Technology

Google is reconsidering its return-to-office plans again, saying that its US employees won’t have to adopt a hybrid work model come January 10th, as was previously indicated. A Google spokesperson told The Verge that the company’s current plan is to hold off on coming up with new plans until next year, with decisions regarding timelines still being left up to local offices. The company has changed its return to work plans several times as the pandemic evolved. In August, when the delta variant was a growing concern, we learned that the company intended to keep in-office work voluntary until at least January 10th, 2022. That plan itself was a change from a previous one that was revealed in December 2020, which would have had employees returning in September. As COVID has changed, so have co...

If you didn’t know that tool manufacturer DeWalt made wireless headphones, don’t worry — we hadn’t either until they started catching on fire. The DeWalt-branded Jobsite Pro Wireless Earphones are being recalled by manufacturer E-filliate for safety concerns of overheating. The company said the recall affects about 301,000 units, which were were sold in stores including Home Depot and Lowes between December 2019 and July 2021. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on December 1st and said there had been 61 reports of the headphones overheating, including five fire incidents and four minor burn injuries. E-filliate says customers can contact the company for a free replacement of its $60 headsets but did not mention what the replacements would be. E-filliate didn’t r...

EA is making a big change to the management of the Battlefield franchise by putting Vince Zampella, the CEO of Titanfall and Apex Legends-maker Respawn Entertainment, in charge of the series, according to a GameSpot article published Thursday. Alongside Zampella’s new oversight of the franchise, EA plans to build an interconnected Battlefield universe, he told GameSpot. To help support that, EA is creating a new Seattle-based team focused on “injecting more storytelling into the Battlefield universe” headed up by Halo veteran Marcus Lehto, while Ripple Effect, which made Battlefield 2042’s customizable Portal mode, is working on a “new Battlefield experience in the Battlefield 2042 universe.” The changes arrive shortly after Battlefield 2042’s rocky launch The changes arrive shortly after ...

Nvidia’s $40 billion acquisition of Arm just ran into another massive hurdle: the Federal Trade Commission, which announced today that it’s suing to block the merger from going through due to concerns that the combined companies would “stifle competing next-generation technologies.” The suit comes after an FTC investigation into the deal following complaints from Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm shortly after the merger was announced. “The FTC is suing to block the largest semiconductor chip merger in history to prevent a chip conglomerate from stifling the innovation pipeline for next-generation technologies,” said FTC Bureau of Competition director Holly Vedova in a statement. “Tomorrow’s technologies depend on preserving today’s competitive, cutting-edge chip markets. This proposed deal ...

I’m about to introduce a topic that most of us would rather avoid: our digital legacy. In other words, what happens to all our digital stuff after we die? (And if your answer is “That’s not gonna happen,” you haven’t been paying a lot of attention lately, have you?) If you’re reading this, odds are that you’ve got a lot of digital stuff, both on your own devices and floating around in the cloud: backups, photos, tweets, Facebook messages, texts, you name it. If you’re no longer around to pay attention, these can hang around for a very long time — and some of it may be important to your survivors. (For example, who else has the passwords to your bank accounts and credit cards?) So let’s take a deep breath and discuss how to make things easier for your friends and relatives should something ...

adidas Originals has teased more information on its forthcoming entrance into the metaverse alongside Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pixel Vault’s Punks Comic and crypto investor Gmoney. The company on Thursday shared a video to Twitter featuring three figures referencing iconography from the aforementioned entities soaring through the sky towards adidas’ logo, with the caption “It’s time to enter a world of limitless possibilities.” Today we leap Into The Metaverse with @BoredApeYC, @gmoneyNFT & @punkscomic. It’s time to enter a world of limitless possibilities.https://t.co/LmgtrRn20c pic.twitter.com/40kU8tayrS — adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) December 2, 2021 Additionally, the brand posted a new profile picture to Twitter, which features a signature Bored Ape cartoon wearing adidas Origi...

As part of efforts to expand the health information it provides, today Google announced a new feature in search that will allow doctors to list which languages they can speak at their offices. People who speak languages other than English often struggle to navigate the healthcare system in the United States and are at risk of bad medical outcomes because they have more trouble communicating with providers. They get better care when they have access to trained interpreters or are seen by providers who speak their native languages. In a blog post, Google also drew attention to other recently added features that address challenges patients face with the health system, including the ability to see what insurance networks are accepted by providers listed in a search. On mobile, people can also ...

Microsoft is starting to roll out its new Office UI to all users this week. The visual update was originally announced earlier this year and went into testing over the summer. Now it’s starting to roll out to all Office 365 and Office 2021 users. This new Office UI is designed to match the visual changes in Windows 11, and it includes a more rounded look to the Office ribbon bar, with some subtle tweaks to the buttons throughout Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It’s a relatively simple refresh, and Office will now match the dark or light theme that you set inside Windows. The new Office visual update.Image: Microsoft The new look can be toggled on or off using the Coming Soon megaphone icon in the top right-hand corner of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote. It should be available for...

General Motors won’t build any new Chevy Bolt EVs until at least the end of January 2022. The automaker will instead stay focused on making replacement batteries for the 140,000-plus Bolts that were recalled earlier this year after a series of fires. The Bolt production line at GM’s Orion assembly plant in Michigan will remain shut down “through the week of Jan. 24, 2022,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “We will continue to inform employees at the appropriate time of any additional production schedule adjustments, as we continue to focus on battery module replacements.” GM had already said that it wasn’t going to make any more Bolts for the rest of this year, though Thursday’s announcement put a more fine date on things. But it’s very possible the shutdown will continue beyond t...

Nearly every shift at an Apple Store starts the same way: an employee picks a line from the Apple credo and talks about how it applies to that day’s work: “We are here to enrich lives. To help dreamers become doers, to help passion expand human potential, to do the best work of our lives. At our best, we give more than we take.” Workers say it’s easy to tell who wants to get promoted because they’ll pick the line “Turning dreamers into doers” and discuss how Apple’s devices can help customers do that. Not every retail worker buys into it, though. “People get emotional,” says a current retail employee in Philadelphia. “You see people go really deep in that stuff when they want to get promoted. It’s all just pandering.” Part of the issue is pay. Apple’s retail employees make on average betwe...

As of today, the digital car key function introduced at Google I/O earlier this year is officially coming to Google Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S21 for select BMW vehicles. The new function will allow compatible BMW drivers with Android phones to unlock or lock their cars and start the engines with just their phones. When opening Android Auto, users will now have the option to connect their devices to the compatible vehicle. Additional functions including smart reply options give additional ways for users to respond to texts when driving with the help of the Google Assistant. Down the line, there will also be faster ways to access your favorite tunes on the media app with a quick tap of a button. Additionally, with the Android 12 update, the YouTube Music widget will give f...

Tesla has quietly launched a $1,900 four-wheel ATV for kids. The Cyberquad for Kids is available to order right now from Tesla’s website, and will begin shipping in two to four weeks. The surprise announcement comes more than two year after Tesla announced a fullsize Cyberquad ATV to compliment its futuristic Cybertruck. The Cyberquad has not yet shipped. This new pint-sized Cybersquad is designed for kids 8 years old and up, and ones that have parents that can afford to buy them a $1,900 ATV. It includes a steel frame, cushioned seat, and adjustable suspension with rear disk braking. There’s even LED light bars to complete the cyberpunk aesthetics. This all-electric ATV has a top speed of 10mph, and the battery will power up to 15 miles of range. There are three speed settings: 5mph, 10mp...