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Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck just made history, and not in a good way. It has lost around $534 million worth of NEM tokens, one of the lesser-known cryptocurrencies, after its network was hacked on January 25th, 12:57pm EST. The attackers remained undetected for eight hours, giving them enough time to steal 523 million tokens kept in a "hot wallet," a type of storage that's connected to the internet for easy spending. While the exact value of the stolen coins are unclear due to the ever-changing nature of cryptocurrency -- it's $400 million at the very least -- Coincheck might have already lost more than what Mt. Gox did a few years ago. Mt. Gox, which was also based in Shibuya like Coincheck, was the victim of another massive cryptocurrency theft back in 2014. It lost between $400 and $480 million from the heist, prompting Japan's legislators to pass a law to regulate bitcoin exchanges. Despite the comparable figures, Coincheck's hack ...

Songwriters just claimed a major victory in the fight for better pay from streaming giants like Apple and Spotify. The US Copyright Royalty Board has ruled for an increase in songwriter rates that will give them a 43.8 percent pay raise over the next 5 years. They also won't have to jump through hoops to figure out how much they're owed: they'll claim either a percentage of revenue or the total content costs, whichever pays the most. There are no longer caps on writer rates, for that matter. This isn't exactly what writers wanted. They were hoping to be paid per stream, which would give them a direct stake in the success of a popular tune. However, the National Music Publishers Association's David Israelite called it the "best songwriters have ever had" under the current compulsory license system. There's no guarantee this will make writers happy. Musicians frequently complain about low royalties from streaming services, and songwriters frequent...

Saudi Arabia has released almost a hundred people detained on corruption allegations, and one of them is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The billionaire prince known as the "Arabian Warren Buffet" is one of the tech's biggest investors and known for having stakes in various tech corporations. His current and former investments include Apple, Amazon, AOL, eBay, HP, Twitter and Lyft. bin Talal was arrested in November when the government launched a massive crackdown on corruption and confined at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. The other detainees were released after reaching financial settlements -- authorities expect to raise $100 billion from them -- but it's unclear if bin Talal also offered to pay. With a net worth of around $17 billion, the prince can definitely afford to. But he told Reuters in an interview hours before he was released that he's "continuing to maintain his innocence of any corruption in talks with authorities." He said his confinement w...

When Microsoft killed its Band wearables , a leak emerged of what was believed to be the cancelled third-generation model. Well, it's real -- and it says a lot about what Microsoft was thinking before it pulled the plug. Windows Central has obtained a Band 3 prototype and given it a shakedown to see how well it would have worked. True to the rumors, the biggest deals were the additions of waterproofing, swim tracking and (most importantly) an electrocardiogram sensor to track your blood pressure. We now know that the Band 3 could tell if you were stressed out, check your body temperature or otherwise track your health beyond fundamentals like heart rate and calorie burn. This was also going to address some of the Band 2's design issues. The Band 3's clasp was much thinner, so you'd have an easier time slipping it under a shirt cuff. It appeared to be sturdier, too. And charging was considerably faster -- you'd have a full charge in an hour instead of the 1.5 ...

One of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges has revealed that it’s lost nearly $400 million in a security breach. Coincheck says that it has restricted deposits and withdrawals for a cryptocurrency called NEM, and Bloomberg reports that 500 million NEM tokens have been sent from the company “illicitly,” and that it’s not sure how. The company has since suspended most trading and withdrawals, and is working to trace where the missing digital currency ended up. In a Tweet , the exchange said that it was considering compensating those who lost money. NEM is a digital currently like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin, and is presently the eight largest cryptocurrency by volume . TechCrunch describes the currency as a “distributed ledger... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2DS6Gfr"

If you want a good barometer of how far Amazon Alexa has come, you just need to look at the company's teaser for its Super Bowl LII ad. Where Amazon's first-ever Super Bowl commercial was eager to sell you on the still-unproven Echo using as much star power as possible, the biggest star (so far) in the teaser is Jeff Bezos -- you know, the company's own CEO. The clip has Bezos giving the tentative go-ahead for a sketchy Alexa replacement after the AI assistant loses her voice. Both the inclusion of Bezos and the very subject of the ad (a national panic caused by the absence of Alexa) show the kind of confidence Amazon has going into 2018. The 2016 ad reflected Alexa's young state. The Echo had only been on the market for slightly over a year, and Amazon had to explain the product to a public that had never heard of a smart speaker. Flash forward to 2018 and it's a different story -- Alexa is seemingly everywhere, including new Echo speakers , cars , and thermos...

Apple has released its first ads for its upcoming speaker system, HomePod, which put the focus on the speaker’s place in the home as an audio device, featuring dynamic text set to the likes of Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA” and Big Boi’s “All Night.” The ads are quintessentially Apple: short and dynamic. The company’s use of Lamar’s “DNA” — a song about black identity in an oppressive society — feels telling. The lyrics “I got loyalty,” seem like it’s more about the loyalty of its customers, who will be taking a chance on the device as the company wades into an already crowded field. Apple opened preorders for the $349 device earlier this week, and it’s expected to start shipping on February 9th. Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2rIjQXz"

Got a few bucks sitting in HQ Trivia limbo these past couple of months? You'll be happy to hear this, then: the app no longer requires a minimum balance for withdrawal. You can get your prize money no matter how small it is, so you don't have to endlessly try to win again and again just to be able to collect $20. HQ Trivia, which debuted to great success late last year, is a trivia app that takes on a gameshow format. Gameplay is live, and you can only play at specific times twice a day. While you do win real money if you get all the answers in a round correctly, the app made it incredibly tough to collect. In addition to the $20 minimum, you'll also have make a withdrawal within 90 days or lose what you've already won. As anybody who's ever played HQ Trivia will tell you, it's not easy to win multiple times, and it's even harder to rack up prizes. Although each round's prize money is worth thousands of dollars, there are so many players that each w...

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HBO's version of Westworld seems tailor-made for a video game: it's a fully-realized robot theme park with plenty of opportunities for disaster. And sure enough, you're about to get one. In the wake of a teaser on the website of the show's fictitious Delos Incorporated, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has confirmed to Engadget that a mobile game is in development. It's not saying much about the mechanics of the game itself, but it's working with Dead by Daylight developer Behavior Interactive and the TV series' Kilter Films. The title is "currently being tested in limited release," a spokesperson said. The teaser itself may offer enough clues as it is. It describes a "Delos Park Training Simulation" that has you managing a "miniature Westworld," ranging from creating and caring for hosts (i.e. robots) to "managing guest satisfaction." Naturally, you can expect problems with robots that don't follow the...

Last October, Google unveiled a new camera : Clips, a small device that uses artificial intelligence to take the right picture when it sees something interesting. The company hasn’t said much about the device, but it quietly began selling it today. The camera costs $249 and comes with free shipping, but at this point, Google appears to have stopped taking orders for the device. It’s directing potential customers to jump on a wait list, and will e-mail them a notification when the device is available again. According to Engadget , those who were able to place an order for one saw delivery dates ranging from February 27th to March 5th. We’ve reached out to Google to find out when the company will begin taking orders again, and we’ll update... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2DD506j"

The Apple HomePod is on its way. It’s been delayed for months, but while its arrival is exciting, Sonos is absolutely not going to let a young buck in the smart speaker game steal its thunder — even if it comes from Apple. After Apple announced that the HomePod would retail for $349, Sonos fired back immediately, announcing that for a limited time, you can now get two Sonos One smart speakers for $349. The Sonos is one of the best smart speakers on the market, and it’s a system that we’re already well familiar with. Get it before promotional stock runs out. There’s other big deals this week: if you’re still looking for a TV to watch the upcoming Super Bowl game, Samsung is still offering deep discounts on 4K and other HD TV models. A... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2DDUqMd"

The support shared between readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community . Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back the much-missed "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question revolves around creating a master music collection from a variety of sources. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! Regardless of format, I have long been a music collector. In the 80's I had a cassette collection in the hundreds, and in the 2000s my CD collection amounted to thousands of discs. Currently, my list...

DIY Two views are better than one. Want to add an extra computer monitor? The process doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive if you follow our advice. Here's how to double your display. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2DGYlZ2"

How Elton John's VR retirement announcement hit your headset Emma Grey Ellis, Wired If you haven't heard, music legend Sir Elton John announced his retirement and final tour this week in the most 2018 way possible: VR. Wired goes behind the scenes to get the details on how that montage was made before it beamed out to your headset. Brand new ballgame: A look at MLB's in-house development of 'R.B.I. Baseball 18' Samit Sarkar, Polygon MLB's Advanced Media arm does a lot of things -- from websites to streaming. It's also working on a video game and Polygon has a detailed look at the development. Spotify's scientist: Artificial intelligence should be embraced, not feared, by the music business Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide MBW caught up with the director of Spotify's Creator Technology Research Lab to chat about AI and how it relates to the future of the biz, including robot musicians. Artificial intelligence is goi...

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Welcome to the weekend! Google and Apple have new hardware to sell -- if you're willing to wait for it -- and we might have our first look at the Galaxy S9. How quickly do you need it? Google's $249 AI-powered Clips camera is finally on sale We got our first look at the Google Clips camera in October, and now it's available for you to buy. The tiny $249 camera shoots short videos and uses AI to find the best stills or motion photo highlights within before passing them to a connected phone. It's a very different approach to cameras, but if you're interested, then the first ones should arrive by the end of next month. But is it better than two Sonos Ones? Hands-on (again) with Apple's HomePod Seven months after his first impression with Apple's $349 smart speaker, Chris Velazco got a second look just as it became available for pre-orders . Facing competition from Amazon, Google and Sonos , he'll explain out ...

While Airbnb's focus will always likely be home rentals, it has big plans to grow Experiences this year. It's investing $5 million into expanding Experiences to 200 cities (from 50) across the US in an effort to entice more people to get up and travel. In its announcement , the company shared some growth figures related to the feature: It said global weekly guest booking are up over 2,000 percent since last year and that the number of Experiences are up by 500 percent. It now has 4,000 Experiences on offer around the world and 1,000 across 50 cities in the US. Whether that number would quadruple when Airbnb starts offering Experiences in 200 US cities remains to be seen. If it does, then it would be great source of income for the company, which takes a 20 percent cut from the activities listed on its website -- especially since a lot of them aren't cheap! As FastCompany notes, Airbnb is likely hoping that an Experience can persuade people living, say, a couple of towns...