Technology news

Eastman Kodak stock is down nearly 45% during Monday’s pre-market trade after the US government signalled alleged insider trading has jeopardised its pivot into pharmaceuticals. “On July 28, we signed a Letter of Interest with Eastman Kodak,” tweeted the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) on Friday. “Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns. We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared.” On July 28, we sign

The Hubble Space Telescope set its sights on a total lunar eclipse, using the Moon as a mirror to study Earth. Here’s how it could help us find life on other worlds. The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a total lunar eclipse, becoming the first space telescope to ever image such an event. This also marked the first time that a total lunar eclipse has been thoroughly examined in ultraviolet light, as well as the first time ultraviolet (UV) light was seen from space after passing through t

Folding smartphones are slowly making their way into the mainstream. Could foldable e-readers be next? The E Ink Corporation, the company behind the digital paper tech found in the majority of e-readers, is trying to make it happen. The firm’s R&D lab has been developing foldable e-ink screens for a while, and its latest prototype clearly demonstrates the idea’s potential.
The video above comes from GoodEReader.com and shows a foldable e-reader prototype developed by E Ink. An ea

Our robot colleague Satoshi Nakaboto writes about Bitcoin every fucking day. Welcome to another edition of Bitcoin Today, where I, Satoshi Nakaboto, tell you what’s been going on with Bitcoin in the past 24 hours. As Ada Lovelace used to say: Shleppppppp it! Bitcoin price We closed the day, August 09 2020, at a price of $11,675. That’s a minor 0.52 percent decline in 24 hours, or -$61.59. It was the lowest closing price in one day. We’re still 41 percent below Bitcoin‘s

The geography of entrepreneurship is “spiky,” meaning that from region to region there are significant variations in rates of startups and, in particular, “scaleups” – new businesses that are evolving into larger enterprises. This can be explained by the fact that successful entrepreneurship occurs in “fertile soil” – economic and social environments conducive to entrepreneurial activity. And in some places these environments – or ecosystems

Facebook-owned WhatsApp appears to be working on new multiple device support with synchronized chat history. WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is testing the ability to use an account on multiple devices, including a separate iPad app. WhatsApp currently supports multiple devices through WhatsApp Web, which connects back to a phone account.
WhatsApp Web requires a phone to be powered on and connected to the web, but this new multiple device support won’t need to constantly connect back to a

Since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the potential role of animals in catching and spreading the disease has been closely examined by scientists. This is because the virus that causes COVID-19 belongs to the family of coronaviruses that cause disease in a variety of mammals. The evidence suggests that this virus arose in bats and my colleagues at the University of Glasgow have recently determined that the sub-type of coronavirus to which the virus belongs has been circulating in the ba

Over the past six years of my career, I got to build and support distributed teams across the globe. While it’s been an opportunity that I’ll forever be grateful for and I got to work with fantastic people, it’s also challenged me as a leader and manager.  Much less happens organically through osmosis, or at the literal watercooler, but at the same time many of the challenges all teams face, like communication and collaboration, are exacerbated when we’re distribute

All eyes might be one the launch of Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X console during the holiday season this year. However, the company seems poised to release a more affordable Xbox Series S in the meantime. According to photos of controller packaging posted by twitter user Zak and confirmed by The Verge, Microsoft will release a cheaper version of the Xbox Series X and it’ll be called Xbox Series S. The company hasn’t yet announced any details related to this. [Re

One of the things people worry about when switching from Android to iOS or vice versa is syncing their WhatsApp chat logs — it simply doesn’t work nearly as well as when you’re moving to a new device on the same platform. There are a few apps that claim to do it, but they’re all hit or miss. However, WhatsApp might be finally working on letting you sync chats between platforms. According to a post by WABetaInfo, the company has started working on the feature in the

The W-Touch and W-Type accessories. | Photo: Brydge On August 17th, Brydge will begin selling a new lineup of Surface accessories that have the “Designed for Surface” badge, meaning that they were made in collaboration with Microsoft. The lineup includes keyboards for the Surface Pro and Surface Go, but the most intriguing product in the group is the $99.99 W-Touch standalone trackpad. It’s apparently the first standalone wireless trackpad made for Windows 10.The W-Touch is li

One of the largest owners of shopping mall real estate in the United Stages, Simon Property Group, has been talking to Amazon about transforming its anchor department stores into Amazon distribution hubs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In the case of Simon Property, the anchor tenants like J.C. Penney and Searsthat used to be stable sources of revenue are now weights around the neck of the retail real estate manager, and transforming their ghostly halls of pale mannequins into warehouses

Microsoft is rumored to be launching its second, cheaper next-gen Xbox console this month, and it looks like it will definitely be called Xbox Series S. The Verge has obtained photos of Microsoft’s new next-gen Xbox controller in white, complete with packaging that mentions the Xbox Series S. Instagram user Zak was able to purchase the controller today, and we’ve confirmed it’s genuine.
The new controller was sold on a resale site today, and the side of the packaging notes that

Most gamers may not view Appleas a games company to the same degree that they see Sony with PlayStation or Microsoft with Xbox, but the iPhone-maker continues to uniformly drive the industry with decisions made in the Apple App Store.
The company made the news a couple times late this week for App Store approvals. Once for denying a gaming app, and the other for approving one.
The denial was Microsoft’sxCloudgaming app, something the Xbox folks weren’t too psyched about. Microsoft xC

Toshiba quietly exited the laptop business once and for all last week, ending a 35-year run by transferring its remaining minority stake in its PC business to Sharp. Two years ago, Toshiba sold an 80.1 percent stake of its PC business to Sharp for $36 million, and Sharp renamed the division Dynabook. Sharp exercised its right to buy the remaining 19.1 percent of shares back in June, and Toshiba released a statement August 4th that the deal was completed“As a result of this transfer, Dynabo

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has had talks with Simon Property Group about converting some of its mall spaces into fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The conversations started before the coronavirus pandemic, and before the latest wave of bankruptcy filings by mall stalwarts like Lord & Taylor, JCPenney, and Nieman Marcus. It’s a bit of an on-the-nose example of how e-commerce is overtaking the traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishments th

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has had talks with Simon Property Group about converting some of its mall spaces into fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The conversations started before the coronavirus pandemic, and before the latest wave of bankruptcy filings by mall stalwarts like Lord & Taylor, JCPenney, and Nieman Marcus. It’s a bit of an on-the-nose example of how e-commerce is overtaking the traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishments th

Timothy Bouré and his co-founder Geoffrey Lucks were both near broke when they moved to Dallas to join the first accelerator they entered after forming VenoStent, a company that aims to improve outcomes for dialysis patients.
Failed dialysis surgeries occur in roughly 55% to 65% of patients with end-stage renal disease, according to the company. Caring for these patients can cost the Medicare and Medicaid Services system roughly $2 billion per year — and Bouré and Lucks belie

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As school districts across the country struggle to figure out how — or if— to safely reopen schools to teachers and students, the number of coronavirus cases in the US passed 5 million on Sunday, according to the Coronavirus Research Center at Johns Hopkins University. And according to a Washington Post analysis, the US hit the 5 million mark just 17 days after passing 4 million cases.The US leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases,

IBM Frances Allen, whose work on computer compiling helped establish a foundation for much of modern computer programming, died on August 4th, her 88th birthday. She was the first woman to win the Turing Award, and the first female IBM fellow. Allen was determined to make the tedious compiling process — converting software programs into ones and zeroes— more efficient. The work became a hallmark of her career.After receiving a master’s degree in mathematics from the University

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that TikTok and Twitter have held talks about a potential merger, even as the video sharing company defends itself against President Donald Trump’s pressure to force the sale of the business or potentially ban it.
As the internationally distributed video streaming version of Chinese technology developer Bytedance’s social media app, TikTok has amassed a global user of avid consumers for its short form videos, including at least 100 million users i

This article was originally published by Michael Coates on Clean Fleet Report, a publication that gives its readers the information they need to move to cars and trucks with best fuel economy, including electric cars, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and advanced diesel and gasoline engines. The Ariya is similar in size to Nissan’s best-selling Rogue crossover, but aimed at a new audience. The all-electric compact SUV will come in front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive (dual

Apple has filed a notice of opposition against a meal prep company because it claims the Prepear app’s cartoon fruit logo— in this case, a pear— is too close to Apple’s own trademarked logo which is, of course, an apple (via MacRumors and iPhone in Canada). The company claims the pear logo would “cause dilution of the distinctiveness” of the Apple logo, and make it difficult for consumers to distinguish between Prepear and Apple’s goods and services, whi

TikTok, the video-sharing app that’s moved to the center of the economic conflict between the US and China, is planning to challenge the executive order issued by President Donald Trump that would force the sale or ban the service in the United States.
According to a report from National Public Radio yesterday, TikTok could file a federal lawsuit challenging the order as soon as Tuesday. The lawsuit is expected to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California,

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Huawei, the world’s biggest smartphone vendor, says it’s running out of processor chips because of US sanctions against the company, The Associated Press reported. And according to Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business unit, as of next month the Chinese phone manufacturer will no longer be able to make its own Kirin chipsets due to the ongoing economic pressure from the US.
“Unfortunately, in the second round of U.S. sanct

The first season of “The Umbrella Academy” had its flaws, but empathetic portrayals of its seven superhero siblings (all adults bearing the emotional scars of an upbringing under their strict adoptive father Reginald Hargreeves) more than made up for its meandering plot.
In season two, which recently launched on Netflix,the Umbrella Academy has been transported to Dallas in the early 1960s, where the Hargreeves must once again try to repair their familial bonds while also averting a

Although political leaders have closed borders in response to COVID-19, scientists are collaborating like never before. But the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) is novel – and we don’t yet have all the facts about it. As a result, we may have to change our approach as new scientific data comes in. That doesn’t mean the science isn’t trustworthy – we will get the full picture over time. And there is already great research that can help inform political decisions. Here are t

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has had preliminary discussions about a “combination” with TikTok, the Wall Street Journal reported, making the social media platform the latest possible suitor for the popular video-sharing app. As the WSJ notes, it’s not clear whether Twitter would pursue a possible acquisition of TikTok, and any such deal would have big obstacles.The biggest challenge to any deal is the Trump administration’s executive order from August

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok plans to sue the Trump administration over the president’s executive order banning the app in the US, and the company may file the lawsuit as early as Tuesday, NPR reported.According to NPR, the lawsuit will argue the president’s action is unconstitutional because TikTok did not have time to respond. The lawsuit also will allege that the president’s justification for the ban— that the company is a threat to US national secur

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In a move that may forever change what it means to be ratio’d, Twitter is testing some new language on tweet metrics, making quotes (also known as retweets with comments) visible on each tweet, the company confirmed Saturday.
“A few months ago, we’ve made Retweets with Comments more visible when you tap to see Retweets on a Tweet,” a Twitter spokesperson wrote in an email to The Verge. “This is available to everyone. Now, we&

Welcome back to The TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter for your weekend enjoyment. It’s broadly based on the weekday column that appears on Extra Crunch, but free. And it’s made just for you. You can sign up for the newsletter here. 
With that out of the way, let’s talk money, upstart companies and the latest spicy IPO rumors. 
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Moft is a clever company that makes clever products. For a while there, I was sporting their laptop stand. It was a head-turner when I used to unfold it during meetings — back when we used to do those in-person. The truth is, I ended up having to tear it off the bottom. It lasted fine for a while, but the heat from the bottom of my MacBook ultimately melted it into a gooey mess. It was fun while it lasted.
Ultimately, I do think that was a design flaw. But even so, Moft its one of those co

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images An agreement between the US government and Kodak to develop generic drug ingredients appears to be on hold, after the US International Development Finance Corporation tweeted that “recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns.”“We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared,” the agency tweeted, without specifying what the allegations were.Kodak said Friday it was conducting an internal review o

Editor’s note: Get this free weekly recap of TechCrunch news that any startup can use by email every Saturday morning (7am PT). Subscribe here.
They say business needs certainty to succeed, but new tech startups are still getting funded aggressively despite the pandemic, recession, trade wars and various large disasters created by nature or humans. But before we get to the positive data, let’s spend some time reviewing the hard news — there is a lot of it to process.

Nearly eight years ago, Hamet Watt and Stacy Spikeslaunched MoviePass, the subscription-based movie ticketing service that captured the minds and dollars of investors and brought thousands of cinephiles a too-good-to-be-true deal for all-you-can watch movie passes.
Watt, who came to MoviePassas an entrepreneur in residence at True Ventures, previously founded the brand and product placement startup NextMedium and also spent time as a board partner at Upfront Ventures. Now, the serial entrepreneu

On one hand working from home is truly awesome. Your commute is however far it is from your bed to your laptop, you don't have to deal face-to-face with annoying colleagues, you can make your own homemade, healthy snacks, and yes, you can work in your pajamas. 
On the other hand, working from home turns your cozy sanctuary into an extension of your workplace, and it can be hard to switch off the way you normally would when you leave a physical place. 
While there are some things you ca

You'll always remember your first...time listening to Phil Collins? These two will, anyway.
On July 27, twin YouTubers Tim and Fred Williams — known for their hilarious reaction videos to classic songs like Dolly Parton's "Jolene," The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," and Tom Jones' "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" on the channel TwinsthenewTrend — gifted the world documentation of their first outing with "In the Air Tonight." Naturally, it's the drum break that gets them. 
"O

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook removed dozens of accounts it says were part of a troll farm pretending to be African-Americans in support of President Donald Trump and QAnon supporters, the company said, for violating its policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior.According to a report on its July enforcement activity, Facebook removed 35 Facebook accounts, three pages and 88 Instagram accounts for “violating our policy against foreign interference, which is coord

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge President Trump’s advisors got into a “knockdown, drag-out” fight in the Oval Office late last week during discussions about a TikTok ban, the Washington Post reported. Trade advisor Peter Navarro accused Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin of being soft on China, as Navarro pushed for an outright ban of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, according to the Post, as Mnuchin had been arguing for a TikTok sale to a US company.Navarro told th