Technology

Brydge has announced a new firmware update for its Pro Plus iPad keyboards that promises to hugely improve the trackpad experience. The update brings “native” multitouch to the trackpads, meaning you can use the same kind of multi-finger gestures on a Brydge device as Apple’s own Magic Keyboard. The Brydge Pro Plus was the victim of unfortunate timing. It was originally announced as a power-user product designed to support Apple’s experimental cursor feature, but then Apple turned that into consumer-level functionality with iOS 13.4 and released its own keyboard/trackpad accessory, the expensive but excellent Magic Keyboard. At launch, the Pro Plus’ trackpad was usable for basic tasks, but it didn’t have full gesture support and couldn’t compete with the smoothness of Apple’s own hardware....

Microsoft is launching a new FPS Boost feature for its latest Xbox Series X and Series S consoles that’s designed to make existing games run better. While Microsoft has previously focused on improving frame rates with backward compatibility for its latest Xbox consoles, FPS Boost is specifically designed to improve older games without developers having to put in any additional work. Some games will nearly double frame rates, and Microsoft says it has seen a few instances where backward-compatible titles even quadruple in frame rates. The first games to support FPS Boost are Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4, and Watch Dogs 2. The improvements vary across games, with New Super Lucky’s Tale now running at up to 120fps, and UFC 4 includes 60fps performance on the Xbox S...

The Justice Department unsealed charges Wednesday for three North Korean computer programmers accused of conspiring to extort over $1.3 billion from banks and other businesses across the globe, as first reported by The Washington Post. In 2018, the Justice Department brought charges against one North Korean operative, Park Jin Hyok, for their involvement in the infamous Sony Pictures hack in 2014, as well as the devastating 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack. In Wednesday’s unsealed indictment, Park and others are accused of participating in a sweeping conspiracy to hack into banks and crypto exchanges as well as creating the WannaCry virus. “North Korea’s operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of stacks of cash, are the world’s leadin...

It seems like the days of free apps are slowly grinding to a halt. Just recently, password manager LastPass announced that it was drastically limiting the usefulness of its free app, and now, Google has sent out emails reaffirming that it is ending its free unlimited photo storage policy: Starting June 1, 2021, all new photos and videos backed up in High quality and Express quality* will count toward the free 15 GB of storage that comes with your Google account or any additional storage you may have purchased, the same way other Google services like Google Drive and Gmail already do. While this isn’t a surprise — Google announced its new policy back in November 2020 — it is still depressing to be reminded of the upcoming storage crunch. Of course, until June 1st, you can still add as many ...

Super73, the Southern California e-bike company popular among YouTubers and film celebrities, announced that it has raised an impressive $20 million from investors, making it the latest company to benefit from growing venture capital interest after a record year of e-bike sales. The funding round is Super73’s first and was led by equity firm Volition Capital, which was an early investor in Chewy before its acquisition by PetSmart for $3.35 billion in 2017. With these new funds, the direct-to-consumer e-bike company plans on growing its 75-person staff, improving its customer service operation, and expanding its product lineup, said Super73 co-founder and CEO LeGrand Crewse. Super73 helped popularize a retro, mini-bike style of e-bike “It was never about bikes, it was never about transporta...

Twitter has rolled out support for voice direct messages on iOS and Android in India starting today, the company has announced. Android Central reports that the audio messages are now available in three countries worldwide: India, Brazil, and Japan. Plans for voice DMs were first announced last year. Twitter says the feature, which it’s calling an “experiment,” will roll out in India in phases. In a statement, Twitter India’s managing director, Manish Maheshwari, said voice messages are designed to “give people a new way to express themselves and help them connect through the nuances, emotion, and empathy built by hearing someone’s voice.” Similar features are already available on other services like Messenger, Instagram DMs, and WhatsApp. test, test: Starting today, you’ll be able t...

Natural gas wells and pipes ill-equipped for cold weather are a big reason why millions of Texans lost power during frigid temperatures this week. As temperatures dropped to record lows across some parts of the state, liquid inside wells, pipes, and valves froze solid. Ice can block gas flow, clogging pipes. It’s a phenomenon called a “freeze-off” that disrupts gas production across the US every winter. But freeze-offs can have outsized effects in Texas, as we’ve seen this week. The state is a huge natural gas producer — and it doesn’t usually have to deal with such cold weather. Texas relies on natural gas more than any other fuel for its electricity generation “When we think about what’s been going on in the last week and why it’s turned the market completely on its head is the fact that...

Microsoft is expanding its accessibility efforts with a new program for evaluating Xbox and PC games. Today, its gaming accessibility team announced that developers can send their games to be evaluated for accessibility and tested by players with disabilities. The program was announced alongside updates to the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines that were released in early 2020. “Developers now have the option to send Microsoft their Xbox or PC title and have it analyzed and validated against the recommendations provided in the XAGs,” says an Xbox blog post published today. The Xbox Accessibility Guidelines include thorough explanations of inclusive design considerations for developers, and they are now updated to include clearer language, additional context, and implementation examples. Game te...

Microsoft is expanding its accessibility efforts with a new program for evaluating Xbox and PC games. Today, its gaming accessibility team announced that developers can send their games to be evaluated for accessibility and tested by players with disabilities. The program was announced alongside updates to the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines that were released in early 2020. “Developers now have the option to send Microsoft their Xbox or PC title and have it analyzed and validated against the recommendations provided in the XAGs,” says an Xbox blog post published today. The Xbox Accessibility Guidelines include thorough explanations of inclusive design considerations for developers, and they are now updated to include clearer language, additional context, and implementation examples. Game te...

Google made the surprise announcement on February 1st that it would be shuttering its in-house Stadia game development studios. But the news wasn’t just a surprise to Stadia customers; it was a bolt from the blue for the Stadia development team, which, just a week prior, had been told that the studios were making “great progress,” according to a report from Kotaku. “[Stadia Games and Entertainment] has made great progress building a diverse and talented team and establishing a strong lineup of Stadia exclusive games,” said Phil Harrison, a vice president at Google and general manager for Stadia, on January 27th in an email to staff obtained by Kotaku. The email promised more news on the Stadia studios’ strategy and goals for 2021. But instead of new development objectives, Harrison announc...

Google made the surprise announcement on February 1st that it would be shuttering its in-house Stadia game development studios. But the news wasn’t just a surprise to Stadia customers; it was a bolt from the blue for the Stadia development team, which, just a week prior, had been told that the studios were making “great progress,” according to a report from Kotaku. “[Stadia Games and Entertainment] has made great progress building a diverse and talented team and establishing a strong lineup of Stadia exclusive games,” said Phil Harrison, a vice president at Google and general manager for Stadia, on January 27th in an email to staff obtained by Kotaku. The email promised more news on the Stadia studios’ strategy and goals for 2021. But instead of new development objectives, Harrison announc...

Netflix is making an anime series based on Valve’s hugely-popular game Dota 2. The 8-episode series, titled Dota: Dragon’s Blood, launches on March 25th, and you can watch the first trailer at the top of this post. “The upcoming fantasy series tells the story of Davion, a renowned Dragon Knight devoted to wiping the scourge from the face of the world,” according to a Netflix press release. “Following encounters with a powerful, ancient eldwurm as well as the noble Princess Mirana on a secret mission of her own, Davion becomes embroiled in events much larger than he could have ever imagined.” We’re excited to announce a brand-new anime series exploring the Dota universe like never before. As fellow fans of Dota and its passionate global community, we look forward to sharing this new a...