Tech Digest daily roundup: Brits see work as less important than 40 years ago

 
People in the UK are among the least likely to say work should always come first, according to a new survey. According to the study, people now are more likely to say it would be a good thing if less importance was placed on work than they did 40 years ago. But this view varies depending on age, the survey by King’s College London’s Policy Institute found. While millennials are much more likely to see work as less important, the opposite is true of older generations. According to the World Values Survey, 73% of people in the UK say work is “very or rather important in their life” – the lowest of 24 countries. BBC 

Ministers have admitted that they will not be immediately able to force encrypted apps like WhatsApp to scan people’s messages, in a victory to messaging services that had warned they might shut down in Britain. Lord Parkinson, a minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, told the House of Lords that the Government would only issue notices forcing messaging apps to scan communications “where technically feasible”. The Government insisted that it had not changed its position. However, the statement was celebrated by encrypted messaging apps. Telegraph 

Smart home devices, including appliances like washing machines, demand unnecessarily large amounts of user data that could end up in the hands of social media and marketing firms, a consumer group has warned. Which? said many products’ apps request information during setup that should not be needed to run. Among the offenders are Google thermostats that ask some users for their location and contacts, LG washing machines that need to know your date of birth, and Sony TVs that want to track your viewing habits. Sky News 

Volkswagen is looking to cut its development times of new cars from 54 months to 36 months in order to keep up with the quicker pace of development of Chinese rivals. Speaking at the Munich motor show, Volkswagen technical boss Kai Grunitz said the upcoming Volkswagen ID 2 was one of three pilot models working to the shorter 36-month development cycle. The first design sketches of that car were done in December last year and VW wants to have it on the road by the end of 2025. “You see with Chinese competitors that it’s doable,” said Grunitz about the shorter development times. Autocar

Meta has lost a first bid to get an injunction slapped on a ban Norway’s data protection authority imposed on its consentless behavioral ad targeting in July. The order also provides for daily fines for non-compliance. An Oslo District court rejected Meta’s arguments seeking to block the order and ruled in favor of the Datatilsynet. “We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling and the result. This is a big victory for people’s data protection rights,” said the DPA’s director general, Line Coll. Tech Crunch 

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is the secret sauce behind the super-precise location system built into Apple’s AirTags, which provide a great way for you to track down lost items like keys. But Bang & Olufsen (B&O) has found a new use for UWB: Its Beoloab 8 wireless speaker uses it track you, or more accurately, your position in a room, so that it can keep you in its acoustic sweet spot. The B&O Beolab 8, a stunning, all-aluminum wireless speaker that looks like it’s floating in space, starts at $2,749 and can be ordered starting September 7 from bang-olufsen.com or at authorized retailers. Digital Trends