Technology

As tensions rise between the US and China, Apple’s Chinese operations — which include millions of Apple customers and much of the company’s manufacturing operation — could be at risk. A new report in The Information argues that China may already be closing the loopholes exploited by Apple in previous years, starting with the recent removal of thousands of apps from the Chinese App Store. That could potentially spell trouble for the company’s future in the country. Apple pulled more than 47,000 apps from the Chinese App Store earlier this month, as first reported by AppInChina. That move wasn’t unexpected, as Apple recently enacted a policy change to eliminate a loophole that previously allowed paid games and games with in-app purchases to be sold even though they were still awaiting approv...

EA’s subscription service is coming to Steam very soon. Today, the publisher announced that the recently renamed EA Play will launch on Steam on August 31st. This marks the fourth platform on which the service will be available, following the PS4, Xbox One, and EA’s own Origin storefront on PC. Previously known as EA Access, the service gives subscribers the ability to play some of the publisher’s biggest titles, including The Sims 4 and Titanfall 2, while also offering other benefits like early access for new releases, deals on select EA games, and more. The base price is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, while the premium option — which includes early access to all of EA’s new titles — is $14.99 per month, or $99.99 annually. The service’s debut on Steam was a long time coming; EA original...

Epic Games took on Apple and Google in a very public way last week to protest what it believes are monopolistic app store policies. But Epic was prepared for the fight in part because it knows how to make a spectacle, having already pulled off massive in-game events like the appearance of a giant rolling cube and a volcano eruption. The studio applied tactics it has perfected to hype those events in its disputes with two of tech’s biggest companies. If you haven’t experienced one of Fortnite’s events, they are enormous in scope. Last summer, a towering robot and a giant kaiju monster fought in a cross-island showdown. In June, a mysterious device teleported players between realities and eventually turned the ever-threatening storm into a huge wall of water. The most famous event sucked the...

Some Tesla owners in California are being asked to charge their cars less — both at home and with the company’s Superchargers — to help conserve energy during an extreme heatwave. Pictures of the in-car notice surfaced on Reddit yesterday, and The Verge confirmed multiple Tesla owners in California received it. “The current heat wave is impacting the grid in California,” part of Tesla’s notice reads. “If possible, we ask that you reduce Supercharging and home charging between the hours of 4PM and 9PM to support the statewide efforts to manage demand.” By not charging cars during peak periods of energy usage across the state, Tesla owners can help California’s energy grid better manage the extra power people may be using to cool their homes during the intense heat. California Gov. Gavin New...

Nearly two years ago, several female employees at Rocksteady Studios, the developer behind the Batman: Arkham series, sent a letter to management accusing the studio of failing to prevent sexual harassment and sexism in the workplace, according to a new report by The Guardian. The letter, which was reportedly sent to management in November 2018, was signed by 10 of the 16 women employed at the London-based studio. Several issues addressed in the letter to management include continuous unprofessional behavior inside the office, such as derogatory and sexually explicit remarks about women, slurs targeted at the transgender community, and various forms of sexual harassment “in the form of unwanted advances, leering at parts of a woman’s body, and inappropriate comments in the office.” One ind...

Sony’s WH-XB900N over-ear, wireless headphones are steeply discounted at Amazon. Normally $248, they’re $100 off of that price, which is a big 40 percent discount. These headphones offer digital noise cancellation, and while that will help to make things a little quieter, it’s likely not nearly as effective as active noise cancellation that, in the case of Sony’s $350 flagship WH-1000XM4, relies on microphones, an algorithm, and dedicated processor to help hush the outside sound. But for the money, they should get the job done. They share a few similarities to Sony’s flagship model, including their touch interface, USB-C charging, and they have the same attention mode that lets you hear what’s happening around you by holding a hand over the right ear cup. I don’t expect this deal to last l...

The modern office cubicle is almost synonymous with the drudgery of a soul-crushing office job. But if for some reason you’ve found yourself missing the not-quite-solid not-quite-walls of your regular office, Panasonic is working to bring the magic of cubicles to your work-from-home life with its new 88,000 yen (around $835) Komoru home cubicle. The Komoru is actually a bit more handsome-looking than a traditional office cubicle, and it’s made of wooden pegboards (to easily hang things) with a matching, integrated desk. It’s designed to blend in with your existing living room or apartment setup. Image: Panasonic The idea is that the Komoru will give you about one square meter (around 10 square feet) of portioned-off space to set aside as a specific work zone, instead of having your work li...

When you think about money, you probably don’t think about it as a form of media. Apps like Venmo, PayPal, and Square’s Cash App have blurred the line between payment platforms and social media. But there’s a long history of financial services being used as a communications medium — from Western Union to Visa to bitcoin. Lana Swartz, an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, points out in her new book, New Money: How Payment Became Social Media, how the technologies of money map perfectly alongside the technologies of communication and media. “If we think about paper money,” Swartz explains, “it’s covered with iconography that tells particular kinds of histories and projects, and particular kinds of futures. It’s one of the most ubiquitous forms of print media ...

Back-to-school season is hitting differently in 2020. This year, first-day-of-school jitters are mixed in with fears of a still-raging pandemic, families stretched to their limits, and economic catastrophe. Schools across the country are already starting classes, an unqualified mess that involves shifts to distance learning, optimistic reopenings, and realistic reclosings. Hand sanitizer and laptops have replaced backpacks and lunch boxes as must-have items for the class of COVID-19. Decisions made by districts and systems could affect parents, students, and communities for years to come. COVID-19’s consequences for schools reverberate far beyond health — touching education, policies, and tech. Parents of the country’s roughly 56 million K–12 students are looking for practical ways to cope...

Samsung has confirmed exactly which of its devices will be receiving “three generations” of Android updates, after announcing the initiative at its Note 20 launch event earlier this month. As expected, the list includes flagship phones going back to last year’s Galaxy S10, but there are also a couple of new inclusions from Samsung’s foldable and tablet ranges. In the past, Samsung generally promised two years of updates, but now its phones could be supported for as many as three, depending upon how the company defines “generations.” For example, Samsung says its Galaxy S20 phones will receive “three OS upgrades starting with Android 11,” meaning that unless Android’s naming or release schedule changes the phones should go on to receive Android 12 in 2021, and Android 13 in 2022. Extending ...

The New York City Police Department used facial recognition software to track down a Black Lives Matter activist accused of assault after allegedly shouting into a police officer’s ear with a bullhorn. The mayor’s office says it will “reassess” standards for using facial recognition after criticism that the case shows the technology being used indiscriminately. On August 7th, the police department sent dozens of officers, including some in riot gear, to the home of 28-year-old activist Derrick Ingram. A stand-off followed, live-streamed by Ingram on Instagram, during which he repeatedly asked officers to produce a search warrant. They refused to do so. After protestors supporting Ingram flocked to the street, the NYPD stood down and Ingram turned himself into the police the next day. Dozen...

Well, you know how it is. Head out the door for a long-planned vacation, pray nothing major erupts before you get back, and before you can so much as pack a suitcase the president announces that ByteDance must sell TikTok — or else TikTok will be banned in the United States. The timing was abrupt. The authoritarian cast of President Trump’s remarks on the subject was disturbing. And yet, for those of us who have followed TikTok’s trajectory this year, nothing that has happened over the past two weeks can truly be said to be surprising. I wrote this here on January 7th: I imagine that most within ByteDance would still rather avoid any of these scenarios, and just keep running TikTok as it is. And yet — how likely does it seem to you that ByteDance will ultimately have that option? The compa...