Новости за 17.12.2018

Teens are better-behaved than ever when it comes to alcohol and drugs, but seem to have turned to vaping as their vice of choice, according to results from a nationally representative survey of adolescent drug use.

The second half of 2018 was an eventful few months for animation. This summer, Cartoon Network and HowStuffWorks released Drawn, a miniseries dedicated to cartoon history; meanwhile, as expected, The Incredibles 2 broke records at the box office. Fall yielded Netflix’s The Dragon Prince, a new series from the head writer of the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as news that the head writer of Rick and Morty would be developing a new Star Trek animated series in conjunction with Discovery producer Alex Kurtzman’s five-year CBS deal.

T-Mobile is now supporting eSIMs on Apple’s latest iPhones, letting them use two different phone numbers on one device, which is ideal for traveling abroad or balancing work and personal numbers.

Google has halted a data collection project in China and struck a major blow to the controversial Dragonfly project, according to a new report from The Intercept. According to the report, Google is still researching Chinese web searches in an effort to launch a search engine that complies with the country’s censorship regime, although an official launch seems to have been indefinitely postponed. But in the face of widespread opposition within the company, Google executives shuttered one of the project’s most central data sources... Читать дальше...

PewDiePie fans hacked the Wall Street Journal earlier today, claiming to offer an apology on behalf of the paper in an apparent attempt to get back at one of the YouTube creator’s longstanding opponents.

TCL’s 6-Series 4K HDR televisions with Roku software built in are an incredible value even at their usual asking price. You can spend thousands on a big 4K TV, but if your eyes are set on something cheaper, The Verge calls TCL’s latest “the best 4K TV under $1,000.” And today, you’ll be able to find it for far less than that at Best Buy.

Developments in artificial intelligence move at a startling pace — so much so that it’s often difficult to keep track. But one area where progress is as plain as the nose on your AI-generated face is the use of neural networks to create fake images. In brief: we’re getting scarily good at it.

The Russia-linked Internet Research Agency (IRA) may have tried to blackmail potential American recruits by setting up a fake anti-masturbation hotline, according to a new report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee. The IRA reportedly advertised its hotline on a fake Christian Facebook page, encouraging readers to reach out if they were “struggling with the addiction to masturbation.”

The Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is a versatile and capable Windows 10 computer, and the upgraded version donned in a matte black finish is on sale today at Best Buy. Normally $1,199 for the 256GB version in black (sans Type Cover keyboard), this deal loops the computer in along with a matching Type Cover for $999. That’s about $300 off of the usual price if you were to purchase these two items together.

Google is planning to roll out a new feature for Google Assistant that will give users a better idea of whether their flight might be delayed, which is a nice thing to know during the holidays. The company already shares these predictions through Google Flights, but soon, Assistant users can ask, “Hey Google, is my flight on time” or “What’s the status of the American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Denver?”

Google is expanding its New York City presence by announcing a $1 billion investment in a new Google Hudson Square campus, which is slated to open 2020. The new offices will be located at 315 and 345 Hudson Street, with an additional area planned for 550 Washington Street to open in 2022.

Tumblr’s ban on adult content is now in effect and users will begin to see explicit posts disappear from public view. Media showing sex acts, exposed genitals, and “female-presenting” nipples will be hidden.

It’s hard to top a year like 2017. Last year saw some of the biggest names in video games reinvented and rejuvenated, from the lush open world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to the heart-pounding Resident Evil 7 to the manic wackiness of Super Mario Odyssey. Meanwhile, we were surprised and delighted by brand-new names like PUBG, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Cuphead. There was even a great Sonic the Hedgehog game, which doesn’t happen very often.

Andrew Kim, the designer who first rose to prominence with a fan-made reimagining of Microsoft’s design language, has left his role as a senior designer at Tesla to join Apple. His LinkedIn profile says that he joined the company in December of this year, while his Instagram confirms that his first day working at Apple Park was last Tuesday. Along with the recent news of Tesla’s chief vehicle engineer returning to Apple, Kim’s move will certainly stoke speculation that Apple is once again working on an actual car. Читать дальше...

Facebook today announced a host of new camera features for its Messenger app. As well as native support for looping Boomerang videos, there’s also a Selfie mode that automatically blurs out the background, and an augmented reality feature that lets you place Messenger’s stickers in your photos and videos.

Fitbit is updating its Ionic and Versa watches today with the latest version of Fitbit OS, which adds support for a handful of new third-party apps. Fitbit OS 3.0 will also let users quickly log their water intake, sleep, and weight straight from the watch instead of through the mobile app.

LG has announced a new 32-inch UHD display, the 32QK500-W, which offers an impressive mix of features for a midrange monitor for $349.99, via Engadget.

North, the company behind the Focals AR glasses, has acquired the “technology portfolio” behind another set of AR glasses, the cancelled Intel Vaunt glasses. The company wouldn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but Intel Capital is a major investor in North and led its last financing round in 2016.

An autonomous food delivery robot burst into flames on a Berkeley, California walkway on Friday, as first reported by The Daily Californian. Kiwi, the startup that makes and manages the one hundred-strong fleet of robots, issued a statement to say that the fire was quickly extinguished by a passerby before the city’s fire department arrived and doused the machine in foam. No one was harmed as a result of the incident.

Huawei has announced the Nova 4 smartphone after weeks of teasing its most standout feature: the circular “hole-punch” cut-out for the 25-megapixel selfie camera. Samsung beat Huawei to the punch (...) by announcing the similar Galaxy A8s last week, but Huawei’s phone looks to have a smaller hole for the camera. We’ll have to see whether that has any implications for image quality.