Technology

Waze, the Google-owned navigation and mapping service, will lay off 5 percent of its global workforce, or about 30 people out of 555 total employees, the company’s CEO said in an email to employees. Waze will also close several of its offices in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions as it seeks to refocus its business on certain markets. Waze said the layoffs were partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has emptied roadways around the world and sent many cities into lockdown. As shelter-in-place and working from home become the new norm, fewer people are using Waze for their daily navigation needs. Fewer eyeballs on the app means less advertising revenue for the company. Waze, which was acquired by Google in 2013 for a reported $1.1 billion, has seen a dip in both monthly active...

Lucid Motors unveiled its first vehicle, the Lucid Air electric sedan, at a virtual event from the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. The sedan will get up to 517 miles of range, can hit a quarter-mile in under 10 seconds, packs over 1,000 horsepower, and will have a base price of “under $80,000” (as long as the federal government sees fit to continue to give out tax credits to EV buyers). The Lucid Air is over a decade in the making. Founded as Atieva in 2007, the company got its start making high performance batteries for all the Formula E racing teams. It changed its name to Lucid Motors in 2016 with the promise to to make a midsized sedan that feels like a massive, roomy flagship vehicle. The vehicle was supposed to be unveiled at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, but got d...

Apple’s “Sign In with Apple” login system will no longer work with Epic Games accounts as soon as September 11th, Epic said today. The new restriction is another casualty of Apple and Epic’s ongoing spat. If you currently use “Sign In with Apple” for your Epic account, Epic says you’ll need to update your account with new login credentials before September 11th to retain access. Epic has put together a guide on how to make that update if you need to do so. Epic also says that it may be able to recover your account manually after the “Sign in with Apple” option goes away, but you’ll have to contact the studio directly. Apple requires developers to use its single sign-on system if they offer any other third-party options and want their apps in the App Store — presumably a driving factor behi...

The number of high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes dropped off this year, declining from last year’s record high. Just under 20 percent of high schoolers and about 5 percent of middle schoolers said that they currently used the products, according to the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which was conducted between January and March. Last year, 27.5 percent of high school students and 10.5 percent of middle school students said they used e-cigarettes. “Although the decline in e-cigarette use among our Nation’s youth is a notable public health achievement, our work is far from over,” said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press release. Teen use of a drug usually declines when that substance starts to seem riskier, ...

I still don’t know what I think about Ronald Reagan sending players to do war crimes, but I’m certainly on board with the epic shipboarding combat I just saw in the first multiplayer reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. While we don’t see the ship’s actual armaments in play (it’s not clear if you can control them), the rest of the map seems incredibly dynamic: zip line from ship to ship, commandeer gunboats, jump around in jet skis, take down a helicopter with an RPG. You can even engage underwater, or so the trailer suggests. And that’s just one of several maps Activision revealed in the trailer today. Here’s how it describes each of the first five maps: Armada Based on Operation Azorian, U.S. and Soviet forces arrive in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean in search of ...

Earlier this year, Motorola relaunched the Razr, modernizing the iconic flip phone brand with a flashy foldable display, Android, and a $1,500 price tag. But it fell short in a number of ways, with a creaky hinge, poor cameras, and lackluster battery life. Now, Motorola is trying to redeem its first foldable with a second-generation Razr, which adds 5G support, better cameras, and more useful software. The overall design of the new Razr looks fairly similar to the original foldable. There’s a 6.2-inch, 21.9:9 foldable display on the inside of the phone, while a 2.7-inch OLED “Quick View” display on the outside allows for access to notifications and other basic functionality. Also the same: the high price tag, which, at $1,399, is just $100 less than its predecessor. Inside, there’s a numbe...

At Best Buy, you can save $60 off the usual cost of Jabra’s Elite 75t truly wireless earbuds, which are one of the best options around if you like a lot of bass in your sound. This price cut brings the black version down to a far more reasonable $120, though you have to be signed in with your Best Buy account to see the deal. Once you’re logged in, a box should appear under the price, allowing you to check a box to knock the price down from the sale price of $150 to $120. This deal lasts until September 12th. If you want a color other than black, the gold beige and titanium black colorways are $150 ($30 off) at Best Buy and at Amazon. Image: Jabra For something far, far more affordable in Jabra’s catalog of wireless earbuds, its Elite Active 65t wireless earbuds in the copper blue color se...

Electric skateboards can be incredibly fun to ride, but they tend to be less popular than scooters and bikes because most people lack the confidence to zip around at high speeds in an upright position without holding on to something. And when the road conditions are bad, riding an electric skateboard can quickly go from fun to dangerous. Hunter Boards, based in Lisbon, Portugal, thinks it may have a solution to get more people interested in electric skateboards. The company claims to have built a unique suspension system that can increase stability, minimize vibrations, and reduce a rider’s risk of falling and hurting themselves. “This is for everyone who loves electric skateboards and doesn’t want a road in poor condition to ruin its ride,” Hunter CEO Pedro Andrade told The Verge. “With a...

You could already buy a battery bank with a built-in Apple Watch charger. You could buy one with a wireless charging pad, too — they even sell one with a built-in kickstand. But to get them both, plus USB-C and USB-A wired charging, all in a single portable gadget? The new $99 Satechi Quatro might be the first we’ve seen. Simply put, the Quatro is a USB external battery pack that offers up to 18W of USB-C PD charging for your phone or tablet, plus a dedicated 2.5W Apple Watch charging station and a 5W Qi wireless charging pad to top up your wireless earbuds or possibly a phone. The USB-A port delivers up to 12 watts. Image: Satechi Since it’s only got 10,000mAh of capacity, you shouldn’t expect it to fill up a completely empty iPad Pro, much less multiple gadgets at once — but if you’re wo...

Tile, the company that makes trackers to monitor your stuff, is offering a new premium subscription plan starting today that’ll allow people to claim money for lost items. The plan, called Premium Protect, costs $99.99 per year and includes all of the perks of its premium subscription, including free battery replacements and a 30-day location history as well as item reimbursement up to $1,000. Premium, the original plan, is still available and costs $29.99 per year or $2.99 per month. Premium Protect members can register most items to qualify it for reimbursement, and Tile is working with a company called Cover Genius to follow through and approve lost item requests. (The company does list some exemptions like antiques, commercial paper, drones, pets, prescription and non-prescription drug...

One aspect of the 2020 presidential campaign that isn’t much discussed is the fact that both candidates want to end the internet as we know it. Both President Trump and Joe Biden have called for the end of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies in most cases when their users post something illegal on their platforms. Trump brought the subject up today when a Twitter account with fewer than 200 followers posted an obviously doctored image of Senate Majority Mitch McConnell dressed up in Soviety military garb, with the caption reading “Moscow Mitch.” “Why does Twitter leave phony pictures like this up, but take down Republican/Conservative pictures and statements that are true?” the president wanted to know. “Mitch must fight back and repeal Section 230,...

The incredibly lightweight Eeyo 1S electric bike is certainly fun to ride, as I said in my review, but it’s not very practical for most city commuters. Not only is it expensive at $4,599, its unique diamond-frame design eschews both front and rear fenders — you can’t even buy them as accessories from Gogoro. While the resulting look is sleek and desirable, it also means arriving at your destination splattered in road grime whenever it rains. That problem was seen as an opportunity by Amsterdam-based designer Oski Collado and his minimalistic Rain-Bow fenders. He’s now built a set for the Eeyo 1 and 1S e-bikes that are ready to ship worldwide. The lightweight Rain-Bow fenders are made of aluminum stays and plastic strips sourced from recycled materials. The rear fender is priced at €55 (abo...