Technology news

The two competing ride-hailing apps Lyft and Uber both filed paperwork before the end of 2018 to go public in 2019. Now it looks like Lyft's initial public (IPO) offering will beat out Uber's.
CNBC reported Wednesday that Lyft's IPO will launch around March 18, while Uber's will need a few more weeks to prepare.
SEE ALSO: Lyft beats rival Uber in race to file for IPO
Uber dwarfs Lyft in most ways — it's valued at around $90 billion, while CNBC said Lyft's latest valuation is around $20 mil

Do you remember Samsung's Bixby-powered Galaxy Home smart speaker that was created to compete directly with the Amazon Echo? 
The smart speaker was announced in August last year, but the company gave no official release date during the announcement. Now, we finally have one — well, sort  of.
SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S10, S10e, and S10+ take premium Android phones to the next level
At Samsung's Unpacked event today — where the company announced four new Galaxy S10 phones (S1

Where the Samsung Galaxy S9 phones last year felt mostly iterative, the latest S10 devices are some of the company’s biggest changes yet, with the company’s modus operandi being to win over customers that didn’t shell out for an upgrade last year.
The latest S10 flagship phones are packing a punch — they have more RAM, larger storage options, newer Snapdragon processors, better screen resolution, and Wi-Fi 6 support. That means that for almost the same weight and dimensi

If there's one thing that united Democrats and Republicans in the Reagan era (besides their unfortunate fixation with perms), it was their near universal hatred of weed. Everybody was a cop back then. Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate for president in 1984, called for another "War on Drugs" — all drugsRonald Reagan, for his part, believed that marijuana was "probably the most dangerous drug in the United States."
Fast forward to the 2020 election, when politicians have largely done

Twitter is finally ready to start formally testing all those new conversation features it's been teasing for the past several weeks.
The company is taking applications for prospective beta testers, who will be able to take Twitter's new conversation features for a spin before they're released to the public.
SEE ALSO: The curse of the Twitter reply guy
The company is hoping its conversation revamp will make it easier for people to, well, actually have conversations. Twitter has always struggled w

In October, Twitter said it is redesigning conversations on the platform in an effort to encourage friendlier and more useful discussions. Now the company is ready to test the redesign with a wider group of users, and will take applications from anyone who wants to try it out. Users are invited to apply at this link.
The new design is intended “to make it easier to see more of what people are saying,” the company says. A new rounded shape to replies makes a Twitter thread look more

The Case Against Adnan Syed isn't a retelling of the case that launched the hit podcast, Serial. It's more a continuation, as this first look trailer makes clear.
The 2014 series covered the murder of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old student, and the 1999 arrest of her boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. The four-part HBO series looks at the aftermath of Serial's run, including Syed's ongoing attempts to win an appeal.
The Case Against Adnan Syed premie

Samsung made an exclusive Fortnite skin for people who buy the new Galaxy S10 Plus phone. It’s K-pop-themed, and it’s modeled after Jung Chan-woo, a member of South Korean boy band iKon.You may not have heard of iKon, but just know it’s a seven-member band from YG Entertainment, which also brought bands like Big Bang and 2NE1 to fame. Like their predecessors, iKon mostly performs hip-hop, from catchy ballads to more straight-up rap. Chan-woo is known as the group’s young

Samsung will allow buyers of its new Galaxy S10 smartphones to use the Bixby key to open whatever app they want. The Verge has confirmed that with the S10, the company has added settings that allow you to customize the button beyond what has been allowed previously. You can assign the Bixby button to open a third-party app with either a single or double press of the button.Whichever option you don’t assign to a different app will continue to open the Bixby feed. So for example, if you cho

Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, tricks, guides, and advice on how to get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. Subscribing to channels on livestreaming and video sites is a great way to support a favorite content creator, for only a few bucks per month. In an ideal world, we’d all be able to subscribe to our favorite channels indefinitely. But hey, we get it. Financial troubles, problems with payment methods, or maybe waning interest in the channel…

After announcing it last summer, Samsung is nearing the release of its Bixby Home smart speaker. The device, meant to compete with the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Sonos speakers, will launch by April. That’s according to co-CEO DJ Koh, who spoke to CNET today.The Galaxy Home uses Samsung’s own Bixby virtual assistant to respond to a user’s voice commands. Its sound performance is tuned by the company’s AKG division. Samsung first revealed the Galaxy Home

Samsung just spent 90 minutes talking about its new Galaxy S10 phones that are coming out this year, including a folding model, but it also dropped information on a new smartwatch in its line of Galaxy wearables. The Galaxy Watch Active is the latest watch running Samsung’s proprietary Tizen software, and it will be available for $199.99 when it hits shelves on March 8th. We just spent some brief time with the Watch Active, and here’s what you need to know: it’s light. It feel

One of the words that’s most commonly associated with Apple’s self-driving car program is “secretive.” Unlike most of its competitors, Apple has been frustratingly tight-lipped regarding the self-driving cars it’s testing in California. On Wednesday, the company had an opportunity to pull back the curtain on the so-called “Project Titan” with the release of its voluntary safety report to federal regulators. But, unsurprisingly, the smartphone giant is s

Disney has reportedly pulled its ads from YouTube entirely in the wake of new controversy over a series of new videos showcasing child exploitation on the site.
A report from Bloomberg states that Disney has “withheld its spending” on YouTube in the wake of creator Matt Watson’s explainer, which demonstrates how predators use videos of children to sexually exploit them. Disney joins Fortnite developer Epic Games and Nestlé in removing its ads from the platform. (Epic re

Samsung announced four versions of the Galaxy S10 today multiple devices today, and frankly, it can be difficult to keep track of all the differences. That’s what we’re here for; we’ve amassed a handy guide as to the specs and differences. Galaxy Samsung S10e – the ‘budget’ phone The cheapest variant of the Galaxy S10 line will feature a 5.8-inch screen and dual-camera on the back. Screen: 5.8-inch, Full HD+AMOLED (522ppi). Unlike the other Galaxy devices, th

Samsung announces a new Galaxy S phone in the first half of every year, so while it’s no surprise that we would get an official look at the new S10 and S10 Plus devices today, the company also unveiled the Galaxy Fold, its first foldable smartphone. This was a product Samsung had teased since last fall and worked on for years, with its first prototype dating back to 2012.
Alongside the smartphones, Samsung also confirmed all of the new wearable devices it let loose earlier this month on i

Like an unexpected stiff gust of wind in the middle of this long, dark winter, Sean Spicer has swept back in to our lives once more. 
The former Press Secretary for the Trump Administration is back in the public eye as a "special correspondent" for, of all things, the syndicated ExtraTV entertainment news show. 
In a new video posted by ExtraTV on Twitter, a hiking-vested Spicer is seen joshing around with current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan about the Oscars. &nbs

Samsung’s voice assistant Bixby now knows British English, German, Italian, and Spanish from Spain. That’s over double the number of languages it supported before — only three — American English, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese.Samsung has long said it’s working on upgrading Bixby for the better and its announcement today at the Unpacked event means a lot more people will be able to use Bixby, if they want to. Interestingly, today’s announcement doesn’t in

Because everyone definitely wants some Facebook-affiliated software pre-installed on their smartphone, Samsung announced at the Feb. 20 Unpacked event that its Galaxy S10 camera would come with an Instagram mode. 
Exciting, right? The mode, the result of a Samsung and Instagram partnership, would place Stories features directly in the phone's camera app. Think stickers, locations, etc., all at the tip of your fingers without having to leave the camera app itself. 
SEE ALSO: Samsung Gal

Samsung went nuts and announced a boatload of new gadgets at its Unpacked event today.
The star of the show was no doubt the Galaxy S10, but Samsung also made room for a new smartwatch: the Galaxy Watch Active.
SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S10, S10e, and S10+ take premium Android phones to the next level
Samsung is no stranger to smartwatches and has been releasing them since before the Apple Watch even launched.
Over the years, Samsung's tried myriad designs, from the original rectangular Galaxy Ge

It's all just a little bit of history repeating. Or so Anthem publisher Electronic Arts presumably hopes.
Destiny had a rocky launch too, you see. Its moving and shooting felt great from moment one, but the RPG bits that were meant to keep people playing for triple-digit hours were overwhelming and undercooked. In those early days, people liked to play Destiny, but few actually understood it.
Then, lightning struck. 
SEE ALSO: 'Destiny 2: Forsaken' works because it makes FOMO a part of the

If you're willing to walk a few blocks, you could save money on your next ride.
On Wednesday, Lyft rolled out its version of Uber Express Pool: Shared Saver. Think of it as an on-demand mini-bus. The app gives you walking directions to meet a driver already carrying or on their way to pick up other passengers. After being dropped off, you might also have to walk a few blocks to your destination. 
Shared Saver is the cheapest option.Image:LYFt
Wait for the app to tell you how far you'll be w

The US Environmental Protection Agency stole music from a Nintendo title to play in the background of an educational flash game, according to GameInformer.
The EPA’s Recycle City Challenge takes players through several scenarios and asks them questions like “What’s in a zero waste lunch?” or how can a café “upgrade their lights?” Children would select the most energy efficient answers and win tokens if they got them correct. But seasoned Nintendo-lover

Samsung is bumping the storage up to 1TB in its new Galaxy S10 Plus. It’s the first handset to use Samsung’s new 1TB eUFS (embedded Universal Flash Storage) solution, and it’s the same size as last year’s 512GB version. While Samsung marketed the Galaxy Note 9 as “1 terabyte ready,” it needed an additional 512GB microSD card to reach that storage capacity. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus comes with up to 1TB of storage on board, putting it ahead of the storag

Samsung CEO DJ Koh has announced that the company has sold over 2 billion Galaxy phones since it started selling them back in 2010, marking one of the first times that the company has ever put a number on sales for the line. The news came at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, where it announced the new Galaxy Fold and Galaxy S10 devices.
Now, Samsung didn’t say what phones it was including in that count — certainly, the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines are included, but Samsung do

Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 phones feel great to hold and to use, and you can pick from a library of features to explain why that is. Having handled all three of the new S10s unveiled today, I’d say my favorite thing about them is the new in-display, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It lets Samsung combine the gorgeous all-display screen with a clean design on the rear and the convenience of fingerprint authentication on the front of the device.
Built into the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 P

It's here, it's finally here. If you've had the date marked on your calendars for months then you definitely won't need reminding, but Samsung has launched the highly anticipated Galaxy S10.
This announcement is exciting in itself, but we have a truly amazing deal for you too. If you pre-order the new Galaxy S10 you can claim a completely free pair of Galaxy Buds worth £139 as a bonus. Not only this, but you can also save up to £300 when you trade in your old phone.
We've broken down

They might not be the flashiest features, but Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 line has a subtler pair of upgrades that could meaningfully improve the experience of using them day in and out. All three new phones, the S10, S10 Plus, and S10E, include support for Wi-Fi 6 as well as 2 gigabit LTE speeds, up from 1.2 gigabits last year. The upgrades offer the potential for faster internet speeds, whether you’re connected to a cell network or just your home router.
Now, there are some big cavea

Not only is Samsung increasing the number of phones it’s releasing with the new Galaxy S10 lineup, it’s also adding more cameras to these devices than in years past. Every Galaxy S10 model will feature at least three: you’ll get both a standard camera and an ultra-wide angle camera on the back, plus a selfie camera up front. The S10 and S10 Plus offer a portrait camera, but the S10E doesn’t. And the upcoming 5G model has six cameras in all. It seems a bit silly, but havi

What does it take to beat Apple’s AirPods? Most headphone companies have landed on the idea that the answer is better performance, noise isolation, and battery life — but every time they’ve achieved that, they’ve done it at a higher price and with a much larger charging case. Samsung, Apple’s most direct rival in the consumer hardware business, is trying to win without compromise, introducing today the true wireless Galaxy Buds that will cost $129.99 or be bundled

No matter how much better the camera is on the Google Pixel 3 or how fast the OnePlus 6T is, no one makes Android phones quite like Samsung.
After 10 years of iterating the Galaxy phone line, Samsung has arrived at the Galaxy S10 — easily the company's most exciting phone in years.
There are three versions of the Galaxy S10: the 5.8-inch S10e, the 6.1-inch S10, and the 6.4-inch S10+. 
Each variant has a screen that covers even more of the front, provides better performance, and featur

In addition to announcing three Galaxy S10 phones (four if you count the 5G version coming out later this year) at its first Unpacked event of 2019, Samsung also unveiled its new Apple AirPods competitor: the Galaxy Buds.
Not only do the new $130 wireless earbuds fit better than Samsung's previous IconX 2018 wireless earbuds released in 2017, but they also come with a smaller charging case that holds more charges. Oh, and the Galaxy Buds have one really cool trick AirPods don't: They can charge

Samsung will launch a top-tier model of the Galaxy S10 that offers 5G mobile data connectivity. The device, which has a larger screen and battery than the S10 Plus, will temporarily be a Verizon Wireless exclusive before expanding to other carriers in the weeks after launch. It will go on sale sometime “in the first half of 2019.”
The 5G Galaxy S10 will feature a giant 6.7-inch display; the standard S10 Plus screen measures 6.4 inches. It will also have a 4,500mAh battery compared t

As if three new Galaxy S10 phones weren't enough, Samsung also announced a fourth version — its first phone to support 5G — at its Unpacked event in San Francisco.
The "Galaxy S10 5G" is more than just a phone that works on 5G networks. It's the largest Galaxy S phone yet with the biggest battery and four cameras instead of three on the S10 and S10+. 
It's an absolute monster of a phone.
SEE ALSO: Samsung ushers in the era of the 1TB smartphone
With a 6.7-inch display, the Galax

Samsung's Galaxy Fold foldable phone is here and it looks absolutely insane.
At its big Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung finally showed the Galaxy Fold in full, unfolding its 4.6-inch display into a 7.3-inch tablet.
SEE ALSO: Faster 5G phones are coming even though nobody has a 5G phone yet
Samsung called the Galaxy Fold a "luxury" device and well ... at $1,980 when it comes out on April 26, it really isn't for the everyday person. If you balked at a $1,000 phone, you're gonna lose your mind

This is the future we deserve. 
Owners of the newly released $350 Nike app-connected Adapt BB self-tying shoes have taken to the Google Play store to complain that an update left their fancy kicks bricked. That's right, the self-lacing shoes reportedly no longer connect to the accompanying app — essentially transforming them into regular old shoes (buttons on the side of the shoes means you can still tie them). And people are pissed. 
Here's how, according to a press release, the

This post is part of Hard Refresh, a soothing weekly column where we try to cleanse your brain of whatever terrible thing you just witnessed on Twitter.What's black and white and green all over? Minimalist bedrooms. 
In the wake of Marie Kondo and all the decluttering she's inspired, many people are seeing their floors for the first time in a while. However, the minimalism movement has been around for a minute, and is quite strong on YouTube. According to Merriam-Webster, minimalism is

The last quarter of 2018 was a watershed moment for Apple’s Airpods. The wireless earbuds went from being a (sorta) niche bit of hardware, to the must-have product. They’re everywhere. And, as is the case on the internet, so are the memes. This increased attention isn’t just hearsay, check out the Google Trends spike from the end of last year: Thing is… are Airpods actually worth it? Should you buy into the hype and grab yourself a pair immediately? Or would you be bett

Meet Typology, a new Paris-based startup that designs and sells directly to consumer quality skincare and cosmetics products. The startup has been founded by Made.com co-founder Ning Li and is officially launching today.
“Typology is a relatively ambitious project. We want to challenge FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] brands with a digital pure player,” Ning Li told me. “I spent all my career working in e-commerce. I’ve seen a lot of industries move from offline to onlin