ArduinoMania

The Pixel Tablet is like an emotionally unstable partner. On good days, it’s reliable and helpful, always ready to listen and support me. Every now and then, though, I feel gaslit and annoyed by its inconsistencies and mixed messages. This might be because Google’s latest tablet/smart-display hybrid straddles two product categories: one at which it excels and the other where it’s just adequate. As a smart display, the Pixel Tablet mostly shines. It has a useful dashboard, an easy-to-read interface and impressive audio quality. As a tablet, it’s decent, but doesn’t blow me away. Throw in the case that Google made though, and it immediately becomes more versatile. At $500 with an included charging speaker base, the Pixel Tablet is a compelling marriage of two products with a reasonable price.

Hardware and design

If we do the math, since you can buy additional speaker docks for $120 each, this means the tablet basically costs $380. But it certainly doesn’t feel like a sub-$400 device. While the nano-ceramic coating isn’t outstanding to look at, it lends a glass-like sensation to the back that makes it feel more expensive. Impressively, the Pixel Tablet manages to weigh just 1.09 pounds (493 grams), making it lighter than the Galaxy Tab S8 and the OnePlus Pad. Though, it’s still heavier than the iPad Air.

The review unit Google sent was the Rose color option, which is pleasant and inoffensive. It’s the most exciting out of the three colors (black and white being the other two, so that’s not saying much), and it blends (or blands) well with my living space. I prefer the green hue of the OnePlus Pad, but it’s worth noting that when I handed the Pixel Tablet to my colleague Nathan Ingraham, who recently reviewed the $480 OnePlus Pad, he thought Google’s device felt more premium.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

What really sets the Pixel Tablet apart from other recent Android slates is the fact that it’s designed to attach to a charging speaker base and double as a smart display. Now, let’s not forget there are other devices that do this, primarily numerous Amazon and Lenovo tablets with a Show mode that turns them into Alexa-enabled screens. But it’s a first for the Google ecosystem.

Before I get to how the Pixel Tablet works as a smart display, though, a quick word on its appearance. If you’ve seen one Google Home product, you’ve basically seen them all. The Pixel Tablet, when docked on the speaker, looks almost exactly like the Nest Hub Max. It has the same rounded rectangle shape, white bezel surrounding the 11-inch screen and the base has a similar mesh fabric covering to the rest of the company’s smart home products. Again, it’s inoffensive and pleasant, but doesn’t stir my heart the way a West Elm or Article ornament does. (I know, I’m basic.)

As a smart display

I was excited to stick the Pixel Tablet on the chest of drawers (from Article) in my bedroom so I could watch shows on it instead of having to buy a second TV or play them on my phone. Google cautioned against having multiple Assistant-enabled devices in one room, and I should have disconnected the Nest Mini speaker I already had on my nightstand. But it didn’t create too many problems during the few days I had them both in there – when I said “Hey Google” while standing nearer the small speaker, the volume of the video playing on the Pixel Tablet dipped so I could be heard more clearly.

After a week, I can now confidently remove the Nest Mini. Not only is the Pixel Tablet adept at hearing my commands, it also offers much better audio quality and is simply more useful. That’s kind of an obvious statement – of course a display would be more versatile than a speaker alone. But I’m surprised at the improvement in sound from the speaker dock, since it’s not much bigger than the Mini. It provided ample bass in my endless binging of The Weeknd and Jay Chou playlists, while trebles and voices sounded crisp.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

I’m not the sort of person to hover in front of a smart display to fiddle with my connected home controls, nor do I have people over often enough that I need some kind of guest-friendly interface to turn on my lights. For those who do, though, the Pixel Tablet’s Hub Mode is likely very useful. Tapping on the house icon at the bottom left of the lock screen brings up a dashboard showing all devices in your home, and you’ll be able to monitor your camera feeds, switch lamps on and more. Guests will also be able to ask the Assistant to set timers, alarms, play music and more without needing to unlock your tablet, as long as you’ve set the permissions properly.

Lack of visitors aside, it’s easy to see things on the Pixel Tablet’s screen whenever I set foot in my room, no matter how dark or bright it is. At night, the display goes into a dim mode that shows the time in large font but isn’t so bright that it burns your retinas. Since my dresser is in the furthest corner away from the door, it’s nice not to have to squint to see info like the time, countdowns or the temperature. And like a true narcissist, I also set the Pixel Tablet to show a rotating stream of photos of my favorite people (mostly me).

Not that any of this is unique to the Pixel Tablet, by the way. The Nest Hub Max has similarly larger fonts for timers and other info, and the photo frame feature is basically a staple of any smart display.

Back to the main thing I wanted to use this tablet for, though: as a TV substitute. Since it’s the first tablet to be a Chromecast receiver, the Pixel Tablet can be controlled remotely with your phone as it streams from apps like YouTube, Disney+, Hulu and more. Of course, other larger smart displays like the Nest Hub Max can also do this, and since this doesn’t work on the Pixel Tablet when it’s not docked, it’s not really a tablet you can cast to. We’re getting really technical with definitions here, but in practical use it means you can’t cast to the Pixel Tablet when you have it hanging or propped up elsewhere in your home, for example. It’s not a problem, but it limits the versatility of this feature.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Interestingly, Netflix doesn’t support Chromecasting to the tablet, unlike the other apps. It’s all the more strange considering it works on Google’s other larger smart displays. I also encountered a bug where YouTube refused to cast videos from a specific channel, saying they weren’t allowed when I was in Restricted mode. But none of the devices I was logged into had that setting enabled. Other reviewers I spoke to didn’t have this issue, so this might be a bug specific to my setup.

It did infuriate me though, because it’s easier to Chromecast my favorite commentary videos since I can skip ads or add more titles without having to drag myself out of bed. Sadly, I had to do just that since I ended up playing them via the native YouTube app. My hatred for Google and this bug grew exponentially each time I had to get out and hit “Skip ads” on the screen. (No, you’re not going to convince me to get YouTube Premium.) This small bug aside, though, Chromecasting is a nice touch on the Pixel Tablet, even if it isn’t unique.

I have multiple Google Home products in my apartment, and some of my issues with the Pixel Tablet as a smart display are ecosystem-wide instead of specific to the device. For instance, when I set up an Automation through the Home app, I wanted it so that saying “I’m home” would start a playlist on the pair of Nest Audios in my living room. However, at the moment only the device that heard you can be the one playing the music. You can’t decide which of your connected speakers does the action.

Depending on the way your home is set up, like if you have a Mini in your entryway and prefer your beefier living room system to be the output, this might be frustrating. Luckily for me, the correct devices heard me most of the time, and I almost always got my desired outcome.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

That’s more of a complaint about Google’s smart home system instead of just the Pixel Tablet, which frankly I am pretty happy with. Not only is it a good connected display, but it’s also useful as a second screen when sat next to my laptop.

Since it runs full Android, I can have apps like Solitaire or Slack open on it while I work on a review. You can also take video calls through Meet, Zoom, Teams or more, using the 8-megapixel webcam up top. The angle at which the speaker dock props up the tablet makes for a very unflattering shot, though. To mitigate that, Google built in an auto-framing feature that kicks in whenever you take a Meet call while connected to the base. It only works with Meet, though, so you’ll have to rely on third-party apps to provide their own solutions.

I found that removing the tablet and propping it up with the kickstand on Google’s case made for the best view. In fact, I’m pretty much in love with this accessory.

As a tablet

Look, a kickstand on a tablet isn’t a groundbreaking concept. Lenovo made tablets with built-in stands that also worked as hangers years ago, while Surface devices have featured similar mechanisms for ages. But neither Lenovo’s Yoga Tablet nor any of the Surfaces doubled as smart displays. Google was also thoughtful enough to build the kickstand so that it wouldn’t get in the way of attaching the tablet to the speaker. In fact, the ring-shaped kickstand almost perfectly encircles the dock when folded into the case.

What I love about the kickstand-hanger-combo is that it allows you to place the Tablet pretty much anywhere. So when I want to hang it off a kitchen cabinet to follow along with a recipe video or keep watching Love Is Blind for example, I can. And though the 2,560 x 1,600 LCD panel isn’t as vibrant as the OLED on Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs, it still produced crisp details and colorful images.

I’ve waxed poetic about the case, but it’s not without flaws. The way it wraps around the power button makes accessing the fingerprint sensor difficult. The cases Google sent us for review are pre-production samples, though, so it’s possible the company improves this before launch.

I also played endless rounds of Solitaire with the tablet propped up on my table while I had dinner and watched TV. That’s honestly the thing most tablets are good for – entertainment – , but often not much else. Google does offer some multitasking features in Android, but it doesn’t make a keyboard specifically for the Pixel Tablet.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

You can connect your own Bluetooth keyboard, of course, but Android L still isn’t the best platform for productivity. Yes, you can run two apps side by side or drag and drop pictures between things like WhatsApp and Gmail. And plenty of first-party and third-party apps support this feature and are now optimized for larger screens. But quirks persist.

When you drag the vertical divider to resize apps, for example, you’ll sometimes need to relaunch them. It happens often when you shrink something down from taking up half the screen to about a third. The system will ask you to tap a button to re-open it, at which point it changes to the smartphone version. Thankfully, relaunching an app doesn’t take long, and when I had to do this with the New York Times crossword, it opened again exactly where I left off instead of forcing me to start over from the home page.

The new taskbar that Google introduced on the Pixel Tablet makes it easier to launch apps in split screen, though the gesture takes a bit to get used to. Like the row of predicted apps in the Android app drawer, this taskbar will study your habits and overtime start to surface things it suspects you want.

Another thing that the Pixel Tablet might be good for, in theory, is drawing and taking notes. Though Google does make a $30 stylus for the device, it did not send samples along with review units, so I wasn’t able to test it for this review.

Here’s the thing: I barely used the Pixel Tablet undocked. I rarely felt the need to pick it up, unless my phone was dead and I wanted to play more Solitaire. The upside of always placing the Tablet on its dock is that when I do want a larger screen for reading, more immersive gaming or watching movies on the go, the Tablet is always charged and ready for me.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Because of that, it was challenging to get a real sense for the day-to-day battery life. Whenever I was done with the few moments I needed the device, I instinctively placed it back on the dock, where it would slowly juice back up.

When you do need the tablet to last you longer than a few moments in your home, though, it's more than up to the task. On our video rundown battery test, the Pixel Tablet clocked 21 and a half hours at 50 percent brightness, which is more than the longest international nonstop flights.

If you ever do run out of juice, it takes the Pixel Tablet about three hours to get back to fully charged if you use a cable. On the speaker dock, Google optimizes charging to preserve battery life, maintaining it at about 90 percent instead of fully topping it off. I haven’t measured if the charging speed here is slower than with a wire, especially since I’m not usually in a hurry to pick the tablet back up after docking it.

Wrap-up

Maybe Android tablets aren’t dead after all. Maybe all they needed was a dock to call home and kickstand/hanger that made them more functional. But, despite its name, the Pixel Tablet is far less exciting as a tablet than a smart display. With its charging speaker dock and $80 case, Google presents a far more compelling proposition for its latest product. And despite some quirks, I’ve found life with the Pixel Tablet to be enjoyable, and most of its problems seem solvable. I can only hope Google keeps working on it and doesn’t unceremoniously cast the Pixel Tablet into its graveyard of unloved products. With some software updates, there’s a potentially bright future for the Pixel Tablet.

Opera says its generative AI-infused browser is ready for public consumption. Opera One is now out of early access. It's more broadly available on Windows, Mac and Linux. You can download it from the company's website.

Opera features an integrated AI called Aria that you can access from the sidebar. You can use a keyboard shortcut (CTRL or Command and /) to start using Aria as well. The AI is also available in Opera's Android browser starting today.

The AI stems from Opera's partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Aria connects to GPT to help answer users' queries. The AI incorporates live information from the web and it can generate text or code and answer support questions regarding Opera products. In addition, Opera One can generate contextual prompts for Aria when you right click or highlighting text in the browser. If you prefer to use ChatGPT or ChatSonic, you can access those from the Opera One sidebar too.

Opera says users don't have to engage with the browser's AI features if they don't want to. For one thing, you'll need to be logged into an Opera account to use Aria.

Additionally, Opera One has a fresh look based on modular design principles. Opera says this will help the browser adapt to users' needs by surfacing key features. "The relevant modules within Opera One will adjust automatically based on context, providing the user with a more liquid and effortless browsing experience," it wrote in a blog post.

Opera is hoping to clean up tab clutter as well with a feature it calls tab islands. Opera One uses context to group related tabs together such as hotels and routes you might be looking at for a trip itinerary, or all the Google Docs you have open for a work project.

Meanwhile, Opera has retooled the browser under the hood. It employed a new architecture with a multithreaded compositor in the aim of offering a faster and smoother user interface. The company says this approach will also help it add new features and make Opera One stand out from other browsers based on Chromium. It said more AI-focused updates are in the pipeline for later this year.

Sennheiser is the next big brand to offer over-the-counter hearing aids, and it's clearly aiming at people who are already fans of its personal audio hardware. The newly introduced All-Day Clear (shown below) and All-Day Clear Slim (above) both include a charging case that behaves much like those you'd get with the Momentum True Wireless line or other Bluetooth earbuds. While the aids last up to 16 hours on a charge, this should save you hassles when it's time to top up.

Not surprisingly, Sennheiser claims strong audio quality with smart scene detection that optimizes voices based on the environment. You can customize the sound for your hearing levels through a mobile app within five minutes, the company says. And if you're ready to tune others out, you can listen to music like you would with regular wireless earbuds.

Sennheiser

Your choice mainly comes down to dimensions and price. The hearing aids will be available in mid-July starting at $1,400 for the standard All-Day Clear, and $1,500 for the All-Day Clear Slim. An In-Clinic Care Package will also be available if you'd still like professional help.

These aren't the most affordable or compact over-the-counter hearing aids. Sony's CRE-C10, for instance, is billed as one of the smallest options on the market and delivers up to 70 hours of battery life. Lexie's Bose-powered B1 currently costs $849. Sennheiser's devices are still far less expensive than prescription models (typically $1,000 or more per ear), mind you, and may be worth the extra outlay if the quality matches the brand's reputation.

The launch isn't surprising, at least. Sennheiser sold its consumer audio business to Sonova, a hearing aid specialist, in 2021. This was meant to expand Sonova's audience to a younger crowd while giving Sennheiser the chance to focus on its pro products. From now on, the two companies are working together — products like the All-Day Clear can theoretically benefit from the expertise of both firms.

This is a good moment to get an Apple smartwatch if you're more concerned about price than anything else. Amazon is once more selling the Apple Watch Series 8 with a 41mm case and GPS for $329, or a steep $70 discount that's very nearly a record low. This applies to all but the Product Red color, and you'll also see bargains for cellular and 45mm models.

The Apple Watch Series 8 may be an iterative update, but it remains our favorite overall smartwatch. You can expect brisk performance, an exceptional display, solid fitness tracking and robust health features that include ECGs, blood oxygen monitoring, crash detection and a temperature sensor for sleep and reproductive cycle tracking. More importantly, there's a strong ecosystem that includes a wide range of third-party apps as well as tight integration with other Apple products. You can seamlessly switch AirPods between your iPhone and watch, or unlock your Mac.

The catch, aside from the iPhone requirement, is simply that Series 8 is several months old. We won't be surprised if there's an Apple Watch Series 9 in September. The current generation is much easier to justify at $329, though, and it will easily handle watchOS 10 when the software upgrade arrives later this year. And right now, this is arguably the best value in the lineup. While the second-generation Apple Watch SE is priced lower at $249, the gap is small enough that it may be worth the extra money for the 8's always-on display and more advanced health sensors.

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Samsung has announced that its self-repair program is now available in the UK and other European countries, after launching in the US last year. Users will be able to access tools and parts needed to fix supported devices, namely the Galaxy S20, S21 and S22 smartphones, along with the Galaxy Book Pro regular and Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops.

"Samsung is working to extend the lifecycle of our devices to encourage users to experience the optimised performance of their Galaxy device for as long as possible," said Samsung's president and Head of Mobile eXperience, TM Roh. "We are committed to scaling access to our Self-Repair program around the world while improving the repairability of our products."

In addition to the UK, the program will be available in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Samsung collaborated with iFixit in the US, but parts distributors ASWO and 2Service will handle sales and distribution of the repair kits in Europe. The program is already live in parts of Europe, and will come to other regions including the UK by the end of June. 

Galaxy S20, S21 and S22 series owners will be able to replace the phone screen, back glass and charging ports. If you need to fix a Galaxy Book Pro, you'll have access to seven parts, including the case front, case rear, display, battery, touchpad, power key with fingerprint reader and rubber feet. 

Repair kits cost around €30 in Germany (UK pricing isn't yet available). For a Galaxy S20, the charging port and back panel are around €50, while the display costs €200. That climbs for newer and higher-end models, up to €310 for the Galaxy S22 Ultra display. Samsung has how-to videos and more on a dedicated support page. 

In February, Reddit revealed it had been the victim of a targeted phishing scheme that exposed internal docs, dashboards, code and contracts, along with some advertisers' and current and former employees' information. None of the data appears to have found its way to the public, but that could soon change. Ransomware gang BlackCat, also known as ALPHV, has just taken responsibility for the hack and claims to have 80GB of compressed data. In a post called "The Reddit Files," BlackCat announced it would delete the information if Reddit gives it $4.5 million and reverses API price increases.

BlackCat captured the information through a scheme that saw employees receive "plausible sounding prompts" to visit a website designed just like Reddit's intranet gateway. One individual fell for the trick, allowing hackers to steal their login details and second-factor tokens. The person then self-reported their mistake, and it's believed the security breach didn't compromise Reddit users' personal information.

Now, months later, the hackers have publicly revealed themselves in the midst of site-wide protests against API price hikes (yes, the same ones BlackCat is so admirably demanding be undone). The increased cost is forcing popular third-party apps like Narwhal and Apollo to shut down, with Apollo creator Christian Selig claiming he would need to spend $20 million per year to stay in business. Developers also fear losing third-party apps will lead to more censoring and less opportunity for growing ad revenue.

A massive protest saw up to 8,000 subreddits go dark at one time, but the results are mixed, with Reddit doubling down on its plans. "These people who are mad, they're mad because they used to get something for free, and now it's going to be not free," Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman said in an interview with The Verge. He has also suggested making it easier to remove moderators who aren't making "popular" decisions. Though Reddit shows no signs of reversing its decision, some advertisers have paused on the site while blackouts continue.

It's uncertain how, if at all, this new development will impact API prices, with Reddit yet to comment on whether it will meet the demands. BlackCat claims Reddit ignored its past two contact attempts, in April and June, and doesn't have much hope a public ultimatum will make a difference. "We are very confident that Reddit will not pay any money for their data," BlackCat stated in its post. "We expect to leak the data."

Tudum, Netflix’s in-house mix of Comic Con and shareholder presentation, took place this weekend. The company used the moment to tease plenty of forthcoming projects, including its live-action remakes of One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender. It also showed off its adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II novel All The Light We Cannot See.

The streamer also revealed the first teaser for the adaptation of Liu Cixin’s award-winning sci-fi novel The Three Body Problem. That has the distinction of being the first (finished) project to come from Game of Thrones co-creators / co-ruiners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss since all of that.

But what’s likely to be the biggest new release was the game show adaptation of blockbuster dystopia Squid Game, which will land in November. The series puts 456 contestants through a set of grueling challenges until one winner walks away with $4.56 million in prize money. Bear in mind that participants have already described their experiences on the show as “absolutely inhumane,” and plenty of contestants required medical attention during the challenges. Satire, eh?

– Dan Cooper

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Binance reaches deal with SEC to avoid US asset freeze

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Until the resolution of its lawsuit, the SEC will allow Binance to continue operating in the US. Officials sued the exchange for various alleged misdeeds and had initially sought to freeze its assets entirely, essentially putting it out of business. But a judge has forced a compromise, allowing Binance to keep going, doing just enough to safeguard its users’ assets and enable withdrawals before the courtroom drama begins proper.

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel wants to open a formal Notice of Inquiry into the impact of internet data caps on consumers, according to an FCC document spotted by Ars Technica. The regulator will also consider "taking action" to ensure that data caps don't harm competition or impact access to broadband services, according to the letter. 

"Internet access is no longer nice-to-have, but need-to-have for everyone, everywhere," Rosenworcel said in a statement. "When we need access to the internet, we aren’t thinking about how much data it takes to complete a task, we just know it needs to get done. It’s time the FCC take a fresh look at how data caps impact consumers and competition."

With the Notice of Inquiry, the FCC would "seek comment to better understand why the use of data caps continues to persist despite increased broadband needs of consumers and providers' demonstrated technical ability to offer unlimited data plans," according to the letter. 

Rosenworcel would be unable to take any action on data caps at the moment, though. The FCC currently has just four members (two Democrats and two Republicans), as the Senate refused to confirm President Biden's first nominee, Gigi Sohn, and she subsequently withdrew her name for consideration. The White House has since nominated telecom attorney Anna Gomez, who appears to have the support of the telecom industry. A nomination hearing for Gomez is scheduled for this Thursday, June 22nd. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband provider Comcast temporarily removed data caps, but it continues to impose a 1.2TB data cap on certain contracts in some US regions. Charter's deal with the FCC to not impose data caps on its Spectrum service (struck when it acquired Time Warner) ended this year, but the company recently said it has "no plans to [restart data caps] when the condition sunsets." 

Along with the proposed Notice of Inquiry, the FCC has opened a new portal to allow consumers to share how data caps have affected them (on fixed or wireless broadband networks) at fcc.gov/datacapstories. That will help the FCC determine how data caps impact access for everyone "including those with disabilities, low-income consumers, and historically disadvantaged communities, and access to online education, telehealth and remote work," the Commission wrote.

Between all the trailers Netflix shared yesterday during its Tudum event for properties like One Piece and 3 Body Problem, you may have missed some of the more grounded dramas the company was promoting at the same time. One of those was its upcoming adaption of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All The Light We Cannot See. Netflix shared a new teaser for its four-part miniseries of the same name.

If you haven’t read Doerr’s excellent 2014 novel, All The Light We Cannot See is set during the Second World War and follows Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a German orphan who is conscripted into the Nazi war machine at the start of the conflict. The two are connected to one another over the radio. Doerr’s lyrical prose is a highlight, but so is the novel’s attention to detail, with much of the narrative unfolding in the town of Saint-Malo.

In addition to a star-studded cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, as well as Aria Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann as the story’s protagonists, All The Light We Cannot See features some noteworthy talent behind the camera. Steven Knight, best known for his work on Locke, Spencer and Peaky Blinders, wrote the adaption, while Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy directed the series. All The Light We Cannot See will start streaming on November 2nd, giving you some time to read the source material if you’re so inclined.