You can get dragged into a police investigation by proximity alone — for now
You can get dragged into a police investigation by proximity alone — for now

A years-old bank heist may soon have major privacy implications for every American who owns a cellphone. On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Chatrie v. United States, a case involving police’s use of controversial “geofence warrants” to find and arrest Okello Chatrie, the suspect of a 2019 bank robbery outside Richmond, Virginia. At […]

Apple TV’s new horror series is scarier because it’s also hilarious
Apple TV’s new horror series is scarier because it’s also hilarious

Kate O’Flynn views comedy and horror as “kind of the same thing.” Both are at their best when they surprise – a laugh or a scare that comes out of nowhere hits the hardest. That’s why, for the star of the new horror-comedy hybrid Widow’s Bay, mixing up the genres makes perfect sense – they […]

The AI-designed car is taking shape
The AI-designed car is taking shape

The auto design world is full of advanced 3D visualization tools and VR sculpting platforms, but your average new car still enters the world as a sketch. Those sketches traditionally see endless iteration and refinement from all angles before being turned into 3D models by hand, some dying in the digital world, others sculpted into […]

The plan to quietly kill Coyote v. Acme blew up in David Zaslav’s face
The plan to quietly kill Coyote v. Acme blew up in David Zaslav’s face

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on Hollywood trends and streaming culture, follow Charles Pulliam-Moore. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes on Sundays at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Under David Zaslav’s leadership, WBD got very […]

Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll
Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll

For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brütal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. […]

Sho Miyake answers life’s greatest questions
Sho Miyake answers life’s greatest questions

Acclaimed Japanese director Sho Miyake has arrived in the States. He’s brought with him two feature films: Small, Slow But Steady and Two Seasons, Two Strangers, a pair of naturalistic portraits that deal with the uneasy human desire to relate to other people. Seclusion and unease are bedrocks to Miyake’s growing filmography. “I like these […]

The US gets the worst phones
The US gets the worst phones

Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they’ve done so for years. Together with Google, they’ve shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they’ve sat back, content to iterate rather than […]

360-degree cameras have a new superpower
360-degree cameras have a new superpower

Imagine Google Street View, except you can walk around like it’s a video game. Now imagine you don’t need to wait for Google to come film because it’s completely DIY. Insta360, the leading maker of 360-degree cameras, is now partnered with a 12-person UK startup called Splatica to help creators do just that. Last January, […]

The Trump phone still isn’t real
The Trump phone still isn’t real

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. We’re back to being ignored, and the phone seems no closer to an actual launch. Last week Trump Mobile overhauled its website, in the process officially revealing the updated design […]

A new Republican privacy bill could be ‘worse than no standard at all’
A new Republican privacy bill could be ‘worse than no standard at all’

Congress is once again attempting to pass a national data privacy law. But while it would introduce new protections in some states, it would weaken privacy rights in others – and it’s missing several elements that privacy advocates deem necessary. The SECURE Data Act is the product of a Republican data privacy working group led […]