Beeper continues to grapple with Apple over its attempt to offer an iMessage-compatible app for Android devices. Now, the CBS morning news show reports that a bipartisan group of senators wrote a letter urging the DOJ to investigate Apple’s possible anticompetitive behavior, with plans to air an interview with Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky and the app’s teenage developer, James Gill.
Netflix’s The One Piece will be a “fresh new remake” anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s manga. It’s separate from the impressive live action series and the existing anime that’s already 20 seasons deep, with “cutting-edge visual technology to reimagine Luffy’s adventures through the beloved East Blue saga.”
There’s no release date, but it’s produced by Wit Studio, which is behind AOT and Spy x Family. An adaptation of another Oda manga, Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation, will premiere on Netflix in January.
There’s no evidence that Cox Media Group Local Solutions has “future-forward” Active Listening AI technology to target personalized ads at anyone in a specific region who says key phrases, but 404 Media reports that the company claims it does anyway.
On several pages apparently written by Justin “The Wolverine” Wenokur, the company claims, “It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you and for third parties to collect that data.” Is it, though?
Crypto wallet company Ledger’s Connect Kit software was compromised to insert a wallet drainer. Ledger’s CEO blamed a phishing attack on an ex-employee without explaining how their account still had access.
Even though the Solana Saga crypto phone flopped, selling only 2,500 units, it suddenly sold out in the US on Thursday. The Block reports each phone comes with 30 million “bonk” tokens. Their price has spiked to $0.000028 each, which adds up to more than the phone’s $599 price — assuming you can get the phone and sell them in time.
And Web3 is Going Just Great points out that a blockchain-linked online chess platform, The Immortal Game, has dropped NFT and play-to-earn features after finding out “that by offering large amounts of cash with no limit barrier to entry, we encouraged heavy cheating on the platform and degraded the user experience for our legitimate player base.”
1Password has promised support for securing its password manager with only passwordless passkey authentication all year, and now the private beta is going public, with the option to create a recovery code for emergency access.
Passkeys tie account access to your device’s security or a hardware key instead of a vulnerable password, with support from Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Nintendo, and even vaults like 1Password. The only thing you can’t do, however, is switch over existing 1Password accounts — that will come next year.
Reuters reports GM-backed robotaxi startup Cruise told employees:
Following an initial analysis of the October 2 incident and Cruise’s response to it, nine individuals departed Cruise... we believe that new leadership is necessary to achieve these goals.
CEO Kyle Vogt already resigned, and now we know COO Gil West, policy officer Jeff Bleich and government affairs SVP David Estrada are also out.
Cruise was “days away” from green lighting robotaxis without a steering wheel in September. But after one of its cars struck and then dragged a woman in October, things have gone downhill. Now the industry wants help from Pete Buttigieg.
We’re just weeks away from a new year (no, really, I checked), but before the calendar flips over, the MCU will deliver a new season of its animated What If...? series on Disney Plus.
They reworked the 12 Days of Christmas carol as a reminder it’s on the way, just in case anyone forgot.
ByteDance reportedly scrapped it after sales of last year’s Pico 4 “fell far short of ByteDance’s expectations,” according to a report by The Information. The last headset still hasn’t launched in the US, as political heat has stayed on ByteDance and its other well-known project, TikTok.
However, the report also claims Pico engineers are working on a long-term “Swan” concept to develop a high-end headset inspired by Apple’s Vision Pro.
