Technology news

Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook wants to reach a goal of getting a billion people into virtual reality. Speaking at the fourth annual Oculus Connect event, he said that Facebook is moving VR in that direction with new models, such as the $200 standalone VR headset Oculus Go and the upcoming wireless version of the Rift, dubbed Project Santa Cruz. Much of VR’s fate lies in these new devices, as the industry fluctuates between optimism and despair.
Jason Rubin, head of studios at Oculus, belie

Ever since Ron Howard took over production on the next standalone Han Solo Star Wars film in June, he has posted a number of images from the set, teasing a variety of locations and characters. His latest post hints at the inclusion of a pair of characters from a series of non-canon Star Wars comics, Tag and Bink.In a new Tweet, Howard posted an image of a pair of Imperial officers, with the caption “#tagandbink ?”
#tagandbink ? pic.twitter.com/1EzUbS3MQs— Ron Howard (@RealRonHo

After having been involved in over 2,000 venture capital projects within my role at Microsoft Accelerator Beijing, and now managing global market development as the co-founder of a fast-growing Seattle based IoT startup, I have been lucky enough to develop my skills on the frontline in two starkly different business cultures. Anyone who may doubt the value of navigating different business cultures, need only look to the likes of Arianna Huffington (Greek), Dietrich Mateschitz (Austrian), Elon M

Uber is backtracking on its plans to shut down its Quebec operations after the Canadian province implemented tighter restrictions on its drivers. According to CBC News (via Engadget), the rideshare company announced yesterday that it will continue to negotiate with the government as the rules are put into place.The new restrictions go into effect today, and require drivers to undergo 35 (up from 20) hours of training and a background check. Uber has operated in Quebec for a year under a governme

GUEST: With cryptocurrencies continuing to gain traction as an increasingly popular investment vehicle globally, my team at Investing.com wanted to gauge how interested U.S. investors are in these currencies at the moment.
Looking at our data for 2017 (January – September), we put together the above infographic. What it shows is that cryptocurrency interest across the U.S. is driven by differing virtual currency regulations within each state.
Interestingly enough, topping the list of state

In June, British Parliament was hit by a “sustained and determined” cyberattack that attempted to uncover weak passwords used by lawmakers. Now, investigators say that Iran was behind the attack, and that around 90 accounts were compromised, according to a report in The Times.
British authorities detected unusual activity on the morning of the attack and took measures to prevent remote access, leaving lawmakers unable to access their e-mail outside the Palace of Westminster.Initially

GUEST: No matter how much “rapid transit” we employ, there’s nothing rapid about traffic in big cities. Our choices today are limited — cars, public transit, taxis, and ride-sharing. They all have pros and cons, but not one of them gets people where they need to be quickly.
When will technology finally be used to decrease traffic and not just increase a vehicle’s potential? Perhaps now, thanks to augmented intelligence. Augmented intelligence combines various expert

If you’re a fan of science fiction and fantasy, or just books in general, you might have come across the minimalist, elegant, and witty work of cartoonist Tom Gauld. Gauld is responsible for the series You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, and most recently, Baking with Kafka, a short collection of his cartoons drawn from places like The Guardian, the New Yorker, and The New York Times.Gauld’s artwork appeals to me most as a book lover: each piece teases out jokes inherent to

Following a pair of reports detailing decades of sexual harassment and abuse by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Amazon Studios has cut ties with the his studio and has canceled a high-profile television drama from David O. Russell, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The studio ordered two seasons of the Silver Linings Playbook director’s untitled project, which was set to star Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, and Michael Shannon. Russell, De Niro, and Moore released a statement yester

The next generation of soft robots might be able to hide in plain sight, thanks to a newly developed, camouflaging skin that can rapidly transform from a flat silicone sheet to a 3D shape.
The new camouflage, described this week in the journal Science, could help surveillance robots take on a texture that lets them blend into the background. But there’s a catch: it can only take on a single preplanned, built-in texture, such as that of bumpy rocks, or cabbage-shaped succulents. So unless a

Twitter has turned over the names of 201 accounts to Senate investigators who are looking into Russia’s efforts to influence the last year’s presidential election, according to the Associated Press.The AP says that the account names are “linked to Russian attempts at influencing the 2016 presidential election,” and that they were handed over earlier this week. The handles were reportedly not revealed until now because of legal issues. Last month, Twitter announced that it

Micheal Arrington, the founder of the tech news website TechCrunch, recently bought $60,000 flat in Ukraine. Under normal circumstances, the transaction would have involved a trip to the country and exchange of paper documents. However, Arrington didn’t set foot in Ukraine. Neither was any courthouse, bank or other financial institution involved in the purchase. Everything took place on blockchain, the distributed ledger that underlies Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchain origin

I watched the original Blade Runner (the Final Cut) and Blade Runner 2049 back to back last weekend, and what stood out to me most is the difference between the two films' visuals. Both are absolutely gorgeous movies, and I think the sequel does a very good job of adapting the original's very specific look to a new story. But I also think it's far less daring, and that sort of speaks to the overall experience of watching 2049. (No spoilers here, I promise.)
The sequel was shot by Roger Deakins,

Yesterday, some Twitter users began a 24 hour boycott of the social media platform after the company suspended actress Rose McGowan’s account. Twitter has taken notice, and last night, CEO Jack Dorsey pledged that it will take a “more aggressive stance” in enforcing its rules, and that it will begin rolling out new rules in the coming weeks to try and curb some of the unwanted behavior that appears on the platform.Twitter temporarily suspended McGowan’s account earlier th

We’re approaching Black Friday next month, which means retailers will likely hold out on any major promotions until then. However, there are still some tech deals worth checking out now, especially if any of the below items are something you can’t wait for.
Below are our 10 favorite deals of the week — six of them ending today (Saturday, October 14th) or tomorrow (Sunday, October 15th). They include the first discount we’ve seen on the Echo Show and other Amazon devices s

The average price of a pair of headphones has inched past the $40 mark this year, according to new data released this week by Futuresource Consulting. We now pay an average of $42.70, which is a 14 percent rise year-on-year and maintains a trajectory of double-digit annual growth. Last summer, Futuresource reported an 11 percent rise in pricing in 2015, to a mark of $34, driven by an appetite for more advanced features. Those are things like advanced noise canceling, fitness tracking for sports

Small, powerful, and affordable electric motors have helped dozens of startups flood the market with increasingly practical personal vehicles over the last few years. A handful of products I’ve tried this year that show these concepts are progressing and evolving, too. There are modular electric skateboards, foldable scooters, and design-forward e-bikes now, and they all feel like genuine advancements of their base ideas. This focus on developing alternative transportation is promising for

Last month, when the Syfy Channel cancelled its pulpy space-opera show, Dark Matter, the show’s creator, Joseph Mallozzi, immediately began working on a way to save it. Recently, on his blog, he revealed that MGM showed some interest in picking up Dark Matter — and crossing it over with another well-known science fiction television franchise, Stargate.
Dark Matter follows the crew of the Raza after they wake up from stasis with amnesia and work to build new lives. The show ran for th

The United States of America is swinging – culturally, legally, and of course, politically. 
For Jad Abumrad, so-called public radio royalty, best known for bringing us the joys of Radiolab, the key to a more perfect union is finding a pivot point (the law) and using it to peel the layers of the onion (history) that has lead to the teary existential crisis of today.
SEE ALSO: How sunshine is bringing radio to remote parts of South Sudan
In his latest podcast, More Perfect, a productio

(Reuters) — Qualcomm Inc confirmed an earlier report that the chipmaker had filed lawsuits in China, seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of Apple Inc’s iPhones in the country.
Qualcomm filed the suits in a Beijing intellectual property court, claiming patent infringement and is seeking injunctive relief, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Friday, but did not provide further details.
Bloomberg had earlier reported about the lawsuits in China.
Apple’s shares were marginally

 Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took to…Twitter today to promise a “more aggressive” stance in its rules and how it enforces them. The tweet storm was based in a response to the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest, as well as work that Dorsey says Twitter has been working ‘intensely’ on over the past few months. Dorsey says that critical decisions were made today in how to go… Read More

 Apple’s Denise Young Smith sent an apology to team members at Apple today over comments she made at the One Young World Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. “Last week, while attending a summit in Bogota, I made some comments as part of a conversation on the many factors that contribute to diversity and inclusion….I regret the choice of words I used to make this point,” said Smith… Read More

Tesla just made some drastic changes to its workforce.
The automaker fired between 400 and 700 workers from its south Bay Area headquarters and production plant this week, the San Jose Mercury first reported. The company claims the employees were fired for subpar job performance rather than laid off.
"Like all companies, Tesla conducts an annual performance review during which a manager and employee discuss the results that were achieved, as well as how those results were achieved, during the pe

Remarkable photos reveal how badly California's wineries have been damaged in wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres of wine country since Sunday.
SEE ALSO: How California's firestorm spread so mind-bogglingly fast: From 'Diablo' winds to climate trends
Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, California is just one of the dozens of wineries that was ravaged by the massive fires. 
In the midst of the blaze, a large plastic wine container melted, releasing a boiling pool of wine,

Supplies still aren’t reaching where they’re needed in Puerto Rico, and some people who desperately need water are getting it from hazardous sources. After evaluating five places deemed especially hazardous to health and the environment, so-called Superfund sites, Environmental Protection Agency staff saw people accessing wells at a chemical-tainted water source on the northern coast of Puerto Rico.
“EPA staff saw first-hand people accessing wells.”
“We have confirm

If a person or fellow entrepreneur is trying to make their dreams a reality, they do this by working, and pushing, and learning, and planning, and enduring every obstacle they face, because they know it is getting them one step closer to where they want to be. This is the mindset the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Originally published in 1937, this book stood the test of time, quickly becoming a classic that every successful entrepreneur turned to (and continues to turn to) in their

Microsoft is known for maintaining a fun workplace, from its free candy to its awesome art collection. Its latest perk: treehouses. 
The company announced on its blog Friday that it has created three treetop meeting spaces at its corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington.  
The treehouses were built by Pete Nelson, host of the Animal Planet series Treehouse Masters. They were constructed on the campus this summer, prompting a wave of curiosity and rumors from Microsoft employees, a

 All companies are startups until they aren’t. Many struggle to find their way back, too. It’s not the days of constrained resources or terrible pay or the heart-stopping uncertainty that they’re missing, of course. Instead, the problem is that it’s a lot harder to implement change at an “established” organization, particularly one that’s making money.… Read More

Tesla has fired hundreds of employees across both its Palo Alto, California headquarters and its Fremont vehicle production factory, according to a report from The Mercury News. Citing interviews with former and current employees, the report puts the firings at between 400 and 700 people, and they affected everything from factory workers to engineers to managers. According to The Mercury News, workers were not given advance notice of the decision.Tesla, in a statement, cited a company-wide annua

No matter how much you try to tune it out, you can’t hide from political coverage. It’s on TV, podcasts, sports talk shows, and in nearly every social media post, tweet, pin, or snap. Even the place where politics was historically off limits is now no longer safe… the office. Political tensions in the workplace were high during last year’s election cycle, with 26% of employers sensing greater political volatility and 57% of Americans saying the political climate caused

Loot boxes in video games like Forza Motorsport 7 and Middle-earth: Shadow of War are raising a debate about business models in the gaming community, and some people are now trying to get their governments to do something about it. That has led Daniel Zeichner, a member of the British Parliament from Cambridge, to pose two questions asking what Secretary of State for digital, culture, media, and sport Karen Bradley will do to protect people from loot boxes.
Both of Zeichner’s questions are

T-Mobile is bringing to an end one of its more generous perks that gave customers traveling to Canada and Mexico free unlimited LTE service. Starting November 12th, T-Mobile is putting a 5GB data cap on LTE usage when traveling outside the US in North America. You’ll still get data after the 5GB limit is hit, but it’ll be throttled to the near-unusable “Simple Global” speed tier, or about 128Kbps. (T-Mobile One Plus customers get 256Kbps, but that’s not much better.