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San Diego joins other cities in restricting cops' use of surveillance technology
San Diego has given final approval for a measure that will require oversight for surveillance tech like body cameras.
TwitchCon San Diego returns October 7th
Twitch hasn't confirmed whether attendees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Bird expands its electric wheelchair and mobility scooter rentals to San Diego
The vehicles are also now available in San Francisco.
Apple details 3D maps rollout plan for iOS 15
The 3D view is now available in London, NYC, San Francisco and LA, with more cities coming soon.
In-person TwitchCon events will return in 2022
It all depends what the COVID-19 situation looks like by then, of course.
Bird's first e-bikes arrive in San Diego
Bird has partnered with San Diego State University to bring its new e-bike, along with Bird Two and Three scooters, to the school’s 280-acre campus.
San Diego police ban Clearview AI's facial recognition tool
The backlash to Clearview AI's facial recognition tool is extending beyond tech companies and civil liberties groups. San Diego's police department and district attorney's office have confirmed that they banned use of Clearview AI in recent weeks. However, that wasn't before they were used in free trials. Police Lieutenant Shawn Takeuchi said that two detectives used Clearview for investigating financial crimes in tandem with "partners in the banking industry," while the DA office's Steve Walker said that eight investigators tried the tech in cases that didn't lead to charges.
Uber Elevate plans to deliver Big Macs by drone this summer
Move over, Uber Eats. Uber Elevate plans to deliver food via drone as early as this summer. To start, the service will be available in San Diego, and since Uber has been working closely with McDonalds, it will likely be optimized for things like Big Macs and fries.
Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G is available for pre-order at Verizon
Verizon (Engadget's parent company) has opened pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. You'll need access to 5G connections to get the most out of the device of course, so the provider has also named 20 more cities in which it will turn on its mobile 5G network this year.
Jury decides Apple violated three Qualcomm patents in iPhones
Following a two-week trial, a jury has determined that Apple violated three Qualcomm patents in some iPhones. The jury awarded Qualcomm $31 million, the full amount it was seeking, though Apple had won a ruling to limit the potential payout.
RuPaul's biographical series will stream on Hulu
2017 has been very good to RuPaul. The ninth season of Drag Race notched eight Emmy nods, including for Reality Competition Host which he won last year. RuPaul's streak continued on Wednesday as Hulu announced that it has optioned Queen, a fictionalized half-hour dramedy chronicling his rise to fame, to be produced by JJ Abrams' Bad Robot.
Google Fiber considering Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego for expansion
Google has announced that it is considering rolling out its high-speed Fiber internet service to three additional American cities. The company stated on its Fiber blog on Thursday that it hopes to enter a joint planning process with the cities of Irvine, California; Louisville, Kentucky; and San Diego, California. "We'll work with Irvine, Louisville and San Diego to conduct a detailed study of factors that affect construction," wrote Jill Szuchmacher, Director, Google Fiber Expansion, "such as local topography, housing density, and the condition of existing infrastructure."
Airbnb rolls out a pricing recommendation tool for hosts
If you try to book a hotel room in San Diego in September, you can probably get one for around $200-300 a night. If you try to do the same in mid-July during Comic-Con? You'll likely have to cough up close to $1,000 a night, and that's if you can get a room at all. If you're an Airbnb host, it'd behoove you to know about these sorts of surges in demand, so you can price your room appropriately. Today, Airbnb has rolled out a tool called Price Tips that lets you do just that. It utilizes Airbnb's own machine learning tool called Aerosolve that'll suggest room pricing based on the demand for rooms, its location, travel trends, the listing type and so forth.
Warcraft movie is a wrap
A little over four months after it began, and filming for the Warcraft movie has officially wrapped, according to a tweet made by Director Duncan Jones yesterday. Of course this is really just the beginning, as the film is slated for an incredibly long bout -- 20 months or so -- of post production, in which visual effects will be added and the film fine-tuned. The release date is still set for March 11, 2016, so they have plenty of time to get it polished. Final day on Warcraft now officially... wrapped!! Off to bed for 3 hours before a meeting in the AM. Goodnight/good morning twitter!- Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) May 23, 2014 With filming coming to a close, one has to wonder if we'll be seeing trailers or footage any time soon. Comic-Con International will be hitting San Diego in late July, and given that last year's convention saw some teaser footage before filming even began, it seems like more footage this year is a distinct possibility. And we'd be silly to think that this year's BlizzCon won't contain at least one panel regarding the film. I have to say, given exactly how long people have been talking about the possibility of a Warcraft film, it seems a little surreal that one actually exists now. Are you looking forward to seeing the finished product?
Sprint's LTE rollout gains momentum with addition of 70 new markets
It's been a long slog for LTE latecomer Sprint, but the Hesse-led operator's finally kicking into high gear and getting that 4G coverage out to a significant chunk of its nationwide subscriber base. Despite a slow start at the beginning of the year, Sprint now claims an LTE footprint that spans 300 markets, with 70 added just today including major cities like Orlando, Fla.; San Diego, Calif.; and St. Louis, Mo. And that's just for Sprint's "plain" 4G LTE. Subscribers that are interested in Spark-level speeds (the carrier's enhanced LTE service capable of up to 60 Mbps down) will have to either live in one of the select launch areas or sit tight with that tri-band device a little longer and wonder at the speedy possibilities.
Sports fans with iPads score with in-stadium WiFi
A lot of sports fans are going to be, in the words of Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, "Happy, happy, happy" this fall. That's because a number of stadiums are installing WiFi networks that make toting the iPad to a football game a great way to access the second screen that fans enjoy at home. ZDNet's Jason O'Grady attended the Philadelphia Eagles home opener at Lincoln Financial Field last weekend and was delighted to find a free WiFi network that can fulfill the bandwidth requirements of 45,000 simultaneous users (the stadium holds 69,000 fans). A dozen NFL stadiums are currently outfitted with WiFi, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants all stadiums to be equipped so that fans can use their smartphones and tablets for fantasy football and social networking. According to a press release sent out by the Eagles last week, here's what fans can do with their iPads and the free Eagles iPad app: Fans will have the ability to stream the popular NFL Red Zone Channel live through the app, allowing them to watch action from around the league. Live camera view of the player tunnel prior to the game, which will give fans a unique glimpse of the players pumping each other up right before they run onto the field. Live stream of the video board, allowing the user to get a better view of the replays that are displayed on the big screen. A dynamic stats channel that provides fans with updates from the Eagles game, as well as information and statistics from around the NFL. Social media hub, which will make it easy to log on to various popular social platforms including Facebook, Twitter and others without having to leave the Eagles app. Many of the original features remain, including news, game previews, video clips, photo galleries, fantasy stats, rosters, depth charts, bios, stadium information and much more. Some Major League Baseball parks have also made free WiFi available for fans, including four of the five teams in the NL West -- San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Arizona. My favorite ballpark, Denver's Coors Field, doesn't provide WiFi -- between that and the Rockies' season record, it's been a lousy year for baseball.
How would you change the Orange San Diego?
Orange's £200 ($308) San Diego was one of the first Intel-powered Android devices to hit the market. Despite its budget price, it packed a Medfield-based 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU that the company promised would deliver more performance and battery life than its pricier rivals. It almost achieved it too, with benchmarks that stood equal to the Galaxy S III and more than 24-hours of standby life. The problem, was that our reviewer couldn't find a compelling reason to buy one of these over a last-gen Android flagship -- but was that the case for you? If you bought one, how has the ownership experience been, so tell us what did you love, what did you hate and what would you change?
Researchers create algorithms that could help lithium-ion batteries charge two times faster
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have devised new algorithms that could cut lithium-ion battery charge times in half, help cells run more efficiently and potentially cut production costs by 25 percent. Rather than tracking battery behavior and health with the traditional technique of monitoring current and voltage, the team's mathematical models estimate where lithium ions are within cells for more precise data. With the added insight, the team can more accurately gauge battery longevity and control charging efficiency. The group was awarded $415,000 from the Department of Energy's ARPA-E research arm to further develop the algorithm and accompanying tech with automotive firm Bosch and battery manufacturer Cobasys, which both received the remainder of a $4 million grant. Wondering if the solution will ever find its way out of the lab? According to co-lead researcher Scott Moura, it'll see practical use: "This technology is going into products that people will actually use." Update: UC San Diego reached out to let us know that they were awarded $415,000 (not $460,000 as previously noted) out of a grant totaling $4 million (not $9.6 million), split between Bosch and Cobasys. We've updated the post and the press release below to reflect the correct figures.
PlanetSide 2 will be playable on Friday at SDCC
If you're making the trek out to California for the San Diego Comic-Con, you probably already know about most of what to expect. But the team behind PlanetSide 2 just surprised any fans en route to the convention with the announcement that PS2 will be playable on Friday. From noon until 9:00 p.m. PDT, players can try out the current build of the game, chat with the development team, and even pick up a special set of Empire-themed dog tags. Some fans can't make the trek out to San Diego for the game, of course. These fans have to look forward to the game's upcoming beta test, but there's good news on that front as well. Matt Higby has clarified via Twitter that the beta will occur sometime before the end of July, meaning that beta testers will get to start in on the game very soon. So even if you can't make it out to the convention, you won't be deprived of the game too much longer. [Thanks to Dengar and Scott for the tips!]
Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms releases its first trailer
We know a little bit about the game, but up until now, nothing has actually been seen of the upcoming Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms. But the wait is now over, as a trailer for the browser-based game has been unveiled to show off some of what players can expect when the game finally goes live. And if you're hoping for the opportunity to cross swords with rival houses in a massive political battle... well, that does seem to be on the plate. There's admittedly not too much that can be displayed via a trailer running under a minute long. But the trailer does show off the graphics and some hints of the combat, which looks to be very much a matter of skill. Check out the full trailer just past the break, and keep your eyes open for more information as the game ramps up for more reveals at San Diego Comic-Con. [Update: George R.R. Martin himself has also posted the video and the original press release. He notes that he'll be at SDCC checking out the game at the Dark Horse booth.]
