Technology

According to a Vice report, some Amazon delivery drivers are instructed by their employers to turn off Amazon’s safe driving monitoring app, so they can drive faster and get their deliveries done. The drivers don’t work for Amazon directly, but instead for companies known as Delivery Service Partners, and they report that their managers or dispatchers ask them to turn off Amazon’s Mentor app after leaving it running long enough to get a good score. Mentor, the app made by a company called eDriving, gives delivery drivers a safe driving score based on variables like their braking, acceleration, speed, and distraction throughout the course of their 10-hour shift. Many drivers report that the score that the app gives them is factored into their bonuses (and the bonuses and incentives paid to ...

IBM has revealed what it says are the world’s first 2nm process chips, giving a brief preview of the technology that might eventually power the smartphones, laptops, and gadgets of the future. The big jump here is in transistor count. Compared to today’s 7nm chips, the new IBM technology features dramatically more transistors, thanks to the more compact design. That means chips built using that process can potentially offer big gains in performance and battery life: IBM says its 2nm chips are “projected to achieve 45 percent higher performance, or 75 percent lower energy use, than today’s most advanced 7 nm node chips.” It’ll still be years before you can get one According to AnandTech, IBM’s new 2nm chip features about 333 million transistors per square millimeter (MTr/mm2). For compariso...

Twitter has started rolling out a new Tip Jar feature on its Android and iOS apps, which (as rumored) will allow users to send money directly to their favorite accounts. To use the tip jar, simply tap on the freshly added dollar bill icon next to someone’s username when viewing their profile on one of Twitter’s mobile apps. Users will be able to toggle the tip jar feature, too (for those individuals or organizations that don’t want people just sending them cash out of the blue). Android users will also be able to send money in Twitter’s Clubhouse-like Spaces. Tip Jar supports a variety of payment options and links: Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, Paypal, and Venmo. Twitter is using those services’ external payment processors for transactions; it doesn’t take a cut. All English language Twitte...

Who among us has not tried during the pandemic to conceal the background of our home offices during a Zoom call for work— lest we reveal a messy bedroom, or get ragged on by RoomRater? For Republican state Sen. Andrew Brenner of Ohio, the green screen betrayed him during a video call this week, making it clear he was driving a car even though his background image showed what looked like a home office. That wouldn’t have been a big deal except it was the same day that Ohio’s legislature was considering a bill that would have toughened the state’s rules on driving while using an electronic device. One could argue that a video call might be a significant distraction while driving. Brenner told the Columbus Dispatch he was parked for most of the video call, was not distracted, and was listenin...

At the beginning of this week’s Epic v. Apple trial, Apple described Epic’s lawsuit as an “assault” on the entire iOS philosophy. One of the iPhone and iPad’s defining features is a curated ecosystem (or, from a different perspective, a walled garden). A loss for Apple could require it to allow side-loaded apps and alternative app stores, potentially including Epic’s own Epic Games Store. Apple says that would damage the privacy and security that iOS is known for, making Apple spend more money to fix new problems that crop up. Epic spent the fourth day of trial offering its counter-narrative: the iOS App Store isn’t actually very good. Calling two Apple executives to the stand, Epic’s attorneys took jabs at everything from the update review process to Apple allegedly leaking Marshmello’s F...

Another “out-of-control” Chinese rocket stage in orbit has spawned a news cycle. But for people on Earth, there’s not much to worry about. The 100-foot-tall, 22-metric-ton corpse of a Chinese Long March 5B rocket that launched the first chunk of Beijing’s new space station last week will reenter Earth’s atmosphere sometime this weekend, and there’s an extremely high chance that pieces of the rocket will splash down in the ocean, analysts say. “Much of the earth is covered in water, so there’s almost no risk,” said Dan Oltrogge, founder of the Space Safety Coalition and top policy expert at AGI’s Commercial Space Operations Operations Center. The risk to the public isn’t zero, he said, “but it’s a whole lot less” if it’s heading for the oceans. The US Space Command, which helps track the ro...

In what feels like an increasingly rare occurrence, Google announced that it’s updating Wear OS with a new feature today — but don’t get too excited, it’s just a keyboard. In this case, Google is porting over Gboard, the swipeable, predictive text-powered keyboard that it offers for Android, iOS, and Android TV, as spotted by 9to5Google. Like the larger phone version, Gboard for Wear OS supports multiple input methods on a keyboard that’s slightly more finger-friendly than the old version the operating system used. You can type by tapping, swiping, or speaking. The keyboard also has easier access to emoji and “enhanced suggestions” above the keyboard. Along with the new keyboard, Google says it’s also introducing multi-language support for all of the languages offered on Wear OS. To switch...

Peloton expects it to be a number of months before either of its treadmills are offered for sale again after a recall was issued on both models yesterday. One of the models posed the risk of “injury or death,” Peloton said. The more expensive Tread Plus treadmill, which has been on sale since 2018, “could take months” to return to market, said Peloton CEO John Foley on a call with investors this afternoon. Peloton needs to develop a hardware solution to prevent people, animals, and objects from getting sucked underneath the machine and then get that solution approved by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). A six-year-old child died recently after being pulled underneath a Tread Plus, the commission said. The cheaper machine, the Tread, could be up for sale again as soon as Jul...

Apple has announced that it’s awarding Pennsylvania-based optical technology company II-IV with $410 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund. Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted that the company’s tech helps power Apple’s FaceID, Memoji, and Portrait Mode. The company also manufactures lasers that are used in the LIDAR scanner found in the iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro, technology that Apple touts as being key to augmented reality experiences. Finisar, which was later acquired by II-VI (pronounced “two-six”) received $390 million from Apple’s fund back in 2017. While this latest investment likely shows that Apple intends to keep FaceID (which is powered by II-IV’s vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers) around for a while, it could also be another sign pointing to Apple’s future with AR and VR. ...

Ubisoft announced that it’s developing a free-to-play game set in The Division’s universe, called The Division Heartland. The company also announced that a Division mobile game is in the works. The announcement is light on details, so it’s not clear yet whether the game will be a battle royale style like Call of Duty: Warzone or Fortnite, but Ubisoft has said it’ll be coming to PC, consoles, and cloud gaming platforms at some point in 2021 or 2022. There are also basically no details about the mobile game, but Ubisoft said in a news release that more will be revealed at a later date. It’s understandable why Ubisoft would want to launch its own version of the free-to-play and mobile shooter games: Fortnite makes billions of dollars for Epic, and CoD: Mobile alone reportedly made $10 billion...

Due to the global electronic component shortage, getting your hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X has been challenging. Fortunately, if you want another shot at getting either next-gen console, Walmart has done a surprise drop right now for both systems, while supplies last. As seen on Walmart’s website, the PS5 digital edition and Xbox Series X gaming consoles are available for purchase. We’re noticing that stock is coming in and out, so stick with the page for a few minutes and keep refreshing to see if you can add one to your cart. Sony PlayStation 5 Prices taken at time of publishing. Sony’s flagship next-gen console, starting at $399.99. The biggest difference between both models is the Digital Edition can only play digital games, while the $500 PS5 includes a disc drive, allowing you to ...