Bloomberg Facebook Inc. built a colossal business based on measuring something older advertising methods cannot: the granular details about people. Two months ago, the company copped to a flaw in that measurement. Then Facebook did it again. And again. On Friday, Facebook revealed faulty metrics with Instant Articles, its mobile publishing system, the fourth disclosure of a measurement error ...
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Smiley faced success for Japan’s emoji creator
Tokyo / AFP From a humble smiley face with a box mouth and inverted “V’s†for eyes, crude weather symbols, and a rudimentary heart — emoji have now exploded into the world’s fastest-growing language. There are now about 1,800 emoji characters — and counting. They cover everything from emotions and food to professions, are racially diverse and have become ...
Read More »Instagram reaches 600 million milestone
Relaxnews Instagram has seen 100 million new users sign up over the past six months, pushing its total base to more than 600 million. The image sharing social media platform announced the news on its blog on Thursday, thanking users and adding: “we’re working to make Instagram safer than ever for connection and self-expression.†Recent updates to the platform ...
Read More »Artificial intelligence gains foothold in everyday life
San Francisco / AFP Mark Zuckerberg envisions a software system inspired by the “Iron Man†character Jarvis as a virtual butler managing his household. The Facebook founder’s dream is about artificial intelligence, which is slowly but surely creeping into our daily lives, no longer just science fiction. Artificial intelligence or AI is getting a foothold in people’s homes, starting ...
Read More »Pokemon gets you on the Go, for a bit: Study
Paris / AFP It has been hailed as a revolutionary way to get people moving, using smartphones to pursue cartoon creatures through city parks and streets on foot, instead of taking the car or metro. But has Pokemon Go made people more active and healthy? A study reported mixed success. In the first week of playing the game, people ...
Read More »Chevrolet charges to head of electric car market
Relaxnews Deliveries of the Chevrolet Bolt, the first mainstream electric car to offer a 238-mile range, have officially started. Three customers in San Francisco received their cars and by the end of this week, deliveries will extend to other cities in California and Oregon. “All of the hard work that the Chevrolet team have put into designing, engineering and ...
Read More »Yahoo reveals new hack, this time a billion-plus users
Washington / AFP Yahoo said personal data from over a billion users was stolen in a hack dating back to 2013 — twice as big as another breach disclosed just three months ago. In a huge blow to the struggling internet pioneer, Yahoo said it made the discovery as it was investigating what was already the largest data breach ...
Read More »A comeback for Polaroid
Cleveland / AFP At a photography studio in Cleveland, instructor Nicole Follen is trying to convince her students to step back in time and technology —to the age of the humble Polaroid. She wants the students to create something they can touch and feel —perhaps even something that – gasp —isn’t perfect. So, she guides her class in how ...
Read More »In-flight phone calls could be coming to an airplane seat near you
Relaxnews It’s the one safe zone where people are exempt from having to listen in on personal phone calls and family dramas. But a loophole in air travel regulations could allow fliers to place in-flight phone calls as long as travelers are notified of the service before their ticket purchase. In a bid to pre-emptively address concerns about voice ...
Read More »BlackBerry has a new smartphones up its sleeve
Relaxnews In spite of meager sales figures, BlackBerry could soon release a new smartphone, once again running Google’s Android OS and with a physical keyboard. The firm has also developed an innovative Internet of Things security solution for business. Pictures of what could be a BlackBerry DTEK 70, due for release in 2017, have leaked on social media. However, ...
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