Don't worry if you missed out on a Fitbit during Black Friday sales — there are now some big deals to help you stay in shape during the holidays. The Charge 5 has returned to a record-low price of $130 at Amazon, or $50 below its usual sticker. That could make it a solid bargain if you're looking for a high-end, fitness-focused activity tracker from a well-known name. The Inspire 2 is also down to $60 (normally $100) if you're happy with the essentials.

The Charge 5 ticks many of the boxes if you're determine to stay in shape. The extensive fitness and health tracking features help, particularly if you get the advanced data from Fitbit Premium. You can optimize your workout performance and understand your sleep quality, for instance. You can track your stress in addition to heart rate and blood oxygen level, and you'll have perks like GPS, Fitbit Pay and multi-day battery life.

There are limitations. Fitbit doesn't share activity data with Apple Health or Google Fit, and you can't steer music from the tracker's screen. There's also the matter of competition: you can find some close-enough alternatives from companies like Amazfit, Xiaomi and Amazon itself that will cost less (at least up front) if you can do without some frills. Fitbit's experience in the field matters, though, and the sale price makes the Charge 5 considerably more tempting.

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It didn't take long for Epic to confirm Fortnite Chapter 3 details. The developer has officially released a trailer that outlines what to expect both in Chapter 3 and its first season, "Flipped." The new island is the star, with the flip from the Chapter 2 finale leading to a complete landscape overhaul that includes chaotic weather. However, the gameplay changes are arguably more important — you'll have to rethink your tactics.

The sliding and swinging mechanics should help you move (and dodge) faster than before. Camps help your squad heal and store items that persist between matches. You can also earn XP beyond battle royale, and hold on to a Victory Crown if you keep winning. Epic is clearly hoping to both foster a non-combat metaverse and keep its top-tier players coming back.

And yes, there are new characters. Spider-Man is well-suited to the new swinging mechanic, but you can also play as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Fortnite character The Foundation, or Gears of War's Marcus and Kait. Think of them as the poster children for Chapter 3. They may help draw you in, but it's the fresh gameplay that might keep you playing in the long run.

Clearview AI is about to get formal acknowledgment for its controversial facial recognition technology. Politicoreports Clearview has received a US Patent and Trademark Office "notice of allowance" indicating officials will approve a filing for its system, which scans faces across public internet data to find people from government lists and security camera footage. The company just has to pay administrative fees to secure the patent.

In a Politico interview, Clearview founder Hoan Ton-That claimed this was the first facial recognition patent involving "large-scale internet data." The firm sells its tool to government clients (including law enforcement) hoping to accelerate searches.

As you might imagine, there's a concern the USPTO is effectively blessing Clearview's technology and giving the company a chance to grow despite widespread objections to its technology's very existence. Critics are concerned Clearview is building image databases without targets' knowledge or permission, and multiple governments (including Australia and the UK) believe the facial recognition violates data laws. The tech could theoretically be used to stifle political dissent or, in private use, to stalk other people. That's not including worries about possible gender and race biases for facial recognition as a whole. 

Ton-That maintained Clearview has no plans to sell to anyone besides government clients, and that it was "important" to have unbiased systems. However, the patent left the door open to non-government purposes, like learning more about a dating partner or business client. Clearview is aware of the problematic path its technology might take, even if it doesn't intend to head in that direction.

Fortnite Chapter 2 has only just come to an end, but that isn't preventing sleuths from finding out what Chapter 3 will hold. As Kotakulearned, the game's official Polish YouTube channel briefly shared a Chapter 3 trailer revealing many of the planned changes to the battery royale brawler. You can expect a new island (and new characters, including Gears of War's Marcus and Kait as well as Spider-Man — there even appears to be web-swinging like you've seen in Insomniac's Spider-Man games, not to mention locales like the Daily Bugle.

Chapter 3 will add some new mechanics on top of fresh weapons and items. You can slide (seen in the Chapter 2 finale), and set up camps to both heal your squad and stash items you can carry over to future matches. And there's even a degree of star power: The Foundation, a character voiced by Dwayne Johnson, will carry over from the Chapter 2 shutdown.

It's not clear when Chapter 3 debuts. However, Epic wasn't afraid to repeat history and kick players out of Fortnite as the previous chapter came to an end. Chapter 2 closed in dramatic fashion, with The Foundation helping to defeat a Cube Queen invasion and flipping the entire island upside-down. If you stuck with the event, you were left treading water and with no option but to quit the game. Clearly, Epic is betting this dramatic ploy will work a second time.

If you were worried people might abuse Twitter's new policy banning non-consensual image sharing, your fears were well-founded. The social network toldThe Washington Post it suspended the accounts of 12 journalists and anti-extremism researchers by mistake after far-right activists and white supremacists sent a "coordinated and malicious" flurry of bogus reports attempting to silence critics. It wasn't clear how many reports had been sent beyond a "significant amount."

The company said it was already reversing bans and had begun an internal review to make sure the policy was used "as intended." More data on the volume of false accusations would come later. Some of the extremists' targets were still banned as of the Post's story.

The rule bars users from sharing private photos and videos without the subject's permission. It also forbids people from threatening to share that content or spurring others to leak it. There are exceptions for posts where the media might offer "value to public discourse." At least one of the banned targets was merely sharing public photos of known figures, however.

This misuse doesn't come as a complete shock. Critics were already concerned the measure was too vaguely worded to prevent misuse. It might stifle amateur investigators sifting through readily available data, for instance. While Twitter might not want to overhaul its policy, it wouldn't be surprising if there were clarifications or tweaks to limit potential abuses going forward.

If you've wondered where your favorite comedy album went on Spotify, you're far from alone. The Wall Street Journalreports Spotify has pulled hundreds of comedians' albums after it and rights administration company Spoken Giants stalled on a deal for written-word royalties. The missing albums come from stars like Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and John Mulaney.

As with earlier songwriter disputes, this latest fight revolves around compensating more than just the performance. Spoken Giants wants its artists to receive royalties as the joke writers, not just for their time behind the microphone. The rights firm started talking to online services in the spring, but learned just before American Thanksgiving that Spotify would pull comedians' work until there was an agreement.

Spotify defended itself in a statement to the Journal. The company said it paid a "significant" amount of money for the comedy material and would "love" to keep paying, and that distributors and labels also had a say regarding payouts. Some material remains from those comedians on Spotify as of this writing, but much more of it is available through rivals like Apple Music.

It's not surprising that Spotify would clash with Spoken Giants. If Spotify also had to pay writing royalties, the service would either have to pay more overall (clearly Spoken Giants' ideal outcome) or set aside some of the existing share for distributors and labels. Either could hurt Spotify's bottom line, and it doesn't have much breathing room when its average revenue per person was about $4.91 last quarter.

At the same time, though, the dispute and removal come at a particularly sensitive time. With live standup still far from what it was before the pandemic, some comedians are still highly dependent on albums and other digital releases. They're clearly eager to improve that income, and may feel some extra pain when they lose the support of a streaming heavyweight.

Boeing's continued Starliner delays have prompted NASA to hedge its bets. SpaceNewsreports NASA plans to order as many as three more crewed SpaceX flights to ensure "uninterrupted" US trips to the International Space Station as soon as 2023. The company's Crew Dragon is the only system that meets partner country and safety requirements in the necessary time window, the agency said. In other words, NASA doesn't want to be without a ride to the ISS if Boeing isn't ready.

NASA was happy Boeing was focusing on "safety over schedule" for Starliner after it delayed a second orbital test to investigate an oxidizer isolation valve problem. However, that still left the administration in a bind. It was "critical" to obtain additional flights now to maintain a US foothold on the ISS, associate administrator Kathy Lueders said.

This doesn't put Boeing's capsule in danger. NASA still wanted two different crew systems to guarantee redundancy, and it planned to alternate between Crew Dragon and Starliner once both were available. Officials also stressed that the deal didn't prevent NASA from changing the contract to obtain additional flights.

Even so, the intended purchase is a blow for Boeing. Starliner plays a key role in Boeing's commercial spaceflight program and, unofficially, serves as proof the transportation veteran can compete with a fast-moving 'newcomer' like SpaceX in the private space race. The Crew Dragon backup plans reflect some lost confidence in Boeing, even if the move is only temporary.

Activision Blizzard's ongoing workplace harassment scandal may have repercussions for one of its bigger media opportunities. In the wake of a Washington Postreport raising questions about Activision Blizzard's involvement at the 2021 Game Awards, producer Geoff Keighley confirmed the publisher wouldn't have a role at the show outside of the nominations chosen by influencers and media. There's "no place" for abuse and harassment anywhere, Keighley said.

 He added that the industry needed to "work together" to create a more inclusive space for developing games. The focus was on celebrating games and the people who made them, according to the founder. Keighley already said Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 wouldn't appear during the presentation.

It's not clear if the scandal had a direct impact on Activision's presence, but it's a contrast from 2020. Then, the company used the Game Awards to show Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's first season of battle royale material.

Questions remain, though. Most notably, the awards' advisory panel includes Activision Blizzard president Rob Kostich. The publisher still technically holds some sway over the event, even if it didn't dictate much of the show in practice. Keighley told the Post the show organizers had to "think very carefully" about how to move forward — much like Microsoft and other industry partners, the Game Awards team hasn't yet decided on the long-term repercussions (if any) for Activision's problematic workplace culture.

Scientists are getting better at characterizing exoplanets, and that's leading to some surprising discoveries. As Reutersreports, a DLR-led team has determined that the relatively nearby (31 light-years) planet GJ 367b is significantly smaller than Earth at 5,592 miles across, but is more dense than Earth — it's about as dense as iron, and 86 percent of the planet is made from the metal. The planet more closely resembles Mercury than humanity's homeworld.

GJ 367b certainly isn't habitable. It's so close to its host red dwarf star that an orbit takes just 7.7 hours, and the radiation is so intense that it could reach up to 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit. That's enough to melt any metals and rocks, and certainly wouldn't allow for life as we know it. It's safe to presume there won't be any colonization missions as a result.

The assessment by itself is notable, however. GJ 367b is the smallest planet ever characterized to this level of detail, and that could help in the search for more habitable exoplanets, understanding planet formation and even gauging the criteria for habitability. Those, in turn, could help astronomers determine whether or not the relatively life-friendly Solar System is as rare as it seems.

NVIDIA's plan to acquire ARM just hit a major stumbling block. The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the merger over concerns the $40 billion deal would "stifle" competition for multiple technologies, including datacenters and car computers. ARM is a "critical input" that fosters competition between NVIDIA and rivals, the FTC said, and a merger would give NVIDIA a way to "undermine" those challengers.

The FTC was also worried NVIDIA would have access to sensitive info from ARM licensees. The merger could reduce the incentive for ARM to develop tech that might run counter to NVIDIA's business goals, officials added. The administrative trial is due to start August 9th, 2022.

The company didn't appear bothered. NVIDIA characterized the lawsuit as the "next step" in the FTC process, and repeated its arguments in favor of the buyout. The acquisition would "accelerate" ARM's product plans, foster more competition and still protect the chip architecture designer's open licensing model, according to NVIDIA. You can read the full statement below.

Despite the claims, an FTC lawsuit is a huge issue for NVIDIA. The Commission files lawsuits like these when it believes a company is breaking the law — concessions might not be enough. It also comes after the European Commission launched an investigation into the purchase in October. NVIDIA is facing questions from major regulators clearly wary of the acquisition, and those agencies might not accept the answers.

As it stands, NVIDIA's competition likely isn't happy. Qualcomm reportedly objected to the ARM deal in communications with the FTC (among other bodies) over fears NVIDIA might refuse to license designs. And when heavyweights like Apple, MediaTek and Samsung also depend on ARM, it's doubtful the rest of the market would be enthusiastic. At the least, the trial would likely delay closure of the union past NVIDIA's original 2022 target.

As we move into this next step in the FTC process, we will continue to work to demonstrate that this transaction will benefit the industry and promote competition. NVIDIA will invest in Arm’s R&D, accelerate its roadmaps, and expand its offerings in ways that boost competition, create more opportunities for all Arm licensees and expand the Arm ecosystem. NVIDIA is committed to preserving Arm’s open licensing model and ensuring that its IP is available to all interested licensees, current and future.