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Sony's latest flagship noise-canceling headphones and their predecessors, along with their earbud counterparts, are on sale right now on Amazon. Some of them are even back to their old Prime Day pricing, while others are down to a new all-time low. The WH-1000XM5, which we think are the best headphones you can buy right now, are probably the crowning glory of this sale. They're back to their Prime Day and all-time low pricing of $348, or $52 less than their retail price. We gave the headphones a score of 95 in our review and praised Sony for giving their exterior a big redesign that massively increased their comfort. 

Sony has upgraded sound quality for the new flagship headphones and made bass punchier, gave it more depth and more clarity. Everything seemed more immersive as a result. The company has doubled the number of processors and the number of microphones for noise canceling, as well, making the model better at blocking higher frequency sounds, such as voices. 

If you're looking for something a little more affordable, Sony's previous flagship headphones are also on sale for $228. That's how much the WH-1000XM4 went for during Amazon's Prime Day sale in July, and that represents 35 percent or $122 in savings. While we believe the WH-1000XM5 are the best headphones you can get at the moment, the WH-1000XM4 were our top pick before their successor came out. We praised them for having powerful ANC, immersive sound, automatic pausing when you speak and multi-device connectivity. 

Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds are also on sale, in case you're looking for in-ear headphones instead. They're down to a new low of $178 or 36 percent lower than their retail price. The earbuds come with Sony's Noise Isolation Earbud Tips made of spongy foam instead of silicone, which never felt quite comfortable for us. That said, we found the earbuds to have great sound clarity and praised them for having wireless charging and support for high-res audio. 

Outside of Sony's high-end models, Amazon is also selling Sony's WH-XB910N ANC headphones for $123 or 51 percent off their retail price of $250. They're not quite as advanced as the company's flagship models, but they're a solid noise-cancelling headset with extra bass. Need something even cheaper? The WHCH710N wireless noise-canceling headphones are now available for only $68, as well. That 55 percent lower than their typical price. Finally, the LinkBuds S are now being sold for $128, which is a new low for the mid-range ANC earbuds that typically go for $200.

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

Well, it finally happened: Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Engadget’s Karissa Bell to discuss how Musk is reshaping the social network. Are all the changes bad, or is there some method to his madness? (Spoiler: It looks more like desperation than anything else.) Also, we dive into some recent Google AI news, and Devindra explains why the new Apple TV 4K is genuinely great.

Listen below, 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!

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Topics

• Elon Musk’s Twitter fiasco – 1:26

• Thinking of leaving Twitter? Here are some platforms to check out – 21:49

• Google announces package tracking in Gmail – 29:55

• Texas AG sues Google over facial recognition data collection – 35:23

• The PS VR2 will cost $550, arrives February 22, 2023 – 38:07

• Xiaomi’s 12S Ultra concept phone has a massive camera with interchangeable lenses – 40:35

• Working on – 43:42

• Pop culture picks – 48:57

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Karissa Bell
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

I’ve always wanted an Apple TV, but the high price and locked-down features made me opt for Roku’s ecosystem instead. And while I appreciate the freedom Roku offers, Devindra Hardawar’s review of the new TV 4K almost turned my head.

The 2022 model is cheaper, smaller and runs more efficiently than its predecessor, and it still packs that fancy Siri remote as standard. The box’s speed is its greatest strength, letting you leap between video streaming apps in the time it takes for your cable box to wake up.

Of course, there’s always a fly or two in the ointment, like the $129, 64GB model has a compromise or two. If you, for instance, want a built-in Ethernet port, or Thread IoT integration, you’ll need the $149, 128GB model. Never change, Apple.

– Dan Cooper

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Astronauts will 3D print part of a human knee in space

It’s part of a test of a battlefield bioprinter.

It would be great if we could simply 3D-print parts of our bodies that we’ve damaged or worn out through overuse. It’s something NASA will try out with a bioprinter designed to do just that, in the hope of using it for soldiers. During its stay in the heavens, the printer will craft a human meniscus for study, to treat – without the use of inorganic implants – one of the most common knee injuries.

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‘Symbiogenesis’ is some NFT garbage from Square Enix, not a ‘Parasite Eve’ revival

The worst kind of switcheroo.

Square Enix

When Square Enix registered Symbiogenesis as a trademark, a small legion of fans got very excited. They, not unreasonably, believed the company was working on a follow-up to Parasite Eve, a beloved horror RPG from 1998. Imagine their dismay when the project turned out to be little more than an NFT grift from a games giant who should know better.

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AMD's first RDNA 3 GPUs are the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT

The launch came with plenty of sass for NVIDIA.

AMD

When NVIDIA launched the teeth-meltingly powerful RTX 4090, everyone waited to see what AMD would offer in return. The company has now shown off a pair of Radeon RX cards, the 7900 and 7900 XTX, powered by its new RDNA 3 architecture. AMD says these cards won’t melt your power supply (unlike its rival) and, at $999, won’t hollow-out your wallet (unlike… you get the idea).

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WiFi security flaw lets a drone track devices through walls

This isn’t ideal.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a system to track WiFi-enabled devices through walls. The technique relies on the protocol’s automatic contact response and can pinpoint equipment to within three feet of its location. To demonstrate the need for better WiFi security, the team equipped an off-the-shelf drone with a WiFi scanner that cost just $15 to make. They flew it around the outside of a house, pinpointing the home’s occupants and WiFi-enabled hardware, such as security cameras. There are several worrying uses for such technology, including looking for unguarded areas of a home for burglary or unauthorized surveillance, none of which are particularly good.

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Twitter is facing a class action lawsuit over its ongoing mass layoffs today, which could likely cut its workforce in half. According to Bloomberg, employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company in San Francisco federal court, arguing that Twitter's actions run afoul of the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Under the labor law, companies with 100 or more employees are required to notify them of mass layoffs 60 days in advance.

The New York Times reported earlier that Twitter will begin layoffs on Friday and that around half of the company's staff members will lose their jobs. In an email seen by The Washington Post, Twitter said that the layoffs are "unfortunately necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward." The company also told employees to stay at home today and to wait for an email. If they get one in their Twitter account, their job is safe. But if they receive the email in their personal account, that means they're being let go. Some people are reporting on the social network that they already got locked out of their work emails and had been removed from company Slack. 

The plaintiffs are asking the court to issue an order forcing Twitter to obey the WARN Act. They also want the court to prohibit the company from soliciting employees to sign away their right to litigate. Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said they filed the complaint "in an attempt to make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights."

Liss-Riordan was also the lawyer who handled the lawsuit against Tesla in June over layoffs that cut 10 percent of the automaker's workforce. Similar to this complaint, the plaintiffs back then argued that Tesla violated the WARN Act. Company chief Elon Musk, who took over Twitter a week ago, called the lawsuit "trivial" in a talk with Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief John Micklethwait. The court had also sided with the company and ruled that employees should negotiate with Tesla in a closed-door arbitration instead.

Cherry is releasing the MX Black Clear-Top (aka the "Nixie") a new version of a keyboard switch from the '80s prized for its typing feel and acoustics. It was manufactured for a German company called Nixdorf (hence the nickname) that mainly built keyboards for terminals, servers and mini computers. Because the Nixie was only built for a few years, used switches are rare and command high prices — a fact that no doubt inspired Cherry to start building an updated version.

The original Nixie switch was a variant of Cherry's MX Black switch with very specific modifications. Namely, the actuating force was bumped slightly from 60 to 63.5 centinewtons, and a diode was integrated into the switch for n-key rollover (NKRO) which allows the keyboard to register every key press, even if done simultaneously. 

The new version carries the same specs and looks, including "the familiar milky top housing, black bottom housing, and a black stem," Cherry wrote in a press release. It has the same actuation force of 63.5 centinewtons, a pre-travel of 2 mm, and a total travel of 4 mm. The company also retained the same vintage design for the spring. 

At the same time, though, it's being built using the company's latest production systems so it's up to the quality of its latest MX switches. Cherry will offer the MX Black Clear-Top both with or without grease works, with the latter being for enthusiasts who want to do any lubrication themselves. The switches arrive at the beginning of 2023, but Cherry has yet to announce the price. 

PayPal has revealed in its latest earnings report (PDF) that merchant users in the US will be able to accept payments using their iPhones in the near future without the need for dongles and card readers. The payment solution will be integrating Apple's Tay to Pay technology "soon." That means businesses and sellers will easily be able to receive payments made via contactless debit or credit cards, as well as via mobile wallets including Apple Pay, through the PayPal or Venmo app. They simply have to make sure that they're using an iPhone XS or a newer model. 

Apple first announced the Tap to Pay feature on iPhone in February this year. A few months later, staff members at the Apple Park visitor center in Cupertino were seen testing the the feature. Since it makes payments as easy as bumping phones together, it seemed like it could be a threat to payment companies like Square. However, Square quickly got on board and launched Tap to Pay integration in September after running an early access program. 

In addition to its Tap to Pay news, PayPal has also revealed that it's adding Apple Pay as a payment option to its checkout solution for merchant platforms. And starting next year, customers in the US will be able to add their PayPal and Venmo credit and debit cards to their Apple Wallets. In a statement sent to Bloomberg, PayPal Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman said the company is "very pleased to be working with Apple to enhance [its] offerings for... PayPal and Venmo merchants and consumers." It's also worth noting that PayPal briefly touched on making Venmo available as a checkout option for some Amazon users in the US in its earnings report. The company reiterated that the feature will roll out to everyone in the country this coming holiday season. 

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) recently announced plans to combine HBO Max and Discovery+ into one streaming service set to debut in the summer of 2023. Now in the company's latest earnings call, WBD President and CEO David Zaslav said the combined service will arrive in the US earlier than expected in spring of 2023.

The streaming services combined now have 94.9 million subscribers, with the large majority of those from HBO and HBO Max, according to Fierce Wireless. That includes 2.8 million new subscribers, with most of those (2.3 million) coming from overseas markets. 

Along with the combined streaming service, WBD plans to launch its own free ad-support streaming TV service (FAST) in 2023. "As the company with the largest TV and film library in the industry... that allows us to distribute our content in multiple ways," said Zaslav. The company also said its investing in content at historic levels, citing the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-chairmen and CEOs of DC studios.

It's still not clear what form the combined streaming service will take or what it will be called. However, WBD recently started transferring Discovery+ content to HBO Max like Fixer Upper: The Castle, and it's became a top five show in just a few days, Zaslav said. 

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Like many other streaming services over the past year, Hulu raised its subscription prices in October from $7 to $8 per month for its ad-supported tier. Now, the Disney-owned streaming service is also raising the prices for its Hulu + Live TV bundle. In an email sent to an Engadget editor, it said that the Hulu + Live TV (with ads), Disney+ (no ads) and ESPN+ (with ads) bundle will cost $75 per month on their first billing cycle after December 8th. That's $5 more than the current monthly price of $70. 

Our editor also got a note that they can switch or cancel their subscription. But the legacy plan they're subscribed to will no longer be available after December 8th, so they won't be able to switch back afterward. To note, according to Apple Insider, those paying for a bundle wherein Hulu has no ads will have to pony up $83 a month starting on December 8th instead of $76 like what they're currently paying. 

Seeing as Disney announced in August that Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ are all raising their prices, perhaps it doesn't come as a surprise that the Live TV bundle is getting a price hike, as well. Back then, Disney revealed that it incurred operating losses worth nearly $1.1 billion from running its streaming services. It also said that the third quarter of the year added 14.4 million subscribers to Disney+ alone, and the company is clearly hoping to earn some of the money it lost but charging its viewers more. 

Sling TV is raising its monthly subscription prices for the fourth time in the last five years, the company announced in a blog post seen by The Verge. Both the Sling Orange and Sling Blue packages are going up by $5, from $35 to $40, while the all-inclusive package with both Orange and Blue is going up by $5 as well to $55. 

Sling TV President Gary Schanman said the company made the hike because the "price of programming continues to rise," while noting that it hadn't raised prices in "nearly two years." The move happens less than a month after Disney went dark on Sling TV for two days, with the streaming service saying that Disney wanted $1 billion more to extend its carriage contract. 

Sling TV launched in 2015 at a $20 per month price tag, but that price has gradually gone up and now sits at double the original rate. It's still one of the cheaper live TV streaming options, though, as YouTube TV costs $65 per month (up nearly double its original $35 price), and DirecTV runs $70, minimum. 

Schanman said that Sling TV has new features coming down the road, "including plans to add 150-plus new channels through 2023, new user profiles for your household and auto binge watching capabilities."