With models like the A7R V and A7S III, Sony is known for pushing camera technology to the bleeding edge. With its newest release, however, the company isn’t touting the capabilities of its latest sensor or autofocus system. Instead, it’s a device that’s about making photography accessible to those who couldn’t enjoy the hobby before.

Announced today, the DSC-HX99 RNV is a camera kit designed for those with visual impairments. The system consists of two parts: a Sony point and shoot and a viewfinder with a retinal laser projection system. The camera is a Cybershot DSC-HX99. First released in 2018, the HX99 features an 18-megapixel backside illuminated sensor with built-in image stabilization and a 24mm to 720mm zoom lens.

Sony

As for the viewfinder, it’s a Retissa Neoviewer from Japan’s QD Laser. It projects a digital image from the camera directly to the retina of a user. Sony notes the technology won’t work for everyone, but for those who it does, the viewfinder will allow them to use the HX99 to see faces, read signs and capture photos and videos. “The laser retinal projection of Retissa Neoviewer is a completely new technology that has been put to practical use for the first time in the world,” according to Dr. Mitsuru Sugawara, the president and CEO of QD Laser.

The HX99RNV kit will cost $600 when it arrives this summer. That means it won’t cost more than a DSC-HX99 on its own. In a show of support for the low-vision community, Sony says it will bear “the majority” of the cost to produce the device. That said, the kit will only be available directly through Sony, and the company will limit purchases to one per person. Sony also plans to work with American and Japanese schools to provide the device to low-vision individuals.

Cerebral, a telehealth startup that gained popularity during the early days of the pandemic, disclosed this week that it shared the personal data of more than 3.1 million US patients with social media companies and advertisers, including Google, Meta and TikTok. As first reported by TechCrunch (via The Verge), a recently uploaded notice on Cerebral’s website reveals the company had been using “pixels,” tracking scripts companies like Meta offer to third-party developers for advertising purposes, to collect user data since it began operating in October 2019.

Following a recent review of its software, Cerebral “determined that it had disclosed certain information that may be regulated as protected health information under [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act].” Among the data Cerebral shared are names, phone numbers, birth dates and insurance information. In some instances, the company may have also exposed information it collected through the mental health self-assessment patients completed to schedule counseling appointments and access other services. According to Cerebral, it did not disclose social security numbers, bank information or credit card numbers.

After learning of the oversight, Cerebral says it “disabled, reconfigured, and/or removed” the tracking pixels that caused the data exposure. “In addition, we have enhanced our information security practices and technology vetting processes to further mitigate the risk of sharing such information in the future.” The US Department of Health and Human Services is investigating Cerebral. News of the data exposure comes after the Federal Trade Commission fined discount drug app GoodRx $1.5 million for sharing patient information with Meta and Google. Earlier this month, the agency announced a $7.8 million settlement with online counseling company BetterHelp and said it was seeking to ban the company from sharing health data for ad targeting.

General Motors is working on an in-car digital assistant based on the same machine learning models that power ChatGPT. News of the development was first reported earlier this week by Semafor, with GM later sharing confirmation with Reuters. “ChatGPT is going to be in everything,” GM Vice President Scott Miller told the outlet.

Among other things, the automaker envisions the digital assistant supporting drivers in situations where they may have turned to their vehicle’s owner’s manual in the past. For instance, the assistant could show you how to replace your car’s tire if it suffers a flat. It could also offer integration and scheduling features with other devices, including garage door openers.

"This shift is not just about one single capability like the evolution of voice commands, but instead means that customers can expect their future vehicles to be far more capable and fresh overall when it comes to emerging technologies," a GM spokesperson told Reuters.

According to Semafor, the digital assistant will operate differently from other chatbots like Bing Chat. GM is reportedly working on adding a “car-specific layer” on top of the large language models that power ChatGPT. The effort is part of a broader collaboration between the automaker and Microsoft. In 2019, the two partnered to work on autonomous vehicles. Microsoft is OpenAI’s sole cloud provider, meaning GM’s in-car assistant will almost certainly run on Azure. GM did not tell Semafor whether it has a name for the software yet, nor did it share a potential release date.

SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission has safely returned to Earth. On Saturday evening, the company’s “Endurance” Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida following a five-month stay at the International Space Station. The capsule was carrying NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, Japan’s Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

The four spent 157 days in orbit during an ISS rotation that was one for the history books. As Space.com points out, the Crew-5 mission saw Mann, a member of the Wailaki people, become the first Native American woman to fly in space. It was also the first time a Russian cosmonaut flew aboard a private American spacecraft, a milestone made possible after NASA and Roscosmos signed a seat-sharing agreement last year amid increasing US and Russian tensions due to the war in Ukraine.

For Wakata, the flight was his fifth return from space, a Japanese record. The mission also marked the second orbital trip for Endurance after the capsule successfully carried the Crew-3 crew back to Earth last fall. The spacecraft will now return to SpaceX’s Dragon Lair facility in Florida for safety checks and refurbishment ahead of its next flight.

Not on the flight was NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who flew to the ISS on MS-22, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that sprung a coolant leak late last year following an apparent micrometeoroid strike. The Endurance crew temporarily retrofitted their ride to carry Rubio in case of an emergency evacuation from the ISS after Roscomos determined MS-22 could only safely transport two people. They later removed those modifications after Russia sent a replacement Soyuz spacecraft to bring Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin back to Earth.

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Etsy is warning sellers it may take longer than usual for the company to process some payments. “We wanted to let you know that there is a delay with your deposit that was scheduled for today,” Etsy told affected merchants on Friday in an email the company shared with NBC News. “Please know that our teams are working hard to resolve this issue and send you your funds as quickly as possible.”

An Etsy spokesperson attributed the delay to “the unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank,” noting the company used the bank to facilitate payments to some merchants. They added Etsy is working with other payment partners to facilitate deposits. The company expects to pay affected sellers “within the next several business days.” More than 7.5 million merchants use Etsy to sell their wares online.

Federal regulators took over SVB on Friday amid the largest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis. With its close ties to Silicon Valley, SVB’s failure has created knock-on effects throughout the tech industry. On Friday, Roku said it could lose as much as 26 percent of its cash reserves, or more than $487 million, due to the collapse. One day later, the value of USD Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, fell to a low of $0.87 after Circle, the firm that manages the currency, disclosed it had $3.3 billion stuck at the bank. While USD Coin’s value has mostly recovered, the news nonetheless sparked fears of a possible financial contagion within the cryptocurrency industry.

More importantly, there are many people whose next paycheck won’t come on time. That includes employees at early-stage startups and small business owners who depend on Etsy for their livelihood. One seller, Owen McKinney, told NBC News the deposit delay could have a “catastrophic" effect on his business.

What comes next is hard to say. On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Janey Yellen told CBS’s Face the Nation the federal government would not bail out SVB and would instead focus on assisting depositors. “Let me be clear that during the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out… and the reforms that have been put in place means we are not going to do that again,” Yellen said. “But we are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs.”

If you’ve been waiting for Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro to go on sale, your patience has paid off. On Amazon, the earbuds are currently $50 off, making them just $200. That’s a return to the all-time low price they hit at the start of February.

Despite similar appearances, the second-generation AirPods Pro feature some notable upgrades over their 2019 predecessor. To start, the inclusion of Apple’s new H2 chip means the earbuds boast better noise cancellation performance and a more functional transparency mode. Audio quality is similarly improved, as is integration with Apple products. They also come with touch controls, a feature missing from the original model, and modestly improved battery life.

Of course, they’re not perfect. The touch controls can take a while to master, and battery life, despite improvements, is not as good as some competing models. You also need an iPhone or iPad to get the most out of the AirPods Pro, making them less compelling options for Android users. Still, they’re an excellent option for iOS users, especially when you can get them for less than their usual street price.

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The abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has affected the value of the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency, increasing fears of a possible ripple effect among Web3 companies. On Saturday morning, USD Coin fell to a record low of $0.87 after Circle, the company that manages the stablecoin, disclosed that $3.3 billion of the approximately $10 billion cash reserves backing USDC was held by SVB.

As The Guardian notes, the drop is unprecedented. As a stablecoin, the value of USDC is supposed to remain stable thanks to its peg to the US dollar. According to data from CoinGecko, USDC’s previous all-time low was about $0.97 in 2018. More recently, the currency fell to $0.99 following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital. As of the writing of this article, USDC is valued at approximately $0.95 cents.

Web3 is Going Just Great creator Molly White suggests the effect from a sustained USDC drop would be “enormous.” A handful of other stablecoins, including FRAX and DAI, use USDC as collateral. On Friday, Circle said it would “continue to operate normally” while it waits for more information on what will happen to SVB’s clients. "As of Thursday, we had initiated transfers of these funds to other banking partners. Though these transfers had not yet been settled as of close of business Friday, we remain confident in the FDIC’s management of the SVB situation and stand ready to receive these funds," Circle said on Saturday, adding $5.4 billion of its cash assets are held by BNY Mellon, "one of the largest and most stable financial institutions in the world."

Another day, another scrub for the world’s first 3D-printed rocket. On Saturday, Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket failed to get off the ground after two launch attempts. It was a day of false starts. Following Wednesday's scrub, Relativity Space initially set its sights on a 1:45PM ET launch, a window the company later push back to 2:45PM ET due to "upper-level wind violations." 

After the countdown restarted, all was going well until a boat entered the spacecraft’s range. Once the countdown resumed again, the company called a launch abort at t-minus zero after the spacecraft’s nine first-stage Aeon engines roared to life and then cut off almost immediately after. After blaming a "launch commit criteria violation for the 2:45PM abort, Relativity Space said it would attempt to fly the rocket again at 4PM ET, just as its launch window was about to close for the day.   

Developing...

When E3 returns this June to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Microsoft won’t be on the show floor. “We can’t wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11th and will share more details later,” an Xbox spokesperson told IGN on Friday (via The Verge). “We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 show floor.”

Questions about Microsoft’s E3 2023 presence began circulating at the start of February when IGN reported that the company, alongside Sony and Nintendo, would not have a presence on the show floor. There was some hope Microsoft would still be at the event after the company announced it would stream a dedicated Starfield showcase on June 11th, the same day E3’s “Digital Week” kicks off. Microsoft’s decision to skip the in-person portion of E3 comes after Nintendo said last month it would not be at the event at all. Sony has yet to state whether it will be at E3 2023.

The absence of even one console manufacturer from the E3 show floor is a significant blow to the Entertainment Software Association. The show has lost much of its shine since 2019, when the ESA inadvertently leaked the contact information of more than 2,000 journalists, analysts and content creators. The pandemic and the emergence of competing events like Summer Game Fest haven’t allowed E3 to regain its footing.

With spring around the corner, now is a good time as any to start thinking about improving your fitness. A smartwatch like the Apple Watch Series 8 can make it easier to stick to your goals. Good thing the 41mm model is back on sale. After an 18 percent discount, the Midnight and Product Red colorways are down to $329 on Amazon.

That’s $70 less than the Series 8’s usual $399 starting price, and the best discount Engadget has seen on the smartwatch since it was on sale at the start of February. Unfortunately, Amazon only has 41mm model stock, and the Silver and Starlight colorways aren’t included in the sale.

Despite being a modest upgrade from its predecessor, the Series 8 is one of the best smartwatches you can buy at the moment. It’s fast and features a large always-on display. It also comes with robust app support and integration with Apple’s broader ecosystem. New to the Series 8 is a crash detection feature that can alert first responders in an emergency. It also features a temperature sensor that can assist with ovulation tracking.

That said, the Series 8 isn’t for everyone. You can’t use the wearable without an iPhone, making it a non-starter for Android users. It’s also worth noting the second-generation SE offers many of the same core features of the Series 8 for less money.

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