Welcome to the technology edition of our weekly round-ups. We’ll run down the latest news from the tech world, take a look at what’s buzzing and new gadgets you can get your hands on.
The News
Streaming Services join Black Lives Matter movement
On Tuesday (02/06/20), in support of ‘Blackout Tuesday’, Apple Music along with other streaming services suspended regular programming, as well as access to areas such as ‘Browse’ ‘Radio’ etc. Users were greeted with a message, and access to a stream celebrating black artists instead.
PS5 Games Event Delayed
To “allow more important voices to be heard“, Sony has postponed the PS5 games launch event. Originally scheduled for June 4, Sony released a statement saying “we do not feel that right now is a time for celebration and for now, we want to stand back.” A new date is yet to be announced.
Snapchat Takes on Trump
On June 3, Snap announced that Snapchat would no longer promote Trump’s verified account within the Discover section of the app. The account will continue to appear in search results though. Trump’s team responded by saying “Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to suppress President Trump.”
Free Zoom Users Won’t Get Encryption
Zoom announced that end-to-end encryption will be limited to paying customers, for now. The company said that it was to allow law enforcement access to calls, if necessary. In a statement, Zoom said: “Free users sign up with an email address, which does not provide enough information to verify identity.”
Windows Update Brings Edge To All
Microsoft Edge, the successor to Internet Explorer is now rolling out to billions of users via a Windows update. Anyone on Windows 10 version 1803 or higher will automatically see Edge as their browser. Before this, users had to specifically download Edge. The update is rolling out gradually to over 1 billion Windows 10 devices, so you should see it soon.
Facebook to Label ‘State-Controlled Media’
Under-fire Facebook has announced that it will now start labelling media outlets “wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government.” All ads will be labelled, and in the USA, these outlets will be banned from advertising. Outlets will be able to appeal the label, provided they are verified by a third-party entity.
Google Search Gets Smart Update
Google has updated its Featured Snippets search results to highlight relevant sections in yellow. When you click the snippet, you will also be taken directly to that section, rather than having to scroll the webpage. Functionality is currently limited in some browsers like Edge and Safari.
New Releases
Samsung Sero TV
Samsung’s rotating Sero TV is now available to buy in the USA and UK. The 43” TV is available for $1,999.99 / £1,599 from the Samsung website. The TV comes with a 4.1 channel 60-watt front-firing speaker built into the base.
HP Omen 15
HP has launched a new version of its powerful entry-level gaming laptop. Starting from $999, the device can be customised with either AMD or Intel processors. Other customisation options include a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q and an Intel Core i7 H-series or AMD Ryzen 7 H-series.
Google Photos Transfer Tool by Facebook
The data transfer tool by Facebook is now available globally, the company announced on June 4. Users can use the tool to transfer all of their Facebook images and videos to a linked Google account. To do so, users need to go to Facebook account > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Transfer a Copy of Your Photos and Videos.
Check back next week for more of the latest technology news and keep an eye out for our movie and gaming round-ups.
In the meantime, we have plenty of other tech content for you to read!