Google Assistant is coming to smart speakers from a variety of companies this summer, including speakers with displays from JBL, Lenovo, LG, and Sony
Google Assistant is coming to a ton of speakers, some with their own screens — If Google's gigantic “Hey Google” …
Microsoft halts AMD Meltdown and Spectre patches after reports of some AMD PCs becoming unbootable after installing recent updates
Microsoft blames AMD's documentation — Microsoft has paused distributing its Meltdown and Spectre security updates for AMD machines after reports of PCs not booting.
Anker announces Roav Viva, a USB car charger with Alexa enabled via Bluetooth 4.0, available for preorder now in the US on Amazon for $50
Some automakers are already planning to load their new models with Amazon's famous voice assistant, but you don't need to buy a new car to have Alexa as a road companion.
Google consolidates its payment offerings, including Android Pay and Google Wallet, under a single brand: Google Pay
If you've ever paid for groceries with Android Pay, used Chrome to automatically fill in your payment info, or purchased an app on Google Play, then you've already experienced …
Wi-Fi Alliance unveils WPA3, a new set of security standards to address weak points of open Wi-Fi networks, expects it in devices this year
Finally, a security reprieve for open Wi-Fi hotspot users. — At last, Wi-Fi security — or lack of — is about to get its day in the sun.
Google announces that Google AMP cache will display publisher URLs and drop the Google AMP URL prefix in search results, starting in the second half of 2018
Google announced today that it is well on its way to solving one of the most annoying (to publishers) “features” of AMP …
At CES keynote, Intel CEO claims major breakthrough with new 49-qubit quantum computing chip, showcases Loihi “neuromorphic” chip, reveals VR partnerships, more
Intel's CES 2018 keynote focused on its 49-qubit quantum computing chip, VR applications for content …
Qualcomm unveils Bluetooth chip that the company claims will reduce power consumption by 65% and give wireless headphones nearly 3X the playback time
There are currently two major annoyances with wireless headphones: the Bluetooth can cut out in areas with a lot of signal noise, and battery life is mostly terrible.
Apple issues statement in response to investors' concern about kids' iPhone addiction, says it will address the issue with enhanced iOS parental controls
Apple has a response of sorts to activist shareholders concerned about kids' addiction to iPhones: Enhanced parental controls are coming to iOS.
HTC unveils Vive Pro VR headset with 2880x1600 resolution, a 78% increase over current Vive, and wireless adapter, so customers can lose the wired PC connection
HTC used its virtual reality (VR) keynote at CES in Las Vegas Monday to unveil an updated version of its Vive virtual reality headset …
Google to start rolling out Assistant this week to US users of Android Auto, which currently uses older Google Now-like tech for speech-based queries
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch :
Asus announces Lyra Voice, which functions as both 802.11ac Wi-Fi mesh router and Alexa-enabled speaker, launching in first half of 2018 at TBD price
Dan Dziedzic / CNET :
Google to roll out revamped Google Search Console in coming weeks, with new and updated reports including ones to track job postings and status of AMP sites
Google announced today that it will be making the new Google Search Console available to everyone in the coming weeks.
Sources: AT&T has walked away from a deal to sell smartphones made by Huawei, a partnership that was expected to be announced on Tuesday at CES
Reversal is set back for Chinese electronics giant's hopes to crack U.S. market — AT&T Inc. T .24% has walked away from a deal …
Oculus to launch the Mi VR in China, which will be similar to Oculus Go but with partner Xiaomi providing software for the headset instead of Facebook
The new headset comes thanks to a partnership with Chinese tech giant Xiaomi. — Facebook is taking a major step toward its goal …
Danish watch brand Skagen announces Falster, its first touchscreen smartwatch with a minimalist design running Android Wear, launching this month for $275-$295
Skagen is perhaps most well known for its beautiful analog watches, and over time those watches have been getting smarter.
PMA/Airfuel developer Powermat joins rival and Qi developer Wireless Power Consortium; Powermat CEO says Qi is now the dominant wireless charging standard
Powermat was pushing its own wireless charging standard, but has now signed on with the competition
Source: French consumer fraud watchdog launches probe into Apple's “alleged deception and planned obsolescence” of its products
A French prosecutor has launched an investigation of U.S. tech giant Apple <AAPL.O> over alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products following …
Inside Amazon's Alexa Voice Services division, which makes hardware and software development kits that help manufacturers build Alexa-enabled products
David Pierce / Wired : Tweets: @stevewbeales , @srikardr , @mobilemktrdaily , and @jencotton Tweets: Steven Wilson-Beales / @stevewbeales : I loved this insight into Amazon's Alexa lab. Probably obvi...
Baidu announces three smart speakers for China running DuerOS 2.0; one has a screen, one is a lamp, and one is a projector
Baidu is one of the biggest web companies in China, so naturally, it's trying to take over the smart assistant market there just as Google and Amazon are in the US.
Researcher publishes CoffeeMiner to show how public Wi-Fi users' traffic can be hijacked to mine cryptocurrency, weeks after similar project was spotted in wild
A new attack called CoffeeMiner can exploit public Wi-Fi services to secretly mine cryptocurrencies.
James Damore, author of controversial diversity memo who was fired by Google, files class action suit claiming it discriminates against white male conservatives
Against White Men GOP.com : Harmeet Dhillon — Harmeet became the RNC Committeewoman from California in 2016. Julie Bort / Business Insider : Google managers kept blacklists of conservative employees...
Leaked Snapchat DAU metrics from April to September 2017 show Snapchat is used mainly as a chat app, with Snap Maps' usage trailing off to ~19M since launch
Snapchat takes its secrecy seriously. Very, very seriously. — Take the case of one former Snapchat employee. Tweets: @joshconstine , @benbajarin , @itsren , @taylorlorenz , @noahshachtman , and @ta...
Samsung Electronics forecasts record quarterly profits of ~$14B for Q4 2017, below analysts' estimates as stronger South Korean won weighed on sales
Sam Kim / Bloomberg :
Ninth Circuit rules in Oracle v. Rimini that Rimini violated copyright law but says automated downloads don't break California, Nevada laws, even if against ToS
Bill Donahue / Law360 :
Didi Chuxing expands into China's crowded bike-sharing market, says it will partly take over the running of failed bike-sharing company Bluegogo's services
Yuan Yang / Financial Times :
Facebook says it's sunsetting M as a standalone concierge bot, but its context-based suggestions will live on inside Messenger conversations
Smart lock maker August launches in-home delivery service August Access in US, in partnership with last mile logistics firm Deliv, after testing it with Walmart
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Lenovo unveils the Miix 630, an ARM-powered Windows 10 2-in-1 detachable tablet with 12.3-inch screen, coming Q2 for $799 with stylus and keyboard
Tom Warren / The Verge :
Apple releases macOS 10.13.2 supplemental update and iOS 11.2.2 with security improvements to Safari and WebKit to mitigate Spectre vulnerability
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
Riding in a self-driving Lyft in Las Vegas is smooth, in-car audio cues and a tablet share information about ride, but human safety driver required for now
Sean O'Kane / The Verge :
Baidu debuts Apollo 2.0, the next version of its open source self-driving car software, announces Singapore expansion and $200M “Apollo Southeast Asia” fund
Blair Hanley Frank / VentureBeat :
Sources: Facebook plans to unveil Portal, an Echo Show-like video chat device with a screen and camera, at F8 in May and ship it in second half of 2018 for $499
Facebook is about to jump into the consumer hardware business in a big way with a video chat device named “Portal,” … Tweets: @samitsarkar and @holdenthepage . Thanks: @nycjim Tweets: Samit Sarkar / @...
Some students are taking advantage of free electricity in their dorms to mine cryptocurrencies, resulting in higher profit margins than most miners
Karen Hao / Quartz : Tweets: @amitranjan and @pakman Tweets: Amit Ranjan / @amitranjan : Electricity & internet being part of the tuition, the mining rigs is like a 2000 watt always-on room heater! -...
GoPro issues weak guidance, drops CEO cash compensation to $1, will cut staff by 20%, exit drone business; CEO says he'd consider selling firm; stock down ~15%
The camera maker had a celebrated IPO in 2014. Gary Ng / iPhone in Canada Blog : GoPro Hires JP Morgan for Potential Sale, Cuts 20% of Jobs, Kills Drone Business Maya Kosoff / Vanity Fair : GoPro's Se...
Sources: FCC unveiling smartphone emergency alert system changes tomorrow, requires telecoms, smartphone makers to deliver alerts to specific geographic regions
Tony Romm / Recode :
Nvidia opens beta of GeForce NOW, its cloud-based game streaming service, to Windows users, after launching beta for Mac users last summer
Nate Oh / AnandTech :
After breach exposing millions of parents and kids, toymaker VTech handed a $650K fine by FTC
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch :
Electronic medical records startup Practice Fusion, which was valued at $1.5B two years ago and raised $157M+, acquired by Allscripts for $100M
Christina Farr / CNBC :
Direxion Asset Management applies to SEC to launch leveraged and inverse Bitcoin ETFs that would up to double price moves of the cryptocurrency
Facebook has signed a multi-year, multi-territory licensing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, allowing users to upload and share media from the catalog
HQ Trivia launches special game for UK players, running every Monday and Wednesday at 3PM and 9PM; first game had ~5K players vs. 500K+ for worldwide games
Ring debuts new security system, cameras, lighting products for 2018 and says it's acquired lighting company Mr. Beams
Jason Cipriani / ZDNet :
Twitter has quietly started verifying users again, after pausing verifications in November alongside a promise of a new authentication and verification program
How the semiconductor industry responded to Meltdown and Spectre: initial disbelief, followed by a collaborative months-long effort to patch major tech vendors
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