Amazon wants to convert Sears and JCPenney to fulfillment centers, Google Home may be listening to just about everything, and a highschool student builds an app that records your interaction with police and shares it to Instagram and Facebook right away.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, August 11, and I’m your host Alex Coop.
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Amazon reportedly wants to take over Sears and JCPenney to convert them into giant fulfillment centers. The deal would have Amazon take over spaces formerly occupied by Sears and JCPenney, which have both filed for bankruptcy and closed dozens of stores. According to the Wall Street Journal, these warehouses would process and ship online orders. On one hand, customers could get their deliveries faster, but others on social media suggest having Amazon warehouses in malls may not attract people to go to those shopping centres anymore.
Your Google Home device may have been listening to every word and sound even without the “Okay Google” trigger. Recently a Reddit user said Google Homes was recording sounds and notifying him on his phone showing the device heard a beeping smoke alarm, or glass breaking – without their approval. Google said the feature was accidentally turned on during a recent software update. It has now been turned off, Protocol reported last week. Now, why would something be actively listening when we don’t want it to? Well, we could be looking briefly into the future, as Google aims to create a home security superpower market with the millions of smart speakers already in people’s homes.
Lastly, a high school student recently developed an app that records your interaction with police and shares it to Instagram and Facebook right away. New Jersey’s Aaditya Agrawal told Business Insider he was inspired to build the app when his friend- who is black was pulled over without cause. Technology could play a major part in accountability and law enforcement especially as more conversations are occurring after the death of George Floyd. The app is called Pullover and Aaditya has been working on it for a while. He says he’s redoubled his efforts recently due to the urgency and international discussions on law enforcement and police brutality.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing.I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening.