Technology

Vox Media today announced it’s entering an agreement to acquire Hot Pod, the preeminent publication covering the podcasting industry, founded by Nicholas Quah in 2014. At Vox Media, Hot Pod will become part of The Verge, with Quah deepening his long-running relationship with New York and Vulture as a full-time podcast critic. Senior reporter Ashley Carman will take over as lead writer of Hot Pod for The Verge, expanding Carman’s must-read coverage of podcasting and audio. The acquisition also marks The Verge’s first paid product as it will continue to publish Hot Pod’s weekly subscriber-only newsletter Hot Pod Insider, laying the groundwork for more paid Verge products in the future. “I can’t think of a better home for Hot Pod than The Verge,” says The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. ...

People who own a PS5 console with a disc drive can enjoy some small but noteworthy discounts on exclusive games at Walmart, GameStop, and Amazon. You can get up to $25 off of the Demon’s Souls remake, while Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is $10 off. The new version of Demon’s Souls made for the PS5 was developed by Bluepoint Games, the same studio that tackled the remastering of classics like Shadow of the Colossus, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and more. Demon’s Souls for PS5 features overhauled graphics and a new orchestral recording of the original soundtrack. And, of course, this one will satisfy if you like difficult games. Normally $70, it’s $45 at Walmart and Amazon, while GameStop is selling it for $50. Demon’s Souls Remake $45 $70 36% off A remake of the 2009 game Demon’s S...

People who own a PS5 console with a disc drive can enjoy some small but noteworthy discounts on exclusive games at Walmart, GameStop, and Amazon. You can get up to $25 off of the Demon’s Souls remake, while Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is $10 off. The new version of Demon’s Souls made for the PS5 was developed by Bluepoint Games, the same studio that tackled the remastering of classics like Shadow of the Colossus, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and more. Demon’s Souls for PS5 features overhauled graphics and a new orchestral recording of the original soundtrack. And, of course, this one will satisfy if you like difficult games. Normally $70, it’s $45 at Walmart and Amazon, while GameStop is selling it for $50. Demon’s Souls Remake $45 $70 36% off A remake of the 2009 game Demon’s S...

Mobileye, the Intel-owned company that specializes in chips for vision-based autonomous vehicles, announced that it will launch a robotaxi service in Germany in 2022. It’s the latest big move by a company seeking to buck the trend in AV development by becoming both a supplier of autonomous driving technology as well as a fleet operator and service provider. The taxi service will be operated in partnership with German rental car company Sixt and Moovit, an Israel-based startup that specializes in mobility data that was recently acquired by Intel for $900 million. Customers can hail a ride through either Sixt’s or Mobileye’s app. But it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at launch But it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at launch. Mobileye says it will begin “early rider testin...

Mobileye, the Intel-owned company that specializes in chips for vision-based autonomous vehicles, announced that it will launch a robotaxi service in Germany in 2022. It’s the latest big move by a company seeking to buck the trend in AV development by becoming both a supplier of autonomous driving technology as well as a fleet operator and service provider. The taxi service will be operated in partnership with German rental car company Sixt and Moovit, an Israel-based startup that specializes in mobility data that was recently acquired by Intel for $900 million. Customers can hail a ride through either Sixt’s or Mobileye’s app. But it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at launch But it won’t be a full-fledged robotaxi service at launch. Mobileye says it will begin “early rider testin...

Nearly a year after Tesla started testing its controversial “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) beta software with a select group of customers, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said he is aiming for a wider release by the end of September. The news comes as an older version of the software leaked online. Musk said on Twitter that the company would begin rolling out FSD version 10 to customers in its early access program at midnight on September 10th. Then, the software “will need another few weeks after that for tuning [and] bug fixes,” which Musk estimated would take four weeks. At that point, a “public beta button” will be made available to more Tesla customers, which is expected to take the form of a download button for people who purchased the FSD package. Naturally, this should all be taken with a g...

Electric toothbrushes aren’t often created for the lifestyle of a traveller, but the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige is challenging that notion, serving as an essential tool that caters to those who are constantly on the go. As the most advanced electric toothbrush that Sonicare has designed, the luxe model goes beyond looks: its advanced technology senses and adapts to the user’s movements with every brush stroke. After packing the 9900 Prestige for an impromptu trip to Los Angeles, we tested if this intelligent brush could actively improve oral hygiene without requiring extra effort from its owner. What we noticed: The brush houses its advanced features in a pearl-finished body, which comes in a convenient carrying case. With details like an integrated USB-C port that align with the quick...

Hiroshi Fujiwara has been on a hot streak with collaborations with luxury brands — like his more recent BVLGARI and Maserati projects — and now he enters the tech world with a limited-edition MSI notebook. Part of MSI‘s Creator project, the Z16 performance laptop is aimed at “Slashies,” basically multi-hyphenated creators with multiple professions and eclectic career paths. Taking in Hiroshi Fujiwara’s expertise in design, music, fashion, and art, the Z16 receives a makeover that’s heavily influenced by fragment‘s design ethos. The laptop itself boasts a GeForce RTX 30 Series GPU, a 1,000-nit TRUE PIXEL 16:10 Mini LED display, an RGB SteelSeries keyboard, an Intel 11th-gen core i9 processor, and a military durability rating of MIL-STD-810G. Distinguishing this from the rest of the laptops ...

LG, the company that maintains an entire lineup of “party speakers” adored by muscle-y guys who buy beer in buckets, is back with a subdued model. The LG Xboom 360 (model RP4) speaker has a design that still says “party,” but with a more wine-from-a-box aesthetic. The portable 360-degree speaker has a 29Wh battery that lasts for up to 10 hours between charges. The speaker can supply up to 120W of power to its 5.25-inch woofer and 2-inch horn tweeter when plugged into the wall, and accepts audio over Bluetooth, USB, or Aux-in sources. The integrated light has ambient, nature, and party presets, and can be further customized in the companion app. It’s available in your choice of beige, burgundy, black, or green fabric coverings. A speaker for party-people who drink watermelon through straws....

As of today, Bitcoin is an official currency of El Salvador alongside the US dollar, after the Central American country became the first to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender. At three minutes to midnight local time, the country’s populist president Nayid Bukele tweeted that the country was about to “make history” with the move, after previously confirming that it had purchased 400 Bitcoins, the equivalent of around $20.9 million at today’s prices. Supporters argue the move will make it cheaper and easier for migrants to send money home to El Salvador, which is important given such remittances account for over 24 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to figures from the World Bank reported by CNBC. There are also hopes the move could improve citizens’ access to f...

Apple could have a new version of its iPhone MagSafe charging puck on the way. A new FCC listing for a “Magnetic Charger” first spotted by blogger Dave Zatz shows an accessory with a new model name (A2548) that looks otherwise identical to Apple’s existing charger (A2140). The new charger has been tested with a variety of devices including four marked as “New Phone,” which almost certainly correspond to Apple’s anticipated iPhone 13 models. There aren’t too many hints about what’s new in the official FCC documents. 9to5Mac notes that it’s been tested with all four existing iPhone 12 models (marked as “Legacy Phone”) as well as the four unannounced devices, which suggests this new MagSafe charger should be compatible with both generations. And there’s also a diagram showing the puck being u...

TikTok’s users now spend more time each month watching content than YouTube users, according to a report from app analytics firm App Annie. In the US, ByteDance’s app first overtook YouTube in August last year, and as of June 2021 its users watched over 24 hours of content per month, compared with 22 hours and 40 minutes on Google’s video platform. In the UK the difference is even more stark: TikTok overtook YouTube in May last year and users there now reportedly watch almost 26 hours of content a month, compared to less than 16 on YouTube. The figures only include viewership on Android phones, however, so may not be representative of mobile users as a whole. But caveats aside, they show the extent of TikTok’s meteoric rise over just a few short years, and are even more impressive given th...