ArduinoMania

After breaking from Huawei, Honor has made the case that, in Europe at least, it is Samsung’s true rival in the Android space. In the last three years, it has offered flagship phones that are spec-for-spec the equal of whatever that year’s S-series is packing. Sadly, it’s also doing this at a time when the spec arms race is all but done, and it’s harder than ever to actually stand out amongst the crowd. The Magic 5 Pro doesn’t deviate from the template laid down by its two predecessors, so Honor can’t play on your neophilia as a reason to buy it. But there might be something in the sheer muscularity of its offering that could tempt you into making the switch.

The Magic 5 Pro is making its debut at MWC in Barcelona, and will be sold in both Europe and China. Design-wise, it’s close to its predecessor, but Honor says the new handset apes the sweeping, organic curves favored by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Where the Magic 4 Pro had a fairly hard line around its camera hump – sorry, Eye of Muse – here the back cover pours itself into the bump quite seamlessly. It’s comfortable enough in your hand and light enough to hold, but you’ll need the case to keep things pristine. It’s available in fingerprint-magnet piano Black and Meadow Green, which looks nicer in person than it does in photos.

Honor

A sense of evolution, rather than revolution, continues along the rest of the spec list, with little major difference between the Magic 4 and its replacement. The “Quad Curved Floating Screen” is, like the Magic 4, a 6.81-inch, 120Hz, LTPO OLED display with a 2,848 x 1,312 resolution that curves into the frame. Honor says that the enhancements are mostly behind the scenes, with a new discrete display chipset for better video quality and better brightness. Whereas the Magic 4 could muster up 1,000 nits, its successor can crank out 1,300 nits, or 1,800 nits at peak.

Nestled inside is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, up from the Gen 1 found on the Magic 4, matching the silicon inside the S23, which is paired with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. Although Honor can’t call upon the same overclocking magic found in Samsung’s handset, it does say its AI-infused performance software will do a similar job. Sadly, I had all of ten minutes to spend with the handset and so there wasn’t the chance to do any serious stress testing. But history tells us that a handset this chock-full of gear is hardly going to be a slouch.

A 5,100mAh battery is powering the show here, a significantly bigger battery than the 4,500 found on the 4. This, I suspect, is the reason this handset is four grams heavier than the last one, but what’s a couple of grams between friends, eh? That cell will accept 66W wired or 50W wireless charging, if you have the necessary Honor SuperCharge stand in your home. As I said above, this is more or less what you’d expect with any Android flagship these days.

The major selling point for a handset like this is the camera, and Honor is doing its usual job here. Magic 5 Pro comes with a “Star Wheel” version of its “Eye of Muse” camera ring, packed with three beefy lenses jutting out from the back. First is a 50-megapixel, f/1.6 lens with a custom 1/1.12-inch sensor, the manufacturer of which I don’t yet know. That’s paired with a 50-megapixel, f/2.0 ultra-wide camera with a 122-degree field of view and a 50-megapixel, f/3.0 periscope telephoto with a 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom connected to Sony’s IMX858 image sensor. Less attention is given to the forward facing camera, which is probably the same 12-megapixel, f/2.4 unit paired with a 3D depth camera as found in the Magic 4 Pro.

(Those with long memories, or access to Google, will recall that the Magic 4 Pro’s telephoto lens had a quoted resolution of 64-megapixels. An Honor spokesperson said that the switch is down to an improvement in sensor size, and the new image engine will offer “far better light sensing.”)

Daniel Cooper

Supporting the headline trio is, again, an 8x8 Direct Time of Flight Sensor for laser focusing, a multi-spectrum color temperature and flicker sensor. Those will all add muscle to the handset’s upgraded image engine, promising faster capture, better HDR and higher quality computational photography. The company hinted about further improvements to the stills shooting, and while the video-shooting abilities garnered nary a mention, it’ll still output (compressed) “Log” footage using Honor’s proprietary Magic-Log format.

As for what you can do with those lenses, Honor is making the same noises it’s always made about its class-leading imaging. As well as a Dxomark score of 152, the company — before the handset was even announced – bragged that the Magic 5 Pro’s camera was good enough to capture a Guinness World Record in the making. And that its AI smarts were capable of plucking a single, perfect frame of a basketballer mid-dunk that was worthy of sharing.

Now, we must always treat these pledges as they’re intended, knowing that they mean nothing until we’ve tried to replicate those results ourselves. As we learned last year when we really tested the Magic 4 Pro’s promise of 4K video shooting, promises are cheaper than delivering.

One thing that’s clear about so many handsets these days is that companies are looking for marginal gains all over the package. For instance, Honor says the Magic 5 Pro has discrete Bluetooth and WiFi antennas which should boost download speeds and improve the reliability of your Bluetooth connection. It’s hard to see if those are current gripes with a wide number of users, but it’s good to see some thought put to improving matters.

And Honor has also revived a much-ballyhooed, rarely-loved gimmick feature in the form of air gestures. Now, you can control elements of your phone’s UI from a foot over the top of the front facing camera, when you’re trying to browse recipes with messy hands. Honor says that their return is thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s additional power, which is capable of watching your hand movements without putting too much pressure on the system-on-chip.

Now, I only had about ten minutes of time with the handset, and there wasn’t a whole lot of stuff I could do to put it through its paces. I will say that I’m expecting the imaging performance to be a lot snappier than what was available on the demo unit, which felt a little sluggish. And that while nobody’s expecting any smartphone maker to reinvent the wheel, there’s fewer marks on offer for polish. As I said at the top, my initial impression of Honor’s Magic 5 Pro is of a handset that doesn’t deviate from the template laid down by its two immediate predecessors, but one that’s been polished to a very high shine.

Sadly, Honor was keeping details of the Magic 5 Pro’s price a secret until the conclusion of its press conference. And so, this section will be fleshed out as soon as we have the information about how much this thing will cost, and when you get it. But I suspect that Honor will need to trim its asking price if it wants to tempt away folks who, right now, have sworn their brand allegiance to Samsung.

Tear down the middle school geology posters: We have an update. A team at Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence of a new fifth layer to the planet, an iron-nickel alloy ball in the inner core. The scientists found the hidden core by studying seismic waves that travel up to five times across the Earth's diameter – previous studies only looked at single bounces. The earthquake waves probed places near the center at angles that suggested a different crystalline structure deep inside.

The ANU researchers also believe the innermost inner core hints at a major event in Earth's past that had a "significant" impact on the planet's heart. As researchers told The Washington Post, it could also help explain the formation of the Earth's magnetic field. The field plays a major role in supporting life as it shields the Earth from harmful radiation and keeps water from drifting into space.

– Mat Smith

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Russia's replacement Soyuz spacecraft arrives at ISS to bring back MS-22 crew

The spacecraft successfully docked on Saturday evening.

ROCOSMOS

MS-23, the Soyuz spacecraft Russia sent to bring cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth, has arrived at the International Space Station. According to Space.com, the vessel docked with the ISS at 7:58 PM ET on Saturday evening. MS-23 was scheduled to launch later this year, but Roscosmos was forced to push up the flight after MS-22 – Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio’s original return craft – sprung a coolant leak in December following a micrometeoroid strike. If an emergency broke out on the ISS and the entire crew had to evacuate, it wasn’t clear whether MS-22 could carry its crew safely back to Earth. That’s no longer the case, now the Soyuz spacecraft is docked.

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Watch the first episode of Star Trek: Picard’s final season for free

You can watch it on YouTube before paying out for a Paramount+ sub.

If you can’t resist the chance to see the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation one last time, Paramount is offering a free way to watch the first episode of season three. The debut episode sees Jean-Luc Picard return from retirement (yet again) after his friend and former first officer Will Riker receives a warning from Dr. Beverly Crusher. We’ve shared opinions on the first six episodes, but if you’re still intrigued, now there’s a chance to make your own mind up.

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Engadget Podcast: AI all the things!

ChatGPT is popping up on the Kindle Store, and even Spotify is looking at AI.

Engadget

The AI news just won’t stop! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discussed the latest on Bing AI – Microsoft is loosening up recent restrictions, following reports of its bad behavior – as well as the rise of ChatGPT stories on the Kindle store. Spotify is also launching its own AI DJ, starring the digitized voice of one of its current hosts.

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The advent of MWC is always an opportunity for Google to shine a light on some smaller, but still useful, tweaks to its ecosystems. This year, the Android giant is unveiling a raft of minor additions to Android and Wear OS designed to further smooth the bumps in your digital life. That includes a new widget for Google Keep that’ll let you check-off to-do lists from the comfort of your home screen. You’ll also get the ability to, with a compatible watch, let you dictate notes and to-do list items from your wrist.

Another more notable change is improved noise cancellation in Google Meet when used on some Android devices. The company says that, much like the feature as it already exists, you’ll find the noise of nearby construction or other distractions will be crunched to oblivion while you chat. And, on the audio front, Google says that you’ll soon be able to use Chrome OS' Fast Pair feature to connect new Bluetooth headphones to your machine with a single tap.

Less notable additions include the ability to mash together different emoji to offer a more topic relevant response. In the example, you can merge the Basketball emoji with the Heart Eyes, to give you either a heart-shaped basketball, or add a basketball-like texture to those same heart eyes. Similarly, Android handsets will get new tap-to-pay animations to bring some cartoonish cheer to balance out the misery of spending money on things.

And, on the accessibility front, Chrome on Android will now let you zoom the size of content by up to 300 percent while preserving page layout. Wear OS 3+, meanwhile, will offer Mono-audio for those who might be distracted by stereo, as well as grayscale and color-correction modes for your watch display for easier viewing. If you’re interested in learning more about this, you can check out Google’s full and comprehensive work-up of all the features over at its blog.

AR is an exciting idea, but it’s not clear if there’s enough computational power in the world to make such a fantastic concept real. Undeterred, Xiaomi has unveiled its Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition, a compact AR headset using the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 found in the Quest Pro. The company says these oversized sunglasses offer an elegant way to blend the digital and real worlds while, most crucially, not requiring a physical tether to a smartphone.

Weighing 126g (4.4 ounces), Xiaomi crafted the hardware from magnesium-titanium alloy and carbon fiber parts to lighten the load. It’s also rocking a custom-made silicon-oxygen anode battery which, all in, Xiaomi says will reduce the physical burden on the user. (This user would like to disagree, speaking from experience that anything over 100g pressing on your nose is still too much to take for extended periods of time.)

As for the displays, the headset is packing a pair of microOLED displays hooked up to a pair of “free-form, light-guiding” prisms so pixel-dense, your eyes won’t spot the squares. The company says, too, that you’ll experience less brightness loss than with other close-up displays, and can crank out a peak brightness of 1,200nits. And, for immersion’s sake, the front of the lenses are electrochromic, automatically dimming when you need to focus on the virtual world.

The advanced hand-tracking is said to enable a new form of user interaction, whereby our hands can be used to manipulate the digital world. In a concept video, a wearer looks at a smart light and deactivates it by flicking a virtual switch hovering over the device itself. Users will also be able to, Minority Report-style, flick and tap around the internet (or video), and potentially use these for productivity purposes as well.

The advent of these glasses is also part of Qualcomm’s own plans to leverage its Snapdragon Spaces platform to boost XR devices. Xiaomi’s hardware, when paired with a compatible device like the new Xiaomi 13, and promises latency low enough that you won’t notice the lack of a wire. And the company says that it will “work closely with developers to expedite the arrival of AR,” so vital in the still-nascent space.

Unfortunately there’s no word on price or availability since this is very much a concept device as yet. Consequently we wouldn’t recommend setting up a separate savings account to put aside cash to buy one of these unless you’re really, really, really patient.

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One of the best selling points of Apple devices is that even when the company releases new hardware, previous generations continue to be supported for years to come. That's the case for the popular 2021 10.2-inch iPad, which now finds itself on sale at Amazon for $250, the lowest price we've seen to date. That's at least a $79 saving on its recommended price and $20 below its previous low.

The 10.2-inch iPad remains a solid purchase simply because it has a lot of bang for its buck. At $250, it'll run all day, has a nice bright display and its processor is still plenty snappy for gaming and general multitasking. Its wide-angle camera with Center Stage makes it easier for the family to video call friends and loved ones by bundling everyone into the frame. The 2021 iPad has enough storage for most tasks, access to plenty of apps and offers improved Messages, Siri and Dictation features with iPadOS 16.

Make no mistake, the 2021 iPad — with its old-school design — may feel a little dated compared to its newer sibling. You won't get those thinner bezels, faster processors and improved cameras, but you won't be spending $400 either. There's no Magic Keyboard or second-generation Pencil support on this model but if you don't need those extras, the 10.2-inch iPad is still a very solid device for armchair gaming, reading, video watching and browsing.

Mercedes-Benz offered a closer look at the interior of its new E-Class sedans and fancy dashboard earlier this month. The car looks nice so far! It boasts an electrified powertrain and tons of tech, including support for Level 3 autonomous driving and a lot of apps you'll need to pay extra to use. The car seems like a comfortable way to get around, too. Perhaps so comfortable that you might just want to turn your car into a mobile office. 

If that's the case, then you're in luck. Mercedes-Benz has struck a partnership with Cisco to kit out the new E-Class with Webex Meetings and Calling and Webex AI audio capabilities — everything a busy worker needs to never get a moment's peace. They announced the collaboration at last week's E-Class event and revealed more details at Mobile World Congress. "This partnership will help people get work done safely, securely and comfortably in their vehicles," the companies said in a press release. That definitely seems better than getting stuff done at the office, home or a coffee shop.

In case you absolutely need to hop into a meeting while you're at the wheel, which is hopefully a very rare occasion, the companies claim to offer "best-in-class noise cancellation" thanks to Webex’s audio intelligence tech. Meetings and calls are audio-only unless you're parked, in which case you'll have access to video meetings, AI-powered transcription, content sharing functions and emoji reactions. There'll be a Webex app in the Mercedes Benz Car App Store, while the built-in WiFi and cellular data connection mean you don't need your phone at all to hop into a meeting. At least for someone, I'm sure that's the embodiment of living the dream.

In fairness, there are some use cases where Webex in a car may make sense. Mercedes and Cisco suggested that an architect might need to check in with their colleagues immediately after leaving a work site, while someone might have to jump into a meeting right after dropping off the kids at school. Conference calls certainly happen in cars.

This isn't exactly the first time that a meeting app has invaded cars. Webex already supports CarPlay, as does Microsoft Teams. Webex is available in some Ford models too. If you truly do want to experience Webex meetings at the wheel of a 2023 E-Class, you may be pleased to learn that you'll get the chance when the sedans hit dealerships in the spring.

Like many other PC and phone manufacturers, Lenovo is at MWC Barcelona this week, sharing details about what it has in store for the rest of the year. The company’s 2023 lineup includes refreshed ThinkPad laptops and ThinkCentre monitors, but perhaps the most interesting announcement involves the IdeaPad Duet 3i.

Lenovo is updating the Windows 11 2-in-1 to add a larger 11.5-inch IPS panel with a 2,000 x 1,200 resolution, 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage and 400 nits of peak brightness. The new model also has upgraded 5-megapixel and 8-megapixel front and rear-facing cameras and an N200 processor from Intel. The four-core, four-thread processor features a boost clock of up to 3.7GHz. You can configure the IdeaPad with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It also comes with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, and with the option to pair the device with a stylus, Lenovo says the IdeaPad Duet 3i is perfect for students. The 2-in-1 will arrive in Europe later this year and cost €449 (about $473).

Lenovo

Lenovo is also updating its affordable IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook line. The company will offer the 14-inch laptop in three different display options. At the top of the stack, there’s a Full HD model with an IPS panel that offers 100 percent sRGB coverage and 300 nits of brightness. Another FHD model comes with a TN panel that peaks at 250 nits. And for those looking to spend as little as possible on their next computer, Lenovo will also offer a 1,366 x 768 option. You can configure the IdeaPad Slim 3 with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage. With a modest MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor powering everything, Lenovo says its latest Chromebook can go up to 13.5 hours on a single charge. The company expects the IdeaPad Slim 3 to start at $340 when it arrives in May.

You can read Engadget’s hands-on with the ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 and Z16 Gen 2 to get the full scoop on those laptops, but the short version is that they feature AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 series processors and Radeon GPUs. You can configure both devices with up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of internal storage. Lenovo will offer two screen options with the Z13. You can either go with an IPS panel or a 2.8K OLED. Both displays feature a 16:10 aspect ratio and 400 nits of peak brightness. With the Z16, meanwhile, your options are between an IPS panel and a 4K OLED. Both computers also come with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 support, and Lenovo will allow you to outfit the Z13 with an optional casing made partially from woven plant fibers. The ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 will arrive in July and start at $1,249. Lenovo expects to begin selling ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 one month later. It will start at $1,749. 

Back at CES, Lenovo showed off a huge portfolio of new devices including a true dual-screen laptop and a desk lamp that doubles as a webcam. But now, Lenovo is back at Mobile World Congress with a few more refreshed notebooks and tablets headlined by two interesting updates to the ThinkPad Z family.

Designed to be ideal companions for hybrid workers, the new ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 and Z16 Gen 2 feature an all-AMD setup. You’ll be able to choose from a range of Ryzen 7000 processors and even an optional Radeon 6650M graphics card on the larger Z16, along with up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. However, for people who are constantly hopping on and off video calls, the ThinkPad Z13 and Z16’s new communication features might be the bigger draw.

That’s because in addition to new full HD webcams, you’ll also get support for Wi-Fi 6E and Dolby Voice-enabled microphones, so you should look and sound good on Zoom meetings. But my favorite new feature is the TrackPoint Quick Menu that can be summoned by simply double-tapping the company’s signature red nub. This opens a window that lets you quickly adjust things like camera settings, mic volume, voice dictation, noise suppression and more. You can even customize which settings you want to see so you have fast access to the things you tend to change most often and I think it’s a great way of adding new functionality to a classic component like the TrackPoint.

Other specs include up to a 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED display on the Z13 Gen 2 or a larger and higher resolution 16-inch 4K OLED panel on the Z16 Gen 2. Lenovo has also retained handy features like an electronic shutter for the webcam, in addition to dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, two or three USB ports depending on the system, and a dedicated SD card reader on the Z16.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Meanwhile, to help improve your mousing experience, both the Z13 and Z16 Gen 2 feature a Fusion FX touchpad from Sensel, which adds more sophisticated haptics, better palm rejection and more. On top of being physically larger (120mm across), long-time Trackpoint fans will also appreciate that Sensel’s touchpad supports three virtual haptic buttons that run across the top of the touchpad, so you’ll still have easy access to left and right mouse clicks without having to reach too far.

Finally, the last big change for the Z13 is that alongside the default aluminum finish, as part of its commitment to sustainability, Lenovo is also introducing a new flax fiber lid which is made from waste material collected during the harvesting process. This material is something we’ve seen before on a handful of concept cars from companies like Porsche and Polestar, but Lenovo says this is the first time this reinforced flax fiber material will be available on a consumer electronic device.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Admittedly, this isn’t for everyone, but I kind of like it because it looks almost like a futuristic take on wood paneling. Not only does this add a bit of warmth to the laptop’s appearance, just like a nice piece of furniture, each flax fiber lid features a unique grain, which gives the whole system a bit of added personality. On top of that, Lenovo says the lid is bonded to a top cover made from 75 percent recycled aluminum.

While their designs aren’t changing a ton (aside from that new lid option on Z13), the addition of speedier components, larger touchpads and better conferencing features should make the second-gen ThinkPad Z-series laptops even better at getting work done – both at home or in the office. And thanks to its optional flax fiber lid, the Z13 Gen 2 might be the most stylish and sustainable ThinkPad yet.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is expected to go on sale sometime in July starting at $1,249, with the ThinkPad Z16 Gen arriving a bit later in August starting at $1,749.

For at least the fourth time since he said the company was done with layoffs, Elon Musk is reportedly cutting more of Twitter’s workforce. According to The Information, the social media website laid off “dozens” of employees on Saturday evening. The outlet put the number of affected staffers at approximately 50, a number Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer later said was likely much higher.

“Hearing that the Twitter layoffs last night were well above 50 and hit multiple departments including engineering,” Schiffer tweeted on Saturday, subsequently adding that product manager Esther Crawford was among those Twitter let go on over the weekend. Crawford’s departure is notable for a few reasons. Outside of Musk himself, she was one of the most recognizable faces at “Twitter 2.0.” She led the company’s Twitter Blue redesign and oversaw work on its upcoming payments platform. At one point, she even shared a photo of herself sleeping on the floor of Twitter’s office.

The company’s latest cuts claimed at least one other prominent employee. On Saturday morning, Revue founder Martijn de Kuijper tweeted he was among those who had lost their job. “Waking up to find I’ve been locked out of my email,” he said. “Looks like I’m let go.” Twitter shut down Revue at the start of this year. Musk did not address the cuts on Twitter. “Hope you have a good Sunday,” he tweeted early Sunday afternoon. “First day of the rest of your life.” Since his takeover of the company last year, it’s believed Twitter has cut more than 80 percent of its full-time staff. As of January, the company’s daily revenue was reportedly down 40 percent year-over-year.