Новости за 03.03.2017

Lucasfilm announced that it was renewing its animated show Star Wars Rebels for a fourth season, continuing the adventures of the Ghost and its crew.

We’ve seen plenty of aggressive requests from companies that want positive coverage, but perhaps none as absurd as what we just got from JetSmarter — a startup that’s been called the “Uber for private jets.” In exchange for a demonstration of the service (a round-trip flight in the US), JetSmarter sent us an agreement that demands an uncritical puff piece.

Uber has a secret, worldwide program called “Greyball” to hide from government employees looking to catch Uber cars operating in violation of local regulations, reports The New York Times.

With Logan hitting theaters today, Hugh Jackman’s 17-year tenure as Wolverine has theoretically come to an end. James Mangold’s film is a brutal, bittersweet send-off for a character (and actor) who’s arguably the lynchpin for the superhero movie genre’s longest-running franchise. Save for 2016’s Deadpool, Jackman has appeared in every single X-Men film to date, plus two of the video games. And more often than not, he’s front and center in the action. Frankly, casual viewers thinking about the... Читать дальше...

Since 2015, Germany has welcomed more refugees than any other country in Europe. Now, amid mounting public criticism over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policies, the famously privacy-conscious country is poised to pass a new law aimed at strengthening border security — at the expense of asylum seekers’ privacy.

Bungie just confirmed some long-rumored aspects of its upcoming Destiny sequel, including the dreaded but inevitable decision to leave weapons, armor, and all manner of cosmetic items and emotes from the first game behind. You will be able to move your original character designs over to Destiny 2, due out later this year, but those characters will be starting fresh in an entirely new landscape with a different trove of loot to collect. The classes will remain intact it seems, but the subclasses sound like they’re changing as well. Читать дальше...

The Nintendo Switch might be out today, but given Nintendo’s track record of stocking consoles, it might be difficult to get your hands on a system if you didn’t preorder. And when you do get it, only a handful of games are available. So why rush to get a new device with a limited library when you can reinvent the wheel while Nintendo works its new product out?

Rick Osterloh, the senior vice president of hardware at Google, confirmed in an interview with AndroidPIT that the Pixel would be getting a follow-up this year.

Amazon plans to unveil one or more new Alexa-powered devices this year that will allow people to initiate phone calls by voice, according to multiple sources.

Like so many great books spoiled by mediocre high school classes, Walden is richer and quirkier when revisited as an adult. Yeah, it poetically recaps Henry David Thoreau’s two years (and some change) in the woods of New England, just like you remember, but the later sections (the ones you maybe skimmed as a teenager) are a mishmash of ideas and styles both experimental and exploratory. Walden is, and I say this without pretension, a fun read. So it shouldn’t be that surprising that somebody would eventually adapt it into a video game. Читать дальше...

The FCC is currently seeking comment on whether it should continue to hold up the rollout of broadband subsidies for low-income households.

Maven, the car-sharing company spun-off from General Motors last year, is launching a new monthly service for its users in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Previously, Maven only offered hourly or daily pricing options for its car-sharing fleet. This new service, called Maven Reserve, is geared toward users who want want the feel of car ownership, but only in month-sized chunks.

Uber drivers in London will be required to pass an English language exam, Reuters reports, after a court ruled against the ride-hailing company in a decision announced Friday.

In a blog post celebrating the popularity of Chromebooks in Swedish schools, Google has quietly announced a new Chrome OS laptop from HP: the Chromebook x360 11 G1 Education Edition. There are no full specs as yet, but Google says the device will be hitting shelves in mid-April. It’s a “rugged” convertible, with a front-facing camera designed to be used in tablet mode, USB-C charging, and an optional stylus — all features “designed for the specific needs of schools,” says Google.

Simple feature phones are commodity items, and so are power banks, so why not combine the two? Generic Hong Kong tech-rebadger Zuri has given it a go, making the “Power Bank U28” — a basic dumbphone that can also be used to charge your smartphone.

Stupid Hackathon (short for Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon) is a consistently brilliant one-day event in which people play around with technology, beer, and fast food to create gadgets and apps with absolutely no value whatsoever.

Since the world first saw Ghost Robotics' Minitaur robot last September, our best scientists have been racking their brains, asking themselves one question: how do you escape from a robot that can climb stairs, scale fences, and open doors? Finally, after months of study, we have an answer: ice.

This will sound like an odd thing to say about a Google product, but I feel like Google Photos is kind of underrated. For a long time, it was but a shadow of full-fledged photo editor and gallery apps from third parties, but these days it’s actually really rather good, if still incomplete. This week Google’s adding a basic automatic adjustment — auto white balance — to the list of things Google Photos can do, which supplements the full-blown Auto look that adjusts every setting, including exposure, saturation, and contrast. Читать дальше...

There’s not much like a new console launch day for video game fans, but our excitement for Nintendo’s Switch was tempered very slightly with the news that Nintendo would still be using its cumbersome Friend Code system to connect players. Hours before the Switch hits store shelves, though, there is some good news — Nintendo says it’s going to provide other ways for users to add friends in the future.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos wants to start delivering packages to the moon. According to The Washington Post, Bezos — who also owns private space travel company Blue Origin — has written an internal report arguing that a good delivery service will be key to establishing a functioning lunar settlement.

Vice President Mike Pence used a personal AOL email account to conduct sensitive state business — including issues related to homeland security — as the governor of Indiana, according to a report from The Indianapolis Star. Not only that, but Pence’s email account was also compromised last year, the report reveals.

Before every episode of The Vergecast I sit down, read through a bunch of news, and take a bunch of notes. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of my week, and I started thinking it might be fun to do every day on the site. So, every day this week I’m sitting down and writing some notes on the news as though I’ll be talking about it later. Are you into this? Am I into this? I don’t know. But it’s fun to do! Give me some feedback and we’ll keep mutating this into something good.

A clause in the SXSW artist contract appears to threaten international artists by giving festival staff the right to contact immigration authorities. In a series of tweets sent this afternoon, Told Slant’s Felix Walworth announced they were canceling the band’s showcase because of issues with the festival’s contract. Walworth shared a screenshot of what is apparently the contract that says international musicians on a visa who “adversely affect the viability of their official SXSW showcase” could be deported if they play unauthorized shows. Читать дальше...

The Nintendo Switch is finally here, and all your buddies are out playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and milking virtual cows while you watch, sick with envy.

Google may be on its way to solving one of the biggest problems with smart speakers: they only work with a single account.