Tech News Roundup for September 16, 2021
Here are a few of the tech stories I’ve found interesting over the last couple days.
Uber Offers Discounts for Election Day
This normally wouldn’t be a story I highlight, never mind first, but with the Canadian Federal Election coming on Monday, Uber is offering discounts on up to two rides on Election Day. Using the code VOTE2021 users can get $5 off a ride, twice.
While I applaud any effort to help people get out and vote, I would love to see prices just dropped for election day and/or steeper discounts. Unless Uber promotes this in the app, it is likely many people won’t even know about the discount.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2021/09/16/uber-canada-is-giving-out-discounted-rides-on-election-day/
SpaceX Launches Privately Funded Tourism Spaceflight
SpaceX’s first tourist spaceflight is orbiting the Earth tonight. The mission, dubbed Inspiration4, launched from Florida on Wednesday evening carrying four space tourists. The mission was funded by a billionare, since spaceflight is still too expensive for you and I, but it is the first spaceflight to consist entirely of tourists, with no professional astronauts aboard. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is being controlled entirely from SpaceX on the ground. The tourists will spend 3 days orbiting the planet at an altitude of around 545km, which is twice as high as the International Space Station. It is also the first manned spaceflight since 2009 to not visit a space station.
While I’m not going to space anytime soon, missions like these prove that within my lifetime, spaceflight might become as accessible as flying in an airplane. This is just the first step.
Facebook Internal Research Shows How Damaging Instagram Can Be to Mental Health
The Wall Street Journal has received access to internal research conducted by Facebook, research that has not been made public. According to the WSJ, Facebook is fully aware of the negative effects that Instagram has on mental health, especially among youth. Among the data points in the research are teenagers reporting they feel “addicted” to the platform, blaming Instagram for anxiety and depression, and more.
It is a pretty damning thing to read, especially since the company has chosen not to share this research with the public.
Microsoft Offers Options for Passwordless Accounts
Microsoft has been working towards being able to offer a passwordless option for Microsoft Accounts for a couple years now, and it is officially rolling it out. This doesn’t mean you can log into your account without any kind of authentication. Rather, instead of using a password, other methods of identifying a user are used. This requires the use of the Microsoft Authenticator app on a smartphone, as well as receiving a code via email, SMS, or another compatible app. This allows users to bypass the password altogether.
Going passwordless will be significantly more secure than using a password, but it will likely take a very long time before it becomes the norm.
Nintendo Finally Adds Support For Bluetooth Headphones to the Switch
In a surprise move, Nintendo updated the Switch’s operating system to version 13.0 this week, and that update brought support for Bluetooth headphones. Not supporting wireless headphones was difficult to accept in 2017 when the console was released, never mind in 2021, so I’m glad to see it. There are some limitations to wireless headphone support. This is audio only, with no microphone support, only two wireless controlers are supported when using Bluetooth headphones, and when local wireless communication is in use Bluetooth audio is disabled. That last part is unfortunate, since playing multiplayer games locally would benefit from headphone use, however it is likely that Nintendo’s local wireless communication makes use of Bluetooth, precluding headphone use.
Still, I’ll take it.
https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-switch-firmware-update-bluetooth-audio-support
GoPro Announces Hero 10 Black Camera
GoPro has revised it’s action camera, releasing the Hero 10 Black. It looks to set the standard for action cameras, being able to record 5.3k at 60 frames per second and 4k at 120 frames per second. Video stabilization also looks to be significantly better.
It looks like a solid update to what is the default name for action cameras on the market. If this is your market, it looks like a solid option.
https://www.engadget.com/gopro-hero-10-review-a-big-invisible-upgrade-130041612.html