Technology news

Netflix has a big, flashy action movie in time for the holidays. The streaming giant is set to release Spectral — a fantasy movie about Delta Force soldiers going up against ghosts — next week on December 9th, and it just released the film’s first trailer.This looks like it could be a particularly fun film: a DARPA scientist is tasked with figuring out why a squad of soldiers mysteriously turned up dead in the streets of a war-torn city. The cause appears to be ghosts, and as t

The breakup of Hideo Kojima and Konami — the creator and the publisher of the action-espionage video game franchise Metal Gear — was long, messy, and complicated. A year later, both parties are busy with their own new projects, but that hasn’t stopped the occasional Kojima supporter from taking a shot at the studio that let him go.Kojima’s squad — which includes The Walking Dead actor and would-be Silent Hills star Norman Reedus — rolls deep. Today on Twitter,

Amazon wants Alexa in as many products as possible, so it’s partnering with Intel to make it easier for manufacturers to incorporate the voice assistant into their devices. The two companies announced plans yesterday to release reference designs for a connected speaker within the first quarter of 2017, which will provide manufacturers with a plan to follow when making a new device.
Amazon opened up its Alexa API around a year and a half ago, and in the time since then, product manufacturer

As I ate eel for lunch today, I found myself wondering what eels themselves ate. Plants, probably. Maybe seaweed.Wrong. I should have known better. After all, eels are basically the snakes of the sea, and snakes eat more than plants. Snakes are carnivores and eels are, too; they consume microscopic creatures called plankton. Yes, the humble garden eel and the majestic blue whale eat the same thing.Unlike the blue whale, eels don’t flow through the water, swallowing water andmourning beauti

Starting today, you can stream 4K content from Hulu on Xbox One S and the PlayStation 4 Pro. But the selection of shows and movies available at launch is pretty underwhelming compared to rivals Netflix and Amazon Video, who’ve both been offering 4K for some time now.Hulu’s first batch of 4K includes the company’s lineup original shows and 20 James Bond films. So while that’s pretty good news for 007 fanatics, well, it doesn’t do much for everyone else. Hulu Original

This week AT&T announced that it would give special treatment to DirecTV’s new streaming service by excluding it from AT&T customers’ wireless data caps. Ever since we started writing about net neutrality, we’ve argued that zero rating is a bad, anti-competitive idea that in the long run will hurt consumers, though it may appear like a huge consumer benefit in the short-term. Now we know the FCC seems to agree, based on letters it sent today to Verizon and AT&T abou

I’ve been terrified about what humans do to our planet since I learned about the hole in the ozone layer in elementary school. I could easily picture a massive hole opening up in our atmosphere and draining out all the oxygen into the universe — which would have of course caused all of us to suffocate to death. That’s not at all how the hole in the ozone layer actually works, but as an impressionable eight-year-old with a big imagination, that’s what it sounded like to me

Facebook is reportedly working on a feature resembling Snapchat’s Discover for the social network’s News Feed. According to Business Insider, Facebook has “approached media and entertainment companies” in recent weeks for potential inclusion in the new feature, which would highlight curated content from partners directly in the News Feed — giving prominent exposure to stuff your friends might not be sharing or liking organically.This upcoming News Feed section will

In two letters sent to AT&T and Verizon yesterday, the FCC writes that sponsored data plans from the telecom giants are a threat to net neutrality.FCC writes that the programs harm competition
Both companies have recently instituted similar plans. Under the programs, customers can use select services without having them contribute to a data cap — a practice known as zero rating. In AT&T’s case, the FCC writes that, despite protests from the company, its sponsored data program

The last time Rolls-Royce let the world in on its upcoming SUV codenamed “Project Cullinan,” it was testing out the all-wheel drive platform using a freakishly modified Phantom. Now, some 20 months later, we’re getting the first glimpse of the actual SUV that will go up against the Bentley Bentyaga for the title of the most luxurious vehicle that can take you and the kids on a Whole Foods run.
If you think Project Cullinan looks like a slightly bigger Phantom, that’s seem

The Path Breath and Fat Band is a new set of devices that claim to help users lose weight by giving them a detailed analysis of their metabolism. But while the company makes claims that are backed by science, some experts doubt the devices’ actual effectiveness. The set, which just launched on Kickstarter, is comprised of a wearable bracelet and a breath-analyzing device. The package starts at $279.Here’s how the two devices work in tandem: a user breathes into the breath device for

UK police have a creative new solution to the encryption problem: just snatch the phone.Today, the BBC reported on a recent fraud case in which Scotland Yard agents staged a pre-arrest mugging in order to make sure a suspect’s iPhone was seized in unlocked mode. Investigating a credit card forger, police waited for the suspect to make a call, then snatched the phone directly out of his hand before arresting him. The result was an unlocked phone — an open book for investigators, provi

Facebook is blocking links to “bsdetector.tech,” the website for a popular browser extension that detects and tags disreputable news sources.“This message contains content that has been blocked by our security systems,” an error message tells users when they attempt to link to the site on Facebook. “If you think you're seeing this by mistake, please let us know.”Daniel Sieradski, the creator of B.S. Detector, took to Twitter this morning to point out the probl

As a material, paper has a lot of benefits. It's been around for thousands of years, it’s a universally understood medium, and it's cheap. But there are also downsides: paper can rip and tear, it’s heavy, and can take up a lot of space. reMarkable is a company that thinks it's time for paper to get an upgrade, with its similarly named reMarkable "paper tablet."
The reMarkable device is essentially a giant E Ink tablet that aims to replace paper, working as a reading and note-taking d

If you have ever wondered where your online data goes, The Glass Room, a free pop-up exhibit in Nolita, is a good place to start. Passersby may mistake the gallery for an Apple Store, but the shiny interior, replete with strategically placed iPads and whitewashed walls, houses a lot more than the latest tech.Free to the public through December 14th, The Glass Room is a collection of artwork, ongoing projects, and sensory experiences that explore life in the internet age. The exhibit is timed to

DirecTV Now got off to a rocky start this week, with many customers experiencing errors that made it difficult or impossible to use the newly launched internet TV service.
Customers have been tweeting at DirecTV’s support account over the past two days about errors preventing them from logging in, watching the entirety of shows, or playing anything at all.
Subscribers are still reporting errors this morning
One common error blocks playback when the service incorrectly believes that a user

Welcome to Vergecast Lonely Paul edition. Dieter and Nilay are out this week, so Paul enlisted some of his colleagues who would never let him down like that and made his own Vergecast that's centered around talking to people not named Dieter or Nilay. Want to learn what AT&T's new DirecTV Now service has to do with net neutrality? Want to figure out why nearly all women and nearly everybody actually loves Gilmore Girls? Want to know if video games are good sometimes? Want to experience what

“OK Google,” the voice command that can be used with everything from Google Home to the Pixel smartphone, is finally coming to Android Auto — albeit very slowly. As reported by Endgadget, the search giant is in the process of rolling out the hands-free, hot word-based command for its in-car infotainment software.Android Auto, like Apple’s CarPlay, is software that runs either on your vehicle’s dash display or on your smartphone that brings all of your apps into your

Ever since Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened on London’s West End, US fans have wondered when the show would make the jump across the Atlantic. We finally know where it will run, and have a general idea of when.
This morning, the Lyric Theater confirmed on Twitter and Facebook that Cirque Du Soleil will be vacating Broadway’s Lyric Theater in April 2017. According to Deadline, the US production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will take its place on Broadway in 2018.&lsquo

“The whole year put you in the worst mood,” The Weeknd croons to kick off DJ Earworm’s annual hit extravaganza, “The United States of Pop.” True, Abel, and thank you for noticing.The mash-up features 25 of the year’s biggest hits, including Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles,” Sia’s “Cheap Thrills,” and Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home.” Where last year’s track synthesized 50 songs into one sultry bedroom s

On February 20th, 2013, a group of criminals stole $40 million from ATMs across the world. The heist came in two parts: first, a quiet hack of a payment processor to raise withdrawal limits on specific cards, then a mad dash to withdraw as much cash as possible before the processor caught on. By the time the processor fixed the hack, criminals had made 26,000 withdrawals across 24 different countries.
Not all of the cashers knew each other, but they were brought together by the economics of the

It’s hard finding a video game for a three-year-old to play. My oldest daughter wants to play games — she can’t help it, she’s around me all the time — but the simple fact is most games just aren’t fun when you’re that age. They’re too rigid, with strict rules and frustrating obstacles that get in the way of the fun. There have been a few exceptions that worked — educational game Metamorphabet, and the zen mode in Alto’s Adventure &mdas

Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning hip-hop musical about the founding fathers, has a spinoff. So, don’t worry. Your weekend will be okay.The Hamilton Mixtape, released today, includes covers by some of the show’s inspirations (Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Alicia Keys, to name a few), demos of songs that were cut from the original musical (most of them cynical, unruly, out of place, but oddly prescient given the dark pol

Black Friday may be over, but holiday sales are just beginning. And to celebrate the start of the holiday season, Best Buy is running a “Special Edition Tech” event, where it’s selling limited edition variants of popular products.Highlights of the sale include a Lenovo Yoga 910 that has a glass lid, a matte black DJI Phantom 4 drone, and limited edition turntables from Shinola and Pro-Ject. The sale itself starts on Sunday, December 4th, but quantities will apparently be limite

No Apple product was more overdue an update than the Thunderbolt Display. First sold in 2011, its unlaminated, un-Retina screen was beautiful in its day, but Apple gave it so little attention that it even chose to throw an adapter in the box rather than update its charging cable with the 2012 MagSafe 2 connector. And, with Apple moving to Retina displays across most of the Mac line, the Thunderbolt Display was left to languish on shelves at a ludicrously high price.
But the stage was set this ye

There was a time when all anyone wanted was a stock Android phone built by the hardware wizards at Nokia. Unfortunately, we never got it because Nokia's execs at the time felt like adopting Android would be a short-term solution akin to pissing in your pants for some temporary warmth in the winter. Instead we got the great Elopcalypse.
But in 2017 the dream will finally come true. Sort of.
A Nokia phone running Android is on the way but it won't be designed in the city of Espoo, nor will it be b

The French National Assembly this week moved to criminalize websites that spread “misinformation” about abortions and spread pro-life propaganda. The law, approved on Thursday, would punish offenders with up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. It will now move on to the Senate, The Guardian reports.
Supporters say the bill would target sites that masquerade as neutral sources of information on abortion, but are in fact operated by advocacy groups that seek to manipulate a

Microsoft is bringing its 12 Days of Deals promotion back again this year. While previous years have seen heavy discounts on Groove Music subscriptions and a great deal on a Dell Windows tablet, this year Microsoft has a mix of promotions. Unusually, the company is revealing all of its deals ahead of time. Some of the highlights include 50 percent off select Xbox One games, a $100 gift card for purchasing a HTC Vive or Oculus Rift VR headset, and up to 40 percent off Dell PCs. Each deal will be

Fujifilm has announced the X-A10, a new X-series camera that hits the lowest price point yet for the company's well-received range of mirrorless models. It's $499.95 with a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, and will be available in January.
The X-A10 design is similar to the X-A3 from earlier this year, employing a 180-degree tilting LCD and self-timing features for convenient selfie use, but it uses a lower-resolution 16-megapixel sensor rather than the newer 24-megapixel component. That should it more i

Yacht Club Games announced Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, a follow-up to the 2014 indie hit, at the 2016 Game Awards.Specter of Torment is actually a prequel to the original Shovel Knight, where players assume the role of the villainous Specter Knight as he gathers together The Order of No Quarter, which Shovel Knight fans know as the servants of the Enchantress and bosses of the original game.The prequel adds new enemies, abilities, and bosses to the franchise, but keeps the retro-inspired