Meta to retire Facebook Messenger desktop app for Windows and Mac Meta will discontinue the standalone Facebook Messenger desktop application for both Windows and macOS. Reports indicate the desktop app will remain usable until December, after which users are expected to use the web-based Messenger experience. The move affects the Messenger apps for Windows and Mac. If you rely on the desktop client, now is the time to test the web interface and adjust workflows or notification settings. What changes: standalone desktop app will be discontinued. Deadline: users have until December to transition to the web Messenger. Alternatives: mobile Messenger apps or the web at messenger.com. Tips: Bookmark messenger.com and enable browser notifications, or keep using Messenger on your phone. Enterprises or power users who depended on the desktop client…

EA to Shut Down The Sims Mobile on January 20 — Final Update Live Electronic Arts has announced that The Sims Mobile will be shut down on January 20, nearly eight years after its March 2018 debut. The game was delisted from stores on October 21 and received its final update, which began a series of end-of-life events and changes for players. The Sims Mobile requires online servers to save progress, so the shutdown will make the game unplayable after January 20. EA said it prepared “a few surprises” for the community as the title reaches its final chapter. Key dates: Delisting on October 21; final shutdown on January 20. In-game changes: Final update live, unlimited energy enabled, real-money purchases disabled, and 14 limited-time events (quests, treasure hunts) scheduled. Special…

How to Cancel NordVPN and Get a Refund Decided NordVPN isn’t for you? You can disable auto‑renewal, cancel through your app store, delete your Nord account, and — if you’re within 30 days of purchase — request a full refund under NordVPN’s money‑back guarantee. Below are clear, step‑by‑step options so you can end or pause service without losing access immediately while you choose an alternative. Quick steps Turn off auto‑renewal: Sign in at my.nordaccount.com → Billing → find NordVPN → click Cancel next to Auto‑renewal. Your subscription will remain active until the billing period ends. Cancel via app stores: If you subscribed on Android or iOS, cancel through Google Play (Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions) or iOS Settings → Subscriptions. For refunds on Apple purchases, contact Apple support. Delete your…

Massive AWS US‑EAST‑1 Outage Disrupts Alexa, Venmo, Snapchat and More On October 20, 2025, a major outage in Amazon Web Services' US‑EAST‑1 region caused widespread disruption across numerous websites, apps and online services. The interruption traced back to a DNS resolution problem with the DynamoDB API, leaving many applications unable to locate critical data even though the data itself remained intact. Key impacts were reported across consumer and enterprise services, producing sluggish responses, error pages and feature failures. Notable services affected included: Amazon Alexa (voice queries and smart‑home controls) Venmo and various banking/payment endpoints Snapchat, Canva, Fortnite, Roblox and other popular apps/games Media and publishing sites showing errors or slow loading The incident timeline (times ET): ~3:11 AM — AWS reported "increased error rates and latencies" in US‑EAST‑1. ~5:01 AM…

Oura Revamps App with Deeper Health Insights and Extended Fertility Predictions Oura has rolled out a redesigned app featuring a refreshed visual language and deeper personalization, with reorganized tabs and expanded health-tracking features. The update introduces three clear tabs — Today, Vitals, and My Health — to help users access immediate metrics, core health pillars, and long-term trends respectively. Key changes at a glance: Today: Focused daily view with only the most relevant metrics to inform immediate decisions. Vitals: At-a-glance core health pillars — sleep, stress, cardiovascular trends — with color-coded biometric cues for quick interpretation. My Health: Long-term insights on strengths, traits, and opportunities, plus habitual connections between routines and measurable outcomes. The app also expands health-tracking capabilities: menstrual and fertility window predictions now offer a full-year view (up…

Honor teases "Robot Phone" with fold-out robotic camera Chinese smartphone maker Honor has unveiled a concept for a "Robot Phone": a handset whose camera module folds out and can move to interact with users. The company showcased the idea in an animated demo video and teased a formal announcement at an upcoming mobile event. The teaser shows a camera unit that extends and appears to rotate or reposition itself to face users — suggesting new form-factor experiments beyond standard pop-up or rotating lenses. Honor's demo is still conceptual, presented through animation rather than a finished hardware prototype. Fold-out robotic camera that can move and engage with users Demo presented as animation — hardware status unclear Teased ahead of an upcoming mobile industry event Why this matters: smartphone makers have been…

German Court Rules 1&1 "Glasfaser-DSL" Advertising Misleading German consumers should be cautious: a court has found that 1&1's advertising for so-called "Glasfaser-DSL" (fiber DSL) is misleading. Providers sometimes promote "fiber" technologies even when the final connection into buildings relies on copper or coaxial cables, which offer lower performance than true fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) links. The ruling highlights a common marketing practice where terms like "Kabel-Glasfaser" or "Koax-Glasfaser" suggest full fiber coverage, while in reality the last mile often remains copper or coax. The court decision reinforces the need for transparent communication about the actual network technology delivered to customers. FTTH (Fiber to the Home): Fiber optic cable runs all the way to the residence — highest speeds and reliability. FTTB/FTTC (Fiber to the Building/Curb): Fiber reaches a building or street cabinet;…

Spotify Launches Venue-Following and Daily Live-Event Updates Spotify has introduced a new feature that lets users follow their favorite concert venues to receive updates and details about upcoming shows. Favorited venues are saved to a users Library, and browsing a venue page reveals scheduled concerts, announcements, and the ability to filter upcoming shows by genre. Key features include: Follow venues and save them to your Library for easy access. View scheduled concerts, general announcements, and filter shows by genre. Get tailored suggestions for other nearby venues based on a selected spot. Direct links to each venues official ticketing partner to simplify buying tickets. Coverage of 20,000+ venues worldwide, from major arenas to independent clubs. Spotify also revamped its live event feed to update daily instead of weekly, improving the timeliness…

AWS US‑EAST‑1 Outage Knocks Dozens of Services Offline On the morning of October 20, 2025, Amazon Web Services experienced a significant outage in its US‑EAST‑1 region (Northern Virginia) that caused widespread service disruptions. The root cause was identified as a DNS resolution issue affecting the DynamoDB API, leaving many applications temporarily unable to access their data. The outage produced visible ripple effects across the internet: popular services and apps including Venmo, Snapchat, Canva, Fortnite, Alexa, Reddit, Disney+, Lyft and more reported errors or slowness as systems struggled to respond. AWS reported increased error rates and latencies starting at 3:11AM ET and later confirmed mitigation of the DNS issue by 6:35AM ET, though knock‑on impacts persisted. Cause: DNS resolution failure for the DynamoDB API in US‑EAST‑1. Immediate impact: Elevated API errors,…

AWS US‑EAST‑1 Outage (Oct 20, 2025): DNS/DynamoDB failure knocks many services offline On the morning of Oct. 20, 2025, a major outage in Amazon Web Services' US-EAST-1 region disrupted a wide range of websites, apps and online services. AWS reported increased error rates and latencies and later traced the root cause to a DNS resolution issue affecting the DynamoDB API — a widely used managed database service. Here’s a concise timeline of events reported by AWS and covered in contemporary reporting: 03:11 AM ET: AWS noted increased error rates and latencies in US-EAST-1 (AWS Service Health Dashboard). 05:01 AM ET: AWS identified a DNS resolution issue with the DynamoDB API as the primary cause. 06:35 AM ET: AWS said the DNS issue was mitigated and most services were succeeding normally.…