Ford thinks Bluetooth LE can keep pedestrians and cyclists safe from cars

One good thing that came out of the pandemic is that more people picked up cycling. In the first three months of 2021, American consumer spending on bikes and cycling accessories increased by 34 percent year on year to $8.2 billion. However, the pandemic also saw more die and suffer injuries while biking. According to the National Safety Council, 1,260 cyclists were killed in 2020, a 16 percent increase from 2019.

It’s a problem that Ford thinks technology can address. On Monday, the automaker announced it’s working with Commsignia, PSS, Ohio State University, T-Mobile and Tome Software to explore how a smartphone app could warn drivers of pedestrians and cyclists they may not see. As someone sharing the road with a car, you would install the company’s software on your phone. With the help of Bluetooth Low Energy, vehicles with Ford’s Sync infotainment system would see you as “beacons.” If the car then determines there’s the potential for a crash, it will warn the driver using audiovisual cues.

According to Ford, its approach has a few advantages. One is that Bluetooth LE is nearly ubiquitous. The technology has been part of the Bluetooth protocol since 2009, meaning every modern smartphone has access to it. If you own a Ford vehicle, you won’t need to bring your car to a dealership for a hardware upgrade since the Sync system features Bluetooth compatibility. The other advantage of using Bluetooth LE is that your car won’t need to see pedestrians and cyclists before it can warn you. Ford and T-Mobile are also working on a version of the app that uses 5G instead of Bluetooth LE.

In practice, the company’s approach is reminiscent of the COVID exposure notification apps some countries and states deployed at the beginning of the pandemic. As you may recall, those also used Bluetooth LE. However, despite backing from Apple and Google, they were never effective due to low usage. In Canada, for instance, the federal COVID Alert app was only downloaded 6.9 million times and logged 63,117 positive tests. Put another way, nowhere near enough Canadians downloaded the software to make it an effective contact tracing tool. Ford’s app is likely to experience some of the same issues. 

As an avid cyclist, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen riding their bikes at night without an LED light to make themselves visible to traffic. On the other hand, statistics suggest motorists have been driving more aggressively in recent years, leading to the aforementioned increase in cyclist deaths as well as vehicle crashes. Any kind of intervention would be welcome, but Ford’s app isn’t likely to be a meaningful solution if it ever comes to market. While the Bluetooth LE solution to COVID had only one uphill climb, apps like Ford’s have two: adoption by cyclists and adoption by automakers.

The iPhone 14 Pro camera is shaking and rattling when certain third-party apps are used

Apple released its latest iPhone lineup last week. While many folks were excited to get their hands on a new device, their elation may have been tempered by some problems with the camera system. It seems that several prominent third-party apps have compatibility issues with the iPhone 14 Pro’s rear camera unit. Users have reported problems including shaking, rattling and mechanical noises emanating from the device when using apps like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, as 9to5 Mac reports. It seems there are problems with autofocus and focus too.

Along with sharing reports of the problems on the likes of Reddit and Twitter, some have been sharing videos that show the issues. One appears to depict a grinding sound coming from an iPhone 14 Pro when Snapchat is open. Another shows a similar issue while TikTok accesses the rear cameras.

“We’re aware of the issue and a fix will be released next week,” an Apple spokesperson told Engadget, so it’s a software issue rather than a hardware one. That already seemed to be the case, as 9to5 Mac pointed out, given that these issues only seem to be present when third-party apps are in use, rather than Apple’s own Camera app. In particular, the apps may not be playing nicely with the iPhone 14 Pro’s optical image stabilization system, which seems to be the cause of the rattling. 

“We’re working directly with Apple to address reports from our community that the Snapchat Camera shakes for some with iPhone 14 software,” Snap said in a statement. Engadget has also contacted TikTok and Meta for comment.

Update 9/19 3:10PM ET: Added Apple’s statement.

Update 9/19 4:05PM ET: Added Snap’s statement.

Apollo update transforms the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island into a home for ‘Pixel Pals’

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max may have only arrived yesterday but developers are already dreaming up fun and interesting use cases for Apple’s new Dynamic Island interface. Take Apollo creator Christian Selig, for instance. On Friday, he updated his Reddit client to implement support for “Pixel Pals.” The feature adds a Tamagotchi-like critter that does cute things on top of your phone’s Dynamic Island while you have Apollo open. You can even choose between multiple creatures, including a cat, dog, hedgehog, fox or axolotl.

If you don’t have an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, don’t worry. You can also add the creatures to your phone as lock screen widgets – provided you have iOS 16 installed. On the subject of iPhone widgets, Google teased one that will function as a shortcut to Chrome’s Dino game.

Selig isn’t the only person doing something creative with the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. In a tweet spotted by The Verge, WaterMinder creator Kriss Smolka showed off Hit the Island, a game that uses the UI element for a Pong-style game. You can download it from the App Store. I can only speak for myself, but these apps make me a bit jealous I’m still rocking an iPhone 12.  

Microsoft Teams has been storing authentication tokens in plaintext

Microsoft Teams stores authentication tokens in unencrypted plaintext mode, allowing attackers to potentially control communications within an organization, according to the security firm Vectra. The flaw affects the desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux built using Microsoft’s Electron framework. Microsoft is aware of the issue but said it has no plans for a fix anytime soon, since an exploit would also require network access.

According to Vectra, a hacker with local or remote system access could steal the credentials for any Teams user currently online, then impersonate them even when they’re offline. They could also pretend to be the user through apps associated with Teams, like Skype or Outlook, while bypassing the multifactor authentication (MFA) usually required. 

“This enables attackers to modify SharePoint files, Outlook mail and calendars, and Teams chat files,” Vectra security architect Connor Peoples wrote. “Even more damaging, attackers can tamper with legitimate communications within an organization by selectively destroying, exfiltrating, or engaging in targeted phishing attacks.”

Attackers can tamper with legitimate communications within an organization by selectively destroying, exfiltrating, or engaging in targeted phishing attacks.

Vectra created a proof-of-concept exploit that allowed them to send a message to the account of the credential holder via an access token. “Assuming full control of critical seats–like a company’s Head of Engineering, CEO, or CFO — attackers can convince users to perform tasks damaging to the organization.”  

The problem is mainly limited to the desktop app, because the Electron framework (that essentially creates a web app port) has “no additional security controls to protect cookie data,” unlike modern web browsers. As such, Vectra recommends not using the desktop app until a patch is created, and using the web application instead.

When informed by cybersecurity news site Dark Reading of the vulnerability, Microsoft said it “does not meet our bar for immediate servicing as it requires an attacker to first gain access to a target network,” adding that it would consider addressing it in a future product release. 

However, threat hunter John Bambenek told Dark Reading it could provide a secondary means for “lateral movement” in the event of a network breach. He also noted that Microsoft is moving toward Progressive Web Apps that “would mitigate many of the concerns currently brought by Electron.”

TikTok experiment asks you to share BeReal-style daily posts with friends

Instagram isn’t the only one hoping to capitalize on the daily photo sharing trend. TikTok has unveiled an experimental Now feature that, much like BeReal, asks you to post either a photo (using front and back cameras) or 10-second video to tell friends what you’re doing each day. You’ll have a limited window to share content after you receive a randomly-timed prompt. Effectively, it’s a visual status update.

The test will run over the “coming weeks,” according to the social network. TikTok Now is available through the usual app in the US, but you may also find it as a dedicated app in other countries. Not surprisingly, the company is limiting some features for teens. Anyone under 16 who creates an account in the Now app will default to private viewing. Teens between 13 and 15 can only receive comments from friends, and everyone under 18 can’t share their content on Explore.

TikTok is more used to rivals duping its features than the other way around. However, it’s easy to see the reasons for borrowing BeReal’s core concept. Daily posts could keep you coming back to TikTok. They also elevate the importance of friends — you might want to add more people to your social circle if you know you’ll see frequent updates. In that sense, Now could change TikTok’s role as much as it could improve the company’s bottom line.

Snapchat for Web is now available for everyone

Snapchat’s messaging and video chat features first made their way to browsers back in July, but only in select markets and for Snapchat+ subscribers. Now, Snapchat for Web is finally available for all the messaging app’s users worldwide. It could be the better choice for users who have a lot of typing to do and messages to send, since they’ll be looking at a bigger screen and have access to a real keyboard. 

The web interface is pretty basic, but it can also be used to send photos and to make audio and video calls. A company spokesperson previously told us that video calling has become more popular among its users recently. Giving users access to the feature on the web could lead to longer video calls. The spokesperson also told us that Snap could bring more of its core features to the web interface if there’s enough demand for them. 

In addition, Snap has launched lock screen widgets for the iPhone now that iOS 16 has come out. The widgets allow users to create shortcuts for the conversations they want — perhaps for people they frequently talk to — so they can fire up chats from their screen in one tap. 

Speaking of shortcuts, the Snapchat app will feature new shortcuts at the top of its chat page. They’ll make it easy for users to get to unread Snaps, chats from friend and replies to stories. They will also show reminders for birthdays or for conversations that users haven’t replied to yet. Finally, Snap has introduced Question Stickers that users can post to their stories and Snaps. The company said these features will roll out to users soon if they haven’t yet.

Zoom is reportedly developing email and calendar apps

Zoom may have ambitions to expand its business beyond video calling. According to The Information, the company has spent much of the past two years developing its own email and calendar clients. Known internally as Zmail and Zcal, Zoom could announce the apps at its annual Zoomtopia conference in November. Zoom did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.

You’re probably asking yourself, does the world need another productivity suite? Looking at it from Zoom’s perspective, The Information suggests the company may see the apps as essential to its survival. At first glance, Zoom is doing better than most pandemic darlings, having recently recorded $1.1 billion in quarterly revenue. But beneath those results, the company has seen growth slow and its stock price drop to pre-pandemic levels.

It also finds itself in the same situation a lot of companies competing against Google and Microsoft have had to tackle recently. One significant weakness of Zoom is that many businesses use the app in conjunction with Workspace and Office 365. Those are comprehensive suites that can cover the majority of a company’s productivity needs. In a market where businesses are constantly looking to cut costs, that’s not a good position to be in. At the same time, it’s hard to see how email and calendar clients help Zoom beat back its competitors when Google and Microsoft have spent years polishing Gmail and Outlook and those products dominate the market.