From The Verge: Amazon now has a say in the development of a commonly used smart home standard, giving the company more power as it continues to push smart speakers, cameras, doorbells, and all other kinds of gadgets into its customers’ homes.

As of today, Amazon has a seat on the board of the...

From TechCrunch: It’s a dark day to work in media. On the heels of news that TechCrunch parent company Verizon Media Group (formerly Oath) would lay off roughly 800 workers, BuzzFeed has announced its own substantial staffing cuts. And though they were anticipated, Gannett also made substantial cuts...

From PC Mag: Heads up, Mac users: Microsoft's full Office 365 suite has finally made its debut on the Mac App Store.

With one click, you can now download the productivity suite, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive. Once you download the bundle, you can purchase an...

From CNET: Huawei is going after Samsung's throne even though it faces challenges in the US.

The Chinese telecom giant expects to dethrone Samsung as the world's top smartphone seller by the end of 2020, according to CNN. Huawei already overtook Apple in the second quarter of 2018.

"This year at...

From Recode: Google, Amazon, and Facebook spent record amounts to influence the US government in 2018. They poured a combined $48 million into lobbying last year — up 13 percent from 2017, according to new government disclosures.

Lobbying growth among the tech giants — especially companies that...

From ExtremeTech: SpaceX is working on the initial prototype of the Starship rocket (formerly BFR) that could eventually carry people to the moon and Mars. However, CEO Elon Musk recently announced a significant design revision that seems counterintuitive at first. Instead of aluminum and carbon...

From CNET: Apple has hired a Samsung executive to work on battery technology.

Soonho Ahn, a former senior vice president at battery-making affiliate Samsung SDI, joined Apple in December, according to his LinkedIn profile, as reported Wednesday by Bloomberg.

According to his profile, his new title...

From Fractal Design Press Release: Fractal Design today announced a new addition to the highly acclaimed Meshify series with the launch of the Meshify S2. The new Meshify S2 features the series’ largest and most advanced design yet with bold aesthetics and unprecedented performance potential....

From Phanteks Press Release: Phanteks today announced the release of the latest addition to the Eclipse Series product line, the Eclipse P600S. A hybrid solution for silent and high airflow PC systems.

The Eclipse P600S offers both minimum noise or maximum airflow configurations that can be easily...

From PC Mag: This week, Microsoft is highlighting the fact it has seven new Windows 10 devices aimed at the classroom being offered by Lenovo, Acer, and Dell. Prices start below $300 and includes 2-in-1 devices, but that's not the most interesting part of Microsoft's announcement. Students are also...