Archive for July 2020

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Accessories (9)

AI (7)

  • DeepMind and Oxford University researchers on how to 'decolonize' AI

    In a moment where society is collectively reckoning with just how deep the roots of racism reach, a new paper from researchers at DeepMind — the AI lab and sister company to Google — and the University of Oxford presents a vision to "decolonize" artificial intelligence. The aim is to keep society's ugly prejudices from being reproduced and amplified by today's powerful machine learning systems. The paper, published this month in the journal Philosophy & Technology, has at heart the idea that you have to understand historical context to understand why technology can be biased.

    By Chris Ip Read More

  • AI predicts a Dodgers World Series win after a COVID-shortened season

    Major League Baseball is entering uncharted waters with the start of its COVID-abridged season today. Nobody's really sure if the 60-game season will even be able to get through the World Series without disruption by the pandemic's spread. The folks at Unanimous AI have been making high profile predictions like these since 2016, when their UNU platform correctly figured 11 of 15 winners for that year's Academy Awards.

    By Andrew Tarantola Read More

  • Disney's new AI is facial recognition for animation

    Disney's massive archive spans the course of nearly a century of content, which can turn any search for specific characters, scenes or on-screen objects within it into a significant undertaking. The CG platform is built to populate knowledge graphs with content metadata, akin to what you see in Google results if you search for Steve Jobs (below). From there, AI applications can then leverage that data to enhance search, discovery and personalization features or as Anthony Accardo, Director of Research and Development at DTCI, told Engadget, help animators find specific shots and sequences from within Disney's archive.

    By Andrew Tarantola Read More

  • Palmer Luckey's startup will build a 'virtual' border wall

    It's no secret that Palmer Luckey's Anduril Industries has been developing a "virtual wall" to heighten national security -- he's been at it for the better part of three years. According to a new report from the Washington Post, the Trump administration awarded Anduril a lucrative five-year contract to erect hundreds of AI-powered surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border by 2022. "These towers give agents in the field a significant leg up against the criminal networks that facilitate illegal cross-border activity," said Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott in a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

    By Chris Velazco Read More

Amazon (21)

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Computing (16)

  • Intel debuts slightly slower, slightly cheaper version of its 10-core 10900K chip

    Intel has unveiled a new member to its Comet Lake family today, with the arrival of the i9-10850K. According to Intel, "the i9-10850K is based on immediate feedback we've received from customers, including to further expand options and different price points." Critics, however, have said that it's possible that Intel is having trouble with chips that can't quite reach the 10900K's clock speeds, and is thus selling them in this slower, cheaper model.

    By Nicole Lee Read More

  • Intel's 7nm CPUs are delayed, won't arrive until at least 2022

    Intel delivered bad news to its investors today, announcing that its plans for 7nm chips have slipped another six months, and yields are now running a year behind original projections. This comes after Apple announced plans to rely on its own CPUs for future computers, and as competitors like AMD and NVIDIA already take advantage of 7nm tech to build more efficient processors. Intel is accelerating its transition to 10nm products this year with increasing volumes and strong demand for an expanding line up.

    By Richard Lawler Read More

  • TheoryBoard is a MIDI controller that teaches you music theory

    There are no shortage of crazy and unique MIDI controllers out there. It claims to let anyone create music, regardless of skill level, while also teaching them about music theory. Well TheoryBoard has two 12x4 sets of velocity sensitive pads, with a touchscreen in the middle.

    By Terrence O'Brien Read More

  • AMD's 4700G APU is a mid-range PC on a single chip

    It's been a year since AMD's Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 CPUs changed the desktop PC market, with best-in-class productivity and "good enough" gaming performance. One area has been left behind, though: desktop APUs, which combine a processor with integrated graphics. Today that changes, as AMD is announcing a family of "4000G" APUs for desktop PCs.

    By Aaron Souppouris Read More

  • Kano's $300 DIY Windows 10 PC Kit is finally ready

    A little more than a year ago, Kano unveiled a colorful build-it-yourself tablet running Windows 10. The Kano PC was sold, it turns out, but only to a small group of fans that were happy to act as unofficial beta testers. The Kano PC is a chunky tablet that you have to assemble with components wrapped in colourful plastic.

    By Nick Summers Read More

  • Worldwide PC shipments grew due to work-from-home arrangements

    The PC industry bounced back in the second quarter of 2020 after its weakest quarter in years mostly due to shelter-in-place orders prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. According to both Gartner and IDC, PC shipments grew year-over-year in the second quarter — the former says shipments totaled 64.8 million units (a 2.8 percent increase from Q2 2019), while IDC says global shipments reached 72.3 million units, which is 11.2 percent higher compared to the same period last year. Both organizations attribute the growth to PC production ramping up after supply chains were disrupted in the first quarter and to strong demand, now that more people need computers to work or study from home.

    By Mariella Moon Read More

  • New H.266 codec uses half the data to stream 4K video

    Fraunhofer, the German company that helped develop the H.264, H.265 and MP3 encoding formats, has unveiled a new video encoding standard that could severely reduce streaming bottlenecks. Called H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC), it's specifically designed for 4K and 8K streaming and reduces data requirements by around 50 percent compared to H.265 HEVC (high-efficiency video coding).

    By Steve Dent Read More

  • Windows 10's Start menu is getting a visual refresh

    Microsoft has rolled out the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build, giving us a glimpse of a new Start menu that was redesigned to look cleaner and more coherent. Insiders in the Dev Channel will now have access to a refreshed menu that no longer uses solid color backplates behind logos in the app list. A subset of Insiders now also have access to a new Microsoft Edge feature that shows all open tabs in one panel simply by pressing Alt + TAB.

    By Mariella Moon Read More

Cybersecurity (38)

Entertainment (7)

  • What's on TV: 'Umbrella Academy,' 'Speed Cubers' and sports

    While the MLB struggles to keep its season going, the NHL and NBA are ready to air real games later this week. In non-sports viewing options, Netflix is ready to release season two of The Umbrella Academy, as well as its Rubik's Cube documentary The Speed Cubers. For gamers, Skater XL, Destroy All Humans!

    By Richard Lawler Read More

  • Apple TV+ acquires Werner Herzog's meteorite documentary 'Fireball'

    When Apple TV+ launched, the space drama For All Mankind was immediately well-received, and now Apple has acquired a space documentary. Directed by Werner Herzog — taking a break from his Mandalorian duties — and professor Clive Oppenheimer, Fireball promises to help viewers "discover how shooting stars, meteorites and deep impacts have focused the human imagination on other realms and worlds, and on our past and our future. The two previously collaborated on other documentaries, including their volcano deep-dive Into the Inferno, which premiered on Netflix in 2016.

    By Richard Lawler Read More

  • The Morning After: Xbox Series X games showcase

    Microsoft's big Xbox Series X showcase seemed to show off Game Pass more than the new system -- for for better or worse. Also, Intel announced its 7nm CPUs are delayed, while Disney pushed back 'Star Wars' and 'Avatar' release dates by a full year.

    By Engadget Read More

  • Rare's 'Everwild' looks gorgeous, but we still don't know how it plays

    It's been a while since we got our first look at Everwild, Rare's open-world adventure that we said looks like "a lost Miyazaki film. Today, as part of Microsoft's Xbox Studio event, we're getting a lot more detail about the upcoming game. As with that first trailer, we're getting a look at a positively gorgeous world with plenty of magic and wild animals.

    By Nathan Ingraham Read More

EVs and Transportation (35)

Gaming (73)

Google (46)

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Lifestyle (1)

  • Google is beta testing a new emoji shortcut bar for Android

    The new feature will let you quickly tack on ???????????????? to try and make up for ruining a persons day. Or drop a when it's time for another Zoom happy hour, without having to open a separate emoji keyboard. Sure, it might sound minor, but considering just how reliant we've become on picture-based communication, any shortcut is a huge help.

    By Terrence O'Brien Read More

Meta (26)

Microsoft (14)

Mobile (11)

  • AT&T says its 5G network is now available 'nationwide'

    AT&T has hit a milestone in its 5G network rollout. Specifically, AT&T added 40 new markets today, which brings it to a total of 395 markets that cover 205 million people. Verizon's ultra wideband network uses the notably faster mmWave technology, while T-Mobile and AT&T primarily use mid- and low-band 5G to achieve their nationwide coverage.

    By Nathan Ingraham Read More

  • AT&T's scary email tells customers they need new phones now

    In a recent email, AT&T told some of its customers their phones soon won't be supported by new network technology. The email urges customers to buy a new phone to ensure they'll still be able to make voice calls. The email does link to an AT&T support article that mentions the company plans to scrap its 3G network in February 2022.

    By Ann Smajstrla Read More

  • The UK will remove Huawei equipment from its 5G networks by 2027

    Oliver Dowden, the UK government's culture secretary, said mobile operators shouldn't buy the company's 5G equipment from December 31st, 2020. "Once the telecoms security bill is passed, it will be illegal for them to do so," he told members of parliament in the House of Commons. If a provider has already bought or installed Huawei hardware, it must be removed from their 5G networks before the end of 2027.

    By Nick Summers Read More

  • T-Mobile opens Home Internet signups in Michigan

    The carrier's Home Internet product started as an invite-only trial for select T-Mobile customer households, mainly those in underserved and rural areas, last year. The carrier's LTE Home Internet service can deliver average download speeds of around 50 Mbps.

    By Mariella Moon Read More

  • Supreme Court rules against law allowing debt-collection robocalls to cell phones

    The US Supreme Court decided today that debt collectors can no longer make robocalls to cell phones (via Ars Technica). In doing so, the court has ruled that the prior provision to the law violated the First Amendment by favoring debt-collection speech over other kinds of speech. The law cited here is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 which prohibits almost all robocalls to cell phones.

    By Nicole Lee Read More

  • House approves $100 billion in broadband funding for rural areas

    The US House of Representatives approved the Moving Forward Act this week, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that puts $100 billion toward bringing high-speed broadband to underserved areas. The main objective of the broadband portion of the bill is to bring high-speed internet to "unserved and underserved rural, suburban, and urban communities," as well as adequate support for it, according to a Moving Forward Act fact sheet from the Department of Transportation. It prioritizes remote learning for children by providing digital equipment and outfitting school buses and school libraries with WiFi.

    By Ann Smajstrla Read More

  • What to expect from the next version of 5G

    5G coverage may still be sparse, and the world is still trying to understand how it works or affects us, but the people that define networking standards won't stop working on it. One of the many companies that contributes ideas and technologies that eventually get adopted into 5G protocols is Qualcomm, and it also published blog posts today about Rel-16. Of course, Qualcomm wants you to know all about its inventions that have been adopted and will be used by the telecomms industry, but this information does help us to understand how the upcoming changes will work.

    By Cherlynn Low Read More

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Technology (3)

  • Olympus rolls out PC app that turns some of its cameras into webcams

    Olympus may be selling its camera business — to the same company that bought Sony's VAIO PC division — but it's not abandoning its products just yet. It has just released a new beta application called OM-D Webcam, which gives Olympus cameras webcam capabilities for livestreaming or video chats when attached to a PC via their USB-C tether. While the application definitely sounds useful in an era of Zoom work conferences and online classes, not all Olympus users will be able to take advantage of it.

    By Mariella Moon Read More

Tomorrow (1)

  • Hitting the Books: America needs a new public data system

    In the excerpt below, Lane illustrates the challenges that government employees face when given incomplete or biased data and still expected to do their duties, as well as the enormous benefits we can reap when data is effectively and ethically leveraged for the public good. Democratizing Our Data is already available on Amazon Kindle and will be for sale in print on September 1st.

    By Andrew Tarantola Read More

TV & Movies (27)

VPN (2)

Wearables (23)

Xbox (20)