In an EV market increasingly populated by SUVs, trucks and the tiny SUVs we call crossovers, it’s refreshing to have another actual electric car option. But the 2022 BMW i4 M50 is more than just a sedan with an EV powertrain shoved inside. It’s a fine-tuning of suspension, chassis and power that should give those looking at future BMW EVs a reason to be excited.
Starting at $67,300, the all-wheel drive performance Gran Coupe delivers M power in a package that’s actually quite comfortable on long road trips. The i4 M50 might take a range hit compared to the regular i4, but if you’re looking for an outstanding driving experience both on the twisties and on the highway, this is definitely worth considering while shopping for your next electric car. If M models aren't quite your speed, BMW recently announced the announced significantly cheaper 2023 i4 eDrive35. That EV arrives in the first quarter of 2023, and will start at $52,395. Watch the video below for the full story on the BMW i4 M50.
If you're ready to upgrade your living room setup before the cold, winter months arrive, Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale has a bunch of deals you should consider. It's not often that most people upgrade their TVs, but this sales event has a number of good discounts on TV sets of all sizes from brands including LG, Samsung, Sony and others. For those that are already happy with their tube, Amazon has also discounted a bunch of home theater gadgets include streaming devices, soundbars and more, so you can upgrade your setup in a different way. Here are the best TV and home entertainment deals we found for this October Prime Day.
The latest Apple TV 4K has dropped to $109. While on the expensive side, it's a set-top box that Apple lovers will appreciate. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support and much improved Siri remote.
Amazon's previous-generation Fire TV Cube is on sale for $60, or half off its regular price. It supports 4K streaming, Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus hands-free Alexa controls.
The standard Fire TV Stick is on sale for $20. It supports 1080p streaming with Dolby Atmos and it comes with an Alexa Voice Remote that has power and volume buttons on it.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is on sale for $25 for October Prime Day, which is half off its normal price. This one supports 4K streaming with Dolby Vision along with Dolby Atmos audio and Amazon's Fire TV OS.
The higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual and a record low. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.
Roku's Express streaming dongle is on sale for $18, which is $12 off its usual rate. Like Amazon's own budget streaming devices, the Express doesn't have a ton of fancy features, but it does support HD content and it comes with a high-speed HDMI cable. The Express 4K+ streamer is also on sale for $25.
The latest Roku Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $27, or $23 less than normal. It builds upon the technology in the Streaming Stick+, supporting 4K HDR10+ content, Dolby Vision, long-range WiFi, voice search and TV controls with the included remote.
A bunch of Sony OLED TVs sets have been discounted for October Prime Day, key among them being the 55-inch Sony A90J Bravia XR OLED smart TV for $1,798, which is 28 percent off and a record low. This model includes Sony's Cognitive Processor XR, Motion Clarity with a 120Hz refresh rate plus support for Google Assistant and Alexa voice commands.
A number of LG OLED TVs are on sale for Prime Day, with one of the best deals being the 48-inch A1 OLED smart TV for only $645. This is one of the company's more affordable OLED sets and it runs on LG's a7 Gen 4 AI Processor 4K and supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, Game Optimizer and voice controls with Alexa and the Google Assistant.
Plenty of Samsung TVs are on sale for Prime Day, including a 32-inch The Frame model that's coming in at less than $400. The Frame is a good series to consider if you don't want your TV to look like your typical black box when not in use since you can set it to show artwork while it's idle.
Vizio's Elevate soundbar is on sale for $700, or $400 off its normal price. It has multiple speakers inside the main portion that rotate upward whenever you're playing Dolby Atmos or DTS:X content. Plus, the whole system has 18 speakers, including a wireless subwoofer and two satellite surround speakers that you can position anywhere in the room.
Samsung's Premiere ultra-short-throw projector is a whopping $1,000 off and down to $2,498, which is close to its record-low price. This model supports 4K picture, 2,200 lumens of brightness and a built-in smart TV interface that makes it easy to access services like Prime Video and others.
Flying taxi startup Joby Aviation just landed a deal that could make your ride to the airport much more enjoyable. Delta is investing a total of up to $200 million in Joby in exchange for a home-to-airport flight service. Instead of hailing a car or paying for parking, you can have an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft take you to the terminal without the usual traffic hassles.
The service will initially be available to Delta passengers travelling through New York City and Los Angeles, and will operate for at least five years after launch. It will exist alongside Joby's regular airport service in "priority" areas.
This represents a significant boost for Joby. It was the first eVTOL company to get key FAA certifications for airworthiness and carrier service, and now it's signing a "first-of-its-kind" (according to the companies) agreement with a US airline. The move could give Joby an edge over rivals like Archer and Wisk Aero that are waiting for FAA certifications or major commercial partnerships.
Joby has also been growing quickly compared to many competitors. It received $394 million from Toyota in early 2020, and bought Uber's air taxi business late that same year. NASA began flight testing the firm's eVTOLs in summer 2021. Simply put, it's in a good position to make flying taxis a practical reality.
If you have Apple devices on your shopping list for this holiday season, you may be able to save on some of them if you pick them up during Amazon's October Prime Day. The online retailer has knocked down the prices of many Apple gadgets, including AirPods, iPads, MacBooks and more. Since Apple stuff is always in high demand, it's not a bad idea to cross these items off your list early if you can so you're not left gift-less and searching for a last-minute replacement. Here are the best deals on Apple gadgets we found for the Prime Day Early Access Sale.
AirPods Pro (2nd gen)
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro at $15 off and down to $235 for this October Prime Day. That's the best price we've seen since launch, and we gave them a score of 88 for their improved sound, excellent Transparency Mode and solid ANC.
The original AirPods are down to $90. While they're a bit outdated at this point, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.
The latest Apple TV 4K has dropped to $109. While on the expensive side, it's a set-top box that Apple lovers will appreciate. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support and much improved Siri remote.
The previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chipset is on sale for a new low of $799. Although the latest model is outfitted with the M2 chip, this version remains a solid, speedy laptop. We gave it a score of 94 for its impressive performance, excellent keyboard and trackpad and fanless design.
The 10.2-inch iPad is down to $269. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved performance, excellent battery life, better front-facing camera and increased base storage.
The latest Apple Watch is on sale for $349, or $50 off its normal price. That's the cheapest we've seen the Series 8 since launch, and we like that it's very much like the Series 7, but with added features like car crash support and an added skin temperature sensor.
You can pick up the Apple Watch SE for only $199 right now. If you've never had a wearable before, this is the Apple Watch to get. We gave it a score of 88 for its comfortable design and responsible performance.
Apple's latest iPad Air with the M1 chipset is on sale for $519. We gave it a score of 90 for its extremely fast performance, improved front camera and excellent battery life.
Apple's latest iPad mini is $100 off and down to $399 right now. We consider it to be the best small tablet you can get, and it earned a score of 89 from us for its refined design, Center Stage cameras, solid performance and good battery life.
Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the M1 chipset is cheaper than ever with a starting price of $899. This version earned a score of 87 from us for its excellent performance, gorgeous screen and new Center Stage cameras.
One part of Google may have given up on cloud gaming, with Stadia set to be discontinued in a few months. But on the ChromeOS team, there’s a whole new initiative to try and push back on the whole “you can’t game on a Chromebook” thing. Today, Google — along with a handful of hardware and software partners — are announcing what it calls “the world’s first laptops built for cloud gaming.”
Stripping back the hyperbole, what does this mean in practice? After all, the whole point of cloud gaming is that you don’t need superpowered hardware to enjoy high-quality games — many existing Chromebooks can run cloud gaming services just fine. That said, the new laptops announced today are quite a bit different than your average Chromebook.
At a high level, Google says that it focused on a handful of hardware features to differentiate these laptops, including large displays with high refresh rates, keyboards with anti-ghosting tech (and RBG keyboards in some cases), WiFi 6/6E cards and generally high specs.
Three new laptops from ASUS, Acer and Lenovo
Acer
ASUS, Acer and Lenovo all announced new computers today as part of this push. First, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE features a 16-inch IPS screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, along with an RBG anti-ghosting keyboard and 12th-gen Intel processors (up to a Core i7). It’s also equipped with a gigabit ethernet port, two USB-C ports, a USB-A port and HDMI. Finally, it has DTS audio via two upward-facing speakers and two more downward-facing speakers on the underside of the laptop. Acer will offer a number of configurations, but the first will be at Best Buy this month for $650 — it’ll include a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage via its NVMe SSD.
ASUS’ offering is a little different — the Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip has a 15.6-inch display that maxes out at 1080p, but it’s a touchscreen and it has an even higher 144Hz refresh rate. As the name suggests, the CX55 can flip around into “tablet” and “tent” modes, like many other ASUS Chromebooks. It doesn’t have RGB lighting on the keyboard, but it does have a rather distinctive orange trim, including around the crucial WASD keys; it also has 1.4mm of travel.
Specs-wise, the CX55 uses 11th-generation Intel processors; you can get it with an i3, i5 or i7. The i3 model is paired with Intel UHD graphics, while the i5 and i7 models use Intel’s Iris X graphics. It’ll have either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Unsurprisingly, the CX55 also has two USB-C ports as well as USB-A and HDMI ports. The laptop will come out this month as well, and Google said in a briefing that pricing would start at $399 — we don’t know what specs that includes, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s the i3 model.
Lenovo
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook has a fair bit in common with Acer’s device. It has a 16-inch display with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate as well as an RGB, anti-ghosting keyboard with 1.5mm of travel. Processors include 12th-generation Intel Core i3 or Core i5 options, plus 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage (the base configuration starts with 128GB). The port selection is a bit more limited — it only offers two USB-C ports, one USB-A port and a MicroSD slot. Like the other two laptops, the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook will launch this month; it starts at $599.
Software, gaming services and peripheral partnerships
Google
Naturally, software and game access is perhaps just as important as the hardware here. As such, Google has partnerships with NVIDIA, Amazon and Microsoft to ensure its devices work with GeForce Now, Luna and Xbox Game Pass out of the box. The NVIDIA partnership is probably the most significant, as the company is bringing GeForce Now's high-performance RTX 3080 tier to Chromebooks for the first time — this means games will play in up to 1600p resolution at 120 fps with ray tracing enabled (assuming the game supports these specs, of course). NVIDIA also made a progressive web app (PWA) so you can laugh directly into GeForce Now from your Chromebook’s dock or launcher.
Microsoft also made a PWA for Game Pass, but everything works the same as running Game Pass on a PC — assuming you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can stream any Game Pass title to your Chromebook. Similarly, an Amazon Luna subscription gives you access to a rotating selection of over 100 games.
Google is also optimizing ChromeOS to make directly launching games easier. When you hit the “everything” search button on your Chromebook, you can just type in the name of the game you want to play and launch it directly, as if it were natively installed. For starters, this will only work with the GeForce Now catalog (as well as apps on Google Play), but Google says it wants to add this search feature for other services as well.
To make sure that anyone checking out these Chromebooks can start playing immediately, Lenovo, Acer and ASUS are all including a three-month subscription to GeForce Now RTX 3080 tier as well as three months of Amazon Luna+. The ASUS option also includes a free SteelSeries Rival 3 gaming mouse, as well.
Speaking of mice, Google also partnered with companies like SteelSeries, Corsair and HyperX (as well as Lenovo and Acer) to make sure their gaming-focused peripherals work with Chromebooks. This includes making sure these peripherals can have their settings fine-tuned in ChromeOS, in some cases via PWAs.
Do gaming Chromebooks have a shot?
It’s fair to wonder how much traction Google’s latest initiative will get. Chromebooks have found a lot of success in education and (to a lesser extent) enterprise settings, but the idea of a full-fledged push to get people gaming on a Chromebook is a pretty major shift. That said, I’m impressed by the pricing on these models — there aren’t a lot of Chromebooks with large, high-resolution screens with high refresh rates. Generally speaking, it sounds like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these models compared to some other premium ChromeOS devices. Naturally, these laptops are a big bigger and heavier than the standard 13-inch Chromebook, but that’s a tradeoff that might work for some people.
Google is also putting a big advertising and awareness push being this strategy, and it’s not tied to a single product like Stadia. Given that Google is being service-agnostic, these laptops should provide a very good cloud gaming experience for the foreseeable future, even if Google doesn’t stick with its cloud gaming push long term. And with other initiatives like Steam for ChromeOS moving forward (Google said it should enter beta soon), it's fair to say the company seems focused on removing the longstanding notion that you can't play games on a Chromebook.
How do you go about reviewing something like NVIDIA's RTX 4090? Just looking at its specs alone, it's obviously the fastest consumer GPU we've ever seen. So sure, I can tell you that I can play just about anything in 4K with ray tracing and every graphical nicety turned on. Hell, it can even scale up to 8K if you're a masochist. For a $1,599 video card, it damn well better. But the real question is, who is this thing actually for?
Benching the RTX 4090 against NVIDIA and AMD's older hardware is practically pointless. Of course it's far faster. Of course it'll make you jealous. If you've got the cash and you're itching to upgrade, go with God (or NVIDIA's leather-clad CEO Jensen Huang, as the company's fans see him). But for anyone else who doesn't need bleeding edge hardware, it exists purely as an object of lust. Sure, you could wait for the upcoming RTX 4080 cards, or whatever AMD has in the works, but it's not a 4090. Just like the last generation of GPUs, NVIDIA is throwing down the gauntlet with a power-hungry card for the most hardcore gamers and creators.
If your mind isn't made up, I assume you're here just to see how much of a beast the 4090 is. And let me tell you, it's a stunning thing to behold. Weighing in at 4.8 pounds, and approaching the size of the PlayStation 5, the RTX 4090 is a triple-slot GPU that will dominate whatever case it’s in. Seriously, if you're thinking of getting it, be sure to measure your PC to ensure you can fit a nearly foot-long card that's close to 5 inches thick.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Be prepared to upgrade your power supply too: The 4090 has a high 450W TDP (the same thermal design profile as the 3090 Ti) and it requires an 850W PSU. (Some third-party companies are pushing that demand to 1200W PSUs!) While it can be powered by a single PCIe 5.0 cable, there still aren't many of those PSUs on the market, so most people will likely end up using four 8-pin adapters. I cursed Jensen's name when I realized I needed to string another PSU line, after tidying up all of my cables.
Beyond its obscene power demands, though, NVIDIA hasn't changed much about the 4090 Founder Edition's design from its previous model: It's still a high-end, all-metal card with a massive vapor chamber, heatsink array and two fans on opposite sides. NVIDIA claims they can push 20 percent more air than the 3090 Ti – in my testing, that meant the 4090 stayed at a relatively cool 70C under load.
What's truly special about the RTX 4090, though, is everything under the hood. It features the company's new "Ada Lovelace" architecture (named after the world's first computer programmer, though I wonder if NVIDIA pays any royalties to turn her name into marketing). It has 16,384 CUDA cores (almost 6,000 more than the 3090 Ti), a base clock speed of 2.23GHz (boost to 2.52GHz), and 24GB of GDDR6X RAM. With figures like these, the upcoming RTX 4080 cards (which start with 7,680 CUDA cores) seem puny in comparison.
And really, that seems like the point of dropping the 4090 before the rest of NVIDIA's new GPUs. It's like a heavenly body so massive it warps space time around it. This is the new standard. What other GPU can get you 135fps in Cyberpunk 2049 while playing in 4K with maxed out graphics and ray tracing?
To be clear, though, the 4090 isn't just about brute-force power. It was able to reach that killer Cyberpunk framerate by using DLSS 3, NVIDIA's latest AI upscaling technology that can now generate entire frames of imagery on its own. (That's in addition to upscaling lower resolution textures using AI, like earlier versions.) DLSS 3 helped A Plague Tale Requiem perform more than twice as fast while running in 4K, delivering around 175fps (up from 74fps).
None
3DMark TimeSpy Extreme
Port Royal (Ray Tracing)
Control
Blender
NVIDIA RTX 3090
16,464
25,405/117.62 fps
4K (Native) High RT: 107 fps
12,335
NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
8,683
12,948/59.95fps
4K (Native) 43fps Med RT
5,940
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
7,713
9,104/42.15fps
4K (Native) No RT 28-40
N/A
The RTX 4090 had no trouble delivering 107 fps in Control while playing in 4K with high ray tracing settings. But you know what's even better? Getting a solid 128 fps when I flipped on an older version of DLSS. It's just unfortunate it doesn't support DLSS 3 yet, because I'm sure it would eke out even better performance. Even though the game was actually being rendered in 1,440p, to my eye, DLSS still does a stunning job of making that seem like 4K. (I tested the 4090 alongside Samsung's 55-inch Arc monitor, giving me a much larger view than my typical 34-inch ultrawide screen. If there were graphical anomalies, I would have seen them.)
I was particularly interested in stressing ray tracing performance on the 4090, because that was a feature that still managed to bring NVIDIA's 30-series cards to their knees. It enables more realistic lighting, shadows and reflections. For most, I'd wager the graphical facelift it delivers would be more impressive than a skyrocketing framerate count. So it's a wonder to see an NVIDIA card that can finally deliver 4K and solid ray tracing beyond 100fps. Is that worth $1,599, though? That remains unclear, especially since we don't know how the rest of the 40-series cards will compete.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
If you're looking for a video card that can do more than just game, the 4090 may make more sense. In the Blender 3D rendering benchmark, it scored twice as high as the RTX 3090 Ti, a GPU released earlier this year for an eye-watering $1,999. (Let's have a moment of silence for the poor souls who jumped on that card.) When it came to transcoding a short 4K clip into 1080p, the RTX 4090 was also 10 seconds faster than the 3080 Ti. That could certainly add up if you're rendering longer clips, episodes or feature films.
It's hard not to covet the RTX 4090, especially once you see what it's capable of. It's a glimpse into a world where we can finally get uncompromised ray tracing. But with the $899 and $1,199 RTX 4080 cards on the horizon, it’s tough to drop the price of an entire computer just to get the best frame rates in town There's just so much more to consider these days. You could pair up one of those 4080s with a Steam Deck, for example, and bring the joys of PC gaming on the road and all over your home. Sure, you won't have the prestige of being in the 4090 club, but you'll probably end up having more fun.
If you've been eyeing those Instant Pots or Instant air fryers that everyone seems to have, they're on sale as part of Amazon's Prime Early Access Day with savings up to 50 percent. Some of the key products include the Instant Vortex 5.7-quart air fryer oven combo ($70 or 50 percent off), the Instant pot Duo Plus ($90 or 40 percent off) and the Instant Pot Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer ($170 or 37 percent off).
While Instant Pot Vortex is an air fryer, it also has one-touch controls for baking, roasting and reheating. It allows supports customized programs for specific types of food, so you can cook wings, potatoes or even cinnamon buns with a single touch. Grab the 5.7-quart model for just $70, or half off the regular price.
Instant Pot's 8-quart 9-in-1 Duo Plus model is also on sale, if what you need is the brand's classic pressure cooker. It has dropped to $90, or $76 off the retail retail price. The Duo Plus has nine functions in one device and could act as a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, sous vide and sterilizer, in addition to being a pressure cooker. It has 15 customizable programs to make cooking ribs, cake, soup and other types of food a lot easier as well.
Other notable items include the Instant Pot Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer ($170), that offers both Air Fryer and pressure cooker options. In addition, grab the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer that also offers rotisserie and convection oven functions for $110 (35 percent off) and the Instant Accu Slim Sous Vide that acts as a precision cooker and immersion circulator at $70 (30 percent off).
With the holiday season right around the corner, you probably have someone on your gift list who could use a new pair of headphones or earbuds. You can pick up their gifts for less right now thanks to Amazon Prime Day Early Access, which has discounted a number of our favorite audio gadgets from the likes of Sony, Bose, Jabra, Sennheiser and others. In addition to wireless headphones and earbuds, there are also speakers, soundbars and other music makers on sale for the two-day shopping event. Here are the best deals on audio devices we could find for the Prime Day Early Access Sale.
AirPods Pro (2nd gen)
Billy Steele/Engadget
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro at $15 off and down to $235 for this October Prime Day. That's the best price we've seen since launch, and we gave them a score of 88 for their improved sound, excellent Transparency Mode and solid ANC.
Google's Pixel Buds Pro are down to a new record low of $152 right now. We consider them to be the company's best earbuds yet, giving them a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and reliable touch controls.
Our current favorite budget headphones, Audio Technica's ATH-M20BT, are on sale for only $59 right now. While they don't have ANC, they're quite comfortable, plus they have multi-device support and a 60-hour battery life.
Bose's QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to $229, or 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 86 for their clear, balanced audio, improved ANC and long battery life.
The Beats Fit Pro are 20 percent off and down to $160. We gave them a score of 87 for their comfortable, water-resistant design, good sound quality and ANC and long battery life.
The Beats Studio Buds are on sale for $100 right now, or $50 off their usual rate. We gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, hands-free Siri controls and quick pairing with both iOS and Android.
The original AirPods are down to $90. While they're a bit outdated at this point, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.
The sleek Bose 700 headphones are on sale for $269 right now. We gave these cans a score of 90 for their remarkable noise cancellation, improved, more comfortable design and easy to use touch controls.
Sony's LinkBuds and Linkbuds S are down to $128 right now. We gave the LinkBuds a score of 81 for their unique design, reliable controls and automatic speak-to-pause feature.
Samsung's original Galaxy Buds Pro are on sale for $120. They earned a score of 85 from us for their comfortable fit, wireless charging and good sound quality.
Jabra's excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.
Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds are down to $248 right now. We gave them a score of 86 for their excellent sound quality, good ANC, wireless charging capabilities and improved battery life.
Google's Pixel Buds A-Series are on sale for $69, or 30 percent less than usual. In addition to their solid sound quality, these buds earned a score of 84 from us for their small, comfortable design and deep Google Assistant integration.
Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 have dropped to $100. These much-improved earbuds impressed us with their better audio quality, adjustable ambient sound mode and tiny, comfortable design.
Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds are on sale for $130, and if you clip the on-page coupon, you can get an additional $30 off, bringing them down to $100. These buds impressed us with their remarkable audio quality, and we gave them a score of 85 in part for that as well as their solid ANC and comprehensive companion app.
Jabra's Elite 85t earbuds are on sale for $162, or a whopping 60 percent off their normal price. We like these true wireless earbuds for their strong ANC, comfortable size and wireless charging case.
Amazon's Echo smart speaker is on sale for $60, or $40 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 89 for its solid audio quality, attractive design and its inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack.
JBL's Charge 5 is on sale for $149, which is only $10 more than its record-low price. It earned a spot on our list of favorite portable Bluetooth speakers thanks to its big sound, long battery life and USB-C port for charging your other devices.
Sony's compact SRS-XB13 Bluetooth speaker is down to just $38, which is 37 percent off its regular price. Not only does it come in a bunch of fun colors, but this tiny speaker also has a waterproof IP67 rated design, punchy bass and a 16-hour battery life.
Roku appears to be expanding into the smart home space with a smart bulbs, light strips and security cameras, according to a Reddit user and report from Zatz Not Funny. The products appear to white-labeled Wyze products, and it looks like Roku is working on a Smart Home channel and dedicated mobile app.
The images, apparently taken from Walmart's website, show Roku white and colored smart bulbs, a Roku lightstrip, Roku smart plug, Roku indoor and outdoor security cams, and a Roku panning cam. They look exactly the same as Wyze's Cam v3, Cam Pan V2, Bulb Color and other products.
Nathaniel/Reddit
With the TV and smartphone apps, Roku could let users show and control camera feeds, bulbs, smart plugs etc. There's no sign of pricing, but Wyze products like the $34 Cam Pan V2 and $23 Wyze Bulb Color are relatively inexpensive compared to Nest or Philips, for example. However, Wyze was recently criticized for not addressing known camera security flaws in a timely manner, and suffered a December 2019 data breach that exposed the data of 2.4 million customers.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the company he founded would change its name from Facebook to Meta, he added it would be “metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.” He’s shown off dystopian VR offices, looked at space in VR with Neil deGrasse Tyson and talked up the metaverse on Joe Rogan’s podcast. (During that appearance, Zuckerberg said he’s started MMA, doing some critical damage to the sport on the way.)
This year’s Connect kicks off at 10 AM PT today, with a keynote from Zuckerberg, and Engadget’s Karissa Bell has outlined a lot of the questions we still need answering. Will the metaverse ever look cool? How will it handle harassment and misinformation? And can Zuckerberg explain what the metaverse even is, one more time, for those of us at the back of the class?
If you still don’t own an Echo speaker or a Kindle yet…
Amazon Prime Day is, unsurprisingly, the best time to pick up a gadget made by Amazon. We saw record-low prices during July’s Prime Day and a lot of those prices have returned this fall. Discounts cover not only the usual Kindle tablets and Fire TV gadgets but also Eero routers and Blink security cameras.
Including the MagSafe accessories worth your money.
So you’ve upgraded to an iPhone 14, now what? Now you need to upgrade your phone charger from that dinky charging brick you got with your iPhone 6. Seriously, it may well change your smartphone life. We’ve got several other recommendations for charging cables, cases and more.
Gaming laptops have become some of the most intriguing PCs around. They’ve gotten thinner and lighter, naturally — but they’ve also become vastly more powerful and efficient, making them suitable for both work and play. They’ve adopted some bold innovations, like rotating hinges and near desktop-like customizability. Gaming laptops are where PC makers can get adventurous. If you’re a professional in the market for a beefy new computer, and you like to play a few rounds of Apex Legends on occasion, it may make more sense to go for a gaming notebook instead of a MacBook Pro-like workstation. We pick out the best options from the likes of ASUS ROG, Razer, Dell and more. It doesn’t have to cost several thousand dollars either. Our budget pick is $800.
A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a US company violated a Dutch worker's human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work hours. Hired by a telemarketing firm Chetu, the employee was terminated for refusing to be monitored "for nine hours per day" by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens.
"Tracking via camera for eight hours per day is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands," the court verdict states, adding it also violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found Chetu dismissed the employee unfairly and must pay a $50,000 fine, along with the worker's back wages, court costs and unused vacation days.
Last week, LG announced it would allow third-party TV manufacturers to use its webOS platform, and now its main rival is following suit. Samsung has revealed it will license its Tizen OS TV platform for use in non-Samsung TV models for the first time, partnering with Akai, RCA and a bunch of other brands you… probably haven’t heard of. Those manufacturers will get access to features like Samsung TV Plus (a free streaming platform), personalized recommendations and even Samsung's Bixby.
