Tech NewsGadgets

Concept App That Pays You Bitcoin to Name-Drop Brands Is the Future and You Know It

Companies swear up and down that they aren’t using smartphone apps to eavesdrop on our conversations and serve up hyper-focused ads. But this distressing concept app called SayPal, which tips users in Bitcoin every time they mention a brand, demonstrates that it’s probably not going to be very long before that’s actually our hellish reality. … Continued

Tech NewsPrivacy and Security

Update to iOS 14.5.1 Right Now or Your iPhone Is a Sitting Duck for Hackers

Apple has rushed out fixes to two major vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS 14.5, last month’s update that implemented its App Tracking Transparency feature. Both bugs could have allowed malicious parties to remotely execute code, possibly leading to the takeover of an affected device. That means you need to update your devices as soon as … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

Microsoft Is Cutting the Adobe Flash Cord in July

Adobe Flash officially reached end of life at the end of 2020, and now Microsoft is removing Flash from Windows 10 this summer. While Microsoft had already started to remove support for Flash from a number of its apps, including its Edge browser, there is still some native support for Adobe’s Flash Player built into … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Apple Mulled Lowering Its App Store Commissions Way Back in 2011, Emails Show

At the heart of Epic Games’ case against Apple is the company’s 30% App Store commission and its iron rule over in-app purchases. We now know, thanks to internal documents unearthed through the Epic’s lawsuit, that Phil Schiller, the top executive in charge of App Store, had floated the idea of cutting its infamous Apple … Continued

Tech NewsFacebook

Future of American Democracy Hangs in Balance and/or Doesn’t

Facebook’s Oversight Board, the supposedly independent watchdog tasked with determining whether Donald Trump’s ban from Facebook after he incited a deadly neo-fascist riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 will be as permanent as his Twitter ban, has reached a decision. On Monday, it stated that it will be announcing its findings at Wednesday at … Continued

Tech NewsNews

Clubhouse Is Losing Steam

Clubhouse—the company that was making headlines just a few months back for drawing major celebrities (and Elon Musk)—seems to have reached a tipping point. In April, the app reached a grand total of 922,000 downloads, new research found, a sharp downturn after bringing in millions of new users just a month earlier. These numbers come … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The Epic vs. Apple Hearing Is Already a Disaster

The Epic v. Apple trial kicked off on Monday morning, and it’s already devolved into a giant, internet-fueled mess. First, the court had issues getting both teleconference lines up and running, and even when they were humming along fine, everyone’s lines seemed to be unmuted. On the main line, one person chanted, “Epic Games! Epic … Continued

io9Trailers

League of Legends Is Getting Its Own Animated Series on Netflix

Between this and the recent, solid DOTA animated show Dragon’s Blood, it seems like Netflix is going all-in on the hyperspecific market that is “wildly popular MOBA, but make it cartoons.” This morning Netflix revealed that the world of the global sensation League of Legends—the fantastical multiplayer arena game/esports force pitting teams of players against … Continued

Tech News

How An Ethos Of Empowerment Fueled This Tech Company’s Open Source Initiative

The tech world is at the apex of innovation — it’s constantly evolving, ushering in cutting-edge inventions, and optimizing our everyday lives. Much of that innovation is happening at Intuit, the global technology platform that has developed software like TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mint. Lately, Intuit has been embracing one of the quickest-growing areas … Continued

Tech NewsGadgets

How to See Who’s Using Your Streaming Passwords

Siblings, parents, partners, friends, colleagues—chances are you’ve shared at least one or two passwords to your streaming service accounts over the years, which is perfectly understandable. These acts of digital generosity can quickly add up, though, and before you know it there too many people on your Netflix account and you’re getting the dreaded “too … Continued

Tech NewsNews

One-Third of Basecamp Employees Have Reportedly Quit Following New Policy on Speech

Within a week, Basecamp’s loathed no-politics-at-work rule has escalated to a mass exodus. This afternoon, reporter Casey Newton tweeted that around one-third of the company’s employees accepted buyouts following a “contentious all-hands meeting.” The software company behind Ruby on Rails, Campfire, and HEY was, until this week or so, generally perceived by outsiders as one … Continued

Tech NewsTech Policy

Sites That Ban Politicians May Soon Get Fined in Florida (Unless the Site Is Owned by Disney)

Florida’s really gone and done it. On Thursday, the House voted 77-38 to pass SB 7072, a bill that would dole out massive fines to companies like Twitter and Facebook for booting public officials from their sites. The piece of legislation was spearheaded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—a close political ally of former President Donald … Continued

Tech NewsPrivacy and Security

New Google Play Store Rules Aim to Weed Out Spammy Apps

In an attempt to boost confidence in its Play Store offerings, Google has announced new rules designed to weed out misleading, low-quality apps from its marketplace. In an update published Thursday, the company announced new metadata policies that will regulate how developers present their apps in the Play Store. The rules, meant to drive more … Continued

Tech NewsApple

EU Charges Apple With Antitrust Violations in Spotify Case

Apple’s App Store—and its so-called “Apple tax”—have been at the center of several recent lawsuits. In the latest development, the European Union has charged Apple with allegedly “abus[ing] its dominant position” in the music streaming market. The charges stem from an initial complaint filed by Spotify in 2019. At the time, Spotify accused Apple of … Continued

Tech NewsStreaming Services

Netflix Finally Adds a Shuffle Play Feature for Those of Us With Decision Paralysis

Netflix rolled out its new “Play Something” feature this week, a shuffle play option for when you have thousands of TV shows and movies at your fingertips and no idea what to watch. Sure, it’s a first-world problem. But as a routine sufferer of decision paralysis, I’ve been hoping for something like this for what … Continued

Tech NewsNews

Instagram Realizes It Had a Clubhouse In Its Heart All Along

As more and more social media platforms start cooking up their own Clubhouse clones, Instagram is adding new features to its existing livestreaming service to get in on the voice chat craze. On Thursday, Instagram announced it’s rolling out the option to turn off your audio or video while using Instagram Live. Instagram tested these … Continued

Tech NewsFacebook

Facebook Says Posts Criticizing India’s Prime Minister Were ‘Mistakenly’ Blocked

Facebook posts criticizing India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi were being blocked on Wednesday, the tech giant confirmed to Gizmodo, adding that it was a “mistake.” But why was Facebook content with the hashtag #ResignModi being censored in the first place? Facebook is being incredibly cagey about the specifics. “We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, … Continued

Tech NewsGoogle

A Cloud-Based Google Chrome Sounds Neat, but Consider Upgrading Your Hardware Instead

As I sit at my desk typing this blog, I have 15 Chrome tabs eating up 790MB of memory. I also have 17 Microsoft Edge tabs open, which take up 535MB of memory. Aside from those two extra tabs on Edge, I have the same webpages open, yet Chrome is hogging more memory. Complaints about … Continued

Tech NewsNews

Oracle VP Ken Glueck Suspended by Twitter for Doxing an Intercept Reporter

A tweet from Oracle Executive VP Ken Glueck goading his followers into harassing a female reporter was found to violate Twitter’s policies, the company told Gizmodo on Wednesday. Glueck, who’s previously made headlines as one of the top lobbyists under Oracle, was forced to take down the tweet and have his account suspended in a … Continued

Tech NewsPrivacy and Security

Confused Feds Subpoena Signal for Data It Doesn’t Collect

For the second time in several years, Signal has been subpoenaed by federal investigators for data that the encrypted chat app company doesn’t actually collect. In a statement published Wednesday, the company disclosed that it had recently received a summons from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, as part of a … Continued