Believe it or not, we don’t cover every piece of tech news here at SnapMunk. In an effort to keep you apprised of all things relevant in the world of technology and startups, here are some noteworthy tech news items that didn’t get a full column this week but certainly deserve a glance.
Apple Loses Trademark Fight Over iPhone In China
Apple may win a lot, but they can be beaten every now and then. A company called Xintong Tiandi in China won the right to continue selling leather goods branded with the name “iPhone”. Apple filed in China to trademark the name back in 2002 for computer software and hardware, but the trademark wasn’t approved until 2013. Xintong Tiandi won the trademark for the name “iPhone” in the leather goods category in 2007, and Apple couldn’t prove to the court that the name “iPhone” was widely known in China in 2007. Take that Apple. To quote Rocky Balboa when he fought Clubber Lang, “You ain’t so bad!”
Image via BBC.com
Boy Hacks Instagram, Gets $10,000
A 10 year old boy became the youngest person to ever receive a reward from Facebook after he discovered a bug in the Instagram platform. The flaw allowed the boy to delete other people’s comments. According to a Finnish newspaper, the boy even deleted comments by Justin Bieber. If Bieber comments can be deleted, I’m hoping Facebook leaves the bug in place. And the kid deserves way more than $10K.
Uber Prints 15,000 Emails, Delivers Them With Horse And Buggy
In protest of recent ridesharing law changes in Australia, Uber printed out 15,000 protest emails and delivered them via horse and buggy to a local politician. In the wake of increased penalties for drivers, Uber started encouraging its customers to email the government. When the government began blocking the emails, Uber took the things to the next level.
Vans Teams Up With Nintendo To Make Shoes
That high pitched sound you hear is 500,000 nerds (and skateboarders?) collectively squealing. Vans has teamed up with Nintendo to make branded sneakers featuring your favorite Nintendo characters. Wearers can expect to see shoes based on Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and even Duck Hunt. These things are freakin’ amazing. TAKE MY MONEY.
Image via Gizmodo.com
Hackers Steal Millions Of Email Addresses
A team of security researchers is reporting that approximately 273 million email addresses have been compromised, including GMail, Yahoo, and Russia’s popular Mail.ru. This breach was discovered when the team encountered a young Russian hacker bragging in an online forum and offering to sell over 1 billion collected records. This has all the makings of a Tom Clancy cyber thriller.
Hulu To Offer Live Television Service
The battle for your television eyeballs wages on. Hulu has announced that it will offer live and on-demand programs starting in 2017. It’s estimated that the service will run somewhere in the $40 per month range, and will compete with services like Playstation Vue and Dish Network Sling. It can’t be long before Netflix and Amazon follow suit.
LAPD Cracks Locked iPhone
The ongoing battle between Apple and law enforcement took an odd turn this week when the LAPD cracked the security of an iPhone 5S with the help of a “forensic cellphone expert”. The police say the phone, which belonged to April Jace (wife of “The Shield” actor Michael Jace), is critical to their investigation of April Jace’s murder. Michael Jace has been accused of the murder. This is actually like something out of “The Shield”.
Image via Wikipedia
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
Stephen Altrogge
Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer based in Tallahassee, Florida. He writes about tech, marketing, faith, and lots of other things. He’s married to Jen and has three young girls. Every day he consumes more coffee than the entire population of Colombia. He knows more about Star Wars than any respectable man should, and he runs more than any sane man would. He once attempted to eat a 2 pound hamburger in under an hour. He failed.
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Uber is not taking regulations lightly and that is a good thing, however, the company should be willing to play fair.
Very nice news from Hulu. I have been watching this closely and really hope it comes out on the right side of things!
Apple puts so much money into lawsuits like this and this one they don’t win? What is the point of even dealing with it? Where there really any lost sales?
So, basically, it looks like I might have to renew my Hulu subscription? 🙂