Moxi the ‘friendly’ hospital robot wants to help nurses, not replace them
Moxi is a "friendly" hospital robot from Texas-based Diligent Robotics. The wheel-based bot aims to free nurses from routine tasks so they can spend more time with patients. Trials at several medical facilities begin this week, giving its creators their first glimpse of Moxi in a real-world environment.
YouTube has a new destination for gamers as it plans to shutter gaming app
YouTube is retiring its gaming app early next year to focus on developing a brand new gaming destination on its main site. YouTube Gaming for iOS and Android launched in 2015 to take on video-gaming platform Twitch, but an apparent lack of interest in the app means support for it will end in March 2019.
Lyft offers some fun stats to celebrate its 1 billionth ridesharing journey
Lyft cars have made a billion journeys since its ridesharing service launched six years ago. Announcing the milestone on Tuesday, September 18, the firm revealed some fun stats about its rides. One person, for example, has so far paid for 9,000 rides, and the longest journey took a driver 640 miles.
Japanese billionaire faces tricky task of choosing 8 artists for his moon trip
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has been named as SpaceX's first-ever paying passenger for a planned trip to the moon in 2023. The entrepreneur, who made his fortune in online fashion retail, says he wants to take eight artists with him. But how will he choose them? And will they accept his invitation?
A lot less clutter! Twitter relaunches purely chronological timeline
If you still miss the reverse-chronological timeline that Twitter ditched two years ago and are fed up with all of the extra tweets in your timeline, there's some good news for you. You now have the option to once again see the most recent tweets first without any of the algorithm-generated clutter.
Facebook is paying cash rewards if you find vulnerabilities in third-party apps
Determined to put its recent data scandal firmly behind it, Facebook says it's expanding its bug bounty program to third-party apps and websites that could potentially misuse its data. Researchers are invited to report vulnerabilities they find with services that let people log in with their Facebook credentials.
SpaceX to send Japanese billionaire on moon trip, but he won’t be going alone
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has named Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa as the first paying passenger for the company's ambitious 2023 moon mission aboard the Big Falcon Rocket. If all goes to plan, Maezawa will become the first person to make the lunar trip since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
Twitter makes it easier to find and watch live broadcasts
Twitter is promoting livestreams and broadcasts on its service. Rolling out globally, live video broadcasts from accounts that you follow will now appear at the top of your timeline. They'll only start playing when you tap on them, and you can hide them from your timeline in a couple of taps.
Startup inks ‘world’s largest deal’ for driverless grocery deliveries
An increasing number of companies are exploring the possibility of delivery services using autonomous vehicles. California-based startup Udelv already has experience of running a trial in San Francisco, with Oklahoma City all set to become its next destination for a grocery delivery service.
7 drone crashes that will make you fly your bird more carefully
Whether you're a rookie drone pilot or experienced pro, sooner or later you're bound to slam your flying machine into a hard surface or get it tangled in a tree. To help you avoid such a calamity, we've pulled together some videos of spectacular drone crashes and tips on how to avoid them.
Inbox is out — Google to shut down experimental email app in March 2019
Google's Inbox app is shutting down in March 2019. The web giant said the app had been useful for trying out new ways to make email more efficient, but that it now wanted to focus entirely on improving Gmail. Inbox launched in 2014 and introduced new features such as smart reply, nudges, and snoozing emails to later.
Don’t wait to buy that new iPhone battery — prices are going up
If you've been thinking about replacing your iPhone battery but haven't gotten around to it yet, you'd better get your skates on. Battery replacement fees for all out-of-warranty iPhones are set to go up at the end of the year. The cost will increase by between $20 and $40, depending on the iPhone model.
Don’t be duped by fake rideshare drivers, safety campaign urges
"Make sure you get in the right car!" That's the message to rideshare passengers from a new safety ad urging them to check the details of the car and driver to ensure they're genuine. Cases have emerged where passengers have been assaulted after getting in a car with someone posing as a rideshare driver.
Finally, Apple Pay and Google Pay arrive at 7-Eleven this month
7-Eleven has announced that from this month it'll start offering contactless payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing faster transactions at the checkout for anyone with an iPhone, Apple Watch, or compatible Android device. 7-Eleven has around 10,000 convenience stores across the U.S.
This quadcopter is a ‘flying battery’ that can stay in the sky for 2 hours
While most of today's drones can stay airborne for around half an hour tops, Impossible Aerospace's US-1 drone can fly for up to two hours. The feat was achieved by building the machine around a larger-than-usual battery, and the company says that if the design is scaled up, it could transform the aviation market.
Google’s ‘Touring Bird’ can make it a whole lot easier to plan a trip
When you next settle down to plan a trip, take a moment to check out Touring Bird, a new web-based travel tool from Google that aims to surface fun stuff to do and make booking activities easy in famous cities around the world. At launch, Touring Bird includes 25,000 activities from 400 local contributors in 20 cities.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company turns digging machine into ‘best video game ever’
The Boring Company has tweeted a video of an Xbox controller apparently being used to operate one of its giant digging machines. Coming from a company led by Elon Musk, the spectacle may not surprise too many people, though whether it's part of a serious plan moving forward ... well, that's anyone's guess.
British Airways data hack hits 380,000 recent customers
Another day, another hack. This latest one affects 380,000 British Airways customers who recently used its website or app to book a flight or vacation. Customers' personal and financial details are believed to have been stolen, with those affected urged to contact their banks and credit card providers.
Ford recalls 2 million of its popular F-150 trucks due to fire risk
Ford is recalling 2 million of its popular F-150 trucks after a fault was found in the seat belt pretensioner system. The automaker said it knew of 17 "smoke or fire" incidents in the U.S. and six in Canada, but added that to its knowledge, no accidents or injuries have occurred as a result of the issue.
Lyft’s first app-based scooter service rolls into Denver
If you thought there were enough electric scooters in your city, watch out — Lyft has joined the club. It launched its first scootershare service in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday, September 6, with more cities coming soon. It's part of Lyft's goal to persuade a million people to give up their cars by 2020.
This golf course’s delivery drone flies the 19th hole to you
Drone delivery services are yet to take off in a big way because of strict safety rules that prevent flights near people and buildings. So how about the open spaces of golf courses? Flytrex thinks it's seen a gap in the market, and is about to start testing a drone delivery service at a course in the U.S.
Space Station hole may have been made by ‘someone with a drill’
A hole discovered aboard a spacecraft docked at the International Space Station was originally thought to have been caused by a collision with a meteorite fragment. But the head of Russia’s space agency this week dismissed the theory as impossible, suggesting it was likely caused by someone with a drill.
Skype finally gets built-in call recording so you can ‘capture special moments’
Ten years after launching video chats, Skype has finally added call recording to desktop and mobile. The feature stores recorded chats in the cloud and lets you save and share them, too. The new addition means users can now choose whether to ditch their third-party recording software in favor of Skype's offering.
Instagram said to be prepping a stand-alone shopping app
Enjoy shopping on Instagram? If a report this week is to be believed, the Facebook-owned company is in the middle of building an app dedicated to ecommerce, which could provide a new home for the 25 million businesses that already use the main app. Instagram introduced shopping to its app in 2016.
This autonomous drone ambulance concept won its creator a $20,000 prize
An Italian creator has won a $20,000 prize for his unique drone ambulance design that could one day become a reality. The large autonomous quadcopter would be capable of carrying a person to safety using its built in pod, and be powered by special technology giving it a range of up to 95 miles.
Japan preps first test for its awesome ‘space elevator’
Japan is preparing to carry out the first test in space for a so-called “space elevator” that could one day transport people and cargo to orbiting stations way above Earth. Several organizations are looking into the feasibility of the project, with one group aiming for an ambitious-sounding 2050 launch.
Google plans crackdown on tech-support scams appearing in search ads
Google is constantly removing scammers' "tech-support" ads from its search engine results, but the problem has been getting more serious of late. The web giant now says it's planning to roll out a verification program to ensure that only legitimate providers of third-party tech support can use the platform.
Space Station on alert as crew forced to patch hole in docked spacecraft
A hole in a spacecraft docked with the International Space Station had to be patched by crew members after pressure aboard the station began to drop. It's not yet understood what caused the hole, though it may have been the result of an impact with a meteorite fragment.