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Welcome to your humpday. Amazon is offering cheaper smartphones (with a caveat) and we explain how electric is going to kill the gas station. Oh, and Google got slammed with a $2.7 billion fine in Europe.
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Google News has a new look
The first Google News redesign in years is subtle but effective. You'll notice it has a modernized card-style layout instead of the old Google search-results setup. Related topics are grouped together, and tags help readers dive deep into stories. Since it's 2017, there's also a dedicated block for fact checking and filters to help you customize your personal bubble.
The rise of electric cars will kill the gas station
Gas stations are a lifeline. They fuel our cars and us, too -- whether it's with lukewarm coffee on the morning commute or the salty-sweet buffet on a road trip. While it's going to be a long time before the handy service station disappears (everybody needs to pee, right?), its days are numbered -- because electric cars are going to change everything.
Amazon's Prime Exclusive lineup expands with new phones
If you're looking for a cheap unlocked phone, Amazon has a few ideas. Nokia 6 and Moto E4 are new options joined by Alcatel's IDOL 5S, A50 and A30 Plus in the Prime Exclusive lineup that cuts between $30 and $80 off of their already low prices for buyers willing to live with a few additional ads.
A biometric ring could replace your passwords, cards and keys
Smart rings aren't a novel idea -- there are plenty of fitness tracking, notification-sending, payment or even protective finger ornaments around. But none have the ability to identify you and authorize your transactions wherever you go. That is, until Token hits the market. It's a biometric ring that can be used to open house doors, start cars, make credit card transactions and sign in to your computer. Is it one size fits all, however?
EU fines Google a record $2.7 billion for abusing product searches
The European Commission's long-running investigation into Google has finally come to an end, and it's not good news for the search giant. The company has been fined €2.42 billion ($2.72 billion) for unfairly directing users to its own products over those of its rivals -- and it's the biggest financial penalty the Commission has ever handed out.
Large-scale cyberattack is spreading through Russia and Ukraine (updated)
Cyberattacks have affected banking operations in Ukraine and will likely lead to some flight delays out of the country's Boryspil airport, but the attacks don't seem to have impacted services on a grander scale. In Russia, Rosneft said on Twitter it had switched to a reserve control system, so oil production hadn't stopped. There are also reports that a ransomware called "Petya" is ravaging a number of countries throughout Europe, but it's still unclear if the "unknown virus" reported to be affecting the Ukrainian and Russian companies is the same one. The origins of yesterday's attacks, which have hit both Ukrainian and Russian infrastructure, aren't yet known.
You can buy the OnePlus 5 right now for $479
The latest OnePlus phone continues its reputation for powerful Android devices with mid-range pricing, and now you can actually order it. The OnePlus 5 is on sale and shipping now (at least the base model is, upgrading to 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage will mean a short wait), so you can grab hold of its dual rear cameras and Snapdragon 835 CPU.
But wait, there's more...
- A city covered in trees will fight air pollution in China
- Aston Martin's all-electric RapidE supercar launches in 2019
- Facebook has more than 2 billion monthly users
- Yahoo gives Mail a makeover and introduces Yahoo Mail Pro
- AMD and NVIDIA go after Bitcoin miners with new video cards