The brain’s way of processing smells is inspiring scientists to rethink how we design machine learning algorithms.
Comcast has outbid 21st Century Fox for Sky
Comcast has won an auction to acquire UK telecommunications company Sky, bidding $38.8 billion to overtake Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox after a lengthy bidding war this summer. Comcast’s win paves the way for it to acquire Sky and its 23 million European subscribers and entertainment assets. Sky’s shareholders will now need to approve the deal.
Over the course of this year, Comcast and Fox have been locked in a titanic battle over their futures, one that will define the nature of the industry as a whole. Last summer, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke with Murdoch about an acquisition of Fox and made its first offer in December, and while Comcast made its own overtures this spring. The two made several bids this spring, but after Disney…
Amazon’s new device preorders dominate this week’s best deals
Last week was Apple’s time to shine with the introduction of the iPhone XS and XS Max and Apple Watch 4, but the tail end of this week was all about Amazon. It announced more than 10 products at its hardware event in Seattle, consisting of a few redesigned popular sellers, and several additions to its Alexa-powered arsenal.
Preorders for most of its new tech are open, and the products should start shipping in mid-October. If you think you can hold off, we’re likely to see discounts for most, if not all, of these Amazon products come Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- The new Echo Dot costs $49.99, but Amazon will sell you two for $90
- Amazon’s new Echo Show is up for preorder at $229.99, but you’ll save $100 if you buy a second one
- If…
Trump’s Space Force may come with a big price tag, and no one can agree how to structure it
Two months after Vice President Mike Pence announced the plan to create a Space Force, the military is fighting over how to make it happen. This week, an internal Air Force estimate leaked to the press that said the Space Force would cost nearly $13 billion to create. And an Air Force organization is arguing that we shouldn’t create the Space Force at all, but rather rename the Air Force.
This is just the beginning of a debate about the right way to move forward with the Space Force, says Brian Weeden, a space expert at the Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in space security. Creating a new branch of the military is going to require a lot of complicated bureaucratic reshuffling. “The other piece of it is, how do we…
The future of DIY abortions is the internet, not a back-alley doctor
The Shopping Malls and Big Box Stores Gutted by E-Commerce
‘Retail Apocalypse’ captures the end of one era in American retail and the beginning of another.
YesOJO’s Switch speaker dock looks like a slick way to play on the go
YesOJO’s Switch projector dock was a surprisingly clever way to play your Switch on the go with friends. Now the company is following that up with another slick Switch solution: a portable speaker dock that turns your Switch into a miniature boombox.
The Switch speaker dock is designed to use with a Switch in tabletop mode, but YesOJO says it should offer dramatically better sound than the Switch’s onboard speaker (in addition to a far more sturdy base). The speaker dock also features a cooling system, so your console doesn’t overheat, and an integrated battery that should allow for eight to 12 hours of play time off a single charge. If you don’t need to juice up your Switch, you can just use it as a…
A Twitter DM Fail, Free Credit Freezes, and More Security News This Week
Free credit freezes, a better private browser, and more security news this week.
How Would Teleportation Change Society?
It would make garbage disposal super easy, for one.
The first Android phone was an ugly thing, and I loved it – CNET
Looking back on my contrarian T-Mobile G1, the anti-iPhone, a decade later.