Technology

Language app Duolingo is unveiling a new cast of characters that it hopes will help users better learn new languages, even during the toughest lessons. The characters will act as guides within the app, cheering you on if you get an answer correct, or reacting in a disappointed (or sassy) way if you get one wrong. The nine characters of Duolingo Project World all have unique personalities, and serve as guides to make a new language feel more familiar. “Obviously Duolingo is a very gamified language learning app,” says Duolingo art director Greg Hartman. “We took a lot of cues from other games, and I think you realize how motivating characters can be; when you remove the main character you have an emotional attachment to you’ll probably play that game less. We wanted to establish some emotio...

I’m dwelling on numbers because this week, the US officially counted 200,000 COVID-19 deaths. Words like “grim milestone” just don’t seem adequate in the face of that toll. Numbers are valuable. Case counts help scientists track the infection’s spread. Death tolls help policy makers figure out where things are going right — or horribly wrong. They’re utilitarian. They can also hit like a derailed train. Since I started this column two months ago, more than 345,470 people have died of COVID-19 around the world. 57,993 of those deaths were in the US. That’s 345,470 people, each with families and friends and coworkers and enemies and cats and dogs and people who just saw them on the street while walking to the bus. They’re gone. Their desks and armchairs and beds are empty. The people who lov...

Samsung’s fantastic Galaxy Buds Live, lovingly referred to as “Galaxy Beans” due to their shape, are $35 off at Woot if you’re an Amazon Prime member. This brings the cost from $170 down to $135 (just make sure you’re signed in with your Prime account on Woot). If you aren’t a Prime member, you can still get a great deal. It’s $25 off, so $145 at checkout. These sale prices will last until later tonight, unless it sells out before then. My colleagues Chris Welch and Becca Farsace spent quality time with the Galaxy Buds Live, and you can check out the video review above or the written post here. What stands out in this model, compared to the cheaper Galaxy Buds Plus and other models, is their unconventional design, lengthy battery life and powerful sound. They boast noise cancellation, but ...

In February, Chinese electric vehicle company Polestar revealed a gorgeous sedan concept called the Precept that featured a stunning design along with an interior chock-full of sustainable material. But as with most concepts, it wasn’t clear whether the Precept would ever be a real car. Today, Polestar sweeps away that uncertainty by announcing that the seductive sedan will indeed be going into production. Polestar started out as the performance sub-brand of Volvo and now has emerged as one of the more interesting Chinese EV companies on the market. The company, which is jointly owned by Volvo and Volvo’s parent company Geely, recently started delivering the Polestar 2, its electric sedan with native Android Automotive, to customers in Europe and North America. Its next car was supposed to...

Google parent company Alphabet has settled a shareholder lawsuit over its handling of sexual misconduct. The company has announced policy changes related to the settlement, including a $310 million fund for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. This resolves a complaint that was filed in 2019, following an explosive report that Google offered multimillion-dollar exit packages to executives who were credibly accused of sexual assault or harassment, including former Android head Andy Rubin. CNBC reported the news earlier today. “This settlement is likely to have lasting, long-term success in bringing about major, transformative changes at Alphabet,” the shareholders’ attorney said in a statement to CNBC. The statement praises the departure of “enablers and perpetrators,” including th...

The Justice Department filed its opposition Friday to TikTok’s request for an injunction against the Trump administration’s looming ban of the app, and the agency pulled no punches. The DOJ says blocking the the ban would “infringe on the President’s authority to block business-to-business economic transactions with a foreign entity in the midst of a declared national-security emergency.” The DOJ also alleges that the CEO of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, is a “mouthpiece” for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and is “committed to promoting the CCP’s agenda and messaging.” Large chunks of the DOJ filing are redacted Large chunks of the DOJ filing are redacted, including a section detailing where the DOJ claims TikTok stores US users’ data. The part that’s visible claims ...

With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple finally acquiesced to a longtime request from customers: the company introduced an option to change your default apps for browsing the web and handling email. But many other categories of apps — messages, music, calendar, etc. — remain stuck on Apple’s built-in software. Facebook isn’t too pleased about that. According to The Information, Facebook is making a more forceful push to convince the iPhone maker to let people choose their own preferred messaging app. “We feel people should be able to choose different messaging apps and the default on their phone,” Stan Chudnovsky, Facebook’s head of Messenger, told The Information. “Generally, everything is moving this direction anyway.” According to him, Facebook has routinely asked Apple over the years to make ...

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Microsoft created a secret Windows XP theme that made the operating system look more like a Mac. A recent Windows XP source code leak has revealed Microsoft’s early work on the operating system and some unreleased themes the company created during its early XP development back in 2000. One is labeled “Candy” and includes a design that closely resembles Apple’s Aqua interface that was first introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo in 2000. Although the theme is incomplete, the Windows XP Start button and various buttons and UI elements are clearly themed to match Apple’s Aqua. Microsoft never released its Aqua theme for Windows XP, and we understand it was used in early source code for the OS. Windows developers appear to have used the theme as a placeholder to build the theme engin...

Last week, Amazon informed customers who had pre-ordered the PS5 that they might not actually get their consoles on launch day, and now, Amazon has started to tell people that pre-ordered the Xbox Series X that they might not get that console right when it’s out, either, according to reports shared on Twitter Friday evening. “We’re contacting you about your order of Xbox Series X to let you know in advance that you may not receive this item on the day it is released due to high demand,” Amazon’s notice reportedly reads. Amazon has sent an email giving advance warning that Xbox Series X preorders may not arrive on launch day due to high demand The email is similar to PS5’s (and similar high demand items in the past). Can only assume Amazon is covering themselves in case shipping is delayed ...

Google is banning advertisers from running ads related to the election after Election Day. In an email to advertisers, the company said the change is due to the “unprecedented” number of votes that will be counted after November 3rd, as reported by Axios. While the winner of the US presidential election is often announced on election night, this year the process is expected to take longer as more people are voting by mail due to the pandemic. That window could give the political campaigns of Donald Trump or Joe Biden a chance to run ads prematurely claiming victory and spreading confusion about the results. To limit misinformation about the outcome of the vote, Facebook recently announced it will block ads from political campaigns that declare an early victory. The company is also banning ...

Saturday Night Live’s complete library will be available to stream on NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, Peacock, beginning October 1st, according to Variety and Deadline. It marks the first time in years that the entire library has been available on a mainstream streaming platform, and it’s a crucial cornerstone for Peacock. Saturday Night Live’s catalog used to be available to stream in the early 2010s, but that was before the streaming wars kicked off. Yahoo! later briefly hosted the back catalog (alongside behind-the-scenes and unaired sketches cut for time), and here was a short-lived SNL app. Still, trying to stream every season using one of the bigger streaming platforms has become a difficult affair. Hulu currently hosts blocks of seasons (the first through the fifth, and then seas...