Shiny snippets: Twitter users respond to ‘blue check apocalypse’

Since the beginning of Elon Musk’s reign at Twitter, he’s threatened to remove the legacy verification—signified by a white check in a blue circle beside the account name—that predated his tenure. Musk even set April 1st as the date for the purge, which came and went without any changes, either because of ineptitude or a half-effort…

ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft to face possible EU Antitrust warning over Activision deal

Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal. The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about…

Samsung announces new foldable phones and smart watches

Samsung’s latest devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip4 (pictured above) and the Galaxy Z Fold4 are now available to pre-order online ahead of their launch on 26th August. Available in Graphite, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 boasts a compact design featuring a folding glass display with FHD+ resolution.  The improved Flex Mode means hands-free shooting is…

ShinyShiny snippets: Bitcoin dropped 50% in value since November high

The value of Bitcoin continued to fall over the weekend as it dropped below $34,000 (£27,630), according to the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value has now fallen by 50% since its peak in November last year. The slide in the value of digital assets comes as stock markets around the…

ShinyShiny snippets: Samsung ad criticised by women’s running groups

Samsung's latest advert has been criticised by some women's running groups and safety campaigners for being "unrealistic". The film shows a young woman getting up at 02:00 to go for a run through the streets of a city alone. Samsung says the aim was to show runners working to their own schedules. But women's safety…

ShinyShiny snippets: Samsung Galaxy A33 leaks in full

Image: @Evleaks Samsung’s Galaxy A33, rumored to be the most affordable of the three devices the company will announce on March 17th, has leaked in full. Evan Blass has posted a series of renders of the phone over on Twitter, while Appuals has its specs. These include a 6.4-inch 90Hz 1080p OLED display, a 5,000mAh battery,…

ShinyShiny snippets: Samsung records record profits

Technology giant Samsung Electronics has said it expects to post a 52% jump in profit for the last three months of 2021, amid the global chip shortage. The world's biggest memory chip maker estimates that it made 13.8tn won ($11.5bn; £8.5bn) in the period. That would be its highest fourth-quarter operating profit in four years.…

ShinyShiny: Facebook pulls facial recognition system

Facebook's facial recognition system will be shut down and faceprints will be deleted for over a billion people, the social media giant has announced. The technology automatically identifies users in pictures and videos but Facebook has decided to remove it, citing increased concerns about its use. Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook, wrote…

ShinyShiny tech round up: Samsung launches Galaxy 4 watches

Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, as it hits reset on its smartwatch range. It has replaced its own TizenOS operating system for Google's Wear OS, and killed off the Active 2 range in favour of a singular smartwatch brand. It was revealed at an Unpacked event,…