Apple may be planning a broader move away from its proprietary Lightning port than was initially suggested in reports earlier in the week. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is working on accessories, including AirPods as well as mouse and keyboard peripherals, that charge via USB-C.

Kuo shared the forecast in response to a tweet he posted on May 11th. In that earlier message, he said Apple would redesign the iPhone to feature the more universal port standard by the second half of 2023. Bloomberg later corroborated Kuo’s prediction.

Exactly when Apple could move its accessories to USB-C is unclear. Kuo only said the transition would happen “in the foreseeable future.” According to the report Bloomberg published on Friday, Apple won’t release a USB-C iPhone until next year at the earliest. It would make the most sense for the company to complete the move all at once, but there's no guarantee it will do things that way.

As with a potential USB-C iPhone, Apple’s motivation for moving its accessories away from Lightning may have more to do with avoiding regulatory scrutiny than creating a better user experience. In an effort to cut down on electronic waste, the European Union has spent years pushing for a universal charging port and last month moved one step closer to mandating USB-C on all small and medium-sized electronics.

Elon Musk’s tweeting may have landed him in legal trouble again. As you may recall, the Tesla and SpaceX executive tweeted on Friday that his deal to buy Twitter was “temporarily on hold” after the company disclosed that fake and spam accounts represented less than 5 percent of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter of 2022.

After his tweet prompted Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to say the company was “prepared for all scenarios,” Musk stated his team would test “a random sample of 100 followers” to verify Twitter’s numbers. According to the billionaire, one of the answers he gave to a question about his methodology prompted a response from Twitter’s legal team.

“I picked 100 as the sample size number, because that is what Twitter uses to calculate <5% fake/spam/duplicate,” he said in the alleged offending tweet. “Twitter legal just called to complain that I violated their NDA by revealing the bot check sample size is 100,” Musk later said of his actions.

We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment.

In another twist in Musk’s bid to buy Twitter, he also took aim at the platform’s algorithmic feed. “You are being manipulated by the algorithm in ways you don’t realize,” he said.

The message drew the attention of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. “It was designed simply to save you time when you are away from [the] app for a while,” Dorsey told Musk. “Pull to refresh goes back to reverse chron as well.”

Dorsey then responded to someone who said Twitter’s algorithmic feed was “definitely” designed to manipulate. “No it wasn’t designed to manipulate. It was designed to catch you up and work off what you engage with,” Dorsey said. “That can def have unintended consequences tho.”

Musk later appeared to walk back his comment. “I’m not suggesting malice in the algorithm, but rather that it’s trying to guess what you might want to read and, in doing so, inadvertently manipulate/amplify your viewpoints without you realizing this is happening,” he said.

Should something come of Musk’s actions, this wouldn’t be the first time one of his tweets has landed him in legal trouble. Back in 2018, his now-infamous “funding secured” tweet attracted the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, leading to a $40 million settlement with the agency that he’s now trying to end.

Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse is working on a new project. On Friday, the studio shared the first trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, an action RPG set in a modern urban setting. Reminiscent of titles like The World Ends With You and Scarlett Nexus, the game pits players against Ethereal, monstrous creatures borne from another dimension. In a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion, the action takes place in New Eridu, one of the few cities to survive the devastation wrought by the Ethereal.

As a “Proxy,” you’ll need to organize a disparate party of characters to battle the monsters. Hoyoverse hasn’t explicitly said how it plans to monetize Zenless Zone Zero, but it sounds like the game will employ a similar system to the one found in Genshin Impact. In other words, expect to use real-world money to improve your chances at obtaining some of the game’s most powerful party members. Zenless Zone Zero does not have a release date yet, but you can sign up to take part in the game’s closed iOS and PC beta by visiting its official website.

Six years after its initial release, Stardew Valley has sold more than 20 million copies. Creator Eric Barone shared news of the accomplishment in an update posted to the game’s press site and an interview with PC Gamer. "The 20 million copies milestone is really amazing," he told the outlet.

But what’s even more impressive is the increasing pace of Stardew Valley’s sales. It took four years for the game to sell its first 10 million copies. Since September 2021, it has sold 5 million units. "The average daily sales of Stardew Valley are higher today than at any point," Barone said. "I'm not exactly sure why that is. My hope is that the game is just continuing to spread via word of mouth, and the more people that are playing it, the more people will share the game with their friends.”

Barone told PC Gamer he plans to continue working on Stardew Valley but is now primarily focused on Haunted Chocolatier, a new action RPG he announced last fall. "Ultimately I have to follow my heart or else the quality of the content will suffer," Barone said.

Twenty million copies sold is an impressive feat for any game, let alone one that a single person developed. Barone began working on Stardew Valley after graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Washington Tacoma. He found that he couldn’t land a position in his field following the 2008 financial crisis, so he started developing the game to hone his craft. He then spent the next four years working on the project before finally releasing Stardew Valley at the start of 2016. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier documents the entire saga in his excellent 2017 book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.

A group of bipartisan lawmakers in Ohio has introduced a bill to criminalize AirTag stalking. If passed by the state legislature, HB672 would “prohibit a person from knowingly installing a tracking device or application on another’s property without the other person’s consent.”

Ohio lawmakers decided to tackle the growing problem of remote tracker stalking after 3News lobbied the government to take action. In February, the news station found a loophole in state law that allows those with no prior record of stalking or domestic violence to track someone without potential penalty. According to an investigation by the outlet, fewer than two dozen states have enacted laws against electronic tracking, Ohio being among the group that has not drafted specific legislation against the behavior.

A recent report from Motherboard suggested AirTag stalking isn’t an issue limited to a few high-profile incidents. After the outlet requested any records mentioning AirTags from a dozen US police departments, it received 150 reports. Of those, 50 involved cases where women thought someone was secretly using the device to track them.

In February, Apple said it would implement additional safety features to prevent AirTag stalking. Later in the year, the company plans to add a precision finding feature that will allow those with iPhone 11, 12 and 13 series devices to find their way to an unknown AirTag. The tool will display the direction of and distance to an unwanted AirTag. Apple said it would also update its unwanted tracking alerts to notify people of potential stalkers earlier.

“AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person’s property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," the company said at the time. “We design our products to provide a great experience, but also with safety and privacy in mind. Across Apple’s hardware, software, and services teams, we’re committed to listening to feedback.”

Netflix plans to livestream its upcoming slate of unscripted shows and comedy specials, according to Deadline. Netflix told the outlet it was in the early stages of developing the capability.

Deadline suggests the streaming giant could use the technology to hold live voting for competitive shows like the upcoming Dance 100 and air sets from its annual Netflix Is A Joke festival, among other use cases. The feature doesn’t have a rollout date yet, with only a small team within the company reportedly in the “preliminary” stages of developing the tech. We’ve reached out to Netflix for comment.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the company recently updated its culture guidelines to add a new section titled “artistic expression.” In short, the section tells potential employees they may be required to work on projects they may not align with their values.

“Not everyone will like — or agree with — everything on our service… and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices,” the company states in the document. “Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.”

Netflix told The Journal it spent the past 18 months discussing cultural issues with employees. The company says it wrote the tweaked guidelines to help job seekers make more “informed decisions about whether Netflix is the right company for them.”

The update comes after Netflix faced employee unrest over its latest comedy special from Dave Chappelle. Many at the company criticized the comedian and The Closer for being transphobic. Netflix’s reaction to the incident, including the decision to fire a worker who allegedly shared sensitive information about the special, led to a worker walkout.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Google’s annual I/O developer conference returned to the historic Shoreline Amphitheatre. In an in-person event that saw the company share details on its latest breakthroughs in AI, machine translation and more, Google also found time to outline some of the hardware it plans to release later this year. In case you missed the chance to watch the event live, here are the biggest announcements from I/O 2022.

Pixel 6a

Google may have teased its latest flagship devices at I/O, but the company’s new Pixel 6a stole the show. Available to pre-order on July 21st, the $449 device will feature the search giant’s homegrown Tensor AI chipset and a 12-megapixel camera that shipss with the latest version of Google's Magic Eraser photo editing tool. The company also promised to support the Pixel 6a with five years of security updates.

Pixel 7

Google

Google only shared a brief glimpse of its latest flagship smartphones at I/O, but we did get to see the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro ahead of their formal debut later this year. The company said both devices would feature its next-generation Tensor chip, and come with a refined design made from recycled aluminum. There’s no word on pricing or availability yet. Expect Google to share those details this fall.

Pixel Watch

After months of leaks, Google finally confirmed the Pixel Watch is real. Arriving this fall, the wearable features a nearly bezel-less watch face flanked by a “tactile crown.” It runs Wear OS 3 and includes deep integration with Fitbit software for its health and fitness-tracking features. The Pixel Watch will be available later this year, arriving alongside the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Google promised to share more details about the wearable in the days and weeks leading up to that point.

Separately, Google said companies like Samsung, Fossil and Montblanc would release new Wear OS devices later this year as well.

Pixel Buds Pro

Google

While you might have to wait a while to get your hands on the Pixel 7 and Pixel Watch, the new $199 Pixel Buds Pro are coming much sooner. Set to arrive on July 28th, with pre-orders opening on July 21st, key features include support for multipoint connectivity, IPX4-certified waterproofing and active noise cancelation. They’ll also support spatial audio when paired with a compatible Pixel phone.

Android 13

With the introduction of Google’s new Material You design language, customization was a big part of the appeal of Android 12. The latest version of Google’s mobile operating system will double down on that focus with new features that allow you to personalize your device even more. For instance, one new tool will allow you to set a different default language for all the disparate apps on your phone. Another new feature lets you color match more of the icons on your home screen, not just ones from Google.

Android 13 will also feature a new Wallet app with the option to store your personal government-issued ID on your phone. Safety and security were another focus for Google, with the company noting that Android 13 will protect your privacy by automatically deleting your clipboard history.

And after years of neglect, Google is about to furnish Android with some tablet-specific functionality. Android 13 will introduce new multitasking capabilities on large screen devices, including an updated taskbar and split view. Additionally, the company said it would update many of its first-party apps to take advantage of the new tablet features it plans to introduce with Android 13.

Beyond a renewed software focus, Google is also developing new tablet hardware. We got a brief glimpse of the Pixel Tablet, which the company plans to release sometime in 2023. As with many of the other devices Google showed off today, we didn’t get many details on the Pixel Tablet. But what we do know is that it looks similar to a Nest Hub. It will also run on of the company’s custom Tensor chips.

Lastly, if you want to try Android 13, Beta 2 is available to download today.

New AR glasses

Google

Just when you thought the keynote was over, Google had one more piece of news to share. The company revealed it was working on a new pair of augmented reality smartglasses designed to "break down communication barriers." The early prototype Google demoed could transcribe spoken language, providing real-time captions for the wearer. Google didn’t share the name of the prototype device, nor did it say when it might release it to consumers.

Everything else

Google

It wouldn’t be I/O without Google sharing news on its latest AI and machine learning breakthroughs, and 2022 was no exception. The company had a lot to share on that front, but highlights include enhancements to Translate (which now supports 24 additional languages) and a new "AI Test Kitchen” app that offers a demo of the company’s LaMDA 2 learning model.

The company also announced new feature updates for Workspace, YouTube and Lens. One of the most interesting allows you to check out a new “Immersive View” in Maps for exploring popular tourist destinations.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

A lone electric scooter sits abandoned on a busy sidewalk. It’s an all too frequent sight in cities around the world and one of the primary reasons local governments have been resistant to partnering with companies like Spin to bring micromobility services to their communities. But with the help of Google and the company’s new ARCore Geospatial API, Bird believes it has a solution to the problem. With its new Visual Parking System technology, Bird claims it’s developed a way to locate parked scooters with pinpoint accuracy.

The next time you use a Bird scooter in a city where the company supports VPS, its app will prompt you to use your phone’s camera to scan the surrounding area. The software will then compare your images against a Google database that includes photos from Street View. When you need to park your scooter, an augmented reality interface will help you do so in the right spot. Bird says the technology will allow it to reward riders who show good parking behavior more easily.

“The end result is cleaner sidewalks, more organized parking and better functioning micromobility programs thanks to the world’s first scalable, hyper-accurate, virtual parking system,” the company says of VPS. Bird is currently testing the technology in New York City, San Francisco and San Diego. It will expand the availability of VPS to more cities in the coming weeks and months.

As you might imagine, Bird isn’t the only company trying to solve the problem of inconsiderate customers parking their rental scooters in all the wrong places. Most of the companies in the space, including Ford-owned Spin and Europe’s Voi, have announced their own proposed solutions to the problems. But many of those rely on AI and remote piloting. Bird’s tool would appear to offer something different with an approach that rewards customers for being considerate of the public and other users.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Nearly a decade after Google Glass made a debut at I/O 2013, Google is working on a new set of augmented reality glasses. The company teased the device at I/O 2022, sharing a short clip that showed off some of its capabilities. We saw an "early prototype" of the wearable transcribe a conversation in real-time, effectively providing captions for the wearer. Google also showed off the prototype translating a conversation from English into Spanish, allowing a non-English speaker to carry out a conversation with the Google employee speaking to them. 

Google didn't say when it plans to release the wearable it showed off today. We'll also note the teaser video the company played during its presentation included text at the bottom of the frame that said what it was showing off was a "simulated point of view," suggesting the final interface may look dramatically different from the one Google showed off today.  

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Google is adding support for 24 new languages to its Translate tool, the company announced today during its I/O 2022 developer conference. Among the newly available languages are Sanskrit, Tsongae and Sorani Kurdish. 

According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the expansion allows the company to cover languages spoken by more than three hundred million people. Pichai credited the breakthrough to a new monolingual AI learning approach where Google's translation algorithm learns how to translate a language without ever seeing a translation of it.   

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!