Geek News

So… guys? Can we talk about something for a second? It’s day 4 of Waymo v. Uber and I’m still not entirely clear on what Waymo’s case is. Yes, it’s a case where a former Google engineer absconded with over 9 gigabytes of data, transferred it to his laptop, backed it up onto disks that he put in his closet, sent texts about shredding evidence, and deleted texts about shredding evidence, and is also now expected to invoke the Fifth Amendment on the stand. And yes, when Uber acquired his company, it indemnified him for intellectual property claims as part of the acquisition. But even with all that , I’m not sure Waymo is going to win, because I can’t figure out the case they’re putting on. It’s a trade secrets case, and because trade... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2siAyxg"

Animals An elongated spine is just as useful as a pair of arms and legs Although it seems strange to us, snakes’ lack of legs mean that they have evolved numerous fantastic techniques to survive, making ingenious use of their cylindrical… via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2BNHQwC"

Apple is acting erratically when third-party apps make use of its emoji set outside the keyboard, causing confusion among developers over an apparent change in how its rules are enforced. Apple owns the copyright for its emoji, which became a global phenomenon in 2011 when it introduced a dedicated keyboard for them . But until very recently, developers used Apple emoji liberally outside of the keyboard — as decorations inside their apps, and in screenshots and other promotional materials. Apple has not responded to repeated requests for comment. WhatsApp and Slack are among the major developers that have changed their emoji in recent weeks in response to pressure, as Emojipedia noted this week . Ryan Nystrom, an engineer at Instagram who... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2FZkFgS"

It's been a little more than four years since Google acquired Nest for $3.2 billion , and now both co-founders have left the company. Former CEO Tony Fadell departed in 2016 to be replaced by former cable exec Marwan Fawaz, followed today by co-founder and chief product officer Matt Rogers. In a tweet, Rogers said that after nine years spent building Nest he's "decided to begin my transition to dedicate more of my time to Incite.org, as well as to start thinking about the next adventure." The announcement also comes just a day after Google announced that Nest will join forces with its other hardware teams , which hardware VP Rick Osterloh said would "supercharge Nest's mission." While Rogers specifically cited spending more time working on his venture firm Incite, the timing comes as Google takes more control over the "thoughtful home" products Nest sells. After the acquisition, Fadell promised not to force any privacy changes and the com...

A portion of iOS’s source code was leaked online yesterday and quickly removed after Apple filed a takedown notice with GitHub, where the code was posted. The leak, which was first reported by Motherboard , was for an iOS process named “iBoot” that starts up the system when you first turn on your iPhone and ensures the code being run is valid and originates from Apple. It was posted to GitHub at this link , which is now down. The leak could allow hackers to discover iOS vulnerabilities more easily and make creating iPhone jailbreaks simpler, even in the face of Apple’s tightened security measures . Although the code has now been taken down, there are still backups of it circulating on the web, as mentioned by a post on r/jailbreak . Jonathan... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EbPVNj"

The Cloverfield Paradox isn't the only sci-fi movie Netflix has saved from Hollywood purgatory. Variety has discovered that Netflix bought the worldwide rights to Extinction , a sci-fi thriller from Universal starring Lizzy Caplan and Michael Pena. The studio was originally slated to have released the alien invasion flick on January 26th, but took it off its release schedule just two months prior -- not exactly a resounding vote of confidence. The title is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime later in 2018. The movie stars Caplan and Pena as a couple, with Pena plagued by recurring nightmares of losing his family. Naturally, the invasion makes that threat real and forces Pena's character to gather his resolve. Familiar Netflix star Mike Colter ( Luke Cage ) plays a role, although that's not likely to have influenced the decision. We've asked Netflix if it can comment on the reported acquisition. This is the second movie that Netflix has rescued in a matter o...

Octogeddon is Now Available on Steam and is 8% off!* You ARE Octogeddon , a massive mutant octopus with one mission: DESTROY the world! Grow more tentacles and evolve each of them into deadlier and deadlier weapons until you become the ultimate eight-legged killing machine! *Offer ends February 15 at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2FYSJtz"

Nest co-founder Matt Rogers announced on Twitter today that he’ll be leaving the smart home company . The news comes just a day after Nest — which has worked as a separate Alphabet subsidiary for the last three years — rejoined Google in order to better compete against Apple and Amazon and allow better collaboration amongst Google’s AI-powered hardware. The news was first reported by CNET . In addition to co-founding the smart home company alongside former Apple product guru Tony Fadell, Rogers also served as chief product officer at Nest. Rogers will be working with Google’s hardware teams to help ensure that Nest transitions smoothly back into Google and to help plan out the company’s 2019 roadmap. But his loss will surely have... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nOYRhq"

HBO has already brought one hit podcast ( 2 Dope Queens ) to its slate of comedy specials this year, so it makes sense they'd look to another one for new content. Pod Save America will bring the hosts (and maybe the format) of its twice-weekly political podcast to the network with a new series of specials. Co-hosts will include Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer and National Security spokesperson Tommy Vietor, as well as Jon Lovett, a producer for HBO's political drama, The Newsroom . The HBO version of Pod Save America will consist of four hour-long specials that will focus on the 2018 midterm elections. The podcast itself debuted when Donald Trump was inaugurated in January of last year, and has garnered 175 million downloads with guests like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. "The best part of Pod Save America is taking the show on the road and meeting activists, candidates and people w...

Earlier this week, a Reuters report suggested that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had halted its investigation into last year's massive Equifax data breach . Reuters sources said that even basic steps expected in such a probe hadn't been taken and efforts had stalled since Mick Mulvaney (pictured above) took over as head of the CFPB late last year. Now, 31 Democratic senators and one Independent have written a letter to Mulvaney asking if that is indeed the case and if so, why. Reuters sources said that Mulvaney has neither ordered subpoenas against Equifax nor collected any sworn testimony from company executives. Additionally, reviews of how Equifax protects its data and on-site cybersecurity exams of other credit bureaus -- which the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all offered to assist with -- have been put on hold. The bank regulators who had offered to help were reportedly told that the...

Broadcom will have to try again in its bid to take over Qualcomm . The Snapdragon chip-maker has rejected a revised proposal to buy all of its outstanding shares, stating that it "materially undervalues Qualcomm and falls well short of the firm regulatory commitment the Board would demand given the significant downside risk of a failed transaction." As a refresher, Broadcom had originally offered to pay $130 billion to acquire all of Qualcomm back in November. That sum was rejected, so Broadcom followed up this month with a revised proposal that valued Qualcomm's shares at $82 each. Clearly, Qualcomm's board of directors don't think this is enough. In its statement confirming the rejection, Qualcomm "offered to meet with Broadcom to see if it can address the serious deficiencies in value and certainty in its proposal." If this meeting does happen and the two parties can agree on a price, then perhaps third time may be the charm. This story is deve...

Over a year ago, I wrote this post about a tiny DIY Game Boy that could fit on a keychain, saying that I would like to buy it . It took some time, but here we are now with the PocketSprite , a polished, commercial version of the original keychain Game Boy. This is a collaboration between the original’s creator, Jeroen Domburg (Sprite_tm), and manufactuer Steve K. The PocketSprite is looking for funding over at crowdfunding site Crowd Supply . The PocketSprite looks like a more polished version of the original, hacked together version that Domburg created, but internally it seems to be packing the same specs: an OLED screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a rechargeable battery, and a built-in speaker. It’s powered off a dual-core, 240 MHz ESP32 chip and... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nNkoaj"

The fight against online hate speech and harassment continues to gain momentum. Twitter's new policies against such behavior went live last November, while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg began the new year with a new pledge to combat abuse and hate, too. Now video game live-streaming platform Twitch has updated its community guidelines to be clearer about what constitutes harassment, hate speech, and sexual content, which are all already prohibited. The new rules will go into effect February 19th at 9:00 AM Pacific Time. Last year, Twitch pivoted to allow more non-gaming content on its service. Since then, Twitch says that it's gotten complaints that its guidelines weren't clear or strong enough. "Today's update focuses on our anti-harassment and sexual content policies," the company wrote on its blog. "Our goal is to increase clarity, strength, and consistency across our entire moderation framework, as well as the frequency and level of detail of ...

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here . InFocus ScreenPlay SP1080 Projector Street Price: $500; Deal Price: $400 At $400, this is the lowest price we've seen for the InFocus ScreenPlay SP1080 in over a year. While we saw some great pricing around Black Friday of 2016, we didn't note similar drops this year as this projector, for whatever reason, has largely hovered around $500. Discounted to $400, at $100 cheaper, it's a good value when compared to the pricing we're seeing for our top pick in the category, the BenQ TH670, and our other recommendation, the even more expensive BenQ HT2050. The InFocus ScreenPlay SP1080 Projector is our runner-up pick in our guide to the best cheap projector . Chris Heinonen wrote, "If the TH670 isn't available and you do...

For the second year, Blizzard has launched a seasonal event to celebrate the Lunar New Year. As promised in a Developer Update video earlier this week, players get a new Thailand-inspired map and competitive mode for Capture The Flag, as well as new skins. There are a couple more changes, too -- including, at long last, the ability to change your hero's outfit at the start of the match. Let the Overwatch #LunarNewYear celebration...begin! Here's to happiness, prosperity, good fortune, and great fun. 🎆🏮 https://t.co/0EioiAeodV pic.twitter.com/aWvShLkA4S — Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) February 8, 2018 Since the inaugural Lunar New Year event introduced the Capture The Flag mode, it's only fitting that this year's would build on it. The new map Ayutthaya, the first made exclusively for CTF, has a look split between an ancient temple on one side and modern buildings on the other. Teams can't tie anymore, either: Should time run out while the score is t...

Since the first 5G standard was approved two months ago , the industry has been racing to deliver next-generation mobile data to the world. Qualcomm made two announcements today that show us real-world 5G is almost here. First, it revealed a slew of consumer electronics companies that have committed to making 5G-ready mobile devices starting in 2019, using Qualcomm's X50 5G modem . This list includes LG, Sony Mobile, HTC, ASUS, Xiaomi, ZTE, Netgear and more. Don't forget, Samsung also announced a partnership with Qualcomm last month to work on 5G technology through the next few years. But what use are 5G-ready devices if the carriers haven't rolled out support? Not much. The good news, that Qualcomm also announced today , is that 18 mobile operators around the world will be testing 5G networks on the same X50 modem. US participants include AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint, while major players elsewhere like Vodafone, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Docomo and China...

Sasha 'Scarlett' Hostyn is one of the most skilled and successful women in eSports, and she just won a major StarCraft 2 tournament. Not just any competition, either: An Intel Extreme Masters ( IEM ) tournament was held in Pyeongchang ahead of this weekend's Winter Olympics and, most importantly, is the first competition backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In other words, as Polygon pointed out, Scarlett became the first female winner of a big international StarCraft 2 tournament, which itself is a promising foray in eSports and Olympic collaboration. Scarlett plays for Team Expert in Canada and has been lauded for her success -- even making the Guinness World Records as the highest-earning female player back in 2016, and has earned over $200,000 in winnings over her career, Polygon noted. Her victory at IEM is additionally notable given she was the only woman to compete this year. Wouldn't be the winter olympics without a Canadian victory ...

When Snap first started selling its video-recording glasses, the hype was real . The company had only focused on software before that, and was dipping its toe into hardware with a relatively simple product . Add to that the device's limited availability via sporadic pop-up stores, and Spectacles fever spread rapidly. But hype alone cannot sustain a business. A year and a half later, with 150,000 Spectacles sold and hundreds of thousands reportedly languishing in warehouses , the furor has officially died out, apparently along with Snap's hardware ambitions. Although Snap minimized risk by keeping Spectacles supplies low and not stuffing the device full of superfluous tech, exploring a category it had little experience in was still a bold undertaking. Snap recognized this, admitting in its IPO that it has "limited manufacturing experience." But the company also said in the same document that it's comfortable waiting, "sometimes for a long time", for ...

Some good news if you're hoping to swap out your iPhone’s battery now that Apple has slashed prices on replacements: the wait time to get a new one appears to be dropping. As reported by Business Insider , a Barclays analyst says that the waiting period to get a new battery has dropped from an average of four weeks back in January to an average of two weeks today. The maximum wait had also fallen, dropping from six weeks to four and a half, likely depending on phone model and location. The figures come from Barclays’ study of 30 Apple Stores, which it’s been calling to track times for replacements. Shortly after battery replacements were cut to $29 , several battery models were said to be in short supply , particularly for the iPhone 6, 6... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2BjY2EP"

UK officials have been pressing Facebook and Twitter to investigate whether Russian-based accounts attempted to influence the 2016 Brexit vote . Previous responses from both platforms were found to be inadequate by the chair of the UK's digital, culture, media and sport select committee and both companies were asked to do better . Now, BuzzFeed News reports that Twitter has in fact found some evidence of Russian meddling, albeit small in scope. Twitter's UK policy chief Nick Pickles told the House of Commons select committee at a hearing taking place today in Washington DC that 49 accounts linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency tweeted a collective 942 times during the Brexit campaign. They were retweeted 461 times and liked 637 times. "Forty-nine such accounts were active during the referendum campaign, which represents less than 0.005% of the total number of accounts that tweeted about the referendum," he said. A Twitter spokesperson told us, "As...

Microsoft has just announced the dates for Build , its annual developer event, and it'll be held from May 7th to May 9th in Seattle, Washington. It's been quite an eventful year for Microsoft, as it ramps up its efforts in Windows Mixed Reality , churns out even more Surface laptops and leverages Cortana to go up against rivals like Alexa and Google Assistant. With all that, we have no doubt that Build 2018 will be a pretty exciting one, and of course, we'll be there on the ground covering it all. You'd better mark your calendars now. Microsoft Build returns to Seattle May 7-9, 2018. Developers, join us as we explore the future of technology. #MSBuild https://t.co/e6X6Vejr77 pic.twitter.com/zf660MM3cI — Microsoft (@Microsoft) February 8, 2018 via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2Evjf0M"

Eastern Arsenal The flying taxi could soon be spotted in Dubai and Las Vegas. Ehang Corp, a major drone maker, has been busy testing its flying taxis. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2EeOKsk"