Technology

A text message program designed to track side effects in COVID-19 vaccine recipients is currently only available in English, which could limit the data it is able to collect. The program, called v-safe, is one way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will follow up with people who take the vaccine. It was rolled out with the first wave of vaccinations last week. “When you’re talking about technology, literacy and language are usually second tier,” says Jorge Rodriguez, a health technology equity researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Version one is English-speaking, and the Spanish version will come later, the Mandarin version will come later.” The CDC plans to roll out a Spanish version of v-safe “fairly shortly,” Tom Shimabukuro, a member of the Vaccine Safety T...

Google plans to shut down Android Things, a stripped-down version of Android designed for smart home devices. The OS never really got off the ground, so this isn’t all that much of a loss, but it is yet another entry in Google’s expansive graveyard of shut-down projects. The smart home project got its start in 2015 under the name Brillo, which was meant to provide the “underlying operating system for the internet of things.” In 2016, Google revamped Brillo and relaunched the initiative as Android Things, which was likewise meant to run on products like connected speakers, security cameras, and routers. By relying on Android, the OS was supposed to be familiar to developers and easy to get started with. The system will shut down in January 2022 Then nothing happened. In 2018, some initial s...

If you’ve been waiting anxiously for your radio-controlled Cybertruck, you’re going to have to wait a little longer: Mattel has had to delay it until May 2021, according to Bloomberg. The RC cars, announced in February, were supposed to ship this month, but have been delayed because of “unforseen production issues.” Mattel appears to be experiencing “manufacturing hell,” though the company did not release details on the delay. Just another way that the model imitates reality These toys are scaled-down versions of the real Cybertruck, and come in two models: an 1:64 scale model, which costs $20, and an 1:10 scale model that costs $400. Both models went out of stock after pre-orders. Tesla’s Cybertruck, unveiled in November 2019, is a futuristic, electric spin on a pickup truck. The angular,...

Google has added Grogu (formerly Baby Yoda) to its augmented reality search results, so some quick typing can drop an AR version of the little guy straight into your bedroom or home office, no spaceship required. Searching “Grogu”, “The Child”, “The Mandalorian”, or “Baby Yoda” on mobile or in the Google app will return the usual Knowledge Panel with a Wikipedia summary of the character. But now you can click “View in 3D” to check out a model, and if you’re really feeling like noted Baby Yoda fan Werner Herzog, “View in your space” to get up close and personal in AR. Interactions are limited to zooming in and out, but he’s a really cute alien. Maybe that’s enough for you. Conveniently, Grogu is only slightly bigger than my water bottle. Google last added 50 new animals to its AR search res...

Sony is pulling Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and offering full refunds for anyone who bought the game from the digital storefront, the company said on Thursday. If you want to start the refund process now, Sony says to visit this site and sign into your PlayStation account to submit a request. However, later on Thursday evening, Sony said it is “aware some users are experiencing issues” accessing the refund form. If you’re seeing issues, you may want to try again later. Cyberpunk 2077 has already been removed from the PlayStation Store for a few Verge staffers on their PS5s, and the game doesn’t come up in a search for “Cyberpunk 2077” on the web version of the store. Following older, online listing links to the game will show its store page, but with the option to wish list i...

Microsoft president Brad Smith warned that the wide-ranging hack of the SolarWinds’ Orion IT software is “ongoing,” and that investigations reveal “an attack that is remarkable for its scope, sophistication and impact.” The breach targeted several US government agencies and is believed to have been carried out by Russian nation-state hackers. Smith characterized the hack as “a moment of reckoning” and laid out in no uncertain terms just how large and how dangerous Microsoft believes the hack to be. It “represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world,” Smith argues. He believes that it “is not just an attack on specific targets, but on the trust and reliability of the world’s critical infrastructure in order to advance...

A stunning new report from the Los Angeles Times details how toxic jet engine fumes can leak into airplanes’ air supplies, sickening passengers and crew — and the airline industry has known this was a problem for several decades. The Times reports that one pilot told colleagues the situation was “the tobacco and asbestos of aviation.” A Times analysis of NASA safety reports from January 2018 to December 2019 identified 362 fume events that airline crew members reported to the agency, with nearly 400 pilots, flight attendants and passengers receiving medical attention. “Fume events” occur when heated jet engine oil leaks into the air supply, causing toxic gases inside the plane. Airlines and airplane makers are aware that fume events have potentially serious problems. People can get quite s...

Twitter has begun testing its Spaces feature, the voice-based chat rooms it first announced last month. In the thread announcing the test, the company said a very small group of users would be given the ability to create Spaces, but that in theory anyone could join them — though who would be allowed into any given space depends on the user who created it. Twitter outlined last month how the first people to be given access to Spaces would be women and people from other marginalized communities, groups who are more likely than others to be subjected to abuse and harassment when trying to engage in conversations in regular, comment-based discussions on the platform. aye we’re live! what up y’all, we’re the team behind Spaces––a small experiment focused on the intimacy of the human voice...

An independent committee of experts recommended that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 and older. This is the second COVID-19 vaccine to go before the committee — the first, made by Pfizer and BioNTech, was authorized last week. The agency is expected to issue an authorization for Moderna’s vaccine within a day or two. “This is a really opportune time for us to move science forward,” said Hayley Gans, a committee member and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University Medical Center, during the committee’s deliberations. The evidence available for benefits of the vaccine outweighs any issues, she said. “That really supports us being able to, with the pandemic in the background, really move forward, and finally provide a safe and effecti...

Diablo Immortal didn’t make a great first impression. It was announced at Blizzcon in 2018 when most fans were expecting the next mainline Diablo title, not a free-to-play spinoff for smartphones. Since then, Blizzard has been very quiet about Immortal (though Diablo IV was eventually announced). That’s starting to change. Ahead of a technical alpha that’s set to kick off soon, I was able to play through the early stages of the game. And while I can’t speak to every aspect, one thing was immediately clear: this feels like a proper Diablo game. A mobile version of Diablo makes a lot of sense. There are already countless clones and Diablo-inspired titles on smartphones, while the Nintendo Switch version of Diablo III proved just how fun the series is to play on the go. There’s just something...

When it comes to finding a device to use to read your ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or simply use your smartphone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling through Twitter. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while a niche piece of tech, is designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with no other functionality. Amazon has dominated the space for years with its Kindle products. Right now, there are three Kindle models you can choose from, each with pros and cons. Below, we’ve listed each of the current Kindles available for purchase. Sometimes, there isn’t a deal for one or, in some instances, all of the products. In that case, we’v...

The leaks are coming faster as we near 2021, which is when Samsung is expected to announce a new batch of smartphones. We’ve seen glimpses of what the flagship Galaxy S21 might look like, and thanks to serial-leaker OnLeaks / Steve Hemmerstoffer, it seems we have our first look at the top of the budget-friendlier A-series. These alleged renders of the Galaxy A72 5G hint that, at least on the outside, the changes from its A71 predecessor are subtle. The Galaxy A72 5G appears to offer a 6.7-inch display like its predecessor.Photo by Steve Hemmerstoffer / OnLeaks The images show a 6.7-inch display with a centered hole-punch camera, which is consistent with the A71. That device used a very nice 1080 x 2400 pixel Super AMOLED Plus panel. The A72 appears to offer three rear-facing cameras plus a...