We could talk all day about what’s going on with Facebook, but here’s a general roundup of all the action taking place as the Cambridge Analytica data snafu engulfs the social media giant. If your data was indeed scraped or harvested or otherwise obtained by Cambridge Analytica, you’ll get confirmation of that fact today, along with a report on what exactly they learned about you. This comes on top of Facebook recently making it easier for people to download a report on exactly what information Facebook has been compiling.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is heading to Capitol Hill this week to face a lot of likely angry questioning over the Cambridge debacle and Facebooks’ use of personal data in general. Despite the firestorm Facebook finds itself in now, founder and CEO Zuckerberg has said he is not resigning, and Saturday Night Live roasted the young exec over the weekend.
And finally, after several high-profile Facebook defections – including Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX pages – you can add one more to the list: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniac, who says he is also parting ways with the social media platform over privacy concerns. Looks like it’s going to be a busy week for Zuck and crew. Plus, there’s a new update from Facebook on their latest data privacy changes.
What’s that on your sleeve?
‘Smart clothes’ are still trying to find market success, but one product that caught our attention early on was the connect jacket by Levi’s which was first shown off by Google way back in 2015. Well, we finally got our mitts on one and DT mobile editor Julian Chokattu has been getting it dirty while checking out it’s many inventive features.
The jacket is now called the “Levi’s Commuter X Jacket with Jacquard by Google,” but we just call it the Trucker Jacket. So what can it do? The washable jacket connects wirelessly to your Android or Apple device of course, and uses gesture-based controls and haptic feedback to perform a variety of smartphone functions, from navigation to controlling your music.
A small fob talks to your phone and the cuff on the left arm is woven with a conductive fiber, as well as a special-grade polyester that allows it to act as a touch sensor. The fob sits in a little pouch on the cuff. A one-hour charge powers it for the better part of two weeks. You use “brushing” gestures on the left sleeve to control various functions and the fob gives you feedback through vibration. How’s it work? Pretty well, actually. You can even buy one for yourself for $350.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
