In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week. Everything from the end of the Yahoo era to how to win at Pokémon Go, it’s all right here.
Verizon buys Yahoo’s core businesses for $5 billion, Marissa Mayer staying
Internet behemoth Yahoo has been marching steadily toward the sale of its core assets for the last several months, and now, the sale is complete, with Verizon serving as the buyer. On Monday, Verizon officially confirmed the deal, with its Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam stating, “The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising.”
Want to master ‘Pokémon Go’? Here’s every tip you need to know
Surprisingly, Pokémon Go has a lot going on despite how simple the game is on the surface. Whether you have yet to begin amassing your collection, or you are well on your way to filling out your Pokédex, this article will break down all the game’s nuances and various ways to play. We’ll cover everything, from how to find, catch, and train your Pokémon, to how to best use your items and maximize your strengths in battle.
LastPass, used by millions, may be vulnerable to shockingly simple exploits
LastPass was vulnerable, a white hat hacker at Google’s Project Zero claimed Tuesday. A patch for the problem was out by Thursday, Engadget is reporting. Tavis Ormandy, a researcher affiliated with Google’s security research team Project Zero, sarcastically asked if anyone actually uses LastPass on Twitter yesterday, adding that he found a bunch of fundamental security problems with little more than a quick glance, Betanews is reporting. LastPass is the most popular password storage service on the planet, with millions of users.
Science behind washing your jeans yields unexpected results
Let’s start with the ending: you don’t need to wash your jeans. Unless there are spots or stains you want to remove or they’ve just gotten terribly dirty, with normal wear jeans don’t need washing, according to Tech Insider. There’s no need to roll them in mud, pound them with rocks, soak them in salt water, or run over them multiple times with your car to break them in. Jeans today come in so many varieties you might as well just buy the look and fit you want — and then never wash them.
‘Arrested Development’ season 5 in the works, may shoot in 2017
After making Arrested Development fans’ dreams come true by reviving the cult hit for a fourth season in 2013, Netflix promised a season 5 as well — at some indeterminate point in the future. Fortunately, series creator Mitch Hurwitz was a little more specific about the timeline Wednesday. He revealed during a Television Critics Association press event that a fifth season could start shooting as soon as early 2017, reports Variety.
Throw open your doors, Apple! Secrecy isn’t impressing us anymore
Apple’s latest earnings report came out this week, and two things are immediately obvious from the numbers. One of those things is amazing, but the other is alarming. First, Apple is a giant, enormous, really huge company. This is a company that mints money. No one else comes close, and even when sales are weak, they’re still strong. For any other business, selling 40 million of anything would be reason to crack open a case of Dom Perignon. For Apple, the world’s biggest and most profitable company, it’s worrying.
A plane just flew around the world without a single drop of fuel. Let that sink in for a minute
Piloted by co-founder Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse 2 nailed its historic landing this week and became the first aircraft to fly around the world powered only by the sun. The journey began in March 2015 when André Borschberg took off from Abu Dhabi and completed the plane’s first 13-hour, fuel-free flight. A total of 17 legs were needed to complete the 25,000 miles included in the round-the-world trip. Now that this journey has been completed, what is next for the Solar Impulse plane and it Swiss founders?
Jiobit aims to make wearables so discreet they’re practically invisible
If there’s one big problem that plagues all smartwatches and most fitness trackers, it’s battery life. Device designers are faced with two choices: compromise battery life for features, or compromise features for battery life. Watches packed to the brim with energy-sucking sensors — e.g., the Apple Watch and Huawei Watch — necessarily last little more than a day and a half off a charger. Meanwhile, wearables that forgo color displays, GPS, and countless other accouterments stretch that limit to a week and a half, but at the steep cost of functionality.
Belgian scientists just built a solar-powered machine that turns urine into drinkable water
This just may be the ultimate in green technology — if you can stomach it, that is. A team of truly resourceful scientists at the University of Ghent claim to have created a machine that transforms your urine into drinkable water. That’s right. We may soon be drinking our pee. It’s all contingent upon solar energy, which means that this technology could be useful in a number of under-resourced areas.
Facebook crushes earnings again and hits a billion daily active users on mobile
Facebook’s numbers continue to move in the right direction for the social networking giant, with users, revenue, and profit all on the up. And in a big way, too. The news comes courtesy of its latest earnings report, released by the Menlo Park company on Wednesday. For starters, just take a look at its monthly active users for the quarter ending June 30. There’s now 1.71 billion of them globally, marking an increase of 15 percent on the same three-month period a year earlier.
