Technology

The Department of Defense believes that Russia may have tested out a new technology in space that could be used to destroy other satellites already in orbit. This particular test didn’t destroy anything, but military officials are worried it could be used to target US satellites in the future. On July 15th, a Russian satellite called Kosmos 2543 released an unknown object into orbit, according to US Space Command, which is responsible for tracking all the objects currently in orbit. The satellite released this mysterious object near another Russian satellite, though no pieces came in contact with one another. At the time of the test, the Russian Defense Ministry admitted that Kosmos 2543 was going to come close to a target satellite to do an inspection, but satellite trackers took notice o...

Microsoft showed off a lot of games coming to the Xbox Series X, including exclusives and brand-new titles, at its July showcase event. We now have a much better idea of what’s in store for Microsoft’s upcoming console. If you weren’t able to watch the event live, we’ve collected some of the biggest trailers from the show right here, and you can catch a replay of the whole event on YouTube. [embedded content] Microsoft shared the first look at Halo Infinite’s campaign today, including an extended gameplay sequence where Master Chief took on waves of aliens. 343 Industries said the game will run at a “flawless” 60 frames per second. Halo Infinite will launch this holiday season. [embedded content] Avowed is the newest game from famed studio Obsidian Entertainment. Obsidian debuted the first...

Tesla says it has discovered a “disturbing pattern” of former employees who took confidential information and trade secrets on their way to new jobs at EV startup Rivian, according to a new lawsuit first reported by Bloomberg. Tesla even claims Rivian is “knowingly encouraging” this behavior, and it is seeking unspecified punitive damages for what it alleges is “despicable, wanton, oppressive, willful, malicious, [and] duplicitous” conduct. Rivian calls the allegations “baseless.” Rivian is perhaps the richest EV startup in the world, having raised more than $5 billion in the last year and a half. It’s slated to start delivering a premium electric pickup truck in early 2021, ahead of when Tesla’s Cybertruck is supposed to hit the road. The company will also start selling an electric SUV at...

HBO Max has signed up more just over four million customers since it launched in May, AT&T announced today. The company did not immediately disclose the figures in its initial earnings report, but AT&T CEO John Stankey told analysts on the company’s earnings call that HBO and HBO Max accumulated a combined 36.3 million subscribers by the end of June. Stankey said there were roughly three million retail customers, and an additional million activations that came through AT&T platforms (ie, bundled plans). Through cable customers and HBO Now subscribers, the company already had more than 30 million subscribers it could move over to HBO Max. Stankey noted that getting people subscribed to HBO through traditional linear cable packages to sign up for HBO Max has been slow, and that’s...

Your next Samsung Galaxy or iPhone may soon include the toughest gadget glass Corning has ever created. Today, the company’s announcing Gorilla Glass Victus — a glass that can not only resist a six-foot drop, but also the first in six years to meaningfully improve your phone’s ability to shrug off nasty scratches. It’s a little-known fact that Corning’s Gorilla Glass hasn’t gotten much better at resisting keys and coins since 2014’s Gorilla Glass 3, and it has arguably gotten slightly worse since: our reporting showed that Gorilla Glass 4 actually performed worse in some tests, Gorilla Glass 5 was in the middle, and Gorilla Glass 6 didn’t improve any further since Corning was more focused on making your phone survive a nasty tumble instead. But Corning claims the new Victus glass — there’s...

Slack surprised Microsoft with a competition complaint in Europe yesterday. After arguing for months that Microsoft Teams isn’t a true competitor to Slack and is more akin to Zoom, Slack finally admitted what was clear all along: Microsoft Teams is a competitor, and Slack is finding it hard to compete with Microsoft. It’s not a surprising admission, but if Slack is finding it hard to compete with Microsoft, then it’s going to face even greater headaches once Google finally gets its act together. After fumbling with communications apps for years, there are early signs that Google is now ready to take on Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Google’s enterprise play has huge implications for Slack’s EU antitrust bid — and the company’s future beyond it. Slack looks set to face two giant tech com...

Bill and Ted Face the Music has a new trailer, a new release date, and a new release strategy: the long-awaited third film in the franchise will now be released both in theaters and on-demand through digital retailers on September 1st. The new Face the Music trailer showcases more of what to expect from the film, which will see Alex Winters and Keanu Reeves reprising their respective roles as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan. They are now down-on-their-luck singers who have failed to write a song so good it literally saves the world. As the trailer teases, the duo embarks on a time-traveling adventure to steal the song from their future selves. At the same time, Wilhelmina Billie “Little Bill” Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea “Little Ted” Preston (Samara Weaving) embark ...

Facebook’s engineers have developed a new method to help them identify and prevent harmful behavior like users spreading spam, scamming others, or buying and selling weapons and drugs. They can now simulate the actions of bad actors using AI-powered bots by letting them loose on a parallel version of Facebook. Researchers can then study the bots’ behavior in simulation and experiment with new ways to stop them. Simulating spam, scams, and selling drugs The simulator is known as WW, pronounced “Dub Dub,” and is based on Facebook’s real code base. The company published a paper on WW (so called because the simulator is a truncated version of WWW, the world wide web) earlier this year, but shared more information about the work in a recent roundtable. The research is being led by Facebook engi...

An official logo and motto for the United States Space Force have been revealed, following the announcement of its official seal back in January, and flag in May. The organization’s motto is “Semper Supra,” which is Latin for “Always Above,” while the logo itself is based around a delta shape that’s been the focus of some mockery thanks to its similarity to Starfleet’s logo from Star Trek. Defenders of Space Force’s seal were quick to point out that its actual inspiration appears to be the shield for Air Force Space Command. The official US Space Force Twitter account points out that the shape has been been in use by space organizations as far back as 1961. Star Trek, meanwhile, debuted in 1966. So what about the other elements of the logo? The star in the middle is meant to symbolize Pola...

The personal data of hundreds of thousands of Instacart users is being sold on the dark web for around $2 per person, according to a report from BuzzFeed. The publication says information including “names, the last four digits of credit card numbers, and order histories” appearing to belong to 278,531 Instacart accounts is available to buy. (Though it’s impossible to verify that this number doesn’t include duplicates or incorrect data.) BuzzFeed did confirm with two Instacart users that the order date, transaction amount, and credit card numbers included in the cache matched their recent purchases. The data also includes users’ emails addresses. It’s not clear what the source of the data is Instacart denies that there’s been a data breach of its systems, but says it’s investigating the iss...

You know that chumbox of weird garbage that appears at the bottom of most news sites, including this one? You know the one! It’s labeled “Promoted stories” or “Around the web.” It’s got headlines like: “1 Weird Trick to Lose Weight,” “You Won’t Believe What [STAR NAME HERE] Looks Like Today!,” and “Throw this vegetable out!” There are two major players in the field — Taboola and Outbrain — and the Justice Department has approved their merger. Why are they called chumboxes? Well, chum is fishbait — you throw decomposing fish guts, blood, and bones into the water to lure other fish. A chumbox is like this but for humans online. You won’t BELIEVE why publishers are using them These chumboxes exist because they’re more lucrative than other kinds of advertising: you add them to your site — that...