Technology

Following widespread community backlash, Discord has now decided to suspend its plans to integrate cryptocurrencies and NFTs into its platform. The original announcement came from Discord CEO Jason Citron himself, who took to Twitter to post a screenshot of the company’s app showing support for MetaMask and WalletConnect. Unfortunately, the post backfired with many users in the community criticizing the decision. Mirroring many’s sentiments, one user replied “Man, can’t wait to tell my friends that Discord is encouraging pyramid schemes at the grand cost of the environment, and persuading them to cancel their Nitro subscriptions and use competing platforms. Thanks for the heads up!” Noting this dismay from many of its users, Citron ultimately backpedaled and said that Discord has no plans ...

Amazon’s fleet of delivery drivers may be detached from Amazon warehouses, but the company still monitors its drivers; it installed always-on cameras in its delivery trucks and even asked drivers to consent to yawn-detecting AI surveillance. However, it’s that very surveillance system that puts Amazon in the crosshairs of a lawsuit that claims Amazon is at fault for a life-altering car accident. This Bloomberg report describes the details of the accident, as well as how one lawsuit may change the way legal teams approach similar situations in the future. The accident happened earlier this year, when 24-year-old Ans Rana was riding in the backseat of a Tesla Model S on a bustling Atlanta highway. After the car came to a stop behind a disabled vehicle, an Amazon delivery vehicle slammed into...

Apple will soon let users in participating states digitally store their driver’s licenses or state IDs on their iPhone’s wallet, but according to a report by CNBC, the initiative will be partially funded by the states — and their taxpayers. CNBC got ahold of contracts signed by Georgia, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, and found that Apple will maintain tight control over its deployment. It reports that Apple gets “sole discretion” over a number of aspects of the program, including its device compatibility, the service’s launch date, states’ marketing campaigns, as well as how states report on the initiative’s performance. Apple gets “sole discretion” over a number of aspects of the program The contract also says that each state will have to “allocate reasonably sufficient personnel ...

This week Apple unveiled another beta program, but instead of offering early previews of software for your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, it’s a new initiative called Business Essentials. In line with Apple’s recent shift toward selling services, it’s a subscription package aimed at small businesses with three different plans and a move that has been anticipated since it acquired the device management platform Fleetsmith a little over a year ago. Starting at $2.99 per device per month, they can cover employees across a single device, more than one device, or a more expensive plan that covers multiple devices and adds more cloud storage. An AppleCare+ package will be available when it launches full in spring 2022, adding 24/7 phone support, access to training, and on-site repairs from Apple-trained ...

SpaceX‘s satellite internet company Starlink has unveiled an all-new user terminal, which customers can now receive with their starter kit. The new rectangular dish, which offers a thinner and lighter alternative to Starlink’s previous circular dish, allows users to tap into the company’s ever-expanding satellite constellation in low Earth orbit. The dish has received Federal Communications regulatory approval, several months following SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell’s announcement that the company was attempting to lower production costs for Starlink hardware. Additionally, the rectangular dish arrives with a new router, which is equipped with increased MU-MIMO capabilities that allow the device to support three independent channels of simultaneous traffic for multiple devices. Starlink ...

Hackers targeted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) email servers, sending out thousands of phony messages that say its recipients have become the victims of a “sophisticated chain attack,” first reported by Bleeping Computer. The emails were initially uncovered by The Spamhaus Project, a nonprofit organization that investigates email spammers. The emails claim that Vinny Troia was behind the fake attacks and also falsely state that Troia is associated with the infamous hacking group, The Dark Overlord — the same bad actors who leaked the fifth season of Orange Is the New Black. In reality, Troia is a prominent cybersecurity researcher who runs two dark web security companies, NightLion and Shadowbyte. As noted by Bleeping Computer, the hackers managed to send out emails to over 1...

If you’re going to install one outdoor security camera at your home, a floodlight camera is the best option. You get lights and a camera in one unit to capture all the action and you don’t have to mess with charging batteries or drilling holes through your walls for power cables — a floodlight cam can go wherever you have existing outdoor lighting. It’s a win-win smart home device. The only downsides are a high upfront price and a more involved installation. Unfortunately, the new Google Nest Cam with floodlight ($280) doesn’t solve either of these issues, being one of the more expensive floodlight cams and having the oddest design and installation process. But, despite these failings, it’s an excellent floodlight camera and has several benefits over the competition — which is multiplying....

Twitter launched its new subscription product, Twitter Blue, in the US this week — it’s a $2.99 per month service that promises to make Twitter “more customizable, more frictionless, and simply put — better.” Let’s start just by looking at what’s actually included in a Twitter Blue subscription. Ad-Free Articles (a take on Scroll, for articles you click through on Twitter) Top Articles (a take on Nuzzel, for articles discussed on Twitter) Themes Bookmark folders Customizable navigation An “undo button” for Tweets A “Reader” mode for reading threads Twitter Blue Labs for early access features, including longer videos and pinned DMs Looking at that list, there are two different categories of things here: features that enhance or support journalism and news in some fashion (which are, broadly...

Intel’s efforts to speed up chip production in China have reportedly been contested by the Biden administration, according to a report from Bloomberg. Sources close to the situation told Bloomberg that Intel proposed making silicon wafers in a Chengdu, China factory, which could start production towards the end of 2022. However, Intel’s plans were “strongly discouraged” by White House officials due to potential security issues. Since Intel needs to secure funding from the government in order to ramp up production, the administration’s opinion holds some weight on Intel’s path forward. As Bloomberg notes, Intel said it currently has “no plans” to produce silicon wafers in China after discussing it with government officials, and that it will instead consider “other solutions.” The Biden admi...

Some Tesla customers have noticed that their newly-purchased Model 3s and Model Ys have missing USB ports, an issue first spotted by Electrek. Tesla has reportedly been telling customers that the chip shortage is behind the lack of ports. As noted by Electrek, the issue didn’t seem to start cropping up until November 11th, and only seems to be affecting Model 3s and Model Ys. Recent buyers have turned to Reddit to voice their concerns about the missing ports, noting that the USB-C ports on the center console and near the rear seats are missing — many also claim that their EV’s wireless charger also isn’t working (via Electrek). Users will have to deal with driving a pricey battery-on-wheels that can’t even charge their own devices To make matters worse, some buyers also allege that Tesla d...

At high-profile climate negotiations in Glasgow, rich nations stuck poor nations with a big bill. Wealthy countries responsible for the most planet-heating pollution have reneged on commitments to help developing nations adapt to a warming world. That means delegates and activists from the places most vulnerable to climate change will wind up paying the price back home after leaving the United Nations climate summit that closes today. They’ll need to scrounge together funds for new infrastructure that can safeguard them from rising sea levels, devastating droughts, or monstrous storms — or suffer the losses of living without it. “We are failing people” “We are failing people,” says Harjeet Singh, a senior advisor on climate impacts for the Climate Action Network International, a group of m...

You made it to the weekend. Good job. In exchange for making it to arguably the best time of the week, we owe you some deals. That’s just how it works. Below, you’ll find a potent mixture of this week’s best tech deals. Before we get started, however, a little bit of housekeeping. We published a massive holiday gift guide this week. Its art (by Richard Parry) is so good that I’ve attached it above for you to peep. As we get closer to the holidays, you might want to subscribe to our Verge Deals newsletter. If you’re not the kind of person who checks deals every single day, we think you’ll appreciate our bi-weekly dispatch filled with the best deals we’ve seen during the week. We also want to remind you that our sister site, The Strategist, whips up a great newsletter filled with other kinds...