• Amazon reportedly hopes to open a massive chain of 2,000 grocery stores

    Amazon reportedly hopes to open a massive chain of 2,000 grocery stores
    Amazon’s ambitious physical retail plans extend well beyond its new cashier-less convenience store unveiled earlier today. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Amazon hopes to ultimately operate more than 2,000 grocery and convenience stores across the US in a number of different formats. The goal is for Amazon, the biggest online retailer in the US, to completely control the physical flow of products from its warehouses to the end consumer, opening up the possibility for a
  • Please don’t drain actual swamps — where else would the crocodiles live?

    Please don’t drain actual swamps — where else would the crocodiles live?
    Why would you want to “drain the swamp” when it’s home to crocodiles, snapping turtles, and other wonderful wildlife? That’s what a number of biologists are wondering, after the catchphrase from President-elect Donald Trump took on a life of its own.
    And so the scientists have rushed to defend the good name of this noble wetland ecosystem with #ReignTheSwamp. On the delightful corner of the internet known as biologist Twitter, scientists are giving some much-deserved atte
  • Google Docs adds a quick citation button just in time for finals season

    Google Docs adds a quick citation button just in time for finals season
    The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be an emotional roller coaster for a college student: first, you get to go home, feast, see your hometown friends; then you head back to school only to realize there are still finals and papers in the way before the extended Christmas break. The last thing on your mind is making sure your paper is formatted correctly before handing it to the professor and peacing out for the holidays.
    A little update on Google Docs should help make life a little e
  • Standing Rock Protesters Now Have an Unlikely Ally: Time

    Standing Rock Protesters Now Have an Unlikely Ally: Time
    Thanks to the bureaucratic obstacles erected by the Army's environmental review, a completed Dakota Access pipeline will likely remain a pipe dream for now. The post Standing Rock Protesters Now Have an Unlikely Ally: Time appeared first on WIRED.
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  • How Tom Cruise's The Mummy will launch a Marvel-like reboot of the Universal Monsters

    How Tom Cruise's The Mummy will launch a Marvel-like reboot of the Universal Monsters
    In the age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every studio wants a behemoth self-referential franchise to call its own. Last night, we got a look at Universal’s effort: a reboot of the classic Universal Monsters films, beginning with The Mummy. The lurching bandaged corpse of the past has been replaced with Tom Cruise, an ancient female mummy bent on global destruction, and an extravagant special effects budget.
    Universal is serious about this franchise push, going so far as to lay groundwo
  • Tumblr trends for 2016: at least the teens had a nice year

    Tumblr trends for 2016: at least the teens had a nice year
    If you ask Tumblr, 2016 is the year of the caterpillar.Specifically, it is the year of Chicken Nugget, a caterpillar who eventually metamorphosed into a butterfly named Chicken Wing. Chicken Wing née Chicken Nugget was the platform’s biggest celebrity of the year, and the story that introduced him to the internet was the most reblogged Tumblr post of 2016.
    http://oddity-txt.tumblr.com/post/148513030881/so-i-found-this-caterpillar-on-my-way-to-class
    The second biggest post on Tumblr
  • Flutterwave aims to unify Africa’s fragmented payment systems and empower small businesses

    Flutterwave aims to unify Africa’s fragmented payment systems and empower small businesses
     There’s no shortage of entrepreneurs in Africa, but their ambitions are often hampered by the lack in many countries of reliable and affordable digital payment systems. Moneywave wants to empower individuals and small merchants to take part in the thriving digital economy by letting them accept payment however it’s offered, and receive it instantly in whatever form they choose. Read More
  • The RokBlok is a portable vinyl player for listening to records anywhere

    The RokBlok is a portable vinyl player for listening to records anywhere
    One of the biggest downsides of vinyl is the inconvenience of using it on the go. With the exception of things like the now-defunct Audio-Technica AT727 portable vinyl player, you've pretty much got to lug an entire turntable around for listening to vinyl records anywhere outside of your living room.The RokBlok is a creative Kickstarter project solution to portable vinyl. It's a small block that rides along your records, serving as both needle and speaker to play back audio. And while it still n
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  • A sexual misconduct case that rocked anthropology ends with resignation

    A sexual misconduct case that rocked anthropology ends with resignation
    Brian Richmond, a paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History who has been investigated three times for the same accusation of sexual misconduct, has resigned his post effective December 31st, according to the museum.“The investigation ended with Brian’s resignation.”
    For the remainder of Richmond’s time at the museum, he will continue to work offsite, as he has been required to do for the last year, according to a statement from Anne Canty, a spokeswoma
  • Google is bringing Pixel features to its Nexus line with Android 7.1.1

    Google is bringing Pixel features to its Nexus line with Android 7.1.1
    Google is releasing Android 7.1.1 today, and with it, Nexus devices will gain features that were already included on the Pixel and Pixel XL, like more inclusive emoji and a GIF keyboard. Google created counterparts to its male emoji earlier this year so the update will allow Android users to text an emoji of a female astronaut or doctor, among other career-oriented emoji.
    The GIF keyboard that’s available on the Pixel is also coming to updated devices. Users can directly search for GIFs, b
  • Porsche Design also has a car exhaust speaker to sell you

    Porsche Design also has a car exhaust speaker to sell you
    Last week, I wrote about the Ixoost EsaVox, a $21,000 Lamborghini-blazoned speaker that is made out of the actual exhaust pipe of a Lamborghini. In that post, I had commented that while EsaVox stood out for truly integrating the automotive qualities of its namesake in a way that products from Porsche Design — a design studio that, while largely unrelated to the famed automaker, still shares a name and corporate heritage with the luxury vehicles — did not.
    It has come to my attention,
  • These Tiny Cyborg Stingrays Are Made Out of Rat Parts

    These Tiny Cyborg Stingrays Are Made Out of Rat Parts
    It's a light-guided, tissue-engineered stingray made out of a rat's heart cells, a breast implant, and a little gold. The post These Tiny Cyborg Stingrays Are Made Out of Rat Parts appeared first on WIRED.
  • Lexus covered a car with 41,999 LEDs to create the most phantasmagoric ride ever made

    Lexus covered a car with 41,999 LEDs to create the most phantasmagoric ride ever made
    Here’s a car you probably won’t ever be able to buy: a 2017 Lexus IS covered in 41,999 programmable LED lights that changes color on a whim and, if it is ever allowed on the road, would probably be the world’s most distracting vehicle. The car, dubbed the LIT IS, was created as part of a collaboration between Lexus and video streaming service Vevo to promote UK singer Dua Lipa’s new video, “Be The One,” according to Gizmodo. Oh, and did we mention this thing c
  • Liftware’s Level electronic utensil helps people with Huntington’s feed themselves

    Liftware’s Level electronic utensil helps people with Huntington’s feed themselves
    Liftware, a company known for its Steady electronic spoon designed to help individuals suffering from hand tremors or Parkinson's disease eat, is back with its second product, the Level. Like the Steady, the Level is an electronic eating utensil, and is the first product released by Liftware since its acquisition by Google and integration into Alphabet's Verily Life Sciences division last year.
    The Level is meant to help those who have limited hand and arm mobility — such as individuals su
  • CBS could be coming to DirecTV Now soon

    CBS could be coming to DirecTV Now soon
    CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves today hinted that DirecTV Now will eventually add his company’s programming to its channel lineup. “I’m assuming we’ll be able to make a deal with them,” he said when the subject of AT&T’s new internet TV service came up. “As they said in The Godfather, ‘We are not unreasonable people here.’’DirecTV Now already offers programming from the other big broadcast networks — ABC, Fox, and NBC &mda
  • VCs remain optimistic even as the industry enters a wait and see moment

    VCs remain optimistic even as the industry enters a wait and see moment
     While the IPO window might be quite a little more narrow these days and there’s plenty of uncertainty, it doesn’t necessary mean the end of the venture capital world — at least, not yet. Instead, it would seem that a lot of the VC world is in a holding pattern while they wait for everything to shake out — whether that’s for additional private capital to return,… Read More
  • Even Ed Harris doesn’t really know what the maze in Westworld means

    Even Ed Harris doesn’t really know what the maze in Westworld means
    You’re probably still reeling from last night’s Westworld finale. (Unless you haven’t watched the episode, in which case: spoilers ahead!)We saw robot uprisings! The death of Ford! Mysterious programmers controlling Maeve’s every move! Samurai World! But one of the most anticipated pieces of the puzzle that fell into place was the reveal of what the maze means.Too bad it’s still a little confusing. Even Ed Harris, otherwise known as the Man in Black, doesn’t q
  • Microsoft’s newest chatbot lives on Kik

    Microsoft’s newest chatbot lives on Kik
    Months after Microsoft’s disastrous Tay bot launch on Twitter, the company is giving chatbots another go. This time, it’s testing a bot on Kik. The bot, which was first spotted by Twitter user Tom Hounsell and later written up by MSPoweruser, is called Zo and is essentially an English-language version of Microsoft’s Chinese bot, Xiaoice. Like that bot, Zo attempts conversation with users.Zo really wants to come off as normal. It first “breaks the ice” by posing a qu
  • Volkswagen spins off new company to focus on ride-hailing and self-driving cars

    Volkswagen spins off new company to focus on ride-hailing and self-driving cars
    Volkswagen announced this morning the launch of a spinoff company focused on “new mobility solutions” such as ride-hailing and on-demand autonomous vehicles. The German car giant says it hopes to generate “a significant share” of its sale revenue from these new services by 2025.The standalone company, Moia, will be headquartered in Berlin, where it will likely test out many of its new services before expanding them to other cities. It’s the latest move by a major ca
  • Volkswagen spins off new company focused on ride-hailing and self-driving cars

    Volkswagen spins off new company focused on ride-hailing and self-driving cars
    Volkswagen announced this morning the launch of a spinoff company focused on “new mobility solutions” such as ride-hailing and on-demand autonomous vehicles. The German car giant says it hopes to generate “a significant share” of its sale revenue from these new services by 2025.The standalone company, Moia, will be headquartered in Berlin, where it will likely test out many of its new services before expanding them to other cities. It’s the latest move by a major ca
  • The Walking Dead Redemption Club season 7, episode 7: Sing Me a Song

    The Walking Dead Redemption Club season 7, episode 7: Sing Me a Song
    AMC’s The Walking Dead has an uncanny knack for manipulating its audience, but this year’s hyper-violent season premiere went too far. So far that we canceled our ongoing series The Walking Dead Quitter’s Club, and co-author Bryan Bishop swore off the show entirely.Now, Nick Statt is trying to change his mind. Instead of tearing the show down, he’ll be finding something to highlight. It might be a subtle change in character, a great action scene, or a new development in a
  • StrongDM raises $3M to keep database info from leaking out

    StrongDM raises $3M to keep database info from leaking out
     When companies are looking to secure the information they have in their databases, it’s a pretty big challenge no matter how you slice it. Unless you have a large security budget that can manage permissions and figure out who is doing what, you are probably cobbling together whatever technology you can from open source locations, strongDM CEO Elizabeth Zalman says. So there needs to be a… Read More
  • The next generation of LCD displays could go toe-to-toe with OLED screens

    The next generation of LCD displays could go toe-to-toe with OLED screens
    Panasonic announced last week that it has developed a new kind of IPS LCD display with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, making it competitive with far most expensive OLED technologies. As HDGuru reports, the new technology offers a massive improvement over most of today's LCD displays, which tend to have an average of about a 1,800:1 contrast ratio.Ever since plasma TVs met their untimely demise, the best picture quality has tended to come from OLED displays. While traditional backlit LCD panels te
  • Let the Jumping Spiders Leap Into Your Heart (Metaphorically)

    Let the Jumping Spiders Leap Into Your Heart (Metaphorically)
    You've got things wrong about spiders. The post Let the Jumping Spiders Leap Into Your Heart (Metaphorically) appeared first on WIRED.
  • Obama Has a Plan to Fix Cybersecurity, But Its Success Depends on Trump

    Obama Has a Plan to Fix Cybersecurity, But Its Success Depends on Trump
    Obama's presidential commission on cybersecurity wants consumer product security ratings and a new generation of government hackers. Will Trump listen? The post Obama Has a Plan to Fix Cybersecurity, But Its Success Depends on Trump appeared first on WIRED.
  • Uber launches its own AI lab to make food deliveries faster and self-driving cars better

    Uber launches its own AI lab to make food deliveries faster and self-driving cars better
    Uber just announced the launch of Uber AI Labs, a new research group focused on improving everything from the route of your food delivery to the way your self-driving Uber car navigates the roads. The lab will be staffed by members of a startup called Geometric Intelligence, which Uber says it has just acquired for an undisclosed sum.The announcement of the new lab comes as Uber continues to operate a fleet of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, where it’s been offering rides to a select grou
  • Amazon just launched a cashier-free convenience store

    Amazon just launched a cashier-free convenience store
    Amazon just unveiled a grocery store without lines or checkout counters. Amazon Go, a retail space located in the company’s hometown of Seattle, lets shoppers just grab the items they want and leave; the order gets charged to their Amazon account afterwards.
    Amazon Go works by using computer vision and sensors to detect what items you’re taking out of the store. You start by scanning an app as you enter the Amazon Go shop. As you leave, the sensors at the door identifies the items in
  • Oculus Touch review: the Oculus Rift is finally complete

    Oculus Touch review: the Oculus Rift is finally complete
    When the Oculus Rift reawakened our fascination with virtual reality in 2012, it was largely a visual medium. People imagined their average VR experience as a more exciting and immersive version of a traditional game or movie, something that gave the same familiar interactions a whole new feel. So controllers that mimicked movable virtual hands, like the Razer Hydra, just seemed like a fascinating but even geekier sub-field of an already geeky technology. But a few years later, motion controls h
  • Shopify acquires digital studio Tiny Hearts, makers of Wake Alarm, Next Keyboard & more

    Shopify acquires digital studio Tiny Hearts, makers of Wake Alarm, Next Keyboard & more
     E-commerce company Shopify is doubling down on its mobile product ambitions with today’s acquisition of digital product studio Tiny Hearts. The studio has released a number of mobile apps, games and bots over the past several years, including popular consumer-facing apps like Quick Fit, Next Keyboard, InstaMatch, and Wake Alarm. Prior to the deal, the team had also worked with… Read More
  • The Last Guardian review: can heart make up for technical problems?

    The Last Guardian review: can heart make up for technical problems?
    Design and technical issues mar an otherwise powerful experienceContinue reading…
  • The Last Guardian is Finally Here—and Yes, It Was Worth the Wait

    The Last Guardian is Finally Here—and Yes, It Was Worth the Wait
    Sony's long-awaited PlayStation 4 adventure is a wonderful tale of a boy, his giant creature, and a fascinating world. The post The Last Guardian is Finally Here—and Yes, It Was Worth the Wait appeared first on WIRED.
  • The Last Guardian has a lot of problems, but a lot of heart

    The Last Guardian has a lot of problems, but a lot of heart
    Design and technical issues mar an otherwise powerful experienceContinue reading…
  • Review: Oculus Touch

    Review: Oculus Touch
    Oculus Rift is late to the motion control party, but its solution is the absolute best so far. The post Review: Oculus Touch appeared first on WIRED.
  • I Expect You to Die Is the Most Fun I’ve Ever Had in VR

    I Expect You to Die Is the Most Fun I’ve Ever Had in VR
    Escaping deadly traps by solving silly puzzles has never been this much fun (outside of a real-life escape room, that is). The post I Expect You to Die Is the Most Fun I've Ever Had in VR appeared first on WIRED.
  • Smart headphones with voice recognition could help you miss fewer conversations

    Smart headphones with voice recognition could help you miss fewer conversations
    Companies have been gunning to make the best pair of wireless earbuds for a few years now, and now some of them have moved on to trying to become the smartest. Doppler Labs is working on earbuds that augment the sounds of the world around you, while Apple is clearly hoping to bring Siri to your ear with AirPods. The idea of a discreet, in-ear technology that connects you to the internet’s endless well of information is clearly a powerful one.Of course, bigger, bulkier headphones would give
  • Google’s new Trusted Contacts app lets you share your location during emergencies

    Google’s new Trusted Contacts app lets you share your location during emergencies
    When Google discontinued Latitude in 2013, it never truly made a replacement for its version of iOS’s Find My Friend. With Trusted Contacts, Google’s bringing location tracking back so you can communicate with and locate loved ones in cases of emergency.
    Trusted Contacts lets you add people with whom you want to share your whereabouts, whether it’s your GPS location or if you’re online. During a crisis, friends and family members can request your status to see if you&rsqu
  • Microsoft researchers predict the search box will disappear by 2027

    Microsoft researchers predict the search box will disappear by 2027
    Most of us can’t wait for 2016 to end, and researchers at Microsoft are giving us good reason to think ahead. The company polled 17 women working in its research organization about the technology advances they expect to see in 2017, as well as a decade later in 2027. The researchers’ predictions touch on natural language processing, machine learning, agricultural software, and virtual reality, among other topics. You can check them all out here, but I’ve put some of the most in
  • Final Fantasy XV: everything you’re too embarrassed to ask

    Final Fantasy XV: everything you’re too embarrassed to ask
    Final Fantasy XV is a joyful payoff for fans who followed the role-playing game through its rocky decade-long development. But is it worth visiting if you only played Final Fantasy VII? Or what if you’ve never tried Final Fantasy and the word chocobo sounds like a flavorless dietary chocolate alternative?Final Fantasy XV’s creators declare in the game’s opening screens that their game is designed for new and returning players alike, but Final Fantasy’s long and weird hist
  • Behind the scenes of a 30-player video game theater

    Behind the scenes of a 30-player video game theater
    ESC Game Theater takes experimental gaming to a New Jersey mallContinue reading…
  • Plume’s pint-sized Wi-Fi pods are now available

    Plume’s pint-sized Wi-Fi pods are now available
    Plume is announcing today that its Adaptive WiFi system is now available for purchase, following pre-orders earlier this summer. Plume is a mesh-based home Wi-Fi system that uses compact "pods" to provide coverage in every room of your home. The system is managed by a backend system that monitors the network and adjusts it according to devices and load.
    Like Eero and other mesh systems, Plume is meant to prevent signal drops and dead spots in your home. However, unlike Eero, which is meant to co
  • Cyborg Rights, Truffle Dealers, and 3 More Must-Hear Podcasts

    Cyborg Rights, Truffle Dealers, and 3 More Must-Hear Podcasts
    This week's podcast roundup has everything: hot air balloons, blood-letting, and a trunk full of truffles. The post Cyborg Rights, Truffle Dealers, and 3 More Must-Hear Podcasts appeared first on WIRED.
  • Alexa and Google Home Record What You Say. But What Happens to That Data?

    Alexa and Google Home Record What You Say. But What Happens to That Data?
    Recording your voice and storing it on a server sounds alarming---OK, it is alarming---but there's a good reason why Amazon Echo and Google Home do it. The post Alexa and Google Home Record What You Say. But What Happens to That Data? appeared first on WIRED.
  • These headphones have a built-in VU meter, and I’m not even mad

    These headphones have a built-in VU meter, and I’m not even mad
    Headphone design is no stranger to invasions from other categories, whether you’re talking LED lights, belt buckles, or, um, cat-ear speakers. Usually, I snarl at those excesses, but I find myself smiling at the latest example: a fully functional VU meter integrated into the ear cups of the new Meters Music OV-1 cans.
    Who’s Meters Music, you ask? I was pondering that same question when I first heard of them this morning, but it turns out there’s some decent sonic pedigree behin
  • Uber Buys a Mysterious Startup to Make Itself an AI Company

    Uber Buys a Mysterious Startup to Make Itself an AI Company
    Uber is trying to move way beyond ride-sharing. The post Uber Buys a Mysterious Startup to Make Itself an AI Company appeared first on WIRED.
  • Predicting Westworld: The Real World

    Predicting Westworld: The Real World
    Every week, I swing for the fences with one massive theory about the future of Westworld. Am I wrong? Am I right? We probably won’t know for sure for years, so why not enjoy the present?
    In the middle of Westworld’s season finale, the young board member Charlotte Haleprepares a coup against park founder Dr. Robert Ford. To the childish story director Lee Sizemore, Hale describes an anodyne vision for the future of the resort following its creator’s forced retirement: “Sim
  • Leap Motion lets you use real hand motion in a mobile VR headset

    Leap Motion lets you use real hand motion in a mobile VR headset
    Hand-tracking company Leap Motion is announcing a new platform that will bring its tech to mobile phone-based virtual reality headsets. The Leap Motion Mobile Platform uses two miniature cameras, embedded in a face plate, to detect finger motion that’s integrated into lower-powered VR experiences. It’s supposed to be showing up in commercial headsets next year, although we don’t know which ones.Leap Motion began as a desktop-mounted, non-VR hand tracker, but for the past few ye
  • It’s a Fancy Hotel, Only, You Know, for Bicycles

    It’s a Fancy Hotel, Only, You Know, for Bicycles
    More fancy shed than Four Seasons, the Lillestrøm Bicycle Hotel lets commuters pay a small monthly fee to safely store bicycles indoors. The post It's a Fancy Hotel, Only, You Know, for Bicycles appeared first on WIRED.
  • Blink's newest security camera can be hidden in a tree

    Blink's newest security camera can be hidden in a tree
    Today Blink is announcing its first outdoor camera: the $119 Blink XT. Blink is a newcomer that's quickly making a name for itself with tiny, low-cost security cameras that are truly wireless thanks to their ability to run for two years or more off a pair of regular lithium AAs. The Blink XT continues the trend but adds weatherproofing, a 1080p camera, and infrared night vision. That means you can put the Blink XT pretty much anywhere you want... like hidden in a tree — anywhere within ran
  • First Click: The best smartphone, Oculus Touch review, The Last Guardian at last, and more in the week ahead

    First Click: The best smartphone, Oculus Touch review, The Last Guardian at last, and more in the week ahead
    This is the week we find out how good the complete Oculus Rift experience is now that the $199 Oculus Touch controllers are shipping to early adopters. You'd better believe Adi Robertson will have something to say about the controllers that work with 53 titles at launch on Tuesday December 6th.
    Tuesday's also the start of Code Commerce event in San Francisco. The 3rd event focused on retailing and e-tailing in the internet age is hosted by Recode's Jason Del Rey and features speakers like Apple'
  • Say Hello to WIRED’s Stunning Photo Site

    Say Hello to WIRED’s Stunning Photo Site
    More photos. More stories. One incredible new display. The post Say Hello to WIRED’s Stunning Photo Site appeared first on WIRED.