Today’s Tech Sightings:
Lost in tech? A young girl holds two mobile phones as she takes pictures at a downtown area of Shanghai, China, Oct. 22, 2012. (Reuters)
I’m 15 and I Can’t Look Up From My Phone
Mobile devices and their various apps are sucking in a whole generation of teenagers. Writer Ruby Karp notes how young people easily grab their smartphones in the middle of a social gathering or a conversation because they don’t know how to be social without their phones.
The Oxford Dictionary Word of 2015 is an ‘Emoji’
Oxford Dictionaries Monday picked the “Face With Tears of Joy” emoji as their 2015 Word of the Year. The emoji was the most used globally during the year.
Airtel Africa, Facebook Launch Free Basic Services in 17 African Countries
A new partnership between Facebook and telecommunications service provider Bharti Airtel Africa will launch Free Basics, a set of basic websites and services intended to introduce unconnected Africans to the Internet. The services include free information about health, finance and education.
After Paris, Encryption Seen as Key Issue in US 2016 Presidential Race
The ongoing fight between supporters of encryption and government agencies looking to increase data snooping came to the forefront again after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. Whether encryption is in fact a security risk remains to be seen, but it is already cropping up in the campaigns of U.S. presidential hopefuls.
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