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Finding an image on  Google Photos  just got a tad easier. In an Android-only update Thursday, Feb. 2, Google reworked the albums feature, adding enhanced organization to the ways albums are displayed. The albums tab is now divided  into three parts . Along with sorting your actual albums, the app now separates images based on what app you shot them with. A third category auto-organizes photos by location and what’s inside them. While the auto albums isn’t a new feature, the new organization makes them easier to find. More:   Google Photos is one year old — here’s what’s next for it Along with the three new sections, the photos inside the albums are  easier to search through . That’s because Google switched up the large cover photo at the top to take up half as much room. That small design switch allows users to see more albums on the screen at one time, speeding up the process of finding a specific one. Version 2.8 of Google Photos is the app’s first significant update of the yea

Apple and the FBI went to war last year over an iPhone owned by San Bernardino, California, shooter Syed Farook, and whether or not the FBI should be granted access to that phone. Apple argued that doing so set a dangerous precedent for data privacy in general, while the FBI insisted it was a matter of national security. In the end, the battle abruptly ended when the FBI reportedly decided to work with Israeli firm Cellebrite, which said it would be able to hack the phone with or without Apple’s help. Now, however, it seems as though Cellebrite has been hacked — and that hacker has publicly released some of that data to try and send a warning to the FBI. The data includes some code that is reportedly related to the Universal Forensic Extraction Device that can crack iPhones like the iPhone 5c, as well as some Android phones. More:  Lawsuit: Apple broke FaceTime in iOS 6 on purpose, blamed it on a “bug” In a  Motherboard report , the hacker said the creation of such tools makes thei

There are standard TV setups, and then there are real entertainment centers — rooms that make you feel as immersed in what you’re watching as you do when you’re in a theater. If you’ve already spent a pretty penny on a killer TV, or even if you’re just looking to upgrade your existing entertainment room layout, the next logical step is to invest in a home theater system such as the  Monoprice 10565 Premium 5.1 Channel Home Theater System with Subwoofer , currently discounted by 25 percent, to only $171, on Amazon. More :  Best TV and Home Theater Products of 2016 This entertainment system consists of four satellite speakers, a single center speaker, and 8-inch down-firing subwoofer. The single center speaker features a 3-inch polypropylene midrange driver and a 3/4-inch aluminum dome tweeter, while the subwoofer boasts four large rubber feet to reduce floor vibrations. Together, these units deliver many of the same features as higher-end surround sound systems but are available at a

Which makes you cringe more, the threat of ransomware or the current mess of health records? Blockchain, the same technology that enables hackers to collect ransoms with anonymity, is increasingly seen as the best platform to advance universal electronic health records (EHRs),  according to Wired . Sign In  to claim 500$ worth of Bitcoin Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, is widely associated with cryptocurrency such as bitcoin. The blockchain is also used on the “dark web” for the anonymous sale of weapons, drugs, and other illegal exchanges. The same attributes of blockchain technology that make it appealing for criminal use, however, can also help solve the complex data record-keeping needs of systems used for legitimate purposes like EHRs. More:   Blockchain technology may help secure the nuclear weapons of the future The lack of coordinated and complete electronic health records affects patients, healthcare professionals, and the administrative sy

Being a teacher, student, or employee at an educational institution brings with it a number of advantages. Not only do you have access to bountiful knowledge, but you can also purchase many technology products at steep discounts. Apple, in particular, is known for its aggressive educational pricing. Now, Apple has announced a bundle of its professional-level creative apps for anyone who’s eligible for its educational discounts. If you’re learning or teaching how to use PCs as a creative tool and Apple’s best creative apps are in your space, then you’ll want to check out its  Pro Apps Bundle for Education  for a cool $200. More:   Apple updates GarageBand for iOS, adds Touch Bar support to Logic Pro X The bundle includes the following apps: Final Cut Pro X  (retail price $300): professional video editing application with extensive media organization and editing features like the Magnetic Timeline and full support for the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. Logic Pro X  (retail price $200): ad

Improvements coming to the integration of Progressive Web Apps on Android. Google is continually looking to empower developers with more tools to help deliver great web apps for Android users. It began back in 2015 , when Google first introduced Progressive Web Apps as a feature in Chrome for Android, which allowed developers to create web apps that prompt users to add a site shortcut to their Home screen while offering features such as push notifications. Google is ready to introduce the latest version of this experience which will start rolling out to the Chrome beta over the next few weeks. The aim is to make things much more convenient for users by improving the overall integration with the Android OS. From the  Chromium blog : For example, Progressive Web Apps will now appear in the app drawer section of the launcher and in Android Settings, and will be able to receive incoming intents from other apps. Long presses on their notifications will also reveal the normal Android no

Despite slumping sales, Sony says they're still on target for an operating profit. 2016 was not a good year for Sony's smartphone division. The company  closed out the third quarter of its financial year by shipping 5.1 million Xperia smartphones — down from 7.6 million in 2015 over the same quarter. Sony CFO Kenichiro Yoshida explained this 35% decrease in year-on-year sales was due to weaker sales in Europe, which is typically one of the more popular markets for Sony smartphones. In response, the company has downwardly revised its annual smartphone unit sales forecast by 2 million units. Image credit: Xperiablog Sony ended the quarter generating 249 billion yen (US$2.1 billion) in sales — down from 385 billion (US$3.4 billion) in 2015. But while sales and revenue income were down, the impact was partially offset by cost reductions in unprofitable markets such as Latin America and the Middle East, along with a positive impact from foreign exchange rates. As such, Yoshida

War. War never changes — but Google's mind does. There is some indication that Google is pulling the Google Now Launcher  from the Play Store sometime before the end of March 2017 (Q1). Besides trying to find out more details about this one, we're also left wondering why? Let's start at the beginning. The  Google Now Launcher  is a home screen manager that Google made using the Android launcher code as a base. Originally only for the Nexus 5, it later expanded to include all Nexus and Google Play edition phones. Eventually, every phone that has Android 4.1 or later could go to Google Play and install it like any other launcher. It is also the launcher that comes with recent Nexus phones, including the  Nexus 6P  and  Nexus 5X . The Google Now part of the Google Now Launcher is still here and can be used by the people who made your phone. It's not an open source Android thing — it's an app made by Google that might come with your phone but isn't part of An

Amazon .com Inc forecast an unexpected dip in operating profit for the current quarter, sending shares down more than 4 percent due to concerns about the costs of investments including new warehouses and video content. The world's largest online retailer also reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and missed Wall Street targets for its closely watched cloud computing unit. The Seattle-based company is spending heavily to take greater control of package delivery and to expand its video service around the world. Key to its plan is to entice sign-ups for Amazon Prime, its $99-per-year shopping club, which has led to users buying more goods, more often. "The story is an investment story," said Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky on a conference call with reporters, noting "stepped-up" spending levels have continued into 2017. GlobalData Retail analyst Anthony Riva warned of profit erosion. "Low cost and fast delivery are a fundamenta

A mobile app helped Chinese authorities recover hundreds of missing children last year, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, in a country where child trafficking is rampant. The Ministry of Public Security said 611 missing children were found last year, Xinhua said. The "Tuanyuan", or "reunion" in Chinese, app developed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd was launched in May and has allowed police officers to share information and work together. Users near the location where a child has disappeared receive push notifications, including photos and descriptions. Notifications are sent to users farther and farther from the location of the disappearance if the child is still not found. A new version of the app in November has expanded its reach through cooperation with other popular mobile apps, such as Alibaba's online shopping website Taobao, search engine Baidu, Tencent Holdings Ltd's instant messaging software QQ and mobile ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxi

6Facebook Inc cruised past Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations on Wednesday with strong growth in its mobile ad business, demonstrating that controversy over so-called "fake news" and inaccurate advertising measurements had little impact on its financial performance. With quarterly profit of $3.57 billion, more than double the $1.56 billion it reported a year ago, the company showed no signs of slowdown in growth. The results handily beat analysts' expectations, and shares ticked up about 0.2 percent in after-hours trading. The company had warned in November that ad growth would likely slow "meaningfully" due to limits on ad load - the total number of ads Facebook can show to each user. But there was little sign of that in the fourth quarter as total revenue soared to $8.81 billion from $5.84 billion a year ago. "I think the rate of growth will decline, but it will remain very high," said analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities

Artificial intelligence has made history by beating humans in poker for the first time, the last remaining game in which humans had managed to maintain the upper hand. Libratus, an AI built by Carnegie Mellon University racked up over $1.7 million worth of chips against four of the top professional poker players in the world in a 20-day marathon poker tournament that ended on Tuesday in Philadelphia. While machines have beaten humans over the last two decade in chess, checkers, and most recently in the ancient game of Go, Libratus' victory is significant because poker is an imperfect information game -- similar to the real world where not all problems are laid out and the difficulty in figuring out human behavior is one of the main reasons why it was considered immune to machines. "The best AI's ability to do strategic reasoning with imperfect information has now surpassed that of the best humans," said Tuomas Sandholm, professor of computer science at CMU who crea

SpaceX's final version of the Falcon 9 rocket, which Elon Musk aims to launch before the end of the year, will fix a potential problem with cracks in its turbopumps, the company said on Thursday. Its statement followed a report that the U.S. Government Accountability Office will flag turbine wheel cracks in the rocket's turbopumps as a safety issue. NASA, the U.S. space agency, and the Air Force are among SpaceX's customers. The GAO’s preliminary findings were reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. In an email to Reuters, SpaceX said it has "qualified our engines to be robust to turbine wheel cracks. However, we are modifying the design to avoid them altogether,” said spokesman John Taylor. In addition to flying cargo to the International Space Station, SpaceX has NASA contracts to begin flying astronauts to the orbiting research laboratory as early as 2018. "SpaceX has established a plan in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spacefl

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp are nearing a partnership agreement to develop technology, including self-driving, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday. The two Japanese automakers could announce a deal as soon as Monday, the Nikkei reported. ( s.nikkei.com/2k4mRt1 ) The partnership will also cover areas such as development and procurement, which includes applications for information technology and sharing sources for parts in Japan and abroad, the Nikkei said. Suzuki and Toyota's unit Daihatsu Motor will continue to sell automobiles under their separate brands to avoid risks related to antitrust laws. The companies will collaborate in ways that steer clear of antitrust risk, the business daily reported. Toyota and Suzuki said in October that they plan to explore a possible partnership, citing technological challenges and the need to keep up with consolidation in the global auto industry. Suzuki and Toyota did not immediately respond to requests f