hightechz.net, Author at Technology, review, product, AI and more...

12 Oct

Marvel details upcoming slate of shows at New York Comic Con

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We got our first proper look at the upcoming Wonder Man series, but Marvel has a whole slate of shows in the works. Other than Wonder Man, though, the company didn’t roll into New York Comic Con with a firm release date for anything. The best we got were some broad release windows and few tantalizing details for what’s in store. Season two of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is set for release in fall of 2026. A lot of details are still unknown, but head of Marvel Television and Marvel Animation Brad Winderbaum did say the story would feature a…

12 Oct

You need to watch the bonkers Japanese fantasy horror film House

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Get ready to ask “WTF?” a lot. Spooky season is upon us, and traditional horror films like Bring Her Back (excellently gruesome) or The Evil Dead (stone cold classic) are obvious choices for a cozy movie night at home. But, if you're looking for something that's a bit more weird than wicked to get you in the Halloween spirit, I highly recommend the 1977 fantasy horror film House. Describing House is an exercise in futility. Here's the basic plot: A girl goes to spend the summer with her aunt after her widower father brings home a creepily sedate woman and…

12 Oct

Amazon awkwardly edited the guns out of James Bond art

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Last week, for James Bond Day, Amazon revealed updated poster art for the movies. But fans immediately noticed that the super spy’s signature Walther PPK was conspicuously missing from every image. In some cases it had clearly and rather clumsily been Photoshopped out. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan were left awkwardly holding thin air, in the posters for Dr. No and Goldeneye, respectively. Roger Moore seemingly received a body transplant on the cover Live and Let Die, and for A View to a Kill his arms were lengthened to inhuman proportions to coverup his firearm. Unsurprisingly fans went into a…

12 Oct

Police are asking kids to stop pulling AI homeless man prank

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We’ve been so worried about deepfaked politicians, AI musicians, virtual actresses, and phony satellite imagery that we didn’t even consider the dangers posed by precocious teenagers. Kids are using AI to create images of a disheveled, seemingly unhoused person in their home and sending them to their parents. Understandably, they’re not thrilled and in some instances call the police. The prank has gone viral on TikTok and, in addition to giving parents agita, has become a headache for law enforcement. The premise is simple enough: kids use Snapchat’s AI tools to create images of a grimy man in their home…

12 Oct

How BlackBerry Messenger set texting free

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Version History It's important to remember that two decades ago, text messages cost 10 cents. Each. Back when we measured our cell phone plans in minutes, and when even 3G connections felt fast, text messages were a huge business for wireless carriers and a huge expense for anyone whose kids learned to T9-type just a little too quickly. Then BlackBerry, nearing the peak of its powers, did something remarkable: it cut the carriers out entirely. Before WhatsApp and Telegram, before iMessage and RCS, there was BlackBerry Messenger. And while we don't use BBM anymore, we owe it a debt of…

11 Oct

Apple ends support for Clips video-editing app

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Apple’s Clips video editing app is no more. It debuted in 2017 as a way to stitch together videos with music, text, and filters with a clear focus on sharing to social media. Over the years Apple added AR features and more advanced video editing tools. But recently updates had slowed to a trickle. Apple finally decided to pull the plug though, removing Clips from the App Store. The company also updated its support page to state clearly that “the Clips app is no longer being updated, and will no longer be available for download for new users as of…

11 Oct

How Verge readers, and writers, are managing our kids’ screen time

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This week the Pew Research Center published a study about how parents managed screen time for their kids 12 and under. The results were not particularly surprising (or enlightening, if we're being honest). A full 90 percent of parents said their children watched TV, and 61 percent said their kids interact with smartphones at least on occasion. Somewhat surprisingly, only 50 percent said they let them play a game console of some kind. While 42 percent of respondents said they could do better managing their kids' screen time, 86 percent did say they had rules around screens, even if they…

11 Oct

The AirPods 4 and Lego’s brick-ified Grogu are our favorite deals this week

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Although Amazon’s fall Prime Day event has come to an end, there are still some lingering discounts available. That means you have yet another chance to pick up an early gift for the holidays, or just something for yourself. Right now, for instance, Apple’s base AirPods 4 are sitting at their lowest price to date, as is Lego’s adorable Star Wars Grogu set. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to add smart lights to your space, a two-pack of Philips Hue smart LED bulbs is cheaper than ever. We’ve also rounded up a few more deals worth checking out below. Apple AirPods…

11 Oct

American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming

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When Donald Trump's administration issued orders to send the National Guard into Portland, Oregon, a person in a frog balloon suit showed up at the city's ICE facility, where protesters had gathered. After the frog humped the air in front of a throng of federal law enforcement - many dressed in head-to-toe camo with military-grade helmets, gas masks, and riot shields - the feds slowly began to retreat. What else could they do? A soldier knows what to do when they encounter another soldier. But an air-humping frog? @theantifascistfrog this is the war ravaged city that Trump is talking aboutððð…

11 Oct

Dreams of Another feels like a fever dream

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Dreams of Another is like playing an art-filled dream. It's filled with unexpected events, disjointed acts, and hazy landscapes. Scenes end abruptly, and then you unexpectedly pick up the thread later on. You'll meet talking angel statues and fish that want to escape their home and swim to the ocean. But it's that same unstable, dreamlike quality that makes the game so memorable. In Dreams of Another, from PixelJunk developer Q-Games, you play as a pajama-clad man who is aptly referred to only as the Man in Pajamas. He wields a gun given to him by a man called the…