Citing security, Apple's board mandates CEO Tim Cook use private jet for all business & personal travel

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook earned a whopping $102 million in pay and awards in 2017, along with the perk of flying private wherever he travels. But the latter decision wasn't his —it was mandated by the company's board of directors, who are concerned about his safety.

Cook's private airfare in 2017 cost Apple some $93,000, according to Bloomberg. His personal security costs added nearly another $225,000 to the bill.

With Apple having just concluded its most profitable fiscal year in corporate history, and about to report what is likely its most profitable quarter in history, it's unlikely that the board minds those relatively small costs.

A much bigger sum, however, was paid to the company's top brass: Retail head Angela Ahrendts, CFO Luca Maestri, hardware engineering senior VP Dan Riccio, chief counsel Bruce Sewell, and hardware technologies VP Johny Srouji each received total compensation of about $24.2 million. Much of that, however, will only be paid out if the executives stay long enough for stock to vest.

Heading into the new year, shares of AAPL are trading near their all-time high, and north of $170, they are considerably above the 52-week low of $114.76.

The compensation and costs for Cook and other executives were revealed as part of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week. It's expected that Apple will report the results of the soon-to-conclude December quarter in late January or early February, followed by the company's annual shareholders meeting on Feb. 13 at the Apple Park Steve Jobs Theater.

Here's When Android 8.0 Oreo Is Coming to Your Current Phone

It’s been just over three months since Google released Android 8.0 Oreo, but unless you’re using one of the company’s own devices, you still might be missing out on the latest version of Android.

Phone-makers like Samsung, LG, HTC, and Sony often take months to bring each Android update to even their newest high-end smartphones. If you’re using a semi-recent phone and wondering when your Android 8.0 update will hit, here’s what you need to know—broken down by phone-maker.

Samsung started running an Android 8.0 beta for the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus in early November, and since then it’s updated the test software a couple more times. A recent leak also revealed a longer list of devicesallegedly set to get Google’s new operating system dating all the way back to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5, but it could be months (or longer) before all those updates actually arrive.

The LG v30 launched in October after Android 8.0 was already released, but still runs Android 7.0 out of the box. On Monday, the South Korean company finally offered up an Oreo preview for the phone, but only in its home country. The final software build is set to launch in Korea this December, but we still don’t know when it will be available in the U.S.

HTC’s latest flagship phone just got Android 8.0 on Monday—if you have an unlocked version. According to Mo Versi, the company’s VP of product management, they’re working to get a version for the Sprint variant “soon” as well. He also said that similar updates for the HTC 10, U Ultra, and U11 Life are in the works too.

Sony’s actually done a surprisingly good job bringing Android 8.0 to its smartphone lineup. On Monday, the company released Oreo for the Xperia XZ, XZs, and X Performance, and if you own the Xperia XZ Premium, you should already be running the new software as of late October.

Genius Bar of a new kind for Samsung

Among the most important innovations that we owe to the Apple Store, the Genius Bar is probably at the top of the list. But the affluence and the expectation of it soon erased the sense of high-end service that Apple wanted to deliver. Samsung has been watching these queues, and has thought of another more original solution.

The manufacturer has partnered with WeWork, rather high-end co-working spaces that are found in several major US cities. Users of Samsung products that encounter problems with their devices can visit three of these locations (Detroit, Miami, and Williamsburg, NY) for information and tips. All they have to do is go through WeWork's door.

The builder rented a part of the premises to install its employees, with a piece of resistance a big box of glass and steel, a kind of "Internet cafe" small format that contains Samsung hardware. Before getting the valuable info, it is possible to use the rest of the shared space to work or have a coffee.

Samsung does not offer device repair (screen change, battery replacement ...) in these Genius Bar a new genre, just tips for better use of devices. In the event of a hardware problem, the teams on the spot can always send the product for repair. The idea is not bad finally, and if the manufacturer wanted to invest in the 235 WeWork spaces, it would roughly represent half of the Apple Store.

iPhone X re-push the face recognition technology why 2017 years before the fire?

One night burst of red face recognition is not really new technology. 2012, the face of the unlock feature debut in the installation of Andrews platform Galaxy Nexus; 2015, Microsoft developed a biometric identification system Windows Hello, support for facial recognition log, Google launched known as the strongest face recognition system FaceNet; , Has not yet left the Baidu chief scientist Wu Enda announced that Baidu's face recognition technology has gone beyond Google, Ma in Germany through Alipay successful "brush face" to buy a 1948 Hanover Industrial Fair commemorative stamps.

Before the depth of learning, face recognition methods are generally divided into two steps: high-dimensional artificial feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. Popularity, each person's face by the forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks and other small combination of several regions, the machine can be based on facial geometry to extract some features to identify.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 expected to be uncovered on September 12 in China

We've been hearing a lot about Xiaomi’s latest flagship device, the Mi Mix 2. Now, a fresh leak suggests that the successor of the Mi Mix might be launched on September 12, the same day as the iPhone 8 is expected to be launched.
Over the past few days, there have been a lot of leaks about the Mi Mix 2 and little is left to imagination. While there has been no confirmation from the company about the launch date, Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun had earlier revealed that the device will be launched in the second half of the year, which makes the leaks a lot more plausible.
To recall, the Mi Mix was launched in October last year and it came with near bezel less display and curved edges. It was powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor, coupled with 4GB or 6GB RAM, up to 256GB internal storage and a 4,400mAh battery.

Philippe Starck, the man behind the Mi Mix design will also design its successor. This was confirmed by Lei Jun in a Weibo post. Starck recently shared a concept which revealed extremely thin bezels on the top, left and the right side of the Mi Mix 2. The bottom of the device houses a camera and is slightly bigger than the other sides.
The main highlight of the device will be its bezel less display and a dual camera setup. Some rumours have also revealed that the Mi Mix 2 will come with a 3D camera for facial recognition.

Coming to the leaked specifications, the Mi Mix 2 is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. It will come with an AMOLED display and a 4,500mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is expected to be priced around CNY 4,599, which is roughly Rs. 48,000. However, like its predecessor, the Mi Mix 2 may not be launched in India and may be limited to the Chinese market only.

Apple iPhone 8 silver prototype first exposure: the back of the glass material

Accessories manufacturers out of the iPhone8 latest proofing design, it is understood that these prototypes are based on Foxconn final engineering machine manufacturing, so the credibility is still quite high.

Exposure to the iPhone8 with a silver look of color, the same positive for the silver panel, so "bangs" and the sensor hole is also particularly evident. The back of the use of a glass material, the appearance of the previous news with the iPhone8 spy photos are consistent

This morning, IT House also reported OnLeaks exposure iPhone8 real machine model, OnLeaks broke the iPhone8 with a black body, the same for the glass material. There are indications that if there is no accident, this year's appearance of the iPhone8 is the case.

In February this year, the news that Apple iPhone8 will be very special, the price will exceed 1000 US dollars. Then JP Morgan Chase analysts once again raised the iPhone8 price expectations, will be more than 1100 US dollars (about 7447 yuan).

It is reported that due to capacity problems and parts shortage reasons, iPhone 8 in the initial listing of the supply will be limited to 5 million.

How to pick a good mobile phone deal

　　Trying to find the very best smartphone contracts can be overwhelming. Many providers only offer deals for a limited time and there can be huge price disparities between different networks.



　　Right now, some of the best value phone deals you can find are on EE and Three, although O2 and Vodafone both have deals on larger data packages. Some of the best SIM only deals can be found with iD, Sky and Virgin.

　　Another challenge is working out just how much a phone deal will cost in total considering the up front fee and monthly cost. It can be helpful to add together these two prices together when comparing rates.

　　It is also worth shopping around and comparing contracts or asking your provider to try and match a better deal you have found online.

Young people in Britain are more loyal to their mobile phone network than their partners, a study has found

The survey discovered that smartphone-mad 18 to 30-year-olds spend an average of four years and two months with their network, compared to just three years and nine months in romantic relationships.

And despite a long list of gripes with both the mobile networks and their other halves, young Brits are more likely to have considered cheating on their partner than thought about switching network.

The poll was carried about by Carphone Warehouse, whose Marketing Director Dean Kramer said: "Even though eyes might start to wander when they've been with a partner a while, it seems young Brits are far more likely to tolerate debauched behaviour when it comes to their networks.

"Switching networks can sometimes be a pain, leading to people staying in unhappy relationships rather than make a move."

The top reasons Brits switch networks are to save money, have more flexibility, or they don't want to be tied to a contract.

On the other hand, only 29 percent of young Brits have actually made the switch, despite being able to save an average of £152 with Carphone Warehouse.
The most common complaints about romantic partners were not listening, chewing loudly, snoring, breaking wind and picking their nose.

Whereas for networks, the most common complaints were poor coverage, connectivity, additional charges and price increases.

However, even this isn't enough for many to move on from their network, and the most common reason for sticking is believing that the process of switching is too complicated.

Other reasons include thinking that the process will take too long, not knowing who to ask for advice and one in 10 believing that changing networks will cost them more money.