A recent Model S crash that killed three people has sparked another Federal probe into Tesla's Autopilot system, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is conducting the investigation and said it's currently looking into more than 30 incidents involving Tesla's Autopilot.

The accident occurred on May 12th in Newport Beach's Mariners Mile strip, according to the Orange County Register. The EV reportedly struck a curb and ran into construction equipment, killing all three occupants. Three construction workers were also sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police declined to say whether Tesla's Autopilot was involved. 

Tesla is one of a number of automakers that have released Level 2 driver assistance systems designed to ease driving chores. Those systems are far from full self-driving (Level 4 or 5) though, and Tesla specifically instructs drivers to pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the wheel. 

The NHTSA said last August that it was opening an investigation into Autopilot following 11 crashes with parked first responder vehicles since 2018 that resulted in 17 injuries and one death. 

The NHTSA itself has been criticized by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for not ensuring automakers include the right safety features in their Level 2 autonomous vehicles. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy has called Tesla's use of the term "Full Self-Driving" for its latest Autopilot system "misleading and irresponsible," saying "it has clearly misled numerous people to misuse and abuse technology." 

Apple's third-generation AirPods are a big improvement over the previous model and only came out late last year. But you can now grab a pair at Amazon for just $150, a significant 16 percent ($29) off the regular price and only $10 higher than the cheapest deal we've seen to date. 

Apple's latest earbuds garnered an Engadget review score of 88, and we noted that they were "better in nearly every way" than the 2nd-gen models. That's due in part to a new, more comfortable design that's a better fit for more people. Sound quality is equally improved thanks to the rich bass and overall clarity and you get an excellent 30 hours of battery life with the included charging case. And on top of improving performance, the H1 chip enables hands-free Siri, spatial audio support with head tracking and pairing with multiple Apple devices. 

If you really have trouble with earphones fitting, the one-size-fits-all AirPods might not be right for you — for a more custom fit and noise cancellation, the AirPods Pro might be a better choice. Those are also on sale as well, luckily, for $197 or 21 percent off the regular price. Just remember that both models are really designed for Apple's ecosystem of devices, so Android users had best look elsewhere.

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Last year, YouTube debuted a feature that let viewers shop products directly from a livestream. It'll take that feature a step further later this year by allowing creators to co-host live shopping streams across two channels, it announced at its annual Brandcast event. It also unveiled a new "redirects" feature that will let YouTubers work more closely with brands.

YouTube said the features will be a way to help creators and advertisers make more "meaningful connections" with their audiences. The first allows two channels to go live and cohost together, "uniting their communities in a single live shopping stream," YouTube said. The other is called live redirects, letting creators start a shopping livestream on their own channel, then redirect to a brand's channel for fans to keep watching. 

With the new features, YouTube is taking live shopping to a new level in order to take on terrestrial shopping channels. It's not a coincidence that it hosted Brandcast at the so-called "Upfronts" sessions used by TV channels broadcasters to promote new content to advertisers, rather than the digital equivalent, NewFronts. 

While most broadcasters flaunt original programming at Upfronts (the first live version in three years), YouTube focused on live shopping, short-form video and high-profile creators like Mr.Beast, Patrick Starr and Marques Brownlee. It also noted that the Media Rating Council accredited YouTube again for content-level brand safety, making it the only platform with the rating. As mentioned, the co-hosting feature will arrive sometime in 2022, but there's no word yet on when we'll see the brand redirects feature.

New York City may have more Airbnb listings than apartments for rent despite a 2016 law banning short-term rentals, Curbed has reported. April apartment rental inventory in Manhattan, Brooklyn and northwest Queens numbered 7,699 units, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That compares to somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 entire-apartment or entire-home Airbnb rental listings across all of NYC, as calculated by AirDNA and Inside Airbnb.

New York City has effectively prohibited short-term rentals (less than 30 days) in multi-unit buildings without the owner present since 2011, and made it illegal to even advertise such listings in 2016. If Airbnb renters are following the law, that means the listings are only active for short periods during the year.

Many could also be Brownstone "garden apartments" separated from but still a part of the main dwelling, which can be rented year-round by apartment owners. "A decade ago [those] may have gone to long-term tenants," Curbed noted. The lack of that inventory on the long-term rental market is particularly noticeable now with rentals so tight and prices averaging $3,925 per month in Manhattan.

Other factors may have contributed to the NYC housing shortage, though, Airbnb said. "Over the past two years, our entire space listing supply citywide has decreased, and it now represents a fraction of a percent of the city’s rental units — and all while rent prices have trended upward and city-issued permits for new-unit development remain down by a double-digit percentage," a spokesperson told Curbed in an email. In addition, some Airbnb listings may only be available for several weeks out of the year.

Airbnb is widely used by tourists and travelers, but hotels see them as unlicensed competition and city councils and housing advocates say that they take thousands of rentals off the market and distort market prices. The problem is particularly acute in cities with tight housing markets like New York and San Francisco, the latter of which also issued laws limiting rentals.

The extent to which Airbnb has contributed to a NYC housing shortage is debatable. However, the optics of having more Airbnb listings than rentable apartments isn't great in a brutal rental market. "Bidding wars accounted for one in five new lease signings," Elliman wrote. "Greater affordability is not right around the corner. More and more people are hunkering down."

Last week, Costa Rica declared a state of emergency following a massive Conti ransomware attack on its government. Now, Conti has boosted its threat, saying its aim is nothing less than to overthrow the government, The Associated Press has reported. "We have our insiders in your government," the group said. "We are also working on gaining access to your other systems, you have no other options but to pay us."

The group, which also doubled its ransom demand to $20 million, may be trying to take advantage of the fact that Costa Rica's President Rodrigo Chaves has only been in office for a week. "We are at war and that’s not an exaggeration," Chaves said, adding that officials were dealing with a national terrorist group with collaborators inside the nation. He says that the scale is broader than thought, with 27 government institutions, including municipalities and state utilities, affected. 

The US State Department has declared a $10 million bounty on Conti, saying the attack "severely impacted the country's foreign trade by disrupting its customs and taxes platforms." It's reported to have affected Costa Rica's ministries of finance, labor and social security, among other bodies. 

Conti was also in the news recently after attacking Parker Hannifin, a major component supplier for Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It reportedly infiltrated current and former employees, stealing information like their social security numbers, passport numbers, bank and routing numbers and more. 

However, the threat to overthrow Costa Rica's government is likely just a ruse to extort more money, according to a ransomware analyst cited by the AP. "I believe this is simply a for-profit cyber attack," said Emisoft's Brett Callow. "Nothing more."

Sony has revealed the first games set to arrive with the launch of its new PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscriptions services, and it's an impressive lineup. PlayStation Studios titles include Demon's Souls (PS5) and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut (PS4/PS5), along with third-party games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4/PS5) and NBA 2K22 (PS4/PS5). Those games will arrive in the "launch time frame," starting May 24th, according to Sony, on the PlayStation Plus Extra ($15/month) and Premium ($18/month) tiers.

Along with the main lineup, PlayStation Plus Premium members will get access to classic games "with some titles that will show improved frame rates and higher-quality resolution compared to their original launch versions," Sony wrote. Some of those include Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, Tekken 2 and Worms Armageddon, along with remasters like Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy and Borderlands The Handsome Collection. Premium members will also get access to PS3 games like Infamous, Hot Shots and the Ratchet & Clank series.

As part of all that, Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft+ is coming to PlayStation Plus starting on May 24th. On top of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, titles arriving include The Division and For Honor, "as well as beloved classic games like Child of Light, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, Watch Dogs, Werewolves Within, and more," Ubisoft wrote in its blog. Again, all of these titles will be available on the PlayStation Plus Extra and/or Premium tiers, but not the Essential ($10/month) plan.

Sony will also let Premium (aka Deluxe in certain regions) members get time-limited trials with two hours of gameplay available before purchasing. Some of those on offer include Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Horizon Forbidden West, Cyberpunk 2077 and Tiny Tina's Wonderland. 

All tiers including Essential, Extra and Premium/Deluxe will see monthly games, much as you get right now on PlayStation Plus. "We have yet to announce the monthly games for June, but stay tuned to PS Blog," Sony wrote. 

On top of all that, new games will be added regularly, with updates on the first Tuesday of the month for PlayStation Plus Essential, and in the middle of each new month for Extra and Premium/Deluxe plans. The service is launching in Asia on May 24th, followed by Japan on June 2nd, North and South America on June 13th and Europe, Australia and New Zealand on June 23rd. There's more information available at the PlayStation Plus website and for a full list of games coming on launch, check Sony's announcement post. 

Amazon is knocking up to 42 percent off most of the Fire TV Stick streaming devices in its lineup, making it a good time to update or increase your streaming capabilities. The deals start at $20 for the Fire TV Stick Lite ($10 or 33 percent off) to the Fire TV Stick 4K ($35 instead of $50) and the Fire TV Cube, available for $70 for a savings of 42 percent. 

The best deal is on Amazon's best streaming device, the Fire TV Cube ($70). We gave it an 84 score when it first came out, thanks to the Dolby Vision and HDR+ support, speedy performance and more. It has the best processor out of all Fire TV devices and it includes an Ethernet adapter for reliable wired performance. In addition to using Alexa voice commands to control what your watching, the Fire TV Cube can effectively transform your TV into an Echo Show smart display. You can ask it to play music, control smart home devices, check in on video camera feeds and more.

If it's a cheaper model you're seeking for a spare bedroom, for instance, the Fire TV Stick Lite is available in two versions, with and without TV controls for $20 and $25 respectively. While 4K isn't on offer here, you get full HD streaming with all the popular services, with convenient TV controls for the latter version.

Moving up to 4K, the sweet spot is the Fire TV Stick 4K, on sale for $35 instead of $50, for a savings of 30 percent. You get Ultra HD support with Dolby Vision, HDR and HDR10+, along with Dolby Atmos surround sound — giving you a full home theater experience while taking up minimal room. It also offers Alexa Voice Remote with TV controls, smart home control and more. Taking that up a notch is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, on sale for $45 or $10 off, which adds WiFi 6, live view picture-in-picture and 2GB of memory. 

Finally, there's Amazon's Fire TV Recast on sale for $155, or 33 percent of the regular $230 price. On top of letting you stream Netflix, Prime Video and other services, you can connect an over-their-air antenna to view terrestrial TV channels like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS or the CW. It has a built-in DVR, letting you record any shows, and comes with 2 tuners and 500 GB (75 hours) of memory. It's Alexa enabled, letting you search for shows, control the channel guide and manage recordings. 

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In February Apple unveiled Tap to Pay, a new feature that will enable merchants to accept payments with only an iPhone — something that could cut into the business of companies like Square. Now, it turns out that Apple is already testing the feature at its own Apple Park visitor center in Cupertino. 

A video tweeted by user @NTFTWT, spotted by MacRumors, shows the system in action, with a customer making an Apple Pay payment directly to the iPhone of an Apple staffer. They simply needed to touch their iPhone to the other iPhone, with no payment terminal in sight. 

As we detailed earlier, the technology requires an iPhone XS or later device. It works with Apple Pay, of course, but will also support contact-free credit and debit cards, third-party payment platforms and other digital wallets. Stripe has already detailed plans to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to business customers in the spring, with other platforms and apps scheduled to come later in 2022. Dutch processor Adyen will work with Lightspeed Commerce, Newstore and other commerce platforms to help them use Tap to Pay. 

Apple promised a future iOS beta giving developers a look at Tap to Pay, but it has yet to release a date. Now that it seems to be operational at Apple's own office, though, it might be a sign that it'll launch soon in the US and around the world. 

Uber Eats is launching not just one but two autonomous delivery pilots today in Los Angeles, TechCrunch has reported. The first is via an autonomous vehicle partnership with Motional, originally announced in December, and the second is with sidewalk delivery firm Serve Robotics, a company that spun out of Uber itself.

The trials will be limited, with deliveries from just a few merchants including the Kreation juicery and organic cafe. Serve will do short delivery routes in West Hollywood, while Motional will take care of longer deliveries in Santa Monica. "We'll be able to learn from both of those pilots what customers actually want, what merchants actually want and what makes sense for delivery," an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Uber will apparently charge for the deliveries from Serve. However, autonomous vehicle deliveries in California require a permit that Motional reportedly doesn't possess, so it appears that customers won't be charged for deliveries from their vehicles, for now. In addition, human operators will take control when near the drop-off locations "to ensure a convenient and seamless experience for customers," a spokesperson said. 

Serve's robots, meanwhile, will mostly be able to operate autonomously, but remote operators will take control in certain cases, as when crossing a street. 

Customers within specific test zones will have an option to have their food delivered by an autonomous vehicle and can track it as with a regular delivery. When the food arrives, they'll be able to unlock the vehicle with a passcode to obtain their meals, either from a Serve cooler or the backseat of a Motional car. "The hope is that [the trials] are successful and that we learn over the coming months and then figure out how to scale," Uber's spokesperson said. 

Alexa has introduced "Shopping List Savings" to the Alexa App, letting you scan receipts on eligible products from any store to gain cashback rewards, TechCrunch reported. It won't cost you a thing to use it and you'll get cash back to your Amazon gift card to use on any item on Amazon. The catch is that the system will provide Amazon with a ton of valuable data on your shopping habits, even when you're not shopping on its site.

Using it is pretty straightforward. You just search the Alexa app to find available offers, then add them to your shopping list. You can shop the offers at your "go-to grocery store" (or pharmacy, or any store where you can get an itemized receipt) and scan the receipt and product barcodes to redeem them. That'll get you cash directly on your Amazon gift card, usually in 24-48 hours, which can be used to buy anything on Amazon. 

Amazon doesn't explain how your data will be used or promise to anonymize it, as TechCrunch notes. Instead, it simply states that "we will get any information you provide, including receipt images and information we may extract from those receipts, and the offers you activate. You understand and acknowledge that your personal information may be shared with Amazon’s service providers." 

Amazon isn't the only company to offer such a service, as you can also get cash rewards from Fetch, Ibotta and other companies in exchange for your shopping data. The amount of reward per product appears to be on an offer-by-offer basis, and you can check on payment status any time on the Get Paid page on "Browse Savings." The offer appears to be limited to the US, for now.