Neil Gaiman confirms that The Sandman has not been renewed for a second season… yet. Yellowjackets has cast Elijah Wood as a “citizen detective.” The Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot has been put on ice, and Primal leans into the supernatural. Spoilers ahead!
Apple’s Self Service Repair program is no longer limited to iPhones. The company is adding M1-based MacBook Air and Pro systems to the program on August 23rd, giving you access to official parts and tools to fix your laptop at home. You can replace the display, the battery (plus the top case), trackpad and other major components. As before, you’re using “many” of the same resources you’d find at an Apple retail store or authorized repair shop.
You’ll pay $49 to rent a repair kit. TechCrunchnotes part pricing is the same as for third-party service centers, ranging from $12 for an audio board through to $580 for a motherboard. You’ll have to trade in your old parts to get these prices (a motherboard costs three times as much otherwise), but Apple will recycle anything it can’t rescue. Don’t expect to use this as a memory or storage upgrade — Apple will charge the full amount if you buy a board that doesn’t match the computer you bought.
The program will expand to more Macs and countries later this year. As usual, Apple recommends repairs only to experienced users. It’s still pointing the “vast majority” of customers to approved repair facilities.
The program kicked off in April, and is widely seen as Apple’s response to Right to Repair laws and regulations, including at the federal level. It won’t necessarily reduce government scrutiny, and may not change much for DIY repair fans who’ve turned to unofficial sources like iFixit. Still, this could be welcome news if you’d rather not rely on a technician to maintain your Mac.
Like many employers dreaming of better times, Apple wants its workers back at their office desks, clacking away at keyboards all the live-long day (where they can be watched over with the hawk-like eyes of middle management). Workers, on the other hand, don’t see much nostalgia from that time, and don’t see much or…
Trump’s flouting of the Presidential Records Act, which outlines how materials should be preserved, was well documented throughout his time in office.
Super spies and secret agents have always had the coolest gadgets. In this case, these wild spy technologies actually existed.
Google has made some solid wireless earbuds over the past couple of years, but the latest Pixel Buds Pro are its best yet. We gave them a score of 87 when we reviewed them last month, and now you can pick the buds up while they’re on discount for the first time. Amazon has the Pixel Buds Pro in charcoal and lemongrass for $175, which is $25 off their usual price and a record low. The more affordable Pixel Buds A-Series have also been discounted to $69, which is their lowest price yet.
Buy Pixel Buds Pro at Amazon – $175Buy Pixel Buds A-Series at Amazon – $69
Essentially, Google made small changes to the earbuds’ design and also added a few key features to make them worthy of the “Pro” moniker. The buds themselves are bit more oval shaped than the previous models, helping them fit better into the contours of the ear. They’re IPX4-rated, so they’ll survive sweaty workouts, and they have onboard controls that let you play/pause, skip tracks, adjust the volume and switch between ANC and transparency mode.
ANC is arguably the biggest new feature on the Pixel Buds Pro, and Google did a pretty good job with it. The buds use a six-core audio chip for active noise cancellation, and a feature called Silent Seal helps block out even more noise and minimize sound leaks. All of those things combine to make solid ANC that blocks out noises like a TV show playing in the same room as you or sounds of people talking nearby. Sound quality is also quite good and Google added a feature called Volume EQ that automatically adjusts tuning when you change the volume, so the highs, miss and lows are more balanced and nuanced at any volume.
The buds’ companion app lets you do things like customize touch controls, change sound modes, fine-tune Google Assistant features and check in on the last known location of the earbuds. You can also turn on automatic switching between Android devices in the app, which will come in handy when you use a few devices in tandem. Finally, when it comes to battery life, you’ll get roughly 13 hours out of the Pixel Buds Pro when using ANC or up to 20 hours with that feature turned off. Google also added wireless charging capabilities to the buds’ carrying case, which is a feature that previous iterations didn’t have. So while the Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s most expensive wireless earbuds to date, they’re also its best sounding, most capable and most versatile buds yet.
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YouTube’s interest in podcasts appears to extend beyond paying creators to make videos. 9to5Googlenotes YouTube has quietly launched a podcast Explore page. Only some people can access it on desktop or mobile, but those that can will see popular channels, episodes and playlists as well as categories and recommended shows. At present, you’ll see standard video thumbnails and playback controls, even if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber who normally sees listening-oriented options.
We’ve asked YouTube for comment. The Explore page appears to have gone live near the end of July, but is only now becoming more widely available. It’s not clear what (if anything) will happen to Google Podcasts.
While YouTube’s longer-term plans aren’t evident, the new area suggests the Google brand is positioning itself as an alternative to major podcast clients like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. That wouldn’t be surprising if so. YouTube already hosts numerous podcasts, particularly those that have video versions. The Explore page could draw more attention to those productions and encourage more podcasters to publish their work on YouTube.
The actor continued his comeback on social media with a creepy-crawly encounter.
Ahead of the premiere of HBO’s new Game Of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon, the company shared the first glimpse of its adaptation of PlayStation’s The Last of Us. In a trailer published on YouTube, we get a heady 20 seconds of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, including a flashback to Joel interacting with his daughter. The 10-episode series should premiere in early 2023.
— Mat Smith
Netflix’s ad-supported tier might not play commercials during new movies
Hitting the Books: How can privacy survive in a world that never forgets?
Mark Zuckerberg promises ‘major updates’ to Meta’s terrible Horizon avatars
Last week, Lincoln revealed the Model L100, its futuristic foray into electrified mobility, which draws inspiration from the company’s very first luxury sedan, the 1922 Model L. The Model L100 tries to match the opulence of the original, with “next generation battery cell and pack technologies” that apparently deliver “game changing energy density.” Instead of a steering wheel, it has a “jewel-inspired chess piece controller that captures light and depth by redefining the vehicle controls inside the cabin.” Sure.
A team of scientists may have found a safe, affordable way to destroy forever chemicals. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are in many household items, including non-stick Teflon pans and dental floss. They share one common feature: a carbon-fluorine backbone that is one of the strongest known bonds in organic chemistry. It’s what gives PFAS-treated cookware its non-stick quality, while also making them harmful to humans. A group of scientists have been able to break down these PFAS with a mix of sodium hydroxide and an organic solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide.
Sega has unveiled the complete list of games coming with the Genesis Mini 2, and it’s clear the new machine is as much for collectors as it is nostalgic fans. The 60-game catalog includes two previously unreleased games, for starters. There’s Devi & Pii, a “paddle-style” game designed by Sonic 3‘s Takashi Iizuka, as well as Mindware’s finished but unpublished puzzler Star Mobile. I think the 12 Sega CD titles — including Night Trap and CD versions of classics Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco the Dolphin — are the most exciting part.
Apple could integrate ads into Maps by next year, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman says the company has begun preparing the software to support search ads. He previously reported the company had tested an internal version of Maps that included search ads. Apple already serves ads through its App Store. Developers can pay the company to prioritize their software in search results, ensuring it shows up at the top of the page when users input specific terms. Search ads within Maps would work in a similar way, says Gurman.
The CNN host took the former president’s Cabinet official to task for dancing around the election results nearly two years later.
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