HeyWhatsNew: Google Employees Fired After a Protest, and X Will Now Be Demanding a Subscription Fee
Hello there, Heyuppers. Welcome back to HeyWhatsNew, your weekly roundup of tech news headlines. Here’s what went down in the world of tech in the week beginning 15/04/2024.
A Protest at Google Results in 28 Job Losses
Google has just fired 28 employees who protested against a contract the company shares with Amazon and the Israeli government. Last week, a smaller group of employees were arrested during sit-in protests in California and New York but were later released.
The protesters, part of a group called No Tech for Apartheid, have been opposing Google’s deal with Israel since 2021. They’re worried that this contract will help the Israeli government monitor Palestinians more and cause more problems for the oppressed country.
A New U.S. Law Places Certain Restrictions On Stablecoins
U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis this week introduced a new law called the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act. Essentially, the law states that companies creating stablecoins must have enough money in reserve to back up each coin they create. It also says that they can’t make coins without enough backing and can’t use stablecoins for illegal activities like money laundering.
Overall, the law wants to encourage safe and responsible innovation with stablecoins because they can be useful for fast international transactions, lower fees, and for new programs and apps.
Anyone Who Joins X Now Will Have to Pay to Tweet
Back in September 2023, SpaceX billionaire and X/Twitter Chairman Elon Musk announced plans to make the social media platform a paid service. The idea has already been through a trial run in New Zealand and the Philippines, and new information suggests that users the world over may now be required to pay a $1 annual fee to access basic Twitter functions.
According to The Independent, Musk says that this may be the most effective way to keep bots and troll farm operators off the platform. He goes on to say that the subscription fee may only be in place for the first few months after subscription, but keeping bots out is the main priority.
Instagram Is Taking New Measures to Protect Minors from Nudity
Meta has recently been under pressure for reportedly failing to do enough to keep kids safe from predators on their Instagram and Facebook platforms. Over the next few weeks, Meta will be rolling out a new feature that detects and blurs out images that contain nudity, in response to these calls for action.
The goal is to stop people from seeing unwanted nude photos and to prevent scammers from tricking others, especially minors, into sharing their own private photos.
NASA Claims Responsibility for Space Junk That Damaged a Florida Home
NASA confirmed that a large piece of metal that crashed through the roof of a home in Florida is actually space junk. The metal chunk, weighing 1.6 pounds and measuring about 4 inches by 1.6 inches, was identified as debris from a cargo pallet released from the International Space Station in 2021.
NASA determined this after collecting the debris from the Florida home and analyzing it at the Kennedy Space Center. The debris was supposed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, but instead, it crashed into the Florida home.
Samsung Is Officially the Top Mobile Phone Manufacturer, Again
9 to 5 Google reports that Samsung has become the top phone maker globally, overtaking Apple sales in the first quarter of the year. Apple’s iPhone sales fell by almost 10% in the first three months of 2024, which is their biggest drop since the start of the pandemic about 4 years ago. Apple shipped 17 million iPhones during this time, a decrease of 9.6% compared to last year.
Samsung, on the other hand, shipped over 19 million smartphones. Though it may be slightly less than last year, Samsung now holds a larger market share than Apple with 20.8% compared to Apple’s 17.3%.
Heineken Just Released the Boring Phone
Nokia manufacturer HMD along with Heineken and Bodega have just created a phone called The Boring Phone. The new flip phone has a clear design and can’t connect to the internet or download apps, however, it’s said to provide up to a week of battery life on standby and about 20 hours of talk time on a single charge.
The company reports that the Boring Phone won’t be sold and it will instead be given to fans in special giveaways. Only 5,000 units will be made, and people can sign up on Heineken’s website to find out more. The phone was announced at Milan Design Week in a pop-up store by Bodega.
That concludes this week’s edition of HeyWhatsNew. Join us again at the same time next week to unpack the hottest tech news and updates.
