The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Wednesday, May 27
Hyundai is first to roll with Android Auto
Hyundai is the first carmaker to put Android Auto into vehicles, starting with navigation features on the 2015 Sonata, where the vehicle’s dashboard infotainment system mirrors a connected Android smartphone. Google’s automotive software competes with Apple’s CarPlay, which Hyundai has previously said would be offered as an option on the 2015 Sonata.
EMC scoops up Virtustream for cloud management for $1.2 billion
EMC will expand its portfolio of cloud management tools in a $1.2 billion deal to buy Virtustream. Virtustream’s xStream software is used to manage complex enterprise applications, such as SAP’s S/4HANA, so they can be run effectively on hosted infrastructure services.
IRS lost data on 100,000 U.S. taxpayers to hackers
A weakness in the Internal Revenue Service’s “Get Transcript” app allowed criminals to steal sensitive information about roughly 100,000 taxpayers. The hackers used previously stolen data that included Social Security numbers, birthdates and street addresses to clear a multistep authentication process and gain access to all the personal tax details stored on the IRS site. Get Transcript is temporarily offline while the government investigates.
At Google I/O, look for more Android in the home
Android, already the most widely used operating system in smartphones, could soon find its way into refrigerators, door locks and other “smart” appliances around the home. The OS will be in the spotlight at Google’s massive I/O conference in San Francisco later this week, where we may also hear about plans to extend it to allow Android developers to build virtual reality apps for smartphones or VR headsets.
UberPop draws a ban in Italy
A judge in Milan banned UberPop in Italy on Tuesday, saying that the car-hailing service unfairly competes with taxi drivers and that using a smartphone app is not functionally different from a radio taxi service. Judge Claudio Marangoni said UberPop is provoking a rapid growth in illegal taxi services, and he gave the San Francisco company 15 weeks to comply with his order or face a fine of €20,000 per day.
Over 4 billion people still have no Internet connection
While more people get Internet access every year, 4.2 billion out of the 7.4 billion on the planet will still be offline at the end of this year, the ITU says. About 35 percent of people in developing nations use the Internet, compared to 82 percent in developed countries. Big hurdles in poorer countries include the cost of maintaining and powering cell towers in remote, off-grid locations, as well as lower revenue expected from thinly spread, low-income populations.
Microsoft’s Cortana going on iPhones, Android
Microsoft will put its Cortana virtual assistant on iPhone and Android devices to help Windows 10 users transition between their computers and their phones, Computerworld reports. It will be bundled into a Windows 10 Phone Companion app that will also include OneDrive, OneNote, the Office suite and Xbox Music. But Cortana won’t have the voice-activated functionality it does on Windows 10: a Microsoft executive blamed Google and Apple for denying the access to their systems needed to accomplish that.
Obama administration sides with Oracle in Java copyright case
There’s no reason why APIs can’t be protected by copyright like other software, the U.S. Solicitor General has written in a filing to the Supreme Court. That is the central issue in Oracle’s lawsuit against Google over whether the latter misappropriated Java code when it developed the Android OS. Google has previously summoned a host of computer scientists to argue that the tech industry depends on the assumption that APIs are not subject to copyright.
Watch now
Does your dog need a wearable device? PC World’s Jon Phillips tries one out on his dog, Whiskey.
One last thing
Wired goes inside the culture changes at GoDaddy, where the sexist ads are a thing of the past and female engineering talent is helping globalize the company’s online infrastructure.
