Two become one: TP-Link’s two smart home brands finally use one app

The Verge
Users of Tapo and Kasa smart home devices can now control them both in one app. | Image: TP-Link

Wi-Fi router manufacturer TP-Link is finally uniting its two smart home brands under one app, Tapo. The company has made smart gadgets since 2015, but confoundingly under two separate brands: Tapo and Kasa.

Both brands offer very good smart plugs, switches, lights, connected ca

Beeper’s effort to keep iMessage on Android keeps getting more complex

The Verge
Screenshots of Beeper Mini on an Android phone.
Image: Beeper

Beeper claims it has a new fix to let you send iMessages from your Android phone — but the change requires that you own or have easy access to a trusted Mac.

First, I’ll quote part of an explanation from Beeper about how its iMessage service works — and how Apple has been able to shut things down. From a message posted to Reddit:

When you connect iMessage on

Apple's Hail Mary

Tech Insider
A graphic showing the Apple Watch Ultra 2, one of the watches set to be impacted by US regulators' patent-infringement ruling against Apple, surrounded by prayer-hands emojis.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 lineup faces a looming ban if Apple doesn't catch a break.

NurPhoto/Getty Images

  • A US regulator has ruled that the newest Apple Watches infringe on another company's patents.
  • Apple now faces having to pull the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models from its store shelves.
  • Days ahead of the ban, Apple's engineers are reportedly working furiously on a potential
Politics

Ninja’s New Year’s Eve stream will be a multi-platform affair

The Verge
Beyond Gaming Ninja on the Future of Entertainment- 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals
Photo by Diego Donamaria / Getty Images for SXSW

Your dad’s favorite streamer, Ninja, will attempt his best Dick Clark impression (or do the kids only know Ryan Seacrest now?) and will host his own New Year’s Eve event that will stream on Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. According to a report in Variety, the event, known as “Ninja’s NYE,” will feature appearances from other top

The polling is clear: Biden needs to get popular again quickly or drop out

Tech Insider
Joe Biden
President Joe Biden arrives for a meeting of his National Infrastructure Advisory Council in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on December 13, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

  • President Joe Biden's current approval rating is not where he and his campaign want it to be.
  • His approval ratings are historically bad, worse than any president since at
Politics

Iran-backed Houthis threaten to 'sink' the US and allied warships that keep shooting their stuff out of the sky

Tech Insider
Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) stand watch in the ship's Combat Information Center during an operation to defeat a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, Oct. 19.
Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) stand watch in the ship's Combat Information Center during an operation to defeat a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, Oct. 19.

US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau

  • Houthi rebels threatened to "sink" the United States and its Western allies' warships.
  • A top

I'm an HR professional of 25 years. These 3 signs prove your company is taking DEI seriously.

Tech Insider
Dawn Arvelo headshot.

Maisha Cottman

  • Dawn Arvelo started her HR and benefits-administration career 25 years ago.
  • Despite her work experience, she felt insecure when she first entered the profession.
  • Arvelo says environments where DEI was taken seriously helped her excel in her career.
  • This article is part of "Talent Insider," a series containing expert advice to help business owners tackle a variety of hiring challenges.

Wh

Virgin Atlantic just operated the world's first transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel. Here's why critics aren't convinced it's game-changing.

Tech Insider
Flight100, Virgin Atlantic's world first 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) transatlantic flight by a commercial airline is fueled ahead of its take off from London Heathrow to New York JFK on Tuesday 28 November 2023.
Virgin Atlantic's Flight100 fueling up ahead of its takeoff from London Heathrow Airport.

Virgin Atlantic

  • Virgin Atlantic Airways flew a Boeing 787 across the Atlantic in November using 100% SAF.
  • The world first comes as airlines push biofuels as an effective way to decarbonize aviation.
  • Critics are not convinced the industry can produce enough SAF by 2050 to make an impact.
  • This article is part of "Fu