Without robots, there would be no safe way to clean up the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The problem is that recently, some of the robots being used in the most dangerous and critical part of the cleanup of the 2011 nuclear plant disaster failed. The robots succumbed to massive amounts of radiation or…
New non-flammable, quick-charging batteries being demonstrated by private startup ZapGo Ltd. could begin showing up in popular smartphones in the next two years. ZapGo’s carbon-ion batteries promise to be a safe replacement for the billions of lithium-ion batteries already used in smartphones, electric scooters, vehicles and industrial devices. Lithium-ion batteries in several products, including the…
The second wave of 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology, primarily distinguished by new MIMO capabilities, bigger channels and the general ability to handle larger and denser groups of connections, is starting to make its way into enterprises. MU-MIMO is the piece that’s got everyone excited for wave 2 – it stands for multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output, meaning that…
When Google announced Android Wear 2.0 was finally ready to ship, a bunch of watch makers lined up to be first to push out the new update. Now, Fossil is among the first to make good on its promise, announcing it has begun pushing the new OS to its trio of smartwatches. Owners of the…
Google’s latest upgrade to the Chrome browser began what will be a series of moves over the next several years to reduce the browser’s power consumption by limiting activity in background tabs. “Starting in version 57, Chrome will throttle individual background tabs by limiting the timer fire rate for background tabs using excessive power,” Alexander…
Intel’s $15.3 billion buyout of advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) maker Mobileye will help advance an alliance between the two companies and BMW, which plans to ship self-driving cars by 2021. The sale also buttresses a decision by Mobileye to favor BMW with its vehicle vision chip technology (called EyeQ) over Tesla, according to a…
Microsoft’s batch of security patches for March is one of the largest ever and includes fixes for several vulnerabilities that are publicly known and actively exploited. The company published 17 security bulletins covering 135 vulnerabilities in its own products and one separate bulletin for Flash Player, which has its security patches distributed through Windows Update.…
Buzz Aldrin cemented his legacy close to 50 years ago as the second man to walk on the moon. But Aldrin has greater ambitions: He wants to pave the way for humans to be a two-planet species. “I want my legacy to include a permanent human settlement on Mars,” Aldrin said onstage during a Tuesday…
Developers interested in extending the capabilities of Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant have some more free tools in their arsenal, thanks to a program the company announced Wednesday. Developers with an active Alexa skill — a service that expands the capabilities of the virtual assistant — can apply for $100 in Amazon Web Services credits every…
An appeals court has barred an Ethiopian-born U.S. citizen from filing a civil suit against the African country, which allegedly infected his computer with spyware and monitored his communications. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that foreign states are immune from suit in a U.S. court unless an…