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Tech NewsGadgetsXiaomi’s Black Shark 4 Is a Gaming Phone With Real Shoulder Buttons
Sometimes it feels like phone makers try to pander to mobile gamers by slapping RGB lighting on an otherwise blah phone stuffed with generic components, but with the Black Shark 4, Xiaomi is trying something new: adding built-in tactile shoulder buttons that might make a real difference. Unlike other gaming phones like the Red Magic … Continued
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Tech NewsApple’s Mixed Reality Headset Might Be Light AF
Apple prognosticator Ming-Chi Kuo is not done dispensing rumors about the company’s long-rumored mixed reality headset. This time, per 9to5Mac, Kuo has details on the headset’s weight: reportedly less than 150 grams thanks to the use of hybrid ultra-short focal length lenses. If you struggle with metric conversions, 150 grams is absurdly light. It’s the … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Missed 10.1 Billion Opportunities to Stop Juicing Hoaxes and Propaganda in 2020, Study Finds
If Facebook had moved sooner to restrict hoax, toxic, misleading, or other content attempting to interfere with the 2020 elections, it could have limited its reach by around 10 billion views, according to a report by the advocacy group Avaaz. Researchers for Avaaz identified the 100 highest-performing pages on Facebook that had shared content classified … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityOil Giant Shell Hacked Thanks to Flaw-Ridden Accellion System
Royal Dutch Shell, the petrochemical giant (and one of the largest companies in the world), is the latest in a string of high-profile victims to have suffered a data breach in connection with beleaguered cloud provider Accellion. Shell announced last week that a “data security incident” had occurred involving its use of Accellion’s secure file-transfer … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsLet’s All Be More Like a Global Investment Bank
Now that the vaccine rollout is real and bosses are tentatively setting rough return dates, you may find yourself searching your desiccated soul for your old self, a presumably enthusiastic worker on a “schedule” with a “lunchtime” and a love of “interfacing.” If this describes you, then you should know Jane Fraser, CEO of global … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetViacomCBS Is Selling $3 Billion in Stock to Fund Paramount+, a Service Some People Evidently Don’t Know Exists
The parent company behind Paramount+ has announced it’s looking to raise $3 billion to help fund operations, including for its new streaming service—that some consumers evidently have no idea exists. ViacomCBS said Monday it will offer $2 billion in Class B common stock and $1 billion in Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock. J.P. Morgan … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsRadio Shack Once Again Crawls Out of the Grave
Radio Shack, the once-popular electronics chain, went bankrupt in 2015 and again in 2017. The physical stores, once a nerd’s paradise full of electronic components and computer gear, closed one by one, and a company called Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV) bought the brand and most of the company’s assets. Fast forward a few years and, … Continued
By John Biggs -
Tech NewsApple Plans to Map Game Controller Buttons to Your Mac Keyboard
As part of its ongoing mission to improve how iPad and iPhone apps run on M1 Macs, Apple has added game controller emulation to macOS Big Sur’s current 11.3 beta. Basically, Apple’s trying to make its M1 Macs more like gaming PCs. According to MacRumors, running an iPad or iPhone app on an M1 Mac … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsThe Coolest Thing About the OnePlus Watch Is How Fast It Charges
The OnePlus Watch was not a well-kept secret by any means. Renders of it leaked last week, and we’ve heard rumors about the platform the watch is based on for some time now. Now that it’s officially here though, the coolest thing about the OnePlus Watch is the fact that you can get a whole … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsThis PopSocket Will Help You MacGyver Your Way Out of a Pickle
In a brand synergy no one saw coming, PopSockets is embracing the “tacticool” trend (military-themed gear the armed forces would never actually use) with a new SOG multi-tool PopGrip that finally adds some legitimate functionality to your mostly useless smartphone. PopSockets’ new PopGrip SOG Multi-Tool Black turns your phone into an actually useful tool. Besides … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsYou Don’t Actually Want a Wraparound Smartwatch
I get it. A flexible OLED display that extends all the way around your wrist looks cyberpunk as hell. But as cool as it sounds—and looks—this is a bad wearable design that benefits no one other than sci-fi writers and filmmakers. I say this because a few short months ago, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo hinted … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsNintendo May Turn to Nvidia’s DLSS for Better Graphics on the Rumored Switch Revamp
Earlier this month, rumors surfaced that Nintendo plans to release a revamped Switch console sometime later this year. Now, a new report is claiming that Nintendo may leverage Nvidia’s DLSS tech to help support better graphics. So far, info regarding Nintendo’s upcoming Switch revamp has been relatively light on details, with planned upgrades largely revolving … Continued
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Tech NewsNovelist Charged After Calling Poland’s President ‘Moron’ on Facebook
Jakub Żulczyk, a TV writer and novelist in Poland, has been charged with calling Poland’s President Andrzej Duda a “moron” on Facebook. Żulczyk faces up to three years in prison over the insult. Żulczyk, a 37-year-old writer whose 2014 novel Blinded by the Lights was adapted for TV and aired on HBO Europe in 2018, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsDiscord Wants to Go Public or Sell to Company Like Microsoft for $10 Billion: Report
Microsoft is currently in discussions to potentially buy the chat platform Discord, according to a new report from Bloomberg News that cites unnamed sources. The sale, which is far from a done deal, could be worth over $10 billion but Discord is just as likely to go public if it doesn’t get an acceptable offer, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsThis Startup Is Using Drones to Conduct Airplane Inspections
Aircraft inspection is the important, federally-mandated process of checking recently flown planes for signs of damage. Commercial airliners incur all sorts of wear and tear as they travel the skies, so it’s crucial to identify and track what it looks like. In recent years, the aviation industry has sought to modernize this process by investing … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsInternetThe FCC Wants to Hear How Bad Your Internet Sucks
The FCC announced today that it’s started soliciting first-hand accounts from people who are forced to rely on crappy internet. This new initiative is part of the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection program, and the agency hopes that by collecting information directly from consumers, it will be better equipped to “enhance the accuracy of its existing … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetSpotify’s New Home Screen Features Bring Order to the Chaos
Spotify is rolling out a new home screen design that should make finding what you’re looking for from the home hub a little easier. Spotify’s home screen on mobile has always seemed a little chaotic to me, with a bunch of “for you” playlists shuffled in with whatever the algorithm thinks I want to hear. … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsCommerceAmazon Illegally Interrogated Queens Warehouse Worker Who Led Pandemic Walkout, NLRB Rules
The National Labor Relations Board has determined that Amazon illegally interrogated a warehouse worker that led colleagues in a strike over the company’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, per a Monday report by Motherboard. Amazon worker Jonathan Bailey led 13 workers in a walkout from a company warehouse in New York City’s Queens borough on … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsApple Can’t Possibly Be ‘Surprised’ That Developers Are Unhappy
Developers aren’t the biggest fans of Apple’s App Store policies—a sentiment that’s apparently left Apple “surprised” that developers have “legitimate concerns” with its infamous app review process. The tidbit comes from Apple’s latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Last year, the watchdog launched an investigation into digital platform services, including both … Continued
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Tech NewsSidney Powell Wants Dominion Suit Tossed on the Grounds That What She Was Saying Was Too Stupid to be Believable
After working for months to advance the baseless conspiracy theory that the voting machine manufacturer Dominion had worked with Venezuela to rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump, former campaign lawyer Sidney Powell is requesting that the election software company drop its defamation lawsuit against her on the grounds that nobody with half a … Continued