Tesla finally owns Tesla.com domain

The domain Tesla.com has been owned by a Nikola Tesla fan and engineer named Stu Grossman. He’s held the rights to it since 1992. But it seems Tesla Motors has finally gotten their hands on it. If you visit Tesla.com, you’ll be redirected to Teslamotors.com. And this certainly comes at a time when Tesla CEO Elon Musk wanted to change its name to reflect the change in business scope of the company, like the Tesla Energy wing of the company. It’s not known how the change came about or if Grossman got a big payout for it.

Source: The Verge

Amazon Echo gets additional news sources for Flash Briefing

Amazon Echo’s latest update brings new sources for its Flash Briefing feature. You can now add the likes of CNN, Bloomberg, NPR, Discovery News, The Economist, and ESPN Radio. Just head over to the Settings section of the Alexa app. Other than that, the Echo also now has some mad rhyming skills. It gets RhymeZone, a rhyming dictionary that you can speak to. You can just ask questions like, “Alexa, what rhymes with blue?” and it’ll get you a word or words that rhyme with it. You can now also ask it about baby names and what the popular names are for a particular year. The new skills can be added from the Skills section of the Alexa app.

Source: Android Central

DoJ files a motion to force Apple to comply with FBI iPhone backdoor request

In response to Apple's denial to allow a backdoor access on an iPhone used in a terrorist attack in San Bernandino, the US Department of Justice has filed a motion to compel Apple to create firmware that would allow the FBI to brute force access into iPhones. Apple has three days to reply to the order.

Apple CEO Tim Cook posted a public letter this week to Apple's website explaining why creating a backdoor tool for the iPhone would set a dangerous precedent. Other technology CEOs, namely Google's Sundar Pichai and executives from Twitter and Facebook have backed Apple's stand. Apple has stressed that it has in the passed turned over subpoenaed information under request as well as allowed its engineers and their expertise to serve as consultants to various government and security agencies, however the creation of a tool that can be used to crack the encryption of the iPhone would be a dangerous precedent.

Source: 9to5Mac

Google officially drops Google+ sign-ins for Play Games

Google has decoupled Google+ from yet another one of its services. You no longer have to use your Google+ account to access Google Play Games (which we reported a bit about earlier). Now, you’ll get a new Gamer ID that you can setup right from the Google Play Games app. It even lets you choose from over 40 avatars to accompany your account. This Gamer ID is linked to your email and you can decide if you want your activity public or private.

The new sign-in process is also in place, which only requires you to enter your account credentials once per account instead of per game. If you haven’ tried Google Play Games yet, you’ll be prompted to pick a Gamer ID when you enter the app. If you’re an existing user, you’ll be prompted to create a Gamer ID from a Play-integrated title.

Source: Official Android Blog | Via: Engadget