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Competition in the robot dog market is getting ugly. As The Robot Reportexplains, Boston Dynamics is suing Ghost Robotics for allegedly infringing seven patents linked to its Spot quadruped. The Spirit 40 and Vision 60 (shown above) purportedly borrow key technologies from Spot, including systems for self-righting and climbing stairs.

Boston Dynamics says it asked Ghost Robotics to review Spot-related patents in July 2020, five months after the launch of the Spirit 40. After that, Boston claims to have sent two cease-and-desist letters asking Ghost to stop marketing its robot canines. Ghost was thus well aware of what it was doing, according to the lawsuit.

We've asked Ghost Robotics for comment. In a statement, Boston Dynamics claimed it "welcome[s] competition" but would crack down on companies violating its intellectual property rights. The Hyundai-owned firm is seeking unspecified damages as part of the suit.

A lawsuit like this isn't unexpected. Boston Dynamics initially focused on research, but it has increasingly turned to commercializing robots like Spot and Stretch. Rivals like Ghost Robotics could pose threats to Boston's still-young business, whether or not they're copying technology in the process. Even if the suit fails, it could deter other companies from making robot dogs of their own.

New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has voted to increase the minimum pay rates for Uber and Lyft drivers. Per-minute rates are going up by 7.4 percent and per-mile rates by 24 percent. In practical terms, that means a trip of 7.5 miles that takes 30 minutes will earn a driver at least $27.15 — an increase of more than $2.50 compared with current rates.

The commission also agreed to increase yellow and green cab fares (for the first time since 2012) by 23 percent. The new rates are scheduled to go into effect by the end of the year.

The Uber and Lyft pay bump is in addition to a 5.3 percent increase drivers received earlier this year, the TLC confirmed to Engadget. Drivers sought higher pay amid higher inflation rates and increased operational costs.

Uber and Lyft drivers will receive another rate bump in March. The increase will be "based on inflation comparing December 2022 to September 2022," the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) said in a statement. The union said this was part one of a drive to ensure drivers receive at least $25 per hour in take-home pay, after expenses. "We're going to take the momentum of this driver raise which comes despite company opposition and after a long delay, and use it to power our fight for a job with dignified incomes, job security and retirement," NYTWA executive director Bhairavi Desai said.

“Raising taxi fare rates and minimum pay for high-volume drivers is the right thing to do for our city," TLC commissioner David Do said. "This is the first taxi fare increase in ten years, and these raises will help offset increased operating expenses and the cost of living for TLC-licensed drivers. We are confident that today’s unanimous commission vote will keep our taxi and [For-Hire Vehicle] fleets sustainable and ready to serve New Yorkers.”

Lucid had more to show today than its less expensive Air models. The auto startup has finally teased its second EV, the long-in-the-making Gravity SUV. The vehicle will share the swooping visual language of the Air while offering up to three rows of seating that can accommodate seven people. It should also have a next-gen version of Lucid's touchscreen-heavy cockpit, and purportedly offer more range than "any other EV" outside of the Air.

The company cautions that the Gravity design and specifications aren't final. What Lucid is showing now is largely what you'd expect, however — it's a big people-hauler with perks like a panoramic roof. As with Tesla's Model X, the three-row configuration doesn't leave much room in the back for either passengers or cargo. The rear space is "flexible," according to Lucid, so you might not be stuck if you need to carry a large load.

Lucid Motors

You will be waiting a while to buy the SUV. Reservations for the Gravity open in early 2023, and it won't reach the US or Canada until 2024. Customers outside those countries will have to be more patient, and the firm hasn't disclosed pricing. It's safe to presume the EV will be expensive, though, when even the 'entry' Air starts at $87,400. This is more for customers who would otherwise consider a Model X, Mercedes EQS SUV or Polestar 3.

The Gravity could be Lucid's most important EV to date, whatever it costs. The Air may be fast, but its sedan form factor limits its appeal in an increasingly SUV-centric market. The new model could help Lucid reach a wider audience, even if the clientele will still be limited to wealthy buyers willing to take a chance on a young brand.

Starting today, Netflix users will be able to see all the devices linked to their account and have the option to remotely log out of each one individually. For each device, you'll see the type of hardware (say, a smart TV or Android phone), the profile that was most recently used to watch something on that device, the last time Netflix streamed something to it and the approximate location based on the IP address. The new Manage Access and Devices page will be available on the web, iOS and Android.

Netflix suggests this could be helpful for when you're traveling over the holiday period. Perhaps you might use your account on a hotel's smart TV, but you forget to log out before leaving. From the Manage Access and Devices page on your account settings, you'll be able to sign out from that specific device remotely. Until now, Netflix has only offered the option to log out of all devices.

Netflix

The company has been making moves in recent weeks that will make it easier for you to kick someone out of your account ahead of a crackdown on password sharing. It started rolling out the option to transfer a profile with all data and preferences to a new account. If you're generous enough, you can give your ex, old roommate or kids a chance to keep their watch history, My List, game save data and so on before you give them the boot.

A key reason why this feature is important is the fact that Netflix will start charging extra fees for users who are accessing the service outside of the account holder's immediate household. So, you can more easily get rid of moochers who are using your account before Netflix starts charging you more for them.

Moreover, the Manage Access and Devices feature could help you figure out if someone is accessing your account using a leaked password. In any case, if you remotely log a certain device out, it might be a good idea to change your password to ensure only the people you want to access your Netflix account can do so.

We've finally reached the point where a robot can vacuum for us — but smart vacs aren't cheap. Eufy, from parent company Anker, makes solid and affordable robot vacuums that often go on sale. In fact, we recommend waiting until a good deal like this comes around before diving in so you can join the robot revolution while saving some cash. Right now Amazon is hosting a sale on Eufy vacuums with discounts of up to 44 percent on the smart vacs. The sale includes the Eufy RoboVac 11S, which is down to $140 from its list price of $230, just be sure to click the box to apply the $60 coupon.   

We tested the 11S in our budget robot vacuum guide and named it the best bang for your buck. We particularly liked the way the slimmer profile was able to get under low-slung furniture and thought its collision avoidance was remarkable. It's relatively quiet, and did a good job of cleaning the carpets, only missing the occasional crumb. It doesn't have WiFi, but the included remote takes on most of the scheduling features you'd find in an app. Overall, it impressed us with its smarts, especially for the price, which is now an even better deal. 

Another robot mentioned in our guide is the Eufy RoboVac G30, it's just $180 right now, which is a steep 44 percent lower than its $319 list price. The G30 is a newer model than the 11S, and features Dynamic Navigation 2.0, improved navigation software that relies less on random patterns to choose its cleaning path. Anker gives the Pascal (Pa) units to rate the suction of Eufy vacuums, and the G30 is rated to 2000pa, which is on the higher end of the spectrum (the 11S above rates at 1300Pa). With WiFi and a dedicated app, you can control it from your phone, or even with Alexa if you have an Echo smart speaker or display. 

The Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid got a well-deserved honorable mention in our best robot vacuum guide. It's a robot vacuum and mop in one, which you can get for $320 right now, instead of its usual $650. The sale price takes 15 percent off, and the clickable coupon discounts another $230. We liked the amount of customization you get with the X8, including a "tap and go" feature that gets the vac to clean an exact spot. You can also straight up control the robot manually, which we thought felt like controlling a slow and slightly clumsy RC car. 

The "hybrid" in the name refers to the mopping features. When you want to wipe down your hard floors, there's an on-board water tank to fill and included mopping cloths to attach. You'll also want to mark off the no-go zones wherever there's carpet. 

The X8 uses LiDAR laser scanning to navigate and unlike some smart vacs, the X8 can learn where not to go through virtual no-go zones you set within the app. We were impressed by how well the X8 navigated, but you should note that if you prefer to set your boundaries using boundary strips, the X8 doesn't come with any, you'll have to buy those separately. 

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

NASA and University of Michigan researchers have found a security flaw that could pose a threat to spacecraft in the right (or rather, wrong) conditions. The team has discovered that time-triggered Ethernet (TTE), a feature that lets critical systems sit alongside minor ones on the same networking hardware, is vulnerable to a spoofing attack. An intruder can send fake sync messages by conducting electromagnetic interference through copper Ethernet cables into network switches, creating a "gap" in a switch's activity that lets bogus data slide through. Over time, the TTE device will lose sync and behave erratically.

The attack requires placing a small device on the network, so remote breaches are unlikely. However, the consequences could be serious. The scientists tested the vulnerability using real NASA machinery to recreate a planned asteroid redirection test. In a simulation, the TTE exploit produced a knock-on effect severe enough that the crew capsule strayed from its course and missed a crucial docking procedure.

There are simple safeguards, if not necessarily problem-free. Vehicle designers could replace copper Ethernet with fiber optic cables or place optical isolators between switches and devices, so long as they're willing to accept sacrifices in cost and performance. Engineers could also change the network layout to prevent fake sync messages from taking the same path as legitimate ones, although that will clearly take time.

NASA and the university stress that there's no "current" known threat. However, the method could also be used to compromise aircraft, power plants and industrial control systems that rely on TTE. Theoretically, a saboteur with physical access could disrupt critical infrastructure in a way that might not be immediately obvious.

In YouTube’s latest move to woo TikTok creators onto YouTube Shorts, the streaming giant announced today that short-term video creators would soon be allowed up to a minute of copyrighted music in their Shorts. The change is a significant boost from the previous 15-second limit for any licensed song.

YouTube says its short-form creators will be able to use between 30 and 60 seconds of licensed music “for most tracks.” However, some songs will remain on the previous 15-second limit, with licensing agreements determining which tracks fall in which window. Creators can quickly see how much time each song allows in the YouTube app’s audio picker. The new song-length options begin rolling out today and will continue “over the next few weeks” on iOS and Android.

As user-created videos have exploded during the past decade, aggressive DMCA takedown notices have become a headache for streamers on all platforms. Record labels often automate their copyright enforcement, leading to overzealous claims. For example, creators have seen their videos flagged for accidentally including a few seconds of copyrighted audio from a passing car’s stereo. Some police officers have even exploited the DMCA to their advantage, blasting Taylor Swift songs to prevent bystanders from sharing their legally recorded videos.

The song-limit boost is YouTube’s latest attempt to woo TikTok creators (and therefore viewers and ad dollars) onto Shorts. In September, the company announced an ad-revenue sharing program to give qualified creators a 45 percent cut of ad revenue, regardless of whether they use music. TikTok launched a similar sharing program earlier this year following widespread complaints about its previous “static pool of money” approach.

YouTube’s aggressive approach appears to be paying off, with Shorts tallying views from over 1.5 billion logged-in users per month. As of September 2021, TikTok had racked up 1 billion monthly users. However, given YouTube’s overall dominance in the video space, those numbers likely include people who were already on YouTube watching other content. TikTok’s numbers, on the other hand, more clearly include people looking for its distinctive short-form videos — an audience that YouTube and other media giants like Meta are continuing to chase.

With global temperatures expected to rise as much as 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the island nation of Tuvalu says it has no choice but to build a digital version of itself. On Tuesday, Simon Kofe, the country’s foreign minister, told the COP27 climate summit Tuvalu would look to the metaverse to preserve its culture and history amid rising sea levels (via Reuters).

“As our land disappears, we have no choice but to become the world’s first digital nation. Our land, our ocean, our culture are the most precious assets of our people. And to keep them safe from harm, no matter what happens in the physical world, we’ll move them to the cloud,” Kofe said in a video that sees the camera slowly zooming out to reveal that he’s in front of a greenscreen recreation of his home.

At last year’s COP26 summit, Kofe famously addressed the conference standing knee-deep in seawater to highlight the existential threat climate change poses to island nations like Tuvalu. In his latest address, the metaverse is framed as a potential home for all countries if there's not a global effort to address the problem.

“Only concerted global effort can ensure that Tuvalu does not move permanently online and disappear forever from the physical plane,” he said. “Without a global conscience and a global commitment to our shared well-being, we may soon find the rest of the world joining us online as their lands disappear.

Tuvalu is an archipelago consisting of nine islands located between Australia and Hawaii. It’s home to approximately 12,000 people. Climate scientists anticipate the entire country will be underwater by the end of the 21st century.

To achieve the 1.5C target put forward by the Paris Agreement and avoid significantly worse climate outcomes, the world has eight years to reduce annual global emissions by a further 45 percent, compared with projections based on current policies. To limit the rise in temperatures to under 2C, an extra 30 percent reduction in emissions is needed.

There are more Apple Watches than ever before. Between the Series 8, Watch Ultra and second-gen SE, shopping for a smartwatch is a lot trickier than in years past. Are the Watch Ultra's outdoors-friendly features worth the $800 and bulkier size? What differentiates the Series 8 from the new SE? Check out the video below detailing how they compare against each other to help you make your decision if you’re in the market for a new Apple Watch.

Now might be a good moment to splurge on music-making tools. Arturia is running a Black Friday sale that offers 50 percent off its "flagship" virtual instruments, effects and software. The 33-instrument V Collection 9 set has dropped from $599 to $299 for newcomers, while FX Collection 3's 26 effects plugins are $199 instead of the usual $399. And if you're looking for an accessible synthesizer, Pigments is down from $199 to $99. The promo runs until December 6th, and you'll get personalized offers if you already use the company's products.

We've considered these tools to be valuable even at their regular prices. V Collection 9 offers a range of pianos, classic synths and other instruments that offer substantial flexibility, including new items like a Korg MS-20 emulator and the cinematic Augmented Strings. FX Collection 3 brings vintage distortions and lo-fi effects. Pigments, meanwhile, encourages you to create synth sounds from scratch with the help of extras like a distortion module.

You can use the V Collection and Pigments tools by themselves, but all of the software on sale can work with other digital audio workstations through support for formats like AAX, Audio Unit, NKS and VST. With these discounts, Arturia's audio packages could make more sense if you're either new to music production or determined to expand your toolset for the lowest price possible.