TCL is back at Mobile World Congress this year with a bunch of budget-friendly new gear to show off. Among other things, the company has developed a new version of its color paper-like screen technology, which it's calling NXTPAPER 2.0.

Compared with the previous version, TCL says NXTPAPER 2.0 delivers 150 percent more brightness with up to 500 nits, making it easier to use outdoors during the day (the anti-glare tech should help too). The company claims that, due to hardware-level filtering, the technology exceeds TÜV-certified levels of blue light reduction. TCL says the tech can help protect your eye health while maintaining color accuracy and avoiding screen yellowing. The screen's color temperature will adjust automatically based on the time and environment as well.

You'll soon be able to check out NXTPAPER 2.0 on a new tablet. The NXTPAPER 11 has an 11-inch, 2K display and TCL says there's a feature called AI Visual Boost that makes colors "bolder and more lifelike." The Android 13 tablet runs on an octa-core processor. It has 8MP cameras on the front and rear, four speakers, dual mics and an 8,000mAh battery. The tablet, which weighs just over a pound (462g), starts at $249 and it will initially be available in Europe in May.

Also new is the TCL TAB 11, another 11-inch tablet, albeit with a 2K NXTVISION display. It otherwise has similar specs as the NXTPAPER 11. The TAB 11 will be available in May and it starts at $179. Versions with LTE start at $209.

TCL

On the phone front, TCL has a few new models for the US market: the 40 XE 5G, 40 X 5G and a 40 XL with 4G connectivity. The $169 40 XE 5G is the lowest-cost 5G TCL phone to date, the company said. It has a 6.56-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling. The rear camera array features a 13MP main camera and 2MP depth and macro sensors. On the front, there's an 8MP lens. The phone has a 2.2GHz octo-core processor and 4GB of RAM. There's just 64GB of storage, but you can add another 1TB via microSD.

The 40 XE 5G will be available in June, just like the 40 X 5G, which has similar specs, but a more advanced 50MP main camera. That model starts at $199. The 4G-only 40 XL, meanwhile, has a 6.75" HD+ display, dual speakers and a 50MP main camera. There's an octa-core processor and base storage of 128GB. You can pick that Android 13 phone up in May for $149.

Along with the phones and tablets, TCL has a fresh set of earphones. It says the MOVEAUDIO Neo earbuds have 25dB of bass-boosted sound, four EQ modes, dual-mic call noise cancellation and active noise cancellation. They're available now for $50.

Just ahead of Mobile World Congress, HMD Global has announced a trio of Nokia phones, including the first one it built specifically with repairability in mind. The company has teamed up with iFixit to offer official repair guides and parts to help people fix issues such as a busted display, kaput battery or wonky charging port on the G22.

The device has a plastic rear casing made entirely of recycled materials, and comes with the promise of two years of Android updates, three years of security patches and a three-year warranty. The G22 is very much an entry-level phone — it has a Unisoc T606 CPU and tops out at 128GB of internal storage (though that's expandable via microSD). It has a 6.5-inch HD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. There's a 50MP camera, 2MP depth camera and 2MP macro sensor. The device supports 20W fast charging, though it runs on Android 12 rather than the latest OS.

HMD Global

The G22 embodies the drive HMD has been making to become more environmentally friendly. With other manufacturers such as Apple, Google and Samsung offering official repair guides and parts so consumers can resolve issues by themselves, it makes sense that smaller brands would do the same.

You'll be able to pick up a G22 in gray or blue starting on March 8th. It starts at £150 ($179) or you can snag one through HMD's Circular subscription service. To fix certain issues, you can snap up a Fit Kit (i.e., the tools) from iFixit for £5. A replacement battery will cost £23, a display £45 and a charging port £19.

HMD also announced the Nokia C32, an Android 13 phone with "stellar imaging algorithms" and a 50MP main camera. The company says it offers the best image quality of any C-series device to date. The C32 has an octa-core, 1.6Ghz CPU, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage. There's a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a notch for the 8MP selfie camera. The £130 ($155) device will be available in charcoal, green and pink, and it will land in the UK this spring.

HMD Global

In addition, there's the Nokia C22. Like the other new models, it has IP52 splash and dust protection, a microSD slot and (HMD claims) a battery that can run for up to three days on a single charge. The C22 has a dual 13MP camera and a rugged metal chassis, along with Android 13, a 6.5-inch display and an octa-core, 1.6Ghz CPU. Internal storage tops out at 64GB. Again, this is a budget-friendly phone — it starts at £110 ($131). It comes in black and sand colorways and it will be available in the spring.

On top of all that, HMD wants to bring manufacturing to Europe. "In the first stage of this journey, the company is developing capabilities and processes to bring 5G Nokia device production to Europe in 2023," it said in a press release. The fact that the European Union is aiming to manufacture more chips in the region rather than relying on parts from Asia could make HMD's plan more viable. Making phones in Europe primarily for a European market falls in with HMD's environmentally friendly mission too.

Nintendo has decided not to take part in this year's E3. "We approach our involvement in any event on a case-by-case basis and are always considering various ways to engage with our fans," Nintendo told Engadget in a statement. "Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have made the decision to not participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA [Entertainment Software Association] and E3.”

Nintendo typically has a presence on the E3 showfloor and it has often run Treehouse broadcasts throughout the event in addition to a Direct. The company took part in the last proper edition of E3 in 2019, as well as the all-digital affair in 2021. There was no E3 in 2020 or 2022.

Earlier this month, IGN reported that Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have all bowed out of E3 this year. Sony hasn't had a presence at the event since 2018, but neither it nor Microsoft have publicly confirmed plans for this year's edition. Regardless, Microsoft will host its big annual showcase in Los Angeles this summer. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently hinted it will take place around the same time as E3, which will run between June 13th and 16th.

There could always be a Nintendo Direct in mid-June as well, even if it's not officially connected to the expo. Meanwhile, word on the street is that PlayStation is planning a major showcase ahead of E3 after this week's so-so State of Play stream.

The absence of just one of the big three console manufacturers from E3 is a blow for the ESA, let alone all of them. Summer Game Fest is threatening to steal more of the stalwart event's thunder too. But hey, at least Ubisoft will be at E3.

Sony is set to host its first State of Play showcase of 2023 this afternoon, featuring some new announcements and updates on previously revealed games. The stream starts at 4PM and you can watch it on PlayStation's Twitch and YouTube channels. Alternatively, you can check out the State of Play via the embedded video below.

We're expecting to hear about five games that are coming to PS VR2 later this year. It seems like an ideal time for Sony to show off what's in the pipeline for the new headset, which it released earlier this week. We'll also get details on some "anticipated" third-party games, as well as an in-depth look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Given the heavy focus on the followup to Batman: Arkham Knight, it'd be a little surprising if there were any other big announcements that could upstage that game, but you never know. Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to find out what's up Sony's sleeve.

YouTube Music is moving into podcasts. YouTube proper hosts video versions of many podcasts, some of which accrue hundreds of thousands or even millions of views per episode. The audio service hasn't ventured into podcast territory just yet, but that's about to change, YouTube's podcast chief Kai Chuk announced at the Hot Pod Summit on Thursday.

"We will soon start to bring both audio and video-first podcasts to YouTube Music for users in the US, making podcasts more discoverable and accessible, with more regions to come," a YouTube spokesperson told Engadget. "This will help make the podcasts that users already love on YouTube, available in all the places they want to listen."

Podcast creation tools are coming to YouTube Studio and, later this year, it'll be possible for creators to add audio podcasts to YouTube via RSS feeds. "Podcast playlists will be eligible for current and upcoming podcast features on YouTube, such as eligibility for youtube.com/podcasts, podcast badging and inclusion in the YouTube Music app," the spokesperson said.

Background podcast listening will be available for free, according to TechCrunch. However, there will be ads unless you subscribe to YouTube Music. It also seems that users will be able to switch between video and audio versions of podcast episodes.

At least for now, it doesn't seem that YouTube is planning to follow the likes of Spotify and Amazon by having exclusive and/or original podcasts. Whether YouTube Music can make a dent in Spotify and Apple's share of the market remains to be seen, but by blending audio and video podcasts together and taking advantage of YouTube's enormous reach, it can certainly make a play for listeners' attention.

The European Commission, the executive wing of the European Union, has banned TikTok from devices it owns. It also asked its staff to remove the app from personal phones and tablets that are part of its mobile device service — in other words, any devices they use for work.

“This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission,” the EC said in a statement. “The security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.”

The EC has approximately 32,000 permanent and contract employees. It asked them to delete TikTok as soon as possible and by March 15th at the latest, according to the BBC. If the workers don't comply in time, they'll lose access to corporate apps, including the EC's email service and Skype for Business.

"We believe this suspension is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions," a TikTok spokesperson told Engadget. "We are surprised that the Commission did not contact us directly nor offer any explanation — we have requested a meeting to set the record straight on how we protect the data of the 125 million people across the EU who come to TikTok every month. We're continuing to enhance our approach to data security, including by establishing three data centers in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimizing data flows outside of Europe."

TikTok's parent company ByteDance is based in China. Officials in a number of countries have expressed concern over the Chinese government potentially using the app to access user data, as well as other security issues. 

The US government has banned the app from most of the devices it owns. Officials in manystates have enacted similar bans, while TikTok is prohibited on some college networks. There are also efforts to ban TikTok in the US entirely. In November, the EC said there were multiple ongoing investigations into TikTok's data practices.

Google is bringing some new features to its Workspace apps in the coming weeks, including a fresh lick of paint. The company is updating the look and feel of Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Chat in the coming weeks, drawing from its Material Design 3 language to do so. Google says the updated designs will streamline the user interface and put more emphasis on the most-loved tools in each app.

There's another handy update coming to Drive in the next few weeks as part of the Smart Canvas collaboration initiative. Google will introduce a multiselect toolbar that should make it easier to share, download, move and delete more than one file at a time. Google is also adding an option to filter files by type, such as documents, videos, PDFs and .zip files, without having to search for something first. Improved file management in Drive is always welcome.

Several new features are on the way to Docs. Starting today, you'll be able to access a stopwatch directly in the app, which could come in useful if you're trying to stay hyper focused for short bursts. In the coming weeks, Docs will gain emoji reactions for comments, which can be used to emphasize or upvote a response. A calendar invite template will be available in the app soon too.

As for Sheets, you'll be able to preview a Google Maps link directly in the app starting today. Google says that could come in useful for things like logistics tracking and event planning. Something that could be even more helpful on a day-to-day basis are date shortcuts. By typing @today, @yesterday, @tomorrow and @date, you can add quickly add the relevant date to a sheet without having to look at your calendar. That feature will be generally available as of today, as is the option to add stocks, mutual funds and currencies by using the @-mention function and typing in a company's name, stock ticker or currency.

Google is bringing photo features that were once exclusive to recent Pixel phones to more devices. Magic Eraser, a tool that can easily remove unwanted people or objects from an image, debuted in 2021 on the Pixel 6. It also has a feature called camouflage, which you can use to change the color of objects to make them blend in with the rest of the image and help other elements stand out.

Starting today, Google is rolling out Magic Eraser to Pixel 5a and earlier models. The same goes for Google One. In the coming weeks, members on all plans will have access to Magic Eraser through Google Photos, even if they're on iOS. Editing features are not available on the Google Photos web app, unfortunately.

All Pixel models and Google One subscribers will also gain access to an HDR effect that can be applied to videos to boost the brightness and contrast. The feature was already available for still images. Moreover, those with older Pixel devices and a One membership will gain access to more styles (i.e., designs) in the Google Photos collage editor starting today.

It's not a massive shock that Google is bringing Magic Eraser and other Photos features to One and older Pixel devices. It often debuts new tools on its latest flagship devices before introducing them elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Google is offering One subscribers in some territories another perk. Those in the US, Canada, European Union and UK can now get free shipping on orders from the print store.

Samsung's latest flagship smartphones haven't even been out for a week, but you can already score a solid discount on one model. The Samsung Galaxy S23+ with 256GB of storage has dropped by $140 to $860. That makes it the same price as the standard Galaxy S23 with the same storage capacity. It's worth noting that the discount only applies to the Phantom Black colorway.

At 6.6 inches, the S23+ has a larger screen than the 6.1-inch S23. It has a bigger battery too. The specs are otherwise the same, save for ultrawideband support on the S23+. The phone runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy with a 3.36GHz octa-core CPU and Adreno 740 GPU. There's 8GB of RAM, WiFi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3. The S23+ lineup runs on Android 13 too.

The S23+ doesn't boast the same 200MP camera as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it's a worthy phone in its own right. It does have 50MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto cameras. Although it's more of an evolution from the S22 than a revolution, the S23+ is especially worth considering if you've been hanging onto the same phone for a few years or you're looking to make the switch from iOS to Android.

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The chair of the Federal Trade Commission has proposed new rules to tackle the scourge of text message scams. If the agency's commissioners approve the rules at a meeting in March, providers would have to block robotexts that are "highly likely to be illegal," chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

The FCC has yet to publish the full text of Rosenworcel's proposal. If adopted, it will force providers to block text messages that appear to be from numbers on a do-not-originate list. They include unused, invalid and unallocated numbers, as well as those that government agencies and "other well-known entities" say they don't send texts from. Messages from these numbers "are highly likely to be illegal and no consumer would want to receive them," an FCC statement reads.

Moreover, providers would have to block texts from entities that the FCC flags for sending illegal robotexts. The proposed rules state that providers would additionally need to expand National Do Not Call Registry protections to include texts to prevent consumers from receiving unwanted marketing messages.

“Missing packages that don’t exist; confirmation of payments that didn’t happen; links to shady websites; and truncated ‘wrong number’ messages from strangers. These scam robotexts are a part of everyday life for too many of us,” Rosenworcel said. “I’m asking my colleagues to join me in adopting the first FCC rules to focus on shutting down scam texts. But we’re not stopping here. Because we are going to keep at it and develop more ways to take on this growing consumer threat.”

The robotext proposal follows measures the FCC has taken to stamp out robocalls. Both issues are on the agenda for the FCC's open meeting next month, along with other items like a proposed framework "for increased collaboration between terrestrial mobile network operators and satellite service providers" to bolster phone service in areas where it is lacking. That could could come in useful for life-or-death situations in remote areas. Certain devices, such as the iPhone 14, now offer satellite connectivity for emergency use.