Tag Archives: google

Robots will fix us, whether we like it or not

The hollow ball rattled back and forth across the table between me and the robot. Sometimes I outplayed the robot. More often, the robot outsmarted me. That was at CES, a show that keeps you moving, but my heart never raced faster than when I was squaring off against Forpheus. Forpheus, made by a company …

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Android Q might have facial recognition similar to Apple’s Face ID

Google is reportedly working to bring secure facial recognition support to Android Q. Code discovered in a leaked build of the upcoming 17th version of the search giant’s Android operating system hints at native support for facial recognition, according to XDA. The Android Q system would be used to sign into your phone, authorize purchases and sign in to apps, …

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Oculus Quest feels like the Nintendo Switch of VR

I missed traveling to Facebook’s Oculus Connect developer conference last fall, where the upcoming Oculus Quest was first announced and demoed. The standalone headset is expected in the spring, and it’ll cost $400 all-in with the headset and controllers. (That price is roughly £300 or AU$560.) And unlike current PC-based VR gear, no annoying wall sensors or other accessories are …

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Galaxy S10 won’t save Samsung innovation, but folding Galaxy X, F, Fold or Flex could

Don’t count on the upcoming Galaxy S10 to be Samsung’s innovation darling. Leave that to the company’s first foldable phone, which Samsung is widely expected to show off in all its working glory. Rumored to be called the Galaxy X, Galaxy F, Galaxy Fold or even Galaxy Flex, the first foldable phone from the largest global phone brand has the potential to …

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Oculus’ VR time

I ended up in an absurdist maze world yesterday. A bemused godlike creature helped me find the back entrance to his nightclub, “The Under,” in the hull of an overturned ship. On stage, a green-skinned lounge performer sang and danced with her drumming skeleton sidekick, Tina. When a cruise-boat captain ran up to me and touched my hand, I teleported …

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New sub

Get ready for a wave of new Nokia-branded budget phones. Finnish startup HMD Global has rebooted the Nokia brand over the last few years, releasing a number of Android Nokia smartphones available unlocked. HMD is now trying to push into North America even more with its first carrier-exclusive US and Canadian phones, arriving over the next week. Now playing: Watch …

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Brave’s privacy

Startup Brave has begun showing ads in its web browser with privacy-focused new technology. Later this year, other software makers could start doing the same. The company plans to release a software developer kit as soon as the second half of 2019 that will let other programmers tap into its privacy-protecting ads, Chief Executive Brendan Eich told CNET in an …

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Google appeals $57M GDPR fine, defends privacy practices

Google will appeal a fine imposed by the French government over European privacy rules, the company said Thursday. France’s privacy regulator said earlier this week that it’s fining the internet giant 50 million euros (about $57 million) for not properly disclosing to people how their data was collected and passed to advertisers. The fine was imposed under the General Data Protection …

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Google may break ad blockers with upcoming Chrome change

A Google plan to improve the Chrome web browser has triggered an explosion of concern that it’ll also cripple extensions designed to block ads, improve privacy and protect against security problems. Google’s proposed approach would torpedo ad blocker uBlock Origin, tracker blocker Ghostery, privacy and password manager Privowny, JavaScript software blocker NoScript and a malware blocker from F-Secure, according to …

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Xiaomi’s double

Samsung is expected to show off a fully functioning version of its hotly anticipated foldable phone at its Galaxy S10 launch event on Feb. 20. But after Chinese rival brand Xiaomi teased its own book-like foldable phone on Wednesday, will people still care?  In a video posted to Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, Xiaomi co-founder and president Bin Lin plays a …

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