From 20 global finalists, Mexico’s Xilinat walked away with the largest amount of funding, receiving a total of $310,000. Looking to transform the global sugar industry, Xilinat converts agricultural waste into a natural sugar substitute that looks and tastes like normal sugar, yet is low in calories; helping tackle obesity while providing a sustainable alternative for diabetics and the health-conscious. In case you missed it, here’s a run-down of the Chivas Venture Global Final:...

That’s from Dave Burke, VP of engineering at the company, who revealed the internal codename in an interview on the All About Android podcast. But you’re not going to see it called that publicly; the only bit of color Android 11 will get is that it’ll be referred to as ‘Android R’ in open-source code for the OS. You can hear the reveal around 7:50. [Read: Corning reveals Gorilla Glass Victus that can survive a six-foot drop] Burke also noted Android 11’s new features will prioritize people connecting with you on your device (as opposed to just every app that can post notifications), and integrating better with smart gadgets around you....

According to Apple, Siri handles 25 billion requests each month. On top of this, the company says it has access to 20 times more facts than merely 3 years ago. Some of the other updates Apple has rolled out includes the ability of Siri to send and record an audio message. The biggest announcement though was Translate. Quite obviously meant to be a competitor to the industry-leading Google Translate, the iOS version of Translate will support 11 languages when launched....

Then again, with no hardware to announce, it wasn’t exactly the most exciting WWDC of all time, but here’s the best of what we learned from the company’s virtual conference. iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Apple announced iOS and iPadOS 15 today. Big surprise! The updates do bring some useful new features, including text recognition in images, new AR features in Apple Maps, revamped notifications, government ID integration, background blurring in FaceTime, and more....

Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo bolstered his insider information on the transitions over the weekend and said that the company’s first ARM-based machine will be the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro; it’ll be released in Q4 2020 or Q1 2021. Kuo also said that the Cupertino-based company will release the last Intel-based iMac with thin bezels in Q3 2020. He added that Apple will cease production of Intel-based iMacs, and switch to ARM processors, but there’s no information as to when it’ll be released....

Is this a big complaint in the grand scheme of things? Of course not. But little things like unlocking with a face mask do still matter — especially when they’re a fucking arseache. Thankfully, Apple has been listening. The iOS 13.5 developers’ beta includes a workaround that will make unlocking your iPhone with a face mask easier. Well, when it’s released to the public that is. Reported by CNBC, the workaround involves users being able to swipe up to input their device passcode immediately....

In the podcast, Apple exec Craig Federighi said “purely virtualization is the route, but these hypervisors can be very efficient, so the need to direct boot shouldn’t really be the concern.” In other words, you’ll be able to run some operating systems with software like Parallels, but you won’t be able to run them natively upon boot. As far as we can tell, Boot Camp will be no more. That should be fine for free operating systems that already support ARM processors, like various Linux variants, but Microsoft doesn’t currently sell its ARM version of Windows 10 to the public....

The existing models are using the yucky butterfly switches Apple introduced with the 2015 MacBook, which had a propensity to get gunk stuck under the keys (and in this writer’s opinion, felt positively nasty to type on). It got so bad that Apple began offering a keyboard-specific repair program in April. Apple is expected to increase the screen size on its smaller MacBook Pro by shrinking the bezels, bringing it up from 13 inches to 14 inches....

A report from Bloomberg noted that over the weekend, an unidentified user was able to crack the service and listen to conversations. The user, believed to be based in China, made their own website to capture audio streams from the app. The company has now banned the user and said that it has implemented new “safeguards” to stop future unauthorized access. — Rui Ma 马睿 (@ruima) February 21, 2021 This incident comes only a week after Clubhouse’s announcement of tightening security measures, including preventing the app from “transmitting pings” to China-based servers and additional encryption to protect conversations....

But do manufacturers really slow down our phones on purpose to nudge us towards shiny new ones, as has been claimed? The answer to this, as usual, is complicated. Let’s take a look at the evidence. The ol’ operating system shuffle Every year, usually around May and June, tech companies announce their new OS updates. The main news surrounding the releases is often new system features such as Facetime enhancements, improvements to voice assistants, or a fancier system design....

Verse by Verse is described by the Big G as “an experimental AI-powered muse that helps you compose poetry inspired by classic American poets.” It’s powered by a combination of two machine learning models: a generator trained on lauded poetry, and a second model that decides which of its verses would fit your next line. You can choose up to three classic poets as inspiration, and then select a form, rhyme scheme, and syllable count for your creation....

While it may not be as fancy as the competition, it means the G8X can be had for way cheaper than other folding devices. At just $700 for the phone plus screen case bundle(for a limited time), that’s over a thousand bucks cheaper than the $1,980 Galaxy Fold, let alone the circa $2,400 Huawei Mate X. Okay, sure, this isn’t the same seamless experience you’d get on the phones with bendy displays, but it’s not like that is necessarily a huge loss either....

The scam — uncovered by cybersecurity firm McAfee — made use of fraudulent email attachments, which when opened, redirected users to a phishing website that siphoned the login information with an aim to impersonate staff members and gain wider access to internal systems. A number of employees, from middle management to executive level staff employed across different verticals such as services, finance, IT services, retail, and insurance, were targeted in what the researchers call a whaling campaign....

According to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), only one third of vehicle accidents will be avoided if we pivot to autonomous cars or “robotaxis,” AP reports. The main benefits of autonomous vehicles are that they can’t get drunk or sleepy and can react much faster than humans. These traits will be enough to mitigate some accidents, but totally reducing car crashes is far more challenging....

Big banks need to innovate rapidly to compete with these emerging players who can offer new digital services to customers. However, while tech giants definitely have some key advantages over traditional banks — more development power, better equipped for innovation, and massive user bases — banks do hold an important card: customer trust. Who do consumers trust most? With life as we previously knew it being disrupted during the pandemic, many organizations have had to rethink their processes and operations to survive and emerge stronger in the new digital era....

Yesterday, the company announced its “New Smart Bikeshare Program,” which it plans to roll out in cities across North America and Europe. Bird’s ebike can hit a top speed of 25 kilometers per hour and has a range of up to 90km on a single charge. It also claims to be capable of a 20% climbing grade to ensure an easy ride even when biking upslope. Other features include LED headlights and taillights, a handy storage basket in the front, digital display and voice prompts, and a neat step-through design....

According to a new report by the Wirecutter, some users who sold their Nest cam devices are able to access images from their old cameras even after performing a factory reset — only the images are those from the new owners. This effectively means those who sold Nest cams can tap into the feeds of the new owners without their knowledge. It appears that only Nest Cam Indoor devices that have been paired with a Wink Hub — a hardware device that allows you to connect to a variety of smart home products and control them from the Wink app — are vulnerable to the privacy issue....

But building a moon base and actually living on the moon will require careful planning. First, we need to identify and map available lunar resources, including hydrogen and water ice. Such compounds are crucial if we are to create breathable air and rocket fuel, whether for an observatory or a launchpad to go to the outer planets in our solar system. But sending missions to map the moon for resources in enough detail to enable future establishments is an expensive undertaking that will take a long time....

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reports that between April 1, 2018 and April 1, 2019 the average loss per victim was £14,600 ($18,500). Reports of cryptocurrency scams also tripled over the same period. The FCA notes the number has gone up to 1,800 over the financial year. The FCA’s announcement states that fraudsters often used social media to promote “get-rich-quick” schemes. The FCA’s description of how these scammers rip off their victims is an all too familiar story....

Welcome back to Byte Me, our feminist newsletter that makes everyone mad <3 We’re skipping our own personal updates this week, and are instead linking to some resources on learning about racism, systematic oppression, and allyship: This Black Lives Matter database of ways to educate yourself and help the cause The New York Times’ anti-racist reading list and list of books that can help you explain racism and protest to your kids Patia’s Fantasy World’s exhaustive database of anti-racist resources, including information on legal funds, racism in the workplace, bail funds, and more Los Angeles Times’ story on how white people can be a good ally during protests Highsnobiety’s guide on how to support the Black Lives Matter movement from Europe The Independent’s guide on how to support anti-racist organizations in the UK if you can’t donate Product Hunt’s Twitter thread on black-founded products, services, and projects Vulture’s list of documentaries you should watch about racism and police brutality in America Jstor’s free syllabus on institutionalized racism Ta Nehisi-Coates’ seminal text for The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations” VentureBeat’s list of essential reading and research on race and tech Alijah Webb’s Google Drive of black revolutionary texts The Black Curriculum’s #TBH365 campaign to incorporate black lived experiences into UK school curriculums SZA’s Twitter thread on supporting black-owned local businesses that have been affected by the protests...