When I say that the best new phone today isn’t at Verizon, I could really be saying any other carrier in the USA. The best new phone, you see, isn’t a brand new carrier-sold mobile, it’s a device you buy secondhand. It’s the phone you buy using the knowhow you gain from reading reviews of phones that were, at one … Continue reading
Right now, Twitch Prime subscribers can get up to a year of Nintendo Switch Online benefits, including online play, access to classic NES games, and other benefits thanks to Twitch Prime.
Twitch has added a special new benefit only for its Twitch Prime members: a full free year of Nintendo Switch Online. The new perk is only available to Prime customers and, of course, is only relevant if they also own a Nintendo Switch console. The online services enable Switch owners to play games online, play classic NES games, save game … Continue reading
We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.
The Federal Trade Commission has fined Office Depot $25 million for bogus virus scans. The company has agreed to pay the fine as part of a settlement with the FTC for allegedly lying to customers so that they would pay for unnecessary tech support. Customers were offered free virus scans and then told that their computers were infected with malware even when they weren’t.
The FTC points out that Office Depot effectively fleeced millions of dollars from customers for unnecessary computer repair services between 2009 and November 2016. It used a software called PC Health Check to run the bogus scan, a tool created and licensed by Support.com. The results that were produced after a scan was really based on questions that a customer was asked before the scan.
The questions included whether the customer felt the computer was running slowing, received virus warnings, displayed pop-up ads, and crashed often. If any of these questions were answered in the affirmative, the scan would show that the device had “malware symptoms.”
Office Depot would then offer customers to fix the issue and often charged up to $300 for such work. The alleged scheme has also cost Support.com $10 million as it has also agreed to settle with the FTC.
Bogus Virus Scans Cost Office Depot $25 Million , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
For 35 years, a French coastal community has been haunted by the ghost of the world’s most iconic novelty telephone.
If you have played Minecraft for a long time you might be familiar with the references to the game’s original creator Markus “Notch” Persson that were listed in the main menu of Minecraft. The game has received an update today which removes most of these references from the main menu. Some of you may not be aware that Minecraft is now owned by a big tech company that you may have heard about.
Persson sold his studio Mojang, and with it all of Minecraft, to Microsoft back in 2014 for $2.5 billion. We often see founders join the new homes of their companies when such an acquisition happens but Persson did not join Microsoft. The Redmond-based company has thus taken Minecraft forward without any input from the guy who made it.
Minecraft’s main menu long displayed a series of rotating phrases as splash text in the top right hand corner of the logo. The text usually included catchphrases, references, and even jokes. Some also offered the original creator, they included “Made by Notch!,” “The Work of Notch!,” and “110813,” which is the date that Persson got married.
Microsoft did not comment when asked about the changes to the splash text. The studio that develops some parts of the game’s console ports has also confirmed that similar changes to splash text will be rolling out on the console versions as well.
Minecraft Removes Most ‘Notch’ References From Game , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Carriers are finally stepping up now that the robocall menace has got out of hand more than it ever did before. Almost 26 billion calls placed last year were spam calls so it’s clear that something needs to be done about this. Verizon, the country’s largest mobile carrier, today announced that it’s rolling out the Call Filter service for free to all of its customers. This will help them identify and block robocalls.
A free version of Call Filter is being rolled out today to the carrier’s customers. The service offers spam alerts and more. Customers will get alerts when a call is likely spam, they will also be able to report unsolicited numbers and automatically block robocalls based on their preferred level of risk.
This service is available to all postpaid wireless customers with a compatible device. Certain features will vary based on the kind of device that the user has. Subscribers who want additional protection can sign up for Verizon’s full Call Filter feature which costs $2.99 per month, per line.
This brings all of the features of the free version and offers the ability to identify unknown callers by name. Users can create a personal robocall block list, see additional insights with a robocall risk meter, and take advantage of a spam number lookup feature.
Verizon Now Offers Its Robocall Filter For Free , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
If you ever go to Cuba, don’t expect to have the kind of internet access that you’re used to having in most places across the globe. The country only just launched mobile internet nationwide in the summer of last year. Otherwise, you have to wait in line for hours just to get a Wi-Fi card that allows you to get on the internet at designated Wi-Fi hotspots only. All this could change if the fruits of a new deal between Google and Cuba materialize.
Google has signed a memorandum with Cuba’s telecom company to create a cost-free connection between the two networks. This would bring faster internet to Cuba but there’s a pre-requisite. The country will have to lay a new undersea fiber-optic cable to connect its network physically with Google’s point of presence. That process could take a few years.
Once the cable is installed, Cubans will get faster access to content that’s hosted on Google’s service and this would also deliver cost savings to the government. The telecom company currently pays third-party fees for passing traffic to websites like Google.com and YouTube. The deal doesn’t mention when work on laying down the new fiber-optic cable will begin.
It does mention that a team of engineers will be put together who will work through the modalities to see this through.
Firma @ETECSA_Cuba Memorándum de Entendimiento con @Google para iniciar negociaciones sobre el servicio de intercambio de tráfico en Internet, que mejorará la calidad de acceso a los contenidos, como parte de la estrategia de #Cuba para el desarrollo y la informatización. pic.twitter.com/uHQ7hjpINX
— ETECSA (@ETECSA_Cuba) March 28, 2019
Google And Cuba Ink Deal For Faster Internet , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Twitter is finally rolling out a proper dark mode for its mobile app. The company today announced that the proper battery-saving dark mode dubbed “lights out” is rolling out right away. This has been one of the most requested features from users and it’s good to see that Twitter is doing something with all of that feedback.
Many app developers are actively building proper dark modes into their apps as most flagship smartphones now ship with OLED displays, this includes the new iPhones as well. The dark mode can make a noticeable difference in the power consumption of such displays and can thus prolong the handset’s battery life.
Twitter also points out that a proper black background also helps reduce eye strain particularly when the user is looking at their phone in the dark. That’s something a lot of us tend to do before going to sleep every night.
It’s pertinent to mention here that the lights out dark mode for Twitter’s mobile app is currently rolling out for iOS only. The company hasn’t said at this point in time when the Android version of the app will get it. Twitter hasn’t provided any time frame in which we can expect the mode to come to Android.
It was dark. You asked for darker! Swipe right to check out our new dark mode. Rolling out today. pic.twitter.com/6MEACKRK9K
— Twitter (@Twitter) March 28, 2019
Twitter Launches Proper ‘Lights Out’ Dark Mode , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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