The Tech Media Minute: Tinder Gets More Social, as the Latest 'iPhone 7' Leak Gets All Wet

Say hello to Tinder Social

Tinder wants to become more than a place to find a date. On Thursday, it unveiled Tinder Social, a new feature that allows groups of friends to connect with other groups for a night out.

As noted on the Tinder Blog:

“Pub crawl tonight? The more the merrier. Just going out for cocktails? Find out who’s going where and then easily connect once you get there. Just remember—at noon the next day, your group expires, your matches disappear, and your Uber turns into a pumpkin.”

To use Tinder Social, you’ll need to activate it via the app. Once you do, Tinder shows you other users who have also unlocked the feature. From there, you can invite those friends to go out for a group activity.

Since launching in 2012, Tinder has amassed 50 million users in 196 countries.

Petition grows that urges Apple not to release camera jamming technology

On June 28, Apple was awarded U.S. patent no. 9,380,225, titled “Systems and methods for receiving infrared data with a camera designed to detect images based on visible light.” That patent could allow others to turn off your iPhone’s camera abilities in certain locations such as a concert. A growing petition envisions something much different.

“Tell Apple: Don’t Allow Police to Remotely Disable iPhone Cameras” has almost 13,000 signatures from users worried about the new technology.

The petition states:

“The technology allows cameras to be disabled through special infrared sensors, allowing a third party to disable your camera remotely. The release of this technology would have huge implications, including the censoring of political dissidents, activists, and citizens who are recording police brutality.”

Apple has yet to announce whether the camera jamming technology is launching on future products. However, it’s worth noting that the company is often awarded patents for technology that it never uses in products.

Personally, I hope this technology never sees the light of day.

A big sign that the next iPhone is water-resistant. 

Buried inside iOS 10 betas is a new warning message that alerts users when there’s liquid detected in a device’s Lightning port.

According to Engadget, this feature is only known to work with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE.

Rumors have suggested that the “iPhone 7” is at least water resistant. This feature’s introduction adds to this narrative.

Ted #Cruz is trending on Twitter after he didn’t endorse Donald J. Trump for president at last night’s GOP convention. Trump officially accepts the Republican nominee later today.

Also being discussed:

• #NationalJunkFoodDay
• #CharlesKinsey
• #ThursdayThoughts
• #WorstSurvivalTips
• Moto Z
• #FilmsThatAreCheesy
• #forbiddenML
• NATO
• #Cruz
• #CarpoolKaraoke

Today, July 21 is National Junk Food Day.

Rewind: On this day in 1873, Jesse James and his gang robbed their first train.

Looking for more to read? We’ve got you covered:

• New Gorilla Glass should make the iPhone 7 screen practically indestructible, BGR
• Apple and Facebook helped bust the world’s biggest torrent site, Engadget
• The unwritten future of the Apple TV, Computerworld

Want even more? Check out Tech Media Extra.