Technology

After Meta abandoned its cryptocurrency project, dubbed Diem, earlier this year, selling the remaining technology assets worth $200 Million USD to Silvergate Capital, a report from Financial Times has now surfaced indicating that Facebook’s parent company is now exploring the creation of a new virtual currency nicknamed internally as “Zuck Bucks.” Early reports suggest the virtual tokens won’t be based on the blockchain, but instead be used within its own ecosystem as an in-app token similar to V-Bucks for Fortnite or Robux for Roblox. According to FT, the company is also experimenting with the idea of creating “social tokens” or “reputation tokens” to be used as rewards for its contributors. “Creator coins” have also been mentioned, which may be used in the future to help creators monetiz...

Panasonic is commemorating the Technics SL-1200‘s 50 years of service to music with the SL-1200M7L. According to reports, the Panasonic SL-1200M7L will be a limited edition version of Technics‘ MK7 — the company’s latest revamp of the classic turntable — with only 12,000 units available. Releasing in options of black, red, blue, white, green, yellow and beige, the turntable will feature an anodized tone arm and Technics slipmat and will be engraved with a serial number. The original Technics SL-1200 was released in October 1972 and has become a favorite gadget for DJs with its direct drive, high torque motor design. The turntable was discontinued in 2010 but was back in production in 2016. The Panasonic SL-1200M7L retails for $1,100 USD and will be available in retailers such as B&...

Last year, Apple unveiled its AirTag invention to help its customers keep track of their missing items. The wireless dollar-sized device can be attached to users’ keys, wallets, purses or even the car. Using Bluetooth technology, Apple is able to triangulate the data surrounding the chip to give the current location of the AirTag. In recent police records reviewed by Motherboard, security experts’ predictions have been proven correct. AirTags have been a major tool used by users to stalk and harass women. Vice reports that the data has seen one-third of 150 total police reports in the past eight months have mentioned AirTags as a root issue. Women reported to the police that they began receiving notifications that someone was tracking their whereabouts with an AirTag they did not own. Half...

Ledger has just released its Nano S Plus hardware wallet. The hard wallet for cryptocurrency has been updated with increased memory and a larger display. The Nano S Plus supports over 5,500 digital assets as well as NFTs for those looking for offline storage. This new release maintains the Nano’s compact design at just 21g and features brushed stainless steel matched with plastic. Connected through USB Type-C, this hard wallet is CC EAL5+ certified and is compatible with 64-bits desktop computers and smartphones Android 7+. Head over to Ledger to pick one up for $90 USD. In other tech news, Binance’s Changpeng Zhao is the wealthiest person in crypto. Read Full Article

Last week Sky Mavis, the Vietnam-based company behind the crypto game Axie Infinity, revealed that a hacker stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto from its blockchain. Sky Mavis realized it had been attacked when a user could not make a withdrawal six days after the breach, and the company froze transactions on its compromised Ronin Network bridge. Now Sky Mavis has announced it’s received $150 million in investments that “will be used to ensure that all users affected by the Ronin Validator Hack will be reimbursed.” At nearly the exact same time, it’s launching a new version of the game, Axie Infinity: Origin. According to Sky Mavis CEO Trung Nguyen, “As a team, we have made an intentional decision to focus on what lies ahead.” [embedded content] Other crypto companies that...

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been named cryptocurrency‘s wealthiest person. In the most recent Forbes billionaire report, the publication highlights that the CEO of Binance has an estimated net worth of $65 billion USD. The CEO, more commonly known as CZ, is a true success story, going from zero to $65 billion USD in under five years. CZ leaves Michael Dell and Charles Koch among 2,645 behind him in the billionaire dust. Binance has an estimated market valuation of $92.5 billion USD, with CZ’s stake being at least 70%. In the past, CZ has told Forbes that he owns around 30%, however sources close to the inner workings of the company have confirmed that his stake is considerably higher. Binance operates in over 180 different countries, but not without regulation challenges. At age 44, CZ ...

Uber has revealed plans of becoming a travel “superapp.” The San Francisco tech giant announced earlier this week that it hopes to expand its service offering to trains, buses, plans as well as car rentals, starting with the U.K. later this year. The plans indicate the company’s move towards becoming a one-stop shop for consumers when it comes to integrating travel services. Uber will not be providing these services themselves but will allow users to use the app to book them through Uber. The company hopes that this will broaden the usage of the app and drive more traffic. Being that the U.K. is the largest market for Uber outside of the U.S., it makes sense that Uber will launch the new plans there. CNBC obtained a quote from Uber U.K.’s Jamie Heywood stating, “You have been able to book ...

Apple reportedly will soon provide a new Face ID repair option for iPhone X that doesn’t involve replacing the whole device (via MacRumors). The option comes after Apple’s recent shift to soon provide a TrueDepth Camera service option that can fix the face unlock feature of the 2018 iPhone XS and newer models but didn’t previously include the 2017 iPhone X. Repairing just the Face ID component can be difficult since it’s a fairly complex system involving four components: a flood illuminator (a part of the display assembly, more on that later), dot projector, “TrueDepth” front camera, and IR camera. If any of these components malfunction, you could lose the face unlock feature and have to resort to entering a password. Apple’s old method of dealing with broken Face ID would be to swap the w...

Creators making money using Instagram Reels say their payouts have been slashed in recent weeks and target metrics for monetization have ballooned, according to the Financial Times. Payments are down as much as 70 percent per view and videos need millions more views for creators to get paid. The Reels Play Bonus Program, announced in July, offers financial rewards to creators who post on Reels, Instagram’s TikTok-style short-form video clone. Payouts ranged from $600 to as much as $35,000 if videos hit a target view count, but creators expressed confusion over how payments and goals were determined. The bonus program is part of a promise by Meta, which owns Instagram, to pay $1 billion to creators through 2022. Creators say changes in the payout system were not explained by the company. On...

Meta may have given up on its Diem cryptocurrency, but the company is still exploring finance products, according to a new Financial Times report. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram reportedly has a few irons in the fire, including virtual currency employees have apparently taken to calling “Zuck Bucks.” Zuck Bucks, seemingly named for Meta founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are “unlikely” to be a cryptocurrency. “Instead, Meta is leaning towards introducing in-app tokens that would be centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps such as the Robux currency in popular children’s game Roblox,” according to the FT. Roblox has built a huge business selling Robux, and Meta could try to emulate some of that success on its own platforms. Meta hasn’t...

Paramount is launching its NFT marketplace / metaverse / annoying marketing stunt that fans are already angry about with Star Trek non-fungible tokens (or NFTs.) The company partnered with Recur to create a platform called Paramount.xyz, which it says will “bring Paramount’s beloved entertainment entities, brands and characters to the metaverse.” Paramount is aping what’s worked for big NFT projects in the past; the Star Trek NFTs will depict “algorithmically-generated starships” and can be purchased at the low, low price of $250 per pack. Packs, by the way, contain a single ship — which only has around an 11 percent chance of looking like the Enterprise. You can (but absolutely should not) guarantee that you’ll get a cool ship by buying the “Admiral pack” instead of the “Captain pack,” bu...

Remedy Entertainment is remaking Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The company is establishing “a new development agreement” with Rockstar Games for the remakes, which will be released as a single title for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X / S. “We were thrilled when our long-time friends at Remedy approached us about remaking the original Max Payne games,” said Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser said in a press release. “We are massive fans of the work the Remedy team has created over the years, and we can’t wait to play these new versions.” New Max Payne 1&2 Project The game, which the press release refers to somewhat awkwardly as New Max Payne 1&2 Project, is “currently in the concept development stage.” No estimated release timeline was given. The remake’s budget will ...