There’s nothing quite like watching a movie or a TV show completely offline — there’s no buffering, there’s no lagging, and there’s no need to worry about bandwidth constrains and the like. While optical-based media provides the most pure offline audiovisual experience possible, it isn’t the only option available. In…
Defense tech Hadrian raises $1.37B at $8B valuation
Defense tech Hadrian announced on Thursday that it had raised a fresh $1.37 billion round at a valuation of $7.87 billion from a mile-long list of well-known investors. The lead investors in the round included WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures, and Baillie Gifford. Participating investors…
An important Google Photos backup feature is being discontinued, but I found a way to keep it working
Google is about to make a major change to the Google Drive desktop app, and if you rely on it to automatically back up your computer’s photos to Google Photos, you’ll need to make some changes very soon. Starting August 10, the Google Drive for desktop app will no longer…
Ford needs another Taurus, and the $30K Fathom EV pickup isn’t it
Few automotive companies are as dependent on breakout hits as Ford. It’s almost as though it’s baked into the company’s DNA: From the Model T and the Taurus to the F-150 and the Explorer, Ford has lurched from one success to another. Recently, though, the automaker has been coming up…
4K Blu-ray has three HDR formats, and you need the right one for your TV
4K Blu-ray has a big advantage over regular Blu-ray in the form of high dynamic range, or HDR. HDR helps those dark blacks stay dark instead of a cloudy gray, and it’ll help those bright colors pop off your screen. Of course, a lot of this comes down to how…
TikTok lays off 250 employees, shutters its Nashville office
TikTok is laying off 250 employees and closing its Nashville office, which housed some members of TikTok’s content moderation team. The news was first reported by The New York Times. Zanna Crowley, a spokesperson for the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, confirmed the news, saying that the shuttering was to “streamline…
OpenAI says Apple’s own security practices undermine its trade secrets case
OpenAI’s motion to dismiss Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit, along with newly filed exhibits, reveals the company’s legal defense strategy. Rather than focusing on whether former Apple employees working at OpenAI had accessed certain information, the AI company argues that Apple’s own security practices and offboarding procedures weaken its claim that…
Netflix quietly upgraded its quality on this device for free
Don’t get me wrong, while I enjoy watching shows and movies on Netflix, there are certainly a lot of things about the service that frustrate me. For one, the constant price hikes over the past few years have been ridiculous. It’s crazy to think that, in just 10 years, the…
Amid legal battles, Suno says it will start watermarking songs
Suno, the service that allows users to create AI-generated songs, today announced new tools to mark tracks made on its platform, limit downloads, and update community guidelines to prevent copycat songs. The changes come as Suno faces numerous lawsuits from labels and artist bodies. In a blog post, co-founder and…
Google Maps adds agentic features, including food ordering and hotel bookings
Google announced on Thursday that Google Maps’ “Ask Maps” feature is gaining a slew of new agentic capabilities, including the ability to order food, book hotels, and find event tickets. The tech giant is also bringing Personal Intelligence to Ask Maps, allowing the AI tool to personalize its responses by…