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Facebook Pay Rolls Out in U.S.

Charlotte Henry ·

Facebook Pay launched in the U.S. Thursday, Computing reported, following a trial in India. The service supports payments on the Facebook and Messenger platforms.

“Facebook Pay supports most major credit and debit cards as well as PayPal,” said Deborah Liu, vice president of Facebook’s marketplace and commerce division. She continued: “Payments are processed in partnership with companies like PayPal, Stripe and others around the world. Facebook Pay is built on existing financial infrastructure and partnerships, and is separate from the Calibra wallet which will run on the Libra network.” In addition to enabling users to buy goods on the social network’s various platforms, it will also enable them to send money to friends and donate to fundraisers.

TMO Deals

Kharbon IP67 Wireless Earbuds: $79

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on a pair of Kharbon IP67 Wireless Earbuds. They feature support Bluetooth 5.0, and what the company says is 150 hours of battery life. They also have an IP67 waterproof rating. They’re $79 through our deal.

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Disney+ Clears 10 Million Subscribers on Day One

Charlotte Henry ·

Disney+ surpassed 10 million subscribers on its first day, The Verge reported. The app has been downloaded over 3.2 million times, despite tech teething-problems.

The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars show easily considered the crown jewel of Disney’s streaming service, saw north of 2 million streams over the first day, according to people familiar with the matter. That number has more than likely grown due to overnight and second day viewing. By the end of the day, Disney+ was also the top app in the App Store, according to Apptopia. Launching with a bundle — ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu — also helped bump up both apps in app stores, according to Apptopia’s report. Sources familiar with the matter told The Verge that the bundle also saw a notable increase in sign-ups following the launch of Disney+. To put everything into additional context, analysts projected that Disney+ would have anywhere between 10-18 million subscribers in its first year. Disney has signed up more than half of those projected numbers in 24 hours.

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Google Will Offer Consumers Checking Accounts

Charlotte Henry ·

Google is going to partner with banks to start offering checking accounts. Techcrunch reported that the consumer service will begin next year.

The initial financial partners that Google is working with include Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union, and their motivation per the WSJ piece appears to be seeking out and attracting younger and more digital-savvy customers who are increasingly looking to handle more of their lives through online tools. Per Sengupta’s comments, they’ll also benefit from Google’s ability to work with large sets of data and turn those into value-add products, but the Google exec also said the tech company doesn’t use Google Pay data for advertising, nor does it share that data with advertisers.

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Phil Schiller Explains How Apple Reinvented The MacBook Pro Keyboard

Charlotte Henry ·

One of the key complaints about the previous MacBook Pro was the scissor keyboard. Users worldwide have highlighted issues with the famously flimsy keyboard. Apple has tried to fix the issue in the new 16-inch model. The firm’s head of marketing Phil Schiller explained its thinking to CNET.

The challenge, says Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, was taking the best of the Magic Keyboard, an accessory designed for desktop computers such as the upcoming Mac Pro, which launches in December, and adapting and evolving it for the new notebook. “People sometimes underestimate how much work goes into a keyboard, and that’s why most keyboards in the industry don’t change for 10 or 20 years,” Schiller said in an interview. “We decided that while we were advancing the butterfly keyboard, we would also — specifically for our pro customer — go back and really talk to many pro customers about what they most want in a keyboard and did a bunch of research. The team took the time to do the work to investigate, research, explore and reinvent.”

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Disney+ Alters Scene Between Greedo and Han Solo

Andrew Orr ·

Disney+ has altered the shoot out scene between Greedo and Han Solo, making this the third alteration over the years.

You can see the footage isn’t as lightened as some previous editions. It does lean on the grainier look used in the 1977 reel, but it is longer overall. That is because an additional bit of dialogue was added to Greedo. Not only does the version make it more difficult to tell whether Greedo shot first, but it sees them shout something at Han Solo before being killed.

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Privacytools.io Delists Startpage Over System1

Andrew Orr ·

Privacytools.io delists Startpage from its list of privacy tools and services. Startpage had been taken over by Privacy One Group, which itself is owned by System1. System1 is a targeted advertising company with a business model that seemed—to many—to be in conflict with Startpage’s own privacy-centric model.

Because of the conflicting business model and the unusual way the company reacted, claiming to be fully transparent but being evasive at the same time, we have no choice but to de-list Startpage from our recommendations until it is fully transparent about its new ownership and data processing. Remaining questions include…

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Suspicionless Searches of Travelers' Devices Ruled Unconstitutional

Andrew Orr ·

A federal court ruled that suspicionless searches of travelers’ phones and laptops is unconstitutional, a win for privacy rights.

The ruling came in a lawsuit, Alasaad v. McAleenan, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and ACLU of Massachusetts, on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry.

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504th Military App Could Expose Soldiers’ Data

Andrew Orr ·

The 504th military app gives soldiers weather updates, training changes, and other logistics. But its terms of service say it collects a lot of personal data, and if the app was hacked it could potentially expose top-secret information.

The app’s permissions — which suggested it could pull GPS location data, photos, contacts and even rewrite memory cards — frustrated soldiers who have taken extreme precautions they felt were glossed over by Trotter and other senior leaders…The worst-case scenario, he said, was “our cover might be blown.” While the app said permissions could be disabled, the soldiers said there was a failure of confidence it was secure. Senior leaders checked the phones of subordinates to ensure they had the app installed, soldiers in the unit said.

Why it’s especially concerning: “The app developer, Straxis LLC, is based in Tulsa but has a subsidiary in southern India.”

TMO Deals

GO-TOUGH Reinforced MFi Lightning Cable: $21.24

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the GO-TOUGH reinforced MFi Lightning cable. 6.5 feet in length, this cable is made from heavy-duty PET reinforced cable with reinforced stress points for reduced fraying. It’s $24.99 through our deal, but coupon code BFSAVE15 brings it down to $21.24 at checkout.