What's hot in Tech - Daily News - December 21st

Apple admitted it's been secretly throttling the performance of older iPhones
Google Chrome’s will start blocking ads on February 15, 2018
PTC to set up a Reality Lab to develop related AR & VR applications for the Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing trend
What’s Ahead for Jobs? Five Disruptions to Watch in 2018
Booking a Holiday? These Travel Sites Let You Pay in Bitcoin

Apple admitted it's been secretly throttling the performance of older iPhones

The company admitted what some people have long suspected: that it has been secretly stifling the performance of older iPhones. A Reddit post has sparked a discussion regarding iPhone performance as a function of battery age because we expect battery capacity to decrease as batteries age but we also expect processor performance to stay the same. It turns out that Apple is limiting how much power an iPhone processor can draw in certain circumstances, therefore limiting the processor's peak performance. But it's not to make older iPhones slower, it's a new feature to help prevent them from suddenly turning off. So if you think your phone isn't performing at its best, or you want to refresh an old phone, try replacing its battery. Not only is it likely to help your phone last an entire day it might give it a speed boost too.

Google Chrome’s built-in ad-blocker will start working on February 15, 2018

In June, Google revealed that Chrome will stop showing all ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that display non-compliant ads “starting in early 2018.” Now the company has committed to a date: Chrome’s built-in ad-blocker will start working on February 15, 2018. Google this year joined the Coalition for Better Ads, a group that offers specific standards for how the industry should improve ads for consumers — full-page ad interstitials, ads that unexpectedly play sound, and flashing ads are all banned. Yesterday, the coalition announced the Better Ads Experience Program, which provides guidelines for companies using the Better Ads Standards to improve users’ experience with online ads.

PTC to set up a Reality Lab to develop related AR & VR applications for the Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing trend

PTC has announced a plan to set up a Reality Lab and will invite professional talent from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to help PTC with education, training, product design, and value chain management to boost its overall competitiveness in the VR application field. PTC has recently purchased the Vuforia technology platform from Qualcomm, making it the world's largest VR platform company.

What’s Ahead for Jobs? Five Disruptions to Watch in 2018

Glassdoor has a unique point of view on the future of work and hiring, with access to millions of real-time job listings, salaries, and company reviews. That allows them to keep a pulse on what’s happening in jobs, recruiting, and company culture, and offer insights into what’s coming next in the labour market. Glassdoor reveals five big trends observed in hiring in 2017, and five big disruptions they see coming in 2018 and beyond to the fast-changing world of work and hiring.

Access the full report: https://www.glassdoor.com/research/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/12/Final_GD_ResearchReport_5Disruptions2018.pdf/

Booking a Holiday? These Travel Sites Let You Pay in Bitcoin

While Bitcoin is still not widely accepted at most retailers and merchants, quite a number of travel sites have adopted it into their payment options. Travelers could see Bitcoin as a way to circumvent costs of currency conversion, ATM withdrawal fees, transactions fees, and fraud risks that come with international credit card use, according to digital currency news site CoinDesk.

Here’s how you can use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to book your next trip: https://www.coindesk.com/benefits-bitcoin-international-travel/