Technology

AM New York reports: A Texas startup is hoping to zoom into New York’s aerial tourism business by letting customers fly personal, ultralight helicopter-like craft over city airspace — with no pilot’s license and less than an hour of training. Austin-based LIFT Aircraft has partnered with Charm Aviation, a local heli-tour company, on a proposal to bring personal electric vertical …

The Verge reports: Apple has given its most direct confirmation yet that a USB-C-equipped iPhone will happen now that the European Union is mandating that all phones sold in its member countries use the connector if they have a physical charger. When asked by The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern if the company would replace Lightning, Apple’s senior VP of …

Axios reports: Meta will notify at least 1 million Facebook users that their login information may have been stolen if they downloaded one of hundreds of malicious mobile apps. Meta’s security team published a report this morning detailing how more than 400 mobile apps posed as innocuous tools, such as photo editors, to get people to share their Facebook login …

Axios reports: Several robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, are pledging not to support the weaponization of their products and are calling for others in the industry to do the same, according to a letter shared first with Axios. Robots, like drones before them, have a wide range of peaceful and even life-saving uses, but can be turned into war-fighting machines, …

Bloomberg News reports: Members of the European Parliament voted to force companies such as Apple Inc. to adapt products that don’t already feature a standard USB-C charger to use one. This would include iPhones, in Apple’s case. A total of 602 lawmakers voted for the plan on Tuesday, with 13 against, and eight abstaining. The deal, provisionally agreed in June …

Reuters reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed off on Friday a prototype of its humanoid robot ‘Optimus’, predicting the electric vehicle maker would be able to produce millions and sell them for under $20,000 – less than a third of the price of a Model Y. An experimental test robot that Tesla said was developed in February walked out to …

The Telegraph reports: Bruce Willis has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to allow a “digital twin” of himself to be created for use on screen. Using deepfake technology, the actor appeared in a phone advert without ever being on set, after his face was digitally transplanted onto another performer. Willis allowed US firm Deepcake, which makes …

The Verge reports: A prototype all-electric passenger plane took off for the first time yesterday in a test flight that marks a significant milestone for carbon pollution-free aviation. The nine-passenger commuter aircraft called Alice took off at 7:10AM yesterday from Washington state’s Grant County International Airport. Alice is ahead of much of the pack when it comes to all-electric aircraft …

Space.com report: NASA is just days away from slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth. The agency’s long-awaited Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission will impact with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Monday (Sept. 26), if all goes according to plan. The DART mission launched on Nov. 23, 2021 on top of a …

Reuters reports: Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk blamed overreliance on factory robots for sending the electric carmaker to “production hell” four years ago, saying humans were better at certain jobs. My, how times have changed. Musk’s Texas company now is floating ambitious plans to deploy thousands of humanoid robots, known as Tesla Bot or Optimus, within its factories, expanding eventually …

CNET reports: The iPhone 14 packs a 6.1-inch display, while the iPhone 14 Plus has a 6.7-inch screen. There are five colors, two rear cameras, and “all-day” battery life. The A15 Bionic powers the show, which Apple says is 18% faster. Both devices feature similar outer casings to the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models. Pricing for the iPhone 14 …

Via press release from the FTC: The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against data broker Kochava Inc. for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that can be used to trace the movements of individuals to and from sensitive locations. Kochava’s data can reveal people’s visits to reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic …

The New York Times reports: California is expected to put into effect on Thursday its sweeping plan to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a groundbreaking move that could have major effects on the effort to fight climate change and accelerate a global transition toward electric vehicles. “This is huge,” said Margo Oge, an electric vehicles expert …

Ars Technica reports: A new report from market measurement firm Nielsen says that for the first time, TV viewers watched more on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ than they did on cable TV, making streaming the most popular way to consume content. The shift has been predicted by analysts and commentators for years, but it has only now come …

Bloomberg News reports: Apple Inc. is aiming to hold a launch event on Sept. 7 to unveil the iPhone 14 line, according to people with knowledge of the matter, rolling out the latest version of a product that generates more than half its sales. The new iPhones will kick off a busy fall product season, which will also include multiple …

Vice News reports: At a Russian arms fair this week, a developer showed off their new creation, and the logical next step of the robot arms race: a Boston Dynamics-style dog robot with an RPG strapped to its back. A video uploaded by RIA Novosti, a Russian-state owned news agency, shows the robot in action, in which the robot tiptoes …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of false advertising in its promotion of the company’s signature Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies. The agency alleges the electric carmaker misled customers with advertising language on its website describing Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies as more capable than they actually are. The company “made or …

Ars Technica reports: Attorneys general from all 50 states have created an Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force “to investigate and take legal action against the telecommunications companies responsible for bringing a majority of foreign robocalls into the United States,” they announced yesterday. In the task force’s first action, it “issued 20 civil investigative demands to 20 gateway providers and other entities …

Gothamist reports: “Getting on the subway” may no longer be a valid excuse to stop responding to those work messages. The MTA announced on Tuesday a plan to provide cell service between stations and expand Wi-Fi to its above-ground stations and Staten Island Railway stations. To complete the decade-long project, the agency is again partnering with 5G wireless infrastructure company …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Elon Musk engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin, prompting the Google co-founder to file for divorce earlier this year and ending the tech billionaires’ long friendship, according to people familiar with the matter. Their falling out is one of a string of personal issues Mr. Musk has faced …