Tech Digest daily roundup: Google delays Pixel 6 updates
Google has been forced to delay the first major update for its Pixel 6 and 6 Pro smartphones by a month while it fixes an embarrassing software glitch. The tech firm said it needs more time to investigate the recently-discovered issue of calls dropping out and disconnecting for devices with the software update installed. A fixed version of the update will be released by late January, according to the firm, which released both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro flagship phones in October. Daily Mail
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has seen its losses deepen after Beijing ordered online stores not to offer the company’s app. The firm reported an operating loss of $6.3bn (£4.7bn) for the first nine months of year as revenues in China fell by 5% in the third quarter. The Chinese crackdown came just days after Didi made its New York stock market debut at the end of June. This month, it said it will move its share listing to Hong Kong from the US. In recent months, Didi has become one of the most high profile. BBC
As the countdown continues to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series, expected in February, we’re hearing more and more about the advanced camera systems that will come fitted to these devices – specifically in this case the S22 Ultra. Noted tipster @UniverseIce has taken to Twitter to suggest that the improvements in the photo-taking capabilities of the Galaxy S22 Ultra are 30% hardware and 70% software, with “traces of AI participation everywhere”. Tech Radar
As a researcher at Harvard, Shruthi Mahalingaiah has been using Apple watches to track the ovulation cycles of 70,000 women for more than two years in an unprecedentedly large study. But as a doctor, she complains that she is stuck with “dinosaur technology”. The iPhone maker touts the Apple Watch as the “ultimate device for a healthy life”, but it is not something Mahalingaiah can use with her patients because there has not been enough innovation to validate and incorporate the data. FT.com
Dear friends, we’re gathered here today to mourn the death of that once-beloved monarch of the mobile world: BlackBerry. And, yes, I realize that this is not the first time we’ve announced the death of the company or its devices (and, for reasons I’ll explain below, it likely won’t be the last) but this is a very definite ending for legacy BlackBerry hardware. As of January 4th, any phones or tablets running BlackBerry’s own software — that’s BlackBerry 7.1 or earlier, BlackBerry 10, or its tablet operating system BlackBerry PlayBook — will “no longer reliably function,” says the company. The Verge
Footprints of an early relative of a dinosaur have been discovered on a South Wales beach from more than 200 million years ago, according to experts. Natural History Museum palaeontologists believe the footprints, known as a trackway, were left by a very early sauropod or a prosauropod dating from the Triassic period. The impressions were discovered on a beach in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, in 2020 by amateur palaeontologist Kerry Rees, who reported the find to the Natural History Museum. Sky News
