Asus has now extended its warranty, and will even reimburse for damaged cards if you send them (and your handheld) for repair.

But it’s not clear whether the card reader can be repaired — “devices returned from RMA as recently as this month still have the issue,” warns r/ROGAlly moderator duckydan81. I asked Asus if that’s changing; I’ll report back next week.

Josh Dzieza got a rare glimpse at the meticulous work of undersea cable repair — the secretive industry that keeps internet infrastructure around the world up and running. If you haven’t read his excellent feature yet, here’s a quick overview of how cable repair works.

Kind of! The Senate can’t agree on amendments to the bill that reauthorizes the warrantless surveillance program, so it’s looking like we’re about to hit the midnight expiration deadline without a bill for Biden to sign.

But technically speaking, the FISA court recently granted a government request to allow the program to continue until April 2025.

Until the end of April, Woot is selling Google’s latest mid-range smartphone unlocked for $339 ($160 off) in sea and coral.

The Pixel 8A could arrive next month, but the 2023 model is still great if you need an immediate upgrade. Its strengths include flagship-worthy performance, multi-day battery life, and a very good dual-camera system.

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Bloomberg:

Almost 600 public fast-charging stations were switched on for US drivers in the first three months of the year, a 7.6% increase over the end of 2023, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of federal data. There are now almost 8,200 quick-turn EV stations across the country, or one for every 15 gas stations. Tesla is responsible for slightly more than one quarter of them.

EV charging is still a bit more complicated than a fill-up, what with different charging speeds, competing standards, and rival networks, but alignment is underway.

***If you fill out a questionnaire beforehand that includes a non-disclosure agreement and get accepted into the beta test program. Enrollment will last through April 30th, and lucky users will get notified about a week later.

So, not exactly the Wear OS 4 rollout Mobvoi fans have probably been hoping for, but a sign of progress!

From my interview with Mark Zuckerberg this week:

I noticed that Google is now helping with real-time knowledge in Meta AI. I think you’re the only assistant that has Google and Bing. I’m surprised that Google especially is outsourcing search to another AI assistant when they have Gemini. Did it surprise you that they were willing to do that?

I guess I wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t want to do it. But it seems like they are building up a whole model around this, so it makes sense. It’s good for Google. It shows Google prominently and links to Google. They pay Apple a ton of money for distribution. They’re not paying us. So, I think it’s good for them on that.

Are you paying them then?

There’s not a ton of money flowing either way.

We’ve seen purported renders of the Pixel 9, now 9to5Google points out Rozetked (also a source for Pixel 3 era leaks) photos of a prototype 6.1-inch Pixel 9 Pro.

In a picture of the boot screen, it says the “caiman” device has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM onboard (up from 12GB on the Pixel 8 Pro), along with 128GB of storage.

A Tesla delivery center in Virginia reportedly has a way to deal with the now-recalled accelerator pedal on Cybertrucks.

In a Facebook post, Jim McGlone wrote that they installed a temporary rivet to secure the pad that might slip off and get stuck. With that in place, he picked up his new Cybertruck yesterday after it had been in a “containment hold.”

Not only is the first song called “Fortnight” (ignore the typo), but the lyrics from “So High School” reference both GTA and the beloved LucasArts adventure game Full Throttle. Curiously it’s not capitalized, but Swift does seem to be teasing a sequel.

that caused catastrophic flooding in Dubai, experts tell AP. People falsely blaming cloud seeding are also spreading disinformation about climate change. So, you know, don’t believe everything you see on social media.

Microsoft’s new AI model, VASA-1, transforms a single still image and an audio clip into an animated video, which is impressive, if not a little creepy.

The benefits – such as enhancing educational equity, improving accessibility for individuals with communication challenges, offering companionship or therapeutic support to those in need, among many others – underscore the importance of our research and other related explorations.

Microsoft says it won’t release a demo, API, or product with VASA-1 “until we are certain that the technology will be used responsibly.”

It’s not just us Swifties who have been waiting impatiently for April 19th — The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) release day. It appears Mark Zuckerberg had a carefully worded pun locked and loaded for today, which also marks the pop superstar’s debut on Threads.

The amendment would reverse a provision included in the recent House bill reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA that expands the definition of “electronic communications service provider,” which critics say would force Americans to essentially spy for the government.

“Forcing ordinary Americans and small businesses to conduct secret, warrantless spying is what authoritarian countries do, not democracies,” Wyden said in a statement. 

That’s why I’m keen on this rumor from AppleInsider that says macOS 15 will add a sidebar that gives you an overview of previous calculations. The app will supposedly look more like the iOS version and get unit conversions too.

Good! Sign me up for anything that makes math less painful.

That means breaking waves could be a major source of PFAS pollution in the air, according to a new study. For decades, manufacturers used forever chemicals (AKA PFAS) in everything from food packaging to carpet cleaners to make things water, stain, and heat resistant. We’re just starting to understand how prevalent these chemicals have become in the environment and the health risks that could pose.

Sources tell The New York Times that Sony and investment firm Apollo Global Management are in talks to submit a bid to acquire Paramount. At the same time, reports suggest Paramount is getting closer to making a deal with Skydance.

Sales for the game rose by 7,500 percent week-on-week across Europe, according to Gamesindustry.biz, with Steam charts showing a similar spike in players that suggests a wider, global trend. Not bad for a near-decade-old game.

The new Prime Video series is likely driving this as we saw a similar phenomenon with The Last of Us following its own TV adaptation.

While US lawmakers take aim at TikTok, The Wall Street Journal reports that several popular messaging apps were removed by Apple at the request of the Chinese government which will make it harder for people in the country to download the apps for use with a VPN. Reuters notes that Meta apps like Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are still available.

Here’s Apple’s statement on the matter:

“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”