Drone Photographer Pleads Guilty to Espionage Act Charges Newport News Shipbuilding, a defense contractor whose shipyard is alleged to have been photographed by drone. | Getty Images A foreign graduate student has pleaded guilty to crimes under the Espionage Act for photographing classified US Navy ships with a drone. The case appears to be a first-of-its-kind prosecution by the Department of Justice. Fengyun Shi, a Chinese citizen and graduate student at the University of Minnesota, was arrested in January after a drone he was flying got stuck in a tree in Newport News, Virginia. A suspicious resident called the police and Shi was questioned before abandoning the drone and fleeing. After the FBI seized the drone and pulled the images off it, investigators discovered that Shi had photographed Navy vessels…

The Verge’s Guide to Amazon Prime Day 2024 The Verge’s Guide to Amazon Prime Day 2024 Image: Shira Inbar for The Verge Amazon Prime Day 2024 is nearly here. The annual two-day super sale will start on July 16th and run through July 17th, bringing with it a treasure trove of discounts, promos, and exclusive deals for Amazon Prime subscribers. It may not be the only Prime Day event we see this year — Amazon has recently taken to hosting a second shopping event in the fall — but it will likely remain one of the best opportunities of the year to score discounts on a range of tech outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Like in previous years, we’re highlighting the best deals on a variety of Verge-approved…

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Amazon Devices Amazon’s throwing in free smart bulbs with some Echo devices, including the latest Echo Show 8. Image: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Amazon Prime Day may not officially kick off until July 16th, but that hasn’t stopped the retailer from dropping prices on a variety of items ahead of the two-day sale. We’ve already published a detailed guide to the best early Prime Day deals, but if you’re just interested in Amazon devices, this is where you’ll find the ones that are actually worthwhile. From Alexa-based Echo smart speakers to video doorbells, Amazon is discounting a wide range of gadgets, some of which are currently seeing their lowest prices to date. Of course, the main caveat here is you’ll have…

ARTE Introduces Four Apps for Vision Pro The European cultural channel ARTE is supporting the launch of the Apple Vision Pro in Germany and France with the release of a version of the adventure game “INUA – A Story in Ice and Time” designed for the Apple headset. This new development can be downloaded for free from the visionOS App Store. Unlocking the full version is available through an in-app purchase priced at €9.99. INUA follows the story of three protagonists who visit the same locations in northern Canada at entirely different times, with their fates mysteriously intertwined. As a player, you must explore these locations and collect ideas to alter the course of history. The new version of INUA replaces the original's point-and-click navigation with the ability to play…

Apple Pay is convenient and brings out the worst in me Apple Pay is Convenient and Brings Out the Worst In Me A few days ago, I misplaced my wallet. I remember having it on Sunday, the night of my friend’s birthday dinner, because I was the one to put my card down. Maybe I had it on Monday. I didn’t spend any money then aside from a Lyft ride home, which famously doesn’t require you to swipe a card, so there’s no way to know for sure. And even when I did spend money — a case of La Croix at the bodega, an iced latte as a reward for going to the laundromat — my wallet never factored into the equation. I use Apple Pay for almost every…

Apex Legends is Having a Rough Week Apex Legends is Having a Rough Week Image: EA / Respawn Entertainment Apex Legends can’t seem to catch a break. The game has been plagued with a pair of high-profile issues for the last few weeks. First up, earlier this week, the hero shooter’s developer, Respawn Entertainment, announced it was retooling the game’s battle pass. For season 22 and beyond, the battle pass will now be split into two halves, with 60 levels for each half. Additionally, players will no longer be able to purchase a battle pass with AC or Apex’s in-game currency. “The decision to move from AC to real world currency is not one that we made lightly, but it does allow us to decrease the price of Premium+ for…

TCL’s gamer-friendly Q6 QLED TV is cheaper than ever right now TCL’s gamer-friendly Q6 QLED TV is cheaper than ever right now The TCL Q6 is a solid TV for watching the 2024 Olympics, House of the Dragon, and an exciting season of election coverage. TCL’s Q6 QLED TV was one of the standout deals from Walmart’s recent “Walmart Deals” event, and the post-event discounts have only gotten steeper. The 65-inch model, for example, has dropped even further at Walmart, where you can currently pick it up for an all-time low of $388 ($312 off). You can also grab it at Best Buy right now for $399.99 ($300 off) if you prefer shopping at a different retailer. The Q6 was already a decent value before the discounts kicked in, one…

The Best Noise-Canceling Headphones to Buy Right Now The Best Noise-Canceling Headphones to Buy Right Now Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Get some peace and quiet with any of our top picks for noise-canceling headphones. Sony’s still the best overall, but there are reasons to go elsewhere, too. Continue reading... source: https://www.theverge.com/21345733/best-noise-canceling-headphones

Amazon's AI Shopping Assistant Rolls Out to All Users in the US Amazon's AI Shopping Assistant Rolls Out to All Users in the US Image: Amazon Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, Rufus, is rolling out to all users in the US on Amazon’s mobile app. You can pull up the shopping assistant by tapping the orange and blue icon in the right corner of the app’s navigation bar, where Rufus can answer questions, draw comparisons between items, and give you updates on your order. Amazon first introduced Rufus in February but only made it available to a small group of users. Rufus uses Amazon’s product listing details, reviews, and community Q&As, along with some information from the web, to inform its answers. Image: Amazon You can ask the tool things directly…

Echo Dot 5 im Doppelpack zum Preis von einem Nachdem wir bereits über ein vergleichbares Angebot beim Echo Pop berichtet haben, machen uns Leser darauf aufmerksam, dass Amazon seinen Prime-Abonnenten auch den Echo Dot 5 zu extrem guten Konditionen anbietet – vorausgesetzt, ihr nehmt zwei davon. Noch bis Montag früh kann man einen zweiten Echo Dot gratis erhalten, wenn man diesen zusätzlich zu dem gerade für 47,98 Euro erhältlichen Alexa-Lautsprecher in den Einkaufswagen legt. Der Einzelpreis fällt somit auf 23,99 Euro. Ihr müsst dazu allerdings beim Bezahlen den Gutscheincode ECHODOT verwenden. Echo Show 5 im 2er-Pack mit Philips Hue Lampe Ähnlich drastisch reduziert gibt es auch den Echo Show 5 gerade im Doppelpack für 122,98 Euro statt regulär 235,97 Euro. Wer bei dieser Aktion zuschlägt, bekommt noch eine E27-Weißlicht-Lampe von…