Friday Tech News Roundup #23

Below are 10 tech news that I found interesting and are related to topics I care about.

Apple revamps web design for App Store – Apple has updated the look of its web-based App Store, 9to5Mac first reported. It definitely has the feel of the iOS 11 App Store, which Apple completely redesigned and launched last September. But, unlike iOS 11, there’s no focus on app discovery. Techcrunch

A bug is messing up the keyboard for some Messenger users on iPhones (Update: Now fixed) – If you’re having issues with Facebook Messenger on your iPhone right now, you’re not alone. Techcrunch

Tim Cook: next iOS update will let users disable iPhone battery performance throttling – With its admission that it throttles performance on older iPhones, Apple is facing one of its biggest controversies in years. The feature may be for the benefit of the owner, but Apple’s failure to disclose what it’s been doing has been met with anger. Now, Tim Cook says a future update will allow the performance throttling to be switched off, if a user wishes. Techspot

World’s most powerful mobile spyware can read WhatsApp messages, take photos, more – Security firm Kaspersky has uncovered a new Android spyware tool that’s being described as one of the most powerful and advanced forms of mobile malware ever. Named after one of the domains where it was first identified, Skygofree can perform a number of malicious activities, including recording audio and reading WhatsApp messages. Techspot

Apple and Samsung are both under investigation by the Italian government over planned obsolescence – Italy’s antitrust organization has launched two separate investigations against Apple and Samsung over accusations of planned obsolescence. The Verge

Netflix encourages employees to interview at other companies — here’s why – Netflix’s approach to people management can come off as logical but harsh. Business Insider

Microsoft Office for Mac gets a major update – Microsoft has released a new version of Office 2016 for Mac, introducing new online features that bring it closer in line with the cloud-first Office 365. Techradar

Apple forgot the greatest lesson of the MacBook Air – Ten years ago, Steve Jobs hopped on stage at Macworld 2008 and did another one of his seemingly impossible magic tricks: He undid the string on a manila envelope, pulled out the MacBook Air, and forever changed laptops forever. Mashable

This simple text message can paralyze your iPhone — but a fix is coming – A newly discovered iOS bug lets an attacker construct a simple text message which, when sent to an iPhone, immediately freezes and possibly restarts it. Mashable

Facebook became your news diet. Now, it’s going to serve you junk. – Forget about media outlets and Facebook — worry about readers. Mashable

10 Tech News Roundup #11

Here are 10 tech news that I found interesting.

Apple’s latest macOS update dropped a ton of new emoji – Hundreds of new emoji are finally starting to make their way into the world. Apple dropped the latest public beta of macOS High Sierra and the update comes with hundreds of new emoji, including animals, dinosaurs, and a bunch of smileys. Mashable

WhatsApp finally lets you recall messages you’ve sent by mistake – WhatsApp has finally got your back when you send a message to the wrong person or group. The Facebook-owned messaging app is rolling a feature that will finally let its 1 billion-plus users delete a message for all people within a conversation. Techcrunch

Apple debuts its first MacBook sleeve – Apple has been making gadgets for decades. And as one of the world’s favorite consumer electronics makers, the company has also made plenty of cases and sleeves to protect those gadgets, most notably for the iPhone and iPad. But Apple has never made its own laptop/MacBook sleeve, until today. Techcrunch

Google addresses Pixel 2 XL display issues with software update and 2-year warranty – The Pixel 2 XL has been hitting the headlines recently, but not for the reasons Google would have wanted. Some users were already complaining about the display’s muted colors, blue tint, and grainy textures, and last week brought reports of what appeared to be screen burn-in. After promising to investigate the issues, Google has now announced its findings. Techspot

Microsoft may be working on a foldable PC similar to its canceled Courier project – Microsoft might be revisiting Courier, the dual-screen tablet concept from 2009 that never made it into production. The product was a seven-inch, dual-screen portable PC that folded up like a book. The interface was to involve a combination of finger-swiping gestures and a stylus for writing notes or entering URLs into the browser. Techspot

Microsoft has officially halted production of the Kinect – The writing was on the wall for Microsoft’s flagship motion control device and now, it’s finally official: the company has ceased all production of the Kinect. Techspot

Blockchain expected to become top digital business trend and disrupter in 2018 – Blockchain technology is set to become the top digital business trend and disrupter in 2018, IT solutions and services firm Dimension Data has said in its latest report. Business Insider

Amazon Web Services Beats Cloud Rivals with First Volta Instances – Driven by a surging demand for HPC and AI compute power, the delay between the introduction of high-end GPUs and adoption by cloud vendors is shrinking. With the Nvidia V100 launch ink still drying and other big cloud vendors still working on Pascal generation rollouts, Amazon Web Services has become the first cloud giant to offer the Tesla Volta GPUs, beating out competitors Google and Microsoft. HPCWire

Apple calls Face ID quality change report ‘completely false’ – Apple is calling into contention an earlier report from Bloomberg that claimed the company had lowered the accuracy of the face recognition in order to increase iPhone X production yields, calling the report “completely false” in a statement to The Verge. The Verge

New BadRabbit ransomware spreads through Eastern Europe – A new ransomware attack named BadRabbit is spreading through Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. Targeting corporate networks, computer systems for the Kiev Metro, Ukraine’s Odessa International Airport, several Russian media outlets, and others have been affected, with systems encrypted and computers displaying a ransom message. The Verge

10 Tech News Roundup #5

Here are 10 tech news that I found interesting.

The wireless chargers at Starbucks will get updated to support iPhone X and 8 – Yes, you should be able to charge your new iPhone X or iPhone 8 at Starbucks. Techcrunch

DARPA Pledges Another $300 Million for Post-Moore’s Readiness – Yesterday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a giant funding effort to ensure the United States can sustain the pace of electronic innovation vital to both a flourishing economy and a secure military. HPCWire

The iPhone X’s Face ID could be a troubling harbinger of what’s to come – The eyes may be the window to the soul, but your face is almost certainly the door to your wallet. Oh, and also the last vestiges of your privacy. Mashable

An Apple executive just revealed tasty new details about Face ID we didn’t know – Apple’s iPhone X is here, and with it comes a new controversial features: Face ID. Mashable

WhatsApp’s unsend feature will soon let users delete shameful messages – Thanks to the numerous messaging apps available today, communicating with each other has never been easier. Techspot

Facebook Messenger Day hits 70M daily users as the app reaches 1.3B monthlies – Facebook has finally revealed how its Snapchat Stories clone is doing, though it’s not seeing the same explosive growth as Instagram or WhatApp’s version Techcrunch

Apple is turning a design quirk into the iPhone X’s defining feature – Draw me an iPhone. The lines may be squiggly, the rounded corners imperfect, but almost everyone you pose this challenge to will present you with the shape of a rectangle containing another rectangle sat atop a circle. The Verge

Ad industry attacks Safari’s effort to protect your privacy – When Safari 11 arrives on iPhones and Macs later this month, Apple’s browser will come with a feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention that makes it harder for advertisers and publishers to track what you do online. CNET

Singapore public organisation faced state-sponsored cyberattack last year: CSA – SINGAPORE: An unidentified public organisation in Singapore faced a foreign “state-sponsored” cyberattack late last year, according to a report released by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) on Thursday (Sep 15).
Channel NewsAsia

Singtel launches unlimited data mobile plans – SINGAPORE: Singtel on Friday (Sep 15) launched mobile plans offering unlimited data, two weeks after rivals StarHub and M1 unveiled similar plans catering to data-hungry consumers.
Channel NewsAsia