Tech Digest daily roundup: Twitter receives backing of Taliban
Twitter has won the support of a big name backer against fast-growing rival Threads – but it’s the Taliban. A leader of the hardline Islamist group, which seized power in Afghanistan in summer 2021, said Elon Musk‘s platform was a tolerant place that allowed freedom of speech to thrive.Anas Haqqani offered his endorsement in a tweet on Monday, as it emerged that Meta’s new Twitter-like platform had amassed more than 100 million users in less than a week. Sky News
Twitter has two important advantages over other social media platforms.
The first privilege is the freedom of speech. The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter. Twitter doesn’t have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it. pic.twitter.com/oYQTI3hgfI— Anas Haqqani(انس حقاني) (@AnasHaqqani313) July 10, 2023
Threads will add an alternative home feed of posts as part of a series of updates to the new social media app after users complained. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said a feed for Threads showing posts in chronological order is currently being worked on. Users want to see posts from accounts they follow rather than chosen by Threads’ algorithm. Mr Mosseri said the new feed was “on the list” of changes to Threads. Meta, which owns Threads, Instagram and Facebook, launched the social media app last week and more than 100 million users have signed up to use it. BBC
The next generation of iPhone, the iPhone 15, is set to be revealed in September, and there could be the return of a fan-favorite color. In an article by MacRumors in collaboration with leaker Unknownz21, who has previously been correct about Apple’s future plans including the Apple Vision Pro headset, the iPhone 15 Pro will release in a “dark gray blue.” The color is said to be “not too far off from the iPhone 12 Pro color, but more gray for a classier look.” according to the report. iMore
Audi board members will meet this week to consider purchasing the rights to a third-party electric vehicle platform, according to sources close to the German car maker. The move comes after delays to the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) being developed by Audi’s parent company, the Volkswagen Group. The new modular structure, which is planned to support an 800V electric architecture and new-generation battery packs, has been delayed by continual engineering setbacks. It is now not expected to underpin new Audi models until 2029 at the earliest. Autocar
The boss of National Grid has complained that it takes a decade to build a new power line in an attack on planning red tape. John Pettigrew, the company’s chief executive, said that Britain’s planning rules add seven years of delays to the construction time for cables. His warning comes amid ongoing rows over delays in connecting new wind and solar farms to the UK’s electricity grid, which are threatening the Government’s target of making the network carbon neutral by 2035. The Telegraph
Labour would use artificial intelligence to help those looking for work prepare their CVs, find jobs and receive payments faster, according to the party’s shadow work and pensions secretary. Jonathan Ashworth told the Guardian he thought the Department for Work and Pensions was wasting millions of pounds by not using cutting-edge technology, even as the party also says AI could also cause massive disruption to the jobs market. The Guardian
