Volocopter's drone taxi is one step closer to entering service. The German firm has revealed that its four-seat electric VTOL aircraft, the VoloConnect, completed its first flight in May. The machine's initial trip was brief at two minutes and 14 seconds, but the maneuvers proved that the production-level aerodynamics and performance held up in real world conditions. There have been three flights so far.

The 60-mile range and 155MPH flight speed might not sound like much. However, they promise autonomous commuter flights beyond major urban centers — you could fly to a business meeting from the suburbs. The VoloConnect is effectively a companion to the VoloCity, a shorter-ranged eVTOL flier meant strictly for urban jaunts.

The VoloConnect is expected to serve customers starting in 2026, two years after the VoloCity's projected 2024 rollout. While that's a relatively long way off, Volocopter is unique in having multiple air taxis conducting real-world flight tests. The company is closer to actual commuter trips than competitors, many of whom have one model or an indefinite timeline for service.

This might be your moment to buy a smartwatch for tracking your outdoor runs and hikes. Amazon has the 40mm Bluetooth variant of Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 on sale for $179 in black and white colors. That's a substantial 28 percent off, and nearly as good as the all-time low price. There are modest discounts for 44mm and LTE versions, too, if you either prefer a larger dial or crave independence from your phone.

Whichever color you choose, you're getting a lot of smartwatch for the money. The Galaxy Watch 4 is the best Android-friendly wristwear we've seen with a vivid display, good physical controls and extensive health tracking. The interface will seem familiar if you've used previous Samsung watches, but the move to Wear OS has improved the app selection while taking advantage of Google's ecosystem.

There aren't many catches beyond the Android requirement and relatively short battery life. The biggest concern may simply be timing. There are signs a Galaxy Watch 5 is just around the corner, and you might want to wait a while if you insist on having the latest timepiece. It's unclear just when the Watch 5 will launch, though, and it's safe to say you'll pay considerably more than $179 for the privilege. This is a fine deal if you want a smartwatch right now.

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Texas's Attorney General, Ken Paxton, has launched an investigation of Twitter over concerns of "potentially false" reports related to the number of bots and other fake accounts on the social network. In a press release Monday, Paxton claims inauthentic accounts may be helping to "inflate the value" of Twitter — thus he intends to pursue the investigation under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which protects against misleading advertisers, businesses and everyday users. 

Paxton's office is pursuing the case just as Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seemingly attempting to scuttle his own bid to purchase Twitter. Musk has, for several weeks, been suggesting the platform's bot numbers may be far greater than its current leadership are reporting. It's interesting timing for Musk and Paxton's interests to align: Tesla just opened a Gigafactory in Texas, and is moving its headquarters to the region. That's a lot of potential business, and it comes as the state has offered tax breaks to companies building local facilities. For whatever it's worth, Paxton has previously been accused of abuse of office over allegations of bribery, but was eventually cleared by his own office.

Twitter has been ordered to provide unredacted documents detailing the company's active user counts since 2017, the volume of "inauthentic" accounts over that period and the methods used to calculate the ratio of fake accounts. It also has to outline its advertising model, including the revenue it generates in Texas.

It's also notable that Musk's hopes of boosting free speech on Twitter sync with Republic aims to reverse alleged censorship of conservative viewpoints on the site. Twitter has long rejected claims of ideological bias, and sued Paxton over claims of political retaliation that infringed its First Amendment rights. 

We've asked Twitter for comment. The company has previously maintained that fake accounts represent less than five percent of users, but Paxton echoed Musk's currently unsupported concerns that fakes might represent 20 percent or more of all Twitter accounts.

The Attorney General has sued multiple tech companies over their practices, including Google (for its ad business) and Meta (over facial recognition). It's not clear yet if Paxton intends to pursue a lawsuit against Twitter as well.

One of the MacBook Air M2's most important upgrades might sit outside the computer. As part of the announcement, Apple revealed that the 10-core GPU version of the new Air comes with a 35W adapter that includes two USB-C ports. You won't have to give up one of your laptop's connections (or plug in a separate power brick) just to charge your iPhone at the same time. Given that the portable only has two Thunderbolt/USB-C jacks, this could prove a life-saver if you use multiple peripherals.

If you're not worried about connectivity, there's also an optional 67W adapter that can fast-charge the MacBook Air to 50 percent in 30 minutes. This is the adapter that comes with the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, but the Air M2's lower power draw makes fast charging practical where it requires a 96W upgrade for the Pro.

The 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter is listed as "coming soon" in compact and regular sizes, and will sell for $59 in stand-alone form if you either buy the 8-core GPU Air or want to use the brick for powering other devices. You can buy the 67W charger for the same $59. The dual-port model will only be available to customers in Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Philiippines, Taiwan, Thailand and the US, so you're currently out of luck if you want the added convenience in other parts of the world. 

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You won't have to wait ages to try Apple's major software updates this year. Apple has confirmed that public betas of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura and watchOS 9 will be available in July through the company's testing website. Developers already have access, but this is welcome news if you're eager to try new features on a personal device.

Each update has at least one clear draw. iOS 16 offers a much-improved lock screen with widgets and a customizable look. You can also expect major improvements to Messages, Wallet, Home and CarPlay. iPadOS 16, meanwhile, finally adds overlapping windows and proper external monitor support. Use macOS Ventura and you'll find improvements to multitasking, Spotlight searches and core apps, while watchOS 9 delivers big updates to fitness tracking, faces and notifications.

Like any beta, you'll want to be cautious about installing the public test releases. You'll likely encounter bugs and incompatible apps. These are for risk-aware early adopters, or at least those enthusiasts who can afford to install a beta on a secondary device. You'll want to wait for the polished versions if you absolutely need stable software.

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Apple didn't just introduce a new MacBook Air at WWDC — it also unveiled an overhaul of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The new 'entry' pro laptop unsurprisingly uses an M2 chip that promises improved performance and efficiency, including a hefty 20 hours of peak battery life (during video playback) and quicker ProRes video processing. The new model isn't a major redesign like its Air counterpart, and keeps the Touch Bar.

You can also expect "studio-quality" microphones, up to 24GB of RAM and a maximum 2TB of storage. As with its M1 predecessor, then, this isn't a no-holds-barred workstation. You'll need to buy a higher-tier MacBook Pro if you demand a ton of memory or drive capacity. 

The MacBook Pro M2 will start at $1,299 ($1,199 for education) when it arrives in July.

Developing...

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As expected, Apple has introduced watchOS 9 at WWDC. The new Apple Watch platform includes a big upgrade to fitness features with distance and time intervals. You'll know when to slow down for a recovery, for instance. There are also heart rate zones (for both sleep and workouts), and personal bests can help you improve performance over time. You won't always need the wristwear, though— Apple has also promised to offer fitness features on the iPhone.

You'll also see some interface tweaks such as banner notifications. Apple has both revamped existing watch faces (such as Astronomy) and introduced new ones like Lunar and Playtime.

Developing...

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Google's newest Pixel feature drop is meant as much for spur-of-the-moment creativity as it is everyday conveniences. The company is rolling out a June feature update that, with a separate download, offers a free music-making tool from Teenage Engineering. The Pocket Operator for Pixel app (shown at middle) turns your videos into music and video "cut-ups" with a mix of sounds, patterns and visual effects. You'll need a Pixel 5 or newer to get started, but It could be worth a try if you'd like to craft beats during your downtime.

The feature drop also lets you see imagery from your Nest Doorbell on your Pixel phone's lock screen (pictured at left). You'll know right away if it's worth answering the door. And if you need to show proof of your COVID-19 shots, you can now take a screenshot of your digital vaccine card and create a shortcut for your home screen (right). This will only be available in Australia, Canada and the US, but could be helpful if you still need to show proof of vaccination to hop on a flight or enter a venue.

Other upgrades include a previously beta-only Conversation mode in the Sound Amplifier app (to enhance chats for people with hearing loss), a reminder to turn off your flashlight and (soon) air quality alerts for Australia, India and the US. You'll also find a trio of new Pride-themed wallpapers from Yann Bastard, while skin tone-friendly image filters are now active in Google Photos.

The update starts rolling out today to Pixel 4 and later devices. You can also expect broader support for existing features, including Car Crash Detection in Canada as well as new languages in Messages' chat translation (Dutch, Korean, Thai, Traditional Chinese and Turkish).

Facebook isn't the only one compensating Illinois residents over alleged privacy violations. The Vergenotes Google has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the company of violating Illinois' Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA) through Photos' "Face Grouping" feature. The settlement will let you claim between $200 and $400 if you appeared in a picture on Photos between May 1st, 2015 and April 25th, 2022.

Google supposedly broke the law by collecting and analyzing faces without appropriate notice, asking for "informed" consent or sharing data retention policies with the public. Face Grouping is meant to help you find photos of given people by detecting faces and automatically organizing them into collections.

You have until September 24th to submit a claim, and can object to the settlement terms before August 10th. The final approval hearing is slated for September 28th.

We've asked Google for comment. In a statement to The Verge, the company defended Face Grouping by stressing that collections were only visible to you and can be disabled.

The settlement is relatively modest. In 2021, Facebook agreed to pay $650 million to settle a lawsuit over its defunct face-based Tag Suggestions feature. This might not be the last big payout in the near future, though. Snap is dealing with a class action suit over purportedly illegal collection of face and voice data for its augmented reality effects, and it might face a similar expense if the plaintiffs prevail.

Just because you use a password manager doesn't mean you want to enter passwords every time you check that manager... and now, you don't have to. LastPass has launched an option to access your vault using a passwordless sign-in — it's the first password manager with this feature, the company claims. Grant permission through the LastPass Authenticator mobile app and you can update account info on the web without entering your master password.

The approach relies on FIDO-compliant password-free technology. The feature is available to both personal and business users. LastPass is also promising options beyond the Authenticator app in the future, such as relying on biometric scans or hardware security keys.

It may seem odd to rely on a phone app to check passwords on your PC, and LastPass already takes care of some headaches through its browser extension. Still, this promises to take more of the pain out of password managers. It might also convince you to use a stronger password for your vault knowing that you'll only rarely need to type it in.