Technology

SpaceX is slated to launch its third crew to the International Space Station early Friday morning, ferrying two astronauts from NASA, one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the first European Space Agency astronaut to fly a private US spacecraft to orbit. The four-person crew will launch atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 5:49AM ET on Friday. The mission, dubbed Crew-2, marks the second operational mission under the Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s public-private initiative to revive its human spaceflight capabilities after a 10-year dependence on Russian rockets. It will mark the first time NASA astronauts fly a reused crew capsule — Crew-2’s ride first flew in May 2020 as SpaceX’s first astronaut mission, carrying Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. The crew includes NASA astronauts ...

Sony will begin rolling out support for 1080p streaming with PlayStation Now beginning this week, upping the streaming quality from the cloud gaming service’s previous 720p cap. “The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available,” Sony said in a tweet. PlayStation Now will begin rolling out support for streaming 1080p capable games this week. The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available. pic.twitter.com/OEHWHtMTw8 — PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 22, 2021 In its tweet, Sony says support will roll out for “1080p capable games,” but it hasn’t yet shared a list of games that can hit the higher resolution. We’ve asked the company if it can s...

Microsoft is starting to roll out its biggest change to the Windows taskbar in years. A new weather and news taskbar widget will be available in Windows 10 starting today, offering weather information directly in the Windows taskbar. The widget also expands to include a feed of news, stocks, sports, and weather information. The mini-feed of content only appears when you activate the widget, and it can be fully personalized with the latest sports news, headlines, and weather information. Microsoft is using its Microsoft News network to surface news and content from more than 4,500 sources, and the company will use AI to learn what news is relevant to you when you dismiss or like stories in the feed. The taskbar widget includes a feed of news.Image: Microsoft If you don’t care about this new...

Consumer Reports said Thursday it was “easily” able to trick Tesla’s Autopilot system to operate without anyone in the driver’s seat. The publication’s test came amid questions about the safety of the company’s advanced driver assist system in the aftermath of a fatal crash in Texas in which authorities said there was no one behind the steering wheel. Using a weighted chain attached to the steering wheel to simulate the pressure of the driver’s hands, two Consumer Reports researchers were able to use the steering wheel dial on a Tesla Model Y to accelerate from a full stop, and then “drive” around on a closed-course test track for several miles — all while sitting in the passenger seat and backseat. They stopped the vehicle by again using the dial to bring the speed back down to zero. Tric...

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against the remote testing company Proctorio on behalf of Miami University student Erik Johnson. The lawsuit is intended to “quash a campaign of harassment designed to undermine important concerns” about the company’s remote test-proctoring software, according to the EFF. It’s the latest legal battle for the software company, which has publicly sparred with online critics throughout the last year. The lawsuit intends to address the company’s behavior toward Johnson in September of last year. After Johnson found out that he’d need to use the software for two of his classes, Johnson dug into the source code of Proctorio’s Chrome extension and made a lengthy Twitter thread criticizing its practices — including links to excerpts of t...

The Touch ID sensor in Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, which debuted alongside the updated iMac earlier this week, works with any Mac fitted with Apple’s M1 processor, Rene Ritchie and MacRumors report. However, the sensor won’t work with the new iPad Pro, which also uses the M1 chip. For now, the new keyboard is only sold with the new M1-equipped iMac, which is available to preorder from April 30th. Apple has been shipping MacBooks with built-in Touch ID for a while now, but this is the first time it’s been available in an accessory. The biometric security method can be used for logging into the device, as well as authorizing purchases and signing into some third-party apps. The new Touch ID keyboard is available with a compact layout, as well as a full size keyboard with a numpad. You can on...

Hundreds of foldable electric bikes made by UK firm Brompton have been recalled for repair by the US government. A software fault is causing the bikes’ electric motors to deliver “forward momentum” when the rider is not pedaling. It’s an issue that poses “fall and injury hazards,” according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), but can be remedied by a free software upgrade performed at certain Brompton dealers. The problem affects roughly 600 bikes sold by Brompton’s US dealers between June 2020 and March 2021, with the bicycles themselves retailing for between $3,500 and $3,800. “the risk of an accident occurring is very low,” say brompton Owners can check if their bike is one of those affected by entering the product’s serial number (found on a sticker on the frame) into ...

Apple’s new TV calibration feature, which uses the iPhone’s front-facing sensors to sense and tweak the output of the Apple TV, works with the company’s older streaming boxes, 9to5Mac reports. The new feature will arrive with tvOS 14.5, which is due to release “early next week” for the 2017 Apple TV 4K and 2015 Apple TV HD. Apple says viewers will see “much more accurate colors and improved contrast” after calibration. The calibration feature was announced alongside the new Apple TV 4K. It works by having you hold up the front of your iPhone to your TV, so it can sense how the screen is outputting different colors. If the phone’s light sensor sees that color is being outputted inaccurately, the Apple TV can adjust its output to compensate. The process only covers the Apple TV’s content, an...

Apple is getting ready to announce a raft of software updates for the iPhone and iPad in June according to a new report from Bloomberg, including “the most significant update to the [iPad’s] Home Screen since first launching the product in 2010.” The new versions of iOS and iPadOS — iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 — will be unveiled at Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 7th, says Bloomberg. Last year’s iOS 14 update was announced at WWDC on June 22nd, before becoming available for download on September 16th in time to accompany the iPhone 12 release. Bloomberg’s story has a host of details about what to expect from the latest versions of Apple’s mobile software, but here are the biggest points: New notification filters based on user status. From a new menu accessible from...

Sony has announced a follow-up product to the Reon Pocket, the app-controlled “wearable air conditioner” it released last year after crowdfunding it on the company’s own platform. The Reon Pocket 2 looks more or less the same as the original model, but the newly designed internals can achieve up to twice the level of heat absorption, according to Sony, resulting in more powerful cooling performance. Sony also says that it’s improved the sweat-proofing in the Reon Pocket 2, making it more suitable for light exercise situations. The prior model was mostly marketed as something to wear with a special undershirt to make summer commuting more bearable, but this time around Sony is emphasizing more versatile use cases — particularly golf. The company has partnered with sportswear brands includin...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced a new series of virtual sporting events that will take place ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, called the Olympic Virtual Series. No, this doesn’t mean that League of Legends just became an Olympic sport — what’s happening is that the IOC is partnering with five international sports federations to host virtual competitions in games featuring their sports. The Olympic Virtual Series will kick off on May 13th and will run through June 23rd. Here’s the lineup of federations and what games they’ll be hosting events for, as we know it so far: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile will host a Gran Turismo competition Union Cycliste Internationale will host a competition for Zwift, which offers virtual cycling and running courses to use with ...

Fujifilm and Nintendo have announced a new collaboration. The camera company is releasing a new Switch-themed version of its Instax Mini Link photo printer, as well as a new app that’s designed to let you edit Switch screenshots and print them out onto Fujifilm’s Polaroid-style Instax film, or add Nintendo characters to your photos. You can transfer screenshots from your Switch to the new “instax mini Link for Nintendo Switch” app with a QR code. The app contains filters and 59 new frames from games like Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and appropriately enough the upcoming New Pokémon Snap. Here’s how some of the frames look: The actual printer hardware itself is identical to the existing Instax Mini Link, but it comes in Switch-inspired red and blue trim and there’s a bundle with a frankly ...