August, 2018

• 21 August

  Netflix tests ways of owing Apple less money by skirting iTunes

  

  Netflix is testing a way to get around the fees it must pay Apple when people sign up and pay for subscriptions through iTunes The streaming-video giant is telling new or lapsed customers in markets across Europe, Latin America and Asia that iTunes payments are unavailable and is redirecting them to subscribe via a mobile version of …

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• 21 August

  TPG and Vodafone in talks to merge

  

  Australia’s telco market could soon get just a little bit smaller.  TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have confirmed Wednesday they are in “exploratory discussions” to merge. TPG confirmed the news with an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange this morning, noting there is “no certainty that any transaction will eventuate or what the terms of a transaction would be.” Neither …

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• 21 August

  Insta360 Pro 2 adds 8K 3D video and HDR capabilities

  

  If you want to shoot super-high quality virtual-reality video or images, Insta360’s new Pro 2 could be just the thing. Loaded with six cameras that can take 8K 360-degree 3D videos and 12K photos, the Insta360 Pro 2 is meant for professional videographers and has a $5,000 price tag to boot. It also shoots high dynamic range videos, which alongside …

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• 21 August

  Parallels Desktop 14 saves storage space on virtual machines

  

  If you like using Windows on your Mac, then Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac may fit your needs. The updated software, released Tuesday, lets you run Microsoft Windows as a virtual machine on your Macbook or Mac and sports features that lets you seamlessly copy and paste information back and forth between Windows and MacOS. Parallels said the 14th version comes with …

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• 21 August

  WhatsApp promises to battle ‘sinister’ false messages in India

  

  WhatsApp told India’s government on Tuesday it’s developing tools to crack down on rumors and false messages plaguing users of the app. Chris Daniels, CEO of the Facebook-owned messaging service, promised IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad that it would figure out a solution, according to Reuters. The minister said he asked WhatsApp to develop a method of tracing the origin …

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• 21 August

  ‘Don’t Believe Every Tweet’ campaign proves its own point

  

  Not everyone is an expert. That’s the message an ad campaign called Don’t Believe Every Tweet — seemingly from Twitter itself — is trying to drive home. The irony, though, is the campaign isn’t an effort by the platform to educate users about being critical of what they see. It’s the work of a 35-year-old Los Angeles-based writer and director …

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• 21 August

  Get one of our favorite affordable laser printers on sale for $99

  

  A few weeks ago, I took a close look at the Brother HL-L2395DW monochrome laser printer, discovering that it was as close to a frustration-free mainstream printer as I’ve found. But, with an official price of $169, I also suggested waiting for the regular sales that come along every few months, dropping that price to $99.  Disclaimer: CNET may get …

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• 21 August

  Walmart’s e

  

  Walmart wants to become your new go-to store for digital books. The big-box retailer said Tuesday it’s opening its first-ever e-books storefront, thanks to a partnership with Rakuten Kobo. Kobo’s library of 6 million digital titles will now be available on Walmart’s US website, supplementing Walmart’s existing selection of physical books. Walmart is also offering an audiobook subscription service for …

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• 21 August

  Facebook axes 5,000 ad categories that excluded based on ethnicity, religion

  

  Facebook is looking to make its advertising platform less discriminatory.   On Tuesday, the company said it had removed more than 5,000 ad-targeting categories in an effort to limit the ability of advertisers to exclude users based on ethnicity or religion. In the coming weeks, advertisers will have to go through a process of certification that’ll educate them on the …

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• 21 August

  Google Pixel 3 XL allegedly spotted in high

  

  The Google Pixel 3 XL has been (potentially) spotted in the wild. An anonymous person was reportedly riding the TTC subway in Toronto when he or she saw the device in question, and snapped some pictures. The pictures were later sent to Canadian tech publication MobileSyrup and published. The photographer was able to capture the front and back of the …

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