According to CNBC, Slack plans to integrate Microsoft Teams calling features into its workplace collaboration app. Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield shared the plan during an analyst call. “We’re working on Teams integrations for calling features,” he said.Adding support for Teams makes a lot of sense both because of the current situation and the fact that…
Tag: Technology
Google Bans Infowars Android App Over Coronavirus Claims
On Friday, Google removed the Infowars Android app from its Play Store, extinguishing one of the last mainstream strongholds of infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The takedown on the heels of a video, posted in the Infowars app last week and viewed by WIRED, in which Jones disputed the need for social distancing, shelter in…
Dyson to manufacture 15,000 ventilators following UK call for help
The ventilator can be mounted on a bed, run on batteries or wall power and doesn’t require a fixed air supply, according to Med-Tech News. It’s also efficient in conserving oxygen and has a user interface designed specifically for healthcare providers.Many patients with COVID-19 develop severe respiratory symptoms and can’t breathe on their own, so…
Silicon Valley Is Saving Us—for Now
There is a scenario where the coronavirus outbreak becomes a turning point in America’s love-hate relationship with Silicon Valley. After being assailed by politicians of both parties for their socially destructive tools that promote isolation, depression and disinformation, the digital monopolies rush in to save the day and hold society intact. Real superhero stuff: an…
Polaroid Now Review: Good, Old-School Fun
In 2008, Polaroid shut down its instant film production and factories, ending an era of photographic fun.But that era didn’t want to end, and the appropriately named Impossible Project revived first Polaroid film and then Polaroid cameras. Whether it’s nostalgia or genuine love, people want not just instant cameras but specifically Polaroid instant cameras.The Impossible…
How to Stay in Touch With Friends and Family When You’re Stuck at Home
A few weeks ago, the phrase “social distancing” didn’t mean much to most folks. These days, you hear it frequently. It’s all about flattening the curve by physically staying away from other people to ensure that our hospitals have enough room for those who need it in the wake of the novel coronavirus. (And yes,…
‘Picard’ finally shows us how Star Trek’s technology evolves
Over seven seasons various TNG episodes continued to explore what the holodeck could do. Deep Space Nine (DS9) even gave us a recurring holographic character, lounge singer Vic Fontaine. But it was Voyager that made a sentient hologram part of the main cast, and spent the next seven years exploring the concept of having a…
Mozilla combines tracker blocking with paid, ad-free browsing
Last year, Mozilla partnered with Scroll — a subscription service that enables ad-free browsing of its partner publications — to analyze if a select group of users preferred paying a small fee rather than being served ads, and if the strategy was cost-effective for the publications. After seeing promising results, the two companies have announced…
You Can See the Coronavirus From Space
Can you see the novel coronavirus from space? You can, as it happens—if you know where to look. Since January, the Colorado-based space technology company Maxar has been taking low Earth orbit satellite photographs of Covid-19 hotspots in places like China, Italy, and America. The company’s four imaging satellites take the highest-resolution commercially available photographs,…
Popular European banking app Revolut is launching in the US today
Mobile banking app Revolut, which has more than 10 million customers in Europe, is launching today in the US, the company announced. Like Monzo, a UK-based banking app that made the jump to the US last June, Revolut is entirely app-based and doesn’t operate any brick-and-mortar locations. That means you can sign up for an…