Asimo, Honda’s amazing biped, heads to robot retirement home
Honda is retiring its multitalented Asimo robot. But it's not all bad news as many of its talents will be incorporated into other technology produced by the Japanese company, such as mobility aids and autonomous vehicles. Asimo made its first appearance in 2000 but it was in development for 14 years before that.
Weird home security camera mix-up streams video to wrong person
A woman with a home security camera recently received an alert to her phone, suggesting the camera's motion sensor had been triggered. But when she looked at the live footage, she noticed it wasn't of her home. Instead, she found herself looking at a family she didn't know, in a kitchen she didn't recognize.
YouTube delights multitaskers by offering picture-in-picture to lots more users
YouTube has offered a picture-in-picture mode for some time, but you had to be a paid-up member of its Red service to use it. The good news is that it's now rolling out the feature to nonsubscribers. The bad news? It only works for U.S.-based users with Android 8.0 Oreo and above. And not for all videos.
BBC Sounds app features its 18 national radio stations and lots of podcasts
The BBC already offers the iPlayer Radio app featuring huge amounts of its content, but the British media giant has now launched a whole new offering with the same content but with improved functionality. The free app is designed to be a more modern offering and will eventually replace the iPlayer Radio alternative.
Apple and Samsung just settled their 7-year legal battle
Samsung and Apple have settled a contentious seven year legal battle over patent infringement. The settlement comes less than a month after a District Court ruled Samsung owed Apple more than $500 million dollars in damages for copying patents related to the iPhone. Neither party disclosed the terms of the settlement.
Instagram now lets you video chat with up to three buddies
Your favorite photo-sharing app, which is now much more than that, has just launched video chat with the option to chinwag with up to three friends. Instagram has also given some attention to the Explore tab, retaining its style but adding new topic channels along the top to help you surface content of interest.
Facebook gives up on building its own internet drone
After four years of work, Facebook is ending efforts to build its own internet drone. But the Aquila project to bring internet connectivity to remote parts of the planet will continue, with Facebook instead collaborating with aerospace companies to build drones with the relevant technology.
Pepper the robot is now working at a bank in New York City
Pepper the friendly robot has been given a variety of customer-facing roles in its three-year existence, admittedly with varying degrees of success. Now HSBC is hiring it to perform tasks at its main branch in Manhattan, New York City. The bank says it's aim is to give customers a glimpse of "the branch of the future."
Watch inside Soyuz as it blasts astronauts (and toys) into space
It sure looks cramped inside the Soyuz capsule. A new video reveals the tight conditions three astronauts had to endure during a recent two-day trip to the space station. Besides holding the astronauts, the capsule also contains cargo for the station, and includes furry toys, too. But they're there for a good reason.
Google Classroom to stop students peeking online for test answers
Google Classroom is rolling out a bunch of new updates for educators. Among them is an option for teachers to prevent cheating during online tests by locking students onto the quiz webpage so they can't research answers via the web, and a new tool that allows for the easy creation of virtual reality tours.
Japan aims to power Tokyo Olympics with 100 percent renewable energy
Japan is aiming to make the Tokyo Olympics the greenest ever, with plans to power the sporting extravaganza with 100 percent renewable energy. Part of the strategy includes ramping up wind and solar projects before 2020, while other efforts include making medals from metals taken from discarded mobile phones.
‘China’s Hawaii’ plans to ease internet restrictions for foreign tourists
An island known as "China's Hawaii" could have its internet restrictions lifted as part of plans to improve the vacation experience for foreign visitors. While China blocks access to online services such as Facebook and YouTube, the island of Hainan plans to create special zones offering open access.
Popular Instagrammer caught using photos from image libraries
Popular Instagrammer Daryl Aiden Yow impressed many of his followers with fancy shots from a range of dazzling locations. His work even caught the attention of brands such as Sony and Uniqlo, which worked with him on marketing projects. But it's now been revealed that some of his images were taken from stock sites.
What the hell? How Jonathan Higbee shoots these impossible street photos
Photographer Jonathan Higbee has an incredible knack for finding quirky moments on the street. But it's not just his sharp eye and patience that bring results. When a scene unfolds before him, he also needs lightning quick reactions to catch it. We caught up with New York-based Higbee to ask him about his work.
A country is shutting off its entire internet to stop exam cheats
Determined to prevent students cheating in exams, the Algerian government has ordered the internet to be shut off for several hours around the time the tests are taken. Officials have also installed metal detectors at exam centers to prevent the use of mobile phones and other connected devices.
SpaceX wins confidence-boosting Falcon Heavy contract with U.S. Air Force
SpaceX has won its first major national security contract for the Falcon Heavy, giving a big vote of confidence to its newest and most powerful rocket to date. SpaceX will launch the U.S. Air Force's Space Command-52 satellite in 2020 in a deal worth $130 million.
YouTube boosts creators with channel subs, merchandise stores, and Premieres
YouTube is expanding existing features and introducing a new one in a bid to help creators earn more money through their work. Channel subscriptions for $5 a month, merchandise stores with customized goods, and "Premieres" that enable creators to market their latest videos are all part of the effort.
‘Rogue employee’ tried to sabotage Tesla, internal email claims
Tesla is suing a former employee, accusing him of exporting confidential company data to third parties, as well as making false statements about Tesla to the media. But the employee denies the claims, insisting that he was trying to blow the lid on "some scary things" he claims to have seen at Tesla.
Germany plans to put Airbus and Audi’s cool flying taxi concept into the sky
Airbus and Audi have been working on a flying taxi concept for a while, and now there are plans to build a working model and put it in the skies. The German government this week greenlit tests for a vehicle that's aimed at offering a "flexible, shared, and adaptable new way of moving within cities."
Car-sharing service Car2go tootles into Chicago with an advantage over rivals
Car-sharing service Car2go is about to launch in its seventh U.S. city. From July, folks in Chicago will be able to rent cars from 29 cents a minute, whether for short trips or a ride further afield. There are rival car-sharing services in the Windy City, but Car2go claims to have one distinct advantage over them.
Ohio wants to use camera drones to monitor highway traffic
Drones for traffic management? It may be coming to Ohio with the launch of a multi-million-dollar project to research how the tech could help monitor road conditions. But there's a lot of work to do, as it would involve convincing regulators that it's OK to fly the machines beyond the line of sight.
Thieves nab $100K of Apple gear in ‘Mission: Impossible-style’ raid
Thieves have again targeted Apple gear, this time stealing $100,000 worth of iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers from a Best Buy store in Dunwoody, Georgia. But the method of entry that the gang used has prompted local cops to compare the raid to an iconic scene from "Mission: Impossible."
Quickstarter inspires creators to dream up small but fun Kickstarter projects
If you're itching to launch a Kickstarter project but your ideas are on the ambitious side, then how about gaining some experience with a small, manageable project? The crowdfunding site has launched Quickstarter to inspire fun, low-budget ideas that can be completed in a short time frame.
Norway tests its first all-electric plane, hopes for passenger flights by 2025
Norway has witnessed its first successful test of an electric-powered plane in a short flight around Oslo airport. The country's transport minister said that a commercial service using a similar design "is not a far-off vision of the future but a reality achievable within a few years."
This net-blasting security drone can stay airborne forever. Here’s how.
The DroneCatcher shoots a net at rogue drones in restricted airspace over places like airports and prisons. A recent update has added a power cord, enabling it to stay airborne around the clock for faster response times. In such cases, the cord automatically detaches, allowing it to go after the rogue drone.
Some folks still think it’s a good idea to fly drones over wildfires
Hobby drones are a lot of fun, few people will dispute that. So it's disappointing to learn that some folks just can't help making life difficult for the authorities, disrupting airborne efforts to tackle wildfires. It's happening more frequently, with incidents in Colorado reported in recent days.
Check out these wacky designs from Boeing’s $2 million passenger drone contest
Winners in the first round of the Boeing-sponsored GoFly contest have been announced. Aimed at encouraging viable designs for electric-powered passenger drones, the 10 winners now have nine months to build a prototype capable of vertical takeoffs and landings, and flights that can cover at least 20 miles.
Report: Microsoft is building checkout-less store tech to take on Amazon
Microsoft is reportedly developing technology for checkout-less stores similar to Amazon Go, which lets you simply "grab and go." The computer giant is believed to be talking to Walmart ahead of a possible partnership, though it could also sell the technology to multiple retailers around the world.
Apple Park’s office setup aims to keep workers on their toes
If you're reading this at a desk and you feel a twinge in your back, then do you have a standing desk you can use instead? Apple boss Tim Cook said this week that all of the company's workers at its new Apple Park campus have access to a standing desk, which he's adamant is a healthier way to work.
SleepScore app aims to take your slumber to new depths
Having trouble achieving a decent night's sleep? SleepScore is a new free app that assesses your sleep quality via sound waves from your smartphone. Based on a score linked to your sleeping patterns, it then offers a range of "sleep goals" together with advice on how you can achieve them.
Uber eyes millions of new riders with the launch of Uber Lite
Following in the footsteps of many other popular online services, Uber has just launched a lightweight version of its app. Targeted at emerging markets such as India, Uber Lite uses just 5MB of storage to offer a service that still manages to retain some of the core features of its regular app.
Google Translate uses A.I. to improve accuracy for offline use
If you sometimes find Google Translate's offline efforts to be a little confusing or inaccurate, then an update coming to the app this week looks set to bring some solid improvements. The team has managed to work in an A.I. system currently used in the online version, without taking too much extra space on your device.
Ford’s driverless delivery vehicle actually has a driver
Ford has a plan to launch a meal-delivery service within the next few years using autonomous cars that it's developing. But a pilot scheme currently underway in Miami is using a driver to control the car, allowing researchers to instead focus on developing the system for dispatching and collecting ordered meals.