Asus won’t say if the ROG Ally’s SD card reader will ever be truly fixed
What is Asus hiding?
Two weeks ago, I told you how Asus has officially extended its warranty on the ROG Ally gaming handheld’s SD card reader to two full years in the United States, presumably to give you more time to get it fixed. But Asus refuses to confirm to The Verge that it’s actually identified a fix for the issue. If you ship your Ally back to Asus, there’s no guarantee the problem won’t reappear.
Early on, some ROG Ally buyers discovered the SD card readers had a tendency to fail and possibly damage your SD cards in the process. One law firm, CSK&D, even threatened to pursue a class-action lawsuit on behalf of owners, though I haven’t yet found record of an actual suit being filed, and its class-action website has since been...
Snapchat will soon let you edit your messages after sending
Snap is launching a slew of new features in Snapchat, including the ability to edit already sent messages allowing you to rectify a “your” vs. “you’re” typo or other embarrassing errors. Snapchat is also getting emoji reactions, map reactions, and a new AI-powered reminders function.
The edit message feature does have a short window: you need to act within five minutes of sending — and only if the recipient has not yet opened it. Snap says the feature will come “first” to Snapchat Plus subscribers — a decision that echoes the same feature paywall on Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue (now called X Premium) established more than a year ago.
Post-sent message editing is a booming feature to have on messaging apps, with...
UnitedHealth CEO admits it paid $22 million ransom to BlackCat
Health insurance provider UnitedHealth paid a multimillion-dollar ransom to hackers who broke into one of its subsidiaries, disrupting healthcare providers across the country for months, CEO Andrew Witty confirmed on Wednesday.
In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, Witty said the decision to pay the $22 million ransom was entirely his. “This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said. UnitedHealth admitted last month that it had paid a ransom to the hackers who breached the Change Healthcare system — which is owned by UnitedHealth — but didn’t disclose the sum. In March, the company attributed the breach to BlackCat, the same entity responsible for the MGM casino hack in Las Vegas. That same month, W...
Crunchyroll is about to get a little more expensive, just like all the other streamers
While Crunchyroll’s monthly prices haven’t jumped in five years, Sony is getting ready to change that for subscribers in a handful of countries.
Crunchyroll announced today that the prices for its Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan streaming subscription tiers are going up as a result of “the company’s investment in more anime, additional services like music and games, and additional subscriber benefits.” While the basic Crunchyroll Premium will continue to cost $7.99 / month, subscriptions for the Mega Fan tier are increasing from $9.99 to $11.99 / month, and the Ultimate Fan tier will rise from $14.99 to $15.99 / month.
Crunchyroll is also shortening its free-trial period from two weeks down to just one. Notably, the price...
How to play Netflix’s cloud games without waiting for an invitation
Want to try the nine games that Netflix now streams from cloud servers directly to your laptop, desktop, or TV? Officially, you’re supposed to wait until the beta rolls out more broadly, but for now, there may be an easier way.
If you fire up a desktop web browser, log in to Netflix, and click these links, you should be able to start playing, even if you don’t see any of these games listed normally.
- Oxenfree: https://www.netflix.com/title/81569946
- The Almost Gone: https://www.netflix.com/title/81708319
- Infernax: https://www.netflix.com/title/81708314
- Link Twin: https://www.netflix.com/title/81708315
- Mole Gem Mayhem: https://www.netflix.com/title/81633353
- Reigns: https://www.netflix.com/title/81708316
- Reigns Three Kingdoms:...
Walmart is about to launch a 4K Chromecast that’s also a smart speaker
Walmart is apparently getting ready to release a new Onn “Pro” Google TV 4K streaming box that’s also a smart speaker. Yesterday, YouTuber Superdell-TV hosted a livestream where he showed off the streaming device, which he said he had bought from the retailer in-store for $50. As 9to5Google noted today, the Onn Pro was already previously rumored but hasn’t been announced, so it may have been stocked by mistake, as it still doesn’t appear on Walmart’s website.
The device is essentially a higher-end version of the Onn Google TV streaming box that Walmart already sells. According to the specs Superdell shared, in addition to 4K streaming and Chromecast support, the Onn Pro’s box includes support for Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. It also...
AI security bill aims to prevent safety breaches of AI models
A new bill seeking to track security issues by mandating the creation of a database recording all breaches of AI systems has been filed in the Senate.
The Secure Artificial Intelligence Act, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), would establish an Artificial Intelligence Security Center at the National Security Agency. This center would lead research into what the bill calls “counter-AI,” or techniques to learn how to manipulate AI systems. This center would also develop guidance for preventing counter-AI measures.
The bill will also require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to create a database of AI breaches, including...
T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile
T-Mobile has completed its acquisition of Mint Mobile, the carrier partially owned by Ryan Reynolds. In an update on Wednesday, T-Mobile says Mint Mobile will continue to offer its $15 per month / 5GB of data plan (that requires paying for three months upfront), while also offering access to some of T-Mobile’s perks rolling out now and “over the next few months.”
The acquisition also includes Ka’ena Corporation, the parent company of Mint Mobile, along with the two other companies under its umbrella: the prepaid brand Ultra Mobile and the wholesale wireless provider Plum. Both Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers will get T-Mobile’s scam call screening service as part of the merger.
Additionally, Mint and Ultra customers will get free...
WhatsApp’s new feature lets you plan your next event
WhatsApp is adding a new way to plan and organize events in group messages, making it easier for friends and organizations like schools and neighborhoods to set up virtual and in-person meetings.
The new events feature lets members of a group set up birthday parties, work meetings, and more, similar to various e-vite services that send out invitations via email. New WhatsApp events get pinned to a group’s information page and also get their own group chat thread so everyone can see who is down, hear out inevitable excuses for those who can’t make it, and confirm who is bringing cookies.
WhatsApp is additionally adding the ability to reply to “Announcement Groups” so members can add comments and feedback for the admin. It...
Tesla reportedly shrinks its gigacasting manufacturing ambitions
It’s gone from one piece to three.
Tesla’s ambitious plans to manufacture the underbody of its vehicles into a single piece, a process known as gigacasting, has been put on hold, according to Reuters, citing two sources with knowledge of the move. It was another sign that the company was pulling back from some of its previously reported plans as it struggles to adapt to falling sales and shrinking profits.
Typically, automakers piece together the underbody from hundreds of individual parts. But Tesla has been a leader in using huge presses to die-cast large sections, with the goal of eventually producing the entire underbody in a single piece. The goal was to simplify the process while also dramatically reducing the costs of its...