Tech Digest daily roundup: Twitter Blue goes live in the UK
Twitter Blue, the social media platform’s subscription service that allows users to buy a blue verification badge for the first time, has gone live in the UK. Twitter users on Apple’s iOS can now sign up and pay for the service, which will give them the blue-tick badge next to their profile name on the platform. The company said the service would expand to Android and the web version of the app for users in due course. Until now, the verification badge was only given to notable or high-profile accounts which Twitter had analysed and deemed authentic, but now the only barrier to clear is for a user to pay a £6.99 monthly subscription. Yahoo!
An unprecedented quantity of online child sexual abuse content is being blocked by tech companies while legislation aimed at tackling such material remains undelivered, the government has been warned. There are currently 24,649 web addresses containing such images of youngsters, sometimes even babies, on the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)’s list of blocked pages – a record number. The dynamic database is updated twice a day, with every URL confirmed to contain images and videos of abuse. Sky News
Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has walked away from a bailout deal of its smaller rival FTX. Binance said that after due diligence, it would not pursue the deal. It said reports of “mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations” had swayed its decision. FTX had been struggling with a surge in withdrawals that caused a “liquidity crunch”. FTX is a big crypto exchange and people use it to buy and sell various crypto currencies. Concerns about FTX’s financial health reportedly triggered $6bn (£5.2bn) of withdrawals in just three days. BBC
Despite countless popups and a detailed Privacy & Security area, new independent research has discovered that iPhone user data is still being shared with Apple. iOS 14.5 saw the introduction of App Tracking Transparency, a privacy tool which gives users the option to prevent third-party apps from tracking them with identifying information, all in an effort to better safeguard their personal information. However, two app developers from software company Mysk have found that, despite an apparent push for transparency and privacy, many of Apple’s own apps are continuing to collect such data. Tech Radar
Samsung teased its collaboration with Parisian haute couture house Maison Margiela last month for a special edition Galaxy Z Flip4, which has been officially unveiled as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition. Samsung says that “in the spirit of nonconformity,” it partnered with Maison Margiela to “reimagine the newest member of the Galaxy family,” and every element of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition focuses on Margiela’s originality and values.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition comes in white color with a matte finish “weaved” into the smartphone. It also embraces the French couture house’s décortiqué technique, which strips back an object’s outer layers to expose its core that features fine, translucent lines to signify the smartphone’s internal circuits. GSM Arena
Mark Zuckerberg’s approach to the first round of firings at Meta, the internet empire he founded as student at Harvard, was a lot more humble than his rival Elon Musk’s grandstanding at Twitter. And yet, strip away the antics, and his performance was every bit as egotistical. An eccentric and poorly realised bet on the metaverse, and the neglect of its core social networking business, has led Meta to this dismal point – and there is only one person responsible for that. Telegraph
