions for workers and for their bottom line.”

SOURCE: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

4 Big Trends For The Sharing Economy In 2019

Photo: WEF

Digital Economy and Society

Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis 

In 2019, it is a mind-bending exercise to reflect on the past decade of the sharing economy. A time traveller who skipped here from 2009 would note that it has fulfilled both more than, and less than, its original potential.

The sharing economy’s explosive growth has astounded even optimistic market pundits. 

On the one hand, there are now many thousands of sharing economy platforms operating in almost every sector and activity around the world. 

Back in 2009, there were only a handful: Zipcar, BlaBlaCar and Couchsurfing among them. Airbnb had launched in fall 2008, Uber in spring 2009. “Access over ownership” is a shift that has taken root, as digital and mobile technologies make it ever easier to access goods and services on-demand. It is no longer a millennial preference, but a part of modern society.

At the same time, the sharing economy has lost some of its original allure. In the early days, it was rare not to have a conversation about how the sharing economy could responsibly mitigate hyper-consumption and truly build community connections. 

These benefits have not disappeared, but it is increasingly difficult to find sharing economy platforms that practise these principles in reality. The focus has shifted towards convenience, price and transactional efficiency: “community” as commodity.

On the eve of its next decade, what can we expect from the sharing economy in 2019? Here are a few predictions:

Uneven growth

This year will see the first sharing economy IPOs, and it may see the first large-scale bankruptcies as well. Both Lyft and Uber have filed to go public, most likely in the first half of 2019. 

Uber is valued at $120bn (£94.7bn) and Lyft at $15bn (£11.8bn). Whether drivers will share in any upside remains to be seen. 

Changes to ownership structures that reflect the reality of today’s workforce, particularly the gig economy, are much-needed tools to address equitable wealth distribution.

At the other end of the spectrum, especially in China, some sharing economy superstars are struggling. 

Bikesharing unicorn Ofo is reported to be on the verge of bankruptcy, while other platforms have been inundated by customers demanding refunds of their deposits. 

The rush to scale the sharing economy in China is unprecedented in the world; the Chinese government wants it to account for 10% of national GDP by 2020.

       
In the race to grow, we cannot forget that building a thriving, sustainable sharing economy platform depends essentially on two elements: mindset shifts and trust. Mindsets take time; change doesn’t happen overnight. 

Platforms that strive to grow too fast (whether spending money too quickly, or assuming that demand will be exponential) or compromise customer trust (which is hard to build and extremely easy to lose) may find themselves facing difficult decisions in 2019.

Whether Uber and Lyft are able to find a long-term sustainable business model without raising prices is a prediction I’ll have to make in 2020.

Demographic diversity in the driver’s seat

In 2019 and beyond, the sharing economy will be driven increasingly by demographics that have played a (mostly) supporting role to date: the emerging middle class, women and the elderly.

For the first time in human history, the middle class represents the majority of the global population – and it is projected to double in the next 10 years, to 5.2 billion people. 

Women are expected to be responsible for ⅔ of the rise in all disposable income in the next decade. Meanwhile, there are larger numbers of ageing residents in the US, Japan across Europe and beyond.

Each of these demographics will play a bigger role within the sharing economy. The sharing economy enables people to access things they might not otherwise be able to afford, providing an onramp to greater economic participation. 

Women are already among the most ardent sharing-economy customers, and the growth of the “she-conomy” is likely to further boost this. 

And the sharing economy may gradually reshape retirement: as more people seek to age in place, need extra income or want to stay engaged in their communities, platforms such as SilverNest and GoGoGrandparent are designed to meet such needs.

Regulators leaning in, especially in cities

In 2012, I foresaw the need for policy-makers and sharing economy platforms to work together, and that outdated rules and policies would prove a sticking point. 

The ensuing years proved this true on a weekly basis, and at times it was excruciatingly difficult. The coming 12 months will be no less challenging for regulators, though we’ll see occasional bright spots and collaboration, particularly at the city level.

Gradually, cities are learning that the sharing economy requires them to be proactive, in terms of both appropriate regulation and the harnessing of local economic development. 

No city has “figured it out” or developed a fully integrated strategy, though some cities have banded together and issued a declaration of common principles and commitments for sharing cities. 

In 2019 this momentum is likely to continue – whether it moves, however, beyond aspiration to genuine inter-city outcomes (such as policy standards implementation or collective negotiation) remains to be seen.

How has the sharing economy changed job security?

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We can also expect to see increased regulatory awareness and, occasionally, even sophistication. 

For example, in 2018 Denmark became the first country to enable Airbnb hosts to report income directly to tax authorities, while many places are developing transportation-as-a-service platforms to better meet the needs of all residents, including those on low incomes. 

We can note a sea change in how regulators have reacted to the entry of e-scooters, compared with how they dealt with ride-hailing platforms years ago. 

Many cities have moved to put e-scooter platforms on notice – in effect, “proceed with caution” – while others, such as Portland, Oregon, have run pilots to determine the appropriate regulatory targets. 

It’s still too early to know the verdict, and e-scooter companies face mounting challenges beyond public policy, but it is clear that government does not intend to stand by idly.

From the sharing economy to … the economy?

A couple of years ago, I called out the challenge with sharing economy terminology and the growing risk of “sharewashing”: companies latching onto the term because it sounds enticing, not because there is actual sharing involved. Unfortunately, today this language remains as blurry as ever. 

We confuse the sharing economy and gig economy, to no one’s benefit; although there is some overlap – both the sharing and gig economy platforms help people earn income, for instance – this confusion often hampers discussions on critical issues such as the future of work.

On the upside, the sharing economy is increasingly seen simply as part of “the economy”. This may be the ultimate sign of the sharing economy’s success.

Whether 2019 portends more growth or difficulty for the sharing economy depends on several factors. It will be a year of reality checks and rebalanced priorities. 

Do we double down on responsible business, or do we turn a blind eye towards potential pitfalls or opportunities to abuse platform power? Do we return to the sharing economy’s original roots – resource efficiency, sustainability and community – or further muddy its meaning? These answers are up to us.


 
Written by
April Rinne, Founder and Adviser, April Worldwide

BLINQ TO LAUNCH LUXURY E-COMMERCE INTO SE ASIA

Photo: www.blinq.com

Seasoned entrepreneur Bob Chua is back with his latest venture BlinQ, focussed on Asia’s booming luxury fashion e-commerce space. After two successful Big Data exits and an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, Chua aims to capture what he believes is a hugely untapped market.

The personal luxury market is currently estimated to be $300bn and will grow to $500bn by 2020. Close to 44% deriving from Asia according to McKinsey’s global fashion report.

Chua comments, “BlinQ uses AR and Algorithmic patterns to provide users with the latest trends and personalised fittings from their digital devices. 

It also allows users to choose how they would like to consume fashion, which may not necessarily be to buy, but to also rent, subscribe, or pay later for latest luxury designs from major and upcoming brands across SE Asia”.

Chua added, “There is clear retail disruption happening everywhere, and e-commerce adoption in the luxury space is growing at a staggering rate here in Asia. 

We see a major opportunity especially with a full-stack platform of providing users with a virtual changing room feature, a marketplace and multiple modes of consuming fashion”. 

In a way we are fusing the successful models of ASOS, Farfetch, Rent-the-Runway and The Real Real into a single platform, while targeting affluent Asians. 

The multi-brand and multi-mode platform allows for a wider audience to be able to enjoy luxury...especially amongst millennials.

From a B2B aspect, we plan to monetise our platform by white-labelling our virtual changing room AR (Augmented Reality) features to other e-commerce sites, which will ultimately reduce returns (currently estimated at 60% of all online purchases) and increase purchasing propensity (estimated to drive 30%-40% more sales due to trying before buying).

BlinQ also envisions powering the back-end logistics and fulfilment of goods via fully automated warehousing to meet the throughput, SKUs and numerous brands it plans to carry in the foreseeable future. This will allow meeting the demands of speed, scope and scale of the region while optimising the customer experience.

BlinQ has since secured significant seed funding, and is currently enroute to a next fundraising round to accelerate itself forward.

About BlinQ

BlinQ is a leading FashionTech enabler in the AR and E-commerce space, focussed on the SE Asian market. BlinQ technology allows users to virtually try on and purchase designer apparel and accessories from online luxury and contemporary fashion retailers globally. 

A rental subscription model also provides users the option of renting designer apparel and accessories. The back-end automated warehousing operation enables brands to fulfil their products throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

SOURCE: BlinQ

BP Just Discovered a Billion Barrels of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico

In this file photo made Oct. 25, 2007, the BP (British Petroleum) logo is seen at a gas station in Washington.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

BP's investment in next-generation technology just paid off to the tune of a billion barrels of oil.

The British energy company has discovered 1 billion barrels of crude at an existing oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico. BP also announced two new offshore oil discoveries and a major new investment in a nearby field.

BP is the Gulf of Mexico's biggest producer, and it's making strides to hold that title.

BP now expects its fossil fuel output from the region to reach 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the middle of the next decade. Today, it produces about 300,000 boepd, up from less than 200,000 boepd about five years ago.


On Tuesday, the company said it will spend $1.3 billion to develop a third phase of its Atlantis field off the coast of New Orleans. Scheduled to start production in 2020, the eight new wells will add 38,000 bpd to BP's production at Atlantis. The decision comes after BP found another 400 million barrels of oil at the field.

BP made the massive 1 billion-barrel discovery at its Thunder Horse field off the tip of Louisiana.

Executives are crediting their investment in advanced seismic technology and data processing for speeding up the company's ability to confirm the discoveries at Atlantis and Thunder Horse. BP says it once would have taken a year to analyze the Thunder Horse data, but it now takes just weeks.

"We are building on our world-class position, upgrading the resources at our fields through technology, productivity and exploration success," Bernard Looney, BP's chief executive for production and exploration, said in a statement.

Just northeast of Thunder Horse, BP also announced new discoveries at fields near its Na Kika platform.

BP says it plans to develop reservoirs at its Manuel prospect, where Shell holds a 50 percent stake. Producers also found oil at the Nearly Headless Nick prospect near Na Kika, where BP has a 20.25 percent working interest.

The oil giant also says it will spend $1.3 billion to develop a third phase of its Atlantis offshore field south of New Orleans.

BP credits its investment in advanced seismic technology for speeding up its ability to confirm the discoveries.

Source: www.cnbc.com

The World's Safest Airlines For 2019

Foto Sumber: News.com.au

AirlineRatings.com (www.AirlineRatings.com) the world's only safety and product rating website has announced Qantas as its safest airline for 2019.

AirlineRatings.com has also announced its Top Twenty safest airlines and ten safest low-cost airlines from the 405 it monitors.

The top twenty are the who's who of airlines and in alphabetical order are: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, and United Airlines and Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia).

These airlines are standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation and the design and launching of new aircraft said AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas.

"For instance, Australia's Qantas has been recognized by the British Advertising Standards Association in a test case in 2008 as the world's most experienced airline."

"It is extraordinary that Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the jet era," said Mr Thomas.

"But Qantas is not alone. Long established airlines such as Hawaiian and Finnair have perfect records in the jet era."

Responding to public interest, the AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their top ten safest low-cost airlines.

These are in alphabetical order: Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia / Asia, Thomas Cook, Volaris, Vueling, Westjet and Wizz.

In making its selections AirlineRatings.com takes into account numerous critical factors that include; audits from aviation's governing bodies and lead associations; government audits; airline's crash and serious incident record, fleet age and profitability.

AirlineRatings.com also announced its lowest ranked (one star and two star) airlines which are; Ariana Afghan Airlines, Bluewing Airlines, Kam Air, Tara Air and Trigana Air Service.

About AirlineRatings.com

AirlineRatings.com rates the safety and in-flight product of 405 airlines using its unique seven-star rating system. It is used by millions of passengers from 232 countries and has become the industry standard for safety and product rating. The editorial team is one of the world's most experienced with 50 awards and 28 industry books.

SOURCE: AirlineRatings.com