Tech Digest daily roundup: BT deadline on Huawei 5G gear pushed back
BT has been given a reprieve on a deadline to strip Huawei from its 5G network after warnings that accelerated efforts to rip out the Chinese kit could disrupt Britain’s telecoms network. A deadline to remove critical telecoms equipment built by Chinese company Huawei has been delayed by 11 months. Openreach, BT’s network arm, and other broadband providers originally had been expected to remove the Chinese hardware from their network “core” by January 2023, with the threat of fines if they failed. Following consultation with mobile operators, that timeline has now been pushed back until December next year. Telegraph
Google’s recently launched Pixel Watch ships with a small wireless charging puck in the box, as do many other smartwatches. Unlike some competitors, however, the Pixel Watch isn’t meant to be charged on anything other than its bundled charger. The information comes straight from Google itself. The company felt the need to clarify the situation by issuing the following statement sent to 9to5Google: “Qi charging is not supported on the Google Pixel Watch…Pixel Watch only supports charging with the inbox charger provided.” GSM Arena
Unsafe drivers are being detected every six minutes on average in a UK-first trial of new technology. National Highways said 152 drivers holding a mobile phone and 512 vehicle occupants without a seatbelt have been identified on the M40 and A46 in Warwickshire over a period of just 64 hours. Passing vehicles are being filmed by a van with multiple cameras parked at the side of the road. Analysis of the footage by artificial intelligence and humans determines if motorists were using a handheld phone or whether anyone was not wearing a seatbelt. Yahoo!
Elon Musk has a penchant for the letter “X.” He calls his son with the singer Grimes, whose actual name is a collection of letters and symbols, “X.” He named the company he created to buy Twitter “X Holdings.” His rocket company is, naturally, SpaceX. Now he also apparently intends to morph Twitter into an “everything app” he calls X. For months, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has expressed interest in creating his own version of China’s WeChat — a “super app” that does video chats, messaging, streaming and payments — for the rest of the world. AP News
Businesses should rethink the way staff use their time in offices, says the boss of the messaging platform Slack. With the rise of hybrid working, lots of people now divide their working week between home and going into their workplace. But being in the office should be an opportunity to do things that cannot be done at home, argues Stewart Butterfield, Slack’s chief executive. He says that sitting at a desk with headphones on is not one of them. BBC
Scammers are looking to steal your details by sending fake text messages claiming to be from the retailer Amazon. These phoney texts tell you to follow a link to secure your account following an attempted login. They’re examples of phishing texts designed to steal your personal data to scam you either now or in the future. We’ve recently seen fraudulent texts like these from scammers impersonating the government to offer non-existent discounts on energy bills and fraudsters pretending to be your adult children to coerce you into transferring money. Which?
