Hardware
Oppo shows first under-screen camera in bid to eliminated the hated notch
10:32 am PDT • June 26, 2019
Ever since the notch was first added to smartphones, everyone in the world except the deeply deluded and my editor have wished it gone. Oppo has done it — or…
Media & Entertainment
At last, a camera app that automatically removes all people from your photos
3:59 pm PDT • June 24, 2019
As a misanthrope living in a vibrant city, I’m never short of things to complain about. And in particular the problem of people crowding into my photos, whatever I happen…
Hardware
This robot crawls along wind turbine blades looking for invisible flaws
1:17 pm PDT • June 24, 2019
Wind turbines are a great source of clean power, but their apparent simplicity — just a big thing that spins — belie complex systems that wear down like any other,…
Biotech & Health
Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative gives $68M to fund Human Cell Atlas projects
11:33 am PDT • June 21, 2019
An ongoing global project to map the human body cell by cell has receive a $68 million shot in the arm from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative. It will support dozens of…
Featured Article
Crowdfunded spacecraft LightSail 2 prepares to go sailing on sunlight
Among the many spacecraft and satellites ascending to space on Monday’s Falcon Heavy launch, the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 may be the most interesting. If all goes well, a week from launch it will be moving through space — slowly, but surely — on nothing more than the force exerted on it by sunlight.
10:47 am PDT • June 21, 2019
Hardware
Hasselblad’s new medium format camera is a tiny, beautiful nod to history
12:25 pm PDT • June 20, 2019
While mirrorless cameras accelerate into the future, medium format models are hearkening unto the past — and Hasselblad chief among them. Its new digital back fits lenses going back to…
Hardware
Tripping grad students over and over for science (and better prosthetic limbs)
11:22 am PDT • June 20, 2019
Prosthetic limbs are getting better, but not as quickly as you’d think. They’re not as smart as our real limbs, which (directed by the brain) do things like automatically stretch…
Transportation
NASA’s X-59 supersonic jet will have a 4K TV instead of a forward window
10:22 am PDT • June 19, 2019
NASA’s X-59 QueSST experimental quiet supersonic aircraft will have a cockpit like no other — featuring a big 4K screen where you’d normally have a front window. Why? Because this…
Startups
Humanising Autonomy pulls in $5M to help self-driving cars keep an eye on pedestrians
8:03 am PDT • June 19, 2019
Pretty much everything about making a self-driving car is difficult, but among the most difficult parts is making sure the vehicles know what pedestrians are doing — and what they’re…
Fintech
Google announces $1B, 10-year plan to add thousands of homes to Bay Area
10:22 am PDT • June 18, 2019
The housing crisis in the Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco, is a complex and controversial topic with no one-size-fits-all solution — but a check for a billion dollars is…
Making pourover coffee is a cherished ritual of mine on most mornings. But there are times I wish I could have a single cup of pourover without fussing about the…
Startups
GoTenna is ramping up public sector mesh networking with a $24M C round
7:02 am PDT • June 18, 2019
GoTenna is best known for its outdoors-oriented consumer products that let you text and share locations between smartphones off the grid. But the company has found that government work —…
The latest feature for Comcast’s remote software makes the clicker more accessible to people who can’t click it the same as everyone else. People with physical disabilities will now be…
Media & Entertainment
This neural network detects whether faces have been Photoshopped
4:52 pm PDT • June 14, 2019
Using Photoshop and other image manipulation software to tweak faces in photos has become common practice, but it’s not always made clear when it’s been done. Berkeley and Adobe researchers…
NASA’s ambitious plan to return to the moon may cost as much as $30 billion over the next five years, the agency’s administrator, Jim Bridenstine, indicated in an interview this…
Biotech & Health
Facebook is creating photorealistic homes for AIs to work and learn in
9:01 am PDT • June 14, 2019
If AI-powered robots are ever going to help us out around the house, they’re going to need a lot of experience navigating human environments. Simulators, virtual worlds that look and…
AI
DEEPFAKES Accountability Act would impose unenforceable rules — but it’s a start
12:25 pm PDT • June 13, 2019
The new DEEPFAKES Accountability Act in the House — and yes, that’s an acronym — would take steps to criminalize the synthetic media referred to in its name, but its…
The growing presence of encrypted communications apps makes a lot of communities safer and stronger. But the possibility of physical device seizure and government coercion is growing as well, which…
Startups
Krisp’s smart noise-cancelling gets official release and pricing
9:40 am PDT • June 12, 2019
Background noise on calls could be a thing of the past if Krisp has anything to do with it. The app, now available on Windows and Macs after a long…
Startups
Sense Photonics flashes onto the lidar scene with a new approach and $26M
2:57 pm PDT • June 11, 2019
Lidar is a critical part of many autonomous cars and robotic systems, but the technology is also evolving quickly. A new company called Sense Photonics just emerged from stealth mode…
Media & Entertainment
Nintendo teases ‘Breath of the Wild’ sequel, raising Zelda hype to new levels
1:05 pm PDT • June 11, 2019
The capstone to an eventful Nintendo’s E3 Direct was an unexpected joy: A sequel to the modern classic in the Zelda series, Breath of the Wild. Of course, all they…
Media & Entertainment
Square Enix shows off Final Fantasy VII Remake, Avengers and more – watch the trailers here
7:22 pm PDT • June 10, 2019
The long series of press conferences that marks the beginning of E3 is nearly at an end, with Square Enix the last to present, if you don’t count Nintendo tomorrow.…
Featured Article
To detect fake news, this AI first learned to write it
One of the biggest problems in media today is so-called “fake news,” which is so highly pernicious in part because it superficially resembles the real thing. AI tools promise to help identify it, but in order for it to do so, researchers have found that the best way is for that AI to learn to…
1:38 pm PDT • June 10, 2019
Media & Entertainment
FCC passes measure urging carriers to block robocalls by default
11:29 am PDT • June 7, 2019
The FCC voted today to adopt an anti-robocall measure, but it may or may not lead to any abatement of this maddening practice — and it might not be free,…
Apple Store designer proposes restoring Notre-Dame as… basically an Apple Store
3:46 pm PDT • June 6, 2019
Eight Inc, the design firm best known for conceptualizing the Apple Store and the now-iconic giant glass cube on 5th Ave in New York, has proposed to restore Notre-Dame’s sadly…
Media & Entertainment
Destiny 2 goes free to play and gains cross-saving on all platforms
11:25 am PDT • June 6, 2019
Bungie aims to fortify the popular but flagging Destiny 2 with an expanded free-to-play plan and universal cross-platform saving, the company announced today. It’s an interesting and player-friendly evolution of…
Media & Entertainment
Every Final Fantasy soundtrack is now on Spotify and Apple Music
5:44 pm PDT • June 5, 2019
Just in time for your road trip to LA for E3, Square Enix has suddenly made the soundtracks to every main Final Fantasy game available for free to listen to…
Biotech & Health
Astronomers fret over ‘debilitating threat’ of thousands of satellites cluttering the sky
11:26 am PDT • June 5, 2019
The promise of today’s nascent communications satellite constellations is real: connecting everyone on the globe, no exceptions. But the dark side, or rather bright side, of these satellites threatens to…
Move over, Starlink. SpaceX’s global internet play might have caught the world’s attention with its 60-satellite launch last month, but little did we know that it had already been upstaged…
Media & Entertainment
Apple’s Voice Control improves accessibility OS-wide on all its devices
4:26 pm PDT • June 3, 2019
Apple is known for fluid, intuitive user interfaces, but none of that matters if you can’t click, tap, or drag because you don’t have a finger to do so with.…
