Sunday, January 9, 2022

Here’s when Apple may announce the next iPhone

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has predicted that Apple will hold its first event of the year in March or April and could announce the first iPhone of 2022, the next iPhone SE with 5G connectivity, as seen by 9To5Mac. Gurman says that he gathered this bit of information from his sources. https://ift.tt/3nbyvot

Matter, the smart home standard backed by Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung, and others, gained significant momentum at CES, with ~30 companies showcasing support (Jennifer Pattison Tuohy/The Verge)

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Matter, the smart home standard backed by Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung, and others, gained significant momentum at CES, with ~30 companies showcasing support  —  The soon-to-be smart home standard gained momentum in Las Vegas  —  Two years ago, on the floor of CES 2020 …



Gurman: Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset will not be an all-day device and will be used for bursts of gaming, communication, and content consumption (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Gurman: Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset will not be an all-day device and will be used for bursts of gaming, communication, and content consumption  —  Apple is widely expected to take the wraps off of its first mixed reality headset this year, with a focus on augmented reality and virtual reality experiences.



A look at the turmoil inside Pudgy Penguins, one of the most successful NFT projects, as community members clash with founders over the future of the project (Tracy Wang/CoinDesk)

Tracy Wang / CoinDesk:
A look at the turmoil inside Pudgy Penguins, one of the most successful NFT projects, as community members clash with founders over the future of the project  —  There's trouble brewing in the huddle.  —  The beloved NFT project Pudgy Penguins voted out its founders on Thursday …



Researchers develop chatbot to help reduce eating disorders

US researchers have developed a chatbot that may help reduce the likelihood a person develops an eating disorder. https://ift.tt/33b6mH7

Profile of Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director, who says social media will incubate future political violence unless governments intervene (Jeff Horwitz/Wall Street Journal)

Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Profile of Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director, who says social media will incubate future political violence unless governments intervene  —  Katie Harbath says she left Facebook disillusioned; now she pushes for more online guardrails  —  Katie Harbath joined Facebook …



Profile of Anne Neuberger, the NSC deputy advisor at the center of increasing tension over control between US agencies handling cybersecurity (William Turton/Bloomberg)

William Turton / Bloomberg:
Profile of Anne Neuberger, the NSC deputy advisor at the center of increasing tension over control between US agencies handling cybersecurity  —  Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration's Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, organized a virtual summit on ransomware for Oct. 13, 2021.



Saturday, January 8, 2022

Swiss army bans WhatsApp use over security concerns

Citing privacy concerns, the Swiss army has banned the use of Meta-owned WhatsApp among other popular messaging services by army personnel. The army staff has been asked to use encrypted Swiss messaging app 'Threema' instead, reports www.swissinfo. https://ift.tt/3HP2wlQ

Tinder exploring feature to let friend help you choose dates

Dating app Tinder has confirmed that it is exploring the development of a new feature called 'Swipe Party' which offers a way to make sorting through possible matches a more social experience, media reports say. https://ift.tt/3t8mggd

Meta opens Privacy Centre to educate users on data security

Facing an intense scrutiny over users' data privacy, Meta has introduced a Privacy Centre across its family of apps to educate billions of users. https://ift.tt/3HLjNwl

Ottawa-based Assent Compliance, a SaaS provider that helps companies with product compliance, trade compliance, and ESG, raises $350M at a $1B+ valuation (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Ottawa-based Assent Compliance, a SaaS provider that helps companies with product compliance, trade compliance, and ESG, raises $350M at a $1B+ valuation  —  Never before has the importance of a smooth-flowing supply chain been as clear as it has been in the COVID-19 pandemic era.



Samsung releases official introduction film for the Galaxy S21 FE

The official video introduction to the smartphone is accompanied by Bebe Rexha’s “I Got You” which plays in the background. https://ift.tt/3G7mJmH

Facebook parent's head of communications leaves company

https://ift.tt/3eZuYW5

Google Doodle celebrates 80th birth anniversary of Stephen Hawking

On his 80th birth anniversary on Saturday, Google has paid tribute to late physicist Stephen Hawking with a Doodle. https://ift.tt/3f2ljOj

E-scooter rental firm Spin to lay off a quarter of its staff

Electric scooter rental firm Spin said it will lay off 25% of its employees, as part of the company's restructuring plan to exit open permit markets. San Francisco-based Spin was bought by Ford Motor Co in 2018 and operates as a standalone business within Ford Smart Mobility. https://ift.tt/3F92uDE

How Epic is transforming Fortnite into a content platform, paying $350M to creators in 2024; 36.5% of the total playtime was spent in games made by creators (Julia Alexander/Posting Nexus)

Julia Alexander / Posting Nexus : How Epic is transforming Fortnite into a content platform, paying $350M to creators in 2024; 36.5% of t...