Technology news

On Thursday, French lawmakers approved a measure designed to force tech companies like Facebook and Google to remove content the French government deems “hate speech,” the Associate Press reported earlier today.
The provision, which is part of a larger internet regulation bill, was adopted by the lower house of the French Parliament on Thursday. If it were to be fully approved, it would create a 24 hour deadline for social networks to remove hate speech from their platforms once it&r

Some Apple users are reporting that they are experiencing issues with iCloud, which appears to have also affected services at the company’s physical retail stores, according to 9to5Mac.
Apple’s Systems Status page reports that iCloud’s Calendars, Contacts, and Reminders are currently affected by the ongoing outage, and that some users might have issues. The company says that issues affecting Apple Pay, Documents, Find my Friends, Find My iPhone, Game Center, iCloud Sign In, and

We live in a time where almost every new musical prodigy has formed an identity on YouTube long before they break through to mainstream Hollywood. Halle Bailey, the new face of Disney’s Little Mermaid, is a perfect example.Disney announced on Wednesday that Bailey, currently 19-years-old, would play Princess Ariel in the company’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. She began making a name for herself as an actress on ABC’s Grownish, a spinoff of its popular

There’s been one thing that I’ve wondered about as Netflix cannibalized DVD sales in the last decade: why doesn’t the streaming service include things like director commentaries for the films and TV shows that it streams? That seems to be changing — Netflix recently launched a podcast series of director’s commentaries called Watching With....Thus far, Netflix has released two episodes: one for the film Someone Great (featuring director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson), and

After years of litigation and countless security issues, D-Link has settled its case with the Federal Trade Commission over poor security practices. Under the terms of the settlement, the company has agreed to implement a comprehensive security program for its routers and webcams, including third-party security audits every two years until 2030. The company is also required to check for security vulnerabilities before releasing a product, actively monitor for vulnerabilities once a product is re

A figure stands on the National Mall in Washington DC, casually dressed in a long-sleeved red t-shirt, carefully balancing a firework on its head. The fuse burns down. There’s a boom of sparks and smoke, and suddenly both firework and head are gone.Please don't do this #WednesdayWisdom #CelebrateSafely #July4th pic.twitter.com/3bKL0pHXhN— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) July 3, 2019Welcome to the annual fireworks safety demonstration of the US Consumer Product Safety

Think about the ways you most commonly take pictures with your phone. How often do you take pictures in bad lighting or at night? How often do you capture panoramas? Google appears to have realized that the former scenario is much more likely, and as a result, the company is promoting its Night Sight feature to the main list of camera modes — and moving panoramas an extra tap away.According to 9to5Google, this has already happen in the leaked Android Q beta build that made its way onto the

US Customs and Border Protection has suspended all federal contracts with a surveillance contractor suspected of suffering a data breach, according to a report from The Washington Post. Perceptics, which sells license-plate scanners and other border control equipment, is now prohibited from contracting with CBP and all other federal agencies. CBP officials listed the cause of the suspension as “evidence of conduct indicating a lack of business honesty or integrity.”
The suspension ap

Back in 2017, Tesla introduced an automated emergency breaking (AEB) system for all its vehicles that’s powered by its Autopilot technology, which is available even for vehicles with haven’t purchased the actual Autopilot cruise-assist upgrade. Now, the automaker is showing off some of the more advanced features coming in its next-generation AEB update.
These include automatically engaging the brakes on a vehicle when the Autopilot-based system detects a pedestrian crossing the car&r

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Sony’s first Walkman, the portable music player that would forever change the way we consume music. And while the audio cassette long ago fell out of favor for the CD and later digital music, the format’s certainly not forgotten. It may not have the same audiophile cache as the vinyl LP, but a a small and passionate contingent of music listeners are keeping the fire burning.NINM Lab’s latest project occupies that same sort of fuzzy techn

July Fourth is upon us. It’s a celebration of US independence, and if you’re like me, you’ll be spending it with family, eating lots of grilled food and staying up to watch the fireworks light up the sky at night.Like most US holidays, this is also an opportunity to get a good deal on tech, too. Several retailers have shared a few of their July Fourth promos with us, and you’ll find what we think are the best ones below. We anticipate that even more will be popping up thr

Bitcoin consumes more energy than the entire nation of Switzerland, according to new estimates published by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
An online tool that launched this week called the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, or CBECI, estimates how much energy is needed to maintain the Bitcoin network in real time, before using this to calculate its annual energy usage.Currently, the CBECI says the global Bitcoin network is consuming more than seven gigwatts of electric

SpaceXmanaged another first for its reusable rocketry efforts during its most recent launch when it caught part of the fairing in a giant net mounted on a boat named ‘Ms. Tree.’ The nosecone component, used to protect the Falcon Heavy’s cargo during its June 25 launch, typically is either lost or falls into the ocean where it can sometimes be recovered, albeit at great cost.
Now, we have video of the fairing returning back through the atmosphere, and of the actual moment the fa

Global automakers BMW and Daimler will join forces in a new long-term partnership to co-develop automated driving technologies, including levels of automation all the way up to SAE Level 4, which is defined as full self-driving, no human intervention required, but only under exactly defined conditions or domains – steering wheel and brakes not necessarily even present I the car.
This BMW/Daimler partnership includes developing automated driving technologies that precede Level 4, too, inclu

London is one of the world’s biggest markets for consumers that travel using ride-hailing services. Is it now also becoming one of the most crowded when it comes to the companies offering the transportation, too? Today, India’s Ola confirmed that it is the latest of the wave of app-based ride-hailing providers to receive a license to operate in London. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that Ola expects to kick off its services two months from now, in September.
“Ola has been grant

The Interface will be off Thursday for the 4th of July holiday.Facebook spent the last day before a long weekend like so many of us, abruptly shutting down without its boss’ permission and without any regard for its coworkers. Jake Kastrenakes reports: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 UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that 30,000 is the magic number of followers that makes you a celebrity. The decision means that if you have such a following then you have to obey the same advertising rules as traditional celebrities like David Beckham or Stephen Fry, particularly when it comes to product endorsements.The regulator came to the decision after an Instagram user with 32,000 followers, ThisMamaLife, posted an ad for Phenergan Night Time sleeping tablets. Alt

Some of the world’s most fascinating names and leaders in tech startup and investing come to our Disrupt Main Stage to discuss big-picture topics. And that tradition continues at Disrupt Berlin 2019 on 11-12 December.
But what happens when you want to dig into a specific technology or emerging trend? You head for a Q&A Session. These sessions — featuring many of the same folks you’ll hear on the Main Stage and moderated by TechCrunch editors — take place in a sma

Apple is planning to ditch the controversial butterfly keyboard used in its MacBooks since 2015, according to a new report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. 9to5Mac notes that Apple will reportedly move to a new scissor-switch design, which will use glass fiber to reinforce its keys. According to Kuo’s report, the first laptop to get the new keyboard will be a new MacBook Air model due out this year, followed by a new MacBook Pro in 2020.Despite tweaking the design of its butterfly keyboards with

July 4 is American Independence Day, but it also marks the arrival of Stranger Things season three — a release that might just be the most-anticipated in the history of Netflix.
Season three dropped at 12:01 PDT which means, dear reader, that it is now online and ready for your viewing pleasure.
The series has been an enormous hit for Netflix. Beyond a litany of awards, it has proven to be a smash with Netflix subscribers. More than 15 million watched the season 2 opener within three days

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Samsung to court over allegations it misled customers over the nature of various phones’ water resistance. Samsung has been depicting phones in or near to unsuitable environments such as swimming pools and oceans since 2016, the ACCC alleges, when it didn’t have a basis to make this representation.
“The ACCC alleges Samsung’s advertisements falsely and misleadingly represented Galaxy phones would be suita