Technology news

Delta will soon use facial recognition for international flights at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport later this year. Biometric face scanning will be optional, meant as an option to save travelers time from checking in, as spotted by TechCrunch.
Those who don’t want their faces scanned could always opt out, but the option is only given to US citizens. Visitors will need to be scanned as a security measure. The data will be collected and stored for two weeks, although e

Announced at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this summer, CBS has revealed that its series of short, standalone episodes — Star Trek: Short Treks — would begin rolling out next month, and revealed more details about what each one would be about.CBS describes them as short stories, “that delve deeper into the Star Trek: Discovery universe.” The episodes will roll out monthly, on the first Thursday for the next four months, and will each focus on three characters from Star Tre

Amazon hit the tech world with a veritable firehose of new products at its Echo hardware event today, but one device seemingly slipped in under the radar — a new version of Apple’s iPhone X that seems to have ditched the notch for a completely bezel-less display.
Now, obviously this isn’t really a new iPhone — Amazon has just Photoshopped out the notch here, either to better show off the video capabilities of its Fire TV Recast service, or to make it a little less obviou

California startup Inboard Technology is moving beyond electric skateboards with a new e-scooter called the Glider. Available starting in February 2019, the Glider costs $1,299, though Inboard also says it wants to sell fleets of them to businesses, universities, or cities.
The Glider shares at least two of the ideas that made Inboard’s first product, the M1 electric skateboard, stand out from its competition. It’s powered by an in-wheel hub motor that puts out 750W of power, giving

The Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan has found a new home on television recently thanks to Amazon Prime and John Krasinski. But according to Variety, Paramount Pictures will be focusing on a different character for a new film series — and Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan is set to star.
Paramount is developing adaptations of the Clancy books Without Remorse and Rainbow Six, both of which focus on the character of John Clark. A former Navy Seal turned CIA operative, Clark was original

Twitch is now blocked in China. The major game streaming site is largely no longer accessible and its app has been removed from Apple’s local App Store, after it saw a noticeable boost in popularity last month, as spotted by Abacus.Last month, Twitch hit the No. 3 spot among free apps in China, as locals began downloading the app to watch e-sports matches at the Asian Games. State-run broadcaster CCTV chose not to air the Asian Games, so users had to find alternative ways to watch the com

At its 2018 hardware event in Seattle, Amazon announced several new Alexa-powered A/V devices, smart home products, and a few others that fall outside of the company’s usual wheelhouse. It was a mix of brand-new and updated products, and the biggest announcements include the redesigned Echo Dot and Echo Plus, the Echo Sub subwoofer, Amazon’s Echo Auto, and the Fire TV Recast cloud DVR box.
All of the products announced today are up for preorder, and most will be available in October

I just got a quick demo of the Amazon Fire TV Recast. It’s shoebox-sized thing you can put in your home to have a DVR that works with over-the-air channels that it receives via antenna and displays on your Fire TV (or Fire tablet). Like the Slingbox back in the day, the idea behind the Recast is to allow you to watch both live TV and stuff that you’ve recorded from anywhere.
There have been a million different weird takes on how to get TV content to act more like streaming content,

Amazon just announced a ton of new products, but the ones that will probably be the most popular this holiday season are the new versions of the Echo Show, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus. I just spent some time using all three devices, and I can say that all of them are improvements on their predecessors, with nicer designs, more features, and, most noticeably, better sound.
The new Echo Show has a bigger screen and sleeker design than the model Amazon released a little over a year ago, which means it

A week ago rumors were flying that Adobe would be buying Marketo, and lo and behold it announced today that it was acquiring the marketing automation company for $4.75 billion.
It was a pretty nice return for Vista Equity partners, which purchased Marketo in May 2016 for $1.8 billion in cash. They held onto it for two years and hauled in a hefty $2.95 billion in profit.
We published a story last week, speculating that such a deal would make sense for Adobe, which just bought Magento in May for $

Hulu is rolling out an updated web interface today for its users that’s based on the updated UI it introduced last year for its live TV service subscribers.According to the company’s blog post announcing the new design, the interface has been built specifically for the “wide range of motion you have with your mouse and how quickly you’re able to point and click.” There’s also more content and options available at any given time, thanks to the larger amount of

Don't let the bright colors and peppy music fool you: Ralph Breaks the Internet knows damn well the the world wide web isn't all "roses and sunshine," as co-director Phil Johnston puts it.
"We have to give due to the darker side of it," he told an assembled group of journalists at a recent press day in Los Angeles. 
SEE ALSO: The internet is 'full of weirdos' in charming 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' trailer
To be sure, this is still a Disney sequel we're talking about. There's a limit to how

I just heated up a mug of water in a microwave. It got hot. The difference is that I used the new AmazonBasics Microwave, which works with Alexa. That “works with Alexa” phrasing and the fact that this isn’t the “Echo Microwave” should tell you that this thing doesn’t have any microphones or a speaker (beyond one that can beep) on it. Instead, it’s a $59.99 device meant to showcase Amazon’s new system for companies to make their regular gadgets in

The Recording Industry Association of America released a report today that details how the music industry has grown in 2018, and while the data isn’t surprising — the world still isn’t buying records — the specific numbers are still fascinating. Turns out, streaming makes more money than physical CDs, digital downloads, and licensing deals combined.
Streaming in this context includes paid subscriptions to services such as Spotify and Tidal, but also radio broadcasts and

The giant 100-passenger spaceship that SpaceX plans to load with a billionaire and a clutch of artists may one day circle the moon, perhaps as soon as 2023.
But the ship also has to land safely back on Earth. 
While presenting wealthy lunar-enthusiast and future SpaceX passenger Yusaku Maezawa to the public on Monday, CEO Elon Musk also showed a simulation of how the forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, will fall through the sky like a plummeting rock and eventually land upright back on E

Ahead of October’s Made by Google event, FCC documents have surfaced that suggest that Google may release a product called the Home Hub, as spotted by 9to5Google. According to the documents, and is listed as an “Interactive Video Streaming Device,” which would be a first for Google’s Home devices.
The device could be Google’s answer to Amazon’s Echo Show, following the release of third-party alternatives with Google Assistant like the Lenovo Smart Display. Th

Today Amazon held a hardware event that was loaded with new product announcements. We got new Echo speakers, a new Echo Show, and even a microwave.
In many ways, the sprawling event was a showcase of how far Alexa has come in the four years since Amazon’s voice assistant was first introduced in 2014. The technology has evolved far beyond its early capabilities on the original Echo speaker.Here are all the biggest announcements:
New Echo Dot
Amazon says it “went back to the drawing b

In its now second annual hardware event, Amazon today announced Echo Auto, an in-car accessory that allows you to integrate Alexa into your car.There are a couple of ways customers can already access Alexa in the car — you could download an Alexa app, buy accessories or even a Moto Mod, or drive cars with the software built in. But the Echo Auto makes it far easier to integrate Alexa into any car, regardless of whether your automaker included it or not.Photo: Dieter Bohn / The Verge
The E

Amazon announced a new Fire TV Recast today. It’s a box that can beam shows from an antenna to your device through Fire TV. All you need to do is place the box in your home, and start streaming on your Echo Show, Spot, Fire TV, or on mobile.
A feature in the app will help you determine where to put your antenna for the strongest signal. Fire TV Recast can be integrated into the channel guide, so you could watch with Prime Video and even PlayStation Vue. You can also watch local news and s

Finally, our Hot Pocket-related dreams have been answered.
At an event in Seattle on Thursday, Amazon officially unveiled its rumored microwave. And yes, you can control it with Alexa.
SEE ALSO: Instagram expands shopping features to take on Amazon
The AmazonBasics Microwave will cost you $59.99, which is actually quite reasonable for a microwave. It's available for pre-order now and will ship later this year. Here's the device in action:Not the smoothest interaction. Still, yelling at a machine

It's probably not an awesome idea to use a T-shirt gun if you're not absolutely sure which end the tees are meant to come out. Alas, this was the grievous mistake that led to a mascot injury last week. 
The University of Colorado's mascot Chip the Buffalo was carted off the field during a football game against the University of New Hampshire last week after shooting a T-shirt gun in the wrong direction, according to Buzzfeed.  
SEE ALSO: Good dog wins over the hearts of college footbal

Amazon has officially announced a microwave oven, the company’s first kitchen appliance product. The device will be sold under the AmazonBasics line, and it will cost $59.99 and ship later this year. Naturally, it will come with voice-activated presets, so you can inform the microwave how you’d like to cook something and for how long by pressing the built-in Alexa button.The device is powered by Alexa Connect Kit, a low-cost Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi module that brings smart fe

Amazon has just announced the Echo Wall Clock, a new Echo accessory for displaying timers you’ve set with Alexa in a more visible way.The Echo Wall Clock uses a ring of LEDs around the clock face to show your active timers — start a timer and an LED will show for how long the timer is set. Add a second timer, and it’ll light up a second LED for that. And as an added bonus, the Echo Wall Clock can change the time automatically for turning on or off Daylight Savings Time.The Ech

Amazon is now launching Alexa Hunches, where the voice assistant will predict your future needs. It uses deep neural networks to understand behavior and Alexa Hunches is first going to focus on the smart home.How it works is that Alexa will feel like it’s getting a “hunch” and if it’s confident enough, it will say something like, “Hey, I think you left the porch light on, would you like me to turn it off?” Alexa could also remind you to lock the front door if

Amazon is announcing another small new Alexa device today: a smart plug, which lets you control whatever is plugged into it with Alexa. The plug itself doesn’t have microphones built into it, so you’ll need an Echo device somewhere else in your house to control it by voice. But once it’s set up, you’ll be able to control it either in or out of the house from Alexa or the Alexa app.
The plug will sell for $25, which is pretty much the standard price for this kind of devic