Sorry Anker: JMGO now makes my favorite flagship portable projector.
Technology
License plate cameras at Home Depot and Lowe’s spark privacy fears
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You pull into a Home Depot or Lowe’s parking lot to grab mulch, paint or a new patio chair. You probably expect security cameras near the entrance. What you may not expect is a camera that captures your license plate as you drive in or out.
That is now reportedly happening at some Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in Connecticut. The cameras are automated license plate readers, also known as ALPRs. They photograph the back of a vehicle, record the plate number and log details such as time and location.
Retailers say the systems help prevent theft and protect customers and employees. Police say the cameras can help solve crimes. However, privacy advocates worry that shoppers may have little idea when their plate is being scanned or who can later search that data.
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WASHINGTON COURT SAYS FLOCK CAMERA IMAGES ARE PUBLIC RECORDS
A license plate reader camera is seen near a Lowe’s parking lot entrance in Connecticut, where vehicles can be scanned as shoppers come and go. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What are license plate cameras?
Automated license plate readers use cameras and software to capture plate numbers from passing vehicles. Police departments often use them on roads to look for stolen cars, missing vehicles or suspects tied to active investigations.
Now, similar systems are showing up in retail parking lots. In Connecticut, Flock Safety cameras have been installed at some Home Depot and Lowe’s locations. Flock Safety’s license plate reader technology captures vehicle information, including license plates and vehicle characteristics such as make, model and color on the property. The company said its system does not use facial recognition.
That means a quick trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s could create a searchable data point tied to your vehicle. Also, more than two dozen police departments in the state use automated plate readers.
Why are stores using license plate readers?
Home Depot and Lowe’s say the cameras are used for security, theft prevention and public safety.
In a statement to CyberGuy, a Home Depot spokesperson said, “We’ve had parking area security cameras in place at our stores for many years, as many retailers do. These cameras are used solely as a security measure to prevent theft and protect the safety of our customers and associates in our stores. We do not grant access to our license plate readers to federal law enforcement.” Home Depot also points customers to its usage policy posted on its website.
Home Depot’s statement addresses federal law enforcement access, but questions remain about how local or out-of-state police requests are handled.
Lowe’s privacy policy says personal information collected through ALPRs may be used to help ensure security, prevent theft and fraud, assist with parking enforcement and help keep people and property safe.
That may sound reasonable, especially with organized retail theft making headlines. Still, the bigger question is what happens after your plate gets scanned.
10 SIGNS YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING SOLD ONLINE
A close-up view shows an automated license plate reader camera mounted at a Lowe’s store in Connecticut, where the technology can capture vehicle plate data as shoppers drive by. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Can police access store license plate data?
Yes, in some cases. Police officials say law enforcement can access data from Lowe’s and Home Depot license plate cameras in Connecticut. Some local departments have also entered into written agreements with retailers to receive automatic or continuous access to cameras at certain stores.
When Flock Safety cameras are deployed by private businesses, the data is owned and controlled by the business or organization using the system. The company says data sharing is off by default, and any decision to share data requires an active choice by the data owner. Flock also says every search is permanently logged in an immutable audit trail. That means police access isn’t simply automatic through Flock. It depends on whether the business chooses to share access, how that access is granted and which agencies are approved.
That is where the privacy debate gets tricky. Connecticut recently passed new rules for police use of automated license plate readers. The law limits how police can share plate data with out-of-state agencies, adds data retention rules and prohibits use of the systems for immigration enforcement.
MICROSOFT CROSSES PRIVACY LINE FEW EXPECTED
However, the law focuses on public agencies. It does not directly address private companies that use similar cameras in their parking lots. That means a police-owned camera on a road may face one set of rules, while a retailer-owned camera in a store parking lot may fall into a murkier category. Private retailers also do not have the same public disclosure requirements as police departments.
So shoppers may not know which local or out-of-state agencies have access, how often police search the data or what happens when requests cross state lines. That’s the bigger concern. The issue isn’t only that your plate may be scanned. It is that the rules may depend on who owns the camera.
A solar-powered automated license plate reader camera stands above a Home Depot parking lot in Connecticut, capturing vehicle plate data as cars move through the area. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to protect your privacy around license plate cameras
You cannot fully stop a camera from seeing your license plate when you drive in public. However, you can take a few practical steps.
Look for posted notices
Check for signs near parking lot entrances or store exits. Some retailers may disclose the use of license plate readers on signs, store websites or privacy policies.
Read the store’s privacy policy
Search the retailer’s privacy policy for phrases such as “automated license plate reader,” “ALPR,” “vehicle information,” or “license plate.” That can help you understand what data the company says it collects and why.
Ask how your plate data is used
Contact customer service if you want clearer answers. Ask how long the company keeps license plate data, which agencies can access it and how requests from law enforcement are reviewed. Flock Safety data is automatically deleted after 30 days by default. Shoppers can still ask whether a retailer uses the default setting or a different retention policy.
Watch what lawmakers do next
Pay attention to local and state rules. More states are looking closely at license plate reader data, but private use may still fall behind police regulation.
Why this debate is only getting bigger
Retailers want tools that help stop theft. Police want information that can help with investigations. Those goals are not hard to understand.
The problem is transparency. People should know when their movements are being logged, how long that data lasts and who can search it later.
License plate readers are spreading because they are useful. However, useful technology still needs clear rules. Without them, a simple shopping trip can become another piece of location data sitting in a database most people never knew existed.
What this means for you
This does not mean you need to avoid Home Depot or Lowe’s. It does mean some retail parking lots may collect more information than you realize. Your license plate is already visible in public. But automated scanning changes the equation. A person spotting your plate in a parking lot is one thing. A searchable database that logs when and where your vehicle appeared is very different. The concern comes down to control and transparency.
The rules can vary depending on who owns the camera, who manages the data and who gets access. A local police camera may face public reporting rules. A private retailer’s system can still leave shoppers with questions about which agencies received access and how those decisions were made.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
License plate cameras at stores create a privacy tradeoff that none of us signed up for. On one hand, stores want to stop theft and keep parking lots safer. That makes sense. On the other hand, you may not expect your license plate to be logged just because you ran in for mulch, batteries or a new drill bit. That is why transparency is so important. If private companies are collecting this kind of data and police can access it, you deserve to know how long it is kept, who can search it and what rules are in place. Security can be useful, but it should not come with a guessing game about where your information goes next.
Would you still shop at a store if you knew your license plate was being scanned and potentially shared with police? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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The N3 Ultimate is an excellent portable 4K projector that defeats moderate ambient light at severe placement angles and can rival more expensive home theater installations at night. After a few weeks of testing, I think the raw adaptability exhibited by the JMGO’s N3 Ultimate justifies its current $2,399 price ($500 off its $2,999 list).
Modern all-in-one projectors built around Google TV are already super accommodating when it comes to placement. Set one down on a living room table or campsite rock and it will begin searching for a screen or blank wall while avoiding obstacles to project a focused, color-corrected image that’s properly aligned. But these techniques typically resort to digital optimizations that degrade image brightness, resolution, and responsiveness. To avoid this, it’s always best to place a projector directly in front of the projection surface.
JMGO’s N3 Ultimate projector promises “lossless placement” by mounting it on a motorized gimbal that rotates horizontally and vertically. That, combined with optical zoom and generous lens shift, increases off-center placement flexibility without resorting to digital trickery. You can even drag the image Wiimote-style to the exact spot you want it using the included remote control. Handy!
The N3 Ultimate doesn’t live up to all of its marketing hype, however. It’s pitched as a 5800 ISO lumen projector that I found to be unwatchable in its brightest mode for reasons I will explain later. In modes you can actually use, you’re getting about 4,600 ISO lumens, which drops to 3,000 ISO lumens if you want more accurate colors — that’s noticeably brighter than Anker’s Nebula X1 flagship 4K portable running in comparable modes.
Even though the N3 Ultimate misses the advertised ceiling, its class-leading brightness and impressive picture could make this a television replacement for some.
$2399
The Good
- Unbeatable physical placement options that preserve image quality
- Incredibly bright, daylight-ready output
- Excellent out-of-the-box color reproduction
- Very good sound for a portable
- Snappy menu navigation and native Netflix support
The Bad
- Horribly green and loud at max brightness
- Automatic eye protection is wonky and slow to react
- Clumsy menus required to swap into Bluetooth speaker mode
- It’s portable, so where’s the handle?
The first spec I look at on portable projectors is the lumen rating. If the number is listed as anything other than ANSI or ISO, I just assume they are lying. JMGO isn’t exactly lying with its 5800 ISO lumen spec, but it’s not being completely transparent, either.
The N3 Ultimate only comes close to hitting that incredibly bright mark (I measured closer to 5,200 ISO lumens) when running in Dynamic mode, which skews the colors horribly green and causes the cooling fans to roar. The colors produced by this triple-laser RGB DLP projector are most accurate in Movie mode, but at almost half the advertised brightness.
Display Mode |
Calculated ISO Lumens |
|---|---|
| Movie | 3,066 |
| Office | 4,209 |
| Vivid | 4,624 |
| Dynamic | 5,216 |
Out of the box, I found the colors and tones produced by the N3 Ultimate’s factory tuning to be more true to life than many projectors in this class. Typically, I’d select Vivid during the day and then switch to Movie mode in darkened rooms. Sometimes I’d forget because the differences weren’t always obvious. The projector’s brightness allows its Dolby Vision support to meaningfully improve picture quality in both dark and not-so-dark rooms.
I tested the N3 Ultimate for an unhealthy number of hours on displays as large as 110 inches and as small as 32 inches; on painted walls, a glossy tabletop, a matte-white screen that increased the intensity, and a gray Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen that boosted the contrast. It adapted admirably to each scenario with little intervention.
Typically the projector ran whisper quiet — I had to strain to hear it. In warmer rooms and with adaptive brightness turned on, I could hear the fans kick up a notch to about 30dB from their usual 26dB, at a distance of one meter. At max brightness, the fans peaked at a very distracting 50dB.
Optimizing image placement is a little tricky at first due to all the menu options and descriptions that aren’t exactly consumer friendly. Fortunately, there’s an optimization button right on the remote that removes the guesswork. Hold it down and you can drag the projected image around the room to center it wherever you want. Double-click the button and you’re presented with four menus that guide you through image-tuning options for Lossless Lens Shift, Gimbal Motion, Zoom, and Rotate. It’s very well done and makes the projector fast and easy to set up at new locations.
The sound is decent for a portable all-in-one of this size. It’s essentially an Anker Nebula X1 turned on its side, but lacking the optional satellite speakers that make Anker’s portable projector unbeatable for sound. Without those satellites, however, the Anker and JMGO sound roughly the same. The N3 Ultimate produced clear, detailed, room-filling sound with a respectable amount of bass. So, it’s a shame that JMGO doesn’t make it easy to quickly switch the projector into Bluetooth speaker mode from the shutdown screen like many portables — instead, you have to clumsily enable it through the settings menu.
The N3 Ultimate runs Netflix out of the box and menu navigation is snappy — two things you can’t take for granted with portable Google TV projectors. The one thing missing is an integrated handle, which makes this a two-handed portable. Fortunately, JMGO does ship the N3 Ultimate inside a reusable carrying case that came in handy when transporting it by car.
1/18
I also found the projector’s automatic eye protection feature to be wonky. Even at the default sensitivity, it can be triggered for no reason. Worse, it’s slow to respond when eyeballs are actually at risk from the laser optics. And besides an on / off button, the N3 Ultimate lacks on-device controls — don’t lose the remote!
“Ultimate” is a dangerously high bar to set when naming your projector, but JMGO gets close to the mark. If audio quality is your absolute highest priority, Anker’s bulkier Nebula X1 speaker bundle remains a tempting alternative — though it will cost you significantly more cash. But if you are looking for class-leading brightness and unmatched physical placement flexibility from a 4K all-in-one projector, the JMGO N3 Ultimate at $2,399 is the way to go.
Listed Specs: JMGO N3 Ultimate
Display & Picture Quality
- Light Source: MALC 5.0 Pure Triple Laser / RGB Laser
- Resolution: 4K UHD
- Brightness: 5800 ISO Lumens
- Contrast Ratio: 20000:1
- Color Gamut: 110% BT.2020
- Color Accuracy: ΔE ≈ 0.7
- HDR Formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10
- Image Size: 40 to 300 inches
- Display Technology: DLP
Optical & Placement System
- Throw Ratio: 0.88–1.7:1
- 3-in-1 Projection: Combines Optical Zoom, Lens Shift, and an AI Gimbal base
- Projection Types: Front, Rear, Front Ceiling, Rear Ceiling
Smart Software & AI Features
- Operating System: Google TV with native Netflix integration
- Smart Features: Auto Screen Fitting, Auto Keystone, Auto Focus, Adaptive Brightness, and Wall Color Adaptation, Eye Protection
- Custom Memory: AI Spatial Memory System to remember preferred walls, zoom levels, and shortcuts
- Processor: MediaTek MT9679 chipset
- Memory: 4GB RAM
- Storage: 64GB ROM
- Motion Tech: MEMC motion compensation
- Speakers: Dual 12.5W stereo speakers (25W total output)
- Sound Enhancement: Dolby Audio
- Refresh Rate: Up to 240Hz
- Input Lag: 1ms ultra-low latency
- Extra Features: Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support and specialized game modes
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2
- Wired Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1 (with one port supporting eARC) and 1x USB 3.0
- Dimensions: 308.3 x 229.85 x 274.13mm
- Weight: 6.95kg
- Power Consumption: up to 300W
Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
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Technology
Fox News AI Newsletter: Sanders bill would seize 50% of stock in OpenAI, Anthropic for sovereign wealth fund
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Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
– Bernie Sanders unveils plan to take 50% stake in AI companies for government wealth fund
– College grads expect to earn $80,000 a year, but the math isn’t mathing
– Jensen Huang says Nvidia’s new RTX Spark chip will reinvent the PC
Sen. Bernie Sanders reacts to questions from a Fox News Digital reporter about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s resurfaced Reddit posts while walking through the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
SOCIALIST SHARE-UP: Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is arguing that the federal government should establish a sovereign wealth fund that’s financed by taking possession of half of the stock in AI giants like OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, among others.
PAPER CHASE: If you want to understand what’s broken about higher education in America, look no further than one statistic.
According to a recent survey, the average college student expects to earn $80,000 a year shortly after graduation. The reality? The average starting salary is closer to $56,000. That’s a 30% gap between expectation and reality before a graduate even receives their first paycheck.
THE AGENTIC ERA: Nvidia on Monday unveiled a new chip that will bring artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities onto laptops and desktop computers.
The new AI chip, known as RTX Spark, was built as part of a collaboration between Nvidia and Microsoft to make personal computers that are built to power AI tools.
A student walks across the campus grounds at Harvard University. (Zhu Ziyu/VCG via Getty Images)
CRACKED IN DAYS: Apple devices have earned a reputation for being tough to break into. That comes from Apple’s tight control over the hardware, software and many of the protections standing between you and an attacker. However, a new claim from security startup Calif shows how quickly the cybersecurity world may be changing.
FINANCIAL DYNAMITE: Billionaire Jeff Bezos just detonated a financial hand grenade in the middle of America’s tax debate.
The Amazon founder recently suggested that the bottom half of American earners should pay zero federal income tax. Not lower taxes. Not a temporary rebate. Zero.
BIG BROTHER BOSS: The NewsGuild of New York has accused The New York Times of using artificial intelligence technology to monitor and surveil the performance of unionized tech workers in violation of their collective bargaining agreement.
The New York Times Building is shown in Midtown Manhattan. (Joshua Comins/Fox News)
Subscribe now to get the Fox News Artificial Intelligence Newsletter in your inbox.
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Fellow Traveller, the publisher behind games like Titanium Court and 1000xResist, just wrapped up its Story-Rich Showcase, which featured a bunch of narrative-driven indie games. With more than 20 games on display, there was a lot to follow, but we’ve pulled together some of the most notable announcements below. You can also catch the full show on Fellow Traveller’s YouTube channel.
Ambrosia Sky is getting its second and final episode
Ambrosia Sky, a sci-fi game about death where you have to clean up alien fungi, will be getting its second act as a free update on August 6th. The game was originally planned to have three acts, but developer Soft Rains announced in March that it would be brought down to two. When Act Two launches, the game’s price will go up from $14.99 to $24.99.
The Citizen Sleeper games are coming to Nintendo Switch 2
The sci-fi RPGs Citizen Sleeper and Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector are getting Switch 2 versions on June 25th. If you already own them on the original Switch, you can play the Switch 2 versions at no extra charge. Developer Gareth Damian Martin also says they will be revealing their next game during Sunday’s PC Gaming Show.
Desktop Explorer, a spooky game about looking through an old computer, launches in July
This trailer for Desktop Explorer, a horror puzzle game where you click through a creepy version of an old, Windows-like operating system, might be the scariest way to use a computer. It’s launching on July 17th.
Demonschool is getting DLC and will launch on the Switch 2
The upcoming paid DLC for Demonschool, a tactical RPG from Necrosoft that channels Buffy and Persona, has a focus on “puzzle battles” where players work to clear out enemies using certain characters in one turn. Both the DLC and the Switch 2 version (which includes mouse support and an improved frame rate) will launch sometime this year.
The developers of a point-and-click thriller are making a fantasy game
Powerhoof, the studio behind last year’s retro-styled mystery game The Drifter, is now working on The Telwynium, a “fantasy adventure epic.” “Book One” of the game is now available on Steam, though you can also grab it from Itch.io if you prefer.
The Mermaid Mask, a new detective game, is launching in July
SFB Games, the studio that made games like Tangle Tower and Crow Country, is releasing its next game, The Mermaid Mask, on July 16th. It’s a locked-door mystery that’s fully voice-acted and features hand-drawn animations — looks like a great story to settle into this summer.
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