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This is your chance to get an Apple Watch Series 7 if you've been looking to grab one at a discount. The 41mm version of the smartwatch with green aluminum case and the clover sport band is currently on sale for $280 on Amazon. That's $119 less than its retail price and is just a dollar more than what the device sold for on Prime Day. The Watch Series 7's screen is larger than its predecessors', and Apple even used a refractive edge to make it seem like the display curves along the sides of the case. By doing that, tech giant made the screen appear roomier, which makes a huge difference for a device that generally comes with a smaller display.

To take advantage of the larger real estate, Apple shipped the Series 7 with a larger user interface that has larger fonts and a stretched-out keyboard that's much easier to type on. As we mentioned in our review, it's easier to hit the right keys in this model, as well as to read the time and measurements, such as your heart rate, than in the older ones. The tech giant also rolled out watch faces with more information to make use of the watch's bigger screen. 

While the watch's display is its largest upgrade, it also charges faster than previous models. It got to 100 percent in an hour during our tests, whereas the Apple Watch SE only got to about 60 percent. Apple promises the same battery life as previous models, as well, but the Series 7 lasted longer during our tests. Although the only option that's available for $280 is the green Series 7, you can also get the red and the blue watches at a discount. Either color option will set you back $330 when their discounts are applied at checkout.

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New York police must now comply with a public records request related to its use of facial recognition and other surveillance on protestors. A judge has ordered the New York Police Department to release documents pertaining to its monitoring of Black Lives Matters protests during the summer of 2020, requiring it to release 2,700 emails and other documents to the public or state why it fall"and/or allege with specificity that each document falls within one of the enumerated exemptions of Public Officers Law."

The NYPD previously rejected a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request by Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project for records related to its use of facial recognition and surveillance tools on activists (as well as a subsequent appeal to that FOIL request), leading both groups to sue the law enforcement organization last year. The police agency has argued that the records request would cover over 30 million documents, and that following through would be “unreasonably burdensome."

In a ruling issued on Friday, New York Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Love rejected the NYPD's reasoning. Legal teams for the NYPD and Amnesty International have met since the lawsuit was filed, and narrowed down the number of documents to 2,700 in total, an amount that Love called “far more reasonable." The judge also ordered both Amnesty International and STOP to re-submit its FOIL request, this time tailoring it to cover the 2,700 documents in question.

A number of public records requests from Buzzfeed, Wired and other news outlets revealed that the NYPD has an extensive range of surveillance tools at its disposal. The policy agency has purchased technology such as cell site simulators, gait recognition software, X-ray vans and facial recognition software from notorious vendor Clearview AI.

Despite the company's commitment to decrease its carbon footprint, Amazon's emissions grew by 18 percent last year, according to the annual sustainability report it released today. While online shopping increased during the pandemic’s second year, the company also rapidly expanded its number of warehousing operations — faster than consumer demand could support. For the entirety of 2021, the company’s activities emitted the equivalent of more than 71.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (for comparison, that's one and a half times the amount the U.S. government emitted in 2019.)

But this figure is undoubtedly a drastic undercount. While Amazon does include emissions from its warehouses and logistics network, as Revealreported this year, the company employs a sort of loophole. While other retailers, like Walmart and Target, account for pollution related to any goods they sell, Amazon only counts carbon emissions for Amazon-branded products, which make up around one percent of total sales. Third-party sellers (that is, the entities responsible for the other 99 percent of what's sold through its online marketplace) are left to perform their own carbon emissions accounting independently — regardless of whether those sales are fulfilled through Amazon's warehousing or not. Many of these businesses, however, likely do not meet the minimum threshold for mandatory emissions reporting

Environmental experts have long voiced concerns over the immense climate toll of Amazon’s operations, especially its rush and two-day shipping options. Despite the lack of progress, Amazon’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 was noted in the report.

The company doubled its network of fufillment centers during the pandemic to keep up with the spike in demand, at a rate that outpaced consumer sales. Amazon reported a $3.8 billion net loss in the first quarter of 2022, the bulk of which came from an investment in more warehouses and staff. But the company now appears to be scaling back its building efforts amidst a decline in orders. USA Todayreported today that Amazon has paused or delayed the building of 18 warehouses in 12 states.

BMW already offers two different versions of its i4 all-electric sedan in the US, but the automaker will add a third, more affordable variant to the mix starting next year. On Monday, BMW announced the 2023 i4 eDrive35. The EV will start at $52,395 – with a $995 destination fee included – when it arrives in the US in the first quarter of 2023.

As the entry-level model in BMW’s i4 line, the eDrive35 features a smaller battery and less powerful motor than its eDrive40 and M50 stablemates. With a usable capacity of 66 kWh, BMW estimates the eDrive35 will be good for an EPA range of about 260 miles. By contrast, you can expect to get about 271 miles from the M50 and 301 miles from the eDrive40. DC fast charging allows the eDrive35’s battery to go from 10 percent to 80 percent in about half an hour.

With a single rear axle motor, the eDrive35 also outputs less power than its two counterparts. It has an estimated horsepower of 281 and 295 lb-ft of torque. That’s 55 less horsepower than the eDrive 40. However, it doesn’t seem the eDrive35 will be much slower than its more expensive sibling. BMW says the car can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. The eDrive40 can achieve the same feat in 5.5 seconds. All things considered, those are reasonable tradeoffs when you consider the eDrive40 and M50 start at $56,395 and $66,895, respectively.

Inside, the eDrive35 features the same dashboard unit found in the eDrive40. Expect a 12.3-inch infotainment display and a 14.9-inch instrument panel behind a single curved glass surface. It should come with all the same safety features as well, including adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. BMW expects to start production on the 2023 i4 eDrive35 before the end of the year.

Discord has begun rolling out an overhauled Android app that addresses one of the most consistent complaints with the software. If you follow the company, you’ve probably seen it often announce new features only to note they will launch on iOS and desktop first before arriving on Google’s operating system. We saw that recently with the release of Server Profiles. According to Discord, that’s about to become a thing of the past.

In a blog post published on Monday, the company said it recently rebuilt its Android app using React Native. Discord has employed the framework for iOS development ever since Meta first open sourced React in 2015. Now that both of Discord's mobile apps are on the same underlying codebase, the company notes Android users can expect feature consistency.

Discord

Additionally, the company says Discord users will see a more consistent user experience across platforms. As one example, the Android app will feature a larger default font that is more in line with the iOS version of the software. Discord also anticipates it will release future updates faster.

“As Discord continues to grow across platforms, we want to find ways to support you and your communities as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of which device or platform you happen to be using,” the company said. “Utilizing React Native across every mobile platform Discord is on is just one of the tools that helps us support what you do, and we can’t wait to show you how.”

If you already have Discord installed on your Android phone, the company says you can expect the overhauled app to arrive on your device in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, new Android users can download the software from the Google Play Store.

Last week, more than 400 TV showrunners, writers and producers called on streaming giants and traditional Hollywood studios to offer improved protections for workers in states where abortions are banned or limited. Now, 594 other industry figures (many, if not all of whom are male) have pledged their support, as Variety reports. They include Jordan Peele, Taika Waititi, Jason Sudekis, Ryan Murphy, Donald Glover and JJ Abrams.

The signatories said they were standing in solidarity with their “female, trans and non-binary showrunner colleagues [...] in demanding a coordinated and timely response from our employers regarding the imminent workplace-safety crisis created by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Abortion access doesn’t only affect people who can become pregnant. It affects us all."

In late June, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that conferred a nationwide right to abortion for almost half a century. Numerous states banned or severely restricted abortion access after the decision.

The initial letter was signed by the likes of Issa Rae, Lilly Wachowski, Lena Waithe, Amy Schumer, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling and Ava DuVernay. It was sent to Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Apple, NBC Universal, Amazon, Lionsgate and AMC.

The more than 1,000 industry figures who sent the letters are calling for details about studios' abortion travel subsidies, care policies for “ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy complications” that occur during a production and legal safeguards for those who help a production worker get an abortion. The signatories also demanded that studios “discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.”

Those who signed the letters want the studios to respond by August 10th. The letters did not detail what may happen if the companies don't reply by then. Studios have previously said they would reimburse travel expenses for those who had to leave a state to get an abortion.

Thanks to its generous tax incentives for film and TV productions, Georgia has become a powerhouse in the entertainment industry, which is worth billions of dollars to the local economy. In 2019, several studios, including Netflix, said they'd reconsider setting up projects in the state if a so-called heartbeat law came into effect (the legislation bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected). A federal appeals court allowed the law to take effect last month.

A federal judge refused to remove Visa from a lawsuit that alleges it aided MindGeek — the parent company of Pornhub — in monetizing child porn. In a decision issued on July 29th, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney accuses the payment processor of refusing to cut business ties with MindGeek, despite being aware that Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned pornography sites distributed child pornography. The lawsuit was filed by a woman whose underage videos were posted on Pornhub without her permission.

“If Visa was aware that there was a substantial amount of child porn on MindGeek’s sites, which the Court must accept as true at this stage of the proceedings, then it was aware that it was processing the monetization of child porn, moving money from advertisers to MindGeek for advertisements playing alongside child porn like Plaintiff’s videos,” wrote Judge Carney.

Visa has argued that it is an “improper defendant” in the case and does not tolerate illegal activity. “Visa condemns sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse materials as repugnant to our values and purpose as a company. This pre-trial ruling is disappointing and mischaracterizes Visa’s role and its policies and practices. Visa will not tolerate the use of our network for illegal activity. We continue to believe that Visa is an improper defendant in this case,” a Visa spokesperson wrote in a statement to Variety.

Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned porn sites regularly feature nonconsensual or underage porn videos, according to recent reporting in both the New Yorker and the New York Times. MindGeek has maintained that it has protocols in place to prevent the posting and reposting of such illegal material on its site. In 2020, MindGeek banned all unverified users from posting on its sites and removed millions of uploaded videos in the aftermath. In order to post on any MindGeek properties, a user must submit their government ID to a third-party firm and verify their identity. 

 “When the court can actually consider the facts, we are confident the plaintiff’s claims will be dismissed for lack of merit. MindGeek has zero tolerance for the posting of illegal content on its platforms, and has instituted the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history,” a MindGeek spokesperson wrote to Variety. 

The Montreal-based company has been in disarray following years of media attention over what critics believe is a flawed moderation process that allows illegal content to thrive on its porn sites. Both the CEO and COO of MindGeek abruptly resigned in June. The company also laid off an unspecified number of employees this summer.

Sega fans who plan to buy the Genesis Mini 2 will need to import the retro console from Japan. What’s more, the company estimates it will have approximately one-tenth of the stock that it had during the Genesis Mini launch in 2019 to sell to US and European consumers. Sega blamed the situation on the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.

A Sega spokesperson told Polygon the company had initially planned to release the Genesis Mini 2 only in Japan, but that by “using Amazon’s ‘Japan Store’ system, we found that at least a small number of units could be sold via Amazon.com, so a portion was allocated to make the North American version.” With $22 shipping from the country, US consumers can expect to pay about $125 to import the retro console once it's available on October 27th.

That’s a hefty price hike considering the original Genesis Mini launched at a more affordable $80. The new console will feature over 50 titles, including Sonic CD, Virtua Racing, OutRun, Shining Force CD and Fantasy Zone. Judging by the packaging, it will also come with a six-button controller. One of the few complaints we had with the original was that it came with a cramped three-button gamepad.

It's not only Twitter that's trying to force Elon Musk to buy the company for $44 billion. An investor filed a proposed class action lawsuit to try stopping Musk from backing out of the deal. Luigi Crispo's suit accuses Musk of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty to Twitter's shareholders, according to Bloomberg. It claims he offered feeble "rationales for reneging on his contract." Two “corporate acquisition entities” connected to the deal are also named as defendants.

Musk last month attempted to wash his hands of his bid to buy Twitter, claiming the company made “false and misleading representations” and that it misrepresented the number of bots and fake accounts on its platform. Crispo concurred with Twitter's claims that Musk is using false claims about bots and spam to wriggle out of the deal without a valid legal standing to do so. Also like Twitter, Crispo is seeking a court order that would require Musk to complete the buyout.

After he tried to back out, Twitter swiftly sued Musk in an attempt to make him "honor his obligations" and buy the company. Last week, Musk made a counter filing, which remains sealed for now. A judge granted Twitter's request for an expedited trial, which is scheduled to start on October 17th and last for five days. Its shareholders will vote on the takeover on September 13th.

Meanwhile, Crispo holds 5,500 shares in Twitter. Those are worth nearly $300,000 at the $54.20 per-share offer Musk made to buy Twitter outright back in April. The shares are currently worth $223,000 at Twitter's current share price, which was $40.55 at the time of writing.