Steven Musil

Facebook suspends Russia

Facebook has reportedly suspended three popular video pages designed to appeal to millennials after discovering the pages were backed by the Russian government. The pages, which Facebook suspended Friday, are run by Maffick Media, whose majority stakeholder is Ruptly, a subsidiary of Russia-backed RT, CNN reports. Facebook plans to contact the people running the pages …

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5G Moto Mod gets FCC certification

The Federal Communications Commission has certified the 5G Moto Mod, suggesting that the attachment offering 5G capability could be on the market soon. Motorola announced in August the Moto Z3, a phone with magnetic backings that attach to Moto Mods, or modules. The mods, which were granted FCC approval on Friday, would make the Verizon exclusive the first phone to …

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Galaxy Watch Active, Fit leaked by Samsung in app update

Samsung on Thursday inadvertently revealed its new lineup of wearable devices in an update to its Galaxy Wearable app. The leak, first spotted by SamCentralTech, shows a 40-millimeter fitness-focused smartwatch called the Galaxy Watch Active, heir apparent to Samsung’s previous fitness sport watch, the Gear Sport, which was released nearly 18 months ago. Also on the list of new devices is two apparent fitness …

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Facebook ties employee bonuses to progress on social issues

Facebook is changing how it determines employee bonuses, tying them to how well the company confronts issues such as misinformation and hate speech on the platform. Facebook’s employee bonuses were previously based on factors such as user growth and product quality. The social-media giant is updating its formula to better reflect the company’s updated priorities for 2019, CEO Mark Zuckerberg …

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Lawmakers have questions for Apple about FaceTime eavesdropping bug

Congressional lawmakers sent a letter Tuesday to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking for more information about a FaceTime bug that allowed users to eavesdrop on each other. The letter — penned by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), chairwoman of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee — said …

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Microsoft’s Bing search engine blocked in China

Microsoft’s Bing search engine is inaccessible in China following a government order, the Financial Times reported late Wednesday. State-owned telecom company China Unicom confirmed that the government had ordered the block, the Financial Times reported, citing a source. Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but is reportedly investigating the matter. If Bing is indeed blocked in China, …

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Will the Samsung Galaxy S10 come cryptocurrency

If you need a smartphone that will also work as a mobile cryptocurrency wallet, Samsung may have a handset for you. Photos tweeted by leaker Ice universe on Wednesday purport to show the Samsung Galaxy S10 with support for cryptocurrencies and sporting a Blockchain KeyStore. Text on the handset’s screen calls the KeyStore a “secure and convenient place for your …

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LG teases ‘goodbye touch’ for MWC smartphone reveal

LG has sent has sent out a “save the date” invitation for an unveiling event at Mobile World Congress later this month that suggests the Korean smartphone maker is doing away with the need to actually touch your device’s screen. The invite, delivered in the form of a 10-second video (see below) posted to YouTube, a piece of white paper with …

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Viacom to buy video streaming service Pluto TV for $340M

Viacom said Tuesday it’s agreed to buy free TV streaming service Pluto TV for $340 million in cash. Founded in 2013, the ad-supported, internet-based service streams more than 100 channels of on-demand content, including movies, sports, news and lifestyle programming. The Los Angeles-based Pluto TV has 12 million monthly active users who stream content across devices such as Roku, Amazon …

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Google raises the price of G Suite by 20 percent

Google is raising the price on its set of office productivity tools by 20 percent. The company on Tuesday announced the first price increases for two flavors of G Suite, its set of apps that resemble Google Docs and Sheets but are tailored for the office. G Suite Basic Edition is going from $5 per user per month to $6, …

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