IBM has a problem with Google’s Open Usage Commons

Enlarge / Nobody from IBM is proposing any lawsuits over Google's addition of Istio to its new Open Usage Commons foundation. But they're not happy about it. (credit: Nick Youngson) This Wednesday, Google announced a new open source initiative—the Open Usage Commons, a sort of stewardship project for open source trademarks. The move drew immediate...

15m

Google’s new Nest smart speaker is all cloth

The new Google Nest smart speaker. This is an official photo from Google. [credit: Google ] Say hello to Google's next smart speaker, which is expected to be a replacement for the original Google Home. Earlier this week, the speaker leaked...

45m

Charter’s hidden “Broadcast TV” fee now adds $197 a year to cable bills

(credit: Getty Images | DonNichols) Charter Communications is raising the "Broadcast TV" fee it imposes on cable plans from $13.50 to $16.45 a month starting in August, Stop the Cap reported. Charter says the Broadcast TV fee covers the amount it pays broadcast television stations (e.g. affiliates of CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox) for the right to carry...

1h

Commerce “Sharpiegate” report finally released without redaction

Enlarge / Hurricane Dorian on September 3, 2019. (credit: NASA EO) Recent weeks have seen some additional drama over last September’s hurricane dust-up between President Trump and the National Weather Service. Last week, the Commerce Department’s Inspector General was crying foul over leadership stonewalling the release of her report on any legal...

1h

Florida men charged with selling bleach as COVID-19 cure, threatening “a Waco”

Enlarge / Bottles of MMS, the bleach product that Genesis II Church of Health and Healing was ordered to stop selling. (credit: Genesis II Church of Health and Healing) Four members of the infamous “Church of Bleach”—a father and his three adult sons—are facing fraud and contempt charges in Florida in connection to selling industrial bleach as a...

1h

Tesla rival Rivian raises $2.5 billion to make electric trucks and SUVs

Enlarge / Rivian's R1T at the New York Auto Show in 2019. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin / Ars) Upstart electric vehicle maker Rivian has added $2.5 billion to its war chest, the company announced on Friday. It's Rivian's fifth fundraising round in just 18 months. The company raised $2.85 billion in four previous fundraising rounds between February and...

2h

Apple’s AirPods and wireless charging case are down to their lowest Amazon price

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica) Today's Dealmaster is headlined by a return of the best price we've seen on Apple's AirPods and Qi wireless charging case combo, which is now down to $150 on Amazon. For reference, Apple's MSRP for this configuration is $199, though we typically see it go for $169 on Amazon. The wireless charging case, meanwhile, usually...

3h

French parliament passes porn age-verification legislation

Enlarge / French President Emmanuel Macron. (credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The French parliament has agreed to pass a new law requiring age verification on pornographic websites to prevent access by children under 18, Politico reports. The initiative has the support of President Emmanuel Macron, who called for such a measure in...

3h

Augmented reality heads-up displays for cars are finally a real thing

Enlarge / An example of what the Mercedes-Benz augmented reality HUD looks like in action. You can see here it's showing the driver they need to take a left turn. (credit: Mercedes-Benz) When Audi briefed Ars on its newest electric car, the part that most piqued our interest was the news that the Q4 e-tron Sportback will feature an augmented reality...

4h

Rocket Report: Surprise Israeli launch, Britain decides to bail out OneWeb

Enlarge / An Atlas V payload fairing with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover secured inside arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility this week. (credit: NASA) Welcome to Edition 3.07 of the Rocket Report! This week, we're getting close to the opening of the Mars launch window, which occurs about every two years when Earth and the Red Planet...

7h