Slow progress tackling UK’s e-waste problem, AirBnB bans indoor security cameras
The government has made little progress on tackling e-waste in the UK, the Environment Audit Committee has said. It published a report in November 2020 which said that every UK household had 20 unused electronic items at home. “It appears the government is yet to grasp fully the scale of the e-waste tsunami,” its chairman Philip Dunne told Environment Secretary Steve Barclay. But the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was working to help people recycle items. BBC
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that the company expects to hit profitability next year with eyes on going public in the future. The chat app, which crossed 900 million users, is making “hundreds of millions of dollars” through ads and subscriptions, Durov told the Financial Times in an interview. While global investors have offered the company money at a more than $30 billion valuation, he mentioned that Telegram aims to go public in the future. Tech Crunch
Airbnb is banning the use of indoor security cameras in listings globally, the short-term rental platform announced Monday. Previously, Airbnb (ABNB) allowed hosts to have indoor security cameras in common areas as long as the devices were clearly disclosed on the listing page and placed in visible spots in the home. Indoor security cameras, however, were never allowed in spaces like sleeping areas and bathrooms. The update announced Monday clarifies that indoor security cameras are now prohibited in any listing, regardless of their location, purpose or prior disclosure. CNN
That curious new Porsche Taycan with a wing you’ve been seeing zipping around the Nürburgring in 7m 7s has a name. It’s the new Taycan Turbo GT. Basically, it’s a range-topper above the Turbo S aiming to make life awkward for the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire. It’s now been revealed in full, and it’s terrifyingly fast. Even if you drive a Plaid. Power? 1,108bhp. Acceleration? 0-62mph in 2.3 seconds. Lap time? It’s just been hurled around Laguna Seca raceway in 1m 27.8s. That’s five seconds faster than the previous electric lap record (help by the Model S). Top Gear
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is the Apple whisperer – the guy who is plugged into all things Apple. As such, his newsletter always delivers interesting tidbits of information regarding the Cupertino company’s products, and this time is no different. Last week, Apple announced the new M3-powered MacBook Air, which was expected. But new iPads were also rumored countless times for a spring introduction, and so far… nothing. Gurman calms us down by saying not to worry, the new iPads are still coming, either in late March or early April.
Those iPads in question are a couple of new iPad Pros in the two sizes we’re already used to but much slimmer thanks to the use of OLED panels, and two new iPad Airs. Also in Apple-related news, the AirPods Pro 2 are said to gain “hearing aid mode” later this year via iOS 18. GSM Arena
If you use a Roku account, make sure you secure it: Hackers recently targeted over 15,000 users of the TV streaming platform to buy unauthorized subscriptions. On Friday, Roku notified authorities in California and Maine about the data breach, which ensnared 15,363 US residents. The hackers targeted Roku users from Dec. 28, 2023, to Feb. 21, 2024. According to the company’s data breach notice, the cybercriminals likely hijacked the Roku accounts by using login/password combinations leaked from previous hacks at third-party services. PC Mag
