TikTok is cutting jobs around the world

Some TikTok employees have already lost their jobs, while others are told to prepare for a meeting with the HR department as part of the video platform’s global restructuring efforts, Wired reports. According to the publication, European employees were warned that their jobs were at risk and to expect an HR meeting in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, employees in the UK were told to expect colleagues across departments to lose their jobs. In the US, some personnel were told that they were being let go shortly after they came in for work on Monday morning. 

One of those US employees was David Ortiz, who was among the first executives TikTok parent company ByteDance hired outside of China. In a LinkedIn post, Ortiz said that his “role is being eliminated in a much larger re-organization effort.” A TikTok spokesperson did not deny that layoffs were taking place when Wired asked. However, they also didn’t confirm that the company is going through a global restructuring and didn’t provide the publication with a detailed statement on why TikTok is cutting jobs.

A staffer who talked to the publication said the company is only cutting employees and teams that managers believe haven’t been contributing enough. They claimed that only 100 employees are being laid off, which is but a small percentage of around 10,000 employees across the US and Europe. That said, TikTok is merely one of the companies in the big tech, gaming, AV/EV and social media sphere that’s downsizing its workforce.

Some of the companies in the industry that had to let people go due to the economic downturn include Netflix, Unity and Twitter. Tesla reportedly laid off 200 Autopilot employees and closed an office in California. Bloomberg said Rivian plans to lay off 5 percent of its workforce. Finally, Meta told employees to identify low performers, The Information said, and move them to exit the company if they’re unable to get back on track. 

GM’s 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV will have a max range of 320 miles

GM previewed its 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV today in a variety of trims — including the SS performance model — adding the two-row mid-size crossover to its growing lineup of all-electric cars. As far as SUVs go, the Chevy Blazer hasn’t ever been the most eye-catching or highest rated. But the new Blazer EV could stand out as a solid, reasonably priced electric mid-sized SUV in a market filled with (way too many) options. The vehicles include a 11.5 kW AC charging module for at-home charging and charging capability of up to 190 kilowatts. Roughly 10 minutes of charging will add up to 78 miles of range. 

The 2024 Blazer EVs take things in a dramatically different direction than older models of the Blazer, at least design-wise. The exterior is a tad more aggressive and futuristic than older models of the Blazer. The RS model features 21-inch wheels and a black grille and accents and the SS features a black roof, ultra-thin 22-inch wheels. Depending on the size of the battery pack, the RS has a maximum range of 320 miles, while the SS can run for 290 miles. The SS model can produce up to 557 horsepower and has a high-performance mode known WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode that can enable 0-60 mph times of less than 4 seconds. Both the RS and SS models feature heated front and rear outboard seating (though on the RS it’s an additional charge) and a flat-bottom steering wheel and sculpted vents.

The most bare-bones option of the bunch, the LT (with two different trim levels), comes with 18-inch wheels and a monochromatic coat. The 2LT delivers an estimated range of 293 miles, while the 1LT can go for 247 miles on a single charge.  

The vehicles are all equipped with a 17.7-inch-diagonal screen and Chevy’s infotainment system. To top it off, the Blazer EV is built on GM’s Ultium EV platform, which kind of serves as a unified battery system for all of GM’s electric vehicles. The automaker believes that using just one battery — the Ultium — for all of its EVs will cut down production costs and allow it to easily convert to an all-electric lineup by 2035.

The new cars will arrive next year: The 2LT and RS will debut in the summer of 2023, and are priced starting around $47,595 and $51,995, respectively. The SS will arrive later next year, and starts at $65,995. Finally, the 1LT will debut sometime in the first quarter of 2024 and start at $44,995. You can reserve one starting today. 

造價 100 億美元的 James Webb 太空望遠鏡只有 68GB 的 SSD

造價 100 億美元，而且在 2021 年底升空的 James Webb 太空望遠鏡（JWST），想必有著最高端先進的存儲吧？有些出乎意料的是，據 IEEE Spectrum，JWST 上只有個 68GB 的 SSD，足以儲存一天份的照片，但不會超出太多。…

Apple Pay illegally profited by walling off contactless payments, lawsuit alleges

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of payment card issuers accuses Apple of illegally profiting from Apple Pay and breaking antitrust laws. Iowa’s Affinity Credit Union is listed as the plaintiff in the complaint, filed today in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit alleges that by restricting contactless payments on iOS devices to Apple Pay and charging payment card issuers fees to use the mobile wallet, the iPhone maker is engaging in anti-competitive behavior.

While Android users have options for contactless mobile wallets, iOS users can only use tap-to-pay technology through Apple Pay. In other words, while iPhone users can download the Google Pay app, they can’t use it to make contactless payments in stores. Android doesn’t charge payment card issuers for use of any supported mobile wallet. But it’s a different story for Apple Pay, which charges card issuers a 0.15% fee on credit transactions and half of a cent on debit transactions. These fees have brought in up to $1 billion annually for Apple, the lawsuit alleges.

“In the Android ecosystem, where multiple digital wallets compete, there are no issuer fees whatsoever, ” said the complaint. “The upshot is that card issuers pay a reported $1 billion annually in fees on Apple Pay and $0 for accessing functionally identical Android wallets. If Apple faced competition, it could not sustain these substantial fees.”

The suit alleges that by restricting iOS users to only Apple Pay for contactless payments, Apple is blocking competing mobile wallets from the market. Payment card issuers are essentially forced to pay Apple’s transaction fees if they want to offer their service to iPhone users.

Apple is facing a similar challenge over its payment system in the EU, where an antitrust commission in May said that the tech giant is illegally blocking third-party developers from enabling contactless payments. Apple has denied the EU’s allegations, arguing that giving third-party developers access would be a security risk. This is an argument that Apple has used before as a reason why it doesn’t open up its platform, such as in the case of third-party app stores.

Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment on the lawsuit and will update if we hear back.

Uber will pay $2.2 million to settle claims it overcharged riders with disabilities

Uber is settling a Justice Department lawsuit accusing the company of overcharging riders with disabilities. The ridesharing company has agreed to pay at least $2.2 million to passengers who were charged wait time fees despite disabilities that required more time to enter a vehicle. The payout includes nearly $1.74 million for over 1,000 riders who complained about the fees and $500,000 for “other harmed individuals.” Uber will also offer credits to more than 65,000 people who’ve obtained waivers for wait time fees, all of whom will receive double the wait time fees they were charged.

Uber implemented wait time fees in 2016, when it began charging customers extra if a driver waited more than two minutes after arriving at a pickup location. This left people with disabilities paying more than other passengers. The Justice Department alleged that this violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bars discrimination by transportation companies.

In a statement to Engadget, Uber said it was “pleased” by the agreement and maintained that it was “always working” to bolster accessibility for users. It encouraged customers to sign up for the waivers.

The agreement requires that Uber continue offering the waiver to all eligible riders for two years. Refunds will also be “easily available” to riders who don’t have waivers, the Justice Department added. Uber has promised to advertise the waiver system, which launched in 2021.

This settlement might not satisfy some critics. It indemnifies Uber against future claims linked to wait fees. The company has also faced multiple lawsuits over a lack of ADA-mandated wheelchair-accessible vehicles — the agreement doesn’t address those concerns. Even so, this may be a win for riders who’ve had no choice but to pay a premium due to their disabilities.

Bungie sues ‘Destiny 2’ player over alleged threats and cheating

On the same day it officially became a PlayStation studio, Bungie filed a lawsuit against a Destiny 2 player it accused of persistent cheating and making threats against its employees. The developer claimed Luca Leone violated the game’s Limited Software License Agreement (LSLA) on multiple occasions. It’s seeking $150,000 in damages and an injunction preventing Leone from “harassing, stalking or otherwise engaging in unwanted or unsolicited contact with Bungie, its employees or Destiny 2 players,” as Kotaku reports.

Bungie said it banned Leone multiple times for using Destiny 2 cheat software while streaming on Twitch. In an attempt to evade the ban, Leone created 13 accounts, each of which constituted a fresh breach of the LSLA, according to the filing. The studio claimed Leone violated the LSLA on other fronts, including by selling Destiny 2 accounts that contain emblems, or non-transferable badges that players can earn. Bungie says these “are prized by many players, especially collectors.”

In addition, Bungie claims that Leone has made threats regarding the studio and its employees. According to the suit, Leone tweeted “about his desire to ‘burn down’ Bungie’s office building and [wrote] that specific Bungie employees were ‘not safe’ given Leone’s intent to move into their neighborhood.”

In May, an image of Destiny 2 community manager Dylan Gafner’s employee badge appeared on a Twitter account that’s said to belong to Leone. “I just realized I’ll be moving to a place that’s 30 minutes away from dmg,” Leone allegedly wrote, followed by “he is not safe.” Bungie notes that “dmg” likely refers to Gafner, who uses the Twitter handle @dmg04.

Leone’s purported Twitter account has since been locked. His reported Twitch channel features no content other than a bio reading “[23-year-old] Bungie playtester from Los Angeles.” Engadget has contacted Leone for comment.

The filing follows a number of instances of harassment against game developers. Forbes’ Paul Tassi wrote that Destiny 2 sandbox design lead Kevin Yanes has all but left Twitter. Players reportedly reacted with fury to Yanes saying an item from the original Destiny will not return. “I dream of a day where videogame developers (from any studio) can openly discuss their work without being harassed,” Gafner wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

A few weeks ago, Sony Santa Monica developers received threats and unsolicited photos of genitalia for not revealing the God of War: Ragnarök release date when the studio was reportedly planning to. Sony Santa Monica announced the release timing just a few days later.

This isn’t the first time Bungie has targeted players with legal action. Just last month, it sued someone who allegedly uploaded music from the Destiny 2 soundtrack for filing fake DMCA notices against content creators.

‘FIFA 23’ has a female player on the Ultimate Edition cover for the first time

EA has announced the cover stars for FIFA 23 and, for the first time in the series, a female player will feature on the Ultimate Edition, which will be available internationally. Chelsea’s Sam Kerr is one of the two cover stars, along with Kylian Mbappé of Paris Saint-Germain. This will be the third straight year Mbappé has appeared on FIFA covers.

Kerr is a more than worthy player to showcase on the game’s cover. She has been shortlisted for the women’s Ballon D’Or every year since the award’s inception and finished in third place in last year’s voting. Among her many other honors, Kerr has helped Chelsea to win the Women’s Super League in each of the three seasons since she joined the club.

EA put women on the cover of its soccer games for the first time with FIFA 16. Steph Catley, Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair featured on the Australian, US and Canadian covers, respectively. They appeared alongside Lionel Messi, who was the cover star on other editions.

Meanwhile, Eurogamer reports that the Women’s Super League, which is the highest-tier of pro women’s soccer in England, will make its debut in the FIFA series this year. Until now, FIFA fans have only been able to play as women in the Volta and Pro Clubs modes, as well as in international teams through the kick-off mode.

EA will reveal much more about FIFA 23 when the first trailer debuts at noon ET on Wednesday (you’ll be able to watch the video below once it’s live). This will be the last annual EA soccer game that bears FIFA branding in its title. The name of the series will become EA Sports FC next year following a messy divorce from FIFA.