Technology

One of the reasons Sony keeps making movies like Morbius — another Venom-like feature about a classic Spider-Man villain that doesn’t actually involve Spider-Man at all — is that, over in Marvel’s comics, many have led interesting lives outside of the time they’ve spent battling the quippiest Avenger. There is more to Michael Morbius than his run-ins with Peter Parker, and director Daniel Espinosa obviously wanted his new film to illustrate that fact. Unfortunately, most everything about Morbius, from its plot and pacing to its lead actors’ performances, feels ill-conceived. And the movie as a whole calls into question Sony’s grand project of building an entire cinematic universe on Spider-Man’s back. Morbius dives headfirst into the already-in-progress origin story of its titular ghoul, M...

Amazon’s Alexa has launched a new feature that will notify Prime customers up to 24 hours in advance about specific discounts, the company announced today. Amazon says the new feature is designed to help customers save money while saving time. The smart voice assistant will alert Prime members when eligible products in their wish list or shopping cart, or that they’ve marked “saved for later,” are on sale. Customers will then be able to ask Alexa to order the items when the deal is live or send a reminder. Amazon did not elaborate on exactly what it defines as an “eligible” item or if these deals will also include products sold by third parties. Only US Amazon Prime customers who own Echo smart speakers that are fourth generation or newer are able to take advantage of the new capability fo...

The 10 Pro is OnePlus all grown up. The days of a scrappy upstart challenger are gone — that much was clear with last year’s 9 and 9 Pro, with true flagship specs and prices to match. This year, OnePlus has sharpened its vision of a legitimate flagship phone to challenge the big brands, and the result is a sophisticated, sleek device. It’s not just a cheaper flagship; it’s a real alternative to Samsung and Google, with an identity all its own. That’s not to say that OnePlus has entirely closed the gap between itself and the big Android brands. The 10 Pro’s $899 price makes more sense than last year’s $1,069 9 Pro. (There was a less expensive version, but it never came to the US.) But at the same price, there are good reasons to consider the Pixel 6 Pro or the $999 Galaxy S22 Plus over the ...

The best robot vacuums are impressive devices that will clean your floors well without complaining (much). They’ve largely shaken off the category’s early reputation for running out of juice halfway through a job, missing large swaths of your floor, or losing a battle with a chair leg. Today’s robo vacs know when to go back to their base to recharge, and if they do get stuck, can call for help. Many models can also map your home using variations on a technology called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), so they won’t miss spots, plus you can tell them exactly where you want them to go and where not to bother. Thanks to Wi-Fi connectivity, they can be commanded by a smart voice assistant as well as an app. Some robots have even devised ways to prevent getting stuck on common robot...

Yesterday’s restock of PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles at Amazon left a lot to be desired, but today presents a new opportunity. Amazon is preparing for another drop of the $499.99 PlayStation 5 (the standard model with a disc drive) today, and it already has Xbox Series X consoles available for $499.99. If recent events tell us anything, the PS5 is going to sell out quickly once it goes live, and the Xbox may stick around for much longer, as it’s been regularly available at Walmart. Though once again, you need to subscribe to Amazon’s popular Prime service to even have a chance at a console. You have to act quickly, especially if you’re going for a PS5. Amazon’s site does not have the same level of bot protection and timed waiting queues as other retailers do. Be sure to log into y...

Microsoft is rebranding its Your Phone app to Phone Link and updating it with a Windows 11 design overhaul. Your Phone launched more than three years ago as a key way to link an Android phone to Windows and avoid picking up your device to check calls or notifications. Phone Link is naturally a better description for the app, and it has now been updated to match the Windows 11 design changes. Phone Link now places the notification panel upfront, and the notifications tab is now pinned to the left-hand side panel. Microsoft has also moved the Messages, Photos, Apps, and Calls sections into a navigation bar that sits at the top of Phone Link. The notifications section has also been cleaned up to make it easier to see the notifications that matter. The new Phone Link interface on Windows 11.Im...

A Twitter user from the UK named Joseph Kelly has been sentenced to 150 hours of community service for posting a “grossly offensive” tweet about Captain Sir Tom Moore, a British Army officer who raised money for the NHS during the pandemic. Moore became a national figure in the UK after walking 100 laps around his garden before his 100th birthday. He was later knighted by the Queen. The day after his death, Kelly, 36, tweeted “the only good Brit soldier is a deed one, burn auld fella buuuuurn.” Kelly was found guilty in February last year and faced possible jail time. His case brought attention to an often-criticized piece of UK legislation that allows social media users to be prosecuted for sending “grossly offensive” messages. As reported by The National, Kelly was sentenced on Wednesday...

Microsoft’s latest Xbox beta software reverses a potentially controversial change to how the console shares gameplay captures to Twitter. Rather than having to use a phone to post content to the social media network, as a previous Xbox Insider build forced users to do, the update restores the ability to share it directly from the console. The change was confirmed by Microsoft’s Brad Rossetti on Twitter. Being able to use your phone to share gameplay from the Xbox is a useful feature, and is handy if you want to quickly type out a tweet to accompany your latest clip. But it’s nice to also have the option to share it directly from the console itself, for those times when you might not have your phone to hand. Thankfully, Microsoft’s controversial change never left beta. 2/2 Part 2 Flight Pla...