It was a dark day in 2017 when Twitter announced it was shutting down Vine, the six-second video-looping social app. In less than four years, Vine became a hub for micro-video memes, creating the rise of a generation of young Vine stars with its potential for quick and quirky humor. As users consoled themselves with …
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The long-sought-for holy grail for those who use a laptop and phone is a seamless handoff between the two for anyone who doesn’t want to stop what they’re doing on one screen to do something else on the smaller display. Now Microsoft helps bridge the divide by letting you make and answer phone calls right from your PC. You can also send …
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Last year Huawei had the unpleasant experience of launching a flagship phone, the Mate 30 Pro, with no support from Google’s Mobile Services. It ran Android, which is open source. But no Google apps worked, nor did apps like Uber, which rely on Google apps (Maps, in Uber’s case). Instead of the Google Play Store, Huawei offered its own AppGallery. …
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The number of people using ad-blocking technology on mobile browsers has surged to 527 million, an increase of 64% over the last three years, according to a report published Thursday. Combined with ad blocking on personal computers, that means a total of 763 million devices were running ad blockers in the fourth quarter of 2019, the report said. That means …
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You store a ton of personal information in your Google account — bank account balances, email addresses and phone numbers, pictures of your face, your friends’ faces, your family. If you want to protect that sensitive data with the highest level of security you can get, consider the Google Advanced Protection Program. Google’s program makes it nearly impossible for anyone …
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Google is putting new restrictions on video ads in its Chrome browser and on YouTube. Chrome will block ads that play in the middle of videos up to 8 minutes long, and YouTube won’t show those ads in the first place, Google said in a blog post Wednesday. It’s part of a gradual ad crackdown at Google, which wants to …
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Disney Plus‘ fairy-tale dreams may come true sooner than Disney thought: Disney Plus has signed up 28.6 million people less than three months after the service rolled out, Disney said Tuesday. To put that in context, Disney initially expected Disney Plus would take five years to reach between 60 million and 90 million subscribers. In less than 90 days, it’s …
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Pokemon fans can now vote for their favorite pocket monster ahead of Pokemon Day on Feb. 27. The Pokemon of the Year competition, part of a collaboration with Google, will crown the winner after counting all votes cast between Feb. 5 and Feb. 14 at 5:59 a.m. PT. To vote, search for “Pokemon vote” on Google. The results will show …
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Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition app being used by US law enforcement to identify suspects and other people, is reportedly eyeing global expansion. It wants to sell its services to law enforcement in 22 more countries, BuzzFeed News said Wednesday, citing a Clearview AI document that was reportedly part of a November 2019 presentation given to police in Miami. …
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For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Citing safety concerns for its employees and the general public given the global outbreak of the coronavirus, LG on Tuesday announced that it will “withdraw from exhibiting and participating” at Mobile World Congress 2020. MWC is the world’s largest mobile trade show, and …
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