Technology

It’s been nearly three years since Amazon has updated its best (and bestselling) Kindle: the midtier Kindle Paperwhite, which is getting its biggest upgrade ever. On paper, at least, Amazon has finally built the ultimate Kindle. The last Paperwhite update was a relatively minor one, with just a light design tweak and waterproofing serving as the main addition. The new Kindle Paperwhite refresh, on the other hand, adds nearly every update you could imagine for a hardware refresh: a bigger screen, wireless charging, USB-C, adjustable color temperature, and additional LEDs for more consistent backlighting. Verge Score 8.5 out of 10 Good Stuff Even better display Monthslong battery USB-C at last Bad Stuff Larger size won’t be for everyone Poor support for non-Amazon books Still no physical but...

Adobe is trying to make Creative Cloud’s website into more of a hub for collaborating across teams. So today, it’s announcing a few new tools headed to the platform: basic web-based versions of Photoshop and Illustrator, a new feature called Canvas that lets you make mood boards, and a feature called Spaces that lets teams arrange and synchronize assets for projects. Canvas is similar to a bunch of tools that designers already use — there’s Miro, PureRef, you could even do something like this in Figma if you wanted to — but it comes with the perk of being integrated with Adobe’s ecosystem. You can pull Cloud documents onto a canvas, and they’ll link back to the original file, letting you open them up to make changes. Creative Cloud Spaces lets users organize shared assets.Image: Adobe It a...

Adobe is launching a system built into Photoshop that can, among other things, help prove that the person selling an NFT is the person who made it. It’s called Content Credentials, and NFT sellers will be able to link the Adobe ID with their crypto wallet, allowing compatible NFT marketplaces to show a sort of verified certificate proving the art’s source is authentic. According to a Decoder interview with Adobe’s chief product officer Scott Belsky, this functionality will be built into Photoshop with a “prepare as NFT” option, launching in preview by the end of this month. Belsky says attribution data created by the Content Credentials will live on an IPFS system. IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a decentralized way to host files where a network of people are responsible for keeping d...

The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have great cameras, some of the best you can buy in a phone. They’ve also got an exclusive new feature Apple never offered before: a macro mode that lets you take extreme close-ups — just two centimeters away! — of intricate things you can barely see with the naked eye. Your pet’s incredibly fine fur, the veins of leaves, and the sub-pixels in your computer monitor’s screen are all now within reach. But Apple doesn’t give you a macro mode button per se — it’s automatic. When you bring the phone within 10 cm of an object, it automatically switches to the ultrawide lens, which some users found jarring enough that Apple now lets you turn off auto-macro-switching in iOS 15.1. But if you do that, and then manually switch to the ultrawide lens, you won’t get as clos...

Following a collaborative bag series with Herschel Supply Co. and an Instapump Fury sneaker with Reebok, Singaporean singer JJ Lin‘s label SMG has launched a new accessory series with phone accessory brand RhinoShield. The name for lifestyle label SMG is an acronym for the concept “Still Moving Under Gun Fire” which recognizes the stress and volatility of life while encouraging people to still move on under the constant gunfire of modern society. Continuing its cyberpunk themes from its FW21 “Parallel Continuum” collection, the protective case capsule transforms abstract concepts of virtual reality, time, and space, into a matrix of digital graphics which are displayed alongside its smiley face logo. The collection consists of RhinoShield’s slim SolidSuit cases and ultra-tough Mod NX modul...

Sony is ready to throw-down with a new camera-first 5G phone — the Xperia Pro-I — in the battle for smartphone camera supremacy. Less than 12-hours after the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro’s reviews started dropping online, and all the camera enthusiasts trying to determine whether the Pixel 6 Pro or the iPhone 13 Pro Max has the best smartphone camera, Sony wants to be in the mix with the Xperia Pro-I. The “I” in the Xperia Pro-I stands for imaging, which pays homage to Sony’s popular line of Alpha mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and professional video cameras, rather than point-and-shoot camera model names like the Sony RX100 VII (Mark 7). At least that’s what the Sony representatives who were briefing journalists ahead of this event told us. The star of the show is obviously thi...

Having recently collaborated with Nike on a selection of sought-after sneakers like the “Tokyo” Dunk as well as two Maserati models, Hiroshi Fujiwara continues this year’s collaborative efforts by venturing into the world of tech. Translating fragment design’s signature aesthetic onto MSI’s Creator Z16 laptop, the Japanese designer aims to bridge the gap between fashion and technology. Revered for its high-performance computers, the Creator Z16 Hiroshi Fujiwara Limited Edition boasts the designer’s affinity for all-black hues and features fragment design’s iconic lightning bolt logo embossed onto its aluminum body. The collection also includes an array of accessories to complement the notebook ranging from a mouse pad, mouse as well as a protective sleeve bag. HYPEBEAST caught up with Hiro...

Twitter is reportedly making headway on including a tab that will showcase a user’s NFT collection. The platform first discussed the possibility of adding this feature back in September when the company’s software, Mada Aflak, took to her page to ask her followers to give their opinions on the early stages of this experiment. Back in September, the video posted to Aflak’s page showed fans how they can connect to their crypto wallets from popular providers such as Crypto.com, Metamask and Coinbase. From there, users can choose which one of their NFTs they want to use as their profile pictures and the user’s full collection of NFTs can be seen and stored in a tab in the profile labeled “Collectibles.” Now, Twitter’s reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong has showcased how the process has changed...

Jeff Bezos has officially announced plans for his space venture Blue Origin to build its own commercial space station called the Orbital Reef. The Orbital Reef is set to begin operation in the second half of this decade and will be home to researchers, industrial and commercial customers and international visitors. Orbital Reef is a project in partnership with Sierra Space. Sierra Space has worked on multiple projects include the Dream Chaser, a spacecraft designed to carry cargo, hopefully, one day, humans, to the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is scheduled for its first cargo flight in 2022. Orbital Reef is expected to host 10 people in separate living quarters and will be a place where researchers can conduct research. Blue Origin describes Orbital Reef as a “mixed-use bu...

Hasbro has officially partnered with The Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX) to release its very first NFT collection with the Power Rangers franchise on the dedicated blockchain. VP and General Manager at Hasbro Pulse said, “The WAX platform gives fans an easy entry point into the world of NFTs and digital collectibles. Now, fans will have the opportunity to expand their collections with a unique Power Rangers NFT, uniquely transacted through the blockchain that can be redeemed for a special edition Dino Megazord.” Hasbro’s Power Rangers NFT collection is now available through Hasbro Pulse while supplies last. The NFTs are redeemable for a physical Hasbro special edition Power Rangers collectible figure, specifically the Lightning Collection Zord Ascension Project Special Edition Dino Megazord...

According to TechCrunch, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowes will no longer be selling security cameras from Lorex and Ezviz after the outlet reported on the brands’ parent companies’ involvement in supplying the Chinese government with surveillance tech. According to the US government, both Dahua (Lorex’s owner) and Hikvision (Ezviz’s owner) stand implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They have reportedly helped supply surveillance equipment for monitoring ethnic minorities. One of the largest oppressed groups is the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group the Chinese government is accused of putting in detention or reeducation camps, using as forced labor, and more. The home security cameras and systems from Lorex and Ezviz aren’t banned fr...

Facebook plans to spend at least $10 billion this year on Facebook Reality Labs, its metaverse division tasked with creating AR and VR hardware, software, and content. “We are committed to bringing this long-term vision to life and we expect to increase our investments for the next several years,” the company wrote in its third-quarter earnings release this afternoon. Facebook sees AR and VR as being core to “the next generation of online social experiences.” A sign that Reality Labs should be judged separately from Facebook’s core apps The division, which already makes the Oculus Quest headset and Portal lineup of calling devices, is clearly being positioned as the next big thing inside of Facebook. For one, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking about the metaverse nonstop for the past sev...