Roku users, get ready to see some minor upgrades on your TVs and streamers. In a blog post Tuesday the company outlined upgrades in its latest free software update, version 9.1, which adds a selection of incremental tweaks and conveniences to Roku streamers and Roku TVs.  Owners of streamers like the Roku Express and Roku …

Less expensive phones are about to get more premium features.  Qualcomm on Tuesday unveiled its Snapdragon 730, 730G and 665 chips. They’re aimed at high-end and midrange phones — though not ultra-premium flagship devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S10 lineup. The chips mean that people who won’t or can’t spend $1,000 for a new phone will be able to access some of …

Just in time for Mother’s Day gifting, Canon rolls out a refresh of its compact DSLR for newbies. The EOS Rebel SL3 follows the two-year-old SL2, aka the EOS 200D in the UK and Australia, bringing some of the perks bestowed by the latest version of Canon’s imaging processor, Digic 8. At the top of the list is 4K video, …

Rachel Kinnon and Jeanie Austin, librarians at the San Francisco Public Library, receive about 60 questions a week from a dedicated group of fans: prison inmates. The inquiries, usually handwritten and sent by post, range from requests for information about transitioning to life outside of prison to explanations of technologies that may not have existed before a prisoner was put …

Facebook on Tuesday agreed to update its terms of service, clarifying the language around what it does with customer data, following pressure from within the EU. The social network reached the decision after discussions with the European Commission and a coalition of consumer rights groups, which accused Facebook of not being clear enough how it uses customer data to make …

Qualcomm, best known for mobile phone chips, plans to build AI chips that run in data centers packed with thousands of powerful servers. Artificial intelligence — or neural network tech based loosely on human brains — is revolutionizing computing with the abilities like distinguishing what’s in a photo or understanding human speech. Lots of AI runs on your phone or laptop, …

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are pushing to ban the Internal Revenue Service from creating a free system for filing taxes, according to a new report.  Last week, members of the House Ways and Means Committee passed bipartisan legislation called the Taxpayer First Act, which prevents the IRS from creating an online tax filing system. For years, companies like Intuit, …

One night a few years ago, Tony Marx was closing up a Bronx library when he noticed a kid sitting on the steps. The boy was pecking away on the oldest laptop Marx had ever seen. Puzzled, Marx asked him what he was doing. The boy told Marx he was doing his math homework. The assignment was online and the …

Google Maps has been adding Waze features like incident reports in recent months, and now it’s experimenting with informing you about traffic jams more quickly. The Slowdowns option allows people caught in unusual traffic jams report it to Google, letting Maps gather data more quickly and giving others on that route the chance to divert, according to 9to5Google. The reporting …

The latest version of the Opera web browser launched Tuesday for Mac, Windows and Linux. Opera 60, codenamed Reborn 3, includes a cryptocurrency wallet, Web3 explorer and a free VPN.  Reborn 3 has increased privacy and security features, including a built-in ad blocker, the company said in a release. Like previous versions of Opera, it also offers an unlimited VPN, …