Tech Soha

Streaming has completely reshaped the face of the music industry over the last decade, with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music proving to be overwhelmingly popular with music fans. The Recording Industry Association of America has revealed some stats that underline the mammoth sea change. The organization says streaming accounts for 80 percent of the US music market, compared with seven percent in 2010. Streaming subscriptions rose from about 1.5 million to around 61 million between 2010 and the first half of 2019, according to the RIAA. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/39s96OZ

A few days ago, the FDA officially raised the minimum age of sale for tobacco products from 18 to 21, and according to a Wall Street Journal report, it's close to announcing a new set of restrictions specifically for e-cigarettes. In a move that is supposed to address teen vaping by targeting products they're interested in, the new rules will reportedly apply only to pod-based vaporizers, like Juul or NJOY, and remove any flavors from sale other than nicotine or menthol.In anticipation of the ban, Juul stopped selling sweet fruit-flavored pods -- that represented a significant part of its business -- in October, and pulled mint flavors in November. The WSJ report suggests that meeting at this point represents a compromise between the Trump administration and the tobacco industry, avoiding a wider ban on all flavored vapes -- that had been suggested -- ahead of the 2020 election. It would also avoid banning flavors in "open-tank" systems that allow people to mix their ...

This week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced changes that will hopefully make it less stressful for a lot of Americans to file their taxes in 2020. In an addendum to the almost 20-year-old Free File agreement, the agency has put new protections in place to make it easier for Americans to file their taxes for free. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2MHA6QD

The category has been around much longer, of course, and Apple really broke the whole thing open a full three years ago, with the release of the first AirPods, but sales exploded in 2019. The category experienced a 183% YOY increase in shipments last quarter, according to a new study. The space continues to be driven by Apple, which currently controls 43% of the market (a number that will likely increase with the arrival of the AirPod Pros), but its near future seems destined to be defined by a race to the bottom. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2Fb64AG

ProtonMail is known for its encrypted email service, which it offers as a more secure alternative to products like Google's Gmail. In recent years, the company started by CERN researchers has begun to branch out further, offering encrypted contacts through its mobile app and a free VPN service. Now, it's offering another privacy-focused Google alternative with the launch of an encrypted calendar. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2FbmFo9

Microsoft has disabled dozens of websites that North Korean hackers used to steal personal information from Americans and others, the tech giant said. from Technology News & Reviews | New York Post https://ift.tt/2MHteDa

For cameras and photographers, 2019 was another banner year... but for manufacturers? Not so much. Sales were down in all categories as of mid-year because everyone just uses their smartphones now. While that's pretty gloomy news, it's working out nicely for buyers, especially in the enthusiast and high-end categories. Companies like Sony, Nikon, Canon and Fujifilm are pulling out all the stops to create desirable models and are dropping prices, too. In a major milestone, mirrorless sales passed DSLRs for the first time ever. Some banner 2019 models include Panasonic's S1H, the first mirrorless camera approved for Netflix productions. In the enthusiast category, we saw the stellar Fujifilm X-T30, Canon's M6 Mark II, Sony's A6400 and the Nikon Z50. At the high end, Sony jolted the market with the 61-megapixel A7R IV. And on the weird side, Fujifilm unveiled the eccentric X-Pro3 with a display it wants you to not use. However, smartphone cameras keep improving with ne...

If you can't bear to be away from Steam for a moment least you miss one of its famously great sales, then Smoke, a new app for the Apple Watch, has you covered. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2tf36IW

InsightFinder, a startup from North Carolina based on 15 years of academic research, wants to bring machine learning to system monitoring to automatically identify and fix common issues. ​IDEA Fund Partners, a VC out of Durham, North Carolina,​ led the round with participation from ​Eight Roads Ventures​ and Acadia Woods Partners. The company was founded by North Carolina State professor Helen Gu, who spent 15 years researching this problem before launching the startup in 2015. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2ZKtt5x

Shipfix, a relatively new startup aiming to drag the dry cargo shipping industry into the digital age, has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Leading the round is Idinvest Partners, with participation from Kima Ventures, The Family, Bpifrance and strategic business angels. The company was founded in December 2018 by Serge Alleyne (CEO) and Antoine Grisay (COO), and launched just two months ago. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2MJ4bQ1

Hackers publish Ring camera accounts, urge other hackers to record users in their homes Hackers keep targeting Ring accounts.

Facebook tracks you offline: How to make it stop You may not agree with Facebook’s practices, but it’s hard to argue against its effectiveness. Advertisers are willing to pay big bucks to access your data collected through the social media platform.

The Cambridge Analytica data scandal may have come to light nearly two years ago, but the former company -- and as a result, Facebook -- is still feeling the effects of the fall out. Brazil's government has imposed a $1.6 million fine on Facebook for its role in the fiasco -- a considerably higher sum than the $644,000 fined by the UK, where the incident took place. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2SI1XUW

Futurist and artist Syd Mead has passed away at 86 due to complications from lymphoma. Even if you don't know his name, you've probably felt his impact on Hollywood, especially on the science fiction genre. Mead designed Blade Runner's world and technologies by serving as Ridley Scott's concept artist, and he conjured up the lightcycle for Tron, among other fictional vehicles and gadgets. His ideas of the future also helped shape other sci-fi films' universe, including Elysium and Tomorrowland. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/37mwifI

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. It's New Year's Eve! I'm knee-deep in CES preparation, but there should be time to pause and celebrate flipping over two digits in the year column later on tonight. Hopefully, 2020 finds you well -- or at least better than this Tesla driver, who crashed while recording his car driving with Autopilot at 75MPH in the rain -- and if it doesn't, then this is a great time to start making better choices. The Morning After will take tomorrow off, but we'll be back strong on January 2nd to get things moving on the way to Las Vegas. -- Richard from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2SRv08H

By BY NELLIE BOWLES AND NOAM SCHEIBER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/368GacK

Sonos has a good reputation for building quality speakers, but its latest move has disappointed some buyers. Recently, the company offered a trade-up program, giving legacy customers 30 percent off the latest One, Beam or Port. In exchange, buyers just had to "recycle" their existing products. However, what Sonos meant by "recycle" was to activate a feature called "Recycle Mode" that permanently bricks the speaker. It then becomes impossible for recycling firms to resell it or do anything else but strip it for parts. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/39vrxCj

While Ford hasn't revealed exactly how many people are lining up to pre-order the Mustang Mach-E, the company has released some stats showing which versions people prefer so far. Apparently battery life is important to buyers of the sporty electric SUV, with 80 percent opting for versions with the long range battery that lets it go up to an estimated 300 miles between charges. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive version is also popular, at 55 percent of orders, and 30 percent of those interested have opted for the GT trim level. The First Edition vehicles are already sold out, but, as Autoblog notes, if you find the Mustang-branded crossover appealing, you can order one with $500 down. You'll have to wait until 2021 for a GT, but other trim levels may ship before the end of this year. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2tdgAVr

As Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart spend billions to make a dent in India's retail market and reel from recent regulatory hurdles, the two companies have stumbled upon a new challenge: Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man. Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio, two subsidiaries of Ambani’s Reliance Industries, said they have soft launched JioMart, their e-commerce venture, in parts of the state of Maharashtra -- Mumbai, Kalyan and Thane. In an email to employees, accessed by TechCrunch, the two aforementioned subsidiaries that are working together on the e-commerce venture, said they plan to expand the service to many parts of India in coming months. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2MJoJYG

Booking.com has become the latest US tech company to draw the attention of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). On Monday, the agency said it plans to investigate the hotel and hostel reservation website for anticompetitive practices. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2QBMLFU

Our last collection of listings for 2019 looks into the new year, where we'll dive into another season of Doctor Who. Blu-ray and videogame releases largely take the week off, but there's still going to be a lot of new stuff on streaming. Meanwhile, former Sherlock and Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is releasing a new Dracula series on Netflix this weekend. Netflix's controversial Messiah series arrives this week, as well as the premiere of its weekly reality show The Circle that's adapting a popular UK show for its worldwide audience. In a blend of social media and the Big Brother show format, contestants all live in the same apartment building, but never meet in person. Instead they interact via profiles that don't have to represent who they really are, all in order to become the most popular influencer and win the game. If you prefer comedy, Amazon Prime has a new special from Ilana Glazer, while Netflix has prepared its second collection of standup performa...

Postmates and Uber have filed a complaint in California federal district court, alleging that a bill limiting how companies can label workers as independent contractors is unconstitutional. The complaint, which includes two gig workers as co-plaintiffs, was filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, days before Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) is due to go into effect on Jan. 1. The complaint argues that AB-5 violates several clauses in the U.S. and California constitutions, including equal protection because of how it classifies gig workers for ride-sharing and on-demand delivery companies compared to the exemptions it grants to workers who do “substantively identical work” in more than twenty other industries. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2Q8Yugn

Huawei reported resilient revenue for 2019 on Tuesday as the embattled Chinese technology group continues to grow despite prolonged American campaign against its business, but cautioned that growth next year could prove more challenging. Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, wrote in a New Year's message to employees that the company's revenue has topped 850 billion Chinese yuan ($122 billion) this year, a new record high for the Chinese group and an 18% increase over the previous year. Xu said Huawei, the second largest smartphone maker globally, sold 240 million handsets this year, up from 206 million last year. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/367PRIq

It didn't take long for tech companies to take legal action in hopes of thwarting California's gig economy labor law. Uber and Postmates have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block AB5, which makes it harder for companies to define workers as contractors, just as it takes effect. They (along with two workers, Lydia Olson and Miguel Perez) claim the law violates both US and state Constitutions by denying the guarantees of equal protection. The companies alleged that the bill, and its sponsor Lorena Gonzalez, unfairly singled out the gig economy while letting other industries off the hook. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2Qz6Hti

By BY NOAM SCHEIBER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2ZB7BcG

Samsung might soon make good on its promise of bezel-free TVs. The Elec sources say the company plans to introduce a zero bezel TV at CES 2020 in early January, with mass production starting in February. While the finer details aren't available, the design reportedly welds the display and main body "more closely" to eliminate the usual borders on sets 65 inches and larger. And we do mean eliminate -- this supposedly "really doesn't have a bezel," one source said. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2QdmI9o

Shares of NIO, a China-based electric car manufacturer, are soaring this morning after the company's Q3 2019 earnings beat investor expectations. NIO went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 for $6.26 per share. Today, after its earnings report, NIO shares are up more than $1 apiece, to $3.47 per share as of the time of writing. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2tjHpak

Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success, as nearly 1,000 of Silicon Valley’s brightest minds came to relax, connect and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the startup community — and cast a keen eye over some promising startups. Well, don’t dry clean your stuffed shirt just yet, because we’ll have plenty of party games and activities, giveaways and fun surprises. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2Qx7YRx

Big holiday iPhone heists strike Best Buy, Apple Store shopper In year-end holiday heists, over $200K in iPhones were stolen from a Best Buy and a large haul of phones was taken from a car after an Apple Store shopping spree.

The 10-year challenge swept social media in January, with people posting images of themselves from 2009 and 2019, usually accompanied by a cute remark about things being the same yet totally different. It's a fun, heartwarming way to train machine learning algorithms in facial recognition. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/3599iiH

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. — Guess who’s getting used to working with robots in their everyday lives? The very same warehouse workers once predicted to be losing their jobs to mechanical replacements. But doing your job side-by-side with robots isn’t easy. According to their makers, the machines should take on the most mundane and physically strenuous... from Technology News & Reviews | New York Post https://ift.tt/2Q9mFLt

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2MHjTv7

When it comes to phones, there hasn't been a year like 2019 in a while. Between the introduction of the first foldables and the rollout of technologies like 5G, 2019 wasn't just another year of comfortable iteration for manufacturers. Instead, it saw the introduction of devices that are likely to define the space moving forward, but none more so than the modest Pixel 3a. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2ZC1jd5

VMware is closing the year with a significant new component in its arsenal. The acquisition gives VMware another component in its march to transform from a pure virtual machine company into a cloud native vendor that can manage infrastructure wherever it lives. "VMware Tanzu is built upon our recognized infrastructure products and further expanded with the technologies that Pivotal, Heptio, Bitnami and many other VMware teams bring to this new portfolio of products and services," Ray O’Farrell, executive vice president and general manager of the Modern Application Platforms Business Unit at VMware, wrote in a blog post announcing the deal had closed. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2SDvZZP

Nio has been a darling of China's fledgling EV market for a few years, but it appears to be facing an uncertain future. The company has reported third quarter results that saw it sell 4,799 cars, 4,196 of them being the more affordable ES6 SUV -- a significant improvement over earlier quarters, but not what you'd call earth-shattering. And while it's trimming costs through staff cuts and smaller stores, it still lost the equivalent of $352.8 million the three-month span. The company warned that it didn't have enough cash for "continuous operation in the next 12 months" without either taking on more debt or landing new investments. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/39j32bs

We worry about criminals breaking into our digital accounts, and yet we make it easy for them to do it by using appallingly poor passwords, NBC News reports . SplashData, a company that sells secure password managers, has released its list of the worst passwords for 2019 based on an analysis of more than 5 million leaked passwords. No. 1 on the list is 123456 (same as last year). Others in the top 25 include password, Iloveyou, admin and welcome. SplashData estimates that almost 10 percent of all computer users have at least one of the 25 worst passwords on this year’s list and nearly 3 percent use the worst one. The potential for serious trouble goes up dramatically if you use the same weak password on more than one account. Digital security experts contacted by NBC News BETTER recommend creating strong passwords, unique passwords for your most important accounts, multi-factor authentication and to consider using a password manager. Read the full story on NBCNews.com . from Tec...

Satellite industry giant Maxar is selling MDA, its subsidiary focused on space robotics, for $1 billion CAD (around $765.23 million USD), Reuter reports. The purchasing entity is a consortium of companies led by private investment firm Northern Private Capital, which will acquire the entirety of MDA's Canadian operations, which is responsible for the development of the Canadarm and Canadarm2 robotic manipulators used on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station respectively. Maxar's goal in selling the business is to help alleviate some of its considerable debt, which stood at $3.1 billion as of this past September. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/39nY79f

WhatsApp runs on a huge range of operating systems, but even the ubiquitous messaging app doesn't think it's worth supporting Windows Phone any more. The company has announced it is ending support for older versions of Android and iOS as well as the rarely-used Windows Phone OS. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/354pFgw

The holidays might be a time of slowed activity for most companies in the tech sector, but for SpaceX, it was a time to ramp production efforts on the latest Starship prototype – "Starship SN1" as it's called, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. This flight design prototype of Starship is under construction at SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas development facility, and Musk was in attendance over the weekend overseeing its build and assembly. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2MBm9E3

If you're planning to counter all those holiday dinners with rigorous exercise, Polar might have your back. It's updating its Vantage V and Vantage M watches with some particularly useful coaching features, most notably the FitSpark personalized training tool. As on earlier hardware, it provides a daily training guide that suggests exercises based on your history, fitness level and sleep quantities. You'll have a better sense of whether you should be burning calories with cardio workouts or hitting the weights instead. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/369AFL3

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. We're almost done with 2019. The year included cheaper 4K TVs, tons of foldable phones and some very forgettable tweets. At least one of those areas could use some significant improvements, and who knows, maybe I'll get my hands on the first great flexible device at CES 2020 next week. -- Richard from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2F9gb92

You buy a home monitoring camera to improve your security, but Wyze customers might have wound up achieving the opposite. The company, which makes $20 security cameras to pepper around your home, has admitted that data on more than 2.4 million users has been exposed. A database was left exposed, allowing people to access key pieces of data, although financial information was not included. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/357yUN8

2019 brought more global attention to Africa's tech scene than perhaps any previous year. Here’s an overview of the 2019 market events that captured attention and capped off a decade of rapid growth in African tech. The story of the year is the April IPO on the NYSE of Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2F1BzNL

Last year, a Stanford-trained scientist stunned the world by revealing that he had created the first genetically-edited babies using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool. Now, He Jiankui and two of his associates have been sentenced to three years in prison following a secret trial in China. The team was convicted of "illegal medical practice" for performing human embryo gene editing "for reproductive purposes," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2QwGJXm

Grab and Singtel, one of the largest telecoms in Singapore, announced today that they are applying for a digital full bank license together. If approved, the license will allow them to offer simple credit and investment products, before progressing to a full-functioning bank if they meet the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) criteria. Grab will hold a 60% stake in the consortium, with Singtel holding the other 40%. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2SC9bcU

Indian tech startups have never had it so good. Local tech startups in the nation raised $14.5 billion in 2019, beating their previous best of $10.5 billion last year, according to research firm Tracxn . Tech startups in India this year participated in 1,185 financing rounds -- 459 of those were Series A or later rounds -- from 817 investors. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2ZzXtB3

Wonder why Mazda's MX-30 only has a modest 35.5kWh battery when its competition frequently has more? According to the brand's European research director Christian Schultze, it's to help the planet. He told Automotive News that the small pack is "responsibly" sized to have an overall CO2 emission footprint (including manufacturing and energy consumption) comparable to a diesel Mazda 3 hatchback, even after you replace the battery 100,000 miles into ownership. Long-range batteries would be worse for the environment, Schultze claimed, pointing to Mazda's calculations for long-term CO2 output. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2Q5JEXY

Uber is now much closer to becoming a major force in the Middle East. Egyptian regulators have approved the ridesharing giant's $3.1 billion acquisition of Careem, giving it the most significant clearance needed to complete the deal. There are still other approvals needed if the union is going to close as planned in January, but it now appears to be more a matter of time. However, this isn't a carte blanche approval -- Uber will have to abide by some conditions. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/37i60v2

Kia's Imagine EV won't remain a concept for too much longer. European operations chief Emilio Herrera told Automotive News in an interview that a production version of the crossover should arrive in 2021. He didn't say how the street-going car would differ, although we'd expect it to be wildly toned down compared to the version that debuted in Geneva. Those 21 displays, the aircraft-style steering column and giant wheels likely aren't long for this world. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2F25uVN

An Alabama man has taken legal action against security camera company Ring after he claims a creep hacked his device and taunted his kids, according to a report. John Baker Orange filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against Amazon and the security product, claiming the camera system is “fatally flawed,” CTV News reported. Orange said he... from Technology News & Reviews | New York Post https://ift.tt/2rDhYjH

China's competitor to GPS is nearly finished after years of work. Project lead Ren Chengqi has revealed that the Beidou Navigation Satellite System's core was completed earlier in December, and that the last two satellites should reach orbit "before 2020." This will technically be the third phase of Baidou, which first rolled out in 2000, but it represents the culmination of the satellite system. in its present form. You won't see a major upgrade until 2035, Ran said. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/354OVU0

Intel's 10th-generation Core desktop processors appear to be right around the corner, and the biggest improvements may come to those who don't splurge on the most expensive models. Leaks at Informatica Cero and VideoCardz have detailed a Comet Lake-S CPU lineup where every Core chip, from the i3 to the i9, reportedly includes Hyperthreading. You might not need need to buy a Core i7 or better to wring truly strong multitasking performance out of your system. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2tgMi4k

In other words it was another perfect year for The Jons, the annual award which celebrates dubious tech-related achievements, named, in an awe-inspiring fit of humility, after myself. To Adam Neumann, who presided over the spectacular rise and even more spectacular fall from grace of WeWork, which proudly launched its proposed IPO this year and promptly saw most of its valuation (and its cash) disintegrate in a sea of eyebrow-raising stories about delusional irresponsibility and the harsh realities of actual business. To Masayoshi Son, whose widely announced dreams of a $108 billion Vision Fund II turned into the relative nightmare of something "far smaller" -- but still has his surreal, dreamlike slide decks to fall back on. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/2F5l2IA

Turkey has long been partly dependent on foreign automakers, but it's about to claim independence in a big way. TOGG, a consortium of Turkish companies, has unveiled an electric crossover SUV as the country's first fully homegrown car (outside of help from Italian design firm Pininfarina, that is). It won't be a modest undertaking, either. While the base options will provide a single 200HP rear-axle motor (good for 62MPH in 7.6 seconds) and a 186-mile range, you can spec it out to a 400HP dual-motor setup (0-62MPH in 4.8 seconds) and 300 miles of range. from Yahoo Tech https://ift.tt/37eudlU