Tech Digest daily roundup: Twitter restores suicide-prevention hotline
Twitter has restored a feature that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, after coming under pressure from users and consumer safety groups. The feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, placed a banner at the top of search results for certain topics, listing contacts for support organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, Covid-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters and freedom of expression. Reuters said on Friday the feature had been taken down this week. Citing two people familiar with the matter, the report said the removal was ordered by the social media platform’s owner, Elon Musk. Guardian
When the chief executive of Sky unveiled a new streaming-focused television, she vowed to transform the role TVs play in the home. “Just like a smartphone is more than a phone, Sky Glass is way more than a TV,” Dana Strong said at a glitzy launch party in east London in December. The launch of the product this month, which frees viewers from an unsightly satellite dish or set-top box, marked a key step forward in Sky’s efforts to carve out a new role in the changing media landscape. But as the fight for control of the living room intensifies, and the cost of living crisis puts consumer budgets under pressure, the broadcaster is facing questions over its future growth. Telegraph
As one of the biggest games of the year, God Of War Ragnarok will no doubt have found itself on plenty of Christmas lists. After critical acclaim and huge launch sales, its performance at The Game Awards – where it won in more categories than any other title – came as no surprise. But never mind its storytelling and graphical prowess, Ragnarok – the latest in a franchise dating back 17 years – was perhaps most notable for its success in the innovation in accessibility category. It was recognition of how it allowed a whole new community of players to experience it to the max for the first time, finding an audience used to having to compromise or miss out entirely. Sky News
WhatsApp periodically phases out older smartphones, so it’s no surprise that this year around 50 devices will no longer be able to run the messaging app. This is the second time in the last three months that WhatsApp is phasing out support for a big chunk of Android and iOS devices…This time around WhatsApp confirmed it will no longer support nearly 50 phones, including the Apple iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c. The rest of the phones on the list are made by Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony, Lenovo, and ZTE. Phone Arena
The Samsung Galaxy S23 rumors and leaks are still coming, and today we’ve got some promotional images of the Galaxy S23 Plus and the Galaxy S23 Ultra that have hit the internet ahead of an expected February launch. These images come courtesy of 91mobiles (via SamMobile), a source with a decent track record when it comes to the accuracy of its information. These pictures certainly look like they’re authentic, though of course we can’t consider them as official just yet. Only a couple of days ago we heard about the ‘signature’ colors that these phones would come in…Here we can actually see those shades: pink for the Plus and green for the Ultra. Tech Radar
