Technology news

In May, journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia published a series of posts to Facebook, alleging that that Malta’s Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, had engaged in corrupt practices. Days later, Galizia found himself locked out of his account, while several of the posts were deleted.Galizia is part of the team that broke the Panama Papers story last year, and his reporting comes weeks before the country is scheduled to hold an election in June. He noted that he didn’t see the story covered

Up until this year, Tesla provided a handy perk for owners: they could charge their vehicles up at any of the company’s Supercharger stations for free. Last year, Tesla announced that it would phase the program out in favor of a modest pricing scheme for owners after January 1st. On Friday, Tesla said that new users still have a way to get free charging: get another driver to give you a referral code.Starting on Friday, “existing owners can give free, unlimited Supercharging to up to

Earlier today, The Guardian published a series of reports about Facebook’s internal rules on moderating graphic content, providing new insight into how the company determines what its users can post. The series paints a picture of a social media network that is drowning in content, using rules that are at times seemingly contradictory.The Guardian’s series, Facebook Files, reveal some of the site’s internal manuals concerning credible threats of violence, non-sexual child abuse

GUEST: Phred needed a job, and we were hiring, woohoo! Because we knew him through a mutual friend, the interview process began casually, with a “get to know you” cup of coffee. After the initial meeting, he submitted his resume — and it was anything but ordinary. Rather than using Microsoft Word or PDF format, Phred’s resume was in YAML, a text format that techies use for configuring computer environments. This sent a strong nerd-cred vibe that piqued our interest.
Inste

Game shows haven’t changed much in the last few decades. But The Future Group wants to combine television game shows with mixed reality technology.
The Oslo, Norway-based startup raised $20 million to create a game show, Lost in Time, where contestants are filmed performing game show challenges in front of a green screen. The Future Group then adds an animated world around the contestant, so to the viewer at home, the contestants appear to be completely immersed in a castle or an

My day starts at 7AM. I get up, brush my teeth, throw on tinted SPF moisturizer, and leave my Queens, New York apartment by, ideally, 7:30. My usual first stop is the Starbucks next to my subway station, which inevitably adds at least 15 minutes to my commute because regardless of what I order, living in New York means dealing with millions of people at all times. It’s the best.Over the past couple weeks, however, I’ve changed my morning game. At the behest of my dad, I started using

Marc Andreessen’s pithy observation that "software is eating the world" has been popular (and true) for more than half a decade now, but I’ve come to find it only describes the development of the tech industry partially. Even as apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Uber turn startups into multibillion-dollar ventures, there’s still a hardware component underlying all of them. As the battle for future mobile users shifts to the realm of personal assistants and machine-learning auto

GUEST: I’ve often made parallels between blockchain (Internet of Value) and Web (Internet of Information) in terms of the disruptive potential and societal benefits.
They hold (though I do think blockchain will be bigger).
Another parallel that is starting to emerge is one that, as a student of history, I’m aware we’ve seen many times over: the “speculative bubble.” Whether it’s the South Seas, Dutch Tulips, or simply Internet 1.0, investors who

This week Bungie finally took the wraps off of Destiny 2, the long-awaited sequel to the vast, online sci-fi shooter. We learned a lot: the new Destiny will be more approachable for new players, it’ll make it easier to manage loot loot, and it will introduce clans and other new social features. Destiny 2 will also feature four brand new areas to explore — and like the original game, they look gorgeous.
The new game will introduce three new planets, including Titan, Io, and Nessus. Th

When we talk about cool ideas for the future, monetization isn’t usually the first topic that comes to mind. But it is very important for the survival of mobile game and app developers.
That’s why we had two veterans of the space — Zain Jaffer, CEO of mobile ad tech company Vungle, and Charles Hudson, venture partner at SoftTech VC and managing partner of Precursor Ventures — talk it at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2017 event in Berkeley, Calif.
“Our view is the

Swiss startup MindMaze, which raised $100 million in funding, has launched its MindMaze Pro virtual reality treatment for stroke recovery patients in the U.S.
The launch shows that VR is for more than just games, as it stands at the intersection of neuroscience and entertainment. The launch is the latest example of how VR is spreading far beyond games and entertainment. And that’s important, as consumer VR sales have been slower than expected.
Based on a decade of research and te

At The Verge, we recognize that great design is about paying attention to the details. Here we call out just one thing, a design element we appreciate onthe cars we test drive that is brilliant, simple, or a mere marvel.When I drove the Rolls-Royce Dawn, I was smitten by many of its fine details: cashmere headlining, lambswool floor mats, the retractable Spirit of the Ecstasy adorning the hood. But if I had to pick to one element that gives this cabriolet a stately presence, it’s the Briti

The Syfy Channel released its first trailer for the upcoming third season of Dark Matter. While the channel some heavy-hitting shows like The Expanse and The Magicians, Dark Matter is a fun, pulpy space opera that hails back to the days when shows like Farscape and Stargate SG-1 ruled the airwaves, and this latest trailer looks like we have a fun season before us.
The teaser serves as a good indication of what to expect next season: lots of action, plenty of dubious characters, and a new big arc

GUEST: What if all the emails you’ve ever written and any other published statements you’ve made could be incorporated into a digital identity? And what if anyone could access that identity to get your advice or opinion on something when you’re no longer around?
My current work at the MIT Media Lab is dedicated to making that happen. It’s a capability I like to call “augmented eternity”; it curates all of a person’s digital information and stores it as a

Escape rooms have become incredibly pervasive over the past few years, but they’re not usually thought of as fantastic storytelling platforms. They’re more about the premise: giving participants a way to buy into the idea that they’re locked in a single location for a given amount of time, so they can create their own personal tale of how they collaborated with friends to get out, or failed miserably.
In the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, a show called The Nest has been

This was "Upfront" week for the TV industry, where everyone gets together for big presentations and parties and mingling and dealmaking. But more importantly for us, it's when networks reveal first looks at their upcoming shows.
That means there are a ton of trailers this week — more than I have the time to watch! — and for shows that in many cases aren't coming out until fall. I've included a few select ones below, but I want to direct you to roundups of all the big networks' new pi

Every once in a while, a friend attends therapy for the first time and starts breathlessly reporting all the revelations she’s learned. In many of these circumstances, it’s all I can do to stop myself from yelling that I, or any of her other friends, could just as easily have told her these same “discoveries.”
But I shouldn’t throw stones. When I announced that I finally realized I wanted to report on science, my best friend rolled her eyes at this obvious (to her)

As one of the earliest developers of the PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset and having worked on countless other peripherals for the company, Sony’s Richard Marks knows a lot about futuristic tech. The PlayStation Magic Lab boss is constantly working with the next big concepts that will make our gaming experiences even richer. When it comes to VR, Marks thinks AI and voice controls are going to play a big role.
Speaking in an interview with Glixel, Marks talked about what he thinks will be the

Voicebots are all over my house right now.
I’m testing two different Alexa-powered speakers in my office. I use Cortana on a desktop, Siri on my MacBook and an iPhone 7 Plus, Google Assistant on a Pixel smartphone and the Google Home speaker, and both the Google Assistant and Siri on my television (thanks to the NVIDIA Shield and the Apple TV). I’m literally talking to bots all day, asking about the weather, the NBA Playoffs, and even obscure questions about Austria (where a few fami

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is currently holding its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this weekend. This evening, the organization announced the winners of this year’s Nebula Awards, recognizing some of the best science fiction and fantasy works from last year.io9 co-founder Charlie Jane Anders walked away with the award for Best Novel. In her acceptance speech, she said that she constantly wrestled with the idea that she wasn’t good enough to writ

GUEST: The virtual reality industry needs to temper its obsession for all things high fidelity.
Last November, I pointed to underwhelming content as the biggest threat to the VR industry. You know, the kind of experiences that woo you with novelty but fail to hook you in for another ride — which is the story for the majority of VR content. And earlier this month, I also covered WebVR gaming and have tried to push it forward as the sweet spot that developers and publishers should be priorit

It’s not a voicebot like Alexa, but it does the job.
A voice memo feature in the 2017 Volvo V90 Cross Country can record everything you say, then send the recorded clip to any email address. I tested the feature on the V90, a large and wide wagon with a powerful turbocharged and supercharged 316-horsepower engine.
As you drive, you can pull up one of several apps in the dashboard, including Spotify and one for checking the weather. You can also connect your phone over USB and use Android A

Gear VR got a massive refresh recently. Not only did a new version of Samsung and Oculus’ mobile VR headset release with a new motion controller, but there were updates on the software side, too. These updates were delivered with the help of the new React VR framework.
When the new Gear arrived, so too did a new version of the Oculus Home hub that Gear VR users enter every time they boot the headset up, much like they do on Rift. Ahead of launch we reported that this new version of Home di

Heeeeeeeeee's back.
Maybe.  
Arnold Schwarzenegger is expecting to return to play a role in yet another Terminator movie, according to a report coming from the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. 
SEE ALSO: Russia adds gun slinging to its humanoid space robot's list of helpful skills
With the mixed reactions to the latest Terminator film, some wondered if the franchise might be shuttered for good. 
Alas, that all changed back in January when news dropped that Terminator 2 director J