Tag Archives: technology

CNBC reports: Online shopping led by Amazon hit a new milestone in February. The total market share of “non-store,” or online U.S. retail sales was higher than general sales for the first time in history, according to a report from the Commerce Department this week. Non-store retail sales last month accounted for 11.813 percent of the total, compared with 11.807 …

Fortune reports: Google lost an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. LGBTQ group, over an app tied to the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” to change a gay person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which had previously scored a perfect 100 on the annual Corporate Equality Index, will have its rating withheld until the …

Forbes reports: Drivers in Europe will soon have to get used to anti-speeding devices in their cars, after EU legislators agreed this morning on new legislation requiring them. The agreement came after months of often tense negotiations which pitted safety against freedom, and prompted concerns over “big brother” watching driving behavior. The legislation will require all new vehicles put on …

TechCrunch reports: Apple today unveiled a revamped Apple News app which now includes a premium tier called Apple News+, offering access to over 300 magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month. At launch, the subscription includes magazine titles like Bon Appétit, People, Vogue, National Geographic Magazine, ELLE, Glamour, and others, along with top publishers like The Wall Street Journal and …

CNET reports: Slick new gadgets are usually the stars of Apple’s splashy events. But on Monday, the company will put the spotlight on subscriptions and services. A star-studded new TV service is expected to headline Apple’s event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California. Apple will likely unveil a news subscription service built into a reimagined Apple News, as …

The Associated Press reports: Facebook left millions of user passwords readable by its employees for years, the company acknowledged Thursday after a security researcher exposed the lapse. By storing passwords in readable plain text, Facebook violated fundamental computer-security practices. Those call for organizations and websites to save passwords in a scrambled form that makes it almost impossible to recover the …

NBC News reports: Twitter has offered the public its first look at a new prototype for the Twitter app, which the company is calling “twttr” in a nod to CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, that includes a variety of changes to how Twitter looks and operates, centered on a new format for conversations and color-coded replies. The prototype …

ZDNet reports: A new mobile app described as the “Yelp for conservatives” is leaking user records and business reviews, according to a French security researcher. According to Baptiste Robert, a French security researcher who goes online under the pseudonym of Elliot Anderson (the name of the main character from the Mr. Robot TV show about hackers), the 63red Safe app …

Reuters reports: Apple Inc on Monday invited media to a March 25 event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, where it is expected to launch a television and video service. Sources previously told Reuters that the company is targeting April for the launch of a streaming television service that will likely include subscription TV service. …

Inside EVs reports: Sono Motors revealed series design of the Sion, electric car that probably will be the first series-produced EV with full-surface solar integration. The solar cells can generate enough electricity per day to cover an additional 34 km (21 miles), but that’s a best-case scenario in the summer months in Munich. The average result will be over 20 …

Next Gov reports: Google failed to mention that there’s a microphone inside its Nest Secure home device product and three Senate Republicans say Americans need to know more. Nest owners were caught by surprise earlier this month, when the company announced on its Twitter that users could activate a microphone within the Nest that would enable new features. Though the …

Wired reports: When the lip-syncing app Musical.ly first exploded in popularity nearly four years ago, it was best known for being a teen sensation. But according to the Federal Trade Commission, the app also illegally collected information from children under the age of 13. The agency announced Wednesday that Musical.ly, now known as TikTok, has agreed to pay a $5.7 …

CNET reports: The foldable future is finally here, and it’s called the Galaxy Fold. Samsung on Wednesday showed off the new foldable phone during its Unpacked event in San Francisco. The device has a 4.6 inch display when folded, and a full 7.3 inch display when unfolded into a tablet. The phone will be available April 26 at a starting …

Science Daily reports: In a study with significant implications for human organ transplantation, researchers have successfully grown functional mouse kidneys inside rats from just a few donor stem cells. The results of the study, led by researchers from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature Communications. For patients with end-stage …

Engadget reports: USB chargers and devices are universally accessible and easy to use, but they come with a host of potential security risks, namely the spread of malware from infected devices, and data leakage should a device fall into the wrong hands. Now, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) — the big dog in the advancement of USB tech — has …

The New York Times reports: For years, Facebook gave some of the world’s largest technology companies more intrusive access to users’ personal data than it has disclosed, effectively exempting those business partners from its usual privacy rules, according to internal records and interviews. The special arrangements are detailed in hundreds of pages of Facebook documents obtained by The New York …

Engadget reports: Because we live in a world where we can’t have nice things, package theft is a real problem, and in recent times unscrupulous individuals stealing parcels from porches have prompted police sting operations, as well as longer-term tech innovation, such as Amazon’s smart locks. But neither of these things do a whole lot for theft victims longing for …

NPR reports: Apple plans to build a 133-acre campus in Austin, Texas, that will cost $1 billion and employ 5,000 new workers, the company announced Thursday. The company says the move is expected to make it the largest private employer in Austin. Apple already employs more people in Austin, some 6,200 workers, than it does in any other city outside …

The Verge reports: On a party-line vote, the FCC today approved a controversial measure that gives mobile phone carriers more power over text messages. The agency’s Republican leadership has pushed for the measure, which would classify text messaging as an information service. The move will give carriers leeway to stop spam texts without fear of breaking the law, Chairman Ajit …

The Guardian reports: A “hi-tech robot” shown on Russian state television has turned out to be a man in a suit. Russia-24 praised the ersatz android during coverage of a youth forum dedicated to robotics, boasting that “Robot Boris has already learned to dance and he’s not that bad”. But sharp-eyed bloggers were dubious. The Russian website TJournal listed questions …