The Morning After: Friday, September 8th 2017
Equileaks.
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
It's Friday. We have some bad news for you.
Equifax leaks personal info of 143 million US consumers
One of the largest US credit bureaus revealed that hackers attacked its website and may have stolen information tied to 143 million US customers (plus some in Canada and the UK). The information stolen includes names, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, birth dates and presumably the details of your most embarrassing dream, too. There's a website set up to let people know if they're in the lucky 44 percent of Americans affected, but it involves handing Equifax six digits of your SSN, so we can understand why you might not want to do that again so quickly.
Intel's Optane SSDs, explained.
A few months ago, Intel launched Optane, the first new memory technology to hit the PC market since Toshiba released commercial flash memory over three decades ago. Intel claims this new storage medium will be more durable than flash, and an order of magnitude faster. Join us on a brief journey through the past, present and future of PC storage, as we explain why you should (and shouldn't) care about Optane right now.
Google Drive on PC/Mac is dead
If you use Google Drive and/or Photos on PC and Mac, beware that both apps are being eliminated starting December 11th, 2017, and shut off completely in March of next year. In their place is the new Backup and Sync app that handles your photos and other data.
Amazon wants US cities to bid for its second major HQ
Famously based in Seattle, Amazon is looking for a city to host its HQ2. The company says it's bringing up to 50,000 new jobs and "tens of billions of dollars in additional investment," so the competition will likely be fierce.
Meet Sony's new $5,000 'true 4K' projector
While other companies rely on technological tricks to get 4K out of their projectors, Sony's SXRD tech is bringing every single pixel. Of course, that will cost you, but now the company has introduced a new entry level projector that's significantly cheaper than its other options. The only catch? The VPL-VW285ES still costs just under $5,000.
Pebble founder's comeback is a battery case for iPhone and AirPods
While his smartwatch company is a footnote after its acquisition by Fitbit, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky isn't done with the hardware game. His current Kickstarter is this $99 iPhone case, the PodCase, which can charge your mobile device and a pair of AirPods all at once.
According to Devindra Hardawar, "The new Omen 15 fixes everything wrong with the previous model." There's still short battery life, and it doesn't quite have the power needed for 4K gaming, but it's just right for 1080p and all the VR we could find.
But wait, there's more...
Florida Gov. tells residents: Use Google Maps for real-time road closure updates
Inside the London store that only accepts personal data as currency
Marvel and Star Wars films will be Disney streaming exclusives... in 2019
Trailer for Netflix's 'Neo Yokio' anime shows the brand is strong
A huge solar flare temporarily knocked out GPS communications
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