Technology

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...

If you purchased a Peloton bike or treadmill to exercise with during the pandemic, you’ll soon have a new collection of classes to take from a familiar artist. This week, Peloton announced a multi-year partnership with cultural phenomenon Beyoncé — the artist will help curate classes for the fitness company’s subscription service, starting with a series of Homecoming-themed classes in honor of historically Black colleges and universities. Peloton says that Beyoncé is one of the most requested artists for its playlists. Based off the announcement, its unclear what Beyoncé’s “curation” entails, but if you’d like to see for yourself, Beyoncé-themed classes have already begun. There are meditations, outdoor runs, and bike rides scheduled for the remainder of this week and more classes to come....

Apple announced three new Mac computers on Tuesday powered by its all-new M1 chip, a custom Arm-based system-on-a-chip. But despite the performance and efficiency gains the M1 chip allows, there is one notable constraint: memory. According to Apple, customers interested in buying a new Mac with more than 16GB of RAM will need to purchase an older, Intel-based model. Right now, the M1 cannot support more memory. That may be disappointing to some professional users interested in switching over to the Arm-based laptops or the new Mac mini, considering older Intel-based models can carry as much as 32GB of RAM. It echoes complaints against the MacBook Pro refresh of four years ago, too, when Apple said limitations on memory options were to conserve battery life. M1 Macs don’t come in configurat...

A former Chan Zuckerberg Initiative employee is filing a racial discrimination complaint, claiming the philanthropic organization underpaid and under-promoted Black staff members. Raymond Holgado, who worked for CZI between 2018 and mid-2020, filed his claim yesterday with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Holgado says that he was paid less than white colleagues with similar experience, denied promotions, and asked to juggle multiple jobs without recognition. He calls the issue part of a larger problem with race at CZI. “Black employees who want to advance within the organization are shut down and labeled as too assertive or aggressive, while non-Black employees are favored and encouraged,” Holgado writes. “When Black employees have communicated these concerns to CZ...

Two Apple developers have been given the green light to promote mask-wearing with their stickerpack apps for iOS, after previously receiving rejections from Apple that suggested they were making “inappropriate references to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Here’s how this story began: Had similar rejection. Our stickers said ”wear a mask”, “wash your hands”. Got approved when we removed the text but kep the sticker. pic.twitter.com/cFZABwwY8A — Mark Johnson (@markjnet) November 8, 2020 How could a friendly sticker wearing a mask be an inappropriate reference to COVID-19, particularly when Apple has its very own mask-wearing emoji? That was the question on my mind, so I reached out to Apple yesterday. This morning, Apple replied that not only does the company not have any rules about mask-wearing st...

TikTok has filed a petition in a US Court of Appeals calling for a review of actions by the Trump administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The reason, according to the company, is that it hasn’t heard from the committee in weeks about an imminent deadline for parent company ByteDance to sell off US assets over national security concerns. The CFIUS set the deadline of November 12th for TikTok to divest itself of “any tangible or intangible assets or property, wherever located, used to enable or support ByteDance’s operation of the TikTok application in the United States.” TikTok says it applied for a 30-day extension that was allowed for in the CFIUS’ order, but hasn’t received any communication on the matter. It’s not clear what would actually happen i...