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Drones are becoming more and more dangerous in the sky

They offer enormous opportunities, but sometimes harbor great dangers: Drones. For example, the number of disruptions in air traffic is increasing. Defense techniques find it difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of technology development.

Significant disruption to air traffic from drones was a wake-up call for the UK authorities. Gatwick Airport in London was paralyzed for several days in December. Tens of thousands of passengers had to stay on the ground without the police finding the perpetrators. The government wants to prevent new drone incidents with expanded restricted zones and mandatory registration. London Heathrow, Europe’s largest airport, is protected with military equipment.

“The danger is great and growing,” says Jürgen Beyerer, who is involved in security and defense research at the Fraunhofer Institute. “You don’t have to equip a drone with explosives to cause huge economic damage. We have very vulnerable infrastructures, for example airports, which can be paralyzed just by sighting a drone. You have to make them more resilient. ”And:“ I think the airports have underestimated that so far. ”

In Germany, obstacles to air traffic with drones increased by 80 percent in the past year. The German air traffic control reports 158 cases, 125 of them in the metropolitan area of ​​airports. There were a total of 88 faults in 2017, the previous record year.

Remote-controlled aircraft that are used as toys or work equipment are becoming increasingly cheaper and at the same time more powerful. Whole “swarms of drones”, possibly with a programmed flight order, are the next technological leap. An enormous challenge for the military, for airports and ultimately also for major events.

Experts in the military and authorities are watching very closely how small drones are already being used as weapons. The Bundeswehr protects itself against such attacks when deployed abroad. The latest edition of the specialist journal “MarineForum” sheds light on the dangers posed by drones or entire swarms of drones that can carry explosives or even warfare agents.

In Syria, self-made weapons have already been used as weapons. Just one of several examples: on January 8, 2018, the Russian military reported that ten missiles prepared with explosives and heading for the Hamaimim air base had been located. Three more drones were aimed at the Tartus naval base. Some of the self-made plastic and wood constructions were shot down and some landed. A drone was on public display.

Israel is considered a pioneer in defense against drones. Companies there have developed various defense systems, such as the “Drone Dome” from the arms manufacturer Rafael and the “Drone Guard” from Elta, a subsidiary of the defense group IAI (Israeli Aerospace Industries). A Rafael spokesman, he calls himself Meir and does not want to give his full name, says: “The threat from drones has increased significantly in recent years. From a gimmick, it has become a weapon used by terrorist organizations like the Islamic State (IS). ”

The task of the “Drone Dome” is to detect drones and, if necessary, to switch them off. This is possible up to a distance of 3.5 to 5 kilometers. If a drone comes dangerously close to an airport, you can either disrupt its communication systems or take control of the aircraft and land it at a safe distance. Both methods are known as “soft kill”. A so-called “hard kill” is also technically possible – shooting down the drone with a precisely targeted laser cannon. “This is an option, but it’s not used in practice yet,” he says.

The “soft kill” does not endanger aircraft in the vicinity because drones have a significantly lower radio frequency than aircraft, says Meir. The “hard kill” could be necessary in the future if drones were equipped in such a way that their radio links could no longer be disturbed.

The system currently in use will be alerted if only the remote control of a drone is switched on in the vicinity of an airport, explains Meir. A flying drone can also be identified by optical monitoring and so-called sigint systems – “Signals Intelligence”, the examination of data streams for certain content.

The system can be operated by a person, for example in the control tower of an airport. Last year, according to media reports, Rafael sold six of these systems to Great Britain for the equivalent of 17.45 million euros. This is not the only foreign customer, says Meir, but does not want to name any other countries.

The defense system of the second Israeli provider, the “Drone Guard”, was used to protect the latest G20 summit in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. An Elta representative confirmed that the system was also used near the airport while the heads of state landed there.

In Germany, the airports are responsible for their own security of the site. However, this explicitly refers to the floor. Air traffic control is responsible for the airspace, but only for known and orderly flight movements. In the case of unauthorized threat flights, the police also come into play: only they are authorized to exercise “direct coercion”.

“Experience with game consoles is an advantage”

In addition to electronic means, a shotgun or the use of a water cannon are also conceivable. Even birds of prey have been trained, but with moderate success in practical use. Also under discussion are restricted zones that are technically enforced through so-called geofencing: drones would have to contain an electronic component that scans forbidden areas and blocks entry.

However, there are also racing drones, some of them self-built, which demonstrate spectacular mobility even in narrow buildings. Beyerer: “Race drones fly so fast that it takes your breath away. Defense systems simply have problems with the dynamics of these drones. If these fast drones are then also equipped with autonomy, I would say that you are not prepared for this today. “

With lightning and thunder against mosquitoes

Whether with electronics or chemicals – the fight against mosquitoes and their bites is a business that more and more companies are pushing into. The technical innovations with which they hunt down the pests.

Their buzzing robs you of sleep – and once you have tracked down your victim, for example based on the exhaled air or the body odor, there is hardly any escape. They saw through the skin to the nearest vein with their piercing bristles, and with their proboscis they pump saliva into the wound so that the victim’s blood does not clot. Then they suck it off. And a little later the sting begins to itch.

Mosquitoes are a nuisance, mosquitoes are disease carriers – and they are business for large corporations and small start-ups.

One start-up that makes money with the buzzing pests is Heat_it. The company based near Mannheim has developed a tiny device that can be used to relieve the itching and swelling after a mosquito bite. Connected to the smartphone and its battery, you simply hold the device on the itchy area. The heat given off ensures that fewer histamines are released, which cause itching. At the same time, the brief pain leads to the fact that the brain hardly notices the itching. And the heat is supposed to break down the protein poison from the mosquito’s saliva.

Similar devices, in which the user has to charge the battery regularly and which are therefore much more bulky, have been on the market for a while; they are available at the common drugstore chains.

In Germany , mosquitoes can be a nuisance and even cause business problems, as restaurateurs on the Bavarian Ammersee have to experience this year. There, residents and tourists had to flee the open air after 3 p.m. because the mosquitoes literally fell on them. But at least they rarely transmit serious diseases in this country. Unlike in the malaria areas of the world.

The World Health Organization WHO has recommended two years ago for the first time in decades a new anti-mosquito products, such as for use in Central Africa and Southeast Asia. A mosquito net from the Ludwigshafen-based BASF group soaked in the active ingredient chlorfenapyr .

Old ideas, improved application

The company developed this together with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium, an organization to fight malaria. The active ingredient is not new; it has been used as an insecticide in agriculture for years. But now the scientists have changed it so that it can also be used on the networks.

The active ingredient disrupts the insects’ ability to generate energy. As a result, it dies when it sits on the net. It is also considered less likely that the insects will become resistant to the agent. Based on the active ingredient, BASF has now also developed a spray that can be applied to walls and ceilings.

A remedy that the Cologne-based chemical company Lanxess has in its range is a little less martial against mosquitoes . Lanxess is an exclusive worldwide manufacturer of the active ingredient Icaridin, which is found in most mosquito sprays today, for example in Autan, which is sold by the US manufacturer SC Johnson.

Icaridin makes people practically impossible to smell by mosquitoes by confusing their olfactory receptors. This makes it much more difficult for the animal to find its victim, and the risk of a mosquito bite is reduced. However, mosquitoes also orientate themselves with their eyes. The funds are of little help here.

Nevertheless, analysts at Zion Market Research expect the global market for drugs to keep mosquitos away from them to grow to around five billion dollars by 2022. Outbreaks like the Zika virus in South America would drive development, they expect.

And electronics should also chase the insects away, according to the plan of the Zurich start-up Nopixglobal. His Nopixgo bracelet emits electromagnetic impulses that are harmless to humans and simulate a storm with lightning and thunder. Mosquitoes don’t like that at all. Even in bodies of water, the bracelet, which costs around 90 euros, chases away stinging animals, reports a hobby angler on YouTube who has tested it extensively.

This is behind Neuralink – the new project from Elon Musk

Elon Musk wants to connect the human brain to the smartphone – with Neuralink, a mini-computer in the head. The device should also have potential in the medical field. We see what else it can do.

It sounds like science fiction – and maybe you have to ask yourself several times whether a mini-computer really has to be in the human head. But Elon Musik wants to bring exactly one on the market to connect us to the smartphone.

The device is called Neuralink and is designed to convey information between neurons and computers. The American entrepreneur has already shown how this should work in a video presentation – using pigs.

A Neuralink prototype was implanted into the animals beforehand.

If a pig moved its trunk, for example, the nerve connections were transferred to a computer via Bluetooth connections. This enabled the researchers to predict the animal’s coming movements with a high degree of probability.

Neuralink: A mini-computer for the human brain

The chip is eight millimeters thick and 23 millimeters in diameter. It should of course not actually be used on pigs, but ultimately on people.

According to Musk, he also sees potential in the treatment of pain, visual disturbances, hearing loss, insomnia, brain damage and injuries to the spinal cord.

The current prototype is already equipped with sensors for temperature, pressure and movement measurement. Musk says that the device can “monitor health and warn, for example, of a risk of heart attack or stroke”.

When Neuralink is implanted in the human brain, the technology should communicate with an app on the smartphone via Bluetooth. Here, too, one should think about possible effects. After all, a technology chip in the body initially has nothing to do with human nature.

However, Musk is of the opinion that in the future people will have to connect their brains to computers in order to be able to keep up with the ever-evolving artificial intelligence.

When is Neuralink available?

Elon Musk has not yet tested his mini-computer on humans. There is also no specific schedule for a possible test phase or even the start of production. The Tesla founder has not yet given a price range.

The video presentation and the animal experiments are said to have primarily served to find new employees for Neuralink. Around 100 people are currently working on the technology. However, Musk doesn’t think it’s unlikely that the project will eventually employ 10,000 people.

 

“In the future people will also print their schnitzel”

3D printing makes life easier: Airplanes are lighter and save kerosene, the tooth crown fits straight away and transport and storage costs are eliminated. Experts expect a lot more in the next few years.

Airplane parts and custom-made spectacle frames, artificial hip joints and dental crowns are already coming from the 3D printer in many cases. According to a study by the management consultancy Ernst & Young, sales of around 11 billion euros will be generated this year. The market should continue to grow by 25 percent annually and by 2023 will already be a good 25 billion euros. And “in the future, people will also print their schnitzel,” said Professor Nikolaus Adams on Wednesday at the start of a 3D printing conference at the Technical University of Munich .

The steak has already been made in the laboratory as an experiment. But technology is already part of everyday life in industry, especially in aircraft construction: 78 percent of companies in this industry use it, the remaining 22 percent plan to follow suit, according to the EY study. Because 3D printing allows completely new, much lighter components – and “that saves weight and costs,” said Airbus manager Remedios Carmona in Munich. The door hinge for the A350 used to consist of ten parts; today it is printed in one piece in Donauwörth, Bavaria.

“With a weight saving of one kilogram on all Lufthansa aircraft, we save 26.5 tons of kerosene per year,” explained Steffen Milchsack from Lufthansa . Boeing manager Melissa Orme said in Munich that her company has already installed around 70,000 parts from the 3D printer in aircraft and satellites. The technology is used in 20 Boeing plants today. As an example, she cited an antenna component: formerly a massive block, now a filigree lattice structure.

In 3D printing, plastic, ceramic or metal powders are fused layer by layer with the help of lasers until the desired shape is created. The process enables completely new, weight-saving structures that would not be possible with conventional techniques.

According to EY, only 59 percent of companies in the automotive industry use 3D printing, for example for the construction of machine parts and tools. It can also be used to produce prototypes much faster and more cheaply – this speeds up research and development, as Anne Thenaise from the French aircraft supplier Safran emphasized.

And spare parts can be produced quickly without high storage and transport costs even in remote regions – for example on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. “The Navy wants to press a button, get a component and install it in the machine,” said Lockheed Martin manager JD McFarlan in Munich.

According to the EY study, this will be driven by demand in aircraft construction and in medicine, where custom-made products are needed, as well as new materials that are suitable for 3D printing. A printer can cost well over a million euros, and the material is not cheap either. But “medical technology already earns good money with it,” said Tobias Stittgen from RWTH Aachen University. The Irish company Stryker, for example, has around 70 systems running today on which implants for medicine are manufactured.

Of the 900 companies surveyed, two thirds of German companies use 3D printing. In South Korea and China it is even around 80 percent. “3D printing is currently very popular in Asia. In China in particular, additive manufacturing is set as one of the clear priorities in the economic strategy at the country level, ”said Stefana Karevska from EY. “There is still a lot of testing going on in Germany – the local companies have not yet made as much use of it as the Asian ones, for example.”

The technology is actually far enough for use, said TÜV Süd manager Holger Lindner. However, many companies do not see a business model at the moment. However, that should change soon, the management consultants at EY expect. Every second company expects to be able to reduce its storage and transport costs through 3D printing in three years. “Every aerospace, consumer goods and chemical company plans for the future with 3D printing,” says the study.

When board game and console merge

In parallel to computer and video games, the market for board games is booming. From Thursday, game publishers from all over the world will be showing their latest creations at the Spielmesse in Essen. Digitization is also finding its way here.

The land of Andor is in danger: The enemies, skrals and other evil creatures are moving closer and closer from the forests and the mountains. But Anja, Sabine, Peter and Michael – all around forty years old and employed in their normal lives – have teamed up to fend them off. Every Wednesday the four of them meet in an apartment in Cologne – and slip into roles that couldn’t be further from their everyday lives. As a dwarf, archer, sorceress and warrior. They let the dice roll on the A3-sized and detailed landscape game board and then move their hero figures and those of their enemies on the board.

It’s not just digital games on consoles, smartphones and computers that are booming: the demand for board and card games remains high. For example, the parlor games business in Germany grew by nine percent last year; In total, more than 50 million games went over the counter in this country alone – both of which show that more and more analogue games are being played in Germany.

The main reason for this development: board games connect all generations. They are not only used in this country as a communicative and cooperative, emotional and educational experience, for example during a game evening with friends or family. For some people, in these times when their own smartphone is practically omnipresent, analog gaming is also becoming an exercise in “digital detox”, ie a conscious decision not to constantly stare at flashing displays. For those who are enthusiastic about games, the annual “Spiel” trade fair, which opens its doors in Essen for the 37th time on Thursday, is a must. The event, which has meanwhile advanced to the world’s largest public fair for board games, expects 1200 exhibitors from over 53 nations and five continents this year.

Dominique Metzler, head of the trade fair organizer Friedhelm-Merz-Verlag, based in Bonn, is expecting significantly more this year than the 190,000 gaming enthusiasts from all over the world who came to Essen last year. This means that the analog trade fair is half the size of its digital sister event “Gamescom” in Cologne, which around 373,000 video game players attended at the end of August.
“The more people play and the more positive experiences they have, the more demand and interest in board games grows,” says Hermann Hutter, head of the industry association for games publishers. “The publishers provide the basis for a further boom with innovative ideas on current social issues.” Currently, games such as “Ocean Crisis” (publisher: Shepherd Kit) or “CO2: Second Chance” (author: Vital Lacerda) are taking up the topic Environmental protection and playfully develop visions for a clean future.

 

But the analog gaming world has long since expanded to include numerous digital channels such as social media, blogs and YouTube videos, in which players can discuss the latest game hypes in special forums or find out more about the multitude of board games – one of the most important trends in the analog game world.
For example, there are numerous board game channels and blogs on the video portal YouTube, similar to the digital game world. Here the scene can find out about new releases using Let’s Play or Unboxing videos. The largest YouTube channels in this segment include Tom Vasel’s “The Dice Tower” with 226,000 subscribers and 14,770 videos, Rodney Smith’s “Watch It Played” channel (160,000 subscribers) and Richard “Rahdo” Ham (89,200 subscribers) with his popular “ Rahdo Runs Through “Videos.

 

Boardgamegeek.com, on the other hand, as the world’s largest English-language game portal for those interested in board games, has a database with more than 100,000 registered games. If you believe the nerds and game freaks there, “Maracaibo” from the pen of the Austrian star designer Alexander Pfister from the German publisher DLP Games, “Cooper Island” from the German game developer Andreas Odendahl from the German publisher Frosted Games and “Alubari: A Nice Cup Of Tea ”by the British Tony Boydell (publishers: Studio H, Board Game Box) on the strategic newcomers currently most discussed on the portal.
In all three board games, gamers immerse themselves in the respective epoch – the Caribbean in the 17th century (Maracaibo), the era of seafarers’ discovery (Cooper Island), tea plantation management in Darjeeling around 1840 (Alubari) – and compete against each other in completing their strategic tasks on. The games are aimed at experienced connoisseur players from 10 years of age who are not afraid of particular complexity and a playing time of 60 to 120 minutes.

So-called legacy games continue to conquer the board game market. This genre is about games in which – depending on the respective decisions of the players – the rules and components change and develop from round to round: For example, by discovering new game material, painting and sticking the game board or creating new characters. A currently popular example of this is “Machi Koro Legacy”, the new game by American player inventors Rob Daviau and JR Honeycutt (Pandasaurus publisher).

In addition, so-called cooperative games such as “Cities Skylines” by the Swedish game designer Rustan Hakansson (publisher: Kosmos), a board game implementation of the six million sold PC mega-seller of the same name, are currently booming. Here the players follow a common strategy to build their respective dream city. Other board game implementations of PC classics are “World of Warcraft: Das Brettspiel” (publisher: Heidelberger), “Age of Empires III: The Age of Discoveries” and “Civilization – Das Brettspiel” (both publisher: ADC Blackfire) or “Doom” (Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games).

“Zombicide Evolution-Las Vegas” (publisher: CMON) even merges board games and consoles into a hybrid gaming unit. In the game, players can track their characters using an app that runs on their smartphones. This, in turn, is networked with the manufacturer’s so-called Gamemaster app and is therefore able to surprise gamers with malicious intelligence. The game will be shown as a prototype at the fair and will be financed in the coming year via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, which is also interesting for the board game industry.

Meanwhile, the four geeks from the Cologne board game have been playing their fantasy adventure for a good two hours before they know whether they will emerge as winners or losers from the adventure. This time the four heroes successfully defended the land of Andor – all heroes survived, only the dwarf lost a few life points. In the world of Andor, the board game group can now devote themselves to one of the numerous other scenarios, slip into the role of other heroes and master new challenges.

 

WiFi and apps on vacation: stay away if you have the slightest doubt!

Smartphones, tablets or laptops are permanent travel companions for many who are now going on vacation – and are often easy targets for hackers at the holiday destination. With these tips you can protect yourself.

When I went to the Netherlands for a short vacation a few days ago, I made a surprising discovery on my cell phone. Although the Dutch company’s Corona warning app is only just being tested and is still being offered for public download, I found dozens of apps in the app store that promised advice and protection against the Covid pandemic. I didn’t install any, especially not after looking at the partly indefinable functions, but especially in view of the mostly unknown to dubious publishers.

In fact, IT security service providers keep coming across fake corona warning programs these days. Behind this are hackers who use the holiday season that is just starting and want to infect travelers’ mobile phones with malware via an app. 

Just a few days ago , for example, Eset experts discovered a blackmail program disguised as a Canadian Covid app. The encryption software named “CryCryptor” appeared shortly after the Canadian government announced that it would publish an app for contact tracking. 

The malware has now been deleted from the app store. But anyone who, as a corona-conscious traveler, had installed the supposed warning app without checking would have fallen into the trap of the blackmailers. Security experts therefore urgently advise you to check who is the publisher of the mobile phone program before downloading warning apps – abroad, such as in Germany. If you have the slightest doubt, hands off!

False corona programs are the latest, but by no means the only cyber risk that travelers should protect themselves from on vacation. The greatest danger lurks on the way to the network. It is true that the motto “roam-like-home” now applies to trips within the EU, meaning that telephone and data flat rates of the domestic tariff also apply to trips to other EU countries. But even flat rates are running out if you are too eager to send holiday pictures and videos. That is why many travelers switch to free WLAN access in hotels, cafes, airports or pedestrian zones in order to access the network.

This is exactly what online criminals take advantage of in many vacation regions with prepared hotspots. These unencrypted and free internet access are used to access personal login data. They can later resell them or use them to attempt fraud. So if you have to enter sensitive information such as credit card details or the passwords for your Google, Facebook or e-mail account when accessing a public WLAN, you should avoid these offers.

And even if you don’t have to log in with personal data or even use an encrypted WLAN in a hotel, you should be careful. Spies can also lurk in these networks and read the communication between your devices and the network. To avoid this, secure the connection using VPN technology, for example. Mobile phone, tablet or PC establish a tap-proof connection, for example to the router at home.

Setting up a VPN is usually less complicated than it sounds. Owners of a Fritzbox, for example, can at least pair their Android devices with the box via app without any programming knowledge and then activate the VPN with a swipe of a finger on the mobile phone. Devices with Apple’s iOS or Windows can also be docked to the box via VPN . The decisive factor, however, is that the devices must be paired before departure, as long as the owner is still logged into the home WiFi.

The threat to cell phones and the data on them is not only digital, but also traditionally from pickpockets. In the meantime, they often no longer just access the smartphones, but also silver the user information stored on them. This applies, for example, to contact data from the phone book, but also to the access data stored there by many users for bank accounts, credit cards, online access and more. 

To prevent thieves from reading this information and selling it on criminal platforms online, you must activate a password request, unlock the cell phone via the fingerprint sensor or face recognition as a minimum level of security for the device. The unlock code should be at least six digits, so the average pickpockets can no longer crack the phones. 

Even better is the protection provided by security apps that allow the cell phone to be located remotely, all data to be deleted if necessary, or the device to be completely blocked for any further use. If desired, apps can even take photos of the thieves when they try to unlock the phone. Then they send the picture to the rightful owner. You can then use the portrait to report the theft to the police. For an overview of relevant programs in the IT portal Chip.de .

And then there is a very similar tip to protect data and devices while on vacation: Simply switch off the technology, lock the devices in the hotel safe during the day and only look at them in the evening. That leaves pickpockets and cyber gangsters alike in the void – and also makes it easier to switch off personally

Because that’s actually the most important thing on vacation.

Blackberry should come back again – new smartphone announced

The Chinese manufacturer TCL had already quietly buried the Blackberry brand in smartphones. Now there should be a new model.

They simply cannot be killed: Actually, the end of the Blackberry smartphones with their distinctive keyboard had already been sealed – but there should be a new model in the coming year. The Texan company OnwardMobility wants to develop the devices, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn is to build them. OnwardMobility announced on Wednesday that the new model, which is also equipped for super-fast 5G data transmission, should hit the market in the USA and Europe in the first half of 2021 .

Blackberry was once a pioneer in the smartphone market, but with the advance of touchscreens it lost its connection to Apple’s iPhone and phones with the Google Android operating system. Smartphones under the brand were still around until recently – but they were no longer built by Blackberry itself, but by the manufacturer TCL, who had acquired a license for the brand name.

In February TCL announced that it would stop production. The telephones only had a tiny share of the market – but some of them were still used in companies and authorities.

 

Blackberry had already crushed its own operating system years ago – the current smartphones under the brand run with Google’s Android software. The OnwardMobility device will also be an Android smartphone. Blackberry itself focuses on software for businesses as well as for cars.

The comeback of retro technology

Ousted by the mass market, on the advance in the niche: music cassettes, retro consoles or Polaroid cameras from the 80s and 90s are back in fashion. But it doesn’t work entirely without modern technology.

Oh yeah, back then … when you jumped up to record your favorite song on the radio; when hearts were conquered with self-made mixtapes; when the tape salad could be tamed again with pencil and patience. Anyone who grew up in the 80s or 90s often raves about the music cassette. Others get nostalgic when they think of the clunky Commodore 64 home computer, the first Nintendo game console or the old party pictures from the instant camera.

All these multimedia products have long ceased to shape the mass market. They have ousted streaming services like Spotify , smartphone games and digital photography from there. According to data from the Federal Association of the Music Industry, sales of cassettes in Germany fell from a low EUR 13 million in 2009 to under EUR 1 million last year. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, it fell by a full eleven percent. Only the record has been making a major comeback among analogue sound carriers for a long time: between 2009 and 2018, sales of vinyl increased sevenfold to around 70 million euros.

But music cassettes and the like have also survived in the niche – and are even enjoying growing popularity there. So much so that start-ups and companies have grown new business models around them – or have been able to maintain old ones.

“Over the years, we have continued to develop both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to meet the steadily increasing demand for cassettes,” says Franziska Kohlhase from the Leipzig company TAPE Muzik. A handful of employees there have been producing “audio cassettes and accessories” since 2004, as it says on the website.

The demand comes mainly from bands, labels or major customers, “mostly for smaller quantities, but sometimes for several thousand units,” says Kohlhase. Customers deliver their pieces as digital files. “These are copied directly onto large tape reels on professional copying machines before the tape is then rewound into the cassettes.” This guarantees a much better sound quality than copying the tape onto cassettes.

The company is not an isolated case. Larger players have also recognized the trend and put corresponding products on offer. The fashion chain Urban Outfitters, for example, which primarily has a young target group in view, sells Walkmen, Eminem tapes and Polaroid cameras in its online shop. The Chinese start-up Ninm is currently collecting money for the development of a portable cassette player with the latest Bluetooth technology. The company also offers an instant camera in the design of analog single-lens reflex cameras.

Because the retro trend in multimedia products also extends to photography. Last year, 460,000 instant cameras were sold in Germany, the Photo Industry Association announced on request – more than four times as many as in 2014. “Generation Z, who make up a large proportion of the instant camera buyer group, is excited about this new experience “Says a spokeswoman. “And of course many nostalgic people can also get excited about the new edition of the instant photo.”

There are also unusual twists and turns. The instant cameras under the traditional name Polaroid are now being built by a company that originally began as a fan project. The “Impossible Project” was formed in the Netherlands after Polaroid announced the closure of the film factory there – with the aim of maintaining production. In 2016 Impossible brought its own newly developed instant camera onto the market. The following year, the main shareholder of Impossible bought the Polaroid brand and the licensing business.

And the modern versions of old game consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System or the first Playstation are also well received. “Almost every second gamer (49 percent) in Germany finds the new editions of SNES, Playstation and Co. interesting,” the Association of the German Games Industry recently determined in an online survey of more than 2000 game enthusiasts. Every fourth respondent has already bought one.

“First and foremost, such trends naturally work well with consumers who have witnessed the time themselves,” says Sascha Raithel, Professor of Marketing at the Free University of Berlin. “This is also a psychological phenomenon: Experiences from youth are saved more positively than they actually were.” However, such trends could also work less often with young people who would not have experienced the time directly themselves. However, he warns companies not to grow old with their own target group. It is often overlooked that future generations have different interests and preferences.

This is probably one of the reasons why the suppliers of retro products concentrate primarily on the facade: Old game consoles may be well received, but the graphics from back then certainly not. That’s why modern technology is hidden under the retro plastic cover. The games no longer have to be plugged in, but are installed on the hard drive. The sound quality of cassettes at that time should also no longer convince anyone, and the fact that you can connect a player to the computer will also help sales. The originals may be celebrated, but the younger generation, in particular, cannot do without the digital comforts of today.

TikTok is really that dangerous

The Chinese app TikTok is already banned in India, the US government is considering similar measures, as is the Amazon group for its employees. How serious the deficiencies in terms of data protection, security and espionage actually are. 

The social media app TikTok breaks all records: never before has mobile entertainment software gained so many users in such a short time. According to surveys by the data service provider Sensor Tower , the number of downloads worldwide exceeded the two billion mark at the end of April . In June alone, more than 87 million additional users were added worldwide . TikTok was the most frequently downloaded mobile phone program from app stores worldwide , ahead of Zoom, Facebook , WhatsApp and Instagram . 

This means that smartphone software is not only a global phenomenon , it is also the first social network of global importance to come from a Chinese company. But in parallel with the rapid expansion, criticism of the platform is growing. The US government has been checking the security of the software for a long time, and now President Donald Trump is even threatening a ban in the US . Microsoft officially confirmed on Sunday for the first time that it wanted to buy TikTok’s US business. According to its own information, TikTok has 100 million users in the US.

India has already banned the app, and security gaps have repeatedly been discovered in Germany in recent months. The US group Amazon even published a request to its employees not to install TikTok on company devices – and withdrew them shortly afterwards.

“We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users and enabling fulfilling careers for those who create creative content on our platform,” says TikTok itself. Can the app do that? Four questions and answers about the controversial software.

What is TikTok about?

Similar to the Google subsidiary Youtube, TikTok is also a video service that lives from the fact that its users publish their own films on the platform. The program has been known under its current name since August 2018. At that time, the owner, the Chinese company Bytedance, renamed the popular app previously known as musical.ly to TikTok. 

The individual video snippets are usually much shorter than with other video services. The videos, often only around 15 seconds long, often show private karaoke recordings, dances, animals, everyday things or joke scenes – some of them characterized by very robust humor. One film follows the next, in a wild, colorful, almost infinite stream.

In view of its reach, companies and institutions are increasingly using the platform in addition to private users to reach younger target groups. The mail order company Otto and the Bundesliga clubs FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are already swimming in the TikTok stream, as are the German offshoots of the US beverage brand Punica and the Swedish fashion retailer H&M . The Tagesschau also regularly publishes short snippets of news via the service and has several 10,000 followers.

The enthusiasm of the user base, consisting mainly of teenagers and young adults, for the service is enormous. TikTok had reached the first billion users after just two years; faster than any other social media service before. It took eight years for the world’s largest network, Facebook , seven years for Messenger WhatsApp and the Chinese provider WeChat, at least six. According to various estimates, the platform has between 500 and 800 million regularly active users. In Germany, the number of users should now be well over nine million people.

Who is behind the app?

The company behind TikTok is Beijing Bytedance Technology , or Bytedance for short, founded in 2012 by the Chinese internet entrepreneur Zhang Yiming . She develops and operates several digital platforms that work with the help of adaptive software. This includes the news website Toutiao (in German: “Headlines”).

After taking over the competitor musical.ly for around 800 million dollars in autumn 2017, Bytedance has been operating the service worldwide under the name TikTok since summer 2018, in China it’s called Douyin.

Bytedance is privately owned, little is known about the exact ownership structure. One of the largest single investors is said to be Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, who invested around three billion US dollars in the company in 2018. Other investors include the large US venture capital firms General Atlantic, KKR and Sequoia Capital.

TikTok founder Zhang Yiming studied electrical engineering and software development at Nankai State University in Tjianjin. After working for several IT and Internet companies, including Microsoft at times , Zhang founded his first online company in 2009 with the real estate platform 99fang.com. With the proceeds from his exit from 99fang, he started Bytedance in 2012.

What allegations are there against TikTok?

There are criticisms of the video platform from different directions. One of the most frequently cited allegations at the moment is that the service may process user data to a large extent in China and that information about users there could therefore come under the control of government agencies.

This concern is thus similar to the criticism that is also raised against the IT and network equipment supplier Huawei . TikTok rejects any suspicions and emphasizes that as a private company it is independent of the Chinese state. However, critics consider such independence – especially against the background of the lack of rule of law in China – to be unenforceable.

In the United States , a possible threat of espionage has been discussed in parliament since last year. According to media reports, investigations by a congress committee into the security of user data at TikTok have been ongoing since autumn 2019. However, the results of the investigations were just as little known as concrete evidence that information has actually flowed to the Chinese government.

At the end of May of this year, it was announced that Bytedance is looking for around 150 employees in California to expand the business there. Market observers also interpret this as an attempt to position themselves more internationally and possibly to make themselves more independent of Chinese influence. Another sign of internationalization is that the company hired the former streaming boss of the Disney group, Kevin Mayer, as TikTok boss at the end of June .

Another reason for criticism is the question of whether and to what extent the service may censor the content distributed there in the interests of the Chinese government. In November 2019, for example , the information portal netzpolitik.org documented the criteria that moderators use to evaluate content and filter it from the video stream. According to this, “TikTok […] operates a sophisticated system to identify, control, suppress and direct content.” It is also noticeable that, for example, videos about the protests in Hong Kong against the expansion of Chinese influence there, on the Portal are barely visible.

TikTok stated that they do not moderate content based on political orientations or sensitivities. “Our moderation decisions are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government. TikTok does not remove videos related to the protests in Hong Kong, nor are videos related to the protests in Hong Kong suppressed within their reach. “

At the end of June, the Indian government – together with around 60 other apps – banned the use of TikTok in the country. The services would jeopardize the “sovereignty and integrity of India,” said a statement from the Indian government . It is to be feared that the apps would steal the data of Indian citizens and transfer them to servers outside of India without authorization. 

However, the Indian government did not provide any concrete evidence of an outflow of data. Observers therefore suspect a political background to the ban, as tensions between India and China had recently escalated. 

In addition to the discussion about political independence and influence, there has also been criticism of the youth protection settings in the past. TikTok allows users aged 13 and over and initially made it possible for other users to also send them direct messages and digital “gifts”. According to reports from the Reuters news agency, the US Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into allegations of disregard for children’s privacy. 

The fact that TikTok initially set the privacy of its new users to “public” met with criticism from data protectionists. In the meantime, the platform has adjusted the settings and defines at least the accounts of children and young people as “private” by default. In addition, the exchange of direct messages with minors is deactivated, as is the sending of “gifts”.

Why iOS 14 is changing the advertising industry from the ground up

When iOS 14 comes out, Apple will disable preset tracking. Facebook and Co. have to ask for permission if they want to use and pass on our data for advertising purposes. So will the update change the advertising industry from the ground up? An analysis.

Apple has already released a preview for iOS 14. The new operating system is expected to arrive in autumn 2020 and will make “everything even more helpful and personal”.

For example, we can expect new widgets that give us more information at a glance. A new app media library will automatically organize our apps in a user-friendly view. And a picture-in-picture function lets us continue watching videos if we want to use another app at the same time.

Users can therefore confidently look forward to the new operating system – very different from the advertising industry, because iOS 14 brings other, very important innovations with it.

iOS 14: Apps need to get ad tracking permission

Apple is tightening data protection considerably and switching off automatic advertising tracking. This means that apps must first obtain permission from users if they want to collect, use and pass on data for advertising purposes.

Apple itself exempts itself from this rule. His in-house advertising platform is still allowed to track us and display personalized or interest-based advertising. According to Heise developers who have access to the beta version of iOS 14 report this.

Now, of course, the advertising industry fears that many users will refuse tracking and that they will be able to display significantly less personalized advertising than before.

The British business and financial news broadcaster CNBC has already told Facebook that the iOS update could lead to a collapse of its so-called audience network advertising business – by a full 50 percent.

Facebook is sounding the alarm

With Facebook’s Audience Network, developers can advertise in their apps. This is played on the basis of the data that Facebook has collected from its users.

And so far, Facebook and Co. have been able to use the IDFA provided by Apple to collect this data. This is an identification number for users of Apple devices.

Advertisers could use them to see whether, for example, an advertising campaign resulted in a user installing a particular app.

This identifier from Apple should now be switched off with iOS 14. Users have to activate it manually for each app if they want the corresponding applications to track their data.

In summary, the new operating system can massively restrict the advertising tracking of user data.

How far can iOS 14 change the advertising industry?

So it looks like iOS 14 will be a real boon to users and a real threat to advertisers.

Until now, advertising tracking has been an extremely lucrative business model. Facebook and Co. were extremely dependent on it to display advertising and ultimately make a profit.

In addition, many users were or are not even aware of how valuable their data is. And above all that your data is tracked and used to display interest-based advertising.

Seen in this way, advertising tracking has always been morally questionable. And if the advertisers fail to actively point this out to users and convince them to reactivate the function, they have to come up with something completely new.

The advertising industry seems to be facing a fundamental change – whatever it will ultimately look like.