Consumer Tech Update

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We thought smoking cigarettes was safe back in the day. Now we know better. But consider new tech like AirPods. Are they safe, or will we one day discover they cause cancer? Kim gives her thoughts on the matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Receiving bad news from a doctor is devastating enough. What if you got news that your loved one is dying from a robot? This is what happened to Ernest Quintana's family when a machine rolled into the intensive care unit to give them the news. How would you feel? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The greatly hyped, end-of-world Y2K event came and went without anybody noticing. Now, some tech writers are trying to create that same panic with the Global Positioning System (GPS). Kim looks at the latest fears behind the GPS update coming up in April 2019 and how it can affect us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After all the scandals, data breaches, and fake news Mark Zuckerberg had an epiphany about privacy and security for Facebook. He has a new vision about what the future of Facebook is going to look like. Kim looks at this vision and what the future holds for Facebook based on its past track record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Video stores used to be the only way to rent movies back in the day. Many people have spent a weekend evening at Blockbuster Video, renting movies and buying snacks with the family. In this day and age, technology has taken over the home movie business with streaming services. But Blockbuster isn't quite dead yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since it was unveiled, the foldable smartphone has been generating a lot of excitement. But is now the right time to buy one? Kim looks at how smartphone manufacturers are racing to bring foldable phones to the market even though it's untested technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When many of us signed up for Facebook, we gave them our phone number to prevent hackers from being able to access our account information. It's called two-factor authentication and Facebook used our phone numbers to allow people to look us up and even sold that info to third parties. Kim looks at how this practice is still in use even thought Facebook said they stopped it quite some time ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New parents have a tough time picking names for their new offspring. It used to be going through the baby name book or checking names online. Now, it's social media. Kim looks at the impact social media has made for new parents picking the name of their child and why it has become so prevalent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us just couldn't live without our smartphones. When we can't text, check email or apps, and surf the web whenever we want, we experience frustration and anxiety. Kim looks at ways we can counter smartphone addiction to relieve the stress and anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The phone rings and you've got a fifty-fifty chance of it being a robocaller. That's right, nearly 50% of all calls are robocallers and they've been on the rise for quite some time. Where are all these robocalls coming from? Kim looks at what's behind these annoying calls and what you can do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

YouTube has been in the news lately and it hasn't been too good. First, it was people leaving comments promoting child pornography. Now, it's videos promoting suicide? Kim looks at the latest story about YouTube and what it means to parents and kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BMW let the cat out of the bag at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. You won't believe what drivers will be able to do with the latest technology. And it may not be limited to high priced cars. Here's a hint: it has to do with your gaze. Plus, what's new with 5G smartphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook has been in the news for quite some time about the way it has handled data from users. But this time, Facebook is not the one doing the spying. It turns out, other apps are selling all their user data to Facebook. Kim looks at the latest research about how Facebook is getting data from other apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices