Technology

A digital rights activist in Moscow was able to purchase access to the city’s extensive facial recognition system for just 16,000 rubles (approximately $200), as reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. After seeing ads for the service on Telegram, Anna Kuznetsova transferred the money along with a picture of herself to a seller. Two days later, she received an extensive report of her movements over the previous month, apparently pulled directly from the police system. Spanning more than 100,000 cameras across the city, Moscow’s facial recognition system is meant to be restricted to law enforcement. It’s unclear how the seller was able to secure access, whether through bribery or a digital intrusion. Two officers were placed under investigation in the wake of the incident, but Kuznetsov...

You can grab two unlocked OnePlus 8T phones for $1,124 on OnePlus’ website today only. It’s a deal worth highlighting: the OnePlus 8T usually costs $749, but if you buy two today, you’ll get them for $562 each. This deal also includes a set of OnePlus Buds wireless earbuds with each phone at no extra charge. For a phone that was released just a few weeks ago, this is a great deal. The OnePlus 8T is a solid update to the OnePlus 8, released earlier this year, as my colleague Jon Porter points out in his review. Unlike the OnePlus 8, the 8T offers the same 120Hz refresh rate display found on the 8 Pro. The biggest feature for the 8T is the 65W charging, allowing you to charge the phone super fast. There are a few things you may want to consider if you are going to take advantage of this deal...

Apple has finally introduced its first Macs with processors it designed itself: a 13-inch MacBook Air, a 13-inch MacBook Pro, and a Mac mini. Apple is promising significant performance benefits over Intel processors and, for the laptops, a huge increase in battery life. (To give you an idea of the level of improvement Apple is touting, Apple claims the new MacBook Pro can get up to 20 hours of battery life.) They’ll also be able to natively run iOS apps, meaning Macs will theoretically have a lot more software options right from the jump. But before you turn those exciting promises into a preorder, you should know there’s still a big question mark hanging over the new computers. A render of the Apple M1 embedded in a tiny MacBook motherboard.Image: Apple The reason they can natively run iO...

The Segway Max is probably a good fit for you if you’re looking for an electric scooter that can travel up to 40 miles per charge — far longer than most other models. The Max happens to be cheaper than ever at Wellbots, but just for readers of The Verge. The retailer is offering you a $100 discount, dropping the usual $799 price down to $699. Just enter the offer code THEVERGEMAX after the checkout screen to see the price drop further than we’ve seen before. We’ve highlighted more affordable Segway options in the past, but those are, frankly, small potatoes compared to this one. In addition to the Max’s longer 40-mile range (beating the likes of the Segway ES2’s 15.5-mile range and ES4’s 28-mile range), it tops out at 18.6mph, which is about three mph faster than the ES2. For context, the ...

Early on in HBO’s Industry, there’s an extremely familiar scene: a boss addresses a room of young recruits and tells them that only half of them will make it and that they should do whatever they can to be one of the last ones standing. And so another group of promising young people sets their lives ablaze in the service of an exploitative industry, with the promise of money as the light at the end of the tunnel. Industry — created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, with a pilot directed by Lena Dunham — is set in London’s world of high-stakes investment banking, and it follows a diverse group of fresh graduates who are the latest hires for the fictional Pierpoint & Co. Cliché abounds, especially in the way the young new hires are hazed and degraded by their superiors. The bottom line is t...

Hurricanes are taking longer to weaken after making landfall because of climate change, according to a new study. As a result, stronger storms could wreak havoc on communities farther inland, the study finds. It’s the latest warning that hurricanes could cause even more devastation in a warming world. Hurricanes feed off heat energy from the sea. The more heat, the more energy — and the more intense hurricanes can become. There’s already evidence that the strongest hurricanes have become more common. But once a hurricane reaches land, it’s cut off from its source of energy and typically begins to rapidly lose strength. Now, thanks to the new study published today in the journal Nature, scientists are beginning to understand that global warming’s effects on a hurricane don’t stop there. “If...

BMW unveiled its next electric vehicle, the iX SUV, with 300 miles of range and gorgeous minimal interior. The iX is BMW’s technological flagship, meaning it incorporates multiple technologies that will be featured in the German automaker’s upcoming vehicles, mainly electric powertrain and driver interface. The BMW iX will be the first vehicle to feature the automaker’s fifth-generation scalable EV technology, which means it can be adjusted to accommodate vehicles of different sizes and utility. The BMW iX will go into production at the company’s Dingolfing factory, located in Southern Bavaria, Germany, in the second half of 2021 and is scheduled to arrive on US shores in early 2022. scheduled to arrive on US shores in early 2022 BMW didn’t reveal the size of the iX’s battery but says it w...

Amazon’s smart home brand Ring has issued a recall for around 350,000 of its 2nd generation video doorbells sold in the US over fire and burn concerns. According to a notice published by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Ring has received 23 reports of doorbells igniting and causing minor property damage, and eight reports of minor burns. Ring’s site says affected doorbells do not need to be returned, but that users should follow their updated instructions. Although Ring says there is no risk if the doorbell is installed correctly, the CPSC notes that the device can overheat if the wrong screws are used. Ring says that it received 85 incident reports of people using the incorrect screws which could damage the doorbell’s battery. Ring has put out an updated set of instructions for ...

In comparison to the PlayStation 5 itself — a big hulking mass of a game console — the PS5-branded media remote is very conservative. It does pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a media remote and not much more, but at least it’ll match your new games machine. Setting up the remote is incredibly straightforward. It’s powered by a pair of AA batteries, and there’s an option in the PS5’s system menu to pair a remote; once you select it, you just have to hold down two buttons for a few seconds to complete the pairing. From there, you’re ready to go. One nice thing about the remote is its design, which plays off of the PS5 itself. The remote is mostly white, with a band of shiny black around the middle, sort of like an Uh-Oh! Oreo. It’s small and light and comfortable. In terms of butto...

Google has updated its Google Photos app on Android with a new option that lets users tell the search giant about the contents of their pictures. By labeling these images, Google can improve its object recognition algorithms, which in turn make Photos more useful. It’s a virtuous cycle of AI development best deployed by tech giants like Google which have lots of data and lots of users. This isn’t an unusual practice at all. Machine learning systems don’t just learn by themselves, and the vast majority of these applications need to be taught using data labeled by humans. It’s the same reason that CAPTCHAs ask you to identify cars and motorbikes in images. By identifying these objects you’re training AI to do the same. The feature appears in the most recent version of Google Photos. Just tap...

Sonos has launched a new Upgrade Program which offers discounts of up to 30 percent on new speakers if you own select older models, Android Central reports. It replaces the company’s previous Trade Up deal, which offered similar discounts, but the new program expands these to owners of slightly newer speakers like the Play:1 and and Play:3. Alongside it, Sonos has also announced that its Sonos Arc soundbar now supports multi-channel LPCM audio. If you own one of the speakers listed below, Sonos will give you a discount of either 15 or 30 percent on the purchase of a new speaker. Importantly, old speakers do not have to be traded in, and can continue to be used, Sonos says. Eligible owners can sign into their Sonos account and select an eligible product to claim the discount. The discount c...

Following the “One More Thing” hardware event, Apple has announced its new line of Arm-based Macs powered by Apple’s own processors, replacing Intel, which has been used in Mac laptops and desktops since 2005. Currently, the first three Apple computers to have Apple’s custom M1 chip are the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini. The new Arm-based Macs are available to order now, and Apple says the computers will ship starting November 17th. But if you are ready to preorder one of the new models now, we have compiled a list of retailers currently offering the new computers. MacBook Air with an M1 processorImage: Apple Where to buy the new MacBook Air Currently, you can buy the new MacBook Air directly from Apple’s website. You can get the Air model with an M1 chip, an eight...