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Google is developing a standalone virtual reality headset that will be several steps removed from Google's Cardboard VR, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Instead of relying on a user's smartphone and a lens-fitted cardboard headset, it will have all the necessary components built in It also won't have to rely on a PC or a console for pro...

Mattel last week announced that it is giving its ThingMaker a high-tech makeover by equipping it with 3D capabilities Using the original 1960s iteration, children could create small toys, such as dragons and flowers, by pouring liquid plastic into molds, which were heated and cooled....

Apple will begin selling new models of its iPad tablets and iPhones in mid-March, according to a report published last week in 9to5Mac It will debut a 4-inch iPhone, called the "iPhone 5se," as well as a new iPad Air at a March 15 event, followed by a retail and online sales launch three days later, said the report, which cited unnamed sources. App...

Any effort to ban encryption or provide government agencies with backdoor access would be unenforceable and prone to failure, according to a Harvard University report released last week Bruce Schneier, a fellow at Harvard'sBerkman Center for Internet and Security, and collaborator Kathleen Seidel, together with Harvard student Saranya Vijayakuma, i...

Laws usually are established after interpersonal or business activities collide with the real or perceived rights of others. After parties with different positions fight about who's right and who's wrong, legislatures create laws to solve the legal issues raised, and courts enforce them or create their own (Miranda rules, for example) Many of the l...

Unity Technologies last week announced that the Unity Platform has been retooled to offer native support for SteamVR, the software foundation for Rift rival HTC Vive The move will save effort and resources, whether developers build made-for-VR titles or merely build virtual reality support into traditional games....

AT&T on Friday announced plans to start testing 5G technology, with a possible limited commercial rollout before the end of 2016. 5G offers the promise of besting the speeds of today's fastest wireless networks by a factor of 10 to 100, through the use of millimeter waves, network function virtualization, and software-defined networking Through a ...

Time on Thursday announced an agreement to acquire the assets ofViant Technology The deal will let Time combine its premium content, subscriber data and ad inventory with Viant's first-party data and targeting technology to bring value to clients of both platforms, Time said....

Google is expanding the right of Europeans to be forgotten on the Internet to domains outside their countries, according to news reports Thursday Searches made from European IP addresses for people whom Google has granted what's known as the "right to be forgotten" will turn up zero links, regardless of which version of Google the search is directe...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday went into damage-control mode following a tweet from board member Marc Andreessen about India and colonialism Andreessen was reacting to the Indian telecom regulator'sban on Facebook's Free Basics service....

The U.S. government is under pressure to improve cybersecurity and is meeting that challenge with a commitment to substantially enhance spending for protecting IT systems. The Obama administration projected that the federal budget for cybersecurity spending in fiscal 2016 would be about US$14 billion -- an increase of $1.4 billion from 2015 That fu...

Online dating numbers are up in the United States, the Pew Research Center said Thursday, based on the results of a recent survey Today, it's possible for singles from all walks of life to find a date who's compatible with them -- at least virtually -- the findings suggest. As the online dating world expands, adding ever more nuanced sites -- like ...

The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday said it recently discovered and halted an automated bot attack on its electronic filing PIN application website Identity thieves used malware in an attempt to generate E-file PINs for 464,000 Social Security numbers stolen from another source, the IRS said. The hackers succeeded in accessing an E-file PIN for...

SourceForge on Tuesday announced that it has pulled the plug on its DevShare program amid growing rebellion from software developers and a change of ownership SourceForge Media announced the termination notice with a promise of other policy changes coming soon....

Marketers this year will ramp up their efforts at personalization, getting a 360-degree view of customers and improving the customer experience, and they will leverage multiple strategies, tools and solutions to do so, a study released Tuesday by theCMO Council found Deploying digital analytics and life cycle management tools will take the lead, fo...

Amazon on Tuesday announced that it has widened its footprint in the game industry, complementing its development studio with the Lumberyard 3D game engine Based on core components ofCrytek's CryEngine, Lumberyard will support development for PCs and consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4). Amazon plans to add support for mobile devices and virtual r...

The artificial intelligence component of Google's Level 4 autonomous cars can be considered the driver, whether or not the cars are occupied by humans, the U.S.National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said in a letter released Tuesday Level 4 full self-driving automation vehicles perform all safety-critical driving functions and monito...

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams last week confirmed that his company was exploring an acquisition of some of Yahoo's assets, which would be placed under the corporate umbrella of Verizon's AOL unit McAdams discussed Verizon's interest in an interview with Mad Money host Jim Cramer....

United States Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, last week introduced legislation to prevent states from passing laws banning the sale of smartphones with encryption capabilities The "ENCRYPT Act of 2016," as the bill is known, provides that a state or political subdivision of a state may not mandate or request that a manufac...

Twitter on Wednesday gave users the option of using a new algorithmically organized feed that would deliver more relevant messages -- not necessarily the newest -- first. The new approach to disseminating tweets was spearheaded by Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey, who is under pressure because of the company's lack of growth. Compared to other social med...