Zillow has updated its iOS 15 iPhone and iPad apps with SharePlay support, letting you browse homes with other people on Facetime, the company announced. iOS users can start a group FaceTime call and then enable SharePlay to browse through Zillow's photo galleries so everyone on the call can see the property. 

"Americans love to Zillow surf — most of them alongside someone else — and now they have a new way to do it," according to Zillow. "Using the Zillow app on an iPhone or iPad, home shoppers are now able to search and browse for-sale home and rental listings in a seamless, synchronous experience together with family, friends or a real estate agent."

Zillow said that 86 percent of users browse homes with a partner, spouse or housemate, so the new feature makes sense if you can't be together in person. It's also a "great new way for real estate agents to connect with customers," said Zillow CTO David Beitel. 

To use the feature, each participant will need Zillow running on an iPhone or iPad with iOS/iPadOS 15.1 or later. Users can search for different locations on Zillow and browse through available listings with content synced up. A rival real estate app, Redfin, introduced a similar feature back in October. 

Earlier this month, TCL temporarily stopped selling its Google TV televisions because of performance and software problems. Now, it has released a new update that it says has fixed the issue, so the 5-series and 6-series Google-powered TVs are back on sale at Best Buy, 9to5Google has reported. 

The update is rolling out to TCL's entire Google TV lineup starting with the 43-inch LED model and going up to the 75-inch Mini-LED QLED and 85-inch LED TVs. "Recent software updates have allowed us to make significant improvements on the stability and speed of the TCL televisions featuring Google TV," the company told 9to5Google in a statement. "With these updates, this product now represents the powerful performance that TCL and Google believe is the future of TV."

TCL unveiled its first 5-series and 6-series Google TV models last year at CES 2021, offering them exclusively at Best Buy in the US. Perhaps as a mea culpa, TCL and Best Buy are offering significant discounts on all the Google TV models now that they're available again The best deal appears to be on the TCL 75-inch 6-series Mini-LED QLED, available at $1,300 instead of $2,300 — a cool $1,000 off. 

A handful of key tech companies has already pulled out of next year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Amazon, Meta, Twitter and T-Mobile have announced that they're no longer attending the event in person due to the threat brought about by the COVID-19 Omicron variant. The show earlier this year was a strictly online-only affair, but the Consumer Technology Association announced in April that the event is returning as an in-person affair in 2022. While the organizer requires attendees to show proof of vaccination to be able to attend the expo, the Omicron variant's emergence prompted companies to reconsider their plans. 

Amazon told Bloomberg in a statement that it'll no longer have an on-site presence at the event "due to the quickly shifting situation and uncertainty around the Omicron variant." Its smart home subsidiary Ring will no longer be attending, as well. Meanwhile, Facebook parent company Meta said it won't be attending the expo in person anymore "due to the evolving public health concerns related to COVID-19." It might participate in the event in a virtual capacity, but the company has yet to release more concrete details.

Similarly, Twitter has canceled its in-person appearance "due to the spike in Covid cases across the country in the past week." It's reportedly exploring ways to be able to participate virtually, as well. Even CES sponsor T-Mobile has chosen to step back and limit its on-site participation. "While we are confident that CES organizers are taking exhaustive measures to protect in-person attendees and we had many preventative practices in place as well, we are prioritizing the safety of our team and other attendees with this decision," it said in a statement. Other companies that have chosen to cancel include Pinterest and iHeartRadio. 

There's still a lot of unknown factors surrounding the Omicron variant, but researchers have found it to be a highly transmissible strain. Further, what they've discovered suggests that most non-mRNA vaccines (such as Sinovac and Sinopharm) offer almost no protection against the variant. At the moment, though, the CTA has yet to announce any changes to the event, and the in—person expo is still scheduled to take place in January.

LG has revealed a couple of monitors it's debuting at its virtual CES event, and one of them is apparently a completely new format in the market. The company's new DualUp Monitor has an unusual 16:18 aspect ratio. It's a vertical display with a 2,560 x 2,880-pixel resolution that LG is calling "Square Double QHD." When you use its vertical split view function, the DualUp looks like you put two 21.5—inch monitors on top of each other. 

It could be a better form factor than the typical monitor if you're constantly having to look at information on multiple windows or screens for work or for any other reason. In its announcement, LG says the model will help reduce side-to-side head movements that cause neck pain. DualUp was also meant to save space and will ship with the LG Ergo stand that clamps to most desks and tables. The Nano IPS monitor's other features include a brightness of 300 nits, a 1000:1 contrast ratio and HDR10 support. 

In addition to DualUp, LG has also introduced the UltraFine, a 32-inch 4K UHD monitor. It has a more conventional aspect ratio, but it is the first to use LG's Nano IPS Black panel technology, which enables a contrast ratio of 2,000:1. The company will reveal more about both premium monitors at its virtual press event on January 4th. It's unknown at this point whether LG will still push through with a physical experience at CES 2022, assuming the event will still take place despite the threat posed by the Omicron variant. It was planning on showcasing a list of new items during the conference aside from these monitors, though, including a soundbar with a center up-firing speaker, a wireless TV on wheels and an OLED TV with a motorized cover.

Google now lets you customize how its Voice service handles incoming calls. Starting today, you can configure the app to forward calls from either individual or groups of contacts to a linked phone number or your voicemail. Separately, you can set a rule that plays custom voicemail greetings for specific contacts. And if you want to avoid taking calls unless absolutely necessary, you can tell it to screen individuals.

Google said the new options allow users to route incoming calls in ways that complement their existing workflows. To start using the feature, head over to the Google Voice website and click the cog icon located toward the top of the interface. Then click “Calls,” followed by “Choose a rule.” Note that on the mobile app, it’s only possible to view rules you’ve already set; you can’t establish new ones — at least not yet.

Despite holding the distinction of being one of Google's longest-running services, Voice has received only sporadic attention from the search giant in recent years. Before today, the most recent update the company issued for Voice was to disable one of its most useful features. That's led to fears Google may discontinue the service soon, but today's update would indicate Voice has legs yet.

The European Commission has approved Microsoft’s $19.7 billion bid to buy Nuance Communications. The regulator said on Tuesday the proposed acquisition “would raise no competition concerns” within the European Union. In analyzing the bid, it found that “Microsoft and Nuance offer very different products.” Moreover, it believes the company will continue to face “strong” competition from other firms in the future.

Before today, the US and Australia had both signed off on the purchase, but it’s not yet a done deal. On December 13th, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said it would investigate the transaction. With the regulator accepting public comments until January 10th, 2022, it’s unlikely the deal will close by the end of 2021 as Microsoft had said it would when it first announced its intention to buy Nuance. 

Tascam knows some musicians pine for the 'warm' quality of cassette recordings, and it's willing to effectively resurrect dead technology to meet their needs. The company has introduced a 424 Studio Master High Bias Type II Cassette designed for the brand's decades-old Portastudio four-track cassette recorders. Artists can record analog samples and tunes without hunting down rare tapes and fretting over degradation.

The cassette isn't a perfect match. Tascam said it's using existing magnetic oxides to produce tape that's as close "as possible" to the material Portastudios were meant to use, but recorder owners may still have to do some "fine tuning" to adjust for 2021-era cassettes. 

However, this isn't just an appeal to nostalgia — to some extent, it's about the preservation of analog cassette recording. Cassette production has been suffering from oxide shortages since 2019, years after a (still-ongoing) tape revival. Tascam noted that it's now the sole company making High Bias Type II cassettes. While there are tapes already on the market, they're both rare and expensive.

Availability is only listed as "soon." Tascam's cassettes also won't satisfy creators who want genuinely new recorders to replace a shrinking supply of old hardware. This might be the next best thing, though, and could be a relief for Portastudio fans who don't want to make a complete leap into the digital realm.

Since October, Microsoft and Adidas have been releasing commemorative Xbox-themed sneakers to mark the brand's 20th anniversary. It all started with a pair of Forum Tech shoes the two companies gave away to a group of lucky fans. Then, in November, they released a pair of Xbox 360-themed Forum Mid sneakers you could buy in the US and Canada. Now, for their third and final drop, the two have come out with an Xbox Series X-inspired design that's available to purchase worldwide.

This time around, Microsoft and Adidas say they went with the Tech Boost silhouette because, like the Xbox Series X/S, it's a design that acknowledges the past while incorporating new technologies. As with the other sneakers in the series, you'll find plenty of clever references. For instance, the inner lining of the shoes draws on the design of the Xbox Series X's vents. Meanwhile, the heel and sole of shoes mirror the grips of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller.

"Overall, we wanted to create a shoe that cemented a moment in time, but also felt timeless," Microsoft said. "This is a shoe that is meant to be played in, meant to be worn, and meant to be enjoyed by our community – one that's always played in, and never played out."

You can buy the Xbox Series X Forum Tech Boost from the Adidas website for $140. If you're not a sneakerhead, Microsoft has released other commemorative products to mark the console's 20th birthday, including a translucent controller that pays homage to the original Xbox debug kit.

DuckDuckGo has offered an early peek at its upcoming desktop app. In a blog post that recaps the company's year, CEO Gabriel Weinberg looked toward the future as well. He said DuckDuckGo will bring the privacy protections the company is known for to the app. You can expect the speed and simplicity of its mobile app too.

"Robust privacy protection" will be enabled by default for search, browsing, email and more. Weinberg said the app isn't a "privacy browser" per se, but rather "an everyday browsing app that respects your privacy."

As it did on mobile, DuckDuckGo is building the app using OS-provided rendering engines instead of basing it on projects like Chromium. According to Weinberg, that helped the development team to "strip away a lot of the unnecessary cruft and clutter that’s accumulated over the years in major browsers."

Along with a streamlined interface and the Fire Button (which closes all tabs and wipes browsing data in a single tap), the DuckDuckGo desktop is cleaner and much more private than Chrome, Weinberg said. He also claimed it's "significantly faster" than Google's browser, based on early tests — here's hoping it's less of a memory hog than Chrome too. DuckDuckGo didn't reveal when it plans to release the desktop app.

Weinberg notes that, over the last 12 months, DuckDuckGo has bolstered its search and tracker blocking features. He said DuckDuckGo's mobile app is now the most downloaded Android browser in key markets. In July, the company announced a free email forwarding service that removes tracking pixels from messages.

One of the internet’s most vocal proponents of Bitcoin voiced an unusually uncharacteristic opinion against Web3 this week. On Monday, Square Block CEO Jack Dorsey took to Twitter to warn blockchain enthusiasts how Web3 has already been co-opted by investors. “You don’t own ‘web3,’” he said in a message spotted by Bloomberg. “The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label. Know what you’re getting into…”

Web3 is the term many in the crypto community use to describe the next iteration of the internet. With the help of technologies like blockchain, they argue the internet will become a more decentralized entity, free of the institutional players that have dominated it since the early days of the platform. Investment firms like Andreessen Horowitz have been some of the most vocal supporters of companies in the space. As of October, the firm had set aside $3.1 billion to invest in crypto and Web3 startups. “It’s somewhere between a and z,” Dorsey said, referencing “a16z,” its nickname when Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined the conversation to ask if “anyone has seen web3?”

It’s unclear what prompted Dorsey to take to Twitter to say what he did. After all, this is the man who wanted the world to know he had a Bitcoin clock in his kitchen when he testified before Congress. It should also be noted Dorsey runs a company that is heavily involved in blockchain technologies.

What is clear is that his tweet caused a stir. As of the writing of this article, the post has attracted more than 5,000 retweets, 2,000 quote tweets and 31,000 likes. Naturally, the Bored Ape contingent showed up to tell Dorsey he was “dead wrong,” but just as many people came to offer support, calling him “based” for his tweet.

For all the buzz Dorsey’s tweet generated, there’s a kernel of truth to what he said. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal, citing a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, determined 0.01 percent of those who hold Bitcoin control 27 percent of the digital currency. Another recent study from Nature found that just ten percent of NFT investors completed 85 percent of all transactions involving those assets. Decentralization indeed.