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What actually is 5G? Myths plagued new phone technology for years before coronavirus conspiracy theory took hold
More than a year after smartphone giants Huawei and Samsung launched their first 5G phones, Apple is set to unveil its first 5G iPhone.The predecessor of 5G proved to be an era-defining technology. Launched shortly after the first iPhone, 4G transformed Apple’s first smartphone into the industry leader and paved the way for a decade of new apps, services and innovation.5G promises to be orders of magnitude faster than 4G, but exactly what this speed will be used for is still unclear.UK networks began switching on 5G in 2019 but only on a very limited scale. Coverage maps show that large parts of the UK still don’t even have 4G, and areas with 5G tend to be limited to densely-populated urban areas.
In comparison with previous generations of data connections, 5G signals project over a smaller range, and so more masts are required to cover the same area. That has slowed the rollout and meant that coverage spots are much smaller than may be expected.
Read moreIn the UK and elsewhere, delivering 5G has also been complicated by questions over the infrastructure required to make it work. Arguments over whether Chinese firm Huawei should be allowed to build the masts and other equipment required to broadcast 5G networks have slowed the rollout and led to widespread and sometimes confusing arguments in the media and among politicians.
What is 5G and what will the new iPhone be capable of?
More than a year after smartphone giants Huawei and Samsung launched their first 5G phones, Apple is set to unveil its first 5G iPhone.The predecessor of 5G proved to be an era-defining technology. Launched shortly after the first iPhone, 4G transformed Apple’s first smartphone into the industry leader and paved the way for a decade of new apps, services and innovation.5G promises to be orders of magnitude faster than 4G, but exactly what this speed will be used for is still unclear.UK networks began switching on 5G in 2019 but only on a very limited scale. Coverage maps show that large parts of the UK still don’t even have 4G, and areas with 5G tend to be limited to densely-populated urban areas.
In comparison with previous generations of data connections, 5G signals project over a smaller range, and so more masts are required to cover the same area. That has slowed the rollout and meant that coverage spots are much smaller than may be expected.
Read moreIn the UK and elsewhere, delivering 5G has also been complicated by questions over the infrastructure required to make it work. Arguments over whether Chinese firm Huawei should be allowed to build the masts and other equipment required to broadcast 5G networks have slowed the rollout and led to widespread and sometimes confusing arguments in the media and among politicians.
Data breach as Hackney Council hit by 'serious cyber attack'
Hackney Council has reported a data breach after being hit by what it described as a “serious cyber attack” on Tuesday morning, which is still affecting many of its services and IT systems.
The council says it is working with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Ministry of Housing to investigate and understand the impact of the incident.
It is not yet clear what type of cyber attack has hit the council, however a spokesperson from the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed to Sky News that it had received a report of a data breach as a result.
In a statement on the council’s public-facing website, which is still up and running, Mayor Philip Glanville said: “Our focus is on continuing to deliver essential frontline services, especially to our most vulnerable residents, and protecting data, while restoring affected services as soon as possible.
“In the meantime, some council services may be unavailable or slower than normal, and our call centre is extremely busy,” he added.
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“We ask that residents and businesses only contact us if absolutely necessary, and to bear with us while we seek to resolve these issues.”
A spokesperson for the ICO told Sky News: “People should be able to expect that their personal information is handled securely by any organisation. When it isn’t this can cause real distress – especially if it is sensitive information.
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“We have received a data breach report from the London Borough of Hackney and will be making enquiries.
“If anyone is concerned about their personal information they should contact the council first, if they are not satisfied, they can bring their concerns to us,” the spokesperson added.
The impact of the incident is still not completely clear. Sky News understands that the G Suite services the council use are still working, and staff calling the council’s IT support hotline are being instructed to follow the guidance and information in their inboxes.
A spokesperson for NCSC confirmed that it was “aware of an incident affecting Hackney Borough Council” and said the agency was “supporting the organisation and working with partners to understand the impact of this incident.”
If you would like to contact Alexander Martin, you can reach him securely using the private messaging app Signal on +44 (0)7970 376 704 or at [email protected]
Economist finds out about Nobel win when neighbour knocks on the door
Receiving an unexpected knock on the front door in the early hours of the morning does not usually bring good news – but it is how one man found out he had won a Nobel Prize.
Economist Paul Milgrom won the prize for economics, alongside his colleague Robert Wilson.
But the prize’s organisers had been unable to reach Mr Milgrom, so Mr Wilson took it upon himself to let his colleague know about their win.
“You know, I was asleep and my phone is set not to take calls from unknown numbers,” Mr Milgrom said. “So, they never got through to me.
“But there came to be a knock at my door and my co-winner, Bob Wilson, who also lives across the street, came over and was knocking at my door and saying, ‘Paul, wake up! You’ve won the Nobel Prize!'”
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Mr Milgrom stammered for a moment before saying: “Wow.”
Security footage at Mr Milgrom’s home captured the moment he found out in the early hours of the morning.
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Both men are based at Stanford University in the US and won for improving the theory of how auctions work and inventing new and better formats that are now woven into the economy.
Their work has been used to sell radio frequencies, fishing quotas and airport landing slots.
Mr Milgrom remained humble about his win.
“This is economics. It’s not the Nobel Peace Prize or something, it’s not like I’ve gone out there and helped people settle a war,” he said.
Nobel Peace Prize: World Food Programme named this year’s winner
Their win was announced in Stockholm by Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, rounding off a week of Nobel Prizes.
The committee said their work showed “why rational bidders tend to place bids below their own best estimate of the common value,” that is, “the value which is uncertain beforehand but, in the end, is the same for everyone”.
It also featured an explanation of how bidders try to avoid the so-called “winner’s curse” of overpaying.
Elon Musk’s space internet gives Native American tribe access to high-speed broadband for first time
A remote Native American tribe is among the first users of Elon Musk’s Starlink space internet project after it connected to SpaceX’s constellation of satellites.The Hoh Tribe in Washington State said Starlink’s high-speed broadband enabled remote learning and telehealth appointments during the coronavirus pandemic for the first time. “We’re very remote. The last eight years I felt like we’ve been paddling up river with a spoon and almost getting nowhere with getting internet to the reservation,” said Melvinjohn Ashue, vice chairman of the Hoh Tribe.“It seemed like out of nowhere, SpaceX came up and just catapulted us into the 21st century.”There are currently around 800 Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit, offering internet connectivity to northern areas of the US and Canada. SpaceX eventually plans to launch tens of thousands more satellites to provide “near global coverage of the populated world by 2021”.Watch moreThe Hoh Tribe were introduced to Starlink through the Washington State Department of Commerce, which sits within the current reach of the Starlink network.It is one of several early testers of Starlink , with emergency responders in Washington State also recently using the network to set up a WiFi hotspot for residents of Malden after 80 per cent of the town was destroyed by wildfires.The Hoh Tribe revealed that internet speeds prior to Starlink ranged from between 0.3 and 0.7 megabits per second (Mbps) – a long way off the 100Mbps advertised by SpaceX.Responding to a tweet from the Hoh Tribe, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said: “You’re most welcome.”SpaceX has received criticism from astronomers for disruption caused by trails of Starlink satellites crossing the night’s sky.The satellites are launched in batches of 60, creating long strings of bright lights that have prompted UFO reports after several of the launches.
Facebook bans Holocaust denial in new updates
Facebook has updated its policies to prohibit content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust” – just two years after Mark Zuckerberg suggested such posts were permissible under freedom of speech.
The social network says it will also re-direct anyone who searches for Holocaust denial to “credible information” on another page.
Both updates will begin later this year.
Image: Founder Mark Zuckerberg says his thinking has ‘evolved’
This follows a clampdown on other forms of hate speech – including banning white supremacist groups and militia groups.
These changes have been introduced to help combat misinformation on the site ahead of the US presidential election in November.
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The social network’s head of content policy, Monika Bickert, said these moves mark “another step” in Facebook’s efforts to combat hate on its platform.
“Our decision is supported by the well-documented rise in anti-semitism globally and the alarming level of ignorance about the Holocaust, especially among young people”, Ms Bickert said.
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“According to a recent survey of adults in the US aged 18-39, almost a quarter said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, that it had been exaggerated or they weren’t sure.”
She added that the company had made a “major change” since Mr Zuckerberg’s comments in 2018.
Image: Facebook has updated its policies to prohibit content that ‘denies or distorts the Holocaust’
The Facebook boss had argued that Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories, while “deeply offensive” should not be removed as those posting may not be “intentionally getting it wrong”.
However, two years on, Mr Zuckerberg says his thinking on the matter has “evolved”.
He said: “I’ve struggled with the tension between standing for free expression and the harm caused by minimizing or denying the horror of the Holocaust.”
“My own thinking has evolved as I’ve seen data showing an increase in antisemitic violence, as have our wider policies on hate speech.
“Drawing the right lines between what is and isn’t acceptable speech isn’t straightforward, but with the current state of the world, I believe this is the right balance.”
However Facebook has warned these new changes will take time to implement – and “cannot happen overnight”.
Ms Bickert said: “There is a range of content that can violate these policies, and it will take some time to train our reviewers and systems on enforcement.
Image: Facebook is banning hate speech in the run up to the US presidential election next month
“We are grateful to many partners for their input and candour as we work to keep our platform safe.”
Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust said he hopes the updates will encourage others in the industry to tackle hate speech the same way.
“We welcome this decision by Facebook to fully ban abuse and denial of the Holocaust, which has so far been allowed to fester on the platform,” he said.
“It finally aligns Facebook’s policies to ban antisemitism and hate speech. Previously, Jew-hatred disguised as Holocaust denial and revisionism was allowed unabated, meaning Jewish users who saw this sort of content could not do anything to combat it.
“In removing it from the platform, Facebook is sending a message that Jewish and other people’s collective memories and experiences of this horror are no longer fair game.
He added: “Denial will no longer be so easy to share or be used to influence others on Facebook.”
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