Facebook has acquired GrokStyle, a shopping startup that uses AI to help you buy furniture and other items for the home.

The move, which was reported by Bloomberg, is the latest sign yet that the social network is looking to push deeper into e-commerce in 2019.

Facebook spokesperson Vanessa Chan confirmed the acquisition saying, “We are excited to welcome GrokStyle to Facebook. Their team and technology will contribute to our AI capabilities.”

GrokStyle, which was founded in 2016 according to CrunchBase, is a San Francisco startup specializing in visual search. The company is known for technology that allows shoppers to search for furniture and other items by taking photos with their phones. Last year, the company partnered with Ikea on its augmented reality furniture app.  Read more…

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It’s a strange little world.

At 4 billion miles from Earth, MU69 (also nicknamed Ultima Thule) is the farthest-away object a human spacecraft has ever visited. For the past few years, scientists have labeled MU69 as an unknown, mysterious “puzzle.” After the 13-year-old New Horizons spacecraft eventually swooped by the frozen rock on New Years Day 2019, the object graduated to a snowman-shaped frozen rock.

Now, after receiving new images of MU69, planetary scientists suspect that both of its “lobes” are flattish, too.

“The larger lobe, nicknamed ‘Ultima,’ more closely resembles a giant pancake, and the smaller lobe, nicknamed ‘Thule,’ is shaped like a dented walnut,” the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (where the mission is headquartered) detailed online.  Read more…

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There aren’t going to be many characters left from the early seasons of The Walking Dead after next year.

Danai Gurira, the actor who plays Michonne in the TV show, will be leaving The Walking Dead at some point during Season 10, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday. 

Gurira has been a key part of the series since her debut as Michonne in Season 3 and has taken over as the main protagonist since Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) departure earlier in Season 9. The character Michonne quickly became a fan favorite with her signature katana and knack for staying cool at all times.

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Nothing like a fresh meme to revive the senses and inspire some genuine chuckles.

This week, a new meme went viral on Twitter, inspiring some very important tweets. The format is simple and allows for a myriad of possibilities, as any hearty format should. It goes like this: Twitter users come up with a protagonist to ask, “who gon’ check me, boo?” along with a villain to answer, made up by a face of emojis, depending on the answer. 

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In this special edition of MashTalk, Mashable sits down with Mike Fasulo, President of Sony Electronics, at CES 2019. While Sony wowed at the tech conference with their new 85″ and 98″ 8K TVs, Fasulo said the trend to watch for 2019 is the further adoption of 4K by a widespread consumer base and the integration of smart home features within those popular TVs. Read more…

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It’s not just you: Twitter has been experimenting with a lot more features lately. 

From “original tweeter” tags, to “good morning” news briefs, the service has been testing a ton of tweaks to make it easier to keep up with conversations and news unfolding on its platform.

Now, we have a new look at a whole other set of features it appears Twitter has been quietly experimenting with, including improvements to night mode, encrypted direct messages, and new ways to use GIFs.

The features were discovered by social media consultant Matt Navarra, who tells Mashable he was able to access unreleased features by digging around in the code Twitter’s iOS app. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on specifics, but said the company regularly experiments with many new features, and that not all of its tests launch more broadly. Read more…

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When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos dropped a bombshell blog post saying the National Enquirer was attempting to blackmail him with nude photos, it immediately set the internet ablaze.

The lengthy post is full of scandalous details: not only does the National Enquirer have Bezos’ nudes (which are described in excruciatingly vivid detail), but the company allegedly used said photos to blackmail him into ending a Washington Post investigation into the tabloid. Bezos’ post also notes the connections between Enquirer-publisher David Pecker, Donald Trump, and the Saudi government.

It’s enough to make anyone’s head explode. Read more…

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It’s probably best that you’re sitting down for this.

The National Enquirer threatened to publish Jeff Bezos’ dick pics if he didn’t rein in his personal investigator, and in response the Amazon CEO posted about it on Medium. 

Taking a page out of Alexander Hamilton’s revenge book, he published a lengthy post about the incident and owned up to the nudes he sent, “rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail.” 

Once Bezos tweeted a link to the post, it was only a matter of time before the dick pic commentary began.

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In a personal blog post, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos claimed the National Enquirer is threatening to publish his “intimate photos.”

Bezos said he’s revealing the details rather than “capitulate to extortion and blackmail,” adding the publication believed the photos were newsworthy because it’s “necessary to show Amazon shareholders that my business judgment is terrible.”

American Media Inc (AMI) was upset over coverage of its ties with Saudi Arabia by the Washington Post, a newspaper Bezos has owned since 2013. Read more…

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Republican and democratic senators are reaching across the aisle to demand answers from three U.S. tech behemoths.

U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have sent three separate letters to Facebook, Google, and Apple looking for answers to their questions regarding the now-banned “research” apps.

In the letter to Facebook, the bipartisan group of senators demand information regarding the Project Atlas market research program. The program reportedly paid $20 a month to users as young as 13 to install the app. The app gave Facebook complete access to a user’s iOS or Android device in order to monitor their phone and internet usage. Read more…

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