Technology

Tensions between Google and its AI brain trust DeepMind have always been fascinating. To put the relationship in crude terms: DeepMind, founded in 2010, is home to some the best AI researchers in the world who output a steady stream of insightful academic papers and Nature front covers. Google, meanwhile, bought DeepMind in 2014 and bankrolls its large losses, and it really, really wants to squeeze some money out of all those juicy brains. That’s why a recent story on the two companies from The Wall Street Journal is so interesting. In it, Parmy Olson reports that Google has ended yearslong negotiations between the two firms, ultimately rejecting a plea from DeepMind for more independence. One idea reportedly suggested was for DeepMind to have nonprofit status According to Olson, DeepMind ...

Battery life has been the Achilles’ heel of smartwatches and fitness watches. While solid state storage and processing power have been evolving at a rapid clip, battery life has remained stagnant. This goes quintuple for watches that track your activity using GPS, which is a particularly power-hungry thing to do. And yet, somehow, the Garmin Enduro now exists. If you’re the type of person who likes to run until their kneecaps have been ground into a fine powder, this is the watch for you. The $800 Enduro is a multisport fitness watch. And by multi, I mean pretty much all the sports. Built-in activities include: Run, Ultra Run, Trail Run, Treadmill, Virtual Run, Track Run, Indoor Track Run, Bike, Mountain Bike, Indoor Bike, Pool Swim, Open Water Swim, Triathlon, SwimRun, Hike, Expedition, C...

Twitter’s getting ready for the launch of its Ticketed Spaces feature, and today, it’s previewing what users can expect when they go to host their first one. US users will be able to apply to host paid live audio rooms starting in the next couple weeks. Anyone who wants to charge has to have 1,000 followers, have hosted three spaces in the past 30 days, and be at least 18 years old. The company is partnering with Stripe to handle payments, and it says users will receive 80 percent of revenue after Apple and Google’s in-app purchase fees are taken. So if you sell a $10 ticket, Apple would presumably take a 30 percent cut, leaving you and Twitter to split the remaining $7. Eighty percent would go to you, and 20 percent would go to Twitter. The company says it’ll cover the cost of Stripe’s tr...

Amazon is shutting down its standalone Prime Now delivery app, with its speedy two-hour delivery options moving exclusively into the company’s main app and website, the company announced today. Prime Now services have already moved into the main app in India, Japan, and Singapore, while in other countries Amazon is already directing Prime Now users into its main app and website via a pop-up, CNBC notes. The standalone Prime Now app and website will be retired by the end of the year. Originally launched in 2014, Prime Now was designed to offer deliveries of essential items within hours rather than days for Prime members. The service was initially available in just a small number of cities, but has since expanded to over 5,000 locations around the world, CNBC notes. Writing in a blog post, A...

A group of the USA’s biggest dating apps are encouraging users to get vaccinated, just in case the health benefits weren’t reason enough. New features will range from badges for users to show their vaccination status, free premium features for vaccinated users, and links to vaccination resources like the Vaccines.gov website. The apps taking part in the scheme include Match Group’s Tinder, Hinge, Match, OKCupid, BLK, Chispa, and Plenty of Fish services, as well as Bumble and Badoo. The aim is to encourage users to get vaccinated, with the implied promise of more matches and hence more dates. The announcement cites research from OKCupid suggesting that people who either are, or plan to be, vaccinated get 14 percent more matches. Some apps will even let users filter matches by vaccination st...

Microsoft is finally adding a dark mode to its Office app for Android. While the Office app has been available on iOS and Android for more than a year, only the iOS version has included built-in dark mode support until now. “It’s been a highly requested feature by many of our customers,” admits Sourab Nagpal, a product manager at Microsoft. “Many people prefer using Dark Mode as they find it provides a more comfortable visual experience for reading and working on mobile devices.” The latest Office app for Android will now automatically enable dark mode if you’ve set that as a system preference on your Android device. Dark mode can also be toggled from the home tab in the Office app. Microsoft says it’s rolling out dark mode for Office on Android over the coming weeks, so it might not appea...

You’ve undoubtedly run across taped light switches like the one pictured above if you’ve ever spent time in Airbnbs. Hell, maybe you have some of these in your own smart home. No judgement, we’ve all been there, which is why I just installed a Philips Hue Wall Switch Module in my own house. Many smart home fans can trace their obsession back to the very first Hue lightbulbs launched back in 2012 as an Apple Store exclusive. But Hue bulbs, like all smart bulbs, come with a few catches. First, they require a constant source of power to function. That means you’ll lose control over that fancy Hue bulb hanging above your kitchen table just as soon as someone flicks off the light switch. To solve this, many people disable the switch mechanism with tape or a dummy wall plate, only to realize tha...

MagSafe PopSockets are finally here, after the famous phone handle company announced they would be coming in January. The PopGrip for MagSafe sells for $30, which is two to three times more expensive than the adhesive versions, but the bigger question that people have been asking since the announcement is whether they’ll be as trustworthy. I decided it was time to find out. The PopGrip for MagSafe is a retractable grip for your phone (as the name implies) that can also work as a stand for watching video or a hands-free video call. PopSockets has made versions of the PopGrip for years now (and if you’ve got a collection of fun design tops, this will still work with those), but they’ve traditionally used an adhesive to attach to your device. The MagSafe version uses Apple’s system of magnets...

Kensington’s StudioDock, the high-end $399.99 desktop hub for the iPad Pro that was released earlier this year, isn’t compatible with the new 12.9-inch model hitting stores today. A representative for Kensington confirmed the news to The Verge, saying it’s because the new iPad Pro is 0.5mm thicker than the 2018 and 2020 models. The StudioDock uses a rotatable magnetic mounting plate to secure the iPad when it’s plugged in over USB-C, expanding its connectivity with extra USB-A, ethernet, and HDMI ports. Although the only difference between the StudioDock versions for the 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro is the size of that mounting plate, Kensington says it won’t be user-replaceable. Instead, the company plans to release an entirely new SKU to fit the 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The new 11-inch...

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.5 doesn’t seem to be a difficult concept to grasp; initial estimates suggest as many as 96 percent of US users are leaping at the chance to tell their apps, “No, you can’t track me across the internet.” Now, Apple is taking a victory lap with a full ad campaign, too, one that turns the feature into a selling point for the iPhone and furthers the attempt to pitch itself as the only tech company you can trust. And, if you ask me, its new ad spot “Tracked” is just about perfect. Just give it a watch above. Who wouldn’t want to Thanos-snap ad trackers into dust? It’s no wonder Google is thinking long and hard about following Apple’s lead with an anti-tracking feature of its own. Related How to use iOS 14.5’s new app tracking bloc...

Belkin’s new SoundForm Connect Audio is a $99 dongle that lets you turn any pair of speakers with either a 3.5mm or optical port into an AirPlay 2-compatible setup. In other words, it’s effectively an Apple version of the (now-defunct) Chromecast Audio. As someone who actually likes AirPlay 2, it’s a very interesting concept, especially if you have older speakers or an audio setup that you’d like to get wired into the rest of an AirPlay system. Setup is simple: just plug in the SoundForm Connect Audio to power (over USB-C, thankfully), and then plug in a 3.5mm headphone jack or optical cable from your speaker system’s input port. Image: Belkin Unfortunately, the SoundForm Connect Audio does come with a pretty hefty price tag for what it does. The Chromecast Audio used to cost $35, which ma...

Apple employees are circulating an internal letter calling on Tim Cook to put out a statement supporting the Palestinian people. Nearly 1,000 workers have signed. The writers, who are part of the Apple Muslim Association, specifically ask the company to recognize that “millions of Palestinian people currently suffer under an illegal occupation.” The move comes on the heels of Israel’s deadly bombing campaign in Gaza, which has killed roughly 227 people, including at least 63 children. On Thursday, the Israeli government approved a unilateral cease fire. Members of the Apple Muslim Association — an official employee group — say they were inspired to write the note after the company failed to put out a statement condemning the violence toward Palestinians. “We are frustrated and disappointed...