Technology news

JVC has a number of 4K projectors, but the cheapest model is $3,999, and all of them use JVC’s own special-blend D-ILA technology.
But JVC is finally stooping down to serve the masses with a more traditional DLP-based 4K HDR projector at a (relatively) affordable $2,499 price point. JVC’s new LX-UH1 is a 2,000 lumen projector with a 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and support for HDR10. JVC has kindly included a wide range of vertical and horizontal lens-shifting angles, and a touc

Earlier today, San Bruno police said that a woman who shot three people at YouTube’s headquarters yesterday was probably motivated by anger at the platform. The family of 39-year-old Nasim Aghdam, who died of an allegedly self-inflicted gunshot wound, said she complained that YouTube “ruined her life.” On a personal webpage, she wrote that there was “no free speech in [the] real world,” and that YouTube intentionally suppressed her videos on veganism and animal rig

Last month, it was announced that Google was offering its resources to the US Department of Defense for Project Maven, a research initiative to develop computer vision algorithms that can analyze drone footage. In response, more than 3,100 Google employees have signed a letter urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to reevaluate the company’s involvement, as “Google should not be in the business of war,” as reported by The New York Times.
Work on Project Maven began last April, and w

Facebook has broken Tinder and users who were booted off the dating app have taken to Twitter to complain about it, as spotted first by Select All.
Ever since the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal, in which as many as 87 million users had data improperly shared with the UK data mining firm, Facebook has been rolling out more security and data privacy updates. Today, however, the company announced sweeping changes to many of its most prominent APIs, restricting developer access in a numbe

For anyone who suffers from a long wait while attempting to upload large video and photo files onto their computer, there’s a new Kickstarter for a portable hard drive that says it can back up your files and offer faster on-the-go file uploading services you can use right after taking photos. The company suggests you can do away with bringing your laptop to outdoor photo shoots and instead use its mobile app for editing files and uploading to Dropbox.
The Kickstarter is for a device calle

As the e-commerce industry continues to explode, one startup that’s benefiting is Boston-based 6 River Systems.
The business, which builds robots that speed up production in warehouses, has raised $25 million in Series B financing in a round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Eclipse Ventures and iRobot.
6 River says it has gained early traction with its robot, “Chuck.” Jerome Dubois, founder and CEO, said that he believes 6 River has

Yesterday, YouTube experienced its first workplace shooting. Four days after leaving her home in San Diego, a 39-year-old woman named Nasim Aghdam snuck into YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California, with a handgun, shooting three people before taking her own life. We don’t know what drove Aghdam to commit her crime — whether she was mentally unstable, had previous violent episodes, or was triggered to commit her crime by a tangential event — but it’s clear

How many pixels does a Chromebook need? Google’s Pixelbook seems to have plenty, with a 2400 x 1600 resolution stretched across a mere 12.3 inches of LCD.
But what if you want more pixels? Since Google defines the high-end of the Chromebook market right now, you’re out of luck unless you want to try to install an open source flavor of Chrome OS on a regular machine.
Well, a 4K hope is now on the horizon. The Chromium OS source code (which underpins Google’s Chrome OS) just got

BMW is joining the growing list of automakers that are experimenting with different ownership models by launching a new monthly subscription service that gives customers access to a fleet of BMWs for a set fee.The new app-based service, dubbed Access, will launch first in Nashville before BMW decides to bring it to other markets, according to Bloomberg. For $2,000 a month, users can choose between models like the X5 SUV, 4 Series, and 5 Series sedans, including all plug-in hybrid versions. For

It was revealed last month that Facebook has been collecting call records and SMS data from Android devices for years. Facebook has been using what it calls an “opt-in feature” to improve its friend recommendation algorithm by requesting access to contacts, SMS data, and call history on Android phones. Facebook users, spooked by the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, started downloading their data and were alarmed to find the call history records and SMS data.
Facebook now says it

Facebook today revealed that as many as 87 million users, most of them in the US but at least 1 million in the UK, may have had their information improperly obtained and used by the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica. The revelation indicates that nearly twice as many Facebook users may have been directly affected by the ongoing data privacy scandal resulting from the unauthorized sale of the social network’s user data to the third-party company, which was contracted by the Trump campai

In 2008, Vivendi, the parent company of Sierra Entertainment, merged with game publisher Activision. The result was a new, monolithic corporation called Activision Blizzard, that was now home to some of the biggest games in the world, like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. At the time, Sierra had a number of upcoming games on its slate, including an exciting heavy-metal adventure from Double Fine, the studio of game design legend Tim Schafer. The game was called Brutal Legend, and it starred

As it continues to climb out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and overcome another round of privacy concerns, Facebook today proposed clearer versions of both its terms of service and data policy. “It’s important to show people in black and white how our products work,” the company said by way of a blog post co-authored by Erin Egan (VP and chief privacy officer) and Ashlie Beringer (VP and deputy general counsel). “These updates are about making things clearer. We&rsq

Google announced in a blog post that it now purchases more renewable energy than it consumes as a company. Google began these efforts in 2017, with the goal of purchasing as much renewable energy as it uses across its 13 data centers and all of its office complexes.
To be clear, Google is not powering all of its energy consumption with renewable energy. It’s matching what it consumes with equal amounts of purchased renewable energy. For every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, it buys

Later this month, Pokémon Go players will get rewards for picking up garbage. Today, developer Niantic revealed a series of events occurring on April 22nd to celebrate Earth Day. Since the game is so good at getting people to gather in public spaces, the developer is partnering with local NGOs across the world to encourage that behavior, and then get players to team up to clean those spaces. And the more people who show up and help, the bigger the in-game rewards will be.
Here are the de

Intel updated its patching guidance for Spectre this week, continuing the months-long process of fixing the critical security flaw. Although the company had previously said it planned to patch all affected chips, today it clarified that some product lines won’t receive updates. Most are older and, presumably, not as widely used. They include: the Bloomfield line, Clarksfield, Gulftown, Harpertown, Jasper Forest, Penryn, SoFIA 3GR, the Wolfdale line, and the Yorkfield line.
Intel says it&r

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2018 What The Fest.
Going through puberty can be frightening. Newly sprouted pubic hair, weird dreams and weird smells, and a rapidly changing body are strange, off-putting things. But what if you were also growing scales and turning into a carnivorous monster? In Lisa Brühlmann’s Swiss feature Blue My Mind, a young girl undergoes this

I have a soft spot for ultra-rugged devices. Sure, they may not always be the best phones out there when it comes to things like cameras or razor-sharp displays, but they’re a fascinating example of what happens when you take a multipurpose device like a smartphone and turn it into a gadget that’s designed for just one thing. In this case, that’s sheer and almost ridiculously overengineered ruggedness. Joining the ring as a new contender for the toughest phone yet is the Sonim

Amazon’s Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets can now pull double duty as hands-free Alexa speakers. This feature is already available on the Fire HD 10, and the company is now expanding it to other recent tablets. Both compatible models were released last year. Once the latest software update rolls out to the devices, you’ll be able to use Alexa’s full array of voice commands whenever the tablet’s display is turned on.
To use this functionality from across the room when the tab

The webslinger finally has a release date: today, Sony announced that the highly anticipated Spider-Man game on PlayStation 4 will be out on September 7th. We haven’t seen much of the PS4-exclusive since E3 last year when Sony showed off a lengthy gameplay demo — and it also confirmed that Spider-Man definitely doesn’t kill anyone in the game. It’s being developed by Insomniac, a studio best known for the Ratchet & Clank series as well as the largely unheralded open-

Micro videos have been trendy since Vine (RIP), and later Boomerang, made the format fun and easy to shoot. Now, Tinder is currently testing a two-second looping video feature for profiles that’s similar to Boomerang and Facebook’s own profile videos.
Tinder Loops is the dating app’s first video-based feature, and it’s currently being tested for iOS users in Canada and Sweden. Users can upload videos from their phone and trim the footage within the Tinder app. GIF: Tinde

Yesterday, a shooter walked into YouTube’s headquarters in California and began firing at employees, leaving three people injured with gunshot wounds. A picture of the tragedy, and the suspect behind it, is now emerging. Here are the facts that have come to light so far.What happened
Around lunchtime on Tuesday, April 3rd, employees at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California, began reporting gunshots fired in the building. Several employees called 911, and others tweeted abo

More than 50 leading AI and robotics researchers have said they will boycott South Korea’s KAIST university over the institute’s plans to help develop AI-powered weapons. The threat was announced ahead of a UN meeting set in Geneva next week to discuss international restrictions on so-called “killer robots.” It marks an escalation in tactics from the part of the scientific community actively fighting for stronger controls on AI-controlled weaponry.The boycott was organiz

More than 50 leading AI and robotics researchers have joined a boycott of South Korea’s KAIST university over the institute’s plans to help develop AI-powered weapons. The boycott was announced ahead of a UN meeting set in Geneva next week to discuss international restrictions on so-called “killer robots.” It marks an escalation in tactics from the part of the scientific community actively fighting for stronger controls on AI-controlled weaponry.The boycott was organized

BlackBerry has filed a complaint against Snap accusing the company of infringing its patented messaging technology in the Snapchat app. The complaint, which runs a hefty 71 pages, accuses Snap of infringing six patents including map improvements for mobile devices, advertising techniques, and UI improvements for mobile devices. It also cites Snap Maps and the display count of unread messages on a notification dot as “infringing activities.” The complaint was first reported by Bloomb

Amazon is opening up the Echo Button — the $20 light-up buttons that are designed to add a fun, physical component to interacting with Alexa — so developers can create their own games with the beta launch of the Gadgets Skill API.While the Echo Buttons are largely meant for games (things like trivia or Simon Says-esque pattern tests), Amazon notes the API can be used for non-game interactions, too. For example, the Echo Button can be doubled as a physical interface for starting or s

US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab is officially open for business and has scheduled its very first commercial launch for later this month. The company will launch its small Electron rocket with payloads from two paying satellite operators on board — just three months after completing a second test flight of the vehicle. The upcoming mission will initiate the beginning of customer operations for Rocket Lab, which claims to have a busy manifest for this year and next.
After four years of de

The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced today that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the committee on April 11th at 10AM ET. He’ll answer questions about his company’s use and protection of user data. CNN and Bloomberg previously reported that he’d testify, but the appearance hadn’t been officially scheduled. There’s bipartisan support for his testimony.
Zuckerberg turned down a similar request from European regulators last week, in which t

A new report out of Bloomberg this morning suggests that Apple is developing two new pieces of technology for future iPhone models: one is touchless gesture control and the other is a curved display. Both projects are said to be at the early stages of research and development, at least two years away from potentially making it into consumer devices.
Apple’s closest rival, Samsung, has already offered versions of both technologies in its prior models. Air Gestures on the Galaxy S4 allowed

Fitbit Versa
$199.95View Product
The Good
Really comfortable • Super light • Very bright screen • Superb fitness tracking • Long battery life
The Bad
No built-in GPS • Bands are difficult to swap • Fitbit OS is still weak • NFC costs extra • Takes forever to change watch faces via app
The Bottom Line
Fitbit's new Versa is a cheaper, more comfortable, fitness-focused smartwatch than its model for athletes, the Ionic, but it still can't compare to the Apple

When you’re a company as large as Google,you need to make build versus buy decisions every day, whether that’s buying a company or building the software or renting time on an undersea cable or building your own. Today, the company announced that it’s decided to build another undersea cable. This one will run from Japan to Guam and from Guam to Australia.
That’s a lot of territory, approximately 9,500 KM or almost 6000 miles, and it’s a major undertaking. The company

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has taken to the company’s forums to offer fans some reassurance about the upcoming OnePlus 6 and its controversial notched display. In response to a loud and passionate negative reaction, Lau says that OnePlus will now offer the option to black out the sides of the screen around the notch and thereby hide it, much as Huawei has done with the P20. I’ve been using the latter phone since its announcement in Paris last week, and I’ve never felt the need to hi