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Liam’s off-road tech predictions for 2024

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Even though the bike industry is facing difficulties at the moment, the cycling technology race is showing no signs of slowing down. If 2023 is anything to go by 2024 looks set to be yet another bumper year for some massive tech releases as prototypes transition into fully-fledged products. Here’s my latest look into what future tech we might see in 2024.

Fresh wireless shifting from Shimano

Throughout 2023 SRAM took the lead in the drivetrain arms race with the release of the XX SL, XX, and XO Transmission drivetrains, and then released the cheaper GX version a couple of months later. 2023 was a hell of a year for the US drivetrain giant as it also announced its Eagle Powertrain e-MTB drive system, albeit years behind Shimano, along with its new Stealth brake lever design.

With SRAM taking full monopoly in the mountain bike wireless shifting market, Shimano’s silence is deafening. But that’s understandable as the brand has had numerous difficulties to contend with,  the most recent being its somewhat fragile Ultegra road cranksets.

Shimano has been busy though, working hard on the new EP801 motor and e-bike-specific XT Di2 drivetrain that brings new features such as Auto Shift. With that in mind, Shimano’s very own mountain bike wireless groupset must be on the horizon – the brand has, after all, produced semi-wireless shifting for its new road griupsets. While we don’t know exactly what it may look like, the Japanese brand has patented its own direct-mount derailleur. This does things a little differently by including B-tension adjustment. Very interesting indeed.

Is 2024 the year we’ll see mainstream adoption of cable-integrated handlebars of mountain bikes?

Integrated cable routing has been inching nearer and nearer up the bike, with internal cable routing initially guiding cables from the head tube to wherever they pop out. In recent months, cable routing that runs through the headset has become increasingly common, to the dismay of many. Yes, it looks nice but how practical is it?

Something that’s setting the industry up for cable-integrated handlebars is SRAM’s latest Code and Level Stealth brakes, and the new Shimano CUES levers that look to point the cables towards the bar. While this does make for a tidier cockpit, the intentions are clear – to guide cables into the handlebar.

For the end user, this means a cleaner cockpit but it could lead to a huge pain in the neck when it comes to changing something as simple as stem spacers. But let’s not get hysterical. If and when cable-integrated handlebars come to fruition, surely designers will conjure up a useful way around this kind of issue.

We’ll see more Eagle Powertrain-equipped e-bikes

This is a safe bet but when SRAM announced its e-MTB motor, it only came powering four bikes: the Nukeproof Megawatt, the Propain Ekano 2 CF, the Transition Repeater, and the GasGas ECC. All of these are pretty heavy-hitting enduro-focused e-bikes. In the world of e-mountain bikes, that’s a small selection and, without a doubt, SRAM will want to up those numbers and spread the love to a greater range of e-MTB types.

New fork tech from fox

Ignoring the new trail and cross-country shocks we saw earlier this year, it’s been a little while since Fox brought something fresh and fork-flavoured to the market. The last new release we caught a glimpse of was its 32 Taper Cast gravel fork. However, the brand did bring a new crown to its 36 in 2022. While its GRIP, GRIP 2 and FIT4 dampers are still very good, the last time we saw an update to those was in 2020 along with the release of the 38. So it’s been a few years and 2024 is a big one for Fox as it marks its 50th year in the biz and it makes sense the brand will have something cool in the works to celebrate the occasion.

There has been a new cross-country fork spotted on the elite-level circuit and it looks pretty cool, featuring what looks to be a 3D-printed rearward fork bridge. With it already on the race scene, that’s surely due to blast onto the market soon.

Triple clamp forks on more than just downhill bikes

The bikes of enduro mountain biking are already revered as quiver killers due to their general ability to go up a hill as effectively as they can go down and a number of them are compatible with long-travel dual-crown forks that are mostly reserved for downhill bikes. Those that can run these forks are the likes of Yeti’s SB165, YT Industries’ Capra, and the Canyon Torque.

To say that we’ll see a bike with a triple-crown fork from stock is still a bit far-fetched, although I’d love to be wrong. But I believe that more brands will offer bikes with compatibility for big-travel forks and more people will ride their bikes as such. Especially e-MTBers.

Wireless suspension lockouts

We saw that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot’s Pinarello Dogma XC HT was kitted with some kind of electronic lockout for its SR Suntour fork, and we locked eyes on Loic Bruni and others from the Specialized Gravity team covering up their bikes. In both of these genres, lockouts make an awful lot of sense as they help riders maximise every watt.

2023 Pauline Ferrand Prevot Pinarello Dogma XC HT Rouleur-6.jpg, by Suvi loponen

For cross-country mountain biking, this is a given. Teams and riders are looking for any way to drop the kilos and getting rid of cables altogether is one way of doing so. For downhill mountain biking, this also lowers the weight but it can increase reliability.

750d probably won’t pick up

When Moots partnered with WTB earlier this year to unveil the experimental 750d, a larger wheel size for gravel bikes, the company caused a massive stir with many shunning the idea through the distaste of ‘yet another standard’. As much as I love to embrace a new idea, this one wasn’t without its backlash. And, of course, a Moots bike doesn’t come cheap and tyre brands have to develop new tyres given the current climate, the case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ will ring strong. Moots stresses that this is just an experiment so it’s unlikely we’ll see any more of this for at least a good while.

For this to pick up, adoption of the new wheel and tyre size will need to be much larger than just one bike and one tyre but we’ve seen it happen once with 26-inch, 650b and 29ers, so who am I to say that it won’t happen again?

Celebratory Olympic Games stuff

Brands love an opportunity to celebrate an event with cool-looking products and with the 2024 Olympic Games being held in Paris, it goes without saying that we’ll be seeing some cool colourways at the very least. That already makes 2024 quite exciting.

Nino Spark RC – #34 Special Edition, by SCOTT Sports

Scott is no stranger to this, giving Nino Schurter a new bike with a fresh colourway every other weekend, it seems. So if Nino manages to wrangle a spot in the 2024 Olympics, Scott will no doubt unveil a special bike for the GOAT.

 

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

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The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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