Daily update: 5 things to know right now

(CNET, 2020) The morning just flew by today! Nevertheless, there's been a lot going on in the world besides the "usual" (depressing, isn't it?). Anyway, tech news sounds boring, but trust me, these things you're gong to WANT to know.

1. Amazon has a fitness tracker called the Halo and it's weird
Amazon came out with a fitness tracker - it's a wristband without a screen. This service scans your body through your camera. In addition to measuring your steps, heartbeat, and overall health, there's also a voice analysis that's always listening and offers guidance on emotional tone. (Um, excuse me?) It's only $3.99 a month, but still...not sure I'd give Amazon money to check my tone. If it helps track my steps and keeps me healthy, maybe my tone does need to be checked! 

You can read more about the features of Halo here.

2. The war on TikTok is still happening
A report says that the social networking app's sale may be finalized within the next couple of days. CNBC reported today that a deal for TikTok's North American and Australian operations in expected to be announced "in the coming days". TikTok still works as of now, I was just on it yesterday - so what happened to it shutting down? Apparently that's still happening in early November, according to the President, if the app doesn't get bought by a US company.

So who's bidding? Right now, Walmart and Microsoft seem to be the front runners for the software. Let's hope there's an update next week. What will us millenials do without TikTok???

You can find the whole story here.

3. NASA's Jeanette Epps set to be first Black woman to join long-term ISS crew
Finally some good news here! NASA astronaut, Jeanette Epps has been patient, and her debut in the skies might finally happen in 2021. When she does finally fly, she'll be the first black woman to join the crew of the International Space Station for a long-duration mission. She's scheduled for a six month stay. Seems crazy that this is the first time a black woman is part of something like this, but that's a sign of the times.

You can read about all the details here.

4. The Mandalrian Season 2 to release in October
The second season of The Mandalorian hits Disney+ in October. Baby Yoda is back! Not much is known about what's happening in season 2, but Disney boss Bob Iger mentioned the possibility that some of the show's characters could go "in their own directions in terms of series" - do I hear a spinoff happening? Read more about season 2 here.

5. Facial recognition designed to detect around face masks is failing, study finds
This is a no brainer. My phone doesn't recognize my face and I'm constantly inconvenienced by having to manually type my password. I'm kidding, of course. But it is not ideal for a system that allows access by facial recognition to not be able to recognize my face. Studies have shown that companies with facial recognition software are seeing an increase in errors when masks are worn, even though there are claims that this technology was designed with face masks in mind. Being able to accurately identify the consumer with a mask on is important in today's society. If this pandemic continues, we might see updates to our devices.


Thanks for reading this weeks top headlines! Check in next week!