WASHINGTON — Automattic, the parent company of Tumblr and WordPress.com, will soon be acquiring the popular podcast app- Pocket Casts from a collective of public radio groups, including National Public Radio and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Studios. Co-founders Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson will remain in charge of the Pocket Casts team, as per a media report. “As part of Automattic, Pocket Casts will continue to provide you with the features needed to enjoy your favorite podcasts (or find something new),” a WordPress.com blog post said. “We will explore building deep integrations with WordPress.com and Pocket Casts, making it easier to…
Author: zenger.news
WASHINGTON — American electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla has announced that it is offering a monthly subscription for its Full Self Driving package at $199 per month. Tesla owners who previously bought the now-discontinued Enhanced Autopilot package can get the Full Self Driving subscription for $99 per month, as suggested by Tesla’s support page. Full Self Driving capability subscriptions are currently available to eligible vehicles in the United States, the support page said. Until now, the automaker had sold its Full Self Driving package for a one-time fee of $10,000, but the monthly subscription lets users literally test-drive the Full Self…
WASHINGTON — Popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp is testing the technology to independently encrypt chat backups in the cloud. The Facebook-owned service said that the system has been enabled in its most recent Android beta update. Opting in for the beta build should keep chat history and media securely backed up, with the significant caveat that if a user forgets their passcode or loses the 64-digit recovery key, then they’ll be locked away permanently because even WhatsApp can’t get in, as per a media report. “End-to-end encryption doesn’t just protect your messages; it protects the moments you create and share…
WASHINGTON — Social media platform Facebook’s payment system Facebook Pay is set to extend to online retailers in August this year in the United States, Facebook said in a blog. Online shoppers will eventually see another option listed next to the usual payment methods, now that Facebook Pay will expand beyond the company’s own platforms. “Starting this August, businesses in the US who use participating platforms will have the ability to enable Facebook Pay as a payment option directly on their websites, giving their customers the ability to speed through checkout without having to re-enter their payment information,” the company said…
MUMBAI, India — Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar feels her upcoming film with Akshay Kumar is all about meaningful entertainment. The duo had earlier worked in “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” and is currently working on “Raksha Bandhan.” “Since we come from a film that really worked, was loved, and had such an important social message, people have similar expectations from our current collaboration as well,” said Pednekar. “Akshay sir and I have a really feel-good vibe, and people know if we are coming together in a film, then it will be something meaningful yet entertaining.” “Akshay sir is someone who I really admire, and…
NEW DELHI — Names of over 40 Indian journalists appeared on a leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, as per a media report. The report said that the Indian government used the software to spy on influential people, which included politicians and journalists. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology refuted reports of government surveillance. “The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people have no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology said in its response. “In the past, similar claims were made…
SYDNEY — Australian state of New South Wales’ health minister denies there was a “sting” to stop a Sydney comedian from continuing to announce the state’s daily virus counts 12 hours ahead of the government. Starting the night of July 9, TikTok comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz has correctly reported how many cases New South Wales would announce the following morning five times. He had appeared in a talk show on Sunday on which the Sydney TikToker claimed he used mathematical equations to predict the state’s Covid numbers and later posted the prediction of 109 cases across his social media channels. But his…
CANBERRA, Australia — It is estimated that locking down two of Australia’s biggest cities has been costing the country around AU$10 billion ($735.31 million), but this is a growing figure that could result in the economy going into contraction in the Sept. quarter. The full impact on households from the lockdown of the state of Victoria in June alone will be plain to see when new retail spending figures are released on July 21. The Australian Bureau of Statistics will issue its preliminary retail trade figures for June, with forecasts among economists centering on a 0.4 percent decline, wiping out the…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has been urged to seize on international ambition and phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. The Grattan Institute said scrapping stamp duty for electric vehicles would cut their cost by up to 6.5 percent and speed up the switch from higher-polluting cars. In the absence of an economy-wide price on carbon, the institute argues the changes would help Australia achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Introducing an emissions standard for new passenger and light vehicles, and tightening that to zero by 2035, would also encourage manufacturers to sell low and zero-emissions cars into…
SYDNEY — While Hollywood has its own ideas about how a star is born, astronomers have released a series of images helping to reveal why the brightest lights form in space. Using observations from the world’s most powerful telescopes, scientists examine parts of space where star formation is happening compared to where it is expected to happen. “This will give us a chance to better understand what triggers, boosts, or holds back the birth of new stars,” said Rebecca McElroy from the Sydney Institute for Astronomy. The images show different components of galaxies near the Milky Way in distinct colors, allowing for…