Tech

Google and Amazon have in their ongoing war over streaming technology and features. Google will finally let Amazon have a real YouTube app on its Fire TV platform, and Amazon will expand Prime Video support to Chromecast and all Android TV devices. It’s all smiles and handshakes between the companies now, but consumers have been caught in the crossfire for the last year as Google and Amazon took shots at each other. The dispute started in late 2015 when Amazon decided to stop selling Google’s Chromecast devices. That was right around the time Amazon ramped up its small form factor Fire TV Sticks, a direct competitor to the Chromecast.

There were no galaxies, stars, or even molecules in the eons following the . There were, however, plenty of atoms. With an entire universe of mass in atomic form, it was only a matter of time until the first molecules formed. Scientists have long suspected that helium hydride was the first molecule in the universe, but no one has ever detected it in space until now. NASA researchers have many light years away in a planetary nebula. Scientists working on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have now confirmed the existence of helium hydride in the planetary nebula NGC 7027.

If you’re chasing after an affordable theater experience for your home, this massive 75-inch LG set is easy to recommend. Thanks to the $500 discount off the retail price, a $250 bonus gift card, and access to loads of streaming apps, you’ll be able to enjoy high-res content on your very own big screen without blowing your savings account. • 4K UHD HDR Smart TV with $250 Dell Gift Card for $999.99 at Dell Home (List price: $1499.99). Need an extra controller for your Xbox One or PC? Right now, Amazon is selling an official Xbox One wireless controller in white for just $36.94 – 38 percent off the MSRP.

Ever since Nintendo built the Switch, we’ve been wondering when the company would upgrade the thing. From a technical perspective, the Switch is a bit underpowered. It still uses 20nm manufacturing technology and older ARM CPUs noted for high power consumption compared to more advanced products that debuted later. Now, a new report suggests the company is working on new devices — but it plans to bring the price down before it launches an advanced flavor. That’s the word from , which reports that a smaller version of the Switch based on portable play (but retaining the ability to hook to a TV) is in the works.

Hyundai’s upscale sibling Genesis grabbed the most oohs and ahs of the New York auto show with the rollout of a gorgeous urban EV concept car, the Genesis Mint. It set the tone for the Big Apple’s emphasis on smaller cars, mainstream, and premium, some with alternative powerplants. The metro New York Region comprising New York State, Connecticut, Long Island, and New Jersey is the biggest market for premium cars because of Wall Street, tech, pharma, the part of the media that is not the failing media, and safe-haven internationals who call NYC home part of the year. The New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) is the last major car show, domestic or international, before the season goes on a long summer break until the Frankfurt show in September.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold may have a serious fragility problem. Reviewer Dieter Bohn noticed something on the underside of his Galaxy Fold, underneath the crease. In less than , whatever the bit of material was had broken the screen altogether. He writes: “a piece of debris distorting the screen on a $1,980 phone after one day of use feels like it’s on an entirely different level.” It’s not supposed to do that. Image by This could, of course, be a nothing but a bad unit. This happens, particularly at the beginning of a product launch. Except it’s happening to more than one person.

The ancient comet ‘Oumuamua (above) made waves in late 2017 as our first interstellar visitor, but of course, it wasn’t the first. It was simply the first one we ever spotted. Astronomers at Harvard University now say Earth had a much closer encounter with an alien object in 2014. That small asteroid or comet may have traveled multiple light years from another solar system to burn up over the Pacific Ocean. Interstellar visitors like and the unnamed meteor might be common, but we have only recently been able to detect them. ‘Oumuamua passed through our neighborhood during summer and fall 2017, but astronomers with the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1) didn’t spot it until October 17 that year.

Microsoft loves tinkering with the idea of reinventing the collaborative work environment. Or, put differently, Microsoft hates meetings and screen-sharing just as much as you do, and is still trying to find a better way to bring all of these capabilities together in a form that provides better tools during meetings without making you want to die. Image by Surface Hub 2S is Microsoft next-generation vision for improving the Office of the Future. If you’ve got many thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket, the Surface Hub 2S could be the kind of tool you’re looking for.

The Israeli Beresheet moon lander didn’t complete its mission, instead of landing softly. That’s a setback for Israel’s space ambitions, but the mission might not be a complete loss. An experimental NASA payload from the Beresheet spacecraft someplace on the lunar surface. Researchers plan to begin scouring the likely crash site for signs of the Lunar Retroreflector Array (LRA). Beresheet was itself something of a technology demonstration mission. Aside from the cameras and sensors necessary for landing on the moon, the designers didn’t add any scientific equipment. However, the Israeli Weizmann Institute of Science added a magnetometer to the lander, and NASA supplied the LRA.