A snazzy new trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming adaptation of Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic The Wheel of Time is here, and it gives us our best look yet at the magical world inhabited by forces both good—like Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine—and evil, led by the aptly named Dark One.
The Brazilian Senate committee that produced a draft report accusing fascist gut flora gravy-boat President Jair Bolsonaro of 11 crimes against humanity including mass homicide, genocide, and charlatanism crimes in his handling of the covid-19 pandemic has voted to recommend charges.
Despite what the company’s stock prices might tell you, Facebook is a company with an image problem. At best, critics warily regard Facebook as a company that ruthlessly strips users for their data so it can curbstomp competitors in increasingly hostile ways. At worst, people call the company a threat to democracy…
No matter who Nintendo and Universal announced as the voice of Mario for their upcoming animated movie based on the video game franchise, people were certain to have rather strong feelings if the role didn’t go to Charles Martinet, the actor who’s been lending his voice to the character for 30 years.
Intel has officially announced details on its much-anticipated 12th-gen Alder Lake processors, including pricing and performance details for three new chips.
“It’s a journey,” the Botswanan track star captioned a video that shows him working out with his training buddy.
Pixar’s prequel film “Lightyear” explores the origins behind the hero who inspired the “Toy Story” action figure.
As expected, today Intel officially revealed the first CPUs in the 12th-gen Core lineup. In all, there were six CPUs announced today, but it seems those are just the tip of the iceberg, as Intel says the entire 12th-gen lineup will eventually comprise more than 60 CPUs (many likely destined for pre-built machines from Intel’s manufacturing partners). Even though there’s … Continue reading
Amazon’s first in-house TVs may be showcases for Alexa, but that isn’t precluding the company from supporting someone else’s ecosystem. According to The Verge, Amazon has unveiled plans to add support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to both higher-end Omni and budget 4-series Fire TV sets now that they’re available. You can use AirPlay 2 to cast content from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, but the HomeKit integration may be the most notable — yes, you can use Siri to control an Amazon TV as part of your wider smart home network. Amazon would only say the support was coming “soon.”
The TVs themselves start at $370 for the 4-series, which provide the usual Fire TV integrations along with 4K and HDR support in sizes ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. Omni sets, meanwhile, deliver Alexa-friendly far-field microphones and (on the two largest models) Dolby Vision HDR. They start at $410 and range from 43 inches to 75 inches.
The expansion isn’t a complete shock. Insignia- and Toshiba-made Fire TV Edition sets received AirPlay and HomeKit support in July. We’d add that Apple and Amazon are relatively cozy. Amazon Echo speakers have streamed Apple Music since 2018, for instance, while Prime Video integrates with the Apple TV app. Amazon has a strong incentive to include AirPlay and HomeKit, if just to fend off competition from Android TV and sets that rely on Google Assistant.
As The Verge observed, though, there’s no mention of either Apple platform coming to add-on media players like the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. For now, you’ll have to buy hardware like the Apple TV or modern Roku devices to bring AirPlay and HomeKit to TVs where they aren’t built-in.
The right to repair movement just got a big boost from the US Copyright Office. Responding to proposals from a variety of organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and iFixit, the office on Wednesday recommended new exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as it relates to the repair of consumer electronics. The statute prohibits the circumvention of software copy protection and has been the target of right to repair advocates for years.
As reported by The Verge, the Copyright Office recommends additional protections for many consumer-facing devices that rely on software to function. As one example, it adopts a recommendation from Public Knowledge and iFixit that involves video game consoles. It says “the repair of software-enabled consumer devices is likely to be fair use, the Register finds that certain video game console repair is also likely fair use.”
It notes consumers can access the firmware on their systems as long as it’s with the intention of fixing the device’s optical drive and they restore any protective measures afterward. The rulemaking stops short of protecting non-consumer devices. However, the Library of Congress has signed off on the recommendations, paving the way for them to go into effect on October 28th. In a statement to Engadget, the EFF applauded the decision but said Congress needs to modify Section 1201.
The new rules enacted by the Librarian of Congress represent a victory for security research, accessibility, education, preservation, and repair. While the exemptions do continue to contain unnecessary and harmful limitations, we’re pleased with the additional freedom to operate that the Librarian granted in this rulemaking. The largest disappointment, however, is that the agency failed to protect the public’s ability to make non-infringing modifications of device software as we requested. This kind of user innovation has been a profoundly important driver of advances in technology and lets communities who are not served by a technology’s default functions to customize them to their own needs. We are also mindful that the rulemaking process is inherently limited: while the Librarian can authorize people to engage in circumvention, they cannot create exemptions to the part of the law (Section 1201(a)(2)) that prohibits the dissemination of the technology needed to achieve circumvention. Congress needs to remove that restriction in order to give these legal rights to circumvent their full practical effect.
The decision is likely to complement the efforts of the Biden administration on the same front. At the start of July, the president ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules to empower consumers and businesses to repair their devices on their own and at independent shops. The executive order marked the first time a US president had ever weighed in on the right to repair movement. Later that same month, the FTC complied with the directive, voting unanimously to tackle unlawful repair restrictions. At the time, it said it would work with law enforcement and policymakers to update existing regulations to protect small businesses and companies that would prevent them from fixing their own products.
We’ve reached out to iFixit for comment.
Update 1:50PM ET: Added comment from the Electronic Frontier Frontier Foundation.
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