While many phone fans in the US are intrigued with the Nothing Phone 1, with its transparent back and flashing glyph design, they couldn’t buy one. At least, not easily. It might be easier for its follow-up devices, though.

Engadget

Nothing co-founder Carl Pei told CNBC the Nothing Phone 1 isn't available in the US because the company wasn't ready to deal with the complexities of the market, which usually entails dealing with powerful US carriers. "Now we are in discussions with some carriers in the US to potentially launch a future product there," he said. Nothing already sells its Ear Stick wireless buds in the US, which apparently made up a third of that product's sales. And as the co-founder of OnePlus, Pei is already well acquainted with the US smartphone market. It took years for OnePlus to launch a device with carrier support.

Nothing has topped 600,000 Phone 1 devices sold so far. But Pei has big ambitions, matched by similarly big challenges. He previously said the company has a "zero-percent margin" on its phones, due to the strong US dollar and less-than-favorable terms from suppliers. "The goal is to be profitable in 2024," he said.

– 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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Neuralink is reportedly under federal investigation over animal testing

The development pressures have allegedly led to animal deaths.

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) inspector general is apparently investigating Neuralink over potential animal welfare violations related to research testing. Reuters reports the company has killed 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, since 2018. Those numbers don't automatically mean Neuralink is violating the law, and the company has passed all USDA inspections of its facilities. According to the report, internal documents suggest staff have raised concerns that the company has rushed animal testing, causing needless suffering and death.

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Honor’s Magic VS is a cheaper foldable here to scare Samsung

We’ve tested a prototype.

Engadget

The Magic VS is Honor’s second folding phone, but it’ll be the first available outside China when it launches in early 2023. This feels like a polish rather than an evolution of the 2022’s Magic V foldable. The major difference is a vastly redesigned hinge with far fewer parts, which should make it more reliable. It still looks an awful lot like Samsung’s premium-priced Galaxy Z Fold series. Honor has given attention to the external display, which is arguably just as important as the fold-out display. Check out our impressions.

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Blizzard makes it easier to unlock new 'Overwatch 2' heroes

You won't need to grind through as many levels to get them.

One of the major (and controversial) changes Blizzard made in Overwatch 2 was locking new heroes behind a battle pass. However, it should be a little easier for players to unlock the latest character, Ramattra, in the game's second season. Players who opt for the free track of the battle pass won't need to grind through as many levels before they can use the new tank in all game modes. However, those who buy the season-two premium pass will get access to Ramattra right away.

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Google’s Pixel 7 update brings Clear Calling and a free VPN

Other updates include better Pixel Watch sleep tracking.

Google is releasing its latest round of Pixel updates, including the free VPN the company teased at its October event. However, the Google One VPN doesn’t support regional location switching, so no sneakily streaming different services around the world – but it does secure your browsing activity. Clear Calling, which had been in beta since October, is also now available for all Pixel 7 series owners. The AI-powered feature makes calls in noisy environments sound better by bringing your voice to the forefront while drowning out background noise.

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Here’s another 'immersive' gaming pod

If you have the space.

Cooler Master

Cooler Master’s Orb X is its newly announced semi-enclosed work and gaming station. The built-in recliner is made of “genuine leather” and has a fully adjustable headrest, lumbar support and leg rest. Once you’re seated, the motorized dome at the top of the Orb X lowers a screen to eye level. You can configure the pod with either a single 34-inch monitor or up to three 27-inch displays. If you’re going to own a gaming pod, I demand you get all three.

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According to Elon Musk, Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter. The billionaire made the comment during a Twitter Spaces conversation he broadcast from his private plane on Saturday evening. On November 28th, Musk claimed Apple had “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter” and threatened to remove the platform’s iOS client from the App Store. Two days after that, Musk said he met with Tim Cook. “We resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” he posted. “Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.” On Saturday, Musk added Apple was the largest advertiser on Twitter.

Amazon also had plans to advertise on Twitter again, with reports from Platformer saying the company has committed to spending approximately $100 million per year, “pending some security tweaks.” During the first week of the World Cup in Qatar, Twitter only made about 20 percent of the ad revenue it expected to, according to The Times.

Twitter continues to try to win back its army of advertisers while wrestling with a different approach to free speech: Musk’s “general amnesty” to users that haven’t broken rules. The social network recently restored the account of Andrew Anglin, one of America’s most notorious neo-Nazis. He then tweeted a defense of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. “Saying you love Hitler is not even a big deal,” Anglin said, referencing Ye’s recent InfoWars interview with Alex Jones. This reinstatement comes in the same week Twitter suspended Ye for tweeting a photo of the Star of David merged with a swastika.

An estimate by software engineer Travis Brown suggests Twitter has restored as many as 12,000 accounts since October 27th.

– 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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GE’s $1,000 smart mixer shuts itself off when your dough is ready

There’s a built-in smart scale and support for voice control.

Kitchen gadgets are on their way. GE’s Profile Smart Mixer with Auto Sense has a built-in scale so you can measure ingredients directly in the mixing bowl – just be sure to add each ingredient slowly. It uses motor torque feedback to monitor the texture and viscosity of a mix, meaning it can automatically stop when a mixture has been, er, mixed. Pre-orders are open now, (it’s $1,000!) and the mixer should ship later this month.

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Pentagon unveils its first new stealth bomber in 30 years

The B-21 is undetectable even to advanced radars and air defense systems.

The US military has unveiled the B-21 Raider, its first new stealth bomber in 30 years. Northrop Grumman, which developed the aircraft, first showed us a silhouette of the plane covered by a shroud way back in 2015. Most of its details remain a secret, obviously, but the company called it the "world’s first sixth-generation aircraft," making it a lot more technologically advanced than the military jets in service today. The aircraft was designed using next-generation stealth technology so it can remain undetectable even to advanced radars and air defense systems. It can also fly in full stealth mode every day.

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Huawei teases a smartwatch with built-in wireless earbuds

Who needs a charging case?

Huawei Central

Official details will have to wait as Huawei has delayed a launch event, but the company is working on a new smartwatch to charge and house wireless earbuds. Huawei Central obtained photos showing the earbuds attach to the underside of the dial and sit in recesses when the watch is closed. That should make for a particularly chonky smartwatch – and that’s saying something. It's not certain when Huawei will formally announce the Watch Buds, nor is it clear which countries will get them. Given the company’s status in the US, we doubt they’ll appear in that region.

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Engadget Podcast: Kindle Scribe reviewed, and the rise of Twitter clones

Where’s the viable alternative?

This week, we dive into Cherlynn’s review of the Kindle Scribe, Amazon’s first e-reader that captures handwritten notes. Also, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss the rise of new Twitter alternatives, like Hive Social and Post. It looks like many communities are already splintering off to these services, but unfortunately, they can’t yet replicate the magic of Twitter.

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Valve’s portable gaming PC handheld is a revelation for some, but it’s also expensive. So, you could try your luck getting a free one. To coincide with this year’s Game Awards, Valve is making its own Steam TV coverage of the show more enticing by giving away lots of Steam Deck consoles.

There are a few eligibility criteria, however. You have to watch the event on Steam TV, which starts at 7:30 PM ET on December 8th, and you have to register on the giveaway's official page beforehand to enter the draw. And you can only register and win if you're in the US, Canada, UK or the EU, where the console is currently available. On top of all that, you must have made a Steam purchase in the year ending November 14th, 2022. That should thin the herd a little.

The Game Awards are expanding “live” experiences (which aren’t actually live) with IMAX theater showings across several cities in the US, Canada and other countries. This will also be the first year to feature a new Best Adaptation category, for projects that spin out games into movies, TV shows and more. Sonic the Hedgehog, this is your doing.

– Mat Smith

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Tesla finally delivers its first production Semi

Pepsi will be the first customer to receive the electrified cargo transports.

Tesla

Five years after CEO Elon Musk officially unveiled his Semi, Tesla’s electrified truck, the company delivered its first official production vehicle to Pepsi – the first of 100 ordered by the drinks maker. Originally, the Tesla Semi was set to retail at $150,000 and $180,000 for the 300- and 500-mile versions, respectively. Those prices are significantly higher than the $60k a standard diesel cab costs, but Tesla estimates its vehicles can operate 20 percent more efficiently and save up to $250,000 over the million-mile life of the Semi. Musk said the vehicle comes with a massive 1MW battery pack. This reportedly offers a 20-second 0 to 60, which is impressive given these vehicles are towing up to 80,000 pounds at a time, and a spent-to-80 percent charge time of just 30 minutes.

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'The Callisto Protocol' didn't scare me

So many guns.

Engadget

Engadget’s Jessica Conditt strapped herself in for the sci-fi horror that is The Callisto Protocol. It’s a gory, gorgeous horror game that, unfortunately, lets itself down. The game comes from Striking Distance Studios and Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield, and there are a few familiar touches, like using gravity to explore all this horrible stuff in space. However, controls seem to rebel, while other game mechanics don’t trigger when they should, meaning lots of frustration and lots of game-over screens. The biggest tragedy of The Callisto Protocol is that it’s just not that scary.

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LastPass reveals another security breach

The password manager was hacked in August this year.

LastPass password manager has been breached again. The company detected unusual activity in a third-party cloud storage service it shares with its parent company. So far, they've determined the unauthorized party got into LastPass' cloud service by using information obtained from the security breach it suffered this August. The password manager and its parent company are still investigating the incident to understand its scope, so we'll likely hear more details in the coming months.

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Nintendo vows to fix ‘Pokémon Scarlet’ and ‘Violet’ after a rough launch

Sure, it’s popular but messy.

Alongside an update this week, Nintendo said it was taking player feedback "seriously" as it planned fixes. The patch both introduces ranked battles and addresses numerous bugs, including inconsistent music playback during key events. The creature-collecting game routinely suffers from poor frame rates, particularly in busy areas, like cities. It's also common to encounter crashes, visual flaws and show-stopping bugs, like getting stuck in the terrain. It’s far from the polished gaming experience you’d expect from Nintendo.

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We’ve talked a few times about the appeal of capable digital styluses and e-ink note-taking. Surely, it’s the perfect study tool? This time, Amazon tries it out. The Kindle Scribe, at $340, is costlier than a basic e-ink reader, but it has stylus input, high latency and a few more tricks.

This is Amazon’s first Kindle that supports stylus input, and according to Engadget’s Cherlynn Low, it offers an excellent reading and writing experience. There’s definitely room for improvement, though: Don’t expect handwriting-to-text conversion or sophisticated note-taking and syncing tools, like we’ve seen on other (usually more expensive) devices with stylus input.

Engadget

This isn’t a Galaxy S22 Ultra or an iPad Pro, but it’s e-ink, sensitive to your chicken scratches and a different Kindle for Amazon. We’ve only really seen niche e-ink tablets until now. If you’re intrigued, check out our full review.

– 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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Spotify's 2022 Wrapped is a music-focused personality test

Myers-Briggs, but music.

Spotify

It’s December, so all your streaming services are very eager to tell you which artists, songs and albums you listened to most in 2022, (it’s probably Beyoncé.) While Apple and YouTube Music already rolled out their annual nostalgia wrap-ups, Spotify's 2022 installment of Wrapped debuts today. The company likes to put a new spin on its personalized top lists each year, and this one is no different. A new feature called Your Listening Personality offers some insight into what the music you stream says about your taste. Spotify’s invented 16 listening personality types, including The Replayer, The Specialist, The Adventurer and The Fanclubber. Why yes, we are all insufferable.

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Starlink nearly doubles satellite internet terminal prices in Ukraine

The hikes come as cell networks struggle under the Russian assault.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The price of a Starlink satellite terminal has almost doubled in Ukraine, jumping from the equivalent of $385 to about $700, according to The Financial Times. The monthly rate isn't as expensive as it once was (as high as $100), but it's crept up from $60 to $75. It's not known if prices have also jumped for the Ukrainian government, which gets Starlink from a variety of sources that include SpaceX itself, foreign governments and even crowdsourcing. Ukraine's cellular networks are apparently buckling under the strain of Russian attacks on the country's electrical grid. In some cases, Starlink is the only way for locals to reach the internet.

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Samsung may debut its Galaxy S23 flagship phone in early February

Its Unpacked event is expected to take place in San Francisco.

Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S23 devices in the US in the first week of February 2023, according to news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, which cites an anonymous company executive. And we’ve heard other corroborating reports. While Samsung has yet to formally announce an Unpacked event for the Galaxy S23, the timeline reported by the publications is consistent with the previous flagships' launch dates. Samsung revealed its Galaxy S22 phones on February 9th earlier this year.

What can you expect? Maybe the next Galaxy S series ditches Samsung’s in-house Exynos chips and goes all in on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips. Some unofficial renders also suggest Samsung may get rid of the camera bump.

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South Dakota bans TikTok from government-owned devices

Its governor said the Chinese government is using TikTok to 'manipulate the American people.'

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, has signed an executive order prohibiting government employees, agencies and contractors from downloading and using TikTok on state-owned devices. In her office's announcement, Noem said she issued the order due to growing security concerns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been using the social media app to gather information from American users and leveraging it to manipulate them. The order also prohibits government personnel from visiting the TikTok website on browsers.

US officials have long been raising security concerns about TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. In 2020, then-President Trump attempted to block TikTok and WeChat in the US – which didn't quite go anywhere.

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It's already started. Time to recap 2022. Apple revealed that social media newcomer BeReal was one of the biggest winners in its annual App Store Awards. It won iPhone App of the Year for giving people what Apple called, “an authentic glimpse into their friend's and family's everyday lives.” If you’re unaware, BeReal users can share a selfie of themselves with a photo of their environment during a two-minute window the app randomly selects for them every day, sidestepping the production values, planning and filters that are often part of Instagram, TikTok and other apps. And in BeReal's case, the fact that rival social media apps have introduced or are testing similar features is a clear testament to the "impact" it's had. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

In gaming, Apex Legends Mobile was the top title for iPhone, while puzzle game Moncage and card battler Inscryption won best games for the iPad and the Mac, respectively. The fantastic El Hijo also got a nod for best game for Apple 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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NASA's Orion photographed the Earth and Moon from a quarter-million miles away

A record-setting distance from home.

NASA

NASA has shared a photo taken by the Artemis I vehicle on Monday showing both Earth and the Moon in the background. Orion took the snapshot at its maximum distance from Earth of 268,563 miles. That's the farthest any human-oriented spacecraft has traveled, beating even Apollo 13's 1970 record of 248,655 miles. What a great photo.

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Sony’s Mocopi motion tracking system is its first tentative step into the metaverse

It translates your body's movements on a metaverse avatar.

Sony has a new project, and it’s called Mocopi, comprising six motion-tracking bands to wear on your hands, feet, back and head, with a price of 49,500 yen (about $358). Its aim is to track your body to create videos or operate avatars in real-time with metaverse apps, like VRChat. It's an ambitious product for people with a general interest in the metaverse as well as animation professionals and filmmakers – though it assumes a degree of technical knowledge. Sony says you can use existing VRM avatars and export recorded videos in the MP4 format, provided you have an up-to-date smartphone.

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Twitter has stopped enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy

The social network may also have gutted the team tackling child exploitation.

Twitter has quietly updated its transparency site to reveal it stopped enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy on November 23rd. The company won't suspend further users or delete content including falsehoods about the coronavirus or vaccines, but it's not clear if the company will, as part of Elon Musk's planned amnesty, restore any accounts banned for sharing misinformation.

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The Pixel 7a will probably look a lot like the Pixel 6a

Google’s cheaper smartphone series is ready for an update.

Steve Hemmerstoffer

Google is unlikely to announce the next entry in its Pixel A series until I/O 2023. That’s half a year away, but the rumor mill is already spinning. Steve Hemmerstoffer of OnLeaks fame has shared early renders of the upcoming Pixel 7a. Unsurprisingly, the images suggest the Pixel 7a will look a lot like its predecessor and Google’s other Pixel 7 devices. There aren’t many spec surprises, but it appears the next phone will get the same metallic camera trim as the more expensive models.

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'Pong' is now half a century old

Older than you, probably.

Courtesy of mbiebusch

Exactly 50 years ago yesterday, Atari released Pong, and the early video game industry was born. Released in 1972, Atari sold more than 8,000 Pong arcade cabinets. A few years later, the home version became an instant success, with Sears selling about 150,000 units of the console you needed to play the game. If not for Pong, Nintendo would not exist, and a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak may not have created Apple.

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Elon Musk claims that Apple has “threatened to withhold” Twitter from its app store. According to Musk, the company “won’t tell us why” it has issues with the social network’s app. In subsequent tweets, he railed against Apple’s 30 percent “tax” on in-app purchases and claimed the App Store owner has “censored” other developers. He also said Apple “has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter.” Apple hasn’t yet responded to a request for comment. Musk also hasn’t specified if the company is holding updates to the service or threatening to remove the app from its store altogether.

Apple has strict, if often unevenly enforced, rules that govern the content in apps in its store. You might remember Parler, a “free speech” rival to Twitter, which was removed from the App Store for its lax content moderation rules. The app returned after it rolled out an AI-based moderation system. ​​

– Mat Smith

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WhatsApp's latest feature is sending messages to yourself

Message Yourself lets you send notes, reminders and shopping lists.

As confirmed by TechCrunch, a new feature called Message Yourself is now being rolled out globally to iOS and Android users in the next few weeks. Once you get the update, you'll be able to see yourself at the top of the contacts list when creating new messages. Once you click on that, you'll be able to send yourself notes and reminders. Until now, you could only message yourself by creating a group with just you as a member or by using the apps click to chat feature. Or open your notes app.

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Twitter data leak exposes over 5.4 million accounts

The dump includes private phone numbers and email addresses.

Earlier this year, Twitter confirmed an API vulnerability allowed the theft of 5.4 million users’ private user data, but the company said it had "no evidence" it was exploited. Now, all those accounts are exposed on a hacker forum. An additional 1.4 million Twitter profiles for suspended users were reportedly shared privately, and an even larger data dump with the data of "tens of millions" of other users may have come from the same vulnerability. If you're thinking about using two-factor authentication, now would be a good time.

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Apple Watch Ultra's powerful diving tools arrive with the Oceanic+ app

The smartwatch is now more useful for recreational divers.

Apple

Hush Outdoors and Apple have released Oceanic+, effectively giving Ultra owners a recreation-oriented dive computer. The software tracks fundamentals like depth, no-decompression time (a figure used to set duration limits for given depths) and water temperature. The app works without the touchscreen, and you can set compass headings using the action button. Developers have even cranked up the haptic feedback, so you can feel it through a wetsuit.

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Google sued by FTC and seven states over 'deceptive' Pixel 4 ads

Influencers who never used the phone were paid to endorse it.

Engadget

The Federal Trade Commission and seven states have sued Google and iHeartMedia for running allegedly "deceptive" Pixel 4 ads. Promo ads aired between 2019 and 2020 featured influencers extolling the virtues of phones they reportedly didn't own — Google didn't even supply Pixels before most of the ads were recorded. The FTC wants to bar Google and iHeartMedia from making any future misleading claims about ownership.

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Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling on Congress to pass new legislation to rein in tech companies after Twitter boss Elon Musk ignored an information request. “Elon Musk could respond to my tweets but failed to respond to my letter by yesterday’s deadline and answer basic questions about Twitter verification,” Markey tweeted on Saturday.

The senator sent a letter on November 11th about Twitter’s paid account verification feature. Following the initial rollout, trolls could impersonate celebrities, politicians and company brand accounts, the latter leading to real-world effects on stock prices.

Musk addressed one of Markey’s questions when he announced Twitter’s new verification system on Friday. It’ll feature manual authentication and different colored check marks for different types of users. "Gold check for companies, gray check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates," Musk said. He’s also said sign-ups have hit an all-time high.

– 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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FCC bans telecom and video surveillance gear from Huawei and ZTE

The agency is implementing the rules from the 2021 Secure Equipment Act.

Getty Images

The FCC announced it's officially implementing the Secure Equipment Act, which means some future equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua won't be authorized for sale in the US. Existing equipment from those companies, all listed under the FCC's Covered List, aren't affected by the law. Last year, the Biden administration signed into law the Secure Equipment Act, which aimed to block the authorization of network licenses from several Chinese companies whose hardware has been deemed a national security threat.

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NASA’s Orion spacecraft breaks Apollo 13 flight record

The capsule traveled farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans had before.

NASA

The Artemis 1 Orion crew vehicle has set a record for a NASA flight. On Saturday, Orion flew farther than any spacecraft designed to carry human astronauts had ever before, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 back in 1970 – not that it was the aim of the mission. Funnily enough, it’s fitting that Artemis 1 was the one to do it. As Space.com points out, Apollo 13’s original flight plan didn’t call for a record-setting flight. It was only after a mid-mission explosion forced NASA to plot a new return course that Apollo 13’s Odyssey command module set the previous record at 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth.

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Charles Darwin's full correspondence is now available online

You can read over 15,000 letters from the evolutionary science pioneer.

The University of Cambridge has published all the evolutionary scientist's surviving correspondence online, including 400 letters that have either surfaced or are newly "reinterpreted." The searchable collection now covers over 15,000 letters written between 1822 and 1882, ranging from his influential time aboard the HMS Beagle to On the Origin of Species and his end-of-life reflections. The internet archive may even be the only way to see a fuller picture of Darwin's life. The university notes a print edition of his correspondence, due in early 2023, doesn't include letters that arrived too late to reach physical copies.

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UK aims to ban non-consensual deepfake porn

Critics say other aspects of the proposed legislation pose dangers to privacy and security.

The UK government will amend its Online Safety Bill with measures designed to prohibit abuse of intimate images, whether or not they're real. If the bill becomes law as is, it will be illegal to share deepfake porn without the subject's consent. This would be the first ban on sharing deepfakes in the country, and if the law comes into effect, violating this rule could lead to a prison sentence. Critics have pushed back against certain aspects of the bill, including a revived plan to verify a person's age before permitting them to access adult content online.

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Apple and Google’s domination across the mobile internet is under scrutiny again. Earlier this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was consulting on a possible probe into Google and Apple's dominance in the mobile phone market. Now, the regulator has announced it received "widespread support" for its proposals and has launched a market investigation into the two tech giant's "duopoly" in cloud gaming and mobile browsers. The CMA noted that Apple and Google have a "stranglehold" over mobile device operating systems, app stores and browsers, with 97 percent of UK web browsing in 2021 on either Apple- or Google-owned browsers.

– 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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The Xbox 360's iconic controller revival for Xbox Series X/S and PC

It’s... iconic?

Hyperkin

Hyperkin is creating a licensed replica of the Xbox 360’s iconic gamepad. It’s called Xenon – a reference to the console’s pre-release codename and IBM-made PowerPC processor. The controller brings back the nearly two-decade-old design but with a detachable USB-C cable and headphone jack. It also comes with Menu, View and Share buttons, ensuring the controller is fully compatible with the Xbox Series X/S and PC. No word on the release date or pricing just yet.

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The best Black Friday game console deals

Not every console is on sale, however.

Demand for current consoles has been through the roof for the better part of two years now. Sadly, that means there’s not much of an incentive for retailers to offer heavy discounts. However, if you’re thinking of getting the basic Nintendo Switch or Xbox Series S, you might be in luck. Nintendo's repeating the same deal as Black Friday in previous years: a base-model Switch with a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a three-month subscription to its Switch Online service. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft Xbox Series S is available for $250, $50 off its standard going rate. The Series S has fallen to $250 in the past, but this is still a good price if you want a secondary console or a more affordable route into the Xbox game library. Make sure to keep an eye on our deals account on Twitter for the biggest breaking deals this Black Friday.

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FCC cuts off a voice provider for failing to protect against robocalls

It's the first time the agency has shut off access to other networks.

The FCC has finally cut off provider Global UC from other networks after it allegedly failed to meet requirements for protecting against scam robocalls. Now the company is no longer in the Robocall Mitigation Database, other carriers (including intermediaries) will have to stop accepting its traffic. In October, the FCC said it would cut off seven firms that didn't share their anti-robocall strategies despite warnings.

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Golf is coming to 'Nintendo Switch Sports'

The update will bring a survival golf mode to the 'Wii Sports' successor.

Nintendo

Nintendo Switch Sports is finally getting golf – one of the key sports missing from the spiritual successor of Wii Sports. From November 28th, you'll have access to 21 holes from the Wii Sports series. Along with casual modes you can enjoy with family and friends, you can check out a survival golf mode.

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Developers at Mysk claim Apple's anonymous usage data for some of its in-house apps includes a Directory Services Identifier (DSID) uniquely linked to your Apple ID and iCloud data. Mysk notes that Apple's tool to prevent third-party app tracking debuted in iOS 14.5, so this shouldn't affect other software you use on your devices. For example, the developers noted your behavior when browsing apps in the iPhone’s App Store is sent to Apple with this ID. As Gizmodo also notes, Apple encrypts the usage data so isn't necessarily processing personal and general info together.

Apple continues to draw a lot of attention to its privacy policies, as it has used them to differentiate its hardware from rivals. You might remember the “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” ads that appeared in Las Vegas at CES one year. We’re still waiting to hear from Apple.

– 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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Twitter is reportedly hiring again

Blue Verified won't be coming back until Twitter can stop impersonation.

Twitter won't be firing and laying off more people, Elon Musk apparently told remaining staff during an all-hands meeting. According to The Verge, which heard a partial recording of the event, the company is even actively looking for people to fill roles in engineering and sales.

Musk announced during the meeting that Twitter might not be relaunching paid verification for a while. It had to pause its $8-a-month Blue subscription with verification shortly after it was launched due to a steep rise in impersonation and fake accounts. The service won’t return until Twitter is confident it can stop impersonation.

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Ubisoft will release games on Steam again, starting with 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla'

Including the free-to-play 'Roller Champions.'

Ubisoft

Ubisoft will bring its games to Steam again nearly four years after it turned its attention to the Epic Games Store and its own games launcher. First up is one of the publisher's biggest games of the last few years, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which will be available on Steam on December 6th. City builder Anno 1800 and the free-to-play Roller Champions will hit Steam at a later date. It might be a good time to start Valhalla: Ubisoft will release the game's last content update on December 6th, concluding Eivor’s story.

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The best gifts for gamers in 2022

Without buying a game they may already own.

Engadget

Picking a gift for someone who loves gaming can be tough. New games appear all the time: Do they already have this game? Have they already played that game? To save you some trouble (and some refunds), these gifts are a bit different but should be appreciated all the same. You may also find something to pique your interest.

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NASA's Orion crew vehicle successfully completes Moon flyby

The Artemis 1 spacecraft was just 81 miles above the lunar surface.

NASA's Orion spacecraft has successfully completed one of the key maneuvers of its maiden journey: a flyby of the Moon during which it got as close as 81 miles to the lunar surface. The flyby burn was one of two necessary maneuvers for Orion to enter its retrograde orbit around the Moon. Next up is the distant retrograde orbit insertion burn, which is slated to take place this Friday. Orion will remain in this orbit to test various systems, including guidance, navigation, communication, power and thermal control.

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While some thought Twitter would fall apart over the weekend, given the engineering constraints it's now under, it made it to Sunday. And it’s even got one of its most divisive users back. On Friday night, Musk tweeted a poll asking people to vote on whether Twitter should reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account. Trump recently announced he will run for the country's highest office again in 2024.

The option to reinstate the former president won with 51.8 percent of the 15,085,458 votes. While the poll was ongoing, Musk said it was getting one million votes per hour, and also said "bot and troll armies" were responsible for some of the activity.

Reinstating Trump’s account was one of Musk’s early promises for the platform, which some thought was a joke. It was not. Earlier in the week, Twitter reinstated the accounts of three other controversial users, including comedian Kathy Griffin, conservative satire site Babylon Bee and conservative author (and former YouTube personality) Jordan Peterson.

– 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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Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison on fraud charges

The Theranos founder is due to surrender in April.

Getty images

Holmes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, has been sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding the investors of her blood-testing startup. The sentence comes almost a year after Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud. She will also be ordered to pay restitution, though Judge Ed Davila said that amount will be determined at a separate hearing. Judge Davila said restitution would be based on $121 million in losses to 10 investors, according to The New York Times.

Holmes delivered a brief statement at her sentencing hearing: “I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” she said, according to Law360’s Dorothy Atkins. The tale of Theranos (and of Holmes) has been made into a Hulu miniseries starring Amanda Seyfried, while Apple is still reportedly working on a movie.

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Governments vote to retire the leap second by 2035

Even if Russia isn’t on board.

Government representatives at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Paris, France, voted nearly unanimously to retire the practice of occasionally adding one second to official clocks. Introduced in 1972 as a way to adjust Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to even out discrepancies between atomic time and observed solar time, the leap second has been the bane of tech companies for decades. It’s taken Reddit offline and messed up Cloudflare services in recent years. Dignitaries from the US, Canada and France called for the leap-second practice to end before 2035. Russia voted against the proposal. GLONASS, its global positioning system, incorporates the leap second. This decision may force Russia to launch new satellites.

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Waymo’s fully driverless rides are coming to San Francisco

It still needs to secure a deployment permit.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted Waymo a Driverless Pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. It's only the second participant in the CPUC's Driverless Permit program, with Cruise being the first.

By securing the permit, Waymo now has the authority to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, portions of Daly City and parts of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. Its vehicles are allowed to go as fast as 65 miles per hour and can operate 24/7, but the company can't charge for the rides just yet – it needs another permit for that.

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All the 'fun' grown-up gifts we would like to receive

LEGO sets, jerky and, oh baby, smart water leak detectors.

Engadget

Working on Engadget’s holiday gift guides, we often can’t help but think about the things we’d like to receive as gifts – unusual stuff beyond headphones, laptops and games consoles. While scrambling to find gifts for the people we love, here are a few things we’d love to get this holiday season. Me? I’d appreciate some new noise-canceling headphones, please.

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