Technology

Snoop Dogg, the famous rapper, tweeted on Monday that he’s the one behind a Twitter account that discusses NFTs. Yes, this really is a thing that’s happened. While Snoop Dogg has released NFTs before, that’s not really anything new for celebrities — running a Twitter account that constantly tweets about crypto, and owning around a hundred of the crypto tokens, however, would be another level. Is this reveal real? A prank? It’s unclear, but it sure is interesting. @CozomoMedici (seemingly named after a prominent Renaissance-era Italian banker) is a Twitter account that’s amassed quite a few followers in the month or two it’s been active and talking about crypto. Part of what’s made the account splashy is that it’s seemingly spent millions on NFTs. The person behind the Medici account has be...

OpenSea, one of the most popular NFT marketplaces, has launched its first app for iOS and Android. The app allows OpenSea users to view the platform’s collection of digital items, but notably doesn’t allow for any kind of money to change hands, digital or otherwise (via TechCrunch). The OpenSea app basically works as a kind of gallery. You can browse artwork, share listings you find, and lovingly ogle and manage your own NFTs. The app shares a lot of the same blue and white stylings of the OpenSea site, just missing the button that says “Buy Now.” [embedded content] There are a couple possible reasons why actual NFT purchases are missing. At the most obvious, highest level, OpenSea probably doesn’t want to share a 30 percent cut of NFT transactions with the likes of Apple and Google. That ...

The list of government agencies investigating Activision Blizzard has grown to now include the SEC. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed the video game publishing giant, including CEO Bobby Kotick, for records pertaining to employment, separation agreements, and communications between senior executives. The Wall Street Journal report says that the SEC is investigating whether Activision Blizzard disclosed information about harassment and discrimination claims to investors in a timely fashion. Two months ago, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard for facilitating a culture of abuse, harassment, and discrimination. The suit alleges that employees engaged in activities like a “cube crawl” in whi...

Deathloop is the big triple-A game of the moment, and it’s an amazing experience — assuming you’re not fighting your gaming PC to get it to run smoothly. Bethesda is aware, and a patch seems to be on the way. But as Digital Foundry’s Alex Battaglia explains in this in-depth video, there may be a few things you can try right now to fix it, including one weird, counterintuitive trick that instantly made my seemingly stuttery performance smooth. Here’s the TL;DR. Obvious: Reduce your quality settings Far less obvious: Try the beta hotfix: “juliannashotme” in Steam > Deathloop > Properties > Betas Counterintuitive: Lock your framerate at 60 or 120fps Let’s start with that last one, because it’s what worked for me — and it may be the only thing that works if you’ve got a fancy G-Sync /...

Apple’s iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are finally here, but not all of the features announced at WWDC have made it alongside them. We looked through Apple’s product pages for each OS to find the features that have yet to show up on iPhones and iPads, such as SharePlay, improved AirPod Find My support, Universal Control, and more. Except for Universal Control, which isn’t for iPhones (yet), every feature listed is missing from both platforms. Perhaps the most prominent missing feature is SharePlay, which lets users watch videos or listen to music with friends on a FaceTime call. Apple warned us (and developers) about the delay after removing SharePlay from beta tests, but it’s still a bit awkward given how significant the feature looked at first. Its delay is worse because it’s holding other feature...

The iPhone 13 isn’t even here yet, but speculation about Apple’s future phones never slows down. While some rumors about Apple’s event last week didn’t pan out, certain leaks were right on, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s information about a smaller notch and high refresh rate screens. Now Kuo reports (via 9to5Mac and MacRumors) that plans for next year’s iPhones point to high-end Pro and Pro Max models that ditch the notch entirely in favor of hole-punch front cameras, with 48MP wide cameras on the back. However, Kuo expects that in-screen fingerprint scanning for Touch ID is off until 2023, despite his earlier reporting that it could happen as soon as this year. A possible foldable iPhone is even further off, slipping from its previous projection of 2023 to 2024 at the earliest. More im...

HP’s Elite Dragonfly Max is the nicest business laptop I’ve ever used. That doesn’t mean it’s the best, all things considered — when it comes to performance, battery life, and features, the Dragonfly has fierce competition from the Latitudes and ThinkPads of the world. But there’s no business laptop out there that matches the elegance of a Dragonfly. It’s a sleek, light, and beautiful computer — and that beauty is a big part of its hefty, hefty price tag. Right, the price tag. Before we get into this: The cheapest Dragonfly Max has an MSRP of $3,347 (currently listed at a still-expensive $2,409.84). You can buy my test model for, oh, a discounted price of just $2,622.24. That puts the Dragonfly Max out of reach for most people. And frankly, given the device’s small but noteworthy list of d...

Amazon has officially announced the date for its big fall hardware event: it’ll take place on Tuesday, September 28th at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. As always, Amazon isn’t giving any details on what to expect — the invite sent to The Verge only says that they’ll be “news about our latest Amazon devices, features, and services.” In previous years, though, Amazon has announced new Echo speakers, updates to Alexa’s software, new Eero routers, updated Ring cameras, and more. Amazon also tends to announce its more unique and experimental products at its fall event: previous years have send the announcement of the Echo Loop ring, the Echo Frames glasses, and the Ring drone (which has yet to make a re-appearance since its initial debut last year.) We may have gotten an early look at Ring’s dash cam as wel...

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of disgraced blood testing company Theranos, is being tried for 12 charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The trial is expected to last through December. Theranos was valued as high as $9 billion, and Holmes was a darling of Silicon Valley, sporting black turtlenecks that prompted comparisons to Steve Jobs. That is, until John Carreyrou’s exposé was published in The Wall Street Journal. In that article, Carreyrou wrote that Theranos was using its own device for only a handful of tests and that other employees were concerned that the device wasn’t accurate. Then it came out that Theranos’ labs weren’t up to par and its partnerships with Safeway and Walgreens fell apart. Also, Theranos junked two years’ worth of test results. Eventual...

Roku today announced the Streaming Stick 4K, the company’s latest streaming device. Priced at $49.99, the new product replaces the popular Streaming Stick Plus, which has long been a go-to recommendation as one of the best streamers for under $100. The new hardware improves on the old with features like Dolby Vision HDR and speedier performance. It now boots up 30 percent quicker and has a long-range Wi-Fi receiver that delivers speeds that are up to twice as fast. Roku says the device can intelligently optimize bandwidth and streaming performance based on your network conditions. Like its predecessor, the Streaming Stick 4K supports Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit and can also be tied into Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant smart homes. The Streaming Stick 4K has a similar design to the Strea...

If you’ve been waiting on a deal for the latest Apple TV, which has a faster processor and includes the new Siri remote, you can save $30 on it by buying refurbished through Apple itself via Slickdeals. The 32GB model costs $149 (was $179) and the 64GB model is $169 (was $199), but supplies are likely limited. While buying refurbished usually comes with a few words of caution, Apple’s refurbished program ensures that products are in brand-new condition, with a full one-year manufacturer warranty. It even supports AppleCare, so you can extend the warranty if you’d like. Read our review. Apple TV 4K (2021) $169 $199 16% off The latest Apple TV 4K houses the A12 Bionic processor, and features faster performance with HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 6, and Thread support. Another great deal comes from Woot, wh...

Food delivery platform DoorDash said Monday it’s expanding its alcohol delivery service to 20 new states and the District of Columbia, Canada, and Australia, which it says will reach 100 million adults worldwide. Before the pandemic the company was only delivering in California and started expanding within the last six months. “Customers in select markets, where legally permissible, can toggle to the Alcohol tab of the DoorDash app to browse and safely order from a wide selection of drinks from restaurants, grocery stores, local retailers, and convenience stores,” the company said in a press release. DoorDash cited a 2020 study from the National Restaurant Association that found 56 percent of customers over 21 would order alcoholic beverages if offered as part of food delivery from a resta...