Tech Digest daily roundup: Elon Musk puts Twitter deal on hold over fake accounts
Elon Musk has said his $44bn (£35bn) deal to buy Twitter is temporarily on hold after he queried the number of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform. He said he was waiting for information “supporting [the] calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users”. Following the announcement, Twitter shares fell 25% in pre-market trading. Mr Musk has been vocal on cleaning up spam accounts. Twitter reported more than two weeks ago that fake accounts accounted for fewer than 5% of its daily active users during the first three months of this year. BBC
The idea of augmented reality sunglasses that instantly project a cinema-sized screen in front of you may sound like a concept from the latest science fiction blockbuster. But they’re set to become a reality next week, with EE’s launch of the Nreal Air glasses in the UK. The futuristic glasses look like a normal pair of sunglasses from the front, but have two OLED displays hidden behind the lenses. When connected to a smartphone, these can project an ‘Imax-sized’ 201-inch virtual screen 20ft in front of your eyes, allowing you to stream films and play games over 5G on the go. Ahead of their UK launch through EE on May 20, MailOnline’s Shivali Best got hands-on with the £399.99 smart glasses. Daily Mail
Shell UK announced the extension of its ambition for installing EV chargers across the region with a new target for the end of this decade. By 2030, the company aims to have 100,000 public EV charge points across the country. 11,000 of these are set to be rapid chargers at locations including charging hubs, forecourts, supermarkets and other destinations. The firm has described this initiative as making it so that 90% of all UK drivers will be within a 10-minute drive of a Shell rapid charger. Petrol Plaza
Amazon Alexa’s “sinister side” is to be investigated by MPs over concerns that smart speakers may be spying on their owners. The digital, culture, media and sport select committee is launching an inquiry to explore how virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri, as well as wearable technology such as Fitbits, affect their users and the implications for privacy and data collection. The committee said its inquiry would “examine the risks and rewards from the rising popularity of connected tech in the home and beyond, whether it should be properly designed to protect everyone in society and to what extent the current rules governing smart technology are fit for a rapidly changing future”. Telegraph
Cryptocurrency values are taking a further pounding amid a resumption in a wider flight from risk over growing fears of an inflation-driven global recession. A meltdown in the value of a so-called stablecoin, TerraUSD, was widely blamed for stoking a sell-off in crypto assets that saw Bitcoin hit a 20-month low at one stage on Thursday. The largest cryptocurrency by market value hit a low just above $25,400 after TerraUSD broke its peg to the US dollar. The stablecoin – so named because such digital tokens are pegged to the value of traditional, regulated assets – plunged in value late on Wednesday. Sky News
