Why your Samsung TV is spying on you in CNET UK podcast 421

[NOISE] [MUSIC] Hello and welcome, you're listening to CNet internet podcast, and this is episode 421 for Friday the 13th of February 2015. Walls have ears, your Samsung TV is eavesdropping on your conversation. The Apple watch will get you off your arse before your laziness literally kills you, and the first Ubuntu phone is on sale for a limited time only. You lucky people. I'm Rich Trenholm. Joining me [UNKNOWN] in the studio this week is Andy Hoyle. Hello, you came to me first. That was nice. I know, I get to say hello slightly earlier than Luke. You can certainly scoop him in what you say as well. Oh, wait something's no. That's ruined it for Luke. Right. Luke, try and beat that. [CROSSTALK] [CROSSTALK] [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGH]. I panicked. I panicked. Let's kick off the [INAUDIBLE]. [INAUDIBLE] fellows from the 90s. [LAUGH] Where's the beef? Catch the wave. [LAUGH] Kowabunga. Let's go to news [MUSIC] Well if you have a Samsung smart TV. Yeah. It may well be that that TV is listening in in your private conversation in your living room, and sharing it with the world. Hm. That good? Well no, and that. You know what we found out a, a while ago. Looking at the terms and conditions of Samsung and things. Mm. It's a little bit frightening what if it's listening to private secrets and then giving that away to advertisers and what not? But. Before you get too worried. Mm-hm. Because Luke, I can tell that you are getting. I. A little bit worried. Eyebrows are accelerating up with alarm. Yeah. [LAUGH] And rightly so. But those eyebrows can actually come down to a more standard level. yeah. Regular brows. Okay. So what's this actually about? What is Samsung TV doing? So, sometimes these smart tvs they have voice activation, voice control, so you can say things like, go to bbc, or you can tell it to do whatever you want, and it will avail to listen to you. What was found out in some of the fine print, it saves. And I quote. Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition. Well that sounds pretty terrible right? Well now I feel stupid for making up a song out of my credit card number. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] Well Andy, I mean so they've actually changed their, their, their policy right? Yeah. So, now that policy has been reworded, I think in response to cuz this, The outcry, outcry. Outcry absolutely, yeah. But you think this is a good idea. You actually think we need this. Well I do, yeah. I think this is important, tech. Because at the end of the day it's not listening to all your conversations, feeding all of that back. Because it would, at the end of the day it'd be listening to hours, and hours, and hours of everybody's conversation all the time. Hm. And, what's anybody gonna do with that? That's the [UNKNOWN] job. But the good thing is, is that, I, if you have these devices that are always listening. Mm-hm. It means that you can always give them. ordered. You can always say, you know, okay do this and, and Xbox on, because the Xbox One of course had, there's a bit of an outcry then when it, it transpired that that would be always listening. Mm. Always watching. Really, and with, with things like voice control you don't want to have to physically go and turn something on and then get the controller to do something and go into settings and activate control, to then use voice control. The whole point is that. You can't walk into a room say call Xbox on. Let's do this. Samsung, on. Okay. Yeah. Well that was BBC. I. That's kind of a good thing. I. I think we agree with that. I disagree. because. Hm. I do think this is pretty, shaky stuff. Yep. For w, like, for one thing, this is all sort of happening in a post NSA revelation thing. Yep. Where, I think we've all realized that actually. Actually maybe the worst case scenario stuff that's happening with our personal things. Yeah. Is actually happening. Yeah. So you know, if there's a bit of an outcry about Samsung being oh, FYI don't we're collecting it and we're sort of doing weird stuff with it. Don't worry about it. But you know, it's like, just try and keep it light in the livingroom. [LAUGH] Don't confess any crimes or anything, it's fine. Okay, okay. [INAUDIBLE] And, you know that, that, that, to me, does sound suspicious. I don't like the idea and, also, I, I think that, at the end of the day, this, it's not like, it's not like this is a feature that's worth giving up that privacy for. Like, like voice, it, it, like Andy said the voice recognition on these tvs, on the X-box and on Siri and stuff it's not like something that's always listening for your voice command like someone who's half listening. Like you're talking to someone while they're, and they're sort of zoned out. Mm-hm. So X-box on, so Mm-hm. Like I do at all [CROSSTALK]. Now yeah. What, what, what, yeah, yeah. Well, display on my phone settings from text. An, Andy, Andy. I think the problem is Volume up. What? Volume, volume up. Turn off my volume. No, no. I think the issue is No, not volume off. That's called mute, there's a different word for that. Sorry, I wasn't listening. So, so the issue here right is not so much listening. Listening all the time, though, cuz there's conflicting things [UNKNOWN] Yeah. But it's more, they're sending it to a third party, so who are we talking about, this third party? So it's Nuance, the company that does it, and they, they are,- Voice recognition. Yeah, they're about voice recognition, so they're about. Using these to. But why do they want to hear, listen in on our private conversations. Loose lips sink ships and all that. Why do they want to listen in? Why? Yeah. There's a laugh in it. They're trying, they're trying to sink the ships. Well nuance, Nuance is a voice recognition company so companies that, like Samsung that use voice recognition in their products that, that voice data gets sent off to a third party. Mm. I think, I believe. Series is a new one so that it hasn't been officially confirmed. You know, and that, that company's crunches all the noises and spits out the words that really is like a rough approximation of volume off or whatever and then sends it back. So you, so, you know. In that sense, it is a third party. Well, Samsung, I will say that Samsung has updated its, its policy on this, to say that it's not, it's not. The, the wording is different, I will, I will, I'll read this out to you. It says something will collect your introductory voice commands only when you make a specific search request with a smart tv by clicking the activation button, so. So you can also turn the setting off if you go into. That's on CNET you'll find enough [UNKNOWN]. It's called how to turn off Samsung's voice activation features. Yeah. Look. Look. Just shout at your laptop. [UNKNOWN] [LAUGH] And it'll be like, I was listening the whole time and I've already opened it. Yeah. What's our readers say about this one really quickly? Well, broadly speaking. [LAUGH] I've tried to find a few balanced comments on this, but they're aren't any really. [UNKNOWN] Because paranoia's rampant among our comments. Yes, but is it paranoia. Justified. Or are they actually out to get you. It's not paranoia if they, if they're actually out to get you. Seeyougone99 says the possibilities for misuse of conversations far outweigh the advantages of this feature I would not pay extra for this feature. I'm doing. Of my voice there. Okay. Because i sure as heck wouldn't trust or use it as is. Meanwhile candied8 says note to self don't buy anything from Samsung. Damning. And JGhangin says for one thing, that's really disturbing. Mm-hm. However what doesn't anymore with all. Smart Home stuff out there, pretty much everything you say and do is tracked. I'll stick with old school appliances, thanks. [LAUGH] Well all right then, granddad. I wouldn't stick with old school appliances. Because we had this rubbish computer in my first school, and all it could do was make this turtle move around. [LAUGH] That sounds fantastic. It couldn't even do that very well. You have to give it loads of instructions. It was a coding game though. The point was that you give it instructions. Is, is, is it- I remember that game. A step down from a regular turtle, [CROSSTALK] which doesn't need coding. Yeah, it was move one space left. We also had like a Roomba that you could, that you could code. You could sort of put all the instructions in the Roomba and you could be like, okay, Roomba. It wasn't Roomba, but like okay [UNKNOWN] You mean you had a house cleaner? [LAUGH] Yeah. Clean up the kitchen. [CROSSTALK] Clean the kit- It was more like move, it was like, you could make the robot go say, eight feet forward and then rotate a set number of degrees. And then it would go back. Oh. It wasn't cleaning. [CROSSTALK] He was just wondering around>> [CROSSTALK] You could make him more of an **** if anything. [LAUGH] You've got these big hooks on the side if you grab cables. [LAUGH] And every 50 feet it would cough out like a chocolate powder. [LAUGH] Just like, a bit of glitter, just like he says. [LAUGH] It would take, it would take the back up your hole punch. [LAUGH] So all the hole punch holes would just be scattered all over the room. And special sensors for like, white leather. [LAUGH] It's red wine. [LAUGH] That's untreatable. Anyways I'm gonna move on to the Apple Watch if I may. Because, Tim Cook has been talking about the Apple Watch, which is due to come out sometime in April. Yeah. And Tim has a war on sitting, and in fact, he said sitting is the new cancer, which has some pretty, pretty big [CROSSTALK] words there. His point being, it's,- What's the watch gonna do about it, if you're sitting down for too long? Well, the watch is going to vibrate and tell you basically to get moving. Get up off your **** and go and do some things. Yeah. Stop sitting in this chair all the time. So wait. So like, it, it, sort of buzzes every now and again to be like, you sat down for a bit. [LAUGH] Do you mean to? [LAUGH] Are you sure you did mean to [UNKNOWN] It looks like you're having a sit down. [LAUGH] Are you is it, you, you got a something important going on in that? [INAUDIBLE] that watch sat down. [LAUGH] Yeah. That watch sat down for a long time. Well, those sounds are quite nagging that it's gonna, you know, if you sit for a while, the, the, this watch is gonna tell you. Although, having said that though we we looked into this. Studies have linked excessive sitting with being overweight and obese, type two diabetes, some types of cancer, and premature death. So, there you go. Uh,It's thought to slow the metabolism and yeah. The, the, so the piece of research that was published, that we found with, from the NHS involved almost 800,000 people. Found that there was a 90% increase in deaths caused by cardiovascular events were among people who sit for much of their life. And that is why we do our podcasts standing up. Exactly. And that answers that question, doesn't it. And that's why we live. Damn healthy. All it's- [COUGH] There is also 112% increase in risk in, of diabetes. I don't quite know how you can have 112% increase. I think that means some people get diabetes twice, sitting is so, is that, that [LAUGH] terrible for you. [UNKNOWN] [UNKNOWN] There is also 49% increase in deaths from any cause. So, there you go. But I mean, you know, I like sitting down. Not for like, not. From any cause not from like jogging. Or being run over. [LAUGH] [INAUDIBLE] Falling out of a plane. yeah, so, so you, you quite like sitting down. [INAUDIBLE] I love sitting down. Don't, I mean, who doesn't enjoy a good sit. [LAUGH] There are disadvantages to just sat down. And they talk about all the virtues of sitting of which there are many. Right. I mean, I don't like, I'm not arguing. You're not just speaking this badgerly. Mm. Mm. And that, that is very distressing news- Yep. That you get. It gazed me today when we were discussing the podcast and you said- You were gonna get diabetes twice. Did you know? Did you know that you're dying? And just sat down. Mm. I would, but I don't like what the Apple watch is doing. I would rather die sitting. [LAUGH] And leave on my legs. That is fair enough. What about what about readers? Is. The does anyone have any interesting insights into the subject? Those guys? Yes they do. Ammurami says my question is what other than heartbeat can the Apple watch do that the health app on my iPhone can't? Okay. Do I really need a separate watch? I know wearables is supposed to be the next big thing, but so far, none of the watches I've seen particularly impress me. Harsh words. Harsh words. Yeah well, that's thing the thing though. With the wa, we have the watch. There's quite a lot of it still very much unknown, and particularly of what Apple's been doing with third party developers which historically is what Apple's done really well. To getting all the apps into the iPhones. So, [UNKNOWN] other things that we really don't know. And that's why we're so excited to actually get it into our hands [INAUDIBLE] in April Yes [UNKNOWN] says Apple's business model is rather brilliant. Let other manufacturers do all the innovation grunt work, spending and stumbling through initial product releases, while it tweaks away at perfecting. Thing. Safe to say Apple didn't invent the computer, telephone, or watch. But they sure are good at making them really thin. And what I like about that comment is that I can't tell if it's sarcastic. [LAUGH] I can't tell if it's like Apple [UNKNOWN] innovate, I see. Or if it's like, well done. That really needs a sarcasm tag around it, doesn't it? Mm-hm. To, to, find out, yeah. While Joe Actuary says. I think and hourly reminder is actually a really good idea, this way you'll know it's time to recharge the Apple watch Ooh Hey Boom Topical. Nice, nicely done. I would actually to try a watch that sort of vibrates on my wrist to tell me to get up and move around. Yep. Really interesting experiments. Yeah. They look like electric shock, I think, would be more A massive electric shock. [LAUGH] One so large that you can't stand up but it, it delivers it until you do. [LAUGH] Get right on that. I'd like to have one that makes. Makes this podcast easier because I had whiplash last week. And me having to stand facing forwards but looking at you is really hurting my neck, so I'm going to move on, to Spider-Man. [LAUGH] Okay. That's why When you said, when you. And I had whiplash last week. I was trying to think, what happens on the podcast? [LAUGH] Yeah. [CROSSTALK] Was on the podcast. You were somewhere else. I mean, and that's when I got whiplash. Mm. Anyway, I'm gonna talk about Spider Man. Specifically, I'm going to say the word Spider Man and then say, Rich. Something's happening with Spider Man. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] Excellent research. yeah. That's it's great news for. Spider fans. Spiderman- You mean Spiderman? Sorry, that's a common mistake Rick. Spiderman is the name [CROSSTALK]. I got it. I got it. Spiderman. Mr Spiderman. John Spiderman. So yes, so Spiderman is gonna be in the Marvel [UNKNOWN]. I seen how all the, the Marvel movies lately, like the [UNKNOWN] Iron Man, Thor, all those kinds of things, they're all linked together. They're all in the same [UNKNOWN] universe. Crossover and Spider Man hasn't previously been apart of that, because even though he's a Marvel Comics' character, the film rights have been owned by Sony, which is a different film studio and they've made their own series. But now Sony and Marvel have gotten together and they've agreed a deal so that Spider Man will still be in the Marvel movies and, yes, that's great news that means we can have that many sets up for the stories like civil war, which,uh, is comic story. That will be adapted into a movie in a few years and Spiderman is a big part of that so it's a excellent news in that exciting regard. Yeah, [UNKNOWN], and they, they've come [UNKNOWN] with money as well so the in Spiderman solo movies for them made by Sony, Marvel didn't get any money. But when Spiderman appears in. A crossover movie like The Avengers, Sony doesn't get any money. So it's like kind of, you know, it's a nice way of sharing. They're playing nice together. Rumored bits of the deal. Yeah. Interestingly, slotting in an extra Spider-Man movie means that the other Marvel movies are being moved back. So Captain Marvel and Black Panther and, and that kind of thing have been delayed a little. A little bit longer. Hm, okay. But eh, yeah. Hm 'kay. Yeah. Is Spider Man good? Yes. Spider, yes, spider. All right. Spider Man is good. I'm not a fan of Spider Man. Spider Man is, the best super hero. Yeah. Now, now, that's not to say, that I enjoy the Spider Man movies more than I enjoy other. A Steve Perry movie but I think. But their rubbish. Lots lots of them but some of them are good and some of them are bad. Okay. But I think if you listed all of the superheros and you you sort of you talk to a child how hadn't seen any films or any comics or anything. You just describe them. Hm. mm. Spiderman is the one with the most potential. He's the coolest. He swings around on webs from his hands, and he's got the strength of a spider, so he can throw cars, like, not like a spider can, but proportionally to what a spider can do. And he can walk up walls. And he can do all sorts of lovely stuff, and, he's cool. He's like half spider, half man. He's. Brilliant. [CROSSTALK] Wait a minute what about Batman? Batman is rubbish. Okay. No Batman's rubbish. He's I think the thing about Batman is I'm tired of him. He doesn't have any super powers which. Come one. For a superhero- It's a bit of a major failing isn't it? Yeah, [UNKNOWN] it's a major failing. Is he a superhero though or just a hero? Is that the point? He's a rich hero. Well, here's the thing. He's the exception that, that, that completely ruins the rule when it comes to what a superhero is, really. Yeah, I think the thing of Batman is, and, and don't get me wrong, I really enjoy a lot of Batman. Man stuff. But, Batman is- [UNKNOWN], is that a euphemism? [LAUGH] What, in the bedroom or? Yeah. In what'd you call it? The batcave. [LAUGH] But,. But the thing about Batman is that, like, he has benefitted. From loads of really, really talented, incredible people on TV and in film sort of taking up his id, ideas. Okay, yeah. So, like, loads of the Batman stuff is amazing. Way better than the Spiderman movies. Sure. I'm not debating that. I'm just saying that on, if you bullet pointed everything about Spiderman and everything about Batman, Spiderman is half spider and he can shoot webs from his hands. And also like, Batman's dressed like a bat, which is a bit on-the-nose. [LAUGH] Spiderman's not dressed like a spider. He's dressed, he's- Actually, these little [LAUGH] Like little pipe cleaner legs attached. His enemy guy, the guy with the arms. Dr. Octopus. Yeah, he's looks more like a spider cuz he's got those several arms. Yeah. Also, gonna have to say the obvious here, but the other day I had a shower and I saw a big spider on my bathroom floor and it could barely walk. Because of the steam on the floor, spiders are terrible. I've read that that's, that, that was- So the [UNKNOWN] must suck. Lots of spiders can do all sorts so that answers that. [UNKNOWN] And what do, what do the readers and listeners think about this particular piece of spider news? They agree with me. Very broadly. There's one commenter here says, Luke's right, fat man Nick can jog on. [LAUGHTER] Isn't Luke handsome? That's what another one says. Quite. Another one says, Batman needs to get over it. Yep. His parents died years ago. Yep. Do a support group or something. [LAUGHTER] No, I feel mean. I got, that's what I said earlier, before the podcast, but I feel mean about it now. I mean,. No. Yeah that is mean. In the comments [UNKNOWN] says, oh great time for another reboot which is the second comment this week that I can't tell if it's sarcasm or not. [LAUGH] Mike_fallon meanwhile says,. That is a pretty wise business decision. Decision. Business decision. Mm. I wonder will Fox also follow suit with the X-men franchise when they're ready to reboot. Well that said, the X-men franchise is kind of chugging along nicely there. They're making loads of money, they've got a bunch of other films planned so yeah I think they're going to be, [CROSSTALK] It's interesting though because the thing about the Spiderman deal is. Is, it, I didn't think it would ever happen. [UNKNOWN] Because I, I don't think Sony's not making money with, with Spider Man. Hm. His movies must have made. I think he did, yeah yeah. Cash right? But only if they tell the story of his origin apparently. Yeah, yeah. That's what all Sony knows how to do. [LAUGH] But, what, what's kinda interesting about it I think, is that, obviously Marvel, at, well, Disney and, and Sony have come to an agreement. Mm. Which is. Basically everyone benefits when we all use Spiderman. Yeah. So I think, I don't see why they can do the same thing. It works for us. Spiderman's all around. Yeah, put Spiderman in everything, put Spiderman in in the next James Bond. Put Spider, yeah put Spiderman inside Jack. could've got, I could've like moved there. Yep. Well, Jurassic World isn't out yet. There's still time to add Spider Man to that as well. There is. That's a good idea. Well, if it turns out that the dinosaurs that they're creating [CROSSTALK] is it technically a dinosaur? And then Spider Man will eat him. [LAUGH] Well, you know where else Spider Man could pop up? He could pop up in [UNKNOWN] [UNKNOWN] money and gave us phones. Gave us phones. Yeah, incredible. Yeah. [CROSSTALK] I'll tell you what. [UNKNOWN] up the wall. [LAUGH] > Sorry [UNKNOWN]. Well, anyway, what whips up, nice segue, in the Game of Thrones. Luke and I went to visit the Game of Thrones exhibition, this week. Which is happening. Yes. Where we saw, up close, all of the, the props, and weapons, and the clothing. And some of the, jewelry and what not. Actually used in the filming. Hm. of, Game of Thrones. So realistic, in fact that they actually do, some of the them still, have the mud and things on from the films. Yeah. From when, from when they're actually on location. Some of them still have like the severed. Heads and arms still in them. Yeah. Yeah so this is on, where is this on, [INAUDIBLE] Its on sky atlantic studios umm. Its sky backstage [INAUDIBLE] Its sky's event space in the o2 arena. If you have ever been to the o2 arena when you walk in there is a big bit on the left. So the sky is planted [CROSSTALK] Okay. We have loads of pictures of this as well, don't we, on the on the site. So. Really good [CROSSTALK] Yeah. Well. Taken by someone great. [LAUGH] Not with Andy! Well, there are [CROSSTALK] Written by me, who knows a lot about Game of Thrones. [UNKNOWN] had to Google surprisingly little of the spellings.>>Nicely done. There this is a bit of a catch to this though isn't there? You do have to be- there's Luke in action, there you go.>> Oh yeah if you're watching the video version. I'm, I'm not gonna describe it, but if you listen to the audio version, you're compelled to see what Luke in action means.>> [LAUGH]. That's Luke doing some Batman stuff. [LAUGH] So there's a bit of catch to this there is a small catch. You do have to be a Sky customer. Yes. Right. If you are you can apply for tickets for free. Yep. When you're a Sky customer. And it's only on temporarily as well so it's only on from the 15th-17th. And it's in London so you know it is pretty specific. But, the great thing is that we've been kind of taking all of these [UNKNOWN] you don't even need to get down to [UNKNOWN] Get out of your house. We've got many, many photos, it's very comprehensive, and, and, yeah, it's just really, really cool. It loads a little details on, on the props that, that are about a pixel big on the tv show when you watch it, I imagine. Mm-hm. But, and you would never notice them. But they're really cool. Like, for example, Stanis is, [INAUDIBLE] where he keeps his sword. Mm-hm. It's, it's covered in little gold and, stags and burning heart. So it's just, anyone who's familiar with the show will know. Right. It's a sort of mix of his familial heritage and adopted religion. That sounds a bit emo, frankly, he's drawing burning hearts on his clothes. Yeah, but you know, he's. Basically started hanging out with like an emo-ey, burning hot crowd. Okay. And they persuaded him. We're just, we're getting a little bit worried about him, but it's perfectly harmless. It's just a phase. Okay, fair enough. Well, there you go, so yeah. We go to things so you don't have to. Anyway, why don't we move on to the big picture. [MUSIC] We love iOS and Android, but they have been around awhile and you can't blame us if our eyes start to wonder every now and then. So what are the alternatives? A couple of years ago a few new contenders threw their hats in the mobile OS ring. And these upstart OS' are finally available. This week I got my hands on the first phone to run on Ubuntu. The BQ Aquarus E4.5 Ubuntu Edition. Which swaps apps for scopes and does things a little differently. Mozilla's Firefox had a good year, while Tizen has Samsung's considerable resources. [INAUDIBLE] Behind it. But why would anyone want an alternative when Android has been good for everyone. Upstart OSs are a good deal for phone manufacturers and networks because they rest control and money back from Google, and give you a better chance of differentiating their kit from all the other Android devices out there. So where are they all up to? Luke, why don't you tell us about Firefox? Well Firefox is, an odd one. Firefox. OS because I, I would say this is the operating system of all of the, those alternatives that isn't really grabbing the headlines. Sure. But, arguably has actually made some real progress. Mm-hm. So, it's running on, I think, 15 low end phones. That's a lot of phones. Yeah, and these are things that are actually on sale Mmhm You know, in parts of the world Yeah, that's the other thing, though, isn't it, there not exactly in shops or anything, are they? No, and also they tend to be aimed at developing markets, so. You know, not the kind of thing that you will probably see in the UK or the US or anything in a really big way. But, Still [INAUDIBLE] that's a lot of phones and with manufacturers like Alcatel, LG. I think Alcatel is probably the biggest name one, but yeah LG as well actually is one of the biggest ones. Really LG? But, but yeah. I mean on, I've used [UNKNOWN]. I think it's, I think it's fine. y-yeah, the big question with all of these things really, is, is it better than Android which is extremely cheap also? I mean, I can see why it's better for manufacturers, but it's sort of for customers. Are they better off with an Android phone? [CROSSTALK]. But 5 iOS doing well. Yes. And here end of my report. That's the take away the bottom line. Yes. That's it. And Andy what about Tieson. Well Tieson's actually quite an interesting one because it's originally sort of started up by various companies also working together onto this one platform. But we have in the past year or so seen like. Samsung has, has heavily gotten involved in, in Tyson. Mm-hm. We actually saw Tyson, on a Galaxy S4 last year end of BC. Mm-hm. And it was showing us how far we've gotten with Tyson on this. And there was a lot of discussion at the time about whether Samsung itself would want to move away from Google's android. Mm-hm. And have, be able to have an operating system that's a bit more. But it can keep a bit closer control over. Sure. But more excitingly, is it ties into actually, we've seen it on, on a far greater number of devices, including it's hidden in watches, hidden in cameras. We've also been told about going into cars and fridges. And things, which is more difficult to do with Android, certainly in its in, as Android as you see it on the phone. I mean, Google itself. We've had, it's had to develop its own Android wear for watches. Mm-hm. And Chromecasts for TVs. So very different versions of the software, but Tizen could be a bit easier to put onto everything to maybe have everything communicate together. So [CROSSTALK] sort of, you know? Call it Internet of Things, the Smart Home, Tizen may well have quite a big place in there. Ties in nicely to the Smart Home. Oh, this guy. I think I- [LAUGH] This is why they pay you the big. But yeah. [INAUDIBLE] what? [LAUGH] Do you, do you guys get paid, Hang on. Oh, er. But for [UNKNOWN]. I mean, yeah. I think that's actually a really good point because I think the gut reaction with a lot of these operating systems is. Why are they even trying, the race is run, [CROSSTALK] Android won. but, yet, when we think about the next step which is things like smart home and things like that, it's basically a whole new battlefield. That's right. And ubuntu as well, they I mean, they finally got their first phone. [INAUDIBLE] A couple of years ago when we first started seeing these. Star two s's when we saw the my mobile world congress in 2013 all in the one place. Tyson was unusable. It was just an absolute mess. That's what [CROSSTALK] surprise. It was absolutely terrible. It wasn't just ready, it wasn't ready, basically. Firefox was kinder there but, but was, you know, wasn't, was, hasn't really, hadn't really saw them very much. And Ubuntu really seemed to work, it was the most developed and the most the most. Elegant and it kind of worked really well. And in terms of software not much has changed. They kind of they haven't really evolved much because it was already at the finished product. What they, what's taken them a long time is obviously building these relationships with manufacturers and networks and that kinda thing. And they're still only selling it in a flash sale in, in Europe in limited limited numbers. But yeah, but, but they've, you know, like you say, Ubuntu is, is much. It's more open to other devices, so it's already well known for being on PCs. Yeah. And it could potentially run other devices as well. And they've just announced something called Open 2 Core, which is all about smart devices and even drones. So you can use Ubuntu to power your drone and have an app store be a drone. Okay. That's neat. Yeah, which is pretty cool. So, yeah it's yeah, all, all still wide open, which is good. And it's good that we're actually seeing some devices that we can buy. So again. I was quite excited by Ubuntu when I first. Saw it and it was, yeah, it would've been about two years ago I think, when they first showed off the device cuz that was one of the first times where they'd really talked about instead of having, oh, yeah, so you'll buy your phone, you'll buy a tablet and you'll buy this. It was really about, the phone is, is the core for everything. And you just plug it into a monitor and it'll act as your desktop. And, and I thought it was really exciting and that was really what you. What you want, and I've talked about that so many times that [UNKNOWN] why are we still pushing towards multiple devices? We need to be pushing towards a brain, and- One convergent [CROSSTALK] And that was great. And it's, it's a shame that it kind of, we haven't had a big uptake in that and had a bit more of an assignment. We're not quite there with, we're not quite there with this particular [UNKNOWN] phone, the BQ Aquis, which we have got a hands on video and photos and, first look review kind of preview, on the site. Have a look for that if you're interested. It's on [UNKNOWN] also over the next, few weeks. Cool. There you go. So what have our readers been saying? One of the, those guys. Well europepodboy says excellent an alternative to Android these are comments on the [UNKNOWN] Mm-hm, yeah. If you want a true open OS this is the way to go. At least this open source OS won't. Spy on you like android does. Wont it? Yes. Really. It, it definitely will. [UNKNOWN] Exactly in the same way all of the other ones do, as soon as you start using any apps, services, or anything else. Of course it will. Yeah. So. That's. Oh well. Yeah. So that, so that's that. So just get used to it. Yeah. You've been, you've been told. Roscoe GSC says if you want a truly customizable phone, I think you just found it. This should be very interesting. I hope they make and sell tons of them. Yeah, that's positive stuff. Yeah. [CROSSTALK] positive. well, osmand_chez says pretty noble. I love all this competition in phones. I can't wait until most phones cost as much as the ones on contract, and then everyone will start going off contract. Whew! Take that, cell phone companies, take that. Woo, yeah While EvilPinkLolita says, that's too bad the phone won't be released in the US, I'd love to get my hands on it. Well, there you go. They do actually have plans for the US and they are going to be announcing something very soon, so we'll keep you posted when that actually happens. We should give a little honorable mention to sailfish. I just remembered that, what happened to those guys? Yeah with giallo, but giallo is selling quite well apparently, but its in Finland and China. But they have, because they, they did their Kickstarter campaign. Actually it was an IndieGoGo campaign, for the Jolla Tablet. Hm. And that did phenomenally well, and within a few hours it had hit its targets and it massively exceed it over the week it was actually up online. And, they actually were showing off physical units of that at [UNKNOWN], so really looking forward to actually going and getting hands on with that and seeing what Sailfish is like on an OS. Because on a phone it was. It looked really neat, and it was fun to use. Actually, it was quite, quite exciting. [INAUDIBLE]. It didn't have like, the app support, but it did use, like, HTML five app, so- Hm. A lot of web-based stuff will work quite well. So, you know, we'll definitely wait and see on that one. Good stuff. Alright. And then- [UNKNOWN] all this stuff we're talking about, we're gonna be, coming from [UNKNOWN]. We're going to be seeing all these things. There'll be loads of loads of websites and videos and [UNKNOWN] When is [UNKNOWN]? It's very soon. It's, [UNKNOWN] March. Sooner than you think. Sooner than you want. Yeah, yeah. Well, we gotta go over there in force so we'll bring you all the cool stuff from there. All right, and that's finally it. We want some feedback. [MUSIC] Gary MacAnally said why's the sky blue? Well because it reflects the sea obviously. I don't think that's true. No that is true. In fact before I Google it. I don't think [CROSSTALK] it reflects the sea. What else is happening? [CROSSTALK] Something to do with particles. [LAUGH] Something to do with molecules in the air. Yeah. Scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. Okay. Yeah. That doesn't sound right. [CROSSTALK] I think it's reflecting the same thing. [CROSSTALK] I think it's the sea. Luke Whittaker says, When is the new Google Aura coming out, as it obviously isn't January 2015 anymore? Good point. Yeah. No. Probably not January 15 now. Pro Project Aura for those who may have forgotten, is Google's concept at slot together modular phone, so you can like- It looks really cool doesn't it? It does look cool. You can just swap out the screen when it gets cracked. It looks really cool but I'm refusing to get excited about it because I had a Google Glass, and all the other Google stuff- [CROSSTALK] I don't think Google Glass ever looked cool, but okay. All right. It didn't look cool, but it was. Like, wow. How cool. so, but, yeah. But you, you, the idea is that you've got like a, a phone you can slot different cameras and different screens. So, if the screen smashes, you can just pull the screen bit out and just slot in a new one and stuff. It is really cool. But, where is it? Is it ever going to be real? Google has actually said that it is going on sale with Puerto Rico one of the first places it goes on sale Where> So, Puerto Rico Lucky Puerto Ricans Yeah, definitely, That's a bit random, I've never heard. [CROSSTALK] Like someone launching a product, in, in Puerto Rico. I'm not, I'm not sure about this, but I, I definitely read something about like they're going to be selling it out of sort, food van style. That's such a Google thing to do, isn't it? That's so Google. That's Google right there. Well, we've got this amazing new thing, which might transform technology and the industry and that kind of thing. What should we do with it? Let's sell out of food vans. [CROSSTALK]. Latin America. Which, you know, we'll, we'd love to get our hands on one and yeah, good for them. When's that happening? Sometime this year? Yeah, like, in 2015 I think is, is all they've, all they've- That is indeed this year. So I mean, fingers crossed. A, it looks like it's sort of still happening, slowly but surely. Yeah. meanwhile, aniren, wait, have I pronounced that right? Aniren Pile says, I have- [UNKNOWN]. Cool. How's he doing? [UNKNOWN]. Well, l-let's find out. Still owes me a [UNKNOWN]. I have a question for your amazing podcast. Aw. All right, you can keep it [UNKNOWN]. If you had to chose one household item to become smart in 2015, what would it be? And then they add, [UNKNOWN] at the end. We're not really sure what that means. I'm not sure what that means but, we love the, can I just say that after last week where, due to some work of like the planets aligning not in our favor we had absolutely no feedback. Well, we did get three likes. So, there's that. We got, we got three likes on the Facebook status but, like, can I just say that loads of people have written in this week with, with feedback. Thank you, yes. It's really nice. That is very heart. You don't know how much we appreciate that outpouring of support. It does, because otherwise we just feel like we are just shouting into the void. Yeah. I know it can seem like we are big stars, in up on and so, you know, unattainable. Yeah, sitting on a pile of money not caring about anything. Yeah, on a, on a pedestal, like they probably got loads of feedback, they're never going to read out mine, but [LAUGH] in fact. No, we really appreciate it. We do. We do appreciate it [UNKNOWN]. I was given some feedback. [CROSSTALK] You want the question. The question was what do you want if one household item to become smart in 2015? Andy, what do you think? oh, for me, it's a better system for remotely shutting off your household plugs. Because. Yeah. Every single day, without fail. Yeah. Mm-hm. I will, get to my front door of my house. And I think. Have I left my hair straighteners on? And even though I always know I haven't. Yep, there it is. Always have to get back and check. And often, I will walk halfway to the tube station and then double back and go home. Just because as soon as you start thinking, have I left it on. Mm-hm. That thought is not gonna leave. It will drive you mad so I go back and check. And I've never left them on, but there you go. Or, smart chairs, really comfortable, you know those American lounge chairs- Like La-Z-Boys? La-Z-Boys, yeah, fridges and phones and whatnot put into the armrest. Why aren't any of those cool over here? I want those. [INAUDIBLE] I think it's because our living rooms aren't big enough. Well, bigger living rooms. Those chairs, those chairs. Or whatever. Also, the good thing about that is that when you spend too much of your time sitting and slowly contracting diabetes or having a heart attack. Yeah. Yeah. You'll check every like, every half hour. [CROSSTALK] Bang. Yeah, just like fire you out and send you jogging. Absolutely, okay. I would like a smart floor. And I would like the floor to be connected up with millions of little stickers, bear with me. And those little stickers, you can put on all of the things. You own [LAUGH] and that way whenever somethings lost you can be like, where did it go [LAUGH] and you look on your phone and your floor has been look ooh, searching for that sticker. Yeah. And be like here are the keys. It can light up. The floor could light up. Yeah, the floor could light up. You could probably do that without [INAUDIBLE]. [UNKNOWN] Probably. Also [UNKNOWN] ID tag but If you have [UNKNOWN] you definitely want a lighter gun for. Yeah definitely. Anymore questions? The house goes mad stuff. [LAUGH] That's what it'll do. yes, loads more questions. David B says, hey guys. Two questions. Two questions? Two in one hit. I know you guys don't watch the premier league much. Heh! But if you were forced, by a gun point, to chose a team, which would it be? And then David puts [UNKNOWN] in brackets. Which presumably. It's whatever [UNKNOWN]. Is the correct answer. He is right, that we're not. Sorts of other things. Well, yeah. I, I mean, I, I, Manchester City would be my physically closest team when I was growing up, so I supported them also. Cities home kit as a delightful baby blue which I always really liked. I don't know if they refer to it as baby blue. I'm pretty sure Well, it was baby blue [CROSSTALK] . [LAUGH] Blue. [CROSSTALK] [LAUGH] And I definitely get the city, not United. Cuz it annoys me that their team is called Manchester United, yet clearly they're not united when there's a Manchester city. There's two to each. It was in Manchester United [CROSSTALK]. But it can be called Manchester's United, when there's only one Manchester team and they are united, but- Okay, well, I, I can't swear any allegiance to anyone other than them anyway [INAUDIBLE]. Are they in the [UNKNOWN] league? Any more questions? [LAUGH] [LAUGH] yes, David, also says coming to London from the USA, is there a must go to pub in central London? many, many. Yeah. Now that is an excellent question there are, actually, in really central London there are lots and lots of good pubs that tend to get busy Yeah But check out the Admiral Tea on Trafalgar Square, which despite being on Trafalgar Square is actually quite a nice pub, there are loads of. Theme in it kinda. Yeah it's got a theme like I think the theme is like the HMS victory as being by Nelson column enterprises and Nelson's ship, and the, the boats. There's some really, really good historic pubs like The Blackfriar in Blackfriars. Right. And Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese which was rebuilt after the Great Fire in 1666. That's great. Really hard to go to the toilet in there, though, because it's got very low ceilings on the generally but also in the. Mm. In the stairs down to the toilet. [LAUGH] So [CROSSTALK] Finally, we're giving proper consumer advice on this podcast. [LAUGH] This has never happened before. I was just going to buy a bottle of cider and sit in Hyde Park. And there's also a Viaduct Tavern as well worth checking out. It's, that's a Victorian gin palace. [CROSSTALK] Full of wine. Beer in windows that kind of thing. That's where I hired for a 30th birthday which went down very well. Mm. And also our local is The Lord Nelson which is a fantastic pub and does great burgers. But [INAUDIBLE] You have to get. Quite central. It's by water though. That was, that was your excuse for not coming to my birthday. I wouldn't go out of your way David. Producer Mark, oh, by the way, David also says keep up the hilarity. So, thank you. Aw, thanks, thanks, that's very nice. [UNKNOWN] Producer Mark, who you'll never see for some reason thinks that it. It's appropriate for him to leave feedback and said. [LAUGH] Why go out for burger when you have steak at home? Why go out for burger when [CROSSTALK]. Part of a breakdown. [LAUGH] On extended breakdown. Playing out in the pages of, of feedback section. Mm-hm. If you would that. great. And now. and Joe has been in touch to say, Hi guys. Not many questions recently so I'll throw you a bone. Why would I want a pity questions? We do. We do want pity questions. We need your- Quiet. What of this bone he's speaks of? [LAUGH] Go ahead. What's [UNKNOWN] question? One of the main reasons Google Glass. failed was because it was considerably too imposing, right? So, don't AR devices, like Microsoft Hollowlens, which is arguably even more noticeable, suffer from the same shortcomings? Or do you think, because Hollowlens is so much cooler, people won't mind being seen dead wearing one? Will people even wear AR headsets out and about? Greg podcaster also says keep up the. [INAUDIBLE] Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much. Much appreciate that. yeah, I think that's true. I don't think anyone's gonna wear them outside, are they. No, I think you, they definitely need to become a lot smaller. All the ones, see, they're proper headsets, like Samsung's VR and Oculus Rift, and all this stuff. They're not, they're designed for home use at the moment. There'd have to be a lot of change before they become a. Hm. Even remotely usable when you're out and about. Yeah. Basically you want them implanted into your eyes, don't you? That's ideally, yeah, or just replace your eyes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'd be fine, fine with that, any of those. All great ideas. Keep up the good work, cheers. Thanks. Yeah, good, good stuff. All right, cool. All right. Yes. Thank you, and keep the feedback coming please, by e mailing us at our e mail address which is cnetukpodcast@cbsi.com, and just to reiterate Mhm We really do like getting your feedback guys, so any idea, anything you want. Want to say, big or small, we love hearing your thoughts, it's amazing It is lovely to hear from you, because you are why we do this. Yeah You complete us That means we don't have to talk to each other You complete the circuit Oh God yes,. lyrics, thoughts of the day, write a diary and send us that, week by week. [CROSSTALK] your own. [CROSSTALK] our best judgement. All right. There we go. That's probably enough. Well, that's it for this week. Absolutely. So, thank you Andy. Thank you. Thank you Luke. Thank you. Thank you to our producer Mark who you will never see. Right, we're off to start writing a diary and sending it to Andy on a weekly basis. See you next week. [MUSIC]