Technology

Microsoft has scored another major government contract, this time to produce augmented reality devices for the US Army. The Army announced Wednesday that it had awarded Microsoft a contract to produce augmented reality systems based on its HoloLens 2 device called Integrated Visual Augmented Systems (IVAS). The devices are designed to help soldiers, “fight, rehearse

These are dangerous times for people with chronic health conditions. They often need to visit hospitals for treatment or to collect medication, but during the pandemic that means increased risk of exposure to coronavirus. In Africa, a US startup says it is reducing that risk by using drones to deliver medical supplies to local clinics,

Apple’s Siri will soon stop defaulting to a female-sounding voice. The company said Wednesday that its mobile devices will ask users to pick from a range of voices when they set up the virtual assistant. Apple currently allows users to pick between a male and female voice as well as six different accents including American,

After years of building huge modern offices and a work culture that many industries have emulated, Silicon Valley was among the first to shutter those offices and go fully remote when the coronavirus pandemic began. Now, many of the tech industry’s biggest companies are slowly making plans to bring workers back, offering a potential road

Grab the tissues. The internet is freaking out over a rumor about the possible impending death of Mario, the famous, red-wearing, Italian plumber who changed the world of video games with the release of “Super Mario Bros” 35 years ago. Let’s back up: In September, the “Super Mario Bros” franchise celebrated its 35th anniversary with

In India, the country with the world’s second-highest number of Covid-19 cases, a handful of hospitals has started to use robots to connect patients with their loved ones, and assist healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. Bangalore-based Invento Robotics has designed three robots to carry out tasks ranging from disinfecting surfaces to answering

Just eight months ago, Huawei reached its longtime goal of becoming the world’s biggest smartphone maker. Now, it is not even in the top three. On Wednesday, the Chinese tech giant acknowledged that its smartphone business was suffering as US sanctions continue to stifle its growth, cutting off the company’s ability to obtain critical components

With so many challenges facing us here on Earth — the pandemic, climate change, the economy — it might seem like an odd time to focus on space. But space exploration offers enormous benefits for all of us. There’s a long list of innovations that have emerged as a result of space research that have

GameStop is adding to its growing list of new executives hired from Amazon and Chewy with the hope of turning the struggling, longtime mall staple into an e-commerce powerhouse. The video game retailer on Tuesday announced the hire of Elliott Wilke as its chief growth officer. Wilke spent the past seven years at Amazon, including

An experimental rocket that SpaceX launched at its South Texas facilities Tuesday appears to have exploded, but heavy fog at the landing site left even SpaceX uncertain about what had occurred. “At least the crater is in the right place!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted. All three of SpaceX’s previous prototypes crash landed or exploded

With so many challenges facing us here on Earth — the pandemic, climate change, the economy — it might seem like an odd time to focus on space. But space exploration offers enormous benefits for all of us. There’s a long list of innovations that have emerged as a result of space research that have

A big smartphone maker is getting into electric cars. And it’s not Apple. China’s Xiaomi announced Tuesday that it will invest $10 billion over the next decade in a subsidiary focused on the “smart electric vehicle business.” The company said in a stock market filing that the new unit will be led by billionaire CEO

Major global banks could be hit with billions of dollars in losses after US investment firm Archegos Capital was forced to dump shares last week when it got into financial trouble. Nomura and Credit Suisse said Monday that earnings might take “significant” hits after a client of their broking services defaulted on margin calls last

One year to the day after workers first stepped inside a new Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, a milestone union vote at the facility is coming to an end. Monday is the final day for ballots to be received by the National Labor Relations Board in order to be counted in the election. The vote

One year to the day after workers first stepped inside a new Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, a milestone union vote at the facility is set to come to an end. Monday is the final day for ballots to be received by the National Labor Relations Board in order to be counted in the election.

Chinese hackers targeted Uyghur activists and journalists living in the United States in an attempt to spy on them, an investigation by security staff at Facebook has found. “They targeted activists, journalists and dissidents among Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities from Xinjiang in China primarily living abroad in Turkey, Kazakhstan, the United States and other

On Wednesday, the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter appeared (virtually) before a congressional committee to answer hours of pointed questions about how their platforms handle misinformation. But for a few brief moments, much of the internet was focused on a strange clock-like gadget placed just to the right of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s formidable

The chief executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter faced withering criticism from members of Congress on Thursday about their handling of misinformation and online extremism during their first appearance before lawmakers since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee pressed Facebook CEO

Congress is set to grill the chief executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter about misinformation and online extremism on Thursday, in the executives’ first appearance before lawmakers since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are expected to press Facebook CEO Mark