Author: Andrii Degeler

(credit: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies)

The Hyperloop has been in the news a lot over the past months, although most of these recent stories have covered the murky goings-on at Hyperloop One. There's a lot more to the Hyperloop concept and technology than the funds misappropriation scandals of one Silicon Valley startup, however.

The first and probably most important thing to keep in mind about this futuristic transportation technology is that there's actually more than one company working on making it a reality. Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) are the most significant ones, but the open nature of Hyperloop means there could be many more flying under the radar.

HTT has attracted slightly less media attention than Hyperloop One, partly because the company has not yet raised any external funding or conducted large-scale test runs. It has, however, announced two transportation projects—one between LA and San Francisco, and the other connecting Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest. In addition to these, it has also intrigued journalists with boasts of a new material called "vibranium," of which its capsules will be made.

(credit: ElbridgeGerry)

Google looks set to abolish a feature that allows users to navigate to the previous page by hitting the backspace key, after complaints piled up against the option.

However, it would seem that a small number of users will be very unhappy with the planned change.

The subtle tweak can apparently be seen in Chrome 52, which is currently only available as an unstable "Developer" version.

(credit: StatCounter)

Firefox has gingerly pulled ahead of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Edge browsers for the first time across the globe.

Mozilla’s Firefox grabbed 15.6 percent of worldwide desktop browser usage in April, according to the latest numbers from Web analytics outfit StatCounter.

However, neither browser threatens the market leader—Google’s Chrome continues to command two thirds of the market.

After baking in an ad blocker and VPN client, Norwegian browser maker Opera Software has added a power saving mode to its desktop Web browser. The feature is currently only available in the latest "developer" version of the desktop browser—which should be available on Thursday morning.

Opera's SVP of engineering Krystian Kolondra said that the new feature "can increase the battery life by as much as 50 percent." The company claimed that such huge gains are possible through a number of additional optimisations, including "reducing activity from background tabs, adapting page-redrawing frequency, and tuning video-playback parameters."

Citing the results of its own testing, Opera has claimed that a laptop running Windows 10 64-bit with the power saving feature enabled lasts 49 percent longer than one with Chrome put under equal stress. One caveat is that the testing was made with ad blocking turned on as well, which can account for a significant part of the battery life improvement.

(credit: Instagram)

A 10-year-old schoolboy from Finland has become the youngest recipient of a £7,000 ($10,000) award under Facebook's bug bounty program, after he found a vulnerability that allowed anyone to delete comments on Instagram simply by planting malicious code into the photo-sharing app.

Jani—who at the tender age of 10 is considered too young to use Facebook by the company's own rules—outshines an unnamed 13-year-old cyber enthusiast, who once held the title of the youngest person to receive a bug bounty reward from the free content ad network.

In fact, the Finnish kid might well be the youngest publicly acknowledged bounty hunter—a title that appeared to have been previously held by Alex Miller from California, who received £2,000 from Mozilla back in 2010 at the age of 12.

Facebook has disputed a UK-based app's registration of the name LitterGram by claiming that it infringes the trademark of its photo-sharing service Instagram.

LitterGram's creator Danny Lucas responded to the complaint with a video plea to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, asking him to allow the app to keep on trucking with its current name.

The app—which was launched in 2014—allows users who snap photos of languishing litter in a public area to upload the images, add a location tag, and make local authority officials aware of the problem. LitterGram is also used to name and shame litter bugs, especially drivers who toss stuff from their cars.

(credit: City of Augsburg / N-TV)

Distracted smartphone users will be alerted about when it's safe to cross the road, after a neat pilot traffic light system was launched in a German city.

Authorities in the city of Augsburg—which is roughly 35 miles from Munich—have embedded rows of LEDs into the pavement. They will flash red when the crossing is closed to pedestrians.

According to German television station N-TV, it has become necessary to bring in what is a novel approach to controlling pedestrian movement, after a 15-year-old girl, who was wearing earbuds and looking at her smartphone, was killed when she stepped in front of a tram.

It wouldn't be a Dyson product if it didn't look distinctly different from other hair dryers

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British technology company Dyson, best known for its futuristic takes on vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, has turned its attention to the humble hair dryer—but it won't be cheap.

In fact, the device (full name: Dyson Supersonic) will cost £299 when it goes on sale in the UK in early June. That price tag is around twice as much as hair dryers used in high-end salons.

Dyson claimed to have invested £50 million and four years of research into development of the new technology, making it quieter and—apparently—less damaging to hair. The resulting device has a motor that the company said was eight times faster—and a lot smaller—than those used in the most popular hair dryers sold in Japan, where we're told 96 percent of the population owns one. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, Dyson's hair dryer will go on sale in Japan first.

(credit: Withings)

Nokia has confirmed plans to acquire French smart watch and fitness gizmo maker Withings for £132 million (~€170 million, $190 million) in an all-cash offer.

After selling off its mobile phone business and Here maps division, Nokia seems to be returning to consumer-facing products once again with its planned buyout.

France-based Withings was founded in 2008, and since then has released a number of connected health appliances, including smart watches, fitness trackers, thermometers, and baby monitors, among other gadgets.

Opera Software has become the first major browser maker to introduce a built-in VPN client for its Web users.

The Norwegian company said that the latest version of its browser is only available via its "Developer" channel, and added that the VPN service is currently free of charge, and has no limits in traffic or usage time.

Opera users can choose between the firm's VPN servers in the US, Canada, and Germany—with the promise that the list of locations will grow longer soon.