List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

WhatsApp has unveiled a major update that will allow users to hide intimate conversations in a secret folder. The Chat Lock feature, which parent company Meta announced on Monday, means selected messages can only be accessed with a password or biometric identification, like a fingerprint or face scan. Any incoming messages will also be hidden on the receiver’s phone or computer screen to prevent bystanders from seeing what they say or who they are from. “We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives,” Meta wrote in a blog post announcing the WhatsApp update. “Over the next few months, we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locks for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from your phone’s.” The new WhatsApp feature will be rolling out globally this week to more than 2 billion people who use the messaging app. “New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private,” Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook. “They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content.” The latest update comes just days after widespread concerns emerged from WhatsApp users about a “creepy” feature relating to the app’s privacy settings. Messages on people’s phones appeared to show that WhatsApp was listening to users while they were asleep, with notifications of the app activating the device’s microphone displayed on the privacy menu within Google’s Android operating system. WhatsApp blamed the issue on a bug within Android, claiming it would never access a user’s microphone without their consent. “Users have full control over their mic settings,” WhatsApp posted in response to a tweet about the issue. “Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video – and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them.” Read More Creepy WhatsApp update sparks fears users are being listened to through their phone

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Rakuten Group Inc said on Tuesday it aimed to raise up to 332 billion yen ($2.46 billion)

One of Software AG’s top investors has spoken out against the firm’s planned €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) takeover

Vodafone said Tuesday it would cut 11,000 jobs over three years, as the telecoms company unveiled a turnaround plan to revive its fortunes.

Dongfang Jingyuan Electron Ltd., a semiconductor software firm, is weighing filing for an initial public offering in China

Royal Philips NV said new tests on its recalled sleep apnea products showed the vast majority of the

It might sound more like the kind of idle daydream billionaires like Elon Musk would have, but could flooding the Sahara actually be the best way of tackling climate change in the future? The idea of creating a new “sea” in Africa is being discussed, and it’s not the first time that the notion of a great oasis in the Sahara has been discussed among the scientific community. As the ongoing climate crisis continues to worsen, the notion of flooding vast areas of the desert is being returned to once again [via IFL Science]. A new “sea” was first proposed following the study of the Messinian salinity crisis – which saw a dried-out area of the Mediterranean rejuvenated by the Zanclean flood, reconnecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean around 5.33 million years ago. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Given how the Mediterranean was transformed by the flood, the idea of flooding the Sahara to achieve similar results has been thrown around in the scientific community as far back as 1877, the Scottish engineer Donald McKenzie suggested flooding the El Djouf basin in Western Africa. The idea is now returning to popularity as the world looks for solutions to the climate crisis. One proposal centres on the Middle East’s Dead Sea and flooding the area using water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea Depression. A vast sea in Africa could represent a hugely innovative step towards tackling climate change and fostering a new hub of life – but even the people suggesting work such a project acknowledge just how expensive and dangerous it is. Even Y Combinator is a US startup accelerator who has described “desert flooding” as “risky, unproven, even unlikely to work”. Only time will tell whether the notion of a new sea in the Sahara coud ever work, or whether it’ll remain the stuff of dreams. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh Move over dogecoin? "Memecoins" - a hyper-speculative, ultra-volatile and somewhat peculiar

The US Securities and Exchange Commission asked a judge to deny Coinbase Global Inc.’s request to compel the

Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion takeover bid for games developer Activision Blizzard Inc. came back from the brink after

Google co-founder Sergey Brin gifted Alphabet Inc. shares worth roughly $600 million on Thursday during a week that

WhatsApp users will be able to guard their “most intimate conversations” with a new password protected feature to hide messages, parent company Meta has said. Chat Lock will allow individuals to “lock and hide” private exchanges by removing them from the main inbox into a folder only accessible by password or biometric security, such as a fingerprint. Meta announced the development on Monday as the global launch began. Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post: “New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private. “They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content.” However the new privacy measures may intensify the stand-off between Meta and the UK government over the Online Safety Bill. In April, Meta protested against the legislation, which it said would undermine the end-to-end encryption used by WhatsApp where only the sender and intended recipient of a message are able to read it. The Government has denied the Bill would outlaw encrypted messaging, saying it aims to target child abuse content while retaining privacy online. Tech companies who refuse to comply with the Government’s demands to identify and remove such content from their platforms could face large fines. In response to this, Meta threatened to withdraw WhatsApp from the UK last March rather than submit to the proposed policies. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live