Technology

TechCrunch reports: A number of high-profile Twitter accounts were simultaneously hacked on Wednesday by attackers who used the accounts — some with millions of followers — to spread a cryptocurrency scam. @apple had its account hacked to push the same scam, as well as Amazon co-founder @jeffbezos and Democratic presidential candidate @joebiden. Many other accounts were quickly hijacked, including @elonmusk. …

USA Today reports: Segway, which boldly claimed its two-wheeled personal transporter would revolutionize the way people get around, is ending production of its namesake vehicle. The Segway PT, popular with tourists and police officers but perhaps better known for its high-profile crashes, will be retired on July 15, the company said in a statement. The transportation revolution that inventor Dean …

CNBC reports: Amazon is testing a wearable device that notifies fulfillment center workers when they’re violating social distancing rules. The device is a clear plastic sleeve with a clip that features an LED light and audio system, according to a memo seen by CNBC. When workers are too close to one another, the wearable emits a loud beeping noise and …

The Associated Press reports: You can now buy one of those unnerving animal-like robots you might have seen on YouTube — so long as you don’t plan to use it to harm or intimidate anyone. Boston Dynamics on Tuesday started selling its four-legged Spot robots online for just under $75,000 each. The agile robots can walk, climb stairs and open …

Deadline reports: Wireless provider T-Mobile continued to battle phone outages Monday, which began in the mid-afternoon in several major U.S. markets and continued into the evening. The hardest-hit areas have been on the East Coast, including major cities like New York, Atlanta and Miami, as well as LA and Chicago, according to the tech-issue tracker DownDetector. Calls and some text …

Via press release from the FBI: The FBI advises the public to be cautious when downloading apps on smartphones and tablets, as some could be concealing malicious intent. Cyber actors target banking information using banking trojans, which are malicious programs that disguise themselves as other apps, such as games or tools. When the user launches a legitimate banking app, it …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Campaign staffers working on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been targeted with online attacks coming from Iran and China respectively, Google said Thursday. These so-called phishing attacks are often an attempt to gain access to online email accounts. They raise the specter of a repeat of the 2016 campaign, during …

CNN reports: Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley have officially arrived at the International Space Station. After a historic launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, the astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft synched up with the space station Sunday morning. The spacecraft made a careful approach, easing its way toward its destination over the course of 19 …

The New York Times reports: The United States opened a new era of human space travel on Saturday as a private company for the first time launched astronauts into orbit, nearly a decade after the government retired the storied space shuttle program in the aftermath of national tragedy. Two American astronauts lifted off at 3:22 p.m. from a familiar setting, …

Axios reports: At 3:22 p.m. ET today, SpaceX is expected to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station for the first time. Why it matters: The liftoff — should it go off without a hitch — will be the first time a private company has launched people to orbit. It will also bring crewed …

TechCrunch reports: SpaceX had just conducted yet another static fire test of the Raptor engine in its Starship SN4 prototype launch vehicle on Friday when the test vehicle exploded on the test stand in Boca Chica, Texas. This was the fourth static fire test of this engine on this prototype, so it’s unclear what went wrong vs. other static fire …

Yahoo News reports: Nearly nine years after the last space shuttle flew, NASA and SpaceX are counting down to the next launch to put astronauts into orbit from Florida. The launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will mark the first-ever use of a privately owned spaceship for a crewed orbital launch, and a renaissance …

Courthouse News reports: University researchers have developed and recorded the fastest internet data speed in the world from a single optical chip, holding the capacity to download 1,000 high-definition movies in a split second, according to new research revealed Friday. In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the world’s internet infrastructure has experienced increased pressure, heightened by the pandemic isolation …

USA Today reports: Apple and Google are releasing contact tracing technology to help public health officials develop mobile apps that can identify and test people who’ve spent time with or near someone infected with the coronavirus, the companies announced Wednesday. A number of U.S. states, including North Dakota and Alabama, and 22 countries have received access to the technology that …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Space Force launched a secret mission space plane into the stars Sunday morning, dedicating the flight to front-line workers and victims during the coronavirus pandemic. A rocket was used to carry the X-37B, a remote-operated space plane that uses solar power, which will orbit the Earth while carrying experiments into space. The Cape Canaveral launch …

Reuters reports: Electric car maker Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next that it expects will bring the cost of electric vehicles in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid. For months, Tesla …

BGR reports: Apple and Google have developed a standard API that authorities can use to create coronavirus contact tracing apps for specific countries or communities. These apps rely on a phone’s Bluetooth connectivity to ping nearby devices and create local records of that handshake. When one of those users reports they have been diagnosed COVID-19 positive, a database will record …

CNET reports: Google today said it’s making its teleconferencing service, called Google Meet, free to consumers. The move takes aim at Zoom, the rival video chat service that’s become a household name during the stay-at-home era spurred by the novel coronavirus. Previously, Meet was only available to paying customers of G Suite, Google’s line of enterprise apps that includes Gmail, …

Some relatively normal but still virus-related news: Apple announced a new, cheaper iPhone model on Wednesday, marking the first time it has launched a new phone without one of its glitzy in-person events as most of the country remains under shelter in place orders due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new, second-generation iPhone SE carries the same name as the …

The New York Times reports: In one of the most far-ranging attempts to halt the spread of the coronavirus, Apple and Google said they were building software into smartphones that would tell people if they were in recent contact with someone who was infected with the virus. The technology giants said they were teaming up to release the tool within …