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Dolo delivers on the Foursquare prophecy of hyper-local tips
Dolo is the kindness of strangers as an app. Where’s the prettiest place in the park? What’s the best thing on the menu? How do I skip the line? Dolo lets you leave helpful suggestions for anyone nearby. The new social app launches out of beta today to augment the world with serendipitous tips from …
AppsAmazon's partnership with GM is a 'vast and lucrative' opportunity for the struggling automaker (AMZN, GM)
• <b>Amazon can now deliver packages to certain OnStar-equipped GM vehicles, the companies said this week.</b>• <b><br>Not only will this help Amazon reduce delivery costs, the partnership could expand well beyond shipping, Morgan Stanley says.</b>• <b><br>Follow Amazon's stock price in real-time here.</b><p>Amazon on Wednesday …
eCommerceAmazon fixed an exploit that allowed Alexa to listen all the time
Amazon's Alexa is good at listening, since it has to be ready when you say its wake word, like "Alexa," "Echo" or "Computer." That very same feature, though, has people worried about their own privacy. Researchers from security firm Checkmarx have found a way to get Alexa to listen in and send a …
Smart HomesGoogle swaps revolver for water gun in its emoji armory
Today Google became the latest company to replace its gun emoji with a non-lethal alternative — namely, a water pistol.<p>I’ve been an iOS user for as long as I’ve owned a smartphone, but I admit one look at this cute squirt gun had me thinking, “You know, there are perfectly good Android phones that …
EmojiAion launches first public blockchain network
If you believe blockchains will proliferate in the coming years, it stands to reason that you will need some sort of mechanism to move information between them — a network of blockchains with bridges and processes for sharing information between entities. That is exactly what The Aion Network is …
BlockchainReality Check: Who controls your data?
<b>New data protection rules will come into force in the UK in May.</b><p>The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will change how companies and individuals collect, store and share data.<p>With the biggest change to data privacy in the UK since 1998 coming up, Reality Check explains what you need to …
PrivacyDeutsche Bank says Apple made a big mistake by pricing the HomePod at $349
While it may be too soon to emphatically categorize Apple’s HomePod as a flop — especially with a more affordable version reportedly in the works — …
Smart Homes3 years later, who knows what the Apple Watch is for?
In 2007, Apple changed the act of socializing, maybe forever, with the release of the iPhone. There it was, a perfectly packed 4.5-inch-long computer …
SmartwatchesFacebook was a bulletin board for identity theft sales
Cybercriminals have been advertising stolen information like addresses, credit card numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers on Facebook, <i>Motherboard</i> reports today, and they've been doing it unchecked for years. Security researcher Justin Shafer tipped <i>Motherboard</i> off to the information, …
Identity TheftCanada developing quantum radar to detect stealth aircraft
<b>Canada has invested $2.7m (£1.93m) into developing quantum radar - a new technology that would greatly improve the detection of stealth aircraft.</b><p>The technology is being developed by the University of Waterloo to replace existing Arctic radar stations.<p>Quantum radar can theoretically detect objects …
Quantum MechanicsHackers emptied Ethereum wallets by breaking the basic infrastructure of the internet
At midnight ET last night, MyEtherWallet users started noticing something odd. Connecting to the service, users were faced with an unsigned SSL certificate, a broken link in the site’s verification. It was unusual, but it’s the kind of thing web users routinely click through without thinking.<p>But …
Information SecurityIoT ‘conversation’ and ambient contextuality
A few years back, I wrote about the way we communicate with our technology. It was obvious even then that a big game-changer would be enabling a reliable conversational interaction with technology in order to overcome the friction humans experience when we use our modern tools, be they apps, …
Internet of ThingsAmazon now lets shoppers track the exact location of delivery drivers in a 'creepy, but convenient' map
Amazon now lets shoppers track the exact location of their delivery drivers on a map.<p>The new feature, called Amazon Map Tracking, provides live updates on drivers' delivery routes, including how many stops are left before their package arrives, Amazon told Business Insider.<p>Amazon launched the Map …
eCommerceAmazon will now deliver packages to the trunk of your car
New service in collaboration with GM and Volvo will launch in 37 cities in the US<p>Last year, Amazon asked for permission to unlock your front door so it could leave packages inside your home, and a certain number of extremely trusting Amazon Prime subscribers (Amazon won’t say how many) said okay. …
Car TechFacebook makes its community guidelines public and introduces an appeals process
What you can (and can’t) do on Facebook<p>Last May, <i>The</i> <i>Guardian</i> published a leaked copy of Facebook’s content moderation guidelines, which describe the company’s policies for determining whether posts should be removed from the service. Almost a year later, Facebook is making an expanded set of those …
InternetDelivery boom is changing everything about the restaurant business
NEW YORK — Micha Magid would prefer that guests grab a table to enjoy the sweet corn fritters, chicken wings and "brontosaurus" ribs served at Mighty Quinn's Barbecue, his restaurant chain.<p>But so many diners want their food delivered to their front doors instead that the eateries have to carve out …
HospitalityDesigning Apps on the Lightning Platform in the Age of the GDPR
On May 25, 2018, a new landmark privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect in the European Union (EU). The GDPR …
GDPRJeff Bezos Just Confirmed the "Question Mark Method" That Scares the Heck Out of Everyone at Amazon
How do you respond to a one-character email from your boss's boss's boss's boss?<p>Imagine you're working at Amazon, and you get an email from your boss.<p>The subject line has a couple of those little "FWD:" notations, and you realize to your horror that the email originated with a customer, who sent a …
George W. BushAndreessen Horowitz is planning to launch a dedicated crypto fund
The SEC may be firing off subpoenas to crypto investment funds and ICO projects left, right and center — apparently over 80 — but that isn’t stopping Andreessen Horowitz, the influential Silicon Valley firm know as A16z, from starting its own crypto-based fund.<p>The rumor has been going around for a …
Going Digital In Banking -- DBS, Citi, BBVA, ING Lead The Way
DBS, the Asian bank headquartered in Singapore, was the first to be named the world’s best digital bank by Euromoney in 2016. When just about every money center, regional, community bank and credit union promotes itself as a digital leader, Euromoney looked for more than talk.<p>“Leaders in digital …
BankingLet’s destroy Bitcoin - MIT Technology Review
In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto served the world an entirely new kind of currency. It was one that people could move over the internet instantaneously and …
BitcoinWe’re closer to China’s disturbing ‘Social Credit System’ than you realize
Have you ever heard the saying that you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with? It’s quite possible that someone in the …
Social MediaNet neutrality is officially dead today, but the fight to revive it lives on
Net neutrality’s protracted, multi-phase death scene has finally come to an end with a whimper as the FCC rules proposed in May, voted on in December, and entered in the Federal Register in February finally come into effect today. But as before, don’t expect some big fanfare by broadband providers …
Net NeutralityGoogle Is Replacing SMS With New 'Chat' Instant-Messaging Service
Here's everything you need to know about Chat and when it's arriving in the UK.<p>Sending a text message (SMS) sucks.<p>There’s no nice way of saying it, …
ChatbotsHow to Make Sure Alexa, Google Home Don't Hear Too Much
SAN FRANCISCO -- Smart-home digital voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home are safe to use as long as you strictly limit what kind of …
Smart HomesThe data scientist behind the Cambridge Analytica scandal did paid consultancy work for Facebook and has close ties to staff
Facebook hasn't been totally upfront about its close ties with a major player in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.<p>Aleksandr Kogan is the data scientist who created a quiz app which harvested 87 million Facebook user profiles, then passed that information to Cambridge Analytica, in breach of …
Cambridge AnalyticaAmazon’s next conquest will be apparel
Late last year, after Amazon announced it had acquired the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic “Lord of the Rings” saga for $250 million, I wrote how the move underscored Amazon’s relentless pursuit to build one platform to “rule them all.” Now that Amazon is investing half a billion dollars into …
eCommerceWhy So Many People Make Their Password 'Dragon'
Each year since 2011, the security firm SplashData has released a list of the most commonly used passwords, based on caches of leaked account …
Game of ThronesCredit card companies unite for a checkout button to take on PayPal
Even if you don't use PayPal to send money to friends, there's a good chance you've reached for their checkout button in online stores, which is tied to all of your payment information. It's simply easier than getting up and finding your wallet. Now, the major credit card companies -- Visa, …
FinTechJeff Bezos admits Amazon has 'the weirdest meeting culture you will ever encounter'
Drew Angerer/Getty Images<p><b>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained during an on-stage interview on Friday the strange meetings Amazon holds.</b>• <b><br>Every meeting requires a well-crafted six-page memo which the whole room sits and reads at the start of the meeting.</b>• <b><br>Bezos banned PowerPoint years ago and explained why</b> …
Jeff Bezos