There'll be a couple of bees buzzing about the International Space Station in a few weeks' time. OK, they're not real bees, but instead "Astrobees" — small flying robots designed to help out the crew on board the ISS.
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The 2020 Lincoln Aviator takes flight at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Lincoln's latest SUV packs a 450-horsepower plug-in hybrid powertrain and numerous new tech features and driver aids.
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The PlayStation 4 has hit its stride in recent years and is now more affordable than ever. If you have a PS4 or are thinking of buying one, we’ve collected some must-have games. The best part? Each of them is just $20 or less.
The post The best cheap-but-awesome PlayStation 4 game deals under $20 appeared first on Digital Trends.
Wireless earbuds have improved a lot in the past couple years. The best ones haven’t gotten a lot cheaper, though, so deals are always welcome. A few of our favorite wireless earbuds are on sale right now – including the Apple AirPods.
The post Apple AirPods, Bose, and Jabra Elite wireless earbuds are all on sale right now appeared first on Digital Trends.
Whether it's for work or play, chances are pretty good you'd like to save some money on your laptop purchase. And with the HP Days sale going on right now, you can actually save up to $760 on a new laptop computer.
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A security vulnerability in the Intel processors on Razer laptops was first discovered by a security expert in late March. That could mean that hackers would be able to implant malware and cause harm to affected systems.
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There are a lot of laptops out there, but not very many are nearly as luxurious as the HP Spectre Folio 2-in-1. Unlike most notebooks, the Spectre Folio incorporates genuine leather into it's aesthetic.
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It may be hard for some buyers to accept, but the best minivans are incredibly versatile vehicles. They were developed specifically to haul people, and the best ones on the market don't feel like a penalty box. Check our list and see for yourself.
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Nintendo Switch versions of Metroid Prime Trilogy, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Persona 5 have appeared in a retailer's internal system. A few previous leaks also lend credibility to the existence of each game.
The post Switch ports for Persona 5, Metroid Prime, and A Link to the Past may be coming appeared first on Digital Trends.
The best hybrid cars are fuel-efficient and all the rage, but which one should you buy? We’ve broken through the noise to let you know the best hybrid, and a few interesting alternatives from different categories.
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Looking for a story about love and lust? We've rounded up the most romantic films currently on Netflix, whether you're looking for a story about young love or a man who falls in love with artificial intelligence.
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Netflix's stable of content has grown quickly, and the streaming service now boasts dozens of shows produced in-house. Looking for the cream of the crop? These are our picks for the best Netflix Original series.
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If you can't stand the tangle of cords, or you're just excited about completely wireless earbuds, you're going to need some help separating the wheat from the chaff. Our list serves up the best true wireless earbuds around.
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The information of up to 540 million Facebook users -- including passwords, comments, likes, and Facebook IDs -- was left by app developers on publicly visible Amazon cloud servers.
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Allen Pan, a freelance engineer and Legend of Zelda fan, programmed his smart home to respond to ocarina music, using different songs from Ocarina of Time to control different aspects of his home.
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Wondering how much a Netflix subscription costs? You're not the only one. That's why we put together a quick-hit guide covering all the Netflix plans, whether you want to opt for 4K streaming or a disc-based option.
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We've spent countless hours digging around the web to find the best sites for streaming free movies online. Not only are all of these sites completely free to use, they're also completely legal and trustworthy.
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The FIA World Rallycross Championship is adding a companion series for electric cars called Projekt E. It will add a whole new dimension to the nascent category of electric racing.
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T-Mobile, which in late 2017 promised a new TV service to compete with cable and satellite, now says that the still unfinished service will include a mobile offering, and that Viacom has signed-on as a channel partner.
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If you've tired of using a typical keyboard and mouse while PC gaming, we've put together a guide to teach you how to connect an Xbox 360 controller to a PC. Whether wired or wireless, DT's got you covered.
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Amazon has dropped prices for one day on infrastructure products for your smart home, including the TP-Link mesh Wi-Fi system and Alexa- and Google Home-compatible smart home plugs and light switches.
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The events of Avengers: Infinity War changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some big ways and left fans wondering how its heroes can possibly recover. Here's everything we know about Avengers: Endgame, the sequel to Infinity War.
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The International Space Station is a marvel but finding a laundromat nearby has always been a pain, Now, a Russian technology company is tackling the problem by developing a washing machine that would work in space.
The post In space, clothes can smell really bad. Russian firm seeks way to wash them appeared first on Digital Trends.
Not all HDMI cables are created equal, but you don't need to spend an arm and leg to get one with the latest specs and performance. Here are our picks for the best cables that won't break the bank -- and one that will.
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Microsoft's upcoming Chromium-powered Edge browser may provide support for 4K Netflix streaming. A Reddit user spotted this feature in the recently leaked preview version of the browser.
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ESPN's streaming service, ESPN Plus, arrived in 2018. Despite appearances, ESPN Plus isn't a replacement for your ESPN cable channels, and it differs from other streaming apps in a few key ways. We answer all your questions in this guide.
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Trying to keep a room cool? Today's window AC units use less energy than ever, and they won't keep you awake all night either. Check out the best window air conditioners on the market.
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Volkswagen is testing prototype self-driving cars in Hamburg. The automaker claims this is the first test of autonomous cars on the streets of a major German city. Five self-driving cars operate with human safety drivers on board.
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This morning, Forbes wrote a lengthy profile of Andreessen Horowitz, the now 10-year-old venture firm that its rivals love to hate but nevertheless tend to copy. It’s a great read that revisits some of the firm’s wins and losses and, interestingly, regrets, including the founders’ early predisposition to talk trash about the rest of the venture industry.
As Ben Horowitz tells reporter Alex Konrad, “I kind of regret it, because I feel like I hurt people’s feelings who were perfectly good businesses . . . I went too far.”
The story also suggests that Andreessen Horowitz — whose agency-like model has been widely replicated by other big venture firms — is re-shaping venture capital a second time. It’s doing this, says Forbes, by turning itself into a registered investment advisor.
But the firm isn’t alone is morphing into something very different than it once was, including an RIA. SoftBank is already one. Foundry Group is one. General Catalyst appears to be in the process of registering as one, too. (It recently withdrew its status as a so-called exempt reporting advisor.) Other big firms with a range of un-VC-like products are similarly eyeing the same move.
They don’t have much choice. While VCs have traditionally been able to dabble in new areas through their limited partner agreements with their own investors, they’ve also faced what’s traditionally been a 20 percent cap on these activities, like buying in the public markets, investing in other funds, issuing debt to fund buyouts and acquiring equity through secondary transactions.
Put another way, 20 percent of their capital could be used to experiment, but the rest had to be funneled into typical venture capital-type deals.
For Andreessen Horowitz, that cap clearly began to grate. An early and enduring believer in cryptocurrencies, marketplaces and applications, the firm grew particularly frustrated over its inability to invest more of its flagship fund into crypto startups. It raised a separate crypto fund last year so it could move more aggressively on opportunities, but according to Forbes, the constraints that came with creating that separate legal entity gave rise to new aggravations.
By becoming a registered investment advisor, Andreessen Horowitz will no longer have to limit its stakes, including in its general fund — the newest of which it’s expected to announce shortly. It will also have the freedom to invest any percentage of its fund that it wants in larger high-growth companies, to buy shares from founders and early investors and to trade public stocks, as Forbes notes.
It’s the same reason that SoftBank is a registered investment advisor and other big firms with more assets will invariably be, as well. As longtime startup attorney Barry Kramer observes, “Like the now-giant operating companies that VCs once funded, like Google and Apple and Amazon, each of which used to play in discrete market segments and now overlap, hedge funds, mutual funds, secondary funds, and venture funds that used to play in discrete market segments are starting to overlap, too.”
The opportunity to shop for secondary stakes alone could drive a venture firm to restructure. “Secondary markets are eating” the public markets, observes Barrett Cohn on the investment bank Scenic Advisement, which helps broker sales between equity buyers and sellers. Cohn has a vested interest in this turnabout, but it’s also hard to argue he’s wrong, considering how long startups remain private, and how much more secondary activity now takes place before companies are acquired, go public or conk out.
Little wonder the powerful venture capital lobby group — the National Venture Capital Association — has been trying to talk the SEC into changing its definition of what constitutes a venture capital firm. It recognizes that it will lose more and more members if venture firms aren’t afforded more flexibility.
Still, becoming an RIA isn’t without its downsides — a lot of them, notes Bob Raynard, the managing director of the fund administration services company Standish Management in San Francisco.
Though he thinks many firms like Andreessen Horowitz may not have a choice past a certain point (“I think there are a lot of other growth equity and venture firms that should be registered for their own sake”), the new rules to which it will be adapting can “be quite onerous,” including a complete lack of privacy, as well as associated expenses. One estimate we found suggests that the median annual compliance costs are eight times higher for RIAs than for exempt registered advisors.
“If [Andreessen Horowitz] is becoming an RIA, its cost structure just went way up,” says Raynard, explaining that a compliance officer will have to sign off on everything an employee at the firm does, as well as the investing decisions that its partners’ spouses, children and even parents make. “As a VC, you don’t have to report your trades,” Raynard notes, but an RIA has to ensure that nothing and no one with a pecuniary interest in the firm creates an expensive misstep.
It also could conceivably create headaches for limited partners, who typically like to invest in distinct asset classes, whether venture capital or private equity or hedge funds. If Andreessen Horowitz, among other firms, starts to look like an amalgamation of all three, how will it be viewed? In which bucket will it land?
The firm declined to answer that question and others of ours today, saying it’s focused for now on completing the process of registering as an RIA.
Raynard meanwhile pushes back on the idea that its new look might throw off the institutions that have long funded it. “I think regulators will view it as a good thing, and I think most LPs would view it as a favorable shift, because of the increased outside scrutiny involved.” He thinks a bigger issue for venture firms that become investment firms more broadly — beyond the expenses and the added layers of management needed and an eagle-eyed SEC watching more closely — could be that it becomes harder to recruit.
Despite widespread interest in working for a brand-name firm, “if you’re a junior-level person and you’re being recruited by a firm that’s a registered investment advisor versus a venture firm where your deals are not being scrutinized and you have some privacy,” says Raynard, “it’s something you’re going to think about.”
BuzzFeed and Eko have been working together to create a wide range of interactive videos, which they began launching in the past week or so — starting with this Tasty potato recipe that allows you to customize your ingredients, revealing a bit about your personality in the process.
There’s also an interactive Tarot reading, a video quiz that determines which kind of dog you are and this customizable ramen video.
I spoke with BuzzFeed and Eko executives last week to learn more about how they’re working together, and where it might go next.
These videos — usually brief and based on existing BuzzFeed formats — feel pretty different from previous Eko showcases like “That Moment When,” which is more of a comedic, Choose Your Own Adventure-style story.
Eko’s Chief Creative Officer Alon Benari acknowledged that in the past, the company usually “started from a traditional video and injected interactivity into it.” But while “this is one of the first projects where we did the other path” — namely, taking an interactive format like a quiz and introducing video — the focus is still on “bringing together the best of both worlds.”
“This isn’t a direction change,” added Vice President of Business Development Ivy Sheibar. “We have a full pipeline of what you would consider coming more from traditional video.”
As for BuzzFeed, Chief Marketing Officer Ben Kaufman suggested that this is a natural extension of the publisher’s strategy to experiment with new formats. By offering this kind of interactivity, BuzzFeed can tailor videos to their viewers’ needs and interests (for example, by customizing video recipes based on dietary restrictions) while also “allowing our audience to engage with our videos and create data feedback loops.”
In addition to providing the technical platform to create these videos, Kaufman said Eko’s team shared important insights from years of experience with interactivity.
“One of the things they trained us on was what the meaning of a meaningful choice was — [a choice] where actually as an audience member you would take that to heart and makes you feel like, ‘This video is really made for me,’ ” he said.
Kaufman added that as BuzzFeed and Eko continue rolling out different types of interactive videos, “Our goal in the next few weeks is to crack this, to build a real deep audience connection, see what they are loving and go heavy into scaling that.”
The new Bubbles UI in action. Showing this working with Google Hangouts, which is due to shut down and will never actually support bubbles, is really rubbing salt in the wound. [credit: Google ]
Google is releasing the second Android Q Beta today. As we learned with the first release, Android Q is bringing support for foldable smartphones, better privacy and permissions controls, and a grab bag of other features. We've yet to install the second beta on one of our own devices, but Google's release blog post promises "bug fixes, optimizations, and API updates," as well as a crazy new multitasking feature and an emulator for foldables.
Android loves multitasking. So far we've had split screens and floating windows, and Android Q Beta 1 even had a hidden desktop mode. Beta 2 brings us a new multitasking feature called "Bubbles." Bubbles let you minimize an app into a little circle, which floats around on the screen above all your other apps. Tapping on a bubble will open a small UI. The only demo Google shows is one for a messaging app. Each bubble is a contact, and tapping on the bubble shows a small chat UI. If you remember Facebook's "Chat Head" UI for Messenger, Bubbles is that, but built into the OS.
Google offers a few suggested use cases for Bubbles, saying, "Bubbles are great for messaging because they let users keep important conversations within easy reach. They also provide a convenient view over ongoing tasks and updates, like phone calls or arrival times. They can provide quick access to portable UI, like notes or translations, and can be visual reminders of tasks too."
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Google Duplex—the Google Assistant's restaurant-booking phone call bot—is finally getting a wider rollout. The tool was previously only available on Google's Pixel phones, but now you can send out a robocall from most smartphones. An updated Duplex support page (which was first spotted by XDA Developers) now shows support for "iPhones with the Google Assistant installed" and "Android devices running version 5.0 or newer."
Google Duplex is one of the more impressive products Google has shown off in recent years. Just ask the Google Assistant to make a restaurant reservation at a certain time, and it will do it. By "do it," I mean it will make a phone call to a business, speak to the business on your behalf with one of the most human-sounding computer-generated voices ever made, negotiate a reservation time, and get back to you.
Google's video is a good representation of how it works:
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Opening up the new iPad mini. [credit: iFixit ]
iFixit has published its teardown of the new, fifth-generation iPad mini—the first update to Apple's smaller-sized tablet since 2015. The iFixit team—which sells gear for repairing and servicing gadgets and uses these teardown series to promote said gear—noted that the iPad mini looks on the outside like a smaller version of the new iPad Air. But on the inside, it's an updated iPad mini 4, the team wrote.
On opening the tablet up, iFixit discovered a 19.32Wh battery—the same capacity as the previous-generation iPad mini. But there are some notable changes. The front-facing camera module has been updated to a 7-megapixel ƒ/2.2, like the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. That's a marked improvement over the iPad mini 4. There's also Apple's A12 Bionic system-on-a-chip (the same found in the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR) with 3GB of LPDDR4X DRAM.
The updated microphone array has been moved near the selfie cam, and new ambient light sensors support the True Tone feature, which adjusts the white balance of the display based on ambient light conditions for user comfort.
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Inbox's new account introduction. I did this April 1—perhaps I was the last person on Earth to see it? [credit: Ron Amadeo ]
We are gathered here today to lay to rest Google Inbox. Google's alternative email client was a radical rethink of how email should work, but as has been the case with many edge-case Google products, the company is opting to pull the plug on Inbox. The scheduled shutdown date is today, and Inbox users will be forced to switch back to Gmail.
But we're not here to mourn Inbox's death; we're here to celebrate its life. Many of the ideas and features of Google Inbox have been spun off across the Google ecosystem, and while there is sadly still no viable replacement for an Inbox-style email client, the spirit of Inbox can live on in the features it inspired in other products. Preserved here for future generations, this is what Google Inbox was like.
When the Gmail team set out to create Inbox, it totally rethought how an Inbox should work. The team came up with a lot of new ideas, but radically reworking the Gmail UI would open a can of worms apparently nobody on the Gmail team really wanted to touch. (I mean, have you seen the reaction to the comparatively minor Gmail redesign?) The result was Google Inbox: an alternative interface for your Gmail account. It was all your mail, contacts, drafts, and other information from Gmail, just with a UI full of new features and a new design paradigm. Gmail users that loved Gmail could keep using Gmail, but for users that wanted to try a new way of triaging email, Inbox was just a URL away.
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Facebook is paying British newspaper the Daily Telegraph to run a series of sponsored articles called “Being human in the information age” defending it against claims it is encouraging the spread of misinformation, aiding in the spread of hate speech, violating privacy, and generally ruining society in myriad other…
When it comes to Aladdin songs, “Friend Like Me” is the showstopper. Sure “A Whole New World” is beautiful and “Prince Ali” is catchy, but it’s that big, intro song sung by the genie that sticks in your head the most. So when the lights went down at CinemaCon 2019 and “Friend Like Me” from Guy Ritchie’s upcoming …
Last night at a Republican fundraiser in DC, Donald Trump claimed that wind turbines cause cancer with the citation, “They say the noise causes cancer.” This may be because the president has a grudge against wind power because he thought it would spoil the view from one of his golf courses in Scotland or it might just…
With just weeks to go before its release, we’re at peak Avengers: Endgame anticipation these days. CinemaCon 2019 audiences just got a glimpse of the most massive Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date, and io9 is there to report what we saw.
Every Saturday on Twitter, I do this thing where I list out the cleaning agenda I have on tap for my weekend and ask what everyone else is planning to clean. It sounds dull, but bear in mind that my list of chores usually includes a ringer like, “Treat lube stains on sheets from Thursday night,” so.
The economic juggernaut we call the internet has thrived principally thanks to a single U.S. law passed more than two decades ago—Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It states quite simply that website operators shall not be treated as the publishers of information posted by their users. To wit, Gizmodo…
A new study out Wednesday in the BMJ is the latest to showcase even the short-term benefits of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It found that the routine vaccination of preteen girls in Scotland, starting in 2008, led to drastically lower rates of cervical disease by the time the girls turned 20. That included…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it is investigating a potential link between seizures and vaping after receiving dozens of voluntary reports over a nearly 10-year period.
