All about Technology: May 2018

Thursday 31 May 2018

GDPR compliance and Blockchain

There are concerns that the now-active General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and distributed ledger technology are incompatible, most likely stemming from the notion that, by virtue of a blockchain’s inherent public and transparent nature, it is far too accessible to be safe for enterprise use.

This is not actually the case. While transactions can be seen occurring across the network, the data in and of itself is not stored on the blockchain – instead, a cryptographic hash is derived from the data and is then uploaded.

What is GDPR? Everything you need to know

Blockchain-based platforms enable the storage and provenance of data to be conducted in an anonymous fashion – protocols can be built in such a way that allows for the destruction of certain data sets, in compliance with GDPR requirements. Contrary to popular belief, and given that blockchain solutions will use such a mechanism, GDPR will see increased adoption of blockchain tech.

If anything, GDPR has prompted a renewed understanding of the importance of secure data storage. It is doubtful that the legislation will interfere with existing or future blockchain systems (provided, of course, that these are truly distributed), which aim to put information back in the control of its owners.

First passed into law in April of 2016, the EU GDPR regulations came into effect on May 25th, 2018. As the EU’s response to an increasingly theft-prone personal data environment, these regulations aim to protect consumer data integrity and enforce enterprise security measures focused on such.

One of the defining features of the new regulations is that of “privacy by design”. Rather than building a system and “adding” privacy and security as a secondary concern, the EU stipulates, the system must be designed in such a way that minimizes extraneous data collection and guards that which is necessary for operations.

Luckily, distributed ledger technology is designed to be both intensely private and equally secure.

Firstly, the public and private key system allows participants to send and receive data with nearly perfect anonymity, depending on the application. The private key allows for access, while the public key is an address for inter-user transaction detached from any personally identifying elements.

Additionally, by decentralizing transaction processing, distributed ledger systems remove the vulnerabilities commonly exploited in centralized data repositories. Rather than allowing for an identifiable single point of failure, a blockchain ledger makes single-breach failures a near impossibility.

One of the other critical features of a GDPR-compatible blockchain service is immutability. In order to rely on evidence of GDPR compliance, all parties must be able to trust that it is complete, accurate and unchanged. This can only be achieved by using blockchain to record transactions.

When digital records, such as data transactions, events, and documents, are delivered to the platform, it creates a unique signature for each. It then stores these signatures in an unchangeable ledger, called a proof chain.

When new evidence seals are made, the evidence owner receives a receipt with a token to enable proof certificates based on those seals to be obtained whenever they are needed. These proof certificates can verify claims for all parties involved, providing clear evidence of an action or claim.

In the increasingly regulated world of data collection, storage, and security, blockchain provides the most reliable route towards compliance with new and upcoming international regulations. The decentralized and minimally invasive nature of the blockchain platform follows new GDPR principles of privacy by design, and the immutability and availability of a proof chain implementation ensures resistance to malicious (or negligent) data corruption.

While future political steps may complicate the landscape further, blockchain currently presents the most viable option for companies looking to ensure total GDPR compliance.

Adrian Clarke is founder of tech start-up Evident Proof and CEO of Berkshire Cloud

Want to know more about blockchain? Check out our guide here!

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Orange and Google form new partnership to invest in and buy EMEA startups

Google, more recently by way of parent company Alphabet, has been a prolific investor in startups across the globe by way of entities like GV and CapitalG. Today, it announced its newest effort in this area, specifically outside of the US. The search and Android giant is partnering with Orange Digital Ventures, the corporate venture fund of the French carrier Orange, on a new effort to find, fund, and potentially acquire startups in the EMEA region, and specifically in the areas of the internet of things, cybersecurity, cloud services, AI, fintech and connectivity solutions.

The two are not disclosing a specific fund size, nor are they talking about any financial terms in this deal at this point, except to note that the investments could potentially be made at any stage, from seed to growth, depending on the startup in question.

The two expect the first investments to be announced later this year.

“Our goal is to join forces in financing the most promising digital startups,” said Marc Rennard, the CEO of Orange Digital Ventures (ODV), said in an interview. “We will then work together to qualify them, and when a common interest is there, we will join forces to invest in them.”

To be clear, Google has confirmed to me that this is not an extension of GV or CapitalG but activity out of its corporate development arm, which also makes investments into companies when they are viewed as strategic to Google and a potential route to an acquisition. (One, slightly outsized, example of one these investments in a third party would be Google’s $1.1 billion deal to buy a part of HTC.)

“We are delighted to support Orange’s ecosystem of start-ups and innovation and to explore alongside them opportunities for co-investment in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EMEA),” said Carlo d’Asaro Biondo, EMEA President of Google Partnerships, in a statement. “Orange’s ecosystem is consistent with Google’s know-how and our ability to accelerate the growth of start-ups. This partnership is a way to enhance our collective contribution to innovation in this region.”

Indeed, in a sense, the deal is mutually beneficial for both sides.

On the part of Google, the company has strong dealflow and outreach particularly among US startups, in keeping with it being based there, and when it comes to GV or CapitalG either in the US, Europe, or elsewhere, the efforts are not intended primarily to be strategic to Google’s own interests. But when it comes to connecting with startups in EMEA that might be useful companies for Google to work with and potentially acquire to expand its business, it may not be seeing as many of those as it wants to.

Rennard said that Orange, on the other hand, gets on average around 1,200 startups pitching it for investment each year, and that’s before you consider startups that might get introduced through other VCs it works with already like Partech.

The thinking here is that working with Google will help ODV better filter some of those opportunities to make sure that the most interesting startups with the most potential get spotted and backed, and also to help Orange and Google both get in on the best deals in what appears to be a competitive investing environment at the moment.

“Have we missed opportunities? Yes. Can we improve? Yes. Could we have invested in an Amazon or Google before they became what they are now? Yes, and maybe we should have,” said Rennard. He also admitted that Orange has found it a challenge to get in on some of the more obvious and interesting startups in EMEA.

“From time to time, it’s difficult to have a place at the table. When a startup decides to call for investors, they might cover all their needs from others, without any possibility of us entering too,” he said. “But with Google plus Orange, I think the company will think twice before rejecting us, so it may help us.”

Orange and Google have been working together for some 10 years already in other aspects of their businesses including developing and building out connectivity solutions in Africa, which has also extended into developing cheap handsets together, and this investment plan is an extension of that as well.

Orange is no stranger to trying to work closer with tech companies to bring some of their ethos, culture, and rapid customer growth to their business — which, like many large carriers, continues to bring in huge amounts of cash and strong margins, but is often based on legacy services and therefore runs the risk of shrinking, being curtailed by regulators, or simply becoming less appealing to consumers. Previously, the company also partnered with Facebook to develop an infrastructure accelerator, also focused on emerging markets.

ODV was first established back in 2015 as a $23 million fund for early stage investments, a way for Orange to gain a better foothold in Silicon Valley, and has since grown to handling just under $500 million in investments across the world. Included in that, the carrier has also partnered with a number of other third parties, such as ad giant Publicis, to invest in companies that could potentially serve them to bring more cutting-edge technology into their businesses.

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Facebook Messenger Kids no longer requires parents to be friends

Messenger Kids, Facebook's chat app for pre-teens, no longer requires parents to be on speaking terms before their offspring can start a conversation.

Children can only use Messenger Kids to chat with a list of contacts approved by their parents. Before now, if two kids want to message one another, their parents could only grant permission if they were friends themselves on Facebook.

It was a handy way to make sure your little ones only spoke to people you knew and trusted, but also meant their social circles were limited unless you befriended half the people you saw at the school gate. You might be nodding acquaintances, but do you really want to hear their political views and be inundated with their Farmville invitations?

Both parents still need Facebook accounts (Zuckerberg and company won't let you get away that easily), but you can now make and authorize requests without being forced to expand your own social circle. Just search for the other parent's name to send an invitation and wait for them to respond.

Messenger Kids is available for Kindle Fire, Android and iOS, exclusively for users in the US.

How to delete your Facebook account

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LG showcases 2018 OLED TV lineup in the UAE

The queer dating app Her expands with curated community spaces

After carving out a niche as the first dating app by and for queer women, Her is broadening its mission. Today, the app formerly known as Dattch is launching a Communities feature — kind of like a set of mini queer subreddits — to let people connect around interests and identity as a group.

“We spent the past three years bringing people together in one on one conversations and introductions — communities is about taking it beyond the one on one,” Her founder Robyn Exton told TechCrunch.

“We started paying attention to the number of queer spaces that are closing,” Exton said, noting that women’s centers, lesbian bars, queer bookshops and other queer IRL spaces are closing in record numbers in recent years. “We actually think they’re needed more than ever.”

Her’s new Communities feature aims to create a digital version of those collective queer spaces, letting users connect with interest and identity-based groups, with message boards custom built for Her’s unique user base. Users can post content in Communities or follow another person’s feed to stay up to date on what’s going in the Her universe.

A curated starter pack of Communities launches today, though Exton plans to add more over time with the potential for user-generated Communities and pop-ups around specific events. The first set includes a space for queer women of color, one centered around mindfulness and wellbeing and another for news and entertainment, among others.

The categories are pretty broad for now, but it sounds like Her plans to adapt Communities to whatever its users end up wanting. That flexibility coupled with Exton’s commitment to maintaining a space that’s “so ragingly queer” set Her apart from dating apps that generally fumble any dating experience that isn’t explicitly for straight people or gay men.

Her also plans to push toward internationalization in 2018 to grow its 3 million registered users. The app is already live in 55 countries and its largest non-English speaking markets are France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and the Philippines. The app will host events tailored toward each of those locales in the coming year.

Just in time for Pride Month, Her is also launching a rebrand aimed at making the app more inclusive and reflective of what Exton calls “the future of fluidity that we believe in.”

“Our community and our audience has changed hugely, even in the last three years,” Exton said. “We needed to reflect that as a brand.”

According to Exton, there’s been a massive spike in Her users under the age of 29 describing their gender as non-binary or their sexuality as pansexual — a shift reflective of language and identity evolution in the queer community at large. The language of the rebrand describes a vision in which “sexuality and gender are found on a spectrum, where labels remain but are not set in stone.”

Exton hopes that Communities will create meaningful spaces in which Her users can gather and explore their own identities as they evolve and change. “So much queerness that happens inside of Her,” Exton said. “People describe it as feeling like you’re coming home.”

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Best POS systems of 2018

5 unexpected consequences of GDPR

We're all breathing a sigh of relief that the recent flood of GDPR-related emails from panicked companies around the world has all but dried up. The EU's new data regulation is here, promising to put individuals back in control of their personal data and harmonize data protection and privacy laws across Europe. But as the dust settles, we anticipate a number of interesting consequences.

Here are five examples (four good and one not so good) of surprising knock-on effects that the regulation may have on business, technology and society.

Stronger relationships - better data

A 10,000-person online poll conducted by Harris in April found only 20 percent of respondents "completely trust" companies to safeguard their data.

With restored trust in tech, individuals may even want to share more precise data with companies in order to benefit from more personalized products and services in line with their interests and needs. As the the world’s largest steward of enterprise data, IBM is calling on other companies not only to comply with regulation like GDPR, but to put in place deeper principles for data responsibility and trust.

Bumping up your security post-GDPR? Here is our pick of the best antivirus for business 2018

AI within arm's reach

GDPR could be seen as a Marie Kondo for data centres. For many, big data has become a big mess. As a result, data scientists currently spend almost 60 percent of their time organizing and cleaning it before they do anything with it.

With GDPR forcing companies to find, map and catalogue their data and delete what they don't need, they are effectively laying the foundations for machine learning and artificial intelligence — systems that can analyze data at lightning speed and learn as they go, throwing out the type of insight that they never even imagined possible.

Reduced capacity to track cybercriminals?

Web domain registration information (including the name, address and contact details of registrants) help cybersecurity experts quickly link malicious domains to cybercriminals, in turn helping them to block million of spam messages from suspicious domains.

There are reports that, under GDPR, domain registrars are no longer providing easy and rapid access to domain registration details in fear of non-compliance and subsequent fines. As a result, cybersecurity experts are becoming concerned about their ability to effectively track hackers and spammers in the the fight against cybercrime. Regulators and tech experts are working to hammer out a solution asap

More advanced encryption technologies

GDPR is forcing companies to ensure the highest possible levels of protection and privacy - from hackers to data processors themselves. Fully homomorphic encryption - akin to sealing and analyzing data in an impenetrable bag - is seen as the Holy Grail of encryption technologies. It's been in development for years but still isn't quite fast enough to be viable; however, recent advances promise to accelerate its commercial availability.

Companies are already using a new generation of pseudonymization technologies to strip out the most sensitive personal information from data, replacing it with something fake so it can be analyzed and shared while still respecting privacy. For example, the Dutch bank Rabobank is replacing the names of banking customers with the Latin names of flowers before sharing it with software developers for app testing. Necessity is the mother invention

The rise of 'data trusts'

With data rapidly turning from a company's biggest asset to its biggest potential issue, some businesses may choose not to manage any of their own data. Instead they may 'offshore' it to an expert third-party who can store, process and eventually delete the data in a way consistent with new laws like GDPR.

These fascinating new entities are called "data trusts" and IBM and MasterCard have set up the industry's first. 'Trūata' promises to manage, anonymize and analyze vast amounts of personal information held by companies such as travel agents and insurers. It's a bit like keeping money in a bank rather than keeping it at home in order to benefit from better security and other value added services - only in this case, the data that's put in the trust isn't pooled and mixed together.

Overall, despite the effort involved, according to IBM research over 60% of business leaders see GDPR as a blessing in disguise: a way to drive digital transformation across the enterprise and innovate new data-centric business models. IBM's take is that sometimes intense pressure and constraint lead to great innovation and that business leaders should embrace the regulation - they may be surprised by some of the benefits.

Richard Hogg is IBM's GDPR Evangelist.

Want to know more about GDPR? Check out our full guide here!

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A special deal for TechRadar readers: get WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe free

To celebrate its 12th anniversary, WinXDVD is giving TechRadar readers the opportunity to download WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe completely free. This is a fully licensed program with full features and no time limits.

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe can convert, compress, download, edit, crop, and merge videos, with level-three hardware acceleration for super fast performance.

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe can convert and edit videos from your PC, a DVD or the web. It's easy to download videos from YouTube and 300 other sites – just paste in the URL and the software will handle the rest.

As well as conversion options for all the most popular video and audio formats, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe includes profiles for Apple, Android, Microsoft and Sony devices, ensuring you'll get the best playback quality possible.

Get your copy

To install the software, download WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe and extract the ZIP file, then open the text document and copy the license key (note that this is for your personal use only). Run the setup file, then enter your email address and license key and click 'Activate' to unlock the full program.

The offer is available until June 15, with a limit of 500 licenses per day on a first-come, first-served basis, so move fast to grab your copy.

Bear in mind that you should only download videos with the copyright owner's permission. YouTube's terms of service prohibit unauthorized downloading.

What's the best free video editor you can download today?

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Pinterest gives advertisers a way to show promoted videos that take up the screen

Pinterest is continuing its push into video as a potential avenue for advertisers by today saying that it will offer advertisers a promoted video tool that takes up the width of the entire screen.

While Pinterest normally offers users a grid that they can flip through — compressing a lot of content into a small space — taking up the full width of the screen with a promoted video would offer advertisers considerable real estate if they’re looking to get the attention of users. Pinterest pitches itself to advertisers as a strong alternative to Facebook or Google, giving marketers a way to reach an audience that behaves a little more differently than when on those other platforms and coming to Pinterest to discover new things.

The company also said it’s hired Tina Pukonen as an entertainment strategist and Mike Chuthakieo as an industry sales lead. Pinterest says more than 42 million people in the U.S. come to Pinterest for entertainment ideas, and that potential tool offers an interesting niche opportunity for advertisers to capture the attention of a user for a product — say, a movie — that needs a lot of awareness marketing. Getting a user’s attention for just a few seconds can be more than enough time to at least plant the seed of potentially buying a product down the line.

It’s that argument that what gives Pinterest potential value for advertisers. The company offers an array of advertising products designed to target users at all phases of a potential buying cycle, whether that’s just clicking around on the platform looking for ideas down to actually saving an idea or buying it — through Pinterest or through a referral. Most of Pinterest’s content consists of images and other content from brands or businesses. That makes sense given that it’s a place where people tend to go to plan life events, whether that’s parties, or weddings, or home improvement — and those events center around products that they may in theory one day buy. All the while Pinterest is accumulating a lot of different plays at advertising products and an experienced level of senior hires, including hiring its first COO Françoise Brougher, who was the former VP of SMB global sales and operations at Google and business lead at Square.

Pinterest, interestingly, seems to have been a little more tolerant of making what might seem like small design changes but may have substantial user implications. The company added a tab for followers at the bottom of the app, shaking up what is often seen as a core navigation bar for any app. But the company continues to grow, crossing 200 million monthly active users in September last year.

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Feeling pressure from Russia, Telegram says Apple has blocked updates since mid-April, app missed GDPR deadline

Encrypted messaging app Telegram is feeling the squeeze out of Russia, where regulators are not letting up in their ongoing attempts to block the app because its publishers refuse to provide regulators with access to messages on the platform. Pavel Durov has announced that Telegram app for iOS is no longer updating after the iOS 11.4 update this week: updates are being “prevented” by Apple after the Russian regulator ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store altogether. Durov said this has also meant that Telegram has not been able to issue its GDPR update to comply with the new European regulations that went into effect last week.

For now, Telegram is still in the App Store, albeit with an out-of-date, non-GDPR-compliant version of the app.

The news caps off what has been a troubling week for Telegram. Days ago, the Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) announced that it had made a formal request to Apple to stop distributing the app, and also to stop enabling push notifications for those who already have the app downloaded in Russia.

Durov’s full statement, plus some more context below that:

“Unfortunately, some Telegram features, such as stickers, don’t work correctly under iOS 11.4 that was just released – even though we fixed this issue weeks ago,” Durov wrote minutes ago in his Telegram channel.

“Apple has been preventing Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally ever since the Russian authorities ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store. Russia banned Telegram on its territory in April because we refused to provide decryption keys for all our users’ communications to Russia’s security agencies. We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country.

“Unfortunately, Apple didn’t side with us. While Russia makes up only 7% of Telegram’s userbase, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April. As a result, we’ve also been unable to fully comply with GDPR for our EU-users by the deadline of May 25, 2018. We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation and will keep you updated.

“Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”

Notably, for now it seems that the app — an older version of it — is still available in the App Store. Apple, according to a report this week, has one month from May 28 to comply with a request to remove it completely. It’s not clear what the consequences would be if it failed to do so.

“We sent them [Apple] a legally binding letter and are awaiting their legally binding reply. Because Apple, like other transnational companies, is a company with a high degree of red tape, we expect the reply within a month,” RKN’s head Alexander Zharov said to Russian news agency Interfax.

RKN has been seeking to shut down use of Telegram in the country for months, but for most of that time Telegram has been working around the issue by appealing to people to use VPNs to access the service, and also by hopping around IPs at hosting companies sympathetic to its attempt to continue offering its service without sharing data with Russian authorities.

Its hopping had the unintended consequence of RKN knocking out entire swathes of IP addresses to stop Telegram, some 19 million at its peak, causing a number of other services to go down as well. But even so, the app has gone viral with the attention, which had also prompted a number of protests.

But despite the attention, it is unclear how this might have translated to usage and app installs. The most recent figures released by Telegram note that there are about 200 million monthly active users, with 14 million in Russia, although those figures predate the scuffle with Russian regulators. Downloads as tracked by AppAnnie, in fact, seem to point to a slight dip in downloads in Russia after the RKN blocks started in April, although those numbers only count App Store downloads.

Surprisingly, and maybe because of how popular the resistance was proving to be, it looked like several of the key cloud hosting companies, such as Google and Amazon’s AWS, where Telegram along with many other sites and apps host their data and operations, had decided to hold firm to see how things would develop, even when their own consumer-facing services were suffering.

So it seemed only a matter of time before RKN would soon turn to app store operators to turn the screws further. Apple, it seems, has been the first to go down, specifically with regards to updating the app in the App Store. Logically, it seems that the Play Store and others might also feel the squeeze, too.

We are contacting Apple for further comment, and also Google to see if the Play Store is also being affected, and we will update this post as we learn more.

More to come.

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Nokia closes digital health sale to Withings founder Eric Carreel, who plans relaunch by EOY

Nokia has closed the books on its unlucky foray into digital health devices and services, and with it, a business is marking its return to the world of startups. Today, the Finnish telecoms giant announced that it has closed the sale of its digital health division, along with 200 employees, to Eric Carreel, the former chairman and co-founder of Withings. Now Carreel plans to relaunch the business once again under the Withings brand by the end of this year, with products focused on preventive health.

Withings had formed the core of Nokia’s digital health business after it acquired the company, famous for its smart scales, in 2016 for €170 million. Nokia later rebranded the business as Nokia Digital Health.

“I am delighted to start working again with the brilliant teams that made the brand such a great success” said Carreel in a statement. “We have an exciting challenge ahead of us as we continue to push the boundaries of connected health.”

The deal comes less than a month after Nokia announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Carreel for the sale, part of a larger reorganization at the company to refocus away from unprofitable businesses.

There were no financial terms revealed in the sale, nor any details about how the new Withings will be financed. (We are asking.) In its previous incarnation as a startup before its exit to Nokia, Withings had raised just under $34 million with investors including Bpifrance, Ininvest and and Ventech starting in 2008. The new startup will be based out of Paris with operations also in the U.S. and Asia.

Alongside the news about Withings, there are some executive changes at Nokia, too.

Gregory Lee — who joined the Nokia Technologies division in part to restructure the business by hiving off unprofitable operations like digital health — is now leaving the company altogether. Maria Varsellona, who is the company’s Chief Legal Officer, will now also be the president of Nokia Technologies.

This change makes some (disheartening) sense: Nokia has a huge trove of patents from its long history, which included helping forge and for a long time leading the mobile phone industry. While Nokia’s mobile phone business eventually collapsed, quite dramatically, it has held on to a number of patents, and has added to that in recent years. And this is why it is unsurprising to have Nokia’s legal head also leading its Technologies division: it shows where the company’s priorities are today.

Back at Withings, in addition to connected scales, the company today makes activity tracking watches, blood pressure monitors, a smart thermometer, and a sleep tracking pad, which work with an app it calls Health Mate. The focus on preventive health sounds like it will keep all of these in place.

The story of hardware startups is one of many optimistic and often exciting ideas, but also a lot of failures, as the realities set in of developing supply chains, trying to find the right economies of scale and of course finding customers for your shiny new gadgets. Withings is some way out of the initially hard part of simply getting products designed, working, made and out into the market, but it will still have to contend with keeping the business operating and growing — challenges that Nokia clearly could not surmount.

One thing in its favor is the rise of AI and the general expansion of possibilities that come with all the data that can now be collected. Putting aside clunkers like Theranos, a number of startups — such as Ava, which is focusing on women’s health — have been exploring not just what kind of data they can gather from wearables and other devices, but how to “read” that data and match it up with new understanding about disease pathology and health, to gain more insights about us and how we work.

This seems to be the direction that Withings hopes to go, too.

“We are still only just starting to discover what connected health can really bring to people,” said Carreel in a statement. “From now on we must concentrate our efforts on developing tools capable of advanced measurements and the associated services that can help prevent chronic health conditions. Today’s technologies allow us to imagine solutions that have the potential to benefit the lives of millions of people, and our ambition is to ensure that we, as Withings, lead the way with technological advances and intuitive designs.”

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Researchers create the first 3D-printed corneas

Researchers at Newcastle University have been able to 3D-print a biocompatible corneal framework using a new gel formulations that “keeps the stem cells alive whilst producing a material which is stiff enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be squeezed out the nozzle of a 3D printer.”

There is a significant shortage of corneas available to transplant, with 10 million people worldwide requiring surgery to prevent corneal blindness as a result of diseases such as trachoma, an infectious eye disorder,” wrote the researchers. “In addition, almost 5 million people suffer total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by burns, lacerations, abrasion or disease.”

The product uses “human corneal stromal cells” from a donor cornea mixed with alginate and collagen to create bio-ink that can turn into a living cornea. This means that one donor cornea can help multiple patients.

““This builds upon our previous work in which we kept cells alive for weeks at room temperature within a similar hydrogel. Now we have a ready to use bio-ink containing stem cells allowing users to start printing tissues without having to worry about growing the cells separately,” said researcher Che Connon. He built the technology with Dr. Steve Swioklo.

The corneas take ten minutes to print on a cheap 3D printer, a vast improvement on previous efforts. Further, the gel can keep stem cells alive for days, allowing you to print a few corneas over the course of a week.

“This builds upon our previous work in which we kept cells alive for weeks at room temperature within a similar hydrogel. Now we have a ready to use bio-ink containing stem cells allowing users to start printing tissues without having to worry about growing the cells separately,” said Connon.

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New file sharing site Smash has no ads, no file size limits, and a creative twist

File sharing can be a dull business – particularly if you're using a free service that's packed with ads. Smash takes a different approach. A new file transfer service designed with artists, designers and tech enthusiasts at heart, it has no file size limits and replaces ugly ads with fun creative projects.

There's no need to create an account – just drag and drop your files to get started. You can then create a unique download page with a custom background image and title, and select a creative project to display while the files download.

Free users can pick from a selection of projects from a list curated by Smash, while premium account holders can add their own videos from YouTube or Vimeo (plus a custom logo).

You can send files via a web link (with a custom URL in the format fromsmash.com/yourtitle), by email, or through Slack.

Safe and secure

Smash uses Amazon Web Services to provide secure cloud storage, and links expire after a set period of time (up to seven days in the free plan), eliminating the problem of sensitive data hanging around in the recipient's inbox indefinitely.

You can also remove file previews if you're sending something confidential, and use a password to secure your links (check out the full privacy policy).

Premium accounts start at US$5 (about £4, AU$7) per month, and offer the ability to display your own projects during downloads, links that remain live for up to a year, priority transfers for files over 2GB, file transfer history, and reporting.

What's the best file sharing service available right now?

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Best translation software of 2018

Feeling pressure from Russia, Telegram says Apple has blocked updates since mid-April, app missed GDPR deadline

For now, Telegram is still in the App Store, albeit with an out-of-date, non-GDPR-compliant version of the app.

Durov’s full statement, plus some more context below that:

“Unfortunately, some Telegram features, such as stickers, don’t work correctly under iOS 11.4 that was just released – even though we fixed this issue weeks ago,” Durov wrote minutes ago in his Telegram channel.

“Apple has been preventing Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally ever since the Russian authorities ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store. Russia banned Telegram on its territory in April because we refused to provide decryption keys for all our users’ communications to Russia’s security agencies. We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country.

“Unfortunately, Apple didn’t side with us. While Russia makes up only 7% of Telegram’s userbase, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April. As a result, we’ve also been unable to fully comply with GDPR for our EU-users by the deadline of May 25, 2018. We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation and will keep you updated.

“Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”

We are contacting Apple for further comment, and also Google to see if the Play Store is also being affected, and we will update this post as we learn more.

More to come.

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UK puts legal limits on drone flight heights and airport no-fly zones

The UK has announced new stop-gap laws for drone operators restricting how high they can fly their craft — 400ft — and prohibiting the devices from being flown within 1km of an airport boundary. The measures will come into effect on July 30.

The government says the new rules are intended to enhance safety, including the safety of passengers of aircraft — given a year-on-year increase in reports of drone incidents involving aircraft. It says there were 93 such incidents reported in the country last year, up from 71 the year before.

And while the UK’s existing Drone Code (which was issued in 2016) already warns operators to restrict drone flights to 400ft — and to stay “well away” from airports and aircraft — those measures are now being baked into law, via an amendment to the 2016 Air Navigation Order (ahead of a full drone bill which was promised for Spring but still hasn’t materialized yet).

UK drone users who flout the new height and airport boundary restrictions face being charged with recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or any person in an aircraft — which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine, or both.

Additional measures are also being legislated for, as announced last summer — with a requirement for owners of drones weighing 250 grams or more to register with the Civil Aviation Authority and for drone pilots to take an online safety test.

Users who fail to register or sit the competency tests could face fines of up to £1,000. Though those requirements will come into force later, on November 30 2019.

Commenting in a statement, aviation minister Baroness Sugg said: “We are seeing fast growth in the numbers of drones being used, both commercially and for fun. Whilst we want this industry to innovate and grow, we need to protect planes, helicopters and their passengers from the increasing numbers of drones in our skies. These new laws will help ensure drones are used safely and responsibly.”

In a supporting statement, Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick Airport’s COO, added: “We welcome the clarity that today’s announcement provides as it leaves no doubt that anyone flying a drone must stay well away from aircraft, airports and airfields. Drones open up some exciting possibilities but must be used responsibly. These clear regulations, combined with new surveillance technology, will help the police apprehend and prosecute anyone endangering the traveling public.”

Last fall the UK government also announced it plans to legislate to give police more powers to ground drones to prevent unsafe or criminal usage — measures it also said it would include in the forthcoming drone bill.

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More speakers, panels at The Europas, and how to get your ticket free

The Europas Unconference & Awards is back on 3 July in London and we’re excited to announce more speakers and panel sessions as the event takes shape. Crypto and Blockchain will be a major theme this year, and we’re bringing together many of the key players. TechCrunch is once again the key media partner, and if you attend The Europas you’ll be first in the queue to get offers for TC events and Disrupt Europe later in the year.

You can also potentially get your ticket for free just by sharing your own ticket link with friends and followers. See below for the details and instructions.

To recap, we’re jumping straight into our popular breakout sessions where you’ll get up close and personal with some of Europe’s leading investors, founders and thought leaders.

The Unconference is focused into zones including AI, Fintech, Mobility, Startups, Society, and Enterprise and Crypto / Blockchain.

Our Crypto HQ will feature two tracks of panels, one focused on investing and the other on how blockchain is disrupting everything from financial services, to gaming, to social impact to art.

We’ve lined up some of the leading blockchain VCs to talk about what trends and projects excite them most, including Outlier Ventures’ Jamie Burke, KR1’s George McDonaugh, blockchain angel Nancy Fenchay, Fabric Ventures’ Richard Muirhead and Michael Jackson of Mangrove Capital Partners.

Thinking of an ICO vs crowdfunding? Join Michael Jackson on how ICOs are disrupting venture capital and Ali Ganjavian, co-founder of Studio Banana, the creators of longtime Kickstarter darling OstrichPillow to understand the ins and outs of both.

We’ve also lined up a panel to discuss the process of an ICO – what do you need to consider, the highs, the lows, the timing and the importance of community. Linda Wang, founder and CEO of Lending Block, which recently raised $10 million in an April ICO, joins us.

We are thrilled to announce that Civil, the decentralised marketplace for sustainable journalism, will be joining to talk about the rise of fake news and Verisart’s Robert Norton will share his views on stamping out fraud in the art world with blockchain. Min Teo of ConsenSys will discuss blockchain and social impact and Jeremy Millar, head of Consensys UK, will speak on Smart Contracts.

Our Pathfounders Startup Zone is focused purely on startups. Our popular Meet the Press panel is back where some of tech’s finest reporters will tell you what makes a great tech story, and how to pitch (and NOT pitch them). For a start, TechCrunch’s Steve O’Hear and Quartz’s Joon Ian Wong are joining.

You’ll also hear from angels and investors including Seedcamp’s Carlos Eduardo Espinal; Eileen Burbidge of Passion Capital; Accel Partners’ Andrei Brasoveanu; Jeremy Yap; Candice Lo of Blossom Capital; Scott Sage of Crane Venture Partners; Tugce Ergul of Angel Labs; Stéphanie Hospital of OneRagtime; Connect Ventures’ Sitar Teli and Jason Ball of Qualcomm Ventures.

Sound great? You can grab your ticket here:

Early bird ticket sales end on Friday! Remember, you can end up getting your ticket for free.

All you need to do is share your personal ticket link. Your friends get 15% off, and you get 15% off again when they buy.

The more your friends buy, the more your ticket cost goes down, all the way to free!

The Public Voting in the awards ends 11 June 2018 11:59: https://ift.tt/2sqYJX3

We’re still looking for sponsor partners to support these editorially curated panels.

Please get in touch with Petra@theeuropas.com for more details.

SPEAKERS SO FAR:

Jamie Burke, Outlier Ventures

Jeremy Millar, ConsenSys

Linda Wang, Lending Block

Robert Norton, Verisart

George McDonaugh, KR1

Eileen Burbidge, Passion Capital

Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Seedcamp

Sitar Teli, Connect Ventures

Michael Jackson, Mangrove Capital Partners

Min Teo, ConsenSys

Steve O’Hear, TechCrunch

Joon Ian Wong, Quartz

Richard Muirhead, Fabric Ventures

Nancy Fechnay, Blockchain Technologist + Angel

Candice Lo, Blossom Capital

Scott Sage, Crane Venture Partners

Andrei Brasoveanu, Accel

Tina Baker, Jag Shaw Baker

Jeremy Yap

Candice Lo, Blossom Capital

Tugce Ergul, Angel Labs

Stéphanie Hospital, OneRagtime

Jason Ball, Qualcomm Ventures

The Europas Awards
The Europas Awards are based on voting by expert judges and the industry itself. But key to the daytime is all the speakers and invited guests. There’s no “off-limits speaker room” at The Europas, so attendees can mingle easily with VIPs and speakers.

Vote for your Favourite Startups

Public Voting is still humming along. Please remember to vote for your favourite startups!

Awards by category:

Hottest Media/Entertainment Startup

Hottest E-commerce/Retail Startup

Hottest Education Startup

Hottest Startup Accelerator

Hottest Marketing/AdTech Startup

Hottest Games Startup

Hottest Mobile Startup

Hottest FinTech Startup

Hottest Enterprise, SaaS or B2B Startup

Hottest Hardware Startup

Hottest Platform Economy / Marketplace

Hottest Health Startup

Hottest Cyber Security Startup

Hottest Travel Startup

Hottest Internet of Things Startup

Hottest Technology Innovation

Hottest FashionTech Startup

Hottest Tech For Good

Hottest A.I. Startup

Fastest Rising Startup Of The Year

Hottest GreenTech Startup of The Year

Hottest Startup Founders

Hottest CEO of the Year

Best Angel/Seed Investor of the Year

Hottest VC Investor of the Year

Hottest Blockchain/Crypto Startup Founder(s)

Hottest Blockchain Protocol Project

Hottest Blockchain DApp

Hottest Corporate Blockchain Project

Hottest Blockchain Investor

Hottest Blockchain ICO (Europe)

Hottest Financial Crypto Project

Hottest Blockchain for Good Project

Hottest Blockchain Identity Project

Hall Of Fame Award – Awarded to a long-term player in Europe

The Europas Grand Prix Award (to be decided from winners)

The Awards celebrates the most forward thinking and innovative tech & blockchain startups across over some 30+ categories.

Startups can apply for an award or be nominated by anyone, including our judges. It is free to enter or be nominated.

Instead of thousands and thousands of people, think of a great summer event with 1,000 of the most interesting and useful people in the industry, including key investors and leading entrepreneurs.

• No secret VIP rooms, which means you get to interact with the Speakers

• Key Founders and investors speaking; featured attendees invited to just network

• Expert speeches, discussions, and Q&A directly from the main stage

• Intimate “breakout” sessions with key players on vertical topics

• The opportunity to meet almost everyone in those small groups, super-charging your networking

• Journalists from major tech titles, newspapers and business broadcasters

• A parallel Founders-only track geared towards fund-raising and hyper-networking

• A stunning awards dinner and party which honors both the hottest startups and the leading lights in the European startup scene

• All on one day to maximise your time in London. And it’s sunny (probably)!

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That’s just the beginning. There’s more to come…

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