OpenSea’s new measures hope to crack down on fake NFTs

OpenSea is putting in place a new system to spot NFT fakes and verify accounts, in an effort to cut down on the industry’s growing fraud problem. In a couple of blog posts, the NFT marketplace detailed what changes users can expect, including opening up verification to more users, automated and human-assisted removal of so-called “copymints” or fake copies of authentic NFTs and changes to how collection badges — which identify NFT collections with high sales volume or interest — are doled out on the marketplace.

First off, OpenSea will use a two-part system to detect fakes that combine both image recognition tech and human reviewers. The company says its new system will continuously scan all NFT collections (including newly minted assets) to spot any potential fakes. Human reviewers will vet any removal recommendations.

“Our new copymint prevention system leverages computer-vision tech to scan all NFTs on OpenSea (including new mints). The system then matches these scans against a set of authentic collections, starting with some of the most copy-minted collections — we’ll look for flips, rotations & other permutations,” wrote OpenSea’s Anne Fauvre-Willis in the post. The company says it has already spotted some fakes with its copymint detection system and plans to scale up the technology in the weeks to follow.

The company has also made some updates to its verification and badging system. OpenSea will open up account verification to any creator who holds at least 100 ETH of collection volume, which currently is equivalent to roughly $205,000 USD. This essentially means sellers will have to already own a significant collection of NFTs to be verified by OpenSea. The marketplace stated that it plans to broaden the eligibility criteria for verification as it continues to learn more. NFT collections will also get a collection badge if they’ve generated more than 100 ETH in trading volume. OpenSea will also require a profile name, username, verified email address and a connected Twitter account for account verification. 

All these changes will likely create a number of obstacles for NFT scam artists. Scammers have grown increasingly sophisticated in their tactics — some going as far as to create fake Discord servers and websites or pose as actual employees of NFT companies. Verifying the real-life identity of sellers is a long-standing problem in the world of NFTs, where anonymity is a key part of the culture. NFT artists normally go by aliases instead of their real names, and the same goes for NFT buyers. Unfortunately, it’s a culture that has allowed NFT thieves and copycat artists to thrive.

Intel engineers, led by a Congressional hopeful, demand a union

Intel, which is both the biggest semiconductor company by revenue and the largest private employer in Oregon, is facing an apparent bid for unionization among its exhausted engineering workforce. In a press conference Wednesday afternoon led by current engineer and Congressional hopeful Matt West, he described the employment arrangement at Intel as being “expect it to be on call at all times.”

“For too long, my fellow engineers have worked 80+ hour weeks, transitioning at a whim between day shift and night shifts as management demanded. We are on call all of the time, to the point where you need a manager’s approval to be more than two hours away from the factory,” West said standing in front of the aforementioned factory in Hillsboro, Oregon, flanked by colleagues and local labor leaders. “If you were called at 2am on a Saturday, and you’re supposed to have off, and if you don’t answer that phone within 30 minutes, they call your manager instead. And there are consequences.” 

According to a spokesperson for West, the organizing efforts have been ongoing for over a year, but have not been public before today. The engineering unit, which covers an estimated 350+ workers, is “the biggest unionization effort Intel has ever faced,” the spokesperson wrote. 

“I once worked more than 80 hours in a week for three months straight. I only had three days off, total, in that time,” West said. “I broke down. Both my mind and my body suffered. And at that point, my doctor mandated that I take a two-week emergency medical leave to recover.” Once he returned to work he says he “was placed on formal notice for not having warned my manager in advance about my emergency medical leave.”

In addition to working long hours — longer hours than allowed by Oregon law, according to West’s office — and being asked to be available at the drop of a hat, West further accused Intel of intentionally hiring from the pool of workers who were fresh out of college or graduate school in order to have leverage over them. All this, he said, was doubly felt by those engineers who were working via H1B Visas. “They feel trapped,” West said, paraphrasing conversations he’s had with colleagues, “They say they cannot raise these issues themselves out of fear of deportation for them and their families.”

Beyond his own experiences, West read out a number of anonymous statements from his colleagues, which recounted similar issues. One claimed that on “most days I work 10 to 16 hours,” while another stated they were told to “cover a 14-hour night, shift seven nights in a row.” A third wrote that “there is no proper path to promotion for high performing engineers.” (Transparency around pay and promotions is another issue the union is organizing around.)

West called on Intel to sign a neutrality agreement (in effect, saying the company would not interfere with organizing efforts, subject workers to anti-union messaging, engage in captive audience meetings or other familiar tactics) and asked the company to voluntarily recognize the union. While it’s not clear what union the engineers intend to join — or if, like Amazon workers in Staten Island they intend to form their own from the ground up — West’s spokesperson confirmed the Intel cohort have been in touch with the Communications Workers of America. 

As mentioned, West is — outside of his job at Intel and organizing activities — on the ballot to run for the House of Representatives for Oregon’s 6th district. That election takes place less than a week from today.

Engadget has reached out to Intel for comment and will update if we hear back.

Here’s everything Google announced at I/O 2022

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Google’s annual I/O developer conference returned to the historic Shoreline Amphitheatre. In an in-person event that saw the company share details on its latest breakthroughs in AI, machine translation and more, Google also found time to outline some of the hardware it plans to release later this year. In case you missed the chance to watch the event live, here are the biggest announcements from I/O 2022.

Pixel 6a

Google may have teased its latest flagship devices at I/O, but the company’s new Pixel 6a stole the show. Available to pre-order on July 21st, the $449 device will feature the search giant’s homegrown Tensor AI chipset and a 12-megapixel camera that shipss with the latest version of Google’s Magic Eraser photo editing tool. The company also promised to support the Pixel 6a with five years of security updates.

Pixel 7

While the Pixel 7 features a similar design to last year's phone, it's getting a new chassis made from recycled aluminum along with a refreshed camera system.
Google

Google only shared a brief glimpse of its latest flagship smartphones at I/O, but we did get to see the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro ahead of their formal debut later this year. The company said both devices would feature its next-generation Tensor chip, and come with a refined design made from recycled aluminum. There’s no word on pricing or availability yet. Expect Google to share those details this fall.

Pixel Watch

After months of leaks, Google finally confirmed the Pixel Watch is real. Arriving this fall, the wearable features a nearly bezel-less watch face flanked by a “tactile crown.” It runs Wear OS 3 and includes deep integration with Fitbit software for its health and fitness-tracking features. The Pixel Watch will be available later this year, arriving alongside the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Google promised to share more details about the wearable in the days and weeks leading up to that point.

Separately, Google said companies like Samsung, Fossil and Montblanc would release new Wear OS devices later this year as well.

Pixel Buds Pro

Pixel Buds Pro
Google

While you might have to wait a while to get your hands on the Pixel 7 and Pixel Watch, the new $199 Pixel Buds Pro are coming much sooner. Set to arrive on July 28th, with pre-orders opening on July 21st, key features include support for multipoint connectivity, IPX4-certified waterproofing and active noise cancelation. They’ll also support spatial audio when paired with a compatible Pixel phone.

Android 13

With the introduction of Google’s new Material You design language, customization was a big part of the appeal of Android 12. The latest version of Google’s mobile operating system will double down on that focus with new features that allow you to personalize your device even more. For instance, one new tool will allow you to set a different default language for all the disparate apps on your phone. Another new feature lets you color match more of the icons on your home screen, not just ones from Google.

Android 13 will also feature a new Wallet app with the option to store your personal government-issued ID on your phone. Safety and security were another focus for Google, with the company noting that Android 13 will protect your privacy by automatically deleting your clipboard history.

And after years of neglect, Google is about to furnish Android with some tablet-specific functionality. Android 13 will introduce new multitasking capabilities on large screen devices, including an updated taskbar and split view. Additionally, the company said it would update many of its first-party apps to take advantage of the new tablet features it plans to introduce with Android 13.

Beyond a renewed software focus, Google is also developing new tablet hardware. We got a brief glimpse of the Pixel Tablet, which the company plans to release sometime in 2023. As with many of the other devices Google showed off today, we didn’t get many details on the Pixel Tablet. But what we do know is that it looks similar to a Nest Hub. It will also run on of the company’s custom Tensor chips.

Lastly, if you want to try Android 13, Beta 2 is available to download today.

New AR glasses

Google Lens
Google

Just when you thought the keynote was over, Google had one more piece of news to share. The company revealed it was working on a new pair of augmented reality smartglasses designed to “break down communication barriers.” The early prototype Google demoed could transcribe spoken language, providing real-time captions for the wearer. Google didn’t share the name of the prototype device, nor did it say when it might release it to consumers.

Everything else

Google Translate
Google

It wouldn’t be I/O without Google sharing news on its latest AI and machine learning breakthroughs, and 2022 was no exception. The company had a lot to share on that front, but highlights include enhancements to Translate (which now supports 24 additional languages) and a new “AI Test Kitchen” app that offers a demo of the company’s LaMDA 2 learning model.

The company also announced new feature updates for Workspace, YouTube and Lens. One of the most interesting allows you to check out a new “Immersive View” in Maps for exploring popular tourist destinations.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

‘Mini Motorways’ suddenly arrives on Nintendo Switch

Nintendo held its latest Indie World stream today and, as is often the case at these events, a few games that were shown off suddenly popped up in the Switch eShop. One of those is Mini Motorways, a puzzle strategy game that debuted on Apple Arcade in 2019 before making its way to PC last year. Dinosaur Polo Club’s follow up to Mini Metro (which is also available on Switch) is making its console debut.

The core idea is that you’ll build out roads to keep traffic flowing in a growing city. Things will naturally get more complicated as demand grows. You’ll also be able to compete against other players in daily and weekly challenges. The Switch version of Mini Motorways costs $14.99.

Three other indie games landed on Switch today: Soundfall, OPUS: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition and Gibbon: Beyond the Trees. Soundfall is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler with dynamically generated levels that are based on the music you select. There are more than 140 tracks to choose from and there’s support for local and online multiplayer. OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a visual novel-style puzzle game, while Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a slick-looking 2D platformer.

It was also revealed that We Are OFK is coming to Switch this year, as are Cult of the Lamb, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator,Ooblets and ElecHead. One of the other games that caught my eye in the showcase was Gunbrella from Doinksoft and Devolver Digital (which recently released the terrific Trek to Yomi). It’s a “noir-punk adventure” in which you wield a gun that’s also an umbrella. However, you play as a woodsman who’s seeking revenge rather than a Batman villain. 

Another game that looked intriguing was Another Crab’s Treasure from Aggro Crab. It’s a soulslike (meaning it takes inspiration from FromSoftware titles such as Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls) that takes place in an undersea world. You play as a hermit crab who has to use trash as makeshift shells to protect yourself from enemies. Like Gunbrella, this one should land on Switch in 2023.

The Indie World stream shone a spotlight on several other titles, such as Wildfrost and Wayward Strand, but there was sadly no sign of Hollow Knight: Silksong. You can check out the showcase in full below.

Redbox’s new owner is the company that saved Sony’s Crackle

Redbox has tried to keep itself relevant over the years with on-demand streaming video and free live TV, but it’s still best-known as the company pushing movie disc rentals at kiosks. It might soon have a better shot at shaking that reputation, however. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the company that rebooted Sony’s Crackle service, is acquiring Redbox in an all-stock deal. The move will help Chicken Soup build an ad-supported streaming service for “value-conscious customers” and “accelerate” Redbox’s shift from physical to digital.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Chicken Soup will own a 76.5 percent stake, while Redbox will own the rest. There weren’t mentions of leadership changes, but Chicken Soup won’t change its name as part of the purchase.

It may seem unusual to buy a company best known for supporting shrinking video formats. Chicken Soup stands to gain a lot, though. The new owner will have access to tens of millions of potential customers, including 40 million Redbox Perks members —even if only a fraction embrace streaming, that’s still a large potential audience. Although we wouldn’t expect it to challenge heavyweights like Amazon or Netflix, it might help Redbox and Chicken Soup compete with free-to-watch alternatives like Tubi or The Roku Channel.