Posts with «author_name|mat smith» label

The Morning After: Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried started a newsletter

Sure, it may not sound like the spiciest headline, but Sam Bankman-Fried is in a weird place to be starting a Substack. He’s facing up to 115 years in prison if he’s convicted of federal fraud and conspiracy charges. And yet the embattled founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX – who pleaded not guilty and is out on a $250 million bond while awaiting trial – figured it’d be a great idea to write about his perspective on the saga in a Substack newsletter.

In his first post, about the collapse of FTX International, Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) claims “I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away.” SBF notes that FTX US (which serves customers in America) “remains fully solvent and should be able to return all customers’ funds.” However, he does not mention that FTX co-founder Zixiao "Gary" Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Tesla drastically lowers EV pricing in the US and Europe

The Model Y Long Range sees a huge $20,500 drop including the Federal Tax Credit.

After steadily increasing prices over the past couple of years, Tesla has cut them drastically across its lineup in the US and Europe, in an apparent bid to boost sales. The least expensive EV, the Model 3 RWD, has dropped from $46,990 to $43,990, while the 5-seat Model Y Long Range fell 20 percent, from $65,990 to $52,990. That means, perhaps crucially, the latter model now qualifies for the $7,500 US Federal Tax credit for EVs.

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Apple's new AirPods Max and $99 AirPods could launch next year

They won't arrive until 2024 at the earliest, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple is working on an update to the AirPods Max headphones and developing an AirPods "lite" with a $99 target price, according to analyst Min-Chi Kuo. The new products won't be coming anytime soon, however, with a target release date for the more affordable AirPods no earlier than the second half of 2024. With the AirPods lite (or LE, or whatever Apple decides to call them), Apple would likely be trying to claw back some market share from the many cheap wireless buds on the market. The current AirPods 2 sell for $129, while the AirPods 3 cost $169. Neither offers active noise cancellation, while rivals from companies like Oppo have ANC for under $100.

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The best tablets for 2023

We’ve got picks for every ecosystem along with some more affordable options.

Engadget

Following the release of the 2022 Apple iPad Air and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 line last year, there hasn’t been much movement in the tablet world. Apple's latest tablet is the revamped 10.9-inch iPad, but at $449, it's more of an upgrade of, rather than an alternative for, the less expensive 10.2-inch iPad. Amazon launched revamped versions of its Fire HD 8 tablets. While the same company’s e-readers aren’t typically considered tablets, the new Kindle Scribe deserves some consideration thanks to its pen and support for handwritten notes. We break down all the options.

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National Transport Safety Board chair says EVs are getting too big and heavy

Bigger batteries may be dangerous in a collision.

In a keynote speech, the National Transport Safety Board NTSB (NTSBNational Transport Safety Board) chair, Jennifer Homendy, said she was worried the size and weight of modern EVs could increase the risk of serious injuries and death. A Hummer EV is over 9,000lbs, the board leader said, while electrified versions of vehicles like the Ford F-150 and Volvo XC40 are far heavier than their gas engine equivalents.

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Engadget 13 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  handheld & connected devices  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: The Webb Telescope discovers an exoplanet almost the same diameter of Earth

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recorded another inaugural milestone: its first confirmed discovery of an exoplanet. LHS 475 b is just 41 light years away and has a diameter 99 percent of Earth’s. But there’s more work to be done. The JWST should be able to figure out the atmospheres of Earth-sized exoplanets. The research team is still working to determine what, if any, sort of atmosphere the rocky mass may have. However, the planet's surface appears to be around 300 Celsius, more than a little warmer than Earth, so don’t expect colonies. If they discover cloud cover, it could mean a greenhouse world climate closer to our neighboring planet Venus.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Apple may start making its own displays for its watches by 2024

Reports suggest these displays will make their way to other mobile devices.

Engadget

Apple may start replacing its mobile devices' displays with in-house screen technology as soon as next year. The tech giant will reportedly start with its highest-end Apple Watches in late 2024 and will swap the devices' current OLED screens with its own microLED technology. Bloomberg says Apple's homegrown display tech will also make its way to its other devices, including the iPhone.

Apparently, Apple was originally working to introduce its technology in 2020, but it was hampered by development costs and technical challenges. Back then, those same concerns also prevented the company from including larger displays in its plans.

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FAA grounds US flights following NOTAM computer outage

It ordered airlines to pause all domestic flights until 9 AM ET.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures in the US, stopping all flights until 9 AM ET, because it had to restore its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system. On early Wednesday morning, the agency issued a notice through an Air Traffic Control System Command Center Advisory that the US NOTAM system had failed. "Operations across the National Airspace System are affected," the FAA said in a tweet, then announced it was working to fix the outage. It’s the first time the US NOTAM system has failed.

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OpenAI is planning a paid ‘pro’ version of its hit ChatGPT bot

You'd have guaranteed access to the chatbot.

OpenAI has shared a waitlist for an experimental ChatGPT Professional service that, for a fee, would effectively remove limits on the advanced chatbot. The AI tool would always be available, with no throttling and as many messages as necessary. The startup hasn't said when the pilot program might launch, and it's asking would-be participants for feedback on pricing.

As TechCrunch noted, the company said on its Discord server it's "starting to think" about how it will make money from ChatGPT and keep the technology viable in the "long-term." CEO Sam Altman recently pointed out that ChatGPT costs OpenAI a few cents for every chat.

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Microsoft reportedly axes dual-screen Surface Duo 3 in favor of a 'true' foldable

You may also see more conventional smartphones.

Engadget

Windows Central sources claim Microsoft has canceled a twin-screen Surface Duo 3, which was allegedly meant to launch late this year. The company has apparently switched to focus on a "true" foldable phone. The new device's specs and name aren't known, but it would have a 180-degree hinge with an outside cover display, like the Vivo X Fold. The canceled Surface Duo 3 was "finalized," according to the sources. It would have supposedly addressed some of its predecessor's shortcomings with narrower edge-to-edge screens and wireless charging. But now, we’ll probably never know.

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Engadget 12 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  handheld & connected devices  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  science  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: Microsoft's VALL-E AI can replicate a voice from a three-second sample

Microsoft’s latest research in text-to-speech AI centers on a new AI model, VALL-E. While there are already multiple services that can create copies of your voice, they usually demand substantial input. Microsoft claims its model can simulate someone's voice from just a three-second audio sample. The speech can match both the timbre and emotional tone of the speaker – even the acoustics of a room. It could one day be used for customized or high-end text-to-speech applications, but like deepfakes, there are risks of misuse.

Researchers trained VALL-E on 60,000 hours of English language speech from 7,000-plus speakers in Meta's Libri-Light audio library. The results aren’t perfect: Some are tinny machine-like samples, while others are surprisingly realistic.

Microsoft isn’t making the code open source, possibly due to the inherent risks. In the paper, the company said: "Since VALL-E could synthesize speech that maintains speaker identity, it may carry potential risks in misuse of the model, such as spoofing voice identification or impersonating."

We’ve all seen the 1992 movie Sneakers, right? Right?!

– Mat Smith

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Amazon expands Prime shipping to more shopping sites

But you’ll need a Prime subscription.

Amazon is expanding Prime to cover more of the web. The company says it's making Buy with Prime "widely available" to eligible third-party sites in the US on January 31st. More shops can offer free shipping, streamlined checkout and simplified returns to Prime members. The theoretical advantages are clear: You get products with less hassle, while stores are more likely to turn visitors into paying customers. Amazon, meanwhile, is hoping to boost interest in Prime subscriptions. The catch, of course, is you have to pay for that pesky Prime sub.

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NASA funds ideas and prototypes for future space exploration

Including a Titan seaplane and faster deep space travel.

NASA

NASA is handing out $175,000 initial study grants to 14 new projects potentially useful for missions in and beyond the solar system. TitanAir might be the most unusual one: a seaplane from Planet Enterprises' Quinn Morley that could fly through the nitrogen-and-methane atmosphere of Saturn's biggest moon, Titan, and sail its oceans.

MIT's Mary Knapp has proposed a deep space observatory that would use a swarm of thousands of tiny satellites to detect low-frequency radio emissions from the early universe, and UCLA's Artur Davoyan’s idea could speed up exploration at the outer edges of space. His design would propel spacecraft with a "pellet-beam" of microscopic particles traveling at very high speed (over 74 miles per second) using laser blasts.

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The first-ever UK space flight fails to reach orbit

Virgin Orbit said the rocket suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching its destination.

Meanwhile, the UK’s first efforts at space flight have ended in failure. Virgin Orbit's historic Start Me Up mission launched from Spaceport Cornwall on January 9th as planned, but it failed to reach orbit. Apparently, the company tweeted, because of “an anomaly.” The mission carried payload satellites from seven commercial and government customers. They include a joint UK–US project called CIRCE (Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment) and two CubeSats for the UK’s Ministry of Defense. As noted by Ars Technica, this failure could have a huge impact on the company, which is struggling to launch enough missions to break even.

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Apple may use in-house wireless chips in iPhones by 2025

Broadcom and Qualcomm may get the boot very soon.

Bloomberg sources claim Apple is not only prepping its first cellular modem (now slated for late 2024 or early 2025) but also a combination of Bluetooth and WiFi chips to replace the Broadcom chip currently handling those duties in iPhones. While the exact reasoning for the transition wasn't mentioned, it's no secret Apple started designing its own silicon across multiple products.

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Engadget 11 Jan 12:16
author_name|mat smith  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  science  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: Instagram redesign kills the shopping tab

Instagram has revealed a home screen refresh, due in February, that axes the Shop tab and moves the Create button back to the center of the bottom navigation bar. The social network's Adam Mosseri said shopping will still exist in your feed, Reels, Stories and ads – because of course it will – it’s just not a dedicated tab anymore. The change may also be part of a larger strategy shakeup. The Information claims an internal memo in September indicated Instagram would cut many of its shopping features. Instead, the site would concentrate on commerce efforts "more directly tied" to ad revenue. Simply put, the shopping push doesn't appear to have helped.

Who exactly was browsing the randomized world of Instagram shopping ads for their next purchase, anyway? My shopping tab currently shows me a $10,000 oven, a vegan cheese selection box and stabilizers for a children’s bike. I guess I’d take the fake cheese.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Raspberry Pi launches some more modern camera modules

Module 3 variants include standard and wide-angle FOVs as well as autofocus.

Raspberry Pi has launched the Camera Module 3 with big improvements, including higher resolution, infrared, HDR, autofocus, a wide-angle field of view and more. Not counting an interchangeable lens model introduced in 2020, it's the company's first new camera module in six years. Where the previous module had fixed autofocus, Module 3 has built-in powered autofocus capability. That makes it a bit thicker (up to 12.4mm compared to 9mm) but more versatile, letting you focus on objects ranging in distance from 5cm (2 inches) to infinity.

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The best laptops for 2023

These are our favorites, already.

A new laptop is an expensive purchase that warrants some thought. Despite continued chip supply woes, companies are still making a ton of new laptops, and there’s plenty of choice. While most laptops with top of the line specs can cost around $1,800 to $2,000 these days, you can still get a good system for under $1,000. Then again, if you do most of your work in a browser (lots of online research, emails and Google Drive), then a Chromebook might be a cheaper alternative. We lay out the best options.

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The right-to-repair battle hits John Deere and US farmers

A new deal allows farmers to repair their own equipment.

Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The right to repair isn’t limited to replacing your smartphone battery. Tractor and farm-vehicle maker John Deere has resisted right-to-repair regulation, but it's now willing to make some concessions. Deere & Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) that lets US farmers and independent repair shops fix equipment, rather than requiring authorized parts and service centers. Why now? President Biden ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft right-to-repair regulation in 2021. If Deere didn’t act, it risked legal battles that could limit where and how it does business in the country.

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NASA's 38-year-old science satellite finally falls back to Earth

The re-entry comes as officials hope to cut back on space debris.

NASA's 38-year-old dead satellite has returned to Earth without incident. The Defense Department confirmed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) re-entered the atmosphere off the Alaskan coast at 11:04 PM ET on January 8th. The ERBS traveled aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 and was only expected to collect ozone data for two years. It was actually retired in 2005 — over two decades later.

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Engadget 10 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  

The Morning After: The best of CES 2023

After canceling our CES plans in 2022 (and there wasn’t even a show in 2021), the Engadget team sent a dozen staffers to this year’s CES. The show wasn't as busy as in pre-pandemic years, but many events were packed, and companies had plenty of announcements to dig into. So, what was the best of CES? You can check out all the award winners right here.

Our Best of the Best winner wasn’t a car or a TV that sticks to the wall. No, it’s Project Leonardo. This is Sony’s first piece of gaming hardware designed specifically for people with limited motor control – and it’s rather eye-catching.

Sony

This controller kit works out of the box with the PlayStation 5, offering two circular gamepads lined with swappable buttons, third-party accessory ports and other customizable inputs. The controllers sit flat on a table or mounted on a standard tripod. They can also pair with a DualSense to turn all three devices into a single gamepad, offering plenty of flexibility.

To make sure it delivered on its accessibility promises, Sony partnered with advocacy organizations including AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up, much like Microsoft did with the revolutionary Xbox Adaptive Controller. Though there's no release date or price for Project Leonardo yet, Sony is finally seizing an opportunity to expand the PS5 player base.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset could finally debut this spring

The launch could come at the expense of the company's other products.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple plans to announce its first mixed reality headset this spring, ahead of its annual WWDC conference in June. In a sign that a launch is finally on the horizon, Apple has reportedly shared the headset with a handful of high-profile software developers, giving them a first look at its new xrOS software. A focus on its newest hardware line will allegedly affect its heavy hitters, however.

The next version of the company’s iOS operating system will likely ship with “fewer major changes than originally planned” due to Apple reassigning software engineers to the xrOS team. “The same goes for macOS 14,” Gurman adds. The company apparently has no updates “of note” for its iPad, Apple Watch and audio product lines.

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Roland's 50th Anniversary Concept Piano has flying speaker drones

Ridiculous but beautiful.

Engadget

Roland’s 50th-anniversary celebration included a gorgeous Anniversary Concept Piano, built in collaboration with Japanese furniture maker Karimoku. The outside is one piece molded from Japanese Nara oak that hides a 360-degree 14-speaker system. Roland also built speakers into drones that hover above the piano, controlled by the player. Unfortunately, those couldn't be flown on the showfloor at CES, because safety, so Roland dangled a pair of them from wires. Boo.

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Samsung might unveil the Galaxy S23 series on February 1st

A Galaxy Unpacked event is scheduled that day.

Samsung may have inadvertently confirmed it’ll unveil its next flagship phones early next month. The company's Colombian website published a page revealing its next Galaxy Unpacked event is scheduled for February 1st, 2023. "Epic moments are approaching," it read before the page was pulled offline. Samsung’s showcase for its flagship devices has crept earlier in the calendar over the years: For the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung held an event on February 9th, 2022.

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HTC’s Vive XR Elite is its portable answer to the Meta Quest Pro

The features that matter, in a lighter package.

HTC is hitting back at Meta’s Pro VR headset with the Vive XR Elite. The XR Elite matches plenty of the Quest Pro’s highlight specs, including support for 2K resolution to each eye, a 90Hz refresh rate and full standalone operation. However, weighing 625 grams (versus 722 for the Quest Pro) and with a more comfortable headband, the XR Elite does an even better job of delivering a breezy portable VR/AR experience. Despite its high points, the XR Elite also shares a lot of the same flaws as the Quest Pro. Starting at $1,099, it’s a bit cheaper than Meta’s $1,500 rival, but still pretty expensive. We put it to the test on the showfloor at CES 2023.

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There was a lot of pee on the CES 2023 showfloor

Trend alert: Urine analysis tech.

While none claimed a Best of CES award from Engadget, there was a boom in toilet-bowl technology. You could pitch this as a natural evolution of the fitness tracker, testing your pee for many easy-to-identify maladies. But is this truly the next frontier of consumer health tracking? These devices might never have the popularity of a Fitbit, but for medical facilities and assisted living complexes, they could be game-changing.

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Engadget 09 Jan 12:38
author_name|mat smith  consumer discretionary  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: Lenovo made an e-ink tablet to rival Amazon’s Scribe

The CES conveyor belt of PCs doesn’t let up. Lenovo has been busy. Let’s start with its latest YogaBook, the dual-screen YogaBook 9i. Instead of folding like a conventional laptop, this… thing unfurls a screen atop another, with a slimline keyboard at the bottom. Thankfully, as well as the keyboard and stylus accessories, there’s a kickstand to ensure those two 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED displays stay in place. There’s an incredible amount of flexibility here. You can have the screens unfolded like a book, stacked atop each other or as a classic laptop, with the lower screen showing the keyboard.

Engadget

Then there’s the $400 Smart Paper tablet. An unashamed stab at rivaling Amazon’s Scribe e-ink tablet, there’s a screen to write and annotate on and a battery-less stylus you can holster in the case. There are nine pen settings (such as pencil, ballpoint and marker) and over 4,000 pressure sensitivity levels to ensure your sketches come out as you intended. Lenovo’s Smart Paper can convert your handwriting into text, and you can use keyword searches to find what you’re looking for – something Amazon’s version lacks. Conversely, though, Lenovo won’t have the library of Kindle books to scribble notes on – these are two distinct offerings.

Oh, you wanted a twist? Well, Lenovo isn’t done: It also revealed a new ThinkBook Plus that twists and turns to switch between e-ink and OLED screens. In short, it’s a bit of both. Check out our full impressions and spec rundowns here. We’ll be back Monday with more CES coverage, including Engadget’s Best of CES winners.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Ring offers a first look at its home security drone

The Always Home Cam appeared at CES 2023.

Engadget

Back in 2020, Ring showed off a concept home drone. Now it’s getting closer to patrolling the homes of anxious types. The mini drone zooms around your home, scouting for intruders when you’re not there. The entire device, including the dock, looks more like a kitchen gadget than a security drone. The Always Home Cam makes that drone-ish hum – don’t expect it to sneak up on any trespassers – and you train it by holding it (without obscuring the camera) and walking around your home in flight paths. There’s also the option to set multiple paths and waypoints. Ring still hasn’t announced a release date or a price.

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ThinkPhone hands-on: Moto’s attempt to woo big business

The main improvements are durability and security.

Engadget

While Lenovo has been a huge force in the enterprise laptop space thanks to its long line of ThinkPads and ThinkBooks, Motorola is attempting to bring a similar aura to its newest mobile device: the ThinkPhone by Motorola. With an aramid fiber weave back, it certainly looks the part. The big question is: Do people want a phone that matches their work laptop? And will people be willing to choose the ThinkPhone over the usual Apple and Samsung suspects?

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Stellantis reveals its Ram 1500 EV concept truck

The concept will serve as a design template for upcoming production vehicles.

There's finally an electric Ram truck – or at least a concept of one. Stellantis, an automaker with a stable of more than a dozen North American and European brands, including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Maserati and Fiat, has extremely ambitious goals to make 100 percent of its European sales and half of its US sales fully electric vehicles. The company hasn't revealed the battery size yet for this concept truck, but it did confirm the system will use an 800V architecture enabling it to add up to 100 miles of range in about 10 minutes on a 350 kW DC fast charger.

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Goodyear shows off 90 percent sustainable tires at CES 2023

The prototypes have reportedly passed Department of Transportation testing.

Goodyear is back with an improved sustainable tire prototype – 90 percent sustainable materials – a full 20 percent improvement over last year. The company says the 90-percent blend has already passed Department of Transportation testing, approving it for road use. The 90 percent tires reportedly offer a lower rolling resistance compared to the company's reference tires, which translates as better gas mileage and longer EV ranges.

The company is still working with its supply chain partners to secure sufficient precursor materials to produce them at a commercial scale and even plans to have a fully sustainable blend by 2030. The new materials include four types of carbon black made of both organic and inorganic sources: soybean oil and rice husk silica, post-consumer polyester and bio-renewable pine tar resins.

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Engadget 06 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  consumer discretionary  language|en-us  personal investing ideas & strategies  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: A wireless 55-inch OLED TV that sticks to the wall

One of the fun things about CES is a completely different approach to established tech norms. Displace’s 55-inch OLED TV not only runs on batteries and has a pop-out camera but also attaches itself with a vacuum seal to most walls and windows. There are even handles on the frame. Is this the end of wall mounts? Probably not.

It apparently keeps itself in place through multiple vacuum loops on the back. When the display detects a surface, the vacuums kick in, sucking the device to the surface of your choice. Displace TV can also do without a power cord because it doesn't do much image processing onboard. It's basically streaming media from a base station that performs the rendering. So no wires and no ports on the OLED TV itself.

There are more quirks. You could watch roughly six hours of content before swapping out batteries, and there’s no remote, so you’ll have to suffer the erratic method of hand gestures – which I don't think anyone truly likes. At $3,000, though, the Displace TV is predictably pricey. Only 100 units are available for pre-order at the moment, and the company said shipping starts in December. And if you get four of them, apparently you can put them together to create a 110-inch 8K TV.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Sony Honda Mobility’s first concept car is the Afeela EV

The Vision-S 02 is now the Afeela.

In March 2022, Honda and Sony announced they were teaming up to build a battery-electric SUV. By June, the project was its own company. Less than a year after being announced, Sony Honda Mobility took to the CES 2023 stage to officially unveil its first prototype, the Afeela. Sony executives shared a few details about the upcoming vehicle: It has 14 exterior cameras – 45 in total – and a grille-mounted Media Bar to display vehicle information. Expect more details when the show floor opens later today and we get to take a closer look.

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Roku is finally building its own TVs

The Roku TV Select and Premium Series lines range from 24 to 75 inches.

At CES 2023, the streaming device company announced it'll build its own smart TVs for the first time. When the Roku TV program debuted in 2014, the company was cramming its streaming software into TVs built by partners like TCL and Hisense. The TVs will range from $119 to $999, so don’t expect OLED panels or insane brightness levels. Roku also announced an OLED Roku TV reference design for its TV partners. So, there’s not going to be any shortage of options if you want a TV with Roku’s streaming capabilities.

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Tesla's Model Y might miss out on new EV tax credit rules

Too light to be classified as SUVs and too expensive to qualify as cars.

Certain variants of Tesla's Model Y may not qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit based on the IRS's latest guidelines, in a situation Elon Musk called "messed up." It looks as though the five-seat Long Range version of the hatchback is too expensive as a car and not considered an SUV, so it falls outside the current guidelines. Only the seven-seat variants of the Model Y qualify as SUVs in the category up to $80,000, while the five-seat vehicles (Long Range, AWD and Performance) should be in the $55,000 section. However, all the five-seaters exceed that price, so they don't qualify.

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Louisiana residents now need a government ID to access porn online

PornHub is already on it.

A new Louisiana state law went into effect on January 1st, requiring websites containing "a substantial portion" of "material harmful to minors" to ask users to prove they're 18 or older. "Substantial portion," according to the new law, is more than 33.3 percent of a website's content. Websites that host adult content have to implement "reasonable age verification methods," including asking users to present a government-issued ID or a digitized form of it. Major sites including PornHub, YouPorn and RedTube ask visitors to prove their age by using their LA Wallet app, which is the state's digital wallet app for drivers’ licenses.

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Track Ember's heated Travel Mug 2+ in Apple's Find My app

The new model won't cost more than the current version.

Engadget

A new version of Ember’s heated travel mug, dubbed the Travel Mug 2+, is on the way, with an upgrade that makes it appear in Apple's Find My app. The Travel Mug 2+ also has a speaker, so if you lose it, you can make it play a sound – as you would for lost AirPods. Ember's current model, the Travel Mug 2, with a 12-ounce capacity, is available for $199.95 and keeps beverages hot for up to three hours. The company says this upgraded version will stay at this price and eventually replace the Travel Mug 2.

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​​AMD's Ryzen 7000 mobile CPUs feature up to 16 cores and 5.4GHz speeds

Powerful laptops are incoming.

AMD is confronting Intel's powerful HX laptop CPUs head-on and, once again, they're called "HX." That won’t be confusing. The company's new Ryzen 9 7945HX processor is its premium mobile offering, with 16 cores and 32 threads, as well as speeds between 2.5GHz and 5.4GHz. The Ryzen HX CPUs will run at 55 watts and above (also like Intel's), meaning they'll focus more on raw power than battery life. AMD claims the 7945HX is 78 percent faster than the previous top-end Ryzen chip in Cinebench's multithreaded benchmark, and 18 percent faster in the single-threaded test. Compared to Intel's 12900HX, its high-end chip from last year, the 7945HX is 169 percent faster in Handbrake encoding and 75 percent faster with Blender rendering.

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Engadget 05 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

Someone made a wall-mounted massage gun

The market for percussive massage guns is pretty packed. So is there space for another? Symbodi hopes so. Its Vertigun is a quiet-running massager that locks into a patented suction-cup wall mount. While massage guns might feel great, it’s often hard to get to tricky nooks and tight areas without someone else controlling the device for you. Symbodi even claims that because you’re not reaching or straining to get a massage gun in place (and put pressure on it), your body should be further relaxed when coming into contact with the percussive massage.

The Vertigun certainly runs quieter than the competition. Vertigun says it tops out at 48dB, comparing favorably against rivals like the Theragun (75 dB) and Hypervolt (60 dB). In a demo – Engadget was sent an early model – the hardware seemed a little clunky compared to the competition, but the size of the Vertigun’s battery ensures it can last a while between charges. The company claims it should be able to massage away for up to eight hours. It’s roughly the same weight as similar massage guns, too, but what makes it different is that you can use it without holding it.

Engadget / Mat Smith

That’s accomplished with the help of a solid, substantial airlock mount. With a sizable rubberized cup, you pull a lever to lock the mount to the wall. I assumed I might need a flat, polished surface, like glass or tile, to mount the Vertigun. However, the airlock mount attached to my apartment’s painted doors and walls pretty easily, without scraping or affecting the surface. Symbodi warns that it won’t stick to textured drywall, brick, concrete or wallpapered surfaces. The massage gun itself slides and locks into the mount, and can be removed by pressing the lever inwards. The mount occasionally fell off the wall, so I eventually got into the habit of removing it after use.

The six speeds seem perfectly functional – I’m not sure I need more than three settings – but the inclusion of several different massage attachments is definitely welcome. The Vertigun sample I received ahead of CES included an angled head, which did wonders for the side of my thighs and a pinpoint head for digging into shoulder blades. Three heads will come packaged with the Vertigun.

Engadget / Mat Smith

The challenge could be standing out from all the other percussive massage guns, including the aforementioned Therabody and Hypervolt, not to mention cheaper options. It’s probably why the company is launching at CES 2023. Symbodi has also signed several athlete ambassadors, including former professional US soccer player (and two-time Olympic gold medalist) Carli Anne Hollins, Dallas Cowboys’ Ceedee Lamb and Steelers All Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Vertigun will become available online later this month for $400.

Engadget 05 Jan 08:00
author_name|mat smith  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  

The Morning After: Samsung’s latest mobile screen prototype slides and folds

Samsung’s apparently tired of mobile displays that only fold in on themselves. At CES 2023 this week, the company revealed the Flex Hybrid OLED mobile screen. It folds from one side and slides out the other. This combination not only increases the size but alters the aspect ratio, too.

Starting off at a relatively compact 4.2-inch device, it folds out to a 10.5-inch 4:3 display. Then, because it’s not done, the right side slides and expands out to create a 12.4-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, which seems like it’d be ideal for watching TV and movies. Samsung’s folding phones won me over in 2022, even if they could do with longer battery life. With a screen this big, that has to be a major consideration for any real-world devices.

We’ve seen roll-out displays on concept phones before. TCL teased such a device in 2021, but it never showed off a working prototype. If Samsung has one at CES, we’ll check it out when the show floor opens. Already, we’ve been barraged by PC and TV announcements. Keep track of all the news from CES 2023 right here. What are you hoping to see this year?

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

NVIDIA unveils the pricey mid-range RTX 4070 Ti GPU

Even at $799, it’s better value than the 4080.

NVIDIA finally unveiled its latest midrange GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti. Starting at $799, it's a slightly more reasonable alternative to NVIDIA's $1,199 RTX 4090 and $1,599 4090. But yes, it's still pretty costly. Is this the new GPU midrange? NVIDIA is positioning the RTX 4070 Ti as the pinnacle of 1,440p gaming beyond 120 fps. DLSS 3 is a big reason for that – just like with the other 4000-series cards, it uses machine learning to generate entire frames, rather than the pixels DLSS 2 created. That means it should be able to deliver better overall frame rates. The RTX 4070 Ti will be available on January 5th.

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Apple is raising the price of battery replacements for older iPhones

It already costs more to give newer iPhones a fresh battery.

Apple is adding $20 to the price of battery replacements for pre-iPhone 14 models on March 1st. For notched iPhones (iPhone X through iPhone 13), this will bump the price from $69 to $89. If you have an iPhone SE or iPhone 8, the price will climb from $49 to $69. It's not clear if self-repair prices will increase at the same time. However, part prices roughly equal the cost of asking Apple to perform a battery swap. The company didn’t elaborate on the reasoning, but last year said inflation had affected business, and it raised iPhone prices in several international markets.

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Hugging this pulsating cushion could help with anxiety

The Fufuly's movements can guide your breathing pattern.

Engadget

Yukai Engineering, the team behind the strangely adorable cat tail pillow, is back. The Fufuly is yet another anxiety-reducing cushion from the Japanese company, with a gentle rhythmical pulsation as the main therapeutic tool. The idea is hugging a Fufuly stimulates your belly to induce slower and deeper breathing, thanks to the cushion’s lifelike behavior. The Fufuly will launch in Japan this year, through crowdfunding.

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Dell’s revamped G-series: Surprisingly compelling budget gaming laptops

With retro sci-fi designs and fun colors.

Engadget

Dell’s latest G-series gaming notebooks seem to draw inspiration from gadgets in ‘80s sci-fi movies. You get simple lines with hard edges and bold two-tone paint jobs with neon/pastel accents. Color options may eventually change when these laptops go on sale, but Dell is even painting small details like the radiator fins inside each laptop’s vents. In short, they’re not as… extra as the Alienware laptop family.

The G15 will start at $849 for a 13th-gen Intel Core i5, with a 1,920 x 1,080 screen and a choice of RTX 40-series GPUs from NVIDIA. The larger G16 will start at $1,499 with the same Core i5 chip but a higher-res 165Hz 2,560 x 1,600 screen. Both should go on sale early this year.

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Test your pee where you pee with this oversized toilet clip-on

Not a fitness tracker.

Vivoo has unveiled a smart toilet device that can test your urine and send the results to your phone. The tech is in a device that clips to existing toilets. Vivoo, which has offered at-home urine tests for the last few years, designed the system with the elderly, residential care and healthcare service providers in mind. The device will automatically align a testing strip with a person's urine stream, which should reduce the risk of, well, mess. It analyzes the urine sample for four wellness parameters. The company suggests the results can offer "indications of certain deficiencies or abnormalities" and help with early detection of some conditions.

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Engadget 04 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  handheld & connected devices  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics  

The Morning After: Samsung made an oven that can livestream your dinner

We’re moving on from washing machines. As part of its refreshed Bespoke smart home appliances lineup, Samsung has revealed a new high-tech oven. The new range also includes a washer and dryer, so maybe we haven’t quite moved on.

The highlight is its Bespoke AI Oven. It has a seven-inch screen and touch controls, and features air sous-vide, air frying, and steam cooking methods. The most intriguing element is the AI Camera inside. The camera can detect what you're making and suggest optimal cooking settings if it recognizes the cuisine. You can even monitor the cooking using the screen or the SmartThings app (which you can use to control the oven remotely).

There's also the option to take photos of your creation or even livestream the video feed. To someone. Anyone.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

German Bionic debuts its lightest powered exosuit to date at CES 2023

I’m more intrigued by its ergonomics-monitoring safety vest.

German Bionic

German Bionic, the robotic exoskeleton startup behind the Cray X, will show off two new posture-protecting products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada this week. The Apogee is the company's latest and lightest powered exosuit built for commercial and industrial use. The company’s new SafetyVest, on the other hand, doesn't actively help the user pick up heavy stuff but it does monitor their movements and body positioning as they work and offers "data-based, personalized ergonomic insights, as well as assessments and recommended actions."

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LG's 2023 OLED TVs are up to 70 percent brighter

With a revamped interface and better sound options.

LG's new TVs should be even brighter. They will include a per-pixel Brightness Booster Max feature that, on certain G3 series TVs, promises up to a 70 percent brighter picture, meaning less time squinting during daytime viewing. The G3, C3 and 8K-capable Z3 all use a new processor that offers AI upscaling, HDR tone mapping and object-based picture sharpening. The chip also helps deliver 9.1.2-channel surround sound from the built-in speakers. As is often the case when LG reveals its latest screens, you'll have to wait a little longer for pricing and availability.

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Tesla set a new company record for vehicle deliveries

Over 405,000 Teslas shipped in Q4 2022.

Tesla delivered 405,278 electric vehicles over the final three months of 2022. It’s a new record for the company, but it still fell short of estimates from analysts. According to Tesla, the Model 3 and Model Y made up most of the company's deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 388,131 of those vehicles making their way to consumers before the end of the year. Tesla faced macroeconomic and logistical challenges multiple times in 2022/ COVID-19 restrictions in China forced Tesla to suspend and reduce production at its Shanghai Gigafactory. Tesla also closed the facility during the last week of December.

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Engadget 03 Jan 12:15
author_name|mat smith  consumer discretionary  language|en-us  provider_name|engadget  region|us  site|engadget  technology & electronics