Tag Archives: technology

EU Mandates Uniform Charging Port For All Devices

Reuters reports: Apple will have to change the connector on iPhones sold in Europe by 2024 after EU countries and lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to a single mobile charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras in a world first. The political intervention, which the European Commission said would make life easier for consumers and save them money, came after …

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NY Approves Nation’s First “Right To Repair” Law

Gothamist reports: It may soon be easier to get your busted iPhone fixed. Under a bill passed by the state legislature, digital electronics manufacturers – such as Apple or Samsung – will be required to make repair instructions and parts available to both consumers and independent technicians. The “right to repair” legislation, which still needs to be signed into law …

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Amazon To Expand Drone Deliveries To Six States

Axios reports: Walmart customers in six states will soon be able to have their orders delivered by drone in less than 30 minutes. This will be the first large-scale drone delivery operation in the United States. So far, drone deliveries have been available only in a few small towns, with customers selecting from a short list of items. Walmart’s DroneUp …

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New York City Removes Its Last Public Payphone

New York City’s Fox affiliate reports: The final New York City public pay telephone was being removed on Monday morning. It was on 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The city began removing payphones in 2015 and replacing them with public Wi-Fi hotspots. The city has removed thousands of payphones across all five boroughs in the past several years. In 2014, …

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Apple Discontinues The iPod After Over 20 Years

Engadget reports: Apple just marked the end to one of the most important product lines in its history. The company has discontinued the iPod touch, which will only be available in stores “while supplies last.” Not surprisingly, the company maintained that the “spirit of iPod” continues in other products, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. The move has been …

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Grindr App To Go Public At $2.1 Billion Valuation

Bloomberg News reports: Grindr LLC, the dating app that specializes in connections for the LGBTQ+ community, has agreed to go public through a blank-check firm in a deal that values the combined company at $2.1 billion including debt. The predominantly male dating app is merging with Tiga Acquistion Corp., which debuted in November 2020. The special purpose acquisition company isn’t …

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WSJ: Grindr Sold User Location Data For Years

Engadget reports: Grindr’s past willingness to share sensitive data may have been more problematic than previously thought. The Wall Street Journal understands precise Grindr user location data was collected from the online ad network MoPub (once owned by Twitter) and put on sale through its partner company UberMedia (now UM) since “at least” 2017. The LGBTQ dating app curbed the …

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Musk Won’t Join Twitter’s Board Of Directors After All

CNBC reports: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has abandoned his plans to join the board of Twitter, his social network of choice. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced publicly on Sunday that Musk remains the largest shareholder of Twitter, and the company will remain open to his input. Musk informed Twitter on Saturday morning that he would not, in fact, …

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Twitter Experiments With “Unmentioning” Feature

The Verge reports: Twitter is experimenting with an “unmentioning” feature that will allow users to remove themselves from conversations. It’s limited to some users and only on the web version for now but looks like a very useful way to clean up your mentions. “We’re experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations,” …

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Twitter To Launch Long-Requested “Edit Button”

Elon Musk will surely take credit for this: It’s a feature that Twitter users have been requesting for so long that it’s become a meme, but now the mythical “edit button” is actually becoming a reality. Twitter has announced that it’s working to allow users to edit their tweets after posting them. The idea is that you’ll be able to …

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Startup Unveils Advance In Smart Contact Lenses

Axios reports: A small Silicon Valley startup is announcing Wednesday that it is close to having a working prototype of a contact lens capable of showing basic information such as driving directions using only eye movements to control the display. While smart glasses are often touted as a fixture of our augmented-reality future, a handful of companies are taking things …

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Creator Of The GIF Dies Of COVID At Age 74

The Independent reports: The man who created the GIF has died from Covid-19 at the age of 74, his family has confirmed. Stephen Wilhite came up with Graphics Interchange Format, which are now used for animated internet memes and jokes, when he worked for CompuServe in the 1980s. “Even with all his accomplishments, he remained a very humble, kind, and …

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Arizona First State To Allow Digital IDs In iPhone Wallet

The Verge reports: The first state to officially roll out Apple’s digital driver’s license and state ID is Arizona, the iPhone maker announced Wednesday. “Starting today, Arizonans can add their driver’s license or state ID to Wallet, and tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly and securely present it at select TSA security checkpoints in Phoenix Sky Harbor International …

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FB Locks Out Users Who Didn’t Enable “Protect” Mode

The Verge reports: Early in March, Facebook users got a mysterious, spam-like email titled “Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect” and telling them that they were required to turn on the Facebook Protect feature by a certain date, or they would be locked out of their account. It actually wasn’t spam. In fact, it was real. The first …

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Ukraine War May Spur Global Computer Chip Shortage

Reuters reports: Ukraine’s two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world’s supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage. Some 45%-54% of the world’s semiconductor grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, …

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Apple Unveils New “Budget” iPhone At $429 [VIDEO]

ABC News reports: Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new version of its budget-priced iPhone that’s capable of connecting to ultrafast 5G wireless networks, an upgrade that’s already been available on the company’s upscale models for more than a year. The latest iPhone SE marks the first upgrade to the bare-bones version of Apple’s most popular product in nearly two years. …

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Apple Workers To Begin Returning To Office In April

The Verge reports: Apple will begin phasing in its planned hybrid work pilot on April 11th, bringing employees back to the office one day a week to start, according to an email from CEO Tim Cook to Apple employees, which was seen by The Verge. Apple originally announced its plans for a hybrid work pilot in November. In the third …

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Fitbit Recalls 1M+ Smartwatches Over Burned Arms

The Verge reports: Fitbit announced today that it’s working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to voluntarily recall its Ionic smartwatch. The company says it’s received over 100 reports of the watch’s lithium-ion battery overheating, as well as 78 reports of burn injuries to customers. “Customer safety is always Fitbit’s top priority and out of an abundance of caution, we …

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Twitter Goes Down For Many Users Around The World

Variety reports: Twitter was experiencing significant problems with its site and apps Friday, according to user reports. According to DownDetector.com, user reports that Twitter was having technical issues began to spike at 12:13 p.m. ET. Problems that users reported on other social platforms included that their tweets weren’t loading (with the error message, “Something went wrong. Try reloading) or they …

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Dashcam Shows Auto-Piloted Tesla Crash Into Police Car While Its Driver Watched Movie On His Phone [VIDEO]

Mediaite reports: Recently released dashcam footage captured the moment a Tesla being driven on auto-pilot crashed into a parked patrol car, hitting an officer and sending a second vehicle into a ditch. The incident, which occurred in North Carolina last August alongside U.S. Highway 64, was the result of an auto-pilot attempt gone wrong, as the Telsa owner was watching …

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