Samsung admits disappointing sales of Galaxy S9, warns tough times will continue
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.
Do you know your monthly spend on digital subscriptions? A survey suggests not …
A survey of 2,500 Americans suggests that most people have got very little idea how much they spend on digital subscriptions – on average, underestimating the cost by a factor of three …
Twitter partners with universities to address lack of civility, tolerance and diverse views
For anyone who has spent any time on Twitter, it might not seem to require a university study to determine that the platform can be somewhat lacking in civility, tolerance and diverse debate …
White House held 22 meetings with more than 80 organizations to discuss federal privacy law
It was last month said that the White House was considering options for introducing a federal privacy law along the lines of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) …
After Facebook, Twitter share price falls 16% in pre-market trading on weak numbers
Facebook’s share price took a huge hit yesterday – the biggest single-day fall for any company in history – as it revealed the impact of privacy issues. And Twitter isn’t faring too well either …
Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft making car congestion worse, not better, says study
One of the claims made by ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft is being challenged by a new report, which suggests that they make congestion worse, not better …
Telegram Android app adds controversial feature to store real-world ID documents
One of the scarier things you need to do to gain access to some apps – mostly financial ones – is to prove your identity by uploading a photo of official ID, like a driving license or passport. Most services say that the document will be deleted following verification, but it’s a process that requires a large degree of trust in the company.
This is an issue Telegram sets out to address in a new update hitting the iOS and Android apps today …
Twitter denies shadow-banning prominent Republicans as Trump weighs in
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has denied that the company is shadow-banning prominent Republicans, following a Vice report that found that their names weren’t auto-completing in the search bar …
Facebook shares fall 25% as company reveals impact of privacy issues
Facebook saw as much as $150B wiped from its value as after-market trading saw the share price fall by 25%. This followed the company warning that its profit margin is likely to fall from its current 44% to the mids-30s for more than two years …
TSA testing 3D scanner that will let you leave your laptop and tablet in your hand-baggage
Going through Security is one of the more tedious aspects of air travel, especially given the need to remove laptops, tablets and liquids from bags, which makes the process even slower …
Snapcash closing, likely due to competition from Google and others – and sketchy usage
Sending money direct from your phone to a friend or family member has made the shift from a geeky thing back in 2014 to a relatively mainstream activity today. But increased competition is seeing one player exit the business …
AT&T names three more of the dozen cities to get mobile 5G this year
AT&T promised in January to launch mobile 5G service in a dozen cities by the end of the year, though without naming any of them at the time. It later named three of them, and has now added the next three …
WhatsApp further restricting message forwarding to address the fake news problem
In the run-up to the US mid-term elections, we’re seeing social media companies making greater efforts to address the problem of fake news. Twitter recently said that it was suspending work on its verification program to devote all its attention to addressing fake news, and WhatsApp has now announced its own measures …
Spotify thinks letting customers block followers is ‘a good idea’ but no plan yet to implement
Spotify has responded to a feature request for the ability to block followers, saying that it is a ‘good idea’ – but it has no current plans to implement it …
Twitter puts verification reform on hold; Instagram testing silent block feature
Twitter is pausing its efforts to reform the blue check-mark verification process. The company says that it is currently directing all its efforts to addressing the fake news problem in the run-up to the US mid-term elections …
Venmo’s default settings expose ‘alarming’ personal data, shows analysis of 200M transactions
A security researcher who analyzed more than 200 million Venmo transactions said that she was able to learn ‘an alarming amount’ about the private lives of users thanks to a privacy weakness in the app.
GOP congressman tries belt-and-braces approach to restoring net neutrality
The US Senate may have voted to restore net neutrality, but getting it through the House is a bigger hurdle. However, we’re now at least one step closer thanks to one Republican congressman taking a belt-and-braces approach …
T-Mobile extends (useless) free 2G data to 210 countries, offers $5/day pass for LTE
T-Mobile is extending Simple Global, the scheme that pretends to offer you free unlimited data when travelling, to 210 countries – up from the previous 140.
We say ‘pretends’ as what you actually get free of charge is 2G data, which is pretty much unusable. But it will now offer a chargeable option for LTE data …
‘Reverse AR’ Disney app aims to entertain your family as you wait in line
If you’ve ever been bored while waiting in line for a ride at a Disney theme park, the company has a solution – a kind of reverse augmented reality app …
Uber rolling out two new(ish) ways to make it easier for your driver to find you
Uber makes it easy for your driver to get close to your location, but there are times when that last few hundred feet can be a major hassle …
‘Middlemen selling Americans’ smartphone location to the highest bidder,’ says senator
Carriers are selling the locations of smartphone users to third-party companies without their consent, say legal experts and a senator …
Prepare to receive more emergency alerts on your smartphone, but there’s no cause for panic
The US government’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) is, unfortunately, probably best known for the false alarm in Hawaii back in January. Residents of the island were woken by a loud alarm sound and a message stating that ballistic missiles were on the way …
Match-owned Hinge dating app uses ‘stable marriage’ AI algorithm for its matches
If you’re single and tired of swiping on photos or browsing endless profiles in the hope of the perfect match, a dating app is now using an AI algorithm to do the work for you …
Pinterest reinvents itself as a chatroom for group collaborative projects
The latest update to the Pinterest app effectively turns it into a dedicated chatroom for collaborative projects …