CNET's annual Tech Turkeys list is back. Instead of merely gawking at some of Big Tech's most embarrassing flops and failings, this year it focuses on the lessons these flops offer. Among them: The metaverse might be the future, but not anytime soon.
To scroll through Instagram today is to parse a series of sponsored posts from brands, recommended Reels from people you don’t follow, and the occasional picture from a friend that’s finally surfaced after being posted several days ago. Instagram may not be on its deathbed, The Atlantic writes, but its transformation from cool to cringe is a sea change in the social media universe.
TreeCard, a climate-conscious digital money app, raised $23 million from investors including Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, EQT and World Fund, CNBC reports. The firm uses 80 percent of its profits from card interchange fees to plant trees through its partner Ecosia, a Google search rival.
Twitter and TikTok get all the attention, but new polling shows relatively few U.S. adults use them. The poll by Grid and Harris shows three-quarters of U.S. adults have used Facebook in the last six months, but just 34 percent reported using Twitter or TikTok. Facebook also is the most trusted social media platform among Americans 18 and older.
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Corona Extra USA has launched a 2022 holiday marketing campaign built around its iconic “O’Tannenpalm” ad from 1990, Marketing Dive reports. An augmented reality location enables users to place a virtual palm tree—decked out in holiday ornaments—in their own space and includes interactive elements. With this promotion, the brand—part of Constellation Brands' beer portfolio—takes big gulps of two key trends this holiday season: nostalgia and virtual experiences.
A judge this week granted class-action status to antitrust litigation that now covers 21 million Google Play customers in 12 states, Ars Technica reports. The lawsuit claims that Google’s misleading warnings led millions of customers nationwide to pay artificially inflated prices for apps they could have downloaded cheaper elsewhere.
San Francisco police will soon be allowed to use robots to kill people during rare and limited emergency situations under a controversial new policy that was approved by city supervisors this week, Government Technology reports. The robots could be equipped with explosive charges to breach structures containing violent suspects or used to contact or incapacitate violent suspects.
Malware-as-a-service is getting easier and easier to access, according to a recent threat report. A cyber threat group named the “Eternity Project offers services from a Tor website and on their Telegram channel, Security Intelligence reports. Eternity sells malware for $90 to $490.
The Kindle e-reader has gotten modest refinements over the years, but the new Scribe is the first Kindle in years to take on a significantly new task, Axios reports. The $330 Scribe, which went on sale this week, is the first Kindle that can also be used for handwritten notes.
Supermarket grocery delivery robots are set to become a familiar sight on the streets of a suburb of Leeds, England, the BBC reports. The robots are lightweight and travel at human walking pace. For the holiday season, the six-wheeled robots will be festively dressed … as reindeer.