It’s time once again to take a look back at some of the news stories we’ve covered here at GaS in 2016 as well as following up on later developments. In January New York City announced plans to replace almost all of its payphone booths with Wi-Fi hotspots funded by advertising. The new booths also […]
One of the world’s largest investment companies is working on software to make day to day management decisions: not on the investments but rather the operation of the company itself. The idea appears to be to automate Bridgewater Associates to the point that founder Ray Dalio can take a back seat while still being confident […]
Swiss researchers have taken inspiration from nature by designing a drone whose wings have artificial feathers. The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne’s drone mirrors the way a bird not only has feathers but can fold its wings. The idea is to make the drone more versatile and increase overall performance. The big difference is that […]
Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler has confirmed he’ll leave the commission on January 20. It guarantees a Republican-leaning majority on the commission and could spell doom for net neutrality rules. The political make-up of the FCC’s board of commissioners has been a significant issue during Wheeler’s time in office, with many votes being a […]
A government agency wants all new cars made from 2021 to be able to talk to one another. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plan is designed to improve road safety. After two years of consultation, the agency has now issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, the last step before introducing a new rule. The […]
Skype can now let you talk to people who speak another language, even if you call them on their telephone. Its automated voice translation will, from an upcoming edition of Windows 10, work even if one party isn’t using the Skype software. The voice translation works on nine languages: Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, German, […]
The next generation of Bluetooth has been confirmed. Boosts to speed, range and capacity could mean improvements to both smartwatches and home gadgets. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, an industry body, has now officially adopted the Bluetooth 5 specification. The first devices to use the technology are expected early next year. It’s the first completely […]
Apple is usually a name that we associate with sleek phones, trendy computers, and poor design choices (rest in peace, headphone jack…) but most of us don’t associate it with cars. That might change in the near future, and Tesla might find some serious competition as Apple die-hards set their sights on an Apple-brand autonomous […]
Amazon now lets you quite literally “upload” a truckload of data to its servers. Its new service Snowmobile transfers your data via the physical highways rather than the Internet. The service is aimed at companies with spectacularly huge amounts of data to upload, to the point that even a fiber connection isn’t practical. Amazon already […]
Amazon plans to build physical grocery stores with no cashiers and no checkouts. Customers at the Amazon Go store will simply load up their bags and walk out the door. The first store, in Seattle, is already being used by Amazon staff as an experiment, with a public opening planned for early next year. Customers […]
The Internet Archive is to build a back-up copy in Canada. The site’s staff said it was a response to fears of greater online restrictions in the US following the election result. While the announcement did not specifically name president-elect Donald Trump, it said: On November 9th in America, we woke up to a new administration […]
Google’s translate tool has created its own solution to greatly expand its automated capabilities. It can now translate between two languages even without a specific “dictionary” to do so. The company recently switched Google Translate away from its “traditional” method of consulting a known list of phrases and their equivalent in different languages. Instead it’s […]