Technology

SpaceX launches secretive space drone for US

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with the Pentagon's test vehicle attached.

In the Pentagon's vast arsenal there is little quite like it: a super-secret space drone that looks like a miniature version of the space shuttle, but orbits the Earth for months, even years, at a time. Doing what? The Air Force won't say.

Hands on OnePlus 5 smartphone

The OnePlus 5 can go toe-to-toe with the Android heavyweights, but with a mid-range price tag.

Sleek and powerful without breaking the budget, the Android-powered OnePlus 5 throws down the gauntlet to flagship smartphone makers.

Would you put ads on your phone for $5 a month?

Ads

Unlock Rewards is a new Android app that promises you a monthly trove of Flybuys points for very little effort on your part. All you need to do is... look at a full-screen ad whenever you unlock your phone?

iPhone 8: what an OLED screen will mean for you

iPhones have always used backlit LCD screens, but that could be about to change.

Apple is poised to release a new generation of iPhones next week, but the highest expectations are for the 10th-anniversary edition of the iconic smartphone. And, for that phone — which is believed to have a nearly all-screen front — Apple is expected to change the type of screen the iPhone uses.

God rot geo-blocking

 Paul MGann and Richard E. Grant in Withnail and I, 1987.

In a globalised market for entertainment, what is the effect of geo-blocking, except to encourage online piracy?

Nidhogg 2 is gross, violent, and undeniably fun

Nidhogg 2's look is gross, but it serves the game and will be more easily accepted in the mainstream.

Nidhogg 2 turned heads for all the wrong reasons when it was revealed this time last year, with the gracefully minimalist pixel graphics of the original sword-fighting party favourite replaced by a gross and chunky style that looks like something from a '90s cartoon.

Canon DSLR teaches smartphone generation the finer points

Guided Display makes all the 200D's functions easier to grasp and manipulate.

Canon's new EOS 200D is designed to appeal to those of us unfamiliar with the terminology and functions of good quality cameras, packing a fully-featured DSLR into a light and compact frame, and adding new software that can teach new users the ins and outs of all the various modes until they're ready to take the training wheels off.

Autonomous 'ghost ships' are coming

A concept for a remote controlled ship by Rolls-Royce.

The Yara Birkeland isn’t an ordinary cargo ship. If all goes well then the vessel, currently being built for a Norwegian agricultural fertiliser company, will become the world’s first fully autonomous cargo ship when it launches in 2020.

Hands on Tile Pro Bluetooth tracker

Designed to attach to your keyring, the Tile Pro Style and Sport help you find that which is lost.

With a longer range and a louder alarm, the new Tile Pro tracker makes it easier to find precious objects which tend to go into hiding.

Podcast conference OzPod returns to Sydney

OzPod 2017 will feature 34 speakers and panelists from across the globe, plus workshops and networking events.

The Australian podcasting conference OzPod returns to ABC Ultimo in Sydney on Friday September 8, and with it an international collection of some of the most innovative names in the on-demand audio entertainment space.