Monday’s top tech news: the beginning of the end for Windows 10 – The Verge

iOS 16.3 is now available with a big focus on security

2023-01-24T14:03:29-05:00

Apple has released iOS 16.3, which adds the ability to use a security key to lock down your Apple ID and appears to bring the company's Advanced Data Protection for iCloud feature to countries outside of the US. It also tweaks the Emergency SOS call system, includes a new "Unity" wallpaper, and adds new features for the existing HomePod Mini (as well as support for the second-gen HomePod).

Last year, Apple announced the hardware key feature, which lets you use something like a Yubikey as a second factor to log in to your Apple account, as part of a push to help people lock down their iCloud accounts. Also included in that announcement was A …

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Harley Quinn wants you to get yours this Valentine’s Day

2023-01-23T17:52:25-05:00

Unlike the oral sex-averse Gothamites of DC's mainline comic books, the animated deviants over on HBO Max's Harley Quinn series will go down in history as being some of the horniest takes on characters like Batman, Kite Man (hell yeah), and Poison Ivy. Usually, the show's found really thoughtful ways to dig into the sex lives of its heroes and villains while revealing interesting things about them. But from the looks of Harley Quinn's upcoming Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special, it seems like everyone's going to be getting it on for the most comic book-y reason possible: superpowers gone haywire.

By the end of Harley Quinn's third sea …

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Lightyear has stopped production on its solar-powered EV after three months

2023-01-23T17:51:30-05:00

One of the first Lightyear 0s being made. | Image: Lightyear

Electric vehicle company Lightyear has announced that it's halting production on the Lightyear 0, its €250,000 (around $270,000 USD) solar-powered car that the company started making just three months ago (via Electrek). The setback is part of a "strategic restructuring," according to a Monday blog post, and the company will instead focus on making the Lightyear 2, a car that it says will cost under $40,000 and go into production in late 2025.

The company says it didn't take the decision lightly, given that it'll impact its employees, as well as "investors, clients, suppliers and the government." It'll also presumably have an impact on Valm …

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Two new Wyze cameras appear to be in the works

2023-01-23T17:22:40-05:00

Technologist Dave Zatz has discovered some clues about new Wyze security cameras. | Image: Zatznotfunny.com

Wyze already announced three new cameras this month, but it looks like the company has even more up its sleeves. Tech blogger Dave Zatz dug up information on two not-yet-announced cameras: a new Wyze outdoor cam and an updated Wyze Cam Floodlight.

The Wyze Cam Outdoor Pro (or possibly Wyze Battery Cam Pro) looks to be an upgrade of the Wyze Cam Outdoor v2, adding 2K video resolution. The new Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro also appears to be getting a 2K resolution bump over the original 1080p model, in keeping with Wyze's new line of Pro cameras, as well as possibly more flood lighting.

Zatz says his info comes from details hidden in the Wyze And …

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The big banks that brought you Zelle are building a new digital wallet

2023-01-23T15:46:32-05:00

Banks are working to add another option for online shoppers. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Several of America's biggest banks, including the likes of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, are joining forces to launch their own digital payment wallet that can be used for online shopping, according to The Wall Street Journal. The planned new wallet is a response to increased consumer usage of digital payments - particularly Apple Pay, PayPal, and ones from other tech companies, including Google Pay and Amazon Pay.

The currently nameless wallet will be handled by Early Warning Services (EWS), the company behind the direct money transfer service Zelle - though the two products will reportedly not intersect. EWS is a bank-owned joint ve …

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The Razer Kishi V2 is now compatible with touchscreen-only games

2023-01-23T15:17:11-05:00

The latest firmware update for the Razer Kishi V2 makes the controller more versatile. | Image: Razer

Thanks to a recent firmware update to Razer's Kishi V2 mobile gaming controller and the Razer Nexus app, the controller can now support games that were previously touchscreen-only on Android. There is currently no firm launch window for a similar rollout for iOS devices, but the Virtual Controller Mode is slated to come to Razer's Edge tablet controller sometime in Q1 2023.

This new feature is accessible through Razer's free Nexus app, which in addition to now letting you remap controller inputs to touchscreen controls, provides a centralized hub to launch games and stream them on Facebook Live or YouTube. Nexus may not be quite as capable …

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Supreme Court puts off showdown over internet moderation bans in Texas and Florida

2023-01-23T15:09:30-05:00

The Supreme Court has asked the US solicitor general to submit briefs in a set of lawsuits over internet moderation in Texas and Florida, making the court likely to take one or both of the cases with a delay. As noted by CNN reporter Brian Fung this morning, the court solicited the briefs in a Monday morning list of orders, inviting President Joe Biden's Department of Justice to formulate an official position on internet speech.

The orders cover lawsuits by trade organization NetChoice against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody as well as a counterclaim by Moody against NetChoice. Both states passed …

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Fortnite on iOS is about to become even more limited

2023-01-23T12:54:00-05:00

Fortnite is getting some changes on iOS. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Fortnite on iOS is about to become an even more limited experience. The game was removed from the iOS and Mac app stores and Google Play in August 2020 due to Epic Games' legal spats with Apple and Google, meaning those versions of Fortnite have missed out on many updates to and even entire seasons of the constantly refreshed battle royale hit. But starting January 30th, players who got Fortnite from those platforms won't be able to spend V-Bucks to buy in-game items and will have to be older than 18 years of age to play, Epic said in a tweet from its Fortnite status Twitter account on Monday.

Technically, if you got Fortnite from those pla …

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Dbrand Nintendoes what Valve Nintenwon’t

2023-01-23T12:45:00-05:00

It looks exactly like this, says Dbrand, “blurred mosaic” logo and all. | Image: Dbrand

I imagine you have questions.

In no particular order:

Yes, that's a Steam Deck done up to look like a Nintendo Switch.
Yes, Dbrand is shitposting again! Also yes, you can actually buy it.
It's a skin. Peel and apply. The red, blue, and black regions are all one big sticker. There's another sticker for the front, and two squares for the trackpads.
No, we didn't blur the Nintendo Switch logo. Dbrand did. What you see is what you get.
"Lawyers we paid to say 'it's legal' said it's legal," Dbrand spox Danny tells us.
That didn't stop Sony. It might not stop the infamously litigious Nintendo, either.
It costs 50 freaking dollars, the same price Db …

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Messenger’s encrypted chats get themes, emoji reactions, and more

2023-01-23T11:43:59-05:00

Meta's bringing Messenger's core customization features to end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) chats on the platform. That means encrypted chats can now incorporate themes, custom emoji, reactions, group profile photos, and a whole lot more.

Messenger's E2EE chats hide your online conversations from third parties, including Facebook itself. It also makes it more difficult for law enforcement and hackers to access the messages you're sending and receiving. WhatsApp already has E2EE by default, and Instagram lets people switch on E2EE for individual conversations.

Previously, Meta didn't offer any way to customize encrypted chats. As soon as you swi …

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