Technology

Apple’s going to handle the lending for its new buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, and doesn’t plan on shifting that responsibility to a financial service, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC. The company’s subsidiary, Apple Financing LLC, is reportedly licensed to provide lending services and will remain separate from Apple’s main business. Apple announced its BNPL service, Pay Later, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. The service will let users make a purchase through Apple Pay, and then pay back that amount in four equal installments over the course of six weeks with no interest. It’s the first time Apple will take on financial responsibilities This isn’t Apple’s first foray into finances, but, as Bloomberg notes, it is the first time it’s taking on...

The first-look trailer for Entergalactic — a musical animated series from Kid Cudi and Black-ish creator Kenya Barris — is brief, but it’s bursting with style and life. The series follows a young artist named Jabari (voiced by Cudi) and has a slick visual style that’s almost like a cross between Arcane and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Netflix also revealed today that the series has quite the cast of voice actors. Joining Cudi are Jessica Williams, Timothée Chalamet, Ty Dolla $ign, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Hudgens, Christopher Abbott, 070 Shake, Jaden Smith, Keith David, Teyana Taylor, Arturo Castro, and Macaulay Culkin. And the description of Chalamet’s character, Jimmy, sounds absolutely perfect: Jimmy is Jabari’s best friend and… weed dealer, though with the new drug laws he’s ...

With all of the drama surrounding Cyberpunk 2077’s initial launch, it would be easy to forget that there’s another exciting project on the way: an anime spinoff from famed studio Trigger. (That’s the same team behind projects like Promare, Little Witch Academia, and Kill la Kill.) The Netflix series was first announced back in 2020, and now we finally have the first trailer for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. It’s hard to tell precisely what is going on in the one-minute-long clip, but it sure looks incredible. If you’re curious about the actual premise, here it is: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners tells a standalone, 10-episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology- and body-modification-obsessed city of the future. Having everything to lose, he chooses to stay alive by becoming an edg...

For a second year in a row, Netflix is dedicating an entire week to nerdy new announcements. Geeked Week has returned for 2022, and each day has a different theme. It starts with TV shows on Monday, before moving through film, animation, Stranger Things, and gaming. Basically, there’s going to be a lot to keep track of. To save you some trouble, we’ll be updating this article daily with the most important and interesting announcements to make things easier to parse — so keep checking back for the latest trailers and reveals. Animation [embedded content] The Dragon Prince returns for season 4 Fans of The Dragon Prince have been waiting a long time — season 3 wrapped up way back in 2019. But a new trailer reveals what’s described as “the next phase of the saga” for the fantasy story. It’s ca...

A team of quality assurance (QA) contractors who work closely with BioWare, a studio owned by EA, has voted unanimously (16 to 0) to form a union. The workers are employed by the Edmonton, Canada-based branch of Keywords Studios, making them the country’s first union in the game industry. Signs of unionization first emerged in April, with the contractors citing a requirement to return to work in the office — even when other full-time BioWare workers got the option to work from home — as one of the reasons behind their decision to organize. Keywords Studios has since reversed this policy and is giving all workers a hybrid work from home option. The workers also take issue with Keywords’ time off policy and pay, which reportedly starts at $15 CAD (about $12 USD) — minimum wage in Canada. BRE...

This week, European Union lawmakers agreed on new proposals to force manufacturers of everything from smartphones and headphones to digital cameras and tablets to use the same universal charging port: USB Type-C. The plan is for the new rules to come into effect by fall 2024, after which these devices that charge using a wired cable will need to do so via a built-in USB-C port. The single biggest impact of this legislation is likely to land on Apple’s iPhone. While the rest of the smartphone industry has gradually converged around USB-C as a single, standardized wired charging port, Apple has steadfastly stuck with Lightning, the proprietary connector it introduced with the iPhone 5 way back in 2012. The EU’s legislation could finally force it to move on. Apple is the only major smartphone...

Samsung is releasing a new update for its Family Hub refrigerators that brings Samsung TV Plus — the tech giant’s free, ad-supported live TV service — to its fridges with a tablet built-in. At its second annual Bespoke Home event on Tuesday, the company said the update (which was first announced last year) will arrive this July on Family Hub 2.0 models (2017 and later). The live TV option is only available in the U.S. and Korea. Currently, users of Samsung’s smart fridge can watch television on the fridge’s built-in touchscreen by mirroring a Samsung TV to the fridge or content from a Samsung smartphone. But without one of those devices, your fridge just had to be boring. I have attempted to watch TV on a Family Hub and it’s not a great experience — it can only use a small horizontal area ...

Consider dusting off your attic shoeboxes filled with baseball cards; eBay might have a new home for some of them soon. The pioneering online marketplace site built a new 31,000-square-foot facility, called the eBay Vault, which is open now to house graded trading cards that are valued at over $750 and, in the future, physical collectibles of all kinds. The launch of the eBay Vault comes hot on the heels of its Authenticity Guarantee push, where it expanded from validating sneakers over $100 to partnering with Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) to grade trading cards valued at over $2,000. eBay is so far only accepting trading cards purchased on their site that are already graded by a list of reputable organizations like PSA and Sportscard Guaranty Corporation. Unlike NFTs, you can wi...

General Motors released some more images of the Cadillac Celestiq show car, and as you can see, we’re still only getting the bare minimum here. The Celestiq, which is expected to be the next all-electric luxury vehicle from Cadillac, “represents the purest expression of Cadillac design, technology and performance,” the automaker says. And here’s a picture of a door hinge to prove it! GM first showed off the Celestiq to a handful of reporters at its EV Day event in early 2020, but it has yet to publicly release any images of the full vehicle. The ultra-luxury sedan is meant to serve as a companion to the Cadillac Lyriq, which just entered into production earlier this year. Both vehicles will be built on GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform, which powers a wide range of vehicle types and si...

Let’s face it: protective carrying cases for the Nintendo Switch are a dime a dozen. A quick Google search will yield no shortage of options that largely work as intended, however, most cases on the market may not do well against drops and other blunt force trauma, even if they can protect your console from more superficial damage. Then there’s the question of space. Most only offer enough room for your console and a couple of Joy-Con controllers, forcing you to relegate the case to another bag entirely. This level of inconvenience can make you rethink using a case for your Switch at all, which is why you might want to find an option that not only protects your beloved console but has enough room for your stowing daily essentials as well. C’mon, it’s 2022, and you’re better than owning an ...

At WWDC 2022, Apple announced it was adding a number of big fitness updates to watchOS 9. Most notably, that included a ton of new running metrics, as well as a new multisport mode for triathletes. As a runner and wearables reviewer, the presentation immediately made me think, “Holy guacamole, Apple is gunning for Garmin.” Right now, smartwatches fall into one of two categories. First, you have full-featured flagship watches. These are the ones with not-so-great battery life, but the most advanced tech. They can call emergency services if you’re injured, have built-in voice assistants, control your smart home, have third-party apps, enable advanced health features like EKGs, and support cellular connectivity. The Apple watch obviously falls into this category. The second category is essent...

Twitter is testing a new shopping feature for previewing upcoming product releases. The feature, called Product Drops, allows brands to tease items before they go on sale, and customers can sign up to be reminded prior to the release through in-app notifications. The company shared how reminders would work in a blog post today. When brands set up product drops, shoppers can sign up for alerts by clicking a “remind me” button. Product drop tweets act like other posts on Twitter and can be liked, retweeted, bookmarked, and shared. Users who opt in to get reminders will get a notification 15 minutes before the time of the release and at the set time of the drop. When it’s time to purchase and users click the notification, they’ll be directed to a “shop on website” button leading to the brand’...