Technology

On Monday, Epic Games and Apple faced off in the first hearing of their ongoing legal fight, held in a public Zoom call because of the ongoing quarantine restrictions. The hearing sought to determine whether Epic’s developer privileges should be legally protected — initially by a temporary restraining order, setting the stage for a more powerful preliminary injunction that would remain in force for the duration of the trial. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not issue an immediate ruling on the issue, but said she would be issuing a written order after the fact “and I will issue it quickly.” However, Judge Rogers opened the hearing by indicating she was likely to take action to protect the Unreal Engine, but let the Fortnite ban stand. “I am not inclined to grant relief with respect to the ...

Amazon may be looking to bring the cashierless tech found at its Go convenience stores to Whole Foods supermarkets as early as next year, the New York Post reports. Amazon may start implementing the tech in Whole Foods sometime during the second quarter of 2021, according to the New York Post’s source. This technology, which is currently available in more than 20 Amazon Go convenience store locations, uses cameras, sensors, and computer vision to let customers walk out the store with groceries in hand and avoid cashier checkout lines. Amazon Go stores initially launched in 2016 for Amazon employees before opening to the public in 2018 The New York Post’s source claims the rollout of the new technology into Whole Foods is one of two final projects that Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide ...

The Republican National Convention officially kicked off Monday at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s the third location of the event after it was moved twice due to restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The convention is set to feature a mix of online and in-person events. WHEN IS IT? The convention is scheduled to last two hours each night, Monday through Thursday, starting at 8:30PM ET. HOW DO I WATCH IT? The event is available to stream on the RNC’s official Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel, and on Amazon Prime Video by searching for the “Republican National Convention. If you’d rather listen to the convention, you can ask your Alexa device to play it as well. Spotify is also rounding up all of the RNC speeches into a playl...

YouTube has banned the controversial creator Calvin Lee Vail, better known as LeafyIsHere, for repeatedly violating the company’s harassment policies. The ban follows big changes to YouTube’s harassment policy meant to deter behavior that in part helped creators in the commentary community like Leafy develop a following. Although Vail has a history of making videos that include offensive comments about other creators on the site, including a now-deleted video from 2016 that mocked the appearance of another creator, the termination only came after his channel amassed at least three violations of YouTube’s harassment policy over the last 90 days. That includes videos featuring cyberbullying (including malicious insults and name-calling based on someone’s appearance, gender, or orientation) a...

Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature is a handy tool to help you find a lost phone. With the latest app update, Find My Mobile will now work for Galaxy devices that aren’t connected to Wi-Fi or cellular. Max Weinbach of XDA Developers spotted the feature on Saturday. The “Offline finding” function will leverage a network of nearby Galaxy devices — it looks similar to the “Community Find” feature that Tile trackers use when they’re out of Bluetooth range. If your phone can’t be found by Wi-Fi or cellular connection, nearby Galaxy devices might be able to locate it. If you have offline finding enabled, your phone will also be able to scan for other devices, meaning you’ll be able to help others find their lost phones if you’re in range of the item or find watches and earbuds that you’ve used rec...

Update August 24th, 2020: Today marks Windows 95’s 25th anniversary. Check out our retrospective originally from its 20th anniversary below and updated slightly to reflect the new anniversary date. Twenty-five years ago today, people were lining up at CompUSA or Best Buy at midnight. It wasn’t a new Call of Duty game, Apple’s latest iPod, or any type of hardware at all that shoppers were waiting for. It was software, and not just any software: Windows 95. Microsoft’s Windows 95 release on August 24th, 1995 was a highly anticipated launch. Jay Leno helped launch the software alongside Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with a lot of jokes and the appearance of the entire Windows 95 development team on stage. It was a huge day for Microsoft with TV commercials blasting the Rolling Stones’ “Sta...

If you’ve been tested for COVID-19 then you’ve probably experienced the unpleasantness of a nasal swab. Someone takes a long-handled cotton swab and sticks it up your nose — way up your nose — until it reaches the back of the mucus-cave that is your nasal cavity. Upon arrival they give the swab a good twirl to collect your secretions and beat a merciful retreat. I can say from personal experience that it’s a uniquely unpleasant sensation. It’s something that just feels wrong, like the opposite of scratching an itch. That’s perhaps why I was so unsettled by the sight of this autonomous nasal swab robot developed by Taiwanese medtech startup Brain Navi. Of all the entities I don’t want sticking cotton swabs up my nose, an industrial robot arm is pretty high on the list, right between an exci...

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...