Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

YouTube CBO Robert Kyncl has confirmed that all of the company's Originals content will be made available free of charge.

Currently locked behind a paywall, Originals will become free and ad-supported. At the moment, it is not clear exactly when the change will happen, but it is certainly in the cards, meaning shows like Cobra Kai should reach a larger audience.

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As Mozilla continues to try to make it safer than ever to use Firefox, the organization has updated its Add-on Policy so that any updates that include obfuscated code are explicitly banned.

Mozilla has also set out in plain terms its blocking process for add-ons and extensions. While there is nothing surprising here, the clarification should mean that there are fewer causes for disputes when an add-on is blocklisted.

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President Putin has signed into law a bill that will give Russia a "sovereign internet" -- one which could be disconnected from the global web if the Kremlin decided to do so. It is being sold as a way to "ensure the safe and sustainable functioning" of Russia's internet should the country's enemies try to block access.

But there are fears that the law -- which will require ISPs to route traffic through government-controlled servers -- amounts to the creation of a Russian version of the Great Firewall of China and will lead to severe online censorship.

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Google has announced that it is giving users greater control over how long the company holds on to location history and activity data.

A new time-limiting feature makes it possible to have information such as account activity and location data automatically deleted after a period of time. The privacy-focused move comes after feedback to Google which found users wanted the company to provide simpler ways to manage or delete the private data it holds.

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The UK government is looking to ensure the security of the Internet of Things as they become more prevalent in the home, possibly through the use of legislation.

The government says that it wants IoT devices to be secure by design and, having already published a code of practice paper, is now embarking on a five-week security consultation during which the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will consider regulatory proposals.

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Security researchers have discovered an unprotected database stored on a Microsoft cloud server. The 24GB database includes personal information about 80 million households across the US.

The researchers from vpnMentor were working on a web mapping project when they made the discovery. They say that as the database they found left out in the open relates to American households which include multiple residents, the data breach could potentially affect hundreds of millions of people.

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Microsoft has announced that it is extending its partnership with Dell in a move that will enable Microsoft Azure customers to take advantage of VMware virtualization in the cloud.

The company is also bringing VMware into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem to extend the capabilities of its Windows Virtual Desktop too. It will also bring new management and security options to Microsoft Intune.

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Apple has been upsetting developers of parental control apps recently by asking them to restrict their offerings in various ways, or simply removing them from the App Store. Critics say that this is because the apps compete with iOS's Screen Time feature.

Apple has now responded to the criticism, denying that this is the reason for its interference with and removal of apps. The company insists its actions had nothing to do with killing off the competition, but says that several parental control apps were delisted because "they put users' privacy and security at risk".

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If you are having trouble accessing TVCatchup  via its mobile app or through its website, you are not alone. The UK TV streaming service has gone dark, and it could be a permanent closure.

The service has been no stranger to controversy and managed to attract the attention -- and the wrath -- of numerous broadcasters, and became embroiled in a legal battle. Having managed to stay online for longer than many would have imagined, it seems you’ll now have to seek out an alternative to TVCatchup.

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With iOS 12, Apple introduced Screen Time, a feature that serves as a parental control tool and encourages periods away from the screen. Tim Cook said last year that he thought he used his phone too much (more recently adding, "we don't want people using their phones all the time"), and Screen Time is Apple attempt to muscle in on the countering of "phone addiction".

For those who are concerned about how much they are using their phone, or who are concerned about their children, it seems like a great feature. But for app developers who have spent years crafting tools that offered these options before Apple, the news is not so good. A new report reveals that Apple is interfering with apps that compete with Screen Time, even going as far as de-listing them without warning.

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Microsoft has released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18885 (or Windows 10 20H1, if you prefer) to the Fast Ring. The big addition in this latest build is Android notification mirroring in Windows via the Your Phone app.

If you have an Android 7.0 handset, you can (probably, barring handset-specific compatibility issues) take advantage of the ability to see phone notifications in Windows 10. The range of phones that can use the "phone screen" screen mirroring option has been expanded as well. With Build 18885, Microsoft has also addressed the problem that was preventing people from installing updates when they had a USB drive or SD card connected.

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Following the revelation that Facebook "unintentionally" scraped and uploaded 1.5 million users' email contacts, the New York attorney general's office has announced that it is opening an investigation into the social media giant.

Attorney general Letitia James said that it is "time Facebook is held accountable for how it handles consumers' personal information".

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With the release of the May 2019 Update, Windows 10 is becoming more space-hungry than ever. For both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 10 version 1903, Microsoft has increased the minimum storage requirements to 32GB.

For 32-bit users the new requirement is double what it used to be, while for 64-bit users there is a 12GB increase from the previous minimum of 20GB.

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The launch of the Samsung Galaxy Fold has been mired in problems, culminating in the company postponing the foldable phone. In addition to reports of serious screen issues from journalists with review handsets, Samsung was also hit with an iFixit teardown that highlighted numerous design flaws.

Now, following pressure from Samsung, iFixit has removed the teardown -- although the site stresses that it was under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to do so.

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Apple has announced a voluntary recall of some of its AC wall plug adapters and Apple World Travel Adapter Kits over fears that they could cause electric shocks.

While the number of known incidents is low -- Apple says there have been just six worldwide -- there is a risk of the wall plug adapters breaking and causing a shock if touched. The recall relates solely to three-prong wall plug adapters, not USB power adapters. Anyone who has one of the adapters can obtain a replacement free of charge.

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