Fitbit has issued a voluntary recall for Ionic smartwatches that it manufactured and sold from 2017 through 2020. In its announcement, it explained that the model's lithium-ion battery can overheat and pose a burn hazard in "very limited instances." According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Fitbit received at least 174 reports of the watch's battery overheating. It received 78 reports of burn injuries that include two second-degree and four third-degree burns in the US, as well as 40 reports of burn injuries from other regions. 

The company, which stopped selling the product in 2020 before being acquired by Google, sold around a million Ionic smartwatches in the US and 693,000 internationally. While 118 reports of burn injuries might be a small percentage of the total number of units sold, Fitbit said it's taking "this action out of an abundance of caution."

When the Ionic came out in 2017 as the brand's first real smartwatch, we found it a pretty well-rounded debut. After it was released to the public, though, complaints stating battery issues started popping up online, prompting some users to demand a recall. It took some time for the company to respond, but now people who still own an Ionic can get a $299 refund for their device, even if they haven't been actively using it for a while. They're also getting a 40 percent off discount code for future purchases if they send in their old smartwatches. 

People who own an Ionic smartwatch can visit the official recall page to get the process started. Those who aren't quite sure if the model they own is an Ionic can check the back of their device for the model number — if it shows the code FB503, then they're eligible for a refund.

Hyundai plans to release 17 full electric vehicle models by 2030 as part of its efforts to strengthen its lineup and to catch up to rival automakers. The company's CEO Jaehoon Chang has made the announcement when he unveiled Hyundai's electrification roadmap in an investor presentation. Out of 17, 11 models will be under the main Hyundai brand, while 6 will be released under its Genesis luxury brand. 

The automaker announced last year that Genesis will switch to electric powertrains completely by 2025, though at the time, it said that it expects to have eight EV models available for sale in 2030. Chang's latest announcement includes more concrete details about Hyundai's electrification plans. He said the company is investing 19.4 trillion won ($16.08 billion) in its EV-related endeavors, including setting up more manufacturing plants with the capability to produce EVs. The automaker is also aiming to capture a 7 percent market share in the global EV market and to sell 1.87 million electric vehicle units per year by 2030.

The company has yet to reveal the exact models it's releasing within the next eight years, but it did say that three of them are sedans, six are SUVs, one is a light commercial vehicle, while the last one is a new vehicle type. The first release will most likely be the IONIQ 6, an all-electric sedan that will be available for purchase this year. In 2024, Hyundai will be releasing the IONIQ 7, as well. 

While $16.08 billion is a considerable investment, analysts told Reuters that it's in in no way "aggressive" when compared to the commitments made by some rival companies. Toyota, for instance, plans to invest 8 trillion yen ($70 billion) for its electrification projects by 2030, while GM had earmarked $35 billion for its EV and automated vehicle investments from 2020 through 2025.

The Snapchat app will no longer show ads in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In addition, Snap has halted all ad sales in Russia and Belarus following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company has announced in a blog post. It said that it will continue offering the multimedia app in those countries, as it remains an important tool of communication, but that it will comply "with all sanctions targeting Russian businesses and individuals." It also emphasized that it has no physical offices in Russia and that it does not accept revenue from Russian state-owned entities.

By implementing those ad bans, Snap has joined the growing list of tech companies that had also taken steps to limit ad availability in those regions. Twitter paused ads and recommendations in Ukraine and Russia "to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don't detract from it." Both Facebook and Microsoft blocked state media outlets from using their advertising platforms, while Google-owned YouTube barred state-owned RT and other Russian channels from being able to generate ad revenue. 

As the company said in its post, it has never allowed RT and other state-owned outlets to publish on Snapchat's Discover page, so it doesn't have to carry out additional measures to block them from the app's equivalent of a news feed. Still, the company said it's "vigilantly monitoring" its platform "for any evidence of disinformation or misuse."

Google has blocked users from being able to edit Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, according to BuzzFeed News. It's also deleting all user-submitted places and contributions, such as photos, videos and business information in those countries made since February 24th. The tech giant came to the decision "out of an abundance of caution" after people claimed across social networks that the Russian military has been relying on pins created by users on Maps to coordinate air strikes on Ukraine. 

As BuzzFeed News explains, there are posts circulating on websites like Twitter with screenshots of Maps showing pins labeled "“ФЕРМЕРСЬКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО" or Ukrainian for "farm" in Kyiv. People were reportedly claiming that user-made tags saying "farm" or "agriculture" created on February 28th matched the locations of the missile strikes on cities that include Kyiv and Kharkiv. 

Google told the publication, however, that some of the user edits marking locations in Ukraine as "farms" were made a year ago. Even so, it's disabling user contributions to Maps since the Russian invasion had started. A company spokesperson said:

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are removing user contributions like photos, videos, reviews and business information and all user-submitted places from Google Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus since the invasion began, and are temporarily blocking new edits from being made."

A few days ago, the tech giant also removed live traffic data on Maps in Ukraine, most likely to protect the locations of fleeing locals. It blocked the YouTube channels of Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik on across Europe, as well, following the European Commission's announcement that it would ban what it calls "Kremlin's media machine" in the EU. Other tech companies had also responded to calls to limit their services in Russia and to block access to its state-owned media outlets. Facebook took down fake accounts spreading Russian disinformation and restricted RT's and Sputnik's access to its platform, for instance. More recently, Apple halted all product sales in Russia and disabled all traffic data in Ukraine after a request from Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. 

Reddit has made r/Russia harder to find and stumble across in a move meant to minimize misinformation on the website. It has added the group to the list of "quarantined subreddits," which means it won't show up in search and recommendations, as well as in non-subscription-based feeds. Also, anyone who loads an r/Russia URL it will go through a portal where they'll have explicitly agree to visit the subreddit before seeing its content. Those who do choose to visit will see a warning at the top of the page that says "This Community contains a high volume of information not supported by credible sources."

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According to Mashable, the Russia subreddit mostly contained posts that justified or supported the country's invasion of Ukraine. Some accused Ukraine of being the one to spread misinformation, and some reportedly likened Ukrainian soldiers to Nazis. While there were some verifiable posts in the group, it also had a lot of content that could be quickly debunked. "We are clear in our policies that moderators and users may not attempt to manipulate and interfere with the conversations or communities on our platform," a Reddit spokesperson told the publication. 

Over the past few days, a number of tech companies have blocked access to Russian state-owned media in Europe following the EU's decision to ban them so they could "no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war." Facebook restricted access to RT's and Sputnik's pages across EU territories in addition to blocking them in Ukraine. Microsoft banned them from its ad network and de-ranked them in Bing search results. YouTube blocked access to their channels across Europe, and even TikTok made their accounts inaccessible within the EU.

We most likely won't see the ExoMars mission blast off and start its journey to the Red Planet this year. The European Space Agency has announced that it's fully implementing sanctions imposed on Russia by its member states following the country's invasion of Ukraine, and it expects the move to affect its joint projects with Roscosmos. One of those joint projects is ExoMars, which is being developed to search for past life on the Red Planet, as well as to assess its water and atmospheric trace gases.

The ESA is working on the rover that will travel across the Martian surface, while the Russian space agency is in charge of its lander and some instruments the rover will use. In the ESA's announcement, it said "the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely." The agency still has to analyze all its options before it can finalize a decision on how to proceed. 

ExoMars was supposed to launch in 2018 before it was rescheduled for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple technical failures during testing prompted the space agencies to postpone it yet again. To be able to reach Mars from Earth, a spacecraft has to leave our planet within 10-day launch windows that only occur every two years when the two planets are properly lined up. If ExoMars is missing the this year's window, then it will definitely be delayed for another couple of years at the very least.

The ESA has also acknowledged that Roscosmos halting Soyuz launches and withdrawing its workforce from the vehicle's usual launchpad in Kazakhstan will affect some of its projects and payloads. In addition, as The New York Times notes, the war calls the fate of the ISS into question. At the moment, NASA and Roscosmos are working together to maintain the space station. But Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin recently said that US sanctions against his country could degrade its space program and destroy its partnership with NASA.

He said:

"If you block cooperation with us, who will save the International Space Station (ISS) from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or...Europe? There is also the possibility of a 500-ton structure falling on India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, therefore all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?"

While the US side of the ISS provides life support and power, the Russian side provides propulsion to maintain its altitude. NASA's human spaceflight program head Kathy Lueders said operations are going well thus far, but that Northrop Grumman and SpaceX have offered to help look for ways to add capability to the US side of the space laboratory.

Google is the latest to join the growing list of tech companies blocking access to Russian state media across Europe. In a tweet, the company has revealed that it's blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik in Europe following the European Commission's announcement that it will "ban the Kremlin's media machine in the EU." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the declaration a few days ago, adding that RT, Sputnik and their subsidiaries will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war."

The tech giant said it'll take time for its systems to fully ramp up, so EU residents may still be able to access channels affiliated with the media organizations at the moment. It also said that it has a team monitoring the situation around the clock to take swift action, perhaps to ensure no new channels pop up to take the place of the ones being blocked. 

YouTube barred the outlets from being able to monetize their content on the platform a few days ago, citing sanctions against their home country. In addition, it made sure their videos appear less frequently as recommendations and made their channels inaccessible in Ukraine following a request from the country's government. Eastern European media outlet Nextatweeted out a copy of the letter Alexander Tkachenko, Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy, sent to YouTube, in which he asked the website to "block access of the aggressor state's propaganda channels not only in Ukraine, but around the world." So far, YouTube has only blocked RT and Sputnik in Ukraine and the EU.

Facebook restricted access to the state-owned media outlets across the EU a few days ago after it removed their ability to monetize their pages with ads. Twitter halted ads in Ukraine and Russia, as well, "to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don't detract from it." Microsoft followed suit, banning the publications from its ad network, pulling their news apps from the Windows store and de-ranking them in Bing's search results. Google started downranking results from the outlets in 2017, though it's unclear if that has changed over the years. Earlier, TikTok also made the RT and Sputnik accounts inaccessible to audiences within the EU.

In February, Respawn revealed that it's rolling out Apex Legends Mobile in 10 countries this week as part of a "limited regional launch." Now, the developer has announced that it's pushing back the game's initial release "due to current world events" and is now aiming for a March 7th launch. While Respawn didn't expound on what it meant by "world events," it was most likely talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Apex Legends Mobile has been in the works over the past three years and was supposed to arrive in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Singapore this week. The limited regional launch, which will run throughout the spring, will help the developer fine-tune gameplay and features, as well as discover any last minute fixes it needs to do. Respawn is asking players in the test countries to share their feedback and will only announce a wide release after it has "made informed decisions coming out of the limited regional launch."

The mobile game's character roster is similar to the original Apex Legends game when it first came out, but Respawn stresses that cross-play with the console and PC versions won't be available. It's "being built specifically for mobile," the company said. Although the initial launch has been pushed back, interested players in the aforementioned regions can now pre-register by looking for the game on Google Play or on the iOS App Store. 

You can now attach one-time content warnings to the images and videos you tweet if you didn't have access to the feature in the past. Twitter started testing a feature that gives you a way to add warnings for nudity, violence and other types of sensitive content to each individual post last year. Now, Twitter Support has announced that the feature is available to everyone using its Android and iOS apps, as well as its web interface.

When you apply a warning to an individual tweet, the media you attach to it will look obscured to people viewing it until they opt to view what's behind it. The feature gives you a way to share content that may be upsetting or not appropriate for everyone without having to mark all your tweets as sensitive. 

To add a warning to a single tweet, simply click on the flag icon that shows up while you're editing the photo or video you attached and then choose between the nudity, violence and sensitive options. As The Verge notes, you can tag multiple warnings for each attachment, and Twitter will place a single warning over multiple media in a single post. 

You can watch Twitter Safety's video on how to access the feature below:

A new bill that guarantees benefits for ride-hail drivers while still classifying them as gig workers has passed the Washington State House. It's backed by Uber and Lyft, as well as the local Teamsters union, and represents a compromise between all parties involved. Under the legislation, drivers are guaranteed benefits that include paid sick leave, a minimum pay rate and a resource center for drivers who want to appeal their deactivation — all while still being classified as gig workers. 

Meanwhile, the companies can't set their workers' schedules under the legislation, and cities won't have the power to regulate ride-hailing firms. According to LaborNotes, the bill is getting mixed reception from drivers, with some arguing that the benefits may not be enough.

Uber, Lyft and other gig companies have long fought attempts to force them to classify their workers as employees, even spending hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure that's the case. In California, the companies spent over $200 million to campaign for Proposition 22, a ballot that overturns a local law that made drivers full employees. The companies prevailed, and the proposition passed with a decently wide margin. 

Peter Kuel, president of the Teamsters-affiliated Drivers Union, told Bloomberg:

"Thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers — predominantly immigrants and people of color — will benefit from this long overdue expansion of pay raises, benefits and protections statewide."

LaborNotes says, though, that Drivers Union supported the bill mainly because the companies threatened to pursue a ballot initiative if they don't get a compromise in Washington. Don Creery, a Drivers Union board member, told the publication:

"They're also holding the gun at our heads with the possibility of an initiative. They spent $200 million on California. It comes down to the reality that we don't have the money to buy TV ads. They do. They will misinform the public with a barrage of TV ads, so we will lose an initiative. We could lose everything."

The legislation is now heading to the State Senate, which will hold a public hearing for it today, February 26th.