The consumer version of Blackberry Messenger is shutting down today.  Friday is the last day for users to download photos, videos and files so they’re not lost. Contacts, Stickers and Feeds can’t be exported. BBM is offering refunds for Stickers but not for BBMojis. Reward balances had to be collected by May 20. BBM tweeted a goodbye Friday …

Justice Department officials want T-Mobile and Sprint to form a new, competing wireless carrier as part of a deal to approve their $26.5 billion merger, according to Bloomberg. The two wireless carriers are working on possible concessions to get the deal approved, unnamed sources told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Merging T-Mobile and Sprint would reduce the number of major US carriers …

Cricket anyone? Not Google Duo users, it seems. With the ICC Cricket World Cup kicking off Friday, people using Google’s video calling app were “toasted” with coffee by Virat Kohli, the captain of India’s national cricket team. The promotional message said, “Thank you for your wishes. Keep cheering for Team India on Duo.” Non-cricket-following Duo users began chirping confusedly on …

Google Play is working to make its app store more family friendly. Kanika Sachdeva, the store’s product manager, said it considered input from users and developers to fine-tune protections for kids and families on Google Play. In a blog post Wednesday, Sachdeva said the latest policy changes will strengthen existing efforts to make sure apps designed for kids contain appropriate content …

Our phones rarely leave our side and a new study from Common Sense Media shows it’s no different overnight. A third of teens actually sleep with their devices — girls more than boys, according to findings (PDF) in The New Normal: Parents, Teens, Screens, and Sleep in the United States. Parents apparently aren’t better, though, with 62% keeping phones in reach …

Anti-Trump brothers Ed and Brian Krassenstein were permanently banned from Twitter for operating multiple fake accounts and purchasing bots with those accounts. The Daily Beast first reported the news late Thursday. “The Twitter Rules apply to everyone. Operating multiple fake accounts and purchasing account interactions are strictly prohibited,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Engaging in these behaviors will …

Apple released a new iPod Touch on Tuesday, saying it makes frequently used features like FaceTime perform better.  The device uses Apple’s A10 Fusion chip to boost gameplay and to offer an “immersive AR experience” for the first time on the iPod Touch, according to a statement. The AR feature work across gaming and education apps and web browsing. The device’s …

Personal Capital chief marketing officer Porter Gale is joining Reddit’s board of directors, the company announced Tuesday. Gale will be the first female independent board member in Reddit’s history. While another woman has held a leadership position at the company and sat on the board, Gale is the first outside hire.   Gale tweeted about her new position following the formal …

Amazon is reportedly working on a health and wellness device that could figure out how you feel before you do.  The e-commerce giant detailed a voice-activated wearable device that can recognize human emotion, according to internal documents obtained by Bloomberg. The wrist-worn gadget reportedly pairs with a smartphone app and uses microphones to decipher your emotional state based on your …

Apple News Plus subscribers can now follow publications directly from the News Plus catalog, thanks to the release last week of iOS 12.3 update and MacOS 10.14.5, Apple said Tuesday. If you follow a title, new issues will be automatically downloaded to your device and available offline. You can also manually download individual issues in each title’s channel. “We’ve heard …