In a blog post today, Google is announcing that it’s formally embarking on a project to convince the group in charge of web standards to adopt technology inspired by its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) framework. In theory, it would mean that virtually any webpage could gain the same benefits as AMP: near-instantaneous loading, distribution on […]
PlayStation 4’s latest update gives parents a lot more power. On Wednesday, Sony (SNE) rolled out a PS4 software update for its gaming console with several new features — most notably, the ability for adults to restrict how long a child uses the system. Other new features include more personalization and improved image quality for […]
Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant, was laughing when it shouldn’t. You might have seen tweets about it: The weird, disembodied chuckle bothered people for reasons you can imagine, as well as because it reportedly could happen unprompted—our assistants, after all, are only supposed to listen and speak to us after they hear the wake word. We […]
If your license plate expires, you can still drive the car. But when a software-based certificate expires, you can’t drive the Oculus Rift to any virtual realm. Owners of the Facebook-owned virtual reality headset for the PC discovered this harsh reality on Tuesday when they booted up the device and faced a warning message, blocking […]
That build, No. 17618, brings back the Sets feature that Microsoft cut from Redstone 4 earlier this year. Sets is a window-management tool that allows users to group together web pages, documents, files and apps and work with them in tabs. In Redstone 4, only a subset of testers got to try out Sets; with […]
With the first developer preview of Android P out today, we’re getting our first look at the visual refresh that Google was rumored to be working on a few months ago. This is an extremely early build of the software, so it’s very likely that more changes are on the way — and some of what’s here might […]
Some Alexa users may feel like they’ve been dropped into a science fiction story about an artificial intelligence gone awry. The virtual assistant in Amazon’s Echo devices has been frightening people with spontaneous laughter, according to multiple social media reports. “I was trying to turn off some lights and they kept turning back on. After […]
Apple has confirmed to The Verge that it will stop taking new iTunes LP submissions as of this month. The format, which was launched in 2009, was a way for users to buy albums with bundled elements, like videos, liner notes, or bonus tracks. Earlier today, UK-based website Metro claimed to have a leaked internal […]
The Surface Pro with LTE is set to become more widely available. Initially positioned and sold as a business-oriented device, Microsoft today opened the device up to consumers, with preorders starting today. While business users have been able to buy the systems since last December, anyone preordering today still has a wait in store: the […]
Here’s how to start using Google Lens on any Android phone. Google Lens support in Google Photos on iOS will launch “soon.” Google on Monday said Google Lens, an app that uses artificial intelligence to identify objects using a phone’s camera, is now rolling out to all Google Photos users on Android. Previously, Google Lens […]
BlackBerry, the once-great smartphone maker that exited the hardware business in 2016, is suing Facebook for patent infringement. BlackBerry owns a portfolio of broad software patents that cover some of the most basic features of modern smartphone messaging services—and the company says it wants Facebook to pay up. Facebook “created mobile messaging applications that coopt BlackBerry’s innovations, using a […]
Hewlett-Packard Inc. is getting more specific with its business PCs. The venerable company on March 5 introduced a professional-class notebook, an all-in-one laptop and a display monitor—all tailor-made for the health care industry—at the HIMSS18 health-care technology conference in Las Vegas. HP, you may recall, has specialized some of its notebooks in the past, although […]
