Dozens of U.S. senators have made a last-ditch effort to save net neutrality, but are unlikely to affect today’s vote. The iPhone 8 and BitCoin were among the year’s top Google searches. And a new report claims Apple has become a follower in the smartphone market.
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On Reddit, efforts to save net neutrality in the U.S. have received a last minute push from 39 Democratic senators, who co-signed a letter asking FCC Ajit Pai to abandon the proposal. The five FCC commissioners, two Democrats and three Republicans including Pai, are expected to vote along party lines, with the Republicans in favour of repeal. Critics, including the senators, say that American Internet service providers will then be allowed to slow down certain web content or favour specific sites over others, provided they’re disclosed in a legal document such as a user agreement.
Over on Google Trends, the search giant has revealed the year’s most popular queries, with Hurricane Irma, the iPhone 8, iPhone X, disgraced Today anchor Matt Lauer, and actress-turned-future-British-royal Meghan Markle topping the global list. Other top tech-related searches included Bitcoin, landing at number two in the global news column, Samsung Galaxy S8, landing at number four in the consumer tech column, and “How to buy Bitcoin” at number three in the “How to” column.
And also on Google Trends, a report from New York-based ABI Research predicts that Apple will be a follower in what it calls the ‘post-smartphone’ era. Released on Wednesday, the report evaluated 10 major companies from across the mobile ecosystem and concluded that Google and Amazon will emerge as market leaders over the next five years, while Apple will lag behind due to ‘innovation complacency.’ Other followers, according to the study, included Samsung, Microsoft, and Chinese smartphone giant Huawei.
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.