Technology

Instagram has removed its standalone Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play, as reported by TechCrunch. The removal comes shortly after Instagram’s February 28th announcement that it would stop supporting the IGTV app, and the changes indicate that Instagram is opting to consolidate some of its separate offerings to focus on the main Instagram app. “We’ve removed support for the standalone Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps to better focus our efforts on the main app,” Instagram spokesperson Christine Pai said in a statement to The Verge. “Boomerang is still supported in-app in Stories, and Layout remains a standalone app in the Store. We’ll continue working on new ways for people to be creative and have fun on Instagram.” According to Apptopia data shared with Tec...

Analogue has announced that it’ll be shipping out a new wave of Pocket handhelds at the end of March to people who got in early during its December presale. The company tweeted that Group A preorders will start to ship out the last week of March and would all be shipped by the end of the month. That date means that Analogue is just making its first deadline on time — before the Game Boy throwback handheld officially went on sale in December, the company said that the people who ordered first would be getting their Pockets in “Q1 2022.” While that means the wait is close to over for those in Group A (I’ll admit I’ve been starting to check the calendar, muttering to myself, “You know, there’s not a lot of time left in Q1…”), some people still have a while to go. Group B is scheduled fo...

Amazon is allegedly employing suppliers in China with links to forced labor, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a research group owned by the nonprofit watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability (via NBC News). The report accuses Amazon of continuing to work with these suppliers, despite evidence of their association with Uyghur labor camps. China’s population of Uyghurs, the country’s Muslim ethnic minority, is largely concentrated in the Xinjiang region of China. Over several years, the group has been subject to a number of human rights abuses within the country, including internment camps, constant surveillance, mass sterilization, and forced labor. As the TTP notes, China uses what it calls “labor transfers” to transport Uyghurs from the Xinjiang reg...

If the seasons are starting to change, it must be time for another Apple event. Of course, it isn’t the fall when a new generation of iPhones comes bearing down on us, but there may be some surprises in store. Apple recently sent out invites for its “Peek Performance” event, scheduled for Tuesday, March 8th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. While internet sleuths have tried to discern any hidden meanings baked into the invite graphic or the use of the word “peek,” it’s most certain that one of the announcements for this event will be an iterative update of the budget-friendly iPhone SE, now with 5G compatibility. On the iPad front, we may see an updated iPad Air to replace the model that debuted in 2020 with a refreshed design — also now with 5G in tow. Beyond that, things get a little murkier. There h...

Whatever plans you had for this year’s 4/20 are now probably going to involve the return of Netflix’s Russian Doll for its second season. There’s a lot going on in the teaser trailer / announcement video for Russian Doll’s second season Netflix dropped this afternoon, but it’s difficult to tease out what’s going on aside from the fact that the universe is apparently back to fucking with Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia Vulvokov. Though it seemed as if Nadia broke free from her Groundhog Day-style hell by the previous season’s finale, the new teaser strongly suggests that there’s more metaphysical mishigas afoot for her and Charlie Barnett’s Alan Zaveri. Mysterious and light on details as the new teaser is, it makes two things pretty clear about Russian Doll’s second season: it’s going to have someth...

Google’s latest feature drop for its Pixel phones supercharges its Live Caption feature for phone calls, allowing you to avoid having to speak entirely. There are also new custom sticker options, YouTube watch party support in Duo, and a night photography mode for Snapchat. Google says the features are rolling out starting today on the Pixel 3A to 5A and will be coming to the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro later this month. Google’s Live Caption feature could previously turn incoming phone call audio into text, but it’s now being updated to work the other way around, so you’ll be able to type text and have Google’s software read it out in the phone call. A short GIF released by the company shows how the feature can be accessed from the volume button menu and either type out messages in full or select f...

Samsung, Lenovo, and Microsoft are the first device manufacturers to commit to shipping Android 12L, the new version of Android designed to be better optimized for tablets and foldable devices. Google’s VP of engineering for Android, Andrei Popescu, announced the news in a blog post, saying that 12L would ship to devices from the three companies later this year. Lenovo isn’t a surprise, since its P12 Pro tablet can already run a beta version of Android 12L. It’s not clear exactly which devices from the other two companies will get the update — presumably Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 is one of them, while any number of Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets or Z Fold phones could potentially benefit from the new software. Android 12L’s new notification shade.Google Android 12L has various features designe...

Though most of Disney’s recent success with The Muppets has come by way of movies like Muppets Haunted Mansion, the studio is gearing up to produce another series featuring the puppet performers as they team up with a human friend. Today, Disney announced its plans to produce The Muppets Mayhem, a new show from The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg, starring Canadian Lilly Singh alongside Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the Muppets’ longtime house band. Co-created and written by Goldberg, longtime puppeteer Bill Barretta, and Jeff Yorkes, The Muppets Mayhem will follow as Dr. Teeth (Baretta) and the band attempt to record its first proper album under the guidance of Norah (Singh), a young A&R executive. The show is also set to be executive produced by The Muppets Studios’ David Lig...

Nintendo has updated its Switch Online mobile apps for iOS and Android to version 2.0, which brings a tweaked design as well as some minor quality-of-life improvements. The app launched shortly after the Nintendo Switch in 2017. It’s designed to work in tandem with the console, offering features like online voice chat that aren’t available on the Switch itself. For my money, the 2.0 update’s most interesting improvement is that it offers an easier way to find and share your friend code, the cumbersome 12-digit identifier that’s the primary way of adding friends on Nintendo’s online service. Instead of having to manually copy out the code from your Switch console itself before sharing it with a friend, the update lets you easily copy it from the app with a single tap. Your friend will still...

If you were tempted by Razer’s analog keyboard last year but want something a little more compact, then the Huntsman Mini Analog might be worth a look. Razer says this is the first time it’s brought its Analog Optical Switches to a keyboard with a 60 percent layout, which means it doesn’t have a function row, numpad, or even arrow keys. The result is a very diminutive accessory, ideal for anyone with limited desk space. Having analog switches means the keyboard can register a range of inputs beyond its keys being simply pressed or not-pressed. For example, Razer’s software lets you assign two commands to one key (one for a half press, or another for a full press), and you can also change each switch’s actuation point (aka how much you have to push a key before it registers a press). The Hu...