Technology

Samsung’s next Galaxy Z Fold folding phone might have a slightly smaller screen than its previous models, feature a smaller battery, and quite possibly launch in July alongside a new Galaxy Z Flip, The Elec reports (via XDA Developers). The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will reportedly have a 7.5-inch main tablet screen and a 6.2-inch screen on the front cover of the phone, The Elec writes, which would be virtually the same as the Fold 2’s 7.6-inch main display and 6.2-inch cover display. The Elec says these screen sizes come with the added benefit of “zero bezels,” so even though the screens may be the same size, the third Fold could feel slightly smaller because the actual body of the phone might shrink. In comparison to the Fold 2’s 4,500mAh battery, the Fold 3 will reportedly make do with a slightly...

Airbnb is attempting to put the kibosh on disruptive post-vaccine summer parties by launching its “Summer of Responsible Travel” plan, focused on offering more support to hosts and their neighbors, and adjusting its policies to prevent Airbnbs from being used for things other than calm, socially distanced stays. Airbnb’s most noticeable change is a ban on one-night or last-minute stays on the Fourth of July, at least for those guests who don’t have a history of receiving positive reviews from Airbnb hosts. The company is targeting the Fourth because it says the holiday is viewed as a “reopening date” for the US and potentially an occasion for large gatherings that could spread COVID-19. Airbnb already has a 16-person limit on gatherings As the policy stands now, there are still some loopho...

The first trailer for Exposure — the upcoming, Samsung-branded reality TV show from Hulu that’s one part photography competition, one part Galaxy S21 Ultra advertisement — is here. But for a show that’s been paid for by Samsung explicitly to highlight the power of the cameras on Samsung’s phones, it’s almost suspiciously light on Samsung branding. If you just gave Exposure a cursory glance (or, more likely, stumbled across it on Hulu one night) there’s nothing about it that immediately betrays its status as Samsung branded content. There’s no Samsung logo on the title card, no mention of the Galaxy S21 Ultra or its 108-megapixel camera system, or the various software add-ons that help Samsung’s smartphone stand out from the rest. [embedded content] In fact, Exposure’s trailer just gives th...

The Google Play Movies and TV app will no longer be available on any Roku set-top box or any Samsung, LG, Vizio or Roku smart TV starting July 15th, Google has announced (via 9to5Google). If you have movies or TV shows purchased or rented through the service, you’ll still be able to access them through the “Your movies and shows” section of the YouTube app on those devices. This change will also affect you if if you used the Movies and TV app to access Movies Anywhere, the service that allows you to redeem codes from DVDs and Blu-rays so you can access your media digitally. Google has confirmed to The Verge that users who relied on Play Movies and TV to access that content will be able to do so through YouTube. There are a few other caveats to note in the transition to YouTube. Your Watchl...

A robotic spacecraft from Northrop Grumman latched onto an old communications satellite in deep orbit and extended its lifespan by five more years. The Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2) marked Northrop’s second successful docking of an object in space. The mission is part of the company’s efforts to kickstart an industry of life-extension services for dead, dying or errant satellites. MEV-2 launched in August last year from French Guiana in South America. It spent six months raising its orbit to rendezvous with Intelsat’s 17-year-old communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit, more than 22,000 miles from Earth. That satellite was running out of fuel and was getting old; it had operated far beyond its expected lifespan while still providing broadband communications to three continen...

We’ve barely heard a peep out of Nvidia on the CPU front for years, after the lackluster arrival of its Project Denver CPU and its associated Tegra K1 mobile processors in 2014. But now, the company’s getting back into CPUs in a big way with the new Nvidia Grace, an Arm-based processing chip specifically designed for AI data centers. It’s a good time for Nvidia to be flexing its Arm: it’s currently trying to buy Arm itself for $40 billion, pitching it specifically as an attempt “to create the world’s premier computing company for the age of AI,” and this chip might be the first proof point. Arm is having a moment in the consumer computing space as well, where Apple’s M1 chips recently upended our concept of laptop performance. It’s also more competition for Intel, of course, whose shares d...

Gundam is about to make the jump to live action in a big way — Legendary Pictures is working on a feature film version of Sunrise’s incredibly popular mech suit anime for Netflix, set to be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (best known for his work on Kong: Skull Island.) Legendary was first announced to be working with Sunrise on the live-action Gundam film in 2018, although today’s news doesn’t shed too much light on the upcoming project, which only has a working title at this point. Netflix hasn’t announced details on who might be cast or what the plot will be (or even if the movie will be adapting any of the dozens of different anime arcs, series, and films that already exist in Sunrise’s franchise). Brian K. Vaughan is attached to the project as a writer and executive producer, too. Gra...

Tesla has dramatically increased the price for its solar roof, angering some customers who have responded by canceling their orders. The news was first reported over the weekend by Electrek. The price jumps come as Tesla reports increasing revenue from its solar business. During the fourth quarter of 2020, the company installed 86 mega-watts (MW) of solar energy, a 59 percent increase year over year. For the entire year, Tesla installed 205 MW of solar energy, an 18 percent increase compared to 2019. Tesla offers two solar products: solar panels, which are installed over a customer’s existing roof; and a solar roof, which replaces the current roof slats with ones capable of soaking up the sun’s rays and transforming it into energy. Now, prices for Tesla’s solar roof product are starting to...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on CNBC Monday that the ride-hailing company would consider getting into cannabis delivery “when the road is clear.” “When federal laws come into play, we’re absolutely going to take a look at it,” Khosrowshahi said. Khosrowshahi made the remarks as part of a conversation about Uber’s February acquisition of Boston-based alcohol delivery service Drizly. Not part of that $1.1 billion acquisition was Lantern, a cannabis delivery service Drizly launched in May 2020. Lantern continues to operate independently. Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, but about three dozen US states have decriminalized the drug, either for medical or recreational purposes — some for both uses. Last month, New York passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, legalizing...

Multiple Google services are currently experiencing outages, with some users unable to create new documents in Google Docs and Google Sheets. Google’s Workspace Status Dashboard is reporting that Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Classroom are all experiencing service disruptions. When trying to create a new document in Google Docs, the following error message appears: Google Docs encountered an error. Please try reloading this page, or coming back to it in a few minutes.To learn more about the Google Docs editors, please visit our help center.We’re sorry for the inconvenience.– The Google Docs Team The issue has been acknowledged by Google, which says it’s currently investigating the problems. “The affected users are able to access Google Drive, but are seeing error messages, high la...

Uber saw record gross bookings in March 2021, according to a filing posted Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The increase may signal the beginning of a comeback for the ride-hailing business, which suffered mightily in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Uber’s mobility segment, which includes its ride-hailing business, was up 9 percent between February and March 2021, with an annualized run rate of $30 billion. Uber’s food delivery segment UberEats, which helped the company stave off even bigger losses in 2020, doubled its annual run rate from March of last year, coming in at $52 billion. “As vaccination rates increase in the United States, we are observing that consumer demand for Mobility is recovering faster than driver availability, and consumer demand for Delivery...

Major League Baseball has announced its latest move to cash in on the NFT craze: official blockchain-based versions of classic Topps baseball cards. Topps is selling the new NFT baseball cards through the WAX blockchain, which the company has used for its earliest blockchain-based collectibles. The first “Series 1” cards will be sold starting on April 20th, with 50,000 standard packs (containing six cards for $5) and around 24,000 premium packs (offering 45 cards for $100) set to be sold in the first wave. Topps is also offering a free “exclusive Topps MLB Opening Day NFT Pack” to the first 10,000 users who sign up for email alerts for new releases. It’s a similar idea to the NBA’s white-hot Top Shot NFTs, which offer fans purchasable video clips (called Moments) in card-like packs. Top Sh...