Begun nearly a decade ago, Loon was one of the company’s high-profile, cutting-edge efforts. But it was difficult to turn into a business. Google Shuts Loon Helium Balloon Project Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreWhen the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March last year, office workers swiftly pivoted to working from home. As travel restrictions came into force, more people were forced to spend time at their homes and in their local community. In an attempt to make inner city residential communities more liveable, councils began introducing low-traffic neighborhoods.
Read MoreIt’s time to write. I make some coffee, open a blank document, then decide to quickly check Slack before I get started. Two hours later, I’ve written nothing. Team chat apps are essential for online collaboration, but their very existence makes it hard to focus on longer-term projects. There’s always something I could be responding to on
Read MoreIt’s now fairly common for cities to install surveillance cameras with facial recognition capabilities to help catch criminals — Beijing and Moscow use them extensively. However, a city in northern India is taking a different approach: it wants to detect distress on women’s faces, so it can assist them when they’re attacked or threatened. Cops
Read MoreTwitter’s previous verification framework was a bit wonky. The new requirements are clearer, and make a lot more sense. They are now more specific as to what verification actually means on the platform. Twitter's new policy for 'blue tick' kicks in from today Source: Tech Radar Software
Read MoreNintendo’s Game Boy is legendary for being the meat in the handheld gaming revolution, as well as being nigh-on indestructible whether in the custody of children or soldiers in the Gulf War. However, [Jiri] decided to see if he could whip up a tribute of his own, in brass instead of plastic. The hardware is
Read MoreFor years, we’ve been hearing rumors Apple is working on some kind of fanciful AR glasses — the futuristic kind that might look like regular old lenses. And while those are apparently still on the way, the company is reportedly settling for a more boring “mostly virtual reality” device to start, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Read MoreHonor has announced the new V40 5G flagship phone, its first since Huawei sold the company off to a Shenzhen-based consortium of Chinese partners. The phone is exclusive to China for now, but Honor’s V-series usually makes its way to the rest of the world under “View” branding. The V40 has a 6.72-inch OLED screen
Read MoreTom Krazit / Protocol: AWS will maintain an open source fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana, after criticism from Elastic which changed its licensing terms to monetize cloud-service use — Fed up with what he sees as unfair competition from AWS, Elastic CEO Shay Banon felt he had no choice but to restrict … AWS will
Read MoreMicrosoft today added a bunch of new features to its Edge browser, helping bring it to parity with Chrome in some areas while adding some unique touches in others. Perhaps most notably, Edge now has a password generator and monitor, helping you keep your accounts safe from hackers and making sure you’re not using the
Read MoreBloomberg: Tastytrade, a Chicago-based online brokerage and financial media company, to be acquired by UK’s IG Group in a deal worth over $1B in cash and stock — – U.K. firm to buy Chicago-based platform amid trading boom — Analysts question ‘punchy’ price and scant earnings guidance Tastytrade, a Chicago-based online brokerage and financial media
Read MoreOne key piece of technology from Star Trek is the replicator, a machine that 3D prints up almost anything using some hazily-defined high technology. You have to wonder though, how did the patterns for Earl Grey tea or a spare part for a shuttlecraft intercooler come to exist in the first place. Maybe someone designed
Read MoreRichard Waters / Financial Times: Intel says it’s investigating the leak of an infographic related to its Q4 earnings report, which prompted its release ahead of stock market close on Thu. — Breach forces chipmaker to release earnings early — Intel said it was the victim of a hacker who stole financially sensitive information …
Read MoreJoanna Nelius / Gizmodo: Report: 70% of Americans now have access to a broadband plan costing $60 or less, up from 52% at the end of 2019 — It looks like things might be improving—at least a little—when it comes to closing the digital divide in America. The latest quarterly report from BroadbandNow highlights …
Read MoreBegun nearly a decade ago, Loon was one of the company’s high-profile, cutting-edge efforts. But it was difficult to turn into a business. Google Shuts Loon Hot-Air Balloon Project Source: NY Times Tech
Read MorePhoto: DANJAQ and MGM / Nicola Dove Hollywood has decided tonight’s the night to shove back their slate of films — including James Bond’s latest outing No Time To Die, the Uncharted movie, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. No Time to Die now has a release date of October 8th, Ghostbusters will be pushed back five months
Read MoreThe project’s business was unsustainable, Alphabet says. Google parent Alphabet to shut down Loon, its internet-beaming balloon project – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreStart here if you’re looking for a connected doorbell. The best video doorbell cameras to buy for 2021 – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreJenna Ryan is fundraising to cover legal costs brought on by her arrest after she “stormed the Capitol.” But she can’t collect funds via PayPal anymore. PayPal shuts down account of Texas real estate agent charged in Capitol riot – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreAstronauts chipped the 3.9-billion-year-old rock off of a lunar boulder back in 1972. NASA lends 3.9-billion-year-old moon rock to the Biden White House – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreThe model still trails the competition in range on paper, but this should help narrow the real-world gap even further. Porsche Taycan 4S gets a 12% range increase for 2021, report says – Roadshow Source: CNet
Read MoreIllustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google is threatening to pull its search engine from an entire country — Australia — if a proposed law goes into effect that would force Google to pay news publishers for their content. “If this version of the Code were to become law it would give us no real
Read MoreJosh Taylor / The Guardian: In an Australian Senate hearing, a Google executive said that a law forcing Google to pay news outlets for links could prompt it to stop offering Search — As Google and Facebook face Senate committee, poll finds three in five Australians agree social media companies should prioritise news in feeds
Read MoreImage: Alphabet Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its division that provides internet from floating balloons, according to a post on the blog of Alphabet’s X moonshot division. “The road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped,” Astro Teller, who leads X, wrote in the blog. “In the coming months, we’ll begin
Read MoreEvelyn Douek / Lawfare: Facebook’s Oversight Board decision on Trump’s suspension will set important precedents for online deplatforming and for the Board’s long-term legitimacy — On Jan. 7, the day after the riot in the U.S. Capitol, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the “indefinite” suspension of Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Facebook's Oversight Board
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