Thousands of Facebook Messenger users took to Twitter to complain about the app being down. “What do we do without Facebook Messenger?? I think I only have about 3 peoples phone numbers???,” one user wrote. Other users experienced withdrawal symptoms after just ten minutes of outage. According to one tweet, the app kept “leaping in intermittently.” The issue was reported ...
Read More »Megan Bailey
Steam Removes Game that Simulates School Shooting
Following a major public outcry, online game store Steam decided to remove a video game that enables gamers to assume the role of a gunman and move through a school. The game was severely criticized by mass shooting survivors and the families of the victims. Active Shooter was scheduled to be launched on June 6, but an online petition asked ...
Read More »Global Smartphone Sales on the Rise Again after Months-Long Decline
Earlier this year, a global survey revealed that smartphone sales shrank for the first time in more than a decade. The decline was not by a lot, but it was still a decline. Analysts and manufacturers were concerned that the trend could last for months. But at the end of this year’s first quarter, global smartphone sales bounced back, and ...
Read More »Snap CEO: Facebook Unlikely to ‘Change Its DNA’
On Tuesday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told a large audience of coders that Facebook would not change “its DNA”. Also, Spiegel said that he is not concerned about the social media giant copying Snapchat’s features and integrating them into Instagram. The executive underlined that Snapchat is more than “a bunch of features”. Instead, the messaging app has an “underlying philosophy” that ...
Read More »Here’s How to Know How Much Alexa and Google Home Knows About You
Several days ago, media reports emerged about Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant Alexa spying on a Portland couple’s private conversations and beaming the data to one of their friends in the contact list. The news sparked a renewed interest in what virtual assistants know about us and where that data ends up ultimately. Fortunately, Google Home and Amazon Echo users have a ...
Read More »Galaxy Note 9 Leaks Are Here
The rumor mill has it that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will sport 512 GB storage and 8 GB RAM, but a recent leak shows that it may only have 6 GB RAM and an Exynos 9810 processor. The leak showed a Samsung SM-N960N unit, which is a variant of Samsung’s flagship phone, the Note 9. We don’t know ...
Read More »Need a Plumber? Ask Facebook
Do you need a plumber, house cleaner, or another home service professional? Facebook has partnered with Handy, Home advisor, and Porch to offer you the right man for the job. You will be able to contact a professional via the website’s Marketplace, which will add a new section called “Service.” After the change, house cleaners, plumbers, and other home improvement ...
Read More »Apple Giving iPhone Users Partial Refund on Battery Replacements
Apple announced that it plans to give iPhone users a partial refund for any battery replacements they bought at full price last year. The company will offer a $50 refund to any iPhone user who replaced their batteries in 2017, as part of the Battery-gate scandal. According to Apple, only owners of the iPhone 6 and more recent models will ...
Read More »Love Late Night Tweeting? Twitter Now Has a Night Mode
Twitter’s app for Windows also known as the Progressive Web App has recently gained a “night mode.” The feature has been in high demand in recent years, and now it is finally here. Night mode will prevent night owls from burning their retinas when staring at a screen in the dark. The feature is very similar to the app’s dark ...
Read More »FBI Got the Number of Unhackable Phones Wrong
Late last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that its investigators were unable to crack 7,800 encrypted phones. A new report shows that the number was overestimated by a large margin. According to The Washington Post, the real number of truly unhackable phones is around 2,000. The Post cited the FBI’s internal records offered by people familiar with the ...
Read More »