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Tech News Today for June 28, 2017

Tech News for Wednesday June 28, 2017

Yesterday, Facebook announced it crossed the 2 billion users milestone and the conversation on this show focused partially on the difficult challenges for a single entity managing that much communication worldwide. Case in point: ProPublica’s piece today that illustrates the challenges for those working to police Facebook’s service for expression that crosses the line. Internal documents reveal the guidelines censors must follow to determine the difference between political expression and hate speech. ProPublica says that based on these documents, the company is more likely to side with elites and governments over activists and minorities as it means national governments might be less inclined to block the service. Read more at propublica.org.

Google News was in serious need of a design refresh and it has one, with a cards-based design reminiscent of Google Now, and a focus on fact-checking with a fact-check widget on the right side of the homepage that lists sources like PolitiFact and Snopes to help debunk some of the more recent items of misinformation making the rounds. Read more at niemanlab.org.

As devices move closer to being bezel-less, the question has moved to “where does the fingerprint reader go?” Behind the device has worked for many, but we’ve also been hearing about hiding the fingerprint reader behind the front display. Qualcomm is showing off its hard work on this with new fingerprint sensors that work through ultrasonic technology capable of detecting fingerprints, bloodflow and heart rate through the display panel. Read more at 9to5google.com.

Qualcomm also announced two new processors: The Snapdragon Wear 1200, targeting fitness trackers and IoT devices. And the Snapdragon 450 based on a 14 nanometer process for improved battery performance of up to 4 hours more when compared to the 435. The 400 series should find itself in mid range devices that begin shipping in Q4. Read more at engadget.com.

Target is kicking off the customer facing pilot for its new service called Target Restock, aimed squarely at those who use Amazon Prime Pantry for next day home delivery of household products. Target first announced it was testing Restock with Target employees in May, and now its hitting parts of Minnesota including Twin Cities for a $4.99 flat fee, that’s $1 cheaper than Amazon’s offering. Shoppers are given a box to fill with items from the target Restock site up to a maximum of 45 pounds. That box is then delivered to the home the very next day. Read more at startribune.com.

The times, they are most definitely not so chill. So its good that Apple has your back, if you happen to be an Apple Music subscriber, with their new Chill personalized playlist. My Chill Mix offers up 25 tracks based entirely on your own listening history and habits within the service, each and every Sunday. A gentle reminder that we should all take some time to stop whatever we are doing and just chill. Read more at techcrunch.com.

Megan Morrone is out sick today, so KTLA tech reporter Rich DeMuro will be cohosting Tech News Today with Jason Howell. They're joined by Iaim Thomson of The Register to discuss the emerging new threat that Petya is posing to businesses around the world. Tech News Today streams live weekdays at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern at twit.tv/live. Subscribe to the show and get it on-demand at twit.tv/tnt.

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