This is your chance to get one of Apple's more powerful tablets at a much better price than usual. Amazon is selling the 2022 iPad Air with 64GB of storage and WiFi for $500, or a full $100 off. That's an all-time low for all but one color variant of the tablet, and you'll see similar discounts for 256GB and cellular models. The sale makes it an easier choice if you want a wide range of features but would rather not splurge on the iPad Pro.

The iPad Air M1 represents the sweet spot in Apple's current tablet lineup. It's still one of the fastest mobile tablets you can buy, with an excellent display and support for up-to-date peripherals like the Magic Keyboard and second-generation Pencil. Meld that with strong battery life and you'll have a device that should last a long time, even if you're using it as a creative tool.

There are limitations. The entry version's 64GB of storage is meager unless you primarily stream content or work in the cloud. The Magic Keyboard and Pencil are also expensive add-ons. And while the iPad Pro M2 is overkill for many users, you might miss its 120Hz display, the option of a larger 12.9-inch screen and the convenience of Face ID. The iPad Air is still Apple's most well-rounded slate — it's just not the absolute best.

If you don't need much more than the essentials, we'd note that the 64GB 10th-generation iPad is still on sale at Amazon for $399, with a matching $50 discount for the 256GB configuration. It's not as fast as the Air and only supports the first-generation Pencil (through a dongle, no less), but it's still very quick for everyday tasks. It even has a few advantages over other iPads, including a better-placed front camera and support for the well-made Magic Keyboard Folio. It's just a question of whether or not you're likely to appreciate the Air's feature upgrades.

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Some Florida residents may be keeping a close eye on their finances after a security incident. Researcher Kamran Mohsin tellsTechCrunch that Florida's Department of Revenue website had a flaw that exposed hundreds of filers' bank account and Social Security numbers. Anyone who logged in to the state business tax registration site could see, modify and even delete personal data just by modifying the web address pointing to a taxpayer's application number — you just needed to change the digits in the link.

There were over 713,000 applications in the Department's pipeline at the time of the discovery, Mohsin said. Mohsin warned the Department about the flaw on October 27th.

Department representative Bethany Wester said in a statement that the government fixed the flaw within four days of the report, and that two unnamed firms have deemed the site secure. She added there was "no sign" attackers abused the flaw, but didn't say how officials might have spotted any misuse. The agency contacted every affected taxpayers by phone or writing within four days of learning about the issue, and has offered a year of free credit monitoring.

Bugs like these, known as insecure direct object references, are relatively easy to fix. The damage might also be limited compared to other tax-related breaches, such as a Healthcare.gov intrusion that compromised about 75,000 people in 2018. However, the incident underscores the potential harm from weak security — even a small-scale exposure like this could be used to commit tax fraud and steal refunds.

More Activision Blizzard workers have voted to unionize. Quality assurance testers at Blizzard Albany have voted 14-0 in favor of unionization. The team at the Diablo-focused office will join the Communication Workers of America (CWA), the representative of the existing Raven Software union.

The game publisher tried to prevent the vote in October, arguing that 88 developers should be included to prevent a "fractured" office. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) denied that bid in late November, noting that the game testers shared a "community of interest" for their cause. Expansions like this are sometimes used in union-busting efforts to reduce the chances of a successful vote. The company also tried to impound three votes that arrived late due to mail delays, although those wouldn't have affected the outcome.

Activision Blizzard told Engadget in a statement that it was "considering all options." It maintained that all Albany workers should have voted in the name of "fundamental fairness and rights" for the entire branch, not just the QA unit.

The CWA said in its own statement that this was a vote against "burn out culture," while Blizzard Albany associate test analyst Amanda Deep said the group was "advocating for ourselves" out of care for the work and the games. Workers at Raven and Blizzard Albany have complained about long hours, pay rates and other labor issues. Unionization theoretically gives staff more clout in demanding better conditions.

It may not be so simple, however. While Activision Blizzard responded to initial unionization efforts by converting 1,100 testers to full-time jobs and raising their base pay, the NLRB also found that it unfairly withheld raises from Raven QA workers who had voted to join a union. Activision Blizzard claimed that it had pass on those pay raises due to "legal obligations" around a pending election, but the NLRB attributed this to the unionization. Improved conditions might come, but they aren't guaranteed to come quickly.

Volkswagen's electric car lineup is now mature enough that it's introducing second-generation models — and it appears the company is taking some criticism to heart. VW has teased a redesign of the ID.3 that addresses complaints about the first version while upgrading the technology. The compact EV now sports a "matured" design with a supposedly sharper-looking exterior and higher-quality interior materials. Importantly, it's also more functional — there's a larger 12-inch infotainment display, two cupholders in the center console and a removable luggage compartment floor.

The tech may be the centerpiece. VW stresses the new ID.3 will use the company's "latest" software platform, which boosts the sometimes-sluggish performance and allows for over-the-air updates. It will also reflect feature upgrades that include easier paid EV charging, adaptive lane guidance and parking aids.

Volkswagen

VW won't formally unveil the revamped ID.3 until the spring, and pre-orders placed now won't arrive until the last quarter of 2023 due to "high order volume." However, it's keeping the current starting price of €43,995 (about $43,600) for the Life trim. Business, Style, Max and Tour variants will also be available.

There's no mention of which markets will get the new EV. As before, though, we wouldn't expect a North American ID.3 launch. VW remains focused on crossovers and SUVs like the ID.4 in this market, and its fledgling Chattanooga EV factory will still be ramping up production through 2023. All the same, the second-gen ID.3 will be worth a look as a preview what to expect for revisions of those models that do cross the Atlantic. They may not be complete reinventions, but they should fare better against stiff competition from the likes of Ford and Nissan.

A young man is facing time behind bars for his role in a high-profile crypto scam. Bloombergreports a federal judge has sentenced 25-year-old Nicholas Truglia to 18 months in prison for allegedly taking part in a scheme that stole $22 million in cryptocurrency from blockchain adviser Michael Terpin in 2018. The perpetrators are said to have asked Truglia to convert Triggers tokens stolen from Terpin into Bitcoin after breaching the consultant's phone.

Truglia has been described as a member of a larger criminal group that relied heavily on SIM swapping, or transferring victim phone numbers to SIM cards under attackers' control, to rob crypto industry personalities. Terpin accused a New York State teen of leading the group following a private investigation and successfully recouped some of his losses. The teen pointed to Truglia and two other people as accomplices.

Truglia is the only person in the group subject to criminal charges, and is already facing civil penalties near $80 million for his alleged involvement. The relatively light sentence appears to have been influenced by Truglia's autism, which defense attorney Jeffrey Udell claimed made it harder to understand the real-world consequences of the theft.

This is far from the largest crypto heist in recent memory. State-backed hackers and online gangs have been linked to thefts worth hundreds of millions of dollars from the blockchain. The length of the sentence is unlikely to deter others, for that matter. However, the sentencing theoretically sends a message that aiding crypto thieves is still a serious crime.

You no longer need others to use the same phone OS to share your digital car keys. Google has added car key sharing to Pixel devices, making cross-platform swaps available in an early form. If you're using an iPhone running iOS 16.1, you can send keys stored in Wallet to a Pixel through communications apps like Mail, Messages and WhatsApp. Pixel users share their car access through Android's wallet app.

Google plans to expand sharing to more phones using Android 12 or newer. Only a handful of car makers currently support digital car keys, including BMW and Hyundai brands that include Genesis and Kia. Some cars may require that you activate through a physical key or code, while others might ask you to start the process through the vehicle's infotainment screen.

Note that this isn't the same as the remote or proximity-based lock controls you get from companies like Tesla — this treats your phone like a physical key that requires getting close to the door. On phones with ultra-wideband, such as many recent iPhones and larger Galaxy S21/S22 models, you can unlock your car without taking the phone out of your pocket or using a smartwatch.

Companies across the industry, including Apple and Google, are hoping to make a publicly available standard for digital car key sharing. While there's no timeline for when this might happen, the appeal is clear. You could lend your car to a friend for the weekend regardless of the phone they use, and without handing over a fob. That could be crucial as car ownership declines and people are more likely to borrow vehicles than rent or use ridesharing services.

As convenient as wireless earbuds can be, you typically have to carry a case around to store and charge them. Wouldn't you rather free up your pocket? Huawei thinks so. As The Registernotes, the Chinese brand has teased a Watch Buds smartwatch that includes earbuds you charge beneath the dial. Official details will have to wait as the company has delayed a winter consumer launch event slated for today, but there are already some clues as to how this oddball design will work.

Huawei Central has obtained photos indicating that the earbuds attach to the underside of the dial and sit in recesses when the watch is closed. The design is similar to that of the Watch GT series, complete with a steel case and leather strap, and reportedly runs Huawei's in-house HarmonyOS. While the specs aren't available, it won't be surprising if there's a large battery when the watch has to power both itself and the buds.

An early hands-on video from QSQTechnology, meanwhile, suggests that the earbuds attach to the watch through magnets. The buds' design is unremarkable, and doesn't look especially comfortable — this is about convenience more than anything.

It's not certain when Huawei will formally announce the Watch Buds, nor is it clear which countries will get them. We definitely wouldn't count on a US launch given Huawei's persona non grata status. However, it won't be surprising if there's a market for the design. You could listen to music on a walk without carrying anything beyond your smartwatch, and you'd never have to worry about misplacing a charging case.

Meta's election integrity efforts on Facebook may not have been as robust as claimed. Researchers at New York University's Cybersecurity for Democracy and the watchdog Global Witness have revealed that Facebook's automatic moderation system approved 15 out of 20 test ads threatening election workers ahead of last month's US midterms. The experiments were based on real threats and used "clear" language that was potentially easy to catch. In some cases, the social network even allowed ads after the wrong changes were made — the research team just had to remove profanity and fix spelling to get past initial rejections.

The investigators also tested TikTok and YouTube. Both services stopped all threats and banned the test accounts. In an earlier experiment before Brazil's election, Facebook and YouTube allowed all election misinformation sent during an initial pass, although Facebook rejected up to 50 percent in follow-up submissions.

In a statement to Engadget, a spokesperson said the ads were a "small sample" that didn't represent what users saw on platforms like Facebook. The company maintained that its ability to counter election threats "exceeds" that of rivals, but only backed the claim by pointing to quotes that illustrated the amount of resources committed to stopping violent threats, not the effectiveness of those resources.

The ads wouldn't have done damage, as the experimenters had the power to pull them before they went live. Still, the incident highlights the limitations of Meta's partial dependence on AI moderation to fight misinformation and hate speech. While the system helps Meta's human moderators cope with large amounts of content, it also risks greenlighting ads that might not be caught until they're visible to the public. That could not only let threats flourish, but invite fines from the UK and other countries that plan to penalize companies which don't quickly remove extremist content.

After a year of testing, Discord is ready to let more creators offer subscriptions. The community platform has enabled Server Subscriptions for all eligible server owners in the US. Your favorite streamer or social media star can now offer exclusive content and features at multiple price tiers they set themselves. You might get bonus videos, early access to merch or voting rights for influential polls, for instance.

Discord stresses that creators will get 90 percent of their subscription fee. They can also use a newly launched promo webpage feature to promote their paid options. Any server owner qualifies as long as they're based in the US, agrees to policies and doesn't have any "recent" violations.

The long testing period reflects Discord's caution around launching Server Subscriptions. As company marketing manager Jesse Wofford told Engadget last year, the feature is meant to allow sustainable businesses on the platform — theoretically, a creator can generate meaningful profit (even if it's purely supplemental) from their Discord community.

Whether or not this represents a good value may depend on the services a creator is already using to charge for Discord access. Patreon asks for as little as 5 percent of monthly income before payment processing, but membership tiers and some other perks aren't available until a creator gives up 8 or 12 percent. Moreover, server owners still have to split their attention between two services — Discord's move potentially simplifies subscriptions.

Frictional Games thinks it has a way to shake up the Amnesia horror formula — throw out most of the predictability. The studio has unveiledAmnesia: The Bunker, a "semi-open" survival horror title that takes place during the First World War. You play a French soldier (an amnesiac, of course) who has little more than a revolver and flashlight to defend themselves against a mysterious creature hunting them down. There are "hardly any" scripted events, and frequently multiple ways to overcome the game's hurdles.

The new release also promises new forms of interaction, with elements of sandbox games despite the presence of a story. You can also expect improved lighting effects and "carefully" crafted sound. And yes, you'll still get Frictional's signature extra-gloomy environments.

Amnesia: The Bunker releases on PlayStation, Xbox and PC (via Epic Games Store and Steam) sometime in 2023. It's too soon to say if the open world format will help, or simply introduce the problems that sometimes creep up in those games — it won't be very frightening if you're wandering aimlessly. If nothing else, the approach should improve the replayability compared to other horror projects. You can come back knowing the scares won't always pop up at the same places.