Technology

Following the debut of its custom-engineered face shield for Balenciaga’s 51st Couture show, Mercedes-AMG partners with Master & Dynamic for a special-edition series of earphones and headphones. Inspired by the “power, meticulous workmanship, and daring design,” of Mercedes-AMG racing and its performance vehicles, Master & Dynamic delivers a range of high-performance audio gear using automotive-inspired robust and lightweight materials including magnesium, carbon fiber, and Kevlar. Highlights from the four-piece series include the MW08 wireless in-ears which arrive in a carbon fiber charging case. Made from Kevlar and shatter-resistant sapphire glass, the earbuds feature memory foam ear tips delivering hybrid ANC and two ambient listening modes. The two minimalist ANC headphones in...

Samsung has provided a clear solution to the unusual puzzle it provided yesterday, confirming that its Galaxy Unpacked event will indeed take place on August 10th. The image included with the teaser also confirms that its foldables will be taking center stage, with a Galaxy Z Flip-shaped device acting as a “greater than” symbol. The event will start at 9AM ET and will be streamed on Samsung.com. Based on the cryptic hint that Samsung dropped yesterday, along with the timing of last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Fold 3 launch, it was kind of a no-brainer to assume that we’d see updated foldable phones next month. If the phone in the invitation image is actually the Z Flip 4, then rumors that the device would feature minimal updates appear to be accurate. It seems to feature the same shape, rea...

Another Samsung Unpacked virtual event is right around the corner, now confirmed to take place on August 10th at 9AM ET / 6AM PT, and along with it are some incentives for the early, early birds. Samsung is offering customers in the US the chance to put in free, no-commitment reservations for its upcoming devices on its website now, well ahead of preorders — and even the devices’ announcement. Galaxy fans who reserve before the August 10th Unpacked will later receive varying tier-levels of store credit once the devices can be ordered, ranging from $30 to $200, toward Samsung’s next devices. As for what devices you’re signing up for? We can say with certainty that among the rumors, leaks, and Samsung’s own invite graphic, you can expect the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 phones to be...

The electric rebirth of Scout, the classic off-road SUV brand, is getting real this week as Volkswagen names Scott Keogh as CEO of its new spinoff company. The former head of VW Group America, as initially reported by Axios, pushed for VW to start a new electric truck line after seeing a fully restored vintage Scout: “the rights to the brand were just sitting there,” Keogh said. VW acquired the Scout brand through a 2020 merger of its commercial trucking company Traton with Navistar, which the German automaker initially bought part of in 2016. In May, it was reported that VW Group is willing to pump $1 billion into the new Scout brand and set goals to sell a quarter million electric off-roaders under the name annually starting in 2026. New Scout CEO and former head of Volkswagen Group Amer...

Netflix wants linear TV to die. CEO Reed Hastings has been banging the TV murder drum for more than 8 years now, and in the investor call today, he reiterated his belief, confidently saying that Netflix was in a great place because linear TV would be dead in “5 to 10 years.” Hastings is financially incentivized to say this. One of the biggest competitors for the largest streaming service on the planet is the set of totally free streaming channels that beam into any TV with an antenna, and their costlier friends on cable TV. Netflix needs linear TV to die because it needs the streaming holdouts still using linear TV. It shed a whopping 1.3 million subscribers across the US and Canada in the last three months, according to its 2022 Q2 earnings report. With more than 220 million paying custom...

Despite the success of Stranger Things Season 4, Netflix has just reported a loss of 970,000 subscribers in the last three months. While the streaming giant was estimating closer to a loss of roughly two million subscribers for its second quarter, this near-one million loss is the largest quarterly loss in subs that Netflix has experienced so far. Netflix expects the third quarter to pick up with one million new subscribers (3.4 million down from last year) and is also planning to introduce a lower-priced option with advertisements and an “add home” service for 2023. Those interested can view the entire detailed report over at Netflix’s Q2 Letter to Shareholders. In other tech news, Mark Zuckerberg announces Instagram’s new searchable map. Read Full Article

Sam Raimi’s incredible Spider-Man movie trilogy will be available on Netflix beginning August 1st, the company announced on Tuesday. Raimi’s trilogy is the best Spider-Man trilogy, and I won’t hear another word edgewise. I know the films aren’t objectively the best — the third one is just bad — but for many people of a certain age like me, they’re formative movies that are packed with iconic moments and legendary memes. Tobey Maguire’s Emo Peter Parker is basically a permanent internet character. One of the best parts of Spider-Man: No Way Home was when Willem Dafoe got to say perhaps his most classic Norman Osborne line. Netflix itself even used a Spider-Man meme in its announcement tweet. Very soon, you’ll be able to relive all of the glorious moments from the trilogy right from Netflix....

Last year, I decided to start learning Korean. It was entirely on a whim — I don’t live in Korea and have no reason I’d ever need to go there. Nonetheless, it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience, and I’ve gotten to a point where I can speak, read, and write comfortably much faster than I ever thought I could. That’s entirely due to the wealth of apps and online services out there that I’ve been able to take advantage of. Without easy access to native speakers or in-person classes, much of my early journey involved scouring the internet for resources and trying every one I could find. Here, I’m going to briefly discuss my experience with each one and whether I’d recommend it for its price. It’s important that I make a few caveats here: While I am a language nerd, I am in no way a lang...

Instagram’s latest update aims to make it easier for users to find local businesses or attractions by adding a searchable map that lets you “discover popular local businesses near you,” according to an Instagram Story from Mark Zuckerberg. The map will show you a list of places nearby and will let you see posts about a certain place or see only certain types of business. There are a few ways to get to the map — if someone tags a place in a post or story, you can tap on the tag and hit “see location” to get to the location’s page. If you move around on the map, you’ll then be able to search the area to see what’s nearby. Navigating to the map and searching it from a story sticker. You can also search for places (including entire cities) in the Explore tab. Tapping on a place search result w...

After Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in over a decade last quarter, the company’s Q2 earnings report revealed the number of worldwide subscribers dipped by 1 million, including a drop of 1.28 million in the US and Canada alone between the end of March and the end of June. That’s better than its projection of losing 2 million worldwide, but the subscriber shortfall in the US and Canada is double the 600,000 drop it reported for Q1. Netflix now reports it has 73.28 million paid subscribers in the US and Canada and 220.67 million worldwide. This comes nearly a week after Netflix announced a partnership with Microsoft on its cheaper ad-supported tier that it expects to launch by early next year. In the letter, Netflix emphasizes that its current plans will remain ad-fre...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shared that Instagram is rolling out a searchable map. While the app already featured a map that showed feed posts, the revamped map will include more opportunities to explore popular tagged locations, granting users an interactive and dynamic experience. “We’re introducing a new searchable map on IG today,” Zuckerberg said on his Instagram story. “You can now discover popular local businesses near you and filter by category.” Through the searchable map, users can view nearby locations and businesses via tagged posts, stories and guides from the greater Instagram community. They can also search a hashtag of a city or neighborhood to explore what’s in the area, a helpful tool when planning a getaway. New map, who this? ??️ Now you can now find popular loc...