last week in tech
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The tech world can be a serious place full of security issues, privacy violations, and artificial intelligence that may or may not someday murder us. Last week, however, was a fun time in the tech world as we got to watch the E3 video game conference unfold, revealing a promising docket of upcoming titles. Check out the biggest announcements and hours of new trailers in our wrap-up.

E3 wasn’t the only tech news in town last week, however. Here’s a recap of everything you missed when you were watching press conferences or practicing all those silly Fortnite dances.

Download the latest episode of the Last Week in Tech podcast

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This week, we talk about all things video games, catch up with the latest developments in the fight over Net Neutrality, and take a rare look under the hood of Amazon’s Alexa with Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scientist for artificial intelligence for the digital assistant. You can listen in the player embedded above, subscribe via iTunes, add us on SoundCloud, and follow us on Stitcher.

The Opportunity Mars rover had a tough week

The plucky robotic rover driving around on the surface of Mars missed a call home last week during a particularly brutal dust storm. All hope isn’t lost, however, that the resilient robot will continue its mission and keep sending us back fascinating and scientifically important data.

Ring’s security system is coming next month for $200

Ring's $200 smart security system

Amazon

SEE IT

The Amazon-owned company Ring first announced its security system last year, but it’s finally coming to market next month, and it will bring a $200 price tag with it. It comes stock with a window and door sensor, as well as a control panel, but you can expand from there if you want. A monitoring subscription will set you back $10 monthly, which makes the whole package seem rather affordable when you compare it to an offering like Nest’s $400 solution.

Yes, Apple Maps was down for a while last week

If you were trying to navigate with Apple’s native Maps app on Friday, you may have hit anunfortunate errorr. The service interruption didn’t last long, but anytime an essential app like that goes down, it’s worth noting.

An electric boat set a marine speed record at 88.62 miles per hour

While 88 miles per hour may not feel that fast in a car, it’s a much bigger feat when blasting across the surface of a lake or river. Last week, a Jaguar electric speedboat cruised to a new maritime record, with Jaguar Vector co-founder, Peter Dredge, at the helm.

There’s a Kickstarter for a connected Rubik’s Cube

Multi-colored logic puzzles come in many shapes and sizes, but a new Kickstarter wants to put Bluetooth in a Rubik’s Cube-style contraption to accurately time your solves. The $79 GoCube tracks your speed and lets you keep track of your progress via an app. There are leaderboards and you can even challenge your friends. Of course, you could just buy a cheap, plastic cube and do it the old fashioned way—smashing it on the ground once you’re frustrated or looking up the solutions on the internet.

Huawei made a really excellent laptop

Huawei Matebook Pro X

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A beautiful screen, long battery life, and fast performance make this a formidable contender.

If you’re looking for a new PC laptop, check out our review of Huawei’s latest Matebook X Pro machine. It’s built like a MacBook Pro clone, but it has a lot going for it, especially it’s extremely attractive, nearly-bezel-free touchscreen.

AI learned to watch people through walls

If you’re thinking you can hide inside your house from robots, you will be unsettled know that bots can now track human movement through walls. The video is really worth watching and you can see how the tech works in our story.

Oh, and the U.S.A. has a space army now

No, really, there’s a space army.

Apple