Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

If you're a Snapchat user, you'll know that it's possible to save someone's snaps forever by grabbing a screenshot of it. The problem is, this goes against the idea of Snapchat which is supposed to be about temporary, transient posts; that said, it's not against the rules.

One of the new features of iOS 11 is a screen recording tool that makes it possible to save a video of what's going on on-screen. This can be used to make a recording of snaps, and it seems that a warning notification is not always sent out to the other party.

Continue reading →

The aesthetics of the new Control Center in iOS 11 has been the source of amusement, debate and disgust in varying measures. But putting the look to one side for a moment, people upgrading to iOS 11 have been disappointed to discover that the toggles for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the Control Center don't actually turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

For reasons best known to Apple, the toggles disconnect from wireless networks and Bluetooth devices, but the two radios will remain enabled. While the change of functionality is covered in Apple's support documentation, it's not something that is obvious to users. It's hugely unintuitive, drains battery life and, according to security researchers, could leave iOS devices open to attack.

Continue reading →

One of the perks -- arguably the main perk -- of paying for YouTube Red is that your subscription fee gives you an ad-free experience. At least that's the idea...

Google has now admitted that it was in fact running ads on its premium video service despite promising not to. This was not a change of heart or policy, however; the search giant is putting it down to an "underlying issue" which it is working to fix. In addressing the issue with users, though, it seems Google also failed to understand its own policies.

Continue reading →

UK prime minister Theresa May has called on the likes of Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Facebook to act faster to remove terrorism-related and extremist content. At the moment, it takes an average of 36 hours to remove content shared by the likes of Isis, and May wants this slashed to just two hours.

But even this is not enough for the government. It wants technologies to be developed -- or refined -- that will identify this sort of content and prevent it from getting online in the first place. Facebook agrees -- its love of AI is well-known -- but the solution to online extremism is not as simple as saying "technology firms need to do more."

Continue reading →

When Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 3 just over a week ago, there was much excitement at the fact that the smartwatch now features LTE connectivity. It's finally possible to make a call from your Apple Watch without having your iPhone nearby -- although there's the slight dampener that the watch does not support roaming.

Now the first reviews of the Apple Watch Series 3 are starting to trickle in and, while they are generally positive, they highlight a couple of issues. Battery life seems to be rather less than was proclaimed at launch, and Apple has also identified LTE issues that prevent the watch from using cellular.

Continue reading →

Chuwi has been building anticipation for its upcoming LapBook Air, and the company has now opened up pre-orders for its ultra-thin laptop. Priced at just $429 the LapBook Air is described as being "a very MacBook-like device," and it weighs in at just 1.3kg.

The device is powered by Windows 10 running on an Apollo Lake N3450 processor backed by 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. If you're happy to subscribe to a Chuwi newsletter you can shave an extra $50 off the price, but there's also a giveaway which means you could get one for free.

Continue reading →

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has resigned from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) because of a move to standardize the Encrypted Media Extension (EME) API for controlling DRM in web browsers.

The EFF is far from being the only group to be unhappy with the W3C for the decision to standardize EME, but this is the first -- and possibly only -- one to have gone as far as resigning as well as filing objections. The group says that it proposed compromises that were ignored, and the opposition of EFF and other W3C members were simply overruled.

Continue reading →

Apple news has been dominated -- understandably -- by the launch of the iPhone X, iPhone 8/8Plus and Apple Watch Series 3. But there's also iOS 11 to consider. The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system hit iPhones and iPads around the world yesterday, bringing with it a raft of new features.

The release of iOS 11 includes an updated version of Safari and, importantly, a feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Enabled by default, the feature blocks certain cookies from websites, making it harder for advertisers to follow users around the web. Users and privacy advocates are happy; advertisers, it must be said, are not, saying "Apple's unilateral and heavy-handed approach is bad for consumer choice and bad for the ad-supported online content and services consumers love."

Continue reading →

Hopefully you have been saving up, because today the standard version of the not-particularly-cheap Xbox One X is available to pre-order. Last month saw the Project Scorpio Edition open up for pre-orders, and now it's time for those who are interested in the standard black model.

The console will be available worldwide on November 7, but if you want to avoid disappointment on the day, it's probably best to get your order for "the world's most powerful console" in right now -- links are below. As well as opening up pre-orders today, Microsoft has announced that the list of Xbox One X enhanced games has grown to over 130.

Continue reading →

Adblock Plus is about more than just its eponymous software -- the company also produces Adblock Browser. Now version 2.0 of the secure, private mobile web browser has been released for iOS and it introduces a wealth of new features.

Key among these new features is Ghost Mode which makes it easy to slip into anonymous web browsing mode whenever privacy is of the utmost importance. As the name of the browser implies, there is also an integrated ad-blocker, but it does not end there -- this is an update that the company has been working on for more than a year.

Continue reading →

It has been a while since Amazon launched a new Fire tablet, but today the online retailer has unveiled the all-new Fire HD 10. The processors, battery and screen have all been upgraded, but the starting price has been slashed to just $149.99 (or £149.99).

The screen is a 10.1-inch 1080p affair offering 224 ppi, and the tablet's processor has been upgraded to a quad-core chip, boosting the speed by up to 30 percent. Amazon claims the battery will last for up to 10 hours, and the addition of stereo Dolby Atmos Audio speakers has the sound side of things covered. The company also claims that the Fire HD is "more durable than the latest iPad Pro 10.5” (and costs a lot less too)."

Continue reading →

When news broke yesterday that CCleaner had been hacked and a dangerously modified version had been available to download for a number of weeks, there were understandable concerns from the program's large userbase. And the concern is well-placed -- some 2.27 million machines are thought to have installed the infected software.

Avast now has something of a PR nightmare on its hands as it tries to rebuild the trust of its users. To this end, company CEO Vince Steckler and CTO Ondřej Vlček have written an article clarifying what happened with CCleaner, and give some details about how they plan to protect their customers -- as well as "correct[ing] some misleading information that is currently circulating."

Continue reading →

The chances are that when you read that headline -- particularly if you're not a Gmail or Inbox user -- your reaction was something along the lines of "how is that not already a thing?"

The update is a simple one, but one that will be welcomed by users. Just as URLs are automatically converted into clickable links, so the same luxury is to be lavished on addresses, phone numbers and contacts. Welcome to 2017.

Continue reading →

If you are having trouble accessing Outlook.com at the moment, you're not alone. Many people -- particularly in Europe -- are experiencing problems with Microsoft's email service.

Microsoft has confirmed that there is an issue with "load-balancing infrastructure," and investigations are underway to discover the source of the problem. Users affected by the problem say that the messages they try to send remain in the Draft folder rather than reaching the intended recipient.

Continue reading →

When the Apple Watch Series 3 was revealed last week, there was much excitement about the fact that -- at long last -- it would be possible to make calls without the need to have an iPhone nearby. Built-in cellular connectivity is something Apple Watch users have been begging for, and the Series 3 model delivers LTE goodness.

But all is not quite as rosy as it might first seem. Yes, it's possible to use your new Apple Watch to make phone calls, but it's not going to be of any use to you if you go abroad. The smartwatch does not support roaming. On top of this, the device will only provide full functionality in the country of purchase -- so if you were thinking of buying a cheap Apple Watch abroad, you might want to think again.

Continue reading →