Here are a few items from the last couple days that got my interest.
Shaw Revamps Internet Plans
Huawei CFO Loses Argument in Extradition Process
A judge has ruled against Meng Wanzhou in a court proceeding related to her extradition today. Lawyers for Wanzhou argued that the crimes the Huawei CFO is charged with in the United States are not crimes in Canada, and because of the “double criminality standard” in extradition, the procedures should be dropped. The Judge ruled that the alleged offenses would be considered a crime in Canada, which means that the Extradition can proceed.
This is not the final ruling on the case, with this decision the actual Extradition hearings can now take place.
Spotify Removes 10,000 Song Library Limit
Spotify announced that they are removing the limit of 10,000 “library” songs. Previously, a user who hit the limit would be required to remove some songs or albums to add new ones. This will please certain users who have run into this limit over time. Despite this, playlists are still limited to 10,000 items, and users are still only allowed to download a total of 10,000 songs across 5 devices for offline use.
Slack CEO On The Vergecast
Slack’s CEO Stuart Butterfield appeard on The Verge’s podast “The Vergecast” this week, talking about the increase in usage the company has seen, the future of work, and how they are trying to help users manage the use of the product. It’s a very interesting listen.
Twitter Labels Tweet from Donald Trump With a Fact Check
Weeks after Twitter announced it would begin labelling Tweets that include false or misleading information, the company has placed a label on a tweet from Donald Trump for the first time. The tweet claimed that mail-in balloting for the United States Elections in November would be “substantially fraudulent.” Twitter placed a fact check below that tweet that links to a page with several fact checks from several news organizations on that claim. Trump later said that social media networks would be highly regulated or shut down if they continue with the practice. It is unclear if he has the authority or ability to do so.
It should be noted that this is not the first time Twitter has issued a fact check. A few weeks ago, a video clip of Vice President Mike Pence that had been heavily edited was shared by the Jimmy Kimmel Live! account. Twitter issued a fact check for the edited video. Considering President Trump did not object that that fact check, it is unclear if he would also like to highly regulate social media that benefits his administration as well.
Sony ZV-1 Camera
Sony announced a new compact camera, the Vlog Camera ZV-1. As the name might imply, this camera is made less for photos, but more for video. For all the aspiring YouTube and Instagram influencers out there, this might be for you. It doesn’t come cheap, at $1000, but for anyone in need of a small camera that takes very good video, this is definitely worth a look.
Android Phones Need More Than 2 Years Of Updates
A good article below from Android Central about the state of Android Updates. Google and other Android OEM’s have long lagged behind Apple in device support, and this article argues that it is time for Google and those OEM’s to support devices for much longer than they currently do, especially as prices continue to increase.
Apple Re-Issues App Updates To Fix An iOS And iPad OS Bug
Apple has fixed a bug in iOS and iPad OS that caused apps shared with Apple’s Family Sharing system, which allows purchased apps to be shared with up to 5 people, from working. The resolution involved a somewhat amusing workaround. Apple essentially pushed up the most recent app update for all affected apps back to every device. If you have noticed a large number of app updates in the least few days, this is why.