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Checking out the Theraface Pro and PMD Personal Microderm Classic – 14:56
Elon Musk isn’t done with Twitter, might be trying to buy the company – 23:59
Blizzard has hired a Chief Diversity Officer to help sort out its whole mess – 36:31
Meta wants a 47.5% cut on all items sold in the Metaverse – 40:45
Vivo’s X Fold has a fingerprint reader on both screens – 44:28
Sonos bought a startup that makes speakers powered by light – 48:53
Working on – 53:52
Pop culture picks – 55:14
Video livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford Producer: Ben Ellman Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Luke Brooks Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Brian Oh Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Opera launched its dedicated “Crypto Browser” into beta back in January, promising to make Web3 as accessible as any Web2 website. The company released the browser for Windows, Mac and Android users back then, but the version for iOS devices still wasn’t ready for rollout. Now, Opera has announced that the Crypto Browser for iPhones and iPads is out and available for download from its website.
The browser comes with a built-in non-custodial crypto wallet that supports the Ethereum, Bitcoin and other blockchain ecosystems. It will allow users to buy crypto coins with fiat currency and to trade any supported token without needing to install extensions. In addition, the browser will give users access to Web3-based NFTs and decentralized apps, including 7,000 services based on the Polygon ecosystem.
One of the browser’s other features is a Crypto Corner start page, where users can get live information and updates on cryptocurrency, such as the latest prices and events, airdrops and relevant podcasts. Opera says it designed the browser for both veteran crypto users, as well as newbies who still need help navigating cryptocurrencies and Web3.
Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, said in a statement:
“The interest in Web3 is continuing to grow. The Opera Crypto Browser Project was built to simplify the Web3 user experience that has often been bewildering for mainstream users. Opera believes Web3 has to be easy to use in order to reach its full potential and a mass adoption.”
Opera didn’t say whether the iOS browser supports the more energy-efficient Etherium Layer 2 standard. It did launch Layer 2 support for the Android version back in February, however, which the company claims makes it the first mobile browser to have the feature.
Don’t worry, yes, there are even more Musk machinations, but first let’s broach something a little different — and possibly lifesaving. A team of MIT engineers is developing a telerobotic system for neurosurgeons. It unveiled a robotic arm that doctors can control remotely using a modified joystick to treat stroke patients.
The arm has a magnet attached to its wrist, and surgeons can adjust its orientation to guide a magnetic wire through the patient’s arteries and vessels to remove blood clots in the brain. Like in-person procedures, surgeons will have to rely on live imaging to get to the blood clot, but the machine means they don’t have to be physically with the patient.
There’s a critical time window after someone suffers a stroke to ensure the best chance of recovery. The robot could make treatment possible even if a neurosurgeon is miles away.
‘Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.’
Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion, telling the SEC in a filing that the deal would be good for free speech. “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” he wrote. If the deal goes through, Musk plans to take the company private.
It was another busy day for Musk: He held a TED talk where he said he wants Twitter’s algorithm to be open source. And hopefully the final Twitter–Musk headline for the week: The Tesla boss is no longer the biggest shareholder of Twitter. At least, for now.
Researchers have revealed a new thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell that converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency and performance nearly on par with traditional steam turbine power plants. The cells have the potential to be grid-scale “thermal batteries,” generating energy dependably with no moving parts.
That’s on top of the fees they’re paying for Amazon’s fulfillment services.
Amazon will charge US sellers using its fulfillment services a five percent fuel and inflation fee. It will add the fees on April 28th to what it already collects from third-party sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon service to store, pack and ship their goods.
It can import contacts, calendar, videos, photos and more.
Google has finally countered Apple’s Move to iOS app by releasing Switch to Android for iOS on the App Store, confirming earlier rumors. As the name indicates, it’s designed to help iPhone and iPad users import contacts, photos, calendars and video to an Android device. It also shows users how to turn off iMessage in favor of Android messaging and transfer photos/videos by connecting to iCloud. It’s a big improvement over the current system, which requires users to back up photos, video, calendar and contacts through the Google Drive iOS app.
If you’re looking for a connected speaker, the options are good. And varied. You just need to figure out what you need — and how much you want to spend. We’ve separated our guide into three price ranges, from $50 up to $450 and even higher, while touching on exactly what you need to consider.
The US is still on high alert for more cyberattacks against critical infrastructure. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Energy Department, FBI and NSA have issued a warning that hackers have developed custom malware to hijack industrial control systems. Nicknamed Incontroller by Mandiant researchers, the “very likely” state-backed code breaches controllers from Omron and Schneider Electric that are frequently used in automation, across power grids, manufacturing and other industries. Mandiant said the malware’s capabilities were “consistent” with Russia’s past efforts and its “historical interest” in compromising industrial control systems.
The Theremin is how Bob Moog got his start building instruments and eventually selling kits for customers to make their own. Which makes it kind of a big deal when the company introduces a new model. The Etherwave Theremin is based on a 1996 design from Bob Moog himself and replaces its Etherwave and Etherwave Plus. It also looks much, much cooler.
DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed a motion (PDF) asking the court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit he filed against Amazon in 2021. In the original lawsuit, Racine accused the e-commerce giant of “illegally abusing and maintaining its monopoly power by controlling prices across the online retail market.” Third-party sellers that use Amazon’s Marketplace have to abide by the company’s agreement, which includes a fair pricing policy. If they sell their goods for lower prices elsewhere, Amazon could remove their items’ buy box, suspend their shipment option and even terminate their selling privileges for “serious or repeated cases.”
The company stopped telling sellers back in 2019 in the midst of antitrust scrutiny that they couldn’t sell their products for cheaper prices elsewhere. However, the company later added back a clause under its fair pricing policy that’s nearly identical. Racine argued that since sellers price their goods with Amazon’s cut in mind, the policy artificially raises prices even on sellers’ own websites and on competing e-commerce platforms.
Amazon told us when Racine first filed the lawsuit that the Attorney General had it “exactly backwards.” The spokesperson said: “Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively. The relief the AG seeks would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law.” The Superior Court of the District of Columbia sided with Amazon and threw out Racine’s complaint back in March.
Now, the DC AG wants another chance at proving that Amazon violated antitrust laws. His office’s amended complaint includes additional details about how the company’s policy violates DC code, mostly focusing on how it “causes prices to District residents to be higher than they otherwise would be” and how it inhibits sellers from competing with Amazon’s own products.
Racine said in a statement about the motion he filed:
“We’re asking the court to reconsider its decision to dismiss our Amazon case because the antitrust laws and facts are on our side and we are determined to continue standing up for DC consumers. Amazon illegally uses its market power to prevent sellers from lowering their prices on other platforms — including their own. This results in higher prices for DC consumers.”
After 17 years, Reddit is finally making its comments searchable, it announced. Users can now get search results from replies to posts, rather than just the original posts and topics within a community. “Previously [you] would have to look through each post in the r/London community, browsing the comments to find it,” the product and design staff wrote. “Now, [you] can easily see all the different recommendations on the best places for high tea that people have shared in comments.”
Reddit
The ability to search comments was the top feature request from a survey conducted by Reddit last year. On top of that, during Reddit’s “limited initial testing,” around 26,000 people employed the feature to scan through more than five billion comments.
Reddit also improved search relevance to help users find results. Previously, a result had to match a query nearly exactly, but it’s now less restrictive. “For example, let’s say someone searches for ‘dogecoin stonks 2021,’ and doesn’t find what they’re looking for because there isn’t an exact match; with our new treatment, they’re more likely to get related results.” In fact, Reddit said that it saw a 60 percent increase in results for queries that previously didn’t receive results. Search now also prioritizes newer content looks at a users search history to prioritize results.
Finally, Reddit improved its search interface with a new, simpler design based on user feedback. It now prioritizes posts over other types of content and simplifies the results page so you can more easily find what you’re looking for. It’s also reducing the number of unexpected results based on intent “to make search safer,” it said. The new features are now available around the world on the desktop website, but there’s no word on when they’re coming to the apps.
Apple may soon release a new set of Mac computers powered by the next generation of its homegrown chip. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant has started the widespread testing of at least nine Mac models with four different M2 chips, which suggests that Apple is gearing up to launch them. While it’s not supposed to be public knowledge, Apple has been testing the machines using third-party apps from the App Store, and those applications’ developer logs give us an idea of what to expect from the company’s upcoming batch of computers.
One of the devices reportedly being tested is a MacBook Air with an M2 chip) that has eight CPU cores and 10 cores for graphics, up from eight in the current model. Previous reports suggest that the next MacBook Air will feature a major redesign, which may include a thinner frame, more ports and MagSafe charging. Apple is also apparently testing a couple of Mac minis powered by an M2 and an M2 Pro chip, as well as an entry-level M2 MacBook Pro with the same specifications as the aforementioned MacBook Air.
Apple just released its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros in October, but Gurman says the company has started testing new 14-inch and 16-inch laptops with 64GB of memory powered by M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The M2 Max apparently has 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores, up from 10 and 32 in the current models. Finally, there’s the new Mac Pro that will reportedly be powered by the M1 Ultra’s successor. The M1 Ultra, which was just recently launched, is Apple’s most robust chip yet and currently powers the Mac Studio. Gurman warns that there are no guarantees that the company will release all the models it’s currently testing. That said, he believes the new MacBook Air and Mac mini, as well as the new entry-level MacBook Pro will be released sometime this year.
