2020
Latest
Uber expects to be profitable by the end of 2020
Uber's year-end earnings show the company is still losing money, but it expects to turn things around by the end of 2020. In an earnings call today, Uber CFO Nelson Chai said the company plans to be profitable in the final quarter of this year. "We recognized the significant work remaining to get to this milestone, and our teams are focused on executing our plan," Chai said.
Twitter will let you report posts aimed at suppressing voters
Twitter is rolling out another tool meant to protect the 2020 US election. Today, it announced that during "key moments" of the election users will be able to report misleading information about how to participate in an election or other civic event. Users will be able to specify whether the misinformation contains false info about how or where to vote or register, if it intends to suppress or intimidate people from voting or if someone is misrepresenting their affiliation with a candidate, party, etc.
Watch Al Pacino hunt Nazis in Jordan Peele's upcoming Amazon series
Amazon has dropped a new trailer for Hunters, a Jordan Peele produced series starring none other than Al Pacino. The series revolves around a group of vigilantes, led by Pacino, chasing a Nazi regime that has secretly risen to power in the '70s, three decades after World War II.
Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang wants your data to be your property
Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur turned Democratic presidential hopeful, may not be a leading candidate in the race, but he has gained attention for his unique ideas about how to address technology -- the companies behind it and the impact it's having on the country. He has proposed giving every American $12,000 per year to soften the blow of jobs lost to automation, and he has toyed with campaigning via hologram. While these ideas have come out in bits and pieces, Yang officially revealed his comprehensive tech policy today.
Facebook’s 2020 election 'protections' still allow for lying politicians
Today, Facebook outlined new measures to stop abuse and interference in the 2020 election. They include safeguards meant to make Facebook more secure and transparent, but they make one glaring omission. The new policies don't change Facebook's rules that allow political candidates to lie in their political ads.
‘Kerbal Space Program’ gets an interstellar flight sequel
It's been four years since Kerbal Space Program (KSP) -- the spacecraft building and flight simulation game -- officially launched. While Elon Musk once called the title "awesome" and joked that SpaceX used KSP for testing software, it was due for a refresh. Today, Private Division announced that Kerbal Space Program 2 (KSP2) will arrive in 2020. As part of the reveal, it released cinematic trailer and a (dramatic) developer story.
Democratic hopeful Tulsi Gabbard sues Google over alleged censorship
Tulsi Gabbard, one of the many Democratic presidential hopefuls, is suing Google for at least $50 million. Gabbard filed a federal lawsuit against the company today, claiming that it suspended her campaign's advertising account for six hours following the first Democratic debate. Doing so, the lawsuit reportedly states, infringed on Gabbard's free speech.
Tokyo unveils its recycled e-waste Olympics medals
The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have unveiled the designs for the medals. The baubles that'll hang from the necks of the winningest athletes in each game reflect their struggle for brilliance in the years before the games themselves begin.
Apple News debuts a guide to the 2020 Democrat hopefuls
Apple wants you to take its news service seriously. To demonstrate its potential beyond a simple headline aggregation platform, it's launched its own candidate guide ahead of the 2020 Democratic debates. The guide contains facts, biographies and candidate positions on key issues, and will be supplied with what Apple says is "timely, trusted and comprehensive" information about those taking part, via providers such as CNN, Axios and The New York Times.
Toyota will add automatic engine shut off and auto-park to all new vehicles
Beginning with model year 2020, Toyota will include automatic engine shut off and auto-park features in its new vehicles. If a vehicle is left running for a predetermined amount of time, the engine will automatically shut off. If a driver exits a vehicle without putting it in park, it will automatically shift and/or apply the parking brake.
Intel's 5G modems won't be in phones until 2020
Intel has said that while it will send out sample versions of its 5G modems to its clients this year, the chips won't be in phones before 2020. Apple uses Intel modems in its iPhones, so the timeline suggests we might not see a 5G iPhone until next year, which falls in line with previous reports.
Audi teases its E-Tron GT sedan
Audi has teased the E-Tron GT sedan, and confirmed that it will reveal the entire car tomorrow, November 28th, at the LA Auto Show, according to Bild. The E-Tron GT will be Audi's flagship EV and, as reported earlier this year, based on Porsche's Taycan (formerly Mission E) platform.
Japan's new cybersecurity minister admits he's never used a computer
Whichever way your political ideology lies, there's no doubt that we live in interesting times. A lot of us have opinions on which political figures are qualified to do their jobs -- and which definitely aren't -- but we can probably all agree that if you're going to put someone in charge of, say, cybersecurity, they should probably at least know their way around a computer. Right? Apparently not, if you're the Japanese prime minister, who has recently appointed Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, as head of the government's cybersecurity office, despite him never having used a computer.
All Cadillacs will have semi-autonomous features starting in 2020
Every model Cadillac sells will be available with semi-autonomous features starting in 2020. The luxury automaker's Super Cruise system for hands-free highway driving will be available across its entire model line in two years; currently, it's exclusive to the CT6 sedan. After 2020, the feature will make its way to other GM lines including Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, according to TechCrunch.
Most of Toyota's cars will talk to each other by 2025
Toyota's first vehicles that communicate with each other will be up for sale in the US starting in 2021. By the mid-2020s, "most" of Toyota and Lexus' lineup will feature Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) the company says. Since 2015, the automaker has installed the tech in around 100,000 cars in its native Japan, according to Reuters. The automaker pointed toward its automatic emergency braking systems pledge from 2015 as proof of intent. Now, Toyota says 92 percent of its US sales are cars with its Toyota Safety Sense or Lexus Safety Sense braking tech as standard equipment.
VW's 'affordable' crossover EV comes to the US in 2020
Volkswagen has announced that it's I.D. Crozz EV, currently touring auto shows around the world as a concept, will go on sale for real in America by 2020. It'll be the first of VW's I.D. vehicles to hit US shores, so its success will be crucial to the German company's wide-ranging plans to electrify its lineup. The I.D. Crozz will have dual electric motors that put out 302 horsepower in total and an 83-kWh battery that can be charged to 80 percent of its 300-mile capacity in a half hour.
SpaceX reschedules its unmanned Red Dragon mission to Mars
SpaceX is still relentlessly gunning for Mars, but the company has admitted that the current plans for its first unmanned flight might be a tad too ambitious. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has revealed that its robotic Martian lander called Red Dragon won't be ready in 2018 like the company wanted. She made the revelation at a press conference announcing the first time the space corporation is launching a rocket from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center.
Maserati's electric Alfieri two-seater coming in 2020
Maserati recently said it would sell its first electric car by 2020, and now we know exactly what it will look like. The company told Just Auto that it would build an EV version of its Alfieri, a two seat concept car that it first unveiled at the Geneva auto show in 2014. The Alfieri (above), which will also be produced with a V6 engine, "is being designed as a competitor to the 911 but it will be a larger car," said European GM Peter Denton. "More the size of a Jaguar F-Type."
China reveals images and details of its first Mars rover
NASA's next-gen Mars rover might not be the only space vehicle heading to the red planet in 2020. China is apparently planning to deploy a rover of its own by July or August 2020, and the country has just released some mission details and computer-generated images (see above for one) to the public. According to state-run publication Xinhua, mission chief Zhang Rongqiao revealed during a presscon in Beijing that the rover will be ferried to space by a Long March-5 carrier rocket. Seven months after liftoff, the lander will break free from the orbiter to make its way to the planet's equator where the rover will begin its journey.
500 of NYC's free WiFi kiosks will be installed by July
LinkNYC's ambitious plan to convert some 7,500 Gotham payphones into kiosks featuring free domestic phone calls, USB charging points, gigabit WiFi and tablet-based internet access is well under way. But if you're having trouble finding them so far (it's only been about a week since installations started) that's understandable. The company promises that some 510 of them will be up and running in beta phase across two sections of Manhattan, the South Bronx, Jamaica Queens, Staten Island and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn by this July.
