Halo 5's intro looks like a Linkin Park video from 2002

Halo 5 isn't out until late October, but as one of the biggest video game franchises on the planet, it has to keep fans happy. That presumably explains why Microsoft decided to release the introductory cinematic for the Xbox One exclusive in early September, a slick three-and-a-half minute cut-scene that tracks Mike Colter's Spartan Locke and a CGI version of Nathan Fillion with a strangely shiny face as they leap out of a spaceship and battle through a vanguard of covenant forces. The action is fast, fluid, and not at all indicative of what you'll be doing in the actual game, but particularly striking is how much it resembles the video for Linkin Park's song "Pts.OF.Athrty."

There's the same golden sunset, the same snowy setting, and...

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Qualcomm's new mobile chip will learn how to identify malicious apps

In recent months it seems like machine learning has been primarily used to make nightmarish eye-riddled hellscapes and misidentify Star Trek planets as waffle irons. But we're not just teaching machines to identify patterns for our own amusement — they could make also make our lives easier. Qualcomm's new Smart Protect technology could be one such example. The chip maker today detailed the new feature, available on its upcoming Snapdragon 820 processor: a hardware-based anti-malware solution that Qualcomm says will monitor the behavior of apps on a device, detecting and classifying any that are deemed suspicious or anomalous.

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Twitter tests Snapchat-style photo filters for the VMAs and US Open

You may have been too focused on Kanye West's presidential run to notice last night, but Twitter is experimenting with Snapchat-style, location-based photo and video filters around big events. TechCrunch spotted a series of tweets from VMA nominees including Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, and and Big Sean featuring VMA-related stickers. Big Sean posted a moon man icon on one of his tweets; Pharrell showcased the official hashtag; and Swift appeared to get not one but two special stickers devoted to her songs: one for "Bad Blood," and a pair of wild animals for "Wildest Dreams." Then today Twitter showed off some new filters in a blog post about the US Open, including one in which someone had drawn a happy face on the photo.

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Apple is reportedly planning to make its own movies and TV shows

Apple is in talks as part of a possible move into producing its own original programming, Variety reports. According to the publication, the company is looking to start hiring for a new development and production division in the next few months that would go into operation next year, producing content to rival streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. It's not clear whether this new division would produce TV shows, movies, or both, but a unit within the Apple has reportedly already entered discussions with Hollywood executives, reporting back to Eddy Cue.

Variety says that Apple's plans are in the early stages, but that the company has increased its interest in producing its own TV shows or movies in recent months, making an...

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The New Nintendo 3DS with swappable faceplates is coming to the US

Soon you'll finally be able to change the faceplates on a Nintendo 3DS. Today the company announced that the New Nintendo 3DS — which was previously available in Japan and features swappable faceplates, in addition to improvements like face-tracking 3D and built-in NFC capabilities — will launch in the US as part of a bundle with Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. The handheld, the game, two faceplates, and an amiibo card will be available on September 25th for $219.99. Nintendo previously released the larger New Nintendo 3DS XL, which has the same features but no removable faceplates, in North America back in February alongside the 3DS release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. No word yet on when the smaller version will be...

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Google+ Collections is now on iOS

Three months after Google introduced Google+ Collections, the feature is now available on iOS, Google announced in a blog post today. With this update, iOS users who still use Google+ can now curate their feeds, filling them with images and conversations specific to their interests.

While the update might be helpful to users who have stuck around, Google+ seems to largely be a sunken ship. Google no longer requires users to create Google+ accounts, and earlier this year, split off Photos and Hangouts to see if the two could make it as standalone products. Collections is one of the company's surviving ideas for the new Google+, which is supposed to be a network organized around specific interests. Also, it's basically like Pinterest.

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Samsung officially announces the Gear S2 smartwatch

After briefly teasing it on stage earlier this month, today Samsung has released more details about its coming Gear S2 smartwatch. Unfortunately, the company is still withholding crucial information like pricing and release date — but those probably aren't too far off. We're not even yet positive which phones it works with; if history is any indication, it'll be limited to Samsung's more recent devices. In today's press release, Samsung has revealed that its latest Tizen-powered watch will come in two models: the regular Gear S2 and a Gear S2 classic, which is aimed at consumers who "prefer more timeless watch design."

The Gear S2 Classic features a black finish with a matching leather band, so it's being positioned to take on high-end...

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Google's tiny self-driving cars are coming to Austin

Google is expanding the testing of its self-driving cars to Austin, Texas. These aren't the retrofitted Lexus SUVs that have been in Austin since July, we're talking about the tiny, adorable prototypes that Google unveiled back in 2014. The expansion marks the first time that these prototypes will be tested outside of Silicon Valley.

Texas doesn't have any legislation on the books that allows the testing of autonomous vehicles (Nevada, Florida, California, and Michigan are the only ones that do), but Google worked with the governor, Austin's mayor and police chief, and the Texas Department of Transportation in order to start testing its self-driving Lexuses there this summer. That groundwork helped pave the way for this next round of...

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Final Fantasy XV's driving looks wonderfully ridiculous

We know a few things about Final Fantasy XV, the upcoming, and much-anticipated new release in the RPG series. We know it will have an emotional, and possibly nonsensical story. We know that it stars what appears to be a four piece Japanese boy band. And thanks to the latest trailer, we also know that the open-world game will have some surprisingly in-depth driving gameplay.

You'll have the option to either drive yourself or let a digital chauffeur handle things for you. And there are four different camera modes: you can watch events from a first-person perspective; there's a "joyride view" that lets you watch the boys interact, while their mullets flap in the breeze; there's a more zoomed out "tail view"; and a scenic view where you...

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Sling TV now available on Amazon's Fire HDX and HD tablets

Sling TV can now be streamed with Amazon's current-generation Fire HDX and HD tablets. The internet TV service is available as a free download from Amazon's Appstore, and new subscribers can start with a 14-day trial before committing to Sling's $20-per-month subscription. Sling TV already works on Amazon's Fire TV streaming products as well as Android and iOS at large, plus a slew of set-top boxes and desktop PCs.

Support across platforms is no problem, and Dish doesn't have to worry about ESPN walking away from its service in the near future. If there's one downside with Sling TV right now, it's that the product's user interface and general layout haven't changed or improved much since launching at the start of this year. Aside from...

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Eight years after suing over 'iPhone,' Cisco partners with Apple to speed up iOS

Time travel back for a moment to 2007, when Cisco sued Apple for violating its trademark of the "iPhone." Cisco, you may recall, acquired that name way back in 2000, when it bought a company working on ways to access the internet with devices beyond the traditional PC. And yet here was Apple, deep in negotiations with Cisco, brazenly making off with that same name for its new cellphone (we weren't all calling them smartphones yet).

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The engineered dreams behind your favorite toys

Remember how much joy you got out of your toys as a kid? Of setting up intricate battles between Jedi action figures and Tickle Me Elmo? Of building elaborate castle-turned-space station with Lego blocks? Of wondering if there really are rules to Mouse Trap outside of just building the thing and then hoping it works? (There's joy in that, somewhere.) As simple as these toys might seem, their creation is a complicated blend of arts of engineering — of dreaming big and turning those dreams into reality.

On this week's episode of Top Shelf, we talk with Judy Ellis, founder and chair of the toy design program at the Fashion Institute of Technology — the world's first such program, whose alumni have assuredly had some material impact on your...

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The new Apple TV may support Bluetooth game controllers

Apple is expected to unveil a new version of the Apple TV next week, and it's supposed to start getting into gaming. According to 9to5Mac, the Apple TV will begin supporting Bluetooth game controllers that are about as capable as what you'd use to control a console. The report says that the Apple TV will support pressure-sensitive buttons, joysticks, and basic motion control — that's nothing out of the ordinary, but it's enough to play more than the casual games that currently work best on iOS. It's likely that these controllers will be made by third parties, not Apple.

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Five ways Star Wars makes Disney Infinity a lot better

The Disney Infinity games have always been filled with promise. From the first release in 2013, the premise has been appetizing for Disney fans: combine characters from properties ranging from The Incredibles to Pirates of the Caribbean, and throw them together in a virtual toy box where you can essentially build whatever you like. Add in some real life collectible toys that can be scanned into the game, just like with Skylanders, and you have a recipe for success.

Unfortunately, across its first two releases, the Infinity series has left much to be desired — it can be needlessly complicated, and the actual game elements aren't always that fun. But the latest game in the series improves on the formula quite a bit. And the best changes...

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If Justin Bieber wants to grow up, he has to stop apologizing

Do you remember the exact moment at which you found yourself overwhelmed by the character of Justin Bieber, Prodigal Son at last night's MTV Video Music Awards? Was it the second where Bieber disappeared into a dark crowd, letting a canned voice-over about his "journey" wash over the audience like some redemptive wave? Did it happen when he reappeared and was hoisted into the air to finish singing his new single "What Do You Mean?" like a finely coiffed little angel? What about the lingering shot of Bieber sobbing post-performance, trying to find his composure while host / glittery hellion Miley Cyrus yammered on about defiling his person? I'm still trying to pinpoint the instant at which the forgiveness of Bieber's sins, real or...

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Remembering Wes Craven, the horror master that got into our heads

As a general rule, those that work in horror don’t get a ton of respect. Part of it’s the B-movie ghetto of the genre itself; part of it’s the indelicate work of plumbing the subconscious. Allowing people to confront the cruel, grisly truths of life through storytelling is an essential form of catharsis, but it doesn’t necessarily make for polite dinner conversation. So when I heard last night that Wes Craven, the writer-director behind movies like A Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream, had died at the age of 76, I jumped online, expecting token mentions and minor blurbs — but I found something else instead.

CNN called him a "visionary filmmaker." The New York Times: a "horror master." "Legend"; "Maestro"; the accolades went on and on.

T...

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Get ready for Destiny: The Taken King with this Led Zeppelin trailer

Destiny's biggest expansion yet, The Taken King, is almost here, and there's no better way to celebrate than with some Led Zeppelin. The expansion's latest trailer shows off some of what you can expect from the new content pack, and it does so to the tune of "Black Dog." This isn't the first time Destiny has paired with Led Zeppelin — Bungie did something similar for a live-action trailer around the original game's launch. It's definitely a better choice than a Paul McCartney hologram. The Taken King is launching on September 15th.

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India says Google may have rigged search results

India has some concerns about Google's search practices. According to The Economic Times, India's competition regulator has filed a report accusing Google of rigging its search results in a way that favors Google's own properties, as well as third parties paying for ad spots within the results. The Competition Commission of India is said to have found that Google is ranking its own websites above the websites of competitors, even when its competitors do more traffic and should seemingly be give higher placement. The commission also takes issue with Google's search results placing advertised links above links that are more relevant, which seems like more of a disagreement over how advertising should work.

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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is launching on March 18th

When Sony announced Uncharted 4: A Thief's End's delay into 2016, all we knew was that it was expected to launch sometime in the spring. Today, we finally have a proper date: the PlayStation 4 exclusive will be available on March 18th. A Thief's End will be the first game in the series designed for the PS4, and it's arguably the biggest exclusive the PS4 has at the moment. The game will once again see Nathan Drake embarking on all kinds of Indiana Jones-esque adventure, only this time with better graphics. But if you can't wait until March, there's at least some Drake on the way, with the upcoming October 9th release of The Nathan Drake Collection, a remaster of the original PS3 trilogy. In the meantime, be sure to check out our...

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Yes, the Moto 360 does work with the iPhone

Today, Google revealed that its Android Wear platform will now work with the iPhone, a big step for the nascent wearables world. However, that step doesn't come without a few caveats, namely that it only applies to new Android Wear models, such as the LG Watch Urbane, Huawei Watch, and Asus ZenWatch 2. According to Google, the reasoning behind this decision was to ensure that buyers could use the watch with an iPhone right out of the box, and not have to worry about compatibility issues.

This of course leaves a lot of existing Android Wear owners that were hoping to pair the devices with an iPhone in the lurch, as Google is officially not supporting the Moto 360, LG G Watch, LG G Watch R, Samsung Gear Live, Asus ZenWatch, or Sony...

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Are you still using Apple Music?

Apple Music has officially been available for two months now, and in that time it's had a few ups and downs. Despite some pesky, persisting bugs, Apple Music has quickly gained 11 million subscribers and counting during the trial period, which ends in October. But are you still using it?

With a new iPhone on the way, it's likely that many more people will sign up for the service in the coming weeks. But what do you, the early adopter think of Apple Music after giving it a go? Are you all-in with Apple's streaming music offering? Did you give up and go back to Spotify? Do you love Beats 1? Have you given up music entirely because of the bugs?

Answer the poll below and let us you what you really think in the comments.

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Poll

Are you still using Apple Music?

• Yes
• No
• Never tried it

  1414 votes | Results

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Climate change is increasing the risk of extreme tropical storms on unprepared coasts

Cities along the Persian Gulf rarely need to worry about the threat of major tropical storms — but a new study says they should start to. Princeton researchers writing in Nature Climate Change say that warming temperatures are increasing the likelihood of extreme tropical storms in certain regions across the globe. Catastrophic weather events are much more likely to strike Tampa, Florida; Cairns, Australia; and the Persian Gulf by the end of the century, the study authors write. And a direct hit, they say, could decimate these areas.

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Android Wear smartwatches come to the iPhone

In a nondescript conference room at Google’s headquarters a few weeks ago, I paired my iPhone to a smartwatch running Android for the first time. I was there to ask Jeff Chang, the lead product manager for Wear, how he’d managed to get Android watches working with iOS and how much they could do with an iPhone. Then my first notification came in on my newly paired Huawei Watch and my carefully laid plans evaporated.

“Um. Did something just happen with Sundar Pichai?” I asked. “Wait, what?” was the response. Oh, you know, he’s your new CEO now. Shall we go on with the interview?

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Google reportedly kills plan to let retailers send notifications in Maps

Google's already got a plan in motion for taking on Apple's iBeacon technology, which helps developers offer notifications and other alerts specific to your precise location — beyond what Wi-Fi or GPS can do alone. But according to Fortune, at one point Google had an even more ambitious program in the works.

The feature, designed to work inside Google Maps, would've been called Google Here and was slated to launch with some big-name partners including Starbucks. Fortune says that Here would serve up a notification "within five seconds" of a user entering any partner location; you can imagine many of those would be retail stores.

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Fall 2015 game preview: our 31 most anticipated games of the season

You need a new video game. Maybe it’s the first cool weekend of fall and you want an excuse to spend an entire afternoon on the couch. Maybe the first month of school has you feeling low. Maybe it’s almost Christmas and you forgot to buy your niece a gift that will guarantee your title as Coolest Relative. Or maybe you haven’t played a game in years — because of social stigma, disinterest, or lack of time — and now you’re reconsidering this medium that once brought you so much joy. Whatever the case, now is a perfect time to buy this new game because we live in a bountiful time. Picking games this season is like picking apples at the local orchard. The bad news is that there are a hell of a lot of apples to choose from, and oh no,...

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Domestic pigs have more wild hog in them than we thought

Domestic pigs have a lot more "wild" in them than originally thought — at least from a genetic standpoint.

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Kim Kardashian puts 'corrective' ad about drug's side effects on Instagram

If you were glued to the VMAs last night, you might have passed over an unrelated bit of Kim Kardashian news. Kardashian gained the FDA's attention earlier this month after posting glowing endorsements of a morning sickness drug, and last night, under the agency's orders, she posted a "corrective ad" with the drug's side effects.

The FDA's order said a post praising the drug Diclegis "omits material facts," and required a new post from the makers of the drug, Duchesnay, Inc. The FDA also asked that the new post "be distributed using the same media."

As it was ordered, so it's been done: Kardashian's new, very long post includes medical information on Diclegis, including side effects. "I guess you saw the attention my last...

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Which presidential candidate is winning the tech money race?

It is becoming clear that the road to the White House in 2016 leads straight through Silicon Valley.

Once a bit-player in the political money game, the technology industry came in second behind the oil and gas industry among the top sources for political contributions in the 2012 presidential election. The candidates have noticed and are courting the Valley’s wealthy tech elite.

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The new Xbox One bundle comes with a 1TB hybrid drive and the Elite controller

Microsoft's new Xbox One is getting an elite upgrade this fall. The company's new Elite Bundle features both the beautiful Elite controller announced at this year's E3 and a 1TB hybrid drive. The console will debut at GameStops and Microsoft Stores this November for $499.

The new One isn't the first to boast 1TB of storage — Microsoft officially announced a new iteration with a terabyte of storage at E3 — but this is the console's first hybrid drive with that much space. Microsoft says that players will be able to boot up from energy-saving mode 20 percent faster with the new drive. The Elite Controller, however, is definitely the draw for this bundle, since it adds new features like Hair Trigger Locks and stainless steel paddles in its...

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Moto X Play review

Moto X 2013: great phone, bad camera. Moto X 2014: great phone, bad camera. What was it that George W. Bush said about not being fooled a third time? After two years of fatally flawed Moto X phones, Motorola has a new X series to sell us in 2015, but this time it’s paying due attention to the camera. The Moto X Play and its premium-tier sibling, the Moto X Style, both have a 21-megapixel camera that Motorola guarantees will make its phones “best in class.” If — and that’s a huge “if” — Motorola can rectify its biggest weakness while retaining the things that make its hardware attractive, it would indeed deserve to be part of that conversation.

The Moto X Play appears to have all the things that a modern smartphone requires and none of...

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Ashley Madison insists it’s not a scam

Ashley Madison says that women do in fact use its website and are even continuing to sign up, rejecting an analysis last week that said only a few thousand women ever used the site to send a message. It says that during the first half of 2015, the ratio of paying male members to active female members was 1.2 to 1 (men have to pay to send messages on the site; women can use it for free), which suggests a much more vibrant network. Ashley Madison also says that women sent 2.8 million messages during the last week alone. While that figure doesn't refute Gizmodo's analysis, you'd expect those millions of messages to represent more than a few thousand people.

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Leaked renders reportedly show the upcoming Moto 360 Sport

Colombia has built a 'shadow state' of mass surveillance, report says

Police and intelligence agencies in Colombia have been building "secret and unlawful" systems of mass surveillance over the past decade, according to a new report from the London-based watchdog Privacy International. The report, based on confidential documents and testimony, reveals that various Colombian agencies have covertly sought to expand their bulk collection of phone and internet data, extending beyond the scope of the law and undermining recent efforts at reform.

Colombia has a fraught history of government surveillance, fueled by an ongoing conflict that has killed an estimated 220,000 people since 1958. Backed by US aid, Colombian intelligence agencies have used wiretapping to monitor leaders of the FARC and other rebel...

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First Click: Ye, Wes, and a look at the week ahead

So, you lived your own life this weekend instead of reading about the lives of others? That’s cool. Let’s catch you up on what you missed as we look forward to the return of the Internationale Funkausstellung show this week. IFA, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics exhibition, starts Wednesday with Vlad Savov, Tom Warren, James Vincent, and Max Jeffrey bringing das Funk to you live from Berlin. Read this preview of what to expect after catching up with all the top stories from the weekend below.

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IFA 2015 preview: Android Wear takes over Berlin

Herzlich Willkommen in Berlin! The first week of September marks a revival in activity among electronics manufacturers, as they vie to position their new products for the back-to-school shopping season and the winter holidays beyond it. And the place where that annual contest begins is the IFA trade show in Berlin. IFA is Europe's biggest exhibition of new consumer electronics, and it's previously served as the launch platform for major new devices like Samsung's Galaxy Note series. But this will be the first year in a long time where Samsung won't be taking over the show with a new Note, leaving room for others to grab the limelight — so what can we expect to be the highlights of IFA 2015?

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It’s Will Smith vs. the NFL in the first trailer for Concussion

Can Will Smith's next movie do for football what An Inconvenient Truth did for climate change? Concussion, set to be released in cinemas on December 25th, looks at the real-life research of doctor Bennet Omalu, who discovered a neuro-degenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma in the brains of two former NFL pros — Dave Duerson and Andre Waters. The disease, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, can present with symptoms such as memory loss and depression, and in the case of Duerson and Waters, both men later committed suicide. The trailer shows Smith as Omalu battling against the will of a monolithic NFL corporation. Watch it for yourself below:

In my column today is the exclusive trailer for @...

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Uber is offering Mad Max rides in Seattle

For all its corporate skullduggery and obnoxious, rules-don't-apply-to-me swagger, it's hard to deny that Uber has some clever promotions at times. In a partnership with Warner Bros, the company is offering limited editions rides straight from the post-apocalypse to celebrate the September 1st release of the Mad Max video game. (Which, by the way, promises to be surprisingly excellent.) The cars are available for a limited time in Seattle only, but at least the rides are free because "dollars are worthless in the wasteland."

A selection of Uber's cars and riders. (Uber)

Between August 28th and August 31st, from 10AM to 6PM local time, Uber users are able to call up their very own warboy for a trip anywhere in the city's downtown...

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Google OnHub review

The lowly router is a necessary evil. It’s a device we can’t live without, but often feels like an arcane relic from an era when boxy tube monitors and dial-up modems ruled. The router is the gateway to high-speed internet in our homes, and it enables us to wirelessly connect countless gadgets — smartphones, laptops, TVs, thermostats, speakers, coffee makers, game consoles, the list goes on — to the internet. It’s only going to get more important as more and more appliances rely on Wi-Fi connectivity for modern conveniences.

As important as they are, routers are equally notorious for being unattractive, difficult to set up, unreliable, and generally unpleasant to use. Most people use the router provided to them by their internet...

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Three Sony Xperia Z5 models appear in leaked video interview

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of what Sony's next smartphones will look like, after photos leaked last week allegedly showed three variants of Sony's Xperia Z5 — the standard Z5, the Z5 Compact, and the Z5 Premium. But just in case you weren't sure, a new video has appeared online that appears to show the three phones in action. In an interview with a French journalist, Sony Mobile Communications' director of marketing, Olivier Terme, uses handsets that he identifies as Z5 models, describing features that last week's leaks indicated the smartphones would have.

The interview appears to confirm that all three Z5 phones will all feature a 23-megapixel camera, fingerprint sensors on the side, and a dust- and water-proof design....

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T-Mobile will now punish customers who abuse unlimited data

T-Mobile is today issuing a warning to customers: stop taking unlimited data to ridiculous extremes. In a post on T-Mobile's blog, CEO John Legere has publicly called out "a fraction of a percent" of users who've been sucking down hundreds or even thousands of gigabytes of data each month. But these customers aren't using all of that data on their smartphones alone; instead, T-Mobile claims they've come up with ways to conceal mobile tethering and hotspot usage. Tethering allows customers to get other devices (PC, Mac, laptop) online using their smartphone data plan.

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VMA 2015: Taylor Swift wins Video of the Year for Bad Blood

"You already know..." Ice Cube said before announcing that Taylor Swift had won Video of the Year for "Bad Blood," and of course, we already did. The inevitable march to victory couldn't be stopped. With nearly 500 million views, insane production values, and 18 ultra-famous costars, "Bad Blood" became a cultural phenomenon. Although, anecdotally, one that it didn't actually seem like anyone liked.

Most of Swift's video cast mates (often cringingly referred to as her "squad") joined her on stage to accept the award, including Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Hailee Steinfeld, Serayah McNeill, Gigi Hadid, Mariska Hargitay, and Selena Gomez, and smiled gratefully while she expressed the absolute joy of living "in 2015, in a world where boys...

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By The Numbers: Henrik Zetterberg

By The Numbers will highlight the Red Wings on-ice accomplishments in the 2014-15 season. Each week during the off-season, By The Numbers will profile a different player on the team, focusing on their statistical highs. This week we focus on capta...

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The LG Watch Urbane Luxe is a 23-karat gold smartwatch for $1,200

The LG Watch Urbane's vanilla model was already huge, but for people who want their Android Wear smartwatch to be really eye-catching, the company is now offering a limited-edition 23-karat gold version for the low low price of $1,200. The LG Watch Urbane Luxe offers exactly the same technical specs as the regular Urbane, released earlier this year, but attempts to justify its pricetag with a gold body, a strap made of alligator leather, and an "exclusive" shiny lacquer case.

"Wearable devices shouldn't be thought of as an extension of one's smartphone but an extension of oneself," says LG's Chris Yie, apparently indicating that the only people who'd buy the Urbane Luxe are coated in gold and clad in alligator skin. Certainly, if you do...

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Sony is crowdfunding this premium smartwatch

The latest product to hit First Flight, Sony's own crowdfunding platform in Japan, is a smartwatch called the "Wena Wrist." What's a Wena? It stands for "wear electronics naturally," apparently, and takes the form of a fairly traditional-looking watch. The Wena Wrist focuses on three main features — an NFC wallet compatible with the Japanese Felica standard; notifications through vibration and a customizable LED light on the band; and activity tracking, which seems to work the way you'd expect except that the app is only for iOS.

The "Chronograph" model tells time with three separate hands and dials for hours, minutes, and seconds, while the "Three Hands" model just has a regular watch face. Both models are 42mm across; the Three Hands...

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VMA 2015: Kanye West says he's running for president in 2020

Kanye West received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at tonight's MTV Video Music Awards, and he closed his acceptance speech by announcing he's running for president in 2020. Yes, really!

The segment started with a bang when West was handed his Moonman by an unexpected contemporary: reigning pop queen / one-time Kanye "victim" Taylor Swift. After a narrated montage containing clips from every part of West's career, Swift came up on stage and talked about her West fandom and his influence on her career. She wrapped her speech by quoting West's infamous 2009 VMA interruption — you know, the one where he rushed the stage and grabbed the mic from Swift to defend Beyoncé's work — to proclaim that he's had "one of the greatest...

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Hulu is picking up the big movies Netflix is losing this month

Netflix ended its deal with entertainment network Epix today, a change that will soon take a raft of big-name movies — including The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and World War Z — off the streaming service. But those movies won't be homeless for long. A few hours after Epix parted ways with Netflix, the network announced a new deal with Hulu, an extensive multi-year agreement that will bring new movies from Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount to the Netflix rival.

Epix movies will begin to appear on Hulu from October 1st. At launch, Hulu says it will feature a set of eye-catching blockbusters, including Star Trek: Into Darkness, Wolf of Wall Street, and Anchorman 2, with more movies appearing through each year of the deal. The move also makes...

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VMA 2015: Nicki Minaj called out Miley Cyrus live on the VMA stage

While accepting the award for Best Hip-Hop Video at tonight's MTV Video Music Awards, Nicki Minaj held host Miley Cyrus accountable for comments she made in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday. Cyrus was asked about Minaj's Twitter spat with Taylor Swift in July over this year's crop of nominees. "What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind," said Cyrus. "It’s not very polite. I think there’s a way you speak to people with openness and love. You don’t have to start this pop star against pop star war... I know you can make it seem like, Oh I just don’t understand because I’m a white pop star. I know the statistics. I know what’s going on in the world. But to be honest, I don’t think...

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Taylor Swift hangs out with a giraffe in the video for Wildest Dreams

Horror movie legend Wes Craven dies at 76

Wes Craven, the director behind horror classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, and Scream, has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76. Craven's family confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter and The Daily Beast.

After a career in academia, Craven entered Hollywood in 1972 with his first feature film, Last House on the Left. He was still active and working over three decades on; most recently, he was developing two series for Syfy called We Are Completely Fine and The People Under the Stairs. Craven's best-known creation as Freddy Krueger, the twisted Nightmare on Elm Street serial killer who stalks victims in their dreams.

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Wings will be excited with new coach Blashill

DETROIT -- As Red Wings training camp approaches, there's some extra excitement with a new man in charge. New head coach Jeff Blashill might sound like Mike Babcock but he's not going to be a Mike Babcock clone. Blashill spent a season as Ba...

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Rand Paul poses in front of NSA data center that he pledges to shut down

On Saturday, presidential hopeful and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) made an unusual campaign stop. Wearing his usual shades and messy curls, Paul posed with arms crossed in front of a controversial Utah data center belonging to the NSA. Alongside the photo, posted on Facebook, Paul made a bold campaign pledge: to essentially tear that data center down.

"I'm on my way to the airport, but we decided to stop by the NSA facility in Utah," the caption on Paul's Facebook page says. "When I become president, we'll convert it into a Constitutional Center to study the Fourth Amendment! Bulk data collection must end!"

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Check out these slick new Moto 360 renders

The new Moto 360 smartwatch has been leaked from almost every angle already, but these renders from @evleaks are dandy. There's nothing new here, though the renders do seem to confirm what we've already seen: the new Moto 360 is expected to come in two different case colors and bands, and feature a slight redesign that externalizes the strap lug and moves the physical button to the 2 o'clock position. The new model is also expected to come in two sizes.

The IFA trade show begins tomorrow, and we're expecting to see a bunch of new Android Wear smartwatches on display — so get ready for a real first look at the new Moto 360 and its competition.

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Netflix apologizes for losing big movies, but reassures you Adam Sandler is coming

The shifting sands of Netflix's streaming library are tough to measure in any given month, but recently it seems like its catalog has been on a steady march toward resembling the WalMart bargain DVD bin. The company usually announces which titles will be added and lost each month, but this month came with an apology, and an admission that customers are complaining. "We hear from our members that you wish we had newer movies," writes chief content officer Ted Sarandos. "So do we."

Netflix has decided not to renew its agreement with Epix, meaning that movies like Hunger Games: Catching Fire, World War Z, and Transformers: Age of Extinction (well, who really cares about that one) will be gone by the end of September. Studio licensing...

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New Jersey man wants to track immigrants like FedEx tracks packages

From Donald Trump's outrageous fantasies about Mexican criminality, to Jeb Bush's casual use of the term "anchor babies," it seems like Republican presidential candidates are competing to find new ways to offend a substantial portion of the US electorate. The latest innovation came this weekend from a New Jersey man named Chris Christie, who suggested that immigrants be tracked with all of the efficiency of FedEx.

Christie is the governor of New Jersey, the 11th most populous state in the union, where as many as one in five voters are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Here's what Mr. Christie said on Saturday to a crowd in Laconia, New Hampshire, according to Reuters:

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Driving BMW’s 2016 7 Series: the $81,300 contradiction

There is a preconception that as a car gets larger, it gets softer and gentler; it disconnects you from the road; it places you gently on a cloud of nothingness while you glide down the highway protected by excessive sound insulation. Even in the driver’s seat, it makes you a passenger.

These preconceptions don’t apply to the redesigned 2016 BMW 7 Series. (Except when you want them to.)

I spent a day with the new 7 on the winding country roads northwest of New York City last week, both as a driver and a willing participant in the absurdly comfortable rear, which has more LCD displays than my home and office combined. But before you drive the 7 — or even ride in it, really — there’s a lot of technology that you have to digest.

BMW, as...

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