Airbnb, which announced a permanent ban on parties at host properties back in June, is testing anti-party technology in the US and Canada. Not that these tools are real-world party crashing gadgets. The tools focus on when the customer books a property, looking at several factors to detect "potentially high-risk reservations." They consider elements such as how long the prospective guest has had an Airbnb account, how far away the listing is from where they're based and their history of positive reviews. It may, for instance, flag a planned stay of one or two nights over a weekend in the guest’s home city. In Australia, where Airbnb first tested the tools, it says it reduced unauthorized parties by 35 percent.

— Mat

The biggest stories you might have missed

• 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II' pre-order customers can play the story a week early

• Klipsch's tiny T10 wireless earbuds arrive as a $2,500 'bespoke' model

• Archetype: Rabea is an all-in-one virtual guitar rig that’s also a synth

• 'Hades' leaves Game Pass on August 31st

• ISS spacewalk interrupted by suit malfunction

What you’ll need to survive the California wildfires this summer

Update your home's emergency kit now.

Reuters

Climate change has transformed the American West into a tinderbox. Temperatures since the start of the century have averaged two degrees Fahrenheit higher than any other point on record, since 1895. A significant part of California is going to be affected — coastal cities, urban-wildland interfaces and out in the middle of rural anywhere. So here’s some gear and techniques to help with this summer’s fire season.

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Netflix with ads might not have offline viewing

The tier's subscribers won't be able to download, the Netflix app's code suggests.

Netflix's upcoming ad-supported tier might not be the best streaming option for commuters and other viewers who watch on the go. Developer Steve Moser has discovered text in the code of the service's iPhone app that says, "Downloads available on all plans except Netflix with ads." In short, no offline viewing. The streaming service told Techcrunch: "We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced ad-supported option and no decisions have been made.”

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Australia's top court rules Google isn't a publisher

The company could have been held liable for linking to defamatory websites.

Google has prevailed in its long-running battle over potentially defamatory web links. Australia's High Court has ruled Google’s search result link "merely facilitated access" to an allegedly defamatory story — Google didn't play a part in writing or distributing the content. The decision could have a wide-ranging impact on internet firms operating in Australia.

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The best laptops for college students

Our favorite machines for classes on campus, online and everywhere in between.

Engadget

Whether you’re heading to a physical campus, taking classes online or a mix of both, a laptop is sure to be the control center for your studies. Getting a new machine can help you stay on top of your schedule and handle your furious multitasking across dozens of tabs devoted to research while you write your essays. Given we’re still dealing with ongoing inflation and the global chip shortage, you might be concerned about rising prices or what might be in stock. The good news is companies are still making a ton of new laptops, and there are plenty of models for you to consider.

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American Airlines has agreed to buy 20 Overture aircraft from Boom, with the option to purchase an additional 40 planes if all goes well. The deal is one of the strongest shows of support for Boom yet, surpassing the potential 50-jet commitment United Airlines made last year. One wrinkle: Boom hasn’t yet built a working passenger jet.

The company plans to establish a manufacturing facility at North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport. It expects to begin construction later this year, with aircraft production to follow in 2024 — though the plant’s first completed jet won’t fly until 2026. If Boom can deliver on its Overture promises, there are some pretty big benefits: flights between Newark, NYC and London in under four hours and San Francisco to Tokyo in approximately six hours. The company also claims Overture will be a “net-zero carbon” aircraft, thanks to its ability to fly on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuels. You’re still burning fuels, but you’re burning sustainable ones.

Check out our 2020 deep-dive on Boom, right here.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Apple employees will need to work from its offices three times a week starting in September

• Google's Pixel 6 Pro drops to a record low of $649

• Polestar will release a production version of its O2 concept convertible in 2026

• What we bought: Anker's MagSafe battery pack charges and pulls double duty as a phone stand

• Amazon Air freight hub workers walked out to protest pay and conditions

President Biden signs Inflation Reduction Act to limit climate change

The law sets aside $369 billion for climate and clean energy programs.

President Joe Biden has signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The sweeping $750 billion legislation includes $369 billion in investments to climate and clean energy programs. Following months of infighting, House and Senate Democrats passed the bill along party lines. According to one estimate by Princeton University’s Zero Lab, the bill could reduce US greenhouse emissions by about 6.3 billion tons through 2032. The investment set aside by the bill represents the most significant investment to combat climate change in US history.

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Alienware’s new gaming monitors feature fast refresh rates and retractable headset hangers

And couldn’t look more ‘Portal’ if they tried.

Dell

Dell is releasing two new Alienware-branded monitors this fall. Before you ask, they don’t feature QD-OLED panels like the incredible Alienware gaming monitor we fell in love with here. The more interesting of the two new monitors is the 27-inch model, with an LG Nano IPS panel 2560 x 1440 resolution and native 240Hz refresh rates. A factory overclock even pushes the refresh rate to 280Hz. There’s also a retractable headset hanger.

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Winamp's revival includes platforms for musicians and fans

The creator service makes it more than an MP3 player.

Winamp has opened invitations to a creator service that gives musicians tools to distribute, promote and (of course) profit from their work. While most details won't emerge until features appear in September, this is slated to include fan subscription support debuting in November. It seems to be a Patreon-style platform for creators.

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Walmart+ members will soon get Paramount+ streaming as part of their subscription

Its membership program now has an answer to Amazon Prime Video.

Walmart has struck a deal with Paramount Global to add its streaming service to Walmart+ starting in September. Walmart+ members, who are currently paying $12.95 a month or $98 a year for unlimited free delivery on orders over $35 across the US, will also get a Paramount+ Essential subscription for free. Walmart's membership prices will remain the same; it's just the service will now come with an answer to Amazon's Prime Video.

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Adidas’ new solar headphones can also be charged by your bedroom light

Fully charged, they should offer 80 hours of playtime.

Adidas

Adidas has teamed up with Zound Industries to make the RPT-02 SOL on-ear headphones, which can be charged with either natural or artificial light. It's made of a combination of recycled plastic and nylon, and the headband is a highly flexible light-cell material that can be screen-printed onto plastic. The RPT-02 SOL retails for $229 and will be available online on August 23rd.

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Russia decommissioned its last self-run space station, Mir, in 2001. Now Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, has shared a model of the country’s future station, as it prepares to move out of the International Space Station. Nicknamed ROSS by state-controlled media, it would launch in two phases, starting with four modules and expanding to six with a service platform. The design would accommodate four people in rotating tours and reportedly offer better monitoring of Earth than Russia gets from the ISS today.

State media claim the first phase will launch between 2025 and 2030, with Russia expected to leave the ISS in 2024. It announced its departure from the ISS in July in response to sanctions and other measures following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air is $100 off at Amazon

• Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory made its 1 millionth car

• Disney and Marvel will hold a games showcase on September 9th

• Zoom fixed a security flaw that let attackers hijack your Mac

• HBO and HBO Max are reportedly laying off 70 production staffers

• Apple reportedly tested search ads in Maps in bid to expand its advertising business

Samsung's 55-inch curved gaming monitor has six speakers and two remotes

The newest Odyssey Ark is $3,500.

Engadget

Samsung has gone all-out on its next-generation monitor. Samsung claims the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. You also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio, and it’s got six built-in speakers that create a dome of sound. Oh, and you can use it vertically.

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Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel phones today

The software is out of beta and brings some small but useful new tools.

Android 13 is coming out of beta and will start rolling out to Google’s Pixel phones today, with devices from Samsung, ASUS, Nokia (HMD), Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi and more expected to get the update later this year.

The latest version of Google's mobile operating system brings more granular privacy controls, a new photo picker, Bluetooth LE audio and more. Messaging app streaming might be the most notable new feature, letting you cast your messaging apps to your Chromebook so you can chat with your friends on your laptop. Google said this works with Messages "and many of your other favorite messaging apps." The company added you'll "soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet," or the other way around.

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Yet another Lord of the Rings game is in development

From a company that worked on the movie trilogy’s special effects.

Wētā Workshop is working on a new Lord of the Rings game alongside publisher Private Division. The game is in early development and few details have been announced, but Wētā Workshop has "the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books," according to a press release. If you’re wondering who or what WētāWorkshop is, it worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as well as The Hobbit trilogy. The special effects powerhouse is also collaborating with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It set up its gaming division in 2014.

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TikTok adds an AI image generator to its app

It’s a very, very simple version of DALL-E.

Getty

TikTok has introduced a basic AI greenscreen effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It's much simpler than OpenAI's DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions — which makes it a lot less interesting. However, AI art tools like DALL-E are usually limited to a select group of users. TikTok, meanwhile, has over a billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience.

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Peloton may open its workout content to competing bikes and treadmills

The company is also redesigning its bikes for home assembly.

Peloton may soon allow users of competing fitness equipment to stream its workouts to their bikes and treadmills. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Barry McCarthy said the company is “rethinking” its digital strategy. Peloton could adopt a freemium model offering some features and workouts in its mobile and TV app for free. Currently, the software costs $13 per month. In the future, people with stationary bikes or treadmills from companies like Bowflex, Echelon and NordicTrack could also stream Peloton's content to their equipment’s display.

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'Hogwarts Legacy' is delayed until February 10th, 2023PlayStation’s game-streaming scheme, at its top tier, is now competing directly with Xbox Game Pass, the service that proved the concept by earning 25 million-plus subscribers over the past five years. It’s now been over a month since PlayStation Plus Premium went live, offering similar cloud gaming services to Microsoft's console.

Engadget

However, there are some major differences in strategy, however. Sony doesn’t plan on adding big PlayStation-exclusive games like Forspoken or God of War Ragnarök to Plus on day one, meaning subscribers will have to buy these titles separately, at least at launch. On the Xbox side of things, Game Pass Ultimate includes big first-party games like Halo Infinite on release day. But as Engadget’s Jessica Conditt put it, this isn’t about one service being better than the others, but about adjusting to the new normal for video games.

For your monthly subscription dues, do you value Game Pass Ultimate over Netflix?

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Engadget Podcast: Digging into Samsung's foldables and wearables

• Hitting the Books: What goes on at a summer camp for YouTube Gaming kidfluencers

• ‘Ring Nation’ is what happens when ‘America's Funniest Home Videos’ meets ‘Black Mirror’

• Mercedes-EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne wins Formula E world championship

• Latest Humble Bundle includes most of the Resident Evil back catalog

• Recommended Reading: Imogen Heap's far-reaching influence on music

• Genshin Impact’s next major update arrives on August 24th

Peloton is jacking up prices of its Bike+ and Tread fitness gear again

The company is also cutting another 784 jobs.

Another service with a monthly tithe is adjusting its business. It's been a brutal year for Peloton, and the company is enacting more major changes to get back on track. On the consumer front, Peloton is reversing price cuts to two pieces of fitness equipment. The Bike+ is going back up from $1,995 to $2,495 in the US. Peloton announced a huge loss of $757.1 million for the first three months of 2022 due to a decline in revenue and soaring costs.

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Formula E’s 100th E-Prix: Eight years of all-electric racing

We take a look back.

Formula E's first race, the 2014 Beijing E-Prix Sam Bloxham

When the checkered flag dropped yesterday in Seoul, Formula E finished its 100th race. Starting on the back of a napkin in 2011, the world’s first all-electric single-seater championship launched after three years of planning. Engadget’s Billy Steele talked to cofounder Alberto Longo and former champ Lucas di Grassi.

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Apple reportedly tried to partner with Facebook to get a cut of its revenue

It would have gotten a cut from an ad-free, paid Facebook subscription service.

Apple announced back at WWDC 2020 that iOS would require apps to ask users to opt-in to cross-app advertising tracking. Facebook then spent much of the next few months speaking out against Apple and predicting revenue instability due to the upcoming changes. The feature was released in April 2021, and Meta, as it’s now called, did survive. Surprisingly, though, a new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that before this all went down, Facebook and Apple were working on a partnership and revenue-sharing agreement.

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'Hogwarts Legacy' is delayed until February 10th, 2023

It's coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has once again delayed Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy, which at least now has a firm release date. It will hit PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on February 10th. The Switch release date will be announced sometime soon, indicating the version faces a further delay.

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Xiaomi had a busy Thursday. It revealed a new slimmer foldable smartphone to go up against Samsung’s just-announced Galaxy Z Fold 4, then made that appear dull when its own humanoid robot prototype walked on stage. The Xiaomi CyberOne is 177cm (5.8 feet) tall, weighs 52kg (115 pounds) and is, apparently, a Leo. It comes before Tesla’s humanoid vision arrived as a real-world prototype. But there’s some definite style overlap.

The CyberOne is the second product out of the Xiaomi Robotics Lab, after the CyberDog from August 2021. The humanoid machine has a face in the form of a curved OLED panel, it can see the world in 3D and hear with two microphones to identify "85 types of environmental sounds and 45 classifications of human emotion." I don’t think I even have that emotional range. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said each CyberOne would cost between 600,000 and 700,000 yuan (about $89,100 to $104,000), so it'll be sometime before the robots hit mass production, if ever.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• FEC says Google can let political campaigns dodge Gmail's spam filters

• Google's Search AI now looks for general consensus to highlight more trustworthy results

• NBA 2K23's Jordan Challenge revival is all about authenticity

• Bo’s e-scooter is beyond state of the art

• Google Fiber is expanding again after years of inactivity

• The best iPad accessories you can get right now

• FTC kicks off efforts to regulate data security and surveillance tech

• Anker's Eufy robot vacuums are up to 47 percent off at Amazon

The man who built his own ISP to avoid huge fees is expanding his service

Jared Mauch just received $2.6 million in funding.

Given a choice between settling for pathetically slow internet speeds from AT&T or paying Comcast $50,000 to expand to his rural home, Michigan resident Jared Mauch chose another way: starting his own fiber internet service provider. Now, he's expanding his service from about 70 customers to nearly 600, thanks to funding aimed at expanding access to broadband internet. He'll need to expand from 14 to about 52 miles of fiber to complete the project, including at least a couple of homes that require a half mile of fiber for a single house.

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Moto's Razr 2022 foldable gets the flagship processor it deserves

It looks less like a Razr, too.

Motorola

Another foldable appears – this time to go up against the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Motorola's last Razr was a nifty folding smartphone and $1,500 fashion statement, but the weak hardware struggled. Now, the company has revealed the Razr 2022, a foldable that might live up to that kind of price, thanks to a true flagship-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and an upgraded, more expansive screen. The curved chin and top camera notch has been nixed in favor of an all-screen design, removing a lot of that Razr design DNA.

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Xiaomi's second foldable phone is only 5.4mm thick in tablet mode

The Mix Fold 2 is also Xiaomi's second device with a Leica camera.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2 is the Chinese brand's second foldable phone, featuring a surprising thickness of just 5.4mm, opened — barely enough to house a USB-C port — and 11.2mm thick, folded. One feature that enables the Mix Fold 2's thinness is Xiaomi's third-generation "micro water drop hinge," which gives a tighter fold on the flexible display panel. Alas, the Mix Fold 2 is China-only for now, so good luck finding an importer.

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Google Meet app lets you host group Spotify and YouTube sessions

You can also play games with the live sharing feature.

Google's merger of Meet and Duo is definitely confusing, but there should be some benefits. The company has added a live sharing beta feature that lets users of the revamped Meet share Spotify and YouTube streams during chats. The functionality will sound familiar if you've tried Apple’s SharePlay, but you can't use Spotify or YouTube with that feature. At least, not yet.

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While leaks meant there weren’t many surprises, Samsung officially revealed the latest evolution of its foldable phones and smartwatches. With the company’s fourth-generation foldables, each increasingly offers something a little different. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 continues the spirit of the Galaxy Note series, with a new taskbar to better manage multi-window apps, Samsung’s best mobile cameras and a whole lot of screen. Oh, and it works with a stylus.

Meanwhile, the clamshell Z Flip 4 makes more of its unusual form factor and keeps costs around the $1,000 mark. Compared to last year, Samsung hasn’t particularly shaken up the design of either phone, but it says it’s made further durability enhancements. We love to see it. I have more news from Samsung below, but all of the new devices are available to pre-order now.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Disney+ ad-free streaming price increases to $11 per month in December

Facebook still has trouble removing white supremacists, study says

SpaceX successfully completes static fire test of Starship's Super Heavy booster

Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 Pro offer improved audio and ANC for $230

Do you want a smart standing desk with a built-in display?

Boeing delivers its first 787 Dreamliner after pausing for over a year

Samsung's 1TB T7 Shield SSD drops back down to $100

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on

A design that works.

Engadget

Next to the Galaxy Z Fold series, the clamshell Z Flip phones are not as thick, not as big and not as expensive. While Google’s Android team is still getting to grips with the bigger-screened foldables, when it comes to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung just took the smartphone interface as we know it, and, well, folded it. We get better cameras, a bigger battery, faster charging and a ‘90s camcorder grip style.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro hands-on

Barely there updates (and one new design).

Engadget

Compared to last year’s model, the Galaxy Watch 5 seems a little boring. The biggest change is a new skin temperature sensor, which won’t work at launch, while the other upgrades, like improved durability and curvature, aren’t immediately obvious either. There is a new Pro model, with a substantially larger battery and a layer of Sapphire Crystal glass. If you can’t wait till reviews are out, you can already pre-order the Galaxy Watch 5 starting at $280 (Bluetooth only; $330 for LTE) or the Pro for $450.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 hands-on

Refinements and increased durability.

Engadget

The biggest changes for Samsung’s new Z Fold are improved cameras and Android 12L — an interface designed for larger and foldable displays. The company says the Z Fold 4’s internal display is now 45 percent stronger than the last generation, but the most noticeable change may be the relocated taskbar, which Samsung has moved to the bottom of the page instead of the sides.

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US Justice Department is reportedly poised to sue Google over its digital ad dominance

The DOJ may file its antitrust lawsuit in September.

According to Bloomberg, the DOJ is gearing up to sue the tech giant as soon as September, after a year of looking into whether it's been using its dominant position to illegally control the digital ad market. The Justice Department first filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company back in 2020, accusing it of having an unfair monopoly over search and search-related advertising.

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FCC rejects Starlink request for nearly $900 million in broadband subsidies

Officials aren't convinced SpaceX's outfit can fulfill its promises.

The FCC has rejected the SpaceX unit's bid to receive $885.5 million in aid through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The broadband provider "failed to demonstrate" it could deliver the claimed service. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said Starlink had "real promise," but suggested her agency couldn't justify 10 years of subsidies for "developing technology" that requires a $600 satellite dish. She added that the FCC needed to make the most of "scarce" funding for broadband expansion.

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Samsung’s first foldable phone might have been the Galaxy Z Fold, but most of us want the Galaxy Z Flip. The company said as much itself, announcing that 70 percent of its foldable customers picked the clamshell option. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold series, the Z Flip phones are not as thick, not as big and not as expensive. While Google’s Android team is still getting to grips with the bigger-screened foldables, when it comes to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung took the smartphone interface as we know it, and, well, folded it.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 isn’t a major departure from what last year’s Z Flip 3 offered. Unlike the Fold series, which has seen a few design changes for 2022, it’s a little trickier to discern the differences here. However, Samsung has focused on making the most of the Flip series’ unique form factor.

Let’s start with the 1.9-inch AMOLED front display. It’s the same size as the one on last year’s Z Flip 3, but Samsung has added more controls and widget customization and the color theme can be paired with your Samsung wearable, if you have one. You can still add your own photos to the screen, but there’s more control over what else shows up here.

Engadget / Mat Smith

In addition to widgets offering weather and calendar information, there’s a quick settings widget and quick-dial options for your closest contacts. Unlike the last-gen Z Flip, you can now delete whichever widgets you don’t want, saving on swipes. You can also access Samsung wallet functions to make contactless payments without flipping the device open — something that was missing from its predecessors. On the Z Flip 3, you could answer incoming calls, but now you can call and text without opening your phone. Is it as useful? Not hugely, but it’s at least possible now. Hopefully, software updates will add some of these features to older Z Flip devices.

The experience of using the outer display as a camera viewfinder has also been improved. You’re no longer constrained to shooting your selfies in a square-ish format, and you can tap through to the same selfie view you’d get from shooting it on a typical smartphone – just with (probably better) cameras. There’s also a decent portrait mode, and you can record video directly from the outer display, too. The screens will auto-rotate as you manipulate camera angles, which means you can kinda hold it like a ‘90s camcorder. It’s cute.

Flex mode has been improved further, too. This includes interface upgrades for video streaming and calling, beyond Google’s own Android apps like Meet. It should work with Instagram (both Reels and Stories) Facebook, Zoom, WhatsApp and YouTube, among others.

There’s also a new floating touchpad to control apps not yet supported on the Z Flip 4, when you’re running them on half of the display. It adds a pointer to navigate the app, as well as the ability to tap through, and you can interact and scroll through content too. While the Z Flip 4 isn’t the multitasking foldable – that's the Z Fold 4’s purview – you can split the screen in half in Flex Mode, launching secondary apps with a two-finger swipe from the bottom. Of course, there’s still the usual dividing line icon between the two apps if you’re looking to swap around app placement or maximize one of them.

Engadget / Mat Smith

With an even faster chip, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, the Z Flip 4 handled everything I was able to throw at it during my short time with it. Another notable upgrade is battery capacity, up from 3,300mAh on the Z Flip 3 to 3,700mAh. Given that battery life was one of our biggest complaints with last year’s Z Flip, hopefully we can expect a foldable that runs a little longer. Samsung's Super Fast Charging is now supported on Z Flip4, which should charge the foldable up to 50 percent in around 30 minutes.

Most of the other significant specs are unchanged. The main screen is a 6.7-inch FHD+ (2,640 x 1,080) AMOLED screen capable of up to 120Hz refresh rates, with three storage options (128GB, 256GB, 512GB), all of which come with 8GB of RAM. The screen is bright and vivid, but if you’re hoping for a life without creases, it’s not here just yet, even on these early demo devices.

Samsung says it has enhanced the durability of its foldables, with improved super thin glass across the main display and an enhanced panel strip that supports the display during your pokes, prods and swipes. Yet again, the Z Flip 4 is IPX8 waterproof as well. If you're a Z Flip 3 owner, you might notice the thinner hinge.

Engadget / Mat Smith

When it comes to cameras, it gets a little more complicated. On paper, the Z Flip 4 appears to have the same array as its predecessors (read: two 12-megapixel sensors). However, these are improved cameras. The 12-megapixel ultrawide camera has an f/2.2 lens, while the 12MP wide camera has an f/1.8 lens and bigger 1.8-micron pixels. Samsung says these bigger pixels translate to better low-light performance and sharper shots, and the company claims it will capture 65 percent more light. The new Z Flip has also improved stabilization and subject tracking for stills and video. During my brief testing, the cameras seemed more responsive and capable than when I used the Z Flip 3’s camera. That said, the Z Flip series was never at the cutting edge of smartphone photography, which is likely to continue.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 will start at $1,000 with 128GB of storage. It’ll launch in four color options: Blue, Pink Gold, Black and Bora Purple. (Bora means purple, so that’s... Purple Purple.) If those aren’t quite to your tastes, the Z Flip 4 will also arrive alongside a Bespoke customization service offering 75 different color permutations. Samsung plans to share more information during its livestream today. You’ll be able to preorder the device starting today, with a launch set for August 26th. Stay tuned for our full review very soon.

Follow all of the news from Samsung's Unpacked event right here!

Kim Kardashian has teamed up with Apple on a custom version of the Beats Fit Pro. The new Beats x Kim collab is available in a trio of skin colors, which are meant to either "blend in or stand out," according to Kardashian. They are still just your standard Beats Fit Pro beneath that skin-tone plastic. But don't expect to find them at all the usual locations when they hit retail on August 17th. In-person sales are limited to 10 Apple stores (including 5th Avenue, Regent Street and Champs-Élysées) as well as several fashion chains and department stores. They’ll go on sale online, on August 16th at 10 AM ET.

Apple

It’s going to be a busy day for tech: Samsung’s big Unpacked event is kicking off at 9 AM ET, just a few hours from now. We’re expecting foldables, wearables and more and will be livestreaming all the announcements — watch with us, right here!

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• What to expect from Samsung's Unpacked event today

• AT&T is using amphibious vehicles, drones and more to restore its network during disasters

• People spent much less time watching gaming streams this spring, report says

• What we bought: How DeWalt's 20V Max cordless drill became my most versatile home-reno tool

• Intel introduces Arc Pro GPUs for workstations

• OtterBox offers $150 toward iPhone screen replacements

• WhatsApp's latest privacy features include the ability to hide your online status

• South Korea to investigate Apple, Google over possible in-app payment violations

• Snapchat Family Center shows parents their children's friends list

Ford will reopen F-150 Lightning orders this week at a much higher starting price

Trims will cost between $4,200 and $8,900 extra.

Ford

Ford will open up orders for the next wave of F-150 Lightning reservation holders this Thursday, but those buying the electric pickup as of this week will need to dig deeper in their pockets. The automaker is bumping up the prices by between $4,200 and $8,900, depending on the trim. Ford cited "significant material cost increases and other factors."

Contiinue reading.

President Biden signs CHIPS Act to boost semiconductor production

The measure sets aside $52 billion for domestic chipmakers.

President Joe Biden has signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The $280 billion measure will provide significant financial assistance to American semiconductor firms. It sets aside $52 billion in tax credits and funding for US chipmakers to expand domestic production. In a rare episode of bipartisan unity, the Senate voted 64-33 in favor of the bill. “America invented the semiconductor, but over the years we let manufacturing of semiconductors move overseas,” Biden said ahead of the ceremony. He added: “A third of the core inflation last year was due to the high price of automobiles, which was driven by the shortage of semiconductors.”

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Amazon's palm payments arrive in 65-plus Whole Foods stores in California

This is the first major expansion for Amazon One in grocery stores.

Amazon's palm-reading payment technology will soon be available in more than 65 Whole Foods shops in California. As long as you link your palm and payment card to the service, you just have to hover your hand over a scanner to complete your purchase. While you still have to stop at a checkout terminal, you don't have to pull out a phone like you do with Amazon's camera-based Just Walk Out system.

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Google and Sonos are now fighting over voice assistant patents

Another lawsuit between the two companies.

Google has sued Sonos, alleging its new voice assistant violates seven patents related to its own Google Assistant tech. It’s the latest battlefront in a long-running smart speaker war between the companies, with each suing and countersuing the other. Sonos' Voice Control assistant arrived in June, letting users give commands with the phrase "Hey Sonos," much like Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant. In the complaint, Google said it "worked for years with Sonos engineers on the implementation of voice recognition and voice-activated devices control in Sonos products... even providing its Google Assistant software to Sonos for many years."

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Netflix’s entry into the gaming market has been quiet. According to analysis by Apptopia, Netflix games have been downloaded 23.3 million times and have an average 1.7 million daily users. Framed against the 221 million customers paying for the streaming service, it’s not a great number — just one percent of them. The company indicated it didn’t expect its gaming division to be profitable immediately. “We’re going to be experimental and try a bunch of things,” Netflix COO Greg Peters told investors during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings calls last year.

But given that Netflix is not afraid to cut well-regarded shows after a few seasons, how long will it be willing to run a gaming arm before it’s successful? And what does success look like for Netflix? Earlier this year, the company paid $72 million to acquire Next Games, the studio behind Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales. More recently, it secured exclusive mobile rights to beloved indie titles like Spiritfarer and Into The Breach.

For what it’s worth, Poinpy is a pretty wonderful game worthy of your smartphone gaming time.

— Mat Smith

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• What we bought: This LED desk lamp gave me the best lighting for video calls

• MG's new all-electric hatchback will cost just $31,400 when it arrives in the UK

US imposes sanctions on cryptocurrency mixer that may have laundered over $7 billion

Tornado Cash helped North Korea, according to the Treasury.

The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a mixer that allegedly helped launder more than $7 billion in stolen crypto funds since its inception in 2019. Like a previous sanctions target, Blender, Tornado Cash is accused of "indiscriminately" helping thieves by hiding transaction details while failing to institute meaningful anti-laundering safeguards. Tornado Cash runs on the Ethereum blockchain. North Korea's state-sponsored Lazarus Group hackers are believed to have funneled $455 million through the mixer so far.

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Lucid Air will soon have a Stealth Look trim option

The $6,000 theme gives the EV a 'darker and overtly sporting personality.'

Lucid

Lucid is adding a new trim option to its Air electric vehicle. The idea behind Stealth Look is to give the car a "darker and overtly sporting personality," according to the automaker. Lucid is swapping out 35 exterior components that have a platinum finish for versions with a darker appearance, with black gloss and satin graphite accents. Lucid plans to introduce the $6,000 option early next year, though whether you'll actually be able to get your hands on an Air at all anytime soon is another matter. Earlier this month, Lucid once again revised its production target for 2022, this time from 20,000 to between 6,000 and 7,000 units.

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A live-action Pac-Man movie is the video-game adaptation no-one asked for

No Adam Sandler though.

Bandai Namco is developing a live-action Pac-Man film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Japanese gaming giant has reportedly tapped Wayfarer Studios, best known for its work on 2019’s Five Feet Apart, to produce the project. The film was reportedly pitched by Sonic the Hedgehog producer Chuck Williams. In 2020, Sonic the Hedgehogbroke the record for a US video game movie debut. So it’s all Sonic’s fault.

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HBO Max finishes rolling out its much-needed app redesign

Just in time for Discovery to make it obsolete.

HBO

Warner Bros. Discovery has finished rolling out its redesigned app on desktop, Android and iOS, delivering a more intuitive interface, a performance boost and some overdue features. You'll also find a dedicated video download page, split-screen support and SharePlay — at least for Apple devices in the US. The timing isn’t great. Warner Bros. recently confirmed it's merging HBO Max and Discovery+ into one service next summer. The app you see today won't last long.

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Nintendo will dedicate a 30-minute Direct stream to 'Splatoon 3'

The event happens on August 10 at 9 AM ET.

Splatoon 3 will arrive on September 9th, and Nintendo is setting the table with a dedicated Direct showcase. The stream will get underway at 9 AM ET on August 10th and have around 30 minutes of updates. Expect a deep dive into one of Nintendo's tentpole Switch releases of the year, encompassing multiplayer changes and in-game mechanics.

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Amazon made a $1.7 billion offer for iRobot, the company that makes Roomba robot vacuums, mops and other household robots. The deal will keep Colin Angle as iRobot's CEO but is still contingent on the approval of regulators and iRobot shareholders.

iRobot has an intriguing origin story. Founded in 1990 by MIT researchers, the company initially focused on military robots like PackBot. It marked a major turning point in 2002 when it unveiled the first Roomba — the debut robovac racked up sales of a million units by 2004. The company eventually bowed out of the military business in 2016.

There are many iRobot rivals now, including Anker's Eufy brand, Neato, Shark, even Dyson. But with the power of Amazon, iRobot should be able to dominate. Just think of the Prime Day deals! Some of Amazon’s own robots often look like Roombas already — like its first fully autonomous warehouse robot, Proteus.

— Mat Smith

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• Apple could be developing a smart display

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• Hitting the Books: How much that insurance supervision discount really costs you

• UK may use facial recognition smartwatches to monitor migrant criminals

• FCC votes to boost manufacturing in space

Physicist posts a photo of chorizo to troll James Webb Space Telescope fans

Looks like a planet to me.

On July 31st, Étienne Klein, the director of France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, shared an image he claimed the JWST captured of Proxima Centauri, the nearest-known star to the sun. "It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope,” Klein told his 91,000-plus Twitter followers. “This level of detail... A new world is unveiled every day."

Except, it was actually a photo of a slice of chorizo against a black background. "In view of certain comments, I feel obliged to specify that this tweet showing an alleged picture of Proxima Centauri was a joke,” he said. Klein added he posted the image to educate the public about the threat of fake news.

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Samsung’s Z Fold 3 durability one year in

Tougher than you might think, but…

Engadget

Samsung has made major strides with its foldable phones, paving the way for innovative (though sometimes quite pricey) alternatives to the typical glass brick. On the advent of the fourth-generation of foldables from the company, likely to include both a new Galaxy Z Fold and the Galaxy Z Flip, Engadget’s Sam Rutherford reports on his own foldable purchase of a Z Fold 3 last year. The phones are increasingly tough, but that foldable display innovation gets derailed by bubbling under the screen protector after roughly half a year.

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Steam is finally adding support for Nintendo Joy-Con controllers

You can use the gamepads individually or as a matched pair.

Valve is finally adding Steam support for the console’s controllers. In an announcement spotted by PC Gamer, the company said the latest Steam beta adds Joy-Cons support. With the new software, it’s possible to use Joy-Cons either individually or as part of a matched pair for playing games. If you want to try the feature, you need to opt into the Steam beta. You’ll either need a Bluetooth adapter or a motherboard with Bluetooth connectivity to use your Joy-Cons with Steam because there’s no way of connecting a cable to the Switch controllers.

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Baidu's robotaxis can now operate without a safety driver in the car

The company says it's running the first fully driverless service in China.

Baidu has permits to run a fully driverless robotaxi service in China. It says it's the first company in the country to obtain such permissions. Back in April, Baidu got approval to run an autonomous taxi service in Beijing, as long as there was a human operator in the driver or front passenger seat. Now, it can offer a service where the car's only occupants are passengers. There are some limits to the permits. Driverless Apollo Go vehicles can roam designated zones in Wuhan and Chongqing during daytime hours only. This does cover a good 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) in Wuhan alone, though.

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