Galaxy S10 Fingerprint Patch Coming; Arlo Full View Door Cam; FCC OK’s T-Mobile & Sprint Merger; Netflix 3rd Quarter Earnings

Samsung will have a patch out very soon for a major ‘oops!’ Apparently, with a 3rd party screen protector installed, the fingerprint detector will allow ANY fingerprint to unlock the phone! Reuters.com says the patterns of some protectors that come with silicone phone cases are the culprit. If you have an S10, peel off that screen protector, and wait for the patch for the ‘revolutionary’ in-screen biometric authentication…that was so easily hacked.

From Netgear’s Arlo comes a door cam that exemplifies ‘why didn’t someone think of that sooner?’ According to theverge.com, it uses a field of view that is both tall AND wide…so it not only takes in people walking up and faces at your door, but also packages dropped in front of the doorway! It also starts streaming video to you phone as soon as the doorbell is pressed. At that point you can either send a pre-recorded message or start a two way, live conversation. The gadget has a built in siren that triggers automatically if someone tries to yank or pry the doorbell off the wall. The Arlo Video Doorbell is for wired installation only, so a bit more of a challenge to install than a battery powered Ring. You can preorder the Arlo now for $149.99. There is a 30 day free trial of their recording history service, which runs $2.99 a month thereafter.

And then there were three. Yesterday, the FCC approved the T-Mobile/Sprint merger on a party line vote…Republicans voted yes, Democrats, no. The deal just needed FCC approval, as the Department of Justice had already green lighted the merger. Also noted by theverge.com: one fly in the ointment remains….a multi-state lawsuit by a coalition of state attorneys general is still live, so nothing will go through until that is resolved one way or the other.

Netflix shares got a 10% pop yesterday after they put out their third quarter earnings. CNBC.com says it was a mixed result…Netflix beat the earnings prediction, but whiffed on domestic subscriber adds. The streamer made $1.47 per share, vs an expected $1.04. While they did advise there would be ‘modest headwinds’ with the debut of Disney +, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Peacock, Netflix indicated that the added streamers were a small set of competitors compared to the so-called linear TV providers…which still hold the lion’s share of potential viewers for Netflix to woo away.