5 biggest tech stories not to miss this week
LOS ANGELES — The big tech headlines this week concerned our pocketbooks and how much we’re paying for those wireless plans.
Unlimited everywhere
Verizon kicked off a new rate war last Sunday by announcing a return to unlimited wireless plans. It last offered unlimited data options to customers in 2012 before killing the plans in favor of tiered data buckets.
This is great news for consumers who just don’t understand how much data it costs to surf Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, answer e-mails and send texts. Is that 2 GB a month? 4 GB? 8 GB?
Now Verizon starts with a basic rate of $80 for unlimited data, but with a catch. If you go over 22 GB monthly of data, Verizon may slow you down.
In response, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint all offered deals to either match Verizon or provide more services.
The good news is unlimited data is back again, where it should be. And the winner is the consumer, although we’re clearly paying more for wireless plans than we were ten years ago when the smartphone revolution started.
Back then, it was under $50 a month. We currently pay over $200 for a plan that includes three lines. How much are you forking over to the wireless companies?
Facebook feed
In other tech news this week, a seemingly minor Facebook announcement looks to bring in a huge and loud change for how we use the social network.
Facebook auto-play videos will now have sound
Those videos that pop up in the News Feed have been silent. Now Facebook is turning them into soundies by upping the volume. Facebook said it was making the change because more people are used to having videos in their News Feed.
But once this rolls out, don't be surprised if people start complaining really loudly. Many of us look at Facebook from coffee shops, while standing online at the bank, or fast walking on the treadmill at the gym—and sudden sound from a video could prove to be very annoying to people. Folks will either need to read Facebook with their headphones on, or go in and adjust their settings.
PewDiePie
Over at Facebook’s no. 1 video rival YouTube, the network's biggest star, PewDiePie (real name: Felix Kjellberg) created a huge scandal this week. The Wall Street Journal took the time to watch some of the videos made by the Swedish star, and discovered several had anti-semitic phrases and symbols. Disney, which owns Maker Studios, the distributor of PewDiePie’s work, cut ties with the performer, and YouTube canceled the second season of PewDiePie’s Scare PewDiePie YouTube Red series.
But the fact remains that PewDiePie has over 50 million subscribers on YouTube, and the “influencers” who amass huge audiences on YouTube do it by being provocative. Unlike network TV, which buys shows directly from creators and screens them before airing, on YouTube and other online networks, the creator just uploads it and awaits their cut of the ad revenues.
With PewDiePie and his ilk scaring away advertisers, clearly there will some changes made at YouTube.
Disney, YouTube cut ties with PewDiePie over anti-Semitic videos
Yahoo cookies
Meanwhile, more password breach news from Yahoo, which has been reeling in it for the last two years. This week some Yahoo account holders were told that a hacker could have accessed their account without the need of a password.
This is more drip drip from the September announcement of 500 million Yahoo accounts that had been stolen. Yahoo attributed the hack to a forged cookie.
Cookies are long string of letters and numbers that your computer stores to make it easy to log into a site when you return.
Yahoo is in the process of being acquired by Verizon. According to Bloomberg, it's reached a tentative deal to lower its $4.8 billion price by $250 million due to the security breaches.
Yahoo notifies users of 'forged cookie' breach
Snapchat roadshow
Finally, Snap, Inc. the parent company of the red-hot communications app Snapchat, released three video presentations Friday to investors for its upcoming IPO. Seeking to raise $3 billion, CEO Evan Spiegel, co-founder Bobby Murphy and other Snap execs laid out their vision for the company and why they believe profits will be generated in the coming years.
"Snap tapped into that human desire to communicate in a way that feels like you’re face to face, even if you’re far away," says Spiegel says in the main, 35-minute plus video. "The first time you use it, and can see what they’re seeing, makes you feel close."