Technology

Google is correcting a “typo” in its Play Store “stalkerware” policy that currently suggests that apps can be used to track spouses. Stalkerware and other tracking software is dangerous, campaigners say, because it can facilitate domestic abuse and harassment of partners. As it’s written, the policy also mistakenly says parents cannot track their children. The updated developer policy, which comes into effect on October 1st, now explicitly says that Play Store apps which allow parents to track their children are acceptable, but that they cannot be used to track adults (like a spouse) without their knowledge or permission. Here’s the relevant section from the current developer policy which is due to be corrected (emphasis added): Legitimate forms of these apps cannot be used by parents to t...

As part of its PlayStation 5 launch event yesterday, Sony said Final Fantasy XVI and Demon’s Souls weren’t just strictly PS5 exclusives — trailers for both games revealed they would also be coming to PC. At the time, that meant the biggest game announced during Sony’s showcase as well as one of the PS5’s most notable launch titles wouldn’t require a PS5 to play them. If you added the fact that both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West will also be coming to PS4, you might well have decided to wait on picking up a PS5 at launch. But shortly after the event, Sony and Square Enix went into damage control, saying that Final Fantasy XVI and Demon’s Souls actually aren’t coming to PC after all. An intriguing coincidence It’s an odd coincidence, and it makes the PS5’s lineup look ...

If you ever purchased a Lego set, you’ll know the box comes with an uncomfortable amount of plastic bags to separate each set of pieces included. Personally, I felt it was way too much plastic for just one product, and it’s nice to now see Lego has finally come to its senses: the company plans to ditch the single-use packaging starting next year, Lego announced on its website earlier this week. Going forward, Lego plans to package its tiny bricks in recycled paper bags. The company says they are looking to make “all packaging sustainable by 2025.” Lego CEO Niels Christiansen said the company received “many letters” from kids asking the toymaker to stop using plastic bags in their packaging. Alongside its plans to use sustainable packaging, Lego is also working on sustainable bricks no long...

Sony’s PlayStation 5 will launch on November 12th in the US starting at $399.99. That price will get you the digital edition of the console that doesn’t have a Blu-ray disc drive. If you want a disc drive for playing disc-based PS5 games, 4K Blu-ray movies, and PS4 games that may end up being compatible, there’s a larger version of the console that has that for $499. Preorders are now available, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find one. The stock that was available at retailers like Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Sam’s Club, and Walmart came and went incredibly fast. It’s been a whole fiasco. These are the stores most likely to get more preorders in stock down the line, so as unproductive as it might seem, you might want to check back from time to time to see if you have any l...

Earlier this year, Nvidia released RTX Voice, a beta software to process audio and suppress almost all background noise, and it worked amazingly well. My colleague Jon Porter made the sound of his clacking mechanical keyboard completely disappear. Today, Nvidia has released a successor app called Broadcast, and it’s available to download now. Nvidia Broadcast is a follow-up to the RTX Voice beta and introduces two new AI-powered features: Virtual Background and Auto Frame. Nvidia says that the noise removal feature also now has a reduced performance cost and supports triple the number of noise profiles. Nvidia Broadcast is a follow-up to the RTX Voice beta The new Virtual Background allows you to remove the background of your webcam feed and replace it either with game footage or an image ...

Amazon has removed dozens of listings for peptides, drugs that can be used for doping, after an investigation from The Markup found 66 examples of such products on the site. Peptides are made naturally in the body, but synthetic versions, which can be sold in vials and then reconstituted and injected, are often used as performance-enhancing drugs since they can speed recovery from injuries. According to The Markup, in recent weeks Amazon had been carrying listings for peptides not on the US Food and Drug Administration’s list of approved drugs, months after telling the publication in May that it would start cracking down, and several of those drugs have been classified by the World Anti-Doping Agency as doping drugs. The drugs were labeled for “research” or “lab” uses, but questions on the...

Microsoft is revealing today the exact time you’ll be able to preorder an Xbox Series X or Series S console on September 22nd — and in the hours since we initially wrote this post, it’s now expanded the list to include those details for many other countries as well. In the US, preorders will start at 11AM ET / 8AM PT on September 22nd at Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Gamestop, Newegg, and Army and Airforce Exchange Service. In Canada, they’ll also start at 11AM ET / 8AM PT on September 22nd at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, EB Games, The Source, and “other participating retailers.” In the UK, it’ll be 8AM BST at the Microsoft Store, GAME, Amazon, Dixons, Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis, Smyths Toys, and “other participating retailers.” In Austra...

Apple bought music recognition app Shazam in 2018, and now it’s integrating it into iOS in another big way — a new Music Recognition feature can identify songs playing around you as well as in apps on your phone. And it even works when you’re listening to music on your headphones. The new feature is available as a toggle in Control Center, but it does require a developer beta of iOS 14.2 if you want to try it right now. That toggle will look like a little Shazam icon, and you just need to tap it for your iPhone to start listening. Image: Apple You could already use Siri to summon Shazam and identify songs playing around you, but being able to identify music in your apps could be handy too — if, say, you’re wondering what song that creator picked for their TikTok or YouTube video. Interesti...

The PS5 pre-order situation has so far been a bit of a mess, but you might just have your next shot to snag a console very soon — Walmart will be offering PS5 pre-orders at 6PM PT / 9PM ET tonight, September 17th. If you want the $499.99 version that comes with a disc drive, click here. If you want the $399.99 Digital Edition, click here. You should be prepared to act extremely quickly, as PS5 preorders at many retailers seem to have sold out within minutes of going live. If possible, be logged in and make sure your payment info and address are up to date in Walmart’s systems, as the seconds spent typing those in once preorders are live could make the difference between you securing your preorder or not. It’s not unusual for a console to be snagged right out of your digital shopping cart. ...

The Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card was released at 9AM ET, and disappointment began only seconds later. All major online stores in the US are sold out, and there have been reports of brick-and-mortar stores each having as few as 10 units for sale. The end result: eBay scalpers are now trying to cash in, and very few people who want to enjoy the graphics card seem to have actually gotten their hands on a confirmed order. The card is being listed on eBay for many hundreds of dollars — in some cases, even thousands of dollars — over its $699 sticker price. And PC gaming fans are mad, claiming that Nvidia held a sloppy launch just a day after US retailers similarly botched early preorders for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5. A list here of filtered eBay listings shows many RTX 3080 cards selling ...

Apple gives you the option of picking new default browser and email apps in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. But it’s been discovered that, at least in the 14.0 software release, this freedom of choice is only temporary: after a reboot of your device, Safari and Mail will be restored as their respective defaults until you change the setting again. 9to5Mac reported on the issue earlier today. The Verge has confirmed the behavior across several different iPhones and iPads. This is almost certainly a bug and something the company can rectify in a matter of days with an iOS 14.0.1 update. But it’s not a great look given Apple’s current predicament with ongoing antitrust probes. At least most people don’t find themselves rebooting these devices with much frequency. iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 launched yesterday,...

Twitter will start prompting high-profile political accounts to take heightened security measures ahead of the 2020 US election, the company announced Thursday. In a blog post, Twitter said that administration officials, members of Congress, political campaigns, major news outlets, political journalists, and other government officials will be prompted to take enhanced security measures ahead of the election. Over the next few days, Twitter will be automatically turning on password reset protection for these accounts while recommending that these high-profile users turn on two-factor authentication. These accounts will also be required to use strong passwords. “Voters, political candidates, elected officials and journalists rely on Twitter every day to share and find reliable news and infor...