Technology news

Hulu’s live TV service and redesigned app are finally coming to Roku devices. The new service has been slowly rolling out for months now, and it’s launched on almost every other platform, including Apple TV, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire Stick, and even the 12-year old Xbox 360.More devices coming soon
Roku represented one of the last major platforms left to get the live TV service and new interface, leaving just Sony as the final holdout. Tthe P

You know that story about how Target was able to predict that a teen girl was pregnant based on her shopping habits? Retailers have a lot of information about you based on things you watch and stuff you buy online, and they use this informative to send marketing emails, coupons, or product suggestions to get you to buy more things. But it looks like Amazon might be a little off on this latest attempt. The company appears to have sent a bunch of random customers emails saying a gift from their ba

Using a phone or smartwatch when you’re supposed to be talking to someone has become an accepted rudeness in the 21st century. So, a group of researchers have a possible solution to this minor societal ill: prototype smart glasses that let you control a computer just by rubbing your nose. Yes, you can reject a call, pause a video, or skip a song, simply by scratching your schnoz.They aren’t (sadly) available to buy right now, or we’d all be wandering the streets, pawing at our

It looks like Google is bringing back the Chromebook Pixel — just under a slightly different name. Droid Life has uncovered photos and details of an upcoming Chromebook called the Google Pixelbook. It’ll be seriously high-end for a Chromebook, just like the original Pixel, but this time around, it’ll also support a stylus and flip around to function like a tablet.
The Pixelbook will reportedly come in only one color, silver, and have three different storage tiers: 128GB, 256GB,

On the heels of a number of other Google leaks that Droid Life published this afternoon, we now have a clear look at the forthcoming Pixel 2. The follow-up to last year’s Google Pixel (the smaller of the two Google phones), which is being announced on October 4th, will come in three colors: kinda blue, just black, and clearly white. Droid Life says to expect roughly the same kind of pricing structure as last year’s Pixel. That means a 64GB option for $649, and a 128GB option for $749

Three new species have been added to the endangered species list: Arizona’s Sonoyta mud turtle, the Hawaiian bird ‘i’iwi, and a fish called the pearl darter that’s found in the Southeastern US. This means certain federal protections will be put in place to keep the animals from going extinct.The three join over 150 other species that have been protected as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act through the years. Eleven more species are currently being

With cities and countries about to put bans on internal combustion engines in the next couple of decades, electric bus technology needs to advance. Proterra thinks it just proved it’s already there.
On Tuesday, the California-based company said its Catalyst E2 Max went 1,102.2 miles on a single charge, a world record for the longest distance traveled by an electric vehicle without recharging. The test was performed at Navistar’s proving grounds in Indiana, and the results were confir

Google's hardware event on October 4th will likely involve updates to the company's Pixel phone and, according to Droid-Life, the Daydream VR headsets. We don't have details on the headsets' new specs, but Droid-Life says we can expect three new colors — charcoal, fog, and coral — and a price bump. They'll be priced at $99, compared to $79 last year.The build of the headsets looks slightly better, judging off the leaked photo. They might even incorporate a new material; Droid-Life sp

Google plans to announce full details on its next Pixel smartphones — the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL — at an event on October 4th. As that date moves closer, Droid Life has today published new images of the larger, LG-made device. The Pixel 2 XL will come in two color options at launch: there’s a black version, which is reminiscent of the original, and a new white/black combo that has a black rear glass pane. It’s certainly a unique look, and the power button on the white mod

When Tinder released its upgraded, pay-for-perks version to iOS users, it was an immediate success. Tinder Gold shot to the number one spot in the top-grossing iOS apps within a single day; even today, more than two weeks later, it’s only dropped to number two. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people want to skip swiping on one face at a time and jump straight into a pool of potential suitors. Also unsurprisingly, I am one of those people.My initial reaction to Tinder Gold hovered somewhere betwee

Google is reportedly working on a smaller version of its Home smart speaker, the Home Mini, and it appears to have just leaked out ahead of the company’s October 4th event, via Droid Life, which discovered the upcoming product.The Home Mini seems like an obvious alternative to Amazon’s Echo Dot, serving as a smaller, cheaper version of Google’s Home smart speaker much in the same way the Echo Dot does for the full-size Echo. According to Droid Life, the Home Mini will cost $49

T-Mobile just announced that it’s increasing its soft cap for unlimited data plans from 32GB to 50GB, a move that continues to put it far ahead of competitors. In comparison, Verizon and AT&T have 22GB caps, while Sprint’s is 23GB.If you’re new to modern unlimited data plans, you may be wondering why a plan that purports to be “unlimited” would still have a data cap at all. The answer is that, while technically data is unlimited, carriers include soft caps. Once

Twitter launched a news aggregation tool today that collects the most shared stories by people in your network. Twitter calls it Popular Articles, and it sounds, looks, and works a lot like Nuzzel, the no-frills, RSS-like link aggregator that launched back in 2014.Nuzzel has been a huge hit among journalists and other news-hungry Twitter users because of how simple it is and how well it works. So, it felt like only a matter of time before Twitter either moved to acquire the company, as it did wi

Apple is updating its Apple Music app for Android with new features that are also debuting on iOS 11 today. Social profiles are perhaps the biggest addition across Android, iOS, and desktop; now you can make an Apple Music user profile and have it publicly show friends what you’re listening to — just like Spotify.But Apple is also continuing to put in some extra work to optimize Apple Music for the Android platform. This latest version also adds support for “OK Google” vo

“Every couple has a breaking point,” the trailer for Make Up or Break Up states, as fact. “Thankfully, all of Facebook is here to help.”
One of Facebook’s first forays into commissioned original content for its new Watch tab, the show is live and controlled by hashtags. In each episode, which runs around 20 minutes, a couple with a serious relationship problem lays it all out for a live studio audience and thousands of remote commenters, and asks, “Should we m

Indiegogo has shut down the Frank phone campaign only a couple weeks after it went live, citing a "a violation of [Indiegogo's] Terms of Use." Oh, the Frank phone. It had a short but controversial life.
The creators of the Android device marketed it as a smartphone market disruptor. They were attempting to subvert phone manufacturers by bringing an affordable phone to North America without any carrier bloatware, yet with specs people would want. Android Police disparaged the phone when it launch

The US Navy is beginning to use Xbox 360 controllers to operate the periscopes on submarines, according to The Virginian-Pilot. The first submarine to get the new controller will be the USS Colorado, which goes into active duty in November. The Xbox controllers will later be added to other Virginia-class submarines.
Virginia-class submarines are getting the Xbox controller added to their integrated imaging systems, which will replace a complex-looking, helicopter-style control stick. These subma

The iPhone X has been getting a lot attention since it was announced last week with its eye-watering starting price. However, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook during a segment on Good Morning America, the iPhone X’s $999 cost is a “value price” for the technology it offers (via 9to5Mac.)
The comment came in response to a viewer-submitted question (around the 6:11 mark in the video) asking if Cook thought the price tag of the iPhone X was out of reach for the average American.Coo

Today, Apple pushed out the final version of iOS 11, its latest mobile operating system release. Most iPhone and iPad units made in the last few years should be capable of downloading it now if you head over to the Settings panel and check for a software update under the General tab. For those who have been part of either the developer or public beta process, you’ll likely already have the finalized iOS 11 and shouldn’t need to do anything.
iOS 11, first unveiled in detail back at Ap

YouTube is expanding Sponsorships, its relatively new service that lets viewers pay creators a monthly subscription fee in exchange for exclusive perks. The program, which existed only in beta prior to today, will now be available to any channel in the YouTube Gaming mobile app, a Twitch competitor that encourages gaming personalities to live-stream their play sessions and post edited recordings of gameplay footage. Sponsorships will also be available for non-gaming channels across all of YouTub

Starting today, online teaching startup Udacity is opening registration for a new “Intro to Self-Driving Cars” course to anyone in the world with an internet connection. The four-month “nanodegree” class is $800 to enroll, but ride-hailing service Lyft is teaming up with Udacity to offer 400 scholarships specifically targeted at students from communities underrepresented in the tech world.The only prerequisites for students interested in the intro class are some programmi

In a new lawsuit, a group of venture capitalists says the Trump administration erred by delaying a program meant to help entrepreneurs from other countries start businesses in the United States.
The International Entrepreneur Rule, created under the Obama administration, was designed to give foreign-born startup founders a way to remain in the US while they build businesses, but this year, the Department of Homeland Security blocked the rule, just before it was set to go into effect in July. The

Today, Google is debuting a new feature for its namesake mobile app on iOS that will recommend articles related to what you’re currently reading.
Now, as you’re on a webpage using the app, you should be able to swipe up to see additional articles that could be of interest. It’s built into the existing bottom bar that already allows you to start a fresh search or share what you’re viewing. (I was not able to swipe up and access the recommendations at the time of publishing

The opioid epidemic is pushing down the life expectancy in the US, new research says. Once a leader in longevity, the US has dropped behind most other high-income countries — due in large part to accidental deaths from prescription and illicit opioids that are sweeping the country.The average lifespan in the US actually increased by two years between 2000 and 2015( from 76.8 years to 78.8 years), but that increase is lower than it should be. That’s in part because deaths from opioid

Back in March, Google announced a new Chromebook for schools built by HP called the Chromebook x360 11 G1 Education Edition. Now it’s making that Chromebook available to the public, with a shorter name to boot: the HP Chromebook x360.
The x360 is a rugged laptop just like its education counterpart. It features a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage. The 11.6-inch HD Gorilla Glass touchscreen display should hold up to wear and tear, and there is a p

Apple is launching iOS 11 today, but some features won’t make it onto the new operating system until later, as noted by MacRumors. These include Apple Pay Cash and Messages in iCloud. Messages in iCloud, which allows iMessages to be removed from your device and stored in iCloud to save space, was removed from iOS 11 beta 5 in August, though Apple has said the feature will be re-released in a future update.Apple Pay is also due out later this fall with an update to iOS 11 and watchOS 4. The

iOS 11 is almost here, and it’ll bring a host of new features to your iPhone or iPad. Also coming in the new update is the final switch for Apple from 32-bit apps to 64-bit apps, meaning that if an app you’ve been using hasn’t been updated for the more modern software architecture, it won’t work at all on iOS 11.
Apple has built a handy tool into iOS 11 that can show you all the apps on your device that won’t work with the coming update. To do that, navigate to Sett

In the front room of the restaurant called only "egg," a mother and daughter suck on ice cubes made of algae. “Delicious,” they say. A man in the corner spots his friend across the room, and covers his mouth as he chews a snack shaped like a monster’s fingernail. A graying couple in matching neck scarves request the nonalcoholic drink. It's brown and fizzy, served out of a jug. "Like kombucha," the bartender says. The couple nods warily. They’ll drink it, they guess.
The

On Friday, a spacecraft the size of an SUV will slingshot around Earth’s South Pole, altering its trajectory through space. The probe is NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, and its upcoming maneuver around our planet is known as a gravity assist — a way to harness Earth’s gravity to alter its orbit. The move is critical, since it will put OSIRIS-REx on course to meet up with an asteroid in the fall of 2018.
OSIRIS-REx launched last year with a relatively straightforward purpose: grab a sa

Apple is making iOS 11 available to the world today, and there’s a change that will generate an inevitable surprise reaction from most iPhone users. While the vast majority of UI changes are on the iPad side in iOS 11, the Control Center has been overhauled and is very different. At first glance it looks rather ugly, but there’s some good and bad changes hidden within.Good improvements
Let’s start with the good things. You can now customize what quick shortcuts you’ll see

New evidence calls into question Equifax’s handling of the breach reported last week, which compromised 143 million user details including Social Security numbers, birthdates, and addresses.
Equifax discovered a breach of its computer systems in March, months earlier than it previously admitted to, reports Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The relationship between the two breaches is unclear, but one source Bloomberg spoke to said the breaches involve the same in

 There’s no shortage of startups building their brands around AI for enterprise. And within the enterprise, few spaces are as competitive as AI-powered voice analytics. TalkIQ is the latest company in the space to carry home a large round of financing with promise. With $14 million in Series A funding, the TalkIQ team is hoping its proprietary tech stack and engineering-heavy team will… Read More

Do you ever wonder how long you spend reading emails or doing research? A little device named Tiller may be able to get you an answer.
Tiller is a small puck that plugs into your computer to help track your tasks. Tap it, and it’ll start timing you. Tap again, and it’ll stop. Spin the wheel on top, and a minimal interface will pop up on screen, letting you scroll from one task (say “emails”) to the next (maybe “writing” or “coffee”).
It’s all