Technology

Samsung seems to be trying to discourage users from modifying the software on their new Galaxy Z Fold 3s, giving them a message that unlocking the phone’s bootloader will render the phone’s cameras unusable (via Android Police). This isn’t the first time we’ve seen phone manufacturers pull this sort of trick, but it seems to represent an escalation in Samsung’s fight against its users who want to gain complete control over their phones. An XDA Forums user confirms that after unlocking the bootloader, the Z Fold 3’s cameras were completely non-functional: facial recognition, loading the camera app, and trying third-party camera apps all failed for them. The user reports that re-locking the bootloader made the cameras work again. The message shown to users trying to unlock their bootloader.I...

Activision Blizzard’s leaders have promised to work to make the company a safe place for women to work — but California has now accused the company of illegally “withholding and suppressing evidence” and shredding documents that it requested for its investigation (via Axios). California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) originally filed the suit in July, which accused the company of creating a frat-like culture where female employees faced “constant sexual harassment” and discrimination. The updated complaint can be read below, and you can read the original version here. Since the new version contains the same extremely disturbing details, it warrants the same content warning as the original. The amended complaint says that Activision Blizzard cited attorney-client privile...

After recently announcing that OnlyFans will be banning all sexually explicit content starting this October, founder Tim Stokely officially addressed the reason why they will stop sharing the content in the Fall. In a recent interview with Financial Times, Stokely said that he would welcome the aforementioned content back on the platform if the environment changes. He later went on to explain the reason OnlyFans is pulling sexually explicit content, stating, “the short answer is banks.” He adds that the banks have continued to throw obstacles at the company, going as far as refusing their business and citing reputational risk. Stokely clarified, “We pay over 1 million creators over $300M every month, and making sure that these funds get to creators involves using the banking sector.” ...

Waymo, previously known as the “Google Self-Driving Car Project,” has rolled out its autonomous taxi service in San Francisco. The company has been testing out autonomous driving in San Francisco for over 12 years and began offering rides to its Bay-area employees earlier this year. In addition, the company has run tests in several other U.S. locations, including in a suburb located outside of Pheonix, Arizona. Kicking off its Waymo One Trusted Tester program, the company is inviting San Francisco residents to hail an autonomous taxi in one of the company’s all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles equipped with its fifth-generation Waymo Driver technology. While the company remains confident in its self-driving technology, all of the rides in the tester program will have an autonomous specialis...

At CES 2021, LG Display announced that it intended to produce a 42-inch OLED TV panel sometime in 2021. You weren’t alone if, like me, you got really excited, and also expected one of these more compact OLED panels to have already launched. That’s not happening this year, according to sources speaking to The Korea Economic Daily, who say that the launch of LG’s planned 42-inch OLED TV has been pushed to 2022 instead, alongside the new 2022 TV lineup and debut at CES 2022. The delay doesn’t seem to have been caused by issues with production, according to The Korea Economic Daily. While its sources expected LG to launch the 42-inch in the second half of 2021 following mass production of the panels, they say the company switched the launch window to “maximize its marketing efforts rather than...

On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission proposed an over $5 million fine against conspiracy theorists and conservative activists John Burkman and Jacob Wohl for making hundreds of robocalls spreading 2020 election misinformation. In its proposal, the FCC said that the agency is weighing a $5,134,500 fine against Burkman and Wohl for making over 1,100 robocalls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. The violating pre-recorded calls told voters that their personal information would be “part of a public database” that would be used by “police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts” if they chose to vote by mail in the 2020 election. It’s the largest TCPA fine the FCC has ever proposed, accordi...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is giving out more than $35 million in grants so that airports in the US can cut down their pollution, the agency announced today. Gas-burning vehicles that shuttle travelers and their luggage around airports and other on-the-ground equipment create emissions that worsen air quality and add to the climate crisis. Electrifying those operations could make travel at least a little more sustainable while the technology to clean up planes’ pollution is still nascent. $5.9 million will go towards “zero-emission” vehicles $5.9 million will go towards “zero-emission” vehicles and charging infrastructure. Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina will get the biggest chunk of that change: $3.9 million for five electric shuttle buses. Three o...

A cell phone caught fire in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight that had landed in Seattle from New Orleans on Monday evening. The phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21, Perry Cooper, a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle, told The Seattle Times. “After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition,” Cooper said in an email to The Seattle Times. “However, during an interview with one of our Port of Seattle Police officers, the passenger volunteered the phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21. Again, we could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device.” Samsung did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge. An Alaska Airlines spokesperson tells The Verge that the plane’s crew used fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag to “stop the p...

NASA‘s Curiosity rover has mastered the art of the selfie. On Sunday, August 22, the Mars-residing rover captured a “plandid” (or planned, but candid) selfie using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), before sharing the image on Twitter the following day. Though some editing was needed, considering the original picture displayed Curiosity’s “head” upside-down at a slight angle, the final photo mimicks the nature of a typical human plandid. “I heard ‘plandids’ are all the rage back on Earth. Did I get it right?” the official Curiosity rover Twitter account wrote on Monday. “I took this image using my Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which is on the turret at the end of my arm. All LEDs were off, so the Sun is my only source of illumination.” I hear “plandids” are all the rage back on Earth. Did...

Microsoft had a good showing at this year’s iteration of E3, and the company returned to show off its upcoming slate of games at Gamescom 2021. There were the usual suspects — like Forza and Flight Simulator — along with a few surprises like cloud streaming coming to Xbox consoles. (Curiously, Halo Infinite did not make an appearance.) And the company continues to put a big focus on its Game Pass subscription service. If you weren’t able to check out the nearly 90-minute-long event live, here are the best trailers and biggest announcements you missed. [embedded content] xCloud coming to Xbox consoles this holiday Microsoft revealed that it’s bringing its cloud gaming service xCloud to both the Xbox One and Series X / S this holiday season, which will let users stream Game Pass titles befor...

Microsoft revealed a colorful new custom Xbox Series X / S controller to celebrate Forza Horizon 5 during its Gamescom 2021 Xbox stream. Much of the controller is a translucent yellow, but it also features blue and pink as accent colors, with “paint splotches” splashed across the front, pink buttons with blue letters, and the blue and pink control sticks. The controller also has black grips that look to have a rubberized texture, which will differ from the bumpier texture used on other Series X controllers. The new controller costs $74.99, which is a $15 increase from the $59.99 price of standard controllers, but it also comes with some exclusive Forza Horizon 5 DLC. You can preorder it from Microsoft’s online store now, and it will be available on November 9th, the same day as the Forza H...