Meta started removing COVID-19 misinformation early into the pandemic, but it's now wondering if it should take a gentler approach. The Facebook owner has asked the Oversight Board for advice on whether or not it should continue its existing coronavirus policies now that the pandemic has "evolved." The company provided multiple options for the Board's consideration, ranging from the status quo through to significantly softer approaches.

The social media giant suggested that it might temporarily stop the immediate removal of false COVID-19 claims and either limit its distribution, submit it to independent fact-checkers or apply labels steering users toward accurate information. Meta was also willing to continue removing at least some misinformation, but said it would stop pulling content when it no longer represents an "imminent risk of harm." The Board would provide guidance on how Meta would make that decision.

Global Affairs President Nick Clegg characterized the advice request as an attempt to strike a balance between "free expression" and safety. The Board's decision would not only help shape that balance, but would aid Meta in responding to future health crises. Clegg noted that Meta had removed 25 million instances of bogus COVID-19 content since the pandemic began, and that it now had resources including its own virus information center as well as guidance from public health authorities.

The Board is also tackling multiple potentially important cases in other areas. A transgender non-binary couple is appealing Instagram's decision to remove two images of (covered-up) nudity despite some moderators determining that the convent didn't violate the site's pornography policies. Meta stood behind its decisions to remove the posts, but the couple said the company didn't provide an adequate answer and shouldn't censor transgender bodies at a time when trans rights and healthcare are under threat.

Another dispute challenges Instagram's decision to remove a video playing a snippet of Chinx (OS)' drill music tune "Secrets Not Safe" after UK law enforcement claimed the rap song's lyrics (referencing a past shooting) could promote real-world harm. A fourth case, meanwhile, concerns an appeal from a Latvian user who allegedly promoted violence with a post accusing Russia of fascism and referencing a poem that called on people to kill fascists.

While all of the cases could have a significant effect on Meta's policies, the possible changes to the firm's COVID-19 misinformation response may draw the most attention. Critics have repeatedly argued that Meta wasn't doing enough to fight misinformation, pointing to evidence that people who lean heavily on Facebook for news are more likely to believe false claims about vaccines and the coronavirus. Meta's request for advice runs counter to that criticism, and could raise fears that misinformation will spread rapidly.

Rollerdrome is essentially the video game version of Rollerball, the fabulous 1975 sci-fi film starring James Caan. In Rollerball, monolithic corporations control society and the least powerful citizens are compelled to compete in lethal roller-skating competitions, in the name of entertainment and classism. (Yes, dystopian fiction existed far before The Hunger Games.) The movie is a slow burn of brutality, odd human rituals and shirts with huge collars, and it’s a brilliant time capsule whose themes remain relevant today.

Rollerdrome builds a similarly rich, unsettling world through set pieces, costuming and audio cues, pulling a 1970s aesthetic firmly into the 21st century in the process. It takes place in 2030, in a world controlled by massive companies — the Matterhorn corporation is at the center of a new bloodsport called rollerdrome, where participants are challenged to shoot their way through enemies while completing ridiculous roller-skating tricks. Rollerdrome comes from Roll7, the studio behind the skateboarding series OlliOlli — it just has four more wheels and a lot more guns than those games.

I played a preview of Rollerdrome on Steam, using a controller as recommended. The entire game features bold, comic book-style visuals, with the main character wearing a red jumpsuit and striped white helmet, skates on their feet and a handful of firearms at their disposal. It’s a third-person, single-player shooter with environments ranging from abandoned malls to desert canyons, each one lined with ramps, walls, gaps and breakable windows, offering plenty of opportunities for tricks.

Roll7

Tricks are essential to Rollerdrome, and not just because they look and feel super cool. Completing tricks is how you refill ammo, so it’s critical to keep the moves coming. The game supports the classics, like ollies, grinding, flips and grabs, allowing you to spin every which way mid-air to change things up. Roll7’s expertise with fast-moving action is on full display here — it’s fun enough to simply skate along the ramps, building up speed and trying out new tricks, but this is just one aspect of gameplay.

While rolling and flipping through the maps, you have to dodge incoming shots from enemies, manage your health and ammo, and murder every character you see. Killing enemies leaves behind gems of health, there’s a lock-on option for all firearms, and you’re able to slow down time in bursts. All of these factors combine to turn each level into an action movie with a hand-drawn '70s filter: The main character flips in slow-motion high above the battlefield, shooting down a sniper before landing back in real time, dodging missiles and rolling at full speed into another jump. Dramatic scenes like this play out again and again, as the time-slowing ability refills rapidly and completing tricks quickly becomes second nature, in the name of collecting ammo.

Roll7

Enemies have a range of weapons, including sniper rifles, bats, handguns and rockets, while the main character gets firearms like dual-wielded pistols, a shotgun and a grenade launcher. There are tokens hovering around the maps indicating trick challenges, but otherwise each environment is an open, dangerous playground. It’s possible to skate off the edge of platforms and mountainsides, and this results in a time penalty, but it doesn’t stop the round. For the completionists of the world, there are specific time- and skill-based challenges in each level, each one raising your overall score at the end.

Once you start moving in Rollerdrome, there’s no need to continually press forward to accelerate, freeing up the mechanics for turning, dropping, flipping and shooting. Dodging is one of the coolest parts of the game, especially when multiple enemies have you in their sights — incoming fire is displayed by a blue line that turns white when the shot goes off, and timing a dodge perfectly results in a satisfying sound effect and the opportunity for a temporary damage boost. It’s a thrill to dodge, dodge, dodge and then leap into the air, slow down time and take out the people shooting at you, refilling ammo and collecting health in the process. And all the while, an original synth-forward soundtrack keeps the energy high.

There are multiple things to keep track of at any given time in Rollerdrome, but the abundance of stimuli never feels overwhelming. Dying in Rollerdrome isn’t the result of poor design; it’s simply a sign that you dropped focus for a second, forgot to dodge or collect health or do a trick for more ammo. It’s a sign that you should strap on those skates again and give it another go.

Rollerdrome feels endlessly replayable, especially with online leaderboards and a challenge mode for an all-encompassing test of skill. Plus, behind the smooth mechanics and retrofuturistic filter lies a dystopian mystery with themes that (unfortunately) feel right at home in 1970 or 2030.

Rollerdrome is due to hit PlayStation 4, PS5 and Steam on August 16th.

Amazon's smallest smart display is back on sale at one of the best prices we've seen. If you missed the chance to pick up the Echo Show 5 on Prime Day, you can get it now for only $40. That's 53 percent off its normal price and only $5 more than it was during Amazon's two-day shopping event. You're getting the most up-to-date model here, which is the 2021 version with a 2MP camera for video calls. The kids version of the gadget has also been discounted to $50, which is nearly half off its regular rate.

We've recommended the Echo Show 5 many times in the past as a solid, compact smart display that also works well as a smart alarm clock. You may not have a ton of space for another gadget on your desk, nightstand or countertop, but the Show 5 should be able to fit even in the most cramped spaces. It has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 resolution display that will show things like weather forecasts, calendar events, photos and more. The 2MP camera can be used to video chat with friends and family, but it can also be used as a makeshift security camera of sorts. When you're out of the house, you can access the camera to check out what's going on in your home. And if you prefer not to use the camera at all, the Show 5 has a built-in camera shutter (along with a mic mute button) to give you more privacy.

We were impressed by the Show 5's audio quality as well. While you won't get as rich sound as you would on a dedicated speaker, the Show 5 pumps out good audio and gets pretty loud, too. If you have the Show 5 on your nightstand, you can use it as a smart alarm clock and make use of the gadget's tap-to-snooze feature, which lets you silence the alarm with just a touch to the top of the device. Ultimately, the Echo Show 5 is one of the most affordable ways to get Alexa into your home when it's on sale like this. It's currently the same price as the Echo Dot, so if you prefer to have a screen to see certain information or to do things like check security camera feeds, follow along with recipe videos and the like, the Echo Show 5 is the better buy.

The Echo Show 5 Kids is essentially the same as the standard smart display, but it comes in fun colors and gives you one year of access to Amazon Kids+. It's the company's subscription service that includes a bunch of child-friendly videos, games, books and more, and a lot of them can be accessed directly on the Show 5. Also, the kids version has more advanced parental controls, so you can set usage limits and bed times, review activity and otherwise keep track of how your child can use the gadget.

If you'd rather skip the display and opt for a gadget with even better sound quality, the full-sized Echo remains on sale for $60. That's a record low and a return to its Prime Day price. It's been one of our favorite smart speakers since it came out in 2020 thanks to its great audio quality, 3.5mm jack for optional input and output, plus its ability to play stereo sound when you pair two of them together.

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Coinbase is facing a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe into whether it allowed users to trade digital tokens that should have been registered as securities, Bloomberg has reported. Coinbase, involved indirectly in another probe by the SEC and state of New York, recently caught the regulator's eye after expanding the number of tokens it offers for trading. 

After taking a conservative approach to listing cryptocurrencies, Coinbase now lets Americans trade more than 150 tokens, according to Bloomberg. If any of those are considered to be securities, it would need to register as an exchange with the SEC. A token is considered to be a security if it involves investors putting up funds for a company in order to profit from the work of its leadership.

Last week, the commission accused a former Coinbase employee of violating insider-trading rules by helping his brother and a friend buy dozens of different types of tokens before they were listed on the platform. Coinbase itself wasn't accused of any wrongdoing, but the SEC said it considered nine of the dozens of digital tokens traded by the men to be securities, including seven listed by the exchange. 

In a response by chief legal officer Paul Grewal, Coinbase said that it "does not list securities on the platform. Period." As evidence of that, it said that the US Department of Justice "reviewed the same facts [as the SEC] and chose not to file securities fraud charges against those involved." 

Coinbase has previously complained that there's no regulatory framework for digital asset securities. As it happened, the company filed a petition for rule making to clarify those rules just before the SEC filed charges. "Instead of crafting tailored rules in an inclusive and transparent way, the SEC is relying on these types of one-off enforcement actions to try to bring all digital assets into its jurisdiction, even those assets that are not securities," Grewal wrote. 

Ahead of its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event in August, Samsung is unveiling a new color variant of the flagship S22 it launched earlier this year. Called "Bora Purple" after the Korean word for purple, the new hue will be available only for the smallest S22, not the Plus and Ultra versions, though Samsung said the color will launch on "exciting new Galaxy devices later this year." You'll be able to buy the Bora S22 on August 10th for the same $800 as the original model, which also comes in violet, green, pink, white and black. 

We've seen Samsung launch purple gadgets before, like the "Orchid Gray" Galaxy S8, "Lilac Purple" Galaxy S9 and the lavender Z Flip 3. The S22 series itself is already available in violet, but the Bora edition's contour cut camera housing is color-matched to the rest of the phone, while this part on the older handset is gold. 

Samsung's obsession with the color purple is evident in the press release it issued to announce the launch of Bora. "[P]urple is for everyone, whether you’re a global pop sensation, someone with a playful sense of style or a teen who wants to stand out from the crowd," the company wrote. "In that sense, the purple stands for the same things as Samsung Galaxy: embracing diversity, pushing boundaries, and relentlessly innovating under the philosophy of openness."

The company's executive vice president and head of marketing Stephanie Choi also said in the statement “With its pastel and neutral tones, Bora Purple embodies optimism and a sense of calm. It will unfold your world with the power of choice." Choi added “You don’t need to be a K-pop star or a mythical creature to embody mystery or power, you just need to be yourself." 

That is all technically true, with or without a purple phone. During my brief hands-on with the new Bora S22, I did not feel like a K-pop star or a mythical creature. I did not feel like I embodied mystery or power. I did not feel more optimistic or calm, though the phone is indeed quite pretty.

We're expecting Samsung to launch five new Galaxy products next month, including the next-generation Z Fold, Z Flip, Watch and Buds. Judging by the hint in today's announcement, it's likely that Bora Purple will be a launch color for these devices. 

Sometimes the headline says it all: A chess-playing robot accidentally broke the finger of its seven-year-old opponent during an exhibition match in Moscow. The child apparently moved his piece too soon, and the robot grabbed his finger and squeezed it, resulting in a fracture.

A video shows the robot grabbing the boy's finger and holding it for several seconds before a group of people come to free him.

The boy competed the next day, finishing the tournament. His parents, however, have reportedly contacted the public prosecutor's office. Russian chess official Sergey Smagin downplayed the incident, calling it "a coincidence" and saying the machine was "absolutely safe." Which I’m not sure is true.

— Mat Smith

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Anker's third-gen GaN chargers have improved temperature monitoring

The initial line-up of GaNPrime devices: 5 products and a power bank.

Anker has revealed its third-generation gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, barely a year after the previous batch. The company is branding the new line-up of power bricks and portable chargers as GaNPrime. Anker said it worked with several partners to create products that last longer and are more sustainable. It claims GaNPrime is the "most intelligent, most powerful and greenest multi-device charging system ever created."

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Intel strikes a deal to manufacture MediaTek’s chips

Its foundries will add 'significant capacity' for MediaTek in North America and Europe.

Intel and MediaTek have formed a strategic partnership to build chips. The aim is to ensure MediaTek has a "more balanced, resilient supply chain," with added capacity in the US and Europe. It looks like Intel won’t be building chips for smartphones but for less glamorous devices used in industrial computing, medical devices and internet-of-things applications.

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The NFL+ streaming service arrives today starting at $40 per year

It's more affordable than Game Pass but has some viewing restrictions.

NFL

NFL+ gives you access to live football streams and ad-free library content through the NFL App and the web, starting at $40 per year or $5 per month. Spend $80 per year or $10 per month on NFL+ Premium and you also get ad-free match replays. There are some catches, however. While you'll have live audio for every game regardless of device, live video is only available for live local and primetime games on phones and tablets — you can't use this to watch a playoff run on your TV.

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Google marks Play Store's 10th birthday with a new logo

A matching promo offers extra points for rewards program members.

Google

To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Google is… unveiling a new logo. No, no free games or trials, but you can get extra points if you’re signed into the app store’s rewards program. Which apparently exists.

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Funko moves into video games with former Traveller's Tales developers

The vinyl figurine company and 10:10 Games are making an action platformer.

Funko

Funko, which is best known for its Pop vinyl figurines, is about to venture into new territory. It's making video games with the help of developer 10:10 Games. The studio is led by Jon Burton, the founder of Traveller's Tales and TT Games. Funko says its first game will have "major third-party studio integration," which probably shouldn't be a big shock given the high-profile licensing deals.

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Meta is putting its considerable weight behind the tech industry's push to do away with the leap second. In a post on the company's engineering blog, Meta production engineer Oleg Obleukhov and research scientist Ahmad Byagowi talked about how a leap second can wreak havoc on a network, along with the solution Meta implements to prevent outages and any issues it could cause. 

The leap second was introduced back in 1972 as a way to adjust Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and make up for the difference between the International Atomic Time (TAI), which is measured by atomic clocks, and imprecise observed solar time (UT1). They sometimes don't match due to irregularities and slowdown in the Earth's rotation caused by various climate-induced and geological events, such as the melting and refreezing of ice caps on the tallest mountains.

As Obleukhov and Byagowi note, the offset a leap second creates can cause issues all over the industry. In 2012, for instance, it took Reddit out for 40 minutes when the time change confused its servers and locked up its CPUs. A time leap added in 2017 also affected Cloudflare's DNS service.

To prevent unwanted outages, Meta and other tech companies, such as Google and Amazon, use a technique called "smearing." These companies "smear" a leap second by slowing down or speeding up the clock throughout a number of hours. Meta smears a leap second throughout 17 hours, while Google uses a 24-hour smear technique that lasts from noon to noon and encourages everyone to follow suit. That way, a leap second doesn't create any weird time stamps that could throw networks off.

But Meta isn't advocating for the adoption of its smearing technique — its new post's purpose is to lend its voice to the movement that's calling for the leap second's retirement. The body responsible for deciding whether to adjust UTC, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, has added 27 leap seconds since 1972. Meta believes that's enough adjustment for the next millennium.

The company's post comes over a year before the fate of the leap second is decided. Back in 2015, the International Telecommunications Union discussed the leap second at its World Radiocommunication Conference and came to the conclusion that further studies are needed to figure out the impact of dumping it. The union is expected to examine the studies' results and to consider the proposal to retire the leap second at its next conference in 2023.

Meta said in its post:

"Leap second events have caused issues across the industry and continue to present many risks. As an industry, we bump into problems whenever a leap second is introduced. And because it’s such a rare event, it devastates the community every time it happens. With a growing demand for clock precision across all industries, the leap second is now causing more damage than good, resulting in disturbances and outages."

After hiking US Prime prices earlier this year, Amazon is doing the same across Europe. According to emails received by Engadget staffers and a Reuters report, it's raising the cost of Prime in the UK from £79 to £95, in France from €49 to €69.90, in Spain and Italy from €36 to €49.90, and Germany from €69 to €89.90. 

Those increases are the first in several years and quite significant, ranging from 20 percent in the UK to 43 percent in France. Amazon cited "increased inflation and operating costs" along with faster delivery and more streaming content to justify the rises. "We will continue to focus on making Prime even more valuable for members" via faster deliveries, more streaming content and more, the company's UK branch wrote in an email. 

Last quarter, Amazon lost money for the first time since 2015 due to slowing growth and higher costs, following a huge boom during the pandemic. The company also took a hit due to its investment in electric pickup truck maker Rivian. It vowed to increase productivity during its last earnings report, but is facing a federal probe over the required pace of work and other potential warehouse hazards. 

Logitech has launched the Aurora Collection, a line of "gender-exclusive" gaming accessories including a mouse, keyboard and headset. The devices are built around "comfort, approachability and playfulness" based on "feedback from women gamers across the community," the company said. They have all-new designs and some interesting features, but also carry high prices suggestive of a "pink tax" on products designed for women.

The G735 wireless headset is a good example of that. It's Logitech's first G gaming headset with Blue VO!CE microphone tech that helps modulate your voice, while letting you save preferred settings directly on the headset. It also promises comfort for gamers with smaller heads, 2.4Ghz wireless connectivity and up to 56 hours of battery life with the side LEDs turned off. However, it's very expensive for a gaming headset at $230, compared to say Logitech's high-end $200 Pro X headset with similar features. 

Logitech

The wireless and wired $200 G715 and $170 G713 tenkeyless keyboards offer per-key and perimeter RGB lighting and a choice of GX mechanical switches (tactile, linear or clicky), along with a cloud-soft palm rest. The G715 can connect via Bluetooth or a 2.4Ghz dongle, and offers around 25 hours of battery life on a charge. 

Finally, the $100 G705 lightweight (85 gram) wireless mouse is specifically designed for players with small hands. It comes with an 8,200 DPI "gaming-grade" sensor, offers battery life up to 40 hours with the LEDs enabled, and can connect to the G715 keyboard to avoid clutter. 

On top of the devices, Logitech is offering accessories we don't see with many of its other gaming products. Those include pink or neon boom mics with earpads for $20, keyboard top plates ($20) and colored keycaps ($40). It's also offering $30 mousepads and a $40 case for the G735 headset and G705 mouse. 

Logitech said that when it looked at its gaming products, "we realized we could be doing more" in terms of delivering solutions for all gamers. In one way, it has certainly achieved that considering the $500 price tag for the entire collection. If it really wants to expand its offerings for more players, though, it may need to expand its Aurora lineup with more budget-oriented products that match the quality and prices of its standard offerings. 

Back in February, Faraday Future presented the production version of its FF91 electric SUV at its California plant and said it would start manufacturing its long-delayed vehicle in the third quarter of 2022. Now, according to Bloomberg, the embattled company has revealed in a filing for investors that it has to push back the EV's production yet again and that it needs more cash for its commercial launch. 

Apparently, the company said it has to delay FF91's deliveries to the "third or fourth quarter of 2022." Seeing as the third quarter has already started, it's now likely aiming for late Q3 — that said, the fourth quarter seems more likely, and that is if Faraday Future's plans finally go as intended. Especially since it also has to find the money needed to keep running: The company also told investors that it needs additional cash to launch the FF91 and that it's looking to raise around $325 million to fund its operations until December 31st, 2022. 

Faraday Future was founded in 2014 and planned to launch its first electric vehicle way back in 2018. It's had to postpone launching its EV several times over the past years as it grappled with a litany of financial issues. The company almost ran out of cash in 2017 until a company called Season Smart, which was later acquired by Chinese company Evergrande, agreed to invest $2 billion in it. Faraday Future quickly burned through Season Smart's $800 million initial cash injection, though, and it spent 2018 feuding with its main investor. 

While it reached a restructuring deal with Evergrande by the end of 2018, it wasn't able to secure enough money to bring back the employees it put on unpaid leave. The company also had to give up on its plans to build a factory in Las Vegas and put up the 900-acre plot for sale for $40 million. Faraday went public in a merger with a blank-check company back in 2021, but it looks like that wasn't enough to solve its financial woes.

As Bloomberg notes, the delay comes in the midst of an issue between the company and its founder, Jia Yueting, who stepped down as CEO in 2019 as part of the company' restructuring deal. Apparently, a shareholder group associated with Yueting offering Faraday Future "at least $100 million" to remove an unnamed director from the startup's board. The company reportedly pushed back, and the group accused it of not treating the offer "with the gravity, urgency and fairness it deserves" considering Faraday's financial condition.