Sony's recent soundbars have been tailored to high-end users, but the company now has something aimed more at those who just want an upgrade from their TV's built-in speakers. The company has unveiled an HT-S400 soundbar that offers a few tricks while keeping the price down to $300. While it's a 2.1-channel system, it offers virtual surround sound (S-Force Pro Front Surround, in Sony-speak) to provide more immersive audio for your movies and shows. It's a fairly powerful system for the class, too, with a rather large 130W wireless subwoofer contributing to a total 330W of output.

The bar unsurprisingly offers tight integration with recent Sony TVs thanks to settings integration and wireless audio support. You can stream other Bluetooth audio, too. And while it's not clear how well Sony's clarity- and voice-optimized speaker designs work in practice, you may appreciate the options for both HDMI ARC and optical audio.

The HT-S400 will be available in April 2022. That's a long time to wait for a soundbar like this, but it might be justifiable if you either live in the Sony ecosystem or just want an alternative to lower-end soundbars from companies like Samsung and Vizio.

You won't have to wait long to see how the creators of Not Tonight tackle American politics. PanicBarn and No More Heroes have revealed their "political dark comedy" title Not Tonight 2 will be available on Steam February 11th, with a console version coming later in 2022. A final PC beta launches January 28th. As teased early on, the game continues that Papers, Please-style focus on checking IDs as a bouncer while throwing in minigames — and, of course, addressing US political issues head-on.

The game centers around Kevin, Malik and Mari as they travel across an 'alternative' US to save their friend Eduardo from deportation. As with the first Not Tonight, the sequel doesn't pull punches – it examines climate change denial, anti-immigration policies, American religious views and the pitfalls of capitalism. While there are certainly silly parts (such as serving poutine in a Canada-controlled Montana), the aim is as much to make you think about sensitive issues as it is having fun.

The series is, in some ways, a criticism of the games industry's aversion to politics. Heavyweights like Ubisoft will claim their games aren't political even when that's clearly not true, and others will simply steer clear of politics altogether. PanicBarn's game effectively challenges developers to embrace political commentary — that is, to risk alienating some customers in the name of making a statement.

Amazon is once again racing to buy the rights to major podcasts and the networks that share them. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is buying exclusive distribution and ad rights for the popular true crime series "My Favorite Murder" and other podcasts from Exactly Right Media. Amazon Music and Wondery will offer episodes a week before they're available anywhere else, and Amazon will have sole rights to sell ads. The paid Wondery+ service will offer shows ad-free.

The company didn't reveal the terms of the deal. When Amazon bought the celebrity SmartLess podcast, it paid $80 million for a three-year deal that also included one-week exclusives.

The arrangement comes as Amazon races to compete with Spotify and other tech giants snapping up major podcasts. While the "My Favorite Murder" deal isn't a full exclusive, the goal is the same: Amazon wants to spur use of its services, and ideally add some paying customers. Whatever the company spends now might be worthwhile if it persuades you to switch apps and bring in years of ad or subscription money.

It's not always easy to find deals for the Nintendo Switch, so this latest bargain might be worth a look. Woot is selling the blue-and-red LCD model for $280 to Amazon Prime members, or $20 below the official price. The company's return policy isn't the same as Amazon's, but you'll have until February 28th to take advantage of the discount.

In a sense, the hardware is almost incidental here. You're buying a Switch for the games, which now include many classics ranging from launch-era titles like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to the recent Metroid Dread. Popular third-party games like Fortnite are available, too. Still, Nintendo's system is a great fit if you want TV and handheld gaming from one device — or just want a console with a particularly kid-friendly game selection.

There aren't many catches, but they're worth noting. You won't find some blockbuster multi-platform games like the Call of Duty series, and the Switch's 2017-era processing power won't wow you like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X might. We'd add that it's also a question of whether or not this is the right Switch for you — the Switch OLED offers markedly improved display quality, battery life and tabletop gaming for $350, while the $200 Switch Lite is a bargain if you're just interested in portable use. At $280, though, the standard LCD Switch represents a good balance between features and price.

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You might not have to venture downtown (or to a grocery chain) to visit an Amazon Go store. USA Todayreports Amazon plans to open a new version of the cashierless store designed for suburban areas. The locations will still focus on essentials, ready-to-eat food, drinks and snacks, just with layouts more suited to these outlying regions.

The shops will still rely on computer vision to detect what you buy. Once you've scanned your phone at the entrance, camera systems detect what you grab from the shelves. Amazon charges you for the items once you leave the Go store.

Amazon will open the first of these suburban Go stores in Mill Creek, Washington sometime in the months ahead. A second store will debut later in the Los Angeles area. The move still leaves large parts of the US (not to mention the planet) without access, but we suspect Amazon isn't too concerned when third-party chains like Starbucks are beginning to adopt its AI-based shopping tech.

Big Tech has long faced accusations that it's a detriment to society, and Google thinks it can address those criticisms more directly. Axios' Ina Fried says the internet pioneer has hired James Manyika as the company's first Senior VP of Technology and Society. As Google told Engadget, the McKinsey Global Institute director will help explore tech's impact on society and shape the firm's points of view on subjects including AI, the future of work, sustainability and other areas that could make a significant difference.

Manyika will report directly to Alphabet and Google chief Sundar Pichai, and will work with outsiders as well as internal staff. He'll help build leadership on technological impact at the company, Google said, and will focus on top-level, longer-term initiatives.

The new hire appears to have the right background. Manyika has spent 28 years at McKinsey, which helps companies and governments (including tech leaders) make decisions based on economic and cultural trends like those Google hopes to address. He also serves on the boards of research institutes at Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Stanford and other top-tier schools. If anyone is likely to be aware of tech's broader effects on the world, it's him.

Google's move certainly isn't surprising. It comes as the company is facing a host of antitrust lawsuits, increasingly tougher regulations and protests over its treatment of employees. There are also claims Google and Big Tech haven't done enough to fight misinformation and are eroding privacy. The new executive won't necessarily adjust all of Google's behavior, but he could provide a more informed perspective that reduces the chances of a cultural or political backlash.

Don't worry about paying full price for the MacBook Air M1. Amazon is selling Apple's well-known ultraportable laptop in gold and silver for $850 after a $49 automatic discount at checkout. That's the lowest price we've seen in a while, and not much more than the record low from November.

The MacBook Air M1 may be over a year old, but there's a good reason why it remains one of our top picks for ultraportables. It's still fast for the category, completely silent (as there's no fan) and long-lasting on battery. Combine those with a superb keyboard and trackpad and this might be the laptop you want if you need to last through a long workday while juggling multiple apps.

There are still just two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, and the 720p webcam won't be thrilling. There's also the matter of timing. Rumors persist of Apple launching an M2-based MacBook Air in the spring, and it may be tempting to hold out if you're more concerned about having the latest hardware than the best price. If you need a laptop now or would rather save money, though, the M1 model is still a fine choice.

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The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its new home. NASA has confirmed the remote observatory successfully entered its final orbit around the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (aka L2) after one last course correction burn. The telescope's primary mirror segments and secondary mirror have already been deployed, but you'll have to wait until the summer for the first imagery. NASA will spend the next several months readying the JWST for service, including a three-month optics alignment process.

The L2 orbit is crucial to the telescope's mission. It provides a largely unobstructed view of space while giving the spacecraft a cold, interference-free position that helps its instruments live up to their full potential. The JWST is expected to study the early Universe using infrared light, providing data that wouldn't be available from an Earth orbit telescope like Hubble.

The arrival is also a relief for NASA. The stakes were high given the project's $10 billion cost, of course, but it also proves that the space agency could successfully launch and deploy a sophisticated observatory far from Earth. And while they're different devices, the JWST is widely considered the spiritual successor to Hubble — with the older telescope clearly in rough shape, expectations are particularly high for the new machine.

Microsoft is finally bringing the original Surface Duo up to date... relatively speaking. As 9to5Googlenotes, the company has finally released its long-promised (and late) Android 11 upgrade for the dual-screen smartphone. The newer operating system is the main draw, of course, but you'll also find a host of Surface Duo-specific improvements.

You can now play Xbox Game Pass cloud titles using an on-screen controller, for a start. OneDrive also has an "enhanced" dual-screen interface for viewing and editing photos. There are revised app drawer and folder designs with better drag-and-drop support, while the Microsoft feed and Start widgets have received updates. You can have the Surface Duo automatically span particular apps across both screens, and set preferences for answering phone calls when the device is folded. And if you prefer handwritten memos, you can click the top button on a paired Slim Pen 2 to open OneNote.

The upgrade will likely be welcome if you've been tired of living with Android 10 for more than a year. At the same time, we'll understand if it still stings. Android 12 has already been available on other phones for weeks, and in some cases months — you're still behind, even if the gap has narrowed. While it's understandable that updates for such a unique phone would take longer, that won't be much consolation if you were hoping to keep reasonably current. 

This post contains spoilers for the sixth season of 'Billions.'

Peloton can't quite escape the publicity headaches from TV shows featuring its products. According to The New York Times and The Verge, the premiere episode of Billions season six includes a scene that, like the Sex and the City follow-up And Just Like That, paints Peloton's Bike in a less-than-flattering light — if not quite as dire as before.

The scene depicts Mike "Wags" Wagner (played by David Costabile) having a heart attack while riding his Peloton spin bike. Unlike the And Just Like That scene, however, Wagner survives — he even references the AJLT scene, telling staff that he's "not going out" like that character. Billions' executive producers told The Times the moment was filmed in spring 2021, months before AJLT's debut, and that the team overdubbed the reference to the other show in postproduction to reflect "what Wags would say."

Peloton stressed in a statement that it hadn't provided the Bike or otherwise greenlit the use of its brand for Billions. It even celebrated parts of the episode, noting that the show highlighted the "strong benefits" of a cardio workout. When the AJLT scene caused a panic, Peloton faulted the character's lifestyle and suggested the bike at least delayed the inevitable. It went on to create a promo to defend its products in response, although it pulled that ad soon after when the focus of the promo, actor Chris Noth, faced accusations of sexual assault.

The Billions scene isn't the biggest PR crisis Peloton has faced lately. The company's stock price plunged after a (since-denied) claim it halted production due to slowing sales. However, it does illustrate Peloton's odd position. While its fitness gear is still considered iconic, the company is no longer quite so revered by shoppers or the entertainment business.