The Land Rover Defender—rugged, charming, but drinks like a fish by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2021-02-18 22:49 (#5EC7B) Off-road utility is paid for at the gas pump.
Tech groups sue Maryland to block new digital-ad tax from going into effect by Kate Cox on 2021-02-18 21:46 (#5EC55) The countdown to lawsuit o'clock basically started the second legislators voted.
Microsoft Office 2021 is on its way by Jim Salter on 2021-02-18 21:25 (#5EC2V) Dark mode is the new hotness.
Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars by John Timmer on 2021-02-18 21:08 (#5EC2W) Only the second time NASA's skycrane has placed a rover on Mars' surface.
“Shameful and inhumane”: DeSantis threatens to withhold vaccine amid criticism by Beth Mole on 2021-02-18 20:15 (#5EBZS) Pop-up vaccination site serves "whitest demographic, the richest demographic."
Let them fight! Mortal Kombat red-band trailer gives fans what they want by Jennifer Ouellette on 2021-02-18 19:51 (#5EBZT) Reboot of popular franchise finally emerges from development hell.
Apple is already working on developing 6G wireless technology by Samuel Axon on 2021-02-18 19:20 (#5EBX7) 6G is still many years away, but Apple doesn't want to depend on Qualcomm again.
Today’s best tech deals: Nintendo Joy-Cons, Apple’s M1 Mac mini, and more by Ars Staff on 2021-02-18 19:07 (#5EBX8) Dealmaster also has deals on Roombas, gaming keyboards, and the iPad Air.
What to expect from the dramatic Mars Perseverance landing [UPDATED with livestream] by Eric Berger on 2021-02-18 18:45 (#5EAD6) This mission brings a lot of new hardware and science to the red planet.
Uber: Bankrupt engineer Levandowski is hiding millions from creditors by Timothy B. Lee on 2021-02-18 18:12 (#5EBSR) Judge views Levandowski's financial antics with an "incredibly jaundiced eye."
House Republicans propose nationwide ban on municipal broadband networks by Jon Brodkin on 2021-02-18 18:04 (#5EBSS) GOP claims ban would "promote competition by limiting government-run networks."
Google announces the Android 12 Developer Preview by Ron Amadeo on 2021-02-18 18:00 (#5EBST) Google promises a revamped notification UI, lots of other changes.
Facebook news ban is “arrogant,” Australia will not be “intimidated,” PM says by Kate Cox on 2021-02-18 16:49 (#5EBNZ) Deploying a blunt instrument on a whole nation is going just as well as you'd guess.
Deep in the heart of Texas’ collapsing power grid by John Timmer on 2021-02-18 15:57 (#5EBJ9) Everything in Texas went wrong at once.
Acting NASA chief says 2024 Moon landing no longer a “realistic” target by Eric Berger on 2021-02-18 13:10 (#5EB8K) "We are reviewing the program for the most efficient path forward.”
Latest Nintendo Direct event led by Zelda: Skyward Sword HD remaster by Sam Machkovech on 2021-02-17 23:39 (#5EAM2) Splatoon 3, Fall Guys, a Ninja Gaiden 3D trilogy collection, new Mario Golf, more.
The world’s second-most popular desktop operating system isn’t macOS anymore by Samuel Axon on 2021-02-17 22:27 (#5EAJG) Chrome OS's rise in market share has been swift and decisive.
Steam developer gets banned for “Very Positive” review trickery by Kyle Orland on 2021-02-17 22:10 (#5EAFW) Steam UI made it hard to tell if "Very Positive" games had "Very Positive" reviews.
Egyptian royal mummy shows pharaoh wasn’t assassinated—he was executed by Kiona N. Smith on 2021-02-17 21:59 (#5EAFX) An earlier X-ray had suggested that the king might have been murdered in his sleep.
Facebook goes nuclear, banning all news posts in Australia by Timothy B. Lee on 2021-02-17 21:43 (#5EAFY) Facebook says Australia "fundamentally misunderstands" its relationship to news.
Google’s older Pixel cameras are failing at an accelerating rate by Ron Amadeo on 2021-02-17 20:55 (#5EAD7) Users of the Pixel 2, 3, and 4 are reporting nonfunctional cameras.
Xbox takes back-compat to new extremes, tricks old games to run faster by Sam Machkovech on 2021-02-17 19:29 (#5EA7Q) "FPS boost" skips code injection, delivers doubled performance—for some weird games.
Citibank just got a $500 million lesson in the importance of UI design by Timothy B. Lee on 2021-02-17 18:59 (#5EA7R) Citibank was trying to make $7.8M in interest payments. It sent $900M instead.
Apple M1-native malware has already begun to appear by Jim Salter on 2021-02-17 18:31 (#5EA7S) Security researcher Patrick Wardle discovered M1-native malware targeting macOS.
Mobile World Congress will proceed without vaccination requirements by Samuel Axon on 2021-02-17 18:15 (#5EA43) "It would be great if the world was vaccinated, but we can’t rely on that."
Ex-Stadia developers dish on Google’s mismanagement and poor communication by Ron Amadeo on 2021-02-17 18:13 (#5EA44) Former Stadia developers "shocked" by surprise shutdown of Google's game studio.
Million-year-old mammoth DNA rewrites animal’s evolutionary tree by John Timmer on 2021-02-17 18:10 (#5EA45) The oldest DNA yet sequenced shows how the genus split off into new species.
Fortnite fight expands as Epic claims Apple broke EU competition law by Kate Cox on 2021-02-17 17:51 (#5EA46) In the US, Epic is taking Apple to court; in the EU, it's heading to regulators.
Volta Truck’s city delivery trucks will use Proterra batteries by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2021-02-17 17:00 (#5EA08) Testing begins this year, with production scheduled for 2022.
Big Tech opens wallet for publishers as Australian news code looms by Financial Times on 2021-02-17 14:44 (#5E9RT) Google and Facebook strike deals in effort to stymie rules on paying for content.
Two visionaries: Marie Curie forged a friendship with dancer Loïe Fuller by Jennifer Ouellette on 2021-02-17 11:45 (#5E9GK) Liz Heinecke on her new book Radiant, a parallel biography of two extraordinary women.
France ties Russia’s Sandworm to a multiyear hacking spree by WIRED on 2021-02-17 01:26 (#5E90V) Destructively minded group has exploited an IT monitoring tool from Centreon.
McLaren drops the V8, moves to V6 plug-in hybrid for its next supercar by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2021-02-17 00:15 (#5E8ZG) It's the first car to use McLaren's new V6, as well as its new MCLA platform.
Online fighting games during COVID: How rollback helps us connect by Aurich Lawson on 2021-02-16 23:54 (#5E8ZH) We played Guilty Gear Strive's online beta to see how its netcode holds up.
An anniversary for great justice: Remembering “All Your Base” 20 years later by Sam Machkovech on 2021-02-16 21:02 (#5E8RC) Back in our day, memes didn't benefit from centralized services like YouTube, Twitter.
Posing as Amazon seller, consumer group investigates fake-review industry by Jon Brodkin on 2021-02-16 20:28 (#5E8RD) Fake Amazon reviews still sold in bulk—it costs $10,900 for 1,000 reviews.
Microsoft releases new all-in-one Office app for iPads by Samuel Axon on 2021-02-16 20:12 (#5E8NW) The all-in-one iPhone app made a seamless transition to the iPad.
Today’s best tech deals: Hitman 3, 400GB microSD cards, and more by Ars Staff on 2021-02-16 20:03 (#5E8NX) Dealmaster also has Apple's MagSafe Charger, Roku streamers, and gaming laptops.
North Dakota lawmakers jump into Apple/Epic fight with new app store bill by Kate Cox on 2021-02-16 19:48 (#5E8NY) ND bill would require Apple, Google to let you side-load apps and avoid the 30% cut.
“ShareIt” Android app with over a billion downloads is a security nightmare by Ron Amadeo on 2021-02-16 19:36 (#5E8NZ) Trend Micro audited one of Android's most popular file-sharing apps. It's not good.
North Korea may have hacked into Pfizer servers looking for COVID data by Jim Salter on 2021-02-16 18:08 (#5E8FT) South Korea's NIS warned lawmakers of Russian and North Korean hacking activity.
Bitcoin’s price rises to $50,000 as mainstream institutions hop on by Timothy B. Lee on 2021-02-16 17:58 (#5E8FV) Bank of New York Mellon says it will begin offering bitcoin storage services.
PC versions of Grand Theft Auto reverse-engineered to raw source code by Kyle Orland on 2021-02-16 16:52 (#5E8CN) Decompilation leads to Switch port, improved load times, and more.
Morphing bodywork among Lotus’ ideas for a future electric race car by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2021-02-16 16:29 (#5E891) The firm has extrapolated current technology out to 2030.
Galaxy S21 Ultra—$200 cheaper but still not competitive by Ron Amadeo on 2021-02-16 15:39 (#5E892) Review: The first new 2021 phone doesn't justify its price.
Just as a Falcon 9 rocket was due to land, the horizon began to glow by Eric Berger on 2021-02-16 15:31 (#5E893) "We did get a little bright glow... no longer see a flame there."
China targets rare earth export curbs to hobble US defense industry by Financial Times on 2021-02-16 15:27 (#5E894) Beijing asks industry executives if proposed restrictions will harm western contractors.
Valheim is the endless Viking survival game we have craved for years by Sam Machkovech on 2021-02-16 13:14 (#5E80G) Vikings, voxels, and valor: Why we're hooked on Steam's newest Early Access success.
New type of supply-chain attack hit Apple, Microsoft and 33 other companies by Dan Goodin on 2021-02-16 12:49 (#5E80H) Researcher who got targets to automatically install his code gets $130,000 payout.
Neanderthals used stone tool tech once considered exclusive to Homo sapiens by Kiona N. Smith on 2021-02-15 23:34 (#5E7EV) A child's molar from an Israeli cave links Neanderthals to the cave's stone tools.