Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The Canon EOS R Mark II is Already in Testing, Announcement at Photokina: Report
The Canon EOS R Mark II is Already in Testing, Announcement at Photokina: Report
Canon’s got big plans for 2020. According to the most recent reports, the company will release not one but two new full-frame mirrorless cameras in the first half of next year: the ultra-high-resolution Canon EOS Rs we reported on last week, and the EOS R Mark II.
This news about Canon’s EOS R Mark II comes from our friends at Canon Rumors, who are being told that the second iteration of Canon’s EOS R is already being tested by “a small group of Canon professionals,” and is expected to be released at Photokina 2020 in May. This news seems to track with the statement that Canon shared with Photokina last week, in which the company said that it “is eager to introduce new products and concept products at photokina, thereby contributing to the industry’s success.”
The Canon EOS R has only been around for a little over a year, which would make this Mark II release a much faster update than most of us expected. But according to CR’s source, the EOS R Mark II is definitely in the works and will “closely mimic” the design of the Canon EOS Rs, which is expected to launch as soon as February with a 75MP image sensor, dual card slots, and more.
That’s all we know so far, as the source declined to share any specs (yet), but it doesn’t look like Canon is content to sit on its laurels where the RF mount is concerned. For better or worse, the company will try to compete with Sony step-for-step in the full-frame mirrorless market, including with the company’s aggressive camera release schedule."
The Canon EOS R Mark II is Already in Testing, Announcement at Photokina: Report
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Canon: An 8K EOS R Camera is On the Way
Canon stood on the sidelines while the mirrorless industry went 4K and didn’t introduce a 4K mirrorless camera until the EOS M50 in February 2018. But it seems the company is done being complacent: Canon says an 8K EOS R full-frame mirrorless camera is already on its roadmap.
Dave Etchells of Imaging Resource just published an exclusive interview he conducted with Yoshiyuki Mizoguchi, the top product-planning executive within the Canon mothership in Japan. In other words, he’s one of the people with the clearest view of where Canon is going with its cameras.
When asked how video will factor into the future of the EOS R system, Yoshiyuki revealed that it will be a major focus.
“Video will play a huge role in the EOS R System for sure,” the executive tells Imaging Resource. “For example, an 8K video capable camera is already in our EOS R-series roadmap.
“And we are not just looking at video from a camera perspective, we are also working on how to make RF lenses better for video capture as well. For example, the RF 24-105mm F4L was the first L-series lens with Nano USM technology, which contributes to silent and smooth autofocus while shooting video.”
“We are looking to further extend the Nano USM-equipped RF lens lineup,” Yoshiyuki says. “Paired with Dual Pixel CMOS AF, a wide range of Nano USM equipped RF lenses will promise video creators great image quality as well as impressive autofocus together in the R-series.”
And while “on the roadmap” could mean anything from something being announced later this year to a vague idea for a camera that won’t arrive for several more years, it seems likely that the camera isn’t too far off.
The news “sounds pretty significant,” Imaging Resource writes. “Given Canon’s generally cautious nature when it comes to talking about coming tech, the fact that Mizoguchi-san chose to mention it at all suggests to me that it’s going to be a more near-term sort of thing.”
Canon Rumors agrees, stating that the fact that it’s already being revealed “would suggest it’s already in development.”
Congress warns tech companies: Take action on encryption, or we will - CNET
Has Lindsay Graham read the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution? Oh that's right he is Trump's running dog so he does not care what it says.
Constitution of the United States of America 1789
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
"Congress warns tech companies: Take action on encryption, or we will
US lawmakers are poised to "impose our will" if tech companies don't weaken encryption so police can access data.
December 10, 2019
Congress sent a warning to tech giants on Tuesday, telling companies including Apple and Facebook that it intends to pass legislation to regulate encryption if Silicon Valley can't reach an acceptable compromise with law enforcement agencies.
Tech companies and privacy advocates have long supported encryption, noting that the privacy and security technology protects people from hackers, crooks and authoritarian governments. Law enforcement officials, however, argue that encryption blocks criminal investigations by preventing access to suspects' devices and to their communications on messaging apps.
This debate took center stage in 2016 when Apple fought an FBI order to help unlock a terrorist's iPhone, arguing that providing a master key to decrypt devices would endanger all iPhone users.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Apple's manager of user privacy, Erik Neuenschwander, reiterated that point for lawmakers.
"At this time, we've been unable to identify any way to create a backdoor that would work only for the good guys," Neuenschwander told senators. "In fact, our experience is the opposite. When we have weaknesses in our system, they're exploited by nefarious entities as well."
The argument over encryption resurfaced in October after the Justice Department called on Facebook to pause its plans for encrypting all its messaging services. In March, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans for the social network to focus more on privacy for its users.
Law enforcement officials worried that encrypting messages on Facebook would cripple investigative efforts against child predators. Facebook had reported about 16.8 million cases to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2018, and government officials said that if messages were encrypted, Facebook wouldn't be able to provide adequate evidence for cases.
This time next year, if you haven't found a way that you can live with [weaker encryption], we will impose our will on you.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham
On Tuesday, Facebook sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr saying it wouldn't weaken encryption on its WhatsApp messaging service. In Facebook's opening statement at the hearing, Jay Sullivan, the company's product management director for privacy and integrity, explained why.
"We oppose intentionally weakening the security of encrypted systems because doing so would undermine the privacy and security everywhere and leave them vulnerable to hackers, criminals and repressive regimes," Sullivan said.
Sullivan also warned that if the US imposed regulations on encryption, criminals would just move to foreign platforms where they aren't required to provide data to US law enforcement.
Despite the tech giants' arguments for privacy and security through encryption, lawmakers at the hearing didn't agree about the trade-offs on public safety.
"We hear your argument that this may simply push to overseas providers," said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. "But frankly, most of us are concerned about protecting the most vulnerable Americans."
Among the witnesses was Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., who has argued that encryption prevented his office from accessing evidence on hundreds of phones. He noted that while his team uses lawful hacking methods, it pays "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for these tools and they're successful only half the time.
"There are many serious cases where we can't access the device in the time period where it is most important for us to access it," Vance told the senators. "Without moving toward legislation, we're not going to solve this problem."
Several lawmakers at the hearing warned Apple's and Facebook's representatives that Congress would look into legislation if the companies couldn't provide data to law enforcement agencies.
"My advice to you is to get on with it," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. "This time next year, if you haven't found a way that you can live with it, we will impose our will on you."
This was a bipartisan warning. Both Democrats and Republicans argued that investigating crimes is more important than overall privacy and security on devices.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, called out big tech's distancing itself from legal responsibility and warned that lawmakers would soon take action.
"That will end, because the American people are losing patience," Blumenthal said. "I hope you take that message back. That kind of immunity will be short-lived if big tech isn't able to do better."
Lawmakers are hoping that the tech companies will take action on their own, without requiring legislation.
"If it doesn't happen by you, it will happen by Congress," said Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa. "I think you'd rather find the solution than have Congress do it for you."
The US isn't the only nation considering laws around encryption. The Australian government passed the world's first encryption law in December 2018, though Apple said on Tuesday that it hasn't changed any of its software to comply with the law.
Apple's Neuenschwander told senators that it would be problematic if a similar law passed in the US.
"My overall fear would be that if some of the capabilities of that legislation were imposed on any provider, that provider would have to weaken encryption, just by the nature of the technology, for all users," he said.
There are no proposals for any legislation tied to encryption in the US, but senators at Tuesday's hearing have warned tech giants that Congress will take action if the issue continues to trouble law enforcement agencies.
"You all have got to get your act together, or we will gladly get your act together for you," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee. "This is not going to continue."
Congress warns tech companies: Take action on encryption, or we will - CNET
Monday, December 09, 2019
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