Author Archives: Ewdison Then

We implicitly trust our ISPs and carriers, often without a second thought that all our Internet-related activity passes through them. After all, they are bound by laws to ensure their customers' safety and privacy though some still manage to find ways around that. Even well-intentioned companies, however, aren't infallible and even a single misconfigured setting could have terrible consequences. That's exactly the frightening scenario that has just happened in Thailand when AIS, one of its biggest carriers, accidentally exposed billions of Internet records to anyone who knew how to snoop around.

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Remember the almost comical incident more than three years ago when Amazon Echo speakers started ordering dollhouses because a TV anchor said so? Those things are long behind us and people have been less than enthusiastic about the prospect of making big orders without any visual confirmation from their phone at the very least. But for a certain class of users, that may be the only kind of interaction they may be able to make which is why Google is now testing an accessibility feature that would let some users confirm purchases by voice alone.

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SpaceX is about to make history on Wednesday but Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit was out to remind people it isn't the only game in town. It almost made a first, at least for the company, when it ignited and launched a rocket in the air. And while that didn't exactly end well, the company is actually looking forward to seeing the data to make sure it won't happen again when it makes a second attempt at igniting a liquid-fueled rocket mid-air.

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Jailbreaking iPhones and iPads have become less prominent these days, partly because of Apple's sometimes overzealous security measures and practices. It has been quite a while since a vulnerability was discovered and exploited within just days from an iOS release. That's exactly the reason why the Unc0ver jailbreak for iOS 13.5, which was just released last week, is making rounds over the iOS community and the Internet. Given the current global situation, however, it might not be the best time for a security exploit to come out.

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You have to give Motorola props for being persistent, pushing out phone after phone despite less than encouraging sales numbers on all tiers. That, however, also comes at the price of confusion when there are too many options to choose from, especially when the choices are too similar to each other. That hasn't exactly stopped phone makers and Motorola doesn't seem to be interested in bucking that trend. Just two months after launching its flagship Edge pair, Motorola is expected to launch the One Fusion+ and One Fusion to target mid-range market this time.

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Smartwatches may have finally found their place in the modern world. In addition to telling the time, distracting you with notifications, and allowing some control over your phone and your house, smartwatches are quickly becoming mini diagnostic devices. They not only keep track of your movement and activity, wearables like the Apple Watch now also keep track of the health of your heart. Following that lead, Samsung has also started rolling out more advanced health monitoring features like ECG. Unfortunately, you can only get that feature in exactly one place in the world right now.

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Computers have become an important part of our lives, even more so during these days of lockdowns and social distancing. Not everyone, however, has the luxury of being able to use a computer normally or even see what's on the screen. Those with low or no vision always find using computers more than just a hassle. To mark this year's Accessibility Awareness Day, Microsoft is pushing changes to Windows 10 that, though small, could mean a world for these users.

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There is no telling when the COVID-19 pandemic will really end but, when it does, it will be a very different world. Work alone is undergoing a shift and some tech companies are seeing a drastically different future at least for some kinds of jobs. Facebook, for example, thinks that computing and work will be not only remote but also virtual. And, of course, it's in a perfect position to push its social platform and products to be at the head of that new wave of computing.

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Almost everything is going wireless these days on mobile, from wireless earphones to wireless charging. One thing that has been around for so long but has remained quite inconvenient is wireless file transfer. Especially these days when people need to keep their distance, transferring files to a person standing next to you needs to be fast and reliable. Some Chinese manufacturers have banded together to make that a standard among their phones and now OnePlus has joined that club.

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Smartphone camera technology has come a long way. We now have sensors that reach 108 million pixels and lenses that can be crammed like a periscope inside a thin body. The one thing that these cameras have trouble with, aside from low-light performance, is stabilization. Optical Image Stabilization, which still isn't common on all camera modules, can only go so far but Vivo might have a rather novel if not unorthodox solution that involves putting a gimbal inside its upcoming Vivo X50.

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It's definitely understandable if you've forgotten or don't even know what the Galaxy Book S is. Announced back in August 2019 but made available only in January, the laptop is one of if not the only Windows 10 on ARM device that Samsung has ever made. It might be the last one it makes as well if this recent sighting from Samsung's own website is any indication of its desire to rewrite history and present the Galaxy Book S as an Intel-powered laptop instead.

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After a highly successful first Pixel phone launch and a more or less decent Pixel 2, Google's performance in the smartphone market has been anything but stellar. As a company notorious for making and then dropping even extremely expensive projects (hello Google Glass!), there have definitely been some concerns whether Google is in it for the long haul. Google and now also Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai assures that the company is, but it might not be for the reasons Android faithful might have been hoping for.

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