Technology

Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC, will use a pair of drones to disinfect fan seating and other areas after upcoming events. The purpose-built D1 disinfecting drones are being provided by Lucid Drone Technologies, and use electrostatic spraying nozzles to distribute the non-toxic disinfecting chemicals. The drones will debut after the Falcons’ upcoming October 11th home game against the Carolina Panthers. The stadium claims it’s the first professional sports stadium to use cleaning drones, and it says they reduce the time it takes to clean the stadium’s seating area by 95 percent, freeing up staff to work elsewhere. The drones will also disinfect the stadium’s handrails and glass partitions. Two drones will be used, with a third to be used a...

Nvidia has delayed the launch of its upcoming GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card so there’s more stock available on launch day. Writing in a blog post, the company admitted that the news “may be disappointing” to some, but said that “this shift will help our global partners get more graphics cards into the hands of gamers on launch day.” The graphics card will now launch on October 29th, rather than October 15th. The delay comes after Nvidia had to apologize for stock shortages after the release of the GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card last month. The company said it was not prepared for the amount of demand for these new GPUs, which lead to the card selling out almost immediately. Hopefully this means it will have enough RTX 3070’s to satisfy demand at the end of October. With a starting price o...

HP has just announced several new laptops, including the Spectre x360 14 convertible, which brings some notable improvements compared to its already-impressive 13-inch predecessor: a 3:2 aspect ratio display, a 16 percent larger touchpad, quad speakers, and a Thunderbolt 4 port located in one of its diamond-shaped corners so you can plug in your all-in-one cable for charging, data, external monitors and peripherals even if the back or sides of the machine are blocked. There’s also a physical button you can press on the keyboard to block the webcam. The three-pound HP Spectre x360 14 is equipped with Intel’s latest 11th Gen “Tiger Lake” processors, specifically up to a quad-core 28W Intel Core i7-1165G7 with Intel’s Xe integrated graphics onboard; just one step below the chip that impressed...

President Donald Trump tweeted shortly before 1AM ET on Friday that he and his wife Melania have tested positive for COVID-19, following reports White House advisor Hope Hicks, who had traveled with him this week on Air Force One, had similarly tested positive. Trump isn’t the first world leader to contract the coronavirus. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro announced in July that he’d tested positive. UK prime minister Boris Johnson recovered from COVID-19 in April, and Honduras’ president Juan Orlando Hernández was discharged from a hospital in July. Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020 But as you’ve probably heard, it is t...

Google’s Stadia controller now has support for USB-C audio devices when playing on a Chromecast or via a web browser. That gives you an easy way to add headphones and a microphone, since you can simply plug in a set of wired USB-C earbuds like the Google’s Pixel USB-C earbuds, gaming headset, the Asus ROG Delta, or even the wireless SteelSeries Arctis 1 gaming headset with its wireless USB-C adapter (It works, a Redditor confirms.) It’s nice that Stadia players have another audio option beyond the built-in 3.5mm jack, and it’s cool and unusual for any game controller to offer USB-C audio, but it still took almost a year for Google to add it after promising the feature was coming. Up until now, you could only use the controller’s USB-C port to charge the controller or to plug it into a smar...

I can’t put it better than SEGAbits: “Famitsu magazine took the photo we all wanted to see.” The photo is of Sega’s upcoming Game Gear Micro — perhaps the most ridiculous miniature gaming nostalgia bomb ever announced by virtue of the exorbitant price you’ll pay to carry just four games at a time — and the Dreamcast’s infamous VMU, also known as the unholy spawn of a PlayStation memory card and the original Nintendo Game Boy. Truth be told, I didn’t know I needed to see this photo until I saw it, because I never could have imagined the glory that I now behold. Or maybe just because I didn’t do the math. It also reminds me that although Chaim has an excellent column called Button of the Month, he has yet to fulfill his 2018 promise to one day feature the Dreamcast’s VMU. It’s time, Chaim. Y...

One of Nintendo’s more intriguing upcoming games is Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Developed by Velan Studios, it’s a title that follows the likes of Labo and Pokémon Go, attempting to take Nintendo’s playful experiences and translate them into the real world. In this case, Home Circuit is both a game you play on a Switch and a remote control racer that will take over your living room. There’s a lot going on, and I recently had a chance for a hands-off demo of the game, where I learned a few interesting tidbits about what the experience will be like. Here’s what you need to know ahead of Home Circuit’s launch on October 16th. [embedded content] What you get in the box The $99.99 package comes in two varieties — Mario or Luigi — though both offer the same basic experience. For that price yo...

1.44 percent of Amazon’s front-line employees, or 19,816 workers, have tested positive or been “presumed positive for COVID-19,” Amazon said in a blog post published Thursday. The company says it employs 1,372,000 front-line employees across both Amazon and Whole Foods. The blog marks the first time Amazon has disclosed how many of its workers have contracted COVID-19, and comes after months of demands for increased transparency from workers, governments, and Amazon investors. Amazon warehouse workers have reportedly even worked amongst themselves to attempt to determine how many of their colleagues have contracted the disease. The disclosure is also notable following comments from Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations Dave Clark in May, who said that the “total number of ca...

Facebook moderators employed by third-party contracting firm Accenture and based in Austin, Texas are being forced to return to the office on October 12th, The Verge has learned. Employees, almost all of whom are contractors, were instructed of the new policy at a company-wide town hall meeting today, say multiple people familiar with Accenture’s plans. Accenture, which has allowed its workforce of hundreds of moderators to work from home since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has not given the employees a reason for why they must return to the office. Accenture did not take questions at the town hall meeting, telling concerned employees that it would schedule a second call to answer COVID-specific questions regarding matters like sick leave and time off. High-risk workers are being ask...

Google just announced a new Chromecast yesterday, and the company is already offering a good deal on one — all you have to do is sign up for YouTube TV and pay for one month of the service. If you want to take advantage of the deal, you should be able to access it here. There are a few caveats, however. You can only take advantage of this if you’re a first-time YouTube TV subscriber, according to the deal’s terms. You then have to make a payment toward your YouTube TV subscription between October 15th and December 31st in order to receive the offer for the free Chromecast. And the deal is only available in the US. You should also know that paying $64.99 for one month of YouTube TV costs more than just buying the new Chromecast on its own for $49.99. But if you’ve had your eye on both YouTu...

Jacob Wohl, a conservative activist known for his largely bumbling attempts to stage political scandals, has been charged with running a robocalling scheme to spread false election information. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed four felony charges today against Wohl and his partner Jack Burkman. They’re accused of targeting Detroit residents with calls that discouraged voting, including false claims that mail-in ballots would let health agencies “track people for mandatory vaccines.” Wohl and Burkman allegedly targeted voters in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, making a total of around 85,000 calls in August. The calls claimed to come from a group called “Project 1599, a civil rights organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl,” and they were aimed at...

Verizon’s 4G LTE-based home broadband service targeting rural communities is now available in 48 states, and it might be worth a look if it’s available in your area. The service, called “LTE Home Internet,” offers unlimited data, no data usage caps, and typical download speeds of 25Mbps with peak speeds of 50Mbps. But it’s only available in “parts” of 189 markets, and only in areas where the company doesn’t already offer other broadband options such as Fios or its in-home 5G service. LTE Home Internet starts at $40, but that’s only if you’re already on a monthly Verizon wireless plan that costs $30 or more. Those who don’t have an eligible Verizon wireless plan will instead pay $60 per month for LTE Home Internet. And the prices of both of tiers go up by $10 if you aren’t enrolled in Auto ...