Новости за 21.03.2018

Sharp launched the Aquos S3 Mini in China today, a budget smartphone with average specs and an edge-to-edge screen design that looks surprisingly commonplace.

Multiple sources tell TechCrunch that Google is acquiring Lytro, an imaging startup that specializes in light-field technology.

Epic Games’ Fortnite is making boatloads of money on in-app purchases, taking in $126 million in the month of February and surpassing the monthly revenue pull of competitor Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds for the first time, according to game analytics firm Superdata Research. The news should come as no surprise to those who’ve been following the meteoric trajectory of Fortnite and its popular battle royale-style game mode, which puts up to 100 players against one another on a deserted island in a last-person-standing contest. Читать дальше...

The Senate has voted 97–2 to advance the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a controversial initiative meant to crack down on sex trafficking on the internet.

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has announced further limits it’ll be placing on apps that gain access to your account. Developers will now receive less information in the first place, they’ll be cut off from access when people stop using their app, and they’ll have to get Facebook’s approval to access more detailed information.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be interviewed by CNN’s senior tech correspondent Laurie Segall today, with the segment airing during Anderson Cooper 360 at 9PM ET this evening. The news, announced on Twitter by CNN host Brian Stelter, is a pivotal moment for Facebook as it grapples with the severe aftermath of the ongoing Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal, which has embroiled the social networking company in one of its most high-profile and far-reaching controversies in its entire 14-year history. Читать дальше...

Hublot is the official timekeeping sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, so, of course, it has developed a special edition watch for the football tournament.

Amid criticism over the way it handles customer information, Facebook made changes to the way users can join group chats in Messenger. The company said Wednesday it now requires people trying to get into a group chat to be approved by an admin.

It is rarely helpful to tell a shy person to “just be yourself!” Riffing on that frustrating exchange, clinical psychologist Ellen Hendriksen has written a book that she hopes will answer the question the anxious person usually asks in return: How?

South Korea’s telecom authority is fining Facebook 396 million won (approximately $369,705) for slowing down user internet connections in 2016 and 2017.

Google Maps for iOS has introduced a new feature in version 4.47 that shows the average waiting time for over a million restaurants at different parts of the day, as reported by Engadget.

YouTube is going to start serving heavy music listeners more ads in the hopes of annoying them into becoming paid subscribers to the company’s upcoming new music service, according to YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen in an interview at SXSW, via Bloomberg.

It looks like a fish, moves like a fish, but it’s definitely a robot. It’s name is SoFi (short for soft robotic fish), and according to its creators at MIT’s computer science and AI lab CSAIL, it’s the most versatile bot of its kind. And with its built-in cameras, scientists should be able to use SoFi to get close to the ocean’s inhabitants without spooking them — hopefully giving us greater insight into the lives of under-observed sea creatures.

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine is expected to leave his role at Apple in August, and now The Wall Street Journal reports that he’ll transition into a “consulting role” after that, dropping the daily responsibilities of overseeing the company’s streaming music service. Iovine initially denied that he would be leaving the company in August.

Tesla’s shareholders have voted to approve a new 10-year compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk valued at around $2.6 billion in stock options, according to multiple outlets.

Epic Games today announced that it’s developed a new replay editor for its Unreal Engine so that game developers can create more streamlined highlight-making tools for players. The news, announced as part of Epic’s annual “State of Unreal” show at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, means that it will be easier than ever to take recordings of game footage and edit them into professional-looking clips for YouTube. Epic even flew out British YouTube personality and Twitch streamer Alastair... Читать дальше...

YouTube has updated its policy on content featuring firearms, expanding the list of accessories that cannot be featured in videos that sell them or instruct users how to manufacture or install the accessories, reports Motherboard.

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey apparently has big visions for bitcoin, commenting in a recent interview with The Times that he believes that the cryptocurrency will become the world’s single currency within 10 years.

Samsung’s chameleon TVs, as I’ve started calling them, now have price tags. The 2018 QLED lineup includes the Q9, Q8, Q7, and Q6, each of which will be available in different sizes and in both curved and flat versions. They all also have an “Ambient Mode,” that uses your phone to capture a photo of the environment behind it to then create a matching look on screen. It’s supposed to blend into a room, even when it’s off.

Venezuela’s state-backed cryptocurrency, the petro, is a “half-hidden joint venture” between Venezuelan and Russian officials and businessmen, according to a new report by Time. The petro, which first went on presale on February 20th, is the world’s first state-backed cryptocurrency. Its value is tied to the country’s oil reserves. Sources told Time that the aim of the petro was to erode the power of US sanctions. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has previously referred to the petro as “kryptonite”... Читать дальше...

Cars have become feature-packed pieces of technology, but they’re not exactly the kind of thing you can (or want to) buy over and over again to keep up with the times. One aftermarket solution that makes older cars a little bit smarter is a dongle that plugs into the car’s onboard diagnostics, or OBD, port. These have been made and sold by everyone from Samsung to Verizon to a number of startups, but now, Ford’s making one available for its own cars.

It’s been said that a tech company hasn’t made it big until it has its own bespoke font. Actually, no one has said that, but that won’t stop Netflix from unveiling Netflix Sans, its own custom typeface. The font was created by the company’s in-house design team with type foundry Dalton Maag. Netflix will be using it for branding and marketing purposes going forward.

Amnesty International says that Twitter is failing to prevent online abuse and protect women’s rights, following a 16-month research project into women’s experiences on social media platforms.

Snap has brought a retro look to its lens feature, unveiling a new lens on Snapchat that places animations of characters from the game Cuphead on your screen. When the lens is selected in the app, Cuphead and Mugman appear and start shooting when a person enters the frame.

It’s spring, and Apple has new Apple Watch bands for us. I’m excited to think about pastels while it actively blizzards outside my apartment. All the bands look a little happier and are presumably supposed to represent our new sunny demeanors. Here are some images of the bands, which include updates to the company’s Hermès line, its Nike line, and the regular Apple Watch bands. I’m not changing the color names because whatever, Apple can rename yellow to “lemonade.”