Technology news

In December, Apple said that it would begin selling its HomePod smart speaker in China “early next year.” Today, the company revealed that the device will go on sale in China and in Hong Kong on Friday, January 18th.The company began selling the HomePod a year ago in the US, and has since rolled it out tovarious countries in Europe. As my colleague Shannon Liao noted back in December, the HomePod has a bit of an advantage over some of the China’s domestic smart speakers with i

On January 2nd, China became the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon’s far side (not the dark side) when its Chang’e-4 probe gently touched down the surface. Now, China’s space agency has released footage of the landing.The short video shows the robotic lander flying over the surface of the moon before abruptly tilting to descend (hovering at one point), before safely touching down in its new home, the Von Kármán crater. There, the lander released a ro

An hours-long standoff in Novato, California came to a peaceful end yesterday when police officers used a police robot to deliver a vape pen to the suspect, who had threatened to burn down a gas station, reports the Sacramento Bee and Marin Independent Journal (via Gizmodo).The incident occurred on Saturday morning when the suspect, Juan Roman, became upset with a gas station manager over an issue with the pump. After arguing with employees, he returned to the store with a can of gas, poured it

Investors are still pouring millions into scooter startups, albeit sometimes at flat valuations. At the same time a little cash is flowing the other way, in cases where cities have realized the importance of prioritizing the needs of the local environment and its citizens, over and above the ambitions of VCs for a swift and lucrative exit.
Scooter startups affected by such regulatory bumps in the road are, unsurprisingly, rather less keen to shout about this sort of policy friction and the

Henrique Dubugras ContributorShare on Twitter Henrique Dubugras is the founder Brex, the billion-dollar corporate credit provider for startups.More posts by this contributorLessons from building Brex into a billion-dollar startup
When I hear protesters shout, “Immigrants are welcome here!” at the San Francisco immigration office near my startup’s headquarters, I think about how simple a phrase that is for a topic that is so nuanced, especially for me as an immigrant entreprene

The works of William Shakespeare are incredibly versatile, especially when it comes to science fiction and fantasy. They’ve been translated into Klingon, been reinterpreted as science fiction films and novels, and even been used as a way to reinterpret the Star Wars franchise. A new Star Wars fan film takes one of the playwright’s most famous monologues as a devastating inspiration.
Directed by Quebec-based director Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer, Squad Leader TD-73028 Soliloqu

A couple of years ago, UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles captivated the world when it unveiled the Airlander 10, a lighter-than-air airship designed as an alternative to airplanes and helicopters. Now, according to The Guardian, that first prototype won’t take to the skies again, as the company says that it “does not plan to fly the prototype aircraft again.”The Airlander 10, nicknamed the “flying bum,” was originally designed by the US Army in 2010 as a reconnaissance

A couple of years ago, UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles captivated the world when it unveiled the Airlander 10, a lighter-than-air airship designed as an alternative to airplanes and helicopters. Now, according to The Guardian, that first prototype won’t take to the skies again, as the company says that it “does not plan to fly the prototype aircraft again.”The Airlander 10, nicknamed the “flying bum,” was originally designed by the US Army in 2010 as a reconnaissance

As the government shutdown stretches into the record for longest shutdown ever, key websites run by the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission are still down, leaving consumers more vulnerable.On December 28th, the FTC announced that, while ftc.gov continues to operate, several sites will remain unavailable throughout the shutdown. Among those is donotcall.gov, the website for the agency’s National Do Not Call Registry. “Due to the government shutdown, we are

We in the West love our apocalyptic science fiction, in which cartoonishly evil authorities ruthlessly oppress all who so much as wonder about their absolute power, enforced via ubiquitous surveillance technology. Think The Hunger Games, Blade Runner 2049, V for Vendetta, just to pick a few. Well — to trot out that infamous William Gibson line, the future is here, it’s just unevenly distributed.
Yearly reminder: unless you're over 60, you weren't promised flying cars. You were promis

Romero Rodrigues Contributor Romero Rodrigues is a managing partner at Redpoint eVentures, the Brazilian-focused arm of the Silicon Valley venture firm Redpoint.More posts by this contributorBrazil’s fintech boom offers new vertical opportunities for investors Brazil’s tech-sector bright spots beckon as it begins to emerge from long economic crisis
In late October following a significant victory for Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential elections, the stock market for L