The USPS is moving forward with plans to spend $11.3 billion on a fleet of next-generation mail trucks that mostly run on gas, despite requests from the EPA and Biden administration to electrify its new vehicles instead. The new trucks, which were revealed last year, feature modern amenities like air conditioning, 360-degree cameras, and collision detection. While they can be powered by either gas or electric engines, the initial order from the USPS only included 5,000 electric trucks, or around 10 percent of the entire order.
"Our commitment to an electric fleet remains ambitious given the pressing vehicle and safety needs of our aging fleet as well as our fragile financial condition," Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a statement. He went on to say that the agency would try buy more EVs as additional funding became available, but added that "the process needs to keep moving forward" to give postal workers more modern vehicles.
Today's postal trucks, which include the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV), have been in service since the 1980s, have few safety features and abysmal single-digit fuel economy. Practically any modern truck would be an improvement, but the EPA argued earlier this month that investing in more gas vehicles would ultimately accelerate climate change and hurt American health. The USPS ultimately decided to ignore the EPA's request for supplemental environmental impact statements, and it refused to hold a public hearing about the next-gen vehicle plan.
After unveiling its beefy H-series 12th-gen laptop chips during CES, Intel is finally ready to shed more light on its new U and P-series CPUs for ultraportables. And, much like AMD's upcoming Ryzen 6000 chips, it looks like Intel is aiming to deliver a huge performance boost, while consuming less power than last year's hardware.
The big takeaway? It's going to be an interesting year for ultraportable PCs, which could offer enough power to play a few games and give Apple's custom processors some serious competition.
With the Core i7-1280P, Intel's fastest 28-watt P-series CPU, the company claims you'll see up to 70 percent faster multithreaded performance than last year's i7-1195G7. Notably, Intel says it also offers better multithreaded performance than the Core i9-11980HK, one of its fastest processors from 2021, while consuming around half as much power. And of course, that also means it beats out the Ryzen 7 5800U from last year (Intel didn't have access to AMD's new processors for benchmarking, naturally).
Like the rest of its 12th-gen lineup, Intel's U and P-series chips are a new hybrid design that combines Performance cores (P-cores) and Efficient cores (E-cores) on a single die. The i7-1280P is a 14-core chip (6 P-cores along with 8 E-cores) that maxes out at 4.8GHz on its P-cores. Its 28-watt base power consumption puts it in thin and light territory, but it can scale up to 64-watts to reach Max Turbo speeds. (That's for when you're plugged in and not worrying about energy consumption as much.)
Intel's 12th-gen U-series processors, which are targeted at the slimmest ultraportables, are spearheaded by the Core i7-1265U. That's a 10-core chip (2P and 8E) that also maxes out at 4.8GHz. Its 15-watt base power consumption is on par with previous U-series chips, but it can go up to 55-watts to reach its Max Turbo speed.
While Intel's hybrid design is clearly a leap forward for the P-series CPUs — the i7-1280P is around 20 percent faster than last year's chips in the Crossmark benchmark — we're still waiting to see how the U-series chips will compare. It's surprising that Intel still isn't saying much about U-series performance, but we'd wager there would be a significant speed bump from the architecture changes alone.
The 12th-gen laptop CPUs will also feature Intel's Xe graphics, though it doesn't seem like much has changed since last year. The P and U-series chips will still offer up to 96EUs (execution units). According to Intel's benchmarks, the i7-1280P hits 82fps in Grand Theft Auto V and 53fps in Chorus while playing with medium graphics settings in 1080p. With high quality settings, it sees up to 115fps in League of Legends and 81 fps in Rocket League—but that's not a huge surprise for less demanding titles.
While we're still waiting to get our hands on new systems with Intel and AMD's latest ultraportable hardware, the landscape feels far more exciting than last year, when Intel's 11th-gen CPUs were a pretty ho-hum upgrade. Perhaps 2022 will finally be the year ultraportables can finally solve most of our gaming needs.
There are worse movies than Uncharted, especially when it comes to the seemingly cursed genre of video game adaptations. But as I struggled to stay awake through the finale — yet another weightless action sequence where our heroes quip, defy physics and never feel like they're in any genuine danger — I couldn't help but wonder why the film was so aggressively average.
Sony Pictures
The PlayStation franchise started out as a Tomb Raider clone starring a dude who wasn't Indiana Jones. But, starting with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the games tapped into the language of action movies to put you in the center of innovative set pieces. They were cinematic in ways that few titles were in the early 2010s. But going in the opposite direction — bringing aspects of those games into a movie — doesn't work nearly as well.
Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom), along with screenwriters Rafe Lee Judkins, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, have crafted an origin story for the treasure hunter Nathan Drake (Tom Holland). It hits the notes you're expecting — his childhood as an orphan, his first team-up with his partner Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg), and a globe-trotting treasure hunt that defies logic — but it's all just a Cliff's Notes version of what we've seen in the games. And for a franchise that was already a watered-down version of Indiana Jones, a movie adaptation just highlights all of its inherent flaws. Watching Uncharted made me long for the basic pleasures of Nicholas Cage's National Treasure – at least that Indy clone had personality.
Even the iconic action scenes don’t hit as hard. The film opens mid free-fall, as Drake realizes he just fell out of a plane. Discerning viewers will instantly recognize the sequence from Uncharted 3. We watch as he hops across falling cargo (and wonder if that’s even possible while everything is falling), but the entire scene feels like Tom Holland is going on the world’s most extreme Disney World ride. Without the rumble of the Dualshock 3 controller in my hand, and my responsibility over Drake’s impending death, there just aren’t any stakes. It’s particularly unexciting compared to what we’ve seen in the recent Mission Impossible movies. Tom Cruise (and skydiving camera man Craig O'Brien) jumped out of an actual plane several times for our entertainment!
Still, it's somewhat surprising that this adaptation exists at all. Sony has been trying to develop an Uncharted film since 2008, starting with a loftier iteration by arthouse auteur David O. Russell. That version was going to star Wahlberg as an older Nathan Drake, as we see him in the games, and focus on the idea of family. But the project ended up changing hands several times over the last decade. By the time it was actually gearing up for production in 2020, Wahlberg had aged out of the starring role and into the older sidekick spot. (Sorry, Super Cool Mack Daddy, it happens to all of us.)
After we've seen so many video game films completely miss the mark, like Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City and Assassin's Creed, I'm starting to wonder if there's some sort of secret to making a good adaptation. Different audiences want different things, after all. Game fans typically want to see the characters and sequences they love so much legitimized on film. Discerning movie geeks may be comparing adaptations to other, usually better, films. And studio executives just want existing intellectual property that they can churn out to an undiscerning public.
There are a handful of memorable video game films, but they mostly seem like flukes. The original Mortal Kombat was iconic because of its killer soundtrack and (at the time) cutting-edge special effects. Werewolves Within doesn't have much to do with the VR title it's based on, aside from its name. And Sonic the Hedgehog was a blast, but that was mostly due to its lead performances.
As an avid gamer and cinephile, I'll never give up on hoping for successful adaptations. But it could just be that the two mediums are a bit incompatible. A film can never capture the interactive magic and freedom you get from a game. And when you're playing something, heavy-handed cut scenes and direction can often take you out of the experience (unless you’re Hideo Kojima, in which case gamers will argue it’s all a work of genius).
With its cinematic roots, Uncharted had a better shot at a decent adaptation than most games. It’s just a shame that, for a series that’s about exploring new lands and discovering forgotten treasure, it offers nothing new.
It’s all about Samsung this week! Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget Senior Editor Sam Rutherford dive into the company’s newest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra. It’s jam-packed with new features, we just wish they were easier to use. (And what the heck is “Vision Booster” anyway?) Also, Sam gives us his thoughts on Alienware’s x14 gaming laptop, and Cherlynn is introduced to the infamous Bitcoin cryptocouple.
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
New productivity tools in Google Smart Canvas – 43:38
Chrome OS Flex – 46:36
Motorola and Verizon’s weird 5G neckband – 47:32
Cryptocouple scammers caught trying to launder 25,000 BTC – 52:54
Working on – 57:33
Pop Culture Picks – 1:02:00
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It's clear that AMD is taking some big swings with its new Ryzen 6000 mobile chips. At CES, the company announced that they would sport integrated RDNA2 graphics for the first time, offering enough power to play modern games in 1080p. But while AMD was quick to show off its top-end model, the Ryzen 9 6980HX, it had little to say about its U-series hardware for ultraportables. It turns out, the chip giant was saving some of the most intriguing details for last.
While more graphics power is certainly nice to have, courtesy of its new Radeon 680M integrated GPU, AMD is emphasizing efficiency above all with the Ryzen 6000 line. Improvements in its Zen 3+ core, power management and its 6nm process led AMD to make some bold claims during a recent briefing with media. For one, AMD says it was able to push base clock speeds up around 40 percent in its 15-watt U-series parts. That led to a 17 percent increase in performance over the previous generation, as well as an 81 percent jump in graphics speeds and an additional 3 hours of battery life. Not bad for a company that, just a few years ago, had no presence in the ultraportable market.
AMD
To drive the efficiency point home, AMD says that its 15-watt U-series chips can practically obliterate Intel's 11th-gen 28-watt hardware. The company's testing shows that the new Ryzen 7 6800U is around 24 percent faster than the Core i7-11857G. Of course, we always have to take internal benchmarks with a grain of salt. And it's worth noting that AMD didn't have access to Intel's 12th-gen hardware, which promises to be vastly superior to the 11th-gen thanks to their hybrid core model.
AMD boasts that it's offering full-powered cores across the board with the Ryzen 6000 line, whereas Intel has to split things up between powerful P-cores and efficient (and archaic) E-cores. And there's no doubt that the Radeon 680M is also going to be a compelling feature for mainstream gamers. AMD says its Ryzen 5 6600U can reach up to 128 fps in Age of Empires4, compared to the 86fps Intel's Irix Xe graphics reached on the i7-1135G7. The difference is more pronounced among more demanding titles: AMD's graphics hit 52 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, while Intel's only reached 32fps. (The company notes that you may have to use low graphics settings to see similar scores in some games.)
AMD
With performance like that, it may make more sense for cash-strapped PC shoppers to just rely on integrated graphics, rather than shelling out hundreds more for a system with a cheap dedicated GPU. The Radeon 680M, which is built into the new Ryzen 7 and 9 chips, offers up to 12 compute cores that can reach 2.4GHz. The lower-tier Radeon 660M graphics on the Ryzen 5 halves that compute core figure, and reaches up to 1.9Ghz.
Here's the thing, though: Both Intel and AMD will breathlessly claim their new chips are better than their competitor's last-gen hardware. Neither company was able to pit their freshest wares against each other. So as compelling as the Ryzen 6000 mobile chips sound now, it'll be interesting to see how they stack up to Intel's 12th-gen hybrid chips once we can get some independent head-to-head comparisons. For now, though, it seems like an AMD ultraportable may be just what some consumers are looking for.
Netflix was the first company to announce a project around the alleged Bitcoin money launderers, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, but unsurprisingly, it won't be the last. Deadline reports that Forbes Entertainment and EOne will be teaming up to produce two projects around the scandal: a scripted series, as well as a documentary. Naturally, both projects will lean on Forbes' reporting, but what's more interesting is that Morgan was also a Forbes contributor for several years.
Morgan and Lichtenstein, or the "crypto couple" as many call them now, allegedly tried to launder $3.6 billion in bitcoin that was stolen from the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The cryptocurrency was worth around $63.7 million when it was originally stolen, but now it's valued at over $5 billion. That eye-watering figure mostly comes down to the skyrocketing value of bitcoin over the last several years. Notably, the bitcoin scandal is also the largest financial seizure ever by the Justice Department, beating out the $1 billion recovered from the dark web marketplace Silk Road in 2020.
The last time we looked at one of HP's premium Spectre x360 convertible notebooks, we were blown away by its style, powerful hardware and excellent keyboard. But that was just a 13-inch model — what if HP took all of that goodness and put it in a massive 16-inch laptop? That's basically what the company is offering with its new Spectre x360 16. It's big. It's beautiful. And this time, it comes equipped with NVIDIA's new RTX 3050 GPU. If you're looking for a notebook with a large screen that can also handle a bit of gaming and creative work, the x360 16 is a compelling option.
Strangely enough, HP doesn't really have much competition when it comes to powerful, large-screened convertibles. Dell hasn't updated the XPS 15 2-in-1 in years, and LG's comparable Grams strive for lightness more than power. It could be that other companies were scared away by having heavy notebooks with rotating screens — the 4.4-pound x360 16 is downright hefty compared to the 3-pound 13-inch model. But it's not too far off from the 4.3-pound MacBook Pro 16. If you're looking for a large display, you've probably already relegated yourself to carrying around a heavy machine. (And at least it's lighter than the XPS 17, which clocks in at up to 5.5 pounds!)
Design wise, the Spectre x360 16 is more glam than Dell's minimalist XPS line. Both companies went for sleek, all-metal cases, but HP's hardware features metallic accents along its edges (even the hinges get some bling). The Spectre line used to lean more heavily into a bejeweled look, but now HP is trying to tone things down while also delivering some style. Little things, like the case's cut off corners and the slightly softer edges, give the x360 16 an artisanal quality. It doesn't look like a cookie-cutter PC, and that’s the point.
Like many 16-inch notebooks we've seen recently, the x360 replaces a 15-inch model. HP was able to fit a larger display into a similarly sized case by reducing bezel sizes and moving toward a taller 16-by-10 aspect ratio. That results in a screen that's 22 millimeters taller, with 11 percent more vertical viewing area, according to HP. Our review unit featured a 4K+ OLED monitor that looked simply beautiful, no matter what I was looking at (though I'm a sucker for OLED's deep black levels and eye-popping colors). There are also 3K+ LED screens available if you don't want to pay a premium for OLED.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Unfortunately, the x360 doesn't support HDR and Dolby Vision like Dell's XPS line, or a fast 120Hz refresh rate like we saw on the Surface Laptop Studio. For some, not having those features may be a dealbreaker, especially if you plan to watch a lot of HDR video, or if you're intrigued by the smoothness of having a high refresh rate display. But if you're upgrading from an older PC, the x360's screen will still be a significant step up.
HP's convertible hinge makes it easy to flip open the x360 16 one-handed. Rotating it around into a tent or tablet mode takes a bit more effort, due to the sheer size of the system. Just like every convertible PC, the tent formation is a nice way to prop up the x360 if you're just lounging in bed. You can also flip the keyboard upside down to make the display prop up on its own, which could be helpful if you just need an additional screen alongside a desktop. I didn't find the x360's tablet mode very useful, though; it's just way too heavy to hold up for long, and it's simply awkward to use. But really, having a larger screen for productivity work and Netflix binging makes up for that.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Speaking of work, typing up this review on the x360 made me fall in love with HP's full-sized keyboard even more than I did with the 13-inch model. It's wide enough for me to spread my fingers out comfortably, and there's a satisfying amount of travel to every key. It’s like a concert piano just begging to be played. My only complaint is that it's a bit non-standard: there's a fingerprint sensor instead of a right Control key, as well as an assortment of specialized function keys to figure out. On the plus side, the touchpad is now 39 percent larger, and it still feels incredibly smooth and reliable.
Our review unit was the top-end $2,030 configuration: You get an Intel Core i7-11390H processor (there's no 12th-gen support yet), 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA's RTX 3050 GPU and a 1TB NVMe SSD with 32GB of Intel Optane memory. The x360 had no trouble with basic productivity tasks — not a surprise given its hardware — and I appreciated just how peppy it made Windows 11 feel. It opened apps up swiftly, and it didn't show any signs of slowdown as I piled on more and more browser tabs.
The only disappointing thing was its disk speeds. According to the ATTO bench, it had average write speeds of around 2 GB/s, and read speeds that were significantly slower than most notebooks we see today. That's honestly surprising for an NVMe drive, so we've asked HP if there's some sort of driver bug hindering performance.
PCMark 10
Geekbench 5
3DMark Night Raid
ATTO disk speeds (top read/write)
HP Spectre x360 16 (Intel Core i7-11390H, NVIDIA RTX 3050)
4,785
1,518/4,200
16,927
1.1 GB/s / 2 GB/s
Surface Laptop Studio (Intel Core i7-11350H, NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti)
When it comes to general system benchmarks, the x360 16 scored similarly to last year's Surface Laptop 4 15 and ASUS's ZenBook Duo. I expected higher numbers, though, as it has a more powerful GPU than either of those systems. That RTX 3050 is the lowest-end entry among NVIDIA's current offerings, but it's still better than what you'd get with Intel's integrated Xe graphics. It was also serviceable for basic 1080p gaming: I had no trouble playing a few rounds of Halo Infinite with medium graphics settings. The x360 16 is a solid option if you'd like to play a few titles once in a while, perhaps during a dull work trip when you don’t want to lug around a heavier gaming notebook.
Big screens come with huge energy demands, though, so I wasn’t surprised when the x360 only lasted 10 hours and 55 minutes during our battery test. HP claims it’ll go for up to 17 hours with mixed use performance, but it’s unclear how they tested that. Our benchmark relies on looping an HD video, so it’s not exactly stressful. I wouldn’t expect a 16-inch notebook to easily reach the 15 hours of battery life we’ve seen on smaller machines, and the x360 still offers enough juice to power through a workday.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Being flexible in more ways than one is a major selling point for convertibles. The x360 16 is equally at home while you're curled up in bed as it is in a business meeting. The included stylus, which magnetically attaches to the side of the laptop, is also helpful for jotting down notes and simple illustrations. And, given just how important video calls are these days, the x360 is also well equipped with a 5-megapixel webcam and a few software features to beautify your face. It's certainly a step up from the 720p cameras we've seen over the last few years. For the privacy conscious, you can also physically block the camera by hitting a function key, as well as disable the microphone.
Unlike many other style-focused notebooks, HP also includes a wealth of ports, including two USB-C connections, a USB Type-A port (in a nifty drop-down slot), a full-sized HDMI socket and a microSD card slot. And yes, the headphone jack is still there too; HP isn't giving up on it like Dell has with the new XPS 13 Plus. While the x360 can be charged over USB-C, it ships with an AC adapter that plugs in over a barrel connection.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
As much as I love our review model's OLED screen, the better x360 16 deal is the LED-equipped $1,700 model with the same CPU, RAM and RTX 3050 GPU. It has a smaller 512GB SSD, but you can always upgrade that down the line. If you're less concerned about gaming performance, the entry-level $1,500 model drops the RTX 3050 for Intel's Xe graphics.
As the only big-screen convertible game in town, HP could have easily phoned it in with the Spectre x360 16. Instead, it’s given us a powerful premium notebook that can do some gaming amid a flurry of Zoom calls, and look good while doing it.
Just watch Dune once with TV speakers or a basic soundbar, and you'll understand the appeal of a real surround sound system. You may already have stunning visuals thanks to that new OLED set, but if the enormous sandworms of Arrakis don't rattle your living room with butt-shaking goodness, then you're missing out on an essential element of that film. Thankfully, it's never been easier to bring the surround sound experience home without investing thousands of dollars in Hi-Fi components.
Pro tip: Think ahead as much as you can
It’s easy to snap up the cheapest surround sound system you can find, or overspend beyond what you actually need. So before you buy anything, I suggest sitting down and thinking about what you need now, and project ahead a few years to see if things may change. If you’re stuck in a small city apartment, it’s probably not worth investing in enormous speakers that you can never play loud. But if you’re moving within a year or two, maybe you can start with a smaller system and build up.
Different rooms may also require different types of equipment. It makes sense to go wire-free in a family room that’s always filled with kids and their toys. But if you’re lucky enough to have a basement or some sort of dedicated home theater space, feel free to go big. Just leave yourself room to upgrade: Consider an Atmos receiver, even if you’re not buying Atmos speakers yet.
Get a soundbar system
Kyle Maack/Engadget
Soundbars have come a long way over the last decade. It used to be that you'd sacrifice a significant amount of quality to have a tidy little box sitting underneath your TV. But today's entries are much better at mimicking two separate front channels and a center speaker. Some models also support newer immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X by bouncing sound off of your ceilings with upward firing speakers. (That may seem a bit silly, but this technique does a decent job of simulating overhead sounds.)
As a bonus, soundbar systems only need one cable to connect to your TV. They also typically rely on wireless subwoofers and rear speakers, which don't require stringing any long cables around your living room like a traditional surround setup. Naturally, you'll still need to power those up, though, so be sure to have outlets nearby.
As you'd expect, the most expensive options sound the best, like Sonos's Arc ($899) and Vizio's Elevate 5.1 system ($799), but you don't have to spend that much to get a decent surround experience. Vizio's 5.1.2 M-series system ($500 normally, currently $350 at Best Buy) has everything you'd want: A powerful soundbar equipped with two Dolby Atmos/DTS:X height channels, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless rear channels. Vizio's V-series 5.1 system is even cheaper at $200, but the smaller speakers and subwoofer will sound significantly worse and you'll lose Atmos support.
Another simple option is Roku's family of speakers. The Streambar Pro ($150) is a capable soundbar that also doubles as a Roku streaming box, making it ideal for older TVs with no apps (or not-so-smart recent sets). It's a good option if you want to build your surround system over time: You can always add Roku's Wireless Speakers ($150) as rear channels, as well as the company's wireless subwoofer ($180) when you need more low-end oomph. The complete system will run you $480, but remember that it doesn't have any Atmos support like Vizio's M-series.
The beauty of soundbars is that they handle all the audio processing you'd need. But if you want to get really serious, you'll need a receiver that can decode your audio signals and direct them to speakers. Notably, sound isn't their only task these days; modern receivers are usually equipped with multiple analog video and HDMI ports to handle all of your devices. So instead of plugging your PlayStation 5 and streaming boxes into your TV, they'd go directly into your receiver. Any decent option will also offer Bluetooth, Spotify Connect and support for other popular streaming services, so they're still plenty useful without turning on your TV.
A receiver like the Denon AVR-S540BT ($349) is a decent start, with support for the latest non-immersive audio formats (Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master) and 4K HDR video at 60Hz. You'll have to step up to something like the Sony STR-DH790 ($450) to get Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, unfortunately.
Since you probably won't be upgrading your receiver too often, I'd say it's worth paying for those formats now. They go a long way toward making your surround sound experience sound more natural. Instead of having audio coming from individual channels — say, just the center speaker for dialogue — Atmos and DTS:X treat individual sounds as objects that can move across all of your speakers. And once you have upward-firing speakers (or even better, units installed directly into your ceiling), those formats can make you feel like you're right inside a movie.
If you want to future-proof yourself even more, look out for receivers that support HDMI 2.1, which allows for 4K video at 120Hz and 8K/60Hz. The Denon AVR-S760 ($620) is one of the most capable options available now, though take note that this model (as well as other Denon, Yamaha and Marantz AVRs) currently has issues with the Xbox Series X. (A free box should fix that, though.) Alternatively, you could always connect your HDMI 2.1 console directly to your TV (assuming it supports that), and route that devices audio back to your receiver using eARC.
So now that you've got a receiver in mind, how about some speakers? The easiest way to solve that is with a boxed system, like Klipsch's Reference Black Home Theater ($360). It has the typical 5.1 setup: two fronts, a center, two rears and a convenient wireless subwoofer. The Reference Black system has been well reviewed by the team at CNET, and the current price is practically a steal compared to its original $1,000 MSRP. The ever-budget-friendly brand Monoprice also has an immersive system going for $250, which includes two satellites with upward-firing speakers. (And if you lucked into a receiver with more than two Atmos channels, there's also a $300 set with two more upward-firing speakers.)
If you're aiming for something closer to a premium Hi-Fi setup, Fluance's Elite 5.0 system ($500) is worth a look. It includes two front towers, a larger center channel and wall-mountable rear speakers. They're also available in a variety of colors, which is more than you see from some high-end offerings. I haven't tested these myself, but the reviews I've seen have been practically rapturous, and Fluance is a company known for producing high quality speakers. You'll have to add your own subwoofer down the line, but those towers should shake your living room plenty. And if you wanted to add Atmos later, you can just throw on some Atmos additions like the ELAC Debut 2.0 speakers ($260).
You don’t necessarily have to buy your entire surround sound system at once. In fact, that’s a great way to extend your budget, since you’ll have more money down the line to add better hardware. Once you’ve picked up an AV receiver, a decent pair of bookshelves like the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 ($340) will be an incredible upgrade over a simple soundbar or TV speakers. My only suggestion is to try to stay within the same speaker family to keep your sound consistent.
For example, you could add any of ELAC’s Debut 2.0 subwoofers for a bit of low-end action, or snag the C6.2 center channel ($280) to round out your front speaker setup. And eventually, you could add more bookshelves, or perhaps move them to the rear and pick up the Debut F6.2 towers ($400 each) for an even beefier sound stage. All of those components will add up to an incredible sounding system, though you’d never consider it a “budget” solution.
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Senior Editor Jessica Conditt about Sony’s surprising $3.6 billion Bungie acquisition. It’s too soon for it to be a direct response to the Microsoft/Activision deal, but clearly Sony sees the need for new blood. Also, they dive into Spotify’s weak response to protests around the Joe Rogan podcast. Should Spotify be using a stronger editorial hand? And yes, they discuss the whole New York Times/Wordle acquisition too.
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
More artists leave Spotify over Joe Rogan / COVID misinformation – 21:03
New York Times buys Wordle – 38:14
Alphabet (Google) and Apple post huge earnings – 45:42
Working on – 52:58
Picks – 56:09
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In the film After Yang, a father goes to great lengths to save his daughter's best friend. It just so happens this bestie is a humanoid robot, or technosapien, named Yang. He's practically a member of the family, but at the end of the day, he's basically an appliance. Can he be easily replaced, and what’s the value of his artificial life? Like a cross between Black Mirror and Spike Jonze's Her, After Yang explores humanity and existence through the lens of technology, while director Kogonada (Columbus) crafts a vision of the future that feels truly distinct.
After a virtuoso opening sequence, where families compete in a virtual dance contest in their living rooms, Yang (Justin H. Min) malfunctions. He's not just some robotic butler; he's a culture technosapien meant to help Jake's adoptive daughter, Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), learn about her Chinese heritage. Mika has a stronger relationship with Yang, who practically raised her. And for reasons that aren't clear at the start, Jake is a bit disconnected from his family and struggling through a mid-life crisis. (Running a traditional tea shop in the future would do that to you.) Saving Yang is both an attempt to connect to Mika, and to appease his overworked wife Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith), who's concerned about her listless husband.
Stories around artificial beings and androids aren't anything new — they stretch back to early Jewish legends of golems, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Fritz Lang's Metropolis. But these days, it feels as if it's only a matter of time until we're living alongside our own personal androids. Robotic vacuums are smarter and more affordable, we're regularly shouting voice commands at our phones and smart appliances, and even Tesla claims it's working on an AI-powered humanoid robot (though at this point, that's basically just a marketing stunt). So it's worth exploring how androids could affect our family lives, where they take on roles of childcare and companionship.
Jake's journey to fix Yang isn't much different than what we'd go through to get a computer or smartphone repaired today. He tries to contact the store he bought it from, but it's no longer in business. Yang was also refurbished, which opens the door to surprising issues (something used electronics buyers are all too familiar with).
It turns out Yang had more than one previous owner, and he basically lived a long (and somewhat tragic) life. He was also an experimental model that could record small portions of memories, similar to the small bits of videos we see in Apple's Live Photos. As Jake learns more about Yang, he realizes that he was a thinking being with a fully formed personality. He's not just a helper bot following his programming, he was also endlessly curious about the world around him.
After Yang is a quiet film, filled with contemplative silences and Farrell's forlorn eyes (not a bad thing, to be clear). Kogonada manages to build a world that feels dramatically different from our own, without the flashy holograms and special effects we see in lesser sci-fi films like the Ghost in the Shell remake. Everyone wears loose, robe-like outfits. There's a strong Japanese influence throughout all of the environments, from the Muji-esque minimalism and organic materials in their homes, to natural wood and small gardens in self-driving cars. It's a world far more advanced than ours — genetically optimized clones also appear — but it's also in harmony with nature, like near-future sci-fi through the eyes of Hayao Miyazaki.
The fusion of the natural and man-made world mirrors the way an artificial being like Yang starts to become more human. It's clear that he's driven by some sort of artificial intelligence, but the film doesn't say if his designers also managed to replicate a form of consciousness. Yang is programmed with facts about China, as well as language lessons for Mika, but he speaks more like a wise friend than a robotic teacher.
Like Blade Runner, it seems as if Yang is fully aware of his own limitations. He can show emotion and feelings towards people, but he probably doesn't have the full range of human emotion. He also chases the unknowable, like the way Farrell's character finds himself drawn to sell and explore the world of tea, even though he's not a huge tea fanatic. It’s clear that both characters are searching for some meaning in their lives, but Yang has made peace with his existence in a way that Jake admires (and struggles with himself).
In a world where we actually have robotic companions, it’s not hard to imagine that we’d form deep bonds and mourn them when they’re gone. Losing your robot could eventually be as traumatic as losing a dear pet. But that would also reflect a world where our androids can also profoundly affect our lives. They’d be more than appliances – they’d be family.
