It’s always nice to start the day with a bit of unambiguously good news, so it brings me great pleasure to report that Apple’s DIY repair service for iPhones and Macs has launched in select (read: eight) European countries. The service is still not perfect (Apple’s devices arguably need to be made easier to repair in the first place), but it’s a great step in the right direction.
Elsewhere, Meta is gearing up to fight a new bill in the US which would force it to negotiate with and pay publishers whose content gets posted on Facebook. “If Congress passes an ill-considered journalism bill as part of national security legislation, we will be forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether,” writes Meta’s policy communications director Andy Stone. And in case you think the company’s bluffing, it did exactly that in Australia.
And now, here’s a silly tweet:
Stay tuned, as we continue to update this list with the most important news of today: Friday, December 6th, 2022.
- RLedger’s latest hardware crypto wallet tries on some iPod cachet.
Despite recent bad news around crypto, some people still think it’s the next big thing.
Enter this $279 credit card-sized Ledger Stax crypto wallet, “a usable way for you to take control of cryptocurrency and digital collectibles.”
It has an E Ink screen that wraps around its spine and wireless Qi charging, but its most important attribute is name recognition — it’s designed by Tony Fadell, who led the team creating the iPod. That’s supposed to suggest that, like the iPod, this will also become popular. We’ll see!
Ledger Stax crypto wallet Ledger - RGreen light.
Not to jinx things, but it appears we’ve gone five consecutive minutes without Sam Bankman-Fried popping up for another interview.
A few news items you may have missed:
Emma Roth and Mitchell Clark looked into some of the services teeming with ex-Twitter posters, like Mastodon and Hive.
Stack Overflow banned AI-generated answers.
The trouble with tech in trucking.
Google’s December feature drop is rolling out for Pixel phones.
There is no HBO, there is only “Max” (maybe).
Dec 6, 2022, 1:21 PM UTCJon Porter
Elon Musk’s Neuralink is reportedly facing a federal probe on animal welfare grounds
Employees are said to have raised concerns internally that demands for fast progress are causing unnecessary mistakes.
Dec 6, 2022, 11:12 AM UTCTom Warren
YouTube is making its own Twitch-like emotes
YouTube now has its own set of custom emotes that work across all comments and live chats.
Dec 6, 2022, 11:00 AM UTCAdi Robertson
Meta Oversight Board demands changes to ‘cross-check’ program that protected Donald Trump
Cross-check is supposed to reduce the ‘perception of censorship,’ but it amounts to special treatment of big accounts.
Dec 6, 2022, 10:46 AM UTCTom Warren
Waze gets built-in car app for the first time
Two new Renault cars will be the first to get a dedicated Waze app with real-time routing, navigation, and more.
Dec 6, 2022, 9:56 AM UTCJon Porter
Google Search brings continuous scrolling to desktop
It’ll now load up to six pages of continuous results before asking you to click a “See more” button.
Dec 6, 2022, 9:45 AM UTCJon Porter
Apple’s DIY repair service launches in Europe
Customers in eight European countries, including the UK, can now buy parts and tools to repair select iPhones and MacBooks.
Dec 5, 2022, 11:02 PM UTCSheena Vasani
Apple may shift some iPad production away from China to India
The tech giant’s reportedly discussing manufacturing some iPads in India after new covid restrictions sparked countrywide protests in China.
Dec 5, 2022, 10:03 PM UTCEmma Roth
Facebook threatens to ban news in the US over journalism bill
Meta’s policy communications head says the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act doesn’t recognize that news publishers share content on Facebook “because it benefits their bottom line — not the other way around.”
