While statements and position papers from most central banks were generally skeptical of cryptocurrencies, the times may be changing.Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve of Saint Louis published a study that relates the positive effects of cryptocurrencies for privacy protection.Even with the precipitous decline in value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other currencies, the Federal Reserve author emphasized the new competitive offering these currencies created exactly because of the way they function, and accordingly, why they are here to stay.And antitrust authorities should welcome cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies for the same reason....

The 9 Pen is still powered by an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, but you can get the 15-inch version with 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics. (The smaller model is limited to integrated Intel graphics.) Both have LPDDR3 RAM, GIGA WiFi, face and fingerprint recognition, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, USB-C, headphone/microphone and UFS/MicroSD ports. It's also got a "ThunderAmp" smart amp and "studio-quality sound from speakers tuned by AKG," Samsung said.The 2019 Note 9 Pen also looks less cheap than the last model, thanks to a new design and all-metal/aluminum frame. Both models are still incredibly light, at 2.47 pounds for the 13-inch version, and 3.44 pounds for the larger model. The display, with 1080p resolution as before, has got slimmed-down bezels, at least on the sides....

TNB Aura, a recent arrival to Southeast Asia’s VC scene, announced today that it has closed a maiden fund at SG$31.1million, or around US$22.65 million, to bring a more private equity-like approach to investing in startups in the region.The fund was launched in 2016 and it is a joint effort between Australia-based venture fund Aura and Singapore’s TNB Ventures, which has a history of corporate innovation work. It reached a final close today, having hit an early close in January. It is a part of the Enterprise Singapore ‘Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering’ scheme which, as you’d expect, means there is a focus on hardware, IO, AI and other future-looking tech like ‘industry 4.0.’...

After another data leak, its second such leak in a year, Google today announced it was shutting down its beleaguered social media platform, Google+. API access will shut down even sooner, within the next 90 days.The newest vulnerability affected 52.5 million users, according to Google. Profile information, including names, email addresses, age, and occupation were all exposed. Worse, accounts set to private were still affected. Apps may have also stolen data stolen with specific Google+ users, but not publicly.“With the discovery of this new bug, we have decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs; this will occur within the next 90 days,” says David Thacker, VP of project management at Google, in a blog post. “In addition, we have also decided to accelerate the sunsetting of consumer Google+ from August 2019 to April 2019.”...

Audio Technica's ATH-M50XBT are lovely, lovely headphones.

In addition to tickling the nostalgia bone of '80s babies, Twitch will also offer an interactive experience alongside the broadcast. Show co-creator Andy Heyward will be sitting in on broadcasts from December 17th-21st to sprinkle in facts and stories about the show's creation. He'll also be drawing sketches of Inspector Gadget's trademark "Go Go Gadgets" inspired by the usernames of Twitch streamers. From December 17th-20th, the Inspector Gadget stream will be followed up by Adam Savage and his Tested team creating 3D props based off of Inspector Gadget's many accessories.Inspector Gadget is just the latest classic show to get the Twitch treatment. The service typically used for gaming streams ran marathons of , and . Unlike the Inspector Gadget broadcast that will only cover one season, those streams included multiple years of episodes and movies that ran back-to-back for multiple weeks at a time....

While 5G mobile broadband could give us superfast connectivity outdoors, the signal may not be able to reach indoors, particularly at higher frequencies.So could broadband over lightwaves help supplement the mobile signal inside buildings? Telecoms firm O2 thinks it might.Reporter: Chris Baraniuk. Video editor: Suzanne Vanhooymissen.Click here for more stories, videos and features about 5G in our Connected World series...

2018 is coming to an end, and we’ve had some amazing games come out this year. Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Smash Bros … this was a good year to be a gamer.But now that it’s over, what’s a gamer to do? Find a whole new batch of amazing games for which to get hyped.These are the new games we’re most looking forward to in 2019, in no particular order. Just as a disclaimer, I’m not going to regurgitate every upcoming game release — just ones that have some kind of scheduled release date for 2019, even if it’s a tentative one. As much as I’d love add to the pile of digital noise about Death Stranding or The Last of Us Part 2, those games have no set release date as yet....

Fintech startup Revolut is now officially a bank. While the startup initially expected to get its European banking license during the first half of 2018, the company has finally come out of the regulatory tunnel with a license in hand.As expected, Revolut applied for a license through the Bank of Lithuania and is leveraging passporting rules to operate in other European countries. Users will see some changes over the coming months.First, the company expects to roll out new features in the U.K., France, Germany and Poland. Right now, Revolut is more like an e-wallet that you can top up in many different ways. Users in those countries will get a true current account and a non-prepaid debit card in a few months....

It’s been just over a month since Rocket Lab’s inaugural (and long-delayed) commercial launch, “It’s Business Time,” and it’s about to take another customer to space: NASA. Tonight’s 8PM scheduled launch will take 10 small satellites to orbit as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) XIX mission.This is not only Rocket Lab’s first all-NASA launch, but the first launch from NASA under its “Venture Class Launch Services” initiative, which is taking advantage of the new generation of smaller, quick-turnaround launch vehicles.“The NASA Venture Class Launch Service contract was designed from the ground up to be an innovative way for NASA to work and encourage new launch companies to come to the market and enable a future class of rockets for the growing small satellite market,” said Justin Treptow, ELaNa XIX’s mission manager in a Rocket Lab press release....

Combatants of Hard Fork Decentralized's inaugural pitch battle took to the stage last night to share their plans and visions for our blockchain future.

Stratim, the mobility services company formerly known as Zirx, is suing its co-founder and now-former COO Shmulik Fishman for breach of fiduciary duties, civil conversion, criminal conversion, theft, criminal mischief, deception, unjust enrichment and fraud. The lawsuit’s co-plaintiff is Adesa, a subsidiary of KAR Auction Services, which acquired Stratim earlier this year.Stratim powers fleet management for more than 50 companies, including BMW (DriveNow), General Motors (Maven), Ford (Chariot) and Toyota, to power their respective mobility services. Through STRATIM’s vendor marketplace, for example, Ford can request gas fill-ups for its Chariot shuttles. The next day, a fuel company will come to fill up the tanks and then send that information back into the system....

Open source isn't just about code. Or needn't be. The spirit of open source is collaboration and sharing, which Microsoft has recently kicked up a notch with a new series of blogs that show how company culture can change, and what it could mean for open source development.SEE: Open source vs. proprietary software: A look at the pros and cons (Tech Pro Research) Microsoft is already the world's biggest contributor to open source, at least as measured by the number of employees contributing to open source projects. It doesn't need to tell tales, and yet that's exactly what the company is doing, to cool effect, with its new Microsoft Open Source Stories blog. The blog aims to share the behind-the-scenes stories about how certain projects went open source. As Microsoft's Dmitry Lyalin related to Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott, "We hope to tell over 20 stories through this process as we have had a lot of great stuff hidden behind the firewall." Three stories are available on the blog today, including the story of how Microsoft made its C# compiler open source....

With , you can ask Alexa for additional information or to carry out further actions after your initial request. So, when you say something like "Alexa, show me comedy movies" and it displays a selection of such films on your TV, you can ask it to play a certain flick without having to say "Alexa" again. You might also use Follow-Up Mode to ask for extra info about the weather or items on a list. You'll need to switch on the feature from the settings in the Alexa app if you'd like to use it. is again fairly self-explanatory -- ask Alexa to play a song, playlist or genre "everywhere" (including your home theater setup) or on certain groups of devices, and it will do just that. The feature supports Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora and other streaming services. There may be some lag compared with your other devices, but you should be able to rectify that through the TV Cube's settings. An update that includes both features is rolling out today....

The funds are being made available as part of a program designed to push carriers to ditch legacy systems and upgrade to more modern infrastructure. The FCC said it will also ease regulatory requirements for service providers building out their networks in rural areas. Carriers that continue to use legacy systems will have a larger support budget available to them but will be required to expand their broadband services in exchange for continuing to operate the out of date infrastructure.The Connect America Fund, first , has set aside billions of dollars meant to subsidize the expansion of broadband internet in underserved areas. Earlier this year, the FCC $1.5 billion in funding would be made available with the aim of bringing high-speed connections to more than 700,000 homes and businesses. According to the FCC's own data, about 24 million Americans lack access to broadband services....