The giant e-commerce technology company, Amazon, has announced that it expects to start delivering orders to shoppers’ homes by drones in the coming months. The details are still in the works, but the innovation could change the way we get packages. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Online data is at risk. Hackers are getting smarter and companies across the globe are facing a shortage of trained professionals who can help protect their data. To fill this gap, the U.S. government is beefing up its efforts to recruit the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. VOA’s Sahar Majid has more. …

Fourteen Russia-backed YouTube channels spreading disinformation have been generating billions of views and millions of dollars in advertising revenue, according to researchers, and had not been labeled as state-sponsored, contrary to the world’s most popular streaming service’s policy. The channels, including news outlets NTV and Russia-24, carried false reports ranging from a U.S. politician covering up a human organ harvesting ring to the economic collapse of Scandinavian countries. Despite such content, viewers have flocked to the channels and U.S. and European companies have bought ads that run alongside them. The previously unpublished research by Omelas, a Washington-based firm that tracks online extremism for defense contractors, provides the most comprehensive view yet of the Russian government’s success in attracting viewers and generating revenue from propaganda on YouTube, which has 2 billion monthly viewers worldwide. YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, introduced a policy in February of 2018 to identify channels predominantly carrying news items and are wholly or partly funded by national governments, in order to help users make informed viewing decisions. YouTube said on Wednesday that following inquiries from Reuters it added the state-funding disclaimer to 13 additional Russian channels, including eight of the channels spreading disinformation. Twelve other Russia-sponsored …

Facebook has stopped letting its apps come pre-installed on smartphones sold by Huawei in order to comply with U.S. restrictions, dealing a fresh blow to the Chinese tech giant. The social network said Friday that it has suspended providing software for Huawei to put on its devices while it reviews recently introduced U.S. sanctions. Owners of existing Huawei smartphones that already have Facebook apps can continue using them and downloading updates. It’s not clear if buyers of new Huawei devices will be able to install Facebook’s apps on their own. Facebook’s move is the latest fallout in the escalating U.S.-China tech feud. The Commerce Department last month effectively barred U.S. companies from selling their technology to Huawei and other Chinese firms without government approval. …

Google on Thursday released new details about its video game streaming service Stadia, which will be available in 14 countries starting in November. For the launch, Google will sell its “founders edition bundle” hardware pack for $129, with a monthly subscription price of $9.99. In Europe, the price will be 129 euros and 9.99 euros per month. The new gaming platform aims for a Netflix-style subscription that enables players to access games on any device, powered by the internet cloud. This could disrupt the huge gaming industry by allowing users to avoid consoles and game software on disc or download. Subscribers will have access to free games and will be able to purchase some blockbuster titles as well. The first free title will be the shooter game Destiny 2 from game developer Bungie. Users may also purchase hit titles such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Stadia will launch in the United States, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Announcing the game platform earlier this year, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the initiative is “to build a game platform for everyone.” Google’s hope is that Stadia could become …

Wearing a white blouse and her dark hair hanging loose, Ai-Da looks like any artist at work as she studies her subject and puts pencil to paper. But the beeping from her bionic arm gives her away – Ai-Da is a robot. Described as “the world’s first ultra-realistic AI humanoid robot artist,” Ai-Da opens her first solo exhibition of eight drawings, 20 paintings, four sculptures and two video works next week, bringing “a new voice” to the art world, her British inventor and gallery owner Aidan Meller says. “The technological voice is the important one to focus on because it affects everybody,” he told Reuters at a preview. “We’ve got a very clear message we want to explore: the uses and abuses of A.I. today, because this next decade is coming in dramatically and we’re concerned about that and we want to have ethical considerations in all of that.” Named after British mathematician and computer pioneer Ada Lovelace, Ai-Da can draw from sight thanks to cameras in her eyeballs and AI algorithms created by scientists at the University of Oxford that help produce coordinates for her arm to create art. She uses a pencil or pen for sketches, but the …

Canada on Wednesday said it was preparing for the arrival of ultra-fast 5G internet service as it outlined plans to make more 5G spectrum available starting next year. The federal Innovation Ministry released a paper outlining changes to an auction expected next year, a decision on a higher frequency millimeter wave spectrum in 2021, and a proposal for a new frequency in 2022. “The next steps in our plan will continue to improve rural internet access and allow for the timely deployment of 5G connectivity while increasing the level of competition to lower prices for Canadians,” Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said in a statement. The government estimates that 5G wireless technologies could be a C$40 billion ($29.8 billion) industry in Canada by 2026, and it is investing C$199 million over five years to modernize spectrum equipment. Canada has not yet said whether or not it will use 5G equipment provided by China-based Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. The United States has accused Huawei of being tied to China’s government, and has effectively banned U.S. firms from doing business with the company for national security reasons. …

Amazon said Wednesday that it plans to use self-driving drones to deliver packages to shoppers’ home in the coming months  The online shopping giant did not give exact timing or say where the drones will be making deliveries. Amazon said its new drones use computer vision and machine learning to detect and avoid people or laundry clotheslines in backyards when landing.   “From paragliders to power lines to a corgi in the backyard, the brain of the drone has safety covered,” said Jeff Wilke, who oversees Amazon’s retail business.  Wilke said the drones are fully electric, can fly up to 15 miles and carry packages that weigh up to five pounds.  Amazon has been working on drone delivery for years. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos told the “60 Minutes” news show that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. But that deadline passed due to regulatory hurdles.   The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial use of drones in the U.S., did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.  In April, a subsidiary of search giant Google won approval from the FAA to make drone deliveries in parts of Virginia.  …

YouTube said on Wednesday it would remove videos that deny the Holocaust, school shootings and other “well-documented violent events,” a major reversal in policy as it fights criticism that it provides a platform for hate speech and harassment. The streaming service, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, also said it would remove videos that glorify Nazi ideology or promote groups that claim superiority to others to justify several forms of discrimination. In addition, video creators that repeatedly brush up against YouTube’s hate speech policies, even without violating them, will be removed from its advertising revenue-sharing program, YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo said. YouTube for years has stood by allowing diverse commentary on history, race and other fraught issues, even if some of it was objectionable to many users. But regulators, advertisers and users have complained that free speech should have its limits online, where conspiracies and hate travel fast and can radicalize viewers. The threat of widespread regulation, and a few advertiser boycotts, appear to have spurred more focus on the issue from YouTube and researchers. In a blog post, the company did not explain why it changed its stance but said “we’ve been taking a close look at our approach towards …

China on Wednesday launched a rocket from a mobile platform at sea for the first time, sending a five commercial satellites and two others containing experimental technology into space. The Long March 11 rocket blasted off from a launch pad aboard a commercial ship in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Shandong province, marking the 306th launch of a rocket in the Long March series, but the first one at sea.   China is the third country after the U.S. and Russia to master sea launch technology.   Sea launches offer advantages such as the ability to position closer to the equator, requiring less fuel to reach orbit and thereby lowering overall launch costs. It also reduces the possibility of damage on the ground from falling rocket debris.   The official Xinhua News Agency cited experts as saying seaborne launch technology will meet the growing demand for launches of low inclination satellites.   China’s space program has developed rapidly, especially since it conducted its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming just the third country following Russia and the U.S. to put humans into space using its own technology.   It has put two space stations into orbit and plans …

Lawmakers in Washington DC met Tuesday to discuss facial recognition software. Law enforcement says the technology helps to identify and track suspected criminals. But privacy advocates say the technology intrudes on the privacy of average citizens who aren’t lawbreakers. Arash Arabasadi reports from Washington. …

At the Tribeca Film Fest in New York, filmmakers are mining current and historical events for inspiration. For tech-savvy youth, it’s one way to ensure the lessons of history won’t be forgotten. Tina Trinh reports. …

Apple will preview upcoming changes to its phone and computer software Monday as it undergoes a major transition intended to offset eroding sales of its bedrock iPhone. The company’s software showcase is an annual rite. But Apple is currently grappling with its biggest challenge since its visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs, died nearly eight years ago. Many of the software updates are expected to be tailored for the digital services that Apple is rolling out to lessen its iPhone dependence. Although still popular, the iPhone is no longer reliably driving Apple’s profits higher. Sales have Sales have fallen sharply for the past two quarters and there’s little reason to expect a quick turnaround. …

Congested Google servers in the eastern United States caused problems for users of Snapchat and YouTube on Sunday, with complaints on social media that the popular apps weren’t accessible. Google acknowledged the issue, writing in a statement on its Cloud Platform status page that it was dealing with “high levels of network congestion in the eastern USA, affecting multiple services in Google Cloud, G Suite and YouTube.” “Users may see slow performance or intermittent errors,” it said, adding that engineers had completed the first of two steps to restore normal operations. Earlier in the day, social media users complained of trouble loading a slew of popular websites and apps. “Google, YouTube, Snapchat, Shopify, all currently down. Is the internet melting?” asked one Twitter post. Snapchat and Google-owned YouTube both acknowledged the server issue on their Twitter accounts. Cloud computing is one of Google’s most lucrative services, but faces stiff competition from other technology companies like Amazon and Microsoft. In March, the world’s largest social network, Facebook, blamed a “server configuration change” for a massive outage affecting its applications around the world. The outage affected users for at least 12 hours in most areas of the world, with the biggest impact …

U.S. antitrust regulators have divided oversight of Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, putting Amazon under the watch of the Federal Trade Commission and Google under the Justice Department, the Washington Post said Saturday. Amazon could face heightened antitrust scrutiny under a new agreement between U.S. regulators that puts the e-commerce giant under the watch of the trade commission, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The development is the result of the FTC and Justice Department quietly dividing up competition oversight on both of the American tech giants, Amazon and Google, the newspaper said, adding that the FTC’s plans for Amazon and the Justice Department’s interest in Google were not immediately clear. The news comes after Reuters and other media reported Friday that the Justice Department is preparing an investigation into Google in order to ascertain whether the company broke antitrust law in operating its online businesses. Google said it had no comment on the report, while Amazon, the FTC and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. …

Powerful magnets at a laboratory in Florida are allowing researchers to see the unseeable, understand the nature of things, and break the boundaries of scientific knowledge. Faith Lapidus has more on the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. …

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing an investigation of Alphabet Inc.’s Google to determine whether the tech giant broke antitrust law in operating its sprawling online businesses, two sources familiar with the matter said. Officials from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission, which both enforce antitrust law, met in recent weeks to give Justice jurisdiction over Google, said the sources, who sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The potential investigation represents the latest attack on a tech company by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused social media companies and Google of suppressing conservative voices on their platforms online. One source said the potential investigation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, focused on accusations that Google gave preference to its own businesses in searches. A spokesman for the Justice Department said he could not confirm or deny that an investigation was being considered. Google declined comment. ​FTC investigation Early in 2013, the FTC closed a long-running investigation of Google, giving it a slap on the wrist. Under FTC pressure, Google agreed to end the practice of “scraping” reviews and other data from rivals’ websites for its own …

Children who either played or watched a video game that included gun violence were more likely afterward to handle a gun and pull the trigger, a new study finds. More than 200 children were randomly assigned to play either a non-violent video game or a game with firearm violence. Soon after, more than 60% of kids who played the violent game touched a gun, compared to about 44% of those who played a non-violent game, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. The lessons from the new findings are that: “gun owners should secure their guns,” and “parents should protect their children from violent media, including video games,” said study coauthor Brad Bushman, a professor of communication at The Ohio State University. “Each day in the United States, nearly 50 children and teenagers are shot with a firearm, often as a result of a child finding one loaded and unsecured,” Bushman and his coauthor Justin Chang, a former graduate student at Ohio State, wrote. “Among firearm-owning households with children, approximately 20% keep at least one firearm loaded and unsecured.” Bushman and Chang recruited 242 kids, ages 8 to 12, to look at the impact of violent video games. The children were …

British mobile phone operator EE on Thursday became the first in the country to launch a high-speed 5G service, but without smartphones from controversial Chinese technology giant Huawei. EE, which is a division of British telecoms giant BT, has launched 5G in six major cities comprising Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester — and more hubs will follow. “From today, the U.K. will be able to discover 5G for the first time thanks to EE,” it announced in a statement, after an official launch featuring a performance from chart-topping grime act Stormzy on a boat on London’s River Thames. Next-generation 5G mobile networks offer almost instantaneous data transfer that will become the nervous system of Europe’s economy in strategic sectors like energy, transport, banking and health care. EE had announced last week that it would make its 5G network available to the public — but would not sell Huawei’s first 5G phone, the Mate 20 X 5G. However, the Chinese company still provides 5G network infrastructure equipment to EE. “We are very pleased to be one of the partners supporting EE with a new era of faster and more reliable mobile connectivity over 5G in the U.K.,” a Huawei spokesperson told …

When a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — one altered to show the Democratic leader slurring her words — began making the rounds on Facebook last week, the social network didn’t take it down. Instead, it “downranked” the video, a behind-the-scenes move intended to limit its spread. That outraged some people who believe Facebook should do more to clamp down on misinformation. Pelosi derided Facebook Wednesday for not taking down the video even though it knows it is false. But the company and some civil libertarians warn that Facebook could evolve into an unaccountable censor if it’s forced to make judgment calls on the veracity of text, photos or videos. Facebook has long resisted making declarations about the truthfulness of posts that could open it up to charges of censorship or political bias. It manages to get itself in enough trouble simply trying to enforce more basic rules in difficult cases, such as the time a straightforward application of its ban on nudity led it to remove an iconic Vietnam War photo of a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack. (It backed down after criticism from the prime minister of Norway, among others.) But staying out of the …

Electric vehicles have struggled to gain mass appeal in much of the world despite the fanfare surrounding Tesla Motors, the world’s best-selling brand of plug-in cars last year. Drivers worry about prices, comfort and what happens when a battery expires in the middle of a trip. But in Taiwan, scooter vendor Gogoro doubles its sales every year largely because of a widespread battery exchange network supported by a central government that’s keen to control emissions. Gogoro designs what it describes as ride-able scooters as well as engines for other brands, filling what the chief executive officer calls earlier market voids. “People say we’re the two wheels of Tesla, and in some ways, we are,” CEO and co-founder Horace Luke said. “We do a little bit of everything.” The company, which launched in 2011, first had to prove that it could all be done. “Nobody could believe that an electric vehicle could be cool and fun to ride, so we built that,” said Horace Luke, founder of Gogoro. “Nobody believed that you could swap batteries, so we enabled that.” Battery swaps Gogoro stands out among other electric scooter developers by working with Taiwan’s central government plus the city of Taipei to locate …

MacKenzie Bezos, who just months ago divorced the world’s richest man, has pledged to give away half her fortune to charity.  The former wife of Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos is one of the 19 new signatories to the Giving Pledge who have promised to donate more than 50% of their wealth, the organization said.  “I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” MacKenzie Bezos said in a letter released Tuesday. “My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”  Bezos’ personal fortune is worth nearly $37 billion, making her the 22nd-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.  The Giving Pledge was created by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010. It asks the world’s wealthiest people to promise to give away half their wealth during their lifetimes or in their wills.  Bezos’ former husband, who is worth an estimated $114 billion, has not yet signed the pledge but tweeted his support for his ex-wife’s decision. “MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy, …

Facebook has dropped 51 accounts, 36 pages, and seven groups after the cybersecurity firm FireEye revealed they were fake accounts originating in Iran. Three Instagram accounts were also deactivated. The FireEye report Tuesday says the phony accounts pretended they came from the United States and impersonated legitimate Middle Eastern news sources to push a pro-Iranian agenda. Posts written in both English and Arabic included discussions about American and British politics, Islam, Arab minorities, and the influence of Saudi Arabia. The posts represented both conservative and liberal points of view. One post said the best way to honor the memory of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was for the U.S. to stop sending aid to the Saudi coalition fighting Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. The fake posters even succeeded in getting letters to the editors published in a number of U.S. newspapers, includingThe Los Angeles Times and The New York Daily News. The author of the FireEye report, Lee Foster, was careful not to directly blame the Iranian government for the illegitimate accounts, saying the investigation is continuing. Facebook says it is also investigating and is sharing information with law enforcement. “We’re constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we …

Artificial intelligence-driven phones that turn photos into 3D images and PCs with interactive speakers will come a step closer to reality this week during Asia’s biggest consumer technology show.   Organizers of the Computex Taipei show with 1,685 exhibitors — including a who’s who of global high tech companies — call artificial intelligence one of their top 2019 themes.   Microchip developers Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm are expected to talk up their latest gear during the four-day show that opens Tuesday. Memory chip maker Micron Technology says it will exhibit a “broad portfolio of memory and storage” for artificial intelligence.   “My personal expectations toward AI this year are quite high,” said Helen Chiang, general manager of market research firm IDC in Taipei. “Whether from the perspective of the information systems or the technology, I’ve got some anticipation for these device-plus things.”   Artificial intelligence — AI for short — lets computers make human-like decisions based on data collected from hardware. Classic examples available to common users now include speech recognition, e-mail spam filters and personal assistants such as Siri and Alexa.   Apps, speakers and 3D images   Almost all the world’s chief hardware and software developers say they …