mobile
Trust in tech cratered all over the world last year
Trust in tech — including companies specializing in AI, VR, 5G and the internet of things — fell all around the world last year, the Edelman Trust Barometer found in a massive survey of 31,000 people in 27 countries.
Source: Exclusive: Trust in tech cratered all over the world last year
Android sends 20x more data to Google than iOS sends to Apple, study says
Whether you have an iPhone or an Android device, it’s continuously sending data including your location, phone number, and local network details to Apple or Google. Now, a researcher has provided a side-by-side comparison that suggests that, while both iOS and Android collect handset data around the clock—even when devices are idle, just out of the box, or after users have opted out—the Google mobile OS collects about 20 times as much data as its Apple competitor.
Source: Android sends 20x more data to Google than iOS sends to Apple, study says
Frictionless ‘stores of the future’ will land and expand
A new paradigm of physical retail, created and accelerated by the pandemic’s disruptive forces, is ready to emerge. In 2021, the “retail apocalypse” will reach a crescendo as many teetering legacy retailers close hundreds of locations.
Source: Frictionless ‘stores of the future’ will land and expand
Facebook is making an augmented reality wristband that lets you control computers with your brain
Does it work the way Facebook claims? Too soon to tell. The product is still in research and development at the company’s internal Facebook Reality Labs, and I didn’t get to have a go. No word yet on when it will be released or how much it will cost, either.
Source: Facebook is making an augmented reality wristband that lets you control computers with your brain
The split at the heart of tech’s new labor movement
Tech’s burgeoning new labor movement has its own class divide — between a conventional organizing push among blue collar employees and an effort among white collar employees that’s based on a different set of concerns and goals. Why it matters: The tech industry rose to power and wealth largely union-free.
Google’s scrapping third-party cookies – but invasive targeted advertising will live on
Google has announced plans to stop using tracking cookies on its Chrome browser by 2022, replacing them with a group profiling system in a move the company says will plot “ a course towards a more privacy-friendly web ”. The change is significant.
Source: Google’s scrapping third-party cookies – but invasive targeted advertising will live on
Sony Animation’s Next Hero Team Is a K-Pop Group
Get ready for a kaleidoscopic monster hunting adventure. They’re also demon hunters. Singing demon hunters. So…where do we sign up? Sony Pictures Animation has revealed that The Lego Ninjago Movie ’s Maggie Kang and Wish Dragon ’s Chris Appelhans will direct K-Pop: Demon Hunters , which is, well, exactly what it says it is.
How to Tell Which Emails Quietly Track You
Everyone sends emails now: political parties, your book club, freelance journalists , the social networks you’re signed up to, your parents, that online store that you only bought one item from a decade ago, and many, many more. What do a lot of those email senders have in common?
The great divide: business leaders are split on long-term remote working
Companies including Spotify, Twitter, and Goldman Sachs have taken different stances on remote work. A survey showed that 61% of respondents prefer a fully remote environment.
Apple to Launch Mixed Reality Headset in Mid 2022 and Augmented Reality Glasses by 2025
Apple plans to release a mixed reality headset “in mid-2022,” followed by augmented reality glasses type by 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a research note with TF International Securities, obtained by MacRumors. “We predict that Apple’s MR/AR product roadmap includes three phases: helmet type by 2022, glasses type by 2025, and contact lens type by 2030–2040,” wrote Kuo.
Source: Kuo: Apple to Launch Mixed Reality Headset in Mid 2022 and Augmented Reality Glasses by 2025
‘Drunk’ robot vacuums spark complaints from owners
Owners of Roomba robot vacuums have complained the devices appear “drunk” following a software update.
Why we want tech copycats to fail
We’ve seen before that big leaps forward in technology can bring down industry titans, like the cellphone pioneer Nokia. But boy, it sure feels like the tech giants today are so entrenched, so good at what they do — and, perhaps, skilled at tilting the game to their advantage — that they simply can’t be beaten. It would be better for all of us if Big Tech wasn’t an absolute and invulnerable force. I’ll see the wobbles of TikTok’s clones as a sign that it’s still possible for Big Tech to fail.
Silicon Valley-backed groups sue Maryland to kill country’s first-ever online advertising tax
Top lobbying groups backed by Amazon, Facebook, Google and other technology giants sued Maryland on Thursday, seeking to scuttle a new state tax on their massive online-advertising revenue — and stop other local governments from following its lead.
Source: Silicon Valley-backed groups sue Maryland to kill country’s first-ever online advertising tax
Breaking Down the TikTok Playbook to Take on Instagram (and Everyone Else)
With dozens of apps competing for users’ attention, TikTok is the latest front-runner in the war to keep people scrolling. The Chinese-owned video app is the fastest-growing social media platform of all time, with roughly 80 million monthly active users.
Source: Breaking Down the TikTok Playbook to Take on Instagram (and Everyone Else)
Finally, an Interesting Proposal for Section 230 Reform
A new bill directly targets the most egregious excesses of online platform immunity.
Source: Finally, an Interesting Proposal for Section 230 Reform
On iPhones, Facebook and Apple begin a war of pop-up messages
Some Facebook and Instagram users who open up the social media apps on their iPhones will get a new message on Monday about targeted advertising: Namely, targeting advertising is not as bad as Apple makes it out to be. Support our journalism.
Source: On iPhones, Facebook and Apple begin a war of pop-up messages
The Misfits Shaking Wall Street
They are part of a legion of young people — primarily male — pouring into digital trading floors in recent years, raised on social media and eager to teach themselves about stocks and trade quickly using an array of apps catered to Generation Z. In just a few short weeks, this new cohort of retail investors has completely upended some of the most professional traders by coordinating over social media, forums and chat rooms to trade shares of GameStop, sending the stock price for the video game company skyrocketing while leaving a number of sophisticated short-sellers holding the bag.
Source: The Misfits Shaking Wall Street
Apple says App Tracking Transparency feature will launch in ‘early spring’ with iOS 14 update
In honor of Data Privacy Day on January 28, Apple has announced that its App Tracking Transparency feature will launch to users “in early spring.” The company has also launched a new easy-to-understand report dubbed “A Day in the Life of Your Data,” which illustrates “how companies track user data across websites and apps.” In a new press release, Apple’s software engineering VP Craig Federighi explained that Apple’s goal is to “create technology that keeps people’s information safe and protected.” “Privacy means peace of mind, it means security, and it means you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to your own data,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “Our goal is to create technology that keeps people’s information safe and protected.
Apple is celebrating Black History Month across almost all of its services
February 1 is right around the corner, and it marks the beginning of Black History Month. As it has done in previous years, Apple is celebrating Black History Month by highlighting content from Black creators and businesses, across many of its apps and services on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Source: Apple is celebrating Black History Month across almost all of its services
Huawei, 5G, and the Man Who Conquered Noise
How an obscure Turkish scientist’s obscure theoretical breakthrough helped the Chinese tech giant gain control of the future. US telecoms never had a chance.