Today’s Tech Sightings: Study: Most Teens Rely on Smartphones to Go Online A Pew Research Center survey of more than 1,000 teens aged 13-17 found that 91 percent of them go online using their mobile devices. Black and Latino teens used the Internet more frequently, with 34 percent of black teens and 32 percent of […]
Ad Malware; Ozzie the Goose; IoT Insecurity; Microsoft Mobile Payments
Posted April 8th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Malicious, Large-Scale Google Ad Campaign Slams Users With Malware Researchers with Dutch security company Fox-IT found that advertisements distributed by Engage Lab, one of Google’s advertising partners in Bulgaria, redirect users to the Web-based Nuclear Exploit Kit. This particular exploit attempts to install malware on users’ computers by targeting vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash […]
Smartphones vs. Wearables; Flexible Battery; Bitcoin Foundation Bankrupt?
Posted April 7th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple, Google agree Only Wearables Can Save Humanity From Evil Smartphones These two tech giants don’t agree on much, but writer Chris O’Brien argues that Google and Apple, both fierce competitors in the smartphone market, see smartphones as a malady inflicting phone addiction and anti-social behavior on society. And the two giants, […]
Silicon Valley Diversity; S. Korea Lifts Browser Rule; Can Tech Save Failing Aircraft?
Posted April 2nd, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Can Technology Steer a Plane Away From Disaster? The Germanwings Flight 9525 that was deliberately slammed into the French Alps last week, killing 150 people, has ignited renewed calls among aviation experts to develop and deploy software that can control an aircraft and automatically steer it to safety if it loses altitude. […]
Creating Shapes in Mid-Air; Apple in China; April Fools’ Gags
Posted April 1st, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: New Tech Creates Buttons, Shapes in Mid-Air UltraHaptics, a British company, has come up with technology that uses sound waves to project sensations of tactile, three-dimensional shapes through the air and to the user. So for example, air pressure changes are perceived as suspended, tangible interfaces. That could potentially mean a person […]
Silicon Valley’s Gender Culture; GitHub vs. China; Drones on a Mission
Posted March 31st, 2015 at 2:19 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Women in Silicon Valley Objectified, Paid Less Than Male Counterparts Technology trade shows have a name for them: so-called booth babes, meaning scantily-dressed women hired to tout tech gadgets. Now, some associations are banning this culture, saying it is demeaning to women. Adding insult to injury, a recent study from research group […]
Tim Cook’s Apple; Cryptoine Hacked; Android Woes; Facebook’s Transformation
Posted March 26th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Tech Giants Call for Mass Surveillance Reform A slew of leading tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Dropbox and others have banded together in a Reform Government Surveillance coalition to call on U.S. Congress to end government agencies’ bulk collection of communications data. The coalition has also attracted civil rights groups […]
China’s 3-D-Printed Car; Google’s Gmail Pay Plans; Persson’s Crazy Mansion
Posted March 25th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Beijing Official: Chinese Have No Need for Blocked Websites A Chinese official said Wednesday that if Beijing wins the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, then foreigners attending the games will be able to access the Internet unhindered. But he said that is not an issue for the Chinese because they “don’t […]
Google, Facebook Vie for Africa; AI Threat; Kaspersky Denies KGB Ties
Posted March 24th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Battle for African Internet Users Stirs Freedom Fears Africa is expected to have as many as 360 million smartphones and 50 percent Internet penetration by 2050, according to data from McKinsey Consultants. And Google and Facebook are paying attention and offering controversial freebies as they vie for the continent’s Internet users. […]
App for Ringing Ears; MusicGlove; Ethical Robots; Trust in Facebook?
Posted March 19th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Musical Glove Helps Stroke Patients Use Their Hands Again Part of the problem of rehabilitating stroke victims is that many of them don’t keep up their physical therapy. In an effort to change the situation, Nizan Friedman, founder of Flint Rehabilitation Devices, has come up with a wearable device called MusicGlove […]