ArduinoMania

Hertz says it's selling around 20,000 electric vehicles from its US fleet, which constitutes approximately a third of its total number of EVs in its global fleet. It claimed that "expenses related to collision and damage, primarily associated with EVs, remained high" in the most recent financial quarter, "thereby supporting the company’s decision to initiate the material reduction in the EV fleet." Hertz said it plans to reinvest some of the proceeds into purchasing gas-powered vehicles.

"The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs," Hertz said in an SEC filing. "This will position the company to eliminate a disproportionate number of lower margin rentals and reduce damage expense associated with EVs."

There were already signs that Hertz was having cold feet over its decision to invest heavily in EVs over the last few years. It was reported in 2021 that the rental company had ordered 100,000 EVs from Tesla. The following April, it emerged that Hertz planned to buy up to 65,000 EVs from Polestar over five years.

However, in October 2023, Hertz said it was slowing down plans to electrify its fleet. At the time, CEO Stephen Scherr said EVs cost Hertz "about twice in terms of damage cost repair than a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle."

As Reuters notes, Tesla is currently selling more than 700 EVs through its used car website. The vast majority of those are Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Look, we can all sit around debating wether it’s worth teaching a dog to play the piano, or if that’s even something they’re capable of doing. But it’s also too late since, here at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, a Hong Kong-based startup has actually developed a device to do that. Zoo Gears was at the show demonstrating TheButter, a four-key instrument with light-up pads your pup can “play.”

Essentially, the pooch has to follow along the sequence of lights, each one triggering another few notes of whatever song you’ve equipped it with. Once done, you should reward their effort with a treat or some other form of encouragement, much as Dr. Pavlov would have done. The hope is that eventually, your beloved friend will get the knack of accompanying you during your next jam session.

Zoo Gears was a smash hit on Kickstarter in 2023, making more than four times its initial goal when getting backing for TheButter. That’s currently available to buy in the US for $99, and for that you’ll also get the companion app that’ll help you set your dog’s training routine. You know, so when they’ve mastered something fairly simple they can move onto harder songs like The Beatles’ Let It Be.

More importantly, the company is working on the second part of the product, TheBiscuit, priced at $299 which adds an automatic food dispenser to the setup. If your dog successfully learns how to hammer out some of The Beatles’ greatest hits, they’ll be able to feed themselves. After that, it’s only a hop, skip and a jump to being the next big name in whatever musical genre your best friend opts to specialize in.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

Google has announced that it will eliminate at least 17 features from its Assistant product, following news that it had laid off "hundreds" of employees from the division. The company is cutting "underutilized features" to "focus on quality and reliability, it wrote in a blog post, even though a good number of people may still rely on those functions.

"Beginning on January 26, when you ask for one of these features, you may get a notification that it won't be available after a certain date," wrote Google Assistant VP Duke Dukellis. 

The company didn't specify how removing certain commands will improve Assistant, nor did it describe any specific quality and reliability problems. It did say, though, that improvements in the past were aided by user feedback, so it may have been receiving complaints about Assistant's core usability of late.

The 17 functions being removed include: accessing or managing your cookbook; using your voice to send an email, video or audio message; rescheduling events in Google Calendar with your voice; and using App Launcher in Google Assistant driving mode on Google Maps to read and send messages, make calls, and control media. It also describes what Assistant can still do related to those functions, or alternate ways of doing them. A list is here, though Google said they're just "some" of the affected features.

The company is also changing the way Assistant works on your phone. The microphone icon in the Google search bar will no longer pull up Assistant, but merely start a Google voice search, "which is its most popular use case," Dukellis wrote. The "Hey Google" hot word and power button long-press will continue to activate Assistant as before. 

After laying off 12,000 people last year, Google said it planned to focus on AI in the future, so it's interesting that one of its early AI products is being pruned. Earlier today, Google confirmed that it had laid off hundreds of people from at least three divisions, including Assistant, hardware devices and core engineering. 

At its October Pixel 8 event, the company announced plans to launch Assistant with Bard, a version that generates personalized answers based on events, dates and conversations stored on your phone. However, Google didn't say if that version has anything to do with cutbacks in current Assistant functionality. 

CES 2024 is in the books and that means the tech world can kick back and re— oh, wait, there's the small matter of a Samsung Unpacked on the horizon. Samsung is running its first event of the year a little earlier than usual. It will start on January 17 at 1PM ET. However, barring a major shock, Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S24 smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S24 lineup

As is always the case, the rumor mill has been churning for weeks when it comes to Samsung’s Galaxy S24 smartphones. Thanks to leaker Evan Blass, who claimed to have obtained a spec sheet for all three of the devices, we have a decent idea of what Samsung has in store for the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra. As in years past, Samsung has a "reserve" page up now on its site as well for those who want to be first in line to buy the latest smartphones.

It’s likely to be another year of iterative changes on the hardware front. There will very likely be spec bumps to most of the components and the S24 devices will probably offer faster and more efficient performance than their predecessors. However, you shouldn't anticipate having a wildly different looking phone if you tend to upgrade to the latest handset every year or two... except in the case of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is slated to have a flat display and a titanium frame.

The most important hardware upgrade is arguably in the engine room. Samsung is expected to employ the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. That’s significant given Qualcomm’s efforts to support on-device AI operations with its CPUs and Samsung’s recent work in the generative AI space.

To that end, the biggest change to the Galaxy lineup this year is likely to come in the form of AI features. Samsung recently unveiled its own generative AI models, which can handle tasks such as translations, summarizing documents, drafting emails, helping out with coding and, yes, whipping up images based on text prompts. 

It's widely believed that Samsung's Gauss generative AI tech will make its public debut in the Galaxy S24 smartphones, and it's likely to be labeled as Galaxy AI. The company has been hinting at some of the AI updates, such as with this tease of a feature called Zoom with Galaxy AI.

Everything else: Generative AI, fitness trackers and laptops

The new smartphones will undoubtedly be the star of the show and Samsung will probably spend quite a bit of time going over the generative AI functions. That might not leave much bandwidth for other announcements. There is a chance that we might see the Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker, according to some rumormongers. The event may mark the release of One UI 6.1 for Galaxy devices too.

Beyond that, there have been suggestions that Samsung will show off several Galaxy Book Pro laptops, while there's also a possibility the company will unveil new tablets, smartwatches and earbuds. We'll find out soon enough just what the company has planned for its first mass market devices of 2024.

Sony might have an updated PlayStation 5 controller available soon. GamesRadar+ spotted a brand new V2 DualSense Wireless Controller on Best Buy's Canadian online shop, and anyone who is sick of finding their wireless controller dead when gaming is in for a treat. The device is listed as having 12 hours of battery life — up from a maximum of five hours in its current iteration. 

Apart from the major boost in battery life, the listed Sony V2 DualSense Wireless Controller is pretty much a mirror of its predecessor. It has a headset jack, built-in microphone, and haptic triggers across its rear and face. It's listed for 90 CAD (about 67 USD), almost identical to the previously released V2 DualSense Wireless Controller's $69 retail price. Though the 12-hour model is visible on the website, it's not actually available for purchase, so it's unclear when (or even if) Sony will release it. 

Interestingly, a patent filed by Sony in November 2023 described a new controller outfitted with a touchscreen instead of a touchpad. It also potentially employs predictive AI assistance to light up certain buttons, analog sticks and shoulder triggers as hints for gameplay. Just like the controller currently sitting on Best Buy's website, this one's fate is up in the air. 

SpaceX sent and received its first text messages sent via T-Mobile using its D2D (direct-to-device) Starlink satellites launched just over a week ago, the company announced. First revealed in August 2022, the project aims to provide satellite internet connectivity to regular cell phones so that T-Mobile customers can stay online even when they're in a terrestrial dead zone. 

T-Mobile said that it aims to publicly launch text services with T-Mobile in 2024, with voice, data and IoT (internet of things) plans coming in 2025. Globally, SpaceX has partnered with Rogers in Canada, Australia's Optus, KDDI in Japan and others. 

The scheme requires larger, special versions of the Starlink satellites with D2D capability. SpaceX launched the first six of those on January 2, completing early tests with no issues. "On Monday, January 8, less than 6 days after launch, we sent and received our first text messages to and from unmodified cell phones on the ground to our new satellites in space using TMobile network spectrum... [indicating that] the system works," SpaceX wrote in a blog post. 

SpaceX

When the plan was announced, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the technology is like putting a cellular tower in the sky. He added that it could one day eliminate dead zones, allowing people to easily get in touch with loved ones even if they're in the middle of the ocean. 

SpaceX said that the system, which uses LTE/4G (not 5G protocols) is a bit more complicated than cell towers in the sky, though. Since the satellites move at tens of thousands of miles per hour relative to the Earth, data must be handed off seamlessly between them. Doppler shift, timing delays and the relatively low transmission power of smartphones must also be accounted for. 

The two companies aren't the first to test such a system. Working with communications specialist AST SpaceMobile, AT&T successfully conducted the first two-way satellite audio call on its network in April, calling a number in Japan with a stock Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone. AT&T also complained to the FCC that SpaceX and T-Mobile's plan was "woefully insufficient" regarding the risk of harmful interference to ground-based networks. 

When Mark Zuckerberg announced last year that Meta was laying off 10,000 workers, he described 2023 as a "year of efficiency" defined by removing layers of middle management to create a "leaner org." Turns out the company still isn't done restructuring its organization. According to Business Insider, Meta recently told at least 60 of its employees at Instagram that it's eliminating their position altogether. The affected employees are technical program managers, the people who go in between Meta's tech workers, including its engineers, and the higher level product managers.

Based on posts on Blind, an app for tech employees, and on LinkedIn seen by the publication, the workers losing their jobs are given the chance to be interviewed to be considered for a position as product manager. By March, those who chose to leave or weren't given a new role will no longer have a job with Meta. The company slashed 11,000 jobs in the fall of 2022 in addition to the 10,000 workers it laid off last year in an effort to cut costs. It also issued a hiring freeze and closed thousands of open roles it was originally hiring for. 

"A leaner org will execute its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling," Zuckerberg said last year. It's unclear if Meta has already lifted its hiring freeze, but it's expected to do so only after it's done with restructuring. 

Google has laid off "several hundred" workers in multiple divisions each in a new round of belt tightening, according to reports from The New York Times, 9to5Mac, Semafor and others. Divisions affected include hardware (Pixel, Nest and Fitbit), core engineering and Google Assistant. The cuts — which appear to be at least 600 but may be higher — are already effective and workers impacted have reportedly been informed.

"We’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead," a Google spokesman told the NYT in a statement. "Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally."

As part of the cuts, Google is said to be reorganizing its Pixel, Nest and Fitbit divisions, and Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman and other leaders are leaving the company. The company will reportedly have one team responsible for hardware engineering across all three divisions. 

"We’ve had to make some difficult decisions about ongoing employment of some Google employees and we regret to inform you that your position is being eliminated," the company told some employees in the core engineering division, according to a note seen by the NYT. 

The company declined to respond to The Verge when asked if it reduced headcount in any other divisions — so the total number of layoffs isn't clear. Last year, Google made some of its largest job cuts ever, laying off around 12,000 people in January. As of late last year, the company employed 182,381 people, and counted 118,899 at the beginning of 2020, just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

That was part of a wider reduction in jobs across the industry in 2023, with over 220,000 layoffs during the year. Those came from larger companies like Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Spotify and Amazon, along with numerous small, medium-sized and startup firms. Engadget has reached out to Google for comment about the layoffs and will update the story if required. 

The show floor at CES 2024 is open, and people have been racking up their steps, canvassing Las Vegas’ vast convention centers and hotel ballrooms to see all the latest and weirdest tech products. The Engadget team has been getting our cardio in, braving both vehicular and human traffic to get face and hand time (and other body parts?) with the most intriguing demos here, while companies haven’t stopped holding press conferences and announcing new items. If you don’t have time to parse through every individual headline or are here in Vegas and want to know where to go, here’s a recap of the biggest news out of CES 2024’s second day.

One of the biggest booths at the show is, as usual, Google, and the company also had a fair amount of news to share. In keeping with the same theme it’s been doing the last few years of “Better Together,” Google shared updates to its inter-device software like Fast Pair and announced it’s working with Samsung to integrate and rename its Nearby Share feature to Quick Share, which is the current name of Samsung’s version of the same thing. This should hopefully simplify things for Android users, and give them a more cohesive alternative to Apple’s AirDrop. Details were pretty scarce on whether there are changes coming to Samsung users, but those who have Nearby Share should see a new icon pretty soon. 

Google also added support for people to Chromecast TikTok videos to compatible TVs and screens and is bringing its apps to some Ford, Nissan and Lincoln vehicles later this year. Android Auto will also be able to share your electric vehicle’s battery levels to Google Maps so it can factor in recharge stations, charge times and stops into your routes. This is, again, similar to a feature in Apple's next-gen CarPlay.

Speaking of EVs, Honda also debuted new EV concepts called the Saloon and the Space Hub. The Saloon is a sedan with an aerodynamic design and rides low to the ground, while the Space Hub is a minivan that is a little boxier and its seats has its passengers facing each other. Honda said it will develop a model based on the Saloon concept car for North American markets in 2026, with no word yet on the Space Hub.

In other transportation news, Hyundai brought an updated version of its S-A2 Air Taxi to the show. The S-A2 is an electric vertical take off and landing vehicle that has a cruising speed of 120mph when it reaches an altitude of 1,500 feet. It’s designed to fly short trips between 25 to 40 miles and the company envisions it as an everyday transportation solution for urban areas.

We also got more smart home news from companies other than Google, including Amazon, which said it will adopt the Matter standard for Casting, but it won’t support Chromecast or Apple’s AirPlay. How nice. We also saw new face-scanning and palm-reading door locks, smart outdoor lights by Nanoleaf and a new Weber Searwood smart grill that’s cheaper and more versatile.

There has been a smattering of mobile news, including the Clicks iPhone keyboard case and a surprising, adorable device called the Rabbit R1. It’s pitched as an AI-powered assistant in what’s basically a cute squarish walkie-talkie co-designed by Teenage Engineering. It has a tiny 2.88-inch touchscreen, an analog scroll wheel, two mics, a speaker and a 360-degree camera you can spin to face toward you or through the back of the handset. You’re supposed to talk to the Rabbit AI by pushing down a button (like a walkie talkie) and ask it to do anything like book an Uber or look for a recipe tailored to your specific list of ingredients.

There’s been a lot more at the show, but I wanted to take some time to shout out a bunch of intriguing accessibility products. We saw the OrCam Hear system that’s designed to help people with hearing loss isolate the voices of specific speakers in crowded environments. There’s also the GyroGlove, which is a hand-stabilizing glove for people with hand tremors, as well as the Mouthpad, which lets you control your phone, tablet or laptop by using your tongue.

We also saw an update to the Audio Radar system that provides visual cues for gamers who are hard of hearing to see where sounds are coming from and what type of sounds they might be. It’s very heartening to see all this development in assistive technology at CES, especially when the industry often spends so much time and money on less-worthy endeavors.

We’re nearing the end of the show and as we get ready to do our final sweeps of the show floor, the Engadget team is also looking back and contemplating the best things we saw at CES 2024. We’ll be putting together our Best of CES awards list soon, so make sure you come back to see what we decided were the winners of the show.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

When Walmart announced it would be holding a CES keynote for the first time, we were admittedly a little skeptical. Now it all makes sense, though: America’s largest retailer came to CES 2024 in Las Vegas to talk about AI. In a joint announcement on Tuesday, the company said that it’s teaming up with Microsoft to build what it bills as AI-powered shopping experiences. In his keynote, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon described how the integration of AI across its website and apps will be used to study shopper behavior and suggest future purchases.

As you might expect, given Microsoft’s involvement, the artificial intelligence underpinning these experiences will be powered by large language models made available through this partnership with Microsoft. The AI it plans on deploying will use a combination of retail-specific search functions based on Walmart’s own proprietary technologies and Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service.

Walmart’s new generative AI-powered search functions will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices as well as through the company’s website. The new search features will give shoppers more options for interacting with the retailer’s digital inventory. For example, instead of searching for items like soda and chips, a shopper can look for product recommendations for specific events like a birthday celebration or game day watch party by telling the website, in natural language, what they need help shopping for.

During the keynote, McMilon said that the algorithms are designed to highlight relevant product categories after a search that will “serve up a curated list of the best items.” These new algorithmic shopping initiatives will directly compete with Google’s AI search tool SGE and Amazon’s large language model-powered product listing program.

While it seems that most of the efforts on the AI front are consumer-facing, the company said new AI search functions will not just help shoppers. It will also expand tools available to store associates intended to help streamline job-related tasks and workflows. This can also be seen in its announcement that at Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, employees will soon no longer need to check shopping receipts as people leave stores. Instead, it will deploy an AI tool that verifies customer purchases.

Walmart

Additionally, Walmart teased ‘Walmart InHome Replenishment,’ which also will use artificial intelligence to predict what items in a shopper’s cart need to be replenished in a timely manner. This offering will be added as an extension to its ‘InHome’ program that became available to Walmart+ shoppers in 2019.

Aside from AI, the retailer also teased plans to weave augmented reality into its shopping experience. The company teased ‘Shop with Friends,’ a beta social commerce offering that uses augmented reality to allow shoppers the option to share virtual outfits with friends for feedback while shopping. Lastly, Walmart will expand its drone delivery testing program to more shoppers in Texas as a starting point. 1.8 million additional households will get access to drone delivery services that help shoppers get items as fast as 30 minutes.