Technology

Google’s Pixel 4 is a solid smartphone for any Android user and while it’s not going to make me switch from being an iPhone guy, it does offer a few benefits over the competition.

Unfortunately, it also offers a few drawbacks–a tad disappointing, especially when compared to the Pixel 3a.

Pros

The phone, which starts at $800 for 64GB, has an unbelievable camera system, perhaps the best of any Android smartphone out there. I have an iPhone Xr as my everyday phone and the Pixel 4 is a notch above that, in terms of how the pictures look true-to-life.

GOOGLE PIXEL 3A REVIEW: THE BEST (NON IPHONE) $400 YOU’LL EVER SPEND

After reviewing the budget Pixel 3a earlier this year, I found that the Pixel 4 camera system is definitely a step up, with the tech giant adding 2x optically zoomed lens. You can also use digital zooming so you can zoom further out and the pictures still look incredible. You’re probably not going to use this feature too often, but it’s nice to have.

However, unlike the iPhone 11 (which I have not reviewed), it does not have an ultra-wide lens. Some of the top Android competitors, like the Galaxy S10, do have an ultra-wide lens, so this is a bit mystifying to me.

I am super impressed by the astrophotography mode on the phone, given that I write about (and look at) space a lot. And I mean, a lot. So anything that can get me a little closer to infinity (and beyond) with a good view is important to me. You’re not going to be NASA with its Spitzer Space Telescope or the Hubble, but it’s a neat feature.

The camera system is great but, like the Pixel 3a, Google has stopped giving users free, unlimited storage on Google Photos. You’ll get access to unlimited “high quality” storage for your photos, but you can also do so with every other Android phone. That’s a bit of a drawback, especially if you’re someone who wants to eventually showcase your photos somewhere other than your phone.

As for the design, it’s clear that Google has gotten better from the first Pixel to now, but it’s still no iPhone. It has a fairly decent sized bezel. The unit I’ve been using, Just Black, is a nice finish, but it’s not eye-popping. I haven’t seen the other two finishes, Clearly White and Oh So Orange, in person, but I can’t imagine they outshine the Just Black version.

The glass back is nice, as it makes it feel like this a solid phone and not some cheap, budget toy, which for $799, it sure as heck isn’t. It’s just that in 2019, I expect my phone to look like it’s in 2019, not something from a few years ago. This is one area where if you’re debating between an iPhone and Android, an iPhone is the clear winner.

The internals of the phone are really good, using all of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855’s power and making full use of the 6GB of RAM. I had no issues with any lagging or performance issues on any apps, a reassuring sign for a premium device.

The 90Hz screen is also a step up from the competition, popping more than its competitors. Before reviewing the Pixel 4, I had not given much thought to the number of frames per second you can see on a smartphone, given the small screen compared to a TV or a computer, but it’s noticeable. And given smartphone screens only seem to be getting bigger, I suspect this will be of growing importance in the future.

Unlocking the Pixel 4 is pretty darn easy, thanks to Motion Sense, similar (but not exactly like) to Apple’s Face ID.

You can use your face to unlock your phone (setting that up was easy), but you can also use your hands to skip songs on music apps, silence an incoming call and, perhaps the coolest thing, it knows when you’re going to grab the Pixel 4 so you can unlock the phone faster. This bit of software really makes the phone feel like you’re in 2019, even if the outside doesn’t.

I fully expect Motion Sense to gain additional capabilities and given how excited I was over this, I’m sure it’s going to be a bit of a “Wow” selling feature, even if it is a bit gimmicky. But hey, gimmicks sell.

Google says Motion Sense is available everywhere, except for Japan, “where it’s coming soon.”

Cons

There’s a lot to like about the Pixel 4, don’t get me wrong. But the drawbacks are glaringly negative, especially for a phone with a starting price of $800, $100 more than the iPhone 11 or $50 more than the Galaxy S10e.

As with some other Pixel phones, it doesn’t come with any headphones. I get that Google wants you to buy the Pixel Buds 2, its new Bluetooth wireless headphones, but those won’t be out until next year. So you can use your old USB-C wired headphones or buy a pair of Bluetooth wireless headphones (AirPods?) for your new phone.

This seems like an epic fail for me, especially when the starting price for the phone is higher than the competition. And for those of you holding on to hope that Google (or any other company, for that matter) will bring back the headphone jack, you’re out of luck.

The battery life is a huge drawback for the Pixel 4. At 2800 mAh, you’re not getting the life you would with the iPhone 11. My iPhone Xr gets me around 12 hours or so on a regular charge, so it’s a clear and resounding negative for the Pixel 4, given where we are in the smartphone cycle.

Not good, Google.

Should I stay or should I go?

The Pixel 4 is a good phone, don’t get me wrong. But at $800, you’d expect some of the issues I laid out above (battery life, earbuds, design) to have been taken care of and they weren’t.

If you’re a Pixel 2 user, it’s probably worth the upgrade. If you’re a Pixel 3 or 3a user, there are some nice features that the Pixel 4 has, including the great camera features, but also some drawbacks as well.

Google has spent years trying to get it right with its Pixel smartphones. The Pixel 4 is a mixed bag of what Google has done right over the years and what it’s done wrong.

Let’s hope Google is paying attention for its next Pixel.

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An LED-covered video truck is driving around Silicon Valley Thursday blasting out PragerU videos that the organization says have been restricted by YouTube.

Founded by radio host Dennis Prager, the conservative nonprofit produces short videos that promote concepts such as limited government and free markets.

The truck’s route included a stop outside YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno, California. The publicity stunt comes ahead of the opening arguments in PragerU’s California state lawsuit, which alleges that Google‘s YouTube subsidiary has “unfairly censored” PragerU videos because of their conservative content.

PRAGERU FILES NEW LAWSUIT AGAINST GOOGLE IN YOUTUBE ‘CENSORSHIP’ ROW

“The truck’s screens will play the PragerU videos that YouTube restricts to bring awareness to Friday’s opening arguments in its California state lawsuit against Google/YouTube,” the organization said, in a statement. “The truck will begin at UC Berkeley and will wind through the Bay area, making stops at Big Tech company headquarters on the way to its final destination, the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara.”

“Despite not a single video containing explicit, vulgar or obscene material, YouTube has restricted over 200 PragerU videos, labeling them as ‘dangerous’ or ‘derogatory.’ Among these are several videos from a series on the 10 Commandments presented by Dennis Prager, which cover concepts such as ‘Do Not Misuse God’s Name,’ ‘Do Not Steal’ and ‘Do Not Covet’,” it added.

Filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, the lawsuit alleges that the tech heavyweights are “continuing to unlawfully restrict and restrain speech and expression on the global social media and video sharing platform known as YouTube.”

PRAGERU EXEC BLASTS YOUTUBE’S ‘LAUGHABLE’ CLAIM IT’S POLITICALLY NEUTRAL

YouTube has denied the allegations of censorship. PragerU has 2.35 million subscribers on YouTube and all of its videos are said to be available to the 98 percent of YouTube users who have not enabled Restricted Mode.

“Restricted Mode is an optional feature used by a small subset of users to filter out videos that may include sensitive or mature content,” explained a YouTube spokesman, in a statement provided to Fox News earlier this year. “Giving viewers the choice to opt in to a more restricted experience is not censorship. In fact, this is exactly the type of tool that Congress has encouraged online services to provide for parents and others interested in a more family-friendly experience online”

PragerU is running “two-track litigation” against Google at both state and federal court levels.

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The legal fight began in October 2017 when PragerU accused the companies of illegally restricting the nonprofit’s content.

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Google declined to comment on this story.

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The Chinese-owned video app TikTok is under fire after two senior senators called for U.S. intelligence officials to investigate it for any threats to national security that it may pose.

In a Wednesday letter sent to Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire that was first reported by The Washington Post, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., ask officials to probe whether the communist Chinese government has any sway over what content Americans see on the app.

“With over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore,” wrote Schumer and Cotton. “Given these concerns, we ask that the intelligence community conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-based content platforms operating in the U.S. and brief Congress on these findings.”

In response to the letter, TikTok’s leaders emphasized the company’s independence from China in a blog post:

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“TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China. We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. Period. … We are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government; TikTok does not operate in China, nor do we have any intention of doing so in the future.”

The company also said that its data centers are entirely outside China and that none of their data is subject to Chinese law.

The video app, which is growing in popularly among teens and young adults, is taking heat at a time of high tension between Washington and Beijing due to a protracted trade war.

Earlier this month, Sen. Marco Rubio, R- Fla., wrote to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin requesting that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States probe TikTok for potential national security threats and censorship. A recent report claims that the app is being used by the Islamic State terror organization to spread propaganda.

Amazon sells clothes produced in dozens of Bangladeshi factories that leading retailers have shunned because they are too dangerous for their supply chains, a new investigation reveals.

In connection with the banned factories The Wall Street Journal probe found with apparel on Amazon, more than two-thirds of the items produced were being sold by third-party sellers using the tech giant’s marketplace platform, and some were for sale by Amazon directly.

The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory, which killed more than 1,100 people, led to major American retailers joining safety monitoring groups that required them to hold their suppliers to higher safety standards.

Those clothing items reportedly included pants, sweaters, clerical robes, fishnet body stockings.

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One $4.99 yellow gingham toddler top thatTthe Journal discovered for sale on Amazon by a New York City retailer was traced to a factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh. That facility does not have any fire alarms and the doors can be locked by managers to keep workers inside.

A laborer at the factory, 18-year-old Nasreen Begum, said she spends 12-hour days there stitching shirts with 300 others. “You’re trapped inside until the time you complete the orders,” she told The Journal.

The Journal found other apparel on the company led by CEO Jeff Bezos made in Bangladeshi factories whose owners have refused to fix safety problems identified by two worker safety groups. Those issues include crumbling buildings, broken alarms, and missing sprinklers.

According to The Journal, U.S. retailers like Walmart, Target, Gap and Costco have agreed to honor bans imposed by those two groups, to have their supply chains inspected and to disclose to the groups the factories that supply them.

When asked about its practices in this area, the company removed some listings The Journal identified as being from banned Bangladeshi factories, including the yellow top, and said it was reviewing the others.

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A spokesman told The Journal that Amazon inspects factories that supply its own brands to ensure they are in line with international safety standards similar to those of the safety-monitoring groups. The Journal didn’t discover any Amazon-owned brands made in banned factories. In addition, the spokesman said Amazon doesn’t inspect factories making clothing that it purchases from wholesalers or that arrives from third-party sellers.

The Seattle-based company expects those wholesalers and sellers to adhere to the same safety standards.

However, Amazon’s agreement with third-party sellers doesn’t explicitly say they must meet those standards, The Journal noted.

“If we become aware that a product is from a factory that may not meet our supply chain standards,” the spokesman said, “we will remove the product from our store.”

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Imagine a system that could execute a calcuation in 200 seconds that it would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to handle.

That’s the breakthrough that a team of scientists working on Google’s Sycamore machine announced on Wednesday, claiming “quantum supremacy” for the first time after publishing the results of their work in the journal Nature.

“This dramatic increase in speed compared to all known classical algorithms is an experimental realization of quantum supremacy for this specific computational task, heralding a much-anticipated computing paradigm,” the researchers write in the study’s abstract.

The phrase “quantum supremacy” simply means that Google scientists have been able to use a quantum computer to solve a problem that would take an inordinately long time to solve with a normal computer.

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Typical data fragments, known as bits, which store information in computers, can do so as a 0 or 1. However, a quantum bit can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously, thus allowing an exponentially higher number of calculations to be performed.

Super-fast processing power enabled by quantum computing could herald in a new age of technological breakthroughs that humans can’t even fathom in 2019.

Google has been working on this topic since at least 2006, when one of its scientists started looking into how quantum computing could aid the company’s efforts to speed up machine learning.

“I am excited about what quantum computing means for the future of Google and the world. Part of that optimism comes from the nature of the technology itself. You can trace the progress from the mega-computers of the 1950s to advances we’re making in artificial intelligence today to help people in their everyday lives,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a statement.

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According to Yahoo News, a rival team at IBM expressed skepticism about Google’s claim.

In a blog post announcing the findings, Google’s scientists said hope to make quantum-supremacy class processors available to collaborators and academic researchers, among others.

The tech giant said it envisions a range of potential real-world applications of the breakthrough, which will take years of work to bring to fruition, including “new materials — lightweight batteries for cars and airplanes, new catalysts that can produce fertilizer more efficiently (a process that today produces over 2 percent of the world’s carbon emissions), and more effective medicines.”

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“Quantum computing will be a great complement to the work we do (and will continue to do) on classical computers. In many ways quantum brings computing full circle, giving us another way to speak the language of the universe and understand the world and humanity not just in 1s and 0s but in all of its states: beautiful, complex, and with limitless possibility,” Pichai added.

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While advances in technology tend to make life easier, they often come with a bigger price tag. But you don’t always need the most expensive version of software or tech to get all the features you need.

In fact, many great programs and services were developed specifically to be free to users. For example, you don’t need to pay a penny to see if you’re getting all the internet speed you pay for. Click or tap for 4 free ways to check your connection.

It’s not just new tech costing you money. The things you already own could be adding up, too. You’re probably spending way more than you should be on your electricity bill thanks to these power-draining devices. Click or tap to see which 6 gadgets are costing you and what you can do about it.

Now, time to make your wallet really happy. I found eight tech freebies that will definitely make life that much sweeter — and safer. Whether it’s protecting your data from hackers or simply being more productive at work, I’ll show you how some things in life really are free.

1. Keep hackers out

A firewall keeps hackers and other unauthorized users from getting into your computer, while still letting you send files and emails out into the world. It’s an incredible piece of technology that keeps you and your personal information safe while perusing digital space.

RELATED: What do you really need to keep your computer protected? If you’ve got a PC, you may rely solely on Windows Defender. Click or tap here to find out if it’s enough to keep your computer secure.

Many computers come with a firewall, but if yours didn’t — or you want another one — you can get a firewall for free. One of the best free options is ZoneAlarm, a Windows-based piece of software that acts as a firewall for your computer and adds extra protection when you’re on public Wi-Fi networks, as well as real-time security updates to keep you safe and secure. Download it here.

GlassWire offers similar protection, detecting malware from people trying to access your computer, which allows you to disable apps that contain viruses and keep yourself from downloading a virus in the first place. Getting these free firewalls will make your computer safer, particularly when you’re using the internet, and it won’t cost you a penny. Download GlassWire.

2. Keep it in the cloud

If you want to quickly access or share a document or a photo from any device, whether they’re yours or someone else’s, it makes sense to put that document or photo in a form of cloud storage. Cloud storage is accessed online and protected through a username and password, allowing you to upload and download to your heart’s desire.

Remember, with free versions of cloud storage, there’s a storage limit to consider.

OneDrive, the cloud storage service offered by Microsoft, gives you 15GB of cloud storage when you get a free Microsoft account. OneDrive lets you upload any files you want, but also stores Microsoft Office documents in such a way that you can edit them anywhere and share them with collaborators easily. Sign up here.

If you have a Mac, you can still sign up for OneDrive, but you also have inherent access to iCloud with your Apple ID. iCloud gives you 5GB of storage for free. Did you know you can access iCloud from Android devices too? Tap or click to learn how.

Your Gmail account also gives you 15GB of free storage in the form of Google Drive (which lets you store any file in Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides).

You get even more free storage by signing up for a Dropbox account, which gives you 2GB of storage for sharing files quickly and easily for free. Dropbox also offers payment plans to increase your storage if need be. Learn more about how Dropbox works.

You really can’t have too much storage in the digital world and since it’s free, it’d be silly not to take advantage.

3. Expand your productivity

Microsoft created the ultimate office software with the Microsoft Office Suite, giving you Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus programs like Outlook, Publisher and Access. Microsoft’s Office Suite can be a bit expensive, but thankfully there are open source equivalents and even some free ways of using Microsoft Office itself.

LibreOffice is a set of open source software that’s equivalent to Microsoft Office. It lets you save and open documents in Microsoft formats and do everything you can with Microsoft Office, like create documents, set up spreadsheets and create presentations. Click or tap here to download it for Windows or Mac.

You can also get a free trial of Office 365 for a month or try Office Online, a cloud-based version of the Microsoft Office Suite available to those with Microsoft accounts. Find out how to access them.

4. Edit photos like a pro

Photoshop is a program that lets you edit photos in highly skilled ways and also lets you draw and paint digitally. Once you master it, you can create gorgeous works of art — so long as you don’t mind paying an exorbitant amount for a subscription through the Adobe Creative Cloud.

Thankfully, there are lots of free Photoshop equivalents out there, and you can download them right now.

RELATED: Struggling to take great photos worthy of editing and displaying? Click or tap for 5 common mistakes that ruin your photos — and simple ways to fix them.

One of the best Photoshop equivalents is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). GIMP lets you edit photos, as well as draw and paint, and you can work in vector as well as raster, giving you high quality results. Get it here.

If you want a mpbile Photoshop alternative for no cost, try Adobe Photoshop Express. It doesn’t give you as many drawing options but still has a lot of photo editing features. Download this app and make your social media posts beautiful in a flash.

None of these strike your fancy? Check out even more Photoshop equivalents here.

5. Free samples and products

These items might not be strictly tech-related, but who doesn’t like free stuff?

Get free samples of Amazon products by signing up for the company’s sample box program. Sample boxes can get you nutrition and wellness snacks and products, pet foods and treats, skin care and beauty samples, and even sports nutrition boxes and baby items.

You get to pick what kind of items to arrive in your sample boxes, and they come right to your home with free shipping (if you have Amazon Prime). Here’s a closer look at what you can expect and how to set up your delivery.

You can get other sample boxes from TheFreeSite and PINCHme. Subscription boxes also sometimes offer samples, so always keep your eyes peeled for that option if you find a box that intrigues you.

6. Know who’s on your network

Your router is how you connect to the internet, and if that gets hacked, your computer and every other device connected to your network are fair game for malware and other attacks. Protect yourself by doing a router safety check free of charge. Click or tap here to see if your network is secure.

RELATED: It’s not just hackers to watch for on your Wi-Fi. Yes, you should hide your wireless network from your neighbors. Click or tap here to find out why it’s so important and exactly how to do it.

7. Tell stories through your videos

Yes, you can even find complicated software like video editors, which can cost $1,000 or more, for free. Programs like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker (for older PCs) come with your computer and can do a lot of basic editing.

For a more advanced video editor that’s still totally free, I recommend Davinci Resolve 16. It’s available on Windows, Mac and even Linux systems, and it allows you to edit video footage and even uses  artificial intelligence and smart detection technology. The technology can identify faces in clips and organize them automatically into smart folders. Download it here.

For Windows users, there’s also VSDC Free Video Editor. It works with Windows 10, unlike the discontinued Windows Movie Maker. VSDC lets you alter color and edit in a non-linear way, so it’s also an excellent option for video editing. Click here to get your copy.

8. Get lost in a book

In addition to free ways to create entertaining content, you can get some forms of free entertainment as well — namely books and audiobooks. With just a library card (free with an ID or other proof of residency), you can borrow books and audiobooks free through the Libby app. Here’s a link to download it.

Libby gives you access to your local library system right on your phone or tablet. You can use the app to read books directly or send them to your e-reader, as well as listen to audiobooks wherever you want.

You can access Overdrive with school credentials for free books and audiobooks, or use LibriVox, a site that lets you hear public domain audiobooks read by volunteers. Download Overdrive here.

BONUS: 5 tricks I use to keep my inbox in check

I don’t want to be a slave to my emails but at the same time, I don’t want to lose a great vacation buzz because my inbox has 5,000 messages waiting for me when I get back to work. So, apologies to my family and friends when I take time here and there during my off-hours to monitor my inbox.

As an entrepreneur and someone in the public eye, I get thousands of emails a day. How, you might ask, can I possibly run my company without being crushed under the weight of all those emails?

Over the years I’ve developed and perfected 5 important tricks that have served me well in controlling my ever-needy inbox. Click or tap here for my tips to get your email in check.

What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call Kim’s national radio show and tap or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to or watch the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet, television or computer. Or tap or click here for Kim’s free podcasts.

Copyright 2019, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Learn about all the latest technology on The Kim Komando Show, the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com.

A suspected Russian hacking group disguised as Iranian spies attacked more than 35 countries, U.S. and U.K. security officials said Monday.

The group Turla, also known as Waterbug and VENOMOUS BEAR, used a variety of Iranian tools and infrastructure to hack into “government, military, technology, energy and commercial organizations” in order to steal intelligence from dozens of countries, the U.K. National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) and National Security Agency (NSA) said in a joint report.

The majority of the vulnerable nations were primarily in the Middle East, NCSC said.

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“Identifying those responsible for attacks can be very difficult, but the weight of evidence points towards the Turla group being behind this campaign,” said NCSC Director of Operations Paul Chichester. “We want to send a clear message that even when cyber actors seek to mask their identity, our capabilities will ultimately identify them.”

“Turla acquired access to Iranian tools and the ability to identify and exploit them to further their own aims,” he added.

NCSC said documents, including those from governments, were stolen from the various countries.

“Turla used implants derived from the suspected Iran-based hacking groups’ previous campaigns, ‘Neuron’ and ‘Nautilus.’ In order to acquire these tools and access the infrastructure, Turla also compromised the suspected Iran-based hacking groups themselves,” the center pointed out.

HACKERS ARE DRAINING ATMS ACROSS THE US

“After acquiring the tools — and the data needed to use them operationally — Turla first tested them against victims they had already compromised […] and then deployed the Iranian tools directly to additional victims,” according to the report. “Turla sought to further their access into victims of interest by scanning for the presence of Iranian backdoors and attempting to use them to gain a foothold.”

Turla is a known hacking group that targets several different types of organizations, NCSC said.

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A former Oregon college student was sentenced Monday to three years and one month in federal prison for his role in a massive Apple iPhone tracking scam, according to reports.

Quan Jiang, a Chinese national and former engineering student at a community college in Albany, Ore., pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. He faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Between January 2016 and February 2018, Jiang sent around 3,000 fake iPhones, imported from Hong, to Apple, saying they wouldn’t turn on and should be replaced under warranty, prosecutors said.

Apple responded by sending almost 1,500 replacement iPhones, each with an approximate resale value of $600. The elaborate scheme cost the company nearly $1 million, OPB reported.

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U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut called Jiang’s fraud “ongoing and calculated,” resulting in “a very serious offense.”

Jiang’s attorney, Celia Howes, argued her client deserved probation because the scheme involved bigger players in China who were responsible for manufacturing the fake iPhones. She reduced Jiang’s role in the scheme to: “receive, send in, return.”

Addressing the judge through a translator, Jiang said he has changed since committing the fraud and referred to himself back then as “naïve, innocent, and kind of stupid,” the Oregonian/Oregon Live reported.

It’s likely Jiang will be deported back to China after his imprisonment because is no longer eligible to reside in the United States. Jiang has paid $200,000 in restitution to the company.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds, who prosecuted the case, said he’s witnessed similar schemes play out before. He noted that such fraud could play a detrimental role in big companies like Apple changing warranty policies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The country’s top prosecutor probing Big Tech left the door open to breaking up the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said Tuesday that breaking up companies such as Google, Facebook or Amazon is “perfectly on the table” while speaking at the WSJ Tech Live summit.

The Journal reports that Delrahim laid out a “worst-case scenario” for Big Tech as the Justice Department’s wide-ranging antitrust review, which began over the summer, continues.

“There’s no question consumers have benefited from technology. There’s no question we have a lot more conveniences at our disposal. The big question is: Are companies abusing the market power that they have gained,” Delrahim said.

Delrahim reportedly summed up his operating philosophy a few moments later, saying: “Big is not bad. Big behaving badly is bad.”

Notably, Delrahim said it was not his job to be worried about whether breaking up America’s biggest tech firms would help China to gain market shares.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt have all made that nationalist appeal in defense of Silicon Valley.

“Consideration of national champions is inappropriate,” Delrahim said.

Warrior Maven Interview – Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Joseph Martin

“—-A 1986 graduate of West Point, Martin deployed to Iraq five times including stints as a company commander during Operation Desert Storm, as a battalion and brigade commander during Iraqi Freedom and he commanded the famed 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. Martin also served as the commander of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command during the pivotal Battle of Mosul, a major multi-national offensive that helped the Iraqi government retake control of the Iraqi city from ISIS forces—-” From an Army Report — MARTIN ARMY BIO HERE —

Warrior & Martin — Q&A

Warrior: There is a lot of discussion about the Army’s Top 6 Modernization priorities:…Long Range Precision Fires, Next Generation Combat Vehicles, Future Vertical Lift, Network, Air and Missile Defense, and Soldier Lethality…. How are they progressing and what sticks out in your mind?

Martin: All the modernization priorities are doing very well. We’re seeing the progress that we need to right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to continue to have consistent funding; without consistent funding, requirements can be requirements, but they’ll never turn into material that we develop. So, we’ll continue to work with Congress and everyone who is involved to make sure that we have consistent funding over time.

Warrior: Is there an example of the kind of new technology consistent Congressional funding can provide?

Martin: We are very excited about the progress we’ve made on the programs that we have anticipated we would have completed at this time. The Enhanced Night Vision Goggles B (ENVG-B), that was a great idea and… 2 years later, we actually fielded something to a brigade, 2nd Brigade of First Infantry Division. We will have other successes like that if we have consistent funding. We are on the verge of changing the momentum…right now, it’s an uphill fight–building requirements and having dialogues between material developers and requirements developers. We’re pushing the rock uphill. We get that over the top of the hill, these programs are going to take on a life of their own and we’re going to be very very successful.

Warrior: How is the number one priority progressing – Long-Range Precision Fires – as there is a program underway building prototypes and preparing for live fire?

Martin: We have many different experiments that are going on for long-range precision fires, but, in essence, I guess the tagline is this–”we want to make artillery great again.” The way we’re going to do that is we’re going to increase the capability of our cannons, we’re going to increase the capabilities of our rocket forces and we’re going to change the dynamics necessary to compete in the future on the multi-domain battlefield.

From the Army Report

“—Martin also served as the commander of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command during the pivotal Battle of Mosul, a major multi-national offensive that helped the Iraqi government retake control of the Iraqi city from ISIS forces.–”

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Warrior: What are your thoughts on the current strategic shift to great power competition and all the discussion about Russian and Chinese threats?

Martin: There are many things that change. I go back, Kris, when you and I were younger, and the Army was coming out of the Vietnam era. And, during that time period, while we were focused on Vietnam, the Soviets were focused on modernizing equipment, changing their doctrine, changing their disposition…and, the next thing you knew, we looked at what we were doing in Europe and understood we had to change some things.

Warrior: How has this strategic perspective informed your current view of Army modernization?

Martin: So, a huge amount of energy went into, changing our doctrine and creating the Big 5 as all of us remember…things like the tank, the Bradley, the Apache, the Blackhawk helicopter…but, we also created the combat training centers, which changed the Army forever. You saw that fully expressed in Desert Storm and beyond that. We’ve got equipment platforms that were born in that era that are over 40-years-old now, and we’ve got to replace them, so while we’ve been busy focusing on the Middle East, our adversaries in China and Russia have been working on capabilities to deny our capabilities. So, what we’re doing is we’re modernizing the Army and changing our doctrine to multi-domain operations, and we’re taking a hard look at how we’re organized across the Army to make sure that we’re appropriately structured for, equipped with and trained to succeed and dominate in that environment.

Warrior: What are your thoughts on the future of heavy armor? When will we truly see a next-generation tank? What will it look like?

Martin: As we look at the future of the mechanized fleet, the armored fleet, what we want to do is we want to take a look at what’s the right platform or platforms to replace our Bradleys and our tanks. So, we’re looking at things like optionally-manned vehicles–think about a vehicle that could be manned or could be robotic and could be controlled from elsewhere, could operate autonomously or not autonomously. We’re looking at new mobile firepower capabilities, we’re looking at leveraging the technology that’s available in the metallurgical development field so that we can have the lightest vehicle possible, but also the most survival vehicle as possible.

Warrior: Will advances in AI, lightweight composites, long-range sensors and unmanned systems remove the need for some armor?

Martin: We’re also taking a hard look at the firepower these vehicles have to determine which is the optimal firepower for us to be able to counter and dominate our adversary’s capabilities. So, there’s going to be a need for a mechanized, or armored, vehicle in the future, it’s just what exactly that looks like. So, the next generation combat vehicle is focused principally on that. We’ve got a great team there. They’re looking at the requirements, they’re starting to work to prototype equipment in the future, and that’s going to allow us to arrive at the appropriate solution, just like we did with the Abrams tank back in the mid 70’s.

— Kris Osborn of WARRIOR MAVEN (CLICK HERE) can be reached at krisosborn.ko@gmail.com