The Future of Tech, News and making sense of it all!

Friday, March 5, 2021

Early Friday Technology News and More!

Technology news and more




Report: New Nintendo Switch With 4K Output, OLED Screen Will Release Before Christmas


16KGizmodo / 19h
Last year, Bloomberg reported that a new model of the Nintendo Switch would be out sometime in 2021. Today, they’re reporting some more specific details, like the size of the screen and some 4K news. Read more...

Netflix enters TikTok territory with Fast Laughs


55Mashable / 47min
Typically, you'll open your Netflix mobile app to see what's new, what's coming, or to quickly browse through some content before you turn on the TV. But a new feature called Fast Laughs might prompt you to fire the app up just to have a little bit of fun. Announced on Wednesday, Fast Laughs offers a feed of funny, short clips taken from TV shows, movies, and stand-up comedy. Yes, it's a bit like

When will PS5 and Xbox restock? Best Buy may have stock Friday – here's how to get it


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 5min
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are the hardest consoles to buy, but we're tracking the next shipment on Twitter right now.



AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT - India price, availability and other details emerge


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 47min
AMD RX 6700 XT was launched globally at AMD's "Where Gaming Begins" event on March 3, and now there is news about the India price, availability and release date.

5 interesting offerings this week on Indian OTT platforms


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 54min
These are the best series and new releases on Netflix, Aha and other OTT platforms in India.

How to watch Raya and the Last Dragon online: stream the new Disney movie right now


56TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 1h
Disney's second Premier Access release lands today - here's how to watch Raya and the Last Dragon online with Disney Plus from all over the world.

Porsche's luxury electric bikes are coming out this spring


62Engadget / 1h
Porsche has launched a couple of other electric vehicles alongside the Taycan Cross Turismo , but they're of the two-wheeled variety. The luxury automaker has debuted two electric bikes inspired by the Taycan, both of which feature full-suspension carbon-fiber frame and Magura brakes. They're also equipped with components, including their motors and gear shifting systems, manufactured by Japanese
YESTERDAY

Realme GT Neo is the brand’s next affordable 5G flagship


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 1h
The Realme GT Neo is the brand’s next affordable flagship with the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset. It will be a performance-focused smartphone.

Moto G10 Power and Moto G30 to launch on March 9 in India


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 1h
Moto G10 Power and Moto G30 smartphones will launch in India next week. While the Moto G30 is available in the global market, the Moto G10 Power will make its debut in India.

Realme C21 with 5,000mAh battery launched in Malaysia


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 1h
The Realme C21 budget phone has been launched in Malaysia with a 5,000mAh battery, Helio G85 SoC for the equivalent of under Rs 9,000.

What China’s Big Tech CEOs propose at the annual parliament meeting


64TechCrunch / 1h
The annual meetings of the Chinese parliament and its advisory body are underway in Beijing this week. Top executives from some of China’s largest tech firms are among the thousands of delegates who attend and put forward their opinions. Here is a look at what the tech bosses are proposing for China’s digital economy. Pony Ma More regulatory scrutiny is needed for the country’s budding internet e

Nubia's new Red Magic phone packs a 165Hz screen and up to 18GB of RAM


62Engadget / 1h
Nubia has come a long way since it first stuffed a cooling fan into its Red Magic gaming phones. Today, the Chinese brand is back with the Snapdragon 888-based Red Magic 6 series, which not only boasts a faster internal fan, but also two world firsts in the mobile market: a 165Hz display and up to 18GB of RAM. On top of that, the phones offer up to 120W rapid charging (already used by Xiaomi and

India sees triple-digit growth in wearables in 2020


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 2h
The wearables market posted a 144.3% overall growth in 2020, with 36.4 million-unit shipments in total. This include hearables, like true wireless earphones, alongside smartwatches and smartbands.

AMD fans may finally get one of Intel's most exciting features


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
New ASUS motherboard provides high-quality audio experience for content creators and more.

Netflix adds TikTok-style 'Fast Laughs' to mobile app


Netflix Fast Laughs•
24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
The Fast Laughs feature, with a new TikTok-like feed of funny videos inside its mobile app, is being rolled out in select few countries on iOS devices.

How to watch WandaVision episode 9 online: stream Marvel series finale from anywhere


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
Take a final explosive trip to Westview today - here's how to watch WandaVision episode 9 online and stream the series finale of Marvel's Disney Plus show.

Microsoft Edge adds vertical tabs, simpler tracking prevention


SlashGear / 3h
Almost in stark contrast to its pace with the first Microsoft Edge, now called “Microsoft Edge Legacy”, development on the Chromium-based successor seems to be faster, more frequent, and perhaps also more exciting. Building upon an existing and proven browser engine has given the company more opportunities to improve not only performance but also the user experience and the latest … Continue read

Microsoft Teams is getting a helpful feature to stop you blasting through your data


20TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
Microsoft is adding a low data mode to Teams so that users can continue to make video calls even with limited network connectivity.

Indonesian logistics startup SiCepat raises $170 million Series B


100+TechCrunch / 3h
SiCepat , an end-to-end logistics startup in Indonesia, announced today it has raised a $170 million Series B funding round. Founded in 2014 to provide last-mile deliveries for small merchants, the company has since expanded to serve large e-commerce platforms, too. Its services now also cover warehousing and fulfillment, middle-mile logistics and online distribution. Investors in SiCepat’s Serie

Purchase £50 of Amazon gift cards to get a free promo code


28Mashable / 4h
SAVE £6: Get a free £6 promo code towards future Amazon orders when you purchase £50 or more of Amazon gift cards. Promotional codes can be frustrating, unreliable, and difficult to find, but the rewards can also be pretty great. Some promotional codes are thrown your way for free, and others require a little bit of work. The latest promo code from Amazon falls into the latter category, as you ne

Here's how to unblock and watch American Netflix from the UK


Mashable / 4h
SAVE 50%: A six-month subscription to Surfshark is on sale for £4.65 per month as of March 5, saving you 50% on list price. Unblocking and watching the American version of Netflix from the UK is not complicated. It's actually a really simple process with the help of a VPN. Popular VPNs like Surfshark can reliably unblock U.S. Netflix by bypassing its geo-restrictions. By hiding your IP address an


Texas Attorney General Sues Griddy for False Advertising in Wake of Winter Storm Price Hikes


48Gizmodo / 4h
Griddy, the Texas power supplier that’s made headlines recently for customers’ sky-high energy bills in the wake of widespread winter storm outages , has racked up another lawsuit . Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the company for “false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices” that he… Read more...

All the best voucher codes to help you save this Mother's Day


Mashable / 4h
SAVE UP TO 40%: VoucherCodes has launched a wide range of Mother's Day deals, saving you up to 40% on flowers, beauty products, cards, and more. Hey you. Yeah you. Have you started to think about Mother's Day? Because the clock is ticking, and we wouldn't want you to leave it too late. Your mum deserves the best, and that means flowers, gifts, and maybe a nice card. Fortunately for you, VoucherCo

Kickstart a lucrative coding career with this stacked online bundle


Mashable / 4h
TL;DR: The Master Learn to Code 2021 Certification Bundle is on sale for £25.05 as of March 5, saving you 98% on list price. Whether you’re hoping to improve your tech skills for career development or seeking to improve job prospects, learning to code is pretty much never a bad idea. And with this affordable online programming training , you can get started from the comfort of your sofa. With 119

Encrypt your emails and protect your data with this lifetime subscription


Mashable / 4h
TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Encrypt Email with SecureMyEmail is on sale for £71.59 as of March 5, saving you 93% on list price. Whether you're working on a first-of-its-kind business project, dealing with sensitive information, or just value your privacy, email encryption can be a useful tool. The SecureMyEmail app from Witopia will encrypt your emails end-to-end. They'll also have the abil

Top AU weekend deals: LG OLED, Dyson V11, Sony headphones and more on sale


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 4h
The TechRadar team is here to help you hunt down the best deals for the weekend.

Razer Anzu Smart Glasses is more like an open-ear headset


SlashGear / 4h
When people talk about smart glasses, most probably think of something like the canceled Google Glass or some more hi-tech augmented reality eyewear. If that’s the image you have in your head with Razer’s first venture into smart eyewear, you might be very disappointed. Despite Razer calling the Anzu Smart Glasses, these specs are really more like audio glasses with … Continue reading

Realme Narzo 30A goes on sale today: price, specs, and availability


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 4h
Realme Nazro 30A will go on sale for the first time today at noon. It is priced at Rs 8,999 and comes with big 6,000mAh battery.

Dell ups security protection on cloud and storage platforms


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 5h
Dell has added new capabilities to its multicloud offerings that make it easier for organizations to recover after a cyberattack.

Valve Artifact Dota 2 card game no longer in development


Valve Artifact 2.0•
SlashGear / 5h
Once upon a time, digital card games were all the rage thanks to the success of Blizzard’s Hearthstone, based on the Warcraft lore, but few managed to replicate its magic formula. Even long-time brands in the real-world physical TCG/CCG industry like Magic The Gathering didn’t fare as well and Mojang’s first foray into that market, Scrolls, was an even bigger … Continue reading

Samsung's 2021 TVs now available in Australia, led by stunning Neo QLED 8K


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 5h
Samsung has revealed its 2021 TV and soundbar lineup, along with Australian pricing and availability details.

Use voice commands to search and order on Flipkart - here's how


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 6h
With the addition of this new feature, Flipkart enables customers to search for products through speech

Razer's New Smart Glasses Promise to Make WFH a Little Less Awful


Razer Anzu Glasses•
Gizmodo / 6h
I know, I know. Another pair of open-ear audio smart glasses? Were the Bose Frames, Echo Frames, and JLab JBuds not enough? Nope. Not according to Razer, which just announced its Razer Anzu Smart Glasses. Read more...

Razer's smart glasses are like Echo Frames with blue light filtering


Razer Anzu Glasses•
57Engadget / 6h
Glasses that can double as headphones are an increasingly popular category. After Bose unveiled its version in 2019 and Amazon launched the Echo Frames in 2020, the next big company to jump on this trend is Razer. It's officially announcing the Anzu smart glasses today that will filter out blue light and also project audio into your ears without drowning out environmental sound completely. These

'Coming 2 America' gets an early release on Amazon Prime


2 America Murphy Akeem•
500+Engadget / 6h
Amazon Studios has a "why wait?" policy when it comes to streaming releases (see The Boys season finale, The Expanse , Jack Ryan and a few others) so it's not too shocking that one of its most high-profile releases is available one day early. Coming 2 America , a sequel to the 1988 comedy flick, once again stars Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall as they travel from the fictional country of Zamunda to

Samsung ISOCELL 2.0 could cram more pixels into an image sensor


SlashGear / 6h
Before it became a brand of its own, Samsung’s ISOCELL was first a new kind of image sensor technology that aimed to solve the color crosstalk between pixels in a regular BSI (Backside Illuminated) sensor used in almost all digital cameras, including those on smartphones. That proved to be highly successful, at least in Samsung’s view, and it is now … Continue reading

Move over Tesla, now Triton electric car is eyeing an India launch


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 6h
The Triton N4 is being customised according to Indian driving conditions and is expected to be launched in India by the end of this year

nubia Red Magic 6 Tencent edition flaunts super-fast screen


SlashGear / 6h
It seems that the parade of phones toting Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 has begun. In addition to the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, and, soon, OPPO, ZTE’s former subsidiary nubia is also joining the fray with a device that’s built for a very specific use case. Trying to push the boundaries of hardware, the nubia Red Magic 6 brings the first … Continue reading

Kia's 2021 Niro hybrids add a few new tech features


40Engadget / 7h
When we reviewed Kia's Niro plug-in hybrid EV in 2018 we loved its efficiency as well as the standard support for CarPlay and Android Auto, even if its styling seemed a bit bland and its powertrain lacked oomph. Now refreshed hybrid and plug-in hybrid 2021 models are on the way, and while the weaknesses we noted are still pretty much the same, some of the comfort tech inside is getting even bette

LiquidVPN Faces Lawsuit for Allegedly Promoting Pirating Content


61Gizmodo / 7h
Virtual private networks can be great for folks wary of how their data is tracked online, but what happens when a VPN provider directly markets itself to those who would use that promise of anonymity to break the law? Read more...

Apple says no, you can't swap the default music player in iOS 14.5 after all


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 8h
Apple has clarified that the upcoming iOS 14.5 update won't allow you to set a default music player, but Siri should be able to learn your audio habits.


InsurGrid raises pre-seed financing to help modernize legacy insurance agents


100+TechCrunch / 8h
Insurance agents spend hours handling paperwork and grabbing client information over the phone. A new seed-stage startup, InsurGrid , has developed a software solution to help ease the process, and make it easier for agents to serve existing clients — and secure new ones. InsurGrid gives agents a personalized platform to collect information from clients, such as date of birth, driver’s license in

Marshall Mode II true wireless earbuds offer ‘thunderous’ audio


SlashGear / 8h
Marshall, the company known for its old-school amps and modern personal audio devices, has introduced Mode II, its first pair of true wireless earbuds. The model comes with the company’s signature black-and-gold design, as well as a unique charging case that packs an elongated design and retro cover. The Marshall Mode II true wireless earbuds feature an in-ear design, a … Continue reading

[Roundup] Sign Up For A Free Flight To The Moon


View from the Wing / 8h
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips. Continue reading ...

Google's latest Pixels are up to AU$200 off at Telstra


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 8h
These affordable smartphones are now even cheaper at Telstra.

OnePlus Nord 2 may launch soon without a Snapdragon chipset


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 8h
A new rumor suggests the mid-range OnePlus Nord 2 could be the brand’s first to launch without a Snapdragon chipset, opting instead for MediaTek silicon.

Data experts are becoming football's best signings


100+BBC News - Technology / 8h
A growing number of clubs big and small are using more technology to help performances on the pitch.

2022 Jeep Wagoneer will be first vehicle to offer Fire TV for Auto


SlashGear / 9h
The 2022 Jeep Wagoneer and the Grand Wagoneer will be the first vehicles to offer a Fire TV integration as part of the infotainment system. Assuming the customer opts for the optional tech package, they’ll be able to stream content using Fire TV for Auto from major platforms like Hulu and Netflix. The displays will be available for the rear … Continue reading

YouTube to lift Trump ban if violence threat falls, says CEO


2KBBC News - Technology / 9h
Chief executive Susan Wojcicki says there's a way back for the former president on YouTube.

Fabulous property but dated rooms; The Kauai Marriott that will soon be a Sonesta


31The Points Guy / 9h
The massive Kauai Marriott is part of the new Hawaii resort bubble program on the island of Kauai. I got to visit for our coverage of the unique concept, though the majority of my stay was at the gorgeous Timbers Kauai. The two properties have just been given permission by the state of Hawaii to combine their properties into one giant resort bubble . That’s a great reason to choose one of the two

Facebook rainforest ads: Inquiry ordered into Amazon land sales


400+BBC News - Technology / 9h
A Supreme Court judge in Brazil orders an investigation following the BBC's report into the trade.

Backed by Blossom, Creandum and Index, grocery delivery and dark store startup Dija launches in London


200+TechCrunch / 9h
Dija , the London-based grocery delivery startup, is officially launching today and confirming that it raised £20 million in seed funding in December — a round that we first reported was partially closed the previous month. Backing the company is Blossom Capital, Creandum and Index Ventures, with Dija seemingly able to raise pre-launch. In fact, there are already rumours swirling around London’s

Prepare for take-off: Mapping out a rewards card plan for families in 2021


The Points Guy / 9h
If the year 2020 taught travelers anything, it’s that forecasting travel plans proved to be a complicated ordeal due to the ongoing pandemic . COVID-19 ruined the vacation plans of hopeful travelers and left them with the aftermath of grappling with airlines, hotels, home-sharing sites and cruise lines for refunds. Moreover, our spending patterns have changed since the start of the pandemic as we

Fortnite Creative games may soon support up to 50 players


SlashGear / 9h
Epic may be planning to introduce a major Fortnite Creative Mode change, one that will make certain types of games far more enjoyable. The new detail comes from game data-miners who have found evidence that Creative matches will soon support far more players — up to 50 at a time, at least based on some game code. Fortnite‘s Creative Mode … Continue reading

Daily Crunch: Square acquires Tidal


100+TechCrunch / 10h
Square buys a majority stake in Jay-Z’s Tidal, WhatsApp improves its desktop app and Hopin raises even more funding. This is your Daily Crunch for March 4, 2021. The big story: Square acquires Tidal Square announced this morning that it has purchased a majority stake in Tidal , the music streaming service founded by Jay-Z. It sounds like an odd fit at first, which Square CEO Jack Dorsey acknowled

Setting Spotify as a Default Music App in iOS 14.5 Isn't a Feature After All


40Gizmodo / 10h
What appeared to be one of the most exciting features of iOS 14.5 turns out to work a little differently than it originally seemed. Read more...

Google Chrome update cycles are about to get even shorter


68Engadget / 10h
Google is moving Chrome to a more frequent release schedule. The company announced on Thursday it will push future milestone releases that add new features every four weeks. Those updates come about every six weeks at the moment. Google said you can thank improvements to its testing and release processes for the new schedule. The move puts Chrome in line with Firefox, which has been on a monthly

Porsche premieres longer, tougher electric Taycan: the Cross Turismo


Porsche Taycan Cross CT•
89Mashable / 10h
A more spacious, adventure-seeking Porsche Taycan EV is coming soon. The Taycan Cross Turismo was unveiled Thursday as the newest Porsche electric vehicle. It's similar to the original Taycan (which was the first ever all-electric Porsche ), but with more space in the front and back seats. The trunk is bigger, too. It's also noticeably longer, with a flatter roof. Like the Taycan, the Cross Turis

CodeMiko Is The Future Of Streaming, Unless Twitch Bans Her First


3KGizmodo / 10h
CodeMiko is nervous. I can tell because she tells me. “This is, like, my first interview ever,” she says over a Discord call. “I’m sorry, I’m a little shy.” It’s December of 2020, and Miko’s entire life is about to change. Read more...

Making sense of the $6.5B Okta-Auth0 deal


100+TechCrunch / 10h
When Okta announced that it was acquiring Auth0 yesterday for $6.5 billion, the deal raised eyebrows. After all, it’s a substantial amount of money for one identity and access management (IAM) company to pay to buy another, similar entity. But the deal ultimately brings together two companies that come at identity from different sides of the market — and as such could be the beginning of a beauti

Meet Maxwell’s gambling demon—smart enough to quit while it’s ahead


67Ars Technica / 10h
Enlarge / In a new version of the classic 19th-century thought experiment, Maxwell’s demon plays the role of a gambler who knows when to quit while it's ahead. (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images ) Entropy (aka the second law of thermodynamics ) is a harsh mistress. If you think of the universe as a cosmic casino, the laws of thermodynamics amount to the house edge: you can't win, you can't bre


Bitfinex launches system for contactless crypto payments


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 10h
Consumers will be able to make payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies using Bitfinex Pay when shopping online.

Red supergiant’s dim history unraveled by Hubble Space Telescope


SlashGear / 10h
NASA researchers have published a new study that sheds light on the reason why the red supergiant VY Canis Majoris has grown dim, citing a phenomenon similar to the one that caused Betelgeuse to grow temporarily dim last year. The new findings were made possible using data gathered by the aging Hubble Space Telescope. Early last year, the iconic red … Continue reading

US roads got more dangerous in 2020 even though we stayed at home


50Ars Technica / 10h
Enlarge / Close-up of a red stop sign after a traffic accident. The sign is heavily scratched and dented. Many vehicle accidents are attributed to drunk driving in Hawaii. Unfortunately many end up as fatalities. (credit: Kjell Linder/Getty Images ) Thanks to the pandemic, Americans drove 13 percent fewer miles in 2020 than they did the year before. But the move to telework and lockdowns has not

Valve halts development on 'Artifact,' makes it free for everyone


Valve Artifact 2.0•
55Engadget / 10h
Valve is halting the development of its Dota 2 -inspired digital card game. In a blog titled “ The Future of Artifact ,” the studio said the game’s 2.0 rework hasn’t attracted enough of an audience to justify further work and investment. But that’s not necessarily the end of the title. Valve has made both the Classic and 2.0 versions of Artifact , the latter now known as Artifact Foundry , into a

Senators ask the FCC to change the definition of high-speed broadband


1KEngadget / 10h
A group of four senators is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to change its definition of high-speed broadband in order to significantly increase base speeds. Under the current FCC policy, created in 2015 , 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up is the minimum standard for broadband. In their letter , Senators Joe Manchin, Rob Portman, Michael Bennet and Angus King make the case that those speeds

CBS All Access Is Now Paramount+, Celebrate With Copious Amounts of Free Star Trek


500+Gizmodo / 10h
On the downside, we now have our 14-billionth streaming service that is just called Something+ . On the upside, only one of them gets to celebrate with oodles of Star Trek goodness. Read more...

Valve scraps revamped Artifact, dumps free, unfinished “2.0” version on Steam


Valve Artifact 2.0•
57Ars Technica / 10h
Enlarge / Two posters, two free end-of-life games. (credit: Valve) The weird, woeful, and nearly redemptive development of Valve's digital card game Artifact has ended. Effective today, Valve has launched the 2018 game's total-overhaul "2.0" version as a completely free—and "unfinished"—card-battling game dubbed Artifact Foundry , and while it's playable, it's effectively dead on arrival. That me

Data is the world’s most valuable (and vulnerable) resource


100+TechCrunch / 11h
Kara Nortman Contributor Kara Nortman is a partner at Upfront Ventures . More posts by this contributor Consumer-oriented investors may have an edge investing in digital health There’s no overstating it: 2020 was a hell of a year. When future generations learn about 2020, the pandemic, social tension and political unrest will take up most of the oxygen. But for those learning about the history of

NASA’s Mars Rover “Percy” Stretches Its Arm for the First Time


500+Futurism / 11h
Wake Up It’s been 14 days since NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance landed on the Martian surface. Over that period, the lonely rover has been able to stretch and get ready for show time. “This week I’ve been doing lots of health checkouts, getting ready to get to work,” NASA tweeted from the rover’s official Twitter account on Wednesday. “I’ve checked many tasks off my list, including instrument test

Self-driving startups are becoming an endangered species


72Ars Technica / 11h
Enlarge / A Voyage vehicle at the Villages in Florida. (credit: Voyage) Bloomberg reports that Cruise, a self-driving company jointly owned by GM and Honda, is in talks to acquire the startup Voyage. Founded four years ago, Voyage is working to launch a self-driving taxi service at the Villages, a massive retirement community in Florida. Bloomberg says that "no deal is imminent," and I don't have

A new asynchronous video startup, Weet, is helping employees communicate on their own schedule


100+TechCrunch / 11h
For founder Najette Fellache, coming to the Bay Area a few years ago from Nantes, France was a way to grow a company she’d founded and which was already beginning to count major U.S. corporations like GE, Tesla, Amazon, and Medtronics as customers. What that six-year-old outfit, Speach , sells is essentially knowledge-sharing between colleagues via videos produced by the employees themselves, oft

Delta Drops Cincinnati, Nashville, and San Jose Focus Cities


89View from the Wing / 11h
Delta’s President reported told investors at Monday’s Raymond James conference that the airline will maintain Austin and Raleigh-Durham as focus cities, but will drop that status for Cincinnati, Nashville, and San Jose. Continue reading ...

How to Get an Amazon Echo to Tell You a Room's Temperature


300+Gizmodo / 11h
Little thermometers you can buy and hang anywhere are fairly cheap, but there’s no need to get one if you own an Amazon Echo. That is, if you own one of two kinds of Echos: a fourth-generation Echo or a second-generation Echo Plus . Both of these have temperature sensors built into the smart speakers; you just have to… Read more...

Siri won’t set your music default in iOS 14.5 – it’s more complicated than that


SlashGear / 11h
Apple is not allowing iPhone users to set their music service of choice, despite suggestions of that from the iOS 14.5 beta, dashing hopes that Spotify, TIDAL, and others might be given equal footing with Apple Music. It wasn’t long after the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 betas were released in February before people started noticing that Siri was expressing … Continue reading

Lenovo leaks new AMD Ryzen 5000 Pro APUs and reveals specs


32TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 11h
Lenovo confirmed that two unreleased AMD Ryzen 5000 Pro APUs will make it into their ThinkPad business laptops this year.

A Boy’s Smelly Nose Was Caused by a BB Pellet Stuck Inside for Years


45Gizmodo / 11h
A young teen boy’s years of nasal congestion and other bizarre symptoms had an unusual culprit. His doctors say that the boy unknowingly had a BB gun pellet lodged in his nasal cavity for nearly a decade, which eventually caused him to give off an awful odor every time he blew his nose. Fortunately, they were able to… Read more...

Plex's free streaming service is now available in the Apple TV app


58Engadget / 11h
After a short beta period , Plex’s Apple TV app integration is now live, the company told Engadget. The feature allows you to use the Apple TV app or Siri to play content that’s available through Plex’s free streaming service , with the added bonus that once you start a movie or show it will appear in your “Up Next” queue. As expected, the integration is only available in the US, and you can’t ac

With cruising to Alaska in flux, Holland America and Princess turn to selling land tours


The Points Guy / 11h
Big-ship cruise lines such as Holland America and Princess Cruises might not be able to operate cruises to Alaska this summer due to Canada’s COVID-related cruise ship ban . But, as of Thursday, that doesn’t mean you can’t travel to Alaska this summer with one the lines. In an unusual move that points to just how much the coronavirus pandemic has turned the cruise world upsidedown, Holland Americ

Earn $1,000 to Watch the First Five Seasons of 'Friends'


100+Lifehacker / 11h
So no one told you that life a year into a global pandemic was going to be this way? (No jaunty claps—the virus doesn’t deserve it.) Maybe you started off strong: making the banana bread, doing the puzzles, learning how to knit and garden. Read more...

What If Clubhouse, but With State Censorship, TikTok Owner ByteDance Ponders


Gizmodo / 11h
China’s ByteDance, is planning on launching its own version of audio chat app Clubhouse for the Chinese market, Reuters reported on Thursday. Read more...


China Is Administering Anal Swabs to Foreign Visitors


500+Futurism / 11h
International travelers have had to endure something humiliating when entering China via an airport: anal swab tests for COVID-19, as Reuters reports . That’s despite the fact that most other COVID tests use saliva samples taken from the mouth, nose, or back of the throat. Visitors at a number of Chinese cities have been required to submit to additional checks, according to state media, including

The Water Crisis in Mississippi America Can’t Afford to Ignore


300+Gizmodo / 11h
Right now, Calandra Davis’ water pressure is too low to take a shower. When she turns on her sinks, the water comes out at a slow trickle. For weeks, she’s had to bathe herself and her 6-year-old son with water from store-bought bottles. Like all residents of Jackson, Mississippi, she’s also been on a boil-water… Read more...

Flourish, a startup that aims to help banks engage and retain customers, raises $1.5M


100+TechCrunch / 11h
It’s not uncommon these days to hear of U.S.-based investors backing Latin American startups. But it’s not every day that we hear of Latin American VCs investing in U.S.-based startups. Berkeley-based fintech Flourish has raised $1.5 million in a funding round led by Brazilian venture capital firm Canary. Founded by Pedro Moura and Jessica Eting, the startup offers an “engagement and financial we

Apple clarifies iOS default music app feature, and it’s not what people thought


41Ars Technica / 11h
Enlarge / Siri in iOS 14. (credit: Samuel Axon) Over the past few weeks, there have been several reports (including one of our own ) on a feature found in recent beta releases of iOS 14.5 that appeared to allow users to change the default music app on their iPhones. However, Apple just clarified to TechCrunch that the feature is not as it first seemed. In the initial reports, users claimed that t

Google is speeding up Chrome updates later this year for a big reason


20SlashGear / 11h
Google announced today that it will be speeding up Chrome releases later this year. Currently, Google pushes major updates out to Chrome on a six-week timeline, but this fall, that’ll switch to a four-week timeline. Google said today that this won’t necessarily speed up the rate at which new features are added to Chrome, but it will allow the company … Continue reading

Windows 10 insider preview 21327 brings new icons, flat look


SlashGear / 11h
The look and feel of Windows 10 is about to get more flat, simple, and beautiful, thanks to the latest update for Windows Insiders. Of interest, if you’ve never read into or about the Windows Insider system – this is slightly different from the Developer Preview programs that exist on other platforms, like Android or iOS. A lot of this … Continue reading

What It Means to Be Immunocompromised, and Why It Matters


100Lifehacker / 11h
You may not realize it, but you probably know at least one person who is immunocompromised. Immunocompromised, or immunosuppressed, people are more vulnerable to infections and have a harder time fighting them off. You wouldn’t necessarily know it from looking at us, however. Read more...

Someone Is Hacking the Hackers


400+Gizmodo / 12h
In the latest in a string of “hits” on Russian dark web forums, the prominent crime site Maza appears to have been hacked by someone earlier this week. Read more...

The 10 Best Deals of March 4, 2021


52Gizmodo / 12h
Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals Read more...

Arizona House advances bill targeting Apple, Google mobile app stores


40Ars Technica / 12h
Enlarge / The Arizona State Capitol museum, flanked by the House of Representatives building (R) and a cactus (L). (credit: mixmotive | Getty Images ) The Arizona state House of Representatives this week passed a landmark bill that, if adopted, would require Google and Apple to allow Arizona-based app developers to choose their own alternate payment systems. The House voted 31-29 in favor of the

The 10 Best Deals of March 4, 2021


52Lifehacker / 12h
Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals Read more...

There’s a Robodog Walking Around the Site of the SpaceX Starship Explosion


400+Futurism / 12h
Strutting Around SpaceX came closer than ever before to a successful Starship test launch on Wednesday evening, just to see the SN10 prototype explode in a gigantic fireball minutes after an otherwise-successful landing. A day later, SpaceX is still in cleanup mode, with teams of workers retrieving various rocket parts and picking up after the explosion. But the company also got a helping hand fr

Is Solar Power Right for Your Home? This Free Assessment Can Tell You.


Futurism / 12h
For a long time, anybody who wanted to go solar had to fork over a ton of capital up front and accept that they might never get it back. However, over the last decade things have changed dramatically. Today the cost of installing residential solar energy systems has never been lower, while the potential return on your investment has never been higher. And while the process of making the switch to

10 Reasons Paramount+ Is a Streaming TV Paradise


73Lifehacker / 12h
I know, I know, who needs another new streaming service in 2021, right? But Paramount+, which launched today, isn’t technically new—it’s just a beefed-up version of CBS All Access, augmented to take advantage of all the synergy created by the 2019 merger between CBS and Paramount Pictures’ parent Viacom. Read more...

Alphabet’s next moonshot project may give you enhanced hearing


SlashGear / 12h
Alphabet’s “moonshot factory” X is working on a new project codenamed “Wolverine,” according to a new leak, and it may involve a wearable that facilitates super-hearing capabilities. The project is described as top-secret at this time and named after the popular superhero character Wolverine. The codename Wolverine wearable project reportedly picked up steam back in 2018, resulting in multiple pr

5 Cult Horror Movies to Stream on Amazon Prime


100+Gizmodo / 12h
In the mood for a cult movie but already seen all the go-to classics ? Building on our previous list , here are five offbeat picks streaming on Amazon Prime that will bring you tales of werewolves, Satanists , witches, and two different (but also sorta kinda similar) underground monsters. Read more...

iOS 14.5 won't actually let you change a default music service


47Engadget / 12h
It turns out that Apple’s iOS 14.5 update won’t actually let you change your default music service that you use with Siri. Beta users had originally noticed that it appeared as if early versions of the update might allow you to change the default service that launches when you ask Siri to play a song. This meant that rather than specifying a third-party music app with each request, Siri would rem

Grab a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for $10 off today


20Ars Technica / 12h
Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica) Today's Dealmaster is headlined by a nifty $10 discount on Nintendo's Switch Pro Controller, as the gamepad is currently available for $59 at various retailers. Though we've seen the controller drop as low as $50 in the past, deals on the Switch Pro pad are generally rare, and this deal matches the lowest price we've tracked in the past year. Nintendo normally sells

Why you should think twice before booking with an obscure online travel agency


The Points Guy / 12h
Booking cheap flights or mistake fares can be an exciting but sometimes fraught process, which often includes searching for tickets on obscure travel agency (OTA) sites. The travel world buzzed late Wednesday evening after discovering dirt-cheap business class flights to Europe on TAP Air Portugal. But TPG’s loyalty and engagement editor Richard Kerr found something troubling during checkout. Sev

Most 'HIIT' Workouts Aren't Really HIIT


32Lifehacker / 12h
High intensity interval training made headlines in the 2010s with one specific claim: that short bursts of hard work can give the same aerobic benefits as longer sessions of jogging or cycling. But the HIIT videos you can stream today have very little to do with the original model, and many of them aren’t worth your… Read more...


These swimming robots can put themselves back together when they break – Strictly Robots


36Mashable / 12h
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego , developed self-repairing, swimming robots that can magnetically "heal" themselves. Read more... More about Robots , Mashable Video , Fish , Healing , and Self Repair

IBM Cloud Satellite brings secure hybrid cloud services to any environment


24TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 12h
With the launch of IBM Cloud Satellite, IBM is making it possible for its customers to access its hybrid cloud services from anywhere.

Lawmakers Are Finally Asking the FCC to Redefine High-Speed Broadband


500+Gizmodo / 12h
In a letter to the FCC Thursday morning, several senators called for the federal agency to redefine the current minimum speeds that internet service providers can call “high-speed” broadband from 25/3 Mbps to 100/100 Mbps. That’s not only four times higher than the minimum download speed, but senators are also calling… Read more...

Google is policing itself on privacy because it knows it has to


100+Engadget / 12h
Most people have known for years that technology giants like Facebook and Google make a ton of money by knowing exactly what people do online and selling that knowledge to advertisers. The advertisers, in turn, get better and better at serving people ads targeted directly to them. But there’s been a reckoning in the past few years as people and governments around the world have learned just how m

Test your 'Coming to America' knowledge with director Craig Brewer


28Mashable / 12h
Craig Brewer, the director behind the upcoming sequel Coming 2 America , tries his hand at trivia about the original Coming to America in this edition of "Know Your Role." Read more... More about Amazon , Mashable Video , Tracy Morgan , Eddie Murphy , and Coming To America

Inside Workvivo’s plans to take on Microsoft in the employee experience space


100+TechCrunch / 12h
Maintaining company culture when the majority of staff is working remotely is a challenge for every organization — big and small. This was an issue, even before COVID. But it’s become an even bigger problem with so many employees working from home. Employers have to be careful that workers don’t feel disconnected and isolated from the rest of the company and that morale stays high. Enter Workvivo

Scientists Discover Water, Organic Materials on Surface of Asteroid


4KFuturism / 12h
Special Delivery A team of scientists examining a newly-returned asteroid fragment made a fascinating discovery: the space rock it came from seems to be carrying both water and organic materials — key elements of life here on Earth. Royal Holloway, University of London scientists became the first to discover organic molecules on the surface of an asteroid, according to research they published Thu

Asteroid Apophis Is Swinging by This Weekend to Taunt Us


400+Gizmodo / 12h
An asteroid with a small chance of hitting Earth in 2068 will swing past our planet in the coming days, providing a rare opportunity for astronomers to observe this potentially hazardous object. Read more...

HBO Max's 'Made for Love' stars a woman with a surveillance chip in her head


82Engadget / 12h
HBO Max has released a teaser for a series called Made for Love, which might give you a good reason to avoid getting too close to tech billionaires. Cristin Milioti plays Hazel Green, a woman who escapes an oppressive, decade-long marriage by fleeing to her hometown in the desert. Only one problem: Hazel's husband has implanted a surveillance chip in her mind. Byron Gogol (a character with a wond

iPhone deal alert: buy the iPhone 11 Pro, get another for free from Verizon


28TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 12h
Verizon's iPhone deal includes up to $1,000 in savings on the iPhone 11 Pro when you buy another phone and add a new line.

Bitflips when PCs try to reach windows.com: What could possibly go wrong?


200+Ars Technica / 12h
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images ) Bitflips are events that cause individual bits stored in an electronic device to flip, turning a 0 to a 1 or vice versa. Cosmic radiation and fluctuations in power or temperature are the most common naturally occurring causes. Research from 2010 estimated that a computer with 4GB of commodity RAM has a 96 percent chance of experiencing a bitflip within three days.

Don't panic, but 'insect drones' exist now – Strictly Robots


36Mashable / 12h
Researchers from MIT, Harvard, and the City University of Hong Kong developed insect-sized drones that look and move just like the real thing. Read more... More abou


Backblaze