“It has been our experience since 2010 – as reported by our members in their daily work – that the vast majority of technology-enabled new products available today are repair-monopolised. We know this because our members are part of the worldwide network of technology repair businesses that support OEMs and independents alike,” Repair.org executive director Gay Gordon-Byrne stated in a submission [PDF] to the Australian Productivity Commission. “Repair monopolised products now include nearly all cell phones and internet communications equipment, all consumer electronics including all TVs, IOT devices, and home appliances … repair monopolies are so pervasive that for many categories of equipment, it is no longer possible to avoid monopolies through better product selection....

“Repair monopolies held by major tech companies, heavy handed Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies, and onerous restrictions on documentation, parts, and third-party repair options significantly harm Australian consumers, innovation, and the planet,” they said in a joint submission [PDF] for the Productivity Commission’s right to repair inquiry. The pair believes introducing the right to repair would be one way to address that market imbalance. “A right to repair would enable consumers to make use of an inbuilt market mechanism to counter attempts at abuse of market power,” the submission said....

Also: Tech in 2023: 6 new priorities for your shortlist The customer experience is also shifting rapidly to a digital-first engagement model that is highly personalized and real-time. Digital channels continue to dominate customer engagement, but as public health restrictions ease, it will be important for organizations to bridge new ways of engagement with tried-and-true ones. 73% percent of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. And 68% of customers have purchased products in new ways over the past two years....

The Discover it Cash Back is the perfect step up from a basic rewards card for consumers who are willing to put in some work to maximize their spending return. Things to consider Not a fan of managing which rewards categories are active? This card may not be the one for you. Cardholders must activate the rewards categories each month, otherwise they’ll only earn 1% cashback for those purchases instead of 5%....

Whether you’re buying a gift for a friend, a loved one, or for yourself, you deserve to get the best available deals. This is why I recommend avoiding certain products in Apple’s lineup – products that are now a bit old. The “Avoid” list: iPhone SE: It didn’t see a refresh this year. And at over a year old, it’s not the great deal that it was when it launched in 2020....

But this isn’t just a review of DreamHost. It’s a meta-review of the spurious precision of host ranking. Because when you check out different eval sites, the numbers are all over the place. So I’ll review DreamHost, covering feeds and speeds, and at the end, I’ll give my take on who should give DreamHost serious consideration. Hosting companies don’t make it easy to compare plans. There are many variables in their offerings....

“Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ,” Musk tweeted. Musk had complained about Apple on Twitter this week, when he claimed Apple had threatened to boot the app from the App Store without explaining why. He also complained that Apple had pulled most of its advertising from Twitter, and questioned whether Apple “hated free speech in America”. Also: Twitter is bringing podcasts onto its platform However, the meeting with Tim Cook seems to have defused the situation....

Emotet malware provided its controllers with a backdoor into compromised machines, which could be leased out to other groups, including ransomware gangs, to use for their own campaigns. Emotet also used infected systems to send automated phishing emails to increase the size of the botnet – before it was taken out in January this year. Dismantling the botnet was one of the most significant disruptions of cyber-criminal operations in recent years, as law enforcement agencies around the world – including Europol and the FBI – worked together to gain control of hundreds of Emotet servers that controlled millions of PCs infected with malware....

It’s amazing how much we can do with our devices these days, but we can’t seem to make up our minds about how big we want them to be. They have to be small enough to carry around constantly, but the screens need to be big enough to be functional. Of course, you can have more than one device, but what do you do when the screen on the device where your content resides is too small?...

Let’s say that emails leaked from an oil corporation reveal a pattern of leadership ignoring regulations meant to mitigate environmental impact. However, around the same time, the news reveals that these emails have reached the public thanks to hackers. Were the hackers’ actions ethical, exactly? These and other concerns are current topics of discussion in computer science ethics. Read on to learn more about the most common ethical issues in computer science, how they apply to computer science careers, and what we can learn from joining the discussion....

Updated review: Eufy Edge Security System: Why I’m not getting rid of these cameras yet I’ve been tinkering with the Edge Security System for the past week and, while there are several features like Eufy’s BionicMind AI Technology that require further testing, have been generally impressed by what the bundle offers. Here’s a rundown of my short-term experience, with more in the coming weeks. Harnessing ‘Forever Power’ Starting with the eyes of the security system, the EufyCam 3 – which comes in a two-pack – is a bullet-shaped outdoor camera that is completely wireless and has built-in solar panels at the top to provide what Eufy calls “Forever Power....

The new products are all available to preorder right now, with in-store availability starting and shipments set to arrive on Aug. 26. Below I’ll quickly break down what changes Samsung made to its latest foldable smartphones, wearable smartwatches, and wireless earbuds. Bottom line So, there you have it: five new products in total. Two new phones, two new watches, and a pair of wireless earbuds – all of which are sure to make any Samsung fan happy....

In a wide-ranging alert, the FBI said entities associated with the games should prepare for “a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt these events”, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, ransomware, malware, social engineering, data theft or leaks, phishing campaigns, disinformation campaigns, or insider threats. The attacks would seek to “block or disrupt the live broadcast of the event, steal or leak sensitive data, or impact public or private digital infrastructure supporting the Olympics....

Back in October 2021, a grand jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York indicted two Iranian nationals employed by Emennet Pasargad for computer intrusion, computer fraud, voter intimidation, interstate threats, and conspiracy offenses for their alleged participation in a campaign aimed at influencing and interfering with the 2020 US Presidential Election. The Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Emennet along with four members of the company’s management and the two indicted employees for attempting to influence the election....

Finalsite provides website services to thousands of public schools across the US and the attack took place at a particularly inopportune time. As schools braced for snow days and potential COVID-19 disruptions on Friday, officials found their websites and email systems out of commission, making it more difficult to communicate changes with parents. “Examples of usage to avoid include sending email/notifications, workflows, relying on calendar and athletic alerts, uploading data, etc....

Google Pixel Watch owners will soon see their sleep profile appear in the Fitbit app, while Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 users will have access to Google Wallet and Google Maps. Sleep profile for Google Pixel Watch The Google Pixel Watch is a solid smartwatch with most of the Fitbit functionality integrated into the wearable experience. Google promised regular updates to improve the Pixel Watch experience, and one of the first minor updates is support for sleep profiles....

The company reported a revenue of $79.8 million for Q4 alongside a non-GAAP EPS of $0.22. The figures beat Wall Street estimates of a $0.13 EPS and a revenue of $77 million. Active buyers grew to 4.2 million, compared to 3.4 million seen during the same quarter last year. Spend per buyer reached a high of $242 compared to the $205 seen in December 2020. For the entire year, revenue was $297....

PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVERAGE 6 monitors worth checking out for 2021BenQ, Asus, HP and more make our first cut of monitor recommendations for 2021 Among PC brands, ASUS and Lenovo – veterans of DisplayLink primacy – offer products, as do at least a half-dozen lesser-known brands such as Lepow, Desklab, and Vankyo. Note that these products will burn through laptop batteries, so it’s best to use them with the laptop plugged in or connect them to a battery pack that supports USB-C Power Delivery....

Garmin announced the second generation of its MARQ collection Tuesday, with the touchscreen AMOLED sapphire crystal display being the primary advancement in the design. The collection consists of the MARQ Athlete, MARQ Adventurer, MARQ Golfer, MARQ Captain, and MARQ Aviator, each a particular focus for the luxury watch buyer. Also: The best smart GPS tracker wearables Similar to its other new Garmin watches in 2022, the MARQ collection includes support for multi-band GNSS, multi-frequency GPS, and Garmin SatIQ, so you can trust you will always have a solid fix on your position....

Einride has been operating internationally since 2019 but will bring its autonomous Pods to the US for the first time on GE Appliances’ 750-acre Appliance Park campus in Louisville, Kentucky. Einride is also providing GE Appliances with electric vehicles at locations in Tennessee and Georgia. The companies claimed that the partnership would save GE Appliances 970 tons of CO2 emissions within the first year. “Sustainability and cost-efficiency is a prerequisite for implementing innovation into our business strategy,” said Bill Good, vice president of manufacturing at GE Appliances....