Category: Tech news

 As our desktop computers, laptops, mobile devices, etc. stand idly by for a huge portion of the day, the need for computing resources is growing at a fast pace. So how can we make a more economic and efficient use of all the computing power that’s going to waste? Read More

 Last January I wrote a TechCrunch post predicting the major programming trends of 2016. But in the software development world, things can change very quickly. It can be difficult to see the high-level trends clearly through all the chatter about shiny new development languages, frameworks and tools. So, as we near the end of 2016, how accurate were my predictions? Read More

 Corporate machine learning research may be getting a new vanguard in Apple. Six researchers from the company’s recently formed machine learning group published a paper that describes a novel method for simulated + unsupervised learning. The aim is to improve the quality of synthetic training images. The work is a sign of the company’s aspirations to become a more visible leader… Read More

 Egypt has intensified its cyber crackdown under president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In recent years authorities have blocked Facebook’s controversial Free Basics program for not allowing it to spy on users, imprisoned citizens for satirical Facebook posts and reportedly used Deep Packet Inspection technology allowing for extensive surveillance of Egyptians’ online activities. Read More

 It’s the holidays and that means it’s time to watch robots cream humans in bouts of skill. The latest example of robotics winning over a meatbag? This amazing air-hockey robot powered by a smartphone, Arduino board and a plotter-like robotic arm. The system works by watching the puck on the surface of the table and moving to where the puck is going. It actively blocks attacks on… Read More

 Seattle police arrested Oculus’ Head of Computer Vision Dov Katz on December 23rd in a sting operation in which a police officer posed as a 15-year-old girl. Katz allegedly arrived at an Embassy Suites in Tukwila, Washington with $600 after agreeing in texts messages to pay $300 for sex without a condom. Katz told police he was there to rescue the girl. GeekWire has screenshots from… Read More

 There’s a farm outside of Venice, Italy, that cultivates tech talent the way that other farms grow crops. Read More

 Someone in your life is suffering from a mental disorder right now. You may not know it, but it’s there. Indeed, one in five adults suffers from a mental disorder. Society has trained us to believe mental illness is something to be ashamed of, so a majority of the afflicted hide it and go untreated. I’d like to say we’re becoming more accepting as a society, but … Read More

 The days leading up to the holiday have been a real roller coaster ride for Cyanogen fans. Yesterday, Cyanogen Inc. unceremoniously pulled the plug on its support for CyanogenOS in a short post declaring that “all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued” by the year’s end.
In a post today titled “A Fork in the Road,” the team behind… Read More

 Previously considered risky investments, it’s true that many edtech startups — commonly founded by “teacherpreneurs” hell bent on mending education through tech innovation — either tank or fail to achieve true scale. Why is this the case, when basic reasoning leads us to believe there is no other professional better placed to address the issues facing education… Read More

 It’s the time of year when we find ourselves together with our loved ones, gathered around the warming seasonal glow of our smart home devices. And for those who managed to snag an Echo before the device sold out seemingly everywhere, Amazon’s got a fun little Easter egg (nog).

From now until Jan. 3, 2017, Alexa customers can listen to a holiday classic for free. #JustAsk… Read More

 It’s a minor holiday miracle. Wearable device leaders Fitbit and Jawbone have been locked in a prolonged legal battle for well over a year, and yesterday Fitbit dropped one of the key pursuits against its fellow fitness manufacturer, dropping a patent violation complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Fitbit cited Jawbone’s recent financial woes as part of… Read More

 If you haven’t heard about VR/AR by now, your desert island must not have Wi-Fi. But there are millions of folks who know about VR/AR who haven’t seen it yet. User trial is on the critical path for VR/AR to go mass market. So what are the lessons from previous digital platforms about moving mass consumers from awareness to trial? Read More

 T-Mobile’s no-data-charge-music-streaming-thing has been going strong since 2014 here in the States, with the company adding services to the offering one by one.
The Netherlands version of the promotion ran into significant headwinds this week, however, as regulators at the Dutch Consumer and Markets  (AFM) officially ordered the carrier to stop offering the “zero rating&#8221… Read More

 As much of the rest of us were gearing up for a relatively quiet holiday season, Apple and Nokia were getting ready to go to battle, reigniting a war that had seemingly gone cold in 2011 with a reported $720 million settlement for the use of a number of patents.
Earlier this week, Apple filed suit in California, alleging that Nokia removed certain patents from the deal for the purpose of… Read More