Technology news

Ford is expanding on-road testing of its third-generation self-driving Fusion Hybrid to Detroit. The vehicles are already deployed in Pittsburgh, Palo Alto, Miami, Washington DC, and Ford’s home turf of Dearborn, Michigan; The Verge’s Andrew Hawkins went for a drive in a previous-gen model last year and found it quite adept at handling a variety of traffic scenarios.
“Every city represents a unique opportunity to make our self-driving system smarter because of the exposure to

Samsung is still figuring out how to release its futuristic Galaxy Fold, which is plagued with durability issues and without a release date. But that hasn’t stopped it from dreaming up new phone designs, including a compelling patent for a phone with a rollable display.
This patent, pointed out by Gizmodo, shows off a phone that appears fairly traditional at a first glance. But it’s actually hiding a secret rollable display inside, and the top housing containing the selfie camera an

Google’s official reveal of the Pixel 4’s design confirmed the leaks: much like Apple’s rumored iPhone 11, the Pixel 4 is set to feature a massive, square-shaped camera module on the back. With both Apple and Google now on board, it seems that giant, postage-stamp-sized camera bumps are officially set to be the latest design indignity that smartphone owners will be forced to suffer. Image: Slashleaks
The iPhone 11 (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) and Pixel 4 didn’t

If all goes according to plan, Uber Air flying taxis will take off in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Melbourne in 2023, the company announced at its annual Uber Elevate Summit on Wednesday. Think of it like Uber Pool in the sky (but definitely not as cheap).
The electric VTOLs (vertical take-off and landing vehicles) are similar to a helicopter, and will carry four passengers at low altitude from skyports in each metro area. Test flights are slated to begin next year—with cautious FAA approval.

Yes, there is a fastest accelerating lawnmower in the world, and yes, it has been named. 
Honda's Mean Mower V2 has won the accolade from the people at Guinness World Records, who have declared it as having the fastest acceleration for a lawnmower, averaging 0 to 100 mph in just 6.285 seconds — while still performing its grass-cutting duties. (To qualify for the record, the mower had to actually look and function like a lawnmower — which it does.) 
The new record was announ

AT&T is launching its first true 5G phone, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, on June 17th. Though, don’t get too excited; you’ll only be able to get your hands on one if you’re part of AT&T’s developer program, or are an AT&T Business customer.The 5G-ready phone, which first debuted last month for Verizon subscribers who live in cities that support its 5G service, will cost business users $999. It will also be made available to developers for free at AT&T’

Forget everyone else, this is the only influencer you need to follow from now on.
A dad named Omar from Austin, Texas is finally getting the Instagram engagement he deserves after all of his hard work influencing. 
When Omar recently found out exactly what it means to be an influencer, he decided to give it a go. He created the Instagram account @justaconstructionguy and started posting carefully curated snapshots of his daily life.
His daughter shared his antics on Twitter, and it was late

Tonight, the Syfy Channel will premiere the second season of its Superman-related series Krypton, featuring a bunch of new villains, including one long-standing DC villain: Lobo. Ahead of that premiere, the Syfy Channel says that it is developing a spinoff series featuring the interstellar bounty hunter.Like Krypton, Lobo will be written and produced by Cameron Welsh, and will feature the character that’ll pop up during this season. The violent and foul-mouthed alien bounty hunter first a

TL;DR: 23andMe's comprehensive Health + Ancestry Kits are on sale for $149 through June 17, making them a great gift for your dad.Fact: DNA test kits make excellent gifts no matter the occasion. They promise a kind of self-discovery that's sort of irresistible, but better yet, they're one of those experiential presents that don't take up any physical space in your home.
Such kits lend themselves particularly well to Father's Day gift-giving — because after all, it's not every day that your

Warning: Spoilers for the Season 2 premiere of Big Little Lies ahead.
Big Little Lies is back and in case you haven't heard yet there's a lot to scream about.
The popular HBO show aired its Season 2 premiere on Sunday, and welcomed the Meryl Streep to an already impressive cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley.
Streep's character, Mary Louise Wright, made quite the impression in Monterey. After calling Reese's character "little" s

Finnish developer Next Games is partnering with Netflix for a Stranger Things mobile game that should appeal to Pokémon Go fans.Simply called Stranger Things, the ‘80s cartoon-inspired game is described as a location-based puzzle RPG. Players will be able to walk around the Upside Down and “work with fellow fans to fight back its emerging evils,” according to a press release. Next Games is using Google Maps integrations so players can explore their own neighborhood with

Google is expanding the ability to use an Android phone as a physical two-factor authentication security key to include iOS devices (the feature previously launched in April, but only worked with Chrome OS, macOS, or Windows 10), as noted by 9to5Mac.Due to limitations on how iOS works, the process is slightly different here: instead of using Chrome to communicate with the device (as used for the PC versions), the Android phone links up with Google’s Smart Lock app instead.
The net result

San Francisco is announcing a “bias mitigation tool” that uses basic AI techniques to automatically redact information from police reports that could identify a suspect’s race. It’s designed to be a way to keep prosecutors from being influenced by racial bias when deciding whether someone gets charged with a crime. The tool will be ready and is scheduled to be implemented on July 1st.
The tool will not only strip out descriptions of race, but also descriptors like eye co

Google just tweeted an image of the Pixel 4, a smartphone that the company isn’t expected to ship until October. The tweet comes after renders of the device were published in recent days, revealing a change in design language from Google’s previous devices. “Wait ‘til you see what it can do,” the Pixel team tweeted.The official image clearly shows at least two rear cameras and a third sensor of some kind in a large camera bump on the phone’s back. There&rsquo

In the original Men In Black, 1997’s loopy Barry Sonnenfeld comedy about a secret government agency that polices alien activity on Earth, there’s a sequence that plays with misunderstanding as much as it sets up the coming action. New agent Jay (Will Smith) is talking with medical examiner Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino), unaware that a dangerous, grotesque alien is hidden in the gurney between them, clutching her ankle and holding her at gunpoint. As Laurel tries to alert Jay to t

Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, June 16th, in the US. If you were planning on buying a gift for a dad in your life, you still have a bit of time left. We’ve pulled together a bunch of last-minute gift ideas based on what’s currently on sale, ranging in price and category to suit both your budget and dad’s taste.First, you’ll find deals on tech that’s suited for an on-the-go lifestyle, including an exclusive discount for Verge readers on a Ninebot Segwa

Spain’s data protection agency has fined the country’s soccer league, LaLiga, €250,000 (about $280,000) for allegedly violating EU data privacy and transparency laws. The app, which is used for keeping track of games and stats, was using the phone’s microphone and GPS to track bars illegally streaming soccer games, Spanish newspaper El País reported.Using a Shazam-like technology, the app would record audio to identify soccer games, and use the geolocation of the p

In the Season 2 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) did a good thing. Two good things, technically — she argued in front of the Commanders that women in Gilead should learn how to read, and she allowed June an opportunity to escape with baby Nichole. On a hypothetical moral scoreboard those are two points in Serena Joy’s favor, stacked up against the eight trillion negative points she accumulated when she masterminded, supported, and benefite

Google's next Android phone, the Pixel 4, isn't coming until the fall, but we may already know a number of key details about it.
Once again, internet leaks may have revealed what to expect. Will the phone be enough to topple mega phones like Samsung's Galaxy S10, Huawei's P30 Pro, the OnePlus 7 Pro, and the upcoming Galaxy Note 10?
Hard to say, but at least we have an idea what kind of design, display, and cameras the Pixel 4 might come with. 
Update: Google's @madebygoogle Twitter account

The Israel Electric Corporation, which provides the nation’s electricity and is responsible for much of the requisite infrastructure, is unhappy with Fortnite’s depiction of player characters freely climbing up electric poles. In an open letter by senior VP Oren Helman, the IEC notes that it has invested “enormous resources in educating the public about the dangers of climbing electric poles,” and it asks Epic Games to discontinue its depiction of that act as a jaunty ac

In an internal email shared with The Verge, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that YouTube is taking a “hard look” at its harassment policies and will consult “many groups, including people who have themselves experienced harassment,” as well as Google employee resource groups.
During a meeting on Tuesday, Pichai, YouTube product and design SVP Neal Mohan, trust and safety VP Kristie Canegallo, and chief diversity officer and head of employee engagement Melonie Parker met wi

Last August, San Francisco welcomed some electric scooters back into its midst, but it gave Bird (and Lime and Spin) the finger — making the city an afterthought in the scooter wars. But now, Bird has bought its way back into the city by purchasing Scoot, one of the two scooter companies that did get permits to operate in SF.So the city’s last-mile mobility race may be ramping up again.A press release announcing the acquisition is calling it “a strategic decision from two like

As the second day of the Uber Elevate summit kicked off in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, the transportation company unveiled an important update about the future of your burgers and fries.
Uber Eats will begin testing food drone delivery in San Diego, CA this summer. The first food partner for the test is McDonald's, but the program will expand to include more options later in the year.
SEE ALSO: Uber Eats wants to deliver your food with drones
The test can get underway because the Federal Aviatio

Google has long offered syncing between Google Photos and Google Drive, but it’s putting an end to that in the name of simplicity. “We’ve heard feedback that the connection between these services is confusing, so next month, we’re making some changes to simplify the experience across Drive and Photos,” Dan Schlosser and Jason Gupta, product managers for Drive and Photos respectively, wrote in a blog post today. There’s also an article for G Suite customers, s

As the crisis in Sudan grows increasingly dangerous and efforts have been made to silence Sudanese people in the midst of the chaos, updates on the government crackdown are being shared by an unlikely source: Social media influencers.
On Thursday, Shahd Khidir, a Sudanese influencer and blogger who mainly shares beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content, went "off-brand" to raise awareness to her nearly 64,000 Instagram followers about the dire situation in Sudan. Khidir, who is based in New York C

Phone apps are funny things. You install ‘em with a couple of quick clicks from the Play Store, but you never actually see the associated files or have direct access to what’s downloaded. In the name of simplicity, our modern mobile operating systems have covered up the ugly inner workings of app installation and taken file handling out of our hands.
By and large, that’s a positive. Most phone owners don’t generally need to see application files or know where such assets

TL;DR: The budget-friendly Vizio 65-inch 4K TV is on sale for $218 off at Walmart. Summer is no longer a dead zone when it comes to new and exciting TV. A surprise hit like Chernobyl means that there is life after Game of Thrones, and you never know what will become the next hot series to talk about with coworkers. But that also means you need a hot new TV to go with those new shows, and you can find some great options from our 4K TV suggestions. If you want a great deal right now, then you

TL;DR: Give the dads in your life a gift that keeps on giving with subscription boxes from Cratejoy on sale for up to 30% off with code DADSDAY.Father’s Day is only a few short days away and if you haven’t gotten your dad or the male figures in your life a gift yet, we’re here to inform you that it’s crunch time. We already put together a gift guide for all you last-minute shoppers, but there’s another way to wow your old man. A subscription box likely won’t g

And with a single plate of cookies, two of the world's biggest pop stars declared peace. 
Katy Perry waved the sweetest white flag on Tuesday night when she uploaded an Instagram of a plate of cookies with "Peace At Last" spelled out in red frosting. The countertop kicker? She tagged none other than her ex(?) pop nemesis, Taylor Swift. View this post on Instagramfeels good 🧡 @taylorswift
A post shared byKATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Jun 11, 2019 at 4:52pm PDTIn addition to the tag, she

If you’ve been waiting for a big price drop on any of the Samsung Galaxy S10 phones, B&H Photo has you covered with up to $200 off on the cost of an S10E, S10, or S10 Plus. Each phone is currently $100 off, and you’ll be able to click a coupon on the product page to takeoff an additional $100, totaling a $200 discount at checkout. There are a few color variants to choose from, too.
This means that the S10E with 128GB of onboard storage, which usually costs $749.99 (the same pric

TL;DR: The super cute All-New Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited and can be pre-ordered for $49.99, saving you $20. You can also save $49.99 when you bundle two new Fire 7 Kids Edition tablets together.You've seen kids play with a tablet or ask Alexa to play Baby Shark — they love figuring out technology just as much as teenagers do.
Amazon believes that adults shouldn't be the only ones to have voice command and smart speaker fun. This summer, they'r

Warning: Significant spoilers ahead for season 1 of Krypton.
The first season of Syfy’s Superman prequel Krypton focused on the denizens of Kandor, the Kryptonian city bottled and preserved by the malevolent alien AI Brainiac in Superman canon. But even before Brainiac (Blake Ritson) arrived, the show felt claustrophobic, with almost all the action relegated to a few sets that primarily showed off the city’s rigid caste system. That’s changed in season 2, where the show feels

Underneath the floorboards of Plymouth Church lies a basement. Unlike most church basements, the 172-year-old church was once a stop on the underground railroad, housing runaway slaves on their journey to freedom. Explore the rich history of downtown Brooklyn's historic church on this week's episode of What's In The Basement.  Read more...More about History, Mashable Video, Slavery, Underground Railroad, and Whats In The Basement

With 200X the range of Wi-Fi at 1/1000th of the cost of a cellular modem, Helium’s“LongFi” wireless network debuts today. Its transmitters can help track stolen scooters, find missing dogs via IoT collars and collect data from infrastructure sensors. The catch is that Helium’s tiny, extremely low-power, low-data transmission chips rely on connecting to P2P Helium Hotspots people can now buy for $495. Operating those hotspots earns owners a cryptocurrency token Helium prom

One day after the anniversary of the end of net neutrality, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai took shots at Silicon Valley tech giants suggesting that they are the ones controlling what consumers see online, not the internet service providers.“The greatest threat to a free and open internet has been the unregulated Silicon Valley tech giants that do, in fact, today decide what you see and what you don’t,” Pai said. “There’s no transparency. There&

TL;DR: Amazon has several pieces from the hip luggage brand Herschel Supply Co. on sale just in time for Father's Day, saving you up to $80.From transition lenses to sock-and-sandal monstrosities and Hawaiian shirts tucked into too-high cargo shorts, the ~lewks~ you typically associate with dads don't lend themselves all that well to coolness. ("Zaddies" are a whole different story, mind you.)
So, this Father's Day, give your dad's wardrobe an easy refresh with a new bag, backpack, or suitcase f

Rumors have already been hinting at it, but renders published by @Onleaks and Pricebaba a few days ago suggest that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10 will feature an all-new design that marks a substantial evolution from the Note 9 and other recent models. And this year, the Note will come in two sizes: a giant 6.75-inch Note 10 Pro and 6.3-inch Note 10, both sharing the same overall look. (For reference, the OnePlus 7 Pro sits between those at 6.5 inches, which is larger than last year&r

TL;DR: This rare HP Pavilion monitor and desktop bundle is almost 50% off, getting you both items for $369.99.Office makeovers always get the short end of the stick.
When it's either "get a new computer that only I'll use" or "get a new mattress that two of us will use," gifting to yourself is kind of off the table. Being an adult rocks.
You don't have to settle for a cheap laptop: This HP Pavilion desktop and 23.8-inch monitor usually bundle for $699, but Walmart is offering both for just $369.

TL;DR: The Bose-rivaling noise-canceling headphones from Sony are a better way to enjoy your audio entertainment, and you can get them for just $298 when you purchase on Amazon Sure, those backup headphones you bought on the cheap at your local gas station are probably serving you just fine. That is, until they break in the next week or so. 
We suggest that the next pair you pick up be a bit higher in quality — ones that come with all the bells and whistles and do more than just