T-Mobile says it’s “truly sorry” about the data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 54 million customers. “The last two weeks have been humbling for all of us at T-Mobile as we have worked tirelessly to navigate a malicious cyberattack on our systems,” the carrier said in an update on the situation attributed to CEO Mike Sievert.

“To say we are disappointed and frustrated that this happened is an understatement,” Sievert wrote in the post. “Keeping our customers’ data safe is a responsibility we take incredibly seriously and preventing this type of event from happening has always been a top priority of ours. Unfortunately, this time we were not successful.”

In T-Mobile’s account of what happened, the individual who hacked the company’s IT systems used “specialized” tools and knowledge of its infrastructure to gain access to its testing environments. "In short, this individual’s intent was to break in and steal data, and they succeeded," said Sievert.

The executive says the company is “fully committed” to improving its security practices as it works to regain the trust of its customers, many of whom had personal information like names, birth dates and social security numbers compromised in the incident. As a first step, T-Mobile has contacted “just about every” current customer or primary account holder who had data such as their name, SSN or address accessed. He also reiterated the company will offer two free years of access to McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service to all of those affected by the incident.

Looking to the future, the carrier has signed multi-year partnerships with KPMG and cybersecurity firm Mandiant. According to Sievert, the two will help T-Mobile audit its current security practices and implement systems and policies that will help it prevent future cybersecurity incidents.

“Mandiant and KPMG will work side-by-side with our teams to map out definitive actions that will be designed to protect our customers and others from malicious activity now and into the future,” Sievert wrote. “I am confident in these partnerships and optimistic about the opportunity they present to help us come out of this terrible event in a much stronger place with improved security measures.”

And T-Mobile may need all the help it can get. John Binns, the hacker who claimed earlier in the week they were responsible for the data breach, said the company’s security was “awful.” 

After sending out a call to action on Monday, #AppleToo, a group made up of current and former Apple workers looking to shine a light on the company’s workplace culture, says it has collected nearly 500 stories of incidents involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation “that happened at the hands of a colleague off of campus.” According to the Apple Workers Twitter account, the majority of those who got in touch asked for information on how to file a complaint with an external authority like the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).

What’s more, the group says more than half of the individuals it spoke with asked for information and guidance on how to contact the media about their stories. “Almost everyone consented to having their stories shared respectfully and anonymously,” it said. Apple Workers plans to start sharing those stories publicly next week, but it offered a preview on Friday, noting the throughline in many of the incidents was that workers felt they were ignored by Apple’s HR department.

Apple already faces questions over its handling of sexism in the workplace. In August, the company put Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager, on paid administrative leave. In a series of tweets, Gjøvik shared interactions she had with the company's employee relations team. In one episode, a manager referenced her "tone" in presentations and said, "I didn't hear you going up an octave at the end of your statements." Gjøvik said she only resorted to sharing her story publicly because “everything I tried internally has failed."

Let’s face it, Apple’s AirPods Pro may be small and pocketable, but they’re also easy to lose. If you’re the type of person who’s prone to misplacing their belongings, accessory maker Spigen might have something that could help. As spotted by Gizmodo, the company has released the Tag Armor Duo, a $34.99 case that protects your AirPods Pro case while including a slot for an AirTag.

Spigen isn’t the first accessory maker to make something like this, but the company’s solution has a certain elegance to it. Not only is there a built-in slot for Apple’s lost item tracker, but it also comes with a handy carabiner on the side and a cutout on the bottom to leave the Lightning port unobstructed. You also don’t have to take the case off to charge your AirPods Pro wirelessly.

At $64 for both the case and a single AirTag, Spigen’s Tag Armor Duo isn’t exactly a cheap option. It’s also worth pointing out iOS 15 will include a feature that will allow the AirPods Pro to connect to Apple’s Find My network over Bluetooth. Still, if you want the most peace of mind possible, you could do worse than the Tag Armor Duo. With an AirTag attached to your AirPods Pro case, you can use the U1 chip on a recent iPhone to find the case using an ultra-wideband connection. That allows you to take advantage of Apple’s Precision Finding feature to make locating it easier. The tag also includes a speaker so it can ring to let you know where it is. 

You can buy the Tag Armor Duo from Spigen's website and Amazon.    

When Tesla began building a secretive 100-megawatt energy storage project in Angleton, Texas, a town some 40 miles south of Houston, there were questions about what the company planned to do with the facility. Now we know.

Per an application filed by the company with the state’s Public Utility Commission, Tesla wants to sell electricity directly to consumers in Texas. Tesla Energy Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the automaker, made the move in mid-August, according to Texas Monthly. If approved, the company could start selling electricity to residents as early as November.

Tesla has built utility-scale energy storage projects in various parts of the world, including South Australia and California, but has so far avoided selling electricity stored in those facilities directly to consumers. Instead, it has tended to work with providers by helping them with their storage needs.

But that was before a cold snap in February left much of Texas without electricity for days on end. When the power grid failed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who by that point had recently left California for the Lone Star State, took to Twitter to mock the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). “Not earning that R,” he said of the nonprofit group, which manages approximately 90 percent of the Texas power grid. 

For the second time in less than a year, Peloton is cutting the price of its entry-level stationary bike. Starting today, you can buy the machine, without any additional extras like cycling shoes, for $1,495. That’s nearly a 20 percent discount from the $1,895 price the company has sold the bike for since September of last year. Peloton is also dropping prices in Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. At the same time, it's reducing how much it costs to finance the machine in the US by $10 to $39 per month. 

Notably, what isn’t changing with today’s announcement is the cost of the company’s Pelton Membership, which will still set you back $39 per month. You need that subscription to get the most out of the bike.

The announcement comes on the same day the company announced a Q4 net loss of $313.2 million. Peloton was one of the beneficiaries of the pandemic, struggling at times to keep up with demand from people who couldn’t go to the gym to exercise. And you saw that in the company’s financials, with it posting a net income of $89.1 million a year ago. Clearly, Peloton hopes a price cut can help it recapture some of the growth it experienced previously, and entice new customers to its subscription offerings.

Reddit is pushing back against calls for the company to do a better job of moderating disinformation. In a thread titled Debate, dissent and protest on Reddit, CEO Steve Huffman said the company would continue to point users to authoritative information from the CDC when dealing with misinformation related to COVID-19. What it won’t do is ban communities that “challenge the consensus views on the pandemic.”

“Dissent is a part of Reddit and the foundation of democracy. Reddit is a place for open and authentic discussion and debate,” Huffman said in a thread that is locked, preventing Reddit users from replying to him directly. “This includes conversations that question or disagree with popular consensus. This includes conversations that criticize those that disagree with the majority opinion. This includes protests that criticize or object to our decisions on which communities to ban from the platform.”

Huffman’s statement doesn’t reference a specific community or incident, but as Vice points out, what likely prompted him to say anything at all was a thread from r/vaxxhappened, a subreddit where people share memes about anti-vaxxers. “We call upon Reddit to take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website,” says the title of the post, which accuses Reddit of doing "nothing of substance" to tackle the problem of misinformation on the platform. As of the writing of this article, it has nearly 170,000 upvotes, with various other communities crossposting the thread to their subreddits.

“We could have been better off months ago, but disinformation and lies have been allowed to spread readily through inaction and malice, and have dragged this on at the cost of lives,” the post says. “There can be no room for leniency when people are dying as a result of misinformation on this platform. Reddit as a global platform needs to take responsibility here.”

While Reddit often isn’t mentioned in the same breath as Facebook and Twitter, the platform is a source of misinformation. You can visit various communities on the website that consistently share COVID-19 conspiracy theories. The only roadblock preventing access is a landing page that warns you you’re about to enter a subreddit that has been “quarantined” by the company for sharing misinformation.

It’s been a long time coming, but if you depend on the Electrify America mobile app to find nearby charging stations, you can soon access the software through your vehicle’s Android Auto or CarPlay infotainment system. Electrify America announced today it's rolling out support for both systems this week.

The software allows you to find the location of all the approximately 650 charging stations the company operates across the US. You can also see details about each station, including the availability of individual chargers and their capacity. Once you’re at a station, you can then use the software to remotely start and stop a charging session.

While it’s something of a head-scratcher it took Electrify America until 2021 to offer Android Auto and CarPlay support, that functionality is at least now in place as the company works toward nearly tripling its network by the end of 2025. Critically, it’s also another way Electrify America needed to catch up to Tesla. The automaker’s Trip Planner, which you can access through your car’s touchscreen display, will route you to Supercharger locations that are on the way to your next destination.

On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Now, some nearly 60 years later, you can listen to the address in its entirety within Fortnite as part of an experience called March Through Time. Time Magazine crafted the interactive exhibit with help from the game’s Creative Mode community, as well as the DuSable Museum of African American History and the estate of Dr. King.

March Through Time transports players to D.C. 63, a “reimagined” version of the nation’s capital that allows you to visit museum-like exhibits that tell the story of Dr. King’s speech, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the broader civil rights movement. Complete the experience, and you’ll earn a special spray you can use in your Fortnite matches.

While it’s better known for its concerts and brand collaborations, this isn’t the first time Fortnite has touched on a serious subject. As Eurogamer points out, Epic Games screened a series of programs devoted to fighting racism and voter suppression last year. You can check out out the March Through Time by using the code 3815-8892-143. It’s also accessible through the Discover Menu.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has expanded the scope of its sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard to include temporary workers. As first reported by Axios, the watchdog filed an amended complaint on Monday to redefine the group it plans to represent in the suit. The complaint now consistently references “workers” instead of “employees,” noting protections the state of California has in place to protect individuals from harassment and sexual discrimintation “exist for employees and contingent or temporary workers.”

The amended suit also alleges Activision Blizzard has used non-disclosure agreements to directly interfere with DFEH’s ability to investigate, prosecute and remedy the workplace violations that occurred at the company. Additionally, "documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by human resource personnel," according to the agency.

We’ve reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment.

Following a two-year investigation into the company, DFEH last month accused Activision Blizzard executives of fostering a “frat boy” workplace culture. According to the agency, only 20 percent of all employees at the studio are women, and they’re consistently paid less, overlooked for promotions and fired faster than their male counterparts. Activision executives initially dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it included “distorted, and in many cases false descriptions of Blizzard’s past.”

Employees were quick to condemn the company’s response, calling it “abhorrent,” and they went on to stage a walkout at the end of July. Following the protest, Blizzard studio president J. Allen Brack, one of the executives named in the DFEH suit, stepped down, as did several other senior designers.

When Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick eventually pledged to take “swift action” to create a safe workplace, the company’s decision to bring in WilmerHale, a law firm that has a history of representing management on matters relating to unionizing, made many doubt the sincerity of his statements.

Since the release of iOS 14, Apple Maps has included a built-in rating system that allows you to review select businesses, restaurants and other points of interest. Before Monday, that feature was only available in countries like Australia and Japan, but as MacRumors points out, you can now access it in the US and Canada.

The feature works for most locations. It uses a simple thumbs up or down system. When you tap one of the icons, a secondary interface will appear, prompting you to share how you feel about certain aspects of that business or restaurant. For instance, in the latter case, you can also rate the food, customer service and atmosphere. That same pane also allows you to upload your own photo to a listing.

An Apple spokesperson told The Verge Maps will suggest you add contributions based on your device history, in addition to photos you have in your camera roll. Your name won’t appear alongside any ratings you leave, and any recommendations you get suggesting you add to a listing will come from analysis Maps does on-device.

At the moment, you can’t leave a written review, meaning there’s still a place for the existing integrations Maps has with services like Yelp and Tripadvisor. Apple could be laying the groundwork here for a more robust review system to match the likes of what Google Maps offers, but that will have to come at a later date.