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. The Ear Stick, priced at $99, works best with the company’s phone (of course) but will happily work with any Android device or iPhone. The Nothing Ear 1 buds were eye-catching and surprisingly capable true wireless earbuds that offered tech like active noise cancellation (ANC) at a competitive price – although that’s since gone up.
While the Nothing Ear Stick is cheaper than its predecessor, these buds lack ANC. 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. Nothing says it tested the new headphones with 100 pairs of ears. But I prefer silicone buds, so I’m looking forward to trying the Stick and forming my own opinion. The buds are still, thankfully, IP54 dust-, water- and sweat-resistant. One of the drawbacks of Nothing’s Ear 1 was occasionally patchy connectivity, both when pairing with your device and talking on calls. With the Ear Stick, the company has redesigned the antenna and shifted it further away from the face to reduce signal blockage.
Nothing
The company has also worked to improve sound quality, both listening and speaking. For the latter, there are now three high-definition mics (up from two mics on the Ear 1) that work with algorithms to filter out louder background noises and what it says is “wind-proof and crowd-proof.” Regarding audio quality, there’s a new 12.6mm custom dynamic driver inside each bud. A new feature called Bass Lock Technology will detect how much bass is lost during wear and adjust the equalizer automatically. You can also tweak the equalizer settings (with presets for different kinds of audio) from a new companion app. There are gesture controls on each headphone's tips, which can also be reassigned in the app.
Nothing says the Stick will offer up to seven hours of playback between charges, with 29 hours of total playback with the case. In a pinch, 10 minutes in the case should offer up to two hours of playback.
If you already own the see-thru Nothing Phone 1, many of these settings and features are already baked into the device, accessible by a widget in the Android phone’s drop-down menu. For other devices, a new Nothing X app will act as a settings hub for all of the company’s peripherals. The Ear stick will go on sale at 5:30 AM ET, on November 4th, directly from Nothing’s online store and other retailers, including Farfetch.
NASA previously announced that it would create a panel to study "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP), aka UFOs — while saying it doesn't believe they're "extraterrestrial in origin." (Sure, NASA.)
Now, the space agency has unveiled the 16-member panel that will focus on these unclassified sightings, chaired by David Spergel, former head of astrophysics at Princeton University. Other members include Anamaria Berea, a research affiliate at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life) Institute in California; retired NASA astronaut and test pilot Scott Kelly; and astrophysicists, science journalists and more.
The US government is effectively running two tracks of UFO probes. There’s also a Pentagon group looking into UAPs reported by military pilots and investigated by US defense and intelligence officials.
– 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.
When the European Parliament voted in favor of making USB-C the common charging standard in the region, it was obvious Apple was going to be the company most affected by the mandate. While the tech giant already has iPad models with USB-C ports, its iPhones still require a lightning connector. Now, in an interview at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event, Apple's SVP of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak has confirmed that the tech giant will be transitioning to USB-C connectors to comply with the EU's regulation. "We have no choice as we do around the world but to comply to local laws," Joswiak said. However, he didn't say whether Apple is only making a different variant for the European market while continuing to sell phones with lightning connectors elsewhere.
The BBC and Disney have announced future seasons of Doctor Who will stream on Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland. Back in July, Bloomberg reported that Disney was looking for “established” brands to bolster its streaming platform. Now it has the world’s longest-running science-fantasy series.
Bayonetta 3 is full of classic Bayonetta madness, all of it amped up by one degree. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, the enemies are absolutely massive, Bayonetta’s magic is incredibly powerful, her outfits are outstanding and the fights don’t stop coming. She’s still a witch with gun shoes, but new abilities mean she can transform into demon hybrids, adding even more dimensions to the epic fights. It’s still all very silly, very meme-able and for now, it’s a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Read on for our full review.
Rally driver Ken Block has released his first Gymkhana video with an electric car — and this time, the vehicle is almost as important as the hooning. The "Electrikhana" sees Block drift around Las Vegas landmarks in a one-of-a-kind Audi S1 Hoonitron. It borrows design cues from the well-known Sport Quattro S1 while using a dual-motor system. Think of it as a souped-up cousin of the E-tron GT. With drifting and tire smoke, it’s a different kind of sales pitch for electric cars. Initially associated with eco-conscious drivers, they're becoming the machines of choice for performance-minded enthusiasts thanks to their instant torque and supercar-beating low-end acceleration.
Shutterstock has widened its deal with OpenAI, and will start selling stock images built using the DALL-E 2 AI generator. The approach will offer "direct access" to DALL-E through the Shutterstock website, and compensate creators whose pictures played a role in developing the technology through a new Contributor Fund. The company also plans to pay royalties to artists when the AI uses their work. The deal represents one of the first practical uses of the tech.
Sony's original LinkBuds S were already being made with recycled plastics from automobile parts, but the company has now announced an Earth Blue variant made from even more reclaimed materials. The company says the body and case for this version of the LinkBuds S are made from "factory-recovered plastic and reclaimed water bottles." The recycled materials are what give the exterior surfaces a marble pattern. The new Earth Blue variant will be available at the end of October.
Apple surprised us last week with two new iPads. We’ve spent a bit of time with the new entry-level iPad ($449) which has been redesigned to match the rest of the iPad family with flat edges, USB-C and a Touch ID-enabled power button. Unusually, it also has a landscape selfie camera. Inside, there’s an A14 chip, which might not match the M1 in the iPad Air (let alone the M2 in the new iPad Pro), but it’s still a powerful enough processor.
So far, Engadget’s Nathan Ingraham is pleasantly impressed, although there are other corners cut – it still only supports the first-generation Apple Pencil. Expect our full review and verdict soon. For now, read up on our first impressions here.
– 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.
Two agents may have tried to bribe a US law enforcement official.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday that two spies from the People's Republic of China attempted to interfere in a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice into Huawei. According to a Bloomberg report, Guochun He and Zheng Wang were working for the benefit of Huawei. The two agents attempted to bribe a law enforcement official to provide them with information on the Justice Department's investigation. Starting in 2017, they allegedly sought to obtain details about witnesses, evidence and possible additional charges that could be filed against Huawei, unaware that they were talking to an FBI double agent.
Apple has raised the prices of Apple Music and Apple TV+. Music now costs $11 per month for individual plans (up from $10) in the US, or $109 per year. The Family plan now costs $17 per month instead of $15. TV+ sees the largest relative jump — the price has increased from $5 per month to $7, and from $50 per year to $69. Apple has also increased prices for its multi-service One bundles. You'll now pay $17 per month for an Individual plan versus the earlier $15.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released audio of what our planet's magnetic field sounds like. While it protects us from cosmic radiation and charged particles from solar winds, it turns out that the magnetic field has an unnerving rumble. Scientists from the Technical University of Denmark converted data collected by the ESA's three Swarm satellites into sound, representing both the magnetic field and a solar storm.
Urtopia’s mission seemed pretty clear, to make the most feature-rich, connected bike the world has ever seen. Its ebike packs in a 4G SIM, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a fingerprint reader and even mmWave sensors for collision detection. However, when we tested an early prototype, we didn’t get to see how all that came together, software-wise. Now, we got to test the bike along with its companion app and some of its unique ideas. Thanks to the 4G radio, you should get a log of your ride in the app every single time you go out. We say “should” as it often didn’t work for Engadget’s James Trew.
Don’t spend a fortune on an autonomous dirt sucker.
In a change from just a few years ago, there are now plenty of budget robot vacuum options to choose from. We consider anything under $300 to be cheap in this space and you may be surprised to see how many there are to choose from. And if you’re new to the world of robot vacuums, you may find that one of these budget gadgets does everything you expected and more. We’ve got our favorite picks from the likes of Roomba, Shark and even Anker.
Once upon a time, back in 2014, U2 gave away an album's worth of songs to every iTunes user in the world. And a lot of people were not happy. The blowback was so intense that Apple had to release a special tool to remove it. And it was all Bono’s fault, as he explained in an interview with The Guardian over the weekend.
When Bono approached Tim Cook, along with Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller about the idea, he was met with some incredulity. "Are you talking about free music?" Cook said.
In Bono’s words: "'No,' I said, 'I don’t think we give it away free. I think you pay us for it and then you give it away free, as a gift to people.'" Cook was apparently not convinced, asking if it would be distributed only to U2 fans, and the singer replied: “I think we should give it away to everybody.” No, Bono, no!
– 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 next Pokemon games feature a fully open-world design, pulling together what players experienced in Legends Arceus and the Wild Area in its predecessor Sword and Shield. There are lots of changes we noted during our hands-on preview. While you’re exploring, if you don’t feel like directing combat yourself, you can bring out your lead Pokémon to find items or auto-battle other nearby monsters (with the fight taking place off-screen). Even the gyms themselves have gotten an update, with the trials that you need to pass in order to battle Brassius (the leader of the Artazon gym) taking place around town instead in a single room or building. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet officially go on sale for the Nintendo Switch on November 18th.
Neuralink has delayed its upcoming “show-and-tell” event by a month. On Sunday morning, Elon Musk tweeted that the showcase would take place on November 30th, instead of October 31st as was originally announced back in August. Musk did not provide a reason for the delay. The last time Neuralink held an event, it showed a monkey playing Pong with its mind. Since then, however, the company has seen most of its co-founders leave.
Evans Hankey replaced the famous Jony Ive in 2019.
Apple's main replacement for Jony Ive is leaving. The company has confirmed to Bloomberg that industrial design head Evans Hankey is departing after three years. There's no named replacement as of this writing, but Hankey will reportedly remain in her position for six months as part of the transition. Bloomberg's sources claim Gary Butcher, a former designer and currently Airbnb's design VP, is returning to Apple.
If you somehow don’t have an Alexa-powered speaker already – and still want one – Amazon has cut the price of its Echo Show 5, down to $35. We gave Amazon’s spherical smart speaker a score of 89 when it came out in 2020. Since then, it has remained one of our favorites in the category.
According to a report from The Washington Post, Musk has told prospective investors he plans to axe 75 percent of Twitter's 7,500-member staff upon completion of the deal, a move that would likely kneecap its ability to moderate content and ensure users' security. Internal documents obtained by The Post reveal that, prior to the Musk deal, current company leadership planned to "pare the company's payroll" by around $800 million, a relatively modest 25 percent reduction. The company’s General Counsel Sean Edgett told staff that discussions about cost savings happened earlier this year, and they stopped "once the merger agreement was signed." Edgett added there have been no plans for company-wide layoffs since then.
– 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.
VanMoof’s latest generation of premium e-bikes ushers in changes across the board. The company has tried to make most of the parts on its newest e-bikes. The most significant change might be the removal of the tube-based display of the company’s older bikes, swapping it for a duo of Halo Rings near the buttons on each side. The anti-theft technology in the S5 and A5 (both $3,498) includes an improved kick lock on the rear wheel. In addition, the bikes will automatically unlock if they detect the user’s phone nearby. And if you’re willing to pay an extra $398 for three years of coverage, your VanMoof ride will have support from a retinue of bike hunters – which still sounds cool.
The company is accused of using the Buy Box to favor its own logistics network.
The Guardian reports lawyers are filing a class action lawsuit with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal over claims Amazon’s Buy Box "tricks" shoppers into paying more than they should. Consumer advocate Julie Hunter says the section favors either Amazon's own products or sellers who use the company's logistics, not the best price or quality of service.
Scientists have discovered a tightly packed "knot" of at least three galaxies forming around a quasar 11.5 billion years ago, just over two billion years after the Big Bang. The telescope's near-infrared spectrograph shows this is one of the densest known areas of early galaxy formation. The density is unusually high enough that lead researcher Dominika Wylezalek suggested there may even be two "halos" of dark matter merging.
Apple’s Fitness+ will come to the iPhone, without the need for the company’s wearable, on October 24th. It’ll arrive alongside the iOS 16.1 update. You'll need the handset to sign up, but it will also be accessible through the iPad and Apple TV. You'll have access to the full range of workouts and meditations through the Fitness app. The main limitation is accuracy. Where Apple Watch owners can rely on constant heart rate monitoring to determine their calorie burn, iPhone users have to trust estimates.
It was a breezy three-kilometer ride on VanMoof’s A5 e-bike around Battersea Park in London. Starting from VanMoof’s flagship London store, the company’s CEO, Ties Carlier, took the lead. He shot off on the more typically framed S5 ($3,498), while I got to grips with the boost and controls on the VanMoof’s new, shorter A5 (also $3,498). A few seconds later, I caught up. I hadn’t broken a sweat. My brief test ride around the neighborhood was almost too easy.
I had briefly ridden VanMoof’s e-bikes before, but its latest generation of e-bikes usher in changes across the board. The company has tried to make most of the parts on its newest e-bikes itself. The most significant change might be the removal of the tube-based display of the S3 and X3 bikes, swapping it for a duo of Halo Rings near the buttons on each side. (One rings the digital cute bell, while the other controls boost.) In addition to indicating battery life, it also shows how much the bike’s motor is working, along with the bike’s lock status.
Anti-theft technology (and a team of bike hunters)
E-bike security is a significant selling point for VanMoof’s bikes. Carlier explains that deterring theft is one of the biggest challenges to making “the perfect city bike," which has been the company’s aim long before it even started designing its first electric bike.
“A good bike – a good ride – requires more money,” he said. “With an e-bike, that’s even more true.” He added that whatever solution companies like VanMoof come up with, thieves will get smarter. The threat of it getting stolen has put me off from investing substantial money into bikes, and has deterred me from e-bikes entirely.
The anti-theft technology in the S5 and A5 (both priced at $3,498) includes an improved kick lock on the rear wheel. In addition, the bikes will automatically unlock if they detect the user’s phone nearby, and riders can otherwise unlock it with a numerical code that you can tap into the left handlebar – another instance where the new Halo Rings come into use.
Mat Smith/Engadget
If someone does manage to steal the S5/A5, tampering (or breaking) – which is integrated into the e-bike’s computer within the tube – the lock will first sound an alarm and, a short while later, immobilize the e-bike functions. For the thieves, then, it’s just a heavier push bike with a mildly distinctive frame and built-in lights that won’t work.
And if you’re willing to pay an extra $398 for three years of coverage (and that’s a fraction of the cost of replacing these $3,000-plus bikes), your VanMoof ride will come with support from a retinue of bike hunters – which still sounds cool. The e-bike transmits its location over 3G and the hunters are equipped with more fine-grain Bluetooth signal detectors to sniff out stolen bikes. If your bike goes missing, you can mark it as stolen on the VanMoof app, and if the hunters can’t find it within two weeks, the company will replace the bike for you.
It’s peace of mind, for sure, but it’s also yet another subscription. The S5 and A5 are even more expensive than their predecessors, which cost just less than $2,500. VanMoof’s latest rides each cost $3,498 – a $500 increase since they were first revealed. The company has also added support for Apple’s Find My network, but that’s more likely to help you locate your bike in a parking lot, not track down a thief.
Mat Smith/Engadget
VanMoof’s new stepover A5
The A5 model has a lowered step-in, meaning the bike is smaller and VanMoof believes it gives riders a feeling of being closer to the road. VanMoof’s premium-priced e-bikes don’t look like typical electric bikes – there’s no visible battery to begin with – but I like the unusually low-profile A5. When I use a bike, it’s multiple short trips, with several stops. This step-through model felt easier to ride. It was more of my thing.
The S5 and A5 come with 487 Wh and 463 Wh batteries, respectively. With the included charger, both take roughly six and a half hours to charge. VanMoof teased a fast charger too, but pricing is still TBC. On a full charge, the A5 can hit around 34 miles on full power, or 87 miles on economy power mode. Meanwhile, the S5 has a 37 mile-range on full power, which can be stretched to 93 miles on economy power mode. If VanMoof’s claims are accurate, both bikes should be able to handle plenty of short trips before needing to be plugged in overnight. The company also plans to offer a battery expansion pack that should double the bikes’ range.
A smoother ride
Mat Smith/Engadget
Both of the new bikes have upgraded gear shift tech as well. I tried a friend’s VanMoof S3 bike and could tell the newer rides had smoother gear transitioning. The motor has plenty of pep, but the A5 swaps around three gears incredibly gently. It’s hard to forget this was a premium e-bike.
While you can’t adjust gears yourself, it keeps the bike “interface” (can I call it that?) simple. That’s part of the plan. VanMoof’s Carlier says the company is targeting people who might not consider themselves bike people. The challenge is convincing them to invest in an e-bike. (At these prices, I’d call it an investment.) And if you’re waiting on the company’s even pricier high-speed e-bike, the VanMoof V, expect to wait a little longer. Due to supply issues, production has been delayed from fall 2022 to late 2023.
We plan to test out VanMoof’s latest bikes more extensively soon. Both the A5 and S5 are available to order directly from the company, with delivery dates currently estimated to be around January and February 2023.
Konami today dropped a ton of news about the future of its iconic horror franchise. Aside from confirming that remake of Silent Hill 2, the studio revealed three new games. Townfall comes from Annapurna Interactive and No Code, a Glasgow studio known for strong narrative titles like Observationand Stories Untold. The short teaser for Townfall looks to be the most traditional Silent Hill game of the trio.
Ascension, due out in 2023, is the least game-like installment, but it will feature the influence of J.J. Abrams. It's an interactive streaming series with the tagline: Face Your Trauma Together. Ascension comes from Abrams' studio, Bad Robot, and Genvid, a company that produces interactive live shows.
And then there's Silent Hill f, coming from Ryūkishi07, a creator known for crafting acclaimed visual novels with psychological horror and supernatural mysteries at their core. The teaser for f is incredibly gruesome, featuring a young woman as she's consumed from the inside-out by the tentacles of a flesh-eating plant. A YouTube description for the teaser says the game is “set in 1960s Japan featuring a beautiful, yet horrifying world.” There's no word yet on a release date.
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 Activision Blizzard merger would play a key role.
A company filing with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has revealed plans to build a "next generation" Xbox store that's available on mobile devices, not just consoles and PCs. The shop would unsurprisingly lean heavily on content from the proposed Activision Blizzard merger. Call of Duty Mobile and King's more casual mobile games (think Candy Crush) represent more than half of Activision's revenue.
We’ve tested out some of the most popular Bluetooth speakers in different price ranges, focusing a bit more on audio quality and dynamic range, while considering factors like utility and price. Ultimately, there isn't one best Bluetooth speaker out there, but we've found plenty of good options for a range of uses and price points.
Researchers have captured their most detailed image yet of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming nursery in the Eagle Nebula roughly 6,500 light-years away. The near-infrared picture shows even more detail than Hubble's 2014 snapshot, with an abundance of stars (particularly newborns) – there isn't even a galaxy in sight. The new stars are the bright red points of light and are estimated to be 'just' a few hundred thousand years old.
It currently translates between English and Hokkien.
Nearly half of the world’s roughly 7,000 known languages lack a written component. These unwritten languages pose a unique problem for machine learning translation systems, but one that Meta is trying to tackle with its Universal Speech Translator (UST) program. As part of this project, Meta researchers looked at Hokkien, an unwritten language spoken throughout Asia’s diaspora and one of Taiwan’s official languages.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained: “We leveraged Mandarin as an intermediate language to build pseudo-labels, where we first translated English (or Hokkien) speech to Mandarin text, and we then translated to Hokkien (or English) and added it to training data.” Currently, the system allows for someone who speaks Hokkien to converse with someone who speaks English, stiltedly.
Gmail, Maps and other apps are now in closer reach.
Google’s new iOS 16 widgets give you at-a-glance info and shortcuts for some of the company's core apps. Gmail shows your new message counts, and Maps provides links to your favorite trips (like your commute home). The widgets run the gamut of Google apps, though with diminishing usefulness: Google News shows the latest headlines, while Drive takes you to suggested and starred cloud files. YouTube and YouTube Music also have home screen widgets, so you can jump to your video subscriptions or search for a song on YouTube Music.
There were rumors of an M2 iPad Pro, but they were just the start of Apple’s announcements yesterday. The company dropped a bunch of new hardware, but let's start with its most powerful new tablet. The iPad Pro ($799), powered by its M2 chip, offers up to 15 percent faster performance than the M1, according to Apple. It also gets WiFi 6E support and a new "hover" experience for Apple Pencil. With a second-gen Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro will detect the peripheral when it's up to 12mm away from the display. Hovering above the display, you’ll be able to preview any mark you want to make before you actually apply it. When you place the Apple Pencil near the Scribble app, text fields will expand automatically. The updated Pro arrives on October 26th.
The new entry-level iPad got a major redesign, including USB-C charging and a landscape camera. The new model borrows the thin bezel of higher-end models and embeds the fingerprint reader built into the sleep/wake button. No more home button here. It’s more expensive, however: The redesigned iPad starts at $449 for the 64GB WiFi model. It also launches on October 26th. Alongside these new models, after a slight delay, Apple has also revealed that iPadOS 16 lands on October 24th.
Rounding out the barrage of Apple announcements, there’s a new $129 Apple TV 4K model. It has an A15 chip, 64GB of storage and HDR10+ support, with a 128GB Apple TV 4K option adding gigabit Ethernet. Both new Apple TVs also support WiFi 6. We’ve got all the pre-order details here.
– 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.
We've seen rollable phone concepts from companies like Oppo and TCL, and LG was even working on a commercial rollable smartphone until it quit making mobile devices last year. Now, Lenovo is showing off a laptop with a rollout display, while its mobile division, Motorola, has a roll-out smartphone — and they look like some of the more practical efforts yet. The phone starts out at a very pocketable 4 inches high, but with the click of a button, the OLED panel extends to a more normal, in 2022, 6.5 inches.
We’ve not seen a rollable laptop until now. The prototype starts with a typical landscape display and then rolls into a square, making it better for documents or vertical TikTok-style videos.
So you'd better hurry up and boot your ex from your account.
The next phase of Netflix's months-long crackdown on password sharing – which itself follows the company's first quarterly subscriber loss in a decade – is soon upon us. The company announced during its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday that beginning in early 2023, it will charge customers an added monthly fee to people who share their login credentials. The news comes as Netflix attempts to return to growth after losing subscribers earlier in the year. With help from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and the latest season of Stranger Things, the company was able to add more than 2.4 million subscribers in its third quarter. Netflix has not yet announced pricing, though if it follows the pilot program, it could work out to around $3 to $4 per month.
The luxury British manufacturer has unveiled its first ground-up EV, the Spectre coupe. The "spiritual successor" to the Phantom looks much like its stately gas-powered counterparts but promises an even quieter and smoother ride. Although it’s still finalizing specifications, the company expects the all-wheel drive machine to make a 0-60MPH dash in 4.4 seconds and achieve an EPA range of 260 miles. Not particularly notable, but this isn’t about numbers. This is about luxury.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator has ordered Meta to sell Giphy after it lost its battle at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The authority reviewed the decision in July after the tribunal sided with Meta on one issue (sharing sensitive third-party information). But it found the deal could still hurt competition by limiting rivals' access to Giphy’s library of GIFs, requiring unfavorable terms and reducing digital advertising choices. Meta bought Giphy in May 2020 at an unofficially estimated price of $400 million.
West was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts following a weekend of antisemitic posts. “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," West was quoted in the announcement.
"The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome," said Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer.
Parler was recently reinstated to the Google Play app store after being banned in January 2021, following the US Capitol insurrection. A Google spokesperson said at the time the removal was down to the app's lack of "moderation policies and enforcement that remove egregious content like posts that incite violence." Apple removed the app for similar reasons but restored it in May. Will a new controversial owner tempt new users to the controversial social network?
– 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.
We'll also see a new entry-level iPad and Macs later in the year.
The next-generation iPad Pro with Apple's latest M2 processor will arrive in "a matter of days," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. It will be the first new model since May 2021 and will reportedly offer a 20 percent speed boost over the M1 version. Apple will also introduce an iPad dock with an integrated speaker in 2023. The idea is that users could attach an iPad to the device and get a full home hub/smart speaker experience – very similar to the Pixel speaker dock Google revealed alongside its Pixel Tablet.
You probably don’t think of cheap Windows laptops when you think of daily drivers. But it would be a big mistake to ignore these devices. There’s a reason companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell and the like make Windows devices under $500. Affordable Windows notebooks are great options for people that only use a computer to check email, shop online or post on Facebook. They’re also suitable for kids who have no business putting their sticky little hands on a $2,000 gaming rig. We’ve highlighted the best devices out there.
Almost a decade to the day since it released the last Silent Hill game (as long as you don't include P.T.), Konami is finally ready to reveal what's next for the franchise. The company will divulge the "latest updates" for the series during a stream that starts at 5 PM ET on October 19th. We’re expecting an actual game: Composer Akira Yamaoka and art director on the first three games, Masahiro Ito, shared news of the upcoming stream. Both have previously hinted they're working on a new Silent Hill title.
Amazon churns through workers at an astonishing rate, well above industry averages. According to leaked documents seen by Engadget, that attrition rate now has an associated cost. “[Worldwide] Consumer Field Operations is experiencing high levels of attrition (regretted and unregretted) across all levels, totaling an estimated $8 billion annually for Amazon and its shareholders,” one document stated. The company's net profit for its 2021 fiscal year was $33.36 billion. “Regretted attrition” – workers choosing to leave the company – “occurs twice as often as unregretted attrition” – people being laid off or fired – “across all levels and businesses,” according to the company’s internal research.
Adults in the US with mild-to-moderate hearing loss can now buy hearing aids online or from a store without a prescription, medical exam or audiologist fitting. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule in August that allows stores and online retailers to sell over-the-counter (OTC) devices starting today. The move could save consumers thousands of dollars on hearing aids, according to the White House. Taking Walmart’s options as an example, they cost between $199 and $999 per pair. The company claimed comparable prescription hearing aids cost between $4,400 and $5,500.
SpaceX sent a letter to the Department of Defense last month, asking the Pentagon to take over paying for Ukraine's use of its Starlink satellite internet. According to CNN, SpaceX told the department that continued access would cost the company over $120 million for the rest of 2022 and almost $400 million over the next 12 months. "We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time," the company wrote.
Now, company chief, Elon Musk, seems to have backtracked, writing on Twitter that SpaceX will "keep funding” the service in Ukraine.
The Pentagon confirmed after the letter became public that it's been discussing payments with SpaceX, but it’s also looking into alternatives. Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, said: "There are other entities that we can certainly partner with when it comes to providing Ukraine with what they need on the battlefield."
– 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 original Dead Space came out 14 years ago, immersing us in ravaged corridors in the middle of space. Dead Space was a terrifying space horror. And this is what the remake has to compete with. Engadget’s Jessica Conditt thinks the new Dead Space nails it – mostly. The game hits PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles on January 27th, 2023.
Your cable provider's best plan suddenly seems mediocre.
Google Fiber's sudden revival will include a dramatic boost to internet speeds. Google has revealed it will offer 5Gbps and 8Gbps plans in early 2023 at monthly rates of $125 and $150. Both tiers will include symmetric upload and download rates, a WiFi 6 router and up to two mesh network extenders. It’s a big jump from the previous-best 2Gbps service Google introduced in 2020 and could make a big difference if you're a gamer or thrive on cloud computing.
The Razer Edge is a handheld console for cloud gaming. (Yes, it’s a trend now.) The Edge has a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 144Hz and a Full HD+ resolution of 2,400 x 1,080. Razer claims the display has 87 percent more pixels than competitors’ devices. The Steam Deck’s screen, for instance, has a 1,280 x 800 resolution. The Edge comprises an Android 12 tablet inside the new Razer Kishi V2 Pro controller. Initially only available in the US, it will come with dedicated launchers for Epic Games, Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now pre-installed. You'll also be able to access remote play services, such as Steam Link, Moonlight and Parsec.
Last week, Google and hardware partners ASUS, Acer and Lenovo announced a somewhat surprising initiative to build Chromebooks expressly for cloud gaming. (Yes, just after Google gave up on its own Stadia game service.) While many Chromebooks are a riff on the classic 13-inch laptop, the first round of these devices have large, high-resolution screens with fast refresh rates, anti-ghosting keyboards and powerful processors. Nathan Ingraham, Engadget’s Chromebook expert, is loving the premium screen and keyboard.
