Tech

Remember when it was cheap and easy for me to buy DJI’s banned camera? The FCC is currently taking comments on a plan to ban online marketplaces from listing gadgets like that. Platforms would need to validate each device’s FCC status before they list it for sale. Etsy wants its “micro-entrepreneurs” to be exempt.

As reported by CoinDesk, the memecoin peaked at $190.81 two minutes after it debuted on Wednesday. Its value tumbled quickly after that, with LAPTOP now sitting at around $2.16 — a more than 98 percent drop.

The terms of the contract apply to nearly 1,900 workers across Blizzard, including teams that work on World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, quality assurance, and more. The contract comes after two years of bargaining and includes new protections that give workers the opportunity to be “recalled” into open positions within 14 months after a layoff.

It’s hard to see exactly what’s in the teaser — which is John Ternus’s first since taking over as Apple CEO — but it looks a bit like a camera lens. We won’t have to wait much longer to find out, as Apple’s launch event kicks off at 1PM ET today.

If you’re a fan of Matt Dinniman’s book series and happen to have $12,350 burning a hole in your pocket, Multimorphic worked with artist Luciano Fleitas and the audiobooks’ narrator, Jeff Hays, to create this detailed Carl-themed pinball machine packed full of references including Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk.

007 First Light is getting a major visual overhaul next week, thanks to path tracing and DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction. Nvidia is releasing a new Game Ready driver (616.92) today that’s fully optimized for the First Light update, as well as adding support for PUBG’s DLSS Super Resolution update. The driver is also Game Ready for Active Matter, Aniimo, and Wardogs.

Huawei says it didn’t send it, but an agency claiming to represent the company has been contacting tech influencers, offering to pay them to promote Huawei’s new Mate XT 2 foldable around the iPhone Duo launch, and disguise the posts to look like an organic, grassroots groundswell of enthusiasm.

The company has never been shy about its Apple-inspired designs, though this one feels a little more Honor’s own with the large circular camera incorporated too. The Magic 9 phones launch in China on September 28th, and feature cameras designed with Arri, support for two different teleconverter lenses, and this soft green color, which I do rather like.

First announced at I/O in May, Daily Brief is an AI feature that generates a summary of your day with the emails, meetings, and other information pulled from apps connected to Gemini. It was previously only available to Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers.

It currently has a page on its website for “iPhone Ultra” cases, skins, and screen protectors. Preorder notices say they’ll ship in September and “early October.” Dbrand’s also offering accessories for the unannounced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. We’ll see if Apple’s rumored foldable fits the case on Wednesday.

With the launch of Meta’s new AI agent that it says can handle your life for you, the social network exec posted this video highlighting how secure, private, and trustworthy Muse is, and that it will get even more secure in the future. Trust.

It’s not too surprising that most of Apple’s wristwear is now listed as unavailable on its website for shipment or pickup (but not all — we did see some Ultra models available), with a product event scheduled for tomorrow, but MacRumors points out that the value-priced version of the Apple Watch is unavailable too.

It was briefly shown during Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct today, but Hori’s website now has a listing for its $49.99 electronic ocarina. You can play your own songs by pushing buttons, play one of 12 pre-programmed songs from the games, use it with the Ocarina of Time remake’s sound recognition feature, or connect headphones for a private jam session.

Dom says it’s quick and easy to snap a propeller backback onto the HoverAir Versa, and then… it can fly! Shame that HoverAir isn’t transparently telling backers that this camera has been banned in the US, and shame on the Trump administration for creating the dumb drone ban to begin with.

The buzz at IFA was all around robotics — humanoids, quadrupeds, and wheeled bots designed to be household helpers and companions. I was on a panel (watch it here) where roboticists and entrepreneurs insisted that in five years everyone will know someone with a humanoid at home.

Crooked Ideas, the nonprofit arm of Crooked Media, is tapping Chaotic Era author Kyle Tharp to head up the iniative, which will support existing political influencers and focus on creating content related to issues like AI safety, climate change, healthcare, and “enshittification,” according to a report from Semafor.

As previously announced, Google has halved the release cycle for its web browser with today’s stable release of Chrome 153 on desktop, Android, and iOS. Chrome 154 Beta is now ready for testing, ahead of its stable release on September 22nd.

The project’s developers say they now have “almost everything” running in Linux on M3 devices, but they’re still working on full DCP and GPU support. Asahi warned users not to expect “performant or power-efficient 3D acceleration right now.” Sleep mode and the HDMI port are also not working yet.

The acquisition happened earlier this year. Sonera claimed in 2023 that it will make “brain activity as easy to measure as heart rate, temperature, and other physiological signals,” which could lend itself to future wearable devices.