Technology news

Listen, everyone. It’s not every day that a new fact comes to light regarding a game that came out more than 30 years ago. And I happen to love it when retro games get broken in fabulous and entertaining ways. So the news that The Legend of Zelda for NES has a minus world like Super Mario Bros and others hit me like like a freight train.
The phenomenon was discovered by Youtuber SKELUX, who starts off his video with a quick explanation of how minus worlds work. If you think about an NES ga

Bad news from Apple and signs of slowing international and domestic growth sent stocks tumbling in Thursday trading on all of the major markets.
Investors erased some $75 billion in value from Apple alone… an amount known technically as a shit ton of money. But stocks were down broadly based on Apple’s news, with the Nasdaq falling 3%, or roughly 202.44 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 660.02 points, or roughly 2.8%.Apple halted trading yesterday afternoo

China now has two history-making robots sending back images from an area of the Moon where humankind has never been before. This side of the Moon is distant and mysterious, but, despite pop culture references to the contrary, it isn’t always dark. In fact, after touching down on the lunar surface, the probe sent back a snapshot of its new home that shows a rocky, cratered, and distinctly lit landscape.China’s probe — which includes a lander and a rover — landed at 10:26A

Founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey says Square has poached Amrita Ahuja from Blizzard Entertainment, a division of the gaming company Activision Blizzard, to lead finance at the merchant services and mobile payments company.
Ahuja will join Squarelater this month, about three months after long-time Square chief financial officer Sarah Friarexited the company in favor of a CEO opportunity at Nextdoor, a neighborhood social networking site. Friar, often described as Dorsey’s right-

Audio company Klipsch has announced a new series of smart sound bars ahead of CES 2019. The five new sound bars have options like built-in Google Assistant, Alexa, and, in one model, Dolby Atmos. They will cost between $299 and $1,599 and will be rolling out this spring, with a couple of the models shipping this fall.
Klipsch’s new sound bars will range from 40 inches to 54 inches in length. The smallest is the Klipsch Bar 40, which is also available as the Bar 40G with Google Assistant b

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr are canceling their appearances at CES this year as a consequence of the ongoing partial government shutdown, according to Politico Pro.
Pai’s planned session with moderator Gary Shapiro, from the Consumer Technology Association, would have focused on “the exciting opportunities the FCC faces as the agency navigates the rapidly changing technological landscape.”Carr was expected to attend a round

Longtime political operative Bradley Tuskgot his start in Silicon Valley in 2011, when a little-known founder of a transportation startup requested his help surmounting regulatory barriers. That founder, Travis Kalanick, couldn’t afford Tusk’s $25,000 fee, so Tusk agreed to accept half of his payment in equity. As you can imagine, that deal worked out pretty well for Tusk, whose shares in Uber are now said to be worth $100 million.
Tusk (pictured) spent several years advising Ub

YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul are working to protect their upcoming boxing rematch against pirated live streams after their initial fight was pirated by more than a million viewers. In a video published yesterday, KSI says that in addition to sorting out distribution options and a location for the match, they’re also “working on protection and the legal side of things when it comes to streaming.”
The first match took place last August in the UK’s Manchester Arena. Despite

An official Spectrum TV app has been released for Apple TV customers after delays pushed back Charter’s planned 2018 launch for the app into the new year. The free app is straightforward, allowing subscribers to watch Spectrum programming — both live channels and on-demand content — when an Apple TV is connected to Spectrum home internet service without requiring the customer to sign in with their account details.To use the new Spectrum TV app, you’ll need an active Spec

Asus made a tablet that runs on Chrome OS for the first time, and it’s made with students in mind. The Chromebook Tablet CT100 has a 9.7-inch touchscreen and is supposed to be protected against drops by its rubberized chassis and tempered glass display.Chrome OS is relatively new to tablets, and it has mainly been put to use in classrooms where it’s dominated US sales in recent years. The latest Asus tablet gives schools another option for devices.Asus’ Chromebook Tablet is po

General Motors confirmed on Thursday that it sold its 200,000th plug-in vehicle in the US during the fourth quarter of 2018, which has triggered a slow phaseout of the $7,500 federal tax credit over the next 15 months. GM is the second automaker to pass this mark; Tesla reached 200,000 vehicles sold in the US last summer.Customers of GM cars that are eligible for the credit (like the Chevy Bolt or the Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid) will only be able to receive a maximum of $3,750 starting on Apri

Well, what have we here? If it isn’t the Samsung Galaxy S10, courtesy of perennial smartphone outer, EVLeaks. This marks one the first good looks we’ve got at the phone, which is likely due out in a couple of months at Mobile World Congress.It’s a pretty rough photo — the icons are all blurred out and the cropping job isn’t great, likely in an effort to conceal the source. But it’s a pretty decent shot of the front — and hey, we probably have a month and

Several weeks ago, the WSJ reported that SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, was set to raise $500 million from earlier shareholders and the Scottish money management firm Baillie Gifford & Co. in a bid to help get its internet service business off the ground.
The Hawthorne, Calif. company still hasn’t announced the round, but it nevertheless made things official today, filing with the SEC more details about the fundraise. Though the filing doesn’t confirm Baillie

With all of the advances made by computer vision tech in the past few years, it might seem a little crazy that so much of the x-ray security equipment being used at sensitive locations is leaning so heavily on human workers to stop weapons from slipping through.
Synapse Technology is creating computer vision tech which can interface with existing x-ray machines through a hardware add-on that doesn’t void the warranty but does add a neural net-powered assistant to lend a second set of

Jason Brown ContributorShare on Twitter Jason Brown is CEO and co-founder of Tally, the world’s first automated debt manager.The unbundling of the bank has begun.
Just 10 years ago, the average consumer had very few financial relationships and interacted with just one or two institutions to fulfill all of their financial needs. But fintech companies are breaking up the old guard by focusing on specific things that banks have done and simply doing them better. As a result, the average cons

A gift card is a good gift to give or receive because you can use it on anything. Some might know exactly what to buy with it, or maybe they’ll stow it away for later use. If you don’t know what you’ll use it for, or if you just want to spend it now on something cool, we’d like to direct you to a few popular products from The Verge’s Holiday Gift Guide that cover a range of prices. Most of the products below are available on Amazon, though a few can be found at Wal

The State of Texas has indicted Cody Wilson,a 3D printed gun rights activist who fought to allow makers post and print guns, of sexual assault after he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. The affidavit noted that he met the girl on a website for finding “sugar daddies.” The indictment, posted on Ars, notes that he faces “four counts of sexual assault of a child, two charges of indecency with a child by contact, and two charges of indecency with a child by exposure.”
The char

Last month, AT&T filed several trademark applications for “Verge TV,” which suggests the company may be working on a new streaming television service that has a really great name. Seriously, we think “Verge TV” sounds like a great idea. Please check out our YouTube channel. And our existing trademark for The Verge.
If it’s not just a re-brand, Verge TV would be AT&T’s third streaming TV service, following DirecTV Now and the launch of WatchTV in 2018.

Cruise is partnering with DoorDashto pilot food and grocery delivery in San Francisco using self-driving vehicles.
The companies announced Thursday that the testing program will begin in early 2019 with an initial focus on the San Francisco market.
“Delivery is a significant opportunity for Cruise as we prepare to commercialize our autonomous vehicle technology and transform transportation,” said Dan Ammann,who became CEO of Cruise late last year. “Partnering with DoorDash

Warning: spoilers ahead for some of the endings of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Careers in game design are widely considered dream jobs — one of the ultimate versions of getting paid to do what you love. Black Mirror’s new interactive episode Bandersnatch lets you experience one — and then concludes that a career in the arts is a nightmare dystopia with no escape. The new Netflix project is a painful parable about how creating commercial art leads to misery, despair, and the des

Whirlpool has announced that it is expanding the mobile watch functionality of its connected appliances to Wear OS ahead of CES 2019. This expands the foray Whirlpool made to mobile earlier this year when it announced plans for an Apple Watch app. In addition, Whirlpool said it’s introducing simplified voice commands to its Smart Laundry appliances for both Google Assistant and Alexa devices.
In the planned Wear OS app, owners of Whirlpool connected appliances will be able to see status u

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo surprised subway commuters on Thursday when he announced that the planned 15-month shutdown of L train tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn that was scheduled to begin April 27th will instead become a high-tech and untested rescue plan.The news may come as a relief to some L train riders who were growing increasingly stressed about the impending shutdown. But the new repair plan, in which track work would take place on nights and weekends, may prove to be equally pro

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, will once again unveil the latest iteration of its self-driving test vehicle at CES in Las Vegas next week. The TRI-P4 test car is designed by the Toyota Research Institute, the automaker’s Silicon Valley-based division, and the major upgrade over the third version of the vehicle is — wait for it — more trunk space.On the surface, that might not sound very impressive, but those with more than a passing familiarity with autonomous ve

Bang & Olufsen is updating its Beoplay E8 truly wireless headphones with a lightly updated model that’s fittingly called the Beoplay E8 2.0, which mostly offers a new and improved charging case with wireless charging and USB-C.
Along with the new charging methods, Bang & Olufsen is adding extra battery life to the case, which can now charge the headphones fully up to three times for 16 total hours of battery life (up from 12 hours on the old model). There are also new LEDs that di

Everyone wants to get the word out on 5G. (What's 5G? Read What Is 5G? for the answer.) For now, as we wait for true 5G networks to launch, it's mostly about marketing. Thus T-Mobile, which has a stake in how 5G is perceived, did a study to "understand consumer attitudes and perceptions of 5G today." The company had HarrisX contact 5,009 consumers with internet-enabled devices across 22 major markets during the second week of December of 2018.
The findings show a full 55 percent of respondents b

LuMee is bringing a new phone case, called Duo Vibes, to Las Vegas next week for CES, and this newest iteration lights up to beats in the club. Yes, really. As usual with LuMee, the phone case has lights on the front and back for taking pictures in dark places, like clubs. This case, like the others in the Duo line, has two light strips on the back. Unlike any prior release, the case also syncs to a song’s beat tone and flashes to it. LuMee put a video up so you can see it in action.To cr

We're guessing you're reading this because you didn't get the shiny new smartphone that was on the top of your holiday list. Luckily, you don't need Santa when you have Amazon.
Non-iPhone people can snag a new, unlocked Samsung Galaxy S9 for an insane $558.81 — that's $161 off the retail price on Samsung's site and $111 cheaper than Best Buy's sale price. Dude.
SEE ALSO: The 9 best cases for your Samsung Galaxy S9
Aside from the obvious price drop, another reason to hop on this deal i

With the dumpster fire known as 2018 finally and mercifully out of the way, many of us have made New Year's resolutions to make sure that 2019 is better than its predecessor. (A relatively easy task, all things considered.) 
You might've resolved to eat healthier, exercise more, and/or get more sleep, as many resolution-setters have done, per a recent YouGov poll. 
But as you channel your energy into these self-improvement projects, be sure to set some aside for home improvement,

GE announced a few new additions to its C by GE line of smart lights today, with the highlight being its first full-color model. Like the rest of the C by GE line, the color bulb doesn’t require a hub. Instead, it uses Bluetooth and can be controlled directly from your phone. The new bulb is also certified to work with the Google Home, meaning you can control it remotely using Google Assistant.
In addition to the color bulb, GE is also launching the line’s first smart light switch,

Appletoday is sharing some good news in the wake of yesterday’s reveal of a significant, market-moving cut to its revenue forecast, attributed to declining iPhone sales in China’s slowing economy. The company says its App Store, at least, was having a good holiday. This year, customers spent $1.22 billion during the 2018 holiday season and broke a new single-day record on New Year’s Day.
The $1.22 billion in App Store spending occurred between Christmas Eve and New Year&rs

From Amazon and Apple opening clinics to Uber launching a medical transit program, technology giants spent 2018 moving into the health care space. Many of these initiatives are still in very early stages, but they’ll continue to grow in 2019, and some of them may have an impact on Americans’ health care experiences as soon as this year.The moves make sense from a financial standpoint: in any country, the health care market is one of the biggest industries there is, bringing in more

Cruise Automation, the self-driving unit of General Motors, is teaming up with DoorDash to test a food delivery service in San Francisco using autonomous vehicles. The pilot will commence in “early 2019,” the companies said, but it will only be available in the section of the city where Cruise has been testing its vehicles.The news comes just two days after GM president Dan Ammann formally assumed his new role as CEO of Cruise, replacing founder Kyle Vogt. (Vogt is now president and

The only kids’ programming language worth using, Scratch, just celebrated the launch of Scratch 3.0, an update that adds some interesting new functionality to the powerful open-source tool.
Scratch, for those without school-aged children, is a block-based programming language that lets you make little games and “cartoons” with sprites and animated figures. The system is surprisingly complex, and kids have created things like Minecraft platformers, fun arcade games and whatever

If you're looking to convert your home into a smart one, a good place to start is with the Google Home. It's a premium smart speaker that works as the central hub or centerpiece for all your smart home devices. And lucky for you, Best Buy has the Google Home on sale for $89.99, or $39 off its retail price.
Normally going for $129, the Google Home is the internet giant's premiere voice-activated smart home speaker that's powered with the Google Assistant. Simply put, you can control all of your s