Technology

Headlines abound this week about an asteroid heading toward Earth at perhaps the most opportune time during a terrible year: November 2nd, the day before the presidential election. It sounds too good to be true — an asteroid to wipe us all out before what will surely be a very contentious election process — and that’s because it is. This so-called “dangerous” asteroid, dubbed 2018VP1, has a 0.41 percent chance of crossing paths with Earth on November 2nd and entering our atmosphere — incredibly low odds. And even if it did take a turn and hit us, no one would be in danger. The asteroid is a measly 2 meters, or 6.5 feet, across, making it slightly smaller than a compact Smart car. If it did hit our atmosphere, it would completely disintegrate up above us and pose no threat to anyone below. ...

Luminar, a Florida-based startup that makes LIDAR sensors and other components essential for autonomous driving technology, is the latest transportation company to go public via a “reverse merger” with a special acquisition company, or SPAC. The company announced Monday that it was merging with Gores Metropoulos, a so-called “blank check” company sponsored by an affiliate of The Gores Group, a global investment firm. As a result, Luminar will become a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ under the new ticker “LAZR.” The Gores Group has been called “the king of SPACs” for the number of reverse mergers it has pulled off. equity valuation of $3.4 billion The combined company will have an “implied pro forma enterprise value” of approximately $2.9 billion and an equity value of $3.4 billion...

The recently-released Microsoft Flight Simulator is a game best enjoyed with a dedicated flight stick, but actually finding one of these controllers is a challenge. None of Amazon.com’s best-selling PC flight sticks are available to buy new as of Monday August 24th — they’re either listed as unavailable, only available used, or scheduled to be back in stock in the coming months. It’s impossible to know if this current shortage is directly caused by the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flight yokes and sticks are a relatively niche product to begin with, and, even prior to the game’s official release, people on Twitter were complaining about shortages. Meanwhile, plenty of other gaming accessories like Nintendo’s Ring Fit have also been selling out this year thanks to a combination of...

Spotify keeps adding to its exclusive podcast arsenal, and today, it’s getting into the esports space. The company announced a multiyear partnership with Riot Games that’ll make Spotify the hub for all League of Legends audio content, including exclusive podcast series. At least one show will launch this year, called Untold Stories: Top Moments from Worlds, a nine-episode series that’ll lead up to the 10th League of Legends championship this fall. Listeners will hear about the players and top anthem through game highlights, interviews, and game sound effects. Two music playlists, including the existing, “This is League of Legends,” will be updated regularly, too. Spotify’s also planning to dedicate a day to the Worlds Anthem, a song Riot releases every year to kick off its annual champions...

Two new Google hardware devices have shown up in FCC filings, and as 9to5Google notes, it seems likely that they’re related to the new Android TV product that’s reportedly been in the works for a while. If so, the filings could suggest that Google is finally gearing up to release it soon. An XDA Developers report in June said that Google was preparing a TV dongle codenamed “Sabrina” that would use Android TV and a traditional remote-driven UI, unlike smartphone-controlled Chromecast devices. One of the new FCC filings refers to an “Interactive Media Streaming Device” with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, while the other is for a “Wireless Device” with Bluetooth and a power cover, which 9to5Google speculates could be Sabrina and its remote control respectively. Unless you buy a TV with the software bui...

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors as a treatment for sick patients. The announcement came after President Donald Trump publicly pressured the agency to speed the development of drugs and vaccines. Plasma should not be the new standard of care for COVID-19, the agency said in a statement. However, it may shorten or reduce the severity of the illness in hospitalized patients. “We’re encouraged by the early promising data that we’ve seen about convalescent plasma,” said commissioner Stephen Hahn in the statement. Preliminary research suggests that the plasma, which contains antibodies against the coronavirus, could help improve the survival rate of people hospitalized with the disease. However, the treatment has only been tes...

New leaked images may have the first look at the Google Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4A 5G. The image showing what could be the Pixel 5 in black and the Pixel 4A 5G in white came from a since-deleted post on Reddit. They also include details about the phones’ specs which seem to match up with previously leaked information, according to XDA Developers. Google launched the Pixel 4A earlier this month and announced the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G would be coming sometime this fall, likely early October. Renders of the Pixel 5 leaked last week, showing a fingerprint sensor on the rear of the device, a square-shaped camera array with two cameras, a flash, and a hole-punch front-facing camera. A previously leaked render of the (likely) Pixel 5 If the new Reddit image is legit, it would also seem to confirm...

Apple is threatening an entire ecosystem of game developers in response to the Fortnite lawsuit, Epic alleged in a new filing on Sunday. The motion centers on iOS support for the Unreal Engine, which Apple has threatened to revoke as part of Epic’s broader loss of developer privileges. Epic has asked the court to restrain Apple from revoking that access while the case is ongoing. Apple responded to the request on Friday, emphasizing that it was enforcing previously stated policies, but not denying that iOS support was at risk. Epic says removing support would be unnecessarily punitive, affecting developers who have built on Epic’s engine but have no direct interest in the case. “The breadth of Apple’s retaliation is itself an unlawful effort to maintain its monopoly and chill any action by...

Twitter has labeled a tweet from President Trump in which he questioned the use of mail drop boxes for the November election. The president claimed, without citing evidence, that the boxes made it “possible for a person to vote multiple times,” and are a “voter security disaster,” that “are not Covid sanitized.” Twitter applied a label to the Sunday morning tweet that reads “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.” A “learn more” link goes to Twitter’s rules about public-interest exceptions. “We placed a public interest interstitial on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy, for making misleading health claims that could potentially diss...

The World Health Organization has released its guidance on face masks for children, as students— in some parts of the country at least— return to their classrooms to start the new school year. Children age 5 and younger shouldn’t be required to wear masks, the WHO says, since most are not able to put them on without help. Children age 6 through 11, however, should wear masks under certain conditions, including local infection rates, whether there’s an adult available to help them, and if they’ll be exposed to elderly people or people with health conditions who are at higher risk of complications from the virus. Kids 12 and older should wear masks under the same conditions adults would wear them, using the standard social-distancing guidelines, WHO said in its release. WHO Worked with UNICE...

A group of WeChat users is suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order banning transactions with the app, The Wall Street Journal reported. The group isn’t affiliated with WeChat or its owner Tencent, but seeks to block the president’s August 6th order which the group says is unconstitutional because it violates users’ due process and free speech rights, according to the Journal. The lawsuit also argues that the ban targets Chinese-Americans. “It is the primary app Chinese-speakers in the U.S. use to participate in social life by connecting with loved ones, sharing special moments, arguing ideas, receiving up-to-the minute news, and participating in political discussions and advocacy,” the lawsuit states, and has “become essential to the conduct of daily life for it...

Director James Gunn took his time at DC Comics’ FanDome to introduce the new Suicide Squad set to debut in Warner Bros.’ The Suicide Squad. A “roll call” trailer for his Suicide Squad sequel debuted today at DC FanDome, a virtual convention from DC Comics and Warner Bros. That includes Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Pete Davidson as Blackguard and many more. Although it’s not an official trailer, this is the first time that Gunn and Warner Bros. have announced the film’s new characters. Gunn also debuted a behind-the-scenes video that includes some of the first footage from The Suicide Squad. [embedded content] The Suicide Squad is Gunn’s first big project, and first film set within a superhero universe, since he...