Many would agree that Facebook's mobile apps, in addition to the social network as a whole, is a bit bloated with useless, unnecessary features. Fortunately the newest one will definitely be handy when in a pinch. Called "Find Wifi," the feature lets users search for nearby businesses and locations that offer free WiFi for public use.
In this post-2016 presidential election world, the way social networks combat the spread of fake news has become a major issue. Facebook is the big culprit here, and it's admitted it needs to take steps to improve, but Twitter isn't far behind. While the company has yet to pledge to take action, it appears at least internally they're testing one solution: a tool that allows users to flag tweets that contain things like fake news and harmful content.
It's fair to say that Facebook's Aquila drone hasn't had an easy time in early trials to get the internet-broadcasting unmanned craft safely into the air and back down to the ground again. After a successful first flight in July 2016, which saw a full-sized version of the drone design take to the skies for the first time, the social network's ambitions were brought swiftly down to earth later in the year. A crash-landing in December suggested not all the issues had been successfully ironed out.
A new bill proposal seeks to make the act of doxxing someone -- that is, finding and then publishing their personal information on the Internet -- a federal offense. Called the Online Safety Modernization Act, the bipartisan proposal seeks to stop individuals from using the Internet as a personal weapon, whether that involves releasing their enemy's address to online mobs, 'swatting' by calling it fake threats to law enforcement, or something else.
Amazon has announced that its annual Prime Day sale will return again this summer. This is the third year in a row that Amazon has offer its Prime-only sale, and this year promises to be bigger than the last two. Not only is Amazon expanding Prime Day to three new regions this year, but it will also be offering these Prime deals for more than 24 hours.
Back when Twitch first announced its IRL streaming category, it also revealed plans to update the Twitch app to allow for mobile streaming. It looks like we're getting closer to the launch of that feature, as Twitch has detailed changes coming to its mobile app. This update will add a fair amount of new features, chief among them being functionality that allows for streaming from mobile devices.
If you're noticing that Google News looks quite a bit different today, you certainly aren't alone. Google has redesigned its news aggregation service, aiming to make it easier to navigate by giving it a new look. This redesigned user interface seems to be going live today for a lot of people, though some still aren't seeing it just yet.
A little over five years ago, communicating with someone over the Internet meant lines of text and a few ASCII-based emoticons to express emotions that words can't easily say. These days, not only have we gone into audio-visual Internet communication, we have gone beyond them as well. Take, for example, Facebook's latest update to its Messenger chat app that brings all sorts of whimsical expressions, from animated emojis to masks. Because sometimes, a sticker just says its better.
AT&T's Fixed Wireless Internet service has just expanded into 8 new states, extending connectivity options in more rural regions through the US. Fixed Wireless Internet is designed specifically for AT&T's rural customers, and involves the company installing an antenna on the customer's property that then works with the closest cell tower. The result is wireless Internet that is at least 10Mbps in speed.
While the US still tries to sort out how Russian cyberattacks played an influence on the recent presidential election, the British Parliament is currently experiencing its own attack from hackers this weekend. News reports say the country's lawmakers have been left unable to use or access their email as a result of a "sustained and determined" cyberattack from unknown individuals.
Personal medical records showing up in search results is a big problem, and now Google is addressing it. The Internet giant will start pulling these records from results when someone asks them to, helping individuals maintain privacy in a world where hackers are increasingly breaching medical facilities' networks. This marks a change in policy for the company, which recently updated its policy page to reflect the new removal category.
As part of an effort to focus on what people in individual countries expect of Facebook, today the company announced new controls for users in India. These controls almost entirely concern profile pictures, allowing users to control who can download them, tag themselves in them, or even screenshot them. The hope is that more people will feel comfortable uploading profile pictures, thus helping grow that aspect of community.
