LG Electronics’ upcoming G7 smartphone is expected to adopt an advanced liquid crystal diode display panel, which is interpreted by industry officials as a move to launch more affordable premium phones with organic light-emitting diode display phones, according to news reports and leaks on Monday.

Dubbed by media and tech experts here as “G7,” LG’s new flagship model is predicted to be unveiled at the end of this month in Seoul, and released next month.

Ahead of its debut, some detailed information of parts and functions likely to be adopted for the new LG phone were leaked.

The G7 phone would adopt M+ LCD panels, named and manufactured by its affiliate LG Display, in which a pixel is comprised of red, green, blue and white to emit more light than normal LCD panels while consuming about 40 percent less power.

Some in the industry say the M+ LCD panels will help cut production costs of the premium phones, and raise price competitiveness against Apple and Samsung’s OLED phones.

According to a 360-degree video render image leaked by French tech expert Steve Hemmerstoffer on Sunday, the LG G7 is also being prepared to adopt a notch design on its screen, looking similar to Apple’s iPhone X.

The fingerprint scanner is placed below a dual camera module on the rear of the smartphone, the video showed.

On the left side of the device, a new button is added below the current volume button, which is assumed by some industry officials here to work as a switch for artificial intelligence functions, like Samsung’s Bixby button.

LG’s AI platform ThinQ that is operating on the latest V30S smartphones is highly likely to be added to the upcoming phone, some observers say.

“Any of the circulating rumors about the new phone are not confirmed yet, including the timing of the debut,” said an LG official.

In an unusual move, Spotify will list existing shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange rather than issuing new stock, allowing its founders and investors to maintain control and avoiding the cost of hiring Wall Street underwriters.

“Spotify is not raising capital, and our shareholders and employees have been free to buy and sell our stock for years,” 35-year-old chief executive and co-founder Daniel Ek said in a blog post Monday ahead of the listing of “SPOT” shares.

Ek said the move “puts us on a bigger stage,” but “doesn’t change who we are, what we are about, or how we operate.”

The Swedish platform which has helped make streaming the most popular way to listen to music in parts of the world estimated the company’s value to be as much as $23.4 billion.

Spotify said in a regulatory filing that it had 159 million monthly users including 71 million paying subscribers — twice that of closest rival Apple Music, which the iPhone maker launched in 2015 to win a slice of the growing streaming market.

Spotify warned last week that its sales growth was likely to slow this year, but that it still expected to post a narrower annual loss.

Spotify, which has not posted a profit since the service launched in 2008, said unfavorable exchange rates were the main reason for the growth slowdown.

The company also said it aimed to boost its subscriber numbers by 30 to 36 percent this year.

Cool and sticky

“Spotify is a ‘cool’ brand,” said eMarketer principal analyst Paul Verna.

“Teenagers especially love Spotify. This bodes well for continued brand loyalty, which is a big factor in the stickiness of music services.”

Users of streaming music services don’t like to rebuild playlists or profiles, making it likely they will stick with Spotify if given good value, according to the analyst.

While pressure is on to pay higher royalties to music creators, Spotify has made inroads with artists. Taylor Swift released a new “Delicate” music video on Spotify last month. The singer caused a stir in 2014 by pulling her music from the service over fees, but returned to the platform three years later.

Music sales soared anew last year in the United States backed by the rise of streaming, bringing revenue to a level last seen a decade ago.

“Spotify has been the driving force in nothing less than a turnaround in the US recorded music industry,” Verna said.

Spotify’s model of letting people stream songs on demand is proving more popular than paid downloads, curated playlists, or internet radio broadcasting, according to the analyst.

The Recording Industry Association of America said that revenue grew a robust 16.5 percent in 2017, marking the first time since 1999 at the dawn of online music that the business has expanded for two years in a row.

The growth was almost entirely attributable to the public’s embrace of streaming, with subscriptions to paid platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and the new service of retail giant Amazon growing 56 percent to 35.3 million users.

Streaming has been transforming the music business in much of the world, although artists frequently complain that they see little of the industry’s newfound bounty.

Timing trouble?

In 2006, Ek and co-founder Martin Lorentzon, who rode the internet boom to riches, came up with the idea of creating a legal platform to distribute music online, which at the time was dominated by illegal file sharing sites.

They experimented with sharing music files between the hard drives on their computers.

In October 2008 Spotify was finally ready to go live after Ek pleaded with music labels to open their catalogs.

Wall Street could go far in securing the Swedish startup’s status as a success story if the listing goes well.

But, the timing could hurt Spotify since tech stocks overall are being dragged down by worries about privacy and Facebook’s handling of people’s data.

“Spotify will be lumped in with other tech stocks, which have been battered lately because of Facebook’s data privacy issues,” Verna said.

“One could argue that this is unfair to Spotify, but they’re going to have to get used to market volatility and getting dragged down (or pushed up) by other companies in their general space.”

In perhaps a poetic turn, Facebook has been credited with playing into Spotify’s success.

In 2009, Spotify won the public backing of Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg, who posted: “Spotify is so good.”

In 2011, when Spotify launched service started in the United States, it allied with Facebook, quickly garnering one million paying users.

The Tiangong-1 “mostly” burnt up above the vast ocean’s central region at 8:15 am (0015 GMT), China’s Manned Space Engineering Office said, moments after predicting a slightly later re-entry over the Atlantic.

Space officials had stressed that the craft would not cause any earthly damage when it returned, with Chinese space officials saying its disintegration will offer a “splendid” show akin to a meteor shower.

Space officials had warned that knowing the exact location of the re-entry would not be possible until shortly before it happened, and China’s space agency had predicted it would be off Sao Paulo just moments before the Tiangong-1 made its actual return.

The European Space Agency had indicated earlier that the Tiangong-1 was likely to break up over water, which covers most of the planet’s surface.

It described the probability of someone being hit by a piece of debris from Tiangong-1 as “10 million times smaller than the yearly chance of being hit by lightning”.

Tiangong-1 — or “Heavenly Palace” — was placed in orbit in September 2011, an important step in China’s efforts towards building its own space station.

The module — which was used to practise complicated manual and automatic docking techniques — was originally intended to be used for just two years, but ended up serving considerably longer.

During its brief lifespan, it hosted Chinese astronauts on several occasions as they performed experiments and even taught a class that was broadcast into schools across the country.

– Out of control? –

Tiangong-1 had been slated for a controlled re-entry, but ceased functioning in March 2016. Space enthusiasts have been bracing for its return ever since.

The ESA has said that ground controllers were no longer able to command Tiangong-1 to fire its on-board engines, which could have been used to control where it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

In contrast, Russia brought down its massive Mir space station through a controlled re-entry over the Pacific Ocean in 2001.

A Chinese spaceflight engineer denied earlier this year that the lab was out of control.

Chinese media have downplayed comments by the ESA and others that the country’s engineers have lost control of the lab, with reports saying that the idea it is “out of control” is an invention of foreign media.

But on Chinese social media, commenters criticised the government’s reluctance to own up to the situation.

“Can you or can’t you report that you’ve lost control of the situation?” one person wrote on the Twitter-like Weibo.

“It’s not unusual that something this complicated would have a mishap.”

Beijing began its manned spaceflight programme in 1990 after buying Russian technology that enabled it to become the third country with the ability to launch humans into space, following the former Soviet Union and the United States.

China sent another space lab, Tiangong-2, into orbit in September 2016 as a stepping stone to its goal of having a crewed space station by 2022.

It also plans to send a manned mission to the moon in the future.

The Korea Communications Commission confirmed Friday that it will embark on an investigation into the private data collection policies of Korea’s major social networks including Facebook, Instagram, KakaoTalk and Naver’s social networking service Band.

The move comes in response to media reports revealing that Facebook had been requesting access to user’s contacts, SMS data and call history on phones running on Android devices, when installing Facebook Messenger or Facebook Lite, a stripped-down version of the main app.

Facebook explained that only users who gave permission were affected and that it did not collect the content of the texts and calls. Users who wished to turn off this feature could do so via settings.

The KCC plans to examine whether Facebook, or any other social network service operator, breached Korea’s Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

The call and text logging feature is just one of several privacy concerns and criticisms that Facebook has faced over the past few weeks.

It all began with the alarming revelation Facebook had allowed Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy working for the Donald Trump presidential campaign, to wrongfully harvest the profiles of some 50 million Facebook users without their permission for voter profiling.

The incident was met with public fury and prompted a series of investigations and hearings from authorities in the US, the UK, the European Union and Canada that would likely result in a hefty fine for the social network operator.

Some of Facebook’s major advertisers have begun to reconsider placing ads on the social network, while many disappointed users worldwide have jumped onto the #DeleteFacebook movement.

Korean users have also raised their feelings of mistrust towards Facebook, with some questioning privacy policies of other local internet firms like Naver and Kakao that also collect and handle massive user data.

The latest development is considered an anticipated crisis as tech companies around the world have been harvesting massive amounts of user data for years in the name of connectivity, escalating the risks of misappropriation and abuse.

The biggest issue has been with the “social log-in” feature where people can log into third-party websites and apps using their Naver or Kakao accounts, bypassing the cumbersome process of having to sign up for a new account on a new website.

Naver and Kakao stress that the information they share is not as extensive as that of Facebook. Naver provides only basic information including a user’s name, e-mail address, nickname, birthday, age and gender. Kakao offers only a user’s nickname, e-mail and KakaoTalk profile picture. Forms of personal data such as chat history are not shared.

Nonetheless, the social log-in feature involves passing on personal user data to outsiders, and in turn escalates the risks of a data breach or mismanagement.

Naver and Kakao said that they mandate partners using the social log-in feature not to share the user data with other parties. However, they currently do not have mechanisms to ensure that the data they had originally provided remains secure.

The failure to ensure such data protection is what had led to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal in the first place.

In an attempt to salvage its plunging reputation, Facebook’s founding CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a formal apology last week and promised to investigate all the apps that had access to vast amounts of user data prior to 2014 when Facebook changed its privacy policies to prevent abusive apps from engaging in potential data misuse.

The social network also pledged to turn off access for unused apps, restrict the data that an app can request, make app management privacy and control easier and more visible for users, and reward those who discover misuses of Facebook data by third-party app developers.

Despite the series of efforts, Facebook faced yet another plunge in credibility on Friday after an internal memo suggesting that the firm’s leadership prioritized growth over all else, even if it meant overlooking the physical and social risks of the social network.

“We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified. All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it,” Facebook Vice President Andrew “Boz” Bosworth wrote in a 2016 memo for Facebook employees titled “The Ugly,” which was publicized by US-based BuzzFeed News.

“So we connect more people,” Bosworth wrote in another section of the note. “That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.”

In response to the controversy, Zuckerberg said in a statement that he does not believe in a mantra of “growth at any cost” in which the “ends justify the means.”

PROMOTING Research and development, technology, innovation, and start-ups are crucial to helping leapfrog the country’s income by advancing towards the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy, which aims to enhance the country’s competitive capabilities and create sustainable growth.

Kobsak Phutrakul, a minister attached to Office of the Prime Minister, said at the MIT Global Start-up Workshop (GSW) 2018 that it will establish a new working group consisting of local and global start-ups and government officials to recommend necessary changes to the existing legal and tax systems.

Kobsak said the government is now working on revising the existing set of incentives to attract international companies to set up regional headquarters and regional research centres in Thailand, especially in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) area.

For its part, government will revise the existing law, global research agencies and activities.

Innovative capability will be one of the most important determinants of future success in a world of increasing competitions, he emphasised.

“We will have major revamp that will affect the future direction of research and the way that funding will be allocated, as well as the future of curriculum at all of the universities. This change will allow researchers to focus on project initiatives that will be able to lead to commercialising products. In addition, new incentives will be provided to universities to establish their start-up support centres, the same way that Chulalongkorn University opened Siam Innovation District last month,” said Kobsak.

“We are now in the most exciting and challenging period; these initiatives are the beginning of the list of what the Thai government will do to prepare Thailand for the future challenges in the coming age of the fourth industrial revolution,” he said.

Comparing Thailand to the US and Israel – the frontrunners in the world of start-ups – Kobsak said Thailand is still lacking in many ways, but the government is planning to become more aggressive in catching up with their lead and to become a hotbed for start-up activities.

Last year, for example, the government reduced income tax from 35 per cent to 15-17 per cent for the experts working in research facilities in the EEC area. In addition, the government revised the law to allow for hiring specialised experts to enable foreign educational institutes to establish their branches in Thailand, especially in the EEC area.

“We really hope MIT considers coming to Thailand to establish a branch here, as well. We are really confident in Thailand becoming the centre of one of the most exciting and vibrant regions in the world,” said Kobsak.

Meanwhile, Digital Economy and Society Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said at the same event that the role of the government is to create the new economic platform, called “Start-up”, to bring entrepreneurial ideas into reality.

To drive Thailand to move forward, the EEC is the megaproject for Thailand 4.0, he said, and “Start-up” is the new economic army to help government and society to move Thailand upward. The pool of start-ups in Thailand today is rather small, and needs to expand, said Pichet, and how to expand partly depends on both public and government sectors, along with issues of taxation and creating incentives.

There are 75,000 villages in Thailand, with 75 per cent of them now on the Internet, thanks to a government initiative. A plan is in place to connect the remaining 25 per cent, he said.

In 2017 alone, around 24,700 villages were connected. By the end of 2018, all Thailand will be connected via a broadband network, creating vast opportunities for start-ups to do business throughout the country.

Last year, the government also set aside Bt5 billion for CAT Telecom to increase both domestic and international submarine cable capacity, as well as create a new link enabling Thailand to become the hub of the region. This enables start-ups to connect to do business and social development with other countries in the world.

“Government alone cannot create the success, it needs collaboration among the government, private sector, universities, and start-ups” said Pichet.

Richard Lester, associate provost of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said at the same event that there are many Thai leaders working actively to build up their universities and research institution. He compared their collaboration to change the future of Thailand to the similar founding of institutes to support and accelerate the US industrial revolutions.

MIT applies a problem-solving approach as powerful way to deal with challenges in the three areas of education, research and innovation.

The Sasin School of Management joined hands with the MIT Association of Thailand to bring the MIT Global Start-up Workshop (GSW) 2018 here from March 25 to 27.

MIT’s workshop is the premier global training and networking event for entrepreneurs, and has been hosted in a different country each year since 1998. This year is the first time Thailand hosted the GSW event, which was presented under the theme of “dream big, dream tech … tools for the innovation-driven entrepreneur”.

The new iPad is more versatile and capable than ever, featuring a large retina display, the A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality, and provides unmatched portability, ease of use and all-day battery life.

The new iPad boasts a stunning, large viewfinder for immersive AR experiences. Its Retina display, powerful chip, enhanced cameras and advanced sensors, including a gyroscope and accelerometer for accurate motion tracking, are designed to support the next generation of AR apps. The iPad comes in silver, space grey and a new gold finish and starts at an Apple retail price of Bt11,500 for the 32GB with Wi-Fi model and Bt16,500 for the 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model at Apple.com/th.

It is also available through Apple’s authorised resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).

Apple Pencil is available for purchase separately for Bt3,400.

Schools can purchase iPads starting at Bt10,800 and Apple Pencil for Bt3,100.

So, in addition to Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements last week – cracking down on abuse of the Facebook platform, strengthening our policies, and making it easier for people to revoke apps’ ability to use your data – we’re taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people in more control over their privacy. Most of these updates have been in the works for some time, but the events of the past several days underscore their importance.

Making data settings and tools easier to find 

We’ve redesigned our entire settings menu on mobile devices from top to bottom to make things easier to find. Instead of having settings spread across nearly 20 different screens, they’re now accessible from a single place. We’ve also cleaned up outdated settings so it’s clear what information can and can’t be shared with apps.

New privacy shortcuts menu

In addition to simplifying our settings menu, people have also told us that information about privacy, security and ads should be much easier to find. The new Privacy Shortcuts is a menu where you can control your data in just a few taps with clearer explanations of how our controls work. The experience is now more visual, clearer and easy-to-find. From here you can:

Make your account more secure. You can add more layers of protection to your account, like two-factor authentication. If you turn this on and someone tries to log into your account from a device we don’t recognise, you’ll be asked to confirm whether it was you.

Control your personal information. You can review what you’ve shared and delete it if you want to. This includes posts you’ve shared or reacted to, friend requests you’ve sent and things you’ve searched for on Facebook. Control the ads you see. You can manage the information we use to show you ads – Ad Preferences explains how ads work and the options you have.

Manage who sees your posts and profile information. You own what you share on Facebook, and can manage things like who sees your posts and the information you choose to include on your profile.

Tools to find, download and delete your Facebook data

It’s one thing to have a policy explaining what data we collect and use, but it’s even more useful when people see and manage their own information. Some people want to delete things they’ve shared in the past, while others are just curious about the information Facebook has. So, we’re introducing Access Your Information – a secure way for people to access and manage their information, such as posts, reactions, comments, and things you’ve searched for. You can go here to delete anything from your timeline or profile that you no longer want on Facebook.

We’re also making it easier to download the data you’ve shared with Facebook – it’s your data, after all. You can download a secure copy and even move it to another service. This includes photos you’ve uploaded, contacts you’ve added to your account, posts on your timeline, and more.

The road ahead

It’s also our responsibility to tell you how we collect and use your data in language that’s detailed, but also easy to understand. In the coming weeks, we’ll be proposing updates to Facebook’s terms of service that include our commitments to people. We’ll also update our data policy to better spell out what data we collect and how we use it. These updates are about transparency – not about gaining new rights to collect, use or share data.

We’ve worked with regulators, legislators and privacy experts on these tools and updates. We’ll have more to share in the coming weeks, including updates on the measures Zuckerberg shared last week.

Erin Egan is VP and chief privacy officer, policy for Facebook, and Ashlie Beringer is VP and deputy general counsel.