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Tech news from Australia and abroad, with Mashable reporter/tech extraordinaire Johnny Lieu and FBi’s Lucy Smith.

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15.03.17- Elon Musk is Solving South Australia's Energy Woes and A Vibrator Company Has Been Collecting Your Data Mar 15, 2017

Show notes

Yesterday, Tesla's Vice President for energy products Lyndon Rive (who is Musk's cousin) said the company could build enough battery storage capacity with its Powerwall 2, to solve lingering energy supply concerns in the state of South Australia, within 100 days. Standard Innovation, the maker of digitally-enabled vibrator the We-Vibe 4 Plus, has learnt the hard way that you shouldn't make data collecting vibrators. On Thursday, it settled a U.S. privacy violation suit to the tune of $3.75 million (A$4.95 million).

1.03.17- Nokia 3310 Reboot and Facebook Reacts Impacting Your Feed Mar 01, 2017

Show notes

At the Mobile World Congress, Nokia showed three new Android phones, but the one that got the most attention was the rebooted Nokia 3310, which is essentially a lowly, cheap feature phone... but... it has snake!! Facebook's reactions just turned one and the company is finally revealing how its revamped like button impacts your News Feed. It turns out the company weighs reactions — love, haha, wow, sad and angry — over "likes" in determining what content to surface in your News Feed.

22.02.17- More Uber Drama, No More Youtube Ads Feb 22, 2017

Show notes

Less than a month since ride-share company Uber faced a heavy wave of backlash that led to the #deleteuber hashtag - since publishing. According to an essay by a former Uber engineer the company has a big problem with sexism in the workplace. Susan J Fowler has accused Uber of institutional sexism, HR incompetence and organisational disorder. On Friday, the Google-owned video giant announced that it will no longer offer its 30-second pre-roll ad format without a skip button in 2018. Hovever- they will continue to show 15-20 second ads without the option to bypass them.

15.02.17- ARIEL BOGEL'S LAST SHOW: Twitter's Anti-Abuse Filter and Snapchat Goes Public Feb 15, 2017

Show notes

Ariel Bogel says her last goodbyes to Start Up and introduces Mashable Tech Reporter Johnny Lieu, who will be taking the reigns every Wednesday from now on. Twitter adds anti-abuse feature, then removes it after two hours. The company gets slammed for taking the wrong approach to abuse. Snap Inc, a.k.a. Snapchat is set to go public in one of the biggest tech initial public offerings (IPO) to date. But will it hurt them, like it did with Twitter?

08.02.17- Facebook Livestream Breaches Copyright & Silicon Valley VS Trump Feb 08, 2017

Show notes

Two Aus men may be facing legal action after they streamed a highly anticipated boxing match on FB Live. (Danny Green v Anthony Mundine on Foxtel). Both streams attracted tens of thousands of viewers. More than 90 technology companies, many of which were founded by and employ thousands of immigrants, have filed an amicus brief opposing Pres Donald Trump's 'Muslim travel ban.'

01.02.17- #DeleteUber and Australia is a Lab Rat For App Developers Feb 01, 2017

Show notes

The hashtag #DeleteUber has been spreading on social media amid protests against Trump's Muslim travel ban. The ride hailing service was accused of "strike breaking" in New York Saturday, while others condemned remarks made by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick indicating he would work with the president. As a country, Australia makes a great petri dish. It has a relatively small population, it's English-speaking and it has an estimated smartphone penetration of 84 percent — all qualities that make it the ideal place for Tinder to test its new features, according to the dating app's founder.

25.01.17- Encrypted Texting App and An All Female Ride Sharing App Jan 25, 2017

Show notes

Following Trump's expression of interest in data collection, an encrypted texting app has been designed so you can safely message on your smartphone without the messages content being intercepted and SHEBAH - an Uber alternative run by women and for women exclusively is set to launch in Australia in February, but is it really a good idea?

18.01.17- Winkd- A LGBTQI Dating App Jan 18, 2017

Show notes

Lucy and Ariel spoke with Diana Kalkoul and Neda Robat-Meily, the girls behind Winkd- a new LGBTQI dating app scheduled to launch at Mardi Gras.

14.12.16- Trump meets Silicon Valley and the most popular topics on Facebook and Twitter in 2016 Dec 14, 2016

Show notes

President Elect Donald Trump invites Silicon Valley tech leaders to Trump Tower, what do they talk about? Plus the role of technology in 2016: the influence on the US Election and the birth of trends like 'Fake News' and #Pizzagate, what were the most talked about topics according to Facebook and Twitter?

7.12.16- Medibank's VR experience for hospital patients and Amazon Go launches in Seattle Dec 07, 2016

Show notes

Medibank ventures into the Virtual Reality world with an experience designed to relax hospital patients and allow them to escape their hospital environment. Amazon launches a physical store in Seattle with no checkouts which uses sensors, cameras, AI and your Amazon account to track you throughout the store. Plus the Amazon truck designed to transfer massive volumes of data across America.

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