News
Smart Home
Busted: Facebook Portal gets 5-star reviews from company employees
It's fair to say that Facebook's Portal smart display received a tepid response at launch, so it was something of a surprise to see lots of glowing reviews of the device on Amazon. Turns out some were written by Facebook workers.
Social Media
Twitter suffers privacy scare as bug reveals tweets of protected accounts
If you set your Twitter account to private and you have an Android device, you'd better check your settings now. Twitter says it's just fixed a four-year-old bug that flipped the privacy switch to make the account public.
Mobile
Get $100 discount on the Razer Phone 2 for a limited time
The Razer Phone 2 is finally here, and it's got upgraded specs, that super-smooth 120Hz display, and an updated design. Here's absolutely everything you need to know about the Razer Phone 2.
Mobile
OpenTable points can now be used to whittle down cost of a hotel stay
Have some OpenTable Dining Points built up? Now those points can also be used to make your own hotel discounts. OpenTable is teaming up with Kayak to use points as discounts on participating hotels.
Emerging Tech
Fears about kids’ screen use may have been overblown, Oxford researchers find
Many people take it as gospel that digital technologies are harmful to young people’s mental health. But is this true? A recent study from the University of Oxford takes a closer look.
Cars
Sibling rivalry: 2019 BMW Z4 takes on the 2020 Toyota Supra
BMW and Toyota forged an unlikely partnership when they set out to build a sports car platform together. Here, we examine the similarities and differences between the 2019 Z4 and the 2020 Supra.
Gaming
‘Mortal Kombat 11’ is even gorier and crazier than we expected
NetherRealm Studios unveiled Mortal Kombat 11 on January 17 and the game looks to be just as gory and over the top as fans have come to expect. Former MMA fighter Ronda Rousey will appear as Sonya Blade.
Home Theater
How much are the initials ‘LV’ worth? $700 if you put them on your earphones
If you're looking for truly wireless earbuds that make as much of a statement about the state of your finances as they do about your high-tech street cred, Louis Vuitton's Horizon earbuds fit the $995 bill.
Computing
Faster new PCIe 5.0 standard leapfrogs the best feature of AMD’s Ryzen 3
PCIe 5.0 will bring even faster data transfers, but it may only be found on HPCs and servers initially. The standard is four times faster than your current PC at transferring data, and new devices could appear later this year.
Cars
Boutique carmaker Karma Automotive, legendary design firm Pininfarina team up
Karma Automotive is partnering with legendary Italian design firm Pininfarina on future luxury cars. The first product of that partnership will appear later this year, Karma said, without offering other details.
Social Media
Nearly a million Facebook users followed these fake Russian accounts
Facebook purged two separate groups behind more than 500 fake accounts with Russian ties. One group had ties to Russian news agency Sputnik, while the other had behavior similar to the Internet Research Agency's midterm actions.
Home Theater
Spotify adds simplified Car View mode for Android users
What was once just a test is now a reality: Spotify is rolling out a new, simplified in-car user interface for all Android users called Car View, which automatically engages when the app detects a car Bluetooth connection.
Photography
Nikon A1000, B600 pack big zooms into compact, budget-friendly cameras
The new Nikon Coolpix A1000 packs in a 35x zoom lens, 4K video, and an optical viewfinder, while Nikon's B600 brings a 60x zoom lens to the table. The cameras are modest updates to Nikon's budget-friendly zoom models.
Emerging Tech
New brainwave reader tells teachers if students are concentrating
Massachusetts-based startup BrainCo has developed brainwave-reading headbands which can reportedly help reveal if students are concentrating in class. Here's how they're being used.
Computing
Dell teases new XPS laptop with Intel’s 10th-gen Ice Lake for summer 2019
After teasing a mysterious Ice Lake-powered XPS laptop during Intel's keynote, Dell confirmed that it will announce a new 10th-generation Ice Lake-powered XPS laptop this year. The new XPS notebook could debut as early as summer.
Movies & TV
Here's everything we know about 'John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum'
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum, the third installment of the wildly successful action series that stars Keanu Reeves as a deadly assassin forced out of retirement, hits theaters in May 2019. Here's everything we know about it so far.
Gaming
Bethesda explains why ‘Fallout 76’ players using secret room are banned
Following a series of bans in Fallout 76 brought on by players entering a secret room in the game, Bethesda has explain exactly why these players' accounts have been temporarily deactivated.
Computing
Data breach compromises 773 million records, 21 million passwords
A security researcher was alerted to a collection of breached data that included more than 773 million compromised records. After digging deeper, the breach was revealed to contain more than 21 million passwords.