Month: September 2024

Space One Pro im Vergleichstest: Ankers bester ANC-Kopfhörer unterliegt der Sony-Konkurrenz

Soundcore Space One Pro ist Ankers bisher bester, aber auch teuerster ANC-Kopfhörer. Wir haben ihn mit teuren und viel preiswerteren ANC-Kopfhörern verglichen. Ein Test von Ingo Pakalski (Anker, Test)

Soundcore Space One Pro ist Ankers bisher bester, aber auch teuerster ANC-Kopfhörer. Wir haben ihn mit teuren und viel preiswerteren ANC-Kopfhörern verglichen. Ein Test von Ingo Pakalski (Anker, Test)

FTC urged to make smart devices say how long they will be supported

Sudden subscription fees, lost features causing users “death by a thousand cuts.”

Spotify car thing

Enlarge / Spotify released the Car Thing to the general public in February 2022. It's bricking them in December. (credit: Spotify)

For some of us, few things are more infuriating than when a gadget stops working due to a software change. As we've frequently covered here at Ars, startups and big tech companies are guilty of rendering hardware obsolete and/or stripping it of core functions. A pile of activists are urging the Federal Trade Commission to get involved.

In a letter sent today to Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Serena Viswanathan, associate director of the FTC's Division of Advertising Practices, representatives from 17 groups, including Consumer Reports, the US PIRG, and iFixit, urged the FTC for "clear guidance" around software tethering. Software tethering, per the letter, is "making functions of a device reliant on embedded software that ties the device back to a manufacturer’s servers.” As it stands, the practice is hurting customers with "unfair and deceptive practices," such as suddenly locking features behind a subscription—like the Snoo smart bassinet recently did—or bricking already-purchased devices, which Spotify did with its Car Thing.

The letter to the FTC argues that such practices hinder owners' ability to own their hardware.

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Anzeige: Effiziente Verwaltung mobiler Endgeräte mit Microsoft Intune

In vielen Unternehmen sind mobile Endgeräte neben traditionellen PCs zu einer unverzichtbaren Ressource geworden. Der Online-Kurs der Golem Karrierewelt zu Microsoft Intune zeigt, wie diese Geräte effizient verwaltet werden können. (Golem Karrierewelt,…

In vielen Unternehmen sind mobile Endgeräte neben traditionellen PCs zu einer unverzichtbaren Ressource geworden. Der Online-Kurs der Golem Karrierewelt zu Microsoft Intune zeigt, wie diese Geräte effizient verwaltet werden können. (Golem Karrierewelt, Microsoft)

The Vega rocket never found its commercial niche. After tonight, it’s gone.

The larger Vega-C will take over, primarily to launch European government satellites.

The final Vega rocket on its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana.

Enlarge / The final Vega rocket on its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. (credit: European Space Agency)

The final flight of Europe's Vega rocket is scheduled for liftoff Wednesday night from French Guiana, carrying an important environmental monitoring satellite for the European Union's flagship Copernicus program.

The launch is set for 9:50 pm EDT Wednesday (01:50 UTC Thursday) from the European-run spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The 98-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket will head north from the launch pad on the coast of South America, aiming for a polar orbit about 480 miles (775 kilometers) above the Earth.

The sole payload is Sentinel-2C, a remote sensing platform set to join Europe's fleet of Copernicus environmental satellites. The multibillion-dollar Copernicus system is the world's most comprehensive space-based Earth observation network, with satellites fitted with different kinds of instruments monitoring land surfaces, oceans, and the atmosphere.

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