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Lenovo issues driver and firmware updates for ThinkPads with faulty USB-C ports

TechSpot News | Jan. 24, 2020, 1:04 a.m. | Original

What just happened? Lenovo seems to be having a widespread issue with Thunderbolt Controllers on its Thinkpad line-up of laptops and has put up a support page containing fixes for its affected machines, including variants of the X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga, T-series, and the P-Series mobile workstations.

If you own a ThinkPad laptop that's experiencing connectivity issues over its USB-C port, chances are that it suffers from a corrupted firmware issued by the company in August last year.

Initially reported

Sprint will fix your Samsung Galaxy's cracked screen for $49

TechSpot News | Jan. 24, 2020, 12:36 a.m. | Original

Cracked screen woes: It's happened to the best of us: you pull out your phone while walking down a street or even your home's hallway, and you stumble ever so slightly -- just enough to send your potentially brand-new smartphone careening from your hands into the hard ground. You pick it up, and find that the screen has a nasty fracture right down the middle.

Again, it happens to all of us, and it's always a frustrating experience. Smartphones aren't

China jails University of Minnesota student over tweets mocking President Xi Jinping

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 11:57 p.m. | Original

WTF?! It’s no secret that China’s government monitors its citizens’ online activities, even when they’re abroad, and those who step out of line face imprisonment. A University of Minnesota student discovered this after being arrested for tweets—posted while he was in the US—that mocked President Xi Jinping.

Axios reports that 20-year-old freshman Luo Daiqing was arrested in July last year when he returned to his hometown of Wuhan for the summer break. According to court documents seen

Uber's self-driving vehicles are coming to Washington, DC

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 11:23 p.m. | Original

Why it matters: Waymo isn't the only company that wants to move the world toward a self-driving future. Uber is pushing for a similar goal, albeit at a slower, more deliberate pace following some past controversies involving its autonomous car tech. Regardless, the company is hitting another major milestone today: its fleet of self-driving vehicles is expanding into the capital of the US, Washington, D.C.

Uber's autonomous vehicles are already on the roads in a few other cities across the

Obi-Wan series reportedly on hold as scripts are thrown out and crew sent home

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 10:51 p.m. | Original

Rumor mill: Looking forward to seeing the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+? You might be waiting a while. According to reports, development of the show has been put on hold after the only two scripts were thrown out and the crew dismissed.

With The Mandalorian proving so popular, hopes were high that Ewan McGregor reprising his role as Obi-Wan would be equally successful. But the Hollywood Reporter , citing multiple sources, claims that the series has been “put on hold” as Disney+ and Lucasfilm

Fad or not? 23andMe lays off 14 percent of workforce in wake of declining sales

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 10:17 p.m. | Original

What just happened? Direct-to-consumer genetic testing service provider 23andMe revealed plans this week to lay off around 100 employees, or roughly 14 percent of its workforce, due to declining sales. The majority of the layoffs will impact the company’s operations team which is responsible for overseeing growth and scaling.

Co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki told CNBC that she was surprised that the market was starting to turn but is willing to downsize because it is “what the market is ready for

Apple argues against EU calls for universal mobile charger, says it would stifle innovation

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 9:20 p.m. | Original

A hot potato: Apple has spoken out against the European Parliament’s plans to force tech companies to adopt a universal charger for smartphones and other electronic devices. Not surprisingly, the iPhone maker isn’t happy about the idea, claiming it “stifles innovation” and would inconvenience millions of people.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the EU was considering legislation that would require all mobile devices to support a single charging standard, thereby making consumers’ lives less complicated while reducing the 51,000

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 2:26 p.m. | Original |

A hot potato: Twitter has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Clearview AI, a company notorious for creating a database of facial recognition profiles using photos scraped from public sources. The social giant wants all the data scraped from its service to be deleted, as it violates its policies for content usage.

Twitter recently demanded that Clearview AI remove the data it collected from the public profiles of its users, after news broke that the latter had been scraping photos from the service for years and selling facial recognition software to

US Department of Energy invests $300 million into sustainable transportation R&D

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 10:46 a.m. | Original

In context: Over the past decade or so, the transportation industry has begun to shift its focus away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles toward "green," often fully-electric alternatives. Whether this process is the result of a desire to combat climate change, or simply an attempt to prepare for a future in which some traditional fuel sources may be in limited supply, the US Department of Energy is chipping in to speed things along.

The organization today announced that it has allocated a whopping $300 million

Comcast is jacking up its prices again thanks to NBC's Peacock streaming service

TechSpot News | Jan. 23, 2020, 10:03 a.m. | Original

A hot potato: Annual rate increases for cable providers are nothing new, but sometimes the excuses the companies provide for the hikes create more animosity than they alleviate. It is especially frustrating when the increases are to compensate for a perk advertised as "free." Comcast is notoriously bad at explaining away fees, and the latest involving its new streaming service is no exception.

Comcast customers should see a rise in their bills once the Peacock streaming service goes live, if they haven't already. The internet TV channel enters

What just happened? Lenovo seems to be having a widespread issue with Thunderbolt Controllers on its Thinkpad line-up of laptops and has put up a support page containing fixes for its affected machines, including variants of the X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga, T-series, and the P-Series mobile workstations.

Rumor mill: Looking forward to seeing the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+? You might be waiting a while. According to reports, development of the show has been put on hold after the only two scripts were thrown out and the crew dismissed.

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