Tag Archive for: Driving

Hackers have discovered a loophole to ‘jailbreak’ Tesla’s paywall-blocked driving features, saving them thousands

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Tesla has been at the forefront of the electric vehicle movement. But has also pioneered another aspect of the car industry — software-defined vehicles, or SDVs — that has not been quite as universally popular.

SDVs basically mean that some Tesla features, which are already built into the cars, are locked behind a paywall, requiring customers to pay extra if they want to use them. Some features in this category include a heated steering wheel, footwell lights, an “acceleration boost,” or the brand’s $15,000 Full Self-Driving feature.

Now, a group of hackers has discovered a way to “jailbreak” those paywalled features, and it looks like Tesla can’t do anything about it.

The team of hackers from Germany — a security researcher and three Ph.D. students — figured out a way to trick Tesla’s Media Control Unit (MCU) into thinking that certain purchases had already been made.

The reason that Tesla is powerless to stop it is that the MCU operates using a computer processor made by another company, called AMD. The hack targets AMD’s technology instead of Tesla’s proprietary tech.

In order for Tesla to stop this hack from spreading, it would have to physically swap out the MCUs in its cars with a new type of processor. That said, it’s possible the practice could invalidate warranties or other software updates if ever detected by Tesla, as is often the case with mobile phone and video game hardware.

The German team of hackers will soon present their findings at the BlackHat 2023 cyber security event, where they may give more details about how they accomplished the feat, potentially allowing other tech-savvy Tesla drivers to jailbreak features on their own.

For customers who have had issues with Tesla’s SDVs in the past — the company has been forced to settle multiple lawsuits around its automatic software updates, which customers have alleged have violated their consumer rights — this news could be taken as a bit of schadenfreude.

For Tesla, though, the news is surely worrying, as getting customers to make what are essentially in-app purchases after they have already bought a car is a big part of the EV maker’s business model.

But the company also has other things…

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How Computer Vision Is Driving Innovation Across Industries

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As a cofounder at Innowise Group with 20 years of experience in IT, Pavel loves helping businesses grow through IoT development.

In today’s rapidly evolving world, the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) is undeniable. Across various industries, AI has emerged as an indispensable tool, offering unparalleled benefits such as automation, cost reduction, time-saving and predictive capabilities. One prominent subset of AI, known as computer vision, is dedicated to empowering machines with the ability to comprehend and interpret visual data from the world around us.

A recent Grand View Research report underscores the significance of computer vision, revealing that the PC-based computer vision systems segment dominated the market with a substantial share of over 52% in 2021. This statistic speaks volumes about the widespread adoption and recognition of computer vision’s immense potential. In fact, the global computer vision market was valued at a staggering $11.22 billion in 2021, and industry experts predict it will continue its upward trajectory with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% from 2022 to 2030.

The fusion of AI and computer vision is reshaping countless sectors, ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to retail and transportation.

Enhancing Patient Care And Diagnosis

AI and computer vision are transforming healthcare by revolutionizing patient care and diagnosis. AI-powered mobile applications and computer vision tools enable patient monitoring and identification of potential risks based on treatment and disease histories. AI can also analyze medical imaging data like MRIs and CT scans, leading to faster and more accurate diagnoses. Computer vision algorithms can detect anomalies and predict outcomes, even estimating treatment costs based on jaw images.

Computer vision aids in surgery by converting broken bone MRIs into 3D models. Surgeons can visualize these models through augmented reality glasses, improving surgical planning and reducing invasive procedures. Marking areas of interest with computer vision enhances precision and overall surgical outcomes while reducing risks.

Quality Control And Automation

Computer vision plays a vital…

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How India is driving the use of open government data

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Launched in 2012, India’s Open Government Data (OGD) platform has enabled millions of people to access government data to build new applications, services and more recently, to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Through the use of open and machine-readable formats and application programming interfaces (APIs), the platform has not only democratised access to data, but also improved transparency by enabling communities to track data points, such as those related to mortality, budget and finance, population and geography.

Lydia Clougherty Jones, senior director analyst at Gartner, said enabling public visibility and oversight of government data and insights will improve citizen trust and delivery of public services in India while driving the development of new data products.

“Open data can drive digital business outcomes by providing increased access to more data from more diverse sources, providing ‘knowable’ insights that would not otherwise be discoverable without aggregation of data from multiple government data sources.

“These insights can support more robust predictive analytics, while the underlying data can serve as training data for the ever-hungry AI models while creating new economic value by potentially matching the right data to a use case or specific business outcome,” she added.

Indian software developers have been tapping the data available through the OGD platform to build applications such as the Teeka Mobile App that lets citizens track the vaccinations of children and the pregnancy of the female members in their family.

Another app, Rainbow, helps farmers make informed decisions throughout the lifecycle of their crops by providing information such as live market prices, dam water levels and local weather updates.

But for India to unlock the value of its open data initiative, there is a need to focus on high value datasets (HVD), according to a report by India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).

Open data can drive digital business outcomes by providing increased access to more data from more diverse sources, providing ‘knowable’ insights that would not otherwise be discoverable without…

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Supply chain disruption driving 3D printing tech

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The need to shorten supply chains in the face of ongoing global uncertainty and disruption is a pressing issue for many organisations, especially for multinational manufacturing companies that have come to rely on cheap labour in South East Asia.

China, in particular, continues to be hobbled by an economic downturn, power shortages and ongoing lockdowns resulting from its zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19. China’s days as the world’s manufacturing engine room seem to be numbered, as businesses seek to relocate manufacturing to other nations in Asia, such as Vietnam, or nearshore or reshore it closer to home.

There are, however, other means of shortening supply chains – one of which is 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM). 

AM technology started out as a way to produce prototypes with no machine tooling, but, over the past decade, it has evolved rapidly. An early drawback was that the process worked only with plastics; now, though, substances that can be printed include powders, resins, metals, carbon and even human flesh. 

In a report exploring the status of 3D printing – called The Mainstreaming of Additive Manufacturing, co-author Jörg Bromberger, Director of Strategy & Operations – points out that AM technology can generate any 3D component that will perform better and cost less than conventional manufacturing methods. 

3D printing allows for mass-scale customisation

He also highlights there’s no need for moulds or fixed tooling, and that it also allows for mass-scale customisation. Such simplicity of fabrication, he continues, reduces time-to-market and the need for spare-parts inventories, enabling the on-demand production of items from digital files in the field. Bromberger cites the example of carmaker Mercedes-Benz, which uses AM to produce spare parts for its classic vehicles.

The tech has the huge potential to help businesses reimagine manufacturing-based supply chains, and Bromberger feels that the technology is approaching the point where it is becoming disruptive: “When can a technology that has long been touted as a disruptive game changer for supply chains be said to have truly come of age?” 

His answer? When it’s a…

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