Geek News

On Friday, China’s version of Twitter, Sina Weibo, banned all content containing homosexuality from its platform. But after a weekend full of online protests, Weibo has reversed its decision, clarifying that it’s not targeting gay content anymore. Weibo wrote in a post on Monday, “This time, the cleanup of anime and games won’t target gay content. It is mainly [meant] to clean up content related to pornography, violence, and gore. Thank you for your discussions and suggestions,” as translated by WhatsonWeibo . The original announcement from Weibo on Friday said the platform was launching a clean-up campaign for the next three months and would remove all pornographic, violent, or homosexual photos, videos, text posts, and cartoons. Weibo... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H13TyX"

HMD Global is bringing the updated Nokia 6 to the US for $269.99, after launching it in China back in January , via Android Central . The original Nokia 6 marked the brand’s return to the US under the stewardship of HMD, albeit as a decidedly budget experience . The updated model looks to improve on the original in a number of ways, with a better Snapdragon 630 processor (instead of the Snapdragon 430 on the original), an upgrade from Micro USB to USB-C, and 4GB of RAM. The rest of the 2018 model of the Nokia 6 remains more or less the same as last year’s version, with the same unibody aluminum design, chunky bezels, and poor camera. The Nokia 6 is available now unlocked at Amazon and Walmart . Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qFlaae"

Health Bathrooms are gross, but so is everything. You may have heard there’s poop bacteria getting sprayed all over people’s hands by bathroom hand dryers. But did you know there’s poop bacteria everywhere!? That’s… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2H6lLMQ"

As governments around the world plan for their AI-powered futures, the UK is preparing to take on a somewhat scholarly and moral mantle. In a report published today by the House of Lords, which will be used to guide future government policy, a committee recommended that the UK “forge a distinctive role for itself as a pioneer in ethical AI.” Doing so would allow the UK to to play to its “particular blend of national assets,” write the report’s authors, and guide global development in the field. These assets include leading universities; a thriving legal industry; and “world-respected institutions such as the BBC.” The report suggests that the government sponsor more basic research into AI to develop its role, and convene a global summit... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2JOfPpD"

One of the bizarre twists of the 2018 smartphone market is that the phones most Android fans want — ones with a headphone jack and without a notch in the screen — are easier to find among budget models than premium offerings. Today’s announcement from Honor is a perfect example: the 5.7-inch Honor 7A and the 6-inch Honor 7C both offer 18:9 displays with reasonably sized bezels and no notch to spoil the view, plus they retain the 3.5mm audio jack that more expensive phones seem to be allergic to these days. I got my hands on both of these phones ahead of the unveiling today. Priced at £139.99 (roughly $200) in the UK, the Honor 7A asks that you accept a lot of compromises. Its display isn’t particularly bright or vibrant, and its... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2vee2qC"

The selling point of Sony’s DPT-RP1 “Digital Paper” tablet is right there in the name — it’s basically a giant slab of E Ink the same size as a sheet of A4 paper, and it works with a stylus for document creation, PDF annotation, and so on. Now Sony’s announced a new version. the DPT-CP1, which is basically the exact same thing but in A5 size. The 10.3-inch screen has a resolution of 1404 x 1872 at 224 dots per inch, and is capable of 16 levels of greyscale. The DPT-CP1 has 16GB of storage for PDF files, which can be shared with iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac devices through a companion app. It’s 5.9mm thick and weighs about half a pound, with Sony claiming it’ll last around a month on a single charge. Like the larger model, the DPT-CP1... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H394CK"

Less than two months after unveiling the Xperia XZ2 at Mobile World Congress , Sony is back again with the Xperia XZ2 Premium . It retains the same overall design as the XZ2 — a departure from Sony’s past phones — but upgrades the display, camera, battery, and other specs. The XZ2 Premium will be available beginning this summer. Pricing has yet to be announced, but it certainly won’t be cheap. The XZ2 runs $800 unlocked, so you’re probably looking at a $900 or $1,000 phone here. Sony is putting a 5.8-inch 4K display in the XZ2 Premium, an improvement over the 5.7-inch Full HD+ (1080 x 2160) screen on the regular XZ2. Both of them support HDR video. When you’re watching videos, listening to music, or playing games, you’ll notice the new... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HDnE0M"

Ever since Apple first released the Apple Watch, it hasn’t allowed third parties developers to create and release their own custom faces for the device. That might change, according to code in the latest developer’s build, discovered by 9to5Mac . 9to5Mac uncovered code in watchOS 4.3.1, which includes some hints at what’s to come in future updates, such as warnings for old apps , in addition to a log message that states “this is where the 3rd party face config bundle generation would happen.” That’s just a placeholder reference, but it appears that Apple could allow for developers to make their own watch faces at some point in the future. There’s no indication of when or if Apple will allow it to happen, but it seems to be a step in the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2vfv081"

What appears to be New York City’s first suit under a new revenge porn law was filed last week by a CUNY associate professor of public health against an ex-boyfriend and a group of anonymous individuals that allegedly used Tumblr to distribute pornographic images of her, reports Motherboard . While New York state law currently protects individuals when sexually explicit images are taken and shared without their knowledge, that does not apply when the images were willingly shared. The state senate passed a bill that would criminalize the latter as well in March, but it is still waiting on the state Assembly for consideration. New York City, however, passed its own measure in November , which went into effect in February . It makes the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qEsqDh"

Today's Deal: Save 50% on HELLDIVERS™ !* 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 "https://ift.tt/2vmxbqA"

Wearable Media has a celestial-sensing jumpsuit, an AR crop top, and a vest that represents global temperature change Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2EID5l3"

So, it turns out that I can never change my Wi-Fi network’s name ever again, or my speakers will stop working. That may sound ridiculous, but let me walk you through the series of bad decisions and technological quirks that have brought me here, and I can (sort of) explain. The speakers in question are the Nocs NS2 Air Monitors (specifically, the first generation version of the product, for reasons that will become important soon). The NS2 Air Monitors date back to the heyday of Apple’s Airplay standard in 2013, back when companies not only included Airplay support in their speakers but built entire products around it ( The Verge even included them in our Back to School Guide that year!). Eventually, Nocs released a second version of the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2vizzOU"

Ever since it was first released almost a decade ago, Google’s Chrome browser has been the most consistent piece of technology in my life. I’ve gone through a legion of phones, laptops, and headphones, I’ve jumped around between Android, iOS, Windows Phone, macOS, and Windows, but I’ve rarely had reason to doubt my browser choice. Things have changed in recent times, however, and those changes have been sufficient to make me reconsider. After so many years away, I’m returning to Firefox, in equal measure pushed by Chrome’s downsides as I am pulled by Firefox’s latest upgrades. If a friend were to ask me what the best web browser is, I’d answer “Chrome” in a heartbeat, so don’t mistake this as a screed against Google’s browser. I still... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2JOrcxS"

Apple will fix some Apple Watch Series 2 devices if they have a swollen battery or don’t turn on, according to a new service policy seen by MacRumors . The policy states that “some Apple Watch Series 2 devices may not power on or they may experience an expanded battery,” and that it will service “eligible devices free of charge.” Only 42mm-sized models are eligible for free repairs, which includes the Sport, Edition, Hermès, and Nike+ variants. MacRumors says that this does not apply to Series 1 or three models, nor the 38mm model. In 2017, Apple extended its service policy twice for first-generation Apple Watch models: in instances when the back cover separated from the watch , and for swollen batteries . Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H2mf72"

Sega is getting in on the nostalgic, miniature console trend. Yesterday at Sega Fes 2018, It announced that it will release the the Mega Drive Mini, a miniature version of the 16-bit Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside of Japan), sometime in 2018. The company also announced that it would be bringing a number of classic games to the Nintendo Switch this summer. Sega says that the tentatively-named Mega Drive Mini is being released in conjunction with the console’s 30th anniversary, and that it will carry a number of classic games. The company has dabbled with retro hardware before: it has licensed its name to hardware company AtGames (which has also done retro Atari consoles) to produce Genesis clones, including the Sega Genesis... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2IUir3V"