Tech News

Amazon Prime Adds Watch Party for Co-Viewing With Up to 100 Friends

Amazon’s streaming service is introducing a co-viewing option to stream movies and TV shows with up to 100 other Prime Video account holders, a nifty feature that’s already officially available on platforms like Hulu and HBO. The native tool is now available to Prime Video subscribers in the U.S. streaming via a desktop browser—an exception…

Tech News Catie Keck

India Finally Popped the Ban on TikTok and 58 Other Chinese Apps

This is the story of a microvlogging app that nobody had heard of two years ago, and how it lured the world’s teens with karaoke, gobbled up their data, ballooned to monstrous proportions, and, finally, became a geopolitical bargaining chip in an escalating feud between the world’s two most-populous countries. The most recent development: India has…

Tech News Whitney Kimball

Future Apple Watches Could Scan Your Veins to Detect Gestures

While accelerometers and gyroscopes are generally how smartwatches detect hand movements, a newly-released patent hints that Apple may be considering scanning veins in your wrist via the Apple Watch to detect non-touch gestures in the future. First spotted by AppleInsider, the patent describes a scenario in which a device with one or more sensors to…

Tech News Victoria Song

Is Plant ‘Intelligence’ Just a Human Fantasy?

Although plants make up over 80% of the biomass on Earth, for centuries they have been thought of as inanimate and passive things. Researchers even coined the term “plant blindness” to refer to a cognitive bias that literally makes our brains zone out plants in our view and underestimate their importance. But as research into…

Tech News Sofia Quaglia

The OnePlus Nord Could Be OnePlus’ Big Return to Affordability

When the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro launched earlier this year at $700 and $900, it sort of felt like OnePlus had given up on making speedy and relatively inexpensive phones in order to cater to mainstream buyers. But with the new OnePlus Nord, it appears OnePlus is looking to return to its roots…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

Qualcomm’s New Wearables Chip Could Finally Improve Wear OS Watches, I Hope

Google may have been one of the first companies to the smartwatch scene, but its Wear OS platform has so far been a journey of unfulfilled potential. For a long time, that was partly because most Wear OS watches were running on outdated hardware: the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip. That was supposed to change…

Tech News Victoria Song

Polar Just Made Its First Affordable, Stylish Smartwatch

Polar smartwatches aren’t exactly chic. Like many fitness-first wearable companies, Polar’s strength has always been its in-depth metrics and platform. When it comes to style, Polar usually relies on that plain, sporty aesthetic, as it did with the M400, M600, A300, and the A360 fitness tracker. But today it’s launching a new smartwatch, the Polar…

Gadgets Victoria Song

10 Tips and Tricks to Make You a Discord Master

Discord is based around digital chat in all its various forms, and while it’s maybe best known among gamers, it can power group chats for a whole host of purposes—like a cooler, less formal Slack. Whether you’ve been on Discord for years or only just opened up the app for the first time, these tips…

Gadgets David Nield

New York Times Realizes Big Tech News Aggregation Like Apple News Actually Bad

The New York Times has announced it is ending a partnership with Apple’s news aggregator app, with the company citing a greater need for a more direct relationship with readers. The paper reported Monday in its own coverage of the Gray Lady’s unceremonious breakup with Apple News that readers will no longer see Times articles…

Tech News Catie Keck

Facebook Has a VR Headset Prototype That Looks Like a Pair of Glasses

Comfortable, good-looking VR headsets might not be available in the near future, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be available at all. According to VentureBeat, Facebook is researching a holographic optics design that would slim down present-day VR headsets from their bulky, brick form to something more like a thick pair of glasses. This echos…

Social Media Joanna Nelius

Detroit Police Chief Admits Face Recognition Doesn’t Work ’95-97% of the Time’

During a public meeting on Monday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig estimated the facial recognition technology used by his department fails to identify suspects accurately “96% of the time,” adding that nearly every case would go unsolved if police relied solely on the technology to identify suspects. Motherboard first reported the chief’s remarks: “If we…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Reddit Brings the Banhammer Down on r/The_Donald and 2,000 Other Subs

This weekend’s rumors were true: Reddit has swung its mighty banhammer, taking out 2,000 groups, including r/The_Donald and r/ChapoTrapHouse. A few hours later, the Verge reported that Twitch temporarily banned the Donald himself, namely over video of his racist rallies, with few additional details. Many have long wondered when Reddit would finally boot r/The_Donald, which…

Tech News Whitney Kimball

A Wild Apple ARM Benchmark Appears

Apple developers have supposedly started receiving their Apple ARM transition kits, and now a few benchmark numbers of those dev kits have also appeared in the wild. Spotted by 9to5Mac, benchmarks for the Developer Transition Kit seemed to have surfaced on Geekbench, despite strict confidentiality clauses in the developer agreement that forbid running benchmarks. A…

Tech News Joanna Nelius

Gilead to Charge $3,120 Per Patient for Typical Covid-19 Treatment

The pharmaceutical company behind a drug that’s been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use for covid-19 patients announced today the drug will cost $3,120 per typical treatment course for individuals with private insurance plans. Gilead Sciences’ experimental antiviral remdesivir was authorized for use by the health agency last month after research…

Tech News Catie Keck

It’s Not a Bonus, and It’s Less Than You Deserve

In a blog post today, Amazon announced it would be distributing “a special one-time Thank You bonus” to its workers, the largest sums of which would go to non-hourly managers. Let’s begin by stating the obvious: Labor has value That value is, for most workers, compensated with money Because of covid-19, the value of essential…

Commerce Avery Ellis

Paying for a Reference Is Just What the Job Hunt Hellscape Needed

If you have shame spiraled after sending a birthday message to a secondary contact on LinkedIn or had a few too many at a professional event, you, too, have probably wondered how much you would be willing to throw down for a networking cheat. Enter the platform Rooftop Slushie, where you can post a bid…

Tech News Whitney Kimball

Chinese Government Using Forced Abortion and Sterilization to Suppress Muslim Population: Report

The Chinese government is spending millions of dollars each year implementing population control measures against the Uighurs, the country’s largest Muslim ethnic group, including mandatory IUDs, sterilization, and forced abortions, according to a story published Monday by the Associated Press. Muslim women who have “too many” children are also being thrown into the concentration camps…

Tech News Matt Novak

Even Image Sensors Are Getting a Subscription and That Sucks

Subscriptions aren’t necessarily anything new when it comes to gadgets. If you’ve invested in a smart home, especially one with cameras, you’re probably familiar with the concept. But over the past two years, it’s become even clearer that companies are viewing subscriptions as the de facto future—and frankly, it sucks. Sony is the latest consumer…

Gadgets Victoria Song

All the Sensors in Your Smartphone, and How They Work

Many of your smartphone's coolest feats are accomplished with a wide range of sensors—but what are they and what do they all actually do?

Gadgets David Nield

Disney’s Developed Movie-Quality Face-Swapping Technology That Promises to Change Filmmaking

In a few short years, neural-network-powered automated face swaps have gone from being mildly convincing to eerily believable. But through new research from Disney, neural face-swapping is poised to become a legitimate and high-quality tool for visual effects studios working on Hollywood blockbusters. One of the bigger challenges of creating deepfake videos, as they’ve come…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Amazon Prime Adds Watch Party for Co-Viewing With Up to 100 Friends

India Finally Popped the Ban on TikTok and 58 Other Chinese Apps

Future Apple Watches Could Scan Your Veins to Detect Gestures

Is Plant ‘Intelligence’ Just a Human Fantasy?

The OnePlus Nord Could Be OnePlus’ Big Return to Affordability

Qualcomm’s New Wearables Chip Could Finally Improve Wear OS Watches, I Hope

Polar Just Made Its First Affordable, Stylish Smartwatch

10 Tips and Tricks to Make You a Discord Master

New York Times Realizes Big Tech News Aggregation Like Apple News Actually Bad

Facebook Has a VR Headset Prototype That Looks Like a Pair of Glasses

Detroit Police Chief Admits Face Recognition Doesn’t Work ’95-97% of the Time’

Reddit Brings the Banhammer Down on r/The_Donald and 2,000 Other Subs

A Wild Apple ARM Benchmark Appears

Gilead to Charge $3,120 Per Patient for Typical Covid-19 Treatment

It’s Not a Bonus, and It’s Less Than You Deserve

Paying for a Reference Is Just What the Job Hunt Hellscape Needed

Chinese Government Using Forced Abortion and Sterilization to Suppress Muslim Population: Report

Even Image Sensors Are Getting a Subscription and That Sucks

All the Sensors in Your Smartphone, and How They Work

Disney’s Developed Movie-Quality Face-Swapping Technology That Promises to Change Filmmaking

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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