Apple slams Spotify for wanting ‘benefits of a free app without being free’ March 15, 2019 Apple has hit back at Spotify’s EU competition complaint, saying the streaming service wants “all the benefits of a free app without being free”. Earlier this week Spotify filed a complaint with EU competition authorities over the way the tech giant’s App Store works. Read more: Spotify reports Apple to EU commission over antitrust concerns [...]
Facebook loses two top technology execs after Zuckerberg adopts privacy shift March 14, 2019 Two senior Facebook technology executives have left the social media giant, days after its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company would be moving towards a “privacy-focused future”. Zuckerberg said in a blog post that chief product officer Chris Cox, one of the firm’s earliest employees, and Whatsapp vice president Chris Daniels had resigned. “As Mark has [...]
Netflix to set its own age ratings for streaming shows and movies in new partnership with BBFC March 14, 2019 Netflix will be granted powers to set the official age ratings for its film and TV programmes as part of a new partnership with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The streaming giant will use an automated rating algorithm, alongside a manual tagging system, to apply official UK age ratings to its original films [...]
Facebook hit with US criminal investigation over data-sharing deals March 14, 2019 US prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Facebook over a number of data deals it struck with other major tech firms. A grand jury in New York has ordered two smartphone manufacturers to hand over records, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: Facebook to encrypt more messages [...]
Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp emerge from worst outage in tech giant’s history March 14, 2019 Facebook showed signs of recovery this morning after suffering a partial outage that affected users across the world for more than 14 hours. The outage, believed to be the longest in the social media site’s history, began yesterday afternoon and also affected Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. Read more: Global outages cripple Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram The [...]
Global outages cripple Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram March 13, 2019 Several of Facebook’s most popular social media platforms are suffering partial outages around the world, largely affecting users across the Americas and Europe. Service continues to be disrupted on Facebook’s main app, Messsenger, Instagram and Whatsapp. Users began reporting issues at around 4pm GMT, with full access to the platforms still ongoing. Third-party outage tracker Down Detector said [...]
Equality regulator launches probe into BBC over equal pay scandal March 12, 2019 The BBC will face a formal investigation by the equality regulator following complaints female employees were not paid as much as men for the same work. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) today said it has opened a probe into the broadcaster’s historical policy and pay practices and will look at formal and informal [...]
BT TV to offer Vice channels in bid to bolster its youth appeal March 8, 2019 BT has secured a deal with Vice Media to give its customers access to the youth channel’s content on live and on-demand TV. The partnership, which comes into effect next week, will give BT TV customers access to Vice on TV, a lifestyle and entertainment channel offering documentaries about popular culture and current affairs. Read [...]
BBC ‘risks irrelevance’ unless it adapts to digital age, says director general March 7, 2019 The BBC risks irrelevance unless it adapts to changing viewing habits, the broadcaster’s director general has said. Speaking at the Media & Telecoms Conference this morning, Tony Hall admitted the BBC faces an uphill struggle to keep up with deep-pocketed rivals such as Netflix and Amazon, but insisted public service broadcasters are as important as [...]
Bauer Media acquires ten regional radio stations amid competition probe March 5, 2019 Bauer Media has snapped up a further ten regional radio stations as it faces a competition probe into its spate of acquisitions earlier in the year. The media giant today said it has bought UKRD Group, which owns stations across Yorkshire, East Anglia, the south and the south west of England. Read more: Bauer Media [...]