Exciting Technology

Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and the engineers on the WebKit project today announced that they have teamed up to launch WebAssembly, a new binary format for compiling applications for the web. The web thrives on standards and, for better or worse, JavaScript is its programming language. Over the years, however, we’ve seen more and more efforts that allow developers to work around some of the limitations of JavaScript by building compilers that transpile code in other languages to JavaScript. Some of these projects focus on adding new features to the language (like Microsoft’s TypeScript) or speeding up JavaScript (like Mozilla’s asm.jsproject). Now, many of these projects are starting to come together in the form of WebAssmbly. The new format is meant to allow programmers to compile their code for the browser (currently the focus is on C/C++, with other languages to follow), where it is then executed inside the J...

The 1TB Microsoft Xbox One announcement at E3 meant this was probably inevitable, but Sony has officially revealed a  1TB version of its own console , arriving in Europe and the PAL territories starting July 15. It’ll also eventually make its way stateside, as an FCC filing spotted by  Engadget  proves. Bumping storage up to 1TB is a natural move for both console-makers, as well as a tacit acknowledgement that increasingly, users are buying online and installing games fully on their local hard drives . The storage increase on the new model isn’t the only news, however; Sony is also tweaking the design of the original 500GB console models ever so slightly, with 10 percent weight savings, and 8 percent energy efficiency gains. It’ll also have a matte top surface instead of the current glossy look, according to Sony’s Japanese PlayStation product page. The 1TB version of the PlayStation 4 will be priced different depending on outlets, but it’d be nice to see...

In this how-to guide, we will go through the new “Network & Internet” Settings to learn how to manage wireless connections in your Windows 10 PC. In Windows 10, Microsoft is adding a huge number of improvements and features. One of these changes is the addition of the Settings app, which replaces “PC settings” from Windows 8 and it will eventually also replace the Control Panel. Inside Settings, users will find the new “Network & Internet” section. Unlike Windows 8, the new settings in Windows 10 are much improved. For example, in Windows 10, Microsoft is dividing wireless and wired connections in different sections (Wi-Fi and Ethernet). You can share and connect to a wireless network with friends using Wi-Fi Sense, and you can pretty much perform all the wireless networking tasks right from Settings. Of course, if you only use Ethernet, then connecting to a network is very straightforward. Just plug the Ethernet cable into the network adapter in your computer and you’r...

Yesterday, Windows 10 build 10147 leaked onto the web. The leaked preview was first spotted in the Chinese website PC Beta, and until we got our hands on the new build, there was no word of what to expect. Now that we can play with Windows 10 build 10147, we can say that this is a pretty exciting preview. It unveils a number of tweaks and improvements over the previous leak (build 10134) and over the official Windows 10 build 10130, which Microsoft has recently pushed to the Slow ring of updates. However, none of the changes is major, and there aren’t any significant new features. This build looks and feels even more complete, and stable compared to previous releases. Microsoft is finally rebranding its new browser to ‘Microsoft Edge’, the taskbar and desktop get new refinements, the Start menu includes new tweaks and a lot more. The new leaked build of Windows 10 is unlikely to release to Windows Insiders, which is a shame. However, it’s a new preview that gives us a closer ...

It would appear that the California Labor Commission has ruled that at least one Uber driver is an employee. As it stands now, Uber employs its drivers as third-party contractors, operating as a logistics company that provides access to customer demand and directions, transactions, etc. for the drivers. Uber has argued repeatedly in various courts that it is not a transportation or taxi company, but rather a software platform that matches customer demand with supply. This ruling changes all that, turning Uber into a transportation startup instead of a logistics software company. That puts the company in a position to face a number of legal obstacles, as well as rising costs of employing those drivers directly and offering them benefits, etc. As BI points out, one of Uber’s main costs is its full-time employees that work out of Uber corporate offices. If Uber drivers are deemed employees, the business model shifts drastically. Uber is said to have more than a million d...

The E3 gaming conference was last week. We didn’t actually go, but we watched from afar and soaked up all the latest that the gaming world has to offer. John’s in Poland, but Greg, Matt and Darrell were all thrilled to chat up the new Oculus controllers, the latest games, and the future of VR gaming. I was thrilled to get work done while they chatted. This week’s episode of the  TC Gadgets Podcast  is brought to you by  Jordan Crook ,  Greg Kumparak ,  Darrell Etherington  and  Matt Burns . We invite you to enjoy our  weekly podcasts  every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific. And feel free to check out the TechCrunch Gadgets Flipboard magazine right  here . Click here to download an MP3 of this show. You can subscribe to the  show via RSS . Subscribe in iTunes Intro Music by  Mendhoan .

Toshiba has announced their entire back-to-school lineup of laptops and 2-in-1 products. The company is expanding its Satellite C Series, which is currently its top-selling line of portable computers. The new Series C will be available in both 15.6- and 17.3-inch sized, both of which are HD TruBright displays. Additionally, both sizes will come with a dedicated Cortana button for easy access to Microsoft’s new virtual assistant. These C Series laptops will be available starting at $394.99 MSRP. Next, the company announced the Satellite Fusion, a new line of 2-in-1 touchscreen laptops that can be converted into a tablet. The Fusion features a 15.6-inch touchscreen display, and packs up to 12GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive all into a case that is less than an inch thick.     Toshiba also announced the Satellite Radius, another 2-in-1 line targeted at video enthusiasts. The Radius will feature the first 2-in-1 PC to offer a 4K screen optio...

Devialet, known for its Phantom speaker which supposedly sounds better than speakers 20 times bigger, just announced that it has closed a $20 million Series B round. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, Xaviel Niel, Jacques-Antoine Granjon, and Marc Simoncini are behind today’s funding round. This funding follows a Series A in 2012 where the company raised $19.1 million to fund the development of the original Phantom Speaker, which Devialet said had a $30M R&D budget. The Phantom was one of the stars of this year’s CES in Las Vegas. This compact speaker is much louder than all the other speakers that we saw at the show. From the other end of a crowded room, you could still hear the Phantom. But the Phantom is also a different beast from your usual cheap Bluetooth speaker. Designed by a French team that has years of experience in the speaker and amplification industry, the company didn’t try to create yet another portable speaker. Instead, i...

A group of security researchers have discovered an alarming vulnerability in Apple's mobile and desktop operating systems. In a  newly-released paper , the research group explained how they tested a series of attacks that were able to bypass security checks, steal passwords, and even critical app data. The vulnerability was discovered to exist on Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers. Due to the way Apple built apps to communicate with each other, the paper writes, researchers were able to "steal such confidential information as the passwords for iCloud, email and bank, and the secret token of Evernote." Basically, these researchers were able to build a malware that was uploaded to Apple's App Store in the form of a typical app, which was then able to steal credentials from the existing apps on the researchers' phones. These credentials include passwords and other precious app data that's supposed to be off-limits. The lea...

Amazon is apparently enlisting everyday humans in its network of endless online shopping delivery. The WSJ reports that the ecommerce giant is working on an app internally that would allow the average consumer to make a little cash by picking up Amazon packages at various retail locations and dropping them off at their final destination. WSJ’s sources did not have a timeline for the release of this product, internally called ‘On My Way,’ and were unsure whether it would launch at all. Amazon has spent years not only iterating the way it tailors your online shopping experience — the mega retailer has one of the best suggestion engines in the business — but also the way that it gets you your products with speed and convenience. Besides the standard shipping (or two-day for Prime members), Amazon has fiddled with the idea of letting Uber drivers and yellow cabs deliver products same-day, as well as using bike messengers and third-party delivery services for Prime N...