Tag: author_name|Mat Smith
The Morning After: Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative, Bluesky, is having a moment
Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social network, isn’t publicly available yet, but it’s already become one of the hottest Twitter alternatives. Grabbing an invite to the service, which has been in a closed beta for barely two months, has become a digital status symbol, with invite codes selling for hundreds…
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VanMoof simplifies things for its new, cheaper S4 and X4 e-bikes
VanMoof’s newest e-bikes, the S4 and X4, are two attempts at a mid-range e-bike. The company is trying to deliver its premium features and build quality, for substantially less money. At $2,498, that’s $1,000 less than the company’s top-of-the-range S5 and X5 bikes, but they're still not exactly cheap. VanMoof…
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Nacon’s MG-X Pro smartphone gamepad is comfortable but a little too basic
Nacon, now both a games publisher and peripheral maker, has been making gamepads for consoles for a while. It was one of the companies that Sony chose to make its wired ‘pro” PS4 controllers before Sony announced its own ‘pro’ controller for the PS5. Not that it stopped Nacon. It…
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The Morning After: What to expect at Google I/O 2023
Google’s annual developer conference not only delivers on the software and web-based announcements but also on whatever hardware it’s been cooking up. In the past, that included smart speakers, phones, Chromebooks and everything else. For I/O 2023, we’re expecting lots of Pixel things. Rumors (and subsequent official teasers) point to…
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The Morning After: Google officially reveals its first foldable phone: The Pixel Fold
Google has confirmed the Pixel Fold, its first foldable smartphone, with video teasers on both YouTube and Twitter. The company was expected to reveal the Pixel Fold at Google I/O next week, but leaks ruined that surprise. The device has a vertical hinge that unfolds into a tablet-like 7.6-inch display.…
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The Morning After: White House proposes a 30 percent tax on electricity used for crypto mining
The Biden administration wants to impose a 30 percent tax, called the Digital Asset Mining Energy or DAME excise tax, on the electricity used for cryptocurrency mining. It explained it wants to tax crypto-mining companies because they aren't paying for the "full cost they impose on others," including environmental pollution…
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