Tech IRL: 16 things you need to know for Wednesday, Jan. 23

Here’s your daily tech digest, courtesy of DGiT Daily, for Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

The big story of the day is the Xiaomi dual-folding smartphone. Hadlee Simons has the story, but just look at it!

Here’s everything else happening:

1. HONOR View 20 reviews went out late yesterday, and it’s been well received – the 48MP camera is very good, still no global pricing announced (Android Authority).

2. LG teases touchless interface for upcoming smartphone (Android Authority).

3. Google is looking like it will kill off ad-blockers in Chrome. For safety, apparently. Also, Google makes a rather large amount of money from ads. Expect to hear more on this! (The Register).

4. iFixit are reporting a “flexgate” issue with the Apple MacBook Pro: “the current generation of MacBook Pro laptops (2016–present) uses flexible ribbon cables to connect the display to a display controller board.” These are pulled tight every time you open the lid on the computer, and they appear to not last. And, they’re reportedly not replaceable. Hmm! (iFixit).

5. Fender’s acoustic-electric hybrid is a technological wonder, says Engadget.

6. Uber Rewards is rolling out. Here’s how the perks work (TechCrunch).

7. Netflix ‘would lose 57% of their subscribers if they added commercials’ says a new study (Netimperative). (I believe the original report website has crashed under the load)

8. Google is retiring “classic” Hangouts in October this year, and honestly if you can keep up with what’s happening to which Google messaging service, you’re doing well (G Suite blog).

9. Microsoft is working hard to take on Chromebooks in the education space, new push includes a “Classroom Pen” for Surface devices (The Verge). Meanwhile, Google says it has 30 million Chromebooks in the classroom (Google Blog).

10. A solid investigation into Glassdoor reviews reveals odd, massive spikes of mostly positive reviews. What’s going on? Employers asking employees to balance bad with good, gaming the whole thing (WSJ, plus Tweet thread).

11. Supreme Court won’t hear Yelp defamation case that would threaten the free web (Gizmodo).

12. The secret censorship holding back the sex toy industry (The Verge).

13. NASA will attempt to knock an asteroid out of orbit for the first time in 2022 (Business Insider)

14. Oscar nominations announced: ‘Roma’ and ‘The Favorite’ earn 10 noms (Variety). Is it almost cheating to call your movie The Favourite? It’s like naming your greyhound She’s The Fastest.

15. Niagara Falls is starting to freeze over again and the photos are amazing (CNET).

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