Tech Digest daily round up: Jimmy Fallon roasts Bezos over phallic rocket
Jimmy Fallon has roasted billionaire Jeff Bezos over his recent trip to space in a rocket made by the Amazon founder’s space company Blue Origin. Many have noted that the rocket, which is called New Shepard, is an unusual shape. It takes the form of a long cylinder topped with a dome. In short, it is very phallic. On the latest episode of The Tonight Show, Fallon put 30 seconds on the clock, to see how many jokes he could get in about its shape during that window of time. “It’s the only rocket that shrinks in the cold,” he said, adding that it “looks like R2D2 took some Viagra”. Independent
Netflix has confirmed that it will include video games as part of subscription packages at no extra cost. In a letter to investors, it said it was in the early stages of expanding into games and those for mobile would be added to the platform first. “The time is right to learn more about how our members value games,” it said on Tuesday. But Netflix shares dipped in after-hours trading after it missed a target on subscriptions. The California-based company said it expects to sign up 3.5 million new customers in the three months to the end of September – less than the 5.86 million analysts had estimated. BBC
Bitcoin has slipped below $30,000 as calls grew among regulators in the US, Europe and Asia for tighter checks on cryptocurrencies, and the less volatile digi-currency known as “stablecoins”. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 5% to $29,300, its lowest since 22 June, and investors said it was likely to test the $28,600 level touched last month, its lowest since early January, as it faced a variety of regulatory headwinds. Smaller cryptocurrencies such as ether and XRP also lost around 5%. On Tuesday, European regulators outlined plans to make cryptocurrencies more traceable as part of a wider crackdown on money-laundering in the bloc. The Guardian
Cyberflashers and those who orchestrate online “pile ons” could face up to two years in prison, under new laws proposed by Law Commission. The Commission is proposing a raft of new offences to combat the rise in online abuse which is not covered by current laws. There would be new overarching offence for online abuse that would outlaw actions such as pile on harassment coordinated against an individual online. Cyberflashing, where a perpetrator sends an unsolicited sexual image to another device nearby, and glorifying self-harm online will also become specific offences, as will sending false or threatening communications. The Telegraph
Apple’s iOS 14.7 is officially here, and the latest upgrade to your iPhone is set to bring a host of smaller changes to your smartphone rather than any big game-changing updates. If you own an iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max you’ll find the updated software makes your smartphone compatible with the new MagSafe battery pack from the company. The other bigger upgrade is the ability to combine credit limits within its Apple Card Family service. You can also now share a co-owned account with an existing Apple Card user, which is a small change but important for some people. Tech Radar
