Technology

Fresh from a Harry Potter-inspired collaboration, CASETiFY has teamed up with National Hockey League (NHL) for a limited-edition collection of tech accessories. Since its inception in 1917, the NHL has become renowned as the pinnacle of professional ice hockey all over the world and now, teaming up with serial collaborators CASETiFY, consumers can support their favorite team 24/7. iPhone case designs are inspired by the ice rink itself as well as customisable stadium entry tickets, alongside a plethora of logo-centric designs featuring the crests of all 32 NHL teams, including Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights. Products include the Impact Case and Leather Case, as well as accessories for both the AirPods and AirPods Pro. The NHL x CASETiFY collection is avail...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed into law a bill that effectively legalizes the cryptocurrency sector in the country. The decision comes as Ukraine has received cryptocurrency donations worth tens of millions of dollars from individuals and groups hoping to help the country’s war effort against Russia. The bill signed by Zelenskyy was approved by Ukraine’s parliament last month and “creates conditions for the launch of a legal market for virtual assets in Ukraine.” It allows Ukrainian banks to open accounts for crypto firms; appoints the National Bank of Ukraine and the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market as financial watchdogs for the sector; and, as reported by CoinTelegraph, means crypto exchanges and companies that handle other virtual assets will have ...

Explosions rock Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine where Vitalii Palchykov, a synthetic organic chemist, lives with his wife and 7-year-old son. He and his family get very nervous every time they hear bomb warning sirens go off. Living in the middle of the Russian invasion doesn’t feel safe. Research as usual is out of the question. “Any research work involves a high level of focus on the process,” Palchykov, the director of the Research Institute of Chemistry and Geology at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, told The Verge in an email on March 2. Achieving that focus is now extremely difficult, especially when he is tracking the news constantly. “It is impossible to look at this and it is impossible not to look, too. When I see what is happening with the cities of Ukraine after the b...

Roomba robot vacuums have worked with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice commands for a while, and now Apple’s Siri is getting in on the party. Today, iRobot announced native Siri Shortcut integration for its line of vacuums and mops, joining Roborock as one of only a handful of smart vacuum manufacturers to work with Apple’s voice assistant. The update is part of iRobot’s version 4.0 of its iRobot Genius Home Intelligence software, which was described by CEO Colin Angle at its launch in 2020 as “a lobotomy and replacement of the intelligence systems in all of our robots.” The rollout of Genius 4.0 includes about a half dozen new features for the company’s connected Roomba robot vacuums and Braava Jet robot mops. In addition to Siri support and adding smart mapping to its lower-priced...

Snap is now developing permanent augmented reality overlays for various landmarks across the globe, allowing developers to create custom experiences that blend the virtual world with ours. Named “Custom Landmarkers,” the new feature has now been opened up for early access to a handful of developers, who will be able to create playful overlays to iconic locations around the world that are then curated by Snap. Places taking part right now include Yu & Me Books in New York, a historical trip of Union Square in San Francisco, a Charlie Parker jazz experience at a statue in Kansas City, and an AR performance by Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion on the Paul Smith wall in Los Angeles. The experiences are designed for those using Snap’s mobile app or eventually its AR glasses to view these cre...

HSBC is the latest major financial institution to enter the Metaverse with its new partnership with The Sandbox. Following J.P. Morgan’s move in Decentraland, HSBC has just acquired a 3×3 LAND site which it will later use in connecting with sports, esports, and gaming enthusiasts. Suresh Balaji, Chief Marketing Officer, Asia-Pacific, HSBC said: “The metaverse is how people will experience Web3, the next generation of the Internet – using immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality. At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox, we are making our foray into the metaver...

Despite not being featured in Apple‘s recent “Peek Performance” event, the company’s latest update for its Apple Watch has now been released, bringing a few handy updates users have been waiting for. WatchOS 8.5 is the fifth major free update for the device since WatchOS 8 launched last year, and headlining the update is improved heart rhythm detection, which can now better detect atrial fibrillation, an indication of risk for strokes. For now, the feature is available in the U.S., Chile, Hong Kong, and South Africa, but many more regions will soon follow. To make its Apple Fitness Plus program more inclusive, the tech giant has now also incorporated features that will aid those with disabilities. Aside from things like wheelchair workout detection, the service will now also have optional ...

Season five of Formula 1: Drive to Survive could potentially include scenes of McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown smashing a Chromebook or Android tablet, Tom Brady-style, thanks to a new arrangement between the team and Google. In 2020, McLaren exited its deal with OnePlus that produced several powerfully-specced black and orange Android phones, but there’s no indication of a similar branding exercise coming to the Pixel series anytime soon. Instead, the new “multi-year” agreement between Google and McLaren is putting branding on the MCL36 driven by Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo (who is now available to drive in this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain GP after multiple negative tests following a case of COVID-19), their race suits and helmets, and on McLaren’s Number 58 McLaren MX Extreme E r...

Google’s big annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place May 11th and 12th, the company announced Wednesday. The event will once again be fully online, though it sounds like at least some of the conference will be streamed live from the Shoreline Amphitheatre, a frequent Google I/O venue. “This year’s event will be broadcast in front of a limited live audience, and is completely free and open to everyone virtually,” Google spokesperson Alex Garcia-Kummert said in a statement to The Verge. That limited audience will be comprised primarily of Google employees and some partners, according to a Google statement shared with Axios’ Ina Fried. Registration will be free and will begin sometime this month, according to an FAQ. There will be no tickets, which seems to mean that everyone...