The big picture: Microsoft's bet on creating a new app ecosystem with Universal Windows Platforms (UWP) promised better security with its sandboxed approach and cross-platform compatibility across Windows devices (PCs, smartphones, tablets, IoT devices), but developer support and consumer interest have been rather lukewarm from the start. The demise of the Windows Phone was the platform's first major casualty, and now the company has decided to close its ad services for UWP apps in the coming months, further sliding the Microsoft Store

What just happened? There are numerous leakers in the tech industry who reveal products ahead of time, but they do this through legal means, such as company sources. Continually hacking a firm to steal pre-release info will get you into trouble, as one California man who revealed the Nintendo Switch before its launch has found out.

The Department of Justice writes that in 2016, 21-year-old Ryan Hernandez and an associate phished a Nintendo employee, grabbing their company credentials to steal files from

What just happened? Of all the domains where machine learning is expected to be revolutionary, medicine is perhaps the most universal. In a major new milestone, a drug developed using machine learning is about to enter human trials.

Before a new medicine enters human trials, there is typically three to five years of work behind the scenes, researching causes for diseases and compounds that may help treat them. But working with British AI startup Exscientia, a Japanese drug development company called Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. is about to start phase

The big picture: Intel is keen to break new ground in the AI space, but playing hard and fast often results in casualties. Today that’s Nervana, an AI chip startup that Intel acquired in 2016 for roundabouts $400 million. Existing agreements will be honored, but from now on, all AI research efforts will be directed by Habana Labs.

Intel acquired Israeli startup Habana for $2 billion in December. Habana manufactures two products, the Habana Gaudi and Habana Goya. The former

Why it matters: Zhaoxin, a fabless chip maker based in Shanghai, has produced a homegrown x86 CPU line that's apparently ready for the DIY scene. The Zhaoxin KaiXian KX-6000 series of processors were originally shown off in 2018, but since then we had heard little about them. Now it seems that the KX-U6780A will come to market this quarter, as listed on Chinese retail site Taobao with a March release date.

For the

In a nutshell: Indiana University has announced that its Big Red 200 supercomputer will be upgraded with new, unreleased Nvidia hardware by fall this year. Consider the Ampere architecture confirmed.

The Big Red 200 is a new $9.6 million supercomputer being built for Indiana University . It was originally designed to use Tesla V100 GPUs, but at the last minute, Nvidia offered to upgrade it with the V100’s successor, probably called the Tesla A100.

WTF?! The now defunct Red Hydrogen One makes a few cameos in the new F9 trailer, and while the phone wasn't a success in this universe, it'll be immortalized in the Fast and Furious universe.

The F9: The Fast Saga trailer has landed, and it resurrects more than just characters from the past. The Fast and Furious movies rife with fantastical improbabilities -- including the fact that this is the 9th installment in the franchise. The movies are not exactly known for their

"Here in straya, we drive utes."

The Tesla Cybertruck was received with mixed feelings to say the least, but not surprisingly Aussies have viewed it with unique disgust. The Cybertruck’s ‘super-utility’ marketing targets the true Australian digger, the bloke that goes bush-bashing for days to get into the perfect fishing spot. Or his mate, who’ll drive a thousand k’s to rescue the first bloke after he gets bogged, in exchange for a few six-packs --