Tech Digest daily roundup: Samsung Galaxy A33 leaks in full
Samsung’s Galaxy A33, rumored to be the most affordable of the three devices the company will announce on March 17th, has leaked in full. Evan Blass has posted a series of renders of the phone over on Twitter, while Appuals has its specs. These include a 6.4-inch 90Hz 1080p OLED display, a 5,000mAh battery, and four rear cameras. It’ll reportedly be priced at €379 in Europe, which is roughly $417 stateside. Reports suggest the Galaxy A33 will be announced alongside the Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A73 at Samsung’s “Awesome Galaxy A Event” this week. Samsung’s midrange A-series are some of its most popular devices around the world. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy A12 was the sixth best-selling phone in the world in 2021 according to Counterpoint Research. The Verge
Germany’s cyber-security authority has warned against using anti-virus software from Russian headquartered company Kaspersky. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) issued the statement in light of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian information-technology businesses could be spied on or forced to launch cyber-attacks, it said. Kaspersky told BBC News the warning had been “made on political grounds” and it had no ties to the Russian government. The BSI made no allegation of current problems with Kaspersky’s products but said the conflict in Ukraine and Russian threats against the European Union, Nato and Germany brought with them the risk of cyber-attacks. BBC
Apple has released iOS 15.4, a major new update for the iPhone. It brings a range of features, including the option to use Face ID while wearing a mask. It also adds Universal Control, which was first unveiled almost a year ago at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, but then failed to appear in software since. It now appears to be ready. The feature allows Macs and iPads to be controlled together, using the same mouse and keyboard and allowing for a continuous experience of moving between the two. Siri also has a new voice. Apple has said specifically that it is aimed at being “genderless.” Independent
Five companies that deliberately targeted the elderly with “predatory” and “coercive” marketing calls in order to sell them unnecessary insurance have been fined more than £400,000 by the UK’s privacy watchdog. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the businesses had been purchasing marketing data lists of people who were aged 60 and over, were homeowners, and had landline phones. Some of the victims of the calls had dementia according to the ICO, which added that the evidence suggested the companies may have been using the same marketing list to target their victims. Sky News
Since last June, Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service has been broadly available on iOS devices, but for many iPhone and iPad owners, the experience wasn’t up to what the company offered on other platforms. On Monday, however, Microsoft announced it had implemented a series of enhancements that would improve performance on all iPhone and iPad devices. At the time, it didn’t provide details on the work it had done, noting only they would lead to a “smoother and more responsive gameplay experience.” But following an email from Engadget, Microsoft has shared more details on the update. The company says it optimized video output and network data transmission on iOS devices. Engadget
