The new in the world of technology

Just in time for the new year, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has today officially launched the BHIM app, the country's new mobile payment solution. BHIM (which stands for Bharat Interface for Money) is India's bet to push the switch to a cashless economy, requiring nothing more than a smartphone to make any sort of transaction. On stage at the DigiDhan Mela in Delhi, Modi used a Google Pixel to showcase the app, demonstrating how easy it is to send money to anyone in just seconds with nothing more than a phone number or payment address. After plugging in the recipient's identification, validating the transfer is a simple matter of typing in a pin code or using fingerprint authentication. One big advantage of BHIM is that it doesn't require an internet connection to work, making it a viable payment option even for users without a data plan or living in areas with weak cellular coverage. In an effort to get people using the app, the PM also announced a da

Google has been releasing monthly security patches like clockwork ever since it revamped the Android security model in the wake of Stage Fright. Samsung and LG are also trying to keep up with the monthly patches, but not always with the most success. LG's getting the jump on Google today, though. It has posted the January security bulletin a little early with information on Google and LG-specific patches. You can check LG's security page for the full list or patches (under the LG Security Bulletin tab). There are 81 total patches from Google and LG. Only eight of them are for LG devices only. LG's page links to the Google security bulletin page, but of course that still shows the December patch info. You can expect more detail on the Google patches when Mountain View gets around to posting its update next week. Some are already public and include things like arbitrary code execution and kernel privilege escalation flaws. LG has descriptions of all its internal bug

A utilities company in Vermont has detected evidence of Russian malware, according to a report this evening from  The Washington Post , which cited anonymous US officials. The code is said to be connected to a Russian hacking outfit the US government has named  Grizzly Steppe . According to the company, later revealed to be the Burlington Electric Department, the code linked to Grizzly Steppe was found on just one laptop, and the laptop wasn’t connected to the electrical grid — allaying earlier fears that Russia had hacked into the nation’s electrical grid. Owned by the city of Burlington, the utility firm  confirmed the breach in a post on its Facebook page . "The grid is not in danger," Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia told  the  Burlington Free Press . "The utility flagged it, saw it, notified appropriate parties and isolated that one laptop with that malware on it." Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bure

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant behind Apple’s iPhone and numerous other major electronics devices, aims to automate away a vast majority of its human employees, according to a  report from  DigiTimes . Dai Jia-peng, the general manager of Foxconn’s automation committee, says the company has a three-phase plan in place to automate its Chinese factories using software and in-house robotics units, known as Foxbots. The first phase of Foxconn’s automation plans involve replacing the work that is either dangerous or involves repetitious labor humans are unwilling to do. The second phase involves improving efficiency by streamlining production lines to reduce the number of excess robots in use. The third and final phase involves automating entire factories, “with only a minimal number of workers assigned for production, logistics, testing, and inspection processes,” according to Jia-peng. The slow and steady march of manufacturing automation has been in place at Foxconn for

Yesterday, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey  launched an interesting experiment , asking his nearly four million followers to send him what they want to see the company improve or create. The replies ranged from  basic design gripes  to  extinguishing national socialism , but today Dorsey boiled the responses down to four basic themes. The result is a kind of New Year’s resolution list for a company that’s coming off a  very   rough   year . It’s not everything that came up, but it’s clearly the four areas Dorsey finds most compelling.  Follow jack   ✔ @jack Thanks for all the feedback yesterday! 4 clear themes you want us to work on: abuse, edit, topics & interests, and conversations.  https:// twitter.com/jack/status/81 4537990366228480  … 10:00 PM - 30 Dec 2016     290 290 Retweets     862 862 likes  Follow jack   ✔ @jack Abuse: obviously a ton of work ahead but biggest ask was for greater transparency ar