Netflix is finally ready to dip into livestreaming months after word emerged of its plans. The service has confirmed that Chris Rock will debut a comedy special live on the service sometime in early 2023. He's the "first artist" to receive the distinction, the company says, and the stream will be available worldwide.

The firm revealed its live show strategy following a Deadlinescoop this May. At the time, Netflix said it would focus on unscripted material like stand-up specials, competition shows and an upcoming Netflix is a Joke festival. In theory, you could vote on a reality TV series or watch a raw comedy gig with mistakes intact.

The expansion isn't a shock when some of Netflix's main rivals have at least some form of livestreaming in place. Disney+ livestreamed Oscar nominations in February, and will air live episodes of Dancing With the Stars this fall. Others focus heavily on sports. Amazon Prime Video broadcasts weekly NFL matches, for example, while Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball. These offerings give you a reason to either join a service or stay subscribed when you've exhausted the usual on-demand fare.

Netflix also hasn't been shy about experimenting with different formats beyond its linear movies and TV shows. It has offered trivia shows and other interactive programming, and is diving further into mobile games. Livestreams could help Netflix further diversify its content and help it avoid a repeat of this year's subscriber losses.

Google's pilot for Play Store billing alternatives is finally coming Stateside. The company is expanding its "user choice billing" test to the US, Brazil and South Africa. As before, you'll be asked to choose either Google's in-app purchasing system or something else (such as the developer's) when you buy in-app content.

There are more apps involved in the test, too. On top of Spotify, which started rolling out an early implementation of billing choices this week, Bumble is now set to participate. The dating app will offer your pick of payment systems in some countries in the "coming months."

The official terms of Google's Play Store billing choice system cut Google's fees by four percent. It's still making a significant 26 percent from each transaction. In a response to TechCrunch, however, Spotify said its deal with Google met its expectations for fairness. It's not known if Spotify received any special conditions.

The test was originally announced in March. In September, Google said the pilot would initially serve Play Store shoppers in Australia, the European Economic Area, India, Indonesia and Japan. Google says "positive" early feedback from developers and users prompted the expansion.

This experiment isn't altruistic. Along with Apple, Google faces pressure from regulators and politicians that believe mobile OS creators are abusing their dominance to rob users of options for in-app payments. It's also no secret that large developers and media outlets, including Spotify, Epic Games and The New York Times, are banding together to demand the freedom to use alternative billing. Bumble's main rival, Match Group, is even taking action against Google over alleged antitrust violations. In theory, the test helps Google avoid (or at least mitigate) fines and regulatory crackdowns it would otherwise face.

Human fingers are clearly too big to safely play with bugs, but technology might offer a far gentler option. Scientists at Ritsumeikan University have developed soft robotic "microfingers" that let people interact with insects. The tiny digits (just 0.47in long and 0.12in wide) combine flexible liquid metal strain sensors with pneumatic balloon "muscles" to offer just enough force for touching a bug without hurting it. The human operator controls the miniscule hand with a robotic glove.

To test the technology, researchers used the microfingers to measure the reaction force from a pill bug's legs and torso. The creature's 10 millinewtons of pushback from the legs lined up with previous estimates — a figure that science couldn't directly verify until now.

The technology could be helpful for studying insect forces like walking or flying (and yes, the temptation to tickle a bug is there). However, the team also sees the invention as potentially useful for other micro-scale interactions, particularly with the help of augmented reality glasses that could provide a clearer view. Future versions could one day help doctors directly interact with bacteria and viruses.

The challenge, as with many scientific inventions, is translating the discovery to a practical product. The Ritsumeikan team warned that this is a proof of concept and a "representative study." It could be a while before the technology is thoroughly tested, let alone ready for mass production. All the same, this hints at a future where humans can grab and poke the smallest objects in a very natural way.

Waymo is considerably nearer to offering fully driverless rides to California residents. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles has greenlit an amended deployment permit that lets Waymo charge the general population for completely autonomous rides on public roads. The update clears the way for Waymo One to charge for passenger-only service in San Francisco, much like it does in Phoenix. This also allows for paid delivery services.

The company isn't opening Waymo One's San Francisco operations to the public "at this time," a spokesperson told Engadget. Waymo has so far limited these rides to employees and "Trusted Testers" covered under existing deployment and testing permits. The firm already had permission to charge for self-driving taxi rides with a safety driver aboard.

Waymo is catching up to a degree. Its GM-owned rival Cruise already has clearance for commercial driverless service in parts of San Francisco, albeit with restrictions on hours, speed and weather. Nuro also has a deployment permit, although it's using its approval for autonomous deliveries through partners like Uber Eats.

Any future Waymo One service in San Francisco will still be relatively modest compared to what's available in China. Baidu's robotaxi service is available to the public in larger Chinese cities, albeit with limitations on driver-free cars. It will still represent a major milestone, though — one of the most influential cities in the US could soon offer robotic cars for your next trip home.

The sheer variety of streaming services can make it difficult to know just where and how to tune into sports, but Roku thinks it can help. The company has debuted a revised sports "experience" that puts live and upcoming matches in one place. You can tune into a live NCAA football showdown, or see when your favorite NBA team plays next. While you can browse a carousel of apps, the emphasis is on the games — select a match and you'll know which service you need to tune in.

The new hub also includes zones specific to certain leagues and sports, and there are rows of free content if you're not ready to subscribe. The initial service roster includes Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, DirecTV, Fox Sports, FuboTV, Paramount+, Sling, TBS, TNT, truTV and The Roku Channel. More options are due in the "coming months," Roku says. You won't get heavyweights like ESPN+ as a result, but you will have access to at least some major leagues.

The addition doesn't come as a shock. Sports coverage increasingly serves as a hook for streaming platforms, with services like Apple TV+ and Prime Video even offering a handful of matchups for free. A central location might persuade you to stick with Roku hardware if you love live games, especially if you're used to the simplicity of watching sports on conventional TV.

Kia has unveiled pricing for the 2023 EV6, and it's decidedly more expensive than before — although you might not mind depending on what you were looking for. The new electric crossover starts at $49,795 when you include the $1,295 destination fee, or $7,100 more than the entry 2022 model. You do get more in the bargain, though. The automaker has dropped the cut-down Light trim with 232 miles of range and now starts with the Wind RWD variant, which delivers a claimed 310 miles. That could put the EV6 out of reach for some buyers, but is also an acknowledgment that Light ultimately existed to upsell customers to pricier versions.

Wind now costs $1,000 more than it did last year. You may not have much need to spend extra, at least, when that configuration includes a power liftgate, vehicle-to-device power ports, Meridian audio and ventilated leather seats. You also have the option of a tech package previously limited to the Wind AWD with blind spot and surround views, parking collision avoidance and a remote start parking aid.

Other trims mainly provide added performance and intelligence. The $52,400 Wind AWD adds its namesake 320HP dual motor system with 282 miles of range. Spend $52,700 on the GT-Line RWD ($57,400 for AWD) and you'll get extras like navigation-based smart cruise control, more advanced highway driving assists and lane following help. And it's now clear just how much you'll pay for the range-topping EV6 GT — the performance-oriented car starts at $61,400 with a 576HP motor system, electronically-guided suspension, a limited-slip rear differential, higher-end brakes and 21-inch wheels mated to Goodyear Eagle F1 tires. Kia claims the GT can reach 60MPH in 3.4 seconds, so this is your pick if you want to shame sports cars at the local drag strip (and don't mind the reduced 206-mile range).

You still have the Ioniq 5 if you want Hyundai's latest EV tech in a (slightly) more affordable package. The Niro EV is an option, too. However, it's evident the automaker is repositioning the EV6 as a more premium machine.

So much for a smooth rollout of Twitter's "official" verification badges. Elon Musk claims he "just killed" the deployment hours after it began. The gray checkmarks have vanished from those accounts that only just got them, including Engadget's and The New York Times. With that said, this isn't necessarily a complete about-face. Twitter VP Esther Crawford clarified that you'll still see the marks, but that the social media giant is handing them out to "government and commercial entities" at first. The focus just isn't on individuals, the executive said.

In justifying the move, Musk reiterated his view that tying the original checkmark to a Twitter Blue subscription will democratize the service. The blue check is the "great leveler," he said. Crawford, meanwhile, stressed that there were no more "sacred cows" and that Musk was willing to try things that might fail. The company is willing to reverse course if feature changes don't pan out, to put it differently.

The statements add to the confusion beyond the "official" label launch. While they indicate that Twitter will concentrate on a narrower group of accounts, it's now uncertain just when celebrities and other public figures might get (or rather, reclaim) verification. This also creates uncertainty around Twitter's feature updates — Musk may axe or limit an update even while it's reaching customers.

It will take some time before it's clear just who gets what checkmarks, and what vetting will be necessary to get the "official" tag. For now, the only safe assumption is that Twitter will tie its original tick to an $8 per month Blue subscription.

You don't have wait for Apple to see what a foldable iPhone would look like in practice. China-based The Aesthetics of Science and Technology (AST) claims to have built a folding iPhone through heavy modifications. The engineers say they created the one-off with spare Motorola RAZR parts, their own 3D-printed elements and an iPhone X screen made more flexible by replacing the not-at-all-foldable glass and touch layers. An iOS jailbreak lets Apple's software run on the handset and introduces suitable features like a split-screen mode.

The result is largely what you'd expect — it looks like the love child of an iPhone and a Galaxy Z Flip, with all the compromises that come with an unofficial design. While the folding iPhone appears to work as advertised, there's a cavernous gap when it's folded. There's a smaller battery, no wireless charging and just one speaker. As you'd guess, the design also loses water resistance and any kind of real-world durability. The modded iOS also clearly isn't as optimized for flexible displays as Samsung's software for the Galaxy Z series.

This effort might also warrant some skepticism. Gizmodo notes that the team glosses over some important steps, including the need to rearrange key internals. While there aren't obvious signs that something's amiss, the initiative isn't definitive proof that a do-it-yourself folding iPhone is possible. It's certainly a greater challenge than adding a USB-C port.

Rumors have suggested that Apple may introduce an honest-to-goodness folding iPhone as soon as 2023, making this hacked-together handset more of a (very rough) preview than a desirable item in itself. Just wait long enough and you may get a far better product. The mod illustrates Apple's challenges, at least. A proper foldable iPhone would require major engineering changes and software tweaks to meet users' expectations. There are also problems that even brands like Motorola and Samsung have yet to overcome, such as displays that crease and (in some cases) crack.

You no longer need to pull out your phone to use Google One's virtual private network. Google has released One VPN apps for Mac and Windows systems. As on mobile, the VPN encrypts and otherwise masks your internet traffic. You can't use it to access content from other regions like you can with some VPNs, but it should help if you're worried about exposing your IP address (potentially useful for tracking) or using a public hotspot.

The VPN requires at least the $10 per month 2TB Google One plan, although you can share access with up to five other people. Desktop support is available in all 22 countries where the service is available, including the US, Canada, Mexico, UK and much of Europe. You'll need at least macOS Big Sur or Windows 10. There is a caveat — while the Mac app works for both x86 and ARM users, the Windows app doesn't support 32-bit or ARM-based systems. You'll have to look elsewhere if you're hoping to secure your ARM-powered Surface Pro.

As before, Google has independent bodies audit its VPN. It also shares the source code for its app libraries to ensure transparency. The audit for the desktop apps will be made public in the "coming weeks."

The desktop apps are arguably overdue when many VPN providers have long supported multiple platforms. This isn't necessarily the best option, depending on your needs. Mozilla's VPN includes regional server choices for $60 per year, and you can even get a free Opera VPN if you're only worried about protecting your browser activity. Google's advantage remains the bundle — you're really buying cloud storage that happens to include a VPN among its benefits.

You didn't have to wait long to see Twitter's reworked verification system in action. The Vergereports that the social network has begun adding its subtle "official" checkmarks to major accounts, including those of celebrities, large publishers and politicians. This includes Engadget, The Verge and general publications like The New York Times. Curiously, though, new Twitter owner Elon Musk doesn't have the mark yet — you'd think he'd adopt it quickly given the many impersonators who use his name to pitch crypto scams.

VP Esther Crawford previously stressed that the "official" badge won't be available for purchase, unlike the blue checkmarks that will come with an $8 Twitter Blue subscription. Those that previously received blue ticks won't necessarily get the second label, however. It's not yet certain if those seeking the extra mark will need to go through further vetting.

The complete rollout should be relatively quick. Twitter has been testing the "official" checkmarks for a while, and previously said the deployment should wrap up in the coming days.

To some extent, this feature is fixing a problem Twitter created for itself. Musk and others have blasted the previous approach to verification as an unfair "lords and peasants" system that disenfranchised ordinary users while enshrining a selected elite. While that's true, the old method also established authenticity — the changes to Blue effectively break verification by letting determined fraudsters pay to get a checkmark next to their name, even if that carries the risk of a permanent ban. The "official" mark brings back that trust, although it asks Twitter to once again decide who's deserving of special recognition.