United Airlines covers the cameras installed in its in-flight entertainment systems

Some airlines have a camera installed in its in-flight entertainment systems. While these haven’t been used or offered as a service (for video chats), doesn’t mean they don’t raise concerns of some privacy-conscious fliers. That’s why United Airlines decided to cover these cameras up with stickers to alleviate concerns of fliers that someone might be watching through these cameras. The American airline said they have never activated these cameras and they don’t plan to in the future. But they wanted to take the extra step of covering the cameras. A spokesperson for United said, “The cameras are a standard feature that manufacturers of the system included for possible future purposes such as video conferencing."

Source: Engadget

National Geographic and the Oculus Quest get ready to bring you on an Antarctic adventure

Not all of us will be able to go to the Antarctic in our lifetimes, but you can do so virtually. National Geographic is all set to launch a 30-minute Antarctic adventure experience for the Oculus Quest. Coming out this spring, the experience will be coming to the National Geographic Explore VR app. You will be tasked to find a lost penguin colony in the Antarctic. It’ll start off as a kayak ride through frigid water, and then you need to climb up an ice sheet to look for the missing birds. You’ll be able to set up camp and experience what it’s like trying to survive in that kind of tough environment with the use of Oculus Touch controllers. This is the first of many other adventures coming to the app. The National Geographic Partners Immersive Experiences team has been working with Oculus and VR/AR studio Force Field on Explore VR for the past nine months.

Source: Engadget

Intel to bow out of smartphone-modem business

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With Apple and Qualcomm working out its differences and settling their lawsuits, Intel is effectively out of the picture. And now that it isn’t developing its 5G chipsets, it seems the company wants out of its smartphone-modem business as well. Apple was considering buying part of Intel’s modem ventures, but that deal was stopped short when Apple and Qualcomm signed a multi-year chipset-supply deal. That doesn’t mean the company hasn’t expressed interest in buying this segment from Intel. According to The Wall Street Journal, a few other companies are looking at buying said business. Goldman Sachs is helping Intel facilitate negotiations. The deal is most likely worth a few billion dollars, but it’s in its early stages for now. The company is reportedly losing around US$1 billion annually because of its modem business, so the sale could include staff, patents, and modem designs across multiple technology generaitons.

You can watch select Tribeca Film Festival talks live on Facebook

While you may not be at the Tribeca Film Festival, you do have a chance to check out some talks happening at the event. You can stream conversations from the likes of Ali Wong, Tiffany Haddish, Michael J. Fox, through the festival’s Facebook page. The festival is running through May 5^th and you can check out the full schedule of the live-streamed talks through this link.