August, 2016

• 31 August

  Say goodbye to excessive credit card surcharges at online checkout

  

  The surcharge sting of online shopping is about to fade. From September 1, a ban on excessive credit card surcharges will mean companies can no longer be able to charge crazy card fees when you get to the checkout. The ban, put in place by the ACCC, ditches flat fees charged by companies in favour …

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• 31 August

  CBS All Access launches ad

  

  CBS launched a $9.99-a-month, ad-free subscription Wednesday for its online streaming service, CBS All Access. The higher-priced option joins its standard tier that costs $5.99 a month, which will remain unchanged. There is one caveat: All Access can’t strip out ads from programs streamed live from local CBS TV stations. In addition, “select on-demand shows will include promotional interruptions,” the …

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• 31 August

  How recycling your old smartphone could change someone’s life

  

  Michael Doherty can’t live without his iPhone. He sends text messages to his friends, uses the phone to check football scores and even followed the Olympics this year. Being both deaf and blind, it’s one of the few ways Doherty can interact the world. The combination of hearing and vision disabilities makes navigating the world incredibly difficult. But with the …

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• 31 August

  What you missed at Europe’s biggest tech show (Day 1)

  

  Europe’s largest electronics show, IFA 2016, kicks off this week and it’s already brimming with new gadgets and appliances. Held in Berlin, Germany, the show includes 240,000 visitors and 1,600 exhibitors all trying to show off their latest tech gadgets. Today marks the end of Day 1, and there were big announcements from Samsung, Lenovo/Motorola and Acer. Other appliance companies …

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• 31 August

  What are audiophiles to do if the iPhone removes the headphone jack?

  

  Can Apple really do this? Can they force millions of iPhone buyers to use a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter to play their wired headphones, when the next iPhone comes out? It seems like a rather inelegant solution, very un-Apple. I really doubt the adapter will be free, so why would Apple want to give any potential iPhone buyer second thoughts? …

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• 31 August

  Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte will chat with you, but mostly about its cat

  

  Eagerly awaiting the release of Starbucks‘ annual fall flavor, the pumpkin spice latte? Until your local barista gets the go-ahead to start making them (rumor: September 8), you can slake your harvest-season hankering by…chatting with the drink itself? Yep, this year, Starbucks has launched a chat bot called TheRealPSL on Facebook Messenger, and simply by clicking the link you can …

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• 31 August

  What fate awaits in ‘Stranger Things’ season 2?

  

  Warning: Spoilers for season 1 of “Stranger Things” below. Read at your own risk. Now that Netflix has officially renewed “Stranger Things,” it’s the perfect time to speculate about the next season. Show writers and creators Matt and Ross Duffer will return to handle nine new episodes that will debut in 2017. They’ve already hinted at things to come in …

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• 31 August

  iPhone packaging pics boost headphone rumors

  

  It’s almost time for Apple to announce its new iPhone, which means rumors are flying fast. On Wednesday, photos reportedly showing the packaging for the new phones hit the internet, offering support to theories that the new devices will ditch the traditional headphone jack for a new system. The photos suggest the phones will ship with Lightning EarPods, according to …

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• 31 August

  ‘Science Guy,’ take two: Netflix announces Bill Nye talk show

  

  Netflix will launch a science-based talk show next year hosted by Bill Nye, also known as “The Science Guy” for his 1990s TV show of the same name. On “Bill Nye Saves the World,” Nye will bring in special guests and conduct experiments and demonstrations as each episode tackles a topic from a scientific point of view. Nye said in …

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• 31 August

  Samsung delays Galaxy Note 7 shipments for quality control

  

  That’s not what people usually mean when they say their phones are blowin’ up. Samsung said Wednesday it will delay shipments of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to do additional quality tests, according to Reuters. The announcement comes after reports on South Korean social media that the phones’ batteries were exploding en route to customers. Photos republished by Apple Insider …

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