Tech News Weekly (Video)

Amazon launched a new service for Prime Members called Prime Wardrobe. Users pick three or more items of clothing, and they are added to a box to be delivered to the user's home with seven days to try them on and free returns for anything they don't want to keep. The kept items are then charged to the Amazon account, with discounts tied to the amount of items kept from a shipment.

If you're still using Uber, you can now tip your driver without carrying cash. The company's longstanding policy of not allowing a tipping option has been confusing for riders, many of whom assumed that a tip was included, it was not. The update to the app is part of Uber's 180 days of change campaign.

OnePlus announced its latest flagship Android device, the OnePlus 5, with Qualcomm's top of the line Snapdragon 835, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and is running Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. OnePlus went with a dual rear facing camera setup for on-the-fly bokeh style photos and 2x optical zoom. OnePlus 5 starts at $479.

We also compare Instagram users to Snapchat users and show you how to get a job not AT Google, but with Google. Plus, Sean Hollister from CNET explains how some developers are already using Apple's Augmented Reality kit.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guest: Sean Hollister

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Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, Satya Nadella, plus the leaders of Oracle, IBM, Akami, and others met with President Donald Trump to discuss improvements and to offer ideas on how to overhaul the government's tech infrastructure.

Time Warner is working with Snap to bring 10 original shows per year exclusively for Snapchat users in a $100 million dollar two year deal. Turner cable channels, Warner Brothers studio,and possibly even HBO will develop shows that run from 3-5 minutes and can only be viewed inside the app with vertical video, of course.

Google is launching a four step plan to fight the spread of terrorism in its products, including YouTube. The company aims to take a tougher stance on extremist videos and inflammatory religious content.

Plus, VR that's 20/20, furnishing your house with AR Ikea, and Iain Thomson from The Register details how 198 million American's voter information was sitting in the cloud, unprotected for all the world to see.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guest: Iain Thomson

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Amazon is buying Whole Foods for 13.4 billion dollars. The deal caused a quick sell-off of grocery store and shopping center stocks on wall street. According to Amazon, Whole Foods will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand and CEO John Mackay will remain at the helm.

Lyft says that someday, when it does shift over to self-driving cars instead of running a service with humans behind the wheel, those cars will be electric. And the electricity for those cars will come 100% from renewable power sources. The goal: to provide 1 billion rides per year using electric, self-driving cars by 2025. Lyft has partnered with NuTonomy, a self-driving startup, to deploy some autonomous electric cars in Boston by the end of the year.

Apple is getting more serious about original content. The company has hired two long-time Sony Pictures Television executives to lead its video programming division. The execs have been responsible for critical hits like "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," and "The Crown."

We also talk about the verdict in the Philando Castille trial and how a disproportionate number of black people die at the hands of law enforcement across the United States. So far, technology doesn't seem to be providing a solution to this ongoing problem. Plus, a wrap-of of E3 and a smart suitcase that charges your phone and makes you look like a very stylish spy.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Nathan Olivarez-Giles

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Amazon unveiled an updated Dash Wand, exclusive to Prime Members that now includes Amazon's voice assistant smarts, bringing all of Alexa's skills, home automation controls, and easy ordering of groceries from Amazon Fresh by voice or by scanning an item's barcode. The wand costs $20, but Prime members receive $20 in credit on their next online order.

And speaking of Amazon, the company is reportedly interested in buying Slack, the business communications company popular with start-ups. Sources say that Microsoft and Google are also trying to buy Slack, now that they've created their own Slack clones with Microsoft Teams, Hangouts Meet, and Google Hangouts Chat.

Netflix hit a very important milestone, according to a survey by Leichtman Research, that shows for the first time that Netflix is beating cable TV in subscribers. Netflix sits around 50.85 million subscribers, compared to just 48.61 million subscribers of the biggest cable operators in the US, while Satellite TV has around 38 million subs.

We also talk to Josh Constine about how Facebook deals with terrorism. Plus, Snap stock sinks, Twitter still won't let you edit tweets, and Happy Birthday GIF.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guest: Josh Constine

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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have announced plans to draft new federal legislation for self-driving cars. Facing increasing pressure from car-makers, senators and representatives are compiling a legislative package on autonomous cars.

Facebook is adding new features to Safety Check that allow for fundraising related to the disaster. Human moderators will review each of them before they go live to make sure everything checks out.

Google is sneaking its way into more of our personal files. Google Drive will soon be able to back up your entire computer. The company announced a new file management and storage solution that syncs not just the files you create and upload using Google docs and Google photos, but all your files wherever you keep them on your PC.

Plus, Google is working on its own smartphone chips, Instagram makes it easier to recognize sponsored posts, and Scott Wilkinson shares his picks for excellent home theater gifts for father's day.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guest: Scott Wilkinson

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Can Uber's woes be fixed by an indefinite leave for its embattled CEO?

Hosts: Nathan Olivarez-Giles and Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ

Guest: Mike Murphy

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Microsoft's next Xbox has been unveiled -- it's called the Xbox One X and it'll have a four-fold increase in graphics capability, a 31 percent increase in CPU speed, and a 50 percent increase in on-board RAM. But what you'll notice, if you have a 4K HDR TV, is games that offer 4K and HDR graphics. Sony's already-out PlayStation 4 Pro offers the same features for $100 less.

Uber is getting some new leadership. Reuters reports that say CEO Travis Kalanick will likely take a leave of absence. Meanwhile, Uber's senior vice president Emil Michael has sent an official email to employees saying he is leaving the company.

Drone Racing League, or DRL, has just raised $20 million dollars in new Series B funding, led in part by Liberty Media Corporation, owners of the Formula 1 racing brand. The DRL is the leader in this new space, having raised over 32 million dollars.

We also discuss some of the new games announced at E3, why the Essential Phone is exclusive to Sprint, and how Minecraft can help Syrian Refugees. Plus, why the best place to post your content on the Internet might be right below Donald Trump's Tweets.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Nathan Olivarez-Giles

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Sirius XM will invest $480 million in music service Pandora for a 19 percent stake of the company as it tries to broaden its reach on mobile devices. Pandora also sold off its Ticketfly business to EventBrite for $200 million.

Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and even Microsoft stocks fell more than three percent, due to a valuation air pocket and rumors that the iPhone 8 won't be as fast as it needs to be.

Virtual tip jars are getting the official green light from Apple now that it has added the new revenue stream to its app store policy. This also means that Apple will be taking a cut of 30 percent in the process.

We also talk to Sam Machkovech from Ars Technica about the week in gaming and nerd culture, and Ellen Huet talks about robots, kushners, and why Pinterest can't keep up with Instagram. Plus, we show you a new world of really bad UI.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guests: Sam Machkovech and Ellen Huet

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Since the announcement earlier this week of Apple's smart speaker called The HomePod, a lot of us have been grumbling about how Siri would need to be smarter for this to work. But what if she could get some help? This week at the Wired Business Conference in New York, Amazon's senior vice president of devices, David Limp, said Siri should be able to talk to Alexa. We discuss what's coming between the two digital assistants.

Shareholders approved the sale of Yahoo to Verizon for $4.48 billion dollars with the deal expected to close next Tuesday. Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo will step down from that role, with a golden parachute valued at around $30 million in a combo of cash, severance, benefits, and shares of stock.

Microsoft has acquired Hexadite, an Israeli security company based in Tel-Aviv and Boston, to help beef up its Enterprise Security offerings. Microsoft did not say what it paid for the company, but sources say it's around 100 million dollars.

Plus, Amazon is ditching unlimited cloud storage, Essential is almost a unicorn, Super Mario is getting a theme park, and Kyle Wiens from iFixit talks about his teardown of the new iMac.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guest: Kyle Wiens

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Apple released the first episode of Planet of the Apps for anyone to watch for free - basically shark tank for app developers. It features celebrities, escalator pitches, and disappointment. The 50 minute episode is the first of 10 episodes being released to paid Apple Music subscribers.

IBM just announced that the company will expand partnerships with community colleges for what it calls "new collar jobs." These are the tech jobs that IBM says are well-paying despite not requiring a four year degree.

Amazon is launching a low priced tier of its Prime service for people enrolled in government assistance programs that brings the monthly cost of Prime membership down to $5.99 per month, down from $10.99 per month.

We also discuss how and why Facebook is sharing our location data to disaster relief organizations, and Akamai's bad news about broadband. Plus, Louise Matsakis tells us about a vending machine that will sell you likes and Mike Murphy shares his tales from the depths of WWDC.

Hosts: Megan Morrone and Jason Howell

Guests: Mike Murphy and Louise Matsakis

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