Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub won’t be able to get out of paying minimum wage to their New York City delivery workers after all, following a judge’s decision to reject their bid to skirt the city’s new law. The upcoming law, which is still pending due to the companies’ ongoing lawsuit, aims to secure better wage protections for app-based workers. Once the suit settles, third-party delivery providers will have to pay delivery workers a minimum wage of roughly $18 per hour before tips, and keep up with the yearly increases, Reuters reports.
The amount, which will increase April 1 of every year, is slightly higher than the city’s standard minimum wage, taking into account the additional expenses gig workers face. At the moment, food delivery workers make an estimated $7-$11 per hour on average.
New York Acting Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne put the law on pause back in July, when the three companies and the smaller delivery service, Relay Delivery, sued the city, arguing that the raised rates will have a negative impact on their services. With Moyne's latest decision, it’ll now move forward. While Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub will have to comply once it takes effect, Relay will be given more time to renegotiate its contracts with restaurants, according to Reuters.
The move makes NYC the first US city to require a minimum wage for app-based deliveries, and others are likely to follow suit. The city previously pushed ride hailing apps to raise their minimum rates for drivers, forcing Uber and Lyft to raise their per-mile rates by just over 5 percent in 2022.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-grubhub-and-doordash-must-pay-nyc-delivery-workers-an-18-minimum-wage-213145847.html?src=rss
As of November 1, Disney+ will restrict its Canadian users from sharing their accounts with people outside their households unless they’re willing to pay more. The company sent out an email to subscribers notifying them of the change, which Disney CEO Bob Iger foreshadowed in an earnings call back in August. With this move, the company is following closely in the footsteps of Netflix, which officially began its crackdown on password sharing in the US and other countries in May.
In the updated Subscriber Agreement, Disney specifies that a household includes only “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence" and used by the people who live there. It also suggests Disney+ will introduce new fee options for users who want to add outside members to their accounts, noting that the upcoming rule applies to everyone “unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier.” The details on that haven’t been released yet, but Netflix has set the precedent with its $8 per extra person, per month charges.
Iger previously said the company was targeting 2024 to begin clamping down on account sharing, so the bans up north are coming ahead of schedule. He also stated that addressing the “significant” level of account sharing could take more than the entire next calendar year to solve. It’s as yet unclear how, if at all, Disney+ will try to enforce the ban on mobile devices, and when it will come to other regions.
On November 1, Disney+ users in Canada and parts of Europe will also get access to the streaming service’s less costly ad-supported tier, which has been available in the US since 2022. That’s likely little consolation for anyone about to get kicked off their parents’ Disney+ account.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-getting-strict-about-password-sharing-starting-in-canada-194038029.html?src=rss
Amazon is paywalling more formerly free features on its smart home devices. Several months after it moved some basic Ring alarm system features behind a subscription plan, Amazon is doing something similar for several Alexa Guard functions.
Alexa Guard is a free security feature that came as standard on Echo devices. It listens out for things like alarms and intruders when you aren't at home. However, the company is shutting down Alexa Guard, as The Vergereports.
Some Alexa Guard features will remain available to everyone at no extra cost as part of the core Alexa experience. These include the Home and Away modes (for arming and disarming a Ring Alarm system) and Away Lighting, which turns on smart lights to make it seem like you're en casa.
However, you'll need to pay for the new Emergency Assist service to keep using several features. Amazon is paywalling Alexa Guard's smoke and CO alarm detection functions. You'll also soon have to pony up for a subscription if you want Alexa to keep an ear out for the sound of breaking glass, signifying a possible intruder.
There's at least some good news for Ring Protect Pro members who linked their Ring and Alexa accounts as of September 20. Those folks will get an Alexa Emergency Assist membership at no extra cost until October 31 next year. Guard Plus, which added some extra features to Alexa Guard for a monthly or annual fee, is no longer available for purchase. It was included with a Ring Protect Pro plan.
Alexa Emergency Assist currently costs $6 per month or $59 per year. However, that's listed as an introductory price that will only remain valid for everyone until January 8. After that time, non-Prime subscribers will have to pay extra for Emergency Assist. Much like Guard Plus, Alexa Emergency Assist enables users to call emergency services via the voice assistant on an Echo device.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-will-start-charging-for-formerly-free-alexa-guard-smoke-and-security-alerts-184602106.html?src=rss
Amid a barrage of Amazon-branded tablets and Alexa-powered tech, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, announced the company’s digital assistant will soon tap into a purpose-built large language model (LLM) for almost every new Echo device.
Amazon set out to design the LLM based on five foundational capabilities. One of these is ensuring interactions are “conversational,” and the company claimed it “studied what it takes to make a great conversation. It’s not just words; it’s body language, it’s understanding who you’re addressing, it’s eye contact and gestures.” Still waiting on Amazon to add eyes and hand gestures to its Echo devices. Has anyone seen Astro recently?
Based on the demos at Amazon’s showcase, however, it’s got some work to do. When Limp asked Alexa to compose a quick message to invite friends over for BBQ, the assistant requested his friends’ attendance for “BBQ chicken and sides” — which is how we invite humans over for dinner, right? Alexa also outright ignored the Amazon SVP’s requests at points during the presentation, but I’ll put those issues down to the fraught nature of voice assistant demos in a live setting. We’ve pulled all of Amazon’s announcements together right here.
With the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple is introducing a new method of interaction: Double Tap. It’s also rolling out on-device Siri processing, which will let you ask the assistant for your health data and to log your daily stats. When both hands, or at least your watch hand, are occupied, Double Tap will obviously not be helpful. You’ll need to have at least your thumb and index finger available to pinch. But when Engadget’s Cherlynn Low is cleaning her apartment, holding a side plank, raising a single dumbbell or reading a book, it makes her life easier. Also, it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are the company’s first carbon-neutral products. Read on for our full verdict.
But the full damage of the attack remains unclear.
All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company. The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, using a bit of LinkedIn knowledge and a short phone call to access crucial systems across casinos. Worryingly, the attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta – and at least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, according to a Reuters report.
Amazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet. This is the first time Amazon has worked on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost, although the company did not otherwise elaborate on how Eye Gaze actually works.
Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices. It can convert them into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will also launch later this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-amazon-turns-alexa-into-a-more-conversational-chatbot-for-your-home-111539413.html?src=rss
Meta’s paid verification service is no longer just for individuals. The social network is expanding its subscription service to businesses on Facebook, Instagram and, eventually, WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg announced during the company’s “Conversations” event.
Meta Verified first launched for Facebook and Instagram earlier this year, but wasn't available for those with business accounts. That’s now changing, though businesses will be paying extra for the service compared with everyone else. Verification for a single account (on either Facebook or Instagram) will cost $27.99/month for mobile sign-ups or $21.99 if the purchase is made via the web. Business owners signing up on the web can also bundle an Instagram and Facebook verification for $34.99/month. That’s significantly more than the $12- $15/month Meta Verified currently costs for individuals, but Meta is likely calculating that business owners will be more willing to shell out for the extra benefits.
Meta Verified bears some similarities to Elon Musk’s X Premium. It grants subscribers a checkmark and higher ranking in search results, as well as a fast-track to customer support channels and “proactive” protection against impersonation. The company also plans to feature "Meta Verified businesses" in its in-app recommendations on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta
When Meta Verified launches for WhatsApp, it will include a few additional benefits, like multi-device support for customer chats and the ability to create a business page that will appear in web-based search results. (Meta hasn’t said how much verified status will cost businesses on WhatsApp.)
Of course, unlike X Premium, Meta does require subscribers to verify their identities. For businesses, this means subscribers will need to provide proof of their association with the business, via a phone number or email domain. The company also requires subscribers to opt-in to two-factor authentication and meet a minimum level of activity. Meta says it will begin by making subscriptions available to business owners in “select test countries,” but declined to name the specific locations. Meta Verified for WhatsApp, on the other hand, will roll out sometime “in the future.”
In addition to the expansion of Meta Verified, the company also announced a few other updates for businesses that use its messaging tools. In-app payments on WhatsApp, which are currently available in Brazil and Singapore, will be expanding to merchants in India. The app will support credit and debit card payments, as well as other apps like Razorpay.
The company also introduced something called “WhatsApp flows” so that businesses can create customized features like appointment booking directly from in-app chats. The feature will be available to WhatsApp Business users “in the coming weeks.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-paid-verification-for-businesses-will-cost-almost-double-what-it-does-for-individuals-145733662.html?src=rss
Just like X (formerly Twitter), would-be competitor T2 Social has a new name, and it’s one that might ring a bell. Starting today, the service is called Pebble. And no, it's not a revival of the e-ink smartwatch company of yore.
Pebble said in an email to users that T2, which is run by former X/Twitter employees, was a placeholder name. It opted for Pebble after reviewing more than 60 options. The team plumped for that one because “a tiny stone can cause ripples across a whole pond. Just like sharing your stories and insights can create waves in our community.”
It’s certainly an interesting choice. Pebble (the smartwatch) blew up on Kickstarter, only to go out of business a few short years later. Fitbit snapped up its intellectual property and Google later bought that business. That certainly doesn’t seem ominous for the prospects of Pebble (the social media platform).
The latest entity to go by Pebble hasn’t taken off in the same way as Bluesky (which recently passed a million users), Post (440,000 registered users as of June) or Threads (more than 100 million users in less than a week). Pebble has somewhere north of 15,000 registered users. In fairness, the service limited signups and opted for an invite system, which is also changing today as anyone with an X account can now join.
In addition, Pebble has rolled out a new tab called Ideas. Here, you can see a list of AI-generated suggestions for your next post or reply. Pebble CEO Gabor Cselle suggested this will help foster a kinder, safer and more enjoyable environment for everyone, though some might suggest that could lead to a more boring experience all around. As Wired, which first reported on the GAI feature, put it, "the Ideas feature’s sometimes peppy or stilted prose could easily leave one’s social feed feeling artificial and dull."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/would-be-x-competitor-t2-social-is-now-called-pebble-no-not-that-pebble-150021871.html?src=rss
The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group claimed responsibility for the MGM Resorts cyber outage on Tuesday, and it apparently took the group only 10 minutes on a phone call to glean the information needed to shut down systems and slot machines — not the slot machines! — at casinos owned by MGM Resorts.
“All ALPHV ransomware group did to compromise MGM Resorts was hop on LinkedIn, find an employee, then call the Help Desk,” the organization wrote in a post on X. Those details came from ALPHV but have not been independently confirmed by security researchers.
MGM Resorts didn’t respond to a request for comment but said on Tuesday that “Our resorts, including dining, entertainment and gaming, are currently operational.”
Coca-Cola launched a new flavor co-created by artificial intelligence. The company’s calling it the soda “from the future,” and it’s available for a limited time in both regular and zero sugar. It’s called Y3000, with a flavor described as resembling a raspberry slushy. Coke also tasked AI to help design the artwork on the slim can, which looks like a Now That’s What I Call Music CD case from the early ’00s. Inspired.
Your application has to be manually approved, though.
Talking of blasts from the past, want to rent a DVD? Netflix is winding up that part of its business later this month, but if you’re one of its subscribers sad to see the service go, there’s now another rent-by-mail option. Scarecrow, the largest independent video store in the US, has launched its own rent-by-mail service, which will send DVDs and Blu-ray discs straight to your door. Scarecrow has 140,000 titles — comparably, Netflix has around 5,000 titles in its US catalog, according to CordCutting — most of which you can rent by mail. There are exceptions, however, including rare and out-of-print videos, which require a security deposit, newly released movies and adult titles.
It’s a solid, if not especially exciting, blend of first- and third-party games.
Xbox Live Gold will be no more after today. Replacing it is a new tier of Game Pass called Xbox Game Pass Core. It’s a different offering to Games with Gold in that there will be a rotating library of a few dozen games. There are some solid, if cheap / old games, including Vampire Survivors, Celeste, Doom Eternal and Dishonored 2, but it’s not the most exciting selection assembled for this base version of Game Pass.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-hacking-a-vegas-casino-may-just-take-a-single-phone-call-111525161.html?src=rss
The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group claimed responsibility for the MGM Resorts cyber outage on Tuesday, according to a post by malware archive vx-underground. The group claims to have used common social engineering tactics, or gaining trust from employees to get inside information, to try and get a ransom out of MGM Resorts, but the company reportedly refuses to pay. The conversation that granted initial access took just 10 minutes, according to the group.
"All ALPHV ransomware group did to compromise MGM Resorts was hop on LinkedIn, find an employee, then call the Help Desk," the organization wrote in a post on X. Those details came from ALPHV, but have not been independently confirmed by security researchers.
The international resort chain started experiencing outages earlier this week, as customers noticed slot machines at casinos owned by MGM Resorts shut down on the Las Vegas strip. As of Wednesday morning, MGM Resorts still shows signs that it's experiencing downtime, like continued website disruptions. MGM Resorts has not responded to a request for comment, but said in a statement on Tuesday that "Our resorts, including dining, entertainment and gaming are currently operational."
Katie Malone for Engadget
ALPHV has a reputation in the cybersecurity community as being "remarkably gifted at social engineering for initial access," according to vx-underground. From there, it usually uses ransomware ploys to extort a target into paying up, and it's been going after huge corporate targets. In July, ALPHV and another threat actor Clop listed beauty giant Estée Lauder on their data leak sites.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hackers-claim-it-only-took-a-10-minute-phone-call-to-shutdown-mgm-resorts-143147493.html?src=rss
After September 29th, Netflix will no longer rent DVDs by mail and will be winding down that part of its business altogether. Most people might be surprised that the streaming giant is still even renting DVDs, but if you're one of its subscribers who'll be sad to see the service go, there's now another rent-by-mail option you can use anywhere you are in the US. Scarecrow, the largest independent video store in the US, has launched its own rent-by-mail service that will send DVDs and Blu-ray discs straight to your door.
The store first piloted the service back in 2019 before it started working on making its library available to people across the country during the pandemic. As The Seattle Times reports, it launched a campaign in 2021 to raise funds for an overhaul of its aging website, making it more searchable and giving it a more modern look. Now, Scarecrow's rent-by-mail website is live, with step-by-step instructions on how to avail of the service and a searchable library divided by genres.
To be able to rent from Scarecrow, you'll need to sign up for an account, which will have to be verified and approved by a staff member. After that, you can start adding DVDs to your cart. Titles are priced individually, but shipping will cost you $12 for up to six discs. That's discs, not titles, which means if one movie has six discs, you can't add more to the same shipment. The rental window is 14 days, including shipping, after that you can either renew by phone or pay late fees.
Scarecrow has 140,000 titles in its collection — comparably, Netflix has around 5,000 titles in its US catalog, according to CordCutting — most of which you can rent by mail. There are exceptions, however, including rare and out of print videos that require a security deposit, newly released movies and adult titles. It also doesn't mail VHS tapes and laser discs, so you'll have to go elsewhere for those formats.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/americas-largest-independent-video-store-is-taking-its-dvd-by-mail-service-nationwide-094751920.html?src=rss
"MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company's systems," the company wrote in a statement. It said the company "took prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems" in response to the attack. MGM Resorts has not confirmed how widespread the shut down is, what systems have been affected or other details about the incident.
Customer anecdotes report issues making reservations, using ATM machines, playing certain games and mobile key entry into hotel rooms, but Engadget has not independently confirmed these reports. While MGM Resorts informed the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department about the incident, the department said in a statement that these types of incidents are typically passed along to federal agencies.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mgm-resorts-hit-by-cybersecurity-issue-leading-to-massive-outage-215205561.html?src=rss
