Technology news

Google today announced it’s shuttering YouTube Gaming, replacing it with a page on the main site. The company is hoping that the Gaming page, while not very dissimilar to the Gaming site, will help bring more viewers and content creators together now that they aren’t being forced to shuffle between two sites. With YouTube Gaming on the YouTube homepage, you can browse the games and creators you love and discover new ones as well. Who have you been watching lately? https://t.co/e6jS7

When it comes to purchasing a projector for your home theater there’s usually only one important question for consumers: How much do you have to spend? Because, typically, inexpensive projectors don’t perform well. The idea of, let’s say, a $99 projector that’s bright, clear, and capable of working even in broad daylight seems pretty stupendous. Meet the stupendous Vankyo Leisure 410 LED projector. I got my hands on a review unit about a month ago and haven’t looke

It’s been an electrifying month for the German auto industry. Mercedes-Benz presented its first all-electric SUV. BMW offered a glimpse of its upcoming EV strategy by unveiling a concept car. And Audi is going electric, as well. On Monday, the company celebrated the premiere of its first completely battery-powered car, the E-tron. Audi’s release party in San Francisco was especially unlikely when you consider what happened just three years ago.
As a part of Volkswagen Group, Audi pl

AMD has made two new processors to counter Intel’s Coffee Lake H series chips, which are often found in gaming notebooks and mobile workstations. While these are largely just laptop versions of the desktop-class four-core processors that AMD already launched this year, the new chips could mark AMD’s expansion into more notebooks and mobile workstations.The new AMD Ryzen 5 2600H and Ryzen 7 2800H are 45-watt processors with four CPU cores, eight processor threads, and Radeon Vega gra

Amazon has discounted the cost of its Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets for subscribers of Amazon Prime. We’re seeing prices for most of these products match what was offered during Prime Day 2018, which is to say that you can expect a discount between $30-40 depending on which model you’re interested in.Amazon Kindle e-reader for $49 (usually $79)Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader with backlight for $79 (usually $119)Amazon Fire 7 tablet with 8GB of storage for $35 (usually $49)Amaz

The US and Chinese governments have spent the last year setting the table for a trade war, but don’t tell big tech. Apple’s looking pretty smug now that President Trump’s agreed to relax some of the impending tariffs on Chinese goods – specifically those that would have made it more expensive to manufacture items like the Apple Watch. This is certainly a feather in the cap of CEO Tim Cook after he dined with the President and First Lady last month. It appears that Cook i

Google’s big Chrome overhaul that arrived on desktop and mobile earlier this month is coming to Chromebooks today with the release of Chrome OS version 69. The really noticeable change is the new Material Theme redesign of Chrome itself, which brings tabs with rounded corners and some softer aesthetic elements, like a blank white new tab page, to the overall look and feel of the browser.The redesign also delivers some nifty new features like instant search result info in the omnibox addre

Before Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa can fulfill his dream of seeing the Moon with an artist collective, SpaceX still needs to finish the rocket that will take the group to space. The company needs more money to fund the development of the vehicle, dubbed the BFR, and more wealthy patrons may be SpaceX’s best funding option.
On Monday, Musk estimated that the total development cost of the BFR would run around $5 billion, costing no more than $10 billion but no less than $2 billion.

Amazon first introduced its line of “Alexa Gadgets” — devices that are meant to enhance Echo devices in “fun and playful” ways — with the $20 Echo Button last year, but since then, there hasn’t been much movement on other Alexa Gadgets. That changes today, though, with the Alexa Gadgets Toolkit beta that will give tools to developers to create their own Echo-connected accessories.The Alexa Gadgets Toolkit gives developers APIs and technical documentatio

Hulu’s live TV streaming service now has more than 1 million subscribers, as reported by USA Today. That number only accounts for a small percentage of Hulu’s total subscriber base of 20 million, but is significant given that Hulu’s live offering launched just over a year ago.
Hulu has invested a lot into making its live TV service feel more natural for those used to cable TV. Earlier this year it introduced a channel guide to let users flip between channels (the way you would

There have now been 70 Emmy Awards ceremonies. That was made abundantly clear throughout this year’s telecast, with jokes like, “Things were very different back [in 1949, when the awards launched] — gas was 17 cents a gallon, a new home cost $7,000, and we all agreed that Nazis were bad.” Certainly over the course of those 70 years, the Academy has made some embarrassing decisions. The Wire never won an Emmy, for example. Neither did Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek:

With iOS 12, Apple added support for third-party mapping services, namely Google Maps, to its CarPlay service, a much-needed feature that’s been a long time coming. That means, starting today, you no longer have to solely use Apple Maps when connecting your iPhone to your car’s infotainment and navigation center.With Google Maps version 5.0, the update for which should be available for iOS users right now, you’ll get the ability to sync Google Maps navigation to your vehicle&r

As someone who is ostensibly a professional writer, I can say with some authority that sometimes, writing is hard. And when you’re staring at page three of an essay that your professor has insisted should be at least five pages, single-spaced, in size 12 Times New Roman font... sometimes, you need a little help.Any skiving student worth their salt knows the usual tricks to make an essay look longer: use larger punctuation marks and spaces, mess around with the margins, maybe even try to c

As our schedules become busier, having the option to automate daily chores, such as feeding the cat, can be a real time saver. Plus, it just feels good to know your feline bestie has a nice full belly. Pet product manufacturers have smartly recognized this need of pet parents everywhere, and there are now dozens of automatic cat feeders available across the market. 
SEE ALSO: The 30 best cat breeds, ranked
What to consider for when buying an automatic cat feeder
Whether you’re looking

As our schedules become busier, having the option to automate daily chores, such as feeding the cat, can be a real time saver. Plus, it just feels good to know your feline bestie has a nice full belly. Pet product manufacturers have smartly recognized this need of pet parents everywhere, and there are now dozens of automatic cat feeders available across the market. 
SEE ALSO: The 30 best cat breeds, ranked
What to consider for when buying an automatic cat feeder
Whether you’re looking

Nintendo Switch Online is scheduled to launch later today, September 18th, shortly after 11PM ET / 8PM PT. Once it arrives, the free online gaming that Switch owners have enjoyed since the console’s launch will come to an end. To enjoy the same games online, you’ll need a subscription to the service.Thankfully, buying into the service doesn’t cost very much, and it will grant you access to more than just online gameplay. You’ll also be able to chat with friends via the S

Yesterday, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX would send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the Moon. Maezawa then announced that he would not be going alone. The founder of the Japanese online retailer Zozo, Maezawa is also a famed art collector who once paid $110 million for a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat. “I choose to go to the Moon with artists,” he said.Maezawa has bought all the seats on this 2023 (if all goes well) lunar flight. He’ll be picking six to eight artist

We were introduced to Swiss company Punkt’s MP01 phone during the recent minimalist phone trend, which brought us the new wave of “dumbphones” that do nothing but call and text. Now the company has responded to customer critiques like, “It’s not very good for calling and texting,” by releasing a second version of its phone called the MP02.
The new model looks pretty much identical to its predecessor, but now it’s upgraded from 2G to 4G LTE, and adds Bla

For years, Facebook has publicly positioned its Messenger application as a way to connect with friends and as a way to help customers interact directly with businesses. But a new report from The Wall Street Journal today indicates that Facebook also saw its Messenger platform as a siphon for the sensitive financial data of its users, information it would not otherwise have access to unless a customer interacted with, say, a banking institution over chat.In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica sc

Health gadget company Withings is back from the dead after being acquired by Nokia in 2016 and subsequently buying itself back late last year. To celebrate, the company has announced the Steel HR Sport, an update to one of my all-time favorite fitness trackers. Like the original Steel HR, the Sport’s main selling point is its hybrid design – it looks like an analog smartwatch save for a small OLED complication that’s used to display information like your heart rate, steps, cal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed via Twitter that the automaker’s long-awaited dash cam functionality is currently in final testing, reports Electrek. It should be available in version 9 of the software update, which is due out later this month.The update will essentially provide every Tesla owner with a free dash cam, allowing them to gather video footage after a collision or just for fun. All Tesla vehicles are equipped with eight cameras that work to enable the vehicles’ Autopil

Last night, the biggest winner of the Emmys, sweeping up five awards, was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The director, cast, and show all won Emmys, edging out the cast and creators of diverse shows like Insecure, Killing Eve, black-ish, and Atlanta. #EmmysSoWhite reappeared on social media last night, and it wasn’t just because James Corden cited it as a recycled joke. People of color were winning awards and the Emmys still made history twice, but it simply wasn’t captured on prime tim

Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender might go down in history as one of the best TV shows of all time, but when M. Night Shyamalan adapted it into a live-action film, it was a legendary flop. Today, Netflix has announced it will give “Avatar but with actual humans in it” another go. But this time, there’s hope that the project might actually be good — the original Avatar showrunners, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, will be executive produ

YouTube is extending its channel membership benefits to include smaller creators. Engadget reports that creators with more than 50,000 subscribers will be able to offer their viewers a $4.99 monthly membership fee in exchange for exclusive perks. Previously, the feature required at least 100,000 subs.
The membership feature, which was expanded from gaming channels in June, is similar to those of Patreon or Twitch; it allows creators to earn money directly from their fans, rather than relying ex

This year, it’s felt like Fortnite has taken over the world: seemingly every teen is playing it, big sports events always have stars doing in-game dances, and even Drake likes to drop onto the island from time to time. When it comes to video content, some of the most circulated and widely talked-about gaming clips tend to be wild plays or funny Fortnite moments. But, don’t let the hype deceive you: Fortnite hasn’t actually overtaken every corner of the internet.
Ryan Wyatt, Yo

Fortnite is by far the year’s biggest game, so it was only a matter of time before it ended up in a promotional bundle with the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo announced the bundle today, saying it will go on sale October 5th. It’ll include 1,000 V-bucks — currency you usually have to purchase in-game — along with some exclusive outfits and items. Unfortunately, the console isn’t themed in any way, like it is for the Pokémon bundle.
The bundle is not a particularl

Today, Instagram announced that it’s starting a new campaign to help encourage users to register to vote, using ads in both users’ feeds and Stories to offer an easy link with information on registering.
An “I voted” story sticker, so you can show off online, too
To provide accurate voting information, Instagram is partnering with TurboVote, which promises “up-to-date information on how to register, how to update their registration, how to look up their state&rsquo

In 2015, YouTube launched a separate app dedicated to games and helping gamers find more videos. Today, the video giant is sunsetting that app and will integrate many of its best ideas onto the main website instead.
On the main site, YouTube Gaming will appear as a tab on the left, just like the Trending destination. From now on, youtube.com/gaming will showcase a personalized carousel of content near the top of the page, including new uploads and livestreams from subscribed channels, as well a

It’s that time of year again... the chilly period between the beginning of autumn and the start of spring, in which anyone not coupled up finds themselves seeking to be “cuffed” by a serious relationship. Also known as cuffing season. 
We might like to think that we are deeply complex creatures but when it comes down to it we are simple. In the summer, when the sun is shining and the temperature is warm, we are more content to remain single. We socialise more, meet new peo

Perhaps you had the misfortune of waking up this morning, checking social media, and noticing that the words “Mario Kart” were trending. Maybe you thought, “Oh, is there a new game? Is this perhaps related to the Nintendo Switch’s impending online service launch?” Oh, you sweet summer child. If only we could preserve that innocence in amber, where it could remain untouched by the latest absurd news headline of 2018.
This year is so much. Nothing makes sense anymore

The US Department of Justice is investigating Tesla over statements made by CEO Elon Musk concerning his desire to take the company private, according to Bloomberg. Federal prosecutors opened a fraud investigation last month after Musk tweeted that he was contemplating taking Tesla private and had “funding secured” for the deal, several sources told the publication. Weeks later, the deal fell through, and Musk announced that Tesla would remain public.The Justice Department inquiry c

On a rare slow news day, I found myself reading and re-reading this talk given by danah boyd at the Online News Association’s annual gathering this weekend. Titled “Media Manipulation, Strategic Amplification, and Responsible Journalism,” the talk examines a variety of subjects that will be familiar to readers of this newsletter. boyd (who styles her name in lowercase) looks at claims of anti-conservative bias; the risks of de-platforming toxic users; the balance between speec

Ever since Google’s instant article format, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) launched in 2016, the company has stridently pushed back on the idea that it was a Google-specific project. Instead, executives said that it was a part of the open web, with open-source contributions both from Google employees and non-Googlers, and that it is utilized not just by Google search, but also Bing, eBay, and others.
That message didn’t really resonate with the web community, which has largely seen

A judge has dismissed the lawsuit between YouTuber Mars Argo, real name Brittany Sheets, and Poppy creator Corey Mixter. According to court documents obtained by The Verge, parties will settle outside of court.
The case was complicated: it touched on topics of copyright infringement of an internet persona as well as serious abuse charges. In the original lawsuit filed in April, Sheets alleged to have endured “severe emotional and psychological abuse and manipulation from Mr. Mixter,&rdquo