Technology news

DragonCon was held this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, and the convention announced today the recipients of the second annual Dragon Awards. The prize is designed to be a “true reflection” of what science fiction and fantasy fans like and enjoy, and was marked with some controversy earlier this summer.
This year’s winners included the latest Expanse novel from James S.A. Corey, Babylon’s Ashes, as well as Larry Correia and John Ringo’s Monster Hunter Memoirs: Gru

The concept of virtual assistance has been in consumers’ mind for more than half a century, first introduced through Sci-Fi movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) featuring virtual assistant HAL and infamous quote “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Portrayed as a must-have feature by the consumer tech industry, our research at Ovum shows that digital assistants, in fact, fall short of consumer expectations and can’t do what they wan

When Hurricane Harvey landed in Houston last week, a major concern was the damage that the city’s petrochemical industry could sustain from the storm. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that 13 of the 41 sites in the area remain flooded, while a report from the Associated Press says that the agency has yet to physically inspect most of the polluted areas.
Following the storm, numerous chemical plants in and around the city experienced damage and in some cases, explosions as

A US court has ruled that lawsuits against Yahoo concerning a pair of massive hacks can move forward, according to Reuters.The lawsuit concerns two major breaches: one that occurred in 2013 that impacted more than a billion users, and another in late 2014 that affected at least 500 million accounts. in December, a judicial panel consolidated five putative class action suits that sought to represent account holders who had e-mails, passwords, and other sensitive information compromised.Yahoo soug

In the days and weeks leading up to the total solar eclipse over the United States last month, there were plenty of warnings for spectators: make sure you protect your eyes and camera equipment. LensRentals, a Tennessee-based camera store, rented out a number of lenses before the event and warned customers to make sure that they use solar filters. Not everyone did.The store posted up a series of images on its blog, showing some of the cameras that were damaged during the eclipse. Blog editor Zac

Last week, news broke that Disney was surveying customers about a new name for its Florida-based Hollywood Studios. The change would come alongside a fundamental reimagining of the park itself, moving away from the ride-centric home to attractions like Star Tours and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and towards a more interactive, immersive land in line with the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy Edge. “Enter this newly named Disney Theme Park and completely immerse yourself in the realm of some

In a Tweet this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook reaffirmed his support for Dreamers —children of undocumented immigrants who have spent much of their lives in the United States, saying that Apple presently employs 250 such individuals.Cook wrote that he stands with his employees, and that they “deserve our respect as equals,” and that any solution to the problems concerning immigration reform should be aligned with “American values.”250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreame

Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa now supports skills aimed for kids ages 13 and under, as spotted by TechCrunch. This provides developers with a simpler way to create voice apps for children, in a space where some may have been hesitant to do so because of strict child privacy protection laws. Amazon says hundreds of developers have already expressed interest in developing skills for this age group, and rolled this feature out first to users in the US.
Alexa skills are actions that users can

Since the upcoming, premium iPhone won’t include a physical home button, Apple has reportedly come up with at least one new way of triggering Siri with an actual button on the device: it will use the sleep/wake/power button. Developer Guilherme Rambo, who has already unearthed details about the “iPhone 8” and other coming Apple products like the HomePod and a 4K Apple TV, claims to have found a “gesture to invoke Siri by holding the lock button.” 9to5Mac and MacRumo

North Korea claims that it tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday, reports Reuters. If true, it represents a major escalation in the region, and highlights the growing sophistication of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
The country’s state-run media announced the test of the “two stage thermonuclear weapon,” saying that it was a “complete success,” and has gone on to report that the bomb can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. Officials with the United

In a single day, about 500,000 edits are made to the English version of Wikipedia, and approximately 800 new articles crop up. But for each incoming new page, anywhere from 400–500 pages are deleted entirely, daily. “Famous watermelons,” “How do i stop my son from looking at picachu porn,” “List of fictional characters with removable or interchangeable heads” — all have met their fate in the digital graveyard of Wikipedia’s “Deleted art

(Reuters) — Diners at a KFC store in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou will have a new way to pay for their meal. Just smile.
Customers will be able to use a “Smile to Pay” facial recognition system at the tech-heavy, health-focused concept store, part of a drive by Yum China Holdings Inc to lure a younger generation of consumers.
Yum China, which spun off from its U.S. parent Yum Brands Inc last year, is trying to rev up growth in the world’s second largest economy, w

Ricoh is unveiling its latest 360-degree camera this morning. Dubbed the Ricoh Theta V, the $430 4K camera is the latest in the line which launched in 2013 with the Ricoh Theta.
Available for pre-order now, and shipping in mid-September, the Theta V features 3,820-by-1,920 resolution video capture. That’s a massive improvement on the earlier Theta S, which offered a sub-1,080p 1,920-by-960, and the Theta SC, which allowed for 1,920-by-1,080 recording.
Perhaps the biggest usabilit

Hidetaka Suehiro, aka the artist known as Swery, is back and ready to get weird. Today at PAX West, he let the cat out of the bag about his new game, The Good Life. His studio White Owls is running a campaign to rustle up $1.5 million on the crowdfunding and publishing platform Fig.
Suehiro is known for games like the surreal cult favorite Deadly Premonition. Earlier this year, he said that his next title would be “perverted, violent, and crazy,” as Eurogamer reported. So of cou