Snap’s optional subscription service is here, offering "exclusive, experimental and pre-release features" for $4 a month. It’s apparently for "passionate" Snapchat users and launches this week in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The exclusive features are modest to start with, including the ability to change the app icon, see who re-watched a story and pin a friend to the top of your chat history as a BFF. Some of those features, like BFF, will only be available to subscribers, but others may eventually cross over to the main Snapchat app for mere muggles — AKA most of us.

— Mat Smith 

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Sony's new gaming brand merges the best of its PlayStation and consumer gear

• FCC Commissioner urges Google and Apple to ban TikTok

• Hyundai shows off its Ioniq 6 electric vehicle for the first time

• Bowers & Wilkins debuts a redesigned version of its Px7 headphones

• 'Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration' brings together more than 90 games this fall

• Solo Stove's fire pits are up to 45 percent off for July 4th

• Most of Amazon's Eero 6 routers are on sale ahead of Prime Day

• PS Plus games for July include 'Crash 4' and 'Man of Medan'

• Big tech's abortion travel policies do nothing for its contractor workforce

The post-Roe data privacy nightmare is way bigger than period-tracking apps

It’s a lot more complicated than just deleting one or two apps.

With abortion now outlawed in several states, data from period-tracking apps could be used in criminal investigations against abortion seekers, and a missed period — or even simply an unlogged one — could be used as evidence of a crime. There are more insidious ways people seeking abortions can be tracked online. A recent investigation from Reveal and The Markup found Facebook’s advertising tools (siphon data from vast swaths of the web, including some hospitals) were used by anti-abortion groups to keep tabs on people seeking abortion services, despite Meta’s rules against collecting such data.

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Firefox can now automatically remove tracking from URLs

Facebook and other sites will no longer be able to track you from site to site.

Mozilla's latest Firefox browser update has a new feature that prevents sites like Facebook from tracking you across websites. Query Parameter Stripping will automatically remove strings of characters added to the end of a URL that allow Facebook, HubSpot, Olytics and other companies to track your clicks and serve targeted ads. To enable the feature, you simply select Strict for Enhanced Tracking Protection in the privacy and security settings.

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Nikon's mirrorless Z30 is an affordable, lightweight vlogging camera

It has a 20.9-megapixel sensor, flip-out display and costs $710.

Nikon

I might be a little bit taken with Sony’s vlogging ZV-1 camera, and Nikon wants my custom. That’s how I’m taking the news that the latter is releasing its own lightweight mirrorless camera for the YouTubers and vlogging masses.

The 20.9-megapixel APS-C Z30 is its smallest and lightest Z-series camera yet, with a flip-out display, 4K 30p video and a long 125-minute video record time on a single charge. While it has that fully articulating three-inch screen, there’s no electronic viewfinder. The Z30 arrives mid-July at $710 for the body only.

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'Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope' aims to be a more modern tactical adventure

And appears just as silly.

Ubisoft

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was a pleasant surprise and an unlikely early hit on Switch. In Sparks of Hope, your heroes can now move around in real-time — no more grids and a major shakeup of how the game plays. You can still see how far a character can move in their environment, thanks to a white outline, and you’ll be able to figure out cover and optimal attacks on the fly. Each hero gets their turn before the baddies get to, well, return the favor. Soliani says this should help the game to feel more “natural.” Read on for what to expect when the game arrives later this year.

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Niantic is laying off about 90 employees and canceling four projects

'Pokémon Go' isn't going anywhere, though.

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is laying off eight percent of its workforce, around 85- to 90 jobs. The augmented reality game company has also canceled four projects. CEO John Hanke reportedly wrote in an email to employees that Niantic had to “further streamline our operations in order to best position the company." Niantic has struggled to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle success of 2016's Pokémon Go.

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Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was a pleasant surprise. A charming game that married Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom with the chaos of Ubisoft’s Rabbid mascots and crammed it into a game that was, well, pretty much a cartoon interpretation of the tactical strategy series XCOM.

It was an unlikely early hit on the Switch. Ubisoft was able to offer a different kind of game than Nintendo was offering in its first-party titles. Apparently, that was the seed that led Ubisoft Milan Creative Director Davide Soliani to Mario + Rabbids. Talking to Engadget, he said, “[We] should create something that makes sense from Ubisoft’s point of view, something not happening in Nintendo’s catalog.”

Ubisoft fulfilled that brief with Kingdom Battle. Soliani added: “We can match the aesthetics [of Super Mario], using and misusing the elements…. The contrast is the drive.” That’s the context for this sequel, too. 

In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Mario et al. (and their Rabbid equivalents) face a shared threat, called Cursa. The blended worlds of Mario and Rabbids are being contorted by darkness, but this time it’s a little more galactic. Expect to see varied worlds, à la Mario Galaxy, with the Lumas of that game being transformed into Sparks, elemental sprites that work like summonable magic attacks in the many, many battles.

That may sound new to anyone that played Kingdom Battle, but there are far bigger changes afoot. We’re yet to play the game, but judging from the new teaser and Davide Soliani’s explanation, it’s going to feel different – less of an XCOM tribute and something between tactical strategy conventions and the manic dashing and leaping of typical Mario games.

Ubisoft

Your party of three heroes can now move around in real-time, no more grids. You’ll be able to see how far a character can move within their environment thanks to a white outline, but you’ll be able to figure out cover and optimal attacks on the fly. Each hero will get their turn before the baddies get to, well, return the favor. Soliani says this should help the game to feel more “natural”.

Crucial elements will include where you move your hero (as long as you don’t shoot), utilizing items to extend movement and even using some enemies against other enemies – like hurling a Bob-omb towards some unsuspecting enemies on the other side of an area. Like Kingdom Battle, the synergy with other heroes will be crucial in tackling the biggest enemies.

Alongside companion elemental Sparks, which will grow in abilities as your characters do, each hero will have their own unique weapon this time, running the gamut from melee weapons like swords through to dual pistols and even bows. (You can’t have a game in the 2020s without including a bow.)

You’ll be joined by some new characters, including a Rabbid with a sword called Edge. (Dumb, I love it.) and age-old rival Bowser, who’s apparently a heavy-hitter equipped with what appears to be a bazooka.

More freedom in battles is mirrored in the game too. The worlds you’ll explore should feel more open-ended than the areas of its predecessor. Explore planets, take on fetch quests (this is a Ubisoft game after all), solve the major darkness problems of this specific planet – or just do the bare minimum and move on to the next part of the game.

Ubisoft

This should all help Sparks of Hope feel a little more contemporary – aided by a pretty incredible array of musical talent. Kingdom Battle composer Grant Kirkhope, who also contributed to Rare’s epic run of Nintendo 64 games, returns, joined by Gareth Croker (Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Halo Infinite) and Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XV). Those are some gaming music heavyweights which should help ensure all these different worlds sound as different as they’ll look.

Judging from the teaser and Soliani’s comments, Ubisoft is evolving Mario + Rabbids at a swift clip, modernizing the battle system and adding further strategic wrinkles and customization to fights. Sparks of Hope could feel like a different sort of tactical battle game, and if they nail the synergy like the first game, it could be just as entertaining.

Google’s Gmail has generally rigorous spam filters, but they can sometimes be too rigorous. Google is working on a way to ensure emails from US political campaigns reach users' inboxes instead of automatically getting tagged as spam.

The company has asked the Federal Election Commission for approval on a plan to make emails from "authorized candidate committees, political party committees and leadership political action committees registered with the FEC" exempt from spam detection. That said, missives will still have to abide by Gmail's rules on phishing, malware and illegal content. Google spokesperson José Castañeda told Axios: “We want Gmail to provide a great experience for all of our users, including minimizing unwanted email, but we do not filter emails based on political affiliation."

One reason Gmail puts many campaign emails in the spam folder is other users often mark the missives as spam.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Anker charging accessories are up to 35 percent off right now

• ARM's Immortalis GPU will bring hardware-based ray tracing to more Android devices

• Brain-machine interface helped a man with paralysis feed himself using robotic arms

• Return to Monkey Island's first gameplay trailer is a swashbuckling trip of nostalgia

• 'Harvestella' is a Square Enix farming sim with a dark twist

• Insta360 and Leica partner on a 6K 360 camera with 1-inch sensors

• Cadillac's Lyriq SUV is the exact EV it needed to build

HTC’s latest phone is a baffling one centered around the metaverse

No, not sure what that means either.

HTC

The HTC Desire 22 Pro supports HTC's Viverse ecosystem so users can visit communities using their browsers, even without VR devices. It's also compatible with the company's $499 Vive Flow VR headset and can pair with the device if users want to explore experiences, watch movies and TV or just access their apps in virtual reality.

The spec sheet is otherwise middling, and most of the metaverse / VR appeal comes from other HTC hardware.

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Airbnb is banning party houses permanently

Party’s over.

Airbnb is permanently banning all parties and events at all host properties, globally. It follows a temporary 2020 ban it instituted to comply with COVID-related social distancing restrictions. "Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure," Airbnb said in a blog post. "It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our Hosts and their neighbors."

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Facebook and Instagram are blocking posts about mailing abortion pills

Even if they're outside the US.

If you post on Facebook or Instagram about being able to mail abortion pills, don't be surprised if you get a warning — or even get your account restricted. A tipster told Motherboard they were notified a minute after posting "I will mail abortion pills to any one of you" that their status update had been removed. When they tried to post it again later, they were banned. We replicated the restriction measure.

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NASA takes a step towards putting humans back on the Moon

Its CAPSTONE launch will help NASA's space station safely orbit the Moon.

NASA

Rocket Lab has successfully launched NASA's 55-pound CAPSTONE CubeSat that will eventually orbit the Moon — if all goes to plan. It's a small but important step in NASA's Artemis mission to send humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. Rocket Lab used an Electron rocket with a special addition called the Lunar Photon upper stage, with enough power to send it into deep space. It's one of the smallest rockets to attempt to launch a payload to lunar orbit.

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Both of Valve's classic Portal games arrive on Switch today

The $20 Portal Companion Collection includes the complete Portal experience.

Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, among a fewother things, revealed that the Portal Companion Collection is now out on Switch, priced at $19.99. The collection includes both the original Portal from 2007 as well as the more expansive, story-driven Portal 2. While the original Portal was strictly a single-player experience, Portal 2 has a split-screen co-op experience; you can also play this mode with a friend online as well.

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Valve loves to warn people about the risks of do-it-yourself Steam Deck maintenance, and this time it’s reminding you that trying to upgrade the built-in storage could lead to problems.

Following a PC Gamer article on modding the Steam Deck, Valve hardware designer Lawrence Yang warned against upgrading the device's NVMe SSD. While it's technically possible, the bigger M.2 2242 drives are hotter and more power-hungry than the 2230 models the handheld was meant to support. Yang added you could "significantly shorten" the longevity of the system. You’ve been told.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• 'Endless Dungeon' is a tense mix of tower defense and twin-stick hero shooter

• Samsung's 1TB 980 Pro SSD returns to an all-time low of $140

• Google's Nest WiFi packs drop to record-low prices at Amazon

• Hummer EV's obstacle-avoiding Extract Mode adds six inches of ride height

Valve ramps up production to 'more than double' Steam Deck shipments

You could get your hands on the device sooner than expected.

And if you don’t yet have a Steam Deck — or you fried yours with an ill-advised upgrade — Valve says it has boosted production and will ship more than twice the number of units each week.

Were you to reserve a Steam Deck now, you likely wouldn't receive it until at least October. However, since Valve is ramping up the volume of shipments, it may bring down that wait time.

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‘GoldenEra’ is a loving, if muddled, tribute to ‘GoldenEye 007’

Covering the whole breadth of a video game’s influence is harder than it looks.

Nintendo

The Nintendo 64’s GoldenEye 007 — the rare Bond game that not only nailed the franchise tie-in but elevated the experience — is one of a handful of games that warrant a feature-length making-of documentary. Drew Roller’s GoldenEra tries to encompass the entire creative route, from its genesis as a small project at Rare’s rural farmland campus to the monster it became.

GoldenEra has been able to get many of the original team on the record, supplemented by a number of journalists and talking heads from across the games industry. But multiple segments — those covering Perfect Dark, Free Radical Design and Timesplitters, GoldenEye fan films and the modding community — feel a little shallow.

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LG buys its way into the EV charging business

It's acquiring a charger manufacturing company.

LG is jumping into the EV charging business with the acquisition of a South Korean EV battery charger developer called AppleMango. This should help it create "fully featured" charging stations with a user-friendly interface and real-time control and management, it said. In particular, it’ll leverage its "sturdy, dust- and water-proof" outdoor digital display tech. LG plans to install an EV charger production line at LG Digital Park in South Korea by the end of 2022.

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Apple's entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 may have slower SSD speeds than the M1 model

That could affect performance for app loading and more.

Apple's 13-inch 256GB MacBook Pro M2 may have worse SSD performance than the equivalent M1 model, according to testing by YouTube sites Max Tech and Created Tech. The $1,300 base model showed around 50 percent slower read speeds and 30 percent slower write speeds. It turns out the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 has a single 256GB NAND flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips like the previous M1 model. That would mean the driver can only use two lanes in parallel, restricting performance.

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The Supreme Court won't hear the Apple-Qualcomm patent case

Apple claimed Qualcomm might use two patents to sue again.

Apple and Qualcomm may have ended most of their feuding in 2019, but the fight isn't over just yet. The Supreme Court has denied Apple's request for a hearing to possibly invalidate two Qualcomm patents that played key roles in 2017’s attempts to ban Apple Watch, iPad and iPhone sales over alleged modem-technology infringements. The court didn't explain why it rejected the request, but a Justice Department amicus brief from May argued there was no evidence to indicate the patents were harming Apple's business.

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Nintendo Direct on June 28th is all about third-party Switch games

No Zelda, maybe ‘Silksong’?

Engadget

A Nintendo Direct Mini is scheduled for June 28th at 9AM ET. It probably won't feature news on Mario, Zelda, Pokémon or any of Nintendo's other franchises, though. Nintendo says it'll focus on third-party titles on their way to Switch, and it could be a fairly meaty affair. It clocks in at 25 minutes, and Nintendo’s online showcases usually run at a fair clip. One of the more notable third-party games slated for a Switch debut, No Man's Sky, already has a release date of October 7th, so that may not get a heavy focus. There's always the chance of more details on Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is slated to arrive in the next year.

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Carl Pei thinks there’s something wrong with the smartphone industry. Like a lot of us, Pei has started feeling like new phones just aren’t as special as the devices of five or 10 years ago.

He thinks the big players are all circling the same ideas in smartphone design. (Something true for at least a decade now.) And that’s where his new company, Nothing, comes in. Pei wants to bring some originality back to mobile tech design. “Maybe we can turn down the brain a little bit and turn up the intuition,” said Pei. Check out our full interview with the former co-founder of OnePlus.

Nothing

While we haven’t properly tested the device yet , the Nothing Phone 1 is already available to pre-order — you just need an invitation. Word of warning: Nothing has already said the Phone 1 won't officially come to North America beyond a closed beta for a handful of private community investors. The device should work but won't have full support.

Me? Well, I live in the UK. Sorry about that.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Hitting the Books: What life on the internet was like at 300 bits per second

• The original 'Pokémon Snap' comes to Switch Online on June 24th

• Someone made a tombstone to mark Internet Explorer's end-of-support date

• Leaked Amazon memo says the company may run out of available labor by 2024

Netflix confirms an ad-supported tier is coming

Contrary to reports, it’s still in its early stages.

Company co-chief Ted Sarandos confirmed at the Cannes Lions festival that Netflix is adding an ad-backed tier with a lower price. He stressed the option wouldn't bring ads to Netflix "as you know it today" — as with rivals like Peacock, you'll still be able to avoid marketing altogether.

Sarandos didn't share further details. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google and NBCUniversal are the "top contenders" to help Netflix build the ads-included plan. A Netflix spokesperson told Engadget the company was "still in the early days" of developing the ad-based tier and hadn't nailed down its approach. It's all "speculation" at present, the representative added.

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Apple may be readying a new HomePod

With a new chip and display.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports Apple is readying a new HomePod speaker that will look and sound similar to the original 2018 model. As you may recall, the company discontinued the HomePod in 2021 without announcing a direct replacement. According to Gurman, the new model may feature Apple’s forthcoming S8 chip and an updated display on the top of the speaker that may include multi-touch functionality. While the original had a display of sorts, it didn’t really show information beyond a Siri ‘orb.’

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Juul can temporarily keep selling its vaping products in the US

It has delayed the FDA's ban on its vape pens and pods.

Juul has successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to delay the Food and Drug Administration's ban on its products. The agency recently banned Juul from selling and distributing its e-cigarette pens and pods in the US after a comprehensive two-year review.

Despite Juul's accusation that the administration's ban was "arbitrary and capricious," the FDA said it was banning the company's products because it didn't submit sufficient evidence proving that potentially harmful chemicals don't leach from its proprietary pods into the vapor users inhale.

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The largest bacterium discovered is visible to the naked eye

The Thiomargarita magnifica is as long as a human eyelash.

Jean-Marie Volland/Berkeley Lab

A bacterium classified as the largest ever discovered needs no special tools to be visible to the naked eye. Thiomargarita magnifica, as it's called, has a filament-like appearance and can be as long as a human eyelash. The BBC explained it’s bigger than some more complex organisms, such as tiny flies, mites and worms.

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Yes, Juul e-cigarettes have been banned in the US, but we talked about that yesterday. But what’s like vapes? Replicants and ‘80s sci-fi? Maybe not, but anyway,Nightdive Studios has finally released Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition for Windows PCs (via Steam), PlayStation, Switch and Xbox consoles. The modernized version runs at 60 frames per second instead of the original's 15 fps, complete with updated animations and models.

At the time, Westwood's 1997 game pushed the boundaries of both graphics and gameplay. Instead of the usually fixed plot, Blade Runner changed the replicants and humans around with each playthrough while also offering branching storylines.

Rather than relying on either 2D art or crude 3D, the title used voxels (pixels with 3D attributes), giving far more visual detail for the era, including volumetric lighting. Think of it as the ray-tracing of ‘90’s gaming. This choice in graphics technology made for a challenging remaster, however, as it didn’t play well with graphics cards, and then the source code was lost in an office move. For those that played the unlicensed version, it might not look quite as good, but hey, at least it runs on your Switch.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• The best bike accessories you can buy

• Blackmagic's second-gen Pocket Cinema Camera 6K has a larger battery and a lower price

• Spotify's Live Event Feed makes it easier to find out when your favorite artist is touring

• 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge' is a glorious beat-'em-up revival

• Chrome on iOS will be able to autofill your saved passwords on any app

• 'Strange New Worlds' mixes the maudlin and irreverent

• Microsoft Edge update brings Xbox streaming 'Clarity Boost' to everyone

• LG's latest flagship Atmos soundbar is now available for $1,799

The FDA has banned Juul

The Vapes of wrath.

Reuters

As teased yesterday, the FDA has banned e-cigarette maker Juul from selling and distributing its products in the US. It ordered the company to remove its wares from the market or face enforcement actions. Juul told Engadget it intends to seek a stay on the decision. It’s exploring all other options, including an appeal.

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Samsung debuts its smallest 200-megapixel smartphone sensor yet

Slimmer, high-resolution phone cameras are incoming.

Despite featuring some of the smallest pixels yet, Samsung’s new 200-megapixel camera sensor has autofocus capability in every pixel, binning for better low-light capability and multi-gain ISO for maximum dynamic range.

Each pixel has autofocus detection capability, and the Super QPD tech uses a single lens over four pixels for quicker and more accurate autofocus. It can also bin four 0.56 micron pixels into a larger 1.12 micron 50-megapixel sensor for better low-light capability, or even combine 16 pixels into one 2.24 microns in size.

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The Polestar 5 will have an 884 hp electric powertrain when it launches in 2024

A prototype of the EV showcases at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Polestar

The Polestar 5 is making its first public appearance at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England. As part of the First Glance vehicles event, a prototype of the upcoming four-door electric GT sports car will drive up the Goodwood hill twice each day. The Polestar 5 is the production version of a concept EV called Precept, introduced back in 2020. When the company announced it was going to turn the concept into a real vehicle, it said it would manufacture the EV at a new carbon-neutral facility in China.

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Netflix lays off 300 more employees

The company previously cut 150 jobs in May amid business woes.

Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and affected a number of departments. This is Netflix's second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees globally. Netflix is still hiring on other fronts and has already earmarked around $17 billion to invest in content this year alone.

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eBay bought an NFT art marketplace

This comes after the website launched its own NFT collection in May.

eBay has truly (unfortunately?) fully embraced non-fungible tokens: The e-commerce company has acquired KnownOrigin, an established marketplace for digital art NFTs. KnownOrigin has been around since 2018 and gives artists a platform to create and sell their art as NFTs in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.

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The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to stop Juul from selling e-cigarette products in the US, and the decision could come soon, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Along with other e-cigarette makers, Juul submitted its products to the FDA for review in 2020. The agency was looking into the possible benefits of vaping as an alternative to cigarettes, but the popularity of the products among young people has had the opposite result.

Beyond the FDA, Juul has faced multiple lawsuits costing tens of millions of dollars over accusations of marketing to minors. In reaction to the news report yesterday, many vapers have apparently rushed to stock up on Juul supplies ahead of the possible sales ban.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Slack adds video and multi-person screen sharing to huddles

• Polestar adds Apple CarPlay support to its EVs

• IKEA’s latest AR app can erase your furniture to showcase its own

• PCI Express 7 will be 8 times faster than PCI Express 5

• Twitter invents the blog again with Notes

• Google News redesign puts a greater emphasis on local stories

• Meta, Microsoft, Epic Games and others join forces to develop metaverse standards

• Amazon employees in Maryland say they were fired for organizing workers

• Researchers built a low-cost camera system that recreates sound from vibrations

Nothing's transparent Phone 1 won't be coming to the US

The company has 'big plans to launch a US-supported smartphone in the future.'

Nothing

Nothing's debut transparent-shelled Phone 1 smartphone won't be coming to the US, the company confirmed to PCMag. "While we’d love to bring Phone 1 to the entire community around the world, we're focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe," the company said in a statement.

Nothing hopes to make it big in America one day: "We have big plans to launch a US-supported smartphone in the future," the company added. The challenge could be lasting long enough to follow up its debut phone with another device. It’s very hard to launch a new smartphone — especially if you’re a new company.

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MacBook Pro 13-inch review (M2, 2022)

Pro in name only.

Engadget

It’s another weird new MacBook from Apple. The new M2 chip gives the MacBook Pro a nice performance boost, but its Retina Display lacks ProMotion and the thin bezels we’d expect from a computer today. And with just two USB-C ports, it’s hard to recommend as a machine for professionals. Most of us would be better saving up a little bit more for the 14-inch MacBook Pro with a far better screen and more ports.

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You can pay for your Lyft ride with cash now

You don't need a bank account to rideshare.

In a blast from the past, you can pay for your ride with cash — kind of. Lyft has introduced an option to pay for rides using cash. Visit 35,000-plus stores like Walmart, ACE Cash Express and Kroger and you can present a barcode or ID number to turn physical money into a balance accessible through the Lyft app or website. You'll have to scan approved identification after requesting your first ride.

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Amazon's Alexa might be able to speak as your dead relatives

Today’s bleak story.

At Amazon’s re:MARS conference, Alexa’s senior vice-president Rohit Prasad exhibited a startling new voice assistant capability: the supposed ability to mimic voices. Amazon framed this copycatting ability as a way to commemorate lost loved ones. It played a demonstration video in which Alexa read to a child in the voice of his recently deceased grandmother. An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget the new skill can create a synthetic voiceprint after being trained on as little as a minute of audio of the individual it's supposed to be replicating. So far, there's no timeline whatsoever as to when or if this feature will be released to the public.

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Introducing the Engadget Deals newsletter!

It launches this week.

We launched our @EngadgetDeals Twitter account two years ago, and now we’re expanding our deals to a new newsletter — don’t worry The Morning After is going nowhere. You can subscribe now to get the latest deals on our favorite consumer electronics delivered to your inbox regularly — the first issue goes out later today. Expect some pretty major deals, like up to 46 percent off Amazon’s Omni Fire TVs and the first discounts on the latest product launches, like Sony’s LinkBuds S, which have dipped under the $180 mark.

Subscribe here.

One of the boons of cryptocurrency is meant to be that no particular company, central bank or government has control. Er, right?

That might not be true. Researchers for a report commissioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) found there can be "unintended centralities" in these supposed decentralized systems.

Cryptocurrency power is concentrated among people or organizations with a large chunk of the pie. Almost like any other capitalist system? Gasp.

"Unintended centralities" was the term used, defined as circumstances where an entity has sway over a so-called decentralized system. This could give them the opportunity to tamper with records of ownership. The report also notes three ISPs handle 60 percent of all bitcoin traffic.

The report said 21 percent of nodes are running an old, vulnerable version of the core bitcoin client. Attackers could target these nodes and take over the majority of a blockchain network. Theoretically, at least. But there have been plenty of cryptocurrency attacks in the last few years. Nothing wrong with some skepticism.

Real-life examples already exist: Read CNBC’s report on lending platform Solend. It’s had issues with one major account holder wielding influence over the entire platform.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Introducing the Engadget Deals newsletter!

• Tesla sued by ex-employees who claim mass layoffs violated federal law

• Master & Dynamic's MW75 headphones pair a fresh design with adaptive ANC

• Amazon's Omni Fire TVs are up to 46 percent off right now

• Amazon is opening a center for quantum networking research

• Sony's new Linkbuds S get their first real discount

• Meta won't take a commission from creators on Facebook and Instagram until 2024

• NASA picks three companies to develop lunar nuclear power systems

Proteus is Amazon's first fully autonomous warehouse robot

Amazon has also introduced a new robotic arm at its fulfillment centers.

Amazon

It’s an imposing name for Amazon’s first autonomous warehouse robot, but it still looks like an industrial Roomba. Proteus can move around Amazon's facilities on its own while carrying carts full of packages. The company said the robot uses an "advanced safety, perception and navigation technology," so it can do its work without getting in the way of human employees.

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Microsoft will phase out facial recognition AI that could detect emotions

The move comes as Microsoft pushes for more responsible uses of AI.

Microsoft will "retire" facial recognition technology it said could infer emotions as well as characteristics like age, gender and hair. The AI raised privacy questions, Microsoft said, and offering a framework created the potential for discrimination and other abuses. There was also no clear consensus on the definition of emotions.

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New Philips Hue smart lights include its first portable rechargeable smart lamp

Signify has also launched a new sunrise effect for Philips Hue lights.

Philips

Signify (the company responsible for Hue lighting) has introduced a bunch of new Philips Hue smart lighting products, including its first portable rechargeable lamp designed for both indoors and outdoors. The Philips Hue Go portable table lamp has a silicone grip so you can take it with you wherever you go. It can last for up to 48 hours on a single charge. The lamp will be available by the end of summer for $160 in the US and £130 in the UK. The company has new sunrise lighting effects, brighter downlights and even a new floor lamp. For all your smart lighting desires, read on.

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The best smart displays you can buy

Plus our advice on how to choose one.

Engadget

Smart displays are the second-wave devices born out of the success of the Amazon Echo, Google Home and other smart speakers. Adding visual and tactile components to what were once devices you could only bark orders at makes them more functional and intriguing. Amazon and Google dominate the space, and we’ve just updated our guide to buying a smart display, and we have opinions!

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NASA finally succeeds with its Artemis 1 wet launch test

It has fully fueled the Space Launch System for the first time.

NASA encountered a couple of issues while conducting the Artemis 1 wet dress rehearsal, but it still checked off a major milestone by the end of the test. The agency was able to fully fuel all the Space Launch System's propellant tanks for the first time and proceed to terminal launch countdown. Wet dress rehearsals are tests that simulate a rocket launch without the rocket actually lifting off.

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Apple’s next update to its iPhone operating system might just help you avoid the CAPTCHA anti-bot systems that stand between you and some web sign-ins. Apple teased a Private Access Token system in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura that skips CAPTCHAs altogether for some apps and websites. Enable an Automatic Verification feature and supporting sites will use iCloud to verify both your Apple ID and your device, presenting a token that proves you're trustworthy.

Apparently, owning an iOS device (and Apple ID) may be enough to prove you’re a sentient, possibly lazy, being.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Razer's Kishi gamepad for iOS is cheaper than ever right now

• Samsung's ViewFinity S8 monitors are a more affordable option for content creators

• New Philips Hue smart lights include its first portable rechargeable smart lamp

• Meta's latest VR headset prototypes could help it pass the 'Visual Turing test

Someone built their own inch-thick PS5 Slim

And its cooling system is even better than the original's.

DIY Perks

While we all wait for a slimmer PS5 from Sony, YouTuber DIY Perks already built one for himself. He took apart a standard PlayStation 5 and replaced everything he could to get rid of in the console's bulk. He substituted components with similar parts and his own homemade creations and built his own water-cooling system, which he put in a separate case with the power source.

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Where were the AAA games at Summer Game Fest?

And who needs them anyway?

The pandemic slowed or paused the development on a generation of games, and studios of all sizes are being absorbed by the biggest names in the room. With all this going on, there aren’t a lot of huge games coming out in the second half of 2022.

There won’t be many AAA blockbusters out of Microsoft or Sony and, whether we like it or not, these studios set the pace of the industry. What makes it worse is Microsoft and Sony have announced and then abandoned multiple huge projects over the past few years. Jessica Conditt lays out how this year’s big games event, in lieu of E3, didn’t really deliver the blockbuster games we usually expect.

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WhatsApp now lets you mute and message individual users during group calls

The app will also alert you when someone joins a call.

You can now both mute and message specific people in your group calls on WhatsApp. The former should be particularly helpful when someone might not be aware everyone else can hear what’s going on in the background of their home or office. The company has also added a banner to notify you when someone joins a group call.

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Canada is banning the sale, production and import of some single-use plastics

The ban targets grocery bags, takeout containers and stir sticks.

Reuters

Canada is banning companies from producing and importing a handful of single-use plastics by the end of the year. Banned items will include plastic shopping bags, takeout containers and six-pack rings for holding cans and bottles together. Over the next ten years, the Canadian government estimates the new regulation will cut approximately 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste.

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Google has been trying to nudge Apple into adopting the GSMA’s RCS messaging protocol, from not-so-subtle jabs at I/O 2022 to lengthy Twitter threads from the head of Android. The latest tool from the makers of Android? Drake lyrics.

The official Android Twitter account shared an “unofficial lyric explainer video” for “Texts Go Green,” the third song from Drake’s latest album. Both the title and chorus refer to what happens when an iPhone user blocks someone from contacting them through iMessage, which defaults messages to SMS and loses features like read receipts.

Swiftly demolishing any cultural cachet by referencing lyrics from a recent Drake song, the Twitter account calls it “a real banger.” And I close my Twitter app.

— Mat Smith

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• The original 'Pokémon Snap' comes to Switch Online on June 24th

• Someone made a tombstone to mark Internet Explorer's end-of-support date

• Leaked Amazon memo says the company may run out of available labor by 2024

Balenciaga looks even worse on Mark Zuckerberg's avatar

Meta is launching an Avatars Store for digital fashion.

Meta is opening an Avatars Store where you can purchase outfits for your avatar on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. The new looks include designer duds from Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne, and the company expects to add more designers over time. Zuckerberg and Eva Chen, Meta’s VP of fashion partnerships, announced the new store on Instagram Live, calling it the “first live avatar fashion show.” The “fashion show” consisted of Chen holding up paper drawings of Zuckerberg’s avatar wearing increasingly questionable, if metaverse-ready, outfits.

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Senators call for a common charger standard in the US

Europe wouldn't be alone in trying to cut e-waste.

US senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, calling on her department to develop a "comprehensive strategy" that would lead to a common charging standard. The EU acted in the "public interest" by settling on one port, the senators said, and the US ought to follow suit to reduce the environmental impact of chargers while improving convenience for users. A charger standard would theoretically reduce e-waste by letting people reuse existing cables and adapters for new devices.

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‘Diablo Immortal’ has reportedly earned $24 million since release

Free-to-play, license to print cash.

Two weeks after release, Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal has earned approximately $24 million according to Appmagic. The analytics firm said the free-to-play game had already been downloaded almost 8.5 million times. Will this inform the rest of the Diablo gaming universe? Possibly not. Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson recently said Diablo IV would feature a different monetization system from Immortal.

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The Engadget guide to the best mid-range smartphones

Who says greatness has to be expensive?

Engadget

The middle of the smartphone road has amazing options that balance price and features. These days, you still get incredible cameras, vivid screens and decent battery life. But there are so many, so where do you start? How about this guide?

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