Новости за 04.02.2022

The NFT marketplace is rife with people buying their own NFTs in order to drive up prices, according to a report released this week by blockchain data firm Chainalysis. Known as “wash trading”, the act of buying and selling a security in order to fool the market was once commonplace on Wall Street, and has been illegal for nearly a century. But the vast, unregulated NFT marketplace has shown to be a golden opportunity for scammers.

Microsoft has not abandoned development on HoloLens 3, according to the technical fellow who leads the company’s mixed reality division. In a tweet spotted by The Verge, Microsoft’s Alex Kipman told a concerned fan not to believe everything they read online. “HoloLens is doing great and if you search said internet they also said we had cancalled HoloLens2… which last I checked we shipped with success,” he said.

The Magic Eraser feature on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro is a handy tool that does a solid job of removing unwanted objects or people from photos. However, users are experiencing a bug that crashes the Google Photos app when they use it.

With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing underway, there are more ways than ever to watch Team USA and athletes from around the world compete, including in 8K VR. This month, NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast will stream more than 150 hours of interactive content from the games. To watch that coverage, you’ll need a TV Everywhere login and a Quest 2 headset from Meta.

Meta is rolling out a feature called Personal Boundary in its Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues virtual reality spaces to combat harassment. Each avatar will have a bubble with a radius of two virtual feet, so they won't be able to come within around four feet of each other.

In a few short days, Samsung will host its first Unpacked of 2022. While the company is sure to stage many more events throughout the year (too many, if you ask us), the first one is always the most exciting. That’s because it’s usually where Samsung has announced the next iteration of its flagship Galaxy S line, and Wednesday’s Unpacked promises to be no different. On February 9th, the company is expected to unveil the Galaxy S22. No surprise there, but there could be more to that announcement than you might anticipate. Читать дальше...

In addition to a bunch of great deals on TVs ahead of the big game, a handful of new tech deals cropped up on the web this week. Roku's Streambar Pro is $30 off and down to $150 right now (and the smaller Streambar has also been discounted) while the latest Apple TV 4K remains on sale for $160. Fitbit's Charge 5 fitness tracker is 34 percent off and down to an all-time low, plus you can still save on a bunch of Eero 6 WiFi systems. Here are the best deals from this week that you can still get today. Читать дальше...

Rockstar Games has revealed when Grand Theft Auto V fans will be able to get their hands on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions, while teasing what's next for the blockbuster franchise. The current-gen editions will arrive on March 15th. Rockstar previously delayed the release from November to some time in March.

News Corp says it was the target of a cyberattack that impacted The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Dow Jones, its UK news operations and other publications and business units. The company says hackers accessed the emails and documents of some employees, including journalists. A cybersecurity consultant News Corp brought in believes that China was connected to the intrusion, and that the aim of the attack may have been to gather intelligence for the country's benefit.

The Space Race is no longer a competition between the global superpowers of the world — at least not the nation-states that once vied to be first to the Moon. Today, low Earth orbit is the battleground for private conglomerates and the billionaires that helm them. With the Mir Space Station having deorbited in 2001 after 15 years of service and the ISS scheduled for retirement by the end of the decade, tomorrow’s space stations are very likely to be owned and operated by companies, not countries. Читать дальше...

The magic in Ghostwire: Tokyo is fat and tangible, glowing between Akito's palms and streaming from his fingertips in sturdy golden ropes, binding enemies to one another before exploding them into pieces. From a first-person perspective, Akito rapidly contorts his hands into a series of precise shapes, forming orbs of elemental energy and supernatural strings before unleashing their power on the ghosts and demons sauntering along the streets of Tokyo. Magic isn't the only weapon at Akito's disposal, but it's certainly the most stylish one. Читать дальше...

Another Sundance Film Festival has come and gone, and with it we've gotten a close look at some of the films and interactive experiences that'll be the talk of 2022. After Yang, the profound story of a family dealing with the loss of their beloved android, has all the makings of an awards contender. And we have a feeling we'll be hearing more about We Met in Virtual Reality once it's released, as it manages to capture some moving portraits of relationships formed over VRChat.

Worthwhile Apple Watch deals can be hard to come by, and even more difficult if you're set on a specific size and color. Amazon has a slew of sales going on right now, some of which knock up to $60 off Series 7 models. The 45mm GPS Series 7 in midnight has that precise discount, bringing it down to a record low of $370. Numerous colors of the 41mm GPS Series 7 are down to $350, which is $50 less than usual and only $10 more than the all-time-low price. Finally, those that want cellular connectivity... Читать дальше...

In its press release for its fourth quarter 2021 financial results, Activision Blizzard has revealed that it has plans to release Warcraft for mobile sometime this year. Company CEO Bobby Kotick told investors a year ago that the developer made "multiple, mobile, free-to-play Warcraft experiences" that were already in advanced development back then. Blizzard has yet to reveal more detailed information about the games and a more concrete timeline, so it's unclear if its release plans include all those experiences or just few. Читать дальше...

This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Senior Editor Jessica Conditt about Sony’s surprising $3.6 billion Bungie acquisition. It’s too soon for it to be a direct response to the Microsoft/Activision deal, but clearly Sony sees the need for new blood. Also, they dive into Spotify’s weak response to protests around the Joe Rogan podcast. Should Spotify be using a stronger editorial hand? And yes, they discuss the whole New York Times/Wordle acquisition too.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus has sold 6.5 million copies after just one week on sale, making it one of the fastest-selling Switch games yet, Nintendo announced. If the official figures hold up, the game will have outsold both Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, both of which sold 6 million copies in the first week. 

Amazon Prime is increasing in price for the first time since 2018. The monthly fee is going up to $15 (previously $13), or $139 per year (previously $119). The higher rates kick in February 18th for new customers, but they won't take effect for existing customers until they renew March 25th or later. Amazon pinned the increase on the "continued expansion" of Prime perks, like free games through Twitch and pharmacy discounts, along with higher wages (whose wages?) and transportation costs.

If you use TurboTax to file taxes, you now have the option to deposit your refund directly to a Coinbase account. The money can either be deposited in USD or be sent to your account already converted to any of the 100 types of cryptocurrency available. Coinbase says the choices include stablecoins that are pegged to a real currency and fluctuate much less than typical crypto coins. You won't be charged with any trading fees if you choose to get your refund in crypto, but you'll still be able to... Читать дальше...

The US Federal Reserve is continuing its research into a "digital dollar" and has unveiled a technical specification for how it might work, The Washington Post has reported. Researchers designed a system that can handle more than 1.7 million transaction a second and settle payments in under two seconds, while operating 24/7 without service outages, according to a new paper on the subject. 

Toward the end of last year, it was revealed that seminal ‘90s sci-fi series Babylon 5 would be rebooted by creator J. Michael Straczynski for the CW. Not long after, however, and WarnerMedia put its youth-skewed channel up for sale, putting the show’s shot at a second life in jeopardy. Today, however, Straczynski has revealed on his Patreon that CW head Mark Pedowitz has personally guaranteed the pilot’s survival.

Twitter is expanding its test of a "downvote" button to a select group of users around the world, it announced. The company said it received "positive feedback" from its initial experiments last July. "We learned a lot about the types of replies you don't find relevant and we're expanding this test –– more of you on web and soon iOS and Android will have the option to use reply downvoting," the company said in a tweet.

A group of Republican Senators led by Mike Crapo of Idaho has sent the Internal Revenue Service a letter expressing concerns about the agency's partnership with facial recognition service ID.me. Starting this summer, taxpayers will have to register for an ID.me account to be able to access the online services IRS offers, including the ability to file taxes through its website. To be able to sign up, they have to send ID.me a copy of their government ID, a utility bill and a video selfie of themselves. Читать дальше...

Nearly five years after going public, Snap is finally profitable. The company shared the milestone in its fourth-quarter earnings release, where it reported $23 million in positive net income.

Amazon Prime is increasing in price for the first time since 2018. The company used its latest earnings to reveal that it's raising the fee to $15 per month (previously $13), or $139 per year (previously $119). The higher rates kick in February 18th for new customers, but they won't take effect for existing customers until they renew March 25th or later — if you were thinking of trying Prime, you might want to sign up now to lock in the current price for a year.

If the bonkers preorder numbers for both the hybrid Maverick and the EV F-150 Lightning weren't enough of an indication, Ford's Q4 earnings results are plenty proof that the company's electrification efforts are already paying dividends.