China’s new sci-fi amusement park is powered entirely by virtual reality rides
You won't find traditional roller coasters and games at China's new Oriental Science Fiction Valley amusement park. Instead, the theme park, which cost $470 million to develop, is powered by 35 virtual reality attractions, giving you an immersive experience and offers a glimpse at the future of amusement parks.
Facebook’s F8 starts Tuesday. What do you want to hear about?
Facebook's reality has been plagued by questions on privacy and sharing, but it could turn to a brighter virtual reality with Oculus at F8 to appease users and developers. With Oculus, Facebook may give developers the tools to build virtual worlds without sounding the privacy alarm for consumers.
Comcast looks to protect cable business with new deal on faster internet speeds
In an effort to protect its cable business, Comcast is wooing customers by giving them a boost in internet download speeds if they subscribe to a package that includes cable TV and internet. The move could be seen as an offensive as Comcast faces increasing threats from streaming services.
Miner One takes Bitcoin mining to new heights with space mission
Miner One launched a new initial coin offering (ICO) campaign that sent the Space Miner One cryptocurrency mining rig to space to mine for bitcoin. Miner One expects to raise $10 million as part of its ICO to build a cryptocurrency mining center in Sweden and share the benefits with investors.
Apple’s wireless, mixed-reality glasses could launch in 2020
Apple is said to be working on its own mixed reality headset that combines AR and VR to compete against Oculus, Magic Leap, HTC Vive, and Microsoft HoloLens. The standalone glasses offer a wireless experience, 8K-per-eye resolution displays, a custom processor, and other top specifications slated for a 2020 release.
Apple stops making AirPort base stations, exits Wi-Fi router business
Apple is officially leaving the Wi-Fi router business and will stop making the AirPort base stations. The company will continue to sell remaining inventory of AirPort Express, Extreme, and Time Capsule models. Unless you're sold on the Apple AirPort brand, you may want to check out a mesh router instead.
IBM’s blockchain for jewelry will steer consumers clear of blood diamonds
Outside of cryptocurrency, IBM's use of blockchain in jewelry manufacturing will give greater transparency to this business and help consumers choose ethically sourced gems. Consumers will soon be able to scan a QR code using their smartphone to see the origins and manufacturing of their jewelry.
HoloLens virtual touchscreen is the futuristic tech we’ve been waiting for
Add touchscreen as another way to interact with the environment using Microsoft's HoloLens mixed reality headset. Thanks to researchers at Microsoft Research, you can overlay a virtual touchscreen onto any flat surface while using HoloLens, giving you another way to visualize information and make inputs.
Best Buy knocks up to $265 off the MacBook Pro in one-day sale
If you've been eyeing the 13-inch with MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, Best Buy has a sale that knocks off up to $265 on Apple’s notebook. The one-day deal is good for a variety of configurations with up to 512GB of solid-state storage, and students get additional savings with their educational discount.
Tim Cook says people don’t want iOS and MacOS to merge. What do you say?
Despite Apple's insistence on keeping iOS and Mac OS separate, combining the two operating systems could result in a powerful, new MacBook. Apple could bring LTE and touchscreen support from iOS to create an always-on laptop that supports touch and pen inputs, opening the doors to more computing possibilities.
Code in latest Windows 10 preview hints at a Surface Phone
Newly uncovered phone APIs found within a Windows 10 Insider Preview build could hint at Microsoft's long-rumored Surface Phone. The APIs reveal Microsoft is planning on adding voice telephony features to Windows, and the dual-screen Surface Phone could be how Microsoft intends on showcasing these new features.
Apple’s first-generation MacBook is Amazon’s Deal of the Day
If you're shopping for a thin and light laptop, Amazon offers significant savings on Apple's first-generation MacBook -- if you're willing to settle for an older, refurbished model. The laptop comes with its own trade-offs, but you should be warned to be prepared to live the dongle life if you're getting this!
20 million Chrome users are fooled into downloading fake ad blockers
Even though Google had removed five ad blockers from its Chrome stores for using malicious code to harvest your browsing data, the lesson is to beware of fakes! These ad blockers, combined, generated more than 20 million downloads. Just remember to only download software from authors and sources you trust.
Porsche’s Design Book One sale makes this luxury laptop more affordable
Thanks to a $1,000 price drop, the Porsche Design Book One is an affordable competitior to Microsoft's Surface Book. It's unclear what Porsche Design's plans are for its notebook, but the huge discount could signal a refreshed model is incoming, which could deliver even better performance and battery life.
Would you buy a Pixelbook if it could boot into Windows and Chrome OS?
Newly discovered code reveals that Google could allow Chrome OS users to dual-boot into a secondary operating system. This potentially means that Pixelbook users could run Windows 10 in addition to Chrome OS, or Google could use the feature to allow users to test its unreleased Fuchsia OS prior to launch.
Localblox data breach is the latest nightmare for Facebook, LinkedIn
An ethical data breach hunter may have stopped the leak of personal data from 48 million people from Localblox’s unsecured locker, but the fact that this data exists creates a new headache for Facebook. Localblox claims that it used data scraped from LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for its database.
Microsoft Windows Defender extension offers Chrome users extra protection
Chrome users will have a little bit of extra protection when they surf the internet. Microsoft has brought its Windows Defender protection to Chrome as a browser extension in a bid to help users identify malicious websites and thwart phishing. Microsoft notes that Windows Defender is 99 percent effective.
Cambridge Analytica designed cryptocurrency to sell back your personal data
Two wrongs don't make a right, and that's especially true for Cambridge Analytica, which had collected information from more than 87 million Facebook users. Now, a former employee reveals that the company has been working on its own cryptocurrency designed to sell your own personal data back to you.
Ad-free Facebook access could cost as much as $168 a year
Seeing ads on Facebook may be annoying, but the alternative could wind up costing you up to $168 per year. Even though Facebook hasn’t commented on its subscription plans, an analysis suggests that the feature could come as high as $14 per month, a pricey sum to pay for those of us accustomed to free.
Tech companies pledge to not help governments pull off cyberattacks
Some 34 technology companies have signed the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, pledging to help keep the internet safe from cyberattacks and committing to not helping any government from carrying out attacks This may be the first step in creating a digital Geneva Convention, even if a few big names are missing from the list.
What kind of mouse do you use most on a daily basis?
When you're shopping for your next laptop, don't forget to consider the venerable mouse! Even though your next notebook may come with its own touchpad, an external mouse can deliver more precise tracking, come with additional buttons for customization, and bring improved ergonomics.
You may need to pay extra if you want to buy a home with Bitcoin
One NYC townhouse is listed for $30 million, but if you'd rather use Bitcoin to seal the deal, you'll need to shell out the equivalent of $45 million. The seller says that the 50 percent premium is set to cover market volatility with cryptocurrency exchanges, so it's still cheaper to pay with cash.
Get the top-notch Dell XPS 13 laptop with Core i7 processor at a $400 discount
One of the best Windows laptops is now $400 off. If you're in the market for a stylish Ultrabook, Dell's late 2017 XPS 13 delivers long battery life, along with great performance, thanks to Intel's quad-core Core i7 processor. And now, the XPS 13 is 30 percent off, bringing the price to just $899.
Reddit continues to protect racist language in favor of free speech
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman made a startling revelation that hate speech is permissible content on the site. Whether his recent admission will draw more racists hurling racial slurs to the site is yet to be seen, but protecting hate speech can result in more cases of cyberbullying and online harassment.
Facebook will offer you $40,000 to find the next Cambridge Analytica
Facebook needs your help to secure your data and keep future elections fair. In an effort to prevent another Cambridge Analytica scandal potential meddling in elections, the newly announced Facebook Data Abuse Bounty will reward users who report any apps that maliciously collect and use data.
