The Capitol's war on tech companies is heating up. The U.S.' biggest corporations - Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple - were all told to hand in information as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation. They're calling for greater transparency in their data collection practices – and to investigate the possibility of corrupt practices to cripple competition.
Of all Apple's surprises at its big 2019 iPhone event yesterday, the one I was least expecting was that I'd fall for a dark green phone. The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max proved controversial from the first leaks, the aesthetic balance of including a new triple camera array without making a smartphone look, well, ugly ending up being a very hot topic indeed.
There might be some wisdom to Apple's once-a-year launch cadence and seemingly more modest upgrades year after year. Android OEMs launch twice a year or more, making the gaps between each flagship model smaller and the features so much closer to each other.
When Apple finally does make big changes, it makes huge changes. That happened with the iPhone X and we might be seeing the same revolution with the iPhone 11 and especially the iPhone 11 Pro. While the new camera bump is the center of attraction, it's not the only reason iPhone fans and users will be thinking hard about upgrading to this year's latest.
Facebook was always about friends. But now it’s also about love. The social media giants have launched Facebook Dating in the U.S., their answer to Tinder, Coffee Meets Bagel, Bumble and other dating apps. The new feature brings together Facebook’s networking infrastructure and data to help find matches that suit you.
Over the past 3 years, my relationship with Facebook changed in several drastic ways. In the year 2015, I discovered the "Unfollow" button, and my journey away from Facebook reliance began. I was a Facebook addict for longer than I care to think about. I lived in fear of getting away from the social network, my former primary source of stress in life. I thought I'd never be able to stop - how could I?
The Porsche Taycan isn't the first electric car, it's not the fastest, and it's certainly not the cheapest, and in a category still largely defined by numbers that could make you question just how successful it could hope to be. The obsession with range, 0-60 times, and bringing electrification within reach of "mainstream" consumer pricing has helped shift the perception of EVs out of an eco-pious niche it once occupied, but it has come with its own automotive blinkers too.
A week ago today, World of Warcraft Classic launched. During this past week, I’ve been playing it pretty much whenever possible, and it certainly doesn’t seem like I’m alone there. Shortly after WoW Classic launched, it had over one million viewers on Twitch, and even now as I write this, it’s sitting at a very respectable 244,000 viewers - still enough to make it the most-watched game on Twitch by a good margin. Then, of course, we have the well-documented and oft-maligned queue times, which even after a week can still last five or six hours on popular servers. In short: A lot of people want to play WoW Classic at the moment, and I’m definitely one of them.
It’s that time of the year again; Apple are about to announce their latest products on 10 Sept at the Steve Jobs Theatre at the Apple Campus in Cupertino, California. The event’s mysterious “By invitation only” poster may be all secretive, but this is the world of tech. Rumours, leaks and logical assumptions have painted a clear and almost predictable picture of what will be unveiled. Here’s what we can look forward to.
There seems to be a common consensus among critics that stock Android is the way to go. Supposedly lighter and snappier, the “untouched” iteration of the OS is consistently best reviewed. Stock Android is one of the reasons why users are so drawn to Google Pixel phones, keen to use Google’s pure vision of its OS.
Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime are all bracing themselves for an incoming storm. That storm is Disney Plus, an upcoming streaming that’s sure to shake the market. Launching 12 Nov in the U.S., Disney’s take on Netflix launches with a massive catalogue of films and channels, at a competitive price that’s sure to tempt you into cancelling your other accounts.
Unfortunately, Disney+ arrives as an unwelcome latecomer into a market that’s well saturated. We already have subscriptions to HBO, Netflix and Prime – do we really need Disney+ gate-crashing into the mix?
Just as everyone is preparing for the IFA 2019 craze next week, Microsoft dropped what may be a bombshell that will have fans and tech pundits thinking about the company all the way to October. There was no mention, not even a hint, of such a device, the Microsoft Courier's spirit once again haunts the Internet rumor mill.
The time might be right, with all the pieces in place for the dual-screen Microsoft device to make its glorious but terribly long-overdue arrival. But if Microsoft doesn't make sure it checks the right boxes, it might end up with more egg in its face than Samsung with the initial Galaxy Fold.
While we’re struggling to get out of bed, deciding which pair of socks to wear to work, there is a group of people working hard to track asteroids that could literally end all life on Earth. No, it’s not the Avengers - they’re called the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), but they may just be Earth’s mightiest heroes.