Technology

Framework, makers of the modular 13.5-inch Framework laptop that’s designed to be easily repaired and upgraded, has launched a dedicated marketplace filled with replacement parts and upgrades for its portable computer. Writing in a blog post, the company said the marketplace is currently focused on replacement parts and expansion cards, but that it hopes to add more customization modules like additional language keyboards later this year, as well as third-party and community developed modules in 2022. It’s an important step for the modular laptop, which has been shipping for a little over two months. After all, the laptop’s 10/10 iFixit score for repairability doesn’t matter much if you can’t get a spare part when a component fails. And who cares if a laptop is upgradeable if there aren’t ...

British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins has launched its all-new Zeppelin wireless speaker which has been reimagined for the modern streaming age. The first Zeppelin was initially introduced in 2007 as the “ultimate iPod docking station”, but this new reimagined take — which has been described as being “more detailed and dynamic than ever” — has been given a complete overhaul for 2021. Taking notes from its long-standing experience in creating speakers for both studios and in the home, the brand’s latest release is a complete stereo system in one component. Complete with quality drive unit technologies arranged in left and right speaker assemblies around a large subwoofer, the Zeppelin offers unbeatable room-filling sound. Arriving in two iterations — one “Midnight Grey” the other “Pearl ...

Privacy is on everyone’s mind these days. Last spring, iOS 14.5 introduced a new privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency that may have made its users happier but did not endear Apple to some other companies — specifically Facebook. The feature is still available in iOS 15, along with some new privacy features. Many apps don’t just track your movements inside the app, but they track your movements outside of the app — in other words, where you go after you’ve left the app. This is why you see ads in Facebook and other apps for products you were just looking at on Amazon or other sites. Before 14.5, you could turn tracking off for all of your apps by going to Settings > Privacy > Tracking and turning off “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” The version that first appeared in iOS ...

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel like Twitter is overloaded with ads in my feed. Unfortunately, those ads don’t seem to be enough for the company, though, because it’s testing a new place to show them: right in the middle of conversations. The new ad format is in testing on iOS and Android, and you’ll see ads after the first, third, or eighth reply to a tweet if you’re in the test, according to Bruce Falck, Twitter’s revenue product lead. He shared a GIF of what the new in-conversation ads look like: Starting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations. If you’re a part of this test (which is global; on iOS & Android only), you’ll see ads after the first, third or eighth reply under a Tweet. ️ pic.twitter.com/kvIGeYt2vp ...

Offshore wind farms could be coming to nearly every coastline along the continental US. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland today announced plans to auction off leases to developers for up to seven new areas by 2025. That includes waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine, Central Atlantic, New York Bight (between Long Island and New Jersey), and off the coasts of Oregon, California, and the Carolinas. It’s a big scaling up of offshore wind in the US, which lags far behind Europe when it comes to deployment. The US’ first commercial-scale offshore wind farm just got federal approval in May. Two existing, smaller operations in US waters have a combined capacity of just 42 megawatts. The Biden administration set a goal of pushing capacity up to 30,000 MW by 2030. Europe, home to a majority of t...

Electronic Arts is removing former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden from Madden NFL 22 following reports that he had used racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language in emails. Gruden resigned as the Raiders’ coach soon after the emails came to light. “EA Sports is committed to taking action in maintaining a culture of inclusion and equity,” EA said on in a statement posted to the Madden NFL Twitter account. “Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden’s resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22. We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks.” This isn’t the first time EA has made changes to its hit football series in response to real-world events. In 2020, the company changed all references to the Washington Redskins in Madden NF...

Months after HBO Max original docuseries Generation Hustle debuted on the service, a team representing WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann says the streamer has changed some language in an episode that mapped the startup’s rise and spectacular demise. In a press release sent to a staffer at The Verge earlier this week, defamation attorney Thomas A. Clare — who now represents the known tequila enthusiast and reported aspiring immortal — announced that HBO Max had altered parts of a Generation Hustle episode, titled “Cult of WeWork,” as well as its description on the HBO Max site. Previously, the show’s description said it combined “true-crime capers with fresh, glossy stories of charismatic fakes” and “colorful imposters,” according to a version of the site archived on Wayback Machine. Both the ...

In 2012, fed up with the sorry state of small-form-factor (SFF) computer cases, two users on the HardOCP community forum decided to create their own. Wahaha360 and Necere came up with the $200+ Ncase M1, a 12.7-liter marvel designed to put every cubic centimeter of that space to good use. Amazingly, they managed to attract the attention of renowned PC manufacturer Lian-Li to manufacture small batches of their crowdfunded case out of high-quality aluminum, and the result was greeted with rave reviews. Nine years later, though, Ncase has announced that it’s discontinuing the M1 for good. It’s a weird situation. Yesterday, the company posted that it had discontinued the M1 entirely — but overnight, the post was updated to read that it’s just the current “classic” design that’s gone for good. ...

Apple is reportedly looking into ways to expand the health features on AirPods, including offering body temperature readings and hearing checks. People familiar with the plans told The Wall Street Journal that the proposed features aren’t expected by next year or may never be rolled out to consumers. Documents reviewed by the WSJ show that Apple is already developing AirPods prototypes that can take a user’s temperature from inside the ear, similar to a thermometer. Documents also showed that Apple could use the buds to sense motion changes in the wearer to monitor posture. The device may also be used to amplify certain sounds or improve hearing, similar to a hearing aid, the WSJ added. Apple currently has several AirPods on the market, including the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and the...

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook virtual reality lead and soon-to-be CTO Andrew Bosworth (or “Boz”) are playing around with prototype VR (or AR) tech and want to show it off. Both executives have posted pictures of themselves wearing prototype headsets and linking the concepts to Facebook’s work on the metaverse. While the headsets the two are wearing are in no way guaranteed to become actual retail products, it’s an interesting look at what’s going on in Facebook’s virtual reality lab. The headset Zuckerberg is wearing looks similar to the company’s Oculus headsets. However, he identifies it as “retina resolution,” borrowing Apple’s phrase for screens with such high pixel density that you can’t discern individual points at a normal operating distance. The headset Boz is wearing has a more int...

Astropad’s Luna Display is a handy way to turn an iPad or another Mac into a wireless external monitor for Apple’s computers. Now the company has updated its wireless dongles to include support for Windows PCs, a solid step forward for the company after Apple’s Sidecar made its functionality a built-in part of iPadOS and MacOS. Windows support is included in Luna Display 5.0 and requires “Windows 10 64-bit, Build 1809 or later” and at least iPadOS 12.1, according to Astropad. That means modern Windows devices and iPads can work together in a variety of configurations, including using the Apple Pencil along with an iPad as a very expensive drawing tablet for your Windows machine. The iPad’s touch controls, gestures, and Pencil support all translate over to Windows.Gif: Astropad The company ...

For weeks, Facebook has been dealing with numerous bombshell revelations resulting from a huge cache of leaked internal documents. Now, Facebook is making some groups on its internal Workplace message boards about platform safety and protecting elections private, according to The New York Times. The move is seemingly in an effort to prevent further leaks. It’s unclear exactly how many groups will be taken private, so we don’t know how broadly Facebook is locking things down. “Leaks make it harder for our teams to work together, can put employees working on sensitive subjects at risk externally and lead to complex topics being misrepresented and misunderstood,” a Facebook spokesman said to The New York Times. The company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge. Face...