Technology

You’ve seen the leaks, renders, and leaked renders. Now, only a day before the launch, you can see what the entire Galaxy S21 lineup looks like in a real person’s hand, thanks to Twitter user Mr.Techie (via Android Authority). The images also provide a good size comparison between the rumored regular, Plus, and Ultra variants of the phone. We also get to see at least three of the colors, and in my opinion the purple is looking very nice, but does seem to continue the trend of collecting fingerprints. Mr.Techie also mentions that the S21 Ultra is on the thick side, though given its dark color it can be a bit hard to compare with the other phone he’s holding in the image. Given the rumored specs, that may not be too much of a surprise. These leaks are coming in just under the wire, as the la...

Asus has announced two new dual-screen ZenBook Duo laptops as part of its slate of CES 2021 announcements. The 15-inch model will be available in North America in April of this year, but you can preorder the 14-incher for $999.99 starting January 14th to ship on January 22nd. There’s also a new VivoBook and a new ExpertBook for folks looking for light and portable purchases. If you’re new to the ZenBook Duo line, the laptops have a primary screen (the regular one) as well as a secondary screen (the ScreenPad Plus) that’s built into the top half of the keyboard deck. It’s not really big enough to do anything on, but you can load your distractions (Twitter, Discord, etc.) onto it to keep them out of your main workspace. Some programs, including Adobe’s, also offer ScreenPad-specific interfac...

Asus’ new Chromebook CX9 is a powerhouse of a Chromebook built for professionals. Pricing is still to be announced, but it’s coming to North America in Q2 2021. Per Asus, the Chromebook CX9 is powered by up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. That’s an unusual processor to see in a Chromebook — students and more casual Chromebook customers don’t usually need more than a Core i3 — but it’s the best option for power users. It also packs that power into quite a portable chassis, which is just 0.63 inches thick (16 mm) and 2.2 pounds. And Asus says it meets the MIL-STD-810H US military standards for durability, so you should have no problem battering it around. In addition, the new Chromebook supports Wi-Fi 6 and includes Harman Kardon-certified dual speakers. Asus says it’s “loaded with I...

Samsung’s next Unpacked event is less than a day away, kicking off on January 14th at 10AM ET, and thanks to copious leaks, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the upcoming event. Samsung is widely expected to announce its next lineup of flagship phones, which will likely be called the S21, S21 Plus, and the S21 Ultra. The S21 Ultra is rumored to have top-of-the-line specs, cameras, and, in a first for an S-model Galaxy phone, support for Samsung’s S Pen stylus. The S21 and S21 Plus are expected to have similar specs but differ in size. And since we first published this post, we’ve seen even more leaks about the phones. A new set of true wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds Pro, and a Tile-like item tracker, the Galaxy SmartTag, also seem like a lock. Rumors about both products ...

For months, Nextdoor moderators have struggled with the challenge of addressing QAnon content on its neighborhood sites — but after last week’s deadly attack on the Capitol, the pressure between moderators and the company’s policy team may have reached a breaking point. Moderators have been asking Nextdoor to impose a ban against QAnon content since at least October, according to forum screenshots obtained by The Verge. Last week, Nextdoor moderators began pressuring the company directly in the National Leads Forum, a private forum for moderators on the site. In screenshots of forum posts, obtained by The Verge, moderators expressed concern that Nextdoor’s misinformation policies did not fully bar discussions of conspiracy theories like QAnon. Following last week’s pro-Trump riot at the Ca...

Intel CEO Bob Swan is stepping down from the position on February 15th, the company has announced. He will be replaced by VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. Swan was named Intel’s permanent CEO two years ago in January 2019. He initially took on the role on an interim basis in June 2018 following the resignation of Intel’s previous CEO Brian Krzanich. Gelsinger, who previously worked at Intel for 30 years, will step into the CEO role at a crucial time for the chipmaker. Intel is facing renewed competition across its portfolio. It sustained a serious blow last year when Apple announced it would be transitioning its Mac lineup away from Intel’s processors and toward Apple’s own Arm-based designs. The first Macs based on Apple’s processors released late last year to a hugely positive response. Gelsing...

After a long day, we all want to slow our heart rate and breathing, loosen our muscles, and lower our blood pressure. We want to calm the mind and body, decreasing tension. We want to interrupt our stress hormonal cascade, ultimately reducing our own hostility. We want to kick back and activate our parasympathetic nervous system. You know, relax. These drinks exist for your subclinical anxiety needs That might mean yoga or a massage. Maybe we turn on gentle classical music or looping rainfall through our speakers. Maybe we take slow breaths or turn our fingers to prunes in the bath. But if some entrepreneurs have their way, it’ll mean cracking open a can. These relaxation drinks aren’t uniform in form or taste, but they all make promises. Some offer sleep, others promote better focus and c...

Apple is announcing the next big investments to come out of its $100 million commitment to racial equity and justice today: the launch of an Apple Developer Academy in Detroit; founding support for an Atlanta tech hub for historically Black colleges and universities; and new grants, scholarships, and investments for Black and brown students and entrepreneurs. The Apple Developer Academy in Detroit will be the “first of its kind in the US,” Apple wrote in a press release, after previously partnering on a similar program in Italy. The academy is focused on “young Black entrepreneurs, creators, and coders” and will offer training in iOS app development. The plan is to offer a shorter 30-day program that introduces students to “what it means to be a developer” and then to offer an “intensive” ...

In a filing on Tuesday, Amazon responded to Parler’s claims that it acted unfairly in taking down the social network — and in the process, gave outsiders a new look at the content that provoked Amazon to suspend Parler’s web services account. Amazon Web Services suspended service to Parler on January 9th, effectively shutting down the social network. It’s failed to secure a replacement web host, and it argued in court that Amazon was exercising unfair monopoly power in taking down the site. Amazon’s decision to suspend Parler’s service has provoked ongoing debate about AWS’s power as a hosting provider and whether such suspensions pose a threat to free speech. But while many had seen the suspension as a knee-jerk response to the mob attack on the US Capitol, Amazon’s response makes clear t...

Nvidia and AMD addressed the great GPU shortage today, revealing it may take many months before you’ll easily find a card like the RTX 3080 on shelves. They didn’t say how much a renewed Trump import tax on graphics cards might impact their prices — but now, Nvidia partners EVGA and Zotac may have done that for us Both graphics card manufacturers have now raised their prices across the board, with EVGA following Asus’s lead by openly admitting at the top of its website that it’s making these adjustments. Zotac, on the other hand, appears to have quietly raised prices not once, but twice in recent weeks — and thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, we can show you how both company’s prices have changed (at their own stores, anyhow). Here’s EVGA’s statement, just for posterity: Due...

When a young teenager signs up for TikTok, their account will now be more private by default. TikTok said today that it’s updating the default settings for users aged 13 to 15, limiting who can see and comment on their videos. Only users who they add as friends will be able to view their videos, and their account won’t be suggested to other users. TikTok will also completely disable the option to let anyone comment on these users’ videos, even if they make their account public. Users between 13 and 15 will only be able to allow their friends to comment on their videos, or they can turn off comments altogether. TikTok has been gradually adding more privacy controls and restrictions for younger users The app’s Duet and Stitch features, which allow users to repost and respond to another perso...