Following a failed attempt earlier this week, NASA has once again delayed the start of its Artemis 1 Moon mission. The agency was forced to scrub Saturday’s launch after staff at Kennedy Space Center failed to fix a persistent leak in a liquid hydrogen connection point on the agency's next-generation Space Launch System super heavy-lift rocket. NASA detected the leak at 7:23AM ET and tried to troubleshoot the problem in a few different ways, but after three failed attempts ground crew recommended a "no go" for Saturday's launch attempt.
"The Artemis I mission to the Moon has been postponed. Teams attempted to fix an issue related to a leak in the hardware transferring fuel into the rocket, but were unsuccessful," NASA said on Twitter.
Like many other tech companies this week, Lenovo is at IFA Berlin sharing details about what it has in store for the end of the year. The company’s 2022 holiday lineup includes the first-ever 16-inch Chromebook. You can configure the IdeaPad 5i with a 2.5K 16:10 LCD that features a 120Hz refresh rate and a modest 350 nits of brightness. Thanks to its larger size, the IdeaPad 5i also comes with a full-sized keyboard.
Internally, the base model features an Intel Pentium 8505 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage. That said, you can upgrade the IdeaPad with a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM and a proper SSD with up to 512GB of storage. It also sports plenty of ports, including a MicroSD slot, four total USB-C and USB-A ports, an audio jack, Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 6E connectivity. Additionally, the Chromebook comes standard with a 1080p web camera. Lenovo claims it’s possible to get up to 12 hours of use on a single charge from the built-in battery. The company said it would share US pricing and availability at a later date. In Europe, the IdeaPad 5i will start at €549 when it arrives on the continent sometime next month.
Lenovo
Alongside the IdeaPad 5i, Lenovo refreshed the Tab P11 and Tab P11 Pro. Now in their second generation, the two Android tablets feature updated internals and displays. The Pro is the more interesting of the two, boasting an 11.2-inch OLED with 600 nits of brightness, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 360Hz touch response rate and support for both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. With 8GB of RAM and a new MediaTek Kompanio 1300T chipset, Lenovo says the Tab P11 Pro offers 120 percent more processing power than its predecessor. You can pair the tablet with the company’s Precision Pen 3. Like the second-generation Apple Pencil, Lenovo’s stylus magnetically attaches to the tablet, allowing it to charge wirelessly when not in use.
As for the Tab P11, it now comes with an 11.5-inch LCD that features a variable 120Hz refresh rate, 400 nits of brightness and a 2,000 by 1,200 resolution. According to Lenovo, the tablet’s new MediaTek Helio G99 processor is 50 percent faster than the chipset found on its predecessor. The P11 Pro will cost $400 when it arrives next month. Meanwhile, Lenovo expects the $250 P11 to hit store shelves at the start of 2023.
In addition to the above mobile devices, Lenovo showed off a new flagship gaming monitor. The Legion Y32p-30 features a 31.5-inch LCD panel with a 4K resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 144Hz refresh rate and claimed 0.2ms response rate. Notably, it also comes with two HDMI 2.1 ports so you can connect it to your PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. The Y32p-30 will cost $750 when it becomes available at the end of the year.
Lenovo
No Lenovo announcement is complete without at least one offbeat gadget thrown into the mix. At IFA 2022, that came in the form of the Glasses T1, a wearable Lenovo is pitching as a private display for on-the-go professionals. You can connect them to your Windows, Android or macOS device over USB-C to create a virtual monitor. Using them with an iPhone or iPad is also possible, provided you get a separate Lightning adapter. Either way, the Glasses T1 will display content from your device on a pair of micro OLED panels. Lenovo suggests you can use its new wearable to prevent prying eyes from seeing what’s on your screen. The Glasses T1 will arrive in China at the end of 2022 before arriving in other markets in 2023.
Apple has released an iOS 12 update users of older iPhone and iPad devices should download as soon as possible. The new version of the company’s 2018 operating system addresses a major vulnerability that Apple recently patched within iOS 15. According to a support document, the WebKit flaw could have allowed a website to run malicious code on your device. In its usual terse manner, Apple notes it is “aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.”
For that reason, you should download the update as soon as possible if you’re still using an iOS 12 device. That’s a list that includes the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, as well as iPad Air, iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3. You can download iOS 12.5.6 by opening the Settings app, tapping on “General” and then selecting “Software Update.”
A serious vulnerability found by Microsoft in the TikTok Android app could have allowed hackers to hijack millions of accounts. On Wednesday, the company’s 365 Defender Research Team detailed a one-click exploit it informed TikTok of in February. The good news is that the social media company promptly patched the vulnerability before today’s disclosure and Microsoft says it has no evidence of someone using it out in the wild.
“We gave them information about the vulnerability and collaborated to help fix this issue,” Microsoft’s Tanmay Ganacharya told The Verge. “TikTok responded quickly, and we commend the efficient and professional resolution from the security team.”
According to Microsoft, the vulnerability involved an oversight with TikTok’s deep linking functionality. On Android, developers can program their apps to handle certain URLs in specific ways. For instance, when you tap on a Twitter embed in Chrome and the Twitter app automatically opens on your phone as a result, that’s an example of the deep linking feature working as intended.
However, Microsoft found a way to bypass the verification process TikTok had in place to restrict deep links from executing certain actions. They then discovered they could use that vulnerability to access all the primary functions of an account, including the ability to post content and message other TikTok users. The flaw was present in both global versions of TikTok’s Android app. The two releases have more than 1.5 billion downloads between them, meaning the potential impact of someone discovering the vulnerability before it was patched could have been massive.
Microsoft recommends all TikTok users on Android download the latest version of the app as soon as they can. More broadly, you can protect yourself in the future from similar exploits by not clicking on sketchy links. It’s also good practice to avoid sideloading apps as you don’t know how someone could have altered the APK.
Earlier this year, the first gaming monitor with a Samsung QD-OLED panel arrived. We called the Alienware AW3423DW an ultrawide marvel, praising it for its bright and beautiful screen. When Samsung showed off QD-OLED at CES 2022, it promised the new panels would be available in more than one monitor, and now the company is making good on that pledge with the announcement of the Odyssey OLED G8.
If you’re familiar with the AW3423DW, you won’t find many surprises on the G8’s spec sheet. It features a 34-inch QD-OLED panel with a 21:9 aspect ratio and 1800R curvature. The 3,440 by 1,440 screen covers 99.3 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has a blazing fast 0.1ms response time and 175Hz refresh rate. It’s also DisplayHDR 400 True Black- and FreeSync Premium-certified – though there’s no mention of G-Sync compatibility.
Samsung
The frame and stand are metal. That’s something you don’t see on many gaming monitors. However, the stand only offers height and tilt adjustment, and as you can see from one of the photos Samsung shared, there’s no option to VESA mount the G85SB due to the built-in RGB lighting at the back of the monitor. That’s not great from a usability standpoint. I’m also not sure what Samsung thought when they decided to include HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity but went with the Micro and Mini versions of those ports. Here’s hoping the company includes adapters in the box. Naturally, it also comes with Samsung's Gaming Hub and Smart Platform features built in.
The G85SB will go on sale before the end of the year. Samsung didn’t share pricing information, but if the cost of Alienware’s QD-OLED monitor is any indication, expect the Odyssey OLED G8 to fall somewhere in the $1,300 range.
It only took about two years, but I finally bought an NVIDIA RTX 3070 last month. Along the way, I tried almost everything I could to get my hands on one at the actual retail price. I joined Discord servers dedicated to posting stock alerts. I found Twitter accounts that did the same for Canadian retailers. But no matter how persistent I was, I could never beat everyone else who wanted a 3070 just as much as I did. By the time summer came, I was ready to give up, and I would have if not for the crypto crash.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
If you haven’t followed the market, Bitcoin and Ethereum's slide has dramatically affected GPU prices, particularly on the NVIDIA side of things. The company’s add-in board partners, firms like ASUS and EVGA that produce the majority of GPUs you can buy, are reportedly struggling with overstock after crypto-miners flooded the used market with cheap 30-series video cards. According to some reports, the issue is so bad that NVIDIA may push back the release of its next-generation Ada Lovelace architecture to the end of the year to give its partners time to sell their existing stock. Either way, you can buy a current-generation GPU without jumping through hoops for the first time in nearly two years.
When I finally pulled the trigger on my ASUS Dual RTX 3070, I paid $740 CAD before tax or about $565 USD. I probably could have found a used model for less, but I decided I was okay with spending more to get a video card with a full warranty that someone hadn’t abused for crypto-mining.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
What you probably what to know is why I didn’t wait a bit longer for NVIDIA’s next-generation GPUs to arrive. The answer is twofold. Unless the US decides to regulate cryptocurrencies, it’s hard to see a future where the market doesn’t recover and mining becomes lucrative again. Even if that doesn’t happen, by the time NVIDIA’s new GPUs are available to buy, they might not be easy to find.
All signs point to the company opening the Ada Lovelace generation with RTX 4090, 4080 and 4070 models. Not only will those likely be more expensive than their 30-series counterparts, but you can also bet they’ll be in high demand among gamers who want the latest and greatest – particularly the 4070 as the most mainstream model of the trio.
For those reasons, I thought there would be a short window where I could buy a new GPU at a reasonable price. That I was running a GTX 1660 Ti with a QHD monitor made my decision easier. I was starting to see the 1660 Ti sometimes struggle to maintain a consistent rate of 60 frames per second in games like Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order at 1440p. The fact the 1660 Ti doesn’t include NVIDA’s DLSS upscaling technology also meant I was looking at a future where I would have to play some games at reduced quality.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
I can safely say I won’t regret buying the RTX 3070 with its successor right around the corner. Playing games like God of Warwith all graphical settings maxed out and without a single hiccup has been delightful. Even more revelatory has been revisiting games like Control and finally being able to experience them with ray tracing. Sometimes I think we get so caught up trying to pull off the perfect purchase that we don’t buy the product that would serve our needs well right now. I’m glad I didn’t fall into that trap.
Ubisoft’s Rocksmith+ subscription service will arrive on September 6th, the publisher announced today. Following a nearly year-long delay, the guitar learning platform will be available on PC exclusively through the Ubisoft Store. With 5,000 songs available at lunch, including tunes from Alicia Keys, The Clash and Santana, Ubisoft claims Rocksmith+ will feature the “largest catalog of official songs ever offered in a music learning service.” Additionally, the company has pledged to add “millions” of more tracks in the future.
If you played a previous Rocksmith release or participated in the closed beta, you can take advantage of loyalty pricing. Subscribe for three months upfront and you’ll receive one month free. You can also prepay for a year of service and Ubisoft will give you an additional three months for free. One-, three- and 12-month subscriptions are priced at $15, $40 and $100 per respective billing period.
You will need a way to connect your electric, acoustic or bass guitar to your computer. Your first option is to download the Rocksmith Plus Connect app on an iOS or Android device. It will use your phone’s built-in microphone to detect your playing. Alternatively, you can use Ubisoft’s Rocksmith Real Tone Cable to connect your instrument. The advantage offered by the latter option is that you can add effects to your playing. Ubisoft notes it’s also possible to use a third-party audio interface, but not every single one will work and the company won’t offer you technical support in that case.
Notably, Ubisoft makes no mention of the previously announced PlayStation and Xbox versions of Rocksmith+. It does note, however, that the mobile release will arrive this fall.
The Surrey police force in the UK has found itself at the center of a controversy after one of its official Twitter accounts shared how some officers use Waze to encourage drivers to slow down. In a series of tweets spotted by The Guardian, the department’s Roads Policing unit revealed it uses the crowdsourced navigation app to share misleading information.
“We definitely don’t drop police markers on Waze at random points on our patrol, nope - never,” the unit said, adding a winking emoji for good measure. “An easy way to get drivers to slow down on our roads – thanks Waze.” As you can probably guess, the tweet wasn’t received warmly, with some people accusing Surrey Police of operating “phantom units” and violating the UK’s Computer Misuse Act. Others didn’t go so far, but many pointed out that Waze has a policy against repeatedly posting false reports.
“Technically not false though. We are there at that very specific point in time,” the traffic unit said in response to one accusation of sharing misleading information – this time using a smirking emoji to punctuate its point. “Nowhere on Waze does it say the patrol has to be stationary,” it added.
Waze did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. After the tweet attracted media attention, Surrey Police issued the following statement:
While officers used this application to deter dangerous driving on our roads, this is not a tactic or policy endorsed by Surrey Police. Innovation and technology will always have a part to play in keeping our communities safe but, although well-intentioned, we know this has caused concern and undermines the trust the public has in us. Media coverage has claimed “phantom” units have been created. This is not the case. Technology has not replaced the presence of officers on our roads. We’re currently reviewing and addressing the use of this tactic.
As for what prompted some to use the tactic in the first, the Roads Policing account suggested it was partly a response to there being fewer officers to enforce traffic laws. “We’re not responsible for the significant cuts to policing budgets over the years that decimated traffic units across the country,” the account said. According to data from the UK government’s Home Department, as of March 2022 there were 4,102 full-time officers policing roads in England and Wales. Just seven years earlier, that number was 5,237.
We definitely don’t drop Police markers on Waze at random points on our patrol, nope - never 😉
The JWST has dazzled since it began sending images back to Earth, but sometimes even the most advanced space telescope ever needs a little help from a friend. On Monday, the European Space Agency released a new image of the Phantom Galaxy. Located approximately 32 million light years away from Earth, Messier 74 has been a favorite of astronomers ever since it was discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain.
What makes the above image of the Phantom Galaxy different from the ones you might have seen in the past is that it’s a composite. It incorporates visible and ultraviolet wavelengths captured by the Hubble Space Telescope with infrared light seen by James Webb Space Telescope. You can see the separate images the two captured below. Webb’s snap of M74 highlights all the gas and dust at the outer edge of the “grand design spiral” galaxy. The image also shows off the nuclear star cluster at its center.
NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope
Moreso than being a pretty image, this new view of the Phantom Galaxy is a testament to how much the Hubble Space Telescope has yet to give to the science community. The European Space Agency says Hubble’s observations of M74 revealed star formations known as “Hill” regions within the galaxy. You have to admit, that’s pretty good for a telescope that was only expected to stay operational for 15 years but has been going strong for 32 years. “By combining data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum, scientists can gain greater insight into astronomical objects than by using a single observatory – even one as powerful as Webb,” the ESA said.
The custom mechanical keyboard market has exploded in recent years. Where you previously had to go through arduous group buys to obtain many of the best models, there are now mainstream options you can purchase at any time. Drop (née Massdrop) has been a go-to for many just starting their descent into the hobby. Today, the company is introducing its first new keyboard since 2019. Dubbed the Sense75, it’s a 75 percent layout board with about all the features a budding enthusiast could want.
As with the Ctrl and Alt, Drop will offer two versions of the Sense75. Starting today, you can order the keyboard pre-built with the company’s highly sought-after Holy Panda X switches and DCX keycaps included. Then, later this year, Drop will begin selling a barebones kit that comes with only the frame and PCB, making it ready for you to customize to your heart’s content.
Drop
The Sense75 also comes in two colors: “Nightfall” and “Polar,” with the latter incorporating an electrophoretic coating that creates a “stunning and clean look” but is also more expensive to produce. A pre-built Sense75 in the former will set you back $349, while the latter costs a cool $399. If you want to go the frame-only route, you’ll pay either $249 or $299.
With prebuilt pricing starting at $349, Drop has set its sights on the Glorious GMMK Pro. It’s widely considered one of the best “entry-level” custom keyboards you can buy. The two share many of the same features. They’re both 75 percent layout boards with a gasket-mounted plate to dampen keystrokes. Similarly, both allow you to hot-swap switches, so there’s no soldering involved if you want to try a new set of tactile, linear or clicky switches. The Sense75 even has a rotary dial just like the GMMK Pro, and both offer customizable RGB lighting. Speaking of customization, the Sense75 supports both QMK and VIA firmware.
The first 500 people who order the Sense75 will get a free MT3 keycap set, carrying case and a limited edition novelty keycap with their purchase. The first shipments will arrive sometime in November.
