Technology

  Relaxnews The inaugural WardsAuto Top 10 Best User Experience Awards highlight those cars where technology and infotainment systems are a pleasure rather than a punishment to use. Why is a user interface like a joke? If it needs to be explained, it’s not very good. This programmer’s mantra is very quickly moving from software and website design and into ...

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co., under pressure from consumers for longer-lasting batteries that charge faster, pushed the limits of lithium-ion technology. The effort backfired when some of its new Note 7 handsets caught fire and exploded. Building a better battery has long bedeviled the tech industry. Smartphones are constantly improving, with sharper displays, improved software and cameras rivaling those used ...

  AFP With new iPhones hitting the markets Friday, Apple is seeking to regain momentum and set new trends for the smartphone industry and tech sector. The newest versions of the California-based technology giant’s lifestyle-changing iPhone aim to win over users with sophisticated camera technology, water resistance, more power and other improvements. But Apple has raised eyebrows by eliminating headphone ...

  AFP Facebook, Twitter and news organizations including Agence France-Presse have joined a coalition of media and technology groups seeking to filter out online misinformation and improve news quality on social networks. First Draft News, which is backed by Google, announced Tuesday that some 20 news organizations will be part of its partner network to share information on best practices ...

  Bloomberg Yi Wang was hearing the same refrain over and over: Why are English classes in China so expensive? And why aren’t I proficient yet? The former Google product manager decided to do something about it and started an app called LiuLiShuo, which basically means “speaking fluently” in Mandarin. The app, which claims more than 30 million users, is ...

  AP Uber riders in Pittsburgh can get a glimpse of the future by summoning a car capable of handling most of the tasks of driving on its own. Starting Wednesday morning, a fleet of self-driving Ford Fusions will pick up Uber riders who opted to participate in a test program. While the vehicles are loaded with features that allow ...

  Bloomberg Don’t fear the robots. While new technologies are giving rise to a “jobs gap” – or a mismatch between the jobs people want and the ones that are available – they’re also affording new opportunities for workers, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. argues in a new report. The rise of automation, online tools, and big data echoes industrial revolutions ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. faced an embarrassing technical glitch after some customers reported difficulties updating their iPhone operating system to the latest software, which became available Tuesday. After downloading the iOS 10 update, the smartphones or iPads shut down to install the software. Then, rather than the device automatically turning back on with iOS 10 installed, a screen appeared prompting ...

  Bloomberg Forget about self-driving cars: In Germany, the Internet of Things starts with hot dogs. Certuss Dampfautomaten GmbH, a Krefeld-based maker of steam generators used for anything from cooking sausages to sterilizing medical instruments, used to fly repairmen out to far-flung locations to restart broken-down machinery. Now sensors in the machines send data on 60 items including temperature, steam ...

  Bloomberg Bitcoin technology is starting to seep into the electricity business, shaking up the way payments are managed every time a light switch is flipped. From New York to Vienna, researchers and utilities are adapting the cloud-based ledger system used to track bitcoins as a replacement for slower administrative systems that require constant human input and multiple spreadsheets. Once ...