BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Coronavirus: The great contact-tracing apps mystery
Germany and Ireland have both trumpeted their success in rolling out contact-tracing apps. But is there any evidence that they are doing what they are designed to do - warning people they could be infected with the virus? Not yet - and the privacy-conscious way in which they are designed could mean we will never know how effective they have been. Last month, the UK government announced that it ... Read more
2020-07-22 20:34:02
QAnon: Twitter bans accounts linked to conspiracy theory
Twitter has announced sweeping measures aimed at cracking down on the QAnon conspiracy theory, including banning thousands of accounts. The social media giant said it would also stop recommending content linked to QAnon and block URLs associated with it from being shared on the platform. QAnon is a sprawling conspiracy theory whose followers support US President Donald Trump. Twitter said it ho ... Read more
2020-07-21 20:29:27
Coronavirus: England's test and trace programme 'breaks GDPR data law'
Privacy campaigners say England's test and trace programme has broken a key data protection law. The Department of Health has conceded the initiative to trace contacts of people infected with Covid-19 was launched without carrying out an assessment of its impact on privacy. The Open Rights Group (ORG) says the admission means the initiative has been unlawful since it began on 28 May. The govern ... Read more
2020-07-20 20:52:25
Coronavirus: England's test and trace programme 'breaks GDPR data law'
Privacy campaigners say England's test and trace programme has broken a key data protection law. The Department of Health has conceded that the initiative to trace contacts of people infected with Covid-19 was launched without carrying out an assessment of its impact on privacy. The Open Rights Group (ORG) says the admission means the initiative has been unlawful since it began on 28 May. It in ... Read more
2020-07-19 21:58:31
Alan Rusbridger: Facebook oversight board must avoid 'half-baked judgements'
A member of Facebook's new oversight board has warned that it should avoid launching too quickly. Alan Rusbridger told BBC Click that it would be "great to be up and running" in time for November's US elections. But in an exclusive interview, he said it would be damaging to "come out with half-baked recommendations now before we are ready". He did not yet know whether it wou ... Read more
2020-07-17 20:43:11
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) Review: Terrific Typing, Super Slim
Built for business, but great for anyone who wants to get work done, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon has long been one of the best ultrabooks you can buy. Starting at $1,331 ($1,472 and $1,989 as tested), The latest version of Lenovo’s 2.4-pound laptop comes standard with Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and a pair of VoIP function keys on the keyboard, but otherwise is identical to las ... Read more
2020-07-17 03:11:45
A possible Huawei MatePad T10 makes its way onto Geekbench
Huawei's MatePad line of tablets is thought to get new, affordable members soon. According to the leaker Roland Quandt, they are called the T10 and T10s. The new series is thought to run on the Kirin 710A processor and distinctly low-end amounts of RAM for 2020. One of them may have inadvertently confirmed this by showing up on Geekbench. At least, a device called the Huawei AGS3-AL09HN has appea ... Read more
2020-07-17 03:11:45
Logitech Launches New 'Folio Touch' Keyboard Case With Trackpad for 11-Inch iPad Pro
Logitech today announced the launch of the Logitech Folio Touch, a new keyboard case with trackpad designed for the 11-inch iPad Pro models released in 2018 and 2020. The Logitech Folio Touch is Logitech's first keyboard with trackpad designed for the iPad Pro and it serves as an alternative to Apple's own Magic Keyboard. Logitech previously released the Combo Touch, a keyboard with trackpad th ... Read more
2020-07-17 03:08:12
New DDR5 SDRAM standard sees performance boost, dual-channel DIMM
They were two years behind schedule but the industry group overseeing memory technology development and standardization has finally announced the officials specs for the new DDR5 SDRAM standard. The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association said I'm a report issued Tuesday the new memory specifications will provide developers with twice the performance power and lower power consumption. Among the ... Read more
2020-07-17 03:08:12
Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G Demonstrates How Zen 2 Will Make AMD's APUs Relevant Again
There is still no word on when AMD's Ryzen 4000-series (codename Renoir) desktop APUs will launch, but the Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G is here to delight us in the meanwhile. Someone has put the octa-core APU through its paces (via @TUM_APISAK) on Geekbench 5. By now, it shouldn't be any surprise that Renoir will come wielding the Zen 2 microarchitecture. The 7nm APUs will retain the Vega iGPU, but Zen 2 a ... Read more
2020-07-17 03:04:43