The Star Wars BD-X droids are remote-controlled by staff members. Disney Typically, communicating with a droid would be limited to sci-fi movies. However, with a sprinkle of magic and a major dose of advanced robotics, Disney is bringing the experience to Disneyland. Also: Apple reportedly exploring AI-powered home robots, including these two products Last fall, Disneyland […] More
HPE When I was a kid, I went to a science camp, and one of the instructors showed us a few inches of fiber optic cable. I remember thinking it was so neat that you could light it up at one end, and no matter how you twisted the cable, you could see the light […] More
BeeBright/Getty Images It all started when Andres Freund, a Microsoft principal software engineer, became curious about why the SSH remote security code in the Debian Linux beta was running slowly. Freund did some digging and discovered the problem: A chief programmer and maintainer of the xz data compression library, Jia Tan, had put a backdoor […] More
Marco VDM/Getty Images It’s no secret that businesses around the world are implementing artificial intelligence to gain a competitive advantage in their industries. AI could have an outsize impact on corporate cybersecurity, as well, according to a new study of 2,486 information technology and security professionals, conducted by Google Cloud and the Cloud Security Alliance. […] More
Kerry Wan/ZDNETIf you’re a Comcast Xfinity Internet customer, you may have gotten a nice surprise recently — faster internet for no charge.And for some users, your new speed is double the speed you had previously.In a press release about the upgrade, Comcast noted several changes had occurred. The Connect level doubled from 75Mbps to 150Mbps, the Connect More tier went from 200Mbps to 300Mbps, the Fast tier went from 400Mbps to 500Mbps, and Xfinity Prepaid jumped from 50Mbps to 200Mbps.Also: 10 ways to speed up your internet connection todayThe company made a similar move in the fall of 2022.According to Emily Waldorf, Comcast’s senior vice president of consumer internet services, the changes come as Congress debates ending the Affordable Connectivity Program, which allows certain eligible households to receive a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service. More
iRobot iRobot today announced a new, affordable robot vacuum and mop to replace the budget-friendly Roomba 600 Series<!–>. The new Roomba Combo Essential–> surpasses the best-selling 600 Series by adding a mopping feature, 20 times more suction power, up to 120-minute battery life, and 25% better hard floor dirt pickup — all for just $275. […] More
Jason Hiner/ZDNETApple has made several major shifts in its product roadmap within the past year, including putting an end to its electric car project and focusing on developing its presence in the AI space. Apple’s next pivot may be into home robotics. Also: The 15 best robots and AI tech we saw at CES On Wednesday, Apple analyst Mark Gurman — citing insider sources — reported that Apple is exploring developing personal robots. The possible products so far include a mobile robot assistant that follows users around their homes and an advanced tabletop device with a moving display powered by robotics.The robotics development is reportedly happening under John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, who previously led machine intelligence, research, and search teams at Google. Additionally, Matt Costello and Brian Lynch, two Apple executives in the hardware group, have overseen the hardware development of the robots, according to the report. More
Bloomberg/Getty Images As Windows 10 nears its end-of-support deadline, Microsoft is executing a familiar game plan for its business customers. Last December, the company confirmed it would offer a subscription-based option to customers who want to continue receiving security updates for Windows 10 after October 14, 2025, mirroring a similar program Microsoft ran in 2020, […] More
