World News: Talking Tech: What does new year hold for Facebook and CES 2022?

Thursday, December 30

Well, the year 2021 is winding down, Talking Tech readers. But 2022 looks as if it will start off with more of the same. Mike Snider here and I'm planning to ring in the New Year on Zoom and I expect some of the past year's stories will hang over in the days and weeks to come.

The Consumer Electronics Show, also known as CES, is scheduled to be held next week in Las Vegas Jan. 5-8, but some exhibitors and attendees have canceled plans to attend in person. GM CEO Mary Barra nixed her in-person keynote speech, but will deliver it virtually. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert canceled his speech totally. Still, more than 2,200 exhibitors are expected to participate in person.

One of the big tech stories of 2021, the revelations of Facebook's innerworkings provided by whistleblower Frances Haugen, continues and could lead to proposed regulation of social media in the coming year. USA TODAY's latest assessment of the documents provided by Haugen suggest the social network – its parent company is now named Meta Platforms – encouraged resharing of content, despite employee concerns that it led to the spread of misinformation, and that the platform had tools to temper resharing.

What else happened in Tech?

The metaverse. It could reshape the real estate landscape, both virtually and in reality.

Tesla makes a change. Automaker stops allowing games on its infotainment screens.

James Webb Space Telescope. Hubble successor begins its 10-year mission.

Secrets of the mummy. CT scans used to 'digitally unwrap' 3,500-year-old mummy.

Thursday tech tip

Maybe you just got a new smartphone over the holidays, or you just want better images to upload on Instagram. Among tech columnist Marc Saltzman's tips on how to take better smartphone pictures: Get closer.

On this week's Talking Tech

On the Talking Tech podcast, we discuss how virtual reality video games have gotten really good, and how to know what kind of data those smartphone apps are accessing.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.