Tech Digest daily roundup: Mercedes to offer subscription for faster EV
Mercedes-Benz is to offer an online subscription service in the US to make its electric cars speed up quicker. For an annual cost of $1,200 (£991) excluding tax, the company will enable some of its vehicles to accelerate from 0-60mph a second faster. It comes after rival manufacturer BMW offered a subscription feature earlier this year – for heated seats. Mercedes has confirmed to BBC News it currently does not plan to introduce “Acceleration Increase” in the UK. It will be available for purchase in the US on the Mercedes-EQ EQE 350 and EQS 450 vehicles, as well as their SUV counterparts. BBC
Elon Musk has announced he will grant “amnesty” for suspended Twitter accounts – prompting experts to predict a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation. The billionaire asked his followers in a poll to vote on reinstatements for accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam”. The yes vote was 72%. “The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Mr Musk tweeted using a Latin phrase that translates as “the voice of the people, the voice of God”. Sky News
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022
Ukraine has threatened to sanction French satellite operator Eutelsat over claims it is broadcasting Russian “war propaganda” to millions of homes across Europe. The National Council for Radio and Television in Ukraine on Thursday warned Eutelsat it will block its services if it continues working with Russian TV channels. Eutelsat, which will soon partly be owned by the British taxpayer, carries Russian satellite TV packages from NTV+ and Tricolor, both of which have been accused of transmitting pro-Kremlin news. Telegraph
Foxconn’s flagship iPhone plant in China is set to see its November shipments further reduced by the latest bout of worker unrest this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, as thousands of employees left the site. The company could now see more than 30% of the site’s November production affected, up from an internal estimate of up to 30% when the factory’s worker troubles started in late October, the source said. The site, which is the only factory where Foxconn makes premium iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 Pro, is unlikely to resume full production by the end of this month, the source added. Reuters
Facebook and Instagram have asked for government protection from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s bonfire of up to 4,000 EU laws on post-Brexit statute books. In a letter to a parliamentary committee to be published on Friday, the parent group, Meta, asks that laws underpinning social media firms are either “explicitly maintained elsewhere” or “removed from the scope” of the retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill. If they are not, groups like Facebook would be “less likely to operate in the UK”, wrote Richard Earley, the UK public policy manager at Meta. Guardian
