Technology

Microsoft is announcing a number of new features that are coming to Outlook mobile soon. These include emoji email reactions, voice commands, and the expansion of Cortana support. Apple’s iOS 14 update arrived last week, and Microsoft is adding an Outlook calendar widget that will display upcoming meetings from multiple accounts on the home screen. Similar improvements are also coming to the watchOS 7 complications for Outlook, allowing Apple Watch owners to see the number of unread emails or a calendar complication that lists your free and busy status. Outlook mobile for both iOS and Android is also getting updated with voice commands next month. The voice commands will support email authoring, calling, and scheduling for calendar appointments. New Outlook complications for watchOS 7. Mic...

Razer has released three new wireless gaming products, each in a different category. There’s the $179.99 BlackShark V2 Pro wireless gaming headset that is, in many ways, just like the BlackShark V2 — sans cable. It’s similarly a very comfortable headset that I’ve found easy to wear for hours on end without feeling fatigued or like my head is in a vice. Razer claims it can last up to 24 hours per charge, and the headset is rechargeable via a Micro USB port. The new BlackShark V2 Pro is just as comfortable as the wired version.Image: Razer The visual differences between this model and the $99.99 wired BlackShark V2 are very minor. The Pro has a black Razer logo on it instead of a green one, and it has a 3.5mm jack for wired listening. It’s also debuting the DeathAdder V2 Pro, a wireless take...

Starting today, Disney Plus’ library of TV shows and movies is available to stream on smart displays like the Nest Hub and the Nest Hub Max, Google has announced. Google says all “Google Assistant-enabled” smart displays will support the feature, which should include similar devices from JBL and Lenovo. Content can be started with a voice command, such as “Hey Google, play The Mandalorian on Disney Plus.” Streaming Disney Plus on Google smart displays was possible in the past using the Chromecast-enabled Disney Plus app on another device to “cast” a TV show or film to the display. Now, it can all be done on the smart display itself. Netflix came to the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max back in July In order to enable the functionality, Google says you’ll need to link a Disney Plus account in the G...

Microsoft is expanding its new Together Mode for Microsoft Teams soon, allowing co-workers to pretend they’re holding meetings in coffee shops, break out into smaller meeting rooms, or use custom layouts to overlay presenters directly onto slide decks. Together Mode, created for pandemic-era virtual meetings, has been part of Teams for a few months now, but Microsoft is adding a few more features that better emulate the way many of us used to work. New scenes include a number of auditoriums, conference rooms, and even a coffee shop. This mode is also getting updated with a new feature that uses machine learning to automatically scale and center people in their virtual seats no matter how far they’re sitting from a webcam. The NBA has been using Microsoft Teams’ Together Mode for its virtua...

Whatever is unveiled during Tesla’s Battery Day event on Tuesday won’t enter “serious high-volume production” until 2022, the company’s CEO Elon Musk has cautioned on Twitter. The time-scale means the technology will mainly impact Tesla’s Semi, Cybertruck, and Roadster projects, the CEO said, adding that the company will continue to buy third-party battery cells even if Tesla decides to make its own. Musk’s comments suggest that any new battery tech shown at Tuesday’s event will be at the prototype stage, ruling out its imminent use in Tesla’s current mass-market vehicles like the Model 3 or Model Y. Musk points towards the “extreme difficulty” in scaling new technology as being to blame, noting that making “the machine that makes the machine is vastly harder than the machine itself.” Musk...

Mark Twain is credited with first saying that if you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait five minutes. The TikTok deal has followed a similar schedule. On Friday, President Trump said downloads of TikTok would be banned from mobile app stores on Sunday, potentially preventing users from receiving critical security updates. On Saturday, Trump said he supported Oracle’s bid to acquire a stake in TikTok and oversee some of its operations, and extended the ban date to September 27th. As part of the deal, he said, the companies involved had agreed to contribute $5 billion for “patriotic education.” On Sunday, everyone involved took a well deserved rest. And as Monday dawned, everything went to hell. Everyone agrees that Oracle and Walmart have bought a combined 20 percent of TikTok...

A former YouTube content moderator is suing the Google-owned company for failing to properly protect her and her co-workers from the mental harms caused by reviewing hours and hours of graphic footage every day. The proposed class-action lawsuit against YouTube is being brought by the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, which previously sued Facebook for failing to safeguard the mental health of its own content moderators. That earlier suit resulted in Facebook paying a $52 million settlement to moderators who developed PTSD as a result of their work for the company. “She has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares.” The lawsuit, which was first reported by CNET, says YouTube consistently failed to follow its own safety guidelines and provided inadequate support to modera...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly removed information from its website saying that COVID-19 can spread through the air and that it may travel distances farther than six feet. It also removed statements saying that the virus usually spreads when people inhale particles produced by others. The information was added in an update over the weekend and was taken down from a page called “How COVID-19 Spreads” earlier today. A banner at the top of the site now says that the information was posted in error. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) tweeted that the change is “very likely a scandal.” Experts were thrilled to see the original update. Many have stressed for months that the virus can travel through tiny particles that float more slowly through the air, not just through the larger ...

The world’s first commercially available folding-screen phone wasn’t made by Samsung, Huawei or Motorola — it was the Royole Flexpai, a device that we called “charmingly awful.” But in March, Royole promised to refine the idea with the new FlexPai 2, and the company is formally launching that phone in China today starting at 9,988 yuan, or roughly US $1,471. And while the company is mostly only sharing renders instead of photos today, you can see a demo of the phone at roughly 38 minutes into the company’s presentation: [embedded content] It looks fairly sleek? At 6.3mm thick when flat (12.8mm folded), it’s not nearly as thin as the dual-screen Microsoft Surface Duo, but it sounds thinner than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2’s 6.9mm frame (including the camera) and bulging 16.8mm folded hinge. R...

Blizzard Entertainment was forced to cancel its annual BlizzCon fan convention earlier this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the company has announced new plans for an online-only version of the show. BlizzConline will take place on February 19th–20th, 2021. BlizzCon — which is usually held in November as an in-person fan event — is where Blizzard typically makes some of the biggest announcements for its stable of popular franchises, including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Starcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo. The moved event will likely provide the company a chance to offer updates on some of its previously announced titles from last year’s events, including Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4. While it’s no doubt disappointing to many that the in-person festivities won’t be taking place...

The League of Legends World Championship kicks off this week, and teams want to look their best — so Korean side Gen.G partnered with famed streetwear designer Heron Preston for their new Worlds jersey. The all-black Puma kit was unveiled today, and it’s a relatively simple design, with Gen.G’s logo displayed prominently on the front and a retro-inspired globe on the back. Preston’s involvement is also hard to miss; his name is in big blue letters just above the team’s logo. Worlds is one of the biggest events in competitive gaming, and teams that qualify for the tournament typically create special designs for their jerseys. So far, the likes of G2 and Flyquest have revealed dragon-inspired kits (the tournament takes place in Shanghai this year), while Nike is making all-new jerseys for th...

Insomniac Games’ hugely-successful 2018 hit Spider-Man is being remastered for PlayStation 5 with ray-tracing, faster loading, and support for the DualSense controller’s new haptic feedback. And better yet, it’ll be available on the PS5’s launch day as a pack-in with Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition. But if you’ve been waiting for the PS5’s new hardware as an excuse to dive back into Spider-Man’s virtual Manhattan, you unfortunately won’t be able to transfer your saves from the original game to the remastered version, Insomniac Games confirmed on Twitter. And because Sony hasn’t spelled out how PS4 saves will work on PS5 for any other game, we’re not sure if the Spider-Man situation is the exception or the rule. Save game transfers are now a big question There are still some ques...