The Morning After: Louis Vuitton’s showy smartwatch has a surprise
It works pretty well.
I love it when fashion houses and technology collide. It’s often a complete disaster. I’ve played, reviewed and stared incredulously at a few of them, but, oh boy, Louis Vuitton loves to test the limits.
Its new Tambour smartwatch has a lot of what you’d expect: a $3,500 price tag for the most well-heeled smartwatch shoppers, LV livery everywhere, leather strap options and a divisive design that seems intentionally not for everyone.
However, the watch, running on its own OS, is surprisingly competent. There are different power-saving modes, you can send notifications to your iOS or Android phone, with apps for weather and calendar functions all built-in. There are even Louis Vuitton travel guides, which are accessible for any trips you register on the watch.
It’s not for everyone, sure, but for the ‘someone’ that wants a glowing LV-emblazoned wrist, according to Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low, it’s functional as well as fashion.
— Mat Smith
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Android 12L hands-on
Big-sized Android for huge screens.
Google might be on the 12th generation of its mobile OS, but it felt like Android left tablets behind years ago. (Google gave up making its own tablets.) But with Android 12L, Google is trying to address some of the OS’ shortcomings while paving the way for emerging types of gadgets, like foldables. The major upgrades focus on a new taskbar and multitask interface, which makes sense. Sam Rutherford tests it out.
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Tobii says it's in talks to provide eye tracking for Sony's PlayStation VR2
The VR headset might not be close to launch.
Tobii says it's in talks to provide its eye-tracking technology for the next-gen VR headset. It noted the discussions were "ongoing" and that it couldn't share the potential financial impact of the deal. Sony previously confirmed the PlayStation VR2 would use eye tracking, but it didn't name a tech supplier or explain in detail how the feature would work. It suggests the VR hardware might be a ways off.
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Watch Hulu's intense 'The Dropout' trailer based on the rise of Elizabeth Holmes
Amanda Seyfried stars as the Theranos founder.
Hulu has dropped the first trailer for The Dropout, a miniseries about the failed blood-testing startup Theranos. The best part of the two-and-a-half-minute preview might be Holmes developing her (iconic? infamous?) deep voice.
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IRS says it will back away from facial recognition amid outcry
The decision comes hours after mounting political pressure.
The Internal Revenue Service has told Senator Ron Wyden it plans to back away from using facial recognition for verification purposes. Wyden said the transition would "take time.” Under the plan, the IRS would have used ID.me’s technology to authenticate users hoping to file taxes online or otherwise use the IRS' internet services.
The approach was intended as a fraud prevention tool, but it encountered opposition from Republican senators, House Democrats and civil liberties groups. Worries included security concerns, the degree of privacy of uploading sensitive data, historical biases in facial recognition, the inaccessibility to people without broadband and a general lack of accountability.
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