Technology

The first trailer for Disney Plus’ Hawkeye has arrived, giving a first look at the surprisingly whimsical Christmastime adventures of Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) — and his new successor, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who also is running around New York City as a preternaturally skilled, purple-clad archer. Hawkeye picks up with the titular character after the events of Avengers: Endgame, which saw Renner’s character flip out into a gothic edgelord style as the murderous vigilante Ronin after his family was wiped from existence in Thanos’ snap. But with things back to normal (and his family restored), Clint just wants to enjoy Christmas with his family: visit New York City, see the new Captain America musical, and enjoy fine dining. Lucky the Pizza Dog!Image: Marvel All that seems to get...

You can do more with your iPad Pro by connecting it to a wireless keyboard, especially one that features a trackpad to help you navigate more like a traditional laptop. Brydge’s Pro Plus wireless keyboards with a trackpad for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro are $50 off at Best Buy. Normally $170, the model built for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is $120. Naturally, the smaller Brydge Pro Plus for the 11-inch iPad Pro costs a bit less. It’s normally $150, but you’ll pay $100 for it now. The Brydge Pro Plus is one of a few options available that has a backlit keyboard and a trackpad built in. It connects to your tablet via Bluetooth and recharges via USB-C. Read our review. Brydge Pro Plus for iPad Pro $119 $170 30% off If you’re looking for a competent iPad keyboard, Brydge’s Pro Plus has backl...

Photo: Photograph by Philip Montgomery / New York Magazine New York City’s 65,000 delivery bikers move faster than just about anything else in the city—chasing tips, fearing penalties, targeted by thieves, largely unprotected by cops. In partnership with The Verge, New York’s September 13-26, 2021 issue cover story looks at how groups of workers fed up with increasingly brutal conditions are now fending for themselves. The Verge’s investigations editor Josh Dzieza reported this story over the course of two months, speaking with over 20 delivery workers whenever they were able to take breaks from their demanding jobs, typically either in the mid-afternoon or late at night, and often in parks, garages, or the underpass at Willis Avenue Bridge where many gather at night to guard against bike ...

The Litecoin cryptocurrency saw its price spike by as much as 20 percent on Monday after a fake press release claimed Walmart would begin accepting Litecoin as payment. The press release posted to GlobeNewswire linked to a non-functioning website, and there was no evidence of any Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which would have been expected since Walmart is publicly traded. Walmart’s official newsroom never included the release, and the company typically uses Business Wire to distribute releases. Several news outlets published reports based on the hoax press release, and a short time later Litecoin’s price jumped, along with those of other cryptocurrencies, before quickly falling back to the previous levels. It’s not yet clear who may have been behind the hoax press release, bu...

The alien invasion is over, and now Fortnite’s island is… full of cubes. Season 8 of the battle royale’s second chapter just launched and it’s called, simply, “Cubed.” The premise is pretty strange: according to developer Epic, the cubes that used to power the giant alien mothership have now been set free to wreak havoc on the island. As with all new seasons, the update means a combination of new characters, locations, weapons, and even portals to transport players to a monster-filled realm. The launch follows an explosive live event that took place over the weekend. First, here’s the basic story, via Epic: The alien and IO war is over, but a new war has taken shape, one where you’re a combatant. After Slone double-crossed you and left you to perish on the Mothership, the cubes that ...

WhatsApp is reportedly developing a feature that’ll offer transcriptions of received voice messages, letting you easily read what’s been said without having to play it out loud. The feature spotted by WABetaInfo is currently in development for iOS. It’s unclear when it’ll hit the WhatsApp beta for iPhone users or when it’ll come to Android. According to a screenshot shared by WABetaInfo, the feature works by sending speech data to Apple “to process your requests,” not to parent company Facebook. There’s a disclaimer that this data “will also help Apple improve its speech recognition technology.” It’s unclear how the data “sent to Apple” will be secured since the feature is yet to be officially announced. Currently, voice messages are protected by WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption. A popup w...

Nintendo is lowering the price of its base Switch model across Europe ahead of the OLED version’s launch next month. The Nintendo Switch is now priced at €299.99 in Europe, down €30 from the previous €329.99 pricing. In the UK, Nintendo has adjusted the base model to £259.99, down £20 from the previous £279.99 pricing. The new pricing can be found at Nintendo’s own store, and Eurogamer notes it hasn’t been reflected at other retailers like Amazon just yet. Given the small changes, it’s likely more of a currency-related change in pricing, but it does arrive just under a month before Nintendo’s OLED Switch is due to go on sale. The Switch OLED model arrives on October 8th.Image: Nintendo The OLED model will be priced at €364.99 in Europe and £309.99 in the UK. This small price drop creates a...

Following a limited-edition collaborative Q2 with James Bond actor Daniel Craig and British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ official photographer Greg Williams back in February, Leica is now celebrating the release of No Time to Die with yet another special edition of the camera model. Dubbed the “007 Edition,” the new Q2 features an all-black construction paired with a dark, ocean green leather body wrap. The franchise’s iconic “007” logo can be found on the deck cap while the Bond gun barrel emblem adorns the camera’s lens cap. Each unit will receive individual numbering as well as a custom, handcrafted case designed by Globe-Trotter in the same green tone. On top of the camera release, Leica will also be hosting an exhibition at its London gallery titled No Time to D...

Last week, the judge in the Apple vs. Epic Games lawsuit rewarded Epic with a victory that ordered Apple to make changes to its app store. However, Epic was also ordered to pay Apple $3.7 million USD in damages plus 30% of what Epic earned through its in-app payment system from November 2020 to now. It seems that Epic is not entirely thrilled with the outcome as they have now filed an appeal. The case has been ongoing since August 2020 and was centered around Epic Games updating its iOS app which subsequently allowed its players to bypass Appel’s payment system to pay the Fortnite parent company directly. During the recent trial, Epic claimed that Apple holds a monopoly. The judge seems to think that Epic has failed to make the case for Apple as a monopoly explaining that their antitr...

NASA’s Perseverance Rover has collected its first rock samples from and it is already suggesting that life may just have a chance at flourishing on the Red planet. NASA researchers have analyzed the sample which has now indicated that water has been present on the planet for a while now, namely tens of thousands, or perhaps millions of years. The team has detected crucial salt sediments that appear to have formed when water flowed through the sampled rock. The salt is expected to have trapped some of Mars’ old water in its pockets, confirming that there could be preserved signs of life. Though there have only been two samples from this one rock, it will take a much longer time for scientists to unveil more about Mars’ makeup and the extent to which life could flourish on the planet. The sa...

The latest live Fortnite event saw the return of a familiar friend, with an explosion-filled spectacle involving aliens, cubes, and lots of strange bits of lore. And now that it’s over, the game is down in the lead-up to season 8. Before the event started, players were able to hang out in a sort of holding pen, located on some chunks of farmland floating above the island. They were greeted by the booming voice of Doctor Slone — the main protagonist, or possibly antagonist, of this season — who warned “the aliens are about to start their biggest abduction yet.” In my instance of the game, everyone jumped on top of the same grain silo and danced for 20 minutes before the event actually kicked off. When that happened, players were initially sucked onto the giant alien mothership that has floa...

Just weeks after forcing the Groovy Discord music bot offline, Google-owned YouTube is now turning its attention to Rythm, the most popular music bot on Discord. The search giant has sent a cease and desist to the owners of Rythm, a bot that lets Discord users play music from YouTube videos and is used by more than 560 million people. Google wants the Rythm bot closed down within seven days, and the service is complying by shutting down its bot on September 15th. Rythm is currently installed on more than 20 million Discord servers alone. Rythm has more than 560 million Discord users, making this shutdown a huge blow to a core feature of Discord. “One way or another we knew this was due to happen eventually,” admits Yoav, the creator of Rythm bot, in a Discord message to The Verge. “Which i...