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 cell phone service with the fastest download speeds to the latest, modern takes on home lighting, it’s all here.
T-Mobile now has fastest LTE download speeds of four big carriers, study shows
For a long time, T-Mobile has been on the lower end of the big four carriers in terms of connectivity and speed. The Un-carrier has come a long way — it now rates the second highest in customer satisfaction, and offers the fastest LTE downloads in the U.S., according to a new study by OpenSignal.
Solar panels? Not good enough for Elon Musk — he wants to create a solar roof
Millions of homes around the world protect us from the hot and brutal sun, so it only makes sense that having a solar roof would be the logical next step in harnessing that power. Sure, many can afford to install solar panels on their roofs, but Musk’s plan is different. He wants to make a roof entirely out of solar cells.
British Columbia woman’s iPhone survives a 2,500-foot fall nearly unscathed
This iPhone must be part Apple device, part cat. That’s the only explanation for its surviving a 2,500-foot drop out of an airplane, right? Call it fantastic engineering or just blind luck, but Jeannine Buck says her smartphone lived to tell the tale of plummeting around half a mile out of the sky.
Forget your bank, hackers say we should worry about smart sex toy privacy
No one wants to share their data with just any old app developer and even less so when it could reveal when, and how often, a smart sex toy is used. That’s the accusation against Standard Innovation Corporation, makers of the We-Vibe 4 Plus vibrator, by two hackers at the DefCon hacking conference in Las Vegas. The pair, who go by the names Follower and Goldfisk, presented their findings in a talk called Hacking the Internet of Vibrating Things. Sure, the name is quite amusing, but the implications are less so.
You can pre-order the Blocks modular smartwatch for $60 off right now
Gadgets like the Blocks Smartwatch have the potential to revolutionize how we buy products. That’s because, instead of being replaced, the modular smartwatch is designed to be upgraded and tweaked with the passage of time. (No pun intended!) At $100 off its $320 pre-order price on new.chooseblocks.com and $60 off its regular price on our store, the DT Shop is offering a solid deal on the smartwatch.
China is developing a hypersonic space plane that makes the Space Shuttle look primitive
China is developing a space plane that’ll go from runway to orbit and back down again at hypersonic speeds, reports Popular Science. When it is completed, the hypersonic space plane will boost the Asian country to the forefront of the aerospace industry — eclipsing the capabilities of the now retired Space Shuttle and competing with the cutting-edge British Skylon.
Apple’s push into education has helped more than 32,000 U.S. students
Apple joined President Barack Obama’s ConnectED program in 2014, promising to issue grants to 114 schools in 29 states — including a MacBook and iPad for teachers, an Apple TV for each classroom, and an iPad for each student. Fast forward two years, and it seems as if Apple’s decision to join the initiative is paying off quite well.
100 million Volkswagen vehicles can be unlocked wirelessly by hacker thieves
Is your keyless remote safe? Connected cars face increasing threats as new technologies present hackers and thieves with additional ways to access vehicles. One vulnerability, though, involves older tech — remote key fobs used to unlock cars. Researchers at the Usenix security conference in Austin will soon present a paper outlining two remote unlocking vulnerabilities, one of which puts nearly every Volkswagen Group vehicle manufactured since 1995 in jeopardy, as reported in Wired.
Nanoleaf’s triangular panels offer a new, modular take on lighting
If you can say one thing about Toronto-based Nanoleaf, it’s that its light bulbs don’t look boring. From the dimmable Bloom to the smart Ivy, the folded circuit board bulbs are eye-catching. The same can be said for the company’s newest product, the Aurora, debuting at CES 2016. The Aurora isn’t something you’ll stick under a lamp shade. In fact, it moves home lighting onto the wall (though you could also put them on the ceiling or a table, too). It’s a series of triangle-shaped LED panels that fit together in various shapes.
Ready to become a cyborg? This dermal implant will give you a sixth sense
The international team of activists, technologists, and body-hackers known as Cyborg Nest want to give you a sixth sense — and, with apologies to M. Night Shyamalan, it’s got nothing to do with seeing dead people. Instead, Cyborg Nest’s upcoming first product is a device called the North Sense: a miniature, Bluetooth-enabled wearable chip-like device users attach by way of body piercings. Its purpose? Firstly, to vibrate each and every time you face in a magnetic northward direction. Secondly, to aid your transition in becoming a real-life cyborg.
