Technology: What Geeks are talking about from USA Today

Here is the latest Tech News from USA Today.

SpaceX rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars into the night skies carrying a communications satellite.

Periscope CEO stays cool on Facebook threat as service tweaks features
The co-founder of Periscope, Beykpour helped popularize the idea of broadcasting from your smart phone.

Facebook to face privacy lawsuit over photo tagging
A San Francisco federal judge rejected Facebook’s request to toss a lawsuit alleging its use of facial recognition technology invades users’ privacy.

Austin ride-sharing vote could ripple through USA
An Austin vote that affects iconic ride-sharing companies could have far-reaching impact

Herbalife stock jumps on possible FTC settlement
The FTC has been investigating the company for two years as a possible pyramid scheme.

GoPro sales, shares drop
GoPro sales still drop from a year ago

Time Inc. unveils streaming network, Kobe Bryant short film
Time Inc. and other magazine publishers present plans at Digital Content NewFronts.

‘Oregon Trail,’ ‘Space Invaders,’ ‘Sims’ enter Video Game Hall of Fame
‘Grand Theft Auto III,’ ‘The Legend of Zelda’ and ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ round out the 2016 class.

Tesla’s stock drops as investors question Musk optimism
Retreat comes a day after an initial rally Wednesday following the company’s Q1 earnings report.

Apple, SAP partner on business apps for iPhone, iPad
Apple and SAP inked a deal Thursday to jointly develop business apps for iPhone, iPad

Dorsey’s Square hit by 15% stock drop after results
Shares of the mobile-payment service dove 15% after it announced another quarterly loss.

The best cameras you can buy right now
With all the cameras on the market, we help you choose the best of the best.

GM, Lyft to test self-driving cars within a year
General Motors and Lyft will test a fleet of autonomous cars that may include the Chevrolet Bolt EV within a year.

NASA takes us on a journey to the center of our galaxy
Want to go for a wild ride into the center of the Milky Way? Want to get there really fast?

App Store search is working again, Apple says
Apple says a glitch that broke the search functions in the App Store Thursday morning has been resolved.

California likely to vote on marijuana legalization in November
Proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in California appears headed to the ballot

Mercury to cross directly in front of the sun
On Monday, May 9, Mercury will cross directly in front of the sun. Watch its projected route. (Provided by NASA)

Tesla posts less than expected Q1 loss, meets Street on sales
Tesla posted a first quarter loss of 57 cents per share on revenue of $1.6 billion. Analysts were looking for a loss of 58 cents a share on sales of $1.6 billion. Last year, Tesla lost 36 cents per share on sales of $1.1 billion in its first quarter

Tesla’s ambitions push for 500,000 Model 3’s in 2018
May 5 — Tesla Motors vows to increase production by 10 times as it forecasts production of 500,000 Model 3 automobiles starting in 2018.

How to see it: Mercury to make rare trip between Earth and sun on Monday
The smallest planet in our solar system will make a rare trip between the Earth and sun on Monday, according to NASA.

New rule allows feds to hack millions of computers more easily
The Justice Department says the rule change will help them catch tech-savvy criminals.

Apple says App Store not working as expected
NEW YORK—The search function inside Apple’s App Store is busted.

Ford invests $182 million in Silicon Valley tech firm
Deal with Pivotal is latest partnership between automakers and Silicon Valley firms.

How to save your live Periscope broadcast
New feature quietly added this week

Tech Five: Square leads Thursday earnings rush
Activision Blizzard, Yelp also share earnings after the bell.

Alibaba shares up on spike in March revenue
Commerce giant beat revenue estimates, missed on earnings.

Periscope CEO shrugs off Facebook threat and the technorati
The co-founder of Periscope, Beykpour helped popularize the idea of broadcasting from your smart phone.

How to use Periscope per co-founder
Kayvon Beykpour, the co-founder of Periscope, shows how to use the live movie video app.

Periscope co-founder on competing with Facebook
Periscope Co-Founder Kayvon Beykpour sits down with USA TODAY’s Jefferson Graham to discuss how it started the company and how he feels about new competition from Facebook.

Periscope’s Beykpour keeps cool as Facebook stomps onto turf
The co-founder of Periscope, Beykpour helped popularize the idea of broadcasting from your smart phone.

Groups to raise $200k for LGBTQ women coding scholarships
Dev Bootcamp is joining forces with Lesbians Who Tech to provide scholarships for LGBTQ women to learn how to code.

Live Nation concerts coming to NextVR this summer
Fans can expect to virtually attend shows, sitting on stage and going backstage.

Hulu: Live TV, more originals on tap
Streaming service Hulu presents programming plans to advertisers.

Match Group’s Sam Yagan wants to join your date
Next step for dating apps involves a lot more data

Apple set to revamp Apple Music, report says
Not quite a full year after launching its streaming Apple Music service and rival to Spotify, Apple is planning “sweeping” changes for the service.

Samsung’s new fridge orders groceries for you
Samsung’s Family Hub is a digital butler trapped in a fridge

Tesla reports loss narrower than Street’s forecast
The electric automaker just lost two top executives and faces the challenging of delivering on the hype of its new Model 3.

FitBit shares fall on poor outlook
FitBit stock fell more than 9% in after-hours trading after the company issued weaker than expected second quarter guidance.

Sean Parker’s pot initiative moves towards ballot
Proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in California appears headed to the ballot

Zynga’s Q1 results tops forecasts
Social games company topped estimates on revenue, broke even on earnings.

Best Right Now: Affordable Canon DSLRs
Canon DSLRs that may have cost you thousands years ago are now more affordable.

May meteor shower: Look for Eta Aquarids Thursday and Friday
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower will be visible early both days before dawn.

4 Awesome Star Wars Apps
Here are four awesome Star Wars apps to help you celebrate May 4.

Two Tesla execs leave as earnings loom
Analysts expect a FY Q1 earnings loss for the electric automaker, which has seen 325,000 orders for its new Model 3 sedan.

Zuckerberg taps Shelton to run education effort
James Shelton will oversee the education efforts of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.

‘Titanfall’ creators to work on ‘Star Wars’ game
Development studio working on a third-person action game set in universe.

Report: Apple set to revamp Apple Music
Not quite a full year after launching its streaming Apple Music service and rival to Spotify, Apple is planning “sweeping” changes for the service.

Weather pushes SpaceX launch to Friday
SpaceX works toward so-far elusive goal: increasing its pace of rocket launches, landings.

Tech Five: Etsy shares surge off earnings
The seller of handmade crafts posted a profit during first quarter.

Report: Apple loses iPhone brand case in China
Local company will still be allowed to use ‘iphone’ for its products.

Groups to raise $200,000 for LGBTQ coding scholarships
Dev Bootcamp is joining forces with Lesbians Who Tech to provide scholarships for LGBTQ women to learn how to code.

Solar Impulse 2 to be on display in Arizona
The solar-powered airplane’s departure is delayed until next week.

Four fun apps to celebrate Star Wars Day
The force is strong with these apps. Download them for May 4.

The best droids you can buy right now
These are the droids you’re looking for.

SpaceX strives to pick up pace with Thursday launch
SpaceX works toward so-far elusive goal: increasing its pace of rocket launches, landings.

Takata set to recall 35 million airbags: report
The action comes on the heels of 28 million cars that have already been impacted by the supplier’s recalls.

Takata planning to recall 35 million airbags: report
The action comes on the heels of 28 million cars that have already been impacted by the supplier’s recalls.

These deep-space engines could one day take us past Mars
If humans are ever going to explore deep space, the propulsion chemical rockets we currently use won’t cut it.Video provided by Newsy

The Fab Four of digital assistants at work
Siri, Cortana, Google and Alexa go about their business differently in responding to Ed Baig’s questions.

WhatsApp blackout in Brazil ends
The blackout was the second for the Facebook messaging app in five months over its refusal to comply with a court order.

Why your cable company wants to make movies
Cable companies and Internet service providers are buying up content, from movie studios to Internet sites.

Google, Fiat ink deal to make 100 self-driving minivans
The partnership helps Google accelerate its autonomous car road test program and gives Fiat Chrysler access to leading edge tech.

Next for dating apps –going on date with you
The next big thing for dating apps–going on a date with you. Sam Yagan, the Vice-Chair of the Match Group, which owns Match, Tinder, OK Cupid and Plenty of Fish, explains, on #TalkingTech.

The hottest new technologies are coming to cars
Coming to cars: artificial intelligence (AI), neural networks, 5G, Internet of Things (IoT) and mobility.

Why astronomers named this comet after a cat
The comet bore no tail — which isn’t just unusual, but the first ever to be observed by humans.

The best TVs you can buy right now
LG’s lauded OLED TVs nab the top spots on our list.

Match Group’s Sam Yagan wants to join the date
Next step for dating apps

Project Include to tackle diversity in tech
A diverse group of women tech activists has launched a new project to increase diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Snapchat, Instagram compete with Facebook for eyeballs
eMarketer says Americans will spend one minute more on Facebook by 2018 but three more minutes on other services.

Newly discovered jellyfish looks like tiny UFO
Is that a UFO or a jellyfish? Researchers recently discovered a glowing jellyfish in the depths of the ocean near the Mariana Trench.

Giphy rolls out keyboard for iPhones
App makes GIFs much easier to share through texts, other apps.

Oculus announces that Rift will be available in retail stores Starting
Consumers interested in the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will be able to try them out at select Best Buy stores starting May 7.

Yelp rallies after Einhorn investment
Yelp shares rose more than 6% in after-hours trade Monday after David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital announced a stake in the company.

Even a ‘down round’ is cause for cheer in Silicon Valley
Never mind reduced market valuations. Now start-ups are just proud they got funding at all.

Gas on demand: Filling up without the station
Christopher Aubuchon, Filld’s founder and chief executive officer, explains how the on demand gas app works. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on “Bloomberg West.” Bloomberg’s Eric Newcomer also comments.

Cutting the Cord: MLB app offers improved video, new options for ’16 season
Rooting for hometown heroes has never been easy for cord-cutting sports fans.

Raw: Solar Plane Lands in Arizona
A solar-powered plane landed outside Phoenix after a flight from California on the latest leg of its round-the-world journey. Solar Impulse 2 arrived in Goodyear, Arizona on Monday night. (May 3)

Solar Impulse 2 lands in Phoenix
Solar-powered plane is attempting to make a trip around the world.

Hulu’s new service might be the nail in the coffin for cable
Hulu’s new service is expected to have several popular channels, including Fox, ABC and ESPN.Video provided by Newsy

Virtual reality: The Next Big Thing on campuses
‘This is the future. It’s not oversaturated. It’s new.’

Milken Conference offers visions of the future
At the 2016 Milken Global Conference on Beverly Hills, CA, innovators from many industries offer their visions of the future from gene editing to ending global warming.

Even a ‘down round’ is cause for cheer in new Silicon Valley
Never mind reduced market valuations. Now start-ups are just proud they got funding at all.

3D-printed buildings could help planet: Google’s Schmidt
Schmidt’s idea was one of many discussed at the Milken Institute conference, whose focus was on “future of humankind.”

Yelp rises after Einhorn investment
Yelp shares rose more than 6% in after-hours trade Monday after David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital announced a stake in the company.

Streaming service Hulu plans live channels
Hulu is planning to add live feeds of ABC, Fox and other channels next year.

Gas delivery apps are new on-demand fad
But some public officials are raising safety concerns.

Tim Cook on China: ‘I could not be more optimistic’
In his first public appearance since Apple announced its first quarter sales drop in 13 years, company CEO Tim Cook on Monday

Google’s Chrome edges Microsoft’s IE as top browser
Chrome is the new Web browser champ, edging Microsoft’s venerable Internet Explorer.

Business leaders swarm Milken Conference in Beverly Hills
Business leaders swarm Milken Conference in Beverly Hills for a global gathering on investing, technology and the future of humankind. Jefferson Graham reports.

The best front-loading washers under $1,000
You can get superior cleaning without spending a fortune.

Amazon to expand same-day Prime to underserved metros
Amazon was criticized for leaving some black neighborhoods out of Prime same-day delivery.

Oculus Rift to debut at Best Buy this month
Consumers interested in virtual reality can purchase headset May 7.

Hulu reportedly plans live video streaming
Hulu to add live feeds of ABC, Fox and other channels, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Electrolux washer mixes it up for a better clean
Better cleaning with better technology.

WhatsApp blocked in Brazil again
This is the second time the Facebook app has been blocked over its refusal to turn over data in a criminal investigation.

3 Earth-like planets may have life, water
Three new planets orbiting a nearby star have been discovered that could potentially have life and water. Video provided by European Southern Observatory

3 Earth-like planets orbiting nearby star could have life, water
Three Earth-like planets orbit a “nearby” star, astronomers announced Monday.

The next ‘Call of Duty’ ships off to space
Video game ‘Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’ launching on November 4.

Next big thing for virtual reality: lasers in your eyes
A variety of startups are working on eye-tracking technology that has broad implications for VR/AR.

Oracle acquires Opower in $532 million deal
Software giant Oracle has acquired cloud-based energy software company Opower in a $532 million cash deal.