Need to KnowFIRST LOOK10 18 Sept - 1 Oct 2019
Amazon Fire TV Cube
bit.ly/fireThe Amazon Fire TVStick has proved
remarkably popular. The branded USB
stick makes TVs ‘smart’, so you can
watch Prime, Netflix, iPlayer and
YouTubewithout needing to buy the
latest models. The Amazon Fire Cube,
however, failedto set the world alight,
anddidn’t evengo on sale in the UK.
The all-new Fire Cubeis set to
changethat. This second-generation
box promises to offer “thefastest,
most powerful Fire TVever, delivering
a fast, fluidexperience for your
favourite films andTVprogrammes”.
Think of this 4K-capable streaming
media player as a combination of a
Fire TVStick and anAlexa smart
speaker. That means no more hunting
for the remote controlto changetheyour TV’s sound bar),
andthere’s alackof
consistency across
apps – somecan
befully controlled
via Alexa,while
others can’t. This
makes it an
occasionally
frustrating
experience, should
you step outside the
usual Prime-Netflix comfort zone.
However, it’s not enoughto make
the Cubea totalwrite-off. Especially
given Amazon’s tendency to update
its softwareandassociated apps
over ti me.
The Fire TVCubegoes onsale on
10 October for £109.99 –which, for a
TV-focusedAlexa device, will make it
a Christmas must-havefor many of us.What happened?
Chinese-developed video app Zao has
comeunder fire for stripping users of
the rights to the imagesthey upload.
The ‘deepfake’ app lets peoplecast
themselves in the role of popular film
andTVcharacters. One video, which
recentlywent viral, replacedactor
Leonardo DiCaprio with aChinese user
in scenes fromthe 1997 blockbuster
movieTitanic.
Despite the fun andgames, the app’s
end-user agreement has comeunder
intense fire. According to the South
China Morning Post, it “gavethe
developers the globalright to
permanentlyuse any image created on
the app for free”. And Chinese
messaging app WeChat has now
banned the use of the Zaoapp due to
associated “security risks”. Developer
Momo has since apologised and
removed this clause fromits terms and
conditions.
However, the issue doesn’t end there.
Someexperts have suggestedthat the
deepfake technologycould beusedto
defraud facial-recognition systems at
financial institutions. Chinese internet
giant Alibaba, which owns the PayPal-
style AliPay, went as faras releasing a
statement explainingthat eventhe
impressively accurate deepfake videos
could not beusedbyothers to pay for
goods. It said: “There is a lot of online
Fraud fears over Chinese ‘deepfake’ app
face-changingsoftware– but no matter
how realistic, it is impossible to break
through the facial payment system”.How will it affectyou?
If you haven’t usedZao, your datais safe
because for now, the issue only relates
to users of the AI app. Sofar, it’s
impactedChinese audiences, but it’s
entirely possible that western
developers will release asimilar app with
anequally obtuse end-user agreement.
Asalways, check the terms and
conditions before signingupfor apps.
These types of apps are becoming
more popular – anew one hits the app
store eachweekend andit’s all too easyto get swept upin their viral nature. But
it isn’t always“justa bit of a laugh”. No
technologycompany should own the
rights to your image –and any that try
should beshown the door.What dowethink?
Fears over advancedartificial
intelligence, datamisuseand
cybersecurity are all part of a modern
disaster story that’s becoming all too
prevalent. Following the recent Russian-
made FaceApp– which agedusers’
selfies to make themlooklike
pensioners –it highlights yet another
example of the way apps use, or own,
the datayou provide.channel– just use your
voice. Film fans andTV
binge-watchers should
also approveof the
support for HDR, HDR
10, HDR10+, HLG and
Dolby Vision.
Setting upthe
hands-free TVstreamer
proves just as easy as
any Fire TVdevice –
simply connect it to
your TVthrough the HDMIport, switch
it on, andsign in. You’re also able to
hook upmultiple supported devices
suchas sound bars, using the cloud,
infraredor HDMI-CEC.These, too, can
becontrolledby your voice.
But the Fire Cubeis not without
shortcomings. For one thing, you won’t
be able to connect your phone via
Bluetooth (so noSpotify blaring from