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The Morning After: MacBook Air (2020) review

And Apple just bought one of the best weather apps.

Richard Lawler
Senior News Editor
·3 min read
0

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Remember when Steve Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of a manila envelope? These days a thin-and-light laptop isn't that shocking, but Apple's original version is still one of the best. Dana Wollman's review is in: With the improved keyboard and upgraded base storage, this 13-inch laptop is an even better option than last year when its price started $100 higher.

The only drawbacks? Just two USB-C ports and battery life that is good, but not best-in-class. If you want macOS and don't need Pro power or a discrete GPU, it's worth thinking about -- but I'm sticking with my XPS 13 2-in-1.

-- Richard

A different kind of New Game Plus.'Persona 5 Royal' taps into the joy of replaying your favorite game

Mat Smith has been spending his lockdown hours playing through the repolished Persona 5, which adds more content and new characters but keeps a lot of things the same. It makes for a comforting experience in these unusual days.

The agency says the move will help combat robocalls.FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021

The FCC announced today that all carriers and phone companies must adopt the STIR/SHAKEN protocol by June 30th, 2021. It's designed to combat robocalls, specifically those that try to hide their phone numbers, by allowing carriers to authenticate caller IDs. The protocol should reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing, help law enforcement agencies identify bad actors and, most importantly, allow carriers to identify spammers before they ever call your phone. The FCC estimates fraudulent call schemes cost Americans approximately $10 billion every year.

For your part, you'll need a device that can display the Caller Verified notification when someone calls you. While most modern smartphones support the feature out of the box, other handsets will need to be updated.

From gravity gun to gravity gloves.How Valve brought Half-Life to VR

Whether you prefer to read or listen, Devindra Hardawar's chat with a few Valve developers will reveal a lot more about the making of Half-Life: Alyx.

That notch, wow.Google has discontinued the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

The Pixel 3 and 3 XL were key phones for Google, introducing its new camera technology, like Night Sight, Top Shot and Photobooth. Despite a few flaws, it produced the best smartphone photos around when it launched in 2017.

Epic Games says there's no proof the app has been compromised.Houseparty says it wasn't hacked, offers $1 million for 'smear campaign' proof

Houseparty is the family video call equivalent of Zoom, and it's booming during the coronavirus outbreak. That's meant some people have the service in their sights, with rumors circulating that the app has been hacked. Houseparty, owned by Epic Games, believes these rumors are part of a "paid commercial smear campaign," and says there is no evidence to back up claims that the app has been compromised in any way.

To tackle it, the company has offered a million-dollar bounty for any proof of an organized smear campaign. That's a lot of money to protect one's reputation.

The Android and Wear OS apps will shut down on July 1st.Apple buys Dark Sky weather app

Apple has bought the highly regarded weather app Dark Sky, in an apparent bid to bolster its own offering. The original app will still be available on the iOS App Store, but Android iterations will shut down on July 1st. If you subscribed, you will get a refund.

Apple previously used data from Yahoo (owned by Engadget's parent company Verizon) and The Weather Channel. Dark Sky's by-the-minute weather predictions and radar maps could offer some useful improvements.

But wait, there's more...

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