Author: Randall

Qualcomm’s latest chip will give midrange phones a gaming boost

[ad_1] For the first time, Qualcomm is launching a gaming-specific version of a chipset alongside the regular one. The Snapdragon 730G (G stands for Gaming, get it?) has an enhanced version of the Adreno 618 GPU to make it 15 percent faster than the one in the regular 730. It also packs some bonuses via […]

Facebook will be liable for future Cambridge Analytica-style scandals

[ad_1] Under the updated terms and conditions, which Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch will apply worldwide, the company is also amending its policy on the limitation of liability. It “now acknowledges its responsibility in case of negligence, for instance in case data has been mishandled by third parties.” Essentially, it’s on the hook for any future […]

What we’re buying: Google’s discontinued Chromecast Audio

[ad_1] Terrence O’BrienManaging Editor Google has killed a lot of products over the years. Some of them are sorely missed (Google Reader). Others, less so (Wave). But the one that hurt me the most, was Chromecast Audio. I love my regular Chromecasts a lot, but I had been a Roku user for years. Streaming YouTube […]

Firefox will soon protect you against crypto-mining scripts

[ad_1] For the uninitiated, illicit crypto-mining sees bad actors harnessing your machine to covertly mine cryptocurrency — a process that cranks up CPU activity and drains power. This is generally achieved through scripts running behind-the-scenes on websites. The latest Firefox update blocks the cryptocurrency scripts contained in Disconnect’s list. The same goes for fingerprinting: a […]

Tesla’s Sentry Mode has already caught a suspected carjacker

[ad_1] San Francisco-based Jed Franklin received an alert on his phone informing him that Sentry Mode had been activated. On arriving at his vehicle, he found that the window had been broken, but that the perp had fled empty-handed. Franklin then downloaded the video captured by Sentry Mode, which had recorded a clear image of […]

Microsoft says FCC data on improved broadband coverage is misleading

[ad_1] According to the FCC, some 25 million people don’t have access to broadband. In leveraging data from its various online services, however, Microsoft says that some 163 million people “do not use the internet at broadband speeds.” Evidently, not having access to broadband and not using the internet at broadband speeds are not the […]

‘Fallout 76’ update adds contentious ‘pay-to-win’ item

[ad_1] Bethesda started the microtransactions controversy on consoles with horse armor, and since 2006 it has extended to every annual sports game, Battlefield V, and anything you can squeeze a loot box system into. In just the latest controversy for Fallout 76, the company has made a decision to add an item to the game […]

J.J. Abrams will turn Stephen King’s ‘Lisey’s Story’ into an Apple TV+ series

[ad_1] Apple promised us ad-free original shows when its TV service debuts this fall, and one of them will apparently be the Stephen King novel Lisey’s Story. According to Hollywood Reporter, Apple has ordered an eight-episode series to be written by King himself and produced by Bad Robot Productions’ J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson. Julianne […]

Digital music may not have saved the environment after all

[ad_1] The publicly available data leaves some questions. It’s not clear that the findings account for savings from reduced transportation costs, packaging and other savings that come when the music doesn’t have to physically travel somewhere. This also doesn’t account for multitasking. If you’re listening to music while you’re already at your computer, for instance, […]