In this episode of WRLWND Radio, Marcello Sukhdeo talks about Apple’s struggle in AI, also five new features in iOS 11 that is coming this fall and a report that shows how cybercriminals are using attacks that depend on clicks by humans.

Apple and AI

Apple became the first company to place artificial intelligence on a phone with the of Siri on the iPhone in 2011. Now 6 years later, Apple is struggling to keep up with AI.

The reason why Apple is struggling though is not because it does not have the technology to support AI but it is more of a concern to Apple because it pushes the company far out of its comfort zone when it comes to AI and its software and hardware.

The concern that is hampering Apple from growing in AI is privacy.

At its annual developers conference last Monday, Apple tried to position itself as a AI player with the launch of HomePod, which is basically a stand-alone smart speaker in which Siri will now use machine learning to predict the times of a morning commute, or scan the travel news as you are reading it on the company’s Safari browser and then suggest related activities, such as booking a reservation.

But this announcement is not anything new. Other tech companies have released similar innovations and have already spent billions on AI race. 

New features in iOS 11 

• Pay friends with apple pay
• Siri translations
• Automatic app deletion
• New control center
• iPad multitasking and redesigned dock

Cybercriminals and attacks 

Some of the key findings from the report:

• More than 90 per cent of malicious email messages led users to phishing pages.
• And a full 99 per cent of email-based financial fraud attacks relied on human clicks rather than automated exploits to install malware.
• Phishing messages designed to steal Apple IDs were the most sent, but Google Drive phishing links were the most clicked.
• Forty-two percent of clicks on malicious URLs were made from mobile devices.
• Social media fraudulent support account phishing increased 150 per cent in 2016. During these attacks cybercriminals create a lookalike social media account posing as the customer service account of a trusted brand. When someone tweets to a company looking for help, the attacker swoops in.

Techbites:

Yahoo's shareholders have officially approved the company's sale to Verizon for $4.48 billion. The deal is expected to close Tuesday.

Once the deal closes, Yahoo and AOL will merge into a combined entity called "Oath." AOL has indicated that it is planning more than 2,000 layoffs following the deal's close.

A Chinese company has found a way to significantly reduce the cost of “railway” infrastructure using sensors and paint. Called the “smart bus” the public transporation vehicle looks like a small train that follows white-dotted lines on the road.

The smart bus can transport up to 307 passengers in three carriages at a top speed of around 43 miles per hour. It can travel 25 kilometers after just 10 minutes of charging.

This smart bus will come into operation in 2018.

And finally, WhatsApp released a handful of new features this week, including photo filters, quick replies, and automatic albums in chat threads. Users can now add one of five filters to photos, videos, and GIFs before sending, enabling them to enhance the look or correct poor lighting.

In addition, WhatsApp now automatically generates album views when multiple images or videos are sent consecutively in the same chat window.