Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. Apple just released its iOS 15.4 update, which means you can finally unlock your phone through Face ID when you’re wearing a mask. Notably, this feature works only on iPhone 12 and beyond, so if you’ve got an older version, you’re out of luck. But thankfully, in 2020, Apple introduced a feature of quickly bringing up the passcode screen if the iPhone detects a
There’s no such thing as a perpetual motion machine — well, except maybe time crystals. But as far ebikes are concerned, the Vello Bike+ is about as close to a perpetual motion machine as it gets. Starting at €3,290, it’s a really pricey folding bike, but it does a lot to justify its price. The Vello Bike+ is super lightweight for an ebike at 14kg (31 lb). It has a unique folding mechanism that contorts the bike into a smaller footprint than anything I’ve used other than the Brompton. It uses a
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Technische Universität Berlin recently created a neural ‘network’ that could one day surpass human brain power with a single neuron. Our brains have approximately 86 billion neurons. Combined, they make up one of the most advanced organic neural networks known to exist. Current state-of-the-art artificial intelligence systems attempt to emulate the human brain through the creation of multi-layered neural networks designed to cram as many neurons in a
Okay, who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory? The Earth is actually flat, COVID-19’s nothing but a hoax, we never landed on the Moon, and the Lizard People are controlling us. But did you know that the soaring gas prices in the US aren’t the result of the Ukraine war and the sanctions against Russia? Well, now you do thanks to our fellow conspiracy theorists, who believe that the Biden administration is using the war as a pretext to intentionally drive gas prices up. Why, you ask? To make you
Have you ever felt a creeping sensation that someone’s watching you? Then you turn around and you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Depending on where you were, though, you might not have been completely imagining it. There are billions of things sensing you every day. They are everywhere, hidden in plain sight – inside your TV, fridge, car and office. These things know more about you than you might imagine, and many of them communicate that information over the internet. Back in 2007, it
Imagine a cup of tea. Wrap a piece of string around the circumference of the cup, and measure the length of the string. Then, lay your spoon on top of the cup, making sure it lies across the center of the cup, and measure the length from side to side – the diameter. Finally, divide the circumference by the diameter, and record the result. Next time you eat soup, repeat the process with the bowl. You will discover that the ratios of the circumference to the diameter in both cases are remarkably c
As the EU is moving towards the world’s first legislation on connected cars, the fight over access to vehicle data is intensifying. Should automakers hold all the power or should data be democratized amongst various stakeholders? In an intriguing piece, Reuters’ Nick Carey details how the EU’s future rulings are setting car makers against a coalition of insurers, leasing companies, and repair shops in the battle to own data generated by your connected vehicle. So far, automakers — serving as the
It’s been almost a week and I’m still thinking about Apple’s Studio Display. This isn’t because I adore it (although I do), it’s because I’ve seen the light and I know what the company needs to do: release a $500 monitor called the Apple Display. I can feel you salivating at the thought of that. Before we get into the specifics, let’s backtrack and talk about Apple’s just-released Studio Display — because it’s probably the most sensual I’ve felt towards a monitor since I first moved from CRT to
Covid-19 has opened the world’s eyes to the benefits of remote and flexible work, and many aren’t looking back — according to a survey by workplace platform Envoy, 71% of employees would choose a hybrid work model, only 12% want to work remotely every day, and just 16% want to work full-time in the office. Until now, technology hasn’t quite been able to keep up with this change of attitude — we can agree that video conferencing software sucks and a Zoom call doesn’t really cut it as an office pa
It’s hard to take a few breaths on the internet without hearing about Web3 lately. However, it’s not as accessible or ubiquitous as it might sound. Some Web3 properties and services require you to understand the moving parts involved, such as your cryptocurrency wallet, dApps (decentralized apps like the OpenSea NFT marketplace), and the blockchain they operate on. While this may sound complex (and some of it is), large chunks of Web3 experiences are still built on open-web technologies, and you