Technology

Amazon says it will continue to accept payment in the UK from Visa credit cards, reversing a decision to ban the cards that was announced last November and due to kick in this week on Wednesday, January 19th. In an email to customers, Amazon said it was “working closely on a potential solution that will enable customers to continue using their Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk.” The company did not say what the solution was or how long it might be in place, but added that “should we make any changes related to Visa credit cards, we will give you advance notice.” Visa raised interchange fees five-fold after the UK left the EU The original decision to ban Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk arose from a dispute over payment fees levied by card issuers. The European Union sets limits on these p...

Apple will supposedly require its staff to show proof of their COVID-19 booster shots in order to enter stores and offices. In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Apple will implement this policy starting February 15. Employees will have four weeks to get their booster shots after they are deemed eligible, and unvaccinated staff — including those who have not received the vaccine and those who have not submitted their proof of vaccination — will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 antigen test before they are allowed to enter a retail store, partner store or the Apple office beginning January 24. “Due to waning efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of highly transmissible variants such as Omicron, a booster shot is now part of staying up to date w...

New rumors have surfaced surrounding the new Apple iPad Pro. According to various sources, the next generation of the Apple iPad Pro will face a redesign that will allow the tablet to be charged using MagSafe wireless charging. Though that is the case, the design seems to go against what has been previously reported, which is that the iPad will see an all-glass back like the recent iPhones. The new iPad Pro’s MagSafe charger would instead be utilized through an enlarged glass Apple logo built on the metal back of the tablet. It is expected to have a faster-charging speed than the current iPhone, suggesting stronger magnets. The iPad Pro might also see an evident improvement to its camera, as well as a greater battery. Sources have also suggested that Apple will be implementing a “brand new...

According to reports, Walmart could be gearing up to enter the metaverse. The retail chain filed several trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in late December for operations related to the metaverse, cryptocurrency and NFTs. The filings note that Walmart is looking into selling virtual goods, providing a cryptocurrency and offer NFTs. Although nothing has been confirmed, Walmart has been known to look into expanding its business to match the times. It is currently possible that the chain is simply preemptively filing trademarks so that is not left out if the metaverse, cryptocurrency and NFTs continue to encroach on everyday life. In case you missed it, Wikipedia doesn’t think NFTs are a form of art. Read Full Article

Walmart appears to be getting ready for a leap into the metaverse. Recent trademark applications indicate the company is looking to establish its own NFTs and cryptocurrency, according to a report from CNBC. The retail giant filed for several trademarks on December 30th, suggesting plans to start selling virtual goods, including electronics, toys, appliances, sporting equipment, apparel, home decor, and more, as noted by CNBC. There’s mention of offering customers a digital currency, as well as the opportunity to buy and sell NFTs. Meanwhile, another application details possible “physical fitness training services” and “classes in the field of health and nutrition” that could take place in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality environments (VR) — the company made a separate filing for...

Samsung might be adding its first-ever “Ultra” model to its upcoming Galaxy Tab S8 lineup, which will also include a Tab S8 and S8 Plus, as rumored by WinFuture. According to WinFuture, the flagship Ultra model could sport a 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2960 x 1848px resolution, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, as well as a notch with two 12-megapixel (MP) cameras. It may also come with the option of up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, along with a 11200mAh battery. The Galaxy Tab S8 Plus is rumored to have a 12.7-inch display with no notch.Image by WinFuture When compared to the Tab S8 Ultra, the Super AMOLED display on the Tab S8 Plus is a bit smaller, potentially measuring at 12.7 inches with a resolution of 2800 x 1752px. WinFuture says the midgrade model may not have a notc...

A bug in Safari 15 can leak your browsing activity, and can also reveal some of the personal information attached to your Google account, according to findings from FingerprintJS, a browser fingerprinting and fraud detection service (via 9to5Mac). The vulnerability stems from an issue with Apple’s implementation of IndexedDB, an application programming interface (API) that stores data on your browser. As explained by FingerprintJS, IndexedDB abides by the same-origin policy, which restricts one origin from interacting with data that was collected on other origins — essentially, only the website that generates data can access it. For example, if you open your email account in one tab and then open a malicious webpage in another, the same-origin policy prevents the malicious page from viewin...

Meta has been hit with a $3.2 billion USD class action lawsuit, The Guardian reported. The suit alleges that the company breached competition law by exploiting the data of 44 million Facebook users in the U.K. between 2015 and 2019. The suit was filed by legal specialist Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen with the litigation firm Innsworth. As the main social network in the U.K. and owner of other social networks such as Instagram and Whatsapp, Lovdahl Gormsen said that Facebook tracked the habits of users across websites and “abused its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions on ordinary Britons giving it the power to exploit their personal data.” “They are exploiting users by taking their personal data without properly compensating them for taking that data,” Lovdahl Gormsen said in...

My colleague Dieter Bohn is one of the nicest people I’ve met, but every time I’d hop onto Zoom to record The Vergecast there would be just the tiniest, most minute twitch of displeasure on his face. Dieter was too kind to address the big, camera-obscuring elephant in the room: how for several minutes, instead of my face, he’d see a giant reversed Sony Imaging Edge webcam logo — a huge white W on an orange square set against a not-quite-black background. Finally, after at least four months of the big W, he politely asked, “Alex, what’s your address?” “Why?” “So I can send you an HDMI adapter.” He said it with that unique Midwestern clip that says, “I am being very polite and gracious, but you should know I may also commit a murder in the near future.” I’d already collected more “HDMI to X”...

Wordle is a free browser game, and a browser game only — it has no accompanying apps, something that some people (myself included, regrettably) might not realize during a time when nearly everything has an app. This leaves plenty of room for fake Wordle apps to crowd app stores in an attempt to leech off of the word puzzle game’s sudden rise in popularity. But there’s one app coincidentally called Wordle! that’s not a clone — it actually existed before the browser game itself. That’s why its developer is teaming up with the mind behind the browser-based Wordle, Josh Wardle, to use its accidental success as an opportunity to give back, according to a report from GameSpot. The story unraveled in a thread on Twitter, with Wordle! app developer, Steven Cravotta, detailing how his coding projec...

Most of us check our gift card balances online (because who actually keeps those receipts that tell us how much money we have left on them?), making an apparent oversight by Google all the worse. It appears that Google inadvertently approved a prominent ad for a phony Target gift card balance checker that’s meant to steal your funds. A Reddit user on r/assholedesign discovered the slip-up when searching Google for “Target gift card balance” on mobile, and found that the very first result is an ad, titled “Check Gift Card Balance – Target.” Only, the site isn’t Target — it’s actually a site called “bristolhirevan.” The ad’s description says it will let you check your gift card balance “immediately,” and that it also offers “all van sizes to fit your needs” — how can you get more legit...

AT&T, Dish, and T-Mobile dropped billions of dollars in a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction to acquire more 5G spectrum licenses in the midrange 3.45GHz to 3.55GHz band, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). While AT&T was the biggest spender at $9 billion, Dish spent $7.3 billion, and T-Mobile followed behind at $2.9 billion. Verizon was notably absent from the auction. A number of smaller players also made the list, like Three Forty-Five Spectrum, which you can view on Light Reading’s site. This is the third-largest FCC auction yet, with total bids reaching about $22.5 billion The auction officially ended in November, but the FCC hasn’t publicly disclosed the winning bidders until now (PDF). Total bids reached about $22.5 billion, making it the thi...