Tech

Skullcandy announced the launch of its first truly wireless earbuds today, called the Skullcandy Push. The earbuds feature a large button on the side, which can be used to answer calls, switch audio tracks, and control the volume, in addition to activating your phone’s voice assistant to perform tasks like sending a message or setting reminders by triple-tapping that button. The Skullcandy Push offers six hours of listening time, and placing the earbuds into a fully charged case can offer an additional six hours. That’s slightly longer than the Apple AirPods’ 5 hours of listening time, but the AirPods charging case boasts multiple charges that add up to 24 hours. The earbuds only come in one color, “Psychotropical Teal,” but they’re a vast improvement over the murky gray first seen in the company’s leaked FCC filing in November. The funky looking gel ear hook promises the earbuds won’t fall out, either. Unfortunately, if you were looking … [Read more...] about Skullcandy launches its first truly wireless earbuds

Meng Wanzhou, one of Huawei’s top executives and the eldest daughter of the company’s founder/CEO, will be released on bail and kept under tight monitoring over bank fraud allegations, a Canadian court ruled today. The Star Vancouver reported the decision Tuesday, which comes after a growing wave of Chinese nationalist sentiment brought protesters out to demand Meng’s release and even led Vancouver residents offer up their homes to prove Meng wouldn’t be a flight risk. As part of the deal, Meng must remain in British Columbia, provide a supervisor with telephone numbers, live at a $5.6 million home that was selected as her residence, and stay indoors from 11PM to 6AM every day. She’ll have to surrender her passports and be under the watch of a security company, while wearing an ankle bracelet. The decision today is a small step in a larger case that involves American suspicion toward the Chinese device maker, US sanctions against Iran, and all against the … [Read more...] about Huawei’s CFO is granted bail by Canadian court but will be closely monitored

Hertz announced Tuesday that it is going to lean on facial recognition and fingerprint verification technology to speed up the rental process at airports. The rental car giant struck a deal with biometric airport security company Clear to provide the technology. The two companies have already rolled out this new offering, called “Hertz Fast Lane powered by Clear,” at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It will only be available to members of Hertz’s Gold Plus Rewards program, and these renters will have to enroll with Clear separately. Hertz won’t charge extra for the fast lane, but renters will still have to pay for Clear if they want to use the service for faster access at airport security. Hertz and Clear plan to expand the biometric fast lane to more than 40 other locations in 2019, including Los Angeles International Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport. The Clear biometric … [Read more...] about Hertz plans slightly speedier rentals using facial recognition and fingerprints

From Pizzagate to QAnon, YouTube has a serious problem with conspiracy theories. The basic moderation problem has splintered into a number of different scandals over the past two years, including disturbing children’s content, terrorism videos, white supremacy dog whistling, and radicalization via YouTube’s algorithm. But when confronted on those issues at a House Judiciary hearing today, Pichai offered the same response that YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has offered in the past: there is no immediate cure. The most vigorous questions came from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who confronted Pichai over a Washington Post report on conspiracy videos that plague YouTube. These videos, which he summarized as “videos claiming politicians, celebrities, and other elite figures were sexually abusing or consuming the remains of children,” are part of a conspiracy theory that suggests Hillary Clinton is killing young girls in satanic rituals. “Is your basic position that … [Read more...] about Google still has no answers for YouTube’s biggest problem

The newest version of Firefox for desktop and Android, version 64, is out today and it comes with a few nifty features for more intensive tab and extension use. Mozilla says you’ll now “see suggestions in regular browsing mode for new and relevant Firefox features, services, and extensions based on how you use the web,” a feature that won’t work while in private browsing mode and is not based on your browser history. One such example is Firefox recommending To Google Translate if it sees you’re constantly using Google’s natural language tool. Another new feature in version 64 is something Mozilla is calling “enhanced tab management.” That means you’ll now be able to select multiple tabs in your tab bar and group them together to move, close, bookmark, or pin them. Firefox’s updated Task Manager will also now tell you the energy impact of individual tabs, in the event you’re using a laptop or Android phone and you are … [Read more...] about Firefox 64 brings better browser tab management and smart recommendations