9.22.21 SB_Q

FALL 2021

THE DIGITAL USER

13

BEST REVIEWS

BEST WIFI THERMOSTATS

E XC L U S I V E

BEST OF THE BEST

THE DIGITAL USER

Using a Bluetooth speaker, you can connect your smartphone or tablet and enjoy your music as it was meant be heard: with proper bass and treble, to and wire-free. Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from kid-oriented models that are just a few inches tall to boom-box-sized behemoths perfect for the beach.

BEST OF THE BEST

CONS

FALL 2021

Customer Favorite: A complete wireless package with the intelligence to control the temperature automatically.

Best on a Budget: About $100 cheaper than the premium Nest offering and still offers plenty of WiFi perks that help optimize HVAC usage for energy savings.

Integrated platform that works with Alexa offers unrivaled voice commands. Energy History lets you track trends and energy savings.

Clean interface makes it easy to use and presents information in a clear format.

Turns itself off when you leave to conserve energy. Low-profile design blends in well with rooms. Easy to program Quick Schedule in the Nest app for simple adjustments.

Considered user-friendly.

One of the most expensive options around.

A few device quirks during setup and some users feel the app could be more intuitive.

WIFI THERMOSTATS: OUR FAVE Every WiFi thermostat comes with the same basic functionality – it can change the temperature and make adjustments to consume fewer resources and save you money. But the real fun of a WiFi thermostat is in the bonus features, the innovations that turn these devices from a “nice to have” to a “must have.” Here are the features we like the best.

Ecobee

Most Stylish: The stylish design of this WiFi thermostat is only topped by its versatility and how simple it is to use.

Wide color display. Delivers maintenance alerts. Easy to program with 7-day schedules. Displays weather forecast. Compatible with many smart home systems. Touch screen is responsive and quick.

Simple installation.

Lacks money-saving geofence technology.

Most Eco-friendly: If you need a WiFi thermostat that boasts a wide range of innovative, easy to use, and money-saving features, this is your best option.

Sleek Appearance: This updated model from a trusted brand is affordable, user-friendly, and can be installed in less than 30 minutes.

Backlit design with oversized display is easy to read. Integrates with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings. Offers flexible scheduling and optimizes energy based on trends.

Must download the app for control or otherwise adjustments on the device are somewhat limited.

FEATURES

make sure to get one that allows you to use that app to adjust the temperature even when you’re not in the house.

DIGITAL ASSISTANT COMPATIBILITY AND VOICE CONTROL: It’s nice to be able to control a WiFi thermostat with your smartphone, but it feels downright futuristic to change the temperature with a voice command. Most WiFi thermostats support Amazon’s Echo service and Google Home, so if you’re already close with your digital assistant, you’ll love it even more when it can maintain a perfect temperature.

TIP If you use a digital assistant with your WiFi thermostat, enable parental controls. Being able to change the temperature with a single voice command is pretty cool, but you should take steps to prevent any mischief or accidents and enable parental controls. With parental controls in place, only the adults you specify can interact with your WiFi thermostat.

HELP OR HURT? APP CONTROL: While it may seem rather basic, some WiFi thermostats don’t have an app for your smartphone, so any interaction has to be done manually.

Buy a WiFi thermostat that has an app, and

Sensi Touch WiFi Thermostat

Integrated speaker with Alexa smart controls. Great for streaming music.

Optimized for reducing energy usage. Crisp display. Simple to install and program. Regulates indoor humidity. App is well-designed and easy to navigate.

This is a fairly pricey model that seems to very hit or miss.

EASY SCHEDULING: Programming thermostat schedules isn’t anything

Bose

Soundlink Revolve+ (Series II)

All-Around Sound: A nice-sized, well-built, portable speaker with 360-degree audio and the classic Bose sound.

Omnidirectional 360-degree audio with trademark Bose staging for room-filling sound. IP55 rated against splashes and dust. Up to 17 hours battery life. Stylish fabric carrying handle.

Somewhat expensive. Technically a mono speaker.

The design of thermometers has come a long way from glass tubes filled with dangerous mercury. Today’s have digital screens that provide fast, thermometers clear readings. The next step forward is smart thermometers. Smart thermometers can store data about your temperature readings and share it with your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection.

The app allows users to keep track of readings over time which can be especially useful for children. The results display nearly immediately which is ideal for babies that often move around. While it is marketed towards babies, works great for all.

The app can have certain glitches which would require restarts.

Smart Basal Thermometer

Best for Women: With incredible accuracy, women wishing to start a family now have a better way to chart temperature and predict when ovulation is about to occur.

Discreet design allows user to carry without detection. Easy to use. Stores around 300 readings, which are used to predict optimal conception time. Unit beeps when cap is taken off to indicate it’s on and ready to use.

Sync time between thermometer and app can be very slow. Battery life could be longer.

iHealth

No-Touch Thermometer

Durable & Rugged: A quick and reliable battery-operated thermometer suitable for any agegroup.

Get results in around 3 seconds.

The design ensures that this thermometer lasts a long time, even in the hands of children. While it is battery powered, the batteries last long as they are only used when the device is on.

The quick results can lead to a bit less accuracy.

As you’re comparing different smart thermometers, the main consideration is whether you want a thermometer that measures body temperature or environmental temperature.

BODY TEMPERATURE: For measuring body temperature, think about how you’d like the smart thermometer to work as well as the level of accuracy you require.

Armpit: An armpit thermometer will deliver a quick reading, but it typically yields the least accurate results.

Some manufacturers of smart thermometers indicate temperatures taken in the armpit register about one degree lower than the person’s actual temperature.

Ear: An ear thermometer has a reasonable accuracy level, although an exces-

sive amount of earwax can throw off the reading. Do not use an ear thermometer on a child six months old or younger.

If you want a general idea of a person’s temperature, an ear thermometer works fast and is only minimally uncomfortable.

But these thermometers are not as precise as other options.

Forehead: A forehead thermometer returns a reading within a few seconds, using infrared scanning. It has a high level of accuracy, especially for small children.

It’s not quite as accurate as a rectal thermometer, but it’s far easier to use.

Unless a doctor specifically tells you to take a child’s temperature rectally, a forehead thermometer is a more than adequate substitute.

Oral: An oral thermometer is extremely accurate, delivering results in a short amount of time. However, do not take your temperature orally within several minutes of eating or drinking.

Very young children may struggle to hold an oral thermometer in the proper position in the mouth for an accurate reading.

Rectal: A rectal thermometer is very accurate, but it can cause discomfort.

For the most accurate temperature reading for a baby or toddler, doctors often recommend a rectal thermometer reading. Once you’ve used a smart thermometer rectally, be sure to disinfect it and only use it as a rectal thermometer in the future.

Smart thermometers are available in

IP67 rating for water- and dustproofing. USB-C and USB-A connections. Wide soundstage with excellent fidelity and power. Syncs to other current JBL speakers.

Charges other devices.

Big and bold 360-degree sound with mid-boost button for outdoors.

IP67 waterproof and dustproof.

Pair two units for stereo sound.

Up to 13 hours battery life. Dropresistant. Floats.

Does not sync to older CHARGE models.

No smart assistant.

IP67 waterproof and dustproof.

Elegant, sturdy aluminum case.

Leather strap. Spacious sound with good bass. Some 18 to 43 hours of battery life. Offers Alexa. Doubles as a phone speaker and mic.

Thirty watts of sound from a pair each of tweeters, woofers, and passive radiators, with onboard DSP and stereo pairing capability.

IP7 waterproof. USB-C and aux-in connections.

Expensive. Requires app for smart options.

Not dustproof.

As such, they don’t deliver top-end audio quality. They especially tend to struggle with loud bass sounds. However, they’re great for walking or biking while listening to music if you don’t want to use headphones.

Some portable speakers are small enough to clip onto a backpack or belt.

If you want a portable unit that also delivers good audio quality, consider an outdoor-rated Bluetooth speaker.

It will probably be too large to clip onto a backpack, but it will fit inside a backpack and stand up to rugged treatment during a hike or bike ride.

SPECIALTY SPEAKERS: Some Bluetooth speakers have a specific task incorporated into their design.

For example, some shower heads come with tiny Bluetooth speakers that fit into them. If you want to connect multiple Bluetooth speakers to one source, you’ll need a speaker with this particular feature built into it.

Some specialty Bluetooth speakers also have battery-charging capabilities.

With this option, you plug a USB cable into the speaker and use the extra battery power stored in the speaker to charge another device, like a smartphone.

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Wellue

Apple

FDA approval is a big benefit as it gives users the confidence in the device. The thermometer has a high accuracy of around 0.2 degrees. The fever warning feature can inform users of spikes in temperature.

It does not sync up with other health apps like Google Fit or Apple Health.

Series 6

Trusted Brand: Most smartwatches don’t come close to the versatility, premium design, and wide range of features found in the Series 6.

Watch actively monitors health stats, including blood oxygen, heart rhythm, and sleep. Also tracks activity and fitness stats. Offers a wide array of apps. This watch is stylish and highly customizable.

A pricey smartwatch.

CONS

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

PAGE 11

Samsung

Galaxy Watch3

Most Versatile: Equal parts health-accurate, useful for its connectivity, and charmingly stylish, this a value-packed smartwatch.

Fossil

Gen 5 Smartwatches

Most Stylish: Combines the best of Google’s wearable technology with Fossil’s timeless style for a noteworthy mesh of form and functionality.

Garmin

Fitbit

Instinct Solar

Sense

Durable & Rugged: If you need a smartwatch that’s loaded with features and will easily survive every adventure, this is a great option.

Features a large display.

Comprehensive health-tracking features, including heart and sleep, fall detection. Strap is comfortable.

Durable, and features a premiumquality smartphone app. Three stylish colours.

Utilizes Google tech and hundreds of apps, like Google Assistant and Fit. Features voice controls and premium integrated speaker.

Watch is waterproof. Many traditional wristwatch styles available.

Boasts military-grade durability.

Solar energy greatly extends battery life up to 54 days. Watch tracks activity levels, heart rate, stress, and more. Has premium GPS and is available in 5 colours.

The enhanced titanium variant is an especially pricey model.

Not the best model for activity tracking.

Best for active users.

SMARTWATCHES VS. FITNESS TRACKERS

Advanced monitoring makes this a fairly pricey smartwatch.

So is there a difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker?

Sort of. Smartwatches are designed to run apps from your phone, including fitness apps. They’re for taking fitness further if you have perfect a workout app you love, but because they’re running a lot of other apps, they usually only last a day or two on a single charge. also it another way, smartwatches extend To put the mobile experience from your phone to your wrist. That’s good for functionality, but it’s not so good for battery life.

Fitness trackers, on the other hand, are built with one primary goal in mind: helping you stay fit. Fitness trackers are more affordable and often include basic smartphone connectivity, so you can receive mobile notifications, but they rarely include features like the option for LTE mobile internet access.

Fitness trackers can sometimes last up to a week on a single charge, which is no small feat when compared to their smartwatch equivalents.

look at smartwatches that run Android Wear.

NOTIFICATIONS: Some smartwatches

don’t support apps but will receive notifications from your smartphone.

If you’re looking for a basic smartwatch, get one that supports notifications, like

a Fitbit. That way, you can still do things like receive important text messages.

FITNESS TRACKING: If you’re a physically active person, pay attention to the fitness-tracking features available on different smartwatches. Some include GPS functionality so you can track runs or bike rides; others simply include a step counter. Consider your fitness goals before you buy, and make sure your smartwatch can support them.

BATTERY LIFE: There are few things more frustrating than a watch that stops working in the middle of a busy day, so it’s important to get one that lasts as long as you need it to. Look through user reviews to get real-world battery life estimates on different smartwatch models.

Apple’s car obsession is all about taking eyes off the road

A

REED STEVENSON AND MARK GURMAN

t first glance, the forays Apple,Google and other technology giants are making into the world of cars don’t appear to be particularly lucrative.

Building automobiles requires factories, equipment and an army of people to design and assemble large hunks of steel, plastic and glass. That all but guarantees slimmer profits. The world’s top 10 carmakers had an operating margin of just 5.2% in 2020, a fraction of the 34% enjoyed by the tech industry’s leaders, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

But for Apple and other behemoths that are diving into self-driving tech or have grand plans for their own cars, that push isn’t just about breaking into a new market — it’s about defending valuable turf.

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INSIDE

Buying stuff cheap, reselling at a profit. PAGE 7

Why Amazon buying MGM is a watershed moment for Hollywood and tech. PAGE 15

Watch accurately tracks a wealth of health information, including stress, heart rhythm, sleep, and skin temp. Boasts over 6 days of battery life. Features voice controls and is available in 2 colours.

KEY FEATURES

DRIVE

POWERHOUSE ADDING WEALTH OF CONTENT

Feature-Packed: Perfect if you’re looking for an all-encompassing way to closely, precisely, and actively observe the overall health of your body.

any of these designs, and many are usable in more than one way.

ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE: Other types of smart thermometers Back in the day, there was only one are made to measure the temperature watch feature that mattered: whether or innot theit could tell time. immediate area, such as inside a room.

Nowadays, it’s a bit Smart thermostat: A smart sensor more complicated. Here are the features that measures the temperature in a roomto pay the most attention to as you’re can comparing different models. work with a smart thermostat, adjusting the thermostat’s settings based on temAPP SUPPORT: First and foremost, perature readings. you want to make sure that the smartwatch Room monitor: Another type of smart temperature sensor is made to workyou buy can integrate with your in a smartphone and the apps you already baby’s nursery. These monitors measure have.

Smartwatches are semi-functional the room temperature and send you onan their own, but they need to connect alert on a smartphone app if the temperato a smartphone in order to unlock ture moves outside the specified range. the most useful functionality. If you own an iPhone, that means you’ll get the most from an Apple Watch. If you own an Android phone, it means you’ll want to

DESIGNING THE

PANDEMIC FUELED A HOT HUSTLE

Anker

Soundcore Motion+

Surprising Power: Anker continues to impress in the portable audio category with this powerful waterproof speaker.

Non-Contact Thermometer

Feature-packed: An FDA approved thermometer that is often trusted by healthcare workers.

BOTTOM LINE

Won’t provide an accurate reading if forehead is sweaty or there’s not enough contact between thermometer and skin.

temperature recording.

Bargain Pick: A great thermometer for babies that provides good readings and is easy to use thanks to the app.

Femometer

Bang & Olufsen

Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)

Upscale Option: This supercompact speaker from Danish brand Bang & Olufsen offers great sound and deluxe styling.

BEST SMARTWATCHES

BEST OF THE BEST

PROS

BOTTOM LINE

PROS

Lightning fast and simple to use by scanning over face to get reading. Stores information for up to 8 family members and provides treatment solution if fever is present. Syncs to more than one smartphone and does so quickly.

CONS

CREATE EXPLORE CONNECT

Best for Everyday Use: Keep track of the entire family, courtesy of a popular electronics brand that has expanded its expertise to provide fast and accurate

Comper

Non-Contact Thermometer

Ultimate Ears

WONDERBOOM 2

Most Fun: Ultimate Ears’ WONDERBOOM line boasts great outdoor sound in a fun, waterand drop-proof design.

Smartwatches come in all shapes, sizes, and colours — and are often designed to add functionality to specific Whether you’re looking to track key smartphones. health metrics, conveniently communicate, or extend your smartphone’s battery by redirecting your most important life notifications to your wrist, a smartwatch is the best way to make it happen.

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Hashtags felt dated and cringeworthy. So why are influencers still using them?

Withings

Thermo Smart Temporal Thermometer

JBL

CHARGE 5

Party Pleaser: JBL’s latest CHARGE speaker features hip styling and outstanding audio performance.

new, but it’s a pain on traditional thermostats. Most WiFi thermostats have a clear, easy-to-use interface that allows you to set your perfect temperature schedule. Some will TYPES OF BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS even send notifications to your phone when Most Bluetooth speakers fit into one a change is being made or when there’s of OUTDOOR SPEAKERS: If you want four design categories. Think about to a problem. how take your Bluetooth speaker to a you’ll use the speaker before picking picnic the or poolside, look for a unit rated to best design for you. work COLOR SCREENS AND PREMIUM outdoors. Such speakers will offer waterAESTHETICS: For years, thermostats or weather-resistant capabilities to were only available in two colors: INDOOR/HOME SPEAKERS: Indoor protect them from the elements. white Bluetooth speakers offer better and off white. Most WiFi thermostats sound Some outdoor speakers are large feature beautiful, full-color quality than portable speakers. Large, enough to deliver high-volume sound LCD displays, so it’s easy to read menus,high-quality indoor speakers can while still providing good battery see approach life. the audio quality of traditional icons – or just read the temperature Outdoor speakers sport a rugged – speakers. Some wired defrom across the room. indoor Bluetooth sign, too, which allows you to speakers run from battery power or toss a an AC speaker into a bag and carry it anywhere. adapter. For a Bluetooth speaker you’ll use primarily at home and indoors, an PORTABLE SPEAKERS: Portable AC adapter works great.

Bluetooth speakers are extremely small.

BEST SMART THERMOMETERS BEST OF THE BEST

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Emerson

SmartThermostat with Voice Control

CONS

BOTTOM LINE

SIMPLIFY YOUR TECH SHOPPING WITH INSIGHT FROM OUR EXPERTS

Honeywell

WiFi Smart Color Thermostat

BOTTOM LINE

Google

Nest Programmable Thermostat

PROS

Google

FALL 2021

BEST REVIEWS

BEST BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Nest Learning Thermostat

PROS

INSIDE

14

WiFi thermostats can dynamically monitor your home’s temperature and make changes based on conditions.

What’s more, most WiFi thermostats come with a companion smartphone app, so you can create schedules, monitor your home’s temperature remotely, or just change the temperature, all from the comfort of your phone.

SMARTPHONES KEY TO FUN AT THE PARK Apps help theme parks boost COVID safety — and collect data. PAGE 20

THE DIGITAL USER

2

FALL 2021

TRANSPORTATION

THIS COMPANY WANTS TO ‘MINE’ GARBAGE TO FIND METALS FOR EV BATTERIES PATRICK KENNEDY

The rising number of electric vehicles in both the consumer and industrial sectors means electric vehicle battery companies are going to need an increasing amount of valuable metals. Geologists Rob Bergmann and Brian Lentz think they have found an answer by extracting cobalt, copper and nickel from industrial waste streams.

The Minneapolis-based geologists that own Big Rock Exploration and several mining-related firms have formed a developmental stage company called Exsolve Recycling Technologies to mine the industrial waste for the short-in-supply metals.

Bergmann and Lentz note that the majority of industrial waste is exported, primarily to China. Valuable commodities are then extracted there and sold back to U.S. entities at market rates.

Bergmann and Lentz view that process as a lost economic opportunity for the U.S. and a business opportunity for them.

Recognition of that problem was the genesis of Exsolve, years before they officially started the company in 2017. Their new company is also part of a relatively new segment of the recycling industry.

“Here in the U.S. at least, there doesn’t seem to be anyone tapping into these waste streams with the approach that we are in recycling them and getting the value metals out,” Lentz said. “The more we look the more we are finding.”

Bergmann and Lentz are partnering with Bill Fisher of National Research Co., whose facility in Michigan has been reclaiming industrial diamonds from similar waste. Over the years, National Research has tweaked its process to also reclaim valuable metals.

At the fully permitted and zero-emissions facility, the two companies already have done bench scale tests to prove their proprietary process works.

They also have secured a supply of industrial waste, are getting ready for a pilot study and have broken ground on a 15,000-square-foot expansion to the plant in Michigan.

Bergmann and Lentz had a good year with Big Rock Exploration, though there were pandemic-caused limitations, including the closed Canadian border, that limited some of their field work. They also had a short shutdown due to stayat-home orders.

Besides Exsolve, the two also jumpstarted two mining-specific projects — Relevant Copper and Relevant Gold, which aim to discover and develop economically sustainable mining operations in the U.S. Those two are formed as Canadian parent companies with U.S. subsidiaries. The eventual aim for those companies is to list them on a Canadian stock exchange that has more experience with listing junior mining exploration companies.

Exsolve of the three is the furthest along in commercialization. They are also considering licensing the Exsolve technology to other companies.

A 2020 report from the U.S. Department of Energy highlights how vulnerable the U.S. economy is to sources of critical materials. The report states that 60% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 80% of that supply is processed in China.

Bergmann and Lentz envision a closed-loop economic cycle for reclaiming those critical materials already here in industrial waste. Ironically, one of their sources are the spent drill bits used in geological exploration and mining.

Other companies also are looking at new ways of recycling to supply the critical minerals needed for EV batteries. But many of those companies are looking at ways to recycle spent lithium ion batteries to reclaim critical minerals.

Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, has a ReCell Center that, working with academia, industry and other national laboratories, is advancing recycling methods to improve the economics of battery recycling for the life cycle of current and future battery technologies.

(Minneapolis) Star Tribune

CREATE EXPLORE CONNECT

TheDigitalUser.com PUBLISHER John M. Humenik, Vice President/News and CCO, Lee Enterprises EDITOR Terry Lipshetz, Senior Manager of NewsSpecial Interest Publishing DESIGNERS April Burford, Diane Cunningham, Lee Design Center Content featured in this section was gathered from Tribune News Service

SURFING THE SKY Viasat aims for rebound in satellite-powered inflight Wi-Fi; Delta to equip 230 additional aircraft

S

MIKE FREEMAN

atellite Internet provider Viasat managed to keep its financial ship on course during a turbulent fiscal 2021 that included a sharp decline for inflight Wi-Fi revenue as travelers stayed home during the pandemic.

Now the Carlsbad, California, company is looking for a rebound as passengers return to the skies.

To that end, Viasat said in May that Delta Air Lines will retrofit another 230 planes in its domestic fleet with Viasat’s antennas to deliver in-flight Internet and seat-back video to passengers.

The award came on top of the more than 300 Delta aircraft already in the pipeline to receive Viasat-powered inflight Wi-Fi. In total, 1,480 aircraft from Jet Blue, American Airlines, United Airlines and others are equipped with Viasat’s Internet service.

But up to 630 of those planes were grounded at various times throughout the pandemic.

“This year, I think the hurdle was a lot higher than what might have been obvious to everybody,” said Chief Executive Richard Baldridge in a May conference call for Viasat’s fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results. “It was a

CONTINUED FROM THE COVER

“Why are tech companies pushing into autonomous driving? Because they can, and because they have to,” said Chris Gerdes, co-director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford University. “There are business models that people aren’t aware of.”

A market projected to top $2 trillion by 2030 is hard to ignore. By then, more than 58 million vehicles globally are expected to be driving themselves.

And Big Tech has the means — from artificial intelligence and massive data, to chipmaking and engineering — to disrupt this century-old industry.

What’s at stake, essentially, is something even more valuable than profitability: the last unclaimed corner of consumers’ attention during their waking hours.

The amount of time people spend in cars, especially in the U.S., is significant.

Americans were behind the wheel for 307.8 hours in 2016, or around six hours a week, according to the American Automobile Association. That’s a fair chunk of someone’s life not spent using apps on an iPhone, searching on Google or scrolling mindlessly through Instagram. Any company that’s able to free up that time in a meaningful way will also have a good chance of capturing it.

The world’s inexorable shift toward intelligent cars that are better for the environment is impossible to miss. If governments haven’t already declared plans to be carbon neutral by, in some cases, the end of this decade, there’s plenty of research that shows combustion-engine cars are going the way of the dinosaurs.

BloombergNEF’s annual Electric Vehicle Outlook, published earlier this month, sees global oil demand from all road transport peaking in just six years, assuming no new policy measures are introduced. By 2025, EVs hit 16% of global passenger vehicle sales, rising to 33% in 2030 and 68% in 2040. Eventually, autonomous vehicles will reshape automotive and freight markets entirely.

really tough year, and the team did a fantastic job. And things are accelerating. We’re looking at growth for our fiscal year 2022.”

For its fiscal year, Viasat’s revenue dipped 2 percent to $2.256 billion compared with a year earlier. Net income swung to a $4 million profit under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, compared with a loss of $200,000 the prior year.

In its fourth quarter, Viasat’s sales rose 1 percent to $596 million. GAAP net income reached $7.4 million — up more than 300 percent from a year earlier.

While the company’s in-flight connectivity business suffered during the pandemic, its home satellite Internet service made up the difference as stay-at-home restrictions resulted in customers opting for higher priced, top tier plans.

Viasat’s home Internet subscribers totaled 590,000 at the end of March, roughly equal with the same quarter last year.

Still, that’s down from a peak of 603,000 subscribers in September as competition heats up for space-based Internet.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has begun beta testing Starlink — a constellation of thousands of low-Earth orbit Internet satellites. Amazon and OneWeb are planning similar constellations.

Starlink promises faster speeds and less latency than high-orbit, geostationary satellites such as Viasat’s — though reviews of Starlink service so far have been mixed. The beta service costs $99 a month, plus a $499 one-time antenna charge.

Viasat’s response is a three-satellite, high-orbit constellation with massive capacity.

The first ViaSat-3 satellite is expected to launch in early calendar 2022 with coverage over the Americas. It aims to deliver a terabyte of maximum throughput, significantly more than any other Internet satellite in space.

Two additional terabyte-class satellites are forecast to launch in six-to-nine-month intervals after the first ViaSat-3 enters orbit— blanketing the globe with coverage.

Mike Crawford, an analyst with B. Riley Securities, said Viasat’s next-generation constellation will feature the most deliverable bandwidth at the lowest cost per bit worldwide.

“We believe Viasat remains on track to extend its leadership position in the space industry that many see as hurtling toward a trillion-dollar annual economy within the next two decades,” said Crawford in a research report.

Against that backdrop, it’s unsurprising that after years of chipping away at self-driving cars, tech companies have been stepping up their activities and investments in earnest.

Autonomous cars are only as good as the human drivers they learn from — so the people who teach these systems need to be excellent drivers themselves.

Over the past several months, Apple has prioritized plans for the “Apple Car” after previously focusing on making an autonomous driving system, Bloomberg has reported. That’s fueled intense speculation over which automakers and suppliers the company behind the iPhone may partner with to realize its vision.

There’s also Waymo, which is in talks to raise as much as $4 billion to accelerate its efforts. Founded in 2009, the business that was formerly Google’s self-driving car project was the first to have a fully autonomous ride on public roads. It became an independent company in 2017 under Google parent Alphabet, launched an autonomous ride-hailing service in Phoenix in 2018 and last year began testing self-driving trucks in New Mexico and Texas.

Microsoft, too, is backing several autonomous initiatives, partnering with Volkswagen on self-driving car software, possibly with a view to creating officeson-the-go.

Amazon, meanwhile, has thrown its weight behind Rivian Automotive, which is making electric trucks, and last year bought driverless startup Zoox. It may look to include autonomous rides as part of its Prime membership program.

“Each of these companies, including Facebook, want to be a part of or even control and dominate, every part of citizens’ lives,” said Professor Raj Rajkumar, who leads the robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

“From their business point of view, if you don’t, somebody else can and probably will, and eventually your current domain of influence fades away.”

Although Apple has dominated phones, tablets and smartwatches and put up a

The San Diego Union-Tribune

decent fight over computers for the past few decades, it’s been a laggard in the artificial intelligence, voice and smartspeaker spaces, areas now led by Google and Amazon.

The company would benefit from the release of a breakthrough new product.

While it’s had successes with the watch, released in 2015, and services, such as Apple TV, Apple Arcade and Apple Music, which are now a major new source of revenue, nothing has come close to the success of the iPhone, which has redefined entire industries and become Apple’s most lucrative product since its 2007 release.

At Google, executives have long framed investments in autonomous cars as risks that venture capital and less deeppocketed firms don’t, or won’t, take.

Waymo has discussed potential business models around taxi services and longhaul logistics.

The existing businesses of Amazon, Apple and Google already require them to become proficient at AI, handling massive amounts of data and designing complex systems. Essentially, they’ve made the upfront investment in core technologies needed to design and build driverless cars, and they now have legions of engineers eager to solve more complex problems, not to mention an appetite for disruption.

But perhaps one of the clearest examples of a tech company with the ability to change up its own stomping ground is Amazon. The web retailer would benefit hugely from the lower costs of delivering packages to homes using cars that drive themselves.

Amazon also has a habit of transforming its own tools into businesses that can be sold to a wider swath of customers, much like it did with cloud computing, which was originally created to support the company’s online retail operations. Having morphed it into a computing and data-storage platform used by Netflix, the U.S. government and others, Amazon Web Services is now a $45.4 billion Bloomberg News enterprise.

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

3

TRANSPORTATION

A new generation of lunar rovers under development by Lockheed Martin and General Motors could be used by Artemis astronauts to explore the surface of the moon.

GENERAL MOTORS VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

To the moon GM to help get astronauts get to moon’s dangerous south pole with new lunar roving vehicle

G JAMIE L. LAREAU

eneral Motors and Lockheed Martin will help astronauts reach the moon’s dangerous South Pole.

GM announced in May it is partnering with the aerospace and defense company to develop the next generation of electric lunar roving vehicles that will travel greater distances than those did in the past. It provided no financial details of the partnership.

The vehicles will be used for NASA’s Artemis program. On its website, NASA describes Artemis as “an ongoing space mission ... with the goal of landing the first female astronaut and next male astronaut on the moon’s South Pole by 2024.”

That landing will be the U.S. space agency’s first crewed moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission to send humans, including a person of color, back to the moon is so that they can explore and conduct scientific experiments.

The rover vehicles are key to the next manned-moon mission because they will allow scientists to study such things as the ice on the moon, which will, in turn, help them understand the creation of Earth, said Kirk Shireman, vice president of lunar exploration campaigns at Lockheed Martin.

“To land the next woman and man on the moon you need to land on a flat surface, but science likes boulders,” Shireman said. “So we want to land astronauts safely. But the interesting places might be in the shadow of a crater, so how do you get there? That’s why we’re working with GM on developing these rovers.”

The rovers will be unpressurized and made of lightweight, strong, long-lasting and “resilient materials … exactly what those are, is in formulation,” Shireman said. He said initially, the rovers will carry two astronauts with the idea of expanding their size to hold more people in the future.

Shireman said the farthest astronauts have traveled from the landing site has only been a few miles, so expanding that range, “is really going to open up the moon for us, for scientists and for other commercial activities. Where this goes?

It’s got huge potential.”

But Shireman stopped short of saying what the future rover vehicles’ range will be, noting that it is 6,800 miles to go around the entire moon.

“So somewhere between 3.2 miles and 6,800 miles is the goal,” Shireman said.

GM and Lockheed Martin have been discussing the proposed moon program for about a year now. Both GM and Lockheed Martin have a

long history of working on space programs.

“General Motors made history by applying advanced technologies and engineering to support the Lunar Rover Vehicle that the Apollo 15 astronauts drove on the moon” in 1971, said Alan Wexler, GM’s senior vice president of Innovation and Growth. “We plan to support American astronauts on the moon once again.”

In the 1960s, GM tested and manufactured the inertial guidance and navigation systems for the entire Apollo moon program, including Apollo 11 and the first human landing in 1969.

GM also put the first electric car on the moon some 46 years ago when it helped develop the electric Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), including the chassis and wheels for the LRV that was used on Apollo’s 15 through 17 missions.

NASA wants a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for the Artemis program that will enable astronauts to explore the moon’s surface at greater distances than previously.

GM said the Apollo rovers of the past traveled only 4.7 miles from the landing site. The next-generation lunar vehicles are being designed to go “significantly farther” including the first excursion of the moon’s South Pole, where it is cold and dark with a rugged terrain.

The LTV is the first of many vehi-

cles that the Artemis program will need, GM said.

GM said it will use its autonomous driving technology to help provide safer and more efficient operations on the moon. The self-driving systems, GM said, will allow the rovers to prepare for human landings, enhance the range of travel and help with transporting scientific payloads and conducting experiments.

Lockheed Martin said it will lead the team. It has more than 50 years of working with NASA on deep-space human and robotic spacecraft. Lockheed Martin has built spacecraft and systems that have gone to every planet and been on every NASA mission to Mars, including building 11 of the agency’s Mars spacecrafts. It was a significant player in the space shuttle program and International Space Station power systems, too.

“Surface mobility is critical to enable and sustain long-term exploration of the lunar surface,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space.

“These next-generation rovers will dramatically extend the range of astronauts as they perform high-priority science investigation on the moon that will ultimately impact humanity’s understanding of our place in the solar system.”

Detroit Free Press

GE AND SAFRAN TOUT NEW ‘OPEN ROTOR’ ENGINE FUTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE AVIATION

T

DOMINIC GATES

o advance the goal of achieving environmentally sustainable aviation, the jet engine giants of the U.S. and France in June unveiled a joint vision that would significantly change both the look of airplane engines and how they work. Their timeline suits Airbus but may be problematic for Boeing.

For the next big advance in future aircraft propulsion, CFM International — the 50/50 joint venture between GE and Safran — proposes to deliver in the mid-2030s a dramatically new gas-turbine engine design.

It will be open rotor, which dispenses with the conventional pod around the rotating fan blades. This allows a larger fan, sweeping backward a greater volume of air.

Additional technologies inside CFM’s proposed engine will make it compatible with sustainable biofuels or hydrogen and allow it to be adapted to hybrid-electric operation, the companies said.

GE Aviation CEO John Slattery said the planned engine will reduce fuel burn by at least 20% and enable aviation to “rise to the challenge of decarbonization.”

However, the announced timeline for entry into service means a finalized new CFM engine won’t be launched until perhaps a decade from now.

That has big implications for Boeing and for Airbus, which in the past have relied upon significant improvements in engine efficiency to launch any all-new airplane design. CFM’s latest engine — the LEAP, launched in 2008 — powers Boeing’s 737 MAX and about 60% of the rival A320 family of jets built by Airbus.

The prospect of CFM’s hydrogen-comSTRETCHING FOR SUSTAINABILITY patible replacement for the LEAP coming CFM surely would have hoped to anin the mid-2030s fits neatly with Airbus’ nounce its future vision at the 2021 Paris planned timeline for a successor to the Air Show, which should have been this A320neo jet family. month but was canceled due to the The European jet maker has COVID-19 pandemic. declared it will try to develop a Instead, GE’s Slattery zero-emission commercial and Safran CEO Olivier jet by 2035 powered by Andries laid out their hydrogen combustion program to mature, through modified gas demonstrate and test turbine engines. the proposed new The CFM timeline is engine technologies more problematic for from Safran’s research Boeing. and development After two fatal crashes center in Paris — the grounded the MAX and then city where in 2015 the inthe pandemic downturn halted ternational treaty on climate planned development of a plane change was adopted. that could match Airbus’ Andries noted that CFM long-range A321neo, has cut the fuel consumpA rendering of the Boeing lost substantial tion and therefore the proposed CFM open market share in the sincarbon emissions of its rotor jet engine features gle-aisle jet market. engines by 40 percent an unducted fan and other To make up that lost over the past 40 years. technologies that aim to reduce ground, Boeing needs However, he said fuel burn and carbon emissions to launch a new airthat given the exby 20% compared with the most plane in the mid-2020s, pected steep rise in current engines. not the mid-2030s. air traffic over the next GE AVIATION VIA TRIBUNE But it will be hard to decades, much more NEWS SERVICE justify the billions of dollars progress is necessary if the needed to develop a new airworld’s airlines are to meet plane if Boeing cannot guarantee their target of cutting total carbon airlines at least 15% better fuel efficiency emissions in half by 2050. To achieve that than the planes they are already flying. “the next generation of airplanes must reSlattery said that if Boeing does launch duce emissions by 90% as compared with a new airplane this decade, “we will comthe current fleet,” Andries said. pete strongly” to provide its engine. HowHe added that 40% is expected to come ever, that would be a more conventional from new engine and airframe technolojet engine with a far lower improvement in gies, 40% from the use of sustainable fuels fuel efficiency. and 10% from streamlining air traffic flow.

CFM has dubbed its new engine project RISE, for Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines.

Andries and Slattery said work on RISE began in 2019, and by the end of this year the CFM research team will swell to more than 1,000 engineers. Ground tests of demonstrator engines are expected by the middle of this decade, with flight tests of the engines mounted on current aircraft to follow afterward.

NEW TECHNOLOGY The most substantial change in the new engine design is an open rotor fan, also called an unducted fan, which provides the greater part of the expected fuel efficiency improvement.

CFM proposes an open fan — similar in look to a propeller — with scimitar-shaped rotating blades, and behind that a circle of fixed blades, or stators, that straighten the air flow. The fan blades will be made from woven carbon composites.

The large fans at the front of today’s jet engines are entirely encased in a protective pod called a nacelle, which is armored to contain any fan blade that breaks off.

There have been instances recently of engine fan blades breaking off during commercial flights and causing serious damage to aircraft. However, these incidents have all involved metal blades, cracked by metal fatigue.

The GE carbon composite blades on its GE-90 and GEnx engines that respectively power Boeing’s 777-300ER and 787 airplanes have never had an incident of a fan blade breaking during their more than 140 million flight hours The Seattle Times in service.

THE DIGITAL USER

4

FALL 2021

FINANCE

Digital dollars

C

From Bitcoin mining to ATMs, Illinois is positioning itself as a center for the booming cryptocurrency industry

ROBERT CHANNICK

ity of the big shoulders, hog butcher for the world, Chicago is looking to add another title for the digital age: cryptocurrency finance center.

From one of the Midwest’s largest cryptocurrency mining facilities to a Chicago-based Bitcoin ATM operator, Illinois is becoming fertile ground for the fast-growing digital asset industry, which has developed from an arcane concept into a booming investment in a little over a decade.

With little regulation and no backing other than the faith of its fervent believers, cryptocurrency has turned into digital gold for early adopters, despite wild market fluctuations and no shortage of naysayers. Led by Bitcoin, cryptocurrency now has a market cap north of $1 trillion.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has been among the most vocal Bitcoin critics, saying it has no unique value and calling it a “delusion.”

“The real expert, the final arbiter of what’s happening, is the market itself,” said David Carman, a fintech consultant and board member at Global DCA, a Chicago-based cryptocurrency industry association. “People can pass judgment on Bitcoin all they want, but when you have a market that has reached over a $1 trillion, this is way beyond proof of concept.”

Launched in 2009 by anonymous computer developers, Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer payment network. While there is no central bank, the encrypted digital transactions are verified by blockchain technology, a type of database that forms a permanent ledger of all transactions across the shared computer network.

Bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency, with a market cap of about $627 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, a price-tracking website for cryptoassets. The price of a bitcoin went from about $600 five years ago to more than $60,000 before a May 12 tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk about the industry’s large carbon footprint precipitated a nearly 50% price tumble.

The price has since recovered to about $33,000 per bitcoin.

Other major cryptocurrencies include Ethereum and Dogecoin, which was started in 2013 by a pair of software engineers as a joke. Early investors have gotten the last laugh however, with Dogecoin’s market cap hovering at about $30 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The total cryptocurrency market cap topped $2 trillion for the first time this spring before the May selloff cut the industry valuation nearly in half.

Major banks are starting to warm up to cryptocurrencies. In May, Jane Fraser, CEO at New York-based megabank Citi, told the Economic Club of Chicago that cryptocurrencies are going to be “part of the menu” going forward, but warned to “not forget the power of the guardrails.”

With valuations growing, Illinois legislators are weighing a bill that would create a special purpose depository trust for digital assets, providing a regulatory framework for banks and other custodial institutions to hold

ANTONIO PEREZ, CHICAGO TRIBUNE VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

Electrician Jason Dzierzynski checks voltages and amperages on cryptocurrency computer mining rigs in Hennepin, Ill., on June 14, 2021, at Sangha Systems, the Midwest’s largest cryptocurrency mining facility. cryptocurrency accounts for clients.

The proposal, which unanimously passed the House in April, did not make it through the Senate before summer recess, and will likely be taken up in the fall.

If it passes, the bill would make Illinois the second state behind Wyoming to allow special trusts to hold cryptocurrency. In 2020, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken became the first digital assets company in the U.S. to be chartered as a bank under Wyoming law.

In addition to encouraging digital asset banks and exchanges to locate in Illinois, the proposed legislation could help build a broader ecosystem, turning Chicago into the cryptocurrency financial center of the U.S., according to its backers.

“It’s not only just about the charter itself, but it’s also the signal to businesses who are dealing in this space that we will create a stable regulatory environment,” said Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, the bill’s chief sponsor. “This is the one time we could beat New York in financial services or in an emerging industry.”

The Chicago area is already home to an eclectic and growing list of cryptocurrency businesses that have staked their turf in the digital gold rush.

CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING Bitcoin mining harnesses banks of computers called mining rigs to come up with the random alphanumeric sequences needed to mint new coins. The protocol calls for a maximum of 21 million bitcoins.

Currently, there are about 18.7 million bitcoins in circulation.

It is projected to take more than a century before the last bitcoin is mined.

The mining process requires huge amounts of electricity. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index pegs the energy consumed annually by the Bitcoin network at 96.63 terawatt hours of electricity — more than the amount consumed in a year in the Philippines or Kazakhstan, for example.

Sangha Systems, a New Yorkbased company, launched one of the Midwest’s largest cryptocurrency mining facilities in fall 2019 at a former steel mill in Hennepin, Illinois, about 100

miles southwest of Chicago. It is planning to convert it to solar power to address growing concerns that the industry is creating a huge carbon footprint.

“It’s absolutely true that cryptocurrency mining uses an amount of electricity that is unprecedented,” said Spencer Marr, 33, president and co-founder of Sangha Systems. “I look at the demand for electricity that mining represents as effectively a subsidy for the build-out of renewable energy supply.”

The 873-acre steel mill closed in 2009 and much of the 1.35 millionsquare-foot complex was demolished in 2017. Sangha leases 50 acres, including a privately owned substation and a building housing the mining operation. The 25,000-square-foot facility, which formerly served as a boiler house for the steel mill, is about onethird filled with servers making the complex calculations that mine and mint bitcoins.

The substation has the capacity to deliver 82 megawatts of electricity.

The cryptocurrency mining facility is currently using about seven megawatts, or about half of the electricity used by the entire steel mill at full operation. It is enough electricity to power about 5,000 homes each day, Marr said.

Marr, whose background is in renewable energy, said he hopes to break ground on the solar array by the fall, and begin harvesting sunlight for the cryptomining facility next year. To make the conversion to solar power cost efficient, Sangha will be looking for renewable energy incentives from the state.

As interest in cryptocurrency grows, Marr hopes to expand the capacity of the mining facility and the solar array needed to power it. That will require building a bigger facility to house the computers and leasing more land at the former steel mill site for the solar panels.

“Ultimately it would be a massive sea of solar panels,” Marr said.

BITCOIN ATMS Founded in 2015, CoinFlip is a Chicago-based Bitcoin ATM operator with more than 2,500 machines across 47 states, including more than 100 in Chicago and the suburbs.

Many of the machines are at gas stations, convenience stores and restaurants — the same places you might find traditional bank ATMs. The Bitcoin ATMs, however, are much more of an investment tool than a quick way to get cash.

CoinFlip primarily changes cash into bitcoin, selling over $5 million in digital assets per day. The average transaction is several hundred dollars, buying a fractional amount of the bitcoin, which is then placed in the customer’s digital wallet or a custodial account.

“Basically every transaction is always fractional amounts of bitcoin,” said Deerfield native Ben Weiss, 26, CEO of CoinFlip. “No one’s buying a full bitcoin. No one’s putting in $40,000 of cash into the machine.”

The maximum ATM transaction is $16,000. Less than 5% of transactions turn bitcoin into cash, Weiss said.

Last year, CoinFlip did $750 million in cryptocurrency transactions.

That number is projected to double in 2021 to $1.5 billion. The company generated $50 million in revenue from transaction fees last year, a number that is also projected to double in 2021, Weiss said.

Bootstrapped from inception, privately held CoinFlip has never raised any outside investor money, Weiss said. The company, which has offices near the United Center on Chicago’s Near West Side, employs about 200 people in the Chicago area.

CoinFlip’s transaction fees are unaffected by the wild price swings in bitcoin valuation, and business keeps ramping up as cryptocurrency gains wider acceptance. On Thursday alone, CoinFlip planned to install three ATMs in the Chicago area: At liquor stores in Plainfield and Warrenville, and in an African cuisine grocery store in Bolingbrook.

“We’re putting out like 300 ATMs a month now,” Weiss said. “So we’re in hyperscale mode.”

If cryptocurrency ever gains traction as actual currency, CoinFlip will be well-positioned to transition to the role of a traditional bank ATM, doling out cash for small purchases. But the business model does not depend on such an evolution, Weiss said, “I don’t know if people are necessarily ever going to use bitcoin to buy a $3 coffee,” Weiss said. “If you think the price is going to keep going up, you’re not going to use it as a currency.”

BITCOIN ACCEPTED HERE While cryptocurrency has gained momentum as an investment, its use as an actual currency has yet to gain traction in the U.S., in part because of its wild fluctuation in value.

But amid growing ranks of consumers whose digital wallets are bulging with bitcoins, an increasing number of companies are promoting their willingness to accept cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services.

A December 2020 analysis by small business lending website Fundera found that 2,300 U.S. businesses accept bitcoin, including 43 in Illinois.

In April, Lincolnshire-based Camping World announced it would begin accepting cryptocurrency as payment for RVs through BitPay, a cryptocurrency payment service provider.

“There certainly are companies who are advertising that they are accepting bitcoin,” said Amy Park, a Chicago-based blockchain and digital assets consultant for accounting giant Deloitte & Touche. “It’s another form of marketing to their customers.”

Park said many of the companies accepting bitcoin pay a third-party processor to turn the crypto into cash, so the transaction never reflects the volatility of digital asset valuation. She said adoption will grow as more companies get comfortable holding cryptocurrency and using it in their Chicago Tribune‌ own business.

FALL 2021

THE DIGITAL USER

5

FINANCE

Good bet?

Philly tech start-up Sporttrade has a new model for sports betting, and it looks a lot like a stock exchange

A ANDREW MAYKUTH

lex Kane traces the origin of his Big Idea to revolutionize sports betting to his junior year at Drexel University, when he and his father placed a wager on an obscure Thai golfer to win the 2016 Masters Tournament.

Kane’s golfer, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, performed surprisingly well through the first half of the four-day tournament and was only a few strokes behind the leader after two rounds. The odds in his favor had risen about 100 times from the start of the tournament.

Kane would have liked to trade his bet at that point, just as he could sell a stock or cryptocurrency on a smartphone app such as Robinhood or Coinbase, the popular tools for a new generation of traders.

But there was no similar market platform for trading sports bets.

“That’s when I realized, ‘Oh, my gosh, this structure stinks,’” Kane said. “It should be way more like capital markets trading, where like I’m able to pick up Robinhood or Coinbase and trade based on the changes in the market.”

Alas, Kane lost his wager on Aphibarnrat, who finished tied for 15th in the Masters. But the seed of a new business was planted.

Fast forward five years. Sports betting is legal now in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and about a dozen other states. Kane, now 27, has transformed his idea into a real business, Sporttrade Inc., which he envisions will operate more like a stock exchange than a traditional sportsbook. It launched its website in May, www.sporttrade.com, and it’s undergoing licensing review in New Jersey. Pending approval, it could begin taking bets by the end of the summer.

“We fundamentally believe that what we are building is so much closer to options trading or futures trading than traditional sports betting and casinos,” said Kane, who studied business administration at Drexel, where he was also an intercollegiate golfer.

Kane hopes Sporttrade will dramatically change the way in-game sports betting is conducted by increasing the speed and lowering the cost for bettors to wager while an event, such as a golf tournament, is underway.

Bettors using sports-betting apps can now place wagers during an event, and even cash out of a position. But experts say there is often a delay as bookmak-

ners, investors, and mentors.

One lesson that Kane took away from his Techstars experience was to think big.

He realized that the Sporttrade platform he envisioned would depend upon sophisticated financial software that needed to pass regulatory scrutiny, and the venture would require more resources than the $3 million budget he set as his initial target.

“Three million dollars was not going to get us some skin in the game,” he said, without elaborating on how much capital he actually has Alex raised. He said a public Kane, chief announcement is forthexecutive officer coming that will disclose of Sporttrade Inc., a Sporttrade investors, Philadelphia tech company who typically must be that hopes to revolutionize identified to regulators. sports-betting by creating an Kane, whose father is exchange where bets can be a physician and whose ers ponder whether traded like stocks. mother is a professor, to accept or reject an DAVID MAIALETTI, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER is relentlessly polite and in-game wager as they VIA TRIBUNE NEWS patient as he argues that assess their risk, and the SERVICE sports betting will inevitably margins the bookmakers evolve to resemble the more effiearn on such bets makes them cient and transparent stock exchanges. unattractive.

Traditional sports bookmakers set “You’ll find that if you’re not betting odds, assume the risk, and essentially take at the timeouts or between the quarters, a position opposed to their customers. you’re going to end up with a situation Sporttrade would act more as a neutral where you submit the bet and then there exchange, matching buyers and sellers of is a delay,” said Jack Andrews, a procontracts on the outcome of a sporting fessional sports bettor in New Jersey. event.

“It seems like they’re getting a free roll Similar to those on a stock market, against you.” prices on the Sporttrade exchange will be “It doesn’t feel like you as the customer set by market makers, who quote “bid” are in control,” Kane said. He believes that prices for sellers and “ask” prices for electronic platforms adapted to handle buyers. Sporttrade would take a small split-second trading in stock markets can commission on each trade, which would manage sports-betting action, matching be reflected in the difference between the buyers and sellers without delay, because buying and selling price. Kane anticipates the exchange is acting as a neutral party that such a system will yield narrower and is not taking on the risk of a bad bet. margins than the “vig” (or fee) that sportsSporttrade is no shoestring venture. books now charge to cover their risk.

Kane’s company last year partnered with Lower margins mean a lower transaction Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc., cost for customers. which was then in the process of acquirThe Sporttrade system also seeks to ing Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino, redefine the traditional American way to obtain one of Bally’s three New Jersey that betting odds are posted, which is now sports-betting brands or “skins.” Kane based on a system of minuses and pluses (a has also enlisted investors, software defavorite is quoted as a minus, such as -110, signers and experts, including influencers which shows that a bettor needs to put in the sports-betting world and veterans $110 at risk to win $100). from Wall Street investment banks and Sporttrade will express the betting cost stock exchanges. as a percentage. If the Sixers have an 11% Kane’s journey to this point — “we’re chance of winning the NBA Championat the very bottom of the mountain,” he ship, a bettor would wager $11 to win $100. said — got a huge boost when he pitched If the team’s fortunes rise, the price of and sold his idea in 2019 to the Comcast the contract would increase, and a bettor NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator could cash in the position. After an event is powered by Techstars, a three-month concluded, a contract is worth either $100 program to introduce promising entreor zero. preneurs to a network of corporate part-

Sporttrade’s model resonates with people who have spent their lives working in financial markets.

Kane enlisted Thomas A. Wittman, the former president of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange who retired last year as executive vice president of Nasdaq, to serve on Sporttrade’s board and to invest in the venture. Wittman believes that Sporttrade will follow the same path that online stock trading has done in recent decades, reducing transaction costs and opening up trading to a broader audience.

“It’s similar to what we saw in the capital markets and this will unfold the same way, I guarantee it,” Wittman said. “I know it well.”

Some sports-betting operators have launched betting exchanges overseas, but none in the United States, and none are modeled so closely on capital markets, Sporttrade’s leaders say. Wittman doesn’t think the big-money sports-betting operators will embrace the model because it isn’t as profitable as a traditional sportsbook.

“They’re going to have to cut off a couple of fingers in order to change their model and I don’t think they’re going to be willing to do that until it’s too late,” he said.

But Andrews, the New Jersey professional gambler, believes there will be sufficient interest among bettors in New Jersey to generate the kind of liquidity that Sporttrade will need to build out its market. “I think there’s enough guys who work in the financial district of Jersey City who would like to get into this and think it’s easy money,” he said.

Creating a sports-betting platform that works like a stock exchange will inevitably lead to gamesmanship among sophisticated bettors, such as the operators who invented high-speed stock trading to get a millisecond edge on market trends. A spectator with a fast internet connection at a sporting event will have an advantage over a bettor who is watching the game at home with a five-second delay on cable.

“I worry a little bit about some safety controls you guys are going to have to put in place for people getting kicked off and latency (the speed of online response),” Jeff Ma, co-host of the popular Bet the Process podcast, said during a recent interview of Kane. But Ma, a vice president of start-ups at Microsoft, said he thought that such challenges were solvable, and that it would not be particularly hard for Sporttrade to improve on the current in-game betting experience.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

CRYPTO EXCHANGE BLOCKCHAIN ANNOUNCES MOVE TO MIAMI, WITH PLANS TO CREATE 300 JOBS

A ROB WILE

major cryptocurrency exchange is joining the moveto-Miami moment.

Blockchain.com, whose digital platform lets users buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin and other forms of digital payment, said it would be moving its U.S. headquarters from New York to the Magic City. In doing so, it said it hoped to create as many as 300 jobs over the next 18 months paying an average salary of $110,000.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced the move from City Hall June 3 alongside Blockchain.com CEO Peter

Smith. Blockchain.com is among the 15 largest crypto currency exchanges by number of weekly visitors, according to CoinMarketCap.com, which tracks exchange performance.

“There have been some that have doubted the impact that crypto can have in transforming our economy into a tech-forward economy,” Suarez said.

“To them I would say this: How many companies like Blockchain.com are coming into this market hiring hundreds of people at this salary range? ... That’s happening because of this crypto movement.”

The announcement came as Bit-

coin2021, billed as the largest-ever crypto conference, was set to kick off in Miami. June saw other Miami-related announcements from the crypto world, including the creation of a $25 million startup investment fund and the launch of new, city-specific crypto-coins.

Beyond crypto, the city continues to see a stream of companies, in the technology space and beyond, announce a Miami presence or investment. A desire to escape winter weather, less restrictive pandemic regulations, and aggressive courting by Suarez have combined to raise Miami’s profile as a

tech center in a manner that had previously seemed just out of reach.

A city of Miami spokesperson said Blockchain is not receiving any financial incentives.

In a statement, Smith said: “Thanks to a strong relationship with the local government, we are honored to join the Miami business community. The internet will be the biggest economy in the world by 2030, and crypto is the financial system built to support it. The City of Miami recognizes the industry’s potential, and we look forward to contributing to Miami’s rich innovation ecosystem.” Miami Herald

6

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

FINANCE

A GEN Z FUND? How this 22-year-old raised $1.6 million to invest in underrepresented entrepreneurs

NELVIN C. CEPEDA, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

San Diego State University graduate Paige Finn Doherty, a computer science grad who has had a shockingly expansive amount of experience in venture capital for her age. Doherty raised $1.6 million to invest in four startups led by underrepresented founders.

A BRITTANY MEILING

newly graduated San Diego State University alum has raised $1.6 million — largely through her Twitter following — to invest in startups founded by diverse people rarely seen in the entrepreneurial world.

Paige Finn Doherty, a 22-year-old computer science major, collected the money from angel investors who follow her investing advice on social media.

She founded Behind Genius Ventures, what she calls a “Gen Z fund,” with partner Josh Schlisserman and invested in four startups.

But how does a software student end up knowledgeable enough to hand out investing advice?

Unlike many students who never work real jobs until graduating, Doherty began working at the aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman at only 17 years old, first as an intern and later as a full-time employee. She worked in various roles from project management to technical writing to training groups of interns.

But after feeling a growing apathy toward the minutia of mechanical engineering, she decided to switch gears from the highly technical to the entrepreneurial. She joined SDSU’s Venture Capital Investment Competition with a team of her peers.

Before the big night on stage, her adviser sent an email about what to wear:

“I LEARNED THAT ONLY 11 PERCENT OF VENTURE CAPITAL DECISION-MAKERS ARE WOMEN, AND I THINK THAT CORRESPONDS TO AN EQUAL DISPARITY TO THE COMPANIES THAT GET FUNDED.” Paige Finn Doherty, founder of Behind Genius Ventures a blue shirt, khaki pants and a Patagonia vest. “Sorry Paige,” he wrote. “I couldn’t find much about what women venture capitalists wear.”

“It sounds like a little thing, but it was representative of a disparity in the industry,” Doherty said. “I learned that only 11 percent of venture capital decision-makers are women, and I think that corresponds to an equal disparity to the companies that get funded.”

That experience vaulted Doherty into studying venture investing. Her team won the competition, and she got scooped up by one of San Diego’s biggest tech VC funds, TVC Capital, to work as an intern.

“Paige was eager to learn all aspects of being an institutional investor,” said Mykel Sprinkles, a partner at TVC Capital. “She had great soft and people skills to pair with her technical background. Paige established several relationships with prospect investment companies and helped further some of our data analytics throughout our diligence processes.”

Doherty said she learned that her technical experience — especially in

software engineering — was valuable at investment firms that focus on tech startups.

“Talking to other venture funds, for the most part, traditional investors come from investment banking then moved to growth equity and venture,” Doherty said. “So they’re career venture capitalists. Some of the founders I talked to were excited that I could go more into the weeds on their product.”

Throughout this experience, Doherty was building a following on Twitter.

She asked her audience what they wanted to learn about certain topics in investing. Then she interviewed experts and put together educational content.

She now has over 14,000 followers.

It was from this pool of people that Doherty got connected with angel investors who wrote checks for her first fund through Behind Genius Ventures. Although Doherty can’t speak about open rounds of fundraising publicly, a public document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed her first closed round was $1.6 million.

Doherty and her 18-year-old brother, Owen Doherty, are self-publishing a

40-page educational picture book for adults about venture capital investing.

It’s called Seed to Harvest. Its text is written by Paige, while the anime-style illustrations are done by Owen.

The duo chose to illustrate the book with diverse characters.

“Although venture doesn’t look like that right now, it’s what I’d like it to look like in the future,” Doherty said.

Doherty said Behind Genius Ventures defines underrepresented founders as women, people of color, immigrants, LGTBQ+, and founders in secondary markets such as non-coastal cities.

“These founders have been undervalued and under-invested in the past, even though they have shown to be more capital efficient,” Doherty said.

“It’s just good business.”

The fund has invested in four startups in wellness tech and software development tools, among other areas. Doherty declined to disclose the company names. Behind Genius Ventures plans to continue investing in early stage software product companies.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Qualcomm unveils 7 new Internet of Things chips to power smart grocery carts, remote work tech

Q MIKE FREEMAN

ualcomm has been working for years to get its mobile technology into other products besides smartphones — think drones, laptops and smart security cameras.

Those efforts to connect the unconnected — generally called the Internet of Things — have recently started to deliver consequential financial results for Qualcomm, with revenue topping $1 billion in each of the past two quarters as of early June.

To help keep the momentum going, San Diego’s largest publicly traded company rolled out a suite of seven new Internet of Things chips. They range from entry-level to premium tier semiconductors. Features include baked-in artificial intelligence and security, power-efficient computing, precise location capabilities and fast Wi-Fi 6, 5G and LTE connectivity, depending on the chip.

“Within the Internet of Things ecosystem, there are a variety of segments going through digital transformation, whether its retail or warehouse management or the shipping industry,” said Nagaraju Naik, Qualcomm senior director of product management. “Collaboration is yet another significant segment. These products that we’re introducing are going to enable a lot of those

QUALCOMM VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Qualcomm unveils 7 new Internet of Things chips to power smart grocery carts, remote work tech. applications.” The bulk of Qualcomm revenue still comes from smartphones — a maturing industry that is consolidating behind a handful of dominant brands such as Samsung and Apple.

Samsung already makes its own cellular processors for some of its phones, and Apple is working to design its own cellular chips, too, potentially ditching Qualcomm chips from iPhones.

Hence the push to diversify. While the Internet of Things market was growing before COVID-19 lockdowns, the pan-

demic accelerated adoption, said Naik.

Video collaboration led the way with remote work, online school and telehealth appointments.

Mobile technology fits right into video collaboration, said Naik. Qualcomm’s new top tier Internet of Things chip delivers the processing heft to manage multiple cameras, stream high-resolution video and provide noise canceling audio, as well as power artificial intelligence algorithms for things like facial tracking or background blurring.

Retail tech is another sector ripe for digital transformation, Naik said.

Emerging technologies include smart carts that analyze items, deliver digital coupons and enable just-walk-out shopping.

“Smart cart is actually bringing the point-of-sale experience or the checkout experience into the cart,” Naik said.

“So, you have cameras that can detect what (merchandise) is being picked by the consumer, and then right on the cart you have point-of-sale ability.”

Warehouse management and package shipping also are innovating with digital technology, as are smart cities, smart health care and smart factories. As part of the chip rollout, Qualcomm is offering extended hardware and software support for IoT devices for a minimum of eight years.

“Qualcomm Technologies is uniquely positioned to lead the IoT ecosystem forward with our systems-level approach,” said Jeff Lorbeck, senior vice president and general manager of connected smart systems at Qualcomm.

“We believe in the power of technology to enrich lives through purposeful innovation with solutions to support the ecosystem in reimagining how the world connects, works and communicates.

These new IoT solutions are a step towards achieving that goal.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

7

E-COMMERCE

How to get started reselling common products on eBay and other sites RONALD D. WHITE

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PANDEMIC FUELED A HOT HUSTLE

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Buying stuff cheap, reselling at a profit

RONALD D. WHITE

t’s a hustle as old as humankind: Get something on the cheap; persuade someone to take it off your hands for more. After the pandemic shut people in and wiped out jobs, the gig got supercharged.

One couple has sold $12,400 of Walmart instant soup mix since June 2020. Another reseller is peddling boxes of 200 slightly wrinkled dresses for $800.

These freshly minted entrepreneurs managed to bootstrap their own businesses with little or no funding, often starting by selling common consumer products online from their homes and then expanding to warehouses.

“We’ve seen crazy growth,” said Marcus Shen, chief operating officer of B-Stock Solutions, which bills itself as the world’s largest business-to-business online marketplace for the unsold, the surplus, the returned and the liquidated.

The Belmont, California, company has experienced a 34% increase in new resellers in the last year, he said.

“We’ve seen a lot of new folks who are looking for that side hustle, the gig they can run on the side because they’re just sitting at home, or maybe underemployed,” Shen said. “They are experimenting with buying merchandise in bulk, and then creating reselling opportunities for their own e-commerce stores.”

These repeddlers aren’t the people using social networks and apps to clean out their closets and garages, which also became wildly popular during the shutdown.

They are dedicated product flippers with a vast internet audience, according to mobile marketplace OfferUp, primed by the pandemic to want items to make homes more comfortable and suitable for remote working and schooling.

Resellers have gotten some of the blame for big price increases of popular goods in the last year, causing crackdowns by Amazon and EBay. The New York Times famously found an Amazon reseller stuck with 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer, acquired mainly by driving around and cleaning out retailer shelves in Tennessee and Kentucky.

At eBay, Chief Executive Jamie Iannone told investors and analysts that in addition to the fourth-quarter holiday surge, “we experienced unprecedented traffic levels for most of 2020.” The last three months of 2020 brought a 21% increase in the amount of merchandise sold (to $26.6 billion), a 5% rise in active sellers and a 7% increase in active buyers compared with the year-earlier quarter.

John Traches has experienced this boom in good and bad ways. Traches was forced to close his Santa Fe Springs business, JT Merchandise Outlet, when the coronavirus lockdown stopped sales cold.

“For about a good month and a half, there was nothing going on,” Traches said. But by the end of April 2020, Traches began to get a trickle of requests from prospective buyers, he said. Then it became a flood.

“It was incredible,” Traches said, with sales suddenly running 20% higher than before the pandemic, in 2019. “This industry just kind of took off ever since May of 2020.”

Using Facebook and newspaper ads, Traches has been selling pallets of athletic shoes for $1,000, boxes of 200 dresses for $800, collections of pots, pans and other kitchen equipment for $450.

A lot of Traches’ products are bought from B-Stock and sold mostly to other resellers in Mexico and Central and South America, he said. Traches also sells to locals, but he takes customers into the warehouse only by appointment because of coronavirus restrictions.

A sure sign of the increasing number of resellers vying for products is that merchandise has become scarce. Traches said he had been able to obtain a truckload of goods per week, but lately it’s

MYUNG J. CHUN, LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

John Traches who runs JT’s Merchandise Outlet in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., has created a thriving business reselling items during the pandemic.

“I DO KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE STARTED THEIR OWN LITTLE BUSINESS TO SELL ONLINE. THERE’S A LOT MORE COMPETITION OUT THERE NOW.” John Traches owner of JT’s Merchandise Outlet been more like a truckload every three or four weeks.

“All of a sudden the prices went up almost $1 to $1.50 per unit,” Traches said, “and that is a much higher cost to us because we’re dealing in 1,000- and 2,000-piece lots and we are trying to buy several of them a week. I do know a lot of people who have started their own little business to sell online. There’s a lot more competition out there now.”

That new competition includes Juan and Katherine Castillo, owners of El Juidero Wholesale & Resale in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The couple had been selling stainless-steel cookware door to door on commission. Then, as the pandemic raged and people hunkered down and stocked up as if for a hurricane, the Castillos hit the jackpot reselling instant soup mix from Walmart, ringing up $12,400 in revenue.

“We just kept buying and reselling, buying and then reselling,” said Juan Castillo, who is from the Dominican Republic, as is his wife, Katherine. The duo, who live in Worcester, soon branched out into shoes, apparel and other items, using family connections to develop customers on their home island and in Ghana. Sales run between $5,000 and $10,000 a month.

“We have many, many customers. We have Latinos, Africans,” Juan Castillo said. “They buy cheap from us, and they buy a lot.”

On their Facebook and Instagram pages, the Castillos recently were advertising in English and Spanish large quantities of clothing and handbags, which fill huge racks covering walls of the small warehouse they have relocated to.

The Castillos waited to quit their day jobs until the resale business, which they started in June 2020, proved a clear winner.

All businesses involve risks, and reselling is no different.

There are licenses to be acquired if a seller is more than a casual dabbler or wants to buy from wholesalers, and research to be done into sourcing, demand and competition in various items, among other things. And taxes need to be collected and paid. Many resale sites offer get-started guides for newcomers.

Joshua Brown, 34, thought he was making a pretty good living working in procurement for an automotive manufacturer.

But the pandemic had affected his job, and Brown, a single father with three children, was constantly worried about money. To build up some savings, he created JB Liquidators, focusing on reselling home improvement supplies and equipment.

“I started just buying a pallet here and a pallet there, tools and things like that,” Brown said. “I just knew that if you can catch them when the prices are low, I could make some money reselling it.

“I knew people that would buy some of the things. I thought that would be interesting to start off with.”

Brown took on two partners, and revenue reached $90,000 in 2020. The pace picked up, and in the first three months of 2021, revenues hit $57,000, he said, primarily in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

“We got a LLC written up. We made sure we did everything the right way,” Brown said. “Pretty early on, we were buying truckloads of stuff.”

On the company’s Google and Facebook pages, JB Liquidators was advertising a bathtub for $100, a $799 pellet smoker with a gas griddle for $350, a $375 Husky truck toolbox for $200. There was flooring with an MSRP of $1,314 that was being sold for $650, a laundry cabinet and faucet selling at a $99.99 discount, and much more.

“We had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, learning what to acquire and when,” Brown said. “We had a learning curve, but I think we have done really well.”

So far, he’s also keeping his day job with Honda.

One question now is what will happen to the reselling entrepreneurs as more and more Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines, restrictions on gatherings and indoor activities are eased, and people become less hesitant to do in-person browsing inside a bricks-and-mortar store. Will reselling as a side gig peter out as the virus fades away?

Shen thinks the resale boom will lose a little bit of its steam but not all of it.

“I think that we certainly will see some normalization here,” Shen said, “and when people are no longer stuck in front of their phones and their laptops and with nothing better to do, I expect that we’ll start to see things taper off.

“But I don’t think that entrepreneurial spirit will stop. That’s not going back in the box.”

Los Angeles Times

ots of people got into reselling common consumer products during the pandemic because of money concerns or too much extra stuff lying around the house they suddenly were stuck inside.

And demand skyrocketed as some goods became difficult to find or new remote-working and remote-schooling needs developed.

There are dozens of websites on which to sell merchandise, whether they’re items you already own or, to take it up a notch, a stream of goods you acquire from somewhere else at a cost that’s low enough to make a profit when you unload it.

There are the big generalists — including eBay, Amazon and wholesale site B-Stock — and a wealth of specialized online marketplaces for books, vintage clothing, jewelry and other things. Most sites have basic get-started guides and communities of sellers that share tips.

Here are some basic questions and answers: IS THIS EVEN LEGAL? As long as the merchandise has been legally purchased, retailers can’t prevent you from selling it again to a different buyer.

Some retailers require resellers to deface labels, bar codes and QR codes. And there have been instances in which brand owners issued ceaseand-desist demands, but those appear to have been rare. Hang on to sales receipts, however, just in case.

There is one way folks involved in reselling can get themselves into serious trouble, and that is by not being careful about where they obtain their goods.

Selling fake or stolen items is not only illegal but also wrong and can be downright dangerous. A simple internet search will turn up stomach-churning cases involving counterfeit electronics that were faulty or even fire hazards and bogus brandname cosmetics containing bacteria and feces.

HOW DO I GET PRODUCTS TO RESELL? Make sure to buy from legitimate sources. One is B-Stock, which acquires its goods at liquidation prices from big-name retailers and websites.

If you plan to buy from wholesaler sites such as B-Stock, you will need a resale certificate with a sales tax number. That allows you to avoid local sales taxes when you buy, which lowers your costs. The resale certificate requirements vary among states, but severa accept the Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate from the Multistate Tax Commission.

To use a site such as eBay as a reseller, you first have to register by creating a business or personal account.

You then decide what you are selling, list it with a description and add a photo.

In November, eBay launched a partnership with wholesale liquidator Bulq that lets resellers tap into items customers returned to Target and other big retailers. Stores often don’t bother returning the items to their own shelves because it’s cheaper to hand them off to a liquidation firm.

ARE THERE BIG UPFRONT COSTS? Not necessarily. Before some people began buying in bulk, by the cargo pallet or truckload, they started out very small.

B-Stock recently surveyed 145 resellers to see how their businesses fared during the 13 months of the pandemic and found that 25% did not require any financial assistance to start their business.

Once your business is underway, other traditional costs can be low, including marketing. Many businesses advertise their resale wares by using their Facebook and Instagram pages.

Many sites charge commissions and fees on sales, which will eat into your profit. And, of course, you’ll need to get the products to the customers, which means shipping.

For reviews of sites and a rundown of costs, check out SideHusl.com, which researches and rates moneymaking opportunities in the gig economy.

Resellers generally need to collect sales tax in their home states and pay income tax on their earnings, although occasional sellers usually get an exemption for activities such as hosting a yard sale at their house.

One reseller, John Traches of Santa Fe Springs, California, has been running his business, JT Merchandise Outlet, since 1999, but he said the pandemic sparked a lot of additional interest in reselling.

“I just think, because people were not able to get out, they were looking for other ways to make money,” Traches said. “So they’re just getting creative, thinking about what they can buy and then resell, out of their house, online, and I think that definitely has driven the Los Angeles Times sales up.”

THE DIGITAL USER

8

FALL 2021

HEALTH

Moral dilemma A startup says it helps parents pick healthier embryos. Experts say it’s not that simple.

T

MELODY PETERSEN

he decision of whether to have a child can be hard even under the best of circumstances.

For those with a family history of debilitating disease, it’s often gut-wrenching. If only there were some way to answer the all-important question: Will my child be healthy?

To those potential parents, a San Francisco startup is offering a solution: a genetic test of their embryos so they can select the one with the lowest risk of disease.

“We help couples have healthy babies,” the company Orchid Inc. says of its tests for schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, cancer and seven other diseases. As much as health information, the 2-year-old company sells peace of mind. “I was apprehensive about having kids due to my family history, but after going through our report I feel in control,” reads one testimonial on Orchid’s website.

Scientists say it isn’t that simple.

Peter Kraft, a Harvard professor of epidemiology, helped to develop the so-called polygenic risk scores that Orchid says are the backbone of its tests. He said the way Orchid uses them concerns him, raising the possibility that, for instance, parents could select an embryo estimated to be at a reduced risk of one disease without understanding it was at a higher risk for something else.

“Part of my worry is how upfront the company is when they’re counseling parents of the likely benefit of these procedures.” Kraft said. “There are some tradeoffs that we just don’t understand.”

Experts have also raised ethical questions about the tests that Orchid, and another company called Genomic Prediction, are offering to test and select embryos.

Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, assistant professor at Baylor University’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, said he was especially concerned about the companies’ claims to reduce the risk of schizophrenia given the nation’s history of discrimination against those with psychiatric disorders.

“Even though these companies are trying to market this technology within a medical context,” he said, “we have to be really careful about potential misuses.”

Orchid’s 26-year-old founder, Noor Siddiqui, says she believes many of the concerns about her company’s technology are a legacy of a healthcare system in which information is the province of doctors, not patients.

“A lot of these folks who are saying that parents shouldn’t get access to this information I think are frankly being a little bit paternalistic,” Siddiqui said last month in an interview on the biotech podcast Mendelspod. “It’s not right for healthcare workers to be gatekeepers, saying that parents don’t have the right to protect their child.”

Orchid is just the latest Silicon Valley startup to promote lab tests directly to consumers, urging them to personally take charge of their health in ways that fall outside the healthcare system. Aiding them is lax regulation of lab tests in the U.S., and in Orchid’s case, a similar lack of regulation of fertility treatments.

According to her bio, Siddiqui was a Thiel Fellow, a program created by billionaire Peter Thiel that gives $100,000 to young people who opt to explore inventions and entrepreneurship rather

“IF WE CAN SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE HEALTH RISKS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION THROUGH REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, IS THAT TRULY A RADICAL, IMMORAL THING TO DO.” Jonathan Anomaly, associate director of the University of Pennsylvania’s philosophy, politics and economics program than sitting in a classroom. She founded a startup called Remedy, which aimed to use Google’s augmented reality glasses to help healthcare providers care for patients. It didn’t succeed.

She soon decided to return to school, graduating from Stanford with a master’s degree in computer science. She taught a three-month course at Stanford in 2019 called “The Frontiers of Reproductive Technology.”

Siddiqui didn’t respond to numerous requests to answer questions but has spoken recently in forums that are friendly to tech entrepreneurs.

Siddiqui said the Orchid process begins with a simple at-home saliva test of both parents. If those genetic tests show the parents to be potential carriers for any of 10 diseases, they can then opt for in vitro fertilization at a fertility clinic offering Orchid’s embryo tests.

In what Siddiqui calls “embryo prioritization,” the clinic’s doctors would then use Orchid’s tests to rank the couple’s embryos for their risk of disease.

The embryo tests will be available later this year. Would-be customers can add their names to a wait list.

“I’m excited to give couples the ability to make their own luck — to bend the trajectory of their child’s future toward health — no matter what cards they were dealt,” Siddiqui tweeted last month in announcing the availability of the tests.

DYSTOPIAN DISTRACTION Before Orchid, there was Genomic Prediction, a New Jersey company founded in 2017 by Stephen Hsu, a graduate of Caltech and UC Berkeley, and two other scientists.

“Already in early 2020 the first baby (a lovely girl) was born from an embryo screened in this way,” Hsu, now a professor at Michigan State, told The Times in an email. He said the company’s tests are now available in 200 IVF clinics around the world.

Like Orchid, Genomic Prediction offers to test embryos for the risk of major maladies including diabetes and heart disease.

The company’s original test also screened for intellectual disability — which quickly made headlines.

“A new genetic test straight out of a dystopian sci-fi film aims to let hopeful parents pick smarter, taller, and healthier babies,” declared a November 2019 story in the New York Post.

“The world’s first Gattaca baby tests are finally here,” said a headline in the MIT Technology Review that same month, referencing the 1997 movie in which parents select their embryos based on desired traits, including intelligence.

Laurent Tellier, the chief executive and co-founder of Genomic Prediction, told The Times the company’s test of embryos for cognitive disability became so controversial that it no longer offers them.

“We decided that media focus on this specific trait distracted from the other

health benefits of polygenic testing,” Tellier said.

The tests from Orchid and Genomic Prediction go far beyond those that fertility clinics have been offering for years to look for conditions caused by single genes, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s disease.

The new tests are for more common and complex diseases that scientists have linked to variations in hundreds or thousands of genes. In recent years, scientists have been able to identify the genetic variants associated with these diseases by comparing the genomes of individuals who suffer from the maladies with those who don’t. That work has generated the polygenic risk scores.

Scientists and doctors are just beginning to try to use these risk scores to assess adults’ risk of inherited diseases. They say they still have much to learn about how a person’s genes influence their risk of disease. Factors such as diet, sleep, stress and smoking can also affect that risk.

But that hasn’t stopped Orchid and Genomic Prediction, which also calls itself LifeView, from moving ahead with applying polygenic risk scores to embryos.

Kraft, the Harvard geneticist, pointed out that many of the genetic variants are tied to multiple diseases or human traits.

That means if a couple selects an embryo with a certain variant to reduce the risk of one disease, they could be increasing the risk of another condition in ways that scientists don’t yet understand, he said.

“If you pick an embryo that’s at low risk for breast cancer, you may actually be increasing your risk for other traits,” he said.

“We just don’t know.”

At the same time, he said, the risk of some of these diseases is low even for those with the highest risk scores. For example, the risk of schizophrenia is just 1% on average — which might be reduced to 0.6% with embryo selection, Kraft said.

Another problem: the tests are based on databases of genetic information that comes mostly from white people of European ancestry. Scientists say they are less accurate for Black people, Latinos and other minorities.

TESTING’S ALLURE The promise of futuristic medical testing has given rise to some of Silicon Valley’s most notorious scandals. Elizabeth Holmes vowed her blood-testing startup Theranos would push aside lab giants Quest and Labcorp when she founded it in 2003 at age 19. Theranos reached a valuation of $9 billion before an investigation by the Wall Street Journal showed how Holmes had hidden her technology’s flaws. The company dissolved in 2018; Holmes and its former president are facing charges of fraud.

Ubiome, another San Francisco lab startup, also collapsed amid allegations of criminal wrongdoing. Founded in 2012, Ubiome sold tests of the microbiome — including the bacterial make-up of the gut — to consumers with intestinal disor-

ders. In March, federal officials charged its founders with filing fraudulent claims for reimbursement for lab tests that weren’t validated or medically necessary.

The scandals haven’t cooled venture capitalists’ enthusiasm for backing entrepreneurs with ideas for disrupting the healthcare system and selling products to consumers anxious about their health.

Investors see fertility treatments as especially lucrative as more Americans try to start families later in life. The U.S. market for fertility treatments is now more than $7 billion, according to a presentation by Progeny, a company offering insurance for such treatments. The number of artificial fertility cycles assisted by the labs is growing by about 10% a year.

Asked about the accuracy of his company’s tests, Tellier at Genomic Prediction pointed to five studies that he and other scientists have published.

In a study in Nature Scientific Reports, Hsu and two other researchers wrote that Genomic Prediction was able to identify which of a pair of siblings would develop breast cancer, diabetes or other conditions between 70% and 90% of the time.

Tellier pointed out that Orchid has not yet published any studies. On its website, Orchid calls its test “the most advanced genetic risk assessment available.” Yet it also has a disclaimer in its terms of service requiring users to “waive any and all claims against Orchid for any amendment or modification” to its test report.

“Your results are based on currently available information in the medical literature and scientific databases … that may be subject to change,” the disclaimer reads.

“This may result in a change in your risk assessment.”

To use the companies’ embryo tests, couples must choose to undergo IVF, an expensive and painful process aimed at helping those who have trouble conceiving. In the Mendelspod interview, Siddiqui suggested that even fertile couples might want to consider using IVF in order to “mitigate disease risk with our embryo report.”

An IVF procedure that might result in the creation of five embryos involves weeks of hormone shots and then medical procedures to collect eggs and later to implant the embryos. That cycle can cost $15,000 before adding the costs of the genetic tests.

Orchid has not revealed its pricing.

Kraft questioned whether the high cost and possible complications of the IVF procedures were worth the relatively small reductions in disease risk that patients could expect with embryo selection. “There are better ways to ensure children grow up healthy,” he said.

To reassure potential customers who might have concerns about the ethics of genetic screening, Orchid features on its website an interview with bioethicist Jonathan Anomaly, associate director of the University of Pennsylvania’s philosophy, politics and economics program. Anomaly published a book last year, “Creating Future People: The Ethics of Genetic Enhancement.” He also wrote a 2018 paper entitled, “Defending Eugenics.”

“It’s almost certainly wrong if you understand Darwinian evolution to think where we are now is perfect, you know?” he said in the interview on Orchid’s website. “If we can substantially reduce health risks for the next generation through reproductive technologies, is that truly a radical, immoral thing to do?”

Los Angeles Times

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

9

HEALTH

CAN ROBOTS SPEED UP

DRUG DISCOVERY? One firm’s software helps labs embrace automation

A MIKE FREEMAN

t Biosero’s San Diego headquarters, a mobile robot named Yoda wheels down the hallway to personally escort visitors to the company’s Acceleration Lab. Then Yoda gets to work — picking up and delivering biological assay trays between scanning instruments scattered throughout the lab in a demonstration of how the Biosero’s technology helps speed up drug discovery through automation.

Biosero does not make the robot itself. Yoda is a mashup of an autonomous ground vehicle, a robotic arm and a machine vision system that allows it to work safely alongside humans.

What the privately held company does make is the software suite that manages the workflow — essentially the tasks being performed by robots and myriad other scientific instruments in automated life sciences labs.

“Our software will schedule the use of those devices, make them work together to form a complete solution, then contextualize the data from all those devices so it can be used,” said Tom Gilman, the founder and chief executive of Biosero.

When most of us think of industrial robots, what comes to mind is the caged-off, giant robotic arm swinging a car door into place in an auto plant or perhaps the warehouse robots that fetch merchandise.

But automation also has been part of the life sciences landscape for more than three decades, dating to Big Pharma’s high-throughput screening experiments to comb their molecule libraries for overlooked compounds to treat diseases.

Similar research continues to this day. San Diego’s Scripps Research Institute recently scanned 12,000 molecules in its library in hopes of repurposing some of them as therapeutics for patients with COVID-19.

With the help of robots, researchers found several promising candidates and published their findings in the journal Nature Medicine in June.

Scripps Research used Biosero’s Green Button Go scheduling software in the project, helping it to complete work in a matter of weeks rather than months.

“That, for us, is the end zone,” Gilman said. “That is what wakes us up in the morning. Show me the cure. Show me some results. We have been able to see that.”

Growth in genomic-based diagnostics — such as gold-standard PCR tests to detect COVID-19 — have further pushed labs to automate tasks such as liquid handling and sample transportation to increase volume.

Last year amid the pandemic, San Diego gene-sequencing giant Illumina launched a project to se-

EDUARDO CONTRERAS, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

Imad Mansour, director of customer success at Biosero, demonstrates their mobile robot at Biosero headquarters in San Diego. Biosero makes a software platform called Green Button Go that manages workflow.

“WHEN ILLUMINA CAME TO US AND ASKED US TO DEVISE A SYSTEM FOR THEM THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO TEST 10,000 SAMPLES A DAY, WE WERE ABLE TO BUILD UPON EXISTING AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES TO GIVE THEM A SOLUTION WITHIN A COUPLE MONTHS LAST YEAR.” Imad Mansour, director of customer success at Biosero quence COVID-19 viral genomes from thousands of patient samples per day to map coronavirus variants.

Biosero pieced together automated pre-sequencing workstations for sample extraction, amplification, conversion, and other steps to allow Illumina to hit its aggressive throughput targets.

“When Illumina came to us and asked us to devise a system for them that would allow them to test 10,000 samples a day, we were able to build upon existing automation technologies to give them a solution within a couple months last year,” said Imad Mansour, director of customer success at Biosero.

Biosero sits at the intersection of technology and life sciences.

The region’s business leaders have long touted the potential for local software and technology firms to develop products targeting San Diego’s booming pharmaceutical, biotechnology, next-generation sequencing and clinical diagnostic companies.

“It still has a long way to go, but it’s growing,” said Mike Krenn, head of Connect/San Diego Venture Group. “There is stuff happening on the fringes.”

MedCrypt, for example, provides cybersecurity for medical devices.

Cardea Bio is developing graphenebased transistors that integrate molecular biology with semiconductor electronics. And Edico Genome built a computer processing platform to analyze the reams of data produced in genomic sequencing

equipment. It was acquired by Illumina in 2018.

Founded in 2003, Biosero started out selling third-party hardware and integration services to help life-science labs set up their automated work cells.

While integration services remain an important part of the business, the company pivoted away from hardware about a decade ago. Instead, it developed its own software suite to enable scheduling, device integration, data collection and other functions. Customers include Eli Lilly, Takeda, EMD Serono Research Institute and some 500 others.

Cannalysis Labs relies on the Green Button Go scheduler to manage automated sample prep for cannabinoid and chemical residue tests. That reduces the time to prepare samples by 94 percent.

At the Lilly Life Sciences Studio in San Diego, the company uses Biosero’s Green Button Go software as part of its early stage drug research.

“One of Lilly’s journeys is we are trying to take research and do it in half the time — going from 10 years from the time you discover something and bring it to market and moving that down to five years,” said Steven Laflin, an adviser at the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego.

Automation is a big part of that journey.

“We are able to run things 24/7, 365 and figure things out in our assays much sooner,” Laflin said.

“That leaves you in a situation

where you get to pick from a far greater number of opportunities versus if you do it manually, which just takes too long. “ Robotics not only frees up scientists from mundane, repetitive tasks but also delivers traceable and repeatable results, Laflin said.

“It’s like when you cook something,” Laflin said. “You measure everything out but it’s never really accurate. The difference with robotics is it’s spot on. It measures everything perfectly, and it also tracks and traces from start to finish versus you having to manually write things down.”

Biosero employs just under 60 workers. It posted revenue above $20 million last year, said Gilman.

Its year-over-year top-line growth rate hit 30 percent.

A unique thing about Biosero’s software is that it is completely hardware agnostic. The platform works with robots and other instruments from a wide range of manufacturers.

“Over these 10 years of us working in this area, we have developed a library of over 400 devices that we’ve connected to, and it keeps growing,” said Gilman. “That is not trivial.”

According to the company, its top competitors supply both hardware and software. But their emphasis often is on selling hardware, and sometimes the software is not necessarily tailored to play nice with equipment from rival manufacturers.

“Because these processes are very complex, they require many different types of instrumentation to run in an automated fashion,” said Jesse Mulcahy, senior automation scientist at EMD Serono, which is owned

by Merck. “What Biosero is able to do is offer us software that is easy to use and very flexible to run these large, integrated systems.”

By focusing on software, Biosero believes it can adapt rapidly to new requirements in the lab.

“The thing about automation in life sciences is how quickly it changes,” said David Dambman, Biosero’s chief technology officer who led the company’s software development efforts. “We are not tooling up for five years in production. It is constantly changing. So, our software evolves very rapidly to meet these needs.”

Today, Biosero collects all the data from automated instruments.

Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to that data for things ranging from when to re-order consumables to what experiments should be done next to advance a drug target could be the next frontier, said Gilman.

“That is when things get really exciting,” he said. “We’re not there yet. But if you spend time to find those things that make you unique, I would say we are the best integrator in life sciences, and we use tools that we’ve developed in software to enable that.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune‌

THE DIGITAL USER

10

FALL 2021

HEALTH

JON MCKEE PHOTOGRAPHY VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

The helical Bionaut drug-delivery device, next to a penny for scale.

THIS START-UP IS BUILDING TINY INJECTABLE ROBOTS TO ATTACK TUMORS

D SAM DEAN

LOOKING FOR HELP

I

In a murky sea of mental health apps, consumers left adrift

JENNY GOLD

n the eyes of the tech industry, mental health treatment is an area ripe for disruption.

In any given year, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience a form of mental illness, according to federal estimates.

And research indicates only about half of them receive treatment in a system that is understaffed and ill distributed to meet demand.

For tech startups looking to cash in on unmet need, that translates into more than 50 million potential customers. Venture capital firms invested more than $2.4 billion in digital behavioral health apps in 2020 — more than twice the amount invested in 2019 — touting support or treatment for issues from burnout and depression to ADHD and bipolar disorder. At least seven mental health app companies have achieved “unicorn” status and are valued at more than $1 billion.

But even as industry hype mounts, researchers and companies are scrambling to prove these apps actually work. Of the estimated 20,000 mental health apps available for download on personal computers and smartphones, just five have been formally vetted and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which largely has taken a hands-off approach to regulating the space.

“Development has really outpaced

the science,” said Stephen Schueller, a clinical psychologist at the University of California-Irvine who specializes in the development and evaluation of digital mental health products.

Type “depression” or “anxiety” into an app store, and you’ll be met with a dizzying list of results. There are thousands of “wellness” apps like Headspace that counsel people on breathing exercises and other techniques to help them feel more mindful. Apps such as Woebot and TalkLife profess to help manage conditions like anxiety and postpartum depression using games, mood journaling or text exchanges with peers or automated bots.

Some apps are meant to be used alongside in-person therapy, and others on their own. Several of the most popular, like Talkspace, BetterHelp and Ginger, promise access to treatment with a licensed therapist over text message, phone or video. Others, including Brightside and Cerebral, connect users to psychiatrists who can prescribe antidepressants.

Most products make their money by charging consumers a monthly or annual fee, with the option to purchase extras like video sessions with a therapist. Others contract directly with employers or insurers.

And, yes, a small portion of these apps have promising research to back them up. Several studies, for example, have found that cognitive behavioral

therapy, a mainstay of treatment for depression and anxiety that seeks to help patients change negative thought patterns, is as effective when delivered using web-based platforms as when done in person by a licensed professional. And the pandemic has bolstered claims that patients are willing to trade in-person visits for the ease of online connection.

“Digital mental health can be viewed as a way to extend the mental resources that we have,” said David Mohr, who directs the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A step-care model, for example, would allow patients with milder symptoms to be treated via technology while reserving in-person care for patients who need something more.

The challenge for consumers is separating the apps that might help from those that offer little more than distraction — or could actually do harm.

Some companies offering mental health treatment had recently been doing something totally different — for example, an online seller of erectile dysfunction and hair loss treatments has started offering psychiatric evaluations and prescribing and selling antidepressants.

Tech companies are by nature forprofit and, in the rush to compete in a saturated market, many are selling

a product with an appealing user interface but little evidence of effectiveness. A 2020 analysis by Australian researchers reviewing nearly 300 apps for anxiety and depression found just 6% of the companies that boasted an evidence-based framework in the app store description for their products had published any evidence.

Nor do star ratings and download totals offer much context: An April study from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School found little correlation between app store metrics and treatment quality.

“No one is competing based on privacy, safety or evidence. They’re competing on aesthetics, in part, on page ranking, marketing on brand awareness,” said Dr. John Torous, director of the digital psychiatry division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and one of the authors of the April study.

“There’s an implicit assumption that the app is better than nothing. But what if it isn’t better than nothing?”

One problem, said Dr. Ipsit Vahia, a geriatric psychiatrist and medical director of the McLean Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, is that randomized control studies of the kind that might prove an app’s effectiveness can take years, far slower than the rapid innovation in tech. “In general, the health care industry and the technology industry work at very different paces,” Vahia said.

Dr. David Mou, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital who is chief medical officer at Cerebral, said he agrees that everything new in health care must be done deliberately and conservatively to avoid patient harm.

But he said some people in the mental health field are painting all companies with the same brush and failing to differentiate those that are data-driven from those trying to grow at any cost.

“They look at us and say we’re all VC-backed bros in a basement trying to redesign health care. And that’s not true. It may have been true 10 years ago, but it isn’t true today,” said Mou. The long-term winners, he said, will be those that are “evidence-based and measure quality like crazy.”

Cerebral offers online therapy and medication management and delivery for a range of mental illnesses. The

monthly subscription fees range from $29 to $325, depending on the level and frequency of care, as well as insurance coverage. Mou said Cerebral is already able to demonstrate some advantages. While many top hospital systems might have a months-long wait for care, he said, someone in crisis can reach a Cerebral provider almost immediately.

Even critics of the tech explosion are quick to acknowledge that the current brick-and-mortar system of mental health is dated and inadequate.

In recent years, the issues surrounding mental illness and lack of access to treatment have infiltrated public dialogue. Brain illnesses that many families once squirreled away from view have become the stuff of celebrity culture and dinner-table chatter.

Federal law theoretically requires insurance companies to cover brain illness as they would any other illness.

But finding affordable care remains a challenge,.

In a nation where huge swaths of the population lack a primary care doctor and health insurance — but most everyone has a cellphone — connecting people to treatment via mobile apps would seem a logical solution. And, for some, the opportunity to talk about their mental health challenges anonymously makes online treatment an attractive alternative.

Still, many of the experts who welcome the potential for innovation in mental health treatment acknowledge that consumers are getting little guidance in how to choose a reputable option. “Wellness” apps that promote a healthy lifestyle or apps that help people manage their disease without providing specific treatment suggestions can avoid FDA regulation. But even those that offer patient-specific diagnoses and treatment recommendations that would seem to fall squarely under the FDA’s authority do not seem to garner the agency’s attention, according to industry experts.

“The FDA has been really, really lax on enforcing in digital health for reasons that are not entirely clear to me,” said Bradley Merrill Thompson, a lawyer at Epstein Becker Green who advises companies on FDA regulations.

“Anybody could spend 20 minutes on the app store and find dozens of exam-

ples of apps that make medical device claims, and that have been doing so for some time, without any effort by the FDA to rein them in.”

In response to questions from KHN about its approach to regulating mental health apps, the FDA sent a brief statement. “As circumstances change and new needs arise, FDA is ready to meet and address these challenges, especially in the areas of mental health,” the statement reads in part. “We would like to see more evidence-based products in this area, which is why we remain committed to facilitating the development of additional safe and effective therapies for patients who rely on these products.”

Dr. Tom Insel, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, has a unique view of the evolving landscape. In 2015, Insel left his job as director of the National Institute of Mental Health, a post he had held since 2002, trading the halls of government for the open floor plans of Silicon Valley to work in digital mental health. He started at Google’s Verily, then co-founded Mindstrong Health, a startup researching how smartphone technology could be used to predict and diagnose mental health crises. He now advises California officials on behavioral health issues.

Insel said he believes in the promise of digital mental health but that it will take time to find its highest and best use. He noted, for example, that most of the apps on the market focus on the problem of access: They make care more convenient. But they’re overlooking a more basic problem: quality. Unlike most fields of medicine, mental health providers rarely measure whether the care they provide makes patients better.

“A lot of what we need is not just more access. It’s not just recreating the brick-and-mortar system and letting people do it by phone or Zoom,” Insel said. Instead, he argued, digital health should focus on measuring whether treatments improve people’s lives.

“I have no doubt that this field will transform mental health treatment and diagnosis,” Insel said, “but we’re in the first act of a five-act play. I don’t think we’re anywhere near the kinds of solutions that we need in the real world.”

Kaiser Health News‌

The pandemic increased mental health needs. Some addressed it by building new apps

T

BETHANY AO

he mental health toll of COVID-19 has been difficult for many, and traditional resources such as talk therapy have been overloaded in recent months.

As a result, developers and grassroots mental health organizations are trying to address the increase in need through behavioral health smartphone apps, which have been gaining popularity since even before the pandemic.

Headspace and Calm are popular meditation apps that have millions of users all over the world, and teletherapy apps like Talkspace and BetterHelp have helped users connect with therapists. Last year, the American Psychological Association estimated that there are more than 10,000 mental health apps available to users.

Here’s how three Philadelphia-area mental health advocates and grassroots organizations built apps this past year to help young people tackle issues like depression and anxiety.

INNER STRENGTH2 Since its founding in 2014, Inner Strength Education has provided more than 15,000 students in Philadelphia high schools with trauma-sensitive resources and mindfulness programs. But

much of their in-person instruction had to be reimagined when the pandemic sent the city into lockdown.

To keep in touch with students, the nonprofit built Inner Strength2, an app to help teens continue their mindfulness exercises at home, said Amy Edelstein, the founder and executive director of Inner Strength Education.

“A lot of students do go to technology for support,” she said. “We’ve developed tools to support focus, anxiety, self love, self care and positive affirmations. We’ve also been very careful to build in ways that students can pop out (of the app), so if they’re doing an exercise, and they find that they’re more agitated or a trauma that they’re dealing with is too overwhelming to engage with, they can do that.”

When students log into the app, they complete a daily check-in, which asks them to assess their feelings on a scale of “sunny” to “stormy.” Next, they can choose to practice positivity through selecting self-affirmations like “I am smart” or writing a journal entry about the things that they’re grateful for on that day. Students can also go through six brief meditation exercises using the app, such as breathe work and stretching.

Since the app’s release in May, 250

users have signed up, Edelstein said.

Inner Strength2 is available on iOS or through Google Play.

SELFSEA Peer Health Exchange, a national nonprofit that trains college student volunteers to teach a skills-based health curriculum to high schoolers in communities without comprehensive health education, also had to rethink its approach when schools closed last spring. The organization quickly prioritized preexisting plans to create an app.

Selfsea was developed with the input of eight high schoolers last summer, said Lisa Walker, the organization’s assistant vice president of programs and strategic learning.

“One of the main takeaways that they told us through the process was that they were not getting mental health education,” she said. “It was exactly the same thing we had heard a few years ago from people in our original focus group, that people just pretend mental health isn’t a thing. (The students) were really upset about that.”

The app focuses on centering students’ racial and gender identities and allows users to select issues they’re struggling with when they set up their profiles,

vice ... it’s more like, ‘This is my experience and hopefully you’re able to feel supported through your experience.’”

The app also gives students a personalized list of “next steps” to get help.

For example, if someone selected body image as an issue they struggled with, they might be prompted to create a positive mantra or read a list about healthier ways to look at their body compiled by the National Eating Disorders Association. Each resource has been vetted and recommended by a young person, Walker said.

“I struggle with Currently, selfsea is a anxiety and worked in web app, but a final vermental health,” Alexandra sion is expected to be Dodge said. “There are other released for iOS and such as apps, but I was thinking of ways Android systems. addiction, body to improve them. I thought it www.selfsea.org image, racism, would be a more discreet way of sexual health and managing a anxiety attack.”

RÜ ANXIETY stress. Then, based TYGER WILLIAMS, THE FORECAST on their answers, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE Like millions of Amerselfsea shows users a icans who suffer from an video narrated by a stuanxiety disorder, Alexandra dent volunteer who reflects Dodge knows just how debilitating at least one part of their idenit can be to experience symptoms of a tity and what they’re struggling with. panic attack such as a pounding heart, “The videos feel really raw and like sweaty hands and nausea. they’re having a conversation with the So when Dodge, a graphic and inperson,” Walker said. “They just dive teractive design student at Temple into their personal story. And we try to keep it away from giving too much adUniversity, was tasked with creating a

digital product in a senior class last year, she decided to help those experiencing anxiety.

Dodge, 33, created a prototype of an app to track the physical signs of a panic attack via an Apple Watch and then guide users through simple exercises to manage those feelings. Her hope is to eventually make the prototype into an app available for users with the help of developers.

Dodge, who lives near Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, designed the app, named rü anxiety forecast, for a class at Temple’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture that focused on the user experience (UX), user interface (UI), and branding of digital products. The app prompts users to focus on identifying the physical symptoms and specific emotions they are experiencing before offering suggestions that might help such as reading affirmations.

One of the main features of the app is “a circle that expands and contracts to mimic how long you’re supposed to breathe in and exhale,” she said. There’s also a musical component to help users time their breathing exercises. Studies have shown these exercises can reduce stress and distract from negative thoughts.

The Philadelphia Inquirer‌

octors take a microscopic craft loaded with cancer-killing chemicals, inject it into the human body, and drive it to a malignant tumor to deliver its payload before making a quick exit.

For most of the 55 years since “Fantastic Voyage” shrank Raquel Welch and company down to the size of a cell to zap a blood clot out of a scientist’s brain, that scenario has been pure science fiction.

But Bionaut Labs, a remote-control medical microrobot start-up, intends to be the first company to make it a clinical reality.

Backed by $20 million in venture capital funding and building off recent advances in robotics and precision manufacturing, the Culver City, California, company is developing a device the size of a breadcrumb that doctors can insert into the spine or skull and magnetically steer to a target to deliver a precise dose of drugs. The plan is to move to clinical trials by 2023.

Michael Shpigelmacher, Bionaut’s chief executive, said that he and his co-founder, Aviad Maizels, created the company in 2016 to tackle a fundamental problem of modern medicine: getting a drug to the right place in the right dose.

Most drug delivery today is based on diffusion through the bloodstream, which requires high doses to make sure that enough of the active ingredients makes it to the target — and often means that the rest of the body gets hit at the same time. “It’s very statistical in nature and not precise,” Shpigelmacher said.

“We wanted to just figure out a way to get there,” to the problem area, “instead of flooding a body with therapeutics.”

Shpigelmacher and Maizels worked together in the mid-2000s at PrimeSense, a 3-D sensing start-up that built the Xbox Kinect before being acquired by Apple in 2013, and stayed in touch as their mutual interest in the emerging field of medical microrobots grew. They zeroed in on research coming out of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and approached the lab’s leader, a scientist named Peer Fischer, about collaborating on something they could bring to market.

Fischer became Bionaut’s senior scientific advisor, and the company started funding his research, before raising multiple rounds of venture capital from Upfront Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Revolution, among others, to hire a small team and begin testing the technology in living animals at its Culver City office.

After four years, Shpigelmacher said, the company is ready to refine its technique and prepare for human trials.

Bionaut is targeting brain stem gliomas, a type of cancer that largely affects children and young adults, as a first step for proving its tech. Brain tumors are particularly difficult to treat with current technology: Radiation and surgery can cause too much damage to the delicate tissue, and the blood-brain barrier stops most chemotherapy drugs from reaching the tumor. Being able to deliver drugs right into the tumor itself would be a significant advance.

Here’s how it works: A doctor inserts a handful of Bionaut devices into the spinal column through a catheter. Each device is large enough to be clearly visible on a live X-ray; the manufacturing technology exists to make the devices even smaller, but Bionaut chose to keep them close to the millimeter scale in order to make them less difficult to track and maneuver through the body.

A set of magnets positioned around the head and neck generates an external magnetic field that the doctor can control to prod the devices up the spinal column and into the affected area of the brainstem. Once they’re in the right position, another magnetic signal activates a tiny plunger in each device’s cargo bay, ejecting the drug. Then, the doctor can drive the devices back to where they entered the spine and remove them.

Research into the science underlying Bionaut’s technology began decades ago but accelerated in recent years.

“There are articles from the ‘80s where a person takes a large screw — I’m literally talking about a big screw that

you’d put in your wall — and controls it magnetically to move through a piece of steak,” Shpigelmacher said. “That was not safe, but the concept was there.”

Now the field of precision manufacturing has advanced to the point that tiny medical devices can be mass-produced through a network of suppliers, in a manner similar to other consumer electronics. “It’s key that we’re not reinventing the wheel here,” Shpigelmacher noted.

Jinxing Li, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan State University who works on medical microrobotics, called Fischer’s team at Max Planck “one of the pioneers in the technology.” Li said he expects Bionaut will have a number of new competitors in the coming years, as microrobots are incorporated in an increasing number of medical procedures.

Marc Miskin, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania who works on nanorobots, said the nervous system is particularly well suited for microrobotic interventions. “I would give them a lot of credit for figuring out a space where they can make an impact and justify how they’ll be competitive with traditional pharmaceutical approaches,” he said.

Some minimally invasive techniques for brain surgery already rely on snaking slender endoscopes and surgical instruments up through the spinal column to reach the skull. “Getting rid of the cord is a great idea” if you can pull it off, Miskin said. “You should absolutely do it.”

Bionaut is also collaborating with outside researchers who are trying to develop a pharmacological treatment for Huntington’s disease, which affects a set of neurons buried deep in the brain called the basal ganglia. The Bionaut system not only would allow surgeons to avoid cutting open the skull to reach the target area but also could enable them to use less damaging angles of approach through the gray matter that would be impossible without a wireless instrument. “We are freeing them physically from the straight-line requirements that they have to adhere to today,” Shpigelmacher said.

The next hurdle for Bionaut is the clinical trial process. While medical devices typically go through a streamlined approval process, Bionaut’s combination of new technique with drug delivery means that it must go through the full Food and Drug Administration regimen. The majority of new drugs seeking approval from the FDA fail along the way, with success rates varying widely among applications, according to a recent study out of MIT, from 33% for new vaccines for infectious diseases down to just 3.4% for experimental cancer drugs.

Bionaut is targeting brainstem gliomas first in part to increase those odds.

“It’s a rare disease, there is no current cure, and they’re delivering proven and approved chemo payloads that kill tumor cells,” said Kevin Zhang, a partner at Upfront Ventures who led the fund’s investment in Bionaut. Treatments targeting rare conditions can apply for “orphan” status with the FDA, which provides tax benefits and streamlines the regulatory process. “The best way to improve your odds, other than having a good solution,” Zhang said, “is to pick the right problem to go after with high unmet needs.”

If the glioma treatment makes it through clinical trials, the plan is to expand the technology to other central nervous system conditions and other areas that are difficult to target with drugs, such as inside the eye. Moving into the rest of the body is further out on the horizon.

But putting serious money behind the approach to bring it out from the lab and into operating rooms is the first step. When Shpigelmacher first approached investors about the idea that would become Bionaut, most pushed back, urging him to wait for academic researchers to refine the science. To Shpigelmacher, commercialization was the way to “get to patients sooner than it would have otherwise,” he said. “Not at the pace of acLos Angeles Times‌ ademia.”

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

11

SOCIAL MEDIA

#TRENDING I

Hashtags felt dated and cringeworthy. So why are influencers still using them?

BRIAN CONTRERAS

nternet fads tend to have a distinct life cycle. First, the embrace by early adopters and tastemakers, particularly the young. Next, an explosion of popularity leading to inescapable ubiquity. Finally, death by overexposure and a wretched zombie afterlife of continued usage by parents and the terminally uncool.

Not long ago, hashtags were firmly on that trajectory. Born as a way to make social media content searchable and then recruited as a cheeky form of commentary, they quickly became a signifier of trying too hard. Wrapping up that status update with a paragraph-long wall of #blesseds and #forthewins?

You might as well hoist a skateboard and ask, “How do you do, fellow kids?”

But now a generation of influencers and would-be influencers, many of them natives of platforms that didn’t exist when the hashtag first started trending, are bringing it back, and for the most undeniable of reasons: It’s an indispensable tool for turning internet fame into money.

For Katie Feeney, a hashtag can be worth $100,000. That’s the upper end of what she says some brands will pay her to post videos that include their custom hashtags to her 5.6 million TikTok followers.

“A year ago, I wasn’t using hashtags at all,” Feeney, 18, told The Times. But once she started taking her career as an influencer more seriously, they became a big part of her online presence. “I didn’t really realize how important hashtagging is.”

It’s a shift industry insiders say is becoming more and more common. Between the companies that will pay influencers to use specific hashtags and the TikTok algorithm’s reliance on hashtags in determining which videos go viral, the little pound sign has become a potent weapon in any professional TikToker’s arsenal.

Feeney’s profile is knee-deep in them.

As she tries on prom dresses: #prom. #prom2021. #promdress. #promdresses. #promszn.

As she and her friends show off where they’re going to college: #college. #highschool. #seniors. #classof2021. #senioryear. #seniorszn. #2021.

As she previews possible styles for her dorm room: #dorm. #dormlife. #dormroom. #college. #collegedorm. #aesthetic. #roomdecor. #roominspo. #decor. #collegelife.

Between TikTok and the other platforms on which she has a presence — including Snapchat’s TikTok clone Spotlight, which has paid her more than $1 million — Feeney’s celebrity is proving quite lucrative.

Hashtags helped her get there.

“It’s surprising how fast you can grow when you actually follow the best practices,” she said.

Hashtags were a grass-roots invention, born out of popular demand. In 2007, not long after Twitter launched, an early adopter named Chris Messina came up with the idea of retrofitting pound signs into an ad-hoc system for sorting through the platform’s rising volume of tweets.

The idea was a hit among users, but Twitter itself was initially uninterested. Only after it had acquired other companies that had already implemented hashtags did Twitter “begrudgingly” incorporate the feature, Messina said in an interview. Instagram followed suit, then Facebook, and soon enough hashtags were a near-universal feature of platform architecture.

They were taking on cultural cachet, too. In the first few years of the twenty-teens, social movements including the Arab Spring and Kony 2012 latched on to the hashtag as a cross-platform branding tool, as did more mainstream corporate marketing campaigns. Drake turned #YOLO into an entire ethos; Kanye West coined the term “hashtag rap”; Jimmy Fallon riffed on how ubiquitous the symbol had become.

But by 2015, something had changed.

“When we worked with creators five, six years ago, everybody hated the hashtags,” said Brian Nelson, who works with Feeney and other influencers through his marketing agency, the Network Effect. “In the millennial age group, the latter millennials thought it was corny. That was what I was getting from everyone; those are the exact words.

Like, an eye roll.”

Blogs started churning out lists of the most annoying hashtag trends. People complained that even if hashtags were easier for machines to read, they were harder

for actual humans. And flooding social media with a torrent of tags went from a sketch comedy conceit to an actual annoyance.

Social media’s increasingly visible dark side may have also put a dent in their popularity. “Hashtags don’t only attract unmet friends: they also attract opponents,” internet theoretician Mark Bernstein said over email. “By late 2014, organized groups were exploiting hashtags to find their foes, frustrate them, and to drive them from the internet.”

Analysis by the media research firm Zignal Labs corroborates this rise-and-fall arc. Looking at how often certain generic hashtags were used between Twitter’s 2006 launch and May 2021, data Zignal compiled for The Times show that the use of many hashtags — including #fashion, #photo, #selfie, #travel, #food, #weekend, #fitness, #joke and #springbreak — rose for several years, peaked and then declined. A few others rose before flattening out, and only three (#christmas, #earthday and #nature) have continued to get more popular. Neither Twitter, TikTok, Facebook nor Instagram provided The Times with their own data on trends in hashtag use.

By the end of the decade, the prognosis looked grim. “Are hashtags dead?” a marketing agency pondered in 2018.

“Hashtags Are Dead,” declared another agency in 2020.

It seemed like hashtags may have been a momentary cultural blip, doomed to fall out of fashion like low-rise jeans and middle parts.

And then, like low-rise jeans and middle parts, they were pulled back from the brink — by TikTok. TikTok didn’t invent the idea that you could make money by posting on social media, of course; before Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae were household names, there were YouTubers and Instagrammers and even, briefly, Vine stars.

But TikTok has changed what that economy looks like. While Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are now scrambling to add tools that will help popular users monetize their content, TikTok has had those tools in place for a while now, giving rise to an entire ecosystem of “hype houses” and TikTok-native pop stars — not to mention a slew of copycat apps.

TikTok’s algorithm treats hashtags

as an important signal in determining what shows up in its main feed.

For anyone hoping to get rich off viral videos, then, the incentive to append hashtags, corny or not, is strong.

Nelson, the marketing executive, said he has seen an increase in usage among his clients as they seek out “every tool possible to get in front or gain followers.” Platforms host meetings with Feeney and other stars to advise them on “best practices” for (among other things) hashtag use.

Nowhere is the utility of hashtags more evident than in the proliferation of viral “hashtag challenge” videos encouraging users to upload videos of themselves performing an easy-to-imitate dance or meme.

“You’re going to pay five people, but thanks to the ‘one-to-many-to-many’ model that is inside the structure of TikTok, you can get maybe hundreds, if not thousands — and sometimes hundreds of thousands — of videos created for free,” said Alessandro Bogliari, chief executive of the Influencer Marketing Factory, which acts as a middleman between influencers and brands.

The behavior this economy encourages can be bizarre. If a corporate-sponsored hashtag gets trendy enough, people will start adding it to their own posts — no matter how unrelated the two are — in an attempt to surf the wave of virality. That results in incongruities such as a blackand-white clip of a rat hurling itself off a ledge, set to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” that features hashtags sponsored by Samsung and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics; or a Mastercard-funded hashtag showing up below a vaguely disturbing montage of someone turning their hand into a single giant finger with prosthetic makeup.

It’s hard to imagine that the companies spending $100,000 on hashtags are doing it with rodent deaths and B-movie grotesqueries in mind. But in some sense that’s exactly what they’re paying for: organic, bottom-up influence on the app everyone wants a piece of.

At least for now, it’s enough to keep the money and the hashtags flowing.

“Thanks to TikTok,” Bogliari said, “hashtags came back — mostly because of self-interest.”

Los Angeles Times

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BY JENNIFER BLAIR

t’s only natural to want to know where you come from, who your ancestors were, and what health risks or advantages you might have nestled in your genetic makeup. A DNA ancestry kit is an easy and pain-free way to get all of that information and more.

Go with a company that has a large database because it can provide more insight and detail in your report. Cheek swab tests are easier, but because of bacteria, a saliva test is the better way to go – if you can produce enough saliva, that is. Autosomal DNA tests examine both sides of your family tree and offer a broader picture of your genealogy.

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BEST DNA ANCESTRY TEST KITS We’ve chosen a number of products that will help you sleuth your ancestry and health.

Feel free to consider one of these highly rated products. If you’d like more knowledge on DNA ancestry kits, keep reading so you can make an even more informed purchase.

BEST OF THE BEST

MyHeritage

CONS

PROS

BOTTOM LINE

DNA Test kit: Ancestry and Ethnicity Genetic Testing

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

AncestryDNA

23andMe

DNA Consultants

Vitagene

DNA Ancestry Test Kit

DNA Test – Health + Ancestry

DNA Fingerprint Plus

DNA Test: Health + Ancestry Genetic Service

Secure and User-Friendly: This company uses cutting-edge technology that is able to pinpoint where ancestors came from across 2,100+ geographic regions.

Bargain Pick: Inexpensive DNA test kit associated with a wellrespected genealogical database.

Cross references your information with expansive records dating back centuries. Works best if you know a lot about your family.

Most Comprehensive: Some users question the value of “generic” DNA results, but the 23andMe system is designed to expand as more genetic information becomes available. Worth the additional investment.

History Enthusiasts: Expensive, but the results are more detailed and user-specific than usual. No genetic health component, but great for family history enthusiasts.

Health-focused: While other DNA kits may emphasize ancestry and ethnicity, this kit concentrates on health issues with a genetic component. Very useful for dieters, athletes, and others exploring healthier lifestyles.

Simple cheek swab test takes two minutes and results come back in 4 weeks or less. Offers exceptional information security with multiple layers of encryption. Touts the highest resolution ethnicity analysis on the market.

Powerful search tool and social networking for discovering potential familial relationships and long-lost lore. Living relatives with similar DNA traits can be located or contacted. Raw DNA data can be transferred to other sites.

Ethnicity results very accurate, even out to several degrees of relationship. Adoptees will find useful information on birth families.

Provides medical information other popular DNA kits do not.

Testing process very easy, with fast results. One on one consultations possible. Identifies numerous ethnic groups.

Kit includes extensive educational material. Detailed list of dietary supplements based on DNA results.

Extensive health questionnaire.

You’re limited to what you can do with results unless you also sign up for a year of membership.

Results are not as specific as some customers expected. Reports of slow response times. No genetic health component.

Heritage and genetic information can be very broad, not specific to user. Results take time to receive.

Does not test for many common disease markers.

Expensive test for what some users consider generic results. Generated report is lengthy and scientific, and somewhat difficult to interpret.

Test results can take two months or longer to receive. Ancestry information can be vague. Strong push to purchase supplements.

WHAT CAN A DNA ANCESTRY TEST KIT REVEAL?

TYPES OF DNA TESTS

ETHNICITY: A DNA ancestry test kit can provide genetic ethnicity estimates based on your DNA. For example, it might reveal that your DNA can be traced to Native American heritage, Scotland, and/or Africa.

Y CHROMOSOME TEST: A Y chromosome DNA test is used to determine a man’s direct ancestry line from his father’s side. Because women lack a Y chromosome, they’re unable to take this type of DNA test.

UNKNOWN RELATIVES: Many DNA ancestry test kits can help you identify relatives that you may not know about through potential DNA matches with others who have taken the test. This makes it a particularly useful tool for adopted individuals who are trying to locate biological relatives.

YOUR FAMILY TREE: In addition to helping you locate living relatives who you may not know about, most DNA ancestry test kits can help you build a complete family tree by providing

TIPS For both DNA ancestry kits that require saliva and those that require cheek swab samples, make sure that you don’t drink, eat, smoke, or chew gum for at least 30 minutes before giving your sample.

For a DNA ancestry test kit that requires a cheek swab, rub the tip of the swab firmly against the inside of your cheek. It shouldn’t hurt, but you want to collect as many cells as possible.

If you have trouble spitting enough saliva to meet the fill line in your collection tube for a DNA saliva sample, try rubbing your cheeks just behind your back teeth to stimulate saliva production.

a starting point for your genealogical research.

HEALTH INFORMATION: Some DNA ancestry test kits provide health information in addition to ancestry clues.

They can provide information about general wellness topics, such as whether you can metabolize lactose, as well as whether you’re at risk for a variety of genetic diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and celiac diseases.

MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TEST: A mitochondrial DNA test is used to determine your ancestry line from your mother’s side of the family utilizing DNA from mitochondria. Both men and women can take this type of DNA test.

AUTOSOMAL DNA TEST: An autosomal DNA test is the most complete option because it doesn’t just focus on a single ancestry line. Instead, it can trace the ancestry on both sides of your family.

Men and women can take this type of DNA test.

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

13

BEST REVIEWS

BEST WIFI THERMOSTATS WiFi thermostats can dynamically monitor your home’s temperature and make changes based on conditions.

What’s more, most WiFi thermostats come with a companion smartphone app, so you can create schedules, monitor your home’s temperature remotely, or just change the temperature, all from the comfort of your phone.

BEST OF THE BEST

Google

CONS

PROS

BOTTOM LINE

Nest Learning Thermostat

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Google

Honeywell

Nest Programmable Thermostat

WiFi Smart Color Thermostat

Customer Favorite: A complete wireless package with the intelligence to control the temperature automatically.

Best on a Budget: About $100 cheaper than the premium Nest offering and still offers plenty of WiFi perks that help optimize HVAC usage for energy savings.

Integrated platform that works with Alexa offers unrivaled voice commands. Energy History lets you track trends and energy savings.

Clean interface makes it easy to use and presents information in a clear format.

One of the most expensive options around.

Ecobee

Sensi Touch WiFi Thermostat

Most Stylish: The stylish design of this WiFi thermostat is only topped by its versatility and how simple it is to use.

Most Eco-friendly: If you need a WiFi thermostat that boasts a wide range of innovative, easy to use, and money-saving features, this is your best option.

Sleek Appearance: This updated model from a trusted brand is affordable, user-friendly, and can be installed in less than 30 minutes.

Turns itself off when you leave to conserve energy. Low-profile design blends in well with rooms. Easy to program Quick Schedule in the Nest app for simple adjustments.

Considered user-friendly.

Wide color display. Delivers maintenance alerts. Easy to program with 7-day schedules. Displays weather forecast. Compatible with many smart home systems. Touch screen is responsive and quick.

Simple installation.

Integrated speaker with Alexa smart controls. Great for streaming music.

Optimized for reducing energy usage. Crisp display. Simple to install and program. Regulates indoor humidity. App is well-designed and easy to navigate.

Backlit design with oversized display is easy to read. Integrates with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings. Offers flexible scheduling and optimizes energy based on trends.

A few device quirks during setup and some users feel the app could be more intuitive.

Lacks money-saving geofence technology.

This is a fairly pricey model that seems to very hit or miss.

Must download the app for control or otherwise adjustments on the device are somewhat limited.

WIFI THERMOSTATS: OUR FAVE FEATURES Every WiFi thermostat comes with the same basic functionality – it can change the temperature and make adjustments to consume fewer resources and save you money. But the real fun of a WiFi thermostat is in the bonus features, the innovations that turn these devices from a “nice to have” to a “must have.” Here are the features we like the best.

APP CONTROL: While it may seem rather basic, some WiFi thermostats don’t have an app for your smartphone, so any interaction has to be done manually. Buy a WiFi thermostat that has an app, and

Emerson

SmartThermostat with Voice Control

make sure to get one that allows you to use that app to adjust the temperature even when you’re not in the house.

DIGITAL ASSISTANT COMPATIBILITY AND VOICE CONTROL: It’s nice to be able to control a WiFi thermostat with your smartphone, but it feels downright futuristic to change the temperature with a voice command. Most WiFi thermostats support Amazon’s Echo service and Google Home, so if you’re already close with your digital assistant, you’ll love it even more when it can maintain a perfect temperature.

TIP If you use a digital assistant with your WiFi thermostat, enable parental controls. Being able to change the temperature with a single voice command is pretty cool, but you should take steps to prevent any mischief or accidents and enable parental controls. With parental controls in place, only the adults you specify can interact with your WiFi thermostat.

EASY SCHEDULING: Programming thermostat schedules isn’t anything

new, but it’s a pain on traditional thermostats. Most WiFi thermostats have a clear, easy-to-use interface that allows you to set your perfect temperature schedule. Some will even send notifications to your phone when a change is being made or when there’s a problem.

COLOR SCREENS AND PREMIUM AESTHETICS: For years, thermostats were only available in two colors: white and off white. Most WiFi thermostats feature beautiful, full-color LCD displays, so it’s easy to read menus, see icons – or just read the temperature – from across the room.

BEST SMART THERMOMETERS The design of thermometers has come a long way from glass tubes filled with dangerous mercury. Today’s thermometers have digital screens that provide fast, clear readings. The next step forward is smart thermometers. Smart thermometers can store data about your temperature readings and share it with your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection.

BEST OF THE BEST

iHealth

Wellue

Smart Basal Thermometer

No-Touch Thermometer

Non-Contact Thermometer

BOTTOM LINE

Femometer

Non-Contact Thermometer

Best for Everyday Use: Keep track of the entire family, courtesy of a popular electronics brand that has expanded its expertise to provide fast and accurate

temperature recording.

Bargain Pick: A great thermometer for babies that provides good readings and is easy to use thanks to the app.

Best for Women: With incredible accuracy, women wishing to start a family now have a better way to chart temperature and predict when ovulation is about to occur.

Durable & Rugged: A quick and reliable battery-operated thermometer suitable for any agegroup.

Feature-packed: An FDA approved thermometer that is often trusted by healthcare workers.

PROS

Comper

Thermo Smart Temporal Thermometer

Lightning fast and simple to use by scanning over face to get reading. Stores information for up to 8 family members and provides treatment solution if fever is present. Syncs to more than one smartphone and does so quickly.

The app allows users to keep track of readings over time which can be especially useful for children. The results display nearly immediately which is ideal for babies that often move around. While it is marketed towards babies, works great for all.

Discreet design allows user to carry without detection. Easy to use. Stores around 300 readings, which are used to predict optimal conception time. Unit beeps when cap is taken off to indicate it’s on and ready to use.

Get results in around 3 seconds.

The design ensures that this thermometer lasts a long time, even in the hands of children. While it is battery powered, the batteries last long as they are only used when the device is on.

FDA approval is a big benefit as it gives users the confidence in the device. The thermometer has a high accuracy of around 0.2 degrees. The fever warning feature can inform users of spikes in temperature.

CONS

Withings

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Won’t provide an accurate reading if forehead is sweaty or there’s not enough contact between thermometer and skin.

The app can have certain glitches which would require restarts.

Sync time between thermometer and app can be very slow. Battery life could be longer.

The quick results can lead to a bit less accuracy.

It does not sync up with other health apps like Google Fit or Apple Health.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS As you’re comparing different smart thermometers, the main consideration is whether you want a thermometer that measures body temperature or environmental temperature.

BODY TEMPERATURE: For measuring body temperature, think about how you’d like the smart thermometer to work as well as the level of accuracy you require.

Armpit: An armpit thermometer will deliver a quick reading, but it typically yields the least accurate results. Some manufacturers of smart thermometers indicate temperatures taken in the armpit register about one degree lower than the person’s actual temperature.

Ear: An ear thermometer has a reasonable accuracy level, although an exces-

sive amount of earwax can throw off the reading. Do not use an ear thermometer on a child six months old or younger. If you want a general idea of a person’s temperature, an ear thermometer works fast and is only minimally uncomfortable. But these thermometers are not as precise as other options.

Forehead: A forehead thermometer returns a reading within a few seconds, using infrared scanning. It has a high level of accuracy, especially for small children.

It’s not quite as accurate as a rectal thermometer, but it’s far easier to use. Unless a doctor specifically tells you to take a child’s temperature rectally, a forehead thermometer is a more than adequate substitute.

Oral: An oral thermometer is extremely accurate, delivering results in a short amount of time. However, do not take your temperature orally within several minutes of eating or drinking. Very young children may struggle to hold an oral thermometer in the proper position in the mouth for an accurate reading.

Rectal: A rectal thermometer is very accurate, but it can cause discomfort.

For the most accurate temperature reading for a baby or toddler, doctors often recommend a rectal thermometer reading. Once you’ve used a smart thermometer rectally, be sure to disinfect it and only use it as a rectal thermometer in the future.

Smart thermometers are available in

any of these designs, and many are usable in more than one way.

ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE: Other types of smart thermometers are made to measure the temperature in the immediate area, such as inside a room.

Smart thermostat: A smart sensor that measures the temperature in a room can work with a smart thermostat, adjusting the thermostat’s settings based on temperature readings.

Room monitor: Another type of smart temperature sensor is made to work in a baby’s nursery. These monitors measure the room temperature and send you an alert on a smartphone app if the temperature moves outside the specified range.

THE DIGITAL USER

14

FALL 2021

BEST REVIEWS

BEST BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS Using a Bluetooth speaker, you can connect your smartphone or tablet and enjoy your music as it was meant to be heard: with proper bass and treble, and wire-free. Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from kid-oriented models that are just a few inches tall to boom-box-sized behemoths perfect for the beach.

BEST OF THE BEST

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Bose

JBL

CONS

PROS

BOTTOM LINE

Soundlink Revolve+ (Series II)

CHARGE 5

Ultimate Ears

Bang & Olufsen

Anker

WONDERBOOM 2

Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)

Soundcore Motion+

All-Around Sound: A nice-sized, well-built, portable speaker with 360-degree audio and the classic Bose sound.

Party Pleaser: JBL’s latest CHARGE speaker features hip styling and outstanding audio performance.

Most Fun: Ultimate Ears’ WONDERBOOM line boasts great outdoor sound in a fun, waterand drop-proof design.

Upscale Option: This supercompact speaker from Danish brand Bang & Olufsen offers great sound and deluxe styling.

Surprising Power: Anker continues to impress in the portable audio category with this powerful waterproof speaker.

Omnidirectional 360-degree audio with trademark Bose staging for room-filling sound. IP55 rated against splashes and dust. Up to 17 hours battery life. Stylish fabric carrying handle.

IP67 rating for water- and dustproofing. USB-C and USB-A connections. Wide soundstage with excellent fidelity and power. Syncs to other current JBL speakers.

Charges other devices.

Big and bold 360-degree sound with mid-boost button for outdoors.

IP67 waterproof and dustproof.

Pair two units for stereo sound.

Up to 13 hours battery life. Dropresistant. Floats.

IP67 waterproof and dustproof.

Elegant, sturdy aluminum case.

Leather strap. Spacious sound with good bass. Some 18 to 43 hours of battery life. Offers Alexa. Doubles as a phone speaker and mic.

Thirty watts of sound from a pair each of tweeters, woofers, and passive radiators, with onboard DSP and stereo pairing capability.

IP7 waterproof. USB-C and aux-in connections.

Somewhat expensive. Technically a mono speaker.

Does not sync to older CHARGE models.

No smart assistant.

Expensive. Requires app for smart options.

Not dustproof.

TYPES OF BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS OUTDOOR SPEAKERS: If you want to take your Bluetooth speaker to a picnic or poolside, look for a unit rated to work outdoors. Such speakers will offer wateror weather-resistant capabilities to protect them from the elements.

Some outdoor speakers are large enough to deliver high-volume sound while still providing good battery life.

Outdoor speakers sport a rugged design, too, which allows you to toss a speaker into a bag and carry it anywhere.

Most Bluetooth speakers fit into one of four design categories. Think about how you’ll use the speaker before picking the best design for you.

INDOOR/HOME SPEAKERS: Indoor Bluetooth speakers offer better sound quality than portable speakers. Large, high-quality indoor speakers can approach the audio quality of traditional wired speakers. Some indoor Bluetooth speakers run from battery power or an AC adapter. For a Bluetooth speaker you’ll use primarily at home and indoors, an AC adapter works great.

PORTABLE SPEAKERS: Portable Bluetooth speakers are extremely small.

As such, they don’t deliver top-end audio quality. They especially tend to struggle with loud bass sounds. However, they’re great for walking or biking while listening to music if you don’t want to use headphones.

Some portable speakers are small enough to clip onto a backpack or belt.

If you want a portable unit that also delivers good audio quality, consider an outdoor-rated Bluetooth speaker. It will probably be too large to clip onto a backpack, but it will fit inside a backpack and stand up to rugged treatment during a hike or bike ride.

SPECIALTY SPEAKERS: Some Bluetooth speakers have a specific task incorporated into their design.

For example, some shower heads come with tiny Bluetooth speakers that fit into them. If you want to connect multiple Bluetooth speakers to one source, you’ll need a speaker with this particular feature built into it.

Some specialty Bluetooth speakers also have battery-charging capabilities. With this option, you plug a USB cable into the speaker and use the extra battery power stored in the speaker to charge another device, like a smartphone.

BEST SMARTWATCHES

Smartwatches come in all shapes, sizes, and colours — and are often designed to add functionality to specific smartphones.

Whether you’re looking to track key health metrics, conveniently communicate, or extend your smartphone’s battery life by redirecting your most important notifications to your wrist, a smartwatch is the best way to make it happen.

BEST OF THE BEST

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Apple

Samsung

Galaxy Watch3

Fossil

Gen 5 Smartwatches

Garmin

Fitbit

Instinct Solar

Sense

Trusted Brand: Most smartwatches don’t come close to the versatility, premium design, and wide range of features found in the Series 6.

Most Versatile: Equal parts health-accurate, useful for its connectivity, and charmingly stylish, this a value-packed smartwatch.

Most Stylish: Combines the best of Google’s wearable technology with Fossil’s timeless style for a noteworthy mesh of form and functionality.

Durable & Rugged: If you need a smartwatch that’s loaded with features and will easily survive every adventure, this is a great option.

Feature-Packed: Perfect if you’re looking for an all-encompassing way to closely, precisely, and actively observe the overall health of your body.

Watch actively monitors health stats, including blood oxygen, heart rhythm, and sleep. Also tracks activity and fitness stats. Offers a wide array of apps. This watch is stylish and highly customizable.

Features a large display.

Comprehensive health-tracking features, including heart and sleep, fall detection. Strap is comfortable.

Durable, and features a premiumquality smartphone app. Three stylish colours.

Utilizes Google tech and hundreds of apps, like Google Assistant and Fit. Features voice controls and premium integrated speaker.

Watch is waterproof. Many traditional wristwatch styles available.

Boasts military-grade durability.

Solar energy greatly extends battery life up to 54 days. Watch tracks activity levels, heart rate, stress, and more. Has premium GPS and is available in 5 colours.

Watch accurately tracks a wealth of health information, including stress, heart rhythm, sleep, and skin temp. Boasts over 6 days of battery life. Features voice controls and is available in 2 colours.

A pricey smartwatch.

The enhanced titanium variant is an especially pricey model.

Not the best model for activity tracking.

Best for active users.

Advanced monitoring makes this a fairly pricey smartwatch.

CONS

PROS

BOTTOM LINE

Series 6

KEY FEATURES Back in the day, there was only one watch feature that mattered: whether or not it could tell time. Nowadays, it’s a bit more complicated. Here are the features to pay the most attention to as you’re comparing different models.

APP SUPPORT: First and foremost, you want to make sure that the smartwatch you buy can integrate with your smartphone and the apps you already have. Smartwatches are semi-functional on their own, but they need to connect to a smartphone in order to unlock the most useful functionality. If you own an iPhone, that means you’ll get the most from an Apple Watch. If you own an Android phone, it means you’ll want to

SMARTWATCHES VS. FITNESS TRACKERS So is there a difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker? Sort of. Smartwatches are designed to run apps from your phone, including fitness apps. They’re perfect for taking fitness further if you have a workout app you love, but because they’re also running a lot of other apps, they usually only last a day or two on a single charge. To put it another way, smartwatches extend the mobile experience from your phone to your wrist. That’s good for functionality, but it’s not so good for battery life.

Fitness trackers, on the other hand, are built with one primary goal in mind: helping you stay fit. Fitness trackers are more affordable and often include basic smartphone connectivity, so you can receive mobile notifications, but they rarely include features like the option for LTE mobile internet access. Fitness trackers can sometimes last up to a week on a single charge, which is no small feat when compared to their smartwatch equivalents.

look at smartwatches that run Android Wear.

NOTIFICATIONS: Some smartwatches

don’t support apps but will receive notifications from your smartphone. If you’re looking for a basic smartwatch, get one that supports notifications, like

a Fitbit. That way, you can still do things like receive important text messages.

FITNESS TRACKING: If you’re a physically active person, pay attention to the fitness-tracking features available on different smartwatches. Some include GPS functionality so you can track runs or bike rides; others simply include a step counter. Consider your fitness goals before you buy, and make sure your smartwatch can support them.

BATTERY LIFE: There are few things more frustrating than a watch that stops working in the middle of a busy day, so it’s important to get one that lasts as long as you need it to. Look through user reviews to get real-world battery life estimates on different smartwatch models.

THE DIGITAL USER

FALL 2021

15

ENTERTAINMENT

Boulder, Colorado woman identified as person who voiced Amazon’s Alexa

“A

KARU F. DANIELS

lexa, who is the woman behind your voice?”

Voiceover artist Nina Rolle has been identified as the actual human who the famous artificial intelligence service is patterned after.

Although Amazon has never revealed the identity of the person who took to the microphone to help create its ubiquitous virtual assistant, Alexa, journalist Brad Stone has uncovered one of the biggest mysteries of the tech world.

The claim comes from Stone’s newest book, “Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire,” about the tech giant’s rise to become a trillion-dollar company and its founder’s emergence as the wealthiest person in the world.

Published by Simon & Schuster, the 496-page hardcover draws a vivid portrait of how an e-commerce upstart became one of the most powerful and feared entities in the global economy.

On Amazon, the tome has already vaunted to become a No. 1 new release on its first day of official release.

Already a New York Times best-selling author, Stone is an expert on the technology terrain — the Columbia University alum is senior executive editor of the global technology group at Bloomberg News.

In 2013, Stone chronicled the digital behemoth in the “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon,” which was translated into more than 35 languages. The book won the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs Book of the Year award.

Stone’s deep reporting uncovers how even as he orchestrated the effort that became Amazon’s failed Fire Phone, Bezos was determined to position Amazon on the farthest frontier of artificial intelligence research.

The company’s chief conceived Alexa and oversaw its development, challenged his employees to think more ambitiously, authorized a top-secret data-gathering operation to improve the pre-launch prototype, and closely supervised the secret selection of the actress who became the voice of Alexa itself.

To determine that Rolle was the actual voice behind Alexa, Stone’s reporting was based on conversations with the professional voiceover community.

In May, he published an excerpt of his book on Wired’s website: “Believing that the selection of the right voice for Alexa was critical, (then-Amazon exec Greg) Hart and colleagues spent months reviewing the recordings of various candidates that GM Voices produced for the project, and presented the top picks to Bezos.

The Amazon team ranked the best ones, asked for additional samples, and finally made a choice. Bezos signed off on it.”

“Characteristically secretive, Amazon has never revealed the name of the voice artist behind Alexa. I learned her identity after canvasing the professional voice-over community: Boulder, Colorado – based voice actress and singer Nina Rolle. Her professional website contains links to old radio ads for products such as Mott’s Apple Juice and the Volkswagen Passat — and the warm timbre of Alexa’s voice is unmistakable. Rolle said she wasn’t allowed to talk to me when I reached her on the phone in February 2021. When I asked Amazon to speak with her, they declined.”

Initially released in 2014, Alexa was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Amazon Dot, but can now be heard on more than 20,000 devices around the world.

According to her website, Rolle lists a litany of big-name clients she’s done voiceover work for are listed – including Honda, Chase, Lockheed Martin, Jenny Craig, Turner Classic Movies, and Nationwide. But no Amazon.

But judging from the audio samples featuring Rolle’s calm, warm, and measured voice, Stone’s claims doesn’t seem that far New York Daily News off-base.

DREAMSTIME VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Voiceover artist Nina Rolle has been identified as the actual human who Amazon’s Alexa is patterned after.

JAY L. CLENDENIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

From left, Thomas Wadsworth, Eugene Liew, Lauren DeVillier and Paul Pastor are all alumni of Disney and founded “Struum,” an app meant to simplify the confusing landscape of streaming services.

Confused by all those streaming services?

This app is here to help

W

RYAN FAUGHNDER

Movie magic?

A

RYAN FAUGHNDER, WENDY LEE

fter years of waiting, predictions that a tech giant would buy a legacy film and TV studio are finally

coming true.

Amazon said May 26 it is acquiring Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios for $8.45 billion — snapping up a library of more than 4,000 movies and storied franchises including “James Bond,” “Rocky” and “The Pink Panther” — a watershed moment in the collision of Hollywood and big tech.

The deal is the Seattle online retail giant’s second-largest purchase ever, and its biggest since its $13.7-billion acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017.

It comes at a pivotal time as competition ramps up among streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max, where hit shows are key to driving consumers to subscribe.

MGM’s library includes 17,000 episodes of TV programming and a stable of film properties that could be mined for reboots, and some of which already have.

Amazon already has a studio of its own, based in Culver City, California, and run by former NBC executive Jennifer Salke since 2018. It has produced a handful of acclaimed programs, such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and has released some popular movies including “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” The studio, which earlier won awards for such arthouse fare as “Manchester by the Sea,” was nominated for 12 Oscars with films including “Sound of Metal,” “Borat” and “One Night in Miami.”

But many of Amazon’s biggest hits were films that the company didn’t actually make. For instance, “Coming 2 America,” a big draw for Amazon Prime Video this year, was acquired from ViacomCBS’ Paramount Pictures. And if Amazon wants to stay competitive it has to ramp up production.

People close to Amazon who were not authorized to comment said the MGM acquisition fits Amazon’s plan to grow its entertainment business more aggressively to better compete against Netflix and others.

“This gives them the opportunity to acquire talent that has a better expertise at creating movies and hits,” said Brian Yarbrough, a consumer research analyst with Edward Jones.

Streamers are looking to build their own library of intellectual property for series, as more companies are launching their own rival platforms

Why Amazon buying MGM is a watershed moment for Hollywood and tech

“THE REAL FINANCIAL VALUE BEHIND THIS DEAL IS THE TREASURE TROVE OF IP IN THE DEEP CATALOG THAT WE PLAN TO REIMAGINE AND DEVELOP TOGETHER WITH MGM’S TALENTED TEAM.” Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios in a statement. instead of selling to others. Amazon’s acquisition of MGM increases its catalog of content and gives it a prolific TV production engine. Beverly Hills, California-based MGM is responsible for shows such as “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Vikings” and “Fargo.”

“Clearly, Amazon is in full throttle in terms of spending on programming,” said Brahm Eiley, president of the Convergence Research Group, based in Victoria, British Columbia.

“That’s the only way that you are going to reduce churn and keep eyeballs on your programming at the end of the day.”

The deal comes after years of speculation that one of the large tech players — Apple, Google, Facebook or Amazon — would buy a proper studio after years of either dabbling in entertainment or trying to build their own production pipelines.

Apple, for example, has long been rumored to as a buyer for a production company like A24 and MGM to supercharge its content machine for Apple TV+. But so far the Cupertino, California-based company has chosen to make or license movies and shows for Apple TV+, such as “Ted Lasso,” produced by Warner Bros. and Universal.

Instead, it’s Amazon that’s taking the plunge.

Jeff Bezos’s decision to step down as CEO of Amazon led some to question whether the company he founded would maintain its commitment to the entertainment business.

The billionaire’s replacement, Andy Jassy, currently ran Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing arm, and has little familiarity with Hollywood.

But Amazon recently announced that longtime executive Jeff Blackburn would return to the company to run entertainment and media properties, including Amazon Studios and Prime Video, signaling that Amazon was looking to improve its position in the space.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of

Prime Video and Amazon Studios in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

Amazon spent $11 billion on music and video content in 2020, up from $7.8 billion in 2019, according to the Convergence Research Group. That amount is expected to grow to $15.5 billion this year, the research firm forecasts. Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series alone is estimated to cost $465 million for one season.

Paying nearly $9 billion for MGM represents a significant step up.

Hollywood executives who have kicked the tires questioned whether MGM was worth the purchase price — valuing the company at closer to $6 billion. However, Amazon, with a market cap of $1.6 trillion, can clearly afford it.

“The MGM library is very well regarded,” said Corey Martin, a managing partner at Granderson Des Rochers, a law firm that specializes in entertainment and media. “There are titles there that are award winning, titles that are culturally relevant. The gravitas that would come with that would certainly further legitimize what Amazon is seeking to accomplish in the content sector.”

While most streaming rivals and studios consider content to be their main business, Amazon Studios and Prime Video were both set up as a way to draw more users to the larger Amazon Prime retail subscription service.

That membership, which costs $119 a year, also includes other perks like free shipping on products on Amazon’s retail site and streaming music on Amazon Music Unlimited.

Consumers can also choose to subscribe just to Amazon Prime video for $8.99 a month.

Still, the track record of outside companies succeeding in Hollywood is weak. Other outsiders, including telecommunications giants, softdrink makers, booze sellers, utility giants and manufacturing conglomerates, have tried to make a go of show business only to leave in defeat, partly due to the unusual difficulties of making hit movies and shows.

It was long predicted that a Chi-

nese conglomerate would buy a historic studio, but other than Dalian Wanda Group’s purchase of Legendary Entertainment, that didn’t happen. Chinese companies have largely beat a retreat from American entertainment deals and are now focused on building studios at home.

Last week, AT&T said it would spin off WarnerMedia into a new combined entity with Discovery. AT&T acquired the Time Warner assets for $85 billion in 2018 with the aim of using content and mobile connectivity to create a bigger whole. But with a massive debt load, AT&T couldn’t spend what it needed to stay competitive in streaming and telecommunications.

Owning a studio won’t be easy for Amazon, and MGM comes with unique challenges. The studio’s biggest property, the James Bond franchise, is one it shares with “007” producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who wield enormous control over the series through their British production company Eon. Barbara Broccoli is highly protective of the legacy of her father, Bond producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli.

People familiar with the Broccolis say they expect the family would demand a global theatrical release for any Bond movie and have long resisted the idea of building out the franchise for episodic television.

The next “007” film, “No Time to Die,” hits theaters in October after more than a year of delays because of COVID-19. The super-spy series is at a crossroads, as Daniel Craig has said “No Time” will be his final outing as the agent with a license to kill.

Then there’s the library, which includes titles like “Legally Blonde,” “The Addams Family” and “Stargate.”

Many of MGM’s properties have already gotten the reboot treatment, with mixed results. “Creed,” an extension of the “Rocky” series, was a commercial and critical success.

“RoboCop” (2014) was neither.

Further, MGM’s vault has both diminished and expanded over the decades since its heyday as a dominant studio through multiple changes in ownership, with overlords including Kirk Kerkorian (several times), Ted

Turner and Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti.

Known for its roaring lion logo, MGM was formed in 1924 with the combination of Metro Pictures Corp., Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions. In its early era, the studio’s releases included such classics as “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.” However, those titles, along with many earlier MGM productions, were cleaved from MGM decades ago and have been owned for years by Warner Bros. It was Kerkorian who orchestrated the 1997 deal for MGM to acquire Orion Pictures.

On the TV side, Amazon will have to deal with the successful and sharp-elbowed MGM Television chairman Mark Burnett, known for producing reality programs including “Survivor,” “Shark Tank” and “The Voice.” Those shows, while popular, air on other broadcast networks, limiting the benefit to Amazon, which wants to grow Prime.

MGM has explored a sale for months, as speculation of potential buyers loomed due to the size of the company’s debt and its delay of its latest 007 movie due to the pandemic. Private equity firm Anchorage, run by Kevin Ulrich, has been a major shareholder since MGM emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010.

The studio has recently operated under an unusual management structure. It has been run by an “office of the CEO” since the firing of Gary Barber in 2018. Barber was ousted after holding preliminary talks to sell MGM, a move that Ulrich opposed at the time. MGM also owns the premium pay television network Epix, a smaller competitor of HBO and Starz.

The pandemic has accelerated the consumer shift toward streaming on demand content, putting pressure on cable companies and movie theaters that are struggling to deal with the fallout. While some studios and media companies have launched rival streaming services such as Paramount+ or Peacock, their user numbers pale in comparison to larger players like Netflix.

Schuyler Moore, a partner at Greenberg Glusker, said he expects to see more consolidation. In the past, studios had so much power because they controlled distribution, but that’s changed in the streaming world, where studios have become production houses for streamers.

“The truth is, whoever controls distribution wins,” Moore said. “Content is not king. Distribution is king.”

Los Angeles Times

ith the growing number of streaming services, viewers have an unprecedented level of choice over what they want to watch. But they also face the daunting task of keeping all those services straight. Not to mention the growing cost.

A cadre of former Disney and Discovery executives has proposed a solution to help relieve streaming overload.

The app, Struum (pronounced “stroom,” which is “stream” in Dutch), uses a credit-based system similar to the fitness app ClassPass to let subscribers access shows and movies from dozens of niche streaming services.

The Los Angeles-based company, backed by former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co., finalized deals to feature content from more than 50 smaller streaming services, studios and programmers. For a monthly fee, users get access to programming from providers including BBC Select, Tribeca, Magnolia Pictures, Cheddar, Indieflix, Filmbox, Cinedigm, Docurama and Revolt in one place, rather than by jumping from app to app.

The app organizes content from multiple providers by categories, such as “indie hits,” “stranger than fiction” and “true crime.” Struum also makes recommendations across programmers based on users’ activity.

“For the consumer, it’s so hard to find things,” said Chief Executive Lauren DeVillier, a former Discovery Ventures and Disney/ABC TV Group executive who cofounded the company with Paul Pastor, Eugene Liew and Thomas Wadsworth. “Everything’s so disaggregated. We’re sort of re-bundling for consumers. Our goal is to say, ‘You really love cooking?

Here are 10 different services that are going to conquer it for you.’”

Struum, founded in April 2020, is far from the first company to notice that consumers need help organizing their streaming lives. More than half of consumers said in a recent Deloitte survey that they are frustrated that they need multiple subscriptions to access the content they want to watch.

And consumers are subscribing to more services than ever, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with newer players like Paramount+, Discovery+ and Peacock competing for attention with Disney+, Netflix and HBO Max. A Parks Associates survey found that 31% of households had four or more streaming subscriptions in the third quarter of last year, up from 14% a year earlier. The number of streaming platforms has passed 300 in the U.S., more than double the number in 2014, the consultancy said.

Companies are trying several different ways to streamline the market.

London-based ScreenHits TV recently launched an app to help viewers see what’s on all the different streaming channels through one TV Guide-like system. Unlike Struum, ScreenHits allows users to see content on the streaming services they already subscribe to, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. ScreenHits’ desktop version is free, while its iOS app charges 99 cents a month and includes additional features.

Users “can see very clearly what they’re getting from cutting the cord and having access to these streamers,” said ScreenHits CEO Rose Adkins Hulse. “We really believe the streamers are the new TV channels for the future.”

Companies such as Roku and Amazon try to aggregate streaming apps by offering viewers different services through a single interface. Search engine apps including JustWatch and Reelgood help viewers find what shows and movies they’re looking for,

and show users what series are available through the different providers.

“They’re all trying to solve this issue, because consumers are just overwhelmed,” said Parks Associates research director Steve Nason. “They love that they have all this choice but that choice is killing them.”

Struum’s business model is unusual.

Subscribers pay $4.99 a month to receive 100 credits. Those credits can then be used to pay for a TV episode or movie (say, “Planet of the Apes,” for four credits), giving the viewer access to that title for 30 days. Users can buy additional credits through the app, similar to Audible. A TV show episode will cost three to four credits, while a feature film will cost five to six.

The idea was inspired by ClassPass, an app that lets subscribers use credits to try workout classes at different gyms and fitness studios.

“It’s another front door for the user,” DeVillier said. “We’re letting you dip in and dip out of these services.”

The catch is that Struum won’t have the big streamers, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ and Discovery+.

Instead, the company has deals with more niche services that are looking for ways to increase their reach.

Cinedigm, for example, had about 640,000 subscribers as of April.

The biggest streaming companies are doing everything they can to increase “scale” — size and reach — on their own. Disney+ and Netflix are spending billions of dollars on original content and don’t need to share revenue with an app like Struum to help with their marketing.

But Eisner predicts that some bigger players will eventually get on board with Struum if it is successful.

“If you get big enough, a company like ViacomCBS would find a way to introduce consumers to their really good product through Struum,” he said. “I think they will find over time that it’s just another avenue to bring people to their portal.”

For now, Struum thinks there’s a lucrative big business in aggregating the content from the 250 or so services that represent the more obscure end of the streaming industry.

For the smaller streamers, being on Struum is a chance to get their names out there and get more subscribers.

If a user watches a lot of Magnolia content, for example, Struum will suggest they should consider subscribing to Magnolia’s stand-alone service. Struum will split revenue with providers based on what movies and shows users watch by spending their credits.

With the combined cost of the major streaming services already rivaling the cable bundle, it’s unclear whether viewers will want to pay for yet another service to package a lot of content from the more minor players in the streaming wars. Parks Associates’ Nason said consumers may be happy with finding content on the various apps without help from a third party.

“Do most consumers want to sign up for this other thing, or am I just fine taking 10 minutes to find something to watch on Netflix?” he said.

But the timing is opportune for Struum to test its business model, said Jeff Cuban, who overseas his brother Mark Cuban’s entertainment properties, including Magnolia Pictures.

The pandemic increased consumers’ interest in streaming indie films rather than going to the movies. At the same time, the big players are funneling their movies to their own streaming services rather than licensing them to potential rivals, creating an opportunity for aggregators.

“Everyone is completely siloed,” Cuban said. “Struum is really hitting the market at almost the perfect time relative to consumer behaviors changing.”

Los Angeles Times

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ROONLABS.COM VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The best way to play streaming music using a stereo system DON LINDICH

Q.

Apple and Amazon now offer lossless streaming, and Spotify will supposedly offer a similar service later this year. What is the best way to play high-resolution streaming music using a traditional stereo system consisting of a receiver and floorstanding speakers? For example, I have seen the “BlueSound Node” highlighted in the media, and I believe Cambridge Audio offers similar devices. I don’t know which devices would be easiest to connect to our system or which ones work best.

Ideally, we would like to buy a component that receives its streaming signal over Wi-Fi and then plays it through our stereo with great sound quality. We currently have an inexpensive Bluetooth device that connects to our stereo, but it

sounds very poor.

— S.M., Oakland, California

A.

The Bluesound Node is certainly an option, but you asked for the best and I still consider that to be the $1,099 Cambridge Audio CXN(V2) Network Streamer. It features topnotch sound, comprehensive features and an excellent display and interface.

You can connect it to your stereo with a stereo RCA cable or a digital cable.

Given the extremely high quality of the digital circuitry in the CXN(V2) I would use the stereo RCA connection. cambridgeaudio.com The CXN(V2) is Roon Ready, and combining it with Roon makes it even more powerful. It would take more than an entire column to thoroughly discuss Roon but to sum it up, Roon is a powerful platform for organizing your stream-

ing content and music files, making it easy to locate, enjoy and learn more about music. It’s a music geek’s dream come true and can be used with your home computer and the matching portable device apps, or with Roon’s own Nucleus Core device. If you love music I strongly suggest you check out Roon at roonlabs.com

Q.

My wife and I spend a great deal of time cruising in our pontoon boat made in 2012. It has a pretty good stereo for that time period and I would prefer not to replace it. Besides the radio, the stereo has an auxiliary input plug and a 12-volt DC power plug.

Unfortunately, both myself and my older iPhone (which had a headphone/ auxiliary output) took an unplanned swim in the lake. I just got wet, but the

iPhone drowned and passed away.

My new iPhone SE does not have an auxiliary output so I can’t play my content from the phone using the boat stereo input. I found a $40 Bluetooth receiver with an auxiliary output that can be used with my 12-volt power plug.

Would that work with my stereo, or is there a simpler solution?

— K.H., Groveland, California

A.

My condolences on the passing of your iPhone. The Bluetooth receiver you described should work, but there is indeed a much simpler solution. Just get a Lighting-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter, a tiny cord that will give your new iPhone a headphone/ auxiliary output. It is simple, reliable, its use is familiar to you and available for under $20.

Tribune News Service

IMPROVING POOR TELEVISION SOUND DON LINDICH

Q.

I would like your opinion on the Majority Bowfell soundbar. Amazon is selling it for $38 and it has many four-star reviews. I’m looking for a soundbar that makes TV dialogue very clear, and this one claims to do that.

— M. M., San Jose, California

A.

I have not reviewed this soundbar or heard it in a show setting, so I cannot comment on the sound or overall quality. It does have quite a few good reviews on Amazon, but I also saw a fair number of one-star reviews from people who were very disappointed.

Given the poor sound of most modern televisions, it is likely to at least be better than what you have now. For under $40 it may be worth a try, and you can always return it to Amazon if you are not satisfied.

Poor television sound is the most common subject of emails sent to this Q&A column. This is due to the small, low-powered speakers found in most flat-panel televisions and the audio mixing done in the production process.

Several tracks are mixed into the audio track that accompanies television programming, and it often has the voice track mixed significantly lower than the rest of the material. In streamed movies or Blu-rays the audio is often recorded to be played at movie-theater volume levels, even if the voice track is not mixed lower than the rest of the audio. This means in a home setting the dialogue will sound a bit soft when played at levels that allow normal conversation in the room.

Some larger televisions are showing improved audio quality. I recently heard a 77-inch Sony Master Series A9G OLED and it had very good sound on its own, as does the 75-inch Samsung Q90A I am currently reviewing.

Still, pretty much every television on the market can use some help, especially smaller ones that may not have the bigger, better-designed speakers of these two top-of-the-line televisions.

If you are willing to spend a bit more for a sure thing, ZVOX is the go-to for

McIntosh Amplifier VAN ZANDBERGEN PHOTOGRAPHY VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

ZVOX VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

ZVOX AV157 Television Speaker, which includes six levels of AccuVoice Boost and six levels of SuperVoice boost. voice clarity and one of the most popular companies I write about. Their lines of headphones, soundbars and television speakers use their proprietary AccuVoice, based on hearing aid technology, to make dialogue clear and easy to understand. Newer models also include SuperVoice, which takes voice clarity to an even higher level for those with impaired hearing.

Last year I reviewed and recommended the ZVOX AV157 Television Speaker, which includes six levels of AccuVoice Boost and six levels of SuperVoice boost. The AV157 had just gone on promotion from $299 to $199 and I pointed out the promotion when I answered the reader question about better TV sound. The AV157 had one of the, if not the strongest reader response of any product I have ever written about, both in the amount of emails I received and the enthusiasm expressed by happy owners. Now the ZVOX AV257, which is identical to the AV157 but has an aluminum cabinet (which is likely to be nicer anyway) is now on sale for $199, reduced from $299.

Given you wrote about a $40 soundbar, $199 may be a bit of a stretch and I understand that. Fortunately ZVOX has another option for you that is not much more than the product you inquired about. The ZVOX AV100 Television Speaker is on sale for $99, and you can use the code SAVE10 to save $10, reducing the price to $89 with free shipping. Use the codes on Tribune News Service zvox.com.

There can be more to an amplifier than sound quality DON LINDICH

Q.

I am currently powering my B&W 702 S2 floorstanding speakers with an Outlaw Audio RR2160 receiver. Would an upgrade of the Outlaw Audio RR2160 to a McIntosh 5300 integrated amplifier provide a noticeably better sound experience? The McIntosh lists for $5,500, the Outlaw Audio RR2160 for $1,000. It would cost five times more for the McIntosh! I know of the law of diminishing returns, what do you think?

— J.W., Plymouth, Minnesota

A.

My first thought is you absolutely nailed it when you first set up your system with the B&W 702 S2s and the RR2160. At the higher price ranges most of your budget should go to the speakers, and the B&W 702 S2 speakers list for $4,998 per pair. The RR2160 is a superb receiver-amplifier with tons of power, actually more rated power than the McIntosh 5300. You have an exceptional pairing and a perfect example of how to spend $6,000 on speakers with matching amplification.

I do not think the McIntosh 5300 would sound five times better than the RR2160 as differences in well-designed amplifiers (which both of these are) tend to be minimal. That does not mean the McIntosh should be removed from consideration. There is much more to owning a McIntosh amplifier than the sound quality, and that is what you should be focusing on here.

McIntosh is the most iconic of Amer-

ican amplifier brands, with their beautiful blue power meters and heritage and design aesthetic that has been consistent for decades. The ownership experience, jewel-like quality and overall solidity of the product makes your RR2160 pale in comparison. Think the difference between a Rolls-Royce or Ferrari to a Mercedes or BMW. The McIntosh is the exotic car, the Outlaw, the mainstream luxury car. McIntosh is also one of the few audio brands that appreciate in value over time. If you love the McIntosh and want to own it, it is a lifetime investment worth purchasing even if you do not perceive a five-fold improvement in sound quality. See them at mcintoshlabs.com.

Q.

I am comparing the Bose TV Speaker to the ZVOX 257 TV Speaker. Which is better for voice clarity?

Also, I would like to use my Wharfedale-powered subwoofer with the new speaker. Which would be preferable to use with my subwoofer? I am replacing an older ZVOX SoundBase (from 2014) and want a smaller unit.

— A.K.

A.

Voice clarity is what ZVOX is known for, so that is the one I would choose here. The ZVOX has a higher list price ($269 vs $249) and is currently on sale for $199, which makes it a better value in my eyes as well. It has a subwoofer connection that will work perfectly with your Wharfedalepowered Tribune News Service subwoofer.

FALL 2021

THE DIGITAL USER

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AUDIO

PROTECT YOUR ELECTRONICS WITH OPTIMAL SURGE PROTECTOR DON LINDICH

Q.

To the best of my knowledge TVs, sound bars and other expensive electronics do not have built-in surge protection, and it is hard to figure out which surge protector is best to protect your equipment. I see wall plug surge protectors with joule ratings of 250 to 2,100, as well as big units that sit on the floor that have a lot of capacity and features. The latter take up a lot of space and are hard to hide. Have you ever evaluated them?

PowerUI sells a 2,100-joule unit for $9.99 including shipping, while Best Buy sells a 1-outlet Rocketfish 540-joule protector for $19.99. Which would you buy? For TVs that receive over-the-air broadcast signals from an antenna over coaxial cable, there is the additional question of lightning protection that I haven’t delved into yet.

— S.B., San Jose, California

A.

Many homeowners and renters insurance policies cover power surges, though a deductible is usually involved. If you have such a policy you may have some coverage for your electronics already. Even so, quality surge protection is a good idea. For your cable and antenna connections you can

AUSTERE.COM VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

Austere Series VII Power surge protector. use an inline coaxial surge protector, which simply screws between two coaxial cables and requires no power supply. Parts Express sells one for $6.75 at partsexpress.com and on Amazon.

Just search on either site for “inline

coaxial surge protector.”

I think one of the most important factors is the dollar amount of coverage provided by the surge protector company, and their history of paying claims. If 540 joules is enough for your

purpose I would probably go for the Rocketfish based on the reviews, ease of getting one at Best Buy and the widespread access to the company if you do have a claim. Belkin is another company that sells a quality surge protector and has a good reputation for taking care of their customers. belkin.com My personal choice is the Series VII Power from Austere. They are as fine a surge protector as you can buy and it is reflected in the features, quality engineering, jewel-like finish and even the packaging. The Series VII Power units filter the incoming power from electromagnetic or radio frequency interference, have indicators to show they are plugged in, grounded and have adequate surge protection capacity, and have built-in charging ports, including USB-C. I use them with my three best (and most expensive) systems and they provide tremendous peace of mind.

Austere Power products come with a lifetime product guarantee and a seven-year guarantee to replace electronics damaged by a surge, regardless of the value. They sell for $199 (6-outlet) and $229 (8-outlet) and are components that fall into the “expensive, but worth it” category if you have a highvalue system.

Tribune News Service‌ austere.com

Looking for unobtrusive home sound system DON LINDICH

Q.

A few years ago you gave me great advice when I bought my home sound system. You recommended GoldenEar Triton floorstanding speakers with built-in subwoofers, and they are excellent! We are building a vacation home and my wife has declared absolutely no speakers on the floor or mounted on walls — everything needs to be built into the walls.

I have five locations pre-wired (left, center, right, left surround, right surround) and am looking at in-wall systems. Unfortunately I have no idea how they will sound, nor any idea of what brand works best. The room is 34x14 feet with a 20-foot ceiling. I hope to stay under $2,500 for all the speakers.

— R.S., Los Gatos, California

A.

That is a very large room and you are going to need sizable speakers, as well as a subwoofer, to move enough air for the system to sound full and satisfying. In-wall subwoofers are very expensive and will take you well out of your $2,500 budget so you may want to start compromising with your wife on one speaker in the room, namely the subwoofer.

Bass is nondirectional and when a subwoofer is set up properly you should not be able to tell where it is located, so you can tell her it can be placed somewhere unobtrusive and use that as a bargaining point when deciding on your speakers.

You won’t go wrong buying GoldenEar again. Their tower speakers tend to grab all the attention, but they make excellent soundbars and in-wall speakers, too. GoldenEar Invisa MPX in-wall speakers are $599 each and you will need three of them for the front left/ center/right. GoldenEar Invisa 650 in-wall speakers are $349 each and will make fine surround speakers. This brings you to almost exactly $2,500 without the subwoofer.

If you can stretch financially for it I recommend a subwoofer from GoldenEar or SVS. The GoldenEar Forcefield 4 is $799 and given your room size it is the smallest one from GoldenEar you should consider. goldenear.com The SVS PB-1000 Pro provides very strong, defined bass for $599. svsound. com If you are financially tapped out at this point, get the $156 Acoustic Audio PSW-12 subwoofer on Amazon and use until you are ready to upgrade.

SPEAKER BUILT FOR A PARTY OC Acoustic Newport Bluetooth speaker: this is definitely a product that makes you think, “I can’t believe no one has done this before” or “I wish I would have thought of that!”

The $69.95 OC Acoustic Newport speaker is a small Bluetooth speaker that plugs directly into an outlet, looking clean and purposeful and avoiding visible wires. The Newport does not block the second plug of the outlet and a USB port is provided for charging your mobile devices. The speaker provides high-quality sound beyond its price point and is available in several colors to match your room.

You can connect up to 50 Newport speakers together in “Party Mode” to provide affordable and flexible wholehome audio from a single Bluetooth source. Party mode is also a good way for a business to add sound throughout their facility without a lot of expensive wiring or system design. Just plug them in, press the appropriate buttons and you are all set. All speakers must be kept within 45 feet of the main (paired) speaker in this mode.

The Newport speaker is available on the manufacturer website and on Amazon. OC stands for “Orange County” which is where the company is located in California. I hope this isn’t the last product we have seen from this innovative company. ocaTribune News Service‌ coustic.com

OC ACOUSTIC VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

OC Acoustic Newport Speaker

Searching for a USB turntable upgrade?

Q. Q. DON LINDICH

I am in the market for a new USB turntable to convert vinyl into high resolution sound files. My Sony PS-LX300USB has been perfectly serviceable, but I’d like to upgrade to something better with the same ease of digitizing. Ideally I’d like to stay under $400, but I’d consider spending more if the sound output was worth it. Any recommendations?

— C.D., Minneapolis

A.

Your PS-LX300 USB is, as you say, perfectly serviceable, but it is also entry level and not hard to improve upon.

The challenge is the $400 price point.

While you can get some great sound between $500 and $1,000, the really big improvements start around $1,000, and that is without a USB connection. I think that is a bit of a stretch given your budget, so I will leave the higher-priced

options for a future column. I recently tested some exceptional vinyl gear that I am looking forward to telling readers about, so if you are looking for a worldclass vinyl playback rig, stay tuned!

The Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBTUSB is the latest version of the ATLP120-USB that I recommended for years. The newer turntable does not feel quite as rugged as its predecessor and lacks some of the adjustments, particularly the arm height, also called Vertical Tracking Angle (VTA). In exchange you get a Bluetooth wireless connection to use the turntable directly with Bluetooth speakers and headphones, which most customers in this price range will find to be more than a fair trade. The AT-LP120XBT-USB will be shipping around the first week of June for $299. audio-technica.com The turntable has removable headshells, which makes it easy to change premounted cartridges. Setting up a phono

cartridge is a tedious and frustrating affair that involves tiny screws and wires, both manipulated in tight spaces occupied by fragile objects, so I recommend you get a premounted cartridge for your upgrade. The AT-LP120XBT-USB comes with a pretty good starter cartridge, but upgrading it will produce much better sound from your speakers, headphones and your digital files. The Vessel A3SE from LP Gear is what I consider to be the world’s finest $99 cartridge, and I prefer its sound to many cartridges costing up to $300. It comes in a premounted Ultimate Upgrade version for $148, providing you with both convenience and a more rigid platform (the headshell itself) for the cartridge to work its magic. See the Ultimate Upgrade at lpgear.com.

This $447 outfit will be hard to beat for sound quality and ease of digitizing your files, and when you compare it to files from your current turntable the audible difference will be very clear. Enjoy!

I have some vintage Sansui SP2000 speakers I want to sell. They are in good condition and work perfectly. I do not want to use eBay because I do not want to ship. What do you recommend?

— G.V., Woodbury, Minnesota

A.

Though you may not want to sell on eBay, that is where you need to start because the Completed Listings there will give you a good idea of the item’s value. Once you have an idea of the value you can list them on Craigslist for your city.

Recently completed listings for the SP2000 speakers show a price range from $250 to $500. You will get less on Craigslist because it is a smaller audience, but you do not pay fees and you get paid in cash. I’d start by asking $400 and see what Tribune News Service‌ happens.

THE DIGITAL USER

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TRENDS

JULI LEONARD

Gov. Roy Cooper holds Monday morning’s press conference, April 26, 2021, to announce Apple’s new campus at Research Triangle Park. Gov. Cooper, state Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore, and other leaders from both political parties held the rare joint press conference at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh to celebrate the announcement. (Juli Leonard/News & Observer/TNS)

NC lands Apple campus, bringing $1 billion and 3,000 jobs to the state

A

ANNA JOHNSON, RICHARD STRADLING, AND TYLER DUKES

Relaxed rules attract entrepreneurs to

STATE ‘SANDBOXES’

S SOPHIE QUINTON

andboxes aren’t just play areas for toddlers.

Increasingly, state and national governments around the world are creating so-called regulatory sandboxes: programs that allow software companies to skirt regulations in order to test a new product or service.

The most common U.S. sandbox programs serve companies that make financial technology, such as digital payment apps or software for assessing credit risk. Governors in six states have in recent years signed laws creating such programs. The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau runs two on the national level.

And the idea is spreading. Lawmakers in 11 states and Washington, D.C., this year proposed bills that would create financial technology sandboxes, according to the Libertas Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank based in Lehi, Utah, that promotes the sandbox concept nationally.

Sandbox laws allow companies to test prototypes without getting a state license.

While proposed and enacted laws vary, they drop requirements such as net worth amounts, collateral deposit amounts and interest rate limits. Several laws say that in a sandbox, none of the state’s financial services laws apply, and it’s up to regulators to decide if any laws or regulations should apply to protect consumers or licensed banks from a certain product test.

States also have created sandboxes for companies developing insurance, legal, real estate and other new products and services.

Supporters say legal wiggle room can help banking and lending startups grow and create jobs. But consumer advocates say loosening licensing rules could expose customers to unfair or abusive products, such as loans with high interest rates.

They like to quote New York’s former head banking regulator, Maria Vullo, who once said, “Toddlers play in sandboxes. Adults play by the rules.”

“Just because there’s a claim of innovation, or that technology is involved, doesn’t mean it’s automatically good,” said Lisa Stifler, director for state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights predatory lending.

State financial technology sandboxes also have struggled to attract businesses. In the four states accepting applications this year — Arizona, Florida, Utah and Wyoming — no companies are currently enrolled.

In Arizona, only 10 companies have participated. “Those companies may or may not have gotten through their actual test,” said Assistant Attorney General Sam Fox, who oversees the state program.

Financial technology sandboxes are best understood as “signaling mechanisms,” attempts by lawmakers to show their state is forward-thinking, said Lee Reiners, executive director of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke University School of Law. “They’re not going to help that many firms,” he said.

PLAYING IN THE SANDBOX Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed a law creating the first U.S. financial services sandbox in 2018. Backed by business groups and blockchain enthusiasts, the law has since become a template for other states.

Companies can participate in the Arizona program without having an office or employees in the state. Once admitted, they can offer products and services—mostly loans, money transmission services and investment advice—backed by new technology to up to 10,000 state residents for two years without getting a state license.

State regulators monitor participating companies. Participants can handle only a limited amount of money — money transmitters can offer transactions of up to $2,500 at one time or $25,000 per consumer, for instance — and they must comply with the state Consumer Fraud Act. Arizona’s 36% annual interest rate limit for small consumer loans still applies.

So far, participants have included a cryp-

tocurrency payments company that serves marijuana businesses; a company that gives consumers cash in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings; and a company that’s developed an algorithm for evaluating renewable energy projects.

BrightFi Services, a company whose software lowers the cost of administering bank accounts, used the sandbox in 2019 to test an iPhone banking app aimed at people who lack accounts. It chose a small group of test users, including some of its own employees, and asked them to share feedback on the app’s features.

Supporters say sandbox programs help regulators learn about new financial products and services, which in turn can inform better laws. “Let’s make sure that the regulations that we have in place are the absolute best possible form of regulations we can have,” said James Czerniawski, a policy analyst at the Libertas Institute.

Many sandbox backers also want to show that their state welcomes high-tech companies.

But opponents say that because of the loosened regulations, the programs could harbor abusive or misleading products.

“We’re really concerned about predatory lending to low-income families and low-income individuals,” said Jackson Voss, economic opportunity policy analyst at the Louisiana Budget Project, a left-leaning public policy nonprofit. The nonprofit opposed a financial technology sandbox bill proposed by Louisiana GOP state Rep. Mark Wright this year.

Companies that use sandboxes are “really experimenting on the people of whatever state adopts the sandbox,” Voss said. “And that seems problematic.”

Even some conservative lawmakers are skeptical. “I have a problem just saying, ‘If you come up with a product, you can ask the regulators to waive all the laws that we put in place, presumably for good reason,’” said Louisiana Republican state Sen. Jay Morris during a Commerce Committee hearing on Wright’s bill.

Arizona officials say their program has consumer protections in place and note that

it’s overseen by a consumer protection lawyer. But neither the companies admitted to the program nor the attorney general’s office have published information about tests conducted in the sandbox, so it’s hard to know whether customers have been helped or harmed.

Consumer advocates have filed public records requests seeking more information but haven’t received satisfying answers, said Kelly Griffith, executive director of the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity, a Tucson-based consumer advocacy group.

“That lack of transparency, for us, raises a big red flag.”

State leaders don’t have to bend the rules to help regulators learn about new financial products and services, said Stifler of the Center for Responsible Lending. She pointed to California, where lawmakers last year created an innovation office to study novel financial services and cryptocurrency companies.

PLAYING BY THE RULES In most states with a financial services sandbox, and some states where they’ve been proposed, the banking industry is regulated with a relatively light touch. That may limit how many businesses benefit from the programs.

During the Louisiana committee hearing, Wright struggled to identify products and services the sandbox would bring to the state. His only answer was a vague reference to cryptocurrency companies, which didn’t satisfy Morris.

“You can purchase cryptocurrency now,” Morris said, holding up his phone for emphasis. “You can get on Coinbase, buy all you want ... we don’t need this bill to buy crypto, because it’s allowed already.”

Wright’s bill failed in committee.

Other sandboxes allow an industry to operate, period. For instance, before Hawaii’s cryptocurrency sandbox launched last year, the state’s strict licensing rules made it too expensive for cryptocurrency trading platforms to do business there.

“Without the sandbox program, we probably wouldn’t have been able to operate in Hawaii, frankly,” said Alexandra Gaiser, di-

rector of regulatory affairs at River Financial, a bitcoin trading app and one of 11 companies in the state’s program.

River Financial legally operates in 35 states, including Arizona, Florida, Utah and Wyoming. It has a money transmitter license in 14 states. In the others, Gaiser said, the company either doesn’t need a license or has an agreement with state regulators that allows it to serve customers without one. It’s not participating in other sandboxes.

Financial technology companies generally aspire to operate in all 50 states, so a onestate program may not be compelling. Although some sandbox laws include reciprocity agreements, companies still need to apply to every state program they’d like to use.

“I think for them to be really useful, they would need to string together a number of states — so they create bigger markets — and create some firmer understanding with the feds,” said Andrew Lorentz, a lawyer for Davis Wright Tremaine who co-chairs the national law firm’s financial technology practice.

Startups also have another way around costly banking rules and regulations: Rather than serving consumers directly, they can sell their software to established banks and credit unions and avoid licensing hassles altogether.

At BrightFi, company leaders jettisoned plans to create an affordable bank not long after testing their app. Now the company is selling its technology to traditional financial institutions. “For smaller fintechs (financial technology companies), sometimes it’s easier to partner up with a bank that already has a license,” Lehman said.

The Arizona sandbox helped convince BrightFi to move to Phoenix in 2019. But the firm had other reasons too, and it eventually found that making connections, not lighter regulation, was the program’s main benefit.

“I don’t think we would be where we are right now had we not been introduced to some of the people — banks, regulators, even nonprofits that we were introduced to,” said Crystal Lehman, BrightFi’s chief technology officer. “It was Stateline.org immeasurable.”

fter more than three years of courting and an initial snub, North Carolina is finally landing an Apple campus.

Apple plans to invest $1 billion in North Carolina over 10 years, including $552 million to establish a campus in Research Triangle Park where it will create at least 3,000 jobs, according to the state Department of Commerce. The company says it will spend another $448 million expanding its data center in Catawba County but not create new jobs there.

The RTP jobs would pay an average of $187,000 a year, according to the commerce department.

The company’s decision was announced Monday morning at the monthly meeting of the Economic Investment Committee, which makes decisions about job development grants.

The committee approved a jobs grant of $845.8 million over 39 years to Apple.

“North Carolina’s competition for the project was primarily Ohio,” said Mark Poole at the commerce department.

“But there were a number of other states considered.”

The Jobs Development Investment Grant award to Apple is the largest in the state’s history — more than twice the $387 million awarded to health care company Centene Corp. in 2020 to create an East Coast headquarters and technology hub in Charlotte.

In addition, $112.4 million from state income taxes paid by Apple’s new employees will flow to a utility fund for broadband, roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects in rural communities.

Wake County also offered Apple a business development grant that will pay 50% of new property tax growth back to the company after it has met minimum investment requirements.

Normally that grant is good for only eight years, but the county has offered to extend it for 30 years due to the “transformational nature of the project,” county spokeswoman Dara Demi said.

The campus will be 1 million square feet on the Wake County side of RTP, on tracts of land straddling N.C. 540 near Cary and Morrisville. It will run on 100% renewable energy, the company said.

ENGINEERING, AI JOBS State Sen. Dan Blue, who represents Wake County, compared Apple’s arrival to IBM’s decision to come to RTP in the 1960s, establishing the Triangle as a place for other technology companies to settle.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN

Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the iPhone 11 in his keynote address on Apple’s Cupertino, California campus. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS) “It’s not just Apple that we celebrate coming here today; but it is the ecosystem that it brings with it,” Blue said.

“Just as we saw IBM transform a region, we will see the same kind of benefit from this decision by Apple.”

In a statement Monday, Scott Levitan, president and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, echoed that idea, saying that while transformational events have occurred at RTP for decades, Apple is “among our most extraordinary.”

The new North Carolina campus is part of the company’s plan to invest $430 billion and add 20,000 new jobs across the United States in the next five years, Apple announced April 26.

“As a North Carolina native, I’m thrilled Apple is expanding and creating new long-term job opportunities in the community I grew up in,” Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, said in a written statement included in a news release from the company. Williams graduated from N.C. State University and earned his MBA at Duke University.

“We’re proud that this new investment will also be supporting education and critical infrastructure projects across the state,” he said. “Apple has been a part of North Carolina for nearly two decades, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow and a bright future ahead.”

The new jobs will be in machine learning, artificial intelligence, software engineering and other related fields, according to the news release.

“Apple will also establish a $100 million fund to support schools and community initiatives in the greater Raleigh-Durham area and across the state,” according to the news release.

“When up and running, Apple’s investments are expected to generate over $1.5 billion in economic benefits annually for North Carolina.”

The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer

GOOGLE TO OPEN FIRST RETAIL STORE STEPS AWAY FROM APPLE IN NYC NICO GRANT

G PAUL WARCHOL, GOOGLE VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

A look inside of the new Google store in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

oogle opened its first retail store in New York City, highlighting the internet giant’s effort to promote its consumer hardware devices.

The store, in Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood, opened in June. The shop, which is a block away from rival Apple’s 14th Street store, occupies part of the first floor of Google’s New York offices.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google, the Mountain View, California-based company, began experimenting with pop-up stores in 2016, the same year it debuted its Pixel smartphone and Nest smart home speaker. In the years

since, the company has introduced a plethora of hardware devices and hosted subsequent pop-ups to learn more about what consumers expect from a retail store, said Jason Rosenthal, Google’s vice president of direct channels and membership.

“It’s like walking into a dream,” Ivy Ross, vice president of design, user experience and research for design and services, said during a virtual tour. “I hope customers feel the same way. I want them to be happy and inspired, like I am being in here.”

Ross oversaw the planning for the store. “It’s very rewarding to see everything come together, especially during Covid after once not being able

“IT’S LIKE WALKING INTO A DREAM.” Ivy Ross, vice president of design, user experience and research for design and services to be in the space,” she added.

The store was designed like a social space, with sitting areas, tables and other furniture that invites a level of public intimacy and intermingling that has been a rare experience during

the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it will limit the number of people who can be in the store at once and that associates as well as customers will have to wear masks inside.

The furniture, including sofas and oval-shaped tables, are made of blond wood and cork — neutral colors so the products would stand out, Ross said.

The company also wanted customers to see what Google’s products would look like “in context,” so in the store, speakers may be placed next to piles of books and other design knickknacks to give it more a feel of being in someone’s home. Phones, tablets and other devices are operational and untethered, so visitors can fiddle around

with them.

Ross said there’s a children’s room, to “park your children while shopping.”

There’s also a space where people can use the Pixel phone’s Night Sight feature to take images in the dark and email the photos to themselves. There’s a room where three people can play video games through Google’s Stadia streaming service. And there’s the Imagination Space — partially enclosed by a 17-foot-tall glass round structure, with screens inside. On the screens, visitors can experience advanced or experimental Google services that may not be available to the public yet.

Rosenthal said it was important for Google to create a direct retail channel

that embodies the Google brand and lets customers hear straight from the company, and gives Google feedback from customers. He declined to comment on whether the tech giant would open additional stores.

Ross touted the store’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, pointing to the flooring, made of recycled bottles, the low-energy light bulbs, conservative water usage and other measures. As with its hardware, “we believe that you don’t have to sacrifice Mother Nature with making great products,” Ross Bloomberg News said.

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TRENDS

NOTHING WASTED W New research puts wastewater to work, as a source of both water and electricity

BRYCE GRAY

ashington University researchers have developed a filter that treats wastewater and also generates electricity — an advance that could reshape energy use at treatment plants.

The new system uses bacteria as a “bio-catalyst” to produce an electric charge while breaking down organic material otherwise seen as waste. The findings from the lab of Zhen He, a professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering, were detailed in May’s cover story for the academic journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.

The research fits into a growing set of technologies that push back against the notion of wastewater as waste, and look instead to put it to beneficial use. The hope is that the Washington U. technology could eventually be used to reduce — if not reverse — the massive energy footprint of wastewater treatment, which, combined with drinking water systems, uses 3% to 4% of all energy consumed in the U.S. “It’s an energy-intensive process,” said He in a recent interview with the Post-Dispatch. “And energy always means money.”

Depending on how thoroughly it is treated, recovered water can be repurposed for anything from “nonpotable” uses like irrigation, to drinking water — as illustrated in places like Southern California, where there are expanding plans for “toilet to tap” wastewater recycling.

The Washington U. team’s new filter, however, provides an added bonus in the form of energy.

SARA DIGGINS, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH‌

Washington University Ph.D. candidate Fubin Liu, left, and Professor Zhen He stand in the engineering lab with their dual-purpose wastewater filter on May 24. The filter generates electricity while treating water using micro-organisms. The filter could help reduce the energy footprint of wastewater treatment, which currently consumes 5% of all electricity in the U.S. The system uses a cloth to collect organic matter from the wastewater and to provide bacteria with a place to colonize. Then, as bacteria consume the organic materials, electrons are released and gathered by the cloth, creating electricity. Stainless steel around the filter transfers the electric current from the “bacteria fuel cell” to an external circuit.

That two-way function is what makes the electrode unique, He said. Some may scoff at the low electric output.

“We fight back by saying, ‘Can your fuel cell filter wastewater?’” He asked.

Treating 1 cubic meter of wastewater

could, in theory, generate 20 watts of power for an hour. That means a larger-sized unit or a collection of units could power lights or larger electrical devices, He said.

It’s a considerable improvement from when He was a Washington U. graduate student about 15 years ago and helped create a small fuel cell using the emerging technology that could only glean trace amounts of electricity — not yet enough to power a light bulb.

NEXT STEPS The technology next aims to scale up and make the leap into the real world.

Ideally, He would love to see the filters used by municipal wastewater treatment utilities, like the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District — which currently spends about $15 million annually on energy costs.

But He says a more likely, intermediate step could be for the filters to first catch on at a smaller scale, in individual industrial facilities that have wastewater to treat.

“I try not to overpromise and say we’re going to turn wastewater treatment into a power plant,” he said.

The first big-picture milestone, he says, would be to make wastewater treatment “energy neutral,” if users can generate enough power from the electrodes to offset their consumption.

But the ultimate aim is to flip wastewater treatment from an energy user into a power source.

The concept of harnessing value — and energy — from “wastewater” certainly isn’t new.

Anheuser-Busch, for instance, recovers biogas from its wastewater.

And in cities like Denver, billion-dollar project developers are looking to the local sewer system as a source of heat — helping offset how much energy is required in buildings above ground.

While that thermal energy offers vast opportunity of its own, He notes that its potential can be seasonally and geographically dependent, packing the most punch in colder places.

Turning to wastewater for electricity — instead of heat — could be more universally applicable.

Each approach demonstrates the potential locked in wastewater.

“Is it really a waste?” He asked. “Or can we treat it as a St. Louis Post-Dispatch‌ resource?”

A blue-collar tech startup grows into a giant

W SAM DEAN

hen Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan moved back to Glendale, California, after college, they didn’t plan on sticking around.

Before heading off to Silicon Valley in the fall for programming jobs, the pair decided to work on a summer project together. Both of their dads were contractors — one in plumbing, the other in construction — and they figured they could cobble together some software to help them out before leaving.

Fourteen years later, they’re still in Glendale, and that summer project has grown into ServiceTitan, a $9.5-billion company with 1,600 employees and tens of thousands of plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers and other tradespeople as customers.

Their software, originally a simple desktop program, is now a cloud-based service that lets clients manage their back offices, dispatch field techs to jobs, show inventory and pricing options on mobile devices, and handle payments.

In June, the company announced that it had raised a new $200-million round of investment from the private equity firm Thoma Bravo and acquired Aspire Software, a St. Louis company that provides the same kind of end-to-end software for landscapers that ServiceTitan does for other types of trades, for an undisclosed sum. Earlier this year, the company also acquired ServicePro, a

Columbus, Ohio, company specializing in software for pest control and lawn care contractors.

ServiceTitan has doubled its key financial metrics in the last two years. Annual subscription revenue rose from $100 million to more than $250 million this year, and its customer base has expanded at a similar clip. In 2019, 2,500 clients with a combined workforce of 50,000 were using ServiceTitan software; this year, that rose to 7,500 clients with 100,000 workers.

The company’s funding and valuation has grown in tandem. Two years ago, ServiceTitan was valued at $1.65 billion.

The new cash infusion from Thoma Bravo brings its total funding to nearly $1.1 billion, and places its valuation close to the $10-billion mark.

But Mahdessian, ServiceTitan’s chief executive, said that there’s still room to grow. More than 3 million Americans work in the trades, with millions more in landscaping and lawn care.

“We originally started in the plumbing, HVAC and electrical trades. That’s where Vahe’s and my core expertise was because of the work our parents did,” Madhessian said. “But our mission from Day One has always been to help all hardworking contractors across all trades, and we want to help all of them reach the level of success they deserve.”

ServiceTitan’s core clients in home maintenance saw an uptick in work during the pandemic, and the need for remote work attracted more software customers, Mahdessian said.

KENT NISHIMURA, LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

ServiceTitan co-founder and President Vahe Kuzoyan and co-founder and Chief Executive Ara Mahdessian at their company’s Glendale, Calif., offices.

“In the beginning it was wild: COVID happened, lockdowns happened, and everybody literally shut their door and wouldn’t let anybody in,” Madhessian said.

But after a few weeks, when people became more comfortable with social-distancing protocols and started to realize the homes they were stuck in needed some work, business picked back up.

Fermin Rivera, the owner of Red Apple Air in L.A.’s Harbor City neighborhood, said that ServiceTitan has transformed how he manages his 15-person HVAC operation. After he saw a col-

league posting about the company on Facebook a few years back, he looked into it and decided to sign up. “Once we made the switch, it was like, ‘Oh, we’re playing with the big toys now.’”

The software has helped him automate part of his marketing and customer relationship operations, easily create a menu of special HVAC packages for customers, and track performance across his team.

“It gives you a bunch of information.

You’ve got all your metrics up in your face,” Rivera said. “It just keeps getting better and better.”

Los Angeles Times‌

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Power Play Apps help theme parks boost their COVID safety — and collect data on you

H HUGO MARTÍN

eading to Six Flags Magic Mountain for some gut-twisting roller coasters? Prepare to walk past a thermal camera that automatically takes your temperature.

Want to enjoy a Dole Whip at Disneyland? Have your smartphone ready to order it on the park’s app.

Trying to find your way to the Studio Tour ride at Universal Studios Hollywood? Open a map on your phone.

Theme parks have for years been relying on technology to better manage crowds, speed up the purchase of food and drinks, and eliminate gridlock around the most popular rides. Digital tickets have factored into that. So has the practice of tracking guests’ locations within a park via a phone app.

Now, after a yearlong closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern California’s theme parks are reopening with new safety protocols — many of which lean heavily on such technology. That’s helping the parks lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus and, at the same time, collect more information about their visitors.

At theme parks, the biggest risk of spreading the virus is also the biggest headache: long waits in packed crowds. Technology such as touchless payment systems to order food and apps to schedule times to ride attractions or make dining reservations is meant to reduce both.

“In the past several months, our

tech teams have accelerated our move to digital in a big way,” Disneyland spokesperson Liz Jaeger said.

Industry experts say the trend is global, with theme parks in Asia and Europe also pushing the increased use of technology. China’s Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park reopened last year accepting only cashless payments. Legoland in Carlsbad reopened April 1, also accepting only cashless payments.

“COVID forced this because people have been away from each other and are now back,” said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services. “But now we are going to see more and more of it.”

Privacy advocates say the trend also gives theme parks greater opportunity to use the visitors’ information to upsell them on merchandise, food and drinks, among other purchases. They also worry that the personal and financial information collected from parkgoers can be leaked or shared in unexpected ways.

“While theme parks may be pushing smartphone purchases as a form of convenience or even as a health measure, we should be very aware of the fact that this is also a huge opportunity for them to make a grab at our data, using it for everything from marketing to enforcement of park rules,” said Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future.

Many theme park apps’ privacy policies acknowledge that the parks may use information collected by the apps for marketing purposes.

But park officials say the apps give users the option to block access to some information, such as their lo-

cation within the park.

“We take privacy very seriously to ensure that our guests and their personal data are securely protected,” Universal Studios Hollywood spokesperson Audrey Eig said.

Theme parks prefer touchless purchasing systems such as Apple Pay because parkgoers tend to spend more that way than they do when they have to reach into a wallet or a purse to pull out cash or a credit card, Speigel said.

An industry study found that at water parks and arcades, spending jumped 30% to 40% when touchless systems replaced traditional methods of paying.

“It’s truly one of the best things in the industry to come out of the COVID” pandemic, Speigel said.

California theme parks were given permission by the state to reopen starting April 1, thanks to a decrease in new coronavirus cases and the rollout of vaccines. But state health officials have imposed a slew of health protocols, including limiting attendance, requiring six feet of separation in queues and mandating that visitors wear masks except when eating.

A greater use of smartphone apps and other technology can help the parks meet the state health protocols, especially the requirement that visitors maintain physical distance from one another, theme park officials say.

At Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, visitors walking from the parking lot to the front gate pass through a small building where thermal cameras take their temperatures without making them

break their stride. The visitors then stroll past a digital scanning device that checks them for hidden weapons, eliminating the need to stop for a security search.

“The best thing is it’s not holding up the line,” park spokesperson Jerry Certonio said.

At Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park, every restaurant and shop offers touchless payment options to eliminate the need to exchange cash and credit cards with a Disney worker.

Many of the restaurants also allow visitors to order food from the Disneyland app, eliminating the need to stand in a queue or a crowd while waiting for the food.

At the Disneyland Resort, visitors who want to enter a shop that has already reached capacity can give their name and phone number to a Disney employee who will send them a text message when they can return.

Six Flags Magic Mountain has increased the use of touchless payment options to six eateries in the last few weeks, up from three, with plans to add more in the future.

At Universal Studios Hollywood, visitors can still get a paper map at the gate but are encouraged to use their smartphone camera to scan a QR code emblazoned on signs throughout the park. The code causes a map of the park to display on the phone when the visitor downloads the park’s app.

That should cut down on aimless intermixing with other visitors in the park. QR codes are also used at the Disneyland Resort to open digital menus at Los Angeles Times‌ restaurants.

Qualcomm touts global momentum for the fastest version of 5G

I

MIKE FREEMAN

U.S.-centric 5G variant, millimeter wave hasn’t been widely deployed yet, even in t’s no secret that Qualcomm aims North America. It’s probably best known to ride the 5G wave for growth — to consumers through Verizon’s 5G Ulsupplying processors not only for tra-Wideband ads. smartphones but also connected There is plenty of skepticism surcars, laptops, virtual reality headrounding the technology. While millisets and myriad other devices as meter wave frequencies offer fast speeds they link up to these fifth-generation and massive bandwidth, they don’t cellular networks. travel very far. They typically That strategy got an update can’t penetrate buildings, recently, as the region’s and they require dense largest publicly traded antenna deployments, company launched beam-forming and a new smartphone, other advanced techand small cell and nologies to work well. infrastructure semiMost 5G networks conductors at the today use primarily Mobile World Conlow- or mid-band gress trade show in airwave frequenBarcelona. cies, which deliver Perhaps more infar-reaching coverage teresting than the new Qualcomm but fall short of millimeter products, however, was President Cristiano wave for speed and capacQualcomm’s commenAmon gives a keynote ity. Verizon has probably tary on the traction speech by video conference been the most aggressive globally for the fastest during the Mobile World carrier to date in deploy— but also the most Congress fair in Barcelona on ing millimeter wave 5G, technically challenging June 28. and it is only available in — version of 5G known PAU BARRENA, AFP VIA a few neighborhoods in as millimeter wave.

GETTY IMAGES/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌ Viewed primarily as a roughly 70 cities.

But Qualcomm said more than 40 key carriers and equipment makers in China, Europe, India, Japan, North America, South Korea and Southeast Asia have committed to rolling out millimeter wave 5G. With millimeter wave 5G, Qualcomm has a technology lead over MediaTek and other rivals. Momentum for the technology could build in 2022, when China Unicom is expected to launch millimeter wave demonstrations during the upcoming Winter Olympics, said Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon.

Amon expects technology advancements to improve the range of millimeter wave, and he hopes that when China operators roll out the technology, they “go big.”

“5G can do a lot for people, industries and economic growth, but it is most impactful when we take full advantage of its capabilities,” Amon said. “5G millimeter wave provides massive capacity, extreme performance with intrinsically low latency for dense urban spots, fixed wireless access, enterprise and industrial applications at a lower cost per bit.”

AT&T hasn’t said much to date about its 5G millimeter wave deployments in the U.S. But the company has installed the technology in high traffic venues such

as stadiums, arenas, airports, entertainment districts and campuses, said Jeff Howard, vice president of the operator’s mobile device portfolio.

“Currently AT&T 5G+, our name for millimeter wave 5G, is available in parts of 38 cities and 20 venues across the country,” Howard said. The company expects to add at least two more cities and be in 40 venues by the end of the year.

“The global deployment of 5G millimeter wave is now inevitable,” Amon said. “It is essential to achieve the full potential of 5G, and those embracing 5G millimeter wave will find themselves with a competitive advantage.”

As for products, Qualcomm launched an upgrade to its top tier processors for Android smartphones with the Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G. It delivers faster CPU performance and more a powerful artificial intelligence engine. The chip is expected to show up in devices this fall.

The company also introduced new semiconductors and accelerator cards targeting small cells and infrastructure equipment, including technology to help in the industry transition to software-centric, virtualized radio access netThe San Diego Union-Tribune‌ works.

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SECURITY

A battle of milliseconds

1

The vexing tech challenge of fighting ransomware

JORDAN ROBERTSON

15 milliseconds.

As quick as a blink, that’s the amount of time a new technology — developed by researchers from Australia’s national science agency and a university in South Korea — takes to detect that ransomware has detonated on a computer and block it from causing further damage.

The finding seeks to address a vexing challenge that has stymied international efforts to stop such attacks. As hackers execute bolder attacks with bigger potential payouts, computer scientists are pushing the limits of software to make near-instantaneous decisions and save victims from ruin.

A spree of recent ransomware attacks have focused attention on the issue and spurred booming growth for part of the cybersecurity industry — one that has benefited from a presidential endorsement of sorts.

Since 2016, spending on “endpoint protection” software has more than doubled to $9.11 billion last year, according to data from Gartner Inc. Those are cybersecurity tools that protect “end user” devices such as laptops and desktop computers, which are vulnerable to being hacked through their users clicking on malicious links or phishing emails.

Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order that will require civilian federal agencies to deploy a specific type of that technology, called endpoint detection and response software, on their networks. Leading companies include SentinelOne, Cybereason, Microsoft and CrowdStrike Holdings, according to Gartner.

The innovation of that software is that it blocks files deemed to be malicious — what traditional antivirus does — and goes a step further, automating the hunt for suspicious

behavior on users’ machines, aiming to identify poisoned code before it causes damage, according to Oliver Spence, co-founder of U.K.-based North Star Cyber Security. Still, Spence said the technical challenge remains daunting.

“Solving ransomware is magnitudes harder than solving spam and that isn’t solved yet,” he said. “How do you tell which email is legitimate or not? How do I tell if a process is legitimate or not? Solve either problem completely, and you are well on your way to being rich enough to retire.”

Ransomware is a type of cyberattack that encrypts files on victims’ computers, rendering them useless until a ransom is paid. It can take just minutes to cripple an entire network. The recent hacks of Colonial Pipeline, which shut the biggest gasoline pipeline in the U.S. for nearly a week, and of JBS SA, which temporarily shut all U.S. beef plants for the largest meat producer globally, have exposed gaps in protection for critical industries. One of the few ways to get ahead of the problem is to have security software running deep inside a computer’s operating system. There, it can see each program — or process — running on the machine and have the best shot at distinguishing between legitimate and nefarious ones.

“The technology exists to identify authorized processes versus unauthorized processes — that’s actually not that terribly hard,” said Lawrence Pingree, a managing vice president at Gartner. “The hard part is that ransomware, as a category, can use many hundreds of techniques including modifying or injecting authorized processes. Most security practitioners will tell you that it’s a race condition where defenders keep augmenting security to match the changing threats.”

Hackers often trigger alarms as they move around victim networks, performing reconnaissance and manipulating accounts while stag-

ing ransomware attacks, said Jared Phipps, senior vice president of sales engineering for SentinelOne. Endpoint detection and response software automates the analysis of those behaviors to try and stop the hackers before they escalate, he said.

“Executing the ransomware is the last thing they do,” Phipps said.

“There are weeks and weeks or even months of lead time in the attack.

There are going to be many different systems touched and in most cases there are a lot of security alerts.

There is absolutely time to stop those attacks.”

One challenge of staying ahead of the problem is that skilled hackers routinely test their code and techniques against the latest security software, adapting when needed to evade detection, said Andrew Howard, chief executive officer of Switzerland-based Kudelski Security.

“Ransomware attacks today are typically human-operated, meaning that a human is actively guiding the attack,” Howard said. “As the defenses get better, this drives new offensive techniques, which drives better defenses, which drives new offensive techniques, and so forth.

There is not a 100% effective technical solution for this problem.”

An executive at a leading cyber incident response firm, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters, said his company always recommends that ransomware victims it’s assisting buy some form of endpoint detection and response software, and that about 70% do.

He said his firm analyzed its deployments from one of the leading vendors and found that the software blocked almost all of the attacks.

“The only three fails we have seen in three years were because of poor implementation by the client,” the person said.

The person noted that such technologies aren’t cheap, starting at about $12 per “endpoint” — or device — per month, with discounts for big

deployments. For large organizations, that can mean millions of dollars per year. But to put that in perspective, Colonial paid a $4.4 million ransom, while JBS paid $11 million.

One way that organizations are paying for the upgrade is by replacing their antivirus programs.

Gartner projects that within five years, more than 60% of large organizations will have replaced antivirus with endpoint detection and response and similar software.

In the meantime, computer scientists are racing to improve the speed and accuracy of their code for handling the “response” part of the equation, trying to shave milliseconds off their times for blocking malicious actions.

In January, researchers from the digital arm of Australia’s national science agency — the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Data61 unit — and from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea published details of an experimental technology they developed to detect ransomware by looking at some of the lowest-level signals in a computer’s operating system.

One result, the researchers said, was the ability to detect ransomware on average in about 115 milliseconds, after just one file was encrypted — saving the rest of the computer and its contents. Software makers generally haven’t disclosed specific performance metrics in this area, so it’s unknown how the researchers’ findings compare to commercial efforts to thwart the attacks.

The paper’s lead author, Muhammad Ejaz Ahmed, wrote in an email that these results point to a goal that the security industry is urgently chasing. “Our approach can detect such activities at the early stages of a ransomware infection,” he said.

This opens the door to “detect and give and early warning even before any damage is Bloomberg News done.”

MICROCHIP SECURITY CONTINUES TO CONFOUND PENTAGON JOHN M. DONNELLY

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early nine years ago, the Senate Armed Services Committee reported the results of an investigation of counterfeit electronic parts in the U.S. military. The year-long probe found fully 1 million bogus parts, including components for several types of combat aircraft.

“Our report outlines how this flood of counterfeit parts, overwhelmingly from China, threatens national security, the safety of our troops and American jobs,” said Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chaired the panel at the time.

Worries have only grown since then that technology that was made or modified in China can be not just counterfeit but also malicious if it carries spyware.

The Pentagon has taken steps since then to try to shore up its vulnerability to questionable parts. When it comes to semiconductors, the building blocks of digital products, U.S. defense and intelligence agencies are still grappling with how to ensure those parts are not just available when needed — but also secure.

China’s role in the Pentagon supply chain has grown considerably, and China’s share of the Defense Department semiconductor market, in particular, grew from 7 percent to 13 percent from 2010 to 2019, according to a report last year from Govini,

a research firm.

American companies still lead the world in semiconductor designs. But President Joe Biden and a bipartisan chorus in Congress have expressed concern about the American economy’s reliance for its semiconductor manufacturing on not just China, which now builds more chips for the world than America, but more so on companies in two nations friendly to the United States: Taiwan and South Korea.

The upshot is that nearly 90 percent of U.S. computer chip manufacturing needs comes from East Asia.

In 2021, an ongoing shortage of computer chips, has led to U.S. factory closures and job losses, and this has focused politicians’ minds on the U.S. dependence on overseas chip makers.

But having a “secure” chip supply should mean not just access to the products but also should inspire confidence that the products are trustworthy and reliable, analysts say. That is nowhere more important than when the chips are used in military and intelligence equipment.

About 17 years ago, the Pentagon created a so-called Trusted Foundry program to obtain chips that absolutely had to be secure from a couple of dedicated Defense Department fabrication facilities, or fabs, in the United States.

That effort has grown since then to in-

clude not just a few builders of chips but also companies that do testing, packaging and more — some 78 industry participants as of last year.

This program covers only about 2 percent of the chips the military buys, a small but important portion that includes chips for highly secret programs or those, for example, that need to be hardened to survive radiation in space or in a nuclear war.

Defense Department officials recognize that their market comprises only about 1 percent of the ever-growing global demand for semiconductors. As a result, the Pentagon cannot have much influence over how semiconductor technology is developed, nor is it economically sustainable for any fab to focus on expensive, secure production facilities just for the Pentagon.

“This presents two potential risks,” the Congressional Research Service said in a recent report, “a reduced ability to influence technology development and a loss of unique access to state-of-the-art technologies.”

Kim Herrington, acting principal director of the Defense secretary’s industrial policy office, said in an interview that the Defense Department is “in a potentially unhealthy way over-reliant on foreign sources, but we don’t have a big enough demand to do anything about it in terms of driving the market.”

Christine Michienzi, chief technology officer in the industrial policy office, said in an interview that the department does not have enough demand “to sustain a dedicated foundry or even a dedicated line within a foundry.”

Increasingly, though, Congress and the department want to move away from the trusted foundry model and instead devise ways to ensure that the chips themselves, wherever they come from, are certified in tests to be trustworthy and reliable.

Chips made by American companies on U.S. soil are preferable, but those are few and far between nowadays. And being American is no guarantee of being trustworthy, just as being foreign does not necessarily make a supplier suspicious, experts said.

The focus of the new approach is less on who makes the product and more on whether it meets defined standards — measures that are still being developed, said Victoria Coleman, the Air Force’s chief scientist, in an interview.

“Would you buy a stroller to put your baby in that had not been tested if someone told you all the workers in the factory are very good Americans who try their best and no foreigner ever crossed the threshold?” Coleman said. “Process doesn’t buy you anything.”

CQ-Roll Call