Technology news

Google is making its web application requirements more stringent after a phishing attack tricked lots of Gmail users this past week. The changes mean Google is altering its app publishing process, how it assesses risk, and the look of its user-facing consent page. Users really won’t be affected, at least as far as how they use the email service and apps, but developers might face delays in publishing their web app.
For instance, Google is going to be more intense about its risk assessment,

Facebook is now letting creators of Groups screen potential group members by issuing a three-question quiz, part of a larger effort by Facebook to dole out more tools to Group Admins and filter out potential abusers or trolls from private Groups.The new feature rollout for Groups was reported earlier today by TechCrunch. It lives within the Group settings, where Group Admins can opt to “Ask Pending Members Questions” and create up to three questions that will be presented to people r

GUEST: Consumers are ready for chatbots. A recent study by DigitasLBi found that almost 40 percent of consumers would make a purchase from a chatbot. Even more impressive, nearly 60 percent of consumers would engage with a chatbot if it meant receiving coupons or special offers.
So bring on the bots, right?
Not quite. The problem is, chatbots might not be ready for consumers. On Facebook’s Messenger platform, chatbots have successfully fulfilled a paltry 30 percent of user requests. Yikes.

OPINION: The people who make hit movies or top-40 songs often have a gift for predicting what new types of experiences audiences are looking. Video games face a similar challenge, but game publishers also have to struggle to figure out the future of how consumers will want to play that content.
What’s bizarre is that one Square Enix studio has figured out what’s next for engaging audiences with single-player campaign-based releases, and its reward for making that disco

PRESS RELEASE:RedLock Cloud 360 platform makes major advancement with holistic visibility into public cloud infrastructure environments that helps truly assess and monitor risk Dynamic startup raises $12 million in funding from Sierra Ventures, Storm Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, and other blue-chip investorsMENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 12, 2017– Please replace the release with the following corrected version of the Ray Espinoza/ProofPoint quote in the ADDENDUM

The upcoming Surface Laptop is a big deal for Microsoft; it’s the company’s first-ever traditional notebook, and at first glance it looks great.
But for such a relatively normal device — with a fixed hinge that opens and closes, regular old USB ports, and an outward design reminiscent of Apple’s MacBooks — the interior of Microsoft’s Laptop is unique: It’s lined with Alcantara (basically Italian ultrasuede), t

Since the end of April, a number of people in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo have become sick with an “undiagnosed illness,” and three people have died as a result. Yesterday, the country’s Ministry of Health told the World Health Organization that one of the deaths was caused by the Ebola virus.In all, nine people have come down with symptoms consistent with the virus. Based on the lab-confirmed case, the WHO has declared an official outbreak, the first in the count

Google is once again trying to solve the problem of slow Android updates, and this time, the company says it has a solution that’ll make it “easier, faster, and less costly for manufacturers” to update their phones to new versions of Android.
The answer is a feature inside of Android O called “Project Treble,” which is supposed to let manufacturers update their phones without having to make a ton of software changes first.
Google has essentially split apart its own

Sometimes, being a researcher is repetitive and boring — all those lab tests and mice studies. And sometimes, being a researcher means shearing alpacas for science.
If you’re not familiar with alpacas, they are camel-like animals native to South America, and they are known for their high-quality wool. To collect this wool, of course, you need to shear the animals, just like you do for sheep. In a study published today in Veterinary Record, researchers from the University of Veterinar

Next week is the eighth anniversary of Minecraft’s debut as a prealpha prototype, and its model for gameplay may be more influential now than ever before. So as new games continue rolling out that mimic some of its most popular and familiar elements, it’s time we recognize that this subgenre has moved beyond mere “Minecraft clones” just like first-person shooters have moved beyond “Doom clones.”
Earlier this week, developer Playful Corporation launched Cr

PRESS RELEASE: MUNICH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 12, 2017– Today, the NIO EP9 set a new lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, achieving a lap time of 6m 45.900s (six minutes, 45.900 seconds).
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170512005619/en/On May 12, 2017 NIO EP9 Breaks the Nurburgring Nordschleife Lap Record. (Photo: Business Wire)“In October 2016, we aimed to set a new lap rec

GUEST: In 2016, Facebook took the bot world by storm when it opened up its Messenger platform to developers. Then came Amazon’s voice-controlled Alexa, and the hype shifted towards all things voice. So noticeable was the shift that New York-based startup studio Betaworks rebranded its popular Botcamp event from last year to Voicecamp this year.
The integration of bots into our daily lives is really just getting started, so for brands and marketers joining the journey, the hyperdynamic

When NASA’s next big rocket launches for the first time, chances are good it won’t have people on board.
For the last two months, the space agency has been studying what it would take to fly a crew of two on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, or SLS — the monster rocket that NASA has been developing to take people into deep space and on to Mars. Specifically, NASA wanted to know if such a crewed flight could be done safely by 2019. But after figuring out the costs an

Aerones is a Latvian company that specializes in drones that can carry really heavy weights — up to 100 kilograms, according to the company’s website. If their name sounds familiar to you, it’s because they came up with the bright idea to tow a snowboarder with one of their drones last year. Now, the company has taken that idea a step further by using one of their drones for skydiving.In the video, Aerones starts its 28-rotor drone from a pond, then picks up skydiver Ingus Augs

Nike announced new hard iPhone 7 cases this week that’ll appeal to all sneakerheads. The cases feature the same sole design as two of the company’s most popular sneakers: the Roshe and Air Force 1. The Roshe case is available in either a bright red or seafoam green while the Air Force 1 is only available in a classic blue. All the cases cost $35. Unfortunately, there’s no option for the iPhone 7 Plus or any other iPhone model, for that matter. Sorry.
These aren’t Nike&rsq

AI is the new bogeyman. That’s one of the observations we got from a fireside chat between venture capitalist Tim Chang and science fiction novelist Eliot Peper, who spoke about “Are we living in science fiction?” at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2017: How games, sci-fi, and tech create real-world magic.
Science fiction often reflects our fears, like the dread of communist infiltration reflected in the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and it must be telling that a

Amazon seems to have made a significant oversight in bringing voice calls and messaging to its Echo speakers: there’s no way to block communication that you might not want. So long as someone has your phone number and the Alexa mobile app (which requires an Amazon account), that person can place voice calls, record voice messages, and send text messages that will reach both your Echo device and Alexa app. They’ve got a direct line to a speaker in your home.
As of now, there is no way

While I’ve been to several national and state parks around the US, I’ve never visited a national marine sanctuary — protected areas off the US coasts and in the Great Lakes. I’ve never scuba dived or snorkeled, so these marine “parks” are not as accessible to me. But now I can just dive into the blue waters thanks to my smartphone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just launched a virtual dive gallery that allows you to visit five

(Reuters) — Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries across Britain were forced to divert ambulances, turn away patients and cancel appointments on Friday after a ‘ransomware’ cyber attack crippled some computer systems in the state-run health service.
The National Health Service (NHS) said dozens of organizations had been affected by the cyber attack which was causing major disruption to IT systems.
The attack appeared to be part of a wider international hack and the NHS said it

OPINION: Microsoft revealed a lot this week at its annual Build developer conference. But to get a better sense of how the company wants to tie all its various apps, platforms, products, services, and devices together, look no further than the newly unveiled Microsoft Fluent Design System.
These design guidelines are supposed to be an evolution of the company’s Metro/Modern UI design language, offering rules for software running on Windows 10. Microsoft s

 Google Maps has quietly rolled out a new feature that will make it easier for you to see where you need to go when using turn-by-turn navigation: integrated Street View images on the directions screen. While the app has always allowed you to see an overview of the upcoming turns and distance between them, the new feature introduces an option to tap to see the associated Street View imagery… Read More

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we checked out Knack 2 for the PlayStation 4, Insomniac’s makes a stand against Trump’s travel ban, Gordon Ramsay’s mobile game gets meaner.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
The DeanBeat: What’s behind this week’s big investments in games
Remember Segata Sanshiro on the Sega Saturn’s 22nd anniversary
PC Gaming Weekly: Hearthstone’s mobile client is holding back the PC exp

Gary Whitta, the co-writer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, said that he feels like games and films are in the same creative space in an interview with Jamil Moledina, games strategic lead at Google Play, at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2017: How games, sci-fi, and tech create real-world magic.
He meant that stories take the form of whatever will help them the most, whether that’s a film or a game or something else. His talk was at the center of our theme of the inspiration that

PRESS RELEASE:Led by AdColony Founding CEO Jonathan Zweig, AppOnboard Creates Beautifully Immersive Demos to Transform App Discovery and Analytics
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 12, 2017– AppOnboard Inc, the premier developer of interactive, Full-Fidelity Demos of mobile apps, has raised $4M from Troy Capital Partners, London Venture Partners (“LVP”) and a syndicate of VCs and CxO luminaries of the mobile app ecosystem including the original creator of Google AdSen

Every week, a slew of new music videos hits the web. Watching them at your desk is not time theft because you deserve it; think of it as a nice reward for surviving another work week. But what if you don’t have time to watch every video? Maybe you have a deadline, a hungry pet, or other grown-up concerns. In consideration of your schedule, Lizzie and Kaitlyn bring you a series called One Video. Each week we’ll tell you “one video” you need to watch, why, and for how long.

The dust has settled on a lot of gamer hate controversies, but gamers and other streamers can still be a fractious lot. To build unity with its community and promote diversity, Amazon’s livestreaming site Twitch is launching a campaign to promote diversity and inclusivity.
Twitch has more than 10 million daily active users, and it has 2.2 million unique broadcasters. The site-wide TwitchUnity event is meant to encourage the community to get along and spread a message about the importance o

It’s been a busy few weeks for Microsoft: unveiling Windows 10 S, the Surface Laptop, and a slew of major Windows 10 updates and features at Build 2017. But one thing that stood out among the various announcements by Microsoft was a renewed focus on the Windows Store, which is increasingly looking like a central piece of the future of Microsoft’s operating system.A renewed focus on the Windows Store
When the Windows Store launched back in 2012 alongside Windows 8 and Windows RT, thin

Samsung has announced it will release another Tizen-based smartphone, the Z4, later this month. The latest entry in the Z line is a budget device aimed at developing markets, with the low-end specs to match:
4.5-inch WVGA 480 × 800 display
Quad-core 1.5GHz processor
1GB of RAM5MP rear and front cameras
2,050mAh battery, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0
The company says the Z4 will launch in India first, and then make its way to other select markets. But given the specs, which are reminiscent of smartpho

A massive ransomware attack has shut down work at 16 hospitals across the United Kingdom. According to The Guardian, the attack began at roughly 12:30PM local time, freezing systems and encrypting files. When employees tried to access the computers, they were presented with a demand for $300 in bitcoin, a classic ransomware tactic.
#nhscyberattack pic.twitter.com/SovgQejl3X— gigi.h (@fendifille) May 12, 2017The result has been a wave of canceled appointments and general disarray, as many h

Welcome back. This week’s episode of The Vergecast comes after Microsoft Build 2017, so Nilay and Dieter bring in Ashley Carman and first-time guest Chaim Gartenberg, two of our great Circuit Breaker reporters, to fill us in on what happened. The cast also discusses Amazon’s newest addition to the Echo lineup, the Echo Show, and what’s happening with these voice assistant products.There’s a lot more in the show, so listen to it all to get all the scoops.
01:38 - Microsoft

Hello, friends. It’s Friday. Let’s have some fun.In case you weren’t aware, Verizon is trying to transform itself from a stodgy old telecom company into a hip digital media publisher. It created Go90, a video service for the youths that no self-respecting teen would be caught dead using. It bought up AOL and Yahoo, two of the edgiest brands on the interwebs these days, and it’s going to combine them into a single powerhouse called Oath.The kickoff tagline for this new ent

Sometimes the game industry seems small and quiet compared to a “hot” industry like artificial intelligence. Then we get a week like this one, where everything turns upside down, and I can understand why it has become a $109 billion business, according to market seer Newzoo. When the dust settles, I think we’ll find that much of the excitement leads to Asia and that we are but stones on a giant game of Go.
On Wednesday, Google bought virtual reality game developer Owlchemy Labs