Technology

John Legere, former T-Mobile CEO and aspiring Batman, has reacted to the mob that attacked the Capitol like many other political and business leaders by calling for President Donald Trump to step down. But he’s also going a step further by considering a run for political office himself. Legere left his post as CEO and member of T-Mobile’s board after successfully negotiating the merger between the company and Sprint, so he very well could be looking far and wide for his next gig. Legere’s time as T-Mobile’s CEO turned the company into the “Un-Carrier,” a plan that came with an end to contracts, revamped mobile plans, and a variety of freebies and perks for customers designed to set T-Mobile apart from its longtime rivals AT&T and Verizon. But what would political candidacy — or un-cand...

General Motors debuted a new logo meant to convey the automaker’s renewed commitment to the production and sale of electric vehicles. The company is also launching a new marketing campaign to underscore that commitment, as it seeks to compete with Tesla and other automakers that are rushing new EVs to market. It’s been about a decade since GM has last tweaked its logo, but this update represents the starkest change in the company’s 113-year history. The most obvious change is the use of a lowercase “gm” in the logo, after previously only using capital letters. The underline has been shortened to just the “m,” in a nod to the company’s recently announced Ultium electric vehicle battery and platform. The blue square has been rounded at the corners, giving the logo more of a smartphone app ap...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ended a year-long review of claims that some Tesla vehicles were accelerating without warning, saying there is not enough evidence to open a full investigation. While NHTSA received 246 complaints about this “sudden unintended acceleration” phenomenon, the agency says that “pedal misapplication” was the cause of the problem in every case in which it had data to review — user error, in other words. “There is no evidence of any fault in the accelerator pedal assemblies, motor control systems, or brake systems that has contributed to any of the cited incidents,” the agency wrote in a summary published Friday. “There is no evidence of a design factor contributing to increased likelihood of pedal misapplication. The theory provided of a pot...

Substack is adding a long-awaited new feature today: the ability to change the look of newsletters. Writers will now be able to choose their background color and accent color and set different fonts for the title and body of posts. It’s a limited set of customizations, but it should allow Substack newsletters to stand out more from one another — right now, they’re basically the same, save for profile pictures and the color of links. The feature is being called Themes, and Substack says it plans to continually add more options for writers. It’s supposed to be available starting today. Image: Substack As fun as themes are, writers may get a lot more use out of two other features that Substack is planning for release sometime “soon.” Writers will be able to create sub-lists of members and onl...

Apple and Google are facing new pressure to deplatform Parler, a social network founded as a less moderated and more conservative-friendly alternative to Facebook and Twitter. Activist group Sleeping Giants has called on both companies to ban Parler from their app stores in response to posts calling for violence against elected officials. As evidence, the group posted screenshots of Parler posts calling for Vice President Mike Pence to face a firing squad and encouraging “American Patriots” to return to the capital on January 19th “carrying Our weapons.” The group points out that both Google and Apple have clear rules against violent threats and moderation of content. Apple’s App Store says apps must have “a method for filtering objectionable material from being posted” and “a mechanism to...

Sony has announced an expansion of its 360 Reality Audio platform, bringing the 360-degree music format to more devices and media as well as offering new creation tools. 360 Reality Audio uses object-based spatial audio technology to place instruments or vocals around the listener’s head in a virtual sound field. Now, Sony is expanding the audio tech into video. The company says it’s working with record labels and service providers to start streaming video content with 360 Reality Audio later this year, and the first example will be a live performance from Sony-signed artist Zara Larsson next week. You’ll be able to watch through Sony’s Artist Connection mobile app at 5pm ET on January 11th. Sony is releasing two new 360 Reality Audio-compatible speakers this spring, the SRS-RA5000 and SRS...

Pokémon has an illustrious history of beautifully bizarre merch including a human-sized Metapod sleeping bag or a Ditto chair, but this giant Gengar plushie might be the best yet. It’s cute, sure, but it’s also incredibly practical. Just roll out its roughly 170cm-long tongue and you’ve got yourself a compact futon for sleeping on. There’s even a cozy little space in its open mouth for your head. But this Gengar isn’t just a novelty mattress replacement. No, it’s capable of so much more. Tired of reality? Shove your head in the Gengar’s mouth. Need an impromptu blanket? Use the Gengar’s tongue. When you’ve got a giant Gengar with a long-ass tongue, the sky’s the limit. Be not afraid.Image: P-Bandai.jp Gengar is here to help with nap time.Image: P-Bandai.jp The title of the product listing ...

Tesla is now taking orders for a cheaper Standard Range version of the Model Y. The new variant, whose availability was reported by Electrek, has a cheaper starting price of $41,990 compared to $49,990 for the Long Range model. The discount comes with a lower EPA estimated range of 244 miles rather than 326 miles, and rear-wheel rather than all-wheel drive. Alongside the new cheaper Model Y version, Tesla is also selling a new 7-seat option for a $3,000 premium. The version has a third seating row, which can be folded flat along with the second row for cargo storage. The Standard Range option was originally announced with a 230-mile range Tesla originally announced the Standard Range version of the Model Y back at the car’s announcement in March 2019. At the time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said ...

Kohler has revealed a new smart bath that lets you use an app, or your voice, to fill up the water. That by itself seems pretty handy to me, but depending on which model you buy, you can elevate your bathing experience by changing the color of lights around the tub or even adding some fog. You’ll also be able to establish preset routines to turn on features in a certain order so you can set your bath exactly the way you want it. For example, you can have the tub fill itself up to a specified level and a certain temperature, and once that’s done, add some fog or turn on some aromatherapy, all with a voice command to Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. Take look at the Stillness Bath for yourself in this footage provided by Kohler. I gotta say, it seems like a really relaxing tub. If you wan...

Online-only bank Simple is shutting down, its parent company announced in an email to customers Thursday. BBVA USA, which acquired Simple in 2014 for $117 million, said it would be transitioning Simple customers to BBVA accounts but did not provide details about when the change would occur. BBVA USA was acquired by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank in November. In the email to users, which many shared with The Verge, BBVA said the decision to close Simple was a strategic one and said customers did not need to take any immediate action. There is no immediate impact to your accounts at Simple and nothing you need to do at this time. Since your deposits are already housed at BBVA USA, they will remain in FDIC insured accounts there, up to the applicable limits. In the future, your Simple account will...

For years, police have been warning about the dangers of crowdsourced detective work — but on Thursday morning, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, DC decided to do just that. In the wake of an unprecedented mob attack on the Capitol building, the MPD has released an open call for help identifying subjects. The department has circulated a digital booklet featuring 26 pages of faces from the attack, with a hotline number for anyone who can help identify them. The FBI has made a similar request, although neither agency has produced any arrests as a result of the photos. The alarming nature of the attack, combined with the failure of Capitol Police to detain or process the intruders, has led to a nationwide digital manhunt. The event was captured in hundreds of photos, vid...