22 Established 1961 Technology Thursday, January 11, 2018 With new pricey electric car, Fisker eyes major comeback

‘A new take on the future of a luxury ’

LAS VEGAS: unveiled his $129,000 elec- utes. The company is also working on a solid state bat- tric Tuesday, in a rebooted effort by the tery that Fisker maintained could achieve a full charge in renowned auto designer to take on Tesla and other lux- one minute. ury automakers. The Fisker EMotion, which made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Taking on Tesla is part of a comeback effort for Henrik Fisker, a former Like Tesla, Fisker is also working on a more afford- BMW and Aston Martin designer whose first venture able vehicle that would be priced around $40,000 was halted in 2013 after selling only a few thousand after the Emotion. And it has designed a self-driving vehicles. shuttle bus called the Orbit that could also launch in This time, the company Fisker Inc. is pulling out all the next few years. Partnering with Fisker is California- the stops for the vehicle, based technology firm designed with butterfly Quanergy, which is doors and a sleek sports- developing the LIDAR car look, semi- used for autonomous autonomous driving, and driving. a range of some 400 The Emotion uses five miles on a single charge. Pulling out all LIDAR sensors integrat- The car, which is still two ed into the body and “it’s years from deliveries, “is the stops the only LIDAR with no a new take on the future moving parts,” said of a luxury sedan,” Fisker Quanergy CEO Louay told AFP on the CES Eldada. The launch by show floor. Fisker said Fisker’s new company the features such as the comes after a high-pro- extended driving range file bankruptcy by Fisker LAS VEGAS: Henrik Fisker, founder, Chairman and CEO of Fisker Inc., speaks next to a Fisker “will make even people sitting on the fence (about elec- Automotive. Before launching his own venture and the EMotion all-electric vehicle that uses LiDAR technology at CES. — AFP tric cars) look at it.” , Fisker designed vehicles including the The new effort nonetheless faces an uphill battle in BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB89. an industry where Tesla is showing rapid growth and Other firms at CES appear to be making a play for Faraday Future unveiled its premium electric vehicle but a number of other Chinese firms which could use the other rivals from major automakers to startups-includ- Tesla clients with electric vehicles with autonomous since then have offered few clues on its availability. shift in consumer trends to break into new markets. “I ing one other making a debut at the tech show-are pro- capabilities. China-based startup Byton announced this Still, Tesla remains a target for both established think it’s a big opening for the Chinese. And the ducing new electric cars. Fisker is also working on its week it planned to launch a $45,000 electric car featur- automakers and startups. “In my opinion Tesla is vul- Chinese government is subsidizing them.” The elec- own battery technology aimed at improving range and ing a “digital” lounge with a panoramic display acting as nerable,” said Jack Gold, an analyst who follows the tronics show is often used to debut new automotive speeding the charging time. He hopes to have a charging a hub for navigation, entertainment and even monitoring tech sector and who was attending CES. In addition to technology even though it takes place just days ahead system that can enable an extra 125 miles in nine min- the health of its occupants. Last year, Chinese-backed the companies presenting at CES, Gold said, there are of the big Detroit auto show. — AFP

Cloud companies Foreo launches consider Intel ‘UFO’ for rivals after easy beauty flaws found face masks

SAN FRANCISCO: Some of Intel Corp’s data LAS VEGAS: Beauty startup Foreo is center customers, whose thousands of com- launching a “UFO” to make salon-style puters run cloud networks, are exploring face mask treatments as much a part of using microchips from the market leader’s people’s days as brushing teeth. The rivals to build new infrastructure after the dis- young Swedish firm is giving visitors the covery of security flaws affecting most chips. full treatment with a glamour gadget that Whether Intel sees a slew of defectors or is resembles a tiny alien spacecraft this LAS VEGAS: Foreo chief executive Paul forced to offer discounts, the company could week at the Consumer Electronics Show Peros, at the International Consumer take a hit to one of its fastest growing busi- in Las Vegas. Electronics show in Las Vegas on ness units. Intel chips back 98 percent of data Face masks, which typically involve January 8 2018, holds a “UFO” device coating one’s face with skin-loving center operations, according to industry con- LAS VEGAS: Attendees examine a 5G immersion display at the Intel booth during CES 2018 at the designed to make beautifying face lotions that work their magic while dry- sultancy IDC. Las Vegas Convention Center. — AFP masks as quick and easy as brushing Security researchers last week disclosed ing for 20 minutes or so, were among top teeth. — AFP flaws, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, that search terms at Google last year. Foreo, could allow hackers to steal passwords or ARM provides enough computing power at too complex, but moving forward they could which was founded in 2013 and boasts encryption keys on most types of computers, lower cost or lower power than x86, it would expand their networks using alternatives. nearly a half-billion dollars in annual rev- executive Paul Peros was adamant that phones and cloud-based servers. Microsoft be a strong incentive for us to switch,” said Moving from Intel to AMD is easiest since enue, decided sheet masks were due for he used UFO, which the company said Corp said on Tuesday the patches necessary Budman. “If the fix for x86 results in a dra- AMD and Intel chips share a common core a make-over with some help from tech- was a play on ‘Your Future Obsession,’ to secure the threats could have a significant matically decreased level of performance, that technology called the x86 instruction set, nology. “The sheet mask hasn’t changed each morning and evening. “Of course performance impact on servers. might increasingly push in favor of switching they said. ARM-based chips lag the speed of since ancient Egyptian times,” Foreo my wife thinks my face is prettier,” Peros Intel will help customers find the best to ARM.” Intel’s x86 based chips for tasks such as spokeswoman Dawn Watt told AFP at a quipped when asked. “Why else would I approach in terms of security, performance searches, and software would have to be CES event. “This is the world’s first smart do it?” UFO models will be priced at and compatibility, it said in a statement on ‘We’re going to have to punish them’ rewritten. mask.” The puck-shaped device fits eas- $179 and $279 when they are released Tuesday. “For many customers, the perform- Infinitely Virtual, a Los Angeles-based Nvidia Corp’s so-called graphical process- ily in the palm of a hand. Face mask to the mass market in April, but can be ance element is foremost, and we are sharply cloud computing vendor, is counting on Intel ing units, or GPUs, are not a direct replace- ingredients are placed inside and acti- bought at discount online at Kickstarter. focused on doing all we can to ensure that we to replace equipment or offer a rebate to ment for Intel’s CPUs, but they are taking vated by heating or cooling elements as Foreo also sells mask ingredients priced meet their expectations.” Alternatives include make up for the loss in computing power, over the CPU’s role for new types of work like the “UFO” glides about a face. at $10 for a seven treatment packets. Advanced Micro Devices, which shares with Chief Executive Adam Stern said in an inter- image recognition and speech recognition. “When you are finished it is like Watt said the beauty industry is steadily Intel a chip architecture called x86, or chips view. “If Intel doesn’t step up and do some- Major technology companies had been you’ve had a full facial experience, but in merging with the tech world in a trend based on technology from ARM Holdings or thing to make this right then we’re going to experimenting with Intel alternatives even only 90 seconds,” Watt said. Foreo chief that is inevitable and “amazing.” — AFP graphics processing chips, which were devel- have to punish them in the marketplace by before the security flaws were revealed. Last oped for different tasks than Intel and AMD’s not purchasing their products,” said Stern, March, Microsoft committed to using ARM central processing units, or CPUs. whose company relies exclusively on Intel processors for its Azure cloud service, and in For Gleb Budman’s company, San Mateo- processors. December, Microsoft Azure deployed based online storage firm Backblaze, building Cloud providers said swapping out previ- Advanced Micro Devices processors in its ously installed Intel chips for rivals’ would be data centers. — Reuters with ARM chips would not be difficult. “If guages in the world. “Once a language Travis the is digitized it can not only be used in translation technology like Travis but for so that consumers will be forced to replace ed shutdowns due to a low battery charge. It translator aims education and preservation,” said com- Paris prosecutors them. It is decried by consumer groups as denied incorporating planned obsolescence. pany international affairs manager being unethical and is suspected of being par- However in late December the company Elissa Glorie. Digitizing languages also ticularly prevalent in the electronics industry, issued an apology for slowing older models to make people means that those who speak it could get probe Apple which produces mountains of unrecyclable and said it would discount replacement bat- better shots at reaping benefits of tech- waste each year. To tackle the problem, France teries for some handsets. “We know that some nology advances such as voice-com- over ‘planned passed landmark legislation in 2015 known as of you feel Apple has let you down. We apolo- understood manded computers or virtual assistants, “Hamon’s law” which made the practice illegal gize,” Apple said in a message to customers according to Glorie. Travis was founded early last year obsolescence’ and-in theory-obliged retailers to say whether on its website on December 28. LAS VEGAS: Netherlands-based start- replacement parts were available. “We’ve always wanted our customers to be and launched an Indiegogo crowd- up Travis is out to make people under- funding campaign in April that blew The law, named after former Socialist min- able to use their iPhones as long as possible. stood no matter what language they PARIS: Paris prosecutors have launched a ister Benoit Hamon, stipulates that a company We’re proud that Apple products are known past the company’s goal. More than speak. Travis was at the Consumer 80,000 Travis translation devices probe of US tech giant Apple over suspected found to be deliberately shortening the life of for their durability, and for holding their value Electronics Show here late Tuesday “planned obsolescence” in some of its iPhone its products can be fined up to five percent of longer than our competitors’ devices.” Critics priced at $199 were pre-ordered, and with a small device capable of translat- most have been delivered, according to models, a judicial source told AFP on Monday. its annual sales while executives can face up have accused Apple of nudging iPhone users ing conversations between people It comes after a complaint by the association to two years in jail. HOP praised the decision to upgrade to newer models by letting them Selander. Google late last year hit the speaking different languages in real market with Pixel ear buds capable of Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP or Halte a of French authorities to dig into Apple’s prac- think it was the handsets that needed replac- time. “Technology connects us as far as l’Obsolescence Programmee) that followed tices. “It is the first criminal procedure in the ing, rather than just the battery. real-time translation of conversations in we are accessible to each other, but 40 languages. Apple’s admission last month that it intention- world against a company on the basis of HOP believes Apple could be liable for a those true connections aren’t going to ally slowed down older models of its iPhones planned obsolescence,” Emile Meunier, a fine in line with the value of all of its iPhone Pixel Buds infused with its digital happen until we all understand and are assistant smarts were quickly branded over time. lawyer for the group, told AFP. sales in France since Hamon’s law came into understood by each other,” US Travis The investigation into possible “planned force on August 17, 2015. The California- an internet-Age version of the alien representative Robb Selander told AFP “Babel Fish” depicted in famed science obsolescence” or “fraud” was opened on ‘Wide-scale tax evasion’ based group also faces a class-action suit in while demonstrating the gizmo at a CES Friday and is being led by anti-trust and con- Last month Apple confirmed what critics the United States. In another headache for fiction work “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to event. “We are driven to break down the Galaxy.” In the literature, inserting a sumer protection specialists in the French had suspected for years: that it intentionally Apple in France, the company announced last language barriers.” economy ministry, the source said. When con- slows performance of older iPhones as their week that it has filed a lawsuit against the Babel Fish in an ear enabled a person to Travis synchs to computing in the understand anything spoken in any lan- tacted by AFP, Apple France gave no comment batteries weaken with age. The company said Attac activist group after about 100 of its cloud to translate any combination of on the matter. Planned obsolescence is a wide- this was to extend the performance of the supporters occupied the tech giant’s flagship guage. Pixel Buds work wirelessly with 80 languages, and a Travis foundation is second-generation Pixel smartphones ly criticised commercial practice in which man- phone, which uses less power when running at store in Paris last month, protesting alleged working to ‘digitize’ lesser known lan- ufacturers build in the expiry of their products slower speeds, and was to prevent unexpect- “wide-scale tax evasion” by the firm. — AFP to handle real-time translations. — AFP