Technology

Croatian electric bike manufacturer Greyp Bikes has a new majority shareholder: Porsche. The sports car manufacturer’s venture capital arm, Porsche Ventures, has held a stake of around 10 percent in the e-bike company since 2018. Greyp (pronounced like the fruit) was founded Mate Rimac — aka “Croatia’s Elon Musk” — the brainchild behind electric supercar startup Rimac Automobili. The company makes highly connected, extremely powerful electric mountain bikes, including the $10,000 flagship, full-suspension G6. The company sells its bikes in Europe and recently launched its US operations based in San Pedro, Calif. The investment is another sign of Porsche’s confidence in Rimac’s business prowess The investment is another sign of Porsche’s confidence in Rimac’s business prowess. The automaker...

In the fight against ongoing allegations of harassment, discrimination, and complaints of insufficient action to address such allegations, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors has announced that the publisher is forming a new committee. The Activision Blizzard board of directors today announced that it has formed a ‘Workplace Responsibility Committee,’ initially comprised of two independent directors, to oversee the company’s progress in successfully implementing its new policies, procedures, and commitments to improve workplace culture and eliminate all forms of harassment and discrimination at the company. The press release — delivered at an extremely late hour during an employee holiday week granted hours before the release of a damning Wall Street Journal report — seemingly reaffir...

Microsoft is making its Fluent-style emoji available in Windows 11 this week. A new optional update for the OS is rolling out that includes a number of important bug fixes and the new emoji Microsoft previewed earlier this year. While it’s a totally new style, it’s not the 3D look that Microsoft previously promised — the company opted for 2D instead. The new emoji in Windows 11 includes the return of Clippy, as Microsoft has replaced the standard paperclip emoji with its Clippy character. The emoji have also been redesigned to include bright and saturated colors, but lack the 3D aspects that made them pop. “The new emoji style is only available in Windows 11 and is 2D,” explains Microsoft in a quiet update to its design blog from July. “We still offer an assortment of emojis [sic] for Wind...

Samsung is expected to officially announce a new advanced chip-making plant in Texas later today, that’s estimated to cost around $17 billion and could create 1,800 jobs, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new plant will reportedly be located in the city of Taylor, roughly 30 miles away from Austin, where Samsung has an existing facility. The new site is roughly 1,200 acres in size, making it larger than Samsung’s Austin plant, the WSJ notes. The announcement could come as soon as 5pm local time today, when Gov. Greg Abbott is due to make an “economic announcement.” However, the plant isn’t expected to actually start producing chips until the end of 2024, according to previous filings. Eventually, Samsung is expected to begin using the new plant to produce processors, for its own uses an...

Qualcomm reportedly has an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Windows on Arm licenses. The pair launched Windows on Arm laptops in 2016, and so far we haven’t seen any devices launch without a Qualcomm chip. XDA-Developers reports that Qualcomm has had an exclusivity deal on Windows on Arm, but that it’s set to expire soon. The report comes days after MediaTek held its executive summit with members of the media last week, where it shared its ambitions to build its own chip for Windows on Arm PCs. If Microsoft’s exclusivity deal is about to end with Qualcomm, this could open the door for many more vendors supporting Windows on Arm. Samsung, MediaTek, and even Apple’s M1 chips could eventually support Windows on Arm. Microsoft’s custom SQ1 Qualcomm chip for the Surface Pro X (right).Photo b...

Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia and AMD say they’re doing everything in their power to put a console or graphics card in your hands. But judging by eBay resale prices, their best won’t be nearly good enough this holiday season. One year after the next generation of gaming was supposed to arrive (narrator: it did not) people are still forking out hundreds of dollars over MSRP for a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, and and they’re often still paying double what a new PC graphics card was originally supposed to cost. Remember March 2020, when I told you how the two graphics cards in the photo above were worth a combined $2,570 on the open market? That was a shocking leap compared to the $1,660 total they could fetch in December 2020, already well above their $1,078 MSRP. But eight months later, that s...

Like most PC gamers, I split my time between playing using a mouse and keyboard and a console controller. Nothing beats the precision of a mouse in first- and third-person shooters, but for me, a keyboard is no match for an analog stick in racing games or platformers. They both have different strengths. Wooting’s Two HE keyboard, which starts at $174.99 without keycaps, is the company’s latest attempt to bridge that gap, offering some of the benefits of analog control in the form factor of a keyboard. This time around, it achieves this with Gateron-manufactured “Lekker” switches, which use magnetic Hall effect sensors rather than typical metal contacts to detect when they’ve been pressed. It’s an interesting idea, and Wooting has more or less nailed its implementation, with a design and so...

Amazon and EA will be giving away free PC games and content through Amazon’s Prime Gaming program for the next few months, so it may be time to check in on the gaming service if you’ve forgotten that it comes included with Prime. This month, Prime subscribers will be able to get a free Origin code for the surprisingly decent remaster of 2010’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Amazon says that four more of EA’s “most popular titles” will be coming in 2022 (though given the starting game, it may be worth keeping your expectations in check). If it’s still November when you’re reading this, you can also snag EA’s Dragon Age Inquisition for free from Prime Gaming. Amazon’s partnership with EA also includes skins for games like Apex Legends and Battlefield 2042, as well as some additional conten...

On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve Verizon Wireless’ purchase of Tracfone in a deal worth more than $6 billion, positioning Verizon to become one of the largest prepaid service providers in the US. Tracfone is the largest reseller of wireless devices in the US and maintains over 20 million subscribers with more than 90,000 retail locations. Verizon’s Tracfone acquisition combines the largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) with the largest wireless provider in the country. When Verizon first proposed the deal last September, the company said that the acquisition would bolster Tracfone’s networks while making low-income wireless services more competitive. “After rigorous review, the Commission found that the transaction, as modified by Verizon’s enforce...

Roku says it’s working to fix issues that users have been reporting following its 10.5 software update. TechCrunch reported the problems earlier on Monday, citing posts on Reddit and Roku forums where users said that apps like HBO Max, ESPN, Disney Plus, and more wouldn’t allow them to watch any video content after updating the OS on their smart TVs. According to Roku, “certain older Roku TV models or older Roku Ultra players” are affected by the problematic update. In a post on its forum, the company instructs users with Roku Ultra models 4660, 4661, 4662, or 4670, and users with a Roku TV model 7XXX to manually check for a software update, and tells owners of other devices to subscribe to the thread for future details. System update got you down? We’re aware of a small set of users...

Update November 22nd, 8:25PM ET: Sony appears to have sold out of PS5 consoles for the day. We’ll make sure to let you know when the next opportunity comes up. If you’re still trying to get your hands on a PlayStation 5, lining up at Sony’s digital storefront is one of the more reliable ways to snag Sony’s next-gen console. Sony has reopened the digital queue on its direct store to place orders for the $500 disc-based PlayStation 5, as well as the $400 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. Provided you’ve already registered and logged into your PlayStation account, you should be able to line up once you’ve hit the landing page. Once you’ve entered the queue, you’ll be given an ETA of when you’ll be able to check out and, once that timer hits zero, it’s all systems go. It’s no secret t...

The U.S. ranks among the top 10 countries with the most expensive internet costs, according to new research by U.K. price comparison site comparethemarket.com. According to the site, the U.S. ranks as the world’s 9th most expensive country for broadband, with people paying an average of $66.13 USD per month. In contrast, Ukraine has the cheapest broadband in the world, with monthly costs of around $6.08 USD. Ethiopia has the most expensive broadband costs in the world, with monthly fees totalling about $423.88 USD per month. Here are the top 10 countries with the most expensive internet costs: Ethiopia — $423.88 USD per month United Arab Emirates — $98.80 USD per month Qatar — $86.90 USD per month Zimbabwe — $80.27 USD per month Oman — $76.06 USD per month Honduras — $75.80 USD per month S...