Hasta La Gadget!

Today, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed a new bill, called the Protect Reporters from Excessive State Suppression (PRESS) Act, that would protect journalists’ data records from being seized by the government. This comes several months after the Justice Department admitted that it acquired phone and email records from reporters at The Washington Post, CNN and the New York Times in order to identify sources.

Wyden said in a statement that there needed to be rules “protecting reporters from government surveillance” and that it should be “written into black-letter law.” He said: “The Trump administration spied on reporters it suspected of no crimes in its hunt to identify their sources and prevent the American people from learning the truth about Trump’s lawlessness and corruption.”

Even though Biden’s DOJ had initially defended the use of subpoenas, the president soon said it was wrong, putting a stop to the practice. Attorney General Merrick Garland had also requested new rules be put in place around cases involving reporters. He also met with executives from the aforementioned three news organizations to discuss the situation.

While most states have some form of shield law for reporters, the federal government does not. One of the problems with prior attempts at this legislation had to do with how a journalist is defined plus what kind of activities should be protected. A federal law, for example, would have to figure out how to safeguard journalist’s privacy while also protecting national security interests. 

Wyden’s bill proposes that journalists be shielded from court-ordered disclosures of sources, but allows for exceptions if the information would prevent terrorism, identify terrorists, or if it would prevent violence or death.

If you recently bought a Windows laptop, there’s a good chance it may include a high refresh rate display. As far as recent computer advances go, it’s one of the more noticeable upgrades you can get since they help make every interaction, including scrolling, look and feel significantly smoother. But turning up the refresh rate on your laptop’s display is also a major battery drain. You can get the best of both worlds by manually switching between different refresh rates, but that’s time-consuming to do and so Microsoft is introducing a new feature called Dynamic refresh rate (DRR) with the first Windows 11 Insider preview

As the name suggests, DRR will lower your laptop’s refresh rate to 60Hz when you’re doing things like writing emails and documents and then increase it to 120Hz when inking and scrolling so that those interactions feel more instantaneous. As of today, support for the feature is mainly limited to a handful of apps from Microsoft and Adobe. For instance, your computer’s refresh rate will increase to a faster refresh rate when you’re inking and scrolling in Office. However, Microsoft says more apps will support the feature over time. One thing to note is DDR won’t turn on while you’re playing a game, so no need to worry about putting you at a disadvantage in a competitve multiplayer match.

To try out DRR, you’ll need a laptop that features a display with support for a variable refresh rate of at least 120Hz. You’ll also need a graphics driver that supports the feature. As such, even if you have a laptop that meets the above requirements, you may not be able to enable DRR after installing the first Windows 11 Insider build. That’s something Microsoft says it’s working with manufacturers to address. But if your laptop has the necessary driver support, you’ll find the option to turn on DRR in the Systems menu. 

A federal judge has dismissed the FTC’s initial antitrust complaint against Facebook, saying it was “legally insufficient.” While it’s an early win for Facebook, the FTC’s antitrust case against the company isn’t necessarily over. The judge noted that the FTC can file an amended complaint in the next 30 days.

But Judge James Boasberg said that the FTC would need to provide more evidence to back up its claims that Facebook is a monopoly. “The FTC has failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish a necessary element of all of its Section 2 claims — namely, that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for Personal Social Networking (PSN) Services,” Boasberg wrote. “The Complaint contains nothing on that score save the naked allegation that the company has had and still has a ‘dominant share of th[at] market (in excess of 60%).’”

Separately, Judge Boasberg also dismissed the antitrust lawsuit against Facebook filed by attorneys general from 48 states and territories. The suits, which were announced alongside the FTC’s, said Facebook had illegally stifled competition. But the judge wrote that too much time had passed for the case to move forward.

The FTC and the states had filed antitrust charges against the company in December, saying the company had engaged in anti-competitive behavior in acquiring competitors like WhatsApp and Instagram in an effort to neutralize companies it saw as a threat. The cases also cited Facebook’s dealings with competitors like Snapchat and Vine.

The dismissals are a notable victory for Facebook, which had argued that neither the states or the FTC had a credible antitrust case. The social network had accused the FTC of seeking a “do-over” for acquisitions it had previously approved. In response to the FTC suit, the judge noted the agency “is on firmer ground in scrutinizing the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.”

It’s not yet clear how the FTC will respond, but it’s hardly the end of Facebook’s antitrust woes. Congress recently introduced v, including one that would target major acquisitions like Facebook’s deals for WhatsApp and Instagram. The company is also facing antitrust investigations by regulators in the UK and European Union.

Update 6/28 4:55pm ET: In a statement, Facebook said it was “pleased” with the judge’s decisions. “We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook. We compete fairly every day to earn people’s time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services.” 

Following a beta test that started in mid-April, Microsoft has rolled out its Xbox Cloud Gaming service to all Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on iOS and PC. With today’s announcement, you can visit the xCloud website and start playing some of the games included in the Game Pass library through your browser. On PC, the service supports Edge and Chrome, while on iOS it’s accessible through Safari. What’s more, you can use a controller over Bluetooth or USB to play the included games.

Microsoft also shared that it’s now using custom Xbox Series X hardware to power the xCloud experience. For those with a fast enough internet connection, the new hardware will allow you to steam games at 1080p and up to 60 frames per second. At the same time, Microsoft is expanding its Designed for Xbox to include two iOS controllers: the Backbone One and Razer Kishi. With the new badge, both controllers will come with a complimentary three-month trial of Game Pass Ultimate for those who haven’t tried the service before.

Getting to the point where xCloud is available on iOS devices has been something of a journey for Microsoft. Citing its App Store policies, Apple initially said it wouldn’t allow game streaming apps on its devices, but then later carved out an exception to allow those apps to work through a browser.