Technology news

Before Android 10 Q is released later this summer, Google is continuing to experiment with and improve its gesture-based navigation. Recently, the company moved so close to Apple’s iPhone X approach that it almost feels like a carbon copy. But to do that, Google had to rethink Android’s traditional back button. Instead of keeping an on-screen button, Android Q will use a swiping motion — inward from either side of the screen — for the back feature.This change immediately

Larissa Russell and Fiona Lee founded a cookie startup called Green Pea Cookie in 2014. The cookies were 100% natural, vegan and “handcrafted with love.”
The company failed, but not because the cookies weren’t selling. The business couldn’t keep up with the antiquated wholesale food distribution system’s steep costs. Two incumbent players, United Natural Foods Inc. and KeHE Distributors, essentially controlled its only pathway to grocery stores across the country. S

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is shaping up to be a big moment for Lotus. The company is finally taking “some” of the wraps off of its first major model launch — and its first electric hypercar — under the new ownership of Geely.
And now, one day before attendees will get a glimpse, Lotus has given it a name. The vehicle, previously referred to as Type 130 electric hypercar, will be named the Lotus Evija. And in case you’re wondering, Lotus says it’s pronounc

Given that Spider-Man: Far From Home is a Sony film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rather than the usual Disney film (because Sony currently holds the film development rights to Spider-Man and his rogues’ gallery), it’s natural enough to wonder whether Far From Home sticks with the by-now-standard Disney MCU pattern of adding extra scenes in or after the credits to tease the next film in a series, or pay off plot points from earlier in the movie. In fact, Far From Home has both a

It might seem like you’ve now got podcasts covering any and every conceivable topic, but comedy writer and actor Maria Blascucci argued that there’s still “this whole untapped market” — namely, podcasts created by women.
Certainly, some of the most successful shows are hosted by women — but if you look at a list of popular podcasts, you’ll see a lot of men. Similarly, most of the major podcasting networks and companies (like Gimlet, Crooked Media and Ear

Bad website user interfaces are perhaps the worst part of the internet: spammy pop-ups designed to trick you, dark patterns that are intentionally misleading, and just plain obtuse design decisions that make filling out a form virtual hell.But don’t take my word for it: let “User Inyerface,” a web app from design firm Bagaar, show you in an intentionally nightmarish take that tries to build the single worst online form of all time. And boy, it is infuriating. (Spotted by Michae

Nintendo’sMario Maker series is among the most generous gifts the company could have given to its fans, and the new installment on Switch is better than its predecessor in every way. Yet despite the freedom and encouragement it gives, it’s hard not to feel a gentle tug groundward when your ambitions begin to soar.
For those unfamiliar with Mario Maker, the original was a totally unexpected joy on the Wii U and one of the few games that truly took advantage of that console’s unu

Age of Learning recently launched an MMO-style educational game for ages 8-13 called Adventure Academy. It’s reminiscent of online questing games like World of Warcraft, only it’s entirely kid-safe. Basically it’s a games-as-a-service container that uses a unified rewards funnel to keep kids interested – sort of like a loot-grinder that requires the completion of reading, math, and science skills instead of violent combat encounters. I tend to shy away from online-based

Amazon has admitted that it doesn’t always delete the stored data that it obtains through voice interactions with the company’s Alexa and Echo devices — even after a user chooses to wipe the audio files from their account. The revelations, outlined explicitly by Amazon in a letter to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), which was published today and dated June 28th, sheds even more light on the company’s privacy practices with regard to its digital voice assistant.The answers are a f

To date, public DNA databases have been used to identify more than 40 rape and murder suspects, some from cases dating back a half-century. Yesterday, for the first time, evidence from one such database was used to convict a man of a double murder from the late 1980s. Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 17, and her boyfriend, Jay Cook, 20, left Victoria, British Columbia on November 18, 1987 for what was supposed to be an overnight trip to the Seattle area. The next day, when the couple hadn’t returned

Upfront Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise its third growth-stage investment fund.
Though the firm typically invests at the seed and Series A, capital from Upfront Growth III will be used for follow-on or late-stage deals.
The firm, known for its investments in Bird, Goat, Ring, ThredUP and Parachute, plans to raise $250 million for the effort. Mark Suster and Yves Sisteron, listed on the filing, lead

In a blow to Amazon, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the mega-retailer can be held accountable for faulty third-party sales. The ruling arrived this week via the 3rd U.S. City Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, running counter to a past lower court ruling that had come out in Amazon’s favor.
If upheld, the ruling could have a big impact on the way the company does business. Nearly half of the items sold through the site are handled by third-party sellers. That accounted for around $11 billi

The $10 million entry fee to join the Facebook-developed cryptocurrency’s Libra Association is merely a minimum. Members who’ll verify transactions can opt to invest more in exchange for more Libra Investment Tokens that will earn them dividends from the interest earned by the Libra Reserve after it pays for infrastructure and operations costs. If regulators allow it to launch after today requesting a halt of development, and the cryptocurrency grows popular with tons of people cashi

When Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm released a statement apologizing for his behavior that led to a two-week suspension on Twitch, he did it from his personal Twitter account, which has 71,000 followers. That’s 1 million fewer followers than Beahm’s main Twitter account where he usually tweets under his streaming persona.By not using his main channel to address the controversy, Beahm could take responsibility without worrying about damage to his brand. It’s a strategy th

Kim Kardashian West has won close to $2.8 million from the fast fashion company Missguided in a lawsuit claiming that the company used her “persona and trademarks” to sell replicas of her outfits, in part by continually tagging her on Instagram.
The issue of whether Missguided’s Instagram behavior violated trademark law was never actually litigated, though: the company just didn’t respond to her lawsuit, leading to a loss. In a default judgment last night, a California ju

Boeing is starting a $100 million fund for the families and communities of the people who died in the two 737 Max crashes since last October. The company says it will partner with local governments and nonprofit organizations, and that the funds will “support education, hardship and living expenses for impacted families, community programs, and economic development in impacted communities.”
The $100 million in funding will be made available over “multiple years,” says Boe

Amazon can be sued over third-party sales on its platform, a federal court ruled today, setting a potentially damaging precedent for the company.Appeals court found against Amazon
While Amazon sells goods itself, it also allows vendors to sell their products through its Marketplace platform, taking a cut in the process. In late 2014, a woman named Heather Oberdorf ordered a dog collar from a Marketplace seller, but it broke on a walk, sending the leash flying and permanently blinding her in one

Everyone knows the bit in The Matrix when Neo achieves digital messiah status and suddenly sees “reality” for what it really is: lines of trailing green code.Well, thanks to an outage currently affecting Facebook, users of the social network have been given a similar peek behind the digital curtain, with many images on the site now replaced with the tags they’ve been assigned by the company’s machine vision systems.So if you browse through your uploaded photos, instead of

I never expected to become an amateur barista. A little over a year ago, I decided to stop wasting money buying iced mochas at coffee shops and learn to make my own espresso-based drinks. It was around then that I reviewed Intact Idea’s Flair Espresso Maker, a sleek and portable brewing device that relied on lever mechanics and a bit of arm strength to brew a cafe-quality shot of coffee – no electricity required. Despite a few caveats, it proved to me that I could pull an espresso a

Amazon has selected a director for its upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s J.A. Bayona, reports Deadline. Bayona will direct the first two episodes of the series and will serve as executive producer along with producer Belén Atienza. The announcement doesn’t reveal when the series will debut on Amazon Prime Video or what other directors will be involved in the series.In the announcement, Bayona confirmed what Amazon had been teasing earlier t

Once something has been shared online, it never truly goes away. This adage is particularly relevant for DeepNude, software that uses AI to create fake nude images of women.The app came to public attention last week after a report from Motherboard highlighted its existence. Shortly afterward, the app’s creator pulled it from the web, saying that the probability the software would be misused to harass and shame women was “too high.”
Of course, the app is still available, with nu

Moment Pro Camera, the camera app originally designed for Moment’s range of aftermarket smartphone lenses, is getting support for long-exposure photography on iOS. The feature is technically blending together a number of shorter exposures rather than creating a long single exposure like a traditional camera would, but it can be used to create a couple of different photo effects, such as light trails or motion blur. It supports exposures of predetermined lengths, or you can manually start a

Whether you’re hosting a pool party, just catching some sun, or trying to get an Instagram-worthy picture, pool floats are the perfect summer accessory. Nothing quite says I'm living my best life than lounging around on an obnoxiously large Unicorn. Luckily for you, Walmart is currently having a huge sale on some of the cutest, trendiest, and most bizarre pool floats, here are five of our favorites. 
1. The perfect peacock floatFeeling glamorous? With this mystical bird you’re s

Megan Rapinoe may not have seen the field during the U.S. women's World Cup semifinal win over England on Tuesday, but she still had a big impact off of it. 
During the team's press availability on Wednesday, Rapinoe didn't hold back when asked about the stellar tea-sipping goal celebration from teammate Alex Morgan.Megan Rapinoe responding to criticism that Alex Morgan’s tea-sipping celebration was distasteful: “Wah, wah, wah. It’s like, we’re at the World Cup. What

When President Trump announced plans over the weekend to ease trade restrictions on Huawei, it seemed to upend America’s crackdown on the Chinese tech giant.“At the request of our High Tech companies, and President Xi, I agreed to allow Chinese company Huawei to buy product from them which will not impact our National Security,” Trump tweeted after a meeting with the Chinese president. Tech stocks have soared in the wake of the statement, anticipating a rollback to the damage d

When President Trump announced plans over the weekend to ease trade restrictions on Huawei, it seemed to upend America’s crackdown on the Chinese tech giant.“At the request of our High Tech companies, and President Xi, I agreed to allow Chinese company Huawei to buy product from them which will not impact our National Security,” Trump tweeted after a meeting with the Chinese president. Tech stocks have soared in the wake of the statement, anticipating a rollback to the damage d

The newest episode of Freeform’s Good Trouble centers on recurring character Jazmin Martinez’s 30th birthday double quinceañera. It's an emotionally significant event because she skipped it at age 15 since she hadn't transitioned yet. The quinces also acts as a fundraiser for transgender military vets.
Jazmin's portrayer Hailie Sahar was overwhelmingly happy at the opportunity to share this story through her on-screen alter ego. “I decided to be an actor when I was a chi

TL;DR: This whole fruit slow juicer is priced at $399.95 on Kuvings' website, but Amazon has it on sale for only $359.Just as you swapped your puffy winter coats for strappy summer clothes, you likely made a seasonal adjustment to your go-to-drink order: out with the frothy lattes, in with the cold-pressed juice. 
You know the stuff: It's a type of juice that's processed slowly and carefully — crushed, essentially —so as not to mess with any of your produce's precious nutrients.

Facebook has had problems loading images, videos, and other data across its apps today, leaving some people unable to load photos in the Facebook News Feed, view stories on Instagram, or send messages in WhatsApp. Facebook says it is aware of the issues and “working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”
The issues started around 8AM ET and now appear to be clearing up, according to DownDetector, which monitors website and app issues. The errors aren’t affecting

Canon is turning to Indiegogo to crowdfund the Ivy Rec, a tiny outdoor camera built into a keychain carabiner. It’s about the size of a USB flash drive, and it wirelessly connects via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to the companion CanonMini Cam App to show a live preview on your phone. The empty square space of the clip doubles as a viewfinder, and there’s a single dial on the back that lets you switch between modes.The Ivy Rec has a 13-megapixel 1/3-inch CMOS sensor that can record 1080p / 60

All of those obnoxious marketing emails that crowd your inbox aren’t just pushing a product. They’re also tracking whether you’ve opened the email, when you opened it, and where you were at the time by using software like MailChimp to embed tracking software into the message.
How does it work? A single tracking pixel is embedded into the email, usually (but not always) hidden within an image or a link. When the email is opened, code within the pixel sends the info back to the c

TL;DR: The waterproof Ultimate Ears Blast wireless speaker is on sale for $69.99 saving you $110.This summer is bringing the heat with music, y'all. With new music from Lil Nas X and the Jonas Brothers and new albums from Tame Impala and Chance the Rapper rumored to drop in the next few months, you're gonna need a Bluetooth speaker that can keep up.
Take your tunes wherever you go with the Ultimate Ears Blast portable Bluetooth speaker. It's Alexa-enabled, waterproof, and on sale for $69.99 at D

Netherlands startup SpaceLife Origin’s mission to become the “first company that will make human reproduction in space safely possible” has been put on pause. CEO Kees Mulder says serious “ethical, safety and medical concerns” with two of SpaceLife Origin’s planned missions have caused him to pull back and reevaluate the idea, which was announced in October. He also says the time frame and business model for those missions are “not realistic,” and

TL;DR: The powerful Ninja Chef high-speed blender is on sale for $109 at Walmart, saving you $50.We love a good combination appliance that does the work of two or three other appliances (or even nine in the case of some Instant Pots). The Ninja Chef high-speed blender is both a blender and a food processor.
You might be thinking that this stand-out blender will cost you a small fortune, but it’s actually pretty affordable as it’s on sale for $109 at Walmart, down from $159.99.
The Ni

Waymo was awarded a permit by the California Public Utilities Commission to take part in the state’s autonomous vehicle passenger service pilot program — though it may not charge riders, and a human safety driver must remain behind the wheel. The permit brings the Alphabet company one step closer to launching a robot taxi service in its home state.
Waymo is the fourth company to participate in the pilot program, following Zoox, Autox Technologies, and Pony.ai. The permit is good for

TL;DR: You can score this surprisingly spacious George Foreman indoor/outdoor electric grill at Walmart for just $59.99, a savings of $39 off the regular price.Ah yes, the Fourth of July is almost here to officially welcome in the shindigs of summer. While you may be ready to welcome back long, sun-drenched days spent with friends and family chowing down on BBQ, the question is: Is your grill ready?
You can be the host with the most this year by snagging this George Foreman indoor/outdoor electr

Ethereum might feature more decentralized apps (dapps) than any other blockchain, but its rivals are enjoying significantly higher usage. In fact, TRON dapps attracted more active users than any other network over the past three months, reports Dapp.com with new research. “484 new dapps were added to the market this quarter, and Ethereum is still the first choice for developers, followed by TRON and EOS,” said Dapp.com. “Newly launched blockchains like TomoChain and IOST