alao News in July: Twitter is now X, Threads, IT security in Switzerland, iPhone SE, Google AI
From now on you can read the most important tech, provider and device news here every month. These are the news items that kept the Swiss tech world busy in July.
Threads vs Twitter
Not a day goes by without news about Twitter, pardon “X”, or its owner Elon Musk. Not only are the most loyal users punished with a reading limit, even people without a Twitter account can no longer read tweets, pardon “posts”, or only via direct links. The fact is: Twitter users are highly dissatisfied and are desperately looking for alternatives. Threads, which belongs to Meta and was launched at the beginning of July, was the main beneficiary. Within a very short time, it was able to reach over 100 million users, although elementary features such as hashtags were missing. Although Threads has lost more than half of its users since its launch, it should not be forgotten that users in Switzerland and the EU have so far had to stay outside due to stricter data protection regulations and have even been deliberately locked out. The open alternative Mastodon has seen an increase in new users, even if the increase is smaller.
iPhone SE: Not before 2025?
The iPhone SE is the entry-level iPhone. With a low price by Apple standards, it is the entry into the Apple world for many Android owners. Those who are now waiting for an update of the SE will probably be disappointed. According to rumours, the fourth generation will not come onto the market until 2025. One possible reason cited by analysts is problems with the development of Apple’s own modem chip. While the current generation is still based on the iPhone 7 from 2016, the fourth generation will be based on the iPhone XR.
Federal government calls for more security at IT service providers
Following the hacker attack in May, in which large amounts of data were stolen from the IT service provider Xplain and ultimately published on the Darknet, the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FBL) is raising awareness among the Confederation’s IT service providers. In a letter obtained by the Keystone-SDA news agency, the authority writes to the companies that they “must at all times be able to guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and availability of systems, data and information as well as the traceability of the handling of data and information”. The Federal Council has also ordered that all contracts with external IT companies be reviewed and adapted if necessary. This was preceded by an unsuccessful ransom attempt by the hackers. The Liechtenstein National Police, which also uses the services of Xplain, was also affected by the data theft.
Reading tips: Read how to protect your smartphone from prying eyes here. Read how to remove viruses from your mobile phone here.
EU wants to better protect connected devices
The EU has also taken up the cause of IT security. A new cyber resilience law is to create rules for networked devices such as televisions, surveillance cameras or smart refrigerators. Manufacturers of IoT devices are to invest more in the cyber security of their products. Before the law can be passed, the EU states and the European Parliament still have to negotiate the rules. “Computers, mobile phones, household appliances, virtual assistive devices, cars, toys, etc. – all these hundreds of millions of connected products are a potential vulnerability through which cyber attacks can take place,” EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said at the time. “However, most hardware and software products today are not yet subject to cybersecurity requirements.” The penalties are already set: those who violate the vulnerability or incident reporting requirements can be fined up to 15 million or 2.5% of annual global turnover. The US government is also planning to introduce a new seal for secure IoT devices.
Google AI bot Bard launches in Switzerland
Since mid-July, Google’s answer to ChatGPT can now also be used in Switzerland. Google’s text AI is called Bard and was initially blocked in Europe when it was launched in mid-May. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which is responsible for Google in the EU, had doubted whether Bard complied with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The chat robot has also been given further functions, for example the system can now read out answers – very practical if you are unsure how to pronounce a word correctly. Poems and scripts should also be able to be read aloud. What Bard has over ChatGPT: Google’s alternative is free. ChatGPT’s parent OpenAI, which is backed by billions from competitor Microsoft, offers a paid subscription for $20 a month.
Sunrise now also buys back your old mobile phones online
Old smartphones are the new gold: an estimated 80 % of Swiss people have old smartphones in their drawers. But not only in Switzerland, elsewhere people also hoard vast quantities of old mobile phones, about 200 million in Germany alone. Yet every smartphone contains large quantities of rare, reusable resources such as gold. Until now, you could only return devices to Sunrise in local shops, but now you can also do this online. Sunrise expects at least 20,000 smartphones, tablets and smartwatches to be returned annually by 2025. The devices will be refurbished and resold if necessary. Devices that are not in working order will be recycled. Interested parties can view an initial purchase price on the Sunrise website. The final sales price can then be credited to the next Sunrise bill or deducted as a discount when buying a new device.
You can read about how to use your mobile phone sustainably on the alao blog.
Swisscom: No more bill-paying on the spot
Salt and Sunrise are leading the way, and now Switzerland’s largest telecommunications provider is following suit: Until now, Swisscom customers could easily pay their bills on the spot – free of charge. Older people in particular have used this service. But that’s over now: 3.90 francs will be charged for this service with immediate effect. By way of comparison, Sunrise also charges 3.90 francs, and Salt even charges 4.95 francs. The providers cite the additional internal processing costs as the reason for the surcharge.
Tip: If you take out your subscription via alao, you can indicate when ordering that you would like to receive the invoice by e-mail. This way there are no extra costs.
Salt is now also increasing subscription prices
In June SRF reported that Salt did not want to increase prices for three years. But now Salt is following suit and will also increase the prices for its subscriptions from 10.9. The increase is around 3 %, only PrePay offers will be spared from the price increases. In recent months, Sunrise, Yallo, UPC and Lebara have also adjusted their prices. Swisscom continues to promise not to increase prices until the end of 2024.
Tip: All Salt subscriptions taken out via alao will keep the lower price until 9.9. It pays to be quick! On alao you can easily benefit from new customer discounts and save up to CHF 57 per month on your mobile phone subscription. You choose your perfect subscription and we do the rest. We conclude the contract with your new provider at the best conditions, cancel your old contract and port your number free of charge. If you have any questions, our support team will look after you 7 days a week, before and after you sign up
