Category: Internet

House antitrust subcommittee will investigate internet competition

[ad_1] It’s still early days, but the committee is planning a “series of hearings” and intends to request info while conducting the investigation. Not surprisingly, officials were open to the prospect of creating new laws if necessary. The announcement comes just days after a report of a possible Justice Department investigation of Google, and weeks […]

Coherence lets any developer create persistent online games

[ad_1] It’ll plug in to existing game engines, starting with Unity, and should launch in early 2020. Alpha and beta tests are slated for later in 2019. This is an ambitious concept, and there aren’t guarantees it will work as well as planned. Coherence’s pedigree might give it a fighting chance, mind you. Company chief […]

Philips’ Hue range may soon include a smart plug

[ad_1] According to Dutch site iCulture, Philips will launch a smart plug that will work with Apple’s HomeKit platform, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. It’s not clear whether it will need to be linked with the Philips Hue bridge, but a leaked image lends credence to the report. Smart plugs can be plugged directly into […]

Amazon will open 10 stores across the UK

[ad_1] The new “Clicks and Mortar” stores will sell goods like homeware, health and beauty products, food and drink, and electronics. They will also act as a location for customers to see and try out products from online-only brands like Swifty Scooters. The first store will open in Manchester today, with openings across the rest […]

Exposed database revealed security details for large hotel chains

[ad_1] The data comes from a common source. Pyramid has been relying on Wazuh, an open source intrusion detection system, and sending data from that software to an unguarded server. It included info dating back to April 19th and mostly focuses on connection info like server logins, internet addresses and firewall data, but it also […]

The North Face gamed Wikipedia to boost Google searches

[ad_1] Volunteers have since removed the images or cropped out North Face logos. The company itself has since apologized, acknowledging that its behavior was “inconsistent” with Wikipedia’s goals. It has ended the marketing campaign and vowed that teams and vendors would be “better trained” on Wikipedia’s policies. The incident underscores both the advantages and pitfalls […]

Marvel is turning some of its best-known comic books into audiobooks

[ad_1] The finished audiobooks will be available through numerous major online audiobook providers, including Apple Books, Audible and Google. Dreamscape’s parent, Midwest Tapes, will also offer the digital audiobooks to libraries through its Hoopla service. This isn’t coming out of the blue when Marvel offered a second season of its Wolverine podcast and has created […]

California advances bill offering protections to gig economy workers

[ad_1] The bill still has to clear the Senate before it can become law, although that’s considered highly likely. There are exemptions to the bill or health care, lawyers, real estate agents and other fields, in part because they’re more likely to have genuine independent contractors. However, the measure is clearly intended to classify ridesharing […]

Google cloud outage knocks out Gmail, Discord and Snapchat

[ad_1] Details are still forthcoming as of this writing, although Google said this was “related to a larger network issue” in its status update. A Google spokesperson told Engadget that the problem involved “high levels of network congestion” in the eastern US, and that the company believed it had nailed down the “root cause” of […]