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18.12.2024 00:10 Elon Musk and SpaceX are under three federal reviews from three different US military departments for allegedly failing to comply with reporting protocols. The New York Times reported that Musk and his private aerospace company have repeatedly disregarded requirements to disclose trips and meetings with foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The three reviews of Musk and SpaceX’s suspected activity were opened by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. The Air Force also reportedly denied Musk’s request for high-level security access because of concerns over potential security risks if he were allowed to handle certain pieces of classified information. Some SpaceX workers with knowledge of the reviews expressed their concerns to the Times about Musk’s ability to handle sensitive data when he posts openly about meetings on his X account. He already has top-security clearance at SpaceX that allows him to view certain pieces of classified material such as information on the US’ advanced military technology. Musk is required to disclose certain details about his personal life and travel habits to the Defense Department but some employees allege that he and his company have failed to meet those requirements as far back as 2021. Sources also told the newspaper that Musk allegedly failed to provide department officials with his full itinerary including meetings with foreign leaders. He also may not have provided reports on his personal and prescription drug use as part of his vetting procedure even though he smoked marijuana with Joe Rogan on his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and talked about microdosing ketamine on his X page. and with former CNN anchor Don Lemon. America isn’t the only country concerned about Musk’s ability to keep a lid on classified information. Nine other countries “including in Europe and the Middle East,” raised security concerns about Musk sitting in meetings with US defense officers over the past three years, according to The New York Times. Employees who were concerned about the lax reactions to these vetting requirements failed to report the behavior out of fear of losing their jobs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/elon-musk-spacex-reportedly-under-federal-review-for-undisclosed-meetings-with-foreign-leaders-213817035.html?src=rss

18.12.2024 00:10 Not content with meddling in politics, Elon Musk's next venture is an attempt to reimagine the United States' education system. The South African billionaire is now funding a Texas preschool called Ad Astra, which recently received a state permit to educate up to 21 students. The Montessori private school's website states that it is open to students aged three to nine, however an in-depth report from Bloomberg said that there are no signs of children or teachers yet at the facility. The school is located outside of Bastrop, Texas, which is becoming a hub for Musk-owned businesses. The Boring Co. tunneling business is based close by, as is a production site for SpaceX Starlink satellites. Construction is also happening in the area for a building owned by X, formerly Twitter. Bloomberg noted that Musk has frequently had educational offerings, sometimes with the same Ad Astra name, attached to his businesses, so this new preschool could be meant for the children of his employees. A job posting for an instructor at Ad Astra reads: "While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide." Musk was a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, and both have made comments disparaging recent diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education. He's hardly the first tech figurehead to apply his opinions on education onto US schools. Mark Zuckerberg tried to personalize the experience with Summit Learning. Jeff Bezos put his name and resources into a series of preschools. And Bill Gates has a long history of proposing ideas for public education that yielded dubious improvements for students, such as charter schools and the Common Core State Standards.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/elon-musk-is-opening-a-preschool-near-his-texas-business-operations-211430042.html?src=rss

18.12.2024 00:10 Honda and Nissan are reportedly set to discuss a merger. The Japanese publication Nikkei said the two automakers plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to sort out shared equity stakes in a new holding company for the consolidated rivals. The potential merger would combine the assets of Japan’s second- and third-biggest automakers, giving them a better shot of competing with the nation’s market leader, Toyota. Bloomberg adds that it would also put them in a better position against Tesla and Chinese EV makers. Nikkei says Mitsubishi could join the talks later. Earlier this year, Honda and Nissan said they would work together on software development, batteries and other EV components. That “combine-and-compete” alliance followed Toyota’s acquisition of stakes in Subaru, Suzuki and Mazda. With today’s news that the pair are ready to take the next step, the landscape is clearly heading toward fewer legacy automakers competing for customers. Bloomberg also reported on Tuesday that Honda is stepping up production of hybrid vehicles as demand for electric / gas vehicles remains high outside of China. The automaker is aiming to double its annual hybrid sales by 2030. “The goal is still to become carbon neutral by 2050, but demand for hybrids will remain high for the foreseeable future,” Honda Chief Officer Katsuto Hayashi said on Sunday. “We see most of that growth happening in North America.” Speaking of North America, US President-elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to reverse President Biden’s EV policies. His transition team is said to have recommended ending government support for EVs and charging stations and focusing instead on blocking cars, components and battery materials sourced from China. Climate scientists have warned that transitioning from gas-powered to electric vehicles is necessary to reduce carbon emissions and head off the most catastrophic projections for our planet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/honda-and-nissan-reportedly-open-merger-talks-205454769.html?src=rss

18.12.2024 00:10 Some of the best smart home tech is the stuff you don’t have to think about. My lamps have been connected to smart plugs for a long time now — my living room lights turn on at dusk, go dark around 10PM and complete a similar routine each morning. I haven’t manually twisted a switch-knob or stumbled in the dark for over a year. And if I weren’t continually thinking about smart plugs for this guide, I’d have forgotten about them completely.But not every plug offers seamless connectivity, and which plug works with which home ecosystem varies, too. Right now, the best plug for just about everyone is the Kasa Mini EP25, but there are other winners, depending on your needs. Based on our testing of around 15 options, these are the best smart plugs you can buy. Table of contents Best smart plugs What to consider when buying a smart plug How we tested the best smart plugs Other smart plugs we tested Best smart plugs The best outdoor smart plugs Most people will likely use outdoor plugs for two things: patio lighting and holiday string lights. The devices are designed for the outdoors with ingress protection rating of IP64 or higher, which means they’re impervious to dust and can handle splashing water from rain and sprinklers. They have a longer Wi-Fi range than indoor plugs, for obvious reasons, and many have dual outlets, with individual control over each one. Setup is the same as for indoor plugs: you’ll use your phone to help the plug find your Wi-Fi using its companion app. The only tricky part is getting your phone within Bluetooth range of the plug and in Wi-Fi range at the same time. I had to awkwardly stand at a triangulated point in the middle of my driveway to get things communicating properly. Once set up, the plugs will communicate using your router for voice and app control and your phone needn’t be anywhere near the plug. What to consider when buying a smart plug Before you buy one, it helps to know how a smart plug works best. They are designed for things that have an on/off switch, making them great for turning lamps into smart lights. If you want a plug-in fan to move some air around before you get home, a smart plug can help. You can load a basic coffee maker with grounds and water the night before and wake up to a fresh pot in the morning. And instead of an air purifier running all day, you could set it to just run when you’re away. But gadgets that needs to be programmed further, or requires a stand-by mode, isn’t ideal. If you want to control built-in lights, you’ll need smart switches, which are more involved than smart plugs as they can involve installation. Some smart plugs can even monitor how much energy they use and display those figures within their companion app. That might not be much use on its own, as lamps with LED bulbs consume very little energy, but it could help you keep tabs on your overall energy consumption. Setup and use Adding a smart plug to your home is relatively simple. You’ll use the manufacturer’s app to initially connect, after which you can add the plug to a compatible smart home ecosystem so you can use voice control and other features. Both the brand’s app and your smart home app will let you name the plug, set schedules and program “routines” which provide automation for multiple smart devices at once. But as you can guess, a manufacturer’s app only lets you control products from that brand. If you want whole-home automation, operating, say, a plug from TP-Link’s Kasa, a bulb from GE’s Cync and a camera from Arlo without switching apps, you’ll need to use a smart home platform, which means you’ll need to consider compatibility. Compatibility Smart home devices connect through wireless protocols, often using more than one to communicate with your phone, smart speaker, router and in some cases, one another. The majority of smart plugs use Wi-Fi, but some have recently incorporated Matter, a relatively new wireless standard intended to solve integration issues between different brands and manufacturers, while also improving security and reliability. More of these smart plugs are coming to market and, for now, most Matter devices work via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a low-power mesh network called Thread. Matter requires a controller that stays at home, like a hub or smart speaker, to manage things when you’re out and about. As for Bluetooth, most plugs, including all Matter plugs, use the short-range protocol to get the device set up for the first time. Some can continue to run on Bluetooth in the absence of another option, but the connection isn’t as reliable and you won’t be able to control the plug when you’re away from home, or perhaps even just on the other side of the apartment. Because Matter is relatively new, it may be easier to consider the manufacturer’s system you’d use the most. There are four major “branded” smart home platforms: Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Apple’s HomeKit and Samsung’s SmartThings. The first two work with the widest range of brands and are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. HomeKit not only limits app access to Apple devices, but it’s also compatible with fewer plugs. You can also turn to open-source software like Home Assistant or go with the larger functionality of IFTTT if you want to, say, have your lights turn off when your Uber arrives. For the purposes of our testing, we stuck with the four big players. Nearly every plug we looked at clearly stated which platforms it works with, both on the packaging and retail product pages. Of course, there’s no rule that says you have to stick with one home assistant. You might have an Echo Dot in the basement, a HomePod in the living room and a Google Nest Mini in the kitchen, each controlling any compatible devices. My kid has a great time telling Alexa to turn on a light then asking the Google Assistant to turn it back off. Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget Hubs and smart plugs All of our top picks recommended here don’t require a hub and connect directly to your home’s Wi-Fi router. That means if you already have wireless internet and a smartphone or tablet, you can quite literally plug and play. The exception is Apple’s HomeKit. If you want to pair up a compatible plug with that platform, you’ll need a HomePod speaker, Apple TV or an iPad that stays in your home to enable remote control when you’re away. Some smart plugs require a hub regardless of which platform you use. For our guide, we focused on the simplicity of options that work on their own, but hub-dependent devices may make sense in certain situations. Some companies, like Aqara for example, make a vast range of smart home products, adding automatic shades, window sensors, smart locks and air quality monitors to the more traditional cameras and plugs. If you’re going all-in on one brand and plan to get a plethora of connected devices, a hub can keep your Wi-Fi network from getting too crowded and provide a more seamless setup with reliable connectivity. Sharing Once a plug is set up with your platform and voice assistant of choice, anyone can control the plug just by talking. If someone else wants to control things with their phone, things get more complicated. Google makes it easiest, allowing you to invite another person just by tapping the + button within the Home app. Whomever you invite will have full access to your connected devices – including cameras – so this is only for people you trust the most. HomeKit makes it similarly easy to grant app access to someone else, but as with most things Apple, it only works for other iOS users. Amazon only allows you to share access to your Echo, not your connected home devices. Many smart plug manufacturers allow you to share control through their app by inviting another person via email. But this only grants access to devices of that brand. Hopefully as Matter expands, multi-admin features will become more widespread. If you get a new Wi-Fi network Most people will wirelessly connect their smart plugs to their home’s Wi-Fi router. Matter, Z-Wave, Thread and other smart home protocols can work over local networks, but for most setups, the signals telling your plugs what to do will be dispatched through your router. If you happen to get a new one you’ll need to take a few steps to get everything reconnected. Depending on the brand, the steps may simply involve using the plug’s companion app to update your credentials . Or it will require deleting the device in the companion app, doing a factory reset and setting up the plug like it's brand new. GE Sync and Emporia plugs allow for a credentials update via their apps, others, like TP-Link Kasa and Meross plugs require deletion and a factory reset to get along with your new network. Amazon’s smart plug updates automatically after updating the associated Echo device. How we tested the best smart plugs Before we decided which smart plugs to test, we considered brands Engadget staffers have had the best experiences with, both in review capacity and personally. We also checked out other online reviews. We then looked at factors like price, compatibility and relative popularity. I got ahold of ten indoor smart plugs and four outdoor versions from eight manufacturers. I set up each one using its companion app, then added it to all compatible smart home platforms. Plugging in a cadre of lamps and string lights, I tested the plugs using an iPhone 11, Galaxy S10e, Echo Dot, HomePod mini and Nest Mini. I accessed the plugs via the apps and through voice commands and controlled them in my home and away from it. I programmed schedules and routines and moved the plugs to different outlets, including ones in the basement to gauge range. For the outdoor devices, I plugged them into an outlet in the garage and an outlet attached to the back of the house. Here’s every smart plug tested before settling on our top picks: Amazon Smart Plug Emporia Smart Outlet* GE Cync Indoor Wyze Plug Roku Indoor Smart Plug SE Belkin Wemo smart plug with Thread TP-Link Kasa EP25 TP-Link Kasa Ultra Mini EP10 Meross Wi-Fi Dual TP-Link Kasa KP125M Eve Energy Aqara Smart Plug AmazonBasics Outdoor Smart Plug Wyze Plug Outdoor TP-Link Kasa Outdoor EP40A TP-LINK Outdoor Dimmer KP405 *Emporia issued a recall on its smart plugs purchased before August 1, 2023 due to a potential fire risk, though no incidents were reported. The plugs have since been updated to resolve the issue and are back on sale. We tested the revised version and recommend it as the energy-monitoring pick. Other smart plugs we tested Meross Matter plug I wasn’t able to test the Meross Matter plug fully. It requires Wi-Fi splitting, a process that’s certainly possible for the average consumer, but more involved than it should be, considering the more than dozen other plugs I’ve tested don’t require such a step. The plug itself also blocked the other outlet. Meross has an updated version of the Matter device on the way, one that looks to solve both issues and we’ll update this guide accordingly once we’ve had a chance to test it. Roku Smart Plug Roku’s smart home gear is basically Wyze equipment with an app and packaging that are more purple. The Roku smart plug performed just fine with both compatible voice assistants . The companion app doesn’t offer scheduling that revolves around the timing of the sunset in your area, but the plugs go for less than $10 each and if you’ve got a Roku TV or streaming device set up and want to keep everything on-brand, it could be a fit. Aquara Smart Plug The Aqara plug requires an Aqara hub. In tests, the connectivity was solid and the companion app allowed for useful if/then automations that can rope in other Aqara devices like locks, window shades, cameras and more. The plug also worked well with voice assistants from Amazon, Google and Apple. As a stand-alone plug, however, it’s tough to recommend the nearly $100 combo to anyone who isn’t planning to get a complete Aqara smart home setup.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-plug-131542429.html?src=rss

18.12.2024 00:10 Nima Momeni has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of notable fintech figure Bob Lee. Momeni, an IT consultant and entrepreneur, faces 16 years to life in prison. Best known as the creator and founder of Cash App, Lee was fatally stabbed in April 2023 in San Francisco. Momeni was arrested as a suspect nine days later. The autopsy report revealed that Lee was under the influence of cocaine, alcohol and ketamine at the time of his death. He had been in the company of Momeni and his sister, Khazar Momeni, that night. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Momeni attacked Lee on the street after discovering that an associate of Lee's had drugged and assaulted Ms. Momeni. Momeni's legal team said he acted in self-defense and was unaware that Lee was injured in their altercation. Most recently, Lee had been the chief product officer for cryptocurrency operation MobileCoin. He had previously held an executive position at Square and played a role in developing the Android mobile operating system at Google.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/consultant-found-guilty-in-murder-of-cash-app-founder-bob-lee-192430902.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 Although Panic paused development on its official Playdate charging dock, an enterprising character artist has swooped in with an open-source kit that transforms the device into an interactive robot pet. PlayBot is Guillaume Loquin’s name for the cute add-on, which anyone with the right know-how can build. Made with two wheels, a motor, a microcontroller and a 3D-printed casing, it taps into the Playdate’s built-in accelerometer, microphone and sensors to turn the indie game console into a charming desktop companion. Guillaume Loquin / YouTube Loquin, whose day job is as a character artist at Ubisoft, put those skills to use in bringing the device to life. Although it won’t do anything crazy like have a chat, pop wheelies or play fetch, Loquin’s video below shows it reacting to a wake-up tap, navigating around a corner and getting dizzy after spinning the Playdate’s crank. It can also scoot around your desk, steering clear of obstacles and avoiding a plummet off the edge. The developer estimates 45 minutes of play per charge. When you aren’t playing with the device , the robo-dock charges the console. Loquin provides the 3D printing instructions, companion app’s code and firmware for its Teensy 4.1 microcontroller on GitHub. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/unofficial-mod-transforms-the-playdate-into-a-charming-robot-pet-180500961.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 Workers at two of Amazon's warehouses in New York City are set to go on strike after the company failed to come to the bargaining table by a December 15 deadline. Unionized workers at the JFK8 facility on Staten Island and DBK4 depot in Queens voted "overwhelmingly" to authorize strikes in protest against "Amazon’s illegal refusal to recognize their union and negotiate a contract addressing the company’s low wages and dangerous working conditions," according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters . Engadget has contacted the Teamsters and Amazon Labor Union for more details about the strikes. The workers at JFK8 were the first in the US to unionize at an Amazon warehouse. They organized under the ALU, which this June partnered with the Teamsters. The union now known as ALU-IBT Local 1 represents around 5,500 warehouse workers at JFK8. “Our members are ready to do whatever it takes to get a contract,” Connor Spence, president of ALU-IBT Local 1, said in a statement. “While Amazon continues to disrespect us by refusing to listen to our concerns, our movement is only growing stronger.” As for DBK4 — which the Teamsters say is Amazon's biggest delivery station in NYC — workers there voted almost unanimously for strike authorization. Meanwhile, workers at the DIL7 delivery depot in Skokie, Illinois, also voted "overwhelmingly" to approve a strike. The Teamsters represent hundreds of workers at that station as well. “Amazon is one of the biggest companies on Earth, but we are struggling to pay our bills,” Riley Holzworth, a DIL7 worker, said in a statement. Amazon has lodged legal challenges against the union election win at JFK8, but it has been unsuccessful in its efforts to overturn results thus far. The company has appealed a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that certified the union. As ABC News reports, workers claim that Amazon is using the challenges as a tactic to illegally delay union contract talks. "For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public — claiming that they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers'. They don't, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative," Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards told ABC News. "The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges." News of the impending strike comes just after a Senate committee released a report regarding an investigation into safety at Amazon facilities. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions claimed the company ignored internal research indicating that there was a high level of injury rates at its warehouses.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-workers-at-two-nyc-warehouses-are-set-to-go-on-strike-175236558.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 The holiday season has barely begun, but some of us are already getting ready for CES 2025. Shortly after New Year’s Day, many from the Engadget team will be packing our bags to fly to Las Vegas, where we’ll be covering tech’s biggest annual conference. As usual, our inboxes are already flooded with pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and our calendars are filling up with appointments for briefings and demos. Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, it’s fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in January. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in. At CES 2025, we expect to see AI get even more pervasive in all areas of the show floor. But we are also likely to get the usual slew of new processors and subsequent laptops, as well as all manner of wearables, trackers, bathroom appliances and massage chairs. Oh, the massage chairs. There's already a lot we know is coming, just by a cursory glance at the lineup published by the Consumer Technology Association . In addition to numerous panels and talks, there will be keynotes by NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Delta CEO Ed Bastian as well as C-suite executives from companies like Panasonic, SiriusXM, Waymo and Volvo group. That gives us a taste of who might make big announcements at the show. If you’re already looking ahead to 2025 and are studiously researching what might be coming in January, here’s a taste of what our team expects to see at the show. New video cards from AMD and NVIDIA There’s no doubt 2025 is going to be a momentous year for PC gamers. NVIDIA is expected to debut its long-awaited RTX 5000 video cards at CES, while AMD CEO Lisa Su has confirmed we’ll see next-generation RDNA 4 GPUs early next year. Of the two companies, AMD could use the upgrade more. Its last batch of Radeon 7000 cards were decent mid-range performers, but they lagged far behind NVIDIA’s hardware when it came to ray tracing, and AMD’s FSR 3 upscaling also couldn’t compete with NVIDIA’s AI-powered DLSS 3. "In addition to a strong increase in gaming performance, RDNA 4 delivers significantly higher ray-tracing performance and adds new AI capabilities,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said in an October earnings call. As for NVIDIA’s new hardware, a rumor from the leaker OneRaichu suggested that the RTX 5090 could be up to 70 percent faster than the RTX 4090. They also note that other “high level” cards could see 30 to 40 percent performance bumps. Those gains might be enough to tempt wealthy RTX 4090 owners to upgrade, but RTX 4070 and 4080 owners might want to skip this generation. For NVIDIA holdouts with RTX 3000 and earlier GPUs, though, next year may be the perfect time to upgrade. — Devindra Hardawar, senior reporter AI PCs round 2 Last year, I predicted that AI PCs would dominate CES, and that mostly turned out to be true. As 2024 rolled on, we saw even more powerful NPUs in chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. Microsoft also doubled down on AI PCs with its Copilot+ initiative, which gave a big marketing push for artificial intelligence features and premium specifications . Expect more of the same going into CES 2025, alongside even more AI being stuffed into every category of product imaginable. This year, in particular, PC makers are likely to gear up to take advantage of Windows 10 support ending next year. Instead of just upgrading your old computer to Windows 11, the likes of Dell and HP would rather you buy a whole new AI PC with the new OS pre-installed. While 2024 was a year of endless AI PC hype, 2025 might end up being a year of reckoning. Microsoft’s long-delayed Recall feature is slowly trickling out to more users, but it’s already showing some glaring security holes, like failing to scrub social security and credit card numbers from screenshots. We’ve also been mostly underwhelmed with Apple Intelligence’s image generation capabilities. PC makers have been eager to talk up the potential of AI-powered features until now, but in 2025 they’ll have to actually prove they can live up to their fantastical claims. — D.H. Earbuds that follow Apple’s lead on hearing health I’m fully aware not every audio company has the ability to build out a clinical-grade hearing test and hearing aid features in their apps. However, Apple’s recent update for the AirPods Pro 2 should inspire the competition to offer some form of hearing health tools on their flagship products. Jabra was probably the best equipped to do this since parent company GN has extensive hearing aid experience. Sadly, the company announced earlier this year that it wouldn’t make earbuds anymore. Samsung and Google could probably integrate something like what Apple made for the AirPods, given both companies’ existing health platforms. If they did, those announcements are unlikely to be made at CES, as both companies prefer to host their own standalone hardware events throughout the year. That leaves Sennheiser as the biggest audio company that consistently launches earbuds and headphones at CES. Last year, it showcased multiple new models, including one with heart-rate tracking for workouts. Plus, it already offers hearing assistance with dedicated devices like the true wireless Conversation Clear Plus. Those earbuds are more hearing focused than for general content consumption, so it would be great to see Sennheiser bring some features from that product to its flagship Momentum line of earbuds. Perhaps a Momentum True Wireless 4 Pro or Plus is in the cards, but the current model is just nine months old. Of course, there’s plenty of room for other companies to innovate here, and there will be no shortage of new earbuds in Vegas next month. We also tend to see a ton of assistive devices and technology launch at CES, from major accessibility companies like OrCam and all manner of smaller brands. I just hope some of the new tech includes more general hearing tools on the models most people will want to use. — Billy Steele, senior editor Vehicle electrification goes sky high As the growth of electric cars nears 10 percent of new models sold in the US, it’s easy to forget that wheeled vehicles aren’t the only kind of transportation seeing the shift to battery-powered propulsion. Flying taxis have been a mainstay of CES for the past few years, with concept vehicles from brands as large as Hyundai dotting the show floor in Vegas. Granted, these contraptions look more like giant drones with cockpits than anything the Jetsons ever dreamed up. But with companies like Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation pledging to actually launch eVTOL services in 2025, the era of air taxis may have landed for real this time. — Sam Rutherford, senior reporter Expanded dialog improvement features on soundbars When it comes to the main aspects of soundbars, there really isn’t a ton of innovation from year to year. Heck, Samsung’s biggest update last year was the addition of HDMI 2.1 support to its flagship model, which should’ve been there already. Companies have also been focused on the transition to cable-free everything, whether that’s wireless Dolby Atmos or wireless transmission boxes. Audio enhancement features are a place where companies can really rise above the fray, and tools like Sonos’ TV Audio Swap and Bose’s Personal Surround Sound are great examples of this. A key area nearly every company can improve is dialog boost, a feature that raises the volume or separates spoken word from background noise and music for better clarity. Sonos made a huge leap in this regard on the Arc Ultra, offering two additional settings for its so-called Speech Enhancement. Previously, this was just an all-or-nothing toggle, which is how most companies handle their versions of this tool. Not only is the Sonos update customizable to a degree, it’s also just better, thanks in part to the redesigned architecture of its new premium soundbar. This is an obvious area where other companies can improve. LG and Samsung typically announce new soundbars at CES, and there are plenty of smaller companies that will debut some too. I’d love to see all of them take dialog enhancements a step further and at the very least give multiple options for how it’s applied. LG has been using AI Sound Pro from its TVs since 2021 and Samsung offers something called Adaptive Sound on its home theater speakers. I would expect them both to generally improve the quality of their features, but I’m hoping they’ll expand the capabilities too. — B.S. Update, December 17 2024, 12:40PM ET: This story has been updated to include the companies and CEOs that will be making keynotes at the show.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2025-preview-the-new-tech-were-expecting-and-hoping-to-see-in-january-200052614.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 Many of us will be taking to the skies in the coming days as we travel to see loved ones for the holidays. Flying can be stressful at times but once you’re in your seat, there’s nothing for it but to snooze or find a way to keep yourself occupied. In-flight entertaInment systems are one way to do that but having an earphone wire dangling into your meal isn’t ideal. So Twelve South's AirFly SE Bluetooth dongle can come in handy. It’s on sale for $30, which is $5 off and a record low. This is a small Bluetooth transmitter that you can plug into an in-flight entertainment system’s 3.5mm audio jack. As such, you can watch movies using your wireless earphones or headphones. The SE model allows you to connect one pair of headphones and it’ll certainly do the trick for long-haul flights. It has a promised battery life of over 20 hours . It's not just for flights of course, as it'll works with any device that has a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Pro model is also on sale. It has dropped by $11 to $44. You can connect two sets of earphones to this dongle simultaneously, which is handy if you want to watch a show on a tablet with your seatmate. Twelve South claims it has a battery life of over 25 hours. Most significantly, the AirFly Pro can receive audio wirelessly as well. So you can transmit Bluetooth audio from the likes of your phone, laptop or handheld gaming system to a car without a modern infotainment system, wired speakers and so on. Meanwhile, both models have aptX Low Latency tech to minimize audio lag. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/twelve-souths-airfly-se-bluetooth-dongle-drops-to-only-30-172911330.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 It’s easy to assume that the best tech gifts are the most expensive things. But there are plenty of options out there for the techie in your life that don’t require you to empty your wallet. If you’re struggling to come up with a gift for a coworker, family member or friend who's an early adopter or a tech obsessive, we’ve gathered some of our favorite things that are both small and affordable. The best part: All of these gift ideas come in at $50 or less. Check out the rest of our gift ideas here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/the-best-stocking-stuffer-gift-ideas-under-50-130049590.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 OnePlus will launch its new flagship series, the OnePlus 13, on January 7, 2025. The first phone in the series to be revealed will be the aptly-named OnePlus 13, and the company will also show off the new OnePlus Buds Pro 3. The OnePlus 13 will come in three colorways: Arctic Dawn, Black Eclipse and Midnight Ocean. The Midnight Ocean colorway will also be the first phone to use micro-fiber vegan leather. In contrast, the Arctic Dawn edition has a new glass coating, which is another first in the industry, as claimed by OnePlus. The firsts don’t end there. All models of the OnePlus 13 will have IP68 and IP69 ratings. IP68 certification shows that the device is protected against submerging and dust, but the IP69 rating takes water resistance a step further, promising that the device can withstand high-pressure jets of water. The OnePlus 13 might be the first mainstream smartphone to get IP69 certification. The screen will have a 2K120FPS resolution and a maximum brightness of 4,500 nits. OnePlus says the display will redefine “clarity, brightness, and color vibrancy.” The OnePlus 13 will use OxygenOS 15, the newest version of the company’s proprietary operating system. This OS will integrate many AI features, with AI-powered searches standing out. The feature, called Intelligent Search, is supposed to help users locate files using natural prompts instead of manually searching for them. To ensure smooth performance, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset onboard, a newly-released chipset. As for the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, they will have AI translation powered by the OnePlus 13. The earbuds will come in a Sapphire Blue colorway, but no other information about them is available. Other phones in the series will be announced soon, as well, but as for now we don’t have any specifics on prices or release dates for the first phone and buds. Hopefully we’ll get those in January.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/oneplus-will-launch-its-new-flagship-the-oneplus-13-series-on-january-7-165616811.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 I can't remember a recent instance in which the final amount I owed, whether it be for a hotel reservation or a concert ticket, didn't make my eyes bug out in shock. Now, a new rule from the Federal Trade Commission should limit these bait-and-switch pricing tactics. The FTC has announced the Junk Fees Rule, requiring live-event ticketing and short-term lodging businesses to be transparent about the total price owed. Other companies will continue to be monitored on a case-by-case basis for deceptive pricing. The new rule, first proposed in 2023, should get rid of all those extra "resort" and "service" fees tacked on at checkout that often feel arbitrary. Companies can still technically include them, but they must be factored into the initial price shown. The required disclosure means the first amount you see on displays, advertisements and the like should also be the total amount you pay. The Junk Fees Rule also requires businesses to display that final amount "more prominently" than any other information. So, it can't say it will cost one thing in big font and then in really small print add that there's a lot of fees on top of it. “People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay — without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. "I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.” The FTC claims the Junk Fee Rule will save individuals up to an estimated 53 million hours each year and more than $11 billion over the next decade. The rule will go into effect 120 days after it's published in the Federal Registrar. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ftc-bans-hidden-junk-fees-on-tickets-and-short-term-lodging-purchases-160702790.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 Apple TV+ has renewed its hit sci-fi show Silo for two more seasons. However, the show will end at that point after telling the full story of the Hugh Howey novels on which it's based. “Excited to share that Silo will return for a third AND fourth season! We’re thrilled to support the imagination and inspiration out of the UK as they continue to create world-class films and series,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on X, perhaps in an attempt to butter up the creative industry in the UK. Apple doesn't tend to share viewership data for its shows and movies. However, Nielsen said soon after the show premiered last year that Silo was a breakout hit. The series debuted as the platform's number-one drama, per Nielsen data. Viewership is said to have grown in the following weeks. The second season of the dystopian drama is streaming on Apple TV+ now with new episodes arriving each Friday until January 17. Silo depicts a future in which there are only 10,000 people left on the planet and they're housed in a mile-deep bunker to protect them from a seemingly toxic surface. Anyone who tries to find out when or why this silo was constructed tends to meet their demise, so clearly there's more going on than might first meet the eye.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apple-tv-series-silo-will-run-for-two-more-seasons-153830028.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 NVIDIA has just revealed the Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit, which is the successor to its Jetson Orin Nano kit from 2022. This new compact generative AI supercomputer can fit into the palm of your hand. Included in the developer kit is an 8GB Jetson Orin Nano system-on-module and a reference carrier board. In terms of performance, the Jetson Orin Nano Super can reach 68 trillion operations per second , a 70 percent increase from its predecessor. NVIDIA also claims a 1.7 times improvement in generative AI inference performance and a 50 percent bandwidth increase to 102GB per second. As for CPU frequency, it’s now 1.7GHz, a modest bump compared to its predecessor’s 1.5GHz. NVIDIA also claims that it “delivers gains” for all popular generative AI models. These include large language models , vision language models and vision transformers. The Jetson Orin Nano Super’s software updates can also boost its predecessor, which is great news if you have the original Jetson Orin Nano. All you need to do is to download the software and install the update. That said, NVIDIA didn’t give any specifics on how the older device’s performance would change. The Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit is currently available from NVIDIA-approved resellers. It’s currently just $249, down from its predecessor’s $499, making it the most affordable product of its kind right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidias-latest-compact-generative-ai-supercomputer-is-also-its-cheapest-153128086.html?src=rss

17.12.2024 19:40 It's an expensive day for Meta. First, Australia announced a $50 million AUD settlement with the company over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and now the Irish Data Protection Committee has issued Meta a €251 million fine. The IRDC's fine stems from a personal data breach on Facebook in 2018. Hackers had exploited a "vulnerability in Facebook’s code," related to the View As feature, the company said at the time. It allowed them to get hold of users' access tokens and take over those accounts. The bad actors were able to log on to about 29 million global users' Facebook accounts, including three million users in the European Union and European Economic Area. They gained access to information such as a user’s full name, email address, phone number, location, date of birth, religion and children’s personal data. The IDPC holds Meta responsible for not having proper data protection when designing its processing systems, not processing personal data only when specifically necessary and not disclosing all the information about the breach. "This enforcement action highlights how the failure to build in data protection requirements throughout the design and development cycle can expose individuals to very serious risks and harms, including a risk to the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals," DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle stated. "By allowing unauthorised exposure of profile information, the vulnerabilities behind this breach caused a grave risk of misuse of these types of data." In response to the fine, a Meta spokesperson told Engadget, "This decision relates to an incident from 2018. We took immediate action to fix the problem as soon as it was identified, and we proactively informed people impacted as well as the Irish Data Protection Commission. We have a wide range of industry-leading measures in place to protect people across our platforms.” Down under, the Cambridge Analytica scandal settlement stems from a whistleblower who revealed in 2018 that the company had "exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles." Facebook had found out about it three years earlier. Cambridge Analytica took this information to influence US voters for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and the Pro-Brexit campaign. The company was previously led by Steve Bannon, who recently served time in jail for his refusal to cooperate in the January 6 investigation. The settlement should provide payment to an estimated 311,127 people. Eligible parties must have had a Facebook account from November 2015 to December 2015, spent more than 30 days in Australia during that period and personally or had a Facebook friend who installed the This is Your Digital Life app. Meta previously agreed to pay $725 million to users in the US. Update, December 17 2024, 10:19AM ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from a Meta spokesperson. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ireland-fines-meta-263-million-for-2018-view-as-data-breach-133042475.html?src=rss