Technology

As the concept of the metaverse enters the mainstream, the desire to have a distinct personal style in the virtual world is more prevalent than ever. This can be seen in many corners of culture, including art and fashion where NFTs such MetaBirkens and the work of RTFKT Studios, which was recently acquired by Nike, have taken off. Contributing to the intersecting worlds of virtual reality, personal expression and community is the global smart device brand OPPO. In its pursuit to break boundaries in the industry, the company hosts the annual tech event, OPPO INNO DAY, in which its technological achievements are revealed. This year during the event, the brand introduced the virtual playground, INNO WORLD, open to attendees worldwide. The technology company invites attendees into its futurist...

Inscryption, my game of the year, Polygon’s game of the year, and what should be your game of the year, is getting a free mini update that gives its fans exactly what they want — a way to endlessly play the game’s first act. Kacyee’s Mod, available now as a playable beta, adds new cards, items, and a difficulty modifier that make Inscryption’s already challenging card game even spicier. Daniel Mullins, the creator of Inscryption, says he made this mod in response to fans’ overwhelming support of the game. “This mini-expansion is in part an expression of my gratitude,” Mullins wrote on Steam. “I have received countless requests for an endlessly playable version of Part 1 that emphasizes Leshy’s deckbuilding roguelike as a standalone experience.” Part one of Inscryption locks you in a cabin ...

IBM and Samsung have announced their latest advance in semiconductor design: a new way to stack transistors vertically on a chip (instead of lying flat on the surface of the semiconductor). The new Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors (VTFET) design is meant to succeed the current FinFET technology that’s used for some of today’s most advanced chips and could allow for chips that are even more densely packed with transistors than today. In essence, the new design would stack transistors vertically, allowing for current to flow up and down the stack of transistors instead of the side-to-side horizontal layout that’s currently used on most chips. Vertical designs for semiconductors have been a trend for a while (FinFET already offers some of those benefits); Intel’s future roadmap als...

FTX is officially the Golden State Warriors‘ cryptocurrency platform and NFT marketplace for all things related to the digital world. The partnership is the first-of-its-kind cryptocurrency deal in professional sports where the NBA franchise will drop its NFTs on FTX. Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Brandon Schneider commented on the partnership, “Cryptocurrency has a well-established worldwide community and is going to continue to be a major part of the sports, media and entertainment industries. In our conversations with FTX, we quickly realized our joint desire to innovate around cryptocurrency integration and adoption, including the role NFTs play in global fan engagement.” The Warriors is the latest organization to join in on the NFT craze. Recently, Crypto.com has made...

Brian Eno has teamed up with London’s Paul Stolper Gallery, unveiling limited-edition color-changing LED record players. Embedding a light system into its base and platter, the acrylic turntable allows different combinations of colorful lights to flow as you play the music. Each piece comes with its batch number engraved at the back, as well as the signature of the British artist. “The light from it was tangible as if caught in a cloud of vapor,” Eno explained when he first saw the completed product. He added, “We sat watching for ages, transfixed by this totally new experience of light as a physical presence.” Available in 50 units, the limited-edition color-changing LED turntables can be purchased via inquiry on the Paul Stolper Gallery’s website. In case you missed it, Space Runners ann...

McIntosh has just released a set of new wireless loudspeakers. Named the RS150 and RS250, these compact home speakers feature some of Mcintosh Labs‘ most celebrated hi-fi tech as well as its signature sound quality — all able to use a variety of built-in streaming technologies like Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Chromecast, and Roon. The RS150 is an enhanced 120-watt version of the RS100 with double the bass power output (90 watts) and sees a 5-1/4” woofer, 30 Watts of tweeter power, and a larger, reengineered enclosed. The front grille can be removed to reveal the woofer and tweeter, all of which harmonizes with the new digital output meter. The RS250 steps it up to 650 watts of total power via two 4” x 6” woofers, four 2” midranges, and two 3/4” tweeters. The...

Crypto prices on popular trading app Coinbase and data provider CoinMarketCap.com were heavily inflated on Tuesday, leading some investors to believe that had become trillionaires overnight. Screenshots shared on Twitter showed that popular coins, like Ethereum, Tether, Binance Coin, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot and Dogecoin reached prices in the billions and trillions on CoinMarketCap.com early on Tuesday. JUST IN: CoinMarketCap, one of the largest crypto information sources in the world has reportedly been hacked. pic.twitter.com/Fln9R86TdQ — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) December 14, 2021 Coinbase also acknowledged that it displayed inflated prices on its website. We’re aware some customers are seeing inflated values for non-tradable crypto assets on https://t.co/ohqDivCZYw and Coinbase Wall...

T-Mobile’s TVision streaming service was not long for this world, but its name lives on in the TVision Hub — a $50 dongle with Google TV. It appears to function a lot like Google’s own Chromecast, but along with some T-Mobile branding, 9to5Google points out that it offers a feature you won’t find on Google’s streaming dongle: an ethernet jack. That direct internet connection may be a real benefit if your home Wi-Fi signal isn’t quite up to the task of streaming 4K video. The T-Mo Report spotted the device last week on T-Mobile’s website, which is a new version of the streaming dongle launched with the TVision service. It comes with a remote bearing Netflix, YouTube, and Google Assistant buttons and connects with accessories like game controllers and headphones via Bluetooth or USB-C. Like ...

Instagram has reportedly climbed to 2 billion monthly active users, that is according to anonymous employees who broke the news to CNBC. The Meta-owned company hasn’t — and probably won’t — officially disclosed these numbers, as it has spent the last several months under scrutiny for potentially causing harm to kids and teens. The last time Instagram publicly announced the size of its userbase was back in 2018 The last time Instagram publicly announced the size of its userbase was back in 2018 when the platform revealed that it had 1 billion users. It took three years for Instagram to hit the 2 billion mark. The employees who tipped off CNBC say that they found out about the number during internal conversations — one staff member reportedly told CNBC that Instagram surpassed the threshold ...

Rode Invisilav If you’re going to mic up another subject or yourself with a lavalier, it looks best to keep it off your lapel. That’s where the Rode’s Invisilav mounting system comes in.Price: $18 B&H Photo Ikea gaming hand Does a cooler headphone stand exist? No. Gamer hand is maximum gamer, maximum hand, and the best stand.Price: $25 Ikea LaCie Rugged Mini 2TB External Hard Drive LaCie’s rugged drives are used by art students and pros alike. They offer a lot of portable storage and can survive in your bag or in the event of an unfortunate tumble. Price: $90 Amazon B&H Photo Elgato GameCapture HD60 S+ Elgato’s higher-end capture card connects to your PC or Mac for streaming console gameplay to Twitch or YouTube. It can also enable webcam use with most...