In a surprising twist, OnlyFans, a video site best known for its adult videos and images from independent creators, is banning, well, explicit videos and images. The site has exploded in popularity over the last few years, with more than two million creators offering content to their paid subscribers. Many of the top creators on the platform share adult content.

In a statement, OnlyFans said the move was “to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform.” The company said it was due to pressure from banking and payment partners, but a damning BBC investigation revealed that OnlyFans had let a lot of illegal content from creators make it on to the site.

The BBC tested whether OF would allow users to promote themselves as young teenage creators with photos. It apparently did, until the BBC asked the video-sharing site about these accounts. The report makes this sudden direction shift seem less, well, sudden.

OF will ban users from uploading photos and videos of "sexually explicit conduct" as of October 1st. Nudity will apparently still be allowed, as long as creators stick by OnlyFans' Acceptable Use Policy.

Could the site suffer a similar fate to Tumblr? When that social network instituted a ban on adult content, it saw popularity plummet. OnlyFans is a little different in a few ways. The major difference is how it offers a way for creators to directly make money from its audience.

After the company’s 20 percent cut, that is.

— Mat Smith

Tesla is working on a humanoid robot

Of course it is!

Tesla

While Tesla’s AI Day was a relatively dry tour through the company’s AI tools and ambitions, there had to be One More Thing. That thing was the Tesla Bot.

Tesla boss Elon Musk said it would be a “friendly” humanoid robot, slow and weak enough for you to outrun and overpower it — just in case the robot uprising.

Musk said the company plans to have a prototype of the Tesla Bot ready by next year. I’m taking bets on which year we’ll actually see it.

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Galaxy Z Flip 3 review

The best foldable yet is still a tough sell.

David Imel for Engadget

Ready for a foldable? The Z Flip 3 is a satisfying upgrade from the original, thanks to water resistance and a larger, more useful Cover Display. According to Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low, its $1,000 starting price puts it in the same class as flagships from Apple, Google and Samsung itself, too. However, the Flip 3 is held back by battery life and potential durability issues.

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Watch Apple's latest 'Foundation' trailer, with a giant space elevator

The blockbuster sci-fi series premieres on September 24th.

Apple has offered another look at its latest sci-fi saga, Foundation. The latest trailer doesn't reveal too much about the story — based on a series of Isaac Asimov novels — but it has some impressive visuals, including an elevator that, according to showrunner David S. Goyer, stretches around 26 miles into space.

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'Quake' 4K remaster is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC

Only ten bucks.

QuakeCon may not have happened last year due to the pandemic, but id Software is hoping a Quake remaster might help distract its fans. Out now for $10 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, the game now has support for widescreen resolutions up to 4K, dynamic lighting and anti-aliasing. Regardless, it still looks like Quake to me.

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'Call of Duty: Vanguard' first look

Taking the series back to WWII

Sledgehammer Games / Activision

Call of Duty: Vanguard, the next entry in Activision's long-running first-person shooter series, arrives November 5th. Like 2017's Call of Duty: WWII, the studio's previous project as lead developer on the franchise, Vanguard takes the series back to where it all started: the Second World War. According to the game’s creators, the game is pitched as a “filmic blockbuster,” with characters, set pieces and everything you might expect from a war movie. 

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All the big news you might have missed

'Lower Decks' is an indictment of Abrams and Kurtzman-era Star Trek

Twitter's latest round of updates are about to hit your DMs

Dell's new monitor lineup includes a $350 portable second screen

Facebook took hours to remove livestream of Library of Congress bomb threat suspect

Microsoft announces a $60 wired Xbox Stereo Headset

Cricket customers will get free HBO Max, if they don't mind ads

Just days after a hacker pulled off an audacious crypto heist, another major public breach has occured. Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid is the latest victim of a cyberattack that has seen hackers make off with an estimated $97 million in stolen assets. The funds include $45 million in Ethereum tokens, which the culprit is converting into Ether using decentralised exchanges to avoid them being frozen, according to Elliptic, a crypto tracking firm that is assisting Liquid in its investigation. 

Liquid revealed on Thursday morning, Singapore time, that it had detected unauthorized access of some customers' crypto wallets. The breach prompted it to halt all crypto withdrawals, though other services including fiat withdrawals and deposits were kept open. In its most recent update on Twitter, the company said it was tracking the movement of the stolen assets and working with other exchanges to freeze and recover the funds. 

The incident is the second major crypto heist to take place this month. Earlier, a hacker stole — and quickly returned — about $611 million in in Ethereum, Shiba Inu and other digital currencies from the decentralized Poly Network finance platform. The company later offered the as-yet unidentified perpetrator a bug bounty of $500,000 for helping to identify security vulnerabilities in its systems. However, it's unclear whether the reward was used as a bargaining tool or just a means of putting a positive spin on an otherwise damaging series of events. 

Neither is this the first time a Japanese exchange has been targeted. Back in 2018, Tokyo-based Coincheck lost roughly $534 million worth of lesser-known crypto tokens in a hack. Earlier still, in 2014, its Japanese peer Mt. Gox lost between $400 million and $480 million in a crypto heist, which resulted in Japan's legislators passing a law to regulate bitcoin exchanges.

Apple has again pushed back its planned return to the office for US workers due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Bloomberg reports that the company has shifted its October date to January, though the schedule remains tentative for now. 

Apple reportedly told employees in a memo that it would confirm the re-opening deadline one month before staff are expected to return to corporate workplaces. Like many employers, the iPhone maker is also preparing for a hybrid work routine. Apple apparently expects staff to attend the office at least three days a week — Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays — with the option to work remotely on Wednesday and Friday.

The delay is the latest bout of disruption to Apple's business. Its previous return to work deadline of September was met with resistance by some employees, who claimed their voices were being ignored. The same subset of workers also demanded a full-time remote work option. 

On the retail side, Apple has repeatedly been forced to shutter its stores alongside the rise and fall of the virus. Just this week, it closed its store in Charleston, South Carolina, after more than 20 staff members were exposed to COVID-19. The decision reflected the risks Apple is facing in resuming normal operations. 

Apple re-opened its retail stores earlier this year and has not indicated whether it plans to close them again, despite the spread of COVID-19 fueled by the Delta variant. Though, it quickly backtracked on its plan to restore in-store educational classes. Apple also recently reinstated its mask mandate for staff and store visitors in July after dropping the requirement in June for vaccinated customers. While its hardware business is facing the same chip shortage problem that has entangled the rest of the tech industry.

Bethesda is releasing yet another version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, this time to celebrate the popular title's 10th anniversary. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition will be available for the PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, as well as the PlayStation 4 on November 11th, 2021, exactly 10 years after the game was first released in 2011. It will also have backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 5 — Bethesda isn't keeping PS players out even after it was acquired by Xbox, though Switch owners will have to get their copy on another console or PC.

The Anniversary edition contains the full game, along with all three of its expansions, namely Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn. It has all the enhancements that came out with the Special Edition, the remaster Bethesda released back in 2016, though it's unclear if this newer version has higher frame rates and better graphics to make them look better on current-gen consoles. 

The game also comes with new features, including a fishing mechanic, as well as 500 pieces of Creation Club content, quests, dungeon, bosses, weapons and spells unique to the version. However, Bethesda has yet to release details about those new features, so players may have to wait for more information to figure out if the game is worth another purchase. 

According to IGN, old fans can upgrade their game to the Anniversary Edition if they already have the Special Edition. The upgrade won't be free, but the studio hasn't revealed at this point how much it would cost. 

Tesla is building a humanoid robot simply called the Tesla Bot, Elon Musk has revealed at the automaker's (and, perhaps, soon-to-be-robotmaker's) AI Day event. It's intended to be friendly, he said, and be slow and weak enough that you can outrun and overpower it — you know, just in case the robot uprising does happen in the future. 

The Tesla Bot will run on an artificial intelligence system, not unlike the company's Autopilot technology for its vehicles. It will be designed to do various dangerous and repetitive tasks for humans and navigate our world without having to be fed step-by-step instructions. Musk said it should be able to follow simple commands, like "Please pick up that bolt and attach it to the car with that wrench." It should also be able to get groceries for owners and perform other menial tasks.

While Musk only presented an image of the robot during the event, the company already has a solid vision of what the machine will look like. It will stand at 5'8" tall and weigh 125 pounds, thanks to the use of lightweight materials for its body, with a screen for a face that it can use to display useful information. The machine will be able to move with a top speed of 5mph, which is just a bit faster than the average human walking speed, and will have the capacity to carry loads of up to 45 pounds. 

Musk said the company plans to have a prototype of the Tesla Bot ready by next year, though delays wouldn't come as a surprise for ambitious projects like this.

Facebook's introducing new tools to help people in Afghanistan lock down their accounts’ privacy settings. The “one-click” tool will activate privacy settings for timeline posts, and prevent profile photos from being downloaded or shared, Facebook’s Head of Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a statement.

The feature will encourage users to "limit what unknown people can see," according to screenshots shared by Gleicher. The tool won’t be available on Instagram, but the photo sharing app is pushing “pop-up alerts” that will explain ways to lock down those accounts as well.

Facebook

Gleicher added that the company is also temporarily hiding friends lists of accounts in the country, and he encouraged people with Facebook friends in Afghanistan to change privacy settings for their friends list as well. “We’re working closely with our counterparts in industry, civil society and government to provide whatever support we can to help protect people,” he said. “And we've stood up a special operations center to respond to new threats as they emerge.”

Last year, Motorola returned to the high-end phone market with the Edge Plus, a device that was a mostly middling affair. It later followed it up with the more affordable and compelling Edge. The company's newest phone, announced today, falls somewhere in between those two devices. It’s not quite a flagship, but nor is it entirely a mid-range device either. Internally, the 2021 Edge features up to 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of internal storage and a Snapdragon 778G processor.

That’s a step down from the Snapdragon 865 Motorola included with the Edge Plus, but what the 2021 Edge has going for it over its predecessors is a 6.8-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate panel. Both the 2020 Edge and Edge Plus were limited to 90Hz, which should make the new model feel more responsive even with its mid-range processor.

Motorola

Motorola also reworked the camera module on the 2021 Edge. The phone now features a primary 108-megapixel sensor that uses pixel-binning technology to improve performance in low-light situations. Supporting the main camera is an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with a lens that features a 119-degree field of view. Rounding out the camera array is a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there’s a 32-megapixel shooter that can also take advantage of pixel binning.

The 2021 Edge comes with support for a variety of global LTE and sub-6GHz bands. It also comes with WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC connectivity, as well as C-band support, which will come in handy as Verizon (Engadget’s parent company) and AT&T use the spectrum in their ongoing 5G build-outs. Speaking of Verizon, the carrier plans to offer a mmWave model later in the year.

Powering everything is a 5,000mAh battery Motorola says should provide up to two days of uptime. On the software front, the phone will ship with Android 11 and the company’s My UX skin. Motorola plans to support the phone with two major platform updates and two years of bi-monthly security patches.

What you won’t find on the 2021 Edge is support for wireless charging or robust waterproofing. It’s only IP52-certified. Most high-end phones these days feature either IP67 or IP68 water resistance.

Like it did with the Edge, the company plans to sell the 2021 model at a $200 discount for a “limited time.” Motorola hasn’t said how long the phone would cost $500. Pre-orders for the unlocked model open on August 23rd, with general availability to follow on September 2nd. Verizon and Spectrum Wireless will start selling the phone at a later date.

Twitter is introducing several tweaks to its direct messaging functionality, with the improvements set to roll out in the coming weeks. To start, you can now share the same tweet with up to 20 different accounts separately. As the company points out, that’s an improvement that should lead to fewer accidental group chats. The feature is currently rolling out now to iOS and web users, with an expansion on Android to follow “soon.”

On mobile, the company is also adding a quick-scroll button so you can quickly jump to the most recent message in a conversation when glancing over any past correspondence. As an iOS owner, you will also find Twitter has cleaned up timestamps by grouping messages by date. Additionally, if you long press on something someone sends you, there's a new reaction picker.

While none of the tweaks Twitter announced today are groundbreaking, they’re handy all the same. They should also be less controversial than the font change the company pushed out last week.

Although other companies that are working on autonomous driving might get more attention, Waymo is still hard at work on the technology. The Alphabet subsidiary just provided an update on its Waymo Driver AI as well as more details about its self-driving tests.

An array of LiDAR, radar and cameras can track what's going on all around the vehicle in a variety of weather conditions, Waymo says. The system generates a 3D view of the vehicle's surroundings that humans would be able to understand. Along with other cars, the system can render pedestrians in addition to cyclists who narrowly pass by the vehicle.

The company says Waymo Driver can detect small objects and movements at a distance, such as a truck door in the middle of traffic and someone jumping out to deliver a package. It claims the AI can recognize steam emanating from utility holes and drive the vehicle through it, and understand the difference between a stop sign and its reflection.

Waymo has been testing its vehicles in San Francisco since 2009 and it ramped up its efforts in the city earlier this year. Its vehicles now clock north of 100,000 miles on SF's roads every week. Between narrow streets, drastic changes in elevation and intersections right at the top of hills, San Francisco isn't an easy city to drive in, which makes it an effective testing ground for AVs.

The company's vehicles have autonomously driven more than 20 million miles on public roads as well as 20 billion miles in simulations. That's a significant bank of data to draw from. Waymo says the AI can recognize and adapt to local driving behaviors, such as what lane to turn in at each intersection. According to the company, Waymo Driver can also mimic other vehicles' behavior, such as in SF, where people tend to drive a little slower while going up steep slopes.

Fully autonomous driving is likely several years away from going mainstream, but it seems Waymo is making significant strides toward that goal. Hopefully, Waymo Driver is getting more comfortable around safety cones.

Elsewhere, Waymo is beefing up its autonomous truck ambitions. On Wednesday, the company announced that it's building a trucking hub in Dallas-Fort Worth and partnering with Ryder to manage its fleet.

Meanwhile, Tesla's AI Day event takes place today. According to an invitation, the company will provide attendees with "an inside look at what’s next for AI at Tesla beyond our vehicle fleet." CEO Elon Musk said there'll be a live stream of the event.

OnlyFans will ban users from uploading photos and videos "sexually explicit conduct" as of October 1st. Although the company will block depictions of sex acts, nudity is still allowed as long as creators stick by OnlyFans' Acceptable Use Policy. The changes follow pressure from payment providers and banking providers, as Bloomberg reports.

“In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform, and the continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines,” the company said in a statement. OnlyFans will share more details about the move in the coming days and it promised to "actively support and guide our creators through this change in content guidelines." 

Enforcing the new policy will likely be difficult, though all uploads to OnlyFans are checked by human moderators, according to the company. Engadget has contacted OnlyFans for comment.

OnlyFans allows its more than 2 million creators to share exclusive content with their paid subscribers. Many of the top creators on the platform, which has 130 million users, sell nude or sexually explicit photos and videos. Many sex workers have relied on revenue from the site over the last few years, especially as the pandemic took hold and it was more difficult for them to earn a living elsewhere.

Patreon similarly allows creators to share explicit nude images with their paid subscribers. However, it doesn't allow "pornographic material or sexual services."

Earlier this year, OnlyFans quietly released a mobile and TV app that features fitness, cooking, comedy, music and other types of content from its creators, but zero nudity. This week, the company started a promotional push for OFTV, underscoring its move to a more sanitized future.