BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Apple sues Israeli spyware firm NSO Group
Apple is suing Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and its parent company for allegedly targeting iPhone users with a hacking tool. NSO's Pegasus software can infect both iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones and cameras. NSO Group said its tools were made to target terrorists and criminals. But it has a ... Read more
2021-11-24 18:59:27
Italy fines Apple and Amazon over Beats headphones
Italy's competition watchdog has fined Amazon and Apple more than €200m (£168m) for allegedly flouting competition regulations. The fine relates to Beats headphones, a brand bought by Apple for $3bn (£1.8bn at the time) in 2014. A 2018 agreement between the tech giants meant only selected resellers could sell the products on Amazon's Italian website. Both Apple and Amazon said they plan to appe ... Read more
2021-11-23 19:47:14
Crypto US constitution bidder refunds hit by high fees
The people behind a failed bid to buy a rare original copy of the US constitution are facing an avalanche of refunds - up to $40m for 17,000 donors. The ConstitutionDAO team used a "decentralised" approach - largely unregulated and using cryptocurrency - to amass the fortune. But large fees for those crypto-transactions are eating up huge sums of money in the refund process. The group ... Read more
2021-11-23 19:46:57
El Salvador Bitcoin city planned at base of Conchagua volcano
El Salvador plans to build a Bitcoin city at the base of a volcano, with the cryptocurrency used to fund the project, its president has announced. The city will be circular to represent the shape of a large coin and will be built in the south-eastern region of La Unión, President Nayib Bukele said. The site would take advantage of the Conchagua volcano's geothermal energy to power Bitcoin mining ... Read more
2021-11-22 18:26:58
Facebook and Instagram encryption plans delayed by Meta until 2023
Plans to roll out end-to-end encryption on Facebook and Instagram have been delayed amid a row over child safety. Meta - as Facebook's parent company is now called - said messaging encryption on the apps would now come in 2023. The process means only the sender and receiver can read messages, but law enforcement or Meta cannot. However, child protection groups and politicians have warned that i ... Read more
2021-11-22 18:26:30
Tesla drivers left unable to start their cars after outage
Tesla drivers say they have been locked out of their cars after an outage struck the carmaker's app. Dozens of owners posted on social media about seeing an error message on the mobile app that was preventing them from connecting to their vehicles. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk personally responded to one complaint from a driver in South Korea, saying on Twitter: "Checking." Mr Musk ... Read more
2021-11-21 18:43:54
Theranos trial: Elizabeth Holmes makes surprise testimony
An entrepreneur accused of scamming investors for millions of dollars with a bogus blood test has surprised a US court by testifying in her defence. Elizabeth Holmes is accused of making false claims about her firm Theranos, including that its technology could detect diseases with a drop of blood. Ms Holmes, 37, faces multiple charges of fraud and could spend years in jail if found guilty. She d ... Read more
2021-11-21 18:43:23
'Piracy' website offers NFT art as free downloads
An Australian artist and programmer has created a website that claims to let people download "every NFT" on the Ethereum blockchain in one go. NFTs are digital tokens that proponents say can prove ownership of digital items - including artwork. Many have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though anybody can view the attached artwork. Geoffrey Huntley, who created the NFT ... Read more
2021-11-19 18:31:17
Facebook gives users 'more control' over news feed
Facebook says it is introducing new features to give people more control over what appears in their news feeds. The social network has been under intense scrutiny in recent years for how its algorithms promote content. Now, it says it is testing controls to "adjust people's ranking preferences" and customise the feed. That includes, for example, increasing the number of posts from fri ... Read more
2021-11-19 18:30:59
Climate change: Conspiracy theories found on foreign-language Wikipedia
Several foreign-language Wikipedia pages seen by BBC News are promoting conspiracy theories and making misleading claims about climate change. A number, including some in Swahili, Kazakh and Byelorussian, suggest scientists are divided over its causes. The overwhelming scientific consensus is global warming is caused by humans. A representative of the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, ... Read more
2021-11-18 18:51:26