Technology

While running on the Peloton Tread, I couldn’t help but think about how Peloton the company was spiraling out of control. Under my feet was this sleek, well-built treadmill. In front of me was a slick screen where a peppy instructor was encouraging me to dig deep to push it a little further. But even as I cranked up the speed, I couldn’t reconcile this excellent treadmill with the corporate disaster unfolding in my news feed. I’ve run on a lot of treadmills, but most don’t get as much coverage as the $2,495 Peloton Tread. Do you know when the treadmill at your local gym launched? Or even what brand it is? I don’t. And yet I know the Tread was supposed to launch in February 2021, got pushed back to May, and then got recalled alongside the more expensive Tread Plus before officially launchin...

Apple is now facing yet another lawsuit over the alleged monopolistic behavior regarding its App Store, this time with a roughly $6 billion USD claim attached. The latest filing was made in the Netherlands by the Dutch Consumer Competition Claims Foundation on behalf of all consumers, taking issue with the way Apple runs its App Store with what has been dubbed the “Apple tax” in recent times. While many developers such as Epic Games have fought against the tech giant over the issue in the past, the new case marks a new extension into the realm of consumer protection, with the Foundation claiming that the increased costs were ultimately passed onto App Store users. Claiming up to $6.1 billion USD in damages from Apple, the group is now asking consumers who have made purchases on the platfor...

While traditionally known for its top-of-the-line fans and vacuums, Dyson has ventured into a variety of new fields as of late, including lighting through its Lightcycle Morph series and haircare with its Airwrap Styler kits and powerful hairdryers. For its latest innovation, Dyson introduces its first wearable device that doubles as an air purifier and high-fidelity headphones. Dubbed the “Dyson Zone™,” the headpiece simultaneously delivers immersive sound through ANC over-ear headphones while directing purified air to the nose and mouth through a contact-free visor. The Dyson Zone™ was created by the Dyson team to tackle the common urban issues of air quality and noise pollution, citing unhealthy levels of air pollution in London and other global cities. Serving as a replac...

Google’s Chrome browser has been updated to version 100, almost 14 years after it introduced the world to its clean design and all-encompassing “omnibox” in 2008. For most of its history, the search giant’s browser has gained a new version number roughly every six weeks, but last year the company switched to a four-week cycle to deliver new features more quickly. Google says the version 100 update is rolling out on stable channels now across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. In my part of the world, turning 100 gets you a telegram from the Queen, but Chrome’s first triple-digit version has arrived with less in the way of fanfare, and more “fixes and improvements.” The biggest change is the arrival of a refreshed logo. The new design removes some of the shadowing detail from the 2014-e...

Billionaire Michael Saylor is doubling down on his commitment to Bitcoin with his latest move. The cryptocurrency advocate helms data analytics firm and largest corporate Bitcoin holder, MicroStrategy, which recently took on a $205 million USD loan to purchase more bitcoin. Forbes reports that earlier this week, the firm entered into an agreement with crypto-focused lender Silvergate Bank to use the cryptocurrency as collateral. The loan will be used to buy bitcoin as well as pay off loan expenses and for general corporate usage. The terms of the three-year loan required at least $410 million USD worth of bitcoin to be held in collateral. In a statement, Saylor explains the benefit of the loan and states that it gives MicroStrategy an opportunity to grow and “further [its] position” using ...

A judge has approved Activision Blizzard’s $18 million settlement with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The two organizations had announced the settlement in September, but it is now being signed after California state regulators had tried to intervene. Activision Blizzard has been under intense scrutiny since California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a harassment lawsuit in July alleging the company fostered a culture of “constant sexual harassment.” As part of the consent decree, Activision Blizzard will establish an $18 million settlement fund which will be used to compensate victims of harassment and discrimination. Employees who have worked at the company between September 1st, 2016 and Tuesday, March 29th, can submit a claim for “for se...

A major shift to electric vehicles and a clean power grid in the US could save tens of thousands of lives over the next few decades, according to a new report by the American Lung Association. The drop in pollution from tailpipes and power plants would prevent up to 110,000 premature deaths by 2050, the report projects. It would also avoid 2.78 million asthma attacks and 13.4 million lost workdays. All in all, that would amount to $1.2 trillion in public health benefits. That’s assuming all new passenger cars sold in the US are EVs by 2035 and all new heavy-duty vehicles sold are electric by 2040. What’s more, those vehicles would need to be powered by a fossil fuel-free grid. But replacing the vast majority of the nation’s roughly 280 million cars and trucks on the road with electric vehi...

Dyson is getting into headphones in the most Dyson way possible: the Zone, a pair of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones with air purification technology built in, thanks to a bizarre-looking magnetic face visor. It’s both the strangest and most ambitious product that the company has ever made. Today’s announcement is just an initial reveal of the Zone headphones ahead of a fall release date, and Dyson isn’t announcing specific details like price or specifications (including how much the headphones weigh or how long the battery will last) at this time. The goal of the Zone is to make living in urban spaces more comfortable by attempting to mitigate both air and noise pollution. No word on price yet The air purification half of the Zone doesn’t reinvent the wheel for Dyson. Instead, it min...

The National Football League is working on its own subscription streaming service for mobile devices, according to a report in The Athletic. The league is said to have briefed teams on the project at its annual meeting of owners, which has been held over the past few days in Palm Beach, Florida. The Athletic says that presentations included slides with “NFL+” branding and a hypothetical $5-a-month price point. The NFL Plus service would theoretically replace NFL Mobile, the NFL’s previous solution for distributing in-market games to phones and tablets. The NFL had a deal with Verizon and Yahoo to show some live games, but that partnership ended last year as the carrier spun off its content businesses. Verizon lost its mobile exclusivity in 2017. NFL fans in many regions outside the US alre...

Apple Stores and authorized service providers will no longer repair iPhones that have been reported as missing through the GSMA device registry, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. The company now requires repair technicians to deny users a repair if they’re notified of its missing status in the MobileGenius or GSX systems they use to service customers. The GSMA device registry is a database of device serial numbers with information about each device’s status. For example, if someone reports their phone as stolen to law enforcement, the authorities may flag the device through GSMA, which can help repair providers identify a device as missing if it ever comes into their shop. Apple’s new policy builds on its existing rules Apple’s new policy is designed to prevent its repai...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesday that Intuit’s “ubiquitous” advertising claiming its TurboTax tax prep software is free to use is misleading, and has asked a federal court to order Intuit to stop “disseminating the deceptive claim that consumers can file their taxes for free using TurboTax.” According to the commission, the ads “some of which have consisted almost entirely of the word ‘free’ spoken repeatedly” mislead people into believing they can file their taxes for free with TurboTax. “In fact, most tax filers can’t use the company’s ‘free’ service because it is not available to millions of taxpayers, such as those who get a 1099 form for work in the gig economy, or those who earn farm income.,” the agency said in a press release. The FTC said that in 2020, “approximatel...

Lionel Messi has signed a $20 million deal with Socios to become the fan token site’s global brand ambassador, according to a report from Reuters. Messi, who plays for the Paris-Saint Germain soccer club and captains Argentina’s national team, will promote the exchange for the next three years. A source close to the situation told Reuters that the transaction will not involve cryptocurrency. When Messi transferred from Barcelona to the Paris-Saint Germain club last August, ESPN says he received a “large number” of fan tokens from Socios as a part of his signing-on fee. Fan tokens are a type of cryptocurrency that most often represent different sports teams, and enable fans to have input on small decisions within their teams’ communities like squad numbers and celebration songs. Socios host...