Samsung Rolls Out Galaxy S8s; Congress Passes Bill Allowing ISPs to Sell Your Browsing History; Facebook Rolling Out Snapchat Clone in Main App

Posted: March 29, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung officially rolled out the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in New York today. Bgr.com says the beautiful new phones will be on preorder tomorrow, the 30th, and on sale Friday, April 21st. As predicted, it has the assistant Bixby with a dedicated virtual button that responds instantly, and DeX, a desktop interface…you plug the phone into it and can connect peripherals and a display via the USB and HDMI ports. The edge to edge screen is stunning. Your bank account may be stunned too, as the pricing has crept past the one grand barrier, as is also rumored to be the case for Apple’s iPhone 8 this Fall.

The House voted to eliminate ISP privacy rules yesterday, allowing them to sell your browsing and app usage history to advertisers and other companies. According to arstechinca.com, it was pretty much a party line vote, with the Republicans supporting sale and sharing of your info. It had already cleared the Senate 50-48, also on straight party lines. Look for the use of private VPNs and other measures to increase, as users move to protect their own privacy however they can.

Facebook is now putting a full-on Snapchat clone front and center inside the main Facebook app. Mashable.com says The update not only pushes you to use Facebook’s new camera feature but puts friends’ stories — yes, it’s called Facebook Stories — at the top of your News Feed. The update, which is rolling out now, consists of three features: Facebook Camera, Facebook Stories, and Direct, a dedicated space for messages exchanged via the new in-app camera that lets you can decorate your photos and videos with filters, “masks” (Facebook’s version of lenses), and other animated effects. If you use the Direct feature, the story is sent via direct message, and disappears after it’s seen.

Leak Points to Couple Surprises With iPhone 7; 10 Million Twitterers in China; Samsung Sailing Towards Great Numbers With Galaxy S7; Apple Sandbagging With iPhone 7

Posted: July 5, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A leaked slide from a Foxconn internal presentation shows a couple of features that may be coming on iPhone 7 that have been rumored, but not really solidly. Bgr.com reports that the Apple handset may indeed have an IP68 water and dust resistant rating and wireless charging support. If this slide posted by myDrivers.com pans out, it may be a ‘one more thing’ that Apple was saving back for the iPhone 7 rollout in September.

Twitter estimates it has 10 million users in China, which gives an indication of how many people there are using VPN to get around government censorship. According to techcrunch.com, earlier estimates were as high as 35.5 million. There’s no solid data, since the VPNs the scofflaws are using to Tweet show up as being in other countries besides China. With only around 10 million users out of Twitter’s 310 million, it’s not a crucial part of their business, but does give an idea of the people using VPN to get around the government censorship….and that’s usually journalists, activists, prominent business leaders, and decision makers. This is a significant leak in China’s ‘Great Firewall.’

According to analysts, Samsung is heading for the best quarter in a couple years, when they release smartphone numbers later this week. After some iffy quarters and phones that underwhelmed, Reuters.com says the Galaxy S7 has done better than expected…with about 16 million pumped out between April and June, and the curved screen model outselling it’s flat screened sibling.

Speaking of marketing, most everybody is predicting that since the iPhone 7 will be more like a 6 SS, and not a wow-year upgrade, it will mean a sales slump. Business insider.com reports that this may be intentional. Some Apple watchers are now saying that the so-called ‘tick-tock’ system of a major iPhone upgrade every other year is not sustainable, and Apple is just going with the math. Normally, about 33% of iPhone owners might upgrade this fall…that’s been consistent for 6 quarters, but if things really are a little disappointing, Apple can look forward to a huge jump of about 43% for the next 5 quarters after an iPhone 7S, or 8, or Anniversary model or whatever the 2017 model will be called. That will be a bonanza for them, and it sounds like just the kind of thing a nuts and bolts guy like Tim Cook might ‘cook up!’

Netflix From Outside Your Country Going Away; 300 Hyatts Hit By C-Card Skimmers

Posted: January 15, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

If you’ve been catching up on Netflix shows while traveling abroad, you’re about to get a rude surprise. 9to5mac.com reports that Netflix is going to start blocking proxies in the coming weeks. That means users tunneling in with proxy apps like VPN Unlimited will be out of luck. Netflix indicates the content owners are pressing them to do so. Many of the agreements are based on the old fashioned system where content providers sold to local TV networks, and so don’t cover other countries.

Hyatt said last year that malware had been found in its systems that could grab credit card names, numbers, verification codes, and expiration dates. This went on between August 13th and December 8th, according to engadget.com. Most of the skimming took place at restaurants in Hyatt hotels, but now we find it affected over 300 Hyatt locations! Hyatt claims it has upped security, and has the infected locations listed on its website, but check your credit card bills if you stayed at a Hyatt between August and December!