Tag Archives: technology

The New York Times reports: Google was hit with a $5.1 billion fine by European antitrust officials on Wednesday for abusing its power in the smartphone market, in the region’s latest move to rein in the clout of American tech companies. The penalty of 4.34 billion euros was a record, and far larger than the €2.4 billion, or about $2.8 …

Courthouse News reports: Despite its promise to stop scanning emails for advertising purposes, Google let outside developers access and read millions of users’ private emails without consent, an Ohio man claims in a new class action. Lead plaintiff James Coyne, of Ohio, sued the technology giant in federal court Friday night, seeking damages and injunction to stop the Alphabet-owned company …

The New York Times reports: Internet retailers can be required to collect sales taxes in states where they have no physical presence, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. Brick-and-mortar businesses have long complained that they are disadvantaged by having to charge sales taxes while many of their online competitors do not. States have said that they are missing out on …

CNBC reports: Intel’s Brian Krzanich is out as CEO and chairman of the board following an investigation into a “consensual relationship with an Intel employee,” the company announced Thursday. Chief financial officer Robert Swan will step in as interim CEO, effective immediately. “An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which applies …

The New York Times reports: It’s official. The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, which had required internet service providers to offer equal access to all web content, took effect on Monday. Under those regulations, broadband service was considered a utility under Title II of the Communications Act, giving the F.C.C. broad power over internet providers. The rules …

Gizmodo reports: Google will not seek another contract for its controversial work providing artificial intelligence to the U.S. Department of Defense for analyzing drone footage after its current contract expires. Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene announced the decision at a meeting with employees Friday morning, three sources told Gizmodo. The current contract expires in 2019 and there will not be …

The BBC reports: Customers across the UK and Europe have been unable to pay for their purchases with Visa cards because of a network failure. Some shoppers reported they were stuck in queues in supermarkets and petrol stations as Visa transactions could not be processed. Banks have advised customers that they can still withdraw cash from ATMs. Visa says it …

The Hill reports: The FBI on Friday issued a formal warning that a sophisticated Russia-linked hacking campaign is compromising hundreds of thousands of home network devices worldwide and it is advising owners to reboot these devices in an attempt to disrupt the malicious software. The law enforcement agency said foreign cyber actors are targeting routers in small or home offices …

From Facebook’s corporate blog: The investigation process is in full swing, and it has two phases. First, a comprehensive review to identify every app that had access to this amount of Facebook data. And second, where we have concerns, we will conduct interviews, make requests for information (RFI) — which ask a series of detailed questions about the app and …

Gizmodo reports: Google is well aware that YouTube is the internet’s biggest time suck, sending users down endless rabbit holes of related videos. Now, as part of the company’s apparent newfound interest in digital well-being, it’s introducing a feature that will encourage people to step away from the endless stream of videos—but only if they opt into it. The new …

The New York Daily News reports: A robotics company known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter century of research. Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said Friday that his company plans to begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely …

USA Today reports: Uber executives continue to grapple with a host of challenges, but that hasn’t put the brakes on the company’s futuristic — and somewhat outlandish — plans to develop a network of flying taxis. The project gained a bit more altitude at Tuesday’s kickoff of the two-day Uber Elevate conference in Los Angeles to discuss urban air transportation. …

Engadget reports: There are few individual computer models that have left a lasting mark on the industry, but you can definitely put the iMac on that list. Apple introduced its signature all-in-one desktop at a special event on May 6th, 1998, and it’s safe to say the system has had a lasting impact on technology at large. At the same …

TechCrunch reports: Yes, it’s that time again — password changing time. On Thursday, Twitter revealed that a bug caused the platform to store user passwords in unmasked form. Normally, sensitive personal data like passwords would be stored in hashed form using a mix of letters and numbers to protect the content of the password itself. In this instance, it sounds …

Gizmodo reports: On Wednesday, Cambridge Analytica employees learned that its parent company, the SCL Group, was shuttering the business, with American-based workers directed to return their keycards immediately, according to documentation reviewed by Gizmodo. The news was announced during a conference call led by Julian Wheatland, the current chairman of the SCL Group who was reportedly tapped to take over …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The boards of Sprint and T-Mobile have agreed to an all-stock merger that, if allowed by antitrust enforcers, would leave the U.S. wireless market dominated by three national players. It is the third time in recent years that the two rivals have attempted the combination. New technology, stiff competition from wireless rivals and an aging …

Krebs On Security reports: Authorities in the U.S., U.K. and the Netherlands on Tuesday took down popular online attack-for-hire service WebStresser.org and arrested its alleged administrators. Investigators say that prior to the takedown, the service had more than 136,000 registered users and was responsible for launching somewhere between four and six million attacks over the past three years. The action, …

ZDNet reports: Security researchers have built a master key that exploits a design flaw in a popular and widely used hotel electronic lock system, allowing unfettered access to every room in the building. The electronic lock system, known as Vision by VingCard and built by Swedish lock manufacturer Assa Abloy, is used in more than 42,000 properties in 166 countries, …

The Verge reports: The world’s most popular email service is getting a big overhaul today. Google is making official the changes we saw leaked earlier this month, with email snoozing, nudging, and confidential mode making their debut alongside a substantial visual redesign for Gmail on the web. The new Gmail begins a global phased rollout today, which is to say …

In an interview published today by Breitbart, Sen. Ted Cruz called for using anti-trust laws to break up Facebook, Google, and other unnamed “technology giants” because right wingers believe they are being censored. “The scope of the power is truly unprecedented. You think back to the heights of yellow journalism, when publisher William Randolph Hearst controlled much of media and …