Facebook ordered by Germany to gather less data
Germany’s competition authority has told Facebook it can only continue gathering so much data about users from beyond its app and website if it gets individuals’ consent.The watchdog has carried out a probe into the social network following concerns that members were unaware of the extent of the firm’s activities. It covered data gathered from […]
United Arab Emirates drone show breaks Guinness record
A police academy in the United Arab Emirates celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Guinness record-breaking drone light show. The Dubai Police Academy marked its 50th anniversary by using a total 300 drones to create portraits in the sky depicting UAE leaders including Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of […]
UK wants fully autonomous cars on road
The Department for Transport wants to see fully autonomous cars – driving with no human oversight – and cars with no steering wheels tested on UK roads. Currently, the rules around trials require a human remote driver – not necessarily inside the vehicle but ready to take over control if needed.Any new trial must, however, […]
Microsoft really, really, really doesn’t want you to buy Office 2019
Microsoft launched a new ad campaign for its Office suite today. Usually, that’s not something especially interesting, but this one is a bit different. Instead of simply highlighting the features of Word and Excel, Microsoft decided to pitch Office 365 and Office 2019 against each other (as an extra gimmick, it used twins to do […]
Disability-themed emojis approved for use
The introduction of dozens of new accessibility-themed emojis has been welcomed by disability rights campaigners. The new characters include hearing aids, wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, white “probing” canes and guide dogs. They follow a complaint by Apple that few existing emojis spoke to the experiences of those with disabilities.Their inclusion in 2019’s official list means many […]
Facebook Messenger gets 'unsend' feature
Facebook has come out with a feature that lets you delete messages from a conversation after you have sent them, as previously spotted in leaks. So in case you send the wrong message to the wrong person or make an egregious typo, you’ll be able to remove it in Messenger now. It works when you […]
World's largest tower of cupcakes assembled in India
A pyramid-shaped collection of pastries assembled at a mall in India broke a Guinness World Record for the tallest tower of cupcakes. Preethi Kitchen Appliances and Food Consulate Chennai teamed up to bake 18,818 cupcakes as assemble them into a tower measuring 41 feet, 8 inches tall at the Forum Vijya Mall in Chennai. The […]
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 will be one of the first Wi-Fi 6 phones
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 will be one of the first smartphones to support the faster Wi-Fi speeds offered by Wi-Fi 6. Regulatory filings from Samsung, spotted by Droid Life, reveal that three models of the upcoming phone will include support for the brand-new Wi-Fi standard. Those speed gains will not do much right away, though. Almost […]
Firefox will soon mute all autoplaying videos
There are many things worse than autoplaying video and audio on the web. The world is a messy place, after all. But it sure is distracting when you surf to a website and suddenly some video starts playing at full volume. Google’s Chrome browser and Microsoft Edge both offer tools to disable these annoyances and, […]
Google unveils Andriod accessibility features for people with hearing loss
Google Tuesday morning unveiled a pair of new Android features for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. As the company notes in a blog post this morning, the WHO estimates that 900 million people will be living with hearing loss by 2055. The ubiquity of mobile devices — Android in particular — offers […]
China plans to launch 30 space missions in 2019
Keeping its spot among the top countries competing in the space race, China is planning to launch 30 missions this year, according to information from the state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., reported by the Xinhua news agency. Last year, China outpaced the United States in the number of national launches it had completed […]
WhatsApp can now be locked using Face ID or Touch ID
Access to WhatsApp’s iOS app can now be protected using your phone’s biometric security. Depending on your iPhone model, you’ll get the option of using either Face ID or Touch ID to restrict access to the software. The feature, which was first spotted by 9to5Mac, was made available with version 2.19.20 of WhatsApp, and can […]
Key fact-checkers stop working with Facebook
Two leading fact-checking agencies have stopped their work with Facebook, striking a blow to the network’s efforts to fight fake news. The social network had paid the Associated Press and Snopes to combat its misinformation crisis. But both firms confirmed they are no longer checking articles. The AP told the BBC it was in “ongoing […]
Skipping breakfast won't ruin efforts to lose weight
For years, you’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight. But new research suggests that’s not true. Eating a hearty breakfast doesn’t help people eat less later in the day, and those who have breakfast end up eating more calories each day, […]
