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We had initially expected Samsung to unveil the new Galaxy Tab S6 tablet and Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch alongside the Galaxy Note 10 on August 7, but the company will now unveil those former products ahead of its next smartphone.

July 31 - that's today - is the official unveiling date for a new tablet from Samsung, according to an official video that teases it alongside the smartwatch.

We're expecting to hear all about the tablet at 10AM ET (7AM PT, 3PM BST or midnight ACT on August 1 for those in Australia) but it's currently unclear if the company will be hosting a livestream or if the details will just drop on the company's website.

• Our guide to the very best Samsung phones
• Can't wait? Try our best Android tablet guide
• Our thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e

The video doesn't outright confirm it'll be called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, but the 20 second teaser definitely shows a tablet with a stylus and gives us a quick glimpse at the edges of the device.

A smartwatch is also pictured in the video, but it's clear we won't be hearing about that until August 5.

We expect this to be the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, and while it's difficult to make out any changes in the video it definitely shows a device without a rotating bezel, which matches with other leaks we've seen.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 is expected to come with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset inside, which is the first time we've seen Samsung's tablet range embrace the latest power available at the time.

Others specs include a AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a 7,040mAh battery. On the rear is a dual-lens camera that's expected to harness both a 13MP f/2.0 main lens and a 5MP f/2.2 secondary one.

Those waiting for the Note 10 are expected to have to continue waiting until August 7 when the company is hosting an Unpacked event in New York, but this allows the company to focus on its phone on that day while giving us some exciting news in the next week too.

• Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

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Jaybird’s latest sweat-proof fully wireless earbuds feel almost weightless, and hold an impressive charge.

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UPDATE: We've now added HBO's Barry and Chernobyl series to our list of the best TV shows on Foxtel Now – check out the next two slides to find out more about them!

Joining Netflix and Stan in the Australian streaming landscape, Foxtel Now gives Australians the easiest way to access Foxtel to date – especially if you own a Foxtel Box.

Offering an unparalleled selection of TV shows in its library (so long as you've subscribed to the right packages), Foxtel Now is currently providing access to some of the biggest and best shows of any streaming service in Australia. In fact, if you have multiple packs in your subscription, you may find yourself with an overwhelming amount of content.

• You can buy the Foxtel Now Box for $99 from Dick Smith

With that in mind, we've created this TechRadar guide to the best TV shows to stream on Foxtel Now at the moment (in no particular order). We'll keep this best TV show list constantly updated with the latest series that you should be watching and also tell you why.

One of the best new comedies in recent years, Barry follows a hitman (played by Bill Hader) caught in an existential crisis who joins an acting class in order to track his latest target. Of course, Barry soon finds that he has a knack for performing, as it allows him to safely express the darkness within him to a group of people without judgement. These people include classmate Sally (Sarah Goldberg), whom Barry is immediately smitten with, and Gene (Henry Winkler), his eccentric acting teacher. And while things are looking good for Barry, his killer work commitments threaten to derail all of his newfound relationships.

A harrowing recounting of the worst man-made disaster in human history, namely the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986, this HBO miniseries details the arrogance that led to the event and the Soviet cleanup (and cover-up) efforts that came after. While it might take a few moments to get used to Ukrainian and Russian characters speaking with British accents, you quickly get over it because the performances (from actors like Jarred Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson) are so good. Elsewhere, the show oozes authenticity at every turn – from its use of real locations, to its exceptionally accurate retelling of events, Chernobyl is bound to go down as the definitive dramatisation of this horrific event.

Perhaps the biggest show in the world at the moment (especially as its in its final season), Game of Thrones is required viewing for fans of fantasy and prestige television. Based on George RR Martin's best selling series of fantasy novels, the show follows a number of powerful families as they wrestle for control over the fictional realm of Westeros. While they're all doing this, the undead threaten to destroy the entire world. Will they come together to prevent this from happening? It doesn't seem likely... If you haven't gotten around to watching it yet, Foxtel Now has all eight seasons available to stream in an instant. If you hurry, you might be able to catch-up before its highly-anticipated ending is spoiled!

One of the most relevant and gripping television shows of our time, Mr. Robot follows a group of hackers who attempt to take down the world's biggest corporation. We follow Elliot (Rami Malek), hacker-extraordinaire and cybersecurity engineer, as he orchestrates the biggest hack in history, all while battling social anxiety disorder and clinical depression, among other problems. But is he really the one in charge, or other there darker, more sinister forces pulling the strings? A modern masterpiece of television.

Set in the formerly gritty New York City of the 1970s, this new series from David Simon (The Wire, Generation Kill) follows a number of characters operating around Times Square during its sleazy heyday. This includes a pair of twin brothers (James Franco in both roles), a college dropout (Margarita Levieva), several hookers (including Maggie Gyllenhaal) and their pimps (including Gbenga Akinnagbe and Black Thought from The Roots) and a cop who's tired of corruption in the force (Lawrence Gilliard Jr). An eye-opening look at the sexual revolution and the dawn of New York's porn industry, The Deuce is similar in tone and style to Simon's other HBO masterpiece, The Wire.

This Australian drama has picked up a decent local following and has even aired in New Zealand and the UK. Inspired by the Australian 80s soap opera series Prisoner, Wentworth is set in a contemporary re-imagination of the same fictional women's detention centre. Following a mother who has been separated from her daughter after being convicted of the attempted murder of her husband, the series tracks her introduction to life within the Australian correctional system.

Supergirl is one of the best shows in the CW's 'Arrowverse', and regularly features cameos from the likes of The Flash and Arrow. What makes the show great however, is its progressive storytelling, which puts issues like sexism
and racism in the spotlight and deals with them in a way that only Supergirl (perfectly played by Melissa Benoist) can. That it also occasionally brings spectacular heroes like Superman and Martian Manhunter into the mix is just the icing on the cake.

A terrific NZ/Australian drama starring Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid's Tale), Top of the Lake: China Girl sees Robin Griffin (Moss) investigate the murder of a young girl found on Bondi Beach. Joining her in this season is Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as a Sydney detective who helps Griffin on the case. One of Foxtel's best original shows.

Based on Michael Crichton's classic science fiction movie of the same name, the HBO version of Westworld expands the mythology of the universe, in which rich people visit a Wild West themed resort filled with incredibly lifelike robot NPCs. The show explores the inner workings of the park, as well as a robot revolution that is on the cusp of taking place. A fantastic series that rivals Game of Thrones in terms of budget and scope, Westworld is highly recommended.

The Sopranos is a highly regarded American-Italian mob show based in New Jersey in the early 2000s. Tapping into the psychologically introspective culture of New York and the classic family/crime dynamic found in many mobster films, The Sopranos explores the difficulties of juggling both a functioning crime syndicate and a nurturing family environment, through the prism of a psychologist's chair.

Featuring the most jaw-dropping houses in the country, Grand Designs Australia follows host Peter Maddison as he showcases a number of people who attempt to construct their dream homes. The kind of show that makes you simultaneously entertained and envious, Grand Designs Australia is a terrific Foxtel Original.

Based on a comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead is an American horror drama set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Former Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes heads up the survival party attempting to find his wife, daughter and shelter from the impending danger of this new world. We hope you enjoy watching your favourite characters ruthlessly killed on a near-weekly basis, because The Walking Dead delights in shocking its fan-base.

If uncomfortable comedy is your bag, you're going to love Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Seinfeld co-creator Larry David as himself. Imagine Seinfeld, only with a much more insufferable protagonist, sans laugh track and with a tonne of swearing and you get the idea of what this show's about. After a hiatus of several years, the show is back with a brand new 9th season which Foxtel Now fast-tracks as new episodes arrive. If you ask us, that's pretty, pretty, pretty good.

An action-packed series that dials its violence and sex up to ludicrous levels, Banshee sees an ex-con (Antony Starr) released from jail after 10 years only to immediately assume the identity of a dead sheriff in an Amish country town called Banshee. Before long, he's up to his eyeballs in trouble involving a local gangster (Ulrich Thomsen), and an ex-lover (Ivana Miličević) who has put her criminal past behind her, all while trying to keep his real identity under wraps. Trashy and addictive, Banshee is almost too entertaining!

From Mike Judge (Office Space, Idiocracy) comes Silicon Valley, a hilarious show about a young startup called Pied Piper and its various misadventures navigating the tech capital of the world. Whether it's internal struggles or outside pressure from tech giant Hooli (a clear Google stand-in), the team must do everything it can to keep its company afloat in an incredibly competitive landscape. A must-watch for tech enthusiasts.

Regarded by many (this writer included) to be the greatest television series of all time, The Wire paints a portrait of an American city (in this case, Baltimore) the way that no other show has done so before. Framed against the backdrop of America's 'War on Drugs', The Wire shows both sides of the struggle, focusing on the environment that produces street dealers and turns innocent children into hardened killers, while also examining the issue from the police's perspective, showing how bureaucracy prevents it from affecting any real change. Raw and uncompromising, The Wire is unlike any other crime series you've seen.

HBO's western series Deadwood was devastatingly cancelled before its time, but thankfully we can relive the show's harsh and brutal world on Foxtel Now in its entirety. Ex-lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant, clearly loving his status as a cowboy hero) arrives in the lawless frontier town of Deadwood to start a hardware business and provide for his dead brother's family. Before long, the crime and corruption of this town, headed by bar owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), forces Bullock back into the life he tried so desperately to leave behind. A truly magnificent show, Deadwood is binge-worthy bliss. Also, with news that a Deadwood follow-up movie could be in the works, now's a great time to reacquaint yourself with this classic series.

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Windows 10 S was first revealed back in May 2017 as a standalone OS, but it faced some controversy at launch. A lot of the criticism stemmed from the fact that it limits users to apps found on the Microsoft Store. Luckily, users can switch out of Windows 10 S Mode for free. Still, the lightweight operating system has proved instrumental in getting Windows 10 the over 825 million installs it has today.

Windows 10 in S Mode makes a lot of sense for specific users and devices. The Microsoft Surface Go, for example, a cheap alternative to the Surface Pro, only has a low-power Intel Pentium Gold processor, which means that it’s an ideal candidate for Windows 10 S. 

We’ve also seen reports of people getting Windows 10 S running on a Raspberry Pi 3, which makes a lot of sense for the lightweight OS. Microsoft is also rumored to be working on Windows Lite, which will further the lightweight nature of the OS, to compete with the best Chromebooks.

Windows 10 S Mode is also able to take advantage of any Windows 10 updates, like the October 2018 Update and the now-available Windows 10 May 2019 Update. What does this mean for Windows 10 S users? Simply that they get nifty features like the May Update’s “Light Mode” and useful storage space tools, as well as the possibility of playing Xbox One games natively.

Even now, a few years after its initial release, Windows 10 S is still a large part of the Windows 10 landscape, so we thought it would be the perfect time to dive in and explore everything this lightweight version of Windows can do.

Make sure you bookmark this page, as we’ll keep it updated with all the latest and greatest Windows 10 S information that appears.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Windows 10 without x86 and x64 apps
• When is it out? Available now
• What will it cost? Free to all schools using Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 S release date

Windows 10 S initially launched on May 2, 2017, with devices using the OS trickling out over the next few months. Fast forward to 2019 and Windows 10 S is bigger than ever, making lower spec Windows 10 devices more versatile now than ever before. 

Eventually, there will be a UI toggle that’ll let Windows 10 users switch in and out of S Mode (this was not available at the original time of this writing). Sadly, switching out of S Mode is a one-way street and permanent. Fortunately, if you need more than what this light OS can offer, you can get out of S Mode easier than you think – simply go to the Windows Store and search for “switch out of S Mode”.

At the moment, to get Windows 10 in S mode, you are required to have the qualifying devices that are already enabled in S mode. You can also ask your computer manufacturer to see if you can get it installed in a new device you are purchasing. Unfortunately, Windows 10 S is not for individual sale, but it is issued to IT administrators in education as well as laptops found in stores and online. It’s no coincidence that Windows 10 S is focused on the education sector, where Google’s Chromebooks are having unparalleled success and popularity.

Windows 10 S price

Windows 10 S is basically free for users. Microsoft subsidizes the cost of the OS to hardware manufacturers, assuming they’re not getting Windows 10 S for free. Essentially, as a user, you don’t really pay for Windows 10 S Mode, instead you’re paying for the hardware running it. 

With the exception of premium devices like the original Surface Laptop, you can find devices running Windows 10 S Mode starting at just $189 (about £146, AU$251) and cap out around $299 (about £239, AU$396). PC makers across the board – including Dell, HP, Asus, Acer and Lenovo – all have Windows 10 S Mode-powered devices in their stables.

However, now that Windows 10 S Mode is a thing, it’s a toggle that won’t cost you anything extra. Both Windows 10 Home and Pro S Mode users are able to go to the Windows Store and opt out of S Mode. Although, again, the conversion only works one way – out of S Mode. At least, at the moment.

There might be a switch in the settings app of a future build that will let users go back and forth, but so far, opting out of it is permanent.

What is Windows 10 S?

Microsoft designed Windows 10 S to serve as a lightweight yet more secure version of Windows 10 for lower-end devices. By lightweight, that also means that in “S Mode,” Windows 10 will only support apps that are downloaded from the Windows Store.

This talk of a version of Windows that can only download Microsoft-approved apps is familiar, isn’t it? Microsoft believes it has perfected this approach since the turbulent days of Windows 8 RT and Windows 8 with Bing – both of which tried to position Microsoft as the sole provider of apps through curation.

The great thing about this, though, is that it allows for a startup time of under 5 seconds, instead of Windows 10 Pro’s startup time of 30 - 40 second. Additionally, configuration settings (such as Wi-Fi, webcam, etc.) across an entire classroom of students is as easy as inserting a USB stick in each of their laptops.

Being in competition with Google’s Chrome OS, Microsoft has, of course, also positioned Windows 10 S to be a more secure PC operating system. However, its resilience to viruses is mostly a side-effect of the inability to install apps not approved by Microsoft, since historically, Windows viruses have tended to come from untrustworthy internet downloads.

Should you find a must-have app that isn't available in the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 S, you can switch from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Home or Pro simply by going to the Windows Store and searching for “switch out of S Mode”. Microsoft used to charge a fee for this service, but now it’s free for everyone.

Microsoft will also allow users that upgrade to Windows 10 Pro to move back down to Windows 10 S. And now, Microsoft is rumored to be working on a Windows 10 Lean Mode, which will be even more lightweight and locked down. 

Oddly enough, the shiny new Surface Laptop 2 now ships with Windows 10 Home, not in S Mode like the previous.

That said, what exactly can you expect to see included in devices running Windows 10 S? Well, the Edge browser, OneNote and Windows Ink are all givens. The standard Movies and Groove Music apps, not to mention Maps, Mail and Calendar, are obvious picks as well. 

Of course, we won’t see x86/x64 program support on a Windows 10 cloud operating system until sometime in 2019 when the previously mentioned Polaris is expected to come out and implement a ‘virtualization container’ for each of your favorite legacy applications. This means that, yes, should everything work according to plan, there will be a Windows 10 cloud OS that can emulate the .exe’s of the past.

In spite of its limitations, Windows 10 S still features File Explorer. And, while many of the laptops that come with the lightweight OS pre-installed may ship with smaller capacity SSDs, Microsoft’s upcoming introduction of OneDrive Files On-Demand will allow users to access files stored in the cloud and view them the same way as locally stored content.

All things considered, there are still questions looming regarding the viability of Windows 10 S. Fortunately, as new developments emerge to address those criticisms, you can count on us to cover them right here in this article.

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

Images Credit: Microsoft

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As it forecast earlier this month, Samsung reported a steep drop in its second-quarter earnings due to lower market demand for chips and smartphones. The company said its second-quarter operating profit fell 55.6% year-over-year to 6.6 trillion won (about $5.6 billion), on consolidated revenue of 56.13 trillion won, slightly above the guidance it issued three weeks ago.

Last quarter, Samsung also reported that its operating profit had dropped by more than half. The same issues that hit its earnings during the first quarter of this year have continued, including lower memory prices as major datacenter customers adjust their inventory, meaning they are currently buying less chips (the weak market also impacted competing semiconductor maker SK Hynix’s quarterly earnings).

Samsung reported that its chip business saw second-quarter operating profit drop 71% year-over-year to 3.4 trillion won, on consolidated revenue of 16.09 trillion won. In the second half of the year, the company expects to continue dealing with market uncertainty, but says demand for chips will increase “on strong seasonality and adoption of higher-density products.”

Meanwhile, Samsung’s mobile business reported a 42% drop in operating profit from a year ago to 1.56 trillion won, on 25.86 trillion won in consolidated revenue. The company said its smartphone shipments increased quarter-over-quarter thanks to strong sales of its budget Galaxy A series. But sales of flagship models fell, due to “weak sales momentum for the Galaxy S10 and stagnant demand for premium products.”

Samsung expects the mobile market to remain lackluster, but it will continue adding to both its flagship and mass-market lineups. It is expected to unveil the Note 10 next month and a new release date for the delayed Galaxy Fold, along with new A series models in the second half of the year.

“The company will promptly respond to the changing business environment, and step up efforts to secure profitability by enhancing efficiency across development, manufacturing and marketing operations,” Samsung said in its earnings release.

It’s not just market demand that’s impacting Samsung’s earnings. Along with other tech companies, Samsung is steeling itself for the long-term impact of a trade dispute between Japan and South Korea. Last month, Japan announced that it is placing export restrictions on some materials used in chips and smartphones. Samsung said it still has stores of those materials, but it is also looking for alternatives since it is unclear how long the dispute between the two countries may last (and it could last for a long time).

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There’s a double standard when it comes to the sexualities of men versus women, trans and gender non-conforming folks. Unbound and Dame Products, two sex tech startups, have teamed up to bring attention to the issue.

By launching a website, “Approved, Not Approved” and staging a protest outside Facebook’s NYC headquarters, the two startups hope to bring more awareness to the company’s advertising guidelines that seem to favor products that cater to cisgender men. The point of the digital campaign is to show how ads for sex toys and products geared toward men are more likely to be approved than those for women, trans or gender non-conforming people.

“For so long, advertisements have been how we continue to reinforce the status quo of what we view as societally desirable and validating,” Dame Products CEO Alexandra Fine told TechCrunch. “Since we’re in a category that’s often denied, we wanted to create an experience that illuminates the disparity.”

On Facebook, for example, it’s prohibitive to promote the sale or use of adult products or services except for ads that pertain to family planning and contraception. The policy also requires that ads for contraceptives cannot focus on sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement, and have to be targeted to people 18 years or older.

“They’re never going to view sexual pleasure as necessary — only functionality as necessary,” Fine said. “And since the functioning only matters for one sex, then we’re just encouraging shitty sex or at least one-sided sex. Healthy sex should be pleasurable sex. That’s really what I think is important.”

Facebook, however, clearly disagrees since it explicitly bans ads relating to sexual pleasure.

“We have had open lines of communication with both companies about our policies and are always taking feedback,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We are working to further clarify our policies in this space in the near future.”

Unfortunately, there is no telling if and when Facebook and other platforms will change their advertising policies to enable companies like Dame Products and Unbound to reach potential customers through ads.

“I think a lot of us feel like we’ve been silenced by these platforms and they control so much,” Unbound CEO Polly Rodriguez told TechCrunch. “Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest — these are the channels startups live and die by. Not being able to advertise on them is a big deal because, in addition to the policies being biased and genders, it prevents those founders from being able to reach potential customers.”

Unbound CEO Polly Rodriguez. The startup was a finalist at TC Disrupt SF Startup Battlefield finalist in 2018.

In addition to missing out on potential customers, an inability to advertise can have a detrimental effect on a business in terms of raising venture funding.

“I think one of the most frustrating things is trying to raise a round and getting pushback around where you’ll spend the money,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just tough because it’s this vicious cycle where we could be growing at the same rate as a Him or a Roman. It’s definitely in the tens of millions of dollars in terms of foregone profits.”

In addition to the protest, Fine is suing New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority alleging it’s in violation of Dame’s First Amendment rights, the due process clause of the 14th Amendment and the state’s constitutional rights regarding freedom of speech. The lawsuit came in light of the MTA preventing Dame from running its ads on the subway.

Still, despite efforts to squash it, sex tech may finally be getting its moment in the sun. Earlier this month, the sex tech industry had a big win when the organizer of the Consumer Electronics Show finally decided to allow sex tech companies to exhibit and participate in its competition. That came after the Consumer Technology Association, the organizer of CES, royally messed up with sex tech company Lora DiCarlo last year. The CTA revoked an innovation award from the company, which is developing a hands-free device that uses biomimicry and robotics to help women achieve a blended orgasm by simultaneously stimulating the G-spot and the clitoris. In May, CTA re-awarded the company and apologized.

“It’s so rare you see a victory like that and it was because of the press,” Rodriguez said. “It was because it takes. It’s unfortunate these companies don’t do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. They do the right thing when enough people speak out about it.”

Unbound makes pleasure fashionable

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Chrome 76 has been released today on all platforms, and it’s brought with it a number of security patches, bug fixes and handy features to help with your browsing.

The most notable change for most users will be how Google is choosing to handle any Flash Player content that’s still lingering around the web. While the move to kill off Adobe’s archaic format has been in the works for a few years, Chrome will now officially block Flash by default.

Since 1996, Flash content has allowed web users to view and interact with media online, but since the launch of standards such as HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly, it has become redundant and something of a potential security hazard.

For now, users can still enable it manually every time they want Flash media to be played but, considering that Adobe will be discontinuing the format entirely next year, this feature will be relatively short-lived.

• Google Chrome for desktop is finally getting a dark mode
• Google is cracking down on snooping Chrome extensions
• How to remove suggested URLs from Google Chrome

As we reported earlier in July, Google is also plugging a loophole that allowed websites to easily detect when a user is browsing in Chrome’s Incognito Mode, something that was particularly problematic for people in political or social situations that warranted them to conceal their web activity.

Previously, websites that employed a metered paywall (one that offered a limited amount of free articles) would use this method of detection to stop those browsing the web from avoiding detection and exceeding the metered limit.

A side effect of this loophole being plugged is that, these websites will no longer be able to tell when you’re browsing Incognito, and users will now be able to reliably bypass these paywalls.

• Google to plug Chrome loophole that exposes Incognito status to sites

Outside of these two major improvements, Chrome 76 implements a total of 43 security fixes, offers a variety of minor tweaks, and a host of developer-facing improvements – the full rundown of which can be found here.

Chrome 76 is currently rolling out for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.

• Adobe finally kills Flash

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A serious crash by a delivery drone in Switzerland have grounded the fleet and put a partnership on ice. Within a stone’s throw of a school, the incident raised grim possibilities for the possibilities of catastrophic failure of payload-bearing autonomous aerial vehicles.

The drones were operated by Matternet as part of a partnership with the Swiss Post (i.e. the postal service), which was using the craft to dispatch lab samples from one medical center for priority cases. As far as potential applications of drone delivery, it’s a home run — but twice now the craft have crashed, first with a soft landing and the second time a very hard one.

The first incident, in January, was the result of a GPS hardware error; the drone entered a planned failback state and deployed its emergency parachute, falling slowly to the ground. Measures were taken to improve the GPS systems.

The second failure in May, however, led to the drone attempting to deploy its parachute again, only to sever the line somehow and plummet to earth, crashing into the ground some 150 feet from a bunch of kindergartners. No one was hit but this narrowly avoided being a worst-case scenario for the service: not just a craft failing, but the emergency systems failing as well, and over not just a populated area but immediately over a bunch of children. The incident was documented last month but not widely reported.

Falling from a few hundred feet, the 12-kilogram (about 26 pounds) drone and payload could easily have seriously injured or even killed someone — this is why there are very strict regulations about flying over populated areas and crowds.

A first look at Amazon’s new delivery drone

Obviously they grounded the fleet following this incident and will not spin up again until Matternet addresses the various issues involved. How was it even possible, for instance, that the parachute line was capable of being cut by something on the drone?

IEEE Spectrum first noted the news stateside. The company the following statement on the matter:

This is the first time ever that our vehicle parachute system has failed. As stated in the report, the flight termination system was triggered nominally per the drone’s specification, but the parachute cord was severed during the parachute deployment.

At Matternet, we take the safety of our technology and operations extremely seriously. A failure of the parachute safety mechanism system is unacceptable and we are taking all the appropriate measures to address it.

Swiss Post and Matternet reacted to the incident immediately by grounding all the operations involving this vehicle type. Our experts analyzed the incident and proposed the appropriate mitigations which are being evaluated by FOCA. We will restart operations once Matternet and Swiss Post, FOCA and our hospital customers in Switzerland are satisfied that the appropriate mitigations have been applied.

Drone delivery is a promising field, but situations like this one don’t do it any favors when regulators take a look. Despite sunny predictions from the industry, there is a huge amount of work yet to be done in terms of flight proving the technology, and although 2 failures out of some 3,000 may not sound like a lot, if one of those failures is an uncontrolled fall that nearly takes out some kids, that could set the entire industry back.

(This story has been slightly updated to accommodate a new statement from Matternet.)

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It began with a simple question: “So, what if you could type directly from your brain?” 

That was something Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerburg asked on stage during the company’s annual F8 conference back in 2017. Since then, Facebook has been funding research into a brain-computer interface (BCI) that it could use in augmented reality wearables, like its long-talked about AR glasses.

Looks like the mind-reading interface could be one step closer to reality with Facebook releasing the first significant update on the project, with researchers now able to “decode a small set of full, spoken words and phrases from activity in real time”.

This breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Communications, came about via an algorithm that was able to read the thoughts of participants suffering from brain injuries.

Mind reading

When the project was first announced in 2017, the goal was to “decode silent speech”. 

In this experiment, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco – backed by Facebook Reality Labs – were allowed to implant electrodes into the brains of three epilepsy patients.

The participants were asked questions which they needed to answer aloud. This helped them identify activity and patterns in parts of the brain associated with understanding and producing speech in real time.

The readings from the electrodes, according to the researchers, were accurate 61% of the time, demonstrating it is possible to decode speech “in an interactive, conversational setting” to help people suffering from brain trauma to communicate.

Back at Menlo Park

Facebook, however, is willing to be patient as the research progresses to where “real-time decoding speed of 100 words per minute with a 1,000-word vocabulary and word error rate of less than 17 percent” becomes possible… even if it takes a decade.

In the meantime, the company is working on a “portable, wearable device made from consumer-grade parts” that monitors oxygen levels in the brain. This, the social media giant claims, could be a way for a BCI device to read people’s minds without the need for invasive surgery.

The device is “currently bulky, slow and reliable” but, if or when perfected, could be used as a basis of Facebook’s AR glasses, allowing us – at some point in the future – to communicate without the need for smartphones.

• What is augmented reality

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Giffgaff has been fined £1.4 million by Ofcom for overcharging customers to the tune of almost £2.9 million due to an issue with its billing system.

The Telefonica-owned Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) uses O2’s network to deliver services to users and bills itself as a ‘no-frills’ option with a community-based approach to customer services.

Customers have the option of purchasing bundles of minutes, texts and data called ‘goody bags’ either by paying up front or adding them later using pay-as-you-go credit.

• EE and Virgin Media fined for overcharging 
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Giffgaff fine 

However, an Ofcom investigation found that customers who paid for goody bags using credit did not have the bundles applied to their account immediately. In some cases, the bundle was only activated once a call was finished or when a device was switched on or off.

This mean that voice calls were paid for using credit rather than the inclusive minutes that comprise a bundle.

Ofcom said that the bundles should have applied immediately from the moment of purchase and customers were effectively being charged twice for the same call. As many as 2.6 million customers were affected by the issue.

“Getting bills right is a basic duty for every phone company. But Giffgaff made unacceptable mistakes, leaving millions of customers out of pocket,” said Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom's Director of Investigations and Enforcement.

“This fine should serve as a warning to all communications providers: if they get bills wrong, we’ll step in to protect customers.”

The penalty includes a 30 per cent discount on account of the fact that Giffgaff proactively reported the issue to Ofcom and has worked to return £2.1 million to customers. The remaining sum has been donated to charity, however anyone who believes they have been affected can still contact the company for a refund.

“Giffgaff deserves credit for reporting the mistake to industry watchdog Ofcom and acting quickly to refund 2.1 million customers,” said Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at uSwitch. “But the fact that almost half a million consumers are still out of pocket is disappointing.

“The size of Giffgaff’s fine represents how seriously the watchdog takes this error. And providers be warned: mobile phone users will be quick to vote with their feet if they believe they are being treated unfairly.”

• The best SIM-free offers for July 2019

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Truecaller, an app that helps users screen robocallers, has rolled out an update to its app in India, its largest market, after a previous software release covertly signed up an unspecified number of users to its payments service.

A number of users in India began to complain late Monday that Truecaller, which has amassed over 100 million daily users in the country, had registered them to its payments service without their consent. In a statement to TechCrunch, Truecaller said a bug in the previous software update caused the issue.

Thread. I fell victim to a @Truecaller UPI scam this morning. @npci_npci @upi_npci.

— Dheeraj Kumar (@codepodu) July 30, 2019

“We have discovered a bug in the latest update of Truecaller that affected the payments feature, which automatically triggered a registration post updating to the version. This was a bug and we have discontinued this version of the app so no other users will be affected,” a Truecaller spokesperson said in a statement.

“We’re sorry about this version not passing our quality standards. We’ve taken quick steps to fix the issue, and already rolled out a fix in a new version. For the users already affected, the new version with the fix will be available shortly, however, in the meanwhile they can choose to manually deregister through the overflow menu in the app.”

Truecaller introduced payments service in its app in India two years ago. The company, like several others such as Google and Samsung, relies on Indian government-backed UPI payments infrastructure for this feature. Under the current law, signing up a user to a payments service without their consent is frowned upon.

As of February this year, every tenth Truecaller users in India had signed up to Truecaller Pay.

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