Apps & Smartphones news

• Report: People are going to have a lot of sex in self-driving cars

  17-11-2018 01:37 via The Next Web
  
  It’s clear that driverless cars will revolutionize the way we get from Point A to Point B. Perhaps less obvious is how it’ll change our sex lives. According to a new study by the Annals of Tourism Research, ditching the driver could open up a whole lot of doors for transit-related sexual activity. Scott Cohen, the deputy director of research at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey stated in the report that approximately 60 percent of Americans
  
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• This is why women’s panties are trending on social media

  16-11-2018 23:52 via The Next Web
  
  A women-led protest that began in Ireland has gone global. After a rape trial ended last week in a controversial acquittal, women took to the streets in a protest that’s now going viral with the hashtag #ThisIsNotConsent, and images of women’s underwear. Trigger warning: please be advised the following article contains frank discussion of rape and has embedded media with imagery and terminology that discusses rape and consent. An Irish man was acquitted of rape charges las
  
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• Facebook’s former PR firm seeded fake stories about bias at Apple News

  16-11-2018 23:28 via The Next Web
  
  Facebook‘s recently-fired PR firm allegedly floated a story to journalists that Apple News was biased against Republicans. The company, Definers Public Affairs, made headlines this week after a bombshell New York Times report revealed that it was employed by Facebook to dig up dirt on critics and competitors. One of these competitors, according to documents obtained by CNN, was Apple News. Apple’s News app is pre-installed on all iOS devices, and features human editors working with
  
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• A beginner’s guide to AI: Human-level machine intelligence

  16-11-2018 20:37 via The Next Web
  
  Welcome to TNW’s beginner’s guide to AI. This (currently) five part feature should provide you with a very basic understanding of what AI is, what it can do, and how it works. The guide contains articles on (in order published) neural networks, computer vision, natural language processing, algorithms, and artificial general intelligence.  There are few technologies that inspire the imagination like artificial intelligence. And, in the field of AI, the Holy Grail
  
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• Amazon Is Just the Tip of the AI Bias Iceberg

  16-11-2018 18:36 via TechNewsWorld
  Amazon recently disclosed its 2015 decision to scrap a recruitment tool used to hire talent, after finding that it had a bias against women. While this story has been covered sufficiently, there is a much greater story still to tell: A substantial amount of the artificial intelligence technology that currently is used for recruitment and human resources purposes has been acting independently, without any form of regulation, for some time. Before exploring this, it will be helpful to understand w
  
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• Twitter says the Bitcoin scam wave came from third-party app

  16-11-2018 17:44 via The Next Web
  
  Twitter has confirmed the series of cryptocurrency-related hackings on its platform originated from a third-party software provider – and not its own system. In an email to Hard Fork, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed attackers exploited a third-party marketing solution to blast fake Bitcoin giveaway links from a slew of verified accounts, including Google and Target. Twitter refrained from naming the app in question. The confirmation comes only days after a number of high-profile public f
  
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• Details of 170,000 Pakistani debit cards leaked on dark web

  16-11-2018 16:55 via The Next Web
  
  Last week, we reported that nearly 20,000 Pakistani debit cards were put up for sale on the dark web. Now, cybersecurity firm Group-IB has found out that earlier this week, a new dump of whooping 177,878 appeared on the dark web. The report noted that the new dump appeared on the dark website Joker Stash on November 13. From the total number of cards, there were 150,632 cards of Pakistani banks, 16,227 cards of other regions’ banks, and 11,019 cards of undefined b
  
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• The Bitcoin Cash hash war has no real winners

  16-11-2018 16:42 via The Next Web
  
  Yesterday, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain split in two separate networks, each kicking off a new cryptocurrency. Now that Bitcoin Cash has forked into two rivalling cryptocurrencies – BAB, maintained by Bitcoin-ABC, and BSV, maintained by Craig Wright’s nChain – it remains to be seen which network will surface as the dominant chain. But before we dive into the initial fallout from the split, we need to address what factors go into determining what qualifies as the “do
  
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• Blockchain hard forks explained as quickly as possible

  16-11-2018 16:31 via The Next Web
  
  Welcome to Hard Fork Basics, a collection of tips, tricks, guides, and advice to keep you up to date in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world. Cryptocurrency forks are as inevitable as death and taxes. You might have seen recent news detailing the contentious Bitcoin Cash hard fork, and be wondering what a fork actually is. While every hard fork comes with its own nuances and intricacies, beneath all that is a fairly concrete principle for what a hard fork is and what it is supposed to d
  
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• The week’s best Android games to play while putting off your holiday shopping

  16-11-2018 15:16 via The Next Web
  
  Welcome to our weekly column, in which YouTuber NimbleThor brings you a short list of the best new mobile games for your Android device. Whether you’re into casual time wasters or hardcore shooters, you’ll find something in here to exercise your thumbs with. Listen, the holiday season as the end of the year is great and everything. But sometimes, you just need an excuse to avoid your friend Christy, who, for some reason, believes it’s appropriate to listen
  
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• Tech companies are using machines to fight terrorism and hate speech, and you can do it too for $49

  16-11-2018 15:00 via The Next Web
  
  If you understand how machine learning works, then you can get working too -- at a pay rate a fair cry above what you’re making now, we’re guessing. The Machine Learning Masterclass Bundle ($49, an 89 percent savings, from TNW Deals) takes you inside this exploding tech sector.
  
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• TNW presents the greatest gift guide in the world… ever

  16-11-2018 14:29 via The Next Web
  
  The adverts have started, the songs are blaring, and dust is being blown off the decorations. Truly, the holiday season is upon us. And you know what this means? Gifts. Lots of gifts. Whether you’re putting together your own list, or trying to find the perfect thing to get someone else, we’re here to help. We’ll be running a range of difference gift guides over the coming weeks, but this is our first: the ultimate guide. Basically, this is a selection of some of our favorite s
  
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• Acumos Project's 1st Software, Athena, Helps Ease AI Deployment

  16-11-2018 14:00 via TechNewsWorld
  The LF Deep Learning Foundation has announced the availability of the first software from the Acumos AI Project. Dubbed "Athena," it supports open source innovation in artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning. The goal is to make critical new technologies available to developers and data scientists everywhere. Launched earlier this year, Acumos is part of a Linux Foundation umbrella organization, the LF Deep Learning Foundation, that supports and sustains open source innovatio
  
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• India’s plans to censor streaming services like Netflix are a mess

  16-11-2018 13:19 via The Next Web
  
  While India is home to the world’s largest film industry and one of the planet’s largest audiences for cinema, it’s also constantly struggling with the challenge of censoring movies. Things have gotten more complicated in the past few years with the rise of international streaming video platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Streaming content produced locally and overseas isn’t regulated in India, which means they appeal to citizens looking for uncensored shows a
  
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• Cryptocurrency fraudster faces 5 years in prison for selling fake ICOs

  16-11-2018 12:18 via The Next Web
  
  A Brooklyn-based businessman turned cryptocurrency huckster faces up to five years in prison for orchestrating two monstrously phony initial coin offerings (ICOs) last year. Maksim Zaslavskiy, a former institutional developer and “businessman,” plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud before a New York district court yesterday, reports FinanceFeeds. Zaslavskiy confessed to defrauding “around” 1,000 investors with a cryptocurrency called RE
  
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• 2FA codes are great for security, except when 26M of them are leaked

  16-11-2018 11:22 via The Next Web
  
  Just when you thought two-factor authentication was enough to secure your online accounts, a troubling discovery shows how this system can be comprised, thanks to human error. TechCrunch reports that a database of text messages containing more than 26 million 2FA codes, password reset links, and delivery tracking details was left out in the open – and its recipients may have been compromised. Security researcher Sébastien Kaul Kaul discovered the database – owned by a telepho
  
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• Japan wants to regulate cryptocurrency wallet services

  16-11-2018 10:50 via The Next Web
  
  Despite granting the industry self-regulatory status, it seems Japanese regulators are still keen to keep an eye on things. The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) recently announced that it is devising a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency wallet services, Bitcoin News reports. While the industry may now be left to police and regulate itself, cryptocurrency exchange businesses must still be registered with the country’s FSA as they buy and sell virtual currencies. However, as cr
  
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• Please appreciate Mozilla’s security-focused gift guide

  16-11-2018 10:39 via The Next Web
  
  Shout out Mozilla. The not-for-profit company behind the web-browser Firefox has put together a gift guide with a difference. Instead of ranking the products on the guide by some metric like, I dunno, ‘coolness,’ they’ve analyzed them by how secure they are. The Privacy Not Included guide includes 70 popular products. The majority of these are well known, such as the Nintendo Switch, the Amazon Echo, and Apple’s Airpods. Still, there is a range of less common g
  
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• Apple's Sluggish iPhone Sales Are Impacting Its Suppliers

  16-11-2018 10:17 via Featured Articles
  Damien McFerran16/11/2018 - 9:18amThe knock-on effect?The arrival of a new selection of iPhone devices is usually followed by news that they've all sold out, but this year, the story has been somewhat different. The iPhone XS, XS Plus and XR aren't posting the kind of numbers one normally associates with an Apple release, and that is having a knock-on effect on the suppliers who produce the parts for these handsets.
  According to Elazar Capital analyst Chaim Siegel, who has been speaking to Reute
  
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• 12 mistakes to avoid when funding a startup

  16-11-2018 10:00 via The Next Web
  
  While any funding may seem like good funding, this isn’t necessarily the case. Funding mistakes such as not raising enough funds can actually be detrimental to a startup and lead to major problems down the road. To find out how to avoid such missteps, I asked a panel of entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council the following question: What’s one major funding mistake you’ve made that others can learn from? Their best answers are below: 1. Overspending It’s easy to ge
  
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• Android Pie Comes To The Galaxy S9, But There's A Catch

  16-11-2018 09:53 via Featured Articles
  Damien McFerran16/11/2018 - 8:54amFull release not expected until next yearYesterday, Samsung finally released Android Pie for its Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagship phones, but before you rush to the settings menu on your device and start spamming the 'Update' option, there's a catch – this is the beta release and not the final version, and it's only available in certain parts of the world.
  Android Pie may have launched some time ago now but Samsung's phones are still running Oreo, the previous i
  
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• Facebook removed 1.5 billion fake accounts between April and September

  16-11-2018 08:16 via The Next Web
  
  Facebook released its community standards report today, in which it detailed how it dealt with fake news, spam, hate speech, and terrorist propaganda on its platform. The company noted that, between April and September 2018, it removed a whopping 1.5 billion fake accounts. The social network got rid of 800 million fake accounts in Q2 2018, and 754 million fake accounts in Q3. Comparatively, the company eliminated 534 million accounts in Q1 2018. That should give you a sense of the scale of its
  
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• SCUF’s Vantage PS4 controller: A lot of issues and a big price tag

  16-11-2018 02:22 via The Next Web
  
  I love SCUF controllers. Or, more accurately, I love all of them but this one. As the proud owner of two of the Infinity4PS Pro models, it was always an easy recommendation to make for anyone looking to drop their hard-earned cash on a premium product. I’m a gamer, and that tag comes with certain responsibilities — chief among them is spending money on things I absolutely do not need. So when the opportunity came up to give the Infinity4PS Pro a try last year, I jumped at it, even g
  
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• iPhone XR Review: The 2018 iPhone You Should (Probably) Buy

  16-11-2018 00:55 via PhoneDog
  
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg really wants you to know he reads the New York Times

  16-11-2018 00:45 via The Next Web
  
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today held a press call to talk about the company’s 2nd Community Standards Enforcement report. It was supposed to last 45 minutes, but it ended up nearly 2 hours long thanks to an extended – and very entertaining – interactive session with the national news media. The part about that “Community Standards” stuff — more blah-blah-blah about how Facebook’s algorithms and newly-hired team of crack human hate-speech finders
  
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• Hifiman RE2000 Review: World-class sound in a pair of earbuds

  15-11-2018 22:21 via The Next Web
  
  You’d be forgiven for not having heard of Hifiman before. The headphone company has flourished almost entirely within the audiophile community, producing everything from value-oriented cans to ludicrously expensive examples of audiophile excess. The product I’m writing about today leans towards the latter. The Hifiman RE2000 are the company’s flagship earbuds – properly known as IEMs or in-ear monitors – designed with one goal in mind: provide the best sound qualit
  
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• Researchers create ‘master key’ fingerprints that can fool biometric databases

  15-11-2018 20:57 via The Next Web
  
  Researchers from New York University have created a set of master fingerprint keys that can be used to spoof biometric identification systems. While the database of fingerprints used by the researchers had a chance of falsely matching with a random fingerprint one out of 1000 times, the master prints they generated had the power to falsely match one out of five times. Their paper was published on the pre-print server ArXiv and proves that fingerprints can be artificially generated using machine
  
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• When you wish upon an algorithm: Will Sophia ever be real?

  15-11-2018 20:31 via The Next Web
  
  Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Hong Kong, there was a robot named Sophia. It longed for nothing, felt nothing, and was incapable of even the mildest human emotion. But, its creator Geppetto – er, creators David Hanson and Ben Goertzel, I mean – wanted to bring it to life anyway. So they called upon the all-powerful technology fairies, Blockchainia and Algorithmia, who told them to send the robot to Saudi Arabia so it could become a citizen. If you’re hearing about th
  
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• An entrepreneur’s guide to Vietnam’s startup scene

  15-11-2018 19:35 via The Next Web
  
  Many in the western hemisphere still view Vietnam through antiquated lenses. But while a visit to a rural area of Vietnam may well seem like a step back in time, younger generations and the powers who be in urban Vietnam have their sights firmly set on the future and the key role which their nation aims to play in it. Over the last thirty years, the country has moved from being one of the world’s poorest regions, which had been devastated by decades of conflict, into one of the most dynam
  
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• Microsoft launches cloud-based development kit for blockchain

  15-11-2018 19:15 via The Next Web
  
  Big tech is getting in on blockchain in a big way. Microsoft has launched a cloud-based blockchain development kit powered by Azure. “This kit extends the capabilities of our blockchain developer templates and Azure Blockchain Workbench, which incorporates Azure services for key management, off-chain identity and data, monitoring, and messaging APIs into a reference architecture that can be used to rapidly build blockchain-based applications,” Microsoft blockchain engineering l
  
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• Review: Battlefield V Mixes Fantastic Gameplay With Intense Realism

  15-11-2018 19:11 via TechNewsWorld
  After taking the popular Battlefield series to "the beginning" with the First World War-based Battlefield 1, developers have returned the action to its World War II roots with Battlefield V. Anyone who's not familiar with this first-person shooter need know onlythat the original game, introduced in 2002 as Battlefield 1942, offers players the chance to control vehicles as well as soldiers. At the time of its introduction, that was a novel twist for the traditional FPS, and it helped propel the s
  
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• The contentious Bitcoin Cash hard fork is here, now the hash war begins

  15-11-2018 18:54 via The Next Web
  
  Following a months-long internal strife in the community, the contentious Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hard fork has finally taken place. The Bitcoin Cash blockchain is now split in three separate networks, each with its own set of rules and governing principles: one developed by Bitcoin-ABC, one developed by Craig Wright’s blockchain research unit nChain, and one developed by Bitcoin Unlimited. While the network has technically split in three, the main tension resides between the implementations p
  
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• Meet 5 blockchain developers making a real impact in the industry

  15-11-2018 18:19 via The Next Web
  
  While we have some things to sort out before blockchain and cryptocurrency achieves global adoption, it’s easy to forget how far the industry has come. Our blockchain event is fast approaching, so we’d like to celebrate the top DLT developers and influencers that have achieved great things. In no particular order, here is our list of five people that have had an undeniable impact on the industry: Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum and Bitcoin Magazine This one almost goes witho
  
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• This (free) Amsterdam blockchain workshop will tackle scalability issues

  15-11-2018 17:17 via The Next Web
  
  The blockchain is diversifying and thriving, yet it’s no longer possible to ignore the elephant in the room: scalability. Scalability in the blockchain industry is an issue that needs to be addressed when talking about the technology’s future. At the moment, the Bitcoin blockchain processes between 3 and 7 transactions per second; Ethereum is handling roughly 15 transactions per second. However, if the blockchain is to compete against the likes of VisaNet, which processes an average
  
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• Apple Pencil Unboxing

  15-11-2018 16:03 via PhoneArena
  
  
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• Apple Pencil 2 (2018) Unboxing

  15-11-2018 16:03 via PhoneArena
  
  
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• This $29 graphic design bundle could help you land a six figure career

  15-11-2018 16:00 via The Next Web
  
  Even if your art is solely done with real world pencils and paints, the training in the Ultimate Graphic Design Bundle ($29, over 90 percent off, from TNW Deals) can show you the software tools to take your art to the digital age.
  
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• How to help remote workers feel more connected and less isolated

  15-11-2018 15:59 via The Next Web
  
  Working from home is more popular than ever as 70 percent of the global workforce telecommutes at least once a week. A major challenge to a remote working arrangement is keeping employees connected and engaged with their team as it’s common for them to feel lonely and isolated. According to the research included in Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation, written by workplace expert Dan Schawbel, a third of surveyed employees report missing out on intera
  
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• Trump’s attorney general once endorsed a ‘time travel’ cryptocurrency

  15-11-2018 15:55 via The Next Web
  
  Some very strange details have surfaced regarding Donald Trump’s newly appointed acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, and his involvement with a cryptocurrency for time travel. For years, Whitaker sat on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a marketing firm that has since been shut down by order of a federal judge, reports Mother Jones (via Cointelegraph). World Patent Marketing once claimed to be working closely with a cryptocurrency project described as a “theo
  
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• What you need to know about the controversial Bitcoin Cash hard fork

  15-11-2018 15:35 via The Next Web
  
  Today, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – the most popular fork of the original Bitcoin (BTC) network and the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap – is about to undergo a highly controversial hard fork that will split its network into two separate chains. But there is a problem: only one can remain the real Bitcoin Cash. The split, which many consider the second most notorious hard fork since the birth of Bitcoin Cash itself, is expected to take place in about three hours. But what ex
  
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• GitHub Desktop 1.5 makes it easy to resolve frustrating merge conflicts

  15-11-2018 15:00 via The Next Web
  
  GitHub today announced a major update to its visual Git client, GitHub Desktop. Version 1.5 introduces a new way to resolve merge conflicts, which are inevitable when working on a project with a team. Previous versions of GitHub Desktop merely warned if a conflict would occur, leaving resolution entirely in the hands of the developer. With GitHub Desktop 1.5, the app will list the files with conflicts, open your preferred editor to fix them, and let you know when everything is ready to merge. H
  
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• Even artists are using Microsoft Excel, become a master of formulas for $19

  15-11-2018 15:00 via The Next Web
  
  If a senior citizen can turn data collection software into museum-quality high culture, what could you do with it? You can answer that question after taking the Microsoft Excel Diploma Masterclass, now discounted to only $19, an over 90 percent savings, from TNW Deals.
  
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• Report: Microsoft’s enterprise products covertly gather personal data on users

  15-11-2018 14:11 via The Next Web
  
  Microsoft collects and stores personal data about the behavior of individual users of its enterprise offerings on a large scale, without any public documentation — according to a new report by Privacy Company. The data protection impact assessment (DPIA) was commissioned by the Dutch government to guide its institutions — which includes 300,000 workstations in ministries, the judiciary, the police, tax authorities, etc. — in their dealings with Microsoft‘s enterprise sof
  
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• Firefox will notify you when you visit breached websites

  15-11-2018 13:57 via The Next Web
  
  Future versions of Firefox will warn the user when they wander onto a website that’s been the victim of a recently-reported data breach. The tool, called Firefox Monitor Notifications, is available now in Firefox Quantum and will be rolled out to users of the mainline browser in the coming weeks. The tool works by automatically notifying users when they visit a recently-compromised site. The user can then click on the alert to visit the Firefox Monitor site, where they can check if their
  
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• German Bitcoin exchange buys investment bank

  15-11-2018 13:52 via The Next Web
  
  We often hear about how Bitcoin is trying to disrupt the financial industry. Well, it turns out one German cryptocurrency startup has cut out the middleman and just bought a bank. Earlier this week, German cryptocurrency exchange Bitcoin Group SE announced it has successfully bought a 100-percent stake in an investment bank, Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH. With this purchase, the group will absorb Tremmel’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) license, opening additional do
  
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• How to erase your embarrassing YouTube watch history

  15-11-2018 12:41 via The Next Web
  
  Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, tricks, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and connected services. We’ve all spent countless hours on YouTube watching random videos. And admittedly, there’s some embarrassing stuff in your history you’d never want anyone to know about, or for the site to base its recommendations on for you. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with a way to wipe the slate clean. Google offers multi
  
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• Target blames Bitcoin scam tweet on third-party app, not Twitter

  15-11-2018 12:12 via The Next Web
  
  American retail behemoth Target has come out to clarify that a tweet it posted, containing a link to a Bitcoin giveaway scam, came from a third-party software provider – not Twitter. In an email to Hard Fork, a company spokesperson said – contrary to what it suggested previously – Target’s Twitter account was never inappropriately accessed. Rather, it appears the attackers leveraged an account owned by one of its marketing vendors to send the tweet to its audience of alm
  
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• The Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is all about battery life

  15-11-2018 11:54 via The Next Web
  
  Earlier today, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced their latest affordable single-board computer: the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is primarily aimed at those using the tiny computers for battery-powered Internet of Things (IoT) projects, and is designed with power efficiency and size in mind. It sits as a bit of a compromise between the ultra-basic Raspberry Pi Zero and the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Like the Zero, it’s designed to be as compact as possible, and m
  
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• KPMG: Cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin) are not ready to be real currency

  15-11-2018 11:36 via The Next Web
  
  ‘Big four’ accounting firm KPMG has just asserted that cryptocurrency assets, like Bitcoin, are simply not ready to be classified as real currencies – and that using Bitcoin as a store of value is a “fool’s errand.” In a new report, KPMG details the challenges facing the cryptocurrency industry, as it seeks adoption by the world’s largest financial institutions. Ultimately, KPMG posits that if cryptocurrency related assets have any hopes of truly flouri
  
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• Here's Why The Pixel 3 Camera Is The Best On Any Phone

  15-11-2018 11:24 via Featured Articles
  Damien McFerran15/11/2018 - 10:27amA deep-dive with the king of mobile photographyThere once was a time when the average Android user felt incredibly insecure around their iOS-owning friends for one key reason: photography. Traditionally, Android-based phones have struggled to match Apple's iPhone when it comes to this vital element of smartphone design; from the earliest days of the smartphone era, Apple's devices have tended to be faster to focus and better at capturing images than the vast ma
  
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