Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when something called a “hotspot” overheats, but Verizon has issued a recall on 2.5 million mobile hotspots that may pose a fire hazard after receiving 15 reports of devices overheating.
Meanwhile, as Apple and Epic prepare to duke it out in court, Epic is building a case that Apple’s practices are anti-competitive. As part of that, a court document reveals that Apple executives have acknowledged that the key reason there’s no version of iMessage for Android devices is because Apple knows that the messaging app helps lock people into its platform.
And details about Microsoft’s next Surface Laptop have leaked, suggesting it could launch later this month and come with a choice of Intel Tiger Lake (current-gen) or AMD Renoir (previous-gen) processor options.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- Apple Admits Purposely Keeping iMessage Off Android Helps Lock Users In [Droid Life]
Apple execs have acknowledged (in depositions related to the Epic vs Apple lawsuit) that the reason there’s no version of iMessage for Android is that it would make it easier for iPhone users to switch. The only surprise is that they even considered it. - Microsoft Surface Laptop details leaked ahead of April 27 launch [WinFuture]
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 details leaked, including specs and European prices. Expect 13.5 inch and 15 inch models with Intel Tiger lake or custom Ryzen 4000U chips, up to 32GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 49Wh batteries. - Verizon Recalls 2.5 Million Ellipsis Jetpack Mobile Hotspots [US Consumer Product Safety Commission]
Verizon has issued a recall on about 2.5 million Ellipsis Jetpack mobile hotspots due to fire hazard after receiving 15 reports of devices overheating including 6 involving fire damage and two involving minor burns. Verizon is offering free replacements. - DIY Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 NAS supports up to four drives [CNX Software]
This DIY 4-bay Network Attached Storage device is made from a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, a custom carrier board with a PCIe socket, Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI, and USB ports, and a 3D printed case. You can find photos and more details at reddit and design files at GitHub.Â
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I am kinda surprised that they even sold 2.5 million wifi hotspots because the use case for them is hard for me to imagine.
It’s businesses. Hotspots are more reliable for mobile tethering and don’t impact use of a person’s mobile phone. They are good if you have laptops for field use that go between multiple users or are going to be left in place (kiosk for a show / construction trailer / etc). Depending on the carrier you can lock what devices they’re connecting to or force traffic through a VPN tunnel.
In most cases a device that connects with a cable would be even better but WiFi is nearly universal and works “acceptably”, so it’s become the standard.
That’s expected when people are unable to think outside of their own personal use cases.