Viacom is launching its BET network as a standalone online service, as it dips another toe in the video streaming waters. BET Play won’t stream the network’s live channel, but it will let international subscribers watch live events and shows on demand online. Viacom The new online subscription service, called BET Play, will be available …

Now playing: Watch this: What browser is best for your laptop battery? 1:21 The fight is on between Opera Software and Microsoft, each of which claims that its browser is the best at extending battery life for laptops. In a blog post Wednesday, Opera fired back at Microsoft for a blog item posted Monday that claimed Microsoft’s Edge browser delivers …

Some battles demand a large Nerf gun, but with this makeshift monstrosity from YouTuber Mark Rober and Eclectical Engineering webseries hosts David and Ryan, you can win a duel by intimidation alone. Their gigantic Nerf gun, quite possibly the world’s largest, was built using a 3,000-psi paintball tank, 3D-printed handle, low-pressure regulator, brass adapters and pipes, PVC plastic and wood. …

An app that claims to help refugees adrift in the Mediterranean make contact with the shore has been pulled from the Apple App Store following accusations that it is a fake. The app, dubbed I Sea, was developed by Singapore-based ad agency Grey Group and on Monday evening was awarded a bronze medal at the Cannes Lions conference in France. …

Tumblr has now officially entered the live video streaming space, alongside fellow social networks Facebook and Twitter, which have Live and Periscope respectively. The launch comes the same day Twitter announced it was expanding its video length from 30 seconds to 140 seconds. Unlike Twitter and Facebook which use their own video platforms, Tumblr is partnering with third-party providers to …

Google’s smartphone payments system Android Pay has been up and running in the UK for a month now, and to ensure people are actually using it, Google has launched a promotion scheme. Beginning Tuesday, Android Pay Day is set to be a monthly event that will make those last few days before actual payday a little more bearable. Once every …

The trolls have won again. Another celebrity has decided to take a timeout from social media, albeit an extremely short one. Singer and actress Demi Lovato tweeted Monday that she is quitting Twitter and Instagram after questioning why people who don’t like what she has to say follow her on the popular social-media platforms. When you have over 36.7 million …

If you’re talking about virtual reality today, you’re likely talking about video games. But if you ask a regular person, gaming doesn’t even crack the top three in possible categories. Instead, areas such as travel, movies and live events spur more interest. That contrasts with the sheer amount of attention and resources poured into virtual reality — most of which …

Now playing: Watch this: Google symptom search will help diagnose you 1:26 Instead of digging through a mess of search results, Google’s new symptom search will display medical information within the search results. The info takes the familiar form of cards. Google cautions that this new feature is no substitute for a doctor. Now playing: Watch this: Twitter ups video …

Can’t get enough of “Game of Thrones,” even when you’re up to date on the mayhem in the latest episode? Fans of the popular fantasy TV show can now listen to the music that appears during Season 6 thanks to an exclusive music streaming arrangement with Pandora. The world’s largest music-streaming service will be the only place fans can hear …

Apple only sells one laptop with an optical disc drive and a spinning hard drive — and that laptop may not be long for this world. The 13-inch unibody MacBook Pro, originally introduced in 2008 and unchanged since 2012, is reportedly being pulled from Apple Store shelves. Apple Insider and The Next Web both confirm that the laptop has disappeared …

Now playing: Watch this: Sonos’ new Play 5 is a bigger, sleeker, better sounding… 2:05 Now you can control your Sonos speaker on an iOS device directly from the lock screen. The company just released a software update for its multiroom streaming speaker system that will allow customers to perform a wider range of iOS shortcuts, including quick navigation from …

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of author H.P. Lovecraft’s deep-sea-dwelling tentacle-faced cosmic entity Cthulhu, you may want to hurry up and call the cult together. Cryptozoologists are excited about a weird shape seen on Google Earth in the ocean near Antarctica. It looks like a brown mass surrounded by swirling green-hued waters. YouTube user wowforreeel posted a video …

The Misfit Shine 2 and Misfit Ray are two of only a handful of fitness trackers that are actually waterproof. Despite being able to shower and swim with them, both trackers lack useful swimming features, which was odd given that Misfit partnered with Speedo last year on a swim-specific version of the Shine. All of this changes come July. Misfit …

While the United States argues about whether the next president should be Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, at least we know DC Comics’ fictional world is in good hands. The CBS TV series “Supergirl” (moving to The CW) announced today that Lynda Carter — best known for her role in the “Wonder Woman” TV series from ’70s — …