Tesla Inc. has done seemingly nonstop tinkering with its prices this year, moving them lower in dramatic fashion

Google has scrapped its latest augmented reality (AR) headset that was meant to rival headsets from Apple and Meta, according to reports. The search giant’s ‘Project Iris’ was abandoned earlier this year, Insider reported, making it the second major set of smart glasses to be ditched following Google Glass. The latest AR glasses were first teased last year at Google I/O, with a video showing wearers using the device to translate conversations in real-time. “What we’re working on is technology that enables us to break down language barriers,” Max Spear, a product manager at Google, said in the video. “Making access to information just instant and intuitive, and by doing that technology fades into the background.” Since the glasses were teased, Apple has unveiled its Vision Pro headset and Meta has shown off its latest Quest 3 goggles, which will be available later this year. Google’s aborted project comes eight years after the firm discontinued its Glass smart glasses for consumers, and just months after it stopped producing the enterprise version. It follows the departure of Clay Bavor, Google’s chief of augmented and virtual reality, with the company’s focus now switching to AR software rather than hardware. One AR software platform is Android XR, which is being built for a headset under development at Samsung. A Micro XR platform is also rumoured to be in the works, which is expected to run on AR smart glasses rather than larger mixed reality goggles. One unnamed employee told Insider that Google was aiming to created the “Android for AR”, referring to the tech giant’s hugely popular mobile operating system. A spokesperson for Google declined to comment. Samsung announced at its Galaxy Unpacked event in February that it had partnered with Google and Qualcomm to make a mixed reality platform. No details were given about what the product might look like, with the company saying more information would be given later this year. “We are working to create a new era of highly immersive digital experiences that blur the line between our physical and digital worlds,” said Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon. “With our Snapdragon XR tech, Samsung’s amazing products, and Google experiences, we have the foundation to make this opportunity a reality.” Read More ‘I saw the future. It left me in tears’ Apple releases urgent update to iPhone and iPad users Apple starts letting developers make apps for its upcoming headset The Apple Watch is getting some major changes this year – here’s why

Chinese chipmaking machine suppliers surged on Wednesday following a media report that a state-backed firm made a significant

Crypto exchange Binance.US has faced a series of legal and financial challenges as regulators have increased their scrutiny

Senator Joe Manchin vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s nominees to fill key positions at the US Environmental

Adverts promoting crypto scams are appearing on X, formerly Twitter, amid an exodus of major brands from the platform. Many of the scam ads use the likeness of Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, to promote fake cryptocurrency giveaways. The scam ads work by promoting a fake pre-sale of “X Token”, which fraudulently offers early investors large profits if they buy the cryptocurrency before it officially launches on exchanges. Some of the adverts seen by The Independent have even appeared on the profile page of Elon Musk, who has 165 million followers on X – more than any other user. The scammers have paid for the sponsored posts, providing much-needed revenue for X as the company struggles with retaining traditional advertisers. Over 100 brands and other advertisers have pulled their ads from X in recent weeks, according to internal documents seen by The New York Times, which could lead to losses of around $75 million in earnings this year. The exodus reportedly began after Mr Musk engaged with a controversial tweet about an antisemitic conspiracy theory. The X owner responded to claims that he is antisemitic by saying “nothing could be further from the truth”. Companies to have withdrawn ads include Airbnb, Apple, Coca-Cola, Disney, IBM, Netflix and Uber. X disputed the figure reported, claiming it “represented an internal exercise to evaluate total risk” and that the true figure was closer to $11 million. The emergence of scam crypto ads has already resulted in significant financial losses for X users, according to the MalwareTips forum, with some victims reporting they lost their entire crypto savings. “The anonymity of cryptocurrency enables the scammers to quickly withdraw funds without being tracked down,” a post to MalwareTips notes. A twitter-hackers-cryptocurrency-a8620436.html">2018 investigation by The Independent found that crypto scams shared on Twitter had tricked people into sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to cyber criminals posing as Mr Musk. Hackers were able to take over Twitter accounts belonging to verified brands like Matalan and Pantheon Books, before switching the name and profile picture in order to impersonate the tech entrepreneur. They then posted messages offering fake giveaways that required people to send cryptocurrency in order to verify their bitcoin address. Analysis of the addresses found that more than 400 people sent bitcoin to one address, with transactions totalling 28.2 bitcoins ($1.1m at current exchange rates). Mr Musk cited the cryptocurrency scam epidemic as one of the motivating reasons for his purchase of Twitter, pledging to fix the issue upon his takeover. “If our Twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying,” he tweeted in April 2022. In June 2022, Mr Musk also criticised YouTube for fake cryptocurrency promotions that featured on the platform. “YouTube seems to be nonstop scam ads,” he tweeted. Efforts to defeat the bot endemic have included subscriptions and a $1 charge to new users, which was introduced in New Zealand and the Philippines last month. The “Not a Bot” subscription method is designed to “reduce spam, manipulation or our platform and bot activity,” the company said at the time. It is not clear how this approach will prevent accounts from promoting crypto scams, with all of the ads seen in October and November coming from verified X accounts. X did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent about the issue of crypto scam ads. Read More Elon Musk mocked for trying to resurrect QAnon Pizzagate conspiracy Elon Musk set to meet Netanyahu and hostage families in Israel Elon Musk weighs in on Dublin riots claiming country’s PM ‘hates the Irish people’ X introduces limits to prevent non-paying users from replying to posts

Climate tech is no longer a bright spot in a challenging investment landscape. Private market equity and grant

Apple has unveiled an augmented reality headset which it claims to be “the most advanced personal electronic device ever”. Called Vision Pro, it is labelled as “mixed reality” as it combines “virtual reality” – in which the wearer is fully immersed in the digital world – with “augmented reality” – where digital images are overlaid onto the real world. Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen.” The device, which resembles a pair of ski goggles, features a glass 23-million-pixel screen which covers the upper face and is controlled using the wearer’s eyes, hands and voice. It enables what Apple calls “spatial computing” – where the wearer can interact with digital content “just like it’s in your physical space”. The headset features built-in speakers and attaches using an adjustable headband, while a wire leads from the device to a battery pack which sits in the user’s pocket. Vents draw in air to cool the device down, rendering it “virtually silent”, Apple claimed. Vision Pro will cost 3,499 US dollars (£2,800) – roughly 10 times the price of the Meta Quest 2, the leading VR headset from Facebook’s parent company, which retails for £299.99. It will be available online and in Apple stores in the US from early next year and will come to more countries “later next year”. After years of speculation, the product was unveiled at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference at its California headquarters on Monday. This is the first augmented reality headset released by Apple, and the first new product it has launched since announcing the Apple Watch in 2015. Mr Cook, who succeeded Steve Jobs as Apple CEO in 2011, said: “I believe that augmented reality is a profound technology. Blending digital content with the real world can unlock experiences like nothing we’ve ever seen. “Vision Pro is a new kind of computer that augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world. “With Vision Pro, you’re no longer limited by a display. Your surroundings become an infinite canvas. “There are certain products that shift the way we look at technology and the role it plays in our lives. “Apple’s Vision Pro, together with Vision OS, introduces an entirely new spatial computing platform, a platform that presents incredible possibilities for our users and exciting new opportunities for our developers.”

Thousands of Microsoft Outlook users reported issues with accessing and using the email platform Monday morning

To anyone who hasn't been following the garbage fire of Twitter's rebrand under Elon Musk,

Here are some useful tips you'll want to know before getting into Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Big news for WhatsApp users who are a bit trigger happy when sending risky texts. You will now be able to edit your messages sent via the platform, within 15 minutes. "From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we're excited to bring you more control over your chats," the messaging service said in a blog post on Monday. "All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose 'Edit' from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after," it added. Edited messages will be tagged as "edited", so recipients can see the message has been changed. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But they won't be able to see how the message has been edited. It comes after Twitter said it was giving its paying subscribers the ability to edit their tweets last year. Tweets can be edited a few times in the 30 minutes after posting. "Tweeting will feel more approachable and less stressful," Twitter said in a blog post at the time. "You should be able to participate in the conversation in a way that makes sense to you and we'll keep working on ways that make it feel effortless to do just that," the platform added. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.