CATEGORIES

FREE TV SERVICE LOCAST SUSPENDS OPERATIONS AFTER LEGAL LOSS

Locast, a service that streamed local TV for free in about three dozen U.S. cities, is suspending operations after losses in court against the broadcast industry.

SOCIAL MEDIA'S 70-UP ‘GRANDFLUENCERS' DEBUNKING AGING MYTHS

Joan MacDonald’s health was in shambles at age 71. She was overweight and on numerous medications with high cholesterol, rising blood pressure and kidney trouble.

SURVEY: OWNERS FRUSTRATED WHEN LINKING PHONES TO VEHICLES

Automobile quality rose last year, but glitches in pairing smartphones with infotainment systems frustrated owners more than anything, according to a large U.S. survey of auto owners.

RUSSIA URGES APPLE, GOOGLE TO REMOVE NAVALNY APP FROM STORES

Russia’s state communications watchdog warned Apple and Google on Thursday that they could face fines if they fail to remove an app created by allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny from their stores.

FTC ORDERS COMPANY TO QUIT SURVEILLANCE APP BUSINESS

The Federal Trade Commission has for the first time banned a company that makes so-called stalker were — software used to surreptitiously track a cellphone user’s activities and location — from continuing in the surveillance app business.

IRISH WATCHDOG FINES WHATSAPP $267M AFTER EU PRIVACY PROBE

Ireland’s privacy watchdog has fined WhatsApp a record 225 million euros ($267 million) after an investigation found it breached stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency about sharing people’s data with other Facebook companies.

US ASKS TESLA HOW AUTOPILOT RESPONDS TO EMERGENCY VEHICLES

The U.S. government’s highway safety agency wants detailed information on how Tesla’s Autopilot system detects and responds to emergency vehicles parked on highways.

GOOGLE TO INVEST $1.2B IN GERMANY CLOUD COMPUTING PROGRAM

Google said that it is investing 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) by 2030 to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in Germany and to increase the use of renewable energy.

MICROSOFT FIXES CLOUD PLATFORM VULNERABILITY AFTER WARNING

Microsoft says it has fixed a flaw in its cloud computing platform that cybersecurity researchers warned could have enabled hackers to take over a cloud-based database product used by many big companies.

UN: WEATHER DISASTERS SOAR IN NUMBERS, COST, BUT DEATHS FALL

Weather disasters are striking the world four to five times more often and causing seven times more damage than in the 1970s, the United Nations weather agency reports.

GOOGLE APPEALS $591M FRENCH FINE IN COPYRIGHT PAYMENT SPAT

Google is appealing a 500 million euro ($591 million) fine issued by French regulators over its handling of negotiations with publishers in a dispute over copyright.

iCloud+: ENTERING NEW GROUNDS WITH NEXT SUBSCRIPTION GEN

This October, iCloud turns ten. In its decadelong lifespan, the cloud storage service has changed the way we work forever, allowing us to create documents on our iPads and use them on our Macs, store important memories with the Photos app, and conduct important business over the Mail app. This year, Apple’s taking iCloud to new heights, with the launch of iCloud+, a new subscription service that unlocks significant new features for power users.

MORE SCHOOLS JOIN TENNESSEE STATE-APPLE TECH INITIATIVE

A dozen historically Black colleges and universities will join Tennessee State University’s national coding hub as community centers, the school said.

VEHICLE PRICES REMAIN HIGH THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND

If this were a normal year, Labor Day would traditionally kick off the start of end-of-model-year vehicle clearance sales. Consumers can often find good deals as dealerships are eager to sell their remaining inventory to make room for next year’s models. But this hasn’t been a normal year in the car business.

Apple Loosens App Store Payment Rules In Lawsuit Settlement

Apple has agreed to let developers of iPhone apps email their users about cheaper ways to pay for digital subscriptions and media by circumventing a commission system that generates billions of dollars annually for the iPhone maker.

China Limits Children To 3 Hours Of Online Gaming A Week

China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector.

Amazon Teams With Affirm To Offer Buy Now-Pay-Later Option

Amazon is teaming with payments company Affirm to offer online shoppers a buy-now-pay later option that does not involve credit cards.

Apple Eases App Store Rules Again, to Allow Outside Signups

Apple is relaxing rules to allow some app developers such as Spotify, Netflix and digital publishers to include an outside link so users can sign up for paid subscription accounts.

WITH SALES STILL SURGING, BEST BUY RAISES PROSPECTS FOR 2021

Best Buy raised its sales outlook for the year after breezing past Wall Street expectations in the second quarter.

WAYMO EXPANDING AUTONOMOUS RIDE SERVICE TO SAN FRANCISCO

Waymo, the Google self-driving vehicle spinoff, is expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to San Francisco.

WHY IT TAKES MONTHS TO SUBDUE SOME WILDFIRES

At nearly every community meeting on firefighting efforts in the U.S. West, residents want to know why crews don’t simply put out the flames to save their homes and the valuable forests surrounding them.

WHAT IS A COVID-19 VACCINE PASSPORT, AND DO I NEED ONE?

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and do I need one?

FOSSIL LEAVES MAY REVEAL CLIMATE IN LAST ERA OF DINOSAURS

Richard Barclay opens a metal drawer in archives of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum containing fossils that are nearly 100 million years old. Despite their age, these rocks aren’t fragile. The geologist and botanist handles them with casual ease, placing one in his palm for closer examination.

TECH COMPANIES PLEDGE BILLIONS IN CYBERSECURITY INVESTMENTS

Some of the country’s leading technology companies have committed to investing billions of dollars to strengthen cybersecurity defenses and to train skilled workers, the White House announced Wednesday following President Joe Biden’s private meeting with top executives.

US AUTHORITIES WARN AGAINST FLYING DRONES OVER NATIONAL LAB

Drone pilots beware.

COVID-19 RESURGENCE CRIMPS SPENDING, TRAVEL RECOVERY

A COVID-19 resurgence this summer has caused consumers to turn cautious, while investors trim their investments in a travel sector still struggling to recover.

SPAIN JUDGE NIXES BACKUP SITE FOR DISPUTED HAWAII TELESCOPE

A Spanish judge in a decision cheered by environmentalists has put a halt to backup plans for the construction of a giant telescope in the Canary Islands — eliminating at least for now the primary alternative location to the preferred spot in Hawaii, where there have been protests against the telescope.

GIG APPS FOR A PANDEMIC ECONOMY: PART-TIME, NO COMMITMENT

For months, Gabrielle Walker had been looking for a part-time job. She applied to restaurant chains and retailers like Nando’s and Primark, and she scoured the job search site Indeed.

FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR WATER TO BE RELEASED VIA UNDERSEA TUNNEL

The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said this week it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing.

SENATORS QUESTION DOJ FUNDING FOR AI-POWERED POLICING TECH

A Democratic senator said the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into whether the algorithm-powered police technologies it funds contribute to racial bias in law enforcement and lead to wrongful arrests.