Beyond its ownaccessibility apps, Google offers a powerful API that lets developers create tools for people with disabilities. The beta version of the Android Accessibility Suite — which was part of the fourth Android 12 beta that recently arrived on Pixel handsets — includes a neat new way to control your phone. "Camera Switches" essentially lets you use face gestures to complete a number of actions. For instance, you can set the app to detect when you smile or raise an eyebrow in order to open your notifications panel or quick settings. You can also open your mouth to scroll forward or backward. As spotted by XDA Developers, the update lets you map around six face gestures to over a dozen phone controls. These can also be tweaked based on gesture size to prevent the app from constantly initiating actions.

Camera Switches builds upon the Switch Access feature in Android Accessibility Suite, which lets you interact with your device without using the touchscreen. Depending on the context, this can be done using an external device, such as a keyboard, via a USB or Bluetooth connection, or by pressing the built-in buttons on your phone. In that sense, Camera Switches takes the feature up a notch by introducing gestures to the mix. Seeing as most people are already accustomed to unlocking their phones with their face, the new additions shouldn't seem completely foreign.

While using Camera Switches, you'll see a persistent notification icon that indicates your camera is being used. However, as Android 12's privacy dashboard already includes a status indicator for both the camera and mic, this feature may be unnecessary. XDA was also able to sideload the app's APK to get the new feature on Android 11.

Apple's AirPods Pro are back down to $180, their best deal barring Black Friday lows. That's $70 off the normal price of the popular wireless earbuds, which remain our top pick for iOS users. The Amazon deal currently lists the Pro for $190, but an extra $10 discount is automatically applied at checkout. We gave Apple's high-end earbuds an excellent 87 review score with praise for their improved audio, comfortable fit and IPX4 water resistance.

Buy AirPods Pro at Amazon - $180

They essentially offer several upgrades over the standard $150 AirPods, hence the higher price tag. Chiefly, the Pro deliver superior sound thanks to their active noise cancelation and support for spatial audio. Apple even claims the buds can customize your listening experience by using Adaptive EQ to tune music to the shape of your ear. 

They look different to the AirPods, too. The Pro have shorter stems and are a bit wider, making for a more crowdpleasing design. While the addition of silicone ear tips in different sizes results in a more comfortable fit compared to the regular AirPods. They're also better gym buddies courtesy of their sweat and water resistance.

Seeing as the Pro dropped in 2019, you may be wondering about new upgrades. Rumors indicate that new AirPods could be imminent this holiday season. Reports also claim that the next AirPods Pro will focus on fitness tracking. Of course, none of that matters if you want to upgrade right away. In which case, you can't go wrong with the current Pros, especially if you're an iPhone owner. The lower price is the icing on the cake.

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In the latest twist to the Poly Network crypto hack, the perpetrator who returned most of the $611 million in stolen digital tokens is being offered a $500,000 reward. The prize is a bug bounty to be precise, an incentive offered by tech organizations to those who report security vulnerabilities. In a statement, Poly Network referred to the culprit as a "white hat" in reference to his status as an ethical hacker. The decentralized finance platform thanked the hacker for "helping to improve" its security, but did not mention how it would pay the reward or whether it had been accepted. 

A person claiming to be the perpetrator confirmed that Poly Network had offered him a $500,000 bounty to return the stolen assets and promised that he would not be held accountable for the incident, according to messages shared on Twitter by Tom Robinson, the chief scientist and co-founder of Elliptic, a crypto tracking firm. 

Poly Network connects different blockchains, the ledgers upon which cryptocurrencies are based, so they can work together. The company revealed on Tuesday that it was the victim of a massive crypto heist that saw a hacker make away with about $611 million in Ethereum, Shiba Inu and other digital currencies. 

On Wednesday, the hacker began returning the stolen funds after claiming they were ready to surrender. Poly Network said on Friday that the hacker had repaid $340 million worth of assets into a digital wallet. All that remains is the $33 million in tether frozen by the company behind the cryptocurrency.

It's still unclear what prompted the hacker to backtrack. Some experts believe that they may have found it hard to launder and cash out the large amount of stolen crypto. While others suggest that the hacker was afraid of being exposed and prosecuted after researchers discovered a trove of identifying info, including an email and IP address. More broadly, the bizarre series of events further illustrates the pitfalls involved with cryptocurrency, an unregulated domain where hacks and scams are rife.

Apple has given a release date for the second of two Tom Hanks films it acquired during the pandemic. Finch, a futuristic tale about a reclusive inventor and his canine and robot road buddies, hits Apple TV+ on November 5th. Like Hanks' war movie Greyhound before it, the film became a casualty of the pandemic, mired by release date delays until Apple swooped in to acquire it from Universal. The robot (pictured above) is played by Caleb Landry Jones, fresh off a best actor win at Cannes. 

Hanks plays the titular character, an ailing robotics engineer who emerges from his self-imposed underground exile to journey across a desolate American wasteland. Along for the ride are his dog, Goodyear, and an android who names himself Jeff. Together, they make a dysfunctional family, but can they learn to get along? I guess we'll have to wait till November to find out. 

Finch is also loaded with offscreen talent. The good-natured sci-fi flick is directed by Emmy-winning Game of Thrones lead Miguel Sapochnik, with Alien scribe Ivor Powell and newcomer Craig Luck on screenwriting duties. While director Robert Zemeckis serves as an exec-producer and the film hails from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which may explain why the plot gives off major Cast Away and AI vibes.

The November release date also signals Apple's possible confidence in the film's awards chances. Either that or it's just looking to add a major movie to its fall line-up, which is already stocked with big hitters like sci-fi series Foundation, the second season of The Morning Show and current affairs show The Problem with Jon Stewart.

Three senior designers pivotal to Diablo 4 and World of Warcraft are no longer at Activision Blizzard. Kotaku confirmed the trio of abrupt departures after initially learning about them from internal sources. They include Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft. Insiders told the publication that the three developers names had been removed from Blizzard’s internal directory and Slack. 

News of the shakeup arrives as Activision Blizzard is grappling with allegations of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The incendiary accusations, which were revealed in a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), have already led to damaging repercussions for the publisher. Blizzard is facing an internal outcry, with workers staging walkouts and demanding corrective action. Earlier this month, the company lost its president and was hit with a lawsuit by investors irked by its handling of the crisis. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has admitted that the publisher's original response to the DFEH filing was "tone-deaf."

While the company did not give a specific reason for the latest departures, two of the designers (namely McCree and LeCraft) were reportedly pictured in photos of the infamous "Cosby Suite." This was the hotel room explicitly mentioned in the DFEH lawsuit where male employees allegedly harassed women at company events. As Overwatch fans may know, the battle royale game features a cowboy called Jesse McCree named after the now ex-Blizzard employee. It remains to be seen if the publisher changes the character's name.

“We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate," a spokesperson for Blizzard told Kotaku. "We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amazing experiences to our players, and move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all.”

The UK's competition regulator has found that Facebook's acquisition of GIF-sharing platform Giphy will harm competition within social media and digital advertising. As part of its provisional decision, the watchdog voiced concerns that Facebook could prevent rivals including TikTok and Snapchat from accessing Giphy, a service they already use. It added that Facebook could also require customers of the GIF platform to hand over more data in return for access. If its objections are confirmed as part of the ongoing review, the regulator said it could force Facebook to unwind the deal and to sell off Giphy in its entirety.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ultimately determined that the deal stands to increase Facebook's sizeable market power. Together, its suite of apps — including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram — account for 70 percent of social media activity and are accessed at least once a month by 80 percent of internet users, the CMA said.

Beyond social media, the watchdog suggested that the acquisition could remove a potential challenger to Facebook in the $5.5 billion display advertising market. Citing Facebook's termination of Giphy's paid ad partnerships following the deal, the regulator said the move had effectively stopped the company's ad expansion (including to additional countries like the UK) in its tracks. This in turn had an impact on innovation in the broader advertising sector, the CMA explained.

Facebook's announcement last May that it was acquiring Giphy, with plans to integrate it with Instagram, for a reported $400 million immediately raised alarm bells for regulators. The social network is facing antitrust complaints in the US and the EU over its social media and advertising monopolies, respectively. At the same time, the UK has ramped up its scrutiny of Big Tech by creating a dedicated Digital Markets Unit to oversee the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple. The fledgling agency sits within the CMA and is designed to give people more control over their data.

Today, the CMA echoed those principles in its initial decision. The regulator said that it would "take the necessary actions" to protect users if it concludes that the merger is detrimental to competition. It will now consult on its findings as part of the reviews process. A final decision is slated for October 6th.

Facebook told Variety that it "disagrees" with the CMA's preliminary findings. "We will continue to work with the CMA to address the misconception that the deal harms competition,” the company added. It previously argued that Giphy has no operations in the UK, meaning that the CMA has no jurisdiction over the deal. In addition, it has claimed that Giphy's paid services cannot be classified as display advertising under the regulator's own market definition. 

While we wait for Nerf to come to Oculus VR, Hasbro has unveiled a new game featuring its toy blasters. Nerf Legends is a first-person arena shooter with a sci-fi twist that sees players battling robots across 19 single player levels. There's also online multiplayer including four versus four and eight player free-for-all modes.  

Of course, the game is another way to sell real-life Nerf products to a generation of kids who have grown up playing Fortnite. As such, there are 15 blasters from the Mega, Ultra and Elite lines, with upgrades and skins, to choose from. To help your side win, you'll be able to use dart power-ups like magnetic push and pull, seeker and freeze on your opponents. The game is rated T for Teen, which suggests it's not quite fit for kids of all ages, possibly due to the futuristic violence.

Nerf Legends will hit all major consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 19th, according to a Best Buy listing. It will be followed by Nerf Ultimate Championship, another arena shooter, on Oculus Quest in 2022. The double whammy of releases signals that Hasbro is serious about the potential of gaming to boost its long-running line of toy blasters.

Samsung is releasing the 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G, a cheaper sibling to its flagship Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, on Thursday, August 5th. The "FE" stands for "Fan Edition," a term that was also used with the Galaxy S20 FE smartphone, and is essentially a roundabout way of saying this is a less flashy alternative. 

In terms of specs, that boils down to a less powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset, compared to the S7/S7 Plus' 865+ processor. Here, you get an LCD instead of the Plus' AMOLED display with 2,560 x 1,600 resolution versus 1,752 x 2,800 pixels. Samsung hasn't mentioned if the refresh rate will match the 120Hz on the S7 range. 

Samsung

Another area where it falls short is the camera: 8MP on the back and a 5-megapixel one for selfies. Comparatively, the S7/S7 Plus feature a dual camera setup, with a main 13-megapixel camera accompanied by an ultra wide 5-megapixel offering, with a front 8-megapixel snapper. The FE also poaches the S7 Plus' 10,090 mAh battery and supports quick charging. Its metal unibody design should still feel as lavish.

Samsung

Prices for the 5G tablet start from $669, which gets you the base model in black with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage (expandable to 1TB with an SD card). Samsung previously said the slate would also offer a 6GB/128GB configuration, though that is likely to cost more. The FE 5G will initially be available at Samsung.com, AT&T and Verizon, and will arrive at T-Mobile, UScellular and other retailers in the coming days. 

A $530 WiFi model is also available to pre-order today, ahead of a September release date, in three extra colors including pink, green and silver. Both tablets come with an S-Pen stylus out of the box. 

That really leaves you to decide whether you want the FE or last year's Tab S7 ($650/$850) or Tab S7 Plus ($850/$1,050). Of course, if you're after something even cheaper, you can always settle for the $159 Tab A7 Lite.

China's regulatory war against its tech giants isn't limited to data. After opening a front in gaming back in 2018, the government is now adding to the restraints the biggest publishers face. Tencent is first on the chopping block. The publisher has been forced to further slash playing time on Honor of Kings for those aged under 18 to one hour during regular days and two hours on weekends. The rules, designed to appease the country's all-powerful censors, come into effect today, according to state media outlet the South China Morning Post. 

Previously, play time in China was capped at 90 minutes per day during the week and three hours per day at weekends and holidays as part of broader rules introduced in 2019. Additional restrictions banned younger gamers from playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and curbed how much they could spend on downloadable content.

Honor of Kings is a hugely popular multiplayer online battle arena game developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group, also known for Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokémon Unite. As of November, the mobile title boasted 100 million players. But, its success has also brought with it increased scrutiny. In June, Tencent found itself at the center of a lawsuit that accused it of including "inappropriate" content in Honor of Kings, including characters with low-cut clothes and historical inaccuracies.

The latest crackdown comes amid growing fears in China over the addictive nature of video games. On Tuesday, a state-affiliated media outlet described the products produced by the gaming industry as “spiritual opium.” The article continued: “No industry or sport should develop at the price of destroying a generation.”

Therein lies the broader issue. China is currently grappling with a generational divide that has seen younger citizens reject the competitive lifestyle pressures heaped upon them. This stance is encapsulated by the "tang ping," or "lying flat," philosophy embraced by a growing number of Gen Z Chinese. In a nutshell, it signifies those who choose not to work hard, not to buy property and not to marry and have children. 

Instead of addressing the societal complaints, China is choosing to deflect the blame onto the gaming industry.

T-Mobile has finally confirmed when it will shut down Sprint's LTE network as part of its assimilation of the carrier it acquired in April of last year. It told Light Reading that it will shutter the service by June 30, 2022. Since completing the $26 billion merger, T-Mobile has been busy using Sprint's spectrum to expand the rollout of its 5G network. 

But, the transition hasn't been completely smooth. With the deal raising competition concerns, antitrust regulators set out a number of conditions to get it across the line. The goal was to make Dish Network the nation's new fourth carrier. To get it there, T-mobile was ordered to hand over spectrum, the Boost prepaid mobile brand — and the 9 million customers signed up to it — and to act as Dish's network provider for up to seven years. 

However, the partnership turned sour when T-Mobile announced that it would shut down Sprint's CDMA network by January 2022, which a majority of those 9 million customers use. Dish put T-Mobile on blast over the decision in a letter to the FCC earlier this year, accusing it of anti-competitive behavior. Just weeks ago, Dish decided to hop from T-Mobile's network onto AT&T's as part of a new 10-year agreement.