This Week in Tech – 05/13/2018: Maker of Smart Luggage Goes Out of Business After Airlines Ban Bags With Built-in Batteries
Maker of Smart Luggage Goes Out of Business After Airlines Ban Bags With Built-in Batteries
One of the world’s first smart luggage makers is packing its bags and calling it quits — a victim of its own design flaws…
Apple Is Reportedly Removing Apps That Share Your Location Data With Third Parties
Apple has started removing apps from the App Store that violate the company’s policies by sharing location data with third parties without explicit consent, reports 9to5Mac. The breaches are related to sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the company’s App Store Guidelines, which say that apps must not transmit “user location data to third parties without explicit consent from the user [or] for unapproved purposes.” Developers that have violated the company’s guidelines have received notices from Apple, informing them that their apps are not in compliance “upon re-evaluation.” 9to5Mac notes that the apps affected haven’t provided enough clear information to users about what happens to their data after it’s collected…
Facebook Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Collection of Texts and Call Logs
Facebook is facing a class action lawsuit over the revelations that it logged text messages and phone calls via its smartphone apps…
Elon Musk Says Boring Company Will Offer Free Rides to the Public This Year
Musk first began seriously talking about an underground network of tunnels back in January 2016. Then, he told students at a hyperloop passenger pod competition: “It’s not that hard, but if you have tunnels in cities, it would massively alleviate congestion. You could have tunnels at all different levels, you could have 30 layers of tunnels and completely relieve the congestion problem in high-density cities. So, I highly suggest tunnels.”…
Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini Robot Dog Goes on Sale in 2019
SpotMini, Boston Dynamics’ agile four-legged robot, will go on sale next year for companies that want a mechanical quadruped to get to places a wheeled device can’t reach…
‘Anonymous’ Hackers Deface Russian Govt. Site to Protest Web-Blocking (NSFW)
In retaliation for mass blocking that targeted Telegram but caused widespread collateral damage, hackers have hit the website of Russia’s Federal Agency for International Cooperation. The attackers, who signed off as ‘Anonymous’ , left a not-safe-for-work rant criticizing local telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor. Meanwhile, Telegram filed an appeal challanging a Supreme Court ruling concerning the surrender of encryption keys…
RocketBody Tracks Your Metabolism to Tell You When to Eat and Work Out
You can have the best fitness trackers in the world but, let’s face it, sometimes you get to the gym or plan to go for a run, only for your body to tell you that it would really rather be doing anything else instead! Finding a solution to this problem is the goal of a newly launched wearable device that’s just landed on Kickstarter. Called RocketBody, it’s advertised as an artificial intelligence personal fitness trainer and nutritionist — but one which will track your metabolic rate and tell you when the best time to do some training might be. To aid with that mission, it will also advise you when to eat to enable you to have the healthiest lifestyle possible…