Tech Boys

Google is finally allowing Nest users to watch footage from their doorbells and cameras on Chromecast. Starting this week, the company is rolling out an update to Chromecast with Google TV that allows the streaming stick to display footage from all Nest Cam and Doorbell devices, including the models Google updated last year . Once you have access to the feature, you can use your Chromecast Voice Remote or any other Assistant-enabled device to see what’s occurring outside your home. Just say something along the lines of “Hey Google, show me the front door camera on my TV.” Google has been unusually slow in adding support for Chromecast compared to competing products. As 9to5Google points out , the company has allowed you to stream security footage to your Nest-branded smart displays for a while now. In May, Google even introduced an Alexa skill that brought that same functionality to Echo Show, Fire TV and Fire tablet devices. It’s also worth mentioning that Amazon and Ring have ...

Facebook parent company Meta has just reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2022, and it was another quarter of shrinking profits. Total revenue of $28.8 billion was only down one percent compared to Q2 one year ago, but net income dropped 36 percent to $6.7 billion. Making almost $7 billion in profit is not a bad quarter for anyone, but the size of the decline compared to a year ago is pretty significant. And, according to the Wall Street Journal , this is the first-ever drop in revenue for Meta / Facebook — so even though we're only talking one percent, it's still noteworthy. Revenue from advertising and Meta's "family of apps" was essentially flat year-over-year, and Reality Labs (home to hardware like the Meta Quest and other metaverse-related initiatives) actually grew 48 percent year-over-year to $452 million. But Reality Labs accounted for a $2.8 billion loss this quarter, a 15 percent larger loss than Q2 one year ago. At this rate, it seems li...

Watch out music videos! The metaverse is coming for you. Have you ever attended a concert in the metaverse? Judging by the latest category to be added to the MTV Video Music Awards roster, you probably should. This year's VMAs will hand out a Moon Person for "Best Metaverse Performance," but there's no word on whether the award will be received virtually. SEE ALSO: What is the metaverse? A (kind of) simple explainer The nominees are Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, BTS, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber, and Twenty One Pilots. Yes, your faves have been performing in the metaverse. Each artist put their own twist on their metaverse concert. Ariana Grande did a space themed performance in Fortnite , while BLACKPINK's hyperrealistic avatars brought their "pretty savage" essence to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUGB) Mobile . BTS sang their English-language chart-toppers "Butter" and "Permission to Dance" on a stage in Minecraft where the ...

Adam Rawski on a prior adventure. Adam Rawski Adam Rawski fell 1,000 feet down Denali in May 2021— and miraculously survived. He spent seven months in the hospital, two in a coma, with broken ribs, collapsed lungs, and other injuries. Rawski spoke to Insider about his road to recovery and the moments before his dangerous fall. Mountaineer Adam Rawski fell 1,000 feet last year while climbing Denali , the centerpiece of Alaska's Denali National Park. Despite the likelihood of dying in that kind of fall, Rawski miraculously survived — but the experience has had a lasting impact. "I think the most difficult thing was, in the past year, my whole identity was changed," Rawski said, according to a detailed account of the fall by Insider's Kelsey Vlamis . Rawski, who was 31 at the time of his fall, set out to summit North America's tallest mountain in May 2021. On the day Rawski intended to summit, he became ill and was showing some signs of altitude sickness....

Air ambulance picking up a mountain ranger in Denali National Park. Menno Boermans/Getty Images A mountain climber who witnessed a 1,000-foot fall from Alaska's Denali in May 2021 said she struggled with guilt.  Sarah Maynard told Insider that the nearly fatal fall deeply affected her: 'Every day I relive it.' Adam Rawski fell down an icy slope near the summit and spent months in the hospital — but survived. Sarah Maynard, a mountain climber who witnessed another mountaineer fall from Alaska's Denali, said she grappled with guilt after the harrowing disaster.  Maynard set out to climb North America's highest peak in May 2021, according to a detailed account of the fall by Insider's Kelsey Vlamis . On the descent, another climber named Adam Rawski fell 1,000 feet down a dangerous slope. He was critically injured but miraculously survived after a helicopter rescue. Maynard and the other climbers present didn't see or hear his fall. She described th...

It seems everything is doom and gloom in the U.S. venture market, between startup layoffs and declining venture deal counts to an essentially moribund exit environment. But there are bright spots, one of which being the Southeast region, which is on track for its best year yet. The Southeast region had its best quarter for funding on record in Q2. More than $5.1 billion was invested across 289 deals during the period, according to PitchBook. The first half of this year collected $9.1 billion, which puts the region on track to surpass last year’s full-year record of $15 billion. This compares to declines across many of the more active regions in the first half of 2022, including New England, down 28% from H1 2021; the West Coast, down 10%; and the Mid-Atlantic, down 7%. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/iLkovY7 via Technology

If Meta's Quest 2 virtual reality headset has been on your shopping list for a while, you might want to pick one up before Aug. 1. Meta has confirmed that the start of August will also mark the beginning of a new, pricier chapter for the Quest 2. Both models of the fully wireless VR headset are having their prices increased, with the 128GB capacity model jumping up to $399.99 and the 256GB capacity model jumping up to $499.99. They're still selling at their lower prices now, as of July 26, so you can save yourself the $100 if you act before the month is over. SEE ALSO: Oculus Quest 2 review: VR finally goes mainstream Meta announced the news in a pair of tweets that clarified some of the thinking behind the decision. "In order to continue investing in moving the VR industry forward for the long term, we are adjusting the price of Meta Quest 2 headsets," the tweet reads. Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab) In a move that's surely meant to s...

When you go into the App Store to download the Peech app, you’ll notice right away that the app’s icon displays the Ukrainian flag along with the company’s simple logo. But this is more than just a show of solidarity. With three Eastern European founders, the team behind this text-to-speech app has been harshly impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. TechCrunch spoke to co-founder and CEO Andrey Poznyak via Zoom while he was in Poland, but he’s originally from Belarus. Pozynak was one of thousands of people who protested the results of Belarus’ 2020 presidential election . The twenty-year incumbent, often called “ Europe’s last dictator ,” once again consolidated power in a vote that the U.S. State Department deemed neither free nor fair. “Afterwards, there were quite a lot of protests, and after that, repression started,” Pozynak told TechCrunch. “I spent half a year in prison as a political prisoner.” After getting out of prison in Belarus, Pozynak fled to Ukraine. But in the ...

World of Warcraft Classic will return to the Wrath of the Lich King era on September 26th, Blizzard announced on Monday . WotLK is widely considered one of the best expansions in World of Warcraft’s nearly 20-year history. Even if subsequent releases went on to expand the game’s mechanics in more interesting and creative ways, few hit thematically in the way that WotLK did. For those who loved Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne , it felt special to set foot on the shores of Northrend for the first time and explore the continent from a new perspective, and then eventually fight Arthas as part of the Icecrown Citadel raid. Ahead of the expansion’s arrival, Blizzard is introducing a new leveling mechanic called Joyous Journeys. Starting today, Burning Crusade Classic players can visit an innkeeper at one of their faction’s capital cities to toggle a 50 percent experience boost. You can use the boost to finish leveling an existing character or start working on a new one. The boost will...

Marvel put on quite the show during its San Diego Comic Con panel in Hall H on Saturday with the reveal of the company's next timeline of movies and Disney+ series, a collection they're calling The Multiverse Saga. November's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the final installment of Phase 4, and Ant-Man: QuantumMania will kickoff the MCU's much anticipated Phase 5. Most of these phase 5 projects have been in the pipeline now for a while, with some new projects rumored to be getting their own announcements. Others will be revealed at the D23 expo in September. These projects may be subject to change of course (remember Captain America: Serpent Society ???), but it seems the entirety of Phase 5 is plotted out, along with three huge movies for Phase 6. As usual with the MCU, there's a lot of stuff coming out. Here's the calendar so far: Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumMania (Feb. 17, 2023) Credit: Marvel Studios Kicking off Phase 5 is the third instal...