Microsoft might let you install Windows 11 on PCs with older processors, but that doesn't mean you'll get the full experience you'd find on newer machines. The company told The Verge that PCs with unsupported CPUs aren't 'entitled' to get Windows 11 updates, and might not even get driver or security upgrades. You may have to get more recent hardware just to keep your system secure, in other words.

We've asked the company if it can comment further, although it declined to elaborate when The Verge asked for more details. It previously said it would let people install Windows 11 ISOs on older CPUs to help businesses test the new platform.

This wouldn't be a completely unexpected move. Microsoft could get into legal trouble if it offers updates to unsupported hardware — it might not want to risk bricking your PC with a patch, or leading you to believe you're guaranteed technical support. This approach lets the company court enthusiasts (who can install new ISO images instead of relying on patches) without widening its compatibility and introducing other headaches.

You'll still get an inferior take on Windows 11, though, and it's evident Microsoft's core message remains intact. The company wants you using a relatively recent computer with Windows 11, even if that means having to wait until you can justify a PC upgrade.

The smartwatch market doesn't appear to be cooling down any time soon — if anything, it's heating up. Strategy Analytics estimates smartwatch shipments grew by a whopping 47 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2021, with 18.1 million of the wearables shipping this spring. Demand (at least from retailers) has returned to "pre-pandemic levels," according to the analyst firm's Steven Waltzer — it hasn't been this hot since 2018.

Strategy Analytics attributed the spike to continued demand for personal health devices. It's not clear how much the pandemic recovery fuelled demand, although it wouldn't be surprising if the renewed interest in going outside prompted extra sales.

It wasn't just the usual companies that benefited from the surge, either. Apple held on to a comfortable lead with 52 percent of the market and the most popular individual smartwatch (the Apple Watch Series 6), and Samsung saw its shipments jump 54 percent. Garmin's fitness-focused watches still jumped 25 percent, though, and "others" (including Fossil and other Wear OS backers) saw their shipments climb 55 percent. This was a strong overall market, even for smaller brands.

There are signs this spike will continue. Apple Watch Series 7 could be weeks away as we write this, and Samsung's Wear OS-packing Galaxy Watch 4 might revitalize Android smartwatch sales. Low-cost LTE smartwatches from Chinese brands like Oppo and Xiaomi might also help, according to the analysts. This momentum will eventually die down, but it's unlikely to fade in the near future.

How will GoPro improve on its Hero 9 Black action camera? By focusing on the fundamentals, apparently. WinFuture claims to have leaked GoPro Hero 10 Black images suggesting the upcoming cam will improve image quality. Most notably, it would have a GP2 processor allowing 5.3K video at up to 60 frames per second — you wouldn't have to choose between 5K and glass-smooth frame rates like you do with the Hero 9, which only manages 5K at 30FPS.

GoPro will reportedly jump to a 23-megapixel sensor (versus 20MP in the Hero 9) that allows higher-resolution photos. You might also see improved video stabilization through HyperSmooth 4.0, although it's not clear how the company will improve its "gimbal-like" anti-shake technology.

There's no mention of when GoPro might introduce the Hero 10 Black, although it launched the Hero 9 in September last year. We wouldn't be surprised if the follow-up was weeks away. It might be a well-timed release, too. Now that society is (slowly) reopening, there are more opportunities to embark on outdoor adventures — more people may be looking for action cams to document their expeditions.

Don't despair if you're having problems making calls on your iPhone 12 — there might be a free fix for it. 9to5Macreports Apple has introduced a repair program for a "very small" number of iPhone 12 and 12 Pro units with faulty earpieces that don't emit sound during calls. If your phone has this problem and was made between October 2020 and April 2021, Apple and authorized repair shops will fix the issue at no cost for up to two years after the "first retail sale."

Apple blamed the issue on a failure-prone component in the receiver. This program doesn't cover the iPhone 12 mini or 12 Pro Max, suggesting they use different receiver hardware.

This is the first repair program for the iPhone 12. We wouldn't expect more given Apple's generally solid track record with recent iPhones (a minority of iPhone 11 units had unresponsive screens). If nothing else, though, this serves as a reminder to check for programs like this before you assume a repair will prove costly.

Most of us will never be able to visit space, much less experience what it's like to do a spacewalk. Even billionaires who can afford to pay for a trip beyond the atmosphere of our planet — or at least somewhere in that vicinity — can only look out from their spaceships. Episodes 3 and 4 of the immersive series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, however, will give you a way to see what it's like to float around in space. To make that happen, Felix & Paul Studios, one of the series' creators, customized a virtual reality camera and attached it to the Canadarm2 robot to capture 3D, 360-degree scenes from outside the space station. 

Felix & Paul's "Outer Space Camera" is a customized version of the commercially available Z-Cam V1 Pro. It has nine 4K sensors that can take 3D, 360-degree images at 8K resolution. The camera has also been modified to withstand harsh conditions, including UV radiation, temperature extremes and micrometeoroid impacts. The team attached it to the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which moves around the station's external structure. 

Jonathan Woods, the series' executive producer for Time Studios (one of the entities behind the project, along with NASA), said:

"Capturing the Earth in stereoscopic 3D, 360-degree format from space, outside the space station, has never been attempted until now. It's beyond exciting and surreal to see this happening, knowing that the dream for this ambitious project started over five years ago in 2015."

Episodes 3 and 4 will be available this fall and winter, respectively, in 360-degree mobile format on 5G-enabled devices through leading carriers around the world, including LGU+ in South Korea, KDDI in Japan, Orange in France and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. They will also be available as fully immersive VR experiences on the Oculus Store for the Rift, the Quest and Quest 2 headsets.

The Islamic State's propaganda arm used Amazon Web Services to host content promoting extremism, according to The Washington Post. Nida-e-Haqq, the group's media arm, posted messages on the website in the Urdu language, including ones celebrating the recent suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 170 people. Since Amazon's policy bars clients from using its services to incite violence and terror, the company pulled the website after The Post alerted it to its existence. 

The website Amazon disabled provided content for the Nida-e-Haqq app, which recently showed an image of the Kabul bomber wrapped in a suicide vest. It's currently password-protected and not viewable, but it's been active since at least April, based on the online domain records The Post saw. Amazon spokesperson Casey McGee told the publication in a statement: "(F)ollowing an investigation, we have disabled a website that was linked to this app as it was in violation of the AWS Acceptable Use Policy." 

Taliban and extremist-related content is the latest issue social networks, and clearly, hosting services like Amazon's, have to grapple with. The organization has been using services like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp to spread its message, and the websites now have to decide if they need to update their policy on how to deal with Taliban content and to make sure their existing rules on violence and terror are properly enforced.

Amazon didn't say how Nida-e-Haqq managed to evade detection for at least four months when it wasn't even trying to hide what kind of content it posted, but it's very much possible that the company simply didn't know the website existed. As The Post said, Amazon may not be proactively policing its clients' content, relying instead on the complaints it gets. 

Back in January, it suspended Parler's AWS hosting services after it found multiple posts on the social network "that clearly encourage and incite violence." Parler sued Amazon, claiming antitrust violations, but the company said it sent the website several warnings about violent posts on its platform before the takedown. Ultimately, a judge shot down Parler's attempt to get AWS to restore its service, citing the dangers posed by "inflammatory rhetoric" found on the social network.

Twitter is finally starting to roll out Ticketed Spaces, a feature that allows creators to charge for access to its live audio chat feature. The company began taking applications for the feature in June, but had yet to flip it on until this week. 

However, it sounds like it could still be awhile until many people gain access to the feature. Twitter said that the initial rollout will be iOS only and limited to just “some” hosts who have previously applied.

Those who do gain access could make a decent amount of cash from the feature, assuming they can find a big enough audience willing to pay. Twitter has said that hosts can keep up to 97 percent of their first $50,000 in earnings and up to 80 percent on anything over $50,000. Hosts are also able to set their own prices for tickets and choose how many tickets to make available.

Ticketed Spaces is just one of several monetization features Twitter is working on as it looks rto shift its platform to be more creator-friendly. The company is also experimenting with Super Follows, in-app tipping and paid newsletters.

Since the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, a "Select Committee" has been formed in the House of Representatives to investigate the circumstances that led to a mob breaching the country's seat of government. Part of that wide-ranging investigation will apparently involve a close look at the biggest social media companies in the world. The committee today announced that it was requesting records relating to the attack from 15 companies, who were asked to respond in the next two weeks.

It's a who's who of the biggest players on the internet, including Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitch, Telegram and TikTok. On the list are a number of smaller, pro-Trump sites that have sprung up in recent years, including Gab and Parler, as well as known cesspools 4chan and 8kun (formerly 8chan). 

Specifically, the Select Committee wants records relating to the spread of misinformation, efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, efforts to prevent certification of the election, foreign influence attempt in the election, and domestic violent extremism. Additionally, the Committee is also looking for materials from these companies relating to any policy changes that were considered or adopted to address misinformation, violent extremism and foreign malicious influence. 

Notably, the Committee wants to hear both about policy changes that were put into place as well as things that the companies "failed to adopt." One example of a change that came about in response to the attack happened recently at Facebook, where the company adopted a recommendation from its Oversight Board. The company walked back its policy that allowed politicians to circumvent some of its rules under the guise of “newsworthiness,” though politicians still do get special treatment around other rules, like fact-checking.

It's been clear since the Select Committee came together that it was going to take the time to gather a huge amount of information to properly investigate the events of January 6th, and that extends to its requests to these companies. Now, the ball is in their respective courts.

The City of Chicago has filed two separate lawsuits against DoorDash and GrubHub. While the complaints point to alleged misconduct specific to each company, they broadly accuse DoorDash and GrubHub of employing a similar set of unfair business practices.

Specifically, the city claims that both DoorDash and GrubHub have consistently advertised delivery services from restaurants that never consented to a listing on their platforms. The city also alleges they employ "bait-and-switch" tactics by using deceptively small delivery fees to lure customers before hitting them with various other expenses at the end of a transaction. Finally, it says they both hide the fact many restaurants charge less for the items on their menu when you order directly from them.

DoorDash called the lawsuit "baseless" and a "waste" of taxpayer money. "DoorDash has stood with the City of Chicago throughout the pandemic, waiving fees for restaurants, providing $500,000 in direct grants, creating strong earning opportunities and delivering food and other necessities to communities in need," a spokesperson for the company told Engadget.

GrubHub echoed the sentiments of its competitor. "Every single allegation is categorically wrong, and we will aggressively defend our business practices," a GrubHub spokesperson said. "We look forward to responding in court and are confident we will prevail."

In taking the two companies to court, the city says it seeks to mandate greater transparency from DoorDash and GrubHub, as well as financial restitution for restaurants and consumers hurt by their alleged actions.

Separately, the DoorDash lawsuit alleges the company misled customers about how it was using tips to pay its delivery workers. If that sounds familiar, it's because DoorDash agreed to pay a $2.5 million settlement toward the end of 2020 to settle allegations related to that exact same issue.

For Chicago, this is the latest effort by the city to impose additional regulations on food delivery apps. In May 2020, it implemented a policy that saw both DoorDash and GrubHub required to include an itemized breakdown that lists how much restaurants pay when you order from them using an app.

Amazon is getting into buy-now-pay-later. The company just announced a partnership with Affirm, a major player in the BNPL space. Starting soon, customers at checkout will see the option to pay in a series of monthly installments on purchases of $50 or more. In a statement, the companies said they have already begun testing the feature with "select customers." It's unclear how many people might see this option early, or in what markets. 

That press release was otherwise light on details. It is unclear when this feature will roll out more widely. And, as CNBC notes, the the companies haven't said whether the payments will carry interest. The statement promises: "As always, when choosing Affirm, consumers will not be charged any late or hidden fees."

The move makes sense for Amazon, and is arguably a belated one. Many other brands and retailers already offer buy-now-pay-later options, with CNBC noting that Affirm already serves more than 12,000 retailers, including Walmart. Just recently, too, Square paid $29 billion to acquire Afterpay, another giant in this growing space.