John Lister

Google is to pay $93 million following claims it misled people about location tracking . The company allegedly deceived users about their ability to opt out of tracking. The payment will settle a case brought by California's Attorney General. The ... terms of the settlement do not require Google to make any admission of wrongdoing or illegal activity. The case was based on two main allegations. The first is about the way Google "collected, stored and user a person's location data." The claim is that Google continued doing this for people who has turned off a setting labeled "Location History." It ... (view more)

Google has committed to keeping Chromebooks updated for 10 years. It's an increase of two years, though a key catch remains. The change applies to all devices running Chrome OS, which also includes the Chromebox (a small box which comes without a ... keyboard or screen), Chromebase (an all-in-one PC with monitor) and Chromebit (a computer on a stick which plugs into an HDMI port). Security Guarantee For Longer Previously such devices were only supported for eight years. After this time they stopped getting performance, feature and security updates, making them somewhat risky to use. That annoyed ... (view more)

Electromagnetism fears mean Apple can no longer sell the iPhone 12 in France. The company rejects government claims that the phone exceeds safe emission limits. The government agency which made the ruling stands by its claims. Officials say that if ... Apple doesn't fully withdraw the handset from sale, the country may demand a recall of handsets from customers, a costly and embarrassing outcome for Apple. The move has proven particularly controversial as its disputed whether exposure to electromagnetic fields at the levels a phone could put out cause any risk to humans. Close Range Emissions Too ... (view more)

Apple and Microsoft have disputed claims that some of their key services are so big they require additional regulation. The European Commission will now reassess whether they qualify as holding "gatekeeper" status. The status matters because of the ... new Digital Markets Act, designed to boost competitions. A "gatekeeper" status means the service needs to follow tighter rules to make it easier for customers to switch to rivals. It's particularly aimed at cases where one business controls software and hardware in multiple areas, for example an operating system and a browser. The assessment is for ... (view more)

Samsung and Apple are both reportedly working on "smart ring" fitness trackers. They're designed as an alternative to smart watches, though with some inherent limitations. Several companies already sell smart rings to wear on the finger, but none ... are household names. The likes of Apple and Samsung getting into the market could be a breakthrough, particularly for people with the relevant brand mobile phones. The logic behind the devices is that some people want to track fitness measures such as step count and heart activity, but don't want to wear a special watch. For example, they may already ... (view more)

Google faces a legal claim demanding more than $9 billion for allegedly contributing to inflation. It's fair to say the claim is somewhat ambitious. The claim has been filed in the United Kingdom by Hereford Litigation, which describes itself as a ... "third-party litigation funder." It's filed a claim with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which hears cases that specifically relate to alleged breaches of competition law. Technically the claim is on behalf of every person aged over 16 in the UK, meaning the demand is for around $140 per person. If the claim was successful, it's not obvious how the ... (view more)

Apple looks almost certain to switch to a USB-C charging port for the next iPhone. It could spell the beginning of the end for its exclusive Lightning port format. The iPhone 15 debuts next week and is widely expected to feature the USB-C format. ... That's the latest version of USB and has a symmetrical plug that fits either way round. Bloomberg lists several factors Apple is expected to market as good reasons for making the switch, though it's not clear if these are based on inside info or simply a logical assumption. The plus points include increased compatibility with other chargers, faster ... (view more)

Microsoft is to finally ditch WordPad after nearly three decades. It will add a few new features to Notepad for lighter word processing tasks. WordPad first appeared as a free tool in Windows 95. Microsoft says it will no longer update WordPad and ... will remove it in a "future release of Windows." It's not clear if that means a potential Windows 12 or simply one of the major updates to Windows 11. Announcing the move, Microsoft perhaps unwittingly pointed out one of the major flaws of WordPad. It says: "We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad ... (view more)

Microsoft is looking into claims a Windows update is causing the dreaded Blue Screen on Death (BSoD) on some machines. The company says it doesn't yet know if Windows itself is the cause. The Blue Screen of Death is the informal name for a system ... crash in which Windows has a problem so significant that it can no longer operate safely. In earlier versions of Windows, users had to manually restart their computer before attempting a fix. Today, Windows can automatically reboot in some situations. User have been reporting seeing the blue screen with the usual message that "Your device ran into a ... (view more)

Microsoft appears to have fixed a bug that slowed down solid state drives (SSDs) in Windows 11. Despite the fix, some users are upset that the company doesn't appear to have publicly acknowledged that anything went wrong. Solid state drives don't ... use any moving parts like old-style drives which use both a spinning mechanism and an arm, a little like a vinyl record player. That means that SSDs should last longer without physical wear and can access data faster. The downside is that they tend to be more expensive. As a result, a common setup is to use an SSD to run Windows and applications and ... (view more)