Geek News

Broadcom clearly isn't taking Qualcomm's "no" for an answer. Reuters sources have claimed that the wireless chip giant is about to raise its takeover bid for Qualcomm from $70 per share to between $80 and $82 per share -- a huge increase for a deal that would have already set records . It would also include a "higher-than-usual" breakup fee in case regulators put the kibosh on the merger. While details are reportedly in flux, Broadcom would announce the sweeter offer on February 5th. Neither company has commented so far. This might work. Qualcomm originally rebuffed Broadcom because its first offer "significantly undervalues" a company that's considered a cornerstone of the cellular world. At the same time, this wouldn't address all of Qualcomm's gripes. Broadcom has sworn that it could wrap up a deal within a year, but Qualcomm has said it would more likely take 18 months and could easily run into trouble. A unified company wou...

Hulu’s live TV subscription service cut off the end of tonight’s Super Bowl in some markets during the climactic final moments of the Eagles/Patriots game. Tom Brady was making a last-ditch push down the field in hopes of tying the 41-33 contest when Hulu customers lost all video and audio from NBC and U.S. Bank Stadium. Instead of seeing the game’s ending, users were met with an error screen. Error messages ranged from “no content available” to one that said the game couldn’t be shown due to rights restrictions. . @hulu_support Your stream went down due to "rights restrictions" in the last minute of the game. This is completely unacceptable. — Alex Boniello (@AlexBoniello) February 5, 2018 Complaints immediately surged on Twitter. T... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nH18dI"

The Super Bowl briefly went dark tonight after what NBC has attributed to a "brief equipment failure" during a commercial break in the first half. Instead of any ads, viewers just saw a black screen. NBC claims that no commercial time nor game time was missed. If it had lost ad time, the seconds could have cost millions of ad dollars, considering a 30-second spot has been quoted to cost $5 million. From NBC Sports spokesperson: "We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time were missed." — NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) February 5, 2018 Users of the NBC app or NBC’s livestream on its website also experienced other difficulties tonight, such as seeing several commercial breaks where the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EdHrV9"

South Korean authorities are adopting some pretty high-tech security measures for the upcoming Winter Olympics , including the deployment of drone-catching-drones and a tactical plane with facial recognition . The drones they're using to patrol the event won't chase away rogue drones that get too close to the venues: they'll cast nets to catch any UAV that shows up on the the security team's radar. More than being worried about photographers taking unauthorized photos of the games, the Pyeongchang Olympics anti-Terrorism and Safety team are apparently concerned about the possibility of terrorists using drones to drop or plant bombs. In fact, team members have also been training to shoot drones out of the sky, in case their own drones aren't enough. North Korea's participation in the games make it less likely for the country to attack, but it's clear that authorities want to be prepared -- after all, terrorists typically attack huge crowds. While the tea...

While Netflix dropped a day-and-date trailer for its Cloverfield flick, HBO has a more traditional reveal for season two of Westworld . Its Super Bowl spot (the first one HBO has ever aired for a specific series) showed off the network's "most-watched freshman series ever" with some new scenes that were interesting without revealing too much about where the show will go. Source: HBO (YouTube) , HBO (Medium) via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2EbQplZ"

The iPhone X's early teething troubles have largely gone away, but there's a lingering problem for some owners... and it's a fairly serious one. Users have reported that the iPhone X's touchscreen won't turn on for several seconds when there's an incoming call, preventing them from answering or seeing who's on the other line. Complaints started surfacing in December, but the issue has persisted until now. The cause isn't clear, although reboots and other typical troubleshooting steps don't appear to address it. There's also no indication of the scale of the problem, although it doesn't appear to be common. Apple told Engadget that it's "looking into these reports." The call flaw probably won't put much of a dent in iPhone X sales . It's not what you want to see in a premium smartphone, however. It also suggests that Apple's rumored emphasis on stability in iOS 12 would be coming at a good time. While this is...

Last year Netflix's Super Bowl ad focused on a season of Stranger Things we still had months to wait for, but this year things are different. The streaming company dropped a surprise 30-second teaser for The Cloverfield Paradox , a sequel to the 2008 monster movie that will be available for viewing worldwide tonight, after the game. Source: Netflix (YouTube) via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2E2Y6f2"

A vast Mayan megalopolis apparently lies hidden underneath all the trees, creepers and centuries of growth and soil in the Guatemalan forest -- and we might never have found it if not for the wonders of laser technology. The PACUNAM Foundation , which champions the use of scientific research to preserve cultural heritage, has scanned the jungles in the country using Light Detection and Ranging ( LiDAR ) technology and found an interconnected network of ancient cities. They discovered 60,000 previously unknown structures without having to cut down a single plant, and that discovery changes many things we thought we knew about the ancient civilization. The sheer size of the megalopolis suggests that Mayan populations were bigger than we thought. Previous estimates put the Mayan people's population at around 5 million, but now it's possible that there were 10 to 15 million of them. The fact that the team discovered houses, pyramids, palaces and elevated highways even though Ma...

If you were hoping to get in on the Bitcoin craze using your credit card, you might be out of luck. Three major banks have said that they won’t allow cryptocurrency purchases on their credit cards, according to a report from Bloomberg . Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup each confirmed to Bloomberg that they were halting transactions involving digital currency with their credit cards, although Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess says that customers can still use their debit cards. Capital One and Discover have previously said that they won’t allow their cards to be used for cryptocurrency transactions. Bloomberg notes that digital currencies can be a problem for lenders if customers can’t repay loans, or if stolen cards... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2E1ZA94"

Fake Apple devices have been making the rounds for years, but it's rare that they have much sway in the US -- although it looks like one team of bootleggers had a surprising amount of success. Jianhua Li, a Chinese man living in the US on a student visa, has pleaded guilty to charges he trafficked in more than 40,000 counterfeit electronic devices from China between 2009 and 2014, including iPads and iPhones. All told, he received a whopping $1.1 million in payments -- no mean feat for several years of contraband. He wasn't alone in the plot, either, and the scheme was relatively elaborate. Three others (Andreina Becerra, Rosario LaMarca and Roberto Volpe) working with Li have already pleaded guilty. The group tried hard to disguise their activities, according to the Justice Department -- they shipped the counterfeit labels separate from the devices to avoid border control, and used carefully crafted money deposits and transfers to hide the source of the ill-gotten revenue...

Mark Zuckerburg founded Facebook on February 4th in his dorm room at Harvard, and the company celebrates the anniversary with its self-proclaimed “Friends Day.” As it has in the past , the company is allowing users to commemorate the day by singling out friends and this year, users can give one another a “Friend Award,” with a variety of superlatives such as “Always Has My Back,” “Big-Hearted”, “Bestie,” and more. The feature allows you to select a friend, their picture, and a template with a variety of descriptive options. The final result features the image with a bit of animation that you can post to your wall. Users can then go back and create others for other friends. In addition to the “Friend Awards,” the company also released... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2E17cZF"

Earlier this year, Spotify announced that it had 70 million paying subscribers , reaffirming its place as the number one streaming service in the world, with Apple Music a distant second with 30 million as of September last year . In a new report in The Wall Street Journal , it appears that Apple is gaining subscribers at a higher rate in the United States, and will surpass Spotify for the number one spot this summer. Globally, Spotify remains ahead, but Apple is growing at a higher rate in the US — five percent a month verses Spotify’s two percent per month. The US is the largest market for music streaming with 30 million paying subscribers , and Apple’s growth there means that it’s becoming a serious challenger to Spotify. Globally,... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2E2QK6X"

By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter , where you can find reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After running more than 90 cleaning cycles with 14 of the most promising robot vacuums in 2017, we think the EcoVacs Deebot N79 is the best choice for most people who want a basic, affordable bot that can actually keep their floors tidy. How we picked and tested Our 2017 finalists (starting at the top, left to right): iLife A4s, Monoprice Strata Smartvac 2.0, Samsung Powerbot R7070, LG Hom-Bot Turbo+, iRobot Roomba 690, iRobot Roomba 960, EcoVacs Deebot N79, Eufy RoboVac 11. Photo: Liam McCabe Since 2013, we've tracked 121 robot vacuum models, though many are now discontinued. We prioritize bots with these baseline specs: A brush roll. Robot vacuums don't have much suction, so they need a b...

Tesla isn't done bolstering Australia's power grid just because its giant battery farm is up and running. South Australia premier Jay Weatherill has unveiled a partnership that will provide 5kW solar panels and Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries to "at least" 50,000 homes in a bid to create the largest-ever " virtual power plant ," where homes contribute their surplus energy to the grid. The move will theoretically stabilize the Australian state's electricity infrastructure, reducing the blackouts and surging prices that have plagued the region in recent times. The initiative will start with a trial in 1,100 public housing homes. The panels and batteries won't carry any up-front charge for the participating households, South Australia said -- instead, it'll be funded both through selling electricity as well as through government funds. Officials will provide both a $2 million Australian ($1.6 million US) grant as well as a $30 million Australian (...

Today's Deal: Save 60% on Birthdays the Beginning !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Tuesday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2EI9KsV"

Researchers have identified more than 60,000 previously unknown structures in northern Guatemala after extensive aerial LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) surveys. Their findings show that the region’s pre-Columbian civilization was “far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed,” according to National Geographic . Scientists mapped more than 800 square miles of Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, and uncovered an extensive network of previously-unknown structures, quarries, farmland, and roads. Based on the data, researchers believe that the region supported an advanced civilization on par with that of ancient Greece or China, rather than a series of isolated city-states. Tulane University archaeologist... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2E0b7Sm"

Spotify's lead in paid music streaming might not be as impregnable as it looks. The Wall Street Journal has obtained industry figures suggesting that Apple Music is growing faster than Spotify in the US, adding 5 percent to its base every month versus 'just' 2 percent for Spotify. If that rate continues, Apple could surpass its rival in the country during the summer. There are other numbers to suggest Apple is catching up, for that matter. It won't shock you to hear that Apple Music has "three to four times" more trial subscribers than Spotify, since that's the only way to listen before you subscribe -- there's no parallel to Spotify's free, ad-supported offering. Spotify's lead is much smaller once you omit trials, however. And as the WSJ points out, those who fully intend to pay for Apple Music still have to go through the trial period like everyone else. The trials mask the true growth rates in that regard. There's no specific exp...

It was a week of taking stock as the President meandered his way through the State of the Union address and a number of tech firms reviewed their Q4 earnings. Alphabet and Amazon both had something to crow about, while Apple and GoPro both posted less than stellar holiday sales. Numbers, because how else would we realized that, at this point, the rules are made up and the points don't matter? 77.3 million : That's how many iPhones Apple sold during the 2017 holiday season , down from 78.3 million a year ago. Sure, that's only a 1.3 percent drop but its evidence that Apple's stranglehold on the smartphone market might be slipping. $1.8 billion : That's how much GoPro earned in 2017 , roughly the same as what it did the year before. However, the company did also post a net loss for the year of approximately $183 million and does not expect to return to profitability before the end of summer. $1.9 billion : And that's how much Amazon made -- last quarter -...

Bob and Ben are back to automate their workbench, with the help of Raspberry Pi and Amazon's Alexa. The idea, ultimately, is to help you to work hands free using only your voice, whether that means taking readings from a multimeter or controlling and taking screenshots from an Oscilloscope. Using the Python programming language, Ben and Bob can also control the Raspberry Pi GPIO to turn bits on and and off, and even experiment with controlling power outlets. What else would you think about automating? Let us know over on the element14 Community . via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2ny12Gb"