Tag Archives: author_name|Mat Smith

The Morning After: Verizon and PlayStation’s network separately hit by outages

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It was a messy Monday if you were a Verizon customer or wanted some PS5 gaming in the evening. First, Verizon mobile customers reported outages across the US on Monday. At around 9:30AM ET, hundreds of thousands of users flagged problems with their mobile service on Downdetector. Reports spiked at almost 105,000 at 11:20AM. Issues included the inability to send texts and a lack of cellular service outright. The issue centered on the East Coast and Midwest. The carrier hasn’t elaborated on what caused the issue. The FCC said it was “working to determine the cause and extent of these service disruptions.”

Hours later, the PlayStation Network experienced serious issues, kicking people off their matches and crashing online games worldwide. (Yes, that’s even bigger than the Midwest and East Coast.) Users couldn’t sign in on the PS5, PS4, PS Vita and PS3 or perform account maintenance on the web either. Streaming functionality was also knocked offline. Services came back online in the early hours of October. We’re also checking with Sony about the cause.

— Mat Smith

The USB-C Apple Pencil is cheaper than ever in this early Prime Day deal

Reddit policy changes make sitewide protests nearly impossible

The best E Ink tablets for 2024

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Cruise

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fined Cruise, GM’s self-driving vehicle division, $1.5 million. The penalty was imposed for omitting key details from an October 2023 accident when one of the company’s autonomous vehicles struck and dragged a San Francisco pedestrian. Cruise is being fined for initially submitting incomplete reports, but it’s worse than that. Executives initially played a video of the accident during October 3 meetings with the San Francisco mayor’s office, NHTSA, DMV and other officials. However, the video stream was “hampered by internet connectivity issues” that concealed the part where the vehicle dragged the victim. Executives, who the report stated knew about the dragging, also failed to verbally mention that crucial detail.

The NHTSA wants Cruise to file a corrective action plan, along with others covering its total number of vehicles, miles traveled and whether they operated without a driver. It also has to summarize software updates that affect operations and more. Finally, Cruise will also have to meet with the NHTSA quarterly to discuss and review those reports.

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Epic loves a courtroom battle. Its next challenger is Samsung — and Google. (Yes, Epic already won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last December, which found Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services.) Epic Games is claiming Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is making it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices. This is because Samsung now activates Auto Blocker, which only allows app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, by default. To be honest, it’s pretty laborious to switch off. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney even suggests Google and Samsung are working together, though he admits there’s no concrete evidence for this claim.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-verizon-and-playstations-network-separately-hit-by-outages-110420743.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple’s rumored smart display may arrive next year

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Remember those rumors of an Apple smart display suspended on a robot arm? According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to debut the first device as soon as 2025, alongside a new operating system called homeOS.

It could be a device with a robotic arm or a simpler HomePod-with-screen affair. Gurman elaborated on this, claiming two versions are in the works: a low-end display for the basics, like FaceTime and smart home controls, and a high-end robotic variant that’ll cost upwards of $1,000. According to the report, Apple Intelligence will be a key part of the experience for both devices. I’m intrigued to see how Apple’s flavor of AI can help me run my home. I literally have no idea how it would.

— Mat Smith

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Engadget

Old-school upright vacuums left a lot to be desired, and cordless models right many of those wrongs. They’re thinner, lighter and easier to maneuver, and you don’t really have to sacrifice suction power anymore. Dyson isn’t your only option these days either — there are dozens of cordless vacuums. After testing a bunch of the best cordless stick vacuums, we’ve come up with our top picks, including our best budget pick at $300.

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Fujifilm’s original GFX100S was a popular alternative to the GFX100, offering the same picture quality in a slimmer body at a much lower price. It did have some flaws, though. Now, the company has released the $5,000 GFX100S II as a smaller, cheaper alternative to the $7,500 flagship GFX100 II. It’s a big improvement on the original and offers the same picture quality as the GFX100 II for $2,500 less. It lacks all the video talents of the pricier camera, though. 

Check out our full review.

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Engadget

A Minecraft Movie is slated for release in April 2025 and will star Jack Black as Steve, alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks and Emma Myers. The team behind it shared a new clip during Minecraft Live, which expands on the brief crafting moment seen in the first trailer. The segment also gives us our first look at the movie’s interpretation of a Minecraft bee. I’ll let you form your own opinions — the teaser starts at 4:51.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-apples-rumored-smart-display-may-arrive-next-year-112222362.html?src=rss

The Morning After: A $6 million fine for robocalls from fake Biden

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially issued its full recommended fine against political consultant Steve Kramer. This is after he initiated a series of robocalls to New Hampshire residents with pre-recorded audio of President Biden’s voice, using deepfake AI technology. The fake Biden told voters not to vote in the upcoming primary, saying “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.” Kramer must pay $6 million in fines in the next 30 days or the Department of Justice will handle collection, according to a FCC statement. 

Kramer doesn’t just face a fine; he also has criminal charges against him. New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella announced that he’ll face multiple counts of voter suppression and impersonation of a political candidate.

It wasn’t a hugely difficult process, either. Kramer hired New Orleans magician (an actual magician) Paul Carpenter to make the phony recordings. Carpenter showed NBC News how he made the deepfake audio files using ElevenLabs. He said it only took around 20 minutes.

— Mat Smith

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Engadget

In a surprise short-notice (and short!) event yesterday, Samsung unveiled new additions to its portfolio of devices, including the Galaxy S24 FE and the Galaxy Watch FE LTE. The highlight had to be the new Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra tablet. With the Tab S10 series, the company is adding to its flagship S24 phones features like Circle to Search and Sketch to Image. Those features that work with the S Pen on the S24 Ultra, like Handwriting Assist and Note Assist, are here too. While software is the main draw this year, the Tab S10 Ultra has a 120Hz 14.6-inch screen with an anti-reflective finish and a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ processor, instead of the usual Qualcomm chip. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra will be available starting at $1,200 for the 256GB model — pre-orders are open now and the tablet will launch October 3.

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It’s now very possible to find a clean-sounding, richly featured pair for well under $100, but there are, unsurprisingly, a lot of bad earbuds too. We’ve pulled in the best buds, including some that even manage to pack in noise cancellation. Expect capable buds from Anker, Jlab and even Amazon.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-a-6-million-fine-for-robocalls-from-fake-biden-111601788.html?src=rss

The Morning After: I really want this 30th anniversary PS5 Pro

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To commemorate PlayStation’s 30 years in the game, Sony revealed some nostalgia-tinged redesigns of both the PS5 and the forthcoming PS5 Pro. With that classic gray colorway and the old-school logo, there’s a similarly styled DualSense controller and even a chunky retro-designed cable wrapped around the typical USB-C connector.

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Sony

The PS5 Pro bundle even includes a standard controller, a DualSense Edge and a retro cover for the optional disc drive and the charging stand. Even the PlayStation Portal is getting a 1994 colorway.

Pre-orders start on September 26 through the company and at participating retailers, launching on November 21. Sony has me trapped: Design it in the colors of my childhood gaming memories, and I will probably buy it — especially when early impressions of the PS5 Pro show it could be capable of some leaps in game engine performance.

— Mat Smith

At its in-person fan event for Geeked Week this year, Netflix showed teasers and sneak peeks for the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender as well as Squid Game season two, with last season’s protagonist, Lee Jung-jae, wearing his player 456 uniform again. There were also new clips for One Piece, Wednesday, Splinter Cell, Devil May Cry and more.

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YouTube is turning paused videos into its newest ad space. The company first started looking at using ads on pause screens in 2023 with select advertisers. YouTube’s viewers are less enthusiastic. The new ads also pop up when you pause videos on the YouTube mobile app.

A YouTube rep told The Verge they’ve seen “strong advertiser and strong reviewer responses” since they “rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers.” Great.

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A documentary on Oprah Winfrey is no longer coming to Apple TV+. Because, well, Winfrey, herself, bought back the rights to it, PageSix reports. Allegedly, Winfrey and filmmaker Kevin Macdonald clashed on the final product, with the latter not making the requested edits. Winfrey was initially very involved in Apple TV+, even speaking at its launch. She signed a multi-year deal with the platform, launching shows such as The Oprah Conversation, but the agreement ended in 2022.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-i-really-want-this-30th-anniversary-ps5-pro-111559032.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Our verdict on the iPhone 16 Pro

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With the iPhone 16 Pro, the big announcements were the cameras and Apple Intelligence. The problem is Apple Intelligence isn’t quite here yet. We can test some features in the developer beta, but that’s not necessarily what we’ll get when the update rolls out in October. So our focus is more on iOS 18 (deep dive on the beta here) and the hardware changes.

The big hardware change is the camera button. But it’s not just a button, really. Located on the right side of the device, it has touch and pressure sensors to give greater control with swipes and semi-presses. (That’s in addition to the Action Button, which is still on the left edge of the iPhone).

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Engadget

It was meant to (and eventually will) let you push lightly on the button to trigger focus, similar to half-pressing a DSLR shutter button. Sadly, that function isn’t available at launch. You can swipe the button to tweak exposure, zoom levels and tone, and with the half-press, you can still select options or leave menus in the new Camera Control interface.

Without Apple Intelligence features at launch, however, the iPhone 16 Pro seems like a more incremental update than most years. But if you’ve held out on upgrading for a year or two, the camera improvements (and eventual AI features) might tempt you.

— Mat Smith

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X/Andy Robinson

Recent rumors suggest a design pretty close to the original Switch. Spotted by VGC, photos of the console have appeared online, and they show an 8-inch screen and magnetic Joy-Con controllers. There looks to be SL/SR buttons and front-facing player LEDs on those controllers.

We’ve pulled it into our collection of rumors and leaks — read on for more.

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Five unnamed contestants who participated in YouTuber MrBeast’s Beast Games filed a lawsuit on September 16 against MrBeast and Amazon, which plans to distribute the show. It’s also seeking class-action status. This game show, almost Squid Game-style, had participants go through challenges for a shot at $5 million in cash, with one winner from 1,000 participants.

The five have cited poor conditions, mistreatment and harassment. Among the 14 complaints are failure to pay minimum wages, sexual harassment, false advertising and failure to provide uninterrupted meal and rest breaks. They also arrived on set to discover that instead of 1,000 total competitors, there were far more people playing for the prize, thus lowering everyone's chances of coming out a winner. According to The New York Times, the total number of contestants was about 2,000, which MrBeast said was the plan all along.

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Apple has released new updates on iPhone 16 repairability, and these appear to have addressed issues with battery replacement and “parts pairing.” The company says it focused particularly on the repairability aspect of its latest devices. There’s now an entirely new, supposedly easier way to remove the battery. By running a low-voltage electrical current through the new ionic liquid battery adhesive (using a 9V cell, for instance), the battery will release itself from the enclosure. Apple also made changes to the Face ID sensor hardware, starting with the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. Now, the TrueDepth Camera can be swapped from one unit to another without compromising security or privacy. Before, only Apple was able to do that type of repair.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-the-iphone-16-pro-111535436.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Our verdict on the Apple Watch Series 10

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The reviews don’t stop. This morning, we’re checking out how Apple’s latest wearable compares to its predecessors and competition. Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low says that, while the Series 10 is noticeably lighter, you wouldn’t notice many differences compared to the Series 9 unless they were side by side. The latest Apple Watch is ever so slightly bigger (46mm), but if you need something even bigger, you should consider the Watch Ultra 2, which has a 49mm screen. Apple is also using a new wide-angle OLED to make its latest watch easier to read, even if your wrist is resting to the side. Again, the change is noticeable but not in a huge way. Upgraded charging should bring the Series 10 back to 80 percent in 30 minutes, but we’re still not hugely impressed with its battery life.

You might notice we haven’t scored the Apple Watch Series 10. While she’s sharing what’s important for folks considering buying one, Cherlynn needs more time to test its sleep features. However, thanks to its similarity to its predecessors (and watchOS 11 bringing many similar features to the Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 and more), it’s hard to recommend to anyone wearing a Series 9 or Ultra. If you’re coming from the Series 8 or older, the update might be worth it. Check out the full review. 

— Mat Smith

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Snap

Snap’s latest augmented reality glasses have a completely new — and completely bonkers — design, larger field of view and support for full hand tracking. But the company is only making the fifth-generation Spectacles available to approved developers willing to commit to a year-long $99/month subscription to start. These aren’t for consumers, but given how they look, I could have told you that. Karissa Bell tested them and was impressed. But competition is already on the horizon: Meta will show off the first version of its long-promised augmented reality glasses next week at its developer event.

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Kremlin-affiliated Russian troll farms are running disinformation campaigns discrediting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz before this year’s US presidential elections, according to Microsoft. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center noted several approaches: One video depicted a supposed attack by Harris supporters on Trump rally attendees. Another video used an actor to accuse Harris of being involved in a 2011 hit-and-run incident, which paralyzed a 13-year-old girl. A second troll farm shared a fake video showing a New York City billboard claiming Harris wants to change children’s gender. Microsoft warned we should expect more Russian-made disinformation materials online, including more staged and AI-edited videos, as we get closer to the election.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111537179.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Our verdict on Apple’s new AirPods 4

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Apple expanded its AirPod family with two new models last week. We’ve now tested out the AirPods 4 — and a second version with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) — and we have some thoughts. Improved sound quality and some advanced features are the key additions, but you’re more likely to notice the redesigned shape for keeping the buds more firmly (and comfortably) lodged in ears.

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Engadget

With the ANC version, Apple offers useful noise cancellation while keeping your ears open — no silicone tips. There are also a lot of Pro features, but the issue is the more technically capable AirPods Pro are often on sale, undercutting those $179 buds.

I wouldn’t have guessed it, but the basic $129 AirPods 4 may be the better deal.

— Mat Smith

Flappy Bird’s creator wants you to know he’s got nothing to do with the new version

Apple’s iOS 18 is available now

iOS 18 preview: Waiting on Apple Intelligence

Meta has banned RT and other Russian state media outlets on its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. “After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets,” the company told Engadget. “Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity.” This comes days after the Biden–Harris administration publicly accused RT of spreading propaganda and disinformation online.

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Meta

The New York Times has brought its all-conquering daily word game to a new platform in the shape of Meta Quest headsets. Wordle VR works in much the same way as the game on your phone or computer, with six attempts to guess a five-letter word. Except you’re wearing a VR headset.

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Amazon’s big sale event / buyer’s remorse generator will return this year on October 8 and 9, giving us all the more reason to call it October Prime Day as we have done in years past. Prime Day in July remains Amazon’s biggest sale event for Prime members, but ever since its debut in 2022, October Prime Day provides subscribers with thousands of exclusive deals during the two-day window. In case you missed out on that Echo. Again.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-apples-new-airpods-4-111506361.html?src=rss

The Morning After: The AirPods Pro’s new hearing aid features are a big deal

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Folded between all the new hardware announcements, Apple surprised us last week with news of FDA-approved hearing aid features for the AirPods Pro. No new hardware needed — it’s all in software updates. In the last decade, we’ve seen several companies tackle hearing-aid technology, aided by the boom in wireless tech. Now, arguably the most influential company in consumer tech is trying it. John Falcone outlines why this is a big deal. Or, at least, a very good deal.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

The iPhone 16 event is over, and now we’ve got plenty of thoughts to share after playing with all of Apple’s new hardware. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn chat about the entire iPhone 16 and Pro lineup, and Billy Steele joins to chat about his experience with the AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10. It turns out the Apple Watch stole the show.

Listen here

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Annapurna

The entire Annapurna Interactive team has left the company after its executives walked out, according to a Bloomberg report. Apparently, the video game publisher had been negotiating with Annapurna Pictures to spin off Annapurna Interactive into its own entity. Those talks broke down, so “all 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned,” the team said in a joint statement.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-airpods-pros-new-hearing-aid-features-are-a-big-deal-111529376.html?src=rss

The Morning After: OpenAI made its latest model slower, on purpose

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OpenAI has unveiled yet another artificial intelligence model. This one is called o1, and the company claims it can perform complex reasoning tasks more effectively than its predecessors. Apparently, o1 was trained to “spend more time thinking through problems before they respond.” According to the company: “[the models] learn to refine their thinking process, try different strategies and recognize their mistakes.”

That more considered response means it’s significantly slower at processing prompts than GPT-4o. And while it might be thinking more, o1 hasn’t solved the problem of hallucinations — a term for AI models making up information. OpenAI’s chief research officer Bob McGrew told The Verge, “We can’t say we solved hallucinations.”

— Mat Smith

The FixHub is a USB-C powered soldering iron designed to help fix whatever’s on your workbench (and be easily fixable itself). The iron includes a 55Wh battery pack, which acts as a stand and temperature control. Founder Kyle Wiens told Engadget FixHub was born of frustration with soldering irons and their limits. So his company tried to fix those.

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Elgato

Elgato has introduced the Stream Deck Studio, a new version of its creative control tech targeting professionals. This 19-inch rackmount console has 32 LCD keys and two rotary dials. Oh, and a $900 price tag.

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A decade — and countless clones — later, the original Flappy Bird is coming back. If you don’t recall the 2014 hit mobile game, you’d tap the screen to flap the bird’s wings and squeeze it through gaps between pipes. The game debuted in May 2013, but it didn't blow up until the following January. Developer Dong Nguyen soon revealed the game was raking in $50,000 per day from advertising. He decided to remove the game, but clones of his creation persisted. Under the banner of the Flappy Bird Foundation, some dedicated fans acquired the rights to the game, officially, so now it’s flapping back.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-700-ps5-pro-111649960.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Everything we know so far about Nintendo’s next console

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The Nintendo Switch is now over seven years old and due for a refresh, even if the storied console maker isn’t chasing technical specs, like its rival. Nintendo Switch 2 rumors (again, I’d wager real money it won’t be called that) have been bouncing around for years, even. Sometimes they teased DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep learning supersampling” upscaling tech to add polish and higher resolution to existing Switch games. Other times, rumors just ended up being the OLED Switch — largely the same console as the original.

Will this be something like the Wii? Another left turn, console wise? Or something evolutionary, like the Wii U or GameBoy Color. It’s unlikely the company will ditch the hybrid form-factor as it effectively married home and portable consoles together — and is probably a huge reason for the Switch’s success.

We’re expecting it to be backwards compatible with the Switch’s game library, while Nintendo’s account system management should make it smoother to swap between console generations than in the past. Crucially, when will it launch? While it’s mostly speculation, Nintendo’s next console could arrive March 2025, but couch that with the necessary levels of skepticism.

We’ve pulled together all the reports, leaks and rumors right here.

— Mat Smith

Ultimate Ears Everboom review

Google searches now link to the Internet Archive

The Apple Watch Series 10 deserves more than 18-hour battery life

You’ll be able to create AI clips from text, still images and existing video.

Adobe’s Firefly AI video generation tools will arrive in beta later this year. Like many things related to AI, the examples are equal parts mesmerizing and terrifying as the company slowly integrates tools built to automate much of the creative work done by folks who buy its software. The company, of course, reiterates that these tools are supplementary. Of course!

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Associated Press

With even Fox News and senior Republican figures admitting Vice President Kamala Harris won Tuesday night’s presidential debate, some supporters of former president Trump are chasing the same old conspiracy theories: an earpiece used during debates. A tale as old as 2012, the same accusations were cast at President Joe Biden in 2020, at Hillary Clinton in 2016 and at Barack Obama in 2012. However, internet sleuths’ finds boiled down to a Kickstarter startup called Nova and earring-styled earpieces that never quite made it beyond vaporware. We detangle the nonsense.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-700-ps5-pro-111538227.html?src=rss