PSA: Twitter outages are being reported worldwide
If you’re having trouble tweeting today, it’s not you: it’s a global problem with Twitter.
Author
Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written two novels.
He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.
He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride, and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.
He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.
Software update allows all 2016 Ford cars to use Android Auto
There’s good news for anyone with a 2016-model Ford. The company has announced that a software update will allow its entire fleet from that year to use both Android Auto and CarPlay. Android Auto supports phones running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher.
While you can take your car to a dealer to do the update for you, that isn’t necessary as there are a couple of DIY options …
Twitter stops respecting Do Not Track next month, extends tracking to 30 days
Twitter has introduced a new privacy policy, with some significant changes taking effect next month.
First, it is no longer respecting Do Not Track, which allowed web users to opt out of cross-site tracking on websites that honor the setting. Do Not Track is supported by most major browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer …
Tablet & laptop ban on flights between US & Europe reportedly now off the table
Potential plans to ban tablets and laptops from cabin baggage on flights between Europe and the USA have reportedly been shelved …
Facebook fined €110M ($122M) for misleading EU over WhatsApp acquisition
Antitrust regulators in Europe have fined Facebook €110 ($122M) for misleading them over its acquisition of the secure messaging service WhatsApp.
The European Commission said that the fine would have been more than twice as high but for Facebook’s acknowledgement of wrong-doing and cooperation with the investigation …
Trailer shows upcoming Futurama mobile game ‘containing new episodes’ [Video]
When Futurama creator Matt Groening talked about the upcoming iOS and Android game back in February, he teased that it will effectively contain some entirely new episodes.
We’re gonna sneak some more Futurama episodes in there on whatever device people are gonna be using.
The company has now released a trailer showing that the game will indeed live up to this promise …
U.S. Senate approves secure messaging app Signal for use by staffers
The U.S. Senate has approved the secure messaging app Signal for use by staffers. The approval was apparently granted back in March, but only came to light in a letter written by Sen. Ron Wyden.
Shazam forgetting song titles generated 2M views of Alzheimer’s ad, says agency [Video]
A clever ad campaign for Alzheimer’s Research UK – a charity working to prevent, treat and cure dementia – generated more than two million ad impressions, says the agency behind it. The campaign saw the Shazam app apparently having difficulty remembering the names of songs …
Samsung Pay now live in the UK, but only with three banks so far
Samsung Pay has finally launched in the UK, as expected after two Samsung UK reps gave the game away earlier this month.
It’s not the most comprehensive of launches, however, with just three banks supported so far – none of which are in the so-called Big Four …
Transfer of 1.6M patient records from UK hospitals to Google DeepMind labelled ‘inappropriate’
The legal basis for the transfer of 1.6 million patent records from the UK’s National Health Service to Google DeepMind has been described as ‘inappropriate’ by a leading data protection figure in the NHS. The data was given to Google for one of several AI projects designed to use machine learning to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of a number of conditions.
Sky News reports that view was expressed in a letter written by Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian at the Department of Health …
Buying a used smartphone? Here’s an easy way to check whether it was stolen …
Nobody wants to risk buying a stolen item. Even if you leave aside the morality issue, buying stolen devices creates a market for further thefts. And with smartphones, a stolen device can be be rendered useless by a combination of remote locking and blocks by carriers.
Wireless trade body CTIA has now created a free online tool to allow anyone to instantly check whether a phone is registered as lost or stolen …
Russian blogger gets 3.5 years prison (suspended) for video of playing Pokémon Go in a church
A Russian blogger who posted a video of himself playing Pokémon Go in a church has been convicted of insulting religious believers and inciting hatred. Ruslan Sokolovsky was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, but the judge suspended the sentence …
Full-featured version of The Sims coming to Android and iOS ‘soon’ [Video]
Fans of The Sims got a taste of the simulation on Android from The Sims Freeplay, but the freemium app fell a long way short of the full desktop experience. EA is promising to correct that in The Sims Mobile.
The developer says that the new mobile app will support all the features of the original PC game from 17 years ago …
Googling your child’s symptoms doesn’t just annoy doctors, it can be dangerous, shows study
Having instant access to the sum total of human knowledge is a wonderful thing most of the time, but there are times when it can be counterproductive. A new study suggests that Googling your child’s symptoms when they are ill can be one of those times.
Arriving at an appointment thinking you know more than a trained medical professional isn’t likely to endear you to your child’s doctor, but a study carried out by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that it can actually be dangerous …
Samsung smartphone shipments fell by 60% in China in Q1 2017 as local brands bite
Samsung smartphone shipments fell by 60% year-on-year in China during the first quarter of the year according to Counterpoint Research data. The company saw its market share in the country slashed from 8.6% in Q1 2016 to 3.3% Q1 2017.
The main reason for the fall at a time when smartphone sales in China are still growing was far stronger competition from local brands …
Most American homes have now ditched landlines, but it’s not just about tech
Those of us who ditched landlines in favor of cellphones years ago might think it quaint that it’s taken this long, but we are now – for the first time – in the majority …
A new example of Android malware is discovered every 10 seconds, say security researchers
Security company G Data says that a new piece of Android malware is discovered every 10 seconds. At this rate, the company is predicting that there will be 3,500,000 new malicious Android files by the end of the year.
The threat level for users with smartphones and tablets with an Android operating system remains high. In all, the G DATA security experts expect around 3.5 million new Android malware apps for 2017.
The company said that the risk was heightened by the fact that only a small minority of users are on the latest version of Android …
Sprint offers free LTE signal booster to homes & businesses to double data speeds
Sprint has announced the Magic Box, a signal booster that it’s making available free of charge to ‘qualifying’ homes and businesses. The booster – which it bills as ‘the world’s first all-wireless small call’ – amplifies LTE data signals from nearby cell towers, increasing both upload and download speeds by an average of 200%.
Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant rolls out on Galaxy S8 in Korea, ahead of U.S. launch
Samsung has officially rolled out the voice assistant component of its intelligent assistant, Bixby, to Galaxy S8 users in its home market of South Korea. ZDNet noted that the service was activated today.
Samsung began the voice command service at 1pm KST on Monday, after sending a notice in the morning to users of the smartphones.
The company had revealed ahead of time that it wouldn’t be available when the S8 shipped, but said that it would reach U.S. owners sometime in the spring. It now looks like there won’t be long to wait …
Uber makes it easier to delete accounts, denies it’s in response to #DeleteUber campaign
Uber has announced that an update to the app rolling out over the next few weeks will make it easier for customers to delete their accounts. Previously, deleting the app did not remove your account from Uber servers, leaving your data in place …
Google and Facebook scammed out of $100M but say that money was recovered
Google and Facebook were scammed out of a total of $100M by a crook sending fake invoices purporting to be from Taiwanese server supplier Quanta Computer, reports Fortune. The scam was allegedly carried out by a Lithuanian man, Evaldas Rimasauskas.
Over a two-year span, the corporate imposter convinced accounting departments at the two tech companies to make transfers worth tens of millions of dollars. By the time the firms figured out what was going on, Rimasauskas had coaxed out over $100 million in payments, which he promptly stashed in bank accounts across Eastern Europe.
Google said that all of its money has been recovered, while Facebook said this was true of ‘the bulk’ of its funds, but questions are still being asked of both organisations …
B&O launches its most portable Bluetooth speaker: leather, aluminum & tap controls
Danish hifi manufacturer Bang & Olufsen has launched its most portable Bluetooth speaker to date: the P2 …
Samsung reports Q1 earnings: mobile down, components up, worried about iPhone 8
Samsung Electronics today reported its Q1 results, covering January to March, with a mix of good and bad news.
The good news was that both revenue and profits were up year-on-year. The company reported profits of 9.9T won ($8.7B) on revenue of 50.55T won ($44.7B) – a record for a first quarter. The bad news was that this profit was driven by components, while its mobile business declined …
Laptops & tablets may be banned from cabin baggage on US-bound flights from UK & other European countries
A U.S. ban on carrying laptops and tablets in the cabin of inbound international flights may be extended to European countries, including the UK. Any electronic device larger than a phone would have to be placed in hold baggage.
The U.S. government currently applies the ban to flights from 10 airports, mostly Middle Eastern and North African. The measure was introduced last month, the Department of Homeland Security stating that it was in response to intelligence suggesting that terrorists planned to smuggle explosives inside consumer electronics items …
