Technology

This week was supposed to be the first day of Google’s big reentry into flagship smartwatches. Samsung is back on board after years of Tizen-based wearables, with its new Galaxy Watch 4 that runs the new, revitalized Wear OS 3. It’s the smartwatch OS that merges the best of Google and Samsung’s discrete platforms together. But there was just one issue: Google was strangely absent from the proceedings. In fact, aside from a few oblique mentions of working with Google on the software, you might have watched Samsung’s whole presentation and not even caught that the new watches were running on Wear OS at all. On the one hand, this is extremely par for the course for Samsung. It’s practically a running gag at this point that Samsung goes out of its way to avoid mentioning Google or Android when...

The Razer Hammerhead True Wireless introduced back in 2019, was one of the first low-latency Bluetooth earbuds for gaming. The second-generation earphones include exciting aesthetic and performance updates. For starters, the earbuds are illuminated by RGB lighting, include a 60ms low latency gaming mode, and support Bluetooth 5.3. This 2021 model features active noise canceling, smart microphones, and improved in-ear comfort. Through the Razer Audio App, users can adjust the colors and effects of the Chroma RGB, tweak the EQ settings for personalized sound, and remap touch gestures. While the 2019 model had 19 hours of charge, this year’s model can run 6 and a half hours of active listening, and an additional 26 hours with the charging case. The Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds are priced ...

It’s been notoriously difficult to watch lost classics like Vincent Chase’s Aquaman or The Rural Juror — in part because they’re not real — but thanks to the launch of Nestflix, that’s all changing. Those movies are from Entourage and 30 Rock, respectively, created as gags or plotlines, but Nestflix, “the platform for your favorite nested films and shows,” will let you browse them anyway. The basic premise behind designer Lynn Fisher’s Netflix alternative is “what if every fake show or movie featured in a real show or movie lived on a single platform?” The result is something that looks a lot like that red-and-black-colored streaming service you might be familiar with, populated with fake TV show and movie listings for projects that never existed. Nestflix even has room for independent ent...

Today, Twitch has issued a statement announcing the steps it’s taking to protect its marginalized streamers. “We’ve seen a lot of conversation about botting, hate raids, and other forms of harassment targeting marginalized creators,” Twitch writes. “You’re asking us to do better, and we know we need to do more to address these issues.” Twitch says it’s identified “a vulnerability in our proactive filters, and have rolled out an update to close this gap and better detect hate speech in chat.” It also says it will implement more safety features in the coming weeks, including improvements to the account verification process and ban evasion detection tools. This statement is in response to the hashtag #twitchdobetter, which was an effort started by Twitch creator RekItRaven in order to bring a...

Lordstown Motors is looking to essentially loan out some space at the massive former General Motors factory it owns, as the troubled startup gets closer to building its first production-quality Endurance pickup trucks later this year. Interim CEO Angela Strand shared Wednesday that Lordstown is in “serious discussions… with several potential partners” who may build vehicles or do other types of work at the plant alongside the startup — meaning the startup could act like a sort of WeWork for manufacturing. “This is a critical strategic pivot for us, a decision that we believe will lead to significant new revenue opportunities for Lordstown at the same time as production of the Endurance is ramping up,” Strand said. “Our current footprint utilizes about 30 percent of the plant’s 6.2 mi...

Three prominent Blizzard employees have been let go from the company, as first reported by Kotaku, marking the latest departures from the studio following a major sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the state of California. Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft are not employed at Blizzard anymore, according to Kotaku. Activision Blizzard confirmed the departures in a statement to The Verge after we published this story, but declined to comment on whether or not Barriga, McCree, and LeCraft were fired. “We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate,” a Blizzard spokesperson said. “We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amaz...

Zoom has announced a new Focus mode, which it says is meant to keep students from getting distracted while in a virtual classroom, while still allowing the teacher to keep an eye on everybody. When activated, Focus mode will make it so that a meeting’s participants won’t be able to see each other’s videos or screen shares, while the host is still able to see everyone’s webcams. It provides some of the control found in Webinar mode, without the complexity and lack of flexibility that comes with it — for instance, a teacher could turn on Focus mode while presenting, and then turn it off when it’s time for a class discussion. And, while hosting a Webinar costs money, Focus mode appears to be available to free accounts, based on my testing. This feature comes as the new school year approaches ...

A PhD student named Bogdan Kulynyc has discovered that the Twitter image-cropping algorithm favors thinner, lighter and more youthful-looking faces. His findings were released as part of a competition that Twitter designed to help discover AI issues within its saliency algorithm. The Algorithmic Bias Bounty Challenge, launched last month, gave out cash prizes in exchange for an assessment and rebuilding of the code, which has been criticized for its skewed image cropping and racial bias. Nabbing first place and $3,500 USD, Kulynyc, who studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, confirmed these claims and uncovered more issues with the saliency algorithm. “The target model is biased towards deeming more ‘salient’ the depictions of people that appear slim, young, of light or warm ...

On Tuesday, decentralized finance platform Poly Network reported that $600 million USD in various cryptocurrencies had been stolen by hackers, considered to be one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history. “The amount of money you hacked is the biggest one in the defi history,” Poly Network wrote in a letter addressed to the hacker posted to Twitter. “Law enforcement in any country will regard this as a major economic crime and you will be pursued.” The platform then advised the hacker to talk to it in order “to work out a solution.” It also established several addresses where the hacker could return the money and advised those in the industry to blacklist assets coming from addresses that the hacker was using to hold the funds. pic.twitter.com/Yzw4oDenjC — Poly Network (@PolyNetwor...

Tonight’s Perseid meteor shower could very well be the best one of this year. So now would be a good time to dust off your lawn chairs. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Perseid meteor shower happens every year from July 23 to August 22. However, it usually reaches its peak from midnight on August 11 to dawn on August 13. The peak is characterized by the greatest number of meteors that fall per hour. The best place to view the celestial spectacle is anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. In this region, stargazers can expect to see more than 40 meteors per hour if they are far away from light population, according to NASA. City-dwelling stargazers might only see a few per hour. Viewing the shower’s peak becomes a bit difficult if located in the Southern Hemisphere. For those 30 degr...

The Criterion Collection has announced plans to release a six-film slate of classics on 4K Blu-rays for the first time, including a rerelease of Orson Welles’ American epic Citizen Kane. Besides the perennial film buff favorite, Criterion is also releasing the following films as part of its initial collection of ultra high-definition Blu-rays: Menace II Society directed by Allen and Albert Hughes The Piano directed by Jane Campion Mulholland Dr. directed by David Lynch The Red Shoes directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger A Hard Day’s Night directed by Richard Lester Criterion writes that each release will include the film in 4K UHD along with a traditional 1080p Blu-ray print. Special features, arguably one of the Criterion Collection’s greatest strengths, will also be included ...