Some Twitter users on iOS might see a new button that looks like Reddit's downvote button in people's replies. That's part of the social network's latest experimental feature designed to give it more insight on what kind of replies users find relevant in a conversation. According to Twitter Support's announcement, the goal is to be able to gather enough data, so the platform can work on ways to surface more relevant responses. In long threads, for instance, the best replies don't always show up immediately and might be buried underneath tons of other people's tweets.

The random testers who get the feature might see different versions of it. Some may see upvote and downvote buttons, while others might only see a downvote button right next to Twitter's heart/like option. A third version will show testers thumbs up and down buttons instead. The number of downvotes a reply gets will not be visible to the public, and users' downvotes will be visible to them alone. Meanwhile, upvotes will show up as likes. 

At the moment, votes won't change the order of responses similar to how Reddit buries replies that get a ton of downvotes. As Twitter User Researcher Cody Elam explains in a series of tweets, the experiment's purpose isn't to shame users, but to give "people the power to privately voice their opinion on the quality of replies" and to give the company a "more nuanced feedback." He added: "We’re hoping to learn more about the quality of replies that people vote on and if voting is a feature that people find valuable."

This isn't the first time Twitter started testing the Reddit-like feature. A few months ago, the social network started experimenting with Facebook-style emoji reactions that also included upvote and downvote buttons. 

Google has introduced a few Maps features that could help you ease back into the world, now that COVID-19 vaccines are available. One of the most useful changes to Maps is the expansion of transit crowdedness predictions to over 10,000 cities in 100 countries. 

Companies are expecting their staff to get back to the office in the near future, and crowdedness prediction can let you know if the train or bus line you're waiting for has a lot of open seats, or if it's already crowded. That way, you can decide whether to hop on or wait for the next one in hopes that it isn't as jam-packed. Maps can make predictions by combining AI tech with contributions from people using Google Maps, along with historical location trends.

Google

If you're in New York and Sydney, you can even see a train's level of crowdedness down to transit car level in real time. Maps will mark the least crowded cars, so you can line up for one of them, thanks to data from transport agencies in the areas. It's still a pilot at the moment, but Google says the feature will be available in more cities soon. 

In addition, the tech giant has launched a new Timeline Insights tab for the Maps app. So long as you're on Android and you have Location History switched on, you'll be able to view "monthly trends about how you’re navigating the world." For instance, that's where you can see how much time you spend at different places, such as shops or airports, and the distance and time for each mode of transportation you've taken. The tech giant says it developed the feature after users told the company that they want "to be more intentional about how they spend their time" after living through the pandemic.

Finally, Trips in the Timeline tab is now available to everyone on Android, so you can relive the vacations you've had in the past. In case your favorite travel destination still isn't welcoming tourists, you can go to the section and virtually visit hotels, restaurants and other places you've previously enjoyed.

Summers in Tokyo are not only hot, they're also extremely humid — together, those two elements are a recipe for heat-related illness. According to The Guardian, there are concerns that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics would lead to a rise in heatstroke cases, which is definitely a huge issue when medical services are already stretched too thin due to the pandemic. To help protect Olympics' staff from heat-related illnesses, Alibaba has designed a cloud-based solution to monitor their body temperature and heart rate. 

The Olympics staff will wear an intelligent device in their ear to track their stats and the environment index, which will be monitored through heat stress meters set up across the venues. That data will then be sent to a cloud-based technology that will identify the level of heatstroke risk in real time for each user. Those who are highly at risk of getting a heatstroke will receive alerts on their phones, along with recommended precautionary measures, such as drinking more water as soon as possible.

In 2020, Tokyo reported almost 200 heat-related deaths in the metropolis, so athletes and staff members are bracing for what could be the hottest Olympics yet. The city can be so hot and humid in the summer, officials had to move the 1964 games to October. Since that's not going to happen this time around — the event will begin on July 23rd — precautionary measures like using Alibaba's anti-heatstroke tech must be taken.

Owners of non-Tesla EVs may be able to use some Superchargers by the end of 2021. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed on Twitter that the company is opening up its Supercharger network to other EVs later this year. Musk has long talked about making the network accessible to other electric cars and, as CNBC notes, he mentioned late last year that some brands have are already seeking access to Tesla's charging stations. Now, we have a better idea of when that might happen.

Opening up its network to other companies won't be simple, seeing as Tesla uses a proprietary connector in North America. It has to make sure the stations will work across brands and that secure software handshake between a non-Tesla car and a Supercharger is possible. The transition could be easier in Europe where the automaker already uses standard CCS connectors. 

Electrek reported back in June that Tesla is already in talks with authorities in Norway, and that it applied for incentives to deploy charging stations that will be available even to non-Tesla vehicles "from the third quarter of 2022." Germany's minister of transport also previously revealed that he was in direct contact with Tesla and other companies to make sure existing infrastructure like the Superchargers are "also opened up to other manufacturers."

Musk unfortunately didn't elaborate on his tweet, so we've still yet to know which Superchargers will be accessible by other vehicles first. He did say, however, that the network will open up to other brands in all countries where it's available over time. 

Apple bosses had been pushing for employees to get back into the office in September, but they may have changed their tune due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. According to Bloomberg, the tech giant is delaying its return-to-office deadline by about a month and won't be expecting employees to start working out of its facilities again until October at the earliest. It's reportedly a response to the recent uptick in coronavirus cases due to the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant in the US and around the world.

The tech giant originally wanted to implement a hybrid workplace arrangement starting in September, wherein most employees will be expected to show up at the office for three days a week at a minimum. "Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate," Tim Cook reportedly wrote in an internal email.

As The Verge reports, staff members tried to push back and sent the company a letter asking it to rethink its "location-flexible work policy" and to embrace remote work for the sake of inclusion and diversity. However, Apple execs insisted back then that "in-person collaboration is essential to [the company's] culture and... future." 

Bloomberg notes that Apple is one of the first tech giants is the US to delay its return to office. Google announced that it's adopting a hybrid work week back in May, but it expects 20 percent of its workforce to continue working from home full time. As for Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously said that he expects 50 percent of his employees to work from home within the next five to ten years. While Apple doesn't have a new data for its hybrid workplace implementation, Bloomberg's sources said that the company will give employees a month's notice in advance before they're expected to go back to work in the office. 

Google will fix your Pixel 4 XL phone for free for up to a year after your warranty expires, provided you live in the US, Singapore, Canada, Japan and Taiwan. The tech giant has launched an extended repair program for the larger version of its 2019 flagship device, which features motion gesture support and built-in radar. Google stopped selling the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL from its own store in August 2020, but they're still available from retail partners until supplies last. While this program can get you free repairs if you're in one of the eligible countries, it only covers specific power-related issues.

In particular, the issues must be related to not being able to switch on your phone and to having trouble charging with an adapter or a wireless charger. If your phone keeps restarting or shutting down without you doing it or if your battery drains significantly faster than before, you could get free repair under the program, as well. In Canada, Japan and Taiwan, you could even get a free replacement. That said, you can't get a free repair or replacement if you purchased your device from Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy Spain or the UK, even if you're in one of the eligible countries.

Make sure to check Google's FAQ page for more information on how you can take advantage of the program in your location. In the US, you'd have to bring your device to a uBreakiFix location or access Google's repair center website to start the process.

GM is working on another electric pickup truck in addition to GMC's Hummer EV and the electrified Chevrolet Silverado it confirmed back in April. The automotive giant has made the announcement at a media event, according to CNBC and CNET Roadshow. It didn't reveal a lot of details about the project and only showed a shadowy image of a tarp-covered truck during the presentation, but it did say that it would be a full-size GMC pickup.

Also, CNBC says it's expected to be a more "traditional" pickup than the Hummer EV, which is a "lifestyle" vehicle. That could mean that it's something priced within the reach of more people than the Hummer is, though GMC global head Duncan Aldred reportedly refused to admit whether it's the electrified version of the Sierra pickup. 

General Motors has been pledging more and more money into efforts to go electric and driverless. The automaker originally planned to pour $20 billion into the endeavor, but it announced that it would raise its 2020-to-2025 investment to $35 billion just this April. GM plans to offer 30 EVs on the market by the end of 2025 and to exclusively sell electric vehicles starting in 2035. 

The Hummer EV is slated to go into production this fall and would be one of first electric pickups people can buy. With prices that begin at around $80,000, though, it's not exactly a direct competitor to other upcoming electric trucks. Tesla's Cybertruck and Ford's F-150 Lightning will cost about half that, and this mysterious third electric truck might be more of competition for them.

Microsoft designed Windows Hello to be compatible with webcams across multiple brands, but that feature designed for ease of adoption could also make the technology vulnerable to bad actors. As reported by Wired, researchers from the security firm CyberArk managed to fool the Hello facial recognition system using images of the computer owner's face. 

Windows Hello requires the use of cameras with both RGB and infrared sensors, but upon investigating the authentication system, the researchers found that it only processes infrared frames. To verify their finding, the researchers created a custom USB device, which they loaded with infrared photos of the user and RGB images of Spongebob. Hello recognized the device as a USB camera, and it was successfully unlocked with just the IR photos of the user. Moreover, the researchers found that they didn't even need multiple IR images — a single IR frame with one black frame can unlock a Hello-protected PC. 

Breaking into someone's computer using the technique would be terribly hard to pull off in reality, seeing as the attacker still needs an IR photo of the user. That said, it's still a weakness that could be exploited by those especially motivated to infiltrate someone's computer. Tech companies need to ensure their authentication technologies are secure if they want to rely more and more on biometrics and to move away from passwords as a means of authentication. The CyberArk team chose to put Windows Hello under scrutiny, because it's one of the most widely used passwordless authentication systems.

Microsoft has already released patches for what it's calling the "Hello Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability." The tech giant also suggests switching on "Windows Hello enhanced sign-in security," which will encrypt the user's face data and store it in a protected area.

How do authorities dispose of confiscated cryptocurrency mining rigs? In a city in Sarawak, Malaysia, authorities got rid of 1,069 rigs at once by crushing them with a steamroller, Vice reports. According to Malaysian publication Dayak Daily, the PCs were confiscated over six raids conducted between February and April this year. Sarawak Energy Berhad, the electric utility company of the Malaysian province, is accusing the mining operators of stealing electricity for their activities. The operators allegedly stole RM8.4 million worth of energy, or around US$2 million, from the company. 

People who want to seriously mine cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum use PCs built for that purpose, and the process usually consumes a huge amount of electricity. That's why it's no surprise that energy theft is commonly reported in places where miners operate. In Ukraine, for instance, the country's Security Service raided a mining operation that used PS4 Pros as their machines, and the operators were also accused of stealing electricity from the country's power grid. The Malaysian city's police chief Hakemal Hawari told Dayak Daily that energy theft for mining operations has been so rampant this year, three houses burned down as a result of illegal electric connections.

You can watch the steamroller crush the mining rigs in the video below. If you're wondering, that's RM5.3 million (US$1.26 million) worth of hardware being haphazardly smashed by a gigantic machine.

Fakespot, an app that analyzes Amazon reviews to determine which ones are fake, is no longer available for iOS. Amazon has successfully convinced Apple to remove it from the App Store after the company raised concerns that the application provides misleading information and creates potential security vulnerabilities. The e-commerce giant has confirmed to Engadget that it reported Fakespot for investigation. One of its biggest concerns, Amazon told us, was that the redesigned app Fakespot launched in June "wraps" and injects code into its website.

"Wrapping" would make it possible, in theory, for the app to collect data and put customers' sensitive information, including credit card numbers, at risk. The e-commerce titan told us it got in touch with Fakespot directly to address its security concerns and that the app developer didn't take action. 

Amazon said in a statement:

"Amazon works hard to build a shopping experience that delights customers, and a selling experience that empowers brands and sellers to build and grow their business. The app in question provides customers with misleading information about our sellers and their products, harms our sellers’ businesses, and creates potential security risks. We appreciate Apple’s review of this app against its Appstore guidelines."

Fakespot founder and CEO Saoud Khalifah has admitted to CNBC that his company collects some user data, but he said that it doesn't sell information to third parties. Further, he denies Amazon's claim that the app presents security risks. "We don't steal users' information, we've never done that. They've shown zero proof and Apple acted on this with zero proof," he told the publication. Apparently, Apple didn't give his company adequate warning before the app was taken down and didn't even give it a chance to rectify any issue the tech giant may have. 

While Apple has yet to issue a statement that would clarify why exactly Fakespot was pulled down, Amazon pointed Engadget to two App Store guidelines, in particular. One of those guidelines states that an app that displays content from a third-party service must secure permission from that service. The other prohibits applications from displaying false information. 

Back in early 2020, Amazon went after another add-on used to track prices and discount: Honey, a $4 billion PayPal acquisition. People using Honey saw a warning on Amazon's website that said the extension "tracks [their] private shopping behavior, collects data like [their] order history and items saved, and can read or change any of [their] data on any website [they] visit."