Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Panasonic and Leica unveil 'L squared' project to jointly develop cameras and lenses
Panasonic and Leica have formed a new collaboration called L² (L squared) that will see them jointly develop cameras, lenses and imaging technology, they announced. Both companies are already part of the L-Mount mirrorless alliance (along with Sigma and Leitz) and Panasonic has loaned its camera tech to Leica. However, the new partnership goes deeper, as they'll use "jointly developed technologies" in their respective lens and camera products, while the L² branding will feature in future marketing activities.
"Through this collaboration, the two companies will jointly invest in new technologies that can be incorporated into camera and lens products, and will incorporate jointly developed technologies into each other's Leica and Lumix products to further enhance their product capabilities," the press release states. "Going forward, Leica and Lumix will utilize L² Technology, which will open up new possibilities for creative camera users, in their marketing activities in order to develop a collaborative system over the long term."
There's no word on when we'll see the fruit of this collaboration. It does make some sense, though, as Panasonic tends to get overshadowed by Canon, Sony and Nikon, despite producing good cameras — especially for video. Meanwhile, Leica has a sterling reputation for lens quality, but gets far less respect for its mirrorless cameras because they're mostly rebadged, overpriced Panasonic models. By collaborating, Panasonic could gain some prestige off Leica's iconic reputation and lens quality, while Leica will get access to Panasonic's technological chops.
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The Morning After: A first look at the DeLorean EV
Good morning and welcome back! If you had time off yesterday, I hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn’t, I hope you survived your Monday.
DeLorean
Due to Memorial Day, it was a relatively quiet tech news day, but we did get a glimpse at a new DeLorean. Yes, DeLorean Motor Company is making an EV. The four-seater Alpha5 should arrive with a 100kWh battery pack, capable of 0 to 60MPH in 2.99 seconds, and a heady $175,000 price.
It won't be built by the original DeLorean people but by a Texas company that purchased the rights to the DeLorean name and spare parts. Expect gullwing doors, a futuristic profile and an overall design from the same studio that sketched the original DeLorean. Expect more details later today.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
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'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II' heads to Nintendo Switch on June 8th
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Recommended Reading: How 'Top Gun: Maverick' puts you inside an F-18
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Hitting the Books: What the Work from Home revolution means for those who can't
Apple trademarks 'realityOS'
Are we getting closer to an AR/VR headset announcement?
At the start of the year, developers spotted some references to “realityOS,” the operating system for Apple’s long-rumored virtual and augmented reality headset. Now, just before the start of WWDC 2022 on June 6th, the name has resurfaced in trademark filings seemingly linked to the company.
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE review
A laptop powerhouse for work and play.
Engadget
The Triton 500 SE proves Acer can make a truly refined gaming laptop without gimmicks. No extra screens, no hybrid nonsense, no crazy design choices. It has a gorgeous 16-inch screen, and you can add to it the latest and greatest Intel and NVIDIA hardware. Prices, however, start at $2,300 but be prepared to shell out $3,000 if you want all the hardware from our review unit. Devindra Hardawar put the Triton 500 SE through its paces.
Google Pixel 7 prototype reputedly shows up on eBay
Another major Google device leak.
meetveeru/eBay
Weeks after a Pixel Watch prototype was left at a restaurant, it appears someone tried to sell a Pixel 7 on eBay. The eBay listing for what looked like a prototype Pixel 7 popped up on the Pixel subreddit, but now it’s gone.
The images don’t reveal much more than we didn’t already know — or suspect. The front looks similar to the Pixel 6, hole-punch camera and all. The camera bar on the rear has two lenses as well. Although Google already announced the Pixel 7 and its Pro sibling at I/O, it'll be a while before the phones go on sale.
iOS 16 will reportedly include always-on display features
But only for future iPhones.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests the company will have a fair amount to share about iOS 16 at the forthcoming WWDC, including enhancements to the lock screen. Gurman says the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will include support for an always-on display initially exclusive to the company’s next iPhone Pro models. Devices could show notifications and other glanceable information without you needing to fully wake the iPhone’s display.
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Industrial systems not safe for the future, say Dutch ethical hackers
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OVHCloud facing client compensation class action claim of €10m over March 2021 datacentre fire
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France officially bans English gaming terms like 'eSports' and 'streaming'
English jargon has invaded every corner of France, causing consternation among language purists — a trade fair popular with politicians during election season is called "Made in France," for example. Despite widespread usage in business and elsewhere, the government has decided to pick on gaming, officially banning terms like "streamer" and "cloud gaming," according to AFP. Going forward, the far more convoluted terms joueur-animateur en direct and jeu video en nuage must be used for any government communications.
The changes were made in consultation with France's Ministry of Culture, which has in the past touted the gaming industry as a French economic success story. However, it told the AFP it's concerned that English terms could become a "barrier to understanding" for non-gamers. (That's a solid point, as I can attest that many French non-gamers wouldn't have a clue what a term like "streaming" means.) France's language keepers, l'Académie française, has also expressed concern about English jargon in gaming, having published a lexicon of alternate French terms back in 2017.
The changes were issued in the government's official journal, meaning they're binding on all government workers. However, it's hard to see them catching on in daily use or even on French websites or newspapers. Previous efforts by l'Académie française to replace anglicisms have not gone well — its attempt to get people to use l’access sans fil à internet instead of le wifi failed completely, as The Local France points out.
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Sunday, 29 May 2022
'Star Wars: The Bad Batch' season two arrives on Disney+ this fall
On Sunday, the final day of Disney’s Star Wars Celebration 2022 event, the company shared the first trailer for season two of The Bad Batch. And while we’ve known since last year that Disney planned to continue the series, the new season now has a release timeframe. It will debut on Disney+ this fall.
The trailer the company shared suggests the story will pick up following a time skip that leaves the members of Clone Force 99 looking older than they were in season one. Each one also is also seen wearing updated armor, with squad leader Hunter sporting a new scarf, for instance. As ever, it looks like the group has a tough journey ahead of them as they try to find a place in a changing galaxy. Oh, and there's a Wookie with a lightsaber.
A release window for season two of The Bad Batch was one of a handful of announcements Disney shared during Star Wars Celebration 2022. We also got our first look at Rogue One prequel Andor and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Respawn’s Fallen Order, in addition to updates on The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.
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Researchers sequenced the genome of one of Pompeii’s ancient inhabitants
In 1933, archaeologists excavating the remains of Pompeii found the bodies of two individuals, their skeletons almost perfectly preserved by the volcanic ash that buried their home in the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24th, 79CE. While many of Pompeii’s residents fled the natural disaster, these two did not.
Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità
In a photo from the early ‘30s (pictured above), you can see the residents of the “House of the Craftsmen” slumped over in the corner of their home’s dining room, almost as if they were eating lunch just as their lives were about to end. It’s a poignant scene archeologists have long sought to unpack, and now we have a better understanding of what may have happened to those two Romans, thanks to the latest advances in DNA sequencing technology.
In a paper published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, a joint team of researchers from Italy, Denmark and the US shared that they recently sequenced the genome of one of the House of Craftmen’s inhabitants – marking the first time archaeologists have decoded the mitochondrial DNA of a resident of Pompeii, according to The New York Times.
With genetic material pulled from his petrous, a dense, pyramid-shaped segment of bone that protects the inner ears, the team found that the male inhabitant of the house suffered from spinal tuberculosis, or what’s better known today as Pott diesase. Associated symptoms include back pain and lower body paralysis. “The condition would have forced him to have little mobility,” Dr. Pier Francesco Fabbri, one of the anthropologists who contributed to the paper, told The Times. It’s very possible the man, who was about 35 years old when he died, would have had difficulty fleeing Pompeii even if he wanted to escape the burning city.
We now also have a better idea of the man’s origins. Comparing his DNA against 1,030 ancient and 471 present-day West Eurasian individuals, the research team concluded that some of his ancestors came from Anatolia, which is now mostly part of modern Turkey. He also had links to the island of Sardinia. However, he had the most genetic similarities with people who lived in and around Rome during Pompeii’s destruction. That lends evidence to the suggestion that the Italian peninsula was a melting pot of racially diverse people at the height of the Roman Empire.
With so little left from that time, our understanding of the ancient world will always be imperfect, but thanks to advances in technology, we’re constantly learning more about what life was like thousands of years ago. It was only at the end of last year that researchers “unwrapped” one of the most pristine mummies ever found with the help of a CT scan. Professor Gabriele Scorrano, the lead researcher on the Pompeii study, told the BBC that future genetic studies could reveal more about the city, including information about the biodiversity of the surrounding area. "Pompeii is like a Roman island,” he said. "We have a picture of one day in 79CE."
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Recent 'realityOS' trademarks hint at Apple moving closer to AR/VR headset announcement
At the start of the year, a handful of developers, including Steve Troughton-Smith, found references to “realityOS,” the operating system for Apple’s long-rumored virtual and augmented reality headset. Now, a little more than a week before the start of WWDC 2022, the name has resurfaced in trademark filings seemingly linked to the company.
It cannot be a coincidence that the “realityOS” trademark owned by a company that seemingly doesn’t exist and is specifically for “wearable computer hardware” is being filed around the world on June 8, 2022 https://t.co/myoRbOvgJa + https://t.co/AH97r95EMnpic.twitter.com/uvsiZCj2rR
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) May 29, 2022
On Friday, Vox Media product manager Parker Ortolani took to Twitter to share two United States Patent and Trademark Office filings he found registered by a company called Realityo Systems LLC. As Parker and others have pointed out, there’s evidence to suggest Realityo Systems is a shell company created by Apple to obscure its tracks.
First, there’s the June 8th foreign filing deadline for both trademarks, which falls just two days after the start of WWDC 2022. Additionally, as noted by 9to5Mac, Realityo Systems LLC shares the same address as Yosemite Research LLC, the shell company Apple used to secure trademarks for past versions of its macOS operating system, including macOS Monterey. One more interesting tidbit of evidence is that in some countries Realityo Systems submitted trademark filings that include a realityOS logo written in Apple’s signature San Francisco typeface.
The timing of the filings suggests Apple is getting closer to the day it will feel comfortable sharing details about its augmented and virtual reality ambitions. However, we would caution against expecting an announcement as early as next week. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman predicts the company won’t hold “a full-blown presentation” on its mixed-reality headset at WWDC. In fact, he says he would be “wary of expecting” such an announcement from the company. Gurman previously reported that Apple was considering pushing the device's debut back to 2023 due to ongoing development problems. Still, the company is clearly moving forward with the project.
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Snapchat's Shared Stories will let you collaborate with friends of friends
Snapchat has updated its Custom Stories feature to allow more people to participate. While the original version of the feature only gives you a way to add friends to view and contribute to your Stories, the new version called Shared Stories allows the friends you add to add their own contacts. Say you're cooking and want your friends to add their cooking Stories, too — just add them to the group, so they can add more people, as well. Snap says that makes it easier "for the whole soccer team, camp squad, or group of new coworkers to get in on the fun."
Like regular Stories, shared ones will only be visible for 24 hours before disappearing, but it doesn't have a chat component, probably because it's assumed that not all participants would know each other. The app will also use automatic language detection and other review tools to monitor additions and make sure they're all safe. Finally, you will get a notification if you've joined a Shared Story with someone you've blocked. That gives you the chance to leave the Story if you're not comfortable sharing a part of your life with those users.
Snapchat has released and promised a number of other new features over the past couple of months, likely in an effort to get people to use the app more in face of slowing revenue growth. In April, it introduced a new suite of creator-friendly editing tools called "director mode" that will help you produce more polished content. It also introduced an ASL alphabet lens that you can use to learn the ASL alphabet and released the capability to share YouTube videos directly on the platform.
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iOS 16 will reportedly include an always-on display feature for future iPhones
With WWDC 2022 little more than a week away, more details about what Apple could announce at its annual developer conference are emerging. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests the company will have a fair amount to share about iOS 16, including enhancements to the lock screen. Gruman says the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will include wallpapers with widget-like capabilities.
Additionally, iOS 16 will reportedly include support for an always-on display feature that will be initially exclusive to the company’s next iPhone Pro models. The functionality would allow those devices to show you notifications and other glanceable information without the need to fully wake their displays. That’s a feature that’s long been available on many Android phones, and Apple had reportedly planned to add it to the iPhone 13 last year but later changed its plans.
Reiterating his previous predictions, Gurman says iOS 16 will also include enhancements to how the operating system handles multitasking and windowing. Gurman cites a recent tweet from developer Steve Troughton-Smith that shows Apple is likely working on a way to let iOS users resize app windows. That’s a feature that would be particularly useful on iPad. Gurman says he also expects the company to add new social network-like features within Messages. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to see what Apple has planned for iOS 16. WWDC 2022 kicks off on June 6th.
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Hitting the Books: What the 'Work from Home' revolution means for those who can't
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how we live, how we work, how we get from where we live to where we work or even if we have to leave where we live to get to where we work. But the number of workers that have had their commutes shortened from 45 minutes to 45 feet constitute only a fraction of the American workforce — the remainder are still making the twice daily trek. In his new book, Going Remote: How the Flexible Work Economy Can Improve Our Lives and Our Cities, urban economist Matthew E. Kahn examines how this tectonic shift in work-life balance might eventually play out, as well as the increased economic and social stratification it could bring about.
UC Press
Excerpted from Going Remote: How the Flexible Work Economy Can Improve Our Lives and Our Cities by Matthew E Kahn, published by the University of California Press. © 2022 by Matthew E Kahn.
Not everyone can engage in remote work. If 35 percent of the workforce is engaged in remote work at least a few days a week, this will have at least three effects on other workers. First, service jobs demand will rise in the residential areas where remote workers move to. As remote workers move farther from city centers, this will create exurban demand for service workers at the Starbucks and other stores where they shop. Land prices are cheap at the suburban fringe and the purchasing power of such local service providers will be higher than if they sought jobs in the center city. While service workers cannot work remotely, they can move to remote locations where rents are cheaper if more people work from home. If 35 percent of the workforce begins to work from home three days a week and thus are home five days a week, there is a demand for a service sector in areas where they live. This creates new jobs for less educated workers in such areas. In these areas, housing is cheap. This increases the quality of life for such service providers. There will also be new construction jobs as new homes are built farther from the employment centers. Families who spend more time at home will invest money to upgrade the home. This creates new opportunities for those who supply home improvement services. Some people may add a new office to their home or other features to customize it to their needs.
While there are significant opportunities for less skilled workers to live and work far from the cities in the cheaper parts of metropolitan areas, one countervailing force is the rising minimum wage. In cities, the minimum wage is usually not binding as workers must be paid higher nominal wages to attract them. In contrast, in more suburban and exurban areas, being required to pay service workers $15 or more per hour may reduce demand for workers. If workers can find very cheap housing far from the cities, then many would be willing to work for less than $15 an hour. While most people think that a high minimum wage is “good” for low-skill workers, economists emphasize the likely unintended consequence. When employers are required by law to pay a higher than competitive market wage to people, they create fewer jobs. For example, such firms can substitute and rely on robots or other pieces of capital. Economists argue that a higher minimum wage increases unemployment for less skilled workers. In places where housing is cheaper, the minimum wage will more likely be a binding constraint on employers. The net result here is perhaps counterintuitive. Less skilled workers will gain more from the rise of WFH when they live and work in states with less generous minimum wages.
Throughout this chapter, I have focused on how the WFH eligible reconfigure their lives to make the most of this new opportunity. Here it is important to note that those who are currently not WFH eligible are not locked into this category. Younger workers can retrain in fields to open up this possibility for themselves. Parents of younger children can make investments in their children to raise their probability of being WFH eligible in the future.
Those who work in the service industry and thus earn a living from face-to-face interaction still gain from the rise of WFH because they gain from a larger menu of options of where to live their lives. If a wealthy environmentalist community forms in Bozeman, Montana, then this creates new opportunities for those in the service sector to live and work there. While this option may not be attractive to everyone, the key is to increase the menu of possibilities. Non-WFH-eligible workers know themselves and their life goals, and they will make the right choices for themselves and gain from having a larger menu of alternatives.
As more people have the opportunity to live and work where they want to be, this increases not only their physical and mental health but also the accountability of our institutions. If there are places whose governments are failing to meet the desires of local residents, then people will be more likely to move away. In this setting, real estate prices will more quickly reflect changes in local quality of life. If an area features a rising crime rate, in the new WFH economy people will “vote with their feet” and real estate prices will decline in that area. This demands that local officials be more responsive in addressing emerging quality-of-life challenges because if they fail to do so, the tax base will shrink.
While this has been an optimistic chapter, I must add a few cautionary notes about concentrated urban poverty. WFH creates an incentive for the American people to spread out. This chapter has sketched out the benefits from this emerging trend. At the same time, such suburbanization may contribute to the further isolation of the urban poor. Poor people live in center cities in areas such as Baltimore and Detroit because there is old, cheap housing and there is good public transit. If the poor remain in these center city areas and richer people are suburbanizing, then there is greater geographic isolation of the poor and this may reduce political support for programs that redistribute to them because there is an “out of sight, out of mind” effect and the physical distance between the groups acts as a type of moat. Past research in urban economics has documented that college graduates are more likely to suburbanize when violent crime increases in the center city. This propensity to engage in “flight from blight” is likely to increase in a WFH economy because educated people no longer commute to center city jobs five times a week.
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Saturday, 28 May 2022
FromSoftware is nearly ready to restore Dark Souls PC multiplayer features
FromSoftware says it’s one step closer to restoring the PC servers for its Dark Souls games, months after the discovery of a remote code execution exploit forced the studio to take them offline.
"We are currently in the process of restoring the online servers for the Dark Souls series on PC," FromSoftware told PC Gamer. “We plan to restore online service for each game progressively, bringing back servers for Dark Souls 3 once we complete the necessary work to correct the problem."
From did not say precisely when it would start bringing its servers back online but promised to share additional details as soon it settled on a final schedule. In a statement Dark Souls publisher Bandai Namco later shared with The Verge, the company clarified the restoration process would start with Dark Souls 3. “We want to thank all our players for your patience and understanding as we work to fix this issue,” From said.
The statement follows FromSoftware’s February 9th announcement that it had identified the cause of the remote exploit issue. At the time, the studio said the PC servers for Dark Souls would remain offline until after the February 25th release of Elden Ring. From’s latest game has had online issues as well. In March, hackers found an exploit that could force PC players into an endless death loop. Thankfully, From swiftly dealt with the problem that same month.
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Judge rules Cydia's antitrust case against Apple can move forward
Cydia’s antitrust case against Apple can move forward, according to Reuters. On Thursday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the same judge that oversaw the case between Apple and Epic Games, ruled Cydia’s creator, Jay “Saurik” Freeman, could present his claim against the company after rejecting a bid by Apple to dismiss the complaint.
Freeman first sued Apple at the end of 2020, alleging the company had an “illegal monopoly over iOS app distribution.” Judge Gonzalez Rogers dismissed Cydia’s initial complaint against Apple, ruling the suit fell outside the statute of limitations. But she also granted Freeman leave to amend his case, which is what he did. In its latest complaint, Cydia argues that iOS updates Apple released between 2018 and 2021 constituted “overt” acts that harmed distributors like itself. That’s a claim Judge Gonzalez Rogers found credible enough to explore.
"To the extent plaintiff's claims rely on Apple's technological updates to exclude Cydia from being able to operate altogether, those claims are timely," the judge said in her ruling.
Cydia is seeking damages from Apple (the company stopped processing purchases in 2018) and hopes to force the tech giant to open iOS to third-party payments and app distributors. Opening the App Store to more competition is something US lawmakers are considering as well, with the Senate Judiciary Committee recently advancing the Open App Markets Act. If enacted, the law would force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS and prevent the company from locking developers into its payments system.
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Senators ask Apple and Google to prohibit data collection that targets abortion seekers
A group of US senators led by Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling on Apple and Google to implement new app store policies that prohibit developers from collecting data that would threaten women seeking abortions. In separate letters sent to the CEOs of both companies, the group said the two tech giants “must” act to protect individuals exercising their right to choose from groups that would target them for their decision.
“Following the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, we are concerned that anti-abortion prosecutors and other actors will attempt to access and leverage personal information – including data regarding location, online activity, health, and biometrics – in ways that threaten the wellbeing of those exercising their right to choose,” the letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai states.
Pointing to the prevalence of online platforms selling user information to data brokers, the group warns that abortion prosecutors and “even vigilantes” could exploit those practices to intimidate women who seek abortions or harass them retroactively.
Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont also signed the letters. The letters follow a separate call from Congressional Democrats that came earlier in the week urging Google to stop collecting location data over many of the same concerns. The idea that various groups, including law enforcement agencies, could weaponize app data isn’t an imagined threat. A recent report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has built up a mass surveillance system that includes information about almost all US residents, and it did so partly by purchasing data from private companies. The senators asked Pichai and Tim Cook to respond to the letters by June 17th.
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Recommended Reading: How 'Top Gun: Maverick' puts you inside an F-18
Welcome to Tom Cruise’s flight school for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Jake Kring-Schreifels, The Ringer
One of the biggest challenges in filming the original Top Gun was keeping all of the actors playing pilots from constantly vomiting in the cockpit. Any sequel to that '80s classic would have to be even more realistic, since production eventually moved to a soundstage. The Ringer explains how GoPro footage from real Navy pilots was the initial inspiration for the new movie, how custom-built IMAX gear helped capture the angles from real F-18s and how Tom Cruise put the cast through intense training to prepare.
The era of borderless data Is ending
David McCabe and Adam Satariano, The New York Times
Over 50 countries are trying to make sure data created by their citizens, governments and industries stays within their borders — or at least stored in accordance with their laws. The quest for so-called "digital sovereignty" could impact services we use daily or some of the features they currently offer.
Will AI lead to new creative frontiers, or take the pleasure out of music?
Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork
Artificial intelligence can now learn, perform and create music with skills that are more than just copying a human's actions. Pitchfork explores some of the more notable projects in search of an answer to the question: Just because we can, does that mean we should?
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iRobot's Roomba j7+ and s9+ robot vacuums are $200 off for Memorial Day
Memorial Day weekend has brought back some of the best prices we've seen on Roomba robot vacuums. You can pick up the Roomba j7+ and the Roomba s9+ for $599 and $799, respectively, when using the code ENDGT200 at Wellbots. Both of those models come with clean bases, but if you think you can safely skip that extra piece of hardware, you can pick up the Roomba j7 for $399 instead using the same code.
Buy Roomba j7+ at Wellbots - $599Buy Roomba s9+ at Wellbots - $799Buy Roomba j7 at Wellbots - $399The Roomba j7 series has some of iRobot's newest machines in it. The line debuted at the end of 2021 and the robot vacuums come with new AI-driven computer vision technology that helps them better detect objects and clean around them. The company has focused on this in the context of pet poop, claiming the j7 machines are its first "pet-poop detecting" robots. Ultimately, that means that your fancy new robot vacuum should be able to avoid any accidents your pets have on the living room floor while cleaning your home.
Along with those smarts, the Roomba j7 has 10x the suction power of a standard Roomba, plus dual multi-surface brushes, smart home mapping and more. If you spring for the j7+, you'll also get a clean base into which the robot automatically empties its dustbin after every job. That means you'll only have to empty the clean base once every month or so, depending on how often your robot cleans.
Similarly to the Roomba j7 series, the Roomba s9+ made it into our best robot vacuums guide as a splurge pick. Normally costing $1,000, the s9+ is a premium dirt sucker that does more than most people need. But it's an excellent vacuum with 40x the suction power of a regular Roomba, plus a 3D sensor for object detection and a corner-friendly design. If vacuuming is one of our least favorite chores and you want a robot that will almost ensure you'll never have to do it manually again, the s9+ could be a good investment.
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Respawn's 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor' arrives in 2023
Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order that it first announced earlier this year, is happening. At the Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, the studio has revealed that Jedi: Survivor is a direct sequel to Star Wars: Fallen Order, which is an action-adventure game released back in 2019. Survivor is set five years after the events of its predecessor and will still feature the protagonist Cal Kestis (and his droid companion BD-1) as one of the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy that's ruled by the Empire.
The studio said Jedi: Survivor will expand on the first game's combat system — and perhaps improve on it, too. Some players weren't quite fond of Jedi: Fallen Order's combat and considered it a weak aspect of the game. Jedi: Survivor is scheduled to come out in 2023, with Electronic Arts aiming to get it out by the end of its fiscal year in March. Respawn is currently developing it for the latest generation of consoles, particularly the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5, though it will also be released for PCs. The studio doesn't seem to have plans to release it for older consoles like the Xbox One and the PS4.
You can watch an official teaser for the upcoming game in the video below:
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Friday, 27 May 2022
Apple Watch Series 7 models drop back down to a record low of $329
Memorial Day sales have brought one of the best discounts we've seen on the Apple Watch Series 7. Multiple models of Apple's flagship smartwatch are down to $329 right now, with is $70 off and a return to its record-low price. The price applies to the 41mm GPS Watches, but the larger, 45mm models are also $70 off and down to $359.
Buy Series 7 (41mm) at Amazon - $329Buy Series 7 (45mm) at Amazon - $359The Series 7 is only a moderate update from the Series 6, but Apple did make some key improvements. Most notably, the Series 7 has a larger screen that makes it easier to see the time, messages and other information displayed in complications. The design appears unchanged, but it's the first Apple Watch to be IP6X dust resistant, making it more durable than previous models. It also supports faster charging — we were able to get 10 percent juice after 10 minutes of charging, and the Watch was fully powered up in less than one hour.
Otherwise, the Series 7 is much the same as the Series 6. It has an always-on display, a built-in GPS, ECG and blood oxygen measurement capabilities, fall detection, support for dozens of trackable workouts and more. Our biggest complaint with the latest model in particular is its lackluster sleep tracking abilities — you'll only be able to track how long you slept with the native watchOS feature, which is much less information than you'd get if you used a Fitbit or a Garmin device to do the same thing. But if that's not much of a concern for you, it's hard to beat the Apple Watch for iPhone users who are set on getting a wearable.
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Engadget Podcast: Clearview AI’s facial recognition is on the ropes
This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the latest news around Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that’s now seeing pushback from governments and regulators around the world. Will a few fines put a stop to the company’s facial recognition search platform? Also, they discuss how Clearview’s troubles relate to countries being more restrictive about data in general. Finally, they pour one out for Seth Green’s lost Bored Ape – RIP NFT!
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Subscribe!
Topics
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Facial Recognition company Clearview AI is on the ropes after several big settlements – 1:22
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The era of borderless data may be ending – 15:04
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Privacy focused search company DuckDuckGo quietly allowed Microsoft browsing trackers – 23:08
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New details about AMD’s Ryzen 7000 chips – 28:34
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Oh no, somebody stole Seth Green’s Bored Ape – 33:16
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Working on –36:29
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Pop culture picks – 41:36
Livestream
Credits
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
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Anker charging accessories are up to 37 percent off in a one-day Amazon sale
It's a good time to stock up if you've been waiting for a sale on wireless, solar or high-speed chargers. An assortment of Anker products are on sale at Amazon with discounts up to 37 percent, including its magnetic 623 MagGo 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Station bundle, a pair of 20W PIQ fast chargers and the 20W Nano Pro with a 3-foot USB-C to Lightning cable.
Buy Anker charging products at AmazonThe best deal is on Anker's 632 MagGo 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Station that delivers 20 watts of charging power for iPhone 13/13 Pro and iPhone 12/12 Pro models, while also letting you charge up your AirPods Pro wireless earbuds. Your phone attaches to the charging base magnetically, and it can even flip up 60 degrees so you can easily see the screen. Included is a 20-watt USB-C charger and USB-C to USB-C charging cable, all for $50 or 37 percent off, in black only.
If you're tired of losing iPhone charging cables and just want to get a bunch of them, Anker's USB-C to Lightning cable is available in a three-pack for $29, or 31 percent off the regular $42 price. For that, you get a 3-foot, 6-foot and 10-foot cable, each compatible with USB-C chargers up to 87 watts. They also allow you to connect your iPhone to a Mac for seamless sync and charging.
For a small yet powerful charger, check out Anker's original 20-watt Nano charger for iPhone and Android devices, available at $21.70 or $9.30 off the $31 list price. Finally, the Nano Pro USB-C with a 3-foot USB-C to Lightning cable is selling for $28, or 30 percent off the list price. There are a number of other items too, including Anker's 18-watt dual-port PowerCore solar charger priced at $49 (30 percent off), but you'll need to act fast as the sale ends in less than a day.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
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The Morning After: Sony reveals plans for 'Horizon' and 'God of War' TV shows
Yes, Sony’s boosting PS5 production. It needs to. But during its investor briefing yesterday, the company also revealed it’s expanding its efforts to bring major PlayStation IPs to TVs in a non-interactive form. While a The Last of Us series is already on its way to HBO, Sony revealed planning is underway for a show based on the Horizon games, coming to Netflix.
Spreading the goodness around, Sony’s planning a God of War series for Amazon Prime Video, too. Less interesting, at least as a concept, there will also be a Gran Turismo show in the works.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
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Launchkey 88 brings a luxurious keybed to a budget MIDI controller
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NVIDIA reportedly slows down hiring as it braces for a drop in gaming sales
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Maryland residents can now add driver's licenses to Apple Wallet
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Twitter investors sue Elon Musk over stock manipulation claims
Broadcom is buying VMware in a $61 billion mega-deal
It would be one of the largest tech acquisitions to date.
Broadcom isn't done attempting major acquisitions. The chip giant is buying cloud- and virtualization-focused software developer VMware for the equivalent of $61 billion in cash and stock. The move would fold Broadcom's software division into VMware and could create a cloud service powerhouse that helps companies run apps in all sorts of environments. It’s a lot of money, but Microsoft’s still-pending buyout of Activision Blizzard rings in at more: $68.7 billion.
Oura made an 18-carat gold smart ring with Gucci
It comes with a lifetime subscription to its services.
Oura
Oura teamed up with fashion house Gucci to launch the limited-edition Gucci x Oura Ring. It’s made of black synthetic corundum and is adorned with the famous interlocking "G" and a braided torchon pattern, both in 18-carat yellow gold. You'll obviously pay a premium for this thing, now available at select stores around the world for $950. The good news is Oura's Lifetime Membership subscription is included in the price. This offers useful recovery insights and other metrics based on your activity, sleep and everything else.
The best smart lights you can buy
Ditch the “dumb” bulbs.
Westend61 via Getty Images
Start with smart lights. Not only are they relatively affordable compared to other smart home gadgets, often as cheap as $10 a bulb, but they can also completely change the feel of your home. There are now more players in smart lighting than ever before, so we’ve tested out some of the best options.
Sony says PSVR 2 will have at least 20 games at launch
Fingers crossed 'Half-Life: Alyx' is one of them.
PlayStation VR2 (PSVR 2) may not have a release date yet, but Sony clearly has big plans for it. At an investor briefing, the company revealed there’ll be at least 20 "major" PSVR 2 games available at the start. Crucially, these will include both first- and third-party titles.
Microsoft's free ‘Top Gun Flight Simulator' expansion is finally here
Eagle one, fox three.
With Top Gun: Maverick finally in theaters, the matching Microsoft Flight Simulator expansion is launching as well. The free add-on offers a taste of the US Navy's real-world flight training. You'll get a Maverick Edition livery for the F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet, learn to land on an aircraft carrier and perform combat maneuvers.
What we bought: A $200 pepper mill
His new favorite kitchen gadget.
If you’re going to upgrade your kitchen tools, go hard. That’s what Sam Rutherford did with his pepper mill, upgrading from pre-filled disposable mills to the $200 Pepper Cannon. What. A. Name.
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Amazon shareholders vote down audit of warehouse work conditions
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Google Nest Audio bundle offers two smart speakers for just $120
If you're looking to get a few smart speakers for your connected home, this may be your chance to grab a handful at a discount. You can get a pair of Google Nest Audio smart speakers right now from Adorama for $120. The Google Nest Audio has always offered a robust music experience without a hefty price tag to go with it, but now it's even more affordable at $80 or 40 percent off the bundle's regular price. While we didn't find the Nest Audio to be quite on par with bigger music-focused speakers when it comes to audio quality when we tested it out, it still sounds a lot better than the Nest Mini.
Buy Google Nest Audio Smart Speaker 2-Pack at Adorama - $120It's loud enough for small- and medium-sized rooms, and pairing two of them can deliver stereo sound. Since it's a Google smart speaker, it supports Assistant voice commands, and you can tell it to play what you want after linking it to your account and your music streaming services. Like other Nest speakers, it's covered in cloth for a clean, minimalist aesthetic that will complement most home decor. And at 7 inches tall and only 3 inches thick, it will fit in most places you decide to put it.
If you'd rather get a smart display, the Google Nest Hub Max is also on sale at Adorama for $179, or $50 off its retail price. With its 10-inch touchscreen, the Nest Hub Max is the biggest Google smart display available and also has the best sound quality. We gave it a score of 86 in our review, praising it not just for having a great display and sound quality, but also for its ability to double as a Nest Cam and to play and pause media with gestures.
Buy Google Nest Hub Max at Adorama - $179Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
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Thursday, 26 May 2022
The Morning After: Dyson’s secret robot projects
The NFL's rumored streaming service could debut in JulyDyson, the company that’s recently branched out into hair curlers, air-purifying headphones and not cars, has revealed it has an entire division secretly developing robot prototypes for household chores.
The company didn't detail any of the models specifically, but many look like robot arms adapted to do specialized home chores, like cleaning and tidying. Dyson also showed off its Perception Lab dedicated to robotic vision systems, environment detection and even mapping humans with sensors, cameras and thermal imaging systems.
So why reveal its secret lab now? Well, Dyson’s on a recruiting drive, looking for around 700 engineers to help finally make at least some of these ideas a reality in our homes.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
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Insta360's Sphere lets DJI's latest Mavic Air drones capture 360-degree video
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CVS won't fill prescriptions for controlled substances from two telehealth companies
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PlayStation DualSense controllers are up to 21 percent off in Days of Play sale
ProtonMail is rebranding and adding more storage to all its plans
The company now goes by Proton and is unifying its products under some new plans.
ProtonMail has been one of the better options for secure email — you can get an (admittedly basic) account for free and enjoy end-to-end encryption for your communications when you're messaging other ProtonMail users. But the company's plans have gotten a little out of date.
Starting today, though, the company is making it easier to go all-in on ProtonMail and the other services it offers, including a VPN, encrypted calendar and cloud storage. It’s also simplifying the company name: just Proton going forward.
IKEA promises easier device connectivity with its new smart hub
A more user-friendly approach and a new app, too.
IKEA continues its adventures in the smart home with the launch of a Google Matter-ready hub called DIRIGERA. Not a typo. According to the company: "With the new DIRIGERA hub for smart products, users will be able to onboard all IKEA smart products to the system.”
It’s one of the most visible Matter devices revealed so far. Google still plans to launch its new smart home industry standard this fall. Devices will all connect quickly and easily using Fast Pair, and the platform will support a variety of voice assistants and networking protocols, including Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Thread and Bluetooth LE. IKEA’s hub is set to launch in October 2022.
Lucid recalls all its 2022 Air EVs due to wiring issues
In some vehicles, unsecured wires can cause the car's main display to turn off.
Despite already struggling to meet production targets, luxury EV maker Lucid has now issued a recall for the Air due to potential issues with the car's wiring harness. Unsecured wires on 2022 Air vehicles could cause the car's displays to turn off, and because the Air's displays contain critical information — speed, range and warning indicators — this would violate Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Testing Snap’s Pixy drone
A flying robot photographer for Snapchat users.
Engadget
Snap debuted the $230 Pixy drone for those of us not looking to retrain as drone pilots. It requires very little skill and acts like a personal robot photographer.
The Pixy flies by itself, performing programmed patterns that put the focus on the user. There’s a lot of potential here for parties and tourist activities, grabbing awesome aerial shots with almost no user intervention. According to Engadget’s Steve Dent — our main camera and drone reviewer — Snap may be on to something with the Pixy. It’s not nearly as capable as pricier drones from DJI and others, but that’s not really the point.
Margaret Atwood protests book bans with 'unburnable' copy of 'The Handmaid's Tale'
Watch the author take a flamethrower to a fireproof edition.
Penguin
To raise awareness of increasing book bans across US libraries — and perhaps protest the threat of literal book burning — Margaret Atwood and Penguin Random House are auctioning a one-off "unburnable" edition of her classic dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale.
I also just really wanted to include this image in today’s newsletter.
The NFL's rumored streaming service could debut in July
Reports suggest NFL+ will include some live games, but pricing hasn't been locked down.
The NFL may launch its own streaming service as soon as July. With the long-rumored NFL+, fans could stream some live games on phones and tablets. It may feature other content, such as podcasts, radio and team-created material. According to Sports Business Journal, NFL+ may cost $5 per month, but pricing isn't set in stone. Several major sports properties are dipping their toes into streaming: Last month, FIFA launched the free, ad-supported FIFA+.
Twitter is working toward 'closing the transaction process' with Elon Musk
But Twitter executives had little to say about it at the company's shareholder meeting.
Despite numerous questions about the future of Twitter, the company's executives had little to say about Elon Musk, who didn’t attend the meeting. “We’re working through the transaction process,” CEO Parag Agrawal said during the meeting. The status of the deal has been somewhat unclear since Musk announced it was “on hold,” due to his concerns about bots on the platform.
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The barristers that broke their backs to break the Post Office’s shield of lies
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Wednesday, 25 May 2022
The Morning After: Google claims 'unprecedented photorealism' from its new text-to-image AI
Google has shown off a new artificial intelligence system that can create images based on text input. Its Imagen diffusion model, created by the Brain Team at Google Research, offers "an unprecedented degree of photorealism and a deep level of language understanding."
Google
This isn't the first time we've seen AI models like this. OpenAI's DALL·E (and its successor) performed similar witchcraft, turning text into visuals. Google's version, however, tries to create more realistic images. The researchers created a benchmark and asked humans to assess each image from a range of AIs. They "prefer Imagen over other models in side-by-side comparisons, both in terms of sample quality and image-text alignment," Google said.
It’s not available to the public, and there are reasons for this. “Datasets of this nature often reflect social stereotypes, oppressive viewpoints, and derogatory, or otherwise harmful, associations to marginalized identity groups," the researchers wrote. Imagen has inherited the "social biases and limitations of large language models" and may depict "harmful stereotypes and representation." The team said the AI encodes social biases, including a tendency to create images of people with lighter skin tones and place them in certain stereotypical gender roles. The system could be used to make unsavory images to intentionally cause offense.
The team may eventually allow the rest of us to play with the model to generate our own images, but the researchers need to consider a framework first — a challenge in itself.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
Apple's latest Pride Edition Watch bands include a nod to the company's history
Linksys rolls out a pair of more affordable WiFi 6 mesh routers
Google is testing a smaller, modular Street View camera system
Samsung's new Smart Monitor M8 is $100 off for the first time
'Lord of the Rings: Gollum' hits consoles and PC on September 1st
Microsoft's Project Volterra is a mini PC for ARM developers
Panasonic's latest modular Toughbook is larger and lighter
Harley-Davidson made an electric mountain bike without front or rear suspension
Starlink launches its satellite internet for RVs
But it costs more than a standard Starlink service.
Starlink
Starlink’s internet service for RV drivers and ‘vanlife’ types is live. While applying for a regular Starlink dish and service will put customers on a waitlist until 2023, Starlink for RVs is immediately available and will ship out to buyers right now. However, network resources are always deprioritized for RV connections, and the service costs $135, which is $25 more than a regular Starlink connection.
ASUS' ROG Swift is the 'world's first' 500Hz G-Sync gaming monitor
It uses NVIDIA's Reflex tech to reduce system latency.
ASUS has unveiled what it calls the "world's first" 500Hz G-Sync gaming display, the 1080p ROG Swift 500Hz. Designed for competitive gaming, it uses a special panel and incorporates NVIDIA's G-Sync Esports technology to maximize motion clarity. It also uses NVIDIA's Reflex Analyzer technology, which delivers real-time stats to help you reduce end-to-end latency if you're using a Reflex-optimized mouse and NVIDIA GPU.
The key highlight remains the 500Hz refresh rate, which draws eight times faster than typical 60Hz displays.
Canon's EOS R7 and EOS R10 are its first EOS R crop-sensor cameras
Well-priced and fast but lacking backside-illuminated/stacked sensors.
Canon
Canon has launched its first EOS R APS-C crop sensor cameras, the 32-megapixel EOS R7 and 24-megapixel EOS R10. The new models bring Canon's APS-C and full-frame RF series in alignment, so you can finally use lenses interchangeably. More importantly, they carry impressive specs, like 15 fps mechanical shutter shooting speeds and 4K video at up to 60 fps.
The EOS R10 will cost $980 for the body only and $1,100 with the RF-S18-45mm lens and $1,380 with the RF-S18-150mm lens. The R7, meanwhile, will sell for $1,500 for the body only and $1,900 with the S18-150mm lens. Both should arrive later this year.
Microsoft Teams goes beyond screen sharing for real-time collaboration
Live Share is a major evolution for remote work.
Microsoft's new Live Share feature should make it easier for Teams apps to enable real-time collaboration. If this sounds familiar, it's because Microsoft announced plans to make Teams the go-to option for collaborative apps last year. Live Share is based on Fluid Framework, Microsoft's attempt at atomizing components of traditional documents and making them collaborative. Microsoft says several partners, including Accenture, Frame.io and Hexagon, are already building Live Share experiences in Teams projects.
NVIDIA is bringing out liquid-cooled GPUs
But they’re for data centers.
Later this year, NVIDIA will begin selling a liquid-cooled version of its A100 GPU for data centers. The GPU maker is positioning the video card as a way for cloud computing companies to make their facilities more energy-efficient. NVIDIA claims a facility outfitted with its water-cooled A100 GPUs ran the same workload as an air-cooled data center while using about 30 percent less power.
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Google Cloud expands European presence with opening of Madrid region
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ProtonMail is rebranding and adding a lot more storage to all its plans
For the privacy-minded, ProtonMail has been one of the better options for secure email — you can get an (admittedly basic) account for free and enjoy end-to-end encryption for your communications when you're messaging other ProtonMail users. But the company's plans have gotten a little out of date. Free accounts only come with 500MB of storage, while the €4 / month plan bumps you to a modest 4GB of storage with some other limitations like a daily 1000-message sent cap.
Starting today, though, the company is making it easier to go all-in on ProtonMail and the other services it offers, including a VPN, cloud storage and an encrypted calendar. Going forward, ProtonMail is rebranding itself simply as Proton, pushing its whole suite of privacy-focused services and updating all of its plans. The company has a new website (proton.me), and both new and existing users can use the @proton.me address rather than the old @protonmail.com option if they're so inclined.
Proton
Going forward, Proton will offer three plans: Free, Mail Plus and Unlimited. The new free tier expands storage to 1GB and remains fairly constrained — you can only send 150 messages per day and have three labels and folders, for example. You can also access the basic Proton VPN tool and user Proton Calendar, though you're limited to only one calendar on this plan. Proton has long said that since it doesn't serve ads, it relies on subscriptions for revenue, so it's not too surprising the free plan is restricted.
The Mail Plus plan will cost €5 / month, though you can get it for less if you sign up for a year or two years all in one shot. It's a big upgrade over the old plan, though. Users now get 15GB of storage shared between their email and Proton Drive cloud storage account. There's no restrictions on how many messages you can send or how many labels and folders you can create, and it also supports IMAP email clients via the Proton Bridge tool. There are also additional features like a new "short domain" email alias (@pm.me) that you can use to send and receive messages as well as 20 calendars that you can share with other users.
Finally, the Unlimited plan costs €12 / month; the company is positioning it as a way to get the top tier of all its services at once. That means 500GB of total storage, making Proton Drive a lot more viable for people to use as a backup service. You can use Proton Mail with up to three different custom domain addresses (up from one on the Mail Plus Plan) and with a total of 15 different email addresses (up from 10 on Mail Plus).
Proton
But the big difference is that you get the full-fledged Proton VPN with the Unlimited plan, rather than the more basic option that comes with the other two Proton plans. This includes up to 10 VPN connections rather than one, a total of 1,700+ servers across 63 different countries (rather than 100-ish servers in three countries) and faster speeds. For the time being Proton will continue offering its VPN as a standalone product, too — you can get the details on that as well as the breakdown between the basic free VPN and what you get with the full version here.
If you're new to the Proton world, right now the company has iOS apps for mail and VPN services, and Android apps for mail, VPN and calendar. The Drive cloud storage option is still technically in beta, so there aren't any mobile apps for it just yet — they're slated for later this year.
And while Proton doesn't have any major updates to the mail service or its other apps aside from unifying them with its new design language, the company has made a few updates in recent months. Last month, the iOS Mail app got some design updates and a dark mode, as well as a "conversation" mode to make threads of messages easier to read. Back in February, Proton turned on encrypted search in the Mail web app, and in January it added a tracking pixel blocker.
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PlayStation DualSense controllers are up to 21 percent off in Days of Play sale
You can get new PlayStation controllers and other accessories from Amazon at a discount from the Days of Play sale that begins today, May 25th. All six PS DualSense controllers are currently on sale at Amazon, including the latest colors launched in December. The basic black controller is available for $59, while the white one is listed for $60, or 14 percent off its original price of $70. For the same prices, though, you can also get one of the vibrantly colored DualSense controllers that typically cost $75.
Buy PlayStation accessories and games at AmazonThe Cosmic Red, Nova Pink and Galactic Purple controllers are listed for $59, which is the lowest price we've seen for them on the website. You'll have to pay $1 more for the Starlight Blue variant, but that's still a steal if you're eyeing the color in the first place and investing in a similar-colored face plate for your PS5, as well. The DualSense controllers have such advanced haptic feedback, that developers can program it to give you a feel of what's happening on screen — they can tweak the haptics to make you feel the difference between your character walking on grass and trudging through sand, for instance. DualSense's analog triggers can also recreate the feel of in-game tools, such the resistance of a bow when you pull on its string to shoot an arrow.
The Playstation HD Camera is also on sale for $49 or $11 less its retail price. It has dual wide-angle lenses, is capable of 1080p capture and has a built-in adjustable stand. Meanwhile, the PlayStation PULSE 3D Wireless Headset is currently available for $10 off at $90. It's fine-tuned for 3D Audio on PS5 consoles, has noise—canceling mic and can last for up to 12 hours on a single charge.
You can also get few physical games at a discount from the sale, including Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection for $30 instead of $50. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for the PS5 is available at $30 off for $40, while Death Stranding is on sale for 22 percent off at $20. The discounted copy of Death Stranding is for the PS4, but you can upgrade your copy for the PS5 for an additional $10. Finally, you can also get Elden Ring for $10 off at $50, The King of Fighters XV at $20 off for $40 and Deathloop at 58 percent off for $25.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
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How to leverage the artificial intelligence solar system
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Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Samsung's new Smart Monitor M8 is $100 off for the first time
Samsung added to its Smart Monitor lineup a few months ago with the introduction of the M8, and now you can pick up that display for less for the first time. Both Amazon and Samsung have the Smart Monitor M8 in white for $100 less than usual, bringing it down to $600. You won't find any other color options at Amazon, but Samsung has the green, pink and blue versions as well. While those models are also $100 off, they start off more expensive at $730, so you can pick up any of them for $630.
Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Amazon - $600Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Samsung - $600These Smart Monitors are designed for those that want an all-in-one display that can do a lot of things, even without a connected PC. The M8 is essentially a 32-inch, WiFi-capable smart TV and a monitor in one, allowing you to connect your PC or laptop to use it as an external display or use it on its own with the included remote control. You have access to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and others, and you won't have to connect external speakers since the M8 delivers audio via built-in, dual 5W speakers.
The M8 can also control SmartThings-compatible IoT devices thanks to its built-in home hub. That means you can use the remote control, or Alexa or Bixby voice commands, to turn off smart lights, adjust smart thermostats and more as long as those devices work with the SmartThings platform.
As for specs, the Smart Monitor M8 has a UHD resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 and supports HDR 10+ and refresh rates up to 60Hz. It also comes with a magnetic SlimFit Cam that you can attach to the top of the monitor whenever you need to hop on a Zoom call for work or video chat with friends. We appreciate the M8's slim, 11.4mm thick design and its height-adjustable stand, plus its support for AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth 4.2. While you don't need to drop $600 on a 32-inch monitor, the Smart Monitor M8 is a good option for those with limited space who want a TV and an external display in one, or those who just want a monitor with a bit more versatility than your standard screen.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
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Panasonic's latest modular Toughbook is larger and lighter
Panasonic's Toughbooks may be extra-rugged and modular, but they haven't exactly defined portability. That's about to change, however slightly. The brand has introduced a new Toughbook 40 that weighs over a pound less than its predecessor despite a larger 14-inch display. It's still not svelte at 7.4lbs and 2.1in thick. Still, that's no mean feat given the military-grade outdoor resistance as well as modularity that includes four expansion slots (for extra ports, drives and readers) as well a replaceable battery, keyboard, RAM and storage.
You won't find cutting-edge performance, but you'll still get an 11th-gen Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of SSD storage, ports that include Thunderbolt 4 and your choice of 5G and LTE modems. The field-friendly design is reflected in the specs, too. The 1080p screen can ramp up to 1,200 nits for use in bright sunlight, and a second battery can stretch the runtime to 36 hours.
The Toughbook 40 will be available in late spring with a $4,899 starting price. That's more expensive than even some other Toughbooks, but Panasonic isn't aiming this machine at everyday users who would buy an XPS 13 or MacBook Pro — it's meant for on-site staff, first responders and military personnel who may need to work in very unforgiving conditions.
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