October, 2019

• 9 October

  BT customers can upgrade to 5G from Friday, expect more fiber broadband soon

  

  BT’s mobile customers will be able to upgrade to 5G from Oct. 11 by piggybacking on EE’s network, said the company on Wednesday. The introduction of 5G is part of a raft of changes the UK telecoms provider is introducing as part of an overhaul of its products, customer service and company culture. The operator …

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• 9 October

  UFO or space station? The best way to spot the ISS without a telescope

  

  When my husband rushed me onto the back porch claiming we would be able to see the International Space Station passing over our house one night, I didn’t exactly believe him. We’re far enough out in the country to see stars, but we haven’t completely escaped the city’s light pollution. Still, I looked up. While I didn’t expect to see the …

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• 9 October

  Controversial site 8chan tries to return under 8kun name

  

  Notorious imageboard 8chan has rebranded itself as 8kun. The site went offline in August following a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart, and this is the first mention of a new site.  The official 8chan Twitter account tweeted a video featuring the new logo on Sunday. 8kun — “kun” is a Japanese suffix used when speaking to teenage boys, …

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• 9 October

  MacOS Catalina review: Mac goes pro, makes iPad a partner

  

  If you’ve been a fan of the Mac during the past decade, you’ve probably felt like a kid who had been an only child until their parents surprised everyone by having a baby late in life. But, this wasn’t just any new baby. The little wunderkind went on to become a straight-A student, a sports star and a decent human …

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• 9 October

  Apple is selling the Xbox Wireless Controller for you to use with Apple Arcade

  

  Apple’s game streaming service Apple Arcade is now available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV and Mac, and its 100-plus games are compatible with Xbox and PS4 wireless controllers. On Wednesday, Apple began selling Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Controller in its online store, with availability in stores on Friday. The controller, spotted earlier by MacRumors, costs $59.95 on both Apple’s …

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• 9 October

  Meet the robot racing drone that could beat human pilots by 2023

  

  Since 2016, the human pilots of the Drone Racing League have competed to see who could whip a quadcopter around pylons and through hoops the fastest. On Tuesday, they’ll get a new challenge: the fully autonomous RacerAI, a drone programmed to fly itself. Nine teams of programmers from around the world have have been coding for months to come up …

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• 9 October

  Fortnite developer Epic Games says it will never ban gamers for political speech

  

  Fortnite players will never be banned for political speech or human rights statements, developer Epic Games has said. An Epic spokesperson told The Verge Wednesday that it “wouldn’t ban or punish a Fortnite player or content creator for speaking on these topics.” That follows game maker Blizzard removing a pro Hearthstone player from a tournament Tuesday after Chung “Blitzchung” Ng …

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• 9 October

  Instagram could soon let you send direct messages on desktop

  

  You may soon be able to use Instagram Direct to ping one or more people on desktop. Tipster Jane Manchun Wong tweeted about the rumored feature on Tuesday, along with screenshots of what Direct for desktop could look like.  Instagram is working on Direct for the desktop website pic.twitter.com/2Yc0T94wh1 — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 9, 2019 According to Wong, Direct …

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• 9 October

  The all

  

  Tile took the wraps off a variety of new and updated trackers on Tuesday — perhaps getting out in front of Apple, which is rumored to start offering its own line of such devices. And even though it’s barely a day old, the new Tile Sticker already has a deal designed to drive home its “smart” capabilities: For a limited time, …

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• 9 October

  Find a stolen laptop with free LockItTight service

  

  I typically buy a new laptop every few years, and even though I work from home 98% of the time, there’s one piece of software I always install first thing: LockItTight. If the machine ever gets lost or stolen, it’ll give me a much better chance of tracking it down. And although it’s been around for years, it’s still free. …

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