WAS

New iPhone Health app feature gives doctors easier access to data

People with smartphones and wearable devices regularly show up to the doctor’s office with readouts from apps detailing everything from their heart rate to sleep patterns. Now, with the new iOS 15 update this fall, some iPhone users will be able to send data directly from their Health app to their doctors’ electronic medical records… Read more

Apple Music’s spatial audio is sometimes amazing but mostly inconsistent

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Late on Monday night, Apple flipped the switch on two new features for its Apple Music subscription service: immersive Dolby Atmos spatial audio and lossless-quality streaming. It feels like the company is really only excited about one… Read more

Is there any way out of Clearview’s facial recognition database?

In March 2020, two months after The New York Times exposed that Clearview AI had scraped billions of images from the internet to create a facial recognition database, Thomas Smith received a dossier encompassing most of his digital life. Using the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act, Smith asked Clearview for what they had on… Read more

Fastly claims single customer responsible for widespread internet outage

The Fastly content delivery network (CDN) — a major middleman in internet traffic — took a nap for around an hour early Tuesday morning, and effectively knocked a huge number of major websites offline in the process. The company is now claiming the issue stemmed from a bug and one customer’s configuration change. “We experienced… Read more

The classic Simpsons arcade cabinet is getting rereleased thanks to Arcade1Up

The Simpsons arcade game, a classic four-player brawler that I personally spent an untold amount of quarters on growing up, is getting a rerelease in celebration of the game’s 30th anniversary thanks to Arcade1Up. In the game, which was first released by Konami in 1991, you and up to three of your friends fight waves… Read more

The pandemic might cut down e-waste but widen the digital divide

We now have evidence that staying home to game or stream and chill during the pandemic was pretty much a first-world problem (or privilege, depending on how you look at it). The proof is in a new report published today by the United Nations University and UN Institute for Training and Research that looks at… Read more

Google will stop charging search providers for chance to be Android default in Europe

Google is changing how its Android search engine choice screen works in Europe, following complaints from rivals about its pay-to-play model, the company has announced in a blog post. The selection screen appears for users when they first set up an Android device, and is designed to offer a choice of search engines after Google… Read more

HBO Max update fixes the worst of its Apple TV woes

HBO Max has updated its Apple TV app as it attempts to fix the myriad issues that have been plaguing the software since last week. The update fixes significant problems with basic features like fast-forwarding and rewinding, which had been introduced after the software switched away from using the native tvOS video player. The software… Read more

Google’s first folding Pixel is apparently still on track for a 2021 reveal

Google may have shied away from a Pixel Watch, but a Pixel Fold still very much seems to be on the way — following a leak last August that revealed the company was planning to release its first folding Pixel phone in late 2021, Korean industry site TheElec is now reporting that Samsung will begin… Read more

HBO Max has been busted for days

If you’ve attempted to stream something on HBO Max from an Apple TV sometime during the last several days, you may have noticed that its player controls are unusable. It’s not just you. Ongoing issues seem to be related to an app update that supposedly addressed “a few bugs lurking around” on June 5th. Since… Read more

Will Apple end the newsletter boom?

Today, let’s talk about one of Apple’s many announcements this week at its Worldwide Developer Conference, which some see as a possible threat to the rise of journalism distributed by email. If that sounds self-indulgent, given that it’s coming from a journalist who distributes his work via email, I apologize. But it touches on so… Read more

Senate approves billions for US semiconductor manufacturing

After months of political jockeying and procedural hurdles, the Senate approved a massive science and technology bill Tuesday to boost US competitiveness with China. The bill invests billions into emerging technology industries like artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing in the US. The bill — titled the US Innovation and Competition Act or USICA —… Read more

The IRS wants more authority to collect data on cryptocurrencies

The Internal Revenue Service asked Congress for more authority to request reporting on the transactions of cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports. The IRS hopes to use the data it collects to develop regulations for the fast-growing crypto industry — if it’s able to get the space’s biggest players to comply. The organization… Read more

Google TV just got a much cheaper streaming option for its live TV guide

Google TV, which offers one of the cleanest streaming experiences to cord-cutters, just vastly improved its live TV options — which is to say, users actually have options now. While the “Live” tab was previously limited to Google’s own pricey live TV streaming service, YouTube TV, the company has introduced a cheaper alternative with a… Read more

How to use Screen Time to keep your iPhone use within healthy limits

We all spend a lot of time on our phones, and it’s possible — just possible — that some of us spend too much time. In 2018, we ran an article explaining how to use what was then Apple’s brand-new Screen Time feature, which was built in order to help people keep their on-screen time… Read more