With the 2016 presidential elections beginning to reach fever pitch, some candidates have adopted the classic tactic of blaming the guy who's already got the job. That's not to say the administration has been without reproach for the past eight years…
Technical
6 tents that take technology off-grid
By Cat DiStasio People often go camping to escape the modern world, but a little technology can make a good vacation even better. The tents of the future set up in a snap, protect campers from lightning strikes and incorporate solar panels so you ca…
Recommended Reading: A look at what music does to your brain
The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does to Our Brains Belle Beth Cooper, Fast Company You probably enjoy listening to music while you're in the office, at the gym or to relax in the evening. But did you know just how much playing some tunes…
Sling TV is making a box to stream free local TV channels
More than any technical challenge, the big problem for streaming services like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue today is licensing local broadcast networks. Because of that, Sling TV only offers ABC as part of a special package and Fox with its new multi…
Australian carrier lets customers win prizes with unused data
Unless you roll it over, the unused mobile data you paid so dearly for is lost in time, like tears in … rain. For a limited time, however, Virgin Mobile customers in Australia can transform those dead digits into phones, drones and other swag. To b…
Smart mirror scale measures your volume as well as your weight
Guess what fitness startup Naked Labs wants you to do. The company today debuted its first product: a smart scale system that scans users with lasers, enabling them to track their fitness goals in three dimensions. The $500 system is designed for in-…
‘Gears of War 4’ multiplayer brings the series back to its roots
Excluding Halo, Gears of War is Microsoft's biggest multiplayer shooter — for many players, multiplayer is far more important than the main story-based campaign. That's what made Gears of War: Judgement a disappointment for many long-time players. T…
Motorola hired a graffiti legend to tag the Moto X Pure
Legendary graffiti artist Futura has teamed up with everyone from The Clash, Nike, streetwear clothing company Supreme and even the 2000s trip-hop group UNKLE — now he can add one more name to that list: Motorola. In the video below you'll hear Leon…
Cortana’s international versions get instant translations
The French-, German-, Italian- and Spanish-speaking versions of Microsoft's voice assistant Cortana are now much better travel companions. Just like their English- and Chinese-speaking counterparts, these versions can now instantly translate words an…
BBC launches iPlayer Kids app
Is it just us, or are TV providers starting to forget who pays the bills 'round here? The younger, inexplicably energetic members of the household seem to be getting all the attention of late. Barely a few weeks have passed since Sky debuted its Kids…
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 gets a luxurious Type Cover
Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 is having to do battle with a slew of tablet-hybrid competition that includes Apple's smaller iPad Pro and the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S. It's a little early for an all-new Surface, so instead Microsoft has come out with a new…
The first ‘Gears of War 4’ trailer is sad (and sounds like it)
We saw Gears of War 4 gameplay footage back at E3 2015, but (in time to hype the game before this year's game show), here's a short trailer that's a bit of a downer. Setting the scene for the son of the main protagonist from all the previous games, 2…
Smart spray can turns photos into large-scale street art
Don't worry about needing artistic sensibilities to produce street art — if researchers have their way, all you'd need is a good photo and the right tools. They've developed a robotic spray can that produce large murals based on pre-supplied images…
Astronomers find a supersized black hole in a cosmic small town
The humongous black hole in the center of a galaxy called NGC 1600 took the MASSIVE Survey astronomers by surprise. It's not only almost as big as the largest one we've discovered, it's also located in a sparsely populated region of only 20 or so gal…
Car makers ask the US to slow down on rules for self-driving tech
You might think that car brands would want governments to approve self-driving cars quickly so that sales can start as soon as possible, but it turns out that they're quite cautious. The Global Automakers industry group (which includes numerous heav…