Category: Tech news

The new Android handset from the Chinese manufacturer has a home-made chip that powers several AI features.

 It’s been a fascinating couple of years for high tech sneaker heads, between self-lacing Nikes and Adidas’ experiments with 3D printed midsoles and biodegradable yarn. Asics isn’t generally uttered in the same breath as those sorts of bleeding edge offerings, but the running shoe company has just debuted a pretty compelling new take on the manufacturing process.
The new… Read More

 Elon Musk did an AMA on Reddit yesterday, and while he didn’t provide every missing detail on SpaceX’s ambitious BFR program, he was (as always) engaging and informative in a more general way. Here are the highlights of the Q&A. Read More

 You may remember that last year, Verizon was punished by the FCC for injecting information into its subscribers’ traffic that allowed them to be tracked without their consent. That practice appears to be alive and well despite being disallowed in a ruling last March: companies appear to be able to request your number, location, and other details from your mobile provider quite easily. Read More

 Russia will issue its own official cryptocurrency, the CryptoRuble, capping months of speculation about the country’s approach to the technology. While in a way it indicates an embrace of the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the CryptoRuble is unlikely to share the truly decentralized nature of other coins. Read More

 Earlier this week, it was revealed that independent phone maker OnePlus was collecting all manner of information from phones running its OxygenOS — without telling users, of course. Caught red-handed, the company is backing off from the opt-out data collection program, giving users a choice up front instead of buried in the options. Read More

 The most wonderful and most terrible things about new technologies are their emergent properties. The latest example is, of course, Fake News On Facebook; who would have thought that connecting everyone via social media would lead to wildly divergent narratives of (so-called) reality? And yet here we are. But if you think social media is messy and weird … just wait until we get… Read More

Your child’s car seat can be as technologically advanced as your luxe Euro sedan.

Today, learning about science and tech is all play. Well, and maybe just a little work.

 Amazon said earlier this week that it was reviewing its options around the shows it was producing with The Weinstein Company. Now it looks like the company has made a decision and is moving to sever ties with TWC. One show, an untitled project from director David O. Russell, has been canceled entirely. Russell, along with stars Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore, released a statement saying… Read More

 Silicon Valley may be the techiest place on earth, but even here, the way people open the front door hasn’t changed much in a century. Most of us still get in by turning a flat metal key in a lock. Visitors ring doorbells, and we peep at them through peepholes. If we’re out, keyless guests are out of luck. If investors have their way, that status quo will look quite primitive in a… Read More

 While you wait for Twitter to roll out “more aggressive” rules regarding hate speech, which CEO Jack Dorsey promised are coming within “weeks” as of late Friday, here’s a quick workaround to kick nazis off of your Twitter feed right now… Read More

 I have a new habit. It quenches a thirst. It soothes a weakened, battered piece of my psyche. It repairs my wounds and unleashes me, more powerful, into my day. It fulfills the saddest, most regrettable pieces of myself. It may also be a habit that you want to pick up. You too may find that this simple step into the breach of social engagement online can make you… Fitter. Happier.… Read More

 As an urban technologist, I’m often asked to give an example of a compelling smart city application that real people are using. But to be honest, there really isn’t too much to point to – yet. Cities may be getting smarter, but they haven’t noticeably changed from a user perspective. It seems like most of the digital advances in cities have been invisible and focused… Read More

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