Tim Hardwick

Facebook is reportedly weighing up the legal implications of building facial recognition technology into a pair of smart glasses that the company is currently developing and which it intends to launch later this year. Prototype Project Aria AR glasses Facebook is using to research AR tech According to BuzzFeed News, Facebook's chief of AR and VR, Andrew Bosworth, told employees during an...

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM for short, is reportedly nearing a draft decision in its investigation into Apple over rules that require developers to use its in-app payment system, which charges commissions of between 15% and 30%. According to Reuters, the ACM revealed that the draft decision was nearing completion in letters sent this month to some of the...

In an attempt to reduce its dependence on advertising to generate revenue, Twitter has announced two new features coming to the social media platform later this year, including a "Super Follow" feature that will let users charge followers for access to exclusive content. According to Twitter, the additional content could include things like bonus tweets, access to a community group, video,...

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates this week participated in his first meeting on Clubhouse, the increasingly popular invite-only conversation app, where he fielded a range of questions as part of an ongoing book tour. Gates was interviewed by journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, and given that the Clubhouse app is currently only available on iOS, naturally one of the questions that came up was...

Quarterly shipments of Apple's iPhone 12 series continue to enjoy a year-on-year increase, despite weakening demand for the devices, according to JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee (via AppleInsider). In an investor note from the analyst, Chatterjee decreased his 2021 iPhone shipment expectations from 236 million units to 230 million units, but noted that this number was still equivalent to...

Telegram Messenger is bringing new feature additions to its chat app, including new options for auto-delete messages, expiring invite links, and unlimited group numbers. Like WhatsApp and Signal, auto-delete messages have been a staple Telegram feature for some time, but with the latest update, uses can enable an auto-delete timer that applies to all Telegram chats, so that messages are...

According to research firm IDC (via GizChina), Apple dominated the smartphone market in Japan over the fourth quarter of 2020, with the iPhone brand accounting for over half of all phone sales in the country. As per the report, the mobile market reached 11.432 million shipments in Q4 2020, and 52.6% of all smartphone sales in Japan were iPhones, substantially contributing to a 10.6%...

In the latest update to the popular podcast player, Overcast has overhauled its Apple Watch app to be more intuitive and bring several features that were previously only accessible on Overcast for iPhone. The newly designed watch interface ditches the horizontally scrolling panels to reveal features, and instead uses a single screen providing button access to settings, podcast library, and now ...

Around 29 million Britons who own an Apple or Samsung phone could be entitled to a collective £480m payout if a landmark legal claim against U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm is successful. Consumer watchdog Which? is suing the chipmaker for allegedly breaching U.K. competition law by taking advantage of its dominance in the patent licensing and chip markets. As reported by the BBC, Which? alleges ...

Paramount+, the CBS All Access streaming service rebrand that launches March 4, will cost $4.99 per month with ads in the U.S. (less than the $5.99 charged for CBS All Access), or $9.99 without ads and with additional sports, news and live TV content. ViacomCBS executives announced the pricing tiers in a virtual investor event held on Thursday, and also revealed that the service will be...

With more and more Android smartphone vendors coming out with their take on the foldable phone concept, and Apple rumors swirling about a possible future foldable iPhone, Google appears keen to get in on the act as soon as this year with its first foldable Pixel device. MacRumors concept render According to a new report by The Elec, Samsung is in the process of developing in-folding foldable...

Dutch company Coulisse is working with Eve Systems to launch a range of HomeKit-compatible smart window covering motors. According to HomeKit News, the new range will include wireless motors to work with roller blinds, Venetian blinds, cellular shades and curtains. Notably, they will also be the first product of their kind to support the Thread wireless protocol, of which Apple is a...

Instagram is launching new features to help support users on its platform who may be affected by negative body image or an eating disorder, the company has announced. Previously, Instagram had limited its policy to obscuring content that may trigger users suffering from an eating disorder, but the new policy adds to this by aiming to surface more expert-backed resources when people search...

Disney+ today launched its adult-friendly Star channel for existing subscribers in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The Star brand includes content from Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, and 20th Television that's aimed more at grown-ups, as opposed to the all-ages content that's currently available on Disney+. Star is the sixth brand to launch on Disney+,...

Facebook has announced that it will restore the ability for users in Australia to share news content on the social platform, following changes to the country's media code. The company banned all news sharing last week in response to a proposed Media Bargaining Law, which aims to level the playing field between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms in terms of bargaining...

Chinese smartphone company Huawei has today unveiled its latest foldable smartphone, the Mate X2, at a special event in China. The successor to 2019's Mate X, the phone has received a radical redesign and now features a large uninterrupted 8-inch screen that folds inwards, rather than having the main display on the exterior, as with the original device. The main screen uses a 180Hz...

WhatsApp has revealed how it will gradually limit the features available to accounts held by users who do not accept the platform's impending privacy policy changes, due to come into effect on May 15. WhatsApp's new banner explaining the privacy policy changes According to an email seen by TechCrunch to one of its merchant partners, WhatsApp said it will "slowly ask" users who have not yet...

Apple has expanded its turn-by-turn navigation in Apple Maps for the United Arab Emirates. The app now offers more detailed directions for driving and walking, with options to book a ride through Uber also showing within the app. Still missing for users in the UAE is public transit information, lane guidance and speed limits, although given that the addition of turn-by-turn directions is...

Apple is working on a magnetic battery pack attachment for iPhone 12, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple has been developing the attachment for at least a year and it has been scheduled to launch in the months following the release of the ‌iPhone 12‌ line, according to people with knowledge of the product. The ‌iPhone 12‌ models were introduced in October. The battery ...

IKEA is rolling out Apple HomeKit support for the Motion sensor and Shortcut button in its TRÅDFRI range of smart home products, according to release notes for an upcoming Gateway software update. First spotted by Dutch blog iCulture, the next Gateway firmware version (1.13.21) coming down the line will include ‌HomeKit‌ support for the sensor and button, allowing the accessories to be used to ...