IKEA is making its first Bluetooth speakers, and they look totally fräckt

IKEA continues its steps into the world of smart home devices with the release of two Bluetooth smart speakers called Eneby. The Eneby come in two square sizes: 8″ and 12″, with each being available in black and white (the latter of which looks more like heather gray with the color of the fabric front). The 8″ model comes with a carrying handle. On both models, you can remove the fabric panel if it doesn’t work with your decorating. Aesthetically, the two fit in perfectly with the rest of IKEA’s comforting minimalism. Functionally, the device only has one knob, which…

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In pursuit of the perfect AI voice

The virtual personal assistant is romanticized in utopian portrayals of the future from The Jetsons to Star Trek. It's the cultured, disembodied voice at humanity's beck and call, eager and willing to do any number of menial tasks. In its early real...

Congress released Mark Zuckerberg’s statement for Wednesday's hearing

On Wednesday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress. Today, Congress released a copy of his statement. In it, Zuckerberg takes responsibility for Facebook's myriad failures over the past few years and pledges to do bet...

Facebook will tell you today if Cambridge Analytica had access to your data

Last week, Facebook revealed that 87 million or so users potentially had their data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica — and you’ve no doubt been wondering if yours is among them. Today the site will share that information with users. The disclosure arrives by way of a new “protecting your information” link set to appear […]

Audi’s real-life ‘Gran Turismo’ car will race at Formula E

Audi originally created the e-tron Vision Gran Turismo for the PlayStation 4, exclusively for virtual racing. But now the company is building the vehicle as a fully fledged, operational concept car. The electric e-tron Vision Gran Turismo will compet...

Juro grabs $2M to take the hassle out of contracts

UK startup Juro, which is applying a “design centric approach” and machine learning tech to help businesses speed up the authoring and management of sales contracts, has closed $2m in seed funding led by Point Nine Capital. Prior investor Seedcamp also contributed to the round. Juro is announcing Taavet Hinrikus (TransferWise’s co-founder) as an investor […]

What The Simpsons can teach you about the art of shitposting

A scene from a 1996 episode of The Simpsons recently spawned a fresh clutch of memes across the web, shedding light on a very specific – and, for the average web user, peculiar and dubiously-named – form of online fan activity: shitposting. Like other Internet memes, shitposting involves users remixing and remaking snippets of popular culture – in this case, the “steamed hams” skit between Superintendent Chalmers and Principal Skinner – to create an original take. One user created a version auto-tuned to the 1999 song “All Star” by Smashmouth – a tune with a memetic following of its own.…

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Uber buys San Francisco bike-sharing service Jump

Uber is getting serious about its bike-sharing aspirations. The company just announced its purchase of Jump, the bike-sharing platform featuring "electric, dock-less" bikes. Previously, Jump bikes were available in the Uber app as part of a pilot pro...

Machine learning is a tool – and people need to learn how to use it

Machine learning has a lot of buzz around it and business-leaders are eager to hire talent with experience in the field. But what does ‘machine learning’ actually mean? And if someone has it listed on their resume, how do you know if they are a good fit for solving business problems? What most people don’t realize when they’re talking about machine learning, is that there are actually two disciplines. The term ‘machine learning’ can refer to either machine learning research or to applied machine learning, but people use the same term for both things, and it creates confusion. If businesses…

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You can now preorder Samsung’s DeX Pad to turn your S9 into a desktop

If you’ve been waiting to buy Samsung’s Dex Pad – the gadget that turns the Galaxy S9 into a desktop – you’ll have to wait a bit longer. Samsung today announced the DeX Pad goes on sale on May 13 for $99. Pre-order, however, begin today, and those who buy an S9 or S9+ from Samsung will recieve a free DeX Pad for a limited time. For those not familiar, the DeX Pad is a small dock that you can connect your S9 to provide a desktop environment on a monitor or TV. You can run windowed apps, play games…

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App downloads and revenue again broke records in the first quarter of 2018

Global app downloads and consumer spending in apps had yet another record quarter, according to a new report from App Annie, out on Monday. In the first quarter of 2018, iOS and Google Play downloads grew more than 10 percent year-over-year to reach 27.5 billion – the highest figure to date. In addition, consumer spending […]

Google launches an improved speech-to-text service for developers

Only a few weeks after launching a major overhaul of its Cloud Text-to-Speech API, Google today also announced an update to that service’s Speech-to-Text voice recognition service. The new and improved Cloud Speech-to-Text API promises significantly improved voice recognition performance. The new API promises a reduction in word errors around 54 percent across all of […]

Scribd will get Veronica Roth’s ‘Fates Divide’ on launch day

Scribd is setting its sights on bigger, newer titles. E-book and audiobook versions of The Fates Divide, the second volume in Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark series, will go live on Scribd tomorrow. It’s not an exclusive deal — you’ll be able to buy The Fates Divide in bookstores and from online retailers — but […]

4 Best Smartphones of 2018: Guide to Android, Samsung Galaxy, iPhone

If you're on the prowl for a new Android, Galaxy, or iPhone, read our full guide to the best smartphones of 2018.

Samsung Galaxy S9 DeX Pad comes to the US on May 13th

If you've been waiting for the day you can use your Galaxy S9 as a desktop computer, mark your calendar. Samsung's DeX Pad, which also works with the Galaxy S8, will arrive in the US on May 13th and will set you back $100. In fact, you can pre-order...

Facebook teams with nonprofits to launch election research commission

Facebook’s post-Cambridge Analytica apology tour continues this morning with the announcement of an initiative aimed at helping social science researchers gauge the site’s impact on key political events. In a post issued this morning, the company’s Vice President of Communications and Public Policy Director of Research outlined the plan and hammered home its focus on […]

Xprize finalists to test CO2 recycling ideas in factories

In September 2015, the NRG COSIA Carbon Xprize was born. Through a total of $20 million in reward money, the aim of this particular Xprize is to challenge participants to come up with a way to convert CO2 emissions into something actually useful. Alm...

Facebook to open up its data for research on social media and elections

Facebook announced a new initiative today aimed at improving its policies and the role its platform plays in elections. The company acknowledged that it was slow to respond to election interference efforts that took place on its site and says it want...

Comma.ai raises $5 million

Transportation startup Comma.ai has raised $5 million, according to a new SEC filing. George Hotz, the founder of Comma.ai, started the company in an attempt to take on Tesla. Initially, Hotz was working on a self-driving car kit called Comma One. The Comma One was an add-on that would’ve enabled certain cars to have Tesla […]

Cryptocurrency thieves are using verified profiles to scam and Twitter is not helping

Here is why you should never readily trust anyone on Twitter – even those with blue badges. A shifty user has leveraged his verified profile to impersonate high-profile cryptocurrency influencers and scam people. The malicious individual was busted using the verified @Protafield handle to trick naive users into sending over Ethereum – a new tactic which has been running rampant in the blockchain space as of recently. The twitter user @Protafield has been pretending to be Bitfinex and asking people to send over ETH. Indeed, one of the tweets from the profile reads “Send from 0.5 to 5 ETH to the…

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