Google is rolling out a Gmail feature that aims to help you figure out whether a sender is genuine or if they may be a scammer. When you receive an email from a company that has verified its identity, you'll see a blue check next to their name in your inbox.

The checkmark update is Google's latest implementation of the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) tech. Google started testing BIMI in Gmail in 2020. At first, it enabled brands that were enrolled in BIMI to include authenticated logos in their emails. The blue check is a perhaps more obvious indicator that the sender is legitimate.

When you hover over the blue check in Gmail, you'll see a pop-up that reads "The sender of this email has verified that they own [the domain was sent from] and the logo in the profile image." The pop-up includes a link that directs you to a page with more information.

Google

"Strong email authentication helps users and email security systems identify and stop spam, and also enables senders to leverage their brand trust," Google wrote in a blog post. "This increases confidence in email sources and gives readers an immersive experience, creating a better email ecosystem for everyone." The feature should be live for all users by the end of the week, while Workspace admins can help set up BIMI for their company.

It's nice to see one company bring back an element of trust to the blue check, which used to be a pretty clear indicator that the person, brand or business on the other end is the real deal. Unlike a certain other company, at least Google doesn't seem to have weaponized blue checks as part of a culture war or used them to wring more revenue out of users while damaging its overall trustworthiness.

Meta is in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission once again after the agency proposed more sanctions against the company, which has allegedly failed to fully comply with a 2020 privacy order. Among other things, the agency has proposed a blanket ban on monetizing data Meta collects from users aged under 18, whether they use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or Quest virtual reality headsets.

The proposed sanctions, which the FTC seeks to apply as part of an update to the 2020 order, include a ban on Meta launching new products, services and features unless an assessor confirms that the company is in full compliance with its obligations. Additionally, Meta would have to get explicit consent from users before employing facial recognition tech. All of these measures, plus others the FTC has proposed to strengthen aspects of the 2020 order, would apply to companies that Meta buys or merges with.

The FTC issued the most recent privacy order, which is in place for 20 years, as part of a $5 billion settlement that Meta (then known as Facebook) reached with the agency over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. At the time, the FTC determined that Meta had broken a 2012 order concerning user data privacy. Along with allegedly failing to comply with the 2020 order, Meta has violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to the FTC.

“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”

Among other things, Meta allegedly misled parents over how much control they have over who their children can communicate with through the Messenger Kids app. The FTC says that, between 2017 and mid-2019, children were able to chat with unapproved contacts through the app in violation of the 2012 order and COPPA.

Moreover, the agency says that Meta continued to provide third-party developers access to user data, despite pledging in 2018 to revoke access to the information if users hadn't accessed their apps within a 90-day period. According to the FTC, Meta allowed third-party developers to maintain access to user data in certain situations until some point in 2020.

An assessor that the FTC appointed to ensure Meta's compliance with the 2020 order found that there were several flaws with the company's privacy program. In its Order to Show Cause, the FTC said that "the breadth and significance of these deficiencies pose substantial risks to the public."

Moreover, the agency says that Meta continued to provide third-party developers access to user data despite pledging in 2018 to revoke access to the information if users hadn't accessed their apps within a 90-day period. According to the FTC, Meta allowed third-party developers to maintain access to user data in certain situations until some point in 2020.

Meta has called the FTC's move "a political stunt." Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the potential impact on its business, Meta is gearing up for a legal battle with the agency. "Despite three years of continual engagement with the FTC around our agreement, they provided no opportunity to discuss this new, totally unprecedented theory," the company said in a statement that spokesperson Andy Stone shared on Twitter.

"Let's be clear about what the FTC is trying to do: usurp the authority of Congress to set industry-wide standards and instead single out one American company while allowing Chinese companies, like TikTok, to operate without constraint on American soil. FTC Chair Lina Khan's insistence on using any measure — however baseless — to antagonize American business has reached a new low. We have spent vast resources building and implementing an industry-leading privacy program under the terms of our FTC agreement. We will vigorously fight this action and expect to prevail."

EA and Codemasters have revealed more details about this year's edition of their Formula 1 racing sim series. F1 2023 will hit PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC via the EA App, Steam and Epic Games Store on June 16th.

Among other things, the game will feature the return of the Braking Point story mode. Braking Point debuted in F1 2021, but it wasn't present in last year's edition. This time around, Devon Butler (the antagonist from the first chapter) and Aiden Jackson are now teammates on an upstart racing team looking to take on F1's heavy hitters. You can expect to encounter new characters, challenges and rivalries.

Codemasters has updated the cars' handling based on feedback from F1 teams. The cars are said to have more predictable behavior this time around, along with more traction when braking, accelerating and navigating corners. The studio has also improved the engine torque and inertia, balanced the aerodynamics and tire grip for added realism and incorporated Precision Drive tech for controller players, EA says.

Every team, driver and circuit from F1's real-life 2023 season is in the game, including the street circuit for the new Las Vegas Grand Prix and Qatar's Lusail International Circuit. Legacy circuits Paul Ricard (France), Shanghai (China), and Portimão (Portugal) will all be available from the jump too.

Players will be able to set races to 35 percent of their real-life distances. That should offer more flexibility to those who may not have the time for a standard-length grand prix. On top of all that, it's somehow taken until 2023 for EA to add red flags, a major aspect of F1 races, to the series.

Even though Fortnite was exiled from Apple and Google's mobile app stores yearsago, there are still ways for you to play the all-conquering battle royale on your phone or tablet, thanks to the likes of Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now. Starting today, Fortnite will also be available on another cloud gaming service. It has dropped on Amazon Luna just in time for the latest Star Wars crossover.

There's one major caveat, though. Fortnite is available for free through Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now, but you'll need to pay to play it on Amazon Luna. Until the end of May, you can access it via an Amazon Prime subscription. After that, you'll need to have a Luna+ membership to access Fortnite on that platform. It's worth noting, however, that GeForce Now users on the free tier have a one-hour time limit per session.

Whichever cloud gaming service you use to play Fortnite, you'll need to sign in to an Epic Games account. You’ll have access to all the cosmetics you've unlocked on other platforms. You'll be able to level up your battle pass while you're away from your PC or console.

“Fortnite has been the most requested game from Luna customers in the US and we’re thrilled to bring the title to the service,” Amazon devices and services vice president Daniel Rausch told The Verge in a statement. Amazon confirmed to Engadget that Fortnite is also available on Luna in Canada, Germany and the UK after the service recently opened up in those countries.

This seems like more of a value add for existing Luna+ members to save them from switching to another web app to play Fortnite, rather than a way to encourage new users to sign up. There are several other notable games on Luna+, including the likes of Control, Alien Isolation, Devil May Cry 5, the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes and Batman: Arkham Knight. There's a seven-day free trial available, after which Luna+ costs $10 per month.

Five months after Marvel's Midnight Sunsarrived on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, the game will at last land on last-gen consoles. Firaxis' turn-based RPG will hit Xbox One and PS4 on May 11th.

There's a disappointing update for those who've been waiting for Marvel's Midnight Suns to come to Nintendo Switch, however. That version is "no longer planned," according to a post on the game's website. In other words, Firaxis and publisher 2K have canceled the Switch port.

That may not be a huge surprise, given the extra time that Firaxis already needed to get the PS4 and Xbox One versions ready. Both of those consoles are considerably more powerful than the Switch and it may be the case that the extra work required to get the game running on Nintendo's console ultimately wasn't worthwhile. After all, despite strong reviews, the game was a "commercial flop," according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

On a positive note, the Xbox One and PS4 versions will drop on the same day as the game's fourth expansion. Marvel's Midnight Suns: Blood Storm will add Storm as a playable character and introduce new missions to the ongoing vampyre storyline. All of the DLC installments will be available to PS4 and Xbox One players out of the gate, enabling them to add the likes of Deadpool, Venom and Morbius to their hero rosters.

The next League of Legends spin-off game is only a few weeks away. Convergence: A League of Legends Story is coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and PC (on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store) on May 23rd.

Convergence is a 2D action platformer from Double Stallion Games (the studio behind Speed Brawl) and Riot's publishing label Riot Forge. You'll play as Ekko, a popular LoL champion who featured in the Arcane animated series and can manipulate time, as you navigate a more colorful version of Zaun than you may be used to. There's a promise of "tight, dynamic combat," while Ekko’s ability to travel through time and space should open up some intriguing exploration.

We got our first look at Convergence back in 2019, so it's taken quite some time for Double Stallion to finish it up (there was, of course, the small matter of a pandemic since then). It's one of three LoL titles that Riot Forge plans to release this year, along with The Mageseeker and Song of Nunu.

Over 18 months after YouTube pledged to demonetize climate change denial content, researchers say they found 100 videos that violate the policy and still feature ads. They said in a report that ads for brands such as Costco, Politico and Tommy Hilfiger were displayed alongside the videos, which collectively had more than 18 million views.

An ad for the movie 80 For Brady appeared before a video claiming that climate change is a hoax, according to The New York Times. Jane Fonda, who stars in the film and runs a PAC focused on tackling climate change, told the publication she was "appalled" to find out an ad for one of her movies was running next to such a video.

Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), a coalition of more than 50 environmental organizations and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the videos it found included claims like "there is no link between CO2 and temperature” and “every single model [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] ever have put out is wrong.” The researchers added that YouTube bans videos containing "harmful misinformation" from receiving ad revenue. This policy applies to videos that contradict "authoritative scientific consensus on the existence of and causes behind climate change."

CAAD said it found another 100 videos with more than 55 million total views that didn't violate YouTube's policies but met its own definition of climate misinformation and disinformation. The group claimed that's an indication of YouTube profiting from videos that fall outside of its "narrow definition" of what constitutes climate disinformation.

The researchers said that by the time they completed their research, YouTube had demonetized eight of the videos in the dataset. CAAD said the videos that were still monetized collectively had more than 71 million views. 

Content moderation is a complex issue and some videos that violate YouTube policies will inevitably slip through the cracks. However, some of the climate change denial videos that CAAD found were on channels with more than a million subscribers. 

YouTube spokesperson Michael Aciman told the Times that the platform has removed ads from many of the videos identified by the researchers, including the one with the 80 For Brady promo. Aciman said YouTube was okay with "policy debate or discussions of climate-related initiatives, but when content crosses the line to climate change denial, we remove ads from serving on those videos."

Apple and Google have announced a partnership to tackle the issue of unwanted tracking through the likes of AirTags and Tile devices. The companies have proposed industry standards "to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices for unwanted tracking." 

The proposal has received backing from Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, Anker's Eufy brand and Pebblebee, as well as a number of safety and advocacy groups. The draft specification includes best practices and instructions for Bluetooth tracker manufacturers on how to implement “unauthorized tracking detection and alerts” for iOS and Android.

Apple and Google submitted the draft specification to the Internet Engineering Task Force, a notable standards development organization. Over the next three months, interested parties will have a chance to review the documentation and weigh in on it. Apple and Google will address feedback from the comment period, then work together to develop a production version of the specification by the end of the year. Future versions of iOS and Android will support the tech.

“Bluetooth trackers have created tremendous user benefits, but they also bring the potential of unwanted tracking, which requires industrywide action to solve,” Dave Burke, Google’s vice president of engineering for Android, said in a press release. “Android has an unwavering commitment to protecting users, and will continue to develop strong safeguards and collaborate with the industry to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth tracking devices.”

“We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is being used as intended," Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of sensing and connectivity, said. "This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections, and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android.”

There have been numerouscases of Bluetooth trackers being used to stalk people over the last few years, as bad actors have planted such devices on unsuspecting victims. It's not only people that can be unwillingly tracked by Bluetooth devices. According to reports, thieves have used them to steal high-end cars.

Since it debuted its AirTags in 2021, Apple has rolled out some anti-stalking features. For instance, it has updated the devices so they emit as loud a noise as possible at some point after they're separated from their owners. An Android app can also detect AirTags and other Find My-compatible trackers that may have been planted on someone. 

It was reported last year that Google was exploring the idea of OS-level Bluetooth tracker detection, which now seems very likely to happen in the coming months. The company plans to reveal more details about its efforts to combat unwanted tracking at I/O next week. Google is also said to be working on its own Bluetooth tracker, which it may reveal at I/O. 

Days after it started offering users the option to post more than once per day, BeReal is rolling out another new feature. RealPeople is a curated timeline of "the world’s most interesting people." Sorry if you didn't make the cut. The feed includes updates from athletes, artists, activists and other notable users.

As with everyone else on BeReal, users featured in the RealPeople timeline will be prompted to drop everything and take a snapshot of their lives with their phone's selfie and rear cameras when the app sends them a notification at some point during the day. This, BeReal suggests, enables RealPeople to offer "real unfiltered glimpses" into the day-to-day lives of the likes of tennis star Coco Gauff and singers Tinashe and Danny Ocean.

"RealPeople isn’t about influencing, amassing likes or comments or promoting brands," the company wrote in a blog post. "You won’t see perfect photoshopped pictures, product recommendations or ads disguised as posts. It’s trying to show we’re all more alike than we think."

As with the Bonus BeReal feature that debuted last week, RealPeople will only be available in the UK at first before it becomes more broadly available. For now, you'll be able to react to a RealPeople post with an emoji, or hide or report it. Other ways to interact with RealPeople posts are on the way.

Observers have suggested that BeReal didn't move quickly enough to capitalize on the momentum it gained in 2022. The company has said that last year was largely about stabilizing the service amid a large influx of users. It has refuted claims that its user numbers have nosedived in recent months. To help it keep folks engaged though, BeReal is finally starting to roll out new features, something the company wasn't able to do before largerrivals started copying it.

Air fryers are all the rage and those who've been on the fence about adding one to their kitchen might be interested in checking out a deal on a model from Ninja. The 10-quart DZ550 DualZone, which Ninja released last year, has dropped to $200 at Amazon. That's $50 off the regular price. While it's not the lowest price we've seen for this model, this might be the biggest discount that you'll find for a while.

This is a more recent version of one of our favorite air fryers, Ninja's DZ401. The main upgrade is the addition of an integrated food thermometer. This should help you monitor the internal temperatures of foods, especially proteins, with more accuracy.

As with other dual-zone fryers, the DZ550 has two independent, nonstick baskets, allowing you to cook two foods simultaneously, such as a main and a side. You can have different settings for each basket or match the settings across both — a handy option if you're cooking two batches of the same thing. The Smart Finish feature, meanwhile, is designed to make sure the food in each basket is ready at the same time.

The DZ550 has six functions: air frying, air broiling, roasting, baking, reheating and dehydrating. There's also a wide temperature range that runs from 105 to 450 degrees. Additionally, Ninja claims its air fryer can cook food faster than a traditional oven. It says the DZ550 can cook two six-pound chickens 30 percent faster than a regular oven and make frozen food crispy in 30 minutes.

You'll need to set aside plenty of counter space for the DZ550: it's 17 inches wide and 14 inches deep. It weighs just under 20 pounds as well. Still, if you have the room for the DZ550, it could prove a helpful addition to your kitchen, and the lower price makes it that much more appealing.

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