The lawsuits are the first by an American state against TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, in a sign of mounting legal pressure.

Atari is revivingAkka Arrh, a 1982 arcade game canceled because test audiences found it too difficult. For the wave shooter’s remake, the publisher is teaming up with developer Jeff Minter, whose psychedelic, synthwave style seems an ideal fit for what Atari describes as “a fever dream in the best way possible.” The remake will be released on PC, PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Atari VCS in early 2023.The original Akka Arrh cabinet used a trackball to target enemies, as the player controls the Sentinel fixed in the center of the screen to fend off waves of incoming...

It may be more difficult for hackers and other intruders to grab your iCloud data. Apple is introducing a trio of security measures that include Advanced Data Protection, an optional feature that applies end-to-end encryption to more iCloud data. While Apple was already protecting 14 data categories, the new offering protects 23 — including iCloud device backups, photos and notes. Your calendar, contacts and iCloud Mail are still unencrypted to support global systems.Advanced Data Protection is available to try in the US today as part of the Apple Beta Software Program. Americans will have...

Amazon is facing more legal trouble for allegedly robbing delivery drivers of their tips. The District of Columbia has sued Amazon over claims the company was "stealing" tips from Flex drivers. As the Federal Trade Commission argued last year, DC claims Amazon changed its policies in 2016 so that it would use large portions of drivers' tips to cover base pay and operational costs. The company not only used "misleading" language in its response to worried couriers but falsely told customers that 100 percent of tips would go drivers, according to the District's Office of the Attorney...

Construction has forced Formula E to relocate its US race next summer from the Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn to Portland, Oregon. The all-electric racing series filled the final spot in its Season 9 calendar on Wednesday as the 2023 slate of races is set to kick off in Mexico in mid-January. The Portland event will take place on June 24th, sandwiched between doubleheaders in Jakarta (June 3-4) and Rome (July 15-16).Formula E has held a race in the US every year since it began in 2015, except for the COVID-shortened season in 2020. In addition to New York City, the series has also hosted events...

The company plans to expand its Communication Safety features, which aim to disrupt the sharing of child sexual abuse material at the source.

Winamp version 5.9.1 is here, rejoice! The venerable — nay, aged — but reliable media player has been receiving sporadic updates over the last couple decades, but little truly new functionality has appeared (and that’s just fine by us users). But this new version brings an unexpected and thankfully optional feature: NFT playback. No, this […]Oh no, they added NFTs to Winamp by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

A screenshot from Fortnite. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games is introducing a new type of account for kids playing its online multiplayer games. The new accounts, called Cabined Accounts, have some restrictions until a parent or guardian gives their approval for certain features. They’ll start rolling out in Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, Epic said in a blog post on Wednesday.If someone tries to make an account and says they are under 13 years old (or below the age of digital consent for their country), that account will be a Cabined Account. Kids using a Cabined Account will be able...

Until last year, healthcare funding continued to shatter previous records. But there remains at least one very big hole in the industry. No one has yet created a broad, leading women’s healthcare brand, and that spells opportunity. Dina Radenkovic is among those who see it, and at her company, Gameto, she specifically wants to build […]A healthcare brand for women begins to take shape by Connie Loizos originally published on TechCrunch

Electric leisure boat startup Navier has managed to bring its concept hydrofoiling watercraft into reality, and has opened pre-orders — if you happen to have a few hundred grand laying around. It may not be affordable, but it’s not like the other 30-foot boats you can order are a bargain either. At least this one […]Navier’s 30-foot hydrofoiling electric boat hits the water and prepares for production by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

A new feature from Alarm.com knows when to arm and disarm your security system so you don’t have to. | Image: Alarm.com Millions of smart home security systems are getting a bit smarter this week. A new feature called Smart Arming brings a little flexibility to Alarm.com systems’ arm and disarm settings, making you less likely to trip the alarm by mistake and more likely to actually use it. Smart Arming is available now on systems powered by Alarm.com, a company that provides both hardware and software to hundreds of local and national home security companies. Instead of a rigid on / off...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Want to stream She-Hulk: Attorney at Law or Andor? Then you might want to quickly sign up for a Disney Plus subscription. On Thursday, December 8th, Disney will debut a new ad-supported tier that’ll cost $7.99 / month. The existing ad-free plan, meanwhile, will increase from $7.99 / month to $10.99. However, the good news is that you can avoid the price hike so long as you subscribe to an annual ad-free plan before the end of today, December 7th. Even better, you don’t need to be a new subscriber, either. Right now, in fact, both new and returning...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine has sued Amazon for using drivers’ tips to pay their standard wages, attempting to exact a punishment that federal consumer protection agencies couldn’t.Amazon settled with the Federal Trade Commission last year after a lawsuit asserted it had withheld more than $60 million (or about one-third of total customer tips) from Amazon Flex drivers over the course of two and a half years. But while the FTC took that money to distribute back to drivers, it had no mechanism to issue greater penalties. “Amazon...

Apple is clamping down on AirDrop privacy settings for all its users with the iOS 16.2 update, after backlash its recent restrictions impacting the feature’s use in China. In November, reports circulated that Apple had begun limiting the use of AirDrop in China as the country was facing widespread protests over the Chinese government’s “zero Covid” […]Apple changes AirDrop security for all with iOS 16.2 after backlash over restrictions in China by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

This isn’t some unofficial recreation — overnight bookings are available for the genuine Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand for the first time ever. | Image: Larnie Nicolson / Airbnb In celebration of the 10th anniversary of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Tolkien fans can finally book to stay at the genuine Hobbiton Movie Set via Airbnb. The Hobbiton set was initially built by Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson on Buckland Road in New Zealand in 1999 and features in both of his Middle-earth movie trilogies. While the location has since become an active tourist destination in...

Setpoint, a startup that has built software to help other companies close loan transactions faster, has raised $43 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The raise comes just six months after Austin, Texas-based Setpoint closed a $5.5 million seed round and $150 million in securitization. Serial entrepreneurs Ben Rubenstein, Stuart […]Andreessen Horowitz leads $43M Series A for Setpoint, which aims to be the ‘Stripe for credit’ by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch

Apple announced some big new security features on Wednesday. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple will finally be adding end-to-end encryption to iCloud backups, the company said as part of a major set of security announcements on Wednesday. Under what it calls Advanced Data Protection, Apple will expand the number of “data categories” protected by end-to-end encryption from 14 to 23, with backups, Notes, and Photos now covered.Users on Apple’s beta program in the US will be able to enable Advanced Data Protection beginning Wednesday, Apple says. It will be available broadly...

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The Skydio Dock, with a Skydio X2 drone. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Skydio is the only company making drones that can largely fly themselves, able to sense and avoid objects so seamlessly you can hand a toddler the controls — but legally and practically, they need a lot of human oversight. Who’s going to charge the drone, update it, download its footage, and be the oft-legally-required visual observer to make sure it doesn’t crash into anything nearby? But for years, Skydio has been working on the gadget that could eliminate pesky humans from the equation. It’s called the...

Autonomous drones have a tremendous amount of potentially valuable use cases, but even if the drones have the smarts to go and do their jobs by themselves they need to come home to base to recharge. Skydio today announced a new series of docks that represents the next step in the company’s journey toward deploy-anywhere […]Skydio takes flight with new drone docking stations for easy remote deployment by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Dwarf Fortress got a new look for its debut on Steam and Itch. | Image: Kitfox Games The subterranean settlement sim has been a cult favorite since it was first released in 2006. Now, a graphically updated version of the game is hitting Steam and Itch, the perfect entry point for the ‘Dwarf Fortress curious.’ Continue reading…

Space is packed with human-made objects, and will likely only get more crowded with the continued growth of the space industry. Spacecraft operators have surprisingly little real-time data about where things actually are in orbit, especially in relation to each other. Enter Slingshot Aerospace. The company is building a real-time “digital space twin” so that […]Slingshot Aerospace closes Series A-2 to grow space situational awareness platform by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

Instagram announced today that it’s introducing new transparency tools so you can see whether or not your photos and videos are recommended in the app. The social network is expanding its Account Status hub to make it easier for users with professional accounts, like businesses and creators, to understand if their content is eligible to […]Instagram’s new transparency tools will tell you if your content is ineligible to be recommended by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Just a day after Apple announced a revamp of its App Store pricing policy to introduce 700 new price points, subscription platform RevenueCat is rolling out a new feature that will allow developers to A/B test different price points for their app subscriptions. The feature, called “Experiments,” aims to help developers determine the best price […]As Apple’s App Store expands price points options, RevenueCat rolls out A/B price testing tools by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

After FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy, some market participants aren’t worried about institutional interest in crypto wavering.Mastercard director sees FTX collapse as chance for the crypto market to reset by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch