Technology

Apple is cutting production of the iPhone 12 mini in the first half of this year, Nikkei Asia reports. Planned production of the smallest iPhone 12 model has reportedly been reduced by 70 percent or more in the first half of this year, making up the majority of a 20 percent cut in total iPhone 12 production. Some suppliers have been asked to temporarily stop producing iPhone 12 mini-specific components, while other parts are being reallocated to the Pro and Pro Max, Nikkei reports. Alongside the iPhone production news, Nikkei also reports that Apple has pushed back production for two new Apple Silicon MacBooks. Originally due to enter mass production in May or June, the laptops will now be manufactured in the second half of the year. Nikkei’s report doesn’t reveal which of Apple’s rumored ...

The European Union wants to double its chip manufacturing output to 20 percent of the global market by 2030. The goal is part of its new Digital Compass plan, announced yesterday, which aims to boost “digital sovereignty” by funding various high-tech initiatives. As well as doubling chip output, the EU also wants all households to have 5G access and gigabit internet connectivity by 2030; for “all key public services” to be available online in every member state; and for the bloc to have its first quantum computer. Funding for these and other projects will come from the EU’s €672.5 billion ($800 billion) coronavirus response fund, with 20 percent of this money ($160 billion) earmarked for tech investment. The EU’s ambition to produce more semiconductor chips is particularly notable. Maintai...

TikTok is rolling out a pop-up today that’s designed to warn users before they post a comment that might be “inappropriate or unkind.” The new feature is one of two being announced that are designed to “promote kindness” on the service. The other is Filter All Comments, so that they only appear once individually approved. The new unkind warning appears if TikTok believes a comment might violate its community guidelines. “Would you like to reconsider posting this?” the pop-up box reads, before encouraging users to “Edit” it, or “Post anyway.” Prompts like these have been explored by other social networks to cut down on bullying and harassment. Instagram rolled out similar prompts back in 2019, Twitter announced it was testing them last year, and they’ve also been spotted on Facebook. Instag...

Fifteen years since first learning to knit, Petrina Hicks has only ever made sweaters for other people. There was one cardigan attempt back in 2015, but they had to make so many modifications that the end product was frumpy and ill-fitting. Hicks didn’t have the luxury to be picky: the cardigan was the only sweater pattern they could find above an XL or XXL. “I want to be a sweater maker,” Hicks said. “I couldn’t find things that were cute. I couldn’t find things that were in my style.” Hopeful crafters pick up knitting for a variety of reasons: to adopt a slow-fashion wardrobe, to keep stress at bay during the pandemic, or to make the clothes they wish existed, controlling the color and fit to their liking. Ravelry, the largest knitting and crochet site, lists over a million designs — the...

Amazon appears to have reached the “late-prototype stage” in the creation of its secretive home robot codenamed Vesta, claims a new report from Insider. The device has been under development for around four years and now has more than 800 employees working on it, says the publication. If the robot launches, it will be one of Amazon’s biggest and most ambitious new products, in the mold of the Echo, Kindle, and Fire Phone. Indeed, it’s comparisons to the latter device, Amazon’s failed smartphone project, that seems to be concerning some of those involved in Vesta’s development. “People are very skeptical — we’re worried it could turn into another Fire Phone,” one of six anonymous sources cited by Insider as “directly involved in the project” told the publication. Vesta is reported to have a...

Support for Microsoft’s Edge browser is ending today — not the new Chromium-based one, but the original Edge that was built as a replacement for Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft now calls it Legacy Edge, and the company announced it would be discontinuing the product back in August. That day has finally come: Legacy Edge will no longer receive security updates, and anyone still using it should start the process of switching to something else. Legacy Edge was originally codenamed “Spartan” and was included with Windows 10 as the operating system’s default web browser before it was officially named Edge. The Edge mantle is being taken up by Microsoft’s Chromium-based browser, which was in beta throughout 2019 and officially launched in January 2020. This means Edge (the old Edge, that is) sur...

Nikon has announced development of the Z9, its highest-end mirrorless camera to date and the first in the Z-mount line that the company describes as a flagship. Actual details are thin, but Nikon promises that it will deliver “the best still and video performance in Nikon history” upon release. From the single image released, the Z9 looks like a cross between the current mirrorless Z7 and the D6 full-frame DSLR, with a built-in vertical grip. Nikon says the Z9 uses a newly developed full-frame sensor and a new image processing engine, with support for 8K video “as well as various other video specifications that fulfill diverse needs and workflows.” That’s about it for details so far, except that Nikon says the Z9 will be released in 2021. Nikon tends to announce the development of its high...

T-Mobile will soon put a new privacy policy into effect that will allow it to share certain kinds of customer information with third-party advertisers. Starting on April 26th, 2021, all customers will be automatically opted in to the new program, as spotted by The Wall Street Journal. Customers who don’t want to participate will need to manually opt out using their accounts’ privacy tools. T-Mobile’s new policy is no different than AT&T or Verizon’s. This is an about-face for former Sprint customers, however. T-Mobile acknowledges in its announcement of the policy change that Sprint offered a similar opt-in service rather than an opt-out one. The companies say the data they share doesn’t reveal individual customers’ identities The new policy includes the same kind of provisions as AT&a...

Verkada, a Silicon Valley security startup that provides cloud-based security camera services, has suffered a major security breach. Hackers gained access to over 150,000 of the company’s cameras, including cameras in Tesla factories and warehouses, Cloudflare offices, Equinox gyms, hospitals, jails, schools, police stations, and Verkada’s own offices, Bloomberg reports. According to Tillie Kottmann, one of the members of the international hacker collective that breached the system, the hack was meant to show how commonplace the company’s security cameras are and how easily they’re able to be hacked. In addition to the live feeds, the group also claimed to have had access to the full video archive of all of Verkada’s customers. In a statement to Bloomberg, a Verkada representative commente...

Samsung has just announced an Unpacked event coming up on March 17th, 2021, its second for the year so far. The invitation calls the event “Galaxy Awesome Unpacked.” Between recent A-series leaks and the chaotic, “awesome”-themed promotional video for last year’s models, it seems safe to assume that we’ll see the Galaxy A52 and A72 devices debut. [embedded content] An entire event dedicated to unveiling midrange devices is a little unusual, but the leaked information we’ve seen thus far has pointed to Samsung taking these phones very seriously. The A52 5G looks like it will receive monthly security updates — something Samsung has tended to reserve for higher-end phones — and spec leaks have indicated we can expect high-refresh rate screens. If nothing else, we can hope that Samsung will br...

Of course John Legere, the former CEO of T-Mobile, has jumped into NFTs by spending $888,888.88 on one made by Steve Aoki, according to Rolling Stone. It’s nice to know he’s keeping busy after stepping down from T-Mobile’s CEO gig on April 1, 2020. The NFT in question is called “hairy.” It’s a 36 second-long video, featuring music — which Rolling Stone describes as “soundscapes in harmony with digital animations” and I would describe as “if Darude were making music from inside a Game Boy” — and this visual: A portion of the Hairy NFT. GIF: Steve Aoki Not only is Legere’s ownership of the video permanently embedded in the blockchain, but he’ll also get a screen in some acrylic that will display the NFT, as long as he doesn’t sell it in the next two weeks. This display screen is also include...