Technology

Senate Democrats called on Facebook to end its digital wallet and cryptocurrency project in a letter to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday, saying that the company “cannot be trusted to manage cryptocurrency.” The letter comes hours after Facebook launched Novi, a new digital wallet, as part of a “small” pilot program in the US and Guatemala. Facebook first announced its plans to enter the cryptocurrency industry over two years ago, but the digital currency project, called Libra, was halted after heavy criticism from lawmakers and regulators. The Libra currency was later rebranded as “Diem,” which has yet to be released alongside the new wallet product. The letter comes hours after Facebook launched Novi In their letter, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warre...

In addition to new MacBooks on October 18th, Apple finally also introduced its third-generation AirPods, which are set to ship on October 26th for $179 and are available for preorder now. Apple also lowered the cost of the now-entry-level AirPods 2 from $159 to $129 and will now only sell the version that comes with a wired charging case. As a result, the AirPods lineup now consists of four models of AirPods: the $129 AirPods 2, the $179 AirPods 3, the $249 AirPods Pro, and the $549 AirPods Max. With such a wide range of AirPods available at various price points, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out which one you should purchase. That’s why we’ve put together this guide comparing the models to each other — so you can find the right fit for you. Note that while we have reviewed most ...

There’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to Apple’s new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. As well as souped-up Pro and Max versions of the already capable M1 chip that Apple debuted last year, they also include numerous quality of life improvements like the return of MagSafe, a row of function keys rather than an OLED Touch Bar, and of course, a full selection of ports that won’t have users reaching for a dongle if they just want to import some photos from an SD card. In fact, Apple was so enthusiastic about these “new” features, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that it was the one that killed most of them off in 2016. “Users value the full-height function row on the standalone Magic Keyboard, and we’ve brought it to the MacBook Pro,” Apple’s Shruti Haldea said as she explained the dec...

Epic Games is once again proving that no brand is safe from Fortnite by adding two playable characters from Dune to its hit battle royale shooter. Starting Tuesday at 8PM ET, you’ll be able to buy virtual Fortnite avatars of Paul Atreides and Chani modeled after Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, the actors who play them in the upcoming movie. There are a handful of other Dune-themed items you can pick up as well, including an ornithopter glider and a Sand Walk emote that mimics how the characters walk to avoid detection by gigantic sandworms. The tie-up arrives just a few days before Dune’s premiere in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday. While it doesn’t seem as if sandworms will actually be making an appearance in the game (to my great disappointment), there’s plenty of new spooky stuff to ch...

Big changes are arriving on Instagram this week, enabling creators to tell their stories, connect with their audiences and express themselves in new ways. The platform’s very first Product Week starts this Tuesday, featuring daily product drops and launches. On October 19, Instagram is introducing Collabs, which allows users to co-author feed posts and Reels. From the tagging screen, users can invite collaborators. If accepted, the content will be displayed on both accounts, and both account titles will appear in the header. The posts/Reels will also have a shared like count, view count, and comment section. On October 20, the platform is testing a new way to make fundraisers easier. With the new update, users can start a fundraiser from the “+” creation button in the top right corner wher...

The day before a job, Luiza Ferreira always messages her client on WhatsApp to confirm they need her services. Ferreira is a cleaner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and she cleans different households every day. If the job is confirmed, she knows she won’t be wasting money on her commute and guarantees income for that day. If the job is not confirmed, she tries to fit another client in her schedule so she doesn’t lose money for the day. But on October 4th, that system fell apart. A configuration change in Facebook’s internal network wiped the company’s services off the internet for six hours — including WhatsApp. Cut off from Brazil’s primary mode of communication, Ferreira’s business ground to a halt. “That’s income I can’t really get back” “By the time I started using SMS instead of WhatsApp,...

Apple’s new MacBook Pros are here, and they may actually live up to the “Pro” moniker. But there’s one big question that comes with the new sizes and processors: how’s the battery life? To hear Apple tell it, it’s going to be great — the company even said onstage that the 16-inch had the best battery life ever, besting last year’s M1 Macs (which it also boasted would have the longest-lived batteries). But the metric Apple used to back up that claim is a bit suspect, and its other numbers tell a very different story. In its keynote and press release, Apple says the 14-inch MacBook Pro will provide 17 hours of video playback and estimates that the 16-inch model can last for an unprecedented-for-Macs 21 hours. But using video playback as a measure of battery life is really only useful if you’...

Smart home company Wyze has revealed its latest category-breaking device, and this time, it’s going straight for Ring’s lunch with an impressive-sounding video doorbell that checks pretty much all the right boxes. Except maybe the “cool style and nice design” one. Available for preorders on October 19th and shipping in December, the Wyze Video Doorbell Pro costs $65 (plus shipping), can be installed fully wired or wire-free, has up to six months of battery life, and a 1:1 aspect ratio that can take in your entire front porch. It records and streams video in 1440 x 1440 HD and offers 12-second clip playback for motion and sound events for free. The recordings are stored in Wyze’s cloud; there is no local storage option. The doorbell comes with a Wyze wireless Chime, which offers 20 differen...

After leaks and pre-annoucements, ads and yet more leaks, the time has come for Google to officially launch the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. We already know many details: the custom Tensor processor that powers it, the colors and many of the specs, and even some of the software features have all been officially announced. And rumors have filled in more details. But there will be more to hear from Google. This is easily the most important Pixel the company has launched in years, it’s a launch where the company says it is taking on flagships from Apple and Samsung at the high end. Google hasn’t really talked big game about its phones before, so even if we’ve seen a lot of rumors, how Google goes about making this launch happen will be interesting. We’ll likely get a deeper dive into the specs on...

TikTok has launched its first-ever Discover List, which intends to highlight users who have had a large impact on trends and conversations within a specific category on the video-sharing platform. The new feature, which TikTok debuted on Tuesday morning, includes top creators within five sectors: icons, innovators, foodies, changemakers and originators. TikTok’s community team selected various creators for the list based on various analytics and measurements, including “engagement, views, video creations, account growth, likes, interactions with followers, and also which creators and content have sparked conversations both on and off the app,” according to a blog post. The icon category, which features creators who are “well-known up and down the [For You page] and outside of TikTok,” incl...

Mashable has just worked out how much a new fully-specced Apple MacBook Pro will cost. Now packing the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, this top-of-the-line MacBook Pro elects for the latter chip in the 16-inch chassis. Starting at $2,499 USD, the model quickly jumps to $3,899 USD when you upgrade to the M1 Max chip with 64GB of memory. The biggest jump comes when you upgrade the max amount of storage of 8TB of SSD storage, which adds another $2,200 USD. The final price for a fully kitted out MacBook Pro will set you back $6,099 USD. And if you go another step further and add all the additional software options, it racks up to nearly $6,600 USD ($6,598.98 USD to be exact). And this is not including all of Apple’s new products that it announced on Monday. In other tech news, take a first look at th...