Tech

You can learn a lot about somebody just by learning about how they get things done. Are they the sort of person who might have a perfectly color-coded email inbox, a flawlessly organized to-do list, and what’s that, they just sent you a calendar invite for happy hour next week? Or are they more likely to have a giant pile …

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 49, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope you like podcasts, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  This week, I’ve been reading about upstart baseball teams and canceled comics and Francis Ford Coppola, watching Logan Lucky, binging …

Whining about stuff is a treasured American pastime, so allow me to indulge: the iPhone is more fun in Europe now, and it’s not fair. They’re getting all kinds of stuff because they have cool regulators, not like, regular regulators. Third-party app stores, the ability for browsers to run their own engines, Fortnite, and now the ability to replace lots …

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is reportedly in custody after being arrested near Paris Saturday evening as he was departing his private jet. The billionaire was apprehended on a warrant related to a preliminary investigation, writes Reuters. French authorities reportedly believe that the platform’s lack of moderation has “allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.” Durov will …

EV startup Canoo has lost co-founder and chief technology officer Sohel Merchant and is moving its operations out of Los Angeles, according to two reports from TechCrunch this week, citing unnamed sources. Canoo wrote in a quarterly SEC filing on August 14th that it was “permanently” dropping its headcount as part of a reorganization plan for its Torrance, California facility, …

NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced today that US astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will return next February with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission after spending more than 80 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). According to NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich, “As we got more and more data over the summer and understood the uncertainty of that …

A new all-Pokémon FAST channel is bringing the first 22 seasons of the original Pokémon anime, courtesy of Canadian distributor WildBrain. The channel will kick off its availability in the US, with Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand to follow, according to WildBrain’s announcement this week. Melissa Pearce, senior director of media licensing at The Pokémon Company International, called …

Android users participating in a pilot program can now add their California driver’s licenses to Google Wallet. The “mobile driver’s license” program is currently open to 1.5 million Californians, and previously only allowed digital IDs in the state’s “CA DMV Wallet” app for iOS and Android. “It’s never been easier to keep a digital driver’s license and identification card in …

Two years ago, I thought my quest for the best running earbuds was over. The Beats Fit Pro were simply perfect in every way. Then I moved to the suburbs. The Beats’ ambient mode was no match for North Jersey drivers’ blatant disregard for speed limits. Open-ear headphones seemed like the obvious answer. But which ones? For a few weeks, …

Sonos’ Labor Day sale is bringing discounts to a variety of smart speakers and soundbars until September 2nd, many of which are on sale elsewhere for the same price. Both the Sonos Era 100 and portable Move 2 are 20 percent off, which means you can get the Era 100 from Amazon, Best Buy, and Sonos for $199 ($50 off) …