The facility at Samsung SDI which produced some of the batteries for the Note 7 smartphone that had difficulties with surprise combustion, has now itself caught fire. The factory blazed for a few hours, requiring 110 firefighters and 19 fire trucks to put out the flames as they raged at the Chinese …
Read More »New EU laws aim to finally do away with content geoblocking for streaming
The European Union is about to make video streaming across borders a lot easier as this week plans were drawn up to enforce new laws that do away with geo-blocking content once and for all. These new laws will affect services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and could come …
Read More »Google reveals AI that can de-pixelate an image
Pixelated images, ‘potato' cameras, and pictures deliberately blurred to hide people's faces, could become a thing of the past thanks to Google's latest algorithm development. The company's neural network can now take an image of just eight by eight pixels and use clever guesswork, to work its way back to …
Read More »Sony, LG and more accused of inflating PC DVD drive costs, will compensate PC buyers
If you bought a PC between 2003 and 2008, then chances are your system contained a DVD drive. Now it looks like you may be able to claim back some money on that ancient purchase as a recent class action lawsuit revealed that drive makers like Sony, NEC, Panasonic and …
Read More »Vizio tracked its customer’s viewing histories without permission and sold the data
It looks like Vizio has some explaining to do as the Federal Trade Commission has found that the US TV seller illegally tracked its customer's viewing habits and then sold that information on all without any form of consent. Vizio is said to have installed software on 11 million of …
Read More »Uber is also working on flying autonomous cars of the future
Uber has hired on on an ex-NASA engineer who previously developed concepts for personalised air vehicles, which could allow for an airborne taxi system. He will now begin work on Uber's flying car project, called Uber Elevate, which the company outlined in a white paper in October 2016. The idea …
Read More »DARPA has made a carrier-style drone-catcher
The U.S.' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a new carrier-like crane system for catching drones mid-flight. This isn't like the eagles police have been training, but an aircraft carrier-like system of providing a safe ‘landing' point for drones to return to. This could expand the effective range …
Read More »Patent troll files lawsuit against Netflix and others over offline downloads
Late last year, Netflix finally gave subscribers something they had been wanting for years- the ability to download movies and shows for offline viewing. Unfortunately, it hasn't taken long for patent trolls to start gunning at Netflix over this new feature as this week, ‘Blackbird Technologies' filed a lawsuit against …
Read More »Intel drones were behind Lady Gaga Superbowl half-time show
Our cousins across the pond celebrated their biggest ‘football' event this weekend and that means that the internet has largely ignored the results and spent a lot of time talking about the entertainment offered elsewhere during the game. The half-time show, for example, featured singer Lady Gaga doing her thing, …
Read More »South Korea tightens battery rules after Samsung Note 7 issues
In the aftermath of the massive recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over issues with its batteries, South Korea has announced new rules to safeguard against such a problem in the future. Safety requirements and new regular inspections of manufacturing facilities will come into play in the near …
Read More »Adobe is raising its Creative Cloud subscription prices in the UK
Adobe has announced this week that it will be the latest company to start raising its prices here in the UK, citing the Brexit vote and the subsequent fluctuation of the GBP as the main cause. The company made the announcement in a notice sent out to Creative Cloud subscribers, …
Read More »Pod racer: Hyperloop contest crowns fastest future transport team
Some of the top Hyperloop development teams around the world spent the weekend competing head to head with one another on Space X's Hyperloop test track to see who's design could operate safely, stay lined up and then bring itself to a comfortable stop. While many teams managed that, the …
Read More »Upgrade your 2010-2016 ford with connected smart features
If you own a Ford vehicle built between 2010 and 2016 but it didn't come with a number of contemporary connected features like remote-start and Wi-Fi access, you can now upgrade it so that it does. The Ford SmartLink adds 4G LTE access and comes with a companion app and …
Read More »Qualcomm execs fire back at Apple’s $1 billion lawsuit
Last week, we learned that Apple had launched a huge $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm over what the company deemed to be unfair licensing agreements. The US Federal Trade Commission was also suing Qualcomm for similar reasons. Since then, Qualcomm had its third quarter earnings call, during which company executives …
Read More »TransPod partners with railway expert IKOS for Hyperloop development
TransPod, the startup that plans to become the leading Hyperloop developer in the world, has announced a partnership with IKOS. The consultancy firm has more than a decade of experience in developing signals, tracks and power infrastructure for rail networks and will help develop similar systems for TransPod's Hyperloop design. …
Read More »AirSelfie camera drone now available for pre-order
The miniature flying camera drone, AirSelfie, is now available for pre-order, following a complete set up of the production line. Kickstarter pledges are set to ship out in March this year, with those pre-ordering the device now, slated to receive their's by May. AirSelfie is a miniature drone equipped with …
Read More »Android users can now download Netflix content to an SD Card
Towards the end of last year, Netflix finally gave its subscribers a feature they had been wanting for years- offline playback. This allows users to download TV shows and movies via the Netflix app for viewing while you are away from an internet connection. Now this feature has been made …
Read More »Elon Musk’s ‘boring’ company to begin drilling tunnels soon
It turns out that when Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk says he's going to do something, we should take him at his word. Following his unofficial announcement that he would begin digging tunnels to take cars underground to ease traffic, he's actually going to do it. Within a …
Read More »Federal Court upholds ruling, US gov can’t obtain Microsoft emails from Ireland
Way back in July 2016, a court ruled that the US government could not force Microsoft to hand over emails stored on a foreign server in Ireland, even if US authorities were granted a search warrant for the data. However, the government were quick to appeal the judgement, escalating it …
Read More »Samsung brings in record profit despite product recalls
It turns out that Samsung is doing well for itself with a huge rise in profits over the last quarter, despite the company being embroiled in political drama over in South Korea and the worldwide mass recall of the Galaxy Note 7 and as well as a specific model of …
Read More »Apple is suing Qualcomm for $1 billion in licensing dispute
Earlier this week we learned that Qualcomm had managed to rile up the FTC over in the US, with the commission now investigating the chip maker for anti-competitive behaviour. Now it looks like Qualcomm is going to be fighting off two lawsuits as Apple is jumping onboard, seeking $1 billion …
Read More »U.S. report suggests Tesla autopilot reduces crashes by 40 per cent
A report by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not only vindicated Tesla with regards to the first person to die while using its Autopilot software, but has backed up its safety claims. It turns out that installing Tesla Autopilot software can reduce your chance of being in …
Read More »DigiLens raises $22 million to usher in the future of AR displays
Display technology specialist DigiLens is one step closer to creating better Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality transparent glass displays, as the company just secured an additional $22 million in funding. DigiLens is currently working on AR displays that lie on top of transparent glass, which could pave the way for …
Read More »Panasonic wants to partner with Tesla on more than batteries
Panasonic has announced its intention to expand its current partnership with electric car marker Tesla, beyond the battery manufacturing deal the two currently have together. CEO at the company, Kazuhiro Tsuga said in an interview that he would like to see the company expand into autonomous driving sensors that could …
Read More »Updated: South Korean court dismisses warrant for Samsung head arrest
Update: Earlier this week, we learned that special prosecutors were looking to put Samsung's current head behind bars, with the intention of charging him with bribery and embezzlement. At the time, prosecutors had filed for a warrant for the arrest of Lee Jae-yong but after a hearing today at a …
Read More »Ofcom fines EE £2.7 million for overcharging thousands of customers
Ofcom has been clamping down on mobile networks recently. A few months back the regulator fined Vodafone for poor customer support and now, its attention has turned to EE, which has now been fined £2.7 million after overcharging over 40,000 customers. An investigation led by Ofcom has found that EE …
Read More »FTC goes after Qualcomm for anti competitive practises
It looks like the Federal Trade Commission has set its sights on Qualcomm this week, as a new lawsuit filed claims that the chip maker has been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour and monopolised a ‘key semiconductor device' used by Apple for the iPhone and iPad. The FTC's complaint claims that …
Read More »TomTom wants to be leader in autonomous driving development
Satellite navigation device maker TomTom, has purchased an autonomous vehicle developer. The Berlin based startup is aptly named, Autonomous and has previously provided research and development consultancy services for a number of automated vehicle systems around the world. Although TomTom is most well known for its navigational systems, it has …
Read More »Researchers develop fire extinguishing lithium-ion battery
It looks like we may not need to worry about exploding lithium-ion batteries in the future as a group of researchers have developed a new battery with a built-in fire extinguisher, cutting off the possibilities of fires right at the source. Exploding batteries have been a bit of a hot …
Read More »Android Wear 2.0 is coming next month along with two LG watches
Things have been quiet on the wearable front for quite a while now, the Apple Watch series 2 hasn't generated much buzz and things appear to have come to a standstill with Android Wear. However, that could change later this year as reports indicate that Google is preparing Android Wear …
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