Google Maps can already help you avoid toll roads, but now it will let you know just how much you'll pay if you take those (supposedly) quicker routes. Android Policenotes that Google has enabled its previously promised toll pricing in Maps for Android and iOS. Check the route options before you navigate and you'll get an estimated cost based on when you're travelling.

You can also tell Maps to show prices with or without toll passes. The app will still let you avoid toll roads whenever possible.

The prices should be available for about 2,000 toll roads in the US, India, Indonesia and Japan. More countries are "coming soon," Google said. This won't be the most comprehensive feature at first, then, but it could prove valuable if it saves you money or time on a lengthy trip.

You might have found the right Father's Day gift if there's a literary dad in your life. Amazon is selling the basic Kindle e-reader with lock screen ads for $60, or a hefty 33 percent off. You can also buy the Kindle Kids variant for $65 (41 percent off) if the upgraded warranty, child-friendly cover and year of Kids+ service will provide some piece of mind. You can buy the regular version without ads for $75.

The standard Kindle has been around for quite some time, but for a good reason: it handles the essentials very well. The front light and contrast will help you read in bed, and the touchscreen design is both easy to use and easy to carry around. Simply speaking, you might not need much more than this to read a favorite novel.

There are limitations. The base Kindle isn't waterproof, so you won't want to bring it to the beach. And while the six-inch screen and 8GB of storage should be enough for typical reading, you might like the larger, better-lit screen of the Kindle Paperwhite or the 32GB capacity of the Paperwhite Signature Edition. If you're new to e-readers or just aren't fussy, though, Amazon's everyday model is more than enough.

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The $7,500 federal EV tax credit has been used for several years to entice consumers to make greener car purchasing decisions, but it has expired for some automakers — and they feel the government needs to remove limits on that incentive. Reuters has learned the CEOs of Ford, GM, Stellantis and Toyota sent a letter to congressional leadership asking them to eliminate the sales-based tax credit cap. The move would help counter economic factors and supply shortages that have raised the costs of producing EVs, according to the companies.

The credit currently applies to the first 200,000 cars sold by any given brand. GM and Tesla have already reached the 200,000-unit mark, while both Ford and Toyota could hit the cap this year. This doesn't affect state-level discounts. The companies hope Congress will replace the unit-based cap with a sunset date that would end the credit once the EV marketplace is "more mature."

It's not certain that enough politicians will warm up to the idea. Senator Joe Manchin, for instance, recently questioned the need for extended credits when EV demand regularly outstrips supply. And when the current Senate frequently shoots down bills without clear bipartisan support, any attempt to legislate the credit could fall apart.

The companies have strong motivations to act now, though. Republicans may regain control of one or both sides of Congress during this fall's midterm elections, and car industry execs are concerned the shift in power could kill chances of extending tax credits. Former President Trump tried to axe the credit in his proposed 2020 budget, and had the support of Republicans — the chances aren't high that the GOP will back an extension.

The customer tax breaks might not be as necessary as they once were, mind you. GM plans to sell a Chevy Equinox EV around $30,000, while Tesla has long-term plans for a $25,000 car. Although these models are years away and won't compete with the lowest-priced conventional cars, they hint at a future where EVs are genuinely affordable without government subsidies.

Are you the sort of music listener who'll happily pay more for a set of earphones than you would on a nice computer? If so, Sony has the MP3 players for you. The company has released two ultra-high-end Walkman MP3 players aimed squarely at audiophiles. The headliner, the $3,700 NW-WM1ZM2 (pictured at left), mates an S-Master HX digital amp with "fine-tuned" capacitors, thick Kimber Kable (to link the amp to the headphone jack) and a 99.99 percent pure gold-plated, oxygen-free copper chassis — all of which supposedly contribute to "clear, expansive" output. Even the reflow soldering includes gold that purportedly boosts sound localization and widens the sound stage.

You can also expect more practical improvements from the Android-based player, including a larger five-inch (and finally 720p) display, a larger power supply and an improved upscaling algorithm for CD-quality (16-bit, 44/48kHz) audio. You'll get 256GB of expandable storage for your tunes, WiFi streaming, a USB-C port and 40 hours of battery life when playing 96kHz FLAC audio. The ZM2 supports up to 32-bit, 384kHz audio in formats like MQA and WAV, so you're more likely to be limited by your source material than your hardware.

Don't worry if that feels excessive, as there's also a lower-cost model... relatively speaking. The $1,400 NW-WM1AM2 (shown at right) offers much of the core functionality of the ZM2, but in an aluminum alloy body with 'just' a low-resistance oxygen-free copper cable. You'll also have to make do with 128GB of expandable space.

Both Walkman models are available now. As with many devices aimed at audiophiles, there's a question of whether or not the exotic components and materials will be noticeable in your listening experience. Moreover, you're limited by the lowest common denominator in your setup. Even if you listen to songs that can take advantage of the design (Apple Music's 24-bit, 192kHz hi-res lossless suddenly seems modest), you'll have to find headphones or speakers that are up to the job. Both players are mainly aimed at wealthy music fans determined to maximize audio fidelity, even if they might not hear the difference.

Have you ever wished you could keep a work meeting going as you leave for home? No? Too bad, you're getting that option regardless. Cisco has introduced seamless transition features that 'help' you continue Webex meetings on your iPhone and through CarPlay. Move to Mobile lets you move a call from the desktop to your iPhone by scanning a QR code, while CarPlay can now continue a meeting the moment you plug your iPhone into your ride.

An update due in August will give you the option to listen to historical Webex recordings. You can catch up on a meeting you missed while you're stuck in traffic, in other words. No matter what meeting you're listening to, you'll see your schedule after the call is over. You can join a meeting directly from CarPlay if you're running late.

There are practical advantages to these updates. If you're a remote worker, you can run errands instead of being locked to your computer. And if you're back to working in the office, you can still leave early when the team holds a last-minute chat. Still, it's difficult to imagine many people getting excited about seamless Webex calls. After all, there's a good chance you consider your car a refuge — you probably don't want work following you on the road.

Microsoft might soon mitigate some of the worst nuisances in video chats. The Vergenotes Microsoft is rolling out AI-based voice quality upgrades that should help every call participant hear each other clearly. New machine learning models can not only cancel echoes, but even reduce the chances of awkward interruptions by eliminating echo-related overlaps. This won't stop rude people from hijacking the conversation, but it might help you raise an important point without completely disrupting someone else's train of thought.

The machine learning technology counters echoes by using a combination of roughly 100,000 simulated rooms and training from 30,000 hours of speech. Microsoft also paid regular Teams users to record their voices to help recognize thousands of different devices. And crucially, the processing happens on your device. This helps Microsoft cut costs, of course, but also makes sure the echo reduction happens quickly and across a wider range of users.

The feature is live now following months of testing. It comes in tandem with a few other upgrades, including AI improvements for bandwidth-limited video calls and optimizations for displaying text. This by itself probably won't make you choose Teams over rivals like Zoom or Google Meet, but it might tip the balance if virtual meetings are commonplace at your workplace.

Spotify's string of recent acquisitions now includes a potentially huge text-to-speech upgrade. The streaming music service is acquiring Sonantic, a startup that uses AI to produce "stunningly realistic" voices from text. While Spotify didn't divulge its exact plans for the purchase, it teased multiple potential improvements.

Sonantic's tech could provide context for upcoming recommendations even when you aren't looking at your screen, Spotify said. The AI voice platform could also "reduce barriers" for new audio experiences. We'd add that this could help with accessibility. You might have an easier time navigating Spotify without relying on the visual interface.

Spotify didn't say when it expected the deal to close. The move makes sense in light of broader trends, however. Social networks like Instagram and TikTok already use text-to-speech for robotic voiceovers. Meld this with Spotify's TikTok-style discovery feed and the company may have a better chance of reeling in listeners used to finding their tunes on social networks.

You don't have to wonder just what games you can play if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium. Twitter user Wario64 has noticed that Sony published its game catalog for those who sign up for PS Plus' two higher-end plans. As hinted earlier, the company is offering a mix of big-name hits, classics (for Premium users) and lower-profile titles.

You can expect well-known games like Death Stranding, several Final Fantasy releases and Red Dead Redemption 2 alongside major PS4 and PS5 offerings like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Demon's Souls, Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There are some curious splits, though. You can play Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy through the mid-priced Extra tier, but you'll need Premium to revisit the series' roots through the Nathan Drake Collection — it's considered a classic even though it's a PS4 title.

There's also a clearer look at Premium's time-limited free trials. You'll have a chance to try Horizon Forbidden West, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands in addition to nine other games as of this writing. You won't want to subscribe to Premium with the trials in mind, then, but they could be nice perks on top of core benefits.

Extra costs $15 per month in the US, while Premium is $18 per month. The full list underscores the differences between the new PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass. While Sony is including some recent games in its costlier tiers, it's not making a point of adding games on launch day like Microsoft sometimes does. This is a bonus for PlayStation fans, not a replacement for buying the latest blockbusters.

Another big name in crypto finance is taking drastic steps in the wake of plunging currency values. As The Vergenotes, lending heavyweight Celsius Network has 'paused' all withdrawals, inter-account transfers and Swaps in response to "extreme market conditions." The move is meant to stabilize the liquidity of assets and provide a better opportunity to meet withdrawal obligations, according the company.

The firm didn't say when it would lift the freeze, or what would happen next. It promise to restore usual operations "as quickly as possible," but cautioned that the effort would "take time" and could include delays.

Celsius has struggled like much of the cryptocurrency market. Its CEL token was worth $7 roughly a year ago, but had tumbled to $3 by early April and is worth just 21 cents as we write this. The company claimed on June 7th that it had the reserves and Ethereum to meet obligations, but CEL's value was cut by more than half in just the few days after that initial announcement.

Critics have raised concerns about Celsius' unusually high yields (currently over 18.6 percent for deposits) and its links to the failed stablecoin Terra. Its CFO was arrested in November over fraud, money laundering and sexual assault allegations. Regulators in Alabama, New Jersey, New York and Texas have also scrutinized Celsius' activities, with New Jersey issuing a cease-and-desist order last September. Simply put, there have long been worries Celsius' business was unsustainable — the activity pause doesn't help matters.

Customers, meanwhile, might pay the price. Unlike a conventional bank, Celsius doesn't have FDIC insurance to protect users. If it fails, the roughly 1.7 million people who use the lender might not have much opportunity to recover their lost finances. While some crypto asset regulation is in development, it might arrive too late for Celsius' clients. 

Google has helped app creators make better use of Assistant voice commands over time, but its longstanding Conversational Actions framework for those commands has had its limits. It's primarily meant for conventional Android mobile devices, and it's voice-only — the technology won't help much on your smartwatch, or when you need some on-screen interaction. The company is taking steps to make voice control more useful across all its platforms, though. It's expanding the App Actions framework to be more helpful for the entire Android ecosystem, and it's phasing out the old system in the process.

The company is in the midst of integrating App Actions across all Android-based platforms, including automotive platforms and wearables. Assistant can now point you to the relevant apps for a given command even when you don't mention an app's name, or when you're looking for the right software in "All Apps" on a Pixel 6. And if you don't have the app necessary for a command, you'll be taken to the appropriate Play Store page. These will help developers by boosting demand for their apps, of course, but they'll also help you focus on accomplishing tasks rather than crafting the exact phrase you need.

Developers will have a strong incentive to embrace the newer technology. Google is sunsetting Conversational Actions in June 2023, and plans to "turn down" features like console analytics at that point. The extra year will give app producers the time to learn App Actions and otherwise transition away from the earlier approach.

You might have seen this shift coming. Conversational Actions was introduced five years ago, only to be supplemented by App Actions (in an initially limited form) in 2019 — Google has been priming itself for a handover like this for a while. And with Google committing to major expansions of platforms like Android Auto and Wear OS, upgraded voice functionality is that much more important for the company.