Tech Talk

After nearly a decade of hitching rides to space with rockets from other countries, NASA will be sending two astronauts back to the International Space Station from U.S. soil. This mission, called Demo-2, is a joint task between NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX company. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be returning to space, and NASA is making this event easier to watch than any previous one. SpaceX Launch: When & where The launch was originally scheduled to happen on Wednesday March 27, though the mission had to be scrubbed and pushed back to Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m EDT. As with all launches, this is totally dependent on the weather at that exact moment, though the conditions are favorable for it happening. Should the launch not occur then, the next possible launch date is Sunday May 31 at 3 p.m. Eastern. The Demo-2 mission will send Behnken and Hurley to orbit on a 19-hour journey to the ISS and viewers will be able to watch right from their TVs at ho

This week saw an interesting mix of news and rumors on the Apple front, led by the release of macOS 10.15.5, which brings a new battery health feature to newer Mac notebooks, while we also saw the official announcement of new colors for the Powerbeats Pro earphones. On the rumor front, we heard a few tidbits about not just this year's iPhone 12 but also next year's iPhone, while we saw photos and videos of a new style of Leather Loop Apple Watch band. And finally, there was a weird iOS bug last weekend that saw users unable to open some popular apps. Apple fixed the issue, although it appears to have required users to redownload a bunch of recent app updates. Read on for more details on all of this week's top stories! Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.5 With Battery Health Management Features, Fix for Finder Freezing After releasing operating system updates for most of its products last week, Apple this week pushed out macOS Catalina 10.15.5 , an update that brin

BlackBerry started the smartphone craze and Apple changed how we use them. Android has its roots in both and that's what makes it great. It all starts back in 2002 when a company called Danger builds a device called the Hicktop — a.k.a. the T-Mobile Sidekick for everyone in the U.S. Yes, there were "data-driven" devices in Japan, and companies were making PDAs, but the smartphone craze can be traced directly back to the Sidekick. Ironically, the Sidekick wasn't a smartphone and even back then nobody claimed it was anything other than a great way to send messages and have fun playing Rockets and Rocks even though it did feature a robust (by 2002) standards suite of productivity tools like an online calendar and a day planner. But people loved them, and two companies took notice: Microsoft , which bought Danger and went on to build the Kin as a failed direct successor, and BlackBerry who decided that the idea could be done better and people would love it even mo

Enjoy the in-car apps you need without the hassle. Android Auto went through a makeover in 2019 , and the new-look platform has been a big improvement ever since. Starting with the app launcher that lays out apps in a grid, plus a new font that's easier to read at a glance — especially if you're using Android Auto on a non-touchscreen head unit. Here's how to find your way around every time you look at it. Getting around the Android Auto interface The most important visual point of the interface is the app drawer because it holds several functional implications. The top four apps on the first line are anchored there like a "dock" specifically designated for maps, music and phone. You can select which music apps you prefer to use, in case YouTube Music and Podcasts aren't your preferred choices, but it will usually pin the ones you use most on its own. Below that are all the other apps you have that are compatible with the platform. Some of those li

Zoom is rolling out new GCM encryption, beginning May 30. What you need to know Zoom is rolling out GCM encryption across its platform this weekend. That means if you want to keep using Zoom and joining meetings, you need to update. If you can't update the desktop client, you can use the mobile app or the web client instead Popular video-conferencing app Zoom has announced that users must update their desktop client after this weekend in order to continue joining meetings, as it rolls out GCM encryption for all Zoom meetings. Zoom announced that it would begin enabling GCM encryption on May 30, at 01:00 PDT. The update is a really welcome boost to Zoom's security, which was found to be lacking following the app's meteoric rise thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst not as good as end-to-end encryption, GCM, or (Galois/Counter Mode) is a higher-quality security system, perfect for video conferencing , because it uses a stream cipher, rather than a block cipher.

"We'll be back with more on Android 11, soon." What you need to know Android 11 has been delayed. An event and beta release were scheduled for June 3. The development team says "now is not the time to celebrate", and says more information will be available "soon." This morning, Android Developers has announced via Twitter that the beta of Android 11, along with a June 3rd reveal event, has been postponed. Likely in a display of solidarity, and mindful of the current social climate (it did not mention any specific subject), the developer team tweeted: We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We'll be back with more on Android 11, soon. We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We'll be back with more on Android 11, soon. — Andro

Acorns , which helps millions of people invest their spare change in the stock market, has laid off between 50 to 70 people, TechCrunch has learned from multiple sources. The Irvine, Calif.-based company would not confirm the total number of people laid off, but did confirm that there were cuts at the company as a result of broader business changes. The news emerged days after the fintech company closed its Portland office earlier this week , one of four offices the company maintained. While Acorns offered Portland employees an opportunity to relocate to its Irvine headquarters, some roles were terminated as part of the relocation, the company said. Employees laid off largely were members of Acorns’ support team. And the internal cuts are related to an external partnership with TaskUs , which out-sources customer care and support needs for other businesses. Acorns will bring on roughly 80 new TaskUs support roles in the next year, which the company said would grow its support team