Domino's is bringing robotic pizza delivery to New Zealand. The pizza chain today announced that it will trial a battery-powered delivery robot in the capital city of Wellington, describing the bot as "the world's first autonomous pizza delivery vehicle."Known as DRU (Domino's Ro … | Continue reading
Good news for people with boring friends — Facebook has once again hidden a minigame inside its Messenger app, this time to celebrate college basketball's March Madness tournament. To play, make sure you have the latest version of Facebook Messenger, then simply send a friend the … | Continue reading
Motorola President Rick Osterloh is leaving Lenovo amid a broad reorganization that will see the company shuffle around various business units and executives.As part of the reorganization, announced Friday, Lenovo is also expanding its PC unit to include all tablets, phablets and … | Continue reading
As promised yesterday, Microsoft has added new features and made a series of tweaks to its Windows 10 Maps app. Users of the updated version of the app will be able to view multiple search results on the same map, follow redesigned turn-by-turn instructions when driving, and see … | Continue reading
Last year Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski revealed his new studio's debut project, a free-to-play multiplayer shooter called LawBreakers. But today he announced a big change: LawBreakers is no longer free. A price wasn't revealed, but the developer says that it will be les … | Continue reading
When Netflix first started making its own television shows it may have seemed like a lark, but the company has nearly single-handedly changed the way we watch television. People started binge-watching with DVDs, sure, but releasing an entire season of an original show at one time … | Continue reading
Most of the VR experiences we've had thus far can be measured in minutes — a short film here or tech demo there — but that isn't because of technical limits or health concerns. According to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, you'll likely end up spending more time in the virtual world … | Continue reading
Universal Pictures and Facebook teamed up to create custom trailers for white audiences to promote the N.W.A. film Straight Outta Compton, scrubbing any mention of the rap group and instead focusing on the rise of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Universal marketing chief Doug Neil and Jim … | Continue reading
Microsoft is ready for Windows 10 testers to start using Edge browser extensions. After an extended wait for the beta feature, Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 build 14291 today with browser extensions support for Edge. Microsoft will offer three extensions to test, including Mi … | Continue reading
It was easy to miss, but there was a bit of a tempest in the SXSW Music teapot a few weeks back. When Tumblr announced its 79 Cents feminist-themed party during the festival, its lineup puzzlingly included Crystal Castles, a band with a not-so-feminist-friendly history. Their inc … | Continue reading
Beyond the tech, music, and brands, South by Southwest is one of the year's biggest film festivals.139 movies are screening in Austin this year, including a whole host world premieres. Along for the ride is a whole host of TV premieres, documentaries, and even a few unfinished sh … | Continue reading
Legendary music producer Tony Visconti described a vision of the music industry's dystopian future at his SXSW keynote speech this morning, calling himself "the ghost of Christmas future" and reading an earnest, self-penned short story to make his point. After walking a roomful o … | Continue reading
Compelling Apple to break its own security measures may not be as simple as it sounds. A new New York Times report suggests that even if the company loses its court fight and is legally compelled to produce security-breaking software, the employees tasked with creating the softwa … | Continue reading
Just in time for spring break, Uber announced today that it would start taking passengers across the US-Mexico border for the very first time, from San Diego to Tijuana. But getting back will be trickier, thanks to the regulations that govern ride-hail companies like Uber.Before, … | Continue reading
SoundCloud has signed a licensing deal with Sony Music, giving it deals with all three major labels and paving the way for the subscription service it's slated to launch later this year, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Sony Music will also get equity from So … | Continue reading
At my first SXSW, I tried so hard to make friends.Let me be clear: I didn’t want to network. My reasoning behind that was simple: I don’t know how to network, and I already suspected that I would be bad at it. I tried to go to a two-hour workshop called "The Business of Friendshi … | Continue reading
Sidewalk Labs, the "smart city" company spun off from Google last year, unveiled a new tool Thursday it built to help cities better manage traffic congestion, parking problems, and ultimately prepare themselves for the expected onslaught of self-driving cars. Flow is described as … | Continue reading
Spoiler warning: This essay goes deep into the plot specifics of 10 Cloverfield Lane, including some of its big reveals, and the film’s final moments. Continue reading… | Continue reading
Comcast is worried that real competition is creeping in on its markets, so the company is offering customers in Atlanta a new choice as part of its gigabit internet trial: sign a three-year contract, or pay twice as much with a data cap. Comcast's promotional price of $70 is the … | Continue reading
Microsoft unveiled two new special edition Xbox One controllers today, one called Dusk Shadow and the other Copper Shadow. The Dusk Shadow edition features a blue gradient color scheme while the Copper is rather self-explanatory. The variations follow a trio of military-inspired … | Continue reading
Spotify has reached an agreement with the National Music Publisher's Association (NMPA) over unpaid royalties. The streaming service will pay out around $21 million to publishers and songwriters in the deal, according to sources, with roughly $16 million set aside for royalty pay … | Continue reading
What can I tell you about the 20 hours I spent running through primeval forests, chasing down a saber-toothed tiger?I can tell you that it was different for me than it was for the vast majority of people who have played Far Cry Primal. Because for me, it felt much more real. I wa … | Continue reading
Want a glimpse into our delightful robot-assisted future? Panasonic has released a new video featuring its line-up of robotic exoskeletons in action, featuring three different types of exoskeletons designed for specific tasks. The purple-and-green Panasonic Assist Suit is designe … | Continue reading
Twitter announced today that it's ending support for its TweetDeck Windows app starting April 15th, forcing PC users to rely on the web version instead. The company, which purchased TweetDeck back in 2011, didn't give a strong reason for the move, with project manager Amy Zima sa … | Continue reading
The dwarf planet Pluto is coming into focus as a complex, geologically diverse world that has been actively reshaping its surface for billions of years, thanks to data gathered by the New Horizons spacecraft. An eclectic mixture of mountains, valleys, and plains cover Pluto's sur … | Continue reading
Android Wear is on a tear this week, having just launched new watches from Nixon and Fossil at Baselworld. Now fashion designer Michael Korsis adding his imprimatur to a couple of smartwatches running Android Wear. The line is called Michael Kors Access, and it starts at $395.Bey … | Continue reading
Google has made a small but significant change to Chrome that alters how individual tabs appear on Android. By default, individual tabs will no longer live alongside apps in Android's app switcher; instead, they'll exist entirely inside the Chrome app, as they did before Google b … | Continue reading
Back in January of 2014 reports surfaced that the video network Machinima was paying YouTubers to include footage of the Xbox in their reviews and commentary. As part of the deal, video creators were allegedly told not to reveal the payments, positioning the footage as independen … | Continue reading
This week on the Vergecast, Nilay welcomes some of our video team: producer Tre Shallowhorn, directors Tom Connors and Miriam Nielsen, and creative director James Bareham, to discuss the process of developing our 360 video interview with Michelle Obama and also talking about this … | Continue reading
When I met Wiwek at a nondescript Holiday Inn off I-35 in Austin, Texas yesterday, the sun had already begun to set and Wiwek had just woken up. The Holland-based producer (born Wiwek Mahab) had flown in to play a single set at SXSW that night, and was leaving early the next morn … | Continue reading
Kickstarter has acquired Drip, a music streaming service and fan community for independent labels, the company announced today. This marks the first acquisition ever for Kickstarter. Last month, Drip announced it was planning to shut down on March 18th, but Kickstarter swooped in … | Continue reading
Alphabet may be putting its most high profile robotics acquisition up for sale just three years after purchasing it. Bloomberg reports that Boston Dynamics, maker of robots which can walk, run, jump, and remain upright when pushed and kicked by humans, is being shopped around. Th … | Continue reading
Microsoft is finally rolling out its Windows 10 Mobile upgrade to existing handsets today. The software giant has been testing a variety of updates over the past few months, and a number of handsets will receive the update starting today. Microsoft is supporting the Lumia 430, Lu … | Continue reading
This week on Ctrl-Walt-Delete, Walt and Nilay take on the long running dispute of the public opinion on open source tech, and whether there actually is a hard definition of "open" and "closed"We love your feedback and suggestions on how to make our show better and more fun — you … | Continue reading
An executive for private aerospace company United Launch Alliance (ULA) has resigned after making a series of candid comments about the firm's position in the industry and its dealings with partners. Speaking at a seminar at the University of Colorado, Brett Tobey, ULA's vice pre … | Continue reading
Samsung today announced that its TabPro S convertible tablet will be available for purchase starting tomorrow, March 18th. The TabPro S runs Windows 10, comes with a keyboard case, and will cost $899.99. An optional pen will be available later in the year.The TabPro S borrows a l … | Continue reading
The National Highway Safety Transportation Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced today that 20 automakers have agreed to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard by September 1st, 2022, representing "more than 99 percent" of … | Continue reading
Last year, T-Mobile flipped a switch and began throttling all video that it can detect over its network as part of its "Binge On" program, requiring customers to go into their accounts and turn the program off if they want to watch HD video. Today, T-Mobile CEO John Legere announ … | Continue reading
In a surprise move, Nextbit has canceled its plans for a CDMA version of its Robin smartphone, according to a report from Recode. After repeated delays that pushed the ship date back to April, and issues with the carrier testing process that would've pushed the release of the pho … | Continue reading
Ahead of its May 27th premiere, we're getting another trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse, the followup to 2014's Days of Future Past.As the title indicates, the X-Men will be squaring off with Oscar Isaac's mutant Apocalypse in a fight for the fate of the planet. The new trailer gives … | Continue reading
Users no longer have a choice when it comes to opting into Twitter’s new algorithmic timeline. The company quietly began turning the timeline reorganization on by default this week, starting on March 15, The Next Web reports. The company also updated its timeline help page to cla … | Continue reading
Alongside Netflix, YouTube is the biggest name in online video, and today it's being added to T-Mobile's Binge On plan, which allows streaming from partner services without it counting against users' data caps. T-Mobile chief John Legere announced the news in a video on Twitter, … | Continue reading
Ron Gilbert has written and designed some of the most influential adventure games around, including 1987's Maniac Mansion, the spark for the golden age of Lucasfilm Games. And his next release, the crowdfunded Thimbleweed Park, looks a lot like the classics that defined his caree … | Continue reading
One of my favorite gaming experiences ever was hanging around arcades in the early ‘90s and playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. The core of Ninja Turtles has always been four brothers working together to fight bad guys, and the arcade game really captured that … | Continue reading
"Alexa, ask Fitbit how I’m doing today," is the latest phrase you didn’t expect to be saying to your living room in 2016.Starting today, users of both Amazon’s Alexa voice service and Fitbit wearables can ask Alexa health- and fitness-related questions on any Alexa-enabled device … | Continue reading
One of the best surprise games of last year was Rocket League, which can be succinctly described as "soccer with rocket cars." In a similar vein, PlayStation VR's Rigs: Mechanized Combat League juxtaposes two disparate ideas — in this case, mech shooters and something I'm generou … | Continue reading
SeaWorld announced today that it will stop breeding captive orcas, commonly known as killer whales, marking a major shift for the 57-year-old company. In a statement released Thursday, SeaWorld said that the 24 orcas currently under its care will be last generation of the animals … | Continue reading
People in China are paying $1,000 for a selfie camera that captures their “true beauty." Quartz ran an article about it this week, and it’s pretty fascinating. The camera is officially known as the Casio Exilim EX-TR70, but in China, it’s more commonly referred to as zipai shenqi … | Continue reading