A security flaw that could affect millions of cars has been identified, with researchers warning that there may be no fix available to protect susceptible vehicles. The exploit works by overloading the so-called CAN, or "car device network", which connects all of the different aspects of modern vehicles together. With the right code, essential parts of the car's safety features - such as the airbags or antilock brakes - could be forced offline.

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Google has some good ideas for the Solar Eclipse that's about to blast its way over the United States, one of which involves Android. Users with devices like the Google Pixel will see an update to Android O (whose name will also be revealed) when the Solar Eclipse takes place. There'll be a big event in New York City to make the release of Android O all the more powerful.

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Reddit made an announcement today that will likely cause some controversy among its massive community. Reddit's native video platform is going live across the entire site in an expanded beta test. Previously, the Reddit video player was only available in around 200 communities as part of a limited testing phase.

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Google Home's vast collection of device and service connections expands today with Spotify Free. This is the version of Spotify users can take advantage of (for free) with commercials and slightly lower-quality audio than a paid account. This update should be made today to add to the ever-growing list of voice-controlled services and devices shown below.

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For the guy who once operated the mighty levers of Android as a whole, you might suspect a smartphone startup like Essential would be small fry for Andy Rubin. The ex-Googler and current head of product incubator Playground didn't intend to get into hardware development, at least not himself. His focus at Playground has been artificial intelligence, though not the sort that you'd find running Wikipedia searches and pulling down weather forecasts in Amazon's Echo or Google's Home.

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A collection of pictures "leaked" over the past 24-48 hours in what was instantly called a next-gen Apple TV deluge. Whether this supposed 4K Apple TV is real is irrelevant - what is relevant is the crowd reaction. The idea of being given the opportunity to purchase something so massive from Apple seems to have some fans flipping and flopping just like a flounder - and it's been this way for a while.

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Instagram's Direct messaging is getting an upgrade, with the ability to reply to posts with stickers or even split-screen selfies. The new feature is billed as a way to have "visual conversations" by the company, though without them taking place publicly. It should cut down on "what photo were you talking about?" confusion in chats, too.

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Nintendo has a handful of notable Pokemon releases planned for September. On September 22, it will release an enhanced version of Pokken Tournament for the Nintendo Switch, and on the very same day, Pokemon Gold and Silver will be landing on the 3DS Virtual Console. Today we're learning that these 3DS re-releases will be getting something of a physical release (in a manner of speaking, at least).

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Back at CES in January, Norton unveiled an interesting new router called the Core. What makes this router interesting is not only its unique design, but also its stated focus: keeping your network of IoT devices safe. Seven months later, the Norton Core is now shipping out to US customers.

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At this point everyone knows that the solar eclipse is coming next week and ahead of that people have been trying to get their hands on eclipse glasses so they can look at the phenomenon without going blind. The catch is that a bunch of the eclipse glasses that came out of China were bogus and Amazon had to recall them. Volvo is doing its part to enable at least a handful of people to view the eclipse without having to wear glasses that look like they are from 3D movies of the '80s.

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In a crowded smartphone world you need to do something seriously special if you want to stand out. Essential's mix is a combination of pure Android, high-end build quality even a Vertu fan would have to give credit, and an ambitious roadmap of modular accessories, multiple form-factors, and a new generation of AI. Today, though, with the Essential Phone in hand and most of the rest still somewhere on a nebulous roadmap, I can't help but wonder: would it be taken as seriously if it wasn't the handiwork of Andy "Father of Android" Rubin?

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ASUS’ launch of the ZenFone 4 series just a week before Google is expected to launch Android 8.0 “O” has naturally brought questions of updates. While it is definitely expected that the ZenFone 4 will get Android O, the same can’t be said for last year’s ZenFone 3 line. In its press conference, ASUS assured fans that ZenFone 3 will not only be upgraded to Android O but will also get the its new ZenUI 4.0. There still, however, is the question of when. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for ASUS to get its act together. With a bit of daring, you can unlock your ZenFone bootloader and be on your way to installing custom ROMs, including future Android 8.0 ROMs.

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