Today’s Tech Sightings:
Middle school students use their smartphones in Seoul, South Korea, July 7, 2016. (AP)
Research Shows We Touch Our Cell Phones 2,617 Times Per Day
How many times do you admire and fondle your phone every day? Well, a new study from research firm dscout found that the top 10 percent of extreme cell phone users touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily. The average user spends 145 minutes, while iPhone owners unlocked their phones about 80 times every day, or 6-7 times per hour.
No Honor Among Thieves: New Ransomware Takes Your Money, Deletes Files Anyway
Security researchers at Cisco Talos have discovered a new ransomware variety that claims to encrypt victims’ files, demands ransom, and then purports that any further clicks not related to payment will delete files. But experts say the ransom note posted by the malware, named “Ranscam” is a complete lie. It simply deletes files to pressure victims to pay up, but even if they pay, the files are gone and cannot be restored.
Tech and Brexit: Three-quarters of Startups See Tough Times Ahead
A survey of more than 1,000 people in tech startups in Britain found that three-quarters of respondents fear the business environment may get worse after Brexit, making it harder to attract and retain the best non-UK talent. A third said they will slow down hiring and a little under a quarter will scale back growth ambitions. About half plan to raise funds outside Britain in the next year.
More:
- Relatives of Palestinian Attack Victims Sue Facebook for $1 Billion
- US Senator Al Franken Has Privacy Concerns About Pokémon GO’s Data Collection
- Update Your Pokémon GO App to Fix That Privacy Mess
- North Korea an Obstacle for South Korean Pokémon Hunters
- Google Quietly Brings Forgetting Search Data to US
- New Windows 10 Beta Build 14388 Creeps Out to Windows Insiders on ‘Fast’ Ring
- Microsoft Fixes Critical Vulnerabilities in IE, Edge, Office, Windows Print Services
- An Artificially Intelligent Toy Truck Is the Future of Robotics
- Google Is Testing a Chrome Browser That Adds Post-quantum Encryption
- Two Years After iOS, Google Hangouts on Android Gets Video Messaging
