WELCOME TO THE Weird Wide Web – where we take a look at the week’s best offerings in tech and social media news.
‘One out of 40 million’ development of the week
Spotify suffered a security breach on Tuesday but out of the 40 million users who use the service, only one person was affected. Although Spotify said it will ask people to re-enter details and download an upgraded Android version over the coming days, you should change your password just to be on the safe side.
Broadband on the moon breakthrough of the week
In news that will likely infuriate those suffering from poor or non-existent internet speeds, a group of researchers from MIT and NASA have developed an internet connection that can transmit data between Earth and the moon at a rate of 19.44mbps. And just to add insult to injury, it managed to reach download speeds of 622mbps.
Dramatic logo change of the week
If you opened up Google anytime this week, you might have noticed something different with its logo. To compare, here’s the old version:
And here’s the new version:
For those who can’t quite see what happened, Google moved the ‘g’ left one pixel and the ‘l’ down and left one pixel. If you can’t see it, this gif will help clear things up.
Selfie security measure of the week
Now this is a selfie trend we can get behind. US mobile security firm Lookout has introduced a feature which will secretly take a selfie of the person who has stolen your phone, alongside its usual notifications when someone enters a wrong password too mayn times or try to uninstall security software.
Not only does it send the selfie to you, it also includes the phone’s location so you can tell the gardai where the robber (or the unfortunate person who was sold the device) is.
Only problem is Lookout has dubbed it a ‘theftie’ which takes a bit of the sheen off what’s essentially a good idea.
Weird product placement of the week
It’s a me, marketing. Or at least that’s what Mario may as well said as Nintendo announced one of the stranger product placements in gaming. Those who buy Mario Kart 8 in Japan can download a version which allows Mario and chums to drive Mercedes GLA around Rainbow Road and other popular Mario Kart tracks.
The placement isn’t the weird part (Pikmin and Duracel batteries, Cool Spot being the product of 7Up, even Pole Position and Marlboro), the weird part is this 30 second ad for Japan which brings Mario into the real world. Still better than the Mario Bros movie.
“Look ma, no hands” car development of the week
After using other cars for a while to facilitate its self-driving technology, Google has gone and built its own self-driving car. The car can hit a top speed of 25 mph and doesn’t have a steering wheel, accelerator or brake.
It may be a long while before you see any of these ever making their way around
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