Consumer Tech Update

Google Plus, meet MySpace. Almost eight years ago, Google launched its own social media site: Google Plus. Now Google is quietly shutting down the site. Google Plus had been struggling with low ad revenue. How will the closure affect businesses that used it?

Stories about guests discovering they are being watched by cameras in Airbnbs and hotel rooms are rising around the country. Blame the increasingly tiny sizes of cameras. 

If you were a billionaire, what kind of phone would you have? Well, billionaire Warren Buffet may own 5.5 percent of Apple, but he doesn't own a smartphone. What are the advantages of keeping it simple?

You get what you pay for. The moment you turn on that new cheap phone you bought, malware and spyware in pre-installed apps start grabbing your personal data. 

Facebook wants to harvest your personal data, even if you're not a user. Belgium decided to be the first country to take Facebook to court over its new data-gathering plan. And it's only the beginning.

Consumers are answering about five billion robocalls a month. Under pressure from the FCC, mobile carriers are now doing something about it. Why are the FCC and carriers taking so long to tackle robocalls?

Apple has unveiled its improved Apple TV app that creates a one-stop viewing experience. And in the fall, the company debuts its Apple TV Plus filled with original programming. Listen to Kim give you the scoop on Apple's new streaming service.

Long gone are the days of bogus Nigerian princes offering you countless millions in return for mere processing fees. Today, phishing scam emails have become more sophisticated. They address you by name, know where you work and even know your correct password. Listen to Kim to learn more about these scams and how to guard against them.

As you prepare to do your taxes, beware of online scams. Before you download any tax software, listen to Kim's advice on what to watch out for to keep your data and your money safe.

Kickstarter turns 10 in April. Since then, four point two billion dollars has been pledged on almost one hundred and sixty thousand funded projects. Kim Komando looks at a few "unique" projects funded by Kickstarter.

Voice assistants have typically been female. Now a company has created a gender-neutral voice. Listen to what it sounds like and tell me what you think.

Apple was part of a study conducted on over four hundred thousand people, in order to find out if the Apple Watch can detect irregular heartbeats. The results were amazing. Once you hear this, you might turn around and get yourself an Apple Watch!

I'm sure you heard about the horrifying massacre in New Zealand. What is most disturbing is the fact that the gruesome video of the killings was on social media for an entire day before it was finally taken down. Where were Facebook, Google and YouTube? 

Facebook had a major outage that was believed to be a server error. But when you think about it, servers can't be so easily misconfigured, which leads me to wonder, could it have been a hack?

If you forget something in an Uber, the good news is: you can get it back. But are you curious what people leave behind? Kim looked into it and shares some very strange things people left in their Uber ride.