Americans Worry About Stolen Deliveries
Porch Piracy About 75 percent of Americans are worried their packages won't be delivered safely to their home, according to a new survey from Vivint Smart Home. How worried? Two-thirds are already changing their behavior from making sure they're home when a delivery is scheduled from reducing how much they're shopping online. Nearly half, about 45 percent, say they've already had a package stolen from their front porch. As consumers head into one of the busiest online shopping seasons of the year, this data is showing that consumers are growing more vigilant about the safety of their purchases—and their homes.
Earbuds Reader Apple has nabbed a new patent which uses earbuds to track a wearer's heart rate and even their temperature. Apple patented three different ways for the biometric data to be captured. Besides the earbuds, they also show how the sensors could be on headphones, and on another device worn near the ear. Of course, Apple's newest wireless earbuds have yet to make an appearance. So these advancements aren't likely to appear on the horizon soon. (Via Apple Insider)
Snapchat IPO So, those Snapchat Spectacles aren't the only headline makers for the company—Snap, Snapchat's parent, filed for an IPO this week, expected sometime this March, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company is expected to be valued between $20 and $25 billion—which is a lot of Spectacles.
Android Breach A security firm called Krytowire says that some Android phones are sending data to China through their firmware, or software, including text messages and location—every 72 hours. The software is reportedly on 700 million connected devices—including phones made by Huawei and ZTE. (Via Android Headlines)
Siri Vs Alexa With Google Home's recent launch, and Samsung's Viv on its way, we decided to take two of the better known voice-enabled AI systems out for a spin: Alexa and Siri. Want to which their vote for favorite movie of the year? Of course you do.