Technology

More than a year after their release, the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles are still very difficult to find — and it seems that even Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, is looking for some tips on Twitter on how to snag one of the elusive consoles. According to the Big Tech Alert Twitter account, he followed @XboxStockAlerts, an account that posts about Xbox console restocks, on Monday evening. There could be any number of reasons why he decided to follow the account. The simplest is that he wants to get a new Xbox; maybe he’s looking to give one as a holiday gift, or perhaps he wants to jump into Halo Infinite multiplayer now that a dedicated Slayer playlist is being added to the game. (Eddy, if you want to play Halo sometime, let me know.) It’s also possible he’s just...

CES 2022 is only a few short weeks away, and you can bet we’ll see a ton of news surrounding the latest, flashiest TVs with OLED, Mini LED, MicroLED, and more. But before we get there, LG is making an early announcement to put a spotlight on two unconventional TVs that are coming next year in addition to whatever the company has in store for CES. To me, the standout is the LG StanbyME, a 27-inch TV that can operate wirelessly on battery power and be wheeled around on its height-adjustable stand. (You can also detach the screen from the stand if you want to plop that sucker onto your lap.) When attached to the stand, the display can swivel, tilt, or be rotated to portrait orientation. The stand has concealed wheels for easy movement.Image: LG LG says the StanbyME can last for up to three ho...

Four years running, we’ve been jazzed by the potential of HDMI 2.1 — the relatively new video connector standard that can provide variable refresh rates (VRR), automatic low latency connections (ALLM), and of course, a giant pipe with 48Gbps of bandwidth (and fixed rate signaling) to deliver up to 10K resolution and up to a 120Hz refresh rate depending on your cable and compression. But today, I’m learning that not only are all of those features technically optional, but that the HDMI standards body owner actually encourages TV and monitor manufacturers that have none of those things — zip, zilch, zero — to effectively lie and call them “HDMI 2.1” anyhow. That’s the word from TFTCentral, which confronted the HDMI Licensing Administrator with the news that Xiaomi was selling an “HDMI 2.1” m...

One comparison I’ve heard repeatedly over the last year is that buying NFTs to “flex” on people in the metaverse is just like collecting sneakers, and now Nike is apparently trying to make sure it’s ready for the literal version of that possibility. The apparel giant just announced the acquisition of RTFKT Studios, which it calls “a leading brand that leverages cutting edge innovation to deliver next generation collectibles that merge culture and gaming.” RTFKT claims that in February, a collaboration with teenage artist FEWOCiOUS to sell real sneakers paired with virtual ones managed to sell some 600 pairs/NFTs in just six minutes, netting over $3.1 million at the time. This was around the same early spring period when most of us were hearing about NFTs for the first time, as Grimes sold ...

A Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT valued at 75 Ether — or about $300,000 USD — accidentally sold for .75 Ether — about 3,000 USD — because of a typo. Bored Ape #3547, a cyborg ape with x’s for eyes, was listed by owner maxnaut, whose real name is Max, on Saturday for well below market value. According to CNET, the NFT was then bought instantly, and the buyer even paid an extra $34,000 USD to expedite the transaction. The ape was subsequently relisted for $248,000 USD. “How’d it happen? A lapse of concentration I guess,” Max told CNET. “I list a lot of items every day and just wasn’t paying attention properly.” Max said that he instantly saw the error but the transaction had already been completed. “And just like that, $250,000 USD was gone.” Several errors regarding listing pricing for ...

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are today receiving their most significant software update since Google released the phones in October. Last week, the company detailed a very lengthy list of bug fixes and improvements that are included in the December update, which has now started rolling out to both devices according to Redditors. Older Pixel devices already started receiving this update last week. But Google needed a bit more time to deliver the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro version since there are a ton of improvements directed at the company’s latest flagship phones. Google is also continuing to further polish and optimize Android 12 with this release. Headlining the list of changes are tweaks to the fingerprint sensor; Google promises “general improvements for fingerprint sensor stability and perform...

WhatsApp is rolling out a new privacy measure that hides your “last seen” status from people you don’t know or haven’t chatted with in the app (via WABetaInfo). Previously, WhatsApp set the feature on “Everyone” by default, allowing anyone on WhatsApp to see your status. WhatsApp’s new update limits the visibility of your status to the people you’ve added on the platform, and sets the feature to “My Contacts” by default instead. It’s a new security feature. Got this reply from support today. If the person has not got your number in their contacts, or you haven’t sent one message between you, last seen/online is no longer visible. pic.twitter.com/qLPtC6rPOA — PsyColette (@NiHaolain) December 7, 2021 In a post on Twitter, a user explains that you may not be able to see other people’s statuse...

Apple has brought SharePlay to the Mac as part of macOS Monterey 12.1, which was released Monday. With SharePlay, you can now enjoy entertainment like movies, music, and games synchronized with your friends over FaceTime while on your Mac. (You can see a list of some supported apps here.) And if you want to share your screen with your group, SharePlay supports that as well. My colleague Monica Chin ran into some issues with SharePlay on Mac while the feature was in beta, however, so hopefully it works more smoothly now that it’s available widely. macOS Monterey 12.1 adds some features also found in iOS 15.2. There’s the new Apple Music Voice Plan, a more affordable tier of the music streaming service that lets you access music with just your voice and Siri. You’ll be able to designate peop...

The Ioniq 5 is Hyundai’s first electric car built on the company’s new E-GMP platform, and its price tag has finally been confirmed. A press release from Hyundai reveals that the Ioniq 5 could set you back anywhere from $39,700 to $54,500, depending on which model you choose (via EV Pulse). And although Hyundai recently announced the Ioniq 5 has an EPA-rated range of 300 miles, that range is only available with select models (which we’ll go over here). It’s also important to note that the prices listed here don’t include the vehicle’s $1,225 destination charge. The base SE Standard Range is the cheapest of the bunch, but won’t be available until next year In total, there are seven different variations of the Ioniq 5, and three trim packages: the SE, SEL, and Limited. The base SE Standard R...

Apple has released an app called Tracker Detect, which the company says will let Android users search for AirTags or other Find My-compatible trackers, such as the Chipolo One Spot tracking tag (via CNET). According to the app, it looks for devices that have been separated from their owners — if it finds any, it will let you play a sound on it so you can locate it, and it will give you instructions on how to figure out who the AirTag belongs to and how to disable it if need be. Apple announced that this app was coming in June, promising that it would allow Android users to find potentially malicious trackers being used without their knowledge. Unlike on iOS, though, it doesn’t seem like this app will constantly do scans in the background and alert you if something is up — it’s purely a man...

TikTok says that around 430 songs exceeded 1 billion video views on the platform this year, three times as many songs as last year, as noted in 2021’s Year on TikTok Music Report. Some of the most popular songs in this bracket garnered around or above 20 billion views in videos that use them as soundtracks. Over 175 trending TikTok songs made it to the Billboard Hot 100 this year TikTok’s yearly recap also includes some numbers on how these songs performed when not attached to a TikTok video. Over 175 trending TikTok songs made it to the Billboard Hot 100 this year, up from 90 in 2020. TikTok also takes credit for helping a number of artists skyrocket themselves to stardom, like ex-Verizon employee Tai Verdes, who made it to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with his trending TikTok...