Technology news

You may now start to see Apple Maps embeds in websites around the internet, as Apple has opened up a web-based API for developers in beta, it announced today at WWDC.
In the past, Apple has embedded maps on some of its websites like iCloud.com’s Find My iPhone page or the Apple Store site. But the company has kept the ability to embed Apple Maps on web browsers internal until now, unlike its rivals, Google Maps and Microsoft’s Bing Maps.Apple Maps website embeds will work pretty muc

Today, Google announced a new beta for its upcoming Android P release that shows the new emoji updates coming later this year, including new items like a skateboard and lobster, support for redheads, and a gender-neutral option for the family and couple emojis.
These emojis already existed in the Unicode Standard, and Google is now following the guideline stating, as Emojipedia says, that “if a gender isn’t mentioned, then a gender-neutral or gender-inclusive display should be used.

YouTube’s top trending content at the moment isn’t an advertisement, music video, or movie trailer. It is not a viral challenge video, nor is it something about Fortnite. Actually, it’s a shockingly raw break-up video featuring two of YouTube’s biggest comedy vloggers, Liza Koshy and David Dobrik.Liza Koshy, 22, is best known for going to stores and causing improvisational mischief, often featuring random items that anyone can buy. David Dobrik, 21, has also made a name

E3, the gaming industry’s glitziest event, begins this weekend. If you’re like me and want to ride the hype train for the few glorious moments before collective cynicism steps in, then here’s the full schedule of events, and what you can likely expect to see from each. If you want a general source for all your streams, you can pop by sites like E3 Countdown — which is exactly what it sounds like. All times listed here will be in PST, for simplicity’s sake. Electron

This week, DNA testing service MyHeritage revealed that hackers had breached 92 million of its accounts. Though the hackers only accessed emails and passwords — not actual genetic data — there’s no question that this type of hack will happen more frequently as consumer genetic testing becomes more and more popular. So why would hackers want DNA information specifically? And what are the implications of a big DNA breach?
One simple reason is that hackers might want to sell DNA

In the two months since Uber bought bike-share startup Jump, the company’s bright red bikes have already rolled out across a few US cities — and now they’re coming to Europe.
Onstage at today’s NOAH Conference in Berlin, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the company would be expanding beyond its traditional taxi rides with plans to roll out electric bike rentals in the German capital by the end of the summer, with more European cities to come.
It’s a move t

A South Carolina woman says she was the victim of peeping Tom hackers last week when her WiFi-connected baby monitor was surreptitiously used to observe her and her baby in a bedroom. The mother, Jamie Summit, wrote a Facebook post describing the incident in which her device, a FREDI Wireless Camera Baby Monitor, had been hacked and may have been used to spy on her while she slept or even breastfed her baby. In the post she says: This afternoon I had the app pulled up and was watching Noah slee

Spotify is reportedly offering advances and appealing business terms to independent artists in hopes of convincing them to license their music directly with the streaming music app instead of going through a third-party distribution service. Billboard reports that some of the company’s deals have promised artists and their management “several hundred thousand dollars as an advance fee for agreeing to license a certain number of tracks by their independent acts directly to Spotify.&r

After a few weeks of controversy — which included a pulled game about school shootings and confusion over the place of sexually explicit games on the platform — Valve has decided to change its policies on what games are allowed on Steam. Its solution? Almost anything goes.
“We ended up going back to one of the principles in the forefront of our minds when we started Steam, and more recently as we worked on Steam Direct to open up the Store to many more developers: Valve should

Comcast’s Xfinity phone service is apparently suffering a massive outage today, knocking out phone service for thousands of companies across the country that still largely rely on landline access to do business. According to DownDetector.com, Comcast phone service began experiencing issues around 8AM ET this morning and by the afternoon, areas around the country have started reporting disruptions. The areas most affected appear to be the Pacific Northwest, California, the tri-state area,

Three years ago, director Colin Trevorrow brought Steven Spielberg’s long-dormant Jurassic Park franchise back to life, with a storyline about a futuristic wildlife park that was so desperate to keep selling tickets, it was willing to genetically modify its creatures in the name of spectacle. Jurassic World wasn’t just a blockbuster, it was a meta-movie. The sinister Masrani Corp. was a stand-in for Hollywood and its obsession with bigger-than-big sequels, and the new Indominus rex d

Google released the first public Android P Beta during its I/O conference in May, but we’re already onto Beta 2. It comes with the most important update of all: more emoji. Google tells us there are 157 new emoji, in fact. Some highlights include red hair so gingers don’t feel left out, a hero emoji that looks a lot like Superman, and a bagel with cream cheese – New Yorkers, rejoice. Google is also including two new gender-neutral designs ‘Family’ and ‘Couple

Facebook announced today that it’s testing the ability for Marketplace users to promote their listings to their neighbors. Anyone who isn’t directly in Marketplace will see these ads as “sponsored” posts in their News Feed. Facebook says it’s monitoring the small, US-based test for now and doesn’t immediately have plans for a wide rollout. Users will be able to set their budget and determine how long they want their campaign to last. The ads will be pulled im

At an event today, Sonos announced its newest speaker, the Sonos Beam. It’s a smart speaker and soundbar powered by Alexa and, someday soon, Google Assistant. It’ll retail for $399 and be available on July 17, but pre-orders begin today. Sonos claims most smart speakers are designed for the kitchen, but the Beam is meant to handle everything you need in your living room. It works as a soundbar and a smart speaker – currently powered by Alexa, but Google is on the way – a

If there’s one area where the industry-dominating platform Steam lags behind, it’s in the intricacy and usefulness of its chat function. That’s why reports that it’s bolstering voice chat and groups are encouraging. The details: A leaked screenshot, originally posted on Twitter and which can now be found on Reddit, appears to show group chat rooms on Steam’s interface. SteamDB’s Twitter also revealed assets for embeds, invite links, media uploads, and update

The Department of Homeland Security will forge ahead with plans to implement its problematic Vehicle Face System (VFS), an AI-powered facial recognition system, at the US/Mexico border. After years of development, the Federal government will install the VFS system in Texas at the Anzalduas border crossing. Every person driving across the border will, at that time, have a photograph taken of their face in order to cross-reference their identity with various government databases, according to doc

Dave & Buster’s plans on installing more than 500 HTC Vive VR headsets in its arcades across the US and Canada this month in a subtle acknowledgment that maybe arcades have nothing better to offer than a VR experience in 2018. The headsets will show up on June 14th and will be paired with a “participant motion platform,” which means players will be thrust around. Because this headset inclusion is the result of a partnership between Dave & Buster’s and HTC, the ar

V-Moda has announced a variant of its Crossfade 2 Wireless headphones called the Codex Edition that will support additional codecs as well as a new program with Best Buy Magnolia and Microsoft stores that will allow people to personalize their Codex Edition headphones with 3D printing or laser engraving.
Previously, the Crossfade 2 Wireless supported SBC across all colorways and aptX in the rose gold version. The new Codex Edition support SBC (which provides pretty good audio without much proce

Thomas Reardon, the CEO and co-founder of neuroscience startup CTRL-Labs, does not want to hear about brain implants.
“There’s nothing you can do with a chip in your brain that we can’t do better,” Reardon tells me during a visit to CTRL-Labs’ cramped Manhattan office. Between us on a conference table, there’s a device that could make keyboards, mice, and touchscreens nearly obsolete — or at least, that’s what CTRL-Labs is claiming. It’s the

Hot Wheels has a new die-cast toy car out with an oddly advanced feature: support for a GoPro camera, through a cleverly built-in mount on the top of the car, via CNET.The new whip is officially called the “Zoom In” (get it? It’s a camera pun! Like when you zoom in with a camera? Glad we’re all on the same page here), and it can fit either a GoPro Hero Session or Hero 5 Session camera, which snap right into the pop-up stand on the top. Unfortunately, those are both disco

Sonos just announced that AirPlay 2 is coming to “newer” Sonos speakers in July. Unlike using Apple Music on the HomePod, it will stream music from your phone instead of directly over the internet. However, unlike the HomePod, you will be able to control some of the AirPlay 2 music with Alexa. You can launch music on your iOS device in all the normal ways, including Siri.
Essentially, Sonos’ software system is able to be aware of what is playing on your speakers, no matter the

A team of scientists from the University of California at San Diego recently developed nanorobots to destroy bacteria and detoxify blood. The broad strokes: The nanorobots, which are made out of gold, are 25 times thinner than a human hair. They move in response to ultrasound stimulation, which means they require no fuel. Scientists coated the gold nanarobots with a hybrid ‘skin’ built from platelet and blood cell membranes, which serves two main functions: It stops proteins from at

Enhance Games — the studio helmed by Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi — announced today that it’s tackling a new version of the iconic puzzler Tetris. Called Tetris Effect, the new game is described as offering a “magical feeling of total immersion by surrounding you with fantastic, fully three-dimensional worlds that react and evolve based on how you play.” The game will feature more than 30 stages, including ones set underwater and in space, and, as you’d expe

The saga of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega Plus Indiegogo campaign is getting even messier. Indiegogo is now sending in debt collectors to try to get back some of the money that backers put into the project, via Eurogamer.In an update posted by Indiegogo’s Trust & Safety team to the Vega Plus’ crowdfunding page, the company notes that it had contacted the Vega Plus team about providing “contact information of Sky representatives, [...] refunding backers immediately upon req

After more than six years of episodic storytelling, Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game is rapidly approaching its final season. The first episode is set to launch on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on August 14th, and a Nintendo Switch release is also planned for later this year.Season 4 explores the final chapter for Clementine, who’s grown from a child into a capable adult (and protagonist) over the span of the series. “After years on the road facing threats both living

GM’s stinginess with its excellent hands-free Super Cruise advanced driver assist system is nearing an end. Today, the premium brand announced plans to roll out the semi-autonomous feature to all its cars starting in 2020, after which point, it will start appearing in other GM-owned vehicles as well.When it first debuted in the Cadillac CT6 last year, Super Cruise drew immediate comparisons to Tesla’s Autopilot system. It uses LIDAR, cameras, sensors, and mapping data to allow drive

French drone company Parrot announced the newest device in its lineup today: the Anafi. It’s a compact, foldable device that weighs 320 grams, or 0.7 pounds. It’s a notable change from the company’s last flagship drone, the Bebop 2, which didn’t fold and weighed 500 grams. Parrot says it’s made a multitude of improvements in the two years since the Bebop 2’s launch, including a better connection system and upgraded camera.
The Anafi features a 21-megapixel ca

LG updated its Q series of midrange smartphones last month with the Q7 lineup, and now it’s announcing the Q7’s bigger, stylus-equipped sibling, the Q Stylus.
The Q Stylus is essentially the midrange Galaxy Note to the Q7’s Galaxy S, if you will. Instead of the 5.5-inch, 18:9 display on the Q7, there’s a 6.2-inch 18:9 display and a larger form factor to match, along with an included stylus. Otherwise, it has nearly identical specifications across the board.
Like the Q7,

There’s a whole lot more to Spider-Man than Peter Parker, and the new trailer for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse spinoff is ready to show that off.It seems that Into the Spider-Verse will be introducing viewers to Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) as he grows into his role as Spider-Man, mentored by an older, more inveterate take on Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) than any we’ve seen before.Not only will Miles Morales — the Afro-Latinx teen who beca

Automated surveillance is going to become increasingly common as companies and researchers find new ways to use machine learning to analyze live video footage. A new project from scientists in the UK and India shows one possible use for this technology: identifying violent behavior in crowds with the help of camera-equipped drones.In a paper titled “Eye in the Sky,” the researchers describe their system. It uses a simple Parrot AR quadcopter (which costs around $200) to transmit vid

The Void, known for elaborate virtual reality productions based on Ghostbusters and Star Wars, is opening nine new locations. The Utah-based company announced today that it’s opening “experience centers” in Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Hollywood, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Santa Monica, California; and Washington, DC. This brings the total number of centers up to 17, mostly but not exclusively in the United

Switchee, an IoT startup based in London, has raised £1.3 million in “pre-Series A” funding for its smart thermostat and accompanying cloud-based service. However, unlike consumer offerings, such as Nest, Hive or Tado, the company’s product is targeting large landlords, initially within the social housing sector.
The idea is to help social landlords both tackle fuel poverty amongst their residents and as part of their social remit, and to provide a scalable technology sol

The tremendous success of the mobile game Pokémon Go changed everything for the monster-collecting video game series. After 2016, there were suddenly millions of new fans willing to spend millions more dollars raising digital battle monsters. Despite its popularity, however, Pokémon Go seemed to linger in an ambiguous space, separate from the core Pokémon games and their deep role-playing systems, as well many of the fans devoted to them. Pokémon Go mined “real

Motorola unveiled its Moto Z3 Play today, giving its battery-friendly smartphone line much of what it needs to stay current in 2018. You’ll immediately notice a few hardware and aesthetic changes over last year, all of which improve the phone’s caliber and bring it more up to speed with modern flagships. The mid-range device features a dual rear-facing camera system, a new side-mounted fingerprint sensor, thinner bezels, and a glass back with an aluminum body.The phone looks nice, e

Leaks for TCL’s BlackBerry Key2 more closely resemble a flood at this point, with a full reveal of the phone’s design earlier this week now being followed by a full spec sheet and the price, courtesy of Evan Blass on Twitter.
According to Blass, the Key2 is set to cost $649 in the United States, or $100 more than the KeyOne sold for when it first launched last year. It’s an interesting ploy, to be sure, since I somehow doubt that anyone was really hoping to pay even more money