Not only is Trump taking money in controversial Saudi “sport washing” event, now he’s using the presidential seal which gives the impression of U.S. support.
Snap has set up a new grant program to pay indie musicians behind popular songs on Snapchat. It created the Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund to “recognize emerging, independent artists for the critical role they play in driving video creations, inspiring internet trends and defining cultural moments,” according to a blog post.
Starting in August, the fund will give artists who distribute music on Snapchat Sounds via DistroKid up to $100,000 in total each month. For now, the program is limited to 20 songs each month. The artists behind each of the songs Snapchat selects will receive $5,000. “We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat,” said Snap’s global head of music partnerships Ted Suh said.
Artists need to be at least 18 years old to be eligible (or 16 if they have written consent from a parent or guardian). Snap says artists can’t apply for a grant and it will decide recipients at its own discretion.
Snapchat started letting users attach music to snaps through the Sounds feature in October 2020. Creators have made more than 2.7 billion videos with music from Sounds and have accrued more than 183 billion views in total. The Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund seems like a reasonable way to reward musicians whose work has become a viral hit on the platform or helped creators to express themselves.
Local politicians including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller mixed with “Breaking Bad” stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and director Vince Gilligan to help unveil the artwork.
Twitter now has an exact start date for its trial against Elon Musk over his attempt to withdraw from his $44 billion purchase offer. The Vergenotes Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick has scheduled the lawsuit’s trial for October 17th. The courtroom showdown will last the promised five days, wrapping up on October 21st.
The timing represents a slight compromise. Twitter had pressed for a four-day trial starting in September. The social media firm’s shareholder vote on the takeover is slated for September 13th. Musk’s attorneys wanted to push the trial to February 2023, arguing that they needed more time to collect and interpret data on Twitter’s volume of fake accounts and bots.
The move ultimately favors Twitter. It only has to wait a few months for a ruling. If Musk’s team isn’t finished combing through data by October, the company may also strengthen its argument that the Tesla chief rushed his offer and doesn’t have enough information to level accusations of deceit. That, in turn, may let Twitter either force completion of the deal or demand compensation for a broken agreement.
We saw a number of gadgets go on sale this week as July comes to a close. Both Amazon’s Echo smart speaker and the Echo Show 5 have been discounted, with the Echo now down to the same price as it was on Prime Day earlier this month. The Apple TV 4K is nearly $50 off and down to $130, and you can save $300 on the 16-inch MacBook Pro as well. DJI’s Action 2 combo pack remains on sale for $279, and if you’re on the market for a new smartphone, Amazon will give you a free $50 gift card when you buy the new Google Pixel 6a. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Amazon’s full-sized Echo speaker is down to $60, which is a return to its Prime Day price. We gave it a score of 89 for its solid audio quality, handy Alexa capabilities and its built-in Zigbee smart home hub.
The Echo Show 5 smart display is on sale for $40 right now, or only $5 more than it was on Prime Day last week. We gave the device a score of 87 for is compact, minimalist design, good audio quality and tap-to-snooze feature.
Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon – $40
The Apple TV 4K is back in stock at Amazon and on sale for $130. While not quite as cheap as it was on Prime Day last week ($109), this remains one of the best prices we’ve seen no our favorite high-end set-top box. We gave the device a score of 90 for its fast performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, HomeKit integration and much-improved Siri remote.
Buy Apple TV 4K at Amazon – $130
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is down to $2,199, or $300 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 92 for its powerful performance, lovely Liquid Retina XDR displays and new bevy of ports.
buy 16-inch MacBook Pro at Amazon – $2,199
Amazon includes a free Blink Mini camera when you buy a Blink Outdoor kit, so you’ll save $35 in total on the bundle. Blink cameras are a relatively affordable way to outfit your home with security cameras — all of them record 1080p video and support two-way audio and motion alerts. The Outdoor cameras are wireless and weather-resistant, while the Blink Mini is a smaller, wired camera that’s designed to fit into tight spaces inside your home.
Buy Blink Outdoor + Blink Mini at Amazon – $100
A bundle that includes the Echo Show 15 smart display and the Echo Show 5 is on sale for $250, which essentially means you’re getting the Show 5 for free. The Show 15 is the most unique of Amazon’s smart displays as it’s a large TV-like device that you can mount on the wall and that will show you things like calendar events, reminders, shopping lists and more. It also lets you video chat and watch shows and movies from services like Netflix, Prime Video and others. The Echo Show 5 is one of our favorite smaller smart displays thanks to its compact design, decent audio quality and useful tap-to-snooze feature.
Buy Echo Show 15 bundle at Amazon – $250
DJI’s Action 2 Power Combo bundle is still 33 percent off and down to $279. The pack includes the Action 2 camera, a magnetic protective case and a battery module. DJI introduced the Action 2 last year as a total redesign of its Osmo Action cams, and it has a super compact design along with a 12-megapixel sensor that can capture 4K video at up to 120fps.
Buy DJI Action 2 bundle at Amazon – $279
Google’s newest smartphone, the Pixel 6a, comes with a free $50 Amazon gift card when you order the handset through the online retailer. From now through August 7, you’ll get the gift card at no extra cost — just click the “Add both to cart” option under the “Special offers and product promotions” section that’s underneath the phone’s description. We gave the Pixel 6a a score of 89 for its attractive design, great cameras and long battery life.
Buy Pixel 6a + gift card at Amazon – $449
The 6-quart Instant Pot Vortex Plus air fryer is still 38 percent off and down to only $99. This is a slightly older version of one of our favorite air fryers, and we like that it has six different cook modes including air fry, broil and dehydrate, and that it has a clear window on its drawer that lets you check out your food while it’s cooking.
Buy Instant Pot Vortex Plus at Amazon – $99
Logitech’s Litra Glow soft light for streaming is on sale for $50 right now, or $10 off its normal price. Unveiled earlier this year, the Litra Glow is produces light that’s designed to be easy on the eyes so you can keep it on for multi-hour streams. It comes with five different brightness and color temperature presets, but you can also create your own using Logitech’s G Hub software.
Buy Litra Glow at Amazon – $50
Solo Stove’s summer sale knocks up to $350 off fire pits, so you can grab one for as low as $200. The discounts translate to $100 off the Ranger, $180 off the Bonfire and $350 off the Yukon. We like these fire pits because their double-walled designs minimize smoke while keeping the fire hot, and they’re sleek and relatively portable, too.
The Samsung 980 Pro SSD in 1TB that comes with a heatsink is on sale for $150, or 35 percent off its usual price. We like this PS5-compatible drive for its standard design, sequential read speeds up to 7,000MB/s and handy optimization software.
Buy Samsung 980 Pro (1TB, with heatsink) at Amazon – $150
Crucial’s MX500 in 1TB is on sale for $85 when you clip the on-page coupon that knocks $5 off its $90 sale price. It’s a good option if you need a standard 2.5-inch drive that works with both laptops and desktops. It also has AES-256 bit hardware encryption and integrated power loss immunity to protect your data.
Buy Crucial MX500 (1TB) at Amazon – $85
Another one of our favorite PS5 SSDs, the PNY XLR8 CS3040, has dropped to $105. It’s an already affordable drive made even better by this sale, and we like its 5,600 MB/s read speeds and its five-year warranty.
Buy PNY XLR8 CS3040 (1TB) at Amazon – $105
The OnePlus 9 smartphone is 32 percent off and down to $500, which is the lowest price we’ve seen for it. We gave the handset a score of 88 when it came out last year for its fantastic display, excellent performance and improved main camera.
Buy OnePlus 9 at Amazon – $500
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House Democrats voted in favor of reinstating a ban that had been put in place in the ’90s but had been allowed to expire.
Framework sold its eponymous laptop on the promise that end users should feel comfortable enough to fix almost any hardware problem themselves. Replacing a component shouldn’t be the reserve of dedicated service professionals if all you need is a T5 screwdriver and patience.
When the company released its new 12th-generation Intel Core mainboards, it couriered over a new board which could be inserted into last year’s model. And given that I don’t consider myself to be a very confident DIY-er, it made sense for me to put Framework’s promises to the test.
As you can see in the video below, laptops aren’t yet at the stage where you can pull components out as if they were Lego bricks. Although I think the industry is missing a trick by not making these components a lot simpler to assemble by standardizing the connections.
That said, one of the biggest hurdles was the ZIF connectors, which briefly made me wonder if I was really cut out for tech journalism. Those little lay-flat ribbons may be great for space but they’re a nightmare if you’ve got big hands and poor eyesight.
But, as I said when the new hardware was released, it’s empowering just how easy this stuff can be, more or less, if companies make even the smallest bit of effort. I was able to do this, talk to the camera (which probably slowed me down by quite a bit) and not blow myself up. And if I can do this, then surely you can too.
Although commercial space flight is hurdling toward reality, not everyone wants to rocket into the final frontier.
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s regular round up of the latest fancy toys and merch swinging its way onto your future shelves. This week: The Batman! A friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! A much less friendly dark lord of the Sith! And a very cool take on the classic Power Rangers megazord. Check it out!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
