Pro gaming team signs 13-year-old ‘Fortnite’ player

Among the four members making up pro gaming organization Team Secret's new European Fortnite squad, one stood out: 13-year-old Kyle "Mongraal" Jackson. Almost immediately after the team was introduced today, news outlets jumped on Jackson's youth. Ev...

The 'Wallace and Grommit' studio is creating an emotional WWI game

Games set in real-world conflicts don't necessarily glorify war, but it's rare that they fully address the horrors of war. For every poignant story like Valiant Hearts, there's many more titles that might only offer token commentary. Wallace & Gr...

Constant controversy hasn't stopped Facebook from making money

When it comes to public perception, Facebook hasn't had the best 2018 so far. Over the past few months, the company's been working hard to clean up its image after dealing with a series of nightmares, including the idea that the site was becoming tox...

Amazon fixed an exploit that allowed Alexa to listen all the time

Amazon's Alexa is good at listening, since it has to be ready when you say its wake word, like "Alexa," "Echo" or "Computer." That very same feature, though, has people worried about their own privacy. Researchers from security firm Checkmarx have fo...

YouTube adds more rigorous parental controls to its Kids app

Google and YouTube have been struggling with how to let kids watch videos without also exposing them to inappropriate content. Even the YouTube Kids app has suggested not-for-kids conspiracy theory videos. In response, the video platform started look...

Netflix picks up ‘Follow This’, a weekly series about BuzzFeed reporters

Netflix and BuzzFeed News are teaming up for a 20-episode documentary series called Follow This. According to Variety, the show will be less focused on breaking news and more on taking us behind the scenes to show how BuzzFeed News reporters put together specific stories. For example, in the clip below, BuzzFeed’s Scaachi Koul talks […]

Facebook will skip House hearing on social media censorship

Mark Zuckerberg won't be taking another trip to Washington DC anytime soon. There's a hearing on Capitol Hill this Thursday regarding the way social media firms filter content, according to Reuters, and Facebook has declined the House of Representati...

Elon Musk: 'Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon'

Oh btw I'm building a cyborg dragon — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2018 Where my Model 3, tho?

Microsoft’s Azure Container Instances are now generally available

If you wanted to play modern software development buzzword bingo, talking about Azure Container Instances (ACI) would surely help you tick a few boxes. The service, which made its debut last July and which is now generally available, gives developers a serverless way to run Linux and Windows containers that frees them from having to […]

Google uses its search skills to help fight opioid addiction

Google is using its influence as a search giant to fight opioid addiction in the US. The company has partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration on a prescription drug take back tool that uses Google Maps helps you find return locations using...

Review: Brainwavz B-400 quad balanced earphones hit all the right notes

Brainwavz’ newest entry into the audiophile market is its B-400 earphones. They feature four drivers, a unique 3D-printed design, and a level of sound-quality usually reserved for much pricier gear. The B-400s feature a rich sound stage. I usually prefer over-the-ear headphones because earphones tend to be a little more hit-or-miss whether they handle acoustic bass sounds well. Most mid-to-high end in-ear phones, in my experience, handle dance music and hip hop better than jazz or blues. But the B-400 earphones sound good no matter the genre. Drivers : Quad Balanced Armature Rated Impedance : 30Ω Frequency Range : 10 Hz – 40…

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Rocketrip raises $15 million to reward cost-saving employees

If your company lets you expense the nicest hotel when you travel, why wouldn’t you? But what if you got to split the savings with your employer by selecting a less expensive hotel? A New York-based startup called Rocketrip believes most employees will opt to save companies money if they are incentivized to do so. It’s built […]

Google Cloud expands its bet on managed database services

Google announced a number of updates to its cloud-based database services today. For the most part, we’re not talking about any groundbreaking new products here, but all of these updates address specific pain points that enterprises suffer when they move to the cloud. As Google Director of Product Management Dominic Preuss told me ahead of […]

Netflix has a lot of original content coming in May

Get outside and enjoy the next few days of spring while you still can, because Netflix has plans to keep you on the couch throughout next month. The streaming giant is releasing 36 original titles over the course of May, including some notable series such as a new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Dear […]

Gfycat ramps up its focus on game clips and highlights as it hits 180M monthly users

Gfycat is already a pretty popular host for lots of content like short clips from shows and movies, but there’s also a pretty substantial store of content centered around gaming — which is why the company is starting to put some extra focus on it. Gfycat, which is centered around creator tools to make those […]

Apple TV and Android see increase in streaming video viewership in Q1

Conviva, a video AI platform with visibility into the streaming market through clients like HBO, Turner, Hulu, CBS, NBC, ESPN, BT and Sky, is reporting today 114 percent year-over-year growth in streaming video hours in Q1 2018, to reach nearly 5 billion hours of video viewing. Even though streaming is growing worldwide, North America saw […]

Check out these amazing demos at TC Sessions: Robotics May 11 at UC Berkeley

We’re a mere two and a half weeks out from TC Sessions: Robotics, and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ve got a full-day schedule packed to the brim with some of the greatest minds and machines the robotics industry has to offer. On the human side, we’ve already announced Andy Rubin, Laura Tyson, Marc Raibert, […]

The DOJ is investigating potential Huawei violations of Iran sanctions

Another shoe, so to speak, may be about to drop for Huawei. According to new reporting from The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department has been investigating a potential violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran by the Chinese smartphone maker. The probe reflects a similar one into ZTE that landed that device maker in serious […]

Amazon teases ‘Fire TV Cube’ that might double as an Echo

What is it? Amazon is teasing the release of a mysterious new ‘Fire TV Cube‘ on its very website. Well, maybe not that mysterious; based on previous leaks, it appears the device is a small set-top box that combines Amazon’s TV offerings with the Echo’s voice assistant capabilities. The context: Way back in September, we wrote up a leak indicating Amazon was working on a new Fire TV module that could double as  an Echo. The devices were originally rumored to be announced by the end of 2017, but as that came and passed, it seemed Amazon may have scrapped…

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Google swaps revolver for water gun in its emoji armory

Today Google became the latest company to replace its gun emoji with a non-lethal alternative — namely, a water pistol. I’ve been an iOS user for as long as I’ve owned a smartphone, but I admit one look at this cute squirt gun had me thinking, “You know, there are perfectly good Android phones that are much cheaper than the next iPhone will be…and I’d get to use the new water pistol.” For context: Over the last five years, several companies have quietly switched their firearm emoji out for water pistols — except for Microsoft, which seems to have gone…

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Didi appoints one of its execs to lead ride-hailing service 99

Didi, the Chinese transportation behemoth that acquired Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 back in January, has replaced 99’s chief executive with one of its own, Recode first reported. Stepping in to replace Peter Fernandez is Tony Qiu, who most recently oversaw Didi’s luxury business. Before joining Didi, Qiu had stints at Morgan Stanley and Bain Capital. Fernandez […]

Zume looks to life beyond pizza

Launch a fleet of robotic pizza vans and you’re going to get painted as the robotic pizza company. It’s a hard label to shake off — but as far as labels go, it’s a pretty cool one. Even so, Zume Pizza has long made it clear that it has broader plans to move beyond pizza […]

Loot crates are now illegal in Belgium

Officials in Belgium have determined that loot boxes violate the country's gambling laws and if publishers don't remove them from their games, they face jail time and fines. Specifically, FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive were f...

Casio is reportedly done making compact cameras

Sure, Casio may be known more for remaining committed to digital wristwatches while introducing its own take on the smartwatch fad. But the company has kept a foothold in the compact camera market, producing inexpensive little devices that casual shu...

8K TVs are coming, but don't buy the hype

By Rob Pegoraro If the 8,294,400 pixels of resolution on an Ultra High Definition television just don't seem to convey enough detail, fear not: The electronics industry has heard your cry. Even as UHD TVs, often called 4K TVs for their nearly 4,000...