Tag: Google
ShinyShiny snippets: Google confirms Pixel Fold phone
Google has confirmed the Pixel Fold, its first foldable smartphone, with video teasers on both YouTube and Twitter. The company was expected to reveal the Pixel Fold at Google I/O next week, but leaks ruined that surprise. The device has a vertical hinge that unfolds into a tablet-like 7.6-inch display. There’s also an exterior screen, measuring 5.8 inches. Rumors…
ShinyShiny snippets: Google takes step closer towards ditching passwords
Google is moving one step closer to ditching passwords, rolling out its passkey technology to Google accounts from Thursday. The passkey is designed to replace passwords entirely by allowing authentication with fingerprint ID, facial ID or pin on the phone or device you use for authentication. Apple has begun using the technology in iOS16 and the…
ShinyShiny snippets: Sega buys Angry Birds creator, Rovio Entertainment
The maker of Angry Birds video games has agreed to be bought by the Japanese gaming giant behind the Sonic the Hedgehog character. Japan's Sega Sammy Holdings is paying €706m (£625m) for Finland-based Rovio Entertainment. Rovio has said Angry Birds was the first mobile game to be downloaded one billion times, and the brand has…
ShinyShiny snippets: WhatsApp could be banned in UK, boss warns
WhatsApp could be banned in the UK, its head has warned. The UK’s upcoming Online Safety Bill could force the app to weaken the end-to-end encryption that currently secures messages on the service, said Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp at parent company Meta. If the government forced the company to weaken that security, WhatsApp…
ShinyShiny snippets: Why M3GAN is the perfect AI ‘monster’
M3GAN is Hollywood's latest attempt to turn AI into a horror genre. Pic: Universal There is no shortage of robot uprising fiction in the Western canon (see: the works of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick; classics like “The Terminator”; family-friendly spins like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”). It’s a conceit that…
ShinyShiny snippets: Sharing Netflix password details may be illegal, government suggests
Users of online streaming platforms such as Netflix could be breaking the law by sharing their account with other households, a government agency has said. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) said password sharing may amount to “secondary copyright infringement”. In guidance published this week, the IPO said: “Pasting internet images into your social media without permission, or accessing…
ShinyShiny snippets: Google opens technology centre for disabled
An alarm clock for people who are deaf is on display at the Google tech centre. Image: Google If you design technology with disabled people in mind, you design technology better for everyone. This was the sentiment from Google as it opened its first UK research and development centre dedicated to…
ShinyShiny snippets: Twitch announces partial gambling ban
Twitch has announced a partial gambling ban, targeting slots, roulette and dice games. The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform will bar videos of gambling sites not licensed in the US or "other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection". The ban includes cryptocurrency gambling sites such as Stake.com, based on the Caribbean island of Curacao. It will take…
ShinyShiny snippets: Google sued for over £20 billion by publishers
Google is being sued for up to €25bn (£21.6bn) over claims it has deprived newspapers and internet bloggers of billions of pounds in advertising revenues. The Big Tech giant is facing class action complaints in the UK and the Netherlands that it used its advertising technology to unfairly sideline publishers while hoovering up ad revenues. …
ShinyShiny snippets: Amazon to put price of Prime up £1 a month
Amazon is to increase the price of its monthly Prime subscription service by 12.5% – or £1 – to £8.99 from September in the latest sign that delivery costs are rising. The company said the cost of an annual Prime package, which includes unlimited deliveries for online shopping, access to its video and music streaming…
