The Morning After: BlackBerry sues Facebook
Including Instagram and WhatsApp.
Welcome to the middle. Dyson's range of vacuums are going cordless, Porsche unveils a speedy Tesla Model X rival and BlackBerry decides to sue Facebook, all of a sudden.
Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland pleads guilty to wire fraud
Remember last summer's Fyre Festival, the ultimate social-media-fueled disaster event? It turns out that attendees weren't the only ones disappointed, as Fyre Media founder Billy McFarland pled guilty yesterday to charges he lied and forged documents while convincing investors to pour $26 million into his company. According to the DOJ, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the two counts of wire fraud and will be sentenced on June 21st.
Dyson to go all cordless with vacuums, starting with the Cyclone V10
Between the DC30 from 2009 and the more recent V8 series, Dyson's handheld vacuum cleaners have barely changed on the outside, so color us surprised when Sir James whipped out a very different-looking machine today. The Cyclone V10 resembles a huge conventional hair dryer thanks to the repositioned cyclones and bin -- these are now in line with the head attachment and exhaust. Together, these form a linear airflow path from front to end, which apparently boosts suction power while also reducing noise. The new bin also benefits from a larger capacity, along with a more intuitive dirt-eject mechanism: just remove the head, point at a trash can and push the eject button. Like a dust shotgun or something.
Honda's Urban EV pre-orders start in early 2019
Honda's Urban EV is scheduled to become a reality next year, and the company says it will open up the books for orders (in Europe, at least) early in 2019. We're still waiting to find out what a production version of this concept car will look like, but there's plenty of time for that to happen.
Porsche unveils its insanely fast Tesla Model X rival
Porsche continues to target Tesla. After taking a swipe at the Model S, X and 3 maker last week, the German automaker just surprised us in Geneva with the Mission E Cross Turismo SUV (even though Porsche calls it a CUV, a cross utility vehicle). Watch out Model X.
LG's AI-enabled OLED TVs go on sale this month
We finally have pricing and release-date details for most of LG's 2018 4K TVs. That includes high-end Signature W8 OLED models that can cost up to $15,000 for a 77-incher, to E8 with a $3,500 sticker on the 55-inch version. If that's too pricey for an OLED, don't worry -- we're still waiting for info on the B8 series. If you prefer LCD options, the SK8000 series starts at $1,000.
Google backs its Bristlecone chip to crack quantum computing
Google has designs on being the first to achieve quantum supremacy -- the point where a quantum computer could run particular algorithms faster than a classic computer. Today it announced that it believes its latest research, Bristlecone, is going to be the processor to help it achieve that. According to the Google Quantum AI Lab, it could provide "a compelling proof-of-principle for building larger scale quantum computers." The race is still on, however.
BlackBerry sues Facebook for violating messaging patents
BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles Federal Court against Facebook for infringing the patent on its messaging technology. The lawsuit calls out Facebook, WhatsApp as well as Instagram for their use of instant messaging. To be clear, the suit has been filed by BlackBerry and not TCL, the maker of BlackBerry-branded handsets since 2016.
But wait, there's more...
The new 'Lost in Space' doesn't look like the show you remember
Comcast increases Xfinity internet speeds across 14 states in the northeast
Mercedes' futuristic headlights are no longer just a concept
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