Tech Pods: Recent Episodes
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Tesla Director of AI, Andrej Karpathy, is stepping down from his role at the company and from the helm of its Autopilot program. "It’s been a great pleasure to help Tesla towards its goals over the last 5 years and a difficult decision to part ways," Karpathy announced via Twitter on Wednesday, having just returned from a four-month sabbatical. It’s been a great pleasure to help Tesla towards its goals over the last 5 years and a difficult decision to part ways. In that time, Autopilot graduated from lane keeping to city streets and I look forward to seeing the exceptionally strong Autopilot team continue that momentum.— Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy) July 13, 2022The news follows suspicions, then confirmations, that Tesla would be reducing its workforce by as much as 10 percent. The company has already laid off more than 200 employees from the Autopilot division and permanently shuttered its San Mateo offices. Musk has previously made overtures about packing up and leaving Silicon Valley, where Tesla was founded, for the sun-baked shores of central Texas. The company moved its headquarters from California to Austin last October and has heavily focused its new production capabilities there. Before becoming the Senior Director of AI at Tesla, Karpathy was a research scientist with OpenAI's deep learning program focusing on computer vision and generative modeling. Prior to that, he was part of Fei-Fei Li's research team at Stanford for his PhD. Karpathy has "no concrete plans" yet for the future but is looking to "spend more time revisiting my long-term passions around technical work in AI, open source and education," he noted in a subsequent tweet.
Will Elon’s decision to pull-out of the deal to acquire Twitter mean the two next face each other in court? Are smart thermostats bad for the power grid? And the NY Times reports that Jony Ive’s LoveFrom design firm and Apple have parted ways. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe. MP3Continue reading "Elon’s Millions: Buying Twitter – DTNS 4315"
If you're missing your weekly dose of Star Trek since the first season of Strange New Worlds wrapped up, you won't have to wait much longer for another fix. Animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will return on August 25th.The third season has 10 episodes, with a new one arriving every Thursday. Paramount+ is promising a "shocking resolution" for the cliffhanger that capped off season two last October. The crew of the USS Cerritos will be tested "in (hilarious) ways they could never imagine," which may or may not have something to do with the consequences of stealing the ship.The imminent return of Lower Decks should come as good news for its fans. Trekkers who prefer the live-action shows will need to remain patient, though, as the likes of Star Trek: Picard and Discovery aren't expected to return until 2023.Lower DecksSeason 38/25 🖖 pic.twitter.com/ZiRuelvkoJ— Mike McMahan (@MikeMcMahanTM) July 13, 2022
Doc Searls and Aaron Newcomb revisit Craig, the open source way to make live multitrack recordings of Discord sessions, with its new and already-seasoned maintainers, @Snazzah and @DJCoolguy. The new maintainers share their experience with transitioning from the previous developers as well as other updates in version 2 of Craig.chat. Hosts: Doc Searls and Aaron Newcomb Guests: Snazzah and Ralph S Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly Think your open source project should be on FLOSS Weekly? Email floss@twit.tv. Thanks to Lullabot's Jeff Robbins, web designer and musician, for our theme music. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30 Compiler - FLOSS
Update 7/13/2022: We've refreshed our list with the best deals you can get for day two of Amazon Prime Day.Amazon Prime Day is officially here and a number of our favorite gadgets are on sale. If you're a Prime member, you can save hundreds on devices from Sony, Razer, Samsung and others over the next 48-hours, plus Amazon has discounted most of its own devices, too. Prime Day can be somewhat tricky — yes, there are thousands of deals, especially across the consumer electronics category, but a good portion of them are not worth your time. We've collected the best tech deals for Prime Day 2022 here so you don't have to go searching for them.Sony WH-1000XM4EngadgetSony's excellent WH-1000XM4 headphones are down to a new low of $228 right now. We gave these cans a score of 94 for their powerful ANC, immersive sound quality and multi-device connectivity.Buy WH-1000XM4 at Amazon - $228AirPods ProThe AirPods Pro with the MagSafe case have been discounted to $170. These remain Apple's best sounding earbuds, and we liked them for their solid sound, powerful ANC and hands-free Siri capabilities.Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $170AirPods (2nd gen)The original AirPods are down to $90. While they're a bit outdated at this point, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.Buy AirPods (2nd gen) at Amazon - $90Apple Watch Series 7The latest Apple Watch Series 7 has dropped to $279, which is a new all-time low. It's the most comprehensive wearable Apple makes and it earned a score of 90 from us for its larger screen, faster charging and handy features in watchOS 8.Buy Series 7 at Amazon - $279Apple Watch SEYou can pick up the Apple Watch SE for only $219 right now, or 22 percent off the normal price. If you've never had a wearable before, this is the Apple Watch to get. We gave it a score of 88 for its comfortable design and responsible performance.Buy Apple Watch SE at Amazon - $219Apple TV 4KThe latest Apple TV 4K has dropped to $109. While on the expensive side, it's a set-top box that Apple lovers will appreciate. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support and much improved Siri remote.Buy Apple TV 4K at Amazon - $109iPadThe 10.2-inch iPad is down to $299. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved performance, excellent battery life, better front-facing camera and increased base storage.Buy iPad at Amazon - $299KindleAmazon's standard Kindle has dropped to $45, which is half off its normal price. We gave this e-reader a score of 91 for its improved contrast display, extra front lights and sleeker design.Buy Kindle at Amazon - $45Kindle PaperwhiteThe Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $95, which is a new record low for the e-reader. The updated model has 17 front lights, a sleeker design, an adjustable warm light, weeks of battery life and Audible support.Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon - $95Echo DotThe Echo Dot is on sale for $20 while the Echo Dot with Clock is down to $33. We like these tiny smart speakers for their good audio quality, compact design and tap-to-snooze feature.Buy Echo Dot at Amazon - $20Buy Echo Dot with Clock at Amazon - $33Echo Show 5The Echo Show 5 has dropped to $35, or $50 off its usual price. If you want a smart alarm clock, this is the smart display to get. We like its sharp 5-inch display, ambient light sensor, smart home controls and tap-to-snooze feature.Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon - $35Echo Show 8The Echo Show 8 smart display is on sale for a record-low price of $75. It earned a score of 87 from us for its attractive design, stellar audio quality and improved camera for video calls. The first-generation Show 8 is also on sale and you can get a bundle with it and a Blink Mini camera for only $65.Buy Echo Show 8 at Amazon - $75Fire HD 10The Fire HD 10 has dropped to only $75 for Prime Day. It's the Fire tablet to get if you want the best performance possible. We like its 1080p display, 12-hour battery life and its Show Mode feature.Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon - $75Fire TV Stick LiteYou can pick up Amazon's most affordable streamer, the Fire TV Stick Lite, for only $12 right now. It supports 1080p streaming and gives you access to some of the most popular services like Netlfix and Disney+.Buy Fire TV Stick Lite at Amazon - $12Fire TV Stick 4K MaxThe higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.Buy Fire TV Stick 4K Max at Amazon - $35Blink MiniThe Blink Mini has been discounted to only $30 for Prime Day, and you can get two of them for the price of one as well. This camera needs to be plugged in, but we like its compact design, 1080p recording, motion alerts and two-way audio.Buy Blink Mini at Amazon - $30Elgato Stream DeckElgato's Stream Deck is down to $100 for Prime Day, or $50 off its normal price. This is a handy accessory to have for game streamer because you can customize its 15 LCD keys to do things like open apps, switch scenes, adjust audio and more.Buy Stream Deck at Amazon - $10065-inch LG B1 OLED smart TV (2021)LGLG's 65-inch B1 OLED TV is 30 percent off for Prime Day and down to $1,500. This 2021 version runs on LG's a7 Gen 4 AI Processor 4K, works with G-Sync and FreeSync technologies and has Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support built in.Buy 65-inch LG B1 OLED TV at Amazon - $1,500DJI Mini 2 Fly More comboDJIA combo pack that includes the DJI Mini 2 drone plus a bunch of accessories has dropped to $479 for Prime Day. While DJI is on the Mini 3 at this point, this pack is a good option if you want all of the extra things you could ever need for your drone.Buy DJI Fly More combo at Amazon - $479August WiFi smart lockEngadgetAugust's 4th-gen WiFi smart lock is down to a new low of $150 right now, or nearly $100 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 80 when it first came out thanks to its minimalist design, easy installation and mandatory two-factor authentication setup.Buy August WiFi smart lock at Amazon - $150Crucial MX500 SSDCrucial's MX500 in 1TB is on sale for $85, or 15 percent off its usual price. It’s a good option if you need a standard 2.5-inch drive that works with both laptops and desktops. It also has AES-256 bit hardware encryption and integrated power loss immunity to protect your data.Buy Crucial MX500 (1TB) at Amazon - $85Samsung Pro Plus microSD cardSamsung's Pro Plus microSD card in 256GB is nearly half off and down to only $28 for Prime Day. It also comes with an adapter, so you can use it with more types of devices. You'll get read/write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 120MB/s, respectively, and a card that's temperature, magnet- and drop-resistant.Buy Samsung Pro Plus microSD card (256GB) at Amazon - $28Samsung Galaxy S22 UltraCherlynn Low / EngadgetAll of Samsung's Galaxy S22 smartphones are cheaper than usual for Prime Day. The biggest deal among them is on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is down to a new low of $840. The Galaxy S22+ and the standard S22 are on sale for $700 and $600, respectively. We consider these to be some of the best Android phones you can get right now, so they're worth snatching up while they're deeply discounted.Buy Galaxy S22 Ultra at Amazon - $840Buy Galaxy S22+ at Amazon - $700Buy Galaxy S22 at Amazon - $600Ninja Foodi Dual-Zone air frierNinjaNinja's dual-zone air fryer has dropped to $160, which is 30 percent off its usual price. It earned a spot in our best air fryers guide for its large capacity, quick heat-up time and Smart Finish feature, which lets you prepare two different things at once and have them finish cooking at the same time.Buy Ninja Foodi Dual-Zone air fryer at Amazon - $160NVIDIA Shield TVNVIDIABoth the NVIDIA Shield TV and the Pro model are on sale for Prime Day and down to $125 and $170, respectively. Both devices run Android TV and can take Google Assistant commands, plus they run on NVIDIA's Tegra X1+ processor and support 4K HDR Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Chromecast streaming.Buy Shield TV at Amazon - $125Buy Shield TV Pro at Amazon - $170Thermacell E-Series Repeller (2 pack)Will Lipman Photography / EngadgetA two-pack of Thermacell E-Series repellers is $20 off and down to $60. It gives you a 20-foot zone of mosquito protection and each of them can last for 5.5 hours before they need recharging.Buy Thermacell (2 pack) at Amazon - $60iRobot Roomba i7+Devindra Hardawar / EngadgetiRobot's Roomba i7+ is half off and down to $500 for Prime Day. This is slightly less advanced than the s9+, which is our current favorite premium robo-vac, but it remains one of the most powerful Roombas you can get. It also comes with a clean base, so the robot vacuum will empty its dustbin into the base automatically after each job.Buy Roomba i7+ at Amazon - $500Shark AV2501AE robot vacuumSharkShark's AI robot vacuum is down to only $380 right now, which is 42 percent less than usual. Shark robo-vacs are generally good picks thanks to their solid cleaning power and easy to use mobile app. This one also comes with a clean base, so you don't have to empty the robot's debris bin after each job — it handles that on its own.Buy Shark AI robot vacuum at Amazon - $380Eufy robot vacuumsA number of Anker's Eufy robot vacuums have been discounted for Prime Day, with some of them being close to half off. One of our favorites, the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max, is down to inly $130 right now, which is 48 percent off its normal price. Another solid pick, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid, is $270 off and down to $380, which is the best price we've seen it. The 11S Max is a good budget machine with 2000Pa of suction and a handy remote that lets you change cleaning modes, set schedules and more. The vacuum-and-mop X8 Hybrid is a WiFi-connected device that has solid cleaning power, accurate home-mapping skills and a convenient "tap and go" feature.Shop Eufy deals at AmazonSamsung T7 ShieldSamsungSamsung's new T7 Shield portable SSDs have been discounted for Prime Day. You can pick up the 1TB model for $100 or the 2TB model for $200 — both new all-time-low prices. Samsung just came out with these drives back in April, and they're designed to be more durable versions of the standard T7 series with extra drop protection and an IP65-rated design.Buy T7 Shield (1TB) at Amazon - $100Buy T7 Shield (2TB) at Amazon - $200Tile trackersTileTile trackers are up to 30 percent off for Prime Day and you have a few different designs to choose from. The standard Tile Mate is down to $18, the Tile Slim is on sale for $24 and the Tile Sticker is down to $21. These Bluetooth chips help you keep track of your things digitally and they can lead you to your lost items by emitting a chime.Shop Tile devices at AmazonBeats Studio BudsBilly Steele/EngadgetThe Beats Studio Buds are on sale for $100 right now, or $50 off their usual rate. We gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, hands-free Siri controls and quick pairing with both iOS and Android.Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon - $100Beats Fit ProThe Beats Fit Pro are 20 percent off and down to $160. We gave them a score of 87 for their comfortable, water-resistant design, good sound quality and ANC and long battery life.Buy Beats Fit Pro at Amazon - $160Samsung Galaxy Watch 4David Imel for EngadgetSamsung's Galaxy Watch 4 has dropped to $150 for Prime Day, or 40 percent off its usual price. We consider it to be the best smartwatch for Android users right now, and we gave it a score of 85 for its comprehensive health tracking, bright screen and improved third-party app support. Also on sale is the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which you can pick up for $260.Buy Galaxy Watch 4 at Amazon - $150Buy Galaxy Watch 4 Classic at Amazon - $260Samsung Galaxy Buds 2Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 have dropped to $100, or 33 percent less than usual. These much-improved earbuds impressed us with their better audio quality, adjustable ambient sound mode and tiny, comfortable design.Buy Galaxy Buds 2 at Amazon - $100Samsung Galaxy Buds ProSamsung's high-end Galaxy Buds Pro are on sale for $110 right now. They earned a score of 85 from us for their comfortable fit, wireless charging and good sound quality.Buy Galaxy Buds Pro at Amazon - $110Fitbit Charge 5Fitbit's Charge 5 is 30 percent off and down to $105, which is the best price we've seen it. This is Fitbit's most comprehensive fitness band and it earned a score of 82 from us for its full-color touchscreen, built-in GPS, onboard EDA sensors for stress tracking and multi-day battery life.Buy Fitbit Charge 5 at Amazon - $105Jabra Elite 85tJabra's Elite 85t earbuds are on sale for $110, or a whopping 53 percent off their normal price. We like these true wireless earbuds for their strong ANC, comfortable size and wireless charging case.Buy Jabra Elite 85t at Amazon - $120Jabra Elite 3Jabra's excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.Buy Elite 3 at Amazon - $50Roku StreambarValentina Palladino / EngadgetThe Roku Streambar is down to $90 right now. It's a compact soundbar that will upgrade any living room relying on an old TV with weak audio. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid audio quality, Dolby Audio support and built-in 4K streaming technology. The more advanced Streambar Pro is on sale for $150, too.Buy Roku Streambar at Amazon - $90Buy Sterambar Pro at Amazon - $150Samsung Galaxy SmartTag+You can pick up a Galaxy SmartTag+ for only $30 right now, or $10 off its usual price. This is Samsung's answer to Apple's AirTags, and it lets you keep track of items via your smartphone. If you're close enough to your lost stuff, you can even follow directions on your smartphone that will lead you back to it.Buy Galaxy SmartTag+ at Amazon - $30TP-Link Kasa Smart PlugA four-pack of Kasa smart plugs is 24 percent off and down to only $23 for Prime Day. You can plug in any "dumb" appliance to these attachments to make them a bit smarter, enabling you to control them from your phone, set usage schedules and more.Buy Kasa smart plug (4 pack) at Amazon - $23ExpiredSamsung Galaxy ChromebookSamsung's original Galaxy Chromebook is nearly half off and down to $580. The discounted model runs on a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. We gave it a score of 74 when it first came out for its slick design, beautiful display and fast performance.Sony WH-CH710NSony's affordable WH-CH710N wireless headphones have dropped to a new low of $68 for Prime Day. These are a great option if you want deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and 35-hour battery life all in a budget-friendly package.Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Connected fitness equipment maker Tonal is laying off 35 percent of its workforce, according to CNBC. Like Peloton, the company grew its headcount significantly over the last two years as demand for its product, a home weightlifting system, skyrocketed due to pandemic lockdowns. Before the start of 2020, Tonal employed about 110 people. It now has closer to 750 workers, CEO Aly Orady told CNBC. Orday said the move would help put Tonal on track to start making money within the next few months as it looks to go public.“As we head into a recession — and many of us believe we’re headed into a recession — it’s really important that we become a business that’s here for the long term,” Orady told the outlet. Tonal will provide affected employees at least eight weeks of severance pay and healthcare benefits through to the end of September. Relative to Peloton, Tonal is coming out of the pandemic mostly unscathed. The connected fitness industry’s best-known player laid off 2,800 employees, or about 20 percent of its total workforce, at the start of 2022. More recently, Peloton announced it would no longer build its own equipment.
Yes, we know it’s still summer, but now is the time to start preparing to go back to school. That’s especially if you’re starting college in a couple of months – you don’t want to leave prep to the last minute. Fortunately, it’s Prime Day and quite a number of discounted items are perfect for students heading back to the classroom. Whether it’s a laptop or just things that will make dorm life a little easier, we recommend picking them up now to save yourself the headache later. Here’s a list of the best back-to-school tech deals we’ve spotted so far.Razer Blade 15Razer Blade 15Will Lipman photography for EngadgetRazer’s sleek Blade 15 is usually pretty expensive, but fortunately this particular version of it is $200 off, making it just $1,900. It features the 8-core 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 144Hz 1080p display. It’s thin and compact, so it won’t break your back if you’re carrying it from class to class, plus it’s powerful enough to use as a gaming machine. The custom backlight RGB colors on the keyboard are pretty cool too.Buy Razer Blade 15 at Amazon - $1,900Microsoft Surface Pro 8Microsoft Surface Pro 8MicrosoftThis particular configuration of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 has also dipped in price to $1,188, which is 26 percent off its list price. It runs on Intel’s Evo Platform Core i7, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. We’ve recommended the Surface Pro 8 as an option for those who like their laptops to occasionally double as tablets. It has a thin profile with minimal bezels and the 120Hz display makes scrolling long documents feel a lot faster.Buy Surface Pro 8 at Amazon - $1,188Soundance laptop standSoundance laptop standSoundanceThe Soundance laptop stand is currently $24, which is 41 percent off its list price. However, you can save an extra 10 percent if you apply the on-page coupon, which will bring it down to just under $30. A stand like this helps raise your laptop to eye level, which helps promote good posture. It has a detachable design too, so you can break it down and carry it in your bag if you wish.Buy Soundance laptop stand at Amazon - $24Anker USB-C to Lightning 6-ft Powerline cablesAnker PowerlineAnkerAnker’s two-pack of USB-C to Lightning Powerline cables is down to just $20, which is 35 percent off the original price. It’s MFI-certified to work with all Apple devices, and it supports fast-charging, which is good news if you need to power up your almost-dead battery in a hurry. Plus, Anker’s cables tend to last a lot longer than the standard Apple one that comes in the box. According to Anker, the Powerline lasts an average of 12 times longer with a 12,000-bend lifespan.Buy USB-C to Lightning cables at Amazon - $20Chromecast with Google TVThe Chromecast with Google TV is down to $40 right now. It's the best option if you're a heavy Google user, or really like being able to cast from your phone to your TV. We gave it a score of 86 for its handy remote control, good Google Assistant integration and 4K streaming chops with Dolby Vision and Atmos support.Buy Chromecast with Google TV at Amazon - $40Roku StreambarThe Roku Streambar is down to $90 right now. It's both a solid streaming device and soundbar, making it a good option for those without a ton of space to spare. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid audio quality, Dolby Audio support and built-in 4K streaming technology. The more advanced Streambar Pro is on sale for $150, too.Buy Roku Streambar at Amazon - $90Buy Sterambar Pro at Amazon - $150Belkin MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless ChargerBelkin MagSafe 2-in-1BelkinNeed to charge both your iPhone and your AirPods at the same time? Then consider Belkin’s MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless Charger, which is just $75 today, making it 25 percent off the normal price. It’ll only work with iPhones that are MagSafe-compatible, which are the iPhone 12 and up. We like it because it has fast-charging up to 15 watts, plus you can rotate the phone to either portrait or landscape mode.Buy Belkin 2-in-1 charger at Amazon - $75Sony WH-CH710N headphonesEngadgetSony’s excellent noise-canceling WH-CH710N headphones are only $68 today, which is 55 percent off its original price. Noise-canceling headphones are very useful for any student who needs peace and quiet in order to focus on their work. The WH-CH710N delivers plenty of sound-blocking power thanks to the dual noise sensor tech. It also has an ambient-sound toggle in case you want to hear what’s going on around you. A bonus: it has an excellent 35-hour battery life, which is more than enough to last through several study sessions.Buy WH-CH710N at Amazon - $68Jabra Elite 45h headphonesJabra Elite 45hWill Lipman photography for EngadgetIf you don’t need noise-canceling, consider Jabra’s Elite 45h, which is only $50 for Prime Day (that’s half off its $100 retail price). They sound great, plus they’ll pair with most TVs or laptops over Bluetooth. It lasts up to 50 hours on a charge, and they’re comfortable to use at home or while walking around campus.Buy Jabra Elite 45h at Amazon - $50Amazon Echo DotEcho Dot 4th genAmazonLike with many Amazon products, the Echo Dot is discounted for Prime Day. It’s currently a very enticing $20, which is 60 percent off the list price. We think it’s a great device for students, as it won’t take up much space on their desks. They can use it to play music from Spotify or Apple Music and of course they can ask Alexa to do all manner of things like checking the weather, finding out the day’s appointments, and setting a reminder for deadlines.Buy Echo Dot at Amazon - $20Cosori Electric Gooseneck KettleCOSORI electric kettleEngadgetWhether it be for coffee, tea, or instant ramen, you’ll love having an electric kettle in your dorm room. This model from Cosori is a very good one, plus it’s just $60 for Prime Day, which is 16 percent off its usual price. It has variable temperature presets so you can dial the water to exactly how hot you want it, which is great for customizing the brew to different varieties of tea. It’s also fantastic for pour-over coffee, as the gooseneck spout allows for a more accurate, gentle pour.Buy Cosori electric kettle at Amazon - $60Linenspa shredded foam pillowLinenspaLinenspaLinenspa's oversized reading pillow is 20 percent off today, making it just $32. We recommend it as it helps change up your seating position so that you're not always sitting on your desk chair, plus it's a lot comfier than slouching on piled up bed pillows. The shredded memory foam provides good posture support, which in turn is super helpful for reading, playing games or just watching TV. We especially like the handle, as it makes it easier to carry around your room. Buy Linenspa pillow at Amazon - $32Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Apple may have the best smartwatch around, but there are still some areas where it lags the competition, particularly in exercise and sleep tracking. With watchOS 9, the company is bringing a robust slate of Workout updates, alongside new watch faces, redesigned apps and the ability to detect sleep zones. Now that the public beta is here, we can get a first look at whether the company can close those gaps.To install the watchOS beta, you’ll need to have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, as well as an iPhone running the iOS 16 beta. That means if you don’t want to risk losing your data, you might want to wait until an official release before updating.Hearty changes in WorkoutsSome of the most impactful updates are in workouts. Apple added pages that present more data when you’re logging an activity, so you can easily keep track of things like your segments and splits or elevations. Of these new screens, my favorite is the Cardio Zones view, while I found the Activity Rings page the least helpful.It was satisfying to see where my heart rate was during a 45-minute HIIT session, and the Apple Watch displayed that information clearly. There were five zones in different colors on screen, and the one I was in was highlighted. Afterwards, I learned through the Fitness app’s new summary page that I had spent most of the time (about 22 minutes) in Zone 4, and Apple also helpfully displays the heart rate range for each zone.ScreenshotsThe Cardio view is supposed to be available for all workouts, but I didn’t see it in activities like Yoga, Dance or Cooldown. They do all support the new custom workout feature, though, which lets you create specific goals to focus on during your session. This is much more useful in distance or endurance-related activities like running, cycling, rowing or HIIT, where Apple offers suggested templates like 8 x 400m repeats, 1 mile repeats or 20 min of 20 sec / 10 sec. You’ll get haptic and audio alerts when you hit your target heart rate, distance, calories or time.You can scroll all the way down to set up your own, but this experience is pretty inconsistent across different workout types. For some activities, you’ll have plenty of options like Pacer, Distance, Calories or Time. For others, like Open Water Swim or Rower, you’ll only see Calories and Time, along with a Custom option that lets you set specific periods of work and recovery.Not every activity is going to be compatible with distance or pace, so this inconsistency is understandable. Just don’t expect the custom workouts feature to behave the same way for all your exercises.ScreenshotsRunners will find a lot of the watchOS 9 tools helpful, though. Apple also added new running form metrics like stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and something it calls Power. That last one measures your responsive energy demand and is displayed as a number of watts. These new metrics are automatically calculated, and are only available during Outdoor Run workouts. You’ll need to be using an Apple Watch Series 6, Watch SE or newer, too.If you tend to run or bike along the same routes, watchOS 9 can also let you race against yourself in the new Race Route feature. When you complete Outdoor Run, Outdoor Cycle or Wheelchair Run Pace workouts, your iPhone will use on-device processing to group similar routes. The next time you start one of these activities, the Route view will tell you if you’re ahead or behind your typical time, how much distance is left and alert you if you go off your usual path. Apple also added a new Pacer mode that lets you set a target time to complete a distance you specify, and will then guide you to hit the required pace to meet that goal. Garmin and Samsung watches have similar features, so Apple isn’t breaking new ground here, but it’s nice to see come to watchOS.I don’t usually bike, swim and run within one session, but for triathletes, the new Multisport workout mode makes it easier to switch between the three activities so you don’t have to fiddle with your watch. Apple also added support for Kickboard as a stroke type, and swimmers can see a SWOLF efficiency score on their summaries.New watch faces and interfaceOne of the nicer things about each watchOS update is the new faces, which offer a way to refresh your device. This time, Apple not only added the ability to change the background color of existing options like Modular and X-Large, it’s also introducing new Playtime, Metropolitan and Lunar designs. The company redesigned the Astronomy screen, too, and it’s similar to the iPhone version where you can choose between views of the earth, moon or the solar system. Meanwhile, Lunar lets you pick from the Chinese, Hebrew or Islamic calendars to display around the clock.ScreenshotsI never knew how much I’d appreciate having the Chinese Lunar calendar within reach until I added this face. It has Mandarin characters telling me it’s currently the fifteenth day of the sixth month, and I can use this to count how far we are from the next Lunar New Year or my grandmother’s birthday (which my family bases on the Chinese calendar).Apple also redesigned the calendar app, making it easier to add new events from your wrist. Siri also no longer takes over your whole screen when triggered, instead appearing as an orb floating over the clock.Because I had set up Medications on my iPhone on the iOS 16 preview, I also received an alert on watchOS 9 when it came time to take my supplement. I could easily log that I had taken my meds, skipped them or snooze the reminder.Sleep zones and other updatesSpeaking of snoozing, Apple also added sleep stage-detection to watchOS 9, using data from the accelerometer and heart rate monitor. It’ll detect when you’re awake, and distinguish between zones like REM, Core or Deep sleep. This feature is way overdue, considering Fitbit has long been able to do this with even its midrange trackers. But while I didn’t get around to testing Apple’s system in time for this preview, I look forward to seeing how it compares when I do a full review.Screenshot / EngadgetThere are some other updates I’d like to spend more time with, too, like the additional metrics when doing a Fitness+ workout. So far, my experience with the watchOS 9 beta has been smooth, and honestly the cardio zones workout view alone has made the installation worthwhile (for a gym fiend like me, anyway). If you’re comfortable with the risk involved in running beta software, and can’t wait till a stable release to get these new features, you’ll likely enjoy what Apple has to offer today.
Mark Zuckerberg wants a fresh start. He’s betting his company’s future on the metaverse, imagining a world powered by AR glasses that’s lifted from the pages of science fiction. Meanwhile, the rest of us are still here in the present, grappling with Facebook and Meta’s powerful influence over the real world. We explore the original source of that influence in the inaugural episode of the new season of Land of the Giants, Vox Media Podcast Network’s award-winning narrative podcast series about the most influential tech companies of our time. This season, Recode and The Verge team up over the course of seven episodes to tell the story of Facebook’s journey to becoming Meta, featuring interviews with current and former executives.
To begin, we go back nearly two decades to Zuckerberg’s first big bet: the creation of the News Feed. It’s a controversial origin story that shows the young founder’s initial vision for connecting people at scale, regardless of the consequences. In this episode, we talked to Ruchi Sanghvi, one of Facebook’s first engineers who helped build the News Feed, which at launch, was disliked enough to spark widespread protest from users. “It was the first time we actually got a security guard to stand outside the doors of the Facebook offices,” she says. We examine how, despite the initial blowback, the introduction of the News Feed paved the way for Facebook to become the social media juggernaut it is today. It’s perhaps Facebook’s most impactful invention and is now undergoing a massive evolution — a story we’ll tackle later in the season. The first episode of Land of the Giants: The Facebook / Meta Disruption is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.
Netflix has found a partner for its upcoming ad-supported tier. On Wednesday, the company announced it plans to work with Microsoft on the effort. In a blog post published by Microsoft, the tech giant said it would provide Netflix with technological and sales expertise. As recently as last month, The Wall Street Journal suggested Google and Comcast were among the leading candidates to help Netflix build out an ad-supported tier. On Wednesday, Netflix said it selected Microsoft for the tech giant's "proven ability" to support its customers. "Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members," said Netflix Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters. Not mentioned is the fact that Microsoft doesn't operate a competing streaming service. Netflix co-CEO Reed Hasting first revealed the company was exploring cheaper plans this past April. The admission came after Netflix announced that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. At the time, Hastings said the company planned to finalize the details of its plans "over the next year or two." Netflix is scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. According to CNBC, the company recently warned Wall Street it may have lost as many as two million subscribers over the past three months.
Sony has announced the first new batch of games for its higher PlayStation Plus tiers since it revamped the service. Along with the three titles that are available for PS Plus Essential members and those in the current Extra and Premium libraries, subscribers will have access to a bunch more games as of July 19th.One of those is Stray, a cyberpunk adventure game in which you play as a cat with a drone companion. It's the first time that a third-party title will be available on a higher PS Plus tier on its release date. You'll have access to the PS4 and PS5 versions. Members will also be able to check out PS5 blockbuster Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. The PS4 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake was previously available to claim through PS Plus. However, for a while, those who snagged it were unable to get Intergrade without paying for the full game. Square Enix eventually relented and offered an upgrade path.Also on July 19th, Extra and Premium members can play Marvel's Avengers on PS4 and PS5 at no extra cost. Things haven't exactly goneincrediblywell for that but the gameplay is solid. Crystal Dynamics just added the latest playable character, The Mighty Thor (Jane Foster), a few weeks ago.On top of those, you'll have access to a bunch more Assassin's Creed games, Saints Row entries and some other games:Assassin’s Creed Unity (PS4)Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag (PS4)Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered (PS4)Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry (PS4)Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection (PS4)Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (PS4)Saints Row Gat out of Hell (PS4)Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition (PS5)Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure (PS4)Jumanji The Video Game (PS4)Paw Patrol on a Roll! (PS4)ReadySet Heroes (PS4)Premium members will be able to dive into a couple more PlayStation Portable titles in the form of No Heroes Allowed! and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival as well. That's a fairly solid slate of additions overall, with something for just about everyone.Sony says it will continue to shakeup the PS Plus lineups on a monthly basis. It will refresh the Essential library at the start of each month and add new games to Extra and Essential a couple of weeks later. Bear in mind that games will cycle in and out of the Extra and Essential tiers, but you'll have access to Essential titles you claim as long as you maintain a PS Plus subscription.
Smartwatches and fitness trackers keep track of your activity throughout the day, but they've also become some of the most popular accessories over the past few years. There are more options to choose from now than ever before, and Amazon Prime Day deals have discounted many of our favorites. Our favorite picks for iOS and Android users, the Apple Watch and Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4, are down to the best prices we've seen, plus you can also save on devices from Fitbit, Garmin and others. Here are the best wearable deals we found for Amazon Prime Day 2022.Apple Watch Series 7The latest Apple Watch Series 7 has dropped to $279, which is a new all-time low. That's the starting price on the GPS-only models, but you can pick up a GPS + Cellular model for as low as $379, too. It's the most comprehensive wearable Apple makes and it earned a score of 90 from us for its larger screen, faster charging and handy features in watchOS 8.Buy Series 7 at Amazon - $279Apple Watch SEEngadgetYou can pick up the Apple Watch SE for only $219 right now, or 22 percent off the normal price. If you've never had a wearable before, this is the Apple Watch to get. We gave it a score of 88 for its comfortable design and responsible performance.Buy Apple Watch SE at Amazon - $219Samsung Galaxy Watch 4Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 has dropped to $150 for Prime Day, or 40 percent off its usual price. We consider it to be the best smartwatch for Android users right now, and we gave it a score of 85 for its comprehensive health tracking, bright screen and improved third-party app support. Also on sale is the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which you can pick up for $260.Buy Galaxy Watch 4 at Amazon - $150Buy Galaxy Watch 4 Classic at Amazon - $260Fitbit Charge 5Valentina Palladino / EngadgetFitbit's Charge 5 is 30 percent off and down to $105, which is the best price we've seen it. This is Fitbit's most comprehensive fitness band and it earned a score of 82 from us for its full-color touchscreen, built-in GPS, onboard EDA sensors for stress tracking and multi-day battery life.Buy Fitbit Charge 5 at Amazon - $105Withings ScanWatchSteve DentWithings' ScanWatch is $90 cheaper than usual and down to $210 right now. It's a hybrid smartwatch with an analog watch face, but a lot of tech under the hood. It has built-in ECG and SpO2 sensors, plus two subdials that show activity data and smart alerts from your phone throughout the day. Also on sale are the Withings Steel HR and HR Sport, which are down to $120 and $140, respectively.Buy ScanWatch at Amazon - $210Buy Steel HR at Amazon - $120Buy Steel HR Sport at Amazon - $140Garmin Vivoactive 4SGarminA number of Garmin wearables are on sale for Prime Day, with one of the best deals being the Vivoactive 4S for $188. That's nearly half off the original price and only $3 more than its all-time low. The Vivoactive 4S has an impressive seven-day battery life and it monitors all-day activity, heart rate and sleep, plus it has a build in blood oxygen sensor, too.Buy Vivoactive 4S at Amazon - $188Shop Garmin deals at AmazonAmazon Halo ViewAmazonAmazon's Halo View fitness band is 44 percent off and down to only $45 right now. You're getting the fitness tracker along with a one-year membership to the accompanying subscription service that includes access to on-demand workouts. In addition to tracking activity, heart rate and sleep, the Halo View can also measure body fat percentage and deliver call and text alerts to your wrist.Buy Halo View at Amazon - $45Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Nintendo Japan will provide employees in same-sex domestic partnerships with the same benefits it offers to those in heterosexual unions, even though Japanese law does not currently recognize gay marriages. The company announced the policy in a July 12th update to its corporate social responsibility guidelines that was spotted by Go Nintendo (via Variety).A new section titled “Introduction of a Partnership System” notes the policy has been in place since March 2021, and that the company has since begun recognizing common-law marriages in the same way as legal marriages. “At Nintendo, we want to create a work environment that supports and empowers each and every one of our unique employees,” the company said.Additionally, the update notes that Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa sent a note to employees on gender diversity, asking workers to understand that their words and action can cause emotional pain, even if there was no harm intended. Nintendo says it’s also working on implementing new systems and training courses designed to create a more supportive working environment.Among G7 nations, Japan is the only country that does not recognize same-sex marriage. While LGBT activists have made some breakthroughs in recent years, a court in Osaka upheld the country’s ban this past June. While there’s growing public support for legalizing same-sex marriage, LGBTQ individuals still frequently face discrimination, according to a 2020 survey. Of course, discrimination, particularly the kind that happens in the workplace, is not unique to Japan. You need only look at the all news coming out of Activision Blizzard – and before that Riot Games, Ubisoft and countless other examples – to know that gaming companies frequently fail to protect their most vulnerable employees.
Sega has announced it's bringing the Genesis Mini 2 to North America on October 27th. The company previously said its latest retro console will go on sale in Japan on the same day (though it's called the Mega Drive Mini 2 there). The system follows the Genesis Mini, which Sega released in 2019. The latest edition has a fresh library of more than 50 games, including Sega CD titles. The lineup features the likes of Sonic CD, Virtua Racing, OutRun, Shining Force CD and Fantasy Zone (a Master System and arcade game that was never released on Genesis). Sega is promising a previously unreleased game as well. More than half of the games have yet to be revealed.One of our few complaints with the Genesis Mini in our review was that it came with a three-button controller. If the packaging is anything to go by, it seems you'll get a six-button controller this time around.Pre-orders are open now. At the time of writing, the Amazon listing shows that the console will ship from Japan to the US for $103.80 plus a $22 delivery fee. Engadget has asked for clarification on North American pricing. It's unclear whether the cosmetic Sega CD attachment will be available to buy on this side of the Pacific.
The New York Times has announced a handy feature for Wordle players who want to keep their streak going no matter the device they're playing on. The publication, which bought the ultra-popular daily word game in January, said players will soon be able to sync their stats and streaks across devices. You'll need a Times account to do so. Note that after you sync your stats, there's no way to unlink them.This is a welcome update. It'll be handy for for those who play the game on their office computer during the week, for instance, or on both their phone and PC. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, Wordle stats don't mean all that much. Still, if you've correctly guessed mystery words for many days in a row on your desktop system and you're going out of town, you won't need to break your streak.If you don’t see the option to link your account on the device where you play Wordle every day, hold on tight! The feature is coming to you soon. Once stats are linked to a New York Times account, this process cannot be reversed. Happy solving! 🟨 🟩— New York Times Games (@NYTGames) July 12, 2022It's not clear exactly when the Times will roll out the sync option to everyone, as Polygon notes. Hopefully, the publication can avoid the kinds of issues it had when it moved Wordle over to its own website. Some players lost their streaks during the transition.
Bandai Namco said it was the victim of a cyberattack and that hackers accessed confidential information. The company told Eurogamer it is investigating the matter, though it noted there's a chance that "customer information related to the Toys and Hobby Business in Asian regions (excluding Japan)" was present on servers and PCs the hackers infiltrated.Earlier this week, a ransomware group claimed it carried out an attack on the Elden Ring publisher. Bandai Namco has now confirmed that someone breached its systems. "On 3rd July, 2022, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. confirmed that it experienced an unauthorized access by third party to the internal systems of several Group companies in Asian regions (excluding Japan)," the company said.It's not clear when Bandai Namco discovered the breach or when it resolved the issue. The publisher said it took "measures such as blocking access to the servers to prevent the damage from spreading." It's working with third-party partners to shore up security.Bandai Namco is assessing the "existence of leakage, scope of the damage and investigating the cause." The company says it will disclose findings of the investigation "as appropriate." It also apologized "for any complications or concerns caused by this incident.”Hackers have targeted a number of gaming companies in the last few years. Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red was the victim of a ransomware attack early last year, but it refused to pay up. The developer said a few months later that data stolen in the attack was circulating online. Hackers have also infiltrated EA and Capcom systems in the last couple of years.
Nintendo’s Game Boy Camera has inspired countless DIY projects over the years, from a telephoto lens adapter to an AI model trained to colorize photos captured by the accessory. However, few are likely to match the creativity of the Camera M by photographer and modder Christopher Graves.In a Twitter thread spotted by Gizmodo, Graves detailed how he turned the humble Game Boy Camera into a mirrorless camera. Using a combination of custom PCB and parts from a repurposed Game Boy Pocket, a 1996 variant of the original 1989 model that was smaller, lighter and more power efficient, he transplanted the internals of a Game Boy into a shell that looks like a Fujifilm X-E4. As for the Game Boy Camera’s 128 x 128 pixel CMOS sensor, Graves put that into a custom cart attached to a CS lens mount and a manual focus varifocal lens. The nifty thing about Camera M is that it’s possible to use an original Game Boy Camera in place of the custom cartridge he hacked together.Cart swapping action pic.twitter.com/Q4s9GehHcb— Game Boy Camera (@thegameboycam) July 10, 2022In either case, the resulting device still takes greyscale 128 x 112 photos, but the ergonomics and user experience are vastly improved. Graves replaced the Pocket’s original screen with a backlit IPS display, making it easier to use the camera at night, and added a 1,800mAh battery that can power everything for up to eight hours. It even comes with USB-C charging. Graves told Gizmodo he hasn’t tried playing any games with his creation yet but speculated turn-based RPGs like Pokémon would be fun with the button layout he devised. So far, only one Camera M exists, but Graves said he’s “strongly leaning” toward selling conversion kits or even complete kits.
Prime Day is an excellent opportunity to score deals on all sorts of useful items, from laptops to robot vacuums. But all work and no play makes for a dull time, which is why we’re also glad to see plenty of Prime Day deals on board games too. They’re not just the usual suspects like Monopoly either — there are quite a number of quality titles here that tabletop gamers of all levels will enjoy. Below is a selection of the best deals we’ve found, plus we’ve compiled a much longer list of discounted games (and expansions) here in case you’re in the mood for more.Shop board game deals at AmazonKing of Tokyo: New EditionKing of TokyoIelloThe latest edition of King of Tokyo is on sale for just $25, which is $20 off its $45 list price. This is easily one of the most beloved board games of all time due to how welcoming it is to all ages. If you know how to play Yahtzee, you know how to play King of Tokyo. Plus, the theme is super fun: you play as giant Kaiju monsters destroying the city of Tokyo while battling other monsters for supremacy. If you already know you like this game and want to go all out, then consider upgrading to the King of Tokyo Monster Box, which is just $42 ($28 off the $70 retail price). This giant box includes the base game as well as all of its expansions. You’ll get extra monsters, extra power cards and more.Buy King of Tokyo at Amazon - $25Buy King of Tokyo Monster Box at Amazon - $42CalicoCalicoAEGCalico, a tile-laying game of quilts and cats, is available for just $22, which is 45 percent off the original price. Players in the game compete to sew the coziest quilt and attract cats. Each quilt has a specific pattern that must be followed but players will also need to create unique color and pattern combinations in order to draw the finest felines. This visually stunning game has a lot of strategy to it, and those who like abstract games will probably enjoy this.Buy Calico at Amazon - $22Splendor: MarvelSplendor: MarvelSpace CowboysSplendor: Marvel is discounted to just $28, which is 44 percent off the original rate. It’s essentially a re-theming of the original Splendor board game with the Marvel universe. Instead of just collecting regular jewels, you’ll be gathering Infinity stones, recruiting heroes and villains, and finally claiming the Gauntlet to win the game. Those new to board games will pick this up easily, especially if they’re already big fans of all things Marvel. If you’re not that keen on Marvel, however, the original Splendor game with a Renaissance Europe theme is also on sale for $25.Buy Spendor: Marvel at Amazon - $28Buy Splendor at Amazon - $25Dixit (2021)DixitLibelludThe latest 2021 refresh of Dixit is currently on sale for $25, which is 36 percent off its list price. This game is fantastic for parties, as it accommodates three to eight players and is very lightweight. We’ve also found that it works for kids as well as adults. In it, players take turns picking one of 84 dreamlike illustration cards and coming up with a story based on it. The rest then have to pick a card that best matches that story. All of the cards are shuffled, then they’ll have to secretly vote for which card is the one the narrator chose. The game is fun and quick, plus the art is gorgeous too.Buy Dixit at Amazon - $25Disney VillainousDisney VillainousRavensburgerDisney’s Villainous board game is discounted to $24, a solid 40 percent off its $40 list price. In this game, players pick one of six Disney bad guys – options include Captain Hook, Maleficent, Ursula, Jafar, Queen of Hearts and Prince John – and compete against one another to achieve their evil goals before everyone else. If you want, you could also get Disney Villainous: Despicable Plots for $24, which adds more villains like Gaston, Lady Tremaine and the Horned King.Buy Disney Villainous at Amazon - $24Buy Disney Villainous: Despicable Plots at Amazon - $24Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
TikTok will introduce “Content Levels,” a new system to restrict mature content from teen viewers, China’s National Press and Publication Administration doesn’t approve titles from Tencent or NetEase in its latest announcement, and Medium founder Ev Williams steps down as CEO. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech HeadlinesContinue reading "TikTok to Introduce Content Levels – DTH"
Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Wednesdays, editor-at-large David Pierce leads a selection of The Verge’s expert staffers in an exploration of how gadgets and software affect our lives — and which ones you should bring into your home. Last week, we put a call out to people on Twitter about our new Vergecast Hotline, a phone line we set up for anyone to leave a message about a tech-related question they may have — whether it’s how to find your next router, when Spotify HiFi is actually coming, how to track when all of your favorite shows have new episodes, or whatever — so we can answer them on The Vergecast. We plan to do this about once a month, so if you missed it, that number is 866-VERGE11 (866-837-4311). It’s still open, and you can call at any time. We have a ton of great questions already, so we picked out a few voicemails we liked for today’s episode. Our colleagues — Verge reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Hot Pod reporter Ariel Shapiro, Verge writer Cameron Faulkner, and managing editor Alex Cranz — help answer these questions on the show. You can hear that segment at around 31:00 in the episode.
There’s a lot more in today’s episode as well. David starts the show with senior science reporter Loren Grush to chat about what it took to get those beautiful images from the James Webb Space Telescope we saw this week. In the middle of all of this, David spends some time on the show talking about YouTube TV — the video platform that is trying to make the cable bundle model work for streaming. Christian Oestlien, VP of product management at YouTube, talks about the goals for YouTube TV and its approach to bundling packages. You can listen to that segment around 20:44 in the episode. We have lots of ideas about how to do this show, and we’re going to do a lot of experimenting with it, so we hope you’ll tell us what you like and don’t like. Either way, we’ll see you again on Friday!
More Reddit users will have the option to add GIFs directly in comments starting today. Until now, the feature was only available for Powerups subscribers. But with Reddit winding down Powerups, it's making some of the previously paywalled features available to everyone. Inline GIFs in comments is one of those.If the feature is enabled on a subreddit you want to comment on, you'll be able to select a GIF from a curated library from Giphy. Moderators of safe-for-work subreddits and those that aren't quarantined will be able to opt in if they want members of their communities to use GIFs in comments. GIF comments will be automatically available on new subreddits, though mods can switch them off in the community settings. Redditors can include text in their comment alongside a GIF as well.For those who didn't use Powerups, the only way to include a GIF in a comment was to link to one on a third-party site. Now, users can make GIFs appear directly in threads, which could make conversations a bit more lively. There is a downside, though. Scrolling through a thread full of large GIFs could drain your data allowance fairly quickly.
Amazon Prime Day offers a great opportunity to upgrade your work-from-home setup. You've probably been using it a lot recently and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, but it can get expensive to upgrade the tools you may have been using for the past two or more years. One of the biggest expenses can be an external monitor, but it can also be one of the most useful gadgets in your setup. If you spend most of your day hunched over a laptop, an external monitor can help you improve your posture and overall comfort throughout the day. Whether you're looking for your first monitor or want to upgrade the one you currently have, a number of good ones are on sale for Prime Day. Here are the best monitor deals we found for Amazon Prime Day 2022.Samsung monitorsSamsungA variety of Samsung monitors are on sale for Prime Day, and they include the company's M5 smart monitor. Both the 27-inch and 32-inch versions of the M5 have been discounted, and these displays double as smart TVs. You can use either as a regular external monitor, but built-in technology gives you access to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others.Shop Samsung monitor deals at AmazonBenQ monitorsBenQBenQ has a handful of monitors on sale that cover both work and play purposes. Some of the best deals are on "gaming" monitors, but they can be used for both your next streaming session and general work tasks. This 27-inch EX2710S monitor is $121 off and down to $209, while this 27-inch EX2710R curved monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate is $310 off and down to $290. You can also pick up BenQ's 34-inch EX3410R ultrawide display for $470, or $130 off its usual price.Shop BenQ monitor deals at AmazonLG monitorsLGLG has discounted a bunch of monitors for Prime Day, including curved, UltraWide, UltraGear and other types. Those on a budget will find a few options under $200, while those who want larger displays or screens with faster refresh rates can save hundreds on higher-end models.Shop LG monitor deals at AmazonDell monitorsDellDell gaming monitors are up to 35 percent off for Prime Day, with the steepest discount being on this 24.5-inch 240Hz FHD monitor, which is down to only $200. It has fast refresh rates, a 1ms GtG response time and 99 percent sRGB color coverage. You can also pick up a 32-inch 165Hz curved gaming monitor for $254 and this 34-inch WQHD curved monitor for $390.Shop Dell monitor deals at AmazonViewSonic monitorsViewsonicPlenty of ViewSonic monitors are cheaper than usual right now, and you can pick one up for as much as 35 off. On the budget side of things, you can get this 22-inch 1080p gaming monitor for $110, or this 22-inch 1080p, thin-bezeled screen for $106. On the higher end, the company has knocked 23 percent off this 32-inch 4K ColorPro monitor, bringing it down to $550, while this 34-inch Ultrawide ColorPro display with FreeSync is on sale for $640.Shop ViewSonic monitor deals at AmazonGet the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
December 2017 feels like a lifetime ago and yet that's how long it's been since Nintendo announced Bayonetta 3. Fast forward four and a half years and the long-awaited sequel finally has a release date. It's coming to Switch on October 28th, meaning that Nintendo's sticking to its pledge of releasing the game this year.Nintendo revealed a fresh trailer and more details about what to expect. Bayonetta 3 takes place in Tokyo, the mountains of China and some other locations. Bayonetta will have a new ability at her disposal called Demon Masquerade, which taps into the power of the demon that's linked to her weapon to help her attack foes with hellish combos. There's a new character as well. You'll be able to control Viola, a witch in training who can unleash a feline demon named Cheshire on enemies.The witch is back! Summon, slash and slay in style when Bayonetta 3 launches on #NintendoSwitch 28/10! pic.twitter.com/8UbzYYx4CV— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) July 13, 2022Along with the base game, fans will be able to snag a Trinity Masquerade Edition from some retailers and the My Nintendo Store. It includes a full-color, 200-page art book and reversible cases for all three games in PlatinumGames' series (Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 are sold separately). More details about the bundle, including pre-order info, will be revealed later.Perhaps with that collectors' edition in mind, Nintendo announced a physical version of the original Bayonetta for Switch. It will arrive on September 30th and cost $30, but it will only be available in limited quantities.Although it delayed the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild until next spring, Nintendo currently has the most extensive first-party slate of any of the big three console makers for the rest of the year. A remake of Live a Live will arrive on July 22nd. One week later, Nintendo will release Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Splatoon 3 will be available in September and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will land in November, with Bayonetta 3 filling the gap between those.
Amazon has discounted most of its Blink wireless security cameras for Prime Day this year, but one of the best deals is on the budget-friendly, wired version of the camera. You can pick up a two-pack of Blink Minis for only $30 right now, which is more than half off the original rate. Along with that, you can grab a Blink Indoor kit for as low as $55, an Outdoor kit for only $60 and a Blink Video Doorbell for $35.Buy Blink Mini (2 pack) at Amazon - $30Buy Blink Indoor at Amazon - $55Buy Blink Outdoor at Amazon - $60Buy Blink Video Doorbell at Amazon - $35Shop Blink deals at AmazonIf you're on the fence about choosing the Blink system for your home, giving a Blink Mini a try is a great place to start. Not only are they the most affordable of the bunch, but they also include most of the features the standard Indoor and Outdoor cameras have. The biggest drawback is that the Minis are wired, so you'll have to place them inside and need an outlet. Otherwise, they act much the same as the regular Blink cameras do, recording 1080p video, sending you motion alerts and supporting two-way talk. The Minis also have infrared night vision for clearer nighttime footage, plus Alexa support.For those that already have Blink cameras around their home, Prime Day offers the chance to pick up a couple more at the best prices possible. Both the Indoor and Outdoor cameras have all of the features that the Blink Mini does, plus they're completely wireless. That makes it much easier to place them anywhere around your home, especially if you have the right mounting accessories to pair with them. Both versions run on AA batteries that will last up to two years before they need replacing, and the Outdoor models are weather-resistant, too.Amazon recently expanded the Blink system to include a Video Doorbell, which is essentially a cheaper version of a Ring doorbell. Blink's has a slimmer profile and can be installed either wired into your doorbell's hardware or wirelessly. Just like the cameras, the Video Doorbell records in 1080p, will send you motion alerts and lets you speak to people at your front door using its two-way audio feature.Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
If you're on the hunt for budget wireless noise-cancelling earbuds in the Apple family, don't forget about the Beats Studio Buds. They're already well-priced at $150, but now you can pick them up at Amazon on Prime Day for just $100 ($50 off), matching the lowest price we've seen yet.Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon - $100The Studio Buds earned an 84 score in our Engadget review and also made our list of best wireless earbuds for 2021. The small, comfortable design and IPX4 water resistance makes them great for workouts and, more importantly, they deliver good sound quality with Beats' famous punchy base. Active noise cancellation is solid as well, and they can adjust the volume based on your environment via the active gain feature.The Studio Buds use Apple's H1 chip, so they support Apple's Spatial Audio feature and let you easily switch between Apple devices — just as you can with a pair of AirPods. However, they're also device agnostic, so you can use the Fast Pair option to quickly set them up with your Android device. They also work with Find My Device on Android, so you can see their last known location.The main drawbacks are a lack of wireless charging and onboard controls, but most budget wireless buds lack those features. And at that $100 price point, you won't find many rivals that can match its features.Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
There are no shortage of robot vacuum deals for Prime Day, but some of the most affordable devices lie in Anker's Eufy family. A number of those robo-vacs are on sale for Amazon's shopping event, with one of our favorites being 48 percent off. You can pick up the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max is down to inly $130 right now, or nearly half off its original price. Another solid pick, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid, is $270 off and down to $380, which is the best price we've seen it.Buy Eufy RoboVac 11S Max at Amazon - $130Buy Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid at Amazon - $380Shop Eufy deals at AmazonThe 11S Max is actually a stronger version of the robot vacuum that made it into our budget robot vacuum guide. The standard 11S has 1300Pa of suction power, while the Max has 2000Pa, so you're getting a device that should do an even better job of sucking up dirt and debris. Otherwise, the 11S Max is basically the same as the standard model: at only 2.85-inches tall, it's slim enough to get underneath some furniture and it'll return to its base when it needs a recharge. It's not a WiFi-connected robot vacuum, which means you can't control it from your smartphone. However, it comes with a handy remote that has options for most of the big things you'd want to do with a robo-vac like change cleaning modes, set schedules and more.While the 11S Max is probably best for those who aren't sure how much they'll use a robot vacuum, the X8 Hybrid is for those who know a machine like this will fill a void in their home. It's a vacuum-and-mop hybrid device that comes with a 250-milliliter water tank that you can fill when you want to run a mopping job. As a vacuum, though, it's pretty powerful and we appreciated its accurate home-mapping skills, four different cleaning modes and its "tap and go" feature, which lets you send the machine to a specific spot in your home to clean.Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Listen up, students: You deserve better than watching movies on a laptop in bed. If you want to truly be immersed in a film (or game, or TV show), nothing beats a large TV. And it turns out, you don't have to invest thousands to get started with a decent dorm entertainment system. LCD sets and streaming devices are cheaper than ever. So save that notebook for schoolwork — consider these inexpensive ways to upgrade your movie-watching and gaming experience.TVs for smaller spaces43-inch TCL 4-SeriesEngadgetA television with Roku or Google TV built-in is one of the easiest ways to start streaming content, making them ideal for most students. This 4-series TCL model sports a 4K screen (with upscaling from lower-res sources) and HDR, for better dynamic range. But best of all, you can usually find it under $300. It's not the most feature-packed TCL TV (the 5-series costs around $200 more and adds Dolby Vision), but it's one of the best options at that price. And at 43 inches, it's small enough to fit in most dorm rooms, while still offering enough screen space to immerse you in a film.Buy 43-inch TCL 4-Series TV at Amazon - $26043-inch Vizio M-Series QuantumEngadgetA slight upgrade from Vizio’s entry-level D-series TVs, the M-series sets are better suited for gamers with support for billions of colors and AMD’s FreeSync (which makes gameplay smoother). It also has a sub-10ms response time – not the fastest around, but speedy enough to make most games playable without feeling laggy. It also looks fairly modern, with a 3-sided bezel-less design. Best of all, it’s fairly affordable, starting under $400. And if you want these features in a bigger screen, you can scale all the way up to 75-inches (just imagine that in a cramped dorm room.)Shop Vizio M-Series TVs at AmazonBigger and better TVs55-inch TCL 5-SeriesEngadgetTCL’s 5-series sets are available in Google TV or Roku flavors, and pack in plenty of value for their price. That includes support for Dolby Vision, a wide color gamut souped-up with Quantum Dots, and plenty of local backlighting zones to manage black levels and contrast. You’ll notice a significant visual upgrade over the other budget sets mentioned, so we’d recommend upgrading to this one if you’ve got a discerning eye. The 5-series slim and bezel-less design also looks very modern, and it supports Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s HomeKit.Buy 55-inch TCL 5-Series TV at Amazon - $450Must-have streaming accessoriesChromecast with Google TVWill Lipman Photography for EngadgetIf you're a heavy Google user, there's no better streaming device than the Chromecast with Google TV. Unlike previous versions of Google's puck, it has an interface of its own, along with a suite of streaming apps to choose from. And yes, you can still cast video from Android devices or the Chrome browser. The Chromecast is a great option if you're buying a cheaper TV, but be sure to check if your set already has Chromecast streaming built in.Buy Chromecast with Google TV at Amazon - $50Roku Streaming Stick 4KWill Lipman Photography for EngadgetIf you own an older TV, or you just want something a bit zippier than your set's onboard apps, Roku's Streaming Stick 4K is worth snapping up. It's just $40 (and often less), supports 4K (with HDR and Dolby Vision), and it gives you access to Roku's entire app library. Best of all, though, it's so tiny you can easily bring it along when you're traveling. The Streaming Stick 4K also supports Apple AirPlay, giving you a way to cast video from iOS devices and Macs. Roku's bundled voice remote also makes it easy to search for things without pecking away at an onscreen keyboard.Buy Roku Streaming Stick 4K at Amazon - $50Roku StreambarWill Lipman Photography for EngadgetThe Streambar is an unusual device. It's both a decent soundbar and a media streaming box. That's just so Roku. Honestly, if you're picking up a TV, you should really consider a soundbar of some kind. (We have a whole guide dedicated to that.) But we're recommending the Streambar here because it's a relatively simple and inexpensive solution that solves two common pain points: getting streaming apps and better sound. It's also a nice thing to have around to play a bit of music when you're not watching anything. For even bigger sound, you might also want to consider the slightly pricier Streambar Pro.Buy Roku Streambar at Amazon - $130Jabra Elite 45H wireless headphonesWill Lipman Photography for EngadgetIf you’re living with roommates (or in a place with thin walls), wireless headphones will definitely come in handy. We recommend Jabra’s Elite 45H because they’re relatively inexpensive (at just $100), sound great and have a very comfortable design. They’ll pair with most TVs or set-top boxes over Bluetooth, or you can just plug in a cable to Roku’s remotes. The 45H last up to 50 hours on a charge, and, of course, they’re useful far beyond your living room. They’re easy to wear all day, no matter where you are.Buy Jabra Elite 45h at Amazon - $100
Have you ever wanted to see your own face on the body of a Power Ranger or a Ghostbuster? Thanks to an ingenious partnership between Hasbro and 3D-printing specialists Formlabs, now you can. The Hasbro Selfie Series will let would-be heroes take a scan of their face with their phone and have a custom-made, look-a-like action figure delivered at some point afterward. In this initial blast, you can opt to become an X-Wing Pilot, Ghostbuster, Power Ranger or Snake Eyes from GI Joe, amongst others.It’s part of Formlabs’ growing project to turn 3D printing into a technological cul-de-sac into a viable way of making customized, mass-market products. The company has already teamed up with Sennheiser to make 3D-printed earbuds, and has branched out into making jewelry moulds, ventilator parts and false teeth. It also teamed up with Gillette to create customized razor handles which were manufactured using Formlabs’ industrial printers. Hasbro's Brian Chapman explained that, a few years ago, the company ran a competition at a comic-con to make custom action figures for five winners. They found the interest in the promo was so enormous that the company has always had an eye on developments in the 3D printing market. Unfortunately, while it's been announced today, the Hasbro Selfie Series won't actually let you start scanning your head for a little while. In order to start, you'll need to download Hasbro Pulse, the company's dedicated mobile app, and get your face ready to be immortalized. Scans will open up closer to the expected ship date in the Fall, after which point you'll be asked to pony up $60 (plus taxes) and wait for your six-inch, "collector-grade" figure to arrive. Unfortunately, for now, the offering is only available to customers in the US, but hopefully over time, we'll see this make its way across the world.
If you're looking for a way to upgrade your home's WiFi, Amazon's Eero 6 routers are a good option. Not only are there are a number of WiFi 6 options to choose from, but all of them have been discounted for Prime Day. The Eero 6 is on sale starting at $71, while the Eero Pro 6 starts at $148 for the two-day shopping event. The company's newest editions, the Eero Pro 6E and the Eero 6+, are available for $194 and $90, respectively.Buy Eero 6 at Amazon starting at $71Buy Eero Pro 6 at Amazon starting at $148Buy Eero Pro 6E at Amazon starting at $194Buy Eero 6+ at Amazon starting at $90Shop Eero 6 deals at AmazonMost people will be best served by either the Eero 6 or Pro 6 systems. The former can cover up to 1,500 square feet with just one node, and you can add additional routers into the mix to expand coverage for larger homes. It's a dual-band system that can reach speeds up to 900Mbps, and each router has two Ethernet ports built in. For Gigabit internet, the tri-band Eero Pro 6 is your best bet as it supports that level of speed, plus one router can cover up to 2,000 square feet.Amazon came out with both the Eero Pro 6E and the 6+ earlier this year, but they're very different systems. The Pro 6E is the best WiFi 6 system you can get from Amazon right now, and it gives you access to the 6GHz band to reach speeds up to 1.3Gbps. Each node covers up to 2,000 square feet, and you'll be able to connect up to 100 devices at once. The Eero 6+ sits in the middle of the standard Eero 6 and the Pro 6 systems. The dual-band router will give you speeds up to 1Gbps, coverage for up to 1,500 square feet and a device cap of 75. Plus, it has access to a 160MHz radio channel, which should provide faster wireless speeds.Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Solo Stove products are joining the Prime Day follies with a bunch of products on sale at up to 56 percent off. The best deal is on the popular Solo Stove Campfire that normally sells at $150 but is marked all the way down to $66, for a savings of $84 (56 percent). You'll also find savings from 30 to 47 percent on the Ranger Backyard Bundle ($287), Bonfire with stand ($250), Bonfire Shield ($110) and Roasting Sticks/Fire Pit Poker accessory combo ($90).Shop Solo Stove Prime Day sale at AmazonWe've recommended the stainless steel Solo Stove fire pits before because of the advantages over standard fire pits. They actively channel smoke away from the user thanks to a double-walled design that pulls hot air through vent holes and back into the fire. This keeps flames hot while reducing smoke and creating fine ashes.The Campfire model is the number one wood-burning camp stove out there and comes recommended by Backpacker Magazine and others. Along with the double-walled design, it's lightweight at just 2.2 pounds and designed to burn twigs, leaves, pinecones and wood as fuel, eliminating the need carry heavy and polluting cannister fuel. For serious campers, the Prime Day deal of $66 should be a no-brainer. The Ranger ($287, sold with a stand, shield and shelter) and Bonfire ($250, sold with a stand) are larger at around 21 pounds each, but they're still light enough to move around the yard, bring camping or pack over to a friend's house. And if you opt for the Bonfire model, you can grab the Bonfire Shield for $110 (31 percent off) to stop hot embers from escaping. Finally, Solo Stove's Roasting Sticks and Fire Pit Poker combo is on sale for $90, netting you a $40 discount. Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Scientists and space enthusiasts the world over rekindled their sense of wonder this week as NASA unveiled the first full-color images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The pictures give us exceptional new details of stars, galaxies and nebulas across space and across time. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke to Nobel laureate Adam Riess, a professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University. She asked him exactly what it is we’re seeing in the first image NASA put out.
Nothing Has Officially Launched its Phone, and It's Too Bad It's Not Coming to The U.S. The most annoying part of watching HDR content on Android could be getting a fix. How SDR dimming will help Android blend an SDR UI with HDR video. One city is urging taxi drivers against slapping five phones on their dashboards. Galaxy S23 reportedly ditching Exynos chips, going for Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 worldwide. Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro leak out in official renders. Asus' leaked Zenfone 9 video shows fun gimmicks like a scroll key and shoulder mount. TECNO Camon 19 Pro gets a special edition with a color-changing back panel. Spotify acquires the Wordle of music, Heardle. Play Store for tablets and Chromebooks gets Material You ahead of bigger redesign. Google Play Store has a new logo, and it's already appearing in parts of Android. Google Duo merger with Meet starts rolling out on Android. Burning questions about Glance. The one reason I love the S-Pen. How Hitchcock relates to the Nothing Phone (1). Read our show notes here: https://bit.ly/3cb3AWU Hosts: Jason Howell, Ron Richards, and Huyen Tue Dao Guest: Tshaka Armstrong Subscribe to All About Android at https://twit.tv/shows/all-about-android. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: itpro.tv/allaboutandroid promo code AAA30 newrelic.com/aaa
Picture of the Week. OpenSSL's Patch For Heap Memory Corruption Vulnerability. NIST Announces First Four Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Algorithms. Yubico donated 30,000 Yubikeys to Ukraine. Apple's new extreme "Lockdown Mode". Microsoft to re-enable Office Macros. This Is the Code the FBI Used to Wiretap the World. Closing The Loop. The Rolling Pwn. We invite you to read our show notes at https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-879-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now! at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: expressvpn.com/securitynow tanium.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
NASA reveals the highly anticipated first batch of color images from the James Webb Space Telescope, including the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. All about Webb: https://webb.nasa.gov Hosts: Leo Laporte and Rod Pyle Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/twit-news. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Apple's iOS 16, macOS Ventura and watchOS 9 public betas are ready to download. Inside Apple's eight-year struggle to build a self-driving car. Apple expands industry-leading commitment to protect users from highly targeted mercenary spyware. Midnight M2 MacBook Air shipment moves to mid-August, Space Gray model still the fastest option available. First benchmark result surfaces for MacBook Air with M2 chip. Apple adding first MacBook Pro with touch bar to vintage products list. Apple TV+ tops Hollywood Critics Association Awards. Apple TV+ scores 51 Primetime Emmy nominations, led by Severance and Ted Lasso. The Oregon Trail's new Apple Watch app tracks steps for in-game progress. Picks of the Week: Andy's Pick: Phil Plait and Bad Astronomy on SYFY.com Jason's Pick: SwiftBar Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: kolide.com/macbreak ourcrowd.com/macbreak expressvpn.com/macbreak
A group of 1000 AI researchers have created a multilingual large language model bigger than GPT-3, the AI model behind DALL-E, that’s completely open. BMW hopes to use a subscription model for optional features in its cars sold in South Korea. And we go over the Bluetooth LE Audio specification. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane,Continue reading "You Need Bluetooth LE Audio – DTNS 4314"
Organize and manage your favorite hobbies and craft projects with these apps and services for iPhone, iPad, and more. Catalist: Movies, books, more Sofa: Downtime Organizer Book Tracker: Bookshelf log Hobby Life Notion YarnBuddy – Knit and Crochet Knitting Chart Woolmi — knitting patterns Sewing Log News Apple has launched the public release beta for iPadOS 16 Apple releases the first public beta for iOS 16 iOS 16 public beta is here: Should you install it? Apple fined by Russian court for refusing to store user iCloud data in Russia Ikea Expands HomeKit Lighting Best Prime Day 2022 deals: M2 MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, M1 iPad Pro, more Shortcuts Corner Doug M. wants to know the best way to learn about Siri Shortcuts. Doug also asks for help with formatting dates in Siri Shortcuts. Brad uses a Siri Shortcut to switch between 5G and LTE connectivity due to differences in connection speed. Brad would like to improve the automated trigger for running the cellular data Shortcut. Doug F. asks for help triggering a Siri Shortcut based on a calendar event. Feedback & Questions Marshall wants to use a first-gen Apple Pencil for a stylus on their iPhone. App Caps Rosemary's App Cap: Live Listen Mikah's App Cap: Scusi Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsors: eightsleep.com/ios nomadgoods.com/IOSTODAY
Zach (@zachnoetowers – great comic, with a podcast called “Good Morning Sodomites” loves absurd horror movies. It’s SPOILERY – but the movies aren’t brand new: The Final Girls, I Know What you Did Last Summer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2008), Cabin In the Woods, Midsommar. He’s got a theory the ones he picked to talk about I might like. MAYBE. All I know is I like him. You will too. PROMO: Learn HOW to fight back at Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. There’s paypal links is my email and venmo is jackiekashian. Links to everything is at www.dorkforest.com or . New album -STAY-KASHIAN is out NOW. Merch: TDF tshirts, standup shirts and other CDs and just videos of my comedy. Touring Info. All the things. jackiekashian.com Premium eps of TDF are taped live and available here: https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/ Youtube has everything too. It's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Website design by Vilmos
TikTok agrees to “pause” its European privacy policy update after consulting with the Irish Data Protection Commission, Twitter begins rolling out its “unmentioning” feature, and BMW launches a marketplace in South Korea to offer car features as a subscription. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3Continue reading "TikTok Pauses European Privacy Policy Update – DTH"
It’s crunch time on Capitol Hill. Congress’ August recess starts in just a few weeks, so lawmakers are hoping to finish up some work before they skip town. One item of business with increased urgency for many is codifying privacy rights. Last week, President Biden signed an executive order on the issue, and some lawmakers in Congress hope they can do more to protect privacy in the coming months with the American Data Privacy and Protection Act. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Cristiano Lima, a reporter at The Washington Post.
Amazon is limiting sales of Plan B and other emergency contraceptives to three units per customer in the wake of increased demand, the company confirmed to several media outlets. Last week’s US Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade prompted a spike in sales of Plan B and other generic brands of levonorgestrel morning-after pills. Customers who order emergency contraception on Amazon still face a bit of a wait. Amazon’s main listing for Plan B (a popular name brand of levonorgestrel made by a company called Foundation Consumer Healthcare) displays an estimated delivery range of July 19 through August 6. MyChoice, a generic brand of levonorgestrel that is cheaper than Plan B displays a delivery date of July 28. Engadget has reached out to Amazon for an estimate on when it will remove its cap on sales, and will update if we hear back. Rite-Aid is also capping both online and in-person sales of emergency contraception to three per customer. Walmart has a more generous limit of 10 units of Plan B per customer, and Target limits online sales of Plan B to six orders per customer. Following a temporary cap on sales, both Walgreens and CVS have removed purchase limits on Plan B as of Tuesday evening."We continue to have ample supply of emergency contraceptives to meet customer needs," Matt Blanchette, CVS’s senior manager of retail communications toldCNN.Those who don’t want to turn to Amazon or a major drugstore chain have other online options for Plan. Both Instacart and GoPuff also offer Plan B for same-day delivery. A number of telehealth startups such as Wisp, Nurx and Stix sell generic emergency contraceptive pills (though sales are restricted to certain states). Sales of emergency contraceptive products on Wisp spiked by 40 percent following a leak of the court’s decision back in May, Wisp confirmed to Engadget. Furthermore, sales were 25 times the daily average for May on Friday, the day of the court’s ruling.“We have been able to meet the current surge in demand. We are not putting any restrictions on emergency contraceptive pills,” noted Wisp CEO Ahmad Bani in a statement to Engadget.
On iOS Today, Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard share some apps and tips to write smarter with your iPhone and iPad. Notes with Quick Notes Drafts Obsidian - Connected Notes Scrivener iA Writer Ulysses Pages with Mail Merge News Apple Updates Pages, Numbers, and Keynote With new features Chrome wants to take over your iPhone passwords Today at Apple session showcases making GIFs with Keynote Shortcuts Corner Tom would like a shortcut that sets the phone to mirror the screen to an Apple TV and launch an app Mikah wants a shortcut that will pull text from a specific document in the Notes app App Caps Rosemary: MusicSmart - Liner Notes Mikah: Tech News Weekly on Apple TV Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsors: itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30 eightsleep.com/ios nomadgoods.com/IOSTODAY
Tesla has reportedly laid off approximately 200 workers from its Autopilot team and closed an office in California. According to Bloomberg, the company notified staff of the move on Tuesday. Many of the affected employees were annotation specialists whose jobs involved evaluating and labeling Autopilot data obtained from customers. Along with the layoffs, Tesla closed its San Mateo location; Bloomberg reports what remained of the 350-person team was transferred to another nearby office.Tesla did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. The automaker has not operated a public relations department since 2020. The cuts are almost certainly part of a broader effort by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to reduce costs at the company ahead of a potential recession. At the start of June, Musk told employees in a company-wide email he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and that layoffs were coming. He later told Bloomberg he planned to reduce Tesla's salaried workforce by about 10 percent over the next three months. The admission came after Musk told remote workers to return to the office or lose their jobs. Tesla reportedly bungled its back-to-office plan, with The Information reporting that many employees returned to the company’s Fremont facility to find there weren’t enough parking spots and desks.
After a massive $625 million hack, the cryptocurrency pay-to-earn game Axie Infinity is once again open for business. The hack took advantage of flaws in the Ronin network, an Ethereum sidechain the game's owner, Sky Mavis, propped up to facilitate faster transactions. Surprisingly, the news today is that Axie Infinity will... continue to use Ronin, which has been revived after a few audits. In a blog post, the company described a new “circuit-breaker” system designed to flag “large, suspicious withdrawals,” withdrawal limits and human reviewers. It also promised players that a new land staking feature — which claims to allow the game's owners of digital land to earn passive income — will be released later this week.In March, a group of hackers pilfered nearly 173,600 Ethereum and nearly 26 million USDC (worth roughly $26 million) from the game’s network. US officials have since linked the North Korean-backed hacking group Lazarus to the heist. Last week Sky Mavis said it would begin reimbursing the victims of the hack — but didn't account for Ethereum’s drop in value over the past three months, which means that users would only recover about a third of their losses. In all, Sky Mavis is returning $216.5 million in funds to its users.Moving forward, Axie Infinity players are warned not to send funds directly to Ronin Bridge’s smart contract address. “The Ronin Bridge should only be accessed and used for deposits/withdrawals through the Ronin Bridge UI. Any funds sent directly to the Ronin Bridge’s contract addresses will be permanently lost," wrote the company in its post.Esports.net recently pointed out a flaw in Axie Infinity’s design — a drop in the number of players causes the value of its in-game currency to plummet. Bloomberg noted earlier this month that the game’s user base has declined by 40 percent since the hack. As of this writing, the value of AXS is at $15.30 (a drop from its high of $160.36 in July 2021) and the value of SLP is at 0.0039 (down from an all-time high of 0.364).
Sony has announced the launch of Inzone, a new brand of PC gaming displays and headsets. They'll be coming out of the company's Electronics division (not to be confused with its Interactive Entertainment unit) and its flagship product will be the Inzone M9, a 27-inch 4K monitor. The M9 boasts an IPS panel with full-array local dimming, a 144Hz refresh rate and a claimed 1-millisecond gray to gray response time.Sony says the panel is also DisplayHDR 600-certified and covers 95 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Additionally, the monitor is G-Sync compatible and features support for variable refresh rate (VRR) gaming thanks to the inclusion of an HDMI 2.1 port. If you connect the M9 to a PS5 through that port, you’ll get access to a feature that will automatically switch the monitor between its included low-latency and picture processing modes when it detects you’re about to play a game or watch a movie. Sony has also optimized the PS5’s HDR output for the M9, and you’ll see the benefits of that tuning automatically as well. Sony's M9 will hit shelves this summer and retail for $899.Alongside a 4K display, Sony will also offer a 240Hz Full HD monitor. Like the company’s new flagship, the M3 will boast a 1-millisecond gray to gray response time, PlayStation 5-specific features and compatibility for both G-Sync and VRR. As you might expect, high dynamic range performance won’t be as good as the 4K variant, with the monitor only earning VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification. Sony plans to begin selling the M3 sometime this winter for $529.If you’re looking for a new gaming headset, Sony has you covered there too. For those who want it all, there’s the $299 H9. It features active noise cancellation, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, support for spatial audio and the same synthetic leather found on Sony’s recently announced WH-1000XM5 headphones. For a more affordable option, there’s the H7. It omits the H9’s ANC and “soft fit” leather features for a $229 price tag. The H7 will also come with better battery life. Sony claims you can get 40 hours of use from its new mid-tier headphones compared to 32 hours from the H9. Lastly, there’s the $99 H3, which you can connect to your PC or PS5 through a 3.5mm headphone jack or wired USB adapter. Sony will release all three models this summer.
I've always wondered why aside from a handful of peripherals like the Pulse 3D headset and that weird 3D display, Sony never really tried to expand the PlayStation brand outside of consoles. And while you won’t find any PS logos on its new line of headsets and monitors, with Inzone it really feels like Sony is finally bringing its wider tech expertise to gaming.Now the reason we haven’t seen a ton of PlayStation-branded peripherals before is because the Sony most people think about is actually a conglomerate of several companies that make everything from medical diagnostic tools to camera sensors. And in the case of Inzone, its new gaming gear isn’t being made by the same Sony that produces its iconic consoles (Sony Interactive Entertainment) but instead by the Sony that makes everyday consumer gadgets (Sony Corp/Sony Electronics) like TVs and headphones including the excellent WH-1000XM5.Sam Rutherford/EngadgetThat’s important because, while these devices have design cues borrowed from the PS5, including their black and white color scheme and sleek sci-fi lines, much of the tech inside has trickled down from a range of Sony Electronics' devices. And after using a handful of Inzone’s new peripherals for about a week, it really feels like you’re getting a great mix of tech from two different branches of Sony.Let’s start with Inzone’s headphones which consist of three different models: the entry-level $99 H3, the mid-range $229 H7 and the high-end $299 H9. As the cheapest of the three, the H3 are incredibly simple and straightforward. Unlike their more expensive siblings, they don’t support wireless audio and instead rely on either a 3.5mm cord or a USB cable for connecting to your console or PC. On the bright side, the thick padded headband and cloth earcups make the H3 a joy to wear, even during marathon gaming sessions.Sam Rutherford/EngadgetAnother bonus is that due to cooperation between two arms of Sony, all Inzone headsets, including the H3, support the PS5’s Tempest 3D audio engine just like you get on the official Pulse 3D headphones. That means you get spatial audio and customizable sound profiles that make it easier to hear things like the footsteps of someone trying to sneak up behind you. That said, with the Pulse 3D also costing just $99 for wireless headphones that are just as comfortable as the H3, I think they’re probably the better buy for anyone on a budget.Where things get really interesting though is when you move up to the H7 and H9, which feature dual-mode wireless connectivity (Bluetooth and a dedicated 2.4GHz wireless dongle), a slightly more streamlined design and strong battery life. On top of that, the H9 also feature digital noise canceling using the same tech as Sony’s 1000X line, and it shows.Unlike the cloth earcups you get on the H3 and H7 headsets, the flagship H9 features soft fit leather earcups just like you get on Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones. Sam Rutherford/EngadgetNow I should mention Sony was only able to send out the H3 and H9 for testing, so I’ve been using those for my comparisons. But the H7 and H9 are fairly close in terms of specs, with the main difference being the H7’s lack of exterior RGB lighting, no support for digital noise canceling and the use of cloth earcups instead of the soft fit leather padding you get on the H9 (which is the same material Sony uses on the WH-100XM5). In return, because they don’t have built-in noise canceling, the H7 offer slightly longer battery life (around 40 hours) compared to the H9 (around 32 hours).Regardless, my time with the H9 so far has been great, and in a lot of ways, they feel like a pair of WH-1000XM5 that have been tuned for gaming. The noise cancellation works wonders for drowning out background sounds, and the super supple leather makes wearing them feel like putting a cloud around your head.Sam Rutherford/EngadgetI also really appreciate some of the small details Sony added to the H9. On a lot of headphones that offer two modes of wireless connectivity, you can typically only use one type at a time. But with the H7 and H9s, you can connect to two different devices simultaneously. This means you can use the wireless dongle to connect to your PlayStation or PC, and then use Bluetooth to get audio from your phone. And because the PS5 doesn’t have native support for chat apps like Discord, this makes it much easier to talk to your friends regardless of what platform you’re on at the moment.Additionally, the H7 and H9 are the only other headphones besides the Pulse 3Ds that can use the PS5’s on-screen status notifications, which means you can see stuff like volume levels, battery status, mic mute, and game/chat balance all at glance. So while they aren’t the PS5’s official headphones, they behave like they are, while also offering even more features and better audio quality. And just like the WH-1000XM5, you can even use your phone to take a picture of your ear, to tune their sound even further.Sam Rutherford/EngadgetAs for Inzone’s new monitors, there’s the $529 M3 and the $899 M9. However, since the M3 won’t be available until sometime this winter, I’m going to focus on my time with the M9. Featuring a 27-inch 4K IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, the M9 isn’t the biggest or fastest gaming monitor around. But for the money, it packs a ton of features compared to similarly-priced rivals. Not only does it support VRR and NVIDIA G-Sync, it also sports a strong one millisecond gray-to-gray time, DisplayHDR 600 certification and a gamut that covers more than 95 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum. In short, colors are bright, rich and vivid while also being largely immune from the ghosting you often see on less sophisticated displays.However, the M9’s biggest advantage is its full-array local dimming (FALD) which is made up of 96 different lighting zones compared to just eight or 16 on competitors like the LG 27GP950 or the Samsung S28AG700. And after seeing the results side-by-side, I was kind of shocked at how much of a difference the M9’s FALD makes. A lot of gamers can spot bloom in games when something bright moves quickly across a dark background, which often produces ring of light around the object. But not only does the M9 almost completely eliminate halos, the ability to adjust lighting zones with greater precision also gives the monitor improved dynamic range. So in games like Elden Ring, I saw backgrounds that were much darker and atmospheric compared to the washed-out gray tones I saw on other monitors. This allows you to get much better contrast and black levels without needing to upgrade to more expensive QD-OLED displays like Alienware’s $1,300 AW3423DW.Sam Rutherford/EngadgetAnd just like its headphones, Inzone’s first monitor has a lot of really thoughtful smaller features. It has a built-in KVM switch, which is extremely useful if you have multiple PCs connected to the same display. It also has a native FPS counter so you can easily keep tabs on performance, while the monitor’s Auto Genre Picture Mode can switch between settings like Cinema Mode and Gaming Mode depending on the content coming from your PS5. And in addition to being height and tilt adjustable, Sony even designed the M9’s stand so that its feet stick out towards the back, which means PC gamers who need to place their keyboard as close as possible to their monitor like Dafran totally can.But perhaps my favorite little touch, is the software that allows you to navigate the monitor’s on-screen display with your mouse, instead of having to fumble around with the joystick on the back of the panel. The M9 even comes with built-in stereo speakers, so you can plug in your PS5 and get straight to gaming without worrying about audio. And thanks to two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 jack, support for video over USB-C (DP Alt mode) and a built-in USB Hub, there’s a wealth of connectivity.All of Inzone's new headsets and monitors will be available this summer except the M3 display, which will go on sale sometime this winter. Sam Rutherford/EngadgetSo aside from the H3 which is somewhat basic, I’ve come away quite impressed with Inzone’s first batch of PC and console gaming peripherals. That said, looking at the pedigree of these two faces of Sony, that probably shouldn’t be a surprise. It might not say so on the box, but in a lot of ways, this feels like the marriage between PlayStation and the tech from some of Sony’s best gadgets. But what might be the most promising part is that while Inzone hasn’t shared any future plans just yet, after talking to some of its reps, it’s clear Sony has big plans for its new gaming brand going into 2023 and beyond.
Airbnb makes its ban on “all disruptive parties and events” permanent, Lamarr and Tom share their “Just Walk Out” experiences at Whole Foods, and we go over the steps you should take to secure your medical privacy. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Lamarr Wilson, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? ClickContinue reading "How To Avoid Data Collection – DTNS 4305"
Mobile Tracking, Safari's WebKit, NBA All-World Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip appears to have significantly slower SSD speeds. US senators ask FTC to investigate Apple and Google over mobile tracking. Russia threatens Apple with fines for not storing user data within the country. U.S. Supreme Court won't hear Apple's bid to revive Qualcomm patent challenges. How refactoring code in Safari's WebKit resurrected 'zombie' security bug. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act - enforcement begins. Apple Watch Series 8 rumored to feature new Low Power Mode. Apple readies iPhone 14 and HomePod upgrade in flood of new products. AirPods Max beta confirms higher quality Bluetooth codec. AirPods Pro 2 case redesign with rumored Find My feature shown off in leak, earbud appearance unchanged. Pokémon Go makers take on basketball with NBA All-World. For All Mankind' prop fused an Apple Newton MessagePad 120 and an iPhone 12. iWork update brings new features to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote with version 12.1.
Picks of the Week Alex's Pick: Craiyon Andy's Pick: Tot Rene's Pick: Moment Anamorphic Adapter Hosts: Alex Lindsay, Rene Ritchie, Andy Ihnatko, and Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: nomadgoods.com/MACBREAK onepeloton.com go.newtek.com/twit-tv
Taking a page from on-track rival Mercedes, Red Bull plans to produce its own hypercar. On Tuesday, the company took to Twitter to announce the RB17, which is slated to be a two-seater with a hybrid V8 engine and 1,100 horsepower. Production will start in 2025, with Red Bull planning to only make 50 cars at a price of £5 million ($6.1 million) per vehicle.If just so happen to be a millionaire, buying the F1-inspired RB17 will net you access to Red Bull’s team simulators and on-track training. The company will also service and maintain the car for you at the Milton Keynes factory in England where it plans to produce the RB17.Introducing the RB17 👀 A new era of performance cars has arrived 🤘 pic.twitter.com/Pz3mxexzQU— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 28, 2022“The RB17 marks the first time that a car wearing the Red Bull brand has been available to collectors,” Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner said. “The RB17 distills everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula 1 cars into a package that delivers extreme levels of performance in a two-seat track car.”Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey is designing the vehicle. His resume includes the Aston Martin Valkyrie and all four of Red Bull’s F1 championship-winning cars. Red Bull said the RB17 would be built around a carbon-composite tub and a body designed to take advantage of ground effect like modern F1 cars.
Square Enix is moving into the farming sim world with Harvestella, which is coming to Nintendo Switch and PC on November 4th. While this is a 3D game with a distinct art style, you'll surely recognize some elements if you're one of the tens of millions of Stardew Valley players out there. You'll till land, sow seeds, water crops, collect items for cooking and crafting, go fishing, take care of pets, explore dungeons, slay monsters and so on.You'll be able to visit other towns and get to know their residents. In Nemea Town, cherry blossoms bloom all year, while Seaside Town Shatolla has a vibrant bar scene. There are multiple jobs to choose from as well, including mage, fighter and shadow walker. Each of those will offer different abilities in battle. You'll also be able to explore some of the ocean in a submarine.The overworld will change based on the season, but there's a catch. Four crystals called Seaslight usually ensure there's a stable transition between seasons. However, the game starts amid some abnormalities. Between each season is a period called the Quietus, when crops die and people are unable to go outside due to deadly dust. Even worse, these Quietus spells are lasting longer every year. You might have to do something about that.
Facebook is experimenting with a new audio feature for Groups. The company is testing audio channels, which will bring Discord-like voice chats to Groups, Facebook shared in a blog post.Facebook has already had audio features for Groups with rooms. But unlike that feature, which is meant for one-time audio chats, audio channels are dedicated spaces where group members can speak with each other at any time, much like Discord.The change is one of several updates the social network is testing. The company is also experimenting with other types of “channels,” essentially sub-groups within each Facebook Group, where members can discuss specific topics. There are community chat channels, which organize group message threads around topics relevant to a given group; as well as community feed channels, which are topic-based spaces within the group.Facebook is also testing a new sidebar that will make all users’ Groups more prominent in its app (and have dedicated shortcuts for creating new channels). For now, all of these features are tests that will only be available to a small subset of users, but the company intends to roll out the changes more broadly over time.The updates come as Facebook is eyeing bigger changes for its main app. The company is working on a broader redesign that would reorient users’ feeds around AI-driven recommendations more than their existing social graphs. At the same time, the new sidebar is meant to ensure that Groups remain prominent and easily accessible once the app’s main feed changes.
When Return to Monkey Island arrives later this year, players will finally discover the secret of Monkey Island. That’s the pitch series creator Ron Gilbert made in the game’s newest trailer, which premiered today during Nintendo’s latest Direct showcase. “My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and this is a story about the time I finally found the secret of Monkey Island,” voice actor Dominic Armato declares at the start of the clip.As you might imagine, the trailer is full of allusions to past Monkey Island games, including some of the series’ best gags. At one point, Guybrush drifts to the floor of the Caribbean, a sign pointing to Monkey Island and noting it’s only a six-minute walk away. Good thing our hero can hold his breath for 10 minutes. Many fan-favorite characters also make an appearance in the clip. Among others, I spotted used ship salesman and garish dresser Stan S. Stanman locked in the brig of LeChuck’s ship. Coincidently, you can chat to Stan on Return to Monkey Island’s updated website where he explains he’s in jail for “marketing-related crimes” that may have involved selling non-fungible items.If you missed the news in April, Return to Monkey Island marks the, well, return of Ron Gilbert to the series he created back in the late ‘80s. Gilbert wrote and directed The Secret of Monkey Island, and went to work on the second game before leaving LucasArts in 1992. Fellow Monkey Island veteran Dave Grossman is also working on the new game, which will take place after the first two games. On consoles, Return to Monkey Island will arrive first on Nintendo Switch.
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is creating a new augmented reality mobile game with more big-name partners: the NBA and its players' association. NBA All-World will task you with exploring your neighborhood to find some of the league's stars such as Chris Paul, Steph Curry and James Harden. You can challenge and compete against virtual players in mini-games like three-point contests before recruiting them to your team.NBA All-World players will be able to deck out their NBA stars in custom apparel. Polygon notes that you can also improve your squad with items you find out in the wild at places such as sporting goods stores and convenience stores. You'll have the chance to battle others in one-on-one matches with swipe-based commands too. These encounters will be available at various locations, including real-life basketball courts.Following Pokémon Go and Pikmin Bloom, Niantic has a few other games in the works. Transformers: Heavy Metal is in beta, but it's only available in a few countries for now. The same goes for Peridot, a modern AR take on Tamagotchi.It's not yet clear exactly when Niantic will release NBA All-World, but the game will soon enter a soft launch period. You can sign up for updates if you're interested.
ARM’s newest flagship GPU will offer hardware-based ray tracing, a first for the company. Announced today, the Immortalis-G715 promises a 15 percent performance boost compared to the firm’s previous generation of premium Mali GPUs. The performance improvement is courtesy of architectural improvements and a design that can accommodate up to 16 cores.ARM already offered support for software-based ray tracing with last year’s Mali-G710. However, the company claims the Immortalis-G715 will deliver a 300 percent improvement in ray tracing performance thanks to its dedicated hardware.Whether you’ll see a mobile title with ray tracing anytime soon is hard to say. Since creating games is so expensive, most developers try to make their projects playable on as many devices as possible. In the immediate future, you’re more likely to see a benefit out of the Immortalis-G715’s support for Variable Rate Shading. VRS is a technology that sees a GPU focus its efforts on rendering the parts of a scene that require the most detail. You likely won’t perceive a drop in visual quality, but the GPU will operate more efficiently. ARM says it saw frame rate improvements of up 40 percent in some games thanks to the tech.ARM announced two other GPUs today: the Mali-G715 and Mali-G615. Both components incorporate the VRS technology found on their more expensive sibling but don’t offer ray tracing and boast fewer cores for lower overall performance.Android phones with Immortalis-G715 GPUs will begin arriving in 2023. At least when it comes to timing, ARM is playing catch-up. Samsung’s Exynos 2200, with ray tracing graphics from AMD, is already available on Galaxy S22 phones in Europe and other parts of the world.
Last year, hurricanes hammered the Southern and Eastern US coasts at the cost of more than 160 lives and $70 billion in damages. Thanks to climate change, it's only going to get worse. In order to quickly and accurately predict these increasingly severe weather patterns, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Tuesday that it has effectively tripled its supercomputing (and therefore weather modelling) capacity with the addition of two high-performance computing (HPC) systems built by General Dynamics.“This is a big day for NOAA and the state of weather forecasting,” Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, said in a press statement. “Researchers are developing new ensemble-based forecast models at record speed, and now we have the computing power needed to implement many of these substantial advancements to improve weather and climate prediction.”General Dynamics was awarded the $505 million contract back in 2020 and delivered the two computers, dubbed Dogwood and Cactus, to their respective locations in Manassas, Virginia, and Phoenix, Arizona. They'll replace a pair of older Cray and IBM systems in Reston, Virginia, and Orlando, Florida.Each HPC operates at 12.1 petaflops or, "a quadrillion calculations per second with 26 petabytes of storage," Dave Michaud, Director, National Weather Service Office of Central Processing, said during a press call Tuesday morning. That's "three times the computing capacity and double the storage capacity compared to our previous systems... These systems are amongst the fastest in the world today, currently ranked at number 49 and 50." Combined with its other supercomputers in West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Colorado, the NOAA wields a full 42 petaflops of capacity. With this extra computational horsepower, the NOAA will be able to create higher-resolution models with more realistic physics — and generate more of them with a higher degree of model certainty, Brian Gross, Director, NOAA’s Environmental Modeling Center, explained during the call. This should result in more accurate forecasts and longer lead times for storm warnings."The new supercomputers will also allow significant upgrades to specific modeling systems in the coming years," Gross said. "This includes a new hurricane forecast model named the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System, which is slated to be in operation at the start of the 2023 hurricane season," and will replace the existing H4 hurricane weather research and forecasting model.While the NOAA hasn't yet confirmed in absolute terms how much of an improvement the new supercomputers will grant to the agency's weather modelling efforts, Ken Graham, the Director of National Weather Service, is convinced of their value. "To translate what these new supercomputers will mean for for the average American," he said during the press call, "we are currently developing models that will be able to provide additional lead time in the outbreak of severe weather events and more accurately track the intensity forecasts for hurricanes, both in the ocean and that are expected to hit landfall, and we want to have longer lead times [before they do]."
Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo has revealed its next game and the eclectic studio is again moving in a different direction. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a non-linear adventure title that will land on Nintendo Switch and Steam in 2023.Simogo and publisher Annapurna Interactive announced the game during today's Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase. The first trailer depicts a dark, atmospheric world in which you'll need to solve puzzles to get to the bottom of a murder mystery. While the clip is light on story, there are a few peeks at the titular laser eyes.The trailer description notes that you'll play as a woman who's looking for answers in a central European manor (or possibly a hotel or museum). Players will need to pay attention to what's going on, and think about numbers, patterns and puzzles that they find. Annapurna suggests these could be part of a "macabre game" or just a "simple treasure hunt."Simogo shook up the gameplay of Sayonara Wild Hearts from level to level and it looks like it's adopting a similar approach here. The trailer suggests there will be a first-person shooter element, for instance. The visuals will vary too, from lo-fi PS1-era environments and character models to wireframe figures. It looks delightfully strange.Sayonara Wild Hearts is nearly perfect and one of my favorite games of all time. So, I'm really looking forward to checking out Lorelei and the Laser Eyes next year. Here's hoping for more details during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase, which takes place on July 28th.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
I hope you all had a good weekend. I certainly wasn’t huddled in a ball of anxiety about the very fabric of women’s rights in the US being stripped away, no sir. On that note, there is a lot going on in the audio world in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Podcasters are organizing, Slate is doing a stunt campaign in areas where abortion is now restricted, and Howard Stern is running for president, maybe. But first, a very special Hot Pod announcement (elegant transition, right?) Hot Pod Summit goes Hollywood Big news: we’re bringing Hot Pod Summit to Los Angeles. On November 3rd at KCRW, we’ll have a day of conversations about how the podcasting industry is being shaped by West Coast tech giants and becoming increasingly entwined with legacy Hollywood institutions. The summit is being held in collaboration with work x work and On Air Fest LA, which runs from November 3rd to 5th, and is being co-presented by KCRW. I am excited to nerd out on audio, meet some of you guys IRL, and, dare I say, get a little tan? We’ll keep you posted on the lineup and other details as they become available. Hope to see you there! Podcasters organize pre-roll campaign for abortion rights In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, dozens of podcasters are banding together to record and place pre-roll messages advocating for abortion rights. Started by EarBuds Podcast Collective founder Arielle Nissenblatt, the campaign has managed to get some big shows on board, including My Favorite Murder and Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. Nissenblatt collaborated with writers and producers to come up with different script templates to fit different hosts’ needs (30-second vs. 60-second, US-based vs. international) and compiled links to abortion resources that podcasters could put in their show notes. The campaign also enlisted voice actor and podcaster Matt Cundill to record several different versions that shows can place if they do not want to record it themselves. When the decision was announced, “my first thought was, like, how will podcasters want to uniquely react to this?” Nissenblatt told Hot Pod. “They can offer resources, they can offer support, they can spread the message, and we can come at it from a unified place.” So far, at least three dozen shows have participated in the campaign. Nissenblatt says that Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark from My Favorite Murder jumping on board did a lot to encourage other podcasters to do the same. Other big names that have expressed interest in joining include Alex Steed from You Are Good and Jamie Loftus and Caitlin Durante from The Bechdel Cast. Slate erects billboards promoting Slow Burn in states with trigger laws Slate is launching a provocative new campaign to promote its latest season of Slow Burn, which tells the story of Shirley Wheeler, the first woman convicted of manslaughter for getting an abortion. The outlet has placed billboards in states that now have some of the strictest abortion laws in the country urging passersby to “Defend Shirley Wheeler.”
Provided by Slate Slate’s billboard in Oklahoma, which has one of the strictest abortion bans in the US
The campaign’s URL, defendshirleywheeler.com, redirects to Slow Burn’s show page. The billboards have been placed in Jackson, Mississippi; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Phoenix, Arizona; Boise, Idaho; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Daytona Beach, Florida, where Wheeler lived when she got her abortion. It’s a smart (if dystopian!!) campaign that should grab attention in those areas, for better or worse. Howard Stern 4 Prez Because there hasn’t been enough chaos in the past week, radio star Howard Stern has responded to the abortion ruling by saying he will really, actually probably run for president in 2024. “If I do run for president, and I’m not fucking around, I’m really thinking about it,” he said on his SiriusXM show Monday, “as soon as I become president, you’re gonna get five new Supreme Court justices that are going to overturn all this bullshit.” Another pillar of the Stern platform: “one vote, one person, no more of this Electoral College, I’m getting rid of it.” That would be nice, if legally impossible. If he did step into the fray, it wouldn’t be Stern’s first attempt at running for office. He ran for governor of New York in 1994 until he dropped out because he refused to disclose his personal finances. He may not have Mike Bloomberg money, but bringing in $85 million a year, Stern has plenty of cash to play with if he wanted to run (or at least do some kind of stunt campaign). Either way, President Biden is not likely to be pleased. SCOTUS won’t rewrite defamation law (but they say a lot of things!!!) On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down a petition to hear a case in which an evangelical Christian ministry accused the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of falsely calling it an anti-LGBTQ hate group. If they had taken it up, writes my Verge colleague Adi Robertson, it would have opened the window for the court to make it easier for public figures to win libel cases against media outlets. By not taking up the case, SCOTUS is leaving the “actual malice” standard from the 1964 New York Times Co. v. Sullivan case in place, which found that public figures need to show that a false statement was made knowingly or with reckless disregard for its truth in order to prove defamation. Podcasters and publishers in the US are also covered by this protection. Justice Clarence Thomas, who doesn’t have much regard for precedent, wrote a dissent saying that the “actual malice” standard should be revisited. “This case is one of many showing how [NYT v. Sullivan] and its progeny have allowed media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’” In this particular instance, he seems to be the only person on the court of that opinion. But as Robertson notes, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Elena Kagan have taken issue with the “actual malice” standard in the past, so this may not be the last we hear on the libel issue. Pushkin Industries also goes Hollywood Malcolm Gladwell’s audio company, Pushkin Industries, has cut a first-look deal with independent studio A24, Bloomberg reports. The deal will allow A24 to have the first crack at Pushkin’s audio properties, which include hit podcast Revisionist History. The first project A24 will develop as part of the deal will be a documentary series based on Gladwell’s most recent book, The Bomber Mafia. The deal will also pay for Pushkin to get a development executive. The company has hired Meghna Rao from Topic Studios to fill the role. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is coming to Brooklyn this summer iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God will host the first Black Effect Podcast Festival this summer, featuring live tapings of some of the network’s biggest shows, like The 85 South Show and All The Smoke. The festival will be held at The Brooklyn Mirage at Avant Gardner. The Black Effect Podcast Network is a collaboration between iHeart and its biggest star, The Breakfast Club co-host Charlamagne Tha God. “The Black Effect Podcast Network was created to amplify Black voices for new and established content creators and storytellers,” he said in a statement. “I’m excited to celebrate the first-ever Black Effect Podcast Festival, where talented Black creators and aspiring podcasters will come together for a day to uplift and inspire one another.” The festival will take place on August 28th, and tickets will go on sale on July 6th. That’s all for today! I’ll be out next Tuesday, thanks to Vox Media’s extremely lit four-day July 4th weekend, so I’ll be back in your inbox on July 12th.
Russia has fined Airbnb, Twitch and Pinterest for violating the country’s personal data legislation, Reuters reports. On Tuesday, a court in Moscow ordered all three companies to pay fines of 2 million roubles (approximately $37,700) for not storing the data of Russian citizens within the country. The decision came after Russia’s Roskomnadzor internet commission opened administrative cases against the three platforms in May. Airbnb, Twitch and Pinterest did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.In the years to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, US tech firms would sporadically attract the attention of Russian regulators, leading to conflicts over the country’s approach to content, censorship and local data representation. Since the war began, those disputes have intensified in both frequency and severity as the west has moved to punish Russia for the war. In May, for instance, Google’s Russian division filed for bankruptcy after authorities seized its bank account. The search giant said the move had made it “untenable” for the office to pay employees and suppliers.
Google will offer commercial service for its Google Earth Engine, a new McKinsey survey finds 58% if US workers have the option to work remotely at least one day a week, and Airbnb makes its party ban permanent. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 aContinue reading "Google Announces Commercial Service for Google Earth Engine – DTH"
Google is working on a way to ensure emails from US political campaigns reach users' Gmail inboxes instead of automatically getting dumped into the spam folder. The company has asked the Federal Election Commission for approval on a plan to make emails from "authorized candidate committees, political party committees and leadership political action committees registered with the FEC" exempt from spam detection, as long they abide by Gmail's rules on phishing, malware and illegal content.“We want Gmail to provide a great experience for all of our users, including minimizing unwanted email, but we do not filter emails based on political affiliation," Google spokesperson José Castañeda told Axios, which first reported on the move. Castañeda added that the pilot program "may help improve inboxing rates for political bulk senders and provide more transparency into email deliverability, while still letting users protect their inboxes by unsubscribing or labeling emails as spam."If the project goes ahead, users will see a prominent notification the first time they receive an email from a campaign. They'll be asked if they want to keep receiving such emails. They'll be able to opt out of campaign notices later too. That should help cut down on unwanted campaign emails, especially for users who didn't sign up to receive them in the first place, while making sure they still hit inboxes.Google has noted that a key reason why Gmail puts many campaign emails in the spam folder is because other users often mark the missives as spam. A North Carolina State University study from earlier this year found that Gmail was more likely than Yahoo (Engadget's parent company) and Microsoft Outlook to algorithmically filter emails from Republican campaigns as spam during the 2020 campaign.Republican leaders this month introduced a bill that seeks to make it illegal for email service providers to automatically put campaign messages in the spam folder. It would also require operators to issue a quarterly transparency report detailing how many times campaign messages were flagged as spam, with breakdowns for emails from both the Republican and Democratic parties. In addition, providers would have to disclose the tools they use to determine which campaign emails to mark as spam.
A few months ago, Valve announced that both of its excellent Portal games were coming to the Nintendo Switch, but we didn't know when. Today's Nintendo Direct presentation cleared that up. Portal Companion Collection will arrive on the Switch later today for $19.99. The collection includes both the original Portal from 2007 as well as the more expansive, story-driven Portal 2 from 2011. Whether you missed these games the first time out or just want to replay a pair of classics, this collection sounds like a good way to return to one of the most intriguing worlds Valve ever created.While the original Portal was strictly a single-player experience, Portal 2 has a split-screen co-op experience; you can also pay this mode with a friend online as well. And while these games originated on the PC, Valve also released Portal 2 for the PlayStation 3 — and if I recall, the game's controls mapped to a controller very well. Given that the Portal series is more puzzle-based than traditional first-person games, you shouldn't have any problems navigating the world with a pair of Joy-Con controllers.
Today's Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase featured a bunch of third-party games that are coming to Switch, including a bunch of big hitters. For one thing, three Persona games are coming to the hybrid console. Persona 5 Royal is the only one with a confirmed release date (October 21st) for now, but more details about Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable are coming soon.It recently emerged that Atlus' games are also coming to Xbox Game Pass, as well as Steam, PlayStation 4 and (in P5 Royal's case) PS5. Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden were ports of PlayStation 2 titles Persona 3 and Persona 4. They were released on PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, respectively.Nintendo confirmed Nier: Automata is bound for Switch too. Nier: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition will arrive on the console on October 6th. It includes all previously released DLC expansions, as well as some exclusive costumes.Leaks had suggested Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will debut on Switch on October 20th and that turned out to be the case. Even though the game stars Mario, Nintendo technically stuck to its claim that the showcase would only feature third-party titles, since Ubisoft's Paris and Milan studios co-developed it.Meanwhile, a cloud version of A Plague Tale: Requiem will be available for Switch on October 18th, the same date that the game will hit other platforms. Focus Home Interactive brought the first game in the series, A Plague Tale: Innocence,to Switch last year, also as a streaming-only version.You can find out more about all these announcements, as well as other third-party games that are coming to Switch, by checking out the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase below:
With the explosion of TikTok and the growth of video on YouTube, Twitch, Instagram and other platforms, interest in vlogging has increased exponentially since we last updated our guide. If you’re one of those creators and a smartphone is no longer good enough, it may be time to upgrade to a purpose-built vlogging camera.Some models are specifically designed for vlogging, like Sony’s ZV-E10 mirrorless camera that launched last year, or Panasonic’s compact G100. Others, like the new Panasonic GH6, Sony A7S III and Canon EOS R6 are hybrid cameras that offer vlogging as part of a larger toolset.All of them have certain things in common, like flip-around screens, face- and/or eye-detect autofocus and stabilization. Prices, features and quality can vary widely among models, though. To that end, we’ve updated our guide with all the latest models designed for every vlogger from novice to professional, in all price ranges. Engadget has tested all of these to give you the best possible recommendations, and we’ll even discuss a few rumored upcoming models.One caveat to this year’s guide is that a parts shortage has limited production of many cameras, causing shortages and higher prices. Sony, for one, halted production of the aforementioned ZV-E10 for a time, and models from Fujifilm and others are also hard to find. The good news is that the shortage appears to be easing, so hopefully we’ll see normal supply levels in the near future. What do you need in a vlogging camera?Vlogging cameras are designed for filmmakers who often work alone and either use a tripod, gimbal, vehicle mount or just their hands to hold a camera. It has to be good not just for filming yourself, but other “B-roll” footage that helps tell your story.The number one requirement is a flip-around screen so you can see yourself while filming. Those can rotate up, down or to the side, but flipping out to the side is preferable so a tripod or microphone won’t block it.Steve Dent/Engadget Continuous autofocus (AF) for video with face and eye detection is also a must. It becomes your camera “assistant,” keeping things in focus while you concentrate on your content. Most cameras can do that nowadays, but some still do it better than others.If you move around or walk a lot, you should look for a camera with built-in optical stabilization. Electronic stabilization is another option as long as you’re aware of the limitations. You’ll also need a camera with a fast sensor that limits rolling shutter, which can create a distracting jello “wobble” with quick camera movements.4K recording is another key feature. All cameras nowadays can shoot 4K up to at least 24 fps, but if possible, it’s better to have 4K at 60 or even 120 fps. If you shoot sports or other things involving fast movement, look for a model with at least 1080p at 120 fps for slow-motion recording.Video quality is another important consideration, especially for skin tones. Good light sensitivity helps for night shooting, concerts, etcetera, and a log profile helps improve dynamic range in very bright or dark shooting conditions. If you want the best possible image quality and can afford it, get a camera that can record 4K with 10-bits (billions) of colors. That will give you more options when you go to edit.Don’t neglect audio either — if the quality is bad, your audience will disengage. Look for a camera with a microphone port so you can plug in a shotgun or lapel mic for interviews, or at least one with a good-quality built-in microphone. It’s also nice to have a headphone port to monitor sound so you can avoid nasty surprises after you’ve finished shooting.You’ll also want good battery life and, if possible, dual memory card slots for a backup. Finally, don’t forget about your camera’s size and weight. If you’re constantly carrying one while shooting, especially at the end of a gimbal or gorillapod, it might actually be the most important factor. That’s why tiny GoPro cameras are so popular for sports, despite offering lower image quality and fewer pro features.The best action and portable camerasIf you’re just starting out in vlogging or need a small, rugged camera, an action cam might be your best bet. In general, they’re easy to use as you don’t have to worry about things like exposure or focus. Recent models also offer good electronic stabilization and sharp, colorful video at up to 4K and 60 fps. The downsides are a lack of control; image quality that’s not on par with larger cameras; and no zooming or option to change lenses.DJI Pocket IIDJILast time around we recommended the original Osmo Pocket, but the Pocket II (no more “Osmo”) has some big improvements. As before, it’s mounted on a three-axis gimbal and has impressive face tracking that keeps your subject locked in focus. However, the new model has a larger, much higher resolution 64-megapixel sensor, a faster lens with a wider field of view and improved microphones. As before, you can get accessories like an extension rod, a waterproof case and more.What really makes the Pocket II great for vlogging are the follow modes combined with face tracking. If you’re working solo, you can simply set it up and it’ll rotate and tilt to follow you around. That also applies for walk-and-talk vlogging, so you don’t have to worry about focus or even pointing the camera at yourself. For $346, it’s not only good for beginners, but is a handy tool for any vlogger.Buy DJI Pocket II at Amazon - $349GoPro Hero 10 BlackEngadgetThe Hero 10 Black is what we called a “big, invisible upgrade” over the Hero 9, itself a much improved camera over the Hero 8 Black we recommended last time. That’s largely due to the new processor that unlocks features like higher-resolution 5.3K 60p and 4K 120fps video, much improved Hypersmooth 4.0 stabilization, an improved front-screen and more. All of that makes it ideal to mount on a drone, vehicle, helmet, bicycle and more, at a very manageable $350 price with a 1-year GoPro subscription.Buy Hero 10 Black bundle at GoPro - $350DJI Action 2DJIDJI took a much different approach compared to GoPro with its latest Action 2 camera – no with more Osmo branding. Rather than being a standalone camera, it’s a modular system with a magnetic mount that lets you add a touchscreen module with a secondary OLED display and three additional microphones, or a battery module for longer life and an extra microSD slot. As with the Pocket 2, it offers tons of accessories like a 3-in-1 extension rod and more. It’s a versatile option if you do more than just action shooting, and is priced well starting at $399.Buy DJI Action 2 at Amazon - $399The best compact vlogging camerasCompact cameras are a step-up option from smartphones or action cameras, with larger sensors and much better image quality. At the same time, they’re not quite as versatile as mirrorless or DSLR cameras (and not necessarily cheaper) and they lack advanced options like 10-bit video. For folks who want the best possible quality without needing to think too much about their camera, however, it’s the best option. Sony ZV-1Steve Dent/Engadget Sony’s ZV-1 came out in 2020 and it’s still the best compact vlogging camera available. Based on the RX 100 V, it has a decently large 1-inch 20.1-megapixel sensor and fixed 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8mm equivalent lens. Based on the RX100 V, it has a 1-inch 20.1-megapixel sensor and fixed 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8mm (equivalent) lens. It also offers a lightweight body, built-in high-quality microphone (plus a microphone port), flip-out display, best-in-class autofocus and excellent image quality. It also has vlogging specific features like “product showcase” and background blur.While the $799 ZV-1 can’t shoot 10-bit video, it comes with Sony’s S-Log picture profiles that give you increased dynamic range for shooting in challenging lighting conditions. The flaws include a lens that’s not quite wide enough when you’re using electronic stabilization, mediocre battery life and the lack of a true touch display and headphone port. That aside, if you’re looking to step up from a smartphone, it does the job nearly perfectly.Buy Sony ZV-1 at Amazon - $799Canon G7 X Mark IIIEngadget Canon’s G7 X Mark III should also be front of mind for vloggers looking for a compact option. It also packs a 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor, but has a 24-100 mm f/1.8-2.8 35mm equivalent zoom — quite a bit longer than the ZV-1 at the telephoto range. It can shoot 4K at up to 30 fps, while offering optical image stabilization, a microphone input (though no headphone jack) and even the ability to livestream directly to YouTube. The downsides are contrast-detect only autofocus and a screen that tilts up but not to the side. For $749, it’s still a great option, though.Buy Canon G7 X Mark III at Amazon - $749The best mirrorless/DSLR vlogging camerasThis is the class that has changed the most over the past couple of years, particularly in the more affordable price categories. Interchangeable lens cameras give you the most options for vlogging, offering larger sensors than compact cameras with better low-light sensitivity and shallower depth of field to isolate you or your subject. They also offer better control of your image with manual controls, log recording, 10-bit video and more. The drawbacks are extra weight compared to action or compact cameras, extra complexity and higher prices.Fujifilm X-S10Jonas Dyhr Rask/FujifilmFujifilm’s X-S10 has displaced the X-T4 as the best vlogging camera out there, thanks particularly to the more affordable price. It ticks all the boxes for vloggers, offering in-body stabilization, 10-bit 4K external video with F-Log recording (at up to 30fps) along with 1080p at a stellar 240 fps, a screen that flips out to the side and easy-to-use controls. It also comes with a headphone jack and USB-C port that doubles as a headphone jack. The main downside is the limited touchscreen controls, but you get a lot of camera for just $1,000.Buy Fujifilm X-S10 at Adorama - $999Sony ZV-E10SonyThe best Sony APS-C camera for vlogging is now the ZV-E10. While using many of the same aging parts as the A6100, including the 24.2-megapixel sensor, it has a number of useful features for self-shooters. High on the list is Sony’s excellent autofocus, which includes the same background defocus and Product Showcase features found on the ZV-1 compact. It also offers electronic SteadyShot, a fully articulating display and more. The biggest drawback is rolling shutter that can get bad if you whip the camera around too much. If you can find one, it’s priced at $700 for the body or $800 in a bundle with Sony’s 16-50mm F/3.5-5.6 power zoom lens.Buy Sony ZV-E10 at B&H - $698Panasonic GH6 and GH5Steve Dent/EngadgetPanasonic’s GH5 was an incredibly popular vlogging camera for a very long time and was actually replaced by two cameras, the $2,200 GH6 and more budget-oriented $1,700 GH5-II. The GH6 is a large upgrade in nearly every way, offering 5.7K at 60 fps and 4K at up to 120 fps, along with ProRes formats that are easy to edit. It also comes with the best in-body stabilization on any camera and great handling. The downside is sub-par contrast-detect autofocus and battery life that’s not amazing.It’s also worth a look at the GH5 Mark II, which is not only $500 cheaper but particularly well suited for live-streamers. It’s not a huge upgrade over the GH5, but does more than most rival cameras for the price, offering 4K 10-bit 60p video, a fully articulating display and excellent in-body stabilization. As with the GH6, the main drawback is the contrast-detect autofocus system.Buy Panasonic GH6 at Amazon - $2,200Buy Panasonic GH5 at Amazon - $1,700Panasonic G100PanasonicPanasonic’s G100 is purpose built for vlogging like the ZV-1, but also allows you to change lenses. It has a fully-articulating flip-out screen, 5-axis hybrid (optical/electronic) stabilization, 4K V-Log-L video at up to 30 fps (though sadly cropped at 1.47X for 4K video), 1080p at up to 60 fps, and contrast detect AF with face/eye detection. The coolest feature is the Nokia OZO system that can isolate audio to a specific person via face-detection tracking — something that can theoretically improve audio quality. Best of all, you can grab it right now with a 12-32mm lens for $750.Buy Panasonic GH100 at Amazon - $750Canon EOS M50 Mark IICanonAnother good buy if you’re on a budget is Canon’s EOS M50 Mark II, particularly if you’re okay with 1080p video only. While not a huge upgrade over the original M50, Canon has made it more compelling for vloggers with a fully-articulating display, continuous eye-tracking in video and live streaming to YouTube. It does support 4K, but with a heavy 1.5 times crop and contrast-detect autofocus only. Still, it’s a good option for folks on a budget, selling for $699 with a 15-45mm lens.Buy Canon EOS M50 Mark II at B&H - $699Canon EOS R6Steve Dent / EngadgetIf you’ve got the budget for it, Canon’s EOS R6 offers nearly every feature you need in a vlogging camera. You can shoot 10-bit 4K video at up to 60 fps, and the Dual Pixel autofocus with eye and face tracking is incredibly reliable. It also offers 5-axis optical stabilization, a flip-out display and a relatively compact size. As you may have heard, overheating can be an issue, but firmware updates have improved that issue and it only applies to the more demanding video settings.Buy Canon EOS R6 at Amazon - $2,500Fujifilm X-T4Steve Dent/EngadgetThe Fuijfilm X-T4 is a great all-around mirrorless camera for vlogging. It has everything you need, including a fully-articulating display, continuous eye- and face autofocus, 10-bit 4K log recording at up to 60 fps, 5-axis in-body stabilization, microphone and headphone jacks (the latter via USB-C) and lower noise in low light.Image quality, especially in the skin tones, is lifelike and the sensor has minimal rolling shutter. It also offers good battery life and comes with dual UHS-II card slots. Finally, it’s fairly light considering all the features, and Fujifilm has a good selection of small lenses ideal for vlogging. What I don’t like is an autofocus system not quite as fast or accurate as Sony’s and the fairly steep $1,700 asking price for the body only.Buy Fujifilm X-T4 at Amazon - $1,700Nikon Z fcNikonIf you want to look great while vlogging, check out Nikon’s stylish Z fc. It’s largely identical to the Z50, with features like a 20.9-megapixel APS-C sensor, 4K at 30 fps and a reliable phase-detect autofocus system with face detection. However, the Z fc brings a vari-angle touchscreen to the party and has a beautiful vintage body covered with convenient manual controls. It doesn’t have built-in optical stabilization, but you can get that via a lens. The best feature, though, is the price – you can get one for $1,100 with a 16-50mm lens.Buy Nikon Z fc at B&H - $1,100Upcoming camerasIf you’re not quite ready to buy, there are some interesting options on the horizon. Canon just announced the EOS R7, a mirrorless EOS R version of its popular EOS 7D DSLR. It has an APS-C sensor and all-new RF-S lenses, meaning that it might replace Canon’s current M-series cameras. Specs include a 32.5-megapixel APS-C sensor, 4K 60 fps video, an articulating display and more. All of that will make it a top vlogging option, if our upcoming review confirms the hype.On top of that, Canon also announced a cheaper EOS R10 model with a 24.2-megapixel sensor that could also be an ideal vlogging camera. Both cameras are coming out towards the end of 2022.In addition, Fujifilm just launched the X-H2S, its new $2,500 flagship mirrorless camera. With a 26.2-megapixel stacked and backside-illuminated sensor, it offers a raft of impressive features. Some of the highlights include 40 fps blackout-free burst shooting, faster autofocus, 6.2K 30fps video, a flip-out display and 7-stop in-body stabilization. If you’ve got the budget, this could be a solid vlogging choice when it arrives on July 7th.
Airbnb is permanently banning all parties and events at host properties around the world, it announced. That follows a temporary 2020 ban it had instituted on house parties to comply with COVID-related social distancing restrictions. "Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure," Airbnb said in a blog post. "It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our Hosts and their neighbors."Airbnb had already banned "chronic party houses" in 2019 following a California Halloween shooting that resulted in five deaths. It later barred all "open-invite" house parties, but still allowed invitation-only parties in single family dwellings. However, those too are now prohibited, under penalty of account suspension or full removal from the platform. On a more positive note, Airbnb lifted a 16-person occupancy cap also instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic. That's because certain properties "from castles in Europe to vineyards in the US to large beachfront villas in the Caribbean" can easily accommodate more than 16 people, it said, adding that "properties like these thrive on hosting multi-generational family trips and larger groups." The company runs a tip line that allows neighbors or others to report parties. Airbnb noted that it saw a 44 percent drop in the rate of party reports after the ban was implemented in 2020 and it suspended the accounts of around 6,600 guests for breaking the policy last year.
Airbnb is permanently banning all parties and events at host properties around the world, it announced. That follows a temporary 2020 ban it had instituted on house parties to comply with COVID-related social distancing restrictions. "Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure," Airbnb said in a blog post. "It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our Hosts and their neighbors."Airbnb had already banned "chronic party houses" in 2019 following a California Halloween shooting that resulted in five deaths. It later barred all "open-invite" house parties, but still allowed invitation-only parties in single family dwellings. However, those too are now prohibited, under penalty of account suspension or full removal from the platform.On a more positive note, Airbnb lifted a 16-person occupancy cap also instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic. That's because certain properties "from castles in Europe to vineyards in the US to large beachfront villas in the Caribbean" can easily accommodate more than 16 people, it said, adding that "properties like these thrive on hosting multi-generational family trips and larger groups."The company runs a tip line that allows neighbors or others to report parties. Airbnb noted that it saw a 44 percent drop in the rate of party reports after the ban was implemented in 2020 and it suspended the accounts of around 6,600 guests for breaking the policy last year.
There aren't many options when it comes to consumer 360 cameras these days, so when Insta360 launched its more powerful One RS modular camera back in March, I was a little disappointed with its 5.7K "360 Lens" option — it's basically on par with the Sphere, One X2, One R and the One X. Likewise with Ricoh's Theta X from earlier this year. Don't get me wrong, they all do well for their form factors (not to mention the computational improvements), but after three years or so, it's about time for a major upgrade. As it turns out, Insta360 was saving its "one more thing" for today: a "1-inch 360 Edition" One RS co-branded with Leica. As the name implies, this new kit comes with a chunkier 360 lens module powered by two 1-inch CMOS sensors, and these are capable of capturing at higher resolutions — up to 6K for 360 videos, or up to 21 megapixels for 360 photos. This should guarantee a boost in image quality, especially in low light. This also happens to be the world's first 360 camera to be "co-engineered with Leica," following the two companies' earlier collaboration on the One R's 1-inch Wide Angle Mod.Richard Lai/EngadgetUnlike the regular One RS kit (with either the new "4K Boost Lens" or the regular "360 Lens"), this "1-inch 360 Edition" uses a vertical assembly to accommodate the bigger lens module. From top to bottom: lens, core (with a touchscreen), then a vertical battery. The One RS core benefits from an upgraded processor to support onboard "FlowState Stabilization" (which is faster than the app) as well as "Active HDR" video capture for action sports. As for battery life, this whole kit is rated for up to 62 minutes of 6K@30fps video recording. The core and battery are inserted into a housing, which then clips to the lens to secure the entire device (thus enabling IPX3 water resistance, which is good enough for rain and snow). You'll still have access to the 1/4-inch standard screw mount at the bottom of the battery. To disassemble this kit (especially when you need to access the microSD slot), you'll have to first open the USB port flap on the housing, then press the two clips under the lens to detach. It's obviously best to keep the soft protection case (included) on the lens while doing so.Richard Lai/EngadgetThe Insta360 One RS "1-inch 360 Edition" is now available for $800, which is quite a jump from the $550 "Twin Edition" (which comes with a "4K Boost Lens" and a "360 Lens" instead). A company rep explained that this new kit is targeting the prosumer market, such as users who want to create virtual tours for museums or real estate properties.That said, if you already own a One RS, you can buy the same "1-inch 360 Edition" kit sans core for $650, thus saving you $150. This also applies to those who have the older One R, as this lens is backward compatible.
Luxury automakers can’t phone in an EV. Especially now as the electric vehicle market matures, it’s no longer a case that a car is a “good EV” but instead a “good car that happens to be an EV.” Cadillac seems to have gotten the message as it drops the Lyriq into an increasingly crowded luxury electric SUV field and may have delivered one of its best vehicles ever.The 2023 Lyriq is the first electric vehicle from the automaker based on GM’s Ultium battery platform. Upon that, Cadillac built a luxury EV that has the fit and finish you’d expect from the automaker combined with a polished ride and almost eerily quiet interior. Toss in over 300 miles of a range and a starting price of around $60,000 and Cadillac is ready to take on the current crop of EVs. Watch the video below for the full story.
Amazon's latest sale on Anker accessories presents a good opportunity to pick up a spare charging brick, wireless stand or portable battery for less. A smattering of devices are included in this sale, and some of the deals are one-day-only discounts while others are Prime-exclusive deals. The most urgent of the bunch are deals on the 40W Anker Nano Pro and the 30W Nano II chargers — the former is 32 percent off and down to $27 and the latter is 18 percent off and down to $28 for today only. The best news is that you don't have to be a Prime member to snatch up either of those deals.Shop Anker deals at AmazonBuy 40W Nano Pro at Amazon - $27Buy 30W Nano II at Amazon - $28The 40W Nano Pro includes two USB-C ports so you can charge two devices simultaneously. It's capable of powering up a MacBook Air at full speed, making it a good choice for those that want a compact charger that can handle both smartphones and other small mobile devices as well as their laptop. The 30W Nano II only has one USB-C port, but it can also charge a MacBook Air at full speed. Plus, it uses GaN technology for more efficient charging and better heat management.Another one-day deal knocks 23 percent off the Anker 544 wireless charging stand, bringing it down to $90. This 3-in-1 stand can charge up your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time, and it comes with its own wall adapter, too. We also like that the Apple Watch pad is built in, so you don't have to weave the charging pad that came with your Watch into the stand for it to work.As for Prime-exclusive deals, there are a couple worth checking out. Anker's PowerWave Sense 2-in-1 wireless charging stand is 30 percent off and down to $30, while a bundle with a 20W USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable is also 30 percent off and on sale for $28. The stand is similar to Anker's 533 stand that made it on our list of favorite multi-device wireless chargers in that it can power up your iPhone and your Apple Watch at once. Being a 2-in-1 device, the PowerWave accessory doesn't have a spot for your AirPods and you'll have to use your own Apple Watch charging pad with it to get the full experience. But we like that it comes with a power cable for the stand itself, plus a quick-charge wall adapter.Buy Anker 544 charging stand at Amazon - $90Buy PowerWave Sense stand (Prime exclusive) at Amazon - $30Buy 20W USB-C charging bundle (Prime exclusive) at Amazon - $28Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
HTC has introduced a new phone with metaverse-focused features, like it promised earlier this month. The HTC Desire 22 Pro supports HTC's Viverse ecosystem and will allow users to visit communities even without VR devices using their browsers. It's also compatible with the company's $499 Vive Flow VR headset and can be paired with the device if users want to explore experiences, watch movies and TV or even just access their apps in virtual reality. As Engadget Chinese notes, though, aside from its metaverse-focused offerings, the phone is firmly mid-range.The HTC Desire 22 Pro has a 6.6-inch display with a 1,080 x 2,412 pixel resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G chip, a mid-range SoC, has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The device has a 4,520 mAh battery and offers reverse wireless charging. Plus, it has a three-camera system at the back, with a 65-megapixel main, 13-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel depth-sensing cameras. For selfies, the phone has a 32-megapixel front-facing camera. A company executive said at Mobile World Congress this year that the manufacturer is gearing up to launch a new high-end device. It's not clear if the executive was talking about this particular phone, but prices for the Desire 22 Pro begin at NT$11990 or around US$404, which means it has the potential to reach a wider audience than more expensive flagship devices. The Desire 22 Pro is now available for pre-order and will start shipping on July 1st in the company's home country of Taiwan. In the UK, buyers can pre-order a unit for £399 and expect shipping to begin on August 1st. Those who also want to get a Vive Flow headset can order a discounted bundle for NT$23,490 (US$791) in Taiwan or £763 in the UK. Desire 22 pro is the phone to carry you into the future. Learn more: https://t.co/QOev17nRSQ#htcpic.twitter.com/Hrwrp5iNmw— HTC (@htc) June 28, 2022
Since its debut in 2016, Nura has built its whole brand around optimizing audio for your hearing. But that only helps so much, obviously you want the music source to be as high a quality as possible, too. Today, the company is announcing the NuraTrue Pro, a wireless TWS set that supports AptX Lossless – the highest quality Bluetooth codec to date.AptX Lossless is new enough that barely anything supports it right now. But given it’s part of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound platform, it won’t be long before most Android flagships adopt it. Apple users, on the other hand, might be waiting forever, given that there’s no support for any form of AptX or any other higher resolution audio over Bluetooth beyond the company’s implementation of AAC.Nonetheless, the NuraTrue Pro is currently in a fairly exclusive club with support for the new codec, which is capable of 16-bit/44.1Khz “CD quality” audio. Something the company hopes, in combination with its proprietary “customized” audio, will make these TWS a reference point for audio quality. This means it also supports all the other flavors of AptX (HD, Adaptive and so on), plus, of course, Apple-friendly codecs too.James Trew / EngadgetBeyond the higher-fidelity support, there are, of course, some other new features to separate these from the original NuraTrue that the company announced last summer. For starters, there’s support for spatial audio powered by Dirac, improved ANC, an upcoming “ProEQ” tool for fine-tuning audio and a claimed extra two hours of battery life – now eight hours on a single charge, up from the original’s six. The case still offers another 24 hours of charging before you’ll need to reach for that USB-C cable.Most importantly, the Pro model has a slightly modified design with a new smooth metallic material around the edge and for the logo – just so people don’t mistakenly think you’re still on last year’s model.Most everything else matches what we’d expect from a Nura headphone. That’s to say, the automatic hearing test for personalized audio is here. Performing this with the app takes about a minute and only needs to be done once. You can even export that profile to other devices if you need it, and it’s stored locally on the headphones so the benefit carries with you over to, say, your desktop PC.The same goes for “immersion mode.” In the NuraPhone over-ears this was a tactile “bass” feature through haptics, but in all the other models it’s more of a bass-boost mode. It works just fine, but can be a little overbearing at higher volumes (especially for music that’s bass-heavy in the first place). On the pre-release model Nura sent for testing, immersion mode feels a little too aggressive or needs some fine-tuning as almost anything above zero seems to distort.That’s about the only audio gripe, though. Comparing these side by side with the original NuraTrue, the difference on a standard YouTube Music stream isn’t stark, but if you add in spatial mode you can definitely feel a little more “air” in the mix, as if the sound stage is a little wider, and at no expense of volume as can sometimes be the case.James Trew / EngadgetSadly, my iPhone can’t serve up anything in delicious AptX Lossless, but the three-year-old OnePlus 7 Pro I have lying around can manage the next one down (AptX Adaptive). I must say I am generally impressed with the performance of the NuraTrue Pro. I was worried that the combination of spatial and personalization on top of new codec support might risk highlighting unwanted frequencies, especially when adding EQ on top.Instead, it seems to come together well, producing a sturdy, spacious but not overly “modified” sound. I mean, it is modified, that’s sorta Nura’s whole vibe, but it doesn’t sound so, and that’s the important thing.If you’re wondering why customized headphones would need an additional “ProEQ” feature, that’s largely down to giving users the choice. Theoretically, Nura’s hearing test should provide all the EQ you need, but of course, maybe you just prefer things a little more pronounced in the mid-range, the tool will be there for those that want it.All in all, the NuraTrue Pro should be a welcome addition to an already well-rounded line-up from Nura. Despite the company’s established product releases, the NuraTrue Pro will be launching on Kickstarter for delivery later this year. While that might be a sticking point for some, it does mean that you can bag a set for a super early bird price of $199. Regular retail price will be some way north of that at $329 (£299/359€).
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed abortion rights throughout the country. Since the draft of the opinion was leaked in early May, businesses have had time to prepare for the formal ruling. And while many tech companies have publicly discussed their strategies for supporting employees, they’ve been a lot more cagey about what the change in the law will mean for users and their data. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Vittoria Elliott, a reporter for Wired who covers tech platforms and power. Your donation powers the journalism you rely on. Give today to support Marketplace Tech.
Kyle Clark (@kyleclarkisrad of the podcast @thisisrad) is back! So many dorkdoms, so little time. He is comic, musician, artist, and the tech guy on my OTHER podcast 😊 – you will enjoy ART TALK! Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. There’s paypal links is my email and venmo is jackiekashian. Links to everything is at www.dorkforest.com or . New album -STAY-KASHIAN is out NOW. Merch: TDF tshirts, standup shirts and other CDs and just videos of my comedy. Touring Info. All the things. jackiekashian.com Premium eps of TDF are taped live and available here: https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/ Youtube has everything too. It's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Website design by Vilmos #applepodcasts #spotify #pandora #youtube #tiktok
We share what the Verge thinks about Starlink’s RV satellite internet service, examine the price premium EVs command in the US automarket, and check out all the potential new products coming out from Apple in the near future. Starring Sarah Lane, Rich Stroffolino, Roger Chang, Amos, Joe MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click hereContinue reading "EV Prices Are Shocking – DTNS 4304"
LG expanded its presence in the EV charging market by acquiring the charger developer AppleMango, GlobalWafer announces it will build a $5 billion wafer factory in Sherman, Texas, and Americans paid 22% more for EVs on the year as raw material costs soar. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of DailyContinue reading "LG Buys EV Charger Developer AppleMango – DTH"
The U.S. Supreme Court has now overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that guaranteed a constitutional right to have abortion. So now, states will determine whether people have those reproductive rights. About 26 states will likely ban or nearly ban abortion, given laws on the books or in the works. When the draft opinion of this Supreme Court decision was leaked in early May, we reported about the privacy concerns around some period-tracking apps and other online activity. Now that the official opinion is out, how will tech firms move forward in a post-Roe world? Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams posed that question to Rebecca Wexler, a law professor at University of California, Berkeley, and co-director of Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. She says big and small tech companies will need to have a response to the future of users’ data.
Your donation powers the journalism you rely on. Give today to support Marketplace Tech.
In this episode we discuss feedback on Pop!_OS, installing Linux to replace Windows, and a tutorial on the top command. Episode Time Stamps 00:00 Going Linux #426 · Listener Feedback 01:25 Adventures in Distrohopping 03:06 Reid: Comments on Ubuntu MATE and Larry's book on Ubuntu MATE 06:31 Reid: Pop!_OS mini review 18:37 Ambrose: On becoming 'Engineer Minion' 20:23 Pam: Going Linux because of concerns with Windows 27:16 Michael: The top command 32:26 goinglinux.com, goinglinux@gmail.com, +1-904-468-7889, @goinglinux, feedback, listen, subscribe 33:27 End
Roe vs. Wade, Amazon robots, Twitter Notes, Nothing Phone (1) U.S. tech industry frets about handing data to states prosecuting abortion. Meta Clamps Down on Internal Discussion of Roe v. Wade's Overturning. Google tells workers they can relocate 'without justification' following the Supreme Court decision. Big Tech is silent on data privacy in post-Roe America. For people seeking abortions, digital privacy is suddenly critical. We Need to Take Back Our Privacy. Amazon's Latest Trick: Pipe In a Dead Person's Voice Through Alexa's Speakers. No, Paris Hilton and Tom Cruise aren't dating: A TikTok video with impersonator confuses fans. Amazon announces its first fully autonomous mobile warehouse robot. A leaked Amazon memo warns the company is running out of people to hire. Elon Tells Twitter He Needs Moar Data, Twitter Gives It to Him. Elon Musk says he's worried about keeping Tesla out of bankruptcy. Elon Musk says Tesla's AI humanoid robot 'Optimus' that can walk at 5mph and deadlift 150lbs will be ready in THREE MONTHS. @Twitter: Introducing: Notes We're testing a way to write longer on Twitter. Prime Day 2022 Will Start July 12—Here's What to Expect. Google News returns to Spain and unveils redesign promoting local news and fact checks. The underbelly of tech journalism. Nothing Lives Up to Its Name, Hypes Up Nothing. For All Mankind' prop fused an Apple Newton MessagePad 120 and an iPhone 12. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Brianna Wu, Iain Thomson, and Florence Ion Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: audible.com/twit or text twit to 500-500 wealthfront.com/twit expressvpn.com/twit UserWay.org/twit
What equipment should I start with to do live video streams? Is it a problem if someone is using my YouTube TV service (knowingly) in a different location constantly? Issues with Adobe Premiere after a Windows 10 update and what could be causing that problem. How to verify an email account with an old phone number? WiFi or ethernet connection for streaming video content? Is there any potential problem accepting random friend requests on Facebook? Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid, Chris Marquardt, Rod Pyle, and Dick DeBartolo on a rare Sunday appearance. Netflix to add a lower-cost ad-supported tier. Amazon is developing a feature to synthesize a person's voice through short audio clips to put in deceased relatives into your Amazon Echo? Average U.S internet household uses a record average of 6 over-the-top streaming services. What equipment should I get to start doing video livestreams? Sam Abuelsamid and the Ford Driving Dynamic Lab. YouTube TV & managing locations. A Windows 10 update is causing issues with Adobe Premiere. Is it worth updating to Windows 11 from Windows 10 currently? What can a caller do to verify a Yahoo email account through a phone number they no longer use? Chris Marquardt and used film cameras. Should you have an ethernet connection for streaming video content, or is WiFi sufficient enough? Suggested email services for easy use. Is there a hazard to accepting a plethora of random Facebook friend requests? Rod Pyle and the Jovian Vortex Hunter program & the 5-planet planetary alignment! Dick DeBartolo and the Kodak Reelz Digitizer Converter. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid, Chris Marquardt, Rod Pyle, and Dick DeBartolo Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1906 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsors: wealthfront.com/techguy cachefly.com
Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Spritz Society
Spotify has a brand new original topping its podcast chart, but it would probably prefer if you didn’t know about it. Last week, Spotify launched a new pop culture show, Breaking Bread, on Spotify Live. Breaking Bread’s recordings now rank at number 11 on Spotify’s top podcast chart after holding the number two spot for most of the week, putting it just behind Joe Rogan. The show’s popularity — and the reason the company might be staying quiet about its new hit — is due to its two hosts: Jackie Oshry Weinreb and Claudia Oshry (aka Instagram’s girlwithnojob), who come with a huge built-in audience. While the sisters have delivered their massive fanbase to the app, they have a controversial history that could be problematic for Spotify at a time when the company is being extra cautious. The sisters had a short-lived show in 2018 on Oath, Verizon’s now-defunct media brand, that was canceled after The Daily Beast reported that their mom is notorious conspiracy theorist and anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller and that the sisters had both previously posted racist and anti-Muslim statements on social media. The sisters apologized, deleted their Twitter accounts, and relaunched with The Morning Toast as an independent podcast. Some fans have been uncomfortable with their unwillingness to disavow their mother’s activities, but their audience is undeniable. The Oshry sisters have more than 3.5 million Instagram followers between them, their flagship podcast currently ranks in the top 100 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and they maintain what appears to be a robust Patreon base (the stats are now private, but as of 2019, they had more than 9,000 subscribers). The Oshry sisters did not respond to a request for comment. But if the Oshry sisters are controversial, you wouldn’t know it from their show. The Morning Toast is mostly run-of-the-mill pop culture fare, and Breaking Bread is much of the same: Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe dress, Hailey Bieber’s skincare line, Britney Spears’ wedding. The Spotify Live platform also allows fans to participate in the show, asking for advice on light topics like puppy training and bachelorette woes. Following the model of other Spotify Live shows like After Hours with Alex Cooper and Dating Harry Jowsey, the original show takes place on the Live app and is posted as a podcast on Spotify later. Unlike those shows, Breaking Bread received no promotion from Spotify. The company did not issue a press release about the show and did not push it on any of its social channels. The only promotion seems to have come from the Oshrys themselves on their social accounts and podcast. That may have something to do with the backlash Spotify has received for its nine-figure deal with controversy machine Joe Rogan. Rogan has the undisputed biggest podcast in the world, and as Spotify grows its podcasting might, the company needs him. But Spotify’s unfailing support for Rogan has caused some reputational, if not monetary, damage. Spotify declined to comment on why they chose to partner with the Oshry sisters or whether their past has anything to do with the lack of promotion for the show, but with the way the company has approached Breaking Bread, it seems to be going for the Oshrys’ substantial fanbase without the baggage. Even if Breaking Bread itself is inoffensive, it is debuting at a time when Spotify is being particularly careful. Last week, the company announced a Safety Advisory Council to assist in its content moderation policies (a move Geller called “a government sponsored internal coup”) and cut a new deal with Integral Ad Science to firm up its brand safety analytics for advertisers. But the company also is trying to boost its social audio app Spotify Live (previously branded Spotify Greenroom) at a time when social audio is flailing, and Breaking Bread may be its biggest hit yet. If the Oshrys continue to deliver numbers, the show will be hard for the company to ignore.
Privacy considerations for personal email domains. Choosing the perfect Apple Watch model for a birthday gift. Understanding QD-OLED and deciding which TV brand to choose. Praise for the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Using Windows on an M1 Mac Studio Ultra. Finding a budget laptop for page design, email, and layout. Using an Android phone to set up an Apple Watch. Troubleshooting poor internet speeds with an ethernet-based network. Finding a TV with built-in Bluetooth output and doing something about those loud commercials on Hulu. Plus, conversations with Johnny Jet and Scott Wilkinson. Italy's data watchdog latest to warn over use of Google Analytics | TechCrunch Google: Garante privacy stop all'uso degli Analytics. Dati trasferiti... - Garante Privacy Opinion | We Need to Take Back Our Privacy - The New York Times U.S. tech industry frets about handing data to states prosecuting abortion | Reuters hip-dac2 by iFi audio - Our portable USB dac/amp. Listen to Spotify, Tidal on the move. FiiO Q3 Headphone Amplifier High Resolution DSD512 | 768K/32Bit AK4462DAC with THX AAA amp Technology for Mobile Phone & PC with (2.5/3.5/4.4mm) Output - Newegg.com Apple Watch Series 7 GPS + Cellular, 45mm Midnight Aluminium Case with Oat Milk/Lemon Zest Sport Loop - Apple Making Singing Easier | VocalMist Portable Nebulizer LCD vs. LED vs. Mini LED vs. OLED: A quick guide | Ars Technica Four-Station Las Vegas Rollout Of ATSC 3.0 Marks Biggest Bet Yet For New Tech Standard Airplane Geeks Podcast - The weekly podcast that explores and expands your passion for aviation. 12 Things in Travel You Need to Know Today - JohnnyJet.com How clean is the air on planes? Aranet - Smarter Than Others (PDF) The on-board carbon dioxide concentrations and ventilation performance in passenger cabins of US domestic flights The Mars Express spacecraft is finally getting a Windows 98 upgrade - The Verge Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac Supports Both M1 and Intel Chips Layout design and desktop publishing software | Adobe InDesign Adobe PageMaker - Wikipedia Dell XPS 15 Laptop | Dell USA ASUS USA Acer Aspire 5 | Windows Laptop | Acer United States Google Pixel Watch - Google Store Galaxy Watch4 Classic Smartwatch | Samsung US Smart Watches - Fossil VIZIO M-Series Quantum - 50 to 65 inch Smart 4K TVs | VIZIO Loud Commercials | Federal Communications Commission Sennheiser RS 2000 - Wireless TV Earphone Headphone Stereo Roku TV | What Is Roku TV? | Roku Hulu Support on Twitter: "Ads too loud? Learn about how YOU can help improve @hulu's Ad Volume Normalization here: http://hu.ly/xc3zR Thanks for your feedback! #hulu" / Twitter Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Scott Wilkinson and Johnny Jet Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1905 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsors: meraki.cisco.com/twit go.acronis.com/techguy
Meta has told employees not to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to The New York Times. Pointing to a May 12th memo it shared after a draft of Friday’s decision was leaked by Politico, the company has deleted messages on its internal communication tools that mention the topic. In the document, the social media giant reportedly said it “would not allow open discussion” about abortion within the workplace due to “a heightened risk of creating a hostile work environment.”One employee took to LinkedIn to voice their frustration with the situation. “On our internal Workplace platform, moderators swiftly remove posts or comments mentioning abortion,” said software engineer Ambroos Vaes. “Limited discussion can only happen in groups of up to 20 employees who follow a set playbook, but not out in the open.” Meta did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.On Friday, Meta also told employees it would reimburse the travel expenses of employees in need of access to out-of-state healthcare and reproductive services “to the extent permitted by law.” That’s a policy many tech companies, including Google, had in place before Friday’s decision and that they reiterated after the Supreme Court announced its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.Friday’s action wasn’t the first time Meta moved to prevent its employees from dicussing a contentious topic at the workplace. The company updated its Respectful Communication Policy following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. At the time, the company told employees they could no longer discuss political and social issues in company-wide Workplace channels.
FromSoftware fans may not have to wait years before they get the chance to play the company’s next game. In a recent Japanese-language interview translated by Gematsu, Elden Ring director and From president Hidetaka Miyazaki said his studio’s next game is in “the final stages” of development. Miyazaki shared the tidbit in response to a question about a previous interview he gave in 2018.New interview with FROM Software's Hidetaka Miyazaki- an unannounced project is in the final stages of development- Miyazaki intends to continue to focus on directing games and is already working on his next game- ER will receive more updateshttps://t.co/x07L4qlCpqpic.twitter.com/mUUmbSlNMS— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 24, 2022At the time, he told 4Gamer.net that FromSoftware was working on “three-and-a-half games.” Since then, the studio has released all but one of those projects. In 2018, we got Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and PSVR exclusive Déraciné. This year, From came out with Elden Ring, leaving only one of the projects Miyazaki mentioned in 2018 unaccounted for. "Development is currently in the final stages," he told 4Gamer.net this week when asked about the state of that game.Miyazaki didn’t go on to share any other details on the project. However, some fans, citing a Resetera leak from January, have speculated the unannounced game could be a new entry in From’s long-running Armored Core series. The studio hasn't released a new mainline entry in the franchise since 2012. In the same interview, Miyazaki also said he was already working on his next game as director, and that he would like to create a "more abstract fantasy" title in the future.
Google will allow employees to move between states in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In an email obtained by The Verge, the company’s chief people officer, Fiona Cicconi, said workers could “apply for relocation without justification,” and that those managing the requests would be “aware of the situation.” Cicconi also reminded workers Google’s employee benefits plan covers medical procedures that aren’t available in the state where they live and work.“This is a profound change for the country that deeply affects so many of us, especially women. Everyone will respond in their own way, whether that’s wanting space and time to process, speaking up, volunteering outside of work, not wanting to discuss it at all, or something else entirely,” Cicconi says in the email. “Everyone will respond in their own way, whether that’s wanting space and time to process, speaking up, volunteering outside of work, not wanting to discuss it at all, or something else entirely.”The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as part of its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. According to an analysis published by The New York Times in May, as many as 28 states could either ban or severely restrict access to abortions in the days and weeks ahead. Some states like Texas had so-called trigger laws in place that went into effect immediately following Friday’s decision.The effects of such a monumental shift in American politics have been felt across tech. Mere hours after the Supreme Court announced its decision, Flo, one of the most widely used period tracking apps, said it would introduce a new “anonymous mode” in response to privacy concerns following the ruling. Some companies like Meta have also reportedly told employees not to openly discuss the ruling.Update 4:57PM ET: Google confirmed the authenticity of the email and told Engadget it has not changed its reallocation policy since the Supreme Court's ruling.
On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, recorded on location at Amazon re:MARS in Las Vegas, we sit down with Tye Brady, Amazon Robotics chief technologist, to talk about the company's new warehouse robots. Then we jump on the line to reconnect with recent GeekWire Podcast guest Philip Su, a former Microsoft and Facebook software engineering leader who worked the peak season last year inside an Amazon warehouse, to get his take after he watched the keynote. Hear more about Philip Su's experience in his 15-episode podcast series, Peak Salvation, and in our prior GeekWire Podcast conversation, published June 11. Watch Amazon Robotics chief technologist Ty Brady's re:MARS keynote here, and see our earlier coverage of Amazon's new robots, including videos of them in action.
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All the big photography news for the month of June 2022 in under ten minutes. This episode: Adobe announces photographer-centric updates, is there life left for APS-C cameras, and a new film stock hits the market. Hosted by Rich Stroffolino and Anthony Lemos MP3 Download Follow us on Twitter Instgram YouTube and Twitch Please SUBSCRIBEContinue reading "Names Are Hard, Apparently – Photography News Monthly 5"
Apple will reportedly not challenge the recent vote by employees at its Towson Town Center retail location in Maryland to unionize. Citing a “person familiar with the company’s plans,” Reuters reports the tech giant will participate in the bargaining process “in good faith.” Apple declined to comment on the report.On June 19th, workers at the Towson Town Center Apple Store voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Of the approximately 110 employees who were eligible to participate in the election, 65 voted yes. Towson Town Center was the first Apple retail location in the US to vote on unionization after organizers at a store in Georgia called off an election over intimidation claims.If the reporting from Reuters is accurate and Apple does not plan to challenge the Towson vote, the company’s approach would put it at odds with much of corporate America. Amazon, for instance, quickly came out against the historic vote at its JFK8 facility in Staten Island, saying it would appeal the result over allegations the Amazon Labor Union had intimidated workers and committed “electioneering.” Even if their appeals are ultimately thrown out, companies will typically challenge union votes as a way to delay the bargaining process and pour water on other organizing efforts.
A group of Democratic senators is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Apple and Google over their collection of mobile users' information. In a letter addressed to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the lawmakers — Senators Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, Cory A. Booker and Sara Jacobs — accuse the tech giants of "engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling the collection and sale of hundreds of millions of mobile phone users' personal data." They added that the companies "facilitated these harmful practices by building advertising-specific tracking IDs into their mobile operating systems."The senators specifically mentioned in their letter how individuals seeking abortions will become particularly vulnerable if their data, especially their location information, is collected and shared. They wrote the letter shortly before the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, making abortion immediately illegal in states with trigger laws. They explained that data brokers are already selling location information of people visiting abortion providers. The senators also stressed how that information can now be used by private citizens incentivized by "bounty hunter" laws targeting individuals seeking an abortion. Android and Google were built with tracking identifiers that are used for advertising purposes. While the identifiers are supposed to be anonymous, the senators said data brokers are selling databases linking them to consumer names, email addresses and telephone numbers. Apple rolled out an update for iOS last year to implement stricter app tracking privacy measures, requiring apps to ask for permission before collecting users' unique Identification for Advertisers device code. Google, they said, still enables that tracking identifier by default. The company previously introduced features to make it harder to track users across apps, though, and it recently vowed to refine Privacy Sandbox on Android, "with the goal of introducing new, more private advertising solutions." The tech giant told Ars Technica: "Google never sells user data, and Google Play strictly prohibits the sale of user data by developers... Any claims that advertising ID was created to facilitate data sale are simply false."Despite the solutions the companies had introduced, the lawmakers said they'd already caused harm. They're now asking the FTC to look into the role Apple and Google played in "transforming online advertising into an intense system of surveillance that incentivizes and facilitates the unrestrained collection and constant sale of Americans’ personal data."Wyden and 41 other Democratic lawmakers also urged Google last month to stop collecting and keeping location data that could be used against people who've had or are seeking abortions. More recently, another group of lawmakers led by Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Elissa Slotkin asked the company to "crack down on manipulative search results" that lead people seeking abortions to anti-abortion clinics" instead.
Does the crypto crash mean the blockchain Is over?Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics RadioIn this installment of Recommended Listening, Freakonomics Radio begins a three-part series on all things blockchain. The podcast will tackle everything from Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to NFTs and the technology that powers it all. Spotify’s billion-dollar bet on podcasting has yet to pay offLucas Shaw, BloombergShaw takes us inside Spotify's big spending spree, from what was happening behind the scenes, the decision to hand Joe Rogan a mountain of money and a rift between the company and the Obamas over content. "All told, the Obamas recorded about 15 hours of audio for Spotify," he explains. "Technically, they fulfilled their deal, but their output was less than what Rogan releases in a couple of weeks."How OXO conquered the American kitchenDan Kois, SlateThe story behind the company that created the Good Grips handle and took over the kitchen "for customers of differing abilities and confidence levels," becoming the top culinary gadget maker in terms of market share.
Juul has successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to delay the Food and Drug Administration's ban on its products. The agency recently banned Juul from selling and distributing its e-cigarette pens and pods in the US after a comprehensive two-year review. It ordered the company to remove its products from the market and has even started telling retailers from pull them from shelves. This temporary reprieve will allow Juul to keep selling its vape pens and pods — and will allow retailers to keep carrying them without the fear of facing penalties — while the court reviews its appeal on the FDA's decision. In its request for an emergency stay, Juul called the FDA ban "arbitrary and capricious." It also said that the agency issued the ruling after "immense political pressure from Congress," because it became politically convenient for them to blame Juul for the popularity of vaping among young people, "even though several of its competitors now have a larger market share and much higher underage-use rates." Despite Juul's accusation, the FDA didn't mention youth vaping in its decision. Instead, the agency said it was banning the company's products, because it didn't submit sufficient evidence proving that potentially harmful chemicals don't leach from its proprietary pods into the vapor that users inhale. The agency explained: "...some of the company's study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data – including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the company's proprietary e-liquid pods – that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the company's applications."Juul, of course, disagreed that it hasn't provided sufficient information and data to the agency. In a statement it sent to Engadget, the company said: "In our applications, which we submitted over two years ago, we believe that we appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of Juul products, including comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other vapor products, and believe this data, along with the totality of the evidence, meets the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health."Juul has a long history of butting heads with the FDA, particularly over underage vaping. Its fruit-flavored vape products were once pretty popular among young people until it suspended their sales and stuck to selling menthol and tobacco-flavored pods. Juul also faced a Federal Trade Commission and a House investigation into whether its marketing efforts targeted teens. Things have changed over the past few years: According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most high school students that use e-cigarettes now favor Puff Bar over any other brand. According to The New York Times, the court gave Juul until Monday to file an additional motion. The FDA will then have until July 7th to respond to that. It still remains to be seen whether Juul will be able to continue selling its vaping pens and pods in the US throughout the course of its appeal. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Juul has started exploring its options if it fails to reverse the ban completely, including filing for bankruptcy.
Beyond the password, Cybersecurity summer camps, Private 5G Google Warns of New Spyware Targeting iOS and Android Users Researchers Say Only 3% of Open Source Software Bugs Are Actually Attackable VPNs Persist Despite Zero-Trust Fervor NSA Is Funding Summer Camps to Teach Kids to Be Cyber Pros Evolving Beyond the Password 5G host roundtable! Hosts: Louis Maresca, Brian Chee, and Curt Franklin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-enterprise-tech. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: plextrac.com/twit hover.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
Pinterest must now face a lawsuit from a former friend of one of its founders who claims she helped create the platform. Bloombergreported that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Seabolt on Thursday denied the company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Christine Martinez, the plaintiff, claims she was asked by co-founder Ben Silbermann to help revive the app. The digital market strategist claims to have developed features tied to Pinterest’s Boards and created a marketing plan to enlist bloggers to promote the platform, among other contributions. Martinez filed a lawsuit against the company in September, and Pinterest filed the motion to dismiss in December. The company argued that Martinez’s claims are too old to fall within the statute of limitations. Seabolt disagreed with this and said Martinez “sufficiently alleges” that she and the Pinterest founders agreed to deferred compensation. Pinterest went public in 2019, an event that Seabolt deemed “transformative” and in his view sealed the company's obligation to pay Martinez.In a statement to Engadget, Pinterest's chief communications officer LeMia Jenkins Thompson noted that the court dismissed several of Martinez's claims. Thompson also stated that, "as the facts come out, we are confident the evidence will confirm that Plaintiff’s claims are meritless and that the rest of this baseless lawsuit should be dismissed." According to the New York Times, Martinez was never formally employed at nor did she ever sign a written contract with the San Francisco-based company. Instead, Martinez argues that the agreement was implied, based on her discussions with Sciarra and Silbermann.Martinez, who is a former lifestyle blogger and founder of an eccomerce startup, told the Times she was eager to help friends. “[...The Pinterest co-founders] had no marketing background or expertise in creating a product for women.”
We had a whole bunch of one-liners in this episode that I could've used for the title, but most of them were R-rated and even though our show seems to be designed with the 'E,' I'm trying to help the Android Police podcast go up in the rankings. Just a bit. 3:35 | Ara dishes on Chrome and Google Assistant reminders https://www.androidpolice.com/chrome-os-103-features-ecosystem/ (ChromeOS 103 is all about bringing Chromebooks and Android phones closer together) https://www.androidpolice.com/google-calendar-tasks-assistant-reminders-apk-teardown/ (Google might be shaking up its approach to reminders on Android, starting with Calendar)
18:54 | Will drives home his hatred of the Google Assistant driving experience https://www.androidpolice.com/google-kills-android-auto-for-phone-screens/ (Google kicks off the summer driving season by killing Android Auto for phone screens)
31:46 | Daniel figures someone has to be talking about new phones this week... might as well be him. https://www.androidpolice.com/pixel-7-pro-prototype-tensor-display-leak/ (Dive deep with new Tensor and display details from yet another Pixel 7 Pro prototype) https://www.androidpolice.com/nothing-phone-1-north-america-launch-availability/ (The most interesting Android phone of 2022 won't be sold in the US)
Find the team on Twitter - https://twitter.com/journeydan (@journeydan) https://twitter.com/arawagco (@AraWagco) https://twitter.com/will_sattelberg (@Will_Sattelberg) https://twitter.com/pointjules (@PointJules) Reach out to us - podcast@androidpolice.com Music - "https://home96.bandcamp.com/track/18 (18)" and "https://home96.bandcamp.com/track/34 (34)" by https://home96.bandcamp.com/ (HOME) licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (CC BY 3.0)
Former Indy Racing League competitor Sam Schmidt is continuing to break new ground for accessible driving technology. The Arrow McLaren SP team co-owner has completed the signature hill climb at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed using head movements and his breath to steer — the first time anyone has demonstrated the feature at the UK event. Schmidt drove a McLaren 720S Spider modified by Arrow Electronics to track his head using infrared cameras. He controlled acceleration and braking by inhaling and exhaling through a "sip-and-puff" device. The racer also wore a semi-autonomous exoskeleton concept, the SAM Suit, that helps him walk.Schmidt became quadriplegic in 2000 when he injured his spinal cord in a practice lap crash. He has long been an advocate for paralysis treatment, and in 2014 partnered with Arrow to drive a Corvette using a combination of head tracking, sip-and-puff and voice controls. In 2016, became the first American with a license to use an autonomous vehicle on highways, using a Corvette to drive in Nevada.While alternative mobility solutions can return some level of autonomy to those no longer able to operate a vehicle for one reason or another, it's not entirely clear what role Arrow's technology might play in the future. We've reached out to the company for details on where it sees projects like the SAM heading. Arrow will also be racing against self-driving tech, which is becoming closer to a practical reality, with Level 3 autonomy already reaching public roads. With that said, completely driverless cars (Level 5 autonomy) will take years to arrive.Update 6/24/22 7:27pm ET: Reached for comment, an Arrow spokesperson told Engadget that while SAM "is not precisely open source" the tech may be "available for future development if Arrow approves."
On today's This Week in Space we'll be chatting you up about the massive flood of friendly emails we've received. We'll address questions, comments... and even some observations on what we can do to further please you, our valued listeners! Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Nothing Phone 1 pre-orders start today, scientists at Imperial College London developed a machine learning algorithm to aid diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos explained at the Cannes Lions advertising festival why Netflix’s future includes ads contrary to the company’s previous stance. Starring Tom Merritt, Lamarr Wilson, Dr. Nicole Ackermans, Roger Chang, Joe,Continue reading "Does AI Stand For Alzheimer’s Identification? – DTNS 4303"
Flo, one of the most widely used period tracking apps, says it intends to launch a new "anonymous mode" in an effort to address privacy concerns in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “We will soon be launching an ‘Anonymous Mode’ that removes your personal identity from your Flo account, so that no one can identify you,” the company said in a statement shared on Twitter. It’s not clear how this will work or when it might launch. We’ve reached out to Flo for more details on "anonymous mode."Period tracking apps have come under particular scrutiny ever since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked last month. Privacy advocates and legal experts have warned that data collected by period tracking apps, which is often shared with other entities, could be used to fuel investigations into people seeking abortion services. News of the Supreme Court’s decision led to renewed calls on social media for people to delete period tracking apps from their phones and remove their personal details from the services.You deserve the right to protect your data. pic.twitter.com/uA5HLHItCY— Flo Period Tracker (@flotracker) June 24, 2022Notably, Flo itself has a messy history when it comes to protecting users’ privacy. The app came under fire in 2019 after The Wall Street Journal reported the app was sharing users’ sensitive information, including details about their menstrual cycles and if they were trying to get pregnant, with Facebook, Google and other third-parties.The company reached a settlement with the FTC in 2021 over allegations it misled users about how their data was handled. Flo said at the time that the settlement “was not an admission of any wrongdoing.” The company said in an update in May that it had “successfully completed” an independent privacy audit that was a requirement of the settlement.
Sky Mavis, the developer of blockchain game Axie Infinity, says it will start reimbursing the victims of a $617 million hack that took place earlier this year. The attackers took $25.5 million in USDC (a stablecoin that’s pegged to the value of the US dollar) and 173,600 ether, which was worth around $591.2 million at the time. The FBI claimed North Korean state-backed hacker groups were behind the attack.Impacted Axie Infinity players will be able to withdraw one ether token for each one they lost in the hack, Sky Mavis told Bloomberg (the company didn't mention a USDC reimbursement). However, as with other cryptocurrencies, the value of Ethereum has plummeted since the attack in March. Because of that, Sky Mavis will return around $216.5 million to users. It's possible that the price of Ethereum will rise again, but as things stand, affected users will get back around a third of what they lost.In April, Sky Mavis raised $150 million in funding to help it pay back the victims. The developer plans to reimburse affected users on June 28th, when it restarts the Ronin software bridge that the hackers targeted. Axie Infinity is widely considered the most popular play-to-earn game. Players collect and mint NFTs representing creatures that battle each other, Pokémon-style. These NFTs can be sold to other players, with Sky Mavis charging a transaction fee. By February, Axie Infinity had facilitated $4 billion in NFT sales.However, the NFT market has all but bottomed out, which has had a significant impact on Axie Infinity. For one thing, according to Bloomberg, the daily active user count dropped from 2.7 million in November to a quarter of that by the end of May.
Expect an Apple Music student plan to add slightly more to your college debt. As developer Michael Burkhardt and 9to5Mac have noticed, Apple has quietly raised the price of Music's student discount from $5 per month to $6 in the US and Canada, and from £5 to £6 in the UK. It's not clear exactly when or why the change occurred (we've asked Apple for comment), but it appears to have occurred within the past two days.The student tier was introduced in 2016 and offers the full functionality of Apple Music to those who qualify, just at a more affordable price. You currently get Apple TV+ as a bonus, but this is a "limited-time offer" that could vanish at any moment. In May, Apple hiked prices in countries like India, New Zealand and South Africa.The increase makes Apple Music a tougher sell. Spotify Student Premium is still priced at $5 per month in the US as of this writing, and it includes Hulu's ad-supported plan as well as Showtime. While there are still some reasons to pick Apple Music over rivals (such as tighter integration with Apple hardware), it might not be so enticing if you're trying to wring every last drop of value out of your subscriptions.
Think the computers at your office are overdue for an update? They probably don't compare to one of the European Space Agency's best-known spacecraft. The ESA is upgrading its Mars Express orbiter's MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ioniospheric Sounding) software 19 years after its June 2003 launch. For context, the original code was created using a toolset built for Windows 98 — there are computers in museums that are newer than Microsoft's OS.The update promises to dramatically improve the Mars Express craft's efficiency. The initial approach gathered large amounts of high-resolution data that quickly swamped memory. With the new software, scientists can toss out unnecessary data. This lets MARSIS run for five times longer than before, and cover much wider swaths of Mars and Phobos in a given pass.The improvement should help explore the subsurface levels of Mars and Phobos in much greater detail. Researchers hope the extra resolution will let them quickly confirm signals hinting at liquid water near Mars' south pole. In effect, the MARSIS revamp will make sure Mars Express can continue its mission. Mars Express is most famous for discovering previous signs of liquid water on the Red Planet, but it's also known for capturing dramatic visuals of the martian landscape. While it won't necessarily make similar headlines as a result of the update, it should remain relevant where it might have become obsolete.
Tom finds the shine in a new car color and Molly finds a new fashion thing on top. Then Tom has the latest language hotness, while Molly finds the bidet of menstruation.LINKS:Gray carsBussinBra TopsMentrual Cups See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Italy’s data protection authority rules that Google Analytics doesn’t comply with EU data transfer rules to the US, the startup OSAM is making the web3-focused Solana Saga phone, and Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s mixed reality headset is coming in January 2023. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech HeadlinesContinue reading "Italy Rules Google Analytics Violates EU Data Transfer Rules – DTH"
Juul has asked a federal appeals court to temporarily block a Food and Drug Administration ban on sales of its vaping products in the US. The agency issued the order on Thursday, citing a lack of sufficient evidence provided by the company to show its devices are safe. The FDA acknowledged that it wasn't aware of "an immediate hazard" linked to Juul's vape pen or pods.“FDA’s decision is arbitrary and capricious and lacks substantial evidence,” Juul said in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company called the ban extraordinary and unlawful. It requested an administrative stay until it can file a motion for an emergency review of the FDA’s order.Juul claimed that, without the stay, it would suffer significant and irreparable harm. The company makes the lion's share of its revenue in the US. If the stay is granted, Juul and retailers will be able to keep selling its products there. The company argued in the filing that the order marked a move away from the FDA's typical practices, which allow for a transition period. "We respectfully disagree with the FDA’s findings and decision and continue to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency," Juul's chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo told Engadget after the FDA issued the order. "In our applications, which we submitted over two years ago, we believe that we appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of JUUL products, including comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other vapor products, and believe this data, along with the totality of the evidence, meets the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health."Murillo said Juul was exploring all of its options in the wake of the ruling. Among those, according to the Journal, is a possible bankruptcy filing if the company is unable to secure a stay or successfully appeal the ban.In 2020, the FDA required makers of e-cigarettes to submit their products for review. It looked at the possible benefits of vaping as an alternative to cigarettes for adult smokers. It was weighing those up against concerns about the popularity of vaping among young people. The agency has authorized 23 "electronic nicotine delivery systems," including products from NJOY and Vuse parent Reynolds American.The FDA slammed Juul in 2019 for telling students that its products are "totally safe." The Federal Trade Commission and state attorney generals have investigated Juul over claims it marketed its vape pens to underage users. In the last year, the company has agreed to pay at least $87 million to settle lawsuits in several states — including North Carolina, Washington state and Arizona — which alleged that it targeted young people with its marketing. It has faced similar suits in other states.Update 6/24 12:51PM ET: Added a note about the possible bankruptcy filing.
We may be a few weeks out from Amazon Prime Day, but early deals are already starting to roll in. If you're in need of a new smart TV, Amazon has discounted a bunch of Fire TVs and Prime members can pick up a 55-inch Omni Series set for only $300. Elsewhere, Apple's second-generation AirPods are back on sale for $100, Sony's new Linkbuds S received their first discount and Samsung's latest Discover sales event has slashed prices of appliances, wearables and storage gadgets. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.AirPods (2nd gen)Chris Velazco / EngadgetThe second-generation AirPods are down to $100 right now, or 37 percent off their original price. While they don't have all the bells and whistles of the new, third-gen models, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.Buy AirPods (2nd gen) at Amazon - $100Mac Mini M1EngadgetApple's Mac Mini M1 has returned to a record-low price of $570. It's the most affordable M1 machine you can get and we like its sleek design and good array of ports.Buy Mac Mini M1 (256GB) at Amazon - $570Apple Watch SECherlynn Low / EngadgetThe 44mm blue Apple Watch SE has dropped to a new low of $209 at Walmart. This is a great deal on the already affordable smartwatch and we gave it a score of 88 for its solid performance, comfortable design and handy watchOS features.Buy Apple Watch SE (44mm, blue) at Walmart - $209MacBook Air M1Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe MacBook Air M1 is $100 off and down to $899. We gave the laptop a score of 94 for its blazing fast performance, excellent battery life and lack of fan noise.Buy MacBook Air M1 at Amazon - $899Amazon Fire TV salesAmazonDozens of Amazon Fire TVs are on sale ahead of Prime Day, including the new Omni Series sets. The Omni 4K smart TVs came out last September and they support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Digital Plus, and the larger TVs in the range also support Dolby Vision. Prime members can pick up the 55-inch model for only $300, while anyone can get up to 40 percent off the other sizes.Shop Amazon Fire TV salesSamsung Discover salesCherlynn Low / EngadgetSamsung's latest Discover sales event is ongoing through June 26th. Everything from appliances to smartphones to TVs have been discounted, and some of the best promotions include free storage upgrades on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and a free Galaxy S22 smartphone when you buy certain Samsung Neo QLED 8K smart TVs.Shop Samsung Discover dealsRazer Kishi controllerRazerRazer's Kishi controller for iOS devices is $45 off right now and down to a new low of $55. It's a good accessory to have if you like to play games on the go. It has a wired connection, which means lower latency than Bluetooth controllers, plus an ergonomic design and a USB-C port for passthrough charging.Buy Razer Kishi (iOS) at Amazon - $55Sony Linkbuds SSonySony's new Linkbuds S are 11 percent off and down to $178. This is their first real discount since launching earlier this year, and they have a small, IPX4 rated design, decent ANC and Auto Play support.Buy Sony Linkbuds S at Amazon - $178Crucial MX500 SSD (4TB)We've long been fans of Crucial's MX500 internal drive and now you can pick up the big one with 4TB of space for $320. That's 11 percent off and the best price we've seen. We like this drive for its standard design, solid read and write speeds and integrated power loss immunity feature.Buy Crucial MX500 (4TB) at Amazon - $320Samsung T7 SSD (1TB)SamsungSamsung's T7 SSD in 1TB is on sale for $115 right now, or only $5 more than its all-time-low price. We like this portable drive for its compact, shock-resistant body, fast read and write speeds and its multi-device compatibility.Buy Samsung T7 (1TB) at Amazon - $115Buy T7 SSD (1TB) at Samsung - $115Amazon Luna game controllerAmazonPrime members can get the Luna game controller for only $40, which is $10 cheaper than its previous all-time low. It's designed to be used with Prime Gaming and Amazon's cloud gaming service, which costs $10 per month, but you can use Bluetooth or USB to connect it to Windows, Mac and Android devices to play other titles, too.Buy Luna controller (Prime exclusive) at Amazon - $40Nintendo eShop Super SaleErik McLean on UnsplashThrough July 6th, you can get up to 60 percent off Nintendo Switch games if you buy them through the eShop. Some of the titles on sale include Super Mario Odyssey for $42, Skyrim for $30, Pikmin 3 Deluxe for $42 and Just Dance 2022 for $20.Shop Nintendo eShop Super SaleSteam Summer SaleEngadgetSteam's summer sale runs through July 7th and knocks up to 90 percent off titles. Some of the standout games you'll find in this sale include Hollow Knight, Forza Horizon 5, No Man's Sky and God of War.Shop Steam Summer SaleNew tech dealsArlo Pro 4 security camerasWellbots has knocked up to $90 off Arlo Pro 4 security camera bundles. You can get a three-camera kit for $550 with the code ARLO90, a two-camera bundle for $380 with the code ARLO70 or a one-camera set for $200 with the code ARLO25.Shop Arlo Pro 4 sets at WellbotsSony SRS-XB13 portable speakerSony's tiny SRS-XB13 is 20 percent off and down to only $48. Not only does it come in a bunch of fun colors, but this compact Bluetooth speaker also has a waterproof IP67 rated design, punchy bass and a 16-hour battery life.Buy Sony SRS-XB13 at Amazon - $48Kindle Paperwhite (2018)The previous edition of the Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $70 right now, or nearly half off its normal price. We gave this model a score of 95 for its improved, waterproof design, higher-contrast display and Audible support.Buy Kindle Paperwhite (2018) at Amazon - $70Satechi summer saleSatechi's summer sale knocks up to 75 percent off accessories, so you can grab discounted docks, hubs, chargers and more for less through June 30th. Some standout deals include the iMac USB-C monitor stand and hub for $50 and the USB-C mobile pro hub for $30.Shop Satechi summer saleFollow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Netflix continues to lock down plans to offer ad-supported service. As The Hollywood Reporternotes, company co-chief Ted Sarandos confirmed to guests at the Cannes Lions festival that Netflix is adding an ad-backed tier with a lower price. He stressed that the option wouldn't bring ads to Netflix "as you know it today" — as with rivals like Peacock, you'll still have the option to avoid marketing altogether. This is just for people who "don't mind advertising," he said.Sarandos didn't share further details. However, The Wall Street Journalsources recently claimed Google and NBCUniversal are the "top contenders" to help Netflix build the ads-included plan. Either would likely have an exclusive arrangement to serve and (at least in NBCU's case) sell ads. Roku has also had early discussions, according to tipsters. Industry executives talking to Netflix supposedly haven't learned specifics, such as the amount of ads you'll see each hour or whether there will be ad targeting. We've asked Netflix for comment.The future option is an acknowledgment that Netflix left a large group of customers "off the table," according to Sarandos. The company lost subscribers for the first time in a decade this past quarter, and it's eager to return to growth quickly. An ad-supported plan could help with that goal by drawing in customers put off by Netflix's regular pricing.Update 6/24 11:25AM ET: A Netflix spokesperson told Engadget that the company was "still in the early days" of developing the ad-based tier, and hadn't nailed down its approach. It's all "speculation" at present, the representative added. You can read the full statement below."We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad supported option and no decisions have been made. So this is all just speculation at this point."
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. On today’s episode, Nilay and Alex chat with Verge senior reviewer Monica Chin about her review of Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip. Though the chassis is still the same as the previous model, the changes that come with the new M2 processor are significant. Apple has yet to release their redesigned M2 MacBook Air, so should you wait before buying the Pro? Monica shares her thoughts.
For the rest of the show, we change up the crew. Alex and David lead the discussion with Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert about the state of streaming — with Netflix cutting 300 jobs after losing subscribers and an overall lack of innovation and new features within all the streaming apps. In the final segment, we focus on the gadget coverage we’re known for. We found out more about Nothing’s first phone, were introduced to Solana’s crypto phone, and Dan is starting to enjoy using the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 six months after its launch. There’s a whole lot more in between all of that, so listen here or in your preferred podcast player for the full show.
There are a million and one ways to die in space, whether it’s from micrometeoroid impacts shredding your ship or solar flares frying its electronics, drowning in your own sweat during a spacewalk or having a cracked coworker push you out an airlock. And right at the top of the list is death by radiation.Those same energetic emissions from our local star that give you a tan can scour the atmosphere from a planet if it doesn’t enjoy the protection of an ozone layer. While today’s low Earth orbit crew and cargo capsules may not come equipped with miniature magnetospheres of their own, tomorrow’s might — or maybe we’ll just protect humanity’s first deep space explorers from interstellar radiation by ensconcing them safely in their own poop.Types of Radiation and what to do about themLike strokes and folks, there are different types and sources of radiation both terrestrial and in space. Non-ionizing radiation, meaning the atom doesn’t have enough energy to fully remove an electron from its orbit, can be found in microwaves, light bulbs, and Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) like visible and ultraviolet light. While these forms of radiation can damage materials and biological systems, their effects can typically be blocked (hence sunscreen and microwaves that don't irradiate entire kitchens) or screened by the Ozone layer or Earth’s magnetosphere.Earth’s radiation belts are filled with energetic particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field that can wreak havoc with electronics we send to space. Credits: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Tom BridgmanIonizing radiation, on the other hand, is energetic to shed an electron and there isn’t much that can slow their positively-charged momentum. Alpha and beta particles, Gamma rays, X-rays and Galactic Cosmic Rays, “heavy, high-energy ions of elements that have had all their electrons stripped away as they journeyed through the galaxy at nearly the speed of light,” per NASA. “GCR are a dominant source of radiation that must be dealt with aboard current spacecraft and future space missions within our solar system.” GCR intensity is inversely proportional to the relative strength of the Sun’s magnetic field, meaning that they are strongest when the Sun’s field is at its weakest and least able to deflect them.Chancellor, J., Scott, G., & Sutton, J. (2014)Despite their dissimilar natures, both GCR and SEP damage the materials designed to shield our squishy biological bodies from radiation along with our biological bodies themselves. Their continued bombardment has a cumulative negative effect on human physiology resulting not just in cancer but cataracts, neurological damage, germline mutations, and acute radiation sickness if the dose is high enough. For materials, high-energy particles and photons can cause “temporary damage or permanent failure of spacecraft materials or devices,” Zicai Shen of the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering notes in 2019’s Protection of Materials from Space Radiation Environments on Spacecraft.“Charged particles gradually lose energy as they pass through the material, and finally, capture a sufficient number of electrons to stop,” they added. “When the thickness of the shielding material is greater than the range of a charged particle in the material, the incident particles will be blocked in the material.”How NASA currently protects its astronautsTo ensure that tomorrow’s astronauts arrive at Mars with all of their teeth and fingernails intact, NASA has spent nearly four decades collecting data and studying the effects radiation has on the human body. The agency’s Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) at Johnson Space Center is, according to its website, “responsible for ensuring that the radiation exposure received by astronauts remains below established safety limits.”According to NASA, “the typical average dose for a person is about 360 mrems per year, or 3.6 mSv, which is a small dose. However, International Standards allow exposure to as much as 5,000 mrems (50 mSv) a year for those who work with and around radioactive material. For spaceflight, the limit is higher. The NASA limit for radiation exposure in low-Earth orbit is 50 mSv/year, or 50 rem/year.”SRAG’s Space Environment Officers (SEOs) are tasked with ensuring that the astronauts can successfully complete their mission without absorbing too many RADs. They take into account the various environmental and situational factors present during a spaceflight — whether the astronauts are in LEO or on the lunar surface, whether they stay in the spacecraft or take a spacewalk, or whether there is a solar storm going on — combine and model that information with data collected from onboard and remote radiation detectors as well as the NOAA space weather prediction center, to make their decisions.The Radiation Effects and Analysis Group at Goddard Space Flight Center, serves much the same purpose as SRAG but for mechanical systems, working to develop more effective shielding and more robust materials for use in orbit.“We will be able to ensure that humans, electronics, spacecraft and instruments — anything we are actually sending into space — will survive in the environment we are putting it in,” Megan Casey, an aerospace engineer in the REAG said in a 2019 release. “Based on where they’re going, we tell mission designers what their space environment will be like, and they come back to us with their instrument plans and ask, ‘Are these parts going to survive there?’ The answer is always yes, no, or I don’t know. If we don’t know, that’s when we do additional testing. That’s the vast majority of our job.”NASA’s research will continue and expand throughout the upcoming Artemis mission era. During test flights for the Artemis I mission, both the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft will be outfitted with sensors measuring radiation levels in deep space beyond the moon — specifically looking at the differences in relative levels beyond the Earth’s Van Allen Belts. Data collected and lessons learned from these initial uncrewed flights will help NASA engineers build better, more protective spacecraft in the future.And once it does eventually get built, crews aboard the Lunar Gateway will maintain an expansive radiation sensor suite, including the Internal Dosimeter Array, designed to carefully and continually measure levels within the station as it makes its week-long oblong orbit around the moon.“Understanding the effects of the radiation environment is not only critical for awareness of the environment where astronauts will live in the vicinity of the Moon, but it will also provide important data that can be used as NASA prepares for even greater endeavors, like sending the first humans to Mars,” Dina Contella, manager for Gateway Mission Integration and Utilization, said in a 2021 release.NASA might use magnetic bubbles in the futureTomorrow’s treks into interplanetary space, where GCR and SEP are more prevalent, are going to require more comprehensive protection than the current state of the art passive shielding materials and space weather forecasting predictions can deliver. And since the Earth’s own magnetosphere has proven so handy, researchers with the European Commission's Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) have researched creating one small enough to fit on a spaceship, dubbed the Space Radiation Superconducting Shield (SR2S).The €2.7 million SR2S program, which ran from 2013 to 2015, expanded on the idea of using superconducting magnets to generate a radiation-stopping magnetic force field first devised by ex-Nazi aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun in 1969. The magnetic field produced would be more than 3,000 times more concentrated than the one encircling the Earth and would extend out in a 10-meter sphere.“In the framework of the project, we will test, in the coming months, a racetrack coil wound with an MgB2 superconducting tape,” Bernardo Bordini, coordinator of CERN activity in the framework of the SR2S project, said in 2015. “The prototype coil is designed to quantify the effectiveness of the superconducting magnetic shielding technology.”It wouldn’t block all incoming radiation, but would efficiently screen out the most damaging types, like GCR, which flows through passive shielding like water through a colander. By lowering the rate at which astronauts are exposed to radiation, they’ll be able to serve on more and longer duration missions before hitting NASA’s lifetime exposure limit.“As the magnetosphere deflects cosmic rays directed toward the earth, the magnetic field generated by a superconducting magnet surrounding the spacecraft would protect the crew,” Dr Riccardo Musenich, scientific and technical manager for the project, told Horizon in 2014. “SR2S is the first project which not only investigates the principles and the scientific problems (of magnetic shielding), but it also faces the complex issues in engineering.”Two superconducting coils have already been constructed and tested, showing the feasibility in using them to build lightweight magnets but this is very preliminary research, mind you. The CORDIS team doesn’t anticipate this tech making it into space for another couple decades.Researchers from University of Wisconsin–Madison's Department of Astronomy have recently set about developing their own version of CORDIS’ idea. Their Cosmic Radiation Extended Warding using the Halbach Torus (CREW HaT) project, which received prototyping funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program in February, uses “new superconductive tape technology, a deployable design, and a new configuration for a magnetic field that hasn't been explored before," according to UWM associate professor and researches lead author, Dr. Elena D'Onghia told Universe Today in May.NASA“The HaT geometry has never been explored before in this context or studied in combination with modern superconductive tapes,” she said in February’s NIAC summary. “It diverts over 50 percent of the biology-damaging cosmic rays (protons below 1 GeV) and higher energy high-Z ions. This is sufficient to reduce the radiation dose absorbed by astronauts to a level that is less than 5 percent of the lifetime excess risk of cancer mortality levels established by NASA.”Or astronauts might wear leaden vests to protect their privatesBut why go through the effort of magnetically encapsulating an entire spaceship when really it’s just a handful of torsos and heads that actually need the protection? That’s the idea behind the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE).Developed in partnership with both the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), two of the MARE vests will be strapped aboard identical mannequins and launched into space aboard the Orion uncrewed moon mission. On their three-week flight, the mannequins, named Helga and Zohar, will travel some 280,000 miles from Earth and thousands of miles past the moon. Their innards are designed to mimic human bones and soft tissue, enabling researchers to measure the specific radiation doses they receive.Its sibling study aboard the ISS, the Comfort and Human Factors AstroRad Radiation Garment Evaluation (CHARGE), focuses less on the vest’s anti-rad effectiveness and more on the ergonomics, fit and feel of it as astronauts go about their daily duties. The European Space Agency is also investigating garment-based radiation shielding with the FLARE suit, an “emergency device that aims to protect astronauts from intense solar radiation when traveling out of the magnetosphere on future Deep Space missions.”Or we’ll line the ship hulls with water and poo!One happy medium between the close-in discomfort of wearing a leaded apron in microgravity and the existential worry of potentially having your synapses scrambled by a powerful electromagnet is known as Water Wall technology.“Nature uses no compressors, evaporators, lithium hydroxide canisters, oxygen candles, or urine processors,” Marc M. Cohen Arch.D, argued in the 2013 paper Water Walls Architecture: Massively Redundant and Highly Reliable Life Support for Long Duration Exploration Missions. “For very long-term operation — as in an interplanetary spacecraft, space station, or lunar/planetary base — these active electro-mechanical systems tend to be failure-prone because the continuous duty cycles make maintenance difficult.”So, rather than rely on heavy and complicated mechanizations to process the waste materials that astronauts emit during a mission, this system utilizes osmosis bags that mimic nature’s own passive means of purifying water. In addition to treating gray and black water, these bags could also be adapted to scrub CO2 from the air, grow algae for food and fuel, and can be lined against the inner hull of a spacecraft to provide superior passive shielding against high energy particles.“Water is better than metals for [radiation] protection,” Marco Durante of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, told New Scientist in 2013. This is because the three-atom nucleus of a water molecule contains more mass than a metal atom and therefore is more effective at blocking GCR and other high energy rays, he continued.The crew aboard the proposed Inspiration Mars mission, which would have slingshot a pair of private astronauts around Mars in a spectacular flyby while the two planets were at their orbital closest in 2018. You haven’t heard anything about that because the nonprofit behind it quietly went under in 2015. But had they somehow pulled off that feat, the plan was to have the astronauts poop into bags, sophon out the liquid for reuse and then pile the vacuum-sealed shitbricks against the walls of the spacecraft — alongside their boxes of food — to act as radiation insulation.“It’s a little queasy sounding, but there’s no place for that material to go, and it makes great radiation shielding,” Taber MacCallum, a member of the nonprofit funded by Dennis Tito, told New Scientist. “Food is going to be stored all around the walls of the spacecraft, because food is good radiation shielding.” It’s just a quick jaunt to the next planet over, who needs plumbing and sustenance?
Twitch has been tightening its content policies in recent months, and that now includes mentions of self-harm. The livestreaming service has updated its Community Guidelines to include examples of the self-harm behavior it doesn't allow. The clarified policy is meant to foster "meaningful conversation" about mental and physical health while preventing further harm.Broadcasters can share stories of self-harm or suicide, but can't describe them in "graphic detail" or share suicide notes. Studies show this could lead to similar thoughts among vulnerable people, Twitch said. The refined policy also singles out content that encourages eating disorders, such as unhealthy weight loss programs and attempts to glorify common eating disorder habits.The move comes relatively soon after Twitch clamped down on usernames referencing hard drugs and sex, as well as creators who routinely spread misinformation. Not long after, the Amazon brand rolled out improved reporting tools to help viewers flag inappropriate content while providing a streamlined appeals process. Twitch has dealt with abuses in the weeks since, but it's clearly hoping the policy changes will reduce the volume of incidents going forward.In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting HOME to 741741 (US), 686868 (Canada), or 85258 (UK). Wikipedia maintains a list of crisis lines for people outside of those countries.
When you hear the word "bacteria," you probably picture organisms that couldn't be seen unless they're placed under a microscope. A bacterium that has now been classified as the largest in the world ever discovered, however, needs no special tools to be visible to the naked eye. Thiomargarita magnifica, as it's called, takes on a filament-like appearance and can be as long as a human eyelash. As the BBC notes, that makes it bigger than some more complex organisms, such as tiny flies, mites and worms. It was first discovered by marine biologist Olivier Gros living on sunken mangrove tree leaves in the French Caribbean back in 2009. Due to the organism's size, Gros first thought he was looking at a eukaryote rather than simpler prokaryotic organisms like bacteria. It wasn't until he got back to his laboratory that he found out that it wasn't the case at all. Years later, Jean-Marie Volland and his team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California took a closer look at the bacterium using various techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy, to confirm that it is indeed a single-cell organism. They've recently published a paper describing the centimeter-long bacterium in Science.Volland said T. magnifica is "5,000 times bigger than most bacteria" and is comparable to an average person "encountering another human as tall as Mount Everest." One other information Volland's team has discovered is that the bacterium keeps its DNA organized within a structure that has a membrane. In most bacteria, DNA materials just float freely in their cytoplasm. Further, it has around 6,000 billion bases of DNA. "For comparison, a diploid human genome is approximately six giga (billion) bases in size. So this means that our Thiomargarita stores several orders of magnitude more DNA in itself as compared to a human cell," said team member Tanja Woyke. While the scientists know that T. magnifica grows on top of mangrove sediments in the Caribbean and that it creates energy to live using chemosynthesis, which is similar to photosynthesis in plants, there's still a lot about it that remains a mystery. And it'll likely take some time before the scientists can discover its secrets: They have yet to figure out how to grow the organism in the lab, so Gros has to gather samples every time they want to run an experiment. It doesn't help that the organism has an unpredictable life cycle. Gros told The New York Times that he couldn't even find any over the past two months. Volland and his team now aim to find a way to grow T. magnifica in the lab. As for Gros, he now expects other teams to go off in search of even bigger bacteria, which like T. magnifica, may also be hiding in plain sight.
The Metaverse, as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions it, will be a fully immersive virtual experience that rivals reality, at least from the waist up. But the visuals are only part of the overall Metaverse experience.“Getting spatial audio right is key to delivering a realistic sense of presence in the metaverse,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Friday blog post. “If you're at a concert, or just talking with friends around a virtual table, a realistic sense of where sound is coming from makes you feel like you're actually there.”That concert, the blog post notes, will sound very different if performed in a full-sized concert hall than in a middle school auditorium on account of the differences between their physical spaces and acoustics. As such, Meta’s AI and Reality Lab (MAIR, formerly FAIR) is collaborating with researchers from UT Austin to develop a trio of open source audio “understanding tasks” that will help developers build more immersive AR and VR experiences with more lifelike audio.The first is MAIR’s Visual Acoustic Matching model, which can adapt a sample audio clip to any given environment using just a picture of the space. Want to hear what the NY Philharmonic would sound like inside San Francisco’s Boom Boom Room? Now you can. Previous simulation models were able to recreate a room’s acoustics based on its layout — but only if the precise geometry and material properties were already known — or from audio sampled within the space, neither of which produced particularly accurate results.MAIR’s solution is the Visual Acoustic Matching model, called AViTAR, which “learns acoustic matching from in-the-wild web videos, despite their lack of acoustically mismatched audio and unlabeled data,” according to the post.“One future use case we are interested in involves reliving past memories,” Zuckerberg wrote, betting on nostalgia. “Imagine being able to put on a pair of AR glasses and see an object with the option to play a memory associated with it, such as picking up a tutu and seeing a hologram of your child’s ballet recital. The audio strips away reverberation and makes the memory sound just like the time you experienced it, sitting in your exact seat in the audience.”MAIR’s Visually-Informed Dereverberation mode (VIDA), on the other hand, will strip the echoey effect from playing an instrument in a large, open space like a subway station or cathedral. You’ll hear just the violin, not the reverberation of it bouncing off distant surfaces. Specifically, it “learns to remove reverberation based on both the observed sounds and the visual stream, which reveals cues about room geometry, materials, and speaker locations,” the post explained. This technology could be used to more effectively isolate vocals and spoken commands, making them easier for both humans and machines to understand.VisualVoice does the same as VIDA but for voices. It uses both visual and audio cues to learn how to separate voices from background noises during its self-supervised training sessions. Meta anticipates this model getting a lot of work in the machine understanding applications and to improve accessibility. Think, more accurate subtitles, Siri understanding your request even when the room isn't dead silent or having the acoustics in a virtual chat room shift as people speaking move around the digital room. Again, just ignore the lack of legs.“We envision a future where people can put on AR glasses and relive a holographic memory that looks and sounds the exact way they experienced it from their vantage point, or feel immersed by not just the graphics but also the sounds as they play games in a virtual world,” Zuckerberg wrote, noting that AViTAR and VIDA can only apply their tasks to the one picture they were trained for and will need a lot more development before public release. “These models are bringing us even closer to the multimodal, immersive experiences we want to build in the future.”
Formula E recently showed off its latest Gen3 car that it says is faster, more agile and "the world's most efficient" racing vehicle to date. Now, we're getting a first look at one on a track at England's Goodwood in the form of the Mahinda M9 Electro with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel. On its Twitter account, Goodwood said that Heidfeld was "not holding back" and it looked like the car made a clean lap other than a few minor lockups. On track, the Gen3 design certainly looks more subdued and less dramatic than the Gen2, but it's lighter (840kg compared to 920kg including driver) and quicker in every way.Here’s the first glimpse of the @FIAFormulaE Gen 3 car. The @MahindraRacing Gen 3 car has @NickHeidfeld at the wheel and he’s not holding back. What do you think of the new design?#M9Electro#Gen3#FOS#FormulaEpic.twitter.com/DsFLMxrGg7— Goodwood FOS (@fosgoodwood) June 23, 2022The Gen3 model is very specifically designed for street circuit racing with high maneuverability and speeds up to 200 MPH. That's not quite as fast as the 220-230 MPH top speeds for F1 cars, but the Formula E vehicles do that with less than half the power. They're also highly efficient, with over double the regenerative braking capabilities of the Gen2 cars. Overall, they convert 90 percent of battery energy to mechanical power, compared to 52 percent for F1 cars. There are now 11 Gen3 teams confirmed with 22 cars, including DS Automobiles, Dragon/Penske, Envision, Mercedes-EQ, Avalanche Andretti, Jaguar, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan and Porsche, along with Mahindra. The first season of Gen3 will kick off this winter with pre-season testing.
GM's Cruise has started charging passengers for fully driverless rides in San Francisco. The company secured a driverless deployment permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month, making it the first in the industry to do so. That allows Cruise to charge for rides with no safety driver behind the wheel, though its vehicles are limited to select streets in the city. In addition, the company's paid passenger service can only operate from 10PM to 6AM, and its cars can only drive at a max speed of 30 mph.Another limitation is that its driverless vehicles aren't allowed on highways and can't operate during times of heavy fog and rain. Still, it's a major milestone, not just for Cruise, but for the nascent robotaxi industry as a whole. Cruise's permit allows it to operate a commercial driverless ride—hailing service with a fleet of up to 30 vehicles. It previously said that it will roll out fared rides gradually, and it reiterated that plan in its latest announcement, where it noted that it's "inviting more people" into its driverless vehicles every week. The goal is to eventually be able to offer fared rides all day across the entire city.UPDATE: As of last night, fared rides are now rolling out to our customers in SF. If you’re waiting to take your first driverless ride, we’re inviting more people into our AVs each week, so sit tight— it’ll be worth it! 😉 https://t.co/UpjuQ9K81Wpic.twitter.com/CwkD1LftnV— cruise (@Cruise) June 23, 2022Cruise received permission to offer the public robotaxi rides last year, but it could only do so for free. The company, along with Waymo, was finally allowed to charge passengers this March, as long as they were rides with safety drivers behind the wheel. While Waymo can't charge for fully autonomous rides yet, it's still the only other company that's been granted a drivered deployment permit, based on CPUC's list.
Yes, Juul e-cigarettes have been banned in the US, but we talked about that yesterday. But what’s like vapes? Replicants and ‘80s sci-fi? Maybe not, but anyway, Nightdive Studios has finally released Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition for Windows PCs (via Steam), PlayStation, Switch and Xbox consoles. The modernized version runs at 60 frames per second instead of the original's 15 fps, complete with updated animations and models.At the time, Westwood's 1997 game pushed the boundaries of both graphics and gameplay. Instead of the usually fixed plot, Blade Runner changed the replicants and humans around with each playthrough while also offering branching storylines.Rather than relying on either 2D art or crude 3D, the title used voxels (pixels with 3D attributes), giving far more visual detail for the era, including volumetric lighting. Think of it as the ray-tracing of ‘90’s gaming. This choice in graphics technology made for a challenging remaster, however, as it didn’t play well with graphics cards, and then the source code was lost in an office move. For those that played the unlicensed version, it might not look quite as good, but hey, at least it runs on your Switch.— Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe best bike accessories you can buyBlackmagic's second-gen Pocket Cinema Camera 6K has a larger battery and a lower priceSpotify's Live Event Feed makes it easier to find out when your favorite artist is touring'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge' is a glorious beat-'em-up revival Chrome on iOS will be able to autofill your saved passwords on any app'Strange New Worlds' mixes the maudlin and irreverentMicrosoft Edge update brings Xbox streaming 'Clarity Boost' to everyoneLG's latest flagship Atmos soundbar is now available for $1,799The FDA has banned JuulThe Vapes of wrath.ReutersAs teased yesterday, the FDA has banned e-cigarette maker Juul from selling and distributing its products in the US. It ordered the company to remove its wares from the market or face enforcement actions. Juul told Engadget it intends to seek a stay on the decision. It’s exploring all other options, including an appeal.Continue reading.Samsung debuts its smallest 200-megapixel smartphone sensor yetSlimmer, high-resolution phone cameras are incoming.Despite featuring some of the smallest pixels yet, Samsung’s new 200-megapixel camera sensor has autofocus capability in every pixel, binning for better low-light capability and multi-gain ISO for maximum dynamic range.Each pixel has autofocus detection capability, and the Super QPD tech uses a single lens over four pixels for quicker and more accurate autofocus. It can also bin four 0.56 micron pixels into a larger 1.12 micron 50-megapixel sensor for better low-light capability, or even combine 16 pixels into one 2.24 microns in size.Continue reading.The Polestar 5 will have an 884 hp electric powertrain when it launches in 2024A prototype of the EV showcases at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.PolestarThe Polestar 5 is making its first public appearance at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England. As part of the First Glance vehicles event, a prototype of the upcoming four-door electric GT sports car will drive up the Goodwood hill twice each day. The Polestar 5 is the production version of a concept EV called Precept, introduced back in 2020. When the company announced it was going to turn the concept into a real vehicle, it said it would manufacture the EV at a new carbon-neutral facility in China.Continue reading.Netflix lays off 300 more employeesThe company previously cut 150 jobs in May amid business woes.Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and affected a number of departments. This is Netflix's second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees globally. Netflix is still hiring on other fronts and has already earmarked around $17 billion to invest in content this year alone.Continue reading.eBay bought an NFT art marketplaceThis comes after the website launched its own NFT collection in May.eBay has truly (unfortunately?) fully embraced non-fungible tokens: The e-commerce company has acquired KnownOrigin, an established marketplace for digital art NFTs. KnownOrigin has been around since 2018 and gives artists a platform to create and sell their art as NFTs in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.Continue reading.
This week, the Department of Justice settled a lawsuit with Meta, Facebook’s parent company, over the use of algorithms the government said were discriminatory. Meta said it will change its targeted ad toolAnd subject it to what’s called “algorithmic auditing.” Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Sasha Costanza-Chock, a researcher with the Algorithmic Justice League. She says audits can be done within companies, by contractors, or by outside parties like researchers and journalists. Your donation powers the journalism you rely on. Give today to support Marketplace Tech.
Mikah Sargent goes hands-on with Valve's Steam Deck, sharing his thoughts on the Linux-based handheld gaming console. Steam Deck: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck WaterField Designs Pouch for Steam Deck: https://www.sfbags.com/products/pouch-for-steam-deck iFixit - Valve Collaboration: https://www.ifixit.com/collaborations/valve Host: Mikah Sargent You can find more about TWiT and subscribe to our podcasts at https://podcasts.twit.tv/
No, Google is not dead, but a pundit on the internet thinks it is! Andy and Flo use this prompt to kick off this week's conversation. The consensus seems to be that it's not dead yet. The web has just changed.
Afterward, we'll talk about why lawmakers urge Google to fix abortion searches that suggest fake clinics instead of verified ones. We'll also discuss Google News' new look, plus Google's massive new open-source library of 3D scans.
Comedian Andrew O'Neill (@destructo9000) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy just before Andrew and Matt head off to Glastonbury to talk about Andrew's new BBC Radio 4 sitcom Damned Andrew, summoning the writing gods, working with Alan Moore, the feasibility of breathing through your butt, reverse mermaids and a fluffy crab that wears a sponge as a hat.
You've been working on your photography skills and now you're interested in getting paid for your photography. Ant Pruitt sits down with John Davis to discuss your first photography job. Davis shares some of his wins and lessons learned on Hands-On Photography. Host: Ant Pruitt Guest: John Davis Find Hands-On Photography on your favorite podcatcher. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-photography Follow Ant Pruitt on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ant_pruitt/ Follow TWiT on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/twit.tv/ Join the TWiT forums https://www.twit.community/ Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: nomadgoods.com/TWIT
Devindra Hardawar from Engadget joins the show to talk about his review of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro. Harry McCracken from Fast Company shares his thoughts about the prototype hardware showcased from Meta's Reality Labs and what the future of VR could look like. Mikah talks about Instagram's new age verification system and how easy it can be to trick it. Jason rounds things out with a recap of Amazon and its re:MARS 2022 event that showcased Amazon's first fully autonomous warehouse robot, Proteus, and Amazon's plan to generate voices that can imitate anyone. Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent Guests: Devindra Hardawar and Harry McCracken Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: ZipRecruiter.com/tnw nureva.com checkout.com/twit
An advocacy group is calling on Meta to allow Facebook users to list more than one romantic partner in their profiles. In a letter the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy (OPEN) sent to the social media giant on Thursday, it said the current design of Facebook’s relationship status feature is “exclusionary” towards people who practice ethical non-monogamy. The group has asked that Meta allow users to tag all their romantic partners.“At best, this restriction perpetuates the erasure and marginalization of non-monogamous relationships; at worst, it harms non-monogamous users by perpetuating social stigmas around the validity and authenticity of their relationships,” OPEN said.A Meta spokesperson told The New York Times the company is reviewing the letter and noted that Facebook already allows users to mention on their profile that they’re in an “open relationship” with one or more people. The timing of the request may seem curious given Facebook’s declining daily userbase, but it’s in line with the growing number of people who find themselves in non-monogamous relationships. According to data cited by OPEN, about four to five percent of American adults practice ethical non-monogamy.
When Microsoft effectively discontinued support for Internet Explorer earlier this week, one person decided to mark the occasion with a bit of humor. Per Reuters, software Jung Ki-young spent 430,000 won (about $330) to design and order a headstone for the web browser ahead of its official end-of-support date. The memorial, located on the roof of his brother’s cafe in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, features IE’s iconic logo followed by an English epitaph that reads, “He was a good tool to download other browsers.”Jung told Reuters he commissioned the memorial to commemorate a program that had defined his career. Even as apps like Chrome and Firefox went on to replace Internet Explorer in both prominence and popularity, many of Jung’s customers kept asking him to ensure their websites looked good in Microsoft’s aging web browser. "It was a pain in the ass, but I would call it a love-hate relationship because Explorer itself once dominated an era,” he said.As funny as the tombstone is, it may be premature. Microsoft still plans to support Internet Explorer in some contexts. For instance, Edge’s IE Mode will continue to work through 2029 or later. Moreover, parts of the world, including countries like Japan, continue to use the web browser for business and government administration.
In many ways, Jeff Bezos would seem to have it all. But when is enough enough?
In the new book, "Career Self-Care: Find Your Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment at Work," Inc. magazine columnist and Seattle-area author Minda Zetlin points to the Amazon founder's push for financial incentives in the company's search for a second headquarters as a prime example of "the dirty little secret about success."
After Amazon's choice of Queens, N.Y., backfired due to objections over financial incentives, a report by Bloomberg News revealed that Bezos and Amazon had originally been motivated in part by envy over the incentives that Elon Musk and Tesla were getting from Nevada for building their gigafactory there, despite much different circumstances.
Zetlin sees in this anecdote a lesson for the rest of us.
"We spend our whole lives pursuing success. But where is that spot, exactly?" she says. "If you're the richest person in the world, which he was at that time, and you're still not satisfied, you're still not happy, you're still jealous of somebody else, it just seems to illustrate that there is no there there."
Zetlin's book draws on her reporting, interviews and experiences to examine self-care with the underlying assumption that, for many of us, work and the rest of our lives are now inevitably intertwined. she joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to talk about these topics and more from her book.
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Audio editing by Curt Milton. Theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.
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With repairs complete and the rocket in place at its designated launch pad, NASA is ready to once again attempt a critical fueling test of its next-generation Space Launch System. Per Space.com, the Artemis 1 “wet dress rehearsal” will begin at 5PM ET today with a call to stations for ground personnel at Kennedy Space Center.Over the next 48 hours, technicians will attempt loading the rocket’s first and second stages with cryogenic fuel. Provided there aren’t major setbacks, they will then try to load it with propellant starting Monday morning. If the test is successful, the Artemis 1 mission could get underway as early as July 26th.For the oft-delayed SLS, this is its second trip to historic Launch Pad 39B. Following an initial attempt at the wet dress rehearsal on April 1st, NASA tried to complete a modified version of the fueling test on April 14th, but that was cut short after the agency discovered a hydrogen leak in the rocket’s mobile launch tower. NASA eventually decided to move the SLS back to the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs and to give a critical nitrogen supplier time to complete capacity upgrades.Once the wet dress rehearsal is complete, NASA can finally move forward with Artemis 1. The mission will send an unmanned Orion capsule on a flight around the Moon. The next two Artemis missions would feature human astronauts, with an eye toward a lunar landing sometime in 2025 or 2026.
A Seattle jury has found Paige Thompson, a former Amazon software engineer accused of stealing data from Capital One in 2019, guilty of wire fraud and five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer. The Capital One hack was one of the biggest security breaches in the US and compromised the data of 100 million people in the country, along with 6 million people in Canada. Thompson was arrested in July that year after a GitHub user saw her post on the website sharing information about stealing data from servers storing Capital One information. According to the Department of Justice, Thompson used a tool she built herself to scan Amazon Web Services for misconfigured accounts. She then allegedly used those accounts to infiltrate Capital One's servers and download over 100 million people's data. The jury has decided that Thompson violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by doing so, but her lawyers argued that she used the same tools and method also used by ethical hackers.The Justice Department recently amended the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to protect ethical or white hat hackers. As long as researchers are investigating or fixing vulnerabilities in "good faith" and aren't using the security holes they discover for extortion or other malicious purposes, they can no longer be charged under the law.US authorities, however, disagreed with the assertion that she was only trying to expose Capital One's vulnerabilities. The Justice Department said she planted cryptocurrency mining software onto the bank's servers and sent the earnings straight to her digital wallet. She also allegedly bragged about the hack on online forums. "Far from being an ethical hacker trying to help companies with their computer security, she exploited mistakes to steal valuable data and sought to enrich herself," US Attorney Nick Brown said. Thompson could be sentenced with up to 20 years of prison time for wire fraud and up to five years for each charge of illegally accessing a protected computer. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 15th.
A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin is urging Google to "crack down on manipulative search results" that lead people seeking abortions to anti-abortion clinics. In a letter addressed to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the lawmakers reference a study conducted by US nonprofit group Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). The organization found that 1 in 10 Google search results for queries such as "abortion clinics near me" and "abortion pill" — specifically in states with trigger laws that would ban the procedure the moment Roe v. Wade is overturned — points to crisis pregnancy centers that oppose abortion instead."Directing women towards fake clinics that traffic in misinformation and don't provide comprehensive health services is dangerous to women's health and undermines the integrity of Google's search results," the lawmakers wrote. CCDH also found that 37 percent of results on Google Maps for the same search terms lead people to anti-abortion clinics. The lawmakers argue in the letter that Google should not be displaying those results for users searching for abortion and that if the company's search results must continue showing them, they should at least be properly labeled.In addition, CCDH found that 28 percent of ads displayed at the top of Google search results are for crisis pregnancy centers. Google added a disclaimer for those ads, "albeit one that appears in small font and is easily missed," the lawmakers note, after getting flak for them a few years ago. "The prevalence of these misleading ads marks what appears to be a concerning reversal from Google’s pledge in 2014 to take down ads from crisis pregnancy centers that engage in overt deception of women seeking out abortion information online," the letter reads.Warner, Slotkin and the letter's other signees are asking Google what it plans to do to limit the appearance of anti-abortion clinics when users are explicitly searching for abortion services. And, if Google chooses not to take action to prevent them from appearing in results, the group is asking whether Google would add user-friendly disclaimers clarifying whether the clinic is or isn't providing abortion services. You can read the whole letter below:NEW: @RepSlotkin and I are leading a group of lawmakers to push on the Google CEO to crack down on manipulative search results that lead to scammy “crisis pregnancy centers.”It’s time for them to limit or label results and ads that lead to fake abortion clinics. pic.twitter.com/LlkTueI2QP— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) June 17, 2022A Supreme Court draft obtained by Politico in May showed that SCOTUS justices have voted to reverse Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that protected the federal rights to abortion across the country. Senator Ron Wyden and 41 other Democratic lawmakers also previously asked Google to stop collecting and keeping users' location data. They said the information could be used against people who've had or are seeking abortions in states with trigger laws.
Top threats of 2022, Corel acquires Awingu, Cerebras Systems on AI compute in the cloud, and more. Cloud Security Alliance's top threats of 2022 Microsoft 365 function leaves SharePoint, OneDrive files open to ransomware attacks Cisco Live announcement about AppDynamics Ransomware gang creates a site for employees to search for their stolen data Corel acquires Awingu Cerebras Systems Founder and CEO Andrew Feldman on high-performance AI Compute in the cloud Hosts: Louis Maresca, Brian Chee, and Curt Franklin Guest: Andrew Feldman Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-enterprise-tech. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: CDW.com/IntelClient nureva.com linode.com/twiet
Amazon is likely to run out of prospective workers for its US warehouses by the year 2024, according to an internal memo that was leaked to Recode. The memo contained internal research from 2021 that predicted a looming labor crisis for the e-commerce giant that would hit some areas faster than others. For example, it estimated that Amazon would exhaust its labor supply in Phoenix, Arizona by the end of 2021 and in California’s Inland Empire by the end of 2022. It calculated the available pool of workers using factors like income levels and proximity to current or planned Amazon facilities.The report urged the company to take steps to address the future labor gap, such as raising wages to retain its existing workforce and attract more new hires. It also suggested increasing automation in the warehouses. “If we continue business as usual, Amazon will deplete the available labor supply in the US network by 2024,” wrote the authors of the report.In a statement to Engadget, an Amazon spokesperson said that the leaked document isn't an accurate assessment of its hiring situation. “There are many draft documents written on many subjects across the company that are used to test assumptions and look at different possible scenarios, but aren’t then escalated or used to make decisions. This was one of them. It doesn’t represent the actual situation, and we are continuing to hire well in Phoenix, the Inland Empire, and across the country," wrote Rena Lunak, Amazon's director of global operations and field communications.Automation is something that Amazon has invested heavily in already by acquiring Kiva Systems in 2012. But according to a Wired investigation from last year, Amazon’s warehouse robots aren’t capable of handling advanced fulfillment tasks that can only be performed by a human worker.Human workers were once an ample resource the company. The tech giant is the second-largest private employer in the US, and is the largest private employer in a number of US states and cities. The company announced plans to hire 125,000 workers last fall, which is roughly equivalent to the population of Savannah, Georgia. But the new hires largely appear to be replacing workers who have been terminated or resigned. Amazon’s turnover rate is roughly 150 percent a year, or twice the amount of the retail and logistics industries at large, a New York Timesinvestigation revealed last year.As Recode notes, Amazon’s attrition rate is even worse in Phoenix and the Inland Empire. It also has to compete with big-box stores like Walmart and Target, which are now offering competitive wages to those with warehouse experience. “We are hearing a lot of [Amazon] workers say, ‘I can just go across the street to Target or Walmart,’” Sheheryar Kaoosji, co-executive director of Inland Empire’s Warehouse Worker Resource Center told Recode.
On this week's show, a meditation on what one Google engineer saw in the artificial intelligence he was working on. Oh, and phones. Phones worth talking about, maybe phones worth talking down. 2:52 | It's the LaMDA segment and Dan is vibing. https://www.androidpolice.com/google-suspends-engineer-lamda-chatbot-sentient/ (Google suspends engineer who claimed that the company’s LaMDA chatbot has become sentient)
23:32 | Samsung says "Fan Edition." Ara says "What fans?" https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-s21-fe-new-version-lte-only/ (Samsung may fix the Galaxy S21 FE's biggest problem with some new hardware) https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-s22-fe-canceled-rumor/ (Samsung may be giving up on Fan Edition phones)
32:15 | Will talks about Nothing. https://www.androidpolice.com/nothing-phone-1/ (Nothing Phone 1: News, rumors, leaks, and everything else you need to know)
Plus, our news appendix: https://www.androidpolice.com/john-oliver-google-anti-competitive-grip-on-search-last-week-tonight/ (John Oliver attacks Google for its anti-competitive grip on search on Last Week Tonight) https://about.dish.com/2022-06-15-DISHs-Smart-5G-TM-Wireless-Network-is-Now-Available-to-Over-20-Percent-of-the-U-S-Population (DISH's Smart 5G™ Wireless Network is Now Available to Over 20 Percent of the U.S. Population) https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-fix-galaxy-phones-broken-display-for-cheap/ (Samsung will fix your Galaxy phone’s broken display for just $50) https://www.androidpolice.com/adobe-photoshop-free-to-use-web/ (Adobe Photoshop will soon be free to use on the web)
Find the team on Twitter - https://twitter.com/journeydan (@journeydan) https://twitter.com/arawagco (@AraWagco) https://twitter.com/will_sattelberg (@Will_Sattelberg) https://twitter.com/pointjules (@PointJules) Reach out to us - podcast@androidpolice.com Music - "https://home96.bandcamp.com/track/18 (18)" and "https://home96.bandcamp.com/track/34 (34)" by https://home96.bandcamp.com/ (HOME) licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (CC BY 3.0)
The metaverse may not really exist yet, but Mark Zuckerberg already has a plan to sell users on designer fashion for their metaverse avatars. Meta announced that it’s opening an Avatars Store where users can purchase outfits for their avatars on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.The new looks include designer duds from Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne and the company expects to add more designers over time. Zuckerberg and Eva Chen, Meta’s VP of Fashion Partnerships, announced the new store on an Instagram Live they described as the “first live avatar fashion show.” The “fashion show” portion consisted of Chen holding up paper drawings of Zuckerberg’s avatar wearing increasingly questionable, if metaverse-ready, outfits.“I think the only question is am I cool enough to wear that,” Zuckerberg asked at one point after seeing a Balenciaga-clad Zuck-atar. “I’m not sure if I’m quite up to that.” Chen also showed a Zuckerberg a Thom Browne look she described as a "classic English schoolboy kind of vibe" that only vaguely resembled Danny from The Shining. Screenshot / InstagramAs to just why Facebook users would pay actual money for metaverse clothes, Chen pointed out that it will be much easier to get your hands on, say, an oversized Balenciaga hoodie in the metaverse than IRL. It will also be cheaper, with prices in the Avatars Store will ranging from $2.99 to $8.99 "to start," according to a company spokesperson. Of course, selling digital items in the metaverse is also an important part of Meta’s strategy to keep making billions of dollars even as it pivots away from advertising. The company previously confirmed it plans to keep 48 percent of the profit from creators’ selling digital assets in Horizon Worlds’ VR experience. A Meta spokesperson declined to share what Meta’s cut would be on its new avatar fashion.
Can you defeat review bombing? Epic Games thinks it has the answer. Do EVs take the fun out of driving? And Roku announced a partnership with Walmart to make TV streaming part of its online shopping experience. Starring Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here MultipleContinue reading "“Review Bomber” is Epic’s Worst Game – DTNS 4299"
Rod and Tariq are back to argue across the generational divide about the best and worst space sci-fi on TV ever. Tops on the list? "For All Mankind" and (of course) "Star Trek" ride high... but the worst? Anyone ever see "Starlost"? "Lost in Space"? "Rocky Jones--Space Ranger"? Before you poke a pencil in your eye to avoid seeing more, you'd better listen to this indispensable guide to everything space on TV... Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
TikTok says it’s achieved a “significant milestone” toward its promises to beef up the security of its US users’ data. In a new update, the company says it has “changed the default storage location of US user data.”As the company notes, it had already stored much of its user data in the United States, at a Virginia-based data center. But under a new partnership with Oracle, the company has migrated US user traffic to a new Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.“Today, 100% of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We still use our US and Singapore data centers for backup, but as we continue our work we expect to delete US users' private data from our own data centers and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the US.” Additionally, TikTok says it has made “operational changes,” including a new department “with US-based leadership, to solely manage US user data for TikTok.”The moves are part of a longstanding effort by TikTok to address US officials’ concerns over how user data is handled by TikTok and parent company ByteDance. The company has been working to separate US user data so that it’s not accessible to China-based ByteDance as US lawmakers eye legislation to curb the influence of Chinese tech companies.Still, the new safeguards are unlikely to fully sway critics of TikTok, who say the company still hasn’t addressed all potential concerns about how US user data is handled. In fact, just after TikTok published its blog post, BuzzFeed Newspublished a report that raises new questions about how the company handles the data of its US users.The report, which was based on hours of internal meetings leaked to BuzzFeed, says that “China-based employees of ByteDance have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users.” The recordings, which cover a time period between last September and January 2022, offer new details about the complex effort to cut off Bytedance's access to US user data.The report quotes an outside consultant hired by TikTok to oversee some of the work saying that they believed there was “backdoor to access user data in almost all” of the company’s internal tools. It also quotes statements from several employees who say “that engineers in China had access to US data between September 2021 and January 2022, at the very least.”It also notes that while data deemed “sensitive,” like users’ birth dates and phone numbers, will be stored in the Oracle servers, other information about US-based users could remain accessible to ByteDance. “ByteDance’s China-based employees could continue to have access to insights about what American TikTok users are interested in, from cat videos to political beliefs,” the report says.That may not seem as serious as more personal information like birthdays and phone numbers, but it’s exactly the kind of details that some lawmakers in the US have raised concerns about. US officials have questioned whether the app’s “For You” algorithm could be used as a means of foreign influence.“We know we're among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data,” TikTok said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
If you have a tendency to talk to people you don't know on LinkedIn, you may want to take extra care. According to a CNBC report, the company has acknowledged a "recent uptick of fraud on its platform," and this time the scams involve persuading users to make investments in cryptocurrency. It's been deemed as a "significant threat" by Sean Ragan, the FBI's special agent in charge of the San Francisco and Sacramento field offices in California, who spoke to the outlet.CNBC said the schemes typically began with someone pretending to be a professional and reaching out to LinkedIn users. They would engage in small talk, offering to help users make money through crypto investments. First, they would tell their targets to go to an actual crypto investment platform, but "after gaining their trust over several months, tells them to move the investment to a site controlled by the fraudster." Thereafter, the money is "drained from the account."According to victims interviewed by CNBC, the fact that they trusted LinkedIn as a platform for networking lent credibility to the investment offers. Ragan told CNBC that "the FBI has seen an increase in this particular investment fraud," which the outlet said "is different from a long-running scam in which the criminal pretends to show a romantic interest in the subject to persuade them to part with their money."LinkedinIn a statement published yesterday, LinkedIn encouraged users to report suspicious profiles. The company's director of trust, privacy and equity Oscar Rodriguez told CNBC that "trying to identify what is fake and what is not fake is incredibly difficult."LinkedIn's article urges users to "only connect with people you know and trust" and to "be wary of... people asking you for money who you don't know in person." The company added "This can include people asking you to send them money, cryptocurrency, or gift cards to receive a loan, prize, or other winnings."It also lists "job postings that sound too good to be true or that ask you to pay anything upfront" and "romantic messages or gestures, which are not appropriate on our platform" as signs of potential fraud attempts.The company isn't fully relying on its users reporting suspicious accounts as its only defense against scammers on its platform. "While our defenses catch the vast majority of abusive activity, our members can also help keep LinkedIn safe, trusted, and professional," Rodriguez wrote in the statement. LinkedIn also reported that "96% of detected fake accounts and 99.1% of spam and scams are caught and removed by our automated defenses."
Are you more interested in playing the original Pokémon Snap than the modern version? You won't have to pull your Nintendo 64 out of the closet to do it. Nintendo is releasing the N64 game on June 24th for gamers subscribed to Switch Online with the Expansion Pack. It's still the on-rails (sometimes literally) creature photo safari you remember, complete with tossing fruit to either attract or stun Pokémon in the name of a perfect snapshot.Capture wild Pokémon on Pokémon Island… with a camera!Pokémon Snap is coming to #NintendoSwitch for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members on 6/24! #Nintendo64 📸 pic.twitter.com/O6zKlYY66P— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 17, 2022There's no mention of any Switch-specific enhancements. The Virtual Console version for the Wii let you post critter pictures on a message board, but that's not strictly necessary when the Switch lets you capture screenshots to post on Facebook or Twitter.Pokémon Snap probably won't persuade you to get the Expansion Pack by itself. Along with classics like Paper Mario and Kirby 64, though, the pattern is clear. Nintendo is still busy fleshing out Switch Online's extended library with some of the better-known games from the N64 era, and it doesn't mind adding titles that have present-day counterparts.
AT&T and Verizon have given the Federal Aviation Administration another year to fix altimeter issues as they look to roll out C-band 5G services around airports. “We believe we have identified a path that will continue to enable aviation and 5G C-band wireless to safely co-exist,” acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement.Under a phased plan, operators of regional aircraft with radio altimeters that are most susceptible to interference are required to fit them with radio frequency filters by the end of this year. That work is underway and the FAA says it will continue on an expedited basis.The agency also says it worked with AT&T and Verizon to identify airports where they can bolster service with minimal risk of upending flight schedules. The FAA plans to monitor the pace of RF filter retrofits on altimeters too.Altimeters have been at the heart of the tussle over the rollout of C-band 5G around airports. Airlines have been worried that, because C-Band frequencies are close to ones used by some altimeters, they could create interference. That could cause a plane's landing system to misinterpret the distance to the ground with potentially disastrous consequences.In January, AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay activating C-band 5G towers around airports until July 5. They made the pledge just hours before switching on C-band 5G in other areas for the first time. The pair also agreed to create buffer zones around 50 airports.Now, the carriers will continue with "some level of voluntary mitigations" for another year, until July 5th, 2023. "After that time, the wireless companies expect to operate their networks in urban areas with minimal restrictions," the FAA said."Through close coordination with the FAA over the last several months, we have developed a more tailored approach to controlling signal strength around runways that allows us to activate more towers and increase signal strength," an AT&T spokesperson said. "Though our FCC licenses allow us to fully deploy much-needed C-Band spectrum right now, we have chosen in good faith to implement these more tailored precautionary measures so that airlines have additional time to retrofit equipment. We appreciate the FAA’s support of this approach, and we will continue to work with the aviation community as we move toward the expiration of all such voluntary measures by next summer.”“Today’s announcement identifies a path forward that will enable Verizon to make full use of our C-Band spectrum for 5G around airports on an accelerated and defined schedule," Verizon executive vice-president and chief administrative officer Craig Silliman said. "Under this agreement reached with the FAA, we will lift the voluntary limitations on our 5G network deployment around airports in a staged approach over the coming months meaning even more consumers and businesses will benefit from the tremendous capabilities of 5G technology. This progress is the result of months of close collaboration with the FAA, FCC and aviation industry, and sets the stage for continued, robust 5G deployment.”
A great smartphone doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Years of commoditization have brought features once exclusive to high-end devices – including big batteries, multi-camera arrays and high refresh rate displays – down to their more affordable siblings. As one of Engadget’s resident mobile geeks, I’ve reviewed dozens of midrange devices. So I’m here to help you figure out what features to prioritize when trying to find a phone for less than $600.What is a midrange phone, anyway?While the term shows up frequently in articles and videos, there isn’t an agreed-upon definition for “midrange” beyond a phone that isn’t a flagship or an entry-level option. For this guide, our recommendations cost between $400 and $600. Any less and you should expect significant compromises. If your budget is higher, though, you should consider flagships like the iPhone 13 and Galaxy S22.What factors should you consider when buying a midrange smartphone?Buying a new device can be intimidating, but a few questions can help guide you through the process. First: what platform do you want to use? If the answer is iOS, that narrows your options down to exactly one phone. (Thankfully, it’s great.) And if you’re an Android fan, there’s no shortage of compelling options. Both platforms have their strengths, so you shouldn’t rule either out.Obviously, also consider how much you’re comfortable spending. Even spending $100 more can get you a dramatically better product. And manufacturers tend to support their more expensive devices for longer. It’s definitely worth buying something toward the top limit of what you can afford.Having an idea of your priorities will help inform your budget. Do you want a long-lasting battery? Do you value speedy performance above all else? Or would you like the best possible cameras? While they continue to improve every year, midrange phones still involve some compromises, and knowing what’s important to you will make choosing one easier.Lastly, pay attention to wireless bands and network compatibility. If you don’t want to worry about that, your best bet is to buy directly from your carrier. To make things easier, all the phones we recommend are compatible with every major US wireless provider and can be purchased unlocked. What won’t you get from a midrange smartphone?Every year, the line between midrange and flagship phones gets blurrier as more upmarket features trickle down. When we first published this guide in 2020, it was difficult to find $500 devices with waterproofing or 5G. Now, the biggest thing you might miss out on is wireless charging. Just remember to budget for a power adapter too – many companies have stopped including them. Performance has improved in recent years, but can still be hit or miss as most midrange phones use slower processors that can struggle with multitasking. Thankfully, their cameras have improved dramatically, and you can typically expect at least a dual-lens system on most handsets below $600.Engadget picksThe best midrange Android phone: Pixel 5a with 5GTerrence O'Brien / EngadgetIt may look dull, but there’s a lot to like about Google’s $450 Pixel 5a. For one, it features the best cameras at this price. It may not have as many lenses as some of the other options on this list, but thanks to Google’s expertise in computational photography, the 5a delivers pictures that are on par with phones that cost hundreds more.The Pixel 5a has a few other things going for it. Thanks to its large 4,680mAh battery and efficient chipset, you won’t have to worry about running out of juice. In fact, Engadget managing editor Terrence O’Brien found he could easily get a full day of use. The 5a also supports 5G and is certified IP67 for water and dust-proofing. Plus, as a Pixel phone, the 5a will receive the latest updates and security fixes from Google weeks and months before other Android phones.Of course, no $450 phone is perfect. The Pixel 5a has an aging Snapdragon 765G chipset, and you can find plenty of midrange phones with more responsive displays.One thing to note: The Pixel 6a is right around the corner and will go on sale on July 28th for $449. I suggest waiting until Engadget gets a review unit so you have details on things like battery life and performance before you make a decision.Buy Pixel 5a 5G at Amazon - $450The best (and only) iPhone under $600: iPhone SECherlynn Low / EngadgetIf you can get past its dated design and small 5.4-inch display, the iPhone SE is the fastest phone you can buy for less than $600. No other device on this list has a processor that comes close to the SE’s A15 Bionic. What’s more, you can expect Apple to support the 2022 model for years to come. The company is only just ending support for the first-generation SE after six years. The company hasn’t said how long it intends to furnish the latest SE with new software, but it’s likely to support the device for a similar length of time.For all its strengths, the iPhone SE is held back by a dated display. Not only is the SE’s screen small and slow, but it also uses an IPS panel instead of an OLED, meaning it can’t deliver deep blacks. Additionally, that screen is surrounded by some of the largest bezels you’ll find on a modern phone. That’s not surprising. The SE uses the design of the iPhone 6, which will be a decade old in two years. And if the SE looks dated now, it will only feel more tired in a few years.Shop iPhone SE at AppleThe midrange phone with the best screen: Samsung Galaxy A53 5GIgor Bonifacic / EngadgetFor the best possible display at this price, look no further than Samsung’s $450 Galaxy A53 5G. It features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display that is ideal for watching TV shows and movies. Plus the 120Hz panel is the fastest on this list. Other standout features include a 5,000mAh battery and versatile camera system. The A53’s three cameras may not deliver photos with the same detail and natural colors as the Pixel 5a, but it can capture bigger scenes with its two wide-angle lenses.Like the other Android phones on this list, the A53 isn’t the fastest performer. At best, Samsung’s Exynos 1280 is a lateral move from the Snapdragon 750G found in the Galaxy A52 5G. And though the A53 is $50 cheaper than its predecessor, it no longer comes with a power adapter and headphone jack, so the difference may not end up being much.Buy Galaxy A53 5G at Samsung - $450An ultra-budget 5G option: OnePlus Nord N200 5GBrian Oh / EngadgetIf you only have around $200 to spend on your next phone, you could do a lot worse than the OnePlus Nord N200 To start, it features a big 5,000mAh battery that will easily last you a full day. The N200 also has a 90Hz display and 5G connectivity, which are tricky to find at this price. Best of all, it doesn’t look like a budget product.But the N200 is also a good illustration of why you should spend more if you can. I the slowest device on this list, due to its Snapdragon 480 chipset and paltry 4GB of RAM. Its triple main camera system is serviceable during the day but struggles in low light and doesn’t offer much versatility beyond a disappointing macro lens. OnePlus also doesn’t plan to update the phone beyond the soon-to-be-outdated Android 12. In short, the N200 is unlikely to last you as long as any of the other recommendations on this list.Buy OnePlus Nord N200 at Amazon - $240Chris Velazco contributed to this report.
After more than a year, Peacock is finally close to bringing Bill Nye back to TV screens. The NBCUniversal service has revealed that The End is Nye will premiere on August 25th. The six-episode series will have Nye explore disasters (natural and otherwise) while showing how science can help prevent and survive these calamities.Nye serves as an executive producer in addition to hosting. The production team will seem very familiar if you're a fan of science documentaries or sci-fi. Brannon Braga (of Cosmos, The Orville and Star Trek fame) serves as director and showrunner, while Seth MacFarlane (also from Cosmos and The Orville) is both making cameo appearances and producing through his Fuzzy Door outfit.The series comes roughly five years after Netflix's Bill Nye Saves the World, and follows a similar template. It's an effort to restore optimism about science, not to mention counter myths and otherwise push for a society where evidence and objectivity matter. This might not recapture the vibe of Bill's Science Guy days, but it might not have to if it gets the message across.
Epic Games has added a long-awaited feature to its store: user ratings. The company says that only those who have played a game for at least two hours will be able to rate it on a five-star scale. Not everyone will be able to rate a game either. Epic will randomly offer players the chance to score a game after they finish a play session. The company believes this approach will prevent review bombing and make sure ratings are from people who are actually playing the games.An overall rating will be calculated based on players' scores and this will appear on a title's Epic Games Store page. The aim, of course, is to help users figure out whether a game's worth playing. Store pages already featured critics' reviews to help folks make a decision about whether to buy or download something.Epic says it likely won't ask for ratings on every game or app and the randomization approach will help it avoid spamming players. That seems like a good call. It's a little annoying, for instance, that Microsoft asks for feedback after every Xbox Cloud Gaming session.Epic GamesIn addition, Epic may ask you to answer a poll after a game session. There's a broad range of questions, including the likes of whether a game is better to play with a team or how challenging the combat is. Epic will use data from polls to create tags for store pages. Eventually, tags will be used on category pages and to create tag-based categories for the home page. The idea is to improve discoverability and help people gain a better understanding of what to expect from a game. Separately, Epic is releasing a set of cross-play tools for developers. Epic Online Services now offers an overlay that can merge Steam and Epic Games friends lists and help players find their buds, send friend requests and hop into multiplayer sessions with cross-platform in-game invites.Epic has broader ambitions for cross-play support beyond Steam. It's working to support other PC launchers, as well as macOS and Linux. It will add cross-play tools for consoles and mobile to the SDK further down the line. Several of Epic's own games — including Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout — have full cross-play support.
Roku partners with Walmart on shoppable ads, Snap tests Snapchat Plus subscription, and Fairphone launches the Fairphone Easy subscription. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible. Big thanks toContinue reading "Roku Partners With Walmart On Shoppable Ads – DTH"
If you're still hunting for the perfect gift for dad ahead of Father's Day this weekend, a bunch of our favorite gadgets are on sale right now. The Apple TV 4K remains discounted to $130, its cheapest price yet, and a couple of colors of the AirPods Max are $120 off. Amazon's Fire tablets and basic Kindle are on sale, too, plus you can pick up three video games for the price of two in the online retailer's latest 3-for-2 sale. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Apple TV 4KDevindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe latest Apple TV 4K is down to a new record low of $130. That's nearly $50 off its normal price and a great deal on what we consider to be the best high-end streaming device. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus its much improved Siri remote.Buy Apple TV 4K (32GB) at Amazon - $130Buy Apple TV 4K (64GB) at Amazon - $150AirPods (3rd gen)The latest AirPods are $30 off and down to $150, which is only $10 more than their all-time-low price. We gave the buds a score of 88 for their improved audio quality, more comfortable design and longer battery life.Buy AirPods at Amazon - $150AirPods MaxEngadgetApple's AirPods Max are $120 off and down to $430. We gave these headphones a score of 84 for their excellent, balanced sound, solid ANC, comfortable design and good battery life.Buy AirPods Max at Amazon - $430Amazon 3-for-2 saleFromSoftwareAmazon's latest 3-for-2 sale includes a bunch of popular video games, including Elden Ring, Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and more. While most titles are full price, you will find a few that have been discounted as well. So not only can you pick up three games for the price of two, but the base price for some of them is lower than usual, too.Shop 3-for-2 sale at AmazonSamsung Smart Monitor M8SamsungThe new Smart Monitor M8 is $100 cheaper than usual at Amazon and Samsung right now. This 32-inch display has a 3,840 x 2,160 pixel resolution and works as both a monitor and a smart TV, giving you access to streaming devices like Netflix, Disney+ and others. It also has a built-in SmartThings home hub inside, so you can use it to control compatible IoT devices in your home.Buy Samsung M8 Smart Monitor at Amazon - $600Buy Samsung M8 Smart Monitor at Samsung - $600Amazon Fire tabletsValentina Palladino / EngadgetA number of Amazon's Fire tablets are on sale, with some up to 45 percent off. The most affordable of the bunch is the Fire HD 8, which is down to $50, while the steepest discount is on the Fire HD 8 Plus, which you can grab for only $60.Shop Fire tablets at AmazonAmazon KindleJames Trew/EngadgetAmazon's standard Kindle is 33 percent off and down to $60. We gave the e-reader a score of 91 when it first came out for its smaller, sleeker design and improved display with higher contrast and a new front light system.Buy Kindle at Amazon - $60Amazon smart thermostatAmazonAmazon's smart thermostat is back on sale for $48, or 20 percent off its normal price. This is a more affordable alternative to higher-end thermostats and it lets you control your home's environment from anywhere, plus use Alexa commands to do so while you're in the house.Buy smart thermostat at Amazon - $48Sonos RoamSonos' portable Roam speaker remains 20 percent off and down to just over $143. We gave it a score of 87 for its great audio quality, compact and durable design and ability to play stereo audio when two are paired together.Buy Sonos Roam at Amazon - $143Buy Sonos Roam at Sonos - $143Sonos MoveThe outdoor-friendly Sonos Move is also 20 percent off and down to just under $320. It earned a score of 80 from us for its excellent sound quality, Bluetooth connectivity, weather-resistant design and great battery life.Buy Sonos Move at Sonos - $320Sonos refurbished saleSonos has discounted a bunch of refurbished speakers and soundbars. Sonos' refurbished program tests all devices to make sure they're as good as new and these devices come with the same one-year warranty as new products do.Shop Sonos refurbished saleBeats Fit ProThe Beats Fit Pro earbuds are back on sale for $180, or $20 off their usual price. We gave them a score of 87 for their good sound quality, strong ANC and handy features provided by Apple's H1 chipset.Buy Beats Fit Pro at Amazon - $180Google Nest DoorbellThe battery-powered Nest Doorbell is on sale for $130 at Amazon right now, or nearly 30 percent off its normal price. This IoT device is easy to install since you don't have to hardwire it, and it'll send you alerts when someone shows up at your doorstep. You can also pick up the Nest Cam Outdoor for $129 or the Nest Cam Indoor for $80.Buy Google Nest Cameras and Doorbells at AmazonRoku UltraThe 2022 Roku Ultra is 20 percent off and down to a new low of $80. The updated set-top box just came out last month and it includes the new Voice Remote Pro with a rechargeable battery and a remote-finder feature, plus support for 4K, HDR10+ streaming. It's also worth noting that the Roku Streambar remains on sale for $99.Buy Roku Ultra at Amazon - $80Buy Roku Streambar at Amazon - $99Sony WH-1000XM4Sony's WH-1000XM4 headphones are down to $278, which is 21 percent off its normal price. While Sony just came out with the XM5 headphones, these cans remain a good option for those that want excellent sound quality and ANC to match. Plus, you'll save more than $100 compared to the XM5 if you pick up the XM4 while they're on sale.Buy WH-1000XM4 at Amazon - $278Roomba 694iRobot's Roomba 694 has dropped to $180, or $94 off its usual price. It earned a spot in our best affordable robot vacuums guide thanks to its good cleaning power and easy to use mobile app.Buy Roomba 694 at Amazon - $180Roomba j7+iRobot's Roomba j7+ is down to $599 at Amazon, or $200 off its normal price. We included the Roomba j7 in our best robot vaccums guide because it did a good job cleaning both carpeted and hard floors, plus it has good obstacle avoidance and an easy to use companion app. The j7+ adds a clean base into the mix, so the robot will automatically empty its bin into the clean base after every job.Buy Roomba j7+ at Amazon - $599Google Nest ThermostatGoogleTarget has the Nest Thermostat for $100, plus you can get a Nest Hub for only $50 or a Nest Hub Max for $180 when you pick up either with the thermostat. That's a good deal if you're looking to expand your smart home ecosystem, plus it could make a good gift for dad for Father's Day.Buy Nest Thermostat at Target - $100Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
The European Union might not be the only government body setting a common standard for device chargers. The Vergenotes US senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo calling on her department to develop a "comprehensive strategy" that would lead to a common charging standard. The EU acted in the "public interest" by settling on one port, the senators said, and the US ought to follow suit to reduce the environmental impact of chargers while improving convenience for users.The politicians' arguments largely mirrored the EU's stance. A charger standard would theoretically reduce e-waste by letting people reuse existing cables and adapters for new devices. It could also help consumers money by sparing them from buying additional chargers, not to mention adding "sanity and certainty" to electronics shopping. This would prevent companies from locking you into proprietary cables that become obsolete, according to the group.Raimondo hadn't responded to the letter as of this writing. The senators didn't specify USB-C as the standard, although that's likely to be the frontrunner. The EU will require USB-C starting in 2024, and the technology can accommodate everything from smartphones and earbuds through to high-end laptops. It also provides more consistent approaches to fast charging and accessory support.Critics and some companies have long pushed back on charger standards. Apple most notably claimed a universal charger would hurt innovation by limiting the potential for technical advances, and would allegedly negate e-waste reduction by forcing legions of the company's users to replace their Lightning cables. Brands like Apple might not have much choice but to switch given the EU's move, however, and a US standard would only cement that decision.As it is, there are rumors Apple will move to USB-C for both its 2023 iPhone lineup and this year's base iPad (all other iPads already use the format). A US charging standard might prevent companies like Apple from reverting to proprietary connectors later on, but the possible new regulation might do little more than enforce the status quo by the time it takes effect.
Dragon's Dogma didn't rock the fantasy RPG world when it arrived in 2012, but it gradually developed a loyal fan base. If you're part of that group, you'll be glad to hear that Capcom has confirmed work on a sequel as part of a livestream celebrating the original's 10th anniversary. Not that there are many details, mind you. As Kotakureports, game director Hideaki Itsuno shared the Dragon's Dogma II name, a logo and nothing else — don't expect a release in the near future, then.The first game was flawed, with an awkward interface and a mediocre open-world experience. However, its wild story, enjoyable combat and extensive customization helped win people over. It was popular enough to warrant an expansion (Dark Arisen), a Japan-exclusive online RPG (Dragon's Dogma Online) and even a Netflix anime series.It's safe to presume Dragon's Dogma II will target modern consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. With that said, it's too soon to say much else. A lot has changed in the past decade, and a sequel will have to compete with action RPG rivals like Elden Ring. Still, this might give Capcom more room to address the original's flaws and otherwise shake up its game mechanics.
After previewing the feature in beta last April, WhatsApp is rolling out greater privacy controls for Profile Photo, About, Status and Last Seen settings, the company tweeted. Until now, you could only block those settings for Everyone, My Contacts or Nobody, but the new update introduces a "My Contacts Except" option that offers far more granular control. The "Last Seen" status is a particular privacy danger, as it indicates when someone last checked the app. That provides a way to find out if a contact may have potentially seen your message even if they have read receipts turned off. The new feature allows you to shut off that feature for certain people, while also blocking Profile Photo, About and Status for individual users. 🔒 To further protect your privacy online, we’re rolling out new options to your privacy control settings 🔒Now you can select who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status. For more information follow this link: https://t.co/UGMCx2n70h— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) June 15, 2022If you restrict your Last Seen status to certain people, you'll notice that you won't be able to see their Last Seen status, either. The new settings are available via the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, then navigating to Account > Privacy. WhatsApp has added a number of new features of late, both around privacy and convenience. Last year, the company said it would limit accounts for users who don't accept its new privacy policy, but it later backtracked on that. Earlier this week, the chat app unveiled a new feature that makes it easier to switch from Android to iOS.
Roku has teamed up with Walmart to serve a new kind of advertisement that will let you shop straight from your TV. Unlike typical TV ads that only showcase a specific service or product, these shoppable ads are more similar to advertisements you see online. Viewers who do find something they want to buy from the shoppable ads can press OK on their remote to begin Walmart's checkout process. Their payment details will be automatically populated with their information from Roku Pay, so they'd only have to press OK to complete their purchase. They'll then get an email confirmation from Walmart with shipping and return information. Since this is a pilot partnership between the companies, the shoppable ads powered Roku's ad-buying platform called OneView will only feature products fulfilled by Walmart. Of course, ads always have the potential to be annoying, but Roku's announcement suggests that it will at least show ads targeted towards its users, thanks to its advertising tech. The company also said that future iterations of this pilot program "will look for opportunities to build deeper commerce experiences that meet customers where they are."This isn't the first time Roku and Walmart have joined forces: Last year, Roku debuted its new LE streaming player as a $15 Walmart exclusive for Black Friday. The device eventually made its way to other retailers like Amazon, where it's being sold at prices ranging from $24 to $30.
Microsoft has been reminding everyone willing to listen that the end of Internet Explorer is nigh, but many businesses in Japan seemingly did not take heed.Almost half are reportedly still using the browser. According to Nikkei, many of those companies put off making the switch to other browsers, whether that’s Microsoft’s own Edge, or others. This could cause chaos for months across the country.Many were trapped using Internet Explorer because of systems their clients used, while others are using the browser to handle things like employee attendance and expenses. Over a fifth of the respondents didn't have a plan for how to move away from the now-unsupported browser.Japan does have a tendency to cling to older tech. The country’s love of technology, robots and gadgets – have you seen this toaster? – is balanced out by its insistence on fax machines and the dogged determination of its feature phones during the smartphone boom.-Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedCall of Duty has stricter gun control measures than the US Microsoft's Defender online security tool is now available to consumersSpaceX employees say Elon Musk is an 'embarrassment' as he waffles on work-from-home Surface Laptop Go 2 review: Basic, but in a good way Ferrari says 60 percent of its lineup will be electrified by 2026Amazon Prime Day kicks off July 12th this yearAnna Sorokin wants to move away from her 'scammer' persona... by selling NFTsSamsung merges Pay and Pass into a single Wallet appApple faces another iPhone 'Batterygate' legal claim, this time in the UKLG's extra-tall DualUp Monitor is available now for $699Tesla hikes prices across all of its models by up to $6,000The long range versions of all vehicles shot up.Tesla has significantly boosted prices across its EV lineup, according to changes in its online configurator spotted by Electrek. Most of the models affected are long-range versions, with the Model X AWD Long Range jumping the most, up $6,000 from $114,990 to $120,990. It's the latest in a series of price hikes for Tesla EVs this year. The company didn't explain the changes, but high inflation, electronics shortages and other issues could be to blame.Continue reading.The Boring Company will build a 34-mile tunnel network underneath Las VegasThe company receives approval to expand its tunnels underneath the city.Elon Musk’s tunneling company has just received approval from the city to bring its underground transportation system, called the Vegas Loop, as far as the city’s limits. When Clark County Commissioners first approved the Vegas Loop, it was supposed to be a 29-mile tunnel network connecting 51 stations. Now, the network will span 34 miles and have a total of 55 stations, including ones that will serve the Harry Reid International Airport and the Allegiant Stadium.Continue reading.Sony and Honda’s EV business has a nameThe company will kick things off in 2025.SonyAfter Sony and Honda announced plans to form a separate company for their joint electric vehicle partnership, they've finally come up with a name. Sony Honda Mobility Inc. and will be established in Tokyo before the end of 2022, with EV sales set to start in 2025. Honda is far behind rivals in EV development, with its only electric car being the Honda E — but it's accelerated its plans of late. Earlier this year it unveiled a partnership with GM to co-develop a series of affordable EVs.Continue reading.Surface Laptop Go 2 reviewBasic, but in a good wayEngadgetThe Surface Laptop Go 2, priced at $600, isn’t as fancy or sophisticated as some of Microsoft’s other notebooks, but it nails all the basics. You get good battery life, a bright 12.4-inch touchscreen, and plenty of performance thanks to an updated 11th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU. You also get a 128GB SSD on the base model, which is a major upgrade from the 64GB of eMMC storage you got on its predecessor. There’s definitely a lot to like at this price, so make sure to read our full review.Continue reading.
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange's extradition to the US has been approved by UK home secretary Priti Patel, according to a UK government factsheet. "Under the Extradition Act 2003, the secretary of state must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made," a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement. "In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange."Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.The announcement was expected after a UK court issued a formal order to extradite Assange in April, a necessary legal step required before the government can act. "Extradition requests are only sent to the home secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case," the spokesperson stated. After the earlier trial, Assange's team would have had the opportunity to submit information to sway Patel, but that apparently failed to move her. The order isn't necessarily the final word on the case, though. Assange's legal team is expected to appeal within the 14-day window allowed, likely on the grounds of freedom of expression and whether the order was politically motivated. It's not unprecedented for such appeals to be successful, either. Alleged British hacker Lauri Love won his US extradition appeal on human rights grounds, arguing that the order would have caused his Asperger's condition to deteriorate.
During a Final Fantasy VII 25th anniversary celebration, alongside announcements of a Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core remake and news that Remake Intergrade will launch on Steam later this month, we got our first tiny glimpse of the next part of Final Fantasy VII Remake.It’ll be called Rebirth, and seems to focus on some of the major plotlines of the original (we won’t get spoilery) all while throwing a wrench into our expectations.We see protagonist Cloud and antagonist Sephiroth marching around a later area of the original game with lush vegetation, while fellow party member Aerith (we think) muses off-screen on whether she’s died. Or not. We also get a brief glimpse of Cloud resting on the shoulder of Zack – the hero of Crisis Core. So, er, yeah. Even if you’re totally up to speed with FFVII lore and spin-offs, this trailer is a giant question mark to get fans talking and theorizing for the next twelve months and beyond.Producer Yoshinori Kitase said during the stream that: "Making the middle part of a trilogy has its own challenges, but there are plenty of classic second installments in the world of film that are defined by stunning story twists and deeper explorations of their characters.”The game’s director, Naoki Hamaguchi, said: "The Final Fantasy 7 remake project will be a three-part trilogy, but Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is much more than just one installment in the series.”There you have it. Final Fantasy VII Remake will be a trilogy. And so very manyspin-off games on the side.
Anker's Eufy brand robotic vacuums are already affordable and they just got even cheaper via a new Amazon sale. The most interesting model is the Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 30 that's available for just $130, for a savings of $120 or 48 percent off the regular price. Other models also have steep discounts like the advanced RoboVac X8, RoboVac 11S Slim, RoboVac 30C MAX and RoboVac G30 Hybrid. Buy Anker Eufy RoboVacs at AmazonAnker launched Eufy back in 2016 as a budget robotic vacuum brand with an emphasis on technology. The cheapest model in this sale is the BoostIQ RoboVac 30, available for $130 or $120 off the regular price. It offers features like a slim profile, 1,500Pa suction levels, included boundary strips, automatic cleaning and 100 minutes of endurance on hardwood floors. It lacks WiFi and other advanced features, but if you don't need those, it's a steal at that price.On the other end of the scale is Eufy's RoboVac X8, on sale for $400 or 33 percent off the regular $600 price. It generates 2,000Pa of suction, while offering advanced tech features like iPath laser navigation to scan and map your home using LiDAR; AI Map 2.0 tech that can save maps for multiple floors; and smartphone control via WiFi. In addition, you can grab the RoboVac 11S Slim for just $140, or $90 (39 percent off). While vacuum power is limited to 1,300Pa, it's small enough at 2.85 inches to fit in spaces other vacuums can't reach. Upgrade to WiFi and more powerful 2,000Pa of suction with the RoboVac 30C MAX, on sale for $180 or $80 off the regular $260 price. Another powerful WiFi-equipped model is the RoboVac G30, offering Smart Dynamic Navigation 2.0, 2,000Pa of suction and Alexa compatibility. It's on sale for $178, or $140 off the regular price via a coupon used at checkout. And finally, the RoboVac G30 Hybrid offers the same features but can also do mopping is on sale for $200, or $170 (46 percent) off the list price. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
One of the big players in the push to update tech industry regulations is the Federal Trade Commission, whose job is to protect consumers and promote competition in the economy. It’s been just over a year since Lina Khan took over as chair of the agency and about a month since the confirmation of a third Democrat, Alvaro Bedoya, to the five-member commission, which broke a prolonged deadlock at the agency. That means Khan has a fresh chance to advance her agenda. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Khan at her office and asked her about taking on Big Tech in the courts.
Lyft has agreed to pay $25 million to settle shareholders' allegations that it failed to disclose safety issues in its Initial Public Offering (IPO) paperwork. According to Reuters, shareholders accused the company of concealing known problems, such as sexual assaults by its drivers, to cultivate an image of a more socially responsible alternative to Uber. They also accused Lyft of not disclosing safety issues regarding its bikeshare program, specifically the problem the company faced with its brakes that forced it to pull its bikes from various cities in the US. While Lyft has agreed to settle, it denied any wrongdoing. In a statement sent to CNN Business, company spokesperson Gabriela Condarco-Quesada said:"This settlement resolves a shareholder class action related to statements in Lyft's initial public offering and its financial impact on investors — it's not about safety-related claims on the platform."In their complaint, the shareholders said reports of sexual assaults by Lyft drivers that came out after the IPO represented an "existential risk" to the brand that should have been disclosed beforehand. Further, they said Lyft used promotions to boost its market share against Uber. Lyft officially filed to go public in 2019, but it wasn't until 2021 that it had published its first safety report. In it, the ride—hailing firm revealed that it received a total of 4,158 sexual assault reports from 2017 until 2019. Lyft divided the cases in different categories for its report, with the most common incidents falling under the non-consensual touching of a sexual body part category. It's worth noting, however, that the money for this settlement will go to shareholders and not to any of the passengers who reported being sexually assaulted by the firm's drivers.
Andy and Flo wonder why the new Chromecast ambient mode is cluttered with widgets before they get into a recent whistleblower's claims that Google's LaMDA is a sentient being. (It's not.) We'll explain the what, why, and no-how of last weekend's most trending Google story. Then, it looks like iPhones are getting some Googley abilities. We'll cheekily walk you through all the features Android had first. Finally, Andy will explain why the new Pixel update fixes an overlooked audio essential.
Animation is another way to add a more professional and polished look to your videos. Ant Pruitt discusses smooth animation tips in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve on this episode of Hands-On Photography. Host: Ant Pruitt Find Hands-On Photography on your favorite podcatcher. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-photography Follow Ant Pruitt on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ant_pruitt/ Follow TWiT on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/twit.tv/ Join the TWiT forums https://www.twit.community/ Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: nomadgoods.com/TWIT
Jack Dorsey wants to skip Web3 and Web4 and go straight to a decentralized Web5 ... or does he? Instagram is adding new features and partnerships to encourage young people to take a break from the social media platform. New legislation aims to ban the sale of health and location data to third parties. Activision Blizzard, which was internally investigating claims of harassment at the company, says it failed to find a systemic issue. First, CoinDesk's Sam Kessler stops by the show to discuss former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's latest vision for a decentralized internet: Web5. Kessler discusses Dorsey's announcement and helps sift through the jokes and memes surrounding the idea. Then, Lizzy Lawrence of Protocol joins the show to talk about Instagram's latest Health and Safety features. The social media network has partnered with influencers and implemented a number of prompts to encourage users to step away from Instagram from time to time. Lawrence examines the efficacy of the updates. Then, Jason shares a story about new legislation that would ban the sale of health and location data by apps and services that collect the information. Some weather apps, cycle trackers, and other apps collect data about an individual user and sell that information to third-party data brokers. This potential law would ban the practice. Lastly, Mikah talks about Activision Blizzard's recent SEC filing. The company says it completed an internal investigation regarding harassment, but failed to find a "systemic issue." Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent Guests: Lizzy Lawrence and Sam Kessler Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: meraki.cisco.com/twit Compiler - TNW Melissa.com/twit
We take a look at one year of Andy Jassy’s tenure as CEO of Amazon, how eBay hopes to cash in the phenomenon of live streaming shopping, Techdirt reports that $1 to $2 billion in streaming ad spending isn’t being watched because the TV is off, and we examine the efforts and results of tryingContinue reading "Disinformation: Solved? – DTNS 4298"
Legendary comedy writer Peter Baynham (@peterbaynham) of the podcast Brain Cigar joins Andy, Matt and Jesse to talk about sharks and megalodons, how bikes stay upright, another great collection of science article art and more, slinging a payload into the sky, discovering ancient Amazon settlements using lidar and some crazy cave art. This episode is brought to you by Manscaped, offering Probably Science listeners 20% off and free shipping by using the promo code PROBABLY
Facebook head Tom Alison said the new goal for Facebook is to build a “discovery engine,” Discord launches its AutoMod moderation tool, and the European Commission updates its Code of Practice on Disinformation. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanksContinue reading "Meta Working on Making Facebook Feed a “Discovery Engine” – DTH"
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.
Right before the final deadline from the US government, Dish Network says they have finally launched their 5G service in America. The Vergecast dedicates some time on the show this week to analyze Dish’s press release and talk about the obstacles The Verge must go through to test out this service. Later in the show, the topic shifts to Google’s LaMDA model that was accused of being sentient by a Google engineer. The crew pushes back on the idea of a chatbot being sentient and discusses the way people humanize these models. The last third of the show starts with news of Apple’s partnership with Major League Soccer to stream every match from early 2023 through 2032 in the Apple TV app, which David calls “the most thorough complete sports streaming spot that we’ve ever had in the US.” There are a whole lot more stories in between all of that, so listen here or in your preferred podcast player for the full discussion. Stories mentioned on this show:
Watch the trailer for The Verge’s first Netflix show, The Future Of Dish Network’s Project Genesis 5G service is live in more cities Dish says Project Genesis 5G is available in 100 cities, so we tried to sign up T-Mobile can now use three-channel aggregation for even faster 5G The Google engineer who thinks the company’s AI has come to life – The Washington Post Google suspends engineer who claims its AI is sentient Apple will stream every Major League Soccer match for 10 years starting in 2023 Apple reportedly wants in on NFL Sunday Ticket Apple TV Plus’ Friday Night Baseball debut wasn’t the homerun fans expected
Amazon and WNBA strike multi-year streaming deal Don’t wait to install the June Windows update — it fixes a major security bug Ford recalls nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-Es over battery safety issues Nothing reveals Phone 1 design a month early Internet Explorer, star of Windows, dies at 26 Microsoft starts automatically redirecting Internet Explorer users to Edge Sonos Voice Control review: a speedy, private, music-focused assistant Microsoft Teams now uses AI to improve echo, interruptions, and acoustics WhatsApp now lets you transfer your chat history from Android to iPhone
This week, 14 high school students presented their research projects at the Bio International Convention in San Diego. Some focused on medical technology, others on environmental solutions. One student presented a new volatile compound made from beer that he says will benefit honeybee colonies. The students competed for cash prizes of up to $7,500. “Marketplace Tech’s” Amanda Peacher followed one 16-year-old winner who traveled from Pennsylvania to showcase his project.
China must develop capabilities to disable and maybe even destroy Starlink internet satellites, the country's military researchers said in a paper published by the Chinese journal Modern Defense Technology. The authors highlighted the possibility of Starlink being used for military purposes that could aid other countries and threaten China's national security. According to South China Morning Post, the scientists are calling for the development of anti-satellite capabilities, including both hard and soft kill methods. The former is used to physically destroy satellites, such as the use of missiles, while a soft kill method targets a satellite's software and operating system. In addition, the researchers are suggesting the development of a surveillance system with the ability to track each and every Starlink satellite. That would address one of their concerns, which is the possibility of launching military payloads along with a bunch of satellites for the constellation. David Cowhig's Translation Blog posted an English version of the paper, along with another article from state-sponsored website China Military Online that warned about the dangers of the satellite internet service. "While Starlink claims to be a civilian program that provides high-speed internet services, it has a strong military background," it said. Its launch sites are built within military bases, it continued, and SpaceX previously received funds from the US Air Force to study how Starlink satellites can connect to military aircraft under encryption. The Chinese scientists warned Starlink could boost the communication speeds of fighter jets and drones by over 100 times. The author warned:"When completed, Starlink satellites can be mounted with reconnaissance, navigation and meteorological devices to further enhance the US military’s combat capability in such areas as reconnaissance remote sensing, communications relay, navigation and positioning, attack and collision, and space sheltering."Between hard and soft kill, the researchers favor the latter, since physically destroying satellites would produce space debris that could interfere with China's activities. The country previously filed a complaint with the United Nations about the Tiangong space station's near-collision with Starlink satellites. Apparently, the station had to perform evasive maneuvers twice in 2021 to minimize the chances of collision. Destroying a few satellites also wouldn't completely take out the Starlink constellation, seeing as SpaceX has already launched over 2,500 satellites at this point in time.
Alleged Pixel 7 prototype hits eBay months ahead of the phone's official release. Google Pixel 7 Prototype - 128GB - Stormy Black (Unlocked). A mysterious high-end Pixel phone may be in the works. 5 things the Google Pixel Ultra needs to succeed. Google reportedly further postpones the foldable Pixel phone. Source: Pixel Watch battery life is expected to last a day. Likely Google Pixel tablet gets USI certification and stylus support. Nothing Phone (1) to come with transparent design as the rumored launch date and pricing leak. Nothing Phone (1) preview: a radical reinterpretation of mobile tech. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 Could Have Flagship-level Camera Specs. You can give the LG G6 a see-through back too. HTC's new flagship smartphone has a translucent back and dual front cameras. Xiaomi releases another transparent phone with fake parts. HTC's Metaverse-focused Android phone hit with a real-world delay. Joel is tablet-skeptical. Miguel lists all the reasons he loves Wear OS. Claude has a practical way to prevent pocket lint in ports. Joseph is a big fan of the Fire Tablet 10. Harry reviews his favorite smartwatch, the Amazfit GTR 2. Jason shares why he loves Bixby. Read our show notes here: https://bit.ly/3m3un9m Hosts: Jason Howell and Ron Richards Subscribe to All About Android at https://twit.tv/shows/all-about-android. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Garmin hasn't touched its mid-tier Forerunner 200-series GPS running watches since 2019, but it's ready to catch up with a major update — plus another for the most demanding athletes. The company has introduced the Forerunner 255, a follow-up to the 245 that adds full triathlon support as well as more accurate multi-band GPS, Garmin Pay and race prep tools that include a multi-function widget and a "morning report" with sleep data and workout suggestions. You can also expect heart rate variability tracking and power stats from Garmin's HRM-Pro or Running Dynamics Pod add-ons.Battery life is healthy, too. You can anticipate up to 14 days of use in full smartwatch mode, and 30 hours in GPS mode.The Forerunner 255 line is available now, with prices dictated by media support rather than case size. The series starts at $350 for the 41mm Forerunner 255S as well as the larger, 46mm 255. If you want on-device music from Amazon, Deezer or Spotify, you'll need to spend $400 for the 255S Music or 255 Music. Those still aren't casual purchases, but they're now easier to justify if you're committed to improving your runs. Garmin You now have a better incentive to spend more, however. Garmin is also launching the Forerunner 955 Solar (pictured at middle), its first solar-powered watch dedicated to running. The in-glass panel gives you up to 20 days of smartwatch use and 49 hours with active GPS — helpful for long-distance runners or anyone who simply hates plugging in. You'll also get a touchscreen for easier navigation when the five-button controls won't do. You can likewise expect the 255's multi-band GPS, heart rate variability and software improvements, while 'extras' like music and Garmin Pay are built-in.The 955 Solar is available now for $600, while a more conventional Forerunner 955 is selling for $500. As with earlier 900 models, you'll likely already know if you want one. They're aimed squarely at pro athletes and serious enthusiasts determined to improve their pace.
Picture of the Week. New South Wales DDL — Digital Driver's License. The latest Microsoft Office 0-day remote code execution vulnerability. GhostTouch. Vodafone's new TrustPiD. Closing the Loop. DuckDuckGone? We invite you to read our show notes at https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-873-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now! at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: Melissa.com/twit zentrysecurity.com/twit kolide.com/securitynow
Texas's HB20 was put on hold Tuesday by the Supreme Court, five-to-four. As is typical for emergency for emergency requests, the majority did not define its reasoning; Justice Alito wrote a six page dissent joined by fellow conservatives Gorsuch and Thomas, while Kagan, a moderate, wrote she would "would deny the application to vacate stay" without signing onto the dissent.The bill — which has been tied up in court since it was passed by the state's Congress and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott last September — targets "censorship" by online platforms, insofar as conservatives have in recent years been wont to conflate any form of content moderation with censorship. It reframes large social platforms as "common carriers" similar to telecom companies, but uses that logic to restrict the ability of platforms to limit the spread of, ban or demonetize content based on “the viewpoint of the user," whether or not that view is expressed on the platform. Unsurprisingly, the content, users and viewpoints the law's supporters believe are being unfairly targeted hew rightward: as the Texas Tribunereported last year, Governor Abbott said he believed social platforms were working to "silence conservative ideas [and] religious beliefs." The aggrievement of the interested parties and their desired outcomes weren't lost on Judge Robert Pitman of West Texas's District Court, who wrote that "the record in this case confirms that the Legislature intended to target large social media platforms perceived as being biased against conservative views." An emergency application to the Supreme Court to suspend HB20 was filed earlier this month by two tech industry groups — NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) — after a Fifth Circuit court had lifted an injunction on the law, doing so in a startling 2-1 decision for which no explanation was provided. Netchoice's members include Airbnb, TikTok, Amazon and Lyft among many other; Apple, Google, eBay, Meta and others count themselves among those associated with CCIA. Counsel for NetChoice at the time told Protocol that the Texas law was "unconstitutional" and would compel "online platforms to host and promote foreign propaganda, pornography, pro-Nazi speech, and spam.”These same concerns were given new urgency after the Buffalo, New York shooting, in which a gunman with white supremacist beliefs killed 10 people and injured three others in a majority-black neighborhood while live-streaming the carnage. Social media companies worked to remove copies of the footage from their services. Even as they did so, the question remained unsettled as to whether those removals would result in Texas dragging these platforms into court. Confusion as to the law's application was not limited to interested observers, either: in a Twitter exchange with Techdirt's Mike Masnick, the sponsor of the bill seemed unsure on how such situations would play out. A related law in Florida, using a similar common carrier approach, had most of its major provisions deemed unconstitutional by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month. The question of constitutionality for HB20 will continue to move forward in the Fifth Circuit Court.
On iOS Today, Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard share some of their favorite free apps for your iOS devices. Google Earth Citymapper: All Your Transport BeReal. Your friends for real. Unsquared For Instagram Runestone Text Editor Shop: All your favorite brands TimerLoop: Repeatable Timers Flite - Email Yourself Notes Flush - Toilet Finder & Map News In-app account deletion requirement starts June 30 Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off June 6 with keynote address Apple Developer update to include WWDC 2022 session videos, digital lounges, more Apple Account Card now available in the Wallet app US Senate backs off Big Tech regulation bill as Apple again criticizes impacts of sideloading Shortcuts Corner Michael wants to use a shortcut that will start an outdoor walk workout when getting to a particular park Feedback Wayne has a question about losing cell signal when entering large buildings App Caps Rosemary: Phase 10: World Tour Mikah: WhenWorks Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsors: nomadgoods.com/IOSTODAY itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30
1 Billion Safari Users, SwiftUI in 2022, BTS WWDC 2022: What to expect, iOS 16, new operating systems, redesigned MacBook Air, more. WWDC 2022 full schedule. Apple's Safari browser now has more than 1 billion users. Michael Tsai - SwiftUI in 2022. Judge rules Cydia's antitrust case against Apple can move forward. Apple VP kindly reminds retail workers that they can say no to unions. We Tried Apple's Self Repair Program. You Shouldn't. (Probably). Foxconn raises outlook, saying supply chain situation improving. Kuo: TSMC roadmap indicates this year's iPhone 'A16' chip will stick to 5nm fab, same as A14 and A15. Apple has won a patent for a future Apple Watch with an integrated camera in its digital crown and more. Tesla is considering adopting Apple's AirPlay to improve audio quality. Apple Music 1 launching a new show hosted by K-pop sensation BTS. Formula One pilot Sebastian Vettel chases thieves using the iPhone's Find My app. Remembering Apple's Newton, 30 years on.
Picks of the Week Alex's Pick: ChauvetDJ Andy's Pick: Buy Nothing App for iOS Rene's Pick: Rene's Nebula Class Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Rene Ritchie, and Andy Ihnatko Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: ue.com/fits promo code MACBREAK kolide.com/macbreak wealthfront.com/macbreak
No, your eyes don't deceive you — Ubisoft is upgrading an older Assassin's Creed game for modern consoles. The developer has revealed that a 60 frames per second update for 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on June 2nd. The boost doesn't appear to include 4K support or other visual embellishments, but this could still breathe new life into the game if you haven't touched it in a while.It's not clear what prompted a 60FPS boost for a game released three years before PS5 and Xbox Series consoles existed. Ubisoft did release a similar upgrade for Assassin's Creed Odyssey in 2021, but that was a year earlier and for a more recent title. Origins was one of the better-received recent games in the franchise, though, and Ubi has a strong incentive to rejuvenate interest in the series ahead of Infinity. If nothing else, this is a good excuse to return to an alternate reality take on ancient Egypt.You've been waiting, and now the winds of Egypt are calling....Experience Assassin's Creed Origins in 60FPS - available for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles on June 2.#AssassinsCreedpic.twitter.com/SxxiyTROE0— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) May 31, 2022
Computer vision comes for baseball umpires, what Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion can do for island power, and Microsoft brings blue checkmarks to everyone. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Chris Ashley, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org Follow us on Twitter Instgram YouTube and TwitchContinue reading "Automated Balls & Strikes…The Right Call?- DTNS 4286V2"
Podcast listeners, no matter the app they use, were unable to access shows hosted on Spotify's Megaphone platform Monday night and early Tuesday. Those include The Joe Rogan Experience and podcasts from The Ringer and Gimlet Media. Worst of all, it seems the problem was entirely avoidable — it was due to a lapsed security certificate. “Megaphone experienced a platform outage due to an issue related to our SSL certificate,” Spotify spokesperson Erin Styles told The Verge. “During the outage, clients were unable to access the Megaphone CMS and podcast listeners were unable to download podcast episodes from Megaphone-hosted publishers."A valid SSL certificate is required to create a secure connection between a server and a browser or app. It seems Megaphone's certificate expired at around 8PM ET on Monday and the service didn't come back online until just before 6AM this morning. It took a few more hours before the problems were fully resolved.Megaphone, which dynamically inserts ads into podcasts, is a key component of Spotify's podcast ambitions. It bought the company for $235 million in 2020. Spotify bolstered the service when it bought Whooshkaa, which can turn radio shows into podcasts, last December. It also acquired two other ad tech companies, Chartable and Podsights, earlier this year.Neglecting to renew the certificate is a bad look for Spotify, which as a technology company, ought to know better. While listeners might not have been able to download episodes of their favorite shows overnight, they should have access again now. Spotify is not the only major tech company to have dealt with such a snafu, though. In 2020, Microsoft Teams was down for a few hours after someone seemingly forgot to renew the SSL certificate.
Retro console maker Evercade has just announced its latest device, a new handheld called the EXP. If you’re not familiar with Evercade, its products are a bit different from your standard retro fare. Instead of purchasing a device like the SNES Classic Edition that comes with a limited library of preloaded games or one like the Analogue Pocket that can play games from their original cartridges, Evercade sells cartridges that come with a selection of games. The company says this approach has a few benefits, one of which is that it enables license holders to be paid more fairly. It also means games load instantly.Blaze EntertainmentThe EXP builds on the company’s original handheld with a new, more mature design. Gone are the red “go faster” stripes of its predecessor. Additionally, the EXP features a new 4.3-inch IPS panel with a denser 800 by 480 resolution. It also comes with a 1.5GHz processor and 4GB of built-in memory, putting it on par with the company’s VS console. New to the EXP is a “Tate” mode that makes the handheld a better fit for playing games that were designed around vertical scrolling like classic shmups. The EXP features two buttons on its left-hand side to aid with playing games this way. Evercade has also added WiFi and USB-C connectivity to the device and redesigned the mini-HDMI port to make it more stable.In the US, the EXP will cost $150. Evercade will begin accepting pre-orders for the console starting in September, with general availability to follow later this winter. Retail units will ship with the IREM Arcade 1 collection, which comes with six games from the Japanese publisher, including Moon Patrol and 10 Yard Fight. Evercade has promised to share more details about the device, including information on bonus content, in September.
Earlier this year, New York City started testing a gun detection system from Evolv Technologies at City Hall and Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Mayor Eric Adams, who has said he came across the system on the internet, has been talking up the tech for months as a way to help combat gun violence. Now, it has emerged that two people who donated $1 million to support Adams' mayoral run work at companies with investments in Evolv, as the New York Daily News first reported.The CEO of the investment firm Citadel, Kenneth Griffin, last year donated $750,000 to Strong Leadership NYC, a political action committee (PAC) that supported Adams. Jane Street Financial Services founder Robert Granieri gave $250,000, according to records.As of May 16th, Citadel held 12,975 shares in Evolv, a publicly traded company. It holds another 89,900 for other investors as call options. Jane Street held 76,570 shares as of May 17th. The stock held by all shareholders totals 143.4 million, so both firms own a relatively small chunk of Evolv.Mayor is testing out fancy new metal detectors at City Hall. He’s proposed putting these in the subways. pic.twitter.com/PudnUcoHD5— Clayton Guse (@ClaytonGuse) May 17, 2022A spokesperson for Adams told the Daily News that the mayor didn't recognize the names of Griffin and Granieri and wasn't sure whether he'd met with them. The spokesperson said that before a pilot of Evolv's system started at Jacobi Medical Center in February, the tech was being used at other city hospitals.NYC has considered using the AI weapon detection technology in transit systems, particularly following a mass shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn last month. As Fast Company notes, Evolv charges between $2,000 and $3,000 per scanner per month for a subscription. Installing one at every subway entrance and paying staff to operate them would cost hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Given the costs, it's unlikely that the scanners would be ubiquitous. The effectiveness of Evolv's system has been brought into question too. While the company has not publicly disclosed its false positive rates, it has acknowledged the issue in promotional materials. Screenshots in brochures obtained by New York Focus indicated that in one three-month stretch, the system scanned 2.2 million people and there were more than 190,000 alerts. The vast majority of those were for harmless objects like umbrellas, strollers, eyeglass cases and laptops. In that scenario, only 0.8 percent of the alerts were for actual weapons and just 0.1 percent were for non-law enforcement guns. However, Evolv has claimed that the data in the screenshots is "fictitious" and is “from a demonstration account.”A report by surveillance tech trade publication IPVM earlier this year noted that Evolv's full-body scanners were misidentifying other objects as potential weapons, such as Chromebooks. IPVM director of operations Donald Maye told the Daily News that Evolv's system has a false alert rate of between five and ten percent at settings such as sports stadiums (which lines up with data shown in the disputed screenshot). Maye suggested that the false positive rate would actually be higher at subway system scanners and lead to "secondary screenings" with cops searching commuters.Engadget has contacted Evolv for comment.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Podcast listeners could not access many of their favorite shows for more than eight hours on Monday night and early Tuesday morning due to an outage on Megaphone, a podcast hosting platform owned by Spotify. The outage stemmed from the company’s failure to renew Megaphone’s security certificate. “Megaphone experienced a platform outage due to an issue related to our SSL certificate,” Spotify spokesperson Erin Styles said in a statement. “During the outage, clients were unable to access the Megaphone CMS and podcast listeners were unable to download podcast episodes from Megaphone-hosted publishers. Megaphone service has since been restored.” It’s a simple mistake with big ramifications. Megaphone, which inserts dynamic ads into episodes, hosts many of the industry’s top shows. It also distributes shows on platforms beyond Spotify, including Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Spotify hosts many of its own licensed and owned shows on Megaphone. (Disclosure: Vox Media, owner of The Verge, also publishes podcasts on Megaphone). Styles said that the company is reaching out to affected publishers. Spotify acquired Megaphone in December 2020 for $235 million, making it the streamer’s biggest purchase in its quest to build a comprehensive podcasting tech stack (for comparison, it paid about $150 million for Anchor). The tool allows the company to make money off of podcast listening that happens even on competitor platforms. Since then, Spotify has bulked up Megaphone by acquiring and integrating analytics tools Podsights and Chartable and radio-to-podcast tool Whooshkaa. Spotify did not comment as to why Megaphone’s SSL certificate was left to expire and why it took so long to fix. The certificate expired at 8PM ET on Monday, according to data found by Podnews. The issue was not resolved for another eight hours, according to the platform’s status page. Even after Megaphone came back online just before 6AM ET, podcasters experienced delays with the Megaphone CMS. As of 9:45AM, the company said the issue was fully resolved. The SSL certificate, which stands for Secure Sockets Layer, is a data encryption tool for websites (it is the “S” in HTTPS) that allows a server to communicate with a client (your computer or phone, for example), sending data that others can’t easily modify or spy on. While SSL certificates used to be good for as long as three years, starting in September 2020, SSL certificates were limited to a maximum of 13 months. However, Megaphone secured a two-year certificate in May 2020, seven months before it was acquired by Spotify. The outage irked listeners and podcasters alike, who took to social media to warn others of the problem and request that Spotify fix it. Luke Braun, a podcaster who hosts Locked On Vikings and Locked On NFL, said that the outage could cost the shows thousands of downloads across platforms because the upload was delayed. Before the Megaphone issue was fixed, the only platform to which he could post Tuesday’s episodes was YouTube, which accounts for about 20 percent of his audience. While Braun says he is overall satisfied with Megaphone, which he has used since 2018, he also wasn’t entirely shocked that the outage occurred over such a dumb mistake. “It seems like a brain fart,” he said. Correction: A previous version of this story said that the Joe Rogan Experience is hosted on Megaphone and was part of the outage. It is actually hosted on Anchor.
If you use Amazon’s Kindle app on Android, you may have noticed the software doesn't offer the option to buy and rent ebooks or subscribe to the company’s Kindle Unlimited service anymore. Amazon announced the change last month and more recently began notifying customers of the move via email.If you’re curious about what’s going on, the change puts Amazon in compliance with a policy Google will begin enforcing on June 1st. Starting next month, the company will require all developers to process payments involving “digital goods and services” through the Play Store billing system. Previously, Amazon was among a handful of developers Google allowed to use third-party alternatives to collect in-app payments. Rather than give Google a commission for every ebook it sells on Android, Amazon has decided to remove purchases altogether. It has done the same in its Music app. In Audible, meanwhile, you can still purchase credits through the app, but it's no longer possible to buy audiobooks directly with your credit or debit card as of version 3.23 of the software. In the US, Amazon doesn't offer Kindle in-app purchasing on iOS either. It’s worth noting Amazon isn’t the only company that has stopped sales on Android. In April, for instance, Barnes and Noble removed direct purchasing from the Android version of its Nook app. Some companies have legally challenged Google on the matter, with Tinder parent company Match Group filing a suit against the search giant in May.There’s the possibility that direct purchasing could return to Amazon’s Android Kindle, Audible and Music apps at some point in the future. In March, Google partnered with Spotify to test third-party billing systems. However, how soon that pilot could expand to include other companies is unclear.Update 3:40PM ET: Added clarification about how purchasing works in Audible following Amazon's response to Google's policy change.
iRobot announced iRobot OS as a bid to be the smart home operating system, BT and Ericsson partner to offer private 5G networks to UK businesses, and Samsung and Intel talked about collaborating on semiconductors. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. AContinue reading "iRobot Announces iRobot OS – DTH"
Razer's Barracuda X headset from last year was fine if you wanted low-latency wireless audio for your console or Android phone, but it wasn't very practical for much else. That won't be a problem this time around, though. The company has introduced new Barracuda, Barracuda X and Barracuda Pro headsets that (among other upgrades) add Bluetooth with smart device switching. You can use them with iPhones and virtually any other device, and you won't have to manually switch connections when a phone call interrupts your gaming session.You can also expect nearly twice the battery life, at up to 50 hours for the Barracuda X and 40 hours for the other two models. You'll still have Razer's proprietary 2.4GHz wireless connection if lag is a concern.The differences largely come down to audio quality. The Barracuda Pro (pictured above) tops the line with 50mm "TriForce Bio-Cellulose" drivers, a THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier, THX Spatial Audio and hybrid active noise cancellation. The regular Barracuda opts for 'plain' titanium 50mm drivers while shedding the amplifier and ANC. The revised Barracuda X (below), meanwhile, is now more of a conventional gaming headset. While it sticks to more modest 40mm drivers and doesn't include any THX features, you'll get a detachable cardioid microphone, a 3.5mm wired option and 7.1-channel surround audio. Razer All three headsets are available today. The Barracuda X starts the range at $100, while the standard Barracuda and the Pro will respectively cost you $160 and $250. Razer is clearly pivoting the line, then — these are less gaming accessories and more competition for conventional mid-range and budget headphones.
It appears Microsoft will soon reveal its next-gen Surface Laptop Go. The successor to the would-be Chromebook competitor popped up in a Korean retailer listing that appears to have gone live a little too early. It seems the page has since been taken down.The listing, which was spotted by The Verge, indicates the Surface Laptop Go 2 will shift from a 10th-gen Intel Core CPU to an 11th-gen Intel processor. This specific configuration boasts the i5-1135G7 and Intel Iris Xe graphics.As with the original Surface Laptop Go from 2020, this laptop will support up to 8GB of RAM and as much as 256GB of storage, according to the listing. The base model specs are unclear, however. Previous reports indicated the laptop will have a baseline of 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. The base Surface Laptop Go has 64GB of storage.As you might expect, the laptop is slated to ship with Windows 11. The listing promises a battery life of up to 13.5 hours as well. In addition, it suggests the system will have "improved HD camera performance," even though, like its predecessor, it's said to have a 720p webcam.The Surface Laptop Go 2 seems to have a lot of other details in common with the original system. The listing suggests it still has a 12.4-inch display and 3:2 aspect ratio, the same ports (including a 3.5mm headphone jack and the proprietary Surface charging port) and a fingerprint sensor. There's no sign of it having a backlit keyboard as yet, unfortunately.It seems we may not have to wait much longer for Microsoft to formally announce the latest entry-level Surface laptop. The listing suggests preorders will open on June 2nd.
Don't expect to play Diablo Immortal in the Low Countries when it launches this week. GamesIndustry.biz and Tweakers have learned Blizzard won't release the free-to-play game in Belgium or the Netherlands due to their "gambling restrictions" — that is, their legislation banning loot boxes. It will also be illegal for people in those countries to download them from other regions, and Blizzard's support team warned that it couldn't guarantee that players in the affected countries would avoid bans.Belgium and the Netherlands determined in 2018 that some loot boxes, particularly those you can buy or trade for real money, amounted to gambling. Diablo Immortal tucks access to its best stat-enhancing items, such as some legendary gems, behind legendary crests that are often easier to obtain with real-world currency. While the items you get are frequently good (to the point where some have argued they're unfair), the attributes are random. That could theoretically pressure gamers to pay in hopes of scoring the 'perfect' crest, and might reel in people with addictive personalities.Blizzard halted loot box sales for other games in Belgium after the country cracked down on the practice. The company also isn't unique. EA, Konami, Nintendo and Epic's Psyonix have all pulled games to avoid violating anti-loot box laws. Even so, it's still notable that Blizzard would rather withdraw Diablo Immortal from those countries than change gameplay mechanics.
Many DJs who've gone digital still like the feel of vinyl for their sets, opting for apps and hardware that support a digital vinyl system (DVS). Today Algoriddim’s djay Pro AI joins that camp with a few unique twists. Not only will DVS support include iOS devices in addition to Mac, but the control vinyl will offer a special B-Side with three ‘tracks’ that leverage Neural Mix’s ability to isolate stems from any song. This way you can drop the needle on track one for the original version, track two for an instrumental and three for an acapella, all extracted on the fly from any song you want to play.While DVS support is new for djay Pro AI on Mac, the addition of iPhones and iPads with this capability is truly unique. These devices should be able to send a control tone through any class compliant USB mixer or controller connected to analog turntables and using the Neural Mix control disks. And you can potentially map things like performance pads and knobs using its MIDI learn tool, but supported hardware devices for djay Pro AI should work out-of-the-box. This software update also offers an optimized user interface for iOS devices that should adapt automatically when you connect to DJ hardware.In addition to the DVS features, this refresh includes a few more interesting tweaks. You can now edit playlists from connected streaming accounts like TIDAL, SoundCloud, Beatport and Beatsource from inside the djay Pro AI app. There’s also mention of new AI audio effects and a Pitch Cue / Tone Play feature that allows you to use pitch-altered cue points for more dynamic mixing.The new software is available today and existing djay Pro AI users will automatically get this update with all the included features. New subscribers can trial the Pro version for seven days and pay $7 per month or $50 per year after that. Mobile users will need an iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 or later and macOS users will need 10.14 or later. Pricing and availability for the Neural Mix control vinyl is still pending, although we know that it will be manufactured and distributed by Stokyo. We're told that most existing disks with a 1kHz time code should work, though, so you should be able to use DVS (without the Neural Mix B-side features) right away. Algoriddim
Fujifilm has launched its new flagship APS-C mirrorless camera, the $2,500 X-H2S, with an all-new 26.2-megapixel (MP) stacked BSI CMOS sensor and a raft of impressive features. Some of the key highlights include 40 fps blackout-free burst shooting, 6.2K 30fps video and 7-stop in-body stabilization. The X-H2S is the long-rumored successor to the X-H1, released over four years ago. However, it bears little resemblance to that model (apart from the top LCD display) with a substantially different grip and button layout. It's also lighter at 660 grams compared to 673 grams. Unlike the tilt-only display on the X-H1, the X-H2S has a fully articulating 1.62-million dot rear display, making it far better for vloggers and solo video shooters. The 5.76-million-dot 120Hz EVF outclasses other APS-C cameras and hopefully addresses EVF performance issues on the X-T4.It's the first Fujifilm camera with a stacked, backside illuminated sensor (the X-Trans 5HS) and new X-Processor image processor — though the 26.2-MP resolution sensor is the same we've seen on models as far back as the X-T3. By contrast, Canon's new EOS R7 APS-C camera has a 32-megapixel sensor, but it's neither backside illuminated nor stacked. Fujifilm The stacked sensor allows for some impressive shooting speeds. It can hit up to 40 fps in silent electronic shutter mode with no blackout, or 15fps in mechanical shutter mode (at 1/8000th maximum), both with autofocus and auto-exposure enabled. It comes with a high-capacity buffer, allowing you to capture 175 compressed RAW frames in 40fps ES mode (4.4 seconds worth) and 400 compressed RAW frames in mechanical shutter mode. Fujifilm promises much-improved phase-detect autofocus (AF) performance over the X-T4, with three times the speed and improved accuracy. Meanwhile, the AF algorithms can do prediction for moving subjects, while allowing for zone AF subject detection and low-contrast situations. On top of recognizing humans (face/eye), it can also detect animals, birds, cars, bikes, airplanes and trains. Also enabled by the faster sensor/processor is a big jump in video specs over the X-T4. The X-H2S supports 6.2K video at 30 fps, DCI 4K (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) at 120 fps and Full HD at 240 fps, with no cropping or sub-sampling on all video modes up to 60 fps. 4K at 120p is mildly cropped at 1.29x, but it's still oversampled with no pixel binning or line skipping. Fujifilm It's also the first Fujifilm APS-C camera to support ProRes (ProRes422, ProResHQ, ProResLT and ProResProxy), along with H.264 and H.265 video. All of those resolutions can be recorded at 4:2:2 10-bit quality, and Fujifilm has introduced F-Log2 recording that allows for 14+ stops of dynamic range below 30 fps and 13+ stops at higher frame rates (with settings at or above ISO1250) — impressive, if accurate.External recording via the full-sized HDMI 2.1 port is equally impressive. On top of all of the above settings (6.2K/29.97P, 4K/120P 4:2:2 10bit), you can record ProRes RAW at 6.2K/29.97P and 4.8K/59.94P, both at 4:2:2 12bit with 13 stops of dynamic range. External recording with ProRes RAW means that Fujifilm won't need to deal with RED RAW patent lawsuits, like the one recently slapped on Nikon's Z9. Like other stacked sensor cameras, the X-H2S promises well-controlled rolling shutter at 1/90th of a second (11 ms) for video under 30fps and 1/180th of a second (5.6 ms) for higher framerates. That's right up there with other stacked sensor cameras like Sony's A1 or the Canon R3, meaning you should see minimal jello or wobble in video, particularly at higher framerates. Fujifilm Overheating doesn't appear to be much of an issue at normal temperatures, with a promised four hours of 4K60p shooting at 25 degrees C (77 degrees F). That drops to 20 minutes at 40 C (104 F), but you can boost that to 50 minutes with an optional $199 cooling fan. The X-H2S has improved in-body stabilization over past Fujifilm cameras, as well. It delivers 7 stops of shake reduction compared to 6.5 stops on the X-T4, which should help smooth videos and reduce blur on photos. Other key features include both CFexpress and SD UHS II card slots, a USB 3.1 gen 2 (10Gbps) port with a handy cable lock screw, 3.5mm microphone/headphone jacks, 10-bit HEIF photo support and an optional $400 vertical grip. It also supports wireless and wired functions like live streaming, tethered shooting, webcam functions (no app required) and cloud storage uploads. CIPA battery life is 610 shots max with the EVF, or 1,580 shots with the vertical grip. Fujifilm Along with the camera and accessories, Fujifilm has launched two new lenses, the XF150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR zoom telephoto (left), arriving on July 7, 2022 for $2,000. It's also introduced the XF18-120mm f/4 LM PZ WR (right), a versatile wide-telephoto zoom coming in September 2022 for $900. Meanwhile, the X-H2S will be Fujifilm's most expensive APS-C camera to date, arriving on July 7th for $2,500 — the same price as Canon's full-frame EOS R6. Update 5/31/2022 2:07 PM ET: The post has been updated to note that the X-H2S will be the same price as Canon's EOS R6, not the EOS R5 as originally stated (thanks, Phillip!).
I got my first guitar in the seventh grade. Had a couple of bands in high school and college. And I still play regularly. But, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I only just bought my first tube amp in April of last year. That’s right, I played guitar somewhat seriously for around 25 years before I went and bought what is considered by many (mostly obnoxious purists) the only kind of amp worth playing.Eventually, I set my sights on a Fender Blues Jr, a simple 15-watt, 1x12 amp. Specifically, I managed to snag a gorgeous Tweed model used for $400. It was too good of a deal to pass up (even if I did have to drive into New Jersey to pick it up).Now, before you all freak out, it’s not that I’ve never played a tube amp before. My bands often rented a rehearsal space where I was usually playing through Marshall half stack. A JCM800 if I remember correctly, but I’d be lying if I said I cared about anything other than the fact that it was a Marshall half stack at the age of 18.In addition to sounding great, glowing vacuum tubes look great.Terrence O'Brien / EngadgetWhen it was time for me to go out and upgrade from my tiny Yamaha practice amp, I just got the loudest thing I could afford at the time: a 2x12 120-watt Crate solid state amp. I needed something that could be heard over a drummer in my basement or in a small club. It did exactly what I expected it to: It was delightfully crisp and clean, took pedals well and it was loud.That was my only amp for many years. But, being 120w it didn’t really do “quiet.” Even with the volume at one it was enough to piss off the neighbors. So when I had my first child I knew I needed to get something else. Again, budget and volume were important (turns out kids are expensive). But instead of being loud, this time I needed something that would sound good at levels that wouldn’t disturb a sleeping baby. So I snagged a Yamaha THR10 on sale.But over the last few years I’d started getting serious about music again. And, in particular over the last two years, I’d rekindled my love of guitar. Between that, and what I’m going to chalk up to pandemic restlessness, I started looking to upgrade to an actual tube amp. I ended up settling on the Blues Jr in part because I still needed something that didn’t get too loud. But I also didn’t need anything terribly fancy. I wanted tube warmth and crunch at a reasonable price and without too many bells and whistles.While it took me a while to find the amp’s sweet spots, I’m a convert. I now primarily use my THR10 late at night or if I need to be mobile – say, shooting a review in my dining room. But otherwise, I’m firing up the Blues Jr everytime. It can do the jangly clean tones often associated with Fender at lower volumes, and get an almost Vox-ish crunch when cranked. I rarely use the “Fat” switch, which boosts the mids, but I could see it being handy if you’re relying entirely on the internal drive and need to take a solo.Terrence O'Brien / EngadgetThe only real amenity you get is a spring reverb, which sounds pretty great. Cranking it introduces a decent amount of noise to your signal, but it really nails those drippy surf tones.Importantly for me, it has a master volume knob (which not all amps do). That allows you to push the preamp until you start to get some delicious breakup, while keeping things at a level that won’t get the cops involved. But it gets loud enough for gigging too, in case I ever decide to play music in front of other humans again (highly unlikely).The biggest selling point, though, was that it’s also a pretty solid pedal platform. As a guitarist with more effects than talent, I needed something that wasn’t going to get too muddy or noisy as I started stacking multiple delays and reverbs with fuzz.The Fender Blues Jr has been around since about 1995. And, while it has undergone multiple revisions in that time, its core character remains largely unchanged. Honestly, I wish I had discovered it earlier. Because, while I’ve fallen in love with plenty of instruments and effects over the years, this is the first amp that I’ve been truly enamored with.
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter is still pushing boundaries long after its first Mars liftoff. As CNETnotes, the space agency has shared video of Ingenuity's milestone 25th flight on April 8th, when it broke duration and speed records. The robotic helicopter flew at 12MPH for just over two minutes and 41 seconds, providing footage of the Red Planet's rippling sands and rock fields as part of the 2,310-foot journey. The footage you see below was sped up to cut the viewing time to 35 seconds.The video doesn't include the very start and end of the trip, but for good reason. The navigation camera switches off whenever Ingenuity is within three feet of the Martian surface to prevent dust from interfering with the navigation system. The autonomous flier receives flight plans from JPL, but it uses a combination of the camera, a laser rangefinder and an inertial measurement unit to adapt to real-life conditions.Ingenuity has flown three times since. It's currently preparing for a 29th flight following a brief scare in early May, when the mission team lost communication after the helicopter switched to a low-power state. NASA isn't easily deterred, then — expect the aircraft to keep flying for a while to come.
It's only been a couple of weeks since Cre8Audio unveiled its first self-contained synth. But the company is back already with a companion to the East Beast, called the West Pest. As the name implies this is a West Coast style synth, made to complement the Beast's east coast flavor. Just like the Beast this is an analog semi-modular synth built in collaboration with Pittsburg Modular. It has a 20-point patch bay, a one octave keyboard, a 32-step sequencer, an arpeggiator and a "digital multi-function tool" that can be an extra envelope, LFO or a random generator. In fact the two have more in common than not. Physically they're nearly identical, but with slightly different control layouts and graphics. And they're both just $250, which is stunningly affordable for an analog modular synth. Of course what separates the West Pest from its sibling is its core sound and design features. Its main oscillator is described as "buzzy" and instead of a filter to shave off harmonics, it has a wave folder to add more. Rather than a traditional envelope and filter combo, the Pest has a Dynamics Controller module, that combines the functions of an envelope generator, VCA, and a low pass filter, which sounds more-or-less like a low pass gate. And there's a generative sequencing function for getting truly unpredictable with your bleeps and bloops. West Coast style synthesis has enjoyed something of a resurgence these last few years. Small companies like Erica Synths and big players like Korg have dabbled recently. And the OG of the form, Buchla, came roaring back in 2020 with an updated take on the iconic Music Easel. So it would make sense for a company like Cre8Audio looking to make a splash with it's first couple of synths to give it a try too.The West Pest is available to preorder now for $250 and should be shipping "imminently."
Classic mobile games Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 are getting a new lease of life. They're coming to PC on July 12th, meaning they'll be playable outside of the iOS, Android and Windows Phone (remember that?) ecosystems for the first time.A vertical phone-style format wouldn't quite cut the mustard for PC players, though. As such, Ustwo Games has upgraded the already-gorgeous visuals with an ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio. The expanded view could help you solve the mind-bending puzzles and find the right paths. With that in mind, the developer is calling these the "panoramic editions."The games are coming to Steam and they'll each cost $8. Scoop up a bundle of both titles (which includes all of the expansions) and you'll get a 15 percent discount.As part of the announcement, Ustwo Games released a behind-the-scenes video in which developers talk about porting the games to PC:
With the $279 Ray soundbar, Sonos is going after a new market. The company’s previous home theater products have all been $400 or more and have primarily been geared toward people intent on getting the best sound possible. The Ray, meanwhile, is more accessible for people who want better sound than their TV speakers can provide, but don’t necessarily care about things like Dolby Atmos support or room-shaking bass. The Ray isn’t exactly a budget speaker, though, so I set out to discover if Sonos made the right compromises here in its effort to make a more mainstream soundbar.Hardware and setupPhysically, the Ray is smaller than the already-compact Beam, with a tapered design that’s wider in the front than it is in the back. Unlike other Sonos soundbars, though, the Ray’s speakers are all forward-facing; in this way, it reminds me a bit of a wider and flatter version of the Sonos Five speaker. This design means you can tuck the Ray into a media stand and not have to worry about the sound bouncing off of nearby surfaces. Since the Ray doesn’t have a mic for voice assistants, you don’t need to worry about whether it can hear you if you place it in a media stand, either.As with just about every other Sonos product, the Ray has touch-sensitive buttons on top to start and pause music and adjust the volume. There’s also an LED status light on the front, rather than on the top as it is on most Sonos speakers. Again, this is in case you put it on a shelf that would otherwise hide the light if it was on the top. On the back, there’s a power jack, setup button, ethernet port and optical audio jack; Sonos left out HDMI support to cut costs, and since the Ray doesn’t support more advanced audio formats like Dolby Atmos, the additional bandwidth HDMI allows wasn’t needed here. The Sonos Beam (in black) pictured in front of the new Sonos Ray (in white).
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget The setup process was simple: I just plugged the Ray into the wall and connected it to my TV with the included optical audio cable. From there, I finished setting it up in the Sonos app on my phone. The process will take a bit longer if you’ve never set up a Sonos speaker in your home before, because you’ll need to do things like authorize the various streaming music services you want to use. But I simply needed to wait for the app to recognize there was a new speaker to set up, tell it which room the Ray was in and then wait for it to get connected to my wireless network.Once that’s done, you have the option of tuning the Ray using what Sonos calls Trueplay. This uses the microphone on an iPhone or iPad to balance the speaker’s audio based on how your room sounds. It’s a bit of a weird process, walking around your space slowly raising and lowering your phone, but I’ve found it always makes my Sonos speakers sound better, so it's worth the five minutes it takes to set it up if you have a compatible device on hand.How do movies sound? Nathan Ingraham / Engadget I’ve spent the last week or so watching movies and shows with the Ray and it’s an obvious improvement over my TV’s built-in speakers. Sonos said it focused on dialogue quality, bass response and a wide soundstage, and it definitely succeeded on two of those fronts. Dialogue sounds extremely clear, whether I was watching a drama like HBO’s The Staircase or enjoying Galadriel’s narration at the beginning of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The latter also provided a great chance to hear how the Ray performed in more intense, action-filled sequences. As the prologue of Fellowship continued to its massive battle against the forces of Sauron, swordplay and arrows flying filled the space around the narration in a well-balanced mix. And the rumbling explosion and massive thud of Sauron’s helmet hitting the ground after his defeat were a good opportunity to hear the Ray flex its bass muscles.Another favorite of mine for testing soundbars is the 15-minute intro of Pacific Rim. The beginning of this over-the-top movie has it all – huge battles between giant robots and monsters, cities being destroyed as panicked citizens flee and a solid heroic narration, all of which the Ray faithfully reproduced in a well-balanced mix.The Ray pulls this off despite having much simpler acoustics than the Beam: it includes two center midwoofers, two tweeters with split waveguides to broaden the speaker’s soundstage, a bass reflex system that provides a surprising amount of low-end performance, and four Class-D amplifiers. It’s an effective system, but my main complaint is that the waveguides and computational audio can only do so much to widen the soundstage. While the Ray clearly has a solid stereo presence, it’s not nearly as immersive as the first-generation Sonos Beam that I usually use. Even though my older Beam doesn’t support Dolby Atmos, its larger size and more complex speaker array give it a big advantage over the Ray.The Ray is also not the loudest speaker out there. Again, this isn’t a huge surprise, as Sonos is marketing this device for use in relatively smaller space. That doesn’t mean it was too quiet for me, but I did usually have its volume up over 50 percent for it to be loud enough. If I really wanted to kick things up while watching a big movie, I might get closer to 70 percent. If you’re the kind of person who really wants theater-style audio, you’ll be better off with a more powerful device.The good news is that, as with all other Sonos home theater devices, you can pair the Ray with the Sonos Sub to improve bass performance. You can also use two Sonos One speakers as rear surrounds to make for a much more immersive experience. The Ray might be an ideal choice for a first soundbar to upgrade your TV’s audio and then use it to build out a more complex setup down the line. That said, the Sonos Sub costs a whopping $749; it’s hard to imagine someone buying a Ray and then spending three times as much on a subwoofer. Nathan Ingraham / Engadget What about music?While the Ray is meant to be hooked up to your TV, it’s also a capable music speaker. Sonos says that when it builds its home theater products, music quality is just as important as how it works with movies and shows. In my testing, the Ray sounds great – songs like Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling” have plenty of low end and super-clear vocals. Meanwhile, the hard left- and right-panned guitars in Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam” were quite distinct. While it’s still not the loudest speaker, the Ray is more than capable of filling a medium-sized room with clear and lively music.Naturally, the Ray has all the same multi-room audio features as other Sonos speakers. This means you can simultaneously stream the same music to multiple speakers on your WiFi network, or play something different on each one. You can set up custom speaker groups (just the speakers on your first floor, for example) and stream audio directly to the Ray using AirPlay 2. The only real feature it’s missing compared to most other Sonos speakers is voice control. There’s no mic, which means you can’t control the speaker directly with Alexa, Google Assistant or the upcoming Sonos Voice Control feature. That said, if you have other smart speakers, including any other Sonos speaker with a mic, you can use them to control the Ray. Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Wrap upThere’s no question in my mind that the Ray is a serious upgrade over a TV’s built-in speakers. What’s less clear is how much better it is compared to other small soundbars, like Roku’s $180 Streambar Pro. Sonos has a long history of delivering excellent sound, and the Ray continues that tradition. And just as the portable $179 Sonos Roam is a good gateway drug into the Sonos ecosystem, the Ray is a good first Sonos for someone who wants to improve their TV audio. Yes, you can find cheaper soundbars, but Sonos is betting its reputation for excellent sound quality will make the Ray a success. After spending some time with it, I’d have no problem recommending the Ray to anyone who wants an easy way to upgrade their TV’s audio but doesn't care about having the best speaker that supports the most formats. For a lot of people, particularly those with smaller living rooms, the Ray will be just the right soundbar for their space.
The Orba is mostly a musical curiosity, but a compelling one especially at the reasonable price of $100. But for its next version Artiphon is hoping to go beyond fidget toy and turn its little MPE grapefruit into a legit groovebox. Physically almost nothing has change about the Orba 2. It's till the same black half orb with eight touchpads across the top. It still has a builtin speaker and synth engine, the latter of which was recently opened up for anyone to design their own patches. It's still a capable MIDI controller with support for multiple gestures including shake, tilt and spin. What makes the new version immediately more impressive, is that it now supports sample playback. You can even record your own samples using the Orba app on your phone and then turn that into a preset that can be played. So you could record a bird call, a car horn or just another instrument and play that melodically. But that's not all, Orba 2 can also quantize your playing, which is extremely helpful if your rhythm is lacking. Lastly, where the original was limited to an eight bar loop, the sequel can handle up a 128 bar loop — or about five minutes of music. All of that additional power comes at a bit of a premium. But even at the new price of $150, it's still one of the most affordable MPE controllers out there and no doubt still a great fidget toy. But perhaps it will also now be a great groovebox too.
Panasonic and Leica have formed a new collaboration called L² (L squared) that will see them jointly develop cameras, lenses and imaging technology, they announced. Both companies are already part of the L-Mount mirrorless alliance (along with Sigma and Leitz) and Panasonic has loaned its camera tech to Leica. However, the new partnership goes deeper, as they'll use "jointly developed technologies" in their respective lens and camera products, while the L² branding will feature in future marketing activities. "Through this collaboration, the two companies will jointly invest in new technologies that can be incorporated into camera and lens products, and will incorporate jointly developed technologies into each other's Leica and Lumix products to further enhance their product capabilities," the press release states. "Going forward, Leica and Lumix will utilize L² Technology, which will open up new possibilities for creative camera users, in their marketing activities in order to develop a collaborative system over the long term."Panasonic told Engadget that the partnership will apply not just to full-frame L-Mount cameras, but also to Micro Four Thirds models. Hopefully, that means we'll see Leica-branded lenses with fully compatible image stabilization and AF across camera lineups. There's no word on when we'll see the fruit of this collaboration. It does make some sense, though, as Panasonic tends to get overshadowed by Canon, Sony and Nikon, despite producing good cameras — especially for video. Meanwhile, Leica has a sterling reputation for lens quality, but gets far less respect for its mirrorless cameras because they're mostly rebadged, overpriced Panasonic models. By collaborating, Panasonic could gain some prestige off Leica's iconic reputation and lens quality, while Leica will get access to Panasonic's technological chops.
Good morning and welcome back! If you had time off yesterday, I hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn’t, I hope you survived your Monday. DeLorean Due to Memorial Day, it was a relatively quiet tech news day, but we did get a glimpse at a new DeLorean. Yes, DeLorean Motor Company is making an EV. The four-seater Alpha5 should arrive with a 100kWh battery pack, capable of 0 to 60MPH in 2.99 seconds, and a heady $175,000 price.It won't be built by the original DeLorean people but by a Texas company that purchased the rights to the DeLorean name and spare parts. Expect gullwing doors, a futuristic profile and an overall design from the same studio that sketched the original DeLorean. Expect more details later today.— Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II' heads to Nintendo Switch on June 8thValve's latest Steam Deck update promises less fan noiseRecommended Reading: How 'Top Gun: Maverick' puts you inside an F-18Hitting the Books: What the Work from Home revolution means for those who can'tApple trademarks 'realityOS'Are we getting closer to an AR/VR headset announcement?At the start of the year, developers spotted some references to “realityOS,” the operating system for Apple’s long-rumored virtual and augmented reality headset. Now, just before the start of WWDC 2022 on June 6th, the name has resurfaced in trademark filings seemingly linked to the company.Continue reading.Acer Predator Triton 500 SE reviewA laptop powerhouse for work and play. Engadget The Triton 500 SE proves Acer can make a truly refined gaming laptop without gimmicks. No extra screens, no hybrid nonsense, no crazy design choices. It has a gorgeous 16-inch screen, and you can add to it the latest and greatest Intel and NVIDIA hardware. Prices, however, start at $2,300 but be prepared to shell out $3,000 if you want all the hardware from our review unit. Devindra Hardawar put the Triton 500 SE through its paces.Continue reading.Google Pixel 7 prototype reputedly shows up on eBayAnother major Google device leak. meetveeru/eBay Weeks after a Pixel Watch prototype was left at a restaurant, it appears someone tried to sell a Pixel 7 on eBay. The eBay listing for what looked like a prototype Pixel 7 popped up on the Pixel subreddit, but now it’s gone.The images don’t reveal much more than we didn’t already know — or suspect. The front looks similar to the Pixel 6, hole-punch camera and all. The camera bar on the rear has two lenses as well. Although Google already announced the Pixel 7 and its Pro sibling at I/O, it'll be a while before the phones go on sale.Continue reading.iOS 16 will reportedly include always-on display featuresBut only for future iPhones.In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests the company will have a fair amount to share about iOS 16 at the forthcoming WWDC, including enhancements to the lock screen. Gurman says the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will include support for an always-on display initially exclusive to the company’s next iPhone Pro models. Devices could show notifications and other glanceable information without you needing to fully wake the iPhone’s display.Continue reading.
There’s at least one natural resource out there that’s completely finite on Earth: helium. And once we use it up, it’s gone for good. The lighter-than-air gas is in especially short supply right now, thanks to the closure of a major domestic processing facility and disruptions at a couple of plants overseas. That’s not just a problem for birthday balloons — a number of industries compete for the limited supply of helium: health care, manufacturing, the tech sector and scientific research. But those researchers are often at the back of the helium line.
English jargon has invaded every corner of France, causing consternation among language purists — a trade fair popular with politicians during election season is called "Made in France," for example. Despite widespread usage in business and elsewhere, the government has decided to pick on gaming, officially banning terms like "streamer" and "cloud gaming," according to AFP. Going forward, the far more convoluted terms joueur-animateur en direct and jeu video en nuage must be used for any government communications.The changes were made in consultation with France's Ministry of Culture, which has in the past touted the gaming industry as a French economic success story. However, it told the AFP it's concerned that English terms could become a "barrier to understanding" for non-gamers. (That's a solid point, as I can attest that many French non-gamers wouldn't have a clue what a term like "streaming" means.) France's language keepers, l'Académie française, has also expressed concern about English jargon in gaming, having published a lexicon of alternate French terms back in 2017. The changes were issued in the government's official journal, meaning they're binding on all government workers. However, it's hard to see them catching on in daily use or even on French websites or newspapers. Previous efforts by l'Académie française to replace anglicisms have not gone well — its attempt to get people to use l’access sans fil à internet instead of le wifi failed completely, as The Local France points out.
Shelley McLendon (@shellsbells and owner of sirentheater.com) loves documentaries and she picked some faves and they were ALL CULT documentaries! Ha! You can find her work at smoothjazzinferno.com Enjoy. Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. There’s paypal links is my email and venmo is jackiekashian. Links to everything is at www.dorkforest.com or . New album -STAY-KASHIAN is out NOW. Merch: TDF tshirts, standup shirts and other CDs and just videos of my comedy. Touring Info. All the things. jackiekashian.com Premium eps of TDF are taped live and available here: https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/ Youtube has everything too. It's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Website design by Vilmos #applepodcasts #spotify #pandora #youtube #tiktok
Ahead of the NAMM 2022 trade show being held in Anaheim next weekend, San Francisco's Playtime Engineering has unveiled a pair of toys, the Blipbox SK2 synthesizer and the Blipbox myTrack groovebox, designed to help even the youngest musically-inclined minds produce, record, save and share electronic beats and melodies. Playtime Engineering The SK2's spacey surface detailing belies its ability to generate more than 400 pre-recorded melodies ranging from chiptunes to orchestral, as well as multi-mode filters, 16 oscillator schemes and stereo multi-tap delay functions. A signal flow diagram is printed on the unit's front face and all of the controls are labelled so that even basement-level beginners can easily learn and discover new synth sounds. Users will be able to export their tracks through a 1⁄4-inch audio out and import new sounds through the MIDI In.The myTRACK, conversely, is a kid-sized multi-track sampling device that uses a 5x5 grid of playpads to trigger beats and sequences (think, a toned down Ableton Push 2). Each of the 48 pre-included instruments can be applied to any, or all five, of the available tracks as can the process effects controlled by the device's physical levers. In fact, many of the myTRACK's more advanced features are presented as dedicated, physical buttons rather than as buried submenu options. Additionally, those pre-packed sounds and sequences can be updated via USB-C to include new sets such as orchestra, hip-hop, jazz, rock and EDM. An incorporated microphone allows your future Grandmaster Flash to explore the outside world in search of new sounds to capture and modulate. The myTRACK offers a 5-pin MIDI OUT port so that the device can connect to and control an SK2 while its USB-C port is class-compliant USB MIDI in and out, so you'll be able to use it with any Mac or Windows DAW. Playtime Engineering The SK2 will retail for $199 and be available in November 2022. The myTRACK will follow in Q1 2023 for $249
Amazon is shutting down service for the Cloud Cam, but you may not mind if you're reluctant to buy a replacement. MacRumors and The Verge have learned Amazon will offer owners a free Blink Mini security camera and a one-year subscription to the higher-end Blink Subscription Plus service (normally $100 per year) before Cloud Cam functionality ends on December 2nd. Key Edition owners will also get a fourth-generation Echo speaker to serve as a replacement smart home hub. Ideally, you won't have to pay a cent more to keep your home supervised in the near future.In an email to customers, Amazon said it was shutting down Cloud Cam service to focus on Blink, Ring and other products that "make your home smarter." The move will primarily end storage for video recording, but people using the Cloud Cam Key Edition as a Zigbee hub will also lose the ability to connect to smart locks until they get the Echo substitute.The end of service doesn't come as a complete surprise. Amazon stopped offering the Cloud Cam at the end of 2019 as Blink and Ring ultimately took over. We won't blame you if you're still upset, though. Amazon is joining Wyze and other brands in ending support for security cameras on relatively short notice. This could also leave some users paying more. Some of the Cloud Cam's free features, such as quick video access and motion-based recording, require at least a $30 per year Basic subscription with Blink. That's a small price, but it's more than you might have expected to pay.
Samsung reportedly reducing smartphone production by 10%, Google adds a tablet to the Universal Stylus Initiative Certified Products list, and Mark Gurman reports iOS 16 will add future support for an always-on lock screen. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A specialContinue reading "Samsung Cutting 2022 Smartphone Production – DTH"
When looking for new music, it’s easy to let a streaming service’s algorithm recommend songs similar to music you already like. Those types of algorithms are the focus of new book from NBC News tech Correspondent Jacob Ward. In today’s show, Ward argues that those algorithms may have us in a feedback loop that dulls our critical thinking.
Seth Green's NFT stolen, DuckDuckGo and Microsoft, Apple Union battle Someone Stole Seth Green's Bored Ape And Star Of His New NFT Show. Best Crypto Wallets by Nicholas De Leon. A California bill could allow parents to sue social-media companies for up to $25,000 if their children become addicted to the platforms. Court upholds the block on Florida's social media 'censorship' law. Senator Klobuchar Fixed None Of The Problems With Her Antitrust Bill; But Made Sure To Carve Out ACTUAL Monopolists Like Telcos And Finance Companies. DuckDuckGo browser allows Microsoft trackers due to search agreement. These Period Tracker Apps Say They Put Privacy First. Here's What We Found. Apple VP kindly reminds retail workers that they can say no to unions. We Tried Apple's Self Repair Program. You Shouldn't. (Probably). Apple Shows AR/VR Headset to Board in Sign of Progress on Key Project. Microsoft is making a native Arm version of Visual Studio 2022 and a mini PC. Elon Musk Called Out for Using Stolen Cartoon to Illustrate Twitter Takeover. Twitter shareholders sue Elon Musk and Twitter over chaotic deal. After 17 years, Peter Thiel has officially left Meta's board. DC attorney general sues Mark Zuckerberg over Cambridge Analytica scandal. Twitter to pay $150 mln to settle with U.S. over privacy, security violations. Want to make it in the music industry? You better go viral on TikTok. Elizabeth Holmes pleaded with a judge to overturn her Theranos convictions, citing 'insufficient evidence'. End of an era as New York removes last public payphone. Analog City: NYC B.C. (Before Computers). Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Georgia Dow, Nicholas De Leon, and Andy Ihnatko Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zapier.com/TWIT UserWay.org/twit drinktrade.com/twit privacy.com/twit
How to set up a failover router. Which platform is best for buying ads? Why did an LG phone fail a "routine safety check?" What is cryptocurrency? Alternatives to SlingBox. What's the no-sender glitch on iPhone? How to digitize old family photos. Can you output video from an all-in-one computer? What is Starry? Plus, a conversation with Sam Abuelsamid. Seth Green's Bored Ape stolen: now he can't make his NFT show. Setting up a failover router & dynamic IP's. Sam Abuelsamid and the Kia EV6. Most efficient ads one can buy to promote something. Locked out of Windows account after attempting to install Microsoft Office. Why a LG phone failed a "routine safety check." What is Cryptocurrency and what can you do with it? Are there SlingBox alternatives after support has ended for the product? What's the no-sender glitch on iPhone? Digitizing old family photos. A caller's universal remote is not working with their TV. Outputting video from an all-in-one computer. Starry: another option for an ISP? Host: Leo Laporte Guest: Sam Abuelsamid Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1898 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsor: twit.cachefly.com
Huawei and ZTE are banned in Canada. It's a move that's mostly political, and based moreso on their networking hardware than phones. The gang chime in on that, plus a preview of Nothing phone components, Pixel Watch, and more. Links: Huawei and ZTE are now banned in Canada over cybersecurity concerns | Android Central Nothing phone (1) preview highlights internal components, unified design | Android Central Pixel Watch and Pixel 7 could make me ditch Apple for good | Android Central The Pixel Watch sounds like a powerhouse despite its aging chipset | Android Central Wear OS 3 was absent at Google I/O 2022, but that’s just fine | Android Central Wear OS companion app opens up beta program, could be a sign of things to come | Android Central Sponsors: Indeed: Choose Indeed and join 3 million companies worldwide who use Indeed to hire great people and help grow their teams faster. Get started right now with a free $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/acp. Offer valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions apply. Truebill: Don’t fall for subscription scams. Start cancelling today at truebill.com/acp. It could save you THOUSANDS a year.
Tom finds the the rise of a new snackness and Molly gets into a fashionable wearable. Then Tom finds the social thing for the youths, while Molly looks for things in the stars.LINKS:TakisOura RingYuboCostar See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Biden administration has formally started its $45 billion effort to bring affordable and reliable high-speed broadband internet access to everyone in the US by 2030. The Internet for All funding is part of the $65 billion earmarked for broadband in the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Starting today, states and other entities can apply for funding from three Internet for All programs.“In the 21st century, you simply cannot participate in the economy if you don’t have access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is overseeing the distribution of the funds, said. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Americans across the country will no longer be held back by a lack of high-speed internet access. We are going to ensure every American will have access to technologies that allow them to attend class, start a small business, visit with their doctor and participate in the modern economy.”States could use the funding to install fiber-optic cables, put more Wi-Fi networks in place or even offer some people free broadband internet access. The launch of the program follows news earlier this week that the Biden administration has teamed up with 20 providers to offer subsidized internet service to low-income households.Most of the Internet for All funding will be available from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. States and other territories will need to file a letter of intent and a budget for planning funds. They'll then receive $5 million in planning funds to help them put together a five-year plan detailing how they'll provide comprehensive internet access to all residents.Each state that takes part in the program will receive at least $100 million from the BEAD pot of $42.5 billion. After that, funding allocations will be decided in part based on updated broadband coverage maps that the Federal Communications Commission is expected to release this fall.Under the $1 billion Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, funding will be allocated based on a "technology-neutral, competitive basis" to build, buy or improve infrastructure elements that carry "large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances." As for the $1.5 billion State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, that's designed to bolster adoption and use of the internet with the help of digital literacy training.
Tom is on the hunt for clothing perfection and Molly finds the latest e-commerce hotness. Then Tom finds people putting their money where their mouth is, while Molly finds the return of a future President.LINKS:The Perfect White TeeTC or GTFOLogan Paul againDrop shippingDrop ship guide See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Apple may be about to change the iPhone's charging port. According to a Bloomberg report, the company is testing new iPhones and adapters with USB-C, which is what MacBooks and iPads already use, not to mention a plethora of devices outside the Apple ecosystem. We've reached out to Apple for confirmation and have yet to receive a response.Bloomberg's sources said that the adapter being tested may "let future iPhones work with accessories designed for the current Lightning connector." That could mean a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter for things like credit card scanners or flash drives that plug into existing iPhones. Bloomberg's report noted that if Apple "proceeds with the change, it wouldn't occur until 2023 at the earliest." While Apple's decisions to change ports have been the subject of many jokes in popular culture, a move to USB-C may actually be welcome. The more widely available standard is only slightly bigger than Lightning, but can deliver power and data more quickly. The change could also make life much easier for those who already use USB-C to charge most of their devices and still have to carry a Lightning cable with them just for their iPhones. Apple's motivations for the potential change may not be completely altruistic. The EU has been pushing for a universal phone charging standard for years, and recently proposed legislation that would make USB-C the mandated port for all handsets. Testing USB-C on iPhones would just be Apple recognizing the writing on the wall. If this does come to pass, though, it would not only be convenient for most people who are already largely using USB-C, but could also mean less e-waste in the future.
Image: The Verge
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and editor-at-large David Pierce discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. On Wednesday, we saw Google announce a whole bunch of products and features from their keynote live stream — from updates to the Nest Hub Max to previewing a 2023 Pixel tablet. So, on The Vergecast, we’re focusing a chunk of the show on Google’s announcements and initiatives for the coming year or so. And there’s no better way to start that conversation than with an interview with Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Read the full transcript of that conversation here. After the interview, Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert joins the show to dive deeper into the Google hardware announcements and the theme of “bringing back Google’s hits” like the tablet or the Wallet. But wait, there’s more. Verge senior reporter Liz Lopatto stops by the show to talk to David about this week’s “crypto crash” and stablecoins’ struggle for... stability. David is calling this segment “Crypto Corner,” which may or may not be recurring. To close out the show, Verge managing editor Alex Cranz brings the Vergecast essentials: gadget rumors. Apple may be thinking about bringing USB-C to the iPhone in 2023, and we saw a preview of what the next headset from Meta may look like. What a year for gadgets 2023 will be. There’s a whole lot in this show that fills you in on this week’s biggest tech news — so listen here or in your preferred podcast player for the full discussion.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Nilay Patel: Sundar Pichai, you are the CEO of Google. You are the CEO and chairman of Alphabet. Welcome to The Vergecast. Well, it’s a pleasure to be here. Good to see you, Nilay and David. NP: Yeah, it’s great to see you again. It’s been a while since we’ve talked. Also, I appreciate that you’re on The Vergecast. Real ones are on The Vergecast to talk product. This is where it gets serious about products. So it’s Google I/O. We obviously came off the keynote. The keynote was two hours long — lots of products, lots of really hardcore AI tech, LaMDA, big language models. Here’s my question for you, just big picture, and then I want to dive into some of the products themselves. Google does a lot of things. It has a lot of research projects, a lot of far-out ideas, a lot of things on the ground like Maps and recommendations and obviously search. You run YouTube. Then you’ve got Android. It’s a lot of things. Kind of the theme of I/O this year was you’re bringing it all together, and it’s going to become a very focused set of products and experiences for people across the whole ecosystem. So just from the baseline, how real is that? How much are you actually bringing Google into focus versus you’re just lining up the pieces and making sure they make sense together? There are a few things which I’ve tried to do with the company: one is at an underlying, more foundational layer that focuses on AI. So when you say research, it is a real deep focus on AI. In some ways, the big bet is AI is transformational across all the products and services we do. So for sure, that’s been a big focus bet. And above it, a focus on knowledge and computing, right? And both we see as core aspects of our mission. And so, to me, it is the same AI which makes that change in search because we are able to do things in a more multimodal way, and it’s that same multimodal model which in YouTube can create auto chapters and so on. So it’s an underlying theme, so with which we are doing it across our key products and services. But there is a set of products which our users use multiple times per day. These are big active user bases, and so there’s a lot of focus on, be it search or Gmail or Maps or YouTube, making sure those products are evolving in a way that makes sense. And so I think both are important. David Pierce: So on the AI front, though, there’s a piece of that that’s really interesting to me because one of the things I noticed in the keynote was that things like LaMDA and Translate and PaLM kept coming up kind of in different contexts. And I think one of the things that’s been tricky for us to figure out is when you say “we’re focused on AI,” that can mean lots of things, right? AI is this huge sprawling thing that can mean a lot of things. Within that space, it feels like maybe Google is picking its spots a little more instead of kind of trying to do lots of things. You have a few big bets, even just within AI. Is that fair? Yeah. It’s a great question. You can think about it this way, right? We are all making progress in state-of-the-art ML and AI. Then there’s things in terms of what we are deploying in production, which is the latest version of either speech models, vision models, or multimodal models. Right? And then there is the future of AI, which is not in production yet. And that is large language models. And so I think we are talking about that, and that’s where LaMDA and PaLM and everything comes in. And some of that will keep flowing back into cutting-edge production, and that’s what keeps the innovation going. DP: Okay. And my sense would be then that your job as CEO is in part to sort of make sure all of those things are moving at the correct speed, because, just the idea of living deep in the future and two years from now and also right now … seems impossible. There are two sides to the coin, right? So, for example, when we built something like Chrome, we unveiled the end-to-end product in one day. Well, the comic book leaked two days early, but at least it’s a product in which you come out and unveil it. When it comes to things like AI, a lot of it, we publish research. So you can’t quite do that. And B, in a technology like that, transparency is important, too, I think. And so we are talking about it ahead of time, which is what gives a sense of, “well, is this too futuristic? What of this will apply to the products?” And I think it’s a fair question, but I’m trying to explain why we are doing it the way we are doing it. And so that’s what I think makes it a bit different. NP: I think the classic story of I/O has been a demo of a really impressive AI tool. I can’t help but think of the one that took the fence out of the picture in the image editor — and it turns out that’s actually a really hard problem. It’s going to take a long time to actually shift that to consumers. But at the same time, you’re demoing things in actual products, like translation, that are real for people or could be real today. And it’s just really hard to calibrate: what are we looking at that’s real right now or that is a vision of what AI could accomplish? Google is one of the few companies that still demos really impressive software every time you have an event. Most other companies are like, I don’t know, “We’re going to stream some baseball games to you.” There’s a really very hardcore engineering component to what you showed at I/O, but it’s just hard to know which of it is going to come into focus and turn into a product and which of it is: Google has an intense set of capabilities, and part of Google’s culture is chasing them down wherever they might lead. If you go back, let me give a couple examples. We showed Google Lens many years at I/O, right? The promise of what Google Lens is. It’s a real product, right? And people query it, you can access it. And as Lens matures, we are bringing those capabilities into search, and that’s what helps you from a multisearch standpoint. Even the fence: you can see Magic Eraser in Pixel, and I would argue it gets at some of that promise in the context of a product. And so, the goal of everything we are showing is to actually build it into a product. That’s what we are trying to do. I have no interest in being an R&D lab. We actually genuinely believe we’ve been doing cutting-edge R&D, right? We are one of the world’s largest R&D investors, probably over $100 billion in the past five years. And so we are definitely doing [tip of tree] R&D, but the goal is all with a clear lens of our mission, how we will apply it, and working it backward. And then I think both are true. There may be times there’s a probabilistic outcome, and so that there may be one or two elements in it which we fail. And so that there is that risk of talking ahead. And I think the failures are also obvious to the external world. But I do think if you’ve looked at the capabilities we are bringing in Pixel, etc., we are translating it into products and features. Everything to do with translation, though, I would argue we’ve been steadily making progress, be it monolingual translation or what we showed in the context of translation and transcription in the context of the prototypes — AR glass prototypes — those are real products we are working on. Right? NP: Wait, we’ll just skip ahead. You brought it up. The glasses are real? It’s a real pair of glasses? Yeah. I mean, the prototypes are real. I mean, they are real use cases, and the people testing it out are real. Absolutely. We are still obviously working through what the right product in terms of AR is. With AR, we were trying to communicate two things. One is: a lot of the innovation for what we are building in AR, we are building in the context of a smartphone today. And so Lens, multisearch, scene exploration, live immersive view in Maps — these are all AR experiences. We are doing it in a smartphone today. But the magic isn’t fully obvious ‘til you can live in that future. And so we are exploring that future, also in terms of hardware form factors. But that’s going to take time to do, and we have a few more decisions ahead of us there. NP: So if people haven’t seen the video, you should watch it. It’s cool. It’s a pair of glasses. It listens. And it shows you real-time translations. Someone’s speaking in a different language, you get real-time translation on the screen of the glasses. I look at that, and I say, “Oh, that’s really smart.” Right now, all the AR experiences you’re describing, they happen on a phone because a phone has a fancy camera built into it. It has a 5G network connection, for whatever that’s worth. It has a fast processor. It has a big battery. Putting that stuff in glasses is very difficult. And I look at the translation glasses you demoed, and I say, “Oh, you’re cutting the problem way down.” Now, all we’re doing is listening to someone, translating it, and then showing some text on a screen, which in the grand scheme of computer problems is still hard but, in the scheme of AR, is a very narrow solution. Is that how you’re thinking about it? That you’re going to cut it all the way down to that, and you’re not going to do real-time graphic overlays and stuff that seems really far out right now? I think it’s part of how we are thinking about it because I don’t think we want to overshoot it. The more you overshoot, the longer it is away, right? And so we are trying to find that sweet spot of what is it that you can do, something which people can wear. It’s comfortable, you can wear it. And also doesn’t have the other broader issues around... Well, if you have a camera, you have to solve a set of different issues. It’s a harder system integration problem, as you’re pointing out. I’ve always felt constraints help, right? Having constraints helps you actually deliver a product. And so I’m a fan of that. And so I think that’s part of what’s informing our thinking there. NP: You have to develop the hardware. That seems very challenging. There’s also the idea that you’re going to augment reality, which just on its face seems like the world’s biggest content moderation challenge. You run YouTube. YouTube is a content moderation challenge. Have you put time into thinking about, “okay, we’re going into an AR future. Someone’s looking at the Capitol building. Google’s going to put some information over the Capitol building to say what happened there. And people are going to be upset regardless of what we put on that screen.” Have you gotten all the way down that road in your thinking yet? Or are you still focused on, “we have to make a computer you put on your face?” Look, I think we are in the earliest stages. You can imagine use cases where there are products like Maps, or you want to listen to music when you run, or the translation use cases. I think anytime you show information with that, you have to think through all that. And I agree with you. But I don’t think we are quite there yet, if I were to be frank, thinking all that through. NP: I mean, just on a timeline, do you think this is a five-year problem? Is it a 25-year problem? Is it 18 months? Well, we have the problem today, right? I think information is working at scale on the internet. And I think we’ve already crossed the inflection points. So I would argue solving content moderation is a hard enough problem today. And if I think through the future, maybe areas where I worry about more are synthetic content and how do we deal with that? AR is a dimension, but I think there are harder dimensions, which I think we are probably thinking about a bit more. DP: This comes back to the “how you think about the company as a whole” question, too. Because I think we’ve seen a few companies, most aggressively Meta, make a lot of noise about AR being a bet-the-company thing, right? That this thing that is coming next is going to require everything we have, and we have to put everything we have behind it, and it’s going to require changing how we work. My sense is you’re not shifting Google quite that aggressively, but – NP: Sundar is like, “The real world’s pretty good,” which is about as hard of a shot as I’ve ever heard you take, man. Look, I mean, we are definitely focused more and more on the AR side, in the context of “the real world is important.” It’s how we see it. And we are building it. VR has an important use case, too. And there’ll be mixed reality. But those things all have different timelines and access and so on. DP: But eventually, if AR is going to be as big as a lot of people think it is, it’s going to require basically every team at Google to build new things for it. Where are you in how you’re thinking about how much energy you want to put within the company onto that kind of stuff? Remember, Google came from the desktop era. And we have driven the shift to mobile. AI is a big shift we are driving. And so, to me, I think it cuts across. So I don’t view it as betting the company — it is a natural evolution of the company. And I think if you’re thinking deeply and building for the future, it is a big part of getting it right. So for me, it’s important that search works in the AR context. And Maps is thinking it through. And YouTube is thinking it through. And Google Photos is thinking it through. And so, I think if you get it right that way, you’re bringing the company along through these big transitions. And so maybe it’s a way about how we think about it. NP: Let’s come back out of the clouds for a minute. That’s AR. I mean, it’s interesting. And I think the glasses are fascinating in the sense that by reducing the problem you’re trying to solve, you actually can make a more useful product as opposed to trying to boil the ocean there. But they’re still pretty far out. You’ve got another problem right in front of you, which is trying to sell Pixel phones and create a Pixel ecosystem. Even at that, for a while, we saw Pixel 7, Pixel 6A, Pixel Buds Pro. You hinted at a tablet. There’s a lot of energy in that space. And one of the things that Rick [Osterloh] told David on another piece of the Vergecast is that the Android team and the Pixel team are much closer together now. They’re operating in harmony. Historically, that arrangement has made your OEMs very mad: I believe at one point, Google was forced to sell Motorola because things were too close. But now you’re doing it again. Tell me about that. Is that Samsung and Lenovo and whoever else don’t see Pixel as a threat, so you can bring them close together? Is it you’re going to spin some innovations from Pixel out into Android proper? How are you thinking about managing that dynamic? Let me step out and first answer about our focus there. To me, it’s no different over the past five years if you’ve taken an area like YouTube. We’ve put a lot of focus into it. Cloud is the same thing. Both as big areas and as important businesses to be built. To me, hardware and computing is equally important. I do think the ecosystem — all of us see value in working together to make sure we make progress, particularly beyond phones, right? So Wear OS has been a great example. Because when you’re building these new categories, it’s hardware, it’s software, it’s app developers. You all understand this well. So there is value in what we did with Samsung on Wear OS aligning. And as developers, the fact that Pixel Watch is coming and Wear OS has a lot more traction, all of that matters because developers address it, too. So, “a rising tide lifts all boats” kind of a scenario is genuinely what plays out. We work super hard with Samsung on foldables and phones. And also, I think there’s some added value in our approach, in the sense that sometimes we have a strong view on what to do on top of Android, right? Our OEMs may have a different viewpoint. I think one of the benefits of Android is it allows both viewpoints to be expressed. And we can do it in the context of Pixel and the ecosystem we see. And Samsung can have a vision on top of Galaxy and their hardware ecosystem, too. So I think there’s some value in that, too. So I don’t necessarily see this being that complicated. I think the industry has evolved to this level. You can look at somebody like Microsoft with Surface and Windows, and you can ask the same question, but I think it’s natural. We work with Samsung, by the way. Our Pixel division is a major customer of Samsung’s components. And so we don’t sit there and ask, “Hey, Samsung is supplying its own phones and us. And how do you do this?” The industry has worked that way for a while. So I see it as a natural evolution. DP: On the ecosystem side of things, what changed your thinking about that? I think one of the things that Nilay and I both noticed from I/O is there was a lot of resurrecting of old products and old ideas. Tablets was a thing that it doesn’t seem like Google has cared about in a while, and same with watches. And Wallet is back after not being back. The ecosystem thinking seems to have gotten much bigger. What sparked that internally? I think there are two aspects to it. One is what you said — that the ecosystem is important — and Android is open source, which means there are many different OEMs making things. So the Android team is thinking hard about Better Together and how do these things work together better. And additional categories becoming more important, that’s one part of it. The second part of it is, why not sooner? Hardware is such an “economies of scale” business. There’s so many things to do to get it right. And we have been building the capabilities. So, for example, Tensor has been five years in the making. You’re seeing it now, but we knew we needed that to work well to be able to do a tablet so that it shares the same silicon platform with phones. And so you had to crawl, walk, and start to run on phones before you can actually do the other things. So there’s a difference between intellectually understanding it a few years earlier versus the actual practical ability to get scale and to be able to do it all in the additional things. And so I think that’s the practical side of it. NP: But let me ask you about phones in particular, and then maybe extend it to tablets. You made the comparison to Microsoft. Microsoft did Surface because the Windows ecosystem was not producing thousand-dollar laptops. Panos [Panay] has been on the show. He said that to us very directly, very loudly. And so they’re like, “We need to reinvigorate this segment of the market. We need to compete with Apple because Apple’s winning at this segment of the market.” In phones right now, if Pixel’s a huge success, you’re not necessarily getting Apple switchers. You’re getting Samsung switchers, where you’re just moving people around the Android ecosystem. If you launch a tablet, I don’t know if you’re thinking you’re going to get iPad switchers; you might just get Chrome OS switchers or other Android tablet switchers. How do you think about managing that competition? And then I guess the real question is: how do you think about opening the gate to get people to switch from Apple products — however many conversations we want to have about lock-in, and I promise you, we will soon ask what RCS, but they seem to be pretty happy over there and not enticed to switch to your platforms. I definitely think us doing tablets and us working better with Samsung on tablets will end up with each of us individually better off, and overall, Android as an ecosystem will do better in tablets. That’s how the math works out, at least empirically, for a while. On the phone side, too, I do think on high-ends, we need to be competitive. Similarly, you’re talking about switching, but we could also lose users from the Android ecosystem because we don’t have a good tablet offering as well. You’ve made this point before on The Vergecast about Nexus 7 and the impact it had. We are doing it because we think we will give a clear view on how you can do these things and how they can work together. And I think it’ll impact the whole ecosystem to do better. So I see all of that playing out. I see it so far from being a zero-sum game, and to my earlier point, we end up being a very successful — others sell components to us. We buy displays, we buy memory. So I think it’s a bit more complex than that. NP: All right, so now I definitely have to ask the RCS question. Shout out to our friend Dieter Bohn, who you ruthlessly took from us, Sundar. The noise that Google has started to make about RCS has gotten louder over the past five years. I would just say it started with, “Here’s the new standard. We hope the carriers adopt it. We’re running our own RCS servers.” To, onstage, “everyone should adopt RCS” — pointed look in the direction of Cupertino. You’re starting to advocate now for it as a company very loudly. There are good reasons for it: there’s security, there’s encryption, there’s all that stuff. There’s also just interoperability and ease of switching in the sense that iMessage is pure lock-in for Apple. How are you balancing all of that stuff? Is it you’re more focused on “this is the next generation of standards when you got to get there?” Or is there an element of competitiveness to it? You’ve had a long focus on our messaging efforts. And I would say RCS is … I still recall being in Mobile World Congress, six to seven years ago, and seeing the moment where the carriers suddenly looked at us and said, “We need you to do this.” And historically, it had been difficult. The carriers viewed it as, “We don’t want anyone else to come into messaging.” And so it was a big shift. And so I actually view it as a great example of, against extraordinary odds, being so focused on an area over six to seven years. And being where we are, I think, at least on the Android ecosystem side, RCS is on a clear path to both being a standard, supporting end-to-end encryption, and so on. So super excited about the progress there. I think interoperability is great here. We all take it for granted in areas like email today. It would be great for it to work. I think we couldn’t even make the case until we had a viable alternative, so we’ve crossed that part. I realize teams are excited and making calls and stuff, but to me, what’s in our control is to build a compelling standard and, over time, make the compelling case that it’s to the benefit of everyone involved, including iOS users, to have that end-to-end encryption working and have that interoperability. And the rest is outside of our hands. And as you said, time will tell. But I’m at least glad we reached the stage where we are, making progress. And to taking Dieter: first of all, you guys focus a lot on products, which is great, and I think unique, but the more you focus on product, you have almost like, product manager-type of people, and Google is always hiring product managers. So I think it comes. NP: Yeah. You need someone who thinks about the people! Another just Big Think question, then I want to ask about a more distributed future. But just on a big perspective right now, when you think about the big companies, they have signature products. Google has a lot of signature products. As you’re thinking about the future of the company and how all those products might work together and how you might layer the technologies underneath them together, are you thinking about changing how Google operates or how it’s organized? Historically, Google has been doing a lot of things all at once. I think messaging is actually the ultimate example of this, where lots of teams at Google have built messaging products, but the strategy for messaging has only recently begun to perhaps coalesce. Are you thinking about that more broadly across the company? Yes. Becoming CEO, I wanted the company to go back and think a lot about its core mission because I felt it was important to ground ourselves there and really focus on knowledge. And the core of knowledge for us is on search and YouTube. It’s our core consumer services. And then computing — it’s Android, and as part of that, there was a big bet on hardware, too. And then making sure we are a world-class enterprise platform as well, with Cloud and Workspace. So we’ve done a lot of work to focus the company along those dimensions. So those are our five big product areas, how we are structured and how we run them. And with the common view of all the crosscutting R&D and technology, particularly AI, which really drives innovation forward there. So that’s the big picture, how I think about it. And we’ll continue to be very focused. I think it takes a lot in tech. Tech is very competitive. You look at something like TikTok emerge, things happen in very fast cycles. And so, to stay on top of any significant tech product needs a lot of focus and continued innovation. And so I’ve always viewed, as a company, we need to be very focused on it. And definitely, we have brought focus. Some of what looks outside as well, like, “You’re focused on these products, and you’re improving them.” Well, yes. These are billion-user products doing important things. And I think people rely on them. And to me, there is nothing more important than making it better constantly and continually evolving it. As a web service, sometimes it’s hard because if you’re doing hardware or something, you get these once-in-a-year moments to go talk about it. Something like search, where you’re shipping stuff every two weeks and you’re continuously releasing them, it is even more important to be very focused on making sure you’re actually moving the needle. So I think it’s definitely a big part of what I think about. NP: One of the things that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is the blockchain, decentralized computing. I talk to blockchain companies and CEOs, and whenever they’re like, “Web2,” the examples they give me are always Google. It’s always Google search. It’s always YouTube. These are the Web2 platforms that the blockchain companies are going to disrupt. Are you making big bets? We’re talking right now in the middle of a literal cryptocurrency crash, so I’m assuming you’re not making huge bets today, but are you thinking about that next future for Google? Web2 was a big part of why I joined Google! And seeing the transition from the web moving from content to apps and the excitement around XML, HTTP, and Ajax and realizing that Maps and Gmail all represent a fundamental shift in how the web works. So I think it’s exciting to me anytime the web evolves, but the web is a big thing, and no one person can evolve it, right? That’s the beauty of the web. So I always look at any innovation and try to understand what are the good things coming out of it. It is still early days, though. But I’m always trying to think ahead about what are the key trends, be it on computing, be it on how the web server is evolving and trying to see where Google can contribute, where Google can also lead. And it’s a big part of how we should think about it, not to mention AI being the most important of it all. NP: Let’s call it Web3, the blockchain, Web3 stuff. There’s a lot of cryptographic innovation, sure. But the innovation there is not necessarily technological capability. It’s, “I don’t have to trust your database.” Google is effectively the world’s most powerful database company. There’s a very important database at the heart of Google that you can query and get results from. Do you ever think, “Oh, this will displace the search index,” or, “This will displace the YouTube database”? I mean, don’t forget, I think Skype worked at some point on a P2P-based model. Right? Distributed databases are a hard, interesting computer science challenge, too. So I think we get equally excited about that. I think it’s important to think through user problems, what you’re trying to solve, and the underlying technology. And so, all of that is important end-to-end. But as always, when anything evolves, to make sure you’re leading in all these services, will you get disrupted? By definition, if you’re not trying hard enough, yes. The answer is absolutely 100 percent yes. I’m like when we show up to work on Mondays, and yes, I worry about all of this all the time. And so maybe I’ll leave it at that. DP: My last question is, tell me what your killer app is for smartwatches. We spend a lot of time debating what smartwatches are for. And having now spent a lot of time building one, I’m curious what you see as the reason for smartwatches at the moment for Google. I want to make sure the team has something to say in September when they talk about Pixel Watches. The thing I’m excited about is it’s an end-to-end hardware portfolio, and you will see a lot of the Pixel brand identity. And if you’re a Pixel user, a lot of the design language and some of the customization of how easy it is to change bands and the expressiveness is great. In terms of killer apps, look, I mean, you look at something like GPS being on phones and what happens later, or the fact that XML/HTTP created a whole set of apps, as I talked about earlier — I’m always humbled by, when you create underlying capabilities, the creativity of developers outside. It’s not that Google will develop the killer app. I think, down the line, someone will do something really cool with it. But I would argue one of the exciting aspects of the Pixel watch is, of course, Fitbit coming on it. Fitbit coming as a service on it is a killer app we are putting on that watch. And so that is something I’m super excited by. NP: Well, Sundar, thank you so much for coming on The Vergecast. It’s always great to talk to you, and I always appreciate that you want to come on the hardcore nerd show. So that’s very good. It’s good to talk to you. Greatly enjoyed it. And thanks for all the focus on I/O. I appreciate it.
Episode #582 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. Rod is out this week, so Chris and Robb hit you with Chicken Wings and Beer Part 82. If you don't know what a CWB episode is, it's when Chris and Robb talk about whatever is on their minds. We eventually get to a […] The post Chicken Wings And Beer Part 82: SMRpodcast 546 appeared first on SMRPodcast.
Peloton is still busy expanding its connected fitness lineup despite its ongoing financial woes. The company has teased plans to introduce its first rowing machine, promising a mix of cardio and strength training. The company didn't go into detail during its Homecoming 2022 event, but a sneak peek video (below) shows that it's largely what you'd expect — a minimalist rower with a large screen to show classes and stats.ICYMI pic.twitter.com/49VBKux2wz— Peloton (@onepeloton) May 13, 2022There was no mention of a release date or price for the rowing machine. Peloton previewed features for existing products, though. You can soon schedule workouts with friends through the app, Bike or Tread. Blind and low-vision users will get to navigate the Tread's interface through the Google TalkBack screen reader. And you'll finally have the option to track cycling, running and other workouts through the Peloton app. You won't have to participate in a class just to have exercise count toward member challenges and streaks.The expansion comes just days after Peloton revealed a massive $751.1 million loss in its latest quarter, not to mention dropping revenue. The company has been struggling to adapt to the pandemic recovery as people return to gyms and the office, and the combination of price cuts and the Guide camera hasn't done much to turn things around. The rowing machine is a gamble in that regard, as Peloton is clearly hoping more aggressive investments now will pay off in the long term.With that said, it may be a shrewd move. The smart rowing machine market is relatively small, with brands like Echelon and Hydrow leading the pack. Peloton might carve out a signification position in that market through name recognition and its well-known classes.
Scientists from the University of Florida have completed a world (and lunar) first by growing plants in soil from the Moon. The researchers used samples obtained by the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions, but they didn't have much to work with.While a total of 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of soil and rocks has been brought back to Earth from the Moon, the researchers received just 12 grams of so-called "lunar regolith" from NASA. Still, that was more than the four grams they requested. Scientists Rob Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul had to be patient to get their hands on the soil as well — they applied three times over 11 years for the samples.The team used thimble-sized wells in plastic plates, which are typically used to culture cells, as pots. The scientists placed a gram of soil into each of these, added a nutrient solution and then placed a few thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) seeds. They planted the seeds in other types of soil as part of a control group, including simulated Martian soil, soils from extreme environments and a substance that mimics lunar soil.Nearly all of the seeds planted in the lunar regolith sprouted, but the plants eventually showed some differences from the ones grown in the control group. Some of the Moon dirt plants grew slower or were smaller. There was more variation in sizes than with the control group cress as well.The scientists, who published their research in the journal Communications Biology, found that differences in the makeup of the lunar soil samples appear to have impacted the growth of the plants. They determined the cress that struggled the most was grown in what's known as mature lunar soil, which is exposed to more cosmic wind.In particular, as The Guardian notes, samples from Apollo 11 were deemed the least effective for growing plants. Those were obtained from the older surface of the Sea of Tranquility, which had a couple of billion years more exposure to the environment. The researchers wrote that "further characterization and optimization would be required before regolith can be considered a routine in situ resource, particularly in locations where the regolith is highly mature."Still, the success of the experiment paves the way for the possibility of growing plants on the Moon for food and oxygen, ahead of NASA's Artemis Program taking humans back to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. “Artemis will require a better understanding of how to grow plants in space,” Ferl, one of the paper's authors and a distinguished professor of horticultural sciences in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said.
Google and Samsung launched a beta of Health Connect, Samsung reportedly raises chip making prices, and Mark Zuckerberg showed off the capabilities of Project Cambria. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of thisContinue reading "Google and Samsung Launch Health Connect Beta – DTH"
This week brought a slew of deals online on some of our favorite gadgets. Apple's latest 4K set-top box is down to a record low, while the Mac Mini returned to the cheapest price we've ever seen it. Samsung's Galaxy S22 smartphones all dropped to new lows, while SanDisk's 1TB Extreme Pro SSD is 42 percent off and under $200. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Apple TV 4KDevindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe latest Apple TV 4K is the cheapest it's ever been at $150. The set-top box earned a score of 90 from us for its speedy performance, support for Dolby Vision and Atmos and its much improved Siri remote.Buy Apple TV 4K at Amazon - $150Mac Mini M1EngadgetApple's Mac Mini M1 is back down to its all-time-low price of $570, or $130 off its normal price. It'll provide similar performance to the MacBook Air M1, and thanks to its compact size, it'll easily fit into any desk setup.Buy Mac Mini M1 (256GB) at Amazon - $57024-inch iMacDevindra Hardawar/EngadgetApple's 24-inch iMac is up to $200 off right now, so you can grab one of the desktops for as low as $1,150. It earned a score of 89 from us for its speedy performance, lovely display and thin-and-light design.Buy 24-inch iMac at Amazon starting at $1,150AirPods ProApple's AirPods Pro are back on sale for $175, which is 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 87 for their improved fit, good audio quality and solid ANC.Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $175AirPods (2nd gen)If you still prefer the original design to Apple's AirPods, you can grab the second-gen earbuds for $100 right now. That's 37 percent off their normal rate and only $10 more than their record-low price. We gave them a score of 84 for their improved wireless performance and solid battery life.Buy AirPods (2nd gen) at Amazon - $100Samsung Galaxy S22 UltraCherlynn Low / EngadgetAll three of Samsung's Galaxy S22 smartphones are at their lowest prices ever, with the Galaxy S22 Ultra down to $950, the S22+ on sale for $750 and the standard S22 for $675. We gave the premium S22 Ultra a score of 89 for its bright, colorful display, built-in S Pen and solid cameras.Buy Galaxy S22 Ultra at Amazon - $950Buy Galaxy S22+ at Amazon - $750Buy Galaxy S22 at Amazon - $675OnePlus 10 ProMat Smith/EngadgetAmazon includes a free $100 gift card when you buy a OnePlus 10 Pro at its normal rate of $899. If you go to OnePlus directly today, you can get a free OnePlus Watch when you pick up the smartphone. We gave the 10 Pro a score of 79 for its big, 120Hz display, speedy fingerprint and face unlock and super-fast charging.Buy OnePlus 10 Pro at Amazon - $899Buy OnePlus 10 Pro at OnePlus - $899SanDisk Extreme Pro (1TB)SanDisk / Weinberg-Clark PhotographySanDisk's 1TB Extreme Pro portable SSD is 42 percent off and down to $180. That's close to the best price we've seen, and it's a good option for those that need a tough drive that they can take with them on the go. In addition to drop protection and an IP55 rating, the Extreme Pro supports read and write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s, password protection and 256-bit AES hardware encryption.Buy SanDisk Extreme Pro (1TB) at Amazon - $180Roku Streambar ProRokuRoku's Streambar Pro is down to an all-time low of $150, which is 17 percent off its regular rate. This larger soundbar has all of the features of the standard Streambar, plus even better sound quality, a lost remote feature with Roku's companion mobile app and support for private listening.Buy Roku Streambar Pro at Amazon - $150New tech dealsAlo MovesThe online yoga, pilates and exercise platform Alo Moves has knocked 50 percent off its annual membership in an anniversary sale, so you can subscribe for only $99. The sale runs through May 14th, and with a subscription, you'll gain access to hundreds of on-demand exercise videos that span activities like yoga, HIIT, barre and pilates, plus guided meditation classes and more.Subscribe to Alo Moves (1 year) - $99Razer Kishi for AndroidRazer's Kishi game controller for Android devices is half off and down to $45. It lets you more comfortably play games on your smartphone while on the go, and it has a USB-C port for charging.Buy Razer Kishi at Amazon - $45Vantrue N2 Pro dash camVantrue's N2 Pro dash cam is $51 off and down to $119 when you use the code SASN2P at checkout. This model has two cameras that capture the road ahead of you and the inside of your car while you're driving, making it a good pick for drivers are ride-share services. It also supports night vision, loop recording and optional GPS connectivity.Buy N2 Pro dash cam at Vantrue - $119Thermapen OneThermoWorks' Thermapen One is on sale for $79 right now, which is the best price we've seen since it came out last year. The latest version of the popular instant read thermometer provides temperature readings in just one second, plus it has a brighter backlit display, motion-sensing sleep and wake mode and an IP67-rated design.Buy Thermapen One at ThermoWorks - $79Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Federal agencies are the latest to alert companies to potential bias in AI recruiting tools. As the APnotes, the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have warned employers that AI hiring and productivity systems can violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. These technologies might discriminate against people with disabilities by unfairly ruling out job candidates, applying incorrect performance monitoring, asking for illegal sensitive info or limiting pay raises and promotions.Accordingly, the government bodies have released documents (DOJ, EEOC) outlining the ADA's requirements and offering help to improve the fairness of workplace AI systems. Businesses should ensure their AI allows for reasonable accommodations.They should also consider how any of their automated tools might affect people with various disabilities.There's no guarantee companies will follow the advice. However, it comes amid mounting pressure on companies to temper their uses of AI for recruiting and worker tracking. California recently enacted a productivity quota law banning algorithms that violate health, labor and safety regulations, or lead to firings of people who can't meet dangerous quotas. New York City, meanwhile, now requires that AI hiring systems pass yearly audits looking for discrimination. Companies that don't heed the new warnings could face serious legal repercussions at multiple levels.
TikTok and parent company ByteDance have been accused of negligence after the death of a 10-year-old who allegedly attempted a challenge she saw on the app. According to the wrongful death suit, Nylah Anderson was found unconscious in her bedroom in Pennsylvania on December 7th. She was taken to hospital but died after five days in pediatric intensive care.Nylah's mother Tawainna claimed her daughter attempted the "blackout challenge," which encourages people to hold their breath or otherwise asphyxiate themselves until they pass out. Nylah saw a video about the challenge on the For You page "as a result of TikTok's algorithm," the suit said, according to NBC News. "The TikTok defendants’ algorithm determined that the deadly blackout challenge was well-tailored and likely to be of interest to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, and she died as a result.""I want to hold this company accountable," Tawainna said at a press conference. "It is time that these dangerous challenges come to an end, that other families don't experience the heartbreak we live every day."TikTok said in a statement that the "disturbing" blackout challenge, "which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend. We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss.”The deaths of several other children have been attributed to the challenge. In April 2021, 12-year-old Colorado boy Joshua Haileyesus died after being on life support for 19 days. His family claimed he attempted the challenge. Italy last year temporarily blocked TikTok for users who were unable to verify their age after the death of a girl who allegedly undertook the challenge.In March, it emerged that a group of attorneys general is investigating TikTok over the potential harms that its app can cause to children and "what TikTok knew about those harms."
If your childhood gaming was defined more by Kirby than Mario, don't worry — Nintendo has you covered. As VGCreports, Nintendo is making Kirby 64: The Crystal Shardsavailable through the Switch Online Expansion Pack on May 20th. The Nintendo 64 title was the first 3D Kirby game, although it was really more of a "2.5D" platformer — you set out to reassemble a shattered crystal by copying and combining your enemies' powers.The Switch experience is effectively what you would remember playing circa 2000, complete with low-polygon 3D visuals. As you might guess, though, the multiplayer mini-games are now available online in addition to at home.This is the 15th N64 game to come to the Switch Online Expansion Pack, which costs $50 per year or $80 for families. While Kirby 64 might not be as immediately appealing to veteran gamers as the likes of Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time, it's still a notable addition that may be great for introducing kids to the games of your youth.
Even smart rings aren't immune to patent wars. Wareablenotes Oura has sued fledgling rival Circular for allegedly violating patents covering both ring design and biometric data collection. Circular's upcoming wearable allegedly copies Oura's work by both stuffing electronics into a cavity and gathering info to generate an overall energy score.Oura said it asked Circular to cease and desist in January, roughly a year after the newcomer started its crowdfunding campaign. Circular took on lawyers to review the patents in response.Circular unsurprisingly objected to the lawsuit and characterized it as an attempt to stifle competition. In a statement, a spokesperson told Wareable that pursuing a monopoly has "never driven innovation." Oura supposedly wants the smart ring market to itself, in other words.It's not certain which side will prevail. While the patents are broad, effectively covering many attempts to make smart rings, the US Patent Office did approve them. Circular may have to challenge the patents themselves to prevail in court, not just dispute their relevance to its particular finger-based technology.
Samsung's chip foundry clients will soon have to pay considerably more for the company's services. According to Bloomberg, the tech giant is already in talks with its clients about charging around 15 to 20 percent more to manufacture their chips, depending on how sophisticated their products are. Samsung is only the latest company in the industry to raise its prices in an effort to keep up with the growing costs of procuring materials in the midst of the global supply chain crisis. Bloomberg says companies that need chips manufactured on legacy nodes would be facing the biggest price hike, which will be applied sometime in the second half of this year. Apparently, Samsung is already done negotiating with some of its clients, but it's still currently in discussion with others. Samsung's foundry business achieved its highest ever first quarter sales for the first three months of 2022. While the company is optimistic about its future, it's also expecting the global component shortage to continue having an impact on its business. Manufacturing costs are rising by up to an average of 30 percent, as well, which means foundry businesses have to charge more to make a profit. Rival foundries like TSMC's already raised prices by 20 percent last year and will charge even more in 2023. Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Masahiro Wakasugi said: "This is an inevitable move for Samsung. Some customers may accept higher prices if they can get chips earlier than others."Seeing as Samsung has cutting-edge gear its competitors don't have and other foundries are raising prices anyway, its clients will most likely agree to pay its new prices. And since the price hike affects the whole industry, we can likely expect to pay more for cars, smartphones, consoles and other devices in the future.
OnePlus fans have the chance to get the company's latest flagship plus an extra perk from Amazon today. The online retailer includes a $100 gift card when you buy a OnePlus 10 Pro, so while you're not getting a discount on the handset itself, you are getting an extra $100 to use on future purchases. If you'd prefer to buy directly from OnePlus, you'll find a different promotion there: today only, you can get a free OnePlus Watch with the purchase of a 10 Pro. That's actually a bigger discount of sorts since the Watch costs $159, but considering the many drawbacks to OnePlus' wearable, you may be better off going with Amazon's gift card option.Buy OnePlus 10 Pro at Amazon - $899Buy OnePlus 10 Pro at OnePlus - $899The OnePlus 10 Pro earned a score of 79 from us mostly because we found it to be very similar to last year's OnePlus 9 Pro. That's not a bad thing, but we were anticipating more big improvements from this generation. You're getting a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED LTPO display on the 10 Pro along with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, an upgraded selfie camera and triple rear camera array that includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor, an ultra-wide lens and a telephoto camera.The 120Hz screen is gorgeous and its adaptive brightness feature learns your preferences over time and can make adjustments before you need to do so manually. The handset handled everything we threw at it well and it has Oppo's HyperBoost game engine, which boosts the touchscreen's responsiveness while helping to stabilize frame rates during gaming sessions. We also appreciate its speedy fingerprint and face unlock features.But arguably the standout feature of the OnePlus 10 Pro is its fast-charging capabilities. The phone supports 80W SUPERVOOC charging, which allows it to fully power up in only 32 minutes. However, US users won't get this feature because 110 or 120-volt AC power, the standards in the US, don't support 80W SUPERVOOC charging. US users will get 65W SUPERVOOC charging instead, which remains the fastest standard available in the States, but still it's a bit of a bummer when 80W is available in other regions.The biggest drawback of the OnePus 10 Pro is its 8MP telephoto camera. The other two rear cameras take lovely, detailed photos, but those taken by the telephoto lens are blurry and low-detail. If you're looking for an upgrade in your next phone's camera, the 10 Pro may not be the best choice — especially when you can get Google's Pixel 6 Pro for the same price, or even the forthcoming Pixel 6a in a few months for much less. But if you're a big fan of the OnePlus brand and OxygenOS, these flash sales are a good opportunity to grab the latest from the company and get something extra on top of it.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
The iPod's death has been a long time coming. Somehow, it's already been eight years since Apple discontinued the iconic iPod classic. Nonetheless, the news this week that Apple is discontinuing its last iPod, the touch is significant: This officially marks the official end of a product that set up the company for two decades of success.A lot has been written about how the iPod changed Apple's fortunes, transforming the company from an influential but niche computer maker into one of the biggest companies in the world. Similarly, the iPod's effect on the music industry almost speaks for itself at this point. The device slowly but surely ended the reign of the CD and moved people to a world in which they could just buy a handful of songs from an album instead of paying $15 for the whole thing on a plastic disc.That's probably why the death of the iPod brand doesn't feel all that notable, despite the fact that I was an iPod early adopter who quickly went all-in on Apple's ecosystem. It was inevitable that Apple would eventually stop selling the iPod touch, just as the end of the iPod classic in 2014 felt overdue.That's probably because both the consumer technology and the music industries have long since moved on from the iPod. It's not hyperbolic to say that the iPod reversed both Apple's fortunes and the record industry’s — but we've since seen another seismic shift that made the iPod feel almost as quaint as the CD.The iPod was responsible for several major changes in the way music is consumed. In the 2000s, CD sales began to fall as more and more people started buying music through digital storefronts like the iTunes Music Store. There, you could get an album for $10 or a single song for $1, a significant discount over CDs at the time. And while many people still purchased full albums, uncoupling songs from the record propelled custom mix CDs and playlists to the forefront of how people listened to music. The iPod and iTunes Store killed the romance (and burden) of a physical music library while giving listeners more freedom in how they bought and listened to music.But in 2022, the music industry has undergone a second sea change. For many, the concept of owning music at all is obsolete. Spotify, Apple Music, and the like have fully moved us to a place where we pay for access — to a catalog of some 90 million songs — not ownership. The idea of the album is even less important now than it was during the iPod's peak, as the streaming services curated playlists for us, based on our listening histories and what's popular. Apple, Spotify, and their competitors are the de facto DJs now, guiding listeners to new music the way radio DJs did for decades.A big part of Steve Jobs' pitch for the iTunes Store was that it was a response to piracy and a way for music creators to get paid. The thinking was that the store would offer a vastly improved experience over dealing with sketchy piracy apps so that people wouldn't mind paying a few bucks here and there to download songs, thus putting money back in artists' pockets.In the streaming era, however, the debate over the fairness of music streaming payments to artists and songwriters rages on. While the iTunes Store was the first place Apple introduced its controversial 30 percent take, there’s been increasing furor in recent years over how Spotify carves up payments for artists into fractions of a cent per stream. Musicians have often made more money from touring and merchandise sales than album sales, and now that most people are streaming rather than buying music, that gulf has widened even more. (That’s without mentioning how much of a hit artists have taken on touring revenue since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.)Just as the music industry has moved on since its iPod-fueled transformation in the 2000s, the consumer tech industry no longer resembles one in which the iPod was dominant. The iPod was conceived as a device that did one thing well: play back your music and podcast library. Sure, it picked up other features over the years (most notably displaying your photos and playing videos), but music was always its raison d’etre.A number of other single-purpose devices flourished around the same time. Amazon introduced the first Kindle in 2007, digital cameras hit the mainstream in a big way throughout the decade and the Flip Video camera had a brief time in the spotlight, just to name a few. But the modern smartphone, which Apple itself ushered in with the iPhone, largely eliminated the need for a dedicated music player, not to mention most other purpose-built gadgets. We’re now 15 years into an era of convergence, where the smartphone is the most versatile and important device we carry.It’s no coincidence that the last iPod Apple sold was the iPod touch, a device that is basically an iPhone without the phone. For years, it was a good option for kids or people who couldn’t afford an iPhone, but giving children a phone isn’t the taboo it once was, while monthly payment plans mean more people can afford them. It’s not clear who the iPod touch was for in 2022.Apple may be pulling the plug on the iPod now, but the world moved on years ago. We’re past the point where those of us waxing nostalgic about the iPod can be considered youthful; if the rise of the iPad was a defining experience for you, you’re likely an elder millennial at best. I don’t say all this to downplay the iPod’s importance, though. On the contrary, looking back at how far we’ve come over the past 20 years reveals just how transformative the iPod was for music, and for tech.
Alexa has introduced "Shopping List Savings" to the Alexa App, letting you scan receipts on eligible products from any store to gain cashback rewards, TechCrunch reported. It won't cost you a thing to use it and you'll get cash back to your Amazon gift card to use on any item on Amazon. The catch is that the system will provide Amazon with a ton of valuable data on your shopping habits, even when you're not shopping on its site.Using it is pretty straightforward. You just search the Alexa app to find available offers, then add them to your shopping list. You can shop the offers at your "go-to grocery store" (or pharmacy, or any store where you can get an itemized receipt) and scan the receipt and product barcodes to redeem them. That'll get you cash directly on your Amazon gift card, usually in 24-48 hours, which can be used to buy anything on Amazon. Amazon doesn't explain how your data will be used or promise to anonymize it, as TechCrunch notes. Instead, it simply states that "we will get any information you provide, including receipt images and information we may extract from those receipts, and the offers you activate. You understand and acknowledge that your personal information may be shared with Amazon’s service providers." Amazon isn't the only company to offer such a service, as you can also get cash rewards from Fetch, Ibotta and other companies in exchange for your shopping data. The amount of reward per product appears to be on an offer-by-offer basis, and you can check on payment status any time on the Get Paid page on "Browse Savings." The offer appears to be limited to the US, for now.
This week, Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins Cherlynn and Devindra to dive into everything announced at Google I/O. There were plenty of new devices, of course, but Google also showed off how its improved AI tech is making maps, translation and more features even smarter. Also, Cherlynn discusses her exclusive feature on Microsoft’s Adaptive Mouse, as well as the company’s new Inclusive Tech Lab. And in other news, we bid farewell to the iPod and reminisce about the early days of MP3 players.Engadget · Google I/O + hands-on with Microsoft’s Adaptive MouseListen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!Subscribe!iTunesSpotifyPocket CastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsRSSTopicsGoogle IO overview – 1:45A return for Google Glass? – 13:24Pixel 6a announcement – 29:11Pixel Watch – 33:49Pixel Buds Pro – 38:27Notes from Microsoft’s Ability Summit – 43:43Apple officially discontinues the iPod – 1:01:04Sonos Ray is real and it’s $279 – 1:08:53New info on Intel’s 12th Gen HX Chips – 1:20:45Pop culture picks – 1:26:21Video livestreamCreditsHosts: Devindra Hardawar and Jessica CondittGuest: Nathan IngrahamProducer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence O'BrienLivestream producers: Julio BarrientosGraphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
EA is releasing the remake of Dead Space on January 27th, 2023. Motive, the EA studio behind the game, made the announcement at the company's Crafting the Tension Art Developer Livestream. The classic sci-fi horror survival game is being rebuilt from the ground up using EA's Frostbite game engine and will be available for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.The original Dead Space was released back in 2008 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. Motive is upgrading its visuals and made its audio crisper for a more immersive experience on modern consoles. The studio remade all the in-game props, tools and environments for more modern hardware and platforms, and it used "dynamic, volumetric lighting with atmospheric and environmental VFX rendered in full-HDR" to capture the creepy atmosphere of the game.In Dead Space, you play as engineer Isaac Clarke who's on a routine mission to fix the mining starship USG Ishimura. What he didn't know was the the ship's crew had been slaughtered and infected, transforming them into creatures known as Necromorphs. To find his girlfriend who worked as a medical officer onboard, he has to fight these monsters while also grappling with his growing psychosis. In addition to announcing the remake's release date, the Motive team has also given us a look at the development of the game in the livestream. You can see how they incorporated lighting changes and new elements in the video below:
When it comes to retro portable gaming, even the better handhelds usually only emulate the original PlayStation and N64 era. But if you’re a fan of the GameCube or PS2 libraries (and you should be), the number of handhelds capable enough, well-made enough and reasonably priced enough is small.EngadgetBut here comes the Ayn Odin. Editor at Large James Trew has been intrigued by what seems to be a pretty cohesive handheld console, with similarities to the Switch Lite and Steam Deck. In many ways, it’s also very different.— Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missed'The Pentaverate' is a reminder of what Netflix took from usOcasio-Cortez, Warren blast Amazon for 'wholly inadequate' warehouse safetyHulu will be the streaming home for Lollapalooza through 2023The best mobile gaming controllers you can buyUK's Royal Mail aims to open 50 drone routes for rural deliveriesThe postal service started testing autonomous deliveries last year.The UK's Royal Mail wants to set up 50 drone routes over the next three years to make deliveries to remote communities. The first communities to benefit would be the Isles of Scilly (off the coast of Cornwall in South West England) and the Scottish islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides.In April’s test flight, the service used a UAV to deliver mail to Unst, Britain's most northerly inhabited island, from Tingwall Airport on Shetland's largest island — a 50-mile flight each way. The twin-engine drone used in the tests can carry a payload of up to 100kg of mail.Continue reading.Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones reviewIn a league of their own.EngadgetSony’s done it again with its over-ear flagship headphones. The fifth iteration of the WH-1000XM headphones is even more comfortable, sounds even better and will frustrate anyone who just grabbed its predecessor. They are a little more expensive, however. Check out the full review.Continue reading.Twitter's CEO fires top product exec as company cuts costsA new shakeup is happening at the top of Twitter.There are changes happening at the top of Twitter. CEO Parag Agrawal has fired the company’s General Manager of Consumer Products Kayvon Beykpour to "take the team in a different direction." Beykpour, who’d been with the company for seven years, was on paternity leave at the time. Bruce Falck, the company’s general manager for revenue, is also leaving, the company confirmed.The shakeup comes alongside a companywide pause on hiring as Twitter tries to cut costs.Continue reading.Watch the trailer for Netflix's live-action 'Resident Evil'Warning: definitely contains zombies.A live-action Resident Evil series is coming to Netflix this summer, and the service has shared a teaser. The story takes place across two timelines and locations: a seemingly pristine New Raccoon City in the present day and a ruined version of London in 2036. You may recognize Albert Wesker from the myriad of games, movies and other spin-off media.Watch here.Mark Zuckerberg shows off what Meta's next headset can doProject Cambria can bring a virtual workout instructor into a physical space.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave us a first proper look at the company's next mixed-reality headset, codenamed Project Cambria, in action. You can watch Zuckerberg playing with and petting a virtual creature superimposed in the real world. The clip also shows a user in front of a virtual workstation before looking down at a notepad and writing on it. Mmm, working in a VR headset.Continue reading.Apple sends out invites for limited in-person WWDC 2022 eventIt will take place at Apple Park on June 6th.Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference will still mostly be virtual this year, but it’ll have a limited in-person event at Apple Park. The tech giant has started sending invites for the one-day special on June 6th, where attendees will be able to watch the keynote and other videos on-site.Apple is expected to showcase iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16 and the next version of macOS during the conference. The company might also talk about its upcoming M2 chips for Macs and iPads.Continue reading.
On this week’s SyrupCast, Patrick O’Rourke, Brad Bennett and Dean Daley talk about I/O 2022, including the Pixel Watch, the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7, the Pixel Buds Pro, the Pixel Tablet and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter is "temporarily on hold" pending confirmation that spam and fake accounts do represent less than 5 percent of users, he tweeted. Attached to the tweet was a Reuters link reporting that Twitter estimated in a regulatory filing that those types of accounts represented 5 percent of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter of 2022.Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of usershttps://t.co/Y2t0QMuuyn— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022It appears that Musk may have some concerns about those figures, judging by the tweet. It's not clear what steps he and Twitter will take to verify them, however. If you've been somehow disconnected from the internet (lucky you!), Musk is in the process of buying Twitter for $44 billion. He aims to quadruple the user base and has said he'll defeat spam bots, authenticate all humans and make its algorithms open source, while also championing free speech and walking back content moderation. As part of that, he said he'd reverse the Twitter ban on Donald Trump and other users.However, some experts on social media content moderation have said that those goals conflict with each other. Facebook's former security chief Alex Stamos, for one, recently tweeted that Musk's ideals for Twitter may conflict with European laws, pointing out that there's "a large mismatch between the US and the UK's Online Safety Bill and EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Acts." Stamos also noted that Twitter is saturated in the developed world, so any growth "will require even more dealing with the challenges of autocracies and developing democracies."Update: 05/13/22 - 7:51am ET: Musk has since tweeted that he is still "committed to [the] acquisition." Twitter shares are down 10 percent in pre-market at the time of this update.Still committed to acquisition— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022
Starlink's internet service is now available in 32 countries around the world, the Elon Musk-owned company tweeted. Countries and regions marked on its map as "available," including parts of Australia, Brazil, Chile, the US, Canada and most of Europe, can have their equipment shipped "immediately." The service has steadily expanded since exiting beta last year, with availability in 12 countries as of September 2021 and 25 countries last February.Starlink is now available in 32 countries around the world. People ordering from areas marked “available” will have their Starlink shipped immediately → https://t.co/slZbTmHdmlpic.twitter.com/CecM1pkf5D— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 13, 2022Starlink's map shows areas marked as "available" (light blue), "wait list" (medium blue) and "coming soon" (dark blue). The service has a potential near-global reach at latitudes below around 60 degrees north, but availability is granted on a country-by-country basis. The kits recently rose in price and now cost $549 for reservation holders or $599 for new orders, and include a satellite antenna dish, a stand, a power supply and a WiFi router. Service prices also shot up from $99 to $110 per month. Users can also now add a portability feature, letting them take the kit while traveling, for an additional $25 per month fee. The company is primarily targeting remote regions that can't get connected otherwise, to start with. It offers very respectable speeds of 104.97/12.04 Mbps (download/upload) in the US as of Q4 2021, nearly up to fixed US internet speeds. In theory, speeds climb as the company adds more satellites and ground stations. Latency is slower than fixed broadband (40 compared to 14 milliseconds) but far better than other satellite options including HughesNet (729 milliseconds) and Viasat (627 milliseconds).Starlink has not been without controversy. Astronomers have complained that the thousands of satellites in its constellation have interfered with Earth telescope observations, and the company recently lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm. In addition, Starlink's license to operate in France was temporarily cancelled by the nation's regulator ARCEP, with a final decision expected soon.
Google hosted its annual developers conference this week, which it calls Google I/O. And for the first time since the start of the pandemic, attendees had the option to show up in person. The company announced software updates, new devices and, of course, details of improvements to the Android operating system, which runs on most of the world’s mobile phones. The event sets the tone for the other big tech conferences throughout the year. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Ian Sherr, an editor at large for CNET. He attended the conference virtually and said one of Google’s biggest reveals was a new wearable device.
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As workers at some of its Stores attempt to unionize, Apple is giving talking points to managers to tamp those efforts down, Vice has reported. It's telling employees that they could lose career opportunities, personal time off and work flexibility, adding that the company will pay "less attention to merit" in union stores. The scripts have been given to leaders at multiple Apple Stores, according to Vice. Managers have used the scripts during "downloads," or employee meetings that start shifts. "There are a lot of things to consider. One is how a union could fundamentally change the way we work," they reportedly read. "What makes a Store great is having a team that works together well. That can’t always happen when a union represents a Store’s team members."Employees of Apple's Atlanta Cumberland Mall Store were the first to try to unionize, hoping to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA). They've complained about relatively low pay for their region, difficult working conditions and limited promotion opportunities. "Everybody deserves the opportunity to be able to not worry about whether they can afford food or pay their bills. Everybody deserves to be able to afford to live in the city that they work in," employee Elli Daniels told Engadget last month. Apple didn't respond directly to Vice about the report, but repeated a statement it has given before. "We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple. We are pleased to offer very strong compensation and benefits for full time and part time employees, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants and many other benefits," it told Vice. Engadget has reached out for comment. Apple has reportedly hired the same law firm Starbucks is using for its anti-union campaign and its talking point rhetoric resembles arguments used by Amazon and Starbucks during worker meetings. One Amazon union buster warned employees they could end up with lower pay after unionization, before walking that back under employee questioning. However, research has shown that unions improve wages and benefits compared to non-union workers in the same industries, while also narrowing race and gender disparities, as Vice noted. The Atlanta union vote is set for next month, and other stores in Maryland and New York are also reportedly pursuing unionization bids.
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference will still mostly be virtual this year, but it will hold an in-person event for a limited number of people at Apple Park. Now, the tech giant has started sending out invites for the one-day special on June 6th, where attendees will be able to watch the keynote and State of the Union videos on-site. While Apple's last two developer conferences were pure online experiences due to the pandemic, it doesn't come as a surprise that it's offering a hybrid experience this time when its corporate employees have already started working in the company's offices again at least once a week. OMG!!!!! https://t.co/Spgg6oOhRupic.twitter.com/oibQApRSIH— Ashwin (@mixtapesareback) May 13, 2022Members of the Apple Developer Program and Apple Developer Enterprise Program were given the chance to apply for invites from May 9th to May 11th. Apple said it will choose participants through a random selection process, and as you can see above, invitations aren't transferrable. Chosen participants will have to RSVP by May 18th at 6PM PT/9PM ET, though, and their invite will be offered to another applicant if they fail to do so on time. Apple is expected to showcase iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16 and the next version of macOS during the conference. The company might also talk about its upcoming M2 chips that it's reportedly testing on at least nine new Mac models.
US Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) wants to establish a federal watchdog that would focus on overseeing digital platforms and tech giants. The lawmaker has introduced the Digital Platform Commission Act (PDF) in Congress in hopes of establishing a five-person federal body appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. They would be experts in relevant fields, including computer science, software development and technology policy.The commission would be in charge of assuring "the fairness and safety of algorithms on digital platforms" as well as promoting competition. It would also have the authority to conduct investigations, impose penalties and to set new rules, such as those that ensure moderation transparency and the protection of consumers. The commission would create requirements for regular public risk assessments on the distribution of harmful content on digital platforms, as well.Under the commission, a "Code Council" comprised of technologists and public interest experts will conjure up standards and policies that could be implemented. In addition, the commission will establish a research office with 20 dedicated employees to conduct internal research and coordinate with outside academics and experts. As mentioned in the legislation's announcement, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are in charge of overseeing digital platforms today. Bennett argues, however, that they lack the expert staff and tech-oriented culture necessary for robust oversight. The Washington Post reports that Bennett's motivation was his personal experience viewing disinformation as part of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as seeing how social media has affected his children. As the publication notes, though, it remains to be seen whether the legislation would be approved by the Senate, where Democrats have a 50-50 majority.
Well, what else is there to talk about this week? It's Google's annual developer conference, and we're running through all the significant bits of news. Andy and Flo have plenty to say about everything, from the Pixel 6a to the Pixel tablet. Plus, what's new in your Google software.
If you're looking into upgrading your computer for photo and video editing, there are a few things to consider. Ant Pruitt on Hands-On Photography discusses key features required for an optimal photo and video editing experience on your Windows computer which also includes working with computing pros such as Puget Systems. Host: Ant Pruitt Find Hands-On Photography on your favorite podcatcher. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-photography Follow Ant Pruitt on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ant_pruitt/ Follow TWiT on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/twit.tv/ Join the TWiT forums https://www.twit.community/ Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Spotify has promoted The Ringer’s Bill Simmons to a new role as head of global sports strategy, reported Deadline. Simmons has worked under the streaming service’s umbrella since it bought his sports and culture podcast network The Ringer back in 2020. In his new role, we’ll likely see Simmons expand upon the current lineup of NBA, MLB and NFL-focused podcasts and dive into international territory. We’ve already gotten a hint of that with shows like The Rugby Pod with Andy Goode, Big Jim Hamilton and host Andy Rowe.Spotify’s non-US audience is getting larger — the service is currently available in 178 countries. Its number of subscribers actually grew by 2 million in the first quarter of 2022 (despite losing all of its Russian subscribers), which it pinned on "outperformance in Latin America and Europe". Last year, the streaming service expanded to 86 new countries, with the goal of eventually streaming to over 1 billion users. Earlier this year, Spotify announced it was going to become the main partner of FC Barcelona, as well as its official audio streaming partner. Given the fact that no global sports coverage would be complete without soccer, we’re likely to see even more from this space. There’s no doubt an appetite amongst Spotify’s global audience for shows focused on the Premier League, FIFA and the World Cup, as well as other international sports topics.The promotion of Simmons is a part of a broader shake-up in Spotify’s exec structure. Parcast founder Max Cutler will become Spotify’s head of creator content and partnerships, overseeing originals and heading an entirely new division of “creator-focused” content. Julie McNamara will oversee studio partnerships and Hollywood-produced works.In Spotify’s latest earnings call, it announced it reached a record 422 million global monthly active users. But despite its strong growth, the initial concerns that Spotify may have bitten off more than it can chew with its $1 billion investment in podcasts hasn’t faded. While podcast listening hours skyrocketed during the pandemic, there’s no guarantee that Spotify will be able to hold on to that momentum in the future.
Microsoft makes available the video-creation tool 3D Movie Maker. The Mozilla Foundation shares its research regarding mental health apps and their privacy policies and protections. Google announces new hardware at its Google I/O developer conference. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg shares a short demo of the company's next AR/VR headset. First, Scott Hanselman of Microsoft stops by to share how he successfully published the archive of Microsoft 3D Movie Maker after a developer on Twitter "nerd-sniped" him. Self-proclaimed software necromancer, Foone, is now working to modernize the movie-making tool. Then, Misha Rykov of the Mozilla Foundation shares the foundation's work on "*Privacy Not Included," a guide that details the privacy practices and protections of smart home hardware, apps, and services. The Foundation's latest focus? Mental health apps. Then, Mikah recounts the exciting — and numerous — hardware announcements at Google I/O. The company revealed a new Pixel 6 smartphone, a Pixel Watch smartwatch, and true-wireless earbuds with active noise cancelation. Google also shared some details about the Pixel 7 & Pixel 7 Pro smartphones, a Pixel tablet, and augmented-reality glasses. Lastly, Mikah discusses a new reveal from Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. The company is working on a mixed-reality headset, currently called Project Cambria, that will use high-quality cameras to stream a person's environment and overlay augmented reality experiences. Host: Mikah Sargent Guests: Scott Hanselman and Misha Rykov Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: nureva.com NetFoundry.io/TWIT NewRelic.com/TNW
We go through the nitty gritty of Texas and Florida bills that aim to prevent social media platforms of a certain size from blocking objectionable posts. Microsoft is looking for ways to validate game discs for play on discless Xbox game consoles. And Meta released a video of Project Cambria, the follow-up Mixed Reality headsetContinue reading "Blurring The Lines Of Mixed Reality – DTNS 4274"
Fans of Alan Wake aren’t getting an update on the sequel this summer — but can look forward to a new TV series and a remastered version of the original game for the Switch. Remedy Entertainment’s creative director Sam Lake today revealed what’s in store for the franchise during the game’s 12th-anniversary celebration video. Switch owners can anticipate Alan Wake Remastered to be available on Nintendo’s eShop sometime this fall. The remastered original title is already available on the PS5, Xbox and PC.The original 2010 Alan Wake game — which features a thriller novelist who tries to solve the mystery of his wife’s disappearance — has become a cult classic in recent years. Remedy and Microsoft Studios then released Alan Wake's American Nightmare in 2012. Since then, the franchise has mostly been dormant, but that’s about to change.Lake revealed that AMC bought the rights to the Alan Wake franchise and will be adapting it into a TV series. “We have been collaborating on making a TV show happen. Nothing more to share at the moment, but we will certainly let you know when there is something to announce,” said Lake.Alan Wake 2, which many expected to preview this summer, is currently deep in the development stages. Unfortunately, Lake confirmed that the studio won’t be releasing any further updates on the game. It did release a number of stills from the upcoming sequel. As we’ve known for a while, the game is slated to arrive in 2023 for PS5 and other platforms.“Everything [with Alan Wake 2] is going really well, and a great deal of the game is playable,” Lake said. “But we’ve been talking for the past couple of months and have come to a decision that we will not be showing anything big this summer,” said Lake.Alan Wake devotees should watch the anniversary video in full, which also includes interesting behind-the-scene details about the remastered original and upcoming sequel. You can watch it below:
Arcane Studios has released the third major update for Deathloop, which adds a slew of accessibility features. There's now an accessibility category in the options menu that includes the previously introduced settings (some of which have been upgraded) in addition to the new ones.Players will be able to adjust various gameplay elements, though some settings will be limited to the single-player mode — i.e., when you play as Colt and Julianna is controlled by AI rather than an invading human. These include slowing down the game speed, adjusting the number of reprises (or lives) you have and making the combat easier or harder. There are more user interface options as well, such as the ability to change the color, size and opacity of some text and graphical elements.In addition, players will, at long last, be able to navigate menus using the directional buttons instead of having to use a cursor. What a concept! If you prefer to use a cursor through, you can now adjust its movement speed.NEW ACCESSIBILITY UPDATES IN #Deathloop!!- Game Speed- Difficulty options- You can change number of Reprises- New HUD and subtitle options- Easier menu navigation (using D-Pad and including changing cursor speed)I THINK I CAN FINALLY PLAY THIS GAME!New video coming soon! https://t.co/mD7KPRIgw2— Steve Saylor (@stevesaylor) May 12, 2022When Deathloop landed on PS5 and PC last September, it was widely acclaimed, with critics praising its well-constructed gameplay, art style, level design and story. However, accessibility advocates pointed out issues that made the game difficult for disabled players to enjoy, such as the text size, lack of a controller remapping option and low contrast. Hopefully, this update will address most, if not all, of their concerns.“We are truly grateful to the players and the ally community who gave us so much feedback when Deathloop was released,” lead UI/UX designer Yoann Bazoge told the PlayStation Blog. “We took the time to read all of the accessibility reviews and watch the videos of players explaining why they couldn’t play Deathloop. We then worked on a document listing all of the feedback and drew up a roadmap of what the additions would be for Game Update 3.”Meanwhile, Arcane has added another much-requested feature: photo mode. This will only be available in single-player mode and you'll be able to use poses, filters and stickers. Players can switch between Colt and Julianna, and choose a different outfit or weapon to capture the exact shot they want.
If you want to catch any live performances from Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo or Austin City Limits Music Festival from the comfort of your own home, Hulu will be the place to do that for the next couple of years. The platform has signed a deal with Live Nation to be the official streaming home for all three festivals through 2023. Lollapalooza was available to YouTube viewers for several years, but it moved to Hulu in 2021.You'll need to be a Hulu subscriber to catch livestreams from the festivals this year and next, though you won't have to be on the Live TV plan. Two feeds will be available for each event Friday through Sunday. There will be one livestream for Thursday programming from Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza (ACL is held over two weekends but doesn't run on Thursdays). Hulu will also offer special footage and behind-the-scenes vignettes.The livestream schedules will be announced in the leadup to each festival. Gryffin, J. Cole, Tool and Stevie Nicks top the bill at Bonnaroo, which runs from June 16th to 19th. Lollapalooza takes place over the last weekend in July and this year's headliners are Metallica, Dua Lipa, J. Cole and Green Day. As for ACL, you'll be able to check out performances from the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lil Nas X, Pink, Kacey Musgraves, Paramore, The Chicks, SZA and Flume across the first two weekends of October.
At Google IO, Google announced the Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch, Sonos launches its budget Ray soundbar, and a federal appeals court panel overturns an injunction on Texas’ social media law. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to allContinue reading "Google Announces the Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch – DTH"
With the expected Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade on its way, some consumers are rethinking how much of their health data they want to share with mobile apps. Multiple types of apps and programs, even internet searches, generate data like location tracking — data that could be used to implicate people seeking abortions. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Jessica Lee, a partner with the law firm Loeb & Loeb who helps companies craft their privacy policies. Your donation powers the journalism you rely on. Give today to support “Marketplace Tech.”
How much time do you spend solving negative engineering problems? And can a framework solve them for you? Think of negative engineering as things you do to avoid bad outcomes in software. At the lowest level, this can be writing good error handling with try / except. But it's broader than that: logging, observability (like Sentry tools), retries, failover (as in what you might get from Kubernetes), and so on. We have a great chat with Chris White about Prefect, a tool for data engineers and data scientists meaning to solve many of these problems automatically. But it's a conversation applicable to a broader software development community as well.
Links from the show
Chris White: @markov_gainz Prefect: prefect.io Fermat's Enigma Book (mentioned by Michael): amazon.com Prefect Docs (2.0): orion-docs.prefect.io Prefect source code: github.com A Brief History of Dataflow Automation: prefect.io/blog Watch this episode on YouTube: youtube.com Episode transcripts: talkpython.fm
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Google IO, Hawley's copyright bill, Texas social media law, Keyboardio Atreus Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt Guest: Mike Masnick For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google/episodes/663 Sponsors: eightsleep.com/twig Codecademy.com promo code TWIG twit.cachefly.com
In our Innards section we talk about Raspberry Pis and other single-board computers.
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It only took about 15 years, but Amazon’s Kindle will finally support the ePub format. First spotted by Good E-Reader, Amazon updated its Kindle section with the news that the Send to Kindle function will convert ePub files to a format that can be opened on the e-reader. The update is scheduled to occur in late 2022.It’s a change that — at first glance — seems rather minor, but in truth solves a lingering problem in the ebook industry. Amazon’s Kindle Store is a major ebook seller and ePub is the most widely-used ebook format. But up until now, Kindle devices couldn’t read the ePub format. For Kindle owners who’ve had to grapple with manually converting their ebook library to a more Amazon-friendly format with an app like Calibre, this will be a welcome change.But another upcoming change is that Kindle will finally lose the ability to support MOBI, an older French file format that was Amazon’s proprietary ebook format for a while. Amazon acquired the company Mobipocket in 2005, and subsequently rebranded MOBI to AZW. If you already own ebooks in either format on your Kindle, you can still access them. The update only applies to new ebooks.
Apple has accused a company of stealing its trade secrets. In a complaint filed Friday, the tech giant claims Rivos, a “stealth-mode” startup based out of Mountain View, California, led a recent “coordinated campaign” to poach employees from Apple's chip design division.According to Reuters, the first publication to report on the lawsuit, Apple alleges at least two former employees took gigabytes of confidential data with them to Rivos. Among the information those individuals allegedly stole are presentations that detail unreleased chip designs, reports Bloomberg.“Apple has reason to believe that Rivos instructed at least some Apple employees to download and install apps for encrypted communications (e.g., the Signal app) before communicating with them further,” the company says in the complaint. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.Should the case move forward, it’s likely to draw a significant amount of attention, much like Waymo's suit against Uber for stealing confidential information about its self-driving technology did in 2017. After years of litigation, that case ended with Uber agreeing to settle for $245 million, and with a court sentencing Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of the dispute, to 18 months in prison before former President Donald Trump issued a pardon.
Google’s recent Pixel software updates haven’t always landed flawlessly. At the end of last year, for instance, the company was forced to pause the release of an OTA after reports that the software caused the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro to drop calls. More recently, the March update introduced an issue that left the company’s latest phones producing much weaker notifications when you got a notification. Many Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners complained after Google released the update, noting that no matter what they set their phone’s haptic feedback to, they would miss calls and emails because they couldn’t feel their device vibrating.Our May software update is now rolling out to supported Pixel devices! The update includes:👆🏽👆🏿👆🏻 Improvements for haptic feedback📱 Fixes for display & launcher🔒 Latest security fixesDevice applicability variesLearn more on our Community post: https://t.co/36iwv6s3WS— Made By Google (@madebygoogle) May 2, 2022On Monday, Google began rolling out the May Pixel software update. It includes a fix for the vibration issue. “Improvements for haptic feedback under certain conditions and uses cases,” the company writes on its community website. The update resolves two other issues that affect all recent Pixels devices. The first involves a bug that had caused those phones to wake their displays without any input. The second solves a problem that could crash the Pixel launcher after you restarted your device. The update also includes the latest Android security patch from Google.According to Google, it will roll out the May 2022 update to all eligible Pixel devices in the coming weeks. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can attempt to install the software on your phone by manually sideloading it. Just note that flashing a device always comes with a degree of risk.
The European Commission has sent a formal “Statement of Objections” to Apple with the preliminary view that Apple is abusing its dominant position in the market when it restricts access to NFC chips for contactless payments. What’s the story behind this action and will Apple face similar actions in other regions? The pandemic saw aContinue reading "Cease & Desist: The Remix – DTNS 4266"
Facebook's podcast offerings are vanishing just a year after they launched. Parent company Meta has confirmed to Bloomberg that it will wind down podcasting, Soundbites and its general audio hub. It will no longer let podcasters add shows to Facebook as of this week, and will remove them entirely on June 3rd. The hub and Soundbites will close sometime in the "coming weeks," while Live Audio Rooms will fold into Facebook Live. A Meta spokesperson characterized the move as a matter of concentration. The move will help Meta "focus on the most meaningful experiences," according to the representative.There were hints in recent weeks that Meta was losing interest in podcasts and shifting attention to hotter products like Facebook's main feed and Instagram's Reels. There was a good response to audio services, a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg in mid-April, but the news outlet's sources said the social media firm was more interested in highlighting the metaverse and shopping when talking to podcast partners. Simply speaking, Meta's interests in conquering AR, VR and rivals like TikTok may have pulled its attention away from audio.Facebook also has fiercer competition in the sound-only realm. Podcast app operators like Apple and Spotify were already major threats, but there was also a flood of efforts to mimic Clubhouse in 2021. Meta had to pit Facebook's services against the likes of Twitter Spaces and Reddit Talk. There was no guarantee Facebook would stand out in this market, even with a well-known name and massive resources at its disposal.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Michael Mignano, co-founder of Anchor and Spotify’s podcasting tech chief for the past three years, submitted his resignation last week, the company confirmed Monday. He will depart at the end of June. The shakeup follows two other high-profile departures in Spotify’s podcasting business. Last month, news broke that head of studios and video Courtney Holt, who cut blockbuster deals with Joe Rogan and the Obamas, will be leaving the company. Also in April, Gimlet Media director Lydia Polgreen announced her departure for The New York Times. Mignano co-founded DIY podcast distributor Anchor in 2015. Spotify snapped up the company in 2019 for more than $150 million and brought Mignano in as its top podcast tech czar, overseeing the company’s explosive podcast growth and expansion into live audio. Although Anchor has yet to produce any major audio stars, it has become the most-used podcast hosting platform. According to Livewire Labs, one out of four new podcast episodes published are done so through Anchor. Spotify has relied on the platform to bulk up its podcast library. The streamer is now home to 4 million podcasts, up from 1 million podcasts in 2020, and the company says that 85 percent of its new podcasts are uploaded through Anchor. Mignano was not available for comment.
Netflix is tightening its purse strings after a drop in subscribers. Deadline reported that the streaming platform canceled production on Pearl, an animated series created by Meghan Markle, before it was even finished. The project was a part of a multi-year production deal that Markle and Prince Harry signed with Netflix back in 2020. The animated family series followed a 12-year girl as she learned about influential women throughout history. The show is only the latest casualty in a recent series of cost-saving measures by the streamer, including firing most of the writing staff for its fan site project and canceling the show Space Force. It also axed two other animated children’s series, Dino Daycare and Boons and Curses, reportedPeople.Netflix confirmed to CNBC that the cancellation of Pearl is a part of strategic decisions it is making around animated series. The platform has invested heavily in animation since 2018, and was projected by Loup Ventures to spend $5 billion on original animated content this year. But the company’s boomtown mentality appears to have shifted, at least for now.The company’s market value dropped a staggering $60 billion after a disappointing first-quarter earnings call last month. The streamer lost roughly 200,000 subscribers in the first few months of 2022, its first decline in nearly a decade. A number of factors led to the drop, including competition from rival platforms like Disney+ and Hulu, halting service to Russia and widespread password sharing.Deadlinereported that a number of projects through Archwell Productions — the production company owned by Markle and Prince Harry — are still in the works, including a docuseries on the Invictus Games.
Rocket Lab is trying something different during today’s launch of Electron, its reusable rocket. The space company will attempt a mid-air capture of Electron’s first stage as it plummets back to Earth. In order to do this, Rocket Lab is deploying a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, a twin-engine helicopter that can seat 19 people and is often used for military or presidential purposes. While recovery missions for rocket stages are uncommon — most end up on the ocean floor — the company’s goal is to create a truly reusable rocket that will allow for more frequent launches.Rocket Lab has recovered boosters three times in the past, first in November 2020 with a parachute, followed by two sea recoveries in May and November 2021. But this will be the first mid-air retrieval of a booster with a helicopter. Space X — the only other space company that has successfully recovered its boosters— usually relies on drone ships.Welcome to launch day for "There And Back Again", a rideshare mission from Launch Complex 1 and our 1st helicopter capture attempt.Target lift-off: 🚀UTC | 22:35, May 2🚀NZST | 10:35, May 3🚀EDT | 18:35, May 2🚀PDT | 15:35, May 2Mission info: https://t.co/CmjIprHwfCpic.twitter.com/jLCRHRKl9N— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) May 2, 2022Electron is scheduled for lift-off on May 2nd at 6:35PM ET from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula, Roughly two and a half minutes after launch, the first and second rocket stages will separate. The first stage, outfitted with a parachute and a heat shield to protect it from the harsh forces of the atmosphere, will then descend back to Earth. The helicopter at this point will then hook on to the parachute and recover the booster.You can watch a live webcast of the launch (and hopefully, the subsequent recovery) below on Rocket Lab’s YouTube channel.
VW and BP know they'll both have to embrace electric vehicles, and they're ready to work together to ease some of the transitional pain. Autoweekreports the two companies are teaming up to install thousands of VW's Flexpole 150kW fast EV chargers at gas stations in Germany and the UK. Within two years, there will be as many as 2,000 charging units (4,000 charge points) in place at BP stations in the UK and Aral locations in Germany.The expansion should help BP expand its charging network to 8,000 connections by the end of 2024. Not surprisingly, the locations of the new chargers will be available through both in-car apps in VW group cars (including Seat and Skoda) as well as VW's Elli charging app. The two firms also promise to explore "further opportunities" in eco-friendly transportation.While the Flexpole chargers are quick and can deliver nearly 100 miles of charging in 10 minutes, their true appeal might be their flexibility. As they use battery storage, they can operate on low-voltage grids — it's easier to install them at gas stations and other sites where high voltage might not be an option.This isn't an altruistic move, of course. VW has been ramping up its electrification plans and now expects 70 percent of its sales to be EVs by 2030 — it needs an extensive charging network if customers are going to buy these vehicles in droves. BP, meanwhile, is trying to shed its reputation as an oil and gas giant in favor of becoming an "integrated energy company." A partnership like this could help BP transition gas stations to EV charging more gracefully than it might on its own.
Amazon won't have to contend with two unionized warehouses in the US, at least for the time being. Workers at the company's LDJ5 facility in Staten Island have voted overwhelmingly against unionization. Of the 1,633 employees who were eligible to cast a ballot in the election, 618 said no to unionization and only 380 workers voted in favor of the bid. There were no contested ballots. In the end, 61 percent of eligible workers voted. Despite todays outcome I’m proud of the worker/organizers of LDJ5 they had a tougher challenge after our victory at JFK8.Our leads should be extremely proud to have given their coworkers a right to join a Union @amazonlabor will continue to organize and so should all of you— Christian Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon) May 2, 2022“We’re glad that our team at LDJ5 were able to have their voices heard," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Engadget following the vote count. "We look forward to continuing to work directly together as we strive to make every day better for our employees.”The failed vote comes after the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), led by former employee Christian Smalls, won a historic victory at the start of the month at JFK8, a facility just across the street from LDJ5. Despite its initial upset victory against the country's second-largest employer, Monday's defeat is likely to slow momentum for the ALU. Going into the election, there was hope a second victory would help build momentum toward a nationwide labor movement, but the union had to overcome some of the same obstacles it ran into at JFK8.Following that vote, Amazon reportedly intensified its anti-union efforts. The ALU told Motherboard the company mandated daily anti-union meetings at LDJ5 and began distributing literature that attempted to cast the organization in a negative light. “Right now, the ALU is trying to come between our relationship with you,” Amazon said on a website it launched to discourage workers from voting in favor of unionization. “They think they can do a better job advocating for you than you are doing for yourself.”Following the vote, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversaw the election, said both parties have until May 9th to file objections. The Amazon Labor Union told Vice News it would contest the result. Moving forward, the ALU has a tough road ahead of itself. Amazon recently challenged the JKF8 result, alleging that the group pressured workers into voting to organize. The company has called for a redo of the election. Update 5:19PM ET: Added comment from Amazon.
Alongside the news that Peacock will begin streaming Lionsgate movies in 2024, NBCUniversal announced a new update for the platform. The next time you open the app on your TV, you’ll notice the company has moved the navigation bar to the left-hand side of the interface. NBCUniversalNBCUniversal says the tweak will help users more quickly and easily access all the content you can find on Peacock. At the same time, the company has refreshed the browser interface so that every catalog entry includes a synopsis and trailer. You can also start watching something without leaving the page.But the most significant change is the addition of a feature called Key Plays tied to Peacock’s offering of Premier League games. When you start watching a match late, the platform will show highlights so that you can quickly catch up with what happened on the pitch before you tuned in. Ultimately, it’s not the most exciting update, but if you find yourself using Peacock frequently, you'll appreciate the improvements all the same.
Meta plans to release a new high-end virtual reality headset this year, which is codenamed Project Cambria. Some more details about the product, as well as Meta's VR headset roadmap, have emerged in a report.Cambria has been described internally as a "laptop for the face" or "Chromebook for the face," according to The Information. It's believed to have specs similar to that of a Chromebook and will use Meta's own VR operating system, which is based on Android. It's expected to be compatible with web-based tools and services, as well as some Quest apps. However, despite Meta pitching Cambria as a future-of-work device, it may not be able to run native desktop apps that are commonly used by many businesses.Cambria is said to have high-resolution image quality. This could allow wearers to clearly read text, so they'd be able to send emails or code while wearing the headset. In other words, it may be viable for professional purposes.Cambria will provide wearers with a view of their surroundings using outward-facing cameras. This feature, called full-color passthrough, will allow for mixed-reality experiences. When it announced Cambria in October 2021, Meta said the headset will include eye-tracking and facial expression recognition features. Users' avatars in the likes of Horizon Worlds and Workrooms will reportedly mirror their expressions and where they're looking.The headset is believed to be heavier than Quest 2 due to a larger battery. However, it appears this is positioned at the rear for better balance.Cambria will reportedly hit shelves around September and will cost over $799. It was originally earmarked for release last year, according to the report, but it was delayed due to supply chain issues and other complications brought on by the pandemic.Looking ahead, Meta is said to have three other headsets it plans to release within the next few years as it presses forward with its metaverseambitions. The Information suggests Meta will release Quest headsets in both 2023 and 2024, as well as a successor to Cambria, currently codenamed Funston, in 2024. Additionally, it was recently reported that Meta plans to release its first augmented reality glasses in 2024.
Next-day streaming of Bravo shows is coming to Peacock earlier than expected. Starting today, Peacock Premium subscribers can watch new episodes of select shows – including Top Chef, Below Deck and The Real Housewives of Atlanta – one day after their network debut, with the entire Bravo catalog becoming available for next-day streaming in September. Additionally, Peacock will offer full access to past seasons of Bravo shows.NBCUniversal says the move will help it grow the Bravo brand. According to the company, a “significant” number of US adults don’t have access to the network’s linear channel. And while it already offered Bravo shows through Peacock, there was a much longer gap previously between when they debuted on TV and made their way to the streaming platform. The move also falls in line with Comcast’s strategy to grow Peacock. When the company recently announced the platform ended 2021 with 9 million subscribers, it said it would shift resources from some of its linear channels to maintain Peacock’s growth trajectory.
Peacock has signed a multiyear deal to stream Lionsgate movies, starting in 2024. The agreement starts with the studio's 2022 slate and the first film that will reach Peacock as part of the deal is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which stars Nicolas Cage.Other Lionsgate movies that will eventually end up on Peacock for an exclusive streaming period include John Wick: Chapter 4, Borderlands and Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The deal also covers Expendables 4 (or, ugh, Expend4bles), Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and White Bird: A Wonder Story.Peacock won't be the first to get its hands on these films, however, as they'll ping pong between various platforms in the coming years. They'll initially stream on Starz, and then for a while they'll be available to watch for free on The Roku Channel.Also on Monday, Peacock announced that three movies from its NBCUniversal sibling Universal Pictures will debut as streaming exclusives in 2023. They include The Killer, John Woo's remake of his own classic 1989 thriller. Also on the way are Praise This (which stars Chloe Bailey) and Shooting Stars, a LeBron James biopic covering his years as a high school basketball player.
Optoma has unveiled a new lamp-based DLP projector that delivers 4K output and a peak brightness of 3,600 lumens. With a claimed contrast ratio of 1,200,000:1, the company says the UHD55 is suitable for daytime use as long as there’s no natural or artificial light falling directly on your wall or projection screen. There’s no mention of Dolby Vision support, but it does offer HDR and HLG compatibility. With its shutter enabled, the UHD55 covers 97 percent of the DCI-P3 wide color gamut.It also comes with 3D support in side-by-side, top and bottom and frame sequential modes. You can expect to get up to 15,000 hours of use from the included bulb if you use the projector's built-in Dynamic Black mode. Provided you have the space to accommodate it, the UHD55 can project a 300-inch image.A dedicated gaming mode limits input lag to below 16 milliseconds at 4K, but the UHD55 is more of a PC gaming projector than a console one. It doesn’t feature an HDMI 2.1 port, limiting its ability to refresh a 4K image at 60Hz. However, connected to a PC, the UHD55’s two HDMI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.0 support a 240Hz refresh rate at 1080p. Input lag is also reduced to 4 milliseconds or less. Other notable features include Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility and built-in IFTTT support. The UHD55 is available to purchase starting today for $1,799.
Sony has divulged the pricing for its 2022 Bravia 4K and 8K TVs, and it won't surprise you to hear that the cutting-edge models will command a premium. Most notably, the Quantum Dot OLED-based Bravia XR Master A95K series (pictured above) will start at $3,000 for a 55-inch model, and climb to $4,000 for a 65-inch set. Both 4K screens will be available to pre-order in June. They certainly aren't the most expensive TVs you can buy, but you're clearly paying extra for the larger QD-OLED color range, the flexible stand setup and bundled video chat camera.Most of the remaining TVs are decidedly more affordable. If you prefer mini-LED to OLED, the X95K series will begin at $2,800 for a 65-inch 4K panel and climb to $5,500 for the 85-inch variant. They'll be available to pre-order this summer. You also have lower-priced conventional OLED options. The compact, gaming-friendly A90K (with pre-orders in July) will cost $1,400 for a 42-inch display and $1,500 for its 48-inch counterpart (June). Opt for the larger A80K and you'll pay between $2,000 and $3,800 for sets ranging from 55 to 77 inches, with most pre-orders beginning this month. The 'entry' LED-based X90K will cost $1,400 for a 55-inch model and top out at $3,300 for 85 inches, with most pre-orders also starting in May.And yes, 8K is still expensive at Sony. You'll pay $7,000 for a 75-inch Z9K, and $10,000 for the 85-inch equivalent. Both are mini-LED TVs and will include the camera from the A95K when pre-orders open in the summer.There's no doubt Sony's OLED sets will seem pricey compared to some LG and Samsung models. However, it's evident Sony is betting its image quality and design touches will motivate you to spend more. We'd add that it's one of the few high-end brands to base its lineups around Android TV and Google TV. If you're not fond of webOS (LG) or Tizen (Samsung), this may be your best bet.
Telegram appears to be testing the waters for another way to generate revenue. The latest beta version of the iOS app includes reaction emoji and stickers that users will only be able to unlock if they subscribe to Telegram Premium — a service that's not currently available.Anyone who selects these stickers or emoji in the beta is nudged to join Telegram Premium, Android Police reports. It seems users who receive one of the premium reactions won't see it until they sign up as well. The reactions include the likes of a sobbing duck.No other details about Telegram Premium have been revealed as yet. Nor has Telegram officially announced the service. Founder Pavel Durov has been clear about the need for the messaging app to make money. In December 2020, he announced Telegram would start serving ads in public channels the following year. He also mentioned plans to add premium features aimed at enterprise and power users.Telegram has long been adamant that it won't start charging for existing features. It remains to be seen what shape Telegram Premium takes or even if the company will actually release paid features for everyday users.
Nintendo reportedly expects Switch sales to decline 10% in 2022, the European Commission filed antitrust charges against Apple for Apple Pay, and Intel now says the chip shortage won’t ease until 2024. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks toContinue reading "Nintendo Expects Switch Sales to Slide in 2022 – DTH"
Apple Music will be available on the Roku platform starting today. You'll be able to stream music from the service on any Roku device, including streaming devices, Roku-powered TVs and speakers and soundbars (such as Roku Streambar Pro).Not only will this be useful for Apple Music subscribers who already have Roku devices, the move could help Apple find more subscribers who might be put off by the likes of Spotify. Newcomers will be able to sign up to Apple Music through the app, which is available in the Roku channel store. After a one-month trial, the service costs $10 per month.Subscribers get access to a library of more than 90 million songs and 30,000 curated playlists. They can also watch music videos in 4K, check out original shows and concerts and stream Apple Music Radio.Apple Music is landing on Roku three years after it hit Fire TV and almost as long since its Android app gained Chromecast support. Roku will now have most of the major music streaming services on its platform. It already offered access to the likes of Spotify, Amazon Music and Tidal.
Grindr's past willingness to share sensitive data may have been more problematic than previously thought. The Wall Street Journalunderstands precise Grindr user location data was collected from the online ad network MoPub (once owned by Twitter) and put on sale through its partner company UberMedia (now UM) since "at least" 2017. The LGBTQ dating app curbed the practice when it limited location data collection in early 2020, but there's a possibility that legacy information might still be available.An anonymous former senior employee speaking to the Journal claims Grindr initially didn't believe sharing location data with marketers posed privacy issues. Ad execs reportedly told the company that real-time bidding, or displaying ads based on a user's immediate location, was transforming the industry.Grindr told the Journal in a statement that its 2020 policy change meant it shared less data with advertisers than "any of the big tech platforms" and most dating app rivals, although it didn't address historical info. Twitter said UberMedia was held to MoPub's data use restrictions at the time, while UberMedia's current owner Near said "thousands of entities" have access to data shared in the real-time bidding system. It challenged concerns that location data without direct personal information could help trace individuals.Near's claim isn't necessarily true, however. Catholic publication The Pillarsaid it used sold Grindr data to track usage and ultimately oust a senior church official. There are also fears that countries with anti-LGBTQ laws could use Grindr locations to arrest the app's users — Grindr restricted location features during the Beijing Winter Olympics precisely to prevent this kind of abuse with athletes. The US forced Grindr's Chinese owner Kunlun to sell the company by mid-2020, in part over worries China's government might misuse personal info for American citizens.The company's own practices were also under scrutiny at the time. It reportedly shared HIV statuses with app optimization firms, and Kunlun's Chinese engineers had access to a database of sensitive info for months. Security was also an issue. One vulnerability permitted an outside app to collect exact locations, while another let intruders hijack accounts using only an email address. Simply put, Grindr wasn't as conscious of its data handling as it apparently is now.Update 5/2 12:15PM ET: Grindr reiterated its statement to Engadget and pointed to a blog post defending its practices since improving privacy in 2020, calling the Journal story "old news." You can read the full statement below.“Grindr users value privacy, and we have put our users’ privacy first even when it meant lower revenue. The activities that have been described would not be possible with Grindr’s current privacy practices, which we’ve had in place for two years.”
Gifting can be difficult at any time, but it’s been particularly hard over the past couple of years. You may still be working with a tight budget, but you also want to give that grad in your life something that can help make the transition to post-school life a bit easier (and more fun). The tech gifts that come to mind immediately — iPhones, smartwatches, game consoles and the like — are not exactly budget-friendly. But there are handy gadgets out there that won’t drain your wallet completely. Here’s Engadget’s list of the best tech gifts under $50 for new graduates.Anker Nano Pro 20WAnkerAnker’s latest 20W charger will be a handy gift for any grad. More often than not, the new gadgets we buy today don’t come with AC adapters, so having an extra on hand can’t hurt. The Nano Pro can fast-charge the latest iPhones to 50 percent in only 25 minutes, plus it’s smaller than Apple’s own 20W adapter. It also has advanced features like a Dynamic Temperature Sensor, which keeps the charger from overheating, and a power tuner chip, which adjusts power output depending on the connected device. It may not be the trendiest graduation gift, but it’s one that your grad will likely take with them to work, on vacations and elsewhere.Buy Nano Pro 20W at Amazon - $20Google Chromecast with Google TVGoogleWhether they’re still mooching off their parents’ subscriptions, or have finally sprung for their own Netflix account a streaming device is a great gift for a recent grad. The latest Chromecast with Google TV makes the original Chromecast experience much better by adding a physical remote to the mix, along with the new Google TV interface. The remote makes it easier to navigate and the on-screen menus, and the software will serve up TV and movie recommendations based on subscriptions you have. The Chromecast with Google TV supports services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and more, and it’ll stream in 4K HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Plus, you can still cast even more content from your smartphone or tablet to your TV.Buy Chromecast with Google TV at Walmart - $508Bitdo Pro 28BitDoWe’ve been fans of 8Bitdo’s affordable, multi-platform controllers for quite some time, and the new, $50 Pro 2 is no exception. You can use it with the Nintendo Switch and on Windows, macOS, Android and Raspberry Pi, and you’re able to map functions to buttons using its companion smartphone app. The Pro 2 also adds new bumper buttons under each arm, something the previous version did not have. In general, 8Bitdo’s controllers are more ergonomic than, say, relying on a keyboard and mouse when playing PC games. They’re also a dramatic improvement over the Switch’s Joy-Cons which, if we’re honest, aren’t the most comfortable controllers to use for long stretches of time. The Pro 2 charges up via USB-C, but you can also remove the battery pack and replace it with AA batteries if you know you won’t be able to charge up frequently.Buy 8Bitdo Pro 2 at Amazon - $50RavPower 16,750mAh portable chargerRAVPowerA portable changer is truly a gift that keeps on giving and RavPower’s 16,750mAh brick is strong enough to charge up smartphones and tablets alike. That’s enough to top off your iPhone 11 Pro Max 2.5 times or an iPad Air once. It has two iSmart output ports so you can power up two devices simultaneously, and its indicator lights will give you an idea of the brick’s remaining power level. Even with a larger-than-average capacity it’s surprisingly compact, measuring 5 x 3.15 x .9 inches, and its built-in flashlight can help you find lost items in a pinch.Buy portable charger at RavPower - $362022 Tile MateTileWhile we often recommend AirTags to Apple users to keep track of their things, Tile’s trackers are another great option that’s more universal. Unlike AirTags, these tiny Bluetooth trackers work with Android devices as well, and are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant. Also, the latest Tile Mate has a built-in keyring hole, so your grad can unbox it, hook it onto their keys, set it up in the mobile app and get going. With a Bluetooth range of 250 feet, these trackers can help them locate their lost stuff quickly, plus they can add their contact information to the Tile – just in case someone else finds their things first. We also like the Mate’s IP67-rated design, which should protect it even when it’s exposed to the elements on rainy days.Buy Tile Mate at Amazon - $25Logitech PebbleLogitechWhether your grad will commute to their first office job or work from home, a wireless mouse is a must-have when on a computer all day. Logitech’s Pebble is a solid option because, not only can it easily disappear into a bag thanks to its slim profile, but it will also run for up to 18 months on its single AA battery. It’s not an accessory they’ll have to worry about charging up each night. We also like its ambidextrous design and its relatively quiet nature — unlike other mice, it makes little noise when you’re clicking and scrolling away. You’ll also have the option to connect it via Bluetooth or USB receiver, and there are a handful of fun colors to choose from.Buy Logitech Pebble at Amazon - $30Greens Steel Beast insulated tumblerGreens SteelIt’s important for grads, busy with job applications, internships, new jobs and side hustles, to stay hydrated. Green Steel’s Beast insulated tumblers are good for hot and cold drinks, plus they’re made of 18/8 food grade steel that’s dishwasher safe and they come with metal straws and a splash-proof lid. And regardless of which size you get (20-, 30- or 40-ounce), they’ll all fit into standard sized cup holders. A 20-ounce model has been my morning companion almost every day for the past year or so and it still looks fresh. We also recommend Yeti’s Ramblers if you’re willing to drop a bit more on your grad’s new favorite mug.Buy Greens Steel tumbler at amazon - $29Bodum Chambord French PressBodumIf your grad is a coffee (or tea) lover, elevating their brewing game can make a big difference in their daily lives. Bodum’s Chambord French Press is a simple, affordable vessel that will be a step up from your standard drip coffee machine or aging teapot (while it’s marketed as a coffee maker, it could be used as a tea press instead). The container is made of borosilicate glass and you can get the frame in either plastic or stainless steel. Instead of paper filters a french press uses a plunger and mesh filter that pushes coffee grinds and tea leaves down, infusing flavor into the water above. That should save you money over time and creates less waste.Buy Chambord French Press at Amazon - $38Tribit XSound GoTribitThere are plenty of Bluetooth speakers out there, but Tribit’s XSound Go stands out for its simplicity. Measuring 6.7 x 2.2 x 2.3 inches, it’s nearly pocketable and can stay on your desk all day long while you work and then transition to a backyard party with ease. It’s IPX7 waterproof so it’ll withstand a dunk in the pool, and its 24-hour playtime lets you use it all day long without interruptions. It has good sound quality with deep, but not overpowering, bass and it includes a built-in mic with which you can take calls. Just pair it with your smartphone or tablet, choose your tunes and let the speaker do the rest of the work.Buy Tribit XSound Go at Amazon - $48Repel Windproof Double Vented travel umbrellaRevelHear us out — a good umbrella is an unexpected yet invaluable gift. Few things are worse than getting stuck in a downpour on your way to work, especially if you use public transit to get there. Repel’s windproof travel umbrella is just the right size — not too big or too small at 11.5 inches in length — and its nine reinforced fiberglass ribs prevent it from being blown inside-out easily. We also like its single-button design, allowing you to open or close it with one hand. Repel’s umbrella is one of those practical gifts that your grad will be glad to have at the most crucial times, and they’ll save money in the long run by not needing to buy a new, cheap umbrella every time the skies open up.Buy Repel umbrella at Amazon - $32
The summer is fast approaching and many people are perhaps gearing up for their first big vacation in a few years. To help them plan, Google is rolling out some handy travel updates. These include upgraded flight price tracking and ways to find and save hotels for later.If you know where you want to go and have flexible travel dates, this one's for you. Google Flights will let users track flight prices between two cities for up to six months. If it detects fares that are lower than usual during that time, you'll receive an email notification. Google has long allowed people to track flights between two airports for specific dates, but this should particularly come in handy for long-haul destinations, to which flights can be much more expensive.Once you know when and where you're going to, you'll need a place to stay, and Google is adding some hotel-related features that might help. If you're traveling for an event such as a conference or wedding, you might want to rest your head somewhere close by. Starting today, Google's travel site will show places to stay within a 15- or 30-minute walking or driving distance — just search for a landmark or address to get started. New map filters can also help you find neighborhoods with great sightseeing, dining or shopping options.GoogleSimilarly, the travel site's Explore option now has an "Explore nearby" option with a filter for locations within easy driving distance. It will show details like expected weather and average hotel prices. That could help you plan a much-needed weekend getaway.There's also a new bookmark icon for hotels and vacation rentals, which you can use to save them for later. This could be especially useful if you want your travel partner's input on where to stay. You'll be able to view properties you've saved through the right-hand panel on desktop or by accessing the Saved tab on mobile.
We may a few days out from World Password Day on May 5th, but LastPass is already celebrating by discounting its paid tiers for new and free users. Through May 9th, you can subscribe to LastPass Premium, Families or Business for 20 percent less than usual. That will bring a Premium membership down to around $29 annually instead of the usual $36, while Families would cost about $38 annually and Business down to $58 per user each year.Subscribe to LastPassIf you aren't using a password manager yet, one could make your life much easier by taking the work out of remembering all of the credentials for your various accounts. One you create a LastPass account, the password you use for it will be the only one you truly have to remember going forward. Then, you can save all of your other username and password combinations to LastPass, which will then fill them in across the web as you shop online, check out Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites and more. We also appreciate the service's password generator feature, which will make strong credentials for you so you don't have to come up with a nonsensical phrase that meets all of a site's requirements on your own. There's even a version of the password generator feature that anyone can use.LastPass is also compatible with most systems including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and others, so it'll work across all of your devices. There are also LastPass extensions you can download for Chrome, Safari and other browsers, which will let you easily access your passwords and vault from the bookmarks bar. Speaking of the vault, that's a LastPass feature that basically lets you securely save important, non-password information like addresses, files, banking and credit card numbers and more. While LastPass' free version gives you most of the basic features, updating to a paid tier adds things like secure sharing, 1GB of file storage, emergency access and dark web monitoring into the mix. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Google is still firing AI researchers amid criticism of its work. The New York Times has learned Google fired machine learning scientist Satrajit Chatterjee in March, soon after it refused to publish a paper Chatterjee and others wrote challenging earlier findings that computers could design some chip components more effectively than humans. The scientist was reportedly allowed to collaborate on a paper disputing those claims after he and fellow authors expressed reservations, but was dismissed after a resolution committee rejected the paper and the researchers hoped to bring the issue to CEO Sundar Pichai and Alphabet's board of directors.The company hasn't detailed why it fired Chatterjee, but told the Times he'd been "terminated with cause." It also maintained that the original paper had been "thoroughly vetted" and peer-reviewed, and that the study challenging the claims "did not meet our standards."Whether or not the science holds up, the exit underscores the ongoing clash between Google's management and the AI teams that drive many of its projects. The problems began in earnest when Google fired ethicist Timnit Gebru in 2020 following a dispute over a paper, with two others following suit. The matter escalated when the internet giant terminated Margaret Mitchell in early 2021. While Google claimed Mitchell violated data confidentiality policies, she also publicly criticized executives and the decision to fire Gebru. These firings led veteran engineers to leave the firm and demand reforms, and that's not including company-wide protests over military contracts. Google investigated Gebru's firing and promised changes, but the Chatterjee firing might not ease tensions.It's no secret that Google is proud of its AI research. It's keen to tout algorithms that can outperform humans in fields like chip design and cancer detection, and its flagship Pixel 6 phones are built around a custom AI-focused processor. Any flaws could significantly hinder Google's business, not to mention tarnish its reputation as a leader in AI development.Update 5/2 4:26PM ET: Google pointed to a tweet from Times reporter Daisuke Wakabayashi as a further response. One of the original paper's authors claimed Chatterjee harassed her and "impugned the work," according to Wakabayashi. A lawyer for Chatterjee, however, said his client was only trying to maintain "scientific integrity."
Surviving years of college is no small feat, so the graduates in our lives deserve rightful praise and celebration. Whether your graduate is going out into the world to get their first job or continuing with their education, there are a number of gadgets you can gift them that will make them smile and also come in handy on a daily basis. If you’re stumped on what to give to the tech-savvy grad in your life, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite tech for you to consider.Chromecast with Google TVGoogleRecent graduates moving into a new place may not want to shell out money for cable or a satellite subscription. But just because they’ve cut the cord doesn’t mean they can’t watch quality content. Thanks to streaming sticks like Chromecast with Google TV, watching content on various streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and more is super easy, regardless of what kind of TV they have.The latest Chromecast with Google TV works especially well for those with a YouTube TV subscription as its “Live TV” tab works as a channel guide for the service. Just like previous Chromecasts, they can also use it to “cast” their computer screen to the TV, too.Another benefit over other streaming sticks is that it has Google Assistant integration. Your grad can ask it to display the five-day weather forecast, show the live feed from their Nest camera, turn their Philips Hue lights on or off, or play their favorite Spotify playlist. As a bonus, they can use Google Assistant to find shows to watch or to launch apps. — Nicole Lee, Commerce WriterBuy Chromecast with Google TV at Walmart - $50YouTube TV subscriptionYouTubeRegardless of whether you gift a Chromecast with Google TV, we think a YouTube TV subscription will make an excellent present for them. The service essentially replaces cable or satellite, and your graduate can easily use their phone, laptop or connected TV to access it. The platform offers pretty much all the standard network and cable offerings including sports channels like ESPN, so they won’t have to worry about missing their favorite team’s game. You can either pay for the subscription directly or buy them a Google Play gift card. — N.L.Subscribe to YouTube TV - $65/monthApple Watch Series 7EngadgetWatches make great graduation gifts, and the Apple Watch is arguably the best one to get for the iPhone fan in your life. As Apple’s latest flagship wearable, the Series 7 is packed with features both basic and advanced. On a daily basis, most will use the Watch for tracking activity, recording workouts, buying coffees with Apple Pay and checking iMessage alerts on the fly. But the Watch also has perks like blood oxygen tracking, ECG measurements and fall detection that your grad may only use now and again, but will appreciate in crucial moments. Plus, the Series 7 has the largest screen of any Apple Watch to date, as well as the best battery life and a faster charging time, too. And if your grad prefers the style of more traditional timepieces, they can customize their Watch with bands that give them that look. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce EditorBuy Apple Watch Series 7 at Amazon - $399Instant Pot Duo PlusEngadgetOnce they leave dorm life behind, graduates should learn how to make something other than instant ramen. For newbies, we recommend an appliance like the Instant Pot Duo Plus. This trendy kitchen device can be used as a slow cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker and, of course, a pressure cooker.Not only is it easy to use, it can be a huge time saver: just set it, do other chores (or just rest up) and your meal will be ready when it beeps. It’s a wonderful solution if your grad has a tiny stovetop in their first apartment, and it cuts down on dishwashing if you use the Instant Pot for a lot of one pot meals.If you do get your loved one this excellent kitchen gadget, we suggest you send them a link to our Instant Pot guide so they’ll get the most out of their new toy. There are also a bunch of dedicated Instant Pot recipe sites and cookbooks that will keep them busy for a while – Rainbow Plant Life’s Instant Pot page and Dinner in an Instant are a couple of our favorites. — N.L.Buy Instant Pot Duo Plus at Amazon - $120Logitech StreamcamValentina Palladino / EngadgetWhile laptops’ built-in webcams are getting better, most of them still don’t quite cut it for all of the Zoom calls many of us continue to have nowadays. Your graduate will likely have to take calls like this on a regular basis and the Logitech Streamcam is a gadget that can help them put their best face forward. The webcam shoots sharp video in 1080p/60fps and its handy auto-exposure feature helps make dark rooms less cave-like on screen. It also has built-in microphones with noise reduction, so your grad should sound as good as they look on these calls. Additionally, the Streamcam was designed with game streamers and content creators in mind, and that makes it a great all-purpose webcam that your graduate can use for both work and play. — V.P.Buy Logitech Streamcam at Amazon - $170Sony WH-1000XM4Billy Steele / EngadgetThere’s a good chance that your graduate will be working from a few different locations when they start their first job. Maybe they’ll spend half of their time in an office and the other half at home, but you can help them stay focused anywhere by gifting them the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. These are our current favorite high-end cans thanks to their excellent sound quality and equally stellar active noise cancellation. Their Adaptive Sound Control feature automatically changes the level of noise cancellation depending on your location and what you’re doing, blocking out as much of the world as necessary without the user needing to do much work. With this iteration, Sony also added multi-device connectivity, too, so your graduate can seamlessly go from listening to music on their laptop to taking a call from their smartphone. — V.P.Buy WH-1000XM4 at Amazon - $348OXO Brew 8-cup coffee makerOXOWho doesn’t want a caffeine hit in the morning before they head into work? For that we recommend the OXO Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker. OXO typically makes excellent tasting coffee, and since this one is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association, it will certainly meet your grad’s standards as well. This model is easy to use, has a thermal carafe to keep their brew hot for hours, and has an option to brew directly into a mug. — N.L.Buy OXO coffee maker at Amazon - $200Lenovo Smart Clock EssentialEngadgetWhy settle for a boring ol’ alarm clock when you can gift your grad a smarter option? The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential comes in both Google Assistant and Alexa varieties, and does a lot more than just tell time. These compact gadgets can give them the weather forecast, play a Spotify playlist or simply display their appointments for the day.Which you choose depends on the virtual assistant your grad prefers – we generally recommend the Google version for Android users and those that rely on Google services like Calendar and Drive for their personal and professional duties. Everyone else is likely safe getting the Alexa version. And if you want to step it up a bit, the $90 Lenovo Smart Clock 2 comes with a docking area with a wireless charging pad, so they can power up their phones more easily overnight. — N.L.Buy Lenovo Smart Clock Essential at Walmart - $50Buy Lenovo Smart Clock Essential (Alexa) at Amazon - $50Apple AirTagValentina Palladino / EngadgetWe could all use a little help finding our stuff sometimes – new graduates especially. With new internships, jobs, side hustles and more, grads have a ton to keep track of and an AirTag can give them peace of mind by digitally locating their most important items. AirTags can attach to keys, wallets, handbags and more with the right accessories, and then your grad can check out the location of their stuff using the Find My app on iOS. They can program their contact information into the AirTag, in case a stranger needs to return their things, and those with newer iPhone can use the Precision Finding feature to be led directly to their stuff. For those who often misplace their belongings, Bluetooth trackers like these can be crucial. — V.P.Buy AirTag at Amazon - $29Amazon Kindle PaperwhiteEngadgetVoracious readers will appreciate an e-reader like Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite. The latest model has a larger, 6.8-inch display that has 17 front lights and an adjustable warm light setting that reduces eye strain. The design is compact and sleek, and the robust battery lasts for weeks between charging. And if they like reading in the tub or by the pool, the Paperwhite is also waterproof.If you want to give your grad something even more special, however, consider gifting them the Paperwhite Signature Edition. It has 32GB of storage, wireless charging support and a light sensor that can automatically adjust the screen brightness according to their surroundings. It’s about $50 more than the regular Paperwhite, but they will certainly appreciate it. — N.L.Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon - $140Beats Studio BudsBilly Steele/Engadget One of the great things about Beats’ Studio Buds is that both Android and iOS users can wear them and get a fairly similar experience. These Beats aren’t just for iPhone users, as those with Android devices have access to convenient features like Find My and fast pairing. The brand has come a long way when it comes to sound quality, too. These buds are well-tuned with a punchy bass, and iOS users will be able to get Spatial Audio on select tracks. The Studio Buds also have solid ANC with transparency mode, plus a compact, comfortable design that transitions well from study sessions to workout routines. — V.P.Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon - $150Anker 633 MagGo 2-in-1 Wireless Charging StationAnkerAnker’s MagGo 2-in-1 wireless charging station is the gadget to give if you want to set your grab up with basically everything they’d need to never run out of power again. The bundle includes a wireless charging stand that can power both a phone and a pair of earbuds at the same time, and the phone portion detaches into a portable, magnetic, 5,000 mAh battery pack. The MagGo lineup is MagSafe-compatible, so if your grad has a newer iPhone, they’ll be able to take the slim pack with them by snapping it to the back of their smartphone. Also included is a 25W USB-C adapter, which can power the whole system with the proper speed. — V.P.Buy MagGo 2-in-1 charging station at Amazon - $120Yeti Rambler 20oz Tumbler with MagSlider lidYetiIf your grad needs coffee or tea to stay productive throughout the day, a Yeti Rambler is an excellent gift for them. These classic tumblers have a double-walled, insulated design that keeps hot drinks hot for hours, while also being BPA-free. The latest versions have Dracut color coatings, which won’t fade, peel or crack with age (or when you put them in the dishwasher), so their favorite color will come through for years to come. Plus, the Ramblers now come with MagSlider lids, which, while not spill-proof, use magnets to make opening and closing (and cleaning) the lid super easy. — V.P.Buy Yeti Rambler at Amazon - $35
Scientists have made considerable progress with soft robots used for assistive wearables, rehabilitative technologies and more. Powered by compressed air, they offer advantages over regular robots like sensing capabilities, soft touch, and high power-to-input ratios. Designing and building them has been a challenge, however, due to the need for a manual design and fabrication pipeline that requires a lot of trial and error. Now, scientists from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have come up with a new pipeline called "PneuAct" that uses computers and a special knitting process to design and digitally fabricate the soft pneumatic actuators. Their work could eventually lead to new assistive and rehabilitative devices. "PneuAct uses a machine knitting process — not dissimilar to your grandma's plastic needle knitting — but this machine operates autonomously," according to CSAIL researchers. The designer simply needs to specify the stitch and sensor design patterns in software to program actuator movements, which can be simulated before printing. The textile piece is then fabricated by the knitting machine, which is fixed to a rubber silicone tube to complete the actuator. The actuators use conductive yarn for sensing so they can essentially "feel" or respond to what they grab. As proof of concept, the team developed several prototypes including an assistive glove, soft hand, interactive robot and a pneumatic walking quadruped, as shown in the video above. The new devices are considerably improved over older designs, incorporating programmed bending when inflated and the ability to incorporate feedback. "For example, the team used the actuators to build a robot that sensed when it was touched specifically by human hands, and reacted to that touch," the team wrote. The glove could be worn to supplement finger muscle movement, adding extra force for grasping to help people with finger or hand injuries. The team plans to explore actuators with different shapes, and incorporate task-driven designs with target poses and optimal stitch patterns. "Our software tool is fast, easy to use, and it accurately previews users' designs, allowing them to quickly iterate virtually while only needing to fabricate once," said Harvard University's Andrew Spielberg, an author on the paper.
As the European Commission continues to look into whether Apple has abused its market dominance by restricting mobile payments on iOS devices, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager today confirmed that it has formally charged the iPhone maker, which could result in a hefty fine if it is upheld.In a statement, Vestager said that the Commission had "indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple's devices," adding that the company "may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its own solution."Developers, the Commission argues in its Statement of Objections, have been barred from "accessing the necessary hardware and software" to create their own NFC payment services on Apple devices. Contactless payments are popular across Europe, but Apple Pay remains the only contactless option for in-store payments on iPhone and iPad."Apple Pay is only one of many options available to European consumers for making payments, and has ensured equal access to NFC while setting industry-leading standards for privacy and security," Apple said in a statement. "We will continue to engage with the Commission to ensure European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment.The Commission opened a dual review into both Apple's in-app and NFC payment systems in June 2020, noting that the company's choice could stifle competition and therefore reduce consumer choice. The Commission says that today's announcement relates only to the "NFC input by third-party developers of mobile wallets for payments in stores" and not online restrictions against or "refusals of access to Apple Pay" for competing services.Apple has previously said that it limits third-party access to contactless payments in order to boost security. It claims that its own technology prevents fraudulent payments by using a secure chip inside the iPhone antenna. A Statement of Objections provides Apple with a list of exceptions that it argues go against EU antitrust rules. The company will now be invited to reply to the issues raised and request a meeting with officials, which means it could be some time before an official decision is reached.
Over the past few days, Amazon has begun slashing the price of its own gadgets as part of a wider Mother's Day sale. Yesterday, we saw the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 15 fall back to all-time lows, and today it's the turn of the retailer's popular Kindle e-readers, which are now offering savings of up to 41 percent.Leading the way is the Kindle Paperwhite, which is typically priced at $140, but has fallen back to an all-time low of $105 in this particular sale. The standard Kindle is also down to $55, just $5 off its lowest ever price.Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon - $105Buy Kindle at Amazon - $55The fifth-gen Paperwhite, which was refreshed for the first time in three years this past September, has a larger screen than the previous model at 6.8 inches (compared to the six-inch display on its predecessor). Amazon says the 300 ppi screen looks like real paper and its glare-free screen enables "easy reading" in all conditions, even direct sunlight. Not only is it compact, but it has a waterproof design that will ensure it remains operational when splashed. There's also support for USB-C fast charging.If you're looking for something a bit more premium, the Kindle Oasis is on sale too. The 8GB model, which typically costs $250, is currently available for $200. The e-reader has previously been as low as $175, so it's not currently near its all-time low, but still offers $50 off its usual price. The Oasis features a 300 ppi display, though the screen is slightly larger than the Paperwhite at seven inches. It has physical page turn buttons, an IPX8 waterproof rating and a color-adjustable front light.Buy Kindle Oasis at Amazon - $200It may also be a good time to encourage your child's love of reading. Amazon is selling the Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $120, or a full $40 below the usual price. The standard Kindle Kids is also on sale for today at $65 with a decent $45 (or 41 percent) discount. They both come with a two-year "worry-free guarantee," a protective cover and a 12-month Kids+ subscription with access to thousands of books.
The European Union is pushing to regulate big, global technology firms. In their latest move, EU negotiators agreed to a broad set of legislation called the Digital Services Act, which aims to, among a long list of other items, require social media companies to make their algorithms more transparent and limit the spread of disinformation on their platforms. While the language in the DSA still needs to be finalized, it seems clear that platforms like Twitter — regardless of who owns it — will need to adapt to those rules. Eric Heinze is a professor of law and humanities at Queen Mary University of London. He spoke with Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams about how strict these EU rules will be and what they mean for Elon Musk’s vision for Twitter.
Musk buys Twitter, Ethereum stumbles, broadcasting to aliens Twitter Has a New Owner. Here's What He Should Do. Elon Musk Demonstrates How Little He Understands About Content Moderation. Jack Dorsey is tweeting through it. Judge rejects Elon Musk's bid to end the 2018 settlement with SEC. Bored Ape Metaverse Frenzy Raises Millions, Crashes Ethereum. Web3 is Going Great - Molly White. The Inevitability of Trusted Third Parties. Labor Department Criticizes Fidelity's Plan to Put Bitcoin on 401(k) Menu. Doctorow Femur by Cory Doctorow. You Can Now Ask Google to Remove Your Phone Number, Email or Address from Search Results. New options for removing your personally identifiable information from Search. Spotify Boosts Subscribers Despite Russia Ban, Joe Rogan Drama. Data From Fake Legal Requests Used to Sexually Extort Minors. These scientists want to tell aliens where Earth is — not everyone is happy. Netflix's Bad Habits Have Caught Up With It. Alphabet Q1: YouTube Ad Revenue Growth Slows Dramatically. Apple shares dip after the company warns of a possible $8 billion hit from supply constraints. Snap announces a mini drone called Pixy. Fort Worth, TX the first city in the U.S. to mine bitcoin. TikTok was the top app by worldwide downloads in Q1 2022. Meta Platforms' 'Metaverse' Division Loses $3B in 1Q. Microsoft Earnings: Cloud Growth Propels Higher Sales, Earnings. Hollywood's Fight Against VPNs Turns Ugly. From CNN+ to Fyre Festival: A collector seeks swag from companies with epic ends. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Cory Doctorow, Tim Stevens, and Owen Thomas Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: podium.com/twit ourcrowd.com/twit nureva.com UserWay.org/twit
A US city is getting into the bitcoin mining business. The Internet Archive & Brewster Kahle. How to download Instagram Live videos. Google Chrome and the "Oops" error. Getting HDMI video into a video. Why did a phone do a random factory reset after a major update? A physical copy of a Windows installer...? Why your camera may not detect your SD card during the first use. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid, Chris Marquardt, and Rod Pyle! Forth Worth getting into mining bitcoin. The Internet Archive. Downloading Instagram Live videos. Sam Abuelsamid and the Ultium EV vehicles. Google Chrome is running out of available memory & the "Oops" error. Intel 12th Gen CPUs. Getting HDMI video into a computer. Chris Marquardt and Photography at the sea. Caller's Moto G phone did a factory reset after a major update. What may have led to it? Do you need a Windows installer disc to install Windows? Rod Pyle and Russia quitting the International Space Station & the asteroid 2008 AG33. A caller's camera is unable to detect a microSD card. Why do email attachments disappear when replying or forwarding the email to someone? Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid, Chris Marquardt, and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1890 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsors: Melissa.com/twit go.acronis.com/techguy
We talk about our exclusive leaked images that seem to show Google's first smartwatch. Accident or intentionally left behind? The gang also offer their take on the Nothing Launcher, trouble at Netflix, and Nick's review of the OnePlus Nord N20 5G. Rounding things out, each of our hosts have $44 billion to spend. What do they buy with their hypothetical money? Links: Google Pixel Watch: Exclusive leaked images seem to show Google's first smartwatch | Android Central Poll: Would you buy the Pixel Watch if this were the final design? | Android Central More images of the alleged Pixel Watch emerge, and it all comes together (almost) | Android Central Google stays mum on Pixel Watch leak despite past track record of quashing rumors | Android Central Nothing Launcher beta is out now to give you an early taste of Nothing OS | Android Central Netflix's streaming woes are about more than password sharing | Android Central Netflix is losing its appeal as many of our readers plan to leave or have already left | Android Central OnePlus Nord N20 5G review: Return of the OnePlus X | Android Central[ Here's what Elon Musk could've bought for $44 billion instead of Twitter | Android Central Sponsors: Truebill: Don’t fall for subscription scams. Start cancelling today at truebill.com/acp. It could save you THOUSANDS a year. Manscaped: Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code ACP at Manscaped.com.
Discussing content moderation on Twitter. A Blockbuster documentary recommendation. Troubleshooting legacy email connections. Changing the default search engine for Windows. Troubleshooting and disabling WiFi Protected Setup. Upgrading to wired ethernet in every room. Finding a way to video chat with pets while you're away from home. Understanding ad tech. Syncing a local Outlook account with Outlook online. Plus, conversations with Scott Wilkinson, Johnny Jet, and Dick Debartolo. You Can Now Ask Google to Remove Your Phone Number, Email or Address from Search Results – Krebs on Security Remove your personal information from Google - Google Search Help Spokeo - People Search | White Pages | Reverse Phone Lookup Why Netflix Is the Worst Performing Stock in the S&P 500 - The New York Times FY22 Q3 - Press Releases - Investor Relations - Microsoft https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q1_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf Meta Earnings: Facebook Parent's Profit Drops 21% - The New York Times Spotify — Spotify Technology S.A. Announces Financial Results for First Quarter 2022 The Shadow Crew Who Encouraged Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover - WSJ Framework | The Framework Laptop is now in stock! Thanks for Joining Us at the 2022 NAB Show - 2022 NAB Show ATSC 3.0 - Wikipedia CNET: Free 4K from an antenna - These 2021 TVs from Samsung, Sony and LG can get it - ATSC : NextGen TV $200 NextGen TV Tuner Now Available on Amazon | TV Tech Features - ZapperBox The Last Blockbuster (2020) - IMDb Prodigy.net - Is Prodigy Down Right Now? Configure Gmail to Pull Mail from prodigy.net | Red Stamp Mail Windows 11: How to set Google as your default search engine instead of Bing - CNET The Internet's Most Unique Clock Uses Google Earth - JohnnyJet.com Earth Clock This man is trolling his airline with PowerPoint presentations to find his missing bag. | CNN Travel SCOTTeVEST: It's not Rocket Science. It's Pocket Science! theoriginalmusclebeach.com Furbo Dog Camera | Treat Tossing Pet Camera with Barking Alerts Alexa's most underrated feature: Why you should 'drop in' on Amazon Echo more often - CNET Interactive Pet Camera • Best Dog Camera 2020 • PetChatz® High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service | ExpressVPN NextDNS - The new firewall for the modern Internet uBlock Origin - Free, open-source ad content blocker. Insects Like Your Skin? Here's A Way To Take The "Bite Away" | Giz Wiz Biz Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Scott Wilkinson, Johnny Jet, and Dick DeBartolo Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1889 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsor: wealthfront.com/techguy
In our Innards section, we strive to become certified Linux administrators and discuss the LPIC-1 exam with Leo and Nishant.
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All the big photography news for the month of April 2022 in under ten minutes. In this episode Nikon releases a huge firmware update for their flagship cameras, two creators build new ways to utilize old film, and supply constraints hit the film market. Yuta Ikeya’s cinema film project | http://yutaikeya.com/ Hosted by Rich StroffolinoContinue reading "Nikon 2.0 Firmware – Photography News Monthly 4"
We're coming to you from Pittsburgh, where GeekWire is reporting on the future of robotics, AI and automation this week in conjunction with the Cascadia Connect Robotics, Automation & AI conference, organized by Seattle-based Cascadia Capital, which is underwriting our independent coverage of this topic.
This week's podcast is with Matthew Johnson-Roberson, the director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, which has been the source of numerous breakthroughs in robotics and automation since its founding in the late 1970s. Johnson-Roberson spent part of his childhood in Seattle, where he went to Garfield High School. He was a CMU computer science undergrad who went on to get his doctorate in robotics at the University of Sydney and worked at the University of Michigan before returning to CMU as the leader of the Robotics Institute earlier this year.
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Twitter’s board accepts Elon Musk’s offer to take the company private, the EU agrees on the terms of the Digital Services Act, and Weibo now displays user IP address location information. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to allContinue reading "Week in Review for the Week of 4/25/22 – DTH"
Tom is flying high with a new thing and Molly hears the new music hotness. Then you don't have to be Psyi-chic to guess Tom's next thing, while Molly gets her claws into a new thing.LINKS:SilksNailsThat That See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This week, we're talking all about the leaked Pixel Watch: what to expect, what we think from the photos that have surfaced, and whether we believe it will make a significant change to Android's wearables market share. (Hint: we don't.) Then, we'll chat about the Android 13 beta and what's new so far and look at what's interesting on the recently released Google I/O schedule.
Emotet malware, medical device insecurity, digital signing with HID Global, and more. Emotet Malware evolving its install techniques, now uses PowerShell Tenable's Bit Discovery buy underscores demand for deeper visibility of IT assets Early discovery of Pipedream malware a success story for industrial security Many Medical Device Makers Skimp on Security Practices HID Global Director of Product Management Mrugesh Chandarana talks about digital signatures Hosts: Louis Maresca and Curt Franklin Co-Host: Heather "Mo" Williams Guest: Mrugesh Chandarana Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-enterprise-tech. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT plextrac.com/twit Compiler - TWIET
Folks who ordered a Rivian R1T truck or R1S SUV with an Ocean Coast trim may need to wait a bit longer than expected for their EV to arrive. The company told customers in an email that "the light wood in Ocean Coast is more challenging to produce." As such, Rivian is focusing on getting models with Black Mountain and Forest Edge interiors to customers sooner. It will start deliveries of EVs with the Ocean Coast trim in the fall."Building in few build combinations reduces complexity with our suppliers and in the plant and allows us to build a greater number of vehicles," Rivian wrote in the email, which was obtained by Elektrek. "This updated approach also means we’ll see Adventure Package vehicles rolling off the line alongside Launch Edition vehicles over the next few months." The company said it will send new delivery estimates to all preorder holders in the coming weeks.Perhaps to offset the disappointment of another delay, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe showed off a feature that will be available to all customers as standard following a future software update. It's called Sand Mode and could come in useful for those who want to go off-road. A slow-motion clip shows the R1S handling some sandy terrain.Sand mode — coming in a future OTA update pic.twitter.com/8Q5NwIgImE— RJ Scaringe (@RJScaringe) April 26, 2022Also on the way are a pet mode for the HVAC system and dashcam support for the Gear Guard security feature. Scaringe said those are coming soon.
You won't have to wait long to buy a small Dodge plug-in hybrid. As Autoblogexplains, Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis revealed in a Q&A that a PHEV edition of the upcoming Hornet compact car will be revealed this summer, likely during a "Speed Week" starting August 15th. The Stellantis badge executive didn't provide other details, but plans for the regular Hornet should provide a good idea of what to expect.No, the Hornet isn't a revival of either AMC's compact or the circa-2006 concept. Instead, it's based on the Alfa Romeo Tonale (shown above) due to reach Americans in early 2023. The Hornet will likely share both the Tonale's 1.3L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a Naples, Italy factory. The Tonale will muster 272HP in its American version, but it's not certain if the Hornet will provide similar output. The machine may be relatively inexpensive for a plug-in given its size.You may have to wait a while to hear more about Dodge's all-electric muscle car, however. Kuniskis said he hoped to show off the high-performance EV before the Hornet, but an unnamed factor "outside our industry" was preventing any firm commitments. Dodge previously said the "eMuscle" car would launch by 2024, and that it would phase out its gas-based Challenger and Charger cars on a similar timeline.A Hornet PHEV might be necessary. Stellantis is ramping up its electrification efforts and expects half of its US passenger vehicles to be pure EVs by 2030, but Americans don't have affordable plug-in hybrid options at the moment — they're typically more expensive options like the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. If Stellantis can keep the Dodge Hornet's cost relatively low, it might open the door to customers who previously had to shop competing brands to get more accessible PHEVs.
Twitch is reportedly considering changes to its creator payment structure, Alphabet’s Q1 earnings come in under expectations, and Fidelity will let you put bitcoin in your 401k. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, noneContinue reading "Twitch Reportedly Considering Changes to Creator Payment Structure – DTH"
Avid is taking a page out of the Adobe playbook by shifting Pro Tools entirely to a subscription model. There's no longer an option to buy a perpetual license, which granted customers lifetime access to a certain version of Pro Tools.Instead, those who want access to the widely-used DAW from now on will have to choose between three plans as part of a revamped subscription structure. All of the tiers include two new virtual instruments: a drum machine and sequencer called GrooveCell and the SynthCell virtual synth. There's a free trial available for each plan.The lowest tier is Pro Tools Artist, which costs $10 per month or $99 per year. This is aimed at musicians who are just starting out and don't necessarily need every bell and whistle at their disposal. Along with the DAW, you'll be able to use more than 100 plugins and hundreds of virtual instruments and loops. This tier offers 32 audio tracks, 32 instrument tracks and 64 MIDI tracks. You can record up to 16 audio sources simultaneously.The middle tier is called Pro Tools Studio. For $40 per month or $299 per year, you'll be able to create mixes with 512 audio and instrument tracks. There's support for Dolby Atmos and surround sound, as well as advanced automation and Clip Effects editing. Avid will transition current Pro Tools subscribers and perpetual license customers with active plans to this plan.The top tier is called Pro Tools Flex. This will offer access to Pro Tools Ultimate, 2,048 audio tracks, up to 256 simultaneous recording inputs, the SoundFlow Cloud Avid Edition workflow automation platform and much more. That plan costs $100 per month or $999 annually. Active Pro Tools Ultimate subscribers will be moved to Pro Tools Flex. Pro Tools Ultimate perpetual license customers with active plans will receive Pro Tools Ultimate upgrades.Those with a perpetual Pro Tools license and expired support contract can still get back on a current software updates and support plan. They can take out a subscription to one of the new tiers as well.
Don't worry if your Apple Watch screen suddenly went blank — you might not have to pay to get it fixed. 9to5Mac and The Verge note that Apple has launched a service program that offers free fixes for Watch Series 6 models whose screens go permanently white. If you own a 40mm watch built between April and September of 2021, Apple or an authorized shop will repair the device regardless of its warranty status.The program covers affected Apple Watch Series 6 models for two years after the first retail sales, which began in September 2020. You can enter your wristwear's serial number on the program website to determine if you qualify. This doesn't extend the regular warranty or cover damage that requires repairs before the display can be addressed.Apple said the problem only affects a "very small percentage" of Series 6 units. Still, the program may be valuable. The Apple Watch isn't a cheap accessory, especially if you bought a steel or titanium variant — this could save you the added pain of a costly fix for a manufacturer defect.
Two of the largest American cable providers are joining forces to adapt to the internet era. Charter and Comcast have unveiled a joint venture that will create a "next-generation" streaming platform for a range of branded media devices and smart TVs. It will be based on Comcast's Flex, and will unsurprisingly include services like Peacock and the free-to-watch Xumo alongside "all the top apps."The platform will be available on Comcast's XClass TVs, while Charter will provide streaming devices with voice remotes starting in 2023. Flex and Xumo will still be available as independent products, so you won't have to buy new hardware.The telecoms stressed that they each had equal stakes in the joint venture, and that their cable and broadband services weren't involved. Charter will initially pour $900 million into the project over "multiple years."The team-up isn't shocking. Both Charter and Comcast face ongoing pressure from a growing number of streaming services, including Disney+ and the eventual combination of Discovery+ and HBO Max. It's also known that Comcast's Peacock, while moderately successful, remains small compared to heavyweights like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. The new platform could help the cable companies thrive even if their conventional TV subscriptions continue to decline, and might boost services like Peacock and Xumo in the process.
When Sony's expanded PlayStation Plus service starts rolling out next month, it will fold in PlayStation Now, which offers access to hundreds of games from older console generations. Now, it seems the company is getting even more serious about game preservation.Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStation, working as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team!Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I'm ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots 😊— Garrett Fredley (@SomeCronzaGuy) April 25, 2022According to Twitter and LinkedIn posts spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Sony has hired at least one engineer (Garrett Fredley, a former build engineer for mobile developer Kabam) to work on a new preservation team. "Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStation, working as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team! Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I'm ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots," Fredley wrote. "Let's go and ensure our industry's history isn't forgotten!"It's not entirely clear what the preservation team will be working on or what Sony's goals are for it. Engadget has contacted Sony Interactive Entertainment for clarification.Sony historically hasn't done an incredible job with preserving games. Aside from the original PS3 models being able to run many PS1 and PS2 games, backward compatibility seemed like an afterthought until the PS5, which supports all but a few PS4 titles.The company shut down the digital PSP storefront last summer, though it backtracked on a plan to close the PS3 and Vita stores after a significant backlash. There's no guarantee that every PS3 and PSP exclusive will be added to the new PS Plus service, which won't include Vita titles, so some games will be lost to the sands of time.In a 2017 interview, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan talked about seeing Gran Turismo titles on PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 at an event, and said something that has dogged him ever since: "The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?" Ryan clarified last year that he was trying to make a point about how good the more modern entries in the series look and that he didn't intend to be disrespectful to the history of PlayStation. Still, many took his initial comment to mean that Sony didn't care about older games.It's good to see Sony putting more emphasis on game preservation. Non-profits and fan-led projects have led the charge on that front. PC gamers, of course, have access to titles dating back several decades (for instance, I've been dipping in and out of Half-Life recently). Microsoft understands that folks still want to be able to play old games on modern platforms and has put more emphasis on backward compatibility in recent years. Xbox Series X/S can run games from as far back as the original Xbox.Like Sony, however, Nintendo hasn't exactly been great at game preservation. It will shut down the 3DS and Wii U stores next year, and likely won't port every game from those consoles to Nintendo Switch. Many of those games will be inaccessible to future generations of players.
The biggest Twitch streamers might not rake in as much money in the future. Bloombergsources say Twitch is considering multiple proposals to rethink payment structures, including one that would cut top streamers' share of subscriptions from 70 percent to the usual 50 percent. Another would establish multiple pay tiers with different requirements, and broadcasters might receive further incentives to run more ads for unsubscribed viewers.A revamp might offer more freedom, according to the insiders. In return for this less lucrative pay structure, Twitch might drop exclusivity terms and let members of the Partner program stream on rival services like Facebook Gaming or YouTube.Twitch has declined comment. Bloomberg's sources said the revamped terms could be changed or dropped.The reported proposals come after Twitch implemented multiple efforts to boost long-term profits and satisfy its parent company Amazon. The service recently introduced a program that motivates frequent streamers to run more ads, for instance. While Twitch already figures prominently in Amazon's business with links to Prime, Luna and Music, it's clear the online shopping giant wants livestreaming to be more successful on its own terms.A reduced cut for top-tier streamers might prove risky. Stars like DrLupo and Timthetatman left Twitch for YouTube — while big names like Ninja have returned to Twitch or otherwise signed multi-year deals, they might not be inclined to stay if they think they could earn more at a competing service. There are also longstanding concerns that Twitch hasn't addressed problems with full-time streaming, such as long hours and the difficulty of taking vacations (subscriptions can plummet even after short breaks). Larger profits might not matter if fewer major creators can justify sticking around.
Luxury EV maker Lucid Group has struck a deal to sell the government of Saudi Arabia up to 100,000 vehicles over the next ten years, it announced. The kingdom's Ministry of Finance will buy at least 50,000 Air sedans and upcoming models from now until 2032, with an option to buy another 50,000 over the same period. Saudi Arabia's public wealth fund invested $1 billion in Lucid in 2018 and owns a 62 percent stake in the company. The order will include vehicles from Lucid's existing Arizona factory and a new one planned for Saudi Arabia. It'll start next year with sales between 1,000 and 2,000 vehicles annually and ramp up to 4,000-7,000 per year in 2025, according to Lucid. Lucid recently launched its first vehicle into production, the $169,000 Air Dream Edition Performance sedan with 1,111 horsepower and 450 miles of range. The Air Grand Touring model will show up later for $139,000, followed by the $95,000 Air Touring and finally the base, sub-$80,000 Air. However, prices will also include "logistics and importation costs, and other costs of delivering and homologating vehicles to regulations of Saudi Arabia," according to Lucid. "We are delighted to be supporting Saudi Arabia in achieving its sustainability goals and net zero ambitions, as outlined by Saudi Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative, by bringing our advanced luxury EVs to Saudi Arabia," said Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson. However, as part of those initiatives, the kingdom also plans to continue drilling for oil in what it calls a "circular carbon economy." Critics have slammed that as greenwashing, citing recent UN reports stating that "time is running out" and that fossil fuel development is "dangerously out of sync" with climate change targets.
As some of you might know, I’m a runner. On occasion I review sports watches, and outside of work I’m a certified marathon coach. So when Engadget wanted to round up the best wireless workout headphones, I raised my hand.In addition to fit and battery life, I considered factors such as style; ease of use; the charging case; the strength of the Bluetooth connection; support for assistants such as Siri and Alexa; water resistance ratings; and audio features such as noise cancelation and ambient sound modes. You’ll notice I don’t have much if anything to say about audio quality. Engadget’s resident expert Billy Steele has written about this plenty in his standalone reviews, which I’ve linked throughout, but for my purposes the differences were too subtle to make or break a purchasing decision.In the end, I never quite mastered some of the over-complicated controls, but at no point did an earbud fall out while I was exercising. I also never came close to running out of juice. So, participation trophies for everyone? Ha: The companies wish. I do indeed have some favorites, while some fell short in key areas.How we testedWater resistanceEven if earbuds aren’t marketed specifically as workout headphones, a durable, water-resistant design will, by default, make them suitable for exercise. To avoid repeating myself throughout this guide, I’ll drop a quick primer here on durability, or ingression protection (IP), ratings. The first digit you’ll see after the “IP” refers to protection from dust and other potential intrusions. That spec is measured on a scale of 1 to 6. The second refers to water resistance or even waterproofing, in the best cases. Higher numbers mean more protection, while the letter “X” means the device is not rated for protection in that regard. The ratings for water resistance are ranked on a scale of 1 to 9.All but one of the models we tested for this guide is rated IPX4. That means there’s no dust protection, and the buds can withstand splashes from any direction but probably shouldn't be submerged. The most durable set of earbuds we tested, Jabra’s Elite Active 4, is rated IP57, which means a high level of both dust and water protection. Whereas the IPX 4 models can handle splashes, the Elite Active 4 can be immersed for up to 30 minutes in up to a meter (or about 3.2 feet) of water.For a detailed breakdown of all the possible permutations, I recommend checking out this guide published by a supplier called The Enclosure Company.Earbuds we testedDurability ratingBeats Powerbeats ProIPX4Beats Fit ProIPX4Jabra Elite Active 4IP57Sony WF-C500IPX4Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 ProIPX4Active noise cancelationFor the 2022 update to this guide, I decided to add a note up top about active noise cancelation (ANC), simply because most of the available models now offer it. And since the user experience is actually pretty similar across different brands, I thought it would be easier to share what they have in common, rather than repeat myself.First of all, no noise cancellation is perfect. If you’re looking for earbuds that you can continue wearing even after you’re done working out, you might still hear some background noise, whether it be your robot vacuum or cars honking. The difference in quality with ANC enabled is undeniable; just don’t take these companies’ marketing claims too literally. Besides, I don’t recommend active noise cancellation while exercising outdoors; it’s not safe. And even if you are working out indoors, I still think a noise cancellation horse race is probably beside the point for the purpose of this guide.The best all-purpose option: Jabra Elite 4 ActiveBilly Steele/EngadgetWhat you get: A stylish, compact pair of wireless earbuds with a lightweight charging case to match.Pros: Reasonably priced for the feature set; sleek, compact design; one of the lightest charging cases we tested (and some of the longest battery life); more durable than most; active noise cancelation, a transparency mode and customizable equalizer; works with Spotify Tap on Android.Cons: Onboard controls aren’t intuitive, but Jabra offers helpful instructions in its app; less comfortable after prolonged use than other brands.Buy Elite 4 Active at Amazon - $120Much like the Elite Active 75t we tested in 2020, the newer Elite Active 4 earbuds ($120) make a strong first impression, with a compact, stylish design and a lightweight charging case to match. Available in three colors, the earbuds aren’t just small and light, but they look especially sleek given that they don’t have any wingtips. Though they felt comfortable when I first put them in, my ears did feel a little sore by the end of a run.Meanwhile, the 37.5-gram case is also among the lightest we tested, but still offers some of the longest battery life, promising a total of 28 hours. (Each individual earbud on its own is rated for seven hours. Jabra says you can return to an hour’s worth of juice after a 10-minute charge.)In my testing, the earbuds were easy to insert and pair. Less easy is learning how to use the things. As you might expect, you press the right earbud once to stop and resume playback. You can also double-press the right bud to skip a track, and triple press it to play it again. But some of the other onboard controls are less obvious. To increase the volume, hold down the right earbud for a second; to lower it, long press the left earbud. Meanwhile, single-pressing the left earbud allows you to toggle between active noise cancelation, HearThrough mode, or neither. Lastly, double press the left bud to use a voice assistant.The good news is, you don’t have to commit all those finger gestures to memory: Jabra’s Sound+ App for iOS and Android contains a helpful illustrated tutorial, which I recommend keeping open on your phone as you get settled in with your new earbuds.I mastered the controls quickly enough, but the physical buttons on the earbuds require a little more pressure and coordination to get an accurate press in. I found myself waiting until I had slowed to a walk before I started fiddling with the tracks. Even then, I needed to be very deliberate to make sure I got it right. And usually I did. That said, given there’s no physical volume rocker, I did wish there were an aural cue confirming I had moved the volume up or down a notch; the progression from louder to softer (or vice versa) is very subtle.After a roughly 35-minute run the battery was still at 90 percent – a similar showing to what I saw on the Beats Fit Pro, also featured in this guide. Like the Elite Active 75t I tested previously, the Elite 4 Active uses Jabra’s HearThrough technology. With that enabled, I could hear cars along my running route, though on an especially windy day the gusts drowned out softer noises like footsteps behind me. That’s despite the earbuds having four built-in mics with what Jabra calls a “mesh covering” for added wind noise reduction.Although I tested the Elite 4 Active on an iPhone 12, the earbuds have some additional features on Android, including support for Spotify Tap, which resumes where you last left off listening to your Spotify account on any device. Android users also get support for Alexa and Google’s Fast Pair tech.While I recommend the Elite 4 Active for most people, it’s also worth quickly mentioning the $180 Elite 7 Active, which adds Jabra’s ShakeGrip technology for what the company claims is a more secure fit. You also get slightly better battery life – eight hours per bud, or 30 hours with the case – and even faster charging (an hour of playback after a five-minute charge). Lastly, choosing the Elite 7 Active over the Elite 4 Active gives you the option of either Google Assistant or Alexa, as well as voice guidance. However, you’d be giving up call controls, which you do get on the Elite 4 Active.The most comfortable option: Beats Powerbeats ProWhat you get: A comfortable, behind-the-ear hook design that’s easy to use and is deeply integrated with iOS.Pros: Comfortable, stable fit; pairs seamlessly with iOS devices; intuitive controls with mirrored access on the left and right sides; tied with Sony for the longest earbud battery life.Cons: Ear-hook design isn’t the most discreet, and doesn’t fit so well with sunglasses; relatively heavy charging case; no active noise cancelation, transparency mode or customizable EQ; speaking to an assistant is slightly less convenient if it’s not Siri.Buy Powerbeats Pro at Amazon - $200For the purposes of this guide I tested two pairs of Beats headphones: the $200 Beats Fit Pro earbuds, and the $200 Powerbeats Pro, earbuds with an over-the-ear hook design. I’ll start with the Powerbeats Pro, which I like better for exercising.Other than being slightly conspicuous, the Powerbeats Pro comes in four colors and fits comfortably, though it doesn’t play as nicely with glasses and face masks as more compact in-ear designs. Compared to the other earbuds I tested, though, I felt especially confident the Powerbeats Pro would stay put during workouts.Like Apple’s newest AirPods, the Powerbeats Pro use Apple’s H1 chip, which allows for particularly deep integration when you pair the earbuds with an Apple-made device. In addition to a fast, seamless pairing process, you can activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri,” without having to press a button. You can also share audio with other AirPods or Beats headphones, and can enjoy automatic switching between Apple devices.For better and worse, the integration is so complete, in fact, that there’s no companion app; instead you check the earbuds’ and cases’ battery via other methods, such as a homescreen widget or by asking Siri.The earbuds themselves are rated for nine hours of use, which is among the highest we’ve seen. The case is rated for a total of 24 hours of use, which isn’t bad, but given that it's not best in class you have to wonder why the case is as heavy as it is. (Heavy enough that my purse feels a little lighter without it.) iOS users won’t mind that the case charges via a Lightning cable and not USB-C, but others might be slightly put out.If you’ve ever used AirPods or Apple’s old-school wired headphones, these should be pretty easy to master. Double-press the physical button on the earbud to skip tracks and triple-press it to go backward. I quickly came to love the physical key; it’s less finicky than a touch surface. I was also grateful for the mirroring of controls between the left and right earbuds — both left- and right-handed people should be happy.Having tested other wireless earbuds that either lack onboard volume controls, or make it tedious, I have come to particularly appreciate the Powerbeats Pro’s onboard volume rockers – one for each earbud. I don’t know of any other workout earbuds that make it easier to adjust the volume, not even the Beats Fit Pro.While it’s nice to have easier volume access, the audio experience is otherwise basic. There is no active noise cancellation or transparency mode. Not a dealbreaker for workouts, but something to consider if your goal is to get one pair of earbuds you can wear for everything.Other features include support for voice assistants (yes, Google and Amazon too), but only Siri can be summoned by a voice command. You can also wear just one bud if you like (the right one) if all you need to do is talk on the phone, or if you want to keep an ear open to what’s going on around you. Honorable mention: Beats Fit ProBilly Steele/EngadgetWhat you get: Many of the benefits of the Powerbeats Pro, with a more discreet design, a lighter charging case and the addition of ANC.Pros: Comfortable, stable fit; pairs easily with iOS devices; compact, lightweight charging case; adds ANC and transparency modes, which the Powerbeats Pro lacks.Cons: A smaller design than the Powerbeats Pro means shorter battery life and the loss of a physical volume rocker; no customizable EQ.Buy Beats Fit Pro at Amazon - $200One of my main complaints about the Powerbeats Pro is that they don’t fit as well if you’re wearing sunglasses (or, in pandemic times a mask). This is where the Beats Fit Pro have the advantage: Their discreet design that promises to stay out of the way and safe even during sweaty workouts.Available in four colors, the buds are easy to insert and comfortable to wear – just twist the bud to fold the wingtip into your upper ear. And, because the earbuds are smaller than the Powerbeats Pro, the case is markedly lighter and more compact (55g versus 80g on the Pro). Between the lightweight case and the less dorky design, the Beats Fit Pro make a strong case for themselves as earbuds you can wear not just during workouts, but everywhere.Because the Beats Fit Pro were released more recently than the Powerbeats Pro, they have active noise cancellation, a feature older Powerbeats and AirPods products are lacking. At the same time, Apple built in a transparency mode – ideal for runners like me who would feel safer if they could still hear ambient cues like footsteps and car horns. Lastly, it supports Apple’s Spatial Audio format for a more immersive sound and will automatically kick in if you’re playing a compatible track.For working out, the audio is fine. But if you can only afford one pair of earbuds, my colleague Billy Steele indicated in his review that the sound quality is mediocre. He found calls could be patchy and, as he notes, Beats is one of the few brands that doesn’t offer users a customizable EQ.Out of the box, the earbuds are set to active noise cancellation. There are two ways to adjust this: You can hold down the physical button on either earbud to cycle through audio profiles. Or, you can find the earbuds in your Bluetooth settings menu and click further to see a more detailed menu of options. Not only can you adjust the mode there, but you can also change what those physical buttons do. By default, they’re for toggling audio profiles, but you can also set them up so that one earbud controls volume up, and the other volume down. Personally, I preferred having the option of adjusting the volume from my earbuds mid-workout; it’s easy to just pick an audio mode before your run and stick with it.Other than the slightly limited volume controls, the Beats Fit Pro works much like other Beats- and Apple-branded headphones. Press the physical button once to play or pause tracks; double press to skip forward; and triple press to replay a track. For anyone upgrading from an older pair of Beats or Apple earbuds, the transition should be easy. My only word of caution is that I found the physical button on the Beats Fit Pro harder to find by feel, as it’s smaller and less indented than the button on the Powerbeats Pro.Apple rates the Beats Fit Pro for six hours of listening time per earbud, plus an additional 18 hours from the USB-C charging case. You can also wear just one bud if you like, to squeeze out even more runtime. In my testing, the battery on the buds dropped down to 89 percent after a 35-minute run. Extrapolate that, and the math comes close to Apple’s six-hours-per-bud claim. If you’ve managed to completely exhaust both the earbud and case, Apple says its “Fast Fuel” feature will get you back to one hour of use after five minutes of charging, the same claim Jabra makes for the comparably priced Elite Active 7. (Note: Apple’s one-hour estimate assumes you won’t be using ANC.)Under the hood, the earbuds have the same Apple-made H1 chip as the Powerbeats Pro and Apple’s newer AirPods, allowing for hands-free “Hey Siri,” audio sharing with other AirPods or Beats headphones, and automatic switching between devices. The headphones also work with the Find My app, even on Android.The best budget workout earbuds: Sony WF-C500EngadgetWhat you get: Reasonably priced earbuds that prioritize a light design and good audio quality.Pros: Lightweight; reasonably priced; support for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format; the earbuds themselves claim relatively long battery life; customizable EQ; supports Google Fast Pair.Cons: No ANC or transparency mode; slightly trickier to pair on iOS than other earbuds we tested; the charging case has lower capacity than competing models; they have a larger, more bulbous design than others we tested (but are no less comfortable).Buy WF-C500 at Amazon - $100With the $100 WF-C500 earbuds, Sony is really emphasizing the small design: The earbuds themselves weigh 5.46 grams, while the charging case is 35g. That would be the lightest case we tested, and nearly the lightest pair of earbuds, barring the much pricier Elite Active 7. It’s worth noting that a lighter charging case means shorter case battery life (a relatively low 20 hours). Even then, the earbuds themselves offer some of the longest battery life of the bunch: 10 hours per bud. If you do run low on charge, you can get back up to an hour’s worth of capacity in 10 minutes, Sony says.The earbuds, available in four colors, were larger than I was expecting given their light weight, but they’re easy to insert and fit comfortably. They are slightly trickier to pair on iOS than other buds I tested for this guide, though Android users will benefit from support for Google Fast Pair.By default, a robotic voice will tell you the earbuds’ battery charge as you’re putting them in. I found this useful, though it meant that there was a delay in getting to hear whatever I had been listening to. You can always disable voice guidance in Sony’s Headphones app if that bothers you.The truth is, I rarely had range anxiety with these headphones anyway: Unlike other earbuds, which took a roughly 10 percent hit after my usual 35-minute run, these were still at 100 percent. It’s unlikely I’ll ever wear out both the buds and charging case before getting to a wall charger.The controls were also easy to master without having to consult Sony’s companion app. On the right earbud, press once to play or pause audio playback, or to answer or end a call. Double press to skip tracks, and triple press to go to the previous song. Long-pressing the right earbud launches or cancels a voice assistant. You can also long press to decline a call. On the left earbud, some of the controls are mirrored: you can press once to receive/end a call, and long-press to reject it. The left bud is also where the volume controls live: press once to raise it, and hold the button down to lower it.As one of the cheaper options in this guide, the WF-C500 are the only ones without active noise cancellation. Which to me, isn’t a dealbreaker. The eartips already do a good enough job passively blocking noise, to the point where I was startled when a group of runners ran up from behind in the park and passed me. If anything, I wished the earbuds had a transparency mode that would allow more ambient noise through. Fortunately I could still hear louder noises like nearby traffic.The lack of ANC aside, the audio quality is quite good – which makes sense, given Sony’s heritage in audio and home theater gear. Like other models listed here (barring Beats, anyway), you can adjust the EQ in the companion app. And, as you might expect, the earbuds support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, which is similar to Apple’s spatial tech, which in turn is built on the Dolby Atmos format.The most customizable: Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 ProEngadgetWhat you get: Comfortable ANC earbuds with long battery life and customizable controls.Pros: The only buds we tested with wireless charging; long battery life, especially on the charging case; active noise cancelation, a transparency mode and customizable equalizer; lots of options for setting up the controls to your liking.Cons: Larger and a little harder to insert than competing models; touch-sensitive controls can be finicky; worse sound quality than the competition; in-app battery indicator doesn’t give you a percentage.Buy Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro at Amazon - $170The $170 Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro earbuds are available in four colors, and carry a big emphasis on ergonomic fit. That includes air-filled wings, silicone ear tips (similar to other brands) and a promise of air-pressure relief, per Anker. The earbuds don’t come with the eartips or wingtips attached, which adds some friction to the setup process but, on the plus side, you get a choice of four ear tip sizes, compared with three from most other headphone makers. Inside the Soundcore app you’ll find a fit test, but I actually ended up with a more comfortable fit by just following my gut. But it’s certainly worth playing around with.The Liberty 3 Pro is right up there with the Sony CF-500 in terms of being some of the larger earbuds I tested for this guide. That said, they fit comfortably and stay put. I will say, however, that these were consistently harder to insert than some other brands I tested, even after I’d had a bit of practice.When I originally published this guide, in September 2020, I ruled out Anker’s $55 Soundcore Spirit Dot 2 earbuds on account of their fussy touch controls and the fact that you couldn’t adjust the volume from the buds themselves. I’m happy to report that the situation has improved – mostly. First, the bad news: The controls are still finicky, and especially difficult to get right while moving. But, they do offer volume control. (Thank goodness.) The controls are also programmable inside the Soundcore app. So you can at least customize the long press and single, double and triple taps in a way that feels intuitive. In addition to music and volume playback, you can also use the controls to toggle audio modes or to activate a voice assistant (Google or Alexa).Just as you can modify the earbud controls, you have options as far as sound quality, too. There are ANC and transparency modes, along with a “normal” setting in between. Also, like Sony and Jabra, Anker allows you to customize the EQ from within the app. Interestingly, wind reduction is a feature you have to actively opt into. Anker says this is because the wind reducing mode dings ANC performance, and since it’s unlikely people will often find themselves in strong winds, it may as well not be turned on by default. Later this year, Anker will push out a software update that will add “enhanced vocal mode,” which promises to increase vocal pickup in the area around you, according to an Anker spokesperson.Additionally, Anker touts three mics per earbud, along with AI noise reduction. I can’t prove that there’s a connection here, but I did notice they sounded a little tinnier compared with other headphones. Sometimes, some random buzz even crept in. It’s hard to know if that slight distortion is a result of the AI doing its work, but I wonder.As for battery life, the Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro has the distinction of being the only earbuds we tested for this guide with a case that can charge wirelessly. The buds themselves are rated for eight hours apiece, or 32 hours with the case, making this the longest-lasting charging case we tested for this story. Anker also says that you can return to three hours of capacity after 15 minutes of charging. After a 35-minute run, the battery indicator in the app showed a mostly full charge, though unfortunately Anker doesn’t give you a percentage.
It took several months, but Apple's Self Service Repair program is now available in the US. If you have an iPhone 12, iPhone 13 or third-generation iPhone SE, you can buy key parts (such as batteries, cameras and displays) from a dedicated store and consult official repair manuals as you fix a device yourself. You can even spend $49 to rent a toolkit for a week if you'd rather not buy tools you're unlikely to use often.The program will expand to other countries later this year, starting with Europe. You'll also have to wait until later to obtain parts, manuals and tools for Macs. Those kits will be limited to Macs with Apple silicon, so you'll be out of luck if you want to repair an Intel-based computer.The debut comes alongside a white paper detailing Apple's expanding service strategy. The company claimed that it had "nearly doubled" the size of its repair network, and that eight out of 10 of its American customers lived within 20 minutes of an authorized repair provider. It also outlined the rationales behind design and repair decisions, including its emphasis on using official parts (to protect privacy and security) and the lack of schematics for board-level repairs. Board fixes are "best performed" by technicians who can offer high-quality, consistent results, Apple said.The Self Service initiative is a clear response to mounting pressure to adopt Right to Repair policies. In the US, both federal- and state-level officials have either enacted or proposed Right to Repair rules. There's also growing advocacy from everyday customers, and leaked emails have suggested that Apple itself has held debates over its sometimes difficult-to-fix products. The program theoretically reduces the incentive to pass repair-friendly legislation, and might soften overall public criticism.As it is, the fix-it-yourself landscape has changed. Google and Samsung are launching their own self-repair offerings, and companies like Valve are already designing products with repair (if not always by customers) in mind. So long as you're technically inclined, there's a real chance you may not have to trust someone else with future repairs.
You have another chance to grab Amazon's second-gen Echo Show 5 for $50. While it's a bit more than the device's all-time low on the website, that's still 41 percent off its retail price of $85. Amazon launched the second-gen version of the smart display in 2021, along with its bigger 8-inch sibling. The device's screen has a resolution of 960 x 480 pixels, and it has a two megapixel camera instead of its predecessor's one megapixel. You now also have the choice to get it in deep sea blue in addition to the black and white variants — and yes, all three are on sale right now. Buy Echo Show 5 (2021) at Amazon - $50Like the Echo Show 8, the 5-inch model also comes with the sunrise alarm feature that slowly brightens up the display to mimic the sun rising in the sky. It offers easy access to your smart home controls, such as the thermostat and Philips Hue Lights, and works great as a bedside alarm clock due to its smaller size. If you're looking to buy a smart speaker instead, Amazon is also selling the fourth-generation Echo Dot for just $28. That's 44 percent off its retail price and the lowest we've seen for the smart speaker to date. For $5 extra, you can pick up the Dot plus an extra Amazon smart plug, which normally retails for $75.In addition to the Echo sales, Amazon is also running a deal for the Blink Mini camera. You can grab a two-camera Blink Mini package for $35, which is the same price you'll pay for a single device. The plug-in security cam can deliver 1080p HD images and can send alerts to your smartphone when it detects any movement. You can also connect the Blink Mini to an Echo Show and can use the system to monitor any room in your home, such as your kids' bedroom at night.Buy Blink Mini camera package at Amazon - $35Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Robinhood is letting around nine percent of its full-time employees go, company CEO Vlad Tenev has announced. In a blog post, Tenev said the company grew rapidly throughout 2020 and in the first half of 2021, thanks to several factors that include COVID-19 lockdowns. Robinhood's revenue grew from $278 million in 2019 to over $1.8 billion in 2021, and it hired so many new employees to "meet customer and market demands" that its headcount grew from 700 to nearly 3,800.Tenev explained that the rapid growth in headcount led to "some duplicate roles and job functions" and the the company decided that reducing its workforce is the right move to improve efficiency. "We will retain and continue to hire exceptional talent in key roles and provide additional learning and career growth opportunities for our employees," he said. The CEO's announcement comes just as the company's stock hit its lowest closing price ($10) since it went public. As TechCrunch reports, it also comes just before Robinhood announces its first quarter results on April 28th and could be a measure meant to preempt investor disfavor in case its results fall short. Robinhood is known for pioneering commission-free stock trades and, as Tenev said, skyrocketed in popularity in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, its practices had previously drawn criticism, as well. In late 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission fined the company $65 million for "misleading customers about revenue sources and failing to satisfy duty of best execution." It was also hit with a class action lawsuit after it restricted trading on GameStop and other "meme stocks." And in late 2021, the company was targeted by a cyberattack that exposed the data of as many as 7 million users.
Spotify has managed to grow despite a high-profile rebellion over its backing of controversial podcaster Joe Rogan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The streaming giant today released updated financial results for the first quarter of 2022, revealing that it grew to 422 million monthly users. 182 million of which pay for Premium, with its stable of exclusive podcasts a big draw and one that Spotify is continually investing in. The company added that three million of that total user figure may have been added as a consequence of a log-in issue, but even taking that into account, growth was still above expectations.We delivered another strong quarter building on momentum from 2021. Grateful for the tireless work of the @Spotify team on behalf of creators and listeners around the world https://t.co/jnNPFgm9YKpic.twitter.com/ddq1NiJf5n— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) April 27, 2022At the start of 2022, Spotify doubled down in support of Rogan who regularly interviews fringe and far right figures on his show. That included Dr. Robert Malone, who claims to have invented the mRNA technology used to create COVID-19 vaccines, a claim widely refuted by the people who actually did. Malone’s episode prompted a complaint from 270 healthcare professionals asking for Spotify to do more to combat vaccine misinformation. That was followed by artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, who withdrew their music from the service, and Brené Brown who paused her podcast, in protest at Spotify’s refusal to take down misinformation. The service said it would not drop Rogan, but eventually said it would add a content advisory label to episodes which repeated misinformation.Not long after, and Spotify announced that it would fully suspend its service in Russia and close its offices in the territory, in protest at the invasion of Ukraine. While Spotify was reportedly the second-largest platform in Russia, it wasn’t a major contributor to the company’s revenue. In the documents, Spotify says that it believes it lost 1.5 million free users and an additional 600,000 which were paying for Premium as a consequence of cutting off the country. It added that those losses were more than compensated for with surging user growth in Latin America and Europe.The company also reported a slender profit of €14 million, notwithstanding the vast sums spent to both buy Chartable and Podsights, as well as (reportedly) throw more than $300 million to F.C. Barcelona for the naming rights to its famous stadium, Camp Nou.
News of Twitter's buyout has rattled some users, as Elon Musk indicated he plans to take a much more hands-off approach to content moderation. As is often the case when Twitter makes a change (or infers that one is coming), some users have threatened to leave the platform. Mastodon has been welcoming those that made the jump. Mastodon said it saw “an influx of approx. 41,287 users.”MastodonIt’s not the first time Mastodon has benefited from Twitter drama. The company was briefly popular in 2017, following outrage over Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from the character limit for replies — yes, they were more innocent times.— Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedSamsung's Galaxy Watch 4 falls back to $200 at AmazonJack in the Box will experiment with burger-flipping robots The Fiture mirror wants to improve your at-home workout formUbisoft shuts down online services for 91 gamesFord starts production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup The latest macOS beta includes a fix for the Studio Display webcamThe first Android 13 beta is available now Instagram is testing pinned posts for profilesThe app already allows you to add Stories above your photo grid.Instagram recently began testing a feature for you to highlight specific posts above your photo grid. If you’re among the people the company has enrolled in the trial, you can access the feature by tapping the three dots at the top of a post and selecting the new “pin to your profile” option. It’s pretty much identical to the pinned options you get with other social networks, like Twitter and TikTok. But that’s not stopped Instagram taking inspiration from its rivals. Again.Continue reading.Roku will stream 'John Wick 4,' 'Borderlands' and other Lionsgate films for freeThey'll arrive immediately after their first streaming window on Starz.RokuThe Roku Channel has signed a multi-year deal with Lionsgate Films that will allow it to stream upcoming blockbusters like John Wick 4 and Borderlands for free. Roku will get those films in a timely fashion, too: right after their initial streaming windows on Lionsgate's Starz platform.Roku has made a steady push into free programming, buying all of Quibi's short-form shows last year and later adding content from the Tribeca Film Festival, IGN, CBC News and AccuWeather.Continue reading.'Elden Ring' is getting an unofficial Game Boy demakeA demo captures the spirit of the game and that 8-bit '90s Game Boy nostalgia.RedditElden Ring is famous for its rich open world, but it just got turned into an… ambitious 8-bit rolling adventure demake. It was created by Reddit user Shintendo, who showed off an early demo set in Elden Ring's Chapel of Anticipation. There, a Tarnished faces off against the infamous Grafted Scion boss (and loses, again). Shintendo is aiming to release a demo by the end of May on Itch.io.Continue reading.EU warns Elon Musk that Twitter must follow local content rules to avoid banMusk's plans for looser moderation are butting up against political reality.The European Union’s Thierry Breton told the Financial Times that Musk's Twitter will still be subject to EU regulations, including the new Digital Services Act governing efforts to fight misinformation. The Tesla chief is "welcome" but "there are rules" he still has to follow, Breton said. The Digital Services Act requires Twitter and other internet companies to share how they're curbing false claims on their sites. It also bans ads targeting minors as well as specific ethnicities, political affiliations, religions and sexual orientations.Continue reading.The Energy Department will block sales of inefficient light bulbsNew efficiency standards may help reduce carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons.The Department of Energy has finalized rules to block sales of many incandescent light bulbs. The measures bring in stricter efficiency standards, targeting light bulbs that emit less than 45 lumens per watt. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the bulbs turned into a bit of political tennis. The most recent move reverses a decision by the Trump administration in 2019 to roll back stricter standards for bulbs. This was after the Obama administration established rules that would have blocked sales of inefficient light bulbs from January 1st, 2020.Continue reading.
With YouTube's Shorts gathering significant momentum over the past year, Google is now experimenting with ads on the platform, Bloomberg reported. At first, you're likely to see app-install ads and other promotions, according to Google. "While it's still early days, we're encouraged by initial advertiser feedback and results," said Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler on an investors call. Shorts launched in September 2020 to counter TikTok offering 15-second videos shot on mobile phones, and expanded to the US in March 2021. The platform now averages over 30 billion daily views, up more than four times over last year. "As we've always done with products, we focus on building a great user experience first, and we'll work to build monetization over time," said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.YouTube as a whole missed expectations by a good margin, posting $6.87 billion in sales compared to the $7.48 billion investors were expecting, according to Variety. Parent Alphabet also fell a bit short of targets with $68.01 billion in revenue, but that's still up 8 percent over the same quarter last year.Along with YouTube shorts, a bright spot was the YouTube TV cord-cutting subscription service that "continues to deliver substantial revenue growth," the company said. Pichai also revealed that viewers watch more than 700 million hours of YouTube content per day on connected TVs. He added that YouTube will introduce new smartphone features for connected TVs this year that will make it easier for users to comment and share content.
Contrary to what you might have seen in the Rock’s movie “San Andreas,” we still can’t predict earthquakes. But there have been recent advances in seismology assisted by artificial intelligence. Researchers at Stanford used a deep-learning algorithm to detect more earthquakes in cities by filtering out the normal noise and vibrations of urban life. And a group at Penn State used machine learning to analyze simulated fault movements in the lab and look for indicators that could help predict an impending quake. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Egill Hauksson, a research professor of geophysics at Caltech, who said these tools can give us a fuller understanding of earthquake patterns.
Amazon won't face fines and other penalties following the collapse of an Illinois warehouse that killed six workers during a tornado, CNBC has reported. However, the US Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) asked Amazon to review its procedures after discovering issues with its Emergency Action Plan (EAP). The storm that ripped across six states in December, well outside of tornado season, was one of the deadliest in years. Despite tornado warnings from the National Weather Service 36 hours ahead of the event, Amazon continued to operate the Edwardsville, Illinois warehouse. It was in the middle of a shift change when the tornado touched down with wind speeds up to 150 MPH, destroying the south side of the building. OSHA investigators concluded that Amazon's severe weather emergency guidelines "met minimal safety guidelines for storm sheltering." Because of that, "under our standards, there’s not a specific citation we can issue in light of the actions at Amazon," OSHA's assistant secretary of labor Doug Parker told reporters.We’re making recommendations because under our standards, there’s not a specific citation we can issue in light of the actions at Amazon.OSHA identified some workplace conditions as "risk factors," though. A megaphone to be used to activate shelter-in-place procedures was locked in a cage and inaccessible, and some employees didn't recall the location of the designated shelter-in-place location. In addition, Amazon's EAP had a section for severe weather emergencies, but it wasn't customized with specific instructions for the Edwardsville facility. To that end, investigators recommended that Amazon "voluntarily" take steps to address the issues.An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that it would "carefully consider" the recommendations. "Employees receive emergency response training, and that training is reinforced throughout the year. OSHA’s investigation did not find any violations or causes for citations, but we’re constantly looking to innovate and improve our safety measures and have already begun conducting additional safety and emergency preparedness drills at our sites and will carefully consider any OSHA recommendation that we have not already.”While Amazon avoided penalties from OSHA, it's facing a separate probe in Congress and multiple lawsuits. The House Oversight committee announced it was investigating Amazon Warehouse safety earlier this month, saying it "seeks to fully understand the events that led to the tragedy at Amazon’s Edwardsville facility." The company is also facing multiple lawsuits from several injured workers and the family of one of the people killed in the collapse.
DJI has temporarily suspended sales and all business activities in both Russia and Ukraine "in light of current hostilities," the dronemaker has announced. As Reuters reports, that makes it the first major Chinese company to halt sales in Russia after the country started its invasion of Ukraine in February. Unlike their peers in the West, most Chinese companies have chosen to continue their operations in the country. A DJI spokesperson told Reuters that it's not making a statement about any country by pulling out of Russia and Ukraine — it's making a statement about its principles. "DJI abhors any use of our drones to cause harm, and we are temporarily suspending sales in these countries in order to help ensure no-one uses our drones in combat," the spokesperson told the news organization. This move comes a month after Ukrainian politician Mykhailo Fedorov called on DJI to stop selling its products in Russia. The country's Minister of Digital Transformation posted an open letter for the dronemaker on Twitter that says Russia is using DJI products to navigate its missiles "to kill civilians." It also says Russia is using an extended version of DJI's AeroScope drone detection platform to gather flight information. In addition, MediaMarkt, a German chain of stores selling electronics across Europe, removed DJI's products from its shelves after receiving "information from various sources that the Russian army is using products and data from the Chinese drone supplier DJI for military activities in Ukraine." DJI denied that it was actively supporting the Russian military not just by providing hardware, but also by providing flight data and called the accusations "utterly false." In 21 days of the war, russian troops has already killed 100 Ukrainian children. they are using DJI products in order to navigate their missile. @DJIGlobal are you sure you want to be a partner in these murders? Block your products that are helping russia to kill the Ukrainians! pic.twitter.com/4HJcTXFxoY— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 16, 2022A few days ago, DJI issued a statement to condemn the use of its products to cause harm. It said it does not market or sell its products for military use and that its distributors have all agreed not to sell products to customers who'll clearly use them for military purposes. "We will never accept any use of our products to cause harm, and we will continue striving to improve the world with our work," the company wrote.
Android 13 Beta 1 is available for Pixel phones and you can download it now. Google just made it easier to try Android 13 on your non-Pixel phone. Android 13 fixes one of the worst things about controlling your smart home. Android 13 Beta 1 just quadrupled its Material You theme options. Android 13's squiggly media player dances to the music with you. Android 13 Beta 1 adds a handy clipboard overlay that lets you edit what you copy. Dockable Nest Hub rumors pick up speed with new Android 13 Beta 1 evidence. PSA: You don't have to wipe your Android 12 QPR3 Pixel to install the Android 13 Beta. Android 14 gets an official internal codename... Upside Down Cake. Desserts that start with the letter U. Google Pixel Watch: Exclusive leaked images seem to show Google's first smartwatch. Google Pixel Watch leaker follows up with even more details. Leaked Pixel Watch AMA reveals approximate size, screen bezel, and more details. Sources: Pixel 6 Pro was supposed to launch with face unlock. Samsung teases us with Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch4 in its latest video. More signs of Google Wallet's impending launch appear online. The Play Store's new Data Safety section is finally here to show the apps that may be invading your privacy. Introducing the new Data safety section in Play Console. Google Play makes a bizarre decision to ban call-recording apps. Password security that prevents pasting into fields. USB-C port plugs on Amazon. Assistant completed my restaurant reservation! Read our show notes here: https://bit.ly/3vhDpF8 Hosts: Jason Howell and Ron Richards Guest: Daniel Bader Subscribe to All About Android at https://twit.tv/shows/all-about-android. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: drinktrade.com/aaa
We may not yet know exactly what Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter means for the platform, but one Twitter alternative is already booming as a result of the news. Mastodon, the open-source social media service which bills itself as the “largest decentralized social network on the internet,” has been "exploding" since Musk's acquisition, according to its founder.News of Twitter's buyout has rattled Twitter employees and users, as Musk has indicated he plans to take a much more hands-off approach to content moderation. As is often the case when Twitter makes a controversial change, some users have threatened to leave the platform, while critics have pushed #RIPTWITTER to trend.In this case, at least some disgruntled users are apparently turning to Mastodon as a potential alternative. Hours after the Twitter acquisition was announced, Mastodon said it saw “an influx of approx. 41,287 users.” Of those, about 30,000 were new users, Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko wrote in a blog post.“Funnily enough one of the reasons I started looking into the decentralized social media space in 2016, which ultimately led me to go on to create Mastodon, were rumours that Twitter, the platform I’d been a daily user of for years at that point, might get sold to another controversial billionaire,” he wrote. “Among, of course, other reasons such as all the terrible product decisions Twitter had been making at that time. And now, it has finally come to pass, and for the same reasons masses of people are coming to Mastodon.”We're observing an influx of approx. 41,287 users to the #Mastodon network today— Mastodon (@joinmastodon) April 26, 2022Mastodon’s official iOS and Android apps are also seeing an uptick in users, according to data provided by analytics firm Sensor Tower. The apps have been downloaded roughly 5,000 times “or nearly 10% of its lifetime total” downloads since Monday, according to the firm. The app is currently ranked No. 32 on the App Store charts for social media apps.It’s not the first time Mastodon has benefited from issues at Twitter. The company was briefly popular in 2017, following outrage over Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from the character limit for @-replies (back when Twitter changed its product so infrequently even mundane changes were fodder for mass outrage). Mastodon saw another uptick in 2019, when users in India were angry over moderation policies. While Mastodon has been in the spotlight as a potentially viable Twitter alternative in the past, it has yet to reach the mainstream. But its current popularity comes at a moment when Twitter is also exploring how it could become an open-sourced protocol — much like Mastodon.Unlike Twitter, Mastodon is not a single, centralized service. Though the interface looks similar to Twitter — it has a 500-character limit but otherwise will be mostly recognizable to Twitter users — it runs on an open-source protocol. Groups of users are free to create and maintain their own “instances” with their own rules around membership, moderation and other key policies. Users are also able to take their followers with them between instances.Mastodon operates its own instances, mastodon.social and mastodon.online, but those are apparently overloaded, according to Rochko, who suggests that new users sign up via the official apps and join other communities on the service. And, because it’s open source, Mastodon makes its code available on GitHub, an idea Musk has also endorsed with regards to Twitter’s algorithms.But all that also comes with extra complexity for new users who may not easily understand Mastodon’s unique structure or how it works. But those who stick around long enough may see some significant new features. Rochko said that end-to-end encrypted messaging is in the works, as well as “an exciting groups functionality.”
Picture of the Week. CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog. Lenovo UEFI Firmware Troubles. Everscale Blockchain Wallet. Java 15, 16, 17, and 18 received MUST UPDATES last week. Closing The Loop. Sci-Fi. SpinRite. The 0-Day Explosion. We invite you to read our show notes at https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-868-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now! at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.
Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard are joined by Matthew Cassinelli to geek out on Shortcuts; they talk about Matthew's Shortcuts Library with over 600 shortcuts, tips for making and creating automations, Shortcuts on Mac, using Focus Modes, and more. Shortcuts Corner Greg would like an automation to forward calls to another number when away on holidays and weekends Tobi wants to create an automation that is triggered when a HomeKit sensor has a certain value App Caps Rosemary: Oura Ring Matthew: Laundry Lens Mikah: Momently Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Guest: Matthew Cassinelli Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsors: drinktrade.com/iostoday itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30 wealthfront.com/iostoday
Facebook is reportedly unable to account for much of the personal user data under its ownership, including what it is being used for and where it’s located, according to an internal report leaked to Motherboard.Privacy engineers on Facebook’s Ad and Business Product team wrote the report last year, intending it to be read by the company’s leadership. It detailed how Facebook could address a growing number of data usage regulations, including new privacy laws in India, South Africa and elsewhere. The report’s authors described a platform often in the dark about the personal data of its estimated 1.9 billion users.The engineers warned that Facebook would have difficulty making promises to countries on how it would treat the data of its citizens. “We do not have an adequate level of control and explainability over how our systems use data, and thus we can’t confidently make controlled policy changes or external commitments such as ‘we will not use X data for Y purpose,’" wrote the report’s authors. "And yet, this is exactly what regulators expect us to do, increasing our risk of mistakes and misrepresentation.”Facebook’s main obstacle to tracking down user data appears to be the company’s lack of “closed-form” systems, the report states. In other words, the company’s data systems have “open borders” that mix together first-party user data, third-party user data and sensitive data. To describe how difficult it is to track down specific Facebook’s data, the report’s authors came up with the metaphor of pouring a bottle of ink into a lake… and then trying to get it back in the bottle:“This bottle of ink is a mixture of all kinds of user data (3PD, 1PD, SCD, Europe, etc.) You pour that ink into a lake of water (our open data systems; our open culture) … and it flows … everywhere. How do you put that ink back in the bottle? How do you organize it again, such that it only flows to the allowed places in the lake?”More succinctly, a former Facebook employee who spoke anonymously to Motherboard said the question of where data goes inside the company is "broadly speaking, a complete shitshow."The authors state that Facebook previously had "the 'luxury' of addressing [new privacy regulations] one at a time," like the EU’s GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act. But subsequent years brought more data protection legislation from all over the world, including India, Thailand, South Africa and South Korea. The document casts doubt on if Facebook has been able to comply with such legislation, and if it's equipped to weather the "tsunami" of new laws that make similar restrictions. (A Facebook spokesperson denied to Motherboard that the company is not currently complying with privacy regulations.)“Considering this document does not describe our extensive processes and controls to comply with privacy regulations, it's simply inaccurate to conclude that it demonstrates non-compliance," the spokesperson told Motherboard. New privacy regulations across the globe introduce different requirements and this document reflects the technical solutions we are building to scale the current measures we have in place to manage data and meet our obligations,”
Earlier this month, Verizon retail workers at locations in Lynnwood and Everett, Washington successfully voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Now the company has fired Jesse Mason, a worker at the nearby Seattle Northgate and Aurora Village locations. He contends his sudden separation from the company was an illegal attempt to prevent more stores from organizing, and has, with the help of the CWA, filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.Mason, who previously worked with AT&T (which is unionized under CWA), started at Verizon in August and had received no prior disciplinary actions — in fact, he told Engadget, he was one of the top Specialists at his branch. It wasn't until his annual review that he started to wonder if maybe unionization could be a path toward making Verizon more equitable. "They were like, 'Well, you're newer to Verizon, therefore because you're new your raise for the whole year is going to be 1 percent. It is not negotiable," he told Engadget. Performance notwithstanding, 1 percent did little to offset the cost of living in the greater Seattle area, or the country's soaring 8 percent inflation rate. "When you're giving people a 1 percent raise, that's the same thing as giving them a pay cut," he said. What solidified his decision to reach out to CWA was seeing the nationwide push by Starbucks workers to organize. In specific, attending a rally in his area sometime in February."A week after the Everett and Lynnwood vote went public, that they pulled me aside and told me that they were launching an investigation," Mason said, though he was unable to go into details on the nature of the investigation pending his ULP, "But it was about something very minor and easily correctable." What made this stranger, was the speed and lack of adherence to internal processes in his case. "There's some progressive discipline, like verbal warning, and a written warning and a final, final warning," he said "With me, the next shift that I worked after I was at the watch party to celebrate those stores unionizing, they said that the result of the investigation was my immediate separation from Verizon." Mason claimed to have never been given any of the documentation related to the investigation. Verizon did not respond to a request for comment.In between the union drive going public a few miles away at his sister stores and Mason's firing, he also claimed Verizon flew in several company higher-ups — something a worker at the Lynnwood and Everett locations also alleged happened after going public. One manager, according to Mason, pushed misinformation regarding the cost of union dues to CWA, despite such contracts being publicly available. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens has called Mason's firing "a clear tactic meant to intimidate other workers,” and it's difficult to argue that Verizon's actions may have a chilling effect on organizing efforts in the area. Still, Mason said he's fully confident the NLRB will find in his favor and reinstate his job with backpay. But the among of rigamarole in the meantime shows the limits of the agency's power."I think that this case really shows some of the weaknesses of the NLRB currently, not just being understaffed, but that even if I do get my job back, it's not like one of those lawsuits where someone slips and falls and they get millions of dollars in settlements," Mason said. "There's no real consequence for this kind of retaliatory union busting." He added wryly, "I think it's a bad idea, because it's only going to have me work on union stuff full time until I'm back there."
In response to fraudulent legal requests, companies like Apple, Google, Meta and Twitter have been tricked into sharing sensitive personal information about some of their customers. We knew that was happening as recently as last month when Bloombergpublished a report on hackers using fake emergency data requests to carry out financial fraud. But according to a newly published report from the outlet, some malicious individuals are also using the same tactics to target women and minors with the intent of extorting them into sharing sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.It’s unclear how many fake data requests the tech giants have fielded since they appear to come from legitimate law enforcement agencies. But what makes the requests particularly effective as an extortion tactic is that the victims have no way of protecting themselves other than by not using the services offered by those companies. Law enforcement officials and investigators Bloomberg spoke to told the publication they believe the use of the tactic has become “more prevalent” in recent months.All the companies that commented on Bloomberg’s reporting, including Google and Snap, said they have policies and teams in place to verify the legitimacy of user data requests."We review every data request for legal sufficiency and use advanced systems and processes to validate law enforcement requests and detect abuse,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Engadget. “We block known compromised accounts from making requests and work with law enforcement to respond to incidents involving suspected fraudulent requests, as we have done in this case."A Discord spokesperson said the company validates all data requests to ensure they come from a “genuine” source. “We are continuously investing in our Safety capabilities to address emerging issues like this one,” the spokesperson added.Part of what has allowed the fake requests to slip through is that they abuse how the industry typically handles emergency appeals. Among most tech companies, it’s standard practice to share a limited amount of information with law enforcement in response to “good faith” requests related to situations involving imminent danger.Typically, the information shared in those instances includes the name of the individual, their IP, email and physical address. That might not seem like much, but it’s usually enough for bad actors to harass, dox or SWAT their target. According to Bloomberg, there have been “multiple instances” of police showing up at the homes and schools of underage women.The issue of fake data requests is reportedly prompting companies to think of new ways to verify legitimate ones. It has also pushed US lawmakers to weigh in on the issue. “No one wants tech companies to refuse legitimate emergency requests when someone’s safety is at stake," said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon last month. "But the current system has clear weaknesses that need to be addressed."
E Ink announced the E Ink Gallery 3 its latest advancement in e-ink technology. How Truebill has turned subscription cancelling into a reoccurring business? And the BBC reports surgeons at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, England successfully implanted a device into the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease in a patient. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Dr.Continue reading "Do Androids Dream of Triboelectric Cats – DTNS 4262"
Subaru has detailed pricing for the Solterra SUV, and it's clearly costlier (if easier to pronounce) than its Toyota bZ4X sibling. The company's first EV will start at $44,995 in its Premium trim before the $7,500 federal tax credit and a $1,225 destination fee. This base model includes an eight-inch infotainment system (with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto) as well as driver assists that include rear camera detection, blind spot monitoring and safe-exit door alerts.Spend $48,495 for the Limited tier and you'll get a 12.3-inch infotainment system, a 360-degree camera view, a wireless phone charging dock, parking assistance, rear cross-traffic warnings and phone-based digital key support. You can also expect more conventional upgrades like a Harman Kardon audio system, LED fog lights and a power rear door. The $51,995 Touring variant adds a digital rear-view mirror with HomeLink support, a panoramic moonroof, footwell lighting and ventilated front seats.Regardless of model, you're largely paying for Subaru's better off-road capabilities versus Toyota's EV. All Solterra models come with all-wheel drive (optional on the bZ4x) and a dual-motor setup with 215HP, 249lb/ft of torque and up to a 228-mile range. You'll also find an "X-Mode" feature to adjust for dirt and snow, while grip and downhill control features help you maintain a steady course.Sales are still poised to begin sometime in 2022. Reservations are available, though, and will include offers like EVgo charging credit or money toward a Level 2 home charger.The starting price is higher than the $39,000 some expected. It's not far from VW's all-wheel ID.4 Pro ($44,440) or Ford's Mustang Mach-E Select ($43,895), though, and may represent a better value than those if you're likely to take your EV camping — and don't mind the slightly reduced range compared to those alternatives.
Studio Display Fix, Apple Union Fight, macOS Server Apple releases fix for Studio Display. Twitter accepts buyout, giving Elon Musk total control of the company. Twitter's legal team has been an aggressive defender of free speech; Will that continue under Musk? Apple warns developers it will pull apps without recent updates from the App Store. Apple protests Japan's report seeking fair competition in OS market. Apple hires anti-union lawyers in escalating union fight. M1 Thunderbolt ports don't fully support USB 3.1 Gen 2. Apple announces service program for Apple Watch Series 6 'blank screen issue'. Google Pixel Watch: Exclusive leaked images seem to show Google's first smartwatch. Apple's Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable teardown shows why the accessory is expensive. Apple pulls the plug on dated $20 macOS Server app. Gurman: Apple Watch could feature satellite connectivity in a future model. Gurman: iMac with M3 chip already in the works, could be released later next year. Man uses AirTags and PowerPoint presentation to ask airline for his lost bags. Apple's latest Shot on iPhone 13 Pro short film spotlights food culture in Singapore.
Picks of the Week: Andy's Pick: Postman Alex's Pick: Maxon Cinema 4D Rene's Pick: MotionVFX: mKBHD Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Rene Ritchie, and Andy Ihnatko Guest: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: eightsleep.com/macbreak wealthfront.com/macbreak itpro.tv/macbreak promo code MACBREAK30
DARPA’s RACER program has been developing off-road autonomous combat vehicles that can travel as fast as crewed systems. The agency has now selected Intel to develop a simulation platform for these off-road AVs. The aim of the project, known as RACER-Sim, is to create computer models that mimic the type of rugged, unstructured terrain that these vehicles commonly encounter. Intel Labs will work with the Computer Vision Center in Barcelona and the University of Texas at Austin to craft these simulation tools.“We brought together a team of renowned experts from the Computer Vision Center and UT Austin with the goal of creating a versatile and open platform to accelerate progress in off-road ground robots for all types of environments and conditions,” said Intel’s Autonomous Agents Lab director German Ros in a statement.Developing AVs that can operate on backroads, hilly areas and other types of rough terrain have been a major challenge for the industry. Traditional lidar and camera sensors are designed for predictable settings like roads and highways. Off-the-road AVs must operate in a much more challenging environment, driving on extreme terrain with rocks, debris and vegetation.Over the next two years, Intel will work on speeding up the process of designing off-the-road combat AVs. During the first phase, it will create new simulation platforms and map generation tools that can mimic off-the-road environments. Intel during the second phase will implement the new algorithms without relying on robots, a measure designed to cut costs and time.The Pentagon for many years has been working on autonomous technologies for the U.S. military, including unmanned underwater vessels, pilotless fighter jets and more. But the cybersecurity and safety risks of such systems pose a real challenge to their everyday use.You can watch a preview of what RACER-Sim will look like in the video below:
Sifu has been a critical and commercial success for Sloclap, but the developer isn't resting on its laurels. The studio has revealed a roadmap of updates for the notoriously tough beat-'em-up, which includes the imminent addition of difficulty modes.Check out our free content update roadmap for #Sifu! At this stage, four major updates are planned - the first one will be available next Tuesday, May 3rd, along with our physical edition! 🔥🔥 #SifuGamepic.twitter.com/8UBEWwJKS4— SifuGame (@SifuGame) April 26, 2022Starting on May 3rd, you'll be able to select from student, disciple and master difficulty options, which could help more folks finish the game and give returning players an even more challenging experience. Sloclap will also add an advanced training option and outfit selection features next week.Over the summer, Sifu will receive an advanced scoring system, as well as some more outfits and intriguing gameplay modifiers. Those include a one-health-point option (good luck with that), stronger enemies, a way to unlock all skills and a bullet time mode.More outfits and modifiers will be added over the rest of the year, as well as a replay editor in the fall and an all-new arenas mode in winter. All of these will be free updates.Sifu arrived in February on PlayStation 4, PS5 and PC. Though it debuted just a few days before the all-conquering Elden Ring, it still sold a respectable one million copies in just three weeks.
You might be disappointed if you were planning an Ubisoft-themed nostalgic gaming session. Kotakureports Ubisoft has shut down online services for 91 games. Many of them are ancient, or versions for old (and sometimes defunct) platforms. You aren't about to play Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood using the long-dead OnLive service, for instance. However, there are some games you could still play on current hardware, or might have good reason to revisit.The first two Far Cry games have lost online support for PC, for instance, and Blood Dragon won't connect on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Just Dance fans may need to stick to newer games. While it isn't surprising that Ubisoft dropped support for PS3, Wii, Wii U and Xbox 360 versions of Just Dance 2018 and before, PS4 and Xbox One players might not enjoy losing access to the songs from Just Dance 2014 or 2015.Other classics you might miss include Beyond Good & Evil, the original Ghost Recon, multiple Rainbow Six games, older Settlers titles and certain Splinter Cell releases (including Chaos Theory and Conviction). Games that used Ubisoft Connect won't let you earn Units, and you can't unlock content on any platform or access it on PCs.Ubisoft isn't exactly rushing to leave some players in the dark — it's just now shutting off Rainbow Six Lockdown support for PS2, GameCube and original Xbox owners. All the same, you probably won't be thrilled if you've kept an old console around to play the games of your youth.
Comedian Greg Berman (@bermancomedy) joins Andy, Matt and Jesse to discuss Greg's recent motorcycle accident, his meditation podcast, Yakov Smirnoff, Chinese action hero Kevin Lee, Twitter news, detecting aphantasia by looking at pupils, the lack of reliability of brain scan studies, and making Uranus a priority.
The Twitter board accepted Elon Musk’s offer for the company, Miso Robotics adds Jack in the Box as another pilot customer for Flippy 2, and the Mario movie is delayed until 2023. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks toContinue reading "Elon Musk buys Twitter – DTH"
Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge
On the frontier of fighting the NSA Cindy Cohn is the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF. If you’re an internet user of a certain age like me, you know the EFF as the premier civil liberties group for the internet. The EFF has fought pitched battles against things like government surveillance, digital rights management for music and movies, and government speech regulations that would violate the First Amendment. These fights were important and shaped the internet as we know it today. But now the EFF is 32 years old, and a lot of those controversies aren’t really about the government anymore. Private platform companies like Twitter and Apple and Google have an enormous amount of power over what people do on the internet, and government regulation doesn’t seem like nearly as much of a threat in comparison. So, I wanted to talk to Cindy about balancing between consumer advocacy and civil liberties in a time of giants. That’s a tricky balance, and it’s repeated across the entire industry right now — maybe most of all in content moderation, where the First Amendment prevents the government from passing moderation standards for social media companies. But those same social media companies are under a ton of pressure to increase and decrease their moderation all at once. So, you know we talked about Elon and Twitter. It’s a good one. Okay, Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Here we go.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Cindy Cohn is the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF. Welcome to Decoder. Thank you. I have been dying to talk to you forever. I went from being a sort of hopeless college student to knowing I wanted to be a lawyer, then to this career because the EFF showed up in my life at a very formative moment. It all happened in the Napster era. Nice. It is a bit of a thrill to talk to you. I just need to do a good job by the audience of Decoder and start at the beginning, not fall deeply into the weeds of the EFF right away. Tell people what the EFF is and what it does. So the Electronic Frontier Foundation is 32 years old. We are the first, the oldest, and the biggest digital rights organization in the world. We were founded by some very forward-looking folks who realized that as the world moved online, we were going to need people who were there to stand up for users and for basic civil liberties and rights. I sometimes say, “We make sure that when you go online, your rights go with you.” That is how we started. We have about 100 people now, and we have three big strains: We have lawyers, we have activists, and we have technologists. We work together on things to try to bring about a better digital world than the one we might otherwise have. That is really interesting. Usually when you think about rights, you think about governments. I really want to talk to you about the interplay between users, giant corporations, and governments, which seems more complicated than ever. You said you have three big strains: lawyers, activists, and technologists. Is that how you are structured? Do you have a legal division, an activism division, and a technology division? Yep, absolutely. Then we have our creative types, artists on staff who kind of sit in the middle and help all of us. So you have 100 people who are lawyers, activists, technologists, and some artists. Where does the money come from? EFF is member-supported. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 45,000 members who give us their hard-earned cash to make sure that users’ rights are protected. We also have some support from big philanthropy, like the MacArthur Foundation and the Open Society Foundations. We actually have our own podcast, How to Fix the Internet, which is supported by the Sloan Foundation. So we have some foundation support and a little bit of corporate support, but over half of our money comes from individuals. Then over half of that comes from people who give us $1,000 or less. We are not beholden to anybody. Our job is to say what’s best in the public interest. Luckily, our funding is broad enough that if somebody wants to come to us and have some strings attached about what we might do, we just tell them no. That does happen. One of the interesting things about talking to folks in your position is that I get to ask questions like, “What is the job like?” Depending on the setting, sometimes people say, “There is a big side to this. I didn’t realize this whole job was about raising money.” Though sometimes we are on a stage and it’s just, “The job is great.” Is that the background for you as executive director? Are you out raising money a lot? I would say it is about a third of what I do. I am pretty lucky because EFF is a membership organization, and we have a membership team. Most of the money does not come through me as the executive director meeting with somebody important and shaking their hand. There is a piece of that, but most of our money comes from people who see what we do out in the world, come to our website, and donate. We also go to tech conferences. If you go to Def Con or any hacker conferences, there is usually an EFF booth there. People will come by and sometimes just throw cash at us because they do not want their name associated. Sometimes there are other things. I don’t have to do as much as other executive directors because of the way EFF works. I get to do other things, and directly participate in a good chunk of our work. I am the lawyer on the top of the pleadings on things that we do, and in the background, I really just help feed the cats. EFF is 100 very committed, very smart, very good activists. Making sure that they are all pointed in the same direction and get all the care and feeding that they need to be able to focus on their jobs is a whole other chunk of what happens in my day. Let’s talk about that group of people, your lawyers and activists. Are the lawyers filing lawsuits all day, are they writing amicus briefs? What are they actually doing with that time? How do you structure that?
It really depends on what the issue needs, but yes. We do direct representation of people and have taken at least one case to the Supreme Court; we have been amicus in almost every case that has tech in it that you have ever heard of. We have a whole support network of cooperating attorneys who help people get counsel if it is not a case that we can handle. We also get engaged in policy debates as well, so we have a legislative team. We work in Congress and in the state legislatures, especially in California, because so much of tech is based there. If you have a good law in California, you protect a lot of people. We have a very involved international team. The EU right now is increasingly regulating tech, and we try to have a voice in that, as well as other places around the world. I think on an average day, it is hard to predict what the lawyers will be doing. We do the whole range of things and try to take a look at the topic and figure out, “Okay, which of the tools in our toolbox is the right one for this problem?” We are not afraid to actually stand up in front of the judge and say, “This is the way the Constitution should be interpreted.” I think for every single one of our lawyers, a core piece of why you come to EFF is that you get to do that work. You get to stand up for the public interest in the judicial branch, but we don’t leave the other two branches out. I feel like I can probably guess that the way you measure success there is by wins and losses in court. That’s pretty easy for lawyers, but you also mentioned activists. What do the activists do and how do you measure their success? The activists will run campaigns, like “write your congressman.” There are a couple of bad copyright bills right now in Congress, and our activists are trying to get people’s voices heard to make sure that Congress understands where the public interest lies. If you sit in Congress, you hear from all the different business groups. Then there is the civil society — the voice that is the users — which is either just a couple people or nobody at all. You might begin to think that certain situations are just about one company versus another. We saw that in the copyright fights, often when we go to Congress, they would think, “Well, isn’t this just a fight between technology companies like Google, and the content industry or Hollywood?” We would respond, “No, actually, the users are here.” People want to be able to make videos and they want to be able to play with their culture. That voice has to be there. The activists run a lot of that work. They also help make sure that what the lawyers and the technologists are doing gets out into the world, whether that is through blog posts, press releases, or events. Occasionally, we will do big splashy things to try to draw attention. When Apple decided that it was going to scan people’s devices for a couple different reasons — one of them they have now dropped, thanks to work from us and others — we actually hired a plane and flew a banner over the Apple headquarters in Cupertino in one infinite loop saying, “Apple, don’t scan our phones.” That is not the centerpiece of what we do, but occasionally, you have got to have fun and draw attention to things. This is like the classic Decoder question. You are filing lawsuits, you are international — there are different kinds of laws in this country versus another — you are doing activism, and you are flying planes. How do you make decisions on how to do all that stuff or how to prioritize that stuff? Well, there are two things that are important. First, it is an art, not a science. There is not an algorithm or rubric that we go to. We ask, “Where can our skills do the most good at the level that we can do them?” Second, we ask, “Is this something that if we don’t do, it might not get done?” Occasionally, we will decide, “The whole civil society community is going to gather together to do this thing, and we want to be a part of that.” That’s probably third on the list. But our first thing is to do the thing that nobody else is doing. That is how we look at it. People come to us all the time with issues, and we look at, “Is this case going to help this one person or is it going to help a whole lot of people? Is it the size that we can do?” If you do not have $1 million for some kinds of litigation, like patents, don’t even try. While we do a lot of work in the patent space, we cannot do direct patent litigation because it is just too expensive. Same with antitrust. That is where the legal system has to be fixed, so that little guys can play before EFF can really make a difference. We work on lots of other ways to try to make that world happen, but we do not do the direct litigation. It is a conversation. “I think the best people to make the decisions about what to do are the people who are doing the work.” The other piece of it is that the people doing the work are the ones who decide. My lawyers decide what the right cases are. It is not an outside committee. It is not even our board of directors, because the people who live this all day long are the right people to decide. Same with the technology. EFF builds a few technologies. We have technologists that decide what they need to do next and what is the best use of our resources. We have processes to make sure people do not wander off and that we stay on mission, but in general, I think the best people to make the decisions about what to do are the people who are doing the work. That is the way EFF is structured. That is fascinating. When I was younger and I first started paying attention to the greater happenings of the internet, I would read about the EFF and the different positions they were taking stands against. I think it was easier back then because every conversation was about expanding copyright or expanding surveillance and the right position was to not expand copyright or surveillance. And I think it has become much harder now. Back then it was Viacom v. YouTube, or the government wants to spy on you. Those were strike zones for the EFF. In every article, there would be someone quoted from the EFF since they had a position. I had a “Free the Mouse” sticker on my laptop to protest the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, also known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Things have gotten exponentially more complicated since then. I am not sure that the positions on issues like that are as simple as they used to be. We can actually use Mickey Mouse as an example because, like the addict I am, I was looking at Twitter just before we started the show. Republicans in Florida are trying to punish Disney, which has come out vocally against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. That seems like a pure exercise of free speech by Disney, and the Republican legislature is passing some laws to remove its special tax district. They are saying, “We are going to do some stuff about copyright law. We have gotten too many copyright extensions, and the next thing we will do is take that away.” That is a real ends-justifies-the-means moment, right? That is the thing I have been thinking about. How are you balancing that and saying, “The copyright extensions have gotten out of control at Disney’s behest, but here it is just pure retaliation so we don’t want to get involved?” Basically what I tell corporate folks all the time is that when you do the right thing we will stand with you, and when you do the wrong thing we are going to be your strongest critics. We don’t decide whether we like Disney or not, but we look at, “What is Disney doing and is it the right thing?” When they are doing the right thing, we stand with them. When they are not, we are not. This has happened for us with Apple, for instance. When Apple stood up against the FBI and said, “We are not going to break into people’s phones,” we were right there with them. We were big and loud and we participated. Recently, again, Apple decided it was going to change course and scan people’s phones for certain purposes, and we were the biggest, loudest voice against them. I think, similarly for Disney, the retaliation is not something that we are ever going to support. We are going to say what we think about copyright term extensions, which is that they are bad. We are not going to change our position just because the people advocating for them are people we disagree with on other things. I think that holding your principles throughout the changing political winds is part of the reason why people trust us and why they give us money. We are not going to wave in the wind, we are going to say what we think, and if the topic comes up, we are going to talk about it. You can look to our history to see what we are going to say most of the time. We cannot be bought; nobody is going to come and give us money to do this kind of thing, and I am not going to accept that kind of money. We will say what we think no matter what the political wins are. I just think in the long term that is how you build a trustworthy organization. I buy you on trust. I think my question is how do you build a politically effective organization in this environment? It is so complicated. When you have notably bad actors in the Florida case openly retaliating with a thing that good-faith actors have wanted for a long time, that thing itself gets poisoned. It is a problem. It is a huge problem in free speech as well. In the context of the Florida thing, I think it is less of a worry because copyright is federal. I don’t know what the state of Florida is going to do. There are some state copyrights, but they are preempted and I don’t think that is going to go away. While it is an interesting thought experiment, if it grows to be a real problem, then we will have to confront some hard issues, but I think it is unlikely to. “We have cared about free speech for a very long time, and we actually know what it means.“ We have cared about free speech for a very long time, and we actually know what it means. Every time somebody tells you that you have said something rotten, it does not mean that they have violated your free speech. That is true whether they are a company or an individual. I feel like right now in this world, people are looking for something they can trust. They’re looking for something that doesn’t waver in the wind of politics. If you want an organization that wavers in the wind of politics, then find somebody else other than EFF; there are plenty of them. We are a nonpartisan 501(c)(3), and we make our stances based on the issues. I believe that will serve us in the long run. It may put us in some uncomfortable positions in the short run, but I think that in the fullness of time, those positions end up being vindicated and we are better off with that. It is weird to be somebody who stands on principle in this time, when the currency of the day is about what tribe you are in. We are doing something different. Happily, I think our membership supports that, and I think we have continued to grow and be stronger. It may mean that in a particular instance we are put in a slightly uncomfortable position, but in the long run I think it serves us. Let’s talk about another one of these balancing acts that you may have to do. You mentioned Apple. They hate it when you call it scanning the phone, but it is the quickest way of describing what they are doing. Well, that is actually what they are doing. I mean, it is called client-side scanning for a reason. Client-side means your phone, people. Don’t let that cover you; they are scanning your phone. I will just accept the emails when they come in. I just know they are going to come, so I will accept them. Yeah. Tell them to send them to me. We have had these conversations. We have conversations with them privately, like with most of the tech companies. If what you are doing is correctly described, that is what we’re going to call it. Fair enough. So Apple is doing that. They are looking on your phone for images and then potentially doing something if they match a database. That is sort of the small definition of surveillance. Historically, you think about the government surveilling you, but big, private companies surveilling you is something different. It is not necessarily something you can necessarily point a lawyer at unless you can find some statute that says it is illegal, but there do not appear to be too many of those. You have got to point activism at that. On the flip side, if the government were to write a bunch of regulations determining what these companies could do, you might end up with some things that infringe on their rights, or the rights of users. Phone scanning is one you cannot just point lawyers at. I would say social network moderation is definitely right in the crosshairs. If the government starts writing speech regulations about what moderation policies are acceptable, that seems like a very bad outcome. We have those, like the must-carry laws in Texas and in Florida. This is absolutely happening. We want those companies to behave better because they are the actual power that the users see. I think more people are aware of YouTube’s copyright policy than the speed limit five miles away from their house. They encounter them more. How are you balancing that? How do you think about keeping the government away from this when there is no countervailing pressure — aside from raw activism — that ever gets these companies to change? You’re exactly right. EFF has developed something called the Santa Clara Principles, which are basically how to apply due process and fairness in the context of content moderation. We use the bully pulpit to yell at them and try to get them to do the right thing. There are many people inside these organizations who want the companies to do the right thing. We try to give an outside point of reference for the right thing to do. We have seen some changes, but I do not think that there can be a regulatory structure on content moderation that will not violate the First Amendment, at least not the ones that I have seen proposed so far. There are some possibilities around 14th Amendment anti-discrimination laws where you could see a few things going, but it is pretty hard. Our shift on this is that we yell at the companies and make as much noise as we can, especially around the way content moderation disproportionately affects marginalized people. I think sometimes — because of the way the media works internationally — we know more about the four or five conservative people who have been subject to content moderation than we do about the millions of people who are not rich, white conservatives that are silenced every day. If you count the number of heads being censored globally, it is much bigger among marginalized people than it is among people who already have big access to the megaphone. I think that is the thing to keep in mind. If you are setting your answer based upon an unclear vision about where the problem happens, you are going to end up in the wrong place. That is what these must-carry laws are doing; they are responding to a minority concern, not a majority concern about censorship. We pound on them, and we look for angles for things that we can do. There have been many attempts to try to sue the big content companies claiming that they are somehow like the government, so they should act like the government. We stand with them on that; they are not the government and we should not treat them like the government. I 9also think some of the people bringing those cases would not like the outcome if we treated them like the government anyway. I think the common-carry kinds of arguments are not only wrong, but will not do what the people who are putting them forward think they will do. We participate all over the map on these kinds of things. The other thing that we kind of realized a few years ago is that the answer to having a dictatorship by a bunch of big companies is not to put different people in the chair of being the dictator, but to get rid of the dictators. A lot of the work that we are doing is about how to reintroduce competition in things we rely on like social networking, messaging, and app stores. Replacing Zuckerberg as king with somebody else should not be our strategy. Our strategy is to not have any kings anymore. I think I would do a great job in that role, I just want to be perfectly clear. We all would. I certainly would. What did George W. Bush say? “If this were a dictatorship it would be a heck of a lot easier.” A benevolent dictatorship is fabulous, but we really don’t have any Richard Vs, the good kings. We need no kings. I am an American, and the king-based strategy is not the right strategy. Making billionaires into kings is not the right way forward. What we need is a bunch of different options, and that puts you in some different places. It makes you start thinking about antitrust law, and we support a lot of the reforms to antitrust law that is happening right now. We also think about things like interoperability, real adversarial interoperability. This is something that gets a little geeky pretty fast, but you should have a bunch of different ways to interact with your social media information and you should be able to pick the community that you want to do it with. Mark Zuckerberg should not be in charge of what you see in your social media feed. You could pick Mark’s if you want, but you ought to have 100 other options, including your local Kiwanis club or the hacker space down the road. You should be able to pick and choose what your interface looks like, what the recommendation engine is prioritizing, and how that works. That means we have to build a network that looks a little more like the original internet and not like these gigantic platforms that we have evolved into. EFF has this mix of lawyers and technologists — people who are deeply engaged with the technology — and has really championed this as a piece of the story about how we get out of the problem of social media. There are some tech things that we could harness. We all were able to have the home internet revolution because AT&T was required by the FCC to let you plug something else into the wall. AT&T said, “If anything gets plugged into our phone network other than our phones, the security will go crazy and the world will fall apart.” The FCC said no, which is a set of decisions called Carterfone. That was the first one that let us plug our modems into the telephone line and get the internet into our houses. We have done this before. It was a mix of regulation and innovation. I know this is kind of a long digression from where you started, but it is because the problem of trying to fix social media at scale is so hard. If we really want to get back to a place where we have privacy and free speech that includes empowering marginalized voices, then we need to start thinking about how to have real competition in these technologies. “If we really want to get back to a place where we have privacy and free speech that includes empowering marginalized voices, then we need to start thinking about how to have real competition in these technologies.” I just want to push on that a little bit. I’m with you. It is a strange turn for a civil liberties organization to say, “Actually, what we need to do is deploy state power to regulate large corporations.” It takes you away from the user and directly into the fray of one corporation versus another corporation. Epic Games would love for the antitrust laws to be rewritten in this country. I do not think they have a civil liberties posture in mind at the end of that. Well, no. As with many things, people can have different values that they go into the conversation with. I think from our perspective, it is a civil liberties problem when free speech and privacy are beholden to just a few gigantic companies that have a business model. I throw privacy in here — we talk about free speech a lot because it takes up all the air in the room, and it’s not unimportant. But the surveillance business model is why these companies are so profitable and why it is so hard to take them down. I think that if you care about civil liberties, you just cannot ignore the problem. As a couple friends say — Cory Doctorow is one of them — the internet has become five giant tech companies using screenshots of the other four. We have to create competition if we want to create the preconditions for real civil liberties. Does that involve governments? I don’t think it has to, but I think there are ways that governments can be involved, just like with the Carterfone decision. It is not a question of whether to regulate or not, so much as whether the regulation stands with users and spurs innovation. I would love to have Facebook decide they were going to open up their APIs and let you build a front end to look at all your social media at once. A little company called Power Ventures built that a few years ago, and they got sued into a smoking hole by Facebook using the anti-hacking laws. Laws are here. Facebook protects its monopoly by having laws. If we want to undo that monopoly, we are going to have to look at some of the laws that they use to protect themselves. As somebody who came up on the internet in the ‘90s, it is definitely the case that government can do really dumb and awful things. In the ‘90s, it was because they did not understand at all what people were doing online. Now, it is a little different. They often do understand, but they get swayed by one big company or another. I would be very happy to have a more competitive future in this context, but I think a lot of laws and structures are keeping us feeling stuck in this time. It is fair to inquire about whether we could do something better. What would Carterfone for social media look like? I want to talk about that a little bit more, but first I want to grab onto something you said. You said, “take them down,” in relation to the big companies. Is the goal to take them down? Not necessarily, but if we have to take them down in order to achieve the goal of empowering users and putting them back in the driver’s seat, I am not opposed to it. I think that is different, but it may take you to the same place. I do not have a problem with companies being big or rich, but the side effects of whether people can speak on their privacy in the digital world that we are living in, I want to fix that. You know, How to Fix the Internet. If we cannot fix the internet while having the current tech giants and billionaires in charge, then we have to get them out. The question is how we get to the end goal where users are empowered, people have real choices, and people have privacy again. Then you see where that takes you. As I said, we did not really decide to get into thinking about competition at EFF because we needed a bigger mandate. We decided because we started seeing intractable problems that we felt were not going to be fixable unless we started talking about how to bring competition back to digital services. Facebook trying to do content moderation at scale is not working, and I think everybody agrees it is not working in very different directions. I think it is over-censoring marginalized voices, and it may be under-censoring other kinds of voices. There is no due process and people do not understand. YouTube is another one. People may feel like YouTube’s copyright policy is tremendously important to them, but boy is it opaque. You can’t figure it out. We have to help people all the time who get taken down for weird reasons. The fact that we have a hotline to YouTube to say, “Look, you just did this dumb thing,” does not scale. We grew out of those problems. Honestly, how do you protect people’s privacy with the surveillance business model? Back to a thing you said, government surveillance and corporate surveillance are very different things as a legal matter, but corporate surveillance is feeding government surveillance, absolutely. I have been suing over the NSA tapping into AT&T’s phone network since 2006 and 2007, but they also show up at Google’s front door and do a reverse IP lookup warrant. They know all of the innocent people who were in the vicinity of a crime, despite having no probable cause against them. That is because Google has all that information and is subject to government request for it. I know I am getting far afield again, but people sometimes ask me, “Are you more worried about government surveillance or corporate surveillance?” I respond with, “If you don’t think that government surveillance relies on corporate surveillance, then you have not been paying attention, my friend. They are not two distinct categories anymore, and have not been for a very long time.” Sorry, I went off from your question. “If you don’t think that government surveillance relies on corporate surveillance, then you have not been paying attention, my friend.” No, I think this is the heart of it. In almost every issue that you can think of in tech right now — whether it is surveillance, privacy, interop, copyright law, or however anyone wishes to define free speech at this moment in time — there is a set of powerful corporate actors that are the first touch points for users, and the users care about their actions more. Then there is the legal framework that they operate in. The government is much more theoretically restricted in what it can do than any of the companies. Yes. I think this also makes the regulation that they can impose much more potentially restricted, especially when it comes to speech, surveillance, and security. Yes. They have a big range inside the realm of contract law, those click-throughs, to do a whole bunch of stuff. This is not the only thing we do. There are also a lot of laws supporting them that I think we need to inquire about. EFF has spent years working on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which Facebook used — along with some state laws — to crush a competitor that was offering users a different interface into Facebook. There is a little company called HiQ that was sued by LinkedIn for offering a service that was based on scraping publicly available information off of LinkedIn. We were able to get the Supreme Court to interpret the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in a better way, and the Ninth Circuit confirmed that scraping a public website in order to create a competing product is not a violation of the anti-hacking laws. On the one hand, the companies have a lot of space in their contractual and other areas to do things, but it is important to remember that they rely on laws sometimes to protect their monopolies. We need to start talking about that as well. One thing you have mentioned a few times now is true interoperability. A theme on Decoder over the last few months is Web3, the blockchain. We just had Chris Dixon on, who is spending billions of dollars to tell you that the future of the web is interoperable and based on blockchains. Is that something that the EFF is involved in? Is it something you are advocating in? Is it something your technologists are building? We are not building anything right now, but we are paying attention to decentralization. In some ways, to make sure that all this money that is flooding in here does not end up creating new bosses the same as the old bosses. Yes, we are interested in the possibility that the blockchain and decentralized services could be one of the pieces of helping us create a better world. There are ways in which it can. My friend Brewster Kahle at the Internet Archive has been convening a lot of things around a decentralized web to try to help get out of some of these problems. We think that there is promise here, and an awful lot of grift, too. We are trying to make sure that we recognize the babies in the bath water and don’t throw the whole thing out, while at the same time making sure those babies actually survive the big-grift, Ponzi-scheme feel of a lot of what is going on in this world. We feel like we need to do it. We obviously have a choice to pick what we do, but this is big and it is important. We would end up in a better place if we could vindicate some of the values here, but it is not guaranteed. If we and other people of goodwill are not in there trying to make sure that this thing ends up creating good — not just creating bad or fleecing people — then I am not sure it will automatically happen. I think it is one of those situations where we feel like we have something to say. We feel like we understand the difference between what is possible and good, and what is not. It would be unethical in terms of our values to just walk away, because there is so much grift going on. “When people want to make interoperable things, we want to support them.” When people want to make interoperable things, we want to support them. We have a whole set of what we do, called Coders’ Rights. I think a lot of these efforts to try to build a decentralized social network run into problems with the law. We try to help people where we can, especially people who have open-source projects or may be building something that the world needs to have, but do not have money for lawyers. So we are involved. We have been trying to be the sensible people in the room who understand the potential of the technology, but also the pitfalls. We only have a few minutes left. Let me add all of this up and then add the absolute chaos-bomb of Elon Musk to the equation. Always. We are in a spot right now where Elon is talking about buying Twitter; we will see if he can do it or not. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the board approved Musk’s proposal to purchase Twitter.) He thinks that Twitter should change its content moderation policies in some way. It is totally undefined, but has more free speech, whatever that means in that context. We assume he means less moderation. The current CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, is saying maybe Twitter should be a protocol. They have a thing called Bluesky — that Jack Dorsey has endorsed — that will attempt this. That is a lot of swirl around a core social networking product that is run by one billionaire or another. Does EFF engage on that? Is that just beyond the office gossip distraction? Is that where you say, “Okay, we are a user rights organization, we have a lot of thoughts on all these things, so we can and should engage here and try to push towards an outcome,” or are you just waiting for the chips to fall? We are engaged a little, just on the issues that we know. I do not hang out with billionaires, so it’s not like I can meet them in the club and tell them what I think. I think a lot of billionaires are EFF fans. I feel like you could definitely get in the game if you want to. Well, Jack certainly has said that on occasion. Bluesky does have the original idea of turning Twitter back into a protocol. They used to have TweetDeck and all these other ways. They had an open API, and you could have a different front end to it, but they locked all that down a few years ago. For a long time, we have called on Twitter to go back to being open API. To allow not just interoperability, but adversarial interoperability, which we call competitive compatibility. You want people to not have to come to you on bended knee for permission, because that ends up giving the main player too much power. So yeah, we called on Twitter to do the thing. When Jack announced Bluesky, it did seem like he had heard us — and we weren’t the only ones — say, “You need to think about your role differently and move away from the platform mentality towards a protocol mentality.” All credit is due to my friend, Mike Masnick, who really first coined the “protocols, not platforms” framing of this, which I think is right. We think that is the right thing. There are a lot of dragons along the way, and ways that it could not happen. Musk is saying he wants interoperability, and I think a couple of the prominent crypto people have said they want that too. I think that is great, but we could do this right and we could do this wrong. If we just meet the new boss the same as the old boss with less content moderation, we will not have done this right. Many people have pointed out that there have been lots of attempts to have platforms with less content moderation. They pretty much either fail, because people do not want to be in a place with all that dreck, or they end up being just echo chambers for a few people who agree with each other. That is okay. I don’t mind those little echo chambers, but they do not end up being the dominant place because people run and hide from a place that is so toxic. Musk is going to find out that you have to have content moderation and that it is very hard to do it at scale. I think that it would be a very good thing if Twitter really does turn itself into an open protocol that lets people choose their own adventure and leave when they want to. There are pitfalls along the way, but we would like to see something like that happen. I am not so sure our vision is the same as Musk’s, but honestly I have never talked to him. What he said about it is so cryptic that I don’t want to be unfair and just assume one way or the other. Just because somebody says interoperability, does not mean they are on the side of empowering users. There is a lot more to the story. Doesn’t this all just come back to the tension that we have been circling around? You certainly do not want the government writing a content moderation guideline. You do not want the government going beyond the boundary of the First Amendment that restricts it from writing speech regulations, and saying, “Here are the content moderation guidelines for social networks in the United States.” You do not want that to happen. On the other hand, it seems like billionaires just deciding any way they want is a bad idea. Somewhere in the middle is a somewhat hazy, but coming into focus, notion of, “There should be protocols for social networks.” You should be able to pick your client, and maybe pick your filter. If you are an unhinged person, you can pick no filter and take the full fire hose of crazy. Most people will pick a default, or maybe you will pay a company. There will be market competition for user interfaces and content moderation. I think there should be a nonprofit sector of that as well, and maybe even a public sector. My friend, Ethan Zuckerman, says, “Well, maybe we have a public TV version of social networking too.” I think there is a possibility here. Sorry, I cut you off as you were getting to the question part. It just seems like to get to that place, you have to tell the government, “You are not allowed to do speech regulations, but get in there and tell these companies exactly what to do.” The market is not going to take you to that place on its own. It seems like the EFF is in a weird spot of being an activist, telling the government to do one thing but not another. I just think that is the reality of the world we live in. Again, the law exists; the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act exists. It helps support their monopolies right now. Even if your frame is that all government is always bad, that lever is already being used to support the monopoly. We have to be smarter than that. We have to think about how the government can foster innovation. It ought to in the places that it can, and it ought not to in the places that it cannot. It cannot write the rules for content moderation, but it can create incentives, as well as rules around blocking and diminishing competitors. It ought to do those. It is not the only thing to bring to bear though, honestly. We need more funding heading into people who are trying to build competitors to the big companies. If you talk to the VCs, there has been this idea that you just cannot support anything that might compete with Google or Facebook. There is work for people outside the government too. I just don’t want to put the government off the list of things we have to do. We need to pressure the VCs. We need to support the people who are trying to build innovations. We need to intervene like EFF did in the Facebook v. Power Ventures case, to protect small competitors who find themselves being crushed. There are some governmental things, but there are also a lot of non-governmental things we need to do. We need to really envision the world we want to make and then find the levers where we can push toward it. Some of it may be for people to just build the thing and use the thing, the next new project. We used to have this cycle of innovation, where a technology company would come along and it would own the world one day. Yahoo owned search, then MySpace owned social networking. Then the next one would come along with the next innovation, and they would just eat their lunch. That cycle has stopped. We have the same companies that we had 15, 20 years ago still in charge of our online experience. We need to do a whole bunch of things to shake that up. It was not just one thing that got us into it, so it is not going to be just one thing that gets us out. I think users are feeling hopeless and helpless. I guess part of what I’m trying to hopefully do with our podcast, and with coming on and talking to you about this, is to help people feel like they have choices. We are not stuck in this world. We do not have the solutions yet, but we have some ways out, and we should begin to work towards them. Cindy, this has been an incredible conversation. I know you have to go, but we will have you back on Decoder soon. Thank you so much for joining us. I would be delighted. Thanks.
Twitter officially accepted a buyout offer from Elon Musk on Monday valued at $44 billion. Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, the richest person in the world and has been described as something of a memelord on Twitter. He’s praised the platform as a bastion of free speech but he has some ideas to make it … more free: more transparency about the algorithm, maybe an edit button and less content moderation. What he’s not after, he’s said, is making money. Then he’s in the right place, says Amy Webb, a futurist and founder of the Future Today Institute.
Panel Dorkout w @GuyBranum @AtsukoComedy Okatsuko and @Chris Cubas where were talk about our favorite meals, fast food, fancy food and things to cook! It couldn’t be more charming and fun. Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. There’s paypal links is my email and venmo is jackiekashian. Links to everything is at www.dorkforest.com or . New album -STAY-KASHIAN is out NOW. Merch: TDF tshirts, standup shirts and other CDs and just videos of my comedy. Touring Info. All the things. jackiekashian.com Premium eps of TDF are taped live and available here: https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/ Youtube has everything too. It's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Website design by Vilmos #applepodcasts #spotify #pandora #youtube #tiktok
The EU has unveiled companion legislation to the earlier Digital Markets Act called the Digital Services Act. What does it cover and who does it affect? And Twitter agrees to Elon Musk’s buyout offer. Starring Sarah Lane, Rich Stroffolino, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here Multiple versions (ogg, videoContinue reading "Mr. Musk Buys The Bird – DTNS 4261"
PonyAI received the first taxi license in China to operate a fleet of robotaxis, the EU agrees to the terms of the Digital Services Act, and Twitter may accept Elon Musk’s acquisition proposal. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanksContinue reading "PonyAI Granted Taxi License in China for Self-Driving Vehicles – DTH"
There are two long-standing trends in the tech industry that have intensified over the last couple years: there are more jobs than workers to fill them, and there’s a need to diversify this workforce. More and more companies are rolling back degree requirements that were part of many job descriptions. Today, we’ll hear how that dynamic has given new opportunities to people like Stanley Omotuyole, who left Nigeria a couple of years ago, giving up a degree program in laboratory science to join his dad in Seattle.
Paypal will now allow peer-to-peer payments to and from Ukraine. The company announced today that it was significantly expanding its services in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. Prior to this, Ukrainian Paypal customers could only use the payment platform to send money outside of the country. Earlier this month, the company announced it was exiting Russia, citing the country’s “violent aggression” against Ukraine.Paypal users in Ukraine will now be able to send money to and receive money from outside the country, as well as domestically. It’s a move that likely will make life easier for Ukrainians receiving financial support from family and loved ones who live abroad. Ukrainians will also be able to send funds directly to their bank account by linking their Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card.Perhaps most significantly, Paypal is waiving its own fees (until June 30th) for both sending and receiving funds in Ukraine. The payment platform traditionally charges a fee for international transactions that starts at 5%, and increases depending on your payment method and the region where your recipient resides. A new payment option is likely to have a significant impact in Ukraine, where only a few options exist to send or receive money abroad. Sending money to individuals in Ukraine (or virtually anywhere abroad) can be costly. Every payment platform that serves a global customer base in Ukraine (including WesterUnion, MoneyGram, Remitly) charges an international transaction fee or commission, and exchange rates can often be unfavorable. Hopefully, this temporary grace period from Paypal will make a significant impact for those seeking to send money to loved ones in Ukraine.
Reviewing Apple's new lower-cost iPhone, the iPhone SE. Meta (Facebook) plans to add new parental supervision controls to its Meta Quest (Oculus Quest) headset. Russians turn to the Clubhouse app for news and information. Automattic shares its vision of the Web by way of WordPress, Tumblr, Pocket Casts, and more. First, Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post joins Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent to talk about Apple's newly announced iPhone SE. While it might not be Apple's flagship phone, the lower-cost smartphone is sure to be a hit for budget-conscious consumers. Then, TechCrunch's Amanda Silberling stops by to discuss Meta's (Facebook's) new parental supervision tools. The social media company has announced a roll-out of several new tools and settings geared at giving parents and guardians more control over the content their kids consume on the Meta Quest (Oculus Quest) headset. Then, Jason talks about an uptick in usage for the social audio app Clubhouse. Russians and Ukrainians, alike, are using the app for news and information as Russian leadership seeks to shut down social media services in the country. Lastly, Mikah shares an interview from The Verge with Automattic's Matt Mullenweg. Mullenweg discusses his vision of the Web, shares his thoughts on web3, and highlights his appreciation of open-source software. Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent Guests: Geoffrey Fowler and Amanda Silberling Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:progress.com/twit kolide.com/twit podium.com/twit
Amazon closed its acquisition of movie studio MGM Thursday. A coalition of the biggest smart home platforms, Google, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, etc. to work toward interoperability was scheduled to launch this summer,but is being rescheduled for autumn. And Snap launched “Custom Landmarkers” Wednesday. It lets the more than 250,000 lens creators tie experiences to physicalContinue reading "What’s The Matter With Matter? – DTNS 4234"
Hogwarts Legacy will arrive on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles in holiday 2022. Hogwarts Legacy was announced in late 2020 and it was originally due to come out in 2021, but was later delayed to 2022. The "holiday" timeframe is one step closer to an actual release date.And that's not all — during today's State of Play livestream dedicated to the open-world RPG, WB Games Avalanche dropped a trailer offering the first real look at how this sucker will look and play.Hogwarts Legacy is a spinoff of the Harry Potter universe, but it takes place long before the events of the books. It's set in the 1800s, and places players in their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where they'll learn spells, brew potions, grow magical plants, tame wild beasts and attend classes. Players have a unique ability to manipulate ancient magic, and with that, they hold the key to saving the wizarding world from dark forces. As familiar as that sounds, this is a game filled with original storylines and Harry Potter author JK Rowling (She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) isn't directly involved in its development. Hogwarts Legacy features fresh professors, students, villains, mentors and creatures, plus some familiar ghosts. Players will be able to fly on broomsticks, gain friends who will join them on quests and upgrade their abilities based on how they like to play. It's not all contained to Hogwarts, either — the shops at Hogsmeade are also available to explore.
The podcast deal Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed with Spotify is finally close to bearing (significant) fruit. As The Vergereports, Markle is releasing a podcast series on Spotify this summer through the couple's Archewell Audio production company. Details weren't available, but the show is premiering after Harry and Meghan were "encouraged" by discussions over Spotify's efforts to fight misinformation. The news is a "result of those meetings," Archewell said.Harry and Meghan haven't been thrilled with Spotify's approach so far. The duo said they had been expressing concerns about misinformation since April 2021. Their worries became all the more pressing when Neil Young, Brené Brown and other creatives began pulling or withholding content from Spotify in protest over the company's seeming tolerance of COVID-19 misinformation from Joe Rogan's podcast. Archewell spokesperson Toya Holness said the company was partnering with Spotify to develop "policies, practices, and strategies" to curb misinformation and improve transparency.The news may be welcome for Spotify. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle struck their podcast deal with Spotify in December 2020, but haven't produced anything apart from a holiday special. Markle's podcast series could both help Spotify recoup some of its investment and address concerns it was fighting its own podcast partners.The challenge, of course, is persuading other Spotify-exclusive podcast hosts and networks to follow suit. Spotify has signed a number of high-profile exclusives, but not all of them have been successful — filmmaker Ava DuVernay exited her first-look deal just a year after announcing it. Markle's podcast may show that some creators are willing to stick around, but there are no guarantees others will be quite so confident.
Are you able to recognize a DSLR when you see one? Petapixel found an article in New York Post that may show that many don't know what a DSLR is. On Hands-On Photography, Ant Pruitt takes a look at this story as well as dives into some images shared by a listener shot on his brand new camera - the Canon M50 II. Host: Ant Pruitt Find Hands-On Photography on your favorite podcatcher. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-photography Follow Ant Pruitt on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ant_pruitt/ Follow TWiT on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/twit.tv/ Join the TWiT forums https://www.twit.community/ Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor:nureva.com
The British defense secretary has ordered an inquiry into a video call he received on Thursday from an imposter pretending to be Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister. In a series of tweets, the Right Honorable Ben Wallace disclosed that the man asked “several misleading questions” and he eventually ended the call after becoming suspicious. The official described the hoax as a “desperate attempt”, and pinned the blame on Russia. “No amount of Russian disinformation, distortion and dirty tricks can distract from Russia’s human rights abuses and illegal invasion of Ukriane. A desperate attempt,” wrote the Conservative politician in the tweet. Wallace did not reveal any evidence backing his claim that Russia was responsible for the fake call, nor name any individuals involved.Deborah Haynes of Sky News noted that the perpetrators went to “great lengths” to stage the video call, including placing a Ukrainian flag behind the so-called “Ukrainian prime minister” and using fake details from the Ukraine embassy. At one point, the culprit asked Wallace if he received “the substance” they sent. A few more minutes of similarly absurd questioning finally raised enough alarm bells for Wallace to abort the call.A pair of Russian comedians known as Lexus and Vovan are infamous for regularly pranking world leaders. As Irish Times notes, the pair once called former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, posing as the president of Kyrgyzstan. The same pair also pretended — in a call to the actual Poroshenko— to be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They also duped British Prime Minister Boris Johnson into taking an 18-minute video call with an actor who was impersonating the prime minister of Armenia. During the call, Johnson talked about the UK’s plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. While the Kremlin denies employing the pair, Russian state media often congratulates their actions.NEW: An imposter posing as Ukraine’s prime minister tricked his way onto a video call with Britain’s defence secretary in a suspected Russian ploy. @BWallaceMP ordered an immediate inquiry into the security breach that saw him engage with the fraud for about 10 minutes 1/— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) March 17, 2022While a security snafu at this level is no doubt embarrassing to the British defense ministry, disclosing that such a call happened is also important to national security. As Haynes notes, raising awareness of the call could thwart any attempts to doctor the footage and release it in order to mislead the public.
The producers of Until Dawn are returning to their roots after years of Dark Pictures Anthology games. Supermassive Games and 2K have unveiledThe Quarry, a teen horror title that has you once again deciding the fates of frightened youth. You control nine camp counselors as a night of celebrating the end of summer camp quickly goes sideways — the trailer below hints at a Most Dangerous Game tale where someone appears to be hunting the counselors for sport.Supermassive is leaning on star power as much as it is familiar narrative-driven game mechanics. The Quarry stars David Arquette (appropriately from Scream), Ariel Winter (Modern Family) and Lance Henriksen (Aliens), not to mention actors from productions like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dollface and Jurassic World. And yes, any character can die. As with Until Dawn and similar games, you'll have to work hard if you want as many people as possible to survive.Multiplayer is important, as well. You can have "couch co-op" where people control individual counselors, but you can also have as many as seven people voting on your decisions. While it won't be quite as pressure-filled as having a Twitch audience decide, it will help you share the thrill ride with friends. And don't worry if it's too nerve-wracking. On top of adjustable difficulty levels, there's a "Movie Mode" that removes the gameplay entirely and even lets you choose how the story plays out.The Quarry arrives June 10th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Windows PCs. The gameplay and premise will be more than a little familiar (how many horror movies have summer camps?), but that may be part of the appeal. It's giving you a chance to "fix" well-worn genre tropes, if just by keeping everyone alive.
Snap is taking more action against bullying and harassment on Snapchat. It will no longer allow anonymous messaging from third-party apps that hook into its platform. The company said that while most people used these features in "fun, engaging, and entirely appropriate ways," it acknowledged others might take advantage of anonymity "to engage in harmful behavior."From now on, third-party apps that want to let folks communicate through a Snapchat integration will need to have registered users with visible usernames and identities.Last May, Snap locked two third-party apps that allowed for anonymous messages out of its developer platform and began a review of Snap Kit standards and policies. The decision came soon after the filing of a lawsuit related to the death of a teenager who was allegedly bullied through the apps, Yolo and LMK. The teen's mother sought to hold the makers of all three apps liable.Of the more than 1,500 developers with access to Snap Kit, two percent will be affected by this policy, according to The Verge. Another rule change will impact three percent of Snap Kit developers: friend-finding apps will be restricted to those aged 18 and older. Snap is enacting that change to protect younger users and make things “more consistent with Snapchat’s use case — communications between close friends who already know each other.”
Fans of Resident Evil and the zombie apocalypse genre writ large can look forward to Netflix’s live-action reboot this summer. The streamer announced that the series — which takes place 14 years after a virus causes the apocalypse — will premiere on July 14th. The new show is not to be confused with Resident Evil:Infinite Darkness, an anime adaptation of the survival horror video game that debuted on the platform last summer. The live-action series will star Lance Reddick (The Wire, Lost) as Albert Wesker, who fans will remember as the police captain who turns out to be a villain set to destroy humanity. Oh, and he’s a family man! Ella Balinska (Charlie’s Angels) has also been cast in the series, as well as Tamara Smart (The Worst Witch, Artemis Fowl). Also starring in the show is Siena Agudong (No Good Nick), Adeline Rudolph (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Riverdale) and Paola Nuñez (Bad Boys for Life).evil has evolved. RESIDENT EVIL is coming to Netflix July 14. pic.twitter.com/6uvDsSdRw2— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) March 17, 2022We still don’t know many details about the plot, but here’s what Deadline has gathered so far. The show takes place in 2036, nearly 14 years after a virus has turned most of the world into blood-sucking zombies. Jade Wesker, the show’s protagonist, has yet to find out her dad is an evil genius who works for the Umbrella Corporation, the Big Pharma company from the video game that develops bioweapons for militaries around the world. The show is set in New Racoon City, the new city built over Raccoon City, which was nuked due to a T-virus outbreak. T-virus (also known as Tyrant Virus) is the highly infectious virus that turns humans into blood-thirsty zombies and is featured in promo stills for the live-action series. The show follows the Wesker daughter as she pieces together the awful truth behind what her father actually does for a living. We’ll likely find out even more about what’s in store for New Racoon City once Netflix releases a teaser trailer.
Samsung has opened up pre-orders for many of its 2022 TVs and revealed when you'll be able to lock in an order for some of its other upcoming displays. The company is refreshing its Neo QLED sets this year with features such as refresh rates of up to 144Hz, 14-bit processing for enhanced brightness accuracy and AI-driven upscaling via the Neural Quantum Processor 8K.Neo QLED QN800B 8K TVs are available to pre-order now at $3,500 for the 65-inch model, $4,700 for the 75-inch TV and $6,500 for the 85-inch version. Pre-orders for the QN900B-series TVs (which have thinner bezels and 144Hz output) will open on March 21st. Pricing hasn't been announced.Like the 8K models, the Neo QLED 4K QN95B uses Mini-LEDs. It has a Neural Quantum Processor 4K and 144Hz refresh rate. Top-channel speakers are integrated with Object Tracking Sound with the aim of making whatever you're watching feel more immersive. Pre-orders will open on May 23rd. SamsungDepending on your preferred screen size, you won't have to wait quite as long as that to get your hands on a 2022 version of The Frame. It also has new top speakers and comes with Samsung's solar-powered remote. There's also a matte finish that's said to give the appearance of texture to art that you display on the Frame while minimizing glare.The 43”, 50”, 65” and 75” models are available to pre-order now, starting at $1,000. Samsung will open pre-orders for the 32-inch, 55-inch and 85-inch sizes soon.SamsungIn addition, Samsung announced the S95B OLED TV. Features include the Tizen platform, Neural Quantum Processor 4K, Object Tracking Sound and QSymphony- with Dolby Atmos. Samsung says it includes an OLED brightness booster and perceptional color mapping as well. It's available to pre-order now in 55-inch and 65" formats, starting at $2,400.Access to cloud gaming services such as Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce Now will be available on some of Samsung's 2022 TVs. You'll just need a compatible controller to play games on supported TVs.
Apple isn't the only tracking tag company making it harder for stalkers and thieves to track you. Tile is rolling out a "Scan and Secure" feature in its Android and iOS apps to help you detect unwanted tags. Use it and the app will check if any suspicious Tile tags (or Tile-equipped devices) are traveling with you. The process can take up to 10 minutes, but you won't need a Tile account or hardware.If there are unwanted trackers, you'll receive safety advice. Tile stressed that it will only identify the owners of misused tags through a "properly issued court order." The company also made clear this was just a "first step" for improved safety, and that it would team up with advocacy groups and experts to refine its efforts.Tag-based stalking has been possible for a while, but Apple's AirTags underscored the problem — it's all too easy for someone to slip a tracker into your coat or car and follow your movements without your knowledge or consent. Apple already has alerts for unwanted trackers, but it's promising both earlier, more prominent alerts as well as a precision finding feature to help people remove unwanted tags. In that regard, Tile is simply following suit by upgrading its privacy measures.
Google has released the second Developer Preview for Android 13, and it includes a big change in how the platform delivers alerts. Apps built for Android 13 will need to ask for permission before they can send notifications. Apps made for Android 12 or lower won't face this obligation, but this could still be very helpful if you're tired of having to disable notifications for apps that enable them by default.Developers, meanwhile, can establish "downgradeable" permissions that scale back once they're no longer required. An app that needed access to your location before might switch it off if a relevant feature was disabled, or if the permission is no longer necessary in Android 13.After that, Developer Preview 2's biggest upgrades mostly apply to audio. You'll find Bluetooth LE Audio support that promises "high fidelity" sound without a big hit to battery life. Musicians will find MIDI 2.0 compatibility that lets you use higher-resolution and more expressive USB instruments. The newer Android 13 build is also better at handling non-Latin languages like Japanese and Tamil.You'll need a Pixel 4, Pixel 4a or newer Google phone to load the Android 13 DP2 system image outside of an emulator. As with past previews, you won't want to install this on your main phone — there are likely to be plenty of remaining glitches and compatibility headaches. Google is still targeting platform stability between June and July, and the polished release isn't due until sometime after that. If you can afford to experiment, though, it should be clear the new OS is quickly taking shape.
Maserati announced on Thursday that it will offer electric versions of its entire vehicle lineup by 2025 and is starting its efforts off with the GranTurismo EV, a 1,200 HP roadster slated for release next year. StellantisThe GranTurismo “Folgore” will be the first entry into Maserati's new line of electric vehicles. Its thousand-plus horses will translate into a limitered top speed of 190 MPH and a sub-3-second 0-60. It will be joined by an electrified version of the new Grecale SUV and Grancabrio GT in 2023 followed by EV variants of the MC20, the Quattroporte and the Levante SUV by 2025. The company also announced its intention to halt production of internal combustion vehicles and go fully electric by 2030. The company, a subsidiary of the Stellantis Group, did not elaborate on the expected MSRPs for the upcoming vehicles, but given Maserati's current offerings, interested buyers will likely be looking to pay anywhere from the high five-figures to the mid-sixes.
Elden Ring is a massive game in every sense of the word. To fully complete it can take well over 100 hours, but for those who've somehow already exhausted every dungeon and boss, there are now even more things to do. In the latest patch, FromSoftware has added quests for certain non-player characters (NPCs): Diallos, Nepheli Loux, Kenneth Haight and Gatekeeper Gostoc.Keeping track of NPCs' locations will be easier too, thanks to new map markers that allow you to include their name. So, if you want to remember where to find a specific merchant, you might not need to jot down their location in a notebook. There's a new NPC named Jar Bairn as well, while the developers have "added some summonable NPCs in multiple situations," according to the patch notes.The update brings in a host of balance changes too. One of them will reduce the effectiveness of the Mimic Tear summon. That allows players to create an AI-controlled spirit with the same loadout as the player, which has come in extremely useful for boss fights.Meanwhile, FromSoft reduced the amount of damage dished out by the Hoarfrost’s Stomp Ash of War and increased the time it takes to cast. Speedrunners have been relying on that skill to blaze through Elden Ring in under 30 minutes, so they might need to find some new strategies — unless they play offline and decide not to update the game.To offset those changes and some other nerfs, a bunch of skills now have lower FP (Focus Points) consumption, so you'll be able to use them more often. Smithing Stones will be easier to find and shields are more effective. Stat scaling issues for some weapons should be smoothed out after some bug fixes. Publisher Bandai Namco says there are some performance improvements too.
The Mac Studio may be a fine machine for some creative pros, but its companion Studio Display needs some polishing. An Apple spokesperson told TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal the company will update the Studio Display through software to address an issue where the webcam isn't "behaving as expected." The company didn't provide a timeline for the fix.TechCrunch, The Journal and others have complained that the Studio Display webcam's image quality is subpar, with grainy, washed-out video even in good lighting. Center Stage's auto-framing helps mask the issue, but doesn't eliminate it. The problem is odd given both the high quality of the 2021 MacBook Pro's camera and the presence of an A13 chip meant partly to process webcam imagery — Apple has the knowledge and means to produce a fine-looking picture.The performance mars what is otherwise a solid monitor with good (if unexceptional) visuals and relatively powerful speakers. It's safe to say you'll want to wait for the update if the Studio Display's webcam will play a big role in your purchasing decision. If you're going to spend $1,599 on a monitor, you want to know all its features are working as well as possible.
Episode #539 of the SMRpocast is online and ready for download. It's just the big fellas this week, so, for the first time in a long time, Robb and Chris hist you with Chicken Wings and Beer Part 81. Show Information Hosts:Chris Ashley @bigchrisashleyRobb Dunewood @robbdunewoodRod Simmons @rodsimmons Picks: Anker 40 Watt 2 Port Fast Charger — USB C […] The post Chicken Wings And Beer Part 81: SMRpodcast #539 appeared first on SMRPodcast.
Samsung announces a 5G A-series mid-range phone as 5G finally passes 4G in sales. Google sets I/O for May 11th online only. And Amazon closes its acquisition of James Bond and the rest of MGM. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. AContinue reading "Amazon Now Owns MGM – DTH"
Instagram suspended Kanye West from the platform for 24 hours after the rapper and producer attacked Pete Davidson and others. The Saturday Night Live star and soon-to-be Blue Origin passenger has been dating West's ex-wife Kim Kardashian for several months.West (who legally changed his name to Ye) reportedly violated Instagram's policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying. Some posts that broke the rules were removed from his account, according to HuffPost. Along with lashing out at Davidson, West is said to have posted a (now-deleted) racial slur aimed at Trevor Noah, who criticized him in a recent episode of The Daily Show.The suspension temporarily prevented West from posting, commenting or sending direct messages on Instagram. A Meta spokesperson has said the company may take further action against West if he violates the rules again.It remains to be seen whether West will show restraint when The Kardashians premieres on Hulu next month. Kardashian's relationship with Davidson will be a focal point of the reality show.
Display technology has come a long way in recent years. OLED and LCD screens are brighter, more colorful and responsive than ever before, but at some point, they all still succumb to dust, dirt and grime. What’s worse is that there are a plethora of cleaning products out there that claim they can make your screen sparkle again. But in our testing, we’ve found that the simplest route is actually the best. In this how-to, we’ll show you how to clean all the screens in your home, from TVs to smartphones.How not to clean your displayIgor Bonifacic / EngadgetBefore we get to how to clean a screen, there are a few ways you don’t want to go about the process. The first, and most important, is that you don’t want to clean a display using substances like isopropyl alcohol or Windex. Alcohol- and ammonia-based cleaners can damage your screen’s anti-reflective coating. Using those substances repeatedly can lead to clouding and the coating becoming uneven.Companies like Whoosh make cleaning agents that won’t damage your screen, but in my experience, you’re best off using distilled water. It’s more affordable than a dedicated cleaning agent and more versatile too since you can use it on a variety of surfaces. It also won’t leave behind any residue on your display, which is something I’ve seen products like Whoosh do occasionally. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with some simple cookware.In a pinch, you can use tap water, but we recommend against it. Depending on the hardness of the water in your area and how your municipality treats it, there may be minerals and chemicals that will again either leave behind residue or, worse yet, damage your display’s coating.Once you have some distilled water, you’ll want a separate spray bottle. One option is to reuse one you already have at home, but if you don’t have a spare, Muji makes these handy travel bottles in 100ml, 50ml and 30ml sizes that are perfect for the task, and you can find similar bottles on Amazon.Next, be mindful of what you use to wipe your screen. You want to avoid using paper towel, dish rags and anything else that may have an abrasive surface that will damage the coating on your screen. You can use the sleeve of an old but clean t-shirt. That said, you’ll get the best results using microfiber cloths. That’s because the fabric they’re made from is extremely soft and good at attracting dust. We suggest buying a pack of them so that you always have a clean one on hand. The last thing you want to do is use a dirty one and transfer any dirt and grime onto your display.Lastly, avoid spraying any liquid directly on a display. You’ll have a lot more control if you deposit it on your microfiber cloth and it’s much easier to avoid any of it making its way into the more sensitive parts of the display.How to clean your displayIgor Bonifacic / EngadgetWith all that out of the way, the actual process of cleaning a display is straightforward. If you’re only dealing with some dust, use a can of compressed air or an air blower to dislodge it. You can also turn to a dry microfiber cloth.For anything more than that, dampen your microfiber cloth with a small amount of distilled water and then gently wipe the display. Once you’ve gone over the entire surface, turn over the cloth and use the dry side to remove any excess water. At this stage, avoid buffing the screen or using excessive pressure. You don’t want to work any particles into the surface of the screen.That’s it. You should have a clean display now. Obviously, it will take longer to clean a bigger screen, but you can put to use the tips mentioned for all types of displays, including TVs, monitors and glass smartphone displays.
Black holes have long been problematic for physicists — the general theory of relativity suggests information never comes out of them, but quantum mechanics wouldn't allow that to happen. There might finally be an explanation that satisfies both camps, however. Researchers speaking to BBC News claim to have resolved the paradox with a theorem that black holes have "quantum hair," or imprints in their gravitational fields left by components of the stars that formed them. This lets the information that went in also come out without violating either relativity or quantum mechanics.The apparent solution came about after University of Sussex professor Xavier Calmet and others devised new mathematical techniques to approach the dilemma. It's billed as the "yes hair theorem" in contrast to Prof. John Wheeler's "no hair theorem" from the 1960s, which suggested that black holes were 'bald' entities that had no physical features beyond charge, mass and spin.This new theorem doesn't put a definitive end to debates. However, Calmet believes it might represent a key step in linking relativity to quantum mechanics and ending the conflict between the two theories. If so, it could prove highly valuable to both astrophysicists and the broader scientific community — they might not have to worry as much about theories breaking down in extreme situations.
Margrethe Vestager | Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The VergeThe European Commission’s competition watchdog is thinking bigger than lawsuits Margrethe Vestager is one of the driving forces behind tech regulation worldwide. Appointed as the European Commission’s commissioner of competition in 2014 and an executive vice president in 2019, she’s pursued antitrust cases against Apple, Google, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Amazon among others. Now, with the EU on the verge of implementing a new antitrust law called the Digital Markets Act, Vestager is planning her next moves. The DMA designates a category of tech “gatekeepers,” then outlines rules against behaviors like giving preference to their own services or gaining an unfair advantage with analytics data. Vestager hopes it can address systemic problems that individual enforcement actions can’t, and that it will streamline cases the EU does bring against companies. But when I caught up with her at the SXSW conference in Austin, where she was speaking about disinformation and democracy, she said there’s still work left to do before it passes. There’s also a wide range of emerging technologies that could pose new problems, like cryptocurrency and the “metaverse” — which Vestager has said probably needs regulation once she figures out exactly what it is. And we discussed the questions that antitrust rules can’t answer, like how companies should respond to illegal content on their platforms. Ok, Margrethe Vestager. Here we go.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, welcome to Decoder. Well, thank you very much. Let’s start by laying out the field of antitrust enforcement right now for the EU. Could you go through the big cases that are on the table? On Friday we just opened a new case with Google and Facebook, now Meta. It’s called Jedi Blue, named after the codename for an agreement that they seem to have entered back in 2018, with the aim, seemingly, to kill off Google competitors in the advertising ecosystem. We also have another Google case exclusively focusing on Google and the ad-tech stack, looking at some of the behaviors that seem to be anti-competitive. Then we have three Apple cases: one concerning music streaming services and the 30 percent fee, then we have a more general Apple App Store case, and then we have an Apple Pay case about access to the payment infrastructure or technology on your phone. We have two Amazon cases: one concerns access to data — it seems as if Amazon Retail have had access to all the data from the smaller retailers on the Amazon marketplace, enabling Amazon Retail to have a head start on numerous products and prices in the marketplace — and the second is about their fulfillment system. We also have a case concerning advertising in the Facebook environment. So our to-do list is quite full. It is. You also have new regulations that are going to, in theory, come into force reasonably soon. “We want the market to be open and contestable.” Yes. One of the things that I have learned over these seven years [as a European Commissioner] is that some of these behaviors are systemic, and then you need a systemic answer. Also, that we need to gain speed. Because if illegal behavior is allowed to continue even for a short amount of time, the risk that competitors will suffer — and because of that, consumers will suffer — is really big. So with the Digital Markets Act, we want a very simple, fundamental thing: we want the market to be open and contestable. So it depends on your ideas, your work ethics, your ability to attract capital, whether you’ll be successful with your customers or not. And unfortunately, because of the systemic nature of behavior, that’s not necessarily the case today. Would you be able to go through some of the specifics of the Digital Markets Act? The idea is to say that you’re more than welcome to be successful in the European market, but if you grow in market power, you should also grow in responsibility. So we have developed a set of objective criteria, and if you fall into those, we will designate you as a gatekeeper. That will give you certain prohibitions and obligations. A prohibition could be that you’re not allowed to self-preference. Or in neighboring markets to the market where you are the gatekeeper, an obligation could be to share data — if you are in the gatekeeper’s marketplace, you would actually get data that your own business is generating, for yourself and for the development of your business. You’ve talked about enforceability being the last piece of the puzzle for the Digital Markets Act. Could you talk a little bit more about what that means and what it’s going to require? Sometimes it makes me feel very old, but having been working with legislation for a huge majority of my life, I have realized that legislation is only as good as its enforcement. So it’s really important that we get the enforcement set up in a way that it will work on the ground. Because we have a lot of ambitions, but they should become real in everyday life, for businesses that want to be in an open, contestable market. These are not trivial things — it’s not trivial to designate a gatekeeper. It’s not trivial to have the regulatory dialogue so that gatekeepers know what they’re supposed to do. So that is the last piece of the puzzle that we are pushing in the late phase of the negotiations of the Digital Markets Act. You talked a little bit about this, but I want to expand on it more. What are the key elements of making sure this is enforceable? One of the things we need to maintain is that the commission is responsible for the enforcement. We have very good experience working with national competition authorities, and we need all resources to be mobilized in order to enforce our rules. But we should also maintain that it’s the commission who has the last word — who would take the decisions and enforce this piece of legislation. And in the last phases of a negotiation, sometimes you need to take a step back to make sure that you get the fundamentals right, so the legislation is not challengeable. So it’s really about staying focused in the last part of a negotiation, so that we know that what is in the regulation are things that we actually have a very clear idea of how they will work in real life. What are some examples of cases we might see with the Digital Markets Act that haven’t been possible so far? Hopefully a lot of things will be solved before it becomes a real issue. Because the entire idea is that we do not want more markets to tip. We do not want things to happen because of illegal behavior in the marketplace. And deciding beforehand, based on objective criteria, that [companies] do have these obligations, things they can and cannot do, will speed things up. When we open a competition case today, the first thing we do is to assess whether the business is dominant in the relevant market, and that in itself can take a surprisingly long time. And only if we can prove dominance do we have a case, because a smaller business that’s not dominant can do a huge number of things that the dominant company cannot. Saying beforehand “You are now designated a gatekeeper” should give us that speed — in making sure that the marketplace is open, that there is no self-preferencing, that businesses get their data, that app stores are open; that a second app store can be on your phone if you would want it to. And that kind of speed, I think, mirrors the nature of digital markets. I think there’s often a sense of cynicism around tech company enforcement — that the companies will just opt to pay a fine and get a monetary slap on the wrist. How does the Digital Markets Act address that? It’s not just a theory. The Dutch competition authorities had a case where they asked Apple to change a certain behavior in the App Store, and so far Apple has not implemented those changes and they pay a weekly fine — I think it’s five million euros. And that is really thought-provoking, because the idea, of course, from the Dutch authority is that in implementing those changes, you’d have a more fair market situation. This is why, in the Digital Markets Act, there is a full toolbox where the sanctions become more and more severe. The fines will increase if you do not implement changes. Eventually, in the toolbox, there’s also the tool that you can actually break up a company if no change is happening, or if you are a repeat offender.
What is the interplay right now between EU and US regulation and enforcement? The Jedi Blue case you mentioned began as a state lawsuit in the US. Yes. We took inspiration from the state attorney general in Texas who filed this suit, and we opened our own with the CMA [Competition and Markets Authority] of the UK. I think it shows that there is a sense of alignment. We do not have a global competition authority. We have many different competition authorities. But there is a new sense of common purpose here for the market to stay open. I keep a map where I can sort of put pins in things, like: now the Australians, they are looking into this behavior; now the Indians are into that behavior; now the South Americans, they are looking into this. And there is a pattern showing that competition authorities all over the planet are zooming in on the digital economy in order to make sure that markets are competitive. We also have very close cooperation with our US colleagues. In parallel to the [EU-US] Trade and Technology Council, we have a policy dialogue between the US and EU on competition in tech-driven markets; we had the first interaction of that and that was, I think, very successful. It may take some time before we do common cases, depending on the market situation, but I think the alignment as to how we see these markets is increasing more and more. You mentioned Australia, and there are other countries like Korea that are working on antitrust actions. Where do you think the most interesting things are happening outside the US and Europe? I can’t really pick. I think there are a lot of interesting things ongoing. In some jurisdictions they have the same idea, that law enforcement in specific cases should be complemented with regulation. We do not act as one competition authority because we have different traditions, differences in legislation, different tools that we can use, but I find it really encouraging that there is a sense of community when it comes to enforcing tech cases. For your agency specifically — because there is this absolutely vast swath of potential cases — how do you pick where you’re going to focus enforcement actions? Obviously it’s really important for us when people complain, because that gives us access to how they see the market situation. Very often, they come with data that allows us to ask more qualified questions, to find evidence if evidence is to be found. We’re also really careful to scope the cases so that we focus on what may be the most harmful illegal behavior, and that allows us to make the most efficient use of resources. We hope that the Digital Markets Act will take care of some of the cases we had before, allowing us to focus on some of the issues that the Digital Markets Act will not deal with — one of the things would be something like the Jedi Blue case. You’ve talked about how you theoretically want to regulate “the metaverse,” but that it’s still very early days and you’re trying to figure out what it is. What would it take for your agency to develop the expertise that you would need to go after potential violations there? Well, metaverse or no metaverse, we are in the process of changing the composition [of our group] so we can hire more people who have technical capabilities. We use more technical digital tools than we used to — otherwise our work is simply not possible. If we send a request for information, for example, you may get millions of documents and you can only go through that many with the help of digital tools. So we are already in a period of change and have been for some time. Where that would lead us, I think still remains to be seen, but it’s something that needs to happen before we say “now there is an established thing that we could call the metaverse.” I’m also curious how you’re looking into the cryptocurrency space. From a competition perspective, it’s early days. My colleague Mairead McGuinness, who is responsible for financial matters, is of course watching this very carefully. The European Central Bank and the different national central banks are also considering making a digital euro — basically to take back part of the essential monetary policy that allows you to actually issue means of payment. It’s not a cryptocurrency, it’s a real official currency, so to speak. But it’s something that we follow very closely, because when it comes to things like payment and financing, it’s really complex and very often it’s hidden from people what they actually pay. Do you see there being potential competition issues in the crypto space? Decentralization is supposed to be a big element of it, but there are currency exchanges and NFT marketplaces that are turning out to be very close to gatekeepers. Well, we haven’t had complaints about it yet. So it still remains to be seen what specific cases may develop in the future. I wanted to talk about the Digital Services Act, which is the counterpart to the Digital Markets Act — I’m specifically interested in the liability of platforms for illegal content. To start, could you lay out how that works? The Digital Services Act addresses both content and products. When it comes to products, platforms would have an obligation to know their business customers — to make sure that your products are safe, that people can come back and complain about them, that they have their consumers’ rights. When it comes to content, there are two obligations. First would be to take down things that are considered to be illegal if flagged, while at the same time making sure that you can complain if content of yours is taken down. Second, that companies do a horizontal risk assessment as to whether or not their services can be misused to undermine democracy or put people’s mental health at risk. If these risks are being found, you need to mitigate them. When it comes to liabilities for the platform themselves, that would only kick in if people can make the assumption that it’s actually the platform that was behind this. I think it’s easier to understand when it’s physical products — if you don’t realize that you’re dealing with a business that is on a platform, but think that it’s actually the platform that you’re dealing with, then the platform may assume liability. The question about removing illegal content is a very hot topic in the US. There’s a fear that adding this requirement is going to lead platforms to over-moderate and take down content indiscriminately — to say, look, we’d rather be safe than sorry — and that this might particularly affect vulnerable groups. And people might not fully understand the process of trying to get that content put back up. How do you see the Digital Services Act addressing that? “There is a gray zone here where things are not illegal, but they may be hurtful for people.” This is exactly why people should get notified and have a chance of having their post put back up again. It is a difficult thing to do, because there is a gray zone here where things are not illegal, but they may be hurtful for people. There may be conflicts coming from it, but it’s your right to say whatever you want, as long as it’s not illegal. So this is why we have crafted this balance. We think this will work — because of course over-removal is something we are trying to avoid. If something like the Digital Markets Act successfully reduces the power of big gatekeepers and big tech platforms, what effect do you see that having on the other tech issues like disinformation? I think different tools are needed. My colleague Věra Jourová has been responsible for working with platforms based on the EU code of conduct. We’ve just strengthened the code of conduct and all of the big platforms have signed up for it — TikTok, Google, all the big ones. I think the cooperation is quite good, and it has been essential during the pandemic. It’s really important for us not to think that there is one silver bullet. To make the digital world a fully integrated part of our world, many things need to happen at the same time. And I think the code of conduct combined with the regulation creates a balance and that is probably the most effective way to go about it. I think there’s a broad understanding that people want to lessen the power of gatekeepers and have fewer central choke points for the internet, but at the same time, as we’ve seen with the war in Ukraine, the same people rely on these big central gatekeepers to cut off things they want to see taken offline, like Russian propaganda. It seems theoretically possible that if you lessen the power of these companies, you suddenly don’t have these points where you can exercise control over something like disinformation. Is that something that you’ve thought about? It’s quite a special situation that we’re in, because we see the actions here as part of the sanctions — because Russia Today and Sputnik, they are completely state-controlled media. So we see them as part of the war machine. And the sanctions are why it works all over the European Union at the same time. But I don’t see that there is a need just to have a few gatekeepers for that to be effective, because even if there were many more outlets for these media, they would also be on board to do this. What are the broader lessons that we can draw from the digital response to the war in Ukraine? I think it’s a very old truth that the first victim in a war is truth, because it becomes increasingly difficult to trust what you’re being told. Having social media, of course, amplifies propaganda and misinformation to a completely different degree than what it was just 10 years ago. As horrible as it is on the ground for the people who are being shelled, for people being bombed, it is also a war about how you see the war. This is why it’s so important that we have good cooperation with the platforms to make sure the propaganda is not allowed to remain on them. For the last few years, we’ve been going through what people are dubbing the “techlash.” I’m curious if you think this is a temporary moment, or if there’s been a permanent shift that’s put public opinion on a different trajectory. I think it’s a permanent shift, because from the very early days of digitization, maybe we didn’t really notice that it grew to have such an importance in our lives. But the thing was that as our digital world grew, it pushed back on where our democracy has a say — because the physical world became of less and less importance in many people’s lives, and what they do online takes up a lot of hours every day. What is happening right now is that democracy is coming back in to say, well, no. Democracy counts in the digital world as well as the physical one. It must be that what we agree is illegal actually is illegal and is treated as such. And what is legal is legal and treated as such. And that, I think, is a permanent thing — that democracy is coming back to be able to govern our society when it’s digital. Thank you, it’s been wonderful talking to you. Thank you very much for doing this. I appreciate it.
Almost a year after Samsung revealed the Galaxy A52 (and the rest of the 2021 Galaxy A family), the company is back with even more phones. While the foldables and the Galaxy S22 line might grab the headlines and raise the bar for specs, the Galaxy A phones have been a commercial success, combining decent specifications with large screens, complicated camera arrays and Samsung’s premium aesthetic.The new Galaxy A53 and the A33 don’t diverge from this strategy – it is working, after all – but instead pairs 5G connectivity and Samsung’s more powerful 5nm Exynos chips. They also look remarkably similar to each other and the extended Samsung Galaxy phone family.I’ll focus on the A53 5G, which is coming to the US on April 1st, priced at $450 — $50 cheaper than the A52 from last year. It has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display that’s capable of 120Hz refresh rates, matching last year’s model. Samsung says it’s capable of adaptive refresh rates, but couldn’t specify the range as of this writing. Still, it’s rare to see any degree of adaptive refresh rates in phones at this price. Smooth scrolling is usually the hallmark of an expensive device, so I was pleasantly surprised in a recent demo session to find that interacting with the A53 felt similar to using more expensive phones like the S22. There are some signs that it’s not quite as premium as Samsung’s top phones, with a notable bezel around the display.Samsung puts a lot of emphasis on its camera innovations, and the A series has benefited from that. In 2022, that means another quad-camera system – take that, iPhone SE. The main 64-megapixel sensor has optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture, which works alongside a 12MP fixed-focus ultra-wide camera, and two 5MP sensors: one for depth detection and another for macro shooting.Samsung’s briefing rooms aren’t the best place for an impromptu photoshoot, but with a high-res primary camera, I was pleasantly surprised at the detail I captured from some of the set dressing. When lighting was consistent, I was able to take some sharp shots of other attendees, with an array of filters to add while using the camera app. (These filters are also now available across the A53’s other cameras.)Mat Smith/EngadgetThe camera system benefits from the new 5nm Exynos 1280 Octa-core processor inside the phone, Samsung says the power of this new chip made its AI-augmented night mode shooting possible. The A53 can draw together 12 frames and create a more stable (hopefully more detailed) single image. The A53 can also adjust video capture frame rates to improve shot quality. You’ll also get some of the most recent Samsung photo editing features, like Object Eraser and Photo Remaster to help salvage more of your shots.Samsung says improvements from the new processor should be felt elsewhere, too, claiming a 43 percent increase in GPU performance and a 31 percent boost in AI processes. (Like the aforementioned night mode.)Yes, the design is very similar to last year’s A52, but with both 5g and a more powerful chip, this could ensure that this device is more future-proof than its predecessor. Samsung promises four years of software updates, and both new A-series phones will come with the latest version of its One UI – which is currently making its way to the rest of the Galaxy phone range.Mat Smith/EngadgetSamsung’s approach to affordable mid-range phones stands in contrast to how Apple reintroduced the iPhone SE earlier this month. And yet, the phones will inevitably face comparisons. Samsung has gone to great lengths to ensure the A53 fits in alongside the S22 and the S22 Ultra both design-wise and when it comes to cameras. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone SE keeps a classic design but pairs it with a powerful cutting-edge chip found in its most-expensive devices. Preferences on iOS versus Android notwithstanding, it could come down to whether you want a new phone with a big screen, or one that easily fits into your pocket.The Galaxy A53 5G will be available for preorder on April 1st across T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, with the phone launching on April 8th. Besides carriers, you’ll get the choice of white and black color options, as well as new powder blue and peach hues, if you’re looking for something a little different.
The James Bond, Rocky and RoboCop movies are now owned or co-owned by Amazon. The company has closed its $8.45 billion takeover of storied movie and TV studio MGM.European Union antitrust regulators unconditionally approved the deal this week. They determined there wasn't a great deal of overlap between the two companies, and that "MGM's content cannot be considered as must-have" compared with other studios. Amazon had reportedly given the Federal Trade Commission, which was said to have been reviewing the buyout, a deadline of mid-March to challenge or approve the acquisition. If the agency didn't file a legal challenge by then, Amazon would have been free to move forward with the purchase.MGM "will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers," Amazon said in a press release. The studio has more than 4,000 films and 17,000 episodes of TV to its name, along with 180 Oscars and 100 Emmy Awards. MGM movies include classics such as Thelma & Louise, The Silence of the Lambs, The Magnificent Seven and Raging Bull.Amazon will still release James Bond movies in theaters instead of hanging onto them as Prime Video exclusives. Still, it wouldn't be surprising to see Bond reading by the pool with a Kindle in his next outing, as long as franchise co-owner Eon Productions gives the OK for that product placement.It's likely that the vast majority of MGM movies and TV shows will wind up on Prime Video following theatrical runs and after agreements with other streaming platforms expire.Update 3/17 12:03PM ET: Noting that Amazon co-owns the James Bond franchise rather than owning it outright.
A healthy work from home environment is more than just setting up a laptop on a desk. If you want a more functional space, you should try to keep it neat and clutter-free as well. Here are a few recommendations from our staff that will help you organize your desk and hopefully be more productive as a result.Monitor risersAmazonWe suggested getting an external monitor in a previous WFH guide, too, and for good reason. It seriously increases your screen real estate and is oftentimes easier on the eyes. However, not all monitors are height adjustable and they do take up quite a bit of desk space. A monitor stand or riser is a way to resolve that. A simple yet effective one is the Amazon Basics model, which has stackable legs for your desired height (up to 4-⅞ inches) plus an 11-inch wide storage space underneath to store your laptop or other knick knacks.If, on the other hand, you want something a little more stylish, this bamboo monitor stand from SONGMICS is a particularly attractive one. It comes with compartments designed to fit your phone, coffee mug, stationary, notepads and more. There are also well-placed cut-outs to help manage your cords and cables. We should note that the height isn’t adjustable, but in my experience its 3.35-inch range was enough to raise our monitor to eye level. This particular model also works well as a laptop stand thanks to three holes designed for optimal heat ventilation.If you really don’t want a monitor on your desk at all, consider a monitor arm. This is an especially good choice if you’re restless and need to change your monitor position frequently. One of our favorites is the Jarvis monitor arm by Fully, which features a 360-degree swivel. It has a removable VESA plate and a clamp mount, plus the option of mounting the arm to grommet holes if your desk has them. It accommodates 13- to 32-inch monitors and can support a max weight of 19.8 pounds.Buy Amazon Basics monitor rise at Amazon - $18Buy SONGMICS stand at Amazon - $52Buy Jarvis monitor arm at Fully - $129Laptop standsWill Lipman PhotographyIf you’re using your laptop as-is on your desk or on your lap, you’re doing it wrong. Hunching your shoulders to look at your screen is harmful for your posture, which can lead to back, neck and arm pain if you’re not careful. Instead, you’ll want your screen to be at eye level, and if you don’t have an external monitor, that means elevating your laptop with a stand. This has the added benefit of giving you more desk space as well.We particularly recommend the Rain Design iLevel2. The height is easily adjustable thanks to a front slider, and its tilted design is also great for keeping your laptop cool. Alternatively, a slightly more affordable option is Rain Design’s own mStand, which has a fixed height and a cable organizer in the back that helps keep wires tucked away. Plus, it’s available in four different colors: black, gold, silver and space gray.A slightly more affordable option is the Amazon Basics Laptop Stand, and though it has a fixed height, there’s a cable organizer in the back that helps keep wires tucked away.If you do own an external monitor but don’t have a lot of extra space, we recommend a vertical stand. This one from Omoton can hold your closed laptop upright, which goes a long way in keeping your desk organized. It has an adjustable width varying from 0.55 to 2.71 inches, which should fit most laptops. The stand itself is made from scratch-resistant anodized aluminum alloy and has a wide, heavy base that will prevent your laptop from tipping over.Buy Rain Design iLevel 2 at Amazon - $70Buy Rain Design mStand at Amazon - $40Buy Amazon Basics laptop stand at Amazon - $40Buy Omoton vertical stand at Amazon - $27Laptop dockCalDigitMost laptops only have a limited number of ports, which could mean juggling multiple cables and cords. A dedicated docking station can help fix the clutter — we've recommended CalDigit's TS3 Plus in the past, and now the company came out with an updated version of it: the Thunderbolt Station 4. It looks quite similar to the TS3 Plus from a design perspective, but there are a number of differences in its connectors. The TS4 supports up to 98W charging for your host machine and includes three Thunderbolt 4 ports, five USB-A ports, a 2.5GbE Gigabit Ethernet connector, microSD and regular SD card slots and more. The USB-C port on the front of the device supports 20W power, so you can connect something like an iPhone wireless charger and get the fastest charge possible. Some of its USB ports also support offline charging, which means they can power up phones and tablets even when the TS4 isn't connected to its host device. It's steep at $359, but it's worthwhile if you want a highly capable docking station.Another solid, and more affordable, option is the Lention 11-in-1 docking station. We like it because you can tuck it away beneath your laptop so it’s out of sight, and it gives a bit of a height boost as well. The Lention has ports for HDMI, VGA and DisplayPort, SD and Micro SD card readers, four USB ports (one USB-C, two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0), Ethernet and a 3.5mm audio jack.Buy Thunderbolt 4 Station at CalDigit - $360Buy Lention 11-in-1 docking station at Amazon - $120Phone chargersValentina Palladino / EngadgetA dedicated phone stand is a great way to keep your desk clutter-free while charging your handset at the same time. If you have a phone without wireless charging, we recommend the Lamicall stand, as it has a feeder hole for the charger cord on the back. The stand is made from a high-quality aluminum alloy and the cradle can be tilted back and forth for different viewing angles. If you like, you can position your phone horizontally to watch videos.If you do have a phone with wireless charging, we strongly recommend using a wireless charger so you don’t have to mess around with pesky cords. The Anker PowerWave Stand is a good option as it supports 10W high-speed charging with the latest Samsung Galaxy handsets and 5W charging with the iPhone 12. We especially like how affordable it is ($16 as of this writing), though keep in mind that you need to supply your own power brick.If you want to charge an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch all at once, consider a multi-device charger. One of our favorites is the Mophie 3-in-1 wireless charging stand, thanks to its compact form factor. We like that it has a small divot that was designed perfectly to hold an AirPods case so that there’s no risk of misalignment. Another excellent choice is the Logitech Powered 3-in-1 Dock, which could potentially be great for couples or those of you who own two handsets. That’s because the flat surface area for the AirPods case can also be used to charge a second phone.Buy Lamicall stand at Amazon - $13Buy Anker PowerWave Stand at Amazon - $20Buy Mophie 3-in-1 charging stand at Amazon - $140Buy 3-in-1 dock at Logitech - $130For those with an iPhone with MagSafe capabilities (the iPhone 12 or higher), we also like Belkin’s 3-in-1 Wireless Charger. The iPhone attaches to it automatically without the need for alignment, and you can swivel it from portrait to landscape. Plus, it offers up to 15 watts of fast wireless charging.If you want something more affordable, this Anker MagGo charging station is a solid option as well. It only has a single magnetic charging pad on the front for your phone, but it does have a bunch of ports – three AC outlets, two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports – for charging other devices.One way to really save some space is to get a lamp with a wireless charger built into the base. The IKEA Hektar has a classic look with a 5W induction charger, plus an extra USB port so you can charge two devices at once. Alternatively, this LED desk lamp by AFROG packs in a lot of features in a relatively small footprint. It has a wireless charger, a USB charging port, five lighting modes with seven levels of brightness plus a 30 or 60 minute shutoff timer.For a more futuristic design, the Taotronics LED desk lamp’s slim style might be more your speed. It supports fast charging up to 7.5 watts (for iPhones) or 10 watts (for Samsung Galaxy phones) an extra USB port on the side; five different color temperatures; and an option for a one-hour dimmable desk lamp timer that’ll turn off when you go to bed.Buy Belkin 3-in-1 charging stand at Amazon - $110Buy Anker MagGo charging station at amazon - $110Buy Hektar at IKEA - $75Buy AFROG lamp at Amazon - $29Buy Taotronics desk lamp at Walmart - $70Standing desk converterFullyFor those who want to get into standing desks but don’t have the money or space, a standing desk converter is a great alternative. It can convert any table into a work space, plus it provides additional storage underneath. The Cora from Fully is one that we like a lot, thanks to its sturdy aluminum frame. Lifting or lowering it is as easy as pressing the handles on either side, and it’s super lightweight so you can easily move your workspace out of sight at the end of the workday.A slightly more affordable alternative is the Flexispot 31-inch standing desk converter. It’s not quite as attractive as the Cora, but it’s still pretty sturdy. Plus, it comes with a removable keyboard tray, which not only frees up space on the desktop, but also improves your posture when typing either when standing or sitting.Buy Cora desk converter at Fully - $159Buy Flexispot desk converter at Amazon - $120Cable managementCable ClipsLike most people, you probably have a mess of cords dangling behind your desk. A simple way to overcome that is with a few simple cable management tools. The easiest would be to use either twist ties or Velcro wrap ties like these, which are strong, reusable and affordable.Another option is to use a cord management organizer like these cable clips. They let you organize seven cables with a single clip, which you can then attach to your desk or wall with a self-adhesive backing. You’ll never have to worry about the cord falling behind the desk.One common eyesore in most homes are those overflowing power strips with cables strewn all over the place. A cable management box like this one from D-Line can help keep all of it contained in one attractive unit and make areas under your desk easier to clean. The box comes in white or black, has three cord entry and exit points and is large enough to fit most power strips.Buy Velcro wraps at Amazon - $12Buy cable clips at Amazon - $8Buy D-Line cable management box at Amazon - $20Headphone standsLamicallOver-the-ear headphones provide superior sound, but can take up a good deal of space on your desk when not in use. Instead, try hanging them on a headphone stand which, aside from keeping your space tidy, can also protect your headphones from getting scratches. This affordable one from Lamicall is made out of aluminum and ABS plastic and has a low center of gravity, which makes for a more stable base. It also has a simple and stylish “bird-shaped” look that will add a nice touch of flair to your desk space.Alternatively, you can also choose to keep your headphones out of sight entirely with an under-desk hook like the Anchor, which has space for two sets of headphones. It’s made out of premium silicone and secures safely to your desk with 3M adhesive strips. There are optional screw mounts if you want to make the placement a little more permanent.Buy Lamicall headphone stand at Amazon - $16Buy Anchor headphone hook at Amazon - $15
Want an Apple Watch Series 7 now that spring is making outdoor exercise easier? Now might be a good time to get one. Amazon is once again selling the 41mm Series 7 in Midnight aluminum for $339, an all-time low price we haven't seen since December. Other shades are also discounted to around $349. Blue, green and red 45mm aluminum models are down to a record-low $369 if a larger case looks better on your wrist.Buy Apple Watch (41mm) at Amazon - $339Buy Apple Watch (45mm) at Amazon - $369Apple Watch Series 7 remains a solid value half a year later. It's a subtle evolution of Series 6, but the larger screen is easier to use and better for quick glimpses during a meeting or workout. A dustproof design might prove crucial during hikes. You might also appreciate the faster charging, particularly if you use sleep tracking and want a full battery before you start work. Add a strong app ecosystem and tight integration with Apple offerings like Fitness+ and it's an easy choice if you're an iPhone owner.The usual caveats remain. Android users need not apply, for a start. The built-in sleep tracking is lackluster, and dedicated athletes may want a fitness watch. And while the battery life is stronger than before, you won't find the days or weeks of use you get with some alternatives. Still, the Apple Watch is considered the gold standard of iPhone-friendly smartwatches for a reason — it's a good all-rounder.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
If you think you need the sheer power of the Mac Studio, then you probably need the Mac Studio. That's all you really need to know about Apple's squat little desktop. It fits neatly into the company's current offerings: The Studio delivers more performance than the M1 Max-powered MacBook Pros, but it costs significantly less and gives you access to all the ports you'd want from a desktop. It's basically the super-powered Mac Mini many have been waiting for. The only question for the Mac faithful: Should you get one, or wait for the Mac Pro revamp that'll surely blow it out of the water?The answer, naturally, will depend on your budget. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 with the M1 Max chip and jumps to $3,999 if you want to go full beast mode with the M1 Ultra. But while those prices may seem high, they're in line with PC workstations meant for editing 4K and 8K video. If it's not clear by now, the Studio isn't really targeted at mainstream consumers – that's what the Mac Mini is for. Its purpose lies in its name: It's a diminutive desktop meant for creative professionals working in something akin to a studio (or a swanky home office).Here's what's really exciting, though: The Mac Studio is within reach for many professionals. It's more practical than the ill-fated iMac Pro, which started at $4,999 when it launched in 2017. (At the time, even we were genuinely confused about its intended audience.) That machine was unceremoniously discontinued last year, to no one's surprise. The Studio is also far more approachable than the long-awaited Mac Pro Apple introduced in 2019, a feat of industrial design with a $5,999 entry price (which could easily scale to tens of thousands of dollars). The Mac Pro was certainly an impressive beast, but it was so far removed from consumers that Apple never sold it in their retail stores.Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe Mac Studio has some benefits that are obvious even before you turn it on: It doesn't take up much floor or desk space; it's easy to move around (clocking in at either 5.9 pounds for the M1 Max model or 7.9 pounds for the M1 Ultra); and its curvy aluminum case looks like something you'd find at MoMa. It's not meant to disappear into the background like the Mac Mini. No, the Studio deserves a prominent spot on your desk, a symbol that you've become a true creative professional.Also, you'd definitely want it on your desk to get easy access to all of its ports. So many ports! Up front, there are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connections and an easily accessible microSD card slot. On the rear, they're joined with four more Thunderbolt 4 USB-C sockets, two USB Type-A connections, a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI and a headphone jack. I was shocked Apple even remembered USB Type-A exists, but I'm sure plenty of customers will be pleased that they can still use their old gear.Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetMy only quibble is the rear headphone jack/line out connection: It's fine if you're using speakers, but it's annoying for people who constantly need to plug and unplug their headphones, especially since it's right beside the power button. (I know several video editors who'll be particularly peeved by this.)Apple sent along two Mac Studio models for testing: one with an M1 Max chip and 64GB of RAM, and another with the M1 Ultra chip and 128GB of RAM. (I can say with certainty there's never been this much RAM on my desk at once.) The M1 Max is pretty much the same chip that was featured on the new MacBook Pro: It has 10 CPU cores (8 8 performance cores, 2 for efficiency), a 24-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine for AI processing.In all practical respects, the M1 Ultra is basically two M1 Max chips joined together with Apple's "UltraFusion" die-to-die interconnect. That means you can just double all of those stats: It has a 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU and a 32-core Neural Engine. The M1 Ultra can be equipped with up to 128GB of unified RAM with 800 GB/s of memory bandwidth (again, double what's possible on the M1 Max).While Apple's custom processors were miraculous on laptops — delivering speed and power efficiency like we've never seen before with x86 CPUs — desktop workstations are a far greater challenge. AMD has been able to cram 64 cores into the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, a monstrously powerful chip with a power-hungry 280-watt TDP (thermal dynamic profile). But then again, that chip can cost well over $8,000.Apple's more direct competition is the Intel Core i9-12900K. While the company didn't offer specific details on its chip thermals, it noted that the M1 Ultra can reach up to 90 percent higher performance in the same power envelope as the "fastest 16-core PC desktop chip available." That's most likely the 12900K. Apple adds that the Ultra can match that PC chip's peak performance while using 100 watts less power.Geekbench 5 CPUCinebench R23Disk speed (top reads/writes)Apple Mac Studio (M1 Ultra)1,785/23,9421,537/24,0789.86 GB/s / 6.39 GB/sApple Mac Studio (M1 Max)1,715/12,6421,534/12,3149.23 GB/s / 6.36 GB/sApple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1 Max)1,783/12,6931,524/12,2815.1 GB/s / 6.2 GB/sIntel NUC 12 Extreme (Intel Core i9-12900, NVIDIA RTX 3080)1,762/13,3716.1 GB/s / 5 GB/sThe big takeaway: You can expect the Mac Studio to deliver a lot of performance without generating much heat or fan noise. And, for the most part, that's what I found during my testing. The M1 Ultra-powered Mac Studio achieved the highest Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 multithreaded scores we've ever seen, all without spinning up its fan or working up a sweat. The M1 Max model, meanwhile, scored the same as the Max-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro, and well above other 10-core systems. Intel's 14- and 16-core 12th-gen chips scored slightly higher than the M1 Max in multithreaded performance, but the M1 Ultra trounced them completely.I'm not a professional video editor, and I don't work with complex 3D models regularly. So I relied on a few Apple-provided projects to get a better sense of the Mac Studio's real-world performance: an 8K video edit in Final Cut Pro, and a 54-million voxel CT scan in Horos Mobile. I was able to export an 8K version of that 34-second video in 23 seconds on both Mac Studios (the M1 Max model took 0.2 seconds longer). There was a slightly bigger difference when exporting to 4K: the M1 Ultra Mac Studio took 23.5 seconds, while the M1 Max took an additional two seconds.Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetBoth systems also let me rotate and explore that massive Horos Mobile CT scan without any major slowdowns. Apple's unified memory architecture is particularly helpful for large files, since it gives the GPU direct access to all of the system's RAM. PC GPUs, meanwhile, are limited by their onboard memory. NVIDIA's flagship RTX 3090 packs in 24GB of VRAM, but our Mac Studios could give Horos Mobile, or any other app, access to a big chunk of their 64GB or 128GB of RAM if necessary. That alone could make them tempting for editors working with feature-length 8K videos.So sure, the Mac Studios can deliver a ton of performance. But there are plenty of downsides when compared to PC workstations. For one, since they're Macs, there aren't many games to play when you need some R&R. Apple Arcade titles are decent distractions, and there are a handful of older and indie Steam games that run on the Mac Studio, like Hitman and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But you can give up hope on playing new titles like Elden Ring, or using PC VR headsets. Apple's M1 chips are based on a mobile ARM architecture, so you can't install Windows on the Mac Studio like you could with Intel-based Macs. External GPUs are also out of the question, since Apple's Silicon depends on having direct access to GPU hardware (an eGPU would just be slowed down by the Thunderbolt interface).Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetYou can't upgrade the Mac Studio either, which is a bummer if you wanted to jump to faster SSDs in a few years. Their RAM is built right into the M1 chips, which means there's no physical way to expand the memory either. I'd wager many creatives wouldn't have much of a reason to upgrade anyway, though. The M1 Max model comes with 32GB of RAM by default, while the Ultra configuration has 64GB. The SSDs on both systems are also incredibly fast, delivering almost 10 Gigabytes per second read speeds and over 6 GB/s in writing performance. Those are the highest figures we've ever clocked on SSDs.As great as the overall Mac Studio experience is, it’s hampered a bit by Apple’s accessories. The Magic Keyboard is fine to type on, but I’d still like more key depth. And the Magic Mouse is, once again, a disastrous design. You can only charge it from the bottom, and it’s simply too small for me to use comfortably. Instead, I gravitated towards the Magic Trackpad, which feels more like using one of Apple’s laptops. If you’re a PC user jumping ship to Macs, I’d recommend bringing over your favorite Logitech hardware instead.Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetIf you just want a powerful Mac desktop, and you're fine with the lack of upgradability, the Mac Studio will serve you well for years. But if you're concerned you may outgrow it soon, you've also got plenty of PC workstations to choose from. Intel's NUC 12 Extreme (above) is a bit larger, but it can be equipped with a full-sized graphics card and you can upgrade the RAM and SSDs as much as you want. That machine only comes as a DIY kit, but you'll be able to buy pre-configured models from third-party retailers eventually. Alternatively, you could always go for a pre-built small-form-factor PC from builders like Origin, but expect to pay more than the cheapest Mac Studio.Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetAs I mentioned up top, Apple's revamped Mac Pro could be a compelling option for power-hungry creators. But it would likely cost well over $6,000 at a minimum, based on the pricing for the last model and the fact that the $4,000 Mac Studio exists. At this point, the Mac Pro seems like it’s only meant for production houses or people with seriously deep pockets.Unlike the iMac Pro, it’s easy to tell who the Mac Studio is for: People who demand power, ports and reasonably priced hardware. It's taken a while, but now Apple finally has a Mac desktop that can go toe-to-toe with PC workstations under $5,000.
The following contains minor spoilers for season four, episode 14 of 'Star Trek: Discovery.'Season four has been an interesting one for Star Trek: Discovery. The show finally embraced a more episodic format, only to slide back into an ongoing storyline in the back half of the season. But today’s finale once again promises a return to the things that make Star Trek, well, Star Trek. And, while Discovery also made those promises at the end of last season, there’s more reason to believe that this time the changes will stick.It starts with the fact that while the major threat this season began as a spatial anomaly (known as the Dark Matter Anomaly, or “DMA”), it was discovered to be merely a harvesting tool used by a previously unknown species, one the Federation calls the 10C. It may have seemed harmless to the 10C in its role as farmers, but the Federation found itself in the role of a rabbit in front of a plow. The DMA destroyed Kwejian; both Ni’Var (née Vulcan) and Earth were next.CBSIn previous seasons this would have shifted Starfleet into action hero mode, and some characters did advocate for a more assertive and violent approach. But instead of merely jumping into the fray we got lots of… arguing. This may not sound exciting, but it’s always been one of the things Star Trek does best: people discussing conflicting ideas. Some advocated for a peaceful solution and that was ultimately the course decided upon, since it was closest to the Federation ethos of peace and exploration. In other series this might seem like a terrible idea, but Trek is supposed to be, in theory, a utopia. This kind of thinking is one of the cornerstones of the franchise.There are those who disagree, spearheaded by Cleveland Booker and Ruon Tarka. But while their actions turn them into antagonists, they don’t become villains. We’ve seen this in previous shows like The Next Generation and Voyager, where terrorists like the Maquis were treated with empathy. In Discovery it’s even more at the forefront given Book’s status as a main character, but also the series’ ethos as the Star Trek show that’s all about feelings. While the show sometimes takes flak for all the crying, here the emotional elements feel well balanced, with everyone’s motives clearly articulated both to each other and to the audience. It’s easy to understand each character even if you disagree.And understanding is the lynchpin of the plot here; the 10C are not carbon-based lifeforms and they don’t communicate like humanoids do. It’s a classic Star Trek problem, as seen in episodes like “Darmok” or “Amok Time.” So last week’s episode was dedicated to the crew and assorted ambassadors methodically working through mathematical and chemical solutions to build a working bridge language. They managed to establish to the 10C that there were problems with the DMA, opening up the door to further negotiation in this week’s episode.“Coming Home” has a lot of meanings in the context of the actual episode. There’s the threat of the DMA heading toward Earth, there’s a number of scenes set in our solar system involving returning character Sylvia Tilly, and reconciliation between Michael Burnham and her lover Cleveland Booker, the person who grounds her in the 32nd century.CBSBut there’s also meaning in that the episode is where Discovery finally reconciles itself as a Star Trek show, making its highest point of drama not the struggle to evacuate a doomed planet, or the attempts to stop Tarka’s plan, but the actual face-to-face (so to speak) discussion with the 10C. It’s nothing like the action-based approach of the Abrams films or even earlier seasons that dealt with war and time travel and evil sentient computers. It’s diplomacy. It’s a lot of talking, and sitting around and talking about feelings.And some of those feelings are what you’d call… environmentally minded. It isn’t enough that the 10C merely stops destroying planets that house sentient life. The fact is, the DMA also creates pollution and that needs to be stopped as well. With Earth in immediate danger it seems like an unreasonable ask at the moment, but it’s also very much in the ethos of Star Trek to consider one’s general societal and galactic impact as well. The core of Star Trek is humanism and social justice, and so many classic episodes deal with issues of identity, civil rights, and environmental issues. Discovery has spent so much time dealing with one huge violent crisis after another that it hasn’t had time to do simpler humanist metaphors, and bringing that in at the end here seems to indicate a desire to deal with those issues more in upcoming seasons.The entire denouement makes that promise: The Federation is growing in strength, the Discovery crew is taking some time off for themselves, and a very special guest toward the end seems to be the show making its politics clear to those segments of the audience who love to decry “woke Trek.” Star Trek has always been woke, but Discovery has only dipped its toe into the water in previous seasons. With its fifth season on the horizon, it’s ready to plunge fully in.
iRobot's latest software update gives its Roomba robot vacuums and Braava jet robot mops the ability to respond to Siri voice commands. The Genius 4.0 Home Intelligence update adds Siri Shortcut Integration to the iRobot Home app, allowing iOS users to connect their devices to Apple's voice assistant. Similar to Google Assistant and Alexa users, they can set up their custom phrases or simply say "Hey Siri, ask Roomba to clean everywhere" to start the vacuum. Genius 4.0 also gives users the capability to create customizable smart maps for the Roomba i3 and i3+ models, which they can access if they want their devices to clean specific rooms in the house. They can also create custom cleaning routines based on their schedules, automatons and the rooms they want to send the vacuum to. These particular features are now available in the Americas and will make their way to customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa by the end of the third quarter.Users who own a Roomba s9/s9+, Roomba j7/j7+, Roomba i7/i7+ and Braava jet m6 — all Imprint Smart Mapping-capable robots — will have more control over how their robots clean, as well. They can program their machines to thoroughly clean a high traffic area, for instance, and give rooms that aren't always occupied a quick pass.To prevent accidental starts, owners will be able to activate a Child & Pet Lock option in the iRobot Home app. When switched on, it deactivates the physical clean button on WiFi-enabled vacuums and mops, which can then only be activated through the application. In addition, a new Do Not Disturb feature ensures the machines won't switch on at times the user specifies, such as when they're sleeping or expected to be on video calls for work or for school. Finally, the update gives the Roomba j7 and j7+ the ability to avoid clothing and towels on the floor, in addition to the other objects (including poop!) they can already recognize. While Do Not Disturb is already available globally, the other features might take some time to reach all users. The software update has already started making its way to customers worldwide, but the rollout won't be finished until the end of June.
Bandai Namco expected to sell four million copies of FromSoftware's Elden Ring. Considering Dark Souls 3 sold three million copies in the month it came out, that seemed a relatively ambitious goal. Elden Ring, however, eclipsed the company's expectations: It sold 12 million units worldwide, one million in Japan alone, within 18 days of its release.Elden Ring was made with help from Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, who wrote the overarching mythos for the game — yes, there are dragons — so one part of the press release may not be a huge surprise: the possibility of expanding the IP "beyond the realm of games." Elden Ring, a new HBO series, coming soon?— Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedTwo master skydivers will swap planes mid-air in Hulu livestreamEpson's latest laser projector promises 4K 120Hz output for $3,999Congressional bills would ban tech mergers over $5 billionNASA's James Webb Space Telescope passes key optics testsSam Barlow's Immortality trilogy hits Xbox and PC this summerApple iPad Air (2022) reviewAlmost future proof.EngadgetNathan Ingraham thinks the iPad Air is the best iPad for most people: It’s significantly better than the basic $329 iPad and is nearly identical to the 11-inch iPad Pro, which costs $200 more than the Air. If you want a bigger or smaller screen, the iPad mini and 12.9-inch iPad Pro are still great options. But if you want a premium tablet that’s about as future-proof as it gets, the iPad Air is the way to go.Continue reading.Netflix tests out ways to stop you sharing your loginIt's kicking off a test in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica.Netflix is gearing up to do something about unauthorized account sharing. After testing a notification last year that pushed people to stop mooching and get their own Netflix accounts, the company has announced another test in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, which will let subscribers pay extra to share their accounts with people outside their home. According to Variety, subscribers will be able to add up to two "sub-members" for $2.99 each in Costa Rica. Those users will get their own Netflix logins, recommendations and profile.Continue reading.Chipotle's experimental tortilla robots know to add a little varietyJust tortilla chips for now.Chipotle is testing Chippy, a version of Miso Robotics' arm-based automaton (already in use at White Castle) customized to make tortilla chips. The bot not only knows how to replicate Chipotle's recipe but is smart enough to add "subtle variations" to keep things interesting — you might get a little more lime or salt.Continue reading.Netflix brings Ukraine president’s sitcom back to its US serviceThe service claims 'Servant of the People' is back by popular demand.NetflixBefore he became president, Volodymyr Zelensky was a famous actor and comedian. He starred in a satirical comedy series called Servant of the People, which is now once again available to view on Netflix in the US. It’s an odd move, amid the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in which thousands of people have been killed.Continue reading.How to sell your used and unwanted gadgetsThere are lots of ways to make a buck off your old stuff.Our latest spring-cleaning guide is about clearing out your old tech — and hopefully making cash out of it. We highlight the best trade-in sites and stores, advice on how to sell directly and how to get the best cash-back deals, too. Maybe you’d be interested in an OLED upgrade for your old Switch?Continue reading.Audio-Technica's 20-hour earbuds are now available in the US for $149Even with ANC on, the company promises up to 15 hours of use.Audio-Technica introduced its latest true wireless earbuds last month in the UK and EU, and now you can order the long-lasting ATH-CKS50TW model in the US. For $149, you can expect up to 20 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation (ANC) disabled and up to 15 hours with it on. That's well beyond what most of the competition offers — with or without noise-canceling abilities. The buds are due to ship early-to-mid April.Continue reading.
Amazon has incorporated a number of new features and upgrades into its newest Fresh grocery store in Seattle in a bid to secure net-zero carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). One of the first upgrades shoppers will notice when they visit is the free electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lots. Inside, the changes aren't as visible. The store uses CO2-based refrigerant instead of artificial refrigerant, which Amazon says reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 38 metric tons per year.Its floor looks like standard concrete, but it actually uses recycled materials from the steel industries. Amazon says doing so reduced the store's carbon footprint more than any of its other initiatives and lowered the carbon associated with floor manufacturing and installation by 40 percent compared to standard concrete. In the kitchen, everything has been electrified. The store is equipped with electric water heaters, electric burners and electric ovens. And, of course, the store is fully powered by renewable energy from Amazon's projects as part of its efforts towards relying entirely on renewable sources of electricity by 2025. Amazon expects all those changes and measures to save the store nearly 185 tons of CO2e, or Carbon dioxide equivalent, each year. That's apparently comparable to driving around our planet 18 times in a standard passenger vehicle.The company will be measuring the real-time impact of all those changes and features using a system built by Amazon Web Services. It plans to apply what it learns from this project into future locations and buildings, so we may see more net-zero carbon Fresh groceries pop up. Seeing as it also recently shifted its retail strategy to focus on groceries, that's a big possibility.Kara Hurst, vice president of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon, said in a statement:"In order to deliver on our commitments to The Climate Pledge, we must work together across all areas of our business to develop solutions to decarbonize. It's meaningful progress to open our latest Amazon Fresh Store seeking net-zero carbon certification, and I'm proud of the innovation and technology that the store offers to customers and employees, and for the environment."Amazon's Climate Pledge initiative aims to eliminate the company's carbon emissions by 2040, and this is one of the avenues it's exploring in order to achieve that goal. Two years ago, the e-commerce giant also committed $2 billion to companies developing clean energy technology as part the initiative, including firms developing EV charging solutions and alternative fuel. The ILFI will be reviewing the Seattle Fresh grocery's performance data for 12 consecutive months to ensure that the store meets its standards. If the location passes muster, it will be first grocery store to achieve net-zero carbon certification for this particular organization, though it won't be the first in the world.
Federal regulation on tech privacy has yet to be fully fleshed out by Congress, so for now, state legislatures are taking a crack at it. California, Colorado and Virginia all have their own privacy laws, and Utah could be joining them. The state’s legislature has signed off on a new bill, and it’s just awaiting the governor’s signature. But consumer advocates say that this presents a patchwork of protections. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Margaret McGill, a tech reporter for Axios, about the Utah bill. Keep independent journalism going strong. Give today to support Marketplace Tech.
Deepfake of Zelenskyy, Google IO announced, Daylight Saving Time Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, and Ant Pruitt For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google/episodes/655 Sponsors:itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30 nureva.com
NFTs are coming to Instagram, says Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, how will a fresh outbreak in China affect the tech supply chain, and we look at the role cryptocurrencies are playing in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Scott Johnson, Roger Chang, Joe, Amos MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here MultipleContinue reading "Billing Me Softly – DTNS 4233"
When war over territory develops in the physical world, what happens to developers in the borderless networked one? Doc Searls, Katherine Druckman and Jonathan Bennett dive into that question, while also visiting other wartime tech topics, such as the new Universal Chiplet, exciting new device drivers and the first 300 Starlinks in Ukraine. Hosts: Doc Searls, Jonathan Bennett, and Katherine Druckman Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly Think your open source project should be on FLOSS Weekly? Email floss@twit.tv. Thanks to Lullabot's Jeff Robbins, web designer and musician, for our theme music. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:itpro.tv/twit promo code TWIT30 kolide.com/twit
Windows 11 ads, Search Highlights, hybrid work, Halo TV series Microsoft is Experimenting With Ads in the Windows 11 File Explorer Microsoft on File Explorer Ads: Just Kidding! Microsoft Brings Search Highlights to Windows 10 Insiders DirectStorage is Now Available on PC Windows 10 Can Now Be Installed on Valve's Steam Deck Microsoft 365Microsoft to show how Windows 'powers the future of hybrid work' Microsoft study finds 50 percent of leaders have plans for a full return to the office Microsoft Teams turns five. What's next? Office 365 Login | Microsoft Office Microsoft Brings Redesigned Office.com to All Business and Education customers Hardware Intel to Invest Over $36 Billion in Europe Lenovo Refreshes ThinkPad X13, X13 Yoga, and ThinkPad L Empowering collaboration in the hybrid workplace with Surface Hub 2S and Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera | Microsoft Devices Blog Xbox - Here's the Halo TV Series Story Trailer - Microsoft Announces More Xbox Game Pass Games for March - Report: Microsoft's Perfect Dark Reboot is Being Hit by High Turnover - Google Details New Tools to Make Google Play Games Multiplatform - Call of Duty: Warzone is Coming to Mobile Tips and PicksTip of the week: Enable tabs in Windows 11 (Dev) File Explorer App pick of the week: Notion Enterprise picks of the week: Surprise! There's a Win Server release (or 2) coming this year. Changes are on the way for Microsoft's Partner Program. Beer pick of the week: Other Half Bang OnHosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Sponsors:plextrac.com/twit hackerrank.com/WW
NortonLifeLock’s purchase of Avast under investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Foxconn resumed partial production in Shenzhen, and Arm expected to lay off 12-15% of staff following collapse of Nvidia deal. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanksContinue reading "NortonLifeLock’s purchase of Avast under investigation – DTH"
How your information shows up on a credit report can affect your ability to rent a home, get a mortgage or take out a loan. So you want to make sure that information is accurate, especially after a name change. But that can be a particular challenge for transgender and nonbinary people who change their name to better align it with their identity. Last month, the Consumer Data Industry Association issued recommendations for how those consumers can update their credit reports, but a group of 145 organizations says the industry needs to do more. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Spencer Watson, president of the Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement and Research, which was one of those groups. Keep independent journalism going strong. Give today to support Marketplace Tech.
Google shares a grand vision of tablets surpassing laptop sales, 'tablet-first' Android apps, more. Google releases Android 12 QPR3 Beta 1 to start previewing June's Pixel Feature Drop. Google directly integrating Air Raid Alerts into Android phones in Ukraine. Xiaomi 12 Pro global flagship announced for $999. Samsung Galaxy S22 update now widely available removes performance throttling in apps and games. Samsung's flagship Galaxy Tab S8 series tablets also throttle performance in some apps and games. Carl Pei's Nothing to confirm 'product roadmap' at March 23 event. Money for Nothing and chips from a Series B. Android getting an 'archive' feature to let you free up device storage without uninstalling apps. Freeing up 60% of storage for apps. 'Play as you download' coming soon to all on Android 12 as Google launches 'Partner Program for Games'. Google Play Games brings Android games to PC, available now in select areas. Google Home rolling out redesigned device grid for fast volume, brightness adjustments. Why are neckband headphones getting rid of useful buttons? Help me find a live wallpaper for my photo albums that's Material You friendly! Some Google Pixel phones can't make contactless payments after March patch.Read our show notes here: https://bit.ly/3iguX1i Hosts: Jason Howell, Ron Richards, and Huyen Tue Dao Subscribe to All About Android at https://twit.tv/shows/all-about-android. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:betterhelp.com/android Coinbase.com/AAA
Picture of the Week. Patch Tuesday for the Industry. Android, too. Firefox emergency update. HP's major UEFI firmware patch-fest. The NVIDIA breach. ProtonMail gets it right. Linux Blues. Russia's New CA. The state of WordPress security. Sci-Fi update. QWACs on? or QWACs off?We invite you to read our show notes at https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-862-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now! at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors:kolide.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT newrelic.com/securitynow
Google’s tradition of dropping little interactive games for holidays and special occasions shows no signs of stopping for Valentine’s Day 2022. Today’s doodle features two hamsters whose love knows no bounds – that is, except for the treacherous maze separating them that is in the shape of Google’s logo.Your mission is to help these two crazy kids reunite by pulling a series of levers and switches until Google’s logo is complete. Is this game as difficult as today’s Wordle? Not even close. Will it take you roughly 30 seconds to complete, maybe even a minute if you’re half-paying attention because you’re watching the Super Bowl? Most likely. But the good news is, it’s a cute distraction that will get you into the Valentine’s Day spirit and is appropriate for kids.If you want more, be sure to check out Google’s other doodle games. There’s a particularly fun one involving pizza, Pac-Man, one where you try to draw something before Google’s neural network outsmarts you and one where you assist a cat with a magic wand take down some nocturnal spirits. Incredible.You can play Google’s Valentine’s Day doodle by visiting its homepage, and you can see all of Google’s past doodles here.
Predicting the future of radio, an update on Leo's cryptocurrency, using a third-party stylus with an iPad mini, how game streamers make money and find jobs that suit their skills, accessing online radio with a Chromebook, adding Palm Pilot's Graffiti gestures to a modern, stylus-enabled device, upgrading to a new Android phone after several years with an older model, file management and storage optimization on macOS, and troubleshooting slow upload speeds on a cellular connection. Plus, conversations with Scott Wilkinson, Johnny Jet, and Dick Debartolo. What is GDPR? The summary guide to GDPR compliance in the UK | WIRED UK leo.fm Facebook Container | Prevent Facebook from tracking you on other websites | Firefox Help Privacy | Labels | Apple Samsung Galaxy | The Official Samsung Galaxy Site Physician Spotlight: Lillian Harvey Banchik, MD, FACS, CNSC, FASPEN, CVAAc, VA-BC | YouTube Amazon's Big Game Commercial: Mind Reader | YouTube How I hacked a hardware crypto wallet and recovered $2 million | YouTube Apple Pencil | Apple Apple (AAPL) to Debut New Low-Cost 5G iPhone, Updated iPad in Early March | Bloomberg Galaxy Tab S8 pre-orders sold out on Samsung's website | 9to5Google Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Twitch Best way for artists and creators to get sustainable income and connect with fans | Patreon WILD 94.9 | SF Bay's #1 Hit Music Station Free Internet Radio Stations | best United States music and talk stations at Online Radio Box Online Radio Box | free radio player | Apps on Google Play TuneIn | Free Internet Radio | Live News, Sports, Music, and Podcasts Info about electricity, plugs, outlets and adapters organised per country Revisiting the Palm Pilot's uncanny alphabet: Design Observer Enter text with Scribble on iPad – Apple Support (UK) Jerry Pournelle | Wikipedia Amazon.com: On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines eBook : Hawkins, Jeff, Blakeslee, Sandra: Kindle Store Psion Series 5 | Wikipedia What is Reddit's opinion of Graffiti Pro for Android? Google Pixel 5a with 5G | Google Store Instant Party Anywhere With The Battery Operated Party Light! | Giz Wiz Biz Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Johnny Jet and Dick DeBartolo Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1867 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/episodes/latest Sponsor:Ziprecruiter.com/techguy
Cent, the company that last year helped Jack Dorsey auction an NFT of his first tweet for $2.9 million, is temporarily halting most transactions to address “rampant” sales of fake and plagiarized tokens. In an interview published on Friday, Cameron Hejazi, the CEO and co-founder of the company, told Reuters Cent stopped allowing users to buy and sell most NFTs on February 6th. It continues to operate its Valuables marketplace, the place where people can purchase non-fungible tokens of tweets, but that’s about it."There's a spectrum of activity that is happening that basically shouldn't be happening - like, legally" Hejazi told Reuters. He said Cent has tried to ban bad actors but compared the effort to a game of whack-a-mole. “Every time we would ban one, another one would come up, or three more would come up,” Hejazi said.Last month, OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces on the internet, said more than 80 percent of the tokens recently created through its free minting tool involved plagiarized work, fake collections and spam. The admission came after the company had tried to limit the number of NFTs users could mint for free. After reversing the decision, the company said it was working on several solutions to deter bad actors. Before January’s announcement, artists and photographers had complained for months that the company hadn’t done enough to address the issue of plagiarism."I think this is a pretty fundamental problem with Web3," Hejazi told Reuters. In the immediate future, he said Cent may introduce centralized controls to facilitate a reopening of its marketplace. The company could then later explore more decentralized solutions to the problem.
As anti-vaccine groups in the US attempt to stage their own version of Canada’s disruptive “Freedom Convoy,” foreign content mills have worked to bolster those efforts for their own gains. This week, Facebook parent company Meta told Reuters and NBC News it recently removed several “trucker convoy” groups and pages run by scammers in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Romania and other countries.The company said many of those groups had recently changed their names to adopt ones that involved terms like “trucker,” “freedom,” and “convoy” in hopes of taking advantage of the sudden interest in the rallies occurring across the border. Many of those same pages included links to websites that sold pro-Trump and anti-vaccine merchandise. At the same time, most of the accounts that took part in those groups were tied to real people. And so you have a situation where foreign players are trying to monetize radicalized individuals.“Voicing opposition to government mandates is not against Meta’s policies,” a Meta spokesperson told the network. “However, we have removed multiple groups and Pages for repeatedly violating our policies prohibiting QAnon content and those run by spammers in different countries around the world.”The company said it would monitor the situation. “We continue to see scammers latch onto any hot-button issue that draws people’s attention, including the ongoing protests,” a spokesperson for Meta told Engadget. “Over the past week, we’ve removed groups and pages run by spammers from different countries around the world who used abusive tactics to mislead people about the origin and popularity of their content to drive them to off-platform websites to monetize ad clicks.”In the more than two weeks since the “Freedom Convoy” descended on Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s capital has been paralyzed by anti-vaccine protestors who have used their trucks and cars to block entry into the city’s downtown core. The protest has attracted a motley crew of far-right individuals and groups, including Canada’s QAnon “Queen.” In Toronto and other cities throughout the country, police have warned healthcare workers not to wear their scrubs in public while the rallies continue. Those same protests have also clogged up critical border crossings between the US and Canada, prompting the Biden administration to push the federal government to take action.According to NBC News, anti-vaccine groups in the US plan to stage similar protests in cities across the country. On Facebook, Telegram and voice chat app Zello, those groups have called on their members to travel to Washington DC and Los Angeles on March 5th. The involvement of foreign actors attempting to bolster those efforts mirrors in some ways what happened in 2016 when Russia meddled with the presidential election.
Lamborghini hopes it can continue producing cars with internal combustion engines into the next decade, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag this week. “After hybridization, we will wait to see whether it will be possible to offer vehicles with an internal combustion engine beyond 2030,” he said in an interview with the outlet. “One possibility would be to keep combustion engine vehicles alive via synthetic fuels.”If Lamborghini actually continues making ICE cars into the 2030s, it would put the Volkswagen-owned automaker at odds with much of the industry. Consider Dodge, for instance. The Stellantis-owned brand plans to debut its first all-electric muscle car in 2024. That same year, it also plans to stop producing some of its most popular gasoline-powered models, including the Challenger and Charger. By contrast, Lamborgini won’t offer a fully electric car before the end of the decade.Practically speaking, even if Lamborghini continues producing ICE cars into the 2030s, it may not be able to sell those vehicles in many places. In the US and other parts of the world, governments have moved to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by mid-decade. Countries like Germany have made carveouts for vehicles powered by synthetic fuels, but no company is producing the gasoline alternative at scale yet and may not for many years to come.
Uncharted series protagonist Nathan Drake is about to make his way to Fortnite. Epic Games has yet to formally announce the crossover, but an unlisted video posted to the battle royale’s official YouTube channel provides all the critical details. On February 17th, one day before the Uncharted film premieres in US theatres, Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer outfits will debut in Fortnite’s Item Shop.Those skins will allow you to play as either the film versions of those characters or their Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End counterparts. As usual, Epic will also sell a variety of items you can use to customize your character. For those keeping track, that means Tom Holland is about to make a second appearance in Fortnite after Epic added skins from Spider-Man: No Way Home last year.
Monthly Science News is here! Our science correspondent @AckermansNicole goes over the major science stories from January, including a genetically modified pig heart transplant, the Tongan volcanic eruption and how to regrow frog legs. Hosted by Nicole Ackermans MP3 Download Using a Screen Reader? Click here Follow us on Twitter Instgram YouTube and Twitch PleaseContinue reading "Pig to Human Heart Transplant – DTNS Science News Monthly 4"
Apple is reportedly handing out raises to many of its retail employees in the US. According to Bloomberg, the company has increased the pay of some of its retail workers, including sales staff, Genius Bar support personnel and senior hourly workers, by as much as 10 percent. The exact number depends on the store where each employee works and their specific role. According to the outlet, the hikes don’t apply to all employees, and some have only seen their compensation increase by about two percent.The pay hikes come in the same week Apple reportedly expanded benefits for all of its US retail employees. Per Bloomberg, the company will offer both full-time and part-time staff at all of its 270 stores nationwide increased sick days, paid parental leave and more starting April 4th. The moves are a response to a tight labor market. Like many other businesses, Apple has struggled to recruit and retain hourly workers during the pandemic. Staffing shortages due to COVID-19 exposures and infections have led to multiple store closures in recent months. Retail staff have also complained of poor working conditions that involve low pay and stressful workloads. Over the same time period, Apple has recorded multiple record-breaking fiscal quarters.
Beginning in the 1940s, Mexico's Green Revolution saw the country's agriculture industrialized on a national scale, helping propel a massive, decades-long economic boom in what has become known as the Mexican Miracle. Though the modernization of Mexico's food production helped spur unparalleled market growth, these changes also opened the industry's doors to powerful transnational seed companies, eroding national control over the genetic diversity of its domestic crops and endangering the livelihoods of Mexico's poorest farmers. In the excerpt below from her new book Endangered Maize: Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction, author and Peter Lipton Lecturer in History of Modern Science and Technology at Cambridge University, Helen Anne Curry, examines the country's efforts to maintain its cultural and genetic independence in the face of globalized agribusiness.UC PressExcerpted from Endangered Maize: Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction by Helen Anne Curry. Published by University of California Press. Copyright © 2021 by Helen Anne Curry. All rights reserved.Amid the clatter and hum generated by several hundred delegates and observers to the 1981 Conference of FAO, a member of the Mexican delegation took the floor. Participants from 145 member nations had already reviewed the state of global agricultural production, assessed and commended ongoing FAO programs, agreed on budget appropriations, and wrestled over the wording of numerous conference resolutions. The Mexican representative opened discussion on yet another draft resolution, this one proposing “The Establishment of an International Plant Germplasm Bank.” Two interlocked elements lie at the resolution’s heart: a collection of duplicate samples of all the world’s major seed collections under the control of the United Nations and a legally binding international agreement that recognized “plant genetic resources” as the “patrimony of humanity.” Together, the bank and agreement would ensure the “availability, utilization and non-discriminatory benefit to all nations” of plant varieties in storage and in cultivation across the globe.Today, international treaties are integral to the conservation and use of crop genetic diversity. The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity aims to ensure the sustainable and just use of the world’s biodiversity, which includes plant genetic resources. Meanwhile, the 2001 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also called the Seed Treaty, establishes protocols specific to crop diversity. Although it draws much of its power from the Convention on Biological Diversity, the roots of the Seed Treaty reach further back, to the 1981 resolution of the Mexican delegation and beyond.Mexico’s resolution, like today’s Seed Treaty, offered conservation as a principal motivation. It told a story of farmers’ varieties displaced by breeders’ products, the attrition of genetic diversity, and the looming “extinction of material of incalculable value.” Earlier calls for conservation had sketched the same picture. Yet those who prepared and promoted the Mexican proposal mobilized this narrative to different ends. They may well have wanted to protect crop diversity. Far more important, however, was the guarantee of access to this diversity, once conserved. They insisted that a seed bank governed by the United Nations and an international treaty were needed to prevent the “monopolization” of plant genetic materials. This monopolization came in the form of control by national governments, the ultimate decision makers for most existing seed banks. It also resulted from possession by transnational corporations. By exercising intellectual property protections in crop varieties, seed companies could take ownership of these varieties, even if they were derived from seeds sourced abroad. In other words, the survival of a seed sample in a base collection, or its duplicate, did not mean this sample was available to breeders, let alone farmers, in its own place of origin. Binding international agreements were necessary to ensure access.Mexico’s intervention at the 1981 FAO Conference was just one volley in what would later be called the seed wars, a decades-long conflict over the granting of property rights in plant varieties and the physical control of seed banks. Allusions to endangered crop diversity have been mostly rhetorical flourishes in this debate, deployed in defense of other things considered threatened by agricultural change—namely, peoples and governments across Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the later twentieth century. Seed treaties were meant to protect not seeds, but sovereignty.Between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, in the midst of this struggle over seeds, consensus fractured about the loss of crop diversity—or, more specifically, about the meaning of this loss. When experts had gathered at FAO in the 1960s to discuss genetic erosion, most saw this as an inevitable consequence of a beneficial transition. Wherever farmers opted for breeders’ lines over their own seeds, the value of these so-called improved lines was confirmed, and agricultural productivity inched forward. In the 1970s genetic erosion featured centrally in a very different narrative. It was offered as evidence of the misguided ideas and practices driving agricultural development, especially the Green Revolution, and of the dangers posed by powerful transnational seed companies. Corporate greed emerged as a new driver of crop diversity loss. The willingness of wealthy countries to sustain this greed through friendly regulations meant both were complicit in undermining the capacities of developing countries to feed themselves. The extinction of farmers’ varieties and landraces was no longer an accepted byproduct of agricultural modernization. It was an argument against this development.This shift pitted scientists committed to saving crop diversity against activists ostensibly interested in the same thing. It brought competing visions of what agriculture could and should be head to head. Invocations of the imminent loss of crop diversity, the one element everyone seemed able to agree on, reached a fever pitch during the seed wars. This rhetorical barrage often obscured on-the-ground realities. While FAO delegates, government officials, NGO activists, and prominent scientists waged a war of words in meeting rooms and magazines, plant breeders and agronomists tended experimental plots, tested genetic combinations, and presented farmers with varieties they hoped would be improvements. In 1970s Mexico some of these researchers were newly resolved to use Mexican seeds and methods to address the needs of the country’s poorest farmers. Keeping these individuals, their methods, and their corn collections in view grounds the seed wars in actual seeds. If the Mexican delegation’s invocation of crop diversity at FAO in 1981 was a rhetorical flourish in a bid to defend national sovereignty, the concurrent use of crop diversity by some Mexican breeders was a practical strategy for getting Mexican agriculture out from under the thumb of the United States and transnational agribusinesses. On the ground, seeds were not ornaments in oratory but the very stuff of sovereignty.Inroads for AgribusinessWhile scientists in Mexico searched for novel solutions to the country’s rural crises, critical assessments of agricultural aid bolstered the case for these alternatives. By the mid-1970s studies by economists, sociologists, and other development experts indicated that the much-vaunted Green Revolution had done more harm than help, thanks especially to the input- and capital-intensive model of farming it espoused.The first critiques of the Green Revolution followed close on the heels of its initial celebration. In 1973 the Oxford economist Keith Griffin joined a growing chorus when he cataloged the harms introduced with “high-yielding varieties,” a phrase used to describe types bred to flourish with synthetic fertilizers. Their introduction had neither increased income per capita nor solved the problems of hunger and malnutrition, according to Griffin. They had produced effects, however: “The new technology... has accelerated the development of a market oriented, capitalist agriculture. It has hastened the demise of subsistence oriented, peasant farming... It has increased the power of landowners, especially the larger ones, and this in turn has been associated with a greater polarization of classes and intensified conflict.” In 1973 Griffin thought that the ultimate outcome depended on how governments responded to these changes. Five years later he had come to a final determination. “The story of the green revolution is a story of a revolution that failed,” he declared.Griffin was a researcher on the project “Social and Economic Implications of the Large-Scale Introduction of High-Yielding Varieties of Foodgrain.” Carried out under the auspices of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, this project enlisted social scientists to document the uptake of new agricultural technologies — chiefly new crop varieties — and their social and economic effects across Asia and North Africa. Mexico was also included among the project’s case studies, since organizers pinpointed it as the historical site of the “first experiments in high-yielding seeds for modernizing nations.” An attempt to synthesize a single account from the case studies in the 1970s highlighted the problems arising from the integration of farmers into national and international markets. New varieties, chemical fertilizers, and mechanical equipment demanded that cultivators "become businessmen competent in market operations and small-scale financing and receptive to science-generated information." This was thought to be in marked contrast to their having once been "'artisan’ cultivators' who drew on 'tradition and locally valid practices'" to sustain their families. The fact that only a minority of better-off farmers could make such a transition meant that development programs benefited a few at the expense of the many. Drawing on her case study of Mexico, project contributor Cynthia Hewitt de Alcántara extended this observation about market integration into a reflection on the flow of economic resources around, and out of, the country — from laborers to landowners, from farms to industries, from national programs to foreign businesses. The reconfiguration of agriculture as what she labeled a "capitalist enterprise" had not brought more money to the countryside but instead robbed peasants of what little they had.This apparent contradiction in Mexico’s agricultural development invited scrutiny from many besides Hewitt. The preceding three decades had been characterized by steady economic growth, thanks to increased international trade during World War II, government policies that encouraged national industry, and investments in infrastructure and education. This period of the so-called Mexican Miracle had also seen a transition from food dependency — needing to import grain to feed the nation — to self-sufficiency. At this level of abstraction, Mexico’s prospects for sustaining adequate food and nutrition looked rosy. When sociologists and economists delved into specifics, however, the miracle revealed itself a mirage. Investments in agriculture had focused on supplying food to urban workers and developing new products for export. State food-aid programs, too, had been oriented to urban labor, with set prices that kept food affordable for consumers in the city but made its cultivation unprofitable for farmers in the countryside. While well-off cultivators in the north of the country benefited from state-funded irrigation programs and guaranteed prices, poor farmers working small plots without access to state grain purchasers found that they could not sustain their families by selling surplus corn. Hewitt estimated that in 1969–70, one-third of the Mexican population experienced calorie deficiency. A 1974 national survey came to similar conclusions, calculating that 18.4 million Mexicans, over a quarter of the population, suffered from malnutrition.The persistence of poverty in Mexico, in spite of the country’s celebrated economic growth, could be traced to the model of development embraced by national leaders since the 1940s. Politicians and policy makers had assumed that subsistence farmers could be made irrelevant, with their surplus labor absorbed into the growing industrial economy. Yet industry had not acted the sponge, with the result that this “irrelevant” segment of the population had grown while continuing to be neglected by the state. The economist David Barkin linked faulty Mexican policies to a more fundamental problem of emulating the market capitalism of its northern neighbor. The apparently flourishing Mexican economy had invited the interest of foreign investors, in particular US corporations. Despite protectionist policies, these companies had moved in, and national industries had been sold off, leaving Mexicans vulnerable to the whims of private capital.Agriculture offered a prime example of this pattern. By the 1970s US firms dominated across the sector, from farm machinery (John Deere, International Harvester) to chemicals (Monsanto, DuPont, American Cyanamid) to production and processing (United Brands, Corn Products) to animal feed (Ralston Purina). Observing this trend, another economist pinpointed Mexican agriculture as the place of origin of a “new, world-wide modernization strategy.” He traced a path from the interventions of the Rockefeller Foundation to the stimulus these gave to the importation of costly agricultural inputs to the management of Mexican farms by foreign firms. Foreign control and deepening ties to international markets affected food self-sufficiency. It made sense, from the perspective of increasing individual profits, for large and well-financed producers in Mexico to focus on the crops that would bring the best prices. These were more likely to be fruits and vegetables for US supermarkets or sorghum to feed cattle than corn or wheat to feed Mexican workers. Thanks to these patterns, it was possible to see much of Mexican agriculture as an extension of US agribusiness, operating chiefly “to exploit Mexican rural labor, Mexican land and water resources, and Mexican private and public capital for the principal benefit of US entrepreneurs.” The ultimate outcome of technical assistance to enhance agricultural production, ostensibly undertaken for the betterment of Mexican farmers and the Mexican economy, was the dominance of transnational companies in that very task, for their own aggrandizement. This portended ill for Mexico and especially for the poorest Mexicans.
Our guest this week, Ashley Stewart, is a Seattle-based senior tech correspondent for the news site Insider who reports on Microsoft and Amazon.
She and her colleagues reported on Amazon’s executive exodus and its internal deliberations about compensation in advance of the increase in maximum base pay announced by the company this week. After the announcement, they reported on internal documents indicating the types of pay increases employees can expect.
We also discuss her reporting on turmoil inside Microsoft's HoloLens business, and where recent changes leave the company in the race to create the Metaverse.
And in our final segment, we compare notes on what it's like to cover these two companies, and what the differences say about their corporate cultures.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Zoom has rolled out an update for its Mac app to fix a bug that could potentially cause privacy issues for users. As noticed by 9to5Mac, a company representative has responded to a post on the Zoom community forums made by a user who noticed that their mic indicator was on even when they were not in a meeting — they simply had their Zoom client open at the time. Upon accessing Control Center, they discovered that Zoom was accessing their microphone. The original poster wasn't the only one who aired their complaint on the forum, and a lot of commenters said they had noticed the same thing. In the company's response, the representative said Zoom for Mac version 5.9.3 solves an issue wherein "the orange indicator light [could] continue to appear after having left a meeting, call or webinar." The rep is advising users to update their app to patch the bug and to switch on automatic updates to get future releases as soon as they're out. Zoom has had some serious privacy issues in the past, including telling users that their meetings were protected with end-to-end encryption since 2016. In reality, it only started rolling out the feature in 2020, and the company had to settle with the FTC over its privacy practices. In 2021, it also agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the video chat giant of violating privacy and allowing trolls to drop into people's chats in a practice called "zoombombing."
Super Bowl 56 will occur this Sunday between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. NFL's biggest event of the year is a television phenomenon that goes beyond just sports, be it million-dollar-commercials, the half-time concert or just an excuse to chow down on chicken wings. It used to be that the only way to watch was to either have a cable or satellite subscription, or venture out to your local sports bar. Fortunately, you now have a plethora of viewing options, including ways to stream.Where and when?Super Bowl 2022 will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on February 13th. The kick-off time is set for 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT. It'll be televised on NBC as well as Telemundo in Spanish.How to watch with cable or satellite TVObviously, if you subscribe to either cable or satellite, you'll have no problem watching the Super Bowl this Sunday on your TV. This is good news if you'd rather not bother with signing up for a service online, or if you have a spotty internet connection.How to stream the Super BowlCord-cutters have plenty of ways to watch the big game this Sunday. One of them is through a live TV streaming service, as long as it carries NBC. Thankfully, a lot of them do. YouTube TV ($65/month), Hulu with Live TV ($65/month), DirecTV Stream ($70-plus/month), Sling TV ($35-plus/month) and Fubo TV ($65-plus/month) all include NBC. If you don't currently subscribe to any of these services and want to watch the game for free, you can sign up to one for a seven-day free trial period just to watch the game, and then cancel afterward. The exception is DirecTV Stream, which doesn’t offer free trials.Alternatively, you can also watch the game through Peacock’s Premium ($5/month) or Premium Plus tier ($10/month). You can also catch it on the NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com, but only if you’re already a subscriber through other means. The aforementioned services and apps are available through your phone or streaming devices such as Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV or Google TV.If you don't have pay-TV or a streaming serviceWhat if you don’t want to sign up for pay TV or a streaming service? Your options are unfortunately quite limited. You can either watch the game through the NFL Mobile app or the Yahoo Sports app. Of course, you could also use an indoor antenna with your TV to simply watch the free over-the-air broadcast.International viewers can use NFL's international game pass streaming service, which has a seven-day free trial. If you’d rather not go through that, however, check out this guide from the NFL to see if your country has a local Super Bowl broadcast partner.What about 4K?In 2020, Fox made history by broadcasting the Super Bowl in 4K and HDR for the first time (it was still shot in 1080p and HDR, but was upscaled to 4K in the broadcast). However, that is not an option this year. A spokesperson for NBC said that “The game will not be in 4K.” It did not give an official reason why.
US Senators urge the CIA to inform the public on a mass surveillance action, Arm and Nvidia call off acquisition, and Apple announces Tap to Pay feature for iPhones. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines for $3 a month here. A special thanks to all our supporters–withoutContinue reading "Week in Review for the Week of 2/7/22 – DTH"
Amazon's warehouse workers won't be required to wear masks in the workplace anymore, so long as they're fully vaccinated. According to The Wall Street Journal, the e-commerce giant told workers in a memo that it has eased its mask requirements due to the "sharp decline in COVID-19 cases across the country over the past weeks." It also mentioned the increasing vaccination rates in the US as "a positive sign" of its return "to normal operations."The company required all workers to wear masks again in December following a spike of COVID cases in the US caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. That came half a year after it allowed fully vaccinated individuals to unmask while working, which some workers saw as a premature move. Amazon made its decision in the same week some states started rolling back their mask mandates and other pandemic restrictions. Walmart has dropped its mask rule for vaccinated workers at the same time. In addition to easing its mask mandate, Amazon is also ending paid leave for workers who contract COVID-19 if they're not vaccinated. Workers must be done with their second jab by March 18th to be qualified for paid leave. How workers feel about this change in rules remains to be seen, but Amazon has a history of clashing with its employees when it comes to COVID-related guidelines. In 2020, workers at its Staten Island warehouse sued the company, accusing it of failing to follow guidelines stated by the CDC and the government of New York. Then in 2021, Amazon agreed to pay $500,000 after the California attorney general found that it concealed its true COVID-19 case numbers from workers.
Linux malware, solar storm destroys Starlink satellites, Buildings IOT CEO on smart buildings. After lying low, SSH botnet mushrooms and is harder than ever to take down Linux malware on the rise Four fast chargers every 50 miles - US unveils EV infrastructure plan Fusion race kicked into high gear by smart tech More than 40 Starlink satellites have been lost after a geomagnetic storm Buildings IOT CEO Brian Turner talks about the smart building industry Hosts: Louis Maresca, Brian Chee, and Curt Franklin Guest: Brian Turner Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-enterprise-tech. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:itpro.tv/enterprise use code ENTERPRISE30 nureva.com linode.com/twiet
US Senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich requested the CIA declassify a surveillance program to see how the records of US citizens were handled in the surveillance program believing the program is operating “outside the statutory framework.” MoviePass is back in the subscription movie tickets game and we examine their updated business case. And weContinue reading "MoviePass: The Sequel – DTNS 4211"
Have you ever typed out an NSFW word (or two or five) on Wordle in a fit of frustration? Well, it’s time for you to get your verbal recall skills out of the gutter. The New York Times has yanked a handful of gendered slurs from Wordle’s internal dictionary, reported Polygon on Friday. The words “bitch”, “whore” and “sluts” have been removed from the game’s word list.In other words, (no pun intended) typing out any one of these terms will have the same effect as if you type out a string of random letters like “asjfk” or “jkjkj”: a grey box will appear with the phrase “not in word list” — and you’ll feel dumb. And for what it's worth, none of these expunged words have been solutions to prior Wordle puzzles, and there's not much reason to believe they ever would have been in the future.Not every profane term or curse word has been scrubbed off Wordle’s list as of yet. According to Engadget's research, a number of slang terms for genitalia as well as some run-of-the-mill curses still pass muster. But given the Grey Lady’s avoidance of bad language in both its news coverage and crosswords, it may just be a matter of time. One thing that is certain, however, is this: you’ll never see a winning word in TheNew York Times version of Wordle that you couldn’t use in front of your grandmother. “Offensive words will always be omitted from consideration,” a Times spokesperson told Polygon.The viral game created by developer Josh Wardle for his partner was purchased by the Times for a seven-figure amount late last month. Wordle just migrated to the Time’s website yesterday, and there have been a couple of hiccups. Some have noticed that their Wordle game statistics haven’t automatically transferred over, as the Times promised. Other people have opinions on the new, NYT-like game interface and the likelihood that the game may soon be under the newspaper’s paywall (though it remains free for now).If you’re a naturally vulgar-minded person, don’t despair. There’s always Lewdle, Wordle’s X-rated cousin.
Amazon has shared more details of how it will integrate Comixology into its other services. The internet giant has posted an updated FAQ explaining key parts of the transition, including some timelines. Most notably, Comixology will no longer fulfill pre-orders for comic books released February 17th or later — you'll have to cancel them and re-order through Amazon. In that sense, the transition is clearly underway.The primer also makes clear that series subscriptions will only be available through Amazon, and that a "small number" of series won't carry over. You'll be told if a favorite can't make the transition. Amazon also provides the usual tips, such as prepping for the new Comixology app (in short: merge your accounts) and shopping in Amazon's comics-focused section. As Amazon previously said, the existing Comixology app and web store will phase out sometime after the new portal arrives.The timing in the FAQ lines up with Amazon's (delayed) early 2022 target for integration. The Comixology you once knew is going away very shortly, whether you like it or not. It's mainly a question of whether or not the name will survive for much longer.
Expect a big shake-up to Warzone in tandem with the next Call of Duty game. Activision has shared early details of its Call of Duty releases for 2022, and it's promising a "massive evolution" of Warzone designed in sync with the core CoD title. They'll both sport a new game engine, and Warzone will include both an "all-new playspace" and a familiar-sounding sandbox mode. The main game, meanwhile, is a sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare reboot.Infinity Ward is leading development of both the new Call of Duty and Warzone. That's not surprising when the studio handled both the Modern Warfare revival and the current Warzone. It's not clear to what degree series veterans Raven, Sledgehammer or Treyarch will be involved, but they certainly won't take a leading role. Sledgehammer was responsible for 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard, while Raven and Treyarch worked on 2020's Black Ops Cold War.The teaser may be welcome if you're eager to see a franchise refresh. Even so, it's coming at a less-than-ideal moment for Activision. Raven staff have been pushing for unionization, and Microsoft's purchase of Activision briefly raised questions about the future of Call of Duty on PlayStation. That's not including the effects of the ongoing misconduct scandal at the publisher. Like it or not, the corporate turmoil might overshadowing the Call of Duty team's efforts at moments like this.
Netflix is making a docuseries about one of the worst rappers of all time. Coincidentally, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, were charged this week with conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin, which was stolen in the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex.At the time of the theft, the stolen cryptocurrency was worth around $63.7 million. Now, it's worth over $5 billion. Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly laundered around 25,000 bitcoin, which is worth $1.08 billion today, by using phony identities and various accounts to buy gold and NFTs. If they're convicted, Lichtenstein and Morgan face up to 25 years in prison.Following search warrants, special agents obtained access to an account controlled by Lichtenstein. It contained the keys to a wallet that held more than 94,000 bitcoin that was stolen from Bitfinex. The special agents seized that digital currency, which was worth over $3.6 billion earlier this week.It was the Department of Justice's largest financial seizure ever. Netflix echoed that sentiment in its announcement, calling it “the biggest financial crime case in history.”The streaming service, which has put the project in motion in near record time, has tapped Chris Smith to direct the docuseries. Smith has worked on several projects based on high-profile scams and crimes. He directed a Netflix documentary about the infamous Fyre Festival, as well as a docuseries about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Both are compelling watches and it's not hard to imagine Smith being able to spin another fascinating true-crime yarn out of this particular case.
Like millions of other people, I’ve been enthralled by Drive to Survive on Netflix which means I’m also newly obsessed with the world of Formula 1. I’m all in. I have the calendar reminders set. I watch all the practices if work permits. It has really become a thing, which means that since the season ended, there was a massive void in my sports viewing – save for the archive of F2 races on ESPN+. But watching a backlog of races is only so exciting when you’ve been following the sport and already know Oscar Piastri ran away with the title.Enter Formula E, the all-electric racing series that began in 2014 and is governed by the FIA, the same body that oversees F1. The first two rounds took place at the end of January in Saudi Arabia, offering two full E-Prix races in one weekend. I had never watched Formula E before that weekend, but I was so starved for racing I gave it a shot. Turns out, I’ve been missing a unique racing series full of entertaining quirks.It’s a bit weirdYou expect the cars to be different internally due to their electric power sources, but the overall design is also unique. Formula E got rid of the traditional rear wing in 2018, opting instead for a split-wing construction. These cars also have front wheel fairings that reduce drag and turbulence that comes off the front tires. The combination of those two elements alone give Formula E cars a much different aesthetic than those in F1.Qualifying is quite different in this series, too. Starting this season, there’s a Group stage with two sets of 11 drivers, ranked in order of the current Drivers' World Championship position. They attempt to set the fastest lap time in a 10-minute session. The four fastest drivers from each group move on to the Duels stage. Here, eight drivers go head-to-head in a knockout style bracket with the winners progressing until one is left.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe winner is awarded pole position, with the runner-up starting second, semi-finalists in third/fourth and the quarter finalists in fifth/sixth. Higher position goes to the faster lap time in those rounds. Remaining drivers from the polesitters group then fill in the odd positions on the grid and those from the other set start in the even spots. It sounds overly complicated, but the head-to-head matchups were fun to watch in Diriyah.Then there’s a thing called Attack Mode, which has to have been designed by a gamer. During each race, a driver has to hit a certain area on the track that activates an additional 25 kW of power for a specified amount of time. That duration, as well as how many times the cars have to hit that spot during the E-Prix, are determined at each event. The catch is the Attack Mode area is out of the main racing line, so if someone is right on you, you may have to give up track position in order to fulfill your obligation. Plus, there’s a color changing ring around the halo on each car, so viewers know who has Attack Mode active.Another interesting element is Fanboost. Here, viewers can have a direct impact on the race by voting for their favorite driver on social media. Voting starts a few days before the E-Prix and closes 15 minutes after the start. The top five drivers receive a five-second power boost that can be used during the second half of the race.Races are quickA friend of mine has a theory about European sports, and I think he’s spot on. You can watch an event, but individually they aren’t so long that one dominates the day (unless you watch several, of course). A soccer match is over in less than two hours, and Formula 1 races are about the same. Juxtapose that with the typical three-hour or longer NFL game or MLB matchup and you quickly see that folks in Europe are onto something.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesFormula 1 races have a time limit because the cars can’t be refueled during a race. Ditto for Formula E: the cars have a finite amount of power and when it’s gone, you can’t exactly charge them up during a pit stop. For that reason, the electrified series races, or E-Prix, are limited to 45 minutes. There’s no set number of laps, just a countdown clock that keeps teams abreast of how much time is left. Once that period is up, there’s one additional lap to the finish. Starting this season, officials can now add up to 10 additional minutes in the event of a safety car or full-course yellow during the main racing window.U-S-A! U-S-A!Unlike the current lineup of F1 drivers, there’s an American running in Formula E. New to the Avalanche Andretti team this season, Oliver Askew brings his IndyCar experience to the E-Prix circuits. When it comes to Americans within sniffing distance of an F1 car, Askew and Logan Sargeant, who currently races in F2 with Carlin, are the closest.Who knows if I’ll keep up my new Formula E habit once F1 returns in March. There’s only one more E-Prix before a long break until April, and it’s this weekend in Mexico City. At the very least, I could see Formula E filling the void when there’s an off week between Grand Prix, which is exactly what it has done to get me through the final stages of the F1 offseason.
A few months back, Blade Runner director Ridley Scott said a live-action series set in that universe is in the works. The project looks to be a step closer to reality, as Amazon Studios has reportedly put it in development. Amazon's TV and film production arm is said to be fast tracking scripts and looking at possible production dates.The show is called Blade Runner 2099, according to both Deadline and Variety. While no details about the plot have been revealed as yet, the title suggests the show will be set 50 years after Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Scott's original film.Scott is said to be an executive producer and may direct some episodes if the series gets the green light. Silka Luisa, who wrote the upcoming Apple TV+ time-travel thriller series Shining Girls, is reportedly onboard as a writer and executive producer.It's still early days for Blade Runner 2099, but the smart money is on Amazon bringing the series to Prime Video. The streaming service has a decent track record when it comes to sci-fi, with shows like The Expanse under its belt. Like Blade Runner, Amazon anthology series Electric Dreams is based on the works of sci-fi author Philip K. Dick.Another show set in the Blade Runner universe, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, debuted on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll last year, though that's an anime series rather than a live-action project.
Disney's Netflix collaboration effectively ended years ago, but now the shows themselves are going away... for the moment, at least. As What's on Netflixnoticed, Netflix is warning viewers that Marvel's originals for the service will disappear on March 1st. If you haven't caught up on shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Punisher, you'd better act quickly.Engadget has confirmed the shows are leaving Netflix now that the Marvel licensing has expired. The alerts (shown below) only seem to appear if you first watch a show on a given profile, and only on some devices. You don't currently see them when browsing the titles or using the mobile app.Billy Steele/EngadgetIt's not certain if or when the shows will return on a Disney-owned service. The withdrawal isn't exactly a shock, mind you. Disney signalled in 2017 that it would shun Netflix in favor of what would become Disney+, and the last shows were cancelled in 2019. Disney wants Marvel as a draw for its in-house services, and leaving originals on Netflix certainly wouldn't help achieve that goal.Just where they're headed, if at all, is another story. The Netflix originals were notable as "adult" shows that didn't hold back on language or violence. That's somewhat out of line with the overall PG focus of Disney+ and suggests they might go to Hulu (the home of off-kilter shows like MODOK) instead. Whatever happens, this isn't the end for the superheroes. Characters from the shows made appearances in Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it wouldn't be surprising to see more of the ex-Netflix crew in future productions.
Toyota is plowing more money into EV production in the US. Just a few months after the automaker announced a $240 million investment in its West Virginia plant, it's pumping another $73 million into the facility.The company says this will boost hybrid transaxle production capacity to 600,000 units per year. Workers at the plant will also start making around 120,000 rear motor stators annually to bolster production of electric motors. The plant can currently roll 1 million transmissions and engines off the production line per year. Following the latest investment, Toyota will have put over $2 billion into the plant.Meanwhile, a separate $17 million investment will enable Toyota's Tennessee plant to make approximately 300,000 more hybrid transaxle cases and housings per year (the current capacity is around 1 million). The factory's workers also manufacture around 1.8 million engine blocks a year. The company says these parts are essential for all the Toyota and Lexus EVs it assembles in North America. This brings the automaker's total investment in the plant so far to $389 million.Toyota is on a mission to offer electrified options across its entire lineup, as well as for Lexus vehicles, by 2025 and to release 30 EV models by 2030. Investing more heavily in EV production will help it reach those goals. Increasing EV battery production is important too, and the company recently announced plans to build a $1.29 billion battery plant in North Carolina.
A declassified partially-redacted letter from two US Senators urge the CIA to inform the public on a mass surveillance action, AMD cleared to acquire Xilinx after 16 months, and Wordle’s migration to the New York Times causes issues for stats. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE. You can get an ad-free feed of Daily Tech Headlines forContinue reading "US Senators Send Letter To CIA On Mass Surveillance Action – DTH"
The James Webb Space Telescope has finally captured its first image of a star — or rather, images. NASA has shared a mosaic of pictures (shown above) of a star taken using the primary mirror's 18 segments. It looks like a seemingly random collection of blurry dots, but that's precisely what the mission team was expecting. The imagery will help scientists finish the lengthy mirror alignment process using the telescope's Near Infrared Camera, or NIRCam. The first phase is nearly complete as of this writing.The visuals came from a 25-hour effort that pointed the James Webb Space Telescope to 156 different positions and produced 1,560 images with the NIRCam's sensors. The team created the mosaic using the signature of each mirror segment in a single frame. Visual artifacts come from using the infrared camera at temperatures well above the frigid conditions the telescope will need for scientific observation. And what you see here isn't the entirety of the mosaic — the full-resolution snapshot is over two gigapixels.NASANASA also provided a rare real-world glimpse at the JWST in action. The agency provided a "selfie" of the primary mirror (middle) created by a pupil imaging lens from the NIRCam. This too is blurry, but it offers a valuable look at the fully deployed mirror and helps explain the importance of alignment. Notice how just one segment is brightly lit by a star? It's the only one aligned with that celestial body — it will take a while before all segments are operating in concert.Researchers expect the first scientifically useful images from JWST in the summer. It's reasonable to presume those pictures will be considerably more exciting, especially as they start providing glimpses of the early universe. Still, what you see here demonstrates the telescope's health and suggests there won't be much trouble in the months ahead.
Many of Amazon's gadgets went on sale at the start of this week and continue to be discounted today. Key among them are both new Kindle Paperwhites — the standard version and the Signature Edition — along with the second-generation Echo Show 8 and the Fire TV Cube. On top of that, Apple's AirPods Pro are on sale for $175 and the 2021 Apple TV 4K remains discounted to $160. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Kindle Paperwhite Signature EditionNathan Ingraham / EngadgetThe Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is on sale for $145, which is an all-time low. We called this the best e-reader available right now and it earned a score of 97 for its bigger, more responsive screen, USB-C charging, wireless charging support and automatic brightness and warm-light settings. The standard Kindle Paperwhite is also on sale for $110, or 21 percent off its normal price.Buy Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition at Amazon - $145Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon - $110AirPods ProBilly Steele / EngadgetThe AirPods Pro are down to $175 right now, or 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 87 for their solid sound quality, strong ANC and more comfortable fit.Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $1752021 Apple TV 4KDevindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe latest Apple TV 4K is on sale for $160, or $20 off its normal price. While the 2021 version isn't drastically different from the previous model, its new Siri remote is a big selling point. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, HomeKit integration and the easy of use that comes with the improved Siri remote.Buy 2021 Apple TV 4K at Amazon - $160Google Nest ThermostatGoogleGoogle's Nest Thermostat is down to $99 right now, and the device with a trim kit will set you back $114. This version has a mirrored display and a touch-sensitive edge, and it can be controlled with the Google Home app. It also has features like Savings Finder, which suggests ways you can tweak your home system to conserve energy.Buy Nest Thermostat at Amazon - $99Buy Nest Thermostat + trim kit at Amazon - $1143-for-2 video game saleMinecraftThe latest 3-for-2 sale on Amazon includes a number of Nintendo Switch and PlayStation games, so now's a good time to pick up a few while you can get one for free. Some of the best games of the bunch include Shin Megami Tensei V, Minecraft, Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.Shop 3-for-2 sale at AmazonNintendo SwitchEngadgetPrime members can get $20 off the Nintendo Switch at Woot right now. While the discount isn't on the OLED model, it's a good sale on a console that rarely sees sales like this. Just make sure to check out Woot's return policy before buying.Buy Nintendo Switch at Woot - $280Echo Show 8 (2nd gen)Nicole Lee / EngadgetThe latest Echo Show 8 is on sale for $90, which is 31 percent off and an all-time-low price. We gave the mid-sized smart display a score of 87 for its lovely screen, solid sound quality and minimalist design.Buy Echo Show 8 at Amazon - $90Fire tabletsValentina Palladino / EngadgetMost of Amazon's Fire tablets are up to 50 percent off right now, making it a good time to pick one up for yourself or your kids. The Fire HD 8 is half off and down to $45, or you can spring for the larger, more powerful Fire HD 10 and spend $110. All of the Fire Kids Pro bundles have been discounted too, so you can get one for as low as $50.Buy Fire HD 8 at Amazon - $45Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon - $110Buy Fire 7 Kids Pro at Amazon - $50Blink camerasAmazonBlink home security cameras are up to 30 percent off, meaning you can get a one-camera Blink Outdoor kit for $70. In addition to being weatherproof, these cams are wireless and support 1080p video, night vision two-way audio and motion alerts. The wired Blink Mini is also on sale and down to only $25.Buy Blink Outdoor at Amazon - $70Buy Blink Mini at Amazon - $25Fire TV CubeNicole Lee / EngadgetAmazon's Fire TV Cube is down to a new record low of $70, which is 42 percent off its normal price. Despite being a few years old, it remains the most powerful streaming device in Amazon's lineup. We gave it a score of 84 for its speedy performance, ease of handling voice commands and support for HDR+ and Dolby Vision content.Buy Fire TV Cube at Amazon - $70Amazon smart thermostatAmazonAmazon's smart thermostat has returned to $48, an all-time-low price that we last saw during the holiday shopping season. It's a budget-friendly alternative to devices like the Nest Thermostat and it supports voice commands with Alexa (provided you have an Alexa-enabled device in your home, or use the Alexa app) and lets you set schedules and control your home's temperature from anywhere.Buy smart thermostat at Amazon - $48Chromecast with Google TVGoogleGoogle's Chromecast with Google TV is $10 off right now, bringing it down to $40. We gave the streaming device a score of 86 for its support for 4K, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content, handy remote control and good execution of Google Assistant commands.Buy Chromecast with Google TV at Best Buy - $40New tech dealsBeats Studio BudsThe Beats Studio Buds are $30 off and down to $120 — not a record low, but a decent sale for this time of year. We gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, comfortable fit and quick-pairing with both iOS and Android devices.Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon - $120Apple MagSafe battery packApple's magnetic battery pack for iPhones is down to $88, which is 11 percent off its normal price. We have seen it cheaper in the past, but this is the best price we've seen since December. The accessory attaches magnetically to the back of the latest iPhones and provides up to 15W of wireless charging.Buy MagSafe battery pack at Amazon - $8821.5-inch Lenovo Smart Digital Picture FrameThis large smart picture frame from Lenovo is half off and down to $200. In addition to showcasing your favorite photos, the frame uses AI to make collages of your images and the built-in ambient light sensor adjusts the screen's brightness according to the light in the room.Buy 21.5-inch Lenovo Smart Frame at Amazon - $200Alo MovesThe on-demand fitness service Alo Moves has an offer few new members that knocks 50 percent off the price of a one-year membership, bringing it down to $99. The platform has dozens of yoga, pilates, barre and strength training classes, along with guided meditations and series that help you master specific skills over the course of longer periods of time.Subscribe to Alo Moves (1 year) - $99Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Google is facing more antitrust pressure in the EU over its advertising tech. Reutersreports the European Publishers Council (EPC) has filed an EU complaint against Google alleging the company has an illegal "stranglehold" on ad tech and the press. The Internet giant's ad suite is claimed to be "rife with conflicts of interests" as it not only represents the buyer, seller and auction house, but supposedly exploits that control to profit at the expense of its customers.Council Chairman Christian Van Thillo saw the complaint as prompting the EU to take action where it was otherwise reluctant. The move should make Google "actually change" its behavior after years of "minor commitments" that don't provide any substantial impact, Van Thillo said. The EPC pointed to antitrust cases in multiple countries to support its case, including a multi-state US lawsuit.The EU began its newest probe into Google's ad business in June 2021. It shares the EPC's general concerns about potential abuse. It didn't set a deadline for the investigation, however, and has already fined Google three times over its ad practices. Antitrust hunts like these can take years to wind down, and the complaint theoretically accelerates the process.In a statement, Google argued companies enjoyed its ad tech but didn't address the unfair competition issues. Publishers keep the "majority of revenue," which climbs to "billions" of US dollars, a representative said.There's no certainty the EPC complaint will prompt the EU to demand significant changes to Google's ad policies. It might ramp up the pressure on Google to act, however, even if it's just to minimize any potential penalties.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeEvery Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. This week’s episode covers these big tech stories: Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Unpacked event, the latest updates in tech regulation and antitrust policy, and the various troubles at Peloton this week.
Verge editor Chris Welch joins Nilay, Dieter, and Verge managing editor Alex Cranz to discuss his hands-on experience using Samsung’s new phones — the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus — and the rebranding of Samsung’s Note line. Senior reporter Adi Robertson also joins the show to explain this week in antitrust policy: the Open App Markets Act passing through the Senate Judiciary Committee, Microsoft following up with its own open app store rules, and what this could mean for the future of side-loading apps. And for her first appearance on The Vergecast, wearables reporter Victoria Song explains what is going on at Peloton this week — from CEO John Foley stepping down, the firing of 2,800 employees, and its financial troubles that led to speculation of acquisition. You can listen to the full discussion of all these topics here or in your preferred podcast player. All the stories discussed in this episode: Everything announced at Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Unpacked event Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra is a Note successor with a built-in stylus Samsung’s Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus put improved cameras and performance in a samey design Samsung phones will get an extra year of Android updates versus Google’s Pixel Samsung’s new tablets go bigger than ever Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 will track your sleep with cartoon animals Microsoft announces open app store rules to prove it’s okay with new laws Microsoft hints it will open up Xbox store, changing its entire business model Microsoft says it will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation ‘beyond the existing agreement’ Everything you need to know about the bill that could blow up the app store Nvidia’s huge Arm deal has just been scrapped WarnerMedia and Discovery get US government approval to create their new media giant Anti-exploitation bill advances in Senate despite free speech concerns What on Earth is going on with Peloton? Peloton fired 2,800 employees and gave them free Peloton memberships Fired Peloton employees crash new CEO’s first all-hands Mazda head units are getting bricked by a local NPR station in Seattle Twitter finally agrees that 1x is not the only speed for watching a video Is ‘realityOS’ Apple’s newest operating system? Sports streaming is busted — the Super Bowl likely won’t be any different Apple’s Tap to Pay feature lets newer iPhones accept contactless payments
Tailoring is fancy, sufficiently fancy that you may go your entire life and never once experience the art. It’s expensive, having garments custom-made to suit your body shape, even if there are a legion of benefits in doing so. Mass-produced clothes, meanwhile, are never going to do the job if you’ve got a body that diverges from what’s expected or treated as “normal.”There are two real problems: Measurement, and manufacturing, issues that the fashion industry is wrestling with right now. A Taiwanese company, TG3D, has at least discovered a way to solve the first part of the equation with little more than an iPhone. It has developed a method of using FaceID to scan the geography of your body to give you a suite of measurements in minutes.I first encountered TG3D back in 2018, when the company was showing off its wares at Computex in Taipei. The system then required you to step into a booth the size of a changing room, which housed pillars full of infrared cameras. When activated, the system would scan your body and help you determine the ideal sizes for trying on clothes.Since then, the company has been working to shrink this technology down to something that requires a lot less investment. Any FaceID-equipped iPhone can now offer a similar, albeit less accurate, scanning solution, enabling users to test sizes for off-the-peg clothes. Co-founder Rick Yu explained that the project was designed for ready-to-wear fashion, to “solve [the issue of] huge returns.”Returns are, after all, a key problem for e-commerce fashion brands, since buyers can’t be sure that their preferred size will actually fit them. “A lot of consumers buy three different sizes and return the other two,” which is bad for both the planet and most retailers’ bottom lines. If you know ahead of time what you need to order, the wastage and expense should decrease.I tested the system and found that, much like it did in 2018, it reminded me how much timber I need to drop from my waistline. All you need to do, however, is stand your phone up on a flat surface – and it does need to be perfectly flat, so grab a book or some sticky tack. Then, just stand in view of the camera, ideally just in your underwear and, when ready, start turning around on the spot with your arms away from your sides. All in all, the scanning process takes less than a minute, and the analysis only takes a further two or three.Once you’ve previewed your avatar to check it is more or less in the right shape, you can then send it off to the cloud to be properly analyzed. You may notice that, in use, your face, hands and feet are replaced with something blank and generic. This, says Yu, was an intentional move to protect user privacy given that you’ll be partially-clothed during the scanning process.The data produced by FaceID isn’t, by itself, accurate enough to produce a fully-measured avatar, however. Once captured, it’s sent to TG3D’s server to be analyzed, “we have an AI engine that identifies the landmarks,” explained Yu. “We identify the landmarks, we position the landmarks and then based on [that], we extract up to 250 measurements automatically,” he said.Daniel Cooper / TG3DMuch of this data, and the conclusions generated from it, have been curated through years of interviews with tailors and pattern makers. “These measurements that make sense to them,” said Yu, when I asked for an explanation for some of the more arcane terminology. Yu explained that the margin of error using the iPhone system is, at most, 1.3 inches.Yu also explained that the data can be exported in a variety of formats, so as well as being used for tailoring, there are other solutions in play. For instance, an avatar file could be exported in a .OBJ file which can be used for 3D modeling and sculpting. And, naturally, it’s also possible to capture this data and create an avatar for any potential metaverse that could require it.TG3D’s solution isn’t the only thing on the market, and plenty of other companies are operating in this space looking for a magic bullet. Shopify, for instance, was recently granted a patent for a body-measuring concept to help folks choose garments. Amazon’s Echo Look had a fairly rudimentary system to judge a fit based on how well it flattered your body. MTailor offers a scanning service by analyzing a video clip its users upload for similar results.All of this is going to be vital in order to help reduce fashion’s already problematic waste problem. The industry reportedly consumes 10 percent of the world’s total greenhouse emissions and 20 percent of its water. That’s both down to sourcing and manufacturing through the waste involved in the buying and returns process when it reaches our homes.But the consequences of this overproduction and overconsumption are piling up. One fairly pernicious example is blighting the Atacama desert in Chile. Garments made in South Asia will first be sold in Europe and the US, before the unsold sock is sent to South America for resale. Anything that remains unsold is dumped in huge piles, left to rot in the daylight with the price tags still on. This isn’t the only example of this, however, and there are toxic waste piles piling high in Ghana right now.Measurements are only half the problem, and manufacturing still remains a huge issue with the industry today. Attempts by companies to automate this process have not been successful – Adidas’ Speedfactory concept, for instance, was abandoned back in 2019.Yu, whose technology has most prominently been used by H&M in its flagship Stockholm store to create custom jeans with partner Unspun, also waxed lyrical about the future of fashion. He showed me the concept of an online retailer that was entirely virtual. A user can plug their body scan into the outfits on screen and get instant previews of how they would look in them. But this could happen before the garment is even made, ensuring that only what’s good gets produced.For now, I can be confident that my iPhone, at least, knows my inside leg measurement. The next step is for every fashion brand to work out how to stop my thighs rubbing the seat of my jeans to dust.
While we saw Amazon's new smart thermostat go on sale earlier this week, now you can get the more advanced Google Nest Thermostat for less, too. The smart home gadget is down to $99 at Amazon right now, which is 24 percent off its normal price and close to its all-time low. All colors have been discounted and you can get the device with a trim kit for only $114, or 21 percent less than usual.Buy Nest Thermostat at Amazon - $99Buy Nest Thermostat + trim kit at Amazon - $114Normally $130, the Energy Star-certified Nest Thermostat came out in 2020 as an affordable alternative to Google's Nest Learning Thermostat. The standard model doesn't have the luxury materials or the hi-res display that the Learning model does, but the biggest selling points remain the same. A device like the Nest Thermostat can help you save on energy costs by optimizing the temperature in your home. Google's device has a feature called Savings Finder that learns about your home system and offers suggestions to conserve energy. You can also set your own schedule so you can, for example, keep your home warmer when you're there and cooler when you're out.You can control the Nest Thermostat through the Google Home app, making it easy to make adjustments on the fly and even when you're away from home. The device also works with the Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, so you can control it with your voice, too. Depending on your style, you may prefer the look of the Nest Thermostat to that of its Learning cousin, too. It's slimmer with a mirrored display and it has a touch-sensitive edge that you can use to adjust temperatures manually. Amazon's sale is one to consider if you've been itching to make your home a bit smarter without spending too much money.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Google+ shuffled off this mortal coil to the great app graveyard back in 2019 — right? Well, not quite. As a reminder, its corpse was reanimated as Google Currents, designed strictly for paying G Suite customers. Now, Google Workspaces announced that it has killed that app off too, marking the final end of Google's social network or whatever G+ was, Ars Technica reported. Google said that the introduction of the Spaces group chat app last year negated the need for Currents, so it plans to wind it down starting in 2023. Before it does that, however, it will add new capabilities to Spaces to accommodate some of Currents' social features. "These include support for larger communities and leadership communication, investments in advanced search, tools for content moderation, and more," Google said. As was the case with Google+, the usage and purpose of Currents was likely unclear to many users. That issue extends to Spaces, as well, unfortunately. As Google described it last year, Spaces is an evolution of Rooms but is a part of Google Chat that's designed for group messaging, much like Slack. Got it?What's also kind of funny is that Google recycled both the Spaces and Currents names: Currents was a news-style app that existed until 2013, and Google Spaces was a messaging app we saw for a short time in 2016. So one might say that Google+ was effectively killed twice, and Currents was also buried two times. Now, let's hope we never hear those names again.
Just hours after the end of Samsung's latest 'Unpacked' event and with the Galaxy S22 Ultra in hand, Dean Daley offers his initial impressions of the smartphone to Patrick O'Rourke and Brad Bennett.The pod squad then shifts the conversation to discussing the Galaxy S22/Galaxy S22+ and breaks down whether this year's lower-end S series smartphones are a notable upgrade over their predecessors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building in Washington, D.C, is helping visitors explore how technology can, and should, shape the world of tomorrow. Marketplace producer Sasha Fernandez takes a tour of the “Futures” exhibition.
Ant Pruitt checks out the new Joby Wavo Pro and Wavo Air microphones. Joby has been known for its Gorillapod tripods in the content creator space, but now has made a move for the audio space of content creators. Host: Ant Pruitt You can find more about TWiT and subscribe to our podcasts at https://podcasts.twit.tv/
Flo burned her tongue so bad, but that won't stop her from talking about her time with the Galaxy S22 Ultra. But before we get to Samsung's big week, Andy joins in Flo's griping about network TV. We also talk about the rest of the Galaxy S22 lineup and Samsung's new tablets and leave you with news of a neat Chrome feature.
Episode #534 of the SMRpodcast is online and ready for download. This week, Chris completely ignores Robb and Rod as they talk about Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra that they both pre-ordered. The details surrounding one of the suspects who allegedly tried to launder $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin linked […] The post The Tech Alligator: SMRpodcast 534 appeared first on SMRPodcast.
Ant Pruitt continues his discussion on video editing for beginners. On this episode of Hands-On Photography, Ant discusses color correcting your video footage using your favorite video editor. Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve, Vegas Pro and Final Cut Pro all offer great tools for color correcting video. Host: Ant Pruitt Find Hands-On Photography on your favorite podcatcher. https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-photography Follow Ant Pruitt on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ant_pruitt/ Follow TWiT on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/twit.tv/ Join the TWiT forums https://www.twit.community/ Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Florence Ion from Gizmodo walks through Samsung's Unpacked 2022 event and shows off the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Dan Moren from Six Colors details how Apple is changing AirTags in light of recent privacy concerns. Jason does an explainer of the EARN IT act, what it aims to achieve, and the collateral damage it's likely to incur. Mikah tells the story of the rapper ad the startup founder who were busted laundering $4.5 billion in Bitcoin. Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent Guests: Florence Ion and Dan Moren Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors:streak.com/tnw imperfectfoods.com promo code TNW betterhelp.com/tnw