Technology news

Apple is again celebrating Pride in San Francisco, but this time are gifting employees with a rainbow Apple Watch band for taking part in the festivities. Many Apple employees have taken to Twitter and Instagram to show off the band, which has a card included letting them know that their participation earned them the band. It doesn’t appear that Apple is making the band available for purchase, so expect this to be one of the hottest eBay items ever if an employee or 12 decides to cash in.

What has 577 horsepower, 516 pound-feet of torque, and is bright green? The Mercedes AMG GT R, of course. It's at the top of Mercedes' street-legal sports car range and, fresh off its unveiling on Friday, the car has arrived at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to take on the famous hill climb.It's the harder, better, faster, stronger version of the Mercedes-Benz's excellent AMG GT that was released a few years ago. It'll get from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, up to a top speed of 198 mph. We

From the little city of White Settlement, Texas, home to 16,000 people and one aggrieved kitty, comes my favorite story of the year: a snack-sized tale of petty revenge in local government. Originally reported by Bud Kennedy at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the White Settlement city council voted 2-1 on June 14th to fire the public library's Chief Library Cat, Browser. The vote was marked on the council's agenda only as "discuss and consider relocation of Library Facility cat

Apple’s WWDC 2016 session videos now have an unofficial transcript, thanks to a macOS app on GitHub. The appropriately named ‘WWDC’ is a native app for macOS that  streamed live session videos during WWDC, but may actually be better now that the event is over. Though Apple makes its videos available on the official WWDC website, it only includes the slides from each talk. WWDC 4.3 is out! Transcripts for 2016 now available thanks to @ASCIIwwdc :) https://t.co/X4vjZOE77a #

The dark underbelly of society is not something we like to think about — much less talk about — but it’s there. An app named TraffickCam shines a light on human trafficking, and lets you intervene without getting involved. After downloading the app, all you have to do is snap four pictures of a hotel room you’re staying in (as well as note the hotel’s name and location). From there, those images are added into a national database authorities can use to cross-refere

Searching for apps is typically pretty straightforward, so long as you know what you’re looking for. But when you don’t, both Apple and Google’s respective shops (the App Store and Google Play) do an absolutely terrible job of helping you out. GIFs I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that GIFs are basically our new way of conversing with one another. At TNW Europe, Giphy’s CEO Adam Leibsohn asserted as much in a talk about how GIFs were taking over the world and r

A new song from Rihanna, the latest Star Trek alien, could be coming tomorrow. The track appeared on iTunes two days ago, and the singer teased on Instagram that she's "got something for y'all tomorrow." "Sledgehammer" could have been written as early as two years ago; fan source Rihanna Diaries discovered a tweet from 2014 with the lyrics "you're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer."
A sledgehammer is probably the least of the Enterprise crew's problems, since director Justin Li

Game of Thrones fans, your watch has nearly ended.
We're moving into the final episode of the (possibly?) penultimate season. For a show that already has set a precedent for keeping fans on edge, we can only expect this finale to keep our jaws clenched. 
Now that's confirmed to be 69 minutes — the longest episode in Thrones history — we can expect the show to lay the surprises on thick.
SEE ALSO: Ask Siri about 'Game of Thrones' right now
Keep in mind, we're

Earlier this year, a $4 smartphone meant for the rural Indian market was announced, sending waves throughout the industry. Believe it or not, it’s real — and about to start shipping. The Freedom 251 is now set to start shipping on June 30 to those who pre-ordered the device. Built by India’s Ringing Bell, the phone sports some very ho-hum specs when compared to other devices — but it’s four dollars. It has a 4-inch screen, and an 8MP camera around back (but a

Overwatch hero Torbjörnwill be a little less deadly next month when his turrets get a 30% reduction in damage. 
Confirmation of a "mid to late July" deployment for the patch comes from the game's director, Jeff Kaplan, in a Reddit comment. He was responding to a post with the title, "Torbjörn is utterly ruining this game on PS4."
Feedback doesn't get much more blunt than that.  
SEE ALSO: 4 'Overwatch' hero strategies for beginners to master
Spend five minutes

Rosie diving joyfully into a field of tall grass may be the most delightful thing you'll see all weekend. 
According to her owner — English comedian and podcaster Adam Buxton —  Rosie is a poodle-whippet mix who likes to bounce, an activity she clearly takes very seriously.
Watching paint cans explode in slow motion is oddly magnificent
Film captures life of NYC's hardest-working fashion photog, Bill Cunningham
Watch a brave soul test out the glass slide suspended 1,000 fee

The irony of Independence Day: Resurgence ads, which keep saying those aliens "messed with the wrong planet," is that they appear to completely destroy the planet, which probably means they messed with the right planet after all. But these days, nobody is messing with our planet more than ID: Resurgence director Roland Emmerich, who Slashfilm reports just had his sci-fi movie Moonfall picked up by Universal Pictures. What is Moonfall about, you ask? It is about the Moon falling in

It might be a little early in the summer to point to a "worst" box office performance, but Independence Day: Resurgence is definitely looking like a bust.
The Roland Emmerich-directed sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day drew in an estimated $41.6 million in its opening weekend. That's good enough for second place, but not a positive sign for the weeks ahead.
SEE ALSO: Save yourself from watching the dreadful 'Independence Day: Resurgence'
The numbers look worse outside of

Pundits believe Apple is working hard on a new ‘Thunderbolt’ monitor, and much of the focus is on the possibility there will be a GPU buried in the hardware. I think there’s a much different (and more colorful) reason Apple is refreshing its monitor. The rumor Late last week, Apple announced it was letting the current Thunderbolt display die on the vine. You can still buy one — and they’re still $1,000 — but stock won’t be replenished. As with any move

The lower house of Russia's parliament has passed so-called anti-terrorism legislation that would allow steep prison sentences for dissent, and require ISPs and phone companies to store huge amounts of communications for long periods of time, The Guardian reports. The "Yarovaya law" would also make it a crime not to report information about terrorist attacks and other crimes, require telecoms to assist the government to break into encrypted messages, and increase the strongest penalty for "

The lower house of Russia's parliament has passed so-called anti-terrorism legislation that would allow steep prison sentences for dissent, and require ISPs and phone companies to store huge amounts of communications for long periods of time, The Guardian reports. The "Yarovaya law" would also make it a crime not to report information about terrorist attacks and other crimes, require telecoms to assist the government to break into encrypted messages, and increase the strongest penalty for "

This past week, we published Andrew Hawkins' feature E-Waste Empire, which tracked the millions of pounds of dead electronics that New York discards each year. Both Andrew and our staff photographer Amelia Krales followed the path of e-waste recycling from Manhattan, through Staten Island, New Jersey and onto a huge recycling facility in Holliston, MA. Amelia shot reportage photos of each stage of the process and mountains of discarded TVs, computers, cell phones —even an Apple II, complet

The judges have spoken: Sweepee Rambo, a Chinese crested chihuahua, is the world's ugliest dog. 
In this case, that's a compliment.
The hairless pooch took home the top prize at the 2016 World's Ugliest Dog Competition, held on Saturday in Petaluma, California. Wurtz kisses his prize-winning pooch.Image:josh edelsonIn her competition bio, Sweepee's owner, Jason Wurtz, writes that she's accompanied him to work each morning for the last 15 years. She placed second in last year's co

The media and technology calendar traditionally has revolved around a few events: the Consumer Electronics Show, SXSW Interactive, Comic-Con and Cannes Lions. 
Now VidCon is making strong push to enter that established group. The event — for those who have heard of it at all — typically conjures thoughts of stampeding teens chasing YouTube stars. Backroom business deals, not so much.
Yet here we are. It's 2016 and VidCon, which is happening at the same time as Cannes, is o

The iPhone 7, expected to debut this Fall, is currently tumbling through the rumor mill. The latest involves what is being touted as the phone’s machined casing, which details a few previously heard rumors like the absence of an audio jack. Replacing the audio jack on the iPhone 7 will be a second speaker grill. It’s apparently that simple; ditch the headphone plug, add a speaker. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ iPhone 7: Une nouvelle photo HD révèle la présence d&rs

Broadway mega-hit Hamilton is putting on a special July 12 performance for Hillary Clinton.
The 11:30 a.m. matinee, dubbed "Hamilton: An American Musical with special guest Hillary Rodham Clinton," is a fundraiser for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Tickets start at $2,700 and climb steeply from there.
SEE ALSO: 'Hamilton' cast predictably slays its Tony Award performance
The fundraiser reportedly won't feature creator/star Lin-Manuel Miranda and stars Leslie Odom, Jr

When I talk about peak Sony, I'm not, of course, referring to the Sony that took over the world with products like the Walkman and the PlayStation. No, the Sony that made the Rolly is that Sony’s twisted, lovable alter-ego. And the Rolly is that side of the company’s ultimate creation.I will attempt to describe the Rolly in as straightforward and sober a way as I can, because that’s actually the best way to explain just how weird it was. The Rolly was a “sound entertainme

You would think when you do a "factory reset" and agree to erase everything on your Android device that all of your data would be wiped out for good. But you'd be wrong.
As many researchers have discovered, data can be recovered with the right tools even after a factory reset has been performed. That's because when you delete something, the file itself isn't actually overwritten — the system just throws away all the info on the file, essentially tossing it in with whatever free space you

This column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we’ve written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now rectifying this oversight.
Pixar Animation Studios' new theatrical release Finding Dory is in theaters now, and audiences who turned up to see it have been subjected to a highly unscientific animated short called "Piper." Reality check: sandpipers do not actually learn most of their life lessons f

To celebrate Quake's 20th birthday, the developer behind Wolfenstein: The New Order decided to do something special. 
SEE ALSO: Someone expertly recreated Seinfeld's apartment using 1994's 'Doom II: Hell on Earth'
MachineGames honored the classic game's legacy with a new single-player add-on called, "Episode 5: Dimension of the Past," which delivers new Quake story levels along with a multiplayer map. The developer announced the addition in a tweet containing a direct downlo

Lego Brexit MapTracking the EU referendum, brick by brickRed = Leave, and blue = Remain.Marco Kesseler/MashableThe UK has voted to leave the European Union after a historic referendum. There were strong geographical trends in voting for leave or remain, and we mapped them… brick by brick.Polls showed leave and remain were neck-and-neck going into the vote. But poll trackers and bookmakers put the odds on remain, so many people were shocked when the leave side won 52% to 48%.As the results

The new iOS 10 is right around the corner, with enormously anticipated advancements in everything from Messages to Maps, Photos to the ways we interact with Siri and beyond. If you’re interested in getting in on the ground level of Apple’s latest evolution, you can get a running head start down the path to a lucrative future in coding with an exciting The Complete iOS 10 Developer Course, now offered at a pre-sale discount of 98 percent off from TNW Deals. The Complete iOS 10 Develo

Take a moment to look at your emoji keyboard. Scroll through the angry face, ghost, stiletto, doughnut, flashlight and cigarette until you reach the hearts. 
There it is: love. Amid the mundane and humorous, those vibrant, colorful little shapes can easily become a rapid-fire display of affection to a friend, parent or partner. But notice, too, the broken and blue hearts, and their restrained reminders of sadness, loneliness or grief.SEE ALSO: How to help someone who shares suicidal f

EXCLUSIVE: Baidu, the equivalent of Google in China, will roll out an update to its group-buying e-commerce app Nuomi later this year that will significantly change the way people review food. In addition to accepting and posting users’ reviews of restaurants, the app will start asking for people’s impressions of individual dishes.
Instead of just having users simply snap photos and type in words later and maybe upload photos, the app will also let people use voice dictation to quick

They came bearing smiles and messages of support, not to mention cuddles from a few friendly service dogs.
On Saturday morning, survivors of the June 12 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which claimed 49 lives, were visited by a group that has lived through similar tragedy. Ten survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing visited six Orlando survivors at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, the hospital said in an emailed statement.
SEE ALSO: Beyoncé dedicates beautiful

More than 2,000 coral reef scientists have sent a letter to the Australian government pleading for it to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
Warning that Australia is perceived as a "laggard" on climate action, the letter was sent Saturday after the conclusion of the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium, which was held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
SEE ALSO: What the Great Barrier Reef looks like in the wake of coral bleaching
Addressed to Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, it wa

Through its subsidiary Online.net, the French telecommunications company Iliad has quietly launched a new “cold storage” cloud service that developers can use to store files that they don’t need to access extremely quickly.
The new C14 service became available yesterday, when Online.net posted a page about it on the company’s website. There was no press release or blog post announcing the news.
In the world of public cloud infrastructure, Iliad is not a big name. Instead,

Writer, actor and comedian Aziz Ansari has never shied away from uncomfortable truths.
He has drawn attention to the under-representation of Asian actors in Hollywood and called out sexism in his HBO show, Master of None.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump hails Brexit as a 'great thing'
In a moving opinion piece published Friday in the New York Times, Ansari added Donald Trump to his list of targets. In particular, he shared his fears about what many Americans may face, especially those like his Musl

LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. — A voracious and deadly wildfire in central California has burned 150 homes, and the toll may rise, fire officials said Saturday.
The tally rose from 80 homes as firefighters began going through neighborhoods to count houses and mobile homes incinerated by the blaze.
Entire blocks were reduced to rubble, and at least 2,500 homes remained threatened.
SEE ALSO: Wildfires erupt as record heat bakes the Southwest
The winds that drove the drove the fire through small sou

TOKYO (By Yoshiyasu Shida and Thomas Wilson, Reuters) – In delaying its IPO by two years, Japanese messaging app company Line bought time to correct weak financial reporting controls, work on its business plan, bolster staffing — and left billions of dollars on the table as its valuation shriveled.
Line’s initial public offering in the next three weeks is set to raise about $1 billion, which given a global drought of such deals could make it the biggest tech listing this year,

If you're seeking artistic inspiration, you might find it in an unlikely place: this video of sledgehammers hitting paint cans in slow motion.
The Slo Mo Guys have wowed us before, particularly with this rainbow flame masterpiece. But this — this is spiritual. Watching paint cans explode is so, so fun.
Bonus: this video contains the word "sledgerooni." 
Film captures life of NYC's hardest-working fashion photog, Bill Cunningham
Watch a brave soul test out the glass slide suspended 1,0

GUEST: Last week I bumped into Robert Hoffer, the famed creator of SmarterChild, the automated chatbot that used to sit at the very top of everyone’s AIM Buddy List.
Above: Robert HofferImage Credit: Robert Hoffer
For many people, it was the first experience conversing with a pre-programmed tool over a traditionally human-to-human channel. While learning more about SmarterChild’s childhood from Robert, I was reminded of the time before chatbots were “cool.”
Long befo

Smartphones can be dangerous. Not because they may potentially cause cancer (that's a valid concern), but because people are so glued to them and often not looking at what they're walking into on the street.
With the help of the National Police Agency, Seoul, South Korea's Metropolitan Government is taking preventive measures to warn the city's citizens to be more aware of their surroundings when using their smartphones.
SEE ALSO: The 7 things to delete first when your iPhone storage is fu

Commuting can be the most peaceful or most chaotic part to a person's day. Whether it is a serene train ride into a city, a hectic ride in the back of cab, or just sitting in traffic for hours, the way we can get to and from our work and other responsibilities sets the tone for our mornings and evenings.Mashable partnered with photo-sharing community EyeEm to crowdsource a front-row seat to the ways people around the world spend their commutes. What we found was a beautiful diversity in modes of

Google appears to be looking into the idea of a “Chromebook Pro.” Through its Google Opinion Rewards app for Android, which gives people Google Play Store credits in exchange for anonymous responses to surveys, Google asked some people a few questions about a “Chromebook Pro.”
Two people said as much yesterday on Reddit. Reddit user feetextreme posted a screenshot of one of the questions: “How would you think a Chromebook Pro is different than a Chromebook?” R

One of the New York City's most beloved members of the fashion community, New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham, died on Saturday
In the coming hours and days you're likely to hear an outpouring of love and admiration directed at Cunningham, but unless you're a fashion professional or at least a hardcore fashion fan who followed his work in the Times, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Simply put, he was a vital lens into the true pulse of fashion on the streets of New York