U.S. President Donald Trump has accused social media outlets, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, of being biased, and suggested that the situation needs scrutiny. In answer to a reporter at the White House Tuesday, Trump said digital platforms tend to suppress Republican and conservative views. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

A robotics company hopes to bring a robot into every home and business, using a proprietary robotic platform—that can be programmed and tweaked for a wide variety of users and uses. Deana Mitchell takes a look at one of the world’s most customizable robots. It’s called Misty. …

Google on Tuesday unveiled a video-game streaming platform called Stadia, positioning itself to take on the traditional video-game business. The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and lets players jump across devices operating on Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS, such as Pixel phones and Chromebooks. Google didn’t say how much its … continue reading -> “Goodbye Console? Google Launches Game-streaming Platform”

In Thailand’s election “war room,” authorities scroll through thousands of social media posts, looking for violations of laws restricting political parties’ campaigning on social media that activists say are among the most prohibitive in the world. The monitors are on the look-out for posts that “spread lies, slander candidates, or use rude language,” all violations … continue reading -> “In Thai Election, New ‘War Room’ Polices Social Media”

A consortium of global technology firms has shared on its collective database the digital fingerprints of more than 800 versions of the video of New Zealand’s mass shootings that killed 50 people, it said on Monday. While it was not the first internet broadcast of a violent crime, the livestream of the massacre showed that … continue reading -> “Tech Consortium Flags More Than 800 Versions of New Zealand Attack Video”

A city in South Korea, which has the world’s highest smartphone penetration rate, has installed flickering lights and laser beams at a road crossing to warn “smartphone zombies” to look up and drivers to slow down, in the hope of preventing accidents. The designers of the system were prompted by growing worry that more pedestrians … continue reading -> “S. Korea Alert System Warns ‘Smartphone Zombies’ of Traffic”

Facebook’s effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company’s technicians can find original reporting. The service, launched last year, is currently available in some 400 cities in the United States. But the social media giant said it has … continue reading -> “Facebook Says Service Hindered by Lack of Local News”

Facebook is continuing to work to remove all video of the mass shooting in New Zealand which the perpetrator livestreamed Friday, the company said Sunday. “We will continue working directly with New Zealand Police as their response and investigation continues,” Mia Garlick of Facebook New Zealand said in a statement Sunday. Garlick said that the … continue reading -> “Facebook Still Working to Remove All Videos of New Zealand Terrorist Attack”

They built their services for sharing, allowing users to reach others around the world. Now they want people to hold back.     Facebook and other social media companies battled their own services on Friday as they tried to delete copies of a video apparently recorded by the gunman as he killed 49 people and wounded … continue reading -> “Social Media Scramble to Remove New Zealand Suspect’s Video”

Facebook Inc said on Thursday Chief Product Officer Chris Cox will leave the social media network after 13 years, adding to a recent string of high-profile exits. Also departing is WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post. The company does not immediately plan to appoint anyone to … continue reading -> “Facebook Product Chief Cox to Leave in Latest Executive Exit”

The United States’ top general said on Thursday that the Chinese military was benefiting from the work Alphabet Inc’s Google was doing in China, where the technology giant has long sought to have a bigger presence. “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman … continue reading -> “US General: Google’s Work in China Benefiting China’s Military”

Instagram is back up after suffering a partial outage for more than several hours, the photo-sharing social network platform said in a tweet, but its parent Facebook Inc.’s app still seemed to be down for some users around the globe. Certain users had trouble in accessing widely used Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook apps earlier Wednesday, … continue reading -> “Instagram Returns After Outage; Facebook Still Down for Some”

Facebook says it is aware of outages on its platforms including Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, and is working to resolve the issue. According to downdector.com, which monitors websites, the outages started around 12 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday in parts of the U.S., including the East and West Coast, parts of Europe and elsewhere. Both Facebook’s … continue reading -> “Facebook, Instagram Suffer Outages”

Spotify has filed a complaint with European Union antitrust regulators against Apple, saying the iPhone maker unfairly limits rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.  Spotify, which launched a year after the 2007 launch of the iPhone, said on Wednesday that Apple’s control of its App Store deprived consumers of choice and rival providers of audio streaming services to the … continue reading -> “Spotify Files EU Antitrust Complaint Against Apple “

Google, Amazon and Apple have capitalized on technology that makes virtual personal assistants possible.  Now a new application allows the user to have a virtual conversation with a video recording of a real person.  How does that work and why is it needed?  VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains. …

One of General Motors’ first self-driving test vehicles is going on display at an automotive history museum in suburban Detroit. The Henry Ford history attraction announced Tuesday that it has acquired a modified pre-production Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle. The GM-donated vehicle originally made its debut testing on the streets of San Francisco in 2016. Now … continue reading -> “Self-driving Test Vehicle Added to Auto History Museum”

At the ripe old age of 30 and with half the globe using it, the World Wide Web is facing growing pains with issues like hate speech, privacy concerns and state-sponsored hacking, its creator says, trumpeting a call to make it better for humanity. Tim Berners-Lee on Tuesday joined a celebration of the Web and … continue reading -> “At Age 30, World Wide Web Is ‘Not the Web We Wanted’”

The U.S. is weighing a complaint at the World Trade Organization against “discriminatory” new taxes on digital giants such as a Facebook and Google which are being planned by France and other EU nations, a top US trade official said Tuesday. “We think the whole theoretical basis of digital service taxes is ill-conceived and the … continue reading -> “US Warns of WTO Action Over ‘Discriminatory’ New Digital Taxes”

The United States on Monday warned Germany about future “information sharing” if it uses “untrusted vendors” in its 5G telecom infrastructure amid debate over whether Chinese IT giant Huawei is an espionage risk. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell sent a letter to German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on Friday warning … continue reading -> “US Warns Germany a Huawei Deal Could Hurt Intelligence Sharing”

Apple on Monday invited media to a March 25 event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, where it is expected to launch a television and video service. Sources previously told Reuters that the company is targeting April for the launch of a streaming television service that will likely include subscription … continue reading -> “Apple: ‘It’s Show Time’ March 25, TV Service Announcement Expected”

Brazil on Monday thanked the global body that oversees internet addresses for extending until April a deadline for Amazon basin nations to reach a deal with Amazon.com in their seven-year battle over the .amazon domain name. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) meeting this week in Kobe, Japan, decided to put off … continue reading -> “Amazon Domain Battle Rages as Internet Overseer Postpones Decision”

Barking orders at a digital device that responds in a woman’s voice can reinforce sexist stereotypes, according to academics and creatives who launched the first gender-neutral artificial intelligence voice Monday. Responding to such concerns, a Denmark-based team has created a voice nicknamed Q that was presented at the South by Southwest (SXSW) creative festival in … continue reading -> “Alexa, Are You Male or Female? ‘Sexist’ Virtual Assistants Go Gender-Neutral”

Bhadri Sarki used to walk for more than an hour to fetch enough water to irrigate just one apple tree. But since a solar-powered water pump was installed in her village, about 350 km (217 miles) northwest of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, she can hydrate her whole orchard in a few hours. “We have a sufficient … continue reading -> “In Rural Nepal, Solar Irrigation Helps Keep Families Together”

Investigators rushed to the scene of a devastating plane crash in Ethiopia on Sunday, an accident that could renew safety questions about the newest version of Boeing’s popular 737 airliner. The Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the capital of Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on … continue reading -> “Boeing Likely to Face New Questions After Another 737 Crash”

Mark Zuckerberg’s abrupt Wednesday declaration of a new “privacy vision” for social networking was for many people a sort of Rorschach test. Looked at one way, the manifesto read as an apology of sorts for Facebook’s history of privacy transgressions, and it suggested that the social network would de-emphasize its huge public social network in favor … continue reading -> “AP Explains: What Facebook’s ‘Privacy Vision’ Really Means”