Technology

Apple is developing revamped versions of its AirPods and AirPods Pro true wireless earbuds, Bloomberg reports, the first of which could be announced as early as next year. Both will reportedly feature new designs, as well as upgraded wireless chips. Bloomberg also notes that Apple’s long-rumored over-ear headphones are still in development, and that the company has internally discussed plans to introduce a third HomePod speaker to sit between the $299 HomePod and the newly-announced $99 HomePod mini. According to the report, Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro could ditch the stem that has been a hallmark of the AirPods’ design since their introduction in 2016. They’ll reportedly still feature noise-cancellation, but with a design that’s more similar to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds...

It’s amazing how much innovation and technology goes into finding better ways to fall down a mountain. I’m a snowboarding addict. Despite the fact that I absolutely hate being cold, I find myself looking forward to winter with more and more eagerness each fall. I’m also a huge nerd, which means every year I get all giddy about the new advances coming out that improve the ways we play in the snow, or so they claim. Here, then, is the confluence of those gravitational forces in my life: my picks for the coolest new snow tech. (And take note that, aside from the actual boards, boots, and bindings, a lot of this gear can be used by skiers, too.) Disclaimer: There are hundreds of brands, boards, boots, kits, and gadgets out there, and I am just one person with finite resources (including time, ...

Facebook is the latest tech giant to get into the world of cloud gaming — but the company’s offering is quite a bit different than the competition. Unlike Amazon or Google, which both offer standalone cloud gaming services for a fee, Facebook is introducing cloud games to its existing app — several of which are playable right now. “We’re doing free-to-play games, we’re doing games that are latency-tolerant, at least to start,” says Jason Rubin, Facebook’s vice president of play. “We’re not promising 4K, 60fps, so you pay us $6.99 per month. We’re not trying to get you to buy a piece of hardware, like a controller.” According to Rubin, the reason Facebook is exploring the cloud is because it opens up the types of games it can offer. The company started out in games more than a decade ago wi...

OnePlus has announced a pair of new phones for its midrange Nord lineup — the N10 5G and N100. Both sit below the existing £379/€399 OnePlus Nord in terms of specs and price. The N10 5G starts at £329 in the UK and €349 in Germany (around $412) and is powered by a Snapdragon 690, while the N100 starts at £179 and €199 (around $235) in the same countries and is powered by a Snapdragon 460. Unlike the original Nord, which was only released in Europe and parts of Asia, OnePlus says the N10 5G and N100 will eventually launch in North America. The company has confirmed that both phones will be available there “at a later date,” following their European release. OnePlus says the N100 will arrive in the UK on November 10th, with the N10 5G following later in November. The Nord N10 5G has a 6.49-i...

Facebook is planning for possible chaos around the November 3rd US presidential election with internal tools it’s used before in countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar, The Wall Street Journal reported. The plans may include slowing the spread of posts as they begin to go viral, altering the news feed algorithm to change what content users see, and changing the rules for what kind of content is dangerous and warrants removal. They’re strategies Facebook has previously used in so-called “at-risk” countries dealing with mass ethnic unrest or political bloodshed. The tools would only be used in the event of election-related violence or other serious circumstances, according to the WSJ, but some employees at the company said they were concerned that attempting to slow down viral content could un...

Chrome OS may finally be getting a dark mode, but so far it’s only been spotted in its experimental Canary channel, Android Central reported. Before you go tinkering with Canary just be advised: Canary is Google’s “bleeding edge” Chrome OS path, which receives daily updates of features before they’ve been widely tested. It can only be accessed from Chromebooks switched into a special developer mode (not to be confused with the Chrome OS Developer channel). Google warns that Canary can be “unstable.” But at the moment, to activate dark mode on your Chromebook, you need to have the Canary channel installed. Once you’ve done that, Android Central says you just open Chrome and type in chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark and chrome://flags/#enable-webui-dark-mode into the URL bar. I should note I...

So in between catching up with episodes of Grace and Frankie and watching the presidential debate, I tried to watch the new Netflix version of Rebecca, which is exactly the kind of flick I am usually 100 percent here for. I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t able to really get into it, but I think Josh Rivera’s review really nails it: it’s kind of a boring take on the story. It’s a beautiful-looking movie, but idk, none of the characters — except maybe Kristen Scott Thomas’s Mrs. Danvers— has much depth. I’m about three-quarters of the way through it and still waiting to feel the sense of dread I did reading the novel. Maybe the final act will bring it home? In any event, there are a lot of great new trailers to check out this week, so I’ll have something new to watch soon. [embedded content...

PayPal has terminated the account of domain registrar and web hosting company Epik for violating its “risk controls,” prompting angry letters and blog posts from Epik alleging conservative bias was to blame, Mashable reported. Seattle-based Epik is perhaps best known for its support of right-wing social media site Gab. The site was banned by its hosting company, domain registrar, and PayPal in 2018, after it was discovered that the alleged shooter at a Pittsburgh synagogue had written anti-Semitic tirades on Gab. In a 2018 blog post, Epik CEO Robert Monster criticized what he called the “digital censorship” by other sites. According to Mashable, the issue that got Epik kicked off PayPal has to do with Epik’s digital “alternative currency” Masterbucks. It can be used to buy Epik products or...

Samsung Electronics has announced the death of its chairman, Lee Kun-hee. The company says he died on October 25th with family including his son, vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong, at his side. He was 78. A cause of death was not given, but Lee had been incapacitated for many years after suffering a heart attack in 2014, causing him to withdraw from public life. Lee Jae-yong, also known as Jay Y. Lee, had been widely assumed to take over upon his father’s passing and has been viewed as the de facto leader in recent years. “The motivating driver of the company’s vision” Lee Kun-hee was a controversial figure who played a huge part in pushing Samsung from a cheap TV and appliances maker to one of the most powerful technology brands in the world. He became the richest man in South Korea, with the Sa...

Food delivery platform DoorDash has partnered with a restaurant for the first time to build a new brick-and-mortar store, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Burma Bites, a spin off of Oakland, California-based Burma Superstar, was designed for delivery and takeout, and will offer versions of menu items from the parent restaurant as well as new items in environmentally-friendly to-go containers, DoorDash said. According to the Chronicle, all menu items are priced between $12 and $19. DoorDash did not disclose the amount of its investment in Burma Bites, but told The Verge in an email it has been working on the project for about a year. The restaurant was originally supposed to open in March, but that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Georgie Thomas, head of regional merchant partn...

Epic Games fired back against Apple yet again in a new court filing, saying the iPhone maker “has no rights to the fruits of Epic’s labor,” the latest salvo in the ongoing battle between the two companies. A quick recap: Back in August, Epic introduced a new direct-payment system in its wildly popular Fortnite game to bypass Apple’s 30 percent fee. Apple kicked Fortnite off the App Store for breaking its rules, and Epic responded with a civil lawsuit against Apple, alleging that Apple was violating antitrust law. Epic also revealed that Apple threatened to terminate the developer account used to support the company’s Unreal Engine platform, which would prevent Epic from developing future games for iOS or Mac. Earlier this month, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted an injunctio...

In its latest teardown video, iFixit took apart an iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, and found that the devices look pretty similar to each other on the inside. The displays are interchangeable, iFixit found, and so are the 10.78 Wh batteries. The iPhone 12 is on the left, the iPhone 12 Pro is on the right. iFixit When they removed the camera shield on the iPhone 12, iFixit found a plastic spacer where the iPhone 12 Pro has its telephoto lens and LiDAR sensor. Both devices have 12 MP wide and ultra-wide cameras. iFixit also examined an X-ray (courtesy of Creative Electron) of the insides of the phones, which show the MagSafe wireless charging array. The X-ray of the iPhone 12 Pro appears to have a black border, but it’s the stainless steel frame (the iPhone 12 has an aluminum frame). iPhone Pro...