Apple’s Tim Cook says the government should introduce new tools for digital privacy, Netflix says Fortnite is their biggest competition, not HBO, and Microsoft admits Cortana won’t compete with Alexa and Google Assistant.
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Tim Cook’s latest op-ed for Time magazine is still getting a lot of buzz. The Apple CEO called on the U.S. government to develop new tools for users to control online data collected about their lives. He noted consumers should have the power to “delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all.” Cook was adamant that consumers shouldn’t have to suffer because of companies’ irresponsible behaviour when it comes to data collection and storage, and said it’s not too late to solve the problem.
Trending on Twitter – In a letter to shareholders last week, Netflix revealed that it competes with, and loses to, Fortnite more than HBO. Bloomberg reporting cited the letter, which indicated that in the war for more TV subscribers, HBO is less of a threat than the insanely popular online multiplayer game, which also boasts an enormous streaming community on Twitch.tv.
And lastly, Microsoft’s admission that its digital assistant Cortana shouldn’t be in the same lane as Alexa and Google Assistant is garnering a lot of interest on social media. Microsoft is shifting gears to make Cortana more of an add-on for other assistants, a message reiterated by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose said Cortana should become a skill for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Cortana was a big no-show at CES this year, with the exception of the Cortana-powered thermostat that was announced last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how the long-game turns out for Microsoft.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network.
