The Morning After: Hardcore parkour robots
And music has been modernized.
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
(Potentially) killer robots, an iPlane and the software update that can keep your supercar from catching on fire. There's something for everyone in today's recap.
Donald Trump signs the Music Modernization Act into law
Today, the president signed the Music Modernization Act into law with various celebrities, including Kid Rock, Mike Love and John Rich, present. It focuses on updating music copyright law to be current with the streaming era -- and hopefully, increase royalties for artists and songwriters. Officially named the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act, it was unanimously passed by both the House and the Senate, and streamlines the process for music licensing and updates rules about royalties for streaming music.
Kanye West wants Apple to build Trump an 'iPlane'
Nothing quite like pitching a hydrogen-powered plane, "made by Apple" to the President of the United States of America. All through the medium of GIFs.
Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot shows upgraded agility in 'Parkour' video
This summer workout clip features a bipedal battery-powered robot that not only jogs, but hops over obstacles and up an uneven obstacle course with nary a bobble. The 'bot now has enough processing power to use its legs, arms and torso to balance through the movements and power up each 40cm-high step, while using computer vision to locate the next one. Good luck escaping that one. Meanwhile, one of the company's four-legged robots is ready to get a job.
'Fortnite' Android beta is now open to all
Waiting to play Fortnite on your Android phone. Well, now's the time -- if you've got a device running Android Oreo 8.0 or higher. Epic games has opened the beta to these devices, meaning there's even more players looking to battle royally.
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iPhones may soon be able to automatically detect spam calls
No one likes spam calls. No one wants them. Apple's latest patent aims at halting calls that may not be legit, adding a warning or outright stopping any call alerts for suspicious numbers.
Google's smart home ecosystem has arrived
While Apple seems to be resting on its laurels when it comes to the smart home, Google is showing no signs of slowing down. Following its Pixel 3 event, it explained a bit more about Google Assistant and upgrades coming to the various Smart Displays (even if they don't run Android Things) which will include multi-room audio and digital wellbeing features that are like the ones included with Android Pie.
But wait, there's more...
Xbox One October Update arrives with Avatars, Alexa, Cortana and Dolby Vision HDR
Ford will install a software update to keep new GTs from catching fire
Scientists are spotting deep space radio wave bursts at faster rates
Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland gets a six-year prison sentence
Google Translate adds real-time translations for 13 new languages
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