1. Sony has increased the price of the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro in India
following the Indian government's decision to increase customs duty
from 10 percent to 20 percent during the Union Budget 2018
announcement. The PS4 Slim will now sport a Rs. 35,990 price, while
PS4 Pro India Rs. 41,990 price with availability slated from February
21 onwards according to multiple distributors and retailers speaking
to Gadgets 360.
2. Google has conducted a trial of a new technology that will help
911 operators figure out the location of cellphone callers more
accurately. The test included tens of thousands of 911 calls over the
span of two months in several states in the US and had encouraging
results, The Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday.
3. Essential Products, the makers of the Essential Phone, on Friday
announced the launch of new variant of smartphone - Halo Gray.
4. The Russian troll farm has been hit with its first major
indictment. Today, special counsel Robert Mueller laid out his
criminal case against Russia’s Internet Research Agency, charging
that the agency engaged in a sustained campaign to influence the 2016
presidential election.
5. Facebook users, over the past week, have reportedly been getting
SMS notifications from the social media website after signing up for
the two-factor authentication security feature. However, Facebook has
now responded to the issue saying that it was a bug, and that such
notifications were not meant to be sent.
6. Google has launched an ad-blocker for its Chrome web browser that
is designed to prevent "annoying" and "intrusive"
ads being shown to users. Google announced the move to curtail
full-page and auto-playing video ads. Sites will have 30 days to
remove disruptive ads before blocking begins.
7. Three scientists just took a close look at the vehicle's (Telsa
Roadster that Elon Musk launched into space last week) orbit over the
next million years, and they found there is a slight chance the car
might crash into Earth or Venus. The chance is pretty small --
somewhere around 6 percent for Earth and 2.5 percent for Venus. And a
million years is a very long time.
8. Twitter’s erratic support for its dedicated desktop Mac
application is coming to an end, with the company announced yesterday
that it pulled the application from the web and from Apple’s App
Store. Support for Twitter for Mac will end in 30 days, the company
adds.
9. WhatsApp will launch a "full feature" inter-bank money
transfer service in India, its biggest market, after a test involving
a million users, National Payments Corp of India said.
10. Belgian media say a Brussels court has ordered Facebook to stop
collecting data about citizens in the country or face fines for every
day it fails to comply.
11. Qualcomm Inc on Friday called a meeting with Broadcom Ltd to
discuss the latter’s $121 billion bid constructive and opened the
door to more talks, but continued to reject the proposed deal between
the semiconductor companies.
12. Apple has once again started selling Belkin’s $40 “InvisiGlass
Ultra” iPhone X tempered glass screen protector in its stores and
online after customer complaints prompted a recall in late December.
13. Facebook is forging ahead with its messaging app for kids, despite
child experts who have pressed the company to shut it down and others
who question Facebook's financial support of some advisers who
approved of the app.
14. In a bid to expand into the growing home automation market,
Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana will now support more smart
home devices and integrate with IFTTT - a free web-based platform
that helps users connect their apps and services together.
15. Uber Technologies is preparing to sell its Southeast Asia
ride-hailing business to Singapore-based Grab in return for a
substantial stake in the company.
16. Hong Kong-based company’s crowdfunding SonarPen, a $30 stylus
that senses pressure via the headphone jack, and it works with any
iPad released after 2011.
17. US ride-hailing app Uber on Friday announced new safety features
for its service in Britain, as it appeals against the withdrawal of
its licence in London.
The service, which has around 40,000
drivers in London, lost its licence over its reporting of serious
criminal offences and its criminal-record checks for drivers, but is
allowed to operate in the capital pending the appeal which is set to
be heard later this year.
18. A government official from Dorset in the United Kingdom had
provided Snap with information about a recent attack on the company’s
users: a publicly available list, embedded in a phishing website
named klkviral.org, that listed 55,851 Snapchat accounts, along with
their usernames and passwords.
19. Intel Corp said on Friday shareholders and customers had filed 32
class action lawsuits against the company in connection with
recently-disclosed security flaws in its microchips.
20. LG recently said it was taking a break from its annual launch
cycle, but that does not mean there are no flagship smartphones to
show this year. The company earlier this week said it would launch a
new variant of the V30 - thought to be called the V30s - at MWC 2018
that begins next week. Now however, rumours have started surfacing
that LG is planning to unleash a new flagship phone, codenamed Judy.
21. Google's troubles with its Pixel smartphone range haven't yet come
to an end, as some Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL users are reporting their
handsets are heating up, while some are also experiencing problems
with battery life. The issue appears to have arrived after installing
Google's February Android security patch.
22. Charter Communications Inc must face a lawsuit by New York’s
attorney general accusing the cable company of providing customers
slower-than-advertised internet speeds, a New York state judge ruled.
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