Tech Biz

Google’s experimental Google X division has been working on self-driving cars for a while, but it’s created the prototype for a brand new version that looks nothing like the retrofitted version. “We took a look from the ground up of what a self-driving car would look like,” Brin said at the CODE Conference on Tuesday, Continue Reading →

Google spits out about 4 million search results per minute (among many other duties), which consumes a lot of energy. According to a recent blog, it cut its electrical bills significantly by applying the same kind of machine learning used in speech recognition and other consumer applications. A data center engineer on a 20 percent Continue Reading →

Amazon will be using 10,000 robots in its warehouses by the end of the year. CEO Jeff Bezos told investors at a shareholder meeting Wednesday that he expects to significantly increase the number of robots used to fulfill customer orders. There are currently about 1,000 robot workers on Amazon floors. The increase won’t change the Continue Reading →

It’s curious how people define themselves by the fact that they love Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.” Or the Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Is it because they want others to understand just how tasteful they are? Or is it because they’re desperate to find other people who like the same songs? A Continue Reading →

Idaho couple Julie and Scott Brusaw of Solar Roadways have raised more than $1 million on Indiegogo to pursue the extremely ambitious goal of replacing the nation’s roads with solar panels. The design will now move from prototype to manufacturing, a dangerous phase for any technology project — and while the dream is exciting, the Continue Reading →

This has been a long time coming, but starting Tuesday, Chrome users on Windows will only be able to install extensions from Google’s own Chrome Web Store. Google argues that this is meant to keep malicious extensions — which are often installed from third-party sites — in check. Users who have already installed extensions from Continue Reading →

Last week, Facebook made a small but very important change to Instagram. When I like a photo in the updated Instagram app, “Ellis liked a photo on Instagram” will no longer be automatically shared back to Facebook. The same goes for photos posted to Instagram, which won’t be automatically shared on Facebook unless you deliberately Continue Reading →

Google is reportedly planning a move into home security through Nest, its recent $3.2 billion acquisition that has put a high-tech spin on thermostats and smoke alarms. The company has considered acquiring connected camera startup Dropcam, according to The Information, though it’s not clear what stage any talks are at, or if they are still Continue Reading →

An authoritative-looking report has appeared that suggests bitcoin‘s meteoric rise late last year — from $200 to $1,200 in one month — may have at least partly been the work of bots, possibly associated with those running the melted-down MtGox online exchange. The so-called Willy Report emerged on Sunday, claiming to demonstrate fraudulent activity at Continue Reading →

Everyone’s talking about the internet of things. They talk about smart lightbulbs programmed to glow purple when it rains, and smoke detectors that do email alerts, and routers that network our houses. But there’s one thing they’re not talking about, and that could be a problem. No one is asking whether these devices should also Continue Reading →