A news highlight about what’s new with the tech industry, smart cities and smart mobility in the past week.
Dating apps to introduce COVID vaccine badges in the UK
Dating app users in the UK will have the option to display a badge on their profiles that signifies that they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. However, currently, there is no way to verify them. Read more here.
Facebook suspends Trump’s social media accounts for two years
Facebook has announced that they are suspending former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years for violating their rules. Read more here.
United announces planned purchase of supersonic airliners
US airline United has announced that they are planning to purchase 15 new supersonic airliners, which are aircrafts that travel faster than the speed of sound, and hope to have their passengers fly on them by 2029. Read more here.
New £210m centre to develop next generation of computers
A new £210m AI and quantum computing centre in Daresbury, Cheshire aimed at developing the next generation of computers will be run as a partnership between IBM and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Read more here.
Bosch’s new German chip plant a record investment
Bosch has opened a 1 billion euro chip plant in Germany which will help them rely less on third-party manufacturers and directly service carmakers more. Read more here.
South Korean designer makes robotic “Third Eye” for smartphone addicts
Paeng Min-wook, a South Korean designer has created a robotic “Third Eye” you can wear on your head that serves as a solution for people who walk around not looking up from their phones. The robotic eyeball notifies the user when they are 1 or 2 meters away from an obstacle so they don’t walk into it. Read more here.
UW researchers discover COVID-19 misdiagnosis by AI taking shortcuts
University of Washington researchers, Alex DeGrave, Su-In Lee and Joseph Janizek, in their new study, have found that AI relied on shortcuts when it comes to diagnosing COVID-19, leading to misdiagnosis. Read more here.
New Amazon Halo feature to access routine body movement and offer ways to improve
Amazon is adding a new feature to their Halo app, called Movement Health, which uses computer vision and machine learning to assess a user’s stability, posture and mobility and then informs the user on what exercises will improve it. Read more here.
First programmable digital fiber with AI created by MIT engineers
A group of MIT engineers have created the first fibre with digital capabilities. Thanks to memory, sensors and AI, the fibre is able to sense and then store, analyse and infer activity after being sewn into a piece of clothing. Read more here.
Pollen-sized technology saves bees
Researchers from Cornell have created a low-cost, pollen-sized technology that works as an antidote for deadly pesticides that kill bees. Read more here.
New privacy feature in Apple continues war on ad-tracking
A new feature has been unveiled by Apple enabling Apple device users to be informed when individual apps request to have access to features and data such as the device microphone, camera and phone gallery. Read more here.
Google fined €220m by French authorities
France’s competition watchdog has accused Google of abusing its advertising power and fined the company €220m. Read more here.
