Month: August 2019
Owner of far-right forum 8chan refutes ‘lawless’ accusation
The owner of far-right internet forum 8chan has refuted accusations that the platform is “lawless”, after the firm providing cybersecurity protection dropped support. Cloudflare decided to stop serving the forum for being a “cesspool of hate” whose “lawlessness has caused multiple tragic deaths”, the company said. The website has repeatedly been used by suspects in…
Amazon Alexa users ‘allowed to opt out of human reviews’
Amazon has given virtual assistant users the option to opt out of having human reviewers listen to their voice recordings. It has also pledged to provide clearer information on its recording review practices. However, the technology giant will not follow Apple and Google in suspending the practice of using human reviewers to analyse some recordings.…
Facebook ‘fails to stop fake review sales’
Facebook has been accused of failing to stop the sale of fake reviews through its website more than a month after being urged to act on the issue by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Consumer group Which? claimed its own investigation had found a number of groups on the social network that were still…
Google pledges to include recycled materials in all own products by 2022
Google has vowed to use recycled materials in all products from its main hardware line by 2022. The pledge to sustainability will be enforced across its Made by Google range, which includes the likes of the Pixel smartphone, the Google Home speaker, and Pixelbook laptop. Starting in 2022, 100% of Made by Google products will…
Samsung unveils Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch
Samsung has revealed its new Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch in its bid to take a bigger slice of the wearable market largely led by the Apple Watch. Six months after introducing the first Galaxy Watch Active, the South Korean company is launching a successor which continues to focus on fitness. Among the features is…
Facebook to add own name to Instagram, WhatsApp
Facebook is to add its own name to two of its most popular services – Instagram and WhatsApp – to more clearly signal its ownership of the social media platforms. The social networking giant confirmed the rebrand but has not said when it will take effect. It is understood the new names – Instagram from…
Far-right forum 8chan cut off by cybersecurity provider
The far-right internet forum 8chan, which has been linked to mass shootings in the US, has lost its cybersecurity protection after its provider Cloudflare cut off support. Cloudflare said it had terminated the website as a customer and called the forum a “cesspool of hate”. The website has repeatedly been used by suspects in mass…
Flying car hovers during Japanese demonstration
Japanese electronics firm NEC has unveiled a flying car which hovered steadily for about a minute. The test flight of the large drone-like machine with four propellers reached as high as 10ft. The event was held in a gigantic cage as a safety precaution at an NEC facility in the Tokyo suburb of Abiko. Preparations…
Physical Amazon Dash Buttons to stop working
Physical Dash Buttons which allowed users to automatically re-order household items will no longer work by the end of August, the web retailer has said. The company first announced it would cease sales of the small devices in March but let existing button owners continue to make orders with them. However, five months on, Amazon…
Tesla ‘fixing’ reported fault with pet cooling system
Tesla boss Elon Musk has said the company is “fixing” an issue with the Dog Mode in its cars which is meant to keep pets cool in unattended vehicles. The entrepreneur responded to a concerned owner who alerted the company to a potential fault via Twitter after his boxer puppy, Enzo, was left in a…