Latest Technology

Scarlett Johansson, the highest-paid actress in Hollywood , knows a thing or two about unwanted nudes making their way onto the internet. In 2012, a hacker was sentenced to 10 years in prison after leaking nude photos of her and other celebrities, setting an example to warn future thieves. But there may be nobody to arrest, nobody even to sue, when it comes to deepfakes : AI-generated videos that seamlessly stitch Johansson and other celebs’ faces onto the bodies of porn stars having sex. Now, Johansson has spoken out against deepfakes in an interview with The Washington Post , They’ve published her comments verbatim, so I’d suggest clicking to read the whole thing — you can practically hear her throw up her arms in exasperation. E... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EXEqs4

Given the simple structure of A Series of Unfortunate Events ’ plots, it must have been tempting for Netflix to try to extend the series as long as it could. Sure, author Daniel Handler only penned 13 books in the Unfortunate Events series, but the setup of his plot could inspire any number of additional schemes where the scheming Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) dons some ridiculous costume to try to steal the inheritance of the Baudelaire orphans. But series developers Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld took a disciplined approach to their adaptation, hewing closely to the novels’ plots, spirit, and timeline. The show’s third and final season, which premieres on January 1st, 2019, is a masterclass in how to build a faithful adaptation, and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2F0osOB

Are you enjoying Bandersnatch, the first choose-your-own-adventure interactive episode of the oft-delightfully dystopian Black Mirror? Good, because it may be the only new episode you’ll be seeing for a while. Executive producer and co-creator Annabel Jones has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Bandersnatch took such an “enormous” amount of effort that it wound up pushing back Black Mirror’s fifth season. Black Mirror Season 5 is now due in 2019, a Netflix spokesperson tells The Verge. It’s not clear how long a wait we’re looking at, though. An entire year might make sense: The New York Times reports that showrunners spent a full year on the Bandersnatch episode alone, and the past few Black Mirror projects have each been released... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2GQbO6F

Although music streaming has been an integral part of daily life for what seems like ages, both the music industry and tech companies have consistently and frustratingly been behind the curve. So in many ways, 2018 felt like the first year that both sectors embraced innovation in the world of music streaming in ways that will meaningfully affect its future. There were substantial developments on the consumer side, but this year was more impactful for artists, many of whom rely on streaming platforms as their bread and butter. Some shifts can be attributed to the platforms themselves, as services like SoundCloud and Spotify waded into new territories like self-monetization. But the biggest change came from advocacy within the music... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2RkRSwT

After a twenty year hiatus, tomorrow will finally see the 95 year long copyrights of works released in 1923 expire. These 1923 films, books and songs will effectively be the first to enter the public domain in the US since 1998, and Duke University notes that it will include such classics as Charlie Chaplin’s The Pilgrim , Jacob’s Room by Viginia Woolf, and the song Charleston (based on the popular dance of the same name). Welcoming classic works to the public domain was an annual New Year’s Day tradition. Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 directorial debut, The Kid, became public on January 1st, 1997, and was joined by the 1922 German horror classic Nosferatu a year later. But in 1998, Congress extended the length of copyright from 75 years to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2SszFKV

The war between electric car startup Faraday Future and its main investor, Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande, appears to be over. Evergrande announced on Monday that it has agreed to restructure its $2 billion investment in Faraday Future. The conglomerate will walk away with full control over Faraday Future’s efforts in China, and both sides will drop all ongoing litigation against each other, according to a release posted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange . Faraday Future will receive a bridge loan from Evergrande to “overcome [the startup’s] cash flow difficulties,” spokesperson John Schilling said in an email. Those difficulties involve Faraday Future almost completely running out of cash over the last few months, which... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2SssbHZ

Leaks of a potential Nokia-branded phone with five cameras on the rear have been appearing for months , but a new video suggests that the device could be officially unveiled soon. Evan Blass first posted a photo of the rumored Nokia 9 PureView on Twitter earlier today, and now mysmartprice has published what looks like a promotional video for the unannounced device. The Nokia 9 PureView looks very similar to the existing Nokia 8 Sirocco , except for the rear. The video shows off a wild penta-lens setup capable of five simultaneous shots and claims of improved efficiency in low-light situations and the ability to re-focus images after they’re taken. HMD also appears to be including a 5.99-inch “PureDisplay” with support for HDR10 and an... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2AqY3Wn

Headphones did not have the most auspicious start to 2018. Back in January, it seemed like a diversity of competing voice assistants, wireless audio protocols, and idiosyncratic control schemes would lead to a fragmented mess of a market. Everyone wanted wireless headphones, and the providers of those devices were keen to establish some sort of a walled-garden effect around their particular product. The demand for more technologically advanced headphones has only increased over the course of the year, however the threat of user-hostile competition among headphone makers has not materialized. In large part thanks to integrated wireless chips that bundle Bluetooth radios with the necessary voice assistant compatibility for both iOS and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2AnftmX

In 2018, tech needed government more than ever. We were surrounded by problems that the industry couldn’t solve on its own, whether it was Russian trolls, growing monopoly fears, or the ever-escalating pace of cybersecurity failures. Unfortunately, in the second year of undivided Republican control, the US government was too busy punching itself in the face. This year saw unprecedented dysfunction in even the most basic mechanisms of government, a point driven painfully home by the ongoing government shutdown (the third of the year) which has left thousands of government employees without a paycheck over the holidays. This year, tech policy largely took a backseat to immigration, taxes and the ongoing Mueller investigation, but whenever... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2BP8bIt

Picking a product of the year is anything but trivial because the products I cover every week range from headphones to laptops to books, cars and more. So, I thought I'd try something different this year and pick six products that each deserve the title and then name a winner that stands out from the rest. This allows me to simplify the task and get around a bit of a writer's block I've been having on this subject. The six products will be a book, a car, a laptop, a smart speaker, Security, and a component. Let's get to it. from TechNewsWorld http://bit.ly/2EYlHNe

Vein authentication, a biometric security method that scans the veins in your hand, has been cracked , reports Motherboard . Using a fake hand made out of wax, Jan Krissler and Julian Albrecht demonstrated how they were able to bypass scanners made by both Hitachi and Fujitsu, which they claim covers around 95 percent of the vein authentication market. The method was demonstrated at Germany’s annual Chaos Communication Congress. While imprints of fingerprints can often be left behind on surfaces just by touching them, vein patterns cannot, and are considered to be much more secure as a result. However, this wasn’t a problem for the researchers, who were able to copy their target’s vein layout from a photograph taken with an SLR camera... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EZ4K64

Netflix announced on December 28 that more than 45 million accounts watched its Netflix original horror movie, Bird Box, in seven days, making it a record breaking debut for the streaming service — but considering Netflix rarely specifies what its data means, it was difficult to gauge what that number meant. There are a lot of variables in Netflix’s statement. 45 million accounts doesn’t exactly translate to specific viewer counts, as an account could serve one person or an entire family. It’s also unclear from Netflix’s tweet how many people watched all of Bird Box (starring A-list actors like Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich) or even half of the movie, before switching to something else. Netflix famously doesn’t make its viewership... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Sof7TL

For the first time ever, a police drone will keep a watchful eye on the New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York’s Times Square, as first reported by the Associated Press . The New York City Police Department deployed the gadget to keep the festivities safe, in addition to the 7,000 police officers it has on deck, bomb-sniffing dogs, and 200 blocker trucks filled with sand. The quadcopter drone will be controlled remotely by trained police and will help give a bird’s-eye view of the massive crowds, although it will be fairly hard for passersby to spot, given its height in the air. While the police commissioner has said that there are no known threats to the New Year’s festivities, it’s pretty standard protocol for the police to come out in... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2VgOTEI

What standard, exactly, am I supposed to be judging virtual and augmented reality against in 2018? Should I measure it against the sci-fi aspirations that VR and AR companies set years ago and have unsurprisingly failed to meet? Should I estimate how far it remains from mainstream adoption? Or should I stick to comparing 2018 with 2017, when I gave VR a middling C grade and didn’t even talk about AR? Since I just went through the trouble of listing those options, my predictable answer is “all of the above.” 2018 was partly a year of disillusionment. Some prominent AR and VR companies, including Meta , Jaunt , and Starbreeze , either massively downsized or shifted their focus. As the head of CCP Games put it in October , a year after leaving... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Amk1ts

Amazon reportedly has plans to expand Whole Foods stores across the US into suburbs and other regions. It also wants to bring its two-hour delivery program Prime Now to all current Whole Foods stores, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal . The move would grow Whole Foods at a more rapid pace that it hasn’t seen before. Whole Foods employees have already reportedly ventured to parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and southern Utah for potential retail spaces they could set up shop in. One anonymous source told the WSJ that these spaces were sometimes around 45,000 square feet, meaning they were slightly larger than the average Whole Foods store by 2,000 square feet. The potential expansion likely isn’t limited to just the Rocky Mountain... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2s9Krul

Big Mouth Billy Bass with Alexa isn’t necessary the product of the year, but it’s one that symbolizes all the novelty trends that we saw in gadgets in 2018. In one item, the talking, singing fish represents nostalgia, DIY hackery, and corporations taking independent developer ideas and turning it to profit. These themes highlight the trends that led the world of gadgets this year, as nostalgia continues to influence products while simultaneously being a reflection of our bleak times. In 2018, more classic products were re-released, we opted for gadgets that do less than before, and companies are determined to make us shop in person because experiential pop-ups are in now. This resurgence in nostalgic gadgets seems to be because... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2QcbX3B

With 2019 just days away, it’s important to cherish the hope and optimism that comes with every new year. A fresh calendar brings a fresh start — one where anything is possible! And then, of course, after a couple of days of well-intentioned good behavior, it’ll be time to drop the ceremony and resume the rhythms of the previous year and just get on with life. But what’s the best way to forget that we’ve thrown all those noble intentions out the door? Watching streaming content, of course! Netflix is kicking things off with the third season of A Series of Unfortunate Events , the final season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt , and its latest series, a reboot of Carmen Sandiego . But while the focus for the company has been on original content... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2s0unuw

With 2018 in the rear-view mirror, 2019 lies ahead, bringing with it a ton of new science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels that will bring us to new worlds and introduce us to our next favorite characters. 2019 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for readers. There are books coming from authors that we’re huge fans of, and debuts from up-and-coming novelists that we can’t wait to delve into. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the upcoming books that we’re really excited to see on our bookshelves this year. And before you ask — yes, this could be the year that George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss get around to releasing their long awaited The Winds of Winter and The Doors of Stone, but they don’t have a release... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2LHxsZs

While you ring in the new year on Monday night, you can also watch along as NASA sends a spacecraft zooming by a tiny rock 4.1 billion miles from Earth. The space agency’s New Horizons probe, which flew by Pluto in 2015, is now going to fly past another object — a type of space rock we’ve never been to before . And it’s all happening just as we enter the year 2019. Just like with the Pluto flyby, the New Horizons mission team is gathered at John Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, where they will monitor the spacecraft from the facility’s mission operations center. Live streams will show what the team is up to before and during the flyby, and mission scientists will be hosting press conferences to provide... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2AwKwNh

As for much of the tech industry, 2018 has been a year of reckoning for artificial intelligence. As AI systems have been integrated into more products and services, the technology’s shortcomings have become clearer. Researchers, companies, and the general public have all begun to grapple more with the limitations of AI and its adverse effects, asking important questions like: how is this technology being used, and for whose benefit? This reckoning has been most visible as a parade of negative headlines about algorithmic systems. This year saw the first deaths caused by self-driving cars; the Cambridge Analytica scandal ; accusations that Facebook facilitated genocide in Myanmar ; the revelation that Google helped the Pentagon train drone... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2SqHpgD

Samsung promised a Bixby-powered Galaxy Home smart speaker back in August , a premium device that could potentially compete against Apple’s HomePod and the Amazon Echo Plus. While that speaker still isn’t available and doesn’t have a set release date, the company is reportedly also planning a second Bixby speaker that comes in black and according to Sam Mobile , citing an anonymous source , may be a more affordable option that can compete with the likes of cheaper smart speakers. The second Bixby speaker reportedly has the model number SM-V310, while the Galaxy Home is model number SM-V510, suggesting that there could always be more Bixby smart speakers down the line. There aren’t any known specs for the lower-end speaker yet, but it’s... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Ag1xuT

#2018 Year-End Special: Flying cars, robot housekeepers, hoverboards and jetpacks... are we there yet? from Hindustan Times - tech http://bit.ly/2St5l34

#2018 Year-End Special: We now live in a time when devices listen, chips track your choices, and governments can watch from behind a barcode. How do we navigate this world? from Hindustan Times - tech http://bit.ly/2ES5r05

#2018 Year-End Special: Check out some of the cutting-edge, future-ready inventions that are already here. from Hindustan Times - tech http://bit.ly/2EVNRJm

In 2018, Tesla turned its biggest ever quarterly profit, and its first profit in two years. The company shipped some 100,000 Model 3s in the first full year of production of the most affordable vehicle it makes. SpaceX, one of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s other companies, successfully launched its brand new Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time ever — and Musk used it to send one of the original Tesla Roadsters into space. By those measures, 2018 was a wild success for Tesla. Of course, there’s more to the story: a failed plan to go private, announced by Musk on Twitter; a beef with the SEC; difficulty retaining top executives not named Elon Musk; and a close call with death. There were questions about the safety of Tesla’s cars, the safety... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2GKMtuN

Google just got an important lawsuit over facial recognition dismissed. As first reported by Bloomberg , the lawsuit has been dismissed by a state judge who found that the plaintiffs didn’t suffer “concrete injuries.” The Google lawsuit is one of three cases aimed at prominent tech companies that have allegedly violated the United States’ toughest biometric privacy law and it’s the first one to get dismissed. The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act has long been a huge obstacle for tech companies working on facial recognition initiatives. The law requires companies to obtain people’s explicit permission before they can make biometric scans of their bodies. Illinois citizens who feel their rights have been violated can file... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2TjXSDs

Lady Gaga has been teasing a new animated character on social media as part of her Las Vegas residency show. It looks to be a cyborg with long blue hair and the ability to fly through space, a character that Gaga was also dressed as on Friday. In a short, mysterious clip posted to YouTube and Instagram, the character looks around at a shining star before making contact with it and absorbing its powers. The anime-like character charges up, while crying, “What’s happening to me?” before hurtling through space with the newfound energy. The video ends with the appearance of “PetGa,” an alien being first seen during the release and promotion of Lady Gaga’s 2013 album ArtPop . PetGa says fondly, “Hello Gaga,” and then the word “Enigma” flashes... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EWPRAZ

After a banner 2017, SpaceX decided to one-up itself in 2018 by launching the world’s most powerful rocket, which flung a sports car beyond the orbit of Mars. Just two months into the year, SpaceX finally made good on its long held promise to launch the coveted Falcon Heavy — an upgraded version of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. Consisting of three Falcon 9 cores strapped together, the Falcon Heavy is capable of putting more weight into low Earth orbit than any other rocket currently in operation. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first announced the concept for the rocket in 2011 , with the goal of launching it in 2013 or 2014. Obviously, it took longer than that, and Musk even admitted that the program grew so complicated he tried to cancel it a few... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2RlKukH

We’re heading into the last days of 2018, and by extension, the last days of our look back at 1998 — where the dot-com bubble was steadily inflating, cyberspace was transforming everything from crime to horoscopes, and the end of the internet (or maybe civilization itself) was just a year away with Y2K. And that means one thing in the media world: time for some retrospectives! I’ll be deviating slightly from the normal format by accepting a few pieces from both earlier in December and later in January, so I can offer a spread of analysis looking back at the year. IGN : 1998 in video games It’s generally acknowledged that 1998 was a fantastic year for video games. In October, GameSpot published a list of the year’s best and most... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EVeVZo

China just lifted its ban on new video games after nearly a year of keeping games from getting released. Its regulatory arm approved 80 new games today, as first reported by Reuters . But curiously enough, none of them are from the country’s biggest gaming company, Tencent. Tencent is best known as the company that owns WeChat , China’s pervasive app that can make payments, host mini-apps, and connect people through messages and emojis. But its main source of revenue is video games it owns like Arena of Valor (also known as Honor of Kings ), League of Legends, and ones that it’s invested heavily in such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. But as China tightened its video game rules this year and Tencent has struggled to adapt,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EVWra3

The holidays are here, and it looks like you got a new Kindle (or a device with a Kindle app). You now have before you a fun task: to build a portable library of all the books that you have on your reading list — or to create a new list for the coming year. If you’re looking for recommendations, here are 14 science fiction books that stand on their own (or are loosely part of a bigger world) to start off with. (If you’re interested in trying a series, you can also check out some of last year’s recommendations .) We’ve rounded up our favorite and most-used apps, games, and utilities. Look for our picks for iPhones, PCs, and Mac; our favorite games for iOS and Android, and our top choices for the PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2ESwQ1S

A lens into some of The Verge’s biggest stories of the year Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EWgSEP

2018 was supposed to be a recovery year for Uber. Sandwiched in between the disaster that was 2017 , and the expectation that the company will go public in 2019, this was a year for Uber to put its sordid past behind it and stride confidently into the future. Except it didn’t quite achieve it. Dara Khosrowshahi has certainly succeeded in putting a more grown-up face on Uber, but that wasn’t too hard given predecessor Travis Kalanick’s reputation for brogrammer shenanigans and the toxic workplace culture at the company’s San Francisco headquarters. All Khosrowshahi had to do was look apologetic when asked about Uber’s past scandals, and then quickly pivot to the company’s new ethos, which was safety and corporate responsibility. Easy,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Tf2sCT

We‘re 3D printing food, video-chatting. We have real-time translator apps that can even translate Klingon. And today’s visionaries are planning their retirement on Mars! from Hindustan Times - tech http://bit.ly/2GUd5tE

Early in the morning on Friday, December 28th, Netflix slipped its viewers a late Christmas present: a new episode of Charlie Brooker’s technological-dystopia anthology series Black Mirror , in the form of an interactive movie called Bandersnatch . Its arrival didn’t entirely come as a secret — as far back as October , there were rumors it was on the way — but Netflix has been secretive about the storyline and the scope of the project. Just as Netflix seems to be experimenting with high-profile ad campaigns and wide-scale theatrical releases for award-courting movies like Roma , it’s also experimenting with releasing films like Tau or The Cloverfield Project with little to no advance notice, apparently to test what its subscribers will watch... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2SoN32H

The Essential Phone , from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, had so much potential — but its journey may be coming to an end. Today, the company has announced (via 9to5Google ) that it’s discontinuing the device. It’s sold out, says Essential, and the company isn’t making any more. But as part of that announcement, the company is also confirming something that fans had long hoped to be true: Essential is officially working on a second “mobile product,” presumably this rumored tiny phone that uses AI to answer emails and text messages for you . An Essential spokeswoman wouldn’t straight-up confirm to me that its “next mobile product” is a phone, but that’s what “mobile product” generally means. Here’s the statement: We are sold out of... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2s1NAfi

Bandersnatch is Netflix’s new interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style movie that ties into the Black Mirror universe. However, it won’t play on every Netflix-enabled device. Bandersnatch was written using Twine , an open-source platform that allows for interactive fiction and narrative-heavy games, but that requires devices with a level of technological sophistication in order to deliver a proper interactive experience. An email from Netflix confirms that Bandersnatch isn’t supported on Chromecast, Apple TV, and “some legacy devices.” Outdated hardware devices that don’t support Netflix software updates — like the PlayStation Vita or Nintendo Wii U — are also unlikely to support Bandersnatch . And it’s unlikely your smart microwave... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EV7Qbi

As if e-commerce companies didn't have enough problems with transacting securely and defending against things like fraud, another avalanche of security problems -- like cryptojacking, the act of illegally mining cryptocurrency on your end servers -- has begun. We've also seen a rise in digital credit card skimming attacks against popular e-commerce software. Some of the attacks are relatively naive and un-targeted, taking advantage of lax security on websites found to be vulnerable, while others are highly targeted for maximum volume. from TechNewsWorld http://bit.ly/2SpRHxA

Netflix is no longer allowing new customers on iOS to pay for the streaming service directly through an in-app subscription. It’s the latest example of a company with a high-profile, essential mobile app ditching Apple’s payment system to retain more profits for itself and stop handing the iPhone and iPad maker a cut of every subscription activated within the Netflix app. VentureBeat first reported the change, which Netflix confirmed with a short “we no longer support iTunes as a method of payment for new members” statement. Now, customers will have to begin a subscription through a web browser such as Safari. People who already have an in-app Netflix subscription will be able to continue paying that way — for now — but returning... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Q968nQ

The healthcare cloud has been growing incredibly, becoming an ever-more-important element of health information technology, or HIT. There are many reasons why the HIT cloud has been becoming more prominent, such as research and development and collaboration. Since the cloud has been expanding so rapidly, this may be a good time to reconsider security -- and that means understanding the threat, reviewing best practices, and heightening awareness of emergent approaches. First, realize the cloud is only getting bigger. from TechNewsWorld http://bit.ly/2Tgj0u1

It’s been a busy year Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2AlHriS

Gaming gear, love letters, and a half-eaten sandwich Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EUoDuO

Dell returned to the public market on Friday, ending a long saga that began when CEO and founder Michael Dell took the declining company private in 2013 through a $25 billion buyout with Silver Lake. The next five years saw Dell make gains in cloud computing and the enterprise, and the company’s gaming PC division is also a strong performer. Dell opened at $46 on Friday under the NYSE symbol DELL and quickly started trading up. Earlier this year, Dell announced it would become a public company again through a complex arrangement that involved buying back tracking shares for VMware, the software business that Dells own an 80 percent chunk of. Those shares “were born as part of Dell’s complicated deal to buy EMC a few years ago” according... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Q9QUi8

Right now, there’s a new Will Ferrell comedy playing on more than 2,000 screens, and yet it’s barely attracted any attention or commentary. Trailers for Holmes & Watson , a comic take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Ferrell and John C. Reilly, were relatively scant. And pre-release buzz was nonexistent, due in part to Sony refusing to screen the movie for critics. The few critics who dutifully slogged out to theaters to cover the movie’s Christmas Day release have no words of encouragement that suggest Holmes & Watson is some overlooked gem. And the box-office take has been dire, with the film earning a bare $9 million in its opening week. Some broad studio comedies flop in their original releases, but later earn an... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2GLYPTv

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is Netflix’s new choose-your-own-adventure interactive special and, in traditional Black Mirror fashion, is full of fun Easter eggs — including giving people the chance to play one of the games featured in the film. Bandersnatch introduces viewers to a fictional game development studio, run by an ambitious leader who wants to turn the company, Tuckersoft, into the “Motown of games.” The goal is to produce a series of hit titles that will reward its developers with fame and fortune. One of those games, Nohzdyve , is available to play right now — but there’s a twist. Nohzdyve was developed for the ZX Spectrum , a personal computer that was released in Britain in the early 1980s. It’s the same time period that B... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Aj0ASA

A nationwide CenturyLink outage has knocked out 911 voice calls in parts of the US and affected everything from Verizon mobile data to ATM withdrawals, lottery drawings, and hospital patient records. The downtime, which also impacts CenturyLink’s residential internet customers, began Thursday and has now stretched on for more than 24 hours. FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced Friday that such a delay is “unacceptable” and said the commission is investigating the ongoing outage after reports of people getting busy signals when dialing 911. “When an emergency strikes, it’s critical that Americans are able to use 911 to reach those who can help,” Pai said. “The CenturyLink service outage is therefore completely unacceptable, and its breadth... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2LE5v4N

Chinese schools are now tracking the exact location of their students using chip-equipped “smart uniforms” in order to encourage better attendance rates, according to a report from state-run newspaper The Global Times (via The Telegraph ). The implementation is just about as unsettling as “using smart technology to track students’ whereabouts” sounds. Each uniform has two chips in the shoulders which are used to track when and where the students enter or exit the school, with an added dose of facial recognition software at the entrances to make sure that the right student is wearing the right outfit (so you can’t just have your friend, say, wear an extra shirt while you go off and play hooky). Try to leave during school hours? An alarm... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2GJMuiM

There are so many streaming options available these days, and so many conflicting recommendations, that it’s hard to see through all the crap you could be watching. Each Friday, The Verge ’s Cut the Crap column simplifies the choice by sorting through the overwhelming multitude of movies and TV shows on subscription services, and recommending a single perfect thing to watch this weekend. What to watch “Her Only Living Son,” the final segment of the 2017 horror anthology XX . Written and directed by Karyn Kusama, the short stars Christina Kirk as Cora, a stressed-out single mother whose charismatic, malevolent teenage son Andy (Kyle Allen) has been stirring up trouble at school with his violent behavior — and even more disturbingly, with... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2EV4EMx

Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson made a name for himself on YouTube by giving away more than a million dollars to strangers and friends in bouts of random donations. Now, a new video on his channel is answering the question he receives most often from fans: where does all the money come from? The majority of Donaldson’s $1 million donations came from brand deals, which many fans may have guessed, but he also relies on going viral to boost his own personal revenue. The more viral he becomes, the more brands want to work with him, and the bigger his own AdSense earnings get. He can then entice viewers with even bigger giveaway videos. It’s a never ending cycle. It started with incrementally sponsored deals from companies like Quid, working with... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Tfh2u1

New Year’s is almost upon us, and that means that the annual cycle of folks making resolutions to get in shape in almost upon us. And T-Mobile wants to help , with some deals on the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch that might help you actually keep those goals. The deals go live on January 2nd, and aren’t too shabby: for the Apple Watch, if you buy either Apple’s latest Series 4 model or last year’s Series 3, T-Mobile will give you a $200 discount on the second one. And fans of Samsung’s platform have an even better deal: buy one Samsung Galaxy Watch , and T-Mobile will give you the second one for free. As always, there’s a catch for both deals: you’ll need to sign up for a T-Mobile plan for both your full price and discounted LTE watch, and o... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2QVrLgz

Billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison and former Kellogg executive Kathleen Wilson-Thompson are joining the company’s board of directors, Tesla announced Friday . Tesla is Ellison’s second-largest investment as of October, Ellison said then. Ellison owns three million shares in the company, according to the announcement. He also said that he and Musk are close friends. Wilson-Thompson spent 17 years as an executive at the Kellogg Company, and currently serves as the executive vice president and global chief human resources officer of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, the holding company that sits above Walgreens. Tesla was required to add two new independent board members as part of the settlement Elon Musk and the company signed with the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2Tl2kBZ

The night sky over New York City glowed bright as day Thursday evening, pulsating with a strange blue light after a fire at an electrical substation caused transformers to explode , sending electricity arcing through the air. Luckily, the fire quickly went out, and there were no injuries, despite the mind-boggling light display. Nearby, LaGuardia airport suffered a brief power outage , but otherwise, effects were minimal. New Yorkers did manage to get some incredible photos and video of the event . There was a brief electrical fire at our substation on 20th Avenue & 32nd Street in Astoria this evening, which caused a transmission dip in the area. All power lines serving the area are in service and the system is stable. Photo: Michael... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2ViMcSW

So you came out of the holidays with a fancy new 4K TV? It doesn’t get much better than that. After managing to unbox it and finding the perfect spot in your living room to put it, the next crucial step is downloading the right apps that can showcase that big screen. The easiest, fastest way to locate these apps is to open the app store on your TV — whether it be a Roku TV, Samsung TV, LG, Sony, Vizio, or something else — and look for a list of the most popular downloads. You’ll likely spot many of the choices that I’ve included below right there. If your TV comes with a voice remote, you can also look for them that way. Note that not all of these apps will be available on every smart TV. The best way to maximize your content selection... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2RjRKh2

If one word described the focus around the tech industry this year, it’s privacy. From user data mishandling to the private lives of major tech executives having impact on company cultures, this year we’ve become more aware than ever of when to take control of your own privacy – and when it’s time to speak out. Beyond that, 2018 has also been a quieter year for innovation than the last – from gadgets to gaming to smartphones, most products we saw this year have been building on the grounds 2017 broke without many major new hardware releases. So how did some of the biggest tech companies and industries fare this year on The Verge ’s annual report cards? In this last week of 2018, we’ll take a look at the past 12 months in technology, and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts http://bit.ly/2TeiXiE