When you think of this time of year, you no doubt imagine idyllic scenes of sleds on snow-covered hills, charming holiday decorations and families gathered around a warm fireplace. The reality for most of us is a psychotic frenzy of work and anxiety unrivaled at any other time of year. Need to unclench your brain? …
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For a couple of years now, skeptical politicians across the western world have been wondering whether US tech giants are getting too big for their own good. It’s sparked the question as to whether companies such as Facebook, which owns a bunch of competing messaging services as well as Instagram, should be broken up. But ask one of Silicon Valley’s …
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Google is in talks over making changes to its political ads policy, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The reported discussions come as social media giants Facebook and Twitter take different tacks on the issue. Google has been holding internal meetings on possible changes to the policy and is expected to share more information with its employees as soon as …
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Can Uber be the one app to rule them all? With ambitions to bring ride-hailing, bike and scooter rental, food delivery and eventually groceries under one roof, it certainly hopes so. “We really want to be the operating system for everyday life,” said the company’s chief product officer, Manik Gupta, speaking at Web Summit in Lisbon on Tuesday. “What that …
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Facebook‘s logo is getting a refresh. On Monday, the social media giant said it’s changing its corporate logo from one that’s synonymous with its main Facebook app and website to one that can better mesh with the other products it owns and operates, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus. Antonio Lucio, Facebook’s chief marketing officer, said in a blog post that …
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Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp now has fingerprint unlock to open the app on Android phones. That follows WhatsApp adding Touch ID and Face ID for iPhone users back in February and provides extra security for anyone who uses the app, as reported earlier Thursday by The Verge. Here’s how to set up the additional authentication. First, go into your WhatsApp …
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Facebook agreed on Wednesday to pay a £500,000 ($644,000) fine issued by the UK’s data protection watchdog following last year’s Cambridge Analytica revelations. However, the social network made no admission of liability over the mishandling of user data. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) opened an investigation in early 2018 into the use of data analytics for political purposes. The …
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True story: My son received a Boom Brick 2.0 for his birthday, prompting a discreet eye-roll from yours truly. Another Bluetooth speaker? Throw it on the pile. Except, hang on, the box says it requires no Bluetooth. No wires. No connection of any kind. Snort. Yeah, right. So it’s a magic speaker? You just lay your phone in the cradle …
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Twitter will stop selling ads concerning candidates for office, elections or political issues such as climate change and immigration, the company’s CEO said Wednesday, staking out a position that sets the social network apart from industry giant Facebook. In a series of 11 tweets, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey unveiled the changes, which will take effect next month. He argued that …
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Facebook’s massive advertising business and user base keep growing despite a seemingly endless list of scandals, including criticism over a new policy that allows politicians to lie in ads on the social network. On Wednesday, Facebook said that 2.45 billion users logged in to the site every month during the third quarter, an uptick of 8% from 2.27 billion monthly …
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