Technology news

IMAX announced today that it’s launching a new certification program called IMAX Enhanced that it’s developed along with audio and surround sound specialist DTS. The idea is that qualifying televisions, projectors, A/V receivers, sound systems, and other home theater equipment should provide the best 4K / HDR images and sound quality, in IMAX’s opinion.The company doesn’t get specific about what qualifiers it considers before certifying a device, but it did say that they

Facebook and Twitter made a hotly anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill today, as top executives sat for a day’s worth of questions from lawmakers related to election interference, political bias, and more.In the day’s first hearing, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey shared the dais with Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for questions related to how the companies are protecting their platforms from abuse. (Google declined to send its CEO, and was represented by an em

Facebook and Twitter made a hotly anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill today, as top executives sat for a day’s worth of questions from lawmakers related to election interference, political bias, and more.In the day’s first hearing, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey shared the dais with Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for questions related to how the companies are protecting their platforms from abuse. (Google declined to send its CEO, and was represented by an em

Drone racing has only been a human sport for a few years, but artificial intelligence is already gunning to take over. Today, the Drone Racing League (DRL), which is one of the foremost organizations trying to turn drone racing into the next NASCAR, announced a new competition for teams to develop AI pilots for its aircraft.With backing from aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, DRL wants to recruit developers from around the world, including students and drone enthusiasts. They’ll have to crea

Sweden is rightly famous for many things — its natural beauty, its health care, its wealth, Ikea — but one of the country’s most public achievements, its Twitter, doesn’t always come up in those conversations. Since 2011, the Swedish Institute has handed over the keys to the country’s official Twitter account to a new Swede every week, letting them tweet anything they want. The goal was to show the country as it really existed through the eyes of its various citize

Firefox’s latest update for desktop is here, and there’s a new automatic dark theme on macOS, a small prompt to reflect recent personal data privacy concerns, and variable fonts.Today’s updates lay “the groundwork for future releases that will help people feel safe online,” a spokesperson told The Verge. Firefox first announced last week that its browser would soon be blocking third-party ad trackers and strip cookies from site content by default, and it looks like

Third-party hardware makers might finally be allowed to create Apple-approved USB-C to Lightning cables through the company’s MFi program. Japanese publication Mac Otakara reports today that Apple informed its MFi partners that they’ll be able to manufacture these cables, which only Apple has made since the accessory’s debut. The website expects to see some of these cables starting in mid-2019. The website also reports that Apple will provide and require these manufacturers to

The Mercedes-Benz EQC is one of the most important cars the company will ever release. It is the first entrant in an entirely new lineup of all-electric cars, the tip of the spear for a wholly different propulsion platform meant to help curb emissions around the globe. It’s been teased by the company for two years. And yet, on the day of its announcement, Mercedes-Benz completely whiffed on arguably the most important detail: how long the EQC’s battery will last.One of the biggest o

Huawei is announcing two new Honor phones today, the 8X and 8X Max, and both of them are huge. The 8X has a 6.5-inch screen, while the 8X Max jumps up to an even bigger 7.12-inch screen, putting it into what used to be small tablet territory. For comparison, the phone’s predecessor, the Honor 7X, had a large but manageable 5.93-inch screen.
While those dimensions will absolutely make for a pair of big devices, they may not be quite as giant as they sound: the 8X and 8X Max both use wider

Cancer almost killed the acquisition of video workout startup FitStar and its co-founder Mike Maser, who’s just become the CEO of the No. 1 fasting app, Zero. It was a dream that turned into a nightmare.
Fitbit came right out and said they wanted to buy the True Ventures-funded company. “But even in that meeting, I felt pretty ill,” Maser tells me. At first he thought the weird temperature fluctuations, swollen glands and tiredness were just normal wear and tear from runni

It’s been rumored for a while that Apple would be releasing two new OLED iPhone successors to the iPhone X this year — an upgraded 5.8-inch model, said to be called the iPhone XS, and a larger 6.5-inch version that is reportedly going to be called the “iPhone XS Max,” according to multiple sources speaking to 9to5Mac.It’s a break from Apple’s usual naming conventions that it had introduced back in 2014 with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Many had expected th

Following today’s Senate committee hearing with Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg, the Justice Department has released an unexpected statement. The agency says it will soon convene a meeting of state attorneys general to discuss allegations that tech companies are “hurting competition” and “intentionally stifling” ideas.Accused of “intentionally stifling” ideas
While the statement does not fully lay out the implications, it seems to be referencing critici

A successful YouTuber’s income often comes from a variety of sources: merch, ticket sales for touring or shows, brand deals, and of course, ad revenue from their actual videos. As YouTuber The Fitness Marshall points out in a recent video, however, a high subscriber count does not necessarily equal a big payout.Caleb Marshall has been making videos for roughly four years, and his channel boasts more than 1.3 million subscribers. Over the years, he’s created 147 dance workout videos

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have introduced a bill that would tax companies like Amazon and Walmart for the cost of employees’ food stamps and other public assistance. Sanders’ Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (abbreviated “Stop BEZOS”) — along with Khanna’s House of Representatives counterpart, the Corporate Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act — would institute a 100 percent tax on government benefits that

At the end of season 1 of Netflix’s Marvel series Iron Fist, Rand Enterprises partner Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) and master martial artist Davos (Sacha Dhawan) sit down to talk about the superhero Iron Fist, aka their mutual acquaintance Danny Rand. Danny (played by Finn Jones) views both characters as his siblings. Joy is the childhood friend from New York who he desperately wanted to reconnect with when he returned home after spending a decade training in the mythical city of K’

The Facebook exodus among young people is real, and disenchantment with the leading social media platform is extending to older users, too. According to new data from Pew Research Center that sampled US Facebook users aged 18 and up, 4 in 10 (42 percent) of those surveyed have taken a break from the social network for “several weeks or more” in the last year; a quarter of respondents said they’ve deleted the mobile app entirely from their smartphones.
Pew’s survey was co

Google’s goal has always been to organize the world’s information, and its first target was the commercial web. Now, it wants to do the same for the scientific community with a new search engine for datasets.The service, called Dataset Search, launches today, and it will be a companion of sorts to Google Scholar, the company’s popular search engine for academic studies and reports. Institutions that publish their data online, like universities and governments, will need to inc

One year ago, Dara Khosrowshahi took over the reins at Uber amid a series of spiraling, self-inflicted scandals, with the promise to right the ship by rescuing the ride-hail company’s abysmal reputation on safety and privacy.Today, the company is celebrating Khosrowshahi’s first anniversary by introducing a host of new safety improvements for both riders and drivers, including a feature called “Ride Check” that utilizes the GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, and other sensor

As Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg faced the Senate Intelligence Committee today, Google was noticeably absent, following a heated back-and-forth between the company and committee leadership in the days leading up to the hearing. The result was an empty chair for Google and a number of complaints from committee members.
“Sheryl and Jack, I’m glad you’re here,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) in his opening remarks. “I’m disappointed tha

Facebook is suing BlackBerry for patent infringement, according to a report from Bloomberg. The lawsuit comes just months after BlackBerry sued Facebook, alleging that the social media company and its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries infringed on BlackBerry messaging app patents.
In the complaint, filed in San Francisco federal court, Facebook accuses BlackBerry of infringing on several patented processes and technologies surrounding voice messaging, how a mobile device delivers graphics, an

Netflix has released a new teaser for the sixth season of House of Cards, forecasting the death of Frank Underwood and revealing that the final, eight-episode season will debut on November 2nd.This new teaser confirms what many have suspected: Frank Underwood was killed offscreen, putting the spotlight on Claire. After years of rumors, Kevin Spacey, who played Underwood, faced a public fall from stardom in the wake of the #MeToo accusations when actor Anthony Rapp claimed Spacey made unwanted s

An Emirates flight from Dubai has landed in New York with numerous sick passengers on board, NBC New York reports. The passengers got sick overnight, but it’s not clear what condition they are in or what caused the sickness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating.
Approximately 521 people were on board Emirates flight EK 203, which landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport around 9AM ET. CDC officials and police were waiting at JFK to check on the sick

It’s officially iPhone season — I’m told other people call it “September,” which seems odd — and that means we’re just days away from Apple unveiling new iPhones at its upcoming September 12th event.The rumor mill has been spinning up lots of leaked photos and speculated names. We’ve rounded up the biggest ones here, along with our best guesses about the likelihood that they’ll actually show up.Image: 9to5Mac
iPhone X gets an update
Last yea

It may have been surprising to hear that blood-testing startup Theranos was technically still around, even though it was a fraud that put people in real danger. But per an email chief executive officer David Taylor sent to shareholders, Theranos will finally close.Taylor starts the email by saying that he “write[s] with difficult news about the future of the company,” though it is hard to believe that any shareholder would be blindsided by this development. Taylor, who is also gener

Earlier this year, Nest finally made it possible to balance the HVAC system for different areas of your home without using multiple thermostats. The Temperature Sensor, a small wireless puck you can place throughout your home, lets the Nest system set its programming to the temperature of a specific room instead of just where the thermostat is mounted. The Temperature Sensor works with the third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat and the Nest Thermostat E, and can be purchased for $39 or in pa

On a sticky late-August night in New York, Drake has chosen to share the stage with a non-human entity. As he bounces around the stage during “Elevate,” a cloud of drones illuminates the dark space above him.
Drake is an artist shaped by the internet, one whose latest meme-frenzy of a song, “In My Feelings,” defined the entire summer through dance challenges and memes. It’s not surprising that the artist would incorporate buzzy, high-tech entertainment into his tou

There has always been a whiff of world domination to the aspirations of big tech companies: to become a platform for everyone on Earth, to be the “everything store,” to organize the world’s information. Yet as Facebook, Amazon, Google, and others reach unprecedented scale, regulators, activists, academics, and politicians are starting to wonder how big is too big. Lately, there are even signs of growing bipartisan recognition that something should be done, whether it’s S

We finally have a premiere date for the next season of Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor will be making her TARDIS debut on October 7th for both UK and US viewers.The UK broadcast will be at an as-yet-unannounced evening time slot on the BBC network, and the US-based BBC America will actually air the premiere twice: once earlier in the afternoon, simulcast with the UK start time (presumably for US viewers who are looking to avoid spoilers), and an encore airing at a more nor

If the main hangup that’s kept you from purchasing Snap’s Spectacles has been their design, two new models that the company is introducing today might eliminate those hesitations. Snap has just announced the new Veronica and Nico styles of Spectacles 2. They contain all the same features and recording quality improvements as the model first introduced in April, but this time inside a more traditional look. It maybe won’t be quite so obvious that you’re wearing Spectacles

With today’s announcement of the full-frame Canon EOS R, together with Nikon’s own recent reveal of the Z6 and Z7, it’s official: mirrorless cameras are no longer the preserve of second-rate companies who couldn’t compete against Canon and Nikon’s DSLR duopoly, but a crucial part of the future of high-end photography. Canon and Nikon are late to the game, to be sure, but no-one can doubt that both companies’ new products are serious, wholehearted efforts to de