Did Amazon just give itself a $2 billion raise? Prime will now cost $119 a year
Amazon is raising the cost of its Prime membership by $20, pushing the annual fee from $99 to $119. It'll go into effect for new sign-ups on May 11, and for renewals on June 16. Amazon launched its shipping and entertainment package in 2005 and it now has 100 million members globally.
Fake ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ accounts are scamming people out of cash
Facebook scammers are setting up fake accounts in the name of Mark Zuckerberg and using them to trick users into handing over cash. The deceit is a variation on the once-popular advance-fee email scam that gets people to wire small sums of money in expectation of receiving a larger sum.
Website builder Weebly to be snapped up by payments service Square
Website builder Weebly has been acquired by payments service Square. Led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Square hopes the acquisition will expand its presence overseas and give merchants "one cohesive solution" for building their businesses. Weebly promised its users that its site would continue to innovate and improve.
Casio said to be leaving the digital compact camera market
Casio is preparing to exit the compact camera business, according to a report out of Japan. The Tokyo-based company has apparently concluded there's no longer an easy route to profits in a market increasingly squeezed by the smartphone sector, with many handsets these days offering excellent photographic features.
Virgin America, the ‘airline of Silicon Valley,’ takes its final flight
Virgin America has flown for the last time. Flight 1947 departed Los Angeles at 9:35 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24, bound for San Francisco. Judging by the response on social media, the airline that brought us funky mood lighting, comfy leather seats, and jazzed-up safety videos will be sorely missed.
Pepper the robot’s latest gig is at the Smithsonian
Pepper's latest gig is at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. And there won't be just one or two of them helping out. The museum, research, and education complex is hiring 25 of the diminutive droids to assist at several of its locations, with visitors encouraged to interact with the friendly robot.
Airbus’ latest A350 aircraft to break record for longest commercial flight
Airbus has started testing an aircraft that can fly more than 20 hours without needing to refuel. The A350-900 XWB will go into service for Singapore Airlines next year, flying passengers between Singapore and New York City on a 19-hour trip — nearly an hour longer than the longest current flight.
YouTube removed 8M videos in 3 months, and machines did most of the work
Anyone can upload anything to YouTube, but the company's computers are getting better at fishing out objectionable content. On Monday, April 23, YouTube revealed that it removed 8.3 million videos in the last three months of 2017, with its machine-based systems doing the majority of this work.
Britain’s best-known money-saving expert sues Facebook over fake ads
The U.K.'s best-known money-saving expert is fed up with Facebook's apparently lax attitude toward removing scammers' ads that use his name as an endorsement for bogus financial products. And he's taking the social networking giant to court in a bid to finally sort it out.
A phone scam is nabbing millions of dollars from the U.S. Chinese community
Phone scammers purporting to be from a Chinese consulate office are tricking people across the U.S. into handing over large sums of money. Since December of last year, 21 members of the Chinese community in New York City alone have lost a total of $2.5 million, according to the New York Police Department.
Robot chefs are the focus of new Sony and Carnegie Mellon research
Sony and Carnegie Mellon University are collaborating on A.I. and robotics research, starting with a focus on optimizing food preparation, cooking, and delivery. Food preparation tasks are complex and varied, so the resulting tech could eventually be applied to a wide range of industries.
TaskRabbit back online after cyberattack, warns users to monitor their accounts
TaskRabbit is back online after a cyberattack forced the company to suspend its operation on Monday. The CEO says it's still investigating the extent of the damage, and warns users to monitor their accounts for any suspicious activity. It added that it will notify every affected individual as soon as it can.
Sleep with the fishes in the world’s first underwater villa
You can already dine underwater in the Maldives, and soon you'll be able to sleep there, too. Billed as "the world's first underwater residence," the plush accommodation will allow guests to lose themselves in the stunning marine life that surrounds their room right there in the Indian Ocean.
Walmart reportedly explores cashier-free stores to keep pace with Amazon
Walmart, like Amazon, is reported to be developing a cashier-free store experience where shoppers can simply grab what they need and leave.
Squeeze up! The latest Skyrider airplane seat still looks really uncomfortable
The first Skyrider airplane seat didn't look like a particularly comfortable way to fly, and despite the extra padding, Skyrider 2.0 doesn't look much better. It seems like a squeeze and you're pretty much standing, but if seats are cheap and flights short, could you imagine using it?
Fed up with social media, major U.K. pub chain deletes all of its accounts
A major U.K. pub chain has suddenly deleted all of its social media accounts. Wetherspoon made the move in the wake of "bad publicity surrounding social media," adding that it was uncomfortable about the "addictive nature of social media." Chairman Tim Martin was adamant his business would not be adversely affected.
Cops use fingerprint pulled from a WhatsApp photo to nab drug traffickers
British police used a fingerprint pulled from a photo sent on WhatsApp to help secure multiple convictions against drug traffickers. In what's thought to be the first case of its kind in the U.K., police found the image on a smartphone seized in a raid and used data from the fingerprint as part of its evidence.
Ford intends to launch self-driving car service ‘at scale’ by 2021
Ford has signaled its determination to begin operating an autonomous-car service "at scale" by 2021. Early indications are that it'll launch some form of delivery business rather than a ridesharing service using its driverless vehicles, though any venture will first require regulatory approval.
Google Maps users navigating through more scams and fake content
Volunteers who spend much of their time helping to build Google Maps claim the popular online tool is facing a growing threat from scammers and others posting fake content. Two reports over the weekend highlight a number of issues with the service, though Google insists it's working hard to clear the bogus data.
Sleep tight: Airbus wants to fill plane cargo holds with beds
Fancy flying in the cargo hold? Airbus is designing modules with sleeping berths and differently designed rooms that can be slotted into the cargo section of its wide-bodied A330 aircraft. Options range from family-friendly to luxurious, and the first ones could take to the skies as early as 2020.
Sweden is fitting electric rails along its highways to power EVs
Sweden plans to fit electric rails along its highways so electric vehicles can maintain power as they motor along. The EVs will need to be fitted with a retractable arm that automatically connects with the rail when the vehicle enters a highway. The nation recently opened its first electrified road in Stockholm.
Google Lens can now identify the breed of that cute dog you just saw
Google celebrated National Pet Day this week by adding a couple of new animal-focused features to its Photos app. They include a new trick for Lens, Google's A.I.-powered photo-analyzing tool, that cleverly IDs the breed of dogs and cats you've photographed, while also offering information about them.
There is a good reason why this drone flies near aircraft
Flying a drone close to a passenger plane is a highly dangerous act in most circumstances, but Airbus has a good reason for doing it. The aerospace giant this week unveiled purpose-built Advanced Inspection Drone that uses HD cameras to search for defects in a plane's exterior.
The humble LED could help prevent shark attacks on surfers
A team of researchers in Australia believe it's found a way to help surfers avoid the unwanted attention of sharks. It involves sticking a set of LEDs to the underside of the board, which the researchers say helps to hide the surfer's silhouette from any sharks that happen to be nearby.
First products from Facebook’s secret Building 8 lab could target Echo Show
There's been much talk over the last year that Facebook is preparing to launch a smart speaker. The latest report suggests it'll be hitting the market with two devices -- the first fruits of the secretive Building 8 hardware lab. We may have our first look at the patent behind the speaker, but details remain sparse.
NASA’s virtual tour of the moon in 4K will blow your mind
NASA has just released an all-new 4K-resolution video showing the surface of the moon in incredible detail. Created using data gathered over the last nine years, the five-minute presentation shows our nearest neighbor like you've never seen it before.
Enjoy the first-ever nonstop flight from Australia to the U.K. — vicariously
Qantas recently launched the first-ever non-stop commercial service between Australia and the U.K. At 17 hours, it's one of the longest flights in the world, and you can now experience the entirety of the journey without actually going anywhere.
SpaceX in the clear over ‘Zuma’ spy satellite disaster, report suggests
A recently published report suggests SpaceX is in the clear over the loss of the "Zuma" spy satellite during a secretive mission at the start of the year. Investigators have reportedly pinned the blame on client Northrop Grumman for the way it prepared the satellite.
NASA crash-test dummies take a beating to make aviation safer
Part of NASA's work includes subjecting sensor-laden dummies to all kinds of crash scenarios for research aimed at helping to make aviation safer.