Technology

Amazon has announced that it’s launching a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit as the latest effort by the online retailer to fight counterfeit products on its website. The new team is said to be made up of “former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts,” who will work to proactively “go on the offensive” against counterfeiters, instead of just reacting by trying to identify and block bad listings. According to Amazon, the new Counterfeit Crimes Unit will make it easier for the company to file civil lawsuits, aid brands in their own investigations, and work with law enforcement officials in fighting counterfeiters. Counterfeit products are a big issue for the online retailer, especially from third-party sellers that try to dupe customers into buying fake knockoffs. Nike ...

As Tesla made its first public pitch to bring its Cybertruck factory to Austin, Texas on Tuesday, the company faced concerns from citizens about its treatment of workers, the proposal’s impact on the local housing crisis, the need to give the automaker tax breaks, and most of all, CEO Elon Musk. About 45 residents of Austin and the surrounding area spoke about the factory deal on Tuesday at a virtual public meeting held by the Travis County Commissioners Court, the policy-making and administrative arm of the local government. Many objected to Musk’s behavior during the coronavirus pandemic, including how he reopened Tesla’s California vehicle factory in violation of a local health order, sued the county where the factory is located, and spread misinformation about the virus. Texas is curre...

Cults prey on lonely and desperate people looking to belong to something, and as people migrate a bigger portion of their lives online, sometimes all it takes is a small showing of support to net someone’s full trust. In OneZero’s new investigative feature, journalists Emilie Friedlander and Joy Crane dig into two connected groups: Tumple and DayLife Army, the latter of which became a physical embodiment of an online cult. Started by Eben “Wiz-EL” Carlson and KoA Malone, the groups were founded primarily through Facebook, reaching people who hung out on a section of the social media site dubbed “Weird Facebook.” Speaking to 24 people who identified as members of Tumple and DayLife Army, as well as people with knowledge of the group and those related to people inside the organizations, OneZ...

There were 38,672 positive COVID-19 tests reported in the United States today, a new record high, according to the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization housed at The Atlantic that collects data on the pandemic. The count surged past the previous high of 36,001, reported on April 25. Early in the pandemic, the US caseload was driven by outbreaks in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Those states have largely controlled the transmission of the virus, and daily case counts are down. The outbreak is now accelerating in the South and the West. States like Arizona, Florida, California, and South Carolina — which had relatively low numbers of cases early on — are home to the lion’s share of the newly diagnosed cases. The US is testing more people for COVID-19 now than it was in Ap...

Apple announced at WWDC this week that you’ll be able to add a digital car key to your iPhone or Apple Watch to wirelessly unlock and start your car. The feature is part of the newly revealed iOS 14, and it will work over NFC, Apple says. The first car supported will be the new 2021 BMW 5 Series, which comes out next month, and Apple says it’s working on an industry-wide standard that would use its new U1 ultra wideband chip instead of relying solely on NFC. Once you’ve paired your iPhone or Apple Watch with a car that supports the digital car keys, if you want to unlock your car, you’ll just need to hold your Apple device near an NFC reader that’s in your car (for example, in the car’s door handle). You won’t be asked to confirm your identity with Face ID or a passcode by default, but you...

Thinking about picking up a new Apple Watch? It’s never a bad idea to wait until there’s a good deal, and thankfully, those happen with some regularity. The latest model, the Apple Watch Series 5 starts at $400, but it’s frequently available for $100 less than that. If that’s a little too expensive, you can drop at least another $100 off that price for the Series 3 Watch. The Series 4 is a good choice, too, though not many retailers sell it, and it can be tough to find at a discount that’s all that much better than the Series 5. At this point, I wouldn’t recommend buying a new Series 1 or 2 Apple Watch, as they’re slower, less feature-rich, and they won’t get the upgrade to watchOS 7 later this year. Apple usually releases a new iteration of the Apple Watch each year — in September, to be ...

Netflix is set to introduce 59 new original things in July, including several new seasons of popular TV shows, entirely new series, new movies, new documentaries, and even some new anime. There’s a new season of Umbrella Academy, a high-profile Charlize Theron film, a sequel to the popular teen romcom The Kissing Booth, a final season of the popular sports documentary series Last Chance U, and the highly anticipated remake of The Babysitters Club. Quite frankly, it’s a lot. That 59 number doesn’t account for additional licensed content the streamer will introduce next month, either. Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, Spaceballs, Cloud Atlas, and The Karate Kid trilogy are also landing on Netflix on July 1st. By simple math, Netflix will have close to two new original titles for every single day o...

When you think of Slack, you probably think of a chat app that’s growing in popularity for businesses large and small. Originally designed by accident as something that could potentially replace email, Slack hasn’t quite killed off email just yet. But over the past four years, Slack has quietly been building a major platform change for its communications app that might help replace your work email in the future. Slack Connect furthers the idea of shared channels that let companies collaborate, allowing up to 20 organizations to work seamlessly together with apps, chat, and more. Over a million Slack users have been testing Slack Connect in recent months, and it’s launching for all paid plans today. “The vision for Slack has always been to build Slack Connect so that the benefits you get fo...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a formal complaint against Detroit police over what it says is the first known example of a wrongful arrest caused by faulty facial recognition technology. Robert Julian-Borchak Williams, an African American man, was arrested after a facial recognition system falsely matched his photo with security footage of a shoplifter. The New York Times reports that the ACLU is calling for the dismissal of Williams’ case and for his information to be removed from Detroit’s criminal databases, and prosecutors have since agreed to delete his data. Facial recognition technology has been criticized for years, with researchers showing it to be biased against members of different races and ethnicities. But its use by law enforcement has grown even more con...

Rocket startup Relativity Space is expanding its launch sites from one to two, with a new agreement to fly its future rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California. The deal means Relativity, which already has a lease for a launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, will be able to fly from either the East or West Coast of the United States when its rocket is ready. Based out of Los Angeles, Relativity Space is an ambitious rocket startup aimed at creating the first fully 3D-printed rocket. The company, started by engineers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, is currently developing its first rocket called the Terran 1. The goal is for every part of Terran 1 — including its engines, fuselage, and propellant tanks — to be 3D-printed in order to minimize the amount of workforce needed...

The latest pokémon adventure is a real-time, team-based strategy game called Pokémon Unite. The game is being developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studios, the same studio behind massive free-to-play online games like Honor of Kings and Call of Duty: Mobile. The game looks a lot like MOBAs, particularly League of Legends, with teams of five battling against each other and leveling up over the course of a match while completing objectives. The multi-lane map is even reminiscent of existing team strategy games. It’ll be a free-to-start game on both the Nintendo Switch and mobile, with crossplay for multiplayer. Today’s news caps off a busy period for the Pokémon franchise. Last week saw the release of the first major expansion for Pokémon Sword and Shield, along with the announcements of New Pokémon ...

After an abrupt takeover of the Open Technology Fund (OTF) last week, pressure is mounting against Michael Pack, the newly appointed CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). A longtime ally of Steve Bannon, critics say the new appointee is adding a partisan slant to the agency, which also oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. In a letter sent on Wednesday, nine members of Congress pushed Pack on his abrupt replacement of the leadership and board of OTF, a pivotal internet freedom nonprofit put in place under President Obama. Led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the letter is also signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), among others. “OTF-funded technologies and projects have also delivered enormous benefits to U.S. national security and ...