Senators, Google urge national U.S. self-driving regulations

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of a U.S. Senate panel and firms working on self-driving vehicles on Tuesday called for national rather than state regulation of the cars to avoid a patchwork of rules that could slow development. The rules will determine when and if a fully autonomous car could be driven on roads. "If every state is left to go its own way without a unified approach, operating self-driving cars across state boundaries would be an unworkable situation and one that will significantly hinder... the eventual deployment of autonomous vehicles," Chris Urmson, the head of Alphabet Inc's Google self-driving car program, told the Senate Commerce Committee Executives from General Motors Co, Lyft and Delphi Automotive PLC echoed that position.

Apple: U.S. founders would be 'appalled' by government iPhone request

In Apple Inc's final brief before a court hearing next week in its clash with the U.S. government over an encrypted iPhone, the company on Tuesday said the U.S. founding fathers "would be appalled" by the Department of Justice's request. The dispute between Apple and the government burst into the open last month when the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a court order requiring Apple to write new software and take other measures to disable passcode protection and allow access to the phone of one of the San Bernardino, California shooters, Rizwan Farook. Apple said current law does not allow the government's request.

Foxconn seeking guidance on Sharp fourth-quarter, deal may not come this week: source

By J.R. Wu and Makiko Yamazaki TAIPEI/TOKYO (Reuters) - Foxconn has completed its due diligence on Japan's Sharp Corp through the end of 2015, but is seeking guidance from the loss-making electronics maker on its latest quarterly performance, a person familiar with the matter said. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is finalizing a takeover of Sharp, estimated to worth nearly $6 billion and marking the largest purchase of a Japanese tech firm by a foreign company. Investors are edge about the deal's prospects after a last-minute hitch last month over potential liabilities at Sharp and the display maker's shares slid 9 percent on Wednesday.

Sony PlayStation VR to launch globally in October, cost $399

By Deborah M. Todd and Mari Saito SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Sony Corp announced on Tuesday that its virtual reality headset for PlayStation will launch globally in October for $399, a move that undercuts its biggest competitor by hundreds of dollars. Andrew House, head of Sony's gaming division, made the announcement during a press event at the Video Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where virtual reality gaming counterpart Oculus Rift announced its headset a day earlier. At $399,the package is notably less than the $599 price announced Monday by Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus Rift.

How to run a quick port scan from Android with PortDroid

If you're looking for a best-in-breed port scanner to be used on the Android platform, PortDroid might be what you need. Get the lowdown on this free Android app.

Web version of Google's Inbox app can now reply to emails for you

One of the most interesting features of the mobile version of Inbox — Google's other mailbox-management app — is coming to its web version. Smart Reply, which scans your incoming messages and works out a natural-language response, is now available for Inbox on the web, giving users an easy way to reply to emails quickly without all that troublesome typing.

PlayStation VR is $399, but here's how much you'll really pay

If you buy a PlayStation VR and plug it into your PlayStation 4, it won't do anything without a PlayStation Eye. And many games also need PlayStation Move controllers. Want it all? Better have another $150 ready.

This action movie was shot almost entirely with a GoPro

"Hardcore Henry," which had its US premier at the South By Southwest festival, is the first point-of-view action feature film. Which is both innovative and nauseating. (Warning: some mild spoilers ahead.)

China's ZTE said to appeal U.S. export ban after lobby efforts fail

By Steve Stecklow and Joel Schectman LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's ZTE Corp will appeal tough U.S. export restrictions imposed last week, according to a person familiar with the matter, after the telecom equipment maker's costly lobbying effort failed to allay concerns about its business. The U.S. Commerce Department imposed restrictions on U.S. suppliers providing crucial components to ZTE for alleged Iran sanctions violations, a move likely to disrupt its global supply chain. "The U.S. Department of Commerce and ZTE Corp are in ongoing discussions," a senior Commerce Department official told Reuters.

Americans increasingly approve of gay and lesbian adults adopting kids

Approval of same-sex relationships also grew, hitting 60 percent among women and 49 percent among men. Given recent major political shifts, like the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide in June 2015, it’s possible that these figures have grown even further since.

Quid CEO Neville Crawley, An Artist Turned Entrepreneur

Neville Crawley is the CEO of Quid, a platform that searches, analyzes and visualizes the world's collective intelligence to help answer strategic questions. Unlike typical bay area CEOs or Founders, UK-born Neville has an extremely fascinating background. We talk to this former McKinsey consultant about his journey, a journey that began in the...

Sony doesn’t know when it’s going to upgrade PSVR

Today Sony showed off the first consumer version of its PlayStation VR headset, revealing that the device will cost $399 and ship in October. Previously, the company has said that it's treating the release of PSVR the same as a new game console launch.

Kanye West updates The Life of Pablo for the second time

After a month of no changes, Kanye West has made his second update to his latest album, The Life of Pablo, in just two days. Tidal subscribers who listen to TLOP now will find the finished version of "Wolves," that debuted during Yeezy Season 1 featuring Vic Mensa and Sia. West has also broken out Frank Ocean's outro into its own track, aptly called "Frank's Track." Kanye foreshadowed the changes in a tweet, saying he was fixing "Wolves" after working on the track for three weeks.

Here's which state posts the nastiest tweets

Technically Incorrect: An analysis of millions of tweets shows which places emit the nastiest, the most racist, and the most sexist messages on Twitter. You might be surprised.

Apple says FBI out to 'rewrite history' in iPhone case

Apple fired anew Tuesday at the US government's legal fight to force it to break into an attacker's iPhone, saying the tactic would "appall" the country's founders. Apple dug into its legal position in a written filing ahead of a hearing set for March 22 before a federal judge in Southern California. Apple stuck to its argument that the FBI was overstepping legal bounds by using an All Writs Act to compel the company to help break an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December terror attack in San Bernardino, California.

Apple says Constitution 'forbids' what FBI is asking

In its latest filing in the battle over unlocking an iPhone, Apple says the All Writs Act "cannot be stretched to fit this case."

In Robert Kirkman's Outcast, demons aren't the only enemy

In the opening moments of Outcast, Cinemax’s new series from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, we see a 10-year-old boy named Joshua (Gabriel Bateman) eat the bloody remains of a cockroach. The stomach-turning image of the demon-possessed boy sets the tone for this supernatural horror show. Outcast, based on his ongoing comic series of the same name, is Kirkman’s third TV series after The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.

Stop or roll back a Windows 10 update

Windows 10 has been installing itself on PCs with Windows 7 or 8.1. If you want to stick with a previous version of Windows, you can in a few easy steps.