The SEC has reportedly opened an investigation into Binance to find out whether its BNB token was an unregistered security during its 2017 initial coin offering, reportedBloomberg. BNB coins are primarily used to pay transaction fees on Binance, currently the word’s largest crypto exchange. The company is also facing another, separate SEC probe — launched in February — into alleged ties between its founder and two trading firms. The DOJ, IRS and CFTC also opened investigations last year into the company for a number of potential criminal violations, including insider trading and market manipulation.

“As the industry has grown at a rapid pace, we have been working very diligently to educate and assist law enforcement and regulators in the US and internationally, while also adhering to new guidelines. We will continue to meet all requirements set by regulators,” wrote a Binance spokesperson in an email to Engadget in response to a request for comment. Engadget has also reached out to the SEC for comment, and will update if we hear back. 

The SEC over the past few years expanded its crackdown of ICOs for failing to register with the agency before going public. The agency’s specific investigation into Binance also seeks to figure out if Binance.US — an affiliated exchange that launched in the US in 2019 after the latter was banned— is actually a separate entity from the China-based Binance.

Binance reportedly processed at least $2.35 billion in illegal transactions tied to drugs, hacks and fraudulent activity, according to a Reuters investigation published today. The story detailed a number of high-profile hacks of Binance, including a heist from North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Binance in a blog post responded to the Reuters story, writing that it was “rife with falsehoods” and published its email exchange with the news agency. In the exchange, Reuters reporters asked Binance to confirm multiple details from their reporting, including whether the company had taken any action to mitigate any further illegal activity. Based on the published emails, Binance seems to have declined to provide the requested details with Reuters on the record.

“We are sorry that Binance has declined our request for an interview. As we explained earlier, we cannot commit to keeping an entire briefing on background because it would not be ethical for us to withhold important information from an article,” wrote Reuters reporter Angus Berwick in an email to Binance spokesperson Patrick Hillmann.

As with many other PC manufacturers, LG is gradually updating its laptop lineup with the latest processors from Intel and AMD. On Monday, the same day Apple announced its new M2 MacBook Air, the company refreshed its ultraportable Gram lineup with Intel’s 12th-gen Core CPUs.

LG

As of today, all six models in the family, including the Gram 15 and both the 14- and 16-inch Gram 2-in-1s, come with Intel’s new Alder Lake chips. Additionally, you can now configure the laptops with up to 32GB of 5,200MHz DDR5 RAM. Also new to the lineup is support for PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD drives, with the entire family offering two slots for storage.

Outside of an internal spec bump, the most noteworthy change to the Gram lineup is the addition of LG Glance, a display tool the company added with help from Mirametrix. The technology enables a handful of new features. To start, the laptop's screen will automatically lock when you walk away and blur when the computer notices someone looking at your screen over your shoulder. And if you connect an external display to one of LG’s new laptops, they will also automatically move your cursor to whatever screen you’re currently looking at – which sounds like it would be incredibly jarring. You can see the Glance functionality in action in the video below.

As before, the Grams come with 16:10 displays to give you slightly more screen real estate for productivity tasks. LG is sticking with IPS panels for the entire lineup, with the standard models offering up to 350 nits of brightness and the 2-in-1s maxing out at 300 nits, but they feature a new anti-glare coating for fewer distracting reflections.

LG is also expanding the Gram line to include a 16-inch portable monitor. The 16MQ70 features a 2,560 by 1,600 resolution IPS panel with 99 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 1,200 to 1 contrast ratio. You can purchase it starting today for $350 through the company’s website. The updated Gram laptop line is also available today, with the 15-inch model starting at $1,199 and the flagship 17-inch variant priced at $1,599 and above.

Father's Day is right around the corner, so you might be sniffing around for the perfect gift for dear ol' dad. If he likes fiddling around the kitchen, then consider giving him a sous vide machine, which helps ensure the perfect medium-rare steak or chicken breasts that are never dry or overcooked. Sous vide machines can be pretty pricey, but thankfully the Anova Precision Cooker is on sale right now; it has dropped to a new price of $139 from its original $220.

Cooking via sous vide really just means cooking foods in a water bath. You'd typically place food inside a sealed bag and submerge it in a water-filled vessel. A sous vide machine attached to it essentially regulates the temperature of the water so that the food is cooked low and slow to the desired doneness.

Anova's Precision Cooker lets you do that easily right out of the box thanks to its on-board controls. It also has WiFi so you can connect it to Anova's companion app, which comes with a plethora of recipes and a handy tutorial in case you need some guidance.

The Precision Cooker is usually pricier than the Nano, which is what we normally recommend, but it does have a few advantages. It has an adjustable clamp compared to a fixed-position model, and it can fit on thicker vessels (up to 1.2 inches). Plus, it has 1,000 watts instead of the Nano's 750 watts, which means it can heat the water faster as well. Since this deal drops the price of the Precision Cooker down to nearly the same price as the Nano, we think it's absolutely worth the upgrade.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Netflix dropped a trailer for its upcoming series The Sandman, which is set to debut on August 5th. The highly anticipated show is based on the popular graphic novels by Neil Gaiman from the nineties, and features the likes of Tom Sturridge, Gwendolyn Christie, Stephen Fry and Patton Oswalt. Netflix also announced today that Mark Hamill will be voicing the kingdom's resident handyman Merv Pumpkinhead.

The new trailer is less than two minutes long, but gives us a good glimpse at how the show will recreate the mystical realms in which the story is set. The Sandman follows the King of Dreams, also known as Morpheus (played by Sturridge) after he escapes captivity and returns to his now suffering kingdom, the Dreaming. But a number of people aren’t happy about that, including the occult detective Johanna Constantine (played by Jenna Coleman) and The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), a former inhabitant of the Dreaming who went rogue.

The decision to adapt Gaiman’s best-selling graphic novel series may seem like a no-brainer for studio execs, but it took a lot of effort to actually make happen. A planned film adaptation by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Batman Begins screenwriter David Goyer fell apart after disagreements with the studio. Admittedly, the show’s source material is a tricky one to adapt and spans multiple timelines. Gaiman has previously stated, "I'd rather see no Sandman movie made than a bad Sandman movie.” Hopefully, the Netflix treatment will do the story justice.

Texas's Attorney General, Ken Paxton, has launched an investigation of Twitter over concerns of "potentially false" reports related to the number of bots and other fake accounts on the social network. In a press release Monday, Paxton claims inauthentic accounts may be helping to "inflate the value" of Twitter — thus he intends to pursue the investigation under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which protects against misleading advertisers, businesses and everyday users. 

Paxton's office is pursuing the case just as Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seemingly attempting to scuttle his own bid to purchase Twitter. Musk has, for several weeks, been suggesting the platform's bot numbers may be far greater than its current leadership are reporting. It's interesting timing for Musk and Paxton's interests to align: Tesla just opened a Gigafactory in Texas, and is moving its headquarters to the region. That's a lot of potential business, and it comes as the state has offered tax breaks to companies building local facilities. For whatever it's worth, Paxton has previously been accused of abuse of office over allegations of bribery, but was eventually cleared by his own office.

Twitter has been ordered to provide unredacted documents detailing the company's active user counts since 2017, the volume of "inauthentic" accounts over that period and the methods used to calculate the ratio of fake accounts. It also has to outline its advertising model, including the revenue it generates in Texas.

It's also notable that Musk's hopes of boosting free speech on Twitter sync with Republic aims to reverse alleged censorship of conservative viewpoints on the site. Twitter has long rejected claims of ideological bias, and sued Paxton over claims of political retaliation that infringed its First Amendment rights. 

We've asked Twitter for comment. The company has previously maintained that fake accounts represent less than five percent of users, but Paxton echoed Musk's currently unsupported concerns that fakes might represent 20 percent or more of all Twitter accounts.

The Attorney General has sued multiple tech companies over their practices, including Google (for its ad business) and Meta (over facial recognition). It's not clear yet if Paxton intends to pursue a lawsuit against Twitter as well.

With a revamped lock screen, redesigned notifications and an enhanced Focus mode, iOS 16 promises to bring a lot of useful new features to Apple's iPhone later this year. But as is always the case with keynotes like WWDC, there's not enough time to cover every enhancement. And one such feature Apple didn't mention is that iOS will allow you to use Face ID even when your iPhone is oriented horizontally.  

The quality of life improvement was spotted by Vox Media product manager Parker Ortolani on Apple's iOS 16 preview webpage. As The Verge points out, Apple has allowed iPad owners to use Face ID in this way for a while now, so it's not exactly a new feature. Still, it's one of those changes iPhone users, particularly those who use devices like the Razer Kishi and Backbone One, will appreciate. On its preview page, Apple says the feature will work with supported models without specifying the exact ones included in that list. We've reached out to the company for more information.      

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

As is tradition, Apple will leave some of its older devices in the dust when it starts rolling out its latest operating systems. When iOS 16 arrives this fall, it will be available for iPhone 8 and later — in other words, all the phones Apple has released since 2017. That means iPhone 6S, iPhone 7 and iPhone SE (first-generation) users won't be able to upgrade to iOS 16.

When it comes to iPadOS 16, Apple will drop support for a couple devices, the iPad Mini 4 and iPad Air 2. Given that the Mini 4 debuted in 2015 and the Air 2 is from all the way back in 2014, it's safe to say those are showing their age. If anything, it's a testament to their staying power that Apple supported them all the way up to iPadOS 15.

You'll need an Apple Watch Series 4 or later to use watchOS 9. Apple Watch Series 3 users were able to install watchOS 7 and watchOS 8, but some features weren't available.

Things get a little more complicated when it comes to macOS Ventura. The following devices will be supported:

• iMac, 2017 and later

• Mac Pro, 2019 and later

• iMac Pro, 2017

• Mac mini, 2018 and later

• MacBook Air, 2018 and later

• MacBook, 2017 and later

• MacBook Pro, 2017 and later

By way of comparison, macOS Monterey is compatible with late 2015 or later iMac, 2017 or later iMac Pro, early 2015 or later MacBook Air, early 2015 or later MacBook Pro, 2013 or later Mac Pro, late 2014 or later Mac mini and early 2016 or later MacBook.

It's always sad to see Apple bid older devices adieu, even though all of the models it will no longer support were all released at least five years ago — the iPad Air 2 and 2013 Mac Pro in particular had a good innings. While folks will still be able to use older models, Apple will surely be hoping that those clinging onto them will upgrade in the near future.

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

Apple's WWDC doesn't typically bring new hardware into the mix, but the company decided to do things a bit differently for 2022. Apple announced an updated MacBook Air and an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro alongside all of the new software features it debuted at today's keynote. Both will be powered by Apple's new M2 chipset, which will provide significant performance gains when compared to the previous M1 versions. Here's everything we know about how to pre-order the latest MacBooks.

MacBook Air with M2

Apple

The M2 MacBook Air will be available for pre-order directly from Apple and authorized retailers starting in July for $1,199. It'll be available in four colors: silver, space gray, midnight, starlight. The MacBook Air M1 will remain in the lineup and will start at $999.

Apple eschewed the wedge design of previous Airs here and opted for an all-new, more squared-off profile. However, that doesn't mean the new Air is any less svelte than before, measuring 11.3mm thick and weighing 2.7 pounds. It remains a fanless laptop, so it will run quietly even when you're pushing it to its limits. Apple claims the M2 chipset will provide 18 percent faster CPU performance and 35 percent faster GPU performance than the M1 processor, so you will notice the difference if you're upgrading from a 2020 MacBook Air.

Elsewhere, Apple updated the display to a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina panel that's 25 percent brighter than the panel on the previous notebook, plus it supports one billion colors. The company upped the webcam to a 1080p lens with better low-light performance, but alas, no Center Stage capabilities. The laptop features a four-speaker sound system and a TouchID keyboard with a full Function row. As for battery life, Apple estimates the new Air will get up to 18 hours of video playback and it's capable of recharging 50 percent in only 30 minutes.

You'll still find two Thunderbolt ports make up the majority of the connections (along with a headphone jack), but Apple did bring back a dedicated MagSafe charging port on this laptop. That means you won't have to hog one of the Thunderbolt ports when you need to power up the machine.

13-inch MacBook Pro with M2

Apple

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 will be available for pre-order directly from Apple and authorized retailers starting in July for $1,299. It'll be available in two colors: silver and space gray.

Unlike the updated MacBook Air, the M2-powered MacBook Pro didn't get a design facelift. Instead, apple focused on the guts and overall efficiency. The Pro M2 has an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU that should provide up to 40 percent faster performance when playing graphics-intensive games and a similar boost when working in apps like Affinity Photo. The laptop will support up to 24GB of RAM and up to 2TB of onboard storage, plus a video-playback battery life of up to 20 hours.

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

One of the MacBook Air M2's most important upgrades might sit outside the computer. As part of the announcement, Apple revealed that the 10-core GPU version of the new Air comes with a 35W adapter that includes two USB-C ports. You won't have to give up one of your laptop's connections (or plug in a separate power brick) just to charge your iPhone at the same time. Given that the portable only has two Thunderbolt/USB-C jacks, this could prove a life-saver if you use multiple peripherals.

If you're not worried about connectivity, there's also an optional 67W adapter that can fast-charge the MacBook Air to 50 percent in 30 minutes. This is the adapter that comes with the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, but the Air M2's lower power draw makes fast charging practical where it requires a 96W upgrade for the Pro.

The 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter is listed as "coming soon" in compact and regular sizes, and will sell for $59 in stand-alone form if you either buy the 8-core GPU Air or want to use the brick for powering other devices. You can buy the 67W charger for the same $59. The dual-port model will only be available to customers in Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Philiippines, Taiwan, Thailand and the US, so you're currently out of luck if you want the added convenience in other parts of the world. 

 Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

At WWDC today, Apple not only unveiled its new M2 Silicon, but also a pair of devices that will be equipped with it — the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Though most of the Pro seems similar to older models, the Air is also getting a redesign, making it thinner and lighter than before. It also comes in four colors and sports a new, squarish look. I was able to quickly play with the new Air today at Apple Park, and so far, I'm just glad it looks noticeably different, given it's been four years since Apple last redesigned the MacBook Air..

Of the four colors the Air now comes in, my personal favorite is Midnight, which is a deep blue. Our editor-in-chief, who attended the event with me, also preferred that hue. The silver and space grey models are very familiar, while starlight did not stand out to me.

If you're a fan of Apple's distinct wedge design on previous MacBooks, you might be concerned about the new, squarer look. I didn't mind it — I actually prefer the refresh since the older aesthetic feels pretty outdated to me by now. It's similar to the new MacBook Pros, though, so if you liked those you'll appreciate this. Just like the recent Pros, too, the new Air has a fullsize row of physical function keys. At the right end of this sits the power button with a Touch ID sensor. Dana is a fan of the groove here, which makes it easy to tell by touch where you should lay your finger. It also doesn't have a glossy finish that would attract fingerprints. 

Importantly, the new MacBook Air has a larger 13.6-inch screen.

This story is developing, please refresh for updates.

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!