Microsoft has formally approved a way to run Windows 11 on ARM-based Macs, if not in the way you might hope. In a new support article, the company has "authorized" using Parallels Desktop 18 to run the ARM versions of Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise on M1- and M2-based Macs. If you need Windows for work, you can theoretically use the virtual machine without angering your IT manager.

As you might guess, there are limitations. You can't run 32-bit ARM apps, in part because Microsoft is deprecating 32-bit software for all ARM Windows builds. Devices won't work unless they have Windows 11 ARM drivers. You can't use anything that depends on another layer of virtualization, such as Android apps, the Linux sybsystem and Windows Sandbox. Don't expect to run some games, either, as anything that requires at least DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 won't work.

It's been possible to run Windows 11 in Parallels on ARM Macs since 2021, and it even ran reasonably well. You needed to use an Insider preview of the OS at the time, though, and Microsoft said at the time that it didn't plan to support new Macs. The sanctioned approach clears up licensing headaches, and Parallels Desktop 18 now lets you download and install Windows 11 with little effort.

As The Vergeexplains, it's not certain how Microsoft has changed the licensing — until now, it only licensed ARM versions of Windows directly to PC vendors. We've asked the company for comment. Parallels says you can buy either an individual Windows 11 Pro license or go through your employer's usual purchasing process.

This won't satisfy users who want native Windows support like they had with Intel-based Macs running Apple's Boot Camp. You won't get the performance or compatibility you would on a PC built for Windows on ARM. It may be the closest you get short of a collaboration between Apple and Microsoft, though, and it might do the trick if there's a must-run Windows productivity app.

American politicians are split on many aspects of social networks' content moderation policies, but they might find common ground on setting those policies. A bipartisan group of senators led by Brian Schatz and John Thune has introduced the Internet Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency Act (Internet PACT), a bill that would set "clear" content moderation policies they consistently enforce. The amendment to the Communications Act would require that online services explain their moderation in an "easily accessible" usage policy, and share biannual reports with anonymized statistics for content that has been pulled, downranked or demonetized. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) would also lead development of a voluntary framework to set industry-wide practices.

The Internet PACT Act would also amend the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 to require that "large" platforms pull content within four days if deemed illegal by courts. Those big services would need systems to handle complaints and appeals, and users would need to be notified of any decisions regarding their content within three weeks. Smaller providers would have "more flexibility" in addressing complaints and illegal content, according to the senators.

The bill would also bar companies from using Section 230 as a shield when the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other national regulators engage in civil actions. State attorneys general could enforce federal civil laws when used against online platforms, while the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would have to study the viability of an FTC-run program for whistleblowers from within online platform companies.

The measure theoretically addresses longstanding complaints from both sides of Congress. Democrats have argued that social media giants aren't consistent in applying their policies, and carve out exceptions for accounts that spread hate or misinformation. Republicans, meanwhile, have accused social networks of censoring conservative views while giving creators little chance to respond.

There's no certainty the Internet PACT Act will become law. The bipartisan support may help, though. Whether or not the proposed Section 230 amendments will satisfy politicians is another matter. Both Democrats and Republicans have previously called for large-scale reforms, but the changes here would be relatively limited. They would, however, pressure companies to act quickly on illegal content.

Now that the Safe Connections Act (SCA) has become law, the Federal Communications Commission is taking steps to help domestic violence survivors leave their partners' phone plans. The agency has proposed rules that would require carriers separate the line for a survivor within two business days of a request. Another proposal would also have carriers hide contact with abuse hotlines from consumer-facing call and text logs.

The FCC also hopes to use the Lifeline or Affordable Connectivity Program to support survivors enduring financial hardships for up to six months. Separately, providers are teaming with the National Domestic Violence Hotline to ensure survivors leaving a family plan will get in touch with someone who can offer support from experts on abuse.

The proposals are entering a public comment phase and may be modified when they take effect as required by the SCA. As they are, though, the measures theoretically provide survivors additional safety when leaving abusive relationships. They can quickly exit a plan managed by an abuser, and will be less vulnerable if they call a support line or need financial aid to stay connected. That, in turn, may help them reclaim independence while staying in touch with supportive friends and family members.

If you are experiencing domestic violence and similar abuse, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by phone at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or by texting "START" to 88788.

YouTube Kids is finally available on more than a handful of devices in your living room, if not quite in the way you'd expect. As 9to5Googlereports, Google is rolling out the YouTube Kids experience on game consoles, Roku devices and more smart TVs through an update to the main YouTube app. If you switch to a YouTube Kids profile, you'll get the child-friendly experience without having to jump to a different app. This also makes it easier to return to the full app once your kid has finished watching.

You'll see the new approach sometime in the "next few weeks," Google says. You can delete kids' profiles through families.youtube.com when they're ready for grown-up access, although the company warns this will scrub profiles on all platforms.

The dedicated YouTube Kids app is available for Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV devices as well as LG and Samsung smart TVs. This move makes the walled-off experience available to considerably more people — important if you're concerned your young one might view mature content or thinly-veiled sales pitches. You'll still want to keep an eye on your child's viewing habits, but you might not have to steer them toward a computer or tablet.

Apple may be narrowing down the launch window for its fabled mixed reality headset. Bloombergsources say the headset is now set to premiere at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. The device, possibly called Reality Pro, was unofficially slated to arrive in April but reportedly needed extra development time to address hardware and software issues. The company has already declined to comment, but the hardware might ship later in the year.

The headset is believed to carry a steep price tag, possibly as high as $3,000, but may also include capabilities not found even on alternatives like the Meta Quest Pro. Rumors suggest it could include dual 4K displays and a wide range of cameras that allow advanced tracking and controller-free input. You'd have to wear the battery in an external pack, but you'd also get an M2 processor that outperforms the mobile chips in other stand-alone AR and VR wearables.

The underlying platform, xrOS, is said to include an iOS-style interface that relies on finger pinches and voice commands for interaction. There would be an emphasis on health as well as upgraded versions of familiar experiences, such as full-body avatars during FaceTime calls. You might even have an easy way to create apps using Siri.

This initial model is supposedly aimed at creators and enthusiasts, and a WWDC debut would help developers understand the technology just as it becomes public. However, rumors also suggest Apple is working on a more affordable headset that's nearer to the Quest Pro's $1,500 price. That more accessible design might not surface before 2024, but it hints at a long-term strategy to make the company's mixed reality tech more accessible.

Now that Republicans control the House of Representatives, they're preparing to grill technology giants over accusations of content censorship. The Wall Street Journal has learned that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has subpoenaed the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft for information on their content moderation methods. The leaders have until March 23rd to provide any communications between them and the federal government's executive branch on the subject.

Jordan's panel wants to know "how and to what extent" the federal government allegedly pressured and coordinated with companies to censor content. The requests include details about people responsible for shaping moderation policies as well as those who've talked to the executive branch. Like numerous Republican politicians, Jordan has long maintained that major tech companies censor conservative views under the guise of curbing hate speech and misinformation.

The representative notably didn't subpoena Twitter, which he likely feels is more supportive of right-wing views with Elon Musk at the helm. The social network recently reinstated Donald Trump's account (still inactive), and has been sharing internal "Twitter Files" that covered the company's sharing limits on a New York Post story on Hunter Biden as well as the decision to ban Trump following the January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol. While right-wing figures have portrayed the disclosure as proof of anti-conservative censorship, critics have argued the documents don't offer substantially new details, don't provide evidence of conspiracy and were given only to writers likely to share Musk's views.

We've asked the five companies for comment. Microsoft confirmed the request in a statement to Engadget, noting that it's providing documents and plans to work in "good faith" with the committee. The firms have repeatedly denied allegations of bias and insist that they're only trying to remove falsehoods and other harmful material.

Whether or not the House panel can take action is another matter. Attempts to prove an anti-conservative bias have failed so far, with multiplestudies showing no evidence of these leanings. There's also evidence that platforms like Facebook made exemptions for right-wing content that violated misinformation policies, fearing a backlash if they enforced their rules consistently.

American politicians may not be the only government figures concerned about Amazon's proposed acquisition of iRobot. The Financial Timessources claim European Union regulators are grilling Amazon ahead of a "likely" official investigation. The European Commission has sent questions about potential privacy issues, including Roomba robot vacuums' ability to capture imagery. Officials are worried Amazon might combine the pictures with Alexa data to gain a "competitive advantage," according to one source.

MIT Technology Review recently discovered that photos taken by development versions of Roomba J7 vacuums had reached private Discord and Facebook groups. At the time, iRobot said the technology never made it to production models, was clearly labeled for testers and included a warning to remove "sensitive" items from the robovac's view. The findings led iRobot to cut ties with Scale AI, a startup that relies on contractors to label data for AI training — it appeared that people working on this project leaked the pictures.

Amazon is supposedly poised to counter a possible investigation by noting that production Roombas only have rudimentary home mapping and aren't likely to create privacy issues. We've asked the European Commission for comment. In a statement to Engadget, Amazon said it was "working cooperatively" with regulators.

A formal investigation is weeks away at best, the claimed insiders say. However, Amazon may want to address any initial worries quickly. The EU would start with a limited probe, but would conduct a more substantial "phase 2" investigation if Amazon couldn't satisfy regulators.

The potential challenge comes just as the EU is vowing to get tougher against Big Tech companies like Amazon when investigating alleged privacy abuses. Civil liberty advocates have accused the EU of being too lenient and slow when dealing with these violations. An investigation of the iRobot deal wouldn't be directly linked to this crackdown, but would make clear that privacy is a major focus for merger reviews.

It's safe to say 5G hasn't lived up to the hype — while it's much easier to find than it once was, the sometimes lackluster performance and reliability won't have you scrambling to upgrade from LTE. Qualcomm may be nudging the technology forward, at least. The company has introduced the Snapdragon X75, billed as the first phone modem ready for 5G Advanced. The new cellular standard promises much-improved throughput, coverage, reliability and traffic juggling. You may see meaningful speed boosts, fewer dropoffs and better performance on busy networks.

Whether or not you need 5G Advanced, the Snapdragon X75 offers some improvements versus earlier chips. Qualcomm claims longer battery life and more consistent performance in tricky locations like elevators and subway trains. The modem can handle 5G/4G dual data on two SIM cards at once. There are also boosts to uploads, including support for Snapdragon Satellite.

Qualcomm is already offering samples of Snapdragon X75 chips to manufacturers, although the first products using the modem aren't expected to arrive until the second half of the year. It's likely to become ubiquitous when it does arrive, though. The company's modems are the de facto choice for Snapdragon-powered Android phones, and are (currently) used in iPhones.

The larger question may be when you'll see the benefits. The 5G Advanced standard isn't due to release until 2024, and it may be a while after that before your carrier adopts the technology. Still, the Snapdragon X75 lays the groundwork for adoption. You might already have an Advanced-compatible phone by the time you can take advantage of the service.

Meta isn't done pulling back some of its shopping features. Instagram has warned users that live shopping will shut down on March 16th. From that day on, shops can't tag products during livestreams — you'll have to wait until afterward (or rely on less-than-elegant links) to buy must-have items. The social network explained the move as a way to "help [it] focus" on core features.

The move comes right as Instagram is removing the shopping tab from the home screen, and months after Facebook wound down Live Shopping and pointed stores toward Reels. Shopping is still part of these social media apps in posts, Reels and Stories, but Meta has increasingly taken a back-to-basics approach. Live shopping first reached Instagram in 2020, right as many people were forced to shop online during the pandemic.

The decision isn't surprising. Meta is looking for ways to cut costs as a tough economy and an expensive metaverse pivot affect its bottom line, and it's particularly eager to slash initiatives that perform poorly. As Gizmodoexplains, that might include Instagram's live shopping. Social-based shopping was only expected to represent five percent of US e-commerce in 2022, according to Insider Intelligence. If that's true, Meta isn't earning much from purchases during live broadcasts.

Meta isn't alone in struggling with shopping features. TikTok was set to bring live shopping to North America late last year, but only using outsourced technology. The Financial Timessources claimed last summer that TikTok was scaling back its plans between a poor UK uptake and a mass exodus of employees. Simply speaking, there may not be as much of an audience for social shopping as tech giants expect.

IKEA already has a side table that doubles as an air purifier, but now it has a way to gauge just how clean that air really is. The home store has introduced a smart indoor air quality sensor, the Vindstyrka, that gauges particulate matter levels (those smaller than 2.5 micrometers), humidity, temperature and the load of gaseous pollutants. Ideally, you'll know if your cleaning or cooking habits are making you sick.

Vindstyrka works by itself, but it unsurprisingly becomes more useful when connected to IKEA's Dirigera smart home hub. You can check air quality through the company's app, and have the monitor control other devices. It can tell a Starkvind purifier to ramp up the fan speed based on particulate levels, for instance.

IKEA plans to release Vindstyrka in all its markets starting in April. The company hasn't revealed pricing as we write this, but the feature set suggests it will be more affordable than high-end air quality monitors (such as Airthings' $299 View Plus) that also track CO2, radon and air pressure. It may be a viable option if the temperature and humidity sensors built into your smart speaker aren't enough.