On Saturday, Rogers Communications said it had restored service for the “vast majority” of customers affected by the outage that left many Canadians without access to the internet. “As our services come back online and traffic volumes return to normal, some customers may experience a delay in regaining full service," the telecom said in a Twitter update posted late Thursday evening. It later promised it was “working hard” to get any customers still without internet access back online “as quickly as possible.”
In a letter attributed to president and CEO Tony Staffieri, Rogers said it was “working to fully understand the root cause of this outage,” and that it would make all “the changes necessary” to avoid a repeat in the future. Additionally, the company promised to send a bill credit to every customer affected by the outage.
Following our previous updates, we have now restored services for the vast majority of our customers and our technical teams are working hard to ensure that the remaining customers are back online as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/IobL7Dze6i
While Rogers has yet to share what caused its entire network to go down for the better part of an entire day, DDoS mitigation company Cloudflare provided a possible answer. “Based on what we’re seeing and similar incidents in the past, we believe this is likely to be an internal error, not a cyber attack,” the company said in a blog post published on Friday. Cloudflare speculated that a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) issue likely contributed to the outage. A “routine BGP update gone wrong” was the cause of the massive outage that took down Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp last fall.
Whatever led to the outage, its effect was easy to see. People crowded into cafes and public libraries so that they could use their phones and computers. At one point, Toronto Police even noted some people couldn’t call 911 due to the outage. Across the country, Interac, the system Canadian banks use to connect their networks, was down, leading to debit cards and ATMs not working. One analysis by internet monitoring organization NetBlocks showed that Canada’s national connectivity dropped to 75 percent of normal levels during the event. If nothing else, the episode is likely to reignite conversation within Canada about the dominance Rogers has over the national telecom market.
ℹ️ Update: Metrics show internet service is being gradually restored in #Canada after an outage at operator Rogers that knocked out a quarter of the country's observable connectivity.
The crippling incident has raised questions over the centralisation of critical infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/rJMT25e4mX
Ford has issued a recall for certain 2020 to 2022 model Corsair, Escape and Maverick hybrid vehicles over concerns that they could catch fire. According to UPI, the recall affects 100,689 vehicles in the US, all with 2.5-liter hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric engines. The automaker told the news agency that in the event of an engine failure, the affected vehicles could release a significant amount of engine oil and fuel vapor. Both substances could then accumulate near the vehicles' ignition sources and cause a fire under the hood or melt the components inside.
Ford said engine failures involving the recalled vehicles are caused by isolated manufacturing issues. The company added it hasn't received any reports of injuries or accidents associated with the problems that compelled it to issue a recall. The automaker has already notified dealers about its decision, and owners are slated to be notified by August 8th. Dealers will fix recalled vehicles when owners turn them in by modifying their under-engine shields and active grille shutters.
Last month, Ford also recalled 49,000 Mach-E EVs, citing concerns about the possibility of their high-voltage battery connectors overheating. In that particular case, the issue could prevent the vehicle from starting or cause them to lose propulsion power while on the road. Unlike the hybrid vehicles that have to be physically modified, the recalled Mach-Es only need an over-the-air software update that Ford rolled out a few days ago to fix the issue.
Rivian's second consumer vehicle is poised to expand the limited options in the fully-electric seven-seater SUV market. Autoblog took the 2022 model for a spin both on-road and off to see how the automotive startup's latest product performs.
Streaming services have loads of data on how shows perform, but according to showrunners, the companies aren't forthcoming with the specifics when it comes time to renew or cancel a series. "It’s like reading something where everything is redacted except stuff that makes you feel bad about your show," one of them told Vulture.
It's no secret that Amazon devices are some of the best things to buy on Prime Day. Amazon usually discounts most of its gadgets to record-low prices for the two-day shopping event, but Prime members can take advantage of great sales now. In addition to bringing devices like the Echo Dot and the Fire TV Cube down to their best prices yet, early Prime Day deals have discounted a bunch of Amazon device bundles, too. Here are the best deals we found on bundled Amazon devices that you can get before Prime Day begins.
Echo Dot + smart plug
Amazon
Adding an Amazon smart plug to your purchase when you pick up an Echo Dot will only cost you $5 more, so you'll get both devices for a total of $25. While the Echo Dot can act as your main Alexa voice control device, Amazon's smart plug can also be controlled via the Alexa mobile app, allowing you to turn "dumb" items around your home into smart ones.
The full-sized Echo is on sale for $60, but you can add a Sengled smart light bulb to your order for no additional cost. It's one of Sengled's Bluetooth color smart bulbs, which means it'll be easy to set up using only your smartphone and then you can control it using Alexa voice commands.
If you're considering a Ring Doorbell for your home, you can pick up the wired model and add an Echo Show 5 into the mix and pay only $100 in total. These two devices work well together: the smart doorbell will show you any visitors that end up on your doorstep, while the Echo Show 5 can display the live feed from the doorbell's camera.
Both Amazon's smart thermostat and the Echo Show 5 have been discounted for Prime members, so the company made it easy for you to pick up both in a bundle that costs $77. That's nearly half off of the normal cost of buying both items together, making this a good deal for those that want to kickstart their smart home plans without spending too much money.
If you're picking up an Echo Show 5 Kids for your children to use, you can add the Echo Glow smart lamp to your order for only $11 more. This edition of the Show 5 includes one year of Amazon Kids+, while the Glow lets you program light cues to go along with routines you have for your children like waking up, playtime and getting ready to go to bed.
Prime members can pick up two Blink Minis for the price of one, for a total of $30. That's 54 percent off the bundle's usual price and the cheapest we've seen it. While the Mini's main drawback when compared to standard Blink cameras is that it must be plugged in, it otherwise works just like Blink Indoor security cameras. It records in 1080p and supports two-way audio and motion detection.
Amazon's bundle that includes the Blink Video Doorbell and a Blink Outdoor camera system gives you much of what you'd need to keep track of your home both when you're there and not. Prime members can get the bundle for $90 right now, or $55 off its usual price. The smart doorbell lets you see who's outside your home at any time, plus talk to them using the device's two-way audio feature. The Blink Outdoor cam can be used inside or outside to provide another view of your home. Best of all, the bundle comes with a Sync Module, which you'll need to use both devices.
The Kindle Essentials bundle, which includes the latest version of the e-reader, a fabric cover and a power adapter, is 48 percent off and down to $73. It's a good pack to get if you've just wanted a basic e-reader along with two of the most popular accessories to go along with it. We gave the Kindle a score of 91 for its higher-contrast display, improved front lighting and slimmer design.
The most powerful streaming stick that Amazon makes, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, can be bundled with a Luna game controller for a total of $95, which is 24 percent off. These can be used together as you can access Amazon's cloud gaming service on your TV using the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and play using the Luna controller. When you're not gaming, you can use the dongle to watch any of the most popular streaming services and the controller with other devices by connecting it via Bluetooth.
The Biden White House took a step toward shoring up some of the privacy issues that have been raised following the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. In a new executive order addressing abortion access and other issues, the White House suggested that it’s trying to increase privacy protections for people seeking reproductive healthcare, though it’s not clear what policies may change as a result of the action.
The order points to “the potential threat to patient privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related data and by digital surveillance.” And it offers some guidance to other agencies, like the FTC, though it stops short of proposing new regulations.
Instead, the order seems to leave much at the discretion of the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, it says the chair of the FTC is “is encouraged to consider actions … to protect consumers’ privacy when seeking information about and provision of reproductive healthcare services.” It also states that the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should “consider actions to educate consumers on how best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing of their sensitive health-related information.”
Biden’s executive order comes after privacy advocates and activists have warned that the lack of federal privacy regulations could have dire consequences for people seeking abortions post-Roe. Period tracking apps have gotten outsize attention, but experts say the issue runs far deeper than just one type of app. And while the executive order doesn’t touch on issues like data brokers or the vast collection of personal information by tech companies, the issue has gotten the attention of Congress. On the same day as Biden's executive order, a group of Democrats from the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into five data brokers and the companies behind five popular cycle tracking apps.
Elon Musk is officially trying to pull the plug on the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. In an SEC filing, Musk’s lawyers said the Tesla CEO wishes to terminate the agreement because of “false and misleading representations” made by Twitter.
Twitter and Musk have been squabbling for months over how the company counts the number of bots and fake accounts on the platform. In the letter filed with the SEC, Musk’s lawyers state that Twitter has both withheld information and misled Musk about the true numbers.
Twitter has long stated that fake accounts make up less than 5 percent of its total users, and it turned over some of its internal data to Musk to bolster those claims. In the SEC filing, Musk’s lawyers state that “it appears Twitter is dramatically understating” the number.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
For those who desperately yearn to own a certificate of authenticity for a URL pointing to an ugly ape illustration or another popular non-fungible token, there’s a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service they can use to finance their purchases. The offering from Teller works with some of the more notable NFT collections, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Adidas Originals: Into the Metaverse. It runs on the Polygon blockchain and has a fittingly terrible name: Ape Now, Pay Later.
“Buying NFTs is one of the core things Web3 consumers want to do right now,” Teller founder and CEO Ryan Berkun told Decrypt. “Buy now, pay later is a no-brainer.” No wisecrack is necessary at this juncture.
Like other BNPL services, Tether requires a down payment. When someone sees a compatible NFT they want on the OpenSea marketplace, they can use Teller's service to signal their intention to buy it. That person will need to fork over between 25 and 50 percent of the NFT's price at the outset. Teller's platform will then try to match them with a lender, who is another user.
If the lender accepts the proposal, they'll transfer the remaining cryptocurrency needed to buy the NFT from OpenSea. The NFT will then be held in an escrow wallet. If the buyer pays off what they borrowed on time, they'll receive the NFT. Otherwise, the lender can claim the NFT and sell it if they wish. Lenders can also set interest rates for the repayments.
Considering the volatility of the cryptocurrency market and the state of the global economy, buying an NFT through a BNPL service seems like a bad idea. Sure, cryptocurrency prices have cratered in recent months (which played a role in victims of the Axie Infinity hack losing significant sums), but there's a chance they could jump back up again. Suddenly, those BNPL payments could get a lot more expensive. Buyers only have 90 days to make the repayments too.
The NFT market has bottomed out too. Bloombergnotes that the base price for a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT was around 90 Ethereum (around $110,000 at the time of writing). That's down around 40 percent since May.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has confirmed the league will launch its own streaming service ahead of the 2022 season. “The consumers want it, so we’re very excited about what NFL+ is going to be,” Goodell told CNBC. “It’s really in an early stage. I think over the years it will continue to grow. It will be an important strategy for us going forward.”
Goodell declined to reveal details about pricing, what exactly NFL+ will offer and precisely when it will arrive. However, he said that information will be announced in a few weeks. A report previously suggested that NFL+ will debut this month. With pre-season games getting underway in early August, that timing makes sense.
According to a May report from Sports Business Journal, NFL+ may cost $5 per month. It's expected to grant fans access to some live games on phones and tablets — the ones that they'd be able to see on local TV in their market. Previously, carriers and Yahoo (Engadget's parent company) streamed such games, but those deals have expired.
Meanwhile, Goodell said the league is likely to partner with a streaming service for NFL Sunday Ticket, with an announcement expected by the fall. "I clearly believe we'll be moving to a streaming service," Goodell said.
Amazon, Apple and ESPN+ owner Disney are among those who have reportedly submitted bids. Goodell said discussions have been going on for over a year.
Goodell acknowledged that the current partnership with DirecTV, which will end after the 2022 season, had worked well for the NFL. However, he pointed to the new opportunities that the likes of Apple and Amazon can open up — especially since fans likely won't be prompted to sign up for a satellite TV package too.
"We really believe that these new platforms give us an ability to innovate beyond where we are today and make the experience for our consumers so much better," Goodell said. "I think this will make it more accessible for fans."
It's only a few days until NASA and its partners on the James Webb Space Telescope project reveal the first full-color images and spectroscopic data captured by the observatory. The agency has shed a little more light on what to expect by revealing the JWST's initial list of cosmic targets.
One of them is the Carina Nebula, which is around 7,600 light years away. NASA says it's one of the biggest and brightest nebulae in the sky and it includes stars that are several times larger than the Sun. Another nebula the telescope captured images from is the Southern Ring. That's roughly 2,000 light years from Earth and is a planetary nebula — it's an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star.
Closer to home is the gas planet WASP-96 b, which is almost 1,150 light years away and has around half the mass of Jupiter. NASA will provide a look at the planet's light spectrum data. Much further from here is Stephan’s Quintet, which is around 290 million light years away in the Pegasus constellation. This is the first compact galaxy group that was discovered, all the way back in 1877. It comprises five galaxies, four of which "are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters," NASA said.
Also on Tuesday, NASA, the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency will reveal imagery for SMACS 0723. "Massive foreground galaxy clusters magnify and distort the light of objects behind them, permitting a deep field view into both the extremely distant and intrinsically faint galaxy populations," NASA explained.
A committee of experts from NASA, ESA, CSA and the Space Telescope Science Institute spent five years determining the first targets for Webb's instruments. The full-color images and spectroscopic data that JSWT captured will be revealed on July 12th at 10:30AM ET. You'll be able to view them on NASA's website.
This marks an important step for JWST as it marks the official beginning of the observatory's general science operations. The aim is to provide us with more detailed images and information about the earliest stars and galaxies as well as potentially habitable exoplanets. After launch in December, it took several months for the JWST to reach its destination and prepare for full operation. We're very close to finding out just what the observatory is capable of.
Bowers & Wilkins might be a name many associate with high-endhome audio gear, but the company has been steadily chugging along with headphonestoo. Its latest model, the Px7 S2 ($399), is a completely overhauled version of the PX that debuted in 2019. Bowers & Wilkins tweaked the design while enhancing the active noise cancellation (ANC) and re-tuning the audio for new 40mm drivers. At every turn, this new model is a worthy upgrade over its predecessor, and you won’t have to pay more for the improvements either.
Design
For the Px7 S2, Bowers & Wilkins borrowed elements of both the original PX and the Px7 that contribute to the refined look. The company also slimmed down the overall shape and opted for more cushion in the earpads – all while trimming the overall weight. Finer touches like a silver rim where the earcup meets the earpads gives the S2 a more premium look than its predecessor. The textured surface on both the earcups and across the top of the headband enhances the aesthetic as well.
Physical controls remain, which garners no complaints from me. The truth is buttons are still more reliable than touch controls, even on the headphones that get the swipes and taps nearly perfect. The best touch controls are never 100%, but a button you have to press always is. On the back of the right earcup, there’s a power slider that doubles as the Bluetooth pairing control. Just below, a multi-function button is flanked by the volume controls. This center button accepts single, double and triple presses for play/pause, playing the next track and playing the previous track respectively. When you’re receiving a call, one press accepts while a press-and-hold for two seconds will reject it. Pressing this center button once will end a call as well.
On the left side, there’s a single Quick Action button. By default, it cycles between noise cancellation, Pass-Through (ambient sound) and off. However, if you don’t mind using the company’s app to make that change, you can reassign this button to activate your voice assistant of choice. Unlike a lot of headphones, holding the multi-function button won’t trigger Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant.
When it comes to fit, the Px7 S2 are among some of the more comfortable headphones I’ve tested recently. I have a big head: I take my New Era caps in 7 ⅝. So, it can be tough for a set of cans to remain comfy after an hour or two of wear. The S2 fit tightly on me, which is essential for effective noise cancellation, but it never became too much. Not once did I feel like the rim of the earcup was leaving a mark around my ears, thanks to the updated cushion on the earpads. This isn’t always the case.
Software
Billy Steele/Engadget
The Px7 S2 are Bowers & Wilkins first set of headphones to work with its Music app. Previous models are compatible with its Headphones app, but that software only offers access to basic settings, displayed battery life and provided a collection of soundscapes for relaxing. The Music app has much more to offer as it supports B&W’s speakers: the Formation line, the Panorama 3 soundbar and the Zeppelin.
First and foremost, the software allows you to tweak the EQ settings on the Px7 S2. Unfortunately, the options here are very limited. There are sliders for treble and bass, but nothing for mids or any further fine-tuning. Like the Headphones app, this one still displays a battery percentage and gives you the option of using the software to select ANC, ambient sound or to turn both of those off. You can also manage the priority of the two devices Px7 S2’s multipoint connectivity allows to sync with. As I mentioned, there’s the option to make the “Quick Action” button on the left earcup summon your voice assistant rather than switch between noise settings.
Then there are a couple of handy power and audio management options. First, there’s an automatic standby control that puts the headphones in a “low power state” after 15 minutes of inactivity. Next, there’s automatic pausing powered by the Px7 S2’s built-in wear sensor. The company says you can activate this simply by lifting one earcup, and it gives you the ability to tweak the sensitivity with three settings (Low, Normal and High). During my tests, I actually had to rotate the earcup down towards my neck to trigger this. Completely removing the headphones worked just fine, but the other method could use some fine-tuning. Both the automatic pausing and the standby feature can be turned off if you don’t want to employ them, so there’s no pressure to use either one.
Bowers & Wilkins is already planning an update to the software that will add an in-app music player. This is already a thing for the company’s speakers that are compatible with the Music app, but soon you’ll be able to link a number of streaming services to spin your audio from the same app that organizes your headphones settings. Currently, the app supports Tidal, Deezer, Last.fm, TuneIn Radio, Qobuz, Soundcloud, NTS Radio and Dash Radio.
Sound quality
Billy Steele/Engadget
Among the big improvements on the Px7 S2, Bowers & Wilkins says it built an “all-new acoustic platform” powered by fresh 40mm drivers. The company says these custom-designed units offer low distortion and more accurate reproduction, positioned at an angle in the earcups to keep things sounding as natural as possible. Indeed, Bowers & Wilkins has constructed a truly immersive soundstage that envelopes your ears. The bass is nice and punchy while highs provide depth and vocals cut through even the most chaotic genres.
The Px7 S2 excels with hard rock like Gojira’s Magma and Deftones Ohms. When either band is going all out, you still get finer details like texture in the distorted guitars and the subtle nuances of the drum kit. And it remains a wall of sound throughout, never seeming compressed down to a mess of noise. Softer genres meet a similar fate as Chris Stapleton’s combo of southern rock growl and bluesy guitar picking are nice and thick on top of his backing band. Even 1999’s emo classic Clarity from Jimmy Eat World sounds atmospheric and full. Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers showcases the S2’s bass response well, providing some low-end punch while vocals remain crisp and clear among synths, piano, snare and other sounds. Kick drum and deep synthesizer tones get equal room to operate on songs like “N95.” It will be interesting to see if Bowers & Wilkins further refines its sound profile on the upcoming Px8 because what’s here is already impressive.
When it comes to ANC performance, the Px7 S2 is quite good there as well. We’re not talking Bose or Sony levels, but Bowers & Wilkins isn’t far off. The company made big changes to noise cancellation on the S2, using its in-house tech to do the heavy lifting without affecting overall sound quality. It also upgraded the microphones that monitor both the output of the drivers and any environmental noise. The result is some impressive blocking ability, even with things like human voices, which some headphones struggle to counter. I had no problem tuning out the clamor of two kids at home for the summer when it came time to work. Ditto for constant noise like a sound machine or the dishwasher.
Pass-Through, the company’s moniker for ambient sound or transparency mode, gets the job done, but it could use some refinement. Compared to the best natural sound for this feature, Apple’s AirPods Max, the Px7 S2 allows you to hear some of the outside world, but there’s no mistaking that you still have headphones on. Environmental noise is muffled and even when there’s no audio playing it’s not the best for trying to have a conversation.
Call quality
Nearly every headphone company touts improved call quality on new models these days, but the actual results can be hit or miss. For the Px7 S2, Bowers & Wilkins changed both the positioning and the angle of the two voice microphones while boosting noise suppression. The company says these tweaks will allow for better performance “even in the noisiest environments.” Thankfully, those claims mostly hold true.
The person on the other end said I sounded as if I were holding my phone up to my face rather than wearing headphones or earbuds. More often than not, headphones make you sound like you’re on speaker phone, but that’s not the case here. They also noticed the Px7 S2 was adept at cutting background noise, like a blaring TV I had on. Even with all of that, I still wouldn’t recommend these as a great choice for regular video or voice calls due to the fact that the ambient sound isn’t that great and I could feel myself getting a bit shouty at times.
Battery life
Bowers & Wilkins promises 30 hours of battery life on the Px7 S2, but the company doesn’t specify if that’s with active noise cancellation turned on or not. With ANC active, that figure would put this model on par with a lot of the best noise-canceling headphones you can currently buy. Some do more and some less, but the Px7 S2 doesn’t woefully miss the mark on its stated figure. What’s more, at the 30-hour mark of what I’d consider regular use – a mix of ANC and transparency mode for music and calls – these headphones still had 33 percent in the tank according to both the company’s app and the Bluetooth menu in macOS.
The company improved its quick charge feature on the S2, adding two more hours worth of play time when you plug in for 15 minutes. That’s now seven hours compared to five hours on the original Px7. A full charge from zero will take two hours, so if you find yourself empty, this short top off will get you quite far.
The competition
Billy Steele/Engadget
Price-wise, the Px7 S2 stacks up with the latest flagship model from Sony, the WH-1000XM5. However, Sony’s new gem offers a lot more features for the money, including handy Speak-to-Chat that automatically pauses the audio when you talk and both activity- and location-based sound settings that tweak the audio without you lifting a finger. Sony also outperforms Bowers & Wilkins when it comes to noise cancellation, though the gap narrows when it comes to overall sound quality. I still give the edge to Sony for its pristine details and support for both 360 Reality Audio and LDAC on top of its DSEE Extreme upscaling tech. Bowers & Wilkins upcoming Px8 will probably be better competition for the M5 when it arrives later this year, but the company has already confirmed a $549 price tag for that set.
If you’re looking to save some money, and design isn’t a primary concern, you might consider the Bose QuietComfort 45 as an alternative. Last year, Bose finally released an update to one of the most popular headphone models. Improved ANC is the star, but clear and balanced audio, long battery life and trademark comfort are there as well. The QC45 lacks some polish – there’s no automatic pausing and the multipoint connectivity wasn’t seamless during my review. They’re $329 at full price though, which is a considerable savings over the Px7 S2.
Wrap-up
When most companies update an existing set of headphones, the refresh is modest at best. With the Px7 S2, Bowers & Wilkins has basically created an entirely new product. This is no iterative update as the S2 showcases considerable improvements to both ANC and overall sound. A design overhaul takes things a step further, and though these headphones could use a bit of polish, they stack up well with flagship models from other companies. You won’t get a truckload of features here, but Bowers & Wilkins has nailed most of the basics, including the two biggest challenges for headphones. And it did that without raising the price, which is always an excellent finishing touch.
