DailyShow
Latest
Finally, a cheap smartphone with true flagship power
Xiaomi is one of the most respected smartphone brands in India, but apparently that wasn't not good enough. Earlier today, the Chinese phone maker launched a new sub-brand called Pocophone, which in turn revealed its new F1 smartphone. Normally, we wouldn't get too worked up over this kind of news, but as it turns out, Pocophone's F1 is a fascinating little machine.
NASA confirms the presence of ice at the moon's poles
There's water ice on the surface of the moon, a team of scientists has confirmed, and future expeditions could harvest it for human settlements. They used data collected by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to prove its presence and found ice deposits at the moon's poles. The idea that Earth's natural satellite has pockets of ice hiding in the shadows permanently hidden from the sun isn't anything new -- previous probes sent back data containing evidence of their existence. However, NASA says this is the "first time scientists have directly observed definitive evidence" that there's water ice on what people previously thought was a barren space rock.
Huawei caught passing off DSLR pictures as phone camera samples
Huawei doesn't have the best track record when it comes to advertising. Campaigns for both its P8 and P9 phones were revealed to be at least a little dishonest, and it seems the advertising around its newest launch, the Nova 3, falls into the same category.
Samsung's Exynos modem will make 5G phones real
Samsung has unveiled a 5G modem that meets all the latest standards and can hit 6Gbps mmWave speeds. The Exynos Modem 5100, built using Samsung's 10-nanometer process, conforms to the latest 3GPP release 15 spec for sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G spectrums. At the same time, it's compatible with current 2G, 3G and LTE standards, with speeds as high as 1.6Gbps on advanced 4G networks.
US bans government personnel from using Huawei and ZTE devices
US government employees, contractors and agencies might have to ditch most of their Huawei and ZTE tech. The President has signed the Defense Authorization Act into law, and part of it is a ban on devices and equipment used to route or view user data made by the two companies and some other Chinese manufacturers. Government contractors can still use components that don't handle user data in any way. But since they still have to get rid of existing parts and devices that do, the law includes a directive for agencies to prioritize funding for businesses that have to replace their equipment.
Vimeo is the latest platform to remove InfoWars's Alex Jones
Vimeo has joined services like Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts and removed InfoWars's Alex Jones from its platform. According to Business Insider, new videos uploaded Thursday and Friday violated the site's Terms of Service for "discriminatory and hateful content." A spokesperson said, ""we do not want to profit from content of this nature in any way" and issued a refund to Jones.
Get your own HAL-9000 replica with Bluetooth and voice command
Sci-fi fans rejoice: You can now talk to your very own replica of the iconic HAL-9000 computer from Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke's seminal film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Master Replicas Group has already achieved 358 percent funding on this Indiegogo project, which includes two versions of the iconic device.
France bans smartphones in schools
Under new legislation, French students will be prohibited from using smartphones and tablets while at school. The law, which was originally noted in President Emmanuel Macron's election campaign, was elevated to a matter of public health amidst concerns French youth has become super-connected.
Apple may include support for a second SIM card in new iPhones
Could Apple be planning on support for dual SIM cards with the new iPhone? It's possible. 9to5Mac was taking iOS 12 developer beta 5 out for a test drive and noticed something interesting in diagnostic report generation. There are clearly references to a "second SIM status."
Samsung's 'unbreakable' display survives UL scrutiny
Phone makers have promised unbreakable phone screens for years, but they tend to involve awkward compromises like soft, scratchable surfaces. Samsung Display might just fulfill that promise, though. Underwriters Laboratories certified an "unbreakable" Samsung panel (not yet pictured) as capable of surviving military-grade durability tests without damage. This included dropping it 26 times from a height of four feet and subjecting it to extreme temperatures. It even survived a drop test at 6 feet without any battle scars. Update: Samsung Display posted a video of its new screen, showing how its lightweight plastic cover compares to traditional glass. In the video it survives several strikes from a hammer with no damage to show for it.
Scientists may have found liquid water on Mars
Today, scientists announced that they have detected what could be a large reservoir of liquid water under the surface of Mars. The "lake" measures 20-km across and is located about 1.5 km below Mars's southern polar ice cap. An article about the discovery was published in the journal Science.
Russian hackers are inside US utility networks
Russian hackers infiltrated the control rooms of US utility companies last year, reaching a point where they "could have thrown switches," The Wall Street Journal reports. The paper cites officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirming that the hackers -- from a state-sponsored group previously known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear -- gained access to allegedly secure networks, where they could have caused blackouts.
Sony unveils world's first 48-megapixel smartphone sensor
Is it best to have a high-resolution smartphone camera or a lower-resolution one with better light sensitivity? Sony says you can have both with its latest stacked CMOS image sensor. The IMX586 has the "industry's highest pixel count" with 48 megapixels, bettering high-end cameras like its own A7R III, all squeezed into a phone-sized 8.0 mm diagonal unit. At the same time, four adjacent pixels can be added together during low light shooting, yielding a 12-megapixel sensor that delivers "bright, low noise images," Sony said.
VW will build its electric microbus and crossover in the US
Volkswagen is pushing its EV strategy hard in Europe and China, and now intends to continue its momentum in the US, where it plans to produce its upcoming all-electric microbus and crossover SUV. Confirmed to Autocar this week, VW says it'll produce the I.D. BUZZ electric microbus and I.D. CROZZ Concept in the States, ready for launch in 2022. According to Hinrich Woebcken, head of VW in North America, "For strong product momentum, they need to be produced in the USA. It's not possible to come into a high-volume scenario with imported cars. We want to localize electric mobility in the US."
Google fined $5.04 billion for forcing its apps onto Android phones
Europe has imposed a record-setting €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine on Google for antitrust violations around its Android smartphone operating system. In 2016, the EU Commission charged Google with forcing mobile network operators to install Chrome, search and other Google apps as the default or exclusive search service on most devices sold in Europe. With a market share of over 80 percent in many countries, that effectively locked others out of the search market, creating a near-monopoly for the search giant.
Samsung's new DRAM chip will make phones run faster and longer
Samsung has been busy improving its microSD range, introducing SSDs with faster write speeds, and opening the world's biggest mobile factory, but the electronics maker doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon -- it's just completed tests on a 8Gb LPDDR5 DRAM prototype, a faster, low power RAM that will be used to power machine learning applications and AI in 5G phones.
Smart bandage can monitor chronic wounds and dispense drugs
Chronic or slow-healing wounds are an increasing problem around the world. That's why a team of researchers at Tufts University is working on a smart bandage that can keep track of what is going on with a wound and release treatments as necessary.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 pen will include Bluetooth
Samsung hasn't been shy about hinting that the Galaxy Note 9 launch will focus heavily on the S Pen. Now, however, we have a better idea of what that means. An FCC filing for the Note 9's S Pen has revealed that it'll include Bluetooth, suggesting remote control features. The documents unsurprisingly don't say what those features are, but leaker Ice Universe had previously claimed that the stylus could control music playback and timers. We wouldn't expect anything sophisticated (it's a one-button device without a screen), but it could provide value even if you only rarely intend to draw.
Spotify users request refunds after over-the-top Drake promotion
Last week, Drake smashed the single-day record for total number of album streams on Spotify with the release of his new record Scorpion, but the artist had some help in making that happen. Spotify placed Drake prominently on its playlists, effectively allowing the artist to "take over" the music service over the weekend. While Drake fans were likely pleased, others weren't exactly thrilled about this turn of events. Some premium subscribers even went as far to demand refunds from Spotify for the service's placement of advertisements on accounts that are supposed to be ad-free.
NASA will publicly test quiet supersonic technology in November
You won't have to wonder what NASA's quiet supersonic technology sounds like in person -- if you live in the right part of Texas, that is. The administration plans to conduct a series of public tests around the coastal city of Galveston in November. The F/A-18 Hornet aircraft at the heart of the tests will perform dive maneuvers that produce louder sonic booms out at sea, while quieter sonic "thumps" will take place over Galveston proper. After that, "at least" 500 local volunteers will provide feedback on what they heard, while audio sensors will provide more definitive noise readings.
