Technology

In 2016, Apple launched a new iPhone app called Music Memos. It was meant to expand on the built-in Voice Memos app’s ease of use while adding some features for musicians. You could record something with an acoustic guitar or piano in uncompressed audio, and Music Memos would detect the chords you played and could also add in drum and bass backing tracks that kept with your tempo. You could name those tracks and give them star ratings, or tag certain parts of a recording like the bridge or chorus. But considering how infrequently Apple updated Music Memos after its release, it’s fair to assume that the app never took off like the company might’ve hoped. It was an awkward middle child between the wonderfully simple Voice Memos and more capable GarageBand. And today, as noted by 9to5Mac, App...

T-Mobile might look as thought it’s late to the game by unveiling its first 5G hotspot today, along with a variety of 5G standalone hotspot plans. After all, Verizon and AT&T have offered 5G hotspots for a while now (although they began with significantly limited coverage). But T-Mobile’s particular blend of wide 5G coverage and better-than-LTE speeds means the device should be more accessible to more people. Plus, the carrier’s standalone 5G hotspot plan is priced to compete, starting at $30 for 10GB and $40 for 30GB, and topping out at 100GB for $50. In comparison, AT&T’s standalone hotspot plans start at $60 per month for 15GB; Verizon’s offerings start at $80 for 15GB of 5G. T-Mobile’s standalone 5G hotspot plan is priced to compete T-Mobile’s Inseego 5G MiFi M2000 hotspot is a...

Netflix is making a 3D animated Sonic the Hedgehog TV show, the company announced in a (since-deleted) tweet from its NX Twitter account. The series, set to debut in 2022, will be based on the character from the long-running Sega games, although there are no specific details yet as to what the show will entail. The series is being produced in partnership with Sega, along with WildBrain (a production company behind numerous popular children’s TV shows) and Man of Action Entertainment (best known for Ben 10 and Disney’s Big Hero 6 TV series.) Gotta go fast While there’s not much information about the series itself, Netflix’s teaser image shows a silhouette of the modern 3D Sonic design (as opposed to the chubbier and stubbier “classic Sonic” that’s featured in games like Sonic Mania.) Assumi...

SMS messages have stopped working for some Android users, and it appears Google is rolling back some changes to help fix the issue. The issue seems to be due to a recent update to the Carrier Services app, which “enables the latest communication services from mobile carriers, including battery-optimizations and support for enhanced features in the Android Messages app,” according to the app’s description on the Play Store. The app has more than a billion installs. Version 50 of the app started rolling out on December 2nd, and reports of issues with SMS started hitting around then, according to 9to5Google. OnePlus, LG, Motorola, Samsung, and TCL phones have reportedly been affected. If you’re seeing issues, uninstalling the app fixes the problem, 9to5Google found. As of Thursday, though, Go...

In 1902, famed inventor and futurist Nikola Tesla set up shop on Long Island to begin work on his grandest experiment yet. He imagined the construction of a worldwide wireless power delivery system: a network of towers that could light up cities, send communications, and even power aircraft in the sky, all without wires. On the grounds of his lab, he built the first prototype transmission device, a massive structure that came to be known as the Wardenclyffe Tower. Today, of course, we live in a profoundly wired world. Over-the-air communication is ubiquitous. But with a handful of exceptions like cellphones and toothbrushes, we still send and receive electricity through wires. So what went happened to Tesla’s big ambition? We traveled to Wardenclyffe to check out the remains of the lab and...

Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t just one of the biggest games of the year; it’s also one of the most technically demanding. CD Projekt Red’s ambitious roleplaying game takes place in a huge, dense open world, and — as anyone who has ever played a Bethesda game can attest to — technology is often a step behind the designers in these kinds of experiences. Glitches and bugs are not uncommon occurrences, and early demos are far cries from what the game may look like on the standard hardware most players have in their living room. Cyberpunk is also somewhat unique in that it’s releasing across a number of different platforms at launch — nine, to be exact. We initially reviewed Cyberpunk on PC, where we ran into a handful of glitches that were annoying but didn’t exactly render the game unplayable. Since t...

I. After writing about the potential breakup of Facebook for years, it’s somewhat surreal for me to see the prospect actually arrive. But it’s here: the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 to sue Facebook for illegally maintaining a monopoly in social networking, arguing it has used acquisitions and harsh restrictions on third-party developers to prevent competitors from ever gaining a foothold. If successful, the FTC’s case — which was joined by 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam — could force the company to divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp, radically reshaping the digital economy. The move comes less than six weeks after the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Google of also maintaining an illegal monopoly on search. “For nearly a decade, Facebook h...

For years, critics have argued that Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram was a missed opportunity to rein in the company. But now, they’ll have the chance to actually undo it. On Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Trade Commission joined with 48 state attorneys general to call for a court-ordered divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp — essentially, forcing Facebook to undo both acquisitions and spin them back into independent companies. Regulators are still a long way from making that happen, but for the first time, it’s a possibility that Facebook can’t ignore. And for Instagram users, it raises a question that’s both alarming and tantalizing: what would Instagram look like without Facebook? In the years since the 2012 acquisition, Instagram has benefited hugely from its relationship with Fa...

Google is launching new vaccine information panels in its search results to counter misinformation and educate people about what’s available in their location, the company announced today. The panels are rolling out starting in the United Kingdom, where the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is approved and is being administered, and will be introduced in more countries as local health authorities begin authorizing vaccines. The panels include information on each individual vaccine, and aim to address vaccine misinformation, and give guidance about how, when, and where people can receive the shots. Google has used similar information panels to share information about COVID-19 generally, as well as the locations of testing centers. The information panels will provide information about approved vaccine...

Samsung’s next flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S21 series, will launch globally on January 14th, Android Authority is reporting. The date was revealed by Samsung’s largest mobile experience store in India, and SamMobile subsequently confirmed the date with a company official at Samsung’s local offices. Although Android Authority reports this as the global launch date, Samsung HQ has yet to confirm it. Although a January launch is earlier than the February Unpacked events we’ve become accustomed to in recent years, this isn’t the first time this date has been rumored. Earlier this week, Android Police reported a January 14th launch based on its own sources. The phones will reportedly go on sale on January 29th in India, according to employees at Samsung’s Opera House outlet in Bengal...

MOFT is a company that’s made iPhone accessories in the past, and it’s now releasing a competitor to Apple’s $50 MagSafe wallet. MOFT’s version, which goes on sale today, costs only $30 and holds three cards like Apple’s, but it also has a built-in kickstand. The stand lets users keep their phone upright in portrait, landscape, or what the company is calling “float mode”, which you can see in the image below. It’s made of vegan leather, as opposed to Apple’s “European leather”, which makes it an option for people who don’t want to use animal-based products. Using magnets instead of adhesive makes the float mode possible.Photo: MOFT This new accessory seems to be a tweaked version of MOFT’s existing X Phone stand, except now it’s using the iPhone 12’s MagSafe system to attach to the phone i...