The next big VR avatar performance will be the late Notorious B.I.G., East Coast rap legend. Broadcast in Meta's Horizon Worlds, the show will use a virtual recreation of '90s Brooklyn as a backdrop and will have performances by guest artists like Bad Boy Records founder Sean "Diddy" Combs. It will also feature a narrative journey of Biggie's life by music journalist Touré.

Bringing an artist back from the dead in avatar form often meets a wave of criticism – and that was true this time as well. Meta responded, saying it received the blessing of the Notorious B.I.G. Estate.

Notorious’ long-standing rival, Tupac, starred in a hologram performance ten years ago at Coachella. We’ve also seen holograms of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. These have usually appeared in major awards ceremonies or standalone tours. Meta’s Horizon Worlds, however, doesn’t quite have the same cachet. But fans of Notorious B.I.G. will likely be intrigued.

– 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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Get the Pixel 6a for $299 in Google’s Black Friday sale

Or a Pixel 7 for $499.

Engadget

We’re a week early, but the Black Friday deals are flowing in. This one’s particularly good: Google’s entry-level Pixel 6a is just $299, $100 less than normal. It’s one of if not the best cheap smartphones around, with a contemporary Pixel design and killer cameras. The sale runs for nearly two weeks, until November 28th. There are also discounts on home products like the Nest Thermostat, Nest Security Cam and Nest Doorbell.

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James Webb telescope captures the hidden features of a young protostar

More insight into the formation of stars in the early stages.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

The latest image from your second favorite space telescope reveals the once-hidden features of a very young protostar in the dark cloud L1527, giving us a look into how stars form and turn into something like our sun. NASA says the 100,000-year-old protostar is at the earliest stage of star formation — our sun formed 4.6 billion years ago or so. The images give us an idea of what our solar system was like in its very early years.

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Testing out the Yale Assure Lock 2

The do-everything smart lock.

Tempted by a smart lock? Yale, a trusted, familiar name in locks, has launched the Assure Lock 2, which addresses many of the issues of smart locks in the past. With four configurations (touchscreen and keypad models, both with and without dedicated keyways) and three finishes, you should be able to find one that suits your door. It’s also compatible with most doors in the US and Canada. Thanks to support for all the major smart home platforms and modules that can add WiFi, Zigbee and Matter connectivity, the Assure Lock 2 covers all the bases. Engadget’s Sam Rutherford tests it out.

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Blizzard games like 'World of Warcraft' will go offline in China next year

Its license agreement with NetEase in the nation will expire on January 23, 2023.

Blizzard Entertainment will suspend key games like Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft in China because it failed to reach an agreement with partner NetEase, it announced. Those titles, along with Hearthstone, StarCraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo III and Warcraft III: Reforged, will be unavailable in China starting on January 23, 2023. The money-making Diablo Immortal, which arrived earlier this year, won't be affected as it's covered by a separate agreement.

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Meta reportedly fired staff for hijacking Facebook and Instagram accounts

Some employees may have taken bribes.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta has fired or punished over two dozen workers for hijacking Facebook and Instagram accounts over the past year. Some offenders reportedly used Meta's account recovery tool and even took "thousands of dollars" in bribes from outsiders seeking access.

The account recovery tool, called Oops, lets workers file reports about inaccessible accounts, which can then lead to restored control. It's meant for use only in rare situations, such as for public personalities and family members, and asks questions about the source of the request. Its use has supposedly climbed in recent years, The Journal says, jumping from 22,000 "tasks" in 2017 to 50,270 in 2020.

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Democratic senators ask FTC to investigate Elon Musk over his handling of Twitter

The lawmakers cited the botched rollout of paid verification.

In a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan, signed by seven senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat senators have asked the FTC to investigate Elon Musk over his handling of users’ privacy and security in the wake of his takeover of Twitter. Under the terms of a 2011 agreement with the FTC, Twitter is required to review new features for potential privacy issues and regularly send reports to the FTC. The recent departures of top privacy and security executives came just ahead of a deadline to send one of those reports, according to The New York Times.

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Twitter might lose even more employees following the mass layoffs that halved its workforce earlier this month – and after the company fired engineers who publicly called out its new owner. Elon Musk gave the remaining staff an ultimatum and asked them to commit to an "extremely hardcore" Twitter, going forward. "If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below," he reportedly wrote in an email that links to an online form.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

The executive apparently said it will mean "working long hours at high intensity." He added: "Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade." The email said those who don't sign the form by 5 PM ET today would be let go and receive three months’ severance pay.

The work is stacking up, too. Alongside the Twitter Blue subscriptions and verification drama, the company seems to be working on end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for its direct messaging feature. Researcher Jane Manchun Wong spotted code in Twitter's Android app suggesting E2EE is on its way.

– Mat Smith

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• Samsung brings game streaming to its 2021 TVs

• The best gifts for space lovers in 2022

• The Instant Pot Duo drops to $50 ahead of Black Friday

• A ‘Streets of Rage’ movie written by John Wick's creator is on the way

• Genesis unveils a sleek X Convertible concept EV

Yes, you can now play 'Solitaire' and 'Minesweeper' in Microsoft Teams

Don't tell your boss.

Microsoft has added a new app called Games for Work to Teams, so you can dive into some casual multiplayer titles with your coworkers. As many as 250 people can play Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft Minesweeper, Microsoft IceBreakers and Microsoft Wordament together. With Wordament, there's even a leaderboard for extra competition.

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The best gifts for travelers in 2022

Make sure friends and family have great the best gear for their next trip.

Now many of us are traveling (or planning to travel) again, are you ready for it? We’ve curated a list of upgrades you or your friends and family might appreciate, including things like sleep masks and packing cubes – not to mention tech gear like battery packs and noise-canceling headphones.

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Black market fears are hampering cannabis waste recycling efforts in California

This is why you can't drop off your expended carts at the dispensary.

HighGradeRoots via Getty Images

Cannabis is more popular than ever in the US — 44 percent of adults have access to it, either medically or recreationally. What’s more, edibles and concentrates continue to rise in popularity among all age groups. This increased demand for vape cartridges — both near-ubiquitous 510-threads, like those from Rove, or more specialized carts, like the Pax Era Pods — has led to their increased production and, in turn, their inevitable arrival in American landfills. In California, the nation’s largest legal cannabis market, due to the state’s strict hazardous waste disposal regulations, it’s a major challenge to dispose of components responsibly. Andrew Tarantola explains why.

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NASA's mighty Artemis 1 rocket finally launches

It's now following an elliptical orbit around Earth.

NASA's mighty Artemis 1 rocket has launched for the first time, headed toward the moon. It has passed through key milestones, including solid rocket booster jettison and space launch system (SLS) first-stage separation without issue.

The agency had penciled in a launch attempt for November 14th, but Hurricane Nicole forced a slight delay to those plans. NASA kept the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on the launch pad as the hurricane battered the Kennedy Space Center. They sustained minor damage, but not enough to force a lengthier delay.

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GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini review

This smaller camera may be perfect for some.

Engadget

If you don’t want all the bells and whistles and want an honest-to-goodness action camera with all the Hero 11 Black video credentials, then the Mini ($300) might be the camera for you. While it lacks a screen, Engadget’s James Trew says it makes a good secondary camera for a different angle. And if you use a full-size GoPro for drone FPV footage (rather than its dedicated Bones camera) then the Mini is also a great option.

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Tuvalu’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe, told the COP27 climate summit yesterday that Tuvalu would look to the metaverse to preserve its culture and history. With global temperatures expected to rise as much as 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the Pacific island nation is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels. At last year’s COP26 summit, Kofe addressed the conference while standing knee-deep in seawater to highlight the climate change threat. Climate scientists anticipate the entire country will be underwater by the end of the 21st century.

Addressing the climate summit, Kofe said: “As our land disappears, we have no choice but to become the world’s first digital nation. Our land, our ocean, our culture are the most precious assets of our people. And to keep them safe from harm, no matter what happens in the physical world, we’ll move them to the cloud.”

To achieve the 1.5C target put forward by the Paris Agreement, the world has eight years to reduce annual global emissions by a further 45 percent, compared with projections based on current policies.

– 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 mighty Artemis 1 rocket has finally launched toward the moon

Lucid unveils its less expensive Air EV models

The Pure and Touring bring Air prices closer to Earth.

Engadget

The Lucid Air is a fantastic first car from a new automaker, but it’s also a very expensive EV out of most people’s reach. At the LA Auto Show, Lucid revealed the Lucid Air Pure and Touring EVs. The Pure is the first and only Air to come in under $100,000, starting at a still pricey $87,400, with a range of around 410 miles. Yes, the Air is still a luxury vehicle. The Touring is slightly more expensive at $107,400 and can drive for an EPA estimated range of 425 miles. While the Pure wasn’t quite ready for testing, we did get behind the wheel of the Touring for a quick jaunt around Lucid’s headquarters.

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MIT solved a century-old differential equation that will help AI

It could help with weather forecasting and autonomous vehicle driving.

Last year, MIT developed an AI algorithm capable of learning and adapting to new information on the job, not just during its training. These “liquid” neural networks are ideal for time-sensitive tasks, like pacemaker monitoring, weather forecasting, investment forecasting or autonomous vehicle navigation. But all that data can create computational bottlenecks, which makes scaling these systems prohibitively expensive. On Tuesday, MIT researchers announced they have a solution, using a differential equation that has stumped mathematicians since 1907. By decoding this equation at the neuron level, the team is hopeful it’ll be able to construct models of the human brain that measure in the millions of neural connections, something not possible today.

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NVIDIA RTX 4080 GPU review

A (slightly) more practical 4K gaming titan.

NVIDIA's RTX 4080 is a solid upgrade over the 3080 Ti, with faster overall performance and far better ray tracing, thanks to DLSS 3. It's notably cheaper and less power hungry than the 4090. But it's still $1,199. If paying more than $1,000 for a video card seems insane to you — and let's be clear, it should — sit tight to see what NVIDIA's future cards look like.

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Apple reportedly plans to use US-made chips starting in 2024

It also intends to source chips from Europe in the future.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple hopes to be using US-made chips in a few years’ time. Company CEO Tim Cook reportedly made the revelation during a meeting with local engineering and retail employees in Germany, telling them Apple "already made a decision to be buying out of a plant in Arizona." As Gurman notes, it would lessen Apple's reliance on factories in Asia, particularly Taiwan, where 60 percent of the world's processors are produced. Cook also apparently told staff: "I’m sure that we will also source from Europe as those plans become more apparent."

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Apple lets you practice sending emergency SOS texts via satellite

It's also bringing the service to France, Germany, Ireland and the UK.

One of the most noteworthy updates Apple brought to the iPhone 14 series this year is Emergency SOS via satellite. It lets you send text messages to emergency services over satellite if you need help and are outside cellular coverage. If you're unfamiliar with the feature – most of us probably are – Apple is rolling out a demo mode of Emergency SOS via Satellite, so members of the public can see how it works.

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Boston Dynamics sues rival Ghost Robotics for allegedly copying its robot dog

Ghost's designs are supposedly too much like Spot.

Ghost Robotics

Boston Dynamics is suing Ghost Robotics for allegedly infringing seven patents linked to its Spot quadruped. The Spirit 40 and Vision 60 purportedly borrow key technologies from Spot, including systems for self-righting and climbing stairs. Boston Dynamics says it asked Ghost Robotics to review Spot-related patents in July 2020, five months after the launch of the Spirit 40. After that, Boston claims to have sent two cease-and-desist letters, asking Ghost to stop marketing its robot canines. In a statement, Boston Dynamics claimed it "welcome[s] competition" but would crack down on anyone violating its intellectual property rights. The Hyundai-owned company is seeking unspecified damages as part of the suit. Ghost Robotics hasn’t yet responded to our requests for comment.

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Nike has unveiled .Swoosh, a blockchain-based platform for members to collect and eventually create virtual jerseys, shoes and other goods they can wear in games and online spaces. You may get access to real-world products and special events, too. Sign-ups start November 18th, and you'll need an access code to avoid the waiting list.

Nike doesn't start official "programming" until December, and the first community-shaped virtual collection is scheduled to launch in early 2023. If you thought Nike had already dabbled in digital goods, you might be recalling its purchase of RTFKT to accelerate its virtual goods plans, which was almost a year ago.

– 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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• Amazon reportedly plans sweeping layoffs that could affect thousands of employees

• The original 1997 'Berserk' anime is coming to Netflix on December 1st

• The first-ever Xbox transparency report reveals a surge in bot bans

• Soft robotic device stimulates muscles, sparks hope for ALS and MS patients

Introducing Engadget’s 2022 holiday gift guide

Find gifts for everyone on your list, and maybe even yourself.

Engadget

Our holiday gift guide is back for 2022. There are gift ideas for the audiophile in your life, video gamers, board gamers, frequent travelers, people who work from home and others. Naturally, we also have lists of our favorite laptops, tablets, smart home devices, home theater gear and gaming accessories, too. 

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Twitter fired employees who publicly called out Elon Musk

One of them said 'no one trusts anyone within the company anymore.'

At least three Twitter employees who survived the mass layoffs that cut the company's workforce in half have been fired after calling out their new boss on the platform. One of them is Eric Frohnhoefer, who responded to Elon Musk's tweet apologizing for Twitter being slow in many countries. After a lengthy exchange of tweets, Musk tweeted that Frohnhoefer had been fired.

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Disney brings the first two episodes of 'Andor' to Hulu

TV station ABC will also air the first episode on November 23rd at 9 PM ET.

Disney

Disney announced it would begin airing Andor on ABC, FX, Freeform and Hulu. Starting November 23rd, the expansion means those without access to Disney+ can watch the first two episodes of Tony Gilroy’s Star Wars show. It comes amid questions about just how many people are watching the critically acclaimed show. Disney’s decision to air the show on more platforms would seem to lend weight to suggestions the show has been less popular than The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

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'The Witcher 3' finally hits PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on December 14th

CD Projekt Red says it’ll feature ray tracing and faster load times.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will finally be available on December 14th. The studio hasn't shown off what gameplay looks like on those consoles or many details about what's in store, but it plans to reveal more during a livestream event sometime next week. The upgrade will be free for those who bought any version of the game, which debuted in 2015.

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'God of War Ragnarok' and 'Elden Ring' lead the 2022 Game Awards nominees

'Horizon Forbidden West' and 'Stray' each scored a hatful of nominations.

The Game Awards’ host and producer, Geoff Keighley, has revealed the nominees for the ninth edition of the ceremony. God of War Ragarnok (which hit PS4 and PS5 just last week) leads the pack with 10 nominations, followed by Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, with seven each. The terrific Stray also fared well with six nods. All four of those titles have been nominated for Game of the Year, along with A Plague Tale: Requiem and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

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Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts chastised Elon Musk on Sunday after the billionaire’s glib response to a request for information about Twitter’s new verification policies. “Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?” Musk tweeted Sunday morning after Markey criticized the company’s new $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription.

Senator Markey countered: “One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online”. He said, “Fix your companies. Or Congress will.”

Twitter suspended its new paid account verification less than two days after launch. It’s been a disaster. Trolls were able to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands, leading to chaos. One managed to tank the stock of the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, claiming the company would offer insulin for free. Another said Lockheed Martin was reassessing its military contracts with countries and territories with poor human rights records.

It’s only Monday, but it’s already shaping up to be another week filled with Twitter drama. Have you signed up to Mastodon yet? Let me know. I’m still on Twitter. For now.

– Mat Smith

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Magic Leap 2 is the best AR headset yet

But will an enterprise focus save the company?

Magic Leap

Magic Leap's glasses were supposed to lead us into the augmented reality era. But despite raising nearly $2 billion by 2020, it didn’t quite happen. Like Google Glass before it, Magic Leap felt like a false start. But the company isn't dead yet. With a new CEO onboard – former Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson – it's aiming for something far more practical: AR for the enterprise. It’s a retread of the HoloLens playbook, sure, but according to Devindra Hardawar, after the endless drumbeat of metaverse hype (mostly from Meta), it’s nice to be genuinely surprised by a new headset. Read on for his impressions.

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Meta layoffs lead to Portal and smartwatch project cancellations

This was after the mass layoffs.

Meta is stopping development on its smart displays and fledgling smartwatch project, according to Reuters. The company's executives reportedly told employees – those left after mass layoffs that saw 11,000 people lose their jobs – that it would end work on Portal devices. The Information reported in June that the Portal made up less than one percent of the global market of smart displays. Meta has yet to release a smartwatch, though there have been multiple reports and leaks over the years. Now, we'll never see it.

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'Star Wars' and Studio Ghibli team up for a Disney+ Grogu short film

It’s streaming now.

Disney

Studio Ghibli recently tweeted a teaser video showing both its logo and Lucasfilm's, as well as a photo of a Grogu figurine. Now we know what those posts are hinting at. Together, the two companies created a short film, hand-drawn by Studio Ghibli. Better yet – you can stream it right now.

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What we bought: Samsung's The Frame TV

Our favorite piece of living room art.

Engadget

Samsung’s The Frame TV series came out in 2017. Engadget’s Amy Skorheim bought a 43-inch model back in 2019 and is a big fan. The picture is bright, the sound is clear and its Tizen OS is easy to figure out – but she forked out over $800 for it. But The Frame does a great job of looking like art hanging on her wall. The thin panel has picture-frame edges and mounts flat against the wall, like a giant photo. The panel connects via a thin wire to an external receiver/port hub/tuner box combo, helping to maintain the illusion of artwork, not a TV panel.

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The latest iOS update Apple rolled out in China came with something not included in the release for other regions. According to Bloomberg, it limits the time a user can receive files via AirDrop from non-contacts to 10 minutes. Activists and protesters in China have been using AirDrop to circumvent the country's online censorship measures. It was widely used during Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests to share images of police brutality. This isn't the first time Apple has introduced a feature — or, in this case, a restriction — to ensure it stays in the Chinese government's good graces. Recently, the company reportedly told Taiwanese suppliers to ensure parts bound for the mainland don't come with Made in Taiwan labels. Instead, their source should be Chinese Taipei or Taiwan, China.

Apple told Bloomberg the AirDrop limit won't remain a Chinese exclusive. It allegedly plans to roll out the new limitation to all users around the world next year to "mitigate unwanted file sharing."

– 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

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• Elon Musk bans Twitter employees from working remotely

• Twitter blocks new accounts from signing up to its $8 Blue subscription

• What we bought: The Fujifilm X-T30 is the perfect camera for me

More Twitter privacy and security executives abandon ship

A lawyer warned Twitter could be on the hook for billions in fines.

There's more drama at Twitter. Chief information security officer Lea Kissner, chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty have all quit, according to The Verge. The report suggests the company's engineers will now be responsible for ensuring compliance with regulations. Twitter is currently subject to a Federal Trade Commission consent order, which includes specific privacy and security requirements.

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Philips Hue's smart string lights are a pricey form of holiday cheer

Expect to pay $160.

Signify

Signify, formerly Philips Lighting and best known for its Hue smart bulbs and lighting, is finally introducing a set of festive fairy lights. Measuring just a touch over 65 feet, the $160 Festavia string lights feature 250 mini LEDs, customizable through the company’s recently redesigned Philips Hue app. Signify is introducing two new features for the festive season: The first is a new Sparkle effect to make the festive string of LEDs twinkle. There’s also a new lighting style called Scattered. It allows you to choose up to five colors, which the software randomly assigns to each light.

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Waymo inches closer to charging for self-driving taxis in California

It isn't yet ready in San Francisco, however.

California's Department of Motor Vehicles has greenlit an amended deployment permit that lets Waymo charge the general population for completely autonomous rides on public roads. The update clears the way for Waymo One to charge for passenger-only service in San Francisco, much as it already does in Phoenix. This also opens the possibility for delivery services.

The company isn't opening Waymo One's San Francisco operations to the public "at this time," a spokesperson told Engadget. Waymo has so far limited these rides to employees and Trusted Testers covered under existing deployment and testing permits

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NASA confirms underwater debris is from the 1986 Challenger explosion

A documentary crew discovered the wreckage while searching for World War II aircraft.

NASA

A documentary crew has discovered an underwater wreckage off the Florida coast is from the disastrous last flight of the space shuttle Challenger, in which seven people were killed. The tragic Challenger flight took off on January 28th, 1986, breaking apart only 73 seconds into its journey. Divers working on the documentary noticed “a large human-made object covered partially by sand on the seafloor.” It had a modern construction, including eight-inch square tiles, commonly used in shuttles’ thermal protection systems. That tipped off the crew members that the wreckage may be NASA-related, and they contacted the space agency, which looked over the footage and confirmed its origin. NASA says it is considering what additional actions to take regarding the debris.

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All the gear you need to game-stream like a pro

Get your streaming empire off to a running start.

Engadget

While we can’t help with the patience, natural talent or social factors that determine who becomes a game streaming star, we can recommend the tools to make a channel look as professional as possible from day one. If anyone on your gift list is serious about diving into the business of video game streaming, these are the gadgets they’ll be ecstatic to unwrap (and show off on camera).

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Taking on something a bit more challenging than adding a USB-C port, Aesthetics of Science and Technology (AST) claims to have built a folding iPhone. The group pillaged the folding screen from a Motorola RAZR, added some 3D-printed parts and combined it all with a jailbroken iPhone X. It’s very much a proof of concept, with little-to-no durability and a whopping gap when it’s folded. Thanks to the iOS jailbreak, it also has a split-screen mode. We’re staying skeptical – and have questions. How much internal hardware reorganizing happened? Can you fit an entire iPhone battery in one half of the phone?

Like the USB-C mod, it’s a possible preview of things to come. Apple has already announced that USB-C iPhones are incoming, and rumors suggest the company might unveil an official folding iPhone as soon as 2023.

– 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 best gifts for tea lovers in 2022

• The best tech toys and gifts for kids in 2022

• November's PS Plus Extra and Premium games include 'Skyrim' and 'Kingdom Hearts III'

Twitter’s new official checkmarks get launched and killed in a few hours

Got $8?

Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Elon Musk claims he "just killed" Twitter’s "official" verification badges, mere hours after deployment. The gray checkmarks have vanished from accounts that only just got them, including Engadget's and The New York Times’. Twitter VP Esther Crawford clarified you'll still see the marks, but the social media giant is handing them out to "government and commercial entities" first.

In justifying the move, Musk reiterated his view that tying the original checkmark to a Twitter Blue subscription will democratize the service. It will take some time before it's clear just who gets what checkmarks and what vetting will be necessary to get the "official" tag.

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Meta is laying off more than 11,000 employees

It's the first mass layoffs in the company's history.

Meta is reducing the size of its workforce by about 13 percent and letting more than 11,000 of its employees go. According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta’s recruiting and business teams are likely to be hit especially hard. Zuckerberg says he wants to take accountability for how Meta found itself in this position. Apparently, he decided to significantly increase Meta's investments following an exceptionally large revenue growth at the height of the pandemic.

But Meta has been losing billions of dollars on its investments in the metaverse, with Reality Labs losing more than $10 billion in 2021. The company has said it expects to lose “significantly” more in 2023. Facebook’s ad revenue has also taken a hit due to Apple’s changes to apps’ ad tracking abilities.

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Google One's VPN comes to Mac and Windows

You can finally secure your desktop connection using Google's service.

Google has released One VPN apps for Mac and Windows systems. As on mobile, the VPN encrypts and otherwise masks your internet traffic. You can't use it to access content from other regions like you can with some VPNs (this isn’t your magic bullet for international Netflix content), but it should help if you're worried about exposing your IP address or using a public hotspot.

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Google’s Stadia refunds, explained

No refunds for your Pro sub.

Getty Images

If you've ever bought a game on Stadia, Google's soon-to-be-defunct cloud gaming service, it's worth keeping an eye on your bank balance and credit card statements. As of today, Google is starting to process refunds for Stadia purchases. The first wave of refunds will include those for purchases of games, add-on content and subscriptions made through the Stadia store. It expects to issue most of them (including those for hardware purchases) by the time it shuts down the Stadia servers on January 18th.

This won’t encompass Stadia Pro subscription fees, however. Google notes that players may be able to transfer their save data from Stadia to other platforms, but it's up to developers and publishers to support that. Ubisoft, Bungie, I/O Interactive, CD Projekt Red, Rockstar Games and Bethesda are working on ways to help players move their game progress to other platforms.

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After a months-long legal battle that has engulfed Twitter since Elon Musk first offered to buy the company for $44 billion in April, the deal is done, and Musk is already ringing in the changes. Musk, who has criticized Twitter's leadership, fired CEO Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, as well as several more top executives. He’s also likely to let more staff go, though he has told employees the cuts won't be as high as 75 percent.

Musk spent time in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters this week, where he met with employees. Bloomberg reported that he brought in some Tesla engineers to help "assess" Twitter's code. The new owner wants to loosen moderation rules and even make the social network “open source” so users can better understand what Twitter is recommending. Longer term, Musk has mentioned turning Twitter into “the everything app” akin to WeChat in China, and even the possibility of charging companies for tweet embeds.

– 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

• DOJ reportedly investigating Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving claims after crashes

• Tesla Cyberquad for Kids recalled due to federal safety standard violations

• The best Apple Watch accessories for 2022

• ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ finds riches in its own margins

• Elon Musk to advertisers: Twitter ‘cannot become a free-for-all hellscape’

• Jabra's Elite 3 earbuds are back on sale for $50

• The New York Post says racist and sexist posts came from rogue employee

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 5G (SQ3 chip) review

Not this one.

Engadget

The Surface Pro 9 with 5G makes it clear that Microsoft has learned some lessons since its first tablets – the original Surface launched ten years ago. The company’s latest hybrid is impeccably designed and can tap into speedy 5G networks. Unfortunately, it also retreads some errors of the past. These boil down to the custom SQ3 ARM system-on-a-chip, which isn’t as good as the Intel silicon found in the other Surface Pro 9. According to Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar, this custom chip leads to generally slow performance, compatibility issues and disappointment. It’s also more expensive than the faster Intel model.

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Samsung posts a 23 percent profit decline due to weak demand

But its mobile business still had a stellar third quarter.

Samsung has reported a record consolidated revenue of 76.78 trillion Korean won ($54 billion) for the third quarter of 2022, but this included a decline in profit from the previous quarter and year-over-year. The tech giant's operating profit (KRW 10.85 trillion or $7.6 billion) has declined 23 percent from the second quarter. This was due to less demand for its component business, but the company’s phone and networks arm had a great quarter, attributed to sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, both of which showed stronger growth than their foldable predecessors.

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Apple pulls gambling ads from App Store product pages following backlash

It’s paused the ads for now.

On October 25th, Apple started displaying more ads in the App Store, particularly in the "Today" tab and at the bottom of app listings. Since then, multiple developers have complained about seeingads for gambling under their listings' "You Might Also Like" section, when they have nothing to do with their applications. Apple told MacRumors that it has "paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages."

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NASA's InSight lander detected a meteoroid impact on Mars

This may be InSight's last big accomplishment before it shuts down.

Researchers learned that a quake detected by the lander in Mars' Amazonis Planitia region on December 24th, 2021 was actually a meteoroid impact — the first time any mission has witnessed a crater forming on the planet. The meteoroid is believed to have been somewhere between 16 and 39 feet long. It would have burned up in Earth's skies, but it was large enough to survive Mars' extra-thin atmosphere.

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Netflix's animated Sonic series will arrive on December 15th

And our first look at 'Sonic Prime'.

Netflix

Almost two years after Netflix tweeted (and deleted) about an animated Sonic the Hedgehog series that's coming to the streaming service, the show has a release date. Season one of Sonic Prime will hit the platform on December 15th. The first season will have 24 episodes. Netflix has also tweeted a teaser for the series.

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UN warns there's currently 'no credible pathway' to keep temperature rise under 1.5C

It says societal and infrastructure overhauls are needed.

The United Nations has issued another stark warning that, under current policies, the planet is falling far short of the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. That's the threshold scientists say we have to remain under in order to mitigate extreme, life-threatening weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and tropical storms. The statement added there was "no credible pathway to 1.5C in place." The 13th edition of the Emissions Gap Report reiterates that major changes are required. It laid out the necessary actions across electricity supply, industry, transport and buildings, along with food and financial systems. The report noted that we'd need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 45 percent by 2030.

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It’s been a busy year for Nothing. After debuting its Ear 1 wireless headphones last year, it followed up with its first smartphone, the Phone 1, daring to compete in an arena that’s actually shed some more established competitors. Now, it’s tackling wireless buds again with the $99 Ear Stick. It’s not a great name, but it’s at least descriptive. Instead of the slim, squarish case of the Ear 1, Nothing has pulled inspiration from cosmetic product design, creating a charging case for the buds inspired by tubes of lipstick. It’s not the first set of wireless headphones to feature a twisting cylinder, but it ensures the Ear Stick won’t be confused with rival earbuds.

At $99, the Ear Stick is reasonably priced but lacks some of the significant features of Nothing’s first wireless buds – most crucially, active noise cancellation (ANC). There are plenty of improvements here, though, especially concerning connectivity.

The hardware

Mat Smith / Engadget

It’s hard to stop twisting and pawing at the Ear Stick’s eye-catching case. The micro-dotted surface of the charger, exposed when the buds are locked in and charging, feels nice. At the top of the charger, there’s a USB-C charging port and a chrome button for pairing the buds to devices. Given the form factor, there’s no wireless charging this time around, but it also ensures the Ear Stick is cheaper to make. (As it is, Nothing recently raised the price on its Ear One buds.) There is a sliver of space on the case, though, so pocket lint can easily get trapped and rolled into the crevice, which is annoying. Judging by my other transparent gadgets, this might only get worse.

The Ear Stick buds themselves continue that Nothing design language, with transparent casing around the tips and a dot-matrix font labeling each stem. There’s a red dot on the right bud to help users ensure they go in the right ears. However, compared to the Ear 1, they don’t have silicone tips, so they rest loosely inside the ear. This means that, regardless of any noise cancellation technology, a good amount of noise will seep in.

Nothing says the buds went through over 200 rounds of modifications, and I think it was worth it: They’re comfortable. Weighing in at 4.4 grams (0.15 ounces) each, they’re also lighter than the Ear 1 buds. I know that many people (and several Engadget editors) prefer this kind of looser fit, as AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds and many others put a little too much pressure on their ear canals. The Ear Stick is aimed at those people – but are there enough of them?

In noisy environments – say, when traveling on public transport or working out – I’m forced to crank the volume up to max to compete with all the ambient noise. That said, they are comfortable and, for buds without removable tips, snug enough not to fear losing them when on the move. I still wasn’t completely at ease running or jumping in them, but they didn’t fall out during regular use.

I haven’t extensively tested the battery life yet, but Nothing’s seven-hour rating seems roughly accurate. Expect to get 29 hours of total playback with the case, which is almost a week of intermittent listening for me. There’s a fast-charge function that can juice the buds with two hours of playback with only 10 minutes of charge time, which has already been convenient during long trips across London, where I’m based.

Nothing also made a new custom-designed dynamic driver in this generation of buds. The company claims it’s the most sensitive one found on wireless buds in the market, and while I can’t vouch for that, I did find that the Ear Stick performs best when I’m listening to spoken word or on phone calls; they’re notably clearer and crisper sounding than the Ear 1. Additionally, Nothing says it’s packed in a Bass Lock feature that tries to gauge sound leaking from the half-open design, but I struggle to hear it make enough for all of the sound loss.

However, there’s not much Nothing can do with a half-ear design like this to maintain bass levels in comparison to the competition. There’s a tinniness to music and sounds that I don’t think any algorithm can fix, given the half-open bud design.

The software

You can ameliorate this a little with the customizable equalizer from the companion app, and if you’re already a Nothing Phone 1 user, you’ll get handy shortcuts from the Android drop-down menu. It’s a nice touch, matching the slickness you get when using Samsung buds with a Galaxy phone, etc.

Mat Smith / Engadget

Nothing has also addressed some of the connectivity issues that marred the Ear 1. It’s moved the antenna further down the buds, which it says minimizes signal blockage. In use, the Ear Stick connects and pairs more consistently than Nothing’s other headphones. They’re less likely to drop connection when I move around my apartment and get farther away from my phone. The Stick is also much less fussy about pairing with phones, laptops and other devices. While I was initially impressed with the Ear 1, its inconsistency pairing to iPhones, laptops and even Android phones meant I eventually changed back to my AirPods Pro. Nothing has fortunately learned that lesson with its second pair of wireless buds.

I’d happily take the audio and signal improvements of the Stick, but unfortunately, I’m just not as enamored with the Ear Stick as I was with the Ear 1. I need my noise cancellation and silicone tips. However, I am looking forward to Ear 2, or whatever Nothing decides to call its third attempt, when it hopefully combines the best of both buds.

Duolingo Math is now available on iOS, over a year since it was first teased. Naturally, the new math app feels a lot like the company’s language app, including colorful animations and interactive exercises all built into gamified lessons.

There are two main components to the app: an elementary-level math curriculum that goes over classroom topics and a brain-training course aimed at adults, with a focus on improving mental math skills. Dr. Kawashima has a lot to answer for. For those anxious about their math skills, it could be a subtle way of brushing up on those multiplication skills. Sadly, mental arithmetic remains not quite as dreamy as learning a second language.

Duolingo’s reputation should help it stand out in a sea of similar apps, and like many rivals, Duolingo Math is free. The app is available on iPhone and iPad, only in English for now. No word yet on when it will be available on Android.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Sony's wireless earbuds will support multipoint connections this fall

• Apple's new iCloud web interface is much more useful than before

• Samsung's 2022 The Frame smart TVs are cheaper than ever right now

• OM System unveils the OM-5, its first camera without the Olympus name

• Nintendo's retro controllers now work on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac

• 'The Witcher' is getting an Unreal Engine 5 remake

SpaceX's pricier Starlink internet service for RVs now works on moving vehicles

You'll have to pay $2,500 upfront for the hardware.

Getty

SpaceX has launched a new variant of Starlink for RVs called "Flat High Performance" that you can use on moving vehicles. You will have to be willing to pay almost five times as much for the dish needed to be able to access the service. It’s designed for in-motion use, with a bigger rectangular terminal that can see 35 percent more sky than its standard counterpart. It also has enhanced GPS capabilities, giving the dish the ability to connect to more satellites. SpaceX is already taking pre-orders for the new service and will start deliveries in December. The hardware kit, which includes its dish and mount, will set you back $2,500.

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Nothing's $99 Ear Stick earbuds have a fancy twisting case

But there’s no noise cancellation.

Nothing

Nothing’s second attempt at wireless headphones come in a carry case that tries to combine a cosmetics packaging aesthetic with the glossy white, transparent style of its other devices so far. While the $99 Nothing Ear Stick wireless earbuds are cheaper than its predecessor, these buds lack active noise cancellation. There are no silicone buds this time around, so you can expect more noise bleed-through, too, although some headphone wearers may find them a more comfortable fit. Expect to read our impressions on the buds very soon.

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The best monitors for 2022

HDR, refresh rate, curved screens? Help!

Computer monitors keep evolving rapidly, with new technology like OLED Flex, QD-OLED and built-in smart platforms just in the last year alone. That’s on top of big improvements in things like color accuracy, size and resolution. As there are a lot of products in this market and a lot of features, it can be overwhelming, so we’ve researched the latest models for all kinds of markets, whether you’re a gamer, business user or content creator. Read on to find out which model is the best for you and, especially, your budget.

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'The Callisto Protocol' hands-on

Think ‘Dead Space’, but grosser.

Callisto Protocol

The Callisto Protocol is a new game from a studio with zero releases to its name, but playing it feels familiar - according to Engadget’s Jessica Conditt. It all seems to unapologetically feed off the immersive sci-fi horror concepts of Dead Space. This is the first game out of Striking Distance Studios, a team led by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield — so yeah, all the references are coming straight from the source.

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Sony's new high-end camera shoots 8K video with AI-powered autofocus

The high-resolution A7R V uses 'human pose estimation.'

Sony’s $3,900 A7R V is expensive and impressive. Built for shooting portraits, landscapes and other subjects that require as much resolution as possible, it’s plenty capable in other regards, too. The new model carries the same 61-megapixel resolution as the A7R IV, but the key improvement may be in the autofocus. This is Sony's first camera to introduce "human pose estimation." The system can see 20 different points in the human body and thus figure out where the eye is supposed to be, and keep faces in tight focus.

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Google Workspace individual plans jump from 15GB to 1TB of storage

You probably won't run out of Gmail and Drive storage space anytime soon.

Google has some good news for those using its Workspace plans. Users will soon get a significant storage upgrade from 15GB to 1TB at no extra cost. This storage will be accessed through Gmail, Drive and other Google services attached to your Workspace account, and it’s a major space upgrade, and it’ll come at no extra cost.

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